Browse:FOLK MEDICINE (Volume 1, entries 963–1706)/Part 7
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 1444
After I came here, they told me it was 'bout some hoodoo or something. Well, this is a case which I had a stepfather. (Just a little louder, please.) My stepfather, he was terribly mean. Well, he and my mother separated. Well, he had been talking to a lady that believes in this stuff and he got her to come to my mother to talk to her, but when she got there, my mother didn't know the lady and naturally anybody would come to my mother and talk to her because she was a hairdresser. And she came and she talked and she said sh wanted her hair dressed and she asked what was the price, and she didn't bring all the money. She said she would bring the rest of it later. So my mother went on and fixed her hair, and before she went she asked my mother to give her something to eat - say she was hungry. So my mother got up and fixed her some dinner and brought it in there and gave it to her. So she' told her, say, "That's too much - take part of it off." And she insisted that she take part of it off, so she went back in de kitchen and take some of it off. Well, when she come back, the lady had gotten out of the dining room and she was gone in the bedroom, and she never thought anything about it because she was puttin' a drapery on the bed and she thought maybe she was looking at the time. Well, she come on back in the room and she sit down to eat and she tasted. She had a little boy with her and said, "Do you mind if I give it to my boy? I have enough." So my mother says it all right with her. She gave it to the little boy and the little boy ate it. So when she got up she went on home and then next week she sent the money. So my mother got sick. We didn't know what was the matter with her - she was just ailin' around, didn't any special thing hurt her, she Was just weak. She Was in the bed. She was talking to a lady friend of ours and just how she was feeling and telling her about her sickness.
(I see. All right.) [Something may have disturbed us.]
And she happened to bring up about dis lady coming to see her. And what made her bring that up, they was talking about - this lady [who had her hair done] spoke about her husband that she had been with [but was with no longer] and she was saying he was a good man. And my mother asked her [present visitor] did she know him, and she turned around and told her, no, she didn't know him. Well, they was wondering why did she [woman who had her hair done] come there with that kind of talk, so this lady asked my mother, said, "Don't you know she believes in that hoodoo stuff?" My mother said, "No." So she said, "You get up out of bed," said, "we are going to see if anything is around." So she came in the room and she called me and she say, "Let's look." And we took all the things off the bed and didn't see anything and looked all under the mattress and everything, and under the rugs and everything - looked everywhere we thought for and couldn't find anything. So, we stopped looking for awhile. And then she had a little drop rug on de floor right at the head of the bed and she turned the rug back and found this little black bag in there. There was something in it - it was black, it looked like charcoal and something in there like fine grains of salt or some- thing. I really don't know what it was but that's what it looked like. And so my auntie took it and carried it out on de back porch and we looked at it and so we took it and threw it away. So this lady told my mother to get some hot water and red pepper and mop de floors. She did and after that she was all right. It didn't hurt her or anything other than being sick and just weak.
(Where did this happen? Where?)
It happened right here in Vicksburg.
(Oh, in Vicksburg. How long ago?)
This was in the summer - wait a minute, I will tell almost exactly - summer, 1936.
(1936, I see. Your mother got well?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 1445
You kin take a pod of red pepper, ordin'ry pod of pepper, and take it and put one pod in each shoe. Leave it in the whole pod like it is. You put it in your shoe. You take a common newspaper and you'll cut a sole, and you'll put that on top of that pod of pepper and you know, that will make it too hot, nuthin atall will harm you - see, that will be too hot for anything they put down.
Entry 1446
Now, if someone's trying tuh trick yo' in de feet, yo' go an' git chew ten cents wuth of unbolted [not sifted] co'n meal - dat's de thin, de fine grade stuff. See. Unbolted, dat's de fine grade. Yo' parch dat an' sprinkle it in yore shoe, cover de bottom of yore shoe with it. Put two leaves of red peppah in each shoe, two pods - one in dis toe an' one in dis heel.
(That's two pods in each shoe?)
Dat's right. Yo' kin do anything dat chew wanta an' cain't nobody hurt chew.
Entry 1447
When you make a foottrack in the dirt, if you happens to keep from getting hurt - ah don't know what they put in the track, don't know about dat. But to keep from getting hurt, they tell me you take nine grains of red pepper - you know, seeds, and sew them up in a bag [thus making a hand] and wear it in your shoe. Then they won't hurt cha.
Entry 1448
Yes, ah heard about dat. Dey say dat If yo' think somebody gon'a work roots on yo' or somepin lak that, or somepin dey 'fraid tuh walk ovah, den yo' git chew some cayenne peppah an' put 'bout six swallows of watah in there, yo' understand, an' boil it down to three swallows.
[This is the magic of diminishing amount.]
Yo' take three swallows of dat watah dat night - see, dat first night. Well, yo' don't take nuthin dat next night - yo' skip a night chew see. [This skipping magic is a recurrent magic delay; not the same as alternating magic - left and right, up and down, forward and backward, etc.] Take yo' a teaspoonfula sulphur de next night, chew understand, an' do that fo' - lemme see, yo' take three doses of dis peppah an' den yo' take six doses of dat sulphur. [Here is the complementary magic of increasing amount. Both diminishing and increasing amounts are in multiples of three magic. The exchange between three doses of pepper and three of sulphur is alternating magic; the three additional doses of sulphur being repetitive magic.] An' dat will keep the evil roots an' things off of yuh, so nobody can't harm yo'or nuthin.
