Poppets
Poppets
A doll used in European witchcraft made to represent a person, for casting healing, fertility, or binding spells on that person. These dolls can be made from carved root, grain or corn shafts, a fruit, paper, wax, a potato, clay, branches, or cloth stuffed with herbs. Whatever actions are performed upon the poppet are then transferred to the person. These dolls are often mistakenly called "voodoo dolls", but Voodoo dolls are unheard of in the original Voodoo in Haiti, although some are used in New Orleans voodoo, mostly to amuse tourists. Apparently, the term Voodoo doll was invented by an American writer who made up a story about Voodoo after hearing that it was witchcraft. The only "dolls" used in Voodoo are ones used on Voodoo altars, which are supposed to represent loa, the spirits of voodoo.
