Subject:Animal
Entries
Entry 4786
Diff'ren' ways tuh do dat. Yuh take an' ketch any live animal dat yuh know dat is a ramblin' animal dat goes away. Yuh git somepin dat belongs tuh a man an' yuh knot it up an' fasten it tuh 'im [wild animal]. Well, as long as it stays fastened tuh what- evah animal yuh fasten it tuh an' he continues tuh go, why whoevah it belong tuh is goin' tuh follah, is goin' right along behin' 'im.
Entry 5810
[I have included this margin title because LIVE THINGS IN YOU (Section 8) is based upon the theory that some animals are reproduced through their blood. Our informant evidently confines the word animal to horse, cow, dog, cat, etc.; a lizard or a snake being an insect.] Yo' kin take yore hair an' put nine drops of any- thing's blood on it - yo' know, insects - an' put it in runnin' water an' run yo' crazy. (You take nine drops of any kind of blood from an animal or insect or any- thing?) Insect - not a animal, a insect.
(Any kind of an insect?)
Yes suh, a lizard or a snake, an' put it in runnin' water an' dey say dat will nmn yo' crazy.
Entry 6452
All right, now, heah's anothah one yo' kin take. Yo' be's roun' some person an' yo'll say, "Lemme look at yore feet." Yo' kin take - yo' know dis heah thick skin dat be's in de bottom of a person's feet. Yo' kin scrape out dis thick skin. Jis' scrape a li'le bit offen dis thick skin an' hold it in yore han'. An' if yo' wanta trick a person, undahstan', jis' lak yo' roun' an' someone sleepin' heah, an' yo'all had a argu- ment or sompin, see. Yo' take dat dere scale offen de bottom of dere skin an git chew some sulphuh, undahstan', an' yo' git chew some red peppah. Well, yo' mix dat tuhgethah. All right, den yo' go an' git chew some wild animal blood, an' put dat in dere. All right, aftah yo' mix dat up good, yo' git chew a li'le box, an' put it in a li'le box an' carry it in yore pocket. An' de nex' thing yo' do wit it, yo' carry it tuh a graveyard. See, yo' goes tuh de graveyard an' yo' do's lak dis, yo' go tuh de graveyard an' yo' stan' up [demonstrates], an' de grave is back dere, yo' stan' up by dis grave [like this].
(You stand up with your back to the grave.)
Wit yore back to de grave, an' yo' chunk dat an' yo' say, "Ah hope yo' go 'vay from me. Name of de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost, go 'way." Yo' throw dis back when yo' speak de las' words. Dey gone an' yo' don' have no mo' trouble wit 'em.
(What will that do to them then?)
Well, he'll leave yo' an' yo'll nevah see 'im any mo'. Yo'll nevah see him any mo' an' nevah have no mo' [trouble].
Entry 6528
Yo' kin take any kinda animal bone an' grind it up. (Is there any way of getting these out of your system after you get them into you?) Sho', yo' kin take some - jis' say fo' instance yo'd have a pan an' let it rust, an' yo' kin take an' scrape de rust offa it, undahstan', an' git chew some watah an' put it in dere, an' jis' use dis [rust] watah an' dat'll cut 'em all up. [This of course is the old iron or steel remedy against witchcraft.]
Entry 6548
Yo' kin take a toadfrog an' hang 'im up an' kill 'im. Hang 'im fron' de fiah an' git nine drops of blood out dis frog an' put it in whiskey. Take de frog an' take an' kill 'im. If yo' kin git a snake, yo' kin take an' kill a snake an' git nine drops of 'is blood, an' put it in whiskey fo' yo'. It won' kill yo' right away. Yo' gon'a live an' be sick, but atter while dey gon'a be so big [inside you] dey kill yo'.
(How do they get those live things out?)
Well, lak dey put 'em in yo'. Go ketch yo' a snake an' don' kill 'im. Jis' split 'im open 'live an' - lak he's mad hot - an' smash it on dere, an' dat takes [those live things] outa yo'.
(Well, how do you get those frogs out?)
De same way wit snakes. Don' kill de frog, jis' ketch de frog while it's hot. Jis' play wit 'im or somepin an' make 'im mad. An' git 'im while he's mad, yo' see, an' split 'im right open an' slap it right on dat place, an' it will take de frogs out.
