Browse:FOLK MEDICINE (Volume 1, entries 963–1706)/Part 6
FOLK MEDICINE
Volume 1, entries 963–1706. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
1 listed entry is unavailable here.
Entries
Entry 1364
If a spirit-lak worryin' yo', well yo' kin open a pocketknife an' put it in yore pocket an' no spirit can't harm yo' - any kind of pocket- knife an' put it in yore pocket an' walk off.
[See jack-o'-lantern, No. 136, p.46.]
Entry 1365
A root fellah tole me de way he done tuh keep 'em off him. Ah axed him, 'How come, '' ah said, "dey don't bother you?" He showed me, he said, "Yo' see dat knife sticking up dere on dat tree - sticking right opposite to de way dey come?" See, he had a pocketknife sticking right up in de tree, de forks of 'em. An' he say dat pocketknife is to keep dem offa him. An' ah axed him what did he do wit dat pocketknife. He say he had written de name down on a bar of soap - Oxol Soap, an' den he take dat bar of Oxol Soap an' go to de washstand and wash it away, and dat mean dat wash dem peoples, if dere's any of 'em his enemies jes' clean away from 'im. He can't be bothered about 'em.
(What kind of soap? What color is it?)
Brown Oxol [Oxydol] Soap. Lak if ah don't want tuh be bothered wit a person an' ah know he worrying me, ah write his name wit a piece of - take a match stem, anything, an' jes' write his name on dat bar of soap and go out dere to de washstand and jes' wash your hands till yo' wash it aways. Dat gits rid of dat.
Entry 1366
Yo' take yore knife an' [from your tooth] git a drop or two of blood on dat knife, an' den yo' take it to dat tree, de black gum tree. Yo' git dat blood outa dere an' den take dat knife an' go dere an' chip dat tree, an' stick dat knife in dere an' den put de chip back ovah it an' leave it there. Dat cure yore toothache.
Entry 1367
[A few knots were given in Nos. 1016-1025, pp.389-391.] Fo' cramps, or say if yo' havin' chills an' fever, tie one [string] roun' her waist an' put three knots in dere an' wear it. Do dat, dat'll counteract that.
(Just tie these three knots into a string?)
Yes.
The eligible wording is the interviewer clarification, followed by Yes; the earlier bracketed string remains a separate editorial insertion.
Entry 1368
If you be having chills, you see, [you] kin take a piece of cord string and just as many chills as you done have, you just tie a knot in there and dip it in some turpentine and tie it back round yo' waist; if you done have five chills, you put five knots in that string there and tie it round yo' waist. That's going to stop them chills.
Entry 1369
That's another thing in chills that you kin do. You kin take a cord string and fit it around your waist, that is, leave it long enough to tie. And if you having any chills or anything like that, you put it down in turpentine and pull it out - dip it down with your finger and tie it around your waist. It's a sure cure for chills and fever. It'll re'lly break 'em up that will, too. Put nine knots in it - see, nine knots and if you do it, you ain't goin' to have no more chills. You might have one more but after it you won't have no more. Wear it nine days around your waist and after that you kin take it off and burn it up. Them chills is gone. [Cf. No. 1019, p.390.]
Entry 1370
For backache you take a cord string and you tie nine knots in it and get you a bottle of turpentine and wet that string good in that turpentine and wear that around your waist. And that turpentine will kill the pains in your back.
Entry 1371
Git chew a string an' tie nine knots into that string an' dip it in de turpentine an' tie it roun' dey haid an' dat a good cure fo' headache. Ah've tried that, yes. [Cf. No.1024, p.391.]
Entry 1372
If yo' have de headache, ah've heard dat one. Jes' lak yo' have de headache an' can't git rid of de headache - headache's worryin' yo' all de time. Every time yo' turn roun' de headache worryin' yo', yo' go ahead an' take yo' a thread string an' tie nine knots in it - take it to de back of yore haid an' tie nine in de back. Jes' take it aftah yo' tie nine heah - tie nine heah at de back of it but tie nine heah, too. Nine on de fo'head an' nine on dat rope [string] behin', see. Jes' tie nine back dere an' dat'll stop de headache.
Entry 1373
If it's a fever dat chew have nevah been cured of befo' - that is if it's a fever dat yo' wus goin' round wit - if it wus malary fever - that yo' could take an' tie nine knots in a piece of string an' take an' tie it round yore waist an' sleep wit it at night, an' git up in de mawnin' time an' go an' tie it round a tree - jes' any kinda tree an' leave it wit'out lookin' back.
(That would cure you?)
Yes sir, dat would cure yo' because ah've done dat.
Entry 1374
[These are protection hands against evil intent. A better description of lodestone qualities and uses will be found under subdivision Hands and in Index.] Git lodestone, cayenne peppah an' sugah - not salt, sugah. Git lode- stone, genuine lodestone from de drugsto' an' yo' git chew some sugah an' cayenne peppah, not black peppah, an' sew it into a flannel an' wear it right in yore hip pocket where yore watch go in at. An' that crosses yore enemies - they cain't harm yo'.
Entry 1375
Ah hear that yo' kin git a piece of lodestone and take a needle and break in three parts and on a Friday morning - be sure it's on a Friday morning, and stick each part of that needle in de side of that lodestone. Sew it up in a red piece of flannel and wear it and dey can't do you no harm.
