The Sheela Na Gig Issue of Croning
In which I repost from my other Substack
Is she a pagan survival or a warning against lust? Is she a fertility goddess or a hag? Is she a laboring woman’s guardian and helper or a medieval stone mason’s idea of a dirty joke? Whether or not her ostentatiously displayed genitalia was supposed to ward off evil—as some scholars have suggested—there’s no denying that her splayed labia capture both the attention and the imagination. Maybe the mystery surrounding this figure is essential to her endurance. Maybe when we look into the black hole that is her vagina, we’re looking into a mirror that reflects our own desires and fantasies.
Among architectural grotesques, Sheela Na Gig is something like an indie rock star enjoying a revival—think Liz Phair’s latest tour. Within the last few years, she has inspired headlines like “Big vagina energy: the return of the sheela na gig” and “A close look at the naughtiest bits in Cotswold churches” (the latter article also features “monkey physician with his flask of urine,” which deserves a click all by itself). A 2023 opinion piece called “How a pelvic floor app has transformed my friend’s life” uses a Sheela found at Tracton Abbey and now residing in the Cork City Museum as an illustration. And now she is the patroness of the Spring 2024 issue of Croning.
This issue has developed to the point that I feel confident offering preorders but cannot promise exactly what will be inside. However…
I can tell you for sure that there will be more about Sheela Na Gig. I’ll be sharing some of what I’ve learned about her since I bought a Sheela necklace at a bookstore on Harvard Square in the early 90s.
A member of the Croning Collective is writing about PJ Harvey #iykyk
We’re cooking up a street art collaboration with the badass feminists of Project Sheela—something we definitely want readers to be a part of.
Remember the Vaginal Atrophy cocktail recipe from the first issue? Well, now that we’ve all had a stiff drink we’re ready to talk about vaginal atrophy as a physiological phenomenon and…
There should be a fresh cocktail recipe.
And I’m about 90% certain that there will be a Sheela Na Gig trading card.