Seeking Feminine Solace Over the Seas!!!

“This older woman needed an escape, some joy, some adventure and to find some life again and so she, (me!!!), finally escaped the long Melbourne Lockdown to go overseas.” 

Where I travelled:

When? in May and June this year, 2022.

At the museum shop I found an accurate recast of the original sculpture of the dancing woman.  I purchased the sculpture to return home with me.  I needed to hold onto a bit of the joy this sculpture imbibes, that of dancing, of joining with other women in sacred movement, of the sheer pleasure of being alive and expressing oneself, and definitely this sculpture was an expression of the feminine. 

The Minoans knew joy, they loved the arts in all its forms.  I wanted to digest some of the valuing of this beauty in human creativity.  My exploration of the site of Knossos confirmed that women were involved in all aspects of society, and were depicted in a variety of roles, not limited to domestic or subservient  positions. 

It’s argued that Minoan society, so successful, long serving, and prosperous, had numerous , significant achievements in terms of arts, culture, prosperity of its citizens, together with lengthy periods of wellbeing and peace. 

I imagine the city being strengthened by its female citizens who were playing active and important roles, where it appears equality and shared benefits were afforded both genders. 

Affluence, multiple artistic expressions and long standing peace can be attributed to this healthy culture, where all citizens contributed, benefited and reaped the rewards of inclusive approaches.  I would have enjoyed living in this culture in terms of its feminine appreciation, where the goddess, or feminine sacred figures, supported a successful society and provided aspiration and expression for everyone.  Stable, peaceful and long standing prosperity results from such integration. 

Knossos was an eye opener for me as to the potential for human prosperity and creativity.  I only hope my era can work harder and faster to learn these lessons.

They are  sculptures of female figures with large vulvas, and typically the figure  herself is spreading her vulva apart in a displaying gesture.  Historians and archeologists do not agree on the meaning and/or purpose of these sculptures, arguing they are serving as a warning to people of the dangerous nature of promiscuity, sexual behavior.

Another theory is they are fertility symbols, celebrating the fertility of the feminine.

A third theory theory is they are representations of the devil, or devil like energies, to threaten or warn people of satanic energy.

Or, the theory I am more inclined to believe, is that they are expressions of female empowerment, proud, forthright expressions of female energy, using the vulva as representative of core feminine energy.

I am fascinated with the expression of that energy , which is one of pride, confidence, and a preparedness to celebrate and delight in the feminine.

Rachel and I decided to head for Kilpeck, Herefordshire, where England’s most iconic Sheela is situated.  Once off the highway headed south, we find ourselves on narrow country roads, and surrounded by beautiful English countryside.

Once we locate Kilpeck we find the Church of St Mary and St David where our Sheela has her home.  Most Sheela’s are found on, in or around churches.  As we pull up, we note a number of cars.  We’re not alone in searching for our ancient sister!!! But alas!!!! Oh no, we discover that the church is covered in scaffolding.  Almost the entire buildings externals are covered in corrugated iron and scaffolding. Of all times to renovate and restore the church it would be the time we chose to visit it.  I am quietly devastated.

How are we going to see our Sheela in this condition?

Firstly, wet go inside the church and discover, with the aid of written material and signs, that the church is indeed an ancient one and deemed very significant in terms of historical English country churches.  But the emphasis is on its age. Built around 1140 AD, the church has many significant sculptures on its external surrounds, called corbels, and we find no specific mention of the Sheela in the documents.

A brochure depicts the many sculptures, one of which is the Sheela, but she is in no way singled out and mentioned as anything special, anything significant.  In fact, I believe she is deliberately left out of the discussion and is barely acknowledged at the church.  I feel her omittance is because she is a sexual being, a female delightedly celebrating her vulva, and there is a reluctance to focus on such a figure!!!!

Other figures, animals, gorgons, are celebrated…….. Sheela is virtually ignored, dismissed.

Once this information is digested, Rachel and I go outside to try and find her, and indeed, behind the scaffolding, hidden by sheets of corrugated iron, we can just see the Sheela peeking through metal walls.  It’s virtually impossible to photograph her, but we do our best.  Later we discover another spot, head on, where some bars of the scaffolding are crossing her, but where I can capture her face…..but not her vulva.

How extraordinary, to come halfway around the world, to discover the Sheela is being covered up for renovation, renovation that has never happened before.  However, disappointed we are, we can confirm that she exists, she is beautiful, and we felt her feminine power……she is significant, this is a significant experience, to be in her presence!

Somewhat deflated for this had been a two-hour drive south, we discover of the three or four buildings in Kilpeck, one is an historical Inn.  We decide to stop for lunch and our timing is perfect as we have ten minutes to order lunch before the kitchen closes.