Entry 1376
Yo' git yo' a little bit of saltpeter and a little table salt and a little tiny bit of lodestone and yo' put dat together. Git yo' a piece of red flannel - jes' a red little shallow cloth like, and roll it up in a piece of red flannel and make a knot out of it, and you take that flannel and yo' take you a string and tie it and wear it around yore waist. And yo' take that thing and yo' reduce [feed] that thing with Hearts Cologne fer nine days, and den that breaks it up - dey can't come dere.
(What can't?)
If dey tryin' do somepin to yuh - keep it away.
Entry 1377
[Hoodoo lye is almost always Red Devil or Red Seal commercial brands, the former more frequent than the latter, and both bearing pictorial labels of symbolic significance - magic and legal approval.] If they find a red spider on the steps, they get lye, concentrated lye. Red Devil Iye they call it - it's the same kind but they get the kind that's got the red devil on it. They seem to think that the devil will have some effect on it, but you see it's nothing - that's only the man's trademark. But dey don't even seem to realize that. Well, they'll scrub that porch off with it and sprinkle sulphur and sugar around - burn it, you know. And they'll burn sulphur on an ole shoe sole. That's to dispel the witchcraft that people will put down.
Entry 1378
Git a can of potash - Devil Lye. Yo' hear talk of Devil Lye with the devil with the red head on the can of potash. Git chew nine nails - ten-penny nails an' git - put in nine new needles, dese goldeye needles. Bury it in de center of de gate. Dat's to turn back de devil-like - dat's if anybody tryin' tuh hurt cha.
(What do you do with these needles and nails? Where do you put them?)
Put them on top of that can of potash in the gate, when yo' bury it about that deep.
Entry 1379
Is dey botherin' yo', whut shall yo' do? Well, yo' shall git yo' a can of Red Seal Lye. See, yo' take dat Red Seal Lye an' yo' git chew a tablespoon of sugah an' yo' git chew two or three drops of Jockey Club Perfume an' yo' take that an' yo' go all aroun' yore house an' aroun' the edges of yore po'ch, lak this. Jes' sprinkle it all around in all de corners as yo' come in yore house, an' yo' take jes' a little of that ley an' throw two or three grains up in each corner, an' that keeps 'em away.
Entry 1380
Ah heard 'em tell of - say if anybody got poisoned or put down anything fo' yo' an' yo' don't wanta move, yo' jes' git chew two ten-cent can of potash, Red Devil Iye, an' at twelve a'clock in de night yo' dig a hole as deep as yore elbow - measure yore hand all down - gotta do it exactly at twelve though. An yo' bury a can of dat potash an' git chew a brand-new box of cookin' salt.
(Where do you bury that potash?)
Tuh de gate - between de gate an' de steps, at twelve a'clock in de night.
(That's just one can?)
Yo' put one can dere an' a fresh box of salt whut chew have nevah nused any of it.... Yo' dig dat hole an' yo' put dat potash down in dere an' po' dat cookin' salt, de whole box, on top of it tuh yore front an' yore back. Ah don't care whut it is dey put down round dere, dat potash will eat it up. It can't hurt chew - can't harm yo'.
Entry 1381
Dat a very cheap thing, dat lye. Take dat lye an' open de can an' bury it at de foot of de front steps when yo' comin' out, an' bury it at de foot of de back steps. Aftah de lye is sot down, no witchcraft whatevah kin take yo' in, because it eats it all up. See, it cain't set in.
Entry 1382
Now, if anyone try tuh harm yo' or anything lak dat in yore home, yo' heah talk of dis Red Devil Iye. Well, yo' goes tuh work an' git chew - put one tuh de fust: gate chew git in, right as yo' come inside yore gate, an' de nex' yo go tuh work an' put one on dis side of de step an' one on de othah side an' den yo' kin put one right settin' in de middle of de steps. Dat'll keep 'em out.
Entry 1383
Git chew a box of [Red] Devil Lye an' bury one at chure step, one at each corner yore house or either at each corner of yore yard where yo' comes in an' go out, an' bluestone an' brimstone, but open de top of it an' put de brim- stone an' bluestone an' de red peppah on de top. Yo' see, dat's good tuh keep 'em away, kill out all de germs an' everything an' take care of de home. It will destroy all dat wus dere.
Entry 1384
Peoples has buried things in trees an' it's lotsa times people kin use de bark offa an' dat's good fo' diff'rent kind of medicines. From a willow tree it's good fo' whoopin' cough. An' yo' kin git de twigs from a maple tree cause - yo' heah de name of maple tree didn't chew? Well, yo' kin git de twigs from a maple tree an' it's good fo' any kind of eyesight tuh boil de bark an' use it fo' any kind of bad eyesight, jes' lak yo' got a catarac' ovah de eye. Or eithah, prob'bly, maybe yo' hard of hearin' - it's caused from yore eyesight. Yo' kin boil de watah an' it's good fo' dat.
Entry 1385
Yo' kin take the dust from a ants bed an' it's lucky to yo', because de ant dey say is got de busiest body of de creatures dat lives or somepin lak dat an' yo' kin use the dust fo' luck. Yo' don't have tuh use anything with ant's dust fo' luck, jes' perfect luck. But if yo' wanted it fo' gamblin' or somepin lak dat, yo'll have tuh take de ants dust an' take May-watah, yo' gotta use jes' one month - see, May-watah, whut it rains lak when it first rains. Yo' git this May-watah an' use it in a bottle an' use this ant's dust in it an' it's lucky fo' gamblin'. Yo' have tuh stop it up real tight an' let it set in a dark place, see, fo' luck.
(You don't carry that with you when you gamble or anything?)
No, yo' washes yore han' in it - wash yore han' in it befo' leavin' home.
(The May-water is the first rain in May?)
