Browse:HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS (Volume 1, entries 1704–2402)/Part 4
HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS
Volume 1, entries 1704–2402. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 1944
Well, ah know that chew kin go to the graveyard, yo' understand, an' after yo' go to de graveyard, yo' find a wicked person - a man or woman, yo' see, an' yo' dig down on de left-han' side into dere heart an' yo' git 'bout dat much of dirt. Yo' see de idea. Den yo' have yo' a little salt 'long wit chew, yo' see. Yo' go tuh work an' yo' take dat salt an' yo' put it in dat hole, yo' see, whut chew dug, an' then yo' go tuh work an' yo' take a penny whut chew call a graveyard penny - some of 'em call it. Then yo' go tuh work an' yo take that penny an yo' put that in there, yo see. Den yo' goes tuh work an' yo' cover that up. Yo' go down an' walk roun' to de left an' take de footboard. Yo' takes de footboard an' yo' carries it to de haid. Yo' pull de headboard an' take that back down to de foot, an' yo' stick it back down there yo' see. Then yo' walk away. Now, yo' kin take dat dirt. Yo' goes to de drug sto' an' yo' buys somepin yo' call brimstone. See. Then yo' goes buy - we haven't got it at home, yo' know yo' go buy it to de hardware an' yo' git this black gunpowder. Then yo' carries it on back home. Yo' set down in a off-room to yo'self. Yo' goes tuh work an git chew a dish an' yo' mixes all that stuff together, yo' see. Then yo' stir it lak dis, yo' see. Yo' gits it thoroughly mixed yo' see. Now, if there's anyone that yo' can't git along with, yo' see, an' yo' want 'em tuh go. Well, yo' see yo' got a powder. Or anyone dat yo' wanta work in dere mind yo' see. Yo' have yore powder, yo' see. Well, yo' walk into dere home an' yo' talkin' all de same time, no one noticin' yo' see whut chew got on yo'. Yo' sprinkle dat right ovah de house, if yo' can git into dey home yo' see. Yo' goes tuh work den if yo' can't git into dey home, yo' sprinkle it right round de do'step, yo' see, an' so fo'th. Den dere gone, if yo' havin' any trouble yo' see.
Entry 1945
Co'se ah did have 'em but ah haven't got 'em now - de little flower dat grows. It's a white flower, yo' git it out de graveyard.
(What is the name of the flower?)
Ah don't know whut de name of dat flower, but chew kin go to de graveyard an' git it. It grows jes' about dat high.
(About a foot high?)
Yes, sir. An' it's all loaded wit - yo' find it in most any cemetery about dis time. Dey bloomin' now. It's a flower dat de whole place is white wit dem flowers, an' yo' go dere an' pick dem flowers, an' set dem flowers in some watah an' jes' go dere an' throw it [the water] right roun' in dere. It will separate 'em, git dem from roun' dere. Co'se ah kin git de flower all right. An' you say] "Ah want chew all tuh separate - raise hell." See.
(That will break up this man and this woman.)
Shore.
(You throw this water into that house.)
Throw it right at de steps.
The informant says the preparation will separate unnamed targets. The interviewer supplies a man-and-woman paraphrase; flower identity and the nearby say] text remain unresolved.
Entry 1946
Well, yo' kin go dere an' git a tree - to graveyard, git a little ole bush an' den carry it to anyone's home an' set it out an' let it stay right where yo' set it out. It won't be long 'fore dey'll go where yo' git dis bush from. (If you want to get rid of someone, you would go out to the graveyard and get up a bush and then come into that house and set it out where they wouldn't notice it. And that would send them to that graveyard where that bush came from.) Dat's right, jes' make dem move in somepin jes' lak a grave. Jes' make up a little something jes' lak a grave an' jes' stick it [the bush] right tuh de head of dat, an' a stick tuh de foot an' name it. It won't be lon g'fore dey be gone.
Entry 1947
You kin git a pound of red beans and put it up under the steps, you understand, and at each side of the steps if they're open, git some guinea seeds and throw 'em at each side [under the steps], and walk away and don't look back and they'll leave that house. Guinea seeds - some people call it guinea pepper.
Entry 1948
Take seeds of paradise - seven grains, seeds of para- dise. Yo' buy that in the Hindu companies, yo' know, those dirty strong [smelling] places [because incense is burning]. Seven grains of paradise. An' throw it aroun' yore do'. Make a good wish an pray an' take yore Bible an' read de Psalms of David an' ask God tuh open de way fo' yo' an' yore business will gradually grow. Also yo' kin read de sixth chapter of Luke an' dat'll he'p yo' in de Bible in de Christianity. That is tuh bring business to yore home. [The preceding Hindu companies were more likely a company with an oriental name and someone wearing a turban (see Turban in Index). Since I always assumed some of these companies may have worked under protection, I never visited any of them - I had enough trouble collecting.]
Entry 1949
Den yo' kin git chew some John de Conker an' have yo' a little piece of root an' chew those guinea peppahs every once in awhile. [Guinea pepper = grains of paradise, pungent seeds of a West African plant (Amorum meZegueta) used as a spice.] Lak ah'd walk in heah to yo', went to gamblin', chew dat once in awhile an' spit in mah han' an' rub it an' throw mah dice or play mah cards. Chew dose guinea peppahs - dem little brown seeds dey calls guinea peppahs.
(What do you do with that John the Conker root?)
Yo' chew that. Yo' hold that in yore mouth lak a toothpick. Chew dem [root and seed] separate.
(If a person goes down to get a job?)
Sho'.
Entry 1950
If you out of a job and wants a job bad, you'-11 take you some seed they call Paradise Seed and you keep that seed in your mouth, and when you ask the man for work he sure can't turn you down. Paradise Seed.
Entry 1951
Get you some guinea seed - that's a little small seed just about as big, a little bit bigger than mustard seed, see. Get you nine of those little guinea seeds, see. You puts a small quantity of 'em in your shoe. You take nine of 'em and you put 'em in your mouth. See, hold 'em in your mouth. Every once in awhile when you round talkin' to 'em (ssphut - ssphut) [comment by transcriber because informant can be heard spitting]. Spit like that.
(I see.)
And I guarantee you he'll give you a job right away.
Entry 1952
Tuh make 'em move. Well, yo' could take some dem seeds, dey call 'em de guinea peppah seeds. Take guinea peppah seed an' yo' sprinkle it if yo' visit dere, or else git someone tuh come dere to dey house yo' understan'. Yo' take de guinea peppah seed an' yo' throws it an' curse it, if it one or two of 'em. It a little bitta seed lak flaxseed. Chew evah saw flaxseed? Well, yo' take dat an' yo' throw in dere, or else go an' put it undah dey rug where dey pass, an' when dey pass, well, dey always gittin' ideas tuh move, yo' see, an' finally dey'll say, "Oh well, ah'll git outa dis house." Well, dat's really evil doin' - de guinea peppah seed.
[Make 'em move rite is followed by bring back rite.]
All yo' do, go on dere an' git de seed an' yo' passes zactly where dey livin' at, where yo' seen 'em, where dey home at, an' yo' drop de seed at mostly each step, yo' know, where yo' comin'. When yo' leavin', come an' make a block, an' yo' drop one those seeds right in front dey do' an' den when yo' comin' 'long agin. [Machine turned off too quickly but my following comment explains.] (You keep dropping these seeds from their house back to your house. That's the come back seed. That's to bring them back.) Bring 'em right back.
Entry 1953
Well, yo' take de gunpowder an' lodestone an' nine seeds of red peppah [three ingredients] an' sew it up in a yarn rag. That's fo' tuh draw luck to yo', too, fo' money. Yo' know, if yo's a gambler, why yo' kin win an' if yore a policy player why yo' win lak that. Or if yo' a busi- ness man, why yo' know, yore business will be.mo' urgent. [Gunpowder appears in many combinations.]
Entry 1954
Well, de Book [Bible] claim that the hair is a man's strength - a man's strength lodges in his hair an' so is his knowledge. They claim that a man kin take three strands of a woman's hair outa de mole [mold] of her haid, or she kin take three strands outa de mole of his haid - git him tuh sleep an' git it, take de scissors an' cut it out. An' she kin tie it up in her underskirt tail an' she kin carry him anywhere she wanta, or he kin carry her.
Entry 1955
Well now, a lady got my hair one time and she stopped it up in a bottle and she buried it. So it almost run me crazy but I went to a man. He made her bring de hair back. She'd brought it face to face and give it to me and told me why she did it, because she thought I had nothing to do but sit on de porch and read papers and I was in better circumstances den her. So dis man asked me what did I want done with her. I say, "Well, tain't worth while to kill her, but jest send her away from Portsmouth." I was living in Portsmouth. Well, he sent her away and he wasn't nine days sending 'er either. He just got three pinches - jest like that - pinches of dirt and sewed it up.
(Was this out of her left track? Tell me just what he did in this case.)
He got three pinches of dirt out of her left track, right in the hollow of her foot and put it - made a little cloth bag and put that in there and sewed it up and had taken it to running water and made three wishes and threw it overboard. She went away from dere. [Norfolk, Va., (486), 514:8.] [To show that my comment did not suggest a left-track rite to informant, I will now quote the left-track rite given by informant two rites preceding present one.] Get the dirt out of the left foot, three pinches, and put that in a cloth rag you know and sew it up. And take it to running water and throw it overboard and make three wishes before you do it. And when you make them three wishes - they gone from here. An' I know that to be true.
