Behold, friends! The first four designs from my 2024 Samhain line! A saint-style devotional pendant featuring Hekate Trimorphis; Three-Winged Gorgoneion; a Memento Mori skull pendant, and the seal of Belial.
Hekate Trimorphis
Hekate Trimorphis is my fourth Hekate devotional image. This one, based on images found on Roman magical gemstones, is in my oval “saint’s pendant style”. It depicts Hekate with three overlapping bodies: three faces, six arms, six legs, all bound within a single peplos, and holding a whip and torches and daggers. I’ve been planning some version of this image for a while, and I am very proud to be presenting it at last.
I have cast up these exemplars in sterling silver and shibuichi. I will also be making it available in bronze. Probably not brass, though, since I just don’t think it will look good in yellow.
The Three Winged Gorgoneion is based on ancient shield designs. I’m super excited to finally be releasing a second Gorgon image. This one in particular has actually been sitting on my bench waiting to be molded and released for most of the year. I’ve cast up these exemplars in sterling silver (bottom), as a pin, and shibuichi (top), as a pendant, and will also be making it available in brass and bronze, and with rosary fixtures and as a bolo tie.
Momento Mori: remember that you will die (in Latin). This metal skull pendant is the first of several designs that I’m calling Momento Mori. Again, I’ve cast my exemplars in sterling silver and shibuichi, and I will also be making the pendant available in brass or bronze. The hole through the skull is suitable for a 2-3mm chain, but could be made larger upon request.
This will be available as a pendant or as a solid altar-piece.
Finally, least for this first round, is the Seal of Belial from the Lesser Key of Solomon.
“The 68th spirit is called Belial, he is a mighty king and powerfull; he was Created next after Lucifer, & is of his order; he appeareth in ye forme of a Beautiful angel sitting in a Charriot of fire, speaking wth a comly voice, declaring that he fell first & amongst ye worthier & wiser sort which went before Michael & other heavenly angels; his office is to distribute preferments of senatorships, and to cause favour of friends & foes, he giveth Excellent familiars & governeth 80 Legions of spirits.” (from the Peterson translation on Esoteric Archives)
Hail and well met, friends. Thank you for joining me as I finally and proudly present my inaugural Samhain Line: six new designs and three unique pieces of jewelry perfect for spooky season.
Some of these have been in the works for a long time. Some of them were designed exclusively for this line. All of them are fantastic and much-needed additions to the Sorcerer’s Workshop. Would you like a tour?
Devotional Image of Persephone
An image of Persephone embracing her three aspects of Dread Queen (the skull), goddess of spring and flowers (the flowering vines), and patron of the immortalizing Eleusinian Mysteries (the skull’s mushrooms crown).
I received this image during an oracular session this spring, not long before Beltane, and is the flagship design of my inaugural Samhain Line.
The pendant is one inch across and 3/16ths of an inch thick, solid and made to last, with a loop that can be used to attach a cord or chain or any kind of bail.
The pendant is available in sterling silver or red bronze.
These pendants are not consecrated. That is your responsibility to perform in accordance with your traditions.
A devotional image in my signature style, featuring my take on Eliphas Levi’s iconic image of Baphomet as the Goat of Mendes.
To me, Baphomet is the queer and genderqueer god/dess of witchcraft and chaos magick. Their sexual and gender ambiguity is the point. Their theriomorphic imagery is the point. The fact that they are on the one hand a newly-revealed divinity and on the other hand share imagery with gods more ancient than the written word are the point. Their passage through modern Gnosticism as a vision of Sophia and/or the God Above God is the point.
* Talisman is one inch in diameter with an image on each side.
* Available as a pendant with an upeye suitable for a 3mm chain or with three rings suitable for stringing as a rosary piece.
* Available in sterling silver, shibuichi (a 3:1 copper:silver art metal alloy), yellow brass, or red bronze.
This piece is not consecrated. That is your responsibility to do in accordance with your tradition or gnosis.
Rattlesnake vertebrae earrings cast in silver or bronze with silver earrwires. The third design from my inaugural Samhain Line, perfect for goths, witches, and other lovers of dark vibes. Molds were taken from genuine rattlesnake vertebrae.
Tourmaline and Sterling Silver Rattlesnake Vertebrae Bracelet
The fourth new design in my inaugural 2023 Samhain Line, this bracelet is made of rough tourmaline beads and cast sterling silver rattlesnake vertebrae strung on silver wire with a hook clasp. These materials and design are ideal for grounding and protection magic, and as a stylish witchy statement piece.
The bracelet is available at lengths from approximately six inches to nine inches. The pictured exemplar with eight tourmaline beads and four pairs of vertebrae is nine inches long; shorter bracelets will consist of fewer beads.