De first rain in May, yo' gotta git dat fo' luck but chew cain't use it. Jes' lak if it already done rain in May, don't git de second watah, yo' gotta git de first watah.
(Anything else you can do with May-water?)
Yo' kin use fo' eyes, yo' kin use it fo' sore places, use it fo' any kinda 'fected part of disease. If a person prob'bly have de siftic [syphilis] or gon'rhea 'bout de body, yo' kin use dis May-watah but chew gotta use othah things with it. [See May-water, No. 986, p.381.]
Entry 1386
That's if you can git it. That's hard to be got, because she won't let you take it anyway, to carry it away anywheres to use for eye purpose. Just like you have a sore eye or something gits in your eye, and a Woman's got a baby, you let her milk drap in your eye and if there is a sore or something in your eye, that'll take it out. If you got a sore eye, it'll cure it. [For cow milk, see No. 1196f., p.429,& Index.]
Entry 1387
Well, a mistletoe is a bush - a little bush dat grows.in de oak tree down in de swamps. Doesn't grow any higher den dat [demonstrates]. An' yo' git that. As long as yo' keep dat - (What do you do with that after you get it?) Yo' take it an' yo' keep it dressed.
(What do you mean by keeping it dressed?)
Wit Hearts Cologne.
(And what do you do with it after you dress it with Hearts Cologne?)
Keep it with yo'.
(What does that do?)
Well, dat keeps yore enemies off yo'.
Entry 1388
Only, lessen it was a kid or somepin couldn't talk plain: yo' know, an' anybody else dat, yo' know, dey say couldn't explain de words plain enough. Yo' takes a mockingbird egg an' cook it chew know good an' hard, an' eat it an' put a little vinegar on it. Dat'll make 'em talk plain. (Where did you hear that?) Dat was done in my country - ah experienced dat.
(In Georgia?)
Yes, sir. [After No. 1035, p.395, was typed I found this more detailed belief.] [St. Petersburg, Fla., (1021), 1652:11.]
[There are dangers in the preceding rite:]
Entry 1389
If you rob a mockingbird's nest, that makes you go necked [naked] an' hungry. It's a sin to rob a mockingbird's nest. Yes sir, they say that's re'lly the truth.
Entry 1390
Say if yo' eat de mockingbird's egg why yo' couldn't keep nuthin but whut yo'd tell it tuh ever' an' ever'body - say if yo' eat de mockingbird's egg, but ah haven't tried it.
(What would it do if you eat those eggs?)
Say if yo' eat de mockingbird's eggs why yo' couldn't keep no secrets atall - yo' tell ever'thing yo' know.
Entry 1391
Well now, jest lak a woman in a pregnant condition - now, ah kin take dat mockingbird aig an' fix it an' go scatter it in her tea an' give dat woman some, an' dat chile will nevah be nuthin but a tattler an' news-carrier, be jest busy bee or anything.
Entry 1392
A mockin'bird to make a man always untruthful - cook it an' put it in his food, cook de mockin'bird aig. Yes sir, tell lies in ever'thing he mention.
Entry 1393
Ah've heard about wire nail. Jes' lak ah be walkin' in dis house or either walkin' out dere in de street. Ah go an' git me a wire nail - git one dat stickin' up in de groun' an' ah go ahead an' walk on dat nail. Ah'll take dis wire nail an' carry it to a tree. When ah carry it to dis tree, take it den an' nail it up to de head, an' ah'll nevah have any soreness in mah feet from no wire nail. An' either dat, den if it's a rusty nail, ah'll nail it in de tree an' ah will nevah have no lockjaw.
Entry 1394
I have heard the old people say that you can take a lock of your hair, and a piece of your underwear, and nine nails - five up and four down, and bury it right down at the sill of your door and lean it out from the house. You lean the package out very carefully - you bury it just out of sight. Take your left foot and drag the dirt over it and cover it. If anybody walks over it, that keeps them from trespassing. You won't have any trouble with them any more.
Entry 1395
(What do they do with the needles?)
They string 'em all on a thread an' drop 'em down between de breast tuh dry milk in de breast fo' a baby.
(They just let them hang on the breast?) Yes.
Entry 1396
Wal, yo' jest git yo'self a brand-new goldeye needle and stick it in a stopper - cork - and yo' wear it aroun' yore neck. Let it go right heah below de heart. An' yo' wear it around yore neck an' nuthin dey do, as long as dat needle is on yo' - tain't nuthin dey do kin harm yo'.
Entry 1397
You gets their name. After you gets their name, take a needle, and take that needle and you cross it like this and after you cross it like that, you take it and you put in a piece of paper - brown paper, mind you - and you write their names on there five times. And after you write the names five times, you turn thisaway and you take it [demonstrates].
(This way - they wrap it to you?)
Wrap it to you - don't wrap it from you - wrap it to you and then you takes that and you wear in your pocket - in your pocketbook and keep it on you and anybody can't do you nothing.
(You take one needle, did you say?)
Two needles, and cross them like this.
(Ohl two needles, I see, you just cross them in that piece of paper?)
Cross 'em in there and turn 'em thisaway.
Entry 1398
Put nine needles an' a toothpick in a bottle, an' pbur Hearts Perfrone on it an' stop it up real tight, an' keep dat roun' yer bed all de time to keep peoples away from you from harmin' you.
Entry 1399
They say you take nine needles and put 'em in a bottle of turpentine and you can wear it or either put it down under your bed and nobody won't hurt you.
