Browse:"CHANNEL DE WORLD" (Volume 5, entries 10604–13458)/Part 24
"CHANNEL DE WORLD"
Volume 5, entries 10604–13458. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
1 listed entry is unavailable here.
Entries
Entry 12444
Take a woman dat's goin' roun' wit yore husban', yo' git six mockin'- bird aigs an' jes' put 'em in watah jes' long enough tuh git hot - not boil 'em. Yo' take dem out an' yo' put 'em in cold watah, an' let dem set dere jes' 'bout a hour. An' den take 'em tuh dis woman's house an' put 'em andah huh pillah, dat is if yo' kin git 'em undah dere, yo' know. An' she'll nevah bothah wit yore husban' no mo'.
Entry 12445
Ah've heard about a mockingbird. Now, yo' take a mockingbird - dey claim dat chew kin rob his nest. Yo' know he have two little aigs. If yo' rob his nest, break up his nest wit de aigs, de spots on dat eggshell, if yo've got time to, count half of 'em. Take dem spots after yo' count 'em, set 'em down on sompin [piece of paper], as many as yo' count. An' yo' take dat an' yo' carry it to run- nin' water. Yo' put it in a runnin' stream. Yo' stand wit chure back an' throw it back behin' yo' an' walk right on off. Well, now, dat's jes' lak if a person is gone off somewhere an' yo' want 'em to come back. Yo' count dem spots an' yo' throw dat piece of paper, whatevah yo' got it [number of spots on]. Throw it in running water behin' yo' an' don't look back at it. In a very short while dat person will come back. It jes' give 'em de mind to come on back to yo'.
Entry 12446
Long in de spring when de mockin'birds begin tuh sing an' goin around, if dere's somepin yo' wanta do, yo' go an' find where dey is nestin'. An' some of his feathers are in dere. An' git some of his nest, an' git one aig. An' yo' must burn dis aig until de hull become black. Den yo' take yo' a fruit-jar large enough to git chure han' in it, an' take dis straw an' feathers an' put dis aig inside, where no air or nuthin kin strike de aig an' bury it [jar]. In twelve, or say fifteen days later, yo' go to dis aig. If dere's a little bird in dis aig, his head will burst through dat shell in twelve or fifteen days. An' yo' must take his haid - don't bust de hull [shell?] jes' take his haid an' put it somewhere. Maybe yo' might be sharp enough to git it in somepin dat he's eatin an' let him git holt to it. Be sure dat nobody gits holt to it but him. An' ah'll guarantee dat yo' kin do anything with him - woman, man, ever who it may be - dat chew want to.
Entry 12447
Don't know if dey use de mockin'bird aigs but ah know dey use de mockin'- bird nest. Yo' burn it to ashes, and when yo' burn it to ashes, an' yo' jes' put some sulphur an' saltpeter in it or sulphur an' pep- pah or gunpowders - either of dem three, an' yo' mix a powders with that. An jes' what yo' say it do, it works by what yo' say...
(Give me an example of one thing you could say to it?)
Well, it ain't but one thing yo' kin say, an' den dere's plenty thing yo want to say.... It jes' what yo' want to say, or jes' if yo' have good idea - jes' any feelings tuhwards me, if yo' think ah doin' sompin ah got no business to yo', an' when yo' do dat den yo' tell it whut chew want it to do to me.
Entry 12448
"Specially dis time of yeah, dese mockin'birds. Dat's how come we take ca' of de mockin'bird's nest roun' de house. An' so jes' take dat man's hair or dat woman's hair an' put it in de bottom of dat mockin'bird's nest, an' dat man have de headache dat run him perfectly crazy.
Entry 12449
If yo' break 'em up - break up a mockin'bird nest, trouble will fol- low yo'. [Sumter 2429:10.]
Entry 12450
Take a mockin'bird nest an' put undah bridge, if yo' wanta break up a boy an' a girl, or yo' know, keep someone from a place. Den yo' take it an' put it where dey kin step ovah it or walk ovah it an dey won't go dere no mo'. (Like some boy and girl are going together, and I would want to separate them?) Separate dem. Go put dat nest, jes' put de nest some place where dey'll go walk ovah it chew know - him or her, either one. Dat will separate dem. [Suml ter, S. Car. (1365), 2411:8.]
Entry 12451
Give it to a mockin'bird an' he'll run yo' crazy.
(How do you do that?)
Jes' pull a strand of hair out of a man's head, [or] under his clothes, an' let a mockin'bird git it in some meal - sompin - it'll run yo' [him] crazy.
[Mockingbird builds this hair into its nest.]
Entry 12452
Yo' kin take a mockin'bird an' tell him - like yo' want him tuh go some place an' care' [carry] a note. All yo' gotta do is put it, yo' know, a little strip up under his laig, an' tell him tuh go an care' it to de person. An' call dere name three times an' he'll go dere an' light on dere house an' put it dere.
(Where do you put that note now? Do you attach it to the bird?)
Yes sir, yo' ketch a mockin'bird...
(And where do you put that note now?)