(You make the wishes just for them to leave?)
Yeah.
(You mean just to leave town or to die?)
To leave, to die - either one. You make de wishes - if you want 'em just leave town, make it dat way; and if you want 'em to die, you make it dat way. [Norfolk, Va., (486), 514:6.] [Both these original transcriptions - 514:6 & 514:8 - are part of the final manuscript.]
Entry 1956
An' den yo' kin take a little bit of strand out of a man's head - like if a man dat chew got an' yo' want him tuh stand by yo' or somepin lak dat. Yo' kin take a strand of hair out de mole of his haid, clip out a little hair an' do it up in a little new piece of homespun an' jes' wet it in yore watah, yore urine an' poke it down in jes' de least little crack dat che've got. Yo've not got'a take but jes' de least little tiny piece an' wrap it tight, an' poke right down in a little crack in yore baid in de wood part of it or iron part - yo' know, wheresomevah yo' kin git it punched down in dere good wit a pin. An' dey says dat will hold him.
Entry 1957
Just keep your [a woman's] hair and take it and gilt it - have it gilt you see just like you gilt a pitchure [frame] [an' make] like a watch chain of it and wear it. And as long as they [you] wear that, you is all right. I had one myself.
(You use your own hair?)
Nol No! No! Somebody else's. They can't harm you.
(You get that woman's hair?)
Yes sir. [This hand protects a man from any of a woman's tricks.]"
Entry 1958
[Here is mv first knowledge of Doctor Frank Hall, whom I searched for and found the following year - a feat coupled with the finding of Madam Griffin, an experience described in the Introduction.] There's an old man by the name of Hall, a very rich man. He has I guess fifteen farms. He has some very palitable[?] [palatial] houses on these farms. He lives in a little shack. Each day there will be seen many cars around his home, both white and colored. He is known as a cunjure. He is able to keep the law away and many people going to court to be tried always have him to sit in the courtroom. [This practice has been fairly common; see Court in Index.] There is something he does. Nobody can see what he does. His fame has gone out that he clears the person because most every time he's in the courtroom the person being tried gets out light or becomes clear. This old man is known to sell a little bag to law breakers and bootleggers. In every bootlegger's home that is prosperous in this town can be seen one of these little bags hanging up on the side of the wall. You need not worry about the law coming in as long as you see that little bag. This little bag is known as Hall's Hand, Hall's Lucky Hand. That's what they call it. That's down in Suffolk, Va. [Informant came from Suffolk, seat of Nansemond Co., but Hall lived out in the country.] [Ocean City, Md., Ed.]
Entry 1959
I've often heard that they have had a hand that they could use and that only certain people could git that hand. It was one or two in my neighborhood used to claim that they could give those hands. They're gone now. They were very successful in business. People flocked to them. Some might have had the luck anyhow. They believed very true that she could do something out of the ordinary for the people who applied to her. Her name was Vivian Washington.
Entry 1960
We have a man over in Northhampton [County] now that will give you a hand to play numbers and he will give you two or three numbers. Well, they hit once in awhile. As much as a hundred people twice a week get these hands. They are just numbers. He don't charge them anything. They give him a percentage when they hit. He's a preacher, Rev. B., he has followers like holy people. [Note well - numbers are called hands. See also Money - Prices For Hands, later.]
Entry 1961
Well, 'twas two round here, root doctors, and they made stuff up. And we boys would all go to 'em and give 'em fifty cents and they'd give us a hand, they call it, to gamble with. And they tell us for three weeks to not use it inside of three weeks. And we found out when they was goin' away. They was goin' away about in two weeks and they told us not to use the hand inside of three weeks. And so in about two weeks we went and used it. And the more we'd gamble off it, you see, it looked like the worse luck we got. So we opened it and found it full of rocks. And we went back to 'em and give 'em the rocks back. So then they give us the fifty cents back.
Entry 1962
I was away in Baltimore [Maryland] one time and so a friend of mine - we wag workin' on a job, de foreman he fired us - and he said to me, 'Let's go down in Spring Street." I said, "What for?" He said, "Let's go down 'ere to a woman." I said, "What a you goin' down 'ere for?" He said, "Man," he said, "we can go down 'ere and git us somepin," he says, "you can git work agin." I said, "Man, no!" 'Yes you kin, too." So I went down 'ere with him on a Friday night. We walked in. She says, "You don't live here," she says, "You come across de Waters [Cheasapeake Bay], didn't chah?" Says, "You got but very little money. She told us what happened the day before, gettin' fired. So she says, "Well, I'll give you somepin now jis' fer a dollar, jis' because you're fired," she say, "and you ain't got no money but very little." And she gave him somepin look like a dust. She told him to sprinkle that in his shoes of mornings before he touched a drop of water. Told him three words to say.
(What were those?)
"Father and Son and Holy Ghost." I believe that's what he was supposed to say when he sprinklin' that. And even so, after he did that [next] mornin', it was re'lly a surprise to me. We both went back, we goes right back de next mornin', and before we got about a hundred yards of de job the man come oudt, commence to wavin' fer us. I said to him, I said, "Johnnie," I says, "he don't want us, because we got fired here yes- terday." And we keep on walkin' up to him and he walked up to us and said, "Does you want to go to work?" We told him, "Yes." So we went to work dere and stayed on de job until de job was complete.
Entry 1963
I got in trouble one time about some liquor and I went to de devil, Suppose to be - not persal [personal], you know what I mean [not the devil him- self]. I went to him. He said, "I can't do nuthin fer you until you pay me." He said, "I can do anything to clear you." And I already had 18 months out de 'corder's [recorders?] court. Went to de big court and I didn't have no lawyer atall and I went to dis man suppose to be workin' wid de devil. And he give me somepin and I got jes' as clear as you rockin' in dat chair [see later]. He give me a red bag. In dat bag was a piece of Juicy Fruit chewing gum and some onions and this powder dat was in it I don't know de name of it. I was supposed to chew the chewing. gum and hold it [the bag] in my left hand [during the trial]. [Between boyhood and present day this is the only time I was ever in a rocking chair and despite his words I was not rocking. It happened to be the only armed chair in the house, a necessity when sitting hour after hour at a small machine- laden table upon which I could not lean. The man's bag or hand cost $15.00.]
Entry 1964
He had that wropped in a tape, some kinda tape-lak, an' he wrops it in a square and it would be a square de size of a half a dollah, ah guess. It was, you know round, an' he tells me tuh carry dat wit me in mah wallet - carry it wit me all de time. Carry it with me an' 'noint it wit whiskey 'bout ever' fo' or five days. An' den he takes me roun' an' git anothah one. He wrops me a larger one an' tells me tuh keep dat one in de house, an' 'noint hit wit whiskey 'bout time ah think it's dry. Any time ah think it's dry, put sulphur on it an' 'noint lt wit whiskey. An' then he give me some spirits. Ah thought it wus spirits yo' know whut dey dig up out de ground [graveyard dirt?]. So den he gives me somepin, somepin like a pickel jar. He puts de whiskey in de jar an' he put de little herbs in de jar an' [told me to] keep 'em roun' mah place, an' jes' hide it where nobody can't take it - which ah did an' ah got it [now]. An' ah taken it on to de shop. Ah wouldn't take it to de house. De nex' mawnin' ah go to it an' 'noint it wit whiskey, right in de jar, an' ah have de jar right now down at de shop, an' ah jes' put whiskey ovah dat.
Entry 1965
De onliest time when ah used to be gamblin' ah went to a fellah an' he sold me a hand, an' in that hand he had a piece of charcoal an' had three fish- hooks an' it had two hairpins in that wropped up wit a piece of flannel. Then yo' had to dress it with cologne - with this heah Hearts Cologne. So ah found out that the Hearts Cologne was luckier den the other stuff. Ah found out that.
Entry 1966
I was about 18 years old at dat time. There wasn't nuthin like dat. So once I had a ole fortune teller tell me dat somebody was tryin' to do somepin to me, she'd stop 'em if I'd give 'er $5.00. So I didn't have but three dollars. My brother - he was a stepbrother to me - and he said, "I'll lend joo de other two." So I give 'er $5.00. Well, it wasn't more than about a few weeks I lost it. It was to be kept in my right far-hand vest pocket.
(What did it look like?)
Twas long as my finger.
(Was it a bag?)
She called it a rabbit foot, but I don't know what was in it. It was about the size of my finger and in a little red flannen.
Entry 1967
Fo' tuh have luck in gamblin', take white peppah, an' yo' know dat John de Conker ah wus tellin' yo' 'bout it - well, take a piece jis' about this long an' white peppah an' some white sand, yo' know, an' a piece of white lodestone an' be shore it's put into a piece of flannen or, yo' know, not those thick leather - yo' know, jis' lak a kid glove is, leather lak that [shammy or chammy]. An' be sure tuh bind it an' sew it well an' leave jis' about dat much of de little piece open. Now, look [demonstrates] - see, if ah had a string so dat ah could show yo'. Yo' needn't leave not nary piece [of string] on dat, 'cause he ain't goin' understan' dat. But let him wear dat in his vest pocket, yo' see, an' nobody put dere han's on it. Now, ah tole yo' 'bout de John de Conker. If yo' ain't got no John de Conker, ah kin get chew John de Conker. Ah kin git real John an' Low John.
