Browse:HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS (Volume 1, entries 1704–2402)/Part 9
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 2344
Get some turpentine and brown sugar. Put as many drops as you is old on this brown sugar and hold it in the palm of your hand whilst you're talking.
(Talking to the boss?) Yes. And that's luck for a job.
Entry 2345
Git a bottle of turpentine an' po' it outside de do' - run up an' down lak dat ovah yore do', an' dey won't come dere. If dey come in dey'll talk very nice.
(That is to keep the law away?)
Yes.
Entry 2346
Mop in turpentine, bluestone an' dragon blood an' dat'll keep de law away; an' sprinkle lye aroun' yore house, aroun' de steps, all de way round de house.
Entry 2347
Dat's 'cordin' to whut kinda luck yo' mean. Ah know de gamblin' luck an' whut bad luck is given on dat, if a man's a gambler, see. Well, yo' kin take some turpentine an' red peppah, mix it, an' black peppah, an' mix it together. Now, if a man got a lucky hand, you kin put dat in his pocket, it will turn his luck. Dat's fo' gamblin' luck.
Entry 2348
Now, I tell you another thing, if you want anybody to - just like you had a woman - I mean, a man is running with your [qirl] friend, understand. And this is worth twenty dollars, understand. I don't gen'rally do it, but after all, the troopers come over here and I say, well maybe I [go over to see the man]. [Speaker calls my personal contact man Edward and our Vicksburg contact man, troopers! Medicine-show troopers?] Just like if you had a man, you know, and you don't wanta kill him, and he's running with your wife and I don' mean no harm. You know what you do? You see these [somethings] setting out on a log.
(These what?)
These coodahs sort - high-headed coodahs.
(Coodahs?)
[Transcriber transcribes this word coodels or coodles.]
Yeah - settin' out on a log in de river.
(Yes, what do they look like?)
You know, coodahs that jump off - ev'ry time you see 'em they jump off.
(Are they frogs or are they turtles or what?)
No, dey coodahs - call dem coodahs and dey soft just here, you understand.
(Soft-shell turtles aren't they?)
Yeah, and there is coodahs that is black - black as dis hat. [My old black hat, containing the concealed microphone, is mentioned so often I have had to include it in the Index - Black hat, author's. Informant's black coodah is probably the common snapping turtle.]
(Well, what does it look like? Does it look like a turtle?)
Yeah, it looks like a turtle - that's what it something like.
(A turtle. Oh, it's a turtle. All right, but they have a soft shell.)
No, dey don't - some of 'em have a soft shell and some of 'em don't.
(I see. All right. I understand.)
You know what you do. Now, you take this man name on there and print dis name in there [on the cooter's shell] - don't kill him now, you understand. Just you got anything, print anything on anything with that and put him in de river.
(And that will run him away? But you put the names of both of them on there?)
Both of them.
Entry 2349
The foot of a turtle, you see.
(The foot of a turtle?)
Yes. Take the foot of a turtle and they make hands out of 'em - luck hands out of 'em, see.
(How do they do that?)
Well, you see they cut that foot off the turtle and dry it out, you see. They dry it out and they takes and beat it up and put lodestone in and make a bag with it, see, and put a medal in that bag, you see.
(What kind of a medal?)
One of them holy you know, holy medals. They puts a medal in that bag and sew that bag up, see. And they sew that bag up and they puts perfume on it - oil of cinnamon perfume and they sells it.
(What is it supposed to do?)
It supposed to give you luck.
Entry 2350
Well, I tried a little thing like that on myself that people advised me to do. I went to work an' got me some Adam-an'-Eve an' got me a root they call twin brothers, an' got me some Hearts Cologne an' put on them. An' when I went to ast fer the job I take it an' rub it on my hands an' rub it on my face. Then I walked up to him an' ast him for the job. An' he's supposed not to deny yah.
Entry 2351
Dey tells me dat dey'll gen'rally gits both of them dirts - say dey don't mix 'em - at de fo'ks of a road. Say dey gets dem dirts. Well, now mah brothah, he's got each kind wearin' in his shoe right today. He walk to his bossman an' he tells him anythin'. Ev'rythin' he say goes. (What kind of dirt did you get out there?) Red dirt out de road. (You said the dirt doesn't mix. What do you mean by that?) Jes' lak two fo'ks of de road run, don't chew know, together. Now, if ah thought some way or 'nothah an' de fo'k of de road heah joins, well ah could turn dataway an' turn disaway, so yo' git one outa dis one an' one outa dis one. (You get dirt from each one of those roads, that come into the fork, and you wear that in your shoes, and you can do anything you want to do?) Dat's right. Anything yo' wanta do.
(Your brother is doing that?)
Dat's right, an' he do as he please.