Jes' tie it on him anywhere. Tell him three times an' call de person name to him plain an' he care' it dere.
Entry 12453
Yo' kin git de young uns [ones] an' raise 'em.
(The young mockingbirds?)
Yes, an' yo' kin take a man's hair - jes' lak ah tell yo' 'bout de fish. Say, yo' carry 'em from heah - carry dat bird from right heah tuh Columbia [S. Car.]. An' fasten dat man hair on dere, to his wing an' turn him loose. Yo' ain't goin' have no mo' trouble about Tom [owner of hair] until dat bird die or somebody kill him. Nou, dere's a good one [method] tuh carry people off from heah. Dat's de only thing ah know [about mockingbird].
(You said that man will die?)
No, if dat bird die, dat man will come back home.
Entry 12454
[In this rite, badly recorded, informant speaks about a Mōjō ROOT, also calls it a JO ROOT, which you carry when seeking a job. There is no mojo root, only a root or something else which is a mojo, or hand, or toby, and simi- lar names.] [Richmond 296:9.]
Entry 12455
Go in de hills [mole runs] where a mole's at an' dig a MoLE up, ketch him alive, an' jes' rub himself in yore han' an' yo' be's successful in amything yo' undertake tuh do. [Memphis 2713:3.]
Entry 12456
Den dere is other people believe dat dey kin take - track a mole and get him up and take dat shovel dat he uses off of him. And anytime after night- fall, go to de door and dig a trench from de door to de street, and dey'll [people within] leave. (I didn't understand ab about that mole. You take that...) De mole is got a peculiar foot to him. It's shaped somepin like a heavy shovel - one of 'em. Well, dat's de one he use to open his tunnel as he is going through, and it looks almost de same as ivory - solid white and sharp and curved-like. But you take de foot from de mole and go to de do', and you will dig a trench from de do'ah out to de street.
(With this foot?)
With dat foot. And dey claim dat whoever liyes dere will really leave dat house. Dey'll follow dat path out to de street - be gone. Dey'll vacate de premises, dey won't stay dere long.
Entry 12457
If he gives you [woman] bill [paper money for sexual services], fold [paper money] to you, then fold it again. Clip off ends of the 4 corners, tie in handkerchief, wear so that you can use it without his knowing it, and he'll always give you something [for love services]. [Here is another one of the unusual folding rites in HOODOO, this one by an excellent professional hoodoo worker in Memphis.]
Entry 12458
I heard that if you borrow money from a person that doesn't gamble and get in a game that you will win because the person that doesn't gamble will give you good luck. [Norfolk 446:6.]
Entry 12459
Now, dat works wit de moon. Now, when it's de new moon an' if he's gone an' she wants him tuh come back, she'll go tuh dat moon three times a week an' bow. Now, when dis moon gits full, she'll bow, an' every time she bow tuh de moon, dat is fer de moon tuh come down. She bows three times. An' wherever he is he is tuh come back. (Now she bows three times during the new moon?) Yes, sir, an' three times tuh de full moon, an' every time she bows, she wave her hands three times. Dat's fo' him tuh come back.
(She waves her hand at what, the moon?)
Yes, sir [demonstrates].
(Wave down like that?)
Yes.
(Does she go out three different nights to the new moon, or just once?)
Three fo' de new an' three for de full.
(And each time she goes out to the new moon she bows three times?)
Yes, sir, an' makes a wish an' say, "Will you please come back."
Entry 12460
I works with the moon. Now anything that choo start on the dark of the moon is not successful, see? Anything you wan'a be successful at is not successful. You starts on the third day of the new moon - see, on the third. Anything you want to be success- ful in, you start on the third day of the new moon. [Another excellent hoodoo woman.]
Entry 12461
Wit silver money dey have good luck. An' show it to de moon, an' he Walk back fo' so many - 'bout nine steps backwards; an' then yo' turn roun' an' hit those steps wit dat money, an' say de moon give yo' good luck. [This is a tricky rite to perform in moonlight. I suggest it could be come as follows: facing moon and holding silver coin in right hand, if you are right-handed, step backward with right foot, kneel down, touch track made with coin. Now step back with left foot, kneel down, touching this track with coin. Continue for the 9 steps and tracks.]
Entry 12462
If you want a woman, there's two or three ways that you can bring people to you. Just - the question you've asked me - there's two or three ways that you can do these things. It's always worked on the dark of the moon. See, just like if you want to do good, you do it on the new moon - of course, it be on the new moon and on the Balance. And if you want to do bad to them, you do that on the dark of the moon, work under the signs, the twelve signs. See.
(The twelve signs of the zodiac?)
Yes. See, just like if you want to make love or friendship, you set candles on a person that get the tendence[?] the two little Twins, at least. See. And if you want to do earth work, say, if you want to bury anything, you do that on the Balance. If you want to use any water from any river or anything, you use that on the Balance [surely the Waterman]. Just like if I want to break up a man and a woman. She done left me and I want her to come back to me. Well, I takes a linen sheet and I has it on the bed, after I done set my work[?] for her to come there, and I get morris [myrrh], aloes and cinnamon. [Preceding vord tendance = attention?]