(What does he put this in his pocket for?)
Well, he put that in there fo' luck in gamblin'.
(You make a little bag for that root with that little hole [dropped stitches]
in it?) Yo' don't want no hole in it - no, no hole in it. Dat string-lak kinda handle to it.
(You make a loop in it?)
Yeah. Well, dat loop belongs dere. Dat little loop belongs dere.
(Why does that loop belong there?)
Well, dat loop means yo know somethin'. Well dat little loop on dere, don't chew see, recommends. Yo' see, ah'm a Christian an' ah lak tuh tell de truth. Dat little loop recommends dat ah will make it. Dat'll make it too. [Memphis - Tuesday, May 24, 1938 - 916 - woman 50 - root doctor - not much" - Numbers Book 885-977. This is an underevaluation made because she filled two cylinders only. She is telling me how to make a hand - "leave jis' about dat much of de little piece open." She does not mean the shammy or flannel but the string used in sewing the bag. She wanted to show me how but we had no string. Then she decides, "Yo' needn't leave not nary piece [[of string]] on dat, 'cause he ain't goin' understand dat." The man for whom I was making the hand wouldn't understand the loop anyway. That loop, she says, is 'lak kinda handle to it [[the hand]].] Dat loop means yo' know somethin'...recommends...recommends dat ah will make it. Dat'll make it, too." At the time I must have known or suspected what the loop meant. I can merely guess at the meaning now. The loop was her secret sign, personal trademark. I doubt the loop would have helped me in making hands. [For another hand maker's trademark, see Broken Bottle Hand, p.532.]
Entry 1968
Nine needles, no more than twelve. Get this wish dust, a small piece of lodestone and you take say a dime, or if you want a sixty or hundred dollar hand. I put fifty cents [half dollar coin] or one [silver] dollar in it. But just for an ordinary small hand I take a dime. I will wear it for a couple of days right in there - in the sugar bowl. [In a previous rite she had laughed boisterously because I did not know the meaning of sugar bowl. That is why I ask the following question - timidly:] Yes sir, just lav it in there, inside just for it to stay there for a little while. That's what I calls the sugar bowl. [She is the only person who used the word.] Wear it in there for a few hours, take it out of there and wear in under my arm. Get graveyard dust and get a shell off of somebody's grave and scrape some of that dust off raw, then you put it on the fire and you boil it an hour - put this shell on and boil the shell. When you first get it home, just scrape off the dry dust with [into] your needles and your money and stuff. Then you put this shell in a little boiling pot and you put it on the fire and you let it boil hard for a solid hour, and as this boils, why you make your wish to yourself. [This animal shell used on the grave as an ornament was a fresh-water bivalve mollusk of several related genera once abundant in the Mississippi River valley drainage system. Before the First World War almost every town on the Mississippi had a pearl-button factory with its huge pile of punched-out shells - shells full of regularly spaced round holes left after punching out the crude buttons. Along the river too, musselers floated their small flat-bottom boats having two racks of hooks parallel to the boat so that they could be easily baited and over the boat sides lowered into or raised out of the water. The largest shell I ever saw was 8-lO inches; the industry shells were much smaller.] When the hour [of boiling] is over, then you take it [the shell] off and you scrape off some of that [cooked] dust - you just scrape it off and you put some of that in a little bag, and you sew it [all these ingredients] up with silk thread and try and not put over fifty stitches in there. When you make your first stitch, leave the thread about that long [demonstrates].
(About as long as your finger.)
And the last one, leave it the same length, so that you can always hold it by that, because wherever there is money, that's called a Jack [see comment later]. And he gon'a kick you - it will jump. Now the whole thing is the Jack, but the loop - you see you kin catch it to hold it by that and [or] fasten it to you. Now, if you are a gambling person see, it's lucky for you - keep that on you. As long as you keep that on there, you'll have no need of playing - you jest as well let 'em hand it [the money] to you. While you are there won't nothing harm you. And now, maybe you'll say, "Oh, I wouldn't mind havin' a game in there. Don't know if they got any money or not." Well now, you jist walk around in there and you'll feel this move. [Despite informant's brilliant pun, "Wherever there is money, that's called a Jack" (slang for money), money in a hand does not make it a Jack (see margin- title Jack, pp.190-193 and Index). Only question to and answer of informant's hand turned it into a Jack.]
(How much does that cost as a rule?)
Well, just whatever you want to charge for it. Charge a person according to what you think they can pay.
Entry 1969
Ah used tuh try tuh be a gambler mahself, an' a fellah tole me, said, "yo' go an' see a fellah," an' he give yo' fo' winnin'." Well, ah went to where dis fellah tole me. Ah'm goin' [tell] yo' dis now - fellah name of Jackson, ah goes tuh see him an' ah tole him. Ah said, "Look heah, mister," ah said, "ah wants a han'." He says, "Whut degree han' did yo' want?" Ah said, "Well, if it don't cost too much, ah want jes' a han' de degree dat ah kin git." He says, "Well, ah works 25 degree, 30 an' 40." Ah said, "Well, how much would dat 40 degree be?" He said, "Dat's de best." Say, "Dat will cost yo' $25." Ah say, "How long would it las'?" He say he guarantee it fo' five yeahs anyway. An' he say, he give it, 'An' de first money dat chew win, yo' take it an' go tuh de bank an' git it in silver dollahs an' send me five of de money first." Said, "An' de next time yo' win," he say, "yo' send me all of it." Well, de first time when ah start tuh gamblin', ah start with a dollah an' ah win $25. An' ah say - an' ah rushed to de bank an' got $25 in silver an' sont him five of it. An' ah didn't win no mo' in about a month. Den de nex' game ah went in ah win $50. Well, ah sont him all de change [none of the paper money]. An' de second time ah win, he wrote me a lettah.
(What did he say in his letter?)
He tole me in de lettah dat de las' time dat ah would win, ah would have to come back an' git dat renewed agin. Well, ah nevah have went back tuh git it renewed.
Entry 1970
You get a lodestone and put it in your pocket and put it wit some money, you supposed to keep money so long as you keep dat rock - long as dat rock, dat stone is in action; but in a certain time, just like anything else, it'll run out.
Entry 1971
You kin go right ovah heah to Mt. Pleasant - I guess you heard talk about dat.
(Where?)
Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. You kin go ovah dere and dere's a man ovah dere has a little bag about dat roun' - cost yuh five dollahs, and you'll be in luck fer de next six months.
(What is this man's name?)
His name ls William Green.
(Where does he get these bags from?)
He can't get enough of 'em.
(This Doctor Green over here at Mt. Pleasant - what does he call those bags?)
Iuck charms.
(Luck charms - and how much did you say you paid for them?)
Five dollars. You wear it around your neck. (I see. And he's probably got dust or something in there. [He said this while Telediphone turned off.] And they only last six months?) Only last six months at a time.
(And then you have to get a new one?)
You have to get a new one every six months.
(Well, what would you do if you don't renew it then?)
You jes' in bad luck again - that's all there is to that, your luck is gone.
Entry 1972
Ah had one but ah nevah did tear it open. No suh, ah nevah did tear it open.
(Why not?)
Well, ah jis' didn't wanta tear it open. Ah figured aftah ah let it set there a long time in de oil of cedar, den it would come back luck to me agin, 'cause when ah first got it, it wus good, see. An' ah stayed in luck there fo' 'bout six or seven months. When yore luck go down yo' supposed tuh soak it in dis oil of cedar, see, an' bring life back to it. But ah have nevah to' [tore] de bag open. Ah paid five dollahs fo' de bag.
(Why don't you tear the bag open?)
Well, ah will tear it open, but ah haven't so far. Ah use dis oil of cedar fo' luck in gamblin' an' rabbit foots. An' ah take mah rabbit foot - see, keep it soaked in oil of cedar, an' ah take that an' wear that up in mah bosom heah or eithah in mah pocket wherevah - when ah'm shootin' craps or somepin lak dat. Ever' time ah run mah han' on it, see, an' git that moisture offen dat an' rub it on yore dice or somepin lak that, see, an' den throw 'em down ha'd when yo' pass, an' dat's fo' luck. Ah have tried that.
Entry 1973
Go to a graveyard for a gambling hand, git dat graveyard dirt and sew it up into a bag, and puts dat lucky lodestone into hit - into that bag. Yo' feeds dat lodestone. If yo' went to de graveyard, yo' feed it with whiskey, yo' puts whiskey on it; an' if you didn't go to de graveyard an' uses de lucky lodestone, yo uses de Hearts perfume on it - it'll 'vaporate, it keeps that lodestone damp and it makes yo† lucky.
(In gambling?)
Shore.
(Well, why do you use whiskey when you use graveyard dirt?)
Well, dat's a wicked person - yo' git de graveyard dirt from a wicked person. Use dat Hearts Cologne on de lodestone. Dat's de diff'rence.
Entry 1974
Black master is supposed to be a root too. A lot of men keep it in a little bottle of whiskey, and women [keep it] in Hearts of Cologne and they carry it around in their pockets. That's to bring luck too.
