Goddess of the Week: Sheila Na Gig

The Sheela na Gig project www.sheelanagig.org. The (in)famous Kilpeck Sheela Na Gig (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Alison's father landed in the hospital the very week she was supposed to help him and her mother move to a new home.  Alison needs a goddess to help her negotiate the difficulties that accompany caring for aging parents. Alison needs the Irish goddess Sheila Na Gig.

Like so many Celtic gods and goddesses, there is not much known about Sheila Na Gig. She was snuck from her pre-Christian heyday into the days of Catholicism when masons carved her likeness above church doors.  And what a likeness! She's depicted as a happy old lady with sagging breasts who holds open her private parts with her fingers! There are still some reliefs left, but many were destroyed and smashed by the offended.

Sheila Na Gig is birth and death all wrapped up in one. She reminds us that life is a cycle. Where we are--who we are--in that cycle changes really quick. But, remember, Sheila Na Gig is a happy old lady! She would want you to know that there can be joy in every part of the cycle, and that even in the rush and scramble of caring for others, as you are doing right now, Alison, good humor and an awareness of the ways in which youth and aging are bound together can make the journey of life a little more pleasant.

Channel this goddess: When squeezed into the sandwich generation, when your own path to aging seems too difficult, when bra shopping. Aging needs not mean saggy sisters. 

Need a goddess? Post a comment explaining what you need or want a goddess for. Then check back in a few weeks and see what you got. It's fun! It's free! It's a little less anatomically graphic than Sheila Na Gig.