Browse:Roots (Volume 1, entries 716–748)
Roots
Volume 1, entries 716–748. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → DOCTOR AND DOCTOR: TWO OPPOSING SYSTEMS OF THOUGHT. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 716
[The roots of everyday life and botany become roots in witchcraft and hoodoo - roots filled with magic and mana. Some of the mystic atmosphere about them has been described by a layman (No. 15, p.17). Later the professional point of view will be given to us by Doctors Lindsey and Johnson of Richmond as well as others. Roots appearing in cures (see preceding margin-title Live Things in You) or (see hands later) are considered beneficial, but roots buried with evil intent for you to walk over can cause all sorts of pains and troubles:] I used to hear this old man talking about those roots so much it scared me. We used to live not far from him. He used to be always talking about them kind of roots. He was a root doctor. I wasn't scared of him when I was small, but when I got larger and commenced to know something I stayed away from him.
Entry 717
If they put something in the ground [root or anything] and you walk over it, that ground when you walk over it will come up just like that [demonstrates]. (Rise up like a wave.) [This elderly woman, a girl of good size when the Civil War began was born and had lived for years near Woodville, Mississippi.]
The informant conditionally describes walking over something in the ground; the wave comparison comes from the interviewer.
Entry 718
I have heard an old man say that he once went to a camp meeting and on his way home he walked over a root. And as soon as he walked over the root, a pain came into his leg so terribly that he had to hop all the way home. I do not recall how he got rid of this ailment but I do know that he thought someone had put a spell on him.
Entry 719
I remember one night a lady came to a house where I was roomin' at an' I goes out in de yard. [This lady Was sneaking about outside the house.] People said [cried out], "Mattie, dey said, dere's somebody out dere tryin' to put some roots aroun' yore house." And I thought [before neighbors called to Mattie] it was somebody tryin' to set de house afire or somepin. And when I walked out dere somepin got from dis arm clean up to here and commence stingin' and breakin' out. And I rub it all over with sulphur and it didn't hurt me, didn't hurt me a spec'. De lowest little pimples was gone by nex' mawnin'.
Entry 720
My aunt one time - her husband was going with another lady and she found out that her husband was going with this lady and she tried to stop her husband from going with this ladv. And the lady had my aunt fixed. And in doing so, she went to a root doctor. The lady asked the root doctor - she wanted an affliction on my aunt. The root doctor agreed to do so. Afterward my aunt was taken very ill and she was unable to walk for some time. Since then she has had a bad leg and it will never be cured, although some say that another root doctor can cure my aunt. Some say this was really what caused her to be like that. We didn't have any proof that she [other woman] did. She didn't give her anything to eat. It must have been done by some method of walking over a root.
Entry 721
Ah've watched dis from a kid. Ah nevah did believe in roots or anything lak dat but mah experience, it made me believe in roots an' diff'rent things, yo know, fo' dis reason. When ah wus a kid roun' 'bout eight yeahs, ah had a mother an' she liked good times. She'd go out. So at last, one day she went out an' left me an' mah brothah home. So, while she wus away some people came through de yard - jes' a girl an' her sister, an' she made fun of mah brothah. Mah mothah came back an' ah tole dat dey made fun of mah brothah. So she wus a lady liked tuh drink sometimes. So when dey came along - dere wus about fo' of 'em, so she tackled 'em an' dey had a fuss. So about a week or two after, she taken sick. Dese people claimed dat dey poisoned her, yo' know. She wus taken sick an' mah granddaddy and [grand]mother did ever'thing in de worl' dat dey could fo' her - had taken her to doctors an' dey couldn't do her any good. So dey claimed dat dey poisoned her - she dried up an' looked lak [like] a witch, an' would have spells, jes' fall out on de flo'. She jes' come to nuthin' but bones, yo' know, an' went away tuh nuthin'. Dey tell me dat wus whut chew call witchcraft roots.
Entry 722
There's a weed that grows called devil's wishbone and another one called hav-e-ry brav-e-ry. It has a leaf on it as tall as your finger, it's a little leaf that sticks up right on the end in the shape of a heart. There's only one leaf. You take that devil's wishbone and havery bravery together and goes back and gets something called snakeroot and sasparilla root, and put that together. That'll stop you from breathing. You're a dead man if they get that to you. It's terrible. You're ready for the undertaker. That's death in the pot. And I'd back away from it, too.
Entry 723
I was in the woods rakin' up, heapin' up shadders - you know, baiddin' [bedding] - an' I found those little roots, shoo know. An' I ast mah boss, I says, "Mr. Paine, whut is this?" He said, "Oh, that's rasslin' root [wrestling root]." An' I didn't let 'im see me, you know - I taken up five or six an' put 'em in mah pocket. An' then I wanted to git to town fer to try this out. An' Saturday couldn't come soon enough fer me. So when I got to town on a Saturday, that's the first thing I hunted, you know. I was all prepared, had the roots with me an' ever'thing. Of course, I wanted to be champion rassler around there amongst the little bunch of boys that I was goin' with, you know. An' my, he throw me! I think he throwed me five best out of nuthin' - never got 'im down to his knees or nuthin'.
