Browse:"CHANNEL DE WORLD" (Volume 5, entries 10604–13458)/Part 6
"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 11004
Dye an egg red or black, bury or throw at person's home; causes con- fusion in house. [Mobile, Ala., 874:2.]
The account claims confusion in the house following alternative acts. It establishes neither performance, causation nor a clinical condition.
Entry 11005
I'd take a fresh [black] hen egg and I'd take and throw it, and break it on top of your house, and make a wish for something bad to happen to you.
The informant hypothetically describes breaking an egg on top of a house and making a bad wish; 'black' is bracketed editorial wording.
Entry 11006
Write name on egg, throw across house to move. [Wilmington, N. Car., 259:4.]
Entry 11007
Write person's name 9 times on fresh egg, throw across house to make move. [Charleston, S. Car., 610:10.]
Entry 11008
Take a black hen egg and write your name on it and throw it against your house and bust it and call you a bad name and you'll move out of that house.
The account says to throw an egg against the house and 'bust it', followed by a predicted move; no event or effect is verified.
Entry 11009
Put crossmark on large end of egg and hide in west part of person's house to move. [Washington, D. C., 625:2.]
Entry 11010
To make person move, throw egg or eggs against house on Wednesday or Friday. [Vicksburg, Miss., 1011:1.]
Entry 11011
Hole in frizzly chicken egg, put in graveyard dust and pepper, throw against house to make move. [Charleston, S. Car., 543:6.]
Entry 11012
Soak black hen egg in vinegar 9 days, throw against house, you move.
[Mobile, Ala., 944:6.]
Entry 11013
Take a egg [eggs] from a black chicken - 2 black hens...throw it [them] on the house an' it'll [they'll] bus' an' they'll [people will] go away from the house. [New Orleans, La., (859),?]
The account names a black chicken as an egg source. Editorial plural and pronoun expansions remain separate, and no breaking or departure is established.
Entry 11015
Break egg against side of house, do for 3 mornings, read 23rd Psalm for 9 mornings. you'll move. [Mobile, Ala., 967:1.]
Entry 11016
They can get three black hen eggs [an egg from 3 different hens] [unusual]...fresh, fresh; soak 'em in vinegar...break 'em on top of their house an' they'll move.
The account instructs breaking the eggs on top of the house. Editorial explanations remain separate, and the claimed departure is unverified.
Entry 11017
Now, yo' kin take a underweah, a underweah whut yo' got on yore chest like dis heah [evidently opened shirt to show underwear]. Don't ca' if it's a thick one or either a thin one - underweah. An' ah kin take dat, an' three rooster feathah - hen or rooster, any kind. Ain't gotta be but one kinda feathah, dat's de feathah come out de wing. All right yo' promise me yo' gonna [not work in Savannah!]. Dat woman ovah dere, yo' understan', suh. Yo' wanta bring her back jes' lak yo' got life in yore body an' ah got life in mah body. Well, ah kin git dat [done] jes' as easy as anything. Jes' git dem three feathah lak ah telled yo'. Understand, an' git dere undahweah, an go right out in de woods to a green pine sapling. It isn't goin' dirty yo', an' git chew a rusty nail - not no new nail - a rusty nail an' put dat undahweah jes' lak dis heah [demonstrates].
(Put that underwear up against the tree.)
Put dat undahweahs on dat pine saplin'. Yo' understan' whut ah mean? Yo' take dem three feathah an' put 'em lak dat [demonstrates], yo' understan'.
(Put the three feathers on the underwear.)
Put de underweah dere first to de tree - yo' listen whut ah'm speakin' - an' take de three feathahs an' put 'em lak dis heah Idemonstratesl. But yo' stick dat nail 'fore yo' nail dat underweah, understand, where [demonstrates] nail de undershirt up dere an' dem feathah right dere. All right, den chew go back. Don' teli none of her fren's. Dey don't [know] whut chew been doin'. In eight day's time she'll be to yo' residence.
(That's all you have to do to bring that woman back?)
(You put her underwear up there. You put the nail up there an' put [hang]
the underwear on it with the feathers?) The chicken ain't gotta be daid atall. [Pull the feathers out of a live rooster.]
Entry 11018
Now, dere one chicken feathah you could use, to do any harm, dat's a frizzly fowl. A frizzly fowl is good and is bad, onnerstand. Now, yo' kin take a feathah from de top of a frizzly fowl's head and you kin take a feathah from de top of a frizzly fowl's back. And you kin take dat feathah what you git from de frizzly fowl and take one new pin and pin dem two feathah togethah and I kin take dem feathah and put 'em in your bosom or anybody's bosom and you is a crazy man ovahnight - in an hour.
(Supposed to make him lose his mind?)
Yes, sir, crazy fer de next. Yo' kin put 'em in dere dis hour and de next hour somebody gotta tie 'em down.
(Well, what else can you do with that Frizzly hen? Can you do anything else?)
Yes, you kin use de bun gut, you know.
(Gut? The intestine? The testicle?)
[My preceding questions merely ask for more information. The meaning of the word bun in the sense of anus or buttocks I had known for years, but bum gut did not penetrate immediately because I had translated the words into rotten gut
[stomach trouble, etc.l also a folk term.]
