As most everyone knows, the voodoo tradition
was brought to the New Orleans region by
African slaves, often via Haiti and other
islands in the eastern Caribbean. Voodoo’s
arrival in the Louisiana region caused it
to interlope on other traditions already
in place, such as Native American and Atchafalaya
Gypsy nature and rootwork practices. Ultimately,
African Voodoo’s assimilation into
these practices resulted in a potent regional
hoodoo tradition that persists to this day.
Popular among slaves, some speculate that
making voodoo dolls and sticking them with
pins was one method by which the slave could
exert some control over the master: from
the very start white plantation owners,
mostly of European descent, feared this
and its obvious connection to the more familiar
poppet magic of their cultures. More often
than not, however, the voodoo doll was employed
as a weapon against other believers in voodoo,
or vodusi, who did not hesitate to use it
and immediately recognized its consequences.
Primitive dolls, often bound with twine
or cat-gut and stuck through with everything
from pins to fish bones, have been unearthed
on several plantations in South Louisiana,
evidence that the concept of vicarious punishment
through use of an image doll was firmly
in place among the African slave populations
of 18th and 19th century Louisiana.
But the idea of using voodoo dolls and
other forms of hexes such as gris-gris and
mojo, reached its zenith during the reign
of the infamous Voodoo Queen of New Orleans,
none other than Marie Laveau.
Equally famous for her hairdressing skills
as for her practice of Voodoo, Marie Laveau
rose to fame in New Orleans during the latter
half of the 19th century when her reputation
as a powerful voodoo mambo (or priestess)
grew by leaps and bounds. She was constantly
being sought out by rich and poor alike
to lend her aid in all sorts of requests,
some well intentioned and others not so.
Most came to her with simple requests to
make a certain person fall in love or to
secure the healthy delivery of a baby or
an inheritance. But just as often, there
were those who asked her to use her power
to punish and avenge when they felt they
had been wronged in one way or another.
The lore of 19th century voodoo is filled
with the tales of victims of this vengeful
magic who awoke after a fitful night’s
sleep to find bones, graveyard dust and
the inevitable voodoo doll laying on their
porch steps – placed there in the
darkness by Marie Laveaux herself. The tales
would otherwise be a footnote in New Orleans
history were it not for the fact that, according
to reliable sources, nearly all the voodoo
Marie Laveau performed actually worked.
Often, the mere suggestion that the Voodoo
Queen had “worked” a person
would be enough to cause physical or emotional
collapse; this, according to some accounts,
was often followed by actual death. The
power possessed by Marie Laveau is still
at work in the Voodoo practiced in New Orleans
today, and the tradition of the Voodoo Doll
is still alive and well.
Some proponents of Voodoo as a religion
attempt to distance themselves from the
voodoo doll cursing tradition and there
are many examples of dolls created for more
positive purposes such as healing and spiritual
enlightenment. These practitioners claim
that use of voodoo dolls for vengeance and
punishment is a form of Bokor (Black) Voodoo
that has contributed to the bad reputation
the religion has had to bear over the centuries.
But it remains a fact that most, if not
all, people who seek out a Voodoo practitioner
for the creation and manipulation of a Voodoo
doll is usually bent on vengeance, at a
minimum, or often genuine, irreversible
harm. There is something viscerally satisfying
about pricking and puncturing an effigy
of your worst enemy; the natural expansion
of this concept lends itself easily to the
act of greater harm and the consequent feeling
of control one can obtain from this.
Though in recent years there have been
no actual reports of a person dying because
a voodoo doll was employed against them,
it is still not high on the list of things
a local from New Orleans wants to see on
his or her doorstep any given morning. No
one finding this will have any doubt as
to the intent of the person(s) who left
it there!
The practice of sticking pins in "voodoo
dolls" has history in healing teachings
as identifying pressure points. How it became
known as a method of cursing an individual
by some followers of what has come to be
called "New Orleans Voodoo", which
is a local variant of hoodoo is a mystery.
Some speculate that it was one of many ways
of self defense by instilling fear in slave
owners. This practice is not unique to New
Orleans "voodoo" however and has
as much basis in European-based magical
devices such as the "poppet" and
the nkisi or bocio of West and Central Africa.
In fact it has more basis in European traditions,
as the nkisi or bocio figures used in Africa
are in fact power objects, what in Haiti
would be referred to as pwen, rather than
magical surrogates for an intended target
of sorcery whether for boon or for bane.
Such "voodoo" dolls are not a
feature of Haitian religion, although dolls
intended for tourists may be found in the
Iron Market in Port au Prince. The practice
became closely associated with the Vodou
religions in the public mind through the
vehicle of horror movies.
There is a practice in Haiti of nailing
crude poppets with a discarded shoe on trees
near the cemetery to act as messengers to
the otherworld, which is very different
in function from how poppets are portrayed
as being used by "voodoo worshippers"
in popular media and imagination, ie. for
purposes of sympathetic magic towards another
person. Another use of dolls in authentic
Vodou practice is the incorporation of plastic
doll babies in altars and objects used to
represent or honor the spirits, or in pwen,
which recalls the aforementioned use of
bocio and nkisi figures in Africa. One Haitian
artist particularly known for his unusual
sacred constructions using doll parts is
Pierrot Barra of Port au Prince.
So how does a simple creature
of cloth, wax or clay become imbued with
such power to create havoc and harm?
More than just consecrating the doll as
the image of a certain person, a lot of
the “magic” of making voodoo
dolls, especially “black” voodoo
dolls, comes from the person creating it.
