Browse:Spirit Caught in Knot (Volume 1, entries 1016–1025)
Spirit Caught in Knot
Volume 1, entries 1016–1025. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → FOLK MEDICINE → FOLK MEDICINE (1) PRINCIPLES OF HEALING. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 1016
[In addition to the bottle catching of a spirit (p.24) a spirit can be caught while operator ties a knot:] Take a piece of string. Well, you may hear someone call yo' in yore sleep. You may be sleep or may be in my house. I'll say, "John, ' or whatever yore name is. Well, whenever I say John or Charlie, that spirit will answer me and I snap dat string and I've got yore spirit.
(You just hold a piece of string in one hand?)
Two hands - jest a small piece of cotton string and tie a knot in it but don't draw it tight yet. And I call dat name and as quick as dat name ah call it, "Charlie?" Charlie will say, "Hunh?" I'll snatch it, I've gotcha. (What would you do with that string, after you get that in there? What would you do, then?) What would I do after I gets it? Fasten it right down and tie it up and put it in my purse.
(And you have the spirit then. Well, what would a person do that for?)
What would you do dat for? When yo's in love. A woman would do that when she's in love wid yuh and she wanta gain yuh.
Entry 1017
[Another illogical result of catching a spirit or a person's mind is making it wander:] Take a pocket handkerchief and ketch yore mind. Tie nine knots in it and take dat handkerchief and tote it, and everywhere you go you carry dat handkerchief and dat's got de person mind. You ketch his mind when you talking to him, you see. He don't know what you doing you see, but all de time you talking you keep tying dem knots you see - tying dem knots, getting dem knots, you git him tied you see and getting his mind. And you got his mind and that makes him wander - you see, he be wandering from place to place. You see, he wanta go. I've been thataway, I've been in dat, under dat influence. (I see. If I wanted to make you walk, then all I would do, take his handker- chief and go on talking to you and just tie nine knots in it, and that catches your mind.) Catches my mind - you see, gets my mind.
(That puts you to walking?)
Put me to walking.
Entry 1018
[Instead of both hands holding the string or cloth parallel to the body, sometimes the left hand is against the body while the right hand extended in front of the body jerks the string outwards. This is called tying a knot away from you:] You take a new strip of cloth and tie nine knots in it - jerk 'em from you and you tie 'em, snatch 'em from you. If you got an enemy and you calls his name, you won't never be worried with him no more.
Entry 1019
[While tying knots in the following cures the operator need not call a name, because the simple-minded spirit causing the disease is so curious about the loose knot that he ventures too near. Suddenly jerked tight the hard knot grasps a piece of the spirit - part of spirit equals whole of spirit (p.21).] Tie nine knots in a string, soak in turpentine, tie around waist and no one can harm you...tie nine knots in a cord string and wet it with turpentine; hit'll stop children's fever - tie it around your [child's] waist.
Entry 1020
Take a string an' tie nine knots in it an' put it roun' yore finger - I mean roun' yore wrist fo' cramps. Dat's good fo' cramps.
(Any place you have the cramps?)
Any place - jes' tie nine knots in it an' put it roun' yore arm. Dat will certainly cure de cramps.
Entry 1021
Well, ah got tuh feelin' yo' know - jis' funny in de haid, yo' know - started wit a kinda runnin' spells like - jis' took me all at once yo' see - jis' got to runnin' an' screamin' an' hollerin' an' goin' on. Mah head got to hurtin' an' dey didn't know hardly whut ailed me - ah didn't know mahself. Jis' took, yo' know, lak at once. Had done swole - mah stomach had done swole up so. Well, mah brother-in-law knowed a fellah ovah in Augusta, Georgia, yo' know. Well, he'd taken me ovah dere. Well, dis fellah had put dem nine notches [knots] around mah laig - a cord, an' he say, "In de ninth mornin', '' say, "yo' take it off an' throw it in de fire." An' dat's whut ah done. An' ah got rid of it.
(Did you throw it into the fire in any particular Way?)
Yes suh.
(How did he tell you to throw it?)
Ah throwed backwards.
Entry 1022
Dey tell me tuh break de chills on anybody yo' take a cotton string an' tie nine knots in dat an' insert it in turpentine, but don't tie de nine knots all at once. Yo' tie one knot dis mawnin', put it around yore patient - tie de string around yore patient, around de body. De next mornin' yo' take it off an' tie another knot, but chew always insert it in turpentine every time yo' put it on till de nine mornings up. Dem chills is gone fo'evah from dem.
Entry 1023
If yo've got chills or anything lak dat an' yo' wanta break 'em on a person, yo' kin tie nine knots into a cotton thread an' tie it around his waist right next to his skin. If yo' tie it today at 'leven a'clock - if yo' have dat chill today at 'leven a'clock, yo' tie dat string round dere today at 'leven a'clock. An' den tomorrow at 'leven a'clock when dat hand gits jes' 'bout on dere at 'leven, why den he takes dat string from round his waist an' goes to the closest black gum tree it is to dat house, an' tie dat string around dat tree, around dat black gum tree, an' go on off an' leave dat. Dat'll break dem chills on him - he won't nevah have another one.
Entry 1024
People tie - hear of 'em take thread-string an' tie nine knots in it an' tie it roun' dey haid.
(What will that do?)
Well, dey claim dat stop de headache.
Entry 1025
Now, if a chile got de whoopin' cough an' nevah seen his father, he'll cut a patch de hair out de top of his haid an' tie it in a string an' hang it round his neck. It's good fo' de whoopin' cough.