Entry 6709
Dey tell me dat if a woman wants tuh take de uppah han's [hands] of a gan an' take him in, dat chew [the woman] kin draw de blood from a' animal an put it in any kinda thing he eat or in 'is whiskey - jis' so long as yo' git it inside a him - an' dey have de upperturns of yo' in any way dey intend tuh do it. De only way dat yo' kin git loose from dat, whut ah learnt, jis' take somepin an' strike where yo' kin draw de blood from dem [the woman]. See, den yo' kin git loose from dat.
(They use the blood from any kind of an animal?)
Any creepin' animal [so that the man will creep or crawl at her command].
Entry 8727
Yo' kin take a turtle or terrapin an' yo' kin write a person's name on dat turtle dat, yo' know, dat yo' don't want to stay in town. Go write dere name on dat turtle an' turn 'im loose in de water an' every time dat turtle move dey'll move.
Entry 8729
Yo' see, yo' can take a terrapin an' write-like my name nine times backwards, if somebody don't like me, yo' know. An' catch 'im alive an' open his mouth an' put dat down in his mouth, an' den throw 'i back in de watah. Jes' as long as he stay in de watah, dat will make yo' drift, drift up an' down de watah, jes' make yo' go first one place to anothah.
(Just write this on a piece of paper?)
On a piece of papah.
Entry 9867
If a person wanta kill yo', name dat frog dis person. An' yo' hang dat frog up in a bucket or cup or somepin where he can't git out dere. An' when dis frog begin tuh git hungry, starve, he pine away an' de person will pine away. When de frog die, dat person will die.
Entry 9873
Yo'll take dat toadfrog an' yo'll dry 'im, yo' see, an' dere's two ways yo' dry dem toadfrogs. Den yo' go tuh work an' yo' let it be lak - makes a powdah outa it, yo' see, an' yo' sprinkle dat. Dat's fo' gittin' outa a home, too [making a person move]. Den, yo' kin ketch a toadfrog an' don' kill 'im, if yo' wants tuh send a person away ag'in. Ketch a toadfrog an' don' kill 'im, an' den let 'im go off an' die. Yo'll cut 'im at a place whah [where] yo' kin put dese names in dere; lak yore name or some- body yo' have wanta send 'em 'way from dere. Yo' see, yo'll go tuh work an' yo'll cut dat toadfrog, an' it's a way dat dey kin put dat papah up in dat toadfrog an' turn 'im a-loose an' let 'im go, an': jis' [the way] as he goes dem people'll go.
Entry 9986
If a fellah wants tuh be lucky an' go tuh a place where dere's plenty of money at, an' he wants de othah fellah tuh fall, he go out an' kill 'im a toadfrog, an' he dries dat frog up. Den he go up, if he got a chimley, an' git one dese bats dat flies roun' de chimley - chimley bats. [Does informant mean chimney swallow?] Gits one of 'em. Den he'll dry it, an' he'll put dat frog an' dat bat in each one of 'is pockets. He's got a pair of dice in dere. [What informant means by preceding expression will be learned later.] Take dem dice out an' rub 'em in han' dat-a- Way [demonstrates] aftah he done tech de frog or eithah de bat. Now, yo' got a gamblin' house heah. Well, yo' 'lowin' [allowing] people tuh shoot dey own dice [not the house dice]. Well, ah'm yuh gamekeepah. Ah'm [I am = I have] got a stack of dollahs ovah heah [demonstrates]. Well, yo' come heah an' yo' say, "Ten dollahs fo' tuh shoot." Ah say, "Yo' want any dice?" "No, ah'm got a pair of dice." "Shoot 'em, "[I say]. Well yo' throw 'em out. Firs' time dey'll crap. Nex' time dey'll crap. He's back in 'is p'int [point] up dere. An' he say, "Ah ain't got no p'int [point] ah'll ketch mah p'int." Well, when he ketch a p'int, he might ketch a fo', six or eight or ten, an' right dere where ah'm done both. An' if ah speak up tuh 'im, he'll have de whole business. Dat's fo' a gamblin' han'.
(You use either of those?)
Eithah one of 'em. Gotta put one in each one of 'is pockets dis-a-wa y[demon- strates] an' when he gits ready - don' pull 'em out. He puts 'is han' on 'em an' rub 'em dis-a-way, see [demonstrates]. (Does he have both parts of the dice [the two dice] in one pocket, or one in each pocket?)
[Here I am surprised!]
Naw, he has two sets of dice, see. If he have one set of dice, he kin put 'em in each one [either] of 'is pockets - it mattahs ary [either] one of 'is pockets will do. But yo' gotta change it up sometime from one pocket tuh de othah, see. De frog he's dried up an' de bat he dried up.
