Browse:Van-Van (Volume 1, entries 2368–2717)
Van-Van
Volume 1, entries 2368–2717. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 2368
To make luck for gambling, there's quite a few articles you get to put together. Well, you get you some - get you some red flannel and you get lode- stone, steel dust, you see, and cinnamon. You put this together and a silver dime - put that in that little - put it in a little red bag, right in there. You sew it up. After you sew it up and [then] you pass it in a saucer in some luck you buy in the drug store.
(Luck?)
Yeah - it's luck, they call it. It's van-van. You put it in there and roll that in there like that. Then you present [sell] it to the person and you tell them ev'ry two or three weeks it have to be rubbed in some of this luck. That'll make 'em come to you. You'd have to get you - rub it over, you see, that luck.
Entry 2369
Yo' could git chew some lodestone, some bluestone an' - not bluestone but saltpeter, and some red peppah [three ingredients] and put all dat together and put it in a little sack and wear it in de bottom of yo' foot. Git chew some Van-van, rub yo' face and yo' hands with it. Ev'rywhere, ev'ry time yo' gotta go out, go fo' anything, jes' rub yo' face and hands with dat all ovah.... Well, yo' go wheresomevah yo' goin' an' whatevah yo' wan'a do, whatever yo' goin' tuh do, it leaves de way open fo' yo' tuh do whatevah yo' wants tuh do, whatevah yo' got in yore mind to do. An' yo' see yore way looks dark, why when yo' git dere de way be opened fo' yo'.
Entry 2370
It's like if yo' live in de middle of de block, see, and yo' want, if somebody was coming to yore house dat yo' didn't want to come dere, in case of de law or anything like dat, why yo' make a round ring at each corner, each corner of de block. Jest like yo' living in de middle of de block and dis is a corner and dat's a corner. Well, yo' make a round ring at dis corner and it's some kin' of stuff yo' gits out de drug store called van-van. Yo' take that and yo' po' some in dat place. Well, yo' go to de next corner and yo' po' some in dat place. Well, dey kin come to each one of de corners and yo' living in de middle of de block, dey ain't nevah coming to yore house.
Entry 2371
Drop nine drops of vinegar inside a bottle of white Heart Cologne an' yo' make a wish dat chew want a job an' yo' want to be lucky with a job, an' yo' take that Heart Cologne an' bury it at chure do'steps an' let it stay down dere fo' nine days. An' after nine days, yo' take dat Heart Cologne up an' jes' lak yo' - de time dat yo' wanta git dat job, yo' po' it every direction on yore clothes, yo' know, all in front of yo', an' po' a little bit in yore shoes, an' dey say dat known tuh make a person git a job. Say de man give it to yo' without any huntin' fo' it, but yo' must let it stay buried fo' nine days after yo' make a wish.
Entry 2372
My mother didn't believe in anything like superstition but my aunt did. I was working in Newport News, Virginia, with my uncle and one Saturday afternoon when I came home I found my aunt had gone down and had mama arrested. She was mama's sister-in-law, not her sister. My aunt found a bottle underneath her house, it wasn't buried in the ground, and swore that mama had put that bottle there. It had vinegar, salt and pepper, and a hard boiled egg cut up in it. An officer came out to serve a warrant on mama and when she heard about it she went over after my aunt. She lived next door. She figured she was a better woman and she was going to beat her up. Before she could beat up my aunt the officer took her down to the judge. The justice fined her $6.90 for trespassing. He didn't do anything about the bottle.
Entry 2373
Walk-away powder and war powder is sprinkled about the doorsill to make a person move. [Cf. Getaway Powder, p.562.]
Entry 2374
Ah tell you what you can do. Yo' kin take some salt an' black pepper and some cinnamon and some cloves; an' yo' go to de drug store, yo' kin git chew some war water. (What's that?) It's water in a little bottle about that size, about that high. Yo' pay ten cents fo' it.
(War water. What do you use that water for?)
You put it with this mixture, ah mean.
(I mean, ordinarily [without ingredients], what do they use that for?)
They use that fo' runnin' yo' - kin use that. Take that water and pore it on de steps, understand, and if there's somebody in this house tha' chew don't want in here.
(You buy it at the drug store?)
Yes, sir.... Yo' jes' go tuh de drug sto' an' buy yo' a bottle of war water. Yo' get dat at Mr. [Somebody's] drug sto' ovah heah on [Something] Avenue, and it cost yo' ten cents.
(It's called like a war - like a battle?)
W-a-r - war water. And you take that an' put it on de steps out dere, and when ah cross dere ah ain't coming back in heah no mo' - ain't comin' back heah no mo'.
Entry 2375
I know that they can make you move. They can go to the drug store and git what they call war water, and pass your house at night and throw it like that, and when you throw it say a curse, and make a oath, and they'll move - they'll go to jail an' [or] move. Yes sir, I know that, positive fact - they'll move.
Entry 2376
Go down to the Crackerjack Drug Store and get some guinea seed. [See p.570.]
(Get some what?)
Guinea seed.
(I see. All right.)
Get some guinea seed and after you gets this guinea seed, you get a bottle of War water from some Crackerjack Drug Store. And you beat these guinea seeds up right fine and you put 'em in that war water. And you turns your back to the house and you take it [bottle] and you throw it when she's not there and break it against the wall. When you break it against the wall and walk away from it - she's going.
Entry 2377
Dey say yo' kin cross 'em like that.
(How do they do that?)
They take and make the mark this Way [demonstrates by drawing a cross mark] and then they go to the drug store an' git de water dat dey sell, called war water, and pour it around yore do' and that will cause confusion and fighting - disagreeable, even until you move.
(They pour this war water right in the mark of the cross?)
Yes, sir - right in this way, right at chure door, and that will create con- fusion and you will have to leave. [See Marks, p.254.]
Entry 2378
You take the length of the finger, the lonest finger [demonstrates], measuring the foot track, drawing it slightly that way with the right hand - longest finger and little finger and join it [them]. And [but first] you put one [finger] tip to cover one of the toes and you bring your fingers together, and take a bit of dirt like that. (You put one toward the foot and one at the toe and you bring your fingers together.) [I hand-draw.] Yes, sir.
