Creating the first doll

In 1992, I was reading a book by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D., called Women Who Run With the Wolves.  In this richly textured book, Estes, a cantadora, uses myths, folk tales and stories to explore universal aspects of woman's psyche and spirit. In a chapter about the vibrancy of connecting with our intuition, Estes retells the story of Vasalisa and her "pocket doll," who acts as that important internal voice, telling Vasalisa what she needs to hear and helping her make life-saving choices.  

That this inner voice is personified by a doll is important; Estes describes dolls as representations of the inner spirit, the voice of inner reason and intuition.  In a footnote that illustrates how personal this connection is, Estes describes women in workshops making dolls from twigs, as well as a variety of natural materials and handwork techniques.  She notes an interesting phenomenon, that even though the women often make the dolls from the same materials, the finished dolls are as different as the individual women themselves.  

Reading this, I was immediaely struck and energized by the possibilities for connecting with my intuition and spirit by making such a doll.  I leapt from my chair and rushed out to my hillside backyard, where I gathered some small twigs.  I came inside, and with fabric and materials I had on hand created my first doll.  The doll speaks to me of touching my intuition, of making a deep connection beween my spirit and ancient ways and truths.  Over the years, my dolls have morphed in style, but to me the connection to intuition and spirit remain.