(This myrrh, and what else?)
Aloes and cinnamon.
(Cinnamon?)
Yes, mixed in together. And I makes a powder and perfumes my bed with that. And she come there and [lay on] my bed, I ain't got to worry about her no more. See. She ain't going nowhere.
(She is going to stay right with you?)
Yes.
Entry 12463
"They tell me that you see ghosts mostly on a new moon." [Fredericks- burg, Ediphone 52.]
Entry 12464
In case - accordin' tuh whut kinda case it is. If somebody is trying cuh take de advantage of yo' an' dey should have done dey [work] again' yo' in de daytime, yo' have tuh do yore work ahead of daytime. If yo' don't, yo' can't cut 'em off. Well, yo'd have tuh do it all befo' de sunrise in most any case - it would have tuh be done. Well, now, fo' an instance, if somebody had put sompin heah tuh keep yo' from comin' heah. Well, now, if yo' put it in aftah sunrise yo'd have tuh do yorn ahead of sunrise. Yo' could maybe move dat an' yo' could come heah an' stay, but yo'd have tuh do whatsomevah yo' goin' do or whatsomevah it take tuh move de case. Be ahead of sunrise. If yo' didn't - if de sun evah risen on his'n why yorn wouldn't work. De sunlight work it. Now ah've got de 6th an' 7th Book of Moses at de house an' dere's a whole lots of things in dere dat ah really don't understand!
Entry 12465
[To guard against unfulfilled desires during pregnancy:] Take the [Spanish] moss down and the woman wears this here moss across her breast, under her bubbies there; and of course, if things that she wish to want, and differ- ent [things] like that, why she wouldn't wish for that, and it won't bring her a birth-marked child.
(She just wears that moss on her breast.)
In a little bag or anything that she wants to wear it in. [For birthmarks, cause and removal, see FOLKLORE FROM ADAMS COUNTY ILLINOIS, 2nd ed.,965, Pp.111-130.]
Entry 12466
To make 'em move outa de house, dey got a dust dey call moving dust. Dat's not no good by itself. Yo' git dat at de drug sto' but it not no good by itself. Yo' git de mov- in' dust an' git some fresh cow manure, jes' aroun' a dairy, jes' as it been spattered yo' know, fresh cow manure. An' yo' take dat movin' dust an' put it in dat cow man- ure. An' if dey got no steps, jes' lak a room in heah, so yo' kin bury it, if dey got no steps.... Yo' take hit an' some oil of cinnamon. Yo' take de [oil of] cinnamon an' yo' rub it on de do' knob an' take de fresh cow manure an' bury it. Carry dat an' put it undah dat [points] see dat piece? [He points to the middle of the interviewing-room door.]
(Under that piece that goes across the door? The door saddle?)
Yeah, yo' put it undah dere. Git dat fresh cow manure an' jes' line a little bit on de latch whah [where] dey gotta come an' put dere han's in it - what dey gotta put dere han's in it. An' ah'll guarantee yuh dey won't be dere but two weeks. Dat moves 'em. Dey gotta go.
Entry 12467
(Well, suppose I didn't want to move, yes?)
Why, you would have to move.
(Well, what would they do to make me move out?)
Well, your next-door neighbor would - could move you out, if they wanted to move you out.
(How would they do that?)
Well, they would get what you call moving powders. They'd go to the drug store and buy what you call moving powders and when you be's asleeping, your next-door neighbor would sprinkle it around your house. But if you didn't want to move out of that house, why you just, every morning you wake up and just go to your hydrant and get you nine buckets of clear water, and throw it on your steps, and you can stay in that house as long as you want to - providing you [recording stops].
Entry 12468
Get some moving powder and sprinkle it around, that'll make 'em move in two days. [New Orleans 1438:2.]
Entry 12469
If yo's in a house an' a person wanta make yo' move, go tuh de black- smith shop an' git a mule hoof, an' put it on wit some hot watah an' boil it. Yo' takes an' put it in a bottle [cork it right tight, an' put it in] - put it in a bottle when yo's at home. Yo' walks by dey do' an' sprinkle it befo' dey do', dat watah from dat hoof, from dat mule hoof. See dat's a track an' as dat mule walkin' on, dat makes 'em [victim] go.
(You put some holes in this cork?)
Yes sir, put it in de [cork of the] bottle. Cut de mule hoof, dat round hoof where dey shoe a mule. Or a horse, eithah one, an' put it in a bottle. Take it home an' boil it. Boil it jes' tuh pieces. Boil it. It won't come tuh pieces, but when it begin tuh git hot, see. An' put it in a bottle an' cork it down an' put some holes in dere where yo' kin jes' sprinkle it lak dat, tell 'em all de time as yo' sprinkle dat watah, see, say, "Cats an' dogs can't git along, an' yo' gotta go. An' go, damn yo'. An' dat makes 'em leave, dey move. Dey gotta move, dey cain't stay dere.