(And take a pinch of dirt.) [Hand-draw.]
Yes, sir.
(Like that.) [Hand-draw.]
Yes, sir. Put it [dirt] in a bottle with war water and throw it in the Mississippi River where it floats. You see, that will give you a roving [roaming?] mind. You won't be stationary there regardless of what kind of position you have. You'd rather leave. Look like your mind was referring you to go where you'd do better, you see, and it will keep you leaving from one town to the other one.
(You use either one of those tracks or both of them or what?)
The right foot with the right hand.
Entry 2379
Like I go out - I could get the dirt but they hardly can pick up the tracks unless you is bare-feeted. Then they can do more with the track, but just your foot track like that with your shoes - they can't get next to your necked [naked] feet.
(I see.)
But if you're bare-feeted and that, they can pick up your tracks good.
(Well, how would they do that, then?)
Well, if they can get behind you - but hardly ever you can get behind anybody to pick up their tracks.
(Why is that?)
Well, some people don't walk bare-feeted for you to pick up their tracks, you see.
(I see.)
But people in the country, you know, mostly walks bare-feeted and they can pick up their tracks, because most of them is bare-feeted sometimes. They'll walk bare-feeted - well, you can pick up their track right in the middle of their feet. But some people's got hollows in their feet where you can't. Flat-feeted folks you can do that because the whole foot goes down, you know. (Well, what would they do with that dirt after they gather it up?) [She will repeat my gather.] Well, they gather that dirt and fix it up, and they'll go to a river or any- thing what's running.
[I will repeat her fix.]
(How do they fix that dirt up?)
[See Introduction for this occasional back and forth exchange.]
Fix - they gets water - they goes and gets something like what they call war water. They can buy that in the drug store, war water. Just mix that up with that in a glass or something so that it will dry, and then when it dry, they'll go to the river and then throw it over their shoulder right down the stream [channel] what's going down the river. That'll make you keep adrifting.
Entry 2380
Well, if yo' wanta bring yore husband back, yo' go tuh de well an' yo' walk round it three times. Den yo' look down in it an' then yo' look to de east, den yo' call him three times, turn yore back an' walk off an' don't look back. In two week's time he'll be back. [Well here is a dug well.]
Entry 2381
Some people, if they wants you to like 'em, they'll take a piece of green wood.
(Green wood?)
Wood.
(Any kind of wood?)
Pine wood. Take pine wood and go to the store and buy me a file, brand-new file. Say, they took a brand-new file and drove it through the piece of wood and break it. Put it there nine places - just driv it in there as far as they Want to and break it off. Put it there many times as she want and break it off. See, now, you got nine pieces in there, broke off you know fine - you know, small file it'll break. And after you broke it off, then you goes to the well and drops it in the well. Well, it sinks. You ever seen a well?
(Yes - in the ground, a deep well.)
Drop it in the well. Well, it sinks, goes on the bottom and lays on the bottom, stays there until that well is cleaned out. Only way you kin get clear of it - the water gets low in dere, you will notice it there and go there and clean it out. Well, that will make a man just love you - like you - keep you - never wants to leave you - will never want you to leave there. He will send for you, I don't care where you are at. (That is in connection with a job, you mean, if you are working for this man. Or if a woman wants to keep a man.) Sir?
(Does a woman do this to a man, or does a man do this to hold a job?)
A man to hold a job. [Surely a love rite.]
Entry 2382
I know of a whale drifting ashore at Phoebus [Virginia] once and lots of people got bones from this whale and they cut them up and strung them like beads and worn 'em around their neck for luck.
Entry 2383
If dere a person you wants a get a job from, dere diff'rent roots that you kin git, that are used in Heart's Cologne. Now, if you wanta job, go to a white person for it, you go looking fer a root called White Man de Conker. Then, if you go in to get a job at a colored place, you bring along High John de Conker. Well, you kin take that root, and if it's a white man, conquer de white man's mind. You cut it up fine and put it in a little vial. You let it soak over night and you put that on you and that will calm the person's mind towards you. Don't care how angry they are, that will kinda calm their mind towards you. But it's very seldom you kin get dat root without a person know exactly what it is, cause some people sells you fakes. (And you do the same thing in getting a job from a colored man, with the other root?) The Hiah John de Conker and the White Man's Conker.
(Well, do you put anything with that root?)
The Heart's Cologne and a little of your chamber lye.
(Well, what do you do with that?)
Well, after it's soaked all night, you don't have nuthin to do with it but take it with you and sprinkle it on you.
Entry 2384
Oh, de willow tree root, yo' goes an' git, say about seven a'clock in de mornin', an' cut a piece of root from one of de sunrise [side]. Then yo' git chew a piece of red flannen wit salt an' sulphur, black peppah, an' a needle an' some Heart Perfume, an' yo' sew dat up yo' understand. Yo sew dat up an' yo' keep it 'nointed with dat Heart Perfume an' wear dat in yore pocket. If yo' git it yoreself, name it after yo'; if somebody else git it, name it after them. (Carry that for luck. You get this root from the willow tree. Which side do you get it from?) Yo' git it from de sunrise, yes sir.
interviewer-supplied luck purpose in a compound question, without informant endorsement. No blanket assent to compound question sewing the named red-flannel material combination. No stitch type, bag shape or unmentioned sewing procedure is inferred. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2385
De breast bone - yo' know it's a little fo'ked bone, call dat a wish- bone. Yo' carry dat in yore pocketbook an' that's fo' if yo' goes somewhere an' yo' wants tuh git somepin - dere's somepin yo' want. Yo' make yore wishes befo' yo' leave home an' yo' keep dat bone oiled with lucky oil an' yo' carry dat bone in yore pocket in de day, an' at night when yo' take it out yo' lay it up somewhere where nobody kin remove it but chew. An' yo carry that in yore pocket. That's fo' something that chew haven't got but chew's expectin' to, an' it's always successful anyhow tuh carry a wishbone.
Entry 2386
[Here and in the several following margin-titles I have grouped a few statements about the terms hoodoo, conjuration, witchcraft and rootwork; more material will be found in the Index. Sorry about indexing Wise Man after Wishbone, but it goes with this group.] Go in de wood down on de rivah.
