Browse:ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS (Volume 5, entries 9441–10605)/Part 10
ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS
Volume 5, entries 9441–10605. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 10161
Yo'll git de graveyard dirt, yo' undahstand, offa person dat's died bad. Yo'll git de graveyard dirt an' yo'll git red cayenne peppah, hot as yo' kin git it [this means buy it from a hoodoo shop!]. Yo'll git chew nine nails an' yo'll put in dere. An' yo'll go tuh work an' yo'll put dere name. Yo' put it down nine times on a piece of papah, but den yo' put chure name [9 times] on ahead of it. See. No, heah [demonstrates] yo' put chure name 'cuz yo're makin' dem people go. Yo'll go tuh work an' write his name nine times an' yo'll write it cross, yo' undah- stand. [His name is not written across her name, which is written one below the other in a column. His name, following her column, is written either in the form of an X or a cross +, one name crossing the other; or else his name the first time is written normally behind her fifth name. Then the paper is turned upside down and his second name written across first one etc. Various ways of crossing names and writing them upside down are given in HOoDO0.] An' den yo'll go tuh work an' yo'll git nine nails an' yo'll wrap it up in dere, tenpennies [nails], an' yo'll git cayenne peppah an' yo'll git snuff. Yo' know, whut de people use in dey mouth. Yo' git a yallah of a aig. Yo' mixes all dat up tuhgether, yo' see. All dat's ingredients tuh make 'em go, yo' see. An' den yo'll wrap dat all up tuhgether, see. Den if yo' kin go tuh work an' make it lak a powdah, make dat lak a powdah. Dat's tuh sprinkle in de house. It's tuh sprinkle in de house an' dat'll keep a confusion in dere an' he kin not stay. Den yo'll burn a black candle. Yo'll turn it upside down [by cutting off the normal wick and making a new wick on the bottom of the candle]. An' yo' put nine new needles in dere, yo' see an' his name on de top. Write it all ovah all aroun it. Jis' write his name all aroun' on dat candle. Den yo' burn it upside down fo' nine days.
(What'll that do?)
Dat'll run him away, git him outa de house. He don' wanta see dat house any mo'.
Entry 10162
Take his photograph and turn it up bottom [upside down] to the [look- ing] glass and burn the candles, nine of them; claim if you's in Europe that would bring you back. (How would you do that?) With a candle. Put your name on it nine times - put mine on top and write yours up to mine. And turn you [in photograph] up, bottomside up [upside down] to the looking glass. And burn the candle for nine days. That'll bring you back.
(I see.)
Entry 10163
You kin make a table [altar] with that [rite] you see. You understand, that's if it's something that choo want, well you kin make a table with that. You kin, that is, if it's for you to make a sacrifice, something that you want. Well, git choo three candles, you put the picture - you fold the picture up you under- stand.
(This picture of the Lord?)
This picture of the Lord. That's right.
(On the table?)
On the table. That's right. An' then you make it like a rainbow [a semi- circle]. You put one candle - you git three candles. You make [place] one right here, an' one right around here, an' let it [candles] come aroun like a rainbow. An' you make you a wish fo' wha' choo want, an' you say a prayer. You say, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, the 23rd Psalm. You say that Psalm an' then you get 'down an' repeat the Lord's Prayer for what you want. Yo' make a wish with these three candles. Then you let them burn plumb on out... right in front of the Lord's picture... You do this about 6 o'clock in the morn- ing or 6 o'clock in the evening or 9 o'clock at night.
Entry 10164
Take a pink candle. (One pink candle?) One pink candle and roll it in sugar and light it, and burn from seven to nine just on Wednesdays. In the morning and at night do the same thing. And on Fridays, on the same hour with that pink candle, that candle is placed on that, in front of those names.
(How do you write these names, just one name?)
No, write the man's name three times and yours three times on top of his'n.
(I see.)
And that will bring him back.
(Place this candle on top of that paper?)
Burn it in front of that paper and burn it on those names [not actually or top of names].
(And that will bring him back?)
Yes. (You only burn that candle twice, on Wednesday and Friday? You don't burn it any longer than that?) No.
(How long do you burn that candle?)
You use it - some kind of special candles [for bringing back person] and in doing that you burn one candle or two. Or I hear that you...it'll burn [a cer- tain length of time?].
(You burn it until he comes back?)
Until he comes back.. "Co'se yo' know, it don't always - see, sometimes it'll be, sometime it's two weeks.
(But you only can burn it on Wednesday and Friday?)
On Wednesday and Friday.
(I understand. All right.)
Entry 10165
If yo' got a gurl - it's dis way. Ah got a gurl an' she runned away from me. She done lef' me. She's gone. Well, lak [I] say, dere's a lotta watah 'ween heah an' New Yawk. Say she's gone tuh New Yawk. She jes' jumped up an lef' me an' ah haven't did anythin' tuh 'er an' want 'er back. She won' come bach tuh me by writin' tuh 'er. All right. Ah go tuh de drug sto' an' ah gits me a 15-cents blue candle. Take de same nails an' needles an' put in dat.
(How do you put them in there now? How many do you get?)
A nickel wuth of ten-penny nail. Put eight nails, an' de whole papah of needles, an' about eight big pins. Yo' git dem ovahsize sticky pins yo' know, dem ovahsize one. Some packages dey sell two fo' a nickel. Dey are de small size. An' de large package it's got one long one dat way; dey sells dem one fo' a nickel. Yo' git chew a piece of lookin'-glass lak dat an' yo' tum de part dat chew look it, an' git chew a saucah of watah or git chew a bowl or cream saucah, or anything dat will hold watah. Den turn dat [looking] glass down ovah dat way. Take dat candle an' take de end of it which yo' is gonna set down, take a match an' light it dat way. Don' light de top part where de stem is; light de bottom part an' put it on dat glass.
(With the top part downward?)
Yessuh, on top of de glass, an' let it set dere an' make yuh wishes fo' hit. But yo' start hit at ten minutes an' burn it fo' twenty-five. In twenty-five [days?] yo' receive a lettah from her, to send aftah her or send her ticket. She's on her way back tuh yo'.
Entry 10166
If yo' Wanta bring a person back - lak a man is away from his wife an' yo' wants tuh bring him back - well de way ah use. Ah takes dere name three times an' put 'er name three times, an' git rose water, orange blossom an' Jockey Club Cologne [for 3 perfumes see p.729, v.1] yo' know whut dat is, honey, crushed sugah, white, three lumps, an' put it in dey bottle. White lodestone, a she an' a he one, yo' knows dat. A ball of quicksilver an' a teaspoonful of steel dust. Dat's tuh return 'im. An' yo' put it in de glass bottle an' set it up - put de haid to [cork in]. Dis is de front do [demonstrates]. Well, yo' put de haid dat-away tuh come in. Dat is to come.
(The head is pointing into the house?)
Into de house. Dat's fo' tuh return de man back. (On this piece of paper on which you wrote the names, you wrote his name three times and hers three times on top of each name?) On top of his'n.
(That is to bring him back.)
[This rite can be done another way.]
Well, yo' take de names an' write it de same way. Yo' take de name an' yo' write it three times an' dey [woman's] name on top. An' den yo' cross de woman's name on top an' den yo' put yore candle an' yore honey, an' yore names in a glass. It supposed tuh be used in a glass an' holy watah with prayers.
(What sort of candle do you use?)