Entry 1975
[Here, as so often, we have within one ceremony a combination of magic rites - feeding, rubbing and smelling. Smelling is important: fragrant odors for Court, Job and Love; unpleasant odors for evil spirits or persons. Examples of Rubbing are given in this subsection and elsewhere - see Index.] De main root, one of 'em ah called now - one of 'em ah done called, dis heah Eve-and-Adam. Dat's good. John de Conker is better dey say cause it don't - hit conker de worl'. Dat's whut dey say. If yo' go 'fore de jedge wit dat - an' dey say dey uses whut chew call dis heah Hearts Cologne on it to keep it alive. An' yo' keep it - it will keep 'live. It will keep it moist. Yo' rub it when yo' go dere - jest go close enough to de jedge fo' him to smell dat Hearts Cologne. Dey say it change his mind. (You would use Eve-and-Adam the same way that you would use John the Conquer root with Hearts Cologne in going before the judge?) Yes sir.
Entry 1976
Well, I bought one in Washington [D. C.] from a ole lady, she was blind in one eye, and I'd been gambling you see, had been losing everything dat I could beg, bahrry and steal. Now, this is jis' as true as I'm sitting here. And so I heard about this ole lady but I never had no confidence in her. So when I went to her, you understand, she told me, she says, "Uh huh," she says, "you lost everything you has and now you come here to me." She says, "No use me giving you nothing, cus you ain't gon'a believe in me nohow." Well, that jis' was mah min' when I walked in de house. I told her, "Oh yes, Miss Sarah, I believe in you." So. "Well, I can't fix you up today, she say, "you have to come back a couple few days from now." [Magic delay.] So I went back again and she wasn't fixed up then. I went back again. The next time I went back she was fixed up. She give me a little pale-blue book jest about dat square, jest like a square block, jest as wide as it was long. She told me, she says, "You go ahead and you wear that in your right-hand pocket," she says, "and whenever you go to gamble," she says, "ever once in awhile you put your hand in your pocket," she says, "den when your pocket begins to sweat," she says, "you bet everything dat joo can beg, bahrry and steal." Well now, whurther dat dis was right or whurther it wasn't, anyhow, I pays ten dollars for the Hand. Well, it was about a week before I could git hold any money, much together. Course I could gamble with a little game, but I was always wanting to git in a big game. So I gits in de game dis Sunday evening - de boys was shooting craps, plenty of money. So I gits in there. And I didn't have but a dollar and a half, all the money I had. So I gits in there. And de boys was shooting fer fifty cents. Well, you know my dollar and a half wouldn't lass long in that. Some boy shoots fifty cents worth, two or three of them faded in, you understand, and he hit 'em. I don't know whurther to fade dis dollar and a half or whurther to wait and shoot it. I didn't know what to do. I rubbed my hand in my pocket and it sweat. I take it out. So I gets some quarter bits, a couple of quarter bits, lost them. I lost them right out. "Guess I'd better stop now." So when de dice got to me I taken de dice, I don't know whurther to shoot a quarter or what to shoot. A mind comes to me shoot a dollah. Now dat's all I've got. So I says, "I'll shoot fifty cents." A fellah says, "You'll loose for a dollah." Oh, de game was bigl Money backed up you know for goodl And I wanted some of it so bad. I thought I'd shoot de dollah. And I roll de dice out. But dey got a fashion of gauging dem, you understan', ketching dem when dey come out. So I throwed de dice out and de fellah caught it. I throwed de dice out again, de fellah caught it. He caught 'em three times. With mah hand in mah pocket, my hand begin to git moist, after she told me my hand begin to sweat, I shot de dollah. I throwed a 'leven, I shot de two, I throwed a seven. I said [to myself], "I guess I'd better take down this time." So I taken down three dollahs. And shot de one, come out wid a ten. A fellah says to me, he says, "I'll bet two to one you don't ten." I says to myself, "Now dat'll bring me two dollahs." I drop right down, right straight back, jest as straight wid de ten as I could come, and I got ten for four shots and made one right after de other. Then my hand was jes' as wet inside dat ev'ry time I take hold de dice, you understand, dey'd be wet. I taken dat game. And when I come out dat night I had a hundred and forty-three dollahs. Now, whurther it was de hand or whurther it was just luck, my luck come to me, or what it was. That's right. Dat was de first hand I ever bought. De second hand I bought I was in Baltimore. I bought it from a blind man. This is a little bag, a little red flannel bag. He told me, he says when he give me this bag, he told me, he says, "Now you get some whiskey. And don't throw de whiskey on this, but put it in your mouth and spit it on it," he says, "and don't gamble with this, don't put no money much on this bag until you keep it a day or so." All right. That cost me ten dollars. Dat's in a place in Baltimore called Hollandtown. And I goes in a game in Hollandtown that night and breaks it. And the next one I bought was in Norfolk [Virginia]. Dat was a black cat's paw, de paw of a black cat. And I lost dat somewhere. I don't know where I lost dat.
(How do you carry that?)
In your pocket where your money is.
(What did you pay for the third hand?)
Ten dollars.
Entry 1977
Dere is dis garlic - gits dat garlic an' yo' takes some dis seven finger root an' de King of de Worl' [magic three ingredientsl, gits dat an yo' put dem together. Dat is to carry yo' through an' good luck. (What do you mean you put them together? How are you going to put then together?) Put dem three pieces into a vial together, or sew 'em up together into a seal- like [unusual use of word seal], an' den yo' feed dat - yo' feed dat with red whiskey. Yo' kin git red whiskey now [now that Prohibition has ended] - yo' feed dat wit red whiskey [instead of moonshine white whiskey]. But now yo' could jes' feed it wit rose perfume in de place of de red whiskey, if yo' can't git de red whiskey. But while usin' dat fo' yo'self yo' don't drink dat red whiskey. Whut chew feed dat on, don't drink it. Yo' kin drink any othah kind 'scusin' red whiskey. Dat's fo' luck, carry yo' through an' he'p yo' in trouble - plenty of fren's, yo' have mo' white friends den yo' do of any othah.
Entry 1978
Now, if ah go to a two-headed person an' tell 'em tuh tell me somepin, an' he tells me whut ah'm comin' fo' an' who an' everything - he tells me whut's [what it is] ah'm comin' fo' - jes' lak if ah come in dere, why he'll tell me, "Why, yo' comin' tuh do so-an'-so, '' an' everything lak dat. Say, "Yassuh." He say, "Well, yo' ain't had no luck'" - lak dat. Well, see, if ah go tuh him an' he tell me ah'm goin' have luck - jes' lak ah go tuh him an' he give me a han' fo' gamblin'. Why he'll tell me whut tuh do. He'll give me somepin an' won't tell me whut it is, an' tell me tuh go home an' bury it undah mah back do steps, an' aftah ah bury it he'll tell me, 'Come back in two or three days," an' he'll tell me whut it is. [Magic delay.] An' he'll put a toadfrog in a sack an' sew it up an have it sprinkled wit red peppah an' bury it undah my back do'steps. An' ah'll be lucky an' ah won't lose a cent, but ah got tuh keep on renewing it up see, an' he say ah won't lose a bet.
(Well, do you leave that toadfrog under the steps then?)
Yessuh, dat's right. An' when it goes stale yo' know ah gotta go back tuh him, see. When it git old ah gotta go back to him an' keep it renewed up. An' yo' gotta have confidence in him, yo'know. An' den ah kin go tuh him an' tell him whut ah wants did, anything. He mo' den apt tuh send me back home. He ain't wanta do it de first day. He'll tell yo' come back. [Magic delay.] If ah don't believe in him when ah go dere, he'll tell yo' tuh go back an' make up in yore mind dat chew goin' believe in him. An' if ah wants tuh work - if a man is got somepin, see, ah go dere meanwhile an' ah'll tell him. An' he'll tell me how tuh go in a place, a place ah ain't nevah been - yo' know, make out where he is. Ah kin go wheresomevah he is, if he round anywhere. If he drink, ah drink - try tuh git near to him as ah kin, see, an' ah has this Jockey Club an' lodestone, an' den ah'll jes' rub it on him yo' know, put mah han's on him jes' lak if ah wanta tech him.
Entry 1979
Mostly they give them to gamblers. It's a little square bag of no particular color. And they tell them to wear it next to their skin and that you will win. They don't tell you what's in that. They tell you if you open it you will have bad luck.
Entry 1980
You take a pair of Adam and Eve and you put it in a bag, you put a piece of John de Conker in dere, and you put a piece of Gall of Earth, and you put a piece of King Solomon - dem dere three in dat bag, and put a dime in dere. [See margin-title Three Roots, later.j Dat bag gotta be made outa red flannel or pink silk. Well you sew it up tight after you put dat dime in dere. Den you take some of dis conker root and boil it. Well, you make 'bout a quart. Or either you git yourself a bottle of Hearts Cologne. You put a lot of dat cologne in dere but keep it. Den you git a ole glass and put a little water and put dis conker root juice into it and one or two drops of your own urine - dat's fer to draw - and saturate dis bag in it [this is feeding the bagl. Dat'll do business, too. Dat make so many people lucky on de numbers and things.
(Well, what's the bag supposed to do? Just luck for numbers?)
Naw, lucky bag. Yeah, you gotta carry it on yo'. Don't let nobody put dere hands on it - ain't let nobody know it's on yo'.
Entry 1981
The forefinger of the dead man. (Which hand?) The right hand.
(The right hand - the forefinger.)
First joint. And make a hand of it and put it in a little bag, you know, and sew it together. Calls it a hand. I've done that myself.
(Do you put anything else with that? Or just that bone alone?)
