The manufacture of amulet dolls with their own hands began in antiquity. Toys were passed down from generation to generation. It was believed that folk dolls-charms possessed a certain strength and family energy, helped their masters in times of adversity, brought happiness to the house, saved them from evil spirits.
History
As already mentioned above, Slavic doll amulets were created with their own hands. All toys dressed up in beautiful dresses. Clothing was carried out with special meaning. Each outfit meant something different. The clothes should certainly have been red. It symbolized warmth, joy, sun, health. In addition, this color protected from troubles and evil eye. Folk amulets were created faceless. Back in the days of paganism, it was believed that if a toy has a face, then a spirit will surely infuse it, which can harm home, family, and children. In addition, it is also "extra eyes." However, even without a face, toys adopted the mood of their owners. According to legend, the first doll-amulet was Collodion. It was made back in ancient times. People associate a special story with this toy. In the past, it was customary to sacrifice women to pagan deities. But someone once decided to make a substitution. Before the ceremony, they took a log and dressed it in a sundress, a colorful scarf. He was given to deities instead of a living woman. Since that time, they began to make such a doll before the New Year and give it as a gift to Frost. At that time, people knew well how severe winter can be and frost frosts in spring are dangerous. To appease the feast during the Frost, the "clad" birch log was burned at the stake, while saying:
Frost, frost,
Come on Christmas
Do not destroy wheat in spring, live
Any arable land.
As the log burned, it was believed that a year would pass. This ritual came from Western European culture. The Slavs did not burn their dolls. It was believed that the toy personified the patroness of the family, the mother. On New Year's Eve, a doll-amulet “Day and Night” was made. In daylight, the head of the toy was wrapped in a light shawl. At night they put on the dark. This doll protected the house.
Making toys
All Slavic amulet dolls, created with their own hands, were simple and uncomplicated. For stuffing, different materials were used. Basically it was ash, linen tow, grain. From generation to generation, the way to create toys was passed on. How was a folk doll-amulet made with your own hands? For toys exclusively female signs were characteristic: a long braid, a skirt. The breast was considered an important detail - it was a reminder of the connection with the cult of motherhood and fertility. The image of the toys was recognizable and quite real at that time. It reflected typical characters, peasant life.
Value
Toys were created not only for children's entertainment and home protection. A self-made doll-amulet introduced children to work. During the game, girls, for example, learned to sew, spin, embroider. Creating toys on their own, children acquired new skills and developed imagination. From an early age, thanks to dolls, charms, the child assimilated the meaning of the mother, the woman, began to understand her function of giving life, nurturing in care and love, feeding, and passing on traditions by inheritance. So, from an early age, respect for the home, the lifestyle of the peasant family, and interest in folk culture were brought up. In addition, the very process of creating a toy acted soothingly - it helped to relax, feel the joy of the beauty that was born in one's own hands.
Tradition today
In the modern world, the question of maintaining and caring for folk culture is quite acute. Adults should try to familiarize the younger generation with national Russian traditions, customs, and history so that children can be imbued with an understanding of greatness and antiquity. One of the sources of such a heritage today may well be a doll-amulet. The revival of previous traditions contributes to immersion in the mysterious and enchanting world of ancestors. How did our ancestors create dolls-amulets with their own hands? The master class, which will be given below, will illustrate the sequence with which this process took place. In a rather simple at first glance, the lesson you can see a depth that you do not even know about. There is mystery in the process itself, because secrets have come down to us from antiquity.
DIY amulets. Master Class
Let's start by creating a toy woman with babies in her arms. It was believed that this image was very strong. Such a doll was given with the wishes of peace and prosperity in the family, a joyful, confident and calm existence. The toy symbolized a married woman and gave birth to children. For our ancestors, the ability to give birth was of particular importance. The joy of motherhood reflected the well-being of a woman. The toy was created when they wanted or were already expecting a child. She was also presented at the wedding, while wishing healthy and strong children, as well as honored guests, thus showing respect. This toy, which has come down from the depths of centuries to the present day, can rightfully be considered an example of folk art. To simplify the understanding of how dolls-charms were created with their own hands, the master class will be divided into several stages.