Entry 2352
[Undersleeve work is an unusual term for the frequently used expression underworld work (see rite following this one). Does undersleeve come from the stage magician who has something hidden up his sleeve?] An' dere wus a - family 'fairs, yo' might call it. Dey had chillen, ah had chillen, an' yo've got chillen. Well dey's always runnin' togethah - jes' a-fussin' an' a- fussin' an' keepin' a confusion all in de homes. Yo' stay dere, ah stay back heah. Well ah gits ti'ed of dat fussin' an' messin' an' messin' an' fussin'. Jes' somethin' othah - somethin' othah all de time. Well, ah goes ovah an' tells Fannie, "Yo' keep yore chillen home in yore yard an' ah'll keep mine." See. Okay. "Huh [she says]!" Ah walks back. "Ah don't care - care whut ah do. Kill 'em." Says, "If dey hit chew, yo' take ca' of 'em. If dey hit chew, yo' hit 'em back." It jes' kept on lak dat. Well, one day ah wus settin' in de house. Ah wus watchin'. An' so dis othah lady ovah heah [her] lil boy hit mine a bad lick, yo' know. Ah got mad. Ah'm not goin' take dat no longah. Ah'm goin' try me some luck. So dis heah whut ah did. Ah ain't goin' out dere tuh fight an' goin' turn out to de jailhouse. Ah'm goin' work undersleeve works. Okay. Well, ah got me a cah an' ah goes ovah - ah tells dis man, ah says, "Ah'm worried in mah home. Dey keeps on a confusion all de time wit mah kids an' ah want chew stop 'em. "Well, ah kin stop it an' be glad tuh stop it." "Well now, how much yo' charge tuh stop dis?" "All right. Well, yo' go forth an' tell me all about it." "Well, it's not anythin' fo' me tuh tell yo'. All it is, mah chillen an' 'nothah lady's chillen keeps a fuss all de time an' keeps us always mad an' all lak dat," says, "an' ah want chew tuh give me somethin' to avoid all dat - anyway yo' want it." He says, "Well, ah have several thoughts. Ah kin make 'em come jes' lak yo' want 'em tuh be. Jes' quietly 'nuff an' dey kin stay right dere an' be yore bes' fren's." "Well, ah dunno which would be de best. What would yo' think?" "Well, ah think if yo' could jes' make peace." "Well, okay. Ah'll make peace den." Well he tells me, says, "De very nex' time dey git yore chillen an' de othah lady's chillen - git togethah, git tuh brawlin' 'long an' all lak dat," say, ''don't chew pay no mind. Jes' take it. An' yo' tell dem chillen tuh watch an in dey lil play-housin' - probably sometime, yo' know, dey go in an' say, "Well, ah'm goin' play mothah an' daddy, ' yo' know. Well, dey git mothah's dress an' put it on, yo' see. An' de boys put on pants an' things lak dat." So he say, "When yo' git dis dress," say, "yo' tear it an' git a piece of de garment chew know." So sho' 'nuff dey did dat. So he said, "Then, when yo' git this piece of cloth," said, "yo' take this piece of cloth an' yo' sew it up in any part - in yore underpiece. Yo' sew it up in somethin' an' let it stay dere. Yo' don't wear dis piece but it's jes' a piece of yore garment. Jes' take a piece of hers an' sew it up in a piece of yores an' put nine needles in it. An' put it on top de windah sill." Up dere lak dat, yo' know [demonstrates].
(Up over the door?)
Uh-huh, up ovah de do', an' yo' jes' put it - fold it right back ovah dere, an' yo' jes' speak to it. Jes' lak yo' want peace, see, yo' jes' speak, "Peace, go wit dis, peace." An' dat'll take ca' of dat.
(That is all you had to do?)
Dat's all.
Entry 2353
How dey use dereself - dey'll pull dey clothes off until dey git down to dere neckedness [nakedness], an' jes' lak dey have a pan of peas or a bowl of peas or somethin' an' de steam is comin' outa dat bowl, why den dey'll put dereselves right ovah dat bowl an' steam dereself in dat - in dat bowel. Den all dat filth dat comes outa her body will steam right in dat food. See, when de man eat dat, an' dat gits to his brain and dat makes him jes' attached to her. See, dat whut all dat underworld work [is] - dat [and] all stuff wit roots. See, dat'll git his mind attached right to her - dat stuff she puts in it, dat gits him den dat he can't do without her. [Waycross, Ga., (1120a), 1799:1.] [This underworld work - a favorite expression of my contact-man Edward - is not gangsters and crime syndicates; it is the material in this book.]
