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 The
History of Voodoo Dolls
by Denise Alvarado (Excerpt from
Voodoo Dolls in Magick and Ritual)
Among the slave population in Louisiana during
the 18 th
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.
©
Denise Alvarado, All Rights reserved.
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