To Hoodoo or Voodoo?

  As many of you already know, we sell hand made Voodoo Dolls at the Arcanus Tarot Parlor in Longmont. I make these dolls in the traditional New Orleans style, using good wood for the frame and Spanish moss for the stuffing. The dolls are then wrapped in a variety of colorful (or sometimes deliberately NOT so colorful) cloth, and decorated with various ribbons or strings or yarns and such. Each is given a unique face and maybe a nice hoodie or something special as an accessory. No two of these dolls are ever the same.

  The odd thing is, some people are as freaked out by these dolls as they are by the harmless Ouija board that sits upon one of the tables in my reading room! This, dear friends, is because they have seen too many movies that portray only the sensational or disturbing aspects of such tools of our craft as dolls and spirit boards. When they see one of the Arcanus Voodoo Dolls they immediately ask "Oh, you use those to curse people, right?" Let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth.

  Although it is possible to use a Voodoo Doll to send ill tidings toward someone, this is NOT recommended, and the Universe would not let this go unpaid by the person casting such a wish. If you went to a Voodoo practitioner and ask them to do such a thing on your behalf, the first thing they would ask is are you ready to pay the price? Like attracts like, good karma attracts good karma, and bad begets bad. The true use of a Voodoo Doll is to attract good fortune, wish for good health and happiness, perform a healing ritual on some afflicted part of your own or another's body, or to attract a positive relationship. All of these types of wishes are sent forth into the Universe through the doll by using defined ceremonies and specific colors of pins on the doll. These are the true purposes for using the doll.

  Voodoo Dolls can bring great tidings of good karma into the life of those who walk the path of light and know how to properly respect and use the doll. The secret to this, as with a Ouija board or any other form of metaphysical tool, is in understanding what you are working with and how it is best applied. Otherwise, you are simply treading on the superstitions so often represented in the movies and pop culture. The next thing you know, you'll be sitting in some Gypsies wagon crossing her palm with silver!