Just that bone alone, and give it to him and let him carry it long enough for the bone to get acquainted with him, which you know, when I git it, I gits it off a man who was a gambler. I got it off a man who was a gambler. Now, that thing, I ought not to tell 'cause I makes money off of dat.
(Well, I m not going to use it anyway.)
What - huh?
[I explain my untactful remark.]
(I say I'm not going to stay here and go into business as a gambler or any- thing of that sort. I say I'm not going to use it in any way.) I don't care whether you use it or not. You kin use it if you want to. But then such things as that I don't talk it around home here because folks, you see, would head me off by doing it deyself.
(I know. So this is confidential between us, it doesn't go any further.)
Now, I went to work and I got the dead man's finger, the first ioint, and made a hand and stayed at home here and sent it to him by his lady friend. And he went to - he was a gambler. And I told him, "Don't bet much money on that now, the first off, before this fellow get acquainted with you." He went off the first night he got it and made a $100 on it the first night, and he sent me $10 to fix it and then sent me $5 after he made the $100. I made $15.
Entry 1982
Ah went to a man to make conditions better at home. He had me tuh git a dime an' he grind it up an' he had me git twelve needles an' he broken dem in parts an' he put 'em into a - he ball a cloth up, made a round ball out of it, an' had me to wear dat round mah waist an' put Hearts Cologne on it, an' each day that would bring happiness into mah home. (Did it?) Yes sir, it seemed to he'p - fact mah wife seemed to act bettah an' mah - were mo' together an' we got along bettah. Then, on another occasion ah was tryin' tuh find happiness. Ah went to one [another doctor] an' he tole me tuh go out to de graveyard. An' mah little baby had jest died about two mont's, an' he said reach mah han' down in dere jest at sundown as fur as ah could git it an' bring up some sand, an' take that clay an' parch it until it become where ah could handle it somepin lak sugah - he said, lak where it would be lak sugah. An' had me to take it an' go an' sprinkle some of it ovah mah mother's haid, an' she laid down an' sprinkle some in mah wife's haid, an' sprinkle some all through on de flo'. An' that brought mo' harm than evah befo'. We had been fussin' but we got tuh fighting. It ran me clean away from dere. Instead of bringin' together, it did mo' harm than it did good.
(What did he tell you to do this for?)
Tole me to do dat in order to bring happiness. Ah was seeking happiness. Ah wus tryin' tuh git mah - see, mah mother-in-law, seemed lak she didn't like me, an' mah sister-in-laws - ah jest couldn't git along wit de family. An' ah went to him - someone tole me to go to him an' ah went to him an' he had me to bring that to him an' go through dis performance with dis graveyard dirt. An' of course, instead of bringin' happiness, it got worse. An' on another occasion dat dis same gurl ran 'way from me - an' ah went around to one lady an' she had me to go lie down flat on mah back. Ah lie down flat on mah back, an' she put a dark cloth ovah mah face an' tole me to call her name, an' ah called her name. So she told me to go to Sarasota [Florida]. Ah went there an' ah found another one an' she tole me, "She's in St. Petersburg [Florida]." An' then ah went to one an' he give me help. He said that chew'll find her. Told me to go git two tater roots. [Potato in much of the South is sweet potato, not Irish potato.] Ah got two tater roots an' he tied 'em together an' told me to wear dat round mah waist, an' told me to go on an' when ah come to de first little town where ah could git a boat, go out into a boat an' throw dis ovah into de water, an' come on back and rest on it an' in a day or two she come up. Ah did that. Yes sir, she came back. (When she put a black cloth over your head, did she do anything else for you or did she just send you to another person?) She put the black cloth ovah mah haid when ah laid down. Den ah got up an' then she had me to read de 23rd Psalm, ah think it was, an' after ah read de 23rd Psalm, then she had me to stand up an' go through some motions with her, yo' see. She carry her han' out dat way an' up dis way [demonstrates]. An' she tole me tuh hole mah haid sidewards an' ah did that, an' then she begin tuh read [the cards] an' tell me various things. And of co'se from that, why she tole me tuh go an' ah went where she tole me, but ah did not find her.
(Well, after she finished with you, then she sent you on to somebody else?)
Yes sir. Once ah desire to go out an' ah couldn't go out an' ah went to a fortune- teller an' ah asked why. He tole me, said, "Yo' go home," he said, "an' yore wife has used de dishrag an' sewed it up in a mattress." He said, "When yo' kin ketch it - yore wife's off from de house, look in de middle of de mattress an' yo'll find dat dishrag. Take it an' go to back do' an' look towards de east an' wipe yoreself an' then go ahead an' throw de dishrag ovah de field - ovah there some place." An' he says, "Yo'll find complete results." An' ah did it an' ah really got results. That had me tied. Ah used that an' soon find out. [Dishrag is a widespread cure for impotence caused by tying.]
Entry 1983
For luck in gambling you would use a hand - use a hand such as a oil. (Well, now, explain the details of that hand. What kind of a hand? Do you know how it's made?) Yes, sir. It's a hand. They makes a hand with a piece of red flannel first, and after the red flannel they ask vou for a silver dime. They puts - place the silver dime in it, place a piece of lodestone in it. They takes a piece of John the Conquer root - that's for protection. All right, they takes that hand - that cloth, you see, and they wrap it - sews it up all around. They takes this oil of clover and they gives you a bottle full of it - a little, about three-ounce bottle. You puts that oil on that hand - what we call a hand and soaks it. [This soaking is called feeding.] Then when you go in a gambling house, you supposed not to let no one take that hand - see, no one touch it. If you do, it's supposed to be no good. You walk in to gamble - well, gambling room - playing cards or anything like dice. And that hand is supposed to work. It jumps in your pocket, you see.
(It jumps?)
Just like it moves - slightly more - that's when you must bet. ` And when you are not to bet [it does not jump]. See. Yeah, I had one.
(I see. Did it work?)
It worked purtty good, I was purtty lucky.
Entry 1984
If you are getting into the game, you can find out if the other fellow has a bag?) Yessuh, yo' kin find out if he got one. Well, yo' see de way yo' find it out, yo' see yores won't work, see. See, yores gen'ly [generally] gits hot in yore pocket - dat's when yo' tell when tuh pass or anything. But long as it stay cool, well, yo' kin tell anothah man got one bettah den yores.
(And there is nothing you can do about it?)
No suh, den [than] if yo' jis' git up an' leave de game or bet behin' him.
The source says yores gets hot in a pocket; no hand identification, measured temperature or working result is established.
Entry 1985
They say they have two kinds of these hands. The first one I told you about was supposed to be a hand that would give a man good luck and anything he desires. There's another hand that they could talk to that will direct them, where to go, when to go, and when not to go, to keep out of trouble. That is the one they talk to. There's one that hangs around the neck and hangs down right here in front of them. The one that gives them their wishes they carry in their pocketbook. The talking one they hang around their neck. [This taZking hand is a Jack - see Nos. 581-588, pp.190- 193, and Index.]
Entry 1986
[This is the Rite of Disguise, p.395.]
Ah tell yo' how ah've used 'em. Yo' ketch a red ants an' cut him half in two, an' as de ant's dyin' yo' gotta put him in a bottle wit dis same Hearts Perfume agin an' oil of clover, an' yo' keep dat ants dere. Yo name dat ants - name dat ants some kind other name. yo' know, yo' don't call it an ants - any name yo' care tuh give it besides yoreself. Well, whatsomevah yo' goin' tuh use dat ants fo' in de luck, jes' shake it up an' says, "Now, Whatsomevah-yo'-name-it, help."
Entry 1987
It's lodestone, a white lodestone - yo' fix that with a piece of stolen garlic. Lak if yo' wanted this thing fixed fo' yo', yo' would steal the garlic - not ask anybody fo' it, steal the garlic without dem seein' yo', an' yo' place this white lodestone with a ten-cent piece an' dis piece of stolen garlic into a red flannel an' yo' sew it up real tight an' every nine days yo' dress [feed] this thing with whut dey call van-van oil. That supposed tuh bring yo' special luck.
(What kind of luck?)
Well, such as yo' - yo' supposed to do things an' come out of 'em clear. An' in yore dealings from person tuh person, yo' supposed to git results. Dey are supposed to pay special attention to yo'. It should be jis' de gen'ral run of all yore luck - fo' luck in de gen'ral run.
Entry 1988
I'll tell you of an experience that I have had. I heard of a lady who Was supposed to be able to issue a change of luck. She gave me a little red bag sewed very tightly. I never opened it to see what was in it. The process in which she went about making this bag was this. She had me to place my hand on a piece of paper and drew a print [an outline] of my hand. She wrote my name on one end and the man's name, from which I was pursuing a job, at the other end. And she was supposed to dress it in some way and put it in this bag with some other things. And my luck was supposed to have changed. However, I didn't see any change because I didn't carry this as a guard. [I never found an example of what would have been the most wonderful hand of all; an inkprint of a person's complete hand. Perhaps my imagination is too impractical, for such a hand would have been too much like taking fingerprints.]
Entry 1989
[The shape of a human hand has been stamped from metal and used as a hand (FACI,2ed., No. 15897, p.799); in the following we have the shape of a hand cut from paper.] If I need a job - if I want to come to you to get something to give me a job, to get something, you go to the drug store and you call fer dat. They don't sell dese often. We kin go dere and git it but chew can't. You kin git it but it ain't goin work yo' business. You call fer de little hands - ten cent fer five. Wal, any firm that need anyone - anybody that you know of, you send to the drug store and git chew 50c - spend 50c and git you 50c worth of hands, little hands.
