Subject:Bottle
Other forms: Bottled
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Entry 3119
Yuh take dat [bath] watah, put it in a bottle an' mix it wit wo watah, adx it wit salt an' gunpowdah. Throw dat in de runnin' watah, see. Dat will keeps yuh tied up. Well, it will make yuh lose ami bition fo' de woman dat yuh have, yuh undahstan'; an' it will keep yuh wit a mind - yuh undahstan', yuh will nevah be satisfied where yuh be yet.
Entry 3259
Well, if dis man have any - if he's runnin' aroun' an' if he have any dealin' wit dis woman, she [wife] could take dat piece he use, yo' see, an' put it in some lukewarm watah an' it would clab- bah jis' lak buttahmilk. An' she puts it in a pint bottle. Yo' know, put dis watah in a pint bottle an' let 'im sleep on it three nights an' shake it up each night he sleep on it. An' well, he cain't have nuthin tuh do wit no othah woman. He cain't do dat.
(Who does this now? The wife does that?)
De wife do's it. (When he has connection with her, then she does it. Then he won't have any dealings with any other woman.) See, she have tuh use it. When he gits through, she shouldn't git through. See, jis' let 'im git through, an' den she wipe, yo' know dis rag whut he use it. Well, den she take it an' put it in some lukewarm watah an' it'll clabbah, an' den she puts it in a pint bottle an' den let 'im sleep on it three nights. Put it in de bed where he cain't see it - yo' know, all unknown tuh him, an' let 'im sleep on it three nights, an' den shake it up each mawnin' an' sleep on it, an' it ain't no woman he kin have.
(What would she do with that bottle after he sleeps on it three days?)
She has dat bottle, keeps dat bottle. She kin bury it in de ground, but it ain't nuthin he kin do.
Entry 3294
All right, if a woman or man - if it's anybody wit dere chamber lye, jes' lak yo' go tuh bed, well, she ain't goin' urinate at all in dat bucket, but he don' know no bettah, see. Well, she goin' put dat chamber lye in a little bottle. Dis is anothah thin' dat yo' can't raise no heart fo' nary [negative form of ary] 'nothah [inter- esting double negative] woman but de one dat's doin' dat. Take dat chamber lye an' put it in a bottle jes' about dat large [demon- strates], jes' enough not tuh feel it in de pillah or mattress. But place it on 'is side, see. Now he can't go out wit no othah woman - nuthin, no satis- faction at all.
Entry 3302
She kin take some of 'is uri- nate an' stop it up in a bottle, yo' know, an' set it undahneath 'er bed fo' three days. Aftah dat she take it out from underneath de bed an' boil it. An' den she cut 'im off from othah women.
Entry 3303
Yes, dat's to stop '血, yo' see. Dat's how a man an' wife are fastened like dat - like I had a husban' an' he keeps runnin' aroun' wit diff'ren' women. Well, I'd git 'is watah an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up, turn it upside down. Well, he couldn't make connection wit no othah woman.
(I see, as long as you got that bottle.)
Take dat bottle an' turn it upside down.
Entry 3304
Like, say fer instance, I'm livin' here. I have a wife here. I'm a fellow, I'm accustomed to gittin' up at night an' urine in de night jug. Now, dis: woman wants to - she don't want to kill me or nuthin like dat. She jes wants to harm me so dat she could keep me. Now, she'll take dat, dat urine - see, it mustn't be no watah. She'll take dat urine an' she'll put dat into a quart bottle. She'll put needles into dat. She'll stand it up on de head, anywhere in a cornah. It must be in a cornah so dat yo' can't see it. An' she'll have yo' so dat yo' can't be wit anyone else but 'er. If yo' go to be wit any othah womean, yo' can't do it. Yo' gotta be wit 'er.
Entry 3306
She kin take a man's watah. (Take a man's urine.) Dat's right, an' stop it up in a bottle an' if he goes off from 'er, she kin shake it up - his own urine - he'll fall [his courage will] an' come on home.
Entry 3307
Well, dey'll take dey chamber lye, so dey say, an' dey'll put dragon's blood in it, nine drops. Dey'll put nine pins in it wit de points [up]. Dey'll drop de heads down in dere, an' nine goldeye needles. Den dey'll take dat, dat'll keep a man from havin' intahco'se wit any othah woman but de one dat does it, see.
(The woman who does this.)
De one who does dis. She kin take up de bottle, so she says, an' shake it an' anywhere's he is, he's comin'. If he see death in front of him, he can' [can't] prevent from comin'.
Entry 3308
In othah words, if dis mah wife or mah girl fren', if she want me tuh have her an' nobody else, she take mah watah an' 'er watah togethah an' put so much of hers an' so much of his'n [a change from first to third person] - put it in a bottle an' stop it up tight an' bury. He couldn't raise a heart fo' nobody else but 'er.
Entry 3309
In othah words, see, jes' if yo' got a woman an' yo' an' 'er - yo would like her, yo' undahstan'. Yo' would like dis woman an' yo' couldn't do nuthin in de world, yo' undahstan', to keep dis woman. But here what you'd do. Yo'll take dis woman an', yo' know, fool aroun' wit 'er, yo' see, an' you'll - jes' like yo'll discharge, de man'll discharge, eithah one of 'em [it depends upon which one wants to hold the other]. She take, yo' know, an' [keep it] herself. [Here informant changes from man to woman.] Den she takes a rag an' go off an' strap it down in a bowl, yo' undahstan'. Den she won't dis- charge wit it, yo' undahstan'. [I don't understand.] [This belief of hoodoo makes a woman into a sort of man, a lesser one at that. I have mentioned this problem several times in HOODOO.] An' aftahwards, she jes' take it an' go back an' urinate ovah herself, yo' see, [I mean] ovah hit [man's rag]. Den, aftah dat she take it [with him and her in the rag] an' rinse it out an' wash it, see. Well aftah she rinse it out an' wash it out, she take some of it an' put it down in a bottle, see. An' den when she stop it up, yo' [man] go where yo' want, yo' won't wanta see no othah woman in de world but her, yo' see.
(How can a man get rid of that?)
Well de way I get rid of dat, be jes' a-continue on - keep 'er.
Entry 3310
If it's 'is wife, he natch'ly [naturally] takes de nature of 'is ife away from 'er for anybody but 'imself. An' de way he would do dat, [is] when he has intahco'se wit 'is wife. He buy a bran'-new piece of domestic an' he doesn't use it 'imself, he lets 'er use it aftah dey're finished. An' he has a slop jar washed clean an' see dat he don't use it at all. He waits an lets 'er use it. He won't use it. Den he takes dat urine an' pours it in a fruit jar, an' he puts dat cloth, dat domestic dat dey use, in dere wit 'er urine. An' get a rubbah, put on dat jar an' seal it up tight. An' as long as no air strikes it, she has no nature but for de one dat put dat in dat jar. [Hemphis, Tenn., (973), 1575:4.]
Entry 3311
Dey takes dat chamber lye, yeah, from a man or coman, don make any diff'rent. Dey tell me - jes' lak ah got a wife an' ah vanta take her courage down offa her fo' anybodys else but me, an' ah git 'er urine an' stop it uP. Take a piece of 'er garment dat she wears nex' to her skin - see, make no diff'rent if it 'er stockin' or 'er drawahs or whatsomevah it may be. An' yo' burn dat, see. Yo' burn dat anywhere so yo' kin git de ashes. Well, yo' po' dat into dat chamber lye an' stop it jes' as tight as yo' kin stop it, an' yo' stop 'er courage right dere until yo' git ready fo' her. Den yo' holds 'er dere until yo' git ready to turn 'er loose, so she can't have any othah mans. She might try to an' would do it, but it wouldn' do her any - she would [not] find any result of it.
(What do you put her chamber lye in?)
In a bottle. Put dat burnin' [burned] stuff [ashes] - set it anywheres in de house commonly.
Entry 3315
Well, if a person wanted to trick yo' some way in de chamber lye. All right, yo' have to eithah ketch dere natchal [natural] chamber lye or either ketch where dey put de chamber lye at. It's lak if he go out dere an' he let it on de ground some place it will always leaves a little hole in de ground. Well, yo' prob'bly take a pocketknife or sompin an' cut dat hole out. Den yo' take itan punch it into a bottle, an' yo' take aftah yo' punch it into dat bottle, yo' git some John de Conkah root an' yo' put dat John de Conkah root in dat bottle an' stop it up. Den yo' walk fo' steps farwards, eight steps backwards, an' turn facin' to de watah stream, an' walk to de watah stream an' throw it in dere. Dat's de last of yo'.
(Well, just what would that do to me?)
It will take yo' courage clean from yo'. Yo' wouldn't have any courage fo' no woman whatevah, no mo', long as yo' live on land. No doctors kin bring it back, unlessen. (These steps forwards and backwards, do you do that before you go down to the running water? Or do you go down to the running water to do those?) Yo' go to de runnin' watah, an' den, aftah yo' git to de runnin' watah, yo make - jes' close enough fo' yo' to throw it in. Yo' make three [four] steps backwards, den eight steps farwards [informant inverts or transposes number of steps] an' den throw yo' bottle ovahbo'd.
Entry 3318
If a man or a woman wants tuh stop yo' from runnin' aftah anothah woman, she git chure urinate watah an' bottle it up, an' she'll take a auger an' bo' a hole in a tree [put the bottle in and stop it up]. It'll kill yore courage fo'evah. Yo' nevah have no nature - yo' wouldn't have any fo' her or nobody else.
Entry 3847
De blood, yo' could take dat an' yo could put dat in a bot- tle. Yo' stop dat up, yo' put dat in a bottle. An' yo' put red peppah, sulphuh an' gunpowdah in dat. An' yo' stop dat up airtight, a person blood, an' dat stop dat blood from trans- mission. Dat stop dere passin' of de blood.
(The blood from any part of the body?)
Yeah.
Entry 3869
Maybe yo' kin jes' ketch hold of 'em, yo' see, git hold of 'er - her sickness, yo' undahstand what I mean. Ministratin', yo' take dat an' yo' put dat in a bottle. Yo' un- dahstan', piece of it, piece of cloth or whatsomevah she use - cotton, whatevah it be. Take dat an' put it in a bottle. An' git yo' some of dis, de same thin' yo' call devil's-shoe- string see, [and] one of dose bottle of Hearts Cologne, an' one of High John de Conker. An' put dat in dere an' git yo' two nails an' one needle, see. If yo wanta, yo' could put three nails an' two needles, see. Den when yo' put de three nails an' two needles, why one of de nails counts fer de - one fer de Fathah, one fer de Son, an' one fer de Holy Ghost. An' put dat in a bottle togethah an' dem two nails [needles] count fer de conkerin' of de world. Put dat in a bottle to- gethah wit yore urinate, see. An' mix 'em an' stop it up tight, an' bury dat undah yore steps. An' whenevah she kin go; but she won't stay gone, see.
Entry 3914
(What do they say about that?)
Dey say dey kin take de dirt out from undah yore toenails, an' de dirt out from undah yore fingahnails, some hair outa yore haid, an' wit de lady people, yo' know, wit de changes of de moon. An' put all togethah an' put hit in a bottle an' stop it up, an' as hit grow old as dey fade away. (As it grows old they fade away. I see. Do you mean, get hold of a woman's monthly cloth?)
[I am asking for the meaning of his de changes of de moon.]
Yes, sir.
Entry 3926
A woman, dey kin take her min'stration an' a piece yo' know, an' dey kin throw it in de rivah or yo' kin bury it. If yo' bury it, it will kill 'er; if yo' throw it in de rivah, it will run 'er an' she'll nevah come back. But dey dresses it. See dey puts dis powdahs on it, incense powdah, an' yo' pin it up wit new pins, bran'-new pins in a bottle.
Entry 3969
Ah tell yo' anothah thin' - jes' lak if yore wife goin' wit a man an' yo' try tuh make her stay home an' not run around so much, an' yo' say, "Well, ah druthah see her daid den tuh be wit anybody else." An' when, yo' know her periods is on. Well, yo' know womens gen'a'ly [generally] have a little sack dat dey put de intahco'se rags in an' thin's lak dat. Yo' wait until yuh git a good fresh piece she jes' pull off, see. Jes' take dat an' squeeze jes' as much of dat out as yuh kin in a little ole cup, or sompin whut chew ain't goin' use no mo'. Stop dat up in a bottle jes' as tight as yo' kin, an' yuh go tuh de rivah where de rivah's goin' out [with the tide] an' throw it jes' as fur as yuh kin git it in de middle an' tell 'er, "Go, yo' damn son-of-a-bitch." See! Won't be long 'fore she be gone cuz dat'll stop it - bam! - on 'er. See, she won't become umwell any mo'.
Entry 3971
Dere a man, his wife wuz runnin' roun', an' aftah she got de ronin' fit, she didn't want 'im. An' he wuz wondahin' how would he do tuh make her wanta leave 'em off. So he jes' got tuh thinkin' roun' an' he said, "Well, ah'll know whut ah'll do." He says, "Ah'll git even wit 'er. Ah'll put 'er away." So he got a li'le dirt outa her laig track - got dat. Den he got a li'le of 'er monthly periods an' he put dat in a bottle, an' he stopped it up an' he taken dat tuh runnin' watah. He taken it down dere about sundown, right aftah it wuz dark, an' it wuz tied dere. An' as long as dat bottle bobbled [bobbed] on de watah, her mind would go. An' she finely [finally] went until she run crazy. Huh mind run clean away from huh. An' he nevah seen [her] from dat day he did dat until she died.
Entry 3979
An' den yo' kin take de ministration blood, or eithah when a man have a connection wit a woman, jes' if yo' kin ketch dat. Yo' jes' ketch dat an' take it an' put it in a bottle, an' stop it up tight an' throw it into de runnin' watah, an' dat'll run 'em crazy.
(You don't do anything with the blood?)
Yeah, yo' kin do it wit dat.
(Oh, you do a woman the same way with her blood.)
Yes sir. [Florence, S. Car., (1324), 2268:9.] [As always in a section like URINE, more material is scattered through the text of HooDoO. What we have here will give us a general idea regarding the vastness of the subject. These rites are given in alphabetical order.]
Entry 3996
Yo' put some yore chamber lye intuh a vial, an' put some Heart Cologne in dere, put some Eve-an'-Adam in dere. Den yo' po' de least bit of dat watah out of dat vial in yore han's an' rub it In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' Holy Ghost, an' den goes tuh work an' shuffle yore cards. An' derefo' yo' will have luck ingamblin'. (What is the other way of getting a job?) De nex' way dat chew could git it, take yore same watah dat chew shuffle yore cards wit. Take some of yore chamber lye an' put it into a vial an' put some Heart Cologne in dat, an' Eve-an'-Adam into it - dat vial. Rub it into yore han's thoroughly, In de Name of de Fathah, an' dress yo'self down three times an' make yore wish. An' go an' have a talk wit 'im an' he'll think about it.
(You get the job from the boss?)
Yes.
Entry 4054
Yo' take dat an' stop it up in a bottle. (Take what?) chamber lye - pee-pee. Yuh take dat an' yuh stop dat in a bottle, an' turn it upside down an' bury it in de groun' undah a step, an' dat'll swell 'em up. Dey cain't make watah - till dey die.
Entry 4070
Den yo' kin jis' take his chamber lye an' jis' put it in a bottle an' put it down undah yore hearth right by de fiah yo' know, where it won't break. [They] say put it down in dere. Dat is if yo' wants tuh kill 'em or do sompin lak dat - wanta make him lingah or suffah 'fo' [before] he die, an' cuzin' [causing] dat watah tuh dry up in dat bottle from de heat. An' dat's how it dry up in 'is bladdah.
Entry 4073
(Any other way she can make him come back to her?)
She kin do - she take nine needles an' nine pins an' put 'em in a bottle head an' tail, an' call 'is name evah time [she drops a needle or pin]. An' full de bottle full wit 'er chamber lye. An' cork it up tight an' make a fiah an' put dat bottle in de fiah, an' when it bust, call dey name. In 24 hours time he has tuh come tuh 'er runnin' - no mattah where he be, have tuh come tuh 'er.
Entry 4141
I heard this from an old man in Hick'ry [Hickory], N. Car., said that he could take a man's watah an' bottle it up with graveyard dirt, pins an' nee- dles, an' 'twould stop the ureene [urine]. An' that would be the cause of his death. [I had stayed the night at Hickory in 1922 (see vol.1, p. XXVIII), where I first heard the radio.]
Entry 4142
Now dey kin take dat chamber lye an' den dey kin take peppah an' put it wit dat chamber lye, an' put it into a bottle an' stop it up airtight, an' take it tuh a cemetery and bury it. An' den dat will effect yuh. Or in othah words, if somebody done somepin tuh yuh an' [you are unable to find that bottle], now de thing of it is, IF DEY [the spell caster] DIES BEFORE DAT YUH GIT DAT OFF YUH, WHY CONSEQUENTLY DEN DAT'S [the spell is never going to be taken off. See IF EVIL-DOER DIES, SPELL INCURABLE, P.396].
Entry 4155
Take dey chamber lye an' make yuh so dat chew can't make watah. Well dey takes it from yuh an' save it, an' dey git a stran' of yuh hair out chure haid, an' put in it an' let it stay fo' five weeks. Well, aftah dose five weeks dey mix some sulphur wit it an' dey put dat in dere an' dey put a little salt, red peppah, yuh know, whut grows on bushes. Den yuh can't make no watah.
(Where do they put all those things?)
Where dey keep it, puts it in a bottle, airtight so no air can't git in it, an' it stay in dere.
Entry 4156
If dey wanna go ag'in - tuh keep 'em from goin' ag'in, yuh'll have tuh clip a piece from she [demonstrates].
(From the top of her head.)
An' a piece from she private an' put it in de bottle wit nine needles, an' take yuh chamber lye an' some German Heart Cologne, an' mix it tuhgethah an' hol' dat in yuh pocket fer de fus' [first] nine mawn- in's. An' den take it an' po' it in one of yuh suits, an' she will nevah go tuh dat pocket tuh take it out. An' SHE'LL STAY DERE FOREVAH AN' FOREVAH.
(I see. That keeps her.)
Entry 4161
If a person is a enemy tuh yuh, now dey kin take yuh chamber lye an' stop yuh watah completely. An' dey take dat bottle an' stop it up as tight as dey kin git it, an' dey kin take it undah de back do'step or eithah in de no'th cornah up undah de house an' bury 'em dere. Yuh put such a po'tion [portion]- yuh leave a po'tion, enough of it out, dat chew kin take a hammah an' go dere an' hit fo' nine mawnin's befo' sunrise, an' it will stop yuh watah completely. An' IF IT AIN'T REMOVED, IT WILL CARRY YUH TUH DE CEMETERY.
(What do they hit? Do they hit the bottle?)
Yes, dey hit de bottle. Dey have it tight down - de bottle, dey covah [pack] it tight down, an' de' hit it fo' nine mawnin's. (What did they do with the other water? You said they poured a portion out didn't you?) No sir. Dey po' whut dey ketch, undahstan'. Jes' lak if dey wanted tuh ketch yuh watah tuh do yuh harm, undahstan'. If dey can't git tuh de chambah in de house, undahstan', dey'd set it up somewhere undah yuh labor'tory [lavatory] - mo' [more] specially if it's out [outside the house] - an' ketch it dataway. An' ketch enough tuh fill up dat little vial.
(Well, wouldn't the hitting break that bottle?)
No sir.
(They don't hit it hard enough?)
No, jis' hard enough tuh drive it down.
Entry 4163
Yuh kin take dere chamber lye an' stop it up in a bottle. Evah mawnin' hit de stoppah. It'll have yuh so yuh'll have gravel stones or can't pee - ruin yuh dataway. (Hit it for nine morn- ings.) Nine mawnin's. Jis' one little lick.
Entry 4164
Yuh kin take a person chamber lye an' put it in a bottle, an' put a stoppah in it an' put it intuh a dry place, in a dark place where no air cain't hit it. An' yuh kin go to dat bottle evah day fo' nine days an' knock on dat stoppah, an' de las' day yuh hit on dat stop- pah an' drive dat stoPpah up. DAT PERSON WILL BUST OPEN.
Entry 4167
Then again, if you want to harm your neighbor, if you want to keep him away from this place, from your home, you just go and get a bottle about that long. You put your [his] water in it. You hold it between your fin- gers like that, your two middle fin- gers [of the left hand], you hold it tight, and you say: Lord, Jesus Christ, your Nomesake. T Then you put the stopper right in. And when you bury it, you bury it [upright] just level with the ground. And IN NINE DAYS THAT WILL TAKE HIM OFF THIS EARTH. That stops his Water when he steps over it. IF YOU WANT TO TURN HIM LOOSE, YOU HAVE TO TURN HIM LOOSE IN EIGHT DAYS.
Entry 4178
Yo' kin git ten penny nails, don't chew undahstan', an' brass pins. Yo' kin put 'em in a bottle wit de urine an' stop it up an' it'll set choo crazy. It'll stay in dere an' yo'll suffah clean till dey let choo out. Well, dat's mean, don't choo know. When dey let choo out, yo' got tuh git somebody [to help yuh], don't choo undahstan'.
(Why do they do that?)
Becuz dey're mad an' jealous of yo' gittin' along, an' do somepin tuh yo', don't choo know, so dat choo cain't have no luck.
(What do they do with this bottle?)
Dey buries it, buries it down in de groun' bottom upwards dey tell me.
Entry 4181
Dey stop yuh watah.
(How do they do that?)
See, dey take yuh chamber lye an' put it in a bottle. Dey'll take yuh chamber lye an' dey'll' put it in a bottle, an' den dey'll take an' put yuh name in dat bottle - put it in dere. Den dey'll take an' dey'll stop dat bottle up tight - tight - tight. An' dey'll git some hot pepper an' put it in dat bottle. An' yuh see, den dey'll take an' stop dat bottle up tight an' bury dat bottle upside down. You see? An' dat stops yuh watah up - stop yuh from peein' an' gives yuh a gripe from all ways in yuh stomik. An' yuh can't pee good.
Entry 4184
[More calZing rites will be found later under SHAKING BOTTLED URINE.]
Well, in de night when yo' go tuh baid, ah wouldn't use no slop jah [jar] at all, see. Jes' lak ah wanta trick a gal, ah would let she [not her] urinate intuh dat jah, see. Ah'd git me a bottle an' ah'll put some her urinate in it, see. Dat's all ah want, de urinate, an' ah don' wan' nuthin else. Ah'll git dat urinate an' put it intuh a little vial bottle. An' aftah ah git de urinate, ah'll call 'er an' ah'll git 'er voice. Git 'er voice an' 'er urinate in dat bottle. An when ah call 'er an' she answah, why ah'll jes' put dat stoppah in dat bottle. An' why? Ah got 'er urinate an' 'er voice, see. An' she can't jes' left me fer nuthin in de world. [While machine turned off, informant tells about care of bottle.]
(And you carry that around? Tote it around?)
OR YO' KIN LEAVE IT AT HOME, BE ALL RIGHT; EITHAH TOTE IT AROUN' WIT CHEW. IF YO' TOTE IT AROUN', WHY SHE'LL HOUND JOO TUH DEATH. SEE, IT BES' TUH LEAVE IT AT HOME.
Entry 4185
See, yo' kin take a man's chamber lye, yo' undahstan' me, an' yo' kin put it in a bottle, an' yo' kin git 'if lef'-foot track, an' yo' kin git jes' a little tiny bit of powdah'd alum an' put dat in dere, an' yo' kin git a table- spoonfulla yores. (Of your what?) Of yore - yo' undahstan' me, yeah, of yuh chamber lye. An' yo' could step in one room an' let 'im be in anothah, an' yo' could call 'im. An' when he an- swah yo', jes' stop it up tight. An' bury it tuh de back steps or de front steps, an' dat will always keep 'im wit chew. Ah know dat mahsel' [myself].
Entry 4193
She take her husban' urinate an' she put it in a bottle an' she put nine needles wit it an' she stopped dat up an' she put it in de bed where he wuz sleepin' at fo' nine nights. An' aftah dem nine nights she take it an' she bury it undah de steps, an' she did dat tuh keep 'im at home an' so he won' go wit no one else but 'er. An' she say he stayed undah 'er feet so much until she wanta let it go. Yes, he stayed undah 'er feet all de time an' didn't go wit no one else but 'er. Dat whut she did it fo'. He stayed at home all de time. She did it tuh stop 'im from runnin' roun'.
Entry 4198
Yuh kin take a person chamber lye an' put nine brass pins in it - any- body chamber lye - kin put nine brass pins in it an' put it intuh a dry place where it will be air- tight, where no light can't hit it, an' as long as dat pins an' dat chamber lye is stopped up in dat bottle, dat person al- ways complain of pains in dere stomick.
(That gives them stomach pains.)
Entry 4202
Dey'll take dat urine an' dey'll put it in a bottle an' dey'll apply cinnamay [cinnamon] powdah tuh dat urine, mixin' dat an' de urine, sugah, nine needles an' nine pins. Bury dat where de individual pass at an' dat'll keep 'em accustomary goin' nowhere. When de sun is down, dey min' [mind] not care whut kinda powdah dey be in. It'd make 'em very home [sick], dere min' will refer back home whensomevah de sun go down, regardless of how gran' de party be, yuh can't keep 'em from home.
Entry 4216
Dey takes de chamber lye an' stop it up in a bottle an' bury it undah de steps of de house at de no'th corner an' dat, yo' know, stops dere watah an' all.
Entry 4217
Dey say dey kin take dat, dis chamber lye. take dat an' put it in a bottle, cork it up tight an' bury it in de no'th side of de house. (What will that do?) Dey say dat would cuz, would put ovah [accomplish] whatevah dey desire tuh do wit chuh. Whatevah dey wanta do, say dat would carry yuh in dat work.
Entry 4223
Dey say dey kin take a man's watah an' put it in a Coca Cola bottle, an' dey kin go tuh de drug sto' an' git dis stuff in de drug sto' called Fo'get- Me-Not [perfume] an' dey kin put it in dat watah, an' bury dat bottle in de yard an' dat man will set roun' dat house. Ah've seen dat done. Ah've seen a woman do so, an' she kin feed 'im jis' lak a baby - bring 'is meal to 'im an' he sit dere an' cry. He can't even holler.
Entry 4231
Evah time have tuh ketch some of 'er watah, an' she be lak dat [preg- nant], dey stop it up. An' dey put diff'ren' thin's. Dey puts graveyard dirt an' diff'ren' thin's in 'er wa- tah, an' fix evahthin' bad in dat bottle an' seal it up an' put it upside down. An' den de baby git crossed in 'er an' apt tuh kill 'er an' de baby.
(That's to fix a woman who is carrying a baby.)
Entry 4239
If dey take yuh urine, dey kin have yuh so dat yuh can't make yuh watah.
(How would they do that?)
Dey'd take yuh urine an' put in a bottle an' dey'd stop salt an' peppah up in dis bottle, an' dey turn dat bottle upside down an' bury it, an' jis' let it stay dere. When dat cork dissolves an' dat watah, urine drains outa dat, dat pines yuh away.
Entry 4252
[One of the amazing rites of HOODOO is the shaking of bottled urine. The following submargin titles show great diversity. Other examples will be found in the text of these volumes.] Take a man's chamber lye an' yore chamber lye an' stop it up in a bottle an' he cain't go away. (The man or [and] the woman, puts those two together?) Tuhgethah. An' dat jes' places 'im right at home.
(What does she do with that bottle then?)
She takes it an' put it in a secret place. An' evah times he goes out - he goes out - she shakes it up. Dat's whut ah heard. An' when she shake up, an' den 'is mine [mind] strike him tuh come back home, yo' see.
Entry 4255
Ef he leave home - go an' quit me fer somebody else - 'fo' [before] he leave home ah won't be dere, but ah'll jes' take his urine an' ah'll take dat an put it in a bottle. An' fer nine days, evah time he'll go off, ah'll jes' shake dat bottle three times lak dat [demonstrates] an' he'll soon come back.
Entry 4278
Put soda in it. (Put soda in the chamber lye?) Yes sir, put soda in it. Jis' lak if yuh wuz layin' down tuh sleep, or me, an' when we git up through de night, someone ease [into] our room an' git dat stuff an' bottle it up an' put some soda or somepin in it an' dey bury it. An' de nex' time yuh git ready tuh do dat, it will stop on yuh an' give yuh pain.
(You mean some man or woman will get it?)
No, de man kin be alone.
(Or the woman alone.)
Yes.
(They only do this with your own chamber lye?)
Yes. (They put the soda or something in it and then they bury this.)
Entry 4279
Yuh take dis chamber lye an' put it in a bag [bottle] an' git some soda an' put in dat. An' break de walls, de plastahin' in de house, anywhere in de house, an' keep it dere in dat, keep it stopped up. Dat will keep )'im an' make him love yuh an' stay roun' home.
Entry 4282
Well, ah seen 'em spit in yuh pee, whut chew pee in. It wuz all took up an' put in a bottle. All dat wuz put in a bottle an' dey put cayenne peppah in dat. Dey put sugah in dat an' set it behin' de bed, an' let it stay 'hin' de bed fo' three days.
Entry 4283
Dey take yuh chamber lye an' stop it up in a bottle, an' lak if ah want chew tuh love me, take dat an' put some sugah in it, an' stop it up in a bottle an' keep it dere until de bottle busts. (Then what would happen?) Yo' couldn't live.
(Whose chamber lye would you put in that bottle?)
Yuhs, yuhs an' mine.
(They would mix up both the man's and the woman's? That would kill you then?)
Yes.
Entry 4297
Well, dere's some piece of yuh [a man's] clothes she kin git an' wash 'em tuhgethah wit hers, an' take de suds offa dat watah an' she kin stop it up in a bottle. An' she kin take a little bit of it, an' if she kin git a holt of a little bit of 'is urine, an' she kin git dat an' stop it up in dere, shut it up tight, purtty soon he'll come back.
Entry 4333
Tells me dey stop it [urine] up in a bottle an' goes tuh de no'th side of a tree, an' take a augah an' bore a hole in dat. An' stop it - stop de bottle up wit a stoppah, an' den trim yuh a peg an' drive it in dere, in dat hole, an' yuh can't make watah, can't make watah until yuh let it out [of the bottle].
(They fix up [cunjure] your water in that bottle.
Entry 4337
Take dere chamber lye an' make dem stay wit yuh or love yuh or be roun' yuh. Or yuh kin take dat chamber lye - well, ah know dey done mah brothah-in-law lak dat one time. Dey took 'is chamber lye an' put it in a bottle, an' den put it up in a tree above his haid, an' had 'im hangin' up dere all de time. Said dat'd keep 'im sick an' stop 'is watah jis' lak he had gravels or sompin lak dat.
Entry 4339
Some persons cork it in tight bottles an' concrete de top [= cement, tighten top with sealing wax, etc.] an' turn it down, an' let it stay in de groun' so many days, an' yo' will [begin] tuh weakenin' from de bottle. An' if yo' don't find 'at bottle an' let dat urinate out, yo'll fin'lly swell up as wit dropsy an' die.
Entry 4341
Dey take yuh urine an' dey put it in a bottle. Aftah dey put dat urine in a bottle, dey'll stop it up wit a rubbah cork [rubber cork is unusual]. Yuh'll stop dat bottle up wit a rubbah cork an' care [carry] it tuh de Mississippi, tuh de rivah yuh know - tuh any rivah where dere's runnin watah, so it only runnin' watah - an' throw it in dere. Dat'll stop yuh from urinatin'.
Entry 4346
Well, yuh kin take - which ah've heard - take de urine of a person an' stop it in a bottle an' put it in de rivah. But choo don't - yuh tie de bottle, yuh tie de head of de bot- tle wit a string, jis' let dat stay in de watah. But choo don' let it float on wit de rivah, jis' let it stay on de watah. An' tie it on de bank somewhere an' let it stay tuh a hidden place where nobody will evah find it. As long as dat - evah time de woman or man will git ready tuh urinate, dey have a hard time doin' it.
Entry 4347
Tuh work in [on] yuh mind, cause yuh tuh lose yuh mind or somepin like dat, why dey could git hold of yuh - well, if dey git hold of yuh urine or any- thin' of dat kind, why dey will put it into a bottle. An' dey carry it tuh runnin' watah an' dey throw it in dere. An' by washin' it dataway, why it takes yuh mind from yuh, cause yuh tuh become mindless.
(Do they throw that any special way or just throw it in?)
Yeah, dey claim dey throw it towards de east.
Entry 4349
Well, jis' lak if yuh wants tuh harm a person, yuh see, lak dat, or yuh wanta git dat yuh might got 'em down undah yore feet tuh a certain point. An' yuh take dat hair an' yuh put it in a bot- tle, but chew put in it chamber lye an' salt. An' den yuh stop dat bottle tight, an' den yo' kin bury dat bottle or chunk it in runnin' watah - eithah one of dem things. Dat's whut de story ah got. Well, each one of 'em will harm yuh.
Entry 4350
Take a bottle wit dey urine, of anyone, in dere. Yuh kin put dey names jis' de same in de bottle an' yuh'll go tuh de rivah. An' yuh'll say bad words an' yuh'll curse an' yuh'll throw dat ovah de lef' shouldah. Well, yuh see dey goin' crazy.
Entry 4352
Den dey kin take de chamber lye ag'in an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up tight an' name it. De person whosomevah de chamber lye is, name it. Call 'em dat name an' stop it up in dere an' carry it tuh watah dat's runnin' on, an' yo'll throw it in dere. (How do you throw it?) Jis' take it an' jis' walk tuh de creek wit it. Don't look at it. Walk tuh de creek an' jis', 'Yuh devil yuh go!" An' cast it away. Den walk on back but don't look back at it. An' dat stop 'em. Dat harms 'em, see. Dat will check 'em yuh see.
(How?)
As long as dat bottle stop up tuhgethah, cain't make no watah.
Entry 4353
Put it in a bottle an' stop it up, an' throw it in runnin' watah an' if yuh don' git it, yuh'll soon pass away. (Put this person's chamber lye in it?) Yessuh, stop it up an' seven broken needles, an' throw it in runnin' watah. Or eithah bury it up undah de back steps where dey live at. Bury it up undah where dey go in de mo.st. Yo' put it up undah dere wit de neck down.
(What will that do to them then?)
Dat will kill 'em, dat git rid of 'em.
Entry 4354
Oh! a person kin do a lot wit dat.
(Well, what for example? One thing.)
One thing, yuh kin take dat.
(This chamber lye.)
Put it in a bottle, put some lodestone in it, steel dust, nine pins an' nine needles. Turn it upside down in yuh home. Dat would make a man stay. Yuh kin take it an' do dat wit it. If yuh want tuh harm 'em, yo' take dere pee an' stop it up in bottle wit a new stopper an' bury it: Bury it where dere's no watah, an' when dat bottle busts, dey will die. But if yuh jis' wants 'em, have dem beggered an' be wit yuh, put it undah de hydrant [considered run- ning water] where it's cool, dat watah, an' dat bottle will nevah - nevah bust, cuz de watah, it won't sour. It'll keep it cool. But yuh see, dat stuff, well hit gits strong in a bottle somewhere up in a warm place. Yuh know yuhself it will bust. Well, when it busts, dat's de last of a person.
Entry 4355
Takes it from [demonstrates] de top an' de side an' here.
(The top and both sides, the hair.)
An' tells me dat dey puts it in a bottle wit red flannel, nine new needles an' pins.
(How many pins?)
Nine. An' git some of yuh urine, stops it up, turn it [bottle] bottom up- wards. Jis' as it dreeps [drips] out, jis' as yuh dwindle away. An' den when dey don't turn it bottom upwards dey throw it in de rivah. Drive yuh - Hoodoo - Conjuration - Witchcraft: Rdtvorl crazy. Dat's what dey say dat dey kin do wit it.
(If they turn it upside down?)
Yuh pines away, an' if it's throwed in de rivah in quick runnin' watah, yuh'll go crazy. [Washington, D.c., (628), 805:9.]
Entry 4358
I've seen this experimented to get rid of a man. I mean to make him leave town. Get a little of his urine, be sure it's all his, put it in a bottle, get a cigar box, put it in that, and one of his socks, just one of his socks, in the box, let it be dirty, wrap that box up, wrap it just the same as a piece of paper, throw it in running water so it'll go down the stream, it will not sink, and he'll leave town. Both the bottle and sock in there.
Entry 4359
Dat's anothah dangerous piece. Dey take yuh chamber lye an' put it in a bottle an' cork 'em tight, an' t'row 'em in de rivah an' yuh commence tuh swell up - yuh neck [of your penis] will. Evah time when de tide go or come, yuh try tuh go [urinate] or somepin, it swell up. De tide got a lot tuh do wit dese t'in's. When de tide go down, yuh all right. Den when it comes back up, dat's [that swelling's] dere. An' yuh will always be interrogated [irritated], yuh nevah know how de nex' t'in' will fall. Dey kin take dat [urine] an' do dis wit it.
Entry 4361
Well, if dey wan' 'im tuh go away, dey will take a lock of de right head - hair on de right side, two or three locks of it - right side of de head, an' put it in a bot- tle an' put some urine in it, an' throw it away in a stream dat goes - tuh a stream dat goes up [river], carry it up, so dey [he] will go. Well, it's jis' de opposite if dey wan' 'im tuh come back, dey take it [hair] off de left side an' throw it in a stream comin' in tuh 'em - vice aversy. [This is a tide- water stream, coming in and going out.]
Entry 4387
Well, yuh see, dey kin take de action of yuh an' put some wha' choc call Hot Foot Powdah.
(What do they call it? Hot Foot Powdah?)
Hot Foot Powdah.
(Where do they get that?)
Sen' off an' git it. An' take it an' mix it up wit de action an' put some cayenne peppah in dere an' git a stoppah. It's a kin' of a cork whut chew buy, a square block cork. An' take de fo' cornahs off dat square cork, yuh see. It's called de dragon cork. (Where do you get that?) Send off an' git it. An' take it wit dat action an' take dat powdah whut dey call Hot Foot Powdah, an' put five grains of whole grain black pepper in it. An' roll it up an' write dat individual's name, who dat action come from. An' roll dat up in de papah where dat name is wrote, an' burn it up. An' dose folks will have a bad 'tack [attack (of)] lock bowels an' kill 'em, dere wouldn't be nuthin unlock de bowels.
Entry 4425
Yuh kin take dis person's or individual's where he go an' do his job - this, ah [mean], yuh lgc, manure.
(Manure?)
Manure, yuh umadahstan', where he done go an' do his job, see. All right. Yuh gits jis' enough of dat tuh, yuh know, do what yuh want wit it. An' den yuh takes dis needle. (Just one?) Jis' one needle, an' yuh brings dis an' yuh hangs it up high jis' about - if he six feet, yuh hang it seven feet an' stick dis needle in it. An' as yuh stick dat needle in it, an' dat's seven fet above 'im, dat's a feet above hi - he's six, yuh make it seven. An' den as yuh do dat, why let it stay dere nine days. An' aftah nine days, de individual will be mentally unbalanced.
(What did you put that stuff in?)
Yuh stop it up in a bottle. An' den yuh wrap a papah or rag, anything aroun' it, an' den yuh stick it up about a feet highah dan he is.
(Hang it anywhere?)
Hang it on a tree - hang it up on a tree, a limb of a tree.
Entry 4438
Well now, ah learnt dat de passin' of a man's bowels, dey tell me dey do somepin wit it. Yuh want tuh know whut dey kin do. Dey'll take dat up an' dey'll put it in a bottle an' dey'll stop it up tight, airtight. An' dey'll carry it somewhere, an' git dem a augah, see, an' bo' a hole at de root of a tree. One dese li'le small bottle an' git chew a good augah an' bo' a hole in de tree. An' den yuh put dat in dere an' put a peg in dere. HE'LL NEVAH [wake] NO MO' TILL HE HEAR DE FIRST TRUMPET.
Entry 4481
[While my machine was stopped, informant mentioned bath water.]
(What can you do with that?)
Well, dey kin take [bath water] an' put it in a bottle an' go tuh a green tree. What I mean by a green tree, when de sap is runnin'. Understan'? An' put it in dat tree, stop it up in dere jis' de same as takin' dere urine an' do de same thin'. Or if dey make a passage [of excrement], do de same thin'. An' dey'll pale yuh away jis' dry yuh up, yuh see. Jes' a slow death from mah undahstan'in'.
(They use your bath water the same way?)
[This question is to make certain the word bath water was recorded.]
Yes sir.
Entry 4482
(How do you do that?)
Yuh kin take bath watah an' jes' make a person jes' pale away. Dey won't be sick or nuthin of de kin' like dat, but yuh kin put 'em on a [what? Drag?].
(How do you do it?)
Yuh takes an' yuh bottles it up an' yuh buries it. (This bath water?) Yes sir. (I see. What does that do to them?) Jes' pale 'em - make 'em pale away.
(Oh! it makes him pale away.)
Entry 4485
They kin take the water that you bathe in and use it, and if properly used give you some kind of a ailments in your skin. If they take that water and put sulphur in it and put it in a bottle and stop it up, your skin will break out with some kind of disease - something like itch or nettZe- rash or something. It will always continue to be thataway. Of course, I don't know that you couldn't go to a doctor [M.D.] and get shots or somepin. [HERE IS A MEMORABLE STATEMENT! INFORMANT THINKS IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE TO GO TO A DOCTOR (M.D.) FOR SHOTS TO CURE AN ITCH CAUSED BY HOODOO! A hundred times or more in HOODOO a Doctor of Medicine is dismissed as useless for hoodoo; in fact for most ailments. FOR A GOOD ACCOUNT OF THIS SITUATION BACK IN 1938 AT MOBILE, DESCRIBED BY PROFESSIONAL ROOT SELLER, See 12, p.11f.]
Entry 4488
Well, dey jes' take de watah an' kinda jes' skim it off de top-like de grease-like.
(Of your bath water?)
Uh-huh an' dey'd put it in a bottle an' stop it down an' - dat's if dey is against yuh - an' dat will jes' run yo' away from around dem, too. [Intention here is more important than symbolism.]
Entry 4498
When yuh wash yuh face an' han's, dey kin jes' take a little watah an' ketch some of dat watah an' stop it up befo' yuh throw it out. Dat'll.bring yuh back. An' dey say yuh kin go roun' de cornah [of house? street?] an' dey shake it an' yuh gotta come back.
Entry 4499
Well, if yuh've taken a bath in watah. Yuh see, when yuh bath yuhself, dat gets a certaln portion of yuh body off - dat perspiration of yuh body, see. Yuh washes off in dat. Dey take dat watah an' dey will stop it up in a bottle, yuh see. Well, it's quite natchal [natural] dat watah will sour, yuh see. Den dey take some sugah an' dey sweeten dat watah. Well, anything dat yuh sweeten will create an asick [acid] right away, yuh see. Dey take an' put dat in a bottle. Dey stop it up, see. Aftah dey stops it up, dey sets dat bottle upside down, yuh undahstan'. Evah once in awhile dey go in an' dey shake dat up. Dat shakes dat asick up in dat bottle, yuh see. An' when dey shakes dat asick up in dat bottle, dat starts yuh tuh burnin' an' eetchin' [itch- ing] all ovah, yuh see, an' yuh can't be peaceful nowheres. Yuh can't rest, it keep yuh tormented all de time.
Entry 4532
Dey kin git 'is sweatban' too an' give him anothah spell. Git 'is sweatban' outa his hat an' put it in a bottle. Yassuh [yes sir], take a bottle an' put it in a bottle, an' put a cork stoppah in dis heah bottle an' fasten it up an' keep dat ban'. Jes' roll dis heah ban' up real tight de way yuh fold it back double. Twist it real tight an' put it in a bottle. Put some hot watah in it. Let it be jes' hot enough not tuh break yuh bottle, an' let it set in dere. An' den dey go take dis heah den an' put it in de rivah, any kinda watah dat watah runs ovah. Dat'll give him anothah feeble mine [mind].
Entry 4852
Jes' lak yuh in love wit a fellah an' yuh can't - yuh wan's 'im an' yuh can't git 'im lak yuh wan' 'im. All right, if yuh kin git a chance tuh wash fo' him, yuh take dose pieces dat he wear, his un- dah pieces an' all dat chew kin git tuh, an' put it tuh soak ovah night. Nex' mawnin' when yuh git up, yuh wash dem pieces out wit'out any soap. Rub 'em. git all dirt dat yuh kin out of dem. Den yuh take an' take de drainin's - turn it [pan or tub] on one side an' drain it [water] off. Take de drainin's of dat dirt come outa his clothes an' stop it up in a bottle. An' put it right undah de centah of yore bed undah de house - bury it dere. Turn it bottom upward, an' put it undah de centah, an' covah it up an' make yore wishes. Den he be comin' dere - he be yores. He come tuh be yores. From time tuh time he keep acomin'.
Entry 4882
Weah de socks till dey git dirty, yuh know. Some people's feet sweats, what ah mean, yuh know. Well, till dey git dirty anyhow. Take dem socks an' put 'em in a pail a watah, dey says. Den don' wash 'em till dey soaks an' git dat dirt. An' take dem dirty suds an' put 'em in a bottle. Well, dere some mo' tuh go wit it. Put dat in a bot- tle. Den down undah yuh arm, yuhknow where yuh perspirate undah yuh arm, take dat an' yuh socks an' yuh rub. Git all dat watah tuhgethah. Yuh rub undah de shirtsleeve of yuh arm an' yuh socks. Den yuh put dat watah in a bottle an' dig undah yuh steps, an' put it undah de steps an' turn dat bottle bottom upwards. Well, dey do dat tuh keep yuh, jis' like if a person wants tuh keep yuh from goin' anywhere. Yuh kin go anywhere but chew comin' dere. Yuh goin' be always hangin' - if yuh go anywhere yuh goin' hurry back. Yuh can't stay away from home, yuh gotta come back.
Entry 5064
Well de sock, yuh see, yuh don't have tuh - mos'ly [mostly] dey washes 'em, yuh see, if yuh git 'em kinda dirty. Yuh see dat's [that sweat is] yore strength intuh yore sock. An' yuh takes dat watah an' bottle dat what chew wash 'em an' bury hit.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat will hold a person.
Entry 5289
Dey take dat left shoe of yores an' burn it, an' git de ashes an' stop it up, an' put it in runnin' watah. Yo' drown.
(What do you stop it up in?)
Stop it up in a bottle.
Entry 5312
It's anothah thing. Yo' could take one dese great-big ants. Yo' kin Spot [easily see] it, yo' know. It ain't none dese little-size ants, [it is] one dese heah run by hitself all de time. Yo' take one dem an' git de middle of somebody's track, if yo' wants tuh run 'im 'way. An' yo' put it intuh a bottle. An' put dat ants in- tuh it an' carry it tuh de rivah, an' throw it ovahbo'd an' it will run 'imcrazy.
(How many ants do you put in that bottle?)
One, jes' one. Yo' ain't goin' see but one. Dere jes' be one by itself all de time.
(What color is it?)
It's kinda brown-spotted lookin' ants, 'bout de colah of dat shade up dere.
Entry 5327
Git chure track - yes, git chure foot track an' take an' bottle it up. An' den [they] say yo' back back nine steps, an' den turn roun' an' make three wishes. Say an' yo' make dem three wishes, den yo' handle 'em lak yo' want. (You can handle them anyway you want to. What do they do with that bottle?) Dey takes an' puts chure track in dat bottle.
(Yes, but what do they do with the track then in the bottle?)
Back back nine steps.
(No, what will finally happen to that bottle?)
Say dat bottle will turn purpole [purple] an' say dat will start tuh workin' in dere. It'll start tuh workin' in dere. An' say yo' should make nine wishes [instead of former three]. Yo' make nine wishes an' whatsomevah yo' wish, it vill [happen]. Keep bottle sewed up in pillah [pillow].
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 5335
I used to hear my father say they would take up sand from out of your track and put it into a bottle, and put some chemicals in there. Then they take it and put it underneath the doorstep and put this vial in there and cover it up. Then they proclaimed they were cun- juring the missus and master. [For bottle, see also pre- ceding margin title BLACK BOTTLE.]
Entry 5342
Ah've heard de story about, if you are angry with someone or somepin... ah've heard people say, mah mothah an' oldah people say, dat people have told 'er about, dat yo' kin take dis dirt where de person walks. Take dat dirt out of dere track an' put it in a bottle an' throw at in runnin' watah, an' dey'll lose dere mind. [Snow Hi11, Md., (86), 4:8.]
Entry 5395
Take dere track don't chew know an' stick it - an' put all of it in a bottle. An' den aftah yo' git it in a bottle, yo' stop it up an' take a aig an' write de name - de individual's name on de aig an' bury it in de groun' an' call dem three times. An' take a bah [bar] of Octagon Soap [trade name] an' take off de top wrappah an' de othah [inner] wrappah. An' take yo' a nail an' write de name on de bah of Octagon Soap, an' wrap up dat slick thin' on it [rewrap soap in slick thin', inner wrap- per], don't chew know, an' throw it in runnin' watah an' dat will mun 'em.
(You do all these things together?)
Yes sir, dose tuhgethah.
(You throw all these things at once into running water?)
No sir. Yo' take de aig an' bury de aig roun' yore do'step. An' den git de bah Octagon Soap, don't chew know, an' take de top slip off an' den dat [presum- ably inner wrapper, but I interrupt].
(What do you do with that soap then?)
Take dat soap an' git chew a nail. Write de name of dat individual dat chew wanta run. An' den put dat slick thin' back on dere an' throw it intuh runnin' watah.
(And what do you do with the foot track?)
Take hit an' stick it in a bottle an' throw it in de watah too.
(You do all these things together?)
Yes sir. Hit concludes tuhgethah.
(What do you bury that egg for?)
Bury dat egg tuh make 'em go. [To bury the preceding egg in the ground to send a person away looks more like a rite to hold the person. Yet similar burial rites with the same purpose will be found in Hoodoo. As always, intention is everything. Here the egg belongs to a tripartite rite; the other two parts being definitely send away rites. Is the egg a possible recall rite? If the sender away regrets the sending away, the egg stands ready to bring back the person. We must also note the egg has a double dressing; the name written on it, and the name called 3 times.]
Entry 5443
Jis' lak a person walkin' in dey foot track, dey pick up de whole track an' put it in a bottle an' bury it in de cemetery. An' dey say, as long as hit stay dat way, dat person can't walk a step:
(Either track or both of them?)
Jes' from de right foot.
Entry 5494
Take his hair...
(With that little bow.)
[Bow was mentioned before I turned on recording machine.]
Yes, take de hair an' put it in a bottle an' bury it. Yo' buries dat. Bury dat wit some of 'is tracks. See, yo' take an' bury dat wit some of 'is tracks. Dat will make him follah yo' evahwhere, anywhere yo' go. (What else do you put in that bottle?) Some of 'is hair, some of 'is dust out from undah 'is feet, an' den some of de ravels from 'is undahclothes - from undah 'is arm an' yo' know down below.
(Some of the sweat.)
Yo' know, jes' lak dey'd git chure dirty clothes an' ah'd take some of de ravels. An' put it in a bottle, undahstan', an' yo' carry dat an' bury it. Bury it out at chure do'step. He'll follah yo' anywhere.
Entry 5519
Yo' kin take de lef'-foot track an' stop it up in a bottle, an' put in an ole house dat's not any good, yo' see, an' den yo' could make dem come back, if yo' wan' 'em back. (You take this bottle with the foot track in it and put it in an old house. That is supposed to bring the person back?) Dat's right.
Entry 5535
Well, ah kin take dat foot track if ah jis' - say jis' WAN'A KEEP ANY- yo' see. Ah kin jis' ketch 'er track in a clear place, an' git a nice li'le stick an' measure dat track, an' git a good size bottle. An' ah'll sew dat track up in a red flannen cloth, an' ah will git nine bran'-new needles, see, an' stick it in dat cloth. Stick de needle right up lak dat in dat cloth, see. An' git three rusty nail an' tie it tuh- gethah, an' drop it in dat bottle an' cork it up airtight, an' evahthin' will be okay. Won' have no mo' trouble gittin' along wit chure wife.
(You said you use the stick for something?)
Yes, jis' any piece of li'le stick. Yo' jis' kin take a knife an' run off a li'le piece jis' long 'nuff tuh measure de track lak dat, see. Den yo' take de li'le stick an' yo' break it up, break it up in a li'le pieces, see. An' yo' put it in dat red flannen an' sew it up. Yo' take up dat track yo' know. Yo' take dat track up, see, an' put it in dat flannen jis' where yo' measurin' it. Sew it up an' take dem nine needles [etc.].
Entry 5542
Dey would take de cord an' dey'll measure it, an' yo'd draw [stretch that cord over the length of] dat foot track. An' yo'd take dat cord aftah it wus drawed [stretched], an' yo' put it in a bottle wit some devil vinegah. An' write his name in dere nine times backwards [like Smith John instead of John Smith] an' nine times frontwards, dat's 18 times, an' keep it in dere fo' nine days. An' at de end of de nine days he goin' die.
(But you have to find this foot track some place first?)
Yes.
(Where do you get this devil's vinegar? Do you buy it some place?)
In de drug sto'.
(The Crackerjack [Drug Store]?)
Any one of 'em [any New Orleans' drug store].
Entry 5718
De cocklebur.
(That's a bush, isn't it, with stickers on it? What do they do with that?)
Say yo' kin hang anything up in dat tree an' if yo' want me tuh go, ah'm gone. Dey say, all yo' gotta do if yo's mad wid me, yo' take my track an' put it in a cup or a bottle, wit some red peppah an' hang it up in dat tree. (What kind of a tree.) A cocklebur. Evah time when de win' blows, see dat cup will go roun' an' roun' dat way an' come back dataway [unwind the other way]; an' when dat string rotten an' broke, den ah'm gone.
(How high is that cocklebur tree?)
Ooh some of it real high an' some of 'em - de young 'un ain't so high. (It has those little stickers on it, hasn't it, those little burs? The cock- lebur?) Dat's right. [Cocklebur appears twice in FACI, 1st ed., but the present rite is the first and only time I ever heard of a cocklebur tree! Does he mean chestnut, buckeye, sweet gum, or what?]
Entry 5757
Why yo' kin take a person foot track an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up wit chamber lye an' throw it ovahbo'd an' run dem outa town. (Either foot track or both of them?) De right track an' part of de lef' track. Put it in a bottle, put chamber lye on it an' stop it up, an' throw it ovahbo'd 'cross yore lef' shouldahs.
Entry 5788
Now, de way yo' could stop yore foot track, yo' could take some - git chew a little concentrated lye, an' half-a pint of whiskey, an' 'bout a teaspoon fulla camphor, an' put it in dat bottle yo'understan'. An' also write dere name on it an' jis' shake it up an' down until dat.all come tuhgethah - dat papah an' lye an' stuff come tuhgethah. All right. Wheresomevah yo're at, if yo's in a location wheresomevah yo' be at, jis' bury it down right - jis' at de right side of de do'step, right at de right side of yore do'step. Well, den dey couldn't do a thing wit yo'.
(That would keep that person from harming you?)
Dey won't do yo' any harm.
Entry 5807
Yo' kin do dat, yo' kin take de hair outa woman's haid. Co'se [of course] ah don't know if a man do anythin' to anothah man. But if yo' have a goman yo' wanta make love wit, yo' jes' take de hair outa de mole of 'er haid if yo' POSS'bly kin. YO'D HAVE TO STEAL IT OUTA DERE CUZ WOMEN WON'T LET CHEW GIT DAT OUTA DERE IF DEY KNOW IT. An' if yo' kin, some hair out de mole of de woman's haid, yo' kin put dat into a little bottle, see, an' put some alcohol over it, see, an' put a flannen [flannel] stoppah in it - a red flannen stoppah. DAT COME DIRECT DOWN FROM DE HOODOO BUSINESS cuz ah've had dat. An' tote it in yore pocket an' dat woman'll come back to yo'. Don't care where she is, she'll come back to yo'. If she don't come back she'll go crazy. [For alcohol, see also margin title WHISKEY.]
Entry 5835
Yo' take de hair from de mole, take de hair right out de top, de mole [old] of de hair. Well, yo' take dat hair an' yo' wrap a string around it, or thread, any kinda thread aroun' dat hair, an' yo' put dat hair in a bottle, see, an' yo' po' some cphor in it, see. Well, dat will make it 'live. Shake it up, see. Yo' let dat stay in dere nine days an' yo' take dat out an' yo' wrap in a flannen cloth. Let it stay in dat flannen cloth an' den yo' wear it. Dat is tuh draw yore sveetie to yo' or anybody yo' want lak dat.
(Whose hair do you put in that bottle?)
Fell, if it's de man, he put de woman's hair; an' if it's de woman, she put de 's hair.
(What did you say THAT CAMPHOR does for the hair?)
Entry 5864
Take de hair an' stop it up in a bottle an' it will run yo' crazy. An' den yo' kin take de hair an' bury it undahneath de do'steps. As long as it keep moist, it's all right, but if it dry, why it will kill yo'. (What do they put that under the door- step for?) Well, jes' yo' come walkin' in an' out an' de one dat did it, chew know, yo'll walk in an' out, walk in an' out ovah it, chew know, an' yo' don't know it'sdere.
(Well, why would they do that to me?)
Well, dey put it undah dere tuh kill yo' - some of 'em do.
Entry 5904
Right in de top of yore haid yo' git a certain stran' - git a stran' out de top of yore haid an' take an' put dat in a bottle. Fix it wit graveyard dirt an' salt an' stop it up, or eithah bury it undah yore do'steps, or else chip off a block on a tree, on de no'th side of de tree an' bury it - put it in dere. Dat will run yo' crazy.
Entry 5934
Uh-huh, fer love. A person takes two stran's of yore hair, see; dey pulls it if dey kin by de roots, see. But if dey can't, at night when yuh are asleep, especially if yore wife or husband dat's sleepin' wit yuh, dey jerks dat out as quick as dey kin. Dey take two stran's, see.
(From where do they pull it now?)
Uh-hah - right heah, see.
(The left side of the temple.)
Uh-hah, takes it from de left side of de temple, an' dey jerks it out. An' dey gits dis clovah oil an' dey puts dat into a bottle. Dey gits Hearts Cologne an' dey puts dat - an' mix it up intuh a bottle. Dey carries it to runnin'watah an'( dey throws it in. An' dat's tuh make yuh love, see. But dey want it tuh go down de stream, instead of up. If it go up dat's fo' bad. See, if it goes down de stream dat's fo' good. Dey want chew to love 'em. Dey got chew all at dere command, see; an' dere's nuthin yuh kin do. [Normally the throwing of hair into running water is not a love rite, as we have seen; but our informant, marked excellent, turns it into a rite of love by adding Hearts Cologne and clover oil to the bottled hair, and by using A BELIEF OCCASIONALLY FOUND ALONG THE TIDEWATER REGION: ANYTHING GOING DOWNSTREAM OR OUT WITH THE TIDE IS A RELEASE OR GOOD WORK, AND ANYTHING GOING UPSTREAM OR COMING IN WITH THE TIDE IS A CONFUSION OR BAD WORK.]
Entry 5990
Dey drive yuh crazy. Yuh kin do good an' yuh kin do bad. Well, dey take dis hair an' dey put it in a bottle, an' put a little salt an' red peppah. Dey write de person's name on dis slip of papah an' put it in de bottle an' stop it up tight. Yuh go tuh runnin' watah an' throw it ovah yuh shouldah backwards into dat watah. An' jis' since dat watah always runnin', why dat person will jis' go an' jis' go. Evah time dey git a place, dey stay a little an' dey not satisfied. Dey'll go ag'in. Finely [finally] dey'll jis' go an' quit.
