The Poppet
One of the most popular and misunderstood images in witchcraft is that of the magickal doll. It brings to mind a creepy wax figure stuffed full of pins, used to torture and kill people. Despite its macabre reputation, the poppet is a staple item to witches worldwide in many different traditions.
I have always used the term poppet for these spell dolls, although they’re most commonly known as voodoo dolls. Magickal dolls have appeared in spiritual practice as far back into history as ancient Egypt, with all kinds of uses: healing, protection, blessing, love, and, yes, cursing. The poppet is a human figure made of clay, wax, or cloth, often containing the hair or fingernails of the person it represents. What is done to the doll by the witch, be it filling the doll with healing energy or stabbing its heart with a stick, is said to affect the person it represents. While pop culture makes it look like you can use a poppet to spontaneously snap the bones of your enemies or make them burst into flames by throwing the doll in a fire, it’s not quite like that. Poppets can be used to affect a person’s behavior or energy.
Creating a Poppet
Poppets have been whittled out of wood, fashioned from corn husks, and even carved out of potatoes! You can use almost anything you have on hand, as long as it represents a specific person and the intent is there. Here are the basics of creating one.
The Cloth Poppet
The most popular material for making poppets is cloth, stuffed with appropriate herbs and objects. What you put inside the poppet differs according to intent. I’ve included a few poppet spells later on, which all include different ingredients. Most often your poppet will be stuffed with herbs, plants, roots, and natural materials that match its purpose, along with a piece of hair or fingernails of the person it represents.
materials
Piece of cloth around 2 feet by 1 foot in size, preferably of a material that is thin and easily sewn, such as a bedsheet. It’s even better if the person has touched or worn the cloth. If you’re using a piece of the person’s clothing, it can have patterns on it, but it is easier to decorate the doll’s features if it is a solid color.
Different colored markers or paint for adding details to the doll
Scissors
Needle
Thread of appropriate color. I prefer red, like veins.
Stuffing such as herbs, roots, and other natural materials
Fingernails or hair of the person the poppet will represent
Fold your rectangle of cloth in half with the short ends together and draw the outline of a person on it. Give it the same general shape of the person it represents. Carefully cut along the lines, making sure you slice through both layers of fabric. This will give you a front and a back.
Using the needle and thread, start on one side of the head and sew all around the edge of the figure. Don’t worry if you’re not the best at sewing, the aesthetics of the doll aren’t as important as the energy you put into it. While sewing, think about the person, see their face in your mind, and hear the words they’ve said to you. Imagine their smell. Recall your conversations. Focus on the person completely during the entire construction of the doll. Leave the top of the head open far enough for you to fit all the stuffing inside.
Through the hole in the head, start filling the doll with your chosen materials. Push it down into the legs and arms first, then the torso, then the head. The last ingredient to go in is their hair or fingernails. Then sew the head shut and tie it off. There is your basic poppet. Now, take your pens or paint and give the doll features like the person they represent. Give them the right eye color and hair style. Draw their clothing and any birthmarks or tattoos that define them. Last, you can write their name across the heart area if you please.
You should have spent this whole time holding an image of the individual in your mind, their mannerisms, and how they make you feel. Now lay the poppet on your altar and hold your hands a few inches above it. Imagine all those thoughts, sounds, and images condensing into your hands in a ball of energy, the essence of the person. Then send the energy from your hands into the doll. You’re ready to use it now.
The Clay Poppet
If you prefer, you can make a poppet out of either store-bought or homemade clay. I prefer to stay away from polymer or plastic clay, as it does not biodegrade, but there are many natural, air-drying clays available in craft stores. You can also easily make your own, using this recipe:
simple clay recipe
½ cup to 1 cup of flour
1 cup to 1½ cup of salt
½ cup to 1 cup of water
Mix the dry ingredients first, and then add the water a bit at a time while stirring. You want a consistency that is not too wet and will hold its shape. Aim for the feel of Play-Doh.
This clay can air dry over a period of days, or you can slowly bake your finished poppet at 390 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius) for up to 4 hours in the oven or until hardened.
materials
Clay (homemade or store-bought)
Stuffing made of appropriate dried herbs for your intent. You will only be using about 1 tablespoon of it this time.
