Читать книгу Real Zombies, the Living Dead, and Creatures of the Apocalypse - Brad Steiger - Страница 56
Voodoo Dolls
ОглавлениеNext to the zombie, the so-called Voodoo doll is the most well-known figure associated with Voodoo. Many tourists have brought such souvenirs home from their visits to New Orleans or Haiti where voudun is practiced. Over the years, the portrayal of a Voodoo priest or priestess sticking pins into a doll that represents someone who has incurred their wrath has become so common that such effigies or puppets are known collectively as Voodoo dolls.
Actually, such figures have no role in the religion of Voodoo, and the practice of sticking pins in dolls or poppets (puppets) is a custom of Western European witches, rather than the Haitian, New Orleans, or other Caribbean practitioners of voudun. Perhaps the misunderstanding arose when outsiders who witnessed certain rituals saw the followers of Voodoo sticking pins in the figures of saints or guardian spirits. Such acts are done not to bring harm to anyone, but to keep the good force of magic within the object.