Entry 724
This is about a colored family. They lived near Girdletree, Maryland, and they seemed to have a lot of trouble getting along. Everything seemed to be against them. And because it Was such a large family it was expensive to live. So the mother she seemed to have an idea that someone was trying to put a spell on them. And so - well, she told her husband. He only laughed at her because he didn't believe in such things. However, she went to one of the old women in the village and talked to this woman. Now this woman seemed to be able to make all sorts of charms. Really they called her a hoodoo doctor. [High man is the usual term on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.] So the woman told her about her troubles and asked her if there was some way she could help her. This old woman told her to come back the next day. So the next evening she went back to see the old woman and the old woman told her.what she had done. She said she went out into the field, she got a piece of snakeroot and she mixed it with salt. And she told her to take this home and spread it across her doorstep. She said, "I will guarantee that if any of your enemies try to come to your home to create any more trouble, this will prevent them." She went home and did as she was told; took this snakeroot and salt - she put it all across the doorstep, then she decided to put some around the windows. Well, things continued as they were about a week, but after that week she seemed to see a change coming about. Her husband got a better job, one of the little girls that had been ill got better, and in every way the family seemed to be getting along better. This lady, she was so glad, that she told some of her neighbors and they laughed at her. They told her that she was just getting a streak of luck, that was all. [The change of luck occurred February 1936, at nearby Girdletree where my informant, Jerry Williams then taught school. Several months later this young man became my contact man for the region and later still, with his mother, for Baltimore. He was the greatnephew of George Jackson - noted high man on the Eastern Shore - whom we will meet later in a margin-title.]
Entry 725
My uncle had a boy and his name wus Eddie, and so he wus about eighteen years old and kept a-gittin' sickly, puny, puny, havin' spells, and kept a-goin' to one doctor to another, and one to another, and no doctors would it seem to be helpin' him any. He car'ed [carried] him to a place dey call Raleigh, North Carolina. He went to a hospital. So de doctors dere looked at him, examined him from his head to his feet. He would have spells - like if he'd be on de street standin' up, he jis' fall off his [feet], fall dead over, and hit would last about twenty minutes and den it's over. And while he had him dere in de hospital - so some lady say to him, "Dat boy has had some roots worked on him." And she said, "De best thing for you to do is to go to South Carolina," to some lady's house down dere. She handed him de lady's name, address. And so he left. We went down dere. As soon as he got dere in de yard at dis lady, [she] met him at de door and say, "You's in seriously trouble, ' say, "yore boy is in Raleigh in de hospital, ain't he?" He told her yes. [Uncle and nephew, my informant, are impressed by the woman's fore-knowledge, totally unaware that the recommender had written all details to the doctor.] She say, "Well, somebody has done worked some roots on him." She say, "Come on in." He went on in. She car'ed him dere in de room in de back. I stayed in de front. And so, how she had him fix up right dere, I don't know. Come out. He said to me, "Let's go." We went on, got in de car, come to Raleigh. Got to Raleigh. He wus in dere [the hospital]. He had somepin 'nother in his mouth, operatin' his mouth up and down - so it looked jis' like sticks and he wus spittin', spittin' aroun' de baid. And so I seen 'im hand de boy -
(You don't know what she gave him?)
No sir, not den. Well, he wus dere in de hospital spittin' aroun' de baid, spittin' aroun' de baid. He spoke den to me and say, "I'm so tired of de roots I don't know whut to do." I say, "I thought chew wus eatin' somepin." He say, "No, it's some roots." And de boy were layin' dere, his jaws done gone in and eyes goes in. He [uncle] reach back den for - at his han'chief, wiped his han'- chief over his [boy's] eyes. And so he looked aroun' at, de boy did - his color, ever'thing changed. And so us left den and started at [for] de house where us wus roomin' at. He say, "Eddie [informant's as well as cousin's name]." I say, "What?" He say, "Dis woman told me to take my han'chief. She had de han'chief in de room and hand it back to me [dressed in some manner], and [told me] when I git dere [at the hospital] to wipe it over his face. [The uncle was not permitted to tell his nephew anything until after instructions had been followed.] And you see at de place on him changin'." Well, it did. So, she [had also] said, "After de morrow is gone," she said, "he will be ready to go home." We went on to de house and back next evenin', and de boy wus up walkin' aroun' in de yard. So dere come de nurses and said, "Did you stop by to see yore son?" He said, "Yes, sir." Said, "Well, he's out dere in de yard walkin' aroun'.' And from dat day on dem spells always be offen 'im. And so how she had it [the handkerchief] fixed, now, to have 'em offen 'im. I don't know.
(Do you know what type of roots she gave him to chew?)
