Subject:Bible
Entries
Entry 412
This is one my grandmother told me. She was in slavery. She belonged to Tom Watson the man that the Tom Watson watermelon gets it name from. He was supposed to have been a good master. That was in the State of North Carolina. During the War [Civil War] he buried his money. My grandfather, being a man around the house and not needing any money, wasn't concerned where he had it buried, but he remembered seeing him one afternoon after he had made a sale - a man had bought something, he went to a certain place where there was an old walnut tree; when he came back there was dirt underneath on his hands. He suspicioned that that was where he had buried his money. Long after the War had ended and he had been set free, they were talking about money one evening and a man said he knew where there was a man who knew how to dig money. So he decided to go and dig this money. So they went to dig this money. He was put to reading the Bible backwards while his brother used the spade and another man had a long silver fork. He held that fork while his brother used the spade and he read some part of the Bible backwards. As he read he said there came a shrill cry from the top of the tree and a wind arose and they all started to run. I don't know whether that was a cry of an owl; it sound too shrill for an owl, but they didn't stay to find out what it Was. I remember that just before this cry, the blade of the shovel hit some hard object which seemed to be the top of a pot or something. Anyway, the next day he went down there. This money-digger had gone back there. He could see his prints in front of a place where a pot had been. And he always thought that this man that was the money-digger got the money, for he grew to be a very prosperous farmer. He had six head of team and a farmer and cattle. My grandmother was born out in the country near Battlesboro, North Carolina.
Entry 548
Dat's one part ah nevah did believe in, Captain, ah have tuh tell yo' 'bout dat. Ah've heard - a man have come tuh me an' told me that since ah wus a married man in mah home dat folks had done somepin to.me - ah wus in hard luck, an' if ah would give him so much cash he could go an' git me - put somepin - a toadfrog an' de tail of redhead scorpion - an' ah could avoid all de troubles dat ah wus goin' have in mah home, sech as. An' then, too, once when ah first married, a man come tuh mah home an' claimed to be.a root man - a man could give han's. He said to me - ah hol' de Bible on mah desk - ah'd comed in from mah job and was there settin' down talkin' wit mah wife - he said that someone wus goin' git between me an' mah wife - he could take dat Bible an' make dat Bible dance. He said, "Now, this yo' Bible - yo' bought dis Bible." "Ah didn't bought it." He said, "No? Yo' bought it an' yo' present it to yore wife." An' he said, "Anyway, anybody is working against yo' an' against yore wife," said, "ah kin make dis Bible tell us by dancing, as I call to it." So I set there an' listen awhile after de man talked. Yo' know how a fellow when he don't believe whut yo' saying. Ah says, "Well, now yo' come with han's. I understand dat yo's a man go roun' givin' han's." Ah said, "Well, ah bought dat Bible as yo' say an' present to mah wife. Ah did, but so fur as de Bible dancing, ah don' believes dat any man on earth kin make a Bible dance. But ah do believe dis," ah said, "ah know dat ah kin make yo' dance." An' ah set dere awhile an' he commence talkin'.about a fo'k - he could take a fo'k an' put dat fo'k - two fo'ks in de Bible an' talk to it an' it would dance, a natural dance with a man, an' he say if ah didn't believe, he could make it cut up a jig, jes' lak an ole-time jig-dance. People used to say jiggin'. An' he said he could make dat Bible do that. So ah didn't give him time to make de Bible do it. Ah jes' tole him, ah said; "Now, listen, jes' wait'll ah come out in de road an' ah'll find out can't yo' dance de same as de Bible." An' he leaved. (In preaching and getting around the country, meeting people, do you find that belief in that stuff is dying out - the belief in this conjuration and witchcraft is dying out? Or is there as much of it now as there was when you were a boy?) No sir, not as much, now as it was when ah wus young Well, about as much, but then folks don't partake of it as bad as dey did then. Yo' know, 'way back dere, folks wus a little mo' dumber den dey is now, an' anything lak dat would pretty near - a fellah would take on to him ["take him in"].
Entry 1720
Or yo' kin take nine needles an' stick up ovah yore do' in a leaf of a Bible, an' dat'll keep de law away. (How do you stick that leaf of the Bible up over the door?) Yo', jes' like if yo' tear it [out] an' yo' stick it up, yo' know, straightways, long way, right up 'fore de do' an' stick nine needles straight - de points down, nine of 'em in dat crossways.
(How do you mean crossways?)
Yo' know, straight up an' down. Jes' like de paper stand dis way, jes' stick 'em yo' know like dat." Jes' like ah pin - jes' like ah pin it dis way. (Just straight in a row - those nine needles - you just stick them right up over the door - that keeps the law away.) Yes.
Entry 2895
Tuh burn candles. Well, yo' take those candles an' yo' kin take the Bible an' read the Bible - jis' lak some- one have mistreat you. Well, yo' take those candles an yo' take the Bible an' yo' read it an' yo' prays, an' Pray ovah that candle while it's burnin', see, an' yo'll do that ah think fo' 'bout nine days an' nights, an' yo'll gain friendship wit de party that mistreats you.
(What color candle do you burn for that?)
Dat's white.
Entry 3672
Yo' take a snail dat crawl an' evahthing when de rain. Yo' take dat wit a little piece of yellah domestic cloth. Cloth lak dis [on interviewing table] dat has flowah on it, lak yo' say white cloth. Well de dark yellah yo' git. Yo' git enough fo' de woman to wipe herself on. Well, when he is wit dis woman, take - when dey gits through - take dat little piece of cloth, an' take dat snail live - don't let 'im be dead - an' run it right 'tween aftah yo' wipes 'er off. An' aftah yo' git through, yo' take dat an' yo' fold it up. Put it in a Holy Bible.
(How do you fold that up now?)
Yo' fold it in fo' cornahs [demonstrates]. Let it [snail] be live, don't let it be dead. Jis' take it lak dat an' jis' wipe to yo' an' lay ovah. All right. An' den yo' put it on a dish or eithah undah de pillah. Den yo' let 'er use it, but yo' don't wipe yo'self. An' den yo' fold it to yo' dis way, see [demon- strates].
(Fold it nine times that way.)
Yes sir, an' put it in de Bible. An' den yo' leaves 'er. Any man come he would nevah bothah 'er.
(Where do you put the Bible then?)
Yo' put de Bible somewhere, yo' know lak a safe anything - hide it. [Safe here is not a steel box with combination lock, but an old-fashioned kitchen cabinet, a piece of movable furniture with shelves and drawers holding dishes. knives and forks. etc.1 (This is like a square handkerchief and you roll it to you nine times, and then you turn it around lengthwise and roll it lengthwise.) An' de only way den, when yo' wan' to break 'er from bein' lak dat, yo' take dat cloth an' yo' wash it out wit Sameman [Salmon] Soap, see. An' den fold de cloth an' burn de cloth [and] dey [she] be's in de same condition [her nature will be restored].
(What kind of soap?)
It's 18c a bar - Sameman, Saveman [Salmon, has picture or mold of fish].
Entry 5819
I have heard of people gittin' fixed by de hair to make 'em love yo'. Take it an' put it in a Bible an' let it set for about fo' or five days an' take it out of de Bible an' put it in a cologne bottle an' jis' keep it.
Entry 7502
But de way dis would be done, yo'd have to know de person name - yo' have to know de person name. (The man who killed this man.) Lak yo' knew 'is name an' yo' know he done it, dey ain't caught 'im yet. Well, now yo' could take de Bible an' a key an' dere certain words yo' could say den an' dat pahtiklah [particular] person when yo' git to dat name, dat Bible would turn an' fall. [For Bible and key rites, See 550f., p.167f., and elsewhere.]
Entry 7597
Dey kin do mos' anythin' wit it, such as hurtin' a person. Yuh kin take graveyard dirt an' yuh kin cuz a person tuh - if yuh don' wan' 'im tuh stay dere - yuh kin cuz 'im tuh move tuh diff'ren' othah places. But yuh mus' go tuh de graveyard soon in de morning befo' de risin' of de sun, an' git de dirt an' cast it in de direction dat de person lives. An' if yuh cast it in de direction dat de individual live, why - an' say some portion of de Bible, some po'tion [portion] of it. Den he will move immediately.
(Did you say any portion or any particular portion?)
Jes' any po'tion of de Bible - don' make any diff'rence, jis' any po'tion of de Bible tuh drive away mos' anythin' wit graveyard dirt.
Entry 7703
(This grave board?)
Dat's right. Wal, yo' take dat an' yo' draw de name ovah [offa] it, jes' lak dat person's been daid. Now, if a person's been daid an' yo' wants tuh see 'em, Wan' 'em tuh come tuh yuh or sompin lak dat, yo' take dat an' draw is name ovah [offa] dat bo'rd, steam it, jes' lak dat, an' yo' read de 37th Psalm, an' he'll come befo' yo' end [the Psalm] an' talk tuh yuh.
(What do you mean by drawing that name off?)
[Had the name been on a tombstone a rubbing could have been taken.]
Jes' draw it off on a tablet - papah.
(You just put the paper on there and draw it?)
No, jes' draw it off wit a pencil on de paper, jes' lak it dah [there] an' den yo' see, yo' put dat [paper with name] on yore haid wit de [while you read de] Bible. An' yo' read dat [Psalm] an' he'll come an' talk tuh yo', an' tell yo' whut chew want.
Entry 8061
They say if someone's away an' you have a photo [of the per- son], you place it in a white pocket han'chief an' put it in the Bible and they will come back on the ninth day.
Entry 8062
If dis party is off, 'way off, an' yo' wants tuh see dem, well if dat pichure - dey say is a tintype pichure - dat yo' could turn it up on it's haid in a Bible, upside down, an' if dey can, why dey'll come.
Entry 8718
Write de name [of the prospective renter] under your name. First you go to the Bible an' yo' take any chaptah out of it, jis' take yo' any word jis' like Peter, James or John, or anything like that, an' yo' write it down. All right. An' yo' know their names. Yo' want 'em to rent de house. Yo' write dere name down, see. Well, den yo' take anothah verse out de Bible. Write jis' de word yo' see an' den write your name again den. Well, all right. Aftah yo' do dat, den yo' take an' write dere name an' spit in dis bottle 3 times. As yo' roll dis up, take dese names an' roll 'em up right tight. Stick 'em down in dis bottle, stop it, an' bury it undah yore doorstep. Dey'll have to rent de room or yore house from yo'. Yo' call on de Lord [= don't forget to pray]. [This rite has special interest because my original first transcription, a first hearing of the cylinder, is attached here to the final manuscript. I had to transcribe by hand and pencil because my transcriber missed a number of the Hemphis cylinders.]
Entry 8771
Yo' kin take de twelve names of de twelve disciples an' write it on a long list, yo' understand, jes' lak de names yo' use behin' dem dis- ciples. An' de person dat chew angry with, write his name under dere, aftah writin' one verse out de Bible between de twelve disciples name an' de person dat chew sō' [sore] wit. An' wrap it up an' weah it in yore shoe. Yo'll conkah dem an' keep dem down easy. (You write the twelve apostles' names and some verse from the Bible, and then the person's name that you want to keep down?) Yes sir, let de verse of de Bible be between the 'postles' name an' dat per- son's name, an' dispose of it. Put it in de bottom of yore shoe an' weah it.
Entry 8789
Lak yo' would write a lettah to somebody an' if dey wanted yo' to come where dey wuz or somepin lak dat. Well, dey take an' open it [Bible] to a cer- tain chaptah in de Bible an' place it in dere - on a certain chaptah. An' fo' nine mawnin's git up an' read anothah Psalm in de Bible fo' nine mawnin's an' she'll come where dey are. [For Bible, see also No.8840.]
Entry 8840
Yo' have tuh go tuh de grave tuh do dis. Go tuh de graveyard an' go down in a man's grave an' yo' have a penny in yore hand. Run yore han' down in de grave - it make no diff'- rent which han' - run yore han' down in de grave an' leave dis penny an' come up wit de dirt. An' take dis writin' an' sprinkle it [dirt] right 'cross dat writin', an' fold it up, an' lay it undah de lid [cover] of de Bible. An' ah don't care whut she done or nuthin, yo' kin 'tract [attract] her anywhere he want tuh by dis dirt. (You take her writing? Her handwriting, a letter she wrote to you, and you can make any kind of a wish and she'll do anything you want her to do?) Yes.
Entry 8882
A brass key, dat's lak a coppah key, Git chew one of dose coppah keys an' put it right in de Bible at a certain chaptah. An' den he'd wrop [profes- sional worker visited by informant would wrap] dis Bible wit a string an' let chew hold dat key lak dat [demonstrates]. Ah've helt [held] it mahself an' den he [hoodoo man] read a chaptah [from the Bible]. It says: By St. Petah, by St. Paul, by de Lord dat made us all, if sech-an'-sech Q man - jes' call de name, see yo' have tuh git de name - is got chure money, ah pray dis Bible turn an' fall. An' it shore will fall when yo' hit it right. Ah've tried it, helt dat [Bible]. But ah don't know as ah could do it lak he [doctor] did. [Informant thinks this by-St. Peter rhyme is a chapter from the Bible! How our hoodoo man and informant held Bible and key will become apparent as we proceed.]
Entry 8885
Yo' kin find out an' it [the rite] don' tell no lie. Yo' go git aBible an' yo' gits a brass key, an' yo' put dat brass key in dat Bible an' yo' ties it up tight, an' yo' holds it in yore han' lak dis - lak dat [demonstrates]. (With two fingers.) Yes, two fingahs. If not dat, chew kin git somebody else tuh hold one of de fingahs, an' yo' hold one an' say: By St. Petah, by St. Paul, 'tain't but de one God saves us all; if Sech-an'-sech a one stole mah money or anythin', any article, ah pray Bible wheel an' fall. An' dat Bible wouldn't move until yo' call de right one's name whut stole it. An' dat Bible jes' ease, ease roun' till it drops.
Entry 8886
Use de Bible an' git de 50 Psalms [Psalm 50] of David in de Bible an' yo' read it three times. An' yo' git chew a do' key, a large do' key. Aftah yo' read dat Psalms, yo' write dat Psalm down on a piece of papah. An' yo' take dat do' key an' yo' put it on dat Psalm, an' yo' tie it wit string an' yo' read de Psalms. An' aftah yo' read dem Psalms, yo' call dis person name three time an' yo' hold dat do' key; an' if it's de individual name yo' call, dat done took sompin from yo', when yo' read de Psalm, dat do' key goin' turn roun' in dat Bible. Jes' lak yo' turn it in de lock of a do', jes' turn; an' if it ain't de individual whut took it, de do' key goin' tuh stay still. But if it's anyone dat took it an' yo' know dere name, yo' call dere name, dat key is gonna turn in dat Bible. (You write this 5Oth Psalm on a piece of paper and then you wrap that around the key?) No suh, de key is tied intuh de Bible on de 5Oth Psalm aftah yo' write it down. See, yo' write it down so yo' kin read it, an' yo' readin' it three times. An' aftah yo' read - while yo' readin' it, yo' don' call de individual [name]. Aftah yo' read it, den yo' call de individual name an' yo' hold dat key. Hold de Bible an' hold de top end of de key, an' when yo' hold dat key yo' have it tied tight in dat Bible; an' if it's dat individual, dat key's gonna turn in dat Bible jes' lak it would in de do'.
[Since key does not fall, By St. Peter rhyme not used.]
(This key though is put into the Bible where this Psalm is. The only reason that you write that 5Oth Psalm is that - so when the Bible is closed, you can read the 50th Psalm?) Yes.
Entry 8887
As the proof, yo' will take a Bible, the Testament. Yo'll take a great big brass key. Yo'll place it in that Bible. Tyin' it well, hold it with two individual forefingers sayin' this word: By St. Peter, by St. Paul, by the Lord that made us all, if Chester have my pocketbook, leave the Bible, key, turn an' fall. An' if he's got it, it'll turn an' fall. Yo' kin call twenty differen' men's names an' when yo' get de right one, it turns. De other individuals, it stays neutral.
(I see. Then what Would you do to make him bring it back, anything?)
Why yo' go to 'im an' yo' tell 'im to bring it back, if yo' found out fo' sure he got it.
Entry 8889
Yo' go an' git chew a brass key. Yo' walk on an' yo' git de Bible. Yo' look up on de Ten Commandments. Yo' place dis key dere on dis Bible, turn de Bible. If yo' got 'em on one [a Bible], yo' turm 'em upside... (Wait a minute! You say you look up the Ten Commandments. Then what do you do with them?) Put de key on de Ten Commandments. All right. Brass key. Den yo' turn de Bible up an' call dis fellah by his name, an' 20 minutes from den he may don't come. If he won't, yo' git two brand-new needles - needles, yo' know, dat yo' sew wit. An' yo' stick dem dataway - open de Bible an' yo' stick dem dataway in de Bible [demonstrates].
(Under the leaves.)
Yeah, undah de leaves, by de key - one on each side of de key. Den yo' call dis fellah. Soon he may don't come, but a couple of hours he come an' ast yo fer somepin, lak he wanta borrah somepin. [To borrow something is from well- lmown witch rites.] He may ast yo' to lend 'im a iron or any kind of instrument in de house, see. [To borrow iron is unusual.] Well, now yo' know dat's de fellah cuz yo' done call 'is name on dat commandment. (You know that's the man that stole the thing from you.)
