Puppets or Poppets

The use of puppets or poppets (of cloth and straw, of clay or wax) has been associated with the witch in all cultures. Just as ligature represents a form of sympathetic magic, so, too, does the piercing of waxen images to procure death or disease. Sympathetic magic was not always negative, however. Witches were also called upon to bring lovers together by binding dolls representing them, while saying appropriate invocations and burning appropriate candles—about which, more later.

Does sympathetic magic work? The evidence that it does is extensive, though the explanations for the phenomenon are hardly conclusive. If the victim knows the magic is being performed and shares the same belief system as the witch, surely it will work. If bits of the victim’s hair, nails, skin have been incorporated into the waxen image, so much the worse for him! But what if the witch is miles away and the victim is uninformed? The smaller and more ingrown the society, the more lethal sympathetic magic can be; however, its efficacy in larger groups has also been shown.

In 1324, in England, a certain Richard de Sowe was driven mad by means of a lead pin stuck into the head of his wax and canvas image. The poor man was not even the main victim of evil intent, but only a sort of guinea pig. The story goes that twenty-seven burgesses in the town of Coventry approached a magician named John de Nottingham (and his associate, Robert Le Mareschal) to prepare, for pay, waxen poppets to destroy the king of England, the prior of Coventry, and several other royal officials whose oppression they hated. The two magicians were paid money on account and were supplied with wax and canvas, whereupon they proceeded to construct six waxen images to represent their clients’ enemies, and a seventh as a “control.” Since Richard de Sowe was a neighbor, they used him for that purpose.

What happened next is horrible indeed. The two magicians pierced the forehead of the De Sowe poppet with a lead pin. When they went to his home next morning, they discovered De Sowe raving mad, and so he continued for nearly three weeks. When the magicians pulled the spike from the forehead of the poppet and thrust it instead into the poppet’s heart, Richard de Sowe died a few days later.

At that point, the assistant magician apparently lost his nerve, went to the coroner, and accused John de Nottingham and the burgesses of treason and necromancy.

The outcome of the story, alas, is that the chief magician died in jail (the assistant’s fate is unknown) and the burgesses got off scot-free. But aside from proving that magicians always took the blame for their clients’ evil intentions, the story does illustrate the deadly efficacy of sympathetic magic. Those of royal blood were likely to be the chief targets of image-magic and they knew it. This also accounts for their willingness to pass ferocious laws against sorcerers and witches.