The Truth About Voodoo Dolls

Voodoo doll strappd to a tree, courtesy of Planet Voodoo

Despite what we’ve all seen on TV of how a straw puppet is used to stick pins through it and make the enemy suffer, this is not necessarily true to what really is a Voodoo doll. According to this website which explains the History of Voodoo, these dolls are not used merely for evil purposes. Instead, people create them in order to find true love, for healing, or spiritual guidance. They are also utilized as body guards, called bocio, in which a voodoo doll houses a spirit which protects the owner from evil. It is believed the African slaves utilized these in order to protect them from whip lashes, abuse from their owners, etc. Voodoo dolls were also utilized in ceremonies to ward off evil spirits and undesirable presences. Some were even utilized in cemeteries and attached to a tree with an old shoe to serve as messengers to the spirit world.

However like all things, voodoo dolls were not only utilized for good. Some people utilized them to take control of people or make them suffer. As they are made with actual pieces of clothing or personal items, they are believed to have an exact relation to a person. People stuck needles and objects through the doll, and this way they thought to invoke the spirit in it and activate its power. They were utilized to have power or control.

voodoo doll

Voodoo dolls are considered a form of talismanic magick. Gris means grey, a point between black and white, I guess a connection between our world and the spirit world. Gris gris has four categories: love, power and domination, luck and finance, and uncrossing. Voodoo dolls could be utilized for one of these four purposes. However, they are all believed to house a supernatural spirit, something that gives it power. 

Today, Voodoo dolls are made by at least three people: the artist, the diviner and the client. The artist creates the raw figure, the diviner activates the object by attaching personal items to it, and the client who utilizes it. They’re made out of wood or stone that represent men or animals but which housed a supernatural spirit, not necessarily used only for evil.