Entry 1400
Maybe yo' got a catarak in yore eye, or maybe yo' have dose little ole bumps chew know dat come on dere an' nearly put chure eye out. Yo' git nine cambric needles an' stick 'em all up togethah - yo' know, a little bunch, ovah de do' an' den yo' walk, pass in an' out de do' fo' nine times - keep count, for nine days yo' know. Den yo' kin take em down - yo' kin throw 'em away - yo' kin see. So you don't sew with 'em [again].
Entry 1401
You use four goldeye needles around the house - put one in each corner on the side of the house on the outside. It's against the one [intending evil] outside, an' they can't interfere [with] you at all. Nobody kin do anything to you.
Entry 1403
Go to a oak tree an' git jes' lak dis red oak bark, if a woman be's sick or anything with stomach trouble, an' take an' make a tea of it an' take a douche wit it. Why, it will cure stomach trouble.
Entry 1404
I know one thing - you wear a acorn on a string around the neck beneath the shirt and that will keep spells away.
Entry 1405
If you take a red onion and cut it and put half up over your door or jes' anywhere where it could be kept and take de rest of it and burn it up to ashes and wear it in your shoes, that'll keep anyone from hurting you.
Entry 1406
Let onion peelings and sulphur burn all day in closed room; no one can harm you.
Entry 1407
Take de red onion an' split it open an' if yo' got hot fever, yo' kin bind it to yore haid or bind it to yore breast, anywhere 'bout chew lak dat, an' it'll break a fever.
Entry 1408
Peel a onion an' chop it up - cut it up real fine an' put it in a pan an' put it underneath de bed fo' fever. Dat's all ah know about that. Dey says fo' fever.
Entry 1409
If anyone poison yo', yo' take de frog an' kill de frog, or either yo' kin, if yo' got nerve enough to gut him 'live, jes' take all his guts out an' cut both side of him off - all dis flesh an' stuff off. Jest leave his back an' his hind leg an' his front one an' his head - jes' cut his belly off an' put it into dis bottle wit vinegar, red vinegar, an' after yo' put it in dere, yo' put some artichoke, something dey call artichokes. Put dat in dere wit some red cayenne peppah. Put dat in dere an' some sulphur an' set it fo' nine mawnin's - nine mawnin's, an' then yo' drink that three times a day or at night - when yo' want to. That will relief anything dat evah happened.
(What does an artichoke look like?) [It is just as well that I asked.]
Artichoke is somethin' dat grows somethin' like a potato but it's knotty. Ah got some home. (Green - green on the outside isn't it? And you pull off the leaves like that?) [I must have demonstrated.] It's most lak a Irish potato. Yo' see some Irish potatoes got little knots in 'em, comin' out - well, it's jes' lak dat. (Does it grow out of the ground?) [I should have said, does it mature above- ground.] Yes sir - under de ground.
(What color is it?)
It's white. Yo' don't have tuh peel it, yo' kin jes' wash it off an' scrape it lak dat an' yo' kin eat it jes' lak it is. Jes' it ain't got no nice taste to it; it jes' fo' lak vinegar an' peppah an' onions an' stuff dey put in dere wit vinegar. It something lak somepin dey sprinkle ovah greens, yo' know whut chew call dat.
(Sauces?)
Yes.
Entry 1410
If they was going to cross my house, they could do the same thing to cross my house. And if I'd find out that they got my house crossed, well then I would go and I would get me some sweet milk and I would get me some parsley right out of the ground. I'd boil that together - the sweet milk and the parsley. I'd scrub in this corner, that corner, that corner, and this corner - that's the four corners. I'd scrub the four corners of the house first. And after scrubbing those four corners of the house, I'd throw that out and I use me some fresh milk and parsley and scrub the center of my floor. And that's all over with.
Entry 1411
Then I seed a woman taking a frog from a woman. She got some peach tree leaves and she boiled them until they was real, real strong, and then she'd taken table salt and put in it and saltpeter and bathed her. And she put twenty drops of turpentine in that and give her a dose of castor oil behind it and it passed through her. (Now, what did she make to wash her with? And what did she give her to take inside, now?) Peach tree leaves - just an ordinary peach tree. Well, she just got those leaves and she boiled them until they were real, real, real strong; and then after you know, she got 'em boiled clean and cooled out, she put twenty drops of turpentine in it, and she put so much saltpeter in it and table salt. Did you understand me? [I was supposed to be somewhat deaf - for recording purposes.]
(I understand.)
Then she bathed her with it and also give it to her to take.
(Oh, there's just one liquid - you bathe in it and you drink some?)
Yes.
(I understand now. I see. And that got these frogs out.)
And afterwards she give her purgative behind it, and it worked it all through her.
Entry 1412
Jes' lak if yo' got a boil or anything come on yo' dat de doctors can't cure it. (It usually comes from what?) It's some witchcraft or somepin lak that. Well, yo' use a penny.
(How would you use that?)
Well, yo' take dat penny an' for instance jes' lak yo' fix a poultice - it may be a salt poultice, it may be a poultice of snuff, or [corn] meal, or either a piece of bacon; well, yo' lay it on dere - or either a frog. Yo' may even cut a frog open an' lay it on dere. A frog supposed tuh draw out any kinda poison or a sore or anything like dat dat's not nachur'l. [For frog in cures, see No. 1263, p.441f., and Index.] Well, yo' take dat penny an' yo' lay it next tuh dat place where yo' place dat frog or anything [poultice] whut chew put ovah it - on top of it - hit will draw it out.
Entry 1413
If yo' had de cramps so bad yo' can't hardly walk, take a nail an' drive a hole in a penny an' tie it roun' yore laig an' go on. Long as yo' live dat cramp'll not worry yo' no mo'.
