Subject:Bee
Entries
Entry 7196
[I do not know whether this doctor's given name Was Tobey or it came to him because he made Tobeys, meaning luck pieces or hands or jomoes. He is the man who drives out disease spirit on p.2259f., vol.3.]
(Doctor Casson?)
Cating.
(How do you spell it?)
Casing[?]. (I am glad to see you, Doctor. I want you to talk loud to me, I don't hear so well.) Me too. (All right, we will both talk loud then. All right. Well, tell me something about yourself.) About mahself? Me or mah trouble? [Dis Cason come to tell me his own troubles thinking as some informants before and after him did, that I was a root doctor from New York City:] (Anything. I've talked to a lot of very good root doctors and I - just tell me anything you want to tell me. I want to hear about how they say people harm you, you know; or how they say to cure you; or things of that sort.)
[There being a brief silence I continue.]
(Did you know old Doctor Buzzard?)
Ah know 'im but he died.
[The ice having been broken I continue.]
(How long has he been dead?)
He wuz about sixty some odd yeahs ole, but he wuz a good doctor. Ah learned many incidents from undah 'im 'fo' he died away. He'd git a man outa trouble. Ah learned a few turns from 'im.
(Well, would you tell me some of the things you learned from Doctor Buzzard?)
Ah learned usin' a bee.
(All right, how did you use that?)
[A unique technique follows:]
Has yo' got a hive of a bee, yo' kin take one of bee drones outa de hive, take a paah [pair] an' yo' kin learn 'em some a [of] de people. Ah putten sveet- nin' tuh de table an' putten dat bee intuh it tuh feed. When yo' wan' 'in tuh go out, yo' kin name a puhson [person] man, jis' call 'is name an' putten spots of white on 'is ahm, his back, not on 'is haid. An' he goes tuh dat same puhson dat chew call 'is name. An' when he's got through wit yo' business dat chev'd sent 'im, he'd come back tuh yo' an' yo'd undahstan'. If yo' say tuh 'im tuh come back, he'll come back; an' if yo' say tuh 'im tuh stay, he won' come back. But he's [he has] two [things he can do]. One, tuh travel wit chew 'cordin' tuh yo' case, whut yo' case would be. See whut ah mean. Ah wan' 'im tuh bring a message back when yo' conkah yo' bettah [when you outwit the enemy]. If yo' is in a lawsuit an' is sent intuh de jail fo' tuh be in co't [court] an' if yo' miss an' tell tuh 'im 'fo' [before] yo' git dere, yo' trail'll almos would be ovah den. But chew see in dose time dose people used tuh walk - work at short ends 'fo' yo' could start a trial dat yo'd be dere. De jury'd cut chew off, dat [becausel yo' shall not come up tuh de requirements. [In olden days it was sometimes difficult to meet the requirements for attend- ing courts and juries would not wait. To be on the safe side you either slept the preceding night in jail or had Doctor Buzzard send his bee specially fed to delay jury action. This information Was on a cylinder pause but is known from my following questions.]
(You say Doctor Buzzard taught you that, told you that?)
Yeah.
(What did you say you fed this bee?)
Feed dese bees on honey an' syrup, but use de ingredients of yo' scent.
(Of your what?)
Of yo' scent.
(Scent? You mean sweat of the body? Perspiration?)
Yeah. Put it on a piece of bread dat has sorghum an' dey suck dat from it. AN' ALL DE TIME DEY COME JIS' LAK A PET CAT TUH YO', AN' WHEN HE LET DOWN [ALIGHTS], YO' KIN RUB YO' HAN' ON 'IM AN' HE'D KNOW YO' FROM ME. See whut ah mean?
(And then you send this bee out to do your work?)
Anythin' yo' wanta send 'em [to do] an' dey care [carry] it out.
(DOES HE CARRY MESSAGES THEN?)
CARE A MESSAGE - JIS' WHUT CHEW TELL 'IM.
(HE'D TELL THE PERSON?)
ALL YO' GOTTA DO IS TUH TALK TUH DE BEE JIS' LAK YO'D TALK TUH RADIO OR ANY- THIN' DAT CAIES [CARRIES] A MESSAGE. AN' CALL DE MAN NAME. TEACH 'IM DAT.
[Few more lines to this but nothing new.] [Charleston, S. Car., (503), 547:1.]
