Angela Raincatcher/PT PodcastDATE: March 29, 2026 at 12:58PM
SOURCE: Angela Raincatcher Substack and Polytheism Today Podcast
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TITLE: A Talisman for These Times
URL: https://angelaraincatcher.substack.com/p/a-talisman-for-these-times
This is a long post, but I put a link to the pattern at the end. Read through for the inspiration and instructions.
Hello, lovely friends!
This last month, I have been working on creating a spell and pattern for a talisman that you can make, charge, and carry with you. The intention of the spell is ultimately to destroy the patriarchal systems we live in and protect the vulnerable and marginalized people and communities who are most negatively impacted by those systems. The energy of the talisman goes out into the world with you as you commute, travel, do errands, etc. It ripples out and, like the gaze of Medusa, reminds those who come into its sphere of influence of their role in confronting (or upholding) injustice and supporting (or hindering) the vulnerable and marginalized and it holds them accountable for their actions.
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The Inspiration
Like many, I have been following the Epstein files scandal, sick at heart with how pervasive the abuse of women and children is among the global ruling class. I have learned over the years how widespread and insidious sexual, domestic, gender-based, race-based, and homophobic violence is. I began reading Virginia Giuffre’s memoir Nobody’s Girl during my commute. My heart has been heavy with grief and rage.
Alongside that, I noticed many people clip soft, cute tchotchkes to their bags, purses, and backpacks. I thought, “What if we put spells inside those innocent-looking trinkets and carried the spell’s energy into our everyday lives wherever we go without anybody noticing?” Probably not a new idea, but it got me thinking and creating…
So many charms! Photo illustration: Victoria Ellis/Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images, Pop Mart, TouchlandThe Myth
According to Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses published in 8CE, Medusa was a beautiful young woman serving in the temple of Minerva/Athena. One day, the sea god Neptune/Posideon saw her, desired her, and had sex with her in Minerva/Athena’s (a virgin goddess of strategy and culture) sacred complex. I’m not sure if Ovid’s language infers Medusa’s consent or not, but she is “punished” or “cursed” for the violation by Minerva, who turns her into a hideous creature that turns all who gaze on her into stone.
Ovid is not the first to tell of Medusa, but he is the first to tell this story of her transformation. When I was younger, I often thought how unfair it was of Minerva to curse Medusa for Neptune’s transgression. But as I have grown older and seen more of how the world treats beautiful women, and as I have become more “invisible” to the male gaze, I now wonder if Minerva’s actions were only seen as a curse from patriarchy’s perspective, for what could be worse than taking away a young girl’s beauty? What if Minerva’s action were a blessing? What if Medusa didn’t want to be bothered by random gods and men because they thought her beauty made her fair game? What if being able to turn your attackers to stone was a superpower, not a punishment? I am not the only woman to think this. There have been feminist theorists and writers before me who have posited this perspective.
Gorgoneion Antefix (Ornamental Roof Tile), c. 500 BCE, Greek/Southern Italian, Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2021.3
So, what if Medusa, though her apotropaic visage (also known as a Gorgoneion), could be called upon in a modern spell to call those who attack the innocent and the beautiful to account and bring down the patriarchal systems that uphold their crimes?
I set about to create a squishy talisman that I could clip to my purse and carry with me.
Not Just Destruction. What Are We Building?
Design drawing for the Medusa talisman
I finished the Gorgoneion when I realized that there were, literally, two sides to this spell. Not just destroying the patriarchy and protecting those harmed by it, but also building a new, more just, more generative world in its place. I designed the second side to hold the ideals for a new world the Ouroboros to both protect those within but also as a sign that this new world would embrace the cycles of life and death, the four (or eight) petaled flower to symbolize the blossoming of a balanced, joyful world (also Hail Persephone!) on a black background to symbolize the darkness of the fertile Earth. Also, the number four to bring in the four elements of the manifest world, and the number eight for the wheel of the year.
Making the Talisman
Here’s a link to a PDF of the pattern. The PDF is free for your personal, non-commercial use. If you share it with others, please include a link to this post. If you want to make it for someone else, that’s fine, but it must be a gift. If you and your community want to make it a group project, that’s also fine, but again, no money changes hands.
Getting my materials together. Note: originally, this piece has the words “Destroy the patriarchy; Protect the vulnerable” in Greek, but I found that too tedious to embroider and decided to add the flower and Ouroboros to the second side.
