Sheela are figurative carvings of naked women displaying an exaggerated vulva. They are architectural found on churches, castles and other buildings, particularly in Ireland and Great Britain. By opening her vulva as wide as possible, this figure seems to show us where we come from and, perhaps, to invite us back into her womb once life comes to an end.

In the centre, the soul of the dead is shown by two angels within a mandorla, an image of salvation, but also a universal symbol of the Goddess and the Yoni. 

Created c. 1100 by an unknown master, Church of San Salvador and San Gines in Jaca, Huesca, Spain

Mammoth ivory, ~16 000 BC

It was discovered in 1864 by the Marquis Paul de Vibraye at Laugerie Basse. It was the first Venus figure found in France.

2700-2300 BC

The Cycladic civilization flourished on the islands of the central Aegean during the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC). Sculptures in marble are the most characteristic products of the Early Cycladic civilization. 

The meaning and function of Cycladic figurines is kind of an enigma. In the absence of written records, any interpretation has to be based exclusively upon archaeological finds and reasonable assumptions.

From earliest times, humanity has found visual expression for the cosmic forces of creation, birth, and passion in artistic representations of human genitalia. Fertility cults centered on phallic worship are well documented, but older and even more pervasive are Goddess images of the vulva-known in the East since ancient times as the yoni. Yoni symbolism is a part of spiritual traditions in every part of the globe-from naturally occuring rock formations revered by North American Native peoples to the shakta-pithas of Hindu temples, and from early Celtic sheela-na-gig carvings to the Japanese kagura ritual. 

The Yoni traces this primal motif in Australian Aboriginal folk tales, in alchemy, in Tantric practices, and in contemporary art by painters such as Georgia O'Keefe and Judy Chicago. 

Dozens of illustrations, many in color, reproduce the variety of carvings, drawings, and other portrayals of this universal symbol of feminine creativity.

The evolution of the female image in 40,000 years of global Venus Art

1. This book is the first pioneering study of global ‘Venuses’ who are part of an ancient and contemporary art traditionally called ‘Venus Art’, the art of the primal mother(s), the art of the female ancestors. 

2. Venus Art reflects the consciousness of egalitarian societies of peace in which women and feminine values play or have played a central role, in which MA or the MATER or MOTHER and the primal mothers of the clan are central. 

3. To date Venus Art has been misunderstood, neglected and not integrally researched. The art has become eroticised and sexualised. The purpose of this book is to rehabilitate Venus Art. Venus is no pin-up or sex idol. She is a manifestation of the divine Mother MA.