What are magical Poppets
Poppets are one of the most popular magical tools used within sympathetic magic. These dolls can be found in many different cultures and beliefs across the world, and they are known by many other names (the Voodoo doll is probably the most well-known name).
The word poppet comes from the old middle English word ‘popet’ which means small child or doll.
Poppets in History
Poppets date back thousands of years, and there are many examples from ancient civilisations of these dolls. One example comes from ancient Egypt. It’s said that the enemies of Rameses III (and he had many) would create wax dolls of him and use these to bring about his death. Another example comes from ancient Greece, dolls called Kolossoi were created for binding and could be used on ghosts, dangerous deities or people. These dolls could be used to help spirits cross over to Hades and to bind enemies from causing harm.
An example of a hand made poppet, this has a pocket on the front to add things like crystals to.
Popepts are not only found in ancient history, there are many examples of these dolls being used in more recent history. There’s a story, that the Princess of Wales, Caroline of Brunswick (1768-1821), who was married to the future King George IV despised her husband so that she created a wax figure of him and proceeded to jab them with pins.
2 smaller poppets
Poppets allow a practitioner to direct energy towards a specific intent, this is done through rituals and spells that can influence the well-being of an individual. Though poppets are normally portrayed as being used for negative intent (thank you Hollywood) they can be used for both positive and negative reasons.
In modern witchcraft, poppets are more popularly used for
healing
protection
love
prosperity
empowerment
Although they can be used for hexing if you really need them to.
A poppet can take on any shape or form that you wish and can also be made with any material that you wish and you make them as elaborate as you wish by adding herbs, crystals etc to them.
Be sure to look out for my next post where I will explain how to make a poppet.
