Browse:Broom (Volume 1, entries 1135–1143)
Broom
Volume 1, entries 1135–1143. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → FOLK MEDICINE → CURE AND PROTECTION. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 1135
Yo' takes de broomstraw [from a used broom], dey says, an' boil it an' boil it in watah till it comes right yellah - hit'll come yellah. Dey say yo' kin drink dat; cure any kinda cold.
Entry 1136
Dey take two broomstraws an' wear it right in de mole [mold] of dey haid. Well, dat's jes' only a little simple remedy fo' headaches - lak if some people got a headache, well dat broomstraw is fo' dat purpose. It's no evil purpose in that.
Entry 1137
If somebody have come to yore house an' yo' don't want them come there agin or somethin' lak that, take three straws out chure broom an' put 'em up ovah yore do' there an' name one of 'em, "Name de Father, Name of de Son an' Name of de Holy Spirit," an' den yo' put a little sulphur an' salt on it an' tell it whut chew want it tuh do. Tell it, "Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost, ah don't Want 'em tuh come back heah no mo', ah don't want 'em return." Let them straws stay up there an' don't take 'em down.
Entry 1138
I have heard that sometimes, if they die dissatisfied about something and they will keep coming back until they tell somebody, if the ghost comes in the door annoying you about midnight, that is the time they usually come, put nine broomstraws across the door so they join together, and they can't cross it. A broom sweeps out. That will sweep the spirit out.
Entry 1139
Jes' lak if somebody goin' come to yore house an' - yo' take the nine straws out de broom an' you set those straws - lak if yo' have a piece of cloth, yo' set those straws an' yo' take nine needles an' stick in those straws into the [cloth] piece, an' yo' put it up ovah yore do' where dose peoples comes in, an put dere name behin' de [cloth] piece lak dis, "In de Name of de Father an' de Son, ah want chew tuh stay 'way." Dey come all in at one time an' dey goin' out de back do' an' dey won't come in no mo'.
Entry 1140
Heard of 'em usin' a broom string - dey use dat fo' cramps. If someone have tricked yo', yo' take a broom string. First yo' take it from de opposite end an' den dip it in some vinegar, an' den take it an' bring it roun' yore waist an' tie it in nine knots all de way. An' dat drives de cramps away. (You said, when you have cramps you tie this string, from the broom, round your waist, and tie nine knots in it and let the knots stay over your navel.) Let it hang ovah de navel. [You unwind the string backwards from the broom, beginning at de opposite end, the last part of the string sewed to the broom. This is a backwards rite, one of many reversing actions in magicl]
Entry 1141
Ah heard dat yo' kin take a broom an' put it 'cross de do' an' if it's a person dat has bad wishes against yo' or any evil against yo', dey wouldn't walk ovah it.
Entry 1142
You can take a broom and take two straws out of that broom - of course, jis' like I'm sitting here - when I git ready to go out I wouldn't pay attention what's on this floor. You take those two straws and you cross them, just like I would put one here and one there and put 'em any place she have to go and sit down." Just put them where she gotta walk over to go and sit down. But you gotta cross 'em - well, I say just like that [she shows how]. Now, if she walk over them straws - or either you can put a broom down somewhere and if she make a mistake and walks over that broom - or if she makes a mistake where you put a, tie a horse or anything and she walk over that rope - well, she'll never be delivered of it.
(She'll never deliver that child.)
No000. Just an ordinary broom, and either walk over a rope tied to a horse.
Entry 1143
Yo' take broom sage [broom sedge = broom grass]; de ole-time broom sage whut people used tuh sweep flo's wit. Dat whut yo' speakin' of [not of the modern broom].
(Yes.)
All right. Yo' go to de - if yo' got any ole smokehouse or wherevah yo' keep it an' yo' take this broom sage an' make yo' a tea off it an' drink it. Dat will break up de croup. (Break up the croup. You mean this old-fashioned home-made broom? What they made out of broom sedge?) Yes, but chew go an' break it lak dat. [Fayetteville, N. C., (1397), 2516:4.]
[Broom rites are many - see Sweeping, No. 1061, p.402, and Index.]