No sir, not den. And so afterwards I went home, stopped by there [his uncle's house], and I ast 'im [about the roots]. De boy was fine, gittin' along fine. And so how come [the boy was root worked]. So, somebody had some roots worked on him. So, he had a other woman oldest girls - boy, you know. [He had seduced the oldest daughter of the same woman.] And so she [the mother] was after him and dis girl to marry. He wouldn't marry her. And so she [mother] jis' went ahead on and had some roots worked on him. And de other woman [root worker down in South Carolina] had de spell offen 'im. And so he said to me he went back down dere at dis house [in South Carolina], ast dis woman [about the roots]. And she said hit was roots offen a ole sweet gum tree, a pine tree, and some roots offen some kin'a sasafract [sassafras] - that's whut it [the third root] wus he say. [Here is the magic of three; these roots are separately used in cures.] And dey some special root on dere [the sassafras] whu' chew suppose to git. And so at de main one now he didn't say. [The uncle did or could not tell him what the special root of the sassafras was.l [The informant said that the root doctor's home was at Gibson Station, South Carolina, near the North Carolina border. Gibson (surely old railroad station) is just over the State-line in Scotland County, North Carolina.] [Wilmington, N. Car., (229), 224:1; at Wilmington,1933.]
Entry 726
Once a young man dat love a gurl an' anothah boy done love dis gurl too, an' de othah [first boy] wus, yo' see, hol'in [holding] de bes' han' wit de gurl, an' he [second boy] put down a root down to dis [first boy's] do'step. It wus a snake, somepin fixed like a snake in a sack [this is a hand] undahneat' de do'- step; it wus a root like a snake, it jis' wus a little long thing imitate a snake. An' dat wus in de mawnin' early dat de young man walk out, an' he walk ovah it an' a pain take 'im, you know, in his laig an' he couldn't walk. An' he try all doctahs on it an' no doctah couldn't do 'im no good. His laig wus start tuh swollen. An' dey went an' git a root doctor an' car'ed a woman [to him] an' de woman tole it, she say, "Ain't choo go wit a gurl?" De young man said, "Yes 'am." She says, "Well," she says, "you is fixed." She says, "Dey got a hand on yo' tuh keep yo' from walkin' tuh go tuh see dis gurl.' She says, "Now, yo' come on now an' I'm gon'a care [take] yo' tuh de very spot dis hand wus put down fer yo'." An' she tuk de hoe an' she went undahneat' de do'step an' she dig up, an' when she dig it wus somepin imitate a snake tied up in a sack. An' she tuk it out [the sack] an' show it to de family. Aftah dat de boy wus ease, he git bettah.
(What did they do with the root?)
Put it in a glass of watah. An' kep' it three days an' ever' time he looked at it - the watah turned yellah sometime, an' it turned green sometime, an' it turned red sometime. An' it keep on like dat until, yo' know, dey git tired of lookin' at it an' throw it out. "
Entry 727
Down in Caroline County [Virginia] before the War [Civil War], I heard my father tell the story of an old root doctor. And this man, who was named Jim P., he chewed roots because his master whipped him because he didn't make the fire on due time in the morning. This old man named P., he goes to this root doctor and this root doctor fixed him up with some roots. So he goes back to his master's home. The next morning as usual he was slow about getting his master's fire made. His master and his wife was laying in the bed. He noticed Jim P. continued to chew roots. And he looked at Jim and he said, "Jim, Jim, why don't you get that fire made?" Jim didn't turn to answer his master at all. He just continued to chew these roots. Every time he would chew these roots and his master Would say anything to him, he would spit. So his master laid there quite a while and noticed him. Suddenly his master rose in the bed and said to him, "Jim, you chewing roots." So his master smote him square in the jaw and those roots flew all over Jim P. He went back to the cunjuring doctor and told him these roots that he had given him worked on his master and he like near killed him. And he had no more faith in these cunjuring roots. And Jim P. didn't use any more roots up to the day he died.
Entry 728
My father and mother used to tell me, in slavery times they had a bunch of hands [workmen] and one of them they used to whip. And he said he was going to get even with his master. He goes out and gets a hand. A hand is nothing but something you get from someone else to put down to stop them from doing sometking to you. [This is a very limited definition.] He goes and gets this, it Was in a bottle, and puts it under the doorstep. He covered it over. He goes to bed. In the morning his master woke up, he walks to the door, and they were looking for him to walk out for to kill the master. He walked to the door and said, "John, Dick, Peter and Tom, come here." He said, "Look right down here." He said, "Go under that doorstep and take that bottle and carry it out of there and bust it." He said, "You can't hurt old master." He said, "Don't wake me when I'm asleep." And he went on about his business.
Entry 729
An' again dey got a root dey claim dey call de salamander root - yes, an' git dat root an' take it an' slip it in yore hat any way, it will run yo' crazy. [Like: the preceding snake-shaped root, this root has a salamander shape.]
Entry 730
It's a root chew call John de Conker root. An' it's a root chew call de Seven Sisters - yo' kin go git dat too, an' yo' put both dem things together an', as yo' go up an' ask de man, yo' be rubbin' 'em.
(That's when you go to ask him for a job?)
Yessuh. [Seven Sisters root I found rare; probably a freak seven-pronged root.]
Entry 731
Tuh keep evil away from de house. Well, yo' could use a herb whut chew might call de High John de Conker. If it wus a female dat did dat - there are two roots yo' would have tuh use - use de female; an' if it wus a man that did that, yo' would have tuh use de man root; that is, of de High John de Conker. Those roots are whut chew call as Eve an' Adam. An' that is a root that cures kidney trouble [and] any kind of insect that is put in 'em, yo' know, by drinkin' or handlin'. Say, yo' give me a piece of candy. Well, maybe yo' take snake dust an' run ovah that candy. Ah eat dat candy. Well, that goes down in me. An' yo' kin take care of that patient by usin' High John de Conker. Yo' git it from de schools [mail order firms or drug stores] that handles that kind of work.