Entry 12470
Yo' git some mule hoof an' burn it, cross it [make sign of cross with it] fo' yo' luck, right lak that. An' sprinkle a little salt an' a little sulphur. An' in burnin' this yo' calls fo' rich man's name. An' even to that chew ask fo' yo' luck. An' yo'll be successful in whut chew tryin' tuh do.
(If you are trying to rent something or sell something?)
Yessuh.
(If you are trying to sell liquor or anything?)
Yessuh.
(Now, I'll take up this ashes [cigar ashes in tray on interviewing table]
and you put them in the shape of a cross like that [I demonstrate]. You sprinkle them in the shape of a cross?) Yes, yo' sprinkle that, then yo' sprinkle this. Then yo' make the second cross an' sprinkle that. (But you make one cross with the mule ashes first? Then the other crosses you make with this other stuff?) Yes, yes.
Entry 12471
Marrow from hog jowl and lard mix and rub up, not down, to cure mps. Remedy of Humpadee, female root doctor. [Richmond 359:9.]
Entry 12472
Yeah, you see, after a man - when you kill a man and you run away and every- body huntin' you and thinkin' you ain't coming back, de man dat he killed, you kin just cut any part offa his clothes. You take that and you bury it right where dis fellov [urderer] was supposed to live. Dat's goin' bring him back. You cut just any part offa his [victim's] clothes while he's dead. That's goin' bring him right on back. You bury it.
Entry 12473
Ah heard of a man once dat wuz goin' wit a girl. He wuz a married man. An' dis girl wanted tuh go tuh de show. He didn't want her tuh go because a single [man] was carryin' her. So he called for her an' had her go tuh his office. An' he strangles her first. An' den he dismembered her body, cut de haid off first an' her arms, an' den he cuts her body off [up]: cuts her thighs off, den de laigs - jes' dismembered her dat way. Dere wuz nobody in de office, an' he lived about ten miles out. He carries her out past his home an' put [the parts of] her body different places, an' two weeks later de news got out an' he didn't say anything about it, when he heard de news. He went tuh her people about her. He hadn't seen her in a couple of weeks an' she was on a vacation. It was man seen him put de haid out - out of a truck. He know de man's face but he didn't know his name. An' when de news got out about her, dey go tuh dis place an' git de haid, an' roun' in dat settlement dey found all de parts of de body. He burnt her clothes an' shoes in his office. An' dis man, after dey got her back tuhgether, de man dat killed her, dat was her sweetheart. Dey carried dis man tuh de undertaker's shop tuh identify her. But it didn't seem tuh take any 'fect on him de first three times dey carried him. So de third time he wus dere, why dey used some kind of - dey called it perfume, but ah don't know de name of de perfume. It was tuh weaken him. De nex' time dey didn't have tuh carry him dere. He went hisself an' gave up. After he looked at her, he jes' broke an' telled dem.
Entry 12474
You kin git a fresh hen egg, you understand. You kin git a fresh hen egg an' put it right in this [murdered] man's hand, you understand, an' bury it in there. An' then [an- other method], you kin burn on 'im, don't choo understand. See, you kin take his [whose?] name an' you kin write his name 9 times. You under- stand, write his name down 9 times an' put it in a lamp, see. An' light that lamp 12 a'clock in the daytime, you understand. You write it on - let me show you how you do this. You write his name 9 times. Understand? An' you puts a teaspoonful of salt in there, don't chew understand. A teaspoonful of salt on an' then you take an' make a little package. You wrap that. You wrap that to you 9 times. Wrap that up you see. Then you put it right in this lamp, 12 a'clock in the daytime. Under- stand you light it an' make you wish an' you put some oil of wintergreen on it, in there. An' you let that lamp burn for 21 days, see. An' when you drop this in, you say: In the Name of the Father an' Son an' Holy Ghost. Let that lamp burn for 21 days. An' then that man will come to you wherever you at. He'll come to the place, the man that kilt the othah one. You kin do that [this pre- sent lamp rite] behind [after] putting that fresh hen egg right in his hand, too.
Entry 12475
De way dat dey find out who kilt de man, dey will write some sus- picious names on a piece of paper and go.to de woods an' git some herbs, and put dem herbs on all dese names [badly recorded]. Put de names [of suspected persons] in a bottle. (You put some blood [of murdered person] on each piece with a name.) On each piece with a name. Have de names suspicious. Take dat earth and smear on each one of de names on de paper and put it in a wide bottle or pitcher if you kin get any. And de person with dat name come to de top [dat is the name of the murderer].
Entry 12476
Well, if a person do sompin an' dey wanta git away an' dey got 'em trail'-lak, say fo' instance, dey put de policemen on dere track or put de bloodhoun's. Dey git bloodhoun's behin' 'em an' trail 'em. Dey git a piece of beef livah an' jes' rub dat blood in de bottom of dere shoes. Dey git 'em some garlic an' chop garlic up an' put it all in de bottom of dere shoes. An' wheresomevah dey makes a track, kin nuthin trail 'em.
