Browse:Walk-Away Powder, War Powder, War Water (Volume 1, entries 2373–2379)
Walk-Away Powder, War Powder, War Water
Volume 1, entries 2373–2379. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
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.