Well, listen here an' ah'll tell it tuh yo'. AH LISTEN N IN DE WORLD ON DIS. DEY ARE IN DE WORLD. DERE'S A STORY SAYS DAT DIS WORLD IS KINDA ROUND, FO'[FOUR] CORNAHS OF IT. DERE AH HAS A FO' [FOUR] SQUARE [PROPOSITION]. Here is eas', sō't, no't - eas', wes', sō't, nō't - fō' [four] part[s] an' DE TERR'TORY WHEAH YO' HAS TUH GIT A PERSON OR KNOW A PERSON. [You are WOrking in a four- sided world.] [To] git a puson [it is necessary] DAT CHEW KNOW DERE NAME. Yo' Wan' 'em tuh come back home. Dey go off an' yo' wan' 'em tuh come back home. Make a fo' square [draw a square]. Write in dere: 1 an' 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7- 8. [He draws a square and writes in the numerals.] SEE, DIS IS DE WORLD, IF DEY IS IN DE WORLD AT ALL. DAT IS, HERE'S DE CENTAH OF DE EART'. All right.
[He begins to fold up the paper.]
(You fold that up.)
Fold it up, see. Yo' fole dat fo' cornah up an' de way dat chew put dat, de way dey come back. Now here is some question ah have tuh tell yo' 'bout. OUR MOTHAH HAS TUH TOTE US NINE MONT'S TUH BRING US IN DIS WORLD, SO DEY GOTTA CALL [A PERSON'S NAME] NINE TIMES. An' aftah [as?] dey call nine times, dey gotta stay in a cer- tain position, somepin lak dis [demonstrates]. Not lyin' up by raisin' it ovah yo' haid, an' puts it down. Put it down undah de foot of de do' [door]. An' in nine days time he'll walk in de house.
(Walk in the house. That's to bring the man back.)
Or a woman back.
(DO YOU WANT TO KEEP THAT PIECE OF PAPER?)
WELL, AH GOTTA KEEP DIS BECUZ DIS IS SOMEBODY ELSE'S STUFF DAT AH'M USIN'.
(OH, WELL, COULD YOU LET ME COPY IT BEFORE YOU GO?)
YEAH, YO' KIN COPY IT. [I believe that piece of paper, the world diagram, is copied in my Numbers Book.]
[Doctor Cason's material on p.2259f. in vol.3 comes in here.] [548:1.]
(What can I do to keep them from harming me?)
Well, yo' is travelin' ovah de worl'. Yo're travelin' ovah de world, yo' UndahSaN', de WOrld. AH TOTES A LI'LE BAG AROUN' MAH WAIS'. AH TOTE NINE KNOTS, ONE DIME AN' TWO PENNIES. Dem li'le articles stuck in dere. An' when ah gwine out, regardless of where ah goes, ah fin' dat somebody has done talk about me or no.
(Well what if they put something in the ground for you to walk over?)
Dat don' make no diff'rence. (What else do you put in that bag, besides those dimes and pennies? What else do you put in that bag?) I put a powdah in it. (What do you call that powder? Do you know the name? Can you think of the name?) Ah don' know. Lemme see.
(And a string that has nine knots.)
No string, a cord.
[He produces a ball of cord string.]
(Is that the cord, the ball of cord that you use?)
See [demonstrates] ah double dat up. Make nine knots outa dat. [Tie nine knots in the doubled cord, 1 Den ah ties a li'le roots.
(You tie some roots on that cord?)
Naw, ah don' put dat on dere.
(This powder that you use, what is the name supposed to be?)
Well, ah buy it an' den ah'll use diff'ren' article dat ah fix.
(Well has this powder a name?)
Yah, is a name but ah jis' cain't call de name of de powdah now.
(You send away and get it some place?)
Yes, any one of dese ten-cent box, big boxes, ten-cent box. Ah use dat. An', if dey not frien'ly an' yo' wan'a be coaxin' a pusson, yo' mix up certain amounts of dat an' about two teaspoonsfula cocoa.
(For to drink?)
Yes, sir. Dat says yo're coaxin' de mind of a pusson wit dis powdah. Yo'll use one or two spoonsfula powdah in dere. (You take one or two spoonsful of this powder. And then what do you put that in? What do you do with that?) Well, yo' fix up dat. Put roots an' stuff an' yo' pennies an' things whut yo' gona put in de bag. See whut chew kin make a bag outa firs'.