(Do you get it from somebody, this bottle?) [Bottle hand?]
Me an' 'nothah fellah out in de country went an' got it togethah. Ah know dis when ah see it. Well, yo' take dis Adam-and-Eve, an' it's one is Adam an' it's one is Eve, see. An' yo' put one of each in de bottle.
(Those are two different types of roots? Take the plant?)
Yessuh, two diff'rent plants. [See preceding margin-title, Root - A Triple.] Yo' kin put fo' of 'em in dere if yo' wanta. See.
(Two of each?)
Yessuh, two of each. An' den yo' put yore gunpowders in dere. An' yo' go downtown an' yo' git some Heart's Cologne in a bottle jes' lak dat, an' den yo' po's de whole bottle in dere if it will hol' it, an' stop it up tight. Ever time when yo' git ready tuh leave yore home, shake it up lak dat an' po' it on dere - put a lil of it on yo'. That throws yore trouble behin' yo, see. Yo go to a game an' very seldom yo' ain't winnin'. Go tuh ask fo' a job an' very seldom yo' miss gittin' it - somepin tuh do if it's nuthin but a day's work. Dat's all dere is to that, only it will keep yore home together an' happy - live happy in yore home an' yo' won't hardly be hard up fo' anything 'long as yo carry dat in yore pocket. Ah know dat mahself.
(You fixed: this bottle up yourself?)
Me an' de othah fellah did. He intend tuh be a wise man. Ah've heard dat he's been ovah heah tuh see yo.
Entry 2387
Well, I know of a fellah here, he used to sell bolita - that's like de numbers. Well, they used to ketch him a lot of times. So they caught him with free stuff one time and he was on a $500 bail. So he had a - there was a fellah they used to call witch doctor around here. I don't know whether he was or not, but he used to go around here and he used to help a lot of people out of trouble. So he tole dis heah fellah if he would ketch one of dese here black house rats, one of dese big rats dat run around de house - you ketch one of dem and kill him and skin him jest befo' he gits cold, see, an' take dat skin and wrap it up tight inside of a silk han'kerchief and take it an' tote it next to his heart. Said dat when he's go down befo' de judge, dat no matter how strong de judge wanta give him a sentence, de judge would always send dat sentence on him. He tried dat. I don't know whether it'll work out but he always would be lucky enough to come out of it.
Entry 2388
Always some old man or some old woman, they would study what they call cunjuration and, taking a cat's tail, the bone of a cat, or a snake bone, roll it up and put it in your pocket and [you] keep it. Then you are sup- posed to go anywhere and nobody will bother you. They call that a Witch hand. An old man back yonder [years ago] he would make that for his [your] reg'lar steady [companion or guide] and you pay him something.
[Informant born before Civil War.]
Entry 2389
I was on board of a ship that the mate was a kind of mean man and he hung his clothes upon the line to be brushed. And the steward brushed them and every time the steward brushed them he [the mate] hollered. The steward had him a witchcraft hand. He carried it in his pocket and every time he hit these clothes on the line, the mate would holler. That was 50 years ago (1886). That was the S. S. Lizzie(?) Scofield. We were off the coast of West Africa. [Informant 8 years old when Civil War began.]
Entry 2390
Yo' go to de fo'ks of de road nine Sunday mornings befo' sunup - ah guess yo' heard. An' dat's to learn de witchcraft - dey might call it. Dat's whut we call it down in dis country. Some of us call it rootworkin', some of us call it witchcraft an' some of us call it hoodoo, but it's all run into de same thing. An' jes' lak if yo' wanted to do a thing - wanted to do somepin dirty. Now, dat comes about dirty - whut dey always practice, ladies workin' on mens. An' dey go dere to de crossroad nine Sunday mornings befo' sunup an' dat's de way dey do dat.
Entry 2391
(When you were a young boy what did they call this kind of work?)
Cunjuring.
(They called it conjuring? Did they use the word hoodoo?)
No sir, didn't use dat.
(It's a new word?)
It's a new word - it come out since 'mancipation.
(That's what I thought.)
[This old man was born in 1858, years before the appearance of the word. hoodoo - see Introduction for date and use of word.]
Entry 2392
(Down in this country what do they call this kind of work?)
Cunjuration.
(Do they ever call it hoodoo down here?)
Yessuh - hoodoo doctors.
(Is the witchcraft the same thing or different?)
Well, dis hoodoo an' dis cunjuration is jes' about on de same basis.
Entry 2393
(What do they call this kind of work where you were brought up? What do they call this type of work, doing you harm and everything?) Well, if a man is got de skill upon 'im tuh make a man do jes' whut he want 'im to do without hurtin' 'im, dat's trickin' a man. [For tricks, see pp.,260- 269.]
(You told me about witchcraft. Do the people here today call it witchcraft?)
Yes - whut dey all calls it, witchcraft.
(What state did you come from - this state?)
No, ah come on from [something] County, South Carolina.
(Where is that?)
Way down heah near [something]. (Down in South Carolina. And they called this when you were a boy - they called it witchcraft, if you were trying to harm somebody?) Yes.
(Did vou ever hear them call it hoodoo when you were a boy?)
No, didn't nevah hear none of dat talk - dey call it witchcraft.
Entry 2394
Now, I have heard of them in this way, if they wanted their husband to leave town or wife, either sex, why they would go and get someone to come with the same kind of diff'rent ingredients in a bag of some kind.
(What do you call this sort of thing?)
Witchcraft.
(Around here do they ever use the word hoodoo?)
Hoodoo an' witchcraft.
(They are all the same thing?)
First cousins. [Informant is woman who managed hotel in which I interviewed. I questioned her, as I did all landladys and landlords, to give an idea of my work.]
Entry 2395
Someone who used to live on the Riprap Road found a box at the gate one morning and brought it to my house and said, "Look what I dug up at my gate." I said to her, "What's in it?" And she opened it and there was pins in there and needles and some of her hair and sulphur in a bag in there and a piece of red flannel that had four sticks sewed up into that and a dime into it. It was a wooden box about that long. (Eight inches long and four inches wide.) [Probably a cigar box - symbolic coffin.] She said she was going to take it and see who put it there, she was going to take it over to Norfolk to a fortuneteller. And when she came back she told me that her husband put it there. That's what the fortuneteller told her.