Traditionally, the maker is instructed to
concentrate all her thought and effort into
the making of the doll, envisioning during
the construction all the evil that can possibly
be heaped on the victim. Some practitioners
will spend days in the creation and “charging”
of their doll, keeping it in sight and venting
their anger and frustration at the doll
until, when the time comes, the doll is
finally given the name of the intended victim
and the ritual abuse of the voodoo doll
can begin. This process, according to experts
in the field, rarely fails, unless the will
of the creator falters at some point. The
resulting humiliation or punishment of the
victim may then be less potent than otherwise
intended.
Bianca the Voodoo Queen Of New Orleans,
began her studies with Voodoo at a very
early age. She does not believe in using
dolls to harm others in any way shape or
form. A noble concept, as what goes around
comes back around. Bianca says the origin
of the New Orleans voodoo doll was not to
inflict pain, but for healing. Choose between
the Money vcome to Me Voodoo Doll, Heath
and Wealth, Peace and Protection, Love and
Passion or Lucky Voodoo Doll.
A form of positive (though still manipulative)
magic for which the voodoo doll is excellently
suited is the traditional magic “binding.”
In this instance, the practitioner ritually
binds the voodoo doll, charged and named
for the individual in question, from doing
harm or evil toward others. Thus bound,
the ill-intentioned efforts of that person
will come to nothing; the person whom the
practitioner has protected will experience
no harm at the hands of a person thus bound.
Conversely, a person can be bound with evil
intent and although this is often used in
Bokor Voodoo the tradition is an ancient
one. European grimoires are full of rituals
detailing the use of poppets and dolls for
bringing evil to selected individual; many
of these rituals even go so far as instructing
the practitioner to bury the doll in a kind
of symbolic funeral. Once this is done,
the person whom the doll represented will
be seen to waste away and, ultimately, die.
This kind of ritual is not uncommon among
those who use voodoo dolls for evil purposes.
Today there are literally hundreds of kinds
of voodoo dolls available. Many are the
traditional primitive sort, produced by
local voodoo workers for sale to the public.
These dolls can usually be identified by
their similarities to each other, and often
come with a packet of pins and instructions.
Most people who purchase these dolls will
keep them around as a curio, usually as
a reminder of a fun trip to the Land of
Voodoo, New Orleans. Although there is a
tendency to laugh at this trade, to true
practitioners of Voodoo there is a real
danger inherent in these mass-produced dolls.
“Just don’t name it unless
you really intend to use it.” This
is the warning given by most reputable mambos
or priestesses who provide such items to
the public. Obviously, how a voodoo doll
is used depends on the person who owns it,
but there have been instances where even
the most garish-looking tourist trinket
voodoo doll has ultimately caused harm –
however minor – after arriving at
its destination. The lesson here should
be obvious.
Other voodoo dolls available to the public
are more specialized and are usually purchased
by collectors or persons who are not unacquainted
with the caveats that go along with owning
such artwork.
Many popular voodoo dolls are created in
honor of a particular Lwa, one of the powerful
spirits of the Vodoun religion, and though
there are many styles, most renditions remain
true to the aspects of the particular Lwa
they depict. Probably the most popular of
these Lwa dolls is Gede, the great Death
Lwa, who is represented in various skeletal
forms with colors and accoutrements easily
recognized by his devotees. Other popular
Lwas are Manman Brigit, Erzulie Freda, Papa
Legba, and Lasirien, with her aquatic motif.
Other dolls available are rendered in synch
with devotion to a particular Lwa but are
designed to invoke the power of the Lwa
in the owner’s life. These devotional
dolls are created more for actual use than
for display, and since most are one of a
kind, created from an intimate consultation
with a practicing mambo or priest, the dolls
are highly prized and extremely personal.
These dolls are also kept very secure because
any ill-intentioned person possessing such
a creation can produce no end of aggravation
and harm to the devotee it represents.
As you can see, voodoo dolls come in a
myriad of styles and sizes and can be created
for any number of purposes. It is important
to remember that the voodoo doll as we know
it today represents centuries of magical
tradition and as such it should never be
treated lightly, even when it doesn’t
seem to take itself very seriously (such
as the tacky, tourist voodoo magnets mentioned
above). Always treat your doll with respect
and approach it with the knowledge that
it is a creature of craft, your craft or
that of another, and as such it has –
whether you acknowledge it or not –
a life all its own.
Today about 15% of the population of New
Orleans practices Voodoo. Modern Voodoo
has taken several directions: Spiritualist
Reverends and Mothers who have their own
churches, Hoodoos who integrate and work
spells and superstitions, elements of European
witchcraft and the occult, and traditionalists
for whom the practice of Voodoo is a most
natural and important part of their daily
lives, a positive search for ancient roots
and wisdom. The practice of Voodoo involves
the search for higher levels of consciousness
in the belief that -as indeed all of the
ancient scriptures teach - it is we who
must open the way towards the Gods. for
when we call out from our hearts, the Gods
hear and indeed are compelled to respond.
According to Charles M. Gandolfo, founder
of the Historic Voodoo Museum, in his booklet,
How to Use Your Voodoo Doll for Serious
Practitioners (1993), the stereotype is
untrue: "First of all the voodoo doll
is used about 90% of the time to help people
find love, to keep a lover, to guide someone
in the right direction, to bring some financial
help, or to heal." He adds, "The
other 10% is to influence that someone that
is evil and to send away that evil person
from your life."
