Another day, another yokai! Today we continue wizard week with another type of doll. While we looked at paper dolls yesterday, today’s is a straw doll called wara ningyō.

Like other dolls, wara ningyō can be used as purification objects. They can also be used for curses. There are a number of famous Japanese curses, and a good number of them involve very specific materials, such as a wara ningyō. Wara ningyō are particularly interesting because their popularity as curse dolls continues even today. There are even websites (1, 2, 3) where you can buy all the materials you would need to perform a specific curse (since it’s not like you can walk down to your neighborhood curse store and just pick up a curse pack). Click on those links at your own risk—I won’t be held responsible if someone looks at your browsing history and sees you shopping for curses!

Today’s entry is also from The Hour of Meeting Evil Spirits, which includes a whole chapter on black magic and onmyōdō. Pick it up at Amazon or your local bookstore today! Click on the wara ningyō to read the entry on yokai.com!

Waraningyo