Entry 10728
De instinct or de blood - understand me, from de index finger here [demonstrates]. (Well what do they [do], squeeze the blood from the index finger?) [This is not a leading question. He, like so many before him is acting: pretending to prick his finger and to squeeze out blood.] Yeah, an' you kin take de brand-new tin plate and you take de needle, understand me, and prick your index finger till it bleeds. And write dat name down in dat brand-new tin plate and bury it with de point down dere - I mean with de tin plate down here. Den you write one verse of de 16th chapter of Ezekiel and de 6th verse. [He repeats verse rapidly.]
(Well, now will you repeat that verse slowly for me so I can get it?)
And when I passed by and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I says unto thee, when thy wasting thy blood live, and yeah, I says unto thee when dey wast- ing thy blood, live. [This is an understandable but not an exact quotation from any version of the Bible.] Now, dat'll stop any blood from flowin' in de world; not only on human beings but on animals, of any character, anybody with a shot, cut or have a hemorrhage in any respect in life - dat will sure as God stop it.
Entry 10867
De luckiest animal dat ever made by God: a black cat, and a black hen, an' a frizzled chicken. Ef a frizzled chicken - if anybody put any- thing aroun' yo', a frizzled chicken and a black hen will sure go dere an' pick it up.
(Well, how is a black cat lucky?)
Ah couldn't tell!!!
(Just lucky.)
Entry 11310
Lak ah'd give yo' a houn' dog an' yo' want him tuh stay home, jes' take an' cut off about dat much of his - de tip end of his tail. Ah've done dis. An' cut a little of his bristles right between his shoulders an' carry it back home an' bury it under de steps. He'll stay home.
Entry 11842
[THE LETTER "H" OF CHANNEL DE WORLD BEGINS HERE and SO dO some extra rites about human hair, a subject already largely concentrated in pages 2937- 3049, volume 4. For various reasons hair, not always the primary element of a rite, is widely scattered throughout HOODOO. The following beliefs about hair start with a few longer rites, which are followed by many brief statements with- out margin titles but with the key words being underlined.] And again they say if you take it [a hair from per- son] and put it [in] some kind of manure or somepin - like if you have a cow or somepin round the lot and they do fresh manure. Say, if you take this hair and bury it in there, and set this manure about in some shady place maybe it won't dry so fast, and say let it stay there. And you take it out of there and put it in a bottle of rye whiskey, a pint bottle of rye whiskey, and say in nine days it will be a snake. I've heard that. (But they don't put that snake in you though? That snake they don't put in you?) Well, if you drink the whiskey, if you drink the whiskey before the thing kin, you know, come to be whole, well hit will come alive in you.
(I see, but you have to put it in this cow manure?)
No, take the hair out it [the manure] if you know right where you put the hair in.
Entry 12716
Well, you ketch you a live rabbit and cut his left-hind foot off before you kill 'em, and take it and put it in a bag. Get you brick [make it into] dust - make dust out of it, and take the hairpins of whatever vosl en you want this to be, just take the hairpins she been using in her haid and put it in that and tie it up, and tote it in your left pocket. And as long as you do she can't leave you, she be right there all the time.
(I see, that's to hold a woman.)
Yes.
Entry 12721
An' anothah thing, yo' ketch a rabbit an' yo' cut his foot off, his left foot, an' turn him loose an' let him go. An' git chew a piece of devil's- shoestrings an' a piece of five-finger root. An' yo' put them three things tol gethah. An' yo' jes' take it an' wrap dat devil's-shoestrings round dat rabbit foot, an' yo' sew it up in a piece of red cloth, an' yo' make a sack out of it, bag-like, an' yo' feed hit on Hearts Col Ogne. An' dat's anothah thing fo' a job - good luck. Long as yo' tote dat yo'll git a job anywhere.
(You get the left foot. Which one? He had two left feet.)
De left front feet.
Entry 13293
De second way yo' use dat turpin [terrapin] yo' wanta git at it by a woman. Dere's a woman now and she in love with yo'. Now dis is de way what a woman love yuh [wil] dol. She'll ketch dat turpin and she'll come and throw it in yo' house, come and throw it in yo' yard. And she done tote it in yo' yard, yo' may ketch him an' yo' might could- n't find dat turpin. Well, yo' say, "Well, ah kill dis thing cause it been dat second time ah see him in my yard." But if yo' kill dat turpin, yo' done kill yo' spirit, yo' jes' kill your spirit and yo' gotta go to her.
(How do you mean you killed your spirit?)