Entry 6009
Dey say yo' take dis hair an' a piece of shed off a rattlesnake - rat- tlesnake shed an' take dat hair an' some five pins an' five needles an' put it down in a bottle of Epsom salts an' fill dat bottle up wit watah an' turn dat bottle upside down in de groun' an' bury it an' yo'll [go] stone crazy.
(Do you bury that any place?)
Bury it in de north cornah of de yard.
Entry 6010
If dey git hold of yore hair, why dey'll tie dat hair up jes' lak dey do wit chure [foot] track. Dey'll tie dat hair up in a bottle. Dey'll put six needles in dere wit dat hair an' dat'll keep yo' goin' crazy all de time. (What will they do with that bottle then?) Dat bottle - dey put dat bottle down in de ground, or in a trunk.
Entry 6011
They claim that peoples got it from under your doorstep with your hair mixed in with it. Well, they say that is to cross you away. Just like, you know, I was in love with a man and another woman wanted dis man. Well, if she could get some of my hairs, she'd go and get her a dozen new needles that never been used and pins. She'd stick the pins this way and stick the needles this way [cross them], and when she get ready to put it down, she'd stand it on its head on de sharp part, cuss it and tell it to go.
(Where would she put that?)
Put that at your door.
(And she uses twelve new needles and pins - six new needles and six new pins.)
Entry 6088
Take three stran's out chure haid an' three stran's down below, an' take it an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up. Yo' buries dat.
(What do you do that for?)
It'll kill yo'. (Do you bury your own hair?) Yore own hair. (Won't that kill you if you bury your own hair?) It'll kill yo'. (You Want to kill yourself?) Run yo' blind, sho' it would. [We do not understand one another. Informant merely Bys your stopped-up hair will kill you, whether you or enemy does it.]
Entry 6106
Dey take a strand of hair out chure haid an' it kin run yo' crazy. Well, dey take dat hair an' dey bury dat hair. Dey take dat hair an' put it in warm salt an' watah an' bile [boil] it. See, dey'll take a bottle, a quart bottle lak dat, an' dey take dat an' put salt in dere, an' dey put warm watah in dere, an' dey take dat bottle an' bury it about, well say about a foot deep, about a foot deep undah de top of dat bottle, an' let it stay in undah dere six months. Dere ain't no way fo' yo' tuh stay wit chure mind.
(That runs you crazy.)
Yeah.
Entry 6164
Take de hair an' take it in a bottle, if yuh want 'er tuh be absent- rinded - runnin' away, cain't stay wit nobody an' bein' contented. Take dis hair an' put it in a Coca- Cola bottle. Stop it up an' put it in run- In' watah an' tie a string tuh it an' jis' let it bobbin' dere, an' s'long as de watah runnin' cross dat bottle, she be absent. She cain't stay no place. Jis' got'a be goin' all de time. (You have this string tied and this bottle tied to this stick, so that it cm't float away?) Yessuh.
Entry 6252
Ef dey kin git de hair from de mole of yore haid, an' take an' put it into a bottle, an' bury it beside de green tree where de sun die - de side of de tree where de sundown - an' yo' become to losin' yore mind.
Entry 6266
Yo' git a Adam-an'-Eve [root] an' put it in a bottle, an' git a stran' off de haid, [or] down below - mostly [they get] de hair de bes' [best] way dey kin, if dey have any con- nection wit it, dey'll git a piece. An' dey'll put dat in a bottle an' urinate a li'le in dere. Den dey stop dat up an' put dat undah de fron' step. Dat'll make dem part.
Entry 6273
Dere's a way to run a woman crazy so dey say. Dey take a small bottle an' put urine in it, an' put de hair down in it an' stop it up, an' throw it in a stream of water. It will go an' yo' will nevah git chure mind back unless somebody will discovah where dat bottle went an' bring it back an' uncork it. [For 2 remarkable examples of doctors recovering floating spells and destroying them, see 920, p.338; 921, P.339.]
Entry 6281
[Hair and water joined in a rite is fairly common in hoodoo. There are many kinds of water: ordinary (the Water in a bucket or still water), running, hydrant (considered running), rain, eaves, spring, well, tide, dew, etc. One example of gutter running water will be found (No.5695, p.2913). I do not recall any snow water or snow rites. Holy water, bathwater, dishwater, clotheswater, and scrubwater have been omitted because they do not occur in the following list of hair-water rites.] Take a strand of hair out de haid an' put it in a bottle of watah an' shet it up in a bottle of watah. It will run yo' crazy.
(Just ordinary Water?)
Jes' take it [hair] out an' put it in a bottle of watah an' stop it up.
Entry 6282
Yo' gits yo' [your] hair [not your own but the hair of your victim], Put it in a bottle an' den go tuh de Mississippi [River], a watah, a runnin' stream, even if it runs dirty, an' git dat watah an' put it in dat bottle an' yo' hair [the hair you are using from someone else], an' stop it up real tight an' it'll run yo' [the other person] crazy.
(Where do you put the bottle then?)
Tote [carry] it in yo' pocket. [To carry this bottled hair in your pocket normally suggests that the victim is run crazy with love for the person wearing the bottled hair.]
Entry 6297
A person could take a stran' of hair outa mole of yuh haid, direc'ly outa de mole, an' put it in a glass vial - sompin lak a li'le vial dey use at de drug sto' fo' dang'rous medicine. Put dat hair in dere an' cork it up right tight an' throw it intuh run- nin' watah. An' dey say it will run yuh wit a bad haidache all yuh live, an' almos' run yuh crazy.
Entry 6333
Yo' kin take de top of yore hair out de mole of yore haid an' cut it out, an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up. An' first yo' take yore name an' put it in a bottle, an' put chure hair on top of dat, an' stop it up good in runnin' watah. Well, as long as dat bottle run, yo'll run. Well, when dat bottle bu'st, hy yo'll be gone.
(You will die?)
Yessuh.
Entry 6334
Dey git holt of yore hair an' dey take an' dey gits a - put it in a bottle, an' put red peppah, cayenne, an' salt in dere an' yore name, an' stop it up in a bottle. Dat'll make yo' have de headache all de time, an' make yo' feel if yo' ain't satisfied nowhere yo' move. In no time yo' go. Git dat bottle an' throw it. (What do you do with that bottle?) Yo' take an' throw it in de rivah. An' [or] den yo' kin take an' yo' kin put it up ovah 'is do' where [he walks under it] or if yo' [ain't] scared he'll find it dere, if yo' a friend of 'em an' yo' visit 'em, yo' take an' yo' git it in de mattress or undah dat [bed].
Entry 6336
Well, dey kin git holt some of yore hair. It's 'cordin' to whut dey wanta do wit yo', why dey kin take dat hair. Now, if dey wanta partly run yo' crazy, frenzy minded, dey could take dat hair an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up an' pore watah on it.
(Any kind of water?)
Any kind of a watah po' on it. Let it stay until it become to be - DAT WATAH GOIN' MAKE DAT HAIR 'LIVE LAK A LITTLE LIVE WORM IN DE WATAH, yo' see. Well, WHEN DAT HAIR BEGIN TUH GIT 'LIVE, dey take an' po' dat Water out an' t'row dat bottle in de rivah. Let it float on de way down - on - on - on. T'row it away. Whenevah dey throw it down, dey [the thrower] jes' turns aroun', dey don't look back aftah it a'gin at all. Well, dat run yo' crazy.
(They pour the water out that bottle before they throw it into the river?)
Yes, 'fore dey t'row it in de rivah, dey must keep it nine days aftah yo' put de watah in it. Yo' keep dat bottle 9 days. Have it roun' yore house an' IN 9 DAYS DAT HAIR WILL COME TO LIFE. (Yes, but I mean, you leave the water [hair] in the bottle when you throw it into the river?)
[The word water in my question is a slip of the tongue for hair.]
Yeah, oh yeah. An' de bottle's goin' float on, be goin' right on doon wit de stream.
Entry 6337
Well, ah kin go out tuh de fo'ks of de road, if ah wants tuh go out dere an' put down a little magic work for business. Ah kin go out dere tuh de fo'ks of de road an' git me a little dirt [see FORK-OF-ROAD DIRT, p.688, and elsewhere]. De fo'ks of de road comin' so [demonstrates]. Prob'ly one comin' - Memoirs.of Alma Egan Hyatt Foundation - east an' one comin' west. Well, ah gits right in de middle of dat fo'k of dat road. Ah don't git very much of dis, jis' a li'le bit of it, dat dirt. Take dat li'le dirt an' has me a li'le bottle, or cup or anythin ah wants tuh put dat dirt in, an' go on back home. Well, ah kin fix dis right up out tuh de fo'ks of de road. Aftah ah git dis dirt an' put it in dat bottle, den ah has me a ten-cent bottle of Hearts Cologne. Put dat Hearts Cologne on dat - nine drops, see. An' aftah ah po' dat in dat bottle, den ah puts anythin' - any othah article ah got lak hair or any- thin'. Ah'll fix dat up. Well now, heah's what all goes in dere: Dat dirt out de fo'ks of de road. Buy a bottle of Hearts Cologne jis' about dat big [demonstrates], a ten-cent bottle. Yuh po' dat intuh dis dirt or whatsomevah dat chew got tuh put dis dirt in, a bottle or cup. An' aftah yuh put dat in dere. den yuh takes hair. Don't care whut part it come from - come from out yore haid, puts it in dere. An' aftah yuh put dat hair in dere, yuh stop dat hair up airtight an' takes it back to dese peoples' home an' bury dis fo' nine inches under de ground. Dat represent de nine mawnin' dat she'll leave dere. [She'll leave on or before the ninth day.] Den go back an' take it outa dere an' goes to a runnin' stream of water an' throw dis in a runnin' stream of water. An' when yo' throw dis, throw it high enough to give a splash tuh dis bottle. Don't look back - jis' throw it ovah yuh haid, don't look back atall. An' jis' long as dat watah an' dat bottle floats - it don't be a big bottle, a little bottle, so [demonstrates]. So long as it goes, dat person dat yuh's aftah, dey is gone.
(You throw it high enough?)
High enough tuh make de splash be heard [over] dat curse words. [My transcriber ommitted dat curse Words; a common practice to end a rite with a cursing incantation. Why the splash had to be heard during or after the curse words is a sort of So be it or Amen.]
Entry 6342
Yo' go to de spring an' yo' git dat watah an' git a strand of a per- son's hair an' yo' put in dat - yo' put it in a bottle. Yo' ketch yo' some an' yo' put it in a bottle. An' yo' put dat in a bottle an' yo' take dat an' bring [it] back wit yo' home. An' jes' keep it all de time right in de cornah of yore bedroom. Keep dat in dere all de time.
(What will that do?)
Dat's tuh keep him at home.
Entry 6343
A lady tole me dat she run a lady crazy. An' she'd taken some hair out of 'er [other woman's] haid an' she put it in a bottle, jis' a bottle an' stop it up an' carry it to a runnin' stream of watah an' throw it in, an' talk an' tell it, "Ah want chew tuh run dis lady crazy." An' when dem nine days wuz up, she jis' foolin' crazy.
Entry 6344
Well, ah've heard dat yuh kin take a lock of a woman's hair an' throw it when de tide is goin' out - jis' so yo' knows de watah goes out an' comes in. Well, when de tide is goin' out why yuh throw dat bottle wit dat hair - stop dat fulla watah - an' let it go out. An' dat will run de man, ah mean dat woman, crazy.
Entry 6349
Dey git de hair from de comb an' dey mix it up wit a little - put some salt in it, de way ah heard it. Now, put salt in it an' sometimes dey puts cham- ber lye in it. Put dat in de chamber lye in de bot- tle. Put dat in de bot- tle - put de chamber lye in it an' put de salt in it an' stop it up. See, an' goes tuh de rivah an' chunk it as de tide goin' out. An' dey chunk it as de tide goin' out, well, about from three tuh five tuh nine days, yore mind will be goin' - goin' till yo' go, an aftah while yo' find yoreself crazy.
Entry 6362
Yuh hair. Or tuh make love er any- thing, dey'll [take] dat an' fol dit [fold it] up an' den put some - weahzit [wears it] aroun' dere wais' [waist], see. Dat not tuh do no hahm [harm] dō [though]. Dat tuh make love, if anybody - yuh wife wan'a keep yuh in.
(Yes, what would she do then?)
Dey go tuh verk [work] an' yuh [dey] put dat in a bottle, [with] 9 needles an lak dat. Dey put 'em in. Dis ole man 'ave [have] tell me.
Entry 6382
Well, dey will take dat an' have yo' lame all de time. (What do they do with that then, after they scrape the bottom of the feet? What do they do with that then?) Bottle it up wit some stuff dey call de blue vitrus - wit blue vitrus. An' den dey take it an' aftah dey put dat blue vitrus in wit it, dey take it den wit a mixture fo' tuh do yo' harm - me harm, or somebody else. Don' care whose [who] 'tis. Dey'd mix it, yo' know, an' driv' [drip] it [bury bottle so that it leaks] long wherevah yo' have tuh go, fo' tuh strike yo' wit pain [in the feet].
Entry 6383
An' dey could trim yer fingahnails, yo' know. Say now, like if yo' set dere an' trim yer fingahs, I'd gathah dem up. See, I'd gathah dem up an' take dem - or toenails, eithah one of 'em. Take 'em an' put 'em in a li'le vial. An' aftah yo' put 'em intuh de li'le vial, yo' would keep 'em in dis vial fo' 'bout nine days, wit a li'le vitrus wit 'em fo'.tuh git 'em soft. Den yo' take 'em out of dat vitrus an' dry 'em off, an' put 'em in anothah vial den an' put othah stuff wit 'em. (What other stuff do they put with that second vial? What do they put in that second vial?) Intuh de secon' one yo'll put some of yer own chamber lye, an' a li'le bit of cologne root.
(Cologne root?)
Cologne root. An' yo'll take dat an' shift it aroun' [in the bottle]. Dat is tuh do 'em harm.
[Cologne root is probably a product of the root-seller or hoodoo drug store.]
(Well, what do you do with that bottle then, that has that stuff in it? This second bottle, what do you do with that, then?) De bottle? Well, yo' could take dat bottle out some place an' bury it. Bury dat bottle an' dat'll make dem useless in dere han's or foot, wherever dese nails come from.
Entry 6442
You could take yore toenails, your fingernails, the dirt from under your feet, an' you could put that in a bottle an' you could feed a man on such as that. Spread it [on his food] when you give him somepin to eat. That'll make him crazy about choo, keep him from goin' away from you.
Entry 6471
Well, dey kin take yo' toenails an' put it intuh a bottle an' stop Hoodoo - Conjuration - Witchcraft Rootwork it up, an' put t'ree needles in it an' call yore name nine tires.an' have yo' undah a bad affliction fo' a certain distance of cire. (On a bed of affliction [wndah a bad affliction] for a certain length of time.) Yas. Aftah dat certain distance of time come, well if he wanted tuh take yo' up, he'll snatch one dem needles out. Dat will let chew git up.
Entry 6498
Husks, take dat offa yuh foot. Yo' kin weah it. Put it in a bottle, yo' see, an' turn de bottle up dere in bed, if yo' wanted tuh see dat party. Yo' undahstan', turn it bottomside upwards, yo' understand, an' dey shore comin'. She can't git away.
(I see, that's to make them come to you?)
Come real quick.
Entry 6510
Ah heah yo' [they] kin take yore toenails - ah don't know nuthin about chure fingah - but chew kin take yore toenails an' stop it up in a li'le bottle an' throw it in nunmin' watah. Dat will cause yo' tuh be driftin' about through de world mindless.
Entry 6659
Ah heard dat yo' could take de hair an' take it an' put it in - jis' urap it up or tie it up in a cloth or somepin an' weah it on yo' some place. Weah it on de firs' piece yo' weah [wear next to skin] an' dey say dat will cuz yo' tuh come back tuh 'em. An' den ag'in yo' could take de hair an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up. An' put it in runnin' watah an' den it would turn tuh a snake. An' when it turn tuh a snake it would kill yo'.
Entry 6680
Yo' kin take nine new needles an' nine new pins an' nails - nine nails - an' put in a bottle. An' den yo' kin take one dese heah worm outa from undah de bottom [bark] see, think dey call 'em sawyah.
(Wood Sawyer?)
Yes sir. Dey got two little bills [horns] whut cuts in de wood. [These worms - the larvae of sawyers, several large longicorn bettles - bore large holes in timber or dead trees. Both worm and bettle are often called wood sawyers.] Put dat in dat bottle an' bury it down in de path where he walks. An' den, when he walk ovah dat, he'll ketch 'em in 'is foot. An' dat same worm [larva] whut chew see in dat bo'd, dat yo' put in dat bottle, jis' true as [what?]. [It will enter 'im an'] eat 'im up. [But this ailment can be cured.] Dat way [if you are in that condition] yo' got'a go tuh a root doctah de same way [as before]. Now a root doctor, he got'a take 'em out. A medical doctor don't do it.
(What would a root doctor do to get that worm out of him, I wonder.)
He goes an' git de root from de - dey call black haw an' red oak bark an' a stingin' nettle root. Put dat up in a bottle an' yo' got'a take. Dat stingin' nettle root, will run 'im out dere. [The other two help and also make 3 ingre- dients.]
(Well, what do you do with these roots? Make a tea of them or what?)
Yes.
Entry 6971
Said if yo' had a woman an' she wuzn't treatin' yo' right or sompin lak dat, gits yo' a li'le vial, an' git some of [her] urinate an' stop it up, an' carry it. Git some of 'er chamber lye an' stop it up in a li'le vial an' carry it in yore pocket always wit chew, an' dat'll stop de woman runnin' aroun'. [Runnin' aroun' includes after other men. This belief should have been put under chastity-belt rites in margin title URINE - BOTTLED, v.3, p.2383-2384.]
Entry 7412
Well, if anyone kill a man an' den run 'way an' dey didn't know who kill 'im. Well, when dey wash dis man, dey takes de watah an' puts it into a quart bottle an' stops it up tight an' bury it in de grave tuh [with] him. Well, he cain't go. He have tuh come back. He have tuh pass dat place evah day, back- ward an' farward. He have tuh pass dere, dat place. (They wash the dead man and that water they wash him with, they put it in a bottle and put it in the grave.) Yes. [Sumter, S. Car. (1367), 2419:10.]
Entry 7528
Yuh kin take some graveyard dirt an' take an' throw it ovah yeh house, an' not let it [in] de house, an' dat would make 'em stop bothahin' yuh, run [them] away. Throw it all de way ovah de house. Do it fer nine mawnin's. Take it in a bottle an' throw it ovah.
Entry 8235
Jis' take a woman's hair an' pichure an' cut it all up an' put it in a bot- tle tuhgethah an' take an' po' dis Heart's Own Perfume on it. She'll nevah quit 'im an' she'll always run aftah 'im.
(What do they do with that bottle then?)
Well, hide it off in de loft of de house where she be goin' undah it or sompin lakdat.
Entry 8457
Dey kin take dis pichure heah an' cut dis pichure half in two an' put it intuh a pint bottle. Don't put nuthin dere but jis' put dat pichure in dat pint bottle an' stop it up airtight. An' go tuh de rivah or any place where de watah's powahful strong an' throw it ovahbo'd. Jis' throw it ovah dere an' dey's gone, dey's gone.
Entry 8874
Dey'll take dat lettah an' dey'll soak dat lettah in watah an' git dat writin' outa it. An' dey'll take dat watah an' put it in a bottle. Save dat watah. An' ef yo' in New York an' dey didn't lak dat, dey'd keep dat dere [water] wit nuthin but chure lettah.
(What will they do with that water?)
Dey bury dat bottle down - stick dat bottle right down up ovah de mouth, an' yo'd go man [leave New York]. Yo' walk back dere [where that bottled letter- Water Was].
Entry 8876
[The following rite missed by my transcriber, I did not have time to copy in full but made the following summary:] "Tear handwriting up into small pieces - put in bottle ~ get some May water - that's lucky - make your wish - catch May water on lst of May [see margin title MAY WATER, P.460, and No.986, P.381] - stop up [in bot- tle] - bury - whatever you want done be repeating that while you are tearing up paper."
Entry 8903
Jes' lak dey's steal somepin from yo' an' yo' wants tuh find out who is de one dat done it. Why yo' take an' git chew a piece of black gum [wood] an' burn dat wood till it come tuh a ashes. An' den yo' take dat ashes an' put it intuh a vial an' put some Hearts Cologne in dat vial where'bouts chew got dat ashes. An' yo' let dat sit dere fo' 'bout five days an' if dat cologne turns de color of dem ashes, why whosomevah stole dat stuff, dey bring it back. Now ah ain't nevah tried it but ah heah dat. [What would my informant in the State of Georgia call a black gum tree? Normally I would say the tree (Nyssa sylva- tica), which has closed-grained wood, entire leaves and small blue-black drupa- ceous fruits. This tree, growing east of the Mississippi River, is also called sour gum, tupelo, and pepperidge. Closely related is a tree (N. biflora) con- fined to the southern United States. The preceding tupelo, a word from the Creek Indian language meaning Swamp tree, could also mean any other tree of the genus Nyssa, especially N. aquatica of the southeastern United States. After this rite Was transcribed years ago I marked it doubtful because I could not understand how black-gum ashes were able to divine theft and make the thief return the stolen property. Later a possible answer came. In the Southern states years ago a bee- hive Was made from a section of a hollow gum tree. Surely the original ashes came from a piece of beehive supplying stinging power. Join this with intention.
Entry 9818
Dey'll take dat an' dey'll go tuh verk [work] cuz dey kin git nine needles - now listen, nine needles. Stop dat up, put dat in a bottle an' dey'll turn dat cross yuh step - cross de do'step - an' yuh can't go, neithah cross it. (They put this bath water of yours in this bottle to keep you in the house.)
Entry 9825
[That] create dissatisfaction in a man's home. They kin take and bot- tle them. Take so many pins and so many needles - about nine [each] - so it's a odd number. You put them pins and needles, stick them through a piece of flannel. Roll 'em up and drop 'em in a bag. Well, natchly in pass- ing in de house, in and out, if you kin get some of de dust that they sweep up off the floor, yo' puts that in that bottle too. And as long as you keep it, why it causes a great dissatisfaction in the home, so as to completely break it up. It's never known but dey use them needles and pins that way to cause dis- satisfaction in the home.
Entry 9934
Ah'd get me a frog an' ah'd squeeze de left eye, squeeze de milk out of it...ah'd put it in a bottle an' put it right by mah steps an' de law can't come in mah house.
Entry 10274
Dey have to take de measurement of a man, say it's such as a man run- nin' aroun' after women. An' if a woman take his measurement with a piece of string, an' his water, an' put it in there [bottle], as he go to fool with any other woman, whenever she shake this [bottle] up, he'll lose all nachure fer any other woman but her. She keep that [bottle] in a secret place, an' whenever she think that he's doin' somepin wrong, shake that, an' nachurely that would cause him to lose nachure fer any other woman but her.
Entry 10687
[There are two types of baths in HOODOO: the ordinary bath to clean yourself, the real bath water, and the ceremonial bath for numerous purposes such as gambling luck (see PARSLEY in this section), for health, love, etc.] Stop up bath water in a bottle, set it in sun until hot and foamy, add salt and pepper; you'll begin to itch and burn, "you have come under their curse."
[Washington, D. C., 822:6.]
Entry 10688
After you have taken a bath, they can get some of that water and stop it up in a bottle, and of course they can bury that, and that will cause your body to dry up and waste away - something like you have a wasting disease.
Entry 10737
If yo' take a person's ministrate, take watah, yo' know whut yo' wash things [with] an' take their ministrate an' stop it up in a bottle, an' when it dries up, they'll die.
(Just leave it in the bottle?)
Yeah, stop it up.
Entry 10743
An' what they'll do, they take lak a woman has ministration...an' put it in a bottle. They take it to that fo'k of de road an' turn it down on de haid an' bury it. (The head of the bottle?) Yessuh. Sometime they'll put their hair in there with that ministration and that will cause them to go crazy. An' they kin take that an' put it in swift runnin' watah an that'll make 'em wander aroun' somewhere an' git drownded.
Entry 10755
Den, too, yo' kin take a woman's sick clothes. Yo' kin take dem an' yo' kin take, if dey already dry, yo' kin take an' wet 'em. Kinda mash 'em, yo' know, wit a little bit of dat on, an' cork dat up. An' she can't go wit no othah man. Or eithah, yo' kin take 'em, dey tell me, an' chunk it down de stream [to send away]. Chunk it upstream, says, an' she'll go( crazy.
Entry 10962
Dat chicken blood an' de bat heart, an' yo' take it an' put it in a bottle. An' take de chicken blood an' po' it into de bottle an' dat makes yo' lucky in yore home...an' de heart of a bat an' use de chicken blood.
Entry 11157
Now, if yo' don' wanta take an' do dat, chew kin git chew some devil heart watah [hoodoo store preparation?] an' bluein' an' shake dat up an' bust dat bottle. Git de devil heart watah an' put it into dat bottle; den yo' git chew some bluein' an' put it into dat bottle. An' take dat bottle an' shake it up an' wherevah de person livin' at, yo' bust dat bottle in front dey do' an' dat make 'em move.
Entry 12235
I've heard talk an' I've known it done, gettin' a root they call John de Conkah. An' she taken an' put it in a bottle an' tote [carried] it with her fo' 10 mawnin's. When she get up...dey go to de risin' of de sun fo ten mawnin's an' have dat [bottle] in her right hand by her right side, an' give it throw-off like that [makes a motion of throwing the root towards the sunl. Regain her husband.
Entry 12749
Yo' take dat...an' yo' puts a piece of rattlesnake master, put a leaf of dat fern.
(Leaf of that fern.)
An' chip off from rattlesnake master an' put it into a bottle an' dat's fo good luck. Dat'll make yo' peaceful at home. Dat'll keep yo' in peace at home.
Entry 12895
If a man has a discharge with me, why ah take mine and his both to- gether an' put it on cotton an' stop it up, why he'll nevah bother with nobody but jes' me. [This woman takes the man's discharge, semen; but what does she take from herself? I mean, what does she think she takes? There is evidence in HOODOO to indicate that some of these women had no idea of ovulation, that she like animals lays eggs; that that egg is not laid (or propelled) at the moment of orgasm. I leave this complicated business to the medical experts.]
Entry 13348
(If you want to get a job from the boss, you try to get hold of some of his chamber lye and put it in a bottle airtight, and take it home and keep it. And that will make him like you and eventually he will give you a job?) Yes. [A pencil note of mine reads: "Something must have gone before. Something did go before but machine was not turned on. I am repeating as near as possible what informant had said. To bottle the boss's urine is a rare rite indeed!]
Entry 13416
Well, they gets that war water and stop it up in a bottle and throw it over in your yard. Well, dat break up peace in de home. (This war water.) Quite natural bottles lays around in de yard and gits fulla water sometimes. Yo'll never know what that bottle means.
Entry 13418
If yo' wants tuh make a person move lak dat, well yo' go an' buy some war watah. Yo' understan', dat war watah, an' yo' pass in front of de do' lak if yo' had tuh pass in front of de do', an' if yo' have tuh throw de bottle across de house, yo' make yore wish. If yo' jis' break de bottle in front of de house an' make yore wish, why yo' could break 'em up an' make a big disturbance. Make 'em move an' de house would be upsetted. Yo' could upset de home.
Entry 1239
I had a mother, she wus poison. Somebody took her hair. The fellah that come to cure her said they put it in a bottle, a cologne bottle, put it in some runnin' water - that cause her min' wus goin'. He didn't zackly make her, you know, straight; but he told 'er whut wus ailin' her. He told er to git up every night jis' befo' mid- night, she wus livin' in de country, an' walk to the fork of the road. She do that fo' five or six night. I don't know zackly how many nights that he told 'er, but I know he told 'er go to de fork of a road. He told 'er take some dirt from under her front steps an' wear it aroun' her head as a poultice. He said that would help 'er. It helped a lot.
Entry 3205
They go to the buryin' groun' w'ere the grave is sunken an' dig about six inches down in there an' git some of dat dirt. An' they claim dat they mix dat up with it [semen] an' it'll either run you out of town or will stop you [make you impotent]. Stop lt up. An' can't no- body le' choo loose until somebody break the bottle an' throw it in runnin' water.
Entry 6678
Yo' see dese ole waspses. An' yo' kin take a wasp when he's got young uns [ones], a wasp nest. Yo' know whut de wasp nest is. Yo' kin take a wasp nest when it's got young uns in it, an' each li'le hole is got a covah ovah de top of it dat look lak a stem. Well, now, yo' take dem an' boil dat an' strain an' put it in a bottle. All right, now, say yo' mah boss. Yo' says, "John?" Ah says, "Suh?" Says, "See dat fellah ovah dere?" Say, "Yes." Say, "Ah want chew tuh fix 'im." Say, "All right." Says, "He drinks?" Say, "Yeah." Well, ah'll go ovah dere an' git 'quainted wit 'im, 'Let's have sompin tuh drink." "All right." Ah go back dere, wanta git a bottle. All right. Well, ah'll go an' git a bottle of anythin' dat he drinks an' ah open it at de countah an' po' mine outa it an' drink mine. An' den ah po' some of dis in dere. See, ah po' some of dose wasps' juice in dere on it. An' den [they] begin tuh form waspses in 'is intestines.
(Is there any way of getting them out?)
Yes, de doctah operate on yo'. Dat's de onliest way yo' kin git 'em out.
Entry 12423
Now, she kin take a piece of cord, or a piece of string, or anything lak dat an' measure him, yo' see. Yo' ketch de string tight an' yo' measure him. Den aftah measurin' it, yo' tie dem nine knots, an' yo' put it in a bottle or put it in a can or any- thing lak dat an' throw it in de rivah. Yo' see an' dat'll keep him driftin' - jes' keep a-goin'. Dat's when yo' wanta run a fellah way.
Entry 3856
Now a woman like me, a female woman, dey would git mah ministration, or cloth, an' wash it an' dreen [drain] it out of dat. Ah've seen dat dug up, an' buried. But now de way dey bury dat, dey bury it like dat [demonstrates], caticornah [catercornered = slanted downward here]. Leave jes' a little hole fo' it to dreen out chew know. An' jes' as dat dreen outa dat bottle, jes' dat way yo'll dreen away.
washing and draining the source-described ministration or cloth. Keep ministration or cloth wording and the later dreen language rather than flattening all menstrual-source alternatives. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 8006
[I have two versions of the story about Bowizer and his two wives, a tale concerning his mistreatment of first wife and his enslavement by second wife. Whether this is the remnant of a folktale or the beginning of a new one, or something actually factual, I do not know.] FIRST VERSION OF BOWIZER TOLD BY COUSIN Mah Cousin's brothah's wife [not speaker's cousin but cousin by marriage who had a brother who had two wives, this one the second], she taken down sick an she had doctors an' doctors an' doctors of all kind, an' none of 'em seemed tuh not tuh do 'er any good. An' he wus settin' down one day an' - dat wus 'is sec- ond wife. He wusn't good tuh 'is firs' wife, but 'is second wife, he wus so good tuh 'er. He'd wash an' scrub fo' her an' evah- thing. Jis' cook an' evahthin'. So somepin come tuh 'im an' tole 'im, say, "Yo"go an' look in de bottom of yuh trunk. Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk." Well, he'd set down dere an' nod, an' nod, an' nod. Be settin' up wit 'er an' nod, an' nod, an' he'd drowse, an' sompin would tell im ag'in. "Go an' look in de bottom of yuh trunk." So fine'ly sompin tole 'im, "Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk, " fo' about two weeks. An' so de nex' time sompin tole him, "Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk, " he got up an' went on an' looked in de bottom of 'is trunk. All kinds of fine things, jis' fine dresses, de finest kind of step-ins, bloomahs an' a big ole automatic, he didn't even know it wus in de house, wus in de bottom of dat trunk. An'.den dere wus a li'le coffin down in dere - a li'le coffin. Dere wus de seat of 'is undahweah, de centah of undah each ahm [arm] in dere, an' some of dis here, whut dey call cayenne peppah sprinkled down on dere. An' it wus de image of a person made from a stick.
(From a stick?)
Right on a piece of a board, yo' know, jis' in a image. Yo' know, jis' lak yo' take a board an' cut a image of a person, yo' know. An' den dey had dat private an' evahthing cut down dere. Yo' know, had it crossed. An' so dey had jis' down in dere jis' lak a coffin, made in de shape of a coffin. An' it wus closed up an' dere wus 'is name wrote in dere nine times. His name wrote down in dat, right down in dat coffin nine times. Some kind of a powdah wus in dere. A li'le bottle about dat high of urinate wus in dere an' de cork, li'le cork stoppah wus in it, yo' see, well it wus cut on each side, see cut on each side fo' de air tuh git in dere, an' it kin come out, yo' see. An' it wus settin' right straight up right by dat li'le image of 'is private, yo' know, settin' right by it. An' it wus closed up right in de bottom of de trunk. An' so dat's whut had 'im, kept 'im down. He couldn't git away from 'er. She would do anything dat she Wanted tuh do an' he'd be pleased at it, he jis' stayed at home, but wit 'is firs' wife he didn't do it.
(What did he finally do? Did he get the spell off of him or anything?)
Yes, he took dat li'le box out of dere an' took it tuh two-three fortune- tellahs. An' dey tole him, ast 'im who fixed 'im, an' he tole 'em, said, "It wus mah wife." Dey say, "Well, do yo' want 'er?" So he tole 'em, 'Yeah, ah loves 'er." Dey say, "Well, if yo' love her, yo' take dat box right back, set it right back where yo' got it from; but if yo' don't want 'er no mo', yo' take a jar an' put dat box in dere dat jar big enough jar tuh slip dat box in dere" - dat box no biggah'n jis' lak dat - "an' den yo' close it up an' go tuh a runnin' stream an' throw it in dere an' say, "She'll leave yuh wandahin'.
(Leave you what?)
Leave yo' wandahin', she'll wandah away. An' he did dat an' dat woman got up dere one mawnin', she got well an' evahthin'. She wusn't all dat sick. She wus jis', yo' know, actin' lak dat, playin' sick fo' him tuh do de work. She got up from dere an' left, tole 'im dat she wus goin' tuh town. An' she left from dere, didn't eat or nuthin. She didn't even take time tuh git 'er clothes. She jis' got worried an' jis' half crazy, an' she left from dere an' he don't even know where she's at.
(I thought he wanted to keep her?)
You say, if he wanted to keep her?
(I thought he told the fortunetellers he wanted to keep her?)
Said he loved 'er. He [fortuneteller] ast 'im did he love 'er.
(Yes?)
An' he tole 'em, said, yeah, he loved 'er. "So, well, yo' take dat box den an' put it right back where yo' - where it wus.
(Well, why didn't he do that?)
Well, he wanted tuh git out of de fix he wus in. but he didn't.know it wus goin' tuh run 'er away.
(I see.)
[If the reader missed it, do turn back to the first sentence of this first version: "she had doctors an' doctors an' doctors of all kind." These are unique words because the usual expression is, with variations, 'she had every doctor in town. "[Mobile, Ala., (679), 975:3.] So mah brothah, Bowizah, had a wife, firs' wife. He didn't do nuthin jis' run roun' all de time. But ah'm tellin' yo' dis here whut ah know from experience. Ah ain't tellin' somepin whut somebody say dey know. So he ma'ied anothah woman an' she had 'im so she'd go out, she run roun' an' she do whut she please. He couldn't he'p 'imself. He wash an' he scrub an' sweep - do evahthin' in de worl' he could an' he couldn't quit 'er. So one day he wus 'tendin' our garden an' somepin tole him look in 'is trunk. So he went tuh de trunk an' looked in it an' seen all kin' raimints - clothes, shoes - evah- thin' wus in dere. An' he didn't know it wus in de house. So dis [same inner voice] says somepin tuh 'im, "Look in [the bottom of] dis trunk." An' so he looked in de bottom an' dere wus a small casten [or castit = casket] 'bout dat long [demonstrates].
(What?)
Casten - coffin. An' it had de seat of 'is undahweah cut out an' right up undah his sleeve [demonstrates].
(Under his arm, the left arm.)
Yes, sir, his left ahm. An' he got it out an' ca'd [carried] it tuh one of de men's [a doctor] an' de man put it in one dese fruit jahs [jars] an' screwed it tight an' put it in a runnin' stream. So he say one mawnin' she woke up an he run 'er out dat house an' he ain't saw 'er since.
Entry 38
[To catch a spirit or to protect your spirit against the catching or to release your caught spirit - this is the complete theory and practice of hoodoo.] Ah kin ketch yore spirit easy. A person kin - jes' lak yo' settin' dere an' ah kin be talkin' to yo'. Yo' talkin' tuh me an' I be walkin' back an' ah got a bottle. Ev'ry word chew says, I ease dat stopper down - ev'ry word yo' say until yo' git to de end, den yo' stop it down. Well, then yo' won't be sick but yo'll jes' be lak a bird flyin' - here an' yon - an' de moment dat yo' kin git to it an' pull de stopper yo'll be yoreself all de same.
(You have to walk backwards while you are pushing that cork down?)
Yes sir.
Entry 43
A woman right here in Beaufort Street, she got holt of a man's foot track and took it and while it was hard, you know, and put it in a bottle and took it in her house and put it right in front of her door - wrapped it up in a silk cloth and put it in front of her door and used it as a door stop, and as long as dat was dere why he would come back. When she moved she didn't take that with her and de [other] people moved in that house. Long as dis bag was dere he kept coming back looking fer her. He always was coming back looking fer her and de people would tell him that she didn't live there any more - kept coming back - coming back.
Entry 44
(Do you know how they do that - catching a person's spirit?)
Well, yo' takes nine peas an' yo' put these peas in a bottle of hearts cologne an' yo' take it an' yo' ketch his shadah [shadow] - his shadah is his spirit, chew know. An' yo' take that an' yo' ketch that an' yo' put nine peas in a cologne bottle - hearts cologne bottle. Yo' Jes' watch 'im dere as he go along, yo' see, yo' jes' stop it up tight - yo' ketch his speech when he speak, yo' take advantage of it an stop that up tight.
(Well how do you get that shadow into the bottle?)
Well, jes' lak a person walkin' 'long - walkin' 'long lak dis an' yo' may walk up to him, anyway - yo' jes' unstop de bottle lak dat an' his shadah go in dere. Dat hearts cologne an' dat peas will draw it in dere.
(Then you stop it up quickly? That's got his spirit?)
Yeah, yo' got his spirit.
(And then after you got his spirit in that bottle, what happens?)
Well, yo' kin do anything wit it dat yo' want - anything - yo' jes' got his spirit den. Yo' got his spirit there - yo' could use 'em most any way.
Entry 231
Now I know a woman down here in Caroline, she was called on a Sunday morning to come over there to the farm. They had a horse very bad off. She discovered where they had planted a bottle under this door, the door of the stable, and they got this horse so he couldn't get up. She removed it and the horse got all right. [Fredericksburg, Va., (?), Ed.; Caroline Co., Va.,1934; a rare example in my Negro folklore of an animal itself being bewitched.]
Entry 307
There's a man that could - you see, I guess he's sleight a' hand - did sleight-a'-hand work. An' he did a whole lots of things. So he said - mah brothers would get after him to tell them how he came to know how to do these things. He could do anything - jis' go an' take money or anything. An' when the officers went behind him an' taken an' locked him up in the jailhouse, he'd come on out an' say, "Well, come on, Captun, let's go togethah," and walk on away - now, that's the truth - an' walk on out, an' he would jis' turn into a grey horse an' jis' go on off. So mah brothers wanted to know whut did he do to get this way. So he told them he had to take a black cat an' go in de woods so many miles before day, an' put a pot out there a-boilin', an' put this cat in there an' boil all the flesh off the bones an' the bones all over jis' like you drvin' 'em. Then he had to go where's there's a newborn baby, take this baby, an' put this. baby right in there an' burnt de baby all up jis' like he did the cat. An' he would take the cat, the cat thigh - the first bone from the hip on the back. He'd take this bone from the hip an' take the baby's breastbone - an' throw ever'thing else away except these bones - an' take those two bones an' put 'em into fresh water, an' boil them until they boiled down like a lickrish [liquid a thick pot liquor]. Put it in a bottle an' rub yourself with it, grease your- self with it for nine mornings [at a crossroad], an' go right back to the cross- road the ninth morning, an' when you git there an' rub yourself, an' dance there, an' a black cat would cross it [the crossroad], you take that cat an' kill that cat, an' take this blood an' put in this bath an' take a bath. You grease your- self nine mornings into that blood an' stuff [cat-and baby salve] an' you could do anything you wanted to. [See also 375. Neither colored person nor white takes seriously rites like these two. Whether they start from a hoodoo manual or a tall tale, I do not know.]
Entry 324
Ah heard dat yo' could take a black cat at fo' a'clock on a Sunday mawnin' an' carry him at de fo'k of a road - carry a pot 'long wit chew or have yore pot dere. An' dey tells me now - ah don' know - dat yo' take dat cat an' put him in dat pot alive an' kiver him up airtight - boil him. An' after he's done, take dat pot an' go set down by a stream of runnin' watah an' yo' commence pullin' out bones from dat cat an' yo' pull dem till yo' git to de ninth bone. Yo' take dat ninth bone an' take keer of it.
(That ninth bone?)
Yes. Now, yo' got take ca' of it. Yo' take dat bone an' yo' carry it an' git good whiskey an' put it in a bottle an' drop dat bone down in dere, an' dat bone or dat whiskey offa dat bone, if a person is sick or poisoned, a teaspoonful of dat whiskey - sometimes, if he gwine git cured dey comes near tuh killin' him - give a teaspoonful of dat if he's poisoned.
Entry 349
If you want to know how to play a banjo or a guitar or do magic tricks, you have to sell yourself to the devil. You have to go to the cemetery nine mornings and get some of the dirt and bring it back with you and put it in a little bottle, then go to some fork of the road and each morning sit there and try to play that guitar. Don't care what you see come there, don't get 'fraid and run away. Just stay there for nine mornings and on the ninth morning there will come some rider riding at lightning speed in the form of the devil. You stay there then still playing your guitar and when he has passed you can play any tune you want to play or do any magic trick you want to do because you have sold your- self to the devil.
Entry 489
[The following eight beliefs are variations on the bottle rite for catching a person's spirit - see Nos. 38-44.] I heard about my uncle catching a witch. They hung a bottle up the chimney and crossed a knife and fork. It was bothering and bothering him every night. Somebody told him to do this and he did it. And the next morning he taken this bottle down and something was in it. He left it stopped up. Somebody told him this woman who was bothering him was sick. He didn't go to see her. Finally, she says for him to come and see her. She said, "For the Lord's sake, please let me out, I'll never bother you again." He turned her out and the woman got well.
Entry 490
You kin put down mustard seeds, sprinkle 'em over the floor, and ies before they go they'll have all them seeds to count. And you kin ketch 'em and you kin put it in a bottle and stop it up. And early that morning there'll be somebody come aroun' and want to borrow a match or salt or somepin.
Entry 491
Take nine new nails an' put 'em in a bottle or nine new needles, either one, to ketch a thing dey call a witch at night when dey ride yo'.
Entry 493
That's if he is a human an' be a livin' pusson.
(What have you heard about that?)
Dey [hag or witch] jis' take an' strip off necked [naked], jis' strip off necked, if dey gon'a ride joo. Dey write chore name down fo' diff'ren' places - write it on one piece of papah, write it on anothah piece, write it on anothah, an' on anothah one. He'll take it an' tie it roun' his ahm, he'll tie one roun' dis laig, an' one on dis laig, an' one on dis ahm. An' he'll put one roun' dere [his neck]. Dat'll be five pieces - jis' yo' name on it - two feets an' yo' ahms, an' put one piece aroun' de neck. An' aftah dey do dat, why dey grease all ovah wit fresh hog lah'd [lard]. Dat make 'im go to bed wit dis thing on his min'. An' in de night when you lay in bed sleepin', his spirit wandah an' git where you's at, an' jis'beat on yo', knock on yo', choke on yo', an' have yo so yo can't har'ly ta'k. An' de way to git 'im, de only way yo' can git 'im, is jis' take some peppah an' pu't in a bottle, red peppah pu't in a bottle, an' open de top of it. An' he'll go down in dat bottle an' he can't git out, an' he'll stay thah, in thah till nex' mawnin'. He'll put on his clothes [next morning], wherevah he be he'll put his clothes on, an' it'll be de firs' one at yo' house dat mawnin' axin' yo' fo' somepin. An' if yo' don't care wha' chew give im out chore han', dat'll turn 'im loose out dat bottle. An' while he's in dat bottle he turn into all kin' of insex, ants, bugs. An' when he come to yo' house dat mawnin', an' if yo' give 'im anything, a couple of matches or any- thing, why you turn 'im loose. When he come thah he'll be down [dejected], lak dat, chew know.
(Suppose you burn that bottle up?)
He'll die. Dat is his spirit.
Entry 494
I have heard that if a witch rides you at night take a small vial, put hairpins and plain pins and vinegar and a loose stopper in the bottle, and put it under your pillow, and they say it will catch the witch. The witch will get in the bottle, can't get out. The pins will catch the witch and keep him in, and the vinegar will dissolve him and change the color of the contents and you will know that you have the witch. You'll never have trouble with witches as long as you live.
Entry 495
I did hear the old people say at one time that a witch came in the house and got in a wine bottle and drank too much and couldn't get out. Ev'ry once in awhile she would holler about the keyhole, trying to go through it to escape, and fall back on the floor. There where the witch was caught. The olden people use to make the wine and set it under the bed or table and the witch got in one of these bottles.
Entry 13
It's jes' lak [like] if ah'm runnin' a place of business an' ah has some enemies - yo' know yo' has enemies ever'where yo' go. If yo' large 'nuff to bother 'bout yo'll have enemies. Ah kin have some enemies an' ah kin be runnin' a place of business - jes' sellin' fish san'wishes an' all dat kinda junk. Well, a lot'a people would hate me on dis - yo' see, ah'm makin' mo' money den dey can an' dey'll hate me. Well, all right. Dey'll go, prob'bly uptown an' tell a false' on me an' have me put in jail. Yo' see, ah done lock up an' ah'm got'a pay out a bunch of money den an' come out if ah got it or prob'bly make time on it. Well, whensomevah ah git out - well, ah may go back to mah business agin. Well, now heah dey come agin after me. Understan' - heah dey come agin after me. Well, now, I kin go tuh de graveyard zactly twelve a'clock at night. Now, ah'm goin' to mah peoples - where dey's buried. An' after ah git dere ah walks five feet into de graveyard. Then - if' yo'll 'low [allow] ma ah'll show yo' axely [actually] whut ah mean [his voice turned from me while he demonstrates]. Ah walks dis way [he walks]. Now, heah's de gate chere. Well, ah walks [he walks] five feet from de gate an' when ah git inside [that near] de gate ah turns round [he turns] an' backs up five feet [he backs up] till ah git inside de ceme- tery. Ah wheel round right quick an' de first grave ah'll put mah eyes on, ah'll go to dat grave an' ah makes me a big round ring at de head of dat grave. [He acts out everything.] An' after ah make me a big round ring at de head of dat grave [as a protection against spirits], ah take me a solid fifty-cent piece an' put it jes' as fur down in dat grave as ah kin git it. An' after ah put it down dere mah hand would come up wit all de dirt-cover ovah dere [the dirt sticking to the half dollar]. Den ah takes a eatin' fo'k [table fork] an' ah sticks it in dat grave. Well, ah went to mah mother [her grave] to control her mind of might to dash dese peoples' mind from me an' keep dem from botherin' me, but dose [his people] are daid. Now, dose folks are daid - like dey say hants an' spirit an' all like dat. Well, dey come to form - to skel'ton, see. Well, now heah about three yeahs ago ah had a sister - she came down heah an' dere peoples in dis town will tell yo' dis very day, white and colored. Well, dey 'rest her two-three time of drunk'. She could take jis' dat much of whiskey [demonstrates] an' jes' go to her haid, an' she start to call anything come ovah her. Well, now, she was fixed, dey tell me in Jacksonville ~ now, dat's whut she tole me some other [person] did to her. [Alcoholism is usually caused by someone putting a spell on you - see Drinking-spell in Index.] An' ah could go an' git her sometime two an' three a'clock in de morning - bring her back. An' ah have went round to diff'rent people I knowed dat give 'er dat stuff an' tell 'em don't let her have none. Well, she got to find dis stuff but hit don't be until de change of de moon. When dat moon come to be a quarterfull, den dat's de time she commence goin' on, commence goin' on. Well, now, when dat moon done vanish 'way an' gone, she jes' as good, jes' as pleasant an' happy as she kin be. Well, she wus told to go to de graveyard - she lives in Jacksonville - an' when she git to de graveyard - now, our mother's daid - our mother died of witch- craft - whut chew call roots. She died of dat an' ah kin splain it tuh yo' how, whut caused her to die [he explains this later]. An' dey tole her to go to de graveyard an' after she got to de graveyard, tuh Walk five feet inside the graveyard an' wheel round right quick, an' de first grave she saw, she take a solid fifty-cent piece an' push it jis' as fur down in de grave as she kin git it an' take her han's out, an' in takin' her han's out befo' her han' git to de top, git jis' a lettle bit dat dirt - see, root [dig] fo' it [with the coin]. Well, now, dere's nuthin' dey put wit dat dirt. An jis' stick dat eatin' fo'k in dere an' leave it, chew see. Dat eatin' fo'k yo' wanta leave. Well, now, she got de dirt - dat's whut chew call buying dirt from de daid. [We shall meet many examples of the spirit of the dead being paid off with coins, but here the fork - silver-plated or steel, is both payment and protective device.]
(What did she do with that dirt then?)
She jis' take it an' put it on her an' tote it, jes' tote it - she didn't put anything in de worl' wit it. [Usually, this graveyard dirt would be wrapped in a piece of paper and worn sewed up in a very small cloth bag and called a hand or toby or mojo - these of great variety and purpose - many examples of them being given later.]
(How was your mother hurt did you say?)
Now, mah mother - dat wus in 1919 in Tallahasse, Florida. We lived in 362 Caldwell [?] Avenue. Well, during dat den de street wus name No'th McCommins [?] Avenue. Mah mother she wus poisoned with whut ah may call dung - it's a bottle of your dung. Jes' lak if ah go to de bathroom right dere an' use de - well, her stuff was taken an' it was placed into a bottle. An' after it was placed into dis bottle, jes' nuthin' but hit - an' it wus a cork stopper wus placed in de top of dis bottle, whut chew call to stop it up airtight dat no air in de worl' couldn't git in it, an' it wus buried to de no'th corner of our house. Mah mother lived an' suffered - lived an' suffered fo' [four] yeahs. But we tried doctors from Thomasville, Florida - Dr. McClintook supposed to be as good a doctor as evah walked out - a medical doctor de horsepital - we tried him. We tried all other doctors an' none couldn't do her no good. Mah grandmother went to a place you call Quincy, Florida - out in de country to a fellah by de name of Mr. McClain. She went dere to him.
(White or colored?)
White - he wus white - went out dere tuh him. An' he tole mah grandmother, he said, "Ah been layin' heah lookin' at de condition of yore daughter." [He was a forseer or foreknower.] Dat's whut he tole mah grandmother. He said, "Ah been laying heah lookin' at de condition of yore daughter," he say, "fo' [for] munts an' munts an' she been sufferin' fo' othah people." He said, "De people dat's doin' her dis dirt is comin' in her house eve' other mawnin', bahrin' [borrowing] a match or bahrin' some salt or bahrin' some peppah an' stuff." He said, "Dat is to he'p [help] build dis stuff whut dey got in de ground." Now, he tole her, said, "Yo' go back home." She said - but now dis man wouldn't take no money out chure han' - he didn't take a dime - but chew owed him whut he charged to do. Yo' didn't pay him what- somevah he git fo' doin' yore 'mount of work. When he git done wit his - whut yo' want to have him tuh do - yo' goes back home. He given yo' a piece of some- thin' look like a five-dollar gold piece in a black cloth an' he got dis money by de air. Dat's de way he worked it, by de air - he re'lly did it hisself. [See in Index, Doctor, payment of.] Well, he tole mah grandmother - she go back to de house an' look up on de south corner of yore house, an' he say, "Yo'll find a quart bottle wit some dung in it." An' he say, "Yo' take dat quart bottle an' unstop it," an' he say, "po dat stuff out of it." He say, "When yo' po' it out of it," he say, "then yo' come back to me." Well, mah grandmother po'd it out an' mah mother then commence tuh - her bowels den commence movin'; her bowels wus locked den [before that], yo' see. Well, she went back to him an' he give her some kind of medicine - ah don't know whut it wus. But she give him somepin - she had a twenty-dollah bill dressed, mah grandmother did fo' mah mother. Now, dis man tole her, said, "Now, let her tote dis on her as long as she live, an' nobody won't hurt her no mo'." Well, leastways, she died from it - she lived 'bout a couple of months afterwards, after dis stuff was po' out de bottle, but she died. [How the twenty-dollar bill was dressed (prepared magically) by the doctor I do not know, but my skeptical nature refuses to believe he returned it to grandmother. One of many ways of dressing money for oneself will be found in margin-title Cast It Into Oblivion. The medicine given to grandmother could have been black draft or Epsom salts both commonly used by doctors in such situations. The woman had been dying - constipation was not the cause. For a similar hopeless case, a poignant one, see margin-title Doctor Assists Death.] (Well, how did the man get his money when you paid him - how did he get that money?) He tole mah aunt an' mah grandmother to - he give dem somepin look like a five-dollah gold piece an' [also] it was a black rag; seemed to me [when I saw it later] that it was a han'chief. He tole her, said, "Yo' take dis an' go back home an' leave dis on de table - dis five-dollah piece yo' see - on de table." Well, it looked like to me it was five dollahs, but he didn't tell her no five dollahs, but ah called it five-dollah gold piece. [The coin was a fake. I comment here while checking transcription with cylinder - "speaks very rapidly."] But he tole her, when she give it [his fee] to him, say, "Lay dis [piece] on de table an' spread dis black rag ovah it - jes' spread it [rag] ovah it [piece] an put chure money [fee] on top of dat an' tie it up, an' walk out chure room." He say, "Ah'll git it, don't chew worry," he say, "because mah working is de air, star an' de moon." He say, "Ah don't work jes' natch'al comin' to a person." He say, "Ah kin do mah work an' not even go to you. Yo' kin jes' only write me an' yo' got to tell me whut chew want done - jes'write me an'ah'll come to yuh [in the spirit]." Dat's whut he tole mah grandmother and aunt. But anyway de money didn't leave out de house an' he didn't come an' git it - but didn't nobody carry it to him. But when we went back in de room de next morning, de money wus gone, an' most all de three of us wus in de house - mah aunt, mah grandmother an' me, 'scusin' mah mother whut wus sick. He re'lly got dat money.
Entry 496
They tell me that they take a bottle and pee in it and put that bottle up the chimley and when the witch comes in and comes down the chimley she'll go right in that bottle. Then cork it right up and that holds her until you find out who she is. [Wilmington, N. Car., (181),?]
Entry 497
Yo' takes dis chamber lye an' yo' puts it in somepin an' stops it up an' let it stay fo' nine days, an' ev'ry mawnin' dis witch will come to yo' to borrah somepin. Slong [so long] as yo' keep dat dere, don' nevah lend 'er anythin', an' if yo' do not lend 'er anythin', well, den she'll bust. But if yo' jes' keep dat den she'll bust. But if yo' - she'll come to yo' fo' nine mawnin's an' if yo lend 'er somethin' ev'ry time she come to yo, den she kin git ovah it. But if yo' don't lend 'er anythin', why it's nuthin' she kin do.
(Whose water do you put in that bottle?)
Yo' put de witch's watah - oh! yo' put chure watah in de bottle - yo' know, yore chamber lye, yo' put hit in de bottle.
(You have this bottle by your bed when you sleep at night?)
Yes sir, an' yo' turn two fo'ks up - yo' take a fo'k an' a knife an' yo' stick de knife in de fo'k [making a cross] an' lay it undah yore pillah, an' den if she starts ridin' yo' yo'll see her, yo'll wake an' she'll appear tuh yo'. (You use both the fork an' the knife, an' this bottle of chamber lye - all together?) No sir, yo' leave de chamber lye yo' put hit in de bottle de next morning, after yo' see this witch.
(Oh, you have to see her that night.)
You will see her if yo' put dat fo'k dere.
Entry 503
Take nine straws, broomstraws, an' yo' put 'em down - yo' kinda pound 'em an' yo' put 'em down. Put nine to de haid an' nine middleways an' nine to de foot on de flo'. Then yo' put nine on de middleways an' den put de whole straw on de back an' a bottle right down by dem nine straws. When de hag git on yo' he got'a start tuh countin' dem straws, he count dem straws - he count right dere an' yo' ketch him, ketch him in dat bottle.
(What does he look like, then?)
Says he look lak a jelly of blood - jes' lak a lump of jelly.
(Now, about those straws - how many straws do you put on the bed?)
Put nine each ways - nine on de flo', nine up de next de post an' tuh de back.
(Well, where do you put the three nines now?)
From de straw broom jes' git de straw an' put nine up dere; jes' lak yo' plantin' - nine dere, nine heah an' nine dere.
(Where do you put the first nine?)
On de flo'.
(Where do you put the second nine?)
On de bed.
(Where do you put the third nine?)
On de back - dat's de broom, de whole broom - right undah de bed right 'bout chure haid. (You have to do that with the broomstraws, too.) [Have I suddenly become incoherent - too?] An' de bottle 'long wit it.
Entry 537
Ah said dat de witch got mad wit me one day 'bout mah husband. (Did you call her a witch - a colored witch?) [I am repeating what she had previously said.] Yes sir - she's daid though now, but she come dat night an' got at me 'cause ah didn't let 'er sew on mah machine an' she said, "Fo'kses be here sewin' on dat machine an' you'll be gone." An' she lit right on me - ah had a little baby an' she took de baby an' laid him off aside - then she jumped - said she didn't Wanta hurt de baby - said, "Ah'll kill you tonight." She jumped on me an' she caught me right in my throat here - an' yo' know yo' can't talk plain when dey ketch yo' an' ah jes' could mumble - mumble - an' mah husban' he wus asleep - sleepin' in another bed an' he heard me groaning. So he jumped an' run up in de room where ah wus an' asked me whut on earth de mattah, an' ah said it wus a woman, "Dat woman whut worked wit you, she jumped on me jes' now." An' when she went to go out, de house popped - an' she said, "Ah didn't git chah dis time."
(She went out of the house, how?)
De house popped when she went to go out. An' ah tole 'er, ah say, "You didn't git me dis time," ah say, "you won't nevah git me, '' 'cause she didn't know ah knowed dis trick about whut to do tuh witches. Ah jumps up an' made de watah an' put de bottle up de chimley - turn de bottle up - den in a day or two she come dere beggin' me to take 'er down, beggin' me to take 'er down. Ah tole 'er, 'Take yo' down for what, ' ah said, "ah didn't put chew nowhere." She say, "Yes, yo' got me up de chimley." An' she jes' - an begs me to take 'er down. An' dey said it ought nevah been done - ought nevah took de bottle down - oughta jes' let 'er die. Yes sir. (What did you do then with that bottle? When you released her, what did you do with that bottle?) It was a black bottle. [See also No. 40. Here is the deadly black bottle formerly much used in the New Orleans area.]
(It was a black bottle - you took the bottle out of the chimley?)
Yes sir.
(So she could be all right. What did you do with the bottle?)
Ah just took it an' chunked it away. Dey tole me to chunk it in runnin' watah an' ah chunked it, an' she jes' goin' it all de time - she nevah was satisfied nowhere.
(Did that happen to her? She didn't ride you any more?)
