Do you think your dolls can be possessed by spirits?

I like this thread, it helps to know that I'm not the only with unexplained experiences.

As for possessed objects (including dolls) I've not encountered a single one yet. I imagine it's possible, I've just never encountered anything like that before. Whoops... actually I may have! I just remembered this really odd Winnie the Pooh talking bear my sister had. It would often start talking without anyone activating it. Sometimes the things it would say were spot on for what was happening at the time. One time, it was turned on during a storm mentioning the storm and that it was scared half way across the room. It scared her so she had my mother remove the batteries...it eventually was boxed up and forgotten... Then one day somehow we found it or something while cleaning and it started talking again. We groaned thinking it still had batteries...then checked and it didn't! Suffice to say that was given/thrown away very shortly after that incident. Who knows, it might have had a backup battery or some sort. *shrugs*

I do feel like my dolls, toys, plush, etc. can have a personality but it's more like how an author builds up a character in their mind more so then it's actually a manifestation of a "person". I like to dabble in creative writing, and as I'm sure other writers will attest to, sometimes characters can surprise you. Plus it's really funny to attribute a silly pose as their way of protesting because it's something that character wouldn't like kinda thing.

I would definitely consider myself "sensitive". All throughout my life I've had unexplained experiences, premonition dreams, heard things, and even seen animals/people that aren't there. Turns out my mother and grandmother have also had similar experiences...but for some strange reason I just happen to have/see more I guess.

Just to name a few, since others mentioned similar experiences I'll add my own. During middle school, my friends and I had a sleepover and we used the Ouija board. We were very good about closing the door/circle/portal (whatever you want to call it) after we were done. We made contact with a few spirits but the one that stood out the most was the person speaking French. Mind you, French wasn't offered in middle school for us and I'm fairly certain that my friends knew very little to none (I was the one that recognized the language...and they weren't on the same level as me academically...umm yeah). We had to dig up a french to english dictionary that my friend's mother had just to make out some of it.

I've had a ton of poltergeist activity, thankfully most of it harmless. That's the biggest thing, if they're nice then they can stay. Otherwise the place gets a good cleansing. I've often seen a little boy with light brown hair, so far he's left all of my things alone, and I'll usually think it's my son at first (though my son is a sandy blonde). Hmm now I wonder if he plays with his toys...my son's room is NOT the cleanest so we would never be able to tell.

As I said before, I usually will see an actual figure - either solid or semi-solid. I think I've only encountered a shadow figure once. I was going down the hall, my bedroom light was on, and usually the bedroom light is reflected in the tv at the end of the hall (it opens into the living room)...but this night there was a tall male (stocky build) shadow and it was pitch black in the center of it. I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks so I rushed through it, the feeling when I did that was terrifying, and I quickly turned the kitchen light on. I turned back around and it wasn't there. I checked my room, nothing. But my sister's room was right next to mine and I could hear her thrashing about in her sleep - it was really odd. She said she remembers nothing, and I was quick to salt the apartment.

I don't think I've had any bad experiences since then, because that's about the time when I adopted the if you're nice you can visit rule.

I've also been having a slew of experiences ever since my grandfather passed away earlier this year. And even my sister, who absolutely hates (is scared of) the paranormal/supernatural has had her own experience and been present at a few others.

Oh goodness, I could go on...there's just so many little things/stories.

 

None of my dolls are, at least not yet, but I do believe that dolls and just about any other object can be possessed or used by a spirit. The Warrens and now their nephew John Zaffis has collected many of these items. And I believe that at times dolls have been intentionally used as vessels for the dead. Also there have been some dolls that just scared the pants off of me and that I would not get within 10 feet of. Many of the houses I have lived in have been haunted. I even had one friend say that I chose houses because they were haunted. I've had many odd experiences that the only explanation I can come up with is the supernatural.

@ParlourGoddess having a Kitsune in your house ought to be lots of fun and I look forward to hearing all the things that occur.

 

I also find this topic very fascinating! My home isn't 'haunted' so to speak, but I do have a family friend who has passed on that likes to visit every once and a while. Nothing he does is scary or malicious, I think he just likes letting me know he's there. He likes doing little things like hiding objects. Once, I kicked a ball down the stairs and I could hear it go all the way down. When I left and came back, the ball was right at the top of the stairs. It makes me wonder if he'll see an opportunity when my first doll arrives.