Entry 2396
I used to hear the old-time people set down and talk about rastlin'. A man one time couldn't be thrown - dozens of them tried him, he throwed them all. They come to find out - he told them he caught a blacksnake, skin him, stuffed his hide and wore it as a belt around his waist. It's impossible for a man to throw a man if he has one of those belts on him. That's in the Civil War period. There's some they wear them now. [For rastlin' roots (wrestling roots), see No.723, p.240.]
Entry 2397
If dey wanta be a rastler an' nobody kin throw 'em down, dey'll ketch a blacksnake an' skin him - de black an' green one - an' stuff dat wit sawdust or manure or somethin' to dry it. Den git all dat stuffin' out an' sew dat round in de bindin' or dey underwear - sew it round dere waist. It's purtty hard for man tuh throw 'em down. Ah've tried dat mahself.
Entry 2398
I heard 'em say - whether it's so, I can't tell you - ah tells you what I heard. I heard 'em say dey take a blacksnake - go in de woods and ketch a blacksnake and skin him. Skin a blacksnake and take dat blacksnake and fix him - fix him with somepin. Let's see what dey say dey fix him wit. Dey fix him with vaseline and High John de Conquer root. Dat's it - dat what dey said. Dey make a paste and take dat belt - dat blacksnake belt and rub it [preparation] over dat blacksnake skin and put it round dere waist. Make a belt out of it and put it round dere waist. Don't care who dey wrastlin' wit. Dey say dey can't throw 'em.
Entry 2399
Well, you kin go out in de woods and kill you a rattlesnake. Well, you take dat rattlesnake and you skin 'em. Be sure dat dey didn't strike demself now - be sure that he's not strike himself to kill himself, because you jest ketch him you understand and tease a rattlesnake why he strike to kill him own- self. But now, you be sure dat you kill him. Well, you kill him and you skin him, see. Well, you cut him open and you git dat fat. You git de fat and you fry it up. You fry it up into grease and you can't use too much of it - [see No. 1435, p.469]. You take dat grease and you jest rub yo' limbs - rub yo' limbs down, you understand - rub your limbs, all yo' legs and stuff and your whole body, jest as near as possibly you can in a closed closet where nobody kin see you, see. Nobody will know what chew doin'. Well, you will be jest as limber as dat rattler. A person - Jesus Christ kin pin you down to de ground but He couldn't throw you.
Entry 2400
Dey git a buzzard an' kill him and stew him up, git de buzzard grease and grease yourself all over, on de laigs and you'll be limber. You'll be more powerful. Whenever - ev'ry way de man try to throw you, you kin jump off his locks, see, and you kin throw him 'cause yo' active. He can't throw you.
Entry 2401
He fall in love with this man's wife. Dey [the husband] couldn't get even in no other way - he was an old man, the man was a young man that taken his wife away. He dressed himself [prepared his body by conjuration]. When this man come, he'd rassle with him. He [the young man] never was no more 'count - he jis' come full of sores. [Princess Anne, Md., (128), 42:1.] [This subsection is concerned with methods for luck in business. Some of the hands in preceding subsection Hands could also be used for this purpose.]
Entry 2402
Ah've heard a lady say. She tole me tuh do it. Course ah never did experience it mahself, but she tells me like dis - to take on a Wednesday morning before twelve, never let twelve get dere befo' doing it, which ah said ah was gon'a try it mahself to see was she telling de truth. Yo' git chew a half a cup of sugah, allspice and put it into yore scrubwater.
(You get a half cup of sugar. And how much spice do you get?)
Yo' git about a tablespoonful of allspice. Yo' put it into the water that you scrub with. Yo' put chew a little piece of saltpeter with it and start at de front of your house and scrub before twelve to de back. They say that will draw any kind of luck into yore house yo' want.
Entry 2403
And if you don't do it thataway, you takes cinnamon and sugar and you sprinkle that cinnamon and sugar in the front of the door, but be sure to scrub - use nine buckets of water, one bottle of the ammonia. But when you scrub, don't scrub out your door - scrub in. You understand what I mean. Scrub it inside. Sweep your water in all the time. And after you do that, then you can sprinkle ycur cinnamon and sugar and that house'll get rented. Yes, sir.
Entry 2404
I've been around places where I've seen it done. They always dress the front of their house and the front of the house is kept - is supposed to be kept perfectly clean, scrubbed every day with lye and ammonia. And after scrubbing your house with lye and ammonia, you have a thing that you burn - a couple of the incense. And then after you burn that, that's in the house and your house is perfectly clean - you uses that in there - causes for the luck to keep the law away.
Entry 2405
An' then ah heard agin that if yo' want tuh keep - jes' lak say if ah wus runnin' a house, yo' know, an' sellin' whiskey or somethin' lak dat, to keep de polices off yuh, yo' go tuh de sto' an' buy yo' a box of asafetidy an' take it an' cut it in a small little quantity, an' put it on a piece of new homespun - sew it up in a piece of new homespun an' wear it round yore waist. Dey said absolutely dey can't come about chew.
Entry 2406
Dat's luck tuh eithah draw mens to yore home, yessuh, de banana peelin' - jis' de peelin' of de banana yo' know, a little piece ovah de do' an' folks walk up underneat' chew know...comin' in de front do'.
(That is supposed to bring men into your house?)
Bring money mens to yore home.
Entry 2407
Yo' take five cents worth of oranges, five cents worth of apples, five cents worth of grapes an' five cents worth of bananas. Yo' take yo' a bowl an' yo' cut all those up an' have yore fiah burnin' there, an' it's a-spotin luck, fast luck. An' it's re'lly lucky. Yo' git chew five cents worth of that brown sugah agin, five cents Worth of that white sugah an' put all that together an' put it on de back of yore fiah an' make yore wish from all parts of de worl' [successively face each of four directions and wish] - jes' wish fo' diff'rent things tuh come. Yo' don't know 'em but chew jes' wishin'. An' befo' de week's out every time yo' be's jes' lak that.
(That's for trade?)
Yeah, be success - trade.
(Why do you use white sugar and brown sugar?)
Well, yo' use de white mens, yo' see, an' yo' use the brown, fo' de brown.