Dat's real good. You kin take dat and kill a nation. [You can kill a nation because of all that hoodoo poison that goes through a frizzly hen - see margin title DOCTOR FRIZZLY Pp.59-63, v.1, and many places.]
(How Would you do that?)
Well, you take dat and you cook a soup. Cook in a chicken soup, onnerstand. Well, I hate dat house dere. I wanna poison dat whole house, but dey is my neighbors. Well, I git dat soup and carry over dere, go across wit it.
(You poison them?)
De whole house. But now you gotta put in dat, Doc - des scrape dem in it - de fingernails. Keep dem dirty and scrape 'em - [into the soup].
Entry 11019
(Ever hear of them using chicken feathers for anything?) [An old note of mine adds: Always asked this question to see whether Negro believed in witch wreath.] Well, er...ah.... Jis' lak a person doin' somepin tah yo an' yo' wanta git rd of 'en, yo' take some of de feathahs outa dey bed shere dey sleep at an' yo' put dis oil of bergamine [bergamot] an' sweet oil togethah an' jis' grease dose feathah with 'em, dat chew got out de bed from where dey sleep. Jis' grease dose feathahs with 'em an' take 'em an' put 'em in a can or somepin an stop 'em up, an' take 'em tuh de south side of a tree not very far from dey house an' bury it dere. See. An' when dem dere feathahs will finally pine away - dey'll jis' pine away tuh nuthin. Dey jis' git sick an' dey sick on dey stomick an' dey jis' ache all ovah. An' it jis' sompin lak de rheumatism an' cain't no doctor [M.D.] do 'em no good an' event'ly dey'll die.
Entry 11020
If you wanta break up individuals - you has chickens in de yard and you wanna break up a woman an' a man. You feed de chickens and you ketch hold de rooster's tail, pull a feather out of dat. He fly away and you ketch his tail, you know. You call de pus- son name and say, "Yah big so-and-so from so-and-so, " you understand, dat break de man away.
(You say that as the rooster flies away. You pull the feather out.)
Yo' git hold dat feather and say, "Break up so-and-so with so-and-so." If yo' wanna break a woman loose from a man, you pull de feather out of a hen.
Entry 11021
Black chicken's feather. You kin take that and you - you git de feathers from a jet-black hen and you git to de party's bed and you stick it right between de pillowcase and de pillow. Let them sleep on it. And it'll cause their sudden death. It may be in some other part of de house or in their sleep. Just as quick as that.
Entry 11022
Well, yo' take those chicken feathers - you know, jest like you take 'em and burn 'em. Put 'em in a piece of tin and burn 'em, and then take the ashes from 'em and you know - burn 'em, don't put much [feathers], jest put a [few] after you dry 'em and - they jest look like powder. Then you put it in the water and drink off it and make yo' franzy. You know, you hear of people being franzy, yo' know. Makes you franzy-minded. Not criticize, you know what ah mean. [Unknown to informant this could be a black chicken feathers rite, or black feather could have been mentioned before recording began.
Entry 11023
jes' lak yo' have a sweetheart an' yo' want him tuh come tuh love yo' [want him to fall in love with you]. Yo' want him tuh come tuh love yo', yo' take an' draw de feathers out of dat cock's tail, an yo' press 'em three times in his hand. An' den yo' take his [dis?] hand [hand] an put it into yore right hand pocket an' look him dead in his eyes an' den kiss 'im, an' he will take sides with yo'.
(You take the feathers out of any cock's tail?)
Yes sir. [Surely the woman does not put the man's hand into her right pocket! She takes feathers, probably 3, from the rooster's tail and presses them into the man's hand 3 times to absorb his perspiration. The feathers themselves become a hand or jomo. This she puts into her own right pocket.]
Entry 11024
Ah heard of 'em using chicken feathers tuh make 'em move. Well, dey take de chicken feathers - dere's a mice [sounds like lice] on every chicken feather, chicken mice [mice?]. (You mean lice?) Lice. Dey takes dem lices offa dat chicken an' take his haid, his bill, an' beat dat up fine an' put some kerosene an' some sulphur in it, an' dat'll make yo' move. Put it in yore mattress or under de haid of yore bed.
Entry 11025
Dey use chicken feathers dey say fo' bad luck. Probably if yo' got some chickens or sompin lak dat an' ah wanta make yo' have bad luck, ah kin take de feathers from yore chick- ens and burn 'em in mah stove. See, an' use de ashes an' dese chicken fea- thers an' take 'em an' sprinkle 'em all round yore house. Dat will cause all yore chickens tuh die, or someone in yore family to die, or sompin lak dat. Dat's whut de' call a re- buke to a family. Or either if ah should happen to have tuh buy a chicken or sompin lak dat, ah kin git some of yore dirt from roun' in yore yard where yo' have travel on, an' use it an' burn it an' cause yo' tuh have bad luck to some of yore family or either probably to yo'.