Entry 1414
Heard of 'em usin' a penny for such as drawin' poison out of yore feet, if yo' stick a nail or somepin in yore feet. Yo' set a penny on it an' dat will draw it out.
Entry 1415
Say fo' instance anybody wanted to harm me. Ah would take a penny an' place it into de middle of mah foot an' ah would wear dis penny all de time. Ah would put a dime - a silver dime up above mah knee, see - an' dere ain't nuthin yo' kin do. Ah kin walk ovah anything wit dat dime wit a hole in it round mah laig.
(Would you wear that penny, too?)
Could wear de penny - could keep de penny in de bottom of yore shoe, see. Yore left shoe.
Entry 1416
Now, jest like someone is harmin' you, you kin take a penny and take it and knock a hole troo it and have a frog. Ah don't know if you know what a frog is. And cut dis frog open and place de penny in before you knock de hole in it. Cover de frog back together tight, and after covering de frog back, you let it stay fer about thirty or forty minutes. Den take dis frog out - [I mean] take de penny out of de frog, bore a hole in de penny, take a cord and take dis penny and tie one round yore ankle and tie another one around de other ankle. Jes' like the wimmin keep people from hurting them - they take a dime and bore a hole in that dime and put one dime on one laig and one dime on the other laig, and then that will keep anybody from poisoning them or any kind of thing. Protection to the body. An' dat's de way wit de penny.
Entry 1417
Suppose that someone did something to you. You nail a penny to de head of yore door or you sleep with three pennies to de head of your bed - any bed [in which you sleep]. You gota take a piece of cloth and sleep with de three pennies at de head of yore bed when you go to sleep and you'll wake up and den you move that away from you. See, jest like I'm speaking to you now, de man [who hoodooed you] will come to you and rap - speak to you and tell you dey [there] by de mattress [I mean] by de three pennies to de head of yo' bed. (He will tell you what he has done to you. He raps. How many times does he rap?) Three times.
Entry 1418
Now, ah have got de perfume weed mahself - it's home. Yeah, it's a vine grows in de woods lak dat [demonstrates]. Yo' pick it [a leaf] off at de [growing] end. De leaf on it is jis' lak a heart, yo' see. Now, ah want show yo' dis. Yes, heah 'tis in mah pocket. Ah stick it in dis pocket. Dis is a sanitary pocket han'scuff. See. An' dis pocket han'scuff is got dat perfume odor on it, don't chew see.
[Evidently I did not ask to smell it.]
(This perfume weed?) [For its possible identity, see later.]
Yeah - de vine. Well, ah carry dis, don't chew know jis' all de time. But it's must be a sanitary piece dat's not used at all - it's gota be used on me, yo' see.
(Why do you carry that?)
That keeps anyone from harmin' yo'. Dat's whut chew ast me, don't yo' see.
(Has this perfume weed any other name?)
Yeah. It's jes' call perfume weed, but yo' dress it yoreself, yo' see.
(How do you take the perfume out of that weed?)
Well, listen, it already smells sweet when yo' go an: dig it an' de little leaf is made, it jis' grows lak de shape of a heart. Yo' git that yoreself. Yo' know it grows kinda long.
(On the ground?)
Yeah, an' yo' git that an' dress that yoreself. Yo' dress that wit whiskey an'perfume.
(How do you dress it? What do you do with this weed?)
De roots, put 'em into a quart bottle - jis' as big a bottle as yo' want, if yo've got that much yo' see. An' see yo' po' jis' perfume, but de root always smells nice befo' yo' put it in dere. It smells lak perfume itself. An' yo' put whiskey an' half perfume an' jis' put dose roots - put jis as many roots in that bottle as yo' want, an' fo' two years, or twelve years it'll be jis' lak yo' fixed it there. Now, that's when yo' dressin' it.
(You just use that on your handkerchief?)
Yeah. [His perfume weed could be the heartleaf (see Index), common name for several American species of Asarum, all having aromatic roots; informant's root possibly being A. canadense, used as an aromatic bitter and flavoring agent.]
Entry 1419
Yo' take 'simmon trees an' bring yore eyesight back - dat's all ah've heard. Take it - take de 'simmon tree an' yo' take dat fresh coat offa de first wood. Den yo' scrapes right next to it - jes' dat 111' fresh skin- wood dat's on it - den yo' scrapes right undah dat an' yo' git dat out from undah dere, an' den yo' take dat an' bathe yore eyes in it when yo' blind. Say dat will bring yore sight back. Mah mother tried dat once.
Entry 1420
An' if ah got a wart on me, a large wart on mah han' or on mah face an' ah wanta git rid of it, ah'll go an' git me nine stickin'-pins. When ah git dese nine stickin'-pins ah'll pick dis wart until it bleeds. Well, den ah take nine drops of blood on each nine pins an' take it an' put it in a pretty white han'kerchief an' carry it to de fo'ks of de road an' throw it down; an' when ah throw it down dere'll be somebody come along an' see dat pretty han'kerchief layin' down dere an' dey pick up dis han'kerchief an' walk off wit it. Well, somebody else will be ketched
[by my warts].
The informant describes a hypothetical wart-transfer rite using nine pins, blood and a white handkerchief left at road forks for another person to pick up. Hyatt supplies the bracketed explanation of being caught by the warts. The transfer is a reported claim, not medical evidence.
Entry 1421
Yo' uses red peppah an' fo' pins crossed in a stah [star] in de bottom of yore shoe an' it's no way fo' them to do anything to yo' or hurt chew by no cunjuration or nuthin dey put down fo' yo'.