 

I don't know if I believe in haunted dolls... I own a couple thousand dolls and have never really seen anything paranormal with them. I did have an "incident" with one.. a cheap 1950's baby doll but it could have been my imagination. My house however is probably haunted. Things have been going on since we moved in.We had one of those ghost shows come out to investigate and they said it is indeed haunted and the spirits were mad because they were getting trapped in my dolls... lol. They suggested I get rid of them... fat chance ghosties! I also found out that on the site my house was built was a pesthouse where the locals took their sick and dying from smallpox..So that is a bit creepy. But I take dolls apart and restore them and change parts etc. So I don't think they're haunted but... I burn sage over them before they leave if they are being sold just in case!

 

I have been investigating about the possessed dolls for some time, the possible causes of this phenomenon, reading everything I can about the spiritual field that surrounds the dolls in ancient times, having special interest in Japanese folklore about how an object can acquire life

All this research has been done to write a story I've been working, so I can reach several conclusions:

-The dolls, like our homes, absorb the energy around them, for example: If the environment is happy and peaceful at your house, that will be the energy they obtain

- They are very loyal to their owners (as long are treated with love) seeking to protect them from all danger, but if isn’t the case, then they will become a dangerous haunted dolls

-When they are separated from their owners, sometimes they disappear from home or will passing from one owner to another

 

I have a Voudun priestess doll, made BY a Voudun priestess in the 1930s & given as a protection doll to a missionary lady who sent it to my mom. THAT doll is powerful I love her... She's got pointy teeth & lives in my Buddhist mini-altar
I've got those little things (brownies, fairies, hobgoblins, whatevers) that live in people's houses, messing with the cats & stealing your keys etc. THEY love my dolls! None of my dolls are 'possessed' by any single entity, but still, they've moved sometimes (just enough to make me shake my head).
Of course none of this kind of stuff scares me - except poltergeists, who are dangerous cause the energy throws objects around, so can cause injuries & damage. Poltergeists aren't thought to be ghosts or spirits but rather telekinetic energy some teens give off. Anyway I will appeal to the little live-ins if I think there might be poltergeist energy, to avert it.
I write - and a lot of writers talk about how their characters can take on a life of their own, take over a story etc. Also there's a lot of literature about how belief in entities can CREATE an entity (someone wrote a lovely post about that in this thread).
I find all of it fascinating

 

Sounds really cool! that reminds me more info of my research:

Many dolls are used in certain rituals, usually have a function of substituting for or representing a person for casting spells on that person. In this article says “Japanese dolls takes on the “evil spirits” or sins of a person through touch or rubbing, and when the doll is burned or thrown into moving water on the third day of the third month. This may be viewed as the release of a doll’s soul or spiritual power when it is no longer needed or wanted.”

 

It's so nice to know I'm not alone but so scary to read all the stories. Truly, I am not alone...

Once, my grandmother gave me a large 1/4 porcelain doll. She was less a doll and more a figure, I guess, only her thigh joints and shoulder joints moved. She was very pretty, big dark curls and blue eyes and some kind of fancy period dress I never knew anything about. She was nice, but any gift from my grandmother would always come with strings. With a doll this expensive and lovely, I was expected to take my father's side in the family divorce.

I never really used grandma's gifts because if she ever saw them scuffed or faded, she would feel like I wasn't caring for her gifts. She was very good at guilt trips, so like all her gifts, the porcelain girl went in my closet, in a spot away from dust and bright sunlight and cat fur and my baby siblings. She never left her metal stand, since she couldn't stand or sit on her own. I never liked dolls much at that age, but this one was a very finely made piece of work and apparently handcrafted, and i could appreciate her as artwork. She lived out of her box so I could see her. She was too fragile to play with, and so unbalanced I was too scared to bring her down.

Now I was 13 at the time I got the doll, so I was young and impressionable, but for once, I didn't listen to my grandmother when she told me what she wanted. About a year went by before I was officially disowned from that side of the family. At about the same time of year she gave it to me, the start of the school year, I was is the closet as usual rummaging for clothes I didn't wear anymore, and she suddenly fell from the top shelf in my closet to the floor.

From the fall, the right side of her face caved in and she kept cracks all along her body that never opened after that. Her head was turned, and either the fall damaged her neck or I never used enough force to twist it in the past. (All her joints were hard to move) I cleaned up the pieces the best I could and put her back, but...she didn't feel right after that.