No sir. She nevah bothered me no more.
(Who told you that old prank - where did you hear it?)
Well, a ole lady. She was ole, too - she tole me to do dat.
(A colored woman or a white woman?)
Colored woman.
(Where did this happen - what county?)
Marengo [County], Alabama.
(How long ago was that?)
Dat's been now about thirty-five years ago. [This is my only example of a witch putting a bad mouth on a sleeping or half- sleeping person.]
Entry 538
Nine pins and nine needles.
(Yes?)
You see, you put haids down and tails up, and heads down and tails up [alternate them] - say, to keep the witch away from your house.
(To keep the witch away. Where Would he put these?)
You just stick 'em in a bottle.
(I see. Who told you that?)
His name was Simon Pugh.
(Pugh. Well, what was he - was he a root doctor?)
He called hisself to be a root doctor and also a preacher.
(I see - that was down in North Carolina.)
That's right - in Littleton, North Carolina.
Entry 547
We had a team, the name of it was Blue Caydex - a baseball team, an' we had chalunge of a very hard team, an' we were told to go to an ol' lady, that she could give us somepin that we would win. Anyhow, we goes an' tries the luck out. An' she gave us a little bottle - cut glass. It had eighteen little balls an' somepin [a liquid] into it. One [group of nine balls] wus dark, an' the others wus light, an' they were representin' each team, you see; an' when one of the nine would go down to the bottom, nine would come up to the top. That wus representin' the teams, one goin' down, an' one comin' up wus us. An' she told us to take that an' rub a little bit of it in the sand [of the baseball diamond] before we entered de game. An' we did lak she said an' we didn't have any trouble either.
Entry 588
I seed dis. He had dis bottle, little black bottle, looked lak somepin into it like leaves[?] [see later], and he talked to it, you know, and it would bow. "Well Jack, tell me so-and-so. Now Jack, tell me de troof." And that would bow to him. He'd hold de bottle in his hand and hold a string. He had dat string on de end of de bottle and he'd hold dat bottle up, you know, and he'd talk to it and it would bow, you know. [To bow meant 'yes"' - not to bow, 'no."] He said, "Now, you tell me de troof, Jack. Jack don't you lie to me, now." It [the bottle] was kinda white but de stuff into was black, black as that [points to my discarded black hat containing concealed microphone - see Hat, my black, in Index.]
(How long ago was that?)
Oh, I guess it's been fifty years [1876].
(Where did you see that?)
Oh, between Stockton and Girdletree [Worcester Co., on Eastern Shore].
Entry 646
[Out of many persons speaking against doctor and his medicine (see Doctor, not Doctor, in Index) - one person, the only one, spoke favorably:] I know a woman right here in Northampton, she was sick and swoll up for at least eight years, and she accused her next door neighbor. This other woman told the whole general public she had never done nothing to her. She [the sick woman] went to Berkley and got a fortune teller. When she came back she found a bottle down under her door. This bottle was full of little snakes. Then she moved. And she began to take doctor's medicine and it wasn't long before she was on her feet again.
Entry 702
Old Miss J. was mad at me one time and she said, someone overheard her, she was going to fix me. So she got a bottle and she placed a snake and a little frog all in this one bottle and buried it under my doorstep. Lucky for me a man told me it was there. And I know what to do for that. I went out into the woods and got me some old black oak tree bark and turpentine and came back to the house step and placed it on the step. Next morning when I woke up and that bottle was right on the ground. There was a snake in there, a frog in there. [This must have been powerful drawing medicine to draw a buried bottle out of the ground.] And I said, "Mercy, what can that be?" Then I took some salt and turpentine and put it on the bottle to keep from being cunjured with those germs. So I took the bottle and shook it and out came the snake and frog. And I said, "That won't do. I don't know they might come back." So I put this salt and turpentine on the frog and he curled up, and I put the salt and turpentine on the snake and he died. So that stop that cunjure. [In case the reader was a little sleepy during this remarkable rite or awed by the powerful drawing medicine, may I point out there was no buried bottle under the doorstep; the man-told-me-it-was-there threw the bottle under the door- step during the night. The powerful drowing medicine was suggestion and a trick. We will come to a small collection of tricks later.]
Entry 715
Mah mothah, she tole me once dat huh sistah, huh oldest sistah - dey all wus livin' in de house togethah - one mawnin' she woke up an' 'uh laig wus all swollen. An' dey taken 'uh tuh tuh-three doctahs - livin' in de country - didn't seem to do 'uh any good. An' aftah while huh laigs - hard knots came in it, in huh laigs an' nuthin' wouldn't do 'er no good. So an' ole man tole 'em about a doctah, some kin'a root doctah, an' dey got 'im to come to de house. An' he taken up a bottle from de front doah an' one from de back doah. Den he make some liquid medicine. Whut was in de bottle wus red flannen, strands of hayah (hair), an' fo' brass-eyed needles. It wus in each bottle. An' whut he done, he taken tuh silvah dimes an' balled [boiled] dem. He gave 'uh de water to drink off it an' she throwed up dose black things. They couldn't make out whut dey wus. Den he got some runnin' huckleberry - grows down on de ground, it don' have a huckleberry, it's jis' de vine named dat - den some alter [alder] tags. It's a bush grows an' has little tags on it jis' about dat long. An' dey made a - yo' know, ball [boil] it an' got enough water to bathe in and bath-d 'uh all ovah in dat. Taken dese bottles an' burn 'em in some cayenne peppah, jis' un- stopped 'em an' burned 'em; jis' sprinkle de cayenne peppah ovah 'em an' set 'em - you know, put enough trash tuh 'em to burn an' burn 'em up. An' in about a day or tuh she got well.
Entry 747
Dey comin' roun' yore home all de time an' yo' can't keep 'em 'way from dere, yo' go out in de woods an' git chew some John de Conker, which an' dat's black snakeroot. An' yo' git chew halfa pint of whiskey an' yo' take dat whiskey an' den put it in dem roots an' steep it. Po' it back in de bottle an' let it set two days. An' after it set ovah two days den yo' po' it out. Yo' strain it an' when yo' po' it out it will be brown - see, white whiskey [moonshine] will turn it brown jes' de same as charred [legal] whiskey [usually called brown ar red whiskey]. An' when dat party's comin' to yore house agin, offer him a drink an' if dey drink dat whiskey why dey ain't coming back no mo'.
(Is John the Conqueror root the same as this black snakeroot?)
Yassuh - it's de same thing. [This is informant's own identification.]
Entry 816
A white fellow came to me and asked me to go with him down to one of these double-head doctors. He made a deal with a party and he [party] wasn't satisfied and was going to law. He wanted to know if he couldn't stop his ideas of going to court. We goes down and she fixed him. She told his fortune and told him what to do and stopped him from going to court. That was down in Caroline [County, Virginia]. I heard of taking hair out of people's head and cut it up and put it in a bottle and put in a little water and seal it up tight and it will make snakes. They put it under the door [for you to walk over] and they tell me as long as that is there you will have misery in the head. You get one of these double-head doctors to find it.
Entry 882
(Yes, go ahead.)
In the little town where I was born, you know there was a lotta people there that believed in hoodooism. (I see - and will you talk slow, please.) There were a lotta people and they believe in hoodooism. There was a man, he was - before he married - he was courtin' another lady, and after he married why he still Sweethearted with her. And he moved next door to her when he married. And he took care of his wife and bought her everything that she needed as far as he was able, and his sweetheart envied her, envied his wife because he neglected her mostly altogether. And she tried a certain some way of getting rid of his wife, and she - she sought around, she found out that it was a man in another county that she could go to him and have this lady fixed to get rid of her. And she went - she caught the train one evening and went to this man. It was a man. She went to the man and when the man saw her coming, he told her to come in - he knew what her business was there. (Where did this man live that she went to see? What town did he live in, or near what town?) He lived in New Orleans.
(And where was this town that you were born in?)
Taylor.
(Where?)
Taylor.
(Where is that?)
It's in Mississippi.
(Taylor - how do you spell it?)
Cary.
(All right - go ahead.)
And after she went there, he told her what she - he knew what she came for. And so she explained everything to him. So he gave her a little bottle about fo' inches tall with some kind of a liquid in it - it was a little green bottle with some kind of liquid in it. And he told her, like if - when she come back to bury it under her [wife's] steps. And she came back with it one dark night and took and buried it under the steps. And the next day the lady came out, you see, to go to the store to [buy] some- thing for breakfast. And when she came out, she came down the steps, and as she came down the steps, why something caught her - a pain caught her in the leg and drew her legs up and she couldn't walk. A man came along and he called another lady and he helped put her in the bed. And she was getting worse and worse, look like it would kill her and so her husband thought he would get, you know, consult diff'rent physicians and he couldn't never get any cure for her. So one day, he was long and sad, looking for someone and he met a man, and the man told him that he knew his troubles, and then asked him how long his wife had been sick. And he said about two months. And so he said he could cure his wife. So the man went on back to his house and told him - when he got to the steps he told him to bring him a spade. He brought him a spade and he dug up that little green bottle. The man what he met was a hoodoo himself, and he dug up the bottle and carried it to some running water and threw the - opened the bottle and threw the liquid into the stream, and threw the bottle into the stream, too, both of then, and didn't even look back and went on back to the house and he asked the lady how did she feel, and she said she was feeling better all at once. And so he made up some kind of a mixture of herbs and rubbed her up with it - rubbed her with it, and fixed some stuff in a bottle and told her to put it under the pillow and let it stay under there for about three days. And then after he'd taken it from under her pillow, well, he'd taken and diggin' in the front yard, you know, puts it and buries it in the front yard in front of the gate - opposite the gate, and buried it deep enough so that no one could dig it up or nothing could dig it up. And after he done that, why - after the three days he did as the man told him, and then the lady was getting along fine. And after she was getting along fine, the lady what tried to kill her came - you know, began to visit her. And she seen that she was getting better and when she'd get there; she came in one evening to see her. The lady Was getting along, around the house doing her work, and she was sitting up in the bed. That lady brought some fish, and she ate that fish and why hit kilt her.
(It killed her? They killed the wife, you mean?)
Yes, sir.
(That killed the wife?)
Yes, sir. (What do you mean about the three days - I didn't understand - you said some- thing about three days?) Yeah, he told her for to let that - he fixed some - a little old bottle of medicine - I don't know exactly what all the ingredients was, but he told her to put it under her pillow - under the lady's pillow and let it stay under three day and then take it out and dig a deep hole in the ground and bury it deep enough so that nothing could dig it up.
(He left it under the pillow for three days?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 890
Well, there was a girl who had been born and raised in the country [King George County, Virginia]. She decided to go to the city [Washington, D. C.] to work. She made her home with some relatives. The girl, being very fair, through her personality she seemed to take this woman's husband from her entirely. After years and years of intimacy they had some family trouble. She tried to fix the girl so her husband would have no other care for her. Her husband had gotten so bold with her that he took her out to open places - off on long trips where he couldn't take his wife and children. After awhile this girl was taken down seriously ill. After a thorough examination the doctor decided that the girl should go to a tuberculosis sanitarium. Her mother of course had her sent there. After several weeks stay the doctors there finally couldn't do anything for her so she returned to her home. And after being put under her former doctor's care he give her up saying there was nothing he could do. The girl of course being very fair turned very dark during her sickness. When the doctor said he couldn't do anything, her mother came under the conclusion that some form of cunjuration had been performed. She brought the girl to her former country home and had a cunjuration doctor visit her, I don't know who she was, to work upon her. The doctor told her, yes, she had been tricked, who had tricked her, and how it had been done. The woman [wife] had someone perform the act. She took some fluid from her [girl's] body yes, her monthly fluid, put it in a bottle and put it in a corner of the closet in Washington. She tole her to take this bottle and throw it over in the river. She told her she should stay on this side over the river [the Potomac] and not go back to her city home and she would get well. The girl stayed home for several months. After getting well, as she thought, she decided there Was nothing anyone on that end could do to her if she would be careful, so she returned back to the city. She one night was invited to this same home and she insisted upon drinking wine and eating cake. Well, on that night on returning home from the party she was taken desperately ill again. The doctor said it was the same thing as before. There was nothing for her to do but to go back to the country air. So her mother several days after that took her back home to the cunjuration doctor again. The doctor told her that she had disobeyed her orders. She said she had been tricked by these same people, taking wine, that she had a double dose in her system and she wasn't able to do anything for her. Several days after that the girl died very quickly. They buried her privately. Her mother knew and other friends knew. Because she turned so black they didn't want her to be seen. [Fredericksburg, Va., (75), Ed.; King George Co.,1933.]
Entry 904
Dey kin take chamber lye, too - jes' lak if yo' wants [tol save someone dat sick or upset or somepin. Well, now, dat wus one experience ah had mahself. Dey supposed to say mah mother-in-law did it. Ah went to live with her - ah went to live wit mah mother-in-law. She like me all right but there was somepin in de family befo' that. Well, see, she wanted to git this out of me. So she gits some of mah chamber lye an' she stopped it up in a bottle, an' so ah wus sick fo' a long time. Ah could git up in de mawnin' an' ah would go out. [I felt well.] Ah work all day but when ah come back in de house, ah wus sick - ah had to go right to bed an' ah be lak dat all night long. We had doctors an' doctors an' doctors fo' me, an' so someone telled me ah should see someone. So they took me to this man. Dey took me to some kind of a root man. An' when ah went there he worked on me an' didn't seem to do no good. So he said he'd read fo' me. An' he did that. An' so when ah came back - ah had another 'pointment wit 'im, he tole me when tuh come back - when ah went back, he tole me then were tuh look fo' the stuff, an' he tole me, said, she had some of mah chamber lye. An' so he tole me where it was an' where to look fo' it. An he tole me to go move de head of mah bed - move mah bed, yo' know, lak mah bed Was on one side, to move it. So ah did that an' ah find it. So he said if ah find this bottle there, he tole me to po' it out, whut to do with it; an' if ah find de bottle ah would git well, but if ah didn't find de bottle - as long as she have, dere wusn't anything that ah could do. Yo' know, long as de bottle is level lak dat ah'm all right; but when she git ready fo' me to have those sick spells, she turn de bottle upside down - see, 'cause he tole me to notice when dese spells would come on me. An' when she want a spell come on me, she turn de bottle upside down. Well, it took me fo' a good while 'fore ah could git to dat bottle. But fin'lly ah found it an' ah po'd it out lak he tole me.
Entry 924
A lady had me lak dat after ah got dat wit dis man. An' he married me. She did me dat way - she had me tied an' mah baby would a-nevah born until de doctah take it. An' aftah take it he said it wus de hardes' case he evah had. She had de chile so dat ah'd bear tuh bring de chile an' it would drew back up in me - it jes' climb up, yo' see, it nevah would come down. An' when de doctah came tuh take it, it wus almos' bo'n an' all at once it take a suck an' jes' jump right back up in me. An' he said dat wus de hardes' case he evah had. An' befo' mah baby wus bo'n ah wus jes' as black as dis hat heah [see Hat, my black in Index]. Yo' know, mah complexion undah mah clothes shouldn't be dat way from de way ah look outside. Well, dey had me dressed. An' dey came dere. Yo' know in de country people wash dey clothes an' hang 'em out, chew know, at night dey left 'em out. Nobody takes anything - yo' kin hang out clothes at night an' leave 'em all. Well, dey [the spell caster] came dere one night - dey [the doctor] tole mah mothah. Dey [spell caster] stole a bale of cotton an' mama an' dem went tuh someone [and reported the theft] - ah don' know who wus it, an' took dat [piece of clothing] off from me. De doctah [M.D.] took de baby but aftah all ah wus still black. [The M.D. couldn't make her color less black.] See. An' if dey [family] didn't did somepin fo' me tuh come back tuh mah nach'ral size [the M.D. failed to reduce her size], ah wouldn't live, neither de baby, cuz when de baby wus bo'n it wus blue - all ovah de baby jes' blue. Yo' couldn't tell whut color it wus. So dey went to dis man [doctor] an' dis man tole mah mothah dat dis woman took bloomers - yo' see, yore underwears an' she took de seat of 'em. She cut de seat of 'em out an' she took 'em an' she jes' ball it up an' tie it up with a lot of twine thread an' - an' it's somepin she put in dere. Ah don't know how she got holt to it, but she musta got holt to it by some of mah frens'. Jes' got holt of a soiled pair of mah bloomers, yo' know, where a woman drips or somepin lak dat. When dey goin' lak dat, yo' know, it's somepin always comin' from dem. An' she got some of dat an' she put dat in a ball an' she tied it wit a twine - she jes' tied it so till it wus jes' lak a ball you could throw it. An' she took dat ball an' she went to a green oak tree in de woods an' she took a axe an' pick a hole or a hollow in dat tree an' she took an' buried dat ball of stuff in dat tree an den she take de axe an' she knock on it fo' three licks. An' she went back fo' nine mawnin's an' knock on that tree right on that ball fo' nine mawnin's befo' de sun rise. [This is called knocking for you.] She had to be there when de sun start peepin' tuh hit on dat tree - three licks every mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's. An' aftah she hit on it three licks fo' nine mawnin's, then it commence growin' up - de tree commence tuh healin'. An' aftah dat tree heal up, den dat tied dat baby up in me. See. An' de baby couldn't of bo'n. An' dey had it fixed so dat ah would have died, but de doctah took de baby. An' aftah de doctah took de baby an' tole papa an' dem dat he wusn't satisfied wit mah looks, an' den dey went an' had dis han' took offa me. [The Doctor of Medicine who "took de baby" was not satisfied with the mother's looks. This dissatisfaction - meaning she would need time and care to recover - almost signed the woman's death warrant, because the family immediately consulted a root doctor. The latter said a hand had been put on informant in retaliation for her mother's reporting the theft of a bale of cotton to the authorities. This hand, made from something belonging to her, had caused Caesarean operation, dark color, and large size. The medical doctor of course could not remove this hand, but he the root doctor could.] An' de doctah made me some black medicine [perhaps black draft, see Index]. Ah don't know whut kinda medicine it wus an' ah didn't ask papa an' dem, but he made me a bottle somepin lak dat bottle up dere - 'bout de size of dat, full. An' he tole papa tuh give me every drop of dat medicine, an' three weeks after ah taken dat medicine, ah commence comin' clear in spots - not all ovah, jes spots, an' come back tuh be mah size, to mah looks lak ah supposed tuh be. An' in six months time after ah took dat medicine, ah become jes' lak ah supposed to be all ovah. An' ah wus jes' as black as dat hat dere. Dis mah natural color.
Entry 934
Well, ah was hurt - ah wus swollen up all ovah and ah had a rash jest broke out on me jest like spider web - jest all over wasn't a speck on me without de web, and mah eyes, de balls of 'em fell down heah and dis part was up in yore head. (Your eyeball sort of fell down?) Yes - ah couldn't see. Come on me all lak that. Ah went out mah house and came back - out well and came back all in dat condition. Well, it run on me till fo' 'clock so ah didn't know whut to do. Well, ah first called in a doctor. Well, de doctor he came and he said ah was poisoned. Well, he was doctoring on me, see, an' ah didn't know [then that I was hurt] - ah was trying him first. Well, it happened agin round de same time round de 15th of de next month. All right, he came in and saw me again. [And the doctor's medicine didn't do her any good.] So it come tuh me - ah said, "Dere something else wrong." So ah goes [to a doctor] tuh fin' out. So ah [or doctor] found a bottle of stuff look like sulphur - it was puffed. When it would swell, ah'd swell - it jest went all ovah mah body.
(This stuff in this bottle puffed up?)
It would puff up - it puffed up. When ah found it, it was swole jest lak ah was - looked like sulphur. It swole, you know, jes' like sulphur when it get wet and swell. Well, dat's de way it was. Well, when it would swell, ah would swell uP, yo' see. Mah eyes git blind and ever'thing. Well, after ah gits de stuff up, well, de swelling was yet there, yo' see. Well, it came to me [this is always guidance by a spirit] to use - ah use chamber lye and saltpeter. Dat's whut ah used to bath ever' morning 'fore sunrise. Then throw it away - throw it out. It commence to sink - all advanced away. Ah swole one time mo', after. Well, ah did de same thing. Well, ah've had no mo' of it.
(Where did you throw this out when you finished bathing with it?)
Throw it out in de back dirt, out chure back do', yo' see, sunrise - yo' throw it sunrise.
(Towards the sunrise?)
Yes, throw it sunrise and don't look back - over de left shoulder and don't look back. Dat cleared me up.
(Did that happen here in Mobile?)
Yeah.
(How long ago?)
'34 [1934].
Entry 938
There wus a man by the name of Alfred F., he lived about three mile from here. My mother an' father in their younger days they used to believe in cunju- ration. An' so my mother got sick an' always complaintin' with 'er feet, an' so she sends fer this man, w'a' choo call dese high men. An' so he come over an' told her w'a' choo call her fortune. He says, "A wurman [woman] has measured jore foot - foot tracks," an' "she's got it buried under yore steps." He says, "You'll never git well until this here measure is taken from under yore steps." So he says, "Now, I'll have it taken up fer you fer so-an'-so much money. An' she tole 'im she'd give it to 'im - or her father tole 'im he'd give it to 'im - to go ahead an' have it taken up. An' anyhow, he says, "You wait until the third day [magic delay] - on the third day, '' he says, "I'll come over here at seven o'clock, '' he says, "an' I'll have this measure takened up." An' so anyhow, when he went under the steps that night - I'll tell you my belief as soon as after I end the story - so he went under the step that night an' when he come out, he come out with a little stick about that long with nine notches cut into this stick. It was so many on one side of the stick - the notches - an' so many on the other side, jis' the same as you scallop anything. He come out an' he showed 'em this stick that was buried under the steps. Next thing he hauled out an' shows them was a little red bag about that long, a red-flannin [flannel] bag about that long. So the next thing he shows them was a little bottle about the same, about the same size, a little bottle with a whole lot of little somepin or others in it, I don't know 'ut [what] was in it. It looked like snake sheds [shed = ecdysis] or some kin'a sheds. He comes out with that an' he shows it to 'em an' says, "That's whut wus buried under your steps." Well, I figured on that after a while, I figured on it, an' then I had my opinion. I jis' thought that he'd put it under there his- self. That's sixty years ago [1876] on the Island here.
Entry 1002
De ole people say if yo' have hemorrhage - yo' know whut a hemorrhage is - well, yo' take dat blood an' put hit in a bottle an' stop it up an' throw dat in runnin' watah an' don't look back. Dey say dat will stop de hemorrhage. [Fayetteville, N. Car., (1397), 2516:7.] [The magic rite of confinement - as in drawing a circle - is also involved in the two preceding rites.]
Entry 1015
Well, someone wus tryin' tuh harm 'er 'bout five yeahs ago. Well, ever since then she be diggin' aroun' de step - yo' know, keep lookin' for somepin, lookin' fo' somepin. So fin'lly one day she found a bottle undah our step an' she took it an' break it up - bust it up an' ever'thing. An' anyway, aftah she bust de thing, well, dis woman whut put de stuff dere, she got blind, ravin' crazy. Dey had tuh send her tuh de 'sylum an' ever'thing. Fin'lly aftah she got to de 'sylum she died.
Entry 1058
[The preceding informant's words somebody kin do somethin' tuh offset chew...if yo' don't do that are proved true in the following two rites.] Well, yo' take a man's watah an' yo' put it into a bottle - ketch it. Don't chew pee in it, leave him only pee dere hisself. An' when he pees yo' take it in a small bottle. Yo' don't have tuh have a big one, but see dat he don't spit in it or nuthin lak dat. An' yo' take that pee an' yo' put it in a bottle. Well, yo' buries that right by yore steps. That brings him home. [This is a bottle hand - see subsection Hands - used in love rites.]
(That brings him home. Keeps him home?)
Dat's right.
(Why wouldn't you get it, if he spit into this?)
De spit supposed tuh not - might be killin' outfit whut he could do. Yo' see whut ah'm speakin' of?
(That kills the power.)
Now a woman when she could do dat - she's tuh watch an' see if he does dat, but ketch him when he wouldn't do dat - yo' see, lak a man would make watah an' he would spit in it. Den yo' kin take a man's watah an' put nine needles an' nine pins in it, yo' see, into this watah an' bury it anywhere upside down an' he won't pee any mo'. Dat will kill him. [Retention of urine, perhaps most urological trouble, is caused by hoodoo.] [New Orleans, La., (1568) 2878:9.]
Entry 1074
Get a piece of St. John the Conquer root, you get he and she lodestone and you put a little piece of it in a little bottle - a little small bottle with a big mouth to it, and you put it down in there and you get the very best perfume in the world which is Oil of Rose. (Oil of Rose.) And you put it in that bottle and you stop it tight and whenever things get - you get worried about anything, you put three drops on your head, "In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost" - in your hair and push it up [demonstrates while I comment]. (You put three drops in your hair and rub your hand around like that while you are saying, "In the Name of the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost.") Yes, sir.
(And you rub it over yourself?)
Yes. [This magic rite of upwards - to improve the situation - is rare compared to the downwards rite. Perhaps the best known of the upward rites is carrying a newborn baby upstairs to rise in life or become high-minded or long-lived - FACI, 2ed., Nos.3201-3206, Pp.144-145.]
Entry 1109
If anybody puttin' things down lak dat, then yo' kin carry asafetida - yo' kin git it at de drug sto' - it'll stop all othah germs. Take this asafetida an' put it in a little bottle wit sulphur into it an' wrap it up. Say yo' kin walk ovah anything.
Entry 1201
And there was another fellow here. His wife had his skin, his urine, his action and everything, she had it all in a bottle and had it buried an' that poor fellow - he was all he could do to walk, he could not straighten up and he bend that way for eleven months. And he couldn't eat anything but a little crackers, a little sweet milk. He came down there one evening dragging - he came in. She [doctor] went back in there - she had been out in the country and she got a big old cow turd and she tied it up in a rag and made him a big cup of tea. He drank that - he drank it, ever bit of it. She said, "Now lay down." " And he slept for about three or four hours and when he got up from there could stand straight. She give him 15c worth of castor oil and about half of a bottle of Sal Hepatica. That is what he needed and it cleaned him out. And she gave him mounds [incense molded into small conical mounds] to take home and watch his wife to burn. [While he burned the mounds, his wife was burning.] And I mean it took every bit off him, put it right back on her. She gave him the brown and black mounds to burn. He burnt these while his wife was gone and threw it right back on her. Just lighted them and burn them in the house where him and her stayed and slept.
Entry 1302
In case if a person is poisoned, swelled up bad, look like dey 'bout tuh bust and dey poisoned, sickly, swelled as large as a barrel, a hogshead barrel, yo' wants to go git chew a piece of saltpeter and put dat saltpeter in a half glass of water and yo' go an' git yo' some gourds, some green gourds, an' take de entrails out 'em an' boil 'em, and let 'em take a cupful of dat, an' all de worms and things in dere, will throw 'em up. Den yo' wanta release dose parties den - dose parties who did dat. When dey throw de worms up, dey take 'em an' put 'em in a bottle an' stop 'em up airtight and go to de river and throw it ovah yore shoulder. Well, den dem parties go an' jump in de rivah an' drown - kill demselves.
Entry 1335
Ah know a man right in heah, in Jacksonville, that had caught a spell and he told me that he was slobbering - took dat additional spell. And he tole me - said a man [doctor] give him a horsehair that he had pulled it out of de horse's tail, not at de tip end of de horse's tail [but] up heah some- wheres close to his back. And he put de horsehair into a bottle and he told him to let it stay in there nine days. And de horsehair, he told me, turned to a snake. And he said, he told him den, to take that water and bath his head with it and his eyes. And he [doctor] said after den, he said after den he never would have de spell. Now, that man is right here right now.
(You say he was slobbering.)
He was slobbering at de mouth. Ah know dat to be true - he was slobbering, he'd shake his head like dat and slobber-slobber go all over him.
Entry 1361
Had a corncob dressed and put in mah flower yard an' mah sister stepped on it - right in de hollow of de foot she stepped on it. And shortly after she stepped offa dat cob, de corncob, she got where she couldn't walk. An' after that it went all over her an' hit turned her eyes - her eyeballs were sharp as de end of yore fingernails. We had fo' doctors tuh her - couldn't either one of de doctors do her any good. Well, my brother went fo' miles from there and found a hoodoo and brought tuh her, and he'd taken some John de Conker and some whiskey and put in a quart bottle and gived tuh her to drink and to bath her knee with, and that's de only thing that cured her.
(Where did this happen?)
Thomasville, Ala.
Entry 1385
Yo' kin take the dust from a ants bed an' it's lucky to yo', because de ant dey say is got de busiest body of de creatures dat lives or somepin lak dat an' yo' kin use the dust fo' luck. Yo' don't have tuh use anything with ant's dust fo' luck, jes' perfect luck. But if yo' wanted it fo' gamblin' or somepin lak dat, yo'll have tuh take de ants dust an' take May-watah, yo' gotta use jes' one month - see, May-watah, whut it rains lak when it first rains. Yo' git this May-watah an' use it in a bottle an' use this ant's dust in it an' it's lucky fo' gamblin'. Yo' have tuh stop it up real tight an' let it set in a dark place, see, fo' luck.
(You don't carry that with you when you gamble or anything?)
No, yo' washes yore han' in it - wash yore han' in it befo' leavin' home.
(The May-water is the first rain in May?)
De first rain in May, yo' gotta git dat fo' luck but chew cain't use it. Jes' lak if it already done rain in May, don't git de second watah, yo' gotta git de first watah.
(Anything else you can do with May-water?)
Yo' kin use fo' eyes, yo' kin use it fo' sore places, use it fo' any kinda 'fected part of disease. If a person prob'bly have de siftic [syphilis] or gon'rhea 'bout de body, yo' kin use dis May-watah but chew gotta use othah things with it. [See May-water, No. 986, p.381.]
Entry 1398
Put nine needles an' a toothpick in a bottle, an' pbur Hearts Perfrone on it an' stop it up real tight, an' keep dat roun' yer bed all de time to keep peoples away from you from harmin' you.
Entry 1433
She got holt of a thing - some kind of a snake got in her - de rattle- snake, de rattles of a snake. An' when she drink de watah from it she went blind an' she sent fo' mah mothah an' mah mothah had tuh go to her. She went an' she went an' she carried her fifteen miles from Danville, Virginia, to [somewhere] Virginia, to a man. Den he went out an' got a rattlesnake an' put him in a bottle, put him in dis thing alive an' po' s whiskey on him. See, dat cooked him an' den dey taken de whiskey an' fed mah aunty on it fo' nine days - give her nine drops, give her nine drops fo' three times a day fo' nine days, an' de ninth day she come back to her sight. An' some of these bells [buttons or rattles] wus undah her do'step an' some wus found in de spring. Dis man found 'em afterwards[!!!]. Her sight come back to her. She got well. [This is a remarkable example of like cures like (see p.394); it is also an original and brilliant piece of therapeutic thinking by a master of his craft!l (Now, what did they do with these drops? Did she drink them or put them on her eyes or what?) She drink them, she drink nine drops fo' nine days.
(Who was this?)
This mah aunty.
(And what was the name of the town?)
Danville, Virginia.
Entry 1437
Well, ah heard if someone tryin' tuh harm yo', why yo' could git chew some Hearts Cologne an' rattlesnake marster root, an' yo' could take that an' put it in a bottle an' use it; an' as yo' go out, put that on yo' an' it would keep dem from hurtin' yo'.
Entry 1438
It's a commonest thing as a piece of root chew call rattlesnake master. Well, yo' kin git holt of a piece of rattlesnake master an' yo' could cut it up, a piece of it an' put it into a bottle, see. Yo' po' a bottle of cologne on it see, an' yo' stop it up an' yo' set it one side in yore corner. After nine days yo' kin take dat stuff. (You take this rattlesnake master and you put it in the bottle of cologne. Then after nine days what do you do?) Yo' take it if yo' goin' out round anywheres - yo' jes', every time yo' go out, well, yo' jes' po' some of dat in yore hand an' yo' take it an' rub it all ovah yore face. An' then yo' take anothah piece of it an' sew it into a bag take string then an' let it tie roun' yore waist an' wear dat. See. An' dat keep down all evil.
(If anybody's trying to harm you.)
That protection - dat's chure protection.
Entry 1456
Ah know a boy, a fren' of mine. Well, he wus goin' with a girl an' dis girl liked him but he didn't like the girl, an' she took the hair out de top of his haid, right in de mole of his haid an put it in a sody watah bottle. She puts dis bottle undah do'step undah her do'step. Ever' time she would go down de steps or come back in de house he would have convulsion. He had dem so until dey would put stones in his mout' an' he would jis' chew dem stones. Dey brought him heah in town tuh Dr. Crank - yo' might know him, an' carried him tuh Dr. Johnson, an' none of de doctahs couldn't do him no good. Dr. Jenkins said he had de T. B. Dr. Curlew said dat he had de high blood pressuh. An' dey had tuh take him outdo's an' 'bout five minutes apart he'd have 'em so hard until dey jis' mostly dey had tuh hol' him in de baid. An' a spiritual woman took 'em offa 'im. An' she give him - she got a box of table salt an' a box of [baking] sody. She take as much of dat sody as she could hole in her han', in de palm of her han' an' dat much salt an' put it into a gallon bucket of hot watah, an' bathe him in it ever' mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's - give him a bath in dat hot watah. Den she used iodine an' potash tuh clear his blood up. See, dat's tuh keep de blood from goin' tuh his haid. An' he wus so po' till dey fis' laid him out [for burial] - ever'body wus lookin' fo him tuh die. Well, he's up walkin' aroun' now an' have a wife an' kids. But don't nobody use outa dat salt an' neither dat sody but him, see. An' use all of dat until it's all gone. An' rub in olive oil.
(Did she rub him in any special way?)
No.
Entry 1538
If a person got dem live things in 'em, you kin git chew nine dimes an' take an' git chew one dose little cornered file an' git yo' a piece of newspapah. Yo' file one-half of each one of dose nine dimes an' git chew half a pint of sweet milk and take dat dust an' po' into dat drink of sweet milk. Let that silver lie in yo' all night long till de next mawnin'. Den yo' git up an' git chew a brand new bottle of castor oil an' take. That silver, dat kills that thing, and oil jis' - it'll all pass out. Silver kills poison.
Entry 1561
Ah knowed mah uncle. See, he's crazy in de haid - yo' know, jes' have crazy fits, an' he git unfixed wit a snail. Took a snail an' breaks him an' put him in bottle an' den git some sweet oil an' mix dat in de bottle an' den a fresh aig whut jes' laid an' put dat in de bottle. Stir all dat up at night, 'noint it fo' several days an' dat crazy spell he had went away. Fo' several days jes' 'noint his haid wit it.
Entry 1570
Yo' take sulphur an' black gunshell powder an' yo' put dem in a bottle, a pint bottle of watah, an' drink dat watah till yo' draw dat up. If dere snakes or anything live into you, take dat gunpowder an' kill all of it.
Entry 1591
Go to the woods and get yourself some turpentine and get you some bark from a walnut tree. Take this turpentine and bark and put it in water and let it boil for ten minutes. Take this water and throw it over your left shoulder. When you get through with that take two teaspoonfuls in your body. And that will keep evils and all hoodoos away from you. Another thing, if you find a bottle underneath your door and don't know what's in it, never touch it, but go to the woods and get some turpentine [raw sap from turpentine tree - several pines] and some walnut tree bark and sprinkle it over that bottle first. Then you move it and you won't be cunjured. That's the best thing I know for cunjures.
Entry 1640
This here thing of puttin' a spell on anybody, you takes that off wit dere water - see, dere own water. You make it in a bottle an' you git - it's nine pins. See, you turn four de p'ints up - de p'int of de pin. You tie them into a thread. Take a thread an' tie fo' of de p'ints up - de fo' cormer of de world, an' five down, you understand, an' jis' like it's joo, you take an' leak in de bottle an' put dese pin in dere, see, an' jis' stop dat bottle up. You go to a ole wrecken [delapidated] house dat nobody lives in an' take up a brick. [I ask a lost question] yeah, yeah, in de fiahplace some ole house in de country or anywhere dat dere nobody livin'. You know, take up a brick, take dis bottle - you got but three words to say to dis when you set it, see - you understand whut I mean, "Bad luck go away, good luck follah," three times. You set it [bottle] down an' place dat [brick] jis' like it was before, an' you go ahead an' return home. Don't look back - no lookin' back atall. I'm tellin' you ezactly whut will do dat. An' you go right on home. Den after you git in de house, you kin come out an' look where you wan' to - after you git tuh de house. Well, in nine days it'll [the spell will] be off. De fellah dat put it on them [you], dey'll
[he'll] be feelin' it.
Entry 1725
I talk about doing it the other day down here at my toilet. And dey'll go in dere and dey'll mess it up. I told 'em if dey didn't stop, I'd tie it up in dey belly; cause I could take some of that and put it in a bottle and stop it up and bury it, and dey'll get bound up in dere belly.
(Why did they do that?)
Do for meanness - to be mean to me. I tol' dem de other day dat I would do it to some of 'em, if dey didn't stop messin' my seat up; that I'd take it off the seat, don't care who 'tis. I'll take off that seat and I'll put it in a bottle and stop it up; and if I do that, they know their bowels will stop up.
(Did they stop?)
Certainly they stopped; stopped because dey scared of me.
Entry 1726
Could take your chamber lye and stop it up in a black bottle and put cayenne pepper, red pepper, in it and go to an old bridge.
(An old what?)
An old bridge where automobiles run across.
(An old bridge?)
Yeah, and take it and shoot it up under there and it has a tendency to.
(Just throw this bottle up under the old bridge?)
Throw it up under an old bridge.
(Just leave it there?)
Leave it right there - an old sloppy place where sewage and silt stops under there. Just leave it up under there - it's already in the slush and why.
(What did you say that does to you then?)
Well, it has a tendency to make you lose your nature.
Entry 1727
Well, ah tole him [my contact man] that if yo' wanted tuh break up any- one - yo' understan', separate anyone, yo' git some graveyard dirt an' yo' git dirt dauber with the holes in it, yo' understan'. Yo' roll that dirt dauber an' yo' git nine pods of red peppah an'.yo' git cayenne peppah an' yo' git vinegar an' yo' put it in a black bottle an' turn it upside down, an' in any corner of their yard. Ah guarantee it'll break anybody up dat chew Wanta break up.
(You put this bottle in the yard of the people you want to break up?)
No, in yore yard, right where yo' workin yore - yo' put that bottle. Dat'll separate anybody.
(Well, how would I know that I am separating the right people?)
Well, suppose yo' workin' fo' a person - tuh separate a party. Yo' know whut party yo' workin' fo'. Well, yo' know when dey separate. [You will know by your intention.]
Entry 1765
When I went to the army [World War I] this blacksmith [a root doctor] gave me a little bottle, he told me, for to keep men away from the home. Before I got to the camp there was more men there than when I was in town. He sold her a bottle of medicine to keep me away from her when I came back. He hung around her himself. He charged me six dollars.
Entry 1768
He'd [George Jackson would] tell you, you understand, "Bring me some of his watah, if you can, '' when a fellah finds anothah man gettin' purtty tight with his woman - you understan', although they may be good friends, an' she'd git to like 'im. Now then, he'll go to work, you understan', "You git some of his watah." He gits some of his watah, takes it to 'im. He'll take a bottle an' a cork, an' he goes to work an' he corks this water of his up in the bottle; an' he leaves a little place fer it to drip, fer it to drip out. You understan', take a nail an' make a hole in the top of it, so that it would drip out in the groun'. And you take this an' bear [bury] it right to his doah, right at this fellah's doah, an' this is called crossin' a man from a woman.
Entry 1833
Ah heard yo' taken dat chamber lye an' put some devil vinegar in it an' some war watah, an' take de chamber lye an' bury it into de bottle. An' as long as dat bottle in dere, yo' goin' suffer real bad until yo' pass away to bones come through yore body. (You have to get hold of some of that person's own urine, own chamber lye, and put this war water with it and this devil vinegar, and put it in a bottle?) Yes.
Entry 1842
Dis whiskey an' sugah - fo' a man if he's runnin' round. Yo' cut dat yellah domestic - ah mention dat, an' yo' cut chew a little man out. Dat's right in de shape of a little man an' put it in dat bottle.
(What bottle?)
In de bottle whut chew put dat whiskey in, yore whiskey an' yore chamber lye an' de sugah. An' take dat an' set it back, if yo' want him tuh stay dere; an' set it in a cloth in a corner, jes' let it set down jes' lak de man do an' let it stay dere seven days. An' if he's out anywhere in town, he'll come back. But yo' got'a have de shape of de man altogethah.
(He doesn't drink that whiskey or anything? Just keep it in the bottle?)
No suh - dat's all.
Entry 1868
Now at my home [near Yorktown, Va.] - I come [home] from West Virginia, and I got to my home and there was a fellow there that had a wife and she had been gone from home. So then she come to see her mother and - she was a married woman - she come to see her mother, and this husband of hers seeing an old fellow [doctor] had asked him could he stop her here. He said, "Yes." But he says, "If I was to go there, she'd think I would be up to somethin'." So he got me to go out in de road and ketch her track for him. I caught it - I went dere and I caught dat track. He told me to measure her track from her heel to her toe and say to her, "I take you back with me." And I went out and I measured that track and I spoke dem words he want me to speak, and I carried it to him. He taken them tracks and he put it - he'd taken that dust out de hollow of her foot and put it in a bottle, and when he put it in a bottle he'd taken three strands of her hair and put in dat bottle, and give it to the husband and told him to take it and bury it at de sill of de door. Well, he did it and she did come back.
Entry 1869
An' a man - de only thing to do to make him come back, when yo' be goin' out git de dirt out of nine of his tracks right in de palm of his foot - yo' know where he step on - de palm, an' take it, an' take de chewin' gum out of yore mouth, an' his hair. Yo' git close enough to git some of his hair out of his haid. An' put it in a bottle an' bury it under his room where he's supposed tuh sleep - yo' know, that's if he yore husband, an' bury it undah his room. An' then yo' go to that bottle twice a week an' tell it, says, ask it - close yore eyes an' ask if he wus really comin' back. An' they say them little things in dat bottle will turn round an' round, an' den nine days after dat, he be back.
(She puts this hair and his track and this chewing gum in this bottle?)
In de bottle an' bury it under his room.
Entry 1986
[This is the Rite of Disguise, p.395.]
Ah tell yo' how ah've used 'em. Yo' ketch a red ants an' cut him half in two, an' as de ant's dyin' yo' gotta put him in a bottle wit dis same Hearts Perfume agin an' oil of clover, an' yo' keep dat ants dere. Yo name dat ants - name dat ants some kind other name. yo' know, yo' don't call it an ants - any name yo' care tuh give it besides yoreself. Well, whatsomevah yo' goin' tuh use dat ants fo' in de luck, jes' shake it up an' says, "Now, Whatsomevah-yo'-name-it, help."
Entry 2061
Have yo' a little piece of live lodestone an' we call it blue oil in a little bottle about like dat. Take dat blue oil an' po' it by itself in a little bottle an' put dis lodestone in a bottle by itself. Well now, when yo' start out to seek a job, take out a little piece of dat lodestone from dat oil an' po' some of dat blue oil on it an' rub it good, dry it off, take dat wit chew in yore pocket. Well now, wherevah yo' go yo' may not be successful de first time, but dey say in de second-third trip yo' get a job by yo' comin' back an' taking dis lodestone from dis, everything, cleanin' it off good an' droppin' it back in dat bottle to itself. Ah've seen men order such things.
Entry 2068
In gambling, you wanta have luck in gambling, you got to - of course, you can go to church and make your wishes there for anything you want. I have did it and I was successful too. And now like you wanta be lucky in gambling, you go to a drug store wherever you can find - you get you a piece of John the Conker Root. You get some John Conker Oil and the root. You take this root, you put it in a bottle, you pour this oil on it. You get you a piece - if you are a man and wanta gamble, you get you a piece of she lodestone and you get some per- fume and pour on this lodestone and that'll make life in it. What I mean by, by it make life in it - it would make a lodestone as thick as this key [she shows] when you pour that perfume on there. It will grow and little spangles come out all around it, but you gotta keep it corked up good.
(Little spangles. Little hairs?)
Yeah, that what it do. That's the life in it. And if you are a man and you gamble, you use she lodestone. If I would gamble, I would use he lodestone. I would get the he Conker Root and you should get the she Conker Root. But now when you go on gamblin' and you come home, you always take it out of your pocket and put it in the bottle and shut it up, where the oil won't evaporate. And when you go on out you can take a piece of that Conker Root and chew it and spit it around whenever you gamble on the floor and you will be lucky.
Entry 2158
Well, if you want to make 'im love you, you take their name and you write 'em on a piece of brown paper - write it nine times, backwards. And then after you write it nine times backwards, you take it and you fold it [toward you] into that name, and you take that name and you get you a bottle of holy water. You know what holy water is, huh?
(Yes.)
You take that bottle of holy water and put that thing down in there and you do like this - just shake it before you put it in there. And after you put it in there, you set it up in the north corner of the house where nobody can't see it, in the dark. And they'll fix you with that.
(What will happen to you?)
Well, you can't - you'll love him just better than ever.
Entry 2165
Yo' kin take yo' nine eye needles an' iron nails, put it in a vial, bottle, an' put it up in de chimley corner - hang it up de chimley an' no law or nuthin wouldn't come dere to 'sturb yo' atall.
(What else do you put in that bottle? You said before.)
chamber lye, iron nails an' eye needles. Put in one dose vials about dat large. [Urine in chimney, needles and nails are well-known protective devices against witches. Eye needle - informant does not mean the normally used qoldeye needle of hoodoo - is very unusual, meaning it is not the eyeless needle for knitting.]
Entry 2183
You take a red onion an' rub it on yer haid, an' take a little piece of it an' chew it - a little piece of it. It's a little root tha' choo git out of the woods, it's got a green leaf with black spots on it - they call it Adam an' Eve. It's supposed to be a lucky root. An' it's another one called the High John the Conker. You kin take that an' put it in a bottle an' put some Hearts Cologne on it an' it will drink it up in two or three days. An' you keep, you know, puttin' it on there. An' jes' like whomsoevah you wan' to git a job of, you jes' wear that - you know, jes' sprinkle it on yerself an' jes' let 'im git a whiff of it.
Entry 2259
Tuh keep de [bill] collector - tuh keep him away from yore do' [some indistinct words].
Yo' kin take it but yo' gotta git that watah an' keep it from one yeah to anothah. Yo' gotta git it on de 24th day of June [St. John the Baptist's Day]. Dat's whut chew call St. John watah an' yo' put it in yore bottle an' yo' keep de haid turn up an' yo' collector or yore landlord neither ain't goin' worry yo' too much. Ain't nobody goin' break up yore business. The laws won't come around or anything. The laws won't bother yo'.
(You just take water out of the river.)
Yo' git de clear watah out de rivah wit chure prayers. Yo' gotta pray - any prayer. Our Father - dat's de Lord's Prayer.
(That's St. John's water?)
St. John water an' yo' call him fo' protection an' he'll protect yo'.
(You just have the head of that bottle pointed out the door?)
Out de do' - dat keep 'em off. If he comin' - yo' jis' take dat bottle when yo' think yore landlord's comin' or yore enemies is comin', yo' take yore bottle an' yo' roll it. Yo' roll it wit chure feet - an' den roll it right back where it come from at de do'. [This is one of several magic rolling rites confined to the New Orleans area - rolling a bottle, a candle, a coconut, anything (see Rolling in Index).] [St. John's water is also a health measure, like May water (No. 986, p.381 and Index), and consequently a protection from evil. In Teutonic folklore St. John's fire was lighted on the night of June 24 to ward off sickness and misfortune for the coming year. The preceding evening of June 23 - Saint John's Eve or Mid- summer Eve - was the beginning of various rites.]
Entry 2291
A little vine called de shame face.
(Called the shame face. And why is it called that?)
Ah re'lly don't know why it's called - that's the name that ah was learned. (You just told me why it was called a moment ago? If you touch it what will happen?) Oh! It will close. An' yo' get those little roots an' put them in a bottle of Hearts Perfume an' use that on yoreself. An' then yo' gain the influence.
(That is supposed to be if you are going down to get a job from the boss.)
Entry 2334
Yo' use dat same thing, no mo' den yo' use but three. De mawnin' befo' yo' leave fo' yore trial, yo' bu'st three of dem bottles of watah, an' yo' have in dat watah sulphur an' it's a white lead; dat's whut chew has in dat watah, an' yo' bu'st dem in de house jes' lak yo' did de othah one.
(You put three bottles on the fire and burst one each - one each day?)
De same mawnin' - all three of 'em de same mawnin'.
Entry 2372
My mother didn't believe in anything like superstition but my aunt did. I was working in Newport News, Virginia, with my uncle and one Saturday afternoon when I came home I found my aunt had gone down and had mama arrested. She was mama's sister-in-law, not her sister. My aunt found a bottle underneath her house, it wasn't buried in the ground, and swore that mama had put that bottle there. It had vinegar, salt and pepper, and a hard boiled egg cut up in it. An officer came out to serve a warrant on mama and when she heard about it she went over after my aunt. She lived next door. She figured she was a better woman and she was going to beat her up. Before she could beat up my aunt the officer took her down to the judge. The justice fined her $6.90 for trespassing. He didn't do anything about the bottle.
Entry 2386
[Here and in the several following margin-titles I have grouped a few statements about the terms hoodoo, conjuration, witchcraft and rootwork; more material will be found in the Index. Sorry about indexing Wise Man after Wishbone, but it goes with this group.] Go in de wood down on de rivah.
(Do you get it from somebody, this bottle?) [Bottle hand?]
Me an' 'nothah fellah out in de country went an' got it togethah. Ah know dis when ah see it. Well, yo' take dis Adam-and-Eve, an' it's one is Adam an' it's one is Eve, see. An' yo' put one of each in de bottle.
(Those are two different types of roots? Take the plant?)
Yessuh, two diff'rent plants. [See preceding margin-title, Root - A Triple.] Yo' kin put fo' of 'em in dere if yo' wanta. See.
(Two of each?)
Yessuh, two of each. An' den yo' put yore gunpowders in dere. An' yo' go downtown an' yo' git some Heart's Cologne in a bottle jes' lak dat, an' den yo' po's de whole bottle in dere if it will hol' it, an' stop it up tight. Ever time when yo' git ready tuh leave yore home, shake it up lak dat an' po' it on dere - put a lil of it on yo'. That throws yore trouble behin' yo, see. Yo go to a game an' very seldom yo' ain't winnin'. Go tuh ask fo' a job an' very seldom yo' miss gittin' it - somepin tuh do if it's nuthin but a day's work. Dat's all dere is to that, only it will keep yore home together an' happy - live happy in yore home an' yo' won't hardly be hard up fo' anything 'long as yo carry dat in yore pocket. Ah know dat mahself.
(You fixed: this bottle up yourself?)
Me an' de othah fellah did. He intend tuh be a wise man. Ah've heard dat he's been ovah heah tuh see yo.
Entry 2648
I had a saloon and there is another fellow had a saloon, and he was doing more business than I was and I want the business to come to my place. All right. I go get me some water, some perfume called lucky, lucky perfume you know, and I take some clear water and I put it in a bottle and I shake it up. [Water will make the perfume spread farther.] I do this 'fore day in the morning 'fore anybody sees me doing what I got to do. I go to this place that is in the same block my place is. I go to the corner, see, and I come back and when I get before his door I sprinkle. I go to my place of business and go inside and sprinkle. And I take and go to the next corner, not the same corner, and I sprinkle - behind my back, never look behind, and I sprinkle all along that street. And I go to my place and I go in again. And I go back to that [first] corner, the same corner that is left [left from my door], understand, and sprinkle the same way. Sprinkle before his door and go in my place and come out, see. Then I go to the next [second or right] corner. Do that three times you see, each way. [Informant on coming out his front door turns left and walks past competitor's house to first or left corner (= crossroad of city streets). Here he starts to sprinkle his watered down lucky perfume, turns back home, sprinkling past compet- itor's house and into his own home. Immediately leaving home again, he turns and walks right to the second or right corner (= crossroad of city streets). Here he starts to sprinkle his lucky perfume, turns back, again sprinkling into his own home. This sprinkling from the two corners into his own home is repeated three times. We must assume the cork in the bottle has a small hole through which the liquid slowly drips; the word sprinkle being somewhat generous.] After that, I go in my place and I take some sugar and I sprinkle it on my floor, some plain white granulated sugar. I take some sawdust and I put it over that stuff and I go and I get me this lump incense, see. Can I stand up and show you how I come? [I must have nodded yes.] See, I get some lump incense and I burn it. I burn it, take a lamp, light it and burn, put it in a saucer, this lump incense. Then I take my clothes and smoke my clothes, understand. And after I smoke my clothes, I make my wish [demonstrates].
(You fold your hands across your breast.)
Yes sir, and make my wishes. I make my wish and I be saying, "Lord, I hope I be lucky enough to be successful in all my enemies and all my income." I say that three times. And after that I take my pants this Way and I get my pants smoked good with that incense, open it up this way and let the smoke go up - smoke up my pants leg. Then I turn round and I open my door, after that smoke is got settled in my house. While it is burning in my house, there is nobody in the house but myself. While the incense is burning, if it sparks like a match throw sparks, you know what I mean, well, that will tell that's luck. And if the smoke spreads, that's luck; if the smoke goes straight up, the incense ain't much good to you. After you do that, you put that behind your counter - put that in- cense behind the counter. And you have sprinkled the sugar already. Then you open the door. Then you can talk. You cannot talk while you are doing your business, no sir. (Now when you first make the smoke, you have to take off your pants, then you put them back on - the first time?) Yes sir. [Perhaps I should say, informant did not take off pants during demonstration.]
Entry 2740
Well, now, dere's lota other things whut ah hear people talk about gamblin' han's. Ah hear a fellah say a time ago dat he went to de Seven Sisters in Virginia, but he said he went dere fo' a gamblin' han'. Well, he wus give a gamblin' han fo' - by, not de people he went tuh see. He went to see dem [Seven Sisters] but dey wasn't in at present, but he found some man dey call Mr. G. H. Smith. He called tuh be a confidence man, which an' evah he is. G. H. Smith & Company ~ de books Company'S name on dat. Spells his name lak dat - G. H. Smith & Company. Dis man gived him a piece of lodestone an' he gave him a piece of somepin dey call de five-fingers [grass]; but dis was to be found in de woods, dis five- fingers. It's like a flower grows - it grow in de shape of five fingers, jest lak dose five fingers [demonstrates]. Dey gave him a piece of dat, after gitting dis lodestone, an' den he told him dat he would give him some othah kind of mix- ture. Dat wus wrapped up in a cloth an' it looked lak dat wus graveyard dirt. An' he told him to put dis all in dis little bottle an' every mornin' he tole him tuh feed dis heah wit Hearts Cologne. Now, dis stuff - ah looked at de thing an' it eat up de stuff, dat Hearts Cologne jest lak yo' take water an' drink it. Now, yo' could po' some of dis bottle like dis morning an' fill dat bottle half full, an' twelve a'clock every bit of dat stuff be gone. Dat stuff - whut dey had in dat bottle wit dat five- finger - would suck it up. Now, dis man could go into a gambling hall - no one knows de truth if I would tell it - he could go into de gambling hall an' money - jest walk in an' hold de cards - pick up any cards - doesn't matter whut cards he pick up - he could pick up any card an' that card would get him through. Now he could sit there an' jes' beat de skin game.
Entry 2959
Take two needles and put across your head and get you a bottle and put you nine needles in there and nine new pins - [he corrects to] nine new needles and some holy water and put it in there. Shake it and stop it up. An' turn it bottom up and set it in a corner. Leave it stay there. And every morning you go and shake it. [Magic rite of shaking.]
(What will that do?)
Well, that keeps him from - you know.
(Well, what do they do with those candles?)
What you do with the candles?
(Oh, what do you put those needles in your hair for?)
Somebody is burning candles on you and that is to stop 'em from burning candles. ["To stop 'em from burning candles" - though informant does not say so - are preceding nine needles and holy water in bottle turned upside down and shaken. For other versions of this water rite, see following margin-title AGAINST BURNING CANDLE USE WATER.]
Entry 3102
[My discovery of Zippy Tull and George Jackson - former celebrities of the high-man or witchcraft world along the Eastern Shore - I have described in the INTRODUCTION. One of the great stories about her has already been given - No. 8, page 5. For George Jackson, see page 912.] [Nicknames characterize the woman - "Zippy'" meaning '"lively'" and 'smart," and "Aunt Zippy'" revealing an affectionate regard by many people. She lived a large part of her life a mile or so from the Maryland line at a place once called Drummondtown, near New Church, Accomac County, Virginia. Approximate dates of birth and death would be the decade of 1830 and the year 1900. I have four stories about her, each told by a different informant; also three remedies given by a fifth person. Never again would I meet anyone who, I felt, had actually been so near old-time workers. All material, except the story by Mrs. Williams, I collected while working the region and stay- ing the last few days at the old Washington Hotel in Princess Anne, Maryland.] [Story No. 1 - recorded in my hotel dining room, Princess Anne, Maryland, was told by a former slave 89 years old.] That's been aboat [about] 70 years ago when I wus - 75 years ago [1861]. I know dat myself, I'm not talkin' about whut I hear somebody 'say. I wus a young man - guess I wusn't a young man neither. I called myself a young man an' I wus courtin' a girl. An' some people lived on a fahm [farm] that didn't like me so very well. I wus a very bright boy an' very swift at that time. So dey begin to wuk [work] on me, as I thought. We has an ol' woman named Zippy Tull, she's a fortuneteller. So I goes down to Miss Zippy an' I says to 'er, "I wan' chew to tell my fortune." She knew my father. She says, "All right, George," she says, "take a seat there." An' she goes over [the cards] an' I never said a word. I jis' sit down there an' listened at 'er. I hadn't tol' 'er nuthin atall yet. So she said, "George," she said, "there's a big dark woman," she said, "that don't like your mother an' don't like your father - an' she poisoned your dog." Well, that wus a fact. An' this dog died sort of tight anyhow. "Well, anyhow," she says, "it's workin' on you. Now, I ain't had no mind it seems to me for nuthin atall. "Well," I said, "I wan' chew to do somepin for me if you kin." She says, "I will, if you do whut I tell you to do," she says. "I will, an' farthermore," she says, "I'll make dem people come to you an' 'splain to you dey done it demselves." I tol' 'er that wus purtty good. Well, I goes to work an' done whut she told me to do. An' fo' or five days from that.
(What did she tell you to do?)
I ain't exposed [supposed] to do [tell] this.
[After all these years the old man was reluctant to tell!]
(Oh! I see. All right.)
In fo' or five days from that, I done jis' whut she told me, an' I done whut she tole me to do Saturday night. Aboat in two or three davs from then, mayhaps a week - that woman hadn't beer to my house in three years - she come there at twelve o'clock. She don't come in. She put both hands on the door an' says - my mother's name wus Liddy - she says, "Liddy," she said, "if ever I git over this, I shall never do any harm to nobody else while I live." "Well, Caroline," she said, "git over whut?" "Whut I've done." She says, "Whut have you done?" "Well," she said, "Liddy, I done a whole lot, I've done a whole lot in my time, but, '' she says, "I've done somepin now which I think that I've gone to my good scene [death] from outside [outside because her own spell had been turned against her by Zippy Tull]. She said, "I'll jes' say to you that I'll never will do nuthin else to nobody while I live, again." "Well, whut have you done?" "Well," she said, "I'll never do nuthin to nobody else while I live." Well, that woman went away, she went back to her home again - she went back aboat a quarter of a mile from me and she pined away. An' whut I done - as that stuff wasted away, she wasted away; when that stuff wus all gone, she went.
