Browse:"CHANNEL DE WORLD" (Volume 5, entries 10604–13458)/Part 31
"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 13005
If dere has been a man an' yo' been seekin' fo' him, yo' take a dime an' shoot it in a gun an' yo'll be able tuh ketch him. [I forgot to ask or knew at the time what kind of man. This probably refers to finding a drown body or it may mean an escaped criminal.]
Entry 13006
Git dat dime an' jes' keep a dime in yore pocketbook dat same dime, all de time. See. Dat's fo' luck. Jes' keep dat dime. Don't spend it fo' nuthin.
(Any dime?)
Jes' any dime. [Memphis 2817:2.]
Entry 13007
Dey tell me dey take a piece of silver money an' put it in a red sack - flannel - an' put a piece of garlic to it an' tote it on yo'. That be fo' good luck. [Brunswick 1992:6.]
Entry 13008
Nine silver dimes, file them, wear in NATION SACK with lodestone for protection and trade. [For the well-known nation sack, private bag worn by wo- men, see interview THE "NATION SACK" WOMAN, Pp.1449-1459, especially p.1458, vol.2.]
Entry 13009
Jes' lak if yo' didn't know whether yo' wus poisoned or not, but a piece of silver is de best. If yo' think yo' were poisoned an' don't know enough fo' shore, if yo' put a piece of silver in yore mouth an' hold it in dere, in de length of time it will turn black if dey is any poison in yo'.
Entry 13010
A dime under the tongue turns black if you are hurt. [Charleston 624:3.] [Or poisoned.] [Vicksburg, 1006:5; Richmond, 276:3; everywhere.]
Entry 13011
"Hold it in your mouth...if you is always hurt like dat, dat dime will turn black." [Mobile 950:2.]
Entry 13012
"Take a silver dime, if you think somebody is trying to hurt you. Put it in your mouth right under your tongue and you can drink and eat all you want. That dime takes [absorbs] everything." [This must be a unique exper- ience, to keep a silver dime under your tongue while eating and drinking!]
[Mobile 851:2.]
Entry 13013
"You take a silver dime and put it in your mouth under your tongue, and take a thimbleful of sulphur, swallow it, and keep this dime under there about one or two hours and take it out. If it's black, it's bad [you are hoo- dooed]; if it's not black [the sickness] it's nashural." [Mobile 884:3.]
Entry 13014
Well, if yo' git poisoned, yo' kin take a dime an' tie it round yore laig, roun' yore neck, an' if yo' poisoned, dat dime will turn green an' it'll cure it.
(Do you tie that dime - one around each leg?)
No sir, round de left laig.
(And then one around the neck, too?)
Yes sir, one round de neck an' one round de left laig.
Entry 13015
I have heard one thing how you could protect yourself from anybody harming you, that is by wearing a dime around your neck. [At the hotel in Petersburg, Va., after dinner, from the bellboy, by Ediphone in 1936.]
Entry 13016
A dime worn on neck protects against hoodoo. [Wilmington 162:5+85; Sorfolk 494:6. This is everywhere.]
Entry 13017
If the dime tie about your neck or leg turns dark, it means you have been cunjured. [Richmond 276:2. This is known everywhere.]
Entry 13018
Root doctor put dime on man's stomach and dime turned black. [I am almost certain he put it on the man's navel, the most logical place to lay it.]
[Richmond 317:6.]
Entry 13019
"You takes sweet milk an' grate a silver dime and drink off it." [Some of the silver dime is filed into sweet milk, not the whole dime.l [Mobile 969:6.]
Entry 13020
Well, dey say if someone poison yo' an' yo' git it in yore stomach - yo' take a dime an' grind it - yo' jes' file it up into ashes an' - take it, an' dat'll cure it. An' den if yo' poisoned yo' take a dime an' put it on yo' or either wear it on yo an' it'll turn black, den somebody poison yo'.
