Fertility symbol
Encyclopedia
A fertility symbol is an object used by early historical human
societies representing fertility
, reminders of which remain in folklore
today.
...is a commonly cited example of a female fertility symbol' its rotundity and obesity
being seen as attractive in times when food
was scarce. Also, certain animals that reproduce often have been viewed as fertility symbols, such as frogs and rabbits. Freud considered that 'the pig is an ancient fertility symbol'; while 'the fertility symbol of intertwining mating snakes spread through the ancient world'.
The Sacred marriage of 'the sovereign Queen-mother...[&] a yearly dying, yearly resurrected, fertility godling' was itself a fertility symbol; and the related 'use of the phallus
as a symbol of fertility is inseparable from vegetation magic, being derived from the notion that the ritual performance of the sexual act
stimulates agricultural growth'.
the Hindu god 'is indifferent to pleasures, yet everywhere is worshipped as the principle of generation under the symbol of the lingam
(phallus)'. His complement is the river Ganges - 'his beloved mistress, Ganga ("water", mother of rivers, symbol of fertility, shown iconographically in association with Śiva's head)'.
, his magical horn and platter - '"the drink and the food that one asked for, one received in it when one desired"' - were fertility symbols that have been associated with the legend of the Holy Grail
. 'The figure at Cerne Abbas
...is an ancient fertilty symbol, and in the past childless women would walk up to it in the expectation that this would help them to conceive'.
The Maypole
, 'a phallic pole with a feminine discus as the top [is] a fertility symbol erected to celebrate spring, sexual union, and the renewal of life'. Jungians
consider similarly that with 'the pleasant ritual of Easter eggs and Easter rabbits
...we have fallen in with the symbolism of rebirth' and fertility.
For Jung himself, 'the phallus always means the creative mana
, the power of healing and fertilty'; while Lacan
considered that 'the phallus is...the image of the vital flow as it is transmitted in generation'. Conversely, Eric Berne
wrote of the vagina that 'as a fertility symbol to be worshipped by others...it gives dramatic promise of productivity and protection'.
Western marriage ceremonies regularly include the throwing of 'the indispensable bouquet, once regarded as a fertility symbol, as was the rice thrown at the happy couple'. Byplay with shoes is likewise not always understood 'except as a vague "fertiltiy symbol"...[of] the fertile vagina, as of "The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe"
'.
Jessie L. Weston, From Ritual to Romance (Cambridge)
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
societies representing fertility
Fertility
Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
, reminders of which remain in folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
today.
Ancient forms
Fertility symbols took on several different forms. The prehistoric 'Venus of WillendorfVenus of Willendorf
The Venus of Willendorf, also known as the Woman of Willendorf, is an high statuette of a female figure estimated to have been made between 24,000 and 22,000 BCE. It was discovered in 1908 by archaeologist Josef Szombathy at a paleolithic site near Willendorf, a village in Lower Austria near the...
...is a commonly cited example of a female fertility symbol' its rotundity and obesity
Obesity
Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems...
being seen as attractive in times when food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
was scarce. Also, certain animals that reproduce often have been viewed as fertility symbols, such as frogs and rabbits. Freud considered that 'the pig is an ancient fertility symbol'; while 'the fertility symbol of intertwining mating snakes spread through the ancient world'.
The Sacred marriage of 'the sovereign Queen-mother...[&] a yearly dying, yearly resurrected, fertility godling' was itself a fertility symbol; and the related 'use of the phallus
Phallus
A phallus is an erect penis, a penis-shaped object such as a dildo, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. Any object that symbolically resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic...
as a symbol of fertility is inseparable from vegetation magic, being derived from the notion that the ritual performance of the sexual act
Sexual ritual
Sexual rituals fall into two categories: culture-created, and natural behaviour, the human animal having developed sex rituals from evolutionary instincts for reproduction, which are then integrated into society, and elaborated to include aspects such as marriage rites, dances, etc...
stimulates agricultural growth'.
Hindu mythology
ŚivaShiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
the Hindu god 'is indifferent to pleasures, yet everywhere is worshipped as the principle of generation under the symbol of the lingam
Lingam
The Lingam is a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva used for worship in temples....
(phallus)'. His complement is the river Ganges - 'his beloved mistress, Ganga ("water", mother of rivers, symbol of fertility, shown iconographically in association with Śiva's head)'.
Modern survivals
Two treasures of Bran the BlessedBran the Blessed
Brân the Blessed is a giant and king of Britain in Welsh mythology. He appears in several of the Welsh Triads, but his most significant role is in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi, Branwen ferch Llŷr. He is a son of Llŷr and Penarddun, and the brother of Brânwen, Manawydan, Nisien and Efnysien...
