Browse:St. John's Water (Volume 1, entries 2259)
St. John's Water
Volume 1, entries 2259. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 2259
Tuh keep de [bill] collector - tuh keep him away from yore do' [some indistinct words].
(You take river water?)
Yo' kin take it but yo' gotta git that watah an' keep it from one yeah to anothah. Yo' gotta git it on de 24th day of June [St. John the Baptist's Day]. Dat's whut chew call St. John watah an' yo' put it in yore bottle an' yo' keep de haid turn up an' yo' collector or yore landlord neither ain't goin' worry yo' too much. Ain't nobody goin' break up yore business. The laws won't come around or anything. The laws won't bother yo'.
(You just take water out of the river.)
Yo' git de clear watah out de rivah wit chure prayers. Yo' gotta pray - any prayer. Our Father - dat's de Lord's Prayer.
(That's St. John's water?)
St. John water an' yo' call him fo' protection an' he'll protect yo'.
(You just have the head of that bottle pointed out the door?)
Out de do' - dat keep 'em off. If he comin' - yo' jis' take dat bottle when yo' think yore landlord's comin' or yore enemies is comin', yo' take yore bottle an' yo' roll it. Yo' roll it wit chure feet - an' den roll it right back where it come from at de do'. [This is one of several magic rolling rites confined to the New Orleans area - rolling a bottle, a candle, a coconut, anything (see Rolling in Index).] [St. John's water is also a health measure, like May water (No. 986, p.381 and Index), and consequently a protection from evil. In Teutonic folklore St. John's fire was lighted on the night of June 24 to ward off sickness and misfortune for the coming year. The preceding evening of June 23 - Saint John's Eve or Mid- summer Eve - was the beginning of various rites.]