Browse:FOOT TRACK (Volume 4, entries 5301–5797)/Part 7
FOOT TRACK
Volume 4, entries 5301–5797. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → SWEAT. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 5781
Me an' 'er wuz good frien's, an' so she wanted tuh take mah husban' an' so she wanted tuh git mah track. 'Stead [instead] of 'er gittin' mah track, well she got hers. An' she took dat an' chunk it in runnin' watah. An' so she went down dere in 3 days, why she went down dere tuh drown 'erself.
Entry 5782
Dey pulls it [foot track] back. An' ah've heard 'em pull it back, an' den dey take it an' some- times dey Wan' chew tuh go way. Yo' throw it in de runnin' watah, when de tide's goin' up, an' den dey goes out. Ah have know 'em to do dat.
(They pull this foot track back toward them.)
Yes, pull de sand back.
(Yes, which one, either one?)
De left.
Entry 5783
(Now, if they want to run you away, they do something else, did you say?) Dey'll take dat track an' dey'll eithah sew it up tight an' dey throw it against de tide - like if de tide is goin' out, dey'll throw it out, see. An' de tide carries [it out] an' den yo' go away an' nevah return.
Entry 5784
They measure your track with a string and send you out of the neighborhood. And stick it down at the low-water mark. They tie it to a stick and stick it down at the low-water mark. That's to put you on a drift, to send you away from home. When the tide comes in, that covers the stick; and when the tide runs down [out], that's carrying you away from home.
Entry 5785
An old woman told me one time how to keep anybody from coming to your house. I asked her what was it. And she told me, in the summertime when the peach trees put out, to get some little twigs off the sugar [maple] tree; and when the person come to the house you didn't want there, just go after they were gone, and with them twigs whip their tracks all the way out of your house, and they won't ever come there any more. Over thirty years ago [1906]. [This man (28) from the edge of Newport News, Va., I interviewed by Ediphone at Old Point Comfort, Va., in 1936.]
The informant reports an old woman's instruction to whip a departing visitor's tracks. The claimed nonreturn is unverified, and the plant identification is partly editorial.
Entry 5786
Ah know if yo' love a man an' he had [an idea of] leavin' yo', yo' take his track an' tie it up in a rag or sompin dat won' break yo' know. An' go on de step of a house an' beat dat thing, dat all tuh pieces, an' yo'll break 'em up. Ah heard of dat.
(What did you put this track in?)
Have tuh take it in a rag or sompin, yo' know.
(And all you do, just beat it on the step?)
Yo've seen people take a sack an' beat it, haven't chew? Beat it till yo' gits dat dust all tuh pieces.
(Then he won't leave you?)
Yeah, dat's de way dey do's.
(This man won't leave you if you beat his track up?)
If he payin' 'er no mind an' he took up wit somebody else ovah yondah, an' yo' d dat. She'll fall out wit him an' he'll turn an' come back home.
Entry 5787
Well, dey supposed tuh go an' gittin' yo' left feet an' git some of dat md; take that sand an' jes' put it in a han'kerchief, an' take dat an' go an git some John de Conkah an' some whiskey an' some cologne, an' take an' ball it up, an' jes' take an' cologne it. IF YO' DRINK WHISKEY, TAKE AN' PUT A LIL' WHISKEY ON IT TEE TIMES A DAY - JES' AS OFTEN AS YO' DRINK WHISKEY - AN' KEEP IT CONCEALED ' BOT LET NOBODY TECH IT. Dey says, dat'll keep 'er Watchin' yo'. Don' mat- cahs who git 'er, he can't keep 'er - dat if yo' wan' 'er. Qou do this to your girl and she couldn't leave you? That is to hold your girl or a woman could hold her man?) Yessuh.
Entry 5788
Now, de way yo' could stop yore foot track, yo' could take some - git chew a little concentrated lye, an' half-a pint of whiskey, an' 'bout a teaspoon fulla camphor, an' put it in dat bottle yo'understan'. An' also write dere name on it an' jis' shake it up an' down until dat.all come tuhgethah - dat papah an' lye an' stuff come tuhgethah. All right. Wheresomevah yo're at, if yo's in a location wheresomevah yo' be at, jis' bury it down right - jis' at de right side of de do'step, right at de right side of yore do'step. Well, den dey couldn't do a thing wit yo'.
(That would keep that person from harming you?)
Dey won't do yo' any harm.
Entry 5789
De foot track is fo' makin' yo' walk.
(How do they do that?)
Dey take a wasp nest an' dey burn dat wasp nest. An' git de print of yore track from dat - halfway lak dat, an' scrape dat firs' dirt back towards de front.
(Where do they take from the toe.or from the heel?)
Scrape towards de toe first an' den yo' scrape back tuh de heel. Den yo' git dat dirt in de centah [of the track] dere. An' yo' mix dat an' de wasp nes' to- gethah on de stove an burn it. An' yo' git outside an' yo' hold yore han' up - have it [mixed wasp powder and foot track] in yore han', an' de wind will blow dat away, see. An' whichevah way dat blows, why yo'll go dat way. (In other words, you scrape the dirt back from the middle - back to the toe and back to the heel? Get that dirt down at the middle?) Down in de centah dataway. [This rite is from my first trip to Memphis. See following rite.]
Entry 5790
Yo' take a wasps nest an' take a person's track halfways; scrape de dirt back from right about middleways in de foot tuh de heel [demonstrates].
(From the MIDDLE OF THE FOOT BACK TO THE HEEL.) Yeah, back tuh de heel, an' den back tuh de toe [demonstrates]. (Then you begin in the middle and SCRAPE FROM THE MIDDLE UP TO THE TOE.)
