Sheela-na-Gig Charm

Small Sheela-na-Gig charm.

This remarkable pendant depicts a so-called Sheela-na-Gig, a bald-headed woman displaying her exaggeratedly enlarged vulva.

This Sheela-na-Gig charm was crafted based on a 12th-century depiction at Kilpeck Church in Herefordshire, England.

Link to the original Sheela-na-Gig...

Sheela-na-Gig figures are found particularly in Romanesque churches in Ireland, but there are also a significant number of them in England, France and Spain. A smaller number have also been found in Scotland and Wales, as well as other places in Europe.

All historical depictions of Sheela-na-Gig are very similar and show a naked, bald woman exposing her vulva to the world.

You can buy this pendant in high-quality bronze or genuine silver-plated.

Although a pagan origin seems likely, Sheela-Na-Gigs originated in the Middle Ages, where they were originally intended by Christian sculptors as a warning to women against the sins of immodesty and passion.

Irish nuns often placed Sheela-na-Gigs on the entrance doors of convents or on the outer walls of churches to ward off evil, the devil, bad spirits and death.

However, especially in Ireland, these stone sculptures were reinterpreted by the people as ‘symbols of good luck’. Instead of feeling chastised by the cheeky little women, it became customary to touch the Sheelas' genitals when entering the church in order to receive a blessing from them.

In modern interpretation, the Sheela-na-Gig thus stands more for women's self-determination, female strength and self-confidence.

The display of the vulva is also understood as a defensive gesture against the powers of death, to counter death with life because in Celtic mythology, the power of the earth goddess represents both life and death.