Entry 11026
You kin get a black hen's feather, git chew a little black molasses, and take you a little of dis ole card weed, they use to call it - grow in de fields. (Card weed?) Dat's right. It bears a long seed-like along in de fall of de year, and it's a lot of yellow dust on dat. You git chew one of dem, git de longest one yo' kin find. If yo' go to a bush, git de longest one yo' kin find. You take dis chicken feather and dis black molasses and you boil it like a tea- like. And you kin slip some of dat to a fellow and it ain't very long 'fore dat Weed will sprout into his veins. [At one time I thought this weed might be the card teasel or cardthistle. I'll leave this for the expert in folk names for plants.]
(You boil this weed and the molasses and the feather all together?)
Yes.
(And how do you give to him?)
Well you gotta slip it in somepin dat he eats.
(Oh I see, and this weed will sprout in him. What will that do?)
It don't sprout into his system, it forms into his veins; just cripples hi up, bad laigs.
Entry 11027
[That is] bad luck around the place. That [is] the cross. Yo' just put them in an old pa d put them in the back yard, and smoke them around the place wherever they want the person to leave fro, or don't want them to get along.
(What kind of feathers do you put in the pan?)
Black feathers, black chicken feathers.
Entry 11028
Ah've heard of 'em usin' dem jest tuh bring luck to de bome.
(How do they do that?)
Dey burn de chicken feathers, yo' know, jest lak ah'd have me a pan an' ah jest git me some of dat same sulphur an' brimstone an' dem chicken feathers. Now, they are lucky. Ah know dat fo' a fact, ah've tried it. An' yo' burn dem around de house. Now, dey are lucky.
Entry 11029
Cuz' if yo' do, it jis' move yo' away. Jis' lak de dust be goin', yo'll be goin'.
(What is this about now?)
If yo' burn chicken feathers in de yard an' jis' lak yo' burn 'em an' where de smoke go, yo'll be gittin' out dere an' yo'll go, too. (What do you do with chicken feathers, when you kill a chicken then?) Well, yo' take an' put 'em in a sack, dry 'em; put 'em in a sack an' dry 'em an' put 'em in our pillahs - make pillahs. Dat's all we do's. (How do you get rid of them? You don't keep all your chicken feathers. What do you do with them to get rid of them, then?) Ah keep all de chicken feathers. [These people I talked to, almost all of them living alone and poor, bought few live chickens.]
Entry 11030
Like you sleep on dis pillah, well if I kin git a chance to steal dat pillah while you away, well I will open dis pillah up and git de feathers out of it. And I will leave them all over and I will slip it down to a running stream. (What do you do with those feathers then?) With de feathers, wrap them up in dis bag or rag, dish- rag, bundle 'em up, an' ah throw 'em in de running stream and dey go away.
Entry 11031
Yo' kin take black chicken feathers an' take nine of 'em an', yo' know, tie de ends of 'em together an' hang 'em up ovah anybody's haid. An' every time dey walk in dere, dey'll feel funny an' dey won't even stay dere no mo'. (You take these nine feathers from a black chicken and tie them together like a necklace?) Yes sir, tie 'em together an' hang 'em up ovah anybody's haid where dey gotta pass at.
Entry 11032
Suppose that you leave home and the woman want to bring you back home, Want you to come home. Now, what will she do? She'll take a feather out of a rooster and get a forked stick, like this [demonstrates] cut it off here, stick a feather in that, by splitting it, you know. And stick the rooster feather in it, and name that rooster feather for whatever de man is named. And stick it in de back yard, where she want him to come, just with the top of it out, and he'll come back.
[Here is the forked or "Y" stick.]
(Just the top up with the feathers on the two sticks up?)
De fork [corrects me by demonstrating]. (You put the fork down in the ground. And that handle - so the handle is split with the feather in it?) That's it.
(But you cover that up a little bit?)
You cover up de wood but leave the feathers sticking out.
(Oh, you leave the feather sticking out. I see.)
Because the feather is named him - is named for him. Leave the feather sticking out. Say, now like, "John, I want you to come home and stay here." You stick that down with the feather out, and John will come.
(John will come home.)
[While machine is turned off, informant explains and I repeat it.]
(Now, "John, go away from home." You prepare it the same way and bury it. Then they take it up? Then he'll leave home?)
[Informant repeats what I had missed.]
Now, if you want John to go from home, why you just name that same thing to John and carry it out from home and bury it and den he won't come home. (Oh, you bury it away from home! But if you want him to come, you bury it in the back yard?) Yes, sir. [A note of mine in green ink years ago reads: notice symbolism. I suppose this means: to bring back, the handle or stem of the Y stands up人; to send away it stands Y - the shooting away position for a rubber-shooter. For a similar "Y" fork rite, see in wishbone rite in No.]
Entry 11033
Dey take a black hen feather an' take dat an' put it in some blood, an' den keep dat in a jar, an' dat'll keep yo' from bein' fussin' an' argument [arguing] all de time.
(What kind of blood do you put that in?)
Oh, yo' have to have some of de one whut chew thinkin' of, whut chew love. (Get some of their blood on this feather and keep it locked up and that is to make them love you?) Yes. Ah say yo' kin git a black hen an' take dat feather an' put it in blood of somebody whut chew love an' put it - but yo' gotta have it in dat jar or a bot- tle or sompin. Stop dat up an' keep it dere, so dat same party will be thick wit chew all de time.
