Voodoo dolls originate from the African diaspora as part of spiritual traditions. Their use is still present in New Orleans voodoo and to this day they are a very important element of Haitian Vodou. Although the collective imagination associates them with a means to negatively influence a person, in reality it is a tool to bring good into one's life and that of others, through which one asks for love, protection, success, healing and much more.. The doll is often the representation of the person for whom you ask for the benevolence of the spirits. For some, voodoo is a religion, for others a mystery, while for still others it is a means of promoting positive changes in their lives.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Build a Voodoo Doll to Represent a Person
Step 1. Visualize the person you want to represent
When making a doll, you need to have in mind who you want to address the magical effect to and how you would like to influence them. Since voodoo is mainly based on the connection between the individual and the spirits, it is important that the doll you hold in your hands symbolizes the person you want to bring good or evil to.
Step 2. Build the doll using a photograph
One way to make a voodoo replica of the person is to print a full-length image of the individual and sew it to the doll's fabric. When you have found and printed the image, cut out the contours of the body and use the fabric as the back of the photograph. As you start sewing the photo to the doll, fill the doll with stuffing.
Step 3. Make a doll out of personal items
You may not have an image of the person you want to represent, or you may prefer to construct one using an object associated with that individual. A lock of hair or a piece of clothing are perfect for this purpose. Find some sewing thread, twine, or fabric and sew or build a simple doll. Finally, attach the object to the doll to represent the person.
Step 4. Purify the doll
Even before you even think about using it, you must purify it to neutralize all previous energies and thus have a "blank slate" around which you can organize your rituals. To do this, place your hands over the doll and direct all your energy towards it, concentrating on making it pure and virgin. You can wash it with salt water, cover it with purifying incense (sage or sandalwood, for example), or expose it to natural sunlight or moonlight. Alternatively, you can bury it in the earth and let the universe and mother nature transform its energy.
- Most likely the object you used to build the doll will be permeated with other energies, so you must never neglect the purification step, so that the energies do not get confused and disoriented.
- To make the cleansing process easier, use objects or tools that have had little contact with others, unless you want this object to represent a particular person.
Part 2 of 3: Using Voodoo for Beneficial Purposes
Step 1. Focus on your wishes
One of the purposes of the voodoo doll is to help you meditate and concentrate. While holding it in your hands, focus on the effect you hope to achieve. You can also buy dolls online that symbolize aspects such as fertility, marriage, luck, prosperity, or one that represents spirits.
- This process requires patience and the mind must be free from distracting thoughts. This is why meditation is referred to: you have to calm your soul in order to spiritually tune into your desires.
- You can try to bring good not only into your own life, but into that of others as well. If you wish to bring luck to someone, you can use the same ritual, but you will need to have a doll that represents that person and focus on the wishes for their benefit.
Step 2. Use pins of different colors
Traditionally, there are seven colors you can use that indicate the area you want to focus on. This technique closely accompanies that of concentration, but remember that meditation and recollection are the most important phase, while the use of pins is a method to be used later. Once you have decided which aspects of your life you want to change, stick the pin of the corresponding color into the voodoo doll. The head represents everything that has to do with knowledge, the heart with emotions and the abdomen with impulsive sensations or intuitions. So, if you want power in your friend's life, then take a red pin and stick it in your head. If you want love, choose the blue pin and insert it into the heart. Here are the various colors and what they represent:
- Yellow: success;
- Green: money;
- White: healing;
- Red - the power;
- Viola: spirituality;
- Blue: love;
- Black: remove negative energies.
Step 3. Make a request to the spirits of voodoo
Loa, twins, and the dead are all voodoo spirits interacting to bring different things into people's lives. To summon them, you need to build or otherwise procure a spirit doll, focus on what you would like to achieve, light a candle of the correct color for the spirit, and offer a sacrifice.
- Loa interact with people on earth and are the spirits of the most important forces in the universe: good, evil, health, reproduction and all aspects of daily life. There are many types of Loa and it is practically impossible to list them all; however, with some good research you can find a suitable one to address your invocations.
- Twins are a mysterious set of opposing forces: happiness and sadness, good and evil, and so on. When honored, they help people get the best out of their lives.
- The dead are the souls of the deceased family members of a person who, however, the family has not yet "claimed". If the dead are ignored, they can become dangerous, but if they are honored and respected then they are very useful.
Part 3 of 3: Using Voodoo for Maleficent Purposes
Step 1. Use colored pins to harm a person
Although they are typically used on a voodoo doll to bring good into your life and that of others, in some cases the pins are used to do harm. For example, if you want to have control over a person, use the red pin, focus on the type of power you want to subdue the individual, and stick the pin into the doll's head.
Step 2. Ask the spirit to act on your behalf
Use a doll that represents the spirit you want to summon, build an altar for the doll, focus on the person you want to hurt or bring bad luck to, and ask the spirit to act according to your wishes. Just like when making a request for yourself, remember to light a candle of the correct color, based on the spirit, and offer a sacrifice.
Step 3. Restore the classic torture techniques
If you wish to invoke evil on someone through a doll that represents them, then you can use ordinary needles or pins, a rope, wire, water or any other torture device you wish. Eventually, following the concentration techniques, focus on the person you want to harm and the actions you are pouring out against them.
- Remember to cleanse the doll of past energies. If the doll was associated with someone else, then the harm could fall on this other person you don't want to hurt!
- Most experienced voodoo practitioners recommend using dolls only for good, because, as the saying goes, "he who sows wind reap storms".
Advice
- The doll is used to represent the spirit of a specific person. You should address them as if you were talking to that person, asking them to change their attitude and thus influencing their behavior based on your will and desires.
- Most voodoo practices require a connection with the universe and spirits. If you doubt their power or are unable to focus on this connection, your voodoo will likely have no effect.
- New Orleans voodoo requires dolls to be blessed by an experienced practitioner, so they connect with spirits more directly.
Warnings
- If you misuse voodoo dolls, karma will pour out on you, bringing you conflict, accident, depression, bad luck and even death.
- Remember that if you decide to use the doll to do harm, you will have to suffer the backlash of karma, so be very careful!
- Voodoo dolls absorb the energies of the people who have used them, for this reason you should never use someone else's doll.
- The powers of voodoo dolls have not been scientifically proven.