(How do they use that?)
Yo' could git it in powders or yo' kin take a teaspoonful to a pint of boilin' watah - clear boilin' watah, an' let it stan' an' drink it off, an' grad'lly that insect will go off - yo' know, die and come forth in yourself. (John the Conker he root and John the Conker she root. What do you do with those two?) Well, the male root is fo' a man, a man that do's evil; an' if it wus a woman, why yo' take the female - jis' take 'em in de powder for any kinda insect. That is tuh git the germs from de body - whut chew call the old earth medicine.
(What about the Adan and Eve root? What do you do with that?)
Adam an' Eve root creates love. It's good fo' kidneys. It's good fo' blood.
(How would you create love with Adam and Eve root?)
Well, yo' buy de root. De large one is called Adam an' de othah one is called Eve. It's a small little root looks lak - it's not a very large root. Yo' buy it an' aftah yo' buy it there's a little prescription [directions] on there tells you how tuh carry it. An' anytime it's carried in his pocket, it obtains someone yo' like. If yo' see some girl yo' like an' use that root wit lodestone, natural they will smile - see, an' git in close touch. It's jis' like the love-drop perfume. If yo' use those two things an' love-drop perfume, yo' kin take any kind of woman, see. Why? because it has de high power.
Entry 732
De devil's-shoestring[s] an' den it's anothah certin sort of a root dey call Jerusalem root an' anothah one dey call de Adam an' Eve. Dey very peculiar roots chew know - not ever'body would know 'em 'cause dey very peculiar. Well, yo' take all those roots an' put 'em together an' yo' go to de Ten Cent Sto' an' buy some sort of ten-cent perfume, an' put 'em in dere an' let 'em stay fo' so many hours - jes' lak ovahnight. An' aftah dey dissolves yo' shakes 'em lak dat, an' naturally yore luck will gradually come back. Now, ah have know it tuh be a fact, because ah have done it mahself.
(That is for luck in gambling?)
That's fo' luck in gambling.
(What do you do with that stuff in this bottle? Do you carry it or what?)
Oh yeah, yo' carry it in yore pocket. An' co'se den, everybody don' use it alike. Some of 'em jes' takes it, slyly yo' know, an' sprinkle it around in de room lak dat in dere han'. An' some of 'em takes it an' holds it in dey hand an go by yo' an' put it on yo' or somepin lak dat, chew know. Dat put chew in bad luck an' put him in good luck. Jes' lak dat.
(What is peculiar about the Adam and Eve root?)
Well, it has a very strange particular odor which it carry-, In fact, those. three diff'rent roots dey grows diff'rent from any othah root dat's grown.
(What did you say about those three roots that people say?)
Dey [people] means, dey talk to each othah lak dat: Yo' know, Adan an' Eve, devil's-shoestring, an' de ruler of de earth [Jerusalem root?] dey talks to each other. Yo' put 'em in dat perfume an' puts 'em all togethah. In fact dey grows in diff'rent parts of de woods no doubt, but aftah dey all be brought togethah, ah 'magine dey have [are sort] of glad to see each othah, somepin lak dat. Dey all git togethah an' jis' talk lak dat, chew know. [These three roots in a ten- cent bottle of perfume are glad to see each othah and talks to each othah!]
Entry 733
Yo' kin take, now, if yo' want a good gomblin' hand - now, yo' kin go out an' dere's somepin out in de woods grows dat called rattlesnake master [or button snakeroot (Eryngiun aquaticwn) southern U. S. A.]. Dere's two of dose things grows. One's a she an' one's de man - one grows a white flower, dat's de she; an' de one dat grows de red flower, dat de man. Well, yo' takes dat - yo' goes an' dig up dat root whut chew call de rattlesnake master. Yo' brings dat rattlesnake master back home an' yo' sits down an' yo' cuts it in de shape - kinda cut it in de shape of a spade; cut it out in de shape of a spade or either in de shape of a tooth, ary one dat chew wanta cut it out lak. Yo' send tuh town an' yo' git chew some hearts cologne an' yo' git chew two pinches of flaxseeds an' yo' git chew about two ounces or 'bout half of a halfa ounce of sulphur. Yo place dat root - put all dat stuff roun' an' place dat root in dere an' fills it fulla ole hearts cologne an' sews it up in a red cloth an' yo' sets dat root down on de table. Git a glass of watah - a plain glass of watah an' fo' nine mawnin's yo' go tuh dat glass an' speak to it fo' nine mawnin's. Look at dat glass - jes set dere an' look at it till it begin tuh look lak yo' begin tuh git drunk in de haid lookin' at - somepin lak dat. Yo' speak to dat glass fo' nine mawnin's an' dat ninth mawnin' DAT GLASS WILL SPEAK TO YOU. Den yo' take yo' root an' yo' kin go in any skin game wit any money. See anybody, white or colored, take dat root as yo' see 'em comin' - put yore han' in yore pocket an' rub ovah yore face lak dis an' walk up an' comment to 'em 'bout it. [Where? (?), 2407:2.]
