This is my Tuesday entry and it happens to be a Gallery entry too.

The picture is a Sheela na gig. No one is quite sure what their meaning is. All we know for sure is that they are naked female figures with exaggerated vulva that appeared in churches.

With Beltaine coming up, I thought it a good time to discuss something that has been bothering me for a while. Most neopagan religions are based on fertility cults. But more and more I see efforts to hide the nudity and the sex, especially from the young ones. It's as if many American pagans pretend that the roots don't exist.

For the sake of the children.

Now I understand that many parents want family friendly events. And I don't want to be the weird childless man telling people how to raise their kids.

But, But, BUT our faith is about natural cycles and fertility.

I do think there should be celebrations of fertility, sexuality, and nudity.

Fertility is juicy.

Fertility is sexy.

Fertility is messy.

You can't lock all those things away in a closet until it's convenient. That sexual repression can screw up lives.

That's why I chose a Sheela na gig. There's no hiding fertility with them. These figures used were very prominent in churches.

Why do many American pagans act as if we are ashamed of fertility? If we DARE not discuss sex because we might be labeled perverted?

We're taking something special and sealing it away.