Entry 1449
Dere's a protection measure dat you do in order to keep anyone from harming you. You takes a little sulphur inter a little sweet milk and you drink it, you see. Use a little red pepper and a little sulphur to keep in your shoes, you understand, and you contin'lly walk wit dat, you see. Well, tisn't likely that dere is anything dey kin ever do you. Dey kin put down things that will take effect upon you, but you would always get a shock - you'd be over it before there would be any great thing to it. [The informant says that despite "a protective measure...you Would always get a shock when passing over "put down things," but "you'd be over it before there would be any great thing to it." Another informant says, if you walk over some- thing buried for you, the ground will come up like a wave (No.717, p.239). The most frequent indication that you have walked over something evil is an immediate pain in your leg (No. 718, p.239, and Index).] (You take this drink and you wear this stuff in your shoes at the same time? Or are these separate things you do?) Well, now, I tell you, you drinks dis milk fer nine diff'rent mornings into sulphur, you understand. Think it make you sick, but get it straight - it's re'lly purtty good. Drink it - it's re'lly purtty good. And fin'lly, de next nine mornings you puts dis red pepper into your shoes, you see. Nuthin kin be done to you.
Entry 1450
Take red peppah an' sulphah an' gunpowdah an' put it in yore shoe.
(What will that do then?)
That'll keep any evil spirits that are tryin' tuh harm you or something away.
(You could walk over anything and it wouldn't hurt you?)
Yes, walk over anything, wouldn't take any 'fect.
Entry 1451
Well, if they put this down and you walks over it - to keep it from taking effect to you - well, that'll be a spell that they put on you, see. Well then, to remove that spell you use brimstone, red cayenne pepper and then you put gunpowder in it. See. And you let it burn and you stand over it and that will remove that spell if you use it fer nine nights.
Entry 1452
Dey say if somebody is doin' something to yo' an' yo' wanted tuh stay, or yo' wanted tuh stay home. Well, yo'd git some sulphah, a little red peppah an' a little black peppah. Mix it together. Well, yo' git some of dis heah insene [incense] - yo' hear 'em talk about dat - mixes all dat togethah an' put it in a little bag [making a hand] an' sew hit round yore laig - sew it up an' pin it round yore laig. Why yo' is all right, see.
Entry 1453
If anybody's botherin' or worryin' yuh, yo' take saltpetah - yo' dress yo'self in saltpetah and peppah. Yo' put that into yore shoes. That's the old colored remedy that chew git saltpetah and red peppah. Mix that thing togethah and put it in yore shoes or on yore person.
Entry 1454
Yo' know dese roaches. Yo' see, yo' git dem roaches an' draw 'em. Yo' know, dey kill 'em an' den draw yo' a tea an' give to 'em tuh drink - say dat will kill [cure] de fits from 'em.
Entry 1455
"Story too long, too diffuse [to transcribe]. [This quotation is my note about it.] Make tea of St. John weed, bathe down on legs three different times - with same water - then throw towards sunrise - wood sawyers came out through toes - 'white worms with big heads' - over 50 years ago, before 1936. Cf. St. John's weed and European witchcraft." [This is a St.-John's-wort, but which plant of the genus Hypericum, I do not know.]
Entry 1456
Ah know a boy, a fren' of mine. Well, he wus goin' with a girl an' dis girl liked him but he didn't like the girl, an' she took the hair out de top of his haid, right in de mole of his haid an put it in a sody watah bottle. She puts dis bottle undah do'step undah her do'step. Ever' time she would go down de steps or come back in de house he would have convulsion. He had dem so until dey would put stones in his mout' an' he would jis' chew dem stones. Dey brought him heah in town tuh Dr. Crank - yo' might know him, an' carried him tuh Dr. Johnson, an' none of de doctahs couldn't do him no good. Dr. Jenkins said he had de T. B. Dr. Curlew said dat he had de high blood pressuh. An' dey had tuh take him outdo's an' 'bout five minutes apart he'd have 'em so hard until dey jis' mostly dey had tuh hol' him in de baid. An' a spiritual woman took 'em offa 'im. An' she give him - she got a box of table salt an' a box of [baking] sody. She take as much of dat sody as she could hole in her han', in de palm of her han' an' dat much salt an' put it into a gallon bucket of hot watah, an' bathe him in it ever' mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's - give him a bath in dat hot watah. Den she used iodine an' potash tuh clear his blood up. See, dat's tuh keep de blood from goin' tuh his haid. An' he wus so po' till dey fis' laid him out [for burial] - ever'body wus lookin' fo him tuh die. Well, he's up walkin' aroun' now an' have a wife an' kids. But don't nobody use outa dat salt an' neither dat sody but him, see. An' use all of dat until it's all gone. An' rub in olive oil.
(Did she rub him in any special way?)
No.
Entry 1457
A person dat has been tricked in de skin, it's something dat is buried for 'em or laid down on de steps for 'em - de house been dressed. You take nine teaspoonful of cooking salt, you take one dime of saltpeter, use dat, an' eight quarts of water, hot water - just like water for a bath. You pull off all of your clothes, ever'thing you got on, you get in there and take a bath in dat same water nine times.
(What do you mean nine times? All at once or different times?)
Dat same water - don't throw dat water away, you keep it in something like you take a bath in. Never rub upwards - always rub from here down [demonstrates].
(From your face right down.)
From there down. A person whut's been tricked in de skin, rub from here down and use dat water nine times, and de last time you use dat water, take it and throw it towards de sunrise, soon in de morning before de sun rise, so you get rid of dat complaint. Ah'm telling you whut's done happened 'to me.
Entry 1458
Now, if - when yo' wanta be lucky an' stay lucky so yo' kin jest - yo' know, thrive an' have prosperity, yo' jest git chew a nickel worth of saltpeter an' take a tablespoonful of that an' put into yore water, five quarts of water an' take a tablespoonful of table salt an' mix with that an' let it boil down. An' after yo' git dat five guarts of water, yo' heat it. Whenever it start tuh, look like it gon'a boil, yo' jest stir this salt an' brimstone together an' then when yo' begin tuh lie down, yo' take yore bath wit it. An' when yo' take yore bath with it, yo' save dat water an' throw it east. An' every time yo' throw yo' explain lak dis - say, "Lord, moves thine evil influence." An' that [is called] putting de enemies under yore feet.