Entry 734
Jockey Club [perfume] an' John de Conker root an' yo' keep 'em in yore pocket all de time an' put chure numbers in dere with it.
(Policy numbers?)
Yes sir, an' yo' keep dat stuff undah yore haid where yo' sleep an' yo' mo' den apt tuh dream 'bout policy, if yo' crazy 'bout playin' 'em all de time yo mo' den apt tuh dream somepin, an' if yo' git up an' play 'em yore shore lucky, 'cause ah've done it. Ah've caught a-plenty money playin' policy. (You keep this tuff - you don't keep it in there loose do you, this John de Conker root?) No suh,- yo' got it in a little bag folded up.
(And you sleep on it?)
Yessuh. Dat Jockey Club is really lucky - it's got a horseshoe on de bottle. Put it on de men when dey come in - jis' lak yo' know - perfume - dey wouldn't know no bettah. On de person whutevah come in yore place of business where yo' sellin', tryin' tuh make money - put it on dem when dey come in an' dey always wanta come back agin, yo' know, an' be kinda nice to 'em. Treat 'em nice.
Entry 735
A man dat workin' cunjures an' things lak dat, up in mah country, dey take an' go an' git some peppah, sulphur, salt, an' goes in de woods an'gits a root dey calls de Friendly John - ah knows it, Friendly John. Yo' go in de woods - it grows on a ridge on a hill.- Yo' go git dat Friendly John an' break yo' off about six limbs of it. Make no diff'rence if yo' git de root of it or not - break off, git de limbs of it an' break off six of 'em an' mix 'em together an' carry dem in yore pockets or anything lak dat. An' yo' kin put some of that devil's-shoestring with that, if yo' want to, an' yo'll go fo' twelve months lak dat an' yo' kin jes' go ahead an' tear down anywhere yo' want to - yo' got a arm, whut chew call a goofer bag or a hand. Yo' got a strong one, yo' understand. Ah bought one one time.
(If you want to do any cunjuring work, that's strong?)
Dat's strong.
Entry 736
The way I have heard it, that a hoodoo bag is a bag that one carries and it contains a dust called goofer dust and whatever they put it on they can conquer. Some wears it in their bosom and some in their pocket. They get these goofer bags from root doctors or cunjure doctors. You give them a certain sum of money. Some call them roots, some call them rabbits foot. Some people wear these roots around their legs sometimes for luck.
Entry 737
Well, oftentimes fellahs carries a lucky piece in dere pocket. Maybe it be lodestone or John de Conker or five-finger grass or some kinda perfume in lodestone - oftentimes fellahs carries it. An' den sometimes fellahs has a pocket-piece like dis dey carries fo' luck. Dat's a piece of John de Conker [he shows it].
(How do you prepare this?)
Well, yo' take it an' yo' put it in a little bag like dis [he shows it].
(In a red flannel bag.)
In a red flannel bag. Yo' take a piece of lodestone an' put in that bag with it an' yo' take a little bit of sachet powders an' put in dat bag. Yo' take a silver dime an' put it in dere between de lodestone an' High John de Conker root. Take yo' a piece of white thread an' carry it round dat-a-way nine times. Yo' carry it round dat-a-way nine times an' take it right in dere wit yore finger an' bring it right dis way nine times. Tie it into nine knots. (Now wait a minute. The first time you carry this thing away from you or towards you?) You carry it away from you nine times.
(On this side here you tie a knot?)
No sir, yo' don't tie no knot - yo' jes' carry it heah.
(You just hold it there?)
An' hold it there, yo' understand, an' make a loop ketch it - don't tie nc knot atall, make a loop ketch it. Bring it back to yo' nine times. An' yo' bring it back to yo' then nine times an' tie nine knots in it right in de center like that. All right, yo' carry it this-a-way nine times.
(Nine times lengthwise - away from you?)
Yes sir - right this-a-way nine times. All right yo' git done with it an' yo' take a straight pin an' stick right down in there - right in de top. Take dis bag an' yo' tie it real tight - tie in de top like dat an' wear it either up heah or in yore left pocket.
(Either under your heart or in your pocket.)
Or either in yore left pocket.
(And what is that bag supposed to do for you?)
Dat supposed to give you luck - drive away de evil spirits an' bring luck an' success an' make friends wit everybody - yore enemies will be yore friends, fellahs who don't like yo' will come tuh like yo'. Ah've got a piece of dis John de Conker [which he had just showed to me] supposed to be good fo' dat. Yo' supposed tuh use it wit holy oil. Dere's a oil dat yo' use wit it - it's a little red oil, dey call it de holy oil. Yo' have to order it. Yo' takes dis oil an' yo' keeps it 'nointed wit dis - keep dis root anointed wit dis oil. [The technical word for anointing is often called feeding.] An' when yo' git ready tuh leave home dat mawnin' yo' take some of dis oil an' po' it in yore han' an' rub it on yore han' dat-a-way an' rub it cross yore chest like dat - jes' like that. (Your right on your shoulder and you bring it down across your chest. And your left hand you have on the right side and bring it straight across.) Straight across it like that. An' while yo' doin' that why says de Our Father prayers.