Well, yo' kin use a white one or blue one, anything but a black candle or a red one.
(Do you burn that candle any special time or anything?)
Yes, an hour. Yo' light it six a'clock in de mawnin' an hour an' den yo' put it out. Yo' light it at twelve a'clock ag'in an' dat hour, an' at one a'clock yo' put it out. Den three a'clock till fo', den yo' put it out.
(You do that just one day?)
No, no, yo' do dat about seven days.
(In putting these names down on the paper, do you put his name down first?)
Yo' put his name down first if yo' aftah bringin' 'im.
(Her name is over that?)
On top of his'n.
Entry 10167
(Tell me something more about burning these candles. How do they burn these candles? Give me an illustration.) Well, you burn those candles - they got different ones they burn. Now, for to make you die, you get a black one. To have luck and successes, you get a pink one [luck] and a blue one [success]. And a blue one will make your man come back to you, if he's gone. (Tell me how you do - just how you burn it. Do you know how you handle that?) Yes. You take that candle and you put it in a saucer or something and you put a little sugar. You take some sugar and you take a piece of paper or else - but honey is the best. Honey is better than sugar because honey is sveeter than sugar. And you put it in a saucer and you have that man's name down. And when you fold it, don't fold it from you, you fold it to you. And you put that candle there. Well, when that candle burn out, well, you see hit'll spread all over there, you see. And you put it where nobody won't see it. You burn that candle like today, the next day he'll come if he don't stay no more than [I interrupt]
(Do you put this honey in the saucer?)
In the - in the - look [demonstrates]: you put the piece of paper in the sau- cer. You put, you know his name is on it, the paper; you put the paper down first in the saucer. You put the honey [demonstrates].
(On top of the paper.)
On top of the paper and you fold it over like you fold a napkin, and you set the candle right up there.
(Down in the honey?)
Yeah, but you see - yeah, down in the honey; but you see, the paper is fold, you know.
(Before you put the honey there?)
Yeah, and you take piece of the candle - you take the candle and you let it drip. Let some of this wax drip on the paper so hit can stick. Well, stick it
[candle] there. Now, when that's burn out, well you go get another one [candle]
and you do the same. Well, you have his name in that [folded paper sweetened with honey]. That's to sweeten him.
(Well, how often can you burn that candle? Or when?)
Well, you burn it, the candle, for nine days and in nine days he'll be back to you, you see; but you burn it every day - you see, every day.
(All day long?)
All day long. Or, when that one go out, you burn another one. You see? You buy you - well, you say, well, I'll buy me [candles]. If you buy you nine can- dles, well [use them] long as those candles burn out; but when you ain't got no more, you go get some more for nine days. And when that - he'll be back in the nine days, 'fore the nine days.
Entry 10168
Well, you can git those mounds, the blue and brown ones, and git the holy incense. Now she'll go to work and git sugar and a little alum, and start at the back of the house and scrub all the way through to the front. And be sure that you take a sufficient amount to come all the way through; and have enough to pour all the way round her steps. And then, when she do that, then she take some clear water with sugar and put some holy water in that, and wrench [rinse] it off with that light [lightly]. Then when she gets that finished, why she'll light a taper, a holy taper. Take a chance and set it jes' direct in the middle of the window; if she possibly can get it and let it burn for one hour every night. And if he is anywhere close, he will come back to her. Now, if she's havin' a little trouble an' she can't depend on that to hold him; you see, if he's been gone before - now when he comes back now, she must get some Jockey Club perfume, and leave the candies [used on a cake] in the room. Get those candies and you put them into that. She take, put about a half ounce of the Jockey Club and a half ounce of Love Boquet, and put about no more than 15 of the little candies [used on a cake] and be sure every one is a different color[!]. An' when he comes, be very careful, and she'll rub him along - rub it all down him; just love him up and rub it all over. He may want to go but every time he start out, he will turn around and go back again. [The preceding word taper sometimes means candle. The scrub water in this rite is one of the many many different "scrubs" of New Orleans given in HOODOO. The colors of the 15 candies are mixed varieties, not 15 separate colors.]
Entry 10169
If you want to bring a woman back home to you, after she done left you and - you want to get her back home. Now, you take her name, and you take you two pins, just fix them like this here. Just cross it like a "x" you see; right over her name, you see. And you burns it with a candle, you see. You burn that for nine days and in nine days that woman'll come back home to you.
(What do you burn, a white candle?)
No, burn a red candle. Red candle is - black candle is evil, red candle and white candles is all good ones. You see, brings her home.
Entry 10170
A friend of mine wanted tuh git rid of her husband an' she wuz in love with anothah man at de same time, an' so she took his picture, her husban's picture, an' she had some bergamot an' vinegah, salt an' peppah - jes' ordinary black peppah. And she kept it undah his bed.
(What did she do with these ingredients?)
Had them all together, folded togethah, an' even a piece of his hair. An' she folded that together an' she lighted a candle an' kept that burnin' undah his bed.
(The candle burning under his bed?)
Yessuh, little small tapers - white ones, very small. As soon as one would go out, she'd light the othah one. She kept a boxful, yo' know, continually. An' finally he left. [Some of the small tapers or candles are about the size of an old-fashioned wooden match.]
Entry 10171
Light candles - it's a white and blue candle, see. And they burn from seven o'clock 'till nine - that's the white one. They'll light the blue one, they'll burn it from nine 'till three in the evening. The red one, they'll burn it from three 'till nine at night. [Three candles are used: red, white and blue.] (From three in the afternoon until nine at night?) Yassuh. They say that's to draw [customers]. That's for luck in de house, see. (Do they burn them separately or together or what?) No, no! They burn one at de time, jest like I light the white one this morning. Well, you see, I burn dat 'till nine. Well, then I'll put hit out. Then I'll light the green [blue] one and burn it 'till three this evening, and then I'll pinch it out. Then I'll light the red one this evening [afternoon] at three o'clock and I'll burn it 'till nine tonight, and then I'll pinch it out [candles are not blown out]. Well, I won't burn no more 'till tomorrow. See, that's burning it too hard. See, you'll burn so hard that way 'till they [customers] take sick from it.
Entry 10172
Burn a blue candle. Dey set de blue candle - yo' know, jis' put it in a saucer an' light it. (Do they light it at any par- ticular time? Or burn it for any particular length of time?) Dey burn it till it burns out, but chew light it between six an' nine in de mawnin'. Let it burn till it burns out.
(What will that do then to me, if that's done to me?)
Dat'll put chew in terrible bad. Everything yo' undertake to do yo'll fail. When yo' think yo're goin' up yo'll fall back down.
Entry 10173
[I know something] on that charm. (What kind of charm is it?) Dey gits a red can'le - some gits a black one - an' w'atsomevah mah name is, if he wants tuh harm me, he'll take it an' write mah name on dat. Den he'll burn a certain amoung every day. Somepin like dat.
(And then what happens?)
Jis' accordin' tuh w'at dey want tuh do tuh yuh. If dey wan'a make yuh sick... [This is different from the usual headache caused by candle burning on you, see p.834, v.1 and elsewhere.]
Entry 10174
To run crazv. stand pic- ture upside down behind bed, face to wall, light candle, red, burn "plum out" - make wish.
