UA writes: “. . . (M)y daughter 6 years old for Christmas got a doll call lalaloopsy, it says in the box “sew magical , sew cute, but im starting to have the feeling that this doll looks like a budu doll. Please, if you have some information, I will really appreciate it. I am a young mom trying to raise my kids to love, serve and honor God, and I’m really careful about that. . .”
A parent cannot be too careful these days, UA, and I’m happy to say that I see absolutely nothing wrong with Lalaloopsy dolls.
For those of you who do not know what we’re talking about, Lalaloopsy dolls are adorable little toys that are said to have been rag dolls that magically came to life after the last thread was sewn. Each doll supposedly has its own personality which comes from the fabrics with which they are made.
For instance, Spot Splatter Splash is made from painter’s overalls. “She’s super creative and loves bright colors, big messes and eating spaghetti,” the catalog states. This doll comes with her pet zebra and was sewn on October 25th, which is International Artist Day and Picasso’s birthday.
Peanut Bit Top comes with a pet elephant and is made out of bits of fabric from bright colored clown costumes. “She is a silly prankster who’s a little bit clumsy and loves to make her friends laugh.” She was sewn on April Fools Day.
The references to the “magical world” of Lalaloopsy appears to have nothing to do with occult magick, but is used to denote enchantment. I viewed some of the on-line animated tales that go with the dolls and found nothing related to the occult in any of them.
Lalaloopsy dolls could not be further from the budu (I assume you mean voodoo) dolls you mention in your post. Voodoo dolls are used in rituals that invoke spirits to act in a defined way toward a targeted person, such as to inspire love, bring prosperity, gain power or domination, or to do harm. The doll represents the person and straight pins or thorns are used to attach things to the doll such as a picture of the person it is supposed to represent and items taken from the person such as a lock of hair, a nail clipping or piece of clothing that has been in close intimate contact with them.
As one voodoo site explains: “To make the doll work one should be familiar with the Voodoo spirits, which ones are useful for various given purposes and what things will appeal to that spirit. Adding things to the doll, like perfume or rose petals for love, clover or garlic for luck and money or sitting it between a blue and a white candle for healing, increases it’s powers.”
This is obvious sorcery, which is a sin against the First Commandment. As the Catechism states: “All practices of magic and sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one’s service, and have a supernatural power over others – even if this were for the sake of restoring their health – are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons.”(No. 2117)
As you can see, Lalaloopsy dolls are about as far from voodoo dolls as an innocent babe is from a serial killer. Go ahead and enjoy those dolls!