Anytime I went in the closet, I felt her staring at me. It's like anger and hatred surrounded this object where it was otherwise a nice, if maybe creepy, doll. Suddenly it was more than just creepy, it was Bad. It only took about a month before I turned her towards the wall so she quit staring, but the feeling never left. Occasionally I would open my closet and see her head turned just far enough to see me out the corner of her good eye. I was too scared to ever touch her and turn her head back. She did that on her own, apparently. Her face was so doll-ish, but her remaining eye was so alive. It was scary.

After the divorce was finalized (3 years later!) We moved out the house. I threw out a lot of the crap in that closet, but she's still up there. The house fell to my father, and then to the bank. I have no idea what happened to her after that.

Maybe my sibs messed with her while I wasn't in my room? Whatever it was, I'm glad she's gone. I sort of wonder if my current interest in BJD's is like a way of reclaiming, after that?

 

In this case, I think it was more the feeling of guilt for breaking the doll that it really was haunted, it would been better to take her to a Dolls Hospita. It's a shame what happened, I would've loved to see a photo of her

 

I hope that's all that is. She scared the crap out of me. It's been so long that i have no pictures, I'll see if I can find something similar online though

 

Thanks and don't worry, that doll will not bother you again

 

Well, it really depends. As a Pagan Witch, I try to keep my house, room, dolls and other various things cleansed and keep it under control. I personally would allow only "good hearted" spirits, but poltergeists and demonic spirits, there would have to a whole ritual to remove them, and banish them. I would personally believe it also depends on the doll as well.

 

Are you serious about the eyes following you?! My doll's eyes follow me all the time and i thought glass eyes were supposed to be like this?

 

It depends on how the eyes are positioned and what type of irises they have. If your doll's eyes are positioned in the "dead doll stare" (directly straight on and forward without any tilt or direction) then they'll appear to follow you everywhere. If your doll's eyes have huge irises it'll appear as if they're looking at you from different angles sometimes.
However if your doll's eyes have small irises and they're positioned to look in a hard left and in a downwards direction and suddenly they're looking up and hard right at you when you didn't change them then yeah, that's pretty weird.
(Good explanation about eye alignment and the difference it makes here: /tutorials/eye-alignment-ii-–-focus-and-side-glance.71/

 

Means mine isn't haunted. But it looks a bit like she is looking at you.

 

Haha, nah. I'm sure dolls or objects can be possessed by spirits, but I have yet to see anyone say their doll is. My mom loves to joke about one of my boys being possessed whenever she sees him though. He isn't, but my animals don't know how to react to him, so she always throws around the joke that he is haunted. I just don't see any of my dolls being possessed though since none of them creep me out or give me a bad feeling.

 

Yes, this is possible, and I would gently caution anyone interested in the idea as a novelty, because it can turn your life upside down.

The good news is that you do have control over what is allowed to settle on your doll—the bad news is that it can be very difficult to get rid of once you’ve given it permission. (And permission doesn't always need to be intentional.) In my experience these things are very good at playing nice and even giving off calming feelings to you until they are in so deep you’d never know they have actually begun to “feed” off you.

I don't know about the rest of you, but despite this stuff scaring me witless I still love the stories, dangit, so here is a firsthand account for those who wish to read on:

I made a cloth doll in my teens to represent a villain in a show I was obsessed with. It may not have been smart in the first place to have a doll who was based on an evil person from the start, but the real trouble definitely came from how I treated it then on: talking to the thing constantly, toting it everywhere, fussing over it. With horror, I can distinctly remember telling the doll I wished he were real. -Cough- Prime real estate.

Long story short, family would hear a voice talking to me in my room when I was alone with the doll, it started changing position on its own (with me in the room even, generating more than a few instances of "did that just... uh..." -insert feelings of creeping dread-) or disappearing from where I had left it—my mother even jolted awake one night and swore she saw it scoot across the foot of her bed. We compared horrifying notes next morning, and I admitted I had woken up that night surprised that my doll wasn’t with me in my bed any longer... drifted off... and when I woke to daylight it was back under my arm again.

That was the final straw, but the craziest thing is that up until those last few nights, I was totally enamoured with this doll. I felt super calm and happy whenever it was around. Then it randomly turned on me, I guess, or had been empowered enough by my adoration to gain the upper hand and didn't need to hide its true nature anymore. It was a ****show destroying the thing, including me getting pushed down the stairs seconds after telling the doll I was going to get rid of it.