Entry 1459
The best thing you do, when you go out in the morning, if you got - before you leave your home, if you feel that such as that is carrying on around you, you take such an ordinary thing as - take salt, black pepper and mix that together in a bottle, and scrub your place out. Don't scrub it inward, see. Always scrub out from your place. And with that water you mix salt and black pepper and scrub every morning before the sun rise. Make that a habitual habit to scrub in the morning before the sun rise - every morning scrub out your door before the sun rise, and that will give you a natural protection against anything that's evil. Somebody's put something against you, down for you, that will give you protection against that. [Many scrubbing rites for protection are also given under subsection Business and Customers.]
Entry 1460
They was working at de new shipyard.
(You had thirteen men in your boarding house?)
Yes, and they were paying me well, and I was saving my money and keeping up with my expenses, and things were getting along fine. And I had a neighbor lived downstairs under me and she envied me so much, and she put so much bad luck on me - well, until I just - I'd just gone to nothing because a friend of hers - she Was my friend too - had a car and she would get the friend to always take her out and she told her friend - [who] told me because we been friends, been neighbors - and she says, "Miz Davis, '' she says, "let me tell you one thing, you be careful because the woman that lives downstairs under you, she's a great enemy for you." She say, "Every time we go to ride, she want me to carry her to some old root doctor 'nother," and she say, "I asked her one day, 'How come you go to those kind of folks so much?" And she say, "It's a old mess living up over me and I never let nobody stay upstairs over me but so long, ' an' say, "that old mess up there, she got a whole lot of men and things in her house and she just thinks she's the only thing. "" I didn't do nothing but work, cause I got up every morning at four o'clock and cooked for all those mens and fixed lunches - you know I didn't have much time for foolishness. Jest by myself too because I was a widow and I didn't have - my children were grown and married and gone and - but she would go [to] everybody [doctors] and she had one [root doctor] to come there and I re lly know that he was one. Dey say he come from up about Back River somewhere, and he come in selling vegetables - you know, claim to sell. Well, he wouldn't sell to her for I have asked him, I says, "'What you ask for so-and-so, '' and he wouldn't pay me any mind. And he would come - and one day after he left there, that night I had to go to church early to be at prayer meeting and I was going down by the door, at the front. I was upstairs over her. It wus a three-story building. I had the second and third floors, she had the bottom floor. Well, I d gone out and some- thing was on my door screen and it looked like where a snail or something had been, and I put my hand right in it to open the door. I said, "Ooh, I wonder what's this on my hand, and one mind caught me right away, says, "Run and wash your hands in some warm salt water, table salt." And I ran back upstairs. And they all say, "What's the matter?" I say, "There something bad on the door. I just come back to wash my hand - I got my hand in it." And they say, "What is that?" I say, "Ah don't know." But I'd taken some of that warm salt water and wring and washed it off the door. But do you know this hand got where it had went up in my shoulder and for a year or more I could hardly use this arm; I had to hire the most of my work done. But I kept a usin' it kept on my mind to use this salt and water and I used it and used it. And then it just come to my mind to sprinkle salt and I just kept salt water and sprinkled my steps and all around my door that way. And you know one thing? Fin'lly she moved herself. Now, she did. She moved herself and I didn't never bother her. We'd both belong to the same church and she was a choir member and I was usher of the same church. And while she envied me, I didn't never say anything to her - never had nothing to do with her nohow cause I worked all the time. But that's what happened to me, and she just throw bad luck on me. [Here is where this particular story ended. I thought so because I turned off my machine. But the old lady started off again, visiting a white fortune-teller before I could push the starting button.] She say, "Chile, you ought to move out of that house, you have so many enemies that.... [This advice is often given by doctors.] Her continued story not too promising, I again stopped the Telediphone. Suddenly I must have asked, "Who was this woman?" before I could maneuver to the switchbox. One neither jumps at the switch nor keeps his hand constantly on it
(see Introduction).]
A white lady and ole. And she was up there [in the country] and she say, "I would come down there and dress your house and you'd have better luck, and kill out of some of these things. Oh! if you knowed what we speaker and guiding spirit] saw over your house. You wouldn't even have no idea." And Isaid, 'But I don't bother nobody." Well, she say, "Those [are] the warnings. You tends to your business and work hard and they envies you, and you have a whole lot of trouble. You don't mind [if you are not careful] they goin' trick you." And they re'lly tricked me. You know, all those mens was runned away from there. And lemme tell you one thing, my own son run from mah home like - when he came from Philadelphia, he came from Philadelphia - because he told me because I wouldn't let him have his way, because I want everything to be quite among nice neighbors and things. He's kind of rough. He just come from Philadelphia, you know, and he wanted to keep up his old rough crowd and I wouldn't have it. And he said, "You'll just set around here and go crazy about a little money you is making here, but there ain't goin' be nobody here 'cept you." And it shore was and I always believed he did it. Now I shore does. I've had a hard time here, I certainly has, and I haven't no husband, not a soul, even I haven't a friend. I had a good friend and they even run him away from me, and we didn't falled out or nuthin - he just left. And that took all my help you see. You see, when I had no help, I just went down to nothing - jest So many spells and things. That lady told me, she said, "You cain't live here in no peace. Your house is ruined. You don't have the idea who come in there and dropped it [cunjuration] as they come in - pretend to be friends." Well, I said, "Well, I don't take nobody for no friend." " She said, "But you wouldn't have the idea." And I knowed my own son was one of them and he's living downtown today and he won't help me as much as anybody else. He certainly won't, because he envied me. And he ought not to because when his work gave out in Philadelphia he came home here and I'd taken care of him a whole year before he could get anything to do, because there wasn't any work, and soon as he got into the.shipyard he went on and got him a room somewhere else. He did that and he'd do that today.
Entry 1461
I have heard a old lady say that along about sundown that if one should go out to the front door and throw out a handful of salt, no evils will approach that house over the night.
Entry 1462
You take salt and put it down on the ground at your door and that would keep all evil spirits away. That's what the colored people used to do to over- come master and mistress. After the master and mistress walks over it, it scatters.their mind.