Entry 11034
Ah heard dem usin' a chicken feather. Yo' take a black hen feather an' put it in a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' stop it up airtight. Dat's good fo' luck.
(You carry that for luck.)
Entry 11035
I've heerd of 'em usin' chicken feathers - feathers, bluestone an' saltpeter an' sulphur. Yo' place dem things together an' yo' would take 'em an' burn 'em into yore house. Jest say, fo' an instamce ah wanted to make yo' leave, ah could take all dat stuff a' place it into de house an' burn it fo' three days, an' dere ain't no way in de vorld yo' kin stay in dese house. Yo'd have to leave, ain't no joke.
Entry 11036
Ah've heard dey take feathers - take an' cut de feathers an' burn 'em an' throw de ashes out. Jes' lak yo'd be worriet wit somebody dat chew didn't want around, yo' takes de feathers an' burn 'em an' throws 'em [out] an' den when- evah yo' throw de feathers out, dey tell me dat throws out chure friendship. Jes' lak if dey love tuh come tuh see yo', an' yo' didn't want 'em dere or somepin lak dat. Dat breaks up friend- ship between yo' an' dis person.
Entry 11037
Take a chicken foot, take de right foot an' hang it up. Yo' take all of his toes an' yo' bend 'em down an' den yo' go into de [backhouse] an' hang it up, an' whatsomevah one jes' straightens out, dat's de one. Take dat along an' wear it in yore pocket an' in all yo' travels yo' always have luck.
Entry 11038
If anything buried anywhere around yore house, they tell me tuh git a frizzled chicken an' put it on de yard, wheresomevah dey put down something to harm yo' - it will scratch it up. [For these remarkable chickens see DOCTOR FRIZZLY pp.59- 63, v.l, and many places.]
Entry 11039
If yo' got a black frizzly chicken, keep him on yore yard dat way, because he's kind of a protector for [against] the enemies that comes around yore house.
Entry 11040
Jist take de skin outa duh gizzard an' let it dry, an' den jest smash it up in yore han' an' make a powder out of it, an' sprinkle some in yore sweet- heart's hair - right up dere.
(What will that do?)
Make her love you.
Entry 11041
Take a gizzard of black hen, a black pullet, an' dat thin skin inside, take an' sew it up in a sack. Den yo' kin go an' ask a man fo' a job an' he'll nevah turn yo' down.
Entry 11042
(How do they handle that?)
Well, you see, it's one gut into a chicken.
(There's what?)
There's one gut into a chicken.
(Just one gut?)
One gut, that's all kin do any harm. That's a gut runs from the, from the top of his - you know, the back of his neck all the way to the rear end of it.
(The rear end, the tail end?)
That's right. (To his behind?) To his behind. (All right.) Now, yo' take that gut and you kin fix that gut and you kin dry it out and you kin - and after you dry it out, you makes a powder of it. And you use this powder into a person's eats - what I mean about eats, about sittin' dowo eatin'. You sprinkle that over 'em and you gotta act like a chicken - you just goofy. They acts like a chicken all the time.
(I see.)
Entry 11043
A chicken head and they write your name in it - write your name, you know, on a piece of paper.
(Yes.)
And they put a chicken head and they take and bury that chicken head.
(What will that do?)
That to keep they husband or they boy friend, or whoever it is, if they figure their boy friend is about to get away from them. They get their name and they write, just like I shoved you just now, nine times, and they put it in that chicken head and they bury it either at their front door or at their back door, where they can walk over it all the day long.
Entry 11044
I seen a woman dress a chicken head for to bring her husband back to her.
(Well, how would they do that?)
Well, she take the head and take that fork and bone part out the head and stuff it with his name and nine new needles and pins, and bury it. Put his name, sugar, cinnamon and that white rum, and nail it up over the sill[!] of the door. See, and that draws him back. (Up over the top of the door. That's to bring him back?) [Here the sill is considered the ceiling of the door; see No.10972 for open space above a door.]
Entry 11045
De rooster, ah know a little sompin 'bout him. Yo' kin take a rooster three yeahs ole an' kill him. Take his haid. Yo' see a ants' bed haven't yo'? Jes' take dis ole rooster's haid an' jes' put it in dat ants' bed an' let it stay. Yo' know de ants will shore eat de meat off de skull. An' let it stay dere jes' long enough fo' dose ants to git all de meat off de skull, go through his haid an' git all de brains an everything till it come to be testified [petrified?] an' ole. Well, dat's luck.
(How would they use - what would they do with that?)
After den, dis ole fellah tells me, yo' goes tuh de 67th [6th and 7th] Book Of Moses an' den he'll give yo' de direct answer.
Entry 11046
To keep dem [law] from de house? Now, if you Wanta a little liquor kept [for sale] in dis place heah and you don't want no man to come in on yuh nov. You go on your station house and git one of de man's name that you'll find out. Git one, two or three - if you kin [get] nine it's much better. De ore you get de stronger it is. If you can't git but one [name], den work on dat Bne one, but let it be de leading man dat you knows is asking about you - to yoar acn judgment. Work by your own judgment, de judgment of your ear. Git dat man nae and git you a brand-new piece of board and write his name. Put 'en cross de world. Write 'em cross de world to you and write 'em backwards.
