BEGÜM ÇELİK

The interpretation of an umbrella as an erotic symbol dates back to Greco-Roman god Bacchus and his followers called bacchantes. Since Bacchus’s cult was mainly associated with pleasure, rave, and ecstasy, the usage of the umbrella in different occasions like festivals or events by cult members assigned an erotic meaning to that object. Later its associations were generally made with royalty and wealth and this aspect has been forgotten. After a long time has passed, the character named Henrietta Petowker in Nicholas Nickleby was portrayed as “[she] knows that she is admired at the theatre by the jauntily phallic appearance of a most preserving umbrella in the upper boxes” by Charles Dickens, while he was pointing out the erotic perception of the object. Sixty years later Freud explains the relationship of umbrellas with the unconscious as such “all elongated objects, sticks, tree-trunks, umbrellas (on account of the opening, which might be likened to an erection), all sharp and elonga...

  Umbrella or parasol appears in many belief systems both as a spiritual symbol and physical object carried in religious events, rituals, and festivals. In Ancient Greece, the followers of Dionysus were carrying parasols in bright colors in festivals and processions. More significantly, the carriage of parasols was associated with Skirophoria an Athenian agricultural festival held in the month of final harvest corresponding to May or June. In this festival, the priestess of Athena and the priests of Poseidon and Helios were walking from the Acropolis to a place called Skiron under the cover of a large white umbrella symbolizing the protection of the Attic soil against the burning sun rays. Skirophoria was organized by only Athenian women and dedicated to Demeter who is the goddess of fruitfulness and her daughter Persephone indicating the interpretation of the white umbrella as a pray toward the gods for fertility. The white parasol arises as a deity in Buddhism called “Ushnisha Si...

The word umbrella derives from the Latin where “umbra” means shadow.    Similarly, “para” defines shelter or shield, and “sol” means sun and they construct the word “parasol” which is used with the term umbrella interchangeably, yet parasols have a straight shaft different than the curved handle of the umbrella. As their etymological roots suggest, the primal intention of creating this object was the protection from exposure to the sun around four millennia before today. The early materials used in the construction were the tree leaves and branches until the invention of paper in China. The paper predecessors of this object later oiled since then the function of them have expanded from sunshade to protection from the rain even though they were not totally waterproof. These oil-paper parasols as well as dry, silk parasols made their way to Europe around Renaissance and became a fashionable trend amongst women. In 1708 The Kersey’s Dictionary defined the umbrella as “a scre...