Subject:Blacksnake
Entries
Entry 2555
Yo' take a white man and he like a king snake, an' yo' take a nigger an' he like a blacksnake. All right, den. Now ah want show you. Now yo' take dat - you kin git dust. You don't have to git nuthin but that graveyard dust and carry dat and throw it down all by yo' [his] doorstep where he gotta come in at. And suh, if he come in dere, ah pray to die - jes' as soon as he walk up dere his mind will change. Ah don't kere if somebody son [God's Son?] in dere. [Penciled note on original transcription reads "to keep law away."]
Entry 5333
Ah heah talk of 'em usin' yore foot track fo' keepin' people 'way from yore house. Now, if a person come tuh yore house an' yo' don' wan' 'em tuh go dere no mo', yo' take de dirt from right undah, aftah he leave, take de dirt from undah dere. (From either foot?) Yessuh. An' put it - bury it in a bottle, a li'le vial about lak dat [demonstrates], an' put some black- snake root in it an' bury it undah yore do'steps. An' he won' come dere no mo'.
Entry 6180
If yo' want 'em [to] stay, why dey git a lock of yore hair, see, an' salt, peppah an' blacksnake root or Samson [snakeroot] - it's one of dose root, an' wrap it in flannen cloth an' put it in a bottle an' airtight it, den bury it. Bury it undah de step of yore do'.
Entry 6618
Ketch a blacksnake an' jis' hang 'im up, cut 'is haid off an' let nine drops of blood drop in a cup. See, an' yo' put dat in whiskey an' give it tuh most anybody dat yo' think have harmed yo'. Well, dat poison, yo' see. Dat's poison den. (What will that do to them?) It would create snakes in dem. An' aftah a long while dat would kill 'em.
Entry 6708
Yeah, ah heard dis heah whut [you do], chew blacksnake root. Ah heard if somebody gives yo' a drink of poison in ohiskey, yo' kin take piece a dis blacksnake root an' chew it up, an' yo'll vomick up whut dey have give yo'.
Entry 6831
If yo' gotten any poison - yo' see, anythin' dat wuz poisoned - dey could go tuh a gumwood tree an' git de innahba'k, yo' undahstan', from de sun- rise side, an' boil it in sweet milk. An' give tuh dat person three times a day, a tablespoonful, an' dat would offset some trouble, dat poison.
(You mean if somebody has tricked them?)
[I am asking, is this ordinary or hoodoo poison.]
Yeah, somebody's tricked 'em.
(Cunjured them or something?)
Dat's right. Dere wuz a ole man dat usta [use tol come tuh mah gran'mothah's house an' he would tell 'er a certain person wuz jis' down an' out, chew know, jis' couldn't har'ly [hardly] live, an' dis same remedy dat ah'm tellin' yo' 'bout now, of de sap ba'k from de sun- rise of a gum tree. Boil dat in sweet milk an' give dat person. An' dere's somepin 'bout a blacksnake hide dat yo' git fo' 中商 dat person tuh weah it roun' 'is vaist or anythin'. Give him dat sweet milk an' gum ba'k boiled, yo' undahstan', fo' a medicine. Dat would be de remedy.