Hair or fingernails of the person the poppet represents
Simple molding tools, such as toothpicks and a butter knife
Paint
As you mold the clay into the shape of the person, remember to shape it like their physical body. Roll the stuffing into the clay while you work, including the hair or fingernails if you have them. Give it a belly button and accurate anatomy. Bake or air dry the clay. Then paint it with the person’s features, with their eye and skin tone, clothing style, and personal effects. Follow the same charging instructions as with the cloth poppet, and it’s ready to be used.
Jar Poppet
This is exactly like making a doll of a person without the arts and crafts. You will simply fill an ordinary jar with their qualities and effects. This includes hair and fingernails if you can get them. The jar will then act as the vessel that represents them. Fill the jar as if you are trying to encompass their personality. Add things they like, a symbol of their hobby or job, and a stone for their heart (depending on your intentions, it can be a beautiful crystal or an ugly chunk of cement). You can use earth elements such as sticks to represent their physical body and a large nut or seed for their head. Write their name on paper and put it in the jar. A piece of paper with their handwriting or their signature is even better.
Once you have all these items in the jar, you will put things representing your intentions inside the jar and seal it shut. For love and sweetness, you can put honey in it. For revenge, you can use cayenne pepper or a dead wasp. To make the person undesirable to others, you can add something that stinks, such as a bit of rotten food. The jar acts just the same way as a poppet that is shaped like a person, just in a simpler form with less craft work.
What’s with the Pins?
That iconic image of the witch’s doll stuffed full of pins is loosely rooted in fact. Pins can be used in poppets in a variety of ways, for everything from love spells and healing to cursing and hexes. Each placement of the pin has dual meanings depending on your goal. A pin in the heart can bring love or pain. A pin in the forehead can open the mind or cause confusion. Intent is everything and can turn a healing spell into a terrible curse, depending on what is in your heart.
Below is a breakdown of where pins can be placed in a poppet and why. Once you have a working knowledge and understanding of how poppet magick works, you can incorporate some of these ideas into your image magick.
Arms and Legs: Pinning the arms and legs in a way that traps them from moving is a means of binding. Much like stilling their hands, it can stop their actions.
Eyes: To keep things hidden from someone, put pins in the eyes of the poppet which represents them. This will blind them to your actions and keep them in the dark. Sometimes this is a means of protecting someone from things that will hurt them, such as witnessing violence.
Feet: To make someone stay put or prevent them from running away from problems, insert pins into the feet of the poppet.
Groin: This is done to cause sexual dysfunction in someone, usually to get revenge on an ex. On the other hand, a pin can be placed into this area to poke it to life, so to speak, to encourage fertility, or perk up a lagging sex life.
Hands: Put pins in their hands to stop their actions and render them unproductive. If they’re active in hurtful or dangerous doings, this can help stop them. If they are manipulating your life, you can still their hands so they can’t pull your strings anymore.
Head: A pin to the head can spark ideas, intelligence, and intellect or awaken the creative processes. On the dark side, if you were willing to risk the consequences, you could employ this same method to get into someone else’s head and wreak havoc, causing confusion, distraction, or a change of mindset.
Heart: This is the most popular place to stick a pin and you probably already know why: to make a person fall in love with you. You could also use this method in a spell to get the attention of a love interest, to spark the flame in an already-established relationship, or to otherwise awaken someone’s affections to you. The flip side of this action is to inflict emotional agony and heartbreak on someone.
Neck: Putting a pin in the throat will stop communication. This can be used to halt gossip or harmful rumors or stop someone from using their words to hurt people.
Spine: Targeting the spine of your poppet can be done to stop someone in their tracks and render them unable to continue what they’re currently undertaking. This can be to impede the progress of a rival or slow down the competition.