As you can imagine, this turned me into a sad little fearful shell of a person for a time. Years passed before I was able to even look at dolls or stuffed animals again. BJDs were a massive step for me. My current collection is anointed and they each have blessings spoken over them when they are received, including sort of “binding” their senses so their eyes cannot be used to see, their ears cannot be used to hear, etc, which seems to make them far less attractive to potential ne’er-do-wells. Occasionally I will sense something trying the place out, but I usually notice right off and I am very grateful that I do not see spirits (with one exception long ago) but I can suuuure tell if I’ve just walked into someplace or met someone with attachments, etc. It's no special ability on my part, it just comes from (unfortunately) having made a real target of myself in the past.

TL;DR, Creepy handmade rag doll became animated, life became a horror movie, all is good now. All I really have to say is: Yep, it is true, but stay positive in other areas of your life, listen to music that makes you happy, do nice things for others, treat your doll right and nothing but niceness will rub off on it.

 

I'm open to the idea of spirits, but I don't believe in possessed things, I'm still waiting to see it with my own eyes ^^
Sadly our brain is so easily tricked that every sign must be carefully studied before any conclusions... That's my opinion.

 

Omg youtube doll island or an episode of paranormal at doll island, I think the paranormal is really cool but I have yet to see anything possess an object in my day to day life I would hope possession of my dolls never happen since mine is based off one of the infamous series. D; would hate to see that dude at my door at night. Lol.

 

I believe anything with a face can attract or develop a consciousness, but it hasn't happened to any of my bjds. My boyfriend finds them creepy, anyway.

 

I will be sincere, though I've seen spirits multiple times, I'm very skeptical about it (I usually think about those experiences like "Did I had some psycothic crisis? Weird!"). They say its because our family descends from a native witchdoctor, and thats why at least one child from every generation has this paranormal affinity, I think its just some mental illness, you know, they are genetical.
So, if I believe dolls are spirits vessels? Hell, no. So what if they are hollow? Spirits don't have mass, they dont need something to be hollow to fit there or something. Am I ever scared of my dolls? Not al all. I've mentioned somewhere here on doa already, but when I was a kid my sister would be like "If you stare into the doll eyes after midnight it will move because the doll becomes possessed" and that would only make me stare into my dolls after midnight for some minutes until I realized it was boring. Some friends and even family say they wouldnt sleep in my room because of the dolls "looking at them" but I'm just like "whatever floats your boat".

 

Honestly.... no. I don’t really believe in any of that. I’d like to, because it sounds fun (in a terrifying way) but I don’t really believe it’s possible.

Lots of weird/unexplained stuff happens in my house but I think it’s just an old house being creaky. I’ve lived in it my whole life anyway, so even if (and it’s a really big if) I’m wrong and these things do exist, it obviously doesn’t mind me being there.

 

I would not want a possessed doll. Ever.
I've had enough paranormal things happen in my life that, while not always malicious, I wouldn't want to affect something very beloved (and not to mention, also expensive) that is my 'getaway', too. My dolls are therapeutic and I've had enough messed up and/or strange things happen to me that I wouldn't want to invite something into my life.

The closest thing I'd do to that is buy my childhood home if I won the lottery or something, but that's because while the house is apparently haunted (most of which was just normal to me at the time since I didn't have much to compare it to), it wasn't malicious and I would have a lot of sentimental attachment to that property. (The spirit we believe that resided there was a friend of my dad's, who also grew up there, but died in a car crash when he was 23 or so in another city)

As for haunted dolls as a whole, I think a lot of them being sold are made-up, though. Just a way to get a quick buck and try to fool a person that something that is otherwise mundane and could be explained with logic might be a 'sign' after they got the item or something. :/

 

I totally believe that dolls can be inhabited by spirits. I have seen the black shadow people, i have heard voices, i have seen ghosts. My Nanny once told me that her father was magically talented, that the first born of the family would inherit his powers and the father was supposed to teach his child about how to control them. Unfortunately he died before he could teach her how to use it so now the power lies dormant in each first born the family produces. She told me this when i was a teenager experiencing being sensitive to the supernatural.

Now with my favorite doll Hijikata I have the sense that he is more then just a doll. I feel comforted and calm when I am near him and his eyes seem to show emotion if I am paying attention.