Entry 2354
Ah have tried dat once but ah didn't make no luck at it. Dey tell me dat chew git a dead man's bone [see p.543f.], one of his finger bone an' one of his toe bone an' keep dat in yore pocket, dat chew would be successful in all evil doin's - underworld work. Well, ah did that. Dey had lynched a fellah up heah right at [near some village] a piece up dis road heah, an' dey found a skeleton. Ah mean ah wus cooking tar den, I run across it in de swamp, an' all de meat was off his bone - nuthin but his toes an' fingers, nuthin but a skeleton yo' understand. Ah'd take one of fingers off, a joint of his finger bone, an one of his toes an' put it in mah pocket. An' ah kept it a while but ah wasn't successful in it. Ah don't think it was much to it. Now yo' kin go to a graveyard an' if it's a man of de world - a wicked man an' man dat gambles an' do all evil things - yo' go to dat graveyard an' pull yore sleeve up to yore elbow an' tell dis wicked man - de spirit - lak ah'm a wicked man an' ah'm buried heah - well - an' yo' wants some of mah dirt. Well, yo' know mah name. Yo' say, "Mark, ah wants some luck." Run yore han' down in dat grave - see, till it git to de elbow an' git some of dat dust. Say, "Well, sir, ah've got some of de dirt an' now ah'm goin' pay yo'." Yo' put two pennies in dat hole an' cover it up. See, dat pennies is tuh pay him fo' dat dirt. Yo' take dat dirt an' yo' put it in yore pocket an' yo'll be lucky gambling. Yo'll be lucky in any kind of underworZd work, sech lak sellin' likker, or if yo' thief an' yo' steal an' dey ain't goin'ketch chew. An' if yo gamble, why yo' successful in dat gamblin' - playin'poker, set-back or anything. Now, ah did that fo' gambling. Ah got some of dat dirt, put two pennies in dat hole. Tell 'im, says, "Well, ah'm paying yo' now fo' dis dirt, ah want it tuh be lucky tuh me." [My transcriber says they knifed a fellah. Above knifed I wrote lynched when checking the transcription. In either case the man died a violent death, making his bones more powerful magically.]
Entry 2355
Ef a man and his girl friend falls out, I even burn incense fer that. I let her burn it three times and he comes home. Den, in other words, I give de female sex a lesson what to do. De lesson is ids, is fo' yo' tuh - ef yo' are only making up yore bed one time a day at de time of yo' fallin' out an' yo' making up yo' bed one time a day [now], den yo' change. Yo'll make up twice a day. Change yo' linen on yo' tablecloth twice a day. Take a saucer and a cup wit a gold rim roun' it, yo' turn de cup down and set de saucer on top of de cup.
(Upside down or?)
Let de saucer set up - de cup should turn down. An' wit de cup turn down, den set de saucer up on it. See. An' go out and invite him in fer lunch with her. Then in that use sweet spice into yore bedroom. That gain de influence of de individual. Yo' won't have to do it no mo' den 'bout once or twice befo' he come in.
Entry 2356
I heerd tell of de banana boat an' ah had nevah been dere befo' and nevah met de man befo'. Yes, ah went down dere mahself. So befo' ah went down dere I - well, it's somepin I gen'lly do whensomevah ah git a little tough, ah jest by mahself make water and somepin other fer about nine mornin's and bath and throw de water towards de sunset fo' nine mornings. An' den ah nevah have went to a place - had a job where - ah went to places and had a job where dey was turnin' mens [off] and ah got jobs. An' de man cut me off - de foreman cut me off down dere, but de bossman put me right back on less time den two minutes after it happened. An' ah could go dere any time and git a job dere.
(Where did you say you went down to get a job?)
Down heah to de banana boat.
Entry 2357
What yo' should do to git de job. Yo' git up in de morning 'fore yo' say anything to anybody, take de night stuff and bath yore face in yore water bath yore face in yore water.
(Your night water?)
Yore water what chew urinate. Yo' take it and yo' bath yore face in it fer three mornings and de third morning you'll git de job, see.
Entry 2358
Wash his hands in his own chamber lye. That makes a good gamblin' hand. Also Hearts Perfume is used in that same way. [The liquid itself - not a liquid in a container (a bottle hand) is called a hand. J
Entry 2359
If this fellah heah had three or fo' hunderd dollahs an' ah had three or fo' hunderd dollahs, jes' take that salt an' sprinkle on each one of 'em, an' jes' go on tuh gamblin'. Well, when de deal is done, if they ain't sharp, yo's got all de money. Or either yo' kin be a gambler an' say, "Well, he's lost his luck - done lost his luck an' de biggest part of yore money." If yo' ain't taken it out where yo' kin git salt an' stuff, why take a lil chamber lye an' jes' rub it on yore han's lak dis. Rub it all ovah yore han's lak dat, an' come back dere an' shuffle de cards up an' draw one, an' den dis othah man kin git his'n. Have anothah deal down an' yo' got practic'lly all de money that is in de game.
Entry 2360
You go in the toilet - just like you got a toilet in there. [The toilet at Patterson Hotel was not in the room where I was interviewing informant but out in the hall at the head of the stairs - see Introduction.] You go in the toilet. You pee on your hands. You come back out and you kin rub your hands thisaway nine times. [He begins to demonstrate, stops, and I ask him to repeat.]
(How? Show me?)
[He brings his hand down over his face nine times.]
(Oh, your palm is just in a curl that way.)
Yeah, nine times down [over face] that way - once. Now, I don't say you gon'a be lucky all the way through.
(Down over your face.)
Yeah, but I don't say you gon'a be lucky all through the game [that day] but you'll be lucky in that [particular] game. In that game you gon'a be lucky. Now, then, you kin go - there's two or three ways you kin be lucky in gambling. Of course, I have gambled and I was lucky, but I don't gamble so much now, after I found other ways to make my living.
Entry 2361
It's a root choo call de Eve-and-Adam. You ever heard of that? Well, you kin take it and you get choo a bottle of Hearts Cologne and den put those roots in there. Put a little bit of your urinate in that, jis' about three or fo' drops - you know, not enough to smell, and put that little bit on [yourself] like that and always make you have lots of friends and make people be - when you go away from home jis' put a little bit on you, about once a week.
