St. Guignolé and Victor Noir: Two Useful Fellows

There is an actual category called phallic saints.  For true, as we say in New Orleans,

In Brest there is a church with a wooden statue of St. Guignolé (Guénolé) that has a long, erect extrusion from its body. It was the practice for Bretons to fondle or cut a small piece off St. Guignolé's apparent virile member as a charm or antidote against impotence.  His manliness seemed inexhaustible; however, that was due to a replaceable dowel placed through the statue.  Men calling on this hypervirile saint would do so to have relief from erectile dysfunction.  Women were particularly interested in him, as rubbing his, er, thingie was a good luck ritual that would increase their sexual enjoyment.

Rumor has it that the Vatican will repackage St. Guignolé as the Saint of Morning Wood.  Sometimes saints can be practical!

In another version, girls stick pins in the foot of his statue in order to find their soulmate.  Ouch!

In Péré LaChaise Cemetery, there is the grave of Victor Noir, a 19th century newsman who was killed in a duel. His recumbent statue on it has a suspiciously large bulge in the crotch area. Supposedly, women rub it to increase their enjoyment of sexual pleasure.  Although the statue is bronze and should be tarnished after being exposed to the elements for over a hundred years, Victor Noir's crotch is shiny!

So much for European sophistication.




Fans of M. Noir