(What do they look like?)
Jis' shape of a hand - are on paper - goin' to give you hands, somepin like a - it's in the shape of a hand. And you give the fellah one of those hands when you [he] coming fer a job [when he is coming to you for something to help him get a job.] [Informant considers his handing the paper hand to the client a sufficient dressing of the hand, or he did not know how the hand should be dressed, or he was unwilling to dress the hand for me. One of the most frequent dressings for a job hand is names - see margin-title Name, later.]
Entry 1990
Tell yo' whut ah know dey say - whut dey done tuh me. Ah had charge of a grove. De man is in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, an' he was coming down to find out to put somebody on de grove. Well, ah'd heard of a man in Louisville, Kentucky, an' ah sent there an' he sent me a little white thing about like a - had all knobs an' a thumb [he demonstrates] - jest as white as cotton.
(Something like a glove with fingers cut off.) [This is a hand hand.]
Yes. An' he tole me tuh put that on there an' wear ft till it died. When it died it was all black as yore hat. [See Author, black hat of, in Index.] Say, "When it dies, yo' make yore wish an' go to the fireplace" - an' when yo' jest make the last wish, says that ah'd be able tuh git this job - "den throw it in de fire." An' he says, "Yo' won't rest that night while yo' got it on yo' while yo' burn it up." An' ah had red flannen on it, and de flannen blue smoked [the smoke was blue], an' ah jest rolled an' tumbled all night long. In a few days or a few weeks ah got a letter from him.
(Got a letter from whom?)
Got a letter from de man ah wanted tuh git de job from. Yassuh, he was in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. A. S. R. [Man's name.]
(The grove was down here some place?)
The grove was at Sanford [Florida] an he write de letter, an' ah never have seen 'im but once in life, and ah worked it three times, an' de last time ah worked it, looked lak somepin spoke to me, "Yo' gwine be here long as he own it." Well, long as he owned de grove he kept me. (Well now, when this thing came it looked like a white glove with the fingers cut off - Just sort of like the knuckles. And the color of this piece Was white wasn't it?) Jest as white as the. (Well now, you didn't throw it into the fire until it got dead, you say. What did it look like when it. got dead?) Looked like a black hand.
(This thing turned black, this cloth. Was it a cloth or?)
No suh.
(What was it, paper?)
Ah don't know whut it was. Ah wrahpped it in red flannen, understand.
(Oh, he told you to wrap it up in red flannel.)
Wrahp it up in red flannen an' keep it till it turn black, and then when it turn black, that was the time fo' me to use it. An' ah looked an' seed that it was turned black, but ah wasn't satisfied - ah kept it a day longer, you know. Then ah unwropped it an' turn mah back and made mah wishes, an' bobbed [balled up or bunched] this thing and throw it in de fire an' nevah looked back at it till ah got to de bed, an' ah looked back at it a blue smoke. An' if yo' ever seed a man in trouble, ah was in trouble all night long. Ah couldn't rest while that thing dere.
Entry 1991
Gambling? Well, the thing that I was told that I would be lucky in gambling with - the first thing I ever did in my life was to buy a luck hand. The hand was sold to me for five dollars cash. That hand was supposed to be treated with diff'rent kinds of oil and linaments, and then when you go to a game, that you would be lucky. The first hand that I bought, I went to a game and I got broke. I cut this luck piece open. And when I got broke I cut it open and I found one thin dime in it, and I'd taken the dime and spent it - bought me some gin with it. And so the next luck piece I bought from a fellow, he give it to me on a guar- antee of trial - if I don't win, I didn't have to pay for it. I had taken that luck piece and I won $35 with 256. So that begin to kind of make me believe that there was something to that. But after that $35 I wasn't able to win no more. Right chere in this Vicksburg, I paid $12.50 for one of the same things. The first time I won was the $7. Then next - I never has won. Then I realized that the confidence that I had in myself - had I not had that luck piece, I would have won just the same. But the imagination.
Entry 1992
Well, in othah words ah had folks [woman and man] tuh come to sell me a han', a gamblin' han', an' ah axed de woman whut she take fo' it? He said, well, he'll sell me one fo' five dollahs. He sell me one fo' fifteen.
Entry 1993
Dey would go to a man fer to get good luck. So when dey go to dis guy, dis guy would tell 'em you know. It would be a little black bag, have a whole lot of little things in it. It would look somepin like little pieces of stone, and a little piece of dried leaf Would be all cut up, you know, in there. I seen 'em. I seen one of 'em and I tore de thing open, I didn't know what it was, fer to see what it was. It was a little fine pieces of stone and it looked like some little leaves was into it and some little gravels looked like offen de ground. So they said de fellah says fer to hold it tight, keep it in your pocket all de time; an' if you leave it to git loose, it would git away from you and go back to 'im and you wouldn't have no luck.
(What do they call this bag?)
A qood-luck bag. You kept it in your pocket where you keep de money. You know, it would be mos' fer a man. Well, if a woman would carry one, they would have to keep it in de pocketbook.
Entry 1994
Whensomevah yo' enemies comin' in orders to bother yo' 'bout dis stuff, yore heart'll jump an' notify yuh. See, yo'll be notified because it runnin' in yore mind - maybe, "Ah'll stow 'way dis heah stuff until dis law pass." Because on certain days de federal men be's heah searchin' an' goin' on, an' de police is ridin' yo'. But when yore heart jump an' [then] yo' hide all de stuff till everythin' ca'm [calm] down - prob'bly two or three days, a week. [Your own heart becomes a living hand!]
Entry 1995
At Williamsburg, Virginia, at the Colonial Hotel, the place I was work- ing at, I was working with a boy called Massey. He was about the luckiest boy around the job. He would go away from the job, stay as long as he want, come back to the job and still hold a good hand with the boss. One evening on a dice game I was betting in the game with Massey. Massey and I were good friends. So after the game Was over, I having lost all my money, Massey having won all the money in the game, he gave me my money back and warned me not to play in a game again if he was in the game. I wanted to know why. He opened his shirt at the collar and showed me a little bag, a little dirty bag, of some contents I don't know what, pinned over his heart. It was the shape of a heart. II saw one heart-shaped hand ~ see No. 1053, p.399.] He told me that this little bag Would always pro- tect him in any game, for love or for money. He told me that he bought this little bag from an old man that lived far back in the woods and the path that led to his home was well travelled because there was always seen cars about his home. He told me that he paid this man fifty dollars for this little bag, two dollars down on deposit, and if it worked he paid the other forty-eight dollars. One afternoon I told him that if his bag could work let me see him work it on a white man. He was working for Dr. B. Dr. B. was the owner of the hotel. He had a nice automobile, an automobile that he had just paid $3300 for; and we had been accustomed to renting a car at a garage about four blocks up the street when we wanted to go to a ball game, dances and things of that kind. On this partic- ular afternoon the car that we had rented, somebody else had rented it already. I said to Massey, "Now, your bag, if it is working, let me see it work now." "I told him I would give him five dollars if his bag worked on Dr. B, so far as us getting his car. He told me to come on and lay the bet and go with him, and I when I saw him rub his hand on the bag I would know that the bag Was Working. He went to the doctor and asked him to let us use his car. He was doing the talking. I have know Dr. B's daughter ask him to let her use the car and he Would turn her down. After Massey had spoken to the doctor, he suddenly rubbed his hand over his heart. The doctor told him he couldn't let him take the car because the tire had been condemned. In fact he had to return it to the people he had bought it from and get another for it. Massey ran his hand over that bag again. Quickly the countenance on the doctor's face changed and he began to smile, and said to Massey, "Take that car, go on to the ball game and bring it back, take it to the garage and take the tire to those people and tell them that I want another one." If the bag Worked I don't know. I only know that I lost five dollars.
Entry 1996
It's something mostly in the shape of a heart, but what's in it I don't know. This is a hand for good luck. Most of those I have seen are made out of red flannel.
Entry 1997
Well de simplest thing yo' kin do if yo' pore an' haven't got any money lak me - de cheapest an' best thing to do is tuh go to the drug store an' git a ten-cent bottle of Hearts Cologne and take that cologne an' put it in a spray - jest like yo' spray fo' insects - jest spray the room that chew sleep in an' close it up. If yo' don't do that, yo' kin smoke a cigar. Yo' kin put it in yore eyelashes, in yore hair, anywhere about chew, the Hearts Cologne. An' then yo' kin take it an' po' it on money, if yo' have a dime - anything except a nickel or a penny. Yo' kin put it on a dime or fifty cents or a quarter an' rub it in de palm of yo' hand. Each time that chew rub the money, make a wish fo' de job dat chew want an' yo'll git it.
(And you use it also in the room for a job.)
Entry 1998
De thing tuh do when yo' go befo' de judge - yo' don't need nuthin but one thing - is yo' gotta put a han'chief upon yore haid. Yo' don't have nuthin tuh do but wipe yore face. If he wus angry wit chew, he have tuh calm down an' be meekly wit chew.
(You said this is a plain handkerchief?)
A plain han'chief wit Heart Perfume. But it's dressed befo' yo' got dere.
