Medusa is invoked whenever an entity – be it a person, an organization, or the forces of nature – wants to make their presence known by shaking things up in a big way. Medusa is used to shock, to destroy and rebuild. And to let others know, “I’m the one who did this. This flip of the switch was my doing.”
She reminds me of both the Sun and Uranus in that way – a merging of the ego and divine intervention. But this union inevitably causes some type of ego death. The drastic dissolution the invoker is trying to create externally in their environment inevitably happens internally, too.
The final turning point of Medusa’s story was her decapitation; her head became a weapon. Her will and right to self-sovereignty were disregarded for the final time. But even in death, she brought upheaval wherever her head was carried.
There’s no forgetting Medusa – she won’t allow you to. If not because of the destruction she brings, then because of her and her inescapable gaze. Maybe it’s the shock seeing of a decapitated head, the pain in her eyes, or the twisted expression on her face – but she will not allow you to look away.
Medusa appears to be invoked in pop culture whenever a new upstart is trying to change the game completely.
For example,
A viral TikTok video from earlier this year featured a young man who I’m convinced was invoking Medusa, too.
This strange video was pretty uneventful for the amount of buzz it spawned – endless memes, an influencer career, and even a shout out from Cardi B. But there are two things in this TikTok that are jarring as hell – the man’s piercing eyes, and the bizarre reaction of a woman walking by – he glances at her for less than a second and she screams.
A guy who commands fear and mass attention just from his gaze?
And interestingly, he wore a necklace with snakes intertwined. (When it comes to connecting Medusa to snake imagery – an iconic symbol in its own right – we have to use our discernment. But this checks out.)
I can’t lie, I think many people are reckless with the invocation of Medusa. A lot of people project their own meaning onto her and the result is a flattened caricature. A fearless, badass bitch who turns men into stone.
Maybe.
Or a woman who transmuted her pain – her rape, her excommunication, her decapitation – into power.
Closer.
Medusa’s true power isn’t even necessarily hers to wield. She not only adapted to each situation, but she flipped the power dynamics and made herself a force to be reckoned with. Sometimes, that means destroying the ego to better flow with the inevitable tides of change.
Even if it means literal death.