Entry 1463
If someone tryin' tuh harm yo' or put anything roun' yore house, jes' git up at night an' yo' thinkin' dey goin' do dat, every night fo' nine nights an' put dis salt. Put de pot salt - carry it round de house fo' nine nights an' talk to it, an' why, no one couldn't harm yo' an' put nuthin else round dere atall.
Entry 1464
If someone tryin' tuh do yo' somepin round yore home - maybe injure yo' or cumjure yo' tryin' tuh do yo' some harm, if you wanta prevent this trouble, you might read the 7th chapter of the Psalm of David and then walk around yore home about nine times during de night or in de morning between de sun setting and de sun rising, wit salt in yore han' an' call de name of yore enemies or those yo' think about as trying to do yo harm, an dey'll do yo no harn.
Entry 1465
Yo' kin dress yore home tuh keep evil away from yoreself.
(How do you do that?)
Well, now yo' kin take salt an' put it in de fo' corner of yore house, "In de Name of de Father, Son an' de Holy Ghost," an' make yore wish for good luck an' yo' know, good things, an' dat keeps dat evil from ovahpowahin' it. It's re'lly good. Ah believes it.
Entry 1466
If a evil person comes in your house, go to the back door with salt in your hand and throw the salt over your right shoulder with your back turned to the door and don't look back to keep from having bad luck.
Entry 1467
Lak if somebody come to yore house, which an' why yo' have a house of yore own - if somebody come dere an' yo' know people, if dey wanta harm yo', dey usually put somepin up undah yore steps. If they put somepin up undah yore steps an' yo' walk out, if yo' happen tuh see it or if somebody see it 'fore yo' do, de first thing yo' do, yo' go in de house an' yo' git chew some black peppah an' salt an' sulphur, an' yo' come back out an' yo' throw it cross yore shoulder, turn roun' an' throw it cross yore shoulder, an' throw it ovah de fence whut chew have, an' jes' sprinkle it all ovah yore yard. That'll kill it.
Entry 1468
Mrs. M., the person with whom I live [in Berlin, Md.] there's a family near her who throws salt after every one that comes there. And they throw salt and shake an apron after the person is gone. And they claim that if the person has come there for an ill intention, he won't return any more.
The narrator reports a family's claim that an ill-intentioned visitor will not return after their salt-and-apron practice; protection is unverified.
Entry 1469
If yo' wanta keep 'em from doin' anything else to yo', yo' git some table salt an' red peppah, jes' cayenne peppah, an' sulphur an' mix it together an' sprinkle it all roun' yore house. An' while yo' comin' in de path dere, dere where yo' turn off de street into de path, after yo' sprinkle it down, drive yo a ten-penny nail, a new ten-penny nail dere. An' if de path comes into yore house, yo' drive dem nail in dere an' dey can't git to yo' to do nuthin to yo'.
Entry 1470
Yo' kin slow 'em up fo' a while. Yo' kin git a peck of salt - a peck, one level peck. Not in a tin - don't let it tetch de tin if yo' kin - git it in a bucket an' strike it off as dey used to do long yeahs ago, yo' know. [To strike Off salt or grain was to level it across the top of the container by using a straight-edged board, back of saw, etc.]
(A whole peck of salt?)
A whole peck, an' jes' as much - ah guess a quart of sulphur an' mix it all up together. Dis is yore land now - yo' kin do whut chew want on it. Yo' go to de fo' corners of yore place - well, yo' plant it jes' level wit de ground an' cover it up so dat chew won't plow into it if yo's a farmer. An if dey trying to git it from yo' unfairly, why yo' kin stop 'em a while an' yo' kin git straigtened out. Ah've seen dis done. (That is to protect you if anybody is trying to harm you by getting your property? Or drive you away?) Yes sir - dat's it.
Entry 1471
To protect your things when you leave home - I've heard old people say, to keep anyone from entering your house while away, if you'll walk five steps from the door, throw some salt over your left shoulder, then over your right shoulder, then make a hole and spit in the hole and cover it with dirt, then walk ten more feet and make an X in the road, make a circle around the X, and then make a secret wish - if you should go away from home and stay two weeks, no one will enter your house while away.
Entry 1472
(Now, wait. In other words, you make a cross like that in your path. Then what do you do?) Fill it with table salt. Nawsir [not that] - jest sprinkle dose marks, right in dose marks.
(In the cross marks. What else do you do?)
You could put a little cayenne pepper in with that.
(What is that supposed to do?)
Well, anybody walks over that why it runs them - git rid of yo' enemies.
Entry 1473
Jis' like you wanted someone to stay away from you. An' you take a box of brand-new salt an' you git a box of this cayenne peppah. Well, now, you got to take the cayenne peppah an' measure it jist as high as the salt box [the salt pile from the emptied box] is make each one [each pile] even with the other one. Then you take them all an' dump them into a papah right togethah - jist mix it all up togethah good. An' if there's someone jist keep botherin' you or they's put something down for you - why, jis' like they'd come an' sprinkle acrost that doah, whutevah they have - you start from your doah an' sprinkle. Jis' take this peppah [and salt] an' sprinkle it backwards - jis' walk right backwards to it [what the enemy has sprinkled]; an' then you walk aroun', don't come back over it you'self, walk right on aroun', an' come in you' next doah. An' they can't come no further than that same place there.
Entry 1474
(If a person has crossed you?)
Yeah.
(You go to the stove?)
Go to the stove or place where a fire what's lit, and you take you some salt, you see, and just sprinkle it over the flame, you know, and you repeat the Lord's Prayer, and the flames quiver from de salt, you know, and then you do with your hand like dat and read the 37th Psalm [demonstrates].
(You hold your hands up in the air together after you said your prayer.)
After the prayer. You repeat the Lord's Prayer and ask the Lord to give you peace of mind and, "The Lord deliver me from mine enemies. ".
Entry 1475
Get a bag of salt and put it under your pillow, open your window and put a spoon under it, and he [a ghost] can't cross that.
