|
The
History of Voodoo Dolls
Excerpt from
Voodoo
Dolls in Magick and Ritual
by
Denise Alvarado
Using dolls and effigies in sympathetic magic rituals is as old as
humankind. More often than not, ritual dolls and effigies were used for
healing, fertility, and empowerment. In some cultures such as
ancient Greece, they were used to bind
enemies. European poppets were widely used in folk magic and witchcraft to
curse an enemy. Other types of dolls were used in harvest customs and burial
rites, made as talismans, or used as teaching aids for children.
Beyond the era of ancient dolls, Voodoo dolls as we know them today are
created for many purposes. In New Orleans, which can be considered the
contemporary hub of Voodoo dolls in America, they are created as gris gris
(pronounced gree gree), a form of talismanic magick. The word
gris means grey,
denoting that which lies between black and white. Gris gris is both a noun
and a verb, referring to a ritually prepared object such as a doll or a
small cloth bag filled with magickal ingredients, as well as the act of
working the gris gris (i.e. spell or charm). In New Orleans, there are four
main categories of gris gris: love, power and domination, luck and finance,
and uncrossing. These four categories are among the most commonly requested
gris gris associated with Voodoo dolls.
Traditionally, Voodoo dolls are created to represent a deity or to house a
spirit, not unlike the nkisi, statues of power used throughout the
Congo Basin in Central Africa that are thought to contain spiritual powers
or spirits. Although they are most commonly
depicted as objects of revenge, most practitioners of Voodoo make a
concerted effort to disassociate from the malevolent use of Voodoo dolls,
which is considered a form of Bokor Voodoo or sorcery. Instead, Voodoo dolls
are created and used for positive purposes. Approximately 90% of the use of
Voodoo dolls is centered on healing, finding true love, and spiritual
guidance. They are also used as focusing tools in ritual and meditation.
Nkisi
literally translates as "sacred medicine". The term Nkisi
is the general name for a variety of holy objects used throughout
the Congo Basin in Central Africa thought to contain spiritual
powers or spirits (called "mpungo"). Minkisi (plural) are primarily
containers - ceramic vessels, gourds, animal horns, shells, bundles,
or any other object that can contain spiritually-charged substances.
Even graves can be considered minkisi because they house the spirits
of the dead. Minkisi are often referred to as portable graves
because they may contain personal items of a powerful individual as
one of the main ingredients.
The photograph of the old nkisi above is from ex-Zaire and is Songye
in ethnic origin.
http://www.origomundi.com/oldnkishifigure-p-107.html
Voodoo Dolls
Among the slave population in Louisiana during the 18th and 19th
centuries, image magick using dolls was commonplace. Image magick is
a type of magick based on the concept of like attracts like and is
discussed in greater detail in the chapter Voodoo Doll Magick.
Archaic dolls bound with cat gut or twine and stuck with pins or fish bones
have been discovered on several Louisiana plantations.
Some of these figural forms found among the
slave population bore a striking resemblance to the bocio of Africa. The
bocio figurines were aesthetically provocative empowerment objects produced
primarily in the lower Western Africa regions of Benin and Togo. These
figures were artistic assemblages as well as magickal objects, and would
often have a variety of items attached to the figure. For example, personal
items, cloth, rope, nails or tacks were driven into the figure to activate
its power and invoke the spirit. According to Moreau de Saint Méry (1797),
the Africans “believed in magic and that the power of their fetiches have
followed them across the sea…Little rude figures of wood or stone,
representing men or animals, are for them things of supernatural power, and
they call them garde corps (body guards). There are a number of
Negroes who acquire absolute power over others by this means” (Herskovitz,
1964, p. 221).
The bocio figurines were more than just
scary looking magickal objects; they served a psychotherapeutic role as
well. Traditionally, bocio were created in response to specific needs, and
were believed to help people influence events in their lives for positive or
negative ends. For example, bocio may be constructed for protection from
illness, safety on the road, to promote success in economic matters, or
fertility. It is easy to envision some of the reasons bocio may have been
created and employed by slaves. For example, they may have been used for
protection from abuse and brutality, safety for the family, revenge for
abuse suffered at the hands of their masters, and/or to promote freedom from
bondage. Obviously, bocio were a powerful means for psychological catharsis,
as well as an effective tool for empowerment in the context of social and
political crisis.
Like modern day Voodoo dolls, the process of creating a bocio was an
empowering activity and sometimes involved more than one person. For
example, there was the artist who created the raw figure, the diviner who
activated the object by attaching a variety of personal items to the
sculpture, and the client who uses it in a particular ritual context (Blier,
1995). Sometimes one person completed all three steps, which may have
resulted in an enhanced sense of empowerment for that individual.
In Haiti, another form of doll emerged that may have taken the place of the
more threatening bocio. Cloth dolls were created and brought to cemeteries
to activate their power. Sometimes these cloth dolls were brought to
cemeteries and nailed to a tree with an old shoe and an attached message to
act as messengers to the spirit world.
The authentic African fetish (shown left) was carved in the Congo from a single
piece of Native wood. The costume is woven of straw and then carefully sewn onto
the carving. This type of fetish is believed by its creators to have magical
powers. It is used in ceremonies (especially male puberty rites) to ward off
evil spirits and undesirable women. The male adults dress up in similar life
size straw costumes and masks. This fetish is from Voodoo Mama's private
collection.
You can read more about
fetichism in Africa
here.
Read more about Voodoo Dolls in Magick and Ritual.
|