Entry 2362
You put three drops of urine in a bottle and then empty the contents of a bottle of Hearts Perfume or Cologne, and in that you put nine new needles or new pins and a small piece of lodestone about the size of a pea, and then you drop - if you know that someone's angry with you - you drop nine grains of spice in there. Well, if you gon'a have a chance to meet these persons, you jest drop a few drops of it in your hands and rub yore hands together and then rub them over your face like that. When you meet that person he is going to be pleased with you regardless to how angry - they mighta been most angry with you but that would put them in good humor.
Entry 2363
Well suh, yo' kin git chamber lye an' yo kin quick witchcraft a person in dat, so as to even quit dere home an' take tuh yo'. Dat is, jes' lak a woman, if yo' want de re'lly fac' 'bout it, sur. Dey take chamber lye an' take a eye- dropper - a woman kin take a eye-dropper an' take her chamber lye an' take nine drops of chamber lye 'sposed to be, an' she kin drop it into wine or in anything drinkin' kind, or anything of de edible kind, an' gives tuh a man. An' it will make him quit home and take up with her.
Entry 2364
Ah heard a woman say dat she broke her husban' of drinkin'. While he wus drunk, lay flat on his back [she] urinates in his mouth, an' it made him sick an' aftah dat he didn't drink any mo'.
Entry 2365
To keep de police from naggin' yo'. Yo' know dis bluestone don't chew. Yo' know table salt don't chew. Pee on it. Put it in pee an' throw it at chure do'step. Dey cain't come ovah it tuh save they life.
(That keeps the cops away.)
Entry 2366
Red peppah an' ashes an' saltpeter an' dey cain't come ovah it. Pin it up( ovah yore do'. Dey'll come in but dey won't be mad.
(Where do you put that, you say?)
Jis' up ovah yore do'.
(Well, it would fall out wouldn't it?)
No, yo' gon'a put it in a bag an' tie a string aroun' de bag an' hang it on de nail, an' every day yo' got'a pee on dat.
(Not up there!)
Naw. Yo' take it down an' pee in a pan, an' pee on it, an' den yo' put it back up there. Dey cain't bother yo'. Dey kin come in but dey Won't do nuthin to yo'. Dey'll be jis glad.
suspending the tied bag from a nail above the door. Retain visitors can come in but are claimed not to be angry/harmful; do not rewrite the account as absolute exclusion. predicted mitigation of visitors’ angry or bothersome conduct while allowing their entry. No total visitor exclusion These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 661) · Read full source (printed page 662)
Entry 2367
(You go out to the graveyard?)
Yo' go out to de graveyard at some certain hour an' takes dirt from de foot, from de breast, an' from de haid [three places], an' yo' fold dat into a tight piece of flannen [flannel] - most people uses dat. Yo' fold dat down in two - one in dat way, one pointin' dis way, an' one dat way [three ways] - fold dat in, see. Dey say dat is best den - jes' git it tight as a ball. An' by urinatin' on it, an' yo' rub dat, an' see it puts kind of a mystery ovah de othah fellah - fo' luck in gambling. (The man I have just interviewed that was just in here is supposed to be a root doctor of sorts but he talked so doggone fast, I couldn't stop him - and he was so profuse and rambling, I don't know whether I got much out of him or not. End of 1515.)
The source says flannen; its flannel expansion is bracketed editorial matter.
Entry 2368
To make luck for gambling, there's quite a few articles you get to put together. Well, you get you some - get you some red flannel and you get lode- stone, steel dust, you see, and cinnamon. You put this together and a silver dime - put that in that little - put it in a little red bag, right in there. You sew it up. After you sew it up and [then] you pass it in a saucer in some luck you buy in the drug store.
(Luck?)
Yeah - it's luck, they call it. It's van-van. You put it in there and roll that in there like that. Then you present [sell] it to the person and you tell them ev'ry two or three weeks it have to be rubbed in some of this luck. That'll make 'em come to you. You'd have to get you - rub it over, you see, that luck.
Entry 2369
Yo' could git chew some lodestone, some bluestone an' - not bluestone but saltpeter, and some red peppah [three ingredients] and put all dat together and put it in a little sack and wear it in de bottom of yo' foot. Git chew some Van-van, rub yo' face and yo' hands with it. Ev'rywhere, ev'ry time yo' gotta go out, go fo' anything, jes' rub yo' face and hands with dat all ovah.... Well, yo' go wheresomevah yo' goin' an' whatevah yo' wan'a do, whatever yo' goin' tuh do, it leaves de way open fo' yo' tuh do whatevah yo' wants tuh do, whatevah yo' got in yore mind to do. An' yo' see yore way looks dark, why when yo' git dere de way be opened fo' yo'.
Entry 2370
It's like if yo' live in de middle of de block, see, and yo' want, if somebody was coming to yore house dat yo' didn't want to come dere, in case of de law or anything like dat, why yo' make a round ring at each corner, each corner of de block. Jest like yo' living in de middle of de block and dis is a corner and dat's a corner. Well, yo' make a round ring at dis corner and it's some kin' of stuff yo' gits out de drug store called van-van. Yo' take that and yo' po' some in dat place. Well, yo' go to de next corner and yo' po' some in dat place. Well, dey kin come to each one of de corners and yo' living in de middle of de block, dey ain't nevah coming to yore house.