Training
Before you make a doll-amulet with your own hands, you should prepare everything you need, namely:
- coarse cotton fabric ;
- shreds of colored matter;
- lace;
- canvas;
- synthetic winterizer;
- scissors;
- mouline thread (red);
- the needle.
First of all, you should do a "twist". To do this, take a flap of cotton fabric 30x40 cm approximately, bend it in half. Next, you need to smoothly and tightly twist the "column". Its height will be 15 cm. We will tie the twist along the entire height with red threads. Then round the head a little, taking a synthetic winterizer. Thread denote the neck. Next, take a square of coarse cotton fabric (its size is 20x20). We put it on the head, fasten along the neckline with a red thread. Now you need to make hands. We turn the corner a centimeter and a half, fold the edges to the middle. From the edge, at a distance of about 1 cm, make a toy palm and drag the fabric with a thread. After tying, the threads do not need to be cut. Then we make a waist. We tighten the place where we will have it tightly with a thread.
clothing
Make the skirt now. To do this, take a colored flap 12x30 cm. On a cut from above, you need to make a line and a small assembly. We wrap our doll with a patchwork inside the front side, we will tie the thread tight on the waist. Then we twist and straighten. Next, we make an apron from the canvas, pulling the threads along the edge. You can embroider a plain pattern for beauty. We place the apron in the center of the skirt, inward with the front side. With the help of a thread, we drag along the waist and then straighten it. Around the head we further tie a piece of lace. Then you need to make a scarf, for this we cut a triangle from the fabric and tie it on the head. On the hands you will need to tie the strings - after all, there will still be children who will need to be kept. Then we make the baby. First, twist the column from a piece of coarse cloth. The size of the flap is 10x7 cm. We twist it tightly and dress it with a red thread. Cut out a scarf from white fabric and tie it on the head. For a diaper, you need to take a flap 10x13 cm. Gently swaddle, bending inward the edges so that the threads do not stick out. We also make the second baby. Now we give the children in the hands of mom. This is how you create a doll-amulet with your own hands. Let us further consider another option.
Motanka
First, a few words about the meaning of this toy. The amulet in the form of this doll was given to the child to play or hung over his crib. Often it was stuffed with aromatic healing herbs. With the growing moon, the chrysalis was sentenced to health, good immunity, and with the waning moon, they ordered getting rid of problems and curing diseases. How was this DIY doll amulet created? The diagram illustrating the process is as follows.
We will prepare everything you need:
- a piece of white fabric (chintz or calico), measuring 15x20 centimeters (we will make a head out of it);
- color rags:
- approximately 18x18 pieces for pens;
- 15x30 or 35 - for a skirt;
- 13x5 - for apron;
- 15-20 - for the lower scarf;
- a triangle with sides of 22 cm (there will be an upper scarf from it).
You will also need a bag filled with grass (thyme, wormwood, chamomile, oregano, mint). Its size is approximately 4.5x6 centimeters. For winding up toys, you will need threads (cotton, wool, linen - any), for a cross on your face - colored threads (cotton or floss). If desired, you can take more lace, braid or any ribbon for decoration.
Create a toy
Wrap the bag and tie it into a rectangle of white fabric. To wrap a cross on your face, you need to draw the thread through the head vertically from front to back with your right hand, fixing the beginning of the thread with your finger. Then it needs to be fixed by wrapping around the neck. Then in parallel we lay out the thread, winding from back to front. Then lay the same thread horizontally. You need to fix it the same way - around the neck. Then lay out a different color, wrapping the head with another thread, parallel to the previous one. It will be beautiful if the threads lie down side by side. Next, we put the toy in the lower scarf. We fix it, wrapping it again with a thread. Next, we will make pens, making a flap several times. Tie them to the doll is better crosswise. The skirt can be assembled with a needle on a thread, or you can just wind it onto a toy. Then we also fix the apron, we tie the upper scarf. At the end, we will tie the doll with a belt. This is how dolls-charms were created before with their own hands. The master class presented in the article shows how simple this process was.