(What do you do with that cocoa [powder] then?)
Well yo' put about a teaspoonful in dat. Put it in, mix it wit de powdah.
(I see. Well, what sort of roots do you put in there?)
Well, yo' use de devil's-shoestring. Yo' unnahstan' dat? Do yo' know dat?
(I understand. Yes, ah know that.)
If yo' see it, yo' know it? (No, I wouldn't know it if I saw it, but I know of the root. I mean I've heard of it.)
(This is to coax the person?)
[I refer to the doctor's preceding words: yo're coaxin' de mind of a person.]
Yas. He comes tuh yo' ways. He's gotta come. Dey ain't no way in de worl' dat he kin git aroun' from it. An' while he might have made up in 'is mind tuh do harm, he's gotta come tuh do good.
(What did you just say, if things are what?)
[I had turned off machine and am now asking him to repeat.]
Ah said if thing goin' bad wit chu, yo' goin' tuh be at trial in de mawnin', yo' put a piece of dat root in de mout' an' pass it between yuh laigs. PASS IT BETWEEN YUH LAIGS ONE TIME.
(Pass it between your legs one time.)
Care [carry] it in yuh mout' - care it in yuh hip pocket on de wrong side an de case'll be thrown out. [549:4.] (Now suppose I'm not feeling well and I come to your house and I say, "Doctor, I don't know whether I'm sick or whether someone has put a spell on me." Now, COULD YOU TELL WHETHER I'M JUST ORDINARY SICK OR WHETHER I HAVE A SPELL ON ME?) Yas.
(How would you tell that?)
I'd feel yuh breath [pulse?].
(What do you do then?)
Well, ah tell yo' by yuh breath an' ah test yo' by yuh speakin'. An' ah come aroun' an' tell yo' whut it is.
(Well, how would you test me by speaking?)
Well, yo'd have tuh talk an' ah test yo'. Ah kin tell yo' feelin' 'cuz yo' son't be feelin' all right. Yo' kin talk so's ah kin git anythin' outa yo'.
[550:2.]
Ah nevah have experienced dat aroun', but ah have take de linin' outa man's bat an' put watah on 'is brains.
(Well, how do they do that?)
Well, dey do's somepin wit dat.
(What for example?)
Well, dey git dat linin' out - see, of co'se [course] ah don' follah dat [he does not do evil work].
(I understand.)
AH THINK AH'VE GOT TUH GO BACK TUH MAH BOOK TUH GIT DAT.
[To do this type of work he would have to consult his hoodoo book.]
(I see. What book do you use?)
AH USE DE "PSALM OF MOSES."
(The 6th or 7th Book of Moses?)
[I turned off recording too fast for an answer.] [551:1.]
(HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU STARTED THIS WORK?)
WELL, AH WUZ ABOUT FORTY.
(HOW DID YOU HAPPEN TO GET INTO IT? HOW DID YOU HAPPEN TO TAKE UP THIS WORK?)
Well, I WaS - had a jOb. AH WUZ 'TENDIN' TUH DIFF'REN' SICK. AH LEARNED TUH NURSE. Ah used tuh tend tuh git medicine fo' womens dat wuz havin' de baby. Ah took dem up by mah brain. An' ah studied a whole lot of it, dat tell about de practice of it. Ah didn't have tuh study no book fer dat, but ah knows a whole lot. Ah learned about John de Conkah, Adam-an'-Eve, rattlesnake root [I mean] mastah. All diff'ren' thin's. An' ah know whut dey fer. [551:2.] (WHEN YOU MEET ANOTHER ROOT DOCTOR AND HE HAS SOME GOOD REMEDY, WILL YOU USE THAT REMEDY THEN FOR YOURSELF?) WELL, AH TELL YO'. DON'T CARE WHO AH MEET, AH DON' WORRIES [BOTHER] WIT NONE OF DEM. DEY HARDLY WORRIES ME BECUZ DEY ARE NOT TUHGETHAH. [THERE IS NO ORGAN- IZATION OR FRIENDSHIP AMONG DOCTORS.] YO' WALKS AT ME AN' AH WALKS AT YO'. AH TRY TUH GIT IN YUH PATH AN' YO' TRY TUH GIT IN MINE. AN' AH DON' WORRY WIT CHEW. (I see, you work for yourself alone. Some of these root doctors will do things against you?) Yes, sir.
