Historical pagan toys

This post turned out to be a bit of a hard one. While there are toys scattered throughout history, for the most part, kids did not really have many toys, let alone toys of religious significance. Times have changed though, and much of our lifes focus is on raising our children and educating them. That is more than they got to do in the old days, as you were raised and educated to do only what your dad did, unless you were lucky enough to be rich or apprenticed.


I did find a few historical pagan toys though, so let's talk about them.


Kachinas-most people know these as beautiful workd of folk art from the Pueblo and Navajo Amerindians of the southwest. They actually started out as toys for children, mostly as dolls for girls. They had several kinds, but I will focus on 2 kinds here. They had the flat painted wood shapes to give to young teething children which would let them chew on something, and grow up seeing the image of their gods. Later when the child was older, she would get a carved wood and painted doll, which she would often hand up next to were she slept. This was a way to teach the children about their gods and let them be an everpresent part of their lives.

Matryoshka-many people know of nesting dolls, the doll within a doll, within a doll, etc... Well, it started in Russia. They represent family, but have also been used to represent mother earth, but later many were painted to be saints and now they can come in any image. But, the maiden or mother image is still the most popular and in fact Matryoshka comes from a girls name.

Painted Wooden Indian toys-There are many kinds in India, many are of the gods or heroes (like Rama) and are there to help explain the stories of those gods and heroes. Think of them as old action figures.

Puppets and dolls-all over the world, girls were given dolls and puppets to inspire them, either to be mothers, or in some instances to emulate the people the doll represented, including goddesses and heroines

Egyptian shabtis and gods-many kinds of painted clay figures have been found across egypt. Some were meant to be shabti, and do the tasks of the dead for them, others were there as friends, guardians or entertainment. They also had gods to play with, either as painted images or statues.

Goddesses-in the ancient world, many young women were given small statues of their mother goddess. The Cyclades goddesses are still found on the island. They are carved out of stone, and then painted, though we do not know how the were painted in this day and age because they are so old that all the paint has degraded. There is also the most famous find of the Venus of Willendorf (also renamed the Woman of Willendorf by feminist groups.) She was probably a toy for a child, not some altar statue. We will never know for sure, as the people who used her are long gone.

Incan charm-this is more a charm than a toy, but it is still close enough for a historical toy. They found these charms with the Andean mummies. They represent the gods and were with the children when they were sacrificed for the good of the community. Unlike the psychotic Aztecs, the Incas rarely sacrificed people, only when things were exceptionally bad. They probably represent Viracocha, the creator god, or Inti, the sun god.

Nepal penis charm-small wierd little charms that boys would wear on a string inside his pants in Nepal. It acts as a protection charm. But you know the boys would play with it too, and I would rather a young boy play with the charm than his real boyhood, as I don't need to see that, lol.

Daruma-a little ball shaped buddhist priest, usually painted red. It is modeled after the founder of Zen buddhism. They are symbols of luck and perserverance. They are given as gifts of encouragement.

This is nowhere near a thorough list. This is just a small sampling of things to give you an idea of historical pagan toys.