Entry 2371
Drop nine drops of vinegar inside a bottle of white Heart Cologne an' yo' make a wish dat chew want a job an' yo' want to be lucky with a job, an' yo' take that Heart Cologne an' bury it at chure do'steps an' let it stay down dere fo' nine days. An' after nine days, yo' take dat Heart Cologne up an' jes' lak yo' - de time dat yo' wanta git dat job, yo' po' it every direction on yore clothes, yo' know, all in front of yo', an' po' a little bit in yore shoes, an' dey say dat known tuh make a person git a job. Say de man give it to yo' without any huntin' fo' it, but yo' must let it stay buried fo' nine days after yo' make a wish.
Entry 2372
My mother didn't believe in anything like superstition but my aunt did. I was working in Newport News, Virginia, with my uncle and one Saturday afternoon when I came home I found my aunt had gone down and had mama arrested. She was mama's sister-in-law, not her sister. My aunt found a bottle underneath her house, it wasn't buried in the ground, and swore that mama had put that bottle there. It had vinegar, salt and pepper, and a hard boiled egg cut up in it. An officer came out to serve a warrant on mama and when she heard about it she went over after my aunt. She lived next door. She figured she was a better woman and she was going to beat her up. Before she could beat up my aunt the officer took her down to the judge. The justice fined her $6.90 for trespassing. He didn't do anything about the bottle.
Entry 2373
Walk-away powder and war powder is sprinkled about the doorsill to make a person move. [Cf. Getaway Powder, p.562.]
Entry 2374
Ah tell you what you can do. Yo' kin take some salt an' black pepper and some cinnamon and some cloves; an' yo' go to de drug store, yo' kin git chew some war water. (What's that?) It's water in a little bottle about that size, about that high. Yo' pay ten cents fo' it.
(War water. What do you use that water for?)
You put it with this mixture, ah mean.
(I mean, ordinarily [without ingredients], what do they use that for?)
They use that fo' runnin' yo' - kin use that. Take that water and pore it on de steps, understand, and if there's somebody in this house tha' chew don't want in here.
(You buy it at the drug store?)
Yes, sir.... Yo' jes' go tuh de drug sto' an' buy yo' a bottle of war water. Yo' get dat at Mr. [Somebody's] drug sto' ovah heah on [Something] Avenue, and it cost yo' ten cents.
(It's called like a war - like a battle?)
W-a-r - war water. And you take that an' put it on de steps out dere, and when ah cross dere ah ain't coming back in heah no mo' - ain't comin' back heah no mo'.
Entry 2375
I know that they can make you move. They can go to the drug store and git what they call war water, and pass your house at night and throw it like that, and when you throw it say a curse, and make a oath, and they'll move - they'll go to jail an' [or] move. Yes sir, I know that, positive fact - they'll move.
Entry 2376
Go down to the Crackerjack Drug Store and get some guinea seed. [See p.570.]
(Get some what?)
Guinea seed.
(I see. All right.)
Get some guinea seed and after you gets this guinea seed, you get a bottle of War water from some Crackerjack Drug Store. And you beat these guinea seeds up right fine and you put 'em in that war water. And you turns your back to the house and you take it [bottle] and you throw it when she's not there and break it against the wall. When you break it against the wall and walk away from it - she's going.
Entry 2377
Dey say yo' kin cross 'em like that.
(How do they do that?)
They take and make the mark this Way [demonstrates by drawing a cross mark] and then they go to the drug store an' git de water dat dey sell, called war water, and pour it around yore do' and that will cause confusion and fighting - disagreeable, even until you move.
(They pour this war water right in the mark of the cross?)
Yes, sir - right in this way, right at chure door, and that will create con- fusion and you will have to leave. [See Marks, p.254.]
Entry 2378
You take the length of the finger, the lonest finger [demonstrates], measuring the foot track, drawing it slightly that way with the right hand - longest finger and little finger and join it [them]. And [but first] you put one [finger] tip to cover one of the toes and you bring your fingers together, and take a bit of dirt like that. (You put one toward the foot and one at the toe and you bring your fingers together.) [I hand-draw.] Yes, sir.
(And take a pinch of dirt.) [Hand-draw.]
Yes, sir.
(Like that.) [Hand-draw.]
Yes, sir. Put it [dirt] in a bottle with war water and throw it in the Mississippi River where it floats. You see, that will give you a roving [roaming?] mind. You won't be stationary there regardless of what kind of position you have. You'd rather leave. Look like your mind was referring you to go where you'd do better, you see, and it will keep you leaving from one town to the other one.
(You use either one of those tracks or both of them or what?)
The right foot with the right hand.
Entry 2379
Like I go out - I could get the dirt but they hardly can pick up the tracks unless you is bare-feeted. Then they can do more with the track, but just your foot track like that with your shoes - they can't get next to your necked [naked] feet.
(I see.)
But if you're bare-feeted and that, they can pick up your tracks good.