Entry 6895
Den yuh kin git some root whut dey call de blacksnake root, grain [green] root, an' arrowroot, an' High John de Conkah. Well, dat's de root, dat John de Conquah, dat is goin' tuh conquah mos' anythin', any kinda HO0- DOO dat come. DAT'S A Did yuh git chew [down] [blacksnake root] grain root, an' de arrowroot, an' John de Conquah? DAT RooT'S VERY EXPENSIVE AN' AH KNOW ZACTLY WHERE TUH GIT IT, see. Yuh kin [take] dose roots an' boil 'em tuhgethah an' if anybody wuz HOoDOOED, if mah lady wuz HOODO0, take some of dat root when it's dry an' beat it.up an' give it tuh a lady in some ine an' dat'll perform. Yuh kin see it, scorpion drived an' - given in powdah tuh someone - movin' in 'er laigs. Git dat stuff an' boil it an' make tea out it, an' in ten days dat git de pain outa yuh body. Dat came out. One time she couldn't walk straight. Evah time she stand up she fell on de floah. Ah goes tuh dat dere fellah an' ah says, "Look, ah wan' chew tuh drive me out tuh de country. See yo' got a li'le hatchet." Ah want tuh get me a hatchet an' he gave me de hatchet, an' ah went tuh de red oak tree. Ah trimmed off de white bark an' de black bark ovah it an' cut down tuh de juicy wood. Ah cut me fo' chips out on east side. Ah goes tuh de west side of de tree an' ah cuts me fo' more. Ah cut de chips off de east side firs', den ah go tuh de west side. Den ah git me some blackberry root, chew undahstan'. Den ah git some mul- lein an' ah take dat home, put it tuhgethah. Ah gits home an' ah tell mah wife, ah say, "Look, git me about two quarts of vinegah." An' she put dat on de fiah an' boil it, boil it an' boil it. An' she let it cool. Den she bathe me from mah haid tuh mah feet [downward bathing so that it will go out through his feet] in de tub, an' ah ain't had a pain in dis laig since.
Entry 7524
[Despite the rule in the preceding margin title, the following two rites are the exceptions proving the rule. Moreover, if I remember correctly, they are also the only two beliefs permitting a black person to use graveyard dirt from a white per- son's grave. The fol- lowing words may be a third exception: yo' could go tuh de grove- yard...take...three pennies an' go PAY WHITE OR COLORED - see interview RAGGEDY HAN, p.2195, line 19.] [I have never heard how you] harm anybody wit graveyard dirt but I have heard dis: I've heard dat yo' git graveyard dirt, an' a button from a rattlesnake, an' two teeth from a cotton-mouth blacksnake - two of 'is front teeth. Dey say dat yo' kin take dat dirt, but graveyard dirt from a white person's grave - not from a colored person's, a white person's graveyard - an' dey say yo' kin come into a lotta wealth. I've heard of dat dataway.
(Well, what do you do with these teeth and things?)
Well, now yo' put all dat togethah an' tie it up in a little red flannel cloth an' yo' wear it roun' yore neck - jes' tie it roun' yore neck an' yo' wear it. An' evah mawnin' befo' speakin' to anybody yo' have prayers. I disremembah what de prayer is an' den yo' kin become very wealthy. FROM DE WHITE PEOPLE I'VE HEARD DAT.
Entry 8032
Git chew some Heart Cologne, git chew some black gunpowdah. Go tuh de graveyard an' go down dere as fer as yo' kin reach. If yo' kin reach de casket an' git a bone - jis' any bone yo' git - take it, specially a ole graveyard where de bones is awfully rotten. Git it an' make a dust [of it]. Jis' git bone enough tuh make a dust out of it. Make it kinda in a powdah. Go dere - [I mean] go back home an' put it in a flannel [cloth] an' weah it undah yuh left arm. Git chew a piece of blacksnake root dey calls it, git hit an' put it in yuh mouth. Chew it up. Aftah six days yo' dere, go tuh dis place where yo' wanta git dis job an' git tuh talkin' tuh dis fellah, an' evah now an' den yo' spit. An' he might herd joo off de firs' time, but de second time yo' go back dere an' yo' git a job.
(You wear this stuff under your arm?)
Yo' weahs it fo' six days, goes down tuh de office an' carries it on. Nevah take it off until nine days aftah yo' git chure job. (Don't take this away until you have been on the job for nine days. And then you don't have to wear it any more.)
Entry 9137
Yo' take twelve leaves of sage. Yo' name de sage. Yo' know, dere's twelve disciples. Well, yo' take an' name dose leaves of de twelve disciples. Put 'em in yore left shoe. Well, yo' take a piece of dis blacksnake root an' put it in yore mouth. Well, yo' go in an' yo' take infant's dirt. Yo' go an' tell de daid, "Daid, ah'm not" - yo' carry three pennies tuh de grave. Lak, now, yo' already in dere [jail]. Well, now, yo' want yore case dismissed. Well, now, some of de peoples or some of yore relatives, dey'll take an' go tuh de cemetery an' take three pennies, an' dey dig a hole an' on a infant's grave. Dey tell it, "Daid, ah didn't come tuh do any harm. Ah jes' come tuh ask yo' tuh fix it so his case will be dismissed." An' take his [infant's] dirt up in yore fingahs lak dat [demonstrates]. Yo' goes home an' put dat dirt down in a papah. Den yo' take de table salt nine times [9 pinches of salt] an' put in dat dirt an' shake it up. Yo' put dat dirt in yore left shoe wit dose leaves an' yo'll walk out.
