Browse:Time (1) Psychological (Volume 1, entries 929–941)
Time (1) Psychological
Volume 1, entries 929–941. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → TIME AND HOODOO SPELL. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 929
Twus my gate on Campbell Street where I lives at right in Wilmington. At ten 'clock - I'm talkin' about mah ownself, at what I know on Campbell Street. At ten 'clock at night I'd haf to lay down. If I didn't lay down, I would fall. But ten a'clock ev'ry night - I'd notice de clock. An' comp'ny would come to see me, an' when de comp'ny come, I say, "Now, you all set as long a' zhoo want to, because at ten a'clock I git so weak until I haf to lay down." An' I do that. One day when I come from work I met mah cousin on Fo'th Street, an' when I met 'im on Fo'th Street - mah gate fell first on.de side; too, mah fence fell. So I said to 'im, I said, "Joo come home an' help me fix up mah gate, an' alsc mah fence fell." I'm talkin' about mahself now, what I know. An' so he come home [by her house] Monday evening, he said, "Now, Cousin, two a'clock [tomorrow I got to go to work." I said, "Well, all right then; I'm gon'a cook dinnah an' you have your dinnah here [tomorrow] an' you help me fix the gate, fix mah fencei." An' we wus fixin' that fence, de time came fuh him to go. He went on. I had de shovel, I got right to mah gate, jis' as I got to come in the house, somepin say, "Dig." An' I dug, I got a bottle from mah gate, that long [demonstrates], where I'd been walkin' along. Dat wus de thing causin' me I had to lay down ten a'clock ev'ry night. An' it had sulphah in it, it had hah [hair] in it, it had bluestone in it, an' it had some kind of roots in it. An' when I took it up, I hold it right up, I says, "Oh, looka heah! Come an' see this! Somebody tryin' to cunjure me," I say. An' dey cunjured me too, beca' zhoo, zhoo know, ten a'clock at night I'd haf to lay down. An' de people come an' look at it, "Oh well, it's nothin' but childrun put that tharh." I said, "Childrun couldn't put hah." I said, "Childrun couldn't put all this kind of mess zhoo see in it; dey could not put in it." I said, "To banish it right, ah'm gon'a care [carry] it to a cunjure sure enough den dey did dat to do [to do that]." [She was going to take the bottle to a cunjure more powerful than the one who had prepared the bottle.] The people all said, "You ain't gon'a do that? I wouldn't touch it." I said, "Ah'm gon'a care it to a man that kin cunjure and cunjure right." I wus talkin' about takin' an' keepin' it - that's what I meant choo know, when I said that. I says, "No, I'm gon'a care it to cunjure right." An' so I kep' it. An' do you know that night, dat I could set up till 'leven an' twelve a'clock! I could set up till 'leven-twelve a'clock. An' so I kep' it till about on Friday evening. Dat Friday evening I made a fire in the pot in my back yard. An' I wouldn't git right over it, jis' like that [demonstrates]. I opened it like dat an' I burned it up. It wusn't long befo' de lady next do' had to go de hospital an' have her leg cut off.
Entry 930
(When was this - last year?)
Last year, my wife got hurt in her leg. Dey had her up ev'ry night at twelve o'clock hopping like a dog [see correction later] - she couldn't sleep. And she just tell me, say, "Somebody done something to me." I say, "Well, I see if somebody done something to you." I went and got me some dove blood. (Dogblood?) Dog blood - a dog; I order it - dove blood.
(Oh, dove - dove like a pigeon, dove blood?)
Yes, sir.
(Yes. You ordered it?)
Took dat and ah fixed dat in some medicine and give her dat and let her take dat and den I rubbed her, you see, with dat Noozoo oil. I rubbed her good and in fifteen days, den I turned dat spell back on de person what put it on her. You see, when I turned back on dat person, den -
(What did you put that dove blood in?)
I put dat in John de Conker root - took John de Conker root and boiled it and made de medicine and then.poured that dove blood in it. You see.
(I see. And then how did you give that to her?)
I let her take dat fus' like a doctor would give it to her - a suscription, take a tablespoonful three time a day before each meal. And when she'd taken dat little bottle full, dat long, den she could get up and go.
(I see. And you say you rubbed her or something?)
Rubbed her with Noozoo oil.
(You rubbed her with that Noozoo oil?)
Yes, sir.
(And then how did you turn that spell back on the other person?)