, his magical horn and platter - '"the drink and the food that one asked for, one received in it when one desired"' - were fertility symbols that have been associated with the legend of the Holy Grail
Holy Grail
The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...
. 'The figure at Cerne Abbas
Cerne Abbas giant
The Cerne Abbas Giant, also referred to as the Rude Man or the Rude Giant, is a hill figure of a giant naked man on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas, to the north of Dorchester, in Dorset, England. The high, wide figure is carved into the side of a steep hill, and is best viewed from...
...is an ancient fertilty symbol, and in the past childless women would walk up to it in the expectation that this would help them to conceive'.
The Maypole
Maypole
A maypole is a tall wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost although in some countries it is instead erected at Midsummer...
, 'a phallic pole with a feminine discus as the top [is] a fertility symbol erected to celebrate spring, sexual union, and the renewal of life'. Jungians
Jung
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology.Jung may also refer to:* Jung * JUNG, Java Universal Network/Graph Framework-See also:...
consider similarly that with 'the pleasant ritual of Easter eggs and Easter rabbits
Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit is a character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted with clothes...
...we have fallen in with the symbolism of rebirth' and fertility.
For Jung himself, 'the phallus always means the creative mana
Mana
Mana is an indigenous Pacific islander concept of an impersonal force or quality that resides in people, animals, and inanimate objects. The word is a cognate in many Oceanic languages, including Melanesian, Polynesian, and Micronesian....
, the power of healing and fertilty'; while Lacan
Lacan
Lacan is surname of:* Jacques Lacan , French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist** The Seminars of Jacques Lacan** From Bakunin to Lacan: Anti-Authoritarianism and the Dislocation of Power, a book on political philosophy by Saul Newman** Lacan at the Scene* Judith Miller, née Lacan...
considered that 'the phallus is...the image of the vital flow as it is transmitted in generation'. Conversely, Eric Berne
Eric Berne
Eric Berne was a Canadian-born psychiatrist best known as the creator of transactional analysis and the author of Games People Play.-Background and education:...
wrote of the vagina that 'as a fertility symbol to be worshipped by others...it gives dramatic promise of productivity and protection'.
Western marriage ceremonies regularly include the throwing of 'the indispensable bouquet, once regarded as a fertility symbol, as was the rice thrown at the happy couple'. Byplay with shoes is likewise not always understood 'except as a vague "fertiltiy symbol"...[of] the fertile vagina, as of "The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe"
There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe
"There Was an Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19132.-Lyrics:The most common version of the rhyme is:There was an old woman who lived in a shoe....
'.
Western art
- In Botticelli's Primavera, on the one hand 'the Three GracesCharitesIn Greek mythology, a Charis is one of several Charites , goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility. They ordinarily numbered three, from youngest to oldest: Aglaea , Euphrosyne , and Thalia . In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, the "Graces"...
represented by nubile young women...embody the sexual powers of springtime'; while opposite them 'FloraFlora (mythology)In Roman mythology, Flora was a goddess of flowers and the season of spring. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime...
, goddess of Spring...is a symbol of motherhood and, by her distribution of the roses gathered in her skirt, the good things of life'.
- In Picasso' paintings of Marie-Thérèse WalterMarie-Thérèse WalterMarie-Thérèse Walter was the French mistress and model of Pablo Picasso from 1927 to about 1935, and the mother of his daughter, Maya Widmaier-Picasso. Their relationship began when she was seventeen years old; he was 45 and still living with his first wife, Olga Khokhlova...
, 'everywhere there are symbols of growth and fertility...green, the colour of nature's renewal'. In his 'series of sleeping nudes...Picasso may have been influenced by the much reproduced Hal Saflieni Reclining Woman...and the Venuses of LespugueVenus of LespugueThe Venus of Lespugue is a Venus figurine, a statuette of a nude female figure of the Gravettian, dated to between 26,000 and 24,000 years ago...
and Willendorf, which with their heavy, ripe, bulging forms can be viewed as ancestresses of Picasso's images of female fecundity'.
Literature
- In The BacchaeThe BacchaeThe Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy by the Athenian playwright Euripides, during his final years in Macedon, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included Iphigeneia at Aulis, and which...
Dionysus - as 'a kind of male fertility god' - 'represented that special kind of vitality which we sometimes refer to as the Life Force. It is a force which, in itself, is neither good nor bad. It simply exists...'
- When at the close of Possession: A Romance the two lovers finally unite in the midst of a great storm, they wake the next day to find 'the whole world had a strange new smell...a green smell, a smell of shredded leaves and oozing resin, of crushed wood and splashed sap, a tart smell, which bore some relation to the smell of bitten apples. It was the smell of death and destruction and it smelled fresh and lively and hopeful'.
See also
Further Reading
James G. Frazer, The Golden Bough (1922)Jessie L. Weston, From Ritual to Romance (Cambridge)