POPPETS

The making of Voodoo dolls, poppets, fetishes, and ritual effigies has taken place since antiquity. Though the practice is ancient, their present use remains similar. In order to understand how to use your Voodoo doll or poppet, it is useful to understand them in their historic context. Much can be learned from studying the ancient cultures and mystics who held the esoteric knowledge that forms the very foundation of modern day magick, Voodoo, and witchcraft.

Poppets can be used for healing purposes, promoting health, finding love, creating happiness and good luck, for protection, for binding, cursing, and to manipulate energy in numerous other ways. Poppets comes in several forms, including wax, cloth, paper, wood, root, and clay.

To make a wax poppet, coat you hands with a few drops of essential oil, and mold a shape out of softened wax and adorn it with stones, beads, or draw names or symbols into the form. You can add hair or nail clippings or some other personal effect of the intended recipient.

Cut a figure form out of cloth (2 pieces) and stitch almost all the way up. Leave a space to fill with herbs, moss, hair, or whatever the spell calls for. For figure templates, click here.

To make a paper poppet, draw a figure on a piece of card stock or parchament paper and cut it out. On the paper doll, draw symbols and write the name of the intended recipient of the spell. You can afix a photo onto the face if you have one.

Using a soft wood, carve a figure form. Glue hair to the head or yarn representing hair, and paint the wood with acrylic paint. You can paint symbols, names or paint clothes, or a face. You are limited only by your imagination.

Root poppets can be made out of naturally shaped roots that look like figures, or they can be carved out of root vegetables like potatoes. In the past, they have been made out of mandrake roots or ginseng which can look amazingly human in form.

Mandrake poppets are also called fetiches. Superstitious people were so afraid of its appearance that they would draw a circle around it or tie a dog to the plant to protect themselves when the root was pulled from the ground. It was believed that the mandrake could kill a person from the screams so powerful. The root was worn around the neck.

Men and lesbian women should carry with them the feminine, White Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum var. vernalis), or the substitute, White Bryony (Bryonia dioica).

Women and homosexual men should carry with them the masculine, Black Mandrake (Mandragora officinarum var. autumnalis) or the substitute, Black Bryony (Tamus communis). (FromThe Black Arts by: Richard Cavendish)

Clay poppets are molded out of any number of types of clay. Create a hoolw space in the clay to place personal effects of the spell recipient, or fill with special herbs or drawn symbols and then seal. paint or adorn the clay accordingly.