(What did she do? Can't you tell?)
Did I tell what I done?
(No. Did she [Zippy] tell what she [the bewitcher] did?)
No, she didn't tell me what she done to me.
(And what did you do, now? What did you get?)
Well, I [he still hesitates] - well, I done this. She [Zippy Tull] tole me to git some new needles, pins, an' some of my own water - an' I fergit now the other t'ings I take, been so long. I fergit the other odd t'ings that she tole me aboat, but some five or six diff'rent. But I know these new needles an' these new pins, an' I think some shot; put it all into a bottle, an' some of my own water into the bottle, an' dug a hole in de fahplace - taken up a brick an' dug a hole in de fahplace in my home. An' I buried this bottle, put it down - the stopper down. She says, "Now, when dat bottle leaks out - all dat stuff dat's in dat bottle, she'll die," she said, "but she'll waste away dat way same as dat bottle." She said, "Stop it up tight," she said, "turn it upside down, cover it up an' place this brick back on top of it." Well, I done that an' buried it, jest as she tole me, where I dug.
(Did she die?)
DIEI Why she smothered! [Princess Anne, Md., (127), 29:2.] 0. [Story No. 2 - came from Mr. J. Shrieve (Numbers Book 83-134), my hotel manager at Princess Anne, a man past fifty, the only white informant interviewed. The latter alone makes him memorable, but a favor he also did later made the day doubly a worthy memory (see INTRODUCTION). This story, No. 2, is numbered 0000. because it is already in the text - see No. 8, page 5.]
Entry 3132
Jes' lak dey go tuh bed at night, well her an' 'er husban' always - yo' know, she got it in fo' him but he don't know nuthin 'bout it, an' so she tie him - lak he doin' [running about with other women]. So she goes when dey have intahco'se an' evahthin', she gits out de baid maybe early dat mawnin' 'fo' he do an' she steals away, yo' know, an' hurries ahead an' goes on tuh huhself an' she have a bottle an' evahthin' prepared. Well, she ketches it an' by some means she puts some in a bottle.
(What does she put in the bottle?)
Well, it's.
(Something from her or him?)
From him.
(Where did she get it?)
It from both of 'em ah 'magine, somehow.
(How did she get it from him?)
Well, see when she go tuh - when he go tuh use de towel tuh dry off wit, she dry 'im an' pulls kinda hard - squeeze, gits evahthin' jes' lak she pullin' on sompin. She'd git it all out lak dat. Dat's how she become tuh have it.
(What does she do with that stuff when she puts it in the bottle?)
She puts it in de bottle see, an' when she put it in dis bottle, takes de bottle an' stop it up airtight an' she put it away. Well, long as she keeps de bottle - ah mean, an' keep it airtight - well she got 'i. But if she evah lets it git away.
(What does that do to the man?)
Well, dat 'fect 'im so he cain't raise no kinda heart fo' no othah woman.
Entry 3135
An' anothah way, if a woman stopped it up in a bottle, yo' have tuh hunt dat, yo' see.
(If she stops that cloth up in a bottle he'll have to hunt that.)
[The doctor he hires finds the bottle!!!]
An' one way dat she kin rule him, dat is tuh put it in de mattress an' she lay upon dat. An' when she lay upon dat he can't fool wit nobody, less'n he lay upon dat bottle. If he ain't layin' upon dat bottle dat got dat, he'll always be limbah.
(As long as she has that.)
Entry 3137
De way she do tuh take his nature away from 'im. AH WANT CHEW TUH LIS- TEN AT DIS GOOD, so ah - dis is mah wife an' dis is me an' dis is anothah woman. Well, ah'm goin' wit dis woman, an' dis is mah wife heah. She don't undahstan about not bein' wit 'er as much as ah do wit dis othah woman. Well, dis othah woman ovah heah, well, ah had a communication wit 'er, an' she taken a rag an' she take some of de diff'rence twixt me an' 'er an' puts it in a bottle, a li'le perfume bottle, an' took dis Heart Cologne an' po'd it on top of it an' stopped it up, an' keeps it in 'er trunk. Dat took it [my nature] away. An' de fellah dat ain't git sharp enough tuh git dat, it'll [his nature will] stay away. Well, mah wife kin do de same thing an' bring it [my nature] right back, make hers [the other woman's magic] no good.
Entry 3138
If a man doesn't care very much about chew. Yo' an' 'im livin' tuh- gethah an' yo' want 'im tuh love yo', don't want 'im tuh go out wit no othah woman, yo'all git intuh bed an' whutsomevah yo' wipe wit, yo' git it. An' yo' git a whiskey bottle. An' yo' git a li'le bit of 'is come [semen] an' a li'le bit of yores [see later]. Put it in dis bottle an' screw it tight an' put it up undah de bottom of de do'step. An' any othah woman dat he git ready tuh make a date wit, he can't do it tuh save his life. [The prescription of a whiskey bottle, most unusual, presumably offers solace to the man's bottled spirit (see margin title ALCOHOL FOR THE SPIRIT, p.32). In an empty bottle! But surely a spirit could still detect the evanescent aroma of spirits! What happened to her imprisoned spirit? Perhaps it was merely content to be with us. Or maybe she surreptitiously intended her spirit not to enter the bottle, or just before the final twist of the cork tricked her husband's spirit by jumping out of the bottle! This spirit business is so complicated and devious that it confuses a skeptic like me.] [Now for the word come. His come definitely means his semen. The woman's come sometimes equals menstrual blood or other times: a mythical or non-existent ejaculation of procreative substance at or near the same time as his discharge. Ovulation, a modern biological discovery, remains unknown to folklore, hoodoo and witchcraft.]
Entry 3139
But now, if ah wan' chew tuh bring evah penny yo' makes tuh me, well yo' fool wit me in de baid an' ah git a cloth an' dry yo' off. An' [I] cut out dat spot an' shut dat up tight in a bottle, an' git yore toenail an' fingahnail an' a li'le bit chure chamber lye an' shake dat up. Well yo' can't git away from me.
(You put all that in the bottle?)
Yeah, gotcha [got you]. Long as yo' got dat he gotta come back.
Entry 3141
If she have connection wit a man, she kin jes' take a piece of raw cotton an' wipe huhself wit it, an' she take dat an' stop it up in a bottle, an' put some alum an' salt in it. Put dat in dere an' makes huh wishes, an' screws de top on real tight. An' if she don't want tuh do dat, she kin take a neW cloth an' Wipe it on dat an' throw It in DE EAST CORNAH OF HUH HOUSE [the sun-rising side] when he go out [leaves the house]. Jes' tie it up an' jes' when he go on out of do', jes' throw it in de east cornah of de house. Den yo [he] kin go but nuthin yo' [he] kin do - he can't do nuthin.
Entry 498
My mother was rode by a witch. I used to sleep in the next room from her. When a witch rides you you can't talk, you holler, you just make a b-o-o-m sound. Then you know something is wrong. My mother started to making that fuss and I called and asked her what was the matter with her. And she said a witch was riding her. So I told her the next time a witch got after her I was going to catch whoever it was. They say you take a sifter, a bottle of water and a broom. You put it down at the bottom of the [door] steps. The witch has to count all those holes in the sifter, all those straws in the broom, and if day- break catches him he goes in the bottle of water and you stop him up, and you find out who was riding you. The person will come to you and beg you to turn them out of that bottle.
Entry 944
They got another thing to do. They'll come to your home - they done my brother that - my brother's bin dead nine er ten years. Comes to your home and knocks on door, "Hey, So-and-So. How you? Who you?" Have a bottle in hand and you got de stopper. As you call my name Carrie [I answer] "Huh?" You got me.
(What is your name?) [Here is a question I never asked at a later date.]
Carrie Clark.
(Well, after they have got you, what do they do then?)
Take dis bottle and cover it up here and you keeps it dere. Dey kin keep you in de house or underneath de house, but you'll be there - can nevah travel - or save a dime - an' perish - an' yo' mind be goin' jes' like that [demonstrates - back-and-forth or up-and-down]. That de truth, though. Dey had my brother fixed that way. On de moon sometime he go, on de young moon, and we'd have to hunt him. Dey had him stopped up in a bottle.
Entry 1511
[These three names are for the same plant.]
I went up in the country an - with mah mother, an' mah husband stayed at home. But it's mah home dat he stayin'. An' of co'se he wus goin' with another woman an' he had her in mah room. An' so when I come back I went to bed. An' she had put somepin in mah mattress for me. An' so I went to the medical doctor an' he told mah mother that I better see a 'erb doctor. [Evidently she explained to medical doctor that she had been tricked and he advised the mother to find a herb doctor. I found this sort of advice several times - see Index and Introduction.] He [the 'erb doctor] come to me an' he said I wus hurt, an' he told me to take ev'rything off of mah bed an' scal' [scald] mah bed off an' look in the mattress. An' I looked in the mattress. An' he had a piece in it jis' about that long - a little bag with a whole lot of little stuff in it. An' so he made me some teas. An' there was silkweed, an' whiskey, an' High John the Conker an' Low John - an' made me a tea of it. An' I took that three times a day. Then I took a bottle of three S's [SSS]. An' that's whut cured me.
Entry 1749
She takes an' cut dat little bow out of de back of a man's hat, any- thing, an' she puts her urine, her water, in a bottle too. An' she gits a strand of yore hair if she can. If she can't git it, why den dat bow will do de same, cause it come from de back of yore haid an' yo' been wearin' it an' sweat. Jes' 'long as she gits somepin 'bout chew. An' she take an' put that in a bottle an a lil peppah, an' den wrap it up in a flannen cloth an' keep it in de flannen cloth an' carry it roun' with her, somewhere roun' 'bout her waist. An' yo' cain't git away.
Entry 1845
She kin go to the drug store an' get her some drawing oil.
(Some drawing oil?)
Yes. Get her some steel dust, an' get some Jockey Club Perfume. (Jockey Club?) Yeah. An' put his name down on a piece of paper three times an' soak it in that bottle.
(And then what will she do?)
An' she jis' keep dat an' shake it up an' make her wish over it.
(That'll bring the man back?)
He'll come back.
Entry 3133
De way she ties 'im up when she make a connection wit 'im, she'll use de cloth, an' she takes it an' puts it in a quart jar an' stop it up. He could- n't go tuh anothah woman tuh save his life. Evah time he go - an' he'll make yo know. If it's mah husban' an' ah do dat fo' him, he'll make yo' know dat he can't go out an' have a connection wit anothah woman. He'll come in an' tell yo, say, "Ah don't know whut s de mattah wit me. Mah back wore me out. Ah'm jis' tuh de place where ah cain't do nuthin. Ah'm goin' up tuh see de doctor." Long as yo' keep 'im stopped up - she don't use de same cloth he does, jes' let 'im use it.
Entry 3143
If de man have a date wit dis woman. Now, yo' know she make a connec- tion wit 'im. Well, when dey git through, she don' have tuh if she don' want tuh. When dey git through den, she take dis new pocket han'ch'ef an' wipe 'im wit it chew know, an' take an' cut off de wettest part of dis pocket han'ch'ef, an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up, an' go throw it in runnin' watah an'dat'll kill a person.
(Klll him?)
Yes sir, dat would kill 'im. Well, nobody would wanta do dat.
Entry 3296
Put 'em in a bottle an' stop 'em up an' put it down in de groun'. Dat kill yo' manhood.
(What do you mean kill my manhood?)
Yo' couldn't go nowhere near 'er. (I see - if they do that with my water, my urine.
Entry 3299
She kin take a quart bottle an' she kin take jes' lak 'is chamber lye, she kin take dat an' stop it up in a quart bottle an' bury it about a foot down in de ground anywhere, jes' anywhere roun' de house, anywhere lak dat, an' 'is nature will go away.
Entry 3300
Dey say jes' lak ef ah wanta a woman tuh love me, well ah gits some of 'er chamber lye an' puts it into a bottle, see, an' stop it airtight an' put it somewhere in de house dere into de bed mattress or sompin lak dat. Well, ah could keep 'er from messin' wit anybody else.
Entry 3301
Take dat chamber lye an' bottle it up an' cause sompin bad tuh happen tuh yore bladdah. [I have indexed this rite here on the assumption that bladder trouble caused by witchcraft would in some way impair sexual potency.]
Entry 3341
Dey does dat BOTTLE - DISHRAG SOAKED - URINE - OPEN AND SHUT MAGIC mostly wit a dishrag. Dey git de dishrag yo' see an' in havin' connection wit a man, dey'll take dat whut come from 'em - yo' low, between dem two. An' dey'll put it in her watah an' let it soak - or in hambah lye, eithah one, an' let it soak. An' den dey ring dat watah out. An when dey ring dat watah out, dey'll have 'im lak dis heah rag. An' yo' see, den dey jes' have it away [hidden], yo' know, lak wimmins do's. Let 'im use dat an dere's no mo' chance fo' him. An' den dey put dat dishrag in a bottle. An' if she need 'im, she'll keep open dat bottle. If she need 'im, she'll open dat bottle; an' if she open dat bottle, why evahthin' is all right. An' if she don' need 'im, she'll keep dat bottle stopped tight; an' dere ain't nowhere else he kin go. [The words in italics are a part of the problem previously mentioned; what does a woman do - not according to science, but in accordance with hoodoo.]
Entry 3874
Well, yo' kin take de ministrate cloth. Yo' take dat an' yo' wet it, jes' enough to wrings de stuff out of it, an' have it real thick. Well, yo' put it in a bottle an' yo' stop dat bottle up an' yo' take it an' bury it. Put it undah yore back do'step. An' dat'll make a woman weak or eithah sickly, or eithah make dem lose dere courage. Jes' lak if a woman goin' wit a man of mine yo' see, an' yo' don't want 'er tuh have no courage. Yo' take it an' put it undah yore back do'step an' have it airtight, an' yore man will stop wit de wo- man. Or eithah she'll won't have no courage fo' him er [or] nuthin lak dat, if he don't stop 'er.
Entry 4001
Yo' take chamber lye an' take it an' bottle it up, an' go an' bo' [bore] a hole in a tree, yo' know, an' po' [pour] it in dere. An' den yo' take a peg, a lighter a [fat lighter pine] peg an' drive it back in dere an' work it [tight- en it] up. An' dey say it'll cut chuh watah off an' constipate yuh bowels, so yo' couldn't have a action - it'll lock yuh bowels.
Entry 4006
Dey stop up yore [urine, see later] - tie yore guts up. Take yore chamber lye an put it in a bottle an' bottle it up airtight, too - airtight. An' put sulphuh into it an' close it up tight. An' carry it in de east cornah of yore garden, an' turn de head [of the bottle] towards de east [and bury it] an' covah it up. Let it stay dere till dat it rot. Dat chamber lye slll rot. It will do de work fo' yo'.
(How will it affect you?)
It will kill yo'. It effects yore guts - tie yore guts all up in knots.
Entry 4007
Now, dey takes dat chamber lye an' dey puts it intuh a bottle, jes' de necked [naked] chamber lye. An' when dey puts it intuh de bottle, dey takeg a cork stoppah - don't put nuthin else in dat wit dis chamber lye but jes' de chamber lye hitself intuh dis bottle, an' stops it up airtight where no air in de worl' can't git in it. Now, dey kin bear [bury] it anywhere roun' yore house dey Wants tuh bear it, but now dey has tuh bear it undah de steps - de back do' or front do'steps - dat's fo' yo' tuh step ovah it. An' AFTAH YO' STEPS OVAH DIS FO' NINE MAWNIN'S DEN YO'RE TRAPPED. Undahstan', becuz dat's from yore body. NOW, AIN'T NO DOCTAH[M.D.] IN DE WORL' KIN MOVE DAT UNTIL DAT STUFF BE PO'D OUTA DAT BOTTLE.
(What will that do to you?)
Jes' lock de bowels - jes' lak if yo' wanted tuh urinate, jes' lock de bowels so yo' can't nurinate atall. [That n is frequently prefixed to urinate along the southeast coast.] Well dat's whut it do, jes' lock yore bowels an' yo' can't go an'urinate.
Entry 4014
[Rites of bottled urine are many and scattered throughout HOODOO. In the present margin title I have placed a few not easily fitted in elsewhere. Among other bottle rites in this section on urine, see espe- Cially DRIPPING and SHAKING. Dey kin take yore chamber lye an' dey kin do dat jes' de same as dey did de [foot] track. Dey kin bottle dat up an' bury it. Jis' git a lit- tle speck of it an' perhaps cork it up in a bottle. Dat will cuz yo' to have some irritation from yore bladdah dat yo' can't urinate good.
Entry 4015
To stop 'em from makin' watah, yo' kin make 'em think it's a stone in dere bladdah an' kill 'em dataway.
(How do they do that with the chamber lye?)
Det take it an' stop it up in a bottle - it's de same thing, might as well say stop it up in a bottle - an' jes' bury it. Chew git to where yo' can't hole
[hold] yore watah.
Entry 4016
Now whut dey do wit dat, dat's anothah thing right prob'ly in de same direction as chamber lye. Dey take dat - dey take dat an' put it into a bottle an' dey kin hurt chew wit dat. Put dat into a bottle an' stop dat up. S'long as dey keep dat stopped up in dat vessel where it git no air, dat'll jes' - yo' jes' weaken, yo' git all outa sorts an' event'ly [eventually], if dey would nevah take it out [of the bottle], yo' would die from dat, from chamber lye.
Entry 4018
If dey kin git chure chamber lye, why dey kin stop yo' from - dey stop it up in a bottle yo' know an' it be jes' lak a man have de gravel, yo' know. Yo' have to go an' have yore thing open up.
Entry 4019
Dey say dat dey kin take yore chamber lye an' put it in a bottle an stop dat bottle up real tight, an' dig a hole 'roun' yore home an' bury dat bot- tle wit de stopper - neck, yo' know, settin' up - tight. Now, jes' as long as yore watah stay in dat bottle, yo' will continue tuh dreen [drain] away. Dey hurt yo' den, yo' see. Normally you dreen away only when the bottle is tilted or slanted and has a stopper purposely made leaky [see margin title DRIPPING later], but in boodoo and witchcraft intention is everything.]
Entry 4021
Jes' take it an' stop it up in a bottle. Dat is de common Way, jes' stop it up in a bottle an' bury it an' dat'll check yore watah up. Yo' couldn't make no watah tuh save yo' [life or soul].
(You put this chamber lye in a bottle and stop it up?)
Yes.
Entry 4022
Yo' git a person's chamber lye an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up, it will stop 'em from makin' watah.
(Kill him?)
Yes sir.
Entry 4023
Take dey chamber lye, an' yo' could take it an' stop it up in a bottle an' bury it, an' dey'll nevah come straight no mo'.
Entry 4026
Git dis, yo' know - uh, chamber lye. An' dey kin put it in a bottle an' dey kin stop it up. See [demonstrates], dat whut yo' may call airtight. An' dat will cuz yo' tuh have bladdah trouble; dat is, if yo' do not git dat bottle an' git it open.
Entry 4027
(What about that?)
Dey kin take yore chamber lye an' stop it up in a bottle an' it will kill yp.
(What will they do with that bottle?)
Dey kin take it an' stop it up an' bury it.
(I see.)
Entry 4029
Stop it up in a bottle an' bury dat. Dat will stop 'em from urinatin'. Yeah, wit dey chamber lye.
Entry 4030
De urine - lak if yo' gotta urine [urinate]. Well, yo' take - lak fer instan' [instance], if yo' wuz mah sweetheart an' yo' urinate. Take dat an' stop it up in a bottle an' nevah let.dat git out, an' keep it an' he'll always stay wit chah.
Entry 4032
Yo' puts it in a bottle.
(You put this chamber lye in a bottle?)
Puts it in a bottle an' stop it up an' dat person will come to yo'.
Entry 4047
Take dat chamber lye an' put it in a bottle an' bury it undah yore steps an' yo' hardly will - yo' cain't make yore watah good.
Entry 4049
If dey kin git chure watah in a bottle any way an' stop it up, an' bury it undah de do'steps, an' all lak dat, dat'll run yo' crazy, if yo' don't some- Ways find out where 'tis [it is] an' git it outa dere.
(That will make you lose your mind.)
Entry 4050
Dey tell me whut dey kin do if dey git chure hair [see later]. Whut dey kin do, put it in a bottle, yo' understan' - put it in a bottle an' bury it under de steps.
(What else do you put in the bottle? You say just the hair?)
No, not de hair.
[I turn off machine but restart it when informant said chamber lye?)
(chamber lye?)
Yeah, an' put it under yore steps, an' dey kin do jis' whut dey wanta wit chew.
(Who would do that?)
Oh, she could do dat. Dey woman would do dat, who's in love wit choo.
Entry 4052
Well, ah kin even take a fellah's chamber lye an' bury dat at de - stop it up in a bottle an' bury it at de do', an' he'll continue hang aroun' dere where dat chamber lye is at.
Entry 4053
Wal, if yuh wife runnin' out on yuh an' talkin' about leavin' yuh, yuh kin go tuh work an' take yuh watah. Jes' lak she'd quit yuh an' go, yuh kin take yuh watah an' 'er watah an' stop it up in a bottle, an' bury it undah de steps an' den she can't leave. She'll come back. Dat's one way.
Entry 4056
Dey tell me dey take yuh chamber lye tuh stop a person from makin' watah. Dey take dat an' put it in a bottle an' cork dat tight, an' tie it up ovah yuh do'. Dat's de way dey do wit de chamber lye. Dat's what dey tell me. Yo' can't make no watah.
(Over whose door do you tie that?)
Right ovah mah do'.
(Over your own door? But you have some other person's water in there?)
Yes.
Entry 4062
Stop it in a bottle.
(This chamber lye?)
Yessuh, yo' put it in a bottle. Ketch yore chamber lye an' put it in a bot- tle. An' put chew a little stoppah - little hole [in it] jis' enough tuh git a drop evah now an' den. An' bury dat bottle up, bottom- side up, an' evah now an' den, drop by drop, [will come] from dat bottle. An' dat will cut yore watah off an' pine yuh 'way tuh nuthin.
[As in the preceding rite, I begin to fish.]
(I see. You say you make a hole so that a drop will come out?)
Yes sir, one drop evah now an' den. Hold dat bottle up [and test it] 'fo' [before] yuh take it [and bury it].
(Oh, I see. Only one drop comes out of there.)
One evah now an' den.
(I see.)
Evah now an' den a drap will fall from dat bottle, but yuh bury dat bottle bottomside upwards.
[My fishing produced only the testing of the bottle. Good advice at that!]
Entry 4112
Jis' lak 'if ah workin' on a job. See, DERE'S A BOSS ON DIS JOB. Now, ah'll gO to WOrk - IF DIS BOSS DRINKS, SEE - AH'LL GO TO WORK AN' TAKE SOME OF MAH WATAH AN' PUT IT IN DAT BOTTLE AN' HE'LL COME TO LOVE ME, See. (He'll what?) He'll come to love me jis' lak he love his mothah. Take mah watah in de bottle an' he'll drink off it an' he'll come to love me. An' ah kin handle him jis' lak a baby - jis' lak yuh take a horse an' give him sugah.
Entry 4134
Ah heard dat if yo' were sellin' whiskey, dat yo' take yore chamber lye an' put it in de bottle. Why den, if de person drink out of dat bottle, den dat would bring dem straight to yore place of business. (That brings back trade. You mean you put your own chamber lye in that whis- key.)
Entry 4186
Ah know, confidentially [don't tell this to anyone], dat chew kin take de toenails an' fingahnails an' put 'em togethah wit chure own chamber lye; an put chure own chamber lye, an' put it in a bottle. Firs' it mus' be a clean bottle. Yuh trim yuh fingahnails an' den yuh toenails an' yuh put 'em in an' let 'em stay in dere. Den joo begin tuh name de person dat choo love, call 'em so dey will answah. When dey answah, why yuh have de stoppah open a crack sO yuh kin fasten it right out, yuh know, an' [he blows] DEY BLEWS DE BREATH IN IT. An' stick de stoppah right back an' seal it right tight. An' dat will be yuh frien!. (That will be your friend. I see, such as getting a woman or a man. With a man?) Yes.
Entry 4197
[The preceding rite is here repeated 23 informants later:]
Take dey nurinate an' put it in a little bottle an' put nine spices an' nine cloves an' nine goldeye needles an' stop it up an dig a hole underneat' de back do'step an' bury it, an' dat will draw 'em to yuh.
(Whose urine do you put in there?)
Yuh kin put de othah person's in dere.
(What if you can't get it?)
Well, dere some way dey is - lak if it's a friend or sompin of yuhs.
(They get it for you.)
Entry 4201
Ah heard dat chew kin take nine needles an' nine pins an' some piece of 'is, or 'er chamber lye an' put it in a bottle. An' turn de - jis' put one pin dis way an' put one needle de same way, an' one needle up, p'int up, an' one pin de p'int up, instead of git de nine needles. But chew mus' put de p'int of de haid of de pin down an' de head of de needle down first, an' de p'int up of de needles an' de pins, un- til yh git de whole nine needles in dere, an' stop it up. An' take dat an' set it in a close place - in de closet or any place lak dat. Dat will keep 'll home.
Entry 4208
Dat stop 'is bladdah. Dey takes 'is urine an' put it in a bottle an' let it stay stopped up in dere nine days an bury it turnt down.
Entry 4213
Dat's bad. Yuh take nine drops of dat an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up an' it will run yuh clean crazy. (Nine drops of chamber lye.) Put it in any woman's period. Yuh undahstan' about de chamber lye. Yuh jis' put it in a little bottle 'bout dat big - about nine drops, an' stop it up right tight.
(What do you do with it?)
Jis' hold it or chunk it any place yuh want tuh.
Entry 4237
Take anybody chamber lye, if yuh want 'em tuh stay wit yuh, an' put table salt in it an' bury it undahneat' yuh do'step.
(What do you put that chamber lye in, anything?)
Jis' put it in a bottle wit cookin' salt.
(Whose chamber lye do you take, that person's that you want to stay?)
Yeah, dat person yuh wanta stay. Jis' lak a man comin' tuh mah house an' goin' tuh anothah house, well ah kin take his pee an' put cookin' salt in it an' bury it undah mah do'step. Well de othah woman, she could do de same thing, if she knew how. Well he jis' have tuh keep penetratin' from dis house tuh dat house, dis house tuh dat house. He can't stay tuh one house. He gotta go tuh dat house. He come tuh see me an' he got a wife. Well ah've got 'im fixed up so bad wit diff'ren' thin's, see, dat when he go back home he can't give a good word out tuh 'is ole lady. If she say anythin' tuh 'im, it make him cross.
(That will cause confusion.)
Entry 4253
Now, if a woman love yo', she kin take yore chamber lye an' put it in a bottle. If yo' go off an' she wants tuh see yo', all she gotta do is turn it upside down, see. Shake it. Well, yo' have tuh come back.
Entry 4256
If yo' wan' 'im tuh stay at home, yo' could take yore chamber lye in a bottle an' put a pinch of sugah in it an' shake it evah mawnin' fo' nine mawn- in's an' turn it up on its haid an' set it in a cornah. Well, nobody won' bothah 'im an' he'll stay dere an' yo' cain't drive him away. Yo' do dat fo' nine mawnin's.
Entry 4262
She takes dis bottle of sweet watah - she makes it, I mean puts sugah in rain watah an' make it jis' lak syrup. She puts dat name in dere an' she shakes it up. She take dis bottle an' she put it bottom up, or eithah she put it on de side of de bed where he used tuh lay, an' he comin' back. Any time she take an' shake it up he comin' back. Or, eithah she could take his urine an' she could jis' - she gits a small tin lamp an' she takes 'is name an' she sets it in dere. She writes 'is name nine times. Write it [demonstrates] dis way an' she turns it [sheet of paper] dere, she write backwa'd an' fo'ward dataway. An' she always puts 'er name on de top.
(These are written in cross fashion?)
[Not names crossing at right angles in form of a cross, but his name is writ- ten 9 times, one under the other; then the sheet is turned and her name is writ- ten across his names. In this fashion names are written backwa'd an' fo'ward.] Yes sir. See, when she folds it, she folds it tuh her an' she sticks in dis- got to be a little small lamp - tin lamp. An' she drops it down in dere an' she lights de lamp an' she speak tuh dis lamp. [Small lamp rites are common in New Orleans, many of them scattered through text.] An' in three days - nine days be de longest - he will be back.
(WHAT DOES SHE DO WITH HIS URINE?)
She puts it in a bottle. She takes it an' she shakes it up dataway, wit 'is name in dere.
(I See, THE SAME AS WITH THE SUGAR WATER?)
Yes.
Entry 4264
[Well now, ah'm gon'a tell yuh, if a woman has got a man an' she loves dat man, an' if he's a runabout man. A woman would take de chambah an' she wouldn't use it, she let yo' [man] use it, yo' see. An' also might be dat same night when she gon'a turn dis trick, she'll let chew fool wit 'er, see. An' she'll take dat certain rag an' she'll take dat chamber lye an' put it in a bottle. An' take dat certain rag - see, dat certain piece yo' see - wet dat rag an' squeeze all dat [semen] in dere [into bottle]. An' take nine needles ag'in an' put intuh dat same bottle. An' she wouldn't fasten dat bottle while yo' awake, yo' see. She'll let chew go tuh sleep first, see, but she'll [have] a good stoppah an' have it right to de mouth of dat bottle. An' she'll come an' wake yo', say, "So-an'-so!" an' 'So-an'-so!'. An' den yo' say, "Whut chew want?" She hit dat bottle an' stop it down dere airtight, an' yo' kin go fur as New York City - an' ah bet chew money - an' she take dat bottle an' shake it up lak dat, an' turn it down in her trunk, yo'd be back home tuh 'er.
(When she turns it upside down?)
Yes sir, in her trunk.
Entry 4265
Ah said take dere chamber lye.
(Take their chamber lye.)
Dere chamber lye an' yores an' mix it intuh a bottle. An' yo' git chew nine needles, put into dat bottle. An' den shake it up don't chew know. An' set de bottle in de no'th side of de house an' call dere name three times, an' dat'll make 'em come tuh yuh ag'in.
Entry 4269
If yo' got a man.
(What?)
If yo' got a man, take his urinate an' stop it up in a bottle, an' put nine [new] nails an' nine new tacks, see. An' stand it up on its head. See, dat's when he is cross an' fussy. An' sweeten dat up an' jis' keep shakin' it up. See, when he come in cross, git dat bottle an' shake it up. See, an' dat.
(That will sweeten him up.)
Entry 4315
Grand Duke[?] or Green Pastures[?] or [?].
(Grand?)
[Informant could not name the oil.]
Grand - Green Grand - or - yeah, yuh take dat an' yuh put it in a bottle. Yuh set three bottles, jis' like yuh git one a dem cake flavor bottles. Yuh have tuh take three of dem. Yuh ketches 'er urine, see. Yuh ketches some of de filth, some of de filth what - jis' like if she goes in de night. de night. Well yuh take a spoon an' take some of de filth an' put it in one bottle, den yuh put some of de urinate in anothah bottle, den yuh takes 'er name. But yuh go an' git chew some of dis parchment papah which ain't no papah, but it's lambskin, but it's very thin. Yo' take dat lamb's skin, well, yo' pays 32c a foot fo' it [a good profit for hoodoo drug stores and mail- order houses during the Great Depression from a cheap quality of parchment paper]. Well, yuh cut yuh a piece jis' de length of 'er name, an' yuh take it aftah yuh've taken an' put dat urinate in one bottle an' de othah stuff, dat filth, in anothah bottle. An' yuh take some corn an' yuh takes 'er name an' yuh write it.
(You take some what?)
Yuh takes 'er name an' write it on dis parchment paper.
(You said corn?)
Yes.
(What kind of corn?)
Jis' common or'nary corn, jis' like if it be fo' chicken'feedin'.
(Oh, an ear of corn.)
Yeah, a roastin' ear of corn.
(I see. All right.)
Den yuh take dat an' yuh write dat name three times an' put it in each one of dose bottles.
(On a piece of paper you do that?)
Yes, parchment papah which it would be dis lamb's skin, see. Den yuh take it an' put it right at de cornah [center later] of de mattress.
(Now, wait a minute, what did you do with that corn?)
Yuh put it in dat urinate.
(Oh, all right.)
Yuh mix it in each one of de bottles, de urinate an' dat filth, an' den yuh put 'er name down in dere wit it, see. Den yuh take dat bottle an' yuh fix a little package, jis' like a little small package, two down an' one on top, any way yuh could git it in dat mattress, but put it where she won't nevah turn it ovah. An' yuh an' her would git along jis' like two children in de house dere.
(Make a package of those two bottles?)
Two bottles. Yuh see, yuh have two down an' one up on top of dem.
(Oh, you use three of those bottles?)
Yes, two of dem bottles.
(Two down and the third one on top?)
On top.
(All lying flat?)
Lay 'em down anywhere in de centah [formerly corner] of de mattress, an' yuh an' 'er will git along like two children in de house.
(What do you put that corn in there for?)
Well, dat's tuh strengthen it.
(What? Oh! that's to strengthen it.)
Yes, her urinate - long as de urinate dere, well, she nevah would leave from around dere. She will always be dere, be kind. But den, don't nevah stop up neither one of de bottles tight, yuh undahstan', becuz if yuh'd stop up debottle tight, dat would stop 'er urine from comin' down, see. Jis' take somepin like a papah stoppah, yuh know, jis' to ketch a little air, yuh know, jis' - an' yuh put it down, screw it down, she couldn't nevah go nowhere. Yuh an' 'er jis' at peace, jis' like two children.
Entry 4316
She kin take 'is urinate an' In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, an' she kin take it an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up real tight, an' bury it undah de do'step, an' when he go he have tuh come back.
Entry 4320
Yuh kin take it - yuh git hole dove [hold of] a person's urine. Now, tuh git hold of a person's urine, yuh walk up tuh a person dat yuh like an' yuh wan' 'em. If it's a woman an' yuh wan' 'em, yuh git a holt of 'er urine an' yuh puts it in a bottle. If de bottle is full, po' half it out. When yuh po' de half out, don't po' it in one place; po' it an' try tuh scattah it, yuh see. Scattah it an' den yuh urine on top of 'er urine [in the bottle]. Yuh stop dat up in dat bottle as tight as yuh kin. Bury it - aftah yuh tighten it, yuh bury it. An' when yuh bury dis, be sure yuh got it buried where no heat can't git tuh it atall. Keep it dere. An' don' let it git no air, an' yuh want all de east [= yeast = fermenting power] dat dere is tuh it. Now - an' evah day aftah yuh bear [bury] it, de third day aftah yuh bear dis, yuh go back an' yuh screw up on [unscrew] de top jis' a very little, see. Den yuh covah it back up. Yuh goin' tuh meet dis woman, see. When yuh meet 'er, she goin' tuh pass yuh, but she goin' tuh have a kin'a funny fellin' den. Huh min will be wondahin' back tuh yuh grajly [gradually]. De nex' day, yuh go an' yuh unscrew it ag'in a little bit. Yuh goin' tuh meet dat woman ag'in. If yuh don't meet 'er dat day, yuh'll meet 'er dat night; an' if yuh don' see 'uh, she's goin tuh ast somebody fuh yuh, see. An' yuh jis' keep on lettin' - unscrewin' dat bottle an' lettin' air outa it like dat. De air'll come out when yuh unscrew it. Yuh don' have tuh unscrew it all de way - jis' a little, see. An' she'll come back. But befo' she come tuh yuh, she's goin' tuh come wit some kind'a jealousy towards yuh 'bout somebody else, see. Well, yuh gonna try tuh explain yuhself, yuh undahstan', tuh 'er. But she's comin' back tuh yuh. But she's comin' in a funny way tuh yuh, yuh undahstan'. Well, yuh know what it's all about, but [because] yuh got it fixed dataway. Well, prob'ly it may be de las' day. Well, de las' day yuh go, yuh take dat stoppah off dat bottle altuhgethah; an' de nex' night, if she don' come home da nex' mawnin', she be home sure da' nex' night. Now, when she come home, yuh take dat bottle an' dump it right in dat same hole where yuh have it buried. Jis' dump dat urine right in dat hole, an' lay de bottle down flat in dere, an' covah it up an' let it stay dere. An' yuh won't have no mo' trouble wit 'er, an' she won't leave no mo'. [Informant starts out with a rite to catch any woman but truns it into one bringing a woman back home.]
Entry 4330
Ah heard dat yuh could take a person's urinate an' stop it up in a bottle airtight, an' go an' bo' a hole in a maple tree an' put dat bottle in dere. Stick it in wit de stoppah in dere tuhwards de tree, until it gits tuh de heart of dat tree. An' den go den an' saw off a piece of hick'ry. Yuh know hick'ry's hard. An' when yuh do dat, why yuh take an' jam it in dat hole. Wedge it in dere airtight so de air can't git tuh it. An' dat will bust dere bladdah. Ah heard dat.
Entry 4332
Bury yuh hair down in a bottle an' dey kin turn aroun', dey kin go. Jis' like yuh live off in de country-like - yuh understand, off at de edge of town, say. Well, dey take it atop - right up chere [demonstrates], de mole of yuh haid. Dat's de part right chere dey wants - see, dat's de mole of yuh haid [demonstrates]. Dey kin take dis an' take a - jis' about three stran' of it, dey wants. An' take dat an' stop it up in a little small bottle, an' put up some holy water an' a little urinate an' things up in it. Yuh own urinate now. Kin take yuh own urinate an' po' it up in dere. Jis' like yuh git up in de mawnin' an' leave yuh wife. Well [she] go on aftah de chambah [you used] an' [get the] thing [urine] herself. An' she pour dat out dere herself, see. An' [she] kin go, jis' like dey got a ole tree. She kin dig a hollah right down side of de tree an' bury dat [threefold mixture] an' I guarantee when dat thing rotten out, yuh'll die.
Entry 4336
Now, if ah don't want 'im, ah'm gonna turn 'im loose an' let 'im go. Now, if de woman [that had this man] done did me so bad, know what ah'll do? Ah'll try tuh git one of mah frien's tuh git some of 'er urinate tuh stop it [up] tuh try tuh kill 'er, if ah wan' tuh kill 'er. Ah don' wan'a walk up an' kill 'er; but kill 'er, yuh know, through hoodoo. Take her urinate an' put it in a bottle. Ah'll go tuh a peach tree, a tree what bears peaches, on de sunset side dat is. Put it dere when it saps. An' as it goes up, dat'll make her have cramps all in de stomic an' she'll wan' tuh urinate. She'll jis' do a drop. Well, she'll go tuh de doctah. She'll see de doctah [M.D.] an' de doctah will say somepin ail 'er bladdah. Hit's not dat, hit's me done tied er up wit 'er urinate.
Entry 4342
Here's the way I have heard it. You get a hold of a bottle and you fill it with their urine and stop it up, and throw it overboard and that will float. And as long as that is stopped up, anything you tell them to do they will go ahead and do it.
Entry 4344
Dey take yuh chamber lye an' bottle it in a tight bottle, an' throw it in watah an' dat will cause yo' tuh die.
Entry 4345
If yuh wanta hurt anybody wit chamber lye, yuh kin take an' git some of dere chamber lye an' put it in a bottle, an' stop it up tight an' throw it in de rivah anywhere. An' dey will lingah, dey will hardly make watah - wouldn't make watah long. Dey be jis' swole up, take de dropsy.
Entry 4360
Take yuh chamber lye an' stop it up an' take it tuh runnin' watah. Stop dat bottle so she goin' float, it goin' part de way down anyways. Ketch dat tide goin' whichevah way yuh want dis person tuh go an' den put it ovah dere - drop it ovahbo'd an' turn an' walk from it. Don't look back at it an' make yuh wishes whatevah direction yuh want 'im tuh go. An' he's goin' wandah roun' an' leave dere. He come tuh not be any good aroun' 'is home - somepin of de kin'. He'll jis' drift away an' people won't know what happened tuh him.
Entry 4371
Ah heard talk of takin' de passage an' stoppin' it up in a bottle or a jar, an' buryin' it an' dat will stop yuh from havin' de action. Ah've seen dat done.
Entry 4372
Dey even done put it in bottles.
(This action?)
Yes, dey cork it up an' throw it in de runnin' watah, an' as fer as dat drift, why yuh mind would drift. Yuh become constipated, event'ly [eventually] suffah an' die.
Entry 4390
Dey say dey take some of yore Waist an' take an' burn it an' put red peppah in it, an' - it won't lock yuh bowels but it'll jis' burn yuh, hurt chew. An' if dey wanta lock 'em, jis' take some of it an' burn it, an' take an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up an' throw it in de rivah in a runnin' stream of watah, an' dat will lock yuh bowels.
Entry 4416
[They would] have a passage. Yuh know whut ah mean. Well, dey would take de top of dat off of dat, bo' a hole in a tree or stop it up in a bottle. Well den, DERE AIN'T NO DOCTOR IN DE WORL' CAN MOVE YUH BOWELS, nOne in de Worl' cannot move yuh bovels. Yuh bowels is locked!
Entry 4455
Dey could take some of yuh manure an' dey'll put dat - stop dat up in a bottle. An' dey carry it tuh a dogwood tree, a fo'ked dog- wood tree, yeah fo'ked, an' bo' a hole in dere an' slip it down in dere [demonstrates].
(Oh! Bore a hole down [slanted] in the fork like that.)
Yeah, an' stop it up. Walk off an' don't look back, an' yuh'll nevah have a pass unless yuh cut 'em open. But dey couldn't [have] nary one demself, only jis' gittin' relief.
Entry 4627
[Perfume - perhaps the most frequently used ingredient in hoodoo - surely deserves a margin title for itself! Usually perfumes are listed in HOODOO under brand names. The word brand name years ago never had a national or international label protected by patent; it was the name the local hoodoo drugstore chose to call the cheapest possible perfume he could sell in small quantities for the highest possible prices! Only hoodoo could think up John de Conker Cologne - see 4645.] Take dat little bow in de back of a man's hat an' put it in a bottle of per- fume [brand name usually given] an' wear it on yuh an' dey'll stay wit yuh. Dey can't leave, dey'll always be wishin' roun' yuh. [The meaning here is either Wishing always to be round you, or always be swishing round you.]
Entry 4629
Jes' lak a woman take yore hat, jes' lak yo' put chure hat down dis way [probably points to my black hat on table], an' jes' take de bow out of de hat, an' den dey keep it. Dat will make yo' love 'em an' stay wit 'em.
(Where do they keep it?)
When dey go tuh bed at night dey put it undah de pillah, an' when dey git up dey take it out an' put it in a bottle or sompin.
Entry 4727
A woman will take some of de man's undahclothes an' some of 'is halr offa his haid, an' put it in a bottle an' bury it somewhere aroun' dere 'bout de house. If she wan' 'im, dat's tuh keep 'im at 'er house mos' all de time.
Entry 4744
A lady got a hold of a fellow's drawers and cut out right where the two legs come together, right in front, and taken and put it in a bottle, and put a new stopper in the bottle, and put that in the center of the door where he come over. That fellow couldn't leave there. They claim they take a piece of your clothes, that you wear next to your skin, and put it in a bottle and put a new stopper in, they've got you. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 5162
She take dat [inner sole of either] shoe [of the man] an' put dat in hot watah an' soak it, an' put dat in a bottle. An' dey say aftah she puts it in a bottle, she puts some cotton in dere wit it, an' den take de cotton an' let de cotton dry. An' she wears dat, an' dat'll bring 'im back - on 'er laig or eithah in 'er bloomahs.
Entry 5290
Dey kin hurt yo' by burnin' yore shoes.
(What will that do to you if they burn your shoes?)
Jes' take de ashes an' put dem in a bottle an' put it in watah, airtight. DAT'LL KILL YO' IF YO' DON' GIT SOMEBODY TUH TAKE IT OFF YO'.
Entry 5337
Ah know if yore man wus tuh go off - ah know dat if yo' git 'is track an' put it in a bottle an' throw it off, he won't come back. But if yo' wan 'im back, why yo'd use de ban' out 'is hat.
Entry 5345
(Either foot-track?)
Yessuh, put it in some kin'a anything lak a tin or bottle, where de watah can't git intuh it, an' throw it in runnin' watah. Say dat will run de people outa town, have dose people goin' all de time.
Entry 5346
Dey gits de foot track up an' dey carry it tuh runnin' watah. An' stop it up in a bottle an' carry it tuh runnin' watah an' tho' it ovahbo'd, an' dey kin run a person crazy - unsettles dere min' an' go crazy in de haid.
Entry 5347
Dey say if yo' walk in any sand an' dey wat'cha [= watch you] an' dey take up de lef'-foot track. Take up de lef'-foot track an' de' [they] put it in a bottle, an' dey stop it down tight. An' dey say if dey throw it ovahbo'd, why yo'd be gone 'bout chure business outa dis city. Yo' go on out dis city.
Entry 5370
Now, if yo' wanta woman tuh leave her husban', yo' meet 'er in de street at a sandy day...when de win'...when de sand is dry. Yo' set some'ere she comin' by, an' when she pass yo', yo' take her right track. Yo' care [carry] a j'int of a cane, care it along, an' open one en' of it, an' take her track an' put it down in de cane. Place some cotton on it, an' den take an' go tuh de stoah [store] an' buy yo' some cologne, a bottle of cologne, pu' it in deah, on deah, an stop it up. An' de nex' day yo' git tuh de same place... If yo' see her passin', any street, an' stop deah, an' she will say sompin tuh yo'. An' den she will take up wit joo. But she won't know about it. Aftah yo' fix it up, care it tuh yo' - yo' care it wit yo' all de time in yore pocket. An' jis' as long as yo' care dat cane, yo' got de change of 'er.
Entry 5374
Tuh git yore foot track, why yo' jis' take dat dirt outa de bottom of it an' put it intuh a bottle or somepin an' bury it. Dat foot track, or eithah put it in a cornah in de house some place. An' dat'll make yo' stay dere.
(Do you get both foot tracks or just one of them?)
Jis' one, de right one.
Entry 5652
Like dat yo' git mad wid a fellah like dat, yo' ketch 'im goin'. Ah think he mus' be goin' east, yeah. An' yo' gits nine pinches outa his right track, dey tells me, an' yo' takes it an' yo' puts it in a bottle or anything an' stop it up. An' yo' spit in it nine mawnin's. An' de en' de nine mawnin's so' carry it down to de rivah, see, an' throw it ovahbo'd. An' tell me dey'll go away from home an' won't nevah come back no mo'.
Entry 5741
Go 'long an' pick up yore track while it's warm an' put it in a bottle. Put a little sugah in dere an' stop it up, an' den throw it in runnin' watah. Yo'll run jis' as dat bottle goin', watah runnin'.
Entry 5768
Dey say dey kin take some of yore footstep. Take some of dat where yo' make yore footstep an' take some out de palm of yore feet, right where de centah of yore feet. Take an' put dat in a bottle, cork it up an' throw it in a runnin stream. Dey say dat'll put chew tuh goin'.
(What foot do they take?)
Say de left foot.
Entry 6717
Take a buzzard, take 'im clean [clean him] an' boil 'im out tuh a li'le grease, an' take dis grease yo' unnahstan'. An' jis' take a li'le bottle - keep de bottle all de time. An' time yo' feel a stiff joint, rub de stiff joint, an' dat'll jis' remove yuh pains from yo'.
Entry 6933
Well, yo' kin tell by takin' somepin. Here's whut yo' take if yo' have a mine [mind] dat dere is someone got de best of yo'. Yo' git a silvah dime. Yo' grit [grate] it wit a pocketknife. Yo' grit some pieces offa it an' git 'em on a piece-a papah or piece-a rag, yo' undahstan', an' put dat intuh bot- tles wit one quart of sweet milk. An' drink dat an' den yo' pass dis. An' yo' put it somewhere dey kin see de bucket of slop. An' IF YO' "TRICKED" INSIDE, YUH PASSAGE IS BOUND TUH BE AS BLACK AS DAT SUIT YO GOT ON. NEW OrlEanS, LA.
(815), 1150:3.]
Entry 7043
Take anybody who's a bad habit of drinkin' an' yo' know, lak yo' wanta try tuh break 'em from drinkin', dey tell me yo' kin ketch three li'le minnows yo' know, an' put 'em in a bottle of whiskey an' let 'em die in dere, an' den give it tuh dat party, yo' know, who's a bad drinkah, who cain't do wit'out it. Give it tuh dem an' dey'll stop. Dat stop 'em from drinkin'.
Entry 7240
Well, mah sistah got hurt once in 'uh han' [hand]. Also one a [of] mah brothahs got hurt. He [doctor] come tuh de house. Mah daddy went [to Ouincy] an' got 'im. An' he tole fathah, say, "Yo' make me a fiah in de stove." He got nine needles in a li'le bottle of watah. Ah don' know whut else he done tuh 'uh. He say de people's been here [who caused her trouble]. An' fō' many mō' minutes dat thing got tuh boilin'. He says, "Dere's a woman goin' come in, ast yo' tuh give her somepin." He say, "Don' give her nothin. She goin' come in aftah some salt." Dat woman did come dere an' it jis' pō'in' down rain. She come in de rain, an' ast mah daddy fer tuh give her a li'le bit of cookin' salt. He tole 'er, "No, ah'm sorry." "Well, all right, goodbye." An' she went right off in de rain, see. Well now, HE WUS TAKIN' DE SPELL OFFEN MAH SISTAH AN' SHE [visitOr] CARRIED IT RIGHT BACK WIT 'ER. Dat's true. [The preceding story, simply and briefly told, is one of the finest statements in Hoodoo. I consider it a work of black literature, beautiful, saying much with little. Consider those two groups of five words each: it jis' po'in' down rain when the woman arrived, immediately repeated as she come in de rain. Within a few minutes the whole world changed. Before the woman's arrival the rain poured, after her immediate departure the rain fell gently, because she carried it [the spell] right back wit 'er. Remember, the informant is speaking extemporaneously. Try to rewrite this story using the same number of words. The doctor's equipment also amazes me. Nine needles in a small bottle! Yes, the woman was a confede- rate, quite worthy of the doctor. After her request for salt is refused, she answers, Well, all right, goodbye. Simplicity is everywhere, exaggeration no- where. Some day I hope a black Lady Gregory will discover this tale and trans- form it into a vehicle for great black, not white-folks acting.] [For a parallel to the preceding story, see NEVER LEND TO A WITCH, in which the witch also comes to borrow salt (FACI 2nd ed., p.875, story of Germanorigin). In our present hoodoo story we have, not some neighbor dropping in to borrow; but the appearance of the mysterious stranger, an awesome theme as old as history.] [A penciled note of mine on the transcription reads R.D. (= root doctor) near Quincy, Fla.]
Entry 7413
Well, yo' kin take de water dey wash de individual [murdered man in].
(That they wash the dead man in.)
An' put it in a quart bottle. An' yo' know how yo' cut cork to grease a saw wit - cut a cork to grease a saw wit. Chew know how dey grease a saw, have oil in a bottle - kerosene in a bottle to grease a saw. Jah [did jah] evah see dat? (No. They use a piece of cork to do that, you say?) Yo' see people dat saw wood, don't cha? Den dey have oil dey 'put on de saw. (Yes.) Dey have a stoppah in de bottle don' dey? Have it cut aroun' dere so dat de kerosene come out dere lak dat. Jah evah seen dat? (No, I have never seen that, but I understand. They cut little ridges in the cork so that this kerosene will come out of the bottle.) [Informant is talking about cord wood which years ago (before World War I) in the cities and towns came already sawed for fireplace or wood stove. Sometimes a person did his own sawing on a sawbuck. I did very little of this type of work as a boy. If the saw was rusty, people I knew greased the saw with a fat piece of bacon (American, not English or Canadian), not with kerosene in a bottlehaving a drip cork.] Yeah, theah yo' are, cut ridges in dat cork de same way an' set it up dere somewheres where it will drip, where it will drip out. Put it underneat' de dead man left arm an' it drip. [When] all dat watah drip out dat bottle dat pusson be gone. (That person who killed him will be gone - will die.)
Entry 7956
They say to put four nails, nails which you nail your coffin with, four pins [from the garments of the corpse], and the [death] sheet over you, and a lock of hair. The hair is supposed to molt away. When that hair molts, you're supposed to molt. They would bury this, put it all in a bottle, wrap it up tight and bury it anywhere near your home. If you found this bottle, then they would em- ploy some old cunjure doctor to come and get this bottle and throw it in the river of running Water.
Entry 8498
Ah'll tell it ag'in, see, jis' lak ah say, "Margrit?" An' she say, "Ooh!" Covah de bottle, covah de bottle stoppah up.
(What will that do?)
Dey done fo' good. Ah think dat's tuh drill yuh away. Now, ah'm not positive. (What is in that bottle?) Nuthin but jis' de voice. An' dey go throw dat in runnin' watah an' don't look back. Tell me yo'll dreen [drain] away or eithah move or go outa dis town. (That's catching your spirit.) [See TO CATCH A SPIRIT, p.24 and many places in text, especially margin title BLACK WINE BOTTLE in present section.]
Entry 8607
Well, she'd take an' write his name down in nine times an' write hüz [hers] down nine. Well, then she take an' put dat in a little bottle of sweeten [sweetened] water, sugar. She'll sweeten de watah an' then let it set fer nine days. Then, if he [is] not back in nine days, well she could take that same paper out of dere [the bottle] and put it in de lamp, an' let de wēk [wick] - set it right over de wek [but in the coal oil]. Let de wek burn fer nine days over it [the paper with names is under the wick]. He's bound to come back, cuz after it happens more than once that ah know of.
Entry 10130
If a person bury somepin roun' yore house lak dat an' yo' wan'a find where's [where there is] a rivah, an' carry yo' a pot an' boil dat cat. An' take yo' a bone, de left bone out his laig. An' aftah yo' git it, den tote it, an' dat cat will tell yo' tuh where go find dat bottle at, or whut it 'tis undah yore house, an' yo' git tuh find an' it be dere. Yo' git de left bone, yo' know, out de left laig.
(The hind leg or the frong leg?)
De front laig in de front side[!].
Entry 10314
Cork man's semen in bottle and wears in front of her underwear on left side [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone].
Entry 10315
Woman takes man's nature and hair in a bottle and hide it in bed or pillow [Richmond, 374:1].
Entry 10316
Man takes woman's nature and some of her hair, stops these up in bot- tle and buries [Wilmington, 220:2].
Entry 10318
Catch man's semen in handkerchief, roll tight, put in bottle, bury upside down [Richmond, 383:5].
Entry 10319
She can put some of his semen in a bottle with 9 new needles and bury the bottle neck-down or upside down [Richmond, 376:6].
Entry 10320
Woman puts man's semen in bottle with new needles and new pins, damp- ens every 9 days with gin, and wears. If this cloth becomes dry it will kill the man [Richmond, 302:11].
Entry 10321
Woman puts man's semen in small bottle, keeps in small red bag, ties string to and wears around waist [Richmond, 278:1].
Entry 10731
A man kin take a woman ministrate an' stop it up in a bottle an' bury it, an' when hit done fade out everythin' off it, hit'll kill her.
Entry 10732
A man bin take a woman's sanitary piece or eithah a woman [can take another woman's], if dey [she] dislike her. See, find dat piece an' put it in a bottle an' bury that bottle, an' bury that bottle an' jis' lak that piece fade away, she'll fade away, too.
Entry 11095
Wash person's clothes, bottle this water, put overhead - over picture or door - keeps person home. [Norfolk 530:3.]
Entry 11096
To hold man, wash sweat from his suspenders[!]. Bottle this water and conceal at foot of her bed. [Petersburg 417:6.]
Entry 11098
Wash man's right sock and sweaty places under arms of his clothes, bottle; keep, keeps him home. [Baltimore 47:3.]
Entry 11411
Entice to love by letting person drink left-foot scrapings and salt- peter from bottle. [Mobile 874:10.]
Entry 11473
Scrape de bottom of yo' feet. But people don't hardly worries wit mathin like dat now wit people so wise, you know, wit dem things. (Well, what would they do if they scrape the bottom of your feet? What would they do with that, did you ever hear?) Well, dey jest buries it somewheres in a bottle and buries it somewhere. Dat's jest to keep you down. You know, you won't have no character, do nothing fer yourself. [Charleston 623:3.]
Entry 11481
Foot track in bottle thrown into running water "puts you to traveling."
[Wilmington 272:2+85.]
Entry 11483
Foot track in bottle throw into running water; lose mind. [Snow Hill 3:4.]
Entry 11594
Three right foot tracks as person leaves home, draw dirt back from toe to heel, bottle it, and throw into river to send away. [Memphis 1562:5.]
Entry 11604
Well, now, if you wanta, anything like that; who it on, you or who? I says who is de spell on, you or who de spell is on [because] den I have to work on you to take it off you. (Well, how would you take that spell off?) Well, how you would take it off, you go to work, you'll git de person track; de track you understand, foot track. You'll take up nine steps of de right foot - de track fer nine steps of de right foot. Den you go to work and den you put dat in a bottle. Cork dat up and you bury dat to the foot of your steps. And dat person dat - as I say, try to do anything to you - he is coming to you and you'll know 'zactly who he is. He'll come to you, see. He'll come to you, understand, and then if you want any - to turn this thing back to him, you, all you gotta do, you see, you turn de bottle upside down and bury it. Turn the mouth down and turn the bottom up...
[Here I turned off machine but restarted it to record informant's words.]
(That turns the spell back on him?)
That will t'row it back to him.... (I see. Well, now whose tracks do you get? Do you take your own tracks or take this man's tracks?) Take up dis man's track.
(The man who is trying to harm you.)
Entry 11608
Throw foot track into running water to send away; sometimes wrapped in paper, sometimes put in bottle, sometimes thrown over left shoulder. [4 separate beliefs from Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 11612
Stop foot tracks up in bottle, throw overboard; if you don't drown yourself, you sure will leave home. [Charleston 623:2.]
Entry 11772
Dirt bottled from the north side of a graveyard and put under a person's steps will move him. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 11865
If you wear person's hair in bottle, that person will follow you.
[Norfolk 475:1.]
Entry 11867
Carry person's hair and fingernails in bottle with Hearts Cologne for love. [Wilmington, 169:3+85.]
Entry 11868
Woman stops up man's private hair in a bottle with Hearts Cologne and whiskey and wears. [Wilmington 257:9+85.]
Entry 11924
You can kill a person by airtighting some of his hair in a small bot- tle and stopping it up in a hole you have bored into a tree. [Wilmington 228:3+ 85.]
Entry 11945
Her private hair and hair from the mold of his head, stopped up in a tree or in a bottle with Hearts Cologne will run the man crazy about her. [Nor- folk 457:8.]
Entry 11964
If you stop up a person's hair in a small bottle and throw it into a tidal river, as tide comes and goes victim's mind will come and go. [Wilmington 111:11+85.]
Entry 11966
Hair is taken from the left side of victims head, stopped up in a bottle, and thrown into running water to run a person crazy. [Wilmington 262:1+85.]
Entry 11967
If you put a person's hair in a bottle and throw it over your shoulder into running water while cursing, it will run the person intended crazy. [Wil- mington 172:8+85.]
Entry 11968
Put person's hair in bottle, stop it up, go to running water, call person's name 3 times, and throw bottle into water to run him or her crazy.
[Wilmington 127:1+85.]
Entry 11969
You can run a person crazy by stopping up his hair and urine in a bottle and throwing it into running water. [Wilmington 89:1+85.]
Entry 11970
To stop up person's hair in a bottle and throw it into running water makes him a wanderer. [Wilmington 250:6+85.]
Entry 11971
Sew up victim's hair with concentrated lye and red pepper in a red flannel bag, stop up latter in a bottle, and throw bottle into running Water to run victim crazy. [Wilmington 148:5+85.]
