CORN VOODOO DOLL

Making a Voodoo doll out of corn leaves is one of the cheapest methods in places like Louisiana and New Orleans, where corn leaves are amongst the cheapest raw materials found.

In order to create a corn Voodoo doll, there is a need for corn leaves, plain paper and a strong rope. It might take you some time to prepare the Voodoo doll, longer than it would take to make other types of dolls, but there’s corn dolls are not complicated and easy to make.

The first step is to dry the corn leaves and soak them in water to such an extent that they are easy to bend without kinks. Lay the plain paper on which you are going to work (the process itself will be wet and dirty), and choose five of the best leaves you have. If you find some leaves with holes or brown spots, set them aside temporarily, as you will need them in soon.

Combine the ends of three leaves together, tie them with a rope (you can use a rubber band) and move the construction inside out, so that space will be available on top for mounting the head of the doll. The head can be made out of a ball of paper, cloth, threads or twisted corn leaves. It is mounted on top where the corn leaves where tied.

Now take one of the corn leaves that contain holes or brown spots, and cut it into three equal parts, tie them in one end and twist them into a tight tube. After this, tie the other end. This will serve as hands for the doll. Tie the hands under the head.

Take the last corn leaf and cut it in half. Place each one of the strips on the doll’s shoulders, in such a way that will cross the waist level. Tie a belt with a rope, and the doll is complete.

If you don’t like the doll’s “skirt”, you can split the lower ends of the leaves and connect them both so that the doll will have a more masculine figure. Keep in mind that this type of voodoo doll has no legs.

ABOUT VOODOO DOLLS

When people hear about voodoo dolls, the first association that comes to mind is a scary shaman that puts needles inside the body of the doll and causes horrible pain to the victim. Others consider it as black magic that is summoned to do harm to others. In reality, these perceptions are far from the truth.

Although there are some practitioners that work with dark spells and magic around the world, and they use dolls in their rituals which have quite some features in common with voodoo dolls used by Haitian voodoo priests. However, the original and primary use of voodoo dolls is precisely the opposite: getting rid of negative energy, search for love, invocation of good luck, improve wellbeing, healing serious diseases and so on.

In essence, voodoo dolls can be considered a form of gris-gris (the so-called charms that protect the owner from evil spirits and bring luck, often in the form of bags filled with dried herbs, stones and other objects). Amulets in the form of small, brightly colored dolls were hung above the wall, as it was believed that they held unwanted energies away from the home. Talismans in the form of a black cat (voodoo practitioners used the image of a cat quite often) were believed to bring good luck in sports and gambling (especially lottery and card games).

Often times voodoo dolls were passed by heritage and became family heirlooms. Naturally, these dolls kept all the energy of past generations inside of them. A lot of modern families keep voodoo dolls in their houses, that served the first immigrants from Africa in the beginning of the 18th century.

Fertility dolls were especially often passed by heritage, as they contribute to the continuation of the family. Dolls were used for protection against enemies and rivals.

It is accustomed to gift two voodoo dolls with needles inside of them in weddings in Louisiana. Before the dolls go to their newly wed owners, they go through the hands of all guests present at the wedding. Each guest sticks a specifically colored needle inside the doll. If the guest wishes long and strong love between the couple, he will stick a red needle in the heart area of the doll. Should a guest wish for many children, he will stick a needle in the groin area. A needle in the bride’s heel symbolizes the unbreakable marriage. The dolls then go to the possession of the couple. When coming home, the couple must place the dolls in the most visible location.

Differently colored needles, each with its own symbolic meanings, are used in rituals with voodoo dolls. As opposed to the doll’s clothes, the needles come in only seven main colors. Yellow symbolizes success, red is power, purple is spirituality, blue is love, green is wellbeing. White color brings positive energy, while black color gets rid of negative energy.

It is important to remember that with the creation of a voodoo doll comes personal responsibility. If you practice the arts of voodoo and learn how to create dolls – never use your knowledge and experience to cause harm to others.

Herbs and Stones Used for Reversing Negative Spells


Reversing witchcraft is the process of nullifying and invalidating a negative spell done to bring darkness, misfortune, bad luck, and problems into your life. It doesn’t really matter if you knew who did it or why the person did it, what matters is that you can’t let such negative curses to control your life. You just have to reverse it quickly to the sender. 

There are many spells, herbs and amulets that can be used to achieve this aim. In this blog we shall highlight some plants and precious stones you can use to reverse hexes and gain protection from negative influences.

 

List of Herbs and Stones Used for Protection

Acacia: protects against psychic attack.

Asafetida: one of the strongest banishing herbs. Burn it to drive away evil and destroy its manifestations.

Agrimony: useful for the return of harmful energy to its original source.

Ash:  very protective and used for cleansing and refocusing.

Artemis: protects against astral attack, or psychic attack in dreams.

Amber: protects against psychic attack.

Achillea: is used for psychic protection.

Bindweed: It smothers the intentions of others. Used in both hexing and protection.

Black pepper: to invert a spell.

Betony:  for banishing and removing negative energy.

Blueberry:  This plant protects you from treacherous individuals.

