A few years ago I created Jewelry for Isaac Bonewits. He created renderings of several designs and sent them to me to create for his special line of Jewelry. One of them is Dagda’s Shield. Over the years I have received several requests for a larger more “masculine” version.

Large Dagda’s Shield Amulet

The Original version is 7/8 of an inch, this amulet is much larger: 1 1/2” and much heavier. The detail in the snake skin is more pronounced, yet in keeping with Isaac’s original Design – and like the original, it has my signature, his name and the Rune of Dagda on the back. A bail is placed behind the piece for your chain or cord.

Isacc Bonewits’ description of his design in his own words:

“This talisman is meant to be used with a daily self-protection spell from Isaac’s book The Pagan Man.
“Dagda behind me, Dagda before me
Dagda to my left, Dagda to my right
Dagda beneath me, Dagda above me
Dagda in quiet, Dagda in danger
Dagda in the hearts of all that love me
Dagda in the mouth of friend and stranger.
“I bind unto myself the name, the strong name of the Dagda,
By invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three,
The mightiest of all the Gods, Father of the Queen of Arts,
The Supreme Knower, Lord of Fire, and King of Druids.

“This silver or bronze talisman has been made by Merlin of Amulets by Merlin, based on the above design by Isaac Bonewits (includes the ogham letters for “Dagda” on the back). The design (inspired by Ian Corrigan) has a Celtic triple spiral as found in the Boyne River in Ireland, plus three awens, with a snake wrapped around the edge of the shield. The shield as a whole is curved to cover one-sixth of a sphere to aid in visualizing it at all six directions.”

While is is indeed featured in his book “The Pagan Man”, it is not exclusively for men.  This amulet is focused on protection and may be harnessed by men and women alike, and yes: children.

Isaac wrote the book “Real Magic” in the ’70. In my opinion it is one of the most important book on the subject, offering a point of view which sheds a lot of the typical stereotypes one finds in the old tomes and even the more recent “recipe books” about magic still written in this era. He later wrote several more volumes about ritual, Druidism and with his Widow: Phaedra Bonewits a book called “Real Enegry”.

In his honor, a part of the sales of his designs goes to her, including this new Large Dagda’s Shield. To get your copy of this piece please visit my Large Dagda’s Sheild Amulet Page. To review more of Isacc Bonewits Designs, please go to my page: Designs by Isaac Bonewits.