From the maker

Inspired by my love of bats and Gary Oldman's version of Dracula, this Vampire bat head ring was created to look as much like a real bat as possible, with extreme detail: tiny fangs, textured fur and ears and hollowed out in the back for weight balance.

This piece, in relation to 'Darkling, I Listen' is also inspired by the writings of Carl Jung on the process of 'Inner Alchemy'; in which he writes that each phase of the alchemical process from antiquity was re-assigned new meanings: i.e. the quest for the philosopher's stone is truly a quest to become whole. In the 'Nigredo' process, everything is blackened, putrefied, 'killed' in a sense, to allow for new growth. It is during this phase in 'inner alchemy' that we are confronted with the knowledge our darker aspects, a phase in which we must accept our shadow selves. In relation to the bat, I was thinking of how they are 'blind' but are able to navigate the night by using other senses such as their hearing and echo location. When we descend into the shadowy aspects of ourselves, we are often faced with aspects of our personality that seem dangerous, uncomfortable and unwanted. The bat is a talisman that represents the way we are able to find new ways of being by integrating this darkness, by learning how to navigate ourselves with these other ways, much like a bat relies not its eyes, but its ears. When we accept and acknowledge our more shadowy aspects, the parts of ourselves we have been conditioned to suppress, the parts of ourselves we hide from others as well as oursevles, we are on the path to wholeness. We become more accepting of our flaws. Having struggled with my shadow self for many years, this talisman represents not only that struggle, but our ability to become whole.

The Vampire bat is paired with bat bone split ring band and hand oxidized to achieve my particular shade of gloomy gray. Cast immortal in sterling silver, this bat will be a companion for life.