Healing Doll - part 1

Doll number 9

This doll arose as part of a challenge set by Barb Kobe from my healing medicine doll course. It's not one of the healing dolls proper, it's a visualization of part of my definition of healing. This is part 1, i.e. before healing. The doll is wounded, hence the knife in her side, and the flames around her head symbolize both the pain of her wounds, and also the light that she is shining on her wounds which will ultimately bring her to healing. I made a mistake by getting the back of the doll stuck to a piece of scrapbooking paper I had on the table, but then I thought it would be good to incorporate the back of the doll into my design, so I wrote my healing definition on the back. The hand is covering the face in a gesture of despair, of wanting to be hidden from the world.

The materials I used were handmade paper, the beautiful purple colour of spirituality, with its texture and dried flowers and leaves added an extra dimension; for the flames I used some collage papers that my creative class produced last year - these were also used for the heart. Other items used were a gold gel pen for the spirals and my favourite fine liners for the face details and writing.

It took quite a while to make the doll from a doodle I'd made in my journal (about 3 hours), but I feel the process was therapeutic - I was really looking at myself as a wounded person, but one that is on the journey to healing and it felt good. There's a lot of power in looking at the shadow side of oneself, but it takes courage to do it. The benefits are enormous though.

Tomorrow I'll be posting the second part of the healing process - towards completion! It's quite a different doll. Until then ...