Comments On The Divine Hag Of The Christian Celts |
I've read The Divine Hag of the Christian Celts (and am still the only one to have reviewed it on Amazon!), and I really enjoyed it. I have only visited two Sheelas in the stone so to speak, the one in Oxford, and one in Fiddington (Somerset), but I have a couple more nearby still to visit (one only 20 minutes away!). What I really like about the book is the catalogue & illustrations in the back, as it means you can refer to a picture of the Sheela being mentioned in the main text.
I have worked with Sheela na Gig as a gateway Goddess for a while, but this book really opened up some new ways in which to percieve her. I have always worked with Sheela as a Goddess of similar nature to the Morrigan etc, and this book seems to concur with my beliefs, which is always a bonus! As a side note, whereas many pagans split their Goddesses into a triplicity of maiden, mother & crone, I like to think Goddesses (if you percieve her as one that is!) such as Sheela transcend this pattern, being linked to sex, life, death & renewal. I think it's a product of modern minds who like to seperate life & sex from death that has led to the threefold pattern, and I have found that working with these types of Goddesses has allowed me to spread my perception of to link death & life (and before working with gateway Goddesses I did have a real problem with death).
I also agree with a lot of the arguments made especially against the idea
that the Sheelas are a warning against lust & sin. The Oxford Sheela was in
the tower museum with a card quoting this idea from Images of Lust, but
having seen where it was originally on the tower, I also find it quite
unlikely that a warning would be placed in such an unprominent place.
Martin