Dilukai
Dilukai (or dilukái or dilugai) are wooden figures of young women carved over the doorways of chiefs' houses (''bai'') in the Palau, Palauan archipelago. They are typically shown with legs splayed, revealing a large, black, triangular pubic area with the hands resting on the thighs. These female figures protect the villagers' health and crops and ward off evil spirits. They were traditionally carved by ritual specialists according to strict rules, which, if broken, would result in the deaths of the carver and the chief. Female figures presenting their vulva can be found in many cultures: they symbolize fertility, (spiritual) rebirth, and they protect from evil (see above). Mythology Another explanation of Dilukai is that a woman named Dilukái was the sister of a troublesome man named Atmatuyuk. He eventually departed and these images of his sister were erected to prevent his return, as it was forbidden for a brother to see his sister’s genitalia. Other analysts interpre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Baubo
Baubo (Ancient Greek: Βαυβώ) is a minor figure in Greek mythology who does not appear in surviving sources before the fourth century CE. A fragment from Asclepiades of Tragilus states that she is the wife of Dysaules, who was said to be Autochthon (ancient Greece), autochthonous; that they had two daughters, Protonoe and Mise (mythology), Misa; and that the couple welcomed Demeter into their house. The fifth century CE Greek grammarian Hesychius of Alexandria, Hesychius recorded the name Baubo in his lexicon, stating that she was the nurse of Demeter. He gives the meaning of the word as 'hollow' or 'stomach' (κοιλίαν, ''koilian''), citing the fifth century BCE philosopher Empedocles as a source. Eleusinian Mysteries Baubo was worshipped along with Demeter and Persephone on the island of Paros, Paros. Evidence from inscriptions indicates that she had cult status at Naxos and in Dion (Macedonia) as well as in Paros in connection with Demeter and Kore. Baubo is also men ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lajja Gauri
Lajjā Gaurī is a lotus-headed Hindu goddess associated with abundance, fertility and sexuality, sometimes euphemistically described as ''Lajja'' ("modesty"). She is sometimes shown in a birthing posture, but without outward signs of pregnancy. History Early depictions of Lajja Gauri in Shaktism were found in the Indus Valley seals, though her later depiction dates to the 1st-3rd centuries, and her worship is prevalent in the Deccan, a region of the Indian subcontinent. Iconography Her fertility aspect is emphasized by symbolic representation of the genitals, yoni or the womb, as a blooming lotus flower denoting blooming youth in some cases and in others through a simple yet detailed depiction of an exposed vulva. She is sitting in a squatting position (malasana) with legs open, as in during childbirth, in some cases, the right foot is placed on a platform to facilitate full opening. She is invoked for abundant crops (vegetative fertility) and good progeny. A blossoming lo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sheela Na Gig
A sheela na gig is a figurative carving of a naked woman displaying an exaggerated Human vulva, vulva. These carvings, from the Middle Ages, are Grotesque (architecture), architectural grotesques found throughout most of Europe on Architecture of cathedrals and great churches, cathedrals, castles, and other buildings. The greatest concentrations can be found in Ireland, Great Britain, France and Spain, sometimes together with male figures. Ireland has the greatest number of surviving sheela na gig carvings; Joanne McMahon and Jack Roberts cite 124 examples in Ireland and 45 examples in Britain. One of the best examples may be found in the Irish round tower, Round Tower at Rattoo, in County Kerry, Ireland. There is a replica of the Round Tower sheela na gig in the County Museum in Tralee town. Another well-known example may be seen at Kilpeck in Herefordshire, England. The carvings may have been used to ward off death, evil and demons. Other grotesque carvings, such as gargoyl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Palau
Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands, while the eastern and central parts make up the Federated States of Micronesia. It has a total area of , making it the sixteenth smallest country in the world. The most populous island is Koror, home to the country's most populous city of the same name. The capital, Ngerulmud, is located on the largest island of Babeldaob, in Melekeok State. Palau shares maritime boundaries with international waters to the north, the Federated States of Micronesia to the east, Indonesia to the south, and the Philippines to the northwest. The country was originally settled approximately 3,000 years BP by migrants from Maritime Southeast Asia. Palau was first drawn on a European map by the Bohemian missionary Paul Klein based on a description g ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anasyrma
Anasyrma () composed of ἀνά ''ana'' "up, against, back", and σύρμα ''syrma'' "a dragging motion"; plural: anasyrmata (), also called anasyrmos (), is the gesture of lifting the skirt or kilt. It is used in connection with certain religious rituals, eroticism, and lewd jokes (see, for example, Baubo). The term is used in describing corresponding works of art. Anasyrma may be a deliberately provocative self-exposing of one's naked genitals or buttocks. The famous example of the latter case is Aphrodite Kallipygos ("Aphrodite of the beautiful buttocks"). In other contexts, this gesture has an apotropaic character, that is, a means to ward off a supernatural enemy, or it may be a sign of mockery, analogous to mooning. Greek antiquity Ritual jesting and intimate exposure were common in the cults of Demeter and Dionysus, and figure in the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries associated with these divinities. The mythographer Apollodorus says that Iambe's jesting was the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nin-imma
Ninimma was a Mesopotamian goddess best known as a courtier of Enlil. She is well attested as a deity associated with scribal arts, and is variously described as a divine scholar, scribe or librarian by modern Assyriologists. She could also serve as an assistant of the birth goddess Ninmah, and a hymn describes her partaking in cutting of umbilical cords and determination of fates. It has also been suggested that she was associated with vegetation. In the Middle Babylonian period she additionally came to be viewed as a healing deity. Nippur was Ninimma's main cult center, though she is also known from documents from other cities, such as Adab and Uruk. In various sources, she appears alongside deities such as Nisaba, who like her was associated with scribes, or other members of Enlil's court, such as Shuzianna and Ninkasi. She is sparsely attested in literary texts, with only two hymns dedicated to her presently known. She also appears in the myth ''Enki and Ninmah'' and in a va ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yoni
''Yoni'' (Sanskrit: योनि, ), sometimes called ''pindika'', is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu goddess Shakti. It is usually shown with ''linga'' – its masculine counterpart. Together, they symbolize the merging of microcosmos and macrocosmos, the divine eternal process of creation and regeneration, and the union of the feminine and the masculine that recreates all of existence. The ''yoni'' is conceptualized as nature's gateway of all births, particularly in the esoteric Kaula and Tantra practices, as well as the Shaktism and Shaivism traditions of Hinduism. ''Yoni'' is a Sanskrit word that has been interpreted to literally mean the "womb", the "source", and the female organs of generation., Quote: "Yoni- 'womb, vulva', Yoni- "way, abode' is from a second PIE root ..; It also connotes the female sexual organs such as "vagina", "vulva", and "uterus", or alternatively to "origin, abode, or source" of anything in other contexts. For example, the V ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Culture Of Palau
Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands, while the eastern and central parts make up the Federated States of Micronesia. It has a total area of , making it the sixteenth smallest country in the world. The most populous island is Koror, home to the country's most populous city of the same name. The capital, Ngerulmud, is located on the largest island of Babeldaob, in Melekeok State. Palau shares maritime boundaries with international waters to the north, the Federated States of Micronesia to the east, Indonesia to the south, and the Philippines to the northwest. The country was originally settled approximately 3,000 years BP by migrants from Maritime Southeast Asia. Palau was first drawn on a European map by the Bohemian missionary Paul Klein based on a description given by a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |