Subject:Bathwater
Entries
Entry 3986
Yo' take dat chamber lye when yo' cook, make coffee or tea. Yo' jis' take dat an' put dat in de coffee or de tea an' let 'em drink dat. An' if yo' wash yore face, dey put jis' a little in de watah, de watah where yo' won't tell [notice] it, an' let 'em wash dere face wit it.
(What will that do?) Dat will hold 'em, make 'em love yo'.
Entry 3989
Yuh chamber lye, yo' drop seven drops in de watah dat yuh [he?] bath [not bathe] in. An' when he take 'is bath- bath befo', he gon'a do dat befo' he takin' any- thin' else. Well, he'll git dat odum [odor] or yo', or scent, eithah one. Dat's why he can't tell it [that urine is in the water].
(And just wipe off his face?)
[I evidently had turned off recording machine and am repeating what was missed.l Dat's right.
(What will that do then?)
Well, yuh see when yuh do dat, jis' lak a person take a bath yuh know. When he take a bath in yuh chamber lye, see yo' gits de 'fluence tuh 'im an' tuh yuh.
(You do that for love?)
Dat's right.
Entry 3991
Take de bathwatah an' mix it in lime wit it. [Here is one of those accidental treasures. The obsolete and now exclusively a dialect word, chamber lye, is known to almost everyone in the hoodoo world. It is usually pronounced chamber lye, because formerly it was used in making lye; but frequently the word is called chamber line or chamber lines - hence the preceding in lime. My transcriber had trouble with dialect at times, so did I for that matter; but in the present instance, after reading my comment which soon followed, she typed urine above in lime.] Stop it up in a tight bottle, place it undah de steps or any place by de street, whah [where] yuh have tuh walk along ovah, an' den dat will drive yuh away from home. (If they were doing it to me, they would have to take my bathwater and my urine to do it. That the idea?) Dere yuh are [= absolutely right]. [Had I not repeated the substance of the rite, I would never have solved the meaning of in lime. But out in the field I was not repeating for my transcriber, but for my own benefit at the very moment.]
Entry 4087
DAT [URINE] ONE DE GREATES' THIN'S IN DE WORLD.
(Tell me one thing you can do with it and why you do it.)
Yo' kin put a little bit in de cookin' an' control 'im - put it in de cookin'. An' yo' kin put some in yore bathwatah. Dat makes 'im stay home.
(Some of that urine - chamber lye?)
Yes. Make him stick tuh yo' an' he won't leave yo'. Mix it up yo' know.
Entry 5033
Yo' take dat [bath] water - jis' like if yo' had a wife an' yo' wouldn't wan' chore wife, yo' under- stand, an' she be - yo' go off, an' maybe yo' might come back. She kin put down dat sock when yo' go home. An' den [when you come home that's how] she come to git dat [bath water] - "I wan'a take a bath." She take dat water whut choo bath in an' she scrub from de front doah back [into the house]. Den she kin take dis sock of yourn from yer lef' feet, an' she kin measure [flatten out] dat sock under de doah [concealing it under the carpet or linoleum near the door], de length of de foot of dat sock. She take nine new tacks an' put down behind dat, tack it back in de house, an' he's bound to come back, he can't quit. An' she take yer dirty socks [the left one], she put it down, de toe to de doah an' dis heel right on back disaway, yo' see, comin' back.
(The toe is pointing into the house.)
Dat's right. [The informant's demonstration was correct, but her interpretation the reverse because she sat opposite me; hence my annotation.] An' she take nine tacks an' she measure it nine times, de length of de sock, an' dat bound to draw yo' home.
(How do you mean she measures it nine times?)
Jis' like if yo' git a sock, yo' put dat sock down, yo' put a tack dere [in the toe] till yo' put nine tacks - dis de length of de sock. All right. An' den she'll tack a tack at dat end [toe], an' she tack one at de heel, den she'll put dem other nine [seven] tacks between dem tacks, comin' to yo' [in a row coming into the house].
Entry 6381
Yo' kin make de girl love yo' dat way. Well, yo' kin take an' wash yore feet nice an' clean an' scrape de callous lightly, see. Go git chew a dime's wuth [worth] of beer or 15 cents wuth of beer an' put dat indere. Keep it always shet up good. Keep it in - an' co'se yo' could drink a glass an' give huh a glass, an' SHE BE JES' AS WILD ABOUT CHEW AS SOMEBODY ELSE IS ABOUT DERE BABY.
Entry 9089
Dey claim that if yo' use God's Name three times aftah usin' three different kind of roses, one a red rose, a white rose, an' anothah a kind of a pink rose - after usin' those roses - they boil those roses an' get de juice out of 'em an' takes a bath in dat juice. An' den take dat juice an' put a little bit in a vial or sumpin like dat in de pocket. An' put a mixture in dat wit High John de Conkah an' bluestone an' aloes an' incense; an' den use de word, "God de Father, God de Son, an' God de Holy Ghost" fo' nine times in de court- house. Dat'll be impossible fo' a judge to give a heavy sentence. [Elizabeth City. N. Car. (482), 498:8.]
Entry 9818
Dey'll take dat an' dey'll go tuh verk [work] cuz dey kin git nine needles - now listen, nine needles. Stop dat up, put dat in a bottle an' dey'll turn dat cross yuh step - cross de do'step - an' yuh can't go, neithah cross it. (They put this bath water of yours in this bottle to keep you in the house.)
Entry 12140
If you wanta get a job, work somewhere, you kin do that. And when you go round [to] 'proach a person, wet it [usually a handkerchief with what is coming later]. Well, when you first 'proach him, maybe he liable not to need no one. He liable to turn yuh down, say, "Well, now, I don't want no one. I couldn't do that now [at this time]. I ain't gonna do that." Somepin like that. You kind of fiddle around, put a little [of this liquid] round where he walk over it. Put some of that same stuff. If you kin get that close to the person at that time, and when you go back, you be around them a little bit. You not harmin' them with it or anything like that.
(What do you sprinkle around him now?)
You take - like if you got some of where he baths [bath water]. Somepin like that, you know. You take and put it with some nice Hearts Cologne. or somepin that smell, not too loud. And just be around, you know, like you be around talking with him and you just might put a little on your fingers or down on de floor or anywhere. Long as you keep that up, there'll always be harmony with you.
Entry 12429
Well the fact is, if yo' wan'a job, they have Mind Oil. You hear of it? Mind Oil. Well, suppose the boss's name John Henry. You sign his name to that parchment paper, put it in that Mind Oil. You will get you some paradise seed, get you some parsley. You take a bath with that. After taking bath, you must stay in that building all night, and throw the water out into the Middle of the street, see. And anything that instead of going contrary, you ill have a success with. [For "paradise seed" see margin title GUINEA SEEDS etc., P.570, v.1. Throwing bath water into street is a transference rite and remaining instead in building all night recalls ancient incubation rites.]
Entry 13256
Ah heard dat too. Lak if yo' a big bootleggah an' dere's several people dat chew want tuh come tuh yore house, an' yo' wanta keep de law away from yore house or somepin lak dat. Yo' take [and] burn dis sulphur an' ole shoes dat will stink, an' whilst yo' take an' burn dat sulphur an' dem shoes - git up first thin' in de mawnin' - take an' burn dis sulphur an' dem shoes an' aftah yo' burnin' dis stuff, yo' git up an' take a bath round about 'leven a'clock [at night].'Fore yo' take a bath, yo' take dis stuff an' put it in de watah dat chew take a bath in. Yo' take dis stuff an' put it in yore watah an' yo' set dere [until] ah reckon round twelve or one 'clock at night. Well, yo' git up an' yo' burn dis stuff ag'in - dis sulphur an' dis ole shoes an' sprinkle sulphur lak dat. Yo' git up an' den yo' put dis back in de same watah where de sulphur is. When yo' git up jes' about sunrise, jes' as de sun in peepin' up above de trees, an' yo' take dis tub of watah an' yo' go an' po' it out on de opposite of de sun - opposite where de sun rises, but de same side where de sun rise on. Yo' take dis watah jes' 'bout sunrise, dis tub of watah, an' yo' take an' dash it out on de opposite side of de sunrise. An' dis watah will jes' run right on down - dat drive 'em 'way lak dat.
(You do this early in the morning?)
Yessuh, early in de mawnin' jes' about sunrise. (Do you pour this water out on the side where the sun is rising up or where the sun sets down?) Where de sun rise - de same side de sun rise on, de same side yo' po' dis watah out.
(That brings in trade.)
Entry 2750
[Here is another example of the glove-shaped hand, but unlike the former rite (1990, p.584) we now have one in a candle atmosphere - New Orleans is near. More important, the following story shows some of the listening prob- lems of collecting, among them - speedy talker, confusing pro- nouns and references to persons, delayed explanation, all sorts of things.] Well, they say if you were living here and they wanted tuh move you and run you away - well ah know of a lady, she fo' every morning fo' 'bout nine mornings - she bought a bran'-new box of salt and she took dis salt and cayenne pepper and she would sprinkle it, yo' know, from de front to de back and fo' that reason it would cause a confusion, you know, in the house and they all wouldn't live so good, you know. An' so she would take it and she would sprinkle all over when everyone, say, Wouldn't be noticing, you know. She would do that and then when they all would leave, she would take. She went out to the graveyard early one morning and she got some graveyard dust offa someone's grave, and she brought this dirt back, yo' know, and she'd taken it and where this landlady lived, slept, she unraveled [took out a few stitches of] her pillah and she put it [graveyard dust] in dis pillah. And she had a glove - [look] like it was a han' - and it [the graveyard dust] was in this. And she stuffed it with this graveyard dirt. And she says she mixed it [the graveyard dust] with a - wherever she got dis rattlesnake dust from, ah don't know, but she musta got it from a rattlesnake or something, and she mixed it with somethin' and she stuffed, sewed it in dis pillah while de landlady was gone. [She starts to say the graveyard dust was mixed with rattlesnake dust. Was it? For snake dust, see No. 690, p.230; also No. 1433, p.468 - "an original and brilliant piece of therapeutic thinking."] So after, for about a couple of weeks this lady suffered from her head laying on dis pillah. She suffered severely from her head, you know, and she didn't know what it was, you know. She begin to git dizzy and feel bad, and so she said she was going to see what caused dese headaches. And everything she could take Wouldn't do her any good and so she went tuh a couple of fortunetellers. And so finally a ole lady tole her, fortuneteller told her, said, "Well, yo' ought to look about yore bed," say, "it look like you can't get along in de house, there's always a confusion and everything." And so she said, "You go look up in your mattress, your pillahs or something." So she didn't pay any attention to it all [atall = at all]. So finally she made up her mind to do that. Took her pillahs out and she un- raveled de pillah and she found dis glove stiff like a hand, yo' hand, and so she opened it and she found all de stuff in dere, those different things. An' she didn't know what de cause of it, you see. And so she was afraid and she got someone to look after it fo' her. Well, she'd taken it to dis lady and ast her, and de lady tole her it was graveyard dust and rattlesnake dust and she wanted tuh - someone wanted to make her move or either kill her or something like that. [The preceding account is one of our many examples of that important element in hoodoo theory and practice - the doctor's ability to analyze and identify immediately the nature and cause of an ailment. To look at a handful of dirt and say that it is a mixture of graveyard dust and rattlesnake dust is quite a trick. Only our former doctor-druggist-chemist could have done as well (see No. 1593, p.498). To say these two dusts in a glove in a pillow caused the headache is quite a - well, even doctors admit this knowledge is a gift. At least, though on a lower level, we can now answer our former question - "Was it?"] An' so dis lady [roomer] in de house, you see, she would every morning [for 9 mornings] she would sprinkle dis here cayenne pepper and dis salt all ovah de house. And so after a while they [landlady] asked - cause dey [landlady and roomer]didn't 'gree, yo' know, 'count de fuss and everything - after while they asked her to move out and she [roomer] said she was going to return it back to this person [landlady].
(Was that here in Alabama?)
Yes.
(Well now, go right ahead.)
Well, after she did that - yo' know, she [landlady] did that to make 'em [her] move or to keep her [landlady's] husband, you see. So she [landlady] kept her
[own] husband. And so this other hoodoo lady [roomer because she used hoodoo]
tole her [landlady] that she would return it back. So she [evicted roomer] comes and gits dis hen's aig - a black hen laid dis egg, and she wrote the name [see later] on it. They were living in a house kinda lak dis [house in which I was interviewing] wit a glass do' in de front, chew know, in de house. So soon, early one mawnin' she comes an' throws dis aig up side de door and broke de glass, yo' know - throw de black hen's aig up there. So when he [landlady's husband] goes out - get up dat mawnin' soon - he didn't know - so when he looked all de egg spattered in front of de do' and de glass was out, yo' see, and he walked ovah it befo' he knew it, yo' see, so he looked on de shell and saw where de name was wrote chew know - her [his wife's] name and his name was wrote on dere. And so she said, "Well, dey did dat to break us up - broke dat aig up side de do' to break us up." So she said - an' so she got lye and swept - yo' know, swept it all out an' cleaned it up, yo' know. An' so dis lady [roomer] wrote her a letter and tole her that "Seven years wouldn't be too long for a raccoon to weah a ruffle-bosomed shirt. That's the way she spoke. (Wait, will you talk a little bit slowly. "Seven years wouldn't be too long for a raccoon to wear a ruffle-bosom shirt?") That means she would get her, yo' know. An' so dat was de words she wrote to her. [I know nothing about this stylish raccoon. He sounds like early American ruffled shirts, but the saying or proverb may come from the stage or radio.l An' so finally she would - yo' know, she would burn candles on dis man. She went got - an' got a candle and every time on a certain hour, noonday an' like dat, she would burn dese candles wit his name wrote on it. Black candles, yo' know, and she wrote it on dere. Well, he couldn't stay here and he couldn't stay there, yo' know. He was jest kept, yo' know, like he was, yo' know, de mind up- set all de time, yo' see. And so he got so that he didn't [live] peacefully wit dis woman, because every morning fo' nine mornings, she would come there and had something like - ah don't know whut kind of dust it was - but it was - when you look at it, it looked something like black peppah, yo' know, powdered peppah. She'd sprinkle it all roun' dere do'step, yo' know, fo' nine mawnings. An' he came there and so she took one little piece of his hair out de top of his head while he was asleep, and she sewed that up, and had that fixed with something and put it in a little red bag and sewed dis little red bag up, an' taken a cord string like and put nine knots in dis cord string and she wore it around her waist.
(What else did she do with that string first? Anything else?)
When she took dat string she rolled it in something, yo' know, in some kinda dust, yo' know. She rolled dis string in some kind of a dust, dipped it in dis dust and jest as yo' tie those knots, jest like dat dust would be in dose knots, too, yo' see, because it would wear off, you know, say, just straight round her Waist, but it would be in dat knot, yo' see. An' nine knots she tied it around her waist wit dis little red bag wit his hair in it. An' she took one of his socks - yo' know, one his left socks, and she carried it and had dis sock dressed, vo' know, and she buried dis sock at de foot of her steps, underneath her steps, she buried his sock so he couldn't stay 'way from there, yo' see. Said that she had him so that he had tuh come there. See. And so yo' see, well, he would get so he wouldn't give her any money and some- thin' like that, and so dis ole hoodoo lady tole her to get him to give her one silver dime, yo' know, of his money. And so he didn't know what she wanted him to give her dis dime fo', but she got a dime out of him. And she went an' she had dis dime dressed until it turn almost black like a penny, and she put a hole in it and she wore it around her laig, yo' know. And that's where so she could git his money, you see. She was trying to git him away from dis yere woman [his wife], yo'see. An' so, see, she didn't know that this other woman had his sock buried at her do'step. She had his sock buried there and she was still continuously burning dose candles. And every time she'd come roun' she had some kind a powder tied up in her hans'cuff that she would sprinkle. He thought it was jest powder whut chew powder yore face. It smelled sweet but it was some kin' of love powder yo see. An' she had a little somethin' like a tablet. She'd offer him meals. She would [drop] that in his tea or his coffee.
(Like a tablet?)
Like a little tablet, yes. It would dissolve, you know, an' you couldn't see the mixture in there. You couldn't see the mixture, you know, and you couldn't taste it, see. Well, he would drink this, see. Well, he would drink this and therefo' he couldn't stay away for she had that in him, yo' see. Well, see, she wanted to git dis other woman [wife] out de way, and that's [the reason] she went there and broke dis aig up side her do'. An' she give him those little tablets in his coffee or tea to drink, see, and he begin to suffer wit his stomach badly, an' all like that, and he began to look frail, and look bad, yo' know, because she said if she didn't have him, he could not do her [his wife] no good. See. An' he begin to look frail and bad, an' so no doctor's medicine didn't do him any good. Every time he'd go tuh a doctor, it would make him worser. Yo' know, when you've hoodooed anybody, doctor's medicine not good fo' you, you know. An' so he went - and every time he'd take a doctor's medicine, it would make him worser. And so an' ole lady came by one day and tole him dat he was fixed, chew know, that he was hoodooed, see, because he never would git well, yo' know. And on a certain kinda moon he would git like - git in a fit chew know, kinda rave. And so the ole lady told him that if he'd pay her a sum of money, she could cure him - yo' know, she could git him outa dis kinda fix: An' so, he finally jest scuffled up de money some kind of way. And so she'd taken and brought some saltpeter an' tole him fo' 'bout nine or ten mawnin's to take a bath every mawnin', every day, in dat saltpeter - bathe in that. An' she went out and got some roots out of de woods, some kin'a calomel roots and every- thing and he had to chew dose roots, yo' know - calomel roots, like white-look- ing roots, and she tole him to chew a piece of dat, chew know. An' he had to chew dose roots and he had to take a bath in saltpeter fo' nine mawnings. She made him up a mixture of medicine, chew know. She put so much of turpentine - looked like coffee, somethin', where you see it would settle at de bottom. Well, he had to shake it up and yo' know he would take that, chew know. And after he would bathe in dat saltpeter, he had to take dat medicine and then chew dat root, chew see. An' den she told him at certain time - if he would chew it often - that would pass from him. See, when he chews dose roots, dat calomel yo' know worked up in him. Well, yo' see, after he'd taken that and she tole him that ninth or de tenth day something would pass from him, yo' see - but sure enuff it did. When hit pass from him, yo' know, like de calomel worked him yo' know, it passed somethin' looked like little worms - passed from him little bita worms. An' she tole him that if those worms hada stayed [in] him, it would form like little frogs, and things like that was goin' form in his intestines, inside, chew know. And it pass from him like little worms. And when it passed out, she showed it to him, iThis whut pass from yo', this whut they was puttin' in yo'." [There is one strange feature about so many of these passages of worms, snakes, or lizards. The patient does not see them until the doctor has made an examination and then shows them, or sometimes merely tells about them. No doc- tor has ever gone so far as to say, "If you see them you will die." For further accounts, see Live Things In You, Pp.227-239, and Index.] See, that would kill him slowly, yo' know, and so he was pinin' up and every- thing. So he passed little worms from him in de tenth day - little worms and little somethin' she said was gon'a form frogs. Whatever this was dis woman put in his coffee for him, yo' see, that was forming in him - that would form in him, see, because she got these little tablets and she got this rattlesnake dust - some dust from under a rattlesnake, wherever she got it from and say - and put it in dere, put it in him, fix him so he would stay with her. [Choppy place in cylinder. The old hoodoo woman told wife] if she could get holt of him, she say, if she could get a holt of him and git a little piece of his shirt, she could, yo' know, could stop dis fit on him. See, every change of moon he'd have these spells. [Here are four similar beliefs about fits from general folklore: (1) "Epilep- tic fits...more frequent and...severe during the increase of the moon...." (2) "If anyone has fits, take off their shirt...while having it, cut out the piece over their chest and boil...when cool...give to the person to drink...." (3) "He was having one of these fits. She pull his shirt off over his head, put it on a pan and set it on fire...took the ashes...to feed him a spoonful before each meal...." (4) "Remove the person's undershirt...after an attack, let it smolder on live coals, mix a teaspoonful of these ashes in a glass of holy water, and say In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost...must be administered three times a day." From FACI, 2ed., p.248.] Well, this ole lady, finally this ole lady died, see - dis ole lady whut was fixing him, yo' know. Well, she died. Well, yo' see, dey found all kinds of stuff, different hoodoo stuff in her place, where dey went tuh see, yo' know, when she died, an' everything. [For finding spells at hoodoo woman's home when she dies, see No. 239, p.66.] Well, this lady, every change of de moon, she still havin' fits. Yo' know, when de person die and fixed yuh, yo' know, yo' don't nevah git ovah it, yo' see. Yo' see, because dey died befo' dey could take it off dem. See. An' she still had those fits after and nobody couldn't take it off because dis was de woman dat put de spell on, see. [See If Evildoer Dies Spell Incurable, p.396.] And so everytime de moon would change she would go crazy-like and see dis man. See. And then when she seen, she didn't want him. Well, finally, this woman went crazy and nobody couldn't do anything for her because she was de one put de spell on her, yo' see, and after she went crazy, well, dey sent her to asylum and after she went tuh de 'sylum, den she died, you see. But de spell was still on dis man, yo' see, after she died. Yo' see, she never did git her mind back. An' so dis man, yo' see - after he come back - he was already heah, and so after she died, it was still on him. He couldn't git it off him because dis ole lady was de one had buried his socks fo' him and he didn't know where. Differ- ent fortunetellers had tole him that she had somethin' of his'n buried somewhere and if he could find it and dig it up, why that could git him bettah, yo' see, because she had got the worms out of him. See. So she had his left sock buried, took his left dirty sock. She fixed it an' buried it underneath de step. And so he would dig all in de yard to try to find where she had buried it. Well, finally, he jest - seemed like he said he had a dream one night to look under his step: They something tole him to look under his steps. [For spirits warning in dreams, see pp.27,116, and Index.] An' so he got up early hisself one morning and went out there an' was digging around under his steps. And when he dug aroun' he struck something like a little can, and when he opened de little can - de top of dat little can, de dust jest flew out, and when he pulled it out he saw one his dirty sock had been buried under there. And in that sock, he opened it, it had some kind of powder and a little rag, and it had nine needles and nine pins sticking in it - nine wit de heads down and nine needles wit de head up. See - in dat sock and so it was sewed up in dat little rag in his sock. And he'd taken dis sock, de whole thing and he carried it tuh a ole man. Yo' see, he carried it tuh a fortuneteller and tole him, say, "Well, dat's whut she had buried, yo' see - why you couldn't stay away from her." An' so, when he'd taken dat and dose little needles - dose needles been in dere so long dey was rusty. An' sos he'd taken dat herself and she washed it in saltpeter - see, she washed dat in saltpeter and he thought she was curing him, but she was making him worser fo' it - 'cause he wanted tuh go back to his wife, yo' see. De woman died dat broke him from his wife. Dat's de one made him move out de house and break up his home, yo' see. An' so he went back then to his wife and try to live with her, see, an' everything. Well, he couldn't live with her because they both died and de spell was on him, yo' see.
(This happened right here in Mobile?)
Yes.
(All right, go right ahead now.)
Well, he'd gone back to his wife, yo' see, after a certain length of time - so many years, yo' see. An', yo' know, he begged her pardon for the way he did her and de woman. She knew dis woman had broke up her home, yo' know, what she did, because afterwards she found out what she had sprinkled all around in her home, yo' know, fo' de confusion and fo' him tuh mistreat her, yo' see. Well, he'd gone back to try to live with her again, yo' see. And so his wife was afraid and so she thought she would have him fixed her- self. After this woman had him that way, she thought she would go an' git some- one to do him the same way, see. So she goes to a fortuneteller and dey tell her that the only way she could do anything with him was to have him dressed. See, was to have him dressed so that - if she don't, he would leave her again because dis spell was still on him and de woman was dead and every change of de moon, he would leave her. See, he had dis spell on him, and said de woman was dead and she was de one had to git it off him. Well, sure enough, every change of de moon he would leave her but she wanted tuh have him dressed. So this fortuneteller wouldn't tell her whut to do, but she sent her to some- body else. So she went - say she jest tell de fortune but de lady had to go to an ole hoodoo. So she goes out in de woods to an ole hoodoo lady and dis ole lady tole her that yes, she could dress him and fix him so that he couldn't leave her. He would have to stay right there, you know, he couldn't leave her. And so she tole her to git her a sum of money and bring it back and she would dress it. [In the preceding paragraph: (1) Some fortunetellers do all types of hoodoo work, or put another way, some hoodoos and doctors tell fortunes; other fortune- tellers, like this one, refer patients to a hoodoo doctor or a specialist. Even I the, Author Becomes a Specialist, on page 278. Is there another example of hoodoos imitating modern medical practice? Yes and no. Specialization in heal- ing is as old as primitive medicine-man and witch-doctor. Temple incubation Was a speciality of early Greek healers, ancestors of present-day Doctors of Medi- cine. (2) "out in de woods." Here is the old witch of fairy tales and reality. For this isolation as well as personal appearance, see pp.294-301, especially Nos. 849 and 859. (3) For dressing the money, see one man's remarkable version of this rite - Trickery by Doctor. Cast it into Oblivion, p.268. However, not all dressing of money is trickery.] Well, she did that. She went to this ole lady, and dis ole lady tole her that every three hours - she give her some kind of something like incense to burn. Tole her to burn this incense every three hours, and sulphur. Tole her to burn incense and sulphur and write his name on a white candle and roll it in some sugar. See, she said sugar, seemed like that would make everything sweet fo' him, yo' see. Salt is for confusion, chew know and sugar is for sweet. See, that's the way it works. Tole her to roll dis candle in sugar and write his name backwards on dere, yo' see, and stick it in a little saucer and put it in de cor- ner of her room. See. And jest 'bout time de spell come on him, fo' her to burn it. See. An' dat would make it sweet and de spell wouldn't be on him. An' so tole her to take dat candle and burn it and then to burn dis here sulphur every three hours in her home - this here sulphur and this incense. The incense is sweet too. That makes a sweet smell in yore home. Well, she did that. An' she tole her whenever he take a bath - see, next time he'd take a bath - tuh bring a little of his bathwater. Put it in a little cup or something, stop it up and bring it tuh her - what he bathe in. Well, she fixed his water. He didn't know, yo' know, she was goin' tuh pore de water out after he'd taken a bath. She took some water in de cup, some of his dirty water, and she carried it to dis lady. She stopped it up in a little bottle and carried dis dirty water to dis ole woman. Well, dis ole woman, she took his bathwater that he bathed in and she mixed it with something else in a bottle and shook it up and tole her to take dis bottle and bring it back and stand it up in de corner of her room where ain't no one kin see, and everytime he'd go out de do', she goes an' watch his feet and git his left track and bring de dirt back to her. Yo' know, jest take her han' and rake dat track back and wrap it up in some paper and keep it in her purse. Well, every time he would leave dat would make him come back. See, when you git his tracks dat'll make him come back. Well, whenever he would leave out, sure enough she went and got his track. See, she got dat track and she wrapped it up in de paper and had it in her purse and she had dis water in her room, yo' know. An' so, every three hours in de day she would burn dis here stuff, yo' know [this candle and incense and sulphur]. It acted all right for a good long while but see, every once a while, it would die down - it would die down and den she had to go an' do it again. Dis acted all right for a little while, till he begin to git in a rage agin, yo' see. So dis lady tole her that on the way she had to get something in him. See, she had to fix him in that way. Yo' see. [The preceding paragraph reveals one of the great principles of magic, perhaps the greatest after intention - magic power is not permanent. Our best examples of this are those magic objects closest to the believer's heart and mind - the hands. Among their many characteristics, these helpers: (1) have degrees of power (p.576), (2), observe a time limit (p.577), (3) must be fed (p.578f.), and (4) need recharging, which sometimes requires a doctor or a specialist, a hand- maker. A hand lives and helps only because a spirit dwells in it. Even when all amenities and regulations have been kept and the indwelling spirit is contended, it can be killed - chased from its temporary home - by the spirit of a stronger hand. Killing happens often in a gambling game where every man carries a hand. So, here is another rule of magic - a weaker spirit cannot function in the presence of a stronger spirit. But the owner of the weaker hand can kill the spirit or power of the stronger hand - page 641 and Index.] Well, she thought she was fixing hi - instead of fixing him fo' good, she was fixing him fo' bad looked like, don't you see, because whut dis woman give her, de mixture in his food, see. She wouldn't eat what he eat, yo' see, because she Was putting it in his stuff and sprinkling it on his meat. You see she would put it on de meat that he would eat. An' so when he taste it - de different taste in de meal yo' know and wanted her to taste, she proclaimed that she didn't like that kind of meat. Yo' know, she'd make excuse to keep from eatin' it herself. See. And see, every time he'd eat dis meat hit would make him sicker, see. But she put it on his meat. Dis woman give it to her and told her to put it on there and so he found dis here dirt in her purse, yo' see. He opened de pa- per - he went in her purse and he found dis dirt in dere, see, but she didn't know that he found the dirt. He kept the dirt fo' to carry it tuh see what it was. See. An' so he carried dis dirt to see whut it was. And dey told him it was his tracks - one dem hoodoos, another one, tole him it was his tracks, and says, this woman is giving him something in his food. Well, see, he would eat this food, yo' see, and he got so that he would dry up - dried up jest as little as he could be. It was whut she was feeding him off of.
(Put them [his foot tracks] in the grave?)
Yes. An' she tole him - dis hoodoo lady tole him that it wouldn't be long 'fore dey be burying her by she burying dese tracks. And so dis hoodoo woman gave him something. Yo' know, he didn't know that this woman was dressing dis other one fo' him, see, an' so when he goes back to her, something she puts on him, well he got it on her, see, by being close together, got it on her and she come with something like a itch, yo' know, all over her. [For an amazing example of this common trick, see No. 10, p.7.] She had an itch all over her and she'd go to doctors an' everything and de more they would treat her fo' dis itch, de worser it would git. And so it kept itching till all between her fingers got sore - see, all between her fingers become broke out like you would have pellegra yo' know, all that itch. But it would git between her fingers and all her nails and it got between her toenails. See. An' she broke out in sores, sores all be- tween her nails an' everything tull they had to bathe her hands and wrap 'em up in a piece yo' know. And all between her body - all down there between her body, she broke out in sores and everything, yo' see. And so she thought about this letter dis woman wrote an' tole her that seven years wouldn't be too long for a raccoon to wear a ruffled-bosom shirt. See, that whut she meant, she was goin' tuh kill her - see, tuh get dis man, see. An' she had dis man dressed fo' her. See. Well, after she broke out in sores and everything like dat, well, see, he had done buried her tracks to de graveyard, you see. Well, finally dey couldn't cure her and she broke dese sores all out and it come on de inside eatin' her up. Whut she had got inside her, it would just ete her on through, ete her up. An' she died. Finally she did bury her. See. An' so this woman told her dat, see, and dey all remembered whut she said - that she would do that to get her. An' after she do that - after she [roomer] got this man, yo' see, then this man disliked her. After he had done killed his wife and hoodooed her, well, he disliked her, see. He turned against her then, and so after he turned against her, he say, jest like she killed his wife, he would turn that right back on her and do her de same way, and she told him that he couldn't do it. See. An' so he said, "Surely could." Well, after dis man tried to fix her she would go an' git cured, see, bathing in dat saltpeter and salt, see, and that would keep everything off of her. And she wouldn't eat anything from him, see. An' so finally, he brought her some ice cream and she ate the ice cream. She didn't think anything Would hurt her, see. An' she ate de ice cream and after she ate de ice cream, dis man tole her he would get her. See, 'cause he had done went back to dis ole [hoodoo] lady dat killed his wife, to fix her. An' dat ole lady put de stuff in de ice cream - gave it to him and he put it in de ice cream.... [The hoodoo woman told the wife to] "Get a piece of his shirt-tail and his bathwater." Yo' got whut she got, yo' know, from him. She had tole her to take that bathwater and she put dat piece of shirt-tail in dis bottle, see, and she sticks nine needles and pins in it and shook it up and told her to take that and go in one fo' corner of de house and bury that.
(One of the four corners of her house.)
Outside - not under the steps - de fourth corner of her house and bury it and then jest, as she burying it, she had to say some kind of hoodoo and put a evil curse on. Cause she knew that the water had him fixed - his bathwater - and he had to go cross de water. So finally he takes a notion to leave - to leave her, see. And so she said, well, to cross water - well, that would make all that go back [on person fixing his bathwater]. So he left here and so he went an' got on a ship and went away cross de water. He was leaving across de water to git dat off him. Said that this woman know that he was going away, said she'd rather fo' him to leave and not come back. The one he went back to - de woman died.
(The woman killed his wife and then he killed this woman. That the idea?)
No, de woman got killed - dat de one he was running around wit. He couldn't git de spell off him an' so he goes back and makes up with his wife. See. This woman was living in the house and broke his wife and him up, yo' see, and tore up de home and the wife left and that give her a chance. See, she put dis stuff in her pillah, and so then after the woman got out, de wife turned it back on her. See. An' so she [roomer] lost her mind an' everything and de ole woman dat fixed de wife, she died, see, and dey couldn't git de spell off [the wife]. See. And dis woman [roomer] went crazy and dey sent her away and she died. Then he finally makes up his mind to go back to his wife, yo' see, to git a reconcilia- tion with her, yo' know, tuh beg her pardon, after so many years. Well, you see after he went back with his wife - she knew that this woman had done her that and broke up her home - well she didn't care for him much. But he wanted - but he had dis spell on him - dey both [women - roomer and hoodoo woman] died and dey couldn't git de spell off him. And every change of de moon he'd have these spells, see, because dis woman throwed dis egg and put dis spell on him. He had these spells and so the wife said that she would go have him fixed so she could keep him. So she goes tuh have his fixed, yo' see, and dis woman tole his wife to git his bathwater, see; and then git dis candle and roll it in sugar - see, that was to make him sweet.
(Well, now, whose track was buried out in the grave?)
Oh, it was this woman's track that was buried out in de grave.
(Which woman, the first one?)
The first woman - she was de one.
(There are only two women in the story?)
That was all - one man - two womens and one man. De wife and de woman and dis man. (The woman who was trying to take him away died in the asylum. Then the wife died too, didn't she?) Well, later - after - but he went back to the wife. See. And after de wife didn't care fo' him, see, then she fixed him so he wouldn't have these spells - she tried to git these spells off him, so she would git de candle and roll it in sugar an' everything. An' so then she seen she didn't care for him and then [he] goes and has her tracks buried in de graveyard, see. Dis man fixed her.
(What was he fixing her for?)
Cause she didn't want him. (Was she trying to kill him or was he trying to kill her? Or was he trying to make her take him back or what?) Well, he wanted her to take him back. Well, after she took him back, you see he would git dem spells on the change of de moon and he would leave again. He wouldn't act right. See.
(When did he cross water?)
Well, he crossed water when de woman tole him dat de only way he would git dis spell off him, he would have to cross de water. See.
(The spell his wife put on him or the spell the other woman put on him?)
It's de spell the other woman put on him.
(The part that was in the beginning of the story?)
Yes, that goes in the beginning of it. You see, de wife is de one that burned de candles on him and tried to git de spell off him. So he goes and gits his wife track - he's de one - de hoodoo woman told him to bury it in de graveyard, and he went and buried it out dere like she told him.
(That's what killed her?)
That whut killed her and that's whut made her think of de letter that she re- ceived a long time ago. See, dis ole lady was working on 'em both. See, she was pretending to be friends to each one of 'em, but she wasn't. [For doctor "pretending to be friends to each one of 'em," see two excellent examples, No. 780, p.257, and No. 782, p.258.] See, dis same ole lady died, yo' see, who was pretending to be friends to both of them, but she wasn't. Yeah, he had to cross water to git rid of his sins, because she had his water and everything buried in de fourth corner of her house. So, that itch when she broke out like that, that whut killed her. And he couldn't git those spells off at de change of de moon - he would go crazy and everything. They both [women] got out of dere [died] and dat's when dis [hoodoo] woman [told] him he would cross water. See, he took a voyage away cross water - see, he left to get rid of this. And de last that they heard from him, dey said he was gittin' better of those spells.
intended household discord attributed to salt/cayenne sprinkling. No clinical diagnosis, proven causation or definite aggressor/victim identity is inferred. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
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Entry 24
[There used to be a mathematical axiom stating that the whole is the sumn of all its parts. In hoodoo, however, a part can equal the whole. Every part and function of your body (hair and breath) - anything touching you (clothes and bathwater) - whatever signifies you (name and photograph) - all these and others are substitutes for either the whole or part of the spirit. Many examples of this belief will be found elsewhere - here are a few:]
Entry 29
Dey tell me dat dey kin take yore bath water and bury it. Dig a hole and pore it in dere and put a piece of - jest a small piece of bluestone, sulphur an' asafitadee [assafetida] in dat hole with dat water and cover it up. And dey tell me dat will keep yo' perishing away all de time.
Entry 969
[Everyone has heard of the double-cross; here is a triple-cross - three crosses in a row or the letter X repeated three times:] I went to see what they call a two-headed man. And this particular man prescribed to me, he says, "Take you three tablespoonfuls of saltpeter and put in your bath water ev'ry time that you bathe. And whenever you have an intercourse with this particular individual, be careful to Wet that rag - you see, because that have the tendency to tie you, to have you tied to a woman - continually using that rag and you sleeping on that rag ev'ry night and not wetting it."
(How do you mean? What would she wet it with?)
Well, just the water - plain water, you see, because it soaks that fluid off of there and it doesn't leave any danger of any harm being done. Then, he gave me what they call [he calls] the Three X's package.
(The Three X's package?)
Three X's package, yes sir - call it the Three X's - they just the common, no more than three X's.
(Three X package.)
The Three X package [magic of repetition]. He told me to take the Three X package - it consisted of a little powder in a can - just exactly how it was - it consisted of a powder substance - the powder seemed to have been in there but it would come like a paste. Well, at that particular time I couldn't have an intercourse with any other woman other than my woman - the woman that I was living with [see No. 796, p.269]. He told me to take this stuff and place it under the head of my - just at the time that I could get ready to have an intercourse with the one that I was tied to, and that it - and in the course of time, and washing in this saltpeter and in the course of time, why I found that I could go out and have other women.
(Now, what was on this package - this XXX package?)
It - it was just the XxX package. The directions he gave me those himself, because no doubt those secrets have to be carefully guarded and like.
(Was there three X's on the package?)
Three X - yes, sir.
(And nothing else on it at all?)
That's all - three X.
(Was it drawn on or printed on?)
Printed.
(Printed on. Nothing - was it a white package or something or that sort?)
No, sir - it was just - you've seen these pill boxes haven't you?
(Yes.)
Well, the box was white trimmed in blue. It was just like you would have a pill-box.
(And then it had a sticker on there with three X's on it?)
Three X - yes, sir.
Entry 1718
The water that you take a bath in. Well, you take that when you takes a bath - just like if you, your husband or your wife, if you want 'em to go, you are tired of them and don't want to be bothered with them, and it seem like they just a knock to you. You take the bathwater and take a piece of saltpeter, just about half as big as a teaspoon, and put it into that water. Get a little of his chamber lye and put in there, and then you take a bath in that water - right straight down from here [demonstrates while I describe the action].
(Right from the top of your forehead.)
Yes sir, from there on all the way down.
(Down your face and down your body.)
All the way down. Take a bath all the way down - don't never rub up like that [demonstrates].
(Why?)
Well, if you rub up like that, you see, that will make him come back to you, if you rub up. Don't never rub up - down, just like that.
(And why do you rub it down then?)
Rub it down, you see, that's washing his care and everything he had away from you. And then you take it and put it into something and keep it in there nine days. Then you take it and go and pour it out in a running stream, or either take it and pour it in a barrel and keep it closed for nine days. And then he gets on away from you and keeps, you know, from worrying you to death - just seem like he's a knock to you.
(He's a what to you? A knock? Knot?)
Yes, sir - keeps you from - look like he keeps you from getting holt of any- thing, and he's just there and he's not giving you anything hisself - he just be a knock to you.
(Knock - k-n-o-c-k - like you knock on the door?)
Yes sir, like a knock on the door.
(Be a knock to you?)
Yes. [This is a send away or get-rid-of hand.]
Entry 2731
Go to work and put on some bathwater in the morning.
(Bathwater?)
Bathwater. She go to work and she get her some saltpeter, just a little piece of saltpeter, put in that water and some red tape lye. (Red tape?) [Red Seal?] Yes, sir. You know, I mean concentrated lye, and she bath in that water. She don't dry at all. She just get out of the water wet and turn ev'ry piece of hern wrong side outwards, wear it from the morning until four o'clock in the evening and then she throw it off. Then she get the Book of Psalms and read the tenth verse and her luck'll come.
(Saltpeter mixed with lye. That'll bring in men for the night?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 4088
An' jes' lak yore man will take a bath, yo' take dat watah whut he take a bath in an' take a little of yore pee, an' take it an' put it in 'is coffee; if he drinks coffee or tea, eithah one. He'll be crazy 'bout chew.
Entry 4503
Ah heard about 'um takin' de watah yuh wash in, bath in, an' yuh take it an' throw it in a certain direction. Yuh step back - dey step back certain amount of step, ah think it's seven, an call de indiwidual name. If dey git a holt dat watah now, dey gotta git dat watah in a jug or somepin, er a basin. But it gotta be in [when] evahbody absent, when only yuh de one, yuh alone. Yuh take dat watah an' yuh step back seven times an' yuh call de indiwidual name, an yuh throw dat watah tuh de sundown side, an' dat will cause dat person tuh becom Puny, Puny, Puny, puny. Dey will nevah keep good health, dey always will be puny.
Entry 4504
(And what about the bath water?)
Well, take de bath watah an' put some sugah in it an' Hearts Cologne, an' den take an' [in the morning] throw it to de sunrise; an' if yuh don't want 'im, in de aftahnoon yuh take an' throw it tuh de east - ah mean west. (Well, what do you throw it to the sunrise for in the morning? Well, dat's to make him cling tuh yuh. (I see. If you don't want him, you throw it to the west.)
Entry 7207
Yo' kin take a sock.
(Take a what?)
Take one yuh socks an' now, what dey put in dat sock, now ah couldn't tell yuh. Take one of dose socks an' pin it. Ah know personally dis wuz done becuz it wuz quite natchel, yo' know, ah had a brothah a [that way], yo' undahstan'. Ah'm explain' tuh yuh good. He had a vein, a open vein, here, along here, along here an' right up dere [demonstrates]. [He was] hurt [tricked], yo' see. Dat's called swollen veins. (What kind of veins, swollen?) Swollen veins. Undahstan'? Well, yo' take dat sock. An' now, whut yo' put it in [in it], ah couldn't tell yo'. Dey put it - but take one of yuh socks. It wuz a black sock ah had, black silk sock. Mah sistah bring- ed it up chere. Ah wuz down dere two yeahs ago. Ah wuz down dere in '36. Well, ah'm gittin' it straight now. Dat yeah, dat's about right, ah wuz down dere in '36. We found dat sock, las' yeah: was '37, round, oh ah'd say round about de 20th of July, an' dat sock had - ah couldn't even lay on dat pillah [pillow]. Yo' undahstan', if yo' lay on dat pillah it hurt yuh haid, but now aftah - if yo'laid on it, an' den if yo' lak dat, if yo' don' git dat cured, yo' stay lak dat. One mawnin', see, when she found dat sock, it wuz balled up wit de feathahs in it. But whut wuz in dat sock wit dose feathahs, we couldn't tell, yo' know. It's quite natchel dat yo'd be scared. Cuz it only cost me $50 tuh git rid of dat. Well, now, ah tell yo' what she [doctor] did tuh git rid of dat. Ah went tuh a lady, undahstan'. She told me, say, "Ah'll cure yo'." An' told me where ah goes. Told me ah wuz hurt an' ah cain't stand tuh drink whiskey long, account dat vein bein' swollen, yo' undahstan' [demonstrates].
(This vein runs right?)
Straight through me.
(Right straight along your back, that swollen vein?)
Yes, sir. An' ah went tuh dis lady, see, an' she tole me, say, "He's got a thing hid." Told me jis' lak whut it wus lak. She live on 923 [Something Street]. Ah'm try- in' tuh think of de name. Yo' kin put dat down, two diff'ren' things. But any- way, nevah mind about dat.
(Oh, that's all right.)
An' she commence right here an' measured dat place right here, right dere [demonstrates]. She say, "Dere's a knot dere."
(Right here, where?)
Dere's a knot or somepin. Well, she massaged dat knot an' rubbed it an' she tell me, say, "Yo' go home an' go tuh de druggist." Now, listen good. "Go tuh de druggist an' git a bottle of household - do yo' heah dat?"
(Yes.)
Household ammonia.
(Household ammonia.)
Household ammonia. You git a box of Epsom salts. Yo' git chew dat much salt- petah. Yo' won't want make too much. Dat much saltpetah. Yo' put dat in yuh bath watah. Don't put no salt in it - ah mean not salt, don't put no soap in it. But aftah dat, dat cleah ammonia. Dat's all. Jis' lak in place of puttin' soap in it, put dat household ammonia in dere an' dat saltpetah an' de Epsom salts in dis watah. An' takes yuh bath in it. Nine nights do dat.
(Nine nights?)
Nine nights an' throw de water tuh wherevah de sun risin' at. An' it'll soor cure yo' of de trouble. Well, dat's whut ah did. Well, it cured me.
(That's what cured you?)
It cured me. Now, here's de way. Now, ah'll take, jis' lak, yo' got tuh start it. It deal wit pain [demonstrates].
(Right from the top of your head.)
See dat li'le knot dere, see dat knot dere. It's a pain right dere. Well, now, yo' jis' put dat [mixture] on. It'll move from dere, start from right dere tuh here [demonstrates]. (It'll move from the top of your head down to the bottom - the back of your neck.) Back tuh dis here [demonstrates]. Dat narrah [narrow] eyeball bone.
(The pain is right behind the eyeball?)
Eyeball. Leads from dis eye right chere, right chere. Here's de othah. An' right along dere it's knots be showin' dere, an' it feels though dere's somepin inside. Some knots showin' dere. Well, dis lady tole me dat it wuz done through whiskey. Say, "But chew looks an' yo' will find it in yuh mattress," she say. But it wusn't in no mattress. It wuz in a feathah pillah; an' yo' would find vhutevah it is in dere. It wuz wrapped up. An' she tole me when ah find it, burn it up. Well, dat's quite nachel, 'cuz ah did dat, see. Ah burned it up in de fiah. Well, now, mah sistah, yo' see, when she slept on dis pillah, it burt 'er haid so dat she'd move dat pillah. But it wasn't fo' her, it wuz fixed fo' me. Whut fer? Yo' see some people wanta hurt me. An' ah wanta explain dis sah way, 'cuz yo' know ah nevah done used explainin'. An' ah, ah'se jes' explain zahself.
Entry 8509
Dey take dat an' dey put it in a coconut.
(This bath water?)
Dis bath watah.
(What else do they do?)
An' dey write yure name nine times each way [forwards and backwards] on a piece of papah, an' put it in a coconut an' chuck it in de rivah. An' dey call it a dirty name, what- evah dey wanta call it, an' tell it tuh go. Well, dat floats yuh on away, dat coconut. Long as dat coconut go, it keeps yuh on de go.
Entry 13248
She [hoodoo - rootworker - fortuneteller] told me whenever ah take a bath, take two tablespoonsful of sugar into my bathwater and don't dry mah- self. Let it dry into me. That give you luck and a good trade. [Mobile 947:3.]
Entry 13310
Dey kin take yo' bath water - like you washes, yo' know. Dey take dat. Like dey have to have somepin from yo', dey kin take dat and take a pair of socks of yours. And dey have to throw it in de tide going out. When it comin' up it ain't no good, when it goin' back down ev'ry time it come up, you'll be all right, but when it goin' back down, yo' mind goin' jes' dataway. I see all dat happen. I see dat an' know dat's a fact.
Entry 4496
Yuh kin take watah in a pan, yuh know a pan. Well yuh kin wash yuh- self off - yuh see, all off. An' jes' like yuh cook or somepin like dat - boil corn, boil potatoes - yuh jes' boil it [bath water] an' put season in it, salt an' pepper, an' give it tuh a man to eat, yuh see. All dat keeps a man [some- thing whatever it is, meaning satisfied, complacent, etc.] to [with] plenty of WOmen. YUH SEE LOTS OF WOMEN GOT A MAN MAKES A GOOD LIVIN'. DE MEN DON'T GO ROUN' AN' SEE FO' DEMSELF [BY EXPERIMENTING WITH OTHER WOMEN]. DEY FIN' THINGS TUH DO IN DE HOME. [This is a good illustration of what magic rites and igno- rance instead of character and intelligence does to the human mind!]
The informant describes water for washing oneself. The editor later identifies the referent as bath water; the claimed relationship effects are unverified.