Well, you go - the person what done it, you ain't goin' never know who done it until you do it and then you goin' have the complaint. See, you figure who it is and where dat person is passing back and forwards. You git in a conversation wit 'em and you begin to do things - you see, put things down where dey kin walk over it, you see, and pass back and forth by it, and they'll ketch this yere. When dey ketch it, dat's got the slam offa her, you see - it's on dem, you see. And den, if dey don't get somebody to get dat offen dem - if dey don't get de person what put it on before he die, they never will get it offa dem.
Entry 931
Well, once she got poisoned she wus poisoned an' she stayed sick about two weeks, an' aftah she start feelin' somepin jumpin' in her stomach. It start in de mawnin' at five a'clock - it jump in de mawnin' an' it jump in de evenin' at five. So she say dat she feel somepin lak a frog or somepin in her stomach. Well, dey decide tuh git a man to come an' look aftah her. So dis man came an' look aftah her an' he tole her dere wus a frog in dere, an' he give her some medicine dat mawnin' an' he tole her dat when he jump up five a'clock dat evenin' dat he'll git dis frog. So when he jump five a'clock dat aftahnoon - five a'clock, he caught de frog an' he take de frog an' he carry it back wit him. An' he tole her that she wus dressed by her own husban' - dat dis woman take a frog an' she squeeze him in her han' until he dies. An' aftah he dies, she take him an' put him in de stove an' parched him up to a powder. Den dat night when she wus wit her husban' she put it on him, an' he went an' live wit dis lady an' dat's causin' she got dis frog. [Dressed by terrapin, see No. 10, p.7.] (Oh - this other woman who wasn't the wife put this frog on the man. Then the man went home and then she [the wife] got that stuff?) Dat's right - the man - she [wife] got dat stuff. Den aftah nine days it come a frog in her. It jump in de mawnin' at five a'clock an' in de evenin' at five. An' dis man came an' he caught it.
(Well - do you know what the man did to catch the frog?)
Yes - he give her some medicine. Ah dunno whut kinda medicine it wus.
Entry 932
Now, dere's a girl down on de street where ah live at now, she wus fixed up heah summer 'fore last an' she ain't straightened out yet. An' we carried her to a man. An' de way she got hers, it wus a girl give her some aigs - dey said dey wus lil' snake aigs in some whiskey. An' de snake aigs bust in her body dere an' yo' see dem snakes create. An' at one a'clock, de time dat she got dat stuff - any day at one a'clock - yo' see dem snakes runnin' in her veins.
(You say these eggs busted some place?)
De lil' aigs - when she drunk 'em, yo' see de whiskey cooked dem-in de person in whut dey develop an' it made lil' snakes.
(Oh, they developed into little snakes.)
Yes.
(And she hasn't been cured yet?)
No - she's gittin' it outa her but she ain't got [cured yet].
Entry 933
There was a lady living in the house with me who called herself a good friend, and her husband had two children by his first wife. She didn't care for his children. They got along so bad together, her husband asked me to take one of the children and I did. She got angry with me and hurt me in my leg. They say she either put it in the water cooler or in my stocking. The woman who cured me, she is dead. They said I was hurt with lizard dust and some kind of weed that blooms in October. I've been down ever' October for years, three weeks or four weeks, I didn't much bother about it because I didn't believe in it [conjuration] until the Lord showed it to me in the spirit. The woman that hurt me came to me as a witch and tried to ride me to death, and said to me that I had tried to hurt her. I said, "No, Mrs. B., I haven't done a thing to you but you are trying to kill me. You'll never kill me as long as Jesus lives." I got a hold of her ankle and said, "As long as Jesus lives her ankle's broke." So after this visioni I went to a fortune teller. She put a belt around my waist and my stomach went just like that [puffed out]. She gave me some stuff to put in my shoes, some dust, and a dime, and I could go over anything I wanted to. After that I got cured. [Fredericksburg, Va., (69), Ed.; woman conjured in Richmond, Va.,1896, and cured 20 years later.]
Entry 934
Well, ah was hurt - ah wus swollen up all ovah and ah had a rash jest broke out on me jest like spider web - jest all over wasn't a speck on me without de web, and mah eyes, de balls of 'em fell down heah and dis part was up in yore head. (Your eyeball sort of fell down?) Yes - ah couldn't see. Come on me all lak that. Ah went out mah house and came back - out well and came back all in dat condition. Well, it run on me till fo' 'clock so ah didn't know whut to do. Well, ah first called in a doctor. Well, de doctor he came and he said ah was poisoned. Well, he was doctoring on me, see, an' ah didn't know [then that I was hurt] - ah was trying him first. Well, it happened agin round de same time round de 15th of de next month. All right, he came in and saw me again. [And the doctor's medicine didn't do her any good.] So it come tuh me - ah said, "Dere something else wrong." So ah goes [to a doctor] tuh fin' out. So ah [or doctor] found a bottle of stuff look like sulphur - it was puffed. When it would swell, ah'd swell - it jest went all ovah mah body.