Entry 11982
If you bottle a person's hair with graveyard dirt, cayenne pepper and perfume and throw it into running water, you will run your victim crazy.
[Wilmington 271:1+85.]
Hyatt's printed résumé reports a mixture of hair, graveyard dirt, cayenne pepper and perfume. Its claimed effect is source-reported; the résumé is distinct from verbatim informant speech.
Entry 11986
Dey git a plait chure hair out de mole [mold] of yore haid an' stop it up in a bottle an' yo' kin run 'em crazy. Yo' also kin take dere picture an' bury it on de face an' dat will run 'em crazy, maybe even death. [Memphis, 2734:13.]
Entry 11987
How they run you crazy. They take a strand of your hair, or either any kind of it. They stop it up in a bottle tight, tight. That's all they got- ta do with that. [New Orleans 1405:5.]
Entry 11988
Take yore hair an' run yo' crazy shore [sure]. Take yore hair an' stop an' put it in a bottle, an' as long as dey keep dat hair intuh a bottle airtight, why it runs yo' finely [finally] crazy.
Entry 11989
11989-11990. Your hair buried in a bottle will drive you crazy. [Richmond 323:3; Wilmington 108:7+85.]
Entry 11990
11989-11990. Your hair buried in a bottle will drive you crazy. [Richmond 323:3; Wilmington 108:7+85.]
Entry 11992
Man's hair plaited and stopped up in bottle brings him back. [Wil- mington 242:1+85.]
Entry 11993
Stop up a person's hair in a bottle and bury it on a river bank near Water to run the person crazy. [Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 11994
To run a person crazy, stop up his hair in a bottle and bury it under his doorstep so that the mouth of the bottle points towards the house. [Wilmin- ton 119:4+85.]
Entry 11996
If you put a person's hair in a bottle with Hearts Perfume, the person whose hair it is will love you. [Each hoodoo vender probably had his own variety bearing a label with two or more small red hearts on it.] [Charleston 606:4.]
Entry 11997
Woman plats a man's hair, puts it in a bottle of cologne, and he can- not go anywhere. [Charleston 582:2.]
Entry 11998
To hold person's love, keep in bottle his or her hair, Adam-and-Eve root and Hearts Cologne - 3 ingredients. [Petersburg, Va., 422:9.]
Entry 11999
For love keep person's hair in bottle with High John de Conkah, love root or sweet root, and Hearts Cologne. [Petersburg, Va., 422:1.]
Entry 12000
Hair in bottle with graveyard dirt and perfume draws the owner of the hair to you. [Wilmington 114:6+85.]
Entry 12001
Your hair and graveyard dirt bottled and buried under your steps will give you a headache. [Richmond 375:4.]
Entry 12003
If a person cuts up victim's hair, corks up pieces in a bottle of water, buries bottle under victim's door, these pieces Will turn into snakes and run the victim crazy. The victim can be cured only by finding a "DOUBLE HEAD." [This term is a rather rare name for a "TWO-HEAD" or "TWO-HEADER, " a person who knows so much he needs two heads to hold it, a hoodoo doctor.] [Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 12004
If you put hair and snake blood in a bottle and add wine, it will poison the person who drinks it. [Baltimore, but information from Charlotte Co., Va., 60:1.]
Entry 12005
If you bottle a person's hair with snail-shell powder and frog powder, you will run your victim crazy. [Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 12007
If someone bottles your hair and urine with 9 new needles and 9 new pins, and buries it, it will run you crazy. [Newport News by Ediphone.]
Entry 12023
Tie up a person's hair with thread, or cork it up in a bottle, or wrap it up in a piece of red flannel, and then bury it at the foot of a mean person's grave to run crazy the owner of the hair. [Wilmington 111:8+85.]
Entry 12028
I heard of people taking your hair and put it in a bottle and put 9 strands of hair, they say, and 9 needles and 9 pins. They say they take that bottle some [of] 'em and bury it under your doorstep to do you harm. [Wilming- ton 72:6+85.]
Entry 12120
You should keep a hat bow shut up for awhile in a bottle with cologne and witch hazel and then wear it in your shoe for love. [Wilmington 133:3+85.]
Entry 12148
Dey jis' git dat, jis' git de plain water, an' jis' put it in a co- logne bottle with a little Hearts Cologne, an' jis' stops it up, jis' put it right under de bed, an' dey got yo'. Dat holds yuh. [Wilmington 160:4+85.]
Entry 12177
Yo' kin take a horsehair an' take it an' put it in a bottle of watah an' let it stay fo' a couple of weeks, an' she'll turn to a live little snake. fFlorence, S. Car., (1310), 2220:3.]
Entry 12915
Drag snail across stroud of underwear, cross it [make a cross mark on stroud with snail] [victim] can't have anything to do [no sexual relations] with anyone. Take snail and put in bottle and bury until dead. [The preceding stroud is certainly not a course garment on blanket (probably made in Stroud, England) and once used in North American Indian trade.] The meaning of the word is clear, the spelling is the problem. Yes, I frequently asked for spell- ings.
Entry 13159
Stop up socks or stockings in bottle, throw into river or outgoing tide; "run a person away." [Elizabeth City 402:8.]
Entry 13184
She kin git a hold of your sock an' turn your sock [inside out] an' git de dust from under your feet. She conceals it in a bottle an' wears it.
[Purpose not given but evident.] [Richmond 308:3.]
Entry 13354
They put your urine in a bottle, stop it up, and bury it "to de north corner of de world, your stomach will swell up or "you can't make no water."
[Washington, D. C. 823:3.]
Entry 13355
They bottle your urine, write your name 3 times on paper, put in bottle, and bury at front door where you walk over it. You will suffer with ailments. [Washington, D. C. 827:7.]
Entry 13357
If a woman bottles some of a man's urine with gunpowder and sweet milk, and sits it in a corner, she has him cornered as long as she wants him.
[Norfolk 491:2.]
Entry 13361
If a man bottles his own urine and buries it under his own doorstep. any man coming to the house during his absence will become impotent if he cross- es that door. [Snow Hill, Md., 9:6.]
Entry 848
[Among other doctors with special names are: Dog Face or Dog Head (I describe in Introduction my efforts to find him in his tin-can-covered shed on a public dump) - Humpadee [= Humpty-Dumpty] of Richmond - Ready Money - Turkey Gobbler - Zorro - Doctor Buzzard - and others. "Mama Mary on Bowling Green Road [[north out of Richmond either helped or defended]] woman killed man - cut from under left arm, underwear - 5 or 6 needles and some cotton and part of towel they had used in intercourse - needles stuck in this underclothes and towel - put in bottle - and hair from privates - hole in cork - drips out - he died - Richmond, Va., (389), 336:3. Informant described as: "389 - b. Richmond - gum chewer" - gum chewer perhaps reason why I did not transcribe story - Numbers Book 340-442.]
Entry 11418
Left footskin in bottle with soda or salt or sulphur, throw into a creek "on a high spring current" and "always after dat you'll roam about de world." [Creek here is an inlet from the sea, in the British sense, and not the American creek = brook.] [Charleston 572:3.]
Entry 11420
"Just like you wash your feet good, take and scrape good and hard and get plenty of that scraped off. Put in a bottle or a bag, take it to the grave- yard and bury it, that will MAKE YOU "WALKIFIED, " jes' walk all the time."
[Vicksburg 1007:6.]
Entry 11463
"The bottom of the feet...scrape them...put that into a bottle...stop it up and bury that...you'll pine away." [New Orleans 1366:3.]
Entry 11491
"They kin take a pinch of dirt out from under your foot track...carry it home and put it in a bottle, take that and bury it...stops you from walking
[to keep home]." [Norfolk 530:14.]
Entry 11499
Take up dey foot track and put it in a bottle or a sack, bury under steps, "will hold you around the house or job." [Vicksburg 990:12.]
Entry 11503
"Take that [barefoot] track...some cooking salt, some sulphur, and some gunpowder, and mix dem together in a little bottle and set 'em afire and you'll be gone, drive you away." [Charleston 572:1.]
Entry 11520
"Took up de foot track and put it in a bottle...git graveyard dirt from de foot of de grave...cork it tight...put it in de rivah. Dat's for like yo' goin' [= to send you away]." [Charleston 633:1.]
Entry 11532
"Git the right track...some of his hair - either place, down their or up here - and put that in a bottle and stop it up real tight, where it'll never leak, and put it in running water, and he'll forever travel." [Wilmington 189:4+85.]
Entry 11550
"Jes' lak yo' walking, dey kin take yuh [left] foot track, de length an' de wide of it. Well, now, right in your instep dey take a grain of sand, jes' pick up jes' what yo' kin git in your fingah. An' dey put it in a bottle an' git, well, I would say around about 10 or 15 drops of Hearts Cologne. Dey'll put dat in dere. An' dey will jis' keep adding dis powdahs in dere with it. Some kinda powdah. I forgit de name. Jis' feed it with powdahs. Well, dey claim den, if dey do dat, why you can't walk." [Richmond 462:8.]
Entry 11562
"I could put dat track in a pocket han'ke'chef and I could take it and put it in a bottle...call your name, stop it up tight, an' take that bottle and carry it to some rivah...throw it ovahboard...keep you wavering and wavering and roaming all your life." [Charleston 642:4.]
Entry 11995
"You jis' take your hair [not of one person but of man and woman] an' put it in a bottle of perfume, and stop it up and hide it, or either throw it away. You'll [either of you] be in love wit dem." [Wilmington 184:2+85.]
Entry 752
My husband rented a house in Staunton, Virginia, and went to Pittsburg to make money to buy a home. While he Was in Pittsburg, this man he rented the house from, I used to go around with his wife and I was very nice to her. I used to give her lunch every Sunday night when we came from church. My husband had written to me to ask Mr. Dodd to look after the hogs being butchered. Of course I told Mrs. Dodd about it and she told me, "Don't bother Mr. Dodd. Mr. Dodd says that he don't kill his own hogs and he ain't going to kill anybody else's." So I said, "All right, then." So when he seen me having the men kill the hogs he said to his wife, "I wonder how it comes Mrs. Baker didn't have me look over it?" She said, "I don't know but I told you that's the way some colored people does." So he asked me and I said, "Your wife told me not to ask you to help about the hogs." Of course that was his wife and I wasn't going to bother. I said, "My husband has sent money to pay you." After that then she wanted me to go to church with her. They had a revival. I didn't want to go with her because she was going with another man. My husband was working and taking care of me and I didn't want to do nothing wrong. So I told her, "You know they say that church is condemned. You know my husband ain't here and I'm afraid something might happen and there would be nobody here to take care of the children." So that was my get-off to keep from going with her. So her daughter, she was a young woman, used to come down there and set with me. And she said, "Mrs. Baker, my mother has fixed something for you. It's in a bottle and I found it and took it and put it over in the orchard. And don't you eat nothing she brings you." They had an old-home week there. They decorate the wagons and show what they have to sell. Her and I went down to see the parade, me and the young girl. So she says to me, "There's that bottle" - when we was coming back. And I tried to get it but I couldn't get it. Even my hand was right on it and I couldn't pick it up. And I asked her to get it. So she got it and I come on home with it and put it under lock and key. And that very day then, the old woman didn't miss the bottle, she brought me beets and potatoes and beans and a lot of nice things and corn bread. I didn't eat it because the girl had told me not too. It look very tempting. So I said to the kids, "Don't you all want some of this, things that Mrs. Dodd brought me?" And they said, "No, mama. What you don't eat, we don't want none." So I took the food she brought me and scraped it out to the chickens. The chickens what was on the outside of my wire fence, they ete it and they all went blind. So when I go upstairs, I did - and look at this bottle and take it down to the doctor. Yes, he was a real doctor. Doctor [Somebody] of Staunton. I asked if he knew what was in the bottle. Well, he named all the things that he knowed was in the bottle, but he said he would have to send the bottle away to have it ana- lyzed to see what was in it. But she had new nails, new tacks, new needles, and my hair I guess, and night water. So he says, "Don't get none of that in you." So I saves the bottle and carried it to Pittsburg to show it to my husband. And I had this daughter along with me. She and her mother didn't get along. She said to me one day, 'Mrs. Baker, why don't you do away with that. Why do you keep on keeping it?" So I says to myself, "I don't know what to do with it. I'm afraid to put it in running water because it might run me away. Then I put it in the fire and burnt it. I got the girl to burn it. All the different colors you ever saw came off that stuff while burning!
Entry 1059
Dey tell me you kin take a bottle - listen good now - take a bottle with your husband's chamber lye. Just don't let him spit in it - just like he pass de water, don't let him spit in dere, see. And you take a piece of de underclothes - piece of his underclothes and you take one piece of his stocking from heel side, one piece off de middle, one piece to the bottom see, and den put them three in it and then you gets six needles - gold-eye needles and this - some kind of old-time cologne dey call - some kind of old-time cologne dey call - it's real sweet cologne. (Heart's Cologne?) [Informant could not remember. I had to suggest a name to get along with the story.] I'll say. Get dis Heart's Cologne and dey put dat in dere and then they put six needles, and they put six new needles - gold-eye needles see, and you put - then you take it and bury dat late at night. And den dey put 'em down at de head of yer step like dat and when you put 'em down you say, "You son-of-bitch, I want you to come back....
(The head of the bottle is upside down. There is a cork in it though?)
Yas suh, cork in dere too - airtight. Nobody - nothing can get into it. And say, "You son-of-a-bitch, I want you to come." And he won't have no nature for no other woman, just have to come back to you. [While checking transcription against recording I made a note "lowland dialect," meaning that the transcription is approximate.]
Entry 2751
In the year of 1928 I was going with a married man. Quite natural I knowed that was wrong and she found it out and she sent a bottle there to my house - and my brother was sitting on the porch. And so when I come home from work that evenin' the bottle was there. And so the bottle had water in it, I imagine. My mother told me not to open it. It had a lot of needles and a stopper and a cord- string tied up as if, you know, to hold the stopper out of the water - just a plain long beer bottle [probably a dark bottle]. So my mother had taken it up to a woman what, you know, knew.
(Where was this bottle?)
It was at my house - it was down by the washstand. They had give it to - the woman had give it to my brother, see. And my brother went and give it to my mother and my mother set it down in my room by the washstand and so she told me when I come home to go there and get the bottle. So, finally, I had a fear run over me and besides, about it, I never believed in this kind of stuff until this come about. And so after she told me to go and get the bottle, I went and opened [I wanted to open] it - I said, "Mama, this bottle is suspicious." She says, "Well, don't open it." I say, "Yes, Ma, I is, I'm not afraid." She said, "Don't you open it." And she taken the bottle and went on up to a woman's house with the bottle and she told the woman. The woman told my mother to take the bottle and empty it in a bayou of water or stream of water. See. So I went to Tallulah to work. I left from away from there after I thought I was going to get hurt, you know. I left home anyway and I went to Tallulah.
(Where is that?)
Tallulah, Louisiana. [About 25 miles west of Vicksburg, Mississippi.]
(All right.)
I worked over there. And after I went over, she sent me a little envelope with sand or something inside of another little envelope about dis long, and she said on there, "Six months from today your grave number will be 65 - six months from today." Well, I got scared and I was a person that never did like to tell my friends nothing about that. In fact I didn't believe in it. So I commenced to pining away and then I was losing my mind. People here in Vicksburg can shore tell you here in Vicksburg that I really lost my mind. So a friend of mine had mentioned it to a friend of mine, and she told me about a fellow. I don't know whether he's black or white. He stays in New Orleans, his name is B. B. McConnick. He stays over in Algiers. And I wrote him concerning about it. And after he wrote in a letter and told me about a dream I had. I believed in what he was telling me to do.
(Did you have a dream?)
I had a dream that I - there was some money in a old empty house for me. [For dreams of buried treasure, see 387, p.116; 426, p.127; etc.] And after I wrote this man like she [the girl] told me to write him, why he was telling that, and I was - and that's what made my belief come that he'd know what he was talking about - why I believed in what he told me to do.
(Now, wait. You had this dream and you told this man in Tallulah?)
No, I ain't told no one about it - this dream - nobody know nothing about this dream but my family folks - about this dream and the money in the house.
(I see.)
And after I told this friend of mines over there [in Vicksburg] about this woman had done sent me this stuff, and I was sick and stayed sick, well she told me about this man.
(I see - the man in Algiers?)
In Algiers - his name was Mr. B. B. McConnick. I don't know whether he is black or white. And so I wrote him and he wrote me a letter back and told me to send him $5.75 and he explained in the letter about the dream I had. Well, I believed in him, see. So I sent the money to him. I sent the money to him and he sent me a self-addressed stamp [envelope for the money]. And he sent me and told me what to do, and he sent me black candles and he told me this here black candle would burn against the parties what was harming me. Well, he told what to do - he told me to take a glass about like that, just an ordinary jelly glass, and fill it half full of sugar and stick it down in the sugar.
(This black candle?)
This black candle.
(Just one?)
He sent me more than one, cause [I sent him] $5.06, but after they give out, he told me I could get 'em from my local drug store. And he told me to use these candles six, twelve and six evening every evening. [This is the well-known 6-12- 6 time formula.] And finally I did that.
(Put this candle down in the sugar?)
Down in the sugar. He told me to not to never blow the candle out - I never seen this man before, and he told me, "Don't blow it out" - to take mv middle finger and my thumb and wet it, and say, "I wish you would leave me alone," put- ting the candle out at the same time, but not blow it. And really I did that and that woman. (Now wait a minute. How long did you let those candles burn at six, twelve and six?) Fifteen minutes - fifteen minutes.
(And when you had burned one whole candle?)
No, sir, you burn that every day. (Well, when that first candle burned out, what did you do? Burn another one then?) Could use another.
(How many did you use altogether?)
Oh, I just guess. I done even forgot how many I used, but I used just some of 'em 'cause I wanted that off of me. And really, that man helped me 'cause I know I was wrong: You see. And it turned right to that home - that woman was getting back just like I was getting, see. And I thought - two or three time I certainly felt sorry for her and I stopped using that stuff. Now, the other experience, 'cause I used to didn't believe in it until this woman was doing me like that, you see. Cause I was wrong, you see, going with her husband. But that other, I don't know nothing about that, but I'm explaining you something I really experienced my own dear self. [The preceding trick could have been performed in several ways. Friend of mine who recommended McConnick was surely his foreign correspondent for the Vicksburg district; she being his only source of information about the dream. What informant wanted could be taken care of for $5.75. Her dream about the buried treasure showed that all problems would soon be solved; she would also find the hidden wealth. The reader will notice immediately that $5.75 contains uneven numbers, which read inside outward 75 and outside inward 57. This is for- ward and backward magic, though not the pendulum magic frequently met in Jacks (p.190f.). Pulsating or heart-beat magic might be a better term. After the money was received, the candles were delivered. The package contained a printed notice something like: "These candles you ordered have been burned in the fol- lowing manner by troubled persons who claim for them the benefits of health and peace. We sell them as curios. The so-and-so drug store in your town sells these candles." There was no second letter as informant implies. All communi- cation was. brief and vague (see He'd Never Write You Much, p.319f.). McConnick is primarily a distributor of candles - a business man and surely a white man.]
Entry 4012
Well, it's a powdahs dat ah have used but ah don't know de name of dat powdah. Dey use de chamber lye fo' two-three diff'ren' things.
(Tell me one of them first.)
Well, yo' kin take - if yo' kin ketch any of dey own, jis' lak, yo' know, dey go in a bucket at night. Well, yo' kin go dere an' git it. Yo' go dere an' git it an' boil it. Yo' gotta boil it thoroughly. Yo' take de white of a aig an break it in dere. An' yo' take de white of de aig an' let it stay in dere till it cook up, an' take it right back an' put it in a bottle. Take some Hearts Cologne an' po' in dere wit it, an' yo' go right back an' bury it right at de gate where dey have tuh walk ovah it.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat's fo' givin' people luck when stayin' at a house, where dey been in bad luck an' been havin' confusion.
Entry 4028
Dey kin take some of yore watah [urine] an' [or] chamber lye, yo' undahstan', an' put it in a bottle. Dat'll run yo' crazy.
(That will do what?)
Run yo' crazy, have yore eyes jes' lak dis [demonstrates]. Always bug [Bulg- ing? Staring? Blinking?]. Yes sir, jes' take some of yore chamber lye.
Entry 4246
If dey take yuh chamber lye an' put it in a bottle an' put saltpetah in it an' Hearts Cologne, an' sprinkle it in de path where a person walk along, an' it'll cuz 'em tuh like yuh, come aroun' yuh an' visit yuh.
Entry 4266
Well, if yo' wan'a person jealous of yo' - yo' know how womenfolks are.
(You want to make a man jealous of you?)
Jes' love yo', yo' know, an' don't want 'im tuh go out. Well yuh git 'is chamber lye. Yuh git nine bran'-new goldeye needles, nine pins - bran'-new pins, straight pins. An' yuh take nine of dese spices, whole spices [all- spices], nine cloves an' about nine teaspoonful of sugar an' cinnamon [9 each] wit dat. Yuh stop it up in a bottle an' den turn dis bottle on de head in a cornah or secret place. Ah don't care where dey at - jes' lak if yo' say, "Ah wanta see So-an'-so, if dey on de job," an' dey could be jes' lef' [left the job]. Yo' shake dis bottle, see, shake dis bottle up an' cāre [carry] it aroun' yuh head three times, an' bring it tuh yuh dis way three times [demonstrates], an' den yuh jes' shake, shake it, shake it, yuh know, three times, down tuh de flo' [floor], yuh see, an' always keep it [bottle] on de head [upside down], an' dat'll make 'em jes' go crazy [about you].
[Here's my immediate comment, at this point, about the demonstration.]
(Turn [instead of informant's care] this bottle round yuh head three times like a halo.) [Circle would have been a better word, but halo fully describes the action and also shows me commenting to cylinder, not to informant who probably would not have understood halo.]
Entry 4268
[Here is a fragment omitted from Doctor England, called Doctor English in my interview with him - see pp.1386-1401.] Other methods on such as that of gettin' the urine from a person, their urine. And take their name and write it down for nine times on a clear piece of paper. You places nine pins and nine needles, but you head and tail, say this way [dem- onstrates]. (Alternate them - one here, one there.) Right here, place in this bottle. See, what the urine is in. You put honey and sugar in there and place it on the outside of the door and let a person walk over it three times. Bring it back and put it over your front door and walk under it three times. Then it is taken and put into their home, and any time this woman or man, either sex, want them return home immediately or want her to come, only shake it up and turn the bottle on their head.
(I see. Where does she put this bottle? Into what?)
Into any place they want to keep it private.
Entry 4411
Now, jes' lak our bowels move, see. Well dey stop dat up in a bottle. Take a auger an' bo' a hole in dere - little round bottle. (Bore a hole in what?) In de tree. Put some of whut pass through from mah bowels in dis lit- tle bottle, an' put it in de tree, an' den nail [peg] a stoppah in dat. Well, dat will tie mah entrails up an' ah can't have no [more action].
Entry 4486
Stop dat watah up in a bottle.
(This bath water?)
Yes, sir, stop it up in a bottle an' put it, bury hit down - an' bury it up- side down an' dat'll harn yuh, too. See, cuz yuh'll git sickly an' po'ly [poorly] an' things. Yuh see, dat be all yuh dirt, YUH STRENGTH an' things. BURIED BATH WATER TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
Entry 4838
Tuh bring a person back yuh got'a use de lef' [foot] track. Jis' lak dere's two or three ways tuh bring a person back. Well, jis' lak if it's a woman dat chew want tuh bring back, if yuh kin git even a piece dat she weah nex' tuh 'er, any place. Co'se, if yuh wanta cut a piece outa it - go on back home an' put it in some watah. Dis is tuh bring 'em back, bring a person back tuh yuh. All right, yuh take an' put it in some watah an' yuh goes tuh where two trees dat is right in tuhgethah. Yuh seen trees lean- in' ovah on one nothah. Well, if yuh ain't got a augah, take a axe an' dig a hole in it, an' jis' take dat li'le cloth an' put it in dere an' let it stay three hours. Bring it on back home den an' let it set up dere. Yuh take a li'le bita bottle jis' lak dis an' put it in dere. Now yuh take dis watah offa dere, yuh undahstan', an' yuh throw dis piece yuh got away, an' jis' let it be de watah dat yuh had it in. Take de piece outa it an throw it away. Take dis same watah an' care [carry] it tuh de tree an' let it stay in dere three hours. Take it out an' bring it on back home an' let it set dere. An' whatsomevah yuh want, yuh kin took fo' 'em from de time it will take dem tuh come from where dey are tuh where yuh live. Dey'll be dere.
Entry 4865
Ah would go an' git me some sugah an' salt an' sprinkle aroun' yore do' an' also in yuh house. An' if ah could git a piece dat chew weah close tuh yuh skin, ah will take dat an' take a piece out of [it] jis' lak [that] an' tie it up in a rag or sompin, in a piece of red flan- nen, an' wrap it tight in a piece of red flannen. An' den ah go tuh de drug sto an' ah may git some whut chew call cayhine [cayenne] peppah, yuh undahstan', an' mix dat up wit it. An' git chure name an' write it on a piece of papah, an' put it in dere, an' take an' put it in a bottle an' put it in some runnin' watah. Dat'll pull yuh 'way.
(And that sugar and stuff you simply sprinkle it around the house?)
Yeah, dat cause confusion, dat makes 'em leave.
(Do you do all these things together or do each thing separately?)
De way yuh do, yuh put de sugah an' de salt in de house separate, yuh under- stan'. An' de othah stuff, why yuh put dat tuhgethah. Yuh put cayhine peppah.
(Do you use all these things together or do you just use one at a time?)
Yuh kin use 'em both tuhgethah, yuh see. [This answer is vague but under- standable.]
Entry 5045
Sock.
(What about it?)
Yuh kin take a man's sock or a woman's stockin' an' cut de toe an' de heel of it out; jis' a little bit, yuh don't wan' [too much]. (The heel or the toe, or both of them?) No, jis' eithah piece - eithah end. (Oh, just the [toe or the] heel.) Yuh kin git de toe or de heel of a man's or woman's sock or stockin'. Yuh kin take dat an' perserve [preserve] it. Now, I tell yuh whut yuh kin do. Whenevah yuh perserve dat, dat is, yuh tie a woman tuh yuh. Yuh kintake a piece of 'er stockin' an' perserve it in a small bottle of perfume - somepinlak a cologne bottle. If yuh don' wan' tuh carry it in yore pocket, yuh kin jis' put it up in dat house. See'what ah mean? Dat woman won't leave dere. Perserve dat in alcohol [spirits love alcohol, see p.32]. As long as dat is perserved, she is perserved fo' yuh. Be subjec' tuh yore rules an' regulations. An' she'll obey yuh, too.
Entry 7203
All right, a man take an' do wit a woman de same way. A man cut de seat, a piece where she sweat undah here, undah de ahm. (Under her arm. Both arms or just one?) Both ahms. All right, he takes dat an' he puts some li'le roots in dat - some kinda li'le roots.
(Do you know the name of those roots?)
Dey put - whut's de name of dat root now? Some kinda - devil's-shoestring. Cut dem tuh be short. See, dem shoestring dat long [demonstrates].
(The devil's-shoestrings about three feet long?)
Yes, sir, some is dis long. Some is long accordin' as jis' how much yo' take out de groun' an' dey will pop off.
(You cut them about an inch or two inches long?)
Yes, sir, dat much off see. An' yo' put 'em in de bottle. Well, dat's tuh keep 'em at home. Dat's tuh make a woman dat run about tuh dance an' shows, lak dat, run aroun' lak dat, dat keep 'em home. De mō' [more] he feed dat bottle, dat keep 'er down. If - he don' do it tuh kill 'er, yo' know, jis' tuh keep 'er home.
(And what does he feed that bottle with?)
With cologne.
(And where do you keep this bottle?)
Keep it in 'is pocket. Yo' don't bury dat, keep it in 'is pocket. (That all he puts in there, these pieces of her clothing and the devil's-shoe- string?) Yes sir, an' he shake dat bottle up, yo' know. Yo' see, de man [the doctor] tell 'im tuh shake it up, an' feed it. Feed it an' put it back in 'is pocket. Don' put it in nobody's hand. Keep it in 'is pocket jis' a small ole cologne bottle.
Entry 7204
See, it's been about a month maybe. He had a girl he wus goin' wit 'er an' she fixed 'im. Aftah he went tuh sleep - when he went tuh sleep, he said dat he dreamt about dis bottle dat she had fo' him, an' he'd gotten right up an' went an' got it. An' he'd fell off an' he looked so bad as if he was about tuh die. HE'D GOTTEN A AWFUL SMALL LOOK, terrible small, bone 'bout tuh come through 'is skin. An' he went tuh sleep an' he dreamt about dis bottle an' co'se [of course] he got up den an' went right in de bathroom an' found it. An' dis bottle had red flannel in it an' a couple of pins an' needles, an' he'd taken it an' broke it. He brought it an' showed it tuh me, an' ah don' know whut could a been in it, but it smelled lak evahthing wus in it, ah guess. Ah reckon it wus urine in it - guess was in it. An' aftah he found 'at bottle he begin tuh git bettah.
Entry 7232
De Ole Man dat ah went tuh wit de addition [concerning the condition] of mahself - an' ah had a li'le piece of propahty [property] in Georgia - an ah wus figuhin' [figuring] dat somebody wus rootworkin' me, puttin' bad luck on me. An' he [de Ole Man] tole me, he said, "Didjoo see de tracks of de pusson?" [Ah] said, "Ah shure seen tracks." An' he said, "Well yo' git me some dirt outa de heel an' den outa de flat a [of] de shoe." Dat's de sole of de feet. Well, ah did so. He say, "Yo' place it intuh a piece of papah, put de heel in firs'." Ah did dat firs'. All right. An' den ah take anothah piece of papah an' got de middle of de track. All right, an' carry dat tuh 'im. Den he sont [sent] me back tuh measure de shoe track whut ah got de dirt from. An' ah taken a string an' ah measured it. But jis' how long it wus ah don't recall. He tole me tuh take dat string an' dat dirt an' mix it tuhgethah. Place it intuh a pile an' place it undah mah haid dat night. An' ah did so. Ah wus sleepin' in de baid. He said, "Don't put it undah yuh haid. Now, " he said, "set it undah yuh haid undah de baid." I did so. WHEN AH GOT UP NEX' MAWNIN', DE STRING WUS GONE AN' AH FOUN' SOMPIN DAT LOOK LAK A HORSE HAIR. AN' IT HAD SOMPIN LAK A WORM'S HAID, AN' DE DIRT WUS IN DE BOTTLE. [If all this happened, the Ole Man named Ole Wondah was a good cunjureman!] It wus yellah, it looked lak clay. An' de watah looked muddy, kinda lak clay.
(What water?)
It wus in a bottle.
(Did you have water in this bottle?)
Yes, he [Ole Manl put watah intuh de bottle. All right. An' now dat's de nex' mawnin'. All right. He said, "Now, whut ah wan' chew [want you] tuh do, is tuh go tuh a frien' of yuhs [yours] house, de frien' whut named John Thomas." Ah went tuh John's house as he said. "Yo' set dere maybe ten minutes, jis' lak yo'd [you had] come aftah sompin." Ah did so. All right. When ah went tuh John's house, he axed [asked] me dis question: He said, "Did joo sleep good las' night?" Ah tole him yes, vury good. He said, "Whut did joo dream?" Ah said, "Ah didn't dream anythin'." He said, "Well, whut did joo see?" Ah said, "Well, ah saw lots of thin's dat is dere in de house." An' he ast [asked] me dis question, said, "Did joo see anythin' of a bottle?" Ah tole 'im, no. An' den ah walked away [from friend] an' came back an' tole him [Ole Man] whut he'd [friend had] tole me. Den dis man [friend] lef' town. Ah didn't have no bothah [trouble] wit 'im.
(Where was that in Georgia?)
Dat wuz in Custah [Custer?], Georgia, in 1931.
(Well, who was this fellow that you went to see that morning?)
Dey called 'im Ole Wondah. He wus livin' in Macon [Georgia], a fellah, a high-hatted dark fellah [he wore a high hat].
(That was the doctor?)
Dat's right.
(Who was the man - whose house you went to see?)
George [John?] Thomas. He wus a farmah [liyed on a farm]. (He was the one that was trying to harm you. An' what did he ask you those questions for?) Ah jis' don't know, jis' as tuh how or whut. But he [Ole Wondah] tole me he would ast me some questions.
(Did you see anything that night at all?)
Ah didn't see a thing but de bottle whut wus placed undah de baid. Didn't see anythin' at all, jis' perfectly [quiet] as ah remembah. Ah dreamt a dream dat led me tuh a ox an' a few cows, but ah remembah ah had more steers dan ah did cows. An' dat wus de las' thin' ah seen dat would entahtain mah spirit to- Wards dat.
Entry 9004
[Logically the story within this number follows the preceding one, and for continuity both should be read in that order.] Ah went tuh a hoodoo workah sometime ago in Ca'lina [South Carolina]. Ah was intuh a lotta [trouble]. Ah didn't know jes' what dey did wit it, but dey tole me. Dey giveded me a black cat. Ah was drivin' a Ford car an' dey tole me when ah git to two fo'ks [forks] of de road, de cat would be gone, tuh come on back home. Ah didn't wants tuh come back, ah was 'fraid of de law; but he insisted on me tuh come back, dat evah'- thin' would be all right. Ah come on an' when ah got tuh de two fo'ks of de road, why dis cat disappeahed from me. An' dat cat disappeah an' ah don't know where de cat did go. Well, anyway ah come back an' he tole me - dat was in de month of July - an' he tole dey would have mah trial on de 9th day of Novembah, which was purtty much tuh three months. He tole me dat dey would set it fo' de ninth day but it would be a mistrial. He was goin' make 'em be a mistrial. An' he giveded [me] some sulphuh an' he giveded me twelve [12] goldeye needles, an' he tole me tuh weah mah garment tuh mah skin turned wrongside out three mawnin's.
(Three mornings when?)
Three mawnin's befo' de trial. An' pin dōse needles, six of 'em tuh each side wit de points turned tuhwards de earth, an' ah would be all right. Well, ah did so. So ah was all right. (Well, when you went to see this man, how did [the subject of] that black cat happen to come up? Just try to remember when you went there, what he said to you.) Well, when ah first - he giveded me a bag, a li'le bag tuh tote. Tole me tuh git a bottle of perfume, of Hearts Perfume an' po' a li'le on it, po' it on it 'bout seven 'clock dat night. Evah evenin' about seven 'clock ah must dress it. An' he calleded dis cat tuh me an' he ginen [given] it tuh me. He sont dis cat wit me. He tole me dat he wasn't worryin' but he was gonna send somepin wit me. An' he tole dat when it git tuh de fo'k [fork] of de road - aftah goin' about twenty miles, he said, he'll come back. He'll be back here. An' so ah did care [carry] dis cat about twenty miles.
(How did you carry it?)
In mah left ahm. He giveded it tuh me in mah left ahm [arm].
(He told you to hold this cat in your left arm?)
Dat's right, in mah left ahm. An' ah cared [carried] it about twenty miles an' it disappeahed.
(Were you walking or riding?)
Ah was ridin'.
Entry 11260
They kin get your socks and they get your toenails and any kind of little dirt from under your fingernails or toenails. When they get that, if they be around your house, they kin get your clothes. And they take a little piece of your underwear and cut a little piece where you sweats. Well, they take all of that and put it in a bottle. They goes to work and they gets vinegar, and then they go to work and takes your nature [surely means urine here] you know, if they can get your nature; but if they can't get your nature, they'll go to work and get someone to get it for 'em. They will put all that in a bottle and take it and stop it up. So when they stop it up, they'll put pins and needles and all in there. And when they stop it up, you see, well they uses psychology on you.
(I see.)
They'll go to work, some people, and get someone to go round to see you. See. That's the people is on [know what's going on] you know. And then when he [helper] goes to work and gets that stuff, then he'll go to work and start boostin' this fellow [professional hoodoo man]. You know, when they standing around, he say, "I know a man will do so-and-so and so-and-so." See. Well, dey done got you den. Well, if you are weak-minded, you believe that. See. Then they go to work then and you get all upset. You know, by being weak-minded they kin do so-and-so. Then they turn right around up on top of dat and say, "Well, I charge $25 or $30." Well, you know they are right, but someone went around and talked to you. I know a man that will do it. See, a strange man in town. Then, if you is weak-minded, you believe, you'll have confidence in 'em. Well, that's the people.
Entry 11448
They take that and they bury it, these fingernails and the toenails - all wrapped up, you see. Get some, somepin that come out of the shell - gun- powder. Get some gunpowder and dirt out of the graveyard, and your fingernails and your toenails, either one, and go bore a hole in a tree, but you stop it up in a can or a bottle like that. And you bore a hole in the tree, and a nail, as long as you can find, to drive in to keep that drawing up, you see. You drive that can fastened up. Of course, you burn at the soles, you get funny feeling about your head, you see. [New Orleans (855) 1347:3.]
Entry 11783
Graveyard dirt, salt, sulphur, needles, and green water (slime or algae) in corked-up bottle under steps will swell you up and kill you. [Wil- mington, 125:2+85.]
Entry 12713
Take a rabbit's brains an' dis ole Hearts Cologne an' dry de brains. Dust 'em [make a dust of them] an' den put dem in dat Hearts Own Cologne, in de bottle an' stop it. An' dey tote dat an' yo' can't see 'im. [The person becomes invisible.] Dat's whut dey tells me.
(You can't see him?)
No, sir, he'll disappear. Yo' see him an' he'll go to nuthin. Well, dey tells me dat's whut dey has.
(Who would do this?)
De man dat's into trouble. (You said they also use this "getaway powder, " use that and they can't catch them?) Dat's right. Now ah've knowed of 'em using [that]. Dey'd git away wit it, too.
Entry 546
This was in Caroline [County, Virginia]. This is a cunjuring thing. It Was two sisters. One sister took the other sister's husband. So this sister had a spell put on the sister who took the husband. So she became suddenly ill and sent for her son and he came. And she grew so ill they sent for the doctor and he came, but did not do any good. So finally, the son sent for a neighbor and the neighbor thought she was going to die so she sent for the older son. And when he came his suggestion was to send for an old colored woman who's supposed to be a cunjure. So they sent for her. And she came in a buggy with her grandson driving. And she called for the woman to come out to the buggy that was sick. And they said she could not come. So she insisted on her coming. But she said she could go anywhere in the house except to the front door. Every time she moved toward the front door she got worse. So this cunjure woman got out of her buggy and stood at de front gate opening her bag of fixtures, and she took out a ball about the size of a apple - a wood ball, and asked for a hoe, after which she talked to the ball and said, "Go where I send you and when you have found the spot stand still." So she tossed de ball. It went a few steps and stopped right in front of the front door. And she told the boy to dig two feet right under that ball and there that he would find a bottle and bring it to me, which he did. So she said to her [sick woman's] son, "Go, tell your mother to come to the front door." So she got up and came immediately. She didn't say what was in the bottle she found. And the cunjure said to her, "Let your sister'S husband alone." [Near Fredericksburg, Va., (71), by hand; in Caroline Co.,1886.]
Entry 598
In 1888 I was well and hearty and doing daily labor, and a man told me to my face that he Would fix me. And I asked the boss what time it was and he told me it was half past five o'clock. And I was breaking on cracked stone. And I fell backwards and I was carried away from the place by two white men and I didn't know nothing from how I got home. And one old gentleman told me that two white men brought me home on their shoulders. And I asked this old gentleman haven [have] the sun gone down yet. I was not of my mind until the next day three o'clock. I sent for the doctor and he told me that he didn't know what to say about my case. And I taken with a swellen in my right leg, and then I had a pain in my hip, and I had it from that day to this, and I have been in with this misery since 1888. [At this point the informant's wife broke into the story to say that at first her husband had not suspected conjuration:] He was home here years before I was showed by the Lord in the Spirit that something was wrong with him. The Spirit told me that something was wrong, he was hurt. [She then described this spiritual revelation at length, but so rapidly that it was impossible to write it down. She was so suspicious of my intentions that she would not repeat the story, nor would she tell me anything about conjuration. Finally, the old man gave an account of his experience with the first root doctor who tried to cure him.] The fellow took me upstairs and asked me to cut a pack of cards. I told him I didn't know nothing about cards, "I never had a pack in my hand in my life and you'll have to show me how to cut them," and taken them and shuffled them and laid them down and told me to shuffle them out three in a pack [make four- teen packs of three cards each]. And he said, "I'm going to tell you who hurt you. You have been hurt." And he caught me by the toe [patient was barefoot] and show me right where the poison went up. And it went in my hip and swellen my leg up. He showed me who done it on the cards. He took a card from each pack and held them before me, and it appear to me that it was the man and woman and I had to confess [to the identity]. I recognized them but I ain't calling no names. And he said that he could cure me if my nerves would allow me to take the medicine he would give. And that's about all he told me. He gave me some dark medicine in a bottle. It had whiskey in it. And he told me I had to get a lot of whiskey and I got seven gallons. And he made the medicine and gave it to me. But my system was gone so weak that I couldn't take the medicine. That's what he told me. And he swoll me up so, he told me to cut the dose down three tablespoonful three times a day. Then I cut them down one half spoonful. And I found that it didn't do me no good and I quit. I went to see two or three fortune tellers and they told me the some thing. [Fredericksburg, Va., about ten miles out in the country, (65), by hand, no electricity.] [The dark medicine could have been black draft, frequently used by doctors - see Index. Whiskey is too often the chief ingredient of doctor-made medicine.]
Entry 600
Mah husband, he wus witchcraft heah a little before Christmas, an' when he begin, he begin as a chills-an'-fevah. An' course I didn't know, you know, right then [that he was witchcraft] an' I had de doctor - de medical doctor. They say he had the flu. An' so he wusn't whut you call real, you know, sick like a medical doctor, you know. The medicine he give 'im - he give 'im medicine an' it didn't seem to do him no good. So his mind led 'im that he knew it wusn't pure sickness. So I had my fortune told an' it [her husband's sickness] wusn't pure natural. [This is diagnosis by proxy.] So they fixed 'im - a root doctor fixed him some medicine. An' it holp him, too; but you see, jis' like they put somepin down for yah, all the medicine you take it won't cure you. So I had someone to come to pick it up. I don't know exac'ly whut it wus, but it wus down under the - kin'a in the south part of the house an' right in the middle, jis' like you walk over it. An' this filth, of course you have to step in it. An' they taken it up, an' after takin' it up, you know, they kill it. They kill it with salt. An' then I had to - after takin' it up they put salt on it, wash it off, an' put it in a paper an' let it dry. Then I had to take it an' put lye, an' sulphur, red pepper an' gunpowder, put it in a quart cup an' put a quart of water in it an' boil it airy bit of the water out it, right dry, an' then take an' care [carry] it to a runnin' water an', you know, put it in. That's called, that's turnin' back on the one that did it.
(What was this stuff that you found?)
I didn't look in it becuz I wus kin'a scared. It wus a package. One wus a package an' one's a bottle. I had taken 'im to de hospital, you see. Of course I didn't know it [was witchcraft]. The same day I taken 'im hospital, that's the day I had it taken up. An' the one take it up says he'd find some relief in twenty-four hours, but not till it wus taken up.
Entry 638
Graveyard dirt kin be used in many different things. It kin be used in love cases. Well, graveyard dust, if yo' wanta use fo' protection in love cases, yo' use it wit de wonderful water.
(What is the wonderful water?)
It's got from a spring runnin' dead no'th, a spring runnin' no'th - lak dis Way, de stream dis-a-way an' de spring heah runnin' no'th. (You get this wonder water and you get this graveyard dirt. How do you prepare this thing now?) Well now, we'll come on down an' prepare it fo' yo'. Yo' git the stream runnin' no'th - de spring is ovah on whut ah would call de south side of a stream runnin' dead no'th. Be sure dat chew find a spring wit de stream runnin' no'th. Well, we takes our graveyard dust an' we gits it in a clear bottle den wit a stopper to it dat we kin stop up, an' we goes an' puts some of de dirt in de bottle an' we gits our spring wit de watah runnin' no'th - we gits dat an' put it in dere. Den when we's goin' pull a deal of any kind, we sits our bottle with this heah graveyard dust in it. Well, quite natch'l, de dust will settle to de bottom of anything. Whatevah we gits our mind on, what de object we got befo' us - whatevah it may be, whether we make good or whether we lose out. Well, we handle dis bottle - we sets it on de table so de top of it will come clear. Yo' know spring watah is clear as a crystal, an' since [if] it clear as a crystal, why we knows everything whatevah we goin' do, we know we'll put it through. We put it ovah whatsomevah it may be. Well, den, if it's not dat way clear, it not fo' our luck tuh change right at dat time, dis heah graveyard dust will come up dere an' cloudy dat water jes' lak a cloudy day - change - de skies will change. It will change within de period of fifteen minutes. It will come on up an' cloudy dat water so yo' can't be sure atall. Den we jes' keep it dere, an' whenevah we goin' tuh do anything - in love cases or whatevah we may do, we goes an' git our bottle an' set it on de table in a quiet place. It's a great magic watah - it's a magic gift. Den we use dat tuh conquer spirits, yo' see, for sech things as whut dey call hants. We use dis heah spring watah wit de graveyard dust in it.
(How would you conquer a hant in that case?)
Well, if we conquer a hant in dat case, we put a little add into dat watah - we add somepin to dat watah, we'd add sulphur. We'd add burnt sulphur, we'd burn it - we'd burn it on de watah, somepin tuh form a little clond on de watah. Den we go up on dere an' git de cloud off an' put de cloud in dere on top of dat. Dat give us mo' force to conquer de spirit - we'd keep spirits away from anything we'd go tuh do. How to make a man come back. Yo'd have tuh use dis same watah in a case lak dat - it's a mind drawin' thing: First, yo' gotta git chure mind on whatevah object yo goin' tuh undertake tuh do. An' aftah we git our mind pin on dis heah, then we sits de watah befo' us an' we looks at de watah. We naturally sits dere an' looks - sometimes it takes us hours, until we kin git contact with the party whosomevah dey may be. They mind an' mah mind contact wit each othah, an' den he'll come tuh me, at de same time whether dey wants me or not. Den if ah want tuh draw 'em back, ah'll turn de watah, ah'll git de square bottle - see, ah'll turn de square side to me, an' ah'll give dem three days tuh roll in. Dey come back an' dey send fo' me. De same watah draw 'em back - draws through de mind, yore mind an' dis othah party's mind would come in contact together an' why, quite natch'ly, yo'll see 'em in three days aftah that. That is, if yo' stay on it dat long.
Entry 792
Well, they say you take the foot tracks and they can trick you with 'em. Pick it up - take something like a shovel or something like that and pick it up and bring it. Care [carry] it to the graveyard, and they would plant it by a grave and you'll find yourself - you're wasting away, something like wasting disease, see. Well, you say, "I'm going to a doctor, a medical doctor." Well, a medical doctor don't do you no good. "Well, I think I go to a two-head doctor" = [that] mean a hoodoo. Well, you go to a hoodoo and he'll say, "Well, you're tricked." He'll ask you, "Does you have pains up your legs?" You'll say, "Yes." Then the hoodoo will come and the hoodoo will say, "Well, have you been walking somewhere on the road somewhere?" You'll say, "Yes." The hoodoo will say, "Somebody done pick up your track - well, I can cure you." That what the hoodoo will say - he can cure you. Well, you say, "I give you so much to cure me" - you know, to make me well. Well, he say, "All right." Well, I'll try - try with this hoodoo man until he will try to do me some good. Maybe he may do me good and maybe, iffen I'm got confidence in him, he will do me good. Well, my feet are starting to swelling and paining me. I would take all kinds of 'erbs and medicines from him and start to rubbing myself with them but that don't do no good. Well, I'll say I'll try another hoodoo. You see. And then this Way he will go - the swelling will go - quite natchurly most anything will make swelling go down. This hoodoo will come along and may think he can do a whole lot for you. And well, he can't do nothing for you, you understand, because my sister was sick in the bed and a hoodoo man came there - he had a grip [bag] in his hand.
[He imitates a doctor by carrying a medical kit - see Doctor's bag in Index.]
He say to me - he walks in there - my sister was in the bed and I was setting by the bed with her. [Again, he apes a doctor by having a prescription: pad.] He had a tablet like you [see later] - just buy outen the store and there wasn't nothing on it, same as new, but he had that tablet fixed so that I couldn't tell - I couldn't tell you what I was going to tell you, but he walked in there and he say, "Your sister is sick and she got a bug in her bed."
(What in the bed?)
A bug, bug in her bed. He say she got a bug in her bed.
(Your sister had a bug in the bed?)
What made her sick.
(I see.)
Causing her being sick. And he say, "I can get this bug outen the bed for your sister, but it will cost fifty dollars. So she said, "Oh, I ain't got but thirty-five cents in the house." Do you understand me, what I say? [See Deafness in Introduction.] And he said, "I can show you what I can do." He pull out the tablet and he tore the sheet off the tablet - you couldn't see nothing, it was just like you'd buy out of the store. He goes, says, "You got a little lamp?" And he goes and he burns it. He burn that sheet but it didn't fall to pieces, you know. And on that sheet it say, "You going to die - you got a bug in your bed and if you don't get him out, you going to die and your next door neighbor - a tall, dark woman, put it in there for you."
(Did you see this writing on the paper?)
Yeah, I saw it.
(He held this piece of plain paper over the lamp?)
Yeah, and let it burn, and when it burn, you could see the writing just as good as you take your hand and do [write] it. [See Writing invisible, in Index.] He say, he ask the girl, my friend, he say, "Have you?" She say, "Well, I ain't got but thirty-five cents." He say, "Oh, it takes fifty dollars to do dat." He say, "Well, come back here." He goes back there in the next room and he say, "To show you that I'm not lying" - that's the hoodoo man say that, you know. He say, "Turn your mattress back." He had two little bottles just about that big, see [demonstrates].
(About the size of your finger.)
Yeah. One had a black bug in it like a wood bug - I don't know what kind of bug, but like a bug. And one bottle didn't have any in it. He said, "Throw your mattress back." Well, they throw the mattress back and he say, "Now look." Now, I was watching him very close, you know, and he say, "Now, you see this bottle." That bottle he showed us didn't have anything at all in it. He said, "I'm going to put this bottle under your mattress and then you throw it back and that bug going to get out of that mattress into that bottle." All right. She did that. Now, in place of him putting the bottle without any bug in, he slipped the one with the bug in it, you see. And when she turn back, he said, "Now go back and turn the mattress - look." And when we turn the mattress there was the bottle with the big bug in it. I say, "OH!" And my friend say, "Oh, look there, that bug was in your bed, too." I told her, I said, "oh, don't mind that, tain't no bug in no bed or nothing like that." I watched him so close and he was watching me very close, you know, when he was doing that. He say, "Well, I charge you fifty dollars to get him out." I say, "Well, she ain't got no fifty dollars." He say, "Well, I have to put this bug back in your bed." He goes and slips the bottle with the bug in in under there and taken the one what there was none in, and when he got ready to take the bottle out, he put the bottle what didn't have no bug in. He said, "Now, the bug has gone back in the mattress - into the bed." You know. Well, that was a fake. He didn't have no bottle - he had two. And by watching him close, that's what drawed my attention to him - you know, with the bottle what's in there. [He had a tablet like you - he refers to one of my Numbers Book.]
Entry 858
I was goin' to school. It was two girls. Well, I cared for both of 'em but it was one I re'lly liked bettah. De lady's livin' today, the one tha' hurt me. An' she wanted me to marry dis girl because it was her niece, but de other girl I liked her bettah. An' so we were schoolmates. De girl I care more for, well she'd [she was the] one I kep' right up [with] in mah class. An' so afterward it come to pass, the lady, which dis girl was her niece, she sol' wine an' stuff. Well, I liked wine. Well, mah mothah an' her seemed to be purtty good frien's. Why? Becuz she want me to marry her [niece] I reckon, becuz mothah had a little property an' stuff like dat an' I was de only child mah mothah had, you know. So I reckon she t'ought she'd tie me up, but still I loved de othah girl. An' so after school broke up, so de words got out - she says Carrie an' I was gon'a get married. As fer as I could learn, this lady said, "Well, if you don't marry her, why you're not gon'a marry anybody else." "So I was at her house an' should of notice it but I didn't. I didn't notice it. We boys go down dere on Sunday, you know, in de country - you know Sunday's a big time in de country. I goes down there on Sunday an' we run in an' we'd have a little drinks. I nevah did pay fer mine. I didn't pay any 'tention but it seemed very funny. But aftah I got hurt, den I re'lize what had happen I nevah did have to pay fer my drinks. An' it went on fer a period about two mont's. But in de third mont' I commence to drinkin', I begin to go bad - I feel bad. An' so mah mothah called de doctor an' de doctah come an' she ast him what was de mattah with me - which was a country doctor, Dr. Williams, which is livin' today. He did the best he could. [I apologize for my comment at the beginning of No. 646, p.218 - here is the second person to say a kind word about a doctor and his medicine.] An' so it seem like de more his medicine I took de worser I got. So he says to mah mothah one day, he says, "Ida," he says, "I don't know what's de mattah with de boy. I can't do him no good an'," he says, "the best thing tha' I know fer to do, is to send him de hospital." Well, before tha' mothah sent me de hospital, came ole man name of Ole Man Stuckey - he's dead, he's a white fellah called a faith doctor. He came in an' so mothah ast 'im some instruction about mah case. So Mr. Stuckey [Mr. for a white man] looked at me an' he said, "Well, Ida," he say, "tha' boy hurt." He says, "He's hurt." An' she says, "How you mean?" He said, "Well, somebody have put a spell on him." She says, "Mr. Stuckey, what will happen to him?" He said, "Well, you'll have to see some root doctor becuz a medical doctor is no good." So he referred to ole man Frank Bethe, Dunn, North Carolina, which is not quite a hunderd mile from here. I guess it'll run between ninety an' a hunderd. "I guess we kin git dat boy [well] if you kin git dat boy dere," he said, "Ole Man Frank will see him." Dat's de root doctor. [Here is one of the few documented cases - among numerous possible ones - of a person looking about for clients to send to a root doctor, a doctor almost one- hundred miles distant. The woman in No. 10, p.7, also went to Dunn, 24 miles northeast of Fayetteville where she then lived. Does the person sending in patients receive a kickback? As I from personal experience have explained in the Introduction, it is not easy to find or meet a doctor without a go between.] So mah stepfathah had a little ole Buick automobile. He takes dat ole car an' he goes on to Dunn. So, aftah we got in front of the door, stopped de car, Ole Man Frank walks out. He's a ole man who wears his pants backwards - de front part of his pants is backward. Dat's a'showing, de sign dat he's a root doctor, indiff'rent [diff'rent] from anybody else. Not all of 'em will do dat. So it was five of us in de crowd. He walks out, "That fellah there, he's hot [has a spell on him]." That was before I had said anything to him. An' so Ole Man Frank he turnt around to mah stepfathah an' says, "Well, why don't choo buy you some tires?" Mah stepfathah says, "I got purtty good tires." He says, "Wha choo had two punctures for?" Well, we did had two. We run ovah a nail - it was in a board, it was two punctures, but the punctures were all at de same time but two holes. So mah stepfathah he didn't git [didn't understand] - he said, "I haven't had but one puncture." He says, "You have." He says, "No, I haven't stopped but one time to fix tires, I didn't stop no more." He says, "You had two holes in that tube didn't you?" Mah stepfathah says, "Yes." He says, "Well, you all kin march in an' line up." So we lined up. Now, we walked straight on in past the first and second room and stopped in the third [see the three little rooms in my interview of Informant 1532 of Memphis]. An' he had a long bench an' a nice line of chairs on the left-hand side. He says, "You wanta sit on that long bench?" We all sit on de bench. So we went on in an' we did jis' as he said. Well, he wasn't in there at present then. Well, we was in there awhile there came a light. It was a light lit up the room. It come jes' about dark when we got there. I didn't see [a] light - I didn't see no lamp or nuthin. The room lit up an' aftah the room lit up 'an [= than = then] the light went right out. The ole man aftah awhile come in. He walked on down the crowd and looked ovah them [for the culprit] - before I go any further I'll tell you what was said. This ole man had a very nice lookin' daughter. You know exactly how mens will talk about 'em, about womenfolks. When we was comin' up in the car, one of the boys said, the same boy that was drivin' the automobile, a man, he said, "I would like to, for dat girl to be mine. I'd like to be wit her." So, [we] was waiting for Ole Man Frank to appear when we first come in. Ole Man Frank come in and he says, "There's one of you fellahs" - he say, "who was it spoke slack about her?" Nobody didn't say anything. He looked directly at us an' said, "Listen," he say, "I want you to treat mah house with respect." He say, "I didn't think you comin up here for any devilment or disrespectable manner." He says, "I thought youse comin' up here to bring this patient." He say, "Wha' choo wanna come here an'" he said, "you said when you saw mah daughter aroun' the edge of the field there tha' choo wanted to be with 'er." Well, God knows he said so. Well, I said [to myself], "This ole man here knows somepin." [My informant's reaction, contained in the preceding underlined words, is just what Frank wanted - the mysterious light and two punctures also preparing for it. This reminds me of a man interviewed in Petersburg, Virginia; former owner of a traveling medicine-show - himself, a traveling-bag, and great experience. As a part of the tune-up for the sales-pitch, he would call out to an old man in the audience; first having secretly learned his name and local reputation. Pointing at the man, "You, out there, old Uncle Ben Smith! [[Dramatic pause.]] Everybody for miles knows you - knows you're a honest man. But, you don't look too healthy to me. Don't be frightened! I'm going to tell you what's the matter with you. Better, I'm going to give, present you with a free bottle of my medicine, which will cure you before morning. First, however, I'm going to ask you a question. These people know you will give me a truthful answer. Listen carefully. Every night, don't you have to get up and go outside to the bathroom?" The old man shouted, "Amen! AmenI That's the truth! This man knows somepin!"] An' so I sat down there awhile. He'd stopped you from sayin' anything. He said, "You go here and sit in that chair." I sit on the chair. I was sittin' [in] chair I reckon 'bout five minutes. He say, "Kin you read?" I says, "Yes." He handed me a book. He says, "Why don' choo read?" I started to readin'. I didn't know thing - I was asleep: He put ever'body in the room asleep: [If a buzzard can row Doctor Buzzard's boat - see margin-title Doctor Buzzard - don't be too skeptical.] Well, I woke up before anybody - he woke me up first. Ever'body sittin' over there asleep - snorin'. Then he ast me mah trouble. [He did nothing of the sort as we will see.] He says, "I knowed it was a black woman that's put a spell on yah," and he say, "it's two girls you was goin' with, one of them's daughter [niece] an' she jes' put a spell on you." He says, "I know exactly what's the matter with you. [Doctor Frank is merely repeating the information he had received in a letter from the white-man faith-doctor, Ole Man Stuckey. The latter could have sent the letter sometime before he called on the prospective patient - he says, "Ole Man Frank will see him.] He says, "I'm not goin' wake a one up in the house now until I fix you." He says, "You got any money?" I says, "Well, yes, I got a little bit." He says, "I don't want a dime but, '" he said, "I'm goin' fix yeh." [Frank is now preparing to advertise himself in the patient's community.] I says, "Well, Frank [I doubt that!]," I says, "I'll have to pay you, won't I?" We all knowed his name. You could see the big letters all around the wall - F-R-A-N-K B-E-T-H-E, Frank Bethe. He set down. "Well," he say, "I'm goin' fix it for you." He say, "I'll fix what I'm gon'a use." He said, "You jis' take mah money an' carry it on the back of your house, on the east end, an' put it in a piece of paper - don't bury it - a piece of newspaper an' wrap it up," he says, "I'll git it." [He means] back of mah house aftah I get back home - don't live in no Wilmington, I lived with mah mothah. I lived in Castel [North Carolina]. [What Doctor Bethe should have said, "My co-worker, white-man faith doctor, Ole Man Stuckey, will pick it up for me some night."] [A doctor picking up his fee at a distance or through the air is not rare - see No. 13, p.12 and in Index, Doctor fee.] And so I reckon I'd have spells right aroun' eight an' nine o'clock at night. It was gittin' roun' eight or nine o'clock then and I commence havin' a spell, commence gittin' dizzy an' funny an' sort of shakey, jis' like I ever was. [The Spell happens at the same time it was cast - see margin-title 11:30-5:30 Trains.] [This dizziness could explain his being put to sleep - a sudden blackout.] He come an' put his hand ovah mah forehead an' ever'thing's bright [the bright light again] an' I could look up an' talk to him till he say, "Well, I think ever'thing will be all right." And he told me to go home an' put dat money dere. He ast me how far I lived from there [Dunn]. I told him where I lived. He says, "If you live less than a hunderd miles, I kin work for you aftah I send you home. He couldn't work over a hunderd mile wid jore cast - it had to come in the percentage of a hunderd-mile list before that he could reach you case. But - he didn't want to work on you in his house. And so I left him that night. He told me, he said, "Now, you go on home and in the mornin'," he said, "you won't have any more of these spells but," he said, "you'll be weak for ovah a week." He fixed me a bottle before I left there. And so he told me about this bottle he fixed - the bottle of medicine. He told me, he says, "Now, I want you take this at nine o'clock in the morning [reverse magic - opposite to nine o'clock at night]. I wants you to take on Eastern Standard Time [just to be different or mystifying or to allow for extra hour "eight or nine"]. I said, "Well, listen, I don't know if my clock is Eastern Standard Time or not." He say, "Well, I want choo to take the medicine by one o'clock." He say, "You take it nine o'clock by your clock, take it one the next, and three the next [odd hours] and then you'll git all right." And then he said, "I'll wan' choo to come back to see me aftah you put this money in the paper. So aftah I put the money in the paper like he tole me and commence takin' the medicine, I was goin' strong, feelin' good - I didn't have any more shaking spells. So I return back and I saw him and he told me, he say, "Lewis"-he called my name, I nevah told 'im mah name. He say, "Lewis," he say, "you're coming along all right now, aren't chah?" I told 'im, "Yes sir." Do you think you kin get your money?" I says, "Yes sir, I got it." [Several preceding pieces of bad recording, very short ones, confuse the flow of events here. I am copying the text from my original pencil transcription made soon after the cylinder was recorded; an original I will now attach to this final manuscript ready for publication. The money hidden in the newspaper was not the complete fee; it was two things - (1) more atmosphere, this for local advertising about a doctor who could pick up his fee at a distance, and (2) the kickback to Old Man Stuckey who picked it up. The real fee, no price set, to be paid later.] He say, "Well now, you owe me fifteen dollars. You got it?" I told him, 'Yes sir, I got it." I thought he was goin' to charge me about hunderd dollars. I'd been borr'in' money from ever'body in de neighborhood - the man I was workin' fer I done borr'ed fifty dollars from him, and the ole lady [mother] had to mortgage de place. [This borrowing is like the expression I had ever' doctor in town. So he said, "Well, all right, give me fifteen dollars." So I paid him. I say, "Weli, Doc," I say, "look here." I say, "That medicine done me so much good," I said, "what did you put in it?" He says, "Now, if you want me to learn you what to put in this medicine," he said, "I'll have to tell you but," he said, "it'll cost you five more dollars to learn about it." I says, "I'd rather pay you five dollars," says I, "cause I like to have some more of this medicine - you see, this bottle's gone." He says, "Now, if you'll stay up here this afternoon" - he says, "I'm busy." He say, "I like the folks [patients] to be here this part of the day [all healing is done with the rising sun] but, '' says, "if you'll stay up here dis afternoon, he says, "I'll show you the ingredients that I put in the bottle." So I decided. I told 'im yes I'd stay. And so that afternoon, after he got done with his business, him and I went on out in the woods. And so he got a root that's called Eve and Adam. He showed that 'erb which I knowed today - which I could go git a piece now in less than thirty minutes. He showed me the qroundhoa, the sow and the boar, that's a 'erb that grows - not de groundhog that we talk about, I mean dat fix up de weather - female and male. And de nex' 'erb he showed me was de high John de Conker; the nex', low John de Conker. He told me to take those things an' boil 'em for four hours, add one gallon of water to it and boil it till it come down to one quart [magic of diminishing amount]. Take it jes' 'fore sunrise and go out to de east corner of de buildin', sit de bottle down jes' before sunrise, take nine steps backwards, go back an' pick de bottle up, an' ever'thing will be O.K. until the sundown. Jes' a few minutes before the sun leaves the edges of the trees, take it and carry it away - walk nine steps backwards [pick up the bottle], walk direct west nine steps, turn back and your medicine is finish.
