New Orleans Voodoo Doll
1.Gather the Things You’ll Need, listed below.
2 strong sticks
Spanish moss
scrap fabric cut in 2 inch strips
2 to 3 feet long (color of your choice) yarn that complements or contrasts fabric
string
hemp cord, or waxed thread,
beads to use as eyes
needle and thread in a color to match or contrast your fabric
tacky glue
pins with heads in the following colors: red, blue, green, purple, yellow, black, white
2.Make a cross shape with your two sticks. Tie them together with your string. Hemp cord or waxed thread is better than regular string as they tend to be stronger.
3. Wrap the Spanish moss around the sticks, starting at the middle for reinforcement, and going up around the head, down to one arm, back across to the other arm, back to the middle, and down to the bottom. If possible, use moss that is connected together in a big enough piece to cover the sticks without breaking it apart. The idea is to wrap the doll in one continuous motion (the result is often times a stronger doll). If you break the moss apart and have to use more than one continuous piece, you may have to wrap string around the moss to keep it from falling off. If you wrap tightly enough, you shouldn’t have to use string over the moss.
4. Wrap your fabric strips around the moss. Make sure to leave some of the moss showing, such as on the head (for hair), at the ends of the arms, and at the bottom. Secure with tacky glue. You may want to reinforce with a couple of stitches with your needle and thread.
5.Make a face. Attach beads with the needle and thread for eyes, or glue 2 black eyed peas to the face for eyes. Add a button or bead for the mouth.
6.Dress your voodoo doll. This step is entirely optional, but perhaps you’ll get a feeling for who the doll represents, what they want to wear, whether they are male or female, and what types of items they want to carry, such as a mojo pouch or gris gris bag. Remember that a voodoo doll is supposed to symbolize a real person or a spirit. Sometimes they are made to look like a person you know, in which case you should have some hair or a piece of clothing or other personal item that belongs to that person in order to charge the doll with that person’s energy.
TIPS
If there’s any text or graphics on the picture (such as on the person’s shirt) remember to reverse the image horizontally before you print so that it shows up normally later when it’s on the doll. Alternatively, you can cut out a heart from red fabric to cover that section on the doll.
Add pins. Voodoo practitioners use dolls primarily for boring positive things like healing people or sparking romance. If you harm your boss out of spite, karma dictates that the consequences for you will be worse. There are seven pins, each one with a different symbol:
yellow – success
white – positive
red – power
purple – spirituality
green – money
blue – love
black – repelling negative energy
