If you look at texts on Paganism from the nineteenth through mid-twentieth centuries, you’ll see a lot of the word “fertility.” But what does fertility really mean in this context? In the 21st century, we look at it and tend to think of human reproduction, but in historical context, it more often means something else altogether. Here, I talk through three main uses of “fertility” in this period, and how to tell which way the word is being used in any given context:
- Human reproduction
- Success in agriculture
- Euphemistically referring to sex
Jack Chanek 