Conjoined Twin Bird in Glass Dome

Two of them are now being sold in eggs and one in a glass dome.

This is a hand made one-of-a-kind (faux) specimen of a conjoined twin bird.

It comes in a glass dome on a wooden base OR in an egg and also with a piece of paper that has a spell written on it.

The bird itself has a body made of fabric which is filled with rice, decorated with strings and organic beads.

The feathers have all been glued on by hand one by one. The majority of the

feathers used here comes from the farm Kullholen (www.kullholen.se) in Sweden,
where they have been collected by hand from the ground during the annual moult and cleaned without harmful chemicals. Animal-friendly and eco!

The heads are made of resin, hand painted and patinated and they have a protective layer of clear matte varnish.

This has been mounted onto the wooden base with a sturdy wire. You can carefully reposition/bend this if needed.

The glass dome is not attached to the base so it can be taken off.

The twin bird and the glass dome has been patinated to look old and a bit dirty.

On the glass dome there is a sign written in Swedish: "Fågelkranium - Siamesisk Tvilling - 1669" which translates to "Bird Cranium - Conjoined Twin - 1669".

This has been hand made by me and it is not intended as a toy for children, it should be handled with care.

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Dated to 1669, this specimen is believed to have been produced by a witch in

training, possibly in a ceremonial event or to test ones powers.

The spell found in the same area as the bird specimen is meant to be spoken

to be able to travel to Blåkulla, as was also admitted in court by a presumed witch in Ångermanland, the year 1674.

The spell reads:

Vipp upp och ner

och så ända till hälvites!

Flyg upp och ner

till Blåkulla till fanen!

Gud förbanne dig

far upp i vind och väder!

During the late middle ages it was believed that a witch would be given powers

from the Devil, when visiting Blåkulla. Some of these powers were that they could make cows dry up, make crops go bad, shapeshift into animals, drain power from the neighbour's livestock or the neighbours themselves, heal and cast other spells.

Blåkulla is, according to Swedish folklore, the place where witches fly during the Thursday before Easter to celebrate the witches' sabbath with the Devil.

It was believed the witch used a broom, branch or even an animal, to fly to Blåkulla. With the help of a needle the witch could open a hole in the wall if needed, big enough to go through. While the witch was at Blåkulla, people could not notice that she had left, but she seemed to still be at her usual spot.

At Blåkulla everyone was partying, drinking, eating and dancing with their backs to eachother and doing everything backwards from how they did in real life. They married several people at once and had sex with the Devil while hellfire smoldered up through a hole in the floor where you could see the tormented souls in hell.

When they woke up their bodies were aching, the food they'd eaten was gone and made them hungry and the gifts they'd been given had turned into dust.

Children told stories about being abducted by witches and taken to Blåkulla to be recruited to the service of the Devil. This led to the great witch hysteria "Det Stora

Oväsendet" ("The Great Noise") that lasted from 1668 to 1676 and claimed the lifes of around 280 people in Sweden, that were convicted and executed for being witches and collaborating with Satan. At least 30 000 people were executed around the Christian world. In the small village where I grew up, as many as 35 people were executed during these years.

To scare away the witches people lit fires and shot with rifles. This lives on today in the form of Easter bonfires, firecrackers and rockets. Even today children in Sweden dress up as ”Easter witches” and knock doors to collect candy.