(Backwards and forwards.)
And dey can't come in fer de devil. And nail dat onto your step and dey can't be seeing you. Not when you nail dat dere. Git you de heart of a chicken and it got to be a black chicken. Cut de heart out of it. Git dat wishin' bone of de chicken breast and you take dat heart wit your hand on dose letters. Put 'em dere so it can't be rub off - on dat board. (You rub this heart over those letters?) All over dose letters, all up and down like dat. And talk at de same time. Tell 'em dat [what] dat spirit is got- ta to do. You don't want no law to worry me. You wants to be up dere selling whiskey. Ah don't want dat law to worry me. Ah don't want no kin' of law. Ah don't even wants 'em to come heah fo' a drink of liquir or beer. Ah [wants] 'em to pass by and keep on passing by. Kin go right in next door but won't come in chere. Take dat wishing-bone, and be shore dat you go. down in de groun' to your shoul- der and turn it down -人. Don't turn it up -Y
(Turn the wishing bone down, the points down?)
[Here we have rite similar to the forked stick or "Y" in No.11032.]
Turn de two prongs down. And while you have - doin' it, you talk to 'em. An' if you know any de officer's names, don't let any come in dere, de fed'ral offi- cer back, de county man back, de city officer back, de state controller, back. Dat take in all 'em, ain't it? Go on over and over. And if you git dose three class of officers, you know why it is, don't you? De federal, de state control- ler, git de county and git de highway man. Den you go to work.
(Where do you bury that wishing bone?)
Under your step, right under your step. Be sure to go under your house. Den you put dat bone. If you ain't got no front, put it in de middleways of de house. [This center under the house and the 4 corners of the house make our rite a quin- cunx.] Dat almost stop people jack-jacking to the front.
Entry 11047
Sew dat up in a rag.
(What do they sew up in a rag?)
De black hen manure. Sew it up in a rag an' put de person name in it if dey doin' yo' harm an' yo' don't like 'em. An' yo' take it to runnin' water to de rivah an' throw it in. Put new safety pins in [package] an' throw it in [river] an' dat person'll go clean away an' won't trouble yo' no mo'. Ah done that mahself.
(Just put one safety pin?)
Two - three, yes sir, yo' put one on each end an' pin one across it, three. (Like the letter "H" on the package.) [The figure is more like this Ha double cross.] Yes sir.
Entry 11048
Take dat an' dry it out.
(This manure from a black frizzly chicken?)
Yassuh, yo' kin dry it out an' go tuh anybody's house an' if dey cookin' or anything, an' sprinkle dat intuh dey food, dat will upset dere stomach an' con- tinually keeps 'em heavin' all de time. Yo' kin turn right round an' take de gizzard of a [any] chicken an' put down dat throwin' up. Anytime a person put frizzly stuff [ma- nure] into yore food, yo' nevah got no appetite fo' anything yo' eat, yo' throw it up.
Entry 11049
[All the following chicken-manure rites, not identical ones, will be found somewhere in HOODOO. They appear everywhere out in the field. If there is no preference concerning the type - color and source - of the material used, sup- pose we begin with the chicken-house itself. But sometimes for a human bite bird manure is used - see No.10721, p.4054, v.5.1 Well, if anybody bite chew like dat, yo' take an' place - go to a chicken coop an' place some chicken 'nure [manure] on dere an' make yo' [the biter] lose yore teeth.
Entry 11050
Yo' could go to a chicken house an' git some chicken manure an' rub it on dere [if person bites you] an' it will make a person's teeth rot out.
Entry 11051
If anybody bite chew or anything like dat, see, jes' git dis where de chicken has been, yo' know, an' put it on dat place. Dat will rot all dey teeth out.
Entry 11052
Ah heard dat if somebody bite chew dat yo' gits black chicken manure an' rub it on dere, an' it will rot all dere teeth out.
Entry 11053
Now, dey tell me yo' kin take a black hen's dung - a black hen's dung. In de places where he bit chew, anoint dat place wit dat, an' it will cause all dere teeth tuh come out.
Entry 11054
(You take a white what?) Chicken turd. (Yes, the manure.) An' yo' soak it in water three days, an' yo' strain it out an' yo' make a perfume outa it[!!!] an' yo' kin take 'em in wit dat.
Entry 11055
They will ketch a black hen - goin' pick 'em out a black ole hen an' git de white offa dat, dey dung, de white. And if dey kin git it - maybe dey wants to do it, dey can't git to 'em. But he'll git somebody else an' put some in yore food. See. An' de minute dat yo' eat it, in nine days yore tooths will come to be slack all over everywhere - in nine days. (And your teeth will eventually drop out.) [Not eventually, but within 9 days!]
Entry 11056
Dey say, take - it's either a black hen or a white hen - take some of dere stuff, yo' know, an' rub on it [bite] an' all of yore teeth will fall out. Dat's all ah heard about dat.