Last night I had experienced a bad day with people trying to make me feel like a useless person, and I was upset. So I grabbed him and cuddled him to make myself feel better. I swear I saw his smile widen when his face was turned to me. Immediately i felt very sleepy and comforted. I dont know if it was his doing but i think he was just trying to make me feel better. If he is a home for a spirit I believe it is a friendly one, and thats ok with me.

 

OMG I totally feel like my doll smiles to me when I go pick her up from her diorama. I can swear I see her smiling!

 

I should note - I'm not saying I believe this was possessed but my experience of something (more than likely a coincidence) but here goes...

When I got my doll I was really pleased with her, she looks amazing. I was trying to get a pair of trousers on her but no luck, so my partner (without permission) picked her up and was looking etc and I pointed out she hadn't asked etc so that was that (long side story short we had dolls before but sold them as we didn't have the money to invest, and my partner did all of the clothing etc last time so I wanted to learn myself).

My local pagan shop got some double pointed quartz in which is pretty rare, and I hadn't put it with the rest of my crystals yet, and it was on the table so I thought. Anyway I packed her away once I'd done and we went on with the rest of the day. When we were sleeping, my partner woke up choking and my first thought for some reason was of my doll wasn't happy and it was her (no idea why) anyway I made sure she was OK not mentioning this at the time. So next day when I get time I get the doll out she looked... Off. Cold, or sullen, and I couldn't explain why. My partner was the other side of the table and noticed the double quartz point was in this box and I swear I have no recollection of putting it there

After that, just to make sure I smudged her to be on the safe side!

 

Never had any ghostly encounter with my dolls though their eyes look like they are following me. I believe it is due to the circular diameter of their eyes that makes it look like they are looking at you where ever you walk.

Well I heard that dolls get possessed due to their human alike features and ghosts posses through their eyes.

 

As someone mentioned previously, I believe that you can will something into existence by just believing it to be so, or giving sentience to something. I have always found this concept really interesting. Although I haven't experienced my dolls being "possessed" in any way, I probably wouldn't mind, as long as they weren't malicious or evil lol. I am the kind of person who would watch a doll's arm move even 1 cm and I'd probably scream and run away, though. XD

 

No, but I have some friends and family that do.
If I ever pick up a Doll Chateau doll they might beg to be far far far away from that doll.
I'm also the sort of irreverent person who would buy a doll proclaimed to be cursed or possessed if she was cute enough and not marked up like some sellers try to do.

 

Anything can be "possessed" of a spirit, though the nature of that spirit can very widely. Some were once human, others never were or could be. A lot of so-called "malicious" non-human entities aren't really evil, they just don't behave like a human would, and they don't understand us any more than we understand them. But that's not the issue on the docket.

I can only speak from my own experience. I love Chaeri, not as if she were human, but as a doll, of course. I do not believe she is alive in any meaningful sense. And yet...I have seen, felt and experienced things that I can't completely explain. Chaeri has moved on her own--slightly, subtly, usually just her head, turning to look at me. I don't see it move, but I glance away and when I glance back she's shifted. Also, her expression changes. Like most Asian dolls, her expression is carefully neutral, neither smiling nor scowling. But Riri is a most effective pouter when she's a mind to be.

Take a look at these two photos.



Now, maybe it's just the angle or the lighting, but it looks to me like she's smiling in the left photo and looking wistful/slightly cross in the second. It's not just the corners of the mouth that look different to me, it's the eyes and even the tilt of the eyebrows.

Or maybe I'm delusional.

No, I don't think she's alive. But I believe that a small piece of me--not my soul (that's already spoken for), but my personality, my presence, has found a home in Chaeri. It's something like the way fictional characters will sometimes do things that surprise the person writing the story. I don't think I'm explaining very well, but this is how I look at it.

 

Being in a conservative family, we believe keeping a doll (even teddy bear) is a taboo because it can be possessed. My house itself has a bit of paranormal activities even though I never experience it directly, touch wood! So, to keep a BJD that looks exactly like human chills me to the bones sometimes.
Until now, I don't display my BJD (only take it out when necessary) and haven't tell my parents, especially my dad because he'd definitely tell me to throw it away

 

No. Just...no. I realize that there are a lot of people who believe in this kind of thing, but I am decidedly not one of them. Why would a spirit possess my BJD? I mean, what are the odds? There are literally hundreds of millions of dolls in the world (come to think of it, probably significantly more), so, what, it was just passing through Ohio, happened to stop by my house, rudely peeked inside, saw one of my dolls and said, "whoa, I need to settle there"?