Entry 12477
Git piece of murderer's clothing, dip in blood of murdered man, bury at left-hand corner of murdered man's house, to bring murderer back. [Charles- ton 644:1.]
Entry 12478
Throw into grave the clothes man got murdered in, to kill murderer.
[Charleston 606:9.]
Entry 12479
Bury murdered person across de world or cross and cross de world, murderer will come back. [Instead of normal east-west, bury south-north, this making a cross to cross-up the murderer.]
Entry 12480
Bury murdered person across de world and on his face to bring back murderer. [Charleston 641:10.]
Entry 12481
Put in coffin some of clothes person was murdered in and bury him crossway8 of de world, de murderer will die.
Entry 12482
Den if a person kills anothah, dat he will return to the place dat dat crime wuz committed within twelve days, but whut will cause him tuh do dat, ah dunno. But he would. [Sumter 2436:9.]
Entry 12483
Jis' kill yo' an' jump ovah yo' backwards an' he's gone. Dey can't ketch him. [This is known everywhere.] [Algiers 2954:7.]
Entry 12484
If corpse falls the way murderer goes, murderer will come back.
[Mobile 882:11.]
Entry 12485
If murdered man falls on face, turn him on his back, step over him, and you will not be caught. [Mobile 974:6.]
Entry 12486
If I'm looking at you and you kill me, as you look in my eye, your face will be in my eye. [Known everywhere.] [Norfolk 456:3.]
Entry 12487
Step in cow manure; dogs can't trail. [Known everywhere.] [Charles- ton 642:2.]
Entry 12488
Graveyard dirt in shoes to keep dogs off trall. [Known everyvbere.]
[Newport News 506:3; Charleston 601:3; Vicksburg 1043:1.]
Entry 12489
Well, tuh make yo' move, dey kin throw mustard seed umdah yore steps. An' when dat mustard seed sprouts, dey'll move. [Algiers 2916:8.]
Entry 12490
Yo' kin take some mustard seed an' put out at de baid am'a sifter an' dat'll ketch any spirit. "[Florence 2212:10.]
Entry 12491
This story goes, if ah wanta make yo' move, ah go buy a brand-new pot-vessel never been used. Ah go gets a low bush myrtle an' put it in de pot an' boil it. When it's boiled an' cooled, yo' take it an' walk around dere house three times, sprinkle de water an' pray dis prayer, say, "In de Name of God, within three days, move." An' dey say dat's effective. Now wheth- er it's true or not ah never tried it.
Entry 12492
Listen: If yo' knowed sev'ral mens hangin' roun' dis house [presum- ably some Woman's house!]. Well, dere's one man or anythin' lak dat, he [you] ain't gotta do a thing in de worl' but jis take a plain piece of papah an' write his name on it. An' turn his name bottomside upward [upside down!l an' bury it undah de do'steps, an' he [you] ain't goin' be worried wit 'em [him] any mo' [hangin' roun' dis (her) house].
(I would bury that in my own house [under] my own steps?)
No suh! Jis' write his name an' den turn - turn his name bottom upwards [name-downwards] in de hole.
(Turn the name down to the ground?)
Yessuh. [What would happen to the buried rival? He would be stationery, perhaps going blind or crazy, if not dying soon.]
Entry 12493
Ah heard dat chew could take a gunshell [from shotgun] an' git up twelve a'clock in de night, an' write a person name on it. Stuff it [shell] in dere [the gun] an' what chew want tuh be done [on shell] an' shoot a gun. An' whut chew say yo' want tuh be done will be done. At twelve a'clock at night.
Entry 12494
They say that they could take a person's name and write it on a piece of papah, but write it indifferent [differently] from I or you would write it - our names, see. And they'd take that paper - I think they said - and fold it up so many different ways and bury it and give you some kind of sickness. [This is called writing names backwards, many examples of which appear in HOODOO. Write vlctim's name normally, then turning paper upside down, write your name across. Instead of this method the over-name is sometimes written at an angle across lower name, this making an "X" or crossmark to cross under-named person.] (Those background voices of the chickens, dogs, etc. are interesting!) [This is a comment by my transcriber.]
Entry 12495
Write his name 9 times and then call him 9 separate times, "Joe, you go," each time you name him, dropping salt and red pepper on the paper, each time folding the paper towards you. And finally, after you have written his name 9 times, called him 9 times, dropped salt and cayenne pepper 9 times, folded the paper from you 9 times, throw the folded paper in the direction you want him to go. [Rite never transcribed, my original resumé in pencil attached to MS.]
Entry 12496
Write name, put an "o" [or circle?] under each letter of name, take oil of bergamine [bergamot], oil of anise and put in lamp with the kerosene, keep burning very low for 9 mornings and 9 nights, light before 6 o'clock in morning, to bring person to you. [Presumably lamp is extinguished at bedtime. This is my original resume attached to original manuscript. Informant was outstanding. Letter "o" surely needs no comment.]
