Dolls-bereguini. How to make a doll with your own hands

The belief that a person's figure, made in a special way, has magical power, has existed since ancient times. Until now, in the houses of the Old Believers in the chests hidden dolls, amulets, performing an important mission - to keep the family hearth, to save the house from the evil eye, to protect young children from illnesses and misfortunes, to help the traveler on the road.

They made such dolls of women, keeper of the family and family, in the evenings with a lighted beam, with great love and kindness, with a story and conspiracy, giving them a special magical power.

It is significant that these dolls did not have a face, they were all faceless. It is believed that this indicated the inanity of the doll, therefore, it was inaccessible to evil dark forces. The absence of a face also emphasized the neutrality of the image, awakened the imagination. The child could associate such a doll with any loved one who gave her love and kindness, and with a face she could be like anyone, including a man who promised an unfavorable house. Such products hung above a crib, in the passage, in the attic of a house under a roof.

How to make a doll with your own hands?

In the image of a rag ward, every detail was important and endowed with a certain meaning. So, in her (doll's) costume, red color was used as a symbol of joy, warmth and health, and various embroidered ornaments, the elements of which had a deep symbolic meaning: circles and crosses - traditional solar signs, symbols of the sun; Figurines of women - symbols of fertility; Horizontal and vertical lines - symbolic designations of the earth and the tree, eternal life; Diamonds with a dot inside - the designation of the sown field and the future harvest.

So, how to make a doll with your own hands from shreds of multi-colored fabric, so that it protects the house and family? For work, you will need shreds of natural fabrics (cotton, linen, wool), satin ribbons, threads and a needle, thick twisted threads made of cotton or wool for a braid, and also a necessarily good mood.

1. How to make a doll with your own hands made of cloth? For the trunk roll a thick tube of white dense tissue. Its height is about 20-25 cm. Further, a square flap of a thinner white fabric is thrown on top of the tube, so that its middle lies on its top. These will be pens. Now, with a strong cotton thread, we tighten the trunk together with the flap, having retreated from the top by a few centimeters - denoting the neck and head. The thrown flap from underneath is tucked and also pulled by a thread - we thus designate the hands. The traditional Bereguinia dolls have their arms outstretched, like the wings of a bird. In order to give them the necessary shape, we insert pieces of cotton wool into the fabric.

2. How to make a doll with your own hands further? Now the improvised figure needs to be dressed. For the blouse we take a square of colored fabric, cut through the hole for the head and pass it into this hole. Near the brushes, the sleeves are tightened with thread, making them magnificent. On the waist we put on a two-layer or three-layered skirt, which can be decorated with ornament, braid and lace. From the front we tie a rectangle of cloth in the form of an apron, also decorated with lace and braid.

3. The female figure is necessarily adorned with a long thick braid, woven from woolen or thick cotton threads. The braid is sewn back to the head or attached to the neck by the neck. A handkerchief is tied overhead.

Here are such general recommendations how to make a doll with your own hands to protect the house and children. The ragged magic dolls had a different symbolic meaning. A doll of wheat or grain was the wet-nurse, the keeper of the harvest, and the feeder was a symbol of prosperity and well-being.

Doll-grains and feeders

How to make a rag doll with your own hands, protecting wealth in the family? This can be done traditionally, only a bag filled with grain (it was taken immediately after harvesting). Filled the pupa with any croup, as well as peas, lentils, small beans. This amulet was kept in the red corner the whole year until the next harvest.

The doll-fosterling was made in the form of a lush full-breasted woman-mistress. To decorate the breast, under the flap of the tissue from which the hands are formed, put cotton or other soft filler in the chest area. Such a doll was necessarily given to a future mother, and she put her in a cradle before the birth of the child. After the baby was born, the product was hung on the headboard of the crib, it protected the baby from the evil eye.

The dolls-protectors of travelers in their hands were given a bundle with a lump of native land. A nodule of red cloth by the Bereguin symbolized happiness and joy that she would never let go.