Entry 13021
Silver-dime dust taken in milk or water cures poison, which in HOODOO is usually inside the body, but it can also be skin trouble, etc. [Wilmington 222:7+85; Fredericksburg by Ediphone; Richmond 374:10; Norfolk 456:10.]
Entry 13022
Filed silver-dime dust taken internally with sweet milk will remove from you live snakes, lizards, etc. [Newport News 514:1.]
Entry 13023
Boil silver dime and drink in water or milk for body-ailment by cunjure. [Wilmington 189:10+85.]
Entry 13024
If you swallow grated silver dime dust - usually in sweet milk or water - it will protect you against poison and cunjure for 6 months. [Newport News 499:3.]
Entry 13025
A combination of silver-dime dust, sulphur and brimstone will cure crniure within. [Wilmington 85:1+85.]
Entry 13026
If you are tricked inside, drink tea made of grated silver dime and gunpowder. [Vicksburg 1042:5.]
Entry 13027
If person is poisoned, boil Brown Mule chewing tobacco with grated silver dime, boil teaspoonful twice a day. [Memphis 1569:7.]
Entry 13028
For trick or cunjure, drink 3 times daily a tea made with rainwater and following ingredients: filed dime or quarter, black pepper, salt and vine- gar, followed by a dose of Epsom salts. [Vicksburg 1013:6.]
Entry 13029
This root doctor boiled 2 dimes coined in 1926. While boiling they came together to show that patient was hurt. Two dimes of any year may be used.
[Wilmington 221:1+85.]
Entry 13030
You can cure internal cunjure by boiling 3 dimes and drinking the water. [Wilmington 195:1+85.]
Entry 13031
Here is an elaborate cure: For inside cunjure, boil 3 dimes and 3 quarters and drink the water - no filings, just water. [Wilmington 255:5+85.]
Entry 13032
Boil 3 pieces of silver money, money with stars on it, and drink the water for cunjure within. [Wilmington 243:8+85.]
Entry 13033
Boil 4 silver quarters and drink water if you are cunjured. [Wilming- ton 251:4+85.]
Entry 13034
As a prevention of or cure for cunjure boil 5 silver dimes and drink the water, and wear bluestone in both shoes. [Wilmington 113:6+85.]
Entry 13035
As a cure for cunjure or trick, drink 3 times a day a tea made from filed dime, Epsom salts, coal oil [kerosene] and turpentine. [Vicksburg 1010:3.]
Entry 13036
If you are hurt, file portion of silver quarter or 25c pence, boil this dust and drink, and you will become well. [Wilmington 73:3+85.]
Entry 13037
To kill live things in baby, drink tea from the dust of silver half- dollar scraped upwards. [Vicksburg 1032:9.]
Entry 13038
Silver half dollar, scrape and make pills to kill poison. [Memphis 1569:8.]
The item gives killing poison as the aim of described pills; no successful treatment or safety is established.
Entry 13039
A dime on your leg can mean just above your ankle, or below or above your knee. When this dime turns black, it shows you have been cunjured. [Wil- mington 214:2+85.]
Entry 13040
Drill hole through a dime and a nutmeg and wear both about waist for cunjure. [Richmond 346:2.]
Entry 13042
If the quarter or dime tied on your leg turns black, you are hurt.
[Vicksburg 1018:7.]
Entry 13043
If yo' think anybody hurt chew or anything lak dat, yo' put a dime round yore laig an' if anybody done anything to yo', dat dime will turn black.
[Savannah 2140:16.]
Entry 13044
A silver dime is worn on unspecified leg for cunjure. [Petersburg, Va., 413:2; Richmond 318:2; Wilmington 97:3; everywhere.]
Entry 13046
Tie dime around each leg. If they turn black, you are hurt and can then get a root doctor. [Charleston 642:7.]
Entry 13047
Jes' wear it roun' yore laig. Bo' a hole in it an' tie it round yore leg fo' luck.
(The dime.) [Florence 2181:6.]
The informant describes tying an item around the leg for luck; a separate parenthetical interviewer clarification calls it a dime.