A 1 inch coin depicting the seal of Astaroth as described in the Lesser Key of Solomon, better known as the Goetia. In the words of the anonymous author: “The 29th spirit in order is Named Astaroth, he is a Mighty & strong duke and appeareth in [the] forme of an unbeautifull angel, ridding on an Infernall like dragon, and carring in his right hand a viper (you must not lett him come to neare yu least he doe yu damage by his stinking Breath. Therefore ye Exorcist must hold ye Magicall Ring nere to his face and yt will defend him he giveth true answares of things present past & to come & can discover all secreets; he will declare willingly how ye spirits fell, if desired, & ye reason of his own fall. He can make men wounderfull knowing in all Liberall siences; he rules 40 Legions of spirits, his seal is this, wch weare as a Lamen before yu, or else he will not obey you.”
The front of the coin bears the image of the seal. The reverse may be polished or textured.
Use this talisman seal in your conjurations — traditional or modern — or as the core materia in a prosperity bag.
Work with demons at your own risk.
Each piece is hand-made to order and will include unique variations and blemishes.
A 1 inch coin depicting the seal of Asmoday as described in the Lesser Key of Solomon, better known as the Goetia. In the words of the anonymous author: “The 32d spirit in order is called Asmoday. he is a great king, strong & powerfull; he appeareth wth 3 heads, whereof ye first is like a Bull The second like a Man, The Third like a Ram, [he appeareth also] with a serpents Taile, Belching or vomitting up flames of fire out of his mouth his feet are webed like a Goose, he sitteth on an Infernall dragon carring a Launce and a flagg in his hands, he is ye first & chifiest under ye power of Amaymon, & goeth before all others: when the Exorcist hath a mind to call him, lett it be abroad, and lett him stand on his feet all ye Time of action, wth his cap of [off], for if it be on, Amaymon will deceive him, and cause all his doeing to be bewrayed, But as soone as ye Exorist [Exorcist] seeth Asmoday in ye shape aforesaid, he shall call him by his Name, saying, thou art Asmoday, & he will not deny it; and by & by he will bow down to ye grownd &c he giveth ye Ring of vertues he teacheth ye art of Arithmitick, geomitry, Astronomy, and all handicrafts36b absolutly; he giveth full and True answares to yr demands, he maketh a man Invisible, he showeth ye place where Treasures layeth, and guardeth it if it be among ye Legions of Amaymon, he governeth 72 Legions of Inferiour spirits, his seal is thus, to be made and worne as a Lamen before [thee] on your Breast.”
The front of the coin bears the image of the seal. The reverse may be polished or textured.
Use this talisman seal in your conjurations — traditional or modern — or as the core materia in a prosperity bag.
Work with demons at your own risk.
Each piece is hand-made to order and will include unique variations and blemishes.
Unique Devotional Image of Baphomet with Mexican Fire Opal
A one-of a kind image of Baphomet cast from a hand-carved wax, with a Mexican fire opal set over their head as the flame of gnosis. This image is, of course, a take on Eliphas Levi’s iconic drawing of Baphomet as the Goat of Mendes. It is also the product of my years of work with the god/dess, who is to me a deeply queer figure of creation – both creator and created.
To me, Baphomet is the queer and genderqueer god/dess of witchcraft and chaos magick. Their sexual and gender ambiguity is the point. Their theriomorphic imagery is the point. The fact that they are on the one hand a newly-revealed divinity and on the other hand share imagery with gods more ancient than the written word are the point. Their passage through modern Gnosticism as a vision of Sophia and/or the God Above God is the point.
The pendant is heavy, and the stone set in strong prongs.
The pendant is one inch across an eight of an inch thick.
I would be happy to add a jumpring to the arch bail at the top if you would prefer that.
It is not yet consecrated. That is your responsibility.
Unique Gorgoneion Prayer Beads and Protection Talisman
Prayer beads featuring my signature Gorgoneion protection talisman cast in bronze and strung on bronze wire with jet and tiger iron beadsbeads and bronze rattlesnake vertebrae and a bronze sword. These prayer beads were made in trance according to the whims of Spirit and will never be exactly reproduced.
The image of a Gorgon’s face, as seen on the front of the talisman, was a common protection symbol throughout ancient Greece and the Hellenistic world. The back of the talisman bears the names of the three attested Gorgons – Medusa, Sthenno, and Euryale – in Greek. This particular image was done in the Attic style, based particularly the Gorgon images found painted in kylix cups from the 4th Century BCE.
Unique Hekate Prayer Beads with Bronze Talisman and Key, Genuine Rattlesnake Vertebrae, Tiger Iron, Jet, and Amber Beads
The third and final of the unique pieces in my inaugural 2023 Samhain Line of jewelry.
Prayer beads featuring my signature Eye and Six Hands devotional Hekate talisman and wardrobe key cast in bronze, strung on bronze wire, with genuine rattlesnake vertebrae and beads of tiger iron, jet, and amber. The total bead count is: six 8mm tiger iron beads, ten 10mm rattlesnake vertebrae, thirty-two 3mm jet beads, fourteen 2mm jet beads, and fifteen 2mm amber beads, for a total of seventy-seven beads.
The beads were chosen and strung as the spirit moved me: six sets of nine beads interspaced with five sets of three, with seven beads and a key hanging from the central talisman.
