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The Interview
Since This Wicked Game is full of all things Voodoo, Michelle will be telling you...
The Truth About Voodoo Dolls
Few words conjure up images as horrifying as “voodoo doll.” Rare is the person who hasn’t seen a scary movie or read a book in which a tiny doll, somehow connected to a real person, is tortured with pins, supposedly to torture its human counterpart.
If only it were so simple. ;)
The dolls used in the craft of Voodoo are actually called “doll babies” by practitioners, and their creation is a delicate craft dating back hundreds of years. Doll babies are most frequently used to cast spells of protection, love, or other positive outcomes rather than to induce harm.
Derived from the “poppet”, a European doll made to cast spells or aid someone through magic, the Voodoo doll baby can be created either with a wax, clay or cloth form or with sticks tied together in a “t” shape and wound with Spanish Moss. After the base is formed, personal effects of the human counterpart are added to the base. This can be clothing, hair, or anything else that has a strong association with the person in question. Once the basic form is in place, roots and herbs chosen for their magical properties are added, either around the form or into the cloth that makes up the doll baby.
The practice of sticking pins into voodoo dolls to prompt a desired outcome in its human counterpart has its roots in folk magic. Most of the time, a “petition” (kind of like a wish or hope) is written on a piece of paper and worked into the doll. Sometimes this petition will have both the name of the intended recipient (or victim, depending on the desired outcome) AND the name of the practitioner. Other times, the petition is spoken over the doll in a kind of ritual.
Louisiana Voodoo is very closely tied to Catholicism. Voodoo queen Marie Laveau was a devout Catholic who detested black magic and believed the craft should only be used for good. Because of this, reputable practitioners eschew using Voodoo to harm anyone, and modern day doll babies are at least as likely to be used to gain a positive outcome -- love, health, happiness, protection -- as to harm the person in question.
Still, I can’t help but feel there is something pretty freaking scary about these dolls, and the possibility, however remote, that someone could use one to altar my life, health or happiness from afar. Go online, even to a place like Etsy, and you’ll find people selling handcrafted doll babies “charged” for your use. Are they legit?
Well, now. I guess that is the question.
The Book
Author: Michelle Zink
Publisher: Dial
Publisher: Dial
Publishing Date: November 14, 2013
Claire Kincaid’s family has been in business for over fifty years.
The voodoo business.
Part of the International Guild of High Priests and Priestesses, a secret society that have practiced voodoo for generations, the Kincaid’s run an underground supply house for authentic voodoo supplies. Claire plays along, filling orders for powders, oils and other bizarre ingredients in the family store, but she has a secret.
She doesn’t believe.
Struggling to reconcile her modern sensibilities with a completely unscientific craft based on suspicion, Claire can’t wait to escape New Orleans – and voodoo – when she goes to college, a desire that creates almost constant conflict in her secret affair with Xander Toussaint, son of the Guild’s powerful founding family.
But when a mysterious customer places an order for a deadly ingredient, Claire begins to realize that there’s more to voodoo – and the families that make up the Guild – than meets the eye.
Including her own.
As she bands together with the other firstborns of the Guild, she comes face to face with a deadly enemy – and the disbelief that may very well kill her.
The Author
Michelle Zink lives in New York with her four children. Prophecy of the Sisters was her first novel, and was chosen as one of Booklist’s Top Ten Debut Novels of 2009 and as one of the Chicago Public Library’s Best Books for Young Readers. It has also been listed on the New York Public Library’s Stuff for the Teen Age and the Lone Star Reading List.Website | Twitter | Facebook
The Giveaway
Michelle has offered some totally wicked prizes as part of the tour! One lucky person in the US or Canada will win what you see below: a signed hardcover of This Wicked Game, a bookmark, a magnet, a magnolia candle, and a custom designed boho voodoo bracelet. For the rules, please click the "Terms & Conditions" link at the bottom of the Rafflecopter.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
It sounds horrible, but my mother in law. She hates me, tried to bribe my husband in the church not to marry me, and I am the only person who's birthday she ignores...while saying at every other persons "I didn't have time to shop for much but everyone deserves to open something on their birthday". Everyone except me, I guess. I stopped celebrating anyway since my own parents have also forgotten 2 out of 29 years as well, but they aren't spiteful so they don't get dolls. Only my MIL. But I am still probably too nice to use it. 😊
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure who I would make a voodoo doll of. I have patients with people sometimes weird huh!
ReplyDeleteWho would you create a voodoo doll of?
ReplyDeleteNOBODY bad juju... nope not me
The ridiculously harsh teacher at my school who keep giving me a hard time for no reason.
ReplyDeleteI know it sounds cruel, but a cousin of mine. We used to be practically best friends, but then suddenly she changed and acted as if she was too good to be friends with me, for no reason at all.
ReplyDeleteIf I could create a voodoo doll to make a wish for something positive, I would make one of my mother. She's been having problems with her hips and walking, and I hate the thought of her suffering. I cannot think of anyone I hate enough to cause harm to, so I wouldn't go there:) Awesome giveaway, thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteOooh, what a great idea for a blog tour post! This was a great topic; I enjoyed learning about the history and creation of voodoo dolls. I'd heard the term "poppet" in various books before, but didn't realize it corresponded to actual witchy items! I don't know if I'd ever make a voodoo doll, though.
ReplyDeleteI've been in love with Michelles books since Prophecy of the Sisters. I can't wait to read (and re-read, multiple times!) This Wicked Game!
ReplyDeleteAnd if I had to make a voodoo doll of someon, probably my ex-husband. LOL
ReplyDeleteI won't tell.... >=)
ReplyDeleteI have a voodoo doll of myself, funny enough.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would make a voodoo doll of anyone, I don't think I hate anyone that much lol.
ReplyDeleteI would probably make a voodoo doll of my old boss. She was so mean to me and she was the main reason I quit my old job.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm, probably of my new guidance counselor. She is SO unhelpful!
ReplyDeleteHa, probably the girl who was nasty to me in high school!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's a super intense question. Uhh...maybe my ninth grade language arts teacher. I hated her guts. But even so that's a little harsh... D:
ReplyDeleteThanks to share my comments the mummy games is more intersted in the baby party.
ReplyDelete