Bat/Dragon Wings from Madame Magpie: Review

I spotted an advert on FaceBook for some rather pretty lace-on bat wings, and immediately fell in love with them. They're hand-made by an independent crafter - Madame Magpie, who makes them for attaching to both roller-derby skates and regular footwear, and can be found ::here::. I agreed with her what design I wanted, but said I couldn't afford them until after I got paid, which she was amenable to. The discussions via FaceBook chat were really good for explaining exactly what sort of colours I wanted - and I used a selfie for colour reference so they would match my hair! (Although my turned turquoise-blue with royal-blue fringe after the first wash... which I am NOT happy about! But that is another story entirely).

Bat wings, keyring, and card.

The wings are leather, and are hand-painted in metallic paints with a touch of glitter. They have three metal grommets each where the laces go through - which is good as I wouldn't want them to wear or tear from friction where the laces go through. The colours are exactly what I hoped for. It's hard to tell from the photographs, but they are a lovely metallic effect, even the purple bits, and have a little bit of shimmery green glitter on them.  

A single bat wing 

The package was well wrapped, and also included a matching branded keyring. I'm not normally a fan of key-rings that are also adverts, but this one has a personal touch that makes it different, plus it's very sparkly. My keys have enough stuff attached to them already, but I will be hooking this key-ring on too. 

Free key-ring

I really like the bat wings, especially as I can use them with any pair of lace-up shoes or boots. Currently they're on a pair of black high-heeled brogues, but next they might end up on some granny-boots, or a pair of flat shoes - or maybe my roller-derby skates! They're tough leather, so they should withstand the rigours of what is a rather frenetic contact sport. 

Close up of bat wing, key-ring, and awesome skull-magpie logo.

I would rate this product as: 

Construction: 5/5

They're well made, with paint that hasn't cracked, peeled or flaked since I've worn them, and the grommets seem firmly in place. The leather is thick, and they seem generally well made and quite sturdy - which is important for something going on shoes or even roller-skates which will entail a pretty good chance of them getting caught or scraped on stuff.

Time: 5/5
The turn around for making them and despatching was just a couple of days, which I was really happy about. It took longer for the postal service to get them to me than it did for her to go from finalising the commission with me to sending them off. 

Communication: 5/5

Communication over FaceBook chat was really effective. We were able to clearly establish what I wanted, and she was very good at responding, and very clear and polite. She used one of my selfies as a colour reference, and it worked out pretty well. 

Packaging: -

I forgot to keep the packaging for my review, so there's no score for this one. It all arrived safely, though, and that's the important thing.

Coolness: 5/5
I have bat-wings that match(ed) my hair that I can pair with whatever shoes I want, and I think that's pretty cool - but maybe I'm a tad biased. I know the colourful, fun aesthetic isn't for everyone, but I love them (plus, if you have to have all-black-everything, she can do all black ones!).

Photos are taken on a grey skull adorned printed napkin I got at Hallowe'en from TK Maxx
This post is NOT sponsored, and I haven't had any renumeration or reward for writing this. I bought the bat-wings with my own money, and I don't expect any future recompense from Madame Magpie.

Romanticism, Mysticism and Witchcraft

As I may have mentioned before, I am Neo-Pagan. For a while I was Wiccan, but these days I don't follow that path. I see my faith as more of a spiritual extension of my Romantic outlook than as religion, and the two are certainly intertwined in my thinking. First and foremost I am a pantheist with a strong regard for what I see as the intrinsic divinity of the Universe. I am not the sort to anthropomorphise my view of the divine - I don't believe in the personifications of the divine as various Gods and Goddesses, nor as a humanoid single God. To me the Earth, the sky, the sun, the moon the vastness of space - the universe, really - ARE God. To me the Divine is intrinsic, immanent, omnipresent in a literal way, not some transcendental being. 

The rocks providing a natural wall. Craig Phadrig, Inverness

I am not entirely sure on the consciousness of the Divine - the idea of one set of monolithic governing thought seems strange to me. I prefer the idea of the Universe being conscious of itself through its denizens rather than having its own separate consciousness. I think this belief in a sanctity of everything rather than a 'spirit' of everything is what differentiates me from an animist. 

Looking ponderous in the late evening.

These days I do still celebrate the eight major Neo-Pagan holidays, but I don't do so as a group. Sometimes I celebrate with a few friends, but I am not part of a Coven or anything similar. I go to the Pagan moots when I can though. To me, faith is mostly a private thing, which is why I am not really writing about it in any depth here. I have been asked before, so this post exists. I have never really felt the inclination to join a 'working group' or any Pagan equivalent to a Church. I'd much rather commune quietly in the forest. 

