Found Art, Found Magic

A protective talisman featuring six empty bullet cases arranged around a large brass nut in a radial shape, stitched to a circle of black wool with red thread.

Sometimes making art – and magic – is so weird.

I stumbled on six empty bulllet casings in the woods over a year ago. They were tarnished and half buried in pine needles: I’m not sure how I spotted them at all. But as so often happens, I felt compelled to bring them home. And this week, I felt compelled to create something with them.

It’s a scary time in Portland. I’m sure I don’t need to explain why: just look at the news and social media and you know what’s going on in our city. So it’s no surprise I have protection on my mind right now. No wonder I have protection from guns, specifically, on my mind.

I felt a little uneasy making this piece. I don’t even like handling empty casings of ammunition. At the same time, it felt deeply appropriate to create something fiercely protective from the empty shells of a tool of violence. Like fighting fire with fire. Like taking something made to be used for hate, and turning it into something beautiful. Something that can hold a lot of magic to keep us safe.

The nut in the center of the pendant, and the brass wire used to make the hanging loop for the pendant, were also found in the woods, on different days. The black circle is cut from a ruined wool dress. Only the red thread is new.

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Responses

Nico

January 27, 2026

Dear Michelle,

I understand your problems with working with cartridge cases. I have always been a pacifist and have therefore always been against weapons of all kind. However, some time ago I learned that firearms are the only way for women to defend themselves on equal terms against men, who are usually physically superior. Since then, I have also come to see some positive side of firearms and the protection they can provide. Perhaps I would shoot someone if they attacked me and I happened to have a weapon to hand. I do hope I’ll never find out!

Reply
1. Northwest Witch
  
  January 27, 2026
  
  Thank you Nico, and I will say I’m not 100 percent against all firearms. I grew up in a rural area with an overabundant deer population, alongside a lot of very poor families. Hunting for deer was both a way to survive, and a way to help balance an ecosystem that was put into imbalance by the activity of white colonizers in the first place. And I don’t begrudge a woman alone doing whatever she needs to do to defend herself! Weapons still make me uneasy because I don’t like using them, and because I was raised in a violent, abusive family who misused them. Then again, a lot of really potent magic can make us uneasy as we work it, as we handle big energies and morally neutral forces. I think it’s worth a little uneasiness to get to the good stuff.
  
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