Entry 12497
Take his name an' write it 9 times, an' yores ovah it [the latter usually means turning paper upside down first before writing over the name.] Write it up real good an' wear it in yore shoe. He cain't leave yo'. Yo' write chure name ovah it 9 times jes' lak yo' did the othah one. Wear it in yore shoe, either shoe, umdah de inner sole of de shoe.
Entry 12498
Nation sack is a private purse worn by some women - always con- cealed and untouchable by other hands - in which hands, mojohs, keepsakes and all sorts of treasures are carried. Both fol- lowing accounts came from resume's of another in- formants material before all her cylinders were lost - these original pencil copies attached: (l) "Take garlic and piece about a person (fragment from clothing of person you want to hold) and your urinate, keep it wet (keeping this cloth wet with own urine is called feeding it), keep in nation sack or pocketbook." (2) "Sulphur, red pep- per, put together and sugar and wear it in nation sack, can't do yo' no harm."
Entry 12499
[As in the preceding rite, only my attached pencil resume remains: "1 needle [down],1 needle up, let pin go between an' put in [stick into] hat bow [with] sugar and garlic an' wear next to you." What simple instructions: 1 needle point down,1 needle point up, and 1 pin between the 2 needles. Remember, we are sticking these needles and pins into a hat bow. Here we have a magic design, the oldest type of folklore in existence, examples by the thousands, and older than written history. We Could play with the present possibilities but suppose we confine ourselves to 4 of them: In diagram 1 the points of the needles do not touch the pin; in diagram 2 the needle points touch the pin. The heads in both diagrams form a triangle, symbol of the Trinity or the 3 Holy Names. In diagram 3 the pin crosses the centers of both needles and it separates them or is between them. Again the 3 heads form a triangle. More than this, we now have 2 Greek crosses tt or a double- cross, if you decide to undo your work. again diagram 4 again separates the several times in HOODOO. The 6 spokes of the rimless wheel of course construct 3 X'CRoSSES.]
Entry 12500
New piece of red flannel, 9 new needles on one side, 9 new pins on other, put under doorsteps, makes person crossing over crazy. [Memphis 1569:3.]
Entry 12501
About 6 pins, about 6 sewing needles, any soil[ed] garment, cross [them] every which way, [to] cross up your mind, go crazy; bury it by door with the sharp points up and it will kill you. [Memphis 1553:5.]
Entry 12502
Take 9 needles, 9 match stems, smut from chimley [of fireplace], black pepper, mix, plant about house where victim will walk over it. Runs him crazy. [Wilmington 92:5.]
The item attributes a harmful consequence to a described mixture and placement; the historical condition word remains source wording.
Entry 12503
346. [This number was spoken by a man who had just entered my inter- viewing room. Evidently I recognized him, because I answer:] 346? Well now wait a minute, we'll look here. [I open my Numbers Book to check the number and say: [ (346. That's right! 346. Eugene Love.) [I examine my workbook and say:]
(Well, did you play it?)
[I had called out the number 346 to my recording machine. Love thought I Was giving him a lucky number. I was surprised that he had used it and won!] Yes, we played - ah played it Monday and Tuesday, but ah didn't put so much on it Wednesday, and it come out Wednesday.
(Well, what did you make on it?)
Well, ah caught $4.50.
(Four and a half?)
Shure, fer a penny! See, ah combinated [an obsolete word for combine long before I heard it in 1937] it. It's a six-way number. You kin play it six Ways. (Well, I don't know. You see, if you had put some more money on it it might have been a little bit better. You get the idea? I don't know. But try 431 some time. Wait a while though.) Okey. (...that's on the day, see what I mean? [I haven't the slightest idea of what I am talking about.] If you hit, it'll hit Monday. See. If it doesn't hit, why...) You take it on your fault, you responsible for it. Gonna hold you respon- sible for it. (That's right, and you're not paying me anything for it. That's just a little favor.) Well, I see. (Well now, don't - keep it to yourself now, don't let anybody else know around here. Understand?) No.
(All right then.)
All right - 431. (This fellow who was just in here, Eugene Love, came back and told me that he actually played the number which I called out for his name. Ha-ha, he won $4.50 on a penny!) This is Saturday.... [This is the first and last time I ever gave a tip on gambling! I, a man who had never made a bet in my life! I do not want the other person's money. As an adult I have never played cards. Chances I have taken, every day in the hoodoo field. Even in 1970 when at 74 I returned temporarily for field work in St. Petersburg, where one street was tough even in daylight!]
Entry 12504
Ah used tuh run a gamblin' joint, but ah'm not now. Well, ah went ovah by Harsville an' dis [hoodoo] person tole me if ah wanta do it, dat all ah had tuh do - he gimme two pieces of brown stuff. Ah don't know whut it wus, an'[he] say, yo' start, [he] say, yo' rub em [2 brown pieces] in yore han's befo' yo' put chure han's on any cards. Den put 'em [brown pieces] back in yore hip pocket. Put 'em in yore hip pocket an' nevah think of 'em again [that game].
(What did they look like? Were they stones or roots or what?)