Entry 10175
Now, that like if someone that they want to kill 'em, get 'em out chore way. You stick this black candle with 9 bran'-new needles, the darkest hour of the day, 4 o'clock in the mawnin', an' make yore wish, see. An' burn that candle ev'ry 9 days till that happens...an' yo' let the room...you put it in real dark room. Let the room be real dark.
Entry 10176
A bird's nest - a person can take some of your hair and put it in that bird's nest, you see. And take some of that bird's feathers and put that in there and then take your hair and put it in there. And then every, every morn- ing they take and set a light [candle] right in there [the nest] but not burn the nest. Just take that light and set that light in there [in a drinking glass]. And if they want to do you harm, get you some coarse snuff [often leaf of dried tobacco rubbed in hands] some hot pepper [sauce] and put it in there. And burn a light on it for nine mornings - you see, one hour for [each] nine days.
Entry 10177
Burn de candles ever other mornin'.
(You burn these candles every other morning?)
Ever other mornin'. You burn 'em from seven until nine for nine mornings like dat - ever other morning for nine mornings.
(From seven in the morning until nine in the morning?) Yes. (I see. And what else do you do?)
You jes' burn de candles from seven until nine.
(What is that supposed to do?)
Well, dat's jes' supposed to gain influence wit people and if anybody tryin' [to] harm you, or to keep anybody from harmin' you.
(I see. Well, do you burn any special color or anything of that sort?)
Use a pink.
Entry 10178
It also is said that if any evil things coming around at night also, if you keep those candles burning all night long by your door, an' that will also project [eject] the evil of [from] the house. (Well, how would they burn those candles? What kind of candles would they burn?) Well, they burn one to the front an' one to the back, of the enteries [entrances] of the house, right in de middle of the hallway; very small candle, not a large one. That will also protect [you against] the evils of the house. An' also will make the family live in harmony an' in peace with each other.
Entry 10179
Yo' couldn't zakly [exactly] make de candle go out, but chew could fix it so it wouldn't do yo' no harm. (How would you do that?) Git chew some red peppah, saltpeter, tie it up in a rag an' a li'l piece of root dey call John de Conkah root, an' yo' weah dat in yuh pocket. An' dey couldn't hurt yo' no way.
Entry 10180
Some people say tuh weah a garment. Yuh piece nex' tuh yuh, pull it off an' turn it wrongside out [and wear it that way]. Dey do say dat will put 'em out.
(Put these candles out that they are burning for you.)
Entry 10181
Well, someone says yo' kin take three matches and put in de top of your head, cross 'em - three or four matches. Wear them in de mole of your head. Some says that will put 'em out. (These candles out.) [Here are some of the ways to cross 3 matches or 4 to make these rimless- wheel rites we have met before: see 3 and 6 spoke wheel, No.5720, p.2919; 3 hairs crossing 3 hairs, No.6055, p.2987; six-point star like a wheel, No.8214, p.3447; cross marks 9 in No.8540, p.3515; 2 crossed keys, No.8900, p.3616; wheel with rim No.8946, p.3632; and cross diagram No.9365, p.3756, v.4; and 3 names crossing No.10206, p.3968.]
Entry 10182
[If someone is trying to] hurt you. You kin take and go to the druggist and get a dirt, a dust out of it [the store], but they [seller] never knows what that dust is - they never know what you getting it fur. But you kin get a dust that is called "magnet" dust. Hit's...
(Magnesia?)
Yes, sir, magnesia dust. It's kind of green, see. Well, you - every time they start to burn that candle, you know it, see, because your mind will follow to [will be upon] 'em. Well, you take that dust and you use it around in your house and that candle [wherever it is] will go out.
(I see. Well, what kind of dust do you call that?)
Magnesia dust. (Magnesia dust.) [Could the name have been magnetic?]
Entry 10183
If they're burning a candle on you, you burn - now this is the same thing you kin do. You kin burn this same red candle. You burn this red candle, you stick it in 3 pins. See, you fightin' against them. You says, "I wish my enemy would leave me alone." An' then you go an' throw you a handful of salt in the fire an' you says, "I wish my enemies quit working after me an' leave me alone In the Name of the Lord." An' take you a bath in some saltpeter, blue- stone an' sugar, an' repeat the Lord's Prayer 3 times, see. You see, you burn this candle, that would set them down. Or else, you kin put 'em down sick. You kin git a purple candle an' you light it an' you make your wish an' put some salt in there an' spit in it, see. An' you burn it on 'em again an' you says, I wish ohosomever this is that's workin' after me will leave me alone, "' an' spit in it. You see, that'll drop 'em. That'Zl drop 'em. That'll put 'em down sick. That'll make 'em drop. An' continue to burn brimstone [not men- tioned previously in this rite but surely in some pre- vious part of interview]. See, that brimstone is the best thing in the world, that brimstone. An' sugar. Continue with that sugar in the fire, see: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. [Mem- phis, Tenn., (960, excellent hoodoo woman, my rapid hand transcription of cylinder missed by my transcriber, 1544:9.]
Entry 10184
An' some says anothah remedy tuh put 'em [candles being burned on you] out [is one] dat yo'll use on yuh head. Well, yo'll have tuh git chew diff'ren' little things. Yo'll git chew vinegah, a teacup of vinegah an' three teaspoons of olive oil, an' one egg an' yo' beat it up - whip it [3 things] up tuhgethah. Yo' beat up de egg first an' den add de othah all tuh it. An' put it in a bottle an' shake it up. Well, yo'll take some of dat, take a swallah of it evah now an' den, about two or three time a day or somepin othah like dat. Den yo' take some of dat an' put it on. Yo' know, dey say when de candle burns, it strikes yo' on one mos' pahtic'lah place - burning an' pullin' [demonstrates]. (It strikes you in one particular place, right here in the back of your head some place [informant demonstrates]. Where your neck and head meet, right up here some place [I demonstrate].) Well, some says it will be here [demonstrates]. Sometime it will be here [demonstrates]. But more in gen'ral it be's kinda back, it's pullin' [demon- strates]. Dey tell me it work like dat.
[I describe last demonstration.]
(Or near the left temple.)
Yas, neah de lef' temple or somepin lak it. It pulls. It seems as if some- one is pullin' on de strands of yuh hair. Dere's a strain, yo' know, on yuh hair. Dey say dat's whut dat is [someone burning a candle on you] when yo' have dat. (Well, you've taken some of this mixture, then you do something else you said.) Yo' take dat mixtry [mixture], yo' take it in yore han' jes' like dat. Let yuh han's git wet jes' like dat an' jes' like dis [demonstrates].
(Just rub it right on your scalp.)
De scalp of yuh head. An' sometimes it so severe yo' take de bottle an' po' it like dat [demonstrates]. Jes' douse yo' head wit it good [demonstrates].
(What will that do then?)
Dat eases it, but yo' gotta do dat about two-three days maybe.
(Well, what does that do to the candles?)
Dey say it puts dem out. Dat's whut ah heard, it puts 'em out.
Entry 10185
Git three fo' cornered, yo' know... [probably demonstrated].
(Get three four-cornered files.)
An' git about three, an' put 'em in de third [three] ways: one lak that, an' one lak that, an' one lak that right straight. (One at each side of the house, and one in the middle?) [The files are parallel to the front and two sides of the house.l Dat's it. An' den on de back [inside] of yore house, yo' burn dis heah same stuff - candles, dese same three gold [sometimes called yellow] candles.