Entry 9949
An' yo' kin take a toadfrog an' a snake shed. Undahstand, git a blacksnake shed an' a toadfrog, an' put it in yuh house. Dat'll make yuh wife stay at home. She won't bothah wit nobody else. But yo' have tuh keep it in yuh house.
Entry 10612
If yo' want a job, yo' go down tuh de boss. Well, if dis fellah want- ed a job, didn't have no work an' didn't have nowhere tuh stay, an' everybody dat he went to, had turned him away. An' he went tuh a fellah dat supposed tuh know. De fellah give him three kind of roots: give Adam an' Eve, an' dis blacksnake root an' dis heah devil snakeroot [see later]. He taken dat root.... (Devil snakeroot or devil's shoestring?) Devil's shoestring! Dey called it de devil root. Take dat root an' fix dat root up in a kind of a compound an' he go down dere. When he git dere tuh dat man he take it an' goes an' git him a buckeye an' puts hit in his pocket. An' he wears dat buckeye. De buckeye made out of - dem lit- tle black buckeye lak dat. He takes dat an' he goes down an' he talks to de man. He put all of dat in Hearts Cologne an' he goes down dere to de man an' he gits tuh rubbin' his hand lak dat. An' walks up tuh de man an' started tuh talkin' with de man. De man will tell him, no, but be shore tuh come back de next day. Well, he'll come back de next dat still a-rubbin' dat root. Well, he'll git dat root, every one of 'em, one in each pocket an' one in each foot. An' he gits dere an' de man go tuh talkin' an' he'll have a piece in his mouth chewin'. When he git dere de man go tuh talkin' an' say, "Well, ah guess, if yo' think yo' kin work, ah'll give yo' a job." An' yo' tell de man yo' kin work. Jes' as long as yo' keep dat roots rubbed up an' keep it fulla Hearts Cologne, well de man will nevah fiah yo', but de time dat yo' lose dat root, yo' lose yore job.
Entry 10723
He coming back to her. Go in de woods and git some blacksnake root. See, it got two little forked roots to it. An' yo' tie it up in a little han'- kerchief, see, an' git some- body dere an' put it up ovah de door, an' dat's tuh make dem leave dere. [To bring man back to woman he left, someone goes into the other woman's house and puts over her door a blacksnake root with a fork - symbol of a 'Y crossroad. He will soon leave other woman.] [St. Petersburg, Fla., (999), 1616:2.)
Entry 10724
Yo' kin go down to de forks of de road, an' yo' kin put something in a path. Yo' kin git dis root dat's called a blacksnake root. Take dis black- snake root an' yo' kin lay it at de fork of de road like dis an' [demonstrates]. Dis is de fork an' yo' lay dat root jes' at de fork, an' yo' step ovah dat place where dat root is, why yo'll go crazy. (You place that root pointing down each of these roads that meet - the forks of the road like a "Y"?) Yes sir, jest de way de roads fork, why yo' put de root. Dat's de blacksnake root.
Entry 10725
If a man leave and she wants him back, as ah have 'fore said, she kin go to work and take a few - go to work and git some of dis heah herb what dey call de blacksnake root. And she kin go to work and put dat in a bottle, an' after putting dat in a bot- tle, den she go to work an' say, In de name of Jehovah, ah wants mah husband back. An' she cast dat in de east and dat bring him back [he returns with the rising sun].
Entry 10726
Boil blacksnake root and lizard [a trouble combination], put under enemry's doorstep; if he walks over them, he'll have a headache and then loose teeth.