(You get four pins and cross tHem in the shape of a star. Show me how.)
Yo' take a pin - dis is one pin heah. Yo' take that an' cross it dis way an' yo' take de othah one an' cross it dis way; take de othah one an' cross it dis Way an' den yo' take that an' cross it dat way. Make it jis' as a stah in de sky. An' take dis peppah an' put it in both of yore shoes at de bottom - hot peppah pods an' take it an' put it in both of yore shoes at de bottom an' wear those pins in it an' dey cain't do yo' any harm - don't ca' where they lay something down fo' yo'. [My penciled note on original transcription reads, "Cross in each shoe - so 8 pins." What he have in each shoe is not a star with eight ends, four sharp (pin points) and four blunt (pin heads); instead, each shoe contains two crosses, one on top the other so that the four sides of the upper cross bisect the four sides of the lower cross. This rite is a double-cross. For Double-cross, see Index; for Triple-cross, see p.364.]
Entry 1422
Fo' rheumatism in de laig, all ovah yore laigs dere in yore laig, dese bones, yo' know - well, yo' kin take a Irish potato dey calls it an' tote it in yore pocket. Hit'll be evah so large, but chew tote it in yore pocket till it come to be 'bout big as a marble. Well, dat'll cure de rheumatism out yore joints. [Waycross, Ga., (1136), 1850:7.].
Entry 1423
Pain such as rheumatism and things like that, he kin do somepin simple to get rid of that. He kin pass some grocery store, any kind, or in his home if it's your brother and he's in your home and you got de Irish potato - natch'ly you have one in your kitchen or in your pantry or some place in your house - not ask you for it but they call it stealin' - and jes' put it in your [his] pocket, any pocket you [he] got and jes' wrap it so it won't soil his clothes too much. Keep in there and let it ferment and that kill any rheumatic pain he has in his body.
Entry 1424
If anybody have tricked yo' any way, in a case like dat yo' kin git chew one. Go in a store an' steal it, a Irish potato. Don't let 'em give it. Jest steal it an' put it in yore pocket an' when it gits hard - it git hard jest lak a brick - an' whenevah it gits hard, why yo' take it out an' eat it. It be hard but eat it, an' whatevah is wrong with yo' why it will kill it.
(That would kill any poison that anybody has got in me in any way?)
Yes.
Entry 1425
A woman lived aroun' heah on - been about ten yeahs ago [1927] - lived aroun' heah on McCreary Street, on de cornah of McCreary an' Campbell Street. De nex'-doah neighbah an' huh fell out. An' she comence hangin' de clothes on de line, on de clothesline, an' de woman tole 'uh not tuh hang on theah. But she said it wus much hern as it wus hern becus she had put 'em up dere. Well, dis woman when she hung 'uh clothes out dis veek, she [other woman] didn't do nuthin to 'uh, but de nex' veek befo' she hung de clothes out dere, she [other woman], had dressed de line. An' when she hanged de wash up, done huh washin' an' hung 'uh clothes out - an' de nex' veek huh han's commence swellin' an' huh han's swelled clear up troo 'uh ahms - so [until they was] outa shape. An' all dis troo heah wus jis' as sore as it could be. An' you know, dat han' it turned black an' it look like scales of a fish [see No. 1000, p.384] - scale all on huh ahms an' 'long heah. An' den dere come a sore on 'uh laig - come den. An' she didn't know whut to do. She went to a doctah. She spent ovah $40 on it tryin to git some salve or somepin or othah to cure it. She couldn't git it. An' den she git on de train an' vent down tuh Florence. Looked lak dat de haidquartahs [for root doctahs]. She vent tuh Florence, South Ca'lina. De ole man tole 'uh whut tuh do. He said, "Lookee heah, you don't know how tuh git rid of dat complaint choo got. It's somepin someone have put it on yuh. Yuh eat de same thing ev'ry day, ev'ry day yuh eat de stuff dat yuh have tuh git tuh cure dat han' an' dat laig. He said, "Yuh go git choo a big I'sh potato an' yuh cut off each side of it an' make it kinda flat. Den yuh take a knife an' cut all aroun' in it, leave a hole so da' choo tie a string troo dat hole. An' tie de string tuh de ten-penny nail an' let it hang dere till it jis' git dry up. An' den yuh git choo a potato an' scrape it - git choo anothah potato - an' make it a salve an' den bind it on a new piece of cloth, an' put it round dat sore on your laig an' dat'll cure dat. Den you go git yuh some alum an' burn it till it quit blubblin' an' den burn yuh some bluestone until it would turn kinda whitish, so you kin mash it all up into powdah. An' den you git some gourds an' some vaseline an' make a salve out it, an' den you rub dat on wit dat salve vaseline. An' let dat potatoes stay up dere till it gits dry an' yuh take dat potato down an' mash it all up an' make it a powdah, an' yuh take dat powders an' anoint dat laig where yuh had de plaster on it. Yuh take dis salve - you take de [second] potato off den, yuh put de [first] potato on dis new piece of cloth an' bind it aroun' dat sore on de laig, an' den you let it stay on theah nine veeks. Den yuh take it off an' put de salve - jis' wash wit dat salve an' dat'll cure it."
The selected instruction is quoted as another speaker’s words inside the informant’s narrative.
Entry 1426
[Psalms are often used in rites - see Psalms in Index.]