Furthermore, why possess a doll? One might as well possess a table or a chair for all the good it does. If I were a spirit looking for a lifeless lump to jump into, at least I'd go for some sort of vehicle, so I could move from place to place and look at the scenery - preferably an airplane so that I could fly! I can't think of anything more boring than sitting on a shelf or in a box year after year with nothing to do besides having some BJD fanatic occasionally yank me apart and change my elastic or take off my frilly dress and put me into a new frilly dress. Yikes.

I probably think these things through too much.

 

Thank you for your sense of humor in this thread! It gave me a good laugh. Although I’m a huge fan of horror, I’m also a big chicken and this thread freaked me out! Didn’t stop me from reading all of it...

 

Have not experienced it myself but the group of friends I use to rent a house with were all convinced that my tiny was cursed. They wanted me to throw it away because they really believe it causes bad luck. I just really think that things that fall within the uncanny valley are easy to blame for things that cannot be explained, or at least that's what I believe in.

So here's the story:

The 2nd oldest doll I own is an asleep eidolon chocolate girl, I kept her in a box and didn't really do anything with her immediately because I was having a hard time sewing for tinies. After a year, I decided to do her faceup and make her clothes anyway, it was that same year that I fell ill and had to spend time in the hospital for a month. Then, I went back home and everything was fine and so I decided to work on her again didn't do her faceup but made her clothes and stuff and just displayed her without one.

After a few months, one of my housemate's cat found himself inside my room and accidentally knocked her from her table. Her cat developed sores, and had to be put on antibiotics because of an infection, also, that cat was so dehydrated when I found him, so I don't know about that.

Then, my housemates started observing "weird things". They said that whenever I leave my room open at night, lights flicker and things move and all the 9 yards of the exorcist and annabelle -- housemates vs tiny bjd edition I mean c'mon, really? (Never have I ever inhaled that much sage in my entire life!)

It got so bad that they wanted me to throw away my entire doll collection starting from my tiny. I moved out, I got a little bit depressed about it and it triggered so much anxiety so I told my bestfriend what happened. He took my doll to a local faceup artist and when she came back I was so happy. Unfortunately his car was totally wrecked a few weeks after. Thankfully he drives a pick truck and was unscathe and insurance was up to date so everything was alright.

I don't know if I am just being stubborn about it or what, but I just refuse to believe it. To me correlation does not mean causation.

 

I had a doll a few years ago when I still lived with my mother that just absolutely gave me the heebiejeebies. I have collected dolls for over a decade, and have BJDs, vintage Barbies, Disney dolls and more. This doll was a type of porcelain doll a neighbor enthusiastically gave to me for free at a garage sale (probably should have been my first sign).

I put her in my bedroom with my other dolls for one night before she had to move out. Every time I looked over in her direction, it felt like someone was watching me. So much so that I would get chills down my spine, feel nauseous, and have an extreme amount of anxiety. That night I had the most vivid, terrifying nightmares of my entire life. The next morning, she was turned to look even more directly at my bed.

I really liked the way the doll looked, and I felt bad wanting to get rid of her. To be honest, I was actually kind of afraid of her. I put her in my mom's spare bedroom on a headboard that served as a shelf. I turned her away from the door at the corner. Every single time I went into that room, she was turned back toward the door. Even on days where my mother was not home, I would be the only one there. I would go in, turn her around, and then come back a few hours later. Boom, she was turned. So I either had a very repetitive psychotic episode, or that doll was definitely inhabited by something.

I ended up donating her to a thrift store VERY far away from my house. I continued to have bad dreams about her for weeks. I was petrified she would somehow show back up.

I believe in spirits but have never had any type of direct experience with them, except potentially for this one.

 

Around when I first started in the hobby, I bought a DF-H body that was super kicky! No matter how I posed his joints, he would immediately snap into another position. I seriously thought he was haunted and angry that I bought him without a head. Turns out he just needed to be sueded... But my point still stands, I definitely do believe dolls can be possessed and have souls. What's important is how you treat the doll, and if you're kind enough to it, it will have a kind soul!

 

I really like this take, I don't hear this point of view very often but this is how I think of my dolls.

 

I don't think any of my dolls are possessed but I do believe that spirits can attach themselves to any object and create an energy around it. If my dolls happened to be haunted I honestly wouldn't mind.