Entry 1476
Oh, well, yo' take yore shoes now an' a person try tuh wear it - jes' lak ah try tuh wear yore shoes an' try tuh harm yo'. Take it an' sprinkle salt an' peppah - keep salt an' peppah black peppah in dat shoe an' wear it right underneat' yore socks all de time. Ah mean not changin' dat - jes' let it stay in dat de same. An' den take yore toenails, de end of yore toenails an' trim dat an' keep hit in dere, keep it dere. He couldn't put chure shoes on fo' nuthin.
(Why would you do that?)
Well, dat tuh keep yore spirit in de shoes dat his spirit couldn't connect wit yores. (These are my shoes - whose going to do that? Am I goin' to do that to my shoes? Or some other fellow is going to do it to my shoes?) No, yo' do it to yore own shoes.
(Why am I doing that - to protect myself?)
Yes sir. [Place and reference lost.]
Entry 1477
You take some red pepper an' salt an' sulphur, an' put it together an' stir it up, mix it up, put in yer shoe [both shoes]; let it go clean back to the toe, heel an' all. Cut you a false [inner] sole - you ought to always git your shoes big enough to cut a false sole - an' put in theah. Put yer shoe on. They cannot hurt choo, an' you walk over anything you want an' it won't bother yah.
Entry 1478
Yo' kin take some salt - table salt an' sulphur an' red peppah, mix it together an' stir it with yore left hand. Sprinkle some of it in each of yore shoes an' yo' kin travel anywhere yo' wanta travel.
Entry 1479
Yo' kin put sulphur in yore shoe an' wear it in dere or either go to some root man or -
(How do you mean you put sulphur in your shoe?)
Well, see, yo' kin either put sulphur or red pepper - red pepper an' sulphur. Git chew a box of red pepper - ah hear mah mother say dat - git chew a box of red pepper an' brand-new box of salt had nevah been used out of. Sprinkle it inside of yore shoe an wear it in dere. Don't use it fo' nuthin else but that. An' that'll keep anyone from - or either sulphur, wear it in yore shoe - keep anyone from tricking yo' or anything like that.
(Do you sprinkle that in both shoes or just one?)
Both of 'em, either one. Either put it ovah de do'.
Entry 1480
Say if they put anything down fo' yo', if yo' wanta walk ovah it or go ovah it, jes' git chew some sulphur, some salt, black peppah an' take an' jes' make yo' a ball with it lak that an' jes' put it in a red flannel an' yo' kin go anywhere about an' it won't bother yo'.
[This is a protection hand.]
(Where do you keep that red flannel?)
Jes' keep it anywhere next to yore heart - in yore watch pocket or in yore shirt pocket, anywhere.
Entry 1481
Well, ah heard if yo' walk along - jest whut dey put down fo' yo' to hurt chew some way, yo' jest git chew some sulphur, a few grains [seed or pieces] of red peppah, a little gunpowder, a little table salt, an' wear it in yore shoe. It will eat up everything whut chew walk ovah.
Entry 1482
Dey go out dere and sprinkle some stuff down in front of the door and Sprinkle stuff where dey know you have to pass on dat, you see - some kind of powder. If you wants to kick [kill] dat, you get you some bluestone and salt and wear dat in your shoe. That'll stop any person - the stuff dey put down from affectin' you dat's ketching it in yore feet, you see, to keep you from walkin'. And if you ketch it yore feet, dey goin' set you down and you goin' be down in de house helpless and you can't do anything, you see, until - and if you don't know what to do, then you gotta go and get somebody that knows more than you know that get that off of you, you see. And if dey get dat off of you - but they ain't goin' tell you what they done, you see. But you always know dat they got it off of you, you know you wasn't in de fix you always was - they done something but they ain't going tell you. Dey'll give you some stuff to take - they won't tell you what dat is. If you don't know, you see, you just don't know.
Entry 1483
And den, how you dress yo' feet. Yo' through wit dat part. How you dress yo' feet, you takes bluestone, beat up fine - not so much, just a leetle bit of piece and sulphur and salt. Put in each one of your shoes, put it under- neath the lining in your shoes. See. Well, you know what dat is fo'? That is for to keep dem from hurting you. See, dey kin hurt chew all kind of ways and dey can hurt chew on your feet so bad, if you don't hurry roun' and use dat chamber lye and things, saltpeter, you shore will get hit - you'll be out dere in de cemetery, for dey re'lly kin do it. Dat's de only thing whut kin pertect yore feet.
Entry 1484
Anybody put somepin down fo' yo': to protect yoreself, yo' kin get yo' some sulphur an' ashes out of de stove, jest de ashes - sulphur an' ashes an bluestone an' tablesalt, an' wear it in yore shoes an' nuthin won't harm yo'. Yo' kin walk over mostly anything.
(Do you wear that in both shoes?)
Wear it in both shoes, nuthin won't bother yo'.
Entry 1485
Now dis salt an' brimstone an' graveyard dirt is used fo' many things - see, that salt an' brimstone. Take table salt an' sulphur an' brimstone an' burn it together - see, burn it together, an' den make a sack of that. See, that is called a bodyguard, body protection - make a sack of that. [This is a hand.] An' every nine days saturate [feed] dat good an' well wit camphor. That will keep - not sin, but will keep de evil spirits off yuh - using a little graveyard dust in dat.
(Nobody can harm you if you have that on you?)
No sir, can't harm you.
Entry 1486
Take salt, table salt, an' black peppah an' hone, an' mix dat together an' grease yore foot wit it an' use dat in yore shoe. Dat would keep dis offa yo' - lak if dey wanted to hurt chew, dat would keep dat off.
(If you walk over anything?)
Yes.
Entry 1487
He [root doctor] told her [his patient] she go in de house and git him some salt and he put hit on de place where he dug it [dug up the hoodoo article] and covered it [the hole] up. [Cf. No.897, p.328.]