Entry 2408
Why yo' git chew some sulphur an' some saltpeter an' some sugah. Well, yo' take a tablespoon an' a nutmeg an' some bluestone. Well, yo' take a rag an' yo' beat chure bluestone up an' beat up yore nutmeg and yo' takes a tablespoon fulla sulphur an' a tablespoon fulla sugah an' a tablespoon fulla saltpeter. Well, yo' take it an' put it in yore bathwatah an' some Heart's Perfruone put it in yore bathwatah, an' yo take a bath all ovah. Den yo' git up an' yo' mop all roun' de flo'. If yo' got a rug on, mop all roun' de woodwork an' all in yore do' an' wash yore do' down. Well, den yo' take some dat nutmeg an' bluestone an' sulphur an' some sugah - put it on yore shovel on a piece of papah. See, it burns hard. Light it undah de papah an' burn dat an' smoke yo'self in yore room. Do dat Mondays, Wednesdays an' Fridays.
(What do you do this for?)
Dat brings in trade an' makes yore luck good.
(That is if you are bootlegging or if you are a hustling woman?)
Dat's luck fo' yo' tuh do dat.
Entry 2409
If a woman is a hustlin'woman an' goin' tuh a new place, well, befo' she start to dis new place, when she know she goin' - quite natural, see - well she'll go tuh work an' she'll take a real new clean bath an' she'll take it some- thin' lak in de mawnin' befo' de sunrise. An' aftah she takes that watah - while in dat watah she says her prayers nine times, while she's takin' her bath. Take dat watah an' go to de cornah of de house - de east cornah of de room an' throw it east an' make a wish. Go 'head an' ketch de train an' go 'bout her business. Well, when she enter dis city - she go into dat city she takes her anothah bath. An' aftah she takes dat bath an' de 'gredients dat she have - bluestone, salt- peter, sugah an' alum. Well, dat gives her her luck right dere. She have washed away all de bad luck an' put on good.
Entry 2410
If yo' wanta take a trip somewhere, a long trip, an' yo' wanta go an' try tuh make money, 'fore yo' leave home, why yo' take yo' a bath an' comb yore hair, an' have yore room shet up an' burnin' incense, an' take yo' a bath in sugah an' white lead - dey call it white lead, it looks lak sugah, too. Den yo' take a bath in dat watah. When yo' git out yo' rub yo'self down in olive oil an' comb yore hair an' clean yore comb out. Den walk to de front do' an' open it an' jes' let de air go through yore house.
(You put this white lead and sugar in the water in which you take a bath?)
Yes, jes' about a half a teaspoonful - white lead an' sugah. It's kind of a medicine lak.
Entry 2411
If you wants to take a bath in water for success, you see, you put sea salt in there and oil of geranium - any kind of that you prefer for perfume you see - in that water. Sea salt. Wash yourself down and throw it at [towards] sunrise. Well, that'll keep you in good luck.
Entry 2412
Well, you kin take chamber lye, stale beer, or something like that, or they kin take your bathwater - just like, say, you set it up overnight. And then yo' po' all that together and mop your house with it. Then you kin burn a little luck powder or something like that in there.
(That is to bring in trade?)
That will bring in trade. (Do you mix all those things together? That bathwater and all those things together? And mop with it?) And mop with it.
Entry 2413
They take that Red Devil Lye, you would mop your house with it first, just where you have to walk through - through and forth, just wherever at anybody come through there. And every day, it's quite natch'l you go in and out your front door, you buries that where you walk over there. Then - now, if you's afraid that they goin' try do you somethin' anyway, you take the same household ammonia and you baths with it for nine days. Excusin' that, you take the 45th Psalm and the 54th [preceding number reversed] and you read that, and there ain't nuthin comin'.
(Don't need to be afraid of the law?)
No, sir. (Now, that Red Devil Lye - you mean you bury the rest of the can down there, after you have scrubbed the floor with it?) Bury the whole can down. Take the top off that can, understand, and there ain't nuthin in the world get over that.
Entry 2414
In gamblin' tuh give mahself luck ah have taken burnt sugah. Burn it perfectly brown an' kinda let it run down tuh candy, an' git me some bluestone an' mix that together, an' git me some saltpeter an' put that together, an' git me some alum an' put that together, an' make me whut chew may call a bath, a bath 'lution [solution], an' po' it into mah bathwatah an' take me a bath with it. Well, dat supposed tuh be lucky which it always has been tuh me when ah wus gamblin'.
Entry 2415
Wash yore face in sugah de first thing in de mawnin' with yore han' first [not with washcloth] an' go out an' meet de person an' den yo'll have good success. An' yo' know, take consecrated [concentrated] lye an' mop yore place 'fore de do' heah an' don't say nuthin to nobody while yo' takin' care of dat. Dat'll bring luck to de place an' yo' sell a lotta liquor.
Entry 2416
If yo' got some business, real important business dat yo' want tuh 'tend to an' yo' don't exactly understan' how tuh start at it, yo' git up at twelve or one a'clock at night an' wash yore face. Yo' cook an' make yo' strong coffee an' drink yo' a strong cup of coffee an' make yore wishes whut chew want tuh do de nex' mornin'.
Entry 2417
Yo' [know] whut dis insin [incense] is.
(Incense.)
Uh-hah - yassuh. An' yo' git some dragon's blood and take dose and yo' git chew some washing powder - mop de flo' good, yo' understand. Den burn yo' insin wit some brown sugah and a little sulphur, and dat'll bring yo' all de customer yo' want. Yo' know that was done heah, 'cus ah kin tell yo' about it. About fifty yeahs ago [1888] ah used to work uptown amongst de sporting people, yo' understand, and ah had to use these things fo' ketching trade, and ah had to do thet every mawnin'. Then yo' take a little beer, stale beer, and put it in de Water when yo' would go to wash but chew have to use dat dragon's blood and some washing powder - no soap or no lye - jes' dat washing powder. And yo' put dat and den yo' burn yore insin, sulphur and sugar, and that brings in de customers. An' po' yo' beer in dere - yo' see dat brings on de drinks, but it has to be stale beer - like dey leave some in de bottle or some in de barrel all night.