Entry 11173
Lots of people talk about different things dat ah have nevah tried. but dis heah whut ah'm tellin' yo' now, ah've tried dis mahself, yo' see. If a person wants to mistreat yo' an' dis is yore place heah, yo' take devil's- shoestring - ah don't know whether yo' evah hear tell of it - devil's-shoestring an' blacksnake root. "Co'rse dey roots whut grows in de wood. An' yo' kin twist dem dere roots together [probably tie together so that they will not unravel], put them between yore mat- tress whut chew lay on. Dat'll constipate yore bowels where yo' can't have action an' well, den dat cause yo' to git in misery, make yo' sick. Unless some man come long wise enough to detect dat, dat devil- ment is undah dat mattress, why de doctors [M.D.'s] dey can't save yo', yo' see. But now, if a man come along have done experienced dis devilment, he knows jest exactly whut tuh take an' whut tuh tell yo' tuh do tuh git dat devilment. Look under dat mattress. [Waycross, Ga.,. (1120a), 1798:6.]
Entry 12239
Take Hearts Perfme an yo' take dis blacksnake root an' take de John de Conkah an' yo' put it in dis perfume an' let it stay fo' twenty-fo' hours an' in twenty-fo' hours, yo' put dat perfume on yo' an' yo' go down an' as yo' ask 'im fo' a job, yo' take dis perfume on yore han'ke'ch'ef an' yo' wavin' it lak dis [demon- strates].
(Just wave it around.)
Jes' wave an' dat'll change his mind an' he'll give yo' a job, even if yo' quit, an' he'll send back fo' yo'.
Entry 12774
If I wanta harm yuh - if I wants tuh harm yuh, I'm goin' show yuh de way I'd harm yuh. Now, ah've got somepin dat ah wants to git nex' to yo' fo'. Ah'll come to yore house an' sit down an' talk wit chew today. Dat to git de sense to see what chew, yuh notice me about, if yo' don' notice me too much. Den tomorrah when ah come back, ah bring my dose [mix- ture] what I wants to git nex' to yo', an' sprinkle it in yore house. An' de day what chew got - understand, dat what chew got. When ah leave yo' house, [you] will always wanta see me all de time.
(Well, what sort of dose would you fix up?)
Well, ah'll fix up sompin wit lobelia and hippo - lobelia and hippo root. [This may be my only example of Hippo, the name of the blood flower from the Bahamas.] Now ah git blacksnake powder or rattlesnake powder an' tie yo' up.
(Rattlesnake powder?)
Rattlesnake powder an' tie yuh up. Yo' take dis rattlesnake powder - yo' take it an' bring it wit chew out de Woods an' yo' put one knot in it. Git de blacksnake-shoestring [he means] de devil's-shoestring. Tie dat together an' ah've got chew.
(What is this blacksnake root that you tie up?)
Blacksnake root? Blacksnake root supposed to conkah anything yo' start after, an' rattlesnake powder...
(Rattlesnake powder?)
Rattlesnake powder, dat's a big bush grows about dat high an' grows about dat wide [demonstrates]. Yo' kin take it - yo' kin go to de woods an' take it an put it in yore yard or plant it in yore flowers. But it's no good heah to yuh, yo' gotta git it out de woods. Git chew five-fingah grass. It grows about dat high [demonstrates]. Yo've seen snake's tongue, ain't chew? Well it jes' like a snake's tongue. It grows about dat high [demonstrates], from de ground an' it spread out jes' like a snake's tongue.
(Well, what do you do with that five-finger grass?)
Yo' take dat an' bring it to yore house an' conkah anybody dat chew wanta come by. Anything dat come to yo' mind to do, yo' kin do it. Yo' don't miss nuthin.
Entry 13079
Ah've heard dis. Yo' kin jes' run a black- snake down or ketch hin 'live an' cut his tail off. An' take it [tip of tail and blood] an' put it in a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' hit'll make yo' as good a jomoh as yo' want.
(That's for luck.)
Entry 13084
Take dat hair [from an enemy]. An' dey take dat hair an' put it in a blacksnake tail. Ketch a live blacksnake an' put it in his tail an' turn dat blacksnake loose, an' jes' as fur as dat black- snake goes, yo'll [the enemy] go too. Yo'll [enemy will] follow dat blacksnake. [This could be my only example of this unusual rite.]