Fertility symbol

A fertility symbol is an object used by early historical human societies representing fertility, reminders of which remain in folklore today.

Fertility symbols have traditionally taken on many different forms. The prehistoric Venus of Willendorf is commonly regarded as an example of a feminine fertility symbol - its rotundity and obesity being seen as attractive in times when food was scarce.

Certain animals that reproduce prolifically are also seen as fertility symbols, such as frogs and rabbits - the Easter Bunny as symbol of rebirth and fertility - while the same is also true of the widespread classical image of intertwining snakes.Freud considered the pig to be a further primitive symbol of fertility.

The Sacred marriage of sovereign Queen/mother and the annually dying fertility godling was itself a fertility symbol. Not unconnected was the phallus as a symbol of vegetative fertility, linked to the notion that the ritual performance of the sexual act promotes agricultural growth.

Śiva the Hindu god was worshipped as the principle of generation through the symbol of the lingam (phallus). His complement is the river Ganges, his mistress and the mother of all fertilising rivers.

Two treasures of Bran the Blessed, his magical horn and platter providing food and drink on demand, were fertility symbols that have been associated with the legend of the Holy Grail.

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