Well, now, I will give it to you out of the Bible. You can read the 9lst Psalm and read it in the morning at twelve o'clock, and when you go to bed [this is three times a dayl and I don't care what they put on or how they fix it or what they do, read that Psalm and after you read it, ask God to take care of you and nothing will never harm you.
Entry 1427
Now, dat'll go in spiritual [work]. Yo' read de 30th Psalm fo' dat three times befo' sunrise an' three times befo' sunset. An' then if yo' don't perceive [see some result], then yo' read de 5th an' 6th an' 7th ten times - see, befo' sunrise an' befo' de sun set in de evenin', an' yo' will become - come wise an' yore spirit will breathe on any job dat chew work on dat it's necessary - dat need joo. [This is personal advice to me from a doctor.]
The Prayer link refers to instructed Psalm reading; the claimed spiritual results are unverified.
Entry 1428
[Quicksilver sometimes means quicksilver and at other times tin foil; which, it is not always easy to say. The latter is occasionally called silver paper. Scrapings from back of mirror is a well-known quicksilver - this probably in the following:] Take de quicksilver, yessuh, an' sprinkle it ovah yore house from dis corner to dis corner, to de corner of de do' dere to each corner of de do' dere, an' see dey cain't come ovah quicksilver.
(That keeps ghosts from coming in there.)
Entry 1429
And should you not want anyone to harm you in your home, you get chew some quicksilver and put it under your doorstep with a stick of dragon's blood - you know what dragon's blood is - and just bury that under your doorstep and no one will ever bother you.
Entry 1430
They call it quicksilver. You wear it in your shoe, both of them. Nuthin will harm you, nuthin can hurt chew by walkin' across anything. But be careful how you eat. I've heard them say that they could draw a cross mark across the road. They tell me they put quicksilver in that mark and cover it up. If you cross over that, why you'll have to crawl until you have this spell taken off. [This quicksilver is scrapings from the back of a mirror. I have discussed through-the-looking-glass magic under Horseshoe in subsection Hands. In inform- ants first statement guicksilver is a reversing agent, reflecting evil back upon itself; in second statement guicksilver causes lameness because it is magically pieces of broken glass from the mirror - see margin-title Part of the Spirit Equals Whole of Spirit, p.21.]
Entry 1431
That how they use the toadfrog. (How do they use that?) The toad - you know what the toadfrog best to do? You can take a toadfrog and burn him - take him alive and put him in something and burn him till he turns to real coal, and powder that up and feed that to a person. I'll bet you, if they won't have more little diff'rent things in their stomachs than you ever heard of and I'll betcha a doctor can't cure em.
(Is there any way of getting that out at all?)
Yes, you can even get that out of a person.
(How?)
It's a simple thing to get out of 'em. There's but one thing you can get it out of them with, that's pure sugar and rain water; but you must not get no water out of anything 'cepting glass, no kind of metal.
(How would you fix this rain water and pure sugar?)
Just ketch pure rain water like when it's rainin' - just put something out there to catch it - any container - and just fill that full of rain water and just keep that rain water, and instead of getting that person water that come from the hydrant, feed 'em that pure rain water. That's all they gotta have.
(That will bring these live things out of them?)
Bring them live things out of 'em. That's all - just pure, pure rain water - nothing else used but that rain water.
Entry 1432
I hear'd ole man settin' down tellin' dis - said dat she [an old woman] got anothah ole woman [root doctor] to doctor on 'er. She said dat she had a - she had sweated 'er. She said she had a somepin up 'er liver in 'er skin. It crawled all over. She fis' feel it crawlin' undah de skin. [For a live terrapin hanging on to a person's liver, see No. 10, p.7.] An' dis woman tol' der dat she wus hurt - she said she wus tricked. She goes an' git some ratban [ratsbane] roots, an' git a he ratban root - git some of dem - an' a she ratban root. A he is got streaks up it, white streaks on de leaf; an' de she is jis' a solid small green leaf. She boils a tea out of it separate, an' take de she ratban-root tea, give all of dat; an' jis' a half of de he. An' dat cured it. [It is quite likely that had the patient been a man, the doctor would have prescribed all the he tea and half the she tea. All of one and half of the other is a diminishing amount rite.] [The plant here is not the ratsbane of European witchcraft but an American substitute. Its identity? What a botanist and a root doctor who digs her own roots call ratsbane can be different things. Besides, she is surely using two separate plants; the one with "white streaks on de leaf," the other "jis' a solid small green leaf." The former, the "he ratban root," appears to be either the rattlesnake plantain (Peramium pubescene), an orchid with checked or mottled leaves supposed to resemble rattlesnake hide, or spotted wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata) with white-mottled leaves. The latter, the "she ratban root' - as a sheer guess I would say it was a. plant growing in the vicinity of the "he."]
[Baltimore, Md., (153), 62: l+85; this cure in Charlotte Co., Va.]
Entry 1433
She got holt of a thing - some kind of a snake got in her - de rattle- snake, de rattles of a snake. An' when she drink de watah from it she went blind an' she sent fo' mah mothah an' mah mothah had tuh go to her. She went an' she went an' she carried her fifteen miles from Danville, Virginia, to [somewhere] Virginia, to a man. Den he went out an' got a rattlesnake an' put him in a bottle, put him in dis thing alive an' po' s whiskey on him. See, dat cooked him an' den dey taken de whiskey an' fed mah aunty on it fo' nine days - give her nine drops, give her nine drops fo' three times a day fo' nine days, an' de ninth day she come back to her sight. An' some of these bells [buttons or rattles] wus undah her do'step an' some wus found in de spring. Dis man found 'em afterwards[!!!]. Her sight come back to her. She got well. [This is a remarkable example of like cures like (see p.394); it is also an original and brilliant piece of therapeutic thinking by a master of his craft!l (Now, what did they do with these drops? Did she drink them or put them on her eyes or what?) She drink them, she drink nine drops fo' nine days.
