Sheela-on-Gig pendant.
This remarkable pendant depicts the so-called Sheela-na-Gig - a bald woman exposing her greatly enlarged vulva.
This Sheela-na-Gig pendant was created from a 12th century depiction on a church in Kilpeck, Herefordshire, England.
Sheela-na-Gig figures are found primarily on Romanesque churches in Ireland, but a significant number also exist in England, France and Spain. Smaller numbers have also been found in Scotland and Wales, as well as other places in Europe.
All of the historical depictions of Sheela-na-Gig are very similar and show a naked, hairless woman exposing her vulva to the world.
The Sheela-na-Gig pendant measures 1.8 × 1.7 cm.
Although pagan origins seem likely, the Sheela-na-Gig originated in the Middle Ages, when Christian sculptors originally intended them as a warning to women against the sins of shamelessness and passion.
Irish nuns often placed Sheela-na-Gig statues above the entrance doors of convents or on the outside walls of churches to ward off evil, the devil, evil spirits and death.
In Ireland in particular, however, these stone sculptures have been transformed by people into 'symbols of good luck'. Instead of feeling admonished, it became customary to touch Sheela's genitals when entering a church to receive her blessing.
In modern interpretation, the Sheela-na-Gig thus represents primarily female self-determination, female strength and self-confidence.
The depiction of the vulva is also understood as a defensive gesture against the forces of death - a position of life against death, since in Celtic mythology the power of the Earth Goddess represents both life and death.
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