Browse:Anvil Dust (Volume 1, entries 1709–1710)
Anvil Dust
Volume 1, entries 1709–1710. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 1709
Yo' carries lodestone or yo' carries garlic in a bag - yo' sews that up in a little bag. Git chew a piece of garlic an' git chew some lodestone an' some of dis anvil dust an' a little sugah in there, an' yo' jis' sew that up together in dat little red cloth an' yo' keep it in yore pocket an' yo' po' whiskey on it, an' when yo' goin' in why yo' rubs that in yore han' an' keep it in yore pocket where yo' kin git chure han' on it.
(That's for luck in gambling?)
Sho'. [Lodestone = drawing power, forcing anything (money here) toward you; garlic = protection against evil, specifically, against anyone in the game trying to kill your gambling hand (see margin-titles Salt and Sex later for killing a hand); anvil dust = durability, strength, and ability to attract anything toward user; Sugar = peace, here the sweetening of competitive and sometimes combative dis- positions round you; red = symbol of life within and a warning against intruders; po' whiskey = feeding a hand, technical term for maintaining its life; whiskey = the spirit within the hand likes whiskey (see No. 77, p.32; No. 411, p.122, and Index); rubs = rubbing Aladdin's lamp, which signals the spirit within the hand to act.]
Entry 1710
(They take anvil dust and keep it close to them like lodestone?)
Uh-huh an' jis' lak, yo' know, dey keep dat in dere pocket an' jis' lak dey gamblin', dey run a han' down in dere pocket where dat dust is. Well, dey pick de craps up an' roll 'em on de table. Well, yo' see dat anvil dust is jis' lak lodestone. Well, it'll draw dem craps an' make it fall on 'leben or any point dey's trying tuh git. It'll make 'em fall on dere.