(It's only dressed with Hearts Perfume? That's all?)
Dat's all.
Entry 1999
Dis Hearts Cologne - ah seen a lady had some. She had it - she would not let anybody nuse [use] it but her, an' see she'd nuse it. But she had it settin' where yo' could see it, but she wouldn't let anybody nuse it but her. Well, see if anybody else nuse it, it would give dem bad luck.
(What did she use that for?)
Good luck - to keep de policeman off from yore house, or to draw customers.
(How did she use that perfume?)
She puts it on her.
(On herself?)
Yes sir.
Entry 2000
Dey say, take Hearts Cologne an' rub it in yore han' an' drink it like dat, yo'll have good luck in gambling; but ah nevah haven't tried it, see. (You mean you rub this Hearts Cologne in your hand and then you drink some of it, after you've rubbed your hands. That gives you good luck in gambling. Ye ssuh. [On one of my visits to Savannah, I interviewed a man with a slightly befud- dled mind. Afterwards I heard he was a perfume drinker, having acquired the habit during prohibition.l
Entry 2001
It's lucky about gamblin' and business an' all. Yo' jes' git chew a bottle of Hearts Perfume an' a bottle of cinnamon oil an' mix dat together an' rub dat ovah yore han' and face. Rub that ovah yore han's and face an' undah both yore arms, an' dat's lucky for spo'tin' wimmins an' gamblin' an' all lak dat. Ah've tried dat mahself an' know it.
Entry 2002
Yassuh. Now yo' kin take a person's tracks. Dey take de left-foot track an' pick it up wit a shovel - git one cake of it.
(How do you pick it up?)
Well, jes' run it undah it, yo' see. Jes' lak yo' be followin' behin' some- one an' yo' take an' git a bo'd an' [or] shovel an' pick de whole foot-track up. Well now, yo' kin take that and yo' git chew 'bout 20 cents wuth of Hearts Cologne - dat ole stuff yo' know dat got heart, h-o-r, ah think yo' spell it on there. [The label has one or more red hearts; sometimes the bottle is heart- shaped.] Yo' take that an' yo' put it in de sand [of the foot-track]. Then yo' git chew 15 cents wuth of love powders an' put it in dat sand. Den take dat sand an' put it in a papah bag an' carry it to some diff'rent corner lak dat [points].
(Corner of the room.)
De corner of de room behin' where nobody won't interfere wit it, an' the woman will be yore gurl. [This is a love hand.]
Entry 2003
Now, heah a while ago a friend of mine wus 'rested, he wus 'rested fo' whiskey selling. Dat's whut he said was charged against him, whiskey selling. Well now, he wus in jail, he couldn't evah do nuthin cause he wus in jail. An' he had de same identical thing ah wus tellin' while ago 'bout dose holly leaves. An' hit wus nine holly leaves given tuh him; three to go in dis shoe, three lays in dis shoe, [an' "three in yore left-hand pocket" - see later] an' a silver dime or - dat somepin dat chew kin hardly find. Yo' makin' money but ah haven't seen none hardly in a long time now. [This was during the Great Depression. Now,1968, all silver dimes have disappearedl] But in dat - puttin' dose three leaves in each shoe an' three in yore left-hand pocket [the nine leaves] - cross dat finger [demonstrates].
(On your left-hand cross the fore-finger and the little finger.)
[How many persons can cross forefinger and little finger? Even make them touch?] Yes sir, dat's right. Dat finger right chere, cross dis one round dat, an' put it [the crossed fingers] in yore pocket. An' dey tells me when yo' walks up befo' de judge - dat's whut dis fellah tole me now - dat it gits de co't tangled all up. See, de jedge an' de laws an' things they can't git de place together - say, dey'll throw it out. Now, when ah wus up dere, a fellah tried to git me. Ah tole him no. Ah says, "Now, listen, if ah do any kind of misdemeanor, all de law will ketch me fo' is drinkin' prob'bly, or if ah'm in a fight wit anyone."
The informant describes crossing fingers in a reported court-related practice. The precise finger pairing and demonstration are not resolved, and dismissal remains a source prediction.
Entry 2004
I seen that done. They would go to the woods on the hilly side where the sun shines, on a hill like you know, and get some of this moss - green moss. And they will get some of this here 'olly [holly] with the red balls - little red berries. They'll put it in some vaseline and let it set for three days. They'll take it and 'noint the steps, the doorway - the steps all over, all up and down. They can't come in there.
(They can't come in. That keeps the law away.) [Holly is the devil's bush.]
The informant says unnamed others cannot enter after doorway treatment. The law-away paraphrase is the interviewer's, and protection remains a source claim.
Entry 2005
(If you are on the job now and you think someone is trying to take it from you.) Well, yo' git chew some holy oil from some agent dat carries it - ah don't know whether they does at de drug store or not - an' put dat holy oil in de palm of yore hands an' wish tuh keep it [job] an' wish de fellow dat is goin' tuh take yo' [job] will keep [away].
(How do you put that oil in your hand?)
Put it in yore hand with your finger an' cross it.
(Do you cross it in one hand or both?)
In both, an' if you don't make it in both, make it in the right hand.
Entry 2006
Yo' take de same - de High John de Conker root an' de five-finger grass an' den it's whut chew call a holy oil. Den yo' use dat holy oil, as yo' walkin' an' git up to de do', why yo' rubs a little dat oil on yore hands an' back of yore ears an' all like dat. An' ask de employer or somepin about gittin' a job.
Entry 2007
De Southern John de Conker - yo' git dat. Git chew some Heart Cologne an' yo' git chew some five-finger grass - yo' know dat, five-finger grass. Yo kin git favors from anybody wit five-finger grass, yo' know. Five-finger grass, Heart's Cologne an' Southern John de Conker. Put de cologne wit dat an' Jes' put it on yo'self an' when yo' git ready tuh go - jes' bathe yore face lak dat. Yo' jes' take dat yo' know an' rub it ovah yore han' an' face jes lak yo' goin' tuh ask fo' a favor.
(This holy oil - do you use it in addition to the other stuff you are using?)
[Informant had previously mentioned holy oil.]
Right on 'long with it. Yo' jes' do dat in de mawnin' jes' lak yo' goin' out tuh look fo' a job - yo' jes' take some of dat, yo' know, jes' lak anybody goin' grease dere face. We call it down heah - we call it - ah'm tryin' tuh remembah now whut chew call it. But de proper name is holy oil. Well, de Holiness People use it - olive oil. But de proper name - we call it holy oil, but it's olive oil.
Entry 2008
That is a hoodoo bag. People have those things to sell. (What are they supposed to do with that hoodoo bag?) Well, they will either give it to you to carry in yore purse - most times they give it to yo' to wear around yore neck, swing it down an' hang it in front of your chest.
(What is that supposed to do for me? I mean that bag?)
Well, that supposed - jes' lak if dey wishin' fo' yo' to leave town, why then yo' supposed to wear that bag an' stay in town.
(Oh, that is supposed to protect you against this kind of work.)
Yes sir.
(Well, what do they usually put in that hoodoo bag?)
Well, they put in there diff'rent kinds of roots - they put in there what they call John de Conker, lodestone and it's another kind of a root but ah can't think of it. [Lodestone is not a root, but some persons called any hoodoo or witch- craft object buried or carried - roots.]
Entry 2009
Take dat 'nure [manure] an' put lodestone with it an' people sell dat fo' lucky han's. Dey gits hoss manure an' cow manure an' mix all dat together an' lodestone an' salt an' that makes him be lucky. An' 'noint it down wit whiskey. See, dat'll make yo' have a lucky han'. An' yo' kin carry dat an' rub it - jis' lak yo' want a job or somepin, yo' carry it an' rub dat an' yo' mo' den apt to git chew a job.
carrying the described lucky hand while seeking work. Keep mo’ den apt as a qualified claim, not actual employment or a guarantee. combining horse/cow manure, lodestone and salt before whiskey anointing. Do not turn whiskey anointing into an unspecified extra ingredient proportion or combine neighboring recipes. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2010
You kin take a horseshoe nail an' you take it an' make you a ring for your finger an' you kin wear that. An' then [a second method] you kin git choo three horseshoe nails. An' you know this hoof where they cut off the horse's feet; an' you kin git that little dust. An' you take an' put that in your pocket, an' put them three horse- shoe nails in there, an' put that little dust in, an' you'll have real good luck. Ev'ry time you git ready to shoot dice or play cards, you take an' rub that stuff on your hand.