(Were the women in this house white or colored?)
White. (What do the girls consider bad and good luck in their business? Do they have any differences about things are bad and good luck?) Oh yes, dey use - take German Cologne and take spice, cloves and cinnamon and put that together, yo' understand and when yo' go to bath, put that in yo' water, yo'understand. That brings good luck to the body.
(And the girls did this that were in that house years ago?)
Yes.
(It sort of brings them trade, too, I suppose?)
Why suah. Those crabs - like offa people.
(Those lice off people. What do they do with those?)
Yeah, they put 'em on deyselves and that brings luck - dat's lucky.
(You mean the girls in the house would do that?)
Yessuh.
(Put lice on them for luck?)
Down dere, yo' know.
(Down below.)
Yes, sir.
(Oh, they put them down there? Do they leave them on or what?)
No. Yo' know dey jest put 'em on dere like tonight dey goin' tuh use trade yo' know, an' dey are lucky and they put 'em on dere. Dey buy 'em from other people - paid ten cents a piece fo' 'em. An' dey buy 'em and den dey'll use dem tonight to make good money.
(Well, how would they get them out again?)
Well, soon as dey'd wash wit little snuff or tubacca - somepin other like dat, why dey are gone.
(Well, they will bite while they are there won't they?)
Well, yes, but dey don't ca' 'bout dat. Dey want de money. [See margin-title Lice later.]
(Have you heard about eating peanuts in a sporting house?)
Yessuh, but you mustn't let nary a hull fall nor none of de inside of de pea- nuts fall - yo' keep it all and burn it, it's bad luck.
(It's bad luck to let the peanut fall?)
Yes. [See margin-title Peanut later.]
Entry 2418
I'm tellin' you now how to bring 'em - you see, if you are bootleggin' and you want to bring a crowd to your house. You take the nine pods of red peppers, you'll take you three ounces of sugar.
(Three what?)
Three ounces.
(Three ounces of sugar.)
Of sugar and you put that in the water. And you get you some nutmeg already ground up - you put that in your water. And then you take and get ammonia - you put that in your water. And then you'll take and scrub. And you'll get you some fast luck and put it in there and you take the broom and sweep all in the corners of the house then. Never sweep it, de dirt out de front - always let everything go to the back. And when you use that essence - that water you scrub with - you always carry it all to the back. And that draws a crowd in your house. Then, as soon as you are done, you take the beer or a little wine, anything what you got, and you put some of that in the water and scrub. But let your scrubbing always go to the back.
Entry 2419
If you tryin' to make a trade with anybody - jest like if you wanta buy a automobile from me or enybody, see, or buy a home somewheres, don't make no diff'rence what it is, you go to de people and try to buy, and dey tell yuh, "No, ah don't wanta sell yuh - I don't wanta atall." All right, you go off and dey think dey ain't goin' to sell it tuh yuh. Yo' read de 56th Psalm before sunup wit chure face to the east - read dat 56th Psalm over three times. Read it befo' you go to bed and den git up dat mawnin' and read it three times before sunup, before you speak to enybody, and jest go on to dat man house and if he don't make de trade, ah'll eat chure hat. [Here is one of many references to my old black hat containing concealed microphone on the table - see Author's black hat, in Index.] Ah's did that mahself.
Entry 2420
Yo' git yo' some sugah an' sulphur an' git chew a bottle of Heart Perfume. Po' it on there, don't chew know, down on de sugah an' stuff an' about six a'clock burn dat. An' then yo' git de Bible an' yo' read de 47 Psalm an then to make them come - yo' gotta say, "May mah crowd gather together thick. May mah crowd gather together thick. In de Name of de Father, in de Name of de Son, in the Name of de Holy Spirit." An' they begin to gather thick an' yo'll have so many folks yo' won't know whut to do. After yo' read de 47th Psalm yo' say, "May mah crowd gather together thick tonight, all gather together thick tonight, thick as hops, '' an' say, "In de Name of de Father, in de Name of de Son an' Name of de Holy Spirit." An' yo' won't have no trouble. That brings in trade - I mean they come in.
Entry 2421
You get the Black Cat Drawing Oil. Yes, sir. And you can start at the - you have to start at the back and come to the front, scrubbing with this oil.
(What will that do?)
It will draw customers. [See, Black Cat Oil, No. 1121, p.417.]
Entry 2422
(What do you do about the landlord, now?)
You wake up on a Friday morning, don't let a black woman cross your floor - cross your door-sill, the sill or your door. You get up in the morning and you get your scrubbing brush and you get you a bucket of water, don't put no soap in it at all. Put you a little blueing in it and about two tablespoonsful of sugar - white granulated sugar, something like rock Sugar you know. And put it in that water and you scrub your house, and your landlord going to come there - he can come there for six months. Well, you tell him, say, "I ain't got nothing." He say, "Well, all right, when you got some- thing, give me something." He's gone - he ain't going to put you out, you can stay right there in that house. But the nextdoor neighbor can't make you move.
Entry 2423
I had a woman one time give me bluestone to put in the watah to wash up mah house. That make luck in the house, that help you build up trade in the house. I was sellin' liquor. [Bluestone is usually used in a combination of ingredients.]
Entry 2424
She kin take straws an' nail 'em cross her do', an' if anyone comes in dere to - if dey has whiskey in dere, take three straws an' nail 'em crossways an' if dey walks in, dere mo' goin' walk in with him. (You say you take three straws - from a broom?) Broomstraws - not straw broom, but stick broom straws. [Not straw or grass bent into a homemade swiss (swish) broom, a handleless broom, see Index.]
(What kind of a broom is that?)
A stick broom wit de handle to it.
(And you put three straws - each in a row - three in a row.)
Three in a row. (And if one person comes in, the rest are going to follow.)
Entry 2425
If ah wus bootleggin' or runnin' a good-time place an' wanted tuh keep de law away, ah would take me some honey an' sugah an' wash mah house out wit it, an' ah would cross a broom in mah house, an' de law cain't come in.
(What do you mean by crossing the broom?)
Ah put it crossways of de bed, crossways undah de bed lak. (You mean, this is the bed like this - you don't put the broom like that, you put it like that?) Yo' put it lak that - dat's crossways of de bed.