(That's when you go down to get a job from the boss?)
Yes sir.
(That little red bag like that - where do you get those, buy them?)
Ah ordahs 'em.
(Oh, they have draw strings on them.)
Ah ordahs 'em from Tennessee.
(From Memphis - the Curio Products Company?) [That probably surprised him.)
Yes suh. Ah makes a straight nail for runnin' a person crazy by usin' three strands of dere hair in a pine tree -
(Oh, you told me that.)
Entry 738
Now when a woman wants her husband to bring her his money, she takes some kin'a root dey call de king root, an' she takes dat root and she wears it round her waist on a band - see, make a band an' wear it round her waist. Well, yo' kin see dat fellah won't even break his envelope - when he git de envelope he come right dere and give her his money. She say dat's love.
Entry 739
It's a root in de woods dey call de shame bush root. It's a brier, see. It run away off like dat, an' de bushes on it, yo' kin tetch it anywhere on de end - jest tetch it - all dem bushes will, yo' know, will shet up. Dat why dey call 'em de shame bush - yo' know, de leaves on it. [This very common root in hoodoo is called the shame brier; outside hoodoo circles it is usually known as shame vine. This is the sensitive brier Schrankia uncinata.] Well, yo' go dere an' dig dis root up. Hit grows a pretty good piece down in de ground - ah reckon 'bout three-fo' foot deep. She grows an' hit's a prong, see, on de end of it. Well, yo' go on down dere till you git to de prong. Well, yo' bring that on up an' cut it off right to de prong, see. Well, yo' take it den an' sew it up in a rag an' git chew some John hearts cologne an' puts it into another little bottle an' po' dat John hearts cologne onto it, an' dat's whut chew do wit de rest.
(What will that do?)
Dat make yo' lucky in anything - success in anything.
Entry 740
Ah tell yo' whut ah done about dat. Ah done dis heah in '37. It wus a man in Northcross[?]. Ah went to him - someone tole me yo' know. Well, ah wus wanting a job. Ah heard dat he could do anything he wanta do - jes' lak ah wanta go up to yo' an' say, '"Captain, len' me fifty dollahs." Dis man say dat he could do dat, yo' understand. Well, ah went on ovah dere. When ah got to dis man, ah went down to de - wusn't make much, jes' makin' 'bout three or fo' dollahs. Ah paid him a dollah or two dollahs till ah git him paid, yo' see. He say, "Now, yo' give me seven dollahs an' yo' kin do anythin' in de world yo' want.' Ah went ahead on tuh work an' got dis money an' give it to dis fellah. Ah give him seven dollah an' a quarter - he wanted seven dollah and a half, but ah give him dis seven dollahs. He give me a han'ful of devil's-shoestring - whut people call devil's-shoestring an' tie it up. He tole me, he says, "When yo' git ready to do anything yo' wanta do, or borrow some money from somebody, or ask someone fo' a job," he said, "yo' take an' take a piece of devil's-shoestring an' put it underneath yore mouth an' chew it, an' take it an' spit it in each han'. Rub it in yore han', take an' spread it all ovah yoreself." An' he says, now, yo' could do anything yo' wanted tuh do. Well, ah went ahead an' tried it - went to de man dat ah wus workin' wit an' ast him. De man say, "Well, ah can't do dat." Well, he tole me, say, "Now, yo' wants tuh buy a new automobile an' ain't got de money." Say, "Yo' don't need but five dollars." He say, "Yo' go to a man an' tell him yo' got five dollahs to put on a car an' walk off fo' steps from dis man an' spit, lak to warn dis man. See, let de spit go right down on de groun' tuh Warn dis man, an' ah'll guarantee yo' he'll come at yore command an' let chew have dis car by payin' five dollahs, an' say yo' kin git de car." Well, ah went ahead an' tried all dat, but de fellah wouldn't sell de car, an' all de stuff ah tried, it nevah did come tuh pass.
Entry 741
Ah tell yo', since ah've been in Savannah - ah've been heah now, if ah make no mistake, ah think ah've been heah now 'bout fo'teen-fifteen, fo' sixteen yeahs. Ah think ah have - sixteen yeahs if ah make no mistake an' if anything it may be a little longah. Well, ever'where ah have stayed, people have done me bad, have done me dirty, an' look lak tuh me it because ah tried to treat people nice - look lak dat dey jes' fall out wit me. Well, since ah been ovah heah - ever' street ah would move off hit would be somepin else - but since ah been ovah heah on "L" street ah've had de best luck ah've evah had, looked lak to me, since ah've been big enough tuh know mahself. Well, ah tell yuh, ah walked one day about six miles, me an' anothah lady. Ah went with her to her auntie's aftah some plums. An' when we got out dere she give us de plums an' then she had a great big bunch of gwah-lic [garlic]. Ah says, ah say, "Ah shore would like to buy a piece of dat gwah-lic from yo'." She say, "Awh - that's too much, ah wouldn't sell it." Say, "Go on pull yo' up a bunch." She says, "When yo' git home jis' stick it out." She didn't know whut ah want tuh did. Ah says, "Ah shore will." When ah got home ah clipped de root of it off an' - hit [there was] a tassel had de seed. Ah took dat root part an' ah took it an' tied a string on it an' hung it up ovah mah front do'. An' dat othah seed part [tassel] ah tied a string on hit an' hung it up on mah middle room do'. An' ever since den it looked lak to me ah've been havin' pretty good luck. Ah been havin' pretty good luck - pretty good. An' people tells me, says, "Cer'inly looked lak since yo' moved roun' heah dat yo' has good luck." On dat gwah-lic. So ever' nine days ah goes to dat gwah-lic an' sorta whack on it, yo' know, an' let de scent git ovah de house, yo' know. An' ah has pretty good luck, heah in dat gwah-lic. Ah shure do.