Entry 8890
If yo' wanta find out de person dat done de stealin', yo'll git de Bible an' git a brass key, an' find de middle verse of de Bible - de very middle leaf an also de middle verse in dere. Ah don't know now [what it is], yo' see, 'cuz ah not much of a Bible readah. An' yo' jis' take dat [place] an' take dat key an' put it in de centah, an' tie a string on it an' tie it aroun' on de backside of de book, see. An' den'yo' git chew anothah fel- lah, yo' an' 'im tuhgethah, an' he put it on 'is fingah an' let de othah fellah bold it on 'is fingah. See, jis' put one fingah apiece on it, two persons. All right. Den de man whut wanna find out who did de stealin' - jis' lak us all be lined up, chew say, By St. Peter, by St. Paul, ain't but one God made us all. See. An' yo' supposed tuh say somepin else wit it but ah don't know jis' zactly [exactly] whut chew say, yo' see. An' den yo' say, If so, Henry stole so-an'- s0 - dis box or book - Bible please reel an' fall. An' if he stole it sure 'nuff [enough], dat Bible'll turn ovah. See, dat Bible'll turn right on 'is han' [hand] an' fall on de table or on de flo' on de [Bible's] face; but if not, it won't move. Dat whut chew do tuh find out.
Entry 8893
Well, ah'll tell yuh, yo' take a brass key, if yo' [want to] find out who it is; an' aftah tyin' de brass key in de Bible, put de brass key down in dat Bible, takin' two men - a woman must nevah hold any of dose keys - sayin', By St. Petah, by St. Paul; by de Lord dat made us all; if Such-an'-such has mah money or watch, leave de [= dere= there] key Bible an' all. [For preceding obscurity see later.] It has been proven dat way. De party dat chew had no suspicion for, would feel guilty an' return it. He will volunteer to come back with it. [THIS IS MY ONLY EXAMPLE OF A WOMAN FORBIDDEN TO HOLD A KEY! The reason is obvious. A key is something that goes into a hole, unlocks. Elsewhere in the text I have written about former moral theology forbidding women to assume the superior position, either she lying or sitting. Folklore cautions her against stepping over a man lying on the floor or crawling over him in bed. Here We also have the locked-room theme of Blue- beard, who gave the keys of the castle to his wife, forbidding her to unlock one room.] [The preceding bracket [[= dere = there]] properly placed in its context reads: leave there key, [[leave]] Bible an' aZl.]
Entry 8894
If yo' wanta find sompin dat's stolen - if somebody steal sompin from yuh - yo' take dat Bible an' git chew a brass key whut we call a skeleton key, but it's brass. Yo' take dat key an' a cord string an' run de string through de Bible dat way [demonstratesl, an' twist it on de string, dis end, an' twist it on de othah end de same way. Each end of de string is wrapped ovah on de key. An' yo' kin take dat key, yo' an' anothah person, an' hold yore fingah upon dat key, an' dat Bible ain't goin' move till yo' call de right name. An' whoevah yo' thinks got it - yo' call several names befo' dem tuh be shore yo's undahstandin' whut chure doin'. An' when yo' git tuh de right person, dat Bible will turn roun' an' fall.
Entry 8895
Yo' kin take de Bible an' lay it down open. Open tuh David's [Psalms] uh [orl eithah tuh St. Luke. Jes' let it be layin' heah on de table an' yo' be sayin' yore prayahs. Say de Lord's Prayah. An' yo' sayin' yore prayah. Dat's when it fus' [first] start tuh work. An' so yo' sit dere an' yo' call dese names as ah fus' said, By St. Petah, by St. Paul, by de Lord dat made us all; now ah wanta be true in whut ah'm doin'. Says, Now, Lord, ah wants yo' tuh be true. Say, Ah don' wanta beah [bear] no false witness. Ah don' wanta 'cuse [accuse] no one wrong. An' yo' set dere an' yo' call names, an' when yo' git tuh de right person's names, dose Bible leaves jes' go turn ovah jes' lak yo's [you is] turnin' 'em.
(Then you can find out who stole the article by doing that?)
Yes. Sometimes yore mind will jes' come tuh yo', yo' jes' know dat ah'm
[I have] got yore hat.
Entry 8896
Well, lak if ah would steal sompin from yo' an' yo' know dat ah wuz de only one dere, but yo' didn't know whethah person'ly dat wuz me. Well, yo' kin git de Bible an' tell dat. Dat tell yo', de Bible an' a key. Well, yo' kin git de Bible an' yo' read de firs' verse of Psalms an' yo' close de Bible. An' yo' ties a string roun' de centah of de Bible. An' yo' gits a key, a do' key, an' hangs on dat string. Hangs it on each string where it hang steady, an' let it stay dere until it git perfectly still. Den yo' say: By St. Petah, by St. Paul, if John took so-an'-so from me, turn Bible an' fall. An' he didn't, dat Bible will not move; but if he did, yo cannot hol' [hold] it till it turn.
Entry 8897
Then, you want to find out who it was, stealing? Well you get the Bible and put the key on the Seven Songs of Moses [whatever that is] and turn it [key] nine times. [Does in- formant mean the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, the hoodoo or witchcraft man- ual?] If you think of that person - you mean, if you want to know who it was?
(Yes, and then I want to make them pay [bring] it back, too.)
Turn that key on 'im an' jes' say: By St. Peter, by St. Paul, by the Lord and God who made us all; if So-and-so took it, turn key, Bible, and fall. If it's him, it'll fall. If it's this man it'll fall. And if it falls on this man [when his name is called], what you do, you get some lodestone; if you know where he lives. You got'a know where he lives to make him bring it back. Get some lodestone and put it up under his step in a little sack. Put nine pearl buttons in there. And if he walks over that, he will bring back whatever he took, right back where he got it from. But you got'a put that name what you called in that sack at the bottom step.
Entry 8898
Take a Bible, a small Bible. with a new do' key. an hang de new do' key - tie de Bible aroun' disaway, six times wit a cord. Tie de key into de leaves of de Bible, intuh Genesis chaptah. Hang it on a nail an' name it. An' de nex' mawnin' dat Bible will be turned right tuh de direction of de one who did de damage.
(Whoever stole the stuff?)
Yes.
Entry 8986
Well now some people reads de Psalms.
(Any particular number?)
Yes. Now, yo' could read de 56 Psalm an' when yo' goin' in court: [Be merci- ful unto me, O God...mine enemies would daily swallow me up...in God I have put my turst; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me... King James Version.] Well, dat will keep de judge's mind enunwavered [= enervated = deprived of nerve, force or strength] all de time, an' so if he's supposed to give yo' a summons, yo' don't get no summons.
Entry 8990
If a man evah git into trouble an' he wants tuh git outa trouble, co'se [of course] it ain't no root but chew git chew a Testament, a little Bible dat's got de Psalms in it, an' yo' read dat piece ever' mawnin' at seven o'clock. Have dat Bible brought to yo' in de jail whilst dey got chew in prison. Read dat piece ever' mawnin' at seven o'clock. Git up an' read dat piece an' read in dere. Ah've did dat, chew see: Oh, Lord deliver me in mah distress; deliver me from de han's of mah enemies [this sounds like a conflation from 2 different Psalms]. An' dey said dat chew will overcome dat. Ah did it an' ah got out, did conquer 'em. Ever' mawnin' yo' read dat piece. Git dat little book, dat Bible.
Entry 8991
(Now, right at the beginning. You said, he was brought before the judge because he did something.) If yo' go to - if yo' had did somepin othah, an' de judge goin' try yo' fer it, an' yo' was out under bond, yo' read de 109th Psalms ever' mawnin' befo' sun- up, ever' mawnin' three times fo' seven mawnin's until yore trial time. An' den when yo' go down, yo' done read dat, yo' done read an' yo' done read. An' yo' read it. An' de Lord, yo' has asked 'im to an- swer your question. Well, yo's seeking advantage of the judge, an' when yo' goes down, he goin': have mercy. on yo'. He might be goin' try yo' an' give yo' life or your neck, but when yo' go down dere, aftah yo' done read dat seven mawnin's an' burnt dose encense [in- cense] when yo' read it - yo' goes down, an' he'll find, he finally say dat. He'll turn yo' loose. He ain't goin' find yo' guilty. He might fine yo' $100 or $2. He may not fine yo' nuthin, jes' let yo' go on, dismiss de case.
Entry 8992
Ah heard dat if yo' wanta git a light fine, if dey take yo' down fo' speedin'. If yo' kin git chew a Bible an' read de 32nd Psalm fo' nine mawnin's - if yo' stay in dat long, read it fo' nine mawnin's. Git up in de mawnin' an' don't say a word tuh nobody, jes' go 'head an' read de 32nd Psalm fo' nine mawnin'. Dey say de judge would be light on yo'.
Entry 9117
Well, ah learnt dat if yo' wants tuh git chew - jes' lak if yo' had a son or sompin in prison, an' yo' done want him out an' don't have de money tuh git 'im out. Yo' go an' git chew some sage. Take twelve grains of sage an' yo' care [carry] 'em tuh de co'thouse evah mawnin' evah time yo' kin git dere an' give 'im one of dem an let 'im swallow it. An' yo' come back. Yo' penetrate if yo' kin git to 'em [him] give 'im one an' let 'em swallow until he swallow de twelve grains. Come back home an' git a Bible an' dere's a po'tion in de Bible somewhere roun' about de twelve chaptah ah think, dey say, an' yo' read de firs' three chaptah. An' dey'll eithah turn 'im free or dismiss de case.
(What book in the Bible do they read?)
[He must have said St. Luke.]
(St. Luke, you say?)
Yes. [There are appropriate verses in Luke 12 for a person in jail.]
Entry 9118
Yes sir, yo' kin take a Bible an' take de 91 Psalms out it, an' put sage leaves in it an' care it up to de jailhouse; an' if it's anybody in dere dat yo' want out, yo' let 'em read 91 Psalms. An' yo' read it an' dey'll turn 'emout (What do you do with those sage leaves then?) Put 'em in de Bible. (Where the 9lst Psalm is?) Where de 91 Psalm is an' give dem de Bible an' yo' have one an' yo' let dem read de 91 Psalms while yo' readin' it.
(Do you read yours in the jailhouse with them or at home?)
[Notice how I say them agreeing with him, rather than saying him. I frequent- 1y do this in Hoodoo.] Wit 'em at de jailhouse. [Did informant have 2 Bibles or did he copy out Psalm 91 for the prisoner? They evidently read this well-known Psalm together.]
Entry 9122
Git chew sage, yo've heard tell of sage, an' yo' git chew de seed of dat sage. Dere's so many seeds on it. Yo' see, dis is got out de Bible, de twelve [not 12 but 10] virgins [Matt.25:1] yo' know. [Rite has no con- nection with Bible.l Well, yo' git six of each one of dose seeds of dat sage, an' yo' put six in one shoe, an' six in de othah one. An' dey say whensomevah yo' go intuh de jailhouse fo' trial or somepin lak dat, why dey couldn't convict chew on dem sage. Yo'd come cleah regardless tuh whut kinda crime it wus or whut yo' wus 'cused of, or whethah yo' did it. Yo'd come cleah.
Entry 9491
Why, yo' kin be moved even wit de sunshine, even wit de table salt.
(How do you do that?)
Yo' take de Bible an' yo' take de salt an' go tuh de do' at de risin' of de sun, an' yo' throw yuh salt tuh de east. See [demonstrates]. An' yo' go through yore rooms no'th, east, so'th an' de west. See, an' yo' throw dat salt around in dat room. Dat is, eithah way yo' kin do it. An' den yo' go back - yo' do dat fo' three mawnin's an' he'll git upset an' of co'se he'll move. Yore [victim's] nerves will become nervous an' yo'll [he'll] have tuh go.
(Now I go to the door that's facing the east, and throw some salt...)
Dat way, yes, an' dat way [demonstrates]...fo' directions.
(That will make them [him] move out.)
Entry 10196
Dey burn dose an' den dey read de Bible.
(How do you do that?)
Dey jes' sets 'em all round, but one will do.
(One candle.)
Yes, one will do. Set it in de room an' den yo' git chure Bible an' yo' read a verse, de firs' verse dat chew [see when you] open de Bible. Den yo' read dat. (And what color candle do you use?) Well, yo' kin git de red candle. (What is that supposed to do then?) Yo' burn it fo' luck. (What kind of luck?) Well, luck in anything come in, any kind of business yo' got, dat yo' wanted tuh increase.
Entry 10208
If there's something that you don't want taken regardless of what it is, if you don't want it taken - for an instance if you take, if you lock your house they going to break in, and you don't know how to do for to keep 'em from taking your things. Well, then, first I would go and I would get me some sassafras [roots or pieces of bark]. I'd get some sassafras and I'd get me a knife and I'd trim this sassafras, see. I'd trim it and every little piece that I'd whittle off it [demonstrates].
(Every piece that comes off, what do you do with that?)
Every piece I trim off - I'm going to trim it off until I get to nine pieces, and every time I get the nine pieces, I'd count the nine pieces. I'd get them nine pieces and I'm going to put nine pieces here [demonstrates]. I cut off until I get nine more pieces and I'm going to put that there until I get four times nine. See? Well, all right. Now, I'm going to set it on the outside of my door. That's the corner of my house and that's the corner of my house. I'm going to set nine pieces there and nine pieces there, and at the back end of my house. I'm going to set nine pieces.
(You have nine pieces in each corner of the house.)
In each corner of the house, but on the outside. Under my house, if I can get under there and get to where the fire part is - the fire-hearth part is; under the house, you know.
(You what?)
Get under the house, underneath the house and get to the fire-hearth, see.
(Oh, the chimney - the fire-hearth.)
Yes, the chimney. I take and I put me a Bible there. I put that Bible there. I puts the Bible up under that house and I puts a candle there, and I leave that candle burning, see, and I leave the Bible open. But I put a piece of something in front where nobody can't learn that candle's burning there, you see, and leave it burning there. And then I come out from under that house and I locks my door, and as I'm coming out I'm sprinkling a little sugar, you see. I sprin- kle sugar as I come out, you see, until I get at least fifty feet from my house, you see. Then I won't sprinkle no more sugar and I can go and stay from three or four days and come back. Nobody will go in that house, nobody never go in there.
(What sort of a candle do you burn on that chimney?)
I'm got a ordinary white candle. (A white candle, I see.) [Here we have a quincunx, 4 corners and a double central point - Bible and candle.] [New Orleans, La., (832), 1249:2.] [If the reader is approaching this multi-volumed HOODOO archive for the first time, he or she must be told that the present beliefs and rites about sex are perely a continuation of 167 pages of similar material published in volume 3, Nos.3ll0-3830, Pp.2341-2509; material listed in logical sequence according to the Table of Contents for volumes 5, 4 and 3. The material now following could not be so conveniently arranged, though it does have a certain amount of alpha- betical order and other continuity. I am dividing this section into two parts: (1) COMPLETE RITES and (2) CONDENSED RITES, these latter sometimes a reference oaly.]
Entry 10411
Bible under head in bed [under pillow or mattress] keeps witch away.
[Wilmington, N. Car., (206), 113:8+85; also informant 31 at Hampton, Va.]
Bible under head of bed [on floor] keeps witch away. [Baltimore, Md., (near 142), 46:4+85.] Bible under bed and hang sifter overhead. [Deal Island, Md., (108), 16:3+85.] Bible and 3 pins to keep hag away. [Richmond, Va., (343), 287:2+85.] Bible under pillow and 3 stick pins [ordinary pins] underhead. The hag turned into a little piece of red meat, found next morning. Stop the meat up and the hag [unable to breathe] will come. [Richmond, Va., (343), 287:2+85.] Bible and stub of a broom [the straw part of a worn-out broom] at head of bed to keep hag away. [Wilmington, N. Car., (about 249), 161+85, diffuse story not worth copying.]
Entry 10495
Dey say, if dose hags wear yo' out ev'ry night overnight, to put a basin of water right in de line about halfway of de person an' den sleep wit de Bible under dere head. (Where do they put that water?) Dey put de water on de floor right in front of de bed. In de front of de bed on de floor about half- way to de bed but it be's outside, not under de bed. [This is a broken bone rite!] An' den sleep with de Bible, or a good-reading book, under yore head. [This is my only example of a good-reading book!] Dey will also stop bothering yo'.
Entry 10697
Yo' go to a fortuneteller or Hoodoo and pay them a certain amount of money to have what is known as good luck to follow your home while you are gone. And it is said that she would tell you for this amount [of money given to her] to buy de Bible and not open it. Open it in de house [itself] and find de 17 division of Psalms, Psalms of David, [close Bible] and walk in yore garden and git as near de center as possible [here is a quincunx rite!] not yet opening Bible. And turn yore face as near towards de east as possible, and valk 17 steps and stop, and read de 17 division of de Psalms, and den close de book. And no harm will befall yore home or nuthin will happen to yore wife. (This is to sort of to protect your family; especially if a man is going away from home?) Yes, that's on leaving home. The same thing holds good, de wuman tole me, if a man's wife leaves him and he wants her to return.
Entry 10700
A long and unimportant story in which healer read the Bible and rubbed the patient. [Hor- ally this sort of thing could be called religious, but frequently magic actons a words may be involved.]
Entry 10701
Yo' kin pray an' read Proverbs, first chapter in de second verse an' dey'll bring it back [vhatever mas stolen from you. Proverbs 1:2 is meaningless here]. Hit was a sanctified lady once, wus a girl stole her pockitbook, an' she did dat an' she brought it back to de church.
(Do you belong to the Sanctified Church?)
Yes sir.