Yo' done killed yore spirit fer nobody but her.
Entry 2263
A man kin go ketch one dese heah sandomingos (salamander) in Georgia. [Comment later.] He look jes' lak a white rat. He stays in de ground lak a mole. He's got a pocket lak a 'possum an' he's got it fulla yerbs, all kinda yerbs outside in his pocket. An' yo' ketch one of dem an' git de yerbs outa hit, outa his pocket, an' dey ain't nobody in de world kin beat chew.
(What would you do with those herbs?)
Yo' carry 'em in yore pocket wit chew. An' rub de cards wit 'em. Yes, that's luck fo' gamblin'.
(And you say the sandomingo - does it run around down in Georgia, you say?)
Yessuh, sandomingo, jes' lak a white rat, got red eyes. He stay in de ground jes' lak a mole an' travel, but he comes out.
(And he has a little pocket?)
Yessuh, he has a pocket on de outside - jes' lak dis shirt, his pocket is on de outside.
(And he carries some roots in that pocket?)
Yessuh, he carries it full. [Even my transcriber realizes informant is trying to describe the pocket gopher, because she added the salamander parenthesis. Since this animal is not a marsupial, it has no outside pocket - only cheek pouches. Whether an albino has been seen or exists, I do not know.]
Entry 6541
Ah heard tell of 'em takin' a dirt daubah's nes' an' cookin' it in yore food. An' dey say dat will put dirt daubahs in yo'. An' dose bugs an' things come in yo'.
Entry 265
Ah heard about if anybody wanta Work roots or somepin othah lak dat. Take a black cat an' carry him in de woods an' boil him an' don' let nobody be out dere late in de night but jes' him by hisself. An' say yo' boil dat cat till dat bone come up on top of de watah, an' dey say de first bone dat come up on top of de watah, say yo' take dat bone an' chunk it in de runnin' watah an' let it go on down de stream an' den cuss. An' dey say when yo' cuss all kinda animals an' things - lion an' all kinda diff'rent things will come roun' - see, an' yo' can't git scared. An' dey say if yo' don' git scared den yo' kin do any kinda hoodoo work yo' wanta do. (Well, when you put that bone in the water and it runs on down the stream, how are you going to get it back again?) Yo' don't git it back, yo' see, after hit done boil. Yo' see, after de cat done boil, dat bone come up on top of de boilin' watah. Well, yo' take that out an' throw it down de stream an' make a cuss. An' den yo' see, when yo' cuss, all dem things will come to yo'. When dem things come to yo', if yo' don' git scared of 'em, den yo' kin do any kind of work yo' wanta do.
(You don't get any bone at all then - you don't use the bone?)
No, no.
(You let it go on down the stream?)
Yes.
Entry 786
Now, let me tell you an old darky story of the Civil War. There was an ole plantation that had a lot of darkies a way up in Oaksville: He claimed that his darkies were more sensible than any other darkies in the country. Other adjoining farmers said they had the smartest and they agreed to put something under a barrel and wanted the neighborhood to come around to see if this smart darky could tell him what was under the barrel. So this farmer went out at night and put a coon under a barrel. When the neighbors gathered to see this wonderful man they put up a five-hundred dollars deposit and told him his master could get it if he could tell what was under the barrel; and tell him his master would lose' it, if he couldn't tell them what was under that barrel. He got up and walked around, all around that barrel, scratched his head and said, "Master, you've got the ole coon now." [Informant born a slave.]
Entry 833
A fellow that lived about twelve miles out from here, he called himself a hoodoo doctor. People would go to him from all around. He said he could cure them. He used to put them under these spells which would last forty-eight hours. He made them go to sleep. Then he would send his boy to the attic and throw down chickens and guinea pigs. These would wake them about the time the spell was wearing off them, believing it was his method of healing. Then he proclaimed they were well. He's been dead about two years
[d.1934].
Entry 2262
(This animal - what's the name of it now?)
It's de salamander dey call it. He's got skin kinda like one dese brown puppy dogs, an' long claws - dey gits about dis long, see. He's got a pocket [pouch] on each side of his haid, see, an' a little root jest about dat long in dose pockets. An' natchly yo' kin git dose roots outa his pockets - dey jest about de size of a penny, an' yo' wear dose roots jest natchly in yore pockets, or yo' sew it up into somepin - course yo' kin sew it up into a piece of flannel if yo' wanta, so yo won't lose it. It'll shore give yo' good luck. Ah've tried dat. An' ole lady told me about dat. Ah nevah had seen one befo' ah come down heah. Since ah been working down heah we found one out on de job while we was workin', an' quite nach'l it shore has got two little pockets one on each side of his haid. Well, ah got dose two roots - looked in dere an' found dose two roots an' ah got dose two roots. Ah didn't do anything wit 'em but ah got 'em on me heah in mah pocket now. Ah wears them in mah pocketbook every day an' ah has pretty good luck.