Entry 10186
An' then here's another thing. There's - some things are over others zhoo know. You see? Well the nex' thing to do, if you wanted to make 'em leave town or anything like that, you Write their name down 9 times. Understand? An' stop it up in a bottle an' go to the running water, to the river and throw it in. Throw it ovah the left shoulder an' don't look back, an' says, "I wan' zhoo to go." An' then you take a red candle. You get a red candle, you understand now, an you stick you three pins in it. You burn that at 12 a'clock at night, see, an' you make a wish. You says, "I wish my enemies would leave me alone In the Name Of the Lord."
Entry 10187
You git choo a white candle. You put it in a half a glass of water [to serve as a candlestick and precaution against fire]. You light it every night at 9 a'clock. You say, I see no evil, I hear no evil, no evil overtake me, an' think what I told, you pin on you. That's for the law away too: I see no evil, I hear no evil, no evil over- take me. An' yo' let that candle burn a half a hour. You burn that every night. That's to keep the law away. An' then you git 9 safety pins, you understand. Sou you put 'em in each shoe, nine in each shoe, an' if there's one [anyone] happens to come to try to worry you, you cut you a Irish potato half in two an you make 4 parts [by cutting each half into 2 parts]. You take that, you go outdoors an' you throw a piece to the east - that potato be in 4 parts - an' yo throw a piece to the west, an' you throw a piece behind you, an' keep the other [fourth or last piece] on you.
Entry 10188
For success in business either at home or outside the house, bathe with 3 ingredients: bluestone, saltpeter and sugar. Or else bathe with blueing and sugar. Either bath is for personal protection. At place of business mop up with Red Seal Lye and burn brimstone as a purification. But before leaving home for work or opening the house for business, make wishes and light a yellow candle. [Did the maker of this rite realize that in some place during the late Middle Ages prostitutes legally had to wear yellow?]
Entry 10189
Bottle oil of bergamine [bergamot], box cooking soda, teaspoon salt- peter, take bath in that. Break a candle, make a wish, light [same] candle, let candle burn out. Then get brimstone, burn brimstone Monday, Wednes- day and Friday and make wish. Put sugar in it [brimstone], throw into fire. Can make money. [This is a rite for business.]
Entry 10190
Burn candles fo' luck. You take the candle, an' put it in each of the four corners of your house an' on that you sprinkle a little of that sulphur. As ah said, sprinkle a little sulphur on it, and in a few minutes that sulphur will be burned away, but that atmos- phere is still there. You light each one of those candles and burn them, and while those candles are burning you says your prayers, an' that create luck in your house that way.
(What kind of luck do they do that for?)
Any kind of luck.
(What color candle did you say they use?)
Jest a plain white candle.
(Do you burn them at any special time?)
Twelve 'clock at night. You get more results out of those things at that time of night.
Entry 10191
[White candles are lucky and white candles are unlucky. Black candle is a death symbol. When you burn a black candle on a person that's for their death. And white candle is for luck and peace. Black candles are confus- ion. (Red candles are what?) Bloodshed.
Entry 10192
A green candle is for luck [usually green money], red candle is for luck, and a black candle is for devilment; a black and a purple candle, that for devilment to do anybody harm.
Entry 10193
[They] burn dem candles an' call yuh name. An' what chure name, yuh got yore mind on dem, if dey done done sompin tuh yuh. Yuh undahstan', jis' who is done done somepin tuh yuh, an' dey want chew tuh git dat, dey'll burn dem candles about two hours an' a half, an' call yuh name, an' yuh done forgot evahthin' what chew evah had said.
(What kind of candles do you burn?)
Dese five cent candles, jis' about dat high.
Entry 10194
[Informant has a good rite here but fails to explain it.]
Write that name down and put a glass of water - write that name down over a glass of water nine times. Then put that glass of water before dat, put the... Now, I take and I put that glass of water there over that paper and take three swallows out of that glass of water nine mornings [see correction lat- er.] (Drink that water for nine morn- ings.) For nine mornings take three swal- lows out of that glass of water - I mean for three mornings. You take nine swallows out of that glass three mornings. Do that for three mornings. Den after you do dat for three mornings, get you a blue candle and let it burn right over dat man name. Don't you worry about him.
(After you burn that candle over his name.)
[I am merely making a comment to myself.]
What?
(I say, all right, go ahead.)
Well, you just - like I explain. Like you burning that candle over his name, perhaps you don't want the man - you don't wanta see him. You drink three swal- lows of water out of there for three days!!! That keep him away. See you drink three swallows each three time a day, twice in the day, and three [the third] at night. That'll be nine swallows. You take those glasses of water. Then you... see, like you agreein' with him, see you drinkin' with him. Then, you put your candle there and let it burn. Set that candle there and let it burn there.
(What will that do then?)
Well, he can't come there.
(The law can't come there?)
Yes.
(You write the policeman's name down on that piece of paper.)
Shore. (Well, how do you burn that candle? Do you put the candle down in the glass to burn?)
[The shaky answer is according to my following comment.]
(You take the glass away and put the candle on the name?)
That's what you do.
(Long as that candle burns, it keeps him away?)
Shoh, he keeps away, too.
Entry 10195
Three candles are burned: white, green and pink. While burning them keep saying, "To keep the law away." Before you do this hang a red apple over the door. [Red apple or red onion the meaning is the same, customers, as material somewhere in Boodoo explains.]
Entry 10196
Dey burn dose an' den dey read de Bible.
(How do you do that?)
Dey jes' sets 'em all round, but one will do.
(One candle.)
Yes, one will do. Set it in de room an' den yo' git chure Bible an' yo' read a verse, de firs' verse dat chew [see when you] open de Bible. Den yo' read dat. (And what color candle do you use?) Well, yo' kin git de red candle. (What is that supposed to do then?) Yo' burn it fo' luck. (What kind of luck?) Well, luck in anything come in, any kind of business yo' got, dat yo' wanted tuh increase.
Entry 10197
Yo' kin take candles if yo' want luck in yore house. Yo' kin take it an' burn it, burn it at de length of time, wit chure saltpetah an' some cinnamon an' sugar. Dat will bring yuh luck.
(Where do you put these ingredients?)
In a saucer an' den put chure candle on top of it. [Or fix candle in center and ingredients around it.]
Entry 10198
(And what - would I go to a particular saint to have it done?) Yeah, you go to a saint. (What saint would I go to to get that done, I wonder?) It's a church back at - on Malfonmain and Dorbonny, you see. And the saints all up on the place - it's a great big - made like - that's a Catholic church - like a altar. With all dif- ferent saints. And every saint there is a man [or mean] but it do things evil or good.
(Where is this place?)
Malfonmain and Dorbonny.
(It's a spiritualist place, probably?)
No, it supposed to be Catholic.
(I see.)
The informant contrasts things described as evil or good. The editorial ambiguity remains unresolved; no entity identity, inherent moral character or actual effect is established.
Entry 10199
A candle for luck and success you burn to St. Peter. He hold de key in his hand. All right dat opens. They call that open the way for you, you see. St. Raymond that's money. You burn to him and he keeps you with a piece of money; and you got to give him a piece of money, and he keeps you with a piece of money. That's the Way that is. (Do you know any other saints? St. Micahel? Any other saints they burn candles to?) Yes, St. Micahel. They burns to St. Peter, St. Raymond and St. Anthony.
(What do they burn to St. Anthony for?)