Entry 1488
[They get some dust] from the grave and sprinkle it in yeh house, and that cause you to have disease - cause you sickness. But.now the way they get rid of that is to take salt see, if you see this dus' in yer floor. You kin see it, you see, becus [it] is brown, yellah - whutever [color] it is. And you kin sprinkle salt over that see and you take some pepper. And you sweep all that up together and then you go out de door see, and if there's anywhere any running water, you throw it in this running water. That'll throw it back on the person.
Entry 1489
A lettah from a person, a lettah already dressed fo' yo' - dey always tole me, say, don't nevah receive de first lettah in yore hand, say git chew some table salt an' throw it on it an' den pick it on up, say it can't hurt chew. Yo' kills dat right den.
(Any letter you get?)
Yes sir, if yo' think it.wus somethin' dressed fo' yo'. Jes' take yo' some table salt an' put on it an' dat kills all dat. Or use turpentine.
(Or use some turpentine?)
Turpentine is good.
Entry 1490
[Saltpeter is used in many healing or protective combinations - see Index.] Well, you kin get saltpeter. You kin go and get you a dime's of saltpeter and sprinkle a little in your shoes about every four or five days. Wear that in your shoes and there can't nobody harm you - not do it to the flesh or put nuthin down fer you. But, of course, it's quite natural that if somebody get aholt of something of yourn - your hairs or your clothes that you been wearing for several days, get something out of them - why they kin do you harm. But as fer as putting something down for you, they can't do you no harm over that saltpeter.
Entry 1491
If someone tryin' tuh harm yo' an' dey sprinkle somethin' down, yo' take yo' some saltpeter an' put it in de bottom of yore shoe an' some Epsom salts an' some sugah an' some cinnamon, an' yo' kin walk ovah it.
Entry 1492
Yo' know, put somethin' down fo' yo' or somethin'. Well, yo' jis' git chew a package of saltpeter an' jis' bathe yore han's ovah good in it an' yore feets an' maybe down heah [demonstrates].
(Your navel.)
An' dey cain't nevah harm yo'.
Entry 1493
"Somebody tryin' to harm yo' and yo' tryin' to protec' yo'self, de first thing is, dey gits chew some saltpeters and bath yo'self down in saltpeters, and den take yo' some sulphur and salt an' sprinkle round dat do' - round de house in front de do' and dey can't do yo' no harm.
Entry 1494
An' dis heah Sampson [or Sampson's] snakeroot, yo' take dat. Dey use Sampson snakeroot for any cunjuration - say Sarpson root overcome it. (How would they use that root?) Dey use dat root by making a tea out of it - yo' chew some of OR it an' yo' make a tea out of it. SAMPSON SNAKEROOT (That is to kill any poison that is in you?) It will kill the poison. [This plant is probably babroot or bab's-root, an aromatic herb (Psoralea peduneulata), southeastern U. S. A., the root said to have tonic properties.]
Entry 1495
Well, aftah a woman birth a baby an' she's havin' aftahpains, yo' kin put a pair of scissors undah her an' it will cut dat pain. [In folklore any sharp-cutting instrument of steel cuts afterpains: ax, butcherknife, hatchet, razor, saw; see FACI, 2nd ed., Pp.134-135.]
Entry 1496
Jes' lak some people - yo' know, as chillen [children] - some peoples says when people have fits, says some people done hurt dem. [Fits are caused by cunjure or hoodoo.] Yo' see, dat's de brains. Jes' lak chillen have convulsions after burns from high fevah, dey burn a ole shoe - yo' know, pull off de sole an' burn a ole shoe to git rid of dat.
(What do they do with that when they burn the shoes?)
Dey don't do nuthin with it. Dey jes' burn a ole shoe - say that will stop yo' from havin' 'em.
Entry 1497
Yo' kin take a ole shoe sole or 'nothah an' anybody in de house havin' a toothache, an' yo' kin throw dat ole sole on de fiah an' let it bur an' it will kill de toothache.
(What will they do with that when it burns?)
Well, dey'll take de spread, yo' know, an' take de smoke in yore nostrils - see, of dis ole shoe sole to yore nostril. Take de smoke an' inhale it. (Oh, you inhale the smoke and that kills the toothache.) [Spread = spreading smoke.]
Entry 1498
[The opposite of the preceding belief is also held.]
A lotta people don't burn dey ole shoes, dey give dem a toothache. If anybody burn dey shoes it will give dem a toothache. Say, fo' instance, yo' have a lotta ole shoes around an' ah take 'em out an' burn 'em, why it would give yo' a tooth- ache, an' my shoes would give me de toothache, too - make everybody toothache.
[This is song's toothache in the heel.]
Entry 1499
Yo' take a ole shoe an' sulphur an' asafitidy - yo' know, dat ole stinkin' stuff dat chew take. Dey say yo' take a shoe an' burn it an' make a ash with that - dey say, with the asafitidy an' sulphur, an' dey say it will cure de asthma. Dat's all ah know about de shoes.
(What do you do with that stuff after you burn it, then?)
Yo' have tuh put it in a pipe an' smoke it.
(After you burn the stuff?)
Yessuh, after yo' burns it.
(Then you smoke what's left?)
Yes.
Entry 1500
Take de ole shoes an' burn 'em for de backache - burm 'em to ashes and put 'em in a bottle an' put watah on 'em an' drink de watah off dem fo' de back- ache.
Entry 1501
Take bluestone, a ole shoe sole an' gunpowder. Yo' burn de bluestone good until, yo' know, till yo' powder it up, an' mix a li'l gunpowder along wit it wit some fresh hog lard an' kinda make salve outen it fo' healin' a sore.
Entry 1502
Dey tell dat if yo's livin' in a house that folks is died out of an' there's always been somethin' that's worryin' yo' round de house, that it will be their evil spirit comin' back to see whut's happened out de place since they wus gone from it, an' if yo' burn a ole shoe sole through this house, that'll drive dem 'way an' yo' won't have any mo' trouble with 'em.