(Just general good luck.)
Yes sir. [I evidently looked at them. A pocket gopher (Geomys tuza) is called salamander in southeastern U. S. A.]
Entry 3981
De female sex jis' take her own urinate an' use it on 'er male - make him become humble, see. Yuh kin jis' try dat, yuh know, even on yuh animal. [I had heard so often the basic rite of urine in food or drink, I turned off my recording machine; but the final word animaZ brought me to life with some sort of question: Animal, did you say? What did you say?] I say, yuh kin even take yuh animals. Use it on a dog. Yuh kin use yuh uri- nate an' let 'im use - use it in 'is food an' he becomes domestic an' humble. So it is wit de female [what] dey kin do wit de male. She kin use dat an' make him become submistic [submissive] an' humble - make him become submistic an' huml ble tuh 'er - in ordah dat she kin handle him.
Entry 4823
Now you can take a piece of the oldest lamb, a piece of his right ear, and get that.blood and get a piece of her garment and stain it. And get nine ten-cent pieces and take and carry them to a muddy branch, and make a fold of this piece of garment and bury it [blood stained garment about 9 dimes] in the muddy branch, and she'll just follow you anywhere.
Entry 5169
Take a pair of shoes dat yo' have worn an' yo' kin take dose shoes an' carry dose shoes tuh yore house - carry 'em tuh yore house. Den aftah yo' carry dose shoes tuh yore house, turn 'em ovah on dey face an' den go out in a cow stall somewheres an' git chew some of evahy kin'a manure yo' kin pick up from diff'ren' animals, all kin'a manure yo' kin pick up, an' put in dat shoe. An' dat will drive yo' jis' as crazy as a bedbug. (That is, if you want to harm me, you would get my old shoes and take them to your house to dress them?) Yes.
(Then what do you do with the shoes after you put that stuff in them?)
Oh! Yo' take de shoes an' carry 'em away an' bury 'em.
(What would that do to me then?)
Dat would jis' fix yo' up so yo' couldn't walk or do nuthin - paralyze yo'.
Entry 6655
Now, yo' take de blood from a animal - jis' lak if yo' got a stud now an' a person begrudge yore stud or dey wanta git tuh yo' some way 'nothah an' dey can't do it. [Begrudger] say, "Well, ah know whut ah'll do, ah'll kill dis mule." Go tuh work yo' see, an' he'll take de mule an' he'll cut jis' a place - enough on 'im, jis' about tuh git three drops of blood. Dey take dat blood den an' dey'll 中 carry it home an' dey'll take some of heah - jis' take a snake shed an' pound 'it up an' put it in dat blood. Well, aftah dey put it in dat blood, dey'll take it an' carry it tuh yore trough, yore watah trough an' put it in de trough. Well, now dat'll create any kinda germ in 'im an' he'll soon die.
(If the animal drinks this water.)
Yes sir.
Entry 12560
I have taken the right-hand bone out of a 'possum foot - out of a 'possum laig - out of de front laig an' made a hand out of it, and it would [I interrupt]. (What would you use a hand like that for?) Use it for anything and everything for luck. Give you luck in everything you undertaking, the 'possum will, or muskrat, the zusk- rat right hand.
Entry 834
A fellah wus - he wus in jail an' he [the doctor] comes up from [some- where] an' he sent word for his brothah tuh kill him a buzzard an' bring him up there. An' so his brothah killed dis buzzard an' fixed him in a box lak his lunch, an' dey taken de buzzard, taken de box an' all on to jail, where he wus in jail. So dat night when de jailer goes in, he locks 'em all up in dose little cells, an' goes on out, an' de next mawnin' man come tuh clean de cell dere's no one dere but de buzzard. An' de jailer tole dem dat he locked all three up in de cell dat night.
(How did he get out?)
Ah dunah [do not] know, suh, how he got out. [This is possibly a story about the amazing Doctor Buzzard (see Index) of Beaufort, S. Car; another remarkable disappearance, see No. 845; invisibility, see No. 849.]
The account narrates killing a buzzard, boxing it and taking it to jail; how the prisoner left is explicitly unknown.