Venus of Willendorf
Pre-historic Goddess of Fertility and Creation

The overwhelming number of female figurines found in Europe from the Upper Paleolithic period, 35,000 - 25,000 BC were at first ignored and discredited as mere toys or a form of sexual figures carved by early men to satisfy their own fantasies.  But their sheer numbers, and the fact that many appear to have been wedged into carved "altars"   indicated something much more significant.   Of all the articles of worship ever found from the earliest periods of prehistory, female figures  far outnumber any other type.
 
It is not unlikely that primitive people had no idea that the male was involved in procreation--hence, they would have believed that the female could create life by an act of her own free will.  This mysterious ability, to grow another lifeform in one's own body and give birth to it--must have seemed like a godlike power, as indeed it is.

The Venus of Willendorf,or Great Goddess of Willendorf,  was found in Austria, but is representative of the hundreds of existing goddess figures and painting from the upper Paleolithic period--an astounding number in existence indicating that there must have been a far greater number actually carved and in use at that time for so many to have survived.  The outstanding feature of all these figures is their voluptuousness.   At a time when food had to be hunted, gathered or grown by great physical effort, a voluptuous body would have been considered a sign of luxury, abundance and fertility, since a starving woman can rarely conceive and give birth successfully.    Indeed, fat was probably considered not only desirable, but beautiful.

These figures represent  powerful, uncompromising femininity--highly sexual and fertile-- yet faceless, suggesting perhaps that the face of the goddess was too powerful and awesome to be depicted.  Or perhaps, reflecting the power of the egoless female, whose power is used to create and sustain life, rather than aggrandize herself.

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Large Venus
of Willendorf
Wand
Natural Quartz Forms
Antiqued lead-free
pewter figure
Approx. 6-7" long.
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Lounging Venus Of Willendorf
Ceremonium -
Holds tea light candle,
cone or stick incense, and
folded prayer or offering
Show in Royal Purple
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