Entry 11057
If yo' bit a person, yeah, n' they git chicken manure an' anoint the place with it - if they bit 'en, an then their teeth will begin tuh rot out one by one. Of course, they all won't come out at one time, but one by one they'll eventually [come out].
(Any kind of chicken manure?) Yes, jes' so it's a chicken.
Entry 11058
You kin take manure from a chicken - has to be a black one, though - an' dat place [where you were bitten] put it on there an' tie it up, an keep it tied up for three days. Dat will take all their teeth out.
Entry 11059
De chicken stuff from a chicken an' rub it in de top of his head when he's asleep, an' all his teeth will rotten out.
Entry 11060
Dey tell me, says, if yo' wanta make dat person move out, dey tell me yo' git some stuff [soot] from up de chimley an' sprinkle it round de do' evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's, an' dey'll sweep dey ownself away 'cause dey'll sweep dat dust - soot - away from de do'. (They are sweeping their own chimney away?) Yes sir.
Entry 11061
Keep some sugar and cin- namon in a piece of paper, wrap- ped up in your pockets all the time. Awful lucky in gambling. Yes sir.
Entry 11063
Cinnamon, fast luck, lucky oil. sugar and van-van in bottle [five ingredients] rub this mixture on hands for luck in gambling.
Entry 11064
Dey tell me yo' gits a piece of newspapah, an' jes' lak dis yo' makes a 'V' lak dis. Keep a-makin' it lak dis, keep a-makin' it lak dis. Keep a-makin' it lak dis. Yo' make dat nine times dis way. Yo' take dat papah an' yo' stick it in front of yore steps an' put salt - covah it wit salt an' jes' pull it. Jes' pull it- dis part heah yo' turn it back dis way. Dat's fo' 'em not tuh come in, an' pull it dis way an' yo' turn dat back dis way. Bury dat undah yore step in front of yore do'way an' den come cross an' covah dat wit salt an' dat will make 'em stay out, dey say. (I want you to draw that for me to show me just how it is done. You make your mark right on that piece of paper - this is a newspaper now [let this be the piece of newspaper you mention; probably handed informant a sheet from my note- book]. What kind of mark do you make? [Informant makes a mark.l You make a mark sort of like a crescent, it goes to the right and comes back like that.) Now, dis means "stay out, don' come in." Now, if yo' want a person tuh come in dere. If a person out an' yo' want 'em tuh come in dere, yo' jes' turn it dis way [demonstrates]. Dat means 'come in.' Dis means [demonstrates] 'stay out." (Well, those half circles, crescents, when the arc of the half circle is out from the door, that means "come in.") Yo' understand dat. [I certainly did!]
Entry 11065
Yo' livin' in de house an' yo' an' her can't git 'long, well, yo' fool roun' in her room till yo' git hold of a piece of her linen - jes' any piece of her linen. Well, yo' take dat piece of her linen an' yo' take it an' tack it undah yore linen - a piece of her linen undah yore linen - an' wear it right between where yo' [tool] will rub into her linen. An' 'stead of she be hatin' yo', she'll come tuh like yo'.
Entry 11066
But dere's somepin dat ah have tried fo' mahself dat's very true. Once ah wus in love with a girl an' ah wus jest crazy about her an' she didn't like me - didn't seem to. So at night when ah would go in - she wus staying in one room an' ah wus in de other. One mornin' she went out an' left some of her things in dere, an' ah took a piece of her underskirt an': sew it right in de seat of mah cloths, mah underclothes, an' ah wore it fo', ah wore dat suit fo' a year. An' [meanwhile] she left an' she came back. She tole me, says, "Yo' done sompin tuh me?" Ah says, "No, ah haven't did anything tuh yo'." She says, "Yo' have so." She says, "Some way ah'm jest gittin' so crazy about chew ah don't know whut in de world tuh do." Say, "Ah can't stay off, ah can't stay heah, '' say, "but whatevah yo' did... Ah tole her, "Not anything." So, fo' several days later ah tried it, an' ah take de thing out. See dat's uhut mah mother told me dis, if ah ever wanted tuh do a thing like dat. An' ah'd taken it out an' burned it up, an' right now she's jest as crazy about me. Dat's been seven years ago.
Entry 11067
Or eithah his pants, yo' know, jis' take - yo' know where that seat is in there in de pants, in de seat of it - an' yo' take that an' wear it aroun yore waist, or either place it in yore purse, an' that keeps him an' makes hin give you all his money.
(You can do it with either the seat of his pants or his underclotb ing?) Yes.
Entry 11068
Git a pleoe of his underclotbes asn yours and wear it aruund yore waist an' dat'll keep him.[ Waycross, Ga., (1122), 1804:2.]
Entry 11069
[If she] wants to get him back, if she got any of his ondenonents or anything, she kin take them an' wear 'em around her waist. And she ku cake sugar and wear it under her arms, [then] cook a cake with it and get some of her friends to send it to him. And he gets that, he'll come back.