(And I suppose there are some who claim to be root doctors and are not.)
AH - AH'VE GOT MORE [TO MY WORK THAN BE] WIT 'EM. DEY ONLY TRY TUH MAKES MONEY AN' DAT'S ALL, BUT AH TRIES BY DE GOOD LORD TUH DO WHUT AH SAYS.
(I understand.) [551:3.]
Take yuh chamber lye an' put it in a bottle an' cork it up tight. An' goes tuh de watah's side an' [when] de tide goin' down. Yo' wave dat ovah yuh haid nine times an' throw it back ovah de shouldah an' walk aways from dere. An' wherevah de tide care [carry] 'im, it'll care dat outside; an' wherevah it'll lodge, wherevah de chamber lye drop out, [that] draps yo'. Ah knows. Ah hear'd dat done all right.
(You throw it back over your left shoulder or your right?)
Left. [551:6.] An' de way dat dey used - dere's two wavs tuh usin' 'em.
(There's two ways [I begin by repeating his words] to use these chicken eggs?)
Yes, two ways dat ah know of. Dey will write yuh name on dere an' yuh street an' yuh numbah. An' dey will write out de numbah of yuh days on dere.
(The number of your day. What day?)
Any day dey Wanta give, nine days or ten days, or anythin', any days dey Wanta give. An' dey'll take dat an' put it in a careful place, a certain place where no one kin see it. Or dey kin bury it where dey don't want 'em tuh see. Den, if anybody do anythin' tuh yo' fam'ly, any of yuh fam'ly people, yo'll write on de egg an' 'is street numbah of 'is place. An' anybody yo' know daid, yo' go out tuh de cemetery 'fo' he's buried, an' put dat [egg] in 'is lef' han' an' shut 'im [egg with name] up. An' put 'im [named egg] in. An' dey cain't stick [the town]. "When dat breaks, dey gone.
Entry 1752
I heard my father tell about boxing hands, where they get bees, flies, ants, wasps, cow ants - the great big ants - hornets, thousand-legs, all that kind of stuff, and they put that in a bottle and fill it with hot water. And that was used to put on their fists - just a drop or two. And when they struck a man he had a great pain and swoll up, and he couldn't fight back he was hurting so. [Here again, a hand can be a liquid.] [St. James, a Negro community 5 miles from Pocomoke City, Md., (104), by hand; these hands of 1870 decade in Wicomico Co., Md.] [Cf. margin-title WrestZing Hand at end of this subsection.]
Entry 630
About de bee - well, he did dat. He say dat he believed dat de woman loved him - he wusn't married to her, an' he say dat a fellah tole him, say, "Now, if she love yo', yo' go to a bee nest an' yo' put chure hand in dis bee nest; an' if she loves yo' de bee won't sting yo', but if she don't den it's up to yo'." An' he went an' he tried it, an' de bees didn't sting him. So he believe dat she loved him.
Entry 3148
I get me - DO YOU KNOW WHAT BUMBLEBEES ARE? You know what they are?
(Yes, wild bees.)
Yo' have tuh do dis in de summahtime. Yo' have tuh git someone tuh ketch dese fo' yo'. Yo' take dese nine bumblebees an' brown 'em in de stove. Jes' put 'em in an' cook 'em dere. An' den yo' jes' git yo' a hammah an' put 'em in a piece of new cloth of some kine, an' jes' take yo' a hammah an jes' poun' dem intuh powdah. Well, now, say yore husban', yo' don't wan' 'im tuh be wit no othah woman. Yo' wan'a keep 'im away from dis pahtic'lah person. So aftah yo' have - yo' take dis befo' yo' go tuh bed, yo' see, put dis in dis cloth an' rub it tuhgethah yo' kngu. Be sure yo' got dis powdah all in dis cloth. Have anothah one fo' yoreself. Yo' an' 'im both don't use de same - let 'im use dis cloth fo' 'imself. Yo' know, some people are not very careful tuh take a bath. If he should take a bath, don' give it tuh 'im until he dries. If he dries 'imself wit it befo' he takes a bath- when he gits ready tuh dry 'imself, den give 'im dat an' rub 'im wit de powdahs on it. Well, he gits finished wit dat an' he goes tuh see dis person, whenevah he has intahco'se wit dat person, dey will have a burnin' sensation. Dey will come tuh yo' an' tell yo' how somepin has happened tuh dem an' yo' will know dat dat is de person. Den take dis cloth an' fold it ovah an' tie it in a real hard knot, as hard as yo' kin draw it, an' den yo' stick dese nine small needles in dere. Dat is tuh keep yo' away from dis person. Dey always have some kin'a complaint. Yo' know yo' heah of people always havin' aches an' pains - down here in pahtic'lah. Well, dat is part of de spell tuh keep dem away from dat person.