They burn to St. Anthony for to bring people back, mens back to - women back when they done quit. You make a wish and burn that light to him. Go to the church anywhere and light a light, if you don't have the saint at the house. If you have had the saint blest and put at your home and you prays to it three times a day, that's to bring anybody back to you what done left you.
(Do you mean three times one after the other, or?)
Three times a day, twelve - say six in morning, twelve in the day, and six in the evening. That's three times, you pray to this saint. And have your light burning. It'll - in nine days you see an improvement.
Entry 10200
St. Raymond, he's fo' tuh git chew jobs an' keep yo' in work. St. Michael is fo' peace. De Virgin Mary is tuh put bread in yore house, keep bread in yore house all de time. An' yo' use St. Michael ag'in fo' furniture dealers an' all. Lak ah owe yo' fo' furniture an' all lak dat an' yo' 'bout to take mah furniture 'way from me. Yo' see yo' set a light to St. Michael, an' yo' give him a green light, one right behin' one 'nothah fo' 'bout eight days or nine days. See. An' that'll cause yo' tuh have - yo' know whut ah mean - give me a chance tuh bring yo' some [green] money.
Entry 10201
(Tell me that again.) Yes, see, if you have a wife and she wouldn't stay home, doing some evil doings, you could pray and burn to St. Michael a red candle. Well, they say, that would be good to stop 'em, to change 'em, but I....
Entry 10202
You do the same thing, you sprinkle the house down with holy water and put your light to your saint, you know. Always keep a light to St. Michael, a red light. (A red light, why?) Well, see, that light, that keeps any evil away from going into your home.
Entry 10203
St. Michael? Well, you take a blue candle and you burn to St. Michael for him; burn the can- dle to conquer your enemies. You get ahead of them, keep them from harming you.
Entry 10204
(St. Jule? St. Jude? or St. Jewel?)
St. Jewel, she is the boss of all saints. When every saint has turned his back on you, that one will work for you. You all set a light to him. (Do you know anything about him [her] about his life?) I don't know anything about his life but I know you sets a yellow light to him and make your wish and you get it. (His name is "Jul".
(You mean Jule.)
Yes, sir.
Entry 10205
They tell me that if you wants any evil work did, get St. Joseph or St. Peter for anything that you want harm did, you know. If you want anything good did, you gets St. Theresa.
(Have you ever heard of St. Expedite?) [No answer.]
Entry 10206
What kin' [of work] you do to make him [thief] bring it back? Now, you go to them [thief] and if you know sure they got it. And you go to them, you tell them, "If you don't want to get in trouble and wants to be nice, you bring it back." And if they don't bring it back to you by that, well then you get their name. Be sure you have their right name and things. And you go and you get you three loafs [loaves of sugar, 3 changed to 4 later]. You would have to get a dime worth of loaf sugar or get a whole box of loaf sugar, for they sells 'em in boxes now. And you get that and you get you a yellow candle and plain white saucer. And you write their name nine times: three times up and three times down and three times crossways. And you put this name in that saucer and you make a wish. And you put your candle in there and you make a wish. When you pour you a couple of drops of [holy?] water in there, you make a wish. And each loaf of sugar [3 here soon changed to 4] you take and set it around that candle, you make a wish. And you light that candle, and they'll bring your things back.
(How many loafs of sugar do you put around there?)
Four.
[Either previous 3 was a mistake or informant decided to use 4.]
(Four loafs of sugar, I see. Why four?)
Well, just four. [Four loaves of sugar with candle in center as here is our familiar quincunx rite.] (I see, just four. Now, how do you mean, you write those names three up. Show me how you write those names.) You write three thisaway, there. Three thataway...
(Yes, three that way. One over the other, all right.)
[The name, usually a single one, is written one over the other 3 times.]
And then you take and you turn your paper around and you write three this way [demonstrates].
(Across those other three.)
[This makes the letter X.]
Three. You write three like this.
(Yes, I understand.)
On that piece, on that side. (All right. Now, here's the three names. Now, I turn it around. Do I cross that, cross the three?) You see, it's this way. You write them three times, write three thataway and then you turn it around, and you write three thisaway. And then you take and you write three thisaway, cross that way.
(Cross them [each 3] over at an angle. I see.)
Cross 'em over in a angle. And then when you fold it, you fold it in an angle; and every time you fold it, you fold it to yourself.
[Folding in angles means we are making triangles.]
(I write three names like this, one under each other. Like that?)
Uh huh.
[I tear page from note book and write names.]
(Here we are, just like that.)
Just like that. (I turn this around [the sheet of paper upside down] and write the three names like that, right over the other three names?) Like that, right over the other three names.
(I see. Then I turn it around again and then cross it down like that?)
Like that, like that.
(I see, like you are making the letter "N" - that way.)
[I was wrong about the letter 'N'. This was before I became aware of the X and *.1 Thataway and then when you fold it, get you a powder they [hoodoo store] got. They got the pink and they has the yellow [later changed to brown]. You get this povder and you sprinkle it in the whole four corners. [Here, instead of a three- cormered paper we are back at four-cornered one.] You see, you have, if you get tvo rooms or three rooms, whatever room it is, and you get you a loaf of this sugar and you put a loaf in each corner of your room. [Here it is evident we have a quincunx.] Well, if you got a saint - St. Expedite or Mother of Perpetual Help - you put it [picture or small statue] there, and you say, Well, Mother of?erpetual Help, I'm leaving, I'm leaving the house up to you, hoping that you won't let no one come in and steal nothing out of my house. And you put the loaf [loaves] of sugar around in the corners of the rooms, [the picture or statue of Mother of Perpetual in center of room] and you fasten your house and you go away.
(You go away.)
And go away and leave it into [hands of] Mother of Perpetual Help.
(What kind of powder do you put around?)
You get them love powders.
(Love powders?)
Love powders.
(What kind of love powder?)
They got the pink love powders. And you get the loaf sugar and you put a loaf - one loaf - in each corner of the house [or room if you are living in a
(What other colors of love powders have they? They have a pink.)
They got a pink and they got a brownish looking love powder.
Entry 10207
Tuh make 'em [thief or casual borrower] bring it back, dat's a easy mrtah tuh be come, [that] is tuh git a blue candle, yassuh, an' write dat indi- vid'al name on dat blue candle. An' write dem a note concernin' whut dey taken Sr yuh. An' take some dragon blood, an' sprinkle dat note good wit dragon's blood, an' put de note down. An' put chew a piece of John de Conkah - sprinkle some John de Conkah powdahs [from hoodoo drugstore] on dis note wit dat dragon blood. An' light dat candle. An' light it but don' light it in de mawnin' - jes' burn it at night. See, burn it evah night six 'clock an' let it burn till ten minutes aftah six. An' whatsomevah ah've from yuh ah'll bring it back tuh yuh in less time den seven days.
(Where do you put this note and this candle?)
