Binding dolls, not “voodoo dolls”: not recreating ancient magic with students
Long time no blog.
Oh well.
In the lead up to Halloween and the end of Australian universities’ second semester, I decided to do something magical and fun with students this week. Why not have students make binding dolls?
Don’t call them “Voodoo dolls”!
I read an article last year by David Frankfurter addressing the inappropriateness of the use of the term “voodoo doll” when discussing ancient magical practices (I’ve included the details in Further Reading at the bottom. It was written partially in response to the racial issues which occurred at the 2019 Society of Classical Studies conference in America. Given the amount of scholarly output which use the term, I thought this would give me an opportunity to address this with students.
To summarise why we shouldn’t use the term “voodoo doll”:
- It is anachronistic. Vodou as a religion now recognised not only did not exist in the Mediterranean world, its origins in sub-Saharan Africa are also geographically irrelevant.
- It is offensive to practitioners of Vodou because what we call “voodoo dolls” aren’t anything that religion practices. “Voodoo dolls” are a western confection which actually reflects more of European magical practices. It has been dubbed “voodoo” as a result of the gross “othering” and fetishisation of African and Haitian religion.
- What we stereotypically think of as “voodoo dolls” does not accurately describe the practice of using figurines magically around the ancient Mediterranean.
Basically, the term is offensive. If you like being offensive, well it’s also incorrect. You can be an incorrect horrible person if you like, but I figure most people would prefer not to.
What should we call them instead?
- Binding dolls/figurines/poppets
- Magical dolls/figurines/poppets
- Kolossoi (singular kolossos). This is a Greek term for some of these dolls. I also didn’t know that the word from which we derive colossus does not have to mean “huge”, it can also mean an “image”.
It isn’t hard to change our language.
The modern conceptual “voodoo doll” is imagined as a form of sympathetic magic as described by the 19th century anthropologist, Janes Frazer in his influential work The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion. He stated that the "...magician infers that he can produce any effect he desires merely by imitating it."
This is an incredibly simplified understanding of magic, but has greatly influenced how magic has been understood, and helped create the modern western idea of the "voodoo doll." Frazer conceptualised this form of sympathy as a primitive understanding of the laws of physics.
So if these dolls weren’t used in the way we stereotypically imagine “voodoo dolls” to be used, how were they?
Frankfurter has pointed out that Frazer's work draws attention to physical causality (i.e. put this pin in the doll and it will cause pain to the victim in the same spot) instead of focusing on the interpretation of the ritual actions which accompany the use of such a doll (see Frankfurter, 2019, p. 661 - check Further Reading for more details). You need to look at all magic, including ancient magic, with more nuance. In the words of another ancient magic scholar, Andrew Wilburn:
The idea of similarity, however, neither addresses the reasons why figurines are made, nor does it fully explain how similar features between objects affect change on the world through the mediation of the practitioner (page 460).
So why use figures? Well the act of creation is magical in and of itself.
Wilburn makes the point that making a figure "collapses" the distance between the doll and the viewer, and that the person making, touching, or observing what is being represented by it understands it "sensually". This use of "sensual" is literal and is not a sexual euphemism; it involves the senses. Wilburn goes on to say that this "sensual" understanding is best achieved through the act of creating an image, and that the completed object reflects the artist's understanding of the subject. Wilburn goes on to say:
The congruencies between the object and the thing represented permits a slippage of boundaries; the representation becomes that which it represents. By determining the form and shape of the object that he or she has made the artist also controls, through extension, it double, the victim of the spell.
...The representation is an extension of the identity of an original, one that lies under the control of the practitioner. Often the copy is smaller than the original, and only retains certain details. The choice of which features to include is significant, as each element that is included has been selected because of its ability to encapsulate the larger idea of the object or because a specific feature is important for the spell (page 461).
The concept of "slippage of boundaries" is very important in understanding magic. Boundaries and "liminal spaces" are very important. Many spaces we continue to associate with magic are spaces of change: think of the old chestnut of "selling your soul at the crossroads". Crossroads are a place of change and are termed "liminal". Think of horseshoes placed above doorways for luck: doorways are liminal spaces. Even carrying a bride across a threshold is an extension of this. If the act of making an image is viewed in this way, making a doll for this purpose is indeed creating liminal space. Oh, and the concept of liminal is not limited to space, you also find it in time: why do you think midnight is the "witching hour" (in fact some cultures refer to it as the hour before dawn - a more natural way to view time), or we stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve? These are examples of liminal times.
