Browse:LETTERS AND HANDWRITING (Volume 4, entries 8789–8881)/Part 2
LETTERS AND HANDWRITING
Volume 4, entries 8789–8881. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → THREE SUBSTITUTES FOR HUMAN BODY. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 8869
Handwriting is one of the easiest things to get if you want to harm any person, for the simple reason that your hand must press against the paper. THAT IS WHY I EMPHASIZED THE SWEAT AND THE OIL FROM THE SKIN IS THE EASIEST THING FOR "HOODOO" TO WORK WITH. I know a girl that got a letter Sith powder or something all over the letter and her hand shook like that, like she had nervous trouble, and they got a doctor for her. [Fredericksburg, Va., cylinder 54.]
Entry 8870
If a man leaves home an' a woman wants him back, dat's whut chew mean. Don't chew write him yo'self, but chew find out from some of yore personal friends. Git 'is personal friends tuh write him, jis' lak yo' know dey interested in hearin' from 'im. All right, she goin' take dat lettah, undahstan', an' den she goin' 'erself [put] some of 'erself intuh de lettah.
(What do you mean? What part of herself?)
She goin' put de sweat of 'erself.
(From her privates. All right.)
Yes sir, all right. She ain't goin' put it on de lettah, un'ahstan', she gon'a rub it in de envelope. See, if yo' rub it inside de envelope, it ain't gon'a har'ly [hardly] soil de lettah. He ain't gon'a notice it. He ain't gon'a teah [tear] dat envelope open, see. An' den he gon'a weah dat lettah, see, an' den 'is whole heart an' mind will fall right back tuh 'er, an' den he comin'. Yo' undahstan'.
Entry 8871
An' yo' want 'em tuh come back tuh yuh. If yo' know where dey are, kin git in touch wit 'em, write dem a lettah some kinda way. Use dis Three S Love Powdah an' yo' sprinkle it all ovah yore lettah. Jis' evah time yo' write a word yo' dab yore fingah in dis powdah an' dab it on evah word, cross it-lak. An' when he read it he'll come right on back.
Entry 8872
Dey take yore han'writin' an' run yo' completely crazy, an' git chure fingahprints from de lettah dat chew wrote, an' jes' mess yo' all up in yore han's lak it be's a kin' of a stroke.
(What would they do with that?)
A woman tole me dey take it [letter] an' dress it. [Thinking informant had ended, I stopped recording machine but had to restart for an addition.]
(After they dress it, they stop it up in a green tree?)
Dress it an' den stop it up in a green tree.
Entry 8873
Dey take yore han'writin' an' draw [up] yore fingahs, see.
(How do they do that?)
Dey tell me dey take dat han'writin', a lettah - jes' lak ah write chew a lettah an' yo' wanta do sompin tuh me. When yo' git mah lettah, why yo' satis- fied. Well, yo' take mah lettah dat ah wrote chew an' yo' put it in a halfa glass of vinegah an' alkeehäl [alcohol]. Well, dey say den, if ah try tuh write, ah can't write. Mah fingahs an' mah veins will commence tuh draw. See, dey jes' commence tuh draw an' finely [finally] why ah gits lak a person deformed or sompin. Ah can't do nuthin becuz yo' got mah fingahs tied up intuh vinegah an alkeehal. Yo' see, it's strong. Well, dat jes' got mah veins tied. Ah can't write. Ah kin try but ah can't do nuthin.
Entry 8874
Dey'll take dat lettah an' dey'll soak dat lettah in watah an' git dat writin' outa it. An' dey'll take dat watah an' put it in a bottle. Save dat watah. An' ef yo' in New York an' dey didn't lak dat, dey'd keep dat dere [water] wit nuthin but chure lettah.
(What will they do with that water?)
Dey bury dat bottle down - stick dat bottle right down up ovah de mouth, an' yo'd go man [leave New York]. Yo' walk back dere [where that bottled letter- Water Was].
Entry 8875
Take de han'writin' - jes' lak if yo' got mine an' if yo' want me tuh suffah wit mah han'writin'. Ah tell anyone tuh jes' [bring] me de han'writin' an' ah take dat han'writin' an' ah copy it off tuhgethah, jes' copy it off. An' ah take dem copies an' work 'em out, yo' see, intuh lettah a - b - c - till ah spell yore name. See, ah takes dat lak yo' got dem same two trees ah tole yo' 'bout. Yo' take it an' tack it tuhwards sunrise, facing de 8unrise, an' let dat stay dere roun' twenty-fo' hours. An' yo' take it back tuh de house den an' yo' puts it in a bottle of watah. Puts it in a bottle an' stops it up airtight. Well, yo' wants tuh bring dem back tuh yo'. Dey'll come. Yo' see, dat copy is in dere, but it gotta be a copy of it. Don't chew write it down dere. Don't take de same han'writin' as dere's. Yo' kin copy it off yo'self.
(How do you copy that?)
Copy it off, takes de abc's [letters of the alphabet], yo' undahstan'. Don't have tuh take it all, jes' take de name in de abc's [write name with the neces- sary letters of the alphabet], jes' lak if mah name Edgah [Edgar], sompin lak dat, copy it off in abc's. Git 'is name on it an' take it home an' tack it up.
Entry 8876
[The following rite missed by my transcriber, I did not have time to copy in full but made the following summary:] "Tear handwriting up into small pieces - put in bottle ~ get some May water - that's lucky - make your wish - catch May water on lst of May [see margin title MAY WATER, P.460, and No.986, P.381] - stop up [in bot- tle] - bury - whatever you want done be repeating that while you are tearing up paper."