Ah tell yo' whut it wus. Whut [do] dey call dis stuff heah whut dey put in food? Ah call it in a minute if yo' give me time.
(Cinnamon? Raisins? Nutmeg?)
Nutmeg! Dat's whut it wus.
(He gave you two?)
He gimme one - he didn't gimme one. He cut it. It wus cut. He cut it up an' gimme two of 'em. It wus a whole one. Well, yo' know how large a whole one is, but he cut it. When he cut it - seemed lak it wus 'bout dat big. Dese three pieces of it - jes' 'bout dat large. An' ah took it an' ah used it. (It was a whole nutmeg cut in two. That is all you had to do with that nut- meg?) Dat's right. Dat's all, jes' rub it. He tole me tuh do it. Well, ah tried it.
(It didn't work?)
It did work twice.
Entry 12505
Yo' have to be dressed [with a hand]. Make sompin disaway. Jes takin' a nutmeg, an' ah don' know if yo' know - yo' know dose little seeds dat grows in a natural six, takin' dem while dey's green, three of dem, which represents De Name de Father an' de Son an' Holy Ghost. Take yo' nutmeg, dose three seeds an' 45 cents [in silver = 1 quarter, 2 dimes] an' put dat in a little bag, an' he'll come so he kin be as rapid as he want, but he'll come to de place where yo' an' him will be friends yo' see. An' anything dat yo'd undertake to do, look like jes' whut yo' says, he would be perfectly satisfied of it. See. Well, yo' keep de othah fellah's name an' thing on yo', because yo' be at different things an' yore [juke] box may be playin', an' he'll come an' git at them from playin'. Yo' always have cents [money] wit yo'.
(Always the law won't bother you or anything else?)
No.
Entry 12506
Use a poultice of turpentine and flour, and drink red-oak bark tea to remove insects someone has put in you. [Wilmington 231:1.]
Entry 12507
A man's boy had gone away from home an' been gone fo' more den two years. He wanted him home an' he couldn't get it - he couldn't git in touch with him. He bumps in- to an ole fellah [root man] an' tole him his story. He said, "Well, ah tell yo' whut chew do. Next time yo' go to a groc'ry," says, "steal yo' a red onion - don't buy it, jes' steal it, an' bring it an' give it to me." So he [father] did an' handed it to him, an' he [root man] said, "Thanks, " an' put it in his pocket. He said, "De boy will be home tomorrah." (The hoodoo doctor put the onion in his own pocket.) [This sort of comment SO frequent in HOODOO is usually a comment and not a question.] In his own pocket, an' he said he [boy] would be home tomorrah. An' sure enough de boy did come. [This sort of professional treatment - doctor does nothing - is fairly common in HOODOO.]
Entry 12508
I say onions are lucky. You take a onion and you kin make a man stay home, he won't go nowhere. (How do you do that?) Well, you take that onion, a red onion, and you carry it in your pocket all the time. You go to the store and you don't ask for it, and you don't steal it either or pick up a one - take it, you see.
(You mean, pick up an onion!)
Onion, yeah, just one onion. And you take that onion. You take a nail and you bore it through that onion, and you take his name and you just roll it long like a match and take [push] in there [the nail hole] and put it in your pocket. He can't go and he won't go, lessen [unless] now, if you don't want him to go, you kin do that. If you want him to go, well, you take the onion and you take it [the rolled-up name] out and he'll go. A red onion - not all onions, a red onion. You do that with a red onion.
Entry 12509
Go to de sto' an' buy a onion an' yo' chip it up fine an' yo' tie it up in a rag an' chunk it undah de lady's house. An' let it stay dere fo' several days an' den yo' send somebody ovah dere to git it. An' dey go ovah dere an' git it an' Open it up, an' jes' throw it out in de road in front de house an' den dey'll move.
(Any kind of an onion.)
Yes sir, any kin' onion.
Entry 12510
An' ah have heard a fellah [tell this]: De girl dat chew want an' is in love with, an' yo's in trouble wit de [law] officer an' she don' wanta come nowhere round yo'. [This is a unique situa- tion in HOODOO!] Yo' go git chew a red onion, a real one, not a white one - a red onion. Take hit [a needle] an' stick it right down in de center of dat onion - stick yore needle. Take yo' a brand-new needle that nevah been used, sewed a stitch or nuthin. Take it an' stick it in de center of dat brand- new onion. Let de onion be new an' de needle be new. Stick all those right down through it. Take hit an' put it down. Take yo' some fiah an' build a fiah around it, an' let dat onion burn to a fire-coal [unusual word!] an' when dat onion burn to a fiah-coal, yo' takes that onion an' goes to a secret place where nobody won't bothah yo' an' throw it undah dere. In a week's time she'll be back to yo'. Where she ain't nevah visit chew, she'll come an' see yo'. (That is if the fellow is in trouble [with the law] - is in jail or some- thing.) In trouble, or if he's outa trouble - in trouble or outa trouble, either one. Jes' take dat onion. Jes' buy yo' a [new] red onion an' take that onion [needle] an' stick it straight down in de center of dat - dat needle in de center of dat onion, an' call dere name three times. Den take that onion an' put it in de fiah. An' when yo' put dat onion in de fiah, [say], "Ah hope an' trust de Lord she will come back." An' burn dat onion. An' take dat onion out an' wrap it up an' dat needle an' stick it in a closed place an' dat needle leaves. Yo'll nevah see dat onion an' needle any mo' but she'll come back. Yo' can't find hit no mo'.