Entry 13048
Use a yarn string in the hole through the dime worn on your leg.
[Richmond 374:9.]
Entry 13049
Whut ah heard wus dis. Yo' could take a silver dime, if it's any- thing yo' could walk ovah, an' put it on yore laig - see, each laig - an' as yo' walk ovah, dat silver dime would ketch onto dat harms, see, dat's down fo' yo'. [Notice those words down fo' you. Theoretically loo people could walk over that dime and not be hurt. The intention is for a specific person or perhaps a family.]
Entry 13050
Use an old dime on both legs to protect self against cunjure. [Rich- mond 369:6.]
Entry 13051
Sew silver dime and lodestone up in cloth and wear on your leg, "keep anybody from doin' anything to you." [Mobile 945:8.]
Entry 13052
If you are wearing a dime on your ankle to protect yourself and it turns dark, you have been tricked. [Deal Island 24:4.]
Entry 13053
A dime on right ankle protects or warns against cunjure. [Wilming- ton 263:7+85.]
Entry 13054
A dime against cunjure should be worn on the left ankle. [Snow Hill 2:1; Wilmington 72:4.]
Entry 13055
A dime on your right ankle turning black means yo' have walked over an object to cunjure you. [Newport News 513:6.]
Entry 13056
To wear a dime on your ankle against cunjuration, the dime must be new and of the current year. This will turn black if you are hurt. [Charles- ton 575:4.]
Entry 13057
Dime is soaked in vinegar and tied on ankle against cunjure. [Wil- mington 127:3.]
Entry 13058
Make 3 holes in the dime you wear on ankle or leg against cunjure.
[Wilmington 162:5+85.]
Entry 13059
Four dimes: wear one on each wrist and each ankle to keep from being hurt. [Vicksburg 1008:6.]
Entry 13060
Wear dime in shoe against cunjure. [Baltimore 48:1; Washington, D. C., 822:1; in either shoe, [Wilmington 131:12+85; in both shoes, Wilmington 73:1+85; these beliefs are everywhere.]
Entry 13061
Wear a dime and a piece of parsley under the insole of each shoe for protection or cure. [New Orleans 1232:4.]
Entry 13062
If you are tricked, wear 2 silver dimes, one in each shoe with a pinch of pepper and salt. [Memphis 1569:9.]
Entry 13063
Well, ah heard dat if she make him eat out of de fryin' pan an' pot, he'd stay home. He won't be so happy tuh go off. (How do you mean, eat out of the frying pan and pot?) Well, wherevah it's cooked, yo' know, let him eat out of that an' don't put it into a plate - jes' let him eat out of de pan - de fryin' pan or skillet or anything lak a pot.
Entry 13064
Well, dey kin put walkin' spells on you with your shoes.
(How do they do that?)
Dey take jes' one of your shoes an' go get dem a snail, an' den get some of your ole clothes or somepin you wear. And take and cut it up - take some scis- sors and cut it up fine. Take dat snail and get some of dat snail slime off of dat snail. Put dat in de bottom of your shoe and you'll leave dere walkin'.
(What do they do with those clothes they cut up? What do they do with that?)
Dat clothes what dey cut up. Well, you see, dat's jes' somepin to help dat snail slime, make you leave dere.
(Well, do they put that cut-up stuff in that shoe or what?)
Yas suh, dey sprinkle it in dere, jes' cut it up fine.
Entry 13065
Well, you could get a snail and put some salt on it... (Now, this woman's husband has gone away and she comes to see you, and you are going to tell her how to get this man back. [I have this woman marked down as a woman specialist.] All right.) Get a snail and put some salt on it. Let it - you know, you know, how a snail does when you put salt on him. And put it in a new linen handkerchief - his.
(His - I see.)
Tie it up and put it in de corner - [here is a corner rite] in de south cor- ner of the house and let it stay there for three days, and in three days time he will return.
(I see. That's to get a man back.)
That's to get one back.
