It is customary to play with dolls. As a last resort, they are collectible. But initially the dolls were used exclusively for magical and cult purposes.
Goddesses, killers, healers …
The oldest doll found by archaeologists was made in the 24th century BC. and was considered the prototype of the goddess. In 365 A. D. a certain Francisco Marx, who was simultaneously engaged in science and sorcery, wrote a treatise on the occult, from which it followed that representatives of the world's first dynasty of soothsayers were the first to make dolls. They called themselves Swamgius (which means "seers"). In all likelihood, the dolls were used by them as mediums for prophecy.
But much more often they were used in black magic. So, the French medieval chronicles mention several trials related to accusations of witchcraft, where dolls appeared. For example, in 1578 a certain Loretta Duchateau was burned at the stake, accused of causing damage to people with the help of wax dolls. In the 18th century, a man named Jack Gallagher, who was reputed to be a magician and warlock, was executed in England. He was caught red-handed sticking needles into a doll depicting his neighbor, London baker Chris Martin.
Nowadays in Haiti, voodoo magic is widely practiced using dolls. They say that the late Haitian dictator Francois Duvalier specially pricked the wax image of the famous actress Elizabeth Taylor with needles, as a result of which she was constantly sick …
True, with the help of a doll, you can not only harm a person, but also cure him of an illness. For example, if a patient's arm or leg is broken, a pupa is made, which initially lacks the corresponding limb, then the missing arm or leg is made separately and attached to the doll. True, this is far from a simple ceremony with the use of special conspiracies and spells. But, if it is carried out correctly, the limb will instantly grow together.
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Robert's curse
Many believe that an evil spirit or even a devil can enter the doll. Such stories are very popular.
Few people know that the series of films about the sinister doll Chucky is based on a true story. In 1906, the maid gave little Robert Eugene Otto from Key West a boy doll, which was named after the young owner. It so happened that the maid was fired, and she hastily put a curse on the doll.
Soon the servants began to say that the doll was "alive": it supposedly could change its facial expression and independently move around the house, as well as talk! Still the doll seemed to giggle viciously … And little Robert began to wake up at night from nightmares tormenting him. Sometimes furniture fell in his room, and the boy always said that it was a doll.
However, Robert grew up and became a famous artist. He died in 1974, and the doll bearing the owner's name was placed in the Fort East Martello Museum. According to legend, anyone who dares to photograph her will be cursed, unless the doll nods its head in approval before shooting …
Demon named Annabelle
In 2014, John Leonetti's film The Curse of Annabelle was released. According to the plot, a rag doll, trapped in the dwelling of two young girls, turns their life into a nightmare. The picture is also based on real events that took place in the early 70s. last century.
It all started when a girl named Donna, who was graduating from nursing courses, received a doll named Annie, purchased from a hand-made store, as a birthday present from her mother. Donna at this time rented an apartment with her friend Angie.
Annie seemed very pretty: rather large, about a meter, red-haired, with huge open eyes, a smiling mouth and a triangular piece of red cloth instead of a nose … Donna "settled" her on her bed.
Every evening, returning home, the girls found that the limbs of the doll change their position: for example, the arms were folded on their knees, and the legs were crossed. Once, instead of a bed, the toy was on an armchair by the front door. Another time - on the couch … Even in the apartment, notes began to appear in a crooked childish handwriting of various contents, written in pencil on parchment (by the way, there was no trace of either one in the house). Sometimes sweets brought by someone unknown were discovered …
The girls decided that someone would break into the apartment in their absence. But this was not confirmed. Moreover - once, in the presence of the doll, in front of Donna and Angie, a heavy statuette rose into the air and crashed to the floor.
After the girls saw traces of blood on Annie's clothes and hands, they decided to turn to specialists in the field of the paranormal. The woman-medium held a seance and told them that the spirit of a seven-year-old girl named Annabel Higgins dwells in the house. She was found dead in a vacant lot that once stood on the site of this house. It was the spirit of Annabelle who possessed the doll.
Since then, the doll has been named Annabelle. The girls left her at home and soon regretted it: the doll began to terrorize their friend named Lowe, who strongly advised them to get rid of the toy. Once she attacked Lowe and began to choke him … Another time, under his shirt he had bleeding scratches, as if from invisible claws …
Finally, Donna and Angie turned to the practicing demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. Ed stated that no Annabelle Higgins ever existed, she was pretending to be some kind of dangerous otherworldly entity, a demon.
After the exorcism ritual, the Warrens took Annabelle to their place and placed in a special room for magical artifacts. Today the doll is still there, sitting in a glass case with a sign that says "Do not open."
Irina Shlionskaya