Although I do have one story about this one plush doll that I would sleep with every night for about 10 years. I would bring him every time I travelled and he would be right next to me as I slept. However as I got older, I grew out of the "sleeping with a stuffed toy" phase and one night I decided that I would put him in the toy basket under my bed. Well, as I was lying in my bed just staring into the darkness, I see this spark of red light coming from my desk. I thought my alarm clock blew up but I still saw this weird red light by my desk which wasn't coming from the alarm clock. As I stared at it, it slowly faded out. At this point, I turned my back and I was facing the wall, trying to go to sleep and forget about the weird light. As I'm staring at the wall, I hear and feel a breeze (the windows were closed and the heat wasn't running), the bed slightly creaks, and I feel pressure as if something went on my bed. I'm pretty sure it was whatever was in the stuffed doll I had that was now in bed with me. I never experienced anything like it again. I still have the old stuffed toy in the toy basket under my bed.

 

I wouldn't say that any of my dolls are possessed in the "traditional" way. However, they are all characters from the novels I write so I have spent a LOT of time developing them to be who they are as characters. They've lived in my head, some for literal decades, growing and developing just as a person does. It's probably Crazy Writer Brain talking but to me they feel like real people. I know they aren't real and are only a product of my wild imagination just as I know my dolls are not real people. But I believe this intense focus and large amount of mental energy I put into creating a physical representation of my characters imbues the doll with the energy of the character they are.

When paranormal things happen within my apartment and I don't have the necessary energy to defend myself as strongly as I need to, I'll hold one or two of my guys who's character is that of a protector. Usually that's enough to shore myself up against the entity that constantly tests my wards and is a very Not Nice Thing. If I have a particularly bad dream/nightmare I'll hold the doll that is Ondraeden, God of Fear & Nightmares, and I'll sleep fine. If I'm having a rough day emotionally I'll hold one of my guys that has a sunny personality and I'll feel uplifted in rather short order. If I want to have a stronger metaphysical connection for working wards or whatnot, I'll sit with Ferrous, who can see the future or if I need a bigger boost, Hylocereus, Elder God of Mysteries and Oracle to the Gods, is my go-to guy.

Is it the doll who has become the character that's helping me or is it me reclaiming energy that I've filled the doll with when I created him as a physical representation of the character in my head? I couldn't say either way. But I do believe each of my dolls has a very distinct personality and people who know nothing of me or the characters my dolls are comment on how they get a vibe of "life" from them.

 

......No. Just no. The entire idea is silliness.

 

I replied to this thread a few years ago but as my opinions and thoughts on this have massively changed, I’d like to make a new post that I actually currently agree with.

I came from a very religious background so at the time of my writing my previous response I was very heavily influenced by my religion.
I’m currently agnostic and as such my views are based on what I think to be the most likely currently.

I think that anything can get “possessed” so to speak, what it’s possessed by just depends on what it is. I think that things can be possessed by a bit of a range of things.
I personally believe in things like energy, spirits, and karma. As such, I think that every living thing has an energy to it and that that energy can stick to things basically. For some objects it’s easy to get energy stuck to it and for some it’s harder.

For example, I think that if you had say, a special necklace that you purposefully directed a protective intent towards it and you wore it a lot and again had that specific intent, it would stick and cause you to feel protected. One could argue that that’s simply because you’ve conditioned your brain to associate it with protection.
Honestly I’m not going to argue against that as I think that it is entirely possible, but regardless of if it’s just your brain doing it’s funky thing or energy attachments, it does have an affect on you.

That affect, in my opinion, depends on what you direct at the object. I think that whatever you put out there comes back at you and your intent really matters.
So, if you put out love and care and affection, it’ll be what comes back.
In the case of dolls, I think that if you associate certain things with dolls and have that be your intent and have them very firmly in your life, they’ll gain a sort of life of their own and will affect you as such.

I also think it’s easier for things to stick to objects we see as having a personality, for example it’s easier for something to stick to a doll than an object without a personality like a rock.
Again could be just psychology but regardless I don’t think that that affect should just be dismissed.