(Who was this?)
This mah aunty.
(And what was the name of the town?)
Danville, Virginia.
Entry 1434
Ah heard of 'em usin' de rattlesnake rattles fo' a hemorrhage. Well, yo' only Wet it - dip it in watah an' stick it to de place where yo' hemorrhage. Even if it in yore nostrils, yo' jes' stick it inside of yore nostrils; an' if it yore bowels, yo' stick it down yore lower part an' hit'll stop it right away. Ah used to tote one all de time.
Entry 1435
Yo' kin kill a rattlesnake an' kill him an' take de three buttons off him an' - after dey corner de rattlesnake, yo' know. Yo' take dem rattlesnake buttons an' sew it together an' make a belt an' put it round yore waist. Ain't no one can't do nuthin to yo'.
(They can't harm you in any way?)
No sir, can't harm you. Ah weared one a good while mahself. Ah got 'long purtty well. Well [why I don't wear one now], why ah never done no great novelty dat anyone would hate me so much, but den [in my younger days]. [St. Petersburg, Fla., (1021), 1652:6.}
Entry 1436
Do you know what rattlesnake marster is? (I have heard of it, I have never seen it.) Well, you get a small piece of that and a small piece of John de Conker root - de High John de Conker root and a new dime and a piece of lodestone, and yo' sew dis into a little bag called a toby [another name for hand]. Sew it up and yo' kin either put a piece of red flannel or shammy skin - sew that up in it and keep it into yore left pocket always and never let anyone touch it. If you do that, 'that is a Wonderful thing.
(What will that do then?)
That will prevent anyone from harming you.
[For rattlesnake master and knots, see No. 1126, p.418.]
[Rattlesnake master - a name for several plants said to cure rattlesnake bite: Liatris squarrosa and L. scariosa, and Eryngium aquaticum of southeastern U. S. A. All plants of the genus Liatris are called button snakeroot.]
Entry 1437
Well, ah heard if someone tryin' tuh harm yo', why yo' could git chew some Hearts Cologne an' rattlesnake marster root, an' yo' could take that an' put it in a bottle an' use it; an' as yo' go out, put that on yo' an' it would keep dem from hurtin' yo'.
Entry 1438
It's a commonest thing as a piece of root chew call rattlesnake master. Well, yo' kin git holt of a piece of rattlesnake master an' yo' could cut it up, a piece of it an' put it into a bottle, see. Yo' po' a bottle of cologne on it see, an' yo' stop it up an' yo' set it one side in yore corner. After nine days yo' kin take dat stuff. (You take this rattlesnake master and you put it in the bottle of cologne. Then after nine days what do you do?) Yo' take it if yo' goin' out round anywheres - yo' jes', every time yo' go out, well, yo' jes' po' some of dat in yore hand an' yo' take it an' rub it all ovah yore face. An' then yo' take anothah piece of it an' sew it into a bag take string then an' let it tie roun' yore waist an' wear dat. See. An' dat keep down all evil.
(If anybody's trying to harm you.)
That protection - dat's chure protection.
Entry 1439
If somebody goin' put somepin down fo' yo' tuh walk ovah or somepin like that, yo' could use salt an' red peppah in yore shoes, or either a piece of root by de name of rattlesnake conker - put that in yore shoes.
Entry 1440
He [a root doctor] fixed me some raid bay. It grows jis' like a - jis' like that [demonstrates] an' all de stems on it is raid. [The heartwood of this small tree in southern U. S. A. is also dark-red.1 You kin take that [stems] an' boil it an' bathe in it nine time, but don't po' de watah out. [Use the same water for the nine baths.] When you bathe dem nine time, dat kill all de swellin' out, an' it'll kill all de fevah out choo.
Entry 1441
[Red-brick powder is an ordinary red brick (soft baked) ground to a powder. Redding is sometimes used as a substitute. Both could be bought at a hoodoo drug store.] If you stay and that wouldn't work, wouldn't do no good, you take your lye water - you see, water that you urinate out. [This is usually called chamber lye.] Take that water and you pour it on your step, rinse your step down - Wash it, scrub it off with that and let it drip.
(And it what?)
Yeah, lye water - your pee water, you see. And you put it on your step and you wash it off with - rinse off your step with it and that [hoodoo] won't hurt you.
(And then sprinkle red brick around?)
Red brick all around - scrub your step with red brick.
(Oh, you scrub your step with red brick?)
Yeah, and you put your urinate water in - your water in, you see, and scrub. And that'll move it [hoodoo] away.
Entry 1442
(What kind of a tree?)
A red oak. Well, yo' go in de woods an' take yo' an axe or hatchet an' git on de south side of de tree about a foot from de ground, an' git de bark until yo' git to de meat - don't git no meat. An' yo' cut de bark off, den, an' yo' take de bark an' carry it back home an' yo' boil it an' yo' make a tea out of it. An' yo' drink de tea.
(What will that do?)
Dat's supposed tuh cure rheumatism.
Entry 1443
When yo' got a bad disease an' yo' go tuh work an' make yo' devils- shoestring, yo' red oak bark an' yo' take it an' put it on an' boil it good, an' then yo' go tuh work an' give 'em a quart of it tuh drink. Then yo' kin take it - take so much of it an' 'noint 'em with it - see, an' that is good fo' de bad.disease.