Bay: is a powerful protective herb used for banishing hex.

Cayenne pepper: returns negative energy to its source.

Camphor:  Used to ward off unwanted advances, cleanse and banish negativity.

Coffee: neutralizes harmful magic.

Cedar: This plant has a way of keeping psychic channels open while protecting the individual.  It is used to anoint the 3rd eye.

Eucalyptus:  highly protective in all areas of health.  Also used for purification.

Geranium:  used to lift the spirits and banish negativity.

Garlic: warns the individual of incoming negative spells and repels it.

Hawthorn:  used for protection, purification and banishment.

Hyssop: for purification and defensive magic.

St. John’s Wort: purifies and protects against psychic attack.

Lavender:  cleanses, protects and shields from bad vibrations and negativity. It is an excellent herb for protecting babies and children.

Vetiver: used to break a spell or curse.

Wormwood: used in rituals to uncross, remove spells or curses on you.

Yucca: avoids the attack through sympathetic magic.

Amethyst: protects from negative energy.

Black Onyx: protects against harmful magic.

Red agate: for the protection of your aura.

Hematite: use for the protection of the house and property, as well as to defend against psychic attacks.

Malachite: repels hostile magic attacks.

Obsidian: provides protective energies.

Quartz: For protection against evil spells and curses.

Ruby: use to defend against magical attacks related to emotions.

Selenite: for shielding against negative external influences.

 



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VOODOO DOLLS MATERIAL

There are no real accepted rules on how to create a “real” Voodoo doll. You can make any doll you want, and however you want, by keeping in mind that the doll will have direct materialistic and spiritual connection to the person. People have made Voodoo dolls from any materials they could get their hands on in various places and periods, such as clay, wood, wax, corn leaves, human bones, various fabrics, feathers, plant roots, etc.

You can use any materials at your disposal. Let’s have a look at some in more detail.

New Orleans Voodoo dolls were mostly made out of blue clay, which was dug out of burrows of crayfish. You can use any clay you want to create your dolls. When finishing working on a doll, a hollow void is kept inside, where materials can be put into that hold symbolism or belong to the person such as herbs for example. After that the doll is brought into a proper form, painted and applied with magical symbols.

A classic material for New Orleans Voodoo dolls. This plant resembles a human beard hanging from the branches of trees, and is an excellent material for stuffing pillows, furniture, etc. This is why Spanish Moss is common in southern United States, and has been used successfully by Louisiana sorcerers. A “traditional” Voodoo doll without legs is made out of this plant.

A material which is perfect in almost all aspects. It is flexible and capable to last in its original shape for a long time. Wax is especially preferred for its ease of human portrayal, ease of carving magic symbols and the possibility to attach human hair to the doll.

Rag dolls were used in New Orleans Voodoo and were made from two strips of material. These two strips are then embroidered into two identical forms on the left and right side of the doll, leaving a hole to fill the doll with magic herbs, objects or ordinary moss.

The most primitive doll can be made out of wood, but such dolls will only depict a human form in a very generalized way (without the small details). Sometimes a single doll is carved from a single piece of wood, which requires a certain skill and accuracy. One of the simplest versions of dolls which were popular in early stages of Voodoo in Louisiana was a thick tree branch or stump covered in moss, trimmed with a cloth and a face which made the doll look somewhat realistic.

The roots of a mandrake, which often look very similar to a human figure, can be used for Voodoo magic without any additional work. With sufficient skill, you can carve a figure of a human from potatoes, celery or the like.

Those who are familiar with the papier-mache technique don’t need explanation how a Voodoo doll can be made out of paper. The two basic ways to do so is to either turn the paper into pulp, soak it and mix it with an adhesive composition (then it can be used as clay or wax), or apply layer by layer, gluing the paper to the same composition. It is easy to turn paper into a substitute for other materials.

Voodoo dolls out of bones are mainly used for black magic.

Dolls can be made out of plastic, polyethylene, foam, or even from 3d printers using the latest technology.


COLOR SYMBOLISM IN VOODOO DOLLS

The choice of clothing for Voodoo dolls is not made out of decorative or aesthetic reasons. Each color has a meaning and symbolizes certain things, and it gives certain power to your doll when dressed. If the material of the doll clothing doesn’t have any special meaning, you should at least pay careful attention to the color of the clothing.

Yellow: success, understanding, attractiveness, confidence.
White: peace, security, cleanliness, health, honesty, sincerity, protection from rumors.
Red: power, energy, love, health, passion.
Purple: spirituality, physical and spiritual healing, strength, wisdom, contact with spirits, psychic sense, resistance to black magic.
Green: money, wealth, abundance, prosperity, fertility, luck, health, generosity, rebirth.
Blue: love, the color of Marie Laveau.
Indigo: sacred color, removing evil.
Pink: love, affection, honor, dedication, unity, kindness, happiness, luck, friendship, morality.
Black: transfiguration, removal of bad habits, grief, strife, poverty, confusion, bad luck. Fully black colored dolls are used in black magic.
Brown: doubt, indecision, uncertainty.
Gray: termination, a stalemate situation.
Orange: success, support, rapid adaptation.