(Did he say how this woman had tricked you?)
Yes, sir. He told me she tricked me in drinkin'.
(He didn't tell you what she had put in it?)
Yes, he did, but I've nevah been able to do nuthin to her. But I'll nevah forgit de name he called it. He told me this woman had [gone] down side de back and got a weed that was called mint calZow[?]. That's what he told me. And he said she'd boiled the weed, that mint calZow, into a quart of water down to a pint [magic of diminishing amount] and he said she poured it into one quart of wine. And he said ever'time that I'd go there she'd give me to drink out of dat, and de rest de fellahs out of what she was sellin'. [I have a feeling that Doctor Frank was pleased to be rid of this patient. Once a woman on leaving me threw a fit out in the hall; again, two doctors out- side got into a fight - see Introduction. You don't want too much of this sort of thing. The preceding medicine-show man - my failure to take down the account of his work was one of my great failures - see Introduction.]
Entry 902
I remember a story. A lady friend of mine [Miz Annie] - this wus real, too. It happen here in the city of Wilmington - it's not been over two years ago [1935]. An' a lady came to her home and she wus supposed to be a friend of her daughter [Alberta]. An' this girl [lady friend of Alberta] wus livin' in her home, roomin' in the home with this lady, Miz Annie. Miz Annie wus a friend of mine. An' so Miz Annie's daughter [Alberta] became sick an' she kept ailing all along. An' they didn't know whut wus de trouble with her, an' she wus always off the job, and didn't know whut, you know, the trouble with her. She kept so sickly, they couldn't do anything with her. So after awhile she [Alberta] went to de doctor and the doctor told her that he didn't know, he couldn't see any reason why, he couldn't account for her sickness - he jis' couldn't - she'd jis' have spells and jis' fall right down. An' so after - one evening her mother came in an' she says, "Now, Alberta, she says, "how are you feeling. An' Alberta said, "Munmee," she says, "I'm so sick I don't know whut to do." An' this same lady [Alberta's friend] wus livin' in de house, rentin'; so she went unto work. An' [while this friend wus at work] another lady [doctor] told her [the mother] - she [the mother] went to another lady [this doctor] which she knew from South Carolina an' ast this lady about how people acted when they were like that [cunjured]. So she [the mother] told her how she [Alberta] do-ed. Then she taken Alberta and carried her to this lady, an' when she carried her to this lady, the lady told her she had been hurt an' it wus somethin' buried under her steps. An' so Miz Annie came back home. An' after Miz Annie came back home and she - somepin told her to go get the hoe and dig right under her steps an' she would found a bottle buried there. [The doctor had already told her this, but somepin told her was the spirit confirming the doctor. Miz Annie and the woman in the preceding story (No. 901) could dig up the buried article without danger only because each had permission from a doctor. Permission from the spirit is also sufficient authority.] An' so she digged under there an' she found this bottle, an' it wus a bottle about that high, purta near hold a quart. After she taken this bottle up she taken this bottle over to the lady [doctor] an' dey found in this bottle - they dumped it out and it wus camphor an' hair an' pins an' a - somepin else she told me - bluestone wus in this bottle. It wus buried under de steps. An' kerosene - why, you see, that smell, odor of kerosene in it. An' after they got dis bottle up, den Alberta got all right. They burned it up, made a fire an' burned it. Ever'thin' like that tha' chew get up, anythin' like that, chew burn it. That destroys it.
Entry 920
("I had a travelin' spell put on me one time," you said?)
Yeah, an' de way dat ah wus told 'at it was done. Dis fellah went an' got mah [foot] track an' he goes to de graveyard an' he took a silver dime jes' like if to buy some graveyard dirt from a person, but he said dat de person would have to be a wicked person yo' see, jes' lak a person dat live a - yo' know, dat live a wicked life an' den have been murdered someway. An' yo' kin go there an' buy some dirt from them. Dey say yo' go down a certain distant in de earth, you see, right by de tombstone an' yo' take a lighter peg - a piece of fat lighter [pine] - an' jes' stick it down dere with dat dime an' [that's] buyin' dat dirt from de dead, you see. An' den, jes' whatsomevah dat yo' want tuh happen, in buyin' dis dirt from dem, well, den yo' could put it in action. Well, dis guy went to work an' got dis graveyard dirt - de way ah wus told - an' he took hit an' mah track an' put it into a bottle an' he corked dis bottle up. Throwed it into de rivah. Well, dat's to git mah mind goin' - yo' see, as de tide comes an' goes, well, dis man tole me dat mah mind would travel ies dat way. Well, ah noticed, ah leaved home. Ah didn't know nuthin whut it wus all about - ah jes' picked up an' leaved. Well, after ah crossed de rivah - de first rivah dat wus between mah home an' where ah wus goin' ovah in Brunswick - well, ah didn't have no more thoughts or no mo' ideas about home den if ah didn't have one. Well, ah went ovah dere [to Brunswick] an' remained dere fo' awhile. Mah mind wus all confused, ah jes' didn't have no pers'nal judgment about nuthin. An' dere wus a friend of mine took me to a man called a doctor - a hoodoo doctor of some kind. Well, he tole me -
(Where was he - in Brunswick?)
Yes sir.
(This was in Brunswick - all right.)
This [doctor] was in Waycross - an' he told him - yo' know, whut they did. Well, he tole me de same thing. He said, dis guy had this thing fixed in order fo' it tuh float so many days. An' whenevah dat thing - he had it fixed in a leaky condition - wherevah it leak in dat water dat dis thing could sink, then ah would go ovahbo'd. They Wanted tuh kill me - git rid of me - but dey didn't want to do it, yo' know, deyself. But dey wanted it fixed so dat ah would do it mahself. Well, ah notice while dis thing wus goin' dat way, all of mah days ah'd nevah be satisfied no place unless ah wus round de rivah. (Well, did this fellah tell you how to get rid of it - did he help you get rid of it?) Shore, he tole me dat he had to git it - he had tuh overtake it somehow. Ah don't know how he went into de rivah to git it, but he ovahtaken it befo' it sunk [see No. 921]. Soon as he did dat den, ah got all right. Took 'im about three weeks, though, befo' ah got straight. Now, dat's a pers'nal experience.
Entry 921
Well, it wus a girl, a fren' of mine. Well, it wus three of 'em [girls] an' her mothah married. She married a fellah dat wus stepfathah to dese children an' so de stepfathah tried tuh go with her. An' aftah she, yo' know, commence tellin' her mothah an' lak dat, yo' know, well, den he commence tuh whippin' her an' beatin' her yo' know an' all lak dat. She had long hair about that long [demonstrates] an' when she got up tuh about fifteen yeahs ole, he taken a plait of her hair an' put it in a cake-flavor bottle an' he carried dis girl's hair to de Miss'ippi Rivah, an' put it ovah in-dat Miss'ippi Rivah, an' dat chile fifteen yeahs ole, she started tuh walkin'. She left home that evenin' an' her mothah didn't know where she wus, an' she walked - she walked aways. She walked back down heah to a place dey call Forest City, an' she got lost walkin' an' so they wus in Cold Spring tryin' tuh find her, an' dey did find her, an' dey carried her tuh a man named Mr. Smith. He's up heah tuh Turrell[?] Arkansas. Her mothah taken her tuh dis man, an' he killed de hair in dis bottle, but how he kilt it ah dunno. But he kilt de hair in dis bottle, an' that brought de girl back.
(How long ago did that happen?)
Aw, it's been 'bout nine yeahs ago.
Entry 1087
They had something like snakes in 'em; whole lot of things just working up. So I fixed up a remedy and she passed all those from her. I got the stuff and gave her it and she passed a rattlesnake first - the first dose I gave her. And then the next dose I gave her, she passed a whole lot of little things just working up. I was working down here and someone knocked at the door, the first time. He woke me up and he says, "Go to the back door." And there was a bottle at the back door. I went there. He told me to carry it to her. Well somehow another somethin' said, "You can't go." And I got the axe and took that in there and I struck the bottle and broke the bottle up. It was a bottle about that long and in this bottle was a piece of her dress - the back part of her dress. The reason why I know it was the back part, we found the dress on the back porch balled up in a corner and that's why I know it was a piece of her dress. We found it. And then there was a piece of hair in there and a whole lot of piece of needles - sharp-pointed needles and pins. In this bottle it smelt like cologne. And there was a piece of root in there - it looked like High John de Conquer root - was in this bottle. And there was a cork stopper in the bottle. We opened it - course I didn't, but I got another lady to open it for me. And we'd taken 'em out later on in a piece of paper and looked at 'em. This girl was almost crazy. So I got some - something told me to do this. I went and got some Jerusalum root. I reckon you've heard talk of Jerusalum root - a root that grows.
(Jerusalum root?) [Jerusalem artichoke?]
Yes. I just got that root and then I got some of these pokeberry roots and I got me some red pepper - pod pepper and I got me some fish salt and I put it into a boiler and boiled it all up together - cooked it all up together, and just cooked it enough to have enough for her to bath in. And I bath-ed her in this here for nine mornings, and then I had another - and her hair come off her head just like your hand [handfuls] she was just almost crazy. Then after bath-ing her with this, then I takes up this red pepper and some grease and mix it together with olive oil and just greased it good all over with this here pepper and oil together, after bath-ing her for these nine mornings. Then after doing it nine mornings, bath-ing her, then I told her to take those bottles and throw it all overboard, but not to do it before because I've heard people say if you were tricked and before you were cured, if you throw that away if you found it, why it wouldn't do any good.
Entry 1418
Now, ah have got de perfume weed mahself - it's home. Yeah, it's a vine grows in de woods lak dat [demonstrates]. Yo' pick it [a leaf] off at de [growing] end. De leaf on it is jis' lak a heart, yo' see. Now, ah want show yo' dis. Yes, heah 'tis in mah pocket. Ah stick it in dis pocket. Dis is a sanitary pocket han'scuff. See. An' dis pocket han'scuff is got dat perfume odor on it, don't chew see.
[Evidently I did not ask to smell it.]
(This perfume weed?) [For its possible identity, see later.]
Yeah - de vine. Well, ah carry dis, don't chew know jis' all de time. But it's must be a sanitary piece dat's not used at all - it's gota be used on me, yo' see.
(Why do you carry that?)
That keeps anyone from harmin' yo'. Dat's whut chew ast me, don't yo' see.
(Has this perfume weed any other name?)
Yeah. It's jes' call perfume weed, but yo' dress it yoreself, yo' see.
(How do you take the perfume out of that weed?)
Well, listen, it already smells sweet when yo' go an: dig it an' de little leaf is made, it jis' grows lak de shape of a heart. Yo' git that yoreself. Yo' know it grows kinda long.
(On the ground?)
Yeah, an' yo' git that an' dress that yoreself. Yo' dress that wit whiskey an'perfume.
(How do you dress it? What do you do with this weed?)
De roots, put 'em into a quart bottle - jis' as big a bottle as yo' want, if yo've got that much yo' see. An' see yo' po' jis' perfume, but de root always smells nice befo' yo' put it in dere. It smells lak perfume itself. An' yo' put whiskey an' half perfume an' jis' put dose roots - put jis as many roots in that bottle as yo' want, an' fo' two years, or twelve years it'll be jis' lak yo' fixed it there. Now, that's when yo' dressin' it.
(You just use that on your handkerchief?)
Yeah. [His perfume weed could be the heartleaf (see Index), common name for several American species of Asarum, all having aromatic roots; informant's root possibly being A. canadense, used as an aromatic bitter and flavoring agent.]
Entry 1500
Take de ole shoes an' burn 'em for de backache - burm 'em to ashes and put 'em in a bottle an' put watah on 'em an' drink de watah off dem fo' de back- ache.
Entry 1565
De snakeroot - well, yo' take dat snakeroot an' yo' pulls it up by de roots an' yo' shake de dirt off it an' wash it. Well, yo' put hit into a bottle. Well, then you kin put whiskey on it - hit's good fo' most any kinda disease.
Entry 1656
A man who dug up a bottle at his house threw it into running water, threw a handful of salt behind it and said, "Go, you devil, go."
Entry 1722
[The Black Bottle rite appears to have been confined to the New Orleans area. As the dark greenish-black bottle disappeared, any dark bottle was used - beer bottle or even a bottle blackened with tar as in the following:] I said you kin take, after a man go outside - you know they have a action and you kin watch him and get that and put it in a black bottle, and carry it to the cemetery and bury it de way the dead is buried in the cemetery. Ah knowed that to be true - a man died from that, after that buried in the graveyard dirt. (I see. They get his dung and they put it in this black bottle and they took the bottle out to the graveyard. And they buried this bottle on the grave or buried it like a grave?) Buried it like a grave. Dig a grave for the bottle and buried it jest head and tail, the way the body is laying in the cemetery, and he will die. I've seen that done.
(I see. Must they use a black bottle? Couldn't they use a white bottle?)
No sir, it's to be a black one - you see, jest something like you get a bottle that have tar in it; dey black bottles, just black.
Entry 1731
Tuh git a job. Well, now yo' git chew some lodestone an' yo' set down an' yo' git chew a screenin' wire - lak dat screen up dere. (The screen in the window.) [Hotel window.] Co'se it take yo' a long time tuh do it but yo' set down an' yo'rub it an' rub until dat lodestone come tuh dust an' yo git chew some cologne - yo' know dis heah Jockey Club. Yo' take it an' put it in a bottle lak ah got heah now. See, dat lodestone. [He shows a small bottle.]
(What is the liquid you have in there?)
That's that Jockey Club Perfume. And den yo' could put yo' - if yo' wanta, yo' kill you a black cat an' git his bone an' grind dat up jis' lak yo' do de lodestone. Put it in dere an' den yo' kin go to a man, talkin' to him, an' he'll git ovah tuh yo' - give yo' a job.
(You have that black cat dust in this bottle? Both of them together?)
Yessuh.
(Any bone from the cat?)
Any bone? Yo' see yo' gotta git a bone from roun' his shoulder - up heah, de left shoulder, from in front. Grind it to a powder an' take dis heah bone an' rub it on dis heah screenin' wire until it comes [to a powder]. It goin' take yo' a long time tuh do it. But hit'll do it. Ah use dis fo' luck in gamblin an' luck an' successful in meetin' mah fren's an' everythin'. Ah make fren's, ah don't make no enemies. [If this man had black cat powder in his hand, it was surely a talcum or similar powder with a label showing a black cat and reading Black Cat Powder (see No.1377, p.459).]
Entry 1757
In 1931 ah owed a big furniture bill and wasn't working and didn't have anyone to help me. Well, I had a brother, too, was in trouble - supposed to been in trouble. So I went to Jackson [Mississippi] over there to a man, and he told me about how ah could do - that he would fix up something for me and he said the furniture man wouldn't worry me and neither would the rent man. Well, ah was behind in both and ah was afraid. And so I went over with another girl - she was telling me about him. Well, he told me - when I went back home - he. gave a little old piece of bottle with some dust in it - hit was broken off - he said he usually did fix them that way - broke off - empty it in your hand, you know, and sprinkle in your front door. Well, hit was some kind of brown-looking stuff - kinda looked like it had little black spots or something in it, and he told me that I could sprinkle that a little before the rent man and a little before the furniture man got there and [he] say, if they come, they wouldn't ask for money at all. And so I did that. And so that Saturday morning [rent paid by the week] the rent man came down and he passed my door and went to another girl and asked for her rent. He didn't do anything but just speak to me. But I don't know what that stuff was - but I know he gave me that, and I didn't have no trouble until I got a job out here on [?] Avenue.
(You went over to Jackson to get that?)
To Jackson to a man named A. J. Williams.
(Williams - a colored man?)
A colored man.
(What did he charge you for that?)
Charge me for it? We only give him three dollars - was all I had. He said that he charges round ten and twelve dollars but he told me in the next two or three days if I could get a job, then I could send him a dollar along like that. [Brilliantl 'I am trusting you, trust yourself. Stop worrying - this will work" Also good business.] He didn't never charge much. But I never did pay him but five dollars after I worked. [The breaking of bottle could be magic act (No. 1015, p.389) or trademark of handnaker.]
Entry 1955
Well now, a lady got my hair one time and she stopped it up in a bottle and she buried it. So it almost run me crazy but I went to a man. He made her bring de hair back. She'd brought it face to face and give it to me and told me why she did it, because she thought I had nothing to do but sit on de porch and read papers and I was in better circumstances den her. So dis man asked me what did I want done with her. I say, "Well, tain't worth while to kill her, but jest send her away from Portsmouth." I was living in Portsmouth. Well, he sent her away and he wasn't nine days sending 'er either. He just got three pinches - jest like that - pinches of dirt and sewed it up.
(Was this out of her left track? Tell me just what he did in this case.)
He got three pinches of dirt out of her left track, right in the hollow of her foot and put it - made a little cloth bag and put that in there and sewed it up and had taken it to running water and made three wishes and threw it overboard. She went away from dere. [Norfolk, Va., (486), 514:8.] [To show that my comment did not suggest a left-track rite to informant, I will now quote the left-track rite given by informant two rites preceding present one.] Get the dirt out of the left foot, three pinches, and put that in a cloth rag you know and sew it up. And take it to running water and throw it overboard and make three wishes before you do it. And when you make them three wishes - they gone from here. An' I know that to be true.
(You make the wishes just for them to leave?)
Yeah.
(You mean just to leave town or to die?)
To leave, to die - either one. You make de wishes - if you want 'em just leave town, make it dat way; and if you want 'em to die, you make it dat way. [Norfolk, Va., (486), 514:6.] [Both these original transcriptions - 514:6 & 514:8 - are part of the final manuscript.]
Entry 2252
[I have described an old man in New Orleans whose cure-all root bottle was his complete theory and practice of medicine - see No. 847, p.293.] Then agin they says - in fact they has a little ball into a bottle. Ah went to him once. Ah didn't go to him 'cause ah believe in him but ah went jes' tuh please de othahs. Ah went to him down dere an' supposed to be a real cunjure. He had a little stuff put in a bottle, bottle of herbs, but de way he had yo' go through de process, hold it in yore han' lak dat [demonstrates] an' anything yo' desires, he say it comes. Yo' hold it in yore han' lak dat an' carry yore han' ovah yore haid three times an' de third time, yo' says, "In de Name of de Father, Name of de Son an' Name of de Holy Ghost." Then yo' put chure han's 'cross yore breast that way an' put chure han's around to each side an' put 'em behin' yo'. Well, we 'sposed tuh do that ev'ry mawnin'. Now dat's an instance. Now, say fo' instance, ah want a jomo, dat's whut ah would do.
(You just make that wish?) [The bottle is a wishing jomo.]
Ah jes' make dat wish. If ah want a job, de same thing.
Entry 2479
Yo' wanta have business with whiskey an' yo' business no good with whiskey. Yo' take yore toenails an' cut 'em off an' scrape out from under yore fingernails an' cut dem off, an' put dem into a little bottle or into a little glass wit de whiskey - about dat much an' let it set three days. Let it set three days an' then take it an' strain it out an' put it into a gallon of whiskey. Put it into dat gallon of whiskey an' de first customers come in dere an' buy, sell 'em dat; an' de more customers come in, sell it to 'em, an' after while yore business will be so great dat ever'body be flockin' right to yore business.
Entry 2573
You are bootlegging and want customers. You go, you git some good - some sugar. Git you some cinnamon powder and you git you some luck - some van- van. See. You take it and put it in a bottle and you boil it - see, parsley. (Yes.) You take some parsley and you take all that [other ingredients] and you put it down in a pot and you boil it - let it boil about a solid hour before you take it out. And you take it out, you take you a whole quart - boil it first, boil it down to a quart. Then you take and you go to the alley gate - see, go to your gate or whatever it is and when you git there you start to sprinkle it backwards, you know, coming back to the house. See, just like you walking and you walk back [backwards]. Just have your mind on what you want and sprinkle it down, and you go right on the inside and you puts your bottle down. The next few minutes you see customers startin' comin' in.
Entry 2809
Git a high-power blue candle and write his name on it seven times, and git a bottle of Jockey Club Perfume and roll in dere, and burn it five minutes three time a day. Say that will bring him back. (What do you do with that perfume?) Roll de candle in it. [See margin-titles Rolling Candle.]
(What time during the day do you burn that candle?)
Six, twelve, six.
Entry 2980
I know once someone was burnin' a candle on mah brother. A two-headed person told him. So he told us what to do to put de candle out. You git chew a quart bottle. Yo' fill dat bottle with water and put dat stopper in dere jes' as tight as yo' kin git it. Yo' turn dat bottle up on de neck and leave dat way, and de candle can't burn.
(Where do you put that bottle?)
At de head of de bed.
(You turn it upside down.)
On de neck and stop it so dere won't none of de water git out [demonstrates].
(Turn it just like that [upside down].)
An' de candle cannot burn. Ah believe dat. Dat's one thing ah believe because he was sufferin' wit de headache an' 'bout to go crazy and ah declare de minute dey did dat, it stopped. Ah believe dat. Now dat's one thing ah re'lly believe.
Entry 2981
If yo' close to de rivah an' [or] yo' is heah [in New Orleans] go to de Miss'ippi Rivah an' git a quart bottle of watah, an' put a brand-new stopper on it an' turn it upside down in de corner of de house. Dey cain't keep it lighted; same as de watah po'ed on it. (You set it down in the corner of the house. In the inside of the house or on the outside?) Inside.
Entry 2983
You go to de rivah an' gi' choo a bottle of watah. You come back an' you take you a glassful fer nine mornin'. You stan' in de back do' or windah an' say yore prayers ovah it. You t'row it ovah yore haid. An' you use St. Raymond pitchure an' burn a white light to it. An' dat'll put de can'les out.
Entry 3279
Den yo' kin take anothah woman if yo' wanta make her love yo' - yo' see, yo' kin have dealin's wit 'er. In othah words, yo' wear yore hanscuff roun' yore neck all day long an' let it git good an' sweaty. An' when it git good an' sweaty, an' den yo' have dealin's wit dis woman, yo' take dat hanscuff an' wipe. An' den yo' take some watah an' yo' put dat hanscuff down in de watah an' squeeze it out. An' den yo' put dat in a bottle an' keep it in yore pocket all de time, an' she'll come to love yo' an' she wouldn't have no dealings wit no one else. See, all of dem t'ings [things] ah have, yo' know, sperienced [experienced] it - ah done it mahself.
(This handkerchief you use to wipe both yourself and her?)
Yourself an' her, an' den yo' put it in some water an' den you squeeze dat water out.
Entry 3411
An' a woman take a man, if he mess wit anothah woman, an' she take a dishrag tuh wipe him wit it. If she want it tuh last always, take an' soak it in sugah, den wipe him wit it. Den yo' put it in a quart jar an' throw it in runnin' watah. Well, it jes' work fo' about thirty days. Jes' take de dishrag an' put it in a bottle up ovah 'is haid, yo' know, where no one won't git to it. It lasts thirty days.
(Where do they usually put it over his head?)
Jes' lak yo'd go out dis do' an' lak yo' comin' in from work, yo' come in dat do' - go back an' come in dat do'. He cain't mess wit no othah woman. Ah know dat's tuh be true. (You put that over the door, but if you soak that dishrag in sugar before you use it on him, then throw this into running water it will last all the time.) Yes. [Fayetteville, N. Car. (1504), 2571:11.]
Entry 3417
Git de blood from a dog an' de sickness of a woman an' mix dose two things togethah. Put 'em in a little bottle an' take dat bottle an' stop it up tight. Lay it down in a little groove lak dat an' put sand over it, an' dat will take her nature away from all men, any man. She can't have nuth- in to do wit anyone. (Do you take that from any kind of a dog, that blood? Any time?) Any kind of a dog, any time.
Entry 3550
De stockin's [are] fo' love affairs. Now, dey kin take mah stockin's or mah socks - man or woman, don't make no diff'rence who it is, an' dey kin cut de toe of dat sock off an' de heel part of dat sock off, see. An' aftah dey cut it off, den dey tie it wit nine knots. Now dat's fo' love, [but] dat's not tuh drew [draw] dis love. It's lak if yo' loves a lady - ah should explain it tuh yo' lak dat. Jes' lak if ah loved a lady mahself an' she quit me fo' some othah man, an' ah don't want Ter tuh be intimate wit dis man. Prob'bly she could be wit 'im, but still she couldn't have no intahco'se wit 'im. Yo' undahstan'. All right, aftah ah cut de toe of 'er sock off heah an' de heel of 'er sock off - yo' know women don't har'ly wear stockin's now, some of dem wears socks now. Aftah ah cut dat off, ah takes me an' sets down, an' ah cuts it intuh a kin'a string-lak. Aftah ah cut dat off, see - ah wan'a show yo' whut ah'm talkin' 'bout. Ah think ah got a han'ke'chuf in mah pocket heah. Let dis kin'a be de toe of 'er stockin'. Ah cuts dat off, yo' undahstan'. Den ah takes an' tear dat, an' aftah ah tears dat, ah sits down an' ties me nine knots. See, nine knots In it in a diff'ren' form. An' aftah ah tie dose nine knots, ah pull dem darn tight. An' aftah ah tie dose nine knots, ah takes me a needle. Aftah ah git it all tied up, ah takes me a needle an' ah pins dat - see, wit de needle an' one of de pins. Now, [if] ah kin git a chance tuh git tuh her home, ah go tuh her home an' ah put dis in de middle of de bed. Prob'bly if it's too much [several beds] - if not, if it's only one, ah put it in de middle of it. [The center of a bed is the fifth pOint Of the quincunx.] NOW ANYBODY DAT SHE WANTS TUH INTAHCO'SE WIT, SHE CAN'T HAVE NO FEELIN' FO' DEM AT ALL. NOW, HE KIN DO IT, PROB'BLY HE WILL, BUT SHE WON'T HAVE NONE - NO FEELIN' FO' HIM AT ALL. [This Same nO feeling WIll alsO be found in No.3569.] DEN OTHAH WAYS ABOUT IT. Ah kin take her sock or 'er stockin's an' ah kin cut dat off ag'in, an' not even tie dem nine knots. Jes' cut it off an' take an' go tuh de woods. Now, ah'm goin' tuh de woods an' ah git me whut chew call herb stuff, now. Ah'm goin' tuh de woods an' ah git me whut chew call a holly leaf. Yo' [think] it's some Christmas holly wit berries on 'em, but dere's othah holly leafs hasn't got no berries on 'em - got dose sharp thorns on de leaves of 'em. Now, ah'm goin' dere an' take dose thorns. Ah'm gon'a git me nine leaves an ah'm gon'a break off all dose thorns on de leaves. Aftah ah done cut dat end of dat sock off, put it intuh a mere bottle - a half a pint flask. Put dose nine thorns offa all, each one, of dose leaves intuh dat bottle. An' aftah ah put it intuh dat bottle, den ah takes me a little of whut dey call - it's a water lily, it grows in de water. [This is probably the white-flowered species (Crinum amer- icanum), popularly called swamp lily (see 3246) of the southern United States.] Gits a bud outa dat. An' aftah ah gits dat bud outa dat, den I gits me jes' a leetle bit of salt, an' about, jes' aroun' about, a tablespoonful of hot peppah whut dey call red peppah. An' ah kin parch dat peppah [pod] now, or eithah ah kin let it be [buy it] in de cans. An' put it in dere wit dat an' stop dat bot- tle up. An' ah kin take dat bottle an' ah kin go home an' bury dat bottle any place in mah house ah wants tuh bury it. Take dese two fingahs [demonstrates].
(0f the right hand.)
Of de right hand.
(The index finger and then the finger next to the little finger?)
Dat's right. If she but been to mah house one time, ah kin take dese two fingahs heah an' git me a sharp match stem an' pick dese fingahs until dey bleed. Now her name is Miss H. M. Smith or H. M. Williams. Wit de blood of dat, dat come outa mah han's, ah writes 'er 'ritial - see, "H. M." See. An' puts dat in dat wit dat bottle an' bury dat bottle. Now, ah'm drivin' 'er tuh me, see. Ah'm bringin' 'er tuh me. Ah'm not drivin' 'er from me. Ah'm bringin' 'er tuh me. See. Now hit gotta set dere fo' nine mawnin's, an' aftah dese nine mawnin's den, in de tenth mawnin' yo' see her comin'. Don't kere who she is, she'll come.
Entry 3554
(How do they do that?)
Well, dey take yore chamber lye an' if dey're still in dat house, yo' go to dere house. An' if yo' want to urinate, say, "Well, ah'm goin' to go to de bath- room." She give a jar to yo' an' yo'll urinate. She'll take dat an' as long as it contain no othah but yourn, she'll take it an' stop it up in a bottle. She'll take dat an' hide it somewheres. An' aftah she hide it somewhere on yo' [not on the man's person but about the house], yo'll find dat yo'll nevah be able [to have another woman] - she only. She take - aftah she gits yore chamber lye, she takes a string an' she'll measure yore private. An' aftah she git de length of yore private, den she take an' she make nine knots in it, drawin' to her evah time. Each time she draw a knot, it's drawin' it to 'er. Den she'll take an' she'll wear dis string aroun' 'er waist nex' to her skin, mo' so. An' den she'll take yore chamber lye an' hide it. She hide dis from yo' an' evah time yo' try to take intahco'se wit some othah woman, it drop. Yo' nevah can do it.
Entry 3601
(You would take the rag and do what with it?)
Take a new piece an' [after a man's stuff is on it] tie nine knots in it an' put it in a - let it stay in a bottle where it's greasy an' let it stay wet all de time. Keep it in a cornah, some closed cornah in yore house. [This corners, confines a man.] Say yo'll git all yore husban's or man's money like dat.
(Keep this rag in that bottle?)
Yes, keep it, never let it get dry - put it right dere ovah dat grease an' let it stay wet all de time. [This of course is a hand automatically fed grease. For feeding, see p.578.]
(And you'll get all his money, you say.)
Yo' gits 'is money.
(But this piece of cloth, you must wipe him with that or yourself?)
Yo' ketch dat from 'im.
Entry 3703
An' den ag'in, anothah thing dey kin do, lak if yo' have intahco'se wit 'em, dey kin go to work an' take dat an' put it in a bottle. An' jes' lak if yo' wanted go fool wit anothah woman, why evahthing would stan' all right until yo' got dere, an' de moment yo' git dere, evah- thing would fall dead. De way dey handles dat - de way yo' would have to do to stop dat, why yo'd have to search de place where yo' stay, where yo' eatin' gen'ly [generally], an' yo'd fin' dis bottle. Dey got it airtight in a bottle. Dat is de way dey puts it up, airtighted in a bottle. An' long as it airtight in dere - co'se he kin have, be in action wit 'er all right, but he can't have no action wit no othah woman. Evah time he go to have one, evahthing will go dead on 'im. An' de way dey do to git dat, why yo' has to search de place an' git it, an' break it an' throw it in running water.
Entry 3707
(Calamus roots. And what do you put with it?)
Whiskey. (How do you prepare that?) Yo' boil it. Yo' put it in about a quart of watah an' yo' boil it down to a pint [magic diminishing amount] an' yo' put chew about a dime or 15c worth of whiskey in it. Den yo' po' it out, aftah yo' put dat whiskey in - po' it out an' put it in a bottle. Den yo' take it. An' dat'll bring 'is nature back.
Entry 3729
Mine wus caught. Mah watah wus caught in a bottle an' wus buried, an' dey took it up an' put graveyard dirt wit it, an' ah didn't have no nature to- wards mah life. Well, on account of dat ah wus in bad luck. Me an' mah wife couldn't git along, an' dey [a rootman] tole me dat it wus somepin wus against me. An' dis man told me dat de only thing dat ah would do, ah would have tuh go at twelve a'clock at night in de cemetery. Well, dat's somepin ah wus scared tuh do, but ah had tuh do it. An' ah went an' found - [this man] say, ah must find where a little one wus buried an' jump across de grave three times, jes' frontwards dis way an' dis way backwards, an' frontwards ag'in, an' walk away from it an' don't look back at all, jes' keep on goin' regardless to whut chew hear, don't look back, until yo' git to de public highway and dat mean [here, public] street, an' den mah [bad] luck leave me. Ah [before this] wus out of a job, couldn't git no job or nuthin. An' ah felt dat it [the spell on me and the cure] wus true, 'cuz ah got a good job an' been workin' evah since.
(What cemetery did you go to?)
Laurel Grove, colored section dere. Yes sir, dere's white an' colored yo' know dere.
Entry 3753
Dere wuz boy, he wuz goin' wit a girl, an' he went wit anothah girl an' she [first girl] caught up wit it. An' so de nex' time she [first girl] had intahco'se wit 'im she took dis - his discharge, stopped it up in a bottle wit de han'ke'chuf [used in wiping]. An' de nex' time he tried to make an' have intah- co'se wit someone else he couldn't. So he went to de doctor [M.D.] an' de doctor tole him he didn't know why it is. So he went to a root doctor, an' de doctor tole him to git one onion an' cut it in half an' rub it - take one half in each hand an' rub it [penis] down, keep on rubbin' it down till he got wet wit de juice off de onion; an' den, steal someone's dishcloth an' wipe it, an' throw it ovah 'is left shouldah, an' he'd be all right.
Entry 3769
Whilst he's asleep at night, takin' a cord an' takin' de full length of 'is private, tyin' nine knots in it, wearin' ti aroun' 'er waist, an' he'd lose all ambition fer outside women. He kin go.... (What did you say?) He'll be dataway, no use fer outside women, until he take some penny nail - five penny-nails.
(Wait a minute! The penny-nails, you take five of them?)
Five of 'em.
(Yes?) = [Continue.]
Put 'em in a quart bottle of watah an' drinkin' de watah off it. Dat will release him.
(That will give him the advantage, take that away from him?)
Absolutely.
Entry 3774
Well ah'm tellin' yo' facts about dat, but ah'm tellin' yo' some things dat ah have heard - but it's actually. But now, would yo' lak to know how to remove dis spell? (What I could do or any man could do.) Anyone. Well, ah tell yo' somepin dat ah have heard about last year - year befo' last. An' dere ouz a man dat had some serious disease an' dey didn't know about, an' a lady wuz tellin' me what [would] it cost to remove dat. It would be a very small sum. Cost yo' prob'ly 15c. Well, I told de lady, I said, "Well, I know someone could relieve de spell." She said, "He's got money becuz he draws money from de Gov- ernment, an' he would be able to pay any amount - any price." I said, "Well, I know a person dat would remove de spell an' he wouldn't charge ovah $25, but I'm jes' a person, of co'se." [The preceding, I'm jes' a person, of co'se, means the speaker was not a doc- tor. She sold medicine, roots, powders, etc. Every aspect of the hoodoo field was known to her. She also had personality and brains.] She said, "Go ahead, ah'm goin' send 'im aroun' to talk to you." An' ah said, "Well, now, if yo' know de person really would have de money, ah'll talk to him, but if not, ah wouldn't care to talk to him; but ah know dat dis spell will be removed wit'in nine days." SHE SAID, "WELL, COULD YO' GIT IN TOUCH WIT DE MAN?" AH SAID, "YES, I SELL MEDICINE FO' HIM SOMETIMES. An' I could go to him wit de money an' I could git de medicine fo' him." Well, so when she sent 'im down, he wuz very anxious to talk wit 'im an' HE ACTUALLY PAID ME $25. WELL, NOW, AH TELL YO' WHUT CHEW GIT. DAT DOESN'T MEAN DIS PAHTIK'LAH SPELL REGARDLESS TO WHUT KIND OF WAY DEY PUT DAT SPELL ON YO'.
(THEY PUT IT ON IN DIFFERENT WAYS.)
MORE DAN TEN DIFF'REN' WAYS. Well, now, say fer instance, do yo' know whut bull's nettle are?
(It's a plant that little prongs [thorns] on it?)
[I WAS THINKING OF HORSE NETTLE WHICH I KNEW QUITE WELL.]
Has stingahs on it. Stingahs. Has somepin in de form of de way a bull's [something hangs]. Yo' see dat.
(It's a plant, isn't it?)
It's a plant, an' if yo' touch one of dose ball's, it will sting yo'.
(It's called the bull nettle?)
Bull nettle. Well yo' git de root of dat. It has de very form of a man's privates. Yo' have nevah seen dat?
(I have never seen that.)
[I have a few examples of root shapes in HooDoO, snake and man and woman being important. These and other shapes known and sought for centuries had been dying out in my time, with the disappearance of the old herb or root doctor who gather- ed his own roots. Perhaps the recent revival of witchcraft, all kinds of isms and superstitions, will revive the root trade.] Were yo' born in de South?
(No, I wasn't born in the South.)
Dey grow mostly in dis state [Alabama], Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia - roun' lak dat. Well, now, yo' go an' dig dis root up. It has de very shape of a man. Yo' take dat root an' dry it. Yo' keep it in a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' yo' git - it's anothah little plant, ah can't git it's name right dis minute, but ah will tell yo' latah.
[I turn off recording machine until she says, '"Like a tomato."]
(Like a tomato? Is it the castor oil plant?)
No, no, it's a plant dat has stickahs on it. (Tell the plot [rite or cure] to me. You might think of the name of the plant later on.)
[She tells another remedy for the same ailment.]
It's fer de same thing. But yo' know what cockleburs are?
(Yes.)
Yo' kin git nine cockleburs an' yo' kin mix 'em wit dis same root dat ah tole yo' an' put it in a bottle.
(You get the nine cockleburs and put them in this bottle with the bull nettle?)
Dat's right, an' put de contents of a 15c bottle of Hearts Cologne in dis bottle, an' den three tablespoons of urine.
(Whose urine?)
Dis person's urine, whoevah has dis spell on dem. An' yo' take a piece of new linen cloth, aftah dey have had dere bath in de mawnin' an' jes' bathe demselves wit dat pahtiklah stuff.
(This liquid.)
Dat's right. An' den make a tea of dis bull's nettle an' drink a swallah of it evah mawnin' fo' nine mornings, an' it will absolutely disappear.
(Take that spell off?)
Dat's right. An' WHEN DIS PERSON IS TAKIN' DIS TREATMENT, DEY ARE NOT SUP- POSED TO MENTION TO ANYONE DAT DEY ARE GOIN' UNDAH IT.
(They must keep it secret.)
[Several days later I asked Mrs. Brady to come for another interview, some of her material had been badly recorded.] Yo' remembah me tellin' yo' about de bull nettle. An' yo' remembah ah tole yo' dere wus anothah weed dat grow in de yard dat chew use in connection wit dat one pahtiklah weed. It's called tread salve - t-r-e-a-d s-a-l-v-e. It has a little yellah ball growin' on de weed somepin lak a tomato. Yo' know what dat [tomato] is. Well, yo' kin ask any southerner, dey kin tell you. Dey grows in all southern yards an' in de commons out in de fields or in de yards. [For the identity of this plant, see later.] Now dat is somepin fo' removin' de spell dat we were speakin' of - yo' know, dat people place on people. [I once thought preceding yellow tomato was the mayapple, Podophyllum pelta- tum, a plant I had known from childhood, having eaten its tasteless egg-shaped fruit. Later I realized it must be the maypop, a passionflower (described some- where in HOODOO), the Passiflora incarnata of the southern U. S. A.; also an in- sipid, yellow, applelike fruit.]
Entry 3775
She git a dishrag an' she'll tie three knots in it: ONE ON DE END AN' ONE IN DE MIDDLES AN' ONE ON DE OTHAH END - make three knots. She'll have dat rag damp. When yo' make a connec- tion wit 'er dat night, she won't come herself. Yo' understan' whut ah talkin' about. She'll make yo' do it. When she do's dat she'll tie it up an' she'll put it undahneat' her mat- tress right undah yore haid, where yo' won't know nuthin about it. An' prob'ly yo' go dere to anothah woman to try to make a connection wit 'er. It'll be hard when yo' git up dere, but aftah yo' git up an' start it'll jes' fall right down.
[Here follows the cure for the preceding rite.]
Dere's a weed grows in de woods, dey call it a horse nettle. It's a little weed dat has a little button on it - little berry, yo' see - an' de root is about dat long. An' dat root got little lumps in it. Evah two or three inches dat root got a little knot in it. Well yo' take dat an' yo' drink dat fo' about nine mawnin's.
(What do you do with that root?)
Well, if anybody know it, dey kin go out in a country place an' git it. Yo' takes it an' yo' cuts it up, an' puts it in a bottle, an' yo' PO' SOME OF DIS GOOD WHISKEY ON IT, an' drink it fo' nine mawnin's, an' dat'll bring it back to yo'.
(Bring his nature back.)
Entry 3820
Cuz I had it happen to me, see. I wuz goin' wit a woman an' I'd stop- ped. Well, she got hold of de tape measure, yo' know, an' she took mah nature an' put it in a bottle an' wore it in 'er stockin'.
(Wore it in her stocking?)
Wore it in 'er stockin'. Like dis is, right in de middle, right at de knee of de stockin' - yo' know, here [demonstrates - in hinge of knee]. (I see.) Yes, put it in dere an' put a string below de knee an' one above de knee. An' she had me about six or eight months. Dere wuz anothah thing she wuz doin' too. But aftah dat I got - somebody told me about it, told me to get dis bottle soon as I could. Dey says dat would get mah nature back. I wuz in bed wit 'er an' jes' took it off. Told me took it an' put it in runnin' watah. I keep away from her den.
Entry 3838
Ah know about one thing, yo' kin write a person's name. Yo' kin take it - now if yo' wanta be ovah a woman or a man, yo' take an' write his name in a piece of papah wit 'ers. Now, if yo' want de woman tuh be ovah de man, write de woman's name tuh de top an' write 'is name undahneat' 'ers. Den pick yore lef' arm, an' pinch enough blood outa dat lef' arm tuh spell dose names out. Den when yo' git dose names spelled, yo' take it an' wrap it up tuh yo', dat piece of papah. Fold it comin' tuh yo'. Whutevah way yo' fold it, let it be comin' tuh yo'. An' take it an' put it in a corked bottle an' bury it at nine 'clock at night. An' dat man an' dat woman nevah will quit one another. An' if dey quit one anothah, dey'll go crazy. Dey love one another so good as long as dey live. S'long as dey live, dat las' 'em fo'evah. Bury it undah de do'step at night. If yo' can't git chance tuh bury it, jes' throw it undah de do'step, an [or] in a place where dey gotta walk in an' out. An' dey nevah will quit one another, an' jes' go crazy wit dat han'writin'.
(You must get this blood out of your left arm?)
Pick it out - yore lef' arm, yo' jes' gotta pick it.
Entry 3854
If yore man is well 'way from yo' an' yo' want 'im tuh come home an' yo've evah had anythin' tuh do wit 'im an' yo've nevah washed up de cloth, take it an' wash it an' git de small amount of watah, jis' enough fo' tuh dampen de cloth an' let it soak an' git it out of it. Take it an' put it in a bottle an' put chew jis' about a tea- spoonful of sugah in it. Den yo' set it up ovah de do' where he came in at. Do dat in de evenin' time an' de nex' mawnin' yo' grab de bottle an' call 'is name three times. Shake it up. In 24 hours he'll be at chore residence, if he's anywheres lak he kin git dere. If he don't come in 24 hours, he'll be close enough tuh drop yo' a card an' let chew know he's comin'. [This rite should have gone under IMPoTENCE, following No.3259.]
Entry 3855
Yo' see, an' here's anothah question dat people always say, yo' see, about wimmen people. Yo' know whenevah de period is on 'em dat way, dey say yo' kin take some of dere period, yo' see - in a bottle yo' see - an' stop dat up, yo' see, an' dig a hole, yo' see, an' turn de mouth of it right down into de ground, yo' see. An' dey say as long as dat stay in dere, say dat'll pass dat woman away. An' evah month yo' know 'er period come on 'er, dey claim it won't come er [or] nuthin but jes' reg'lah big clods [clots] of blood. An' it will keep 'er in a way dat she nevah can have intahco'se wit a man, not no mo' in 'er life, unless yo' have to go back dere an' release dat bottle - dig it up.
Entry 3860
Now, yo' kin take - jes' lak if yo' wants tuh make 'em weak, weak- minded an' don' have no good health, jes' bad health all de time. Yo' kin take a rag an' yo' kin put it roun' de pot an' burn it. Put it roun' de pot or eithah put it in de chimley an' burn it. An' take de smoke, jes' lak if yo' ketch de smoke in a bottle an' stop de smoke up in de bottle, an' dat'll make dem weak- minded an' don' have real bright sense - an' bad health. (What do you do with that bottle then after this smoke is stopped up? What do you do with that bottle then?) Well, yo' take dat bottle an' yo' bury it right undah de center of yore house- lak de centah of de room heah. Well, yo' bury it right undah de center of de house by de middle block undah [supporting] de house. [Center of house makes a quincunx.] (Just that cloth, the woman's monthly cloth, get the smoke of it.)
Entry 3901
Dey'll take one of de cloths dat she uses. Yo' know, her sickness, yes sir. Dey take dis cloth while she's - it dirty yo' know while she's got dat on 'er. An' den dey'll take dis an' put it in a bottle, in a small bottle. An' take dis cloth - but dis heah cloth will fill it up, make it plumb full. An' den dey'll take dat an' dey'll go tuh her house, wherevah she lives, an' put it up anywhere ovah her haid - up ovah her haid. An' den dey'll put a tight stoppah in dere an' put some watah in dere. An' put some watah in dere wit it, put a tight stoppah in dere wit dis cloth whilst it in dere. An' dey say dat'll stop 'er sickness from coming down on 'er; jes' keep it dere till it kills 'er, if dey don't nevah pull dis stoppah out. [For this folk-medicine condition, see comment in bracket later.] But when dey evah did pull dis stoppah out, if dey gits de evil dat dey got agains' 'er off an' wants tuh let 'er go free, why den dey take dis out an' let dis watah out an' den she'll live; but if dey don't, it'll kill 'er. [The preceding rite illustrates one of the great pairs of complementary rites in hoodoo; here of opposites, above and below - the walking under or over some- thing belonging to your body or having been touched by your body. In either case your spirit is divided. The menstrual blood over your head in the present rite, keeps the menstrual blood still in the body from going down. Is menstrual blood different from other blood in the body? Presumably so in folklore, for: Menstru- al blood is poisonous (FACI, 1st ed., p.248, No.5103). The term going down - coming down used in present rite - belongs to folk medicine: "When my mother was about twelve [1845] [[in or near Quincy, Ill.]], an old Indian doctor told them to wear black beads around their neck to keep the blood from going to the brain. All the girls in that time wore black beads all the time to get their monthly to come when coming into womanhood, for it made the blood come down." (FACI, 2nd ed., P.219, No.4969.] [After writing the preceding bracket, I happened to be watching the University of Michigan television program, which for us appears off and on, and comes just before my 7AM news. This was probably towards the end of 1972. A group of women were talking about the problems confronting the first American college women. One woman spoke of a Harvard professor, M.D., who in 1873 wrote a book condemning brain work for women. He maintained that mental effort by a woman made the blood rush to her head, a condition that could dry up her ovaries!]
Entry 3903
Yo' kin [take] anybody's - jes' lak a woman ministratin', yo' kin jes' take dat an' stop it up in a bottle an' bury it roun' undahneat' of 'er house.
(What will that do?)
Dat'll run 'er crazy.
Entry 3916
Ah'm goin' tell yo' somepin dat I saw here in '23 - was in '23. Ah wus workin' fo' Halstrom Brothers. An' my firs' wife - it was a girl lived right side of us named Theresa Jackson, an' my firs' wife helped to raise dis girl. Well, dis girl, she was a stout girl, an' she was workin' fo' Dr. Knox[?]. All at once she'd taken sick an' we couldn't undahstan' why she wus sick all de time. An' ah says to her, say, "You're workin' fo' dat doctah, say, "whyn't yo' tell de doc- tah 'bout it, how bad yo' feel?" Well, dere she would go to work an' have to leave work to come home. An' she tole de doctah 'bout it. Well, de doctah say he couldn't fin' no trouble - yo' know, what was 'er complaint. So she wus off on 'er off-day an' she said, "Ah'm goin' clean up my house. Ah'm goin' from de stern-wheel to de rudder" [surely an old Mississippi River expression]. Says, "All right." Ah was layin' down sleepin'. Ah been workin' at night. An' dis girl goin' to clean up 'er house. An' right behind de middle door, she found a bottle an' a little bag. Well, when she found dis bottle an' little bag, she brought it an' showed it to my wife. My wife said to her, "Ah'm goin' to wake Steve up an' tell 'im 'bout it." Which she did wake me up. When she woke me up, ah took it an' ah looked at it, say, "Dis looks mighty funny to me. I said, give me a knife." I said, "I'm goin' open dis bag." Ah opened de bag. It had a plat of 'er hair, outa her head. It had three pieces outa her pieces, yo' know, about dat size.
(Out of her monthly clothes?)
Yes. An' it had some lodestone in dere an' it had some needles an' some pins crossed dataway [demonstrates], see.
(Held that way with two crosses in it?)
Yes, sir. An' it had dat hair undah dere an' jes' like - jes' like my thumb is de hair, an' right along dere was de lodestone, see, into dis piece, an' dey had it sewed up. See. And he [the man who had tricked her] had de bottle wit 'er mon'ses [months] in hit.
(Which?)
[I either did not grasp mon'ses or wanted a fuller explanation.]
It had, yo' know, change over de moon in de bottle.
(I see.)
An' I opened it an' taked de stoppah outa de bottle an' it was jes' worsen [worse than] anythin' yo' evah smelled in yore life. Ah says to her, ah says, "Yo' take dis out dere" - ah always heard my ole uncle say dese things - ah say, "and throw it in dat runnin' watah." Dere was a little bayou - part of de bayou right back dere - part of de bridge an' de little bayou run undahneat' dere.
(Where?)
Little bayou right out chere on Rogers Street. An' she - ah say, "Now, you throw dat ovah yore left shoulder an' don't look back." An' she went out dere an' throwed it ovah her lef' shouldah in dat runnin' watah. An' he left. Dat fellow come home, but when he come home he rushed right on in de house. He says to her, "What yo' been doin' here?" She say, "Ah been cleanin' up." He say, "Yo' don't nevah clean up." He said, "Did yo' find anything of mine?" She said, "No, I find somepin of mine." He says, "What wus it?" Ah says, "If he hits yo today, I'm goin' woop 'im an' [or] he gon'a woop me eithah one." So he hauled away an' he hit 'er, an' when he hit 'er, I grabbed 'im. An' he lef' an' went to Paducah, Ky. He lef' dere an' went to Oil City, Ill. He lef' dere an' come back here to her an' stayed three days, an' went to Natchez an' she ain't been worried wit 'im since. An' she's married an' she is jes' as stout as she evah wus, an' de mothah of a child.
(She got rid of him, got rid of the fellow.)
Entry 3968
Fixin' a woman where dey'd flow to death. Yo' take it an' stop it up airtight in a bottle an' put it to a pump where it stay wet, where yo' pump wa- tah, or to a spigot where watah run on it mostly all de time. An' dere can't a doctor [M.D.] 'twixt here an' Europe stop it, unless yo' git dat bottle an' take de stoppah out of it an' pour it out.
Entry 3970
If yo' got one [a woman] on hand an' vanta git rid of 'er, git some of 'er period, ministrate, an' put it in a bottle an' carry it to a runnin' stream an' bury it right on de bank of it, an' dat'll put 'er mind tuh vanderin'. An' jes' lak dat she'll be gone.
(She'll leave you.)
Entry 3991
Take de bathwatah an' mix it in lime wit it. [Here is one of those accidental treasures. The obsolete and now exclusively a dialect word, chamber lye, is known to almost everyone in the hoodoo world. It is usually pronounced chamber lye, because formerly it was used in making lye; but frequently the word is called chamber line or chamber lines - hence the preceding in lime. My transcriber had trouble with dialect at times, so did I for that matter; but in the present instance, after reading my comment which soon followed, she typed urine above in lime.] Stop it up in a tight bottle, place it undah de steps or any place by de street, whah [where] yuh have tuh walk along ovah, an' den dat will drive yuh away from home. (If they were doing it to me, they would have to take my bathwater and my urine to do it. That the idea?) Dere yuh are [= absolutely right]. [Had I not repeated the substance of the rite, I would never have solved the meaning of in lime. But out in the field I was not repeating for my transcriber, but for my own benefit at the very moment.]
Entry 4017
De chamber lye, well dey take hit an' dey put it in a bottle an' dey'll bury in de dirt. Well, yo' can't make no watah.
Entry 4036
Yo' takes a man's chamber lye an' yo' puts it in a bottle. Git chew some cayenne peppah, an' yo' git chew some long red peppahs, an' yo'mu all dat up intuh dat chamber lye, see. An' yo' bury dat down In de ground by de steps, by de front steps or de back steps, or de centah underneat' de house [a quincunx]. Dey pass away, jis' molts away - see, jis' molts away tuh nuthin.
Entry 4058
[The general reader may not know that dripping is an important magic rite in folklore, the magic of various types of occurrence: continual, occa- sional, interrupted, regu- lated, etc. The best-known examples are probably the burial of an article where water from the eaves drip on it - see FACI, 1st ed. 362, p.14, rain-making rite; 847, p.34, divination of crop year; 4124, p.195, 4239, p.203, wart cures.]
(How would they do that?)
Dey jis' git aholt of some of yuh chamber lye an' put it in a bottle an' put yuh a little trench in dat bottle stoppah.
(Put a little trench in the stopper?)
Yes, sir, where it yuh know, it won' run but it'll drip. An' yuh put dat bottle in a tilted position where dat kin drip an' drip an' drip. An' yuh'll become - git tuh de place where yuh cain't har'ly do anythin', lak a man do uhen he gits fixed [hoodooed or witchcrafted] you know. An' fin'ly dat all drips out. Well, if it molts [molds] in dere an' de molt [mold] gits ovah dat hole, an' it quits drippin' an' it stops de hole up, it stops yuh urine. He don' urinate no mo', unless he gits somepin done. An' yo' know a man don' have tuh miss doin' dat long befo' he dies.
Entry 4059
Yo' kin take a person chamber lye an' po' it in a bottle, an' take it an' bury it underneat' chure do'step. Have a little hole in dere, yo' know, where it will drip it lak dat. An' when de las' drop go out, drop out, DEY'LL LEAVE WIT DAT LAS' DROP.
(I would do that with their chamber lye to make them leave?)
Make 'em leave, see - git rid of 'em, kill 'em. See, dey'll lingah along yo' see.
The account places a bottle beneath a doorstep. This link retrieves that doorway location; it does not identify the doorstep with a door panel. The continuation describes making someone leave and killing them; these are source claims, with no established outcome.
