Monday, June 26, 2006

spirit doll by Robin Atkins, bead artist
Spirit Dolls ~
Two New Ideas!

Mary, one of my mail order customers, just sent me an email about her ideas for making her first spirit doll. She has two fabulous new ideas, which need to be shared right now.

Explaining that she's been disabled for 16 years and that there's no cure for her disability, Mary wrote that she could use a "miracle doll." Isn't that a great idea? It's a special, healing process to make a spirit doll, to imbue her with your prayers, to empower her with positive energy. What if you could take it one step further, and actually fill her with your prayers for a miracle? Why not?

Her second idea is really sweet! She writes: "the maker could write the intention on a piece of cloth (or soft paper), and include it in the stuffing of the doll - just to reinforce that intention forever!" I've sewn little pockets on the outside of some of my spirit dolls, pockets which then carry little scrolls of paper with poems and/or wishes written on them. I like Mary's idea, because it is more permanent (the little scrolls sometimes get lost) and because it's more private.

The spirit doll pictured here is Madrona ~ Tree Protection Goddess. I made her last summer when our beautiful madrona trees (and many other species as well) were suffering terribly from three consecutive years of drought. To weight her body (so she won't tip over easily), I put a packet of river pebbles inside at the base. My thought was that rivers carry water, and by association I wanted the pebbles to bring water to the trees.

If you've never been to the NW coast, you may not know what a madrona tree looks like. Fortunately for you, my husband is a photographer! Go here to see color images of our beloved madronas (taken right on our property), and/or here to see B&W images. Both series feature close-ups of the fracturing, peeling bark... a phenomenon that ocurrs mid to late summer every year.

9 comments:

  1. Love the idea for the miracle doll, and I may try to make one for the friend I mentioned to you.

    My hubby is drooling over the photos on your husband's website! HB has always been interested in photography.

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  2. Anonymous2:52 AM

    Oh, that is a sweet idea.

    And I do love that doll.

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  3. Anonymous10:56 AM

    What a lovely idea -- a miracle doll --- and to enclose your prayer for the recepient inside the doll is great.

    Thank you Mary and Robin.

    Also thanks for the link to your husband's website. The photographs are spectacular.

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  4. That is a wonderful idea.

    I used to make bead embellished amulet necklaces for a friend/shop owner and she would always have a little box of prayers written on small pieces of parchment that she would let the buyers of my amulets sort through when they made a purchase so that they could tuck it inside.

    I love the doll you've pictured here. and thanks for sharing your husbands photography, very inspirational!

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  5. What a lovely doll, I have made several dolls with a special request for a blessing, it is also a good idea to place small crystals or sage and rosemary or lavender inside the doll, it keeps a wonderful smell.

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  6. A lovely and potent idea, Robin. There are such vast and wonderful forces available to us if we will only use them! These miracle dolls are a humble and beautiful way to harness those finer energies for the good of all...

    The photographs are indeed spectacular. #22 especially is haunting to me, because it looks like a very wise old eye looking out at us from the spirit of the tree. Thanks for linking to your husband's site!

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  7. What wonderful thoughts and ideas about spirit...I started making my little "guardian spirits" a few months before I found out I had breast cancer and have been making them ever since...some I sell and some I've given to other women going through treatments for various cancers...and your books, especially Beaded Embellishment, were a major source of inspiration for me....thank you so much!

    http://webpages.charter.net/bkirk49/gsthumbs.htm

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  8. The enclosure of the note is wonderful! Thank you so much for mentioning it.

    (I'm sorry the comment is late. I haven't had a chance to read your blog until recently)

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  9. I was somewhere else and there was a link to your blog. I have all of your books. I think there is a great need for a Spirit/Healing/Miracle Doll book. I am on a couple of doll lists and someone is always wanting to know how to make one. Think about it! Pat in FL

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