Entry 2011
When yo' do lak dat, yo' goes where peoples take - to a horseshoe shop where dey shoes horses an' mules. Yo' understand dat. Yo' git chew, understan', nine p'ints [points] of de horseshoe nails - nine p'ints. Whut ah mean by nine p'ints now - de whole horseshoe nail when yo' shoein' de horse, dey drive it in de hoof, an' yo' takes yore pliers, yo' drive it [nail] through de shoe into de hoof, through de hoof an' it come out ovah heah an' dat leaves de p'int stickin up lak dat, a good little piece. Well, dey rings dat off on dat side an' files it off wit a file. (They clip those little points off?). Yeah, clip dem off. Yo' pick 'em up down dere on de ground. Yo' tells de man, say, "Ah wanta, Boss, a han'ful or so of dese little p'ints of dese little horseshoe nails." Says, "Go ahead," says, "ah don't care nuthin 'bout dem - ah'm done with 'em." Pick yo' up nine p'ints an' put 'em in yore pocket. Den when yo' git dat, yo'll go back an' go where yore cow is, or mah cow, or lak dat, a cow stall or in a cow pasture, an' git chew, understan', a han'ful, jes' about dat much, of dry cow dung. Be sure dat hit dry an' hard - not green, not half-green. Gits de ole dry cow dung dat's hard an' dry, an' come back an' crumble that thing up, yo' understand, an' take dem nine p'ints of dem horseshoe nails an' put it in dere wit it. Sew it up in a lil piece of flannen, if yo' wanta, an' put it in yore pocket an' take den an' git yo' dis - git chew some dis heah whut dey call Hearts Cologne. Yo' kin git dat an' dat smells so high, so high in a crowd lak dat, yo' kin leave hit off [and use a linament]. (If you don't use the Hearts Cologne, you use this linament. Now what is it called?) Ah'm tellin' yo' now - whut dey call Nerve and Bone Linament, an' po' it on dere. Wet it good wit dat. Dat Nerve an' Bone Linament, dat takes all de man's nerves dat he git. If yo' git a man nerve, den yo' got him up any time where yo' Want him. He ain't no damn good. Yo' kin work him any kinda way yo' wanta. Dat takes de nerve 'way from all de rest of 'em. Yo' see, yo' got de nerve down. When a man's nerve gone, he's no good.
(That's for luck in gambling.)
Entry 2012
(What is the name of that powder?)
Hotfoot.
(Hotfoot. What do they do with that?)
Yo' sprinkle it around on dere door, cashly [casually]. Well, den dey walk over dat. Well, you see, natch'ly you put it on dere doorstep. Well, dey'll either walk over it goin' in or going out, but they will be movin' when dey do; and whatever happens, why dat causes dem to move. (That makes them move out of the house. What is hotfoot powder? How do they make that?) Well, ah don't know jest exactly how it's made. Yo' more or less buy it from de place that they sells it - this trick stuff, jes' like John de Conker.
Entry 2013
Then dey go to diff'rent places and ah've seen 'em use powder - some kin' of powder dey calls hotfoot powder. Ah have never used it but ah have seen 'em use it. Some of 'em if dey would git a chance, dey would sprinkle it around yore door an' inside yore door - anything like dat.
(What would that do?)
Dat was fo' tuh run 'em - run 'em 'way from dere.
Entry 2014
Ah see dat done, too - easy. Yo' has enemies an' dey want chew tuh move outa yore house, leave. Goes tuh work an' git yo's a powder dey calls de hotfoot powders - yeah, hotfoot powders. Hit's in de worl', anybody sell it to yo' dat kin git it - hotfoot powders. An' when yo' git dat hotfoot powders it looks white like sugah. Yo' take dat stuff an' go tuh his house by night - like dat's de house dere an' he stayin' in de house, he hard asleep jes' twelve or one 'clock in de night. Jes' go along an' put it down dere where he comin' out; if he comin' de fust thing in de mawnin' he done steps ovah it. You jes' sprinkle it right 'cross de do' lak dat. See. An' tell it, 'Ah lay yo' heah tuh work, do whut ah tell yo' tuh do." An' yo' walk right on - turn right aroun' an' walk on an' don't say anothah word. Walk right off an' leave dere an' don't say anothah word. An' ah heah, den yo's enemies goin' leave de house in nine day's time - he'll move, git off. [For nine day's time, see No. 1955, p.573.]
Entry 2015
Yo' kin git graveyard dust an' mix it with some of this heah hotfoot powder an' it will give yo' ill luck.
(How would they handle that? What would they do with that after they mix it?)
Dey tell me now that they jis' sprinkle it aroun'.
(What would happen then?)
Well, de individual dat livin' in dere, dey tell me, would move or some ill luck would happen to 'em.
Entry 2016
Well, dey tell me yo' take some red peppah, sulphur an' salt an' mix it together an' put it in yore pocket. An' after yo' git it in yore pocket, well, yo' git dis lucky incense. Ah've got some up to de house now - it's really good. Ah wish ah could git a chance tuh give yo' de number of dis company. Well, ah'll maybe git a chance tuh give it to yo' befo' yo' leave. Well, all right, yo' give it to 'em in a little bag an' let 'em put it in dere pocket, see.
(You put all that stuff in a little bag?)
Yeah, a little bag, jes' lak yo' take a little piece of homespun an' have dese in a little bag, but put it in yore pocket. Den when dey put it in dere pocket, jes' lak dey goin' tuh gamble, run yore hand down in dere an' git dis bag an' rub it all ovah yore han's - see, rub it all ovah yore hands an' put it back in yore pocket. Den yo' kin start tuh dealin' yore cards - say, brothah, yo' got 'em.
(What do you put in that bag now?)
Red peppah, black peppah, a little bit of salt, an' incense - in yore pocket. [Incense in a bag hand is unusual; usually incense is burned for business - see margin-title Incense in subsection Business and Customers.]
Entry 2017
See, ah burn insane [incense] fer three mornin's an' use dat. See. Insane ah do. Then ah burn mah candlestick. Dat's if ah want de job. [Candlestick here is probably stick incense or joss stick rather than candle in candlestick, though perfumed candles are burned.]
(Do you do that for yourself or the person that comes to you?)
De person dat comes tuh me.
(What kind of incense do you burn?)
Ah uses mistletoe.
(Do you buy that some place?)
Yeah, ah orders it.
(What firm do you order that from?)
Ah - ever' once in a while ah forgit about it - ah left mah little book
[catalogue] home.
Entry 2018
Git dat graveyard dirt - carry those three pennies down wit it an' go jes' as fur as yo' kin reach down an' bring up some of dat graveyard dirt. Git dat wit some brimstone an' sulphur an' put it together. Den if yo' kin git hold of dat Indian turnip [see later], jes' have some of it pound up an' [you] kin git inside de co'thouse - git in wit de man dat cleans up in dere befo' co't commence or dey's dere tuh take up co't. Go in an' sprinkle dat all around where all de officers stan' roun' in dere. Dey has benches up dere where de judge sit - have tuh sprinkle it all aroun' dere where de rest of de officers - go all roun' in dere. Dey throw it out.
(They throw the case out?)
Yeah. [Indian turnip, called Indian potato by an informant, is the root of jack-in- the-pulpit. I found the root rarely used.]
Entry 2019
Influence Powder. An' yo' kin git dat bark called John de Conker root. Yo' kin go dere an' jes' as yo' go in yo' sprinkle dat powder at chure do' - Influence. An' yo' kin have dat [root] in yore mouth chewin' like tobacco and spit it aroun' an' all lak dat; and jes' spit it like no one noticing it an' everything, an' dat Influence Powder you sprinkle - it smell sweet.
(Where do you sprinkle that? Where the boss is?)
Yes, wherever yo' goin' tuh git de job at. An' yo' sprinkle it as yo' go in an' yo'll git it.
Entry 2020
[I have already given some hands called Jack, divining hands (pp.190- 193 and Index), but in the following example Jack does not divine, he does some- thing else:] Ah have heard in times past dat a fellah gamblin' - co'se he would take his money an' he would take it an' put it wit sulphur an' red peppah an' alum, table salt an' wear it next to him, see, fo' so many days 'fore he start tuh gamblin', nine days. An' den when he goes in an' gambles, why he would be lucky. An' den, if he would happen tuh have a little bad luck, he would take an' put a little Heart's Own Cologne on it. An' co'se he would name it Jack. He would name that hand, Jack - that would be a hand. He would name it Jack. An' if he would begin to fall [to lose] he would take it off an' say, "Jack, Jack, three times, an'he would go back agin an' he start agin. But he supposed to keep it loaded wit dis heah cologne. [Calling Jack three times is a part of recharging the hand.] (He would put this money in a little piece of cloth or something of that sort. He doesn't gamble with that? He would just keep it all the time on his person? On his body?) On his body.
Entry 2021
Heard tell of 'em goin' tuh - well, dey don't be roun' heah, but dey takes de rock out of a jay bird's nest. Ah've heard tell of people takin' an goin' tuh de mountains an' gittin' a rock out a jay bird's nest an' bringin' it back heah, an' if dey want a job or wanta work any way, or don' wanta do nuthin, dey kin take dat rock an' keep it. It's a lil white rock look jes' lak a aig.
(Well, how do they get that rock?)
Dey go tuh dis bird's nest an' git it. De bird nest be's on de ground, see, in de rocks, kinda in a rock-lak. Well, de nest, it be's covered up an' dey take an' uncover dis nest an' git dis rock out of it an' put it in dere pocket an' bring it on back. [Cf. No. 1155, p.423.]
Entry 2022
Get some Jockey Club perfume, the best, rub it on your hand and face and walk in, take your hat off [and say], "Good morning to the clerk and tell him you is out looking for a job. He won't turn you down.
Entry 2023
They got - you kin go to the Crackerjack [drug store] and you kin buy ten cents of steel dust, twenty-five cents of Jockey Club, and you kin get a piece of red flannel. You take this steel dust and you sew it into this red flannel, and you take the Jockey Club and sprinkle it over this red flannel. Ever' time you - you know, if you figure it done got dry on you, you jest get up and go like you goin' in to urine and just wet it with this Jockey Club and just come back, and the money's gotta draw to you - you gotta win it in any game.