Shaman Shaman

I take Halloween pretty seriously. It's a Pagan holiday, and while I haven't been much on ceremony, as I have discussed before, the process of costuming for Halloween is a Big Deal. As it becomes a more mature holiday for me, so my costumes reflect a little more of my spirituality. This year I'm going to take advantage of a very generous gift John gave me at Christmas-- a Venetian mask he got while in Italy-- and dress as a plague doctor, because, well, it's awesome. But next year?

I always loved the shaman costume from Adventures in the Sin Trade from season 4 of Xena. But how to make it? I looked at buying loose antlers and pieces of antlers, but they were heavy and then I was faced with the problem of affixing them to a hood so that they didn't flop over. So for years, I've wanted this shaman costume, and could never make it. Then the other night, it came to me. I couldn't believe I had never thought of it before: papier mache. I could make a seat for the antlers and base for the fabric, and the antlers, instead of being real, could be made with a wire armature to support. It would be lightweight and the faux leather and fur could be hot glued on. What little stitching needed to be done, I can easily do by hand. I got very excited and wanted to start immediately, but first, I need materials. Materials will be cheap, yes, but even with their relative cheapness, I'm still pretty poor. I am so excited though! I can finally have Xena's shaman hood without having to kill and skin an elk, like she did in the episode! Oh, and if anyone loves me, season 4 is my absolute favorite and I don't own it...

So with that in mind, the other night when I was reading, an image popped in my head, as they do, when you're artistic. And it was a mask. One that will be infinitesimally more difficult and will require some sketching first to even figure out how to set up the armature. Can you guess what it will be?

Caw!