Now because, as I have said, I do believe in ghosts and spirits, I also believe that they can possess and inhabit things.
Dolls seem like they would be of particular interest due to the fact that they’re very well jointed and they have a body with familiar features.
They have eyes, ears, faces, hands. That sounds like a way better vessel to inhabit than a pebble imo.
I think you can also attract spirits and ghosts to inhabit your dolls.
Another thing that I believe can happen, (which is much more interesting to me ) is that you can sort of create a spirit for that doll.
As I think that spirits and ghosts are just intense energy either of a deceased person or simply existing, I strongly think that you can create a form of small or weak spirit through the energy and love and attention you give it.
If we’re taking a skeptical “it’s all in your head” approach, I still think this holds true, just in more of a metaphorical sense.

Now a question to ask is, ok so if spirits are a thing, are some fully good or fully
evil?
And honestly I’d say no.
I think ghosts and spirits are all pretty morally grey. For spirits, they simply are.
Some may not have our best wishes in mind but it’s not because they’re bad, they’re just doing what they need to for themselves. Like how to a canary a cat is terrifying but the cat isn’t inherently good or bad. It just is.
So while I believe there can be dangerous spirits, they aren’t bad by any means.
As for ghosts I think they can be more good or bad as they’re just people so those you’d have to watch out for more.

I have no clue if there’s an afterlife or reincarnation or anything like that, but I do believe that whether it’s through spirits and energy and ghosts and whatnot or through basic psychology and your brain acting up, things can become “possessed” and will have an affect on you.

In my case I can sort of feel a vibe coming from my dolls. I don’t know quite how to explain it.
It’s like, my doll Alice who was my first doll and who I’ve had for three years just seems alive in a way. Having her in the same room feelings like hanging out with a friend or person.
When I try putting outfits on her that are aesthetically lovely but not something she likes, it just feels incredibly off and wrong.
Interestingly, she’s also never been what I expected. When I got her I was expecting a kind of edgy, dark and gothic super masculine guy who would have to do with the underworld. Instead I got a very feminine, androgynous, and flower loving character who loves pastels and tea.
I also got her a new faceup after a long break from the hobby and quickly found out that she’s a transfeminine character. So that was unexpected.
Her posing also seems to depend on how she’s feeling and even on the most difficult days she’s happy to cooperate if I just compliment and politely ask her

Meanwhile I also have a new doll who I adore named Ruby and she doesn’t at all feel as alive as Alice does. She doesn’t quite have her own vibe yet, it’s been very interesting to compare.

 

I think people in this thread experiencing strange things around dolls is cool, but I personally don't believe in spirits or ghosts (so therefore I don't believe in possession). I'm very much a "I need to see it to believe it" type of person and so think that if ghosts and spirits existed, serial killers would be the most haunted people on the planet and we would have definitive proof that they exist.

Of course I'm not trying to offend anyone in this thread, and I don't know for sure that ghosts and doll possession aren't possible. I just haven't personally experienced it and therefore don't have anything that "proves" it for me.

 

I'd like to agree with the "what you put out comes back to you" sentiment. I grew up with a superstitious Granny and a rather esoteric group of family friends as well and they always taught me that dolls will only become malicious if you're malicious to them. I think that's one of the reasons why my heart hurts so badly for dolls and figures I see in Peddler's Malls who don't have arms/broken joints/just abandoned altogether. Granny used to give me a lot of porcelain dolls when I was younger, but I never really felt as though I could bond with a porcelain doll, so I'd always regift them to someone whom I'd know would take much better care of them.

Also, I practically read the whole thread in one sitting, and egregore are a very fascinating concept. I'm very much into spiritual practices and the occult, but I'd not learned what they were called until now. A few fae-practicing authors I've read the books of always described it as just creating another fae or spirit, but instead of binding it to a particular object, you send it on to do it's job, but then disperse its energy when done. Doing a little more research on the term itself yields more terms I'm familiar with, The term "egregore" is the root word for "Grigori" which is the term for Watcher Angels who willingly left the army of Heaven to teach humanity of sciences, mathematics, humantities and so on. It just puts into perspective how much these world-improving practices meant to people; they humanized and anthropomorphized the knowledge they learned and still are considered important in Abrahamic religions.

I did have a dream about owning a possessed doll that became so attached to my energy that I referred to him as my son, but considering I've got such a massive doll-want list, I don't think I'm particularly ready to be a spirit-daddy. xD I need to buy the dolls I've written lore for first AND THEN IF I'M GOOD I'll buy the dream doll. xD

 

If they are, then they probably aren't too mad at me because I treat them carefully and love to make them pretty clothes. :3