It’s a delightful pub, a gorgeous dining room, extremely characterful and authentically English and we eat a seriously good lunch of muscles and soup.  Spectacularly delicious.  We return to the church after lunch and see even more cars at the church…. Kilpeck church is a destination site, important, but no one else appears to pay any attention to the Sheela.  I wonder why????

Is it really what I think it is…embarrassment, shame, disgust, dismissal of the feminine?  Whatever the case, I have seen her, I have felt her power, even draped in this industrial garb and I won’t forget her.

We meander home through Hay-0n-Wye, the Book town of Britain, and then onto Bishops Castle for a late evening drink and snack.  The views over the Shropshire hills are divine.  I feel privileged to experience even more beautiful English countryside.

Once home, I return to my Sheela na gig book that talks of her history and reveals all the locations of the Sheela’s in Great Britain and Ireland.  There are many locations, many Sheela’s on this planet.  Sculpting sheela’s was once a prolific activity, and we assume it was always male sculptures who were the artists. I don’t imagine that the medieval women of the Middle Ages were stone sculpturesses.

Rachel has drawn a beautiful Sheela and she presents it to me in a lovely cardboard frame, that will be then framed in wood when I return to Australia.  What a lovely gift and what a reminder of the Sheela na gig that we both met and gave appropriate homage and respect to in the rolling hills of England’s midlands.

Farewell to Shrewsbury

My days in Shrewsbury come to end, having been filled with beautiful walks along the Severn River, hikes on the outlying hills, and through the lanes, roads, and courtyards of this medieval town.  We swim together, we sing, we watch inspired documentaries on witches and their murder, and we amble in and out of stimulating conversation.  But now my departure for Scotland and my stay in Edinburgh is a day away.  I have prepared for an important engagement in the Scottish southern coastal area of Dunbar, an equine therapy encounter, with a Scottish woman called Midi.  But Midi and I have quite the journey before we meet.  First our appointment is cancelled, as Midi encounters a flight rescheduling for her holiday, very consistent with covid airport dramas of this time. 

Our appointment clashes with a new flight schedule.  Reluctantly I can’t change my own train booking and so I look for another equine therapist, having approached a few before I settled on Midi.  One place, a riding school, with an associated therapy program, is a possibility, however the male therapist wants to charge an exorbitant fee for this one and a half hour appointment, 220 pound ($440 we have much to talk about and I discover we have similar concerns for our profession, that being its emphasis on the medical model as a dominating paradigm over all others, and that the resulting labelling and pathologizing of clients, especially, young female clients, is leaving vulnerable young people burdened with the blame for their condition, having an intrinsic brain abnormality, a hormone imbalance , a family inherited gene, and with no understanding nor appreciation of the cultural and societal causes for deep distress and suffering, that are so inconveniently left out of the equation when)!!!!! 

He may have been experienced, with an elite clientele in London, but he wasn’t for me at such an outlandish price.  I decide to give up!!!  However, the universe, or maybe it’s the goddess, has a different agenda.  Midi’s flight is totally cancelled.  Can I still come for such a last-minute arrangement?  Yes, I can come, and I return to my list of carefully worded directions, and plan to finally meet Midi in only two days’ time.

On my train journey to Edinburgh I have a delightful young companion randomly sitting beside me, who, surprise, surprise, is a young psychologist, on her way to St Andrews for a graduation ceremony, having just left her very first job as a clinician in an eating disorders unit.

Of course, we have much to talk about and I discover we have similar concerns for our profession, that being its emphasis on the medical model as a dominating paradigm over all others, and that the resulting labelling and pathologizing of clients, especially, young female clients, is leaving vulnerable young people burdened with the blame for their condition, having an intrinsic brain abnormality, a hormone imbalance , a family inherited gene, and with no understanding nor appreciation of the cultural and societal causes for deep distress and suffering, that are so inconveniently left out of the equation when we are addressing mental health.

We both agreed that blaming the victim was rife in our profession and that the damage being caused by this approach when working with clients was intolerable, and would not cease, until a broader and more encompassing understanding of trauma and the normal responses to trauma and suffering was understood.

I parted company with my young friend, heartened by her understanding and insight into the real problems in our profession.  She clearly had integrated the knowledge of what is genuine assistance to clients.  She understood the importance of promoting authentic healing interventions that would empower rather than label and blame, and that the medical model in psychology was at best unhelpful, at worst damaging.

There’s hope with this new generation of therapists.  I am truly inspired by these young female therapists I have met.  I hope these women are able to stick to their guns, resist the influence of the hierarchical power players who dominate the profession, and stay true to themselves as healers and to their clients!!!! I believe they will do just this.

The Witches Reunion

I am met at the Edinburgh station by a Scottish friend who I first encountered in Eltham, Melbourne and who has now returned to Scotland with his family to give his children the opportunity to experience living in Scotland and have relationships with their Scottish relatives.  We have the most wonderful time together, and delight in catching up on news.