Entry 13066
Yo' know dese snails whut crawl...whut dey crawl slow. Anyhow dey takes dat an' dey go to work yo' know, dey fix it in sompin dat way it'll bust out chew know. Den dey go to work den, git some sulphur an' gunpowder together, an' dey take it an' carry it an' bury it right tuh yore door, right where yo' gotta step ovah it, yo' know. Dat'll fix yo' up. Yo'll linger 'long [along] linger 'long.
Entry 13067
Dey say if yo' put a snail in a person's path an' yo' put it 'bout dat far into de groun' [demonstrates]... (Three or four inches under the ground?) Yeah, jes' 'bout. An' he walk ovah dat, dat will cause dem to have aches an' pains of all kinds. Dat will put spells on dem, too.
Entry 13068
If you wanta kill a person, yo' gits de snail an' gits him out of his hull [shell] yo' see. An' yo' kin take yo' some whiskey an' put dat snail in dere - in dat whiskey, lak yo' would put it in a half pint of whiskey. Let dat snail set in dere twenty-fo' hours in dat whiskey - ah mean, take dat snail outa dere an' strain yore whis- key. An' anybody dat yo' give it to, dat chew want 'em - if yo' wanta kill any- one, say, "Come on have a drink wit me, " an' yo' po' it out an' dey drink it. Dat settles it.
Entry 13069
"I have heard them say that you can take a snail and put it in whiskey and give it to someone to drink and the snail will be alive in them and run them crazy." [From bellboy at hotel in Petersburg, Va., where we stayed one night in 1936. This is my original hand transcription. He was informant No.33 on Edi- phone 26.]
Entry 13070
Pick up snail slime from snail track, put in whiskey, in 9 days live snails in person. [Memphis 1573:1.]
Entry 13071
Says yo' take a snail shell an' dust it up an' put it in a lettah, an' dey says when it goes to anybody an' dey git it an' open it, say dat dust git in dere eyes it will blind dem. [Waycross 1751:3.]
Entry 13072
Snail slime rubbed on the hat band or hat bow will blind a person.
[Mobile 903:3.]
Entry 13073
Take him [a snail] w'ahre [where] he drags along, and then pick up his skelp[?] [slime] after he drags along, and put it into some food that this person eats. You know they leave a slime as they pass along. Take that and put it into some food or put it over greens, peas, or anything like that, and the person will lose their mind. [New Orleans 1144:4.]
Entry 13074
You catch a snail and you split him open alive and put him on that toe and tie it there. Now, when you take him off, that corn is coming off with him.
(I see, that cures the corn.) [New Orleans 131:2.]
Entry 13075
(What do they say about the snail?)
It take 'em seven yeahs tuh go cross a road. [This is general folklore.]
[Fayetteville 2516:16.]
Entry 13076
Ah'll tell yo' anothah tale - ah mean a joke whut ah heard... [Follow- ing the joke came an experience about 10 years before this reading.] Mah broth- ah in 1928, he wuz robbed. We wuz stayin' close to each othah, jes' lak dese houses is, only it wuz in de country. An' anothah man had a boy about de same size as mah brothah. Well dey got in a fight an' dis man hit mah brothah. Well ah ketched him, see. Ah kept him off mah brothah. He tole me, say, "Ah'll git chew if it be de last thing ah do." All right, dat wuz done in 1928. In 1931 or it wuz 1932, if ah don't make no mistake.... He [brother] kept worryin', by an' by, he kept worryin'. Sompin worried him every night. An' so dis day when ah left - ah wuz goin' tuh mah house - an' mah sister an' dem dey kept worryin'. Den dey pass prepared sompin in his room. It wuz in de country yo' know. An' he found a vial, whut we call a bottle - a little bottle jes' about dat high [demonstrates]. When dey found it, it wuz sompin - a little black sompin jes' lak a snake. An' we taken it in de house an' throw it.on de hearth an' dem little snakes run all ovah, roun' an' roun' in de fluid [flow or] in de bottle. [A root doctor was called in and he] po'd 'em out, said dey gotta leave by derself. Dat's whut he tole mah brothah. An' he [doctor] come. Dere wuz five of 'em layin' down side in de bottle shet up. Dis fellah took it to de fire an' burnt it [empty bottle] up.
