| THE EPISTOLARIAN |
In my years as an artist on the internet, I have heard some truly astonishing things about myself. I once had a woman accuse me of being unsympathetic to violence against women because I interpreted Persephone as having agency within her own story. After a while, experiences like these become clarifying. People are often encountering not me, but their accumulated history with everyone and everything I happened to resemble.
Which is perhaps why I keep returning to Medusa. Being beautiful, being liked was a liability. Becoming a monster, in a strange way, set her free.
Once transformed into a Gorgon, no one could behold Medusa without consequence. No longer could she be casually consumed, pursued, or possessed. The very thing that had once made her vulnerable became the source of her power.
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Until Perseus, perhaps. Medusa was ultimately destroyed by someone who never looked at her directly at all.
Medusa eventually became what the ancient world called an apotropaic figure. The word comes from the Greek apotrépein, meaning “to turn away.” Her face appeared upon shields, temples, gates, armor, and sacred thresholds. The monster became a guardian. Her image was used to repel envy, intrusion, violence, and destruction.
When designing this penny, I paired Medusa with the lion, which I also consider an apotropaic figure. To me, Medusa protects the inner world. She guards the sacred, vulnerable, creative realms that should not belong to every gaze. The lion protects the outer world. It represents the visible courage required to stand fully as oneself, unhidden and in the sun.
One protects through refusal.
The other through radiance.
| The Medusa Lion Penny |
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A Medusa Lion Letter
Write a letter about your biggest, most radiant, lovely-feeling life.
Seal it with these guardian seals as wards protecting your sacred space, your joy, your creativity, your becoming.
Historically, apotropaic symbols were used to turn away harmful forces and protect what was sacred. Let me provide protection to your ideal life.
And remind yourself, very clearly:
You deserve a life that feels good to you.
Additional Beauties
The Novel Waitlist
What beauty and magic we will have in our hands come October.
If you would like to follow the book's progress throughout the year, and be the first to know when it is available for preorder, make sure you are on the waitlist.
| Join the Waitlist |
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With love,