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Fertility doll as a symbol of women's ability to bring a new life into the world.
From the ancient times, Slavic (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian) peoples relied on various rituals to ensure health, prosperity, peaceful life, and most important of all, female fertility. When a woman found out that she was pregnant, she would make a rag doll as a talisman that protected her and her baby, promising an easy birth. The tradition of making fertility dolls derives from the original Slavic worldview and general philosophy of life: the doll is made out of exclusively natural textiles without sewing the clothes but by folding fabric in a particular way. Although, the styles differed throughout the Slavic territories, where each region had its particular way of making dolls, or a preference in their look and dress. The main idea consists in making a human-like doll out of regular pieces of fabric without any patterns or sewing. After the doll helped to achieve a desirable conception, it can be easily brought down to "chaos" of shapeless pieces of fabric again by undoing knots and unwinding what was the doll's body. If the woman had a hard time conceiving, a doll made for her by a relative or a close friend, or even bought from a medicine woman as an amulet, helped restore her fertility. The traditional symbolism here is quite simple: touching, holding, and even speaking to such a doll that was made in compliance with the traditional rules passed down from generation to generation, becomes a folk fertility ritual that fills a woman with her incontestable ability to bear and give birth to healthy children. About a month before the baby is born, this cloth doll is put into the baby's cot to "keep it warm and welcome a new child." When the baby is born, this doll becomes his/her first toy. Disclaimer: the fertility dolls at this web-site are folk amulets only and should not be used in replacement of professional medical advice or treatment. Always consult your doctor with any medical problems. |
Yana with four her babies>>
Marfa and two her babies>>