Entry 10702
Well, yo' would turn to Psalms. Yo' read dat. Yo' read de six: By St. Peter, by St. Paul, by de God who made us all, if (whomsomevah it is, yo' call dem by dere name) is got sech an' sech a thing, why Bible let me know by wheelin' an' fall. Well, if dey got it, dat Bible will wheel an' fall. Whosomevah wus in de house, yo' follow de names around till yo' git to de right one.
Entry 10703
Yo' kin take de Bible, fo' one thing with a key, an' if yo' an' I wus in heah. or three - foah of us, yo' kin call de rights one name. see. an' yo' kip tell exactly who it is, if yo' know how tuh turn it. It goin' tell de truth. Now bringin' it [stolen article back, ah don't know 'bout bringin' it back, but yo' kin tell who it is. True. [This is an incomplete Bible and key rite, a very common type of divination. You ask the Bible "yes' and "no answer ques- tions: Did John Jones take my pocketbook? If so, the Bible will turn and the key will fall, meaning "yes." There are examples of this rite scattered in HOODO0.]
Entry 10704
Well, if de house is ha'nted an' yo' can't git rid of de ha'nts, if yo've got a Bible, jest sleep wit it under yore haid. Dat'll stop de ha'nts.
Entry 10705
Well, if you wanted tuh be protected from de spirits, ghostes or things - wanta rest - lak if dey worrying yo' at night, yo' take a Bible an' lay it right under yore pillah wide open. An' yo' kin go to sleep an' rest all night long, and it won't no ghost an' no evil spirit or nuthin lak dat bother yo'.
Entry 10706
If a person come in an' yo' don't want dem dere, when he comes in, jest sweep him de way he come in. Sweep out his track jest as he come in, de Way he come in, if yo' don't want him dere. An' finally his conscience will jest lead him [to stay away]. Dat's jest de way yo' do de way ah jest tole yo'. Yo' kin talk nice to him an' say ah haven't got so-an'-so. Well, den if he continue to be comin' after dis, yo' git dat book an' put it under yore head an' read it, an' yo' git relieved from him.
(What is the name of that book?)
It's de Bible de 37th Psalms.
(You just put that Bible under your head?)
Entry 10707
To make de house lucky, if rentin' a house.... Yo' take dis salt an' put it in de Bible or in a leaf [torn from Bible] an' put it on a shelf an' jes' leave it dere. Yo' kin put it in a small place, yo' see [where it will not be seen] an' yo' won' have any trouble rentin' yo' house. (You just wrap this salt up in this leaf from the Bible. You tear the leaf out of the Bible?) Yo' kin take de leaf outa de Bible, 'cause yo' see if yo' leave de whole Bible up dere, dat's suspicious.
claimed house-rental luck from the described salt/Bible placement. Keep Bible OR leaf wording and later permission to remove a leaf because a whole Bible would arouse suspicion; no mandatory whole-book placement. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 4050) · Read full source (printed page 4051)
Entry 10708
Yo' take the Bible or a leave [leaf] out of the Bible an' wrap it in salt an' [red] peppah, wrap dis leaf up. An' it's jes' a few words that yo' pray ovah it. Then yo' take it wit yo' an' he'll come purtty near givin' yo' a job.
Entry 10709
De cedar tree an' de leaf from a Bible, an' jes' carry it with yo' an'.... Yo' git dose strips from a cedar tree an' de leaf from a Bible an' [leaf from] a fig tree, an' dat will make a person follow yo', when yo' in love with 'em.
Entry 11159
Ah saw in there [in a book?]. It says if yo' take a piece of devil's- shoestring an' put it in de Bible, an' let it stay ovahnight, an' put it in a man's path where he walk, he won't have any mo' money - yo' know, jes' as yo' tell 'em to go, he'll go an' do. [Reference lost!]
Entry 11286
On 7lst Psalm of David. See: Oh, Lord God in thee I put my trust. Never let me be put confusion in [be put in confusion]. Thy have beholdth from the womb. Thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels and my praise shall be contained in thee. [More or less like the King James Version.] This is the only Zuization, [Does he mean Utilization? In any case translate word remedy.] that I know of to keep your sexual force, you understand, away from you in that respect, and that don't he'p you very much, but the still of that is to keep down - the enemy's force down. Says, Cast me not off in the time of old age, and forsake not my strength, for my enemies speaks against me. And they that lay waste my soul take counsel to- gether. [Also from Psalm 71.] That's the second chapter Proverb. There's the 9th, 10th and 24th verse, yeah of the 7lst Psalm of David. Now, that's a very good portion of Scripture that I know dey use in that respect.
(In what respect?)
I say in that respect what you asked me just now about.
(About what?)
About the bootlegging proposition, yeah.
(Oh, bootlegging, yes, if you want to keep the law away from there.)
I mean, that's a very good chapter, I mean for to keep you successful in
[your] own undertaking there.
Entry 11287
You go kill a deer.
(A deer?)
Oh, yeah! Kill a deer. It's a very tame animal. You kill a female deer, save the blood and save the fat out of the side for a salve. I get that. You know the female, what they call in the east you know, is a lamb and the buck's a man. Get that fat and fry it out. That fat, I don't mind giving that fat for that. That will bring it. That will fix him so that he kin have some woman about once or twice a month. That other thing, [whatever it Was], I could not give. It's too deadly.
Entry 125
I do know a story about a church up here. This church is near Shelby- ville, Delaware. At present this church is closed. And in this church there is a very large Bible. And they say that anyone who goes in there and tries to carry this Bible out, they will not be able to get away further than the door. There are certain cases where people actually tried to take this Bible out and the person claimed that it became so heavy that finally they would have to drop it before they got to the door. And on other occasions before, they claim that motorists who pass there in the evening see lights in the church and they can hear people talking and singing.
Entry 344
I heard you have to go to a runnin' stream whare the water runs clear an' go thare nine mornin's, an' read a certain chapter somewhare, the Bible, on ever' mornin'. An' when you go the ninth mornin' you meet the devil thare on the ninth mornin' an' he'll give you a test. An' if you kin stand the test after you git thare that he puts on you, says you kin do anything you want to an' he'll defend yo'. You kin go out an' kill a person almost an' he'll clare you.
Entry 345
Dey tell me dat chew take a Bible an' go to de crossroads on a Sunday night at twelve a'clock an' yo' read, but chew have tuh read it backwards - an' when yo' read one verse, dey say yo' hear de voice of de next verse somewhere in de woods; an' when yo' finish it up, dat chew have sold yoreself to de devil. Dat's all ah know 'bout dat.
Entry 404
Now, yo' take huntin' money - jest lak money's buried. Yo' go to work an' yo'll git a machine an' go where de money is. An' dey takes a person tuh read de Bible backwards - one who read it backwards. De other one takes de machine an' dey - yo' take a new shovel whut ain't nevah been used, a new pick, a new axe ain't nevah been used. Well now, yo' git to usin' dat - an' de one readin' de Bible backwards, dat's to keep de money from goin' any further down. As long as he reads an' de other works, why dey'll git to it; but if yo' don't go to read, de mo' yo' git to it, de deeper it'll sink.
Entry 477
We use to live in a house where a witch would come in dere ev'ry night - a little ole woman. She'd come in dere an' she'd ride me ev'ry night. Ev'ry night, Laws [Lord's] sake, she'd ride me - jes' worry me so ah couldn't sleep dere. An' when she'd come in she'd come in from de do', from de front do'. (How did you get rid of her?) Well, ah took an' put a Bible up undah mah haid. Yo' kin put a Bible up undah yore haid if yo' dream a lot - yo' kin stop it.
Entry 481
Put a Bible under your pillow. A witch will have to read that Bible backwards before she can ride you. Sometimes it takes much longer - if they miss one word in one chapter the witch must go straight on back [start] again, and by dat time it's daybreak and they can't ride you.
Entry 804
You can, and you see, it's a peculiar way about it - you just have to go and try to work on yourself and see. Now, if you hurt, doctor's medicine won't do you no good. And you just have to try some other way, and of course, people that dwell with spirits dey kin dwell with de spirits and find out things. And of course, I do most of my work through de spirits and de Bible - reading certain chapters and deal with those things reveal to me. I can see 'em as a flash. In visions like that I kin tell. And if such a thing is true, why you kin go to work on yourself for that. (Well, suppose I had something wrong with me and I came to you - you say you only take care of women, but suppose I came to you. What would you do? HoW would you proceed to handle my case?) Well, depend on what's wrong with you. [Good.] [I either turned off my machine for a moment while we talked or recording too bad to transcribe:] (I see. You'd have to have a vision of it first - of what's wrong with me? I see. And then you'd give your remedy.) [Here I either left out some material about Madame Kaye, which I cannot find or it may have been badly recorded and not transcribed.] (And you say, you don't - you only have women customers, you don't take men at all. Isn't there someone around here that just takes men, in town - someone that fust takes men?) I don't know.
(You said Madam Kaye only takes women, too.)
She just takes women. (I see. Well, now, how did you happen to learn this work - did you learn it from some member of your family?) No.
(I see. Did you have any special gift for it?)
A special gift - that's mostly what I have, a special gift and then course I have learnt from another certain woman which knows. (I see. Well, now, do you ever make up any of your own remedies or cures or do you get most of them out of a book?) I get most out of books. And I know a woman that I works with - ah mostly get 'em from her, she fixes 'em.
(That woman lives here? Would she come around and talk to me, I wonder?)
I think she will if I kin get in touch with her. She doesn't live in Mobile.
(Oh, I see - she lives out of town.)
Lives out of town.
(I see - how far out?)
Well, it's about 25 miles.
(I see - she lives up in the country some place?)
Yes. (End of 709 - this woman was brought by Mrs. Bracy. She's supposed to be a woman who puts men and women together [a technical expression], and she only works for women. Now, Madam Kaye, here in town, who is a white woman, does the same type of work. She only works for women - will not have any men clients.) (This woman, as you see on the cylinders, didn't tell me very much. She might have been a little bit timid - she was, in fact, frightened and THoUGHT THAT I WAS BROADCASTING HER SPEECH. However, she used the Sixth and Seventh Book of Moses and I doubt very much whether she knows many things.) [My comment after woman left.]
Entry 1118
I know on one occasion John Crutchfield was telling me he stayed at a house one night; nobody could stay there and he went in there. And things got so disagreeable in there: that he couldn't do nothing - very noisey, threw the cover off of him, moved his stuff around. Finally, he got a Bible that he had and started reading it backwards, and he began to pray, and the spirit left and he got along all right. [Fredericksburg, Va., (37), Ed.; King George Co., Va.,1906.]
Entry 1241
Well, she wus a woman, she sold whiskey an' she had a little tree whut be in her yard an' she would say a verse from de Bible to that tree an' den she would burn dragon's blood an' frankincense up undah de tree an' she'd grab de tree an' whip it an' den she jes' turn it back up. An' she'd burn that stuff right at the tree - right at the root of the tree she would burn it. Well, that wus supposed tuh keep away evil spirits an' de law or anything tuh bother her. [See margin-titles Whipping, p.388; Hitting Remedy, p.399.]
Entry 1251
[The following beliefs are ordinary folklore:]
On Christmas night yo' kin go to a fig tree about twelve a'clock an' dat chew could hear Eve an' Adam on de fig tree quarrelin' an' fussin' on de fig tree.
(Where did you hear that?)
Mah father tole me dat.
Entry 1426
[Psalms are often used in rites - see Psalms in Index.]
Well, now, I will give it to you out of the Bible. You can read the 9lst Psalm and read it in the morning at twelve o'clock, and when you go to bed [this is three times a dayl and I don't care what they put on or how they fix it or what they do, read that Psalm and after you read it, ask God to take care of you and nothing will never harm you.
Entry 2737
(What have you heard about them, the Seven Sisters?) Well, ah heard dey wus awful brainful, but ah don't think so much of 'em mahself.
(Are they still alive?)
One of them.
(They seem to live a long time - those Seven Sisters?)
Yessuh. (Well, what do they say about them? Just give me a little account of the Seven Sisters. What have you heard about them?) Well, dey tells me dat de Seven Sisters kin read yore mind; dey kin do any kind of hoodooism dat kin be did. An' co'se, de Seven Sisters works most by prayers an' in terms of de Bible. There are things dat chew kin take yore Bible an' where dat de Seven Sisters couldn't give yo' a substantial answer about, even so myself. [Extract from later subsection, interview with Havana Man, New Orleans, La., No. 1564.]
Entry 2782
Red candle's fo' love, and green candle's mostly fo' money, and yellow candle's fo' affectionate of [affection in] the home, and white candle's fo' peace and harmony and also, jes' like if anybody be real sick de last time, dey burns a white candle and reads a piece in de Bible sometime.
(What about black candles?)
Black candles - people kill you with black candles.
Entry 2949
Yo' kin feel it whatevah certain hour dat dey burn dat candle - yo' begin tuh feel de 'fects. Well, it's a piece in a Bible dat yo' go clip dat verse out of dat Bible and whenevah dat feelin' git on yo' when dey start aburning dat candle, yo' go somewhere in a close corner and read dat verse out of dat Bible. See, read de verse out of dat Bible instead of - don't say, git mad with de person whut chew think burning it. Yo' jest say, "God bless 'em, ' or something an' read dat verse out of dat Bible. That will turn it back. Dey say dat verse will be so strong - ah forget de name of dat verse, what verse it is. An' they say it'll go out - de candle can't burn, because yo' know dat's always stronger power den de devil.
Entry 11261
[Most of the material from Doctor Paul Bowes, my contact man at Norfolk, Va., is on pages 1733-1738, cyl- inders 458-463, given in volume 2. Not included in this collection are the following separate rites, all in volume 1: Nos.300,337, 410, 455, 475 and 614. As I said, a few pages ago, this man was a cousin of the preceding Doctor Bowes of Newport, Va.] If you can't read cards, well, you might go to a fortuneteller and he'll read for you and tell you where to locate it. (You're speaking about reading those cards. Well, how would you read those cards in order to discover whether a person is hurt or not. Is there any special way?) Oh, yes, a special way to do dat. You have no cards wit you, have yuh? Well, you might not be able to read 'em, even if I tell you. If I start you off... [Several times I was asked whether I had a deck of cards. I never carried anything that could suggest my selling products, telling fortunes, healing, etc. Always I hoped to complete a small book of cunjure and root doctor stories and rites.] You must deal three rows of cards, three cards in a row. Then you begin to start to read. But if you haven't never studied, it will be right hard for you to locate it then; but if I could be seein' you from now on, I could sort of give you ideas. (Yes, you just give me an idea. Here, you put down three cards in a row, and you have three rows of three cards in each row.) That's right. Well, you might pluck up, say for instance, an ace of spades might come in next. That's a bad card, it mean's death. Well, suppose dat head is standing down. That means someone is got de girl upside down. Reach over dis hand and you might turn up a deuce. Dat means the deuce for truth. All right, and here's the heart's over here. They's good, hearts, won't harm or nothin'. Dat's the way you read dose cards, locate dose cards, understand? Well, you low, cards is a real - true book. In other words, they are made from the Scripture. You realize dat, don't you?
(Yes.)
And you shuffle them ole cards right and they'll tell you anything that you want to know in the HOODOO LINE. (I see. These cards when you put them down - these rows of cards - are turned dorn, and you turn them up one at a time. Where do you begin to turn up these cards? Where do you begin to turn them up?) You first start from the left and go to the right. From the first left-hand card read to the right all the time.
(This way? That way?)
Yes, that's it. And they'll spell you out most anything you want to know.
Entry 3069
[We have already met Doctor Bayhan, a white man on the Eastern Shore, who was also known in Baltimore (62, p.28).] [Here is an original statement in my original penciled transcription. "Temporary annotation - for footnote reference only - to get wife back - Doctor Bayhan. He charges from $20 to $25...you bring him the picture...he'll guarantee you and he'll give you a Bible and you'll wear this Bible in your pocket. If she don't come back in a space of time that he gives yeh, he'll refund your money back to you regardless of where you at. This note was orig- inally made to be used for fees by doctors.]
Entry 413
Or some people say yo' put de money in de ground an' yo' bury a chicken or bury a cat or somepin - whatever dey bury, ah don't know what. Why, dis thing will come back wit chure money. Or bury dis Negro - why dis Negro will be so strong, somepin to make yo' 'fraid an' keep yo' 'way. (Is there any way that a fellow can go there at all and prevent that and get the money?) Well, dey say if yo' git chew a Bible an' go to dis place readin' yo' Bible, when dis stuff start - yo' got chure gang an' yore shovel wit chew - go ahead an' dig de money up. Don't pay any 'tention, jes' go ahead an' yo' see de stuff fall, jes' walk right on lak yo' don't see it; reads yo' Bible - readin' God's word, yo' see. An' dey said, when yo' git to dis place, why yo' got an idea how much room it might take, yo' know, to dig dis money up - yo' know, yo' all stand round in a ring round dere an' keep on reading de Bible. Say, den one man will walk around dere dragging his foot chew know, an' mark de place out, while dey be reading de Bible. Why den when dey git through reading dis Bible, take dis Bible an' lay it down on de line, puts it de way dey came - come dis way an' lay it right down on dere where he came in; on dat land marked round dere, lay de Bible, an' dey say yo' git right down dere an' dig. As long as dey didn't talk - don't talk an' don't, yo' know, make a fuss. Git right down dere an' dig. Say all kind of animals - all kinds of mess will come right up dere live, but pay no 'tenshun to 'em. Yo' dig right dere, jes' don't make no fuss, yo'll git chure money. Git dat money an' sit right on de - all kind of animals will come right to dat line, but co'se dey wouldn't come in 'cause dat's de Bible - see, wouldn't come ovah dat Bible.