(This stuff in this bottle puffed up?)
It would puff up - it puffed up. When ah found it, it was swole jest lak ah was - looked like sulphur. It swole, you know, jes' like sulphur when it get wet and swell. Well, dat's de way it was. Well, when it would swell, ah would swell uP, yo' see. Mah eyes git blind and ever'thing. Well, after ah gits de stuff up, well, de swelling was yet there, yo' see. Well, it came to me [this is always guidance by a spirit] to use - ah use chamber lye and saltpeter. Dat's whut ah used to bath ever' morning 'fore sunrise. Then throw it away - throw it out. It commence to sink - all advanced away. Ah swole one time mo', after. Well, ah did de same thing. Well, ah've had no mo' of it.
(Where did you throw this out when you finished bathing with it?)
Throw it out in de back dirt, out chure back do', yo' see, sunrise - yo' throw it sunrise.
(Towards the sunrise?)
Yes, throw it sunrise and don't look back - over de left shoulder and don't look back. Dat cleared me up.
(Did that happen here in Mobile?)
Yeah.
(How long ago?)
'34 [1934].
Entry 935
Yo' git a thresher bird [a brown thrasher], yo' know. Yo' git to a thresher's nest an' yo' git nine straws out of his nest an' if yo' git to dis man hat, yo' kin put jes' nine straws in his hat, jes if he went to be - yo' understand whut ah mean, Doc - i an' when he put on his hat he'll have a severe headache an' he won't come back to yore house any mo'. An' ev'ry summer dat headache will worry him till it kill him - he die, he die wit de headache.
(Why will the headache worry him in the summer?)
"Cause it in de summer - in de spring of de year when de birds are makin' dere nests, dat's de time his head will ache him.
Entry 936
I know one that's true. I have a brother who went to the sanitorium for two years. They said he lost his mind. In fact he had lost his mind. They say that his wife got some owl-brain powder. She went to a cunjure and they fixed this up and put it in his hat. He lost his mind the same night he put this hat on. And he wandered about the streets every night until daybreak in the morning [like an owl]. About six months ago my other brother and my uncle were told to go to New York to a West Indian hoodoo doctor. They [he] gave them some stuff in an envelope and he put this on a needle and went to the insane asylum and put it in his arm. Before he got all right this doctor went back and shaved all his hair off his head and put some salve of some kind on his head. In three weeks time he was out. He went to the West Indian in New York and stayed about four weeks in his home. [Fredericksburg, Va., (70), Ed.; Philadelphia,1932.]
Entry 937
This is one about a woman being tricked on account of another woman's husband. There was a married couple that had lived together happily for five years. Finally, they had a roomer come into the house, a girl about eighteen years old. She fell very much in love with the woman's husband, so much so that it caused a lot of trouble. This woman that was the wife went to see a cunjure woman and had this boarder tricked. She put her in a sleeping form and she slept for seven days and could not be awaked from that condition. So a hoodoo doctor was sent for in order that the spell might be removed. At the end of every seven days this woman would go into this sleeping spell and have to have the hoodoo doctor to remove it. Finally, one day she became very very sick, her stomach was swollen very badly. She began to vomit. Suddenly there were about a dozen live rats appear having come from the woman's stomach. Finally, the woman said, "If you promise to leave my husband alone, I'll have the spell removed." She had the spell removed. That happened several years ago down at Ladysmith, Virginia.
Entry 938
There wus a man by the name of Alfred F., he lived about three mile from here. My mother an' father in their younger days they used to believe in cunju- ration. An' so my mother got sick an' always complaintin' with 'er feet, an' so she sends fer this man, w'a' choo call dese high men. An' so he come over an' told her w'a' choo call her fortune. He says, "A wurman [woman] has measured jore foot - foot tracks," an' "she's got it buried under yore steps." He says, "You'll never git well until this here measure is taken from under yore steps." So he says, "Now, I'll have it taken up fer you fer so-an'-so much money. An' she tole 'im she'd give it to 'im - or her father tole 'im he'd give it to 'im - to go ahead an' have it taken up. An' anyhow, he says, "You wait until the third day [magic delay] - on the third day, '' he says, "I'll come over here at seven o'clock, '' he says, "an' I'll have this measure takened up." An' so anyhow, when he went under the steps that night - I'll tell you my belief as soon as after I end the story - so he went under the step that night an' when he come out, he come out with a little stick about that long with nine notches cut into this stick. It was so many on one side of the stick - the notches - an' so many on the other side, jis' the same as you scallop anything. He come out an' he showed 'em this stick that was buried under the steps. Next thing he hauled out an' shows them was a little red bag about that long, a red-flannin [flannel] bag about that long. So the next thing he shows them was a little bottle about the same, about the same size, a little bottle with a whole lot of little somepin or others in it, I don't know 'ut [what] was in it. It looked like snake sheds [shed = ecdysis] or some kin'a sheds. He comes out with that an' he shows it to 'em an' says, "That's whut wus buried under your steps." Well, I figured on that after a while, I figured on it, an' then I had my opinion. I jis' thought that he'd put it under there his- self. That's sixty years ago [1876] on the Island here.