(What do you do with the cloth then?)
Yo' go an' bury dat. An' dat will stick fast until he when [you, another woman] go wit 'em [him] dey [he] be lak dey [he] be dead. [RUBE GOLDBERG THE CARTOONIST MUST HAVE DESIGNED THIS RITE!]
Entry 8517
Whut yo' can do wit the bees [see later] like yo' gotta man an' he's away from yo', yo' git yo' a she coconut.
(A she coconut?)
What I mean by a she coconut, a she coconut has got three eyes. A she coconut have three eyes, a he one only have two. Now, yo' take that coconut an' yo' get those bees, honey bees. Yo' go to any- where where yo' can get that black oil off a train an' yo' mix - put that bees, the black oil, and write that person's name nine times, and put it [all] in that coconut. And get a stopper and stop it up and put it - and put it just anywhere in your house. And if that person is away, he'll come to you. But you gotta roll that coconut after, you know, you stop it up. You can keep it in the house, but every mawnin' yo' gotta git up an' roll it from the front door back to the back. Every mawnin'. An' when yo' roll it, if yo' want him to come to yo', yo' call him by his name an' he'll come to yo'. If yo' Want him to go from yo', just call him an' curse him: Yo' son-of-a-bitch, go an' don't never come back. But like that [to send him away] yo' must roll it from the back to the front to keep him going. Yo' catch those live bees an' put them in there. Yo' see, that's because they fight an' they gits mad an' they is furious, yo' know. Yo' put the bees in there with his name and when they gets in a place where they can't get out, they starts fighting. [I must have asked about coconut water.] No, yo' pour that water out of the coconut.
Entry 5762
Yo' can't take de foot track up but yo' could take a magical sign. An' yo' would take a person's foot track dat runs like dat. Yo' gotta have what is called a fine piece of papah.
(A fine piece of paper.)
[As we shall see later, this is probably a cigarette paper.]
An' lay it right on dat track, an' take de material stuff from de end, where his big toe an' 'is heel, an' yo' more dan apt tuh easily draw de attraction of dat person on dat. But it's bad fo' dat person. Dat person - whut dat person have tuh run jes' wherevah yo' make 'em. An' den yo' git a hornet's nest, anyway a Wasp's nest, while he combing, makin' 'is comb. But yo' mus' set dat papah kinda in watah, an' put it dere, an' dat wasp take dat an' use tuh make a comb in dere. As long as dem bees exist, dey take dat papah an' watah in dere, dat man will be upsetted until he die.
[I summarize what has gone before.]
(You pick up just a little bit of the dirt from heel and toe and put it in this paper and you roll this paper up.) Yeah, roll it up togethah. (Then you put this paper where these wasps can get it and make their combs out of that?) Yeah, they make their combs of it, yeah.
(I understand.)
[We have here a fine paper, surely a cigarette paper, rolled about dirt from victim's big toe and heel track. As the wasps chew up the damp cigarette paper, they also chew up a portion of foot track to become part of the comb. Once again, as in preceding rite, the victim receives hot feet.]
Entry 8794
A man promised tuh marry dis woman's daughtah, an' he got 'er messed up an' he went away. So she went an' got 'er a bumblebee. Took dis bumblebee, cooked dis bumblebee, put 'im in de stove an' parched 'im an' rolled de powdahs of dis bee [rolled parched bee to a pow- der]. Took de powders an' dusted it all ovah lettahs. An' he wuz in Phila- delphia. An' she dust dis lettah good wit dis powdahs an' den wrote on it, jes so he wouldn't pay any 'tenshun [to the powder]. An' he come back three days aftah he got de lettah.
(What was the idea of the using the bumblebee on it?)
Dey said de bumblebee brought 'im back, de powdahs of dis bumblebee. Jes' take de powdahs of de bumblebee an' bring 'em back. [The spirit of the bumblebee Would sting him back.] [Wilson, N. Car., (1492), 2662:17.]"