DOLLS It is easy to see why dolls, puppets, dummies, poppets and effigies can be fertile ground for demonic possession. They look like humans and are often the most frightening of possessed objects because of that reason. The fear of dolls is called pediophobia, which is related to the overall fear of humanoid figures, called automatonophobia. There is even a fear of puppets, pupaphobia, so obviously there is something in human nature that upsets us about dolls of any kind...even pretty ones. In an article for Smithsonianmag.com, reporter Linda Rodrigues McRobbie references a horror movie director, John Leonetti, of the "Conjuring" movie franchise as having said in Huffington Post, that dolls are exceptional vehicles in horror films because they often emulate a human figure. "But they're missing one big thing, which is emotion. So they're shells. It's a natural psychological and justifiable vehicle for demons to take it over... They're hollow inside. That space needs to be filled." Sometimes it's filled with evil. Dolls have been important culturally for thousands of years for their cultural and educational value, as well as for their entertainment purposes as playthings. Dolls have helped us adapt sociologically to changing norms of dress and behavior, and reflect cultural values and how we see children, or how we want them to be, according to Patricia Hodges, curator of The Strong National Museum of Play in New York. Hodges told Smithsonianmag.com's reporter McRobbie that dolls were used in the 18th and 19th centuries to teach girls how to dress, act and behave and what the gender norms were for the times. Even today, dolls assist with social interaction and expression, and modern dolls also reflect the changing female roles available to girls. In ancient times and in pagan communities of old, dolls and figurines would be used to represent actual people in ceremonies and rituals, for both positive and negative reasons, including statues and statuettes of religious figures. Gods and goddesses often had their own dolls to represent their specific powers in special rituals in Rome, Egypt and many other cultures that recognized a type of sympathetic magic - a more primitive belief of applying magical values to items that can then heal, harm or help grow crops and find food by mimicking the animal, person or object in question. VOODOO DOLLS AND POPPETS Think of voodoo dolls, which are used in ceremonies to not only curse someone, but rid the afflicted of illness, which was thought to be the presence of demons inside the body. Poppets are little dolls used for the same purpose, with roots in much older Germanic and Scandinavian cultures and are used today by many Wiccans and modern witches for rituals and spells. Effigies were used by many Native tribes, as well as in African and European cultures, and are still used today in political rallies to symbolize a hated politician or dictator. Voodoo dolls and poppets are actually small effigies that have pins in them, and anyone can make them. They are not so much already possessed by demons, as vessels of the will and evil intentions of the person who makes the doll and casts the spell or curse. Yet, if the belief in these dolls is strong enough, they do work. In cultures that focus on natural magic and ascribe a spirit to everything, living or not, the mere suggestion that an object has cursed them, or cured them, is enough to trigger a strong type of "placebo effect" on the mind and the body. While voodoo dolls in Western culture are more of a fun novelty item, in Carribean nations and in Africa, the origin nation of voudon, they are powerful and not something to be toyed with. One possibly possessed voodoo doll is the Voodoo Zombie Doll, another item sold on eBay with an allegedly supernatural history. This time, a woman from Galveston, Texas purchased the doll on eBay in 2004. The owner claimed it was made in New Orleans, a place itself riddled with spirits light and dark, and that it was not to be removed from the metal box with silver casing it was placed in. But of course the new owner did remove it, and thus claimed the doll attacked her and haunted her in her dreams. She repeatedly sent the doll to new owners on eBay but each time it would supposedly show back up again at her door. She finally got rid of it when a ghost hunter took it off her hands. If her story sounds familiar, just watch the "Talking Tina" episode of "Twilight Zone" as well as many other horror movies that play on the "returning demon doll" plotline! Another creepy New Orleans doll is the Devil Baby, which was actually a carved gourd hung outside a home to ward off the child of a cursed woman. Story has it that Marie Laveau, the famous voodoo queen in the 1800s, cast a curse on a new bride, resulting in the bride giving birth to a horrific baby that looked like Satan. The baby was brought up by Laveau until her death, and when the baby died, it was buried with her in the same cemetery. But while it was alive, it was said to attack anyone who came near it. The carved Devil Baby Dolls scared it away if hung outside. Nowadays, these dolls are rare and worth a mint to collectors. Even newer made dolls are said to possess some evil spirits that cause them to speak and move on their own accord. Much more terrifying are dolls that are claimed to actually be possessed by an entity or demon. A doll may be called "haunted" or possessed, and the two terms here can be used interchangeably, although in the case of an actual possessed doll, the entity within is always evil, whereas a ghost inhabiting a doll may not always be. Dolls, even pretty ones, often evoke a bit of fear in all of us. We harbor a tiny bit of terror when we see a doll or a puppet or ventriloquist dummy thanks to popular culture and horror movies. But it goes a bit deeper. These objects play on our sense of self and identity. We see a doll and humanize it. Though our common sense tells us it is impossible for a demon to be inside a lovely doll, our fear addled brain wonders...what if? Two notorious possessed dolls have names that belie their horrific heritage - Annabelle and Robert. ANNABELLE If you have seen the popular movie "The Conjuring," then you have met the lovely Annabelle, the truly demonic doll owned by the Perron family. Annabelle is allegedly possessed by an evil entity that plagued the family until famed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren saved the family. The actual doll was a common Raggedy Ann ragdoll that many little girls have owned over the decades. In 1970, a woman purchased a rag doll in an antique shop to give to her daughter, Donna, who was about to graduate from nursing school. Donna loved the doll and put it on her bed in the apartment she shared with another nursing student named Angie. Excerpted from Demons, the Devil, and Fallen Angels by Marie D. Jones, Larry Flaxman All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