Put it jes' anywhere in a saucah or in a bowl, somepin othah, but chew kin put it anywheah roun' in de house, up undah de dressah or behin' de bed, jes' any- wheah jes' since it's burnin'. (I mean what do you do with this note. Do you wrap this note around the can- dle?) No suh, yuh spread de note down in yuh saucah or yore bowl whatsomevah yuh burnin' de candle in. Spread it down jes' lak it's - it has tuh be a small piece, yuh know, somepin lak dat [demonstrates size] wit dat name wrote on it. An' sprinkle it good wit dat dragon blood, an' den sprinkle it good wit dat John de Conkah powdah - wit de name wrote on it. An' de name is wrote on de candle an' jes' put it down dere, an' jes' tell me [the thief] say, "Now, ah mean fo' yuh tuh bring so-an'-so back tuh me an' ah don't mean maybe.' An' jes' cuss me an' say, "Ah mean fo' yuh tuh brint it tuh me, an' ah don't mean maybe. Hurry up an' bring it." An' light de candle an' jes' be talkin' tuh me while yo' lightin' de candle. (You put that candle on top of the note?) [This is not a leading question, informant having already said yuh spread de note down in yuh saucah.] Jes' set de candle right on top de note. An' as dat candle burn, well dat rouse up mah [thief's] mind about what ah done done, an' in less time den seven days ah be done brought whatsomevah ah stole back tuh yuh.
Entry 10208
If there's something that you don't want taken regardless of what it is, if you don't want it taken - for an instance if you take, if you lock your house they going to break in, and you don't know how to do for to keep 'em from taking your things. Well, then, first I would go and I would get me some sassafras [roots or pieces of bark]. I'd get some sassafras and I'd get me a knife and I'd trim this sassafras, see. I'd trim it and every little piece that I'd whittle off it [demonstrates].
(Every piece that comes off, what do you do with that?)
Every piece I trim off - I'm going to trim it off until I get to nine pieces, and every time I get the nine pieces, I'd count the nine pieces. I'd get them nine pieces and I'm going to put nine pieces here [demonstrates]. I cut off until I get nine more pieces and I'm going to put that there until I get four times nine. See? Well, all right. Now, I'm going to set it on the outside of my door. That's the corner of my house and that's the corner of my house. I'm going to set nine pieces there and nine pieces there, and at the back end of my house. I'm going to set nine pieces.
(You have nine pieces in each corner of the house.)
In each corner of the house, but on the outside. Under my house, if I can get under there and get to where the fire part is - the fire-hearth part is; under the house, you know.
(You what?)
Get under the house, underneath the house and get to the fire-hearth, see.
(Oh, the chimney - the fire-hearth.)
Yes, the chimney. I take and I put me a Bible there. I put that Bible there. I puts the Bible up under that house and I puts a candle there, and I leave that candle burning, see, and I leave the Bible open. But I put a piece of something in front where nobody can't learn that candle's burning there, you see, and leave it burning there. And then I come out from under that house and I locks my door, and as I'm coming out I'm sprinkling a little sugar, you see. I sprin- kle sugar as I come out, you see, until I get at least fifty feet from my house, you see. Then I won't sprinkle no more sugar and I can go and stay from three or four days and come back. Nobody will go in that house, nobody never go in there.
(What sort of a candle do you burn on that chimney?)
I'm got a ordinary white candle. (A white candle, I see.) [Here we have a quincunx, 4 corners and a double central point - Bible and candle.] [New Orleans, La., (832), 1249:2.] [If the reader is approaching this multi-volumed HOODOO archive for the first time, he or she must be told that the present beliefs and rites about sex are perely a continuation of 167 pages of similar material published in volume 3, Nos.3ll0-3830, Pp.2341-2509; material listed in logical sequence according to the Table of Contents for volumes 5, 4 and 3. The material now following could not be so conveniently arranged, though it does have a certain amount of alpha- betical order and other continuity. I am dividing this section into two parts: (1) COMPLETE RITES and (2) CONDENSED RITES, these latter sometimes a reference oaly.]
Entry 10209
I hear'd about a woman taking a man's nature sure 'nough. After she menstr'ate two days, she'll take off dat piece, put dat piece down dere an' put it jes' in dat water and soak it. She takes a new linen han'ke'ch'ef and wash it. (A new red handkerchief.) No, linen. Linen, so it get soft. When he discharge, she ketch it on the han'ke'ch'ef. All right. She get bolt of dat noy and she put it in dat water to soak it, and she wring it out. And vring Lc dirty piece out and pour it in a bottle, and go down at lou water, lov tide, and when the tide is out, and put it in dere. When dat tide come in, she [tide] carries it with her, and the tide carry it out. No matter how many years, he's in for life. He's gone dere. (Is there any way he can get that off of him?) [There is no answer. It may have been lost.l
Entry 10210
Ah heard dat if a man is tied up by his wife an' can't git no nature fo' no othah woman, den he takes an' gits him a bottle of Hearts Cologne. An' when he gits dat bottle of Hearts Cologne, he'll go to where dere's anothah woman dat's havin' her periods. An' he take dat Hearts Cologne an' he - aftah de cloth is dried hard, he take dat dere Hearts Cologne an' put it on dere, an' git it dissolved good an' squeeze it out. An' he takes dat den, dat solution, an' bathe himself with it.
(Bathe his tool?)
Yessuh, an' dat gives him a nature fo' anothah woman. Dat's whut ah heard.
Entry 10211
Well, yo' take one of 'er socks, jes' one of 'er stockin's, if yo' kin fin' dit, or eithah her menst'ration cloth. Well mos' people take de menst'ration cloth an' take a quart jah see, an' ketch [rain] watah. Jes' set yore quart jah out in de yard when it rains an' let it run full of watah [see comment later] an' take dat menst'ration cloth an' put it down in dere [the rain water] an' keep it [in the rain water] for nine days. An' aftah de ninth day she be - well, she'll go crazy for you. (Well, that breaks the spell, she had him tied up, when she ties up your [a man's] nature.) Yes sir. [First an empty quart jar set out in the yard during a rain is not going to fill up with water, despite the hoodoo powers of my informant. Finally: if a woman ties up a man, takes away his nature for all women except her, the present rite restores his nature completely.] [Rain water, like running Water, is a magic substance: see No.1431, p.467, v.1; etc.]
Entry 10212
Tuh separate 'em. Yo' take dis man when he deal wit yo'. Yo' wanta break dem [man and other woman] up. Yo' take dis man when he deals wit yo' an' yo' take dat towel dat yo' an' him uses, see. An' yo' take dis towel tuh dis woman's house - if yo' kin locate where she live at - dis woman he's runnin' roun' wit. Den yo' bury dis towel down right at her do'step, where she have tuh come out at. Yo' bury dat towel dere an' den yo' take some bluein' - Purity Bluein', see. See, yo' takes bluein' an' ink an' mix it up combined. Yo' kin jis' sprinkle dat towel, on dere, an' den yo' bury dat towel right up undah- neath whah she have tuh walk at. Dat'll break it up. Dat break it up, too.
Entry 10213
She kin measure him if she wanta with a string or with ribbon when he goes tuh sleep. She kin tie that roun' her laig or she kin put it in her pocketbook or in her pillow an' she kin control him, but that will lead to accidents in de long run. He'll hurt her.
Entry 10214
I hear dat she could take a strand of häh out of a boy's head an' - this is a little bad - put it down an' [while he is asleep] measure hisself [she measures his penis with his hair]. An' she took that hah an' put it in a bag, an' put it up under huh ähm where she sweat at, an' he couldn't do nuthin to no other woman but her.
Entry 10215
After she measures that [man's penis], she gets some of your [man's pubic] hair, mixes that together, puts it in a little bag and wears it between her legs down here, and thereon he's her man. [Freder- icksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 10216
Or, dey say, if yo' take de measure of him down below an' wear it in a bottle on yo', dat will stop him. He cain't go wit anyone else.