The central talisman is a one inch bronze circle bearing an image of Hekate on one side — “O Six Hands crowning a flaming eye,/ Extending in every direction;” and her crossroads sigil, name, and epithets in Greek — “Hekate, Atalos, Apotropaia, Soteira, Rexichthon” — on the reverse.
The key is two and a half inches long.
The beads are thirty-six inches long with a six and a half inch dongle.
The Attic Gorgon is one of the handful of designs that launched the Sorcerer’s Workbench, and was not only my first design to sell, but my first piece to sell again: first, directly off my body at Paganicon 2019, and then to someone I had met at that event a month or two later. It remains one of my best sellers to this day, and it is one of my favorite designs.
That last is no surprise. I have long been fascinated by the image of Medusa and the gorgons. Looking back, I can’t quite remember an inciting incident, so to speak – my first encounter was almost certainly Wrath of the Titans (1981), but what I remember most from that movie is actually the owl. My own earliest art that I can find on the subject was from around 2008, but by that time I clearly already had a fully internalized image. That image, of course, was most deeply influenced by Renaissance and modern images: a beautiful woman, her face surrounded by coiling serpents, draped in clinging gauze. A lot has changed since those early days, including my Bachelor’s degree in Classical Studies, and while I do still want to do a design based on that more modern image, I knew from the jump that I wanted my first Gorgon talisman to be in the Classical style.
The traditional name for the design is “Gorgoneion” which, to the best of my ability to discern, renders approximately as “Gorgon-image” or “Gorgon-thing”. It is apotropaic: meant to protect by frightening away evil spirits. It was a popular, even ubiquitous, design in the Hellenic world of Classical Greece, seen on temples and shields and pottery and jewelry and … well, you get the idea. When I went to make my own, I looked to a variety of ancient sources, ultimately settling on a particular piece of pottery.
But with that image in place, we have to ask the question – where does that image come from?
No Greek myth has a single point of origin. Every story is a palimpsest: a mess of layer upon layer upon layer, each written over the other, which has been imperfectly removed from the vellum below. So we, as modern witches, sorcerers, neo-Hellenics, and mythographers, sift through those layers as best we can, picking and choosing the versions that bring us the most meaning.
Medusa and the Gorgons are no exception. When I look at the image of the Gorgoneion, fanged and bearded and serpent-tressed, I do not see the victim Ovid salivated over: raped by Neptune, cursed and transfigured by Minerva, murdered by Perseus. I see the youngest of three monstrous sisters, the lone mortal, daughters of either the sea monsters Keto and Phorkys, or of Keto and the elder Gorgon, Aix who was killed that Zeus might wear their hide as his aegis.
The very title “gorgon” means simply “terrible” or “fierce”. The three Gorgon sisters were Medusa, Sthenno, and Euryale, and our oldest written account of them comes from Hesiod’s Theogony 270 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) : “And to Phorkys (Phorcys) Keto (Ceto) bore … the Gorgones (Gorgons) who, beyond the famous stream of Okeanos (Oceanus), live in the utmost place toward night, by the singing Hesperides : they are Sthenno, Euryale, and Medousa (Medusa), whose fate is a sad one, for she was mortal, but the other two immortal and ageless both alike.”
Homer, a littler earlier than Hesiod, mentions a single “Gorgo” whose head and/or hide are used for the aegis of Zeus and Athena. Hyginus, a 2ndC CE author, reconciles these stories by naming that elder Gorgo Aix and naming them parent of the gorgon sisters. This last is my personal favorite, despite the late date (longtime readers and close friends know how strongly I favor older versions of everything, particularly predating the questionable urge to justify the behavior of gods as good).
The image itself springs onto the just a little before, emerging in its persistent form at the beginning of the 8th Century BCE. Some scholars trace it back to Knossos. A few – sadly, mostly discredited – attempt to trace it back much further, to the mythical neolithic goddess cults. But the image was more detailed, more complex than those earliest stories, and I think that the Gorgoneion is a fair exemplar of the movement from image to ritual to myth.
I will never be fully comfortable with the stories that surround the image of the Gorgoneion. That terrible defensive power, stollen and weaponized by the “civilizing” influence of father gods and heroic men. Ovid’s rape-and-transformation fantasy is only the most vile and explicit expression of that theme. Looking at the image, whether Attic or Renaissance, I see the same terrible beauty and power that drove Second Wave Feminists to invent their own mythologies, empowering Medusa and the gorgons as slandered goddesses, or reframing Athena’s curse as a defense against further injury.
But I return, again and again, to that face: a goddess whose image the gods themselves use to turn away evil. A goddess born of the monsters of the elder world. A goddess whose sisters live on.
I wear my own Gorgoneiai every day. I have one that lives on my keychain. I have another that I hang from the front of my face masks in this age of plague and fools.
Between different metals and fixtures, there are more than a dozen unique variations, but there are two basic designs: one sided, with a textured back; and two sided, with the names Medusa, Sthenno, and Euryale on the back.