(Well, how would they do that, then?)
Well, if they can get behind you - but hardly ever you can get behind anybody to pick up their tracks.
(Why is that?)
Well, some people don't walk bare-feeted for you to pick up their tracks, you see.
(I see.)
But people in the country, you know, mostly walks bare-feeted and they can pick up their tracks, because most of them is bare-feeted sometimes. They'll walk bare-feeted - well, you can pick up their track right in the middle of their feet. But some people's got hollows in their feet where you can't. Flat-feeted folks you can do that because the whole foot goes down, you know. (Well, what would they do with that dirt after they gather it up?) [She will repeat my gather.] Well, they gather that dirt and fix it up, and they'll go to a river or any- thing what's running.
[I will repeat her fix.]
(How do they fix that dirt up?)
[See Introduction for this occasional back and forth exchange.]
Fix - they gets water - they goes and gets something like what they call war water. They can buy that in the drug store, war water. Just mix that up with that in a glass or something so that it will dry, and then when it dry, they'll go to the river and then throw it over their shoulder right down the stream [channel] what's going down the river. That'll make you keep adrifting.
Entry 2380
Well, if yo' wanta bring yore husband back, yo' go tuh de well an' yo' walk round it three times. Den yo' look down in it an' then yo' look to de east, den yo' call him three times, turn yore back an' walk off an' don't look back. In two week's time he'll be back. [Well here is a dug well.]
Entry 2381
Some people, if they wants you to like 'em, they'll take a piece of green wood.
(Green wood?)
Wood.
(Any kind of wood?)
Pine wood. Take pine wood and go to the store and buy me a file, brand-new file. Say, they took a brand-new file and drove it through the piece of wood and break it. Put it there nine places - just driv it in there as far as they Want to and break it off. Put it there many times as she want and break it off. See, now, you got nine pieces in there, broke off you know fine - you know, small file it'll break. And after you broke it off, then you goes to the well and drops it in the well. Well, it sinks. You ever seen a well?
(Yes - in the ground, a deep well.)
Drop it in the well. Well, it sinks, goes on the bottom and lays on the bottom, stays there until that well is cleaned out. Only way you kin get clear of it - the water gets low in dere, you will notice it there and go there and clean it out. Well, that will make a man just love you - like you - keep you - never wants to leave you - will never want you to leave there. He will send for you, I don't care where you are at. (That is in connection with a job, you mean, if you are working for this man. Or if a woman wants to keep a man.) Sir?
(Does a woman do this to a man, or does a man do this to hold a job?)
A man to hold a job. [Surely a love rite.]
Entry 2382
I know of a whale drifting ashore at Phoebus [Virginia] once and lots of people got bones from this whale and they cut them up and strung them like beads and worn 'em around their neck for luck.
Entry 2383
If dere a person you wants a get a job from, dere diff'rent roots that you kin git, that are used in Heart's Cologne. Now, if you wanta job, go to a white person for it, you go looking fer a root called White Man de Conker. Then, if you go in to get a job at a colored place, you bring along High John de Conker. Well, you kin take that root, and if it's a white man, conquer de white man's mind. You cut it up fine and put it in a little vial. You let it soak over night and you put that on you and that will calm the person's mind towards you. Don't care how angry they are, that will kinda calm their mind towards you. But it's very seldom you kin get dat root without a person know exactly what it is, cause some people sells you fakes. (And you do the same thing in getting a job from a colored man, with the other root?) The Hiah John de Conker and the White Man's Conker.
(Well, do you put anything with that root?)
The Heart's Cologne and a little of your chamber lye.
(Well, what do you do with that?)
Well, after it's soaked all night, you don't have nuthin to do with it but take it with you and sprinkle it on you.
Entry 2384
Oh, de willow tree root, yo' goes an' git, say about seven a'clock in de mornin', an' cut a piece of root from one of de sunrise [side]. Then yo' git chew a piece of red flannen wit salt an' sulphur, black peppah, an' a needle an' some Heart Perfume, an' yo' sew dat up yo' understand. Yo sew dat up an' yo' keep it 'nointed with dat Heart Perfume an' wear dat in yore pocket. If yo' git it yoreself, name it after yo'; if somebody else git it, name it after them. (Carry that for luck. You get this root from the willow tree. Which side do you get it from?) Yo' git it from de sunrise, yes sir.
interviewer-supplied luck purpose in a compound question, without informant endorsement. No blanket assent to compound question sewing the named red-flannel material combination. No stitch type, bag shape or unmentioned sewing procedure is inferred. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2385
De breast bone - yo' know it's a little fo'ked bone, call dat a wish- bone. Yo' carry dat in yore pocketbook an' that's fo' if yo' goes somewhere an' yo' wants tuh git somepin - dere's somepin yo' want. Yo' make yore wishes befo' yo' leave home an' yo' keep dat bone oiled with lucky oil an' yo' carry dat bone in yore pocket in de day, an' at night when yo' take it out yo' lay it up somewhere where nobody kin remove it but chew. An' yo carry that in yore pocket. That's fo' something that chew haven't got but chew's expectin' to, an' it's always successful anyhow tuh carry a wishbone.
