Magical Dolls: Poppet of Protection for Dark Nights

In the past, it was thought that the night-time was when people needed most protection as it was when ghosts and goblins and other supernatural nasties got up to mischief. And Halloween is when scary things like that might be on our minds more than at other times of the year.

One of the magical objects traditionally used for protection in the past was a poppet to guard your home or look over you while you sleep. Here is how to make one for yourself.

What you need
A clean square of cotton fabric. Ideally, cut a piece from one of your old worn-out sheets, pillowcases or sleepwear, but you can use new material.

To put inside, get a few strands of your own hair from your comb or hairbrush. If you don’t have any head hair you can clip a little body hair.

You then need some dried lavender to go inside (avoid this if you are allergic to lavender - use another protective herb instead).

Some wool or string will be needed tie it with.

How to make the poppet
Place the hair and herbs in the centre of the square of fabric. This will form the head. Bunch the fabric over the stuffing and tie the wool or string around it to form a neck, leaving either end of the yarn to be the poppet’s arms.

Trim the yarn to a suitable length. The rest of the cloth, under the head and arms, represents a loose body or clothing.

You can draw on any features you want – although these can be simple shapes, dots or lines. Eyes can be represented by tiny crosses or circles.

Enchanting your doll
Without enchantment, a poppet might look the part, but it isn’t complete. You should do a little spell to bring your poppet to magical life and to awaken its inherent properties.

Cast a circle then say: “By earth, air, fire, water and the power of spirit, I call my poppets to magical life. May it watch over me while I sleep. From ghosties and ghoulies and long-legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night, may my poppet protect me. So mote it be.”

Open your circle and ground by having something to eat and drink.

Put your poppet by your bed or under your pillow to guard you from supernatural nasties and help you get a good night's sleep.

There are lots more ideas for creating magical dolls in my book Pagan Portals - Poppets and Magical Dolls.