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Culture Smart: Worry Less With Guatemalan Dolls?

by Sheron Long on September 29, 2013

Guatemalan weaver continues the culrural traditions of her village

A weaver in Guatemala creates textiles in patterns unique to her village
and reuses scraps to make worry dolls.

A Cultural Tradition With Promise

Descendants of the Maya living today in Guatemala bring beauty to the world with their handcrafted weavings, often using unique patterns indicative of their villages.

Guatemalan worry doll, used in a centuries-old cultural tradition as a folk remedy for worrying

This worry doll is ready to hear your troubles!

The fabric scraps the weavers have left don’t go to waste—they use them to make sets of colorful worry dolls.

  • The artisans tie twigs or twist wire to form the frame for a tiny figure.
  • They wind cloth and yarn around the frame to give it the shape of a doll.
  • Adding more yarn and leftover cloth, they create costumes for both male and female dolls. And, sometimes, a small accessory, like a basket, provides the finishing touch.

Six to eight dolls are placed into a pouch or a small box as a collection of worry dolls. Sold in Guatemalan markets and exported around the world, these worry dolls—according to legend—may help you leave your worries behind.

Following a centuries-old cultural tradition, choose one or more dolls. Tell each a worry and then place the doll under your pillow at night. The next morning, when you remove the doll and place it back in the pouch, the worry stays with it—gone from your life forever! Hopefully.

This folk remedy has parallels in advice from today’s wise individuals like Lia Carroll on Tiny Buddah, who recommends listing your worries to get them out of your head.  

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Images ©  iStockphoto

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Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Guatemala

 
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