Entry 742
They're tryin' tuh run yo'. Well, yo' take something dat chew wears next to yo' and bury it right undah de steps and if yo' bury dat undah yore steps you won't have to go nowhere. Den, if dat don't do, well, den you go - if you kin git, think of it, dere's a kinda weed dey call de devil's-shoestring. Ah used to use 'nuff [in my] time. Take dat and pound it up and put it some place ovah a pitchure somewhere about chure fireplace. Dat's de best. Now, dose things is very good. Ah used to use dem years back.
(Well, now what will this devil's-shoestring do, then?)
Well, that devil's-shoestring is a kind of a string - it always called de boss weed in de woods. Used to use it when ah was gambling.
(Well, if I put this over the mantelpiece, what will that do?)
Well, dat always will keep yo' mind togethah - put a little whiskey on it sometime, dat will keep yore mind together.
(Is that to keep people from harming you or what?)
Yeah, keep your home [safe].
Entry 743
An' den dere's anothah way yo' kin do it. Yo' kin take up a fellah's [foot] track. Yo' kin write his name in his track - if yo' know his name, jes' write his full name in his track.
(With what?)
Yo' know, wit yore finger. Take yore finger, dis finger, an' write his full name in his track. Take up dat track [demonstrates].
(You use that right - index finger of the right hand.)
Yes, sir. Take up that track an' go to de woods. Have yo' seen wire grass up heah in No'th Georgia?
(Wire grass? I know what it is.)
[This means I had seen a wild grass. I did not and do not know its name.]
Yes, sir. Yo' go to a big bunch of wire grass an' dig up dat wire grass by de roots; jes' take yore shovel an' have yo' another shovel - dig up dat wire grass by de root, de whole root of dat wire grass. [Presumably two spades are needed for a clump of wild grass.] Yo' dig up de whole root of dat wire grass an' jes put dat track in dere. When yo' put dat track in dere, hit on top of it three times like this, "God de Father, God de Son, God de Holy Ghost" - jes' like dat.
(What do you hit it with - your hand or the shovel?)
De shovel. An' say, "Whosoevah passes dis track with not good things in his mind" - be sure to put it though along where dis fellah travels at, yo' know he travels long dere where yo' carry dat - "whosomevah passes dis track with not good things on his mind, he shall be buried jes' de same as this dirt." An' walk away after yo' say them three words.
(You do that in case he has any hard feeling against you?)
Yes, sir - in case me an' him would git in some kind of a dispute or somepin an' ah thought he wus tryin' tuh harm me any way or he would harm me some way, an' it would better fo' me tuh do dat den to have to hurt him an' den have to go befo' de law, see.
Entry 744
For you to walk over? Shure, you kin do dat easy. You go to work, you kin make a cross out of dese needles. Yes, sir. Git you a piece of red flannel. Git you some of dis High John de Conker - it's notched, you kin cut off a notch of it or as many notches you want, whatsomever you wants to happen to a person. If you want him crippled up, you prob'bly take about three notches in it and - not too large dat you kin bend it - and get dat red flannel and sew it. Try to sew it in a cramp [not crimp] so it will be cramped like dat [demonstrates].
(Sew this John the Conqueror in a cramped way?)
Yes, bind it lak, you see. And stick dese needles across on each side of it - dese needles and bury it under a man's [door]steps just de way; if he is going up dis way, bury it oblong [parallel to steps] so he will walk straight ways [straight] over it. And he'll become chestbounded in his laigs. His laigs will always feel lak dey are in a strain - fin'lly git so he can't walk on his laigs. [In walking.straight (straight ways) across the root buried oblong (parallel to the doorstep), the person passing right-angled over the root completes the making of a cross sign - therefore he puts a cross on or crosses up himself (see margin-title Marks). Since a person would never walk over a crossmark on his doorstep, this underhanded (undersleeve) device (see margin-title Undersleeve Work) is a trick (see margin-title Tricks). Besides, with the crossed needles also beneath the doorstep - this is a doublecross.] (Now, in crossing these needles, do you put one across the top of the root and one underneath the root?) Dat's right. Put you a cross - jes' dis way, one on top and one underneath of it and bury it wit dem needles one across at de bottom and one on top. [The needles are crossed by sticking them through the flannel.]
Entry 745
Ah had one [case] - Miss Katy Jones which was harmed, she had frogs in her. These frogs had came [from] de crushed bones of a live toady. De bones was grind and placed into de food with a serpent's head crushed with it and put into her food that she eat and create a growth. From this growth in her stomach - I could bring her fer you to see. An' taking a bone[?] weed, which dey call a herb which dey call a pestle - a pounder.