Entry 479
You put a Bible underneath your - open it to any chapter and turn it down under yore pillah, and then you kin put a pair of scissors and that will keep them away.
(The hag.)
Uh-huh.
Entry 569
When ah was twelve years old, people used to come to mah house and git mah daddy to let me come cut cards fo' 'um - see, it was a gift to me. Ah nevah been to school two months in mah life but I musta had [something?] down in mah heart, but ah got wicked and got to cursin', tellin' lies and it left me. Now, for experient [experience], for self- experient about mahself, about mah wife - ah tole you about my wife. Ah'm got a wife an' fo' kids. My wife, somebody put a spell on her in liquor [see No. 78]. She got it in whiskey and she done walked off. She been gone now fer about round three months. [This was not the first time she had left home.] Ah done spent money, all ah had - ah been to Beaufort, South Carolina, ah been to other people.
(Whom did you see at Beaufort?)
A man dey call Dr. Robinson - j'ever hear talk about him - live on an island?
(I never heard of Robinson - I know Rikker who is there.)
(Did he live in Beaufort or outside of town?)
He lived outside of town on a little island.
(Oh, yes, I know him - I know him.) [See Robinson in Index.]
Well, anyways he lived on a little island.
(What did he do for you when you went there?)
He tole me if I could get my wife hair - he put somepin to his ear, see - he say, "Yore wife got a spell on her in whiskey," which ah knows that, but I ain't said nothing. He put somepin to his ear and ah hear him talking and it look to like - and he say, "What dis boy done?" [He say] "Ain't done nothin'?" He say, "Uh-huh." He say, "Two wimmins put a spell on your wife in liquor." [The moment informant said the doctor had put somepin to his ear, I suspected Doctor Robinson had used an old-fashioned ear trumpet to consult a spirit. My informant could hear him talking - both spirit and doctor. Ventriloquism? I doubt it - it was unnecessary. Instead of asking his patient what was wrong, the doctor inquired of the spirit, What dis boy done? Presumably the spirit replied, Ain't done nothin', for doctor somewhat surprised repeats, Ain't done nothin'? And then he knowingly comments, Uh-huh. If the reader is skeptical about method and belief here, remember that the Tomb-of-de-Babe-of-Bethlehem preacher (see Contents or Index) could hold a sea shell to his ear and hear the roaring of the primordial ocean of Genesis - first book in the Bible. See also No. 242 for talking snake.] He say, "If yo' kin bring her to me," say, "ah'll cure her." Ah say, "Well, ah ain't got no way bringin' her - she done left home." He say, in seven days from den she goin' be back - and she was back de seventh day. She come back, but he say, "She won't stay without chew bring her to me." But ah never did get enough money to take my wife. All right, she left again. An' ah went to different people right here in town and dey couldn't make her come back. An' you know what I hear oncet? I did oncet, heah about two weeks ago, ah went to de people and tole 'em, ah said, "Don't work on her no mo' - jes' let her go." But dat day when ah come, heah she was sweeping de house. [At this point in the transcription an original note of mine reads, "Hayes (my transcriber) left out material about spirits - my use of silver." What this silver means I no longer know.] Ah give mah wife up. She wouldn't come near. She would come dere when ah wouldn't answer [while he was away from home] and go along. It come to me to take a aig, write her name on it three times and ah put it in a glass and bury it under - right near de house under a tree, see.
(Near her house or your house?)
To my house - right in mah yard.
(You didn't break the egg?)
Didn't break it. All right. Now, here where dis come. Ah have a little ole plum tree, too, out in de yard. Jest as plain as ah'm talkin' to you, it come to me in mah sleep - a man tole me - to take a white pine - piece of white pine - yo' know what a white pine is - go to dat tree three nights and three days and call her name nine times fore ah hit one of those - see, jest like a leaf - a tree done sprung from it [a come] - call her name and hit on it three times fer three nights and three days. All right. Ah tole de ole man yestiday she done workin' around somebody - seems she done gettin' worried. See, last night was de last night after sundown - she come home last night at twelve 'clock with her clothes and so help me, God, and she tole me, she said she ain't going leave no more. So I musta done git de spirit [the man in his sleep], see. Now, dat's the truf, if I never speak agin. An' she's gittin' jest further - she wouldn't come near me atall. Dey man moved in, say de spell was put on her to make her hate me - say two wimmin did it wit whiskey and one man. But now, this thing heah what ah'm tellin' yo' 'bout with that piece of white pine, and go to that tree after sundown and call her name three times an' jest tell her what chew want, tell her that you want her to come home and stay home.
(When you call her name, do you hit the tree with that thing?)
Jest knock a leaf off it. Yo' jest pick yo' one of 'em dat grows, see - tain't no pine, jest any kind of tree, but you git a piece of white pine to do it wit. You got'a go to a little ole green tree - somepin like a plum tree or any kind of a green tree. That what the man tole me and what ah did.
(Who told you this?)
A spirit tole me.
(Oh, a spirit man - I see.)
Dat's right - come to me in mah sleep - wasn't no man - jist come to me in mah sleep - a man tole me to do it and ah did it and last night made de six days - my wife walked in de house last night after twelve 'clock - knocked on de do' and tole me to let her come in. [At this point in the transcription an original note of mine reads, "Some untranscribed material about his wife."] No, heah how it started. Dey tuk de liquor and dey put somepin in it. See, when dey put stuff in dere like dat, no telling what - it gits yore mind, gits yo' dull and gits in yore brains. See. Every month, jest de date dey give it to you, every month dat dat you gits foolish head - den you Wanta do jest what dey Want chew to do. [See subsection Time in this section.] See. De chillun kept tellin' me about it - say, "Mama jest sets round dere an' cry-babying an' [we] say what de matter and she say dere ain't nothin' in her." Dey say, "Dere's somepin in her." Dat spell was working on her more an more and at last one Saturday night ah go home and to de chillun, ah say, "Where yo' mama?" They say] "Mama tuk her coat and left," and she stayed about a day. Ah went and talked with her and ah said, "What's the matter sweetheart?" And she jest cried and cried, "Ah don't know." Well, ah said, "Yo' come on home." She come on back home. About two months after that she was gone agin - she stayed about three days den. Ah go talk wit her and she come back home agin. But ah'd taken her to dis Father Abraham and he told her she was witchcrafted. He give her somepin out of de Bible to drink and some water -
(He had taken something out of the Bible and some what?)
He'd taken what he got out de Bible - some sort somepin, he made a little pill out of and give it to her [probably a Bible-text pill]. She got all right den, see, fer about a month. (Father Abraham is up here at Lottie, Florida Lottie, Florida - dey buried him last week. An' he say, "Yo' witchcraft - dat's your trouble." And he prayed some kind of prayer over her - put his hand on her haid. She got all right fer about a couple of months. Ah go home and she was laying on de floor stiff. Ah pick her up and say, "What de matter." She didn't know nothing. Next morning I'd taken her back to him. Ah give dat fellah $200. All right, she got all right fer about a couple of months. He says fer to stay from around dem people, say, "You'll be all right, but every time you go around dem, dey doubles yore dose on yo'. See. An' she laid [stayed] home agin. Ah'm telling you she stayed den three weeks. All right, ah goes to Beaufort, where ah was telling you about where ah went. Ah give dat fellah three dollars - Dr. Robinson - and I mean he had plenty people round dere to see him. He put that thing to his ear and he say, "Seven days and if she ain't come back under seven days - seven days, she'll be dere. But she ain't gon'a be stationery - she ain't going to stay." [He] say, "You bring her here to me and ah'll take it off her." But ah never be able to take her dere. She come back in de seven days. She come back in de seven days jest lak ah count de days, see, de seventh day on de minute she walks in after sundown.
(She came back last night, did you say?) [No, I am mistaken.]
Dat de seven days he talking about, see. She worked all right fer about two months round dere er [or] three months. Three months after that, three months from last night she was gone - walked out agin and she been gone three months. Ah went to diff'rent root people, ah been all over. Dere's plenty of dem here in dis town - plenty of 'em tell yo' dey kin do things, whether they done do it er not, see. And ah spent money with white wimmens, colored wimmins, colored men jest thrown mah money away and so ah been worried. You know about how ah been feeling - every time ah go home, de chillun say, "When yo' goin' git mama to come home?" Ah say, "Ah don't know." She'd go out once a week and see de chillun but she sneak away fore ah git dere. Dey put a spell on her to make her spirit die - make her hate me, see. An' dat spirit brought dat to me what to do, see. Dat's why ah'm telling yuh, I know it goin' work - nobody have to tell me. Now, you know when ah started to work on that - last Sunday night. It ain't been six days. See, you go to dat tree jest like ah tell you with a piece of pine board - don't make no diff'rent whether it is big or not - and yo' looking at de good limb wit de leaves on it, see, and you start to de head and call her name three times and you knock off some of dem leaves each time you call - jest three times - and stick dat stick in de ground, not up on de tree - stick it where nobody won't see it. See. An' you go back dere - you do's it fer three days and three nights. And de last night she walk in dere twelve 'clock wit her clothes under her arm. Dis mawnin' ah said, "Well." Ah knowed she was coming, see, 'cause de spirit had done showed it to me dat night wit her clothes coming - ah seed her plain wit her clothes coming. All right.
(What did she have to say?)
She knock on de door an' ah say, "Who dere?" She say, "Git up and open de door." She come in and ah say, "Why, you comin"' and she say, "Yeah, ah'm goin' stay now - ah ain't goin' no more - ah'm tired." Ah know where she was stayin'. She was stayin' tuh her aunty a while, stayin' over tuh her cousin a while - see jest scabering aroun' jest like somebody goin' away when she got her own home dere to stay tuh. But dey put a spell on her - she couldn't he'p it. Dis mawning she tole me. De chillun.say dey sure is glad to git her home. But she ain't exactly right yet - de spirits tell me it goin' wear off of her more and more.
Entry 612
I know a lady in Baltimore, she was taken to the asylum. She was hurt with some kind of white stuff. Someone next door throwed it in her hair. She Was crazy. A man told us he could cure her. The day she was to be taken away he came to see her. He put a Bible under her head and told us to wash her head with tobacco and we did so. Before he did that he taken a glass of milk, he taken a silver ring off of his finger and let it stood in this milk, and give it to her to drink. It [milk left in glass after the drink] didn't turn black, so he said she wasn't hurt inside. He said let her go on to the asylum and he guaranteed in four weeks time she'll be out. So we did. He give me a [dressed] handkerchief, a brand-new one. He told me don't let my hands touch it, carry it to the asylum and give it to her to wipe her face. And I did. I could tell a diff'rence in her before I left. In four weeks time she was at home.
Entry 1533
If someone is tryin' tuh do yo' evil, well yo' begin tuh take yo' some prayahs. Yo' takes a prayah outa de Bible. Yo' takes one pod of peppah, red peppah, two silvah dimes - dat's twenty cents. Yo' takes de pod of de peppah an yo' puts it into a cloth an' yo' grinds dat peppah an' salt togethah jes' as a powdah an' yo' sews it up in a bag an' yo' keeps it undah de bottom of yore feet always - don' nevah go without it. Take dat dime [two dimes] an' dat peppah an' put it all undah yore foot an' always wear it, an' de ones dat is trying tuh do it, if yo' git their name, yo' kin write their name down, which is nine times, an' put hit in yore shoes. An' wear it jes' with that peppah an' it's no harm dat dey kin do to yo'.
(You wear one of those pods under each foot then?)
Under each feet. (Each has a dime an' each has a piece of pepper and each has some salt in it and their name?) Yassuh, each one of their name in dat shoe.
Entry 1948
Take seeds of paradise - seven grains, seeds of para- dise. Yo' buy that in the Hindu companies, yo' know, those dirty strong [smelling] places [because incense is burning]. Seven grains of paradise. An' throw it aroun' yore do'. Make a good wish an pray an' take yore Bible an' read de Psalms of David an' ask God tuh open de way fo' yo' an' yore business will gradually grow. Also yo' kin read de sixth chapter of Luke an' dat'll he'p yo' in de Bible in de Christianity. That is tuh bring business to yore home. [The preceding Hindu companies were more likely a company with an oriental name and someone wearing a turban (see Turban in Index). Since I always assumed some of these companies may have worked under protection, I never visited any of them - I had enough trouble collecting.]
Entry 2420
Yo' git yo' some sugah an' sulphur an' git chew a bottle of Heart Perfume. Po' it on there, don't chew know, down on de sugah an' stuff an' about six a'clock burn dat. An' then yo' git de Bible an' yo' read de 47 Psalm an then to make them come - yo' gotta say, "May mah crowd gather together thick. May mah crowd gather together thick. In de Name of de Father, in de Name of de Son, in the Name of de Holy Spirit." An' they begin to gather thick an' yo'll have so many folks yo' won't know whut to do. After yo' read de 47th Psalm yo' say, "May mah crowd gather together thick tonight, all gather together thick tonight, thick as hops, '' an' say, "In de Name of de Father, in de Name of de Son an' Name of de Holy Spirit." An' yo' won't have no trouble. That brings in trade - I mean they come in.
Entry 2766
Ah'd taken sick with the child, you know, before I left town. So I went to my house and ah stayed there three months. So I came back and when I came back, I just, you know, something just run all over me. You know, like a chicken - like a chicken when you pick it and you fix it - you singe it - with all them pimples - come up on it where you pull those feathers out. Well, you see my flesh all over was just like that. It was all round my neck and every- where was just like that. And so I just stayed sick and stayed sick - had doc- tors and doctors and doctors and doctors. So my husband told me, say, "Well, it just don't look like you goin' to ever get well." But still I didn't give up - still I didn't give up. I told him, I said, "Well, I just strictly believe that I gotta have an operation." He says, "Well, make it up in you' mind and go on a'get it." So the doctor come to me and told me I'd have to have an operation. So they rang up the ambulance for me. Ambulance came and ah got ready to get in the ambulance. So they took me on to the hospital and they examined me and they said I was too weak to take an opera- tion. Brought me back home. And so he said, "Well, you go next week." So my cousin come and she told me, she says, "Her sickness is not natch'l. Suppose you go and see about her - go and see somebody about her and question her." So he went and got a fortunetelling man - he didn't believe in nothing like that - went and got a fortuneteller man. And he come there and told him, "Your house is dressed." Says, "She left from here and went away [see preceding 3 months] and somebody done got de key and went in her house - got the key and unlocked the door and went in the house. Under the steps is dressed and all over. The back door and front door and all in the house is dressed." He didn't believe that. He says, "I don't believe it." So he talked with me about it and I didn't believe it. So, another one of my cousins come and told me and say, "Now, you must believe things like this because it's true." And she went and got de Bible and showed me, you know, where it says witchcraft, you know, and all like that in the Bible. [For some of Biblical sources, see my comment on p.361.] So, ah told him, ah said "Now, you go and see somebody, go and see somebody, [even] if you don't believe [in] him, go see somebody." And so he did. Him and my sister and another young man went, and they went to a lady called Madam Helen. She told him, she even as much as told him about my mother [in New Orleans]. She told him when I left from him and he had ordered a hundred and some dollars worth of furniture. She told him when he got dat and the date of the month, said, "Your wife has been down and this has been working on her for about eight months and - as clean as your hand. And it was true, too. Nobody ever went down and told her about it. She said, "It's a cup right under the left side - what's called the north corner of your steps, under the back and front." [My informant may not realize it but she uses unusual symbolism here. The outside doorsteps is a threshold altar! A person facing the house and standing in front of the steps is before an altar. To speak liturgically, he is looking "east and "the left side of the steps is "the north corner or "north end of the altar.] She said, "You go there and dig that cup up and if you - these people, if you want 'em to wander away, you bring it to me and I'll fasten it up. I'll put this junk in a bottle or a [glass] jar and let you go throw it in a running stream, if you want 'em to wander away. If you don't, just take it and fill it all full of [Red] Devil Lye." There was hair in there and lots of something look like blood, and nails and hair and garments, you know, pieces of step-ins or something - look like pieces of my underclothes, you know, was all in there. And there was needles in there, in the two cups underneath my steps back and front. And so she told, said, "Now, you go back and dig that up. When you dig that up, bring it to me and what you want did about it, I'll do it." And said, "Tell her to come." Well, ah was so weak. Ah was just so weak ah wasn't hardly able to stand up, and just did not want to leave that house. She said, "And move out dat house just as quick as you can." I just didn't want to, they just had to pull me out of there. And I just couldn't hardly walk, I was so weak. I went to her and she told me what was the matter with me. And she said, "Now, I don't want you to go back in that house. Never go back in that house no more." And I didn't go back in that house.
Entry 3058
There's only one saint you go to that doing bad and that's St. Rita.
(St. Rita?)
St. Rita, she's a woman. She don't like men and it wouldn't do you [the author] no good to go to her, to ask her to do you favors for you; but if you Want favors done, you go to St. Joseph, St. Peter, or Lady of Lourdes - any of those other saints. That's to do good for you for luck - you know, to be suc- cessful in whatsomever you undertake to do or something of that sort.
(Well, why doesn't St. Rita like men?)
