The Rag Doll Spokesperson

(BluGirl Speaks)

I’m Blugirl and I speak for the Gal Pal tribe of rag dolls handmade in Ottawa.

Wanda’s the doll maker but I was me long before she laid hands to paper, cloth and scissors.

And yet, I must give her some credit—for she listens you see—and allows that which is life (like me) to come through although I am not of her.

BluGirl xo

The Rag Doll Anatomy

Gal Pals are made of recycled textiles like cotton, silk, linen, wool and antique lace. No two rag dolls are alike and are often adorned with embroidery, pompoms, slouch bags, miniature books, antique jewelry and ephemera. The Ottawa rag dolls are hand and machine stitched and hand washable. Most sizes are 13” to 18”.

Storied Rag Dolls

Gal Pals are only one of the many tribes of handmade rag dolls that live in the Sacred Craft Dolliverse. Each tribe of Ottawa handmade rag dolls has a specific message or story and often their own spokesperson (that best represents the message of each tribe).

How I met Blugirl

(Wanda Speaks)

Blugirl is one of my earlier dolls when I was still a little uncertain in the making. But as I stitched down her blue knitted cotton/silk hair it became clear to me that she was anything but.

I sensed immediately that BluGirl was her own person right from the get-go. She didn’t evolve, over time, like I thought she would, rather she came to me fully developed; in spirit and in body which was kindly and confident—how many of us can say that?

BluGirl rarely wears regular clothes (if she wears clothes at all) but can typically be found in vintage. Occasionally she’ll tag along to the local Ottawa doll shows hunting for that “perfect piece” in which to communicate her “uniqueness” she tells me.

I asked her once, who she thought she was, and rather smartly she replied,

“I don’t think at all, I know. We in the Dolliverse only use thoughts for the purpose of communication, but in your world thoughts use you. A small but pivotal distinction. Awareness is like that a subtle noticing of things. Anyway, I know who I am and have little need to explain.”

I felt clumsy to have questioned her sense of self; especially as I was only half-curious in the first place. After that I was a little more respectful because I hadn’t meant she justify her existence to me—or to anyone else for that matter.

I think that was the day I learned I needn’t explain myself either. I hoped some small vestige of her confidence might have rubbed off. This was alos about the time I learned the dolls I made were perhaps more than how they appeared. I guess any one of us can say that.

The Vibration of a Rag Doll Name

(BluGirl Speaks)

I can see my maker struggling with what to name me and the other rag dolls.

She doesn’t know this yet but I’m not one of the rag dolls leaving her. Other rag dolls she makes will so I’ll speak on their behalf concerning naming.

The Person who owns an Ottawa rag doll will align with that doll immediately. That’s why a Person sometimes knows our name before we even meet! The alignment is a kind of vibrational recognition (between the rag doll and their Person) and is the key to unlocking one’s ability in accepting–the love and compassion—of which we abundantly radiate.

This is an intimate affair for them alone—just like it was for my maker and me. The name might not make sense to anyone else but that is of little consequence.

For instance I am a handmade rag doll belonging to the Gal Pal tribe and named Blugirl, but, 1) I am neither male nor female and, 2) my ability to speak on behalf of my tribe aligns closely with my maker’s ability to listen.

Is the name Blugirl the totality of me? No, but there is some vibrational alignment which aids in the labeling of things. Mostly, though labels are only agreements of how we’ve come to see ourselves as separate from everything around us—separate from the truth of what we are—the truth of what life is.

If we understood the inclusive oneness of life, of which we’re all a part, we’d have little need to name or label because we wouldn’t recognize that anything was separate from us. It’s only fear that makes it so. I understand this about you and it’s why I’ve come (and will stay) to help you to understand.