Lurking amongst the ferns.

I am not really into mythologising the world around me, hence my rejection of God and Goddess characters, and this extends into mythological creatures. While I do believe in the existence of beings that people might consider 'supernatural' and have encountered things that would commonly be termed ghosts, I don't like categorising any such encounters and experiences into the usual mythological taxonomy of angels, fae, demons and suchlike. Partly this is because I like to keep an open mind about what happened, and while I like the 'supernatural' explanations, I know I have no definitive proof of that or any other explanation, and not categorising what happened is part of how I try not pigeon-hole and look upon these experiences narrowly. 

Hiding behind a tree.

I get categorised as a Witch, but I don't like the word - it has too many fantasy-world connotations of flying brooms and turning people into frogs and talking animals and suchlike. I also don't like being called a psychic, as I am no good at 'seeing' the future or any form of pre-cognition, and am also no medium. I do practice what gets termed 'magic' or 'magick' but it is more like a prayer to the universe or or a very exacting wishing than pointing a wand and expecting pyrotechnics and miraculous instantaneous change. I have no idea how magick works, but in my experience I consistently get what I try for, so I will continue to believe in its existence. Don't try requesting spells from me - I won't do them. I know I might be wrong about the existence of magick and that a lot of people think it's hooey, but really, if it doesn't exist all I've done is waste a few moments of time and the cost of a few coloured candles that I'd have probably bought anyway because I like decorating with candles. 

Watching birds above.

The only thing that bugs me is people who assume I am a Witch because as a Romantic Goth I look a LOT like a stereotypical witch, just minus the pointy hat. I even have a lot of silver 'occult' jewellery and a black cat, and I am a walking cliche, but there are a lot of other Goths who look a lot like me who are Christians, Atheists, Agnostics, Jews, Muslims, etc. etc. and while that assumption might be right with me, the version of 'Witch' they are assuming is going to have a lot more to do with Harry Potter or Charmed than Wicca or Neo-Paganism. 

The photographs have nothing to do with me being Neo-Pagan or witchy other than I'm wandering around a forest and wearing a zodiac necklace and pentagram rings; I just wanted an excuse to use them for something. I guess in some ways they reinforce that stereotypical image of the witch - and yes, they were inspired by Morgan La Fey - but this is also a lot of just how I am and how I look like on a day-to-day basis; I wear that medieval-fantasy dress as a summer dress, that is my favourite wig and I love wearing lots of jewellery. Yes, I do like the aesthetic of the stereotypical witches and sorceresses, that fantasy archetype that gets oft recycled, but that's more part of me being Goth than of me being a Witch. I know more earthy nature-loving Hippy Witches than Goth ones, and I know as many male Witches as female, too. 

All photographs are by Raven, although he doesn't think they are his best. The low light levels were tricky, but trying to do this shoot was an educational experience. Spooky colour-changes and other such post-production was done by me as an exercise in being more artistic with Photoshop. 

Hallowe'en Fun - Ness Islands: Haunted!

This evening I went to 'Haunted!' at Ness Islands in Inverness. It is a family-friendly event, so it's not meant to be very scary, more entertaining. Most of the set up was created by the Highland Council’s Lighting Department, which considering the Islands already have lots of cool lighting that lights up the trees in colours, and involves chains of coloured bulbs strung along the paths, was quite bright but still atmospheric - I think it would have been spookier without the crowds, and the regular (non-Hallowe'en) lighting is always quite magical. The acting and suchlike were done by Arts in Motion, Eden Court Creative and Fly Agaric. A lot of the performers were young people and children, and I think it is excellent that there were so many young people getting involved. 

It was a costume event, and as the event was themed around witches, I came dressed up as a fairytale witch, with black lace cape, fancy makeup (to the point that it was almost face-painting with makeup) and, of course, a point hat! My pointy hat is from Poundland, and is covered in spiderweb lace. I used tome extra lacey stuff that was lying around my closet to tie my hat onto my head, with a bow under my chin, as it was quite windy out. A lot of the visitors, especially the children coming to watch, were dressed up. I saw some really good costumes on visitors, some out-doing the performers! One little girl came as a zombie in a once-pretty white dress, and I thought her costume was very good, and actually quite scary for someone so young! My costume must have been fairly good because  a lot of the children and several of the adults apparently thought I was part of the haunt. I took that as a compliment and did a few random cackles and spooky poses for children that I thought would appreciate them. It was really busy, and there were loads of children. I saw a few of the children that go to the school I work at, and gave them all a wave. 

