When I went to my Cape Cod storage unit, one thing I brought home was this doll trunk which I've had since I was a child.
I always forget what is in things that are packed away. So I was surprised to find this spirit doll I made maybe 12-13 years ago. I had taken a "Women Who Run With The Wolves" class and one assignment was to make a doll which represented ourselves.
Those are some Tibetan skull beads. Note the white hair.
She has a blank notebook on the left side of her belt and a little velvet purse on the right. In the purse is her own doll, some seeds, money and a lucky stone.
Also in the suitcase were these Ginny dolls. I've always loved them. Now, I must say I didn't really play with dolls all that much, but I like to have them around.
Hopper asked me to quote from the Poesie book I found at the yard sale. So, I opened it up and took a look. This is what I found. Every page but one is written in a foreign language. I am guessing Norwegian. This is because
Britt-arnhild from
Norway posted about Poesie books (see her January 26th post) and also because there was a newspaper clipping inside about someone named Dahl. Last night I began reading a Norwegian crime novel and one of the characters last name was Dahl. So that's the way my mind works: hmmmm, maybe this is Norwegian.
Here is the one page in English. Click to enlarge.
When I went to my Cape Cod storage unit, one thing I brought home was this doll trunk which I've had since I was a child.
I always forget what is in things that are packed away. So I was surprised to find this spirit doll I made maybe 12-13 years ago. I had taken a "Women Who Run With The Wolves" class and one assignment was to make a doll which represented ourselves.
Those are some Tibetan skull beads. Note the white hair.
She has a blank notebook on the left side of her belt and a little velvet purse on the right. In the purse is her own doll, some seeds, money and a lucky stone.
Also in the suitcase were these Ginny dolls. I've always loved them. Now, I must say I didn't really play with dolls all that much, but I like to have them around.
Hopper asked me to quote from the Poesie book I found at the yard sale. So, I opened it up and took a look. This is what I found. Every page but one is written in a foreign language. I am guessing Norwegian. This is because Britt-arnhild from Norway posted about Poesie books (see her January 26th post) and also because there was a newspaper clipping inside about someone named Dahl. Last night I began reading a Norwegian crime novel and one of the characters last name was Dahl. So that's the way my mind works: hmmmm, maybe this is Norwegian.
Here is the one page in English. Click to enlarge.
21 comments:
How precious that you still have your dolls and in such a nice case.
Love the Poesie-book. Here in Holland when I was a child we all had these books, ans all your famaily and friends would write little poems with good wishes in them, I still have two.
The language is probably Norwegian indeed Suki!
"...come over to my house and eat apple sauce..."
lol... what a cool rhyme to write up for a friend... would be very interested to know why there would have been only one entry in English... books like this one fascinate me... every one tells so much more than just the story told by the words on the page...
this is great suki... thanks for keeping my strange request in mind... and thank you so much for your comments the last couple days... I've gotten a lot out of this interaction and I'm thrilled with how much it's sparked my mind and my ideas...
ever your fan...
JON
Wonderful things to discover hidden away! And I will remember to come over if my husband gets cross, and we will eat apple sauce!
Marianne, I was a big saver of stuff. I had tons of stuff that belonged to my grandparents on down to my son's childhood toys. However, since I now have no home, I had to ditch a lot of stuff along with my image of myself as a "saver." I just gave my son a quilt in pristine condition that his Dad's mom made for him years ago. Since it was housed at my house, it is in so good condition. But I returned it to him, and now its fate is in the wind.
Hopper, the rhyme was too cute and also one I had never heard before. Glad you got a chuckle out of this book. Maybe some of the Norwegian entries explain more about the book. Be well, Suki
Patti, yes do come over, I love applesauce and would be charmed to have you for tea.
Suki, I love everything about this post. I adore your doll trunk. My grandmother had one and my mother gave it to my own daughter. Like you, she values that little trunk so much.
Your spirit doll is fantastic! I love the white hair, too...and the little purse with the special treasures. And the Ginny dolls...are so dear, too. I can see why you loved them.
And when I read the English entry to the Posie book, it reminded me of the little ditties written in the little autograph books of years past...although I had never heard of this one.
Suki, you are always full of fun on this blog...thank you!
I remember Genny dolls. I had a doll with a pink case that was a wardrobe and her knees bent and I wish I had saved it. I cant remember the name of the doll. but she had lots of clothes. :) I was into clothes at a young age. :)
This is a fun post.
oops that was Ginny dolls.
Love your spirit doll too.
Suki, I don't often talk out loud in response to posts. But this is what I said, upon reading yours:
"A Woman Who Runs with the Wolves class? oh my gosh, Suki - how exciting!"
I love it. I love the idea of making a doll that represents yourself. I love that book - (as you can tell from my blog title) -- I would love to know what else you did in that class?? I must say, I don't know if I would be the same person I am today if I didn't read that book. I feel like I tapped into the collective knowledge of so many women by reading that ... and am so grateful.
And what was the purpose of that exercise? How did it effect you making that doll and then seeing it after time has passed??
(lots of questions, i know - sorry!)
I love old dolls, too, and had quite a collection of ginny dolls though they seem to have disappeared....unlike you I played with dolls all the time and was totally convinced they got up at night to play, just like the Raggedy Ann and Andy stories. I used to arrange mine for parties and all sorts of things like a day of horseback riding or at the beach. I would dress them accordingly and set up stuffed horses, etc. as their buddies.
Yes, i was a busy little girl but that probably doesn't surprise you much ;-)
LOVE your spirit doll!!!!!