(In a small bottle.)
Entry 10217
Wal, she measure him dere. She takes dat length an' she measure him lak dat an' she takes yore hair an' begin dat thing about dat. She takes de string an' takes dat measure of dat [demonstrates a hand]. (Of the hand?) Dis one [demonstrates]. (The left hand?) Dat's right [informant contin- ues to demonstrate, I describe actions]. (And she measures the middle finger....from the end of the middle finger, right up over the hand joining to the wrist. And from the second joint of the middle finger down to that bone.)
[Bone = wrist bone, see later.]
She takes dat den, takes dat little cotton string an' holds it an' vraps it. Takes dat hearts [Hearts Cologne] an' put it on it, an' ever' time dat she messes wit chew, yo' see, she take it an' put her han' lak dat. An' when she git through she rub dat on yo'. Dere's no other woman dat chew kin bother wit.
(She rubs that string on herself after.)
Zackly.
(But how could she measure a man? Would he let her measure him that Way?)
Dat's de length of his.... [informant demonstrates].
(Oh! I see, she has to measure his hand - he's asleep - so he won't know it.)
She kin do it if he ain't wise, ain't got no sense. She could [say], "Let's see ho' long yo' finger - long as mine." Jes' lak dat. See, dat's de way dey get it.... [informant demonstrates again while I comment]. (They measure the middle finger of the left hand, the second knuckle from the top dam to that protruding bone right by the wrist joint.) [Here a woman afraid to measure a man, substitutes a left-hand measurement supposed to indicate his size!]
Entry 10218
Ah've heard dat if a man wanted to ketch his wife, why he would be dit her an' he would take a han'kerchief an' ketch de discharge from her, an' git I piece of her hair, an' he would put it in a cloth wit dat discharge an' dry it; br he yould wrap dis hair in wit dat an' wear it. An' if she have connection wit a man why he would swell so he couldn't git out of her, an' dat would cause de husban' tuh ketch her. (Then he would use the hair from her head.) [The discharge here is not menstrual blood but the substanceformerlythoughtto resemble man's semen and to cooperate with it in the production of life. Folk- lore knew nothing about a woman's ova or eggs. Elsewhere I have called her dis- charge 'female semen in accordance with folk belief - No.3196, p.2359, v.3.]
Entry 10219
Say, now a woman and she has a husband, and she doesn't want him to have anything to do with any other woman in the sex line. She goes to the store and she buys a brand-new big [white] pocket han'ke'ch'ef. (What kind of a pocket handker- chief?) A brand-new white pocket han'ke'- ch'ef. She takes that back home to the bed and tonight she fool with him. She will use that to wipe him on, don't cha know. And she won't use that on herself. All right. She wait until he's gone and then she'll take that and she bury it in a small jar, don't cha know, right in front of the steps where he'll have to walk over that whensomever he comes. He kin go wherever he wants and be with whoever he wants to, but he can't have nothing to do with 'em.
(Well, suppose a man did that [to a woman]?)
That just reversing it. Reversed it. When she bury it, she'll bury it on the bottom [of jar]. He'll take it and bury it on de top, on end [turn it upside down so that handkerchief will be against reversed top of jar].
(Well, how do you mean she buries it on the bottom - bottom of what?)
Bottom of the jar. Put it in the jar, see, and she gotta set the jar down and bury it. Well, he'll go there, why he just take it and put it outside of that, the way she had - upside down, the bottle up.
(I see, that fixes her, sees that she can't get away.)
I mean that she can't get away. See, the only way she kin get away is when the top rots off and the rag rots up.
Entry 10220
Burdock is a dry herb that chew buy. Yo' buy it from the Hindu people [someone pictured with a turban] also. An' in taking baths an' usin' olive oil an' things lak that, that's when his nature will come back.
Entry 10221
Boil a cicada in lard and grease man's tool with it to cure a spell of im- potence. [The magic here is probably be- cause the insect sings, then comes out of a hard shell it leaves behind; a symbol of escape, new life and singing with joy!]
Entry 10222
De coconuts, dey got some of 'em two an' three holes [eyes] in 'em. Yo' take yore knife an' cut dat top [round black spot or eye] outa dat hole befo' yo', git to dat watah [or milk inside coconut]. Yo' take dat top [eye] yo' cut outa dere, an' let dat dry. Den yo' take dat an' yo' dry it." Yo' dry it. Aftah yo' dry it yo' burn it into a coal [by burning] an' yo' ground [grind] it up. Den yo' take de hair, yo' shave all de hair off dat coconut, an mix dat [hair and eye powder] together. An' yo' kin take dat in yore pocket an' if yo' got a woman, well when yo' use dat wit her, she cain't have nobody. Yo' take dat [coconut] hair an' yo' rub it in yore han' an' yo' rub it on her, an' she cain't have nobody. [She is impotent for all men by you.] If anybody [any man approach] her dey heart gonna fall.
(You just have this hair. All you use is this hair from the coconut?)
De hair an' de top [ground-up eye] of it. Yo' know whut ah'm talkin' 'bout, whut chew cut out, de hole where de [coconut] milk is gotta come outa dere. Well ah use dat wit de hair together. See, ah take dat an' when dat gits dry, well ah'll parch dat all up together wit de hair an' makes a ashes out of it. Dat de same as a powder.
Entry 10223
Take a dishrag. If yo' wanta man to mess wit nobody but chew, jes' take a dishrag an' have intercourse an' dry on dat dishrag, an' take it an' put it - keep it somewhere yo' know. An' when he start to mess wit someone else he'll fall jes' lak a dishrag. He can't mess wit no one.
Entry 10224
Yo' take a dishcloth. An' when yo' have comnection wit him, yo' wipe him wit dat cloth an' put it ovah de front of de fo'. An' den he can't leave [or have] nobody aftah dat.
Entry 10225
Yo' go take it - de dishrag - yes sir, an' let him wipe wit it, but don't chew wipe wit it. An' take it to a ironing bo'd an' iron it - out stiff - an' chunk it in a crack up ovah de do'. An' it will make bim fall every time he go to have somepin tuh do with somebody 'cept yo'.
Entry 10226
If he has an inter- co'se wit his wife, she takes a dishrag an' cleans him off an' takes an' bury it in de fiahplace; takes an' bury it while it's damp any place, an' he can't have no interco'se wit no othah woman but her.
Entry 10227
A woman kin go to her kitchen an' git de disbrag an' let him wipe wit it. Take dis dishrag an' bury it in de east cormer [one of the east corners] of de house, an' if he go to other woman in dis town, he back out
[unable to keep appointment].
Entry 10228
Jes' him an' her could mate together. She would take de dishrag an' give it to him an' let him use it, an' take it an' put it in de middle of her mattress an' sleep on it ever' night. Dat will keep him from messin' wit any othah woman.
Entry 10229
Like you havin' to do with 'er an' she'll take a dishcloth an' she'll wipe you with de dishcloth. An' she'll take dat dishcloth an' she'll care it an' put it under her bed or under her pillah, see, an' yo' couldn't mess with a yoman to save your life. If dat man [or you] got sense now, he kin git rid of dat. Why, he go, if he wan'a git rid of it, he'll go an' steal...or yo' go [to] somebody house an' yo' steal de dishcloth, see. You go [got to] have sumpin to do with her, or any other woman, an' you'll wipe with dat dishcloth. An' yo' take dat dishcloth an' fold it right tight. An' he kin wear it with him or put it somewhere where nobody but him can reach it but him. An' she can't do nuthin with nobody but you.