Well, St. Rita, the reason why she don't like men is - according to Scriptures from what I'm got the understanding of - she never did like mens for one simple reason, on account of Christ, see. Christ is supposed to be her father, and he's not, see. She don't like men, she never did. When Christ was born, she looked and see that it was man. She walked away and they made her come back. But when they called him King Of Lords - that's how we have this thing [day] what we call carnival today. Well, they said, "Hail, King of the Jews, ' and all such things as that, she liked that because they Was going to kill him. She hated men. We have today what we call carnival, you know, carnival just passed. We have that on the [sakes?] of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, when he was born. He was born, so they claim, on the 25th of December. Well, I understood different. It was on a carnival that he was coming when they said, "Prepare ye for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand." That was Christ - he was coming. He was coming and he was coming on an ass colt. See. And they went around saying, 'Make way, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh," and they was talking about the Lord was coming, you see. And she seen who it was and that's what caused her to hate men today. But still and all, he came. Everybody had to - I think it was the ninth hour. I know I remember reading something about what he said at the ninth hour - about his time had not come yet, but at the ninth hour his time cometh. He hung on the cross from the sixth until the ninth hour. That's how it was. And when that ninth come - when the ninth hour was up - everybody had to pull off their masks and things. See, everybody had changed. Well, that's how we have what you call carnival today. See, after six o'clock you can't wear no more masks. See. Well that's Scriptures - that's the same thing as in the Bible. You see. Well, that is how she come to hate mens today, because he was born man and he supposed to be her father. See. But she don't like men, and that's the reason she don't like men because he supposed to be her father and he's not.
(Do the women go to St. Rita when they want a favor done?)
A woman can go there and have any kind of favor done she wants to, but a man can't.
(Well, what sort of thing would a woman have her do for her?)
Well, the saint - well, a saint could do mostly anything. St. Rita, for a woman, she'd do anything she wants. Generally, if the woman go to her and ask her to do these favors, she can have it done; but she'll have to go and go until she fulfill a promise she make to the saint. It just like you, if I tell you, "Loan me a ten-dollar bill today and I pay you back Saturday." Well, then Sat- urday come, you looking for your ten dollars, see. Well, that's how that is with this saint. You go to these saints and you ask 'em for a favor, just like, say for instance, you are out of work and you want a job, she'll open the Way for you to get the job. Well, you promise to give her flowers or promise to give her a quarter or half a dollar, maybe you promise to give her a candle. Well, she'll open the way for you to get the job, but when you get the job, it's up to you to go and give her that candle or flower or whatsomever you promised her. And if you don't give it to her, why then you going to lose that job again. Now, that's strictly facts.
Entry 3088
[We are again in the presence of a celebrity - not fabulous like Doctor Buzzard, but so widely known that his name and color were confused. He was surely a white man named Harris - (see 3089, p.909; also the very end of the interview A DOCTOR AT EASE, and elsewhere). This man, claim- ing to be a faith doctor (3089) would not have sanctioned the evil said to have been perpetrated in the following story.] He went to him you know.
(Who was this man?)
His name was Buzzard, or somepin like that choo called him.
(Where did he live?)
No, it was George Harrison, who lived at Florence, South Carolina. Ever'body used to go to him from fer an' near cause he's a wonderful man. He's dead I think, but his brother or his son or somepin carried it on, so I heard. So this man had a wife once an' she was a bad woman. An' the man was kin'a 'flicted - choo know, rheumatism. An' she's young, right nice-lookin' - purty hair. An' a course he would - you know, he would put her aside he say, but he suppose to git children by 'er. An' this woman still runnin' aroun'. [Everyone] tell that [to] her husband, but her husband didn't care cuz he said he would give up. He couldn't make a livin' fer her like he ought to be, an' she would do the thing, you know, that was helpin' him. An' so he didn't care. So he was livin' an' po' [poor]-like. An' this other man was livin' next to the farm - it was ajinin' farm. He had a fine black horse you know. A big tall black man. An' she was a nice-lookin' brown-skin woman. So he was lovin' this woman. He did! He would come there an' bring 'er in de yard - well, he [husband] wouldn't say nuthin - right in his yard out there, an' drive aroun' in de buggy. She was a good-lookin' woman. So finally this woman must of thought she was gon'a die. She decided she'd make a change. She went an' got sanctified. See. An' this man a - after she got sanctified, she tell him she didn't go that way any more. Well, he didn't want her to quit, choo see. He said, "Well, you kin go that way an' keep it a secret an' - come on let's go." She said, "No, I livin' now fer de Lord." An' she lived that way two years. Well, after she got sanctified - they always say these sanctified people goes with one another. An' dey say, "Well, how you gon'a help it?" You see, he would believe that she's goin' with one de sanctified men. She told him, she said, "Well, if I do - I don't do it - but if I do - if I is goin' with him, two clean sheet can't dirty one another." That means she was sanctified, the man was sanc- tified - they couldn't move in no sin. An' he said, yes it was. Well, he didn't like it. An' so he leaved his farm one day an' ever'body missed him, didn't know where he had gone - he was livin' down on de Santee River. He come to Florence an' got this man [George Harrison], you know, to fix some [something] fer him. An' I believe he had a pitchure of her. He come up dere [to the husband's farm] one day. An' he come in [came near] the house one day an' call 'er out an' talkin' with 'er. She went an' talk with 'im. An' she never was afraid of him, you know, but she wouldn't agree to go with 'im then. An' she he said, "All right." An' he kin'a play with 'er, you know, an' throwed somepin like a dus' on 'er. Well, she said, "That's a smell. I'm curious - that bottle." But she didn't pay it no mind. But in October - well, he went on back home [down on de Santee River]. An' [before he left] she heard 'im say, "I got choo now." So he went on back home. She was sanctified. She had a fiah made in de fiahplace - it was no grate, it was a fiahplace. She fold a quilt. She fold it an' lay down acrost de fiah- place like they do in de country; an' took a Bible an' lay down there an' went to readin' it. She had a little girl about three years old, de baby, aroun', playin' aroun' de fiah. An' this baby went in de kitchen an' it stood up there an' said, "Mama." She would call 'er mama. She was 'sleep. She'd lay down there an' read de Bible an' she fell asleep. An' while she was asleep, well de fiah popped on her. This stuff that he put on 'er drawed de fiah. An' as she wake up she was on fiah. An' she jump up. She went to jumpin' up like that an' try to outen herself like that, an' de fiah jis' went on up, jis' Went on up over 'er haid, an' jis' - an' she jumped aroun'. And when they caught 'er, why she had done burnt. She was eight months gone [pregnant]. A man who caught 'er - he was from de nex' doah, neighbor - saw 'er, he ran 'er down an' ketched 'er. She done burnt to death. An' he [the dust-thrower] tell 'er, she didn't go with 'im, she wasn't with nobodys else. An' so this woman died. [This fair copy by pencil made more than 30 years ago from my original scrib- bled transcription has a penciled note of the same date, "[[Happened]] about 12 years ago [1925]] - informant married the dead woman's husband."] [Wilmington, N. C., (320), 253:1+85.] ["Thur., Feb. 18, 1937 - 320 - Grace Harvin - [[from]] Sumter, S. C. - fair to good" - Numbers Book 318-338. Not a very complimentary evaluation for a woman who gave a rare story like this!]
Entry 3092
[I heard about George Jackson and Zippy Tull of the Eastern Shore at the same time and from some of the same persons - for her, see later in this sub- section. The first two stories describing Uncle George, as he was called, are by Mrs. Elijah Williams - widow of George's nephew - whom I interviewed while collecting in Baltimore. She Was also mother of Jerry Williams, my contact man on the Eastern Shore and in Baltimore, who tells the third story. The fourth story, statement rather, comes from Joshua Wilson, who as a young man drove an occasional client out to George Jackson or to Zippy Tull.] Pitt's Creek wharh [where] he wus born at. That's in Worcester County [Maryland]. Well then, after he growed up to be a man - of course that wus years and years before I wus born - why then he moved to the place they called Fairmount. It's in Somerset County. And he stayed there his life - he died in Fairmount.
(How long ago did he die?)
Well, he's been dead about 35 years [before 1936].
(How old was he when he died?)
I don't know his age but I'm sure he wus around about 70. I'm sure he wus.
(He had quite a reputation?)
Yes indeed.
(How did he learn this work?)
Well, I suppose it must have been gifted 'cause he couldn't read - he could not read or write, so he must have been gifted. But he could read the Bible. He didn't have no one to learn him anything.
(Was he born in slavery?) [I wanted to double-check his age.]
Born in slavery? Oh, yes indeed! Real old slaveryl Now, he might have been older than that when he died, but he, you know, he kept youngified. You wouldn't know he was old - you knew he was old, that's all.
(Did anyone ever try to carry on his work? Did he have a son or anyone?)
He never had no children.
(Has anyone a photograph of him?)
No, I have no photograph of him.
(Was a photograph ever taken of him?)
Not as I know of. You know, in them times they didn't take much photographs. He never was married, and he had a housekeeper. Now, whether she tried to do anything or not I do not know.
(Where is he buried?)
He was buried in Fairmount but I don't know the graveyard because I didn't go, neither did his nephew [informant's husband] becus we didn't know he was dead until the day he was buried. That was the first time they sent him word that his uncle was dead. [His name was] George Jackson, but you know in olden times de folks who wus born children then, they named George Jackson and Nathan Williams and Josiah and all that, and they give 'em that name. But his re'lly name would have been George Dennis, George Jackson Dennis. Old John Hugh Dennis they called him, a white man, you know he was his owner, he was his master.
(John Hugh Dennis?)
Yes sir. Well, do you know - no, you don't know becus joo don't belong here [in Baltimore]. Why Samuel Dennis used to be de chief jurdge here in Baltimore, it was his father.
(Where did he have the farm?)
They had the farm on - they called it the Cedar Hall. That wus near Pocomoke City [Maryland].
Entry 7187
Yo' uses High John an' yo' uses five fingahs grass an' yo' make charms outa dem, an' den yo' put lodestone all on dat. An' if yo'd make a seal an' wear dat - when yo' read parts of de Bible. "Co'se [of course] dat's de way a lotta people do, but ah go by de Bible. See, whut ah do, ah based on de Bible - prayahs, see, an' sech. [The preceding word charm rarely appears in Hoodoo. For the word seal, see SEALS AND HANDS, p.643 and elsewhere.]
(How would you use this High John and five finger grass?)
Oh, yo' jis' put it in a li'le bag.
(Put it in a little bag and that piece of lodestone with it?)
Yes. An' den put it wit - wet it wit dis lodestone perfume, yo' see, an' weab it.
(And what about the seal?)
Or yo' kin weah a seal. De seals are made outa de Six an' Seven Books of Moses. (And then what do they do with this little bag they wear? That is something separate again, isn't it?) Dis li'le bag, dat's somepin sep'rate.
(What do you wear this little bag for?)
Dat's fo' pertection [protection]. An' prayah too. All de othah [people] weah a prayah. Prayah'll pertect chew too.
(What kind of prayer do you use while you are wearing that bag?)
Well, yo' kin weah a prayah at any time [not only while wearing that bag]. Yo' kin weah a prayah outa de Bible, de 91 Psalms on parchment papah. An' yo' have it wit certain kinds of ink. Yo' write dese prayahs outa de book of de 91 Psalm; mos' any prayah dat's suitable. An' yo' weah dat prayah all de time an' God'll pertec' chew. Yo' kin even put a prayah behind - on parchment - put it behin' jore do' an' no one cain't come an' do yuh any harm. (You say they have to write with certain kinds of ink. Can you tell what kinds of ink they have to use to write that?) Well, ah fergit de kinda ink. Dey have reg'lah ink fo' dat. Ah tell yuh - dove's blood.
(Do you get the blood from a dove or do you buy this?)
Well, yo' cain't very well git it from a dove, yo' have tuh buy dat. See, EVAHBODY CAIN'T GIT DOSE THIN'S. DEY SEN' TUH CERTAIN PLACES.
[Is dove's blood ordinary or special red ink with a dove label on bottle?]
(They send to some firm.)
An' git dose thin's an' dey even make dose parchments. (What firm do you buy these things from? Do you happen to know the name of any firm? There were several down in Memphis and one in Chicago.) Ah know one in Chicago.
(What one do you know there?)
AH DON'T LAK TUH CALL DESE NAMES, AH DON'T KNOW WHETHAH AH'D BE DOIN' RIGHT DEN.
(Oh, I'd just send and get a catalog, that's all.)
Well, de Lawrence [Laurence]. (What is their address? What street do they work on? State Street?) [A penciled note of mine, made soon after the transcription was typed, reads: Use with caution. Later I write in red ink: How cautious I was in the earlier days of collecting!!! This informant is O.K. (signed) H. M. H.]
Entry 12521
Ah heard of people if dey wanted luck in dere homes, dey git up befo' sunrise in de morning an' take some onions an' some sulphur an' salt, an' set it on de fire in de stove, an' jes' de scent - de incense go through de house- round about. An' read a cer- tain Scripture. Ah don't know whut it is, now, in de Bible. An' dat'll bring yo' luck.
(Luck to the house?)
Yes sir. Dat's good, too. Mah auntie does dat all de time.
Entry 249
Ah haven't heard 'em say nuthin' much about it, but ah has understandin' in dis way. Ah've been travelin' wit roots purtty good fo' awhile [for a pretty good while]. Ah'm twenty-eight years old an' ah had about eighteen years in it. See. An' ah went tuh a root man an' he explained it tuh me in dis way: Jes'if yo'wanta have luck yo' kin tote some de roots, dey say, "De Lawd is mah green pasture - -ah shall not want. He'p me to de green pasture." An' walk around de house three times befo' goin' tuh bed. Seven steps from de do' walk in back- wards, an' den he give de stuff to rub ovah yo' - yore han's, an' den yo' go to bed. De next mornin' yo' go roun' one time - dat's fo' luck.
[I did not record his story; now I want him to repeat it.]
(What kind of luck?)
Well, fo'gambling.
(You went to this fellow to get this luck?)
Ah went tuh him fo' two kinda lucks. Ah went to him fo' gamblin' an' ah went to him 'cause ah wus runnin' a business.
(This is what he did for you - told you what to do?)
Yes sir.
[Cylinder changed - I talk while changing.]
(You went to this root man for luck in gambling and luck in business. Now, just what did he do when you went there? Tell me the whole story.) When ah went dere, it was a good while befo' ah could see 'im, an' after ah went in an' tole mah position an' tole him whut ah needed an' everythin', he grabbed me in de pam of mah hand an' when he grabbed me in de pam of mah han' he tole - tole me de history of mah life an' tole me whut kind of shape ah was in - whut wus gon'a come an' whut was gon'a be happen, an' he say it'd [it would] take twenty dollahs tuh stop it. So after ah paid him, he fixed up de little bag of roots an' give 'em tuh me, an' ah left. An'befo' ah left he wrote me a story tuh tell [Psalm 23?] an' so after ah left den, he wrote me den fo' tuh come back up dere an' ah went back up dere an' ah tole him dat de officers wus givin' me right smart of trouble. An' he tole me, said, "Well, it will cost yo' eight dollahs to stop it." An' he wrapped me up a bag of dat tuh stop de officers, an' dey did stop. Dey stopped botherin' me any atall, after ah used it, an' he tole me how to use it. Drink three glasses of watah.
(Well now, wait a minute - the story. I want to straighten it out.)
The whole limit [?] of it?
(That's right.)
Well, mah uncle come from Florida an' he wus goin' down dere an' he tole me, said, "Come on, git in de car an' let's go down dere." So ah went down dere wit 'im. He went in dere first an' he give me twenty dollahs tuh go in dere. So after [afterward], ah went in dere an' explained it to de fellah an' he explain it back tuh me 'bout how much it cost.'Well," he say, "yo' be fixed up an' ah guarantee it - if yo' don't, yo' git chure money back." So after he [doctor] went in dere, him an' his wife fix up de stuff, a snake - whut ah mean, he brung a cup in dere but it turn into a snake an' it crawled through mah han'. An' he said, "Don't git nervous - if yo' do, it won't work so good." An' after ah did it, did whut he say, ah wus a little nervous; but ah kinda changed it when he brung de second snake in, an' ah got brave an' ah left. So dat worked pretty good. (Forget what you told me before. I want to begin right at the beginning and tell the whole thing. I don't know a thing about it, now. Now, tell me right from the beginning, all the details, the whole story. First, why did you go down to see this man? Tell me from there.) ['My voice a little exasperated" - this is my notation when I listened to the cylinder to check the transcriber's tran- scription.] Well, ah wus in bad luck, an' mah uncle come by an' ah told him 'bout it. An' he say, "Well, ah'm goin' tuh see a man to he'p me out on mah bolito in Florida. An' us went down dere an' after us got to de man, he [uncle] went in first. An' he give me twenty dollahs fo' me tuh go in. An' ah went in dere an' den de man commenced tuh workin' on me an' tole me how much he would charge. An' after he tole me how much he charge an' ah tole him it would be all right, he got de Bible an'read a verse in it. An' he went back an' got his wife. She brung a cup in dere an' it turnt into a snake or de snake wus in de cup. De snake crawled through mah han' an' he tole me not to git nervous. Well, ah did got nervous.
(Why did he tell you not to get nervous?)
Well, he said it wouldn't work, if ah got nervous - dat it wouldn't work. So de second time ah did not git nervous of de snake. So he fixed up fo' de gambling an' ah come on out.
(What did he give you?)
He give me a little root - a little bag full.
(Well, didn't he tell you how to use this stuff - or something?)
Yes sir.
(Well, tell me what you told me before - how you were to use this stuff.)