Kim, that is so cool. Your grandmother had a doll trunk. Of course, I though they were invented with kids of my era. Or maybe your grandmother IS of my era??? (I'm 62). So lovely she gave it to your daughter. AND that she loves it.
Kim my understanding, from Britt-arnhild's post about Poesie books, is that they are kind of like autograph books and/or scrap books too. This one is about a hundred years old I guess from that Dated page.
Cris, yes I think Ginny dolls were popular when folks of our era were kids. I think, in good condition, they are quite valuable. My survived because my Mom kept them for many years until I took them back in the 70's or so.
Honor, I read the book and took the class a long time ago so my memories are vague. However we went through each chapter, one a week, reading them at home. Then in class we talked about the chapter and sometimes had exercises we did.
The doll making exercise was at the end of the class, though not end of the book, we didnt make it all the way through. It was in that story about the girl whose mother gave her a doll, it was her intuition doll, and so when she wandered off into the woods her intuition doll would jump up and down in her pocket to tell her what to do. I(you prob know which story I mean, was it Baba Yaga?? I cant remember the facts). So we each made an intuition doll and showed them in class. Later, the teacher and two class members and I were on a local TV station program and talked about all this. Showed our dolls. I have a copy of the show on VHS!!!
also, for one chapter we ended up talking in class about our breasts. We were each supposed to say what we liked/didnt like about our breasts. I forget what chapter we were reading but must have been one about body image. Of course, no matter what each persons breasts were like, I cant remember that anyone said I am totally happy with my breast. No, everyone wanted larger smaller thinner etc etc.
Otherwise I can't recall the other things we did. It was a cool class and some of us went on to finish the book together with the teacher who was a psychic healer type person, at her office.
Making the doll was very powerful. For years she sat on my mantel in my bedroom. I then launched into making spirit dolls for many of my friends, to look like them or my impression of them.
I was happy to find her again in my suitcase. I now have her on my dresser. Yes, I need her spirit and intuition to stay by me through this time of transition and uncertainty. Hey Honor, thanks for asking. Guess it brought up a lot of thoughts.
Hi Mary. what a nice story of you making up stories and scenarios with your dolls. That's lovely. Dolls are definitly fascinating. I think even early man had dolls of a sort, the little figures they made of clay. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Be well, Suki
This is a wonderful post. I love your spirit doll. I still have a few of my childhood dolls, and some more that I've added to a collection as an adult. I don't think I'll ever outgrow them. :)
Lin, wonderful you saved your dolls and even added to them! Nowadays dolls can be so expensive but i love finding dolls from other countries at yard sales, though I seldom buy them. No room.
Hi Suki,
thank you so much for visiting my blog and for commenting on it. It' s very funny for me to see your post with the dolls in the case. I know this situation exactly because just in the moment I clear out my parents house and I see so many things which remember me at my childhood and I had forgotten their existence.
I' m sorry for my bad English, hope so it will be better, soon!!!
Have a great week
Wurzerl from Bavaria
I love that poem :-). Funny I had applesauce today for the first time in a long while. I also have
mostly white hair. Love your spirit doll.
Oh Suki! I love your dolls. I can't believe you have Ginny dolls! I have a brown haired doll like yours! Still have her. I looked them up online a while back to see how much they go for now. Sadly, not much. Only around $20. I was surprised. I thought they would be more by now.
Love your little spirit doll too. And in her purse, what more could a body need?
See, you like to keep things from your youth, too.
P.S. Very nice doll case too.
just amazing....
an exciting post...
think when we decide to write or draw or make a doll out of us...we discover some hidden parts of our own psyche... once i tried to draw some scene about my childhood... and boy... that was kind of a storm in me!
Dolls seem to bring out something in all of us. I love your doll trunk, and the spirit doll is amazing. My dolls are all gone, but I remember my "revlon" doll, who had amazing hair.
And I love that poem, especially the "come over to my house and eat apple sauce" - how wonderful to do that. Just go over to someones house when hubby gets unbearable and eat some homemade apple sauce. I love the idea.
No Suki, my dear, you are much younger than my grandmother would be...(I am 50). Let's see, she would be 97, if she were living. Your doll trunk is a lot more modern than hers. It is all black and very much like trunks of the early 20th century. I think she was a very lucky little girl, indeed, to have had this special piece. And we are all blessed with it today.
Thanks, Suki, for this lovely reminder.
Wurzerl, thanks for stopping by. Clearing out your parents house, yes so many memories must arise. Hope you have some help doing this. Be well, Suki
Anne, somehow in your photo you look so young, in your twenties. When I made the doll I only had a little white hair, but now I have a lot. Applesauce, a great comfort food. Take care, Suki
Kim, I guess I was sort of teasing about the age. Oh I can picture that doll trunk now. Of course. A treasure.
Suki, thank you for such a thoughtful and detailed response! Just what I was hoping for. I completely remember the Baba Yoga story, the story pops in my head when I know I'm spiritually wandering dark forests, and I don't know which way to turn.
I love the idea of making an intuition doll -- kind of personifying the values that we want to live by -- for example, your doll had a notebook! And some seeds!
My favorite chapter in that book was about the woman and the bear, who had the shape of a crescent moon at his neck. she had to climb the mountain and meet the bear.
I am glad that you have your doll with you again during this time of transition ... in one way, it is nice to think we will never stop needing our intuition doll :) I hope she brings you guidance dear Suki. Thanks, Roxanne
Well, at the least,Roxanne we never stop needing our intuition and the doll, to me, is just there to remind me that I have intuition and don't necessarily need to figure things out in a logical manner. Thanks for your responses. Take care,Suki
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