Entry 4061
Dey git holt some-a yuh chamber lye, yuh see, an' dey bur' [bury] it. Dey git holt-a yuh chamber lye an' dey put it in a bottle. Dey put somepin else Wit it. Dey put some kin'a Ceylon peppah [says my transcriber, and that is what it sounded like; but here we have a hoodoo drug store or mail-order house product - Sea Lion Pepper]. Kin'a white-liken peppah. [This pepper is white-like and the label probably shows the figure of a sea lion.] But dey have it fine. [The pepper comes ground.] Put dat [pepper] wit it. An' dey make a hole in de top of yuh chamber lye [bottle cork] an' dey turn it [bottle] upside down an' dey bury dat chamber lye. An' if yuh don' find 'at bottle of chamber lye in time an' unburies it, yuh'll die. Dis thing leaks, it will leak out. See, be leaking, but dey do make a hole in it fo' hit tuh leak. Dey bur' 'it. Dey try tuh git it tuh yuh home if dey kin. Dey'd ruthah [they had rather] fo' it tuh be tuh yuh home den be tuh dere house. An it leak out. An' WHEN DAT BE GONE, all dat chamber lye, YUH BE GONE.
[I start fishing for details.]
(What did you say they get for that, the stuff in the can - pepper?)
Be in a pasteboard box. It's white cayenne. Think tuh buy about 15c or 25c but it's kin'a high [expensive].
[Again I fish, for time, anything.]
(And when do they put this in - altogether?)
Put dat in de chamber lye.
[My third fishing trip catches a rare detail!]
(And where do you put that, then? That chamber lye, what do you put that in?)
Oh, any kin'a [bottle] - HOLY WATAH BOTTLE - if yuh leave a little bit of hole. [Use any bottle, but a holy water bottle is more convenient.] Yuh [see] DESE HOLY WATAH BOTTLE GOT DEM KIND, YUH KNOW CAPS, WHERE A LITTLE BIT OF HOLE COME OUT AN' LET IT LEAK.
Entry 4067
Yuh take some of dey fingahnails or toenails an' put it in a bottle wit some of yuh urinate an' keep it in yuh trunk or somewhere. Dat will cuz [cause] 'em tuh love yuh - be sweet on yuh. (Well, if some woman was doing that to me, would she take my fingernails or her fingernails?) Well, if she wanted yuh tuh love huh, she would take yuh fingahnails.
(And put it with my urine or hers?)
Yuhs.
(She would have both things from me?)
Yeah.
(And keep them?)
Yeah.
Entry 4072
One fellow was telling me about it an' he claimed he was. They get some of your water in a bottle and cork it up, dig a hole in the corner of the chimney and bury this upside down; and when this water would boil, you die.
Entry 4148
Yo' watch dere where dey makes watah. Yo' go dere an' git dat li'le hole where dey make it. Jis' git dat li'le hole an' carry it on back wit yo' an' sew it up. An' stop it up [in something] an' carry it tuh runnin' watah an' dat'll stop dem up.
(How do you mean, stop them up?)
It stop 'em from - jis' lak de bottle will - stop 'em from makin' watah jis' lak de bottle will.
Entry 4149
A woman will take an' wet, pee on de groun', an' dere's be lak a hole. See, yo' take dat hole an' stop it up in a bottle an' throw it in a runnin' stream of watah, an' she can't pee.
Entry 4174
An' jis' lak if yuh want tuh git chure man back, jis' lak if yuh want tuh make 'em come home, if yuh kin git a chance tuh, git 'is chamber lye an' put it intuh a bottle, an' don' have no watah in dere, no spit or nuthin. Take dis chamber lye an' put it intuh a bottle an put chew a teaspoonful of sugah in dere, an' take an' stop dat up in dat bottle. Put it somewheres where it cain't be in- tahfered wit, an' turn dat bottle down lak dat [demonstrates] an' let it stay dere. An' he will come back. If yuh wanta keep 'im wit yuh, yuh git some of 'is chamber lye ag'in - dere two or three diff'ren' ways dat chew kin do it. Go tuh a cow, if she's a cow dat has a young calf, a black cow an' she's got a calf. Git chew aroun' two teaspoonful of dat milk an' po' it intuh dat bottle. An' yuh kin keep 'im jis' as fast, jis' as yuh do de sugah an' dat chamber lye tuhgethah. Put all of it tuhgethah. Set it aside or put it in de trunk or put it up ovah yuh do'. It's all right. Dat will draw 'im home an' make him stay dere. He cain't go nowhere.
(You don't do that if he's away some place?)
[No.] Jis' [to] keep 'im. All yuh gotta do is tuh keep 'll.
Entry 4175
Yo' kin take a black cow's milk - take two teaspoonful of black cow's milk an' a teaspoonful of yuh chamber lye an' put it in a bottle, an' take an' set hit an' yuh cain't git rid of 'im - him or her. (Where do you set that?) In de cornah of yuh house, in one of de fo' cornahs of yore house. But chew turn it up jis' de same way yuh do dat chamber lye.
(Turn it on its head?)
Yassuh, dat's right.
(Whose chamber lye do you put in there?)
Well, if de woman wants 'im, she put her'n in dere; an' if it's de man, he put his'n in dere, see.
Entry 4176
Yuh take a person's chamber lye, takes seven nails. Yuh put three fo' dat person dat chew wanta use yuh Way. Git a Coca-Cola bottle. Jis' three nails yo' turn de points up - dat's de person dat chew wanta git chure way, an' de fo' nails dat's yo' - as a rule yo' turn dem lak dat in de chamber lye. An' den yuh stop it up wit a cork stoppah real tight. Den yuh set it in yore trunk where it can't be seen, or anywhere roun' de house where it can't be seen. An' as long as yuh hol' dat yuh got dat man.
(Whose chamber lye do you put in that bottle, his or yours?)
His, nobody but 'is. But chew remembah three nails down, name 'em, dat's de man; an' de fo' nails up, dat yuh. Dat's providin' it wuz a woman, an' 'vidin' it wuz a man. De one dat's workin' it tuh come dere way, dey must be on top.
Entry 4180
Stop dat up an' run yuh crazy, dry yuh up. (This chamber lye?) Yes.
(How do they stop it up?)
Put it in de bottle an' put chure name in dere an' stop it up an' turn it upside down.
Entry 4182
Yo' wants a man an' yo' write his name see, nine times. An' yo' puts it in a bottle of chamber lye an' bury it undahneat' yuh steps. In nine days he'll be back dere.
Entry 4187
Me, fo' mahself, dis whut wuz tol' me tuh do: tuh git two needles, two bran'-new needles, an' put urine in de bottle, mine. Put it in a li'le bottle 'bout dat long, jis' big enough tuh hol' dem needles, yuh know, an' - ah kin go an' git dat an' show it tuh yuh where it's right dere now in mah trunk, ah kin show yuh - dat [2 needles and urine in bottle] an' some red peppah an' some salt an' some spice. An' put it all in a bottle an' stop it up tight, an' wear it on yuh. Dey said da' chew go tuh any man or any woman an' secure a job, see. Well dat somepin tuh git money.
(WHO TOLD YOU THIS?)
SOME OLE FORTUNETELLAH FELLAH DAT HANG AROUN' MAH HOUSE RIGHT - SEE AH LIVE UP DE HILL DERE.
(DID IT HELP YOU?)
NAW, AH DON'T SEE DAT IT BENEFIT ME ANYTHING.
Entry 4190
Wit de chamber lye, ah tell yuh whut dey do wit dat. Yuh take nine new needles an' a person's chamber lye an' yuh stop it up in a bottle, an' yuh turn de bottle neck up- side down an' bury it. Dey'll surely die.
Entry 4194
Dey kin put it in a vasoline bottle.
(This chamber lye.)
Yes. Dey gits nine shots - yuh know, lead shots, an' nine bran'-new needles. Yuh put one of dose shots in wit de needle down dere, de head down, wit anothah shot den, until yuh git all of dem nine in dere. An' stops it up in dere in dat vasoline bottle, an' den dey keep it straight up. Put it in a da'k [dark] closet. Dat supposed tuh hold yuh husban'.
Entry 4203
Dey git a hold of some of yuh hair an' git some of yuh watah wit it, an' put dat in a bottle, an' dey git a hold of nine new needles an' nine new pins, an' cork de bottle up, an' dey bury dat anywhere where yuh walk along, an' dat will run yuh crazy.
Entry 4205
Yuh know, yuh kin take a man's watah an' yuh stop it up in a bottle an' tote it. Yuh put nine needles an' nine grains of cinnamon - er [I mean] mixed spice, allspice dey call it, in a bottle. (You put just nine grains of allspice.) Nine grains of allspice an' nine goldeye needles, nine pins. Turn de nine needles one down an' one up, one down an' one up, an' de pins de same way. An' den yuh take an' hang dat up somewhere back in a cornah where he won't find it. An' he can't fool wit no othah woman - stop it airtight an' he can't fool wit no othah Woman.
Entry 4212
If yuh got a boy in New York - if ah wuz a woman - see, an' yuh want him back heah. She take his shirttail, if yuh kin git hold of a piece of 'is shirt, see, yuh cut de shirttail off an' put it in de bottle an' urinate on it fo' nine mawnin's. Fo' nine mawnin's do dat. An' he'll come back home.
(Then what do you do with that bottle?)
Dat bottle? Use de bottle tuh put de thin's - see, de shirttail in.
(After you do all that, what do you do with the bottle?)
Well, ah bring de bottle back an' rinse it out an' keep it fo' de nex' time.
(Thought you said you buried that bottle?)
[This must have been said before recording began.]
Yeah, ah bury de bottle.
Entry 4224
Well, yuh kin take a person's chamber lye an' yuh kin put it intuh a bottle an' yuh kin bury it undahneat' yuh step or de right cornah - yuh know, de right pillah of de cornah of yuh house, an' dat'll give 'em gravels an' keep 'em from nuratin' an' dey would die. [The lowland small house sets a foot or so off the ground, resting upon 4 or 5 pillars; low posts, large single stones, or small brick columns. The 4 pillars are at the 4 corners of the house, the fifth pil- lar is at the center of the house, making a quincunx. The right-hand corner depends upon whether you are looking at or away from the house.] (You mean the right-hand side looking at the house or looking away from the house?) No, de right-han' side as yuh...
(As you come to the house?)
[Informant is uncertain.]
Jis' bury it right by de pillah. Put it in a bottle an' stop it up tight sc no air can't git tuh it.
Entry 4267
Anothah' way dat dey take it an' control of love wit it.
(This chamber lye.)
Kin control love wit it. An' den dey use it tuh draw a person tuh yuh. Tuh draw a pusson tuh yuh, yuh take dat an' put in it nine needles an' nine pins an' nine nails in a bottle, wit dat, jis' stop it [up]. An' drop de nails in head an' tail, de pins head an' tail, an' de needles head an' tail, callin' 'em evah time [you drop], an' make yuh wishes. An' den jis' stop de bottle up tight. Pusson apt tuh be settin' dere all alone, yuh shake dat bottle, yuh know, an' call dere name an' turn it upside down. Any place dey is, if dey ain't got de fare, dey be walkin', comin'." If dey ain't got de fare, dey try tuh be walkin' comin'.
Entry 4273
Although I could have indexed this rite under 9 DAYS, or NAME, or UPSIDE DOWN, I chose SIFTING, a magic action, because there are several examples of it in HOODOO. My early recordings in Mobile not being good, I asked some of the better informants to return a second time. The following rite is given in the original and revised version:] Original version: Say, fo' ninstance someone is away an' yuh want dis person. Yuh wanta know wha' chew do wit dat? [I probably nod yes.] Dis person, if dey come back an' spen' de night wit chew, git chew a clean slop jar - it's not where dey kin go out [outside] chew know. Yuh be careful yuh don't use it yuhself. An' yuh let 'em use dis an' den on de nex: mawnin' yuh git a ole-time siftah. [Sifter is a magic object, sifting or straining a magic action.] Yuh see, dese ole roun' siftahs de kind dat yuh turn.
(The old-fashioned hand sifter - flour sifter.)
Dat's right. Yuh git some othah bucket or pail an' yuh strain dis. Take dis out an' strain it fo' nine times.
(You pour this chamber lye through this sifter nine times.)
Dat's right, fo' nine mawnin's. An' den yuh po' dat out intuh a bottle an' yuh dig a place undah yuh back steps. Yuh put it in a bottle jis' enough tuh hol' dat amount, an' yuh turn it on de head. Put a cork stoppah in it, yuh un- dahstan', an' turn it on de head an' bury dat. An' dat person will nevah leave dere till yuh take dat up. Revised version: Jis' like if a person is away an' yuh want 'em tuh return, Xuh use yuh slop jar. Wash it clean an' jis' use it yuhself fo' nine mawnin's, an' yuh use an old siftah - one of dese big roun' ones. An' yuh set ovah dat [sifter and slop jar] an' strain dat each time fo' nine times. An' den aftah de ninth mawnin', yuh write dis person's name on a piece of parchment papah. Put it intuh a bottle an' turn it - no, yuh firs' place, if yuh have a piece of dere ole sock or undah- weah or anythin' like wherevah dere's perspiration. If it is undah de armpits, yuh cut dat out an' put it in dis bottle, an' put dat name on dat parchment an stick it in dere, an' yuh turn it on its head. Put it in yuh closet or some place where no one will disturb it, an' leave it. Dey will return.
(What do you do with this chamber lye then?)
Yuh put de parts of de sock or whatevah yuh get.
(You put that in the chamber lye don't you? What do you do that for?)
Well, dat has some kin'a peculiah effect - ah don't know.
(Oh! You don't put that in the bottle?)
Yes, ah think dat chew put dat in de bottle, but chew put dis cloth in it. (NOW, DID YOU SAY YOU SIT OVER THE STRAINER? YOU RELIEVE YOURSELF THROUGH THIS SIFTER?) Dat's right. Comparison of versions: [Several days separated the two preceding versions. We learn here as well as elsewhere, that a person proficient in hoodoo does not repeat rites word for word. There are many ways to rearrange even the same material. Besides, numerous in- formants tell us about various methods to accomplish the same end. In our second version the woman's, not the male victim's urine is used. Her urine will serve the same purpose, drawing power, by writing his name on a piece of parchment and dropping it into the bottled urine. This time she does not pour the urine through a flour sifter with a handle; she lays a round hand sifter - large wooden hoop with wire screening on one side - on the chamberpot and squats over it to relieve herself. Her urine passing through the sifter protects it against countermagic. For good measure his perspiration in a piece of his old clothing is added. Instead of burial, the bottle is hidden in a closet.]
Entry 4280
Dey take yuh watah an' stop it up an' YUH'LL NEVAH MAKE WATAH NO MORE IN DE WORL'. Put it intuh a bottle - if yuh don't spit intuh it, see. If yuh spit in yuh urinate, dat kill de urinate [and an enemy cannot use it to harm you]. An' dey dig a hole an' put it undah de step. Well, yuh don't make watah nO mo', an' DAT CUZ YUH TUH BE WATAH BOUND.
Entry 4294
( On a Friday mawnin' befo' de sun rise.
(Yes?)
Yuh kin buy some [kind of] oil, use yuh chamber lye - don't evah empty yuh chamber lye [don't throw it away uselessly] - an' what yuh wash yuh face wit [water]. Mix dat [water] wit yuh chamber lye an' dis oil. An' scrub yuh house wit it - dress yuh house wit it in de mawnin', an' den at noontime right at twelve a'clock on a Fri- day. But be sure tuh scrub yuh house an' use it wit dat - dat's de inside. But in de mawnin' yuh-use dat prakly [practically] on yuh front.
(I see. What kind of oil is this, they get?)
Secret.
(Secret oil?)
Yeah.
(Secret oil. I see. And that's to keep the law away.)
[The oil is identified later.]
Dat's protection where yuh are at.
(What else do they do outside in the morning?)
[Scrub] yuh steps an' right on yuh sidewalk, right in front of yuh do'.
(And then [at noon on Friday] you scrub inside?)
Yes, sir. [Here I stop my recording machine to prepare for a repetition of details a clearer account of the rite.]
(All right.)
[We start all over again.]
In de mawnin's when yuh wash yuh face an' han's, well yuh slop jar dat yuh use durin' de night, jis' yuh po's dat [face-and-hands] watah intuh it. Den add dat oil intuh de same pot.
[There are the 3 ingredients of the "scrub".]
(What kind of oil was that?)
[We had worked out the oil problem while machine stopped.]
(Cedar oil, all right. Now, go ahead.)
In de mawnin's den, yuh use it right in front of yuh do'.
(What mornings?)
Well, dat's on Friday mawnin', but prakly evah mawnin' in front.
(I see.)
But de [main thing] is Friday mawnin' an' in yuh house. It's Friday at noon dat yuh scrub inside. (I see. You said you scrub your outside in the morning and the inside about noon.) Yes sir, on Fridays.
[The special inside scrubbing on Friday is for weekend customers.]
(I see.)
[Here after stopping machine, I decide to ask a question about protection.]
Use dat same oil.
(Cedar oil?)
Yes sir, dat same oil in de same way. Put it intuh a bottle an' shuttin' it real airtight [demonstrates] an' bury it. (Jerk the bottle from you [and bury it at the door to keep anyone from harming you].)
Entry 4299
Ah tell yuh whut she could do tuh make him come back tuh 'er. If she got any of 'is undahclothes, if he left any of 'is undahclothes dere, she would take his undahshirt an' 'is drawahs an' wash 'em, see. Wash 'em in some cleah watah. Don't put no soap in it, jis' take de cleah watah an' rinse it off. Take dis watah yuh undahstan', from 'is undahclothes an' put it in a bottle. Bury it undah 'er front steps, yuh undahstan', an' go dere fo' nine mawnin's an' pee on dis bot- tle. Ah'll guarantee yuh [he] won't fool wit no othah woman an' yo'll [he'll] come back dere an' go on in wit 'er [live with her again].
(You leave this bottle standing upright like that?)
No, turn it up.
(Turn it upside down?)
Turn dat upside down wit de watah offa yuh clothes in dere, yuh undahstan'.
turning the bottle upside down after rejecting upright orientation. Keep the full upright→No→upside-down exchange; upright is rejected, not an alternative instruction. washing/rinsing the man’s underclothes with clear water and no soap. Do not restate it as soap washing or discard the collected rinse-water purpose. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 4303
Dey take socks or stockin's an' put dis lump insaint [incense], dey chamber lye. Cut de bottom of it out, roll it an' put it in a bottle in de person's chamber lye, an' dey say dey kin keep 'em. Dey'll nevah separate from 'em.
Entry 4304
I know this for myself. A man was in my home town in my neighborhood and his wife she was a woman who wanted to run around and have a good time. And she didn't want him to say anything to her, so she got two pieces of his clothes and some of his water, and put in a bottle and buried that at the center of the door he would come in at. And one day he decided to move that door from where it was, and digging up the steps he found this bottle, and saved it until she came and asked her if she knew anything about the bottle. She didn't want to own [up to it]. He told her he was going to throw it away in running.water. She begged him not to do it. I don't think he ever throwed it away. He didn't let her get a hold of the bottle any more. They are getting along now very well together.
Entry 4319
Well, now, say fo' instan' [for an instance] if a woman has a husban' or a man dat is hard tuh handle, an' say dat he chases aroun' wit othah women an' she wants tuh take pos- session of 'im. She scrape de dead skin from de bottom of 'er foot an' she git a pint bottle or a half-pint bottle - howevah, an' she'll fill it full of his.
(Of what?)
A pint bottle of urine. She must have de slop jar, she must have dat perfec'- ly clean. She must see dat don' anybody urinate in dis jar but him. Now when she take dis bottle wit a screw top, an' she'll po' it two-thirds full of dis urine. Now she'll put de scrapin' from de bottom of 'er foot in dere an' she'll set dis bottle back in a dark place where dat nobody will see it. An' each mawn in' she'll make de screw on dat top fo' nine mawnin's, an' wit de last time she screw it, it wants tuh be tight where she cain't screw it no mo', yo' undahstan'. Den she keeps dat bottle back an' dat's supposed tuh make dis fellah jis' de same as a baby, easy tuh handle. Whatevah she says goes.
Entry 4373
Someone, we didn't nevah find out who it wus, took some of 'er, yuh know, some of 'er action, yuh know, an' put it in a bottle an' stopped it so - sealed it so de air couldn't strike it. An' when - an' it stayed dere nine mawnin's an' in de ninth day she died. Dey didn't nevah found it, but dey found it aftah she died - aroun' de house. [THIS LOOKS LIKE ONE OF THOSE STORIES IN WHICH THE DOCTOR OR FOKTUNEIELLER, CALLED AFTER THE DEATH CONVENIENTLY FINDS THE CAUSE OF DEATH, A BURIED BOTTLE, BUT REFUSES TO NAME THE CULPRIT.]
Entry 4376
(Tell me that again, I didn't understand how you did that?)
Ah say yuh take it an' put it in a bottle.
(This manure from a person?)
Yes sir, put it in a bottle an' stop it up, see. An' bury dat bottle de same way on de - yuh see [demonstrates] de mouth down, see. Dat will lock yuh bowels tight.
(I see.) Dey won't move.
Entry 4483
Wal, yuh'll take a bath in de watah. Dey kin git a chance tuh git tuh dat watah an' dey'll take a bottleful. Take a bottleful of dat watah. If dey wanta conkah yuh, dey'll take a bottleful of dat watah an' put a stoppah in it. Pack it down tight an' put it down to yuh steps, er [or] tuh dey steps. Dat'll draw all yuh attention tuh nobody but dem.
Entry 4487
Like yuh bath [not bathe], she'd get a quart bottle, get dat quart bottle of watah out chure - de watah dat yuh bath in.
(Yes?)
Aftah yuh bath, she'd take it an' gets a quart bottle of dat watah, an' she bury it about one a'clock dat night at de east cornah of de house, an' derefo' yuh can't 'scape no way. (You can't do what?) Yuh can't leave no way. [You] jes' be goin' all de time [and that stops it].
(That will keep you [from] going all the time?)
Yes.
Entry 4507
Take dat watah an' stop it up an' go throw it in de Mis'sippi Rivah. An' if dey throw it in de Mis'sippi Rivah, yuh'll keep on jes' like de watah drift, yuh'll drift like dat.
(What would you stop up?) Take dat watah an' ketch it. (What water?) Take de watah yuh take a bath in. (I see.)
An' stop it up in a bottle right tight, an' take it an' throw it in de Mis'sippi Rivah; an' if dey throw it in de Mis'sippi Rivah, de cork can't come out. Jes' as long as dat bottle is stopped up, dat bottle goin' tuh float. An' yuh'll go.
(You'll go. What's going to happen to you?)
Huh? Yuh'll get drownded.
(I see.)
Entry 4543
[Sweatband bow combined with other substances in a bottle will be found later, as well as in other parts of the text.] Dey take dat little bow an' put it in a bottle an' fill half full of watah, an' turn it bottom upwards an' bury it wit de mouth down, so dat watah drippin' in de groun'. Yuh'll go intuh de groun', see; cuz I put a little hole in dat stoppah, so dat watah kin seep out. An' [when] all dat watah run out dat bottle, den yuh goin' tuh de grave.
Entry 4545
Take dat bow intuh yore hat an' dat will run yuh crazy. Take dat bow in yore hat an' put it intuh a bottle. Airtight dis bottle an' don't let no air git intuh it an' it will run yuh crazy.
Entry 4596
Git de bow of 'ls hat, de toe [toes] of 'is dirty socks, see. Put it in a bottle. Git dis Hearts Cologne an' stop it up, see; an' turn it on its haid. Well, it wouldn't be long 'fore he'd be back home an' acknowledge he did wrong.
Entry 4598
De bow of de cap or eithah de hat an' put it in a Hearts Cologne bottle an' bury it under de step an' turn it upside down, an' he will come back.
(Well, suppose the bow in his hat is worn away?) Take de bow of de cap, eithah de hat or de cap. (He has to leave them behind though before she can get them?)
Yes.
Entry 4603
Dey say yuh kin take a man's hat an' take de bow out of a man's hat an' take dat bow an' put it in a bottle of Heart's Own Cologne. An' aftah takin' dat bow an' put it in a bottle of Heart's Own Cologne, yuh take dat bottle den an' put it de right side, not de left but de right, an' stand it on its haid lak dat, an' make yore wishes about it den. An' dat thing will bring a man home. An' dat thing will make a man do things.
Entry 4625
Take dat bow out de back a man's hat an' yuh kin take some needles, an' about two-three stran's of dere hair an' wrap it up in dem dere needles. Have dem needles turned all kinda ways, yo' see. An' put it in a bottle of perfume, see, an' jes'.keep it in a cornah somewhere, yuh know, where de sun kin kinda shine on it. An' dey tell me - say dat will make 'em love yuh.
(You put it so that the sun can shine on it?)
Where de sun kin shine on it, yes. Yuh know jes' in a place - yuh know jes' up on de top of de house. Yuh know somewhere in some close place, yuh see, where de sun kin hit it.
(You put any number of needles in it - any number?)
Yuh put about - ah think it is nine needles yuh put in dere.
Entry 4645
Dey take dat bow - de wlmmin take dat bow of yore hat, see, if dey want chew tuh continue go wit 'em, can't go wit nobody else. Dey take dat little bow in de hat an' dey take dat bow an' dey'll put it in - yuh know, put it up in 'em, in de hole where a man have connection wit 'em. Den take dat an' put it in a bottle.
(They take it out then and put it in a bottle?)
Take it out an' put it in a bottle, see, an' put some cologne - John de Conker Cologne. Dis heah cologne, what chew call it?
(Hearts Cologne?)
Hearts Cologne in de bottle 'bout half full. Keep it stopped up an' yuh cain't go wit nobody else but 'em.
Entry 4676
Well, yuh take dis little bow dat's right in de back of man's hat. Dat's de little bow right dere [demonstrates]. Yuh take dat an' take it an' put it in a bottle of sweet spirits of nitah, an' take an' shake it up good. An' den take it, an' yuh know dese women dey got a pocket or somepin in some of dere bloomahs, yuh know. Take it an' put it in dat pocket an' sew dat pocket up an' weah in dere. An' dey say dey nevah will go wit anothah woman.
Entry 4711
She take de bow outa a man's hat an' she takes an' put it in a small bottle, yuh undahstan'. An' she take dat bottle, yuh undahstan', an' takes some whiskey an' po' in dere on it roun' about every month, see [feeding this hand - see p.578]. he'll jis' be worried aftah her all de time.
[HERE A BLACK PERSON CALLS A WHITE PERSON, "BOY."]
(What would she do with that bottle?)
Well, she'll take dat bottle up dere yuh know, an' she keep dat bottle an' feed it all de time.
Entry 4760
Dey says yuh kin go tuh work an' dress dat house an' it will draw people dere.
(How do you do that?)
Well, dey says yuh go an' git some dust from about dey house, git dat dust. An' den yuh git dat dust an' yuh git some of dere clothes an' put it in a bottle. Go dere an' fasten it tuh dat house some way inside of de house, or jis' fasten it on de step anyway, an' dey say dem people will stay dere. Or else if dey out dere, it will draw somebody dere.
(That is to make a person stay in this house.)
Entry 4787
I have had de luck tuh see 'em brought back. If dat man leaves dat house an' he leaves any of 'is clothes dere, especially socks, undahweah or 'is top-shirt, or SOMPIN DAT REALLY HE OWNS, yuh kin cut a piece outa de seat of dose undahweahs, or a piece outa de tail of 'is shirt - anywhere roun' de privates, yuh see. Put it in a alcohol bottle an' stop it up, preserve it, an' hide it somewhere he cain't see it. Git it intuh dat lamp. An' dat man's comin' back dere, if yuh kin preserve 'im [preserve his piece of clothes]. Well, when he comes, yuh know what he's goin' tuh say? Yuh know what I heered a fellah say? An' ah seed de woman do dis. Ah know she done dis. I seed de woman when she done it. An' he come back, back dere on about de fo'th day, an' he walks up de steps he says tuh 'er, he says, "Hello, Honey." She says, "Lawd, where did yuh come from?" He sayed, "Ah come home tuh die." He say, "Looked lak ah'd git worried tuh death. Couldn't stay away no more." He say, "Ah'll nevah leave yuh no more long as ah live." He say, "Ah wanta stay here."
Entry 4807
Why yuh kin cut de seat outa man's drawahs. Yuh kin take de seat from a man's drawahs an' hold 'im too. He cain't leave yuh, he have tuh stay wit yuh. An' yuh take de seat outa woman's drawahs, why it will dreen [drain] 'er.
(What do you do with the seat of a man's drawers?)
Why yuh take de seat of a man's drawahs an' take an' keep 'em. Take dem an' use dem jis' as though yuh would fo' a sanitary cloth, jis' lak if yuh go tuh de lavatory or any place, always have dat wit chew. Always have dat wit chew. Yuh wipe yuhself wit it an' git chure urinate an' evehthin' on it. Don't nevah wash it, jis' continly [continually] keep it. Yuh takes de seat outa woman's drawahs an' take it an' ball it right nice, roll it real tight, jis' lak yuh roll it dataway [demonstrates]. Always roll it from yuh lak dat. Yuh take hit an' yuh puts it in a bottle an' stop dat bottle up tight. Yuh know, jis' as she wore it. Yuh know, it have tuh be soiled drawahs or somepin othah lak dat. Put it in dat bottle. An' yuh put it in dere, stop it up real tight, as tight as yuh kin, aftah yuh put jis' about a teaspoonful of watah in dere. An' when yo' stop it up, yuh kin go an' bury it any place yuh Wanta, or yuh kin throw it away if yuh wanta. Jis' as long as it stopped up in dat, she will jis' dreen [drain] away tuh nuthin, jis' lak somebody dat's gone into T. B. She usely [usually] be sick all de time. An' nuthin will do her no good, not until somebody actly [actually] find dat bottle or bust it up or sompin of de kind. See, where de air could hit it dere, dat gives 'er relief. But Wit'out dat she don' have any.
(Did you ever hear of them taking a black bottle?)
No suh.
Entry 4830
De story about de woman?
(About the man, to make him come home.)
Yuh could git 'is underweah. Well, take 'em in de fron' an' wash, yuh know, in jis' a li'le watah, an' put it in a bottle. If yuh kin git some of 'is hayah [hair], put it in dere wit it an' stop it up wit some Heart Cologne. (With it, what will that do then?) Bring 'im back.
Entry 4853
Yuh see, yore bath watah is pahtic'lah [particular] things. Den yore undah-pieces clothes, keerful who Wash dat. Dey kin take dat an' rub undah heah, yo' know, an...
(Under your arms and the lower part of your body?)
Yes sir. An' yuh - dey kin take dat an: wash in de basin wit a little watah. An' dey kin take dat an' put it in a bottle, an' den dig a hole anywhere and PUT CHEW RIGHT DERE. If she love yuh, yuh nevah kin go from dere; an' nobody can't do yuh no harm.
Entry 4868
Well, if she wanta git 'im back, yuh see. Anyway, she gits some of 'is - gits 'is shoe sole or some of 'is undahweah, pants he weah nex' tuh 'is skin. An' git dat. Why den, she take an' jis' make a little, little ball, put a little piece enough tuh stick in a bottle. Jis' a little ball about dat much [demonstrates], jis' a little piece yuh undahstan'. Now, take yuh some thread, black silk thread, fine, an' turn de thread pieces all de time tuh yuh [demonstrates]. Yuh see, wrap aroun' de thread, dat thread tuh yuh - all de time so it is coming yore way. Go tuh a stream of watah an' let de watah be comin' yore way. See, yuh meet dis - see, yuh meet dere. Lak yuh comin' disaway [demonstrates] an' de stream come from disaway tuh meet [you], an' yuh throw de bottle an' it will come back tuh yuh. [If you throw the bottle upstream, it wil] come floating downstream to meet you.]
Entry 4913
De woman's stockin's, put 'em up ovah de sill of de do'. An' dat steel dust, as yuh call it, put it up dere wit cayenne peppah wit it, in a bottle, stoppin' it tight. Write her name in it an' dat run 'er stone crazy. Dat give mah mamma de haidache so, she didn't know her haid from her arm or 'er feets.
Entry 4917
Take a woman's stockin' while it's dirty - not a clean one, while it's dirty. Yuh take it an' yuh ball it up an' yuh puts it right up ovah de do'. Dat [is] if she leave yuh, yuh puts it ovah de do' an' she'll come back home. Or eithah dey could cut de seat of 'er undahclothes out an' put it ovah de do' an' she'll nevah leave. An' [or] yo' could take de mole of 'er hair [head], cut de hair out an' plait it. Put it intuh a vial an' put Hearts Cologne on it - feed it. [To put Hearts Cologne on is to feed it.] Tote it in yore pocket an' she'll nevah leave yuh - she'll stay wit yuh.
Entry 4966
[The following rite is a first class sending-away rite told as a bring- ing-back rite. I have marked this informant on the original transcription page ng (no good), which some- times merely means not a good informant, or an in- formant with little worth- while material. The purpose here, though not normal, becomes magically legimate by intention. Reversal is also a piece of magic.]
(About the stocking foot?)
Yes, so fur as de stockin' foot, yo' kin do her stockin' foot an' cut it off at de toe yo' see. Dat's mos' where dey sweats at - de toe of it. Yo' take dat, a small piece, an' put nine knots in it, see. Put it in a bottle an' take a piece of papah an' yo' put 'er name on dere. Yo' put dat in dere an' go tuh de rivah an' throw.it ovahbo'd. See, den dere's no mo' tuh dat.
(What will that do?)
Well, so fur as dat, it bring 'er back if yo' wants 'er back. Yo' kin bring 'er back an' she cain't leave when yo' do dat. See. She gotta stay dere until she die. She gotta stay dere.
Entry 4996
Dey had mah husban' [fixed] now. His sock in a bran'-new white han'- ke'ch'ef, nine needles an' nine pins - new pins [and surely also new needles] - graveyard dirt, cayenne pepper, an' dey wuz all in dat bottle what ah foun' undah mah steps. An' so [it] wuz mah husban's dirty sock. Dey had it fixed wit somepin in it an' wearin' it roun' 'er waist. Ah sees dat mah- self.
[Not round the woman's waist! She saw the sock showed to her by the doctor!]
(What did that do to him?)
Well, he recognized it [the sock produced by the doctor] - saw de whole thing. An' so ah got somebody look at 'im an' de woman dat looked at 'im tole me dat dere wuz a girl aftah 'im befo' he started courtin' me. De girl went 'erself an' she stole his dirty sock, had it fixed [by a doctor] an' wore - had it roun er wais'. (Well, did this woman [doctor] tell you how to get rid of that? What to do to get rid of it?) She give me some medicine, but what de medicine wuz ah don't know. [She give me some medicine is ambiguous. Was it for herself or husband? If for her, then we have one of those rare examples of MEDICINE BY PROXY - margin title p.365. This story came early in my hoodoo collecting days, otherwise I would have asked for further details. It is evident that the woman on finding the bottle took it to a Woman, who told her what was inside and why the ingredi- ents had been planted at the steps.]
Entry 5055
Now de woman is gone, she's gone. She jis' pick up 'erself an' gone out. She boun' tuh leave somepin in dere. Now, dat's whut she lef' in dere - dat be a cloth, a blood cloth. Well, yuh might ketch it. She might leave dat. Well, yuh ketch dat an' yuh kin take dat an' bury dat. Now, dat stockin' when she leaves, yuh take dat stockin'. Don' pin it up lak by de laig, yuh pin it up by de toe, yuh undahstan'. Yuh git chew a bran'- new - a pack of bran'-new safety pins, but don' take an' let dat git away from yuh. Jis' keep dat perfec' [perfect] fo' dat. Take it an' shove it [pin] back dere, right in de stockin' foot.
(Where do you hang it up?)
In yore dressah or in yore chiffahrobe [chifforobe], or whutsomevah yuh got. Yuh got'a hang it in dere, but hang it upside down. Now de name. Write her name nine times. Now yuh take an' yuh write de name an' yuh put dat in a bottle. Write de name nine times comin' tuh yuh all de time, not goin' from yuh, comin' tuh yuh nine times. Yuh fol' dat an' yuh put dat in a bottle. Yuh git chew some lodestone an' put dat in dere in dat clear watah, an' carry dat tuh a rivah or bayou. Ah don' care where yuh carry it; tuh de creek or anywhere. Don't set it up, turn dat down. When yuh turn dat down, dat bottle goin' turn lak dis [demonstrates]. Turn comin' tuh yuh. De mouth of it will turn comin' tuh yuh all de time. It's be comin' tuh yuh an' it'll be goin'. In nine days yuh'll see 'em right dere. [Algiers, La., (193, 2993:2.]
Entry 5067
Take a man's sock, if dey's got a man an' he's tryin' tuh run aftah some othah wimmin or sompin lak dat. Take a man's sock especially if de wimmins live wit 'im or anythin' lak dat. Takes an' wash dem socks out an' take dat watah where yuh wash dem socks an' put it in a quart bottle. Put dat watah in de quart bottle an' stop it up an' put it ovah de sill of de house lak dat do' dere, yo' know. Take an' open dat ceilin' dere an' put it in dere an' let it set in dere. [The ceiling near the door is opened so that the bottle can be placed on the top of the hidden door frame, here as so frequently, called the sill of the door - sill equalling ceiling of door.] Make him stay home. [Wilson, N. Car. (1496).2665:6.]
Entry 5069
Wash de sock yuh know an' git de dirty watah. Put it in a little bot- tle an' mix a little Hearts Own Cologne an' jis' stop it up, an' jis' carry it in yore pocket. An' dey say dat man will follah yuh or woman - which one [whichever one you Want].
Entry 5073
Take an' git dere socks. An' take his socks an' wash 'em. An' take de watah an' put it in a bottle wit de soft watah, sompin lak rain watah, in a kinda crystal watah. Let half of it be de watah from washin' de socks an' half of it be's de crystal watah.
(Soft water?)
Yeah, take dat an' put a little sugah.in it an' put Epsom salts in dat. An' yuh take an' burn de incense an' de red onion - lump incense - on de stove, an' sprinkle a little sugah in it. Dey mos'ly use sugah mos' in anything. An' yuh burn dis lump incense an' de red onion on de stove an' call de name three times. Burn dat fo' 'bout nine mawnin's an' he'll come back an' dere won' be no trouble.
(What did you do with that sock water? What did you do with that?)
Take dat an' set it in de no'th cornah of de house an' keep it dere fo' three days - three tuh nine days. An' yuh take it out an' yuh po' it 'cross de do'- steps an' aftah it dries... [I turned off recording machine too soon or accidentally and had to restart it to repeat informant's words.]
(He'll come back?)
Yessuh.
Entry 5074
Yuh take dat sock - like if yuh wear a sock, yuh pull dat sock off, eithah one, yuh soak dem socks. Yo' squeeze de watah out of dem an' yuh take dat watah come out dem socks an' yuh put dat watah in a bottle. Den yuh take some of yore watah [urine] an' put in dere. DAT'S A TRICK IT AIN'T NO HURTIN' NOR NUTHIN, JIS' A TRICK. [For tricks, see TRICKS, Pp.260-269 and elsewhere.]
(What will that do?)
It will jis' trick 'um tuhgethah an' dey cain't git loose from one anothah. Dat's all it is. Ah know dat. Yuh give a little bit of de watah tuh drink.
Entry 5174
Well, now, de piece when yo' intendin' - when yo' wanta send 'em away, now yo'll take dat piece [insole] an' cut a piece out of it. An', yo' know, yo' have tuh talk tuh it in a diff'ren' way all de time. Well, when yo' take dat piece out de shoe, yo'll git de lef' foot. An' when yo' take dat outa dat, dat's de same as 'is [foot] track. An' yo' take dat out an' den yo' git chew nine of dese fo'- cornahed nails, ah jis' call 'em. An' den yo' git chew a piece of thread an yo' tie all nine of dem nails. Yo' tie 'em tuhgethah. An' when yo' tie dem tuh- gethah, den yo' git a piece of shame brier [see p.646], an' yo' wrop dat tuh- gethah. An' den yo' put it in a blue bottle or a green one, eithah one lak dat, but let it be dark. An' yo' kin throw it in any runnin' watah. He cain't he'p from leavin', he got'a follah dat. (Now about those nails. You wrap those nails up in this piece of the old shoe. That the idea?) Yessuh, jis' a li'le piece whut yo' got outa de ole shoe, but yo' let 'em set a li'le while. An' den, when yo' set it dere, all yo' have tuh do, throw dem ovah yore lef' shouldah an' it go in dat watah. Yo' see, dey goin' as fur as dat watah run. Dey follahs den an' dey compelled tuh go in dat direction.
Entry 5221
If yore wife or anyone is gone 'way from yo', yo'll take dat shoe an' scrape de toe out of it wit yore pocketknife, on de inside. (Both shoes or just one?) Well, one of 'em will do - eithah one. An' yo' take dat scrapin' an' yo' put dat in a bottle an' yo' bury dat. Dat will turn dem aroun' - turn 'em back tuh yo'.
(Do you bury that bottle in any particular way or just any old way?)
Well, yo' should bury dat bottle tuh de sunrise.
Entry 5341
Yo' put 'em tuh ramblin', see. Well, now, heah's whut ah mean by dat. Yo' takes a fresh hen aig see, an' hit will be jes' fresh laid. An' wheresom- evah yo' transfah [walk] at on de natchal [natural] groun', yo' take dat an' bury it in de hollah of dere track. See. An' yo'd be sho' [sure] not tuh bury it mo' den three inches deep, an' in place of rakin' de dirt ovah lak dat, yo' rake it ovah back tuhwards home, where yo' wan' 'em tuh come. See. See, yo' rake it back de way yo' wan' 'em tuh come. An' den yo' take dat an' yo' git chew cleah watah an' put it in nine bottles at chure home. An' yo' take dem bottles an' put 'em on a grate or heatah or whatsomevah yo' have, one at de time. An' have a co'k stoppah in dat [bottle] so it wouldn't burn out, an' dat would bust in dat fiah, see. An' dat will break dat trouble an' draw 'em back. (The woman, when he leaves home, she would get one of his foot tracks and put that egg in that foot track. Bury taht egg in that foot track. And after she does that, carries it back toward the house. Then she gets her nine bottles of clear water and puts one on the hearth...) Puts 'em dere one at de time.
(And each one must break.)
Each one must bust, explode, jes' pops.
(And after she has done nine of them, then he'll come back to her.)
Will come back. If he knew dat she wuz doin' dat an' he still wanta stay 'way an' not go, well he'd have a way tuh keep from doin' dat. Well, now, he'd do dat wit de same thing - salt. He'd burn dat salt and put it in a little bag, see, an' keep dat in his pocket. Dat would break dat.
Entry 5344
Say dey kin take yore left-foot track an' start tuh de toe of it, an' make right back tuh de heel part of it, an' take an' stop it up in a bottle. An' go tuh de rivah when de watah's goin' out [tide-water river is going out] an' throw it ovah dere, [they] say, an' yo'll have tuh go.
Entry 5348
Well, ah heard dat yo' could take de dirt out from undah de right feet an' put it in a bottle, an' carry it tuh de rivah an' turn yore back tuh it, an' stop it in de bottle about dat full, jes' enough fo' de watah seep in. An' take it an' throw it ovah yore lef' shouldah an' says, Go, devil, go. An' ovah dat yo' throw half dat dirt.
(You get that out of that foot track, the right foot?)
Yessuh.
Entry 5349
He'll take yore track - yo' know, jes' take it up right whole an' carry it away. An' aftah he carry it away, he'll take it an' he crumble it up, an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up right tight. See, dey put it in a bottle - takes it pinch by pinch aftah he gets it away, an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up right tight. Well, he'll take dat bottle an' bury dat bottle anywhere close by runnin' watah. Right close by runnin' watah, jes' don't put it in de runnin' watah. An' if yo' kin evah find where dat bottle is - or git somebody tuh tell yo' where dat bottle is. Or yo' kin git somebody tuh take it offa yo' an' turn it back on dem, an' dey'll know what it is, an' go an': git de bottle deyself. (So, what is that supposed to do to you, if that bottle is buried with that track? What will that do to you?) Well, it will jes' dwindle yo' down - drag, dwindle yo' down. Yo' can't walk. Dwindle yo' down till yo' jes' go all away tuh nuthin, till yo' git so weak yo' jis' die.
Entry 5408
Take yore foot track - see, yore right track, take dese two fingahs right chere [demonstrates].
(Which hand?)
De right hand.
(The thumb and the forefinger.)
An: dey go down in de middle of yore tracks an' git a pinch of dat dirt three time right in de middle of yore tracks. Put it in dat cologne bottle. Put it half fulla watah an' bury it undah yore do'. Evah mawnin' yo' be tuh 'er house. (The woman does this to a man, so that he will come to her house.)
Entry 5426
Dey goes tuh de fo'ks of a road an' gits de track of a person. Lak yo' pass by dere, dey git chure track, eithah of dose track. Dey'll git nine tracks, nine steps yo' make, an' dey'll git from de hollah [hollow] of yore feet tuh de toe goin' dat way. Dey'll bottle dat up an' throw it in de sea - in de swamp where it runnin' watah, an' dey shoot yo' right in behin' dat. Yo'll go right on behin' dat track, behin' dat bottle, an' yo'll nevah stop until dat bottle stops.
Entry 5471
Well, yo' kin ketch a person's lef' track gwine away from yo' an' draw it tuh yo'. An' den yo' kin put it in a bottle an' put graveyard dirt wit it an' cayenne peppah, an' a li'le sugah an' some table salt, an' air- tight it an' throw it in runnin' water. An' den if dat bottle drift away, why yo' drift away wit it.
Entry 5516
People wan's people tuh move out of a house, why dey gits de drop on dat fellah when he's walkin' an' watch 'im, yo' see. An' prob'ly [they] take a bottle or maybe tobacco can or snuff- box or somepin an' git de dust out of 'is lef'-foot track dere. Prob'ly walk aroun' dat house an' throw it across it. An' well, dey can't live dere no more.
(Where do they throw it across?)
Throw it across de eaves.
(Right across the roof of the house?)
Yes, sir. As it go ovah, he leaves it open so dat it might scattah as it go across, yo' know. (I see, leave that bottle or can open as you throw it over the house, and scatter the dust over the roof. That will make them leave the house.) Well, dey becomes tuh be dissatisfied wit de house, won' be satisfied until dey move. An' it ain't goin' be very long befo' dey moves.
Entry 5558
Whut dey would do if dey git holt of yore foot track. Well, dey'd pick dat dirt up an'.dey would take dat dirt intuh a bottle, an' dey would git 'em a rusty nail. An' den dey would stop dat dirt up in dere, an' den dey would throw it in runnin' watah. Dat would run yo' away from heah.
(Why do they put the nail in?)
Well, becuz it's rusty, an' it got a p'int tuh it.
Entry 5576
Ah went tuh a person [doctor] fo' dat, too. Now he tole me, he got mah name fust [first] an' hern [hers] second, an' he tole me tuh go back an' in meetin' 'er, take some ofde dirt outa de right foot - chew know, meetin' 'er. Well, behin' 'er dat's de lef' [not right] foot. See. Grab some of de dirt outa back heel, jis' a little small amount of it, an' put it in dis piece of paper an' roll it. Roll it tuh yo' all de time, see till yo' git it down tuh a small little papah. Den git nine needles, dat nevah has been on de flo', an' stick 'em in it. Take a little vasoline bottle an' drop dat little thing in it an' stop it up, an' bury it undah 'er do'step where she'll have tuh step ovah it. [The preceding nevah has been on de flo' goes back to the American pioneer cabin - probably to primitive man - which originally had no floor, the bareearth, sometimes packed level with the first log, being warmer and easier to keep clean. The word floor at least in pioneer English can mean the bare ground, always a place of magic. This also is one of the meanings of articles dropped: accident- ally, purposely, or mysteriously by spirits.] Ah had a boy crost [across] town done de same thing. His wife went back tuh 'im an' been [with him] evah since.
(Now in getting this dirt from her foot track you are walking behind her?)
No, comin' in front of 'er. (Oh, you are coming in front of her, meeting her. And you are taking the dirt out of which track?) Dis track ovah here, dat would be yore lef' foot.
(Out of her left-foot track.)
Comin' tuh yo' it would be her right foot - comin' tuhwards yo'. But still it's de left foot if yo' git behin' 'er. (Oh, actually, you get it out of the heel of her left foot.)
Entry 5585
Git nine new needles an' a piece of red flannel, an' git a spoon an' take out de tracks, de middle of de tracks, an' bottle it up an' put it in run- nin' watah. Dey won't come back any mo'. (You get this dirt out of which track, both of them?) No, de right.
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 5616
They dit up the whole left-foot track and put it in a bottle. Take it and throw it in the river. They can put a little water in or a little cayenne pepper, if you want, make a wish, throw it in the river - and throw it away. You wish them to stand still or to drown, you wish them good or wish them bad, anything you want to.
Entry 5618
Take dere tracks an' take a pinch, three pinches an' git chew nine grains of red peppah an' nine grains of black peppah an' nine peas of black- eyed peas, an' put it in a bottle an' throw it ovahbo'd, an' don' look back. Says she'll 'peah [appear] 'way from dere. (Here's the track like that. You take three pinches out of that track - either track, the right track or theleft?) De right track.
Entry 5627
Yo' kin take a person track an' take red peppah an' salt an' put it in a halfa pint bottle, an' chunk it in runnin' watah de way yo' wan' de person tuh go an' dey'll leave. Dey won' evah come back.
Entry 5628
Take de foot tracks up an' put dat in abottle of water, an' put some cayenne peppah an' salt an' steel dust, an' throw it inde rivah. Dat will make yo' drift. Track of de left foot.
Entry 5634
Dey say yo' kin take dere track an' put it wit some salt an' [red] peppah an' sulphur an' put it in a bottle, an' go to runnin' watah an' throw it in backwards, an' tell de person - call dere name - tell dem to go jis' lak dat track go down dere, down de rivah. An' long as dat watah runnin' carr'in' dat track, why dat person always wundahin' [wandering] roun' an' goin'.
(You use the dirt out of either foot?)
Either one.
Entry 5640
Well, yo' kin take de dirt up out dere foot track. Yo' take dat up m' put it in a cloth an' den dey take salt an' [red] peppah, an' it's eithah Samson [snake root] or blacksnake root. Yo' take dat up an' put it all togethah, an' den wrap dat up, see an' dey bury dat. Put it in a bottle an' stop it up right airtight, an' dey bury dat. Dat'll make yo' stay.
Entry 5653
Dey kin take yore foot track up. Jis' go out an' jis' lak yo' stan' in de sand, take it up wit a silvah spoon. Jis' take it up real lightly an put it in a bottle, an' stop it up an' throw it in runnin' watah an' it will carry yo' away.
(Either track?)
No suh, have tuh be yore lef' track.
Entry 5682
Take de print of yore lef' foot, about a teaspoon an' bring it toward 'em, an' in nine days time yo'll be gone. (Here's your left-foot track and you get a teaspoon?) Bring it towards yo', bring it back towards yo'. Dey'll be gone in nine days time.
(What do you do with that after you get it in the teaspoon?)
Well, yo' kin put it in de bottle an' bury it.
Entry 5685
[You] kin take yore foot track an' take a thimble. Take it from de toe of de foot back to de heel. An' dey kin kill yo' wit dat. (Just how do they do that?) Well, dey take dat an' dey put nine needles in. Dey take de thimble an' dey puts a thimbleful of it, an' take it an' put nine needles in dat stuff an' put it in a jar, a bottle, an' drop it in floatin' watah an' yo' die from dat.
(Which track did you say they take, both of them?)
De lef' track. (Take a thimbleful of the dirt and put nine needles into and put it into a bottle. Do you cork it up or leave it open or what?) Stop it up tight as wax. Dat will kill de person.
Entry 5748
In case yore lovah is gone 'way from yuh ag'in an' yo' wanta bring 'im back, yo' kin take yore foot track de way he's gone. Take de track an' pull it back towards yo', an' put it in some of yore urination an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up. An' dat will bring 'im back, an' she kin keep im. (Where do you keep this bottle then?) Oh, yo' know de do'step, if yo' have a steps. Put it undah de do'steps. If not, put it somewhere where he could walk ovah it.
(How many tracks do you take, just one track?)
One track, his right track. Git it - yo' know, bring it back towards yo', as he goes from yo'. See, yo' wanta bring 'im back to yo' [demonstrates].
(Bring the toe back to the heel.)
Entry 5756
Well, yo' see de foot track, takin' de foot track [demonstrates] wit dis fingah an' de tum' [thumb] an' jis' drawin' it tuh yo' dat way.
(That's the left hand with the thumb and the finger next to the index finger.)
Drawin' it tuh yo' dat way, pinch it tuhgethah. Take dat back an' put it in- tuh a bottle an' put nine needles in dere, nine needles in dat bottle; cinnamon powdah mixed in dat wit chamber lye of de woman. Buryin' it or put it in a very close place where she won't find it. If she a woman 'custom [accustomed] tuh bein' away from home an' stayin' away from home, she will come 'custom tuh stay at home.
(You take this dirt out of either foot track?)
Yessuh, eithah foot track. But de foot track must be prints in de groun' dat is damp, yo' undahstan'. De foot track must be prints yo' see.
Entry 5806
Ah said dey would put it in a bottle. (What would they take?) Dey would take some of yore urine. Yuh know whut dat is don't chew? An' put in dat wit dat. (Tell me right from the beginning everything they do. What do they put in the bottle?) De hair, an' den dey put in alcohol wit dat. Hit'll make it grow yuh know. An' hit carry yuh right off. Yuh can't stay dere in dat place.
(You told me they kept it in there a certain length of time.)
Ten days.
(And where do they keep that bottle?)
Oh, somewhere close in de house - undah de bed, sompin lak dat.
(What do they do after they keep it ten days?)
Dey take it an' bury it.
(And what will that do to you?)
Dat will run yuh, won't let chew come back no mo'. [To bury something of yours to run yuh is not logical, but intention is everything in hoodoo.]
Entry 5811
In order to make a person lose his mind, it is said you take several strands of hair from his head and put into a bottle, and three or four drops of blood from any animal. This bottle is buried and kept buried for six months, in ohich time the person to which the hair belonged will become very sick and then vill die. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 5825
If she kin git holt of a piece of 'is hair - if he's left any of 'is bair, if it ain't but two or three strands of it in a comb, yo' take dat hair der an' put it intuh a black bottle. An' den pee on dat bottle, an' at de bottom of 'er do'step turn dat bottle - dig a hole an' turn dat bottle face foremost right down In de ground. An' if he's close enough tuh be back in three days, he'll be back In three days. Jes' dat little piece of hair.
Entry 5826
Ah've heard 'em say, yo' know, dat chew kin take a, a individual's hair a' place it, yo' know, into a bottle dat way an' stop it up tight an' bury it undah de do'step, or jes' anywhere in de dirt wit de head of it down dat way. An' dey say dat will run 'em, yo' know, kinda bout half crazy where dey'll have diff'ren' minds yo' know, have a wanderin' ird, see, not to stay in one place.
(You don't put anything else in that bottle do you?)
Nuthin else in dere, jes' de hair.
Entry 5829
Ah've heard dat a person could take yore hair an' put it in a bottle, in anything dat dey could stop it up airtight, an' it would run yo' - yo' know, jes' have yo' goin' evah whichaway.
(What do you do with that bottle?)
Yo' bury - yo' buries it, buries dat bottle.
Entry 5830
(What do they do with my hair?)
Well, dey says dey kin run yo' crazy, bury it. Put it in a little bottle lak dat. Ah've heard of findin' hair in dem bottles. An' bury it. Dat supposed tuh run yo' crazy.
Entry 5836
Take some of dere hair an' mix it wit some cat hair an' put it in a Boctle of vinegah an' shake it up an' bury it undah de do'step an' let chew walk ovah it. Dat will run yo crazy. (That is if you took my hair you would bury that under my doorstep? Under my own doorstep?) Tes sir.
(That would set me crazy?)
Yes sir.
Entry 5860
Yo' takes yo' hair an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up tight. Dat's when he wanta gain yo' back an' come back close to him. Well, aftah be put dat in dis bottle to draw yo' back to him, he'll stop it down an' bury it Do de foot of 'is step. Dat will draw yo' back to him. Charleston, S. Car.,
(525), 627:6+85.]
Entry 5861
Ah tell yo' de way ah have known people to do people harm, dat's tuh git some of dere hair an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up tight. Put it undah de doorstep, dat will run people crazy. Ah've heard dat.
(Whose doorstep do they put it under?)
Yours.
(The person whose hair it is?)
Yassuh, dat's it.
Entry 5892
Git a plait of woman's hair an' plait it into fo' strand - jes' plait it into fo' plaits, not into three an' put it in a bottle an' put it in runnin' stream of watah. Drive yo' crazy. [The number 4 sends the hair to the 4 corners of the earth - see for symbolism, The Revelation of St. John The Divine 7:1.]
Entry 5896
Well now, whut about de frog. Dat's about a woman's hair. Well, yo' din take her hair an' TIE IT TO A TOADFROG an' he'll hop aWay wit it, an' DAT'LL DC HER SIT DOWN AN' SLEEP ALL DE TIME. An' if yo' TIE IT TO A BIRD an' let 'im fly away, dat'll MAKE HER HAVE DE aDaCHE all de time. Yo' PUT IT IN A BOTTLE AN' STOP IT UP an' go to runnin' watah an' throW it in rumin' watah, an' dat'll run 'er off. An' a man kin take it an' PUT IT IN 'IS WATCH FOB or EITHAH TIE IT UP IN A RAG, THREE KNOTS in a rag, an' put it in his Watch pocket an' dat'll make her love him.
Entry 5909
Well, yo' kin take de hair out de top of a woman haid an' go to de graveyard an' git some of dis graveyard dirt. Put a dime down in dere an' den yo' kin tie a little piece of new cloth - right new cloth. (You tie this hair and the graveyard dirt [and dime] together into this new cloth.) An' put it in a little bottle an' put dis stuff dey call Heart Cologne on it, an' yo'll keep 'em fo'evah - dey nevah will leave yo'.
Entry 5939
Yo' take a person's hair an' yo' shet it up in a bottle wit Hearts Cologne an' yo' bury it. An' when yo' bury it, aftah it stay dere sech a lengt' of time... [There is a long pause and I interrupt.] (How long Would it have to stay there?) Well, dey says [after] nine days, yo' finda, yo'll begin tuh have a headache. From time tuh time - it 'cordin' tuh how yore blood stand, it li'ble tuh run yo' crazy, if yo' don't find someone tuh relieve yo' of it.
(Someone to get the bottle?)
Yes.
Entry 5940
Take de hair - jes' lak yo' gits de hair right out de mole of yo' haid, place it in a Hearts Cologne bottle an' stop it up real tight. Let it stay in dere a certain length of time an' take it somewhere an' bury it.
(What will that do?)
Dey say dat run yo' crazy 'bout a person. (About this person. What do you mean, you let it stay there a certain length of time?) Well, nine days.
(You let it stay in this bottle nine days. Then what do you do with it?)
Dey take it up an' jes' lay it - jes' let stay dere if dey wanta. Let it stay dere fo' nine days an' finish de nine days why de work is did.
(This begins to work after nine days.)
Entry 5941
Ah kin take - jes' lak if ah wanted to take de hair out of a woman's haid. Well, ah gits dat hair, see, out de mole of 'er haid an' puts it into a little bottle an' put some Hearts Cologne into it, an' den take it an' bury it somewhere roun' de house, an' she will be in love wit chew.
(This hair and Hearts Cologne?)
Yes sir.
Entry 5942
Dey kin run yo' crazy wit chure hair. Dey kin take two stran' of yore hair - two or three stran' of yore hair - an' put it in a cologne bottle an' put some more dat cologne in dat bottle. An' bury it an' it run yo' crazy, makes chew lose yore mind.