Entry 939
I had an' a'nt and uncle. Both of them was sick at the time, so we sent fo' a doctor, and it was close to a year and de doctors kept coming and dey said dey couldn't do no good. So we got a kind of hoodoo doctor and so he came to see 'em and he came fer nine days and he told her that she'd have to go out under her step and dig. So she went out and dug an' she got a bottle, and we looked down in it and dere was some roots and lotsa needles and two sets of hair - her husband and her hair. And dey tole her she was tuh take it and put it in running water. And she did and he said in nine days he's come back again [magic delay]. So after that he started to rub 'em - rubbed both of 'em and they both commence tuh git well after that. They'd failed terrible - that's mah aunt, ah know that. Both of 'em got better. (Well that first time - he didn't tell them anything until after he came the ninth time?) No, he didn't tell 'em about it - he say he'd have to come right along.
(I see - before he did anything at all.) [Washington, D. C. (626), 801:1.]
Entry 940
Well, the people who do that work look like they use it on a Friday. Suppose a fellow comes to you and says he wants to do some work, he generally start on a Friday. Now, why they pick out that particular day, I don't know, but that's the day they generally start on. But the weaker the moon is, the more the work taken effect; and the party that you working against, that's the time they get in the red. You see. If it's anything or headache or pain in the leg, that's the time it taken effect - when the moon is weak.
Entry 941
Now, de woman that ah'm [was] living with, she'd taken advantage of me that way. An' ah had a gypsy Woman [usually a colored woman wearing large ear- rings and pretending to be a gypsy] to tell me all about it, an' de gypsy Woman tole me jes' where to find the nail on de east side of de tree, an' on de north side ah'd find a peg, an' on de west side ah'd find a snuff-can top drove in de tree. I wrote home to mah mother an' tole her about it. She had that tree cut down an' found those items in dat tree - dere was a big nail, a small bottle with a piece of mah shirt, an' in that bottle there were some safety pins - hairpins, an' that shirt, an' two worms about that long an' they were jes' white. An' the fellah [doctor] that did it - mah mother kept it an' she preserved those things fo' certain days - ah don't know whut cause her to do it - an' the fellah that did it was standin' at de windah - an' she pored those things in the stove an' put kerosene to them an' de wind blowing jes' dat way - he was standin' dere an' it blew all in his face [see Smoke in Index]. He was den makin' preparations to go out on de water [as sailor or fisherman] but he never did go - he went crazy. An' dey figured dat returned back on him an' he couldn't stand his own work.
(Well, it didn't affect you in any way?)
Well, ah couldn't stay in no place, no place.
(How did it happen that this gypsy woman told you about this?)
Ah were down heah in Egypt [colored community] - right 'cross in de same town heah. [There was a Little Egypt near somewhere I worked on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.] But it wasn't did here - it was did in the city Key [West?] Florida. An' she came by havin' a big bundle on her shoulder an' she were hungry. So she ast me fo' somethin' to eat. Ah was making mah breakfast-dinner [brunch] then. Ah tole 'er to wait. So when ah tole her dat, de woman she - I let 'er in, an' when ah let 'er in, shé ast me to let 'er read mah hand. So ah did so, an' she tole me jes' how ah got chere an' when ah came an' how ah came. Ah.came de first Sunday in de month, de first day in de week, de first of de month an' de first day of de year. An' she said, "Dis woman yo' marry 'er but," she says, "she's not chure wife." An' she tole me jes' lak ah tole yo' whut was done, an' she [the wife] had did it [through a doctor]. Dat wus put on me fo' nine months, an' ah went ailin' fo' those months, an' a fortune-teller man tole me after dat, if I had gone jes one more month, ah never would have [been] able to regain [myself]. (Well, did you go back home or did you go back to your mother's to get rid of that stuff?) I did. [My question is not tricky; his answer is not a lie - writing home was going home (see Introduction for questions and communication problems).]