Well, yo' take it an' yo' walk around de house three times, walk seven steps away from de steps an' walk in backwards an' go in an' lay down. De next mawnin' vo' hol' a quarter up to de sun or a dollah - either one, it don't make not much diff'rent. An' after you hold dat quarter up dere yo' say, "Lawd he'p me through de green pastur [pasture]." An' after yo' say dat, yo' walk around de house one time - yo' say, "Lawd is mah shepherd, ah shall not want." Den run yore han' an' take some of dat stuff - yo' put it [the root bag] in whiskey [this is feeding the hand] an' den yo' rub it ovah yore face, yore arms. An' dat's for de luck in gamb ling.
(Then what happened - you said you went back the second time?)
Yes sir.
(What happened - you had a little trouble again?)
Yes sir - de polices wus givin' me trouble 'bout selling whiskey an' gambling. Well, ah went to him de second time an' ah told him. He wrote to me an' ah wrote him dat ah would be up dere on a Wednesday. Ah went up dere on a Wednesday an he tole me - ah tole him dat ah wus havin' bad luck from de polices runnin' me an' getting me fo' whiskey. An' he say, "Well, ah got a idea fo' dat." An' so ah went on in den - went in dis little room an' he got a room to tell yo' every diff'rent thing in. So ah went in one room an' ah tole him how de polices did tuh ketch me, an' so he tole me, say, "Well, it take eight dollahs to stop it." An' after he tole me it would take eight dollahs to stop it ah paid him, an' he give me a little hand to tote in mah right pocket all de time, an' when de polices - during de time dey supposed to travel dat beat, jes' roll mah jomoo an' dey'd pass on by. Well, ah tried it an' it worked. So ah left.
Entry 298
Ah heard chew git a black cat an' yo' take dis cat an' put him in de pot - put dis cat in de pot an' put dis pot on de fiah an' yo' gits a Bible an' in Revelation, dat's where yo' read it, ovah there. An' yo' git the Bible an' yo' read the Bible the whole time that cat is in that pot boilin' an' that cat will - yo' know, yo' will pray in yore mind. An' den when dat cat's got done, yo' take that cat an' git chew - yo' take dat bone when dat cat cook all tuh pieces an' yo' take dat black cat bone - jis' a solid black cat, nuthin', no white about it or nuthin' - and when he gits done yo' bring dat pot dere an' yo' put dat pot an' ever' time you take out a bone - git chew a glass an' yo' sit an' look in dat lookin' glass an' put a bone in yore mouth, an' when yo' git de right bone yo' cain't see yo'self in dat glass. See. An' den yo' kin do any- thing, cain't nobody see. Yo' kin go tuh de bank an' git money out de bank but cain't nobody see yo', 'long as yo' got dat black cat bone in yore mouth. Well, yo' have sold yo'self to de devil, becuz' dat's mo' fo' evil. (Do you know in what part of Revelations they read, or just any part of Revelations?) No, jis' read any part of Revelations, but 'stid readin' it farwards, read it backwards - read it backwards.
Entry 424
After I married Mr. Banks, there was a big crowd went out one night to hunt money and they were getting to the box. They had a woman reading the Bible. They always say to read the Bible to keep down the spirits. They had one man that was digging in there, he had one leg, and he had on a red shirt. And they say everything came in the shape of dogs, hogs, and everything. The last thing came was like what they call a red devil. He had to tail to him, long ears, and a spear in his hand, and spoke. And he said he wanted the man with the red shirt on. It so scared them all they all run away. And they left this poor man in the hole by his own self and he had a hard time getting out because he only had one leg: That ain't no lie. They went digging in there and all got scared and left. A lot of the men are dead and a lot living today. They never got the money. I don't know how they located it. They seen the box all right when these things came. There's certain Scriptures you read for spirits, they say. I don't think this woman could of been reading the right one or the spirits wouldn't have come so fast and scared them.
Entry 478
There's something on you riding and you can't speak. You get up and put de Bible under your head; open de Bible and put it under your head, then you'll - they come back there no more. Or you take a open knife or put a ice pick under there. See, those are evil spirits bothering you - see - and it won't bother you no more.
Entry 482
Dey put the Bible under dey haid - yeah, open it to any chapter in the Bible, iest put a key in it and close it back up and put it under their haid.
(What will that do?)
That keeps the hag from riding them.
Entry 483
I was living in a lady's house. I couldn't sleep in de bed for nothing. And I used to hate to go upstairs to bed because every night after I would go to bed I would hear something tipping on the steps. So when it would get about middleways on the floor it would jump on me and just nearly mash the life out of me. I waked up in de morning, the lady's grandmother lived across the street, I went over there and was telling her about it. And she said, "Honey, that's an old witch." She say, "You put a knife and de Bible under your head and she won't come back no more." So I put the Bible and knife under my head and never heard of her or seen her no more.
Entry 508
A broom what you sweep with, you leave that to yore feet an' a Bible at chure head and dey won't worry you. But, if you wanta ketch 'em, you sprinkle - you go to de drug store and you buy a nickel's worth of flaxseed and you sprinkle that around in de room, and if de come in dere, you'll wake 'fore he done pick up every one, 'cause dey got'a pick up every one of 'em an' 'fore he done pick 'em up you kin ketch him.
Entry 525
If yo' in a house or somepin of de kind an' sleepin' in dere an' witches an' things, sech things lak dat, ridin' yo', tell yo' whut's good fo' yo'. Some- time yo' put chure Bible undah yore haid. If yo' don't do dat, sometimes yo' kin take a knife an' fo'k an' cross it - cross it dataway yo' know an' lay hit undah yore haid. Sometimes dey say yo' kin put a sifter undah yore haid - dat'll stop dat. [Sifter under head but on floor.]
Entry 542
Well, I know a lady one time that was sick from - ah don't know what was de cause of her sickness, but they said that they thought someone was mad at her and they claimed that the witches Was riding her. But what I was just speaking about was here in - this has been 'round about twenty-one years ago. And - oh, the witches would ride 'er nights. A witch got after her one day in the daytime and she described the lady's dress and called de lady's name, and de lady came there to de house that day. She said the man [doctor] told her that he would bring her there to her. And the lady came there and she said this lady had on a blue dress with white round the sleeves - said that she had a real fat wrist. And this lady, we children used to call her butter-wrist. She wasn't neither light nor red; she was a kind of a pumpkin color and we used to call her butter- wrist - her complextion, you know. And so she said this lady was mad with her - see, over a young man. Seems if - she had a niece that, why she had raised, and this young man you know had visited her [the niece] once or twice and he liked this other girl better than he did her, and someone had circulated the news that they were married, going to marry. And this girl [niece] got sick, and then when she began to get better, why then this witch commenced to bother her. And sometimes you could be settin' beside of her bed and you could hear just like someone came in the door, but the door would still be shut. Sometimes the door would shake and the people would say it was the wind. And then you would hear her keeping [imitating?] the noise - see if it would go away. She'd say, "That witch pest is after me," says, "there she go." And so one night we said we were going to stay there and watch - I was always like a little curiosity. So we said we were going to set up and watch for her that night. So they heard 'em say you could hang a sifter over the door, you know, or over your bed, and the witch couldn't bother you because it had to count all those holes, and before they'd get through counting those holes it would be dawn. So we hung the sifter up and then they crossed nine needles and nine pins in the back - said they would stick in her when she come down the back of the fireplace.
(Where did they cross these needles and pins?)
In the back of the fireplace - you know, the fireplace that has the little shoulders, two of them. And you cross them, you see, and they gets hot. And they took a horseshoe and hung up over the door [demonstrates] - see, that will keep evil ones out.
(They hung it with the open part up - I see.)
Yes - see they hangs this horseshoe with the open part up. Say, long as that horseshoe up over the door with the open part up - and we'd taken and got us a box of new cayenne pepper and a box of salt and a box of sulphur, and we mixed that together and put some of that in a thin bag or a piece like mosquito lawn, so it would just set right down over the door, and anyone come in, see, opening the screen door, why that would touch it, you see. Well, they say a witch, you know, doesn't have any skin on, you see, and if that salt and pepper gets on 'em, you see, that will hurt them. And so then we all goes in de room and lays down and we leaves de door open a crack so we could watch her bed, and so we fixes de light out there in her room. And so we takes some Sunday School books - a man told us to take some Sunday School books and Bibles and turn to a certain chapter in de Bible, but have de whole nine chapters - books of de same chapter and lays 'em open - said, and she would come and we could see her in person. Said the person -
(They used nine books?)
Uh-huh - there wouldn't be any way fer her to get on de bed.
(Nine books of what - nine different Bibles?)
Nine Bibles, all the same chapters - see, use those Sunday School books or whatever books you can; little Bible stories that have the same chapter, just like the 15th Chapter of John, you see, or the Psalms. Well, you see, we had difficulty in getting nine Bibles and they used Sunday School books with them. And you take those Sunday School books, and you just lie them down, you see, on de side of de bed and one to the head of de bed and one to de foot and then she takes the Bible, you see, and lies that right 'cross her breast. [Nine Bibles should be used - three on each side of the bed, one at head and foot of bed, and one on the breast; the latter must be a Bible. These nine books are unevenly, odd-numberly placed.] And so, we hadn't just finished fixing that and been in the room more than thirty-five minutes before she says, "Here she is" - says, "here's Miz So-and- So" - says, "here's Miz So-and-So." She said that she made a shadow between her and de light. She says, "Hurry up - she's done blowed out dat light - hurry up and come on out with a lamp - she's done gone and blowed out de light." The lady [aunt] she says, "No, she ain't." "That was her shadow," says [bewitched woman], 'that's her'" - says, "that's her - the light's not out - that's her - she's in between me and the light - ah thought mah light was out." And the door shook again, but we didn't fix but one door, and then she come in the back door. There was two back doors and a shed on the house, and we didn't fix both of those back doors because it usually been the front door, see, where we come in to, the nearer the girl's bed - see, the bed was like there and we fixed the door there, but we didn't fix these two back doors. So, when she went through this door it just shook, and the back door just opened and shut, and we opened the door - opened the inside door and it looked just like looking out through her kitchen door, and it was still so just like we left it.
(Did you see anything at all?)
No, we didn't see anything, but she seen it.
Entry 550
Take an' pick - pick yore left, dis fingah right heah.
(The finger next to the little finger on the left hand.)
Yes, an' put it - take a key an' put it in de Bible an' de place where yo' turn dat book open, if it turns to "Now, an' it came to pass," whatevah yo' want tuh happen will happen.
(Where do you put this blood?)
On de key. Yo' put de key in de Bible an' jes' - well, yo' don' be lookin'. Yo' know, yo' drop de blood on it jest anywhere in dere an' then yo' place that key in dere. Den yo' turn open de book an' if yo' open it to a place whatevah yo' - yo' already make yore wish or whatevah yo' find out, whether it's goin' tuh happen or not - an' if it comes, "An' den it came to pass" or "now it came to pass it'll happen, but if yo' don't turn to that, it won't.
(The blood is put on the key, though, isn't it?)
Yes, it's put on de key an' it placed in de Bible.
Entry 551
You kin take a Bible and tie a white string aroun' it, any kin'a cord string aroun' it, and lash a key onto it - whenever you tie dat string aroun' dere let de key be hangin' onto dat string. And take de Bible, jis' like you take de Bible up - jis' like dis here, like dis is de string and de key is fastened on dat [demonstrates - lifts up on the string, lifting up the Bible], and you say, "If Sich-and-Sich - if anybody has did anything to me, let me know by movin'." And see, dat Bible will be right still, it'll stay right still if dere's nothin' wrong wid jeh; but if 'tis anything wrong wid jeh, it'll swing jis' like dis here [demonstrates - Bible swings back and forth]. If you say, "If dere's anything here on me, swing and drop." Then it'll swing and fall. De Bible will fall. It'll slip right outch your han' regardless of how tight choo hold it - it'll come out. But after dat it swings like dat and let choo know dere's somebody has done somepin, dat'll let yo' know whether to go to a doctor a medical doctor either [or] a root doctor. And after you do dat, why, you kin go to de root doctor and tell him dat you ain't feeling - [you do feel] like somebody has did somepin to you, and then he'll know 'zackly what, you know, start doin' for yeh.
Entry 2088
Lotsa times yo' do it by bein' in diff'rent offices [fraternal organi- zations] diff'rent Odd Fellows, Masonic, or somepin lak dat - but jes' fo' de mercy of de judge but no help but whut chew git from, yo' know. (What do they call that around here?) Hoodoo. Yo' go down dere, now. De first thing yo' do, yo' see, yo' go by de fountain somewhere 'nothah an' yo' prob'bly gits yo' a coke, somepin - providin' yo' ain't drinkin' no whiskey or nuthin, it ain't good fo' nuthin. An' yo' git chew - we have whut we call a lucky star an' in some instances yo' burn dat. Yo'll find dat in de two chapter of Exodus, yo' find in de Bible where it speaks about dis lucky star. Well, in place of burnin' dat, yo' take it an' bring it back an' jes' a day or two 'fore trial, yo' see, yo' dry hit dere, an' yo' wear dat in yore pocket, an' yo' go down befo' de judge an' dat will he'p yo' through.
Entry 2663
For luck I burn sulphah ev'ry mornin' for luck - sulphah, cinnamon. I burn cinnamon an' sulphah. (You burn the cinnamon by itself or with the sulphur?) With sulphur an' sugar in it. Three ingredients togethah. When I want trade [informant a woman bootlegger] I wash up mah house with urine - when I want trade, wash it to me. Now, in New York [lived in New York City eight years] I could have trade. I had a plenty trade. I could draw my own trade, but here in Richmond I can't do it 'cus the people notice you too much. I had too much trade a few days ago, then I took mah sign down 'cus too many people was comin' in the house. [I can appreciate this woman's trouble. I, too, had too many people coming into the house or hotel where I worked.]
(Do you burn it at any special time?)
You suppose to burn it in the mornin' an' you read de 23rd chapter of Psalms in the Bible: The Lord is my shepherd. You suppose to burn it aroun' seven o'clock in the mornin'.
Entry 2744
You've gotta know something about de Bible to do it. Comes from de devil, let it go on back [to him]. I would nevah try to do nothing to people and I wouldn't, and ah don't put no spells. De people come and dey says, "Well, could you put dis back." It don't work. Long as I git you well and work for yo' happiness, then it's all that's necessary. (Well, what sort of cure do you use? If I came to you and - had a spell put on me, what sort of a cure would you use?) Well, de first thing ah'd do - I heals, too. That's the next thing. The first thing I heals and then I use salt. Salt is used fer a thousand things that is good and bad. I puts this salt on a plate, saucer, then the party that's sick, I let them make a hole in dis salt wit de big finger [demonstrates].
(Of the left hand.)
Any hand but jest only dis finger - not de index finger, the middle finger. And then I repeats certain words from de Bible and let dem repeat after me and tell em - oh, yes, ah pour alcohol in it and let it burn, and de word dat dis light goes out on, it [sickness] stops right there. Then they must sleep over dis salt overnight. Then take it to the deep rivah and throw dis salt in de rivah and let it go. That watah running and dis salt will take away your con- ditions. Course dere's nothing you kin do fer nobody if they don't believe nothing. If a person don't believe nothing - nothing doin'. Becus if dey comes tuh me and if ah'm even jest goin'tuh heal dem ordinarily, ah says, If you don't be- lieve in God and you don't believe ah kin, ah don't wanta bother with you - no use using de energy:"' And then I always repeat certain words over a person when ah'm healin 'em.
(Are those words a secret? Or something you wouldn't want to tell me?)
"May it please thee, O Jehoges, to prosper" - I mean, "May it be thou most holy will, O El Mejah to heal de body and soul of dis person." You gotta call de mother's name and de person that you are healin'. "May it be thou most holy will, O El Mejah, to heal de body and soul of John or Susan, free 'em from plague and oppression."
(What were those words that you read out of the Bible? Were those secret?)
No, dat wouldn't be secret. It would be secret to people dat come to see me but not secret to persons dat knows - you know what I mean, if you understand. It's the loth Psalm of the Book of Moses. [We must remember here as well as everywhere in hoodoo, the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses - probably in a number of versions and under various names - is considered by believers to be a part of the Bible.] Dis one dat keeps running in mah mind is de Psalm dat you read three times befo' sunrise. Dat's de 4th Psalm. That is in order to accomplish things that you desire. There's a certain name, a certain spirit, that you call upon.
(Is this Psalm in the Bible or in the Book of Moses?)
Both - but de meanings is in de Book of Moses - Sixth and Seventh Book of Moses. The 10th Psalm - well dat Psalm whut you use fo' healing and removing conditions from a person.
(Do you use any other book in addition to Sixth and Seventh Book of Moses?)
You kin take and look in de Sixth and Seventh Book of Moses and find out whut to read, and den you go in yo' Bible and read it from yo' Bible. You go to the fo' corners Of the earth and you take nine new keys and you call the spirit of this person - nine keys and walk to the four corners and you call the spirit. Yo' go dere at midnight and you call de spirit of de person whut you Want and this person will come. You worry 'em - de spirit [identified later] will worry 'em. Yo' send out yore thoughts through dese new keys and that brings the person back that you desire to.
(You mean the spirit of the dead person back?)
[This also brings the spirit of a living person.]
Yes, because you are sending out a self-conscious mind and yo' sending out the Spirit forces to bring this one back what chew want.
(Why do you bring this person's spirit back?)
Why do you do it? Well, because you wanta see this person that's away. When you making charms you use sugar with Adam-and-Eve, tea, coffee and sugar, 'cause everybody likes sugar in dey coffee or sugar in dey tea, and you mix that three together in your charm. That's the onliest way ah knows.
(What is the charm for?)