The first section of the haunt was a gathering of witches around a cauldron, dancing and creeping through the trees. The cauldron was glowing and frothing, and the witches dancing around it. The actresses playing witches ranged in age from young teenagers to adults. Their creeping through the trees was certainly the best part of their act, and quite spooky for the younger children. The next part was a shadow-play of a devil. The path curved 'round, to where the witches were visible once more, chanting around their cauldron. The next section was mainly done with lighting effects, and involved projections of skulls and creepy things onto trees, and section where UV reactive skeletons hung near UV lights, which was not particularly in itself (although the UV lights do glow strangely) but was a good opportunity for me to stand around and let my makeup glow, seeing as a lot of it was done with UV reactive makeup! A pair of stilt-walkers guarded the entrance to the next section, both dressed as 18thC ghosts. The female ghost had a flintlock in one hand, and a knife in her chest, so I asked her if she managed to shoot her attacker before she got stabbed, to which she replied that she had, and gotten away with his money! 

There was a projection of a toad, which seemed odd, and it was animated, and deliberately an unpleasant specimen of a toad! He was projected onto a large screen just over the small bridge joining the island. Some people were dressed as skeletons, which beckoned you over and reached out as if to shake hands - as visitors reached back out, they'd jump backwards! There was a game for children, involving a projection of a skeleton with a sword, and some foam swords, where one went up against this projected skeleton on a screen, and had to hit it with the foam sword until it collapsed in a pile of bones. It was clearly aimed at young children, and I think would be quite fun for that age group. At Ness Islands there is a circular seating area cut into an artificial mound, which for Haunted! served as temporary Hellish arena, lit in an eerie red, for a dance troupe dressed as the undead  that lurched and danced in front of a live string ensemble (also in ghoulish costumes). Their dance was quite athletic, and I must imagine that repeating it over, and over, and over throughout the evening must have been quite tiring, especially considering how cold out it was.  There was a very large inflatable skull, but it did not seem to be part of any haunt scene. 

Some chaps dressed as wizards did a dance in front of a projection of occult symbols and a portal, but while the set was good, their costumes were let down by them wearing their winter clothes visibly under their cloaks. It would have been better if the cold of a Scottish winter had been taken into account when they were designing the costumes, so that they could be both warm and more convincingly wizardly. I did see one of the visitors in a warm-looking wizard costume (with a vast fake beard!), so it is certainly possible. A chap dressed as a medieval flautist akin to the pied piper was playing an eerie tune, and a group of ghostly children in night clothes (over black warmer clothes) were following him around. His music was spookily enchanting.  

The next section had eerie red lights, and a group of girls on temporary pedestals acting as living statues, who'd suddenly move. Their costumes were very good. With them were 'undead' children, carrying lanterns, who would mingle with the crowd as they moved past, and then suddenly shriek and all drop down! I knew it was coming and still gave me a start. I think their movements as eerie members of the undead, and the empty gazes on their faces were very good for such young actors, and this was certainly the creepiest section of the haunt. Maybe this is because I've watched too much Dr. Who and it reminded me of the Weeping Angels. There was an acrobat on  a broom suspended between two trees, doing all sorts of gymnastics and stunts, including hanging upside down from her broom-trapeze and generally larking about high in the air. I thought she did a good job doing such fancy things while in costume, and did very well not loose her hat! She was very impressive and entertaining, and I wish I could clamber about like that! 

There were a pair of actors dressed as giant seagulls, with articulated snapping beaks who were deliberately messing with the visitors. Any person who has been mobbed by a flock of seagulls for food will be able to say that as far as birds go, seagulls are indeed bothersome creatures! I thought this interactive section was quite good, as it was both funny and engaging with the visitors. The last section of the haunt was a series of ghosts from various historical periods, including a casualty of the Battle of Bannockburn, still dragging about his sword, and a zombified WW2 soldier! There was also a victorian maid with one kitchen knife in her back, and another in her chest, ranting about how the blood had ruined her best white pinny and how she'd have to make new rice pudding, and how this was a lesson for children not run with knives! 

All in all, it was good fun, and I think the actors put in a good effort, especially considering it was outdoors and it was raining out. It wasn't particularly scary, but I didn't expect any real scares, just some Hallowe'en fun, and that it provided. The haunt was free to enter which was very good, and unexpected. There were a few food stands and public toilets, which was very sensible, considering the numbers. I bought myself an artisan pizza with no tomatoes!