Entry 1503
Well, now, if yo' moved in a ha'nted place an' yo' can't stay there in no peace but hearin' rackets in de walls, why yo' pick up all of yore shoes dat chew could find an' put some brimstone an' sulphur in it an' burn it - put it in a ole bucket an' burn it in all fo' corners of de house. An' dat will run ever' ole thing dat chew heah round dere.
Entry 1504
Dey use dat if dey 'fraid anybody comin' roun' if dey goin' do somepin to de house. Dey git de ole sole - de ole shoe sole an' burn it. Dat will drive dem away, too - anybody, dose ole witchcraft people or somepin lak dat. Dey say dev ain't comin' round dere no mo. (Florence, S. Car., (1291), 2190:12.]
Entry 1505
Ah heard dat chew take yore ole shoes an' burn 'em so no one kin iomo work yo'. Yo' always have good luck at chure home.
Entry 1506
Dat's fo' tuh keep yore enemies from yo', when yo' burn de shoes. Yo' cut out a piece of dat middle sole, jes' lak yo' take a ole piece of shoe. Yo' use de part dat chew walk on dere, de sandal [sole], yo' know whut yo' walk on. Turn dat back an' cut a piece of dat second sole.
(Underneath the shoe?)
Yeah, an' burn it. Jes' take an' burn it, dat will drive de enemy from yo'. Anyway, jes' lak if anybody botherin', anybody meddlin'. Dat's de way dey do with dat.
Entry 1507
Yo' kin go out an' jes' lak yo' - yo' git chew some ole shoes anywhere in de streets or road, anywhere in town. Yo' burn dem - yo' take de soles off. Ah nevah have heard of 'em burnin' de whole shoe - take de soles offa dem shoes. Git chew some sulphur an' bluestone or brimstone - it's all near 'bout alike an' jest put chew a little fiah in de yard or put it in a tinpan or somethin' an' burn it out dere. An' dat keeps dem away from dere.
(What do you burn, the shoe or just the shoe sole?)
De sole - not de shoe. Burn de sole an' put dat sulphur an' bluestone or brimstone - either one, jest put it on dere. A woman showed me dat - ah couldn't tell yo' de name, but she burns dat.
Entry 1508
A person's shoes - a woman's shoes - jes' lak if yo' figures somebody is workin' at chew, yo' hunt chew a throwed-way shoe.
(A thrown-away shoe.)
Uh-hmm, a man's shoe an' a woman's shoe. Well, if it's a woman, yo' wanta protect yo'self. Yo' take dat woman's shoe an' put it on top of dat man's shoe an' yo' burn 'em. Yo' put sulphur an' saltpeter, bluestone, gunpowder an' salt on there an' burn it - make yore wishes, whatever yo' want tuh come. An' dat'll protect yo'.
(What would a man do if he wanted to protect himself?)
He'll put de man's shoe on top of de woman's.
Entry 1509
Well, when yo' have a whole lotta trouble in de house - raisin' Sam, dey cain't git along - yo' kin take ole shoes wit sulphur an' cayenne peppah, yo' got fiah, jes' throw 'em in dere in de fiah lak dat, an' de fellah go to de do an' he stan' an' look at de smoke come out de chimley. Den after he go, yo' say, "Son-of-a-bitch, go." He'll nevah come in no mo' - won't come dere no mo'.
Entry 1510
That's for to keep anyone from your home and keep them from hurting you, this here. You take the shoe - now, if it's men and women both you want to keep away, why you take all the shoes of the family, all the old shoes and burn them. And you doesn't burn 'em complete to ashes, but chew burn 'em kin'a so tha' chew can mash 'em up. And you get chew a new box of cayenne pepper, and a new package of salt, and a new package of sulphur, and mix that all up together. Then you get chew a sifter - you put it [this mixture] in a can - then you get chew a sifter and just right after sundown you start from your back door and go on around the house and come on back to the back door right where you began dat. And just make your wishes. And if you want to name the persons in person, why you call those names. Just have like one or two or three individual persons you don't wish to come to your house. You do that for nine successful [successive] days. You do it in the morning and at night repeat the same thing. Well, in the morning you want to do that before sunrise in the morning - before sunrise in the morning and after sundown in the evening. And just repeat your wishes. And you can call, you know, the person's name just the same as if you were talking to them, and wish they'd stay away and not interfere with you. And repeat the Name of God. And you can also take river-shore sand. You take river-shore sand and put that in a sifter and sift it around the house. Mix these same things with it - the sulphur and the cayenne pepper and the salt, but be sure it's packages that never been broken. Just buy it for that especial. And you have the same amount of sand that chew do salt, sulphur, and pepper. See? You have a box of salt and you have the same amount of sand. See? Well, you take the package of sulphur and you take the package of pepper see, and mix with it. And see, that's enough to repeat the nine successful days. Well, you take the shore sand, you begin from yore back door and you go on around the house - like you have a walk away to the well and to the pump or at the gate, you take all the paths with it. You go to your outer buildings with the sand [the complete mixture] and repeat, you see, whatever you wish to be done. And if you think it's someone interfering with yeh, or your stock is dying, you go around the stalls, you know. You repeat and with the same thing may return on them and leave you be - in the Name of God.
Entry 1511
[These three names are for the same plant.]
I went up in the country an - with mah mother, an' mah husband stayed at home. But it's mah home dat he stayin'. An' of co'se he wus goin' with another woman an' he had her in mah room. An' so when I come back I went to bed. An' she had put somepin in mah mattress for me. An' so I went to the medical doctor an' he told mah mother that I better see a 'erb doctor. [Evidently she explained to medical doctor that she had been tricked and he advised the mother to find a herb doctor. I found this sort of advice several times - see Index and Introduction.] He [the 'erb doctor] come to me an' he said I wus hurt, an' he told me to take ev'rything off of mah bed an' scal' [scald] mah bed off an' look in the mattress. An' I looked in the mattress. An' he had a piece in it jis' about that long - a little bag with a whole lot of little stuff in it. An' so he made me some teas. An' there was silkweed, an' whiskey, an' High John the Conker an' Low John - an' made me a tea of it. An' I took that three times a day. Then I took a bottle of three S's [SSS]. An' that's whut cured me.