Entry 8877
Ef it's by ink, dey takes dat lettah an' dey boil dat lettah. Dey boil dat lettah until hit finely [finally] come tuh soup. An' jes' as hit come tuh soup, dey'll go on down tuh de rivah an' throw it down intuh de rivah. An' den dat man he'd go crazy.
(They just throw this soup into the river?)
Yes, suh.
Entry 8878
Tuh run yo' crazy.
(How do they do that?)
How dey do dat? Well, dey jes' goes tuh runnin' watah an' lets dat stay dere fo' so many - yo' know, a while. An' dey take it up an' dey takes dey 'nitials an' put de 'nitials on dere in a piece of cloth, an' throw it intuh de rivah, see. Dat jes' keep yo jes' all stirred up. (They simply take my handwriting and throw it in the water. That's all they do?) Throw it in de watah. Put chure 'nitials if dey kin git de - yo' know have yore 'nitials off de lettah. An' dat keep yo' goin'.
Entry 8879
Well, if a person kin take yore han'writin' an' if dey kin take it an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' burn it on each end [4 corners] befo' dey do, evah time yo' go tuh write, yo' hardly kin write. Yore han' will be zig- zag on de papah. Yo' couldn't hardly write, yo' tremble so bad till yo' git somebody tuh write fo' yuh. Becuz ah know a gentleman dat wuz lak dat.
Entry 8880
Well, if somebody wrote chew a lettah now - jes' lak if yo' wanted tuh git tuh somebody an' dey wrote chew a lettah, why yo' take dat lettah an' yo' read it. Yo' read it backwards. An' den, if yo' kin read backwards, take dat lettah an' yo' read it backwards. An' den yo' take an' take it tuh a willah tree. Yo' take it to a willah tree. An' a willah's got a forked root tuh it. Yo' dig down tuh dat root where it's forked down dere, an' den yo' turn dat lettah bottom upwards undah dere, undah dat tree, an' kivah [cover] it back up. Well, yo' git de devil's shoestring an' yo' weah it round yore arm, jes' tie it round yore arm. Dat's whut ah heered 'bout dat.
(What will all this do now?)
Dat jes' lak if yo' love somebody an' want 'em back tuh yuh or want - whatsom- evah yo' want done tuh 'em. Whatsomevah yo' want done, when yo' go tuh dat wil- lah tree an' put dat undah dere, yo' speaks dat befo' de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost.
Entry 8881
Well dey take yore han'writin'. Well, jes' lak yo' write on dis side of de lettah. Well, yo' know, a pusson don't usely [usually] write on one sheet on both sides, jes' lak yo' write on dis side of de lettah. Well, yo' may mail dat tuh me. Now, ' yo' is de woman an' ah'm de man, see. Yo' may mail de lettah tuh me. [Informant begins to demon- strate.] Well, ah'll write on dis side. Well, when ah write on dis side, ah'll write between lines. See, ah write between lines. Now, ah don' write zactly [exactly] on yore lines. Jes' lak yo' write a line dere, an' write one dere, see. Well, ah'll write in de middle of yores, see. An' in mah time of writin', why ah'll make mah wishes, what ah wan' tuh happen tuh yuh, see. An' jes' as ah writin', ah makes mah wishes. Co'se yo' have tuh have a good education tuh do dat, yo' know. An' den when ah make mah wishes, why yore wishes will certain- ly come out. Co'se den mah lines will be tangled up. Yo' understand, aftah yo' done write it de long ways betwixt lines, den yo' go an' write it across, see.
(Then what do you do with that?)
Well, yo' keep it. Keep dat an' tote it. [Charleston, S. Car., (511), 576:7.] [This division can be gathered into sections: THEFT, COURT CASES, THE AMAZING CHICKEN EGG, SALT AND ITS COMBINATIONS, NAILS - NEEDLES AND PINS - TACKS, FROG and BLACK CAT LUCKY BONE AGAIN. Smaller amounts of diversified material, with margin titles only, will follow in division "CHANNEL DE WORLD."] [Closely related to theft are: (l) the loss of an article by mere losing or misplacement; (2) the loss or theft of a husband or wife or lover, illustrations being numerous in Hoodoo; and (3) the reverse of losing, the finding of the object causing conjuration. To locate or identify conjurating objects is the very heart of hoodoo. Many of these latter methods have been given in Hoodoo - see DIAGNOSIS, Pp.165-217, and elsewhere. Yet, despite all do-it-yourself magic, the true be- liever in these volumes will imitate Biblical precedents, if the loss or theft is considerable. He will copy the experiences of Saul by visiting a seer (1 Samuel, chapter 9) or a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor (l Sam. 28:7), whom our modern believer knows by various professional titles: Doctor, Madam, Mother, high man, wise man or wise woman, two-head or two-header, fortuneteller, reader, healer, foreknower, foreteller, hoodoo or hoodooer, root-man or root-worker, witch, witch-crafter, 'crafter, cunjure or cunjure-man, etc. Finally, may I call your attention to the first margin title, BIBLE AND KEY. Some of its rites have been used for other purposes than theft: to discover whether a wish would come true, No.550, or whether you have been hoodooed, No.551, both on p.167. At the end of these Bible-and-key rites are two rare ones of unusual interest concerning two keys, or crossed keys, or the Key Of St. Peter. My special comments about them, because they concern me personally, should be read.]