Sheila-na-gig

Definition

Or: Sheela-na-gig , carved figure of a woman squatting with her knees apart exposing her vulva, shown as a vesica piscis or double-pointed oval. According to Barbara A. Walker in The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (1983): ' Sheila-na-gig figures appeared all over old Irish churches built before the 16 ^th century .'' And from K. S. Daly. Sex. An Encyclopedia for the Bewildered (1995): ' Sheela-na-Gigs are found widely in Ireland, England and Wales and were originally intended to keep evil spirits away from the churches and sacred sites where they were placed.'