Entry 2386
[Here and in the several following margin-titles I have grouped a few statements about the terms hoodoo, conjuration, witchcraft and rootwork; more material will be found in the Index. Sorry about indexing Wise Man after Wishbone, but it goes with this group.] Go in de wood down on de rivah.
(Do you get it from somebody, this bottle?) [Bottle hand?]
Me an' 'nothah fellah out in de country went an' got it togethah. Ah know dis when ah see it. Well, yo' take dis Adam-and-Eve, an' it's one is Adam an' it's one is Eve, see. An' yo' put one of each in de bottle.
(Those are two different types of roots? Take the plant?)
Yessuh, two diff'rent plants. [See preceding margin-title, Root - A Triple.] Yo' kin put fo' of 'em in dere if yo' wanta. See.
(Two of each?)
Yessuh, two of each. An' den yo' put yore gunpowders in dere. An' yo' go downtown an' yo' git some Heart's Cologne in a bottle jes' lak dat, an' den yo' po's de whole bottle in dere if it will hol' it, an' stop it up tight. Ever time when yo' git ready tuh leave yore home, shake it up lak dat an' po' it on dere - put a lil of it on yo'. That throws yore trouble behin' yo, see. Yo go to a game an' very seldom yo' ain't winnin'. Go tuh ask fo' a job an' very seldom yo' miss gittin' it - somepin tuh do if it's nuthin but a day's work. Dat's all dere is to that, only it will keep yore home together an' happy - live happy in yore home an' yo' won't hardly be hard up fo' anything 'long as yo carry dat in yore pocket. Ah know dat mahself.
(You fixed: this bottle up yourself?)
Me an' de othah fellah did. He intend tuh be a wise man. Ah've heard dat he's been ovah heah tuh see yo.
Entry 2387
Well, I know of a fellah here, he used to sell bolita - that's like de numbers. Well, they used to ketch him a lot of times. So they caught him with free stuff one time and he was on a $500 bail. So he had a - there was a fellah they used to call witch doctor around here. I don't know whether he was or not, but he used to go around here and he used to help a lot of people out of trouble. So he tole dis heah fellah if he would ketch one of dese here black house rats, one of dese big rats dat run around de house - you ketch one of dem and kill him and skin him jest befo' he gits cold, see, an' take dat skin and wrap it up tight inside of a silk han'kerchief and take it an' tote it next to his heart. Said dat when he's go down befo' de judge, dat no matter how strong de judge wanta give him a sentence, de judge would always send dat sentence on him. He tried dat. I don't know whether it'll work out but he always would be lucky enough to come out of it.
Entry 2388
Always some old man or some old woman, they would study what they call cunjuration and, taking a cat's tail, the bone of a cat, or a snake bone, roll it up and put it in your pocket and [you] keep it. Then you are sup- posed to go anywhere and nobody will bother you. They call that a Witch hand. An old man back yonder [years ago] he would make that for his [your] reg'lar steady [companion or guide] and you pay him something.
[Informant born before Civil War.]
Entry 2389
I was on board of a ship that the mate was a kind of mean man and he hung his clothes upon the line to be brushed. And the steward brushed them and every time the steward brushed them he [the mate] hollered. The steward had him a witchcraft hand. He carried it in his pocket and every time he hit these clothes on the line, the mate would holler. That was 50 years ago (1886). That was the S. S. Lizzie(?) Scofield. We were off the coast of West Africa. [Informant 8 years old when Civil War began.]
Entry 2390
Yo' go to de fo'ks of de road nine Sunday mornings befo' sunup - ah guess yo' heard. An' dat's to learn de witchcraft - dey might call it. Dat's whut we call it down in dis country. Some of us call it rootworkin', some of us call it witchcraft an' some of us call it hoodoo, but it's all run into de same thing. An' jes' lak if yo' wanted to do a thing - wanted to do somepin dirty. Now, dat comes about dirty - whut dey always practice, ladies workin' on mens. An' dey go dere to de crossroad nine Sunday mornings befo' sunup an' dat's de way dey do dat.
Entry 2391
(When you were a young boy what did they call this kind of work?)
Cunjuring.
(They called it conjuring? Did they use the word hoodoo?)
No sir, didn't use dat.
(It's a new word?)
It's a new word - it come out since 'mancipation.
(That's what I thought.)
[This old man was born in 1858, years before the appearance of the word. hoodoo - see Introduction for date and use of word.]
Entry 2392
(Down in this country what do they call this kind of work?)
Cunjuration.
(Do they ever call it hoodoo down here?)
Yessuh - hoodoo doctors.
(Is the witchcraft the same thing or different?)
Well, dis hoodoo an' dis cunjuration is jes' about on de same basis.
Entry 2393
(What do they call this kind of work where you were brought up? What do they call this type of work, doing you harm and everything?) Well, if a man is got de skill upon 'im tuh make a man do jes' whut he want 'im to do without hurtin' 'im, dat's trickin' a man. [For tricks, see pp.,260- 269.]
(You told me about witchcraft. Do the people here today call it witchcraft?)
Yes - whut dey all calls it, witchcraft.
(What state did you come from - this state?)
No, ah come on from [something] County, South Carolina.