Entry 1512
This happened to my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law she was sick, she was sick for a long time. She'd have spells - looked like she'd have them about twicet a month. She'd fall and we had to pick her up and put her in bed. We had the doctor. He doctor her and doctor her. The doctor couldn't do her any good. So fin'lly I went on aroun' and that darn ole man - one day I was talkin' to him and tellin' him about it. He said, "Well," he said, "I think I kin cure her." I says, "All right, if you kin cure her," I says, "I'll pay you well for it." [Here is an echo from ancient Babylonia - no cure, no pay.] And I says, "Now, whut are you goin' cure her with?" I says, "I don't want you to give her any- thing that's poison." He said, "Well," he says, "I'll go and get the stuff and bring it right to your own home and I'll show you whut I'm goin' do to make the tea." And he goes and gits runnin'-huckleberry and siZkroot and milkweed [same plant as preceding siZkroot] and boil it together until it come to be - look kin'a milkish. Then he put a tablespoonful of cookin' soda in that, into a quart bottle, mix it up well and let it dissolve. [And he said] "An let her take three tablespoonfuls of it three times a day - first thing in the morning, and jis' before she eat her dinner, an' jis' before she go to bed."
Entry 1513
I've been hurt once [in 1912] by a woman. Well, I was poisoned in good fashion, I liked to die. I had Dr. A., a medical doctor, and his medicine went against me, it didn't do me no good. And the 'erbs that I kep home, which I keep some now, you boil them and then taken some and put on the whiskey in the bottle. I jis' plumb blin', jis' broke out all the way. And that's what got me my foot. And I - see, I keep that tea.
(What else do you do?)
Jis' roots and teas. Silkroots, blacksnake root and devil-shoestring root. You see, the first time you take de siZkroot - and you cut it a inch long and you steep dat in overnight water and put a cover over it. Well, it bitter, and it'll swell. You'll throw up ev'rything in you. De stuff come out of - green as you ever seen, as green as grass you ever seen. De devil-shoestring and the black- snake root you steep dem together and you drink that. Den, when I got so I could walk, I goes in the woods, take my hatchet. I gits some cherry bark, white oak bark and dogwood root, and bathed that - made a wash of this water, you know, and use it to wash with. And bathe right down, bathing that for nine mornings. And den, when you git ready to throw it away, you throw it to sunrise.
Entry 1514
Dey wear that roun' their laig, de dime - put a hole in it an' wear it roun' dere laig to keep off witchcraft.
(So if you walk over anything of that sort?) Yes, it wouldn't hurt chew.
Entry 1515
Well, if anybody dat put whut dey call roots at chew, yo' see, yo' kin wear a dime wit a hole in it round yore neck an' yo' kin wear one round yore laigs. Course ah say ah've tried dat mahself an' de dime will change de color - it gits black, see. Dat's fur as ah could say on dat part.
Entry 1516
Well, ah haven't heard of 'em doin' anything but jes' borin' a hole in a dime an' puttin' nine kmots on a piece of cotton string an' tyin' it through the dime an' puttin' one around each laig fo' cramps an' sprains an' things.
Entry 1517
Well, you take a silver dime and you tie nine knots in a cord string and you wear them in turpentine [knots soaked in turpentine, see Turpentine title later] - [or] six of them in green coal oil, and you bore a hole in that dime and wear it around your ankle, and you take the dust that you bored the hole outa that dime and put it in vaseline and make a salve and rub it around your waist, and they can't do you anything. Yes, if they put it down for you, it won't take on you. That silver, it'll keep it from taking on you. [No question asked at the time indicated I thought I knew the meaning of green coal oil. This could be crude oil, green indicating unrefined rather than color; otherwise, a coal oil (kerosene) colored green sounds like a hoodoo commercial firm product. The choice is between 9 knots in turpentine or 6 in qreen coal oil.] [New Orleans, La., (851), 1317:6; informant "excellent."] 011.
Entry 1518
Take ten cents [dime] and put three holes in it and they say that'll keep anybody from hurting you. You tie around your neck or either around your ankle. You gen'ally tie it around your left ankle.
Entry 1519
If anybody tryin' tuh harm yo' an' do a little stunt [= trick], take one silver dime - a silver dime an' some sulphur an' cut de bottom of de shoes inside an' lay dat dime's worth of sulphur in dere an' put dat dime on top of it, yo' see, an' wear dat dime right in de bottom of yore shoes all de time.
(You just use that in one shoe?)
No sir, in both of them.
(Both shoes - the dime in each shoe?)
Yes sir, with the sulphur underneath of 'em. [Dime and sulphur is laid under insole; sometimes a depression being cut in the sole for the dime.] [Savannah, Ga., (1271), 2151.1
Entry 1520
Take a silver dime an' put in a quart of watah an' boil it down to about a teacupful, an' tie de dime down yore laig an' yo' kin walk ovah anything dey is on earth.
(You have to boil that dime first, though?)
[He said this but I am asking for a repetition which often produces other details.] Oh yes! oh yes! Yo' take de dime an' boil it in a quart of water down to about a teacupful [magic of diminishing amount] and put de dime down yore laig.
(Either leg?)
Either laig an' yo' kin walk ovah anything.
Entry 1521
Dey says if anybody put anything down fo' yo' to walk on, why yo' take a piece of silver an' scrape it off lak that an' make a tea out of it an' drink it, an then aftah yo' make the tea, then take an' put a hole in it. Co'se it jingle fo' a time on accounta they's small. An' tie it round yore laig an' then they can't do anything to yo' - or roun' yore knee. They can't do anything to yo'.
Entry 1522
Put a dime roun' de baby's neck when de baby's small. Yo' know, lak people lak tuh look at people's babies, dey say he'll blink himself an' won't grow; so people put a dime roun' his neck an' den keep people from blinkin' so he kin grow.