The charm is fo' those things ah told you about while ago, but chew gotta put Adam-and-Eve in it. If Adam-and-Eve is in, it holds the two together close, the man and wife, or sweetheart and friend.
Entry 2769
Well, sometime ah haven't got bread in mah han's, ah have set a light tuh St. Anthony an' ah pray tuh him an' ah gives him a light. Ah gives him a white light an' ah sets mah light at nine, twelve an' three tuh him. An' ah axe St. Anthony fo' bread an' ah keep prayin' fo' bread an' ah raps, an' he gives me a rap back. An' at de end of nine days mah way would be open. (Now, in this rapping. Do you rap just once each time you set that candle? Or just once during the day? Or just once altogether?) Ah raps when ah set the candle.
(Just once. And he raps just once. When would he answer?)
In de noon of de day. [St. Anthony answered my informant's rap by rapping back; but not all saints answer in the same manner, as we shall now learn.] St. Jude.
(St. Jude. What do they say about him )
Well, he's a good saint. Ah set lights to him. Now ah sets a green or either a yallah light to him, an' ah raps fo' St. Jude an' he would conquer yo' enemies. He would make de way smooth fo' yo' an' in all sickness he heals yo'. Ah set mah light at night or in de day fo' him an' ah raps, but now he sends me a light - lak a star appeahs in mah house. Anybody could see it.
(You say this light appears in the house someplace.)
[Light in many forms is probably considered the greatest manifestation of the spirit - see Spririt Light, p.43f., and for general folklore, FACI,2ed., Pp.761- 768.] Lak if yo' know dere name.
(This person you know has stolen something from you?)
Yeah, an' yo' call dat name, write dat name an' yo' set chew a St. Michael or a St. Peter candle, an' yo' rap, yo' see, an' each time yo' rap, yo' call his [thief's] name, an' he gon'a come. (He's going to come and tell you that he stole this article from you or bring it back?) Or either take de Bible an' put de key in de Bible. Yo' gotta take dat Bible an' dat key an' yo' put it in dere an' yo' say a sincere prayer - Our Father's Prayer, an' yo' take dat key an' yo' turn it all aroun' in dat Bible. An' yo' see yo' call de fellah's name dat took dat, dat key goin' move jes' lak dat. [The key itself will move.] Den it gon'a stop. In nine days dat party will come back. Ah would take me a candle an' light it. Jes' say dat dis wus mah saint, what- evah saint ah'm usin' - say it wus St. Espedee. An' ah calls his [the saint's] name an' ah would rap fo' him [the saint]. An' ah would call his name [husband's name], rap fo' him [husband]. An' den he's comin' home. Ef ah got any of his shoes, ah take an' turn it bottom upwards an' he's comin' home.
(You call your husband's name?)
Yes. [This woman is a professional hoodoo doctor with a little spiritual thrown in. Her husband, Peg-leg, did some work for me on my first trip to New Orleans, but she refused to see me - afraid until my second trip two years later. These four statements about rapping were taken from her long interview broken up years ago. More of her material probably appears in the text.]
Entry 2919
If they stole somepin from you and you want to get it back, if you know the person. If you didn't know 'em, you could get it back. If you wanted to know who the party Was, you could get the Bible and you could find out who the party Was and then you could get to 'em more so. But now, if a person would steal somepin from you and you want to get it back; if you could get a key - see, if you could get a key and get that party's name. See. You get that key and put it on a string. You get this party's name and you get you one of these dark candles - it's not a black one, it's a lavender-looking candle but it looks like its black. You get you one of them and you get these people's name and you write that name on that candle, but you take this candle and you burn the candle upside down in- stead of burning his name upside down. You turn your candle over and you trim the ends - the opposite end of it - you trim it and light that part of the can- dle. You got his name and you write his name on that candle, see. But the deeper it is - you write his name as deep in the candle as you can get it. If you can get his name, write it as deep in there as you can get it. You take that key and you put that key just like this [demonstrates]. Here's your candle here and you lay that key right across by that candle in this manner - just like that.
(Sort of like a cross.)
Yes, sir. Just like [demonstrates] I got my finger - see, on that angle just like that. That's the candle here, and lay that key just like that.
(It isn't a right angle, but it's about a 45 degree angle.)
A 45 degree angle, yes sir. Just a cross. [Candle and key are crossed. The key is laid flat on the surface of the candle-container so that it touches the bottom of the candle. As you look at the candle, the key is not horizontal or at right angles to your vision; it is at a 45 degree angle. If you mentally prolong the bottom of the candle, key and candle would form a flat letter 'X' cross or a flattened St. Andrew cross. As a matter of fact this is an upside-down (reversed) tau cross or "T" cross, also called St. Anthony cross. If we include the circular bottom of the candle or circular hole through the key, we have the crux ansata or Egyptian ankh, symbol of life and prosperity.] And he going to come back and he come back with a piece of yours that he's done taken from you. He might - he ain't going to come back to you but he going to come close around wheresomever you are at, trying to sell it. See, he may not know it's yours. He going to try to be selling it or something of that sort, or maybe have it on, and you going to recognize it and you can catch him thataway. That'll bring him back.
Entry 5594
Dey would pick up evah othah one of yore tracks for nine tracks, but dey take de right feet fer nine tracks. An' dey would take it off an' place dat into a bottle. Aftah placin' into a bottle dey would take - yo've seen dese pickanettle roots. People call 'em [par?] nettles.
(No, I don't know them [pickanettle] but I know what you are talking about.)
[This is probably the horse nettle, which appears several times in Hoodoo.]
It grows wit a white blossom into de top. Take dis blossom an' put it into a pot an' boil it. An' put a little linament, Sloan Linament into dat one, an' put watah onto de linament an' some kinda flesh meat. An' take it out an' yo' got a linament of yo' own creatin'. An' put on top of dat - stop it up tight [in a bottle] - write chure name onto de linament [bottle] be- fo' yo' put it [lina- ment] in dere. Write chure name an' turn it into de bottle, an' turn de bottle down to de groun' dis way.
(Turn that bottle down like that. All right. Then what do you do?)
Yes, sir, turn de bottle down dis way. Turn it down an' put chure name on it. Write chure name on it an' use a verse in de Bible.
(Do you know what verse in the Bible?)
Yes, sir, an' use de Second Kings but read it backwards, see. Read it back- wards an' write chure name. Writes chure verse three times an' write chure name three times. It must be backwards. Put on de linament in de bottle an' turn de bottle downward, down dis way [demonstrates].
(Cork down.)
An' dat'll take 'fect on 'em.
(Well, where are these foot tracks now? Where are the foot tracks?)
De dirt ah got from de foot tracks ah got it in de bottle.
(How much dirt did you take up?)
Jis' a small little.
Entry 6532
Goin' tuh a red ants' bed - jis' like yo' wanta put ants intuh some- body. Dat will jis' eat 'em up. Jis' git dem antses an' take 'em outa dere an' put 'em in anything dat dey'll parch up tuh a dust. Put 'em in dere live an' put 'em where dey'll parch up tuh a dust. An' git de Bible an' read de 37th Psalms while it's parchin', an' take it out. An' anything yo' put dat intuh, if dey nuse [use] it, drink it or eat it or anything, why dem ants will come alive in dem - jis' eat 'em up. [Why Psalm 37 should be used, I do not know.]
Entry 7200
[Informant says something about a locust tree.] (What do they say about the locust tree?) Ah heard dat de locust tree wuz a tree - de ole lady tole me dis - IT'S A TREE DAT CHEW READ IN DE BIBLE AN' IT WUZ HANDED DOWN FROM GOD. IT'S A HERB YO' GIT FROM DE LOCUST TREE DAT NOBODY KIN CONKAH BUT GOD. An' she give me dat herb.. "An' dis herb," she say, "ah'm not chargin' anythin' fo' it, but yo' a man ah lak." Ah loaned her ten dollahs Once. An' SHE CROSSED HER BREAST [with this herb]. [Somewhere in Hoodoo I tell the story about my contact man Edward Bufford, while we. were working in Savannah, Georgia. He had sealed some money in a letter to send home to his wife but feared she might not receive it. His landlady, where I interviewed during the day, took the sealed envelope and crossing it over her breast, said to him, "Mail it, now your wife will get the money." The money ar- rived safely.] Ah asked, "Whut kinda herb dis?" She said, "Dis is a herb from de locust tree, " an' she say, "ah want chew tuh keep dis herb fo' as long as yo' kin."
(Is this for luck or something?)
Fo' luck.
Entry 7585
[This rite should be classified under candles, but graveyard dirt from a woman's grave is so rare I prefer to place it here. Our rite comes from an excellent professional worker whose cylinders were missed by my transcriber. Later I made notes from them. Here is the present note: to keep woman - dirt from woman's grave - scrape a little from top - take home - light 2 black candles - set under bed where she [[woman who left home]] has been sleeping - put graveyard dust and sprinkle a ring [[of it]] around candles - and a piece of her clothes and lay where she sleeps - turn mattress up and lay the clothes on springs on a paper - take Bible and say prayers and read Bible - when candles go out she'll come home.]
Entry 8702
De 85 Psalm from de Bible will make a man care a great deal fo' yuh.
(When do you read that, do you say?)
On a Sunday mornin', face de east, seven times, an' call his name seven times.
(What will that do then?)
Now yo' use de 85 Psalm an' call 'is name an' yo' read it seven times an' every time yo' read yo' call 'is name. Well then THAT SENDS OUT A SPIRIT AND HIS MIND WILL FOLLOW AND THINK jest keeps his mind on yo', until he kin see yo' or come back to yo'. IT'S DE SPIRIT WORRIES HIS MIND WHEN YO' DO DAT.
Entry 8891
Put it on a glass, see. An' yo' put a brass key on top of de Bible. Put dis Bible on a glass first, an' a brass key on top of de Bible; but yo' gotta be a Christian, can't be a sinnah. Yo' undahstan' whut ah'm talkin' about. An' yo' kin call a person name three times. Or yo' kin git some Christian somebody tuh do it fo' yuh. Yo' kin call a person name three time an' de third time yo' calls dat first person yo' called, dat Bible will turn aroun' jes' like dat [demonstrates].
(Right on top of the glass.)
Right on top of de glass. Nobody don't touch it. Ah've seen it done. An' jis' as sure as it turn, dey goin' bring it back tuh 'im.
(If they have anything they've stolen from you.)
Entry 8899
Git chew a bran'-new nail an' put it in de Bible an' git a key. Yo' git de key. Yo' git de key, say: By St. Petah, by St. Paul, by de Lawd God dat made us all, whosomevah did so- an'-so must come tuh me or fall. Call dere names an' it might be [one of] a dozen of dem roun' dere. All yo' gotta do is takes yore li'le fingah - see, say, By St. Peter....
Entry 8933
(You'll know who stole it.)
Then you can make them bring it back.
(How do you do that?)
Now, I got to give you the Bible for that ag'in. You read the 65th Psalm three times a day and when you read that Psalm, you say your prayers and call dat person's name and they'll come back. If they don't give it to you, they'll put it on back where you can find it. [This Psalm may have been picked out of the hat (number chosen at random) or it may depend upon verse 2: O thou that hearest prayer, unto' thee shall all flesh come (King James Version). A great many rites, mere statements of Bible reading or praying, I never recorded. Here a Psalm 3 times a day could be considered a magic rite.]
Entry 9059
If dey tryin' 'im fo' murdah, if she kin git a piece of de man's clothes dat chew killed, any part of his clothes, his undahclothes, dat has his prespira- tion [perspiration] on it, weah it nex' tuh yours. An' keep a Bible an' read de Ten Commandments lak ah tole yo', see. An' den, if yo' got somebody's comin' tuh see yuh, if yo' kin git chure- self a five-cent package[!] of rice, take dat rice an' mix it wit salt, an' go tuh de grave- yard an' git chure sand an' put it in it. Give some tuh dis fellah dat's in jail, in a package; an' de rest of it, yo' take as dey come in, come intuh de co'troom. Yo' have some in yore hand an' count nine, an' as yo' counts at each one of de counts yo' drops some, an' when yo' git tuh de ninth count, drop it all. Jis' do yore hand lak dat [opens hand] an' let it all fall. (Just open your hand and let it all fall. And that's supposed to get you off the trial.)
Entry 9127
An' den, too, dere's anothah story sompin de same thing, dat if yo' got a case in co't, yo' git twelve sage leaves an' yo' write de twelve apostle names, one on each leave. An' if yo' gotta meet co't, den yo' put six in one shoe an' six in de othah, an' de judge himself have tuh be in yore favor. Yo' see, if yo' do dat, den by God Almighty, it's a help tuh yo', yo' undahstan'. Here we are told what is unexpressed in the similar rites. These twelve names compel God Al- mighty's help!]
Entry 9129
[The word Lamed in this rite is the title for lines 89-96 in Psalm 119, which is broken up into a number of named sections. Lamed is not the au- thor's name but a direction. Verse 94 shows why this portion of the Psalm was chosen: I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts. In recent years these courtroom rites, like the present one, could be called fox-hole or shell-hole religion. The Lord is not a Way of life but a last resort. Our rite has another interest, one of the oldest and commonest of all beliefs, the right foot first: Always start a journey right foot first for luck - Folklore from Adams County Illinois, No.12829, p.367, 2nd ed.] Well, yo' take sage leaves an' yo' write twelve names from de Bible, twelve names on each leaf of sage.
(You write one name for each leaf?)
Yes. An' yo' put it in yuh shoe, de right shoe firs'. [I must have been nodding here! Does it mean 6 leaves in the right and then 6 in the left? Or does it mean alternate: one right, next left, etc?] An' den yo' read, yo' read de word of Lamed in de 119 Psalm befo' yo' go [to court]. An' yo' PUT DE RIGHT FOOT IN FORWARD FIRS' an' yo' read dis 119th Psalm, de word of Lamed, an' yo' turn evah thing bottom upwards in de house: chairs, stools, evahthing bottom upwards, an' go on down.
(Before the judge.)
Entry 9161
Yo' kin look in de Bible an' git twelve men's names. Ah fo'git alla [all of] 'em but de name: John, Peter, Simon, Andrew, Matthew - these are haid- men [headmen]. An' if yo're in trouble or in law or anything - dat a lawsuit or any court choo know - to git doze names [of the 12 Apostles]. Put it on a piece of papah an' jis' befo' yo' go down - if yo're out on bond or any- thing - jis' befo' yo' go down. Yo' git doze names an' put it [them] on a piece of papah. Twelve names an' put chor name to de bottom, an' put in yuh shoe [us- ually both] an' weah dat. Well dat'll be twelve witnesses. An' turn dem names up dataway in de toe of yuh shoe where yuh name be down dis way an' dere names will be ahaid [ahead]. Dey is witness fer yah. Dey say dat'll bring yuh across, outa trouble. [For sage and 12 apostles or disciples, see Nos.9124-9137.] [Wil- mington, N. Car. (320), 252:7+85.]
Entry 9173
Yassuh, ah heard dat chew kin - now, ah know dis, ah didn't only heard dis. Jes' lak yo' is in trouble now an' yo' wanta git out. [Yo'] be in jail. Ah go in de woods or anywhere ah kin find a willah tree an' git five willah leaves. An' ah'll give 'em tuh yo' maybe in through by yore ration. Ah'll put it undah yore ration an' carry 'em tuh de jailhouse tuh yo'. Well, yo' take dem three willah leaves, dem five willah leaves, an' put two in each hip pocket an weah one in yore right shoe. An' read de fo'th chaptah of St. Luke in de second verse three times a day, an' yo'll be outa dere in three day's time. [St. Luke says little to the point here: Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. King James Version.]
Entry 9378
Well, if yo' Wanta 'complish [accomplish] anything in business trans- action, wages see, yo' take dat an' yo' write de whole of: see, yo' boils it remove de shell an' leave dat skin on de aig, an' yo' write de third chaptah of Joshua on dat, ovah an' ovah - jis' keep writin' all ovah it an' dat will black dat [egg]. An' take an' put it in yo' mouth an' swallah it whole!!! An' dat breaks up dat arg'ment [argument]. Break up de arg'ment of anything dey Wanta do tuh yuh, cuz yo' got de word of God inside of it [you] an' nobody can't do nuthin wit de word of God.
(And what is this egg, an egg of what?)
A black hen.
(Do you swallow the whole egg?)
Yeah, chew it up so yo' kin swallah it!!!
Entry 10260
Yo' get chureself nine matches.
(Nine ordinary matches?)
Nine ordinary matches and burn each one, an' cross yo'self down dere with dose matches an' read de Ten Commandments. An' every morning you do that for nine mornings, an' the ninth morning, why, you find it different; your nature's come back. "Cause ah've been done that way once an' ah knows. (Just to be sure I understand. Here are the nine matches. I light each one and let it burn [so that each match will become a pencil or mark- erl. Now do I take each match and just make a cross on myself?) Make a cross on it [penis]. (Cross it nine times [all together] with each one of these burnt matches and leave a black mark on it?) That's right, make a black [cross] mark on it. [Somewhere else I may have discussed the match - especially one with a red head - as a phallic symbol. One match is used each day and one cross only is made - 9 matches and 9 crosses.]
Entry 10451
If ah knows yore name, well at nine 'clock at night ah call yore name through a black art, which is cause an' [which is the cause of and contains] a witch, calling yore name. Only three time dat ah calls yore name, but ah wills mah voice will ring in de back [of your mind?] dat will go to yo' in yore sleep an' cause a worriation upon yo' de next morning. Yo'll be worried over de one who dat chew long to meet or who it is dat wants chew - womans, wife or gurl, or whatevah it is. Dey want chew at one 'clock in de night, when you [are] worst. When dey are sleeping dat seem to me as a better time to get holt tuh [hole to] 'em.
