How to Make a Poppet Doll
In some Wiccan cultures, dolls are used to assist magical workers in their spell-castings and rituals. A poppet is a type of magical doll used to bring about positive results in areas such as healing, love or luck. The doll symbolically represents the person, male or female, at the center of the spell. As you create a poppet for yourself or for a relative or friend, focus your intention and energy on the magical goal you want to obtain.
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Things You'll Need
- Piece of colored natural fabric
- Pen or pencil
- Large gingerbread man cookie cutter
- Scissors
- Needle
- Thread
- Doll stuffing
- Herbs
- Markers
- Paint brush
- Fabric paints
- Ribbons
- Personal item
Instructions
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Choose a piece of natural fabric, such as cotton, to use to make your poppet. The color of your fabric should relate to your spell. For example, choose pink for love, or blue or green for healing.
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Fold the piece of fabric in half to form a square. Draw the shape of a human figure using a pen or pencil on one side of the folded fabric. If you need help drawing the figure, trace around a large gingerbread man cookie cutter.
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3
Cut out the cloth human figure using scissors. You should have two identical cloth figures.
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4
Place the two cloth figures together. The sides of the fabric that touch should be the outside fabric of the poppet, since later you will turn your doll inside out after sewing it.
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Sew around the edge of the figure using a needle and thread. Leave the top of the poppet's head open.
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Snip off any excess threads from the poppet using scissors.
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Turn the poppet inside out to hide its stitches by pulling the doll's body through its open head, using your hands.
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Stuff your doll's body by adding white fluff, cotton balls, straw or white yarn through the opening of its head.
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Add leaves or flowers of herbs appropriate to your magical spell into the poppet so the herbs reach the doll's chest and head. For example, if you are making a poppet to attract a lover, add herbs associated with love, such as vervain or yarrow.
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10
Draw with markers or use a paintbrush and fabric paints to add a mouth, nose and eyes to the outside of your poppet. Tie colored ribbons to the doll's body for decoration.
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Add a small personal item to the doll's midsection by stuffing it through the doll's open head. The item represents the person that the poppet is for and can consist of a small object, such as a photo of the person.
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Sew the top of the poppet's head shut with a needle and thread.
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Tips & Warnings
The figure you draw on cloth will shrink when you sew it, so draw your figure larger than you want the doll to be, or leave 1/2 inch to 1 inch of fabric around the perimeter of your cookie cutter as you trace it.
Some people create their poppet within a magical circle or sacred space and perform visualizations, chants or incantations while stuffing and decorating their doll.
References
- "Confessions of a Teenage Witch: Celebrating the Wiccan Life"; Gwinevere Rain; 2005
- "The Learned Arts of Witches and Wizards: History and Traditions of White Magic"; Anton Adams, et al.; 2000