Pins for Healing
To use a poppet for healing, all the aforementioned steps would be taken for construction. The poppet would be stuffed with personal effects and healing herbs. The pins would then be inserted into the problem area of the body to “release” the illness, much like acupuncture in a way. If it is heartbreak, put the pin in the heart of the doll to release the sadness. If it is mental, the pin would go into the brain. If it is the stomach, kidneys, bladder, or another organ, insert the pin into the area of the doll where it would be and visualize the sickness leaking out as if you’d poked a hole in a water balloon.
Poppet Spells
Poppet and Blood Strength Spell
The following is a poppet spell to strengthen someone you care about, either due to ailing health or a need for emotional fortitude. This spell is meant to transfer some of your own strength and vitality into them via a poppet and a drop of your blood. Be sure to perform this spell at a time when you are in peak physical and emotional health.
materials
Cloth or clay poppet
Poppet stuffing: dandelions for their fortitude and tenaciousness, 3 large nails without rust on them (you’ve heard the saying “tough as nails”), solid pebbles or stones, hardy twigs, and crushed bay leaves. Feel free to include any items you personally associate with strength and toughness. If you have access to crystals, garnet is an ideal stone for health and vitality.
Hair or fingernails of the person
Lighter or matches
Red candle to represent vital life energy
Sterile lancet
Create your poppet with clay or cloth as explained earlier. Add features similar to the person it represents, and carve or write their name on the torso.
Cast your circle and place the finished poppet on your altar. Light the red candle.
Imagine your poppet is the person they represent, as they are now. If they are ill, see their sickness in the poppet. This can appear as blackish-brown energy or fog in their body near the affected area.
Using the sterile lancet, poke the index finger of your right hand to draw blood. Drip your blood onto the poppet in the affected area. Recite:
Red with vigor, strong and well,
My blood carries life and health.
Come alive, your health renewed.
I lend my strength and blood to you.
If you are not sure what part of the body is appropriate for their ailment, placing your blood on the heart center is fine. Now, visualize the person filled with health, life, vitality, and the ability to heal. You have transferred some of your life’s energy into them.
Close the circle.
Once a week, repeat the ritual with the blood and the chant. Once they recover, bury or dispose of the poppet.
Poppet for Smashing Enemies
This spell is to stop an individual from hurting you or someone else. The intention is to harness their negative conduct inside a poppet and then destroy it, thus disrupting their flow of hurtful behavior.
materials
Lighter and matches
Death candle (see page 51)
Hair or fingernails of the person the doll represents if possible
Bowl for holding the “stuffing” of your poppet
Protective gloves for handling broken glass
Poppet stuffing: broken glass, a small, ugly stone, and dirt
3 drops death oil (see page 48)
Air-drying clay, enough to make the shape of a person
Place the items on your altar and cast your circle. Light the death candle while you work.
Put the hair or fingernails in the bowl first.
Put on the gloves to protect your hands, then pick up the broken glass and hold it up to the dark sky. Declare out loud:
This broken glass represents (name)’s hurtful attitude.
Place it in the bowl. Remove the gloves for now.
Hold the stone up to the sky. State:
This ugly stone is (name)’s misguided heart.
Add it to the bowl.
Hold the dirt up to the sky and say:
This is (name)’s low-down, filthy behavior.
Add the dirt to the bowl.
Hold your hands over the mixture and visualize the vibrations of your enemy. It will feel bad and offensive. Direct it through your hands and into the bowl of ingredients.
Add 3 drops of death oil to the bowl and set aside.
Now put on the gloves again to protect your hands from the glass, and make your doll out of clay. Mold the loose ingredients into it as you form a human shape. The more effort you put into making the doll like the person, the stronger the bond between your victim and the doll will be.
Close the circle when you’re done.
Allow the clay to air dry, which takes several days. During this time, continue to empower the doll by every so often casting your anger at it, thus charging it with your vengeful energy. You can do this by holding your hands over it while you think about the person and allowing your emotions to flow through your hands and into the figure.
Once the doll is dry, it is time for the second part of the spell.