(Sort of catercorner under the bed?)
Yes.
Entry 2426
Law bothering you, keep sugar and cinnamon around your house - just take and sprinkle it all around. Mix sugar, cinnamon and water and just get up and pour it right on out, the sugar and the cinnamon.
(What will that do?)
And pour it on out - dash it on out.
(That'll keep the law away?)
It keep them from coming to your place to bother you in any way. If they bother you too much, you get you a old broom and you take and you cut the straws all loose - them strings, you know that hold the broom together. Well, you take and you cut them loose. And get you a box of salt and sprinkle that whole box of salt down in there and wrap a white rag around it and set it behind the door. The law won't bother you at all.
(How do you set that broom down?)
Set the handle down and the straw part up.
Entry 2427
If yo' wanta be a bootleggah an' sell whiskey, don't evah sweep de tracks out do's; always take de tracks an' sweep dem in de corner of de house an' put cookin' salt in em an' put em in de stove. An' if yo' wanta keep de police from your house, keep from runnin' back an' forth out chure house, go an' git chew a new coffeepot an' git chew some loose salt, table salt, an' yo' full up dat coffeepot, two of 'em, an' put 'em to de back do' an' de front do', "In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost," an' dat will keep de man from yore house.
(That will keep the officer away?)
Yes sir.
informant-recited invocation accompanying salt-filled pot placement. Preserve the exact Father/Son/Holy Ghost formula without appending words, theological identity or Prayer/Incantation equivalence. stated aim of keeping police away, with interviewer-confirmed officer referent. No housing eviction claim These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2428
In case if you gotta persons coming tuh yore house and you want 'em there who've lotsa money, friends who have lotsa money, when dey walk out yo' take a brand new broom and sweep de dust back up under de house, and they will always come back and bring money to yore house.
Entry 2429
Jes' lak yo' got de business an' - well, an' yo' got good trade all de time. Nevah sweep yore dirt on de outside - always sweep it in an' sweep it in de fire-hearth. An' like yo' wanted yore business to keep acomin' on too, yo' take an' go every Friday - git chew a ole shoe, git some sulphur an' a penny, an' yo' put it in de fire-hearth an' let it burn an' shet de do' an' go on outside. At twelve 'clock yo' do it.
Entry 2430
That [powder] you kin buy. Sweep from out de front door - always sweep it back in de door, sweep it up in pile, pick it up and carry it and put it out de back door. See. Well, dat's the dirt from the people's feet - you put that out the back, that's for them to come in and go in the back. You see. Well, ever' time they come in there - that draw 'em in, you see, with that powder.
Entry 2431
Walk backwards ovah yore broom evah Monday mawnin' fo' times an' dat'll keep all de law from yore house. Ah nevah be bothered wit de law. Lay it, yo know, right in yore do'.
(The front door or the back?)
Eithah one yore do's. Step backwards ovah it fo' times evah Monday mawnin' an' it keeps down all de laws.
(What time do you do that Monday morning?)
About nine a'clock jis' 'fore yo' git up - so yo' do it in de mawnin'.
Entry 2432
[If you have] urwelcome people in the house you don't want dere, you take de broom an' you turn it head up [straw up] behin' the door an' dey get right up an' leave.
Entry 2433
If anyone come aroun', yo' see, lak a pestilence - yo' know, someone yo' wanta keep away - yo' git de broom an' turn it an' spit on it an' say, "Ah want chew tuh go."
(How do you turn this broom?)
Well, yo' see, turn de straws up in de corner [demonstrates].
(You turn the straws up and you spit on it.)
Yeah. An' then when a person goes, throw peppah behin' dem or salt, an' curse 'em. Dey'll nevah come back.
Entry 2434
Ah'm running a business, understand. Ah would write the name of five diff'rent persons or nine diff'rent persons [uneven number], an' put it in a kerosene lamp an' light de lamp an' let it burn for nine days - straight 'long all day long. An' ah would never sweep de sto' or de business place out in front - ah would jest sweep it in de back an' let it remain there fo' those nine days in trash an' stuff. Never sweep it out. Ah run business heah - began in '26 an' that's whut ah did an' had de sto' fulla customers.
Entry 2435
Jes' lak if yo' runnin' a business an' a congregation of people come in an' yo' want 'em tuh come back again - if dey leave - after dey leave, yo' sweep dey tracks, yo' know de dust off dere feet in through a crack or somepin lak dat.
(In the floor?)
Yes.
Entry 2436
When he leaves, when he starts out goin' on out, yo' git a broom an' sweep his tracks jis' as fast as yo' kin right on out on de ground, an' he'll stay away.
Entry 2437
An' den dere's another way - jest lak if yo' wus living heah an' ah wus a enemy to yo'. Yo' felt dat ah wus a enemy tuh yo', dat ah put bad luck on yo' or somethin', or if yo' owed bills or somethin' of de kinds. It's a simple thing dat chew have, dat everybody keeps in dey own home yo' kin use. Yo' take sulphur, salt, spice an' red peppah, yo' powder dat up together an yo' keep dat. Jest lak if ah wus heah today. Well, yo' expectin' me tuh be back an' yo' knew ah wus a enemy. Well, somebody who knowed how to do to keep me 'way from heah, understand, dey done put chew wise. Well yo' git dat an' have it ready, so when ah leave, yo' see, as ah walk out yo' sprinkle dat stuff right out behin'me. Den goes back an' git chure broom an' sweep it out backwards. Don't nevah turn yore face - sweep it out backwards on out to de street. Dat keep 'em 'way.
Entry 2438
Yo' git 123 [or] 133 Psalms. Ah think it's de 133. An' yo' read dat 13 times when yo' first git up de mawnin', aftah yo' say de Lord's Prayer or yore mornin's prayer. An' yo' read dat. An' den yo' take an' go tuh do' tuh sweep out, three times, 'In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, let me rule dis day.
(That keeps the law away.)
[Numerology, astrology and other unscientific ideas having influenced hoodoo, I would say this is surely Psalm 133, an odd number composed of numerals 1 - 3 - 13 - 33 - 133; and backwards 31 - 331; and by addition 1+3+3=7; and by addition and subtraction 3+3-1=5; and by addition and division 1+3+13+33+133=183:3=61; and by multiplication lx3x3=9, also 13x3=39; and ad infinitum.]
