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I am writing from the seam between worlds- we are just past Samhain, the time of the thinning of the veil. It is slowly closing up, like a wound healing itself. At the time of my writing this, the first snow of the season is on in Philadelphia. The winter is Hermit time to me, when we release ourselves from the world and journey inward. We become the bear, engorged on our Spring and Summertime experiences, lessons, heartbreaks, victories and
hibernate. We take the time to process these experiences in our winter cave.

Much like the bear who digs into the earth making his own ‘cave’, the Ancient Medusa lived a solitary, lonely life in her own. Her ‘otherness’ was the nest of snakes atop her head: in earlier iterations, she was monstrously grotesque, but as time passed her features gave way to a stunning beauty beneath the hands of the artists who reimagined her.

This re-visioning marked her as one of the first ‘Femme Fatales’ of the cultural consciousness – a creature possessing the beauty of a woman and all the power that physical beauty bestows (seduction, sexual prowess) but also terrifying in her deeper powers of death. She embodies the tension between beauty and terror: one look from Medusa turned anything living into stone, though no women were recorded in Myth to have befallen this fate.

Separated from the body, the head of Medusa took on apotropaic qualities, appearing at the entryway of structures and homes to ward off evil and trespassers. In this way, the head of Medusa took on a protectionary quality, frightening away energies and people intent on harm, contradicting the murderous qualities she possessed when fully embodied. Beheaded by Perseus as a trophy, even her blood held potent magical qualities: Pegasus was born from her severed neck and coral is said to be the hardened blood of the Medusa. Set in fine metal, coral also became apotropaic, often worn on the necks of children that extended past ancient times.

Akin to the lightning bolt of destruction in The Tower, Medusa embodies this energy with her death gaze. Wearing these talismans brings this duality of nature to their wearer: her head as a symbol, became a protectionary talisman, while in life, she was a force of destruction; horror and death. The energy of both beauty and terror exists within us, much as the snake has the power of its deadly venom as well as the power to heal.

In myth, Medusa is slain while vulnerable: sleeping.

Here, our beloved tiny life cast snake becomes twin strands of her serpentine tresses, resting calmly in sleep, in a beautiful Art Nouveau inspired shape.

Beauty and Terror. Life and Death.

Details:

- 50mm tall

- 54mm wide

- solid sterling silver

- shown on dress form at 16 inches

- hand oxidized to achieve our shade of gloomy grey and highlighted to reveal the bright luminous silver beneath

***IMPORTANT***

This jewel is handmade to order, just for you, with care and focus. Please allow approximately 4 weeks for creation before shipping.                   

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If you have further questions, we are always here to serve you in a kind and timely manner: via bloodmilkjewels@gmail.com