Poppets

Poppets, while usually associated with Voodoo, have actually been used for centuries in many cultures around the world. The Greeks (who called them Kolossoi), the Egyptians (Execration Figurines), and West Africans (known as fetich magic) all used them; just to name a few. They are used in sympathetic magic (influencing a person, or situation using an object that symbolically represents/resembles what you are trying to influence). Some, like in fetish magic, are used as talismans, rather than to create influence. The fetish housed spirits that had a connection to their owner.  Like any magical object, poppets can be used to harm or to heal, though most people associate them with harm thanks to movies and media that portray them that way. They can be used in all kinds of magic for abundance, health, love (though I recommend against creating a poppet of a specific person for this purpose, as that goes against free will), binding (like Sarah tried to do to Nancy in The Craft), or protection.
Poppets are generally thought of as being made of cloth and then stuffed with some kind of filler along with any herbs, stones, or other objects used that correspond with whatever spell work you are doing. If this poppet represents a person, then something from that person (hair/nail clippings/etc..) or a picture is also placed in the poppet. While this is a popular method of poppet making, they were also made from sculpting wax or clay, or carved from wood. If you have ever seen The Witches of Eastwick you watched Suki, Jane, and Alexandra make one of wax and use one on Daryl.
Once upon a time I made/sold poppet kits complete with crocheted doll and hand sculpted pins inside a window box. I really enjoyed making these. I created sigils for each of the pins and painted them the colours that correspond to the different pins used in Hoodoo magic. They made nice display pieces, while also being fully functional. I have used poppets on occasion in my spell work, that said, it was the sigil magic that I felt a greater connection to. I guess my question for this week is, do you/have you use(d) poppets in your spell work? Would you consider using them if  you haven’t?