Dressed in a variety of colorful dresses, 12 Guatemalan worry dolls are here to preserve ancient Maya traditions. Legend has it that the Maya Sun God gave princess Ixmucan the gift of solving people’s problems. With time people started making dolls in Ixmucan’s honor and they would tell her their woes, hoping she would solve them through the dolls. ‘This tradition is still alive,’ says Ana from the Lopez Garcia Family. ‘The idea is to have many worry dolls and trust each one with whatever troubles you. Once you’ve told them, you put them under your pillow. It is said that during the night, while we sleep, the dolls will whisper the solution to our troubles. For us, crafting the worry dolls – muequitas quita penas – is our main source of income.It allows us to provide our children with an education as well as a job for all of us.’ The set of 12 arrives in a pedal-loomed cotton pouch.

Please expect slight variations in color and size as each doll is crafted by hand with available materials, rendering each one unique.