(Where is that?)
Way down heah near [something]. (Down in South Carolina. And they called this when you were a boy - they called it witchcraft, if you were trying to harm somebody?) Yes.
(Did vou ever hear them call it hoodoo when you were a boy?)
No, didn't nevah hear none of dat talk - dey call it witchcraft.
Entry 2394
Now, I have heard of them in this way, if they wanted their husband to leave town or wife, either sex, why they would go and get someone to come with the same kind of diff'rent ingredients in a bag of some kind.
(What do you call this sort of thing?)
Witchcraft.
(Around here do they ever use the word hoodoo?)
Hoodoo an' witchcraft.
(They are all the same thing?)
First cousins. [Informant is woman who managed hotel in which I interviewed. I questioned her, as I did all landladys and landlords, to give an idea of my work.]
Entry 2395
Someone who used to live on the Riprap Road found a box at the gate one morning and brought it to my house and said, "Look what I dug up at my gate." I said to her, "What's in it?" And she opened it and there was pins in there and needles and some of her hair and sulphur in a bag in there and a piece of red flannel that had four sticks sewed up into that and a dime into it. It was a wooden box about that long. (Eight inches long and four inches wide.) [Probably a cigar box - symbolic coffin.] She said she was going to take it and see who put it there, she was going to take it over to Norfolk to a fortuneteller. And when she came back she told me that her husband put it there. That's what the fortuneteller told her.
Entry 2396
I used to hear the old-time people set down and talk about rastlin'. A man one time couldn't be thrown - dozens of them tried him, he throwed them all. They come to find out - he told them he caught a blacksnake, skin him, stuffed his hide and wore it as a belt around his waist. It's impossible for a man to throw a man if he has one of those belts on him. That's in the Civil War period. There's some they wear them now. [For rastlin' roots (wrestling roots), see No.723, p.240.]
Entry 2397
If dey wanta be a rastler an' nobody kin throw 'em down, dey'll ketch a blacksnake an' skin him - de black an' green one - an' stuff dat wit sawdust or manure or somethin' to dry it. Den git all dat stuffin' out an' sew dat round in de bindin' or dey underwear - sew it round dere waist. It's purtty hard for man tuh throw 'em down. Ah've tried dat mahself.
Entry 2398
I heard 'em say - whether it's so, I can't tell you - ah tells you what I heard. I heard 'em say dey take a blacksnake - go in de woods and ketch a blacksnake and skin him. Skin a blacksnake and take dat blacksnake and fix him - fix him with somepin. Let's see what dey say dey fix him wit. Dey fix him with vaseline and High John de Conquer root. Dat's it - dat what dey said. Dey make a paste and take dat belt - dat blacksnake belt and rub it [preparation] over dat blacksnake skin and put it round dere waist. Make a belt out of it and put it round dere waist. Don't care who dey wrastlin' wit. Dey say dey can't throw 'em.
Entry 2399
Well, you kin go out in de woods and kill you a rattlesnake. Well, you take dat rattlesnake and you skin 'em. Be sure dat dey didn't strike demself now - be sure that he's not strike himself to kill himself, because you jest ketch him you understand and tease a rattlesnake why he strike to kill him own- self. But now, you be sure dat you kill him. Well, you kill him and you skin him, see. Well, you cut him open and you git dat fat. You git de fat and you fry it up. You fry it up into grease and you can't use too much of it - [see No. 1435, p.469]. You take dat grease and you jest rub yo' limbs - rub yo' limbs down, you understand - rub your limbs, all yo' legs and stuff and your whole body, jest as near as possibly you can in a closed closet where nobody kin see you, see. Nobody will know what chew doin'. Well, you will be jest as limber as dat rattler. A person - Jesus Christ kin pin you down to de ground but He couldn't throw you.
Entry 2400
Dey git a buzzard an' kill him and stew him up, git de buzzard grease and grease yourself all over, on de laigs and you'll be limber. You'll be more powerful. Whenever - ev'ry way de man try to throw you, you kin jump off his locks, see, and you kin throw him 'cause yo' active. He can't throw you.
Entry 2401
He fall in love with this man's wife. Dey [the husband] couldn't get even in no other way - he was an old man, the man was a young man that taken his wife away. He dressed himself [prepared his body by conjuration]. When this man come, he'd rassle with him. He [the young man] never was no more 'count - he jis' come full of sores. [Princess Anne, Md., (128), 42:1.] [This subsection is concerned with methods for luck in business. Some of the hands in preceding subsection Hands could also be used for this purpose.]
Entry 2402
Ah've heard a lady say. She tole me tuh do it. Course ah never did experience it mahself, but she tells me like dis - to take on a Wednesday morning before twelve, never let twelve get dere befo' doing it, which ah said ah was gon'a try it mahself to see was she telling de truth. Yo' git chew a half a cup of sugah, allspice and put it into yore scrubwater.
(You get a half cup of sugar. And how much spice do you get?)
Yo' git about a tablespoonful of allspice. Yo' put it into the water that you scrub with. Yo' put chew a little piece of saltpeter with it and start at de front of your house and scrub before twelve to de back. They say that will draw any kind of luck into yore house yo' want.