Entry 12511
Yo' cut a hole in de middle of it, de red onion. Yo' cut a hole in de middle of it, see, an' yo' take a cord string an' tie around it. An' yo' put sugah down at de end of dat red onion an' yo' tie it at chure front do', up ovah yore do', an' dat's tuh keep peace in yore house. [There are several ways to prepare this onion, a fairly small one.]
Entry 12512
Take a red onion an' bo' a hole in it. An' take an' write de name of somebody dat chew like dat way, on a piece of papah, an' stick it in dat onion an' put it up ovah de do'. Dat's tuh make dat person do lak yo' want 'em tuh do; make 'em come home, stay home an' yo- kin git dere money.
Entry 12513
Yo' kin take a onion an' put it up ovah yuh do' where yuh husban' comin' in at [front door] an' jis' let it stay up dere till it dry up. Not only yuh husband, but any- body dat come round in yore house an' yo' like 'em an want 'em tuh be aroun' y yo' a lot. Jis' let dat onion stay up dere till it dry up. An' den aftah it dry up, jis' take it an' walk tuh yuh back do' an' chunk it ovah yuh left shouldah an' dey'll jis' hang aroun' yo' all de time.
Entry 12514
Take an' peel some red onion an' jes' lak when yo' get a fiah in de stove an' yore husband is around or yore sweetheart, yo' take an' peel dat red onion an' yo' go tuh de fiah. Open de do' of de stove an' yo' throw it in dere an say, "Hold him tight to me, make him come undah mah command." An' de influence of dat burnin' - dey tell me - it holds him.
(Holds the man.)
Entry 12515
If yo' want very much luck, yo' kin take de peelin's an' begin tuh burn 'em each an' every mawnin' in yore place an' all. Bring luck to yore house. Or, if yo' runnin' big bō'din' house, take ole onion peelin's an' burn 'em. (Any kind of an onion?) Sho', 'long as yo' burn 'em vithout fallin' in yore tracks. [I should have asked a question here even if I knew the answer at this time. Surely any ashes falling into spellmaster's footprints would have killed the spell.]
Entry 12516
Now if yo' in business an' yo' wanta be successful in yore business, yo' kin take a simple thing as a red onion. Yo' kin burn it in yore fire an' it's a known fact yo'll always keep a crowd. [Waycross 1890:4.]
Entry 12517
(You can be selling whiskey or gambling you say?)
An' yo' kin take it, take de red onion an' burn de peelin's of it on de stove, an' dat will make someone come an' buy likkah. An' dat will make yo' have good luck. [Fayetteville 2640:1.]
Entry 12518
Yo' git a bran'-new red onion dat's nevah been used an' yo'd have fiah. Yo' put dat red onion in dat fiah an' put some sugah in it an' den axe fo' whatevah yo' want. Make a wish fo' whatevah yo' want an' yo' mo' den successful in yore undahtakin'.
Entry 12519
Take de red onion an' git de outside peelin', dat hard part, off. Put sugah intuh de onion an' put it on a hot stove an' let it jis' burn. Burn till it's all gone away. Dat supposed to make luck in yore house. Say, fo' instance if yo' were sellin' whiskey, dat supposed tuh bring customers.
Entry 12520
Take a red onion an' put it in yore mattress an' yo' take de skin off de onion an' burn it on yore stove, an' dat put good luck in yore house. An' jes' - ah don' know de name of de thing, it look kinda lak sulphur - anyhow yo' burn it on yore stove every mawnin' when yo' cookin' an' dat put good luck in yore house.
(But that onion is enough - that onion alone.)
Yessuh.
Entry 12521
Ah heard of people if dey wanted luck in dere homes, dey git up befo' sunrise in de morning an' take some onions an' some sulphur an' salt, an' set it on de fire in de stove, an' jes' de scent - de incense go through de house- round about. An' read a cer- tain Scripture. Ah don't know whut it is, now, in de Bible. An' dat'll bring yo' luck.
(Luck to the house?)
Yes sir. Dat's good, too. Mah auntie does dat all de time.
Entry 12522
At six 'clock in de evening and six 'clock in de morning, you git up and yo' take a onion an' sprinkle red pepper on it. An' put it behind yore front door and you put it on a paper and sit it down and burn it. Don't let nobody come bother you or no one know you doing that.
(Well now, what will that do then?)
It bumn aad supposed to bring luck to you [in business].
Entry 12523
Well, yo' bum that red onion with sugah fo' luck: Mondays, Wednesdays an' Fridays at eight [A. M.] always between six an' nine. [Memphis 1503:15.]