Motanka - a Slavic Doll Amulet.​​

The magical properties of a ritually made doll have been sandwiched between superstition and lore and practiced as folk art at best.  Spiritual dolls are often associated with Voodoo dolls,  whose humble African origins  got mixed up with pseudo-witchery, sorcery and low vibrational magic of Louisiana Bayou. Ritual doll-making has gone underworld and thrives under the umbrella of ancestral art and resurfaces as exotic souvenirs and beautiful but slightly problematic artifacts. After all, a magical doll doesn’t belong in a museum. Renee Stout, an artist who makes minkisi, African spirit dolls, compared an effigy in a museum to a church without a congregation: “There is still something there to look at, but any and all spiritual power is essentially gone”. (Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World).  

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Ritually made Dolls are infused with life by their makers. In Slavic tradition  just like in Africa, Guatemala, Japan and really across the world, dolls were gifted to invoke healing or to commemorate important life passages. A doll with a medicine pouch, filled with fruit, charcoal, seeds, and resins, would serve as a healer and activator of well-being. Herbs, dried flowers, and a mix of crystals can invoke the vibrations of abundance, joy and bless a person with protection. 

No matter the place of origin, talisman dolls have played similar roles:​

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• Dolls were created as a charm to ensure fertility 

• Their shape and costume would vary according to region and custom.

• Frequently dolls were handed down from mother to daughter. 

• The dolls were often dressed with traditional garb

• They were usually not children’s playthings, but rather objects that laden with ritual and religious associations within the community

• The dolls were used to teach, and entertain

• They were supernatural intermediaries  and were used for ritual purposes.

• They were often handed down through generations.

• Natural materials were often preferred for their inherent spiritual properties.

• Personal items were incorporated to strengthen the doll’s connection to its subject or purpose