You only need four colors of felt and embroidery floss: black, white, green, and red. I printed the pattern onto an adhesive, wash-away embroidery stabilizer. Each piece is cut out and adhered to the felt, which makes it easier to cut the smaller or more complicated pieces correctly. I know the snakes for Medusa’s hair are the most fiddly be patient, be slow, and be aware of what you are cutting.
If you look closely, you may see where I accidentally cut one of the snake heads off! I was able to reattach it during the appliqu process.
I embroidered the details of each piece and applied the felt pieces using a blanket stitch, layer by layer, washing away the stabilizer between each step to make the next layer easier to attach.
These handicraft techniques do two things: (1) they link you back to “women’s work” through the centuries and call upon the ancestral spirits of all those who have been relegated to the kind of work that has been undervalued and discarded over time, and (2) they make you slow down and pay attention, allowing you to really focus on the intention of the spell and imbue the materials with that intention.
Once both sides are complete, sew them together about halfway.
Now you are ready to put in the spell ingredients. I used a bit of natural fill stuffing at the bottom, then placed the following inside:
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devil’s shoestring root to trip up and tie up those who take advantage of the vulnerable and those who uphold the patriarchy
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snakeskin for protection and transformation
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three nails and/or three thorns for both offense and defense
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a rolled-up paper with four prayers typewritten on it. I used the Orphic hymns to Nemesis (61), the Erinyes (69), Athena (32), and Mater Thea (65) from the Orphic Hymns Grimoire by Sara Mastros.
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a drop of my blood and some of my breath to seal the deal
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I prayed into the talisman to awaken the materials I used and asked them to work toward the spell’s intention. Finally, I added a bit more of the natural fill stuffing and sewed it up. I included a ribbon into the seam so that I could hang the talisman on a key ring.
Lastly, I consecrated the finished talisman with Earth by placing it on a plate of salt, Air by passing it through mugwort incense smoke, Fire by passing it over a candle’s flame, and Water by sprinkling it with water charged under the last full moon eclipse. I also asked for the aid of those deities invoked in the included prayers, along with the deities and spirits I normally work with.
Finished talisman showing the generative side with a green snake eating its tail, a white and red flower on a blackground
Finished talisman showing the destructive and protective side of the Gorgoneion/Medusa’s head on a red backgroundBut what if I can’t sew or don’t feel comfortable with a Gorgoneion visible?
No problem! Remember the original inspiration of the cute, plushy trinkets? If you have a labubu, a mon chichi, a squishmellow, or any other little plush toy attached to your bag, you can create a small packet of the spell materials above, wrapped and tied in felt and string. Carefully, open one of the seams in your plushie, substitute your spell packet for a bit of its stuffing, then sew the seam back up. Activate and consecrate it as above, and voila! You’ve taken an easily dismissed and innocent-looking toy and turned it into a sacred talisman!
Pass it on!
Again, here is the pattern: Medusa Matriarchy Spell Pattern
If you make one of these, please share with me a photo of your completed talisman. You can also share this post and pattern with someone who needs it and/or is seeking a spiritual/magical support for those doing the boots-on-the-ground work of protesting, resisting, truth-telling, and those who are nurturing, healing, and supporting our most vulnerable people and communities.
May the work of our hands be blessed by the goddesses, our ancestors, and the holy Earth.
Blessings from a strong and open heart,
Angela Raincatcher
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URL: https://angelaraincatcher.substack.com/p/a-talisman-for-these-times
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Polytheism Today podcast site at https://angelaraincatcher.substack.com/s/polytheism-today You can also find Season One here!!
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Consciously Pagan since the late 1980s, Angela Raincatcher is a spirit-led artist and Pagan priestess. Angela has been a priestess and community organizer since the early 2000s. She is currently the convener of the public ritual group Connect DC, head of the Artist Guild and a 3rd-degree initiate in the Order of the Elemental Mysteries. At heart, Angela is an animist and an equal-opportunity polytheist. In her endeavors and life journey, she leads with a strong and open heart, and strives to treat all living beings with the respect they inherently deserve.
Polytheism Today explores the rich diversity of the divine as experienced in our modern world by polytheists from a variety of spiritual traditions. You and all your gods are welcome here!
All content is free. If you can help cover costs, subscriptions are $5/mo. and can be found at https://angelaraincatcher.substack.com/about . You can also buy me a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/angelarainu
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