Special Guest Blogger: Celtic Goddess Sheela Na Gig

If you’ve ever stared up at an oddly placed, admittedly rib-tickling stone carving of a woman with a vulva the size of a door-knocker, you’ve probably already met me. I’m the original GirlPower icon, the Celtic-mythic goddess-turned-public-art-project who has been giving medieval tourists a shock for six centuries. I’ve been brushed off by tourists, poked by curious fingers, and featured in academic papers that sound like they were written by someone who’s never seen a real woman’s body.
I first appeared in the 12th-century stonemason’s guild’s cookie-jar-drunk brainstorming session who thought they needed a protective figure for every new church, castle, or status-seeking nobleman’s front porch. Someone suggested: 'Let’s carve a woman with an, ahem, extra-large display' and so, I was born, part goddess and part cautionary tale.
In Celtic lore, lifting the skirt to expose the sacred mound was a potent anti-demon charm and my generous, frontal gift was supposed to startle any malevolent spirit so badly it would quit its haunting job and go find a less appreciative audience as well as warning against lust to Medieval priests flock’s carnal tendencies.
I wasn’t just a pretty face on the cathedral wall. I was an all-purpose, all-season, omnidirectional spiritual appliance better than exorcisms, holy water, silver bullets, and all that jazzy do-it-yourself horror-movie stuff.
No weapons or chanting needed, just a well-timed display of womanly charm to defend the community from rogue demons.