Some photos from this week. I will be uploading the next Haunted Vessel tomorrow. Unfortunately I have been without internet for quite some time, and uploading anything long is quite tedious.

But here you have a quick shot of Arashi (yep, still nameless) with the new necklace I made him and some shots with the lovely fall leaves.

I'd like to say I had a superbly productive weekend but...my nose would probably grow so long it would poke right out the door!  I was totally lazy this weekend, though not for lack of trying.  I did manage to restring Arashi, but still no name for him.  

I think at this point I'm just going to go with "Arashi" for the time being and just see what happens.  I'm also leaving him blank for now, partially because I don't have all the materials/weather for a face up, but mostly because I really like him blank.  I actually was just reading through a thread the other day on DoA about people who intentionally leave their dolls blank.  He has always been one I loved blank, more than any other doll.  There's just something about the sculpting that can get lost under a face up.  So for now he remains blank.

I did also order him some new clothes, namely a Wicked Stitchery Halloween grab bag.  These are my absolute favorite grab bags, and I've bought several in the past.  They always give you your money's worth (and then some!), and it's always very lovely items.  Uri has gotten two thus far, and I've always been impressed with them. So when it arrives I will do a little bag opening and review.

And in non doll news, just because he's so cute, here's my dog in his Halloween costume.  He's a (disgruntled) strawberry!

The Haunted Vessel: Stewardship

The thing about belief is that it is a double-edged sword.  If for example you say you believe in inanimate objects being more than just “things,” it opens to door to much more than you might expect.  Do we then have a responsibility to these items?  Does that depend on what they are?  Or perhaps what is attached to them?  And where does the line get drawn?  I won’t begin to suggest that I have all (or even most) the answers, but they are interesting questions.

This topic has come up periodically at Den of Angels, in various threads regarding the care and even storage of a doll.  In general people seem to view these dolls as needing special treatment because of their price at least, while others also look at it from the vessel point of view.*  Questions are asked on how one should care for the dolls...where should you keep them?  Is it “abuse” to treat them poorly?  Are you obligated to keep your first doll?  

Another question that arises applies more to some of the dolls and/or items I’ve featured here before, like Anabelle or Robert.  If you know that an item is potentially dangerous, do you then have a responsibility to make sure it doesn't harm anyone else?  And, if you believe for example that an item is haunted by a particular spirit, what do you do?

The Warrens were one couple that were well known for not only their work with the paranormal, but also their collection of items.  They became the stewards of many items that were involved in hauntings, were possessed, were cursed, or had any other kind of bad energy attached.  They took Anabelle with them after the investigation concluded, and secured her in a glass case in their object room.  They were always very adamant about the importance of keeping these objects safely away from the public.

This also brings up an associate of theirs, John Zaffis.  Zaffis is perhaps most well known for his show on the SciFi channel Haunted Collector, and his museum where he houses the objects.  This show and Zaffis himself are actually quite controversial in the paranormal community, not so much because of the items but because of his practices.  People have questioned the validity of his investigations, and the process that often involves him taking a very expensive item from a client without really providing any compensation.  

I have encountered this topic with my own dolls, as well as a few items that have come into my possession over the years.  One is a button from a Civil War soldier uniform, and the other is a ring.  In the case of the former, I feel an obligation to keep it safe until I can figure out what the best course of action is for it.  The latter on the other hand I have spent years working with, and it is finally to a place where it seems to have run its course, and is relatively harmless.  I won’t be giving it away by any means (if not for sentimental reasons alone), but I’m glad to have gotten it to a safer status.

*The idea that the doll has a soul/is a vessel for a kind of soul.

No really, I'm not a serial killer, I swear...

I wish I had taken a picture of my bed last night while everything was in process, but alas I didn't.  I took out all my Volks dolls (sans Fumiko) and tried to get everyone in eyes/wigs.  There were doll heads and head caps, eyes, and hair everywhere.  My bed looked like a crime scene, or a really creepy collection.

But in the end I got everyone eyed (what's a better phrase for that...?) and wigs on most of them, even if it meant some shuffling between photos.  As usual Arashi is nearly impossible to find the right eyes for.  I have him back in his "default" eyes because they are the only ones that fit correctly.  One eye always fits, but the other never does in any of the pairs I've tried on him.  So we're back to square one.

I switched up Ghost's eyes to an older pair of Uri's, which actually work really nicely.  Liam switched to another pair of Volks YoSD eyes, and Nowell has a pair of nice grey ones in.  Then I set them up on my bed and realized just how overwhelmingly Volks my collection is.  Seriously.  Which isn't a bad thing at all, I just never really realized that for some reason.

Maybe I'll actually get to do some group photos this year! A girl can dream at least. :)

More Volks!

The Volks Gang

Or most of them at least. :)

Happy October!

I don't have a good fall picture of the dolls yet, so here's one of my dog instead. This is right before he dove into the leaves nose-first. :)