Entry 11070
If a woman is got a man an' she don' want him tuh leave her, she takes one of his dirty socks - de same as ah said about her stockin'. Well, ah take one of his dirty socks - she takes it, an' she ties it up in a knot an' she keeps dat sock tied dere fo' fifteen days. An' wherevah he be's he gotta come back tuh her. He cain't leave her, an' if he done left her he's comin' back aftah she have dat sock. He's comin' back tuh her. She could take a string an' she wear dat [sock] round her waist fo' nine days, an' nine knots in it. He cain't have nobody. See, all of dat is in de way of hoodooin' somebody tuh keep 'em from doin' right.
Entry 11071
Dey say if a man's runnin' round - jest lak ah'm got a husband an mah husband would be runnin' with a other lady, an' ah want 'im to break off. Ah could take a garment dat he wear next to him. Let it be dirty, have his scent in it, an' sleep on it every night. Put it between mah sheet an' de mattress an' sleep on it every night, an' dat'll make him stay home. Ah have tried dat an' dat worked.
Entry 11072
But she says if he leaves, she says don't worry about him going. If you wanta bring him back, if you got anything in the world that belong to him, [she] say you just make your wish. And if your wish is for him to come back, take it to any stream that is contin'ly running and put it in there. Then you turn around and come back, and atchly [actually], in a short while he'll return. He'll never be satisfied nowhere he goes, he's bound to come back wherever he left from.
Entry 11073
Well, if you wants to stop 'em, if yo' goes out, from the law getting in connection with you. That's very easy to do that, too. Here's whut chew do. Yo' [go] an' git chure own garment, git a piece of your clothes that you had on this day, that has perspiration on it, an' git a piece of theirs. Take those two pieces together an' tie 'em with a piece that you don't want. Tie 'em together and put 'em in a running stream of water. And they never will do nuthin to yo'. That nmning stream takes away the evil thought between you an' him. Run that away. Run that spirit away. [I had asked about keeping the law away from the house, but informant turns my question into anyone seeking to harm you. You begin your protection with a piece of clothing you wore that day, because the perspiration in it is a part of your spirit, hence the whole of your spirit (see PART OF SPIRIT EQUALS WHOLE OF SPIRIT, p.21-23, v.1). Next, you obtain something recently worn or handled by the enemy. Then, using a spiritless piece of clothing you have discarded, you tie your spirit and enemy spirit together, making a tight knot. And immed- iately and finally you rush off and throw this package into running Water. Run- ning Water kills or purifies evil work. You understand, of course, that the evil spirit permitted itself to be tied only because it was being tied to you, now even an easier prey. This rite is called a trick. I did not understand this rite when I heard it back in 1939; the reason why my note about informant on the original transcription reads, use with care! This rite is logically illogical!]
Entry 11074
They'd [they had] crossed her.
(How did they cross her?)
Well, they gets hold of her dirty linen. You understand? One of her old dirty linens and bury that. Bury it in a place where they don't walk at, nobody walks; up close to a corner, up close to the wall where people don't walk over it. That's dirtv. [If her linen had been buried where people could walk over it, victim would have died quickly, called a fast death. Here we have a slow death rite, the reason informant calls it dirty. These terms slow death and fast death are mentioned early in HooDOO.]
Entry 11075
See now, he don't wanna, a person don't wanna kill you, or they wan' chew to run around an' leave home, or you won't have no friend of nobody so no- body can like you. Why you kin gits some - you kin git a piece of your... Git your sock or any piece of your clothes an' he'll go to de forks of de road. And take that same pepper [red], pepper is a good thing, and take that [sock and pepper] and carry it to the forks of the road about 2 o'clock in the night, and dig a little hole right in the fork of that road. You got to find a root dere. Sometimes they find hard dirt you know. And drive that nail right down [through the clothes with red pepper] into the root. And you turn right off from there - he'll turn right around and take you [him] some salt and throw it right there like that [demonstrate back over his shoulder] and don't look back. Dat person [owner of clothes] you'll see him run aroun' crazy. [If the present forks of the road is a typical one, two roads crossing more or less at right angles + the clothes buried in the center of the crossing would create a quiul cunx rite.]
Entry 11076
A woman's stockin', you kin take it an' git chew some de cinnamoa, de big cinnamon. Dey got de two kin', dey got de groun' cinnamon an' dey got de big cinnamon. Dey take de big cinnamon. (You mean the bark?) Yes. Take dat an' yo' git chew some graveyard dust, an' yo' git chew two tacks an yo' nail that. Yo' nail de heel part of de stockin'. Yo' nail de foot-part any- where yo' wanta nail it an' dey jis' be gone. Dey'll live about nine or ten days but dey cain't live no longer, yo' see. If it's both of them it's all right but de left-foot shoe [stocking] yo' must have.
Entry 11077
Now if there is somebody that you want tuh be, want hard luck to hap- pen to them, you kin take anything of theirs. Well, say for instance, yo' take a tie. Well, say ah'll use a tie, if it's a man. Ah'll take a man's tie. You fold that tie from you and you make nine steps that way, west; then you make nine east. An' if they livin' this way [informant points], you turn your back to them [demonstrates] an' throw that tie like that [demonstrates].
(Back over your shoulder?)
Back over your head. An' never look back an' walk on off.
(What will that do?)
That will take their good luck off them. They will have hard luck all the time.