(What is the name of this weed?)
De weed? A bone[?] weed, dey call it. Yes, sir. Strip it up.
(Is it a bone weed, like b-o-n-e - bone of your body?)
Oh, no sir - a bore [or boar] weed - it grows like people say - dey call it de gall of de earth - a yella root. [Do pestle, pounder and bore or boar weed suggest that he is talking about the tion's-foot, a possible identification for his gall of de earth? The latter root is frequently used.] Take it and pull de bark from it up - you have to for casting, dat's de way ah always does it. [Pulling the bark up is upward magic to make the patient throw up, vomit, have a casting (up); just as dowrward magic, usually rubbing downward, drives pain or disease downward and out of the body through the feet.] Next, boil de herb and put a pickamarrow[?] into it.
(A what?)
A pickamarrow[?].
(What's that?)
That's a bush that grows high but you use de root of it. And boil de root and give dat to her to drink and that will 'cum'late a casting on [in] de stomach and that will bring de dangerous poison from de body, and then we kin be able to heal that body after bringing the casting from it. Otherwise, from that, if they have it in them and you never git a caskey [casting], you kin not cure de body.
(What is that caskey - what is that?)
That's heaving up - like you see some people heave up.
(I see - that's what they heave up, I see.)
That's de way I would get mine from 'em - let 'em heave it up, de poison part. And like rattlesnake's buttons off de body, you know, de rattle part of a rattlesnake - de powders from dat, people say dat will run you blind. Well, no doubt it will, if it git in yore eyes it will run you blind, but if it's crushed up into a powder and you eat that, that will create a death, because you kin not live with that in you.
(Well, isn't there any way to cure it, if they got that in them?)
Yes, sir. Take dat - that herb for them to throw up.
(That will cure them, too.)
An' you have to take a gallberry. You know what a gallberry bush is - take de berry from a gallberry bush and put it in water and squeeze de juice from de gallberry which dat is a snake food.
(What do you do with that, then?)
You squeeze it and take that juice from that and boil it. After boiling de juice, turn it into de person to drink, as after dey go to drug store and take a dose of castor oil. If dey have a cold, castor oil will break de cold on 'em, from dem, and dem [they] will be able to git rid of it. But if dey drinks dis medicine off of de gallberry leaves and de rattlesnake master, that will be able to help dem get rid of it. (Get rid of this - from the rattlesnake-button powder.) [Since gallberry (inkberry) is thought to be a snake food, here is another example of like cures like.] [Savannah, Ga., 655:1.]
Entry 746
It's a certain part of root you kin git in de woods and dey call it Alivin' Amongst de Dead. I know 'em.
(The root is called?)
Livin' Amongst de Dead. See. And dey takes two - only two grows up in one bunch, and you took dose two - it's a woman and a man and you keep dat and dat'll go to work and carry you through. Alivin' Amongst de Dead. Dat's right. (This Living Among the Dead - that root, have they any other name for that root or is that the only name they have for it?) Yes, dat's de only name. (The only name they have. I see. And if you keep that around you, then no one can hurt you?) No sir.
(What does it look like?)
You see, dere two grows up togethah, and dey bend togethah jes' like dat.
(Stick right together?)
Yes, and de bush grows up about dat tall and turns out like dat.
(Each bunch turns over towards.the ground?)
Yes, sir, dat's right.
(You put The Living Among the Dead - you carry it in your pocket.)
Yes. (When you are hunting a job - when you get there, you put it in front of you and they can't turn you down?) Yes.
Entry 747
Dey comin' roun' yore home all de time an' yo' can't keep 'em 'way from dere, yo' go out in de woods an' git chew some John de Conker, which an' dat's black snakeroot. An' yo' git chew halfa pint of whiskey an' yo' take dat whiskey an' den put it in dem roots an' steep it. Po' it back in de bottle an' let it set two days. An' after it set ovah two days den yo' po' it out. Yo' strain it an' when yo' po' it out it will be brown - see, white whiskey [moonshine] will turn it brown jes' de same as charred [legal] whiskey [usually called brown ar red whiskey]. An' when dat party's comin' to yore house agin, offer him a drink an' if dey drink dat whiskey why dey ain't coming back no mo'.
(Is John the Conqueror root the same as this black snakeroot?)
Yassuh - it's de same thing. [This is informant's own identification.]
Entry 748
I was in a place once in Beaumont, Texas. I was working on a job. A lady sent word by another fellow to me that she could help me out on the job. Well, when he told me that, I told him, say, "Ah don't believes in that." I say, "There ain't nothin' like dat I say ain't but one thing to help you," I say, "and dat's Jesus Christ." He say, "Oh, yes it did, boy, '' he say, "she give me so-and- so and I was so-and-so-and-so." Well, I told him - I decided then I would go. I went to her and she gives me a lodestone, gives me John the Conquer root, some kind of sweet smelling oil and powder wrapped up into a ball [this is a hand]. And I went back to the job and the man told me he didn't want me no more. That's what happened about that.