Dilukai (or dilukái or dilugai) are wooden figures of young women carved over the doorways of chiefs' houses (''bai'') in the
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.
Dilukai from the Caroline Islands, Belau (Palau) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Christian missionaries were not fond of Dilukai, and changed the context, claiming that their purpose was to shame an immoral woman.
See also
* Anasyrma
*Baubo
Baubo (Ancient Greek: Βαυβώ) is an old woman in Greek mythology which appears particularly in the myths of the early Orphic religion. Known as the goddess of mirth, she is depicted as bawdy and sexually liberated, and is said to have jested ...
*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.
...
*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, described in modern publications as a divine scholar, scribe or librarian by modern researchers. She could also se ...
* Sheela na gig
*Yoni
''Yoni'' (; sometimes also ), 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 microc ...
Footnotes
References
* D’Alleva, Anne, ''Arts of the Pacific Islands'', New York, Harry N. Abrams, 1998.
* Jones, Lindsay (ed), ''Encyclopedia of Religion'', Detroit, Macmillan, 2005, article on ''Yoni''.
External links
Dilukai from the Caroline Islands, Belau (Palau) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Palauan culture
Fertility goddesses
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