Entry 11078
Mah brothah had a wife - right chere in de city since ah come dowp heah - an' a fellah he wanted tuh be in company wid 'em all de time an' all. An' mah brothah all de time would ketch aftah 'im an' he nevah know whut dat wuz. He'd come in dere an', see a pipe an' say, "Well, lemme smoke yo' pipe," take de pipe an' light up. He so glad he kin speak tuh 'is wife, jis' take de pipe, yo' know, an' light up an' smoke see, lak yo' smokin' now. An' dat evenin' all aroun' 'is gum turned red. All de teet' started tuh git shaky, numb, jis'[start- ed to comin' out. He come home. An' so we had some-a dis witch- hazel, an' arnica, an' ah said, "Why doncha [don't you] tech [touch] some [of this medicine] all roun' dat.gum?" An' den dere come vhitehaid bumps all roun' dere. Ah said, "Boy, ah see sompin roun dere. Ah said, "Wha'da [what did] yo' do tuh git yo' teet' lak dat?" He said, "Ah out chere tuh mah wife tuh find out, an' ah smoked de pipe an' mah teet' getted [got] numb all tuh once." Ah said, "Oh yeah? Ah getcha." So ah go on dere an' ah git de pipe, see. An' ah put de pipe in cleah watah in de shade one day an' dat pipe started tuh bile. When it start tuh bile lak dat, chew know, ah dropped a grain of cookin' salt in it, see, an' den dropped a li'le ammonia in it. See, dat killin' [to kill] dis in 'is mouf [mouth] dere. Ah says tuh mah brothah, name Sam, says, "Now, Sam, ah tell yo' whatcha do. Dat pipe is fixed so it hurtcha, so all yo' teth'll drop out chure haid." An' ah say, "Now, ah tell yo' whatcha do. An' now, dontcha think dat ah wan'cha tuh pull dem teet' out." Said, "Ah'm goin' take a [something = method] tuh put 'em [teeth] back in after yo' goes back tuh yo' wife's house, now. An' yo' git - try tuh git now - try tuh kid 'er roun' an' git hole of it, " ah said, "den you'll...
(Get hold of what?)
Git - wanna git a piece of 'is clothes.
(Whose clothes?)
His wife's clothes. Now he wanted tuh turn sompin [back] an' [on]'i [the man who smoked brother's pipe]. Ah said, yo' git a piece, apron or enythin' - sompin whut he [she] weahs cross 'is [her] body part. So he went on dere an' he gits a...one dem close [clothes] pieces. Ah tell 'im take out six pieces: take out one piece in de back, one piece out dis side [demonstrates], one piece out dat side [demonstrates] an' roll 'em up tuhgethah tight. Dat goin' kill Lol fection he take out. An' he [brother] put dat an' bile it tuhgethah in oak bark [commonly used as hoodoo disinfectant]. An' dis oak bark, bile it good enough so it git strong while dem pieces wuz in dere. Dat would kill dis thing, dese germs whut he had in 'is teeth. An' he biled dat tuhgethah an' carry it tuh a cemetery. An' carried 'em out about three or fo' times. An' dem teet' goin' back jis' lak it ain't happened. Ah didn't realize dat would help, wit dat watah - dat cleah watah. An' [he] trow [threw] up all dem [germs] until ah put dem [pieces] tuh bile.
(He took this oak-bark water and rubbed it over his teeth?)
No, gargled 'em all wit it, jis' wash 'em out wit it. But aftah gittin' dese pieces out, put de clothes - see, bile dat right tuhgethah; see, jis' lak yo' bilin' rags or sompin. An' he gargle wit dat.
(But this pipe - this water you boiled the pipe in, what did you do with that?)
Ah buried dat, buried 'em in de - dis way of de world, de west. Down all de time. Dat's carryin' de disease down [with the sunset]. Ah buried dat an' ah nevah did - ah broke de pipe up. Somebody apt tuh git holt de pipe an' might have de same thing. See, lak dat, soon as ah trow [throw] dat salt down, dat same cookin' salt, dat pipe - dat watah, start boilin'. No fiah wuz dere atall. Dat pipe wuz packed wit de germs whut he had dere - my brothah - an' dat thing boilin' jis' as natural as yo' put a pot ovah de fiah. An' ah realized dat when nah gran'mothah tell me how tuh fix dat thin' an' ah fixed it. Dem thin's [germs] come right out. Now he's bettah off den ah is. He verks evah day an' jis' as lively.
Entry 11079
[The preceding margin titles about clothes I will now end with a col- lection of condensed rites - shortened years ago for one reason or another - just as I did previously with that section of condensed rites on pages 3989-3994. As in this preceding section, once again to save space, I omit informant numbers and names of states.]
Entry 11080
Woman cuts seat [crotch?] out of his dirty underwear, wears in her left shoe; wherever he goes he's coming to her. [Mobile 953:1.]
Entry 11081
Woman cuts forked piece from his underwear, wears in right shoe; be can't rest until he comes to her. [Mobile 908:1.]
Entry 11083
( Cut front piece from man's shirt tail and wear on bloomers. [Wilming- ton 261:7.]