Entry 2439
If dey wanted tuh take roomers an' all lak that an' business wus kinda dull, an' take an' git whut is known - dere's a powder dey call it Good luck Powder. Take it an' use that powder - take an' use that with some of the dust that is swept outa de house. Says dey go an' git that dust that's swept outa de house - lak dey go to de end of the walk when dey sweep back, dey git that an' when they git it there, dey take [and] work it together an' sprinkle it about de house. An' they burn incense with that. An' that would draw his customers.
Entry 2440
Ah'll git me some powder, luck powder - dat brown luck powder, call fo' brown luck powder, an' ah'll fix mah do', mah do'sill. Den ever'thing will be all right, ever'thing will turn in yore way. (You mean the customers will come in?) Yeah. [Brown luck powder is like the use of brown sugar and brown paper; see latter two in Index.]"
Entry 2441
('Get me some oil of clover." And then what?)
Then I would get me some business powder. And if I know the law's name - he is the only one that would understand my business, see - I would take me a piece of paper, understand that, and I would write his name down nine times, see and I would fold it, you know. And after I fold it and I would take it and I would take me a lamp: If I had electric light in my place, I would get me a little lamp at the Ten-Cent Store and I would put it in that lamp - put his name in that lamp and I would burn it. That would keep him away from me. That business powder, I would put all that together and fold it up, you know, and take me some little piece of flannel and stick that in my lamp in a secret corner, see, and burn my lamp on it.
(Well, now, would you put this little package inside the lamp?)
In where you put the coal oil in the lamp and drop it down there, but I have it sewed up, understand so it could not get out.
(The name, this oil of clover and this business powder [three ingredients]
I see.)
Entry 2442
Well, dey do dat wit herbs. Dere's a little herb dey call buttonroot, grows jest about dat hight.
(Two inches high?)
Yeah, an' yo' take de buttonroot and yo' plant it in a tub. Yo' place it on whatever you got in front in de yard. If yo' got a buttress yo' place de button- root ovah there. Gits yo' a red rose and yo' place it over heah - you know, jis' ozit [opposite] with that buttonroot. And then early in de morning yo' takes some salt and throw out between these two individual things, dis rose and dis root ovah heah, and then after you have done that yo' go back into the house and anything made of silver, that chew burn, an' that officer won't come.
(If you are bootlegging or anything of that sort?)
Yeah.
Entry 2443
Now buzzard feathers is de luckiest kind of feathers - dat's something dat's very prosperous to a person tuh do, jest to burn de buzzard feathers. Git a buzzard, or either he kin burn de whole buzzard if he could, fo' luck. (Where would he burn that?) He kin burn it - if it's in a business place, he could jest burn it late at night in some kind of a pan or somethin', jest de feathers. If he had a place where he could burn de whole buzzard - if it be in a heater or somethin' he could burn it dere. But it don't make any diff'rent, jes' since he burn it around his dwelling place or business - place of business.
Entry 2444
Go out in de woods some place out of town where yo' kin kill you a buzzard, an' git de buzzard feathers an' bring 'em back an' burn 'em. An' take dem buzzard feathers an' sulphur, saltpeter, alum an' cologne, jest any kind of cologne, common perfume yo' know, an' burn dat in yore fireplace jest lak dat wood done burning dere. [Informant refers to fire in fireplace - for cold damp weather at Waycross, See in Introduction my comments to Telediphone at the time of collecting.] An' yo' take dat, after it's burned - dem feathers in de ashes an' yo' jest throw it all round yore house, front an' back, an' yo' git jest as many customers as yo' wanta git or more.
Entry 2445
[Two informants now tell a similar story about the same person. I have a number of these stories told by two different persons - Nos. 73-74, pp.30-31, and Nos. 1259-1269, p.440.]
[First version of Lizzie Smith story:]
Ole lady Lizzie Smith she run a roomin' house an' she tole me tuh git her a dead buzzard, she'd give me 5Oc fo' it. Ah says, "Whut chew gon'a do wit de buzzard?" Ah says, "Ah gotta git some- body tuh kill 'im or somepin." [She] says, "Well, yo'" look up one." Ah went fishing dat same day - next day [day after] she tole me. Next day ah found one on de trustle [railroad trestle] down heah about a mile and a half from heah - a dead buzzard, yeah, under de trustle, not on it, yeah. Ah reckon he musta struck hisself wit de [telegraph] wire. Ah fetched de ole buzzard to her an' she says, "Now, Cal," she says, "yo' talk about a place bein' full," she says, "ah'm gon'a full up mah rooms." Ah says, "In whut way?" [She] says, "Ah'm gon'a burn these buzzard feathers in kerosene," says, "ah'm gon'a pull 'em, ever one offa de buzzard an' set kerosene on 'em at night, '' an' says, "ah'll git plenty roomers." An' ah see - she didn't stay so fah from me - ah see she shore did full up her house wit dem buzzard feathers - de long feathers. She didn't want de little ole feathers - dat's de long ones offa de buzzard's wing. [Waycross, Ga., (1120), 1798:1.]
[SeQond version of Lizzie Smith story.]
A lady now about ten years [ago] she was running a bo'din' house.
(A woman living in your town?)
A lady, Lizzie Smith, an' she didn't 'low none of us - ah'd roomed theah wit her - she didn't 'low nobody to sweep her house an' sweep de trash out do's. An' ever' Monday night two 'clock - from one tuh two a'clock, she was burnin' dem buzzard feathers. She'd give a dollar an' a half fo' a buzzard jest to git his feathers, an' she'd burn dem buzzard feathers an' brimstone an' chip up de little splinters an' tar an' put in there together an' burn it all 'round under her house - all 'round her place an' ever'where like that. An' she kept a-plenty roomers. No polices, nobody, never did come there an' bother her. [Waycross, Ga., (1066), 1724:10.]
Entry 2446
Use de oil of cedah an' use it an' put it about chure body an' on yore do'knob where de people come back an' fo'th in, an' if that roomah doesn't come back, if he leaves there, anothah one will come back an' yo'll have mo' success with that one den yo' will wit de othah one.