Title: Seilaigh na Gig

Medium: Soft Pastels on Paper

Dimensions: 14x16

Status: For Sale $90 (matted and framed)

COMMENTS: In the modern Celtic world, Imbolc is celebrated on February 1st. It was originally a cross-season festival in the Celtic Calendar, dedicated to the Goddess Bride, also known as Bridget.

Some traces of the older religious and cultural symbols of the day lives on in parts of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Bonfires are still lit, bowls of milk left out for the good people, and on many an ancient building (even churches and convents), the Seilaigh na Gig can be found. This cheery effigy of a woman offering her private parts for all the world to see has many interpretations, although no one is sure of the correct one. Some think she's a fertility figure, some a type of Bride handmaiden used to ward off evil, others a representation of the gateway to and from the Other World.

Technorati Tags: Sheila na Gig, Imbolc, Goddess Bride