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Not a coincidence.
Actors are acting.
Damien Echols
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Talisman part 1
I’ll probably remember the first talisman I ever made for the rest of my life, because it’s not a memory I find pleasant. Mostly my prison days seem like something that happened lifetimes ago, and they rarely cross my mind. I honestly just don’t care, for the most part. That’s all the past, and I don’t live looking backward. More often than not, I’m far more excited about what’s ahead of me. I often feel this overwhelming sense that something good is coming for me. Something amazing. And because of that I get random bursts of excitement. But the memory of talismans are tied up in prison for me, because that’s where I started making them, out of necessity.
The first talisman was for protection. And the reason was because of what prisoners and guards alike refer to as a “shakedown”. It’s when anywhere from 2 to 10 guards come to your cell and destroy everything in it. They’re looking for anything at all that they can find that will allow them to send you to “the hole.” While this is going on you’re standing handcuffed in a cell with the guards, usually just wearing a pair of boxer shorts. It takes about an hour for them to destroy your things, take precious family photos (or just walk on them) and turn your whole world into a broken jumble on the floor. Sometimes there is a side dish of physical brutality, if you’re one of the few they pick out to rough up that day. This happens on average of once a month, and they use it like a kind of psychological torture technique to remind you of it. It’s a source of constant stress and anxiety. You also never know when someone is going to get trigger happy with the tear gas and leave half the barracks choking for half the day. It was during one of these shakedowns that I made my first talisman.
If you’re interested in reading the rest of this story, as well others, you can find me on patreon. The link is:
https://www.patreon.com/Damienechols
Thank you. ❤️
https://www.facebook.com/damienwechols/posts/talisman-part-1ill-probably-remember-the-first-talisman-i-ever-made-for-the-rest/2671585106230723/