Creating a magical doll is an act of magical control. Wilburn goes on to say:
The importance of the image often lies not in its appearance but rather its efficacy to the goals of the practitioner or ritual celebrant. … An association between an object and a referent could also be established through writing or speech. The practitioner might inscribe the name of the target on the image, or, in the case of uninscribed figurines, he or she could pronounce the name of the victim. At times, material (ousia, in Greek) such as hair, nails, or some other substance that had been in contact with the victim was attached to the figurine to cement the relationship (pages 462-3).
The use of "ousia", sometimes even translated as "stuff" plays a huge role in why these dolls have been misnamed "voodoo dolls." However, we have limited examples of dolls which include them, and a few more literary references to them. This similarity to the stereotypical "voodoo doll" is what has made the term so tempting. When trying to explain the past, being able to use a popular culture term as a mental short-hand can be very easy, but this usage has led to a misunderstanding of just what was done and understood in antiquity.
The points Wilburn makes about writing and speech, are really important. We see these kinds of dolls from antiquity with a name inscribed on them. We also see them accompanied by written spells, where their name and the name of the magical practitioner are written multiple times.
So creating a binding doll was a magical act, in and of itself. Such dolls were commonly made with accompanying rituals. These were what made the dolls work, not necessarily the act of piercing or destroying it. The point of these dolls were not necessarily to cause harm, but to bind - hence "binding dolls." When a doll is found pierced, tied, contained, buried or disabled (having feet or heads turned around) the purpose was not to cause the object of the spell to be hurt, but controlled or captured. Unless a doll is accompanied by a text which describes how the doll is treated was meant to reproduce the harm inflicted on the doll, we cannot say that was the purpose of the ritual.
What Were Binding Dolls Used For?
These dolls were used for multiple purposes:
Protections spells
From the time of Old Kingdom Egypt, binding dolls were used to protect people and borders. While I disapprove of Christopher Faraone's use of the term "voodoo doll", his article on the protective use of binding dolls is an excellent discussion of this phenomenon. There are examples of these kinds of rituals being used to protect places from pirates by binding a statue of Ares. We even have Late Antique stories of statues representing barbarians which were buried and "consecrated there according to an ancient rite" being dug up just prior to the Gothic invasion of Thrace (Photius, Library, cod. 80 p. 177).
Enforcing a Vow
An inscription from Cyrene (Libya) described how people from the Greek island of Thera who agreed to the creation of a colony at Cyrene participated in a ritual in which molded wax dolls were burned "prayed that the one who did not abide by these oaths but foreswore himself should melt and dissolve just like the dolls, he himself, his descendants, and his property, but that those that did abide by these oaths, whether among those sailing to Libya or those remaining behind in Thera, should have many good things, both they themselves and their descendants.” (Ogden 2002, section 236)
This spell is very similar to “self-cursing” spells recorded in the Near East. See Wilburn page 478 if you would like to know more about these.
Exorcism
Using a binding doll to act in the role of a ghost's body was a ritual in the Mediterranean. Again, an inscription of Cyrene provides details of how should make a male and female doll from either wood or clay when trying to remove an unknown ghost. You provide both a male and female figure to ensure that the ghost was properly represented. The inscription provided details of how the figurine should be entertained, have a share of all food consumed in the house set before them, and "when you have performed the rites, take the dolls to an unworked forest and fix them there with their helpings.” (Odgen 2002, section 124). Basically, these dolls were receiving funeral rites on behalf of the ghosts which coaxed the spirit into the figurine, and then the dolls were removed into the wilderness to prevent them causing further trouble.
Agonistic Spells
This style of binding refers to competitive relationships such as between rivals, be they rivals in trade, competing lovers, opposing litigants, or competing athletes. There are both dolls and curse tablets (defixiones) conducting spells to prevent someone else from winning against the person performing or paying for the spell.
Yes, spells could be purchased. We have found curse tablets written in the same handwriting. It appears that for a period of time in ancient Athens, this was something of a cottage industry.
Luck Spells
Spells to bring good luck also used magical dolls. These we know existed most because such rituals were described in ancient magical handbooks which survived in Egypt. One such spell reads:
Spell to promote trade. Take some tawny wax and the juice of the plants aeria and ground ivy, blend them together, and mold a hollow figure of Hermes, brandishing a herald's staff in his left hand and pouch in his right. Write the following names on a strip of hieratic papyrus, and you will see trade without end: "CHAIOCHEN OUTIBILMEMNOUOTH ATRAUICH. Give means and trade to this place, because PSENTEBETH dwells in it." Insert this into the model and seal up the hole with wax of the same sort. Stow it away in a wall where it won't be seen. Garland him outside and sacrifice a cock to him, with a libation of Egyptian wine. Light a non-red lamp for him. (Greek Magical Papyrus IV, lines 2359-72 (see Betz)
This is a fairly simple ritual. There are other, more complicated luck rituals involving dolls
Erotic Spells
There are plenty of example of these. The earliest all appear in popular culture – poems mostly – and these might have influenced actual practice. There are plenty of examples which can be found in Odgen's book. We also have erotic spells and their rituals outlined in the Greek Magical Papyri, and because of texts accompanying dolls, some spells which would have been ritually written.