Take your poppet outside where no one can see you, preferably at night under a dark moon. Be still for a moment and tell the dark moon what you are doing and why. Cast a circle or call upon deity if you wish. Then, put the doll on the ground, stand over it, and stomp the hell out of it. With your heaviest boots or spikiest heels, stamp and crush the doll, grinding it into the dirt until it is pulp. Mash and smash it until it’s an unrecognizable mess. As you do so, channel your anger and bad feelings into your actions. You can also use a hammer or whatever tools necessary if stomping is not possible. When you are done, kick some dirt over the top of the remains. Spit on its grave a couple times if you want to. Then walk away, knowing that you have just blasted your enemy with an energetic butt-kicking.
It is unwise to leave broken glass sitting around like this, so after you have cooled down, clean up the remains of the doll and dump them in the trash.
Poppet Binding Spell
Binding is a term used in magic to describe the act of symbolically restraining a person, energy, or action. It is most often used to stop someone from destructive or hurtful behavior, much like straight-jacketing a person to keep them from harming themselves or others. Often, people will behave in negative ways because of an underlying emotion, such as anger, jealousy, sadness, or hurt. This spell addresses this underlying issue in an effort to stop the problem completely.
materials
Match
Cast-iron pan or fireproof bowl
1 cup of dirt (best if it’s from somewhere the person has spent time) in a container
Hair or fingernails of the person if possible
Cloth poppet. Have it ready to be stuffed, all sewn up except the head. You may also wish to draw the finishing touches and details on it prior to the spell to simplify things.
3 feet black ribbon or black string
In this case, the match and the fire it produces represent the offensive behavior that you are trying to “bind.” The flash of fire that occurs when you light the match is the hot flare of underlying anger, jealousy, or rage that is causing the person to act out. You will be snuffing out the flame with the dirt and then binding the doll.
Gather your materials on your altar during the dark moon. Cast your circle or call deity.
Holding the match before you, imagine it is surrounded by a black grungy ball. This is the negative emotion that’s causing the person to act in an undesirable way. See in your mind the precise actions that are a problem, and send these thoughts into the match. When your visualization is at its peak, strike the match and let it flare for a moment. Drop the lit match into your fireproof vessel, and then quickly dump the dirt over it, snuffing out the fire. Add the fingernails and hair to the dirt. Use this mixture to stuff your poppet, including what’s left of the match.
Sew up the doll’s head. Then, take the ribbon and start winding it around and around the doll. Start at the head, to stifle their words. Work your way down the whole body, restraining all that snuffed-out rage and unhappiness inside the doll. Cut off the energy coming from their cold heart. Bind their legs to stop them on their destructive path. Completely cover the doll in ribbon, rendering them silent and still.
Close your circle.
Then bury the doll in the ground or deposit it in a garbage can somewhere away from your home. Again, walk away and forget about it. Know that the fire of their hate has been snuffed out inside them and held back with reinforcements.
Killing Jar Spell
This spell is to help someone to stop bad habits, overcome addiction, or cease their unhealthy behavior.
materials
Hair or fingernails of the person if possible
Jar with a tight lid
Object representing the problem. For example, a cigarette if they’re trying to quit smoking, a shot of booze for alcoholism, or a picture that encompasses the habit.
Dark moon water, enough to fill the jar (see page 43)
Lighter or matches
Death candle (see page 51)
Black cloth or paper
String
Cast your circle and call upon deity.
Place the hair or fingernails in the jar, visualizing the person clearly (if you can’t get hair or fingernails, substitute with an item they have touched or a photo). Add the item that symbolizes the behavior that needs to end. Spend a moment seeing them indulge in this behavior, and let the feelings this ignites flourish. Rage, sadness, guilt—these are the feelings you must let loose in this spell. See the objects in the jar become imbued with this vibration.
Pour the dark moon water into the jar right to the top. Imagine a sizzling sound as it drowns the energy in the objects, snuffing them out with death current. Immediately put the lid on the jar tightly.
On a heatproof surface, light your death candle, and drip wax onto the lid. Use the hot wax to hold the candle upright in place, and then let it burn all the way down on the lid. You may close your circle during this time and let it burn at its own pace (do not leave it unattended). Black wax will drip down and streak over the jar, coating it in the power of the dark moon.
When it’s done, wrap it in the black cloth or paper, tie it securely with string, and hide it out of sight until the problem passes.