Entry 10230
(To get your wife back?)
Yes sir.
(How do you do that?)
You just go out there to them front steps and you kin take a piece of her toe of her stocking or the heel, and she [not] going to pass over that. She - all you gotta do is to git it down in de ground under them steps, de toe of her stocking or de heel, or a piece out of her bloomers, out of de seat of them. Put it down in there under them steps and bury it, and if a man comes there, he won't come up them steps. He come there and - and call her and they'll stand there and talk. And if she want anything at de store, she send him. She ain't going to go out of there.
Entry 10231
Ah hear'd dere wuz a lady once taken a girl's dress an' taken de front of it out, an' torn de front of it out so she'd be [weak] in de front [of her body]. She takes dis piece of de dress an' buries it, buries it right where it would have chills an' things an' she wun't [wouldn't] have no nature fo' no man.
(Did she tear the dress out?)
Dey [she] to' [tore] de front of it out.
(The whole front of it out.)
Entry 10232
De only thing dat ah heard, whether dey tried it on dem or not, dey say if a woman wants to keep a man home, she kin take her drawers, yo' know, an' boil it. Make a tea out of it an' give it to him. An' he kin go out dere. Any place dey give dem tea, like if yo' be done eatin' in a place an' dey fix chew tea an' dey kin po' it in yore tea. An' yo' kin drink dat a couple of mawnin's - three or fo' mawn- in's - an' yo' kin go out but chew ain't goin' be no good out. Yo' jes' be out dere, it ain't a thing yo' kin do out dere.
Entry 10233
He use de cloth, yo' know, an' yo' [woman] bury it right down in [under] de eave [eaves] where de rain wash off de house, an' dat will conkah dem [man]. Dat makes him stay home [keep him away from other women].
(The cloth with which the woman has wiped the man?)
Yea, dat's right. Dat's it. Bury dat right down 'neath de house. Dat's good.
Entry 10234
Dis aig - yo' take an' buy yo' a bottle of gingerale, an' break de aig into a glass an' po' de gingerale on top of it, an' stir it up like yo' making milk-shake, yo' know, an' drink it. Dat brings it [sexual potency] back. Do dat three times a day. (That brings your nature back?) Yes. (Drink that three times a day and it will bring your nature back.)
Entry 10235
Yo' kin take a black hen's aig an' take a wet new cloth an' wipe dat aig, an' ball dat cloth up an' sew it in de pillah, an' dey said dat man can't go wit anothah woman to save his life; an' if he do, he can't come to save his life. Ah seen a man fixed fo' dat last week. (You mean sew that up in his pil- low?) In his pillah whut he sleep on evah night.
Entry 10236
There's a root called the "sang" root, you kin put it in a....
(Called what root?)
Called the "sang."
(Sang?)
Sang root. You put it in a - it's got a little prong up on it. It's kind of - it's nothin' but a root but it's got a little prong at the top. Put that in what they call holy oil with the little prong standing up. And it's called "erectus" root. It's a little red. (What do you call it?) Called "erex" ["erectus"] root. And keep it [root] up in that stuff [holy oil] and put it in there with it, so he kin 'noint his body. Let it die with it. "Co'se [of course] if you [a woman] go with any man, like dat, why yo' kin just offer it to him and he'll fall for you and he'll have.... [word "erection prob- ably not in informant's vocabulary].
(Now that "sang root, do you mean ginseng root?)
It's the same. We always just call it just "Sang root.
(Sang root?)
It's a little ole bunch at the bottom, nothing but a root at the bottom, but it got a little prong at the top. (I see.) [At one time there was a fair amount of trade in specially shaped ginseng roots, shaped like the parts of the human body that were ailing - the present part for example - especially in the old China trade.]
Entry 10237
He wus a married man, she wanted him. All right. She goes to this here ole lady, this ole lady in Chattanooga, Tenn., called Aunt Dinah. Eberbody in Chattanooga - you can call her name from here and eberbody - you can ast de co'thouse about her, jes' ast anybody. Jes' call de co'tenhouse [because her special- ity was court cases] and ast any- thing about Aunt Dinah, an' you'll git hist'ry of her from right here today. She goes to Aunt Dinah. Aunt Dinah says, "Well, kin you go to sleep with him?" She says, "Yes." "Can you have dealings with him?" She said, "Yes." She says, "You take a string, and when you have dealings with him, ' she says, "you measure around him." When she measured this man around here, she carries that to Aunt Dinah. Aunt Dinah takes that and she buried it in graveyard dirt. And after she let it stay in graveyard dirt two day, she told her to carry it back. She wrapped it up in red flannel and put old sharp needles, points stickin' straight up, and [said]: "Carry that back and sew it up in your bedtick. Put it on the side where he's got to sleep; and as long as that is in your tick, that man will stay with you and he'll quit his wife."
Entry 10238
An' den it's anothah one, see. Dis [first] woman, yo' know, loved dis man. Dis man, he wuz goin' wit a [second] woman. An' she [first woman] loved him yo' know, an' she wouldn't do nuthin [to stop himl. He would do dat. So [first woman] she says, "Well, he's good to me, "' says, ''but he goes out an' has a big time wit othah wimmin." Says, "Ah'm goin' stop dat." Okay. Dey goes to bed dat night an' dey got connection together, yo' know. Oh Lawd, she wus so good to him. Oh gee! An' dis an' dat an' so. An' so she says, "Wait a minute, honey, ah'll dry yo'." She take a new han'ke'ch'ef an' she dried him. When she dry him, she dry him lak dis - lak dis [demonstrates but not on body].
(Upward three times.)
Three times, yeah. An' de last time she'd jes' lak dat, yo' see. Stop dat rag [handkerchief] dere. "Oh, baby, it was so good, so nice. Oh Lawd." She stretches her lak dat. Mmmah. Dat [semen] caught in her han's, see. Threw it [new handkerchief] down [on the floor]. So she taken dat rag dat nex' mawnin' - she takes dat rag an' she sews it up in de pillah dere. An' he lay on dat ever' night fo' [until] nine mawnin's. An' de ninth mawnin' she takes dat out an' she puts it on another place. An' from dat day on, she could go off her- self, an' he nevah did have chance 'nuff to he himself do lak dat. An' when he do lak dat, it wuz her all de time. Jes' kept together.
Entry 10239
Keep a man from runnin' roun'. Well, now, yo' kin take a woman - jes' lak if she got a husban' an' he likes tuh run roun', why yo' [she] take dem bed rags dey use. Why she kin jes' take dat an' tie a knot in 'em after yo' [he] git through with it, an' jes' keep it up in de bed somewhere. Why he can't run out after no other woman but dem [her].
Entry 10240
New pocket handkerchief - woman wipes man - rolls up handkerchief to her [making long roll or cylinder, a phallic symbol] - ties into a hard knot - unties knot - unrolls hand- kerchief - spread it out flat and keeps it that way under bedtick - in middleways of bed [creating the fifth or center point among the four bedposts, making a quincunx]. [Bedtick is a spring- less mattress filled with dried moss, leaves, cornhusks, dried grass, all sorts of things. This impotence magic is my condensed transcription of long rite missed by transcriber.]