Entry 13077
Jes' lak if a fellah wanta git a job, ah hear 'em, dey take an' kill a snake an' let him dry, yo' know. An' take him yo' know, jes' lak he git into ashes, yo' know an' put him inside of a bottle. An' take - jes' lak a cigaret smoke an' blow it in dat bottle an' stop it up. An' dey says dat every time yo' open dat bottle, a little sompin will come up out dat bottle lak a snake, yo' know. Say if yo' tote dat in yore pocket an' tote it in yore pocket bottom upwards, yo' know, dat chew could git a job. But ah ain't nevah tried it. Ah had a ole fellah tell me dat once but ah ain't nevah tried it.
Entry 13078
Yo' ask him fo' a job an' he says, "No, ah ain't got a job fo' yo'." Well, yo' go out in de woods an' find yo' a rattlesnake an' take off dose rattles, an' take an' cut one rattle an' bust it open, an' git de dust out from one dose rattlesnake rat- tles [or buttons] yo' know. An' git some gunpowders an' puts 'im in a little sack, an' tie it round yore waist an' go back to him. He'll give you a job, put chew to work.
Entry 13079
Ah've heard dis. Yo' kin jes' run a black- snake down or ketch hin 'live an' cut his tail off. An' take it [tip of tail and blood] an' put it in a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' hit'll make yo' as good a jomoh as yo' want.
(That's for luck.)
Entry 13080
Ah've heard dat yo' kin take a snake, ketch a snake an' git about a... If yo' kin, jes' take de teeny end off a snake tail - de sharp end. Dat lil' point end, de tail end. Yeah, clip it off. An' den yo' put dat on de dice yo' carry in yo pocket. An' yo' carry dat lil' tail-end of dat king snake tail with dose dice.
(You get this though from a king snake.)
From de king snake. Dat's conkerin' all othah snakes. Dat's de king of all snakes.
Entry 13081
Use de snake shed when yo' a great han' fo' breakin' up de dishes. [I had never before heard this piece of ordinary folklore nor have I since.] Take a snake shed an' run yore han's in it, why yo' won' break 'em up.
(That keeps you from breaking dishes?)
Yes.
(Any kind of a snake shed?)
Yessuh, any kind.
Entry 13082
Rattlesnake buttons - his rattles - jes' cut 'em right off an' wrap 'em up. An' put 'em in yore [breast] pocket right up 'side yore h'aht an' carry dem with you. An' if de sheriff or anybody dat is pursuing yo' tuh do yo' a vital injury, dem things would rattle jes' lak a rattlesnake would rattle an' notify yo' dat he's near.
(That the danger is near?)
Yeah. Den dey use a drop of camphor on dem to keep dem kinda saturate. Some people keep dem 'live - keep life in 'em. If yo' haven't got camphor, use a little whiskey. All dat have a tendency to keep 'em live - quickening. Dat's whut rattlesnake rattles is fo'. A man have given me $15 fo' one. I killed de rattlesnake an' cut de buttons off. Ah didn't know dat wus what he want with 'em.
Entry 13083
If yo' didn't like nobody an' yo' wanted to fix 'em some kind of way, says yo' kin go out in de woods an' kill a snake an' let its hide dry. An' dey say if yo' want dem to have snakes in 'em, go dere an' put it in dey water off dat hide. Dey'll have snakes in 'em.
Entry 13084
Take dat hair [from an enemy]. An' dey take dat hair an' put it in a blacksnake tail. Ketch a live blacksnake an' put it in his tail an' turn dat blacksnake loose, an' jes' as fur as dat black- snake goes, yo'll [the enemy] go too. Yo'll [enemy will] follow dat blacksnake. [This could be my only example of this unusual rite.]