(What do you mean you call them through the black art? What's the black art?)
Well, dat's at night. Ah have - was sold mahself to contain of a witch, work- ings of witchcraft onto de body of de person.
(Well, do you mean you become a witch when you do that?)
Nah, ah wouldn't come [become] a witch [and fly away]. Ah stay home.
(You stay home, but...)
To my own house. Ah wouldn't have 'em dere. But using dere name, which you might call [like using] dis here 'lectric telephone. (That will make them do what you want or something of that sort?) Yes, dat will carry 'em to de house, but ah wouldn't tell you dat will make you stay when you git dere. (What would make them stay there?) Ah'm usin' dere name on it. Ah'd strip three verses out of de Bible, which ah would take de 2nd Kings, writin' dere name an' drawin' a ring round it with nine figures below - must be nine be- low dere name: dere wife's name or de woman's name down below dat. Put it into de mattress of de bed. (Then after this person has been called to go to this woman's house, that will keep him there?) Yes, got somepin to keep him off [away from home]. Whether he might wanta stay, ah don't know. But he [person I worked on] stay over dere yet. Dat's right heah in de city.
Entry 10550
Go down to a cross- road, where a road crosses, nine Sunday mawnin's. It's a very ha'd [hard] thing tuh do. When yo' thought of doin' one thing fo' nine Sunday mawnin's it's a good long while. An' meanwhile ah come an' maybe somebody try tuh hol' him off, but yo' gotta meet at dis same place at de same time of day. Jes' lak ah say ah'll be dere at nine a'clock, yo' gotta meet dere at nine a'clock fo' nine Sunday mawnin's at de crossroads. An' yo' gotta read a verse out de Bible.
(Do you know what the verse is?)
It's de 36 Psalms, an' ev'ryone ends wit de same words - de 136th Psalms, an' ev'ry verse ends dis chapter heah wit de same thing, de same words. Well, yo' start wit dat an' yo' read it fo' nine Sunday mawnin's, an' de ninth [Sunday] mawnin' yo'll meet what yo' didn't expect. Yo'll meet trouble dere, storms, high winds or somepin of dat sort. Yo' cain't tell exactly whut's it goin' be, maybe it will be rain, maybe wind, maybe snow or somepin lak dat. It be somepin diff'rent, de ninth mawnin'. But anyhow yo' continue wit it an' when yo' git through wit it, yo'll do whut chew wanta do so fur as tricks is concerned an wit'out bein' religious atall. But chew kin do anything yo' wants tuh do.
[Wilson, N. Car., (1476), 2655:3.]
12. BAT [Originally this section about the bat - not a bird as folklore believes - was a part of CHANNEL DE WORLD, a catchall later in the present volume. I did not realize until too late, that BAT should have followed FROG AND TOADFROG, a pre- ceding section of the present volume. Yet, to follow section SELL SELF TO THE DEVIL may not be inappropriate. These following rites show less knowledge and interest in bats than in frogs and toads, because bat was a night animal and frog and toad better known and easier to catch and handle.l
The informant describes nine Sunday mornings at crossing roads at a fixed chosen hour, reading a Psalm, with unexpected weather or trouble on the ninth and claimed abilities afterward. The spoken Psalm number changes from 36 to 136 and remains literal. The following BAT heading and Hyatt's section-placement introduction are retained only as surrounding context.
Entry 10699
Well, yo' wants tuh win. Wherever yo' goin' yo' wants tuh win. Yo' Bo into de gamblin' place an' yo' takes a Bible an' read de 23rd Psalms. Repeat it three times befo' leavin' home, an' on de way repeat it along, an' along until yo' git dere.
Entry 12277
Why yo' jes' take de knife an' de fo'k an' yo' cross dem, an' dere's a verse in de Bible, an' yo' jes' say, In Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, an' put 'em in de mattress an' let de person sleep on dat, an' 'cos' if dis man is used tuh visitin' yo'...yo' jes' keep dis in yore mattress. (What will that do?) Well, dat will jes' make de man stick aroum' yo' mo' so.
Entry 12404
Ah know dat chew could git a job jes' by goin' to a magnolia tree. Yo' take an' git - jes' a little piece of cloth an' den sew it up in a heart- style bag in shape of a heart. Yo' take dat heart- style an' yo' fill it up wit nuthin but table salt, salt dat nevah has been used. An' go to a magnolia tree wit three roots dat's runnin' east. Don't care how small or how large it is, an' yo' tie it up together an' feed it off de cologne. An' it's a certain chap- tah in Psalms in de Bible - de Psalms of David. Ah disremembah, but chew repeat dat three times in de mawnin' befo' yo' go fo' three mawnin's, an' aftah dat third mawnin' dat chew'll be successful in gittin' a iob an' holdin' it as long as yo' kin hold dat.
(You put these magnolia roots into this little bag?)
Yes sir, yo' puts it in dat an' sew it up right wit de salt in de heart- style [bag].
Entry 2951
Well, whenever they're trying to harm you, if it's with a candle, you take the Bible and you get up every morning fust before sunrise, look to the east and you make a prayer. Then you read a verse in the Psalms, the 9lst Psalm, which is supposed to be one of the strongest Psalms of David. You read it - a verse out of that back- Wards. Stead of reading it down, you reads it backwards every morning for nine mornings straight.
(Would that make the candle go out?)
Yeah, reading this Bible backwards for nine mornings, that'll put that candle out and set the house on fire.
(I see. And set the house on fire?)
It'll set the house on fire.
(I see, I see.)
Cause they generally have the candle in a closed space and wherever that is, the heat'll be so that it will ignite. The way the candle'll do it, it will bend over and eventually burn the paper - whatever they got under there. Sometimes they writes your name for nine times on this paper, backwards and forwards, prob- ably crossways. But you must use an indelible pencil, see. And sometimes the candle drops over - it's always a matter that it looks like it's a accidental way to do. It'll drop over and probably burn the scarf or ketch the paper wherever the wax have run, you see, and it will set fire. I've seen it happen many times.
Entry 13250
I stayed at a place up north. Every morning when I kindled de fire- I gen'a'ly made de fire - they had a package of sulphur there on that stove. When it was hot, they would sprinkle de sulphur on it, to fumigate de house with sulphur. They said that kept off the evil spirits and give it luck. (Every morning?) Every morning they'd sat- urate dat stove, when ft. got hot, you know, so that sulphur Would burn, they would sprinkle some of that sulphur on the stove. Said that kept off the evil spirits and give them luck. Druv [drove] the evil spirits out of the house, which, you know yourself, that there are more evil spirits than there are good ones. We are told by the Bible that many's the soul to walks this earth, visible or invisible. What they meant visible ones is the ones that we want to get rid of, don't want to be bothered with 'em. Well, now, we'll go back to de sulphur question. When you go to dig money, you make a circle around, all de way around de place yo' goin' to dig. Now a fellah tole me this to be a fact. Ah never seen it. An' sprinkle sulphur all around it [circle], an' yo' dig inside de ring of sulphur. When de evil spirit comes up there, he can't get inside that ring over that sulphur.
Entry 640
To tell de diff'rence, yo' kin git yo' some sugah an' git chew a glass of watah an' yo' say a prayer ovah it an' yo' read in de Bible in de Book of Psalms - de 21st an' de 32nd of Psalms, an' you read that an' yo' put a little sugah in that watah an' yo' drink it, an' yo' kin tell the diff'rence. Yo' do that fo' 'bout nine days.
(Any particular time of the day - it doesn't make any difference?)
In de mawnin's best.
(How would you tell by that that you are tricked or just ordinarily sick?)
If yore sick, this watah will do yo' good; an' if yore tricked, why it won't do yo' any good. Yo' see things is done from de power of God. An' when yo pray yore prayer, pray it in faith fo' help. [Memphis, Tenn., (938), 1517:16.] [What I said in the Introduction must be repeated here. The difficulty of indexing hoodoo material makes every title or label incomplete. Always the Index must be consulted.] [The preceding subsection, Diagnosis, showed doctor and layman seeking in- formation in primitive ways discarded by modern thought; Ways still under the control of the spirits whose activities previously we had been following. One of these ways told us "whether to go to a doctor - a medical doctor either (or) a root doctor (see No. 551, p.167)." This reference, not to mention others, indicates a basic difference between medical doctor (Doctor of Medicine) and root doctor; it also implies a limitation in the therapeutics of scientific medicine. Let us begin with the doctor.]
The informant directs Bible/Psalms reading in an unverified diagnostic account; the following indexing commentary is editorial.
Entry 7372
(If they found a person that got killed, had been murdered?)
Yes, [they] say de stain would be on whosomevah did de crime, de stain would nevah leave him - some part of 'im. It would be on 'im, somewheres about 'is han's an' [or] it would be some place about 'im dat it would show dat he be de real per- son dat did de crime. [This belief is based upon the mark placed upon Cain for killing his brother Abel - see Gen. 4:1-15; see also introductory comment to interview with Doctor Marcus Brown, p.1290.]
The editor links the belief to Cain's mark and a Gen.4:1-15 reference. This is an editorial comparison, not the informant's explanation or an independently established origin.
Entries from source headings
These entries are listed under the following headings in the source volume:
- Bible Backwards — Volume 1, entries 412. Source context: SPIRITS → SPIRITS GUARD BURIED TREASURE.
- Bible — Volume 1, entries 548. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → DIAGNOSIS.
- Bible — Volume 1, entries 1720. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS.
- Read Bible and Pray: Nine Days — Volume 1, entries 2895. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → SHRINES: ALTARS - CANDLES - SAINTS; NEW ORLEANS AREA → (2) CANDLES.
- NAME BIBLE AND KEY — Volume 4, entries 7502. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → MURDER → HOW MURDERER CAN BE CAUGHT.
- BEFORE SUNRISE - THROW IN DIRECTION VICTIM LIVES - BIBLE — Volume 4, entries 7597. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → HOW TO OBTAIN GRAVEYARD DIRT → TIME FOR TAKING GRAVEYARD DIRT.
- SPITTING: WRITE YOUR NAME - UNDER IT A NAME; TAKEN BY CHANCE FROM BIBLE - UNDER THESE; NAME OF PROSPECTIVE RENTER - UNDER THESE; ANOTHER NAME FROM BIBLE - UNDER THESE; YOUR NAME AGAIN - THESE 5 NAMES ROLL UP AND; STICK INTO BOTTLE - SPIT INTO BOTTLE 3 TIMES; SEAL BOTTLE - BURY UNDER DOORSTEP - ALSO PRAY — Volume 4, entries 8718. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → THREE SUBSTITUTES FOR HUMAN BODY → NAME.
- BIBLE - OPEN AT CERTAIN PLACE - PUT IN LETTER; RECEIVED FROM ABSENT PERSON - FOR 9 MORNINGS; THEN READ A PSALM - WRITER WILL COME TO YOU — Volume 4, entries 8789. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → THREE SUBSTITUTES FOR HUMAN BODY → LETTERS AND HANDWRITING.
- (6) BIG BRASS KEY - TIE IN BIBLE; WITH 2 FOREFINGERS LIFT AND HOLD UP; BIBLE - REPEAT "BY ST. PETER, BY ST. PAUL" — Volume 4, entries 8887. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → THEFT.
- (12) A WOMAN MUST NEVAH HOLD ANY OF DOSE KEYS; BIBLE AND KEY RITE BY TWO MEN USING RHYME — Volume 4, entries 8893. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → THEFT.
- BIBLE - MOSTLY PSALMS — Volume 4, entries 8986. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → COURT CASES.
- BIBLE - PSALM 109 - READ 3 TIMES BEFORE SUNUP; FOR 7 MORNINGS - INCLUDING YOUR TRIAL MORNING; BURN INCENSE - JUDGE WILL FINE OR DISMISS CASE — Volume 4, entries 8991. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → COURT CASES.
- BIBLE - PSALM 32 - READ 9 MORNINGS; BEFORE SPEAKING - FOR LIGHT SENTENCE — Volume 4, entries 8992. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → COURT CASES.
- SAGE LEAVES IN BIBLE AT PSALM 91; PRISONER AND DOCTOR READ TOGETHER — Volume 4, entries 9118. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → COURT CASES.
- 2 SAGE SEEDS - 6 IN ONE SHOE - 6 IN OTHER; THIS IN BIBLE[?] ABOUT 12 [10] VIRGINS [MATT.25:1]; SEEDS IN COURT PROTECT AGAINST CONVICTION — Volume 4, entries 9122. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → COURT CASES.
- ONE OR MORE RED CANDLES LIGHT IN ROOM; OPEN BIBLE AT RANDOM - READ FIRST VERSE SEEN; DO THIS FOR LUCK - ESPECIALLY IN BUSINESS — Volume 5, entries 10196. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → MORE CANDLE RITES.
- 9 PIECES OF SASSAFRAS ROOT AT EACH OUTSIDE CORNER; OF HOUSE - UNDER HOUSE AT FIRE HEARTH [CHIMNEY]; LAY OPEN BIBLE - LEAVE WHITE CANDLE BURNING NEAR; STAND TIN PIECE IN FRONT OF CANDLE TO HIDE LIGHT; AT NIGHT FROM PASSERBY - SPRINKLE SUGAR 50 FEET; FROM HOUSE - LOCK DOOR - STAY AWAY 3 OR 4 DAYS; NO ONE WILL ENTER OR STEAL WHILE YOU ARE ABSENT — Volume 5, entries 10208. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → MORE CANDLE RITES.
- BIBLE READ TO RECOVER STOLEN PROPERTY — Volume 5, entries 10701. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
- BIBLE AND KEY TO DIVINE THEFT; BY ST. PETER, BY ST. PAUL, JINGLE — Volume 5, entries 10703. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
- READ PSALM 37 - PUT BIBLE UNDER PILLOW - SLEEP ON; RIDS YOU OF UNWELCOME CALLER OR GUEST — Volume 5, entries 10706. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
- THEFT INCANTATION: BY ST. PETER, BY ST. PAUL; BY THE GOOD LORD WHO MADE US ALL - HAS SEVERAL; FORMS IN HOODOO - FROM MAGIC BOOK - NOT BIBLE — Volume 5, entries 10702. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
- DEVIL'S-SHOESTRING IN BIBLE OVERNIGHT - BURY IN; MAN'S PATH - TELL HIM TO GO - HE WILL BE PENNILESS — Volume 5, entries 11159. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
- ONE OF THE DOCTORS USING BIBLE - HERE PSALM 71; TO KEEP YOUR SEXUAL FORCE - ALSO BOOTLEGGING — Volume 5, entries 11286. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
- INSTEAD OF BIBLE - THIS DOCTOR HAD MEDICAL REMEDY; FOR IMPOTENCE - FEMALE DEER FAT-AND-BLOOD SALVE; THE FEMALE... IS A LAMB AND THE BUCK'S A MAN; NOT BIOLOGICAL STATEMENT BUT RESULT OF MEDICINE — Volume 5, entries 11287. Source context: "CHANNEL DE WORLD".
Source passage
continuous interview · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
Yo' an' yore fam'ly ain't gittin' long tuhgethah. Well yo' know whut chew do. Yo' go tuh de Scripture an' yo' git chew de 120 Psalms. Yo' read de 120 Psalms an' zhoo draw a cross in de middle of yore flo'
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[demonstrates]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
in huh absence. Yo' take dragon blood, pulvahize dragon blood, an'
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[informant demonstrates]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
put on each haid
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[head = arm of cross drawn on the floor]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
, an' take dat cross, un- dahstan' me, den yo' take an' eithah light dat cross.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[If I remember correctly, dragon's blood burning on the four ends of the cross is the only fiery-cross rite In HOODOO.]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
An' dis chaptah
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[Psalm 120]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
say,
recited or prescribed formula · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
"Ah'm peacin' yuh up from home
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[I an sending you away in peace]
recited or prescribed formula · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
."
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[Here is what Psalm 120 in the King James Ver- slon says:
editorial quoted external source; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
"My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war."
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
See, ah'm gittin' yo' outa mah house in peace - doin' away wit chew.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
(Here's your cross and you put some of that dragon's blood at each end of that cross.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
Yo' take dat dragon blood, an' git de powdah, pulvahize dragon blood. Leave it thick though.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
(Leave a pile, a little ridge of it.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
Den yo' git lil
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[little]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
of cedah
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[demonstrates]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
(And pour it
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[red-cedar shavings]
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
on that little ridge.)
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[Pour it on those four little ridges of dragon's blood at the four ends of the cross.]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
Den yo' light dat an' say dose words, 'cordin' tuh whut chew want. Yo' kin ove 'em
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[from that house]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
or yo' kin keep 'em walkin'.
Nested source context: quoted words with editorial gloss · Vol. 3, p. 1861
"Ah'm peacin' yuh up from home [I an sending you away in peace]."
locally coherent subpassage
This printed passage gives instructions for a reported practice; its effects are not independently verified.
The interviewee’s quoted formula and the editor’s King James quotation are distinct textual authorities.
The claim of a unique fiery-cross rite is editorial and explicitly qualified by memory.
Red-cedar shavings is an editorial insertion into the interviewer’s prompt; the interviewee’s literal cedah remains separate.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 3, p. 1859 · Vol. 3, p. 1860 · Vol. 3, p. 1861 · Vol. 3, p. 1862