Creating Binding Dolls
As anyone who has looked at my blog’s content, I do love recreating the past. This is not a full recreation. While it might be highly informative to try recreate the ritual circumstance surrounding the creation of such artefacts, I did not have the time to go quite that far, so this was only a superficial understanding of the experience. Fortunately, there has been a trend in academic studies to better understand what these rites might have felt like and how this might have affected participants.
Irene Salvo’s work (again see Further Reading) on sense-focused. One of the senses frequently influenced in magical rituals is smell. While not relating directly to the discovery of binding dolls, Salvo points to the heavy use of burning frankincense in relation to magical rites performed at a site in ancient Corinth.
Burning frankincense causes two problems when trying to recreate a ritual context:
- Smoke alarms respond to smoke. I don’t won’t to be responsible for the fire brigade coming to uni for an expensive false alarm. I don’t think the University wants me to either. Doing this out of doors would fail to recreate the effect.
- Drugging students tends to be frowned upon by ethics committees. Salvo makes the point that a study has shown that exposure to the elements included in burnt frankincense has a anti-depressant and anti-anxiety effect on mouse brains similar to that caused by diazepam and desipramine. I’m not sure how relevant that study really is, because when I looked it up, they were injecting mice, not fumigating them, but I still imagine there are some ethical clearances which ought to be followed. What this says about religious rituals like those of many mainstream churches, I will leave you to ponder.
There is another reason, which was shown to me by students during the session:
STUDENTS DON’T FEEL COMFORTABLE RECREATING ANCIENT MAGIC.
Despite outlining that these dolls were made with accompanying rituals, no one wanted to make a doll from commercial air-dry clay until I expressly stated that magic was all about intent, so unless you wanted to do someone harm, you could not. No one in the room stated that they believed in magic, indeed one person said they were brought up in a very rational household, but no one was comfortable with the idea of potentially malignant magic.
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| All figurines made in the session |
One student made a dog.
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| Dog with bowl |
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| Medusa figurine |
Another insisted on creating an apotropaic figure of Medusa, whereas another student tried to bind Covid 19.
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| Bound Covid-19 figurine |
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| Protective figurine |
The fourth student made a figure to try protect her partner.
As for me, I did make a bound figurine. I thought I would try my luck at binding disease, in my case, binding my arthritis. And yes, I childishly stabbed the figurine’s knees as this was where my arthritis started as a child. While it was not consistent with ancient practice, I did think as I did so, “how do like it?” It is really difficult to let go of the stereotype of a "voodoo doll".
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| Side view |
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| Back view |
So what did I do? I formed a basic humanoid figurine. I gave it basic facial features. I turned its arms and legs backwards and wrapped their ends together with red wool. I formed little bulbs for knees and vindictively stabbed them with a nail. I placed a clove in the back of its head for no reason other than I like the smell.
I did not intone any spell. I did not think anything other than "how would you like it?" I did nothing other than imagine that this doll was my arthritis.
So has my arthritis been since Tuesday?
No different from normal that I can tell. Maybe I should have burned some frankincense and thought this through a little better. Or not.
What to do with your binding doll?
We often find binding dolls and other magical objects liminal spaces. There included down wells, in graves or cemeteries, and hidden in homes (in basements or near doorways). It is worth noting this from Plato:
"It is not worthwhile for us to try to tell the souls of men who mistrust each other, if ever they see molded wax figures at doors or at crossroads or in some cases on the tombs of their ancestor, to ignore all such things..." Laws 933b.
I suggested that students might want to do the following with their figures:
- Seal it in a container
- Place it in a cemetery
- Hide it in your home
- Place it in a still body of water
I have placed mine on a shelf among my collection of recreated apothecary bottle. Maybe I will find a container for it and see if that helps at all.
For those interested, here are a bunch of binding figurines from antiquity. I had this showing to provide examples to the students.
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| Variety of Binding dolls from 6th century BCE to the 5th CE |
The students really loved the lead figure second from the bottom on the far right. They thought it looked like it was dancing.
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