Browse:GRAVEYARD DIRT TO HOLD PERSON (Volume 4, entries 7220)
GRAVEYARD DIRT TO HOLD PERSON
Volume 4, entries 7220. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → FOLK MEDICINE → A FEW MORE DOCTORS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 7220
An' a girl, she wuz wantin' tuh leave. She wuz goin' tuh leave me lak on a Friday evenin' an' ah wuz lovin' 'er real hard an' ah didn't wan' 'er tuh go. She wuz goin' tuh leave me an' ah didn't Wan' 'er tuh go. So ah goes tuh a man [doctor] an' he tells me tuh go ahead an' go tuh a grave- yard befo' dat dat mawnin' an' git some dirt from undah - from off a man's breast, right off 'is heart, an' put it in a piece of flannel cloth; an' go tuh a grave where a woman hadn't been long died an' git some dirt offa her heart. An' den take it [both dirts] an' sew it up in a piece of red flannel cloth an' tote it on me. Tie it on mah lef' side, an' he guarantee dat she wouldn't leave. An ah did dat an' she didn't go nowhere. Yo' kin take graveyard dirt an' go tuh a stream of runnin' watah an' turn yore back an' throw it upstream, crost yore lef' shouldah, an' if dey wanted tuh go some place dey couldn't go. (Well, wouldn't you do something else, use someone's hair or something of that sort?)
[Informant ignores my leading question.]
Dat if ah wuz in love wit somebody an' she wuz fixin' tuh leave, an' prob'ly ah would heah dat, an' couldn't git 'er not tuh leave, an' ah could git some graveyard dirt an' go tuh any stream of runnin' watah, an' turn mah back an' throw it behin' me upstream. An' she wouldn't wanta leave, she can't go.
(You don't say anything while you are doing it?)
[Again my leading question is ignored.]
No suh, not anything at all. Jis' go by yo'self an' throw it crost yore left shouldah, an' she'll stay dere. [The intention of the rite is sufficient here.]