[To scrape from hollow or middle of foot track to heel, then from middle to toe, is unusual if not rare.] Git dat sand or dirt. Burn yore wasp [nest] in yore stove an' git dose ashes of de wasp nest, an' mix de ashes an' de dust tuhgethah, de foot dust. Yeah, mix it all up good tuhgethah an' take dat an' put it in de palm of yore han', an' yo stand out [doors] an' yo' say, In de Name of de Father, de Son, [an' Holy Ghost]. An' whichevah way dat wind blows, why a person dat yo' don' wan' aroun' or sompin, dey'll go away. Dat's a easy way tuh git rid of 'em. Dey'll go on off.
(You take either foot track?)
No, take de left one. [This rite comes from my second trip to Memphis and it was given by an informant different from one in preceding rite.] [The spirit of the wasps chases away the spirit in the foot track.]
Entry 5791
Go tuh de forks of de road, anybody yo' wanta send dem tuh travel or n 'em away from dere. Goes out dere when de wind be blowin'. Take some of 'is track an' red peppah an' salt, an' throw it an' say, "Go, yo' son-of-a-bitch." Dataway. Or yo' kin throw it in some watah. (Or you can throw it into some water and it will do the same thing. Which way do you throw that stuff?) De way yo' want 'im tuh go.
(Well, what about. the wind blowing?)
De wind will blow it de way he want 'em to go.
Entry 5792
Git de feet track meetin' it.
(Pick it up meeting it - that is, they are coming to you.)
Yes. Yo' pick it up on a paddle or yo' know somepin. Pick it up whole. Yo' duap it intuh yo' lef' han'. An' take it on in [house] an' mix black peppah an' salt wit it. An' call yo'[victim's] name three times as yo' mix it. Now, yo' will have tuh take dat fer nine mawnin's an' go out wit de sunup. An' in de evenin's wit de sundown. An' cast it befo' de fo' winds, yo' know, an' put down certain words.
(What words would you put down?)
Ah don' know whut de words are. [There are many examples of these words of dismissal in HOODOO: Go, never return, etc. Often a curse is added.] Now, den, dat will put chew tuh wandahin', run yo' away, or run yo' crazy. Yo' ain' touched [in the head], yo' won' have no mind tuh do nuthin, yo' ain't crazy; [you] jes' wandahin'.
(Restless.)
Entry 5793
If a man stay away from a house, jes' go ahead an' - if a woman wants a man tuh stay 'way from a house, all she gotta do, jes' go an' take his track. Take his track an' mix his track up in some sulphuh. An' go an' take it an' carry it way off, somewhere in anothah part of de farm an' throw dat stuff - jes' throw it away. An' when yo' throw it, don't look back, jes' go right on - jes' don't look back, an' he ain't comin' back no mo'.
Entry 5794
[The preceding rite in various versions must have been fairly common at one time in country districts. Similarly, cities also have variants of sending away by wind. One follows:] Jes' pick up dere crack an' put salt in it an' throw outdo's out in de street... That will make them Iove.
(They take either track?)
Both.
(Put salt in both tracks?)
Yes.
Entry 5795
Aftah yo' leave a foot track in dust, well dey say yo' take dat per- son's foot track up, see, de whole print of dat track. See, yo' git chew a stick or spoon or somepin an' yo' pick it up, an' yo' put it in a 'east [yeast] powdah can. An' dey say yo' go tuh de rivah on de ferry boat, an' dey say let de boat git in de middle of de rivah. An' when yo' think it's in de centah of de rivah, say yo' throw dat can ovah yore lef' shouldah an' make a wish. An' dey say, as long as dat can drift up an' down de rivah, dat yo'll drift; an' when dat can begin tuh seep watah an' fall tuh de bottom, dey say yo' die.
(I see. Well, now, how many tracks? Do they get a special track or what?)
No, dey say yo' take de lef' track.
(Oh, only your left track?)
Only de lef' track.
Entry 5796
If they want chew to be with them, why they bury it under the doorstep. Like if they want chew to come to my home, see, I bury it under the doorstep. And if they want to run you away, why put that in running Water and make a wish. (Which tracks do they use?) Get de dirt from under de right foot. Like, just if yo' want 'em to come to your home, see, yo' take it when they're coming to de home. If yo' want 'em to leave, yo' git it out of that track when they leave home. [Elizabeth City, N. Car., (438), 401:3.] [The sixth section Of division THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF is HAIR. De- spite the hundreds of hair rites that now follow, hundreds more are scattered throughout the text of Hoodoo, because hair is often only one ingredient in a compound rite containing other important substances: URINE, BLOOD, GRAVEYARD DIRT, etc.] [The lO submargin rites under this margin title recall the well-known belief that hair continues to grow a long time after death - FACI, 2nd ed., 15415, p.714; 1st ed., 10367, p.595. Not so well known are the following beliefs about living hair continuing to grow, after it has been taken from the body:]
Entry 5797
An' den if yo' fall fer a man an' a man don't care very much about chew - eithah a woman kin do it or eithah a man kin do it - yo' take an' pull two stran's of 'is hair outa his haid an' yo' put it in each heel of yore shoe, an' yo' wear it in yore shoe fo' nine days. An' aftah yo' wear it in yore shoe fo' nine days, he'll start to fallin' fo' yo' an' he'll be so crazy about chewden dat he wouldn't even leave yore house. Yo' see de longah dis hair grow, de long- ah 'is love will grow fo' yo'.
(You take two strands of his hair and you put one strand in each shoe?)
Yes sir. [Florence, S. Car. (1322), 2266:2.]