Entry 5943
(First, they get what?)
Yo' hair an' buy bottle of Hearts's Perfume an' stop it up an' bury it umdah de right [side of] do'steps. That will run yo' crazy.
Entry 5944
Ah've heered 'em say - well, lak ah heered a guy say once he wuz goin' wit a girl an' he fell in deep, in love wit dis girl, an' she didn't seem tuh care anythin' much about 'im. He wuz very much in love wit 'er. So he tuk a stran' of hair out de mole of dis girl's haid, an' he tuk it an' put it in a bottle of Heart's Cologne, an' throwed it in a stream of strong runnin' watah. An' he said in about two months or three months aftah dat he tuk dis hair an' throwed it in a stream of watah in dis Hearts Co- logne in dis bottle, it wuzn't long 'fore dis girl wuz crazy.
Entry 5945
Ah heard 'em say yo' could git some hair from in de mole of yore haid, an' take an' git chew a bottle of Hearts Cologme an' put it in dere an' put a stoppah in it, an' throw it in runnin' watah an' it would run yo' crazy.
Entry 5947
An' ah tole him [my contact man Edward Bufford] 'bout takin' de hair from de mole of yuh haid, an' takin' an' puttin' it in a bottle of cologne, an' go tuh any kinda runnin' stream an' jis' drop it ovah. An' dat wuz anothah way tuh git rid of 'em, run 'em away.
Entry 5974
Yo' kin take some of a person hair an' put in a bottle an' stop it up an' yo' carry dat bottle wit yo' evahwhere yo' go. An' dat person, nowhere dey go - an' dey keep a headache, dey keep sick - an' nowhere dey go dey would be satisfied. Yo' kin take nine stran's of a person's hair an' Put nine knots in it an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' in nine days dat person sull die.
(Take nine strands of their hair and you tie nine knots in that hair?)
An' yo' kin throw it in runnin' watah an' in nine days dey'll be daid.
Entry 5975
An' if yo' got a sweetheart an' she got long hair, yo' wants tuh make er love yo'. She got long hair, yo' take nine: knots in 'er hair; if yore girl frien's got long hair, yo' make nine knots in 'er hair. An' if she got short hair, yo' git nine stran's of 'er hair. An' put it in a bottle of Heart Cologne an' stop it up tight an' yo' use it fo' nine mawnin's. Yo' jes' put it right on yore body fo' nine mawnin's, quit off fo' nine mawnin's. When yo' use up de whole bottle of Heart Cologne, den yo' use it as reg'lah as yo' feel lak. Dat's tuh make yore girl frien' love
Entry 5978
Dey take yore hair an' dey will run yo' crazy. Dey take dat hair an' put it in a bottle an' put it in milk, new milk, an' put sugah in dat, an' put dis heah red cayenne peppah, an' put some of 'is chamber lye in dat, an' close it up air- tight. Dat will do de work.
(What do you do With that bottle then?)
Yo' carry it in yore pocket.
(You put all this stuff in the bottle?)
Yessuh.
Entry 5986
Well, if she kin git 'im back she go to de Ten Cent Sto' an' buy her a bottle of Hearts Cologne, if she kin git in touch wit 'im to git dat much of hair oata his haid - a strand of hair. Put it to de Hearts Cologne. Turn de bottle apside down an' call 'is name. When he answah, screw de top - shut de voice up in dere an' he can't stay away. HE'LL COME BACK IN SMILES.
(She does this when he is gone. She gets some of his hair?)
His hair. She hide some place while he gone, an' whensoevah he come in, she has his hair in de bottle, an' jes' call 'im quickly. He'll glance up quickly. Screw de top. She's got 'im. [To hold a bottle of perfume upside down with the cork stopper unloosened, while calling a name and waiting for an answer, could be a delicate operation. But we must realize that the cork is barely untwisted and that the spirit in the answering voice can fly - or what- ever a spirit does - through the smallest crack.] [For catching spirit in a bot- tle, see p.24.]
Entry 5997
Well, yo' take a lock of yore hair an' de band [bow] outa de back of yore hat, an' yo' stick a brasshead needle in it, an' put it in a Hearts Own Cologne bottle. Stop it up an' turn it bot- tomside upwards undah de front steps. Well, yo' wouldn't have no care fo' nobody else but me.
Entry 5999
If yo' wanta make anybody leave dere home, yo' kin take dere hair out from right in de front of de haid right dere [demonstrates] lak where yo' part it at. An' yo' kin take two needles an' thread dem needles wit de hair, an' put it in a bottle an' bury it right at de block of de house, as yo' goin' out by de front. An' jes' lak de blocks, jes' lak de bricks filled in undah de house - see, yo' could bury it right back down dere.
(What will that do?)
Dat'll make yo' have peace in yore home, or eithah make yo' bring love back - anythin' lak dat.
Entry 6000
The following expression was surely devised by someone tired of hearing the well-known expression: You give me a headache! Yo' wuz speakin' of hair. A person kin do yo' a great deal of trouble wit yore hair. Prob'ly git yuh 'sleep or git some of yore hair unbeknown to yo' - git dis hair unbeknown to yo'. Yo' take dis hair an' git yo' a little Hearts Cologne an' put it into a bottle an' yo' git choo a small piece of flannen an' cross yore needles between dat flannen an' put it in dere.
(What do you mean cross your needles?)
Make a kind of a X [a cross] out of it [the 2 needles].
(Two needles?)
Two needles, an' make yo' kind of a X out of it. An' twist dis hair aroun' dese needles an' place it in dat cologne, but don't stop yore bottle stoppah tight - prob'ly fo' nine mawnin's. Yo'll leave dat stoppah in dere fo' nine mawn- in's, if yo' should git a chance to git co mah bed or to mah do'step, an' let dat bottle [stand] straight up so I got to valk ovah it, it will keep me suffahin' wid a headache. I'll lingah aftah yo'. I still suffah wid dat headache, but when I gits where yo' is, look lak it kinda Vanishes away-lak. I'll jis' lust aftah yo'. A man do a woman dat way or awoman dat way or a woman kin do a man dat way.
(You only have the headache when you are away from them?)
When yo' are away from 'em yo' have a dull headache an' yore mind, look lak yo' is worried. An' yo' arn't [are not] - it jes' stays on dem.
(You never put that cork in tight. You never put that in tight?)
Don't put it in tight, jes' leave it so yo' kin go dere an' touch it fo' nine Mvnin's, becuz de ninth mawnin' yo'll push it in tight.
Entry 6002
So far as yore hair concerned, yo' could be ruled by yore hair. Yo' Lou whut ah mean, somebody could take yore hair an' make yo' love dem. Yo' undahstan'. (Do you know how they do it?) How dey do it? Well, ah kin take yore hair. Dey usely [usually] gits - dey takes three pins or needles an' put it in a bottle of Hearts Perfume, yo' undahstan', but dey must know yore name.
(What do they do with that name?)
Write on dis piece of papah an' put it in wit de hair.
(Put all these things in the bottle?)
All dese combination in de bottle.
(What do you do with that bottle then?)
Take it - but wit chew, carry it. Yo' gotta carry dat bottle all de time. Sometimes peoples buries it.
Entry 6003
An' he [author's contact man] ast me did ah know any Way tuh try tuh hold a woman, an' ah tole him a way dat chew could take a bottle of cologne an' one stran' of 'er hair, an' go an' buy three bran'-new needles an' put in dat cologne. An' whilst dat hair be suckin' up dat cologne - jes' let it stay in dere until it suck up all dat cologne - jes' put it anywhere in de mattress, or eithah sew it up in a feathah pillah or mattress where it can't be found.
Entry 6005
An' yo' wanted to keep dat fellah. All right, chew take jis' one of de whole plait out de top of dis fellah's haid. Yo' grabs one of dose plaits an' cut it off, an' yo' cut dat plait off dere clean. Yo' take dat plait an' yo' put it in a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' fo' needles, steel needles - fo' needles stick right down 'side of it an' stop it up tight. An' den yo' carry dat bot- tle wit yo' roun' about 'leven or twelve 'clock at night an' yo' go to de graveyard an' yo' set it to
[the grave of] someone dat chew know an' - co'se he [the spirit in the grave]
arrive befo' yo' have de house [he reaches your house before you]. He unnahstan' dough [though]. He'll arrive befo' yo'. All yo' gota do is tell 'em [spirit] what chew want [done or] what chew wanna know. An' yo' bring dat bottle back [home] an' evah time yo' use it - see [demonstrates] de stoppah will be 'bout dat long. De more yo' shove dat [stopper into the bottle], de worse it will git; de more yo' pull on it [pull it out of the bottle], de lessah it will be.
(In [and out of] this bottle? You have a long stopper about a foot long?)
Dat's right, an' yo' see, de more yo' shove [the stopper] in dat [bottle] de more yo' shove dem [the man] down' but de more yo' pull it [the stopper out of the bottle], why dat de more he [man] be up. Now, if he's down an' yo' jis' take dat same stoppah an' yo' got it dis way [demonstrates]. Well, yo' got it down. Well, de othah way [up], yo' gona ease 'bout a half inch or quarter of inch, increase. But when yo' want 'im to go back down, why yo' jis' shove it on back down dere - lak dat [demonstration ends]. Reep 'em, can't leave home - ain't anyway in de worl' fer 'em to leave home. An' keep dat wid joo - dat is contin'en [continuing] 'is min' d'reck [direct] on yo', his min' couldn't leave.
Entry 6015
From mah undahstandin', yo' take nine strands of hair off de mole of yore head an' dey kin run yo' crazy wit it. Dey takes yore hair an' dey mix it up, puts it in a bottle wit nine needles, an' git some lodestone dust, an' dey puts it in dis bottle wit dis. An' dey takes an' dey bury de bottle upside down. See, it will run [you] crazy an' yo' apt to die.
Entry 6016
Yo' take a lock of yore hair, yo' git nine brass needles.
(You mean brasseye don't you?)
[They are usually called qoldeyed.]
Yes sir, an' a piece of red flannen. Yo' put dat in any kin'a little small bottle, an' yo' put dat ovah de do'. At night when he come in [for example] it jes' yo' comin' in an' ah meet chew tuh de do'. Ah be lovin' tuh yo' fo' nine mawnin's, see. Den ah won't have no mo' trouble wit chew 'bout dat. See, don't fo'git nine needles wit de outen flannens [with the flannel out- side]. [Note: Dr. Hyatt I think maybe this informant meant (outing flannel) - a term I have heard used often. Webster says (A flannelette, often with some wool). Mrs. Harry Dyel - see v.3, ILLUSTRATION 4.]
(You put that up over the door?)
Yes sir, right ovah de front do'.
Entry 6022
(What do they say they do with that?)
Dey say dey takes yore hair. An' dis lady [root doctor] tole me dat dey take yore hair an' git nine pins, an' say dey will wrap it an' git chure tracks, an' say dey will wrap it up an' put it in a bottle, an' den dey'll put somepin lak, lak if dey could git yore urine, dey will do dat, an' stop it up in a bottle an' carry it away from dere an' bury it. Sometimes dey bury it right at chure doorstep, be- cuz dey say dat's what wuz did fer me. An' she warned me always be careful how or what I do wit mah hair. Comb it. An' I tole her, yes, becuz somebody had taken out all mah hair. She says she knowed it, says dat's why she tole me to be careful. An' dey take dose pins an' take dat hair an' put dose nine pins an' stick 'em in dere an' dey wrap it. An' dey put yore track in dere an' puts in a bottle. An' say if dey can't git any of yore urines [often called ureen], dey'll try to git some watah from de place where yo' use, yo' know, lak yo' might have a well or spiggot or somepin an' dey'll - sometimes people will come an' [say], "Ah wants a drink of watah, please." Dey jis' want some of yore watah from yore house where yo're at. An' den dey've got all dey want to do wit - dey got de othah parts. (What would they do with this hair and pins after they got it? What would they do with it?) Dey buries it.
(What is that supposed to do to you then?)
Well, it 'fect yo' some way about yo' head, give yo' pain an' miseries.
Entry 6035
Dey could take de hair offen de - 9 strands of hair out de mole of dere haid, an' shet it into a bottle an' stop it up, an' run yo' crazy.
(What would they do with that bottle after they stop it up?)
Jes' throw it away - 9 strands.
Entry 6066
Dey git de hair off de haid, or de hair from undah de pit of de left arm, an' yo' take it an' put it in a bottle wit Hearts Cologne, an' yo' stop it up an' keep dat wit yo', or put it in a pahtic'lah place somewhere in yore house, if yo' wanta bring dese parties back. An' dey are away from yo', it will bring de people back - de hair off de haid.
Entry 6070
[Take a piece of] de petticoat an' [or] de bloomahs an' cut de - a little top of dere hair off. Well, an' git de same thing off a man [his under- clothes]. An' mix it togethah in a soda-watah bottle. An' take it an' carry it to de end of de do'step an' put it - not too deep, jes' a little deepah 'nuff where yo' know dey could not tell it. An' let 'im walk ovah it fo' nine mawnin's. Dey say dat will come to keep 'im at home an' he'll come to love yo' an' can't no othah woman git 'im.
(Wait a minute! You take the hair from the top of a man's head, you say?)
De mole of 'is haid, yes. Den dat from right on yo'self down dere, yo' know, jes' cut about two stran's.
(From a woman?)
Yeah, an' mix it togethah, an' git chew half a bottle of 'logne [cologne] an' so' dress it wit dat. Well, yo' go right - cut 'er bloomahs right in de seat of 'em. Well yo' git it out de seat of de man de same. An' put it togethah. Well, aftah yo' do dat, chew take about a little teaspoon - not a little, jes' a drop, but not so much, an' let it be kinda graveyard dirt. Put it in de bottle an' shake it up. Well, yo' go right to de end of de do'step an' yo' call a person nine times. Well, when yo' call 'em nine times, take it an' stick it right to de front of de do'step - put it down dere yo' know, kinda deep undah where yo' couldn't tell it. An' nine mawnin's - fo' nine mawnin's, well, when yo' git up yo' [call?] 'im [his name] about six [nine] times. Well yo' take it out from dere an' carry it to a cornah right where yo' know he comes out backwards an' forwards - dat same route road - come right to de cornah. [Does informant mean corner of the outside chimney, the old-fashioned country toilet, where he would urinate on this conjure or hand? I do not believe corner of a path or crossroad is meant, where other people would walk over the buried object. Bottle was orig- Inally buried at "corner" of doorstep. This is cornering a man.] Why yo' bury dat an' let it stay dere fo' so many days, certain days. Well, aftah yo' do dat, see, dat'll keep dat man an' woman togethah. See. [A comment of mine made while checking cylinder reads, "Talking too fast."]
Entry 6105
If dey git holt of some of yore hair, dey kin take dat hair an' put it in some hot salty watah, yo' undahstan' an' bury it undah yore step wit de bot- tle neck turnt out from - yo' know, from de way yo' come out de house. Well, dat'll cuz yo' tuh have addle brains. If yo' don' fin' it - if it stay undah dere nine days, dat'll cuz yo' tuh have addle brains.
Entry 6166
(Suppose I want to make them stay at home?)
Well yo' take dat hair an' put it in a little small bottle, see, an' put it In da'k place up ovah yore do', an' put about three or fo' spoons of sugah in it. Yo' know, a little odd-size bottle lak dat. An' put it up ovah de do' chere couldn't nobody see it. Dat'll make yore frien' come home.
Entry 6172
Dey kin take three strands of yore hair an' put it in a perfume bottle, Heart Perfume, an' stop it up tight an' dat will draw 'er love to dis man.
(Of this man to this girl.) Of dis man to dis gurl. (What do you do with this bottle?)
Why yo' keep dat bottle.
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 6260
[To swing, either oneself or something else, can be a magic rite.]
An' anothah way yo' kin git 'er, if yo' kin jes' git three stran's of 'er hair from de mole of 'er haid an' stick it into a cologne bottle an' let it stay dere. Don't airtight it, jes' let it stay dere, jes' so dat it, yo' know, kin be a li'l bit of air gittin' to it all de time. She'll love yo' right out. But if yo' wanta quit 'er an' don' want 'er be worrying aftah yo' an' follahin' aftah yo', de way fo' yo' tuh do. Yo' carry dat hair down tuh a stream of watah, where de watah runnin' swift; an' tie it an' let it swing dere. An' long as dat hair swing dere, she'll swing 'way from yo'. She won' gi' [give] yo' no trouble. Yo' kin go wit whoevah yo' want an' she won' say a harmin' word 'ginst yo' - have nuthin tuh say 'ginst yo'. [Please notice the man's Christian act of leaving the bottle open so that the Woman would not suffocate or lose her mind!] [This belief could also have been placed under the hair and running water rites given later.]
Entry 6275
Dey kin take dat. (That chamber lye?) Yes, an' git a strand of a woman's hair an' put in de bottle an' den put dat chamber lye in de bottle.
(The man would put his own chamber lye on her hair?)
Yessuh, he puts 'is chamber lye on 'er hair in de bottle an' put fo' or five grains of peppah in dere - dat pod peppah, red peppah, see. Yo' put dat in dere an' yo' stop dat up airtight, an' if she leave, she'll come back. If she wants tuh go, she may go, but she cain't stay.
(That's to hold her.)
Entry 6298
Wal, dey take yore hair, git it from de mole of de head in yore sleep. An' dey git dat out de mole of yore head an' bottle it up and take it to a run- ning stream, an' dey throw dat in a runnin' stream an' dey say dat got a bad effect on yore brains some way. (They bottle it up and just throw it in that running water.)
Entry 6299
Git chure hair an' kin stop it up in a bottle, throw it ovahbo'd an' it'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 6300
Dey kin git de hair out de mole of yore haid, an' dey kin take it an' stop it up in a bottle an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' dat'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 6301
If yuh git hold of it, yuh see, yuh kin take it, hair, an' put it in a bottle, stop it up: Put it in a bottle an' stop it up an' den yuh carry it an' throw it in runnin' watah. Dat way yuh could run 'em crazy.
Entry 6302
Ah heard dat dey kin take a stran' of yore hair an' close it in a bot- tle an' throw it in runnin' watah an' dat will put chew tuh goin', too.
Entry 6303
Heard dat dey says yo' take de hair an' close it up in a bottle an' all lak dat, an' put it in runnin' watah an' all dat stuff.
(What was that supposed to do?)
Ah dunno, drive a person crazy.
Entry 6304
Dey say yo' kin take hair an' stick it in a bottle, an' go to a run- nin' stream an' throw dat bottle in de watah, an' let dat watah on it an' yo' kin run a person crazy lak dat. Yo' kin take a plait of hair an' do de same.
Entry 6305
Take yuh hair an' dey bury it an' put - even dey kin put it in a bottle am' stop it up an' take it tuh driftin' watah. Dey'll throw it in dere. It'll keep yuh wit de headache an' make yuh drift.
Entry 6306
Take yore hair an' put it in a tight bottle an' stop it up in dere an' throw it in runnin' watah. Dat'll take yore mind, run yo' crazy.
Entry 6307
Ah kin take yore hair an' put it in a bottle, in tiny li'le bottle, an' ah kin throw it in de rivah an' yo' goin' move - sech a thing.
Entry 6311
Dey tell me dat dey could take yuh hair an' put it in a bottle. Den. take de bottle out dere an' stop it up, an' take it tuh some runnin' watah, an' throw it in any runnin' watah wit'out lookin', an' let it float on down stream, see. Dat's dat.
(What will that do?)
Says dat will continue 'em wit a headache.
Entry 6317
Ah heard dey take yuh hair an' put it in a bottle. Yuh know take yuh hair an' sew it up in a piece of white homespun cloth, bran'-new, an' put it in a bottle an' throw it down runnin' watah. An' long as dat box wit dat hair in it run, well yo' got'a run away an' yuh nevah come back no mo'.
Entry 6335
Anybody kin do dat. Jes' take nine strands of hair out de top of yore haid, very perfect, an' put it in a bottle an' stop it airtight, an' put it in runnin' watah - jes' run 'em 'way, an' drown 'em.
Entry 6350
Dey could take yore hair an' stop it up in a bottle wit cay- enne peppah, peppah- grass an' take dat bottle at 12 o'clock hour on, an' chunk it ovahbo'd in de Mississippi River, an' jes' as she [bottle] drift, you'll drift aroun'.
Entry 6375
If she wanta take him from 'is wife. Yo' see, he's got a wife an' she wanta take him. An' 'cordin' to dat, well, he'll go an' stay wit 'er all night. Well, while he's dere, she'll cut some hair out of 'is haid, see. She'll take dat hair out an' put it intuh a quart bottle an' good whiskey on it, an' put bluestone an' lodestone in dere. An' befo' she'll speak to anybody, she'll git up evah mawnin' fo' nine straight mawnin's an' shake dat up. An' at de end of de ninth mawnin' when she shake it up, dat hair will bejes' as black as a coal in dat bottle. An' dat man will walk right out of de house an walk ovah dere tuh her, an' 'is wife won' say an'thin' tuh him.
(That takes this man away from his wife?)
Yessuh. [Memphis, Tenn., (1530), 2736:4.] [These three parts of the human body appear separately, joined with one or the other, or all together, or in various combinations with various substances. About one-third of them concern food and drink. As always in these sections of special material, not all rites are here. Others will be found elsewhere, espe- cially in INTERVIEWS.]
Entry 6450
Dey hoodoo - tell yuh whut dey, yuh know [with] whut dey. stick on stamps.
(Mucilage, it's like gum?) [This sort of thinking can happen!]
Dat's right, somepin like gum.
(Mucilage, paste?) [Again I OFFEND THE OCCASION with MUCILAGE!]
Yes, sir. Put dat in a bottle an' put it in dere wit de fingahnails an' toe- nails an' shut it up, stop it up. (What else did you say? You said you put something else in that bottle. What did you say?) A little limewatah.
(A little limewater and what else?)
Dat's all.
(Did you say something else about water?)
No, sir.
(I see. And what will that do?)
Well, jis' keep it - tote it.
(Well, what will it do?)
Whut'll it do?
(Yes.)
Well, it'll cuz yuh tuh have - toenails, fingernails, lose all of 'em, see. Toenails always be sore, toes always be sore.
Entry 6482
Well, yo' kin take a li'le bit of yore dirt from undah yore fingah- nails. Well, yo' git some salt an' git some alcohol, some vinegah - salt, an' put it in a bottle an' shake it up, an' make yo' do jis' lak dey want chew tuh do. (Do you get that dirt from under your fingernails or under mine?) No sir, git 'em from undah yore fingah- nails. Make yo' do jis' lak ah wan' chew tuh do. (Who would do that? Some woman to a man or man to a man? Something of that sort?) Eithah one could do it if dey knew [how]. Jis' lak yo' were mah wife an' yo' runs aroun' an' ah couldn't keep yo' home. Well, ah could git a li'le bit of dat dirt, yo' know, from undah yore fingahnails, an' make yo' do jis' lak ah wanted yo' tuh do.
Entry 6492
De way yo' do dat, yo' have tuh cut 'em to yo' disaway, see. (Cut your fingernails?) Cut ary [every] one of 'em - cut all ten of 'em to yo'. Do yore toenails de same way - cut 'em to yo' all de time. Yo' git deg a bottle of Hearts Own Perfume an' put dat in dere. Den yo' kin set dat D8 anywheres.
(What will that do then?)
Dey'll be sickly all de time. Dey will not be healthy.
(The person whose fingernails and toenails you have.)
Yes sir, keep 'em. Yo' know when dey cut de toenails an' fingernails, yo' bor, dey gen'ly [generally] throws 'em out. Well, yo' see when yo' cut chure toenails disaway an' yure fingahnails, well po'don' scrape dat [bottoms of feet] from yo', yo' scrape it back tuh de heel.
(You scrape the dead skin back to the heel.)
Yes, scrape all dat tuhgethah an' den put it in dat perfume bottle an' stop it up. But it'll work quickah - hit'll work bettah by turnin' de bottomside up- wards.
Entry 6499
Ah don't really know dis, but ah heard it, dat yo' kin take de girls fingahnails aftah she clip 'em off, dat's tuh keep de law off yo'. An' put 'em in a bottle an' urinate in de bot- tle, an' put a li'le Hearts Cologne on it, an' she'd follah 'im evahwhere he'd go. An' dat fellah, ah've nevah know 'im tuh lose a girl yet.
Entry 6500
Dey scrape it offen de feet an' den dey take dem fingahnails, dey trim dose, an' dey git de dirt off de toenails, from undah de toenails an' undah de feet, an' put all dat tuhgethah an' powdah dat up an' dry it. Den when dey git dat powdah up, dey put dat in a bottle. Dat's when yo' want 'em tuh love yuh an' yo' can't do 'em no harm. Yo' put dat in a bottle an' den yo' fill dat bottle wit chure urinate wit dat stuff, an' let it sit dere nine days befo' dey use it. Den aftah de nine days whenevah dey fix yo' a meal or anythin' lak dat tuh eat, or anythin' tuh drink, dey will put a teaspoonful of dat in there fo' yo'. Well, den dat gits chew jis' dey way. Gits yuh down undah dere foot an' yo' can't do no mo' den dey wan' chew tuh do.
Entry 6507
[I heard'em] say yo' could take, yo' know, if dey git yer fingahnails or somepin lak dat - said dey could take an' put it in a bottle of watah. Dey say, if yo' be any- where, dey say yo' jis' painin' all de time. Yo' know somebody - jis' lak yo's goin' wit somebody an' dey git mad wit yeh, dey fix yah lak dat so yo' jis' be painin' an' hurtin' all de time. Put it in some watah - put it in a bottle of watah an' put it in a dark place somewhere lak a closet.
Entry 6512
De toenails - de trimmings of yo' toenails an' put it in, git some run- nin' watah an' put it in a bottle an' bury dat undah yo' do'. Dat'll give yo' bad luck, makes yo' ail in de feet or sompin lak dat. (You have to take the running water though and put it in a bottle.)
Entry 6520
Lak yo' go tuh somebody's house an' dey'd be cuttin' dey fingahnails an' yo' wan'a hurt 'em. Yo' take one of de fingahnails an' put it in a bottle half camphor an' half whiskey. An' dey say dat'll make dem go crazy tuh lose dere mind [not crazy with love]. An' dey don't think lak a normal person, an' dey do jis' silly things.
Entry 6545
You take frogs and kill them and get their blood, and put it in a bottle and keep it, and put it in some- thing they eat and frogs will be in them. You can hear them hollering the same as in the spring.
Entry 6574
Ah heard dat chew kin take a lizard an' take an' cut 'im an' dry 'im up. Kill 'im an' aftah yo' kill 'im, den yo' cut 'im. An' put 'im out on a piece of bo'd in de sun an' dry 'im up until he come crinkle. Den yo' take him an' parch 'im. Put 'im in de stove an' parch 'im, an' take him out an' grind 'im up an' put 'im in a bottle.
(What will that do?)
Dat dust, yo' kin jis' keep it in dat bottle. See, dat dust will poison people.
Entry 6579
I've heard them say you go to a root doctor and he fixes something in a bottle, something about as long as a lizard, dries it up, and put it down for a person to walk over. And a ground dog comes in his leg.
Entry 6581
Dey do it wit de fish. Dey take dat fish, de little minnow fish, an' put 'em in a little vial m' let 'im be live. An' dey go tuh work an' put dem a little garlic an' a lit- tle onion in dere. An' put 'im in a vial an' put 'im undah de doorstep. An' dat fish gits intuh de person [after you walk over it].
(Is there any way of getting them out?)
Yes suh, yo' work 'em out jis' de same as yuh did de frog.
Entry 6612
Ah heard 'em say yo' kin take an' ketch a blacksnake an' cut 'is head, yo' know, an' hang 'em up by de tail an' let dat blood drip in somepin. Put it in a bottle an' lak if yore frien's come roun', anybody come, yore frien's or prob'- ly yore enemies too, an' if yo' don' lak 'em, an' lak if yo' have a li'le coffee at dinnah or somepin lak dat, yo' put a li'le bit dat on dere cup an' dat will kill 'em instan'ly.
(What?)
De snake will kill 'em.
Entry 6703
Take some syrup in a bottle an' put it tuh a red antses bed. When it all git full up wit dem red antses, yo' scald. Put some hot watah in dat bottle an' po' it out in a pot an' boil dat, dat red antses. Yo' gits a piece a [piece of] garlic an' yo' puts it in dere an' let it boil. Well, dat is a dope dat it's nobody kin hurt chew. Yo' drinks dat, dere's nobody kin hurt chew. Unahstan' [understand] now, boil de red antses aftah yo' git 'em in de bottle. Put de piece a garlic in dere, strain it off an' drink it. Nobody kin hurt chew.
(What do you do with the syrup?)
De syrup draws de antses intuh de bottle.
Entry 6973
Now if somebody put a spell on yo' or sompin lak dat, Wanta kill yuh - Well, yo' know, serious - sompin gonna knock yo' out right away, see. Well, ah tell yah how tuh git rid of dat. Yo' git some bluestone, yo' know, out de drug store an' make watah. Make yer own watah, jis' lak yo' nurinate, an' put it in a bottle. An' put dat bluestone in dere an' let it stay in dere a while. An' take it an' po' [pour] in a toi- let an' it'll sink an' let it go on out. Pull de chain [old-fash- ioned device] an' let it go on out. An' de same thin' which yo' [spellcaster] wanta happen tuh me will happen tuh yo'.
[This is called returning the spell.]
(That is if somebody has hurt you, put a spell on you.)
Entry 6977
Well, now, yo' kin take lard an' vinegah an' sugah an' kill any poison in de worl'. Yo' undahstan' me, if yo' use it right away. Yo' undahstan' me, yo' kin take lard an' sugar an' mix it tuhgethah, yo' undah- stan' me, in a quart bottle. Lard, vinegar an' sugah. An' mix it in a quart bottle. If it's right den, yo' undahstan', an' take a tablespoonfulla it three time a day. An' dat'll stop any poison in de worl'.
(That's what you do [use] when people come to you?)
Sure.
Entry 6982
Ah've had de claps so bad until ah didn't do nuthin but a solid stream of blood evah time ah made watah. An' ah went tuh Dr. O'Leary here an' he vashed mah bladdah out an' he tole me, he said, "Yo' got a sore on de end of yo' bladdah. Yo' been havin' dat - yo' been ovahstrainin' so long until it's worked back up intuh yo' stomic." (This doctor, was he a medical doctor?) Yes, an' he nevah did do me no good. So finely, ah one day, ah wuz workin' at de shop down dere, ah ovaheerded someone, a fellah, talkin'. An' ah says, "Well, ah'm goin' tuh use dat remedy. Ah went right on home an' tried it. He says get a pint of, a bottle, an' fill it half-fulla meal.
(What kind of meal?)
Half-fulla cornmeal.
(Half-full of cornmeal.)
An' put nine drops of turpentine in dere. Den git chew some rain watah an' fill dat bottle up. An' den shake it up right good 'till it all resolve [dis- solve] an' yo' know - when it resolve [dissolve] down de meal, dat brings it down about dat low [demonstrates]. Den yo' see it sinks down in dat watah. Yo' shake it up an' take a good swallah outa dat three times a day, an' dat cleah yo' out. Ah don' care whut's de mattah wit chew. Well, ah had it so bad dat ah couldn't hardly walk, it burned me tuh walk. [I fixed] dat jah [jar] mahself, yo' know. An' ah say, "Ah'm goin' home an' try dat." Now, dis, dis is by ex- perience. Ah've done it twice. Evah time ah have it an' I've tole othah men about it. Ah know a frien' dat done dat. Ah fixed 'im a bottle of it an' it Cured 'im. Ah carried - ah goes home an' ah gits me a pint bottle, an' ah fills it half fulla meal, an' ah gits dis rain watah. [Here, thinking that informant was merely repeating, I stopped recording to save cylinder space; but immediately realizing that he was adding something new, I restarted machine to ask what he did with the cork.]
(What did you do with that cork?)
Put a trench in dat stoppah so de air will jis' sour dat meal, sour it where de air kin git out an' it won' blow de cork out or eithah bus' de bottle.
(I see.)
Or put chew a papah stoppah or somepin, so dat it won't be so tight. Well, in about three days dat will be good an' sour, an' it have a good taste from dat tarpentine. An' dat'll rid yo' - ease yo' an' cure yo' up.
Entry 7030
Supposed tuh break any habit prakly [practically]. See, in de fo'k of de road where de road come tuh join dataway [demonstrates], or eithah cross data- Way [demonstrates] yo' go an' yo' git dat dirt. An' use it wit blue di'mond, whut dey sell at de drug sto', git John de Conkah, an' put dat in a airtight bottle. An' if de man have a habit of drinkin', or anythin' dat way, dat's de end of dat. Git some dirt in de road... [I interrupt].
(What do you do with that stuff in that bottle then?)
Jis' leave it stay shet up an' put it in de house where he live, 'custom [accustom] tuh live at.
(What is this blue diamond? What is that?)
Yo' git it from de drug sto'. It's lak dis steel dust, sompin lak dat.
Entry 7055
If she take his watah, chamber lye...
(The man's?)
Dat's right, but it have tuh be his wife.
(His wife would do this?)
Take his chamber lye an' stop it up in a bottle but don't bury it. Keep it concealed fo' nine days, an' aftah nine days yo' take dat bottle an' po' it on de sundown side - aftah yo' stopped it up in de bottle. An' he would have no taste fo' likkah or any othah strong drinks - no mo'.
Entry 7226
Git diff'ren' kinda stuff an' put it in a bottle, an' take dem matches an' put it in dere aftah dat stuff is strong enough - jis' lak... [I interrupt to rename some of the ingredients mentioned before recording began.] (You take camphor gum and Listerine and?) An' bluestone, lodestone, steel dust. Put all dat stuff in dere an' mix 'um; mash it, yo' see. Dat gits strong, yo' see. Dat cuts dem matches, yo' see. Yo' shake it up, yo see, an' it sparks - jis' sparks. Slap it down. Evah time yo' shake it up, it'll spark.
(What will that do for you?)
Dat gits choo luck fo' a man whut gambles, yo' see.
(What do they call that in this part of the country?)
Call it a Joe Mo - Jomo.
(A Jomō, I see.)
Yeah, dat's a Jomo. [A jomō is a hand, a luckpiece, a toby, a guard, etc.]
Entry 7250
De reason ah'm tell'n yo' dis is it's from mah wife. Mah wife - dere wus a lady mad wit 'er an' she loaned a ole lady 'er bonnet, named Rachel Keller. An' she [Rachel] wō de bonnet away an' she kep' it about a week. She wus a frien' of our'n. Well, dis girl whut stayed dere, she found out it wus mah wife's bonnet. She watched 'er. She got some snail, a young snail an' fixed 'em - jis' take 'em lak she have - got 'em an' worked 'em up lak she wanted tuh swell 'em, an' jis' squirted de juice in watah. Washed 'em an' squirted de juice in watah an' put dat in a bottle. She [my wife] goes all tuh pieces-lak. She [the girl] takes an' sprinkles dat bonnet wit it an' mah wife wore it, an' she come jis' as blind as a bat - couldn't see nowhere.
(Real blind.)
She come blind as a bat. She had a li'le girl, name of Carnation. Call dat li'le girl sometime an' she try tuh go tuh de do'. Neah tuh de do' an' couldn't see it. She wus right behin' de dō', thought she wus tuh de dō', but she wus be- bhin' de do'. Couldn't even see me when ah come in de house. Ah carried 'er tuh de same ole lady, Mrs. Brown, an' ah know whut she done.
(You don't know what she did to her?)
I did.
(Oh, you did?)
An ah know whut she done an' whut she tole me tuh do. An' ah did it. She give me de stuff, cayenne peppah, a li'le piece of pod, yo' see. Put it in a skillet an' boil it till de watah wus red. Took a li'le meal, of what chew call...
(Corn meal?)
An' bind it right ovah 'er eyes jis' lak dat, until she got so she could see.
(That's what cured her?)
Made her so she could see. Now she kin see. Dat's been fifteen yeahs ago.
(Was this down in Pilesville?)
[Powersville? N. Car.]
Yes, sir.
Entry 7500
An' jes' lak if a murdah' [murderer] have did somepin, why go tuh de cemetery tuh a fresh grave, de freshest grave dat chew kin fin'. Go dere an git chew some graveyard dirt an' take two pennies an' some watah an' put it into a bottle an put that graveyard dirt in dere an' shake it up an' set it aside until yo' see bubbles come from it, until bubbles from dem pennies in dat watah. When dem bubbles start, 'is min' is gittin' bad. He'll come right straight back tuh where he killed dis fellah.
Entry 7626
Stickbo'rd tuh de haid of graveyard [grave]...when yo' goes dere. Yo'll have tuh go dere at twelve 'clock at night. Durin' de time of goin' dere yo'll have tuh pay de graveyard-man three cents an' a half a pint of whis- key. (Where do you put that stuff?) Yo' have tuh dig in de haid of 'is breast, an' dig dat out an' set de whis- key down in de centah of it, an' step across 'im three times - backwards like dat [demonstrates] come across, go across - go across - go across - an' den go back an' talk tuh 'im in dat hole whut chew want 'im tuh do.
(What do you do with the pennies?)
Right in dat same hole where yo' put de whiskey, an' den call 'im up an' bring some of dat stuff away, out de hole, an' put it in a bottle. An' den he'll work fer yuh, do jis' whut chew want 'im tuh do.
Entry 7631
They git the dirt out of the graveyard and they stop that up in a bot- tle and they will come to yore house. If they don't like you, they come to yore house with that graveyard dirt. Mix it with a little salt and they sprinkles it underneath the steps. Then they stop the other one tight an' bury it. But chew not supposed to be home when dey do dat, and any time yo' go back to dat house why yore spirit is gone. Dat driv yore spirit away. Yo'd go to de house but chew can't stay.
Entry 7632
Yo' kin take de graveyard dirt an' boll it an' put it in a bottle dat kin broke easy. An' yo' an' a person come in contact, dey fixin' tuh fight [you], if yo' git a chance tuh break dat bottle ovah dere haid an' cut dem an' bring de blood out, why dey'll linger an' pine away an' die. (You do that if you think you are going to get into a fight, get into a fight with anyone?) Yes. See, see him comin', why crack dat bottle ovah his head an' bring a little bit of blood an' let de watah run down. [I suggest that the graveyard dirt is boiled to arouse the captured spirit of the graveyard dirt to fighting madness.]
Entry 7845
My mother said once two ladies fell out, and one went to the graveyard and get dirt from the north side, and stopped it in a bottle an' put it under the other lady's doorstep, and she moved out. [This quarrel occurred in Spotsylvania Co., Va., 50 years before I interviewed inform- ant there in 1936 at Fredericksburg, the county seat, the quarrel occurring about 1886. [Fredericksburg, Va., (cylinder No.53) by Ediphone.]
Entry 7874
Yo' want sompin fo' luck or sompin lak dat, take some graveyard dirt. Depend on how much yo' want. Now, yo' don' wanta make a plastah of graveyard dirt fo' no sickness or nuthin. Yo' take a tablespoonful of graveyard dirt an' a tablespoonful of salt an' git chew some bluestone. An' mix dis up in a quart bottle an' use it in 'er room or in a hall where it's private. Now lak if it in yore room, use it in yore room. But yo' gotta git out an' use some out dere too an' not let 'em know nuthin about it.
(What do you do with that after you put it in that bottle?)
Shake it up an' use it jes' lak yo' would perfume, yo' see - jes' lak yo' do perfume. Yo' kin use it on yo'self, go tuh baid an' use it.
[To shake it up, a magic rite, excites the spirit in the bottle to action.]
(What will that do?)
Entry 8063
Jes' lak a person wanta hurt somebody, yo' know, a lady dat dey don't iak. Dey kin take huh pichure an' take it an' put it in a bottle, an' turn dat bottle bottom upwards, bury it in de ground. An' de mo' dat pichure swell, de mo' she'll swell; an' when dat bottle breaks, de woman would bu'st wide open. Ah've seen dat done. (You simply take her picture and put it in the bottle and turn the bottle up- side down and bury it.) Yes sir, an' de pichure swells an' de mo' it swells, de mo' she swell, an' den she bu'sts open an' die from it. Ah've seen a woman die from dat. An' de way ah've seen people git live lizards put in 'em, ah've seen dat done.
Entry 8064
Yo' know dese cheap photograph where all de stuff kin come off. Ah mean de tintype. Well yo' put dat down in some watah an' all dat stuff shell of. Yo' don't put in so [too] much watah, a li'le bit of watah - see, jis' a li'le on it tuh soften it. Git all dat out an' yo' put dat in a bottle, see. An' yo' put some perfume in dat, an' den yo' put dere toe- nails, an' yo' puts de bow of de cap [3 ingred- ients added to photograph water]. Yo' know dat li'le bow at de bottom of 'is cap, li'le roun' bow. Take dat an' put dat in de bottle, an' yo' stop dat up an' bury dat.
(What will that do to you?)
Dat will kill yo'.
Entry 8141
Now, if yo' wanta kill somebody wit dat, yo' take de photograph. Yo' don' wan'a use but jis' part of it. Jis' take off, if it's got a foot, yo' know some got a whole photo- graph, some got jis' a part, some got jis' de haid. Some got jis' de body, some got de whole an' some got jis' de haid. If yo' wants to kill somebody, an' it's de whole one, yo' cut off, jis' clip off de right foot, an' take dat whole photograph an' take it an' turn it, jis' turn it.
(You take off the right foot. And then how do you turn that, now?)
Jis' take it an' turn it tuh yo', jis' roll it, lak yo' take one roll, two rolls, three rolls [to you]. Understan'?
(Keep rolling it to you. The foot part or the rest of the photograph?)
No, de rest of de whole photograph. Yo' undahstan'? Jis' roll dat lak dat three times an' jis' carry it anywhere, don' care where yo' throw it, jis' throw it out somewhere. Well, now, hit's gone on away. All right. Yo' takes dis right foot, an' bring it on back tuh de house, but chew do nuthin wit it den. Let it stay dere, at least six or seven hours, sompin lak dat. "Bout six or seven hours aftah yo' done dis, hold it, take de pichure of dis foot, takes an' puts it down in a bottle, jis' de smallest bottle yo' kin find, an' puts ah reck- on 'bout dat much of mustard seed, lak yo' ketch dat much [demonstrates].
(Just a little pinch of the mustard seed.)
Drop it in de bottle, wit'out anything in it - jis' say about nine, if it ain't but jis' a haid [means foot]. Drop it in dere an' stop it up, an' jis' keep dat wit choo all de time. Dat's tuh influence dat person. Keep dat wit chew. An' yo' weah it a while. Well, no quickah den dey die, yo' gon'a feel dat right shouldah jump, jump jis' lak sompin skip ovah it. Soon as it do dat, yo' must take it [bottle] an' throw it away lak dat. Throw it lak dat. [If informant demonstrated, I missed it.] De safest way, de spirit comin' tuh yo' an' givin' yo' a notice dat dey daid. Don't care where dey are. (Right after this notice that they are dead, you must throw this bottle away right then?) Right then, de right arm will move when dey come.
(You will have that little kick then in the right arm?)
Dat's right.
Entry 8181
If a boy wan'a girl or a girl wan'a boy, git 'is pitchure an' cut off all but de haid. An' fol' de haid up an' put it in a bottle of cologne, an' tote it in yure pocket.
Entry 8215
Ah heard, quite a while ago now - hit was a lady heah in St. Augustine, Fla., was up heah, but 'uh [her] husban' had quit 'uh. Her an' 'uh husban' ep- arated. Dis was [a] woman [who] was in a li'le busi- ness. Ah don' know whethah it was dry good or grocer- ies. But anyway, huh hus- ban' ruled 'uh outa dis by dis same identical thing ah'm talkin' about now, Witchcraftin'. He ruled 'uh out [of] dis. He went somewhere an' got some kinda stuff an' come back. An' he came back. Well, she didn't have no hopes er [or] nuthin, couldn't have no use tuh do nuthin any place. Well, dey even driven 'uh 'way but she was brought back. Dis woman aftah she came back, she had some money, an' dis man sold out all de goods of dis sto' whut dey had an' taken anothah woman an' lived wit 'uh. Ah had learnt dat he wus in some part a [of] Florida. Anyway, he wus goin' fo' good, goin' tuh sea. But she went an' she had 'im brought back. An' when he wus brought back, he gave huh de money dat he even carried fo' huh. Now, dat wus wit de photograph. Now, yo' take A LOTTA PEOPLE SAY, "AH DON' HAVE MAH PICHURE TAKEN AN' ALL DIS AN' DAT AN' DE OTHAH." NOW, YO' TAKE MAHSELF. HIT'S NUTHIN AH DO'S IN DIS WORL' TUH CUZ DE OFFICAHS AN' DETECTIVES OR ANYTHING LAK DAT TUH BE LOOKIN' FO' ME.
[This is caused by enemies through witcheraftin'.]
Now, ah've been 'rested twice right in dis town heah, one time fo' bein' drunk an' de othah time becuz me an' anothah fellah got intuh a fight. Now, ah has mah pichure, mah pichure's up dere, prob'ly in Atlanta, Ga. BUT NOW AH DON'T GUESS DEY'D DO ANYTHING TO IT AT ALL.
[Informant laughs.]
Well, now yo' kin take a pichure an' cut dis pichure half in two. Let dis li'le book heah now be de pichure. [One of my Nunbers Books I always kept on interviewing table; each informant having a number - see illustration at end of volume 2 of Hoodoo, which shows actual size and contents of one of these books.] Cut dis pichure half in two. See, heah's de pichure right on dere. Dat's de body of dis man's pichure. Cut dis pichure half in two. An' aftah yo' cut dis pichure half in two, git chew a pint flask. Go uptown an' git chew a pack of brand-new needles, a pack of brand-new safety pins, git chew 25 cents bottle of Hearts Cologne. An' aftah yo' cut dis pichure half in two, yo' write his name wit de pins - see, in dis part of de body, wit de pins, see [demonstrates].
(The upper part of the body.)
Dat's right, de uppah part of de body wit de pins, see. Yo' take de pins an' stick 'em dis way, an' dis way, an' one dat way, an' one de othah way, see. Sup- posed tuh be [able] tuh write dat, in de uppah part of dis body. Den yo' take dis part an' turn it haid foremost intuh de body, jis' lak if ah drap [drop] mah haid down lak dat. Yo' take dis part wit de needles an' yo' write wit seven - his name wit de needles in dis part of de pichure. Den instead of turnin' dis pichure down de same as de haid part turnin', turn it up, yo' see [demonstrates].
(Turn the feet up?)
Turn de feet up.
(Lower the head and turn the feet up?)
Dat's right. An' den yo' got de nails in dere. Well, yo' take an' put chew half of dis Hearts Cologne on dere. Yo' kin go tuh de graveyard an' git chew some dirt outa de graveyard. Don't mattah if it's from de haid of de grave or from de foot of de grave or from de centah of de grave, but git chew some of de dirt. Puts it in dis bottle, jis' about a tablespoonful, but let it be sifted, not no tracks er nuthin, jis'.de dirt itself. An' yo' bury dis. Now, dese people kin be in Chicago, Illinois. Dey kin be in Paris, France, or England, dey'll be brought back in a length of time aftah dis is nine days old. Den a person kin take dis pichure ag'in an' dey kin run yo' crazy. Dey kin take dis pichure lak dey do wit chure hair, yo' see. Dey drive yore hair intuh a tree wit a peg.
Entry 8483
Take de black bottle an' set it 'hin' de baid, dat's whut ah heard, an' dey said tuh write chure name on dat bottle nine times. An' let de bottle stay 'hun' [behind] de baid fo' nine mawnin's, an' den yo'll come back home. Dat's if yore gone, see. (How do you write the name on that bottle?) Yo' write de name goin' dis Way [demonstrates] fo' nine times, den yo' turn dat roun' an' yo' write it comin' back 'cross dat way [demonstrates]. See, dat's de way yo' should write it.
(You mean you write it on the glass?)
[I knew the name was not written on the glass, but I needed an explanation without suggesting it.] Take a piece of papah an' write it on dat, put it around dat.
(Put this paper around the bottle.)
Yessuh, around de bottle, an' write de name dis way nine times an' den write it back dis way nine times. [After first name is written forwards, turn the paper upside down and write second name beneath first. This is called writing backwards, or forwards and backwards, or back and forth.]
Entry 8489
Yo' kin take fingah- nails from yore fingahs, pick 'em an' yo' put 'em in some graveyard dirt. [Fin- gernails are now forgotten.] Pick undah dis fingahnail, dis fingah heah. (The middle finger on'the left hand, and get some blood you say.) Until it bleeds, an' drop it in dis. Drop nine drops in dis han'ke'ch'ef wit dis graveyard dirt in it. Den yo' take it, lak dis heah, tie it up, an' yo' put it in a bottle airtight an' whoevah it is, her name in it.
(Put the name on a piece of paper.)
Dere yo' are, on a piece of papah. Den when yo' stop dis bottle airtight, an' then in nine [days] evahwhere [anywhere] she are, she'll be 'way [leave] from dere.
(Where do you keep that bottle during the nine days?)
In de nine days, yo' bury it undah de left cornah of yore house. (When you get this graveyard dirt, you put it in a little saucer or something and put the blood in it?) In a little vial.
(In a little bottle.)
An' yo' got drop dis blood - nine drops of blood in it out from undah his fingah.
(The middle finger of the left hand.)
Dat's right. (Do you get this graveyard dirt any special way, or just go out there and pick it up?) Go to de haid of a man's grave - see, an' put it in dis vial.
Entry 8495
If yo' wants tuh be on de job or anything an' yo' want tuh stand in good wit yuh boss, yo' takes 'is name an' yo' git some loaf sugah, yo' put it in a bottle, yo' writes 'is name nine times, writes it tuh yuh, not from yuh. An' ah put's mah name on top of 'is, an' ah folds it tuh me, an' ah puts it in dis bottle. (You cross it or what?) Ah puts it ovah his'n an' ah crosses it, too. See, ah write his name first dis way an' den ah changes it an' write it dataway, an' ah switches ag'in - forward an' backward, undahstand.
(I see. All right.)
See, den ah folds it up an' ah puts it in dis bottle wit cinnamon an' sugah, an' ah buries it. An' ah weahs his name in mah shoe an' keeps it dere in mah shoe. An' when ah weahs it out, well ah puts anothah one in dere. See, dat's tuh stay on de job.
Entry 8558
Ah heard 'em say dey write chure name down on a piece of papah an' den dey fold de fo' corners, see. Dey fold it jis' lak yo' take a piece of papah lak this [demonstrates], yo' know, yo' fold it lak this an' den turn [it] round an' yo' fold it [like this]. (You keep folding it in four corners? Folding it in half?) Yeah, lak dat. An' den jis' lak if yo' want them tuh leave. See, yo' want them tuh leave all ways round, well yo' take dat name an' fold it dat way, an' put it in a bottle an' stop it uP an' gO tO any runnin' watah OR DRAP IT IN DE LAVATORY ANYWHERE, an' dey jis git on all away. Dey jis' cain't stay there.
Entry 8563
Dey take yore [bare] footprint, ketch de track wheresomevah yo' make it, an' picks it up an' puts it in a can or bottle, eithah one, an' writes your name down in it an' put it in a bottle, an' throw it anywhere where dey got runnin' watah. (How do you write the name?) Yo' write de name - lak whatsomevah yore name is, well yo' write yore fami- ly name first an' yo' write chure given name last. See, suppose tuh write chure family name first an' den write chure given name last. Yo' write it down nine times, wit a indelible pencil. An' yo' cross it. Every time yo' write it an' yo' put dat dust an' yo' cross it, an' den yo' put it in a bottle, or in a can, sompin dat chew kin seal up. An' yo' throws it splash into dat runnin' watah.
(Either foot track, it doesn't make any difference?)
Either foot track, jes' so long as dey git de track wheresomevah yo' put chure print, shoes or barefooted, eithah one.
Entry 8580
They tell me to take a piece of brown stuff - yo' see these brown paper bags - just likes yo' want somebody to come back to yo'. Take an' write yore name coming to you like this nine times. (Coming to you like this. How do you mean, coming to you? You mean, writing toward me?) Uh huh. (Do you write it toward you that way?) Uh huh. Yes. Instead of writing from you [demonstrates] like that, write to you like this.
(I see, sort of writing backwards.)
Uh huh.
(You write it nine times?)
Uh huh.
(What'll that do?)
You take and fold that to you, you don't fold it from you, and you put that in a lamp. And you keep that lamp burning with that in it until he come back, or she. And then you take and do the same thing with a bottle with gin in it. You put that gin in a corner and you puts some nutmeg in it and you say, when- ever you think about the party, you say, "Let" - call the name and say, "Please come back to me." Well, I have never tried that.
(You put this gin - in the gin bottle with some gin in it?)
And in the lamp too.
(You put gin in the lamp?)
No! No!
(Just the name in the lamp?)
Uh huh.
(But if you want to, all you need to do is put it in the gin bottle?)
YO' HAVE TO PUT IT IN THE GIN BOTTLE AN' IN DE LAMP TOO.
(Oh, both those?)
Yes, sir. An' yo' have to keep that lamp where people can't get because they'll be suspicious.
(Do you put any gin in the bottle?)
Yes, sir. Gin and that piece of paper with de name on it, just like in de lamp.
(Let it soak in the gin?)
Just let it stay in there. An' every time yo' think about those parties, yo' look at it an' say, "Ah, " just like if yo' are near them, say, "Please come back to me."
(You use both the lamp and the bottle together.)
Yeah.
folding inscribed paper toward oneself, explicitly not away. They tell me and I have never tried that limit source authority; no firsthand use or efficacy. desired single he-or-she return in a reported untried method. Preserve They tell me and the explicit statement that the informant has never tried the method. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 3525) · Read full source (printed page 3526)
Entry 8613
Yo' git chew some honey an' some sugah, some brown sugah - gotta be brown sugah. An' yo' write dat person's name nine time, yore landlord name nine times, an' yo' puts it in a bot- tle. Put enough on it, in sugah, where it will ovahflow it, yo' see. An' stick it in de left corner of yore bed. See, lak yore bed's at de left way, yo' take it an' stick it right behin' dere where no one wouldn't see it. But don' put de bottle dis way [demonstrates] turn it upside down an' leave it stay dere. An' yo'll stay dere fo' a long time an' yo'll nevah worry about movin'. Nevah Worry about money dat chew got. He'll nevah worry yo' about it.
Entry 8621
Yo' git chew half a pint of whiskey an' yo' git chew a tablespoon con- sitrated [concentrated] lye an' jis' lak de - git chew a plain piece of papah an' write three, jis' lak it wus de sar- gint, poleeceman [policeman] lak dat. Well, yo' write dat on dat piece of papah, but yo' don't have tuh shake dat up. Write dat on a piece of papah an' bury it at de lef' side of yore steps wit de bottle. Lak dese heah yore steps right chere [demonstrates]. Dis [jis'] dig a hole deep 'nuff tuh put hit down an' let de bottle stoppah stay up jis' 'nuff to covah it in dere. An' let de bottle stoppah stay up an' yo'll nevah be worried no mo'. An' den let 'er set right ovah dere whilst dey [talking to her]...
[I demonstrate.]
(As you are going into your house, this is your step. You bury it at the left-hand side of your steps?) As yo're goin' into de house.
Entry 8623
Well, yo' see, jis' like a person asleep, they'll take this hair out de mold of yore had. Dey put it in a bottle. After dey put it in a bottle, dey take a lemon. Dey squeeze dat lemon juice in dat bottle, an' take yore name. Yo' write dat name nine times an' put it in dat bottle, an' shake it up, an' set in de sunrise side of de worl'. Jis' as de sun goes [from sunrise to sunset], dey say yo' lose yore mind.
Entry 8687
Yo' kin go to a 'simmon tree an' go on de east side of dat tree an' cut chew a switch. Cut it up an' - yo' kin be in New York an' yo' kin take dat switch an' yo' kin notch dat switch wit nine notches. Jes' lak [demonstrates] yo' cut one heah, one heah - jes' cut it all roun' until yo' git dose nine notches on dere. Den yo' kin take dat 'simmon switch an' grease it in olive oil, an' go to de head of a person - yore bed, if yo' gonna use it yoreself. Go to de bed an' stand it up, jes' lak dis is it [demonstrates] behin' de bed. Stand it up lak dat.
(You stand that switch up behind the head of your bed.)
An' den in de mawnin' yo' go turn de switch dat way, an' den yo' go call dat person by name an' stand it up on de othah end. (You call that switch by the person's name and then turn it up on the other end.) That [is] if yo' wanta bring a person to yo'. Yo' don't have to go [to the tree] any [special] time. After dey come [back home] an' when dey come in, yo' take dat switch an' yo' break dat switch in nine pieces [at the notches?]. An' when yo' break it in nine pieces, yo' wrap dat wit de cord towards yo'. An' yo' take it an' yo' put it in a li'le bottle an' cord dat switch up right tight in dat li'le bottle. An' yo' kin keep it in yore house in yore trunk, or yo' kin bury dat. An' as long as yo' keep dat, dey will stay dere. (Now, I have that switch behind the head of my bed. Here's the switch [I demonstrate] and when I call the name, then I turn it upside down like that, on the other end. The next morning I turn it upside down again and call the name. Do that every morning until...?) Until dey come. Dey won't be long comin' either.
(And you must cut this switch off the east side of a persimmon tree.)
Off de east side.
Entry 8691
De quicksilver. A woman use quicksilver when she Wants tuh keep a man. [Whether quicksilver here is quick- silver or tinfoil or back of mirror scrapings, I failed to ask.] She take dat quicksilver an' she puts it in a perfume bottle, one dem li'le perfume bottle, an' when she puts it in dere, she writes dat man's name down. Write it down on one piece of papah but jes' big enough tuh fit into dat perfume bottle. She writes it down nine times, but jes' big enough tuh fit into dat perfume bottle. Write it down straight, one right behin' de othah.
(Like Sam Jones, Sam Jones?)
Yassuh. An' she put dat in a piece of papah an' she put dat quicksilver in dere. She takes dat quicksilver an' she stops it up tight so it won't come out or nuthin. An' she bo's a hole in 'er mattress, on de side where he supposed tuh lay, an' she puts dat quicksilver right down in dat bed on de side where he lays. Dat'll keep 'im. Dat whut de wimmins do. Dey uses dat concernin', dat concernin' say, lak yo' would de yellah cotton.
(Did you tell me about the yellow cotton?)
Yassuh, ah tole yo' 'bout de yellah cotton.
Entry 8698
Then you can git a bottle of vinegar an' write de name upon a piece of Venrick parchment.
(What kind of parchment?)
Venrick [a trade name?] parchment. An' they put this in this bottle of vine- gar with cayenne peppah, see. An' they roll this bottle aroun'. Go to de back door an' roll it all de Way tuh de front. (Just a moment. Do they roll it with their hands or feet?) De feet. Dey kick it wit de feet an' as dey kickin' it, dey use de words, "As dis bottle rō' [rolls] ah wan' choo to do de same." (I see.) An' they take it an' dey bury it on de science [signs of the Zodiac]. Dey will do this work by science, by de twelve science [signs].
(Well, what sign would they use on that?)
On de Balance.
(Oh, the sign of the Balance.)
Yes, on de Balance; yes, sir. See, dat's when de earth has power. An' dey buries dis bottle bottom upwards. An' de next mawnin' they get up before de sun rise an' dey pour dat hot water on dat an' de bottle busts [bursts]. Den dey move.
(I see, it will make them move.
Entry 8705
Git dere name. An' yo' take dere name an' yo' take yore name an' yo' put it down in de bottle. An' git chew some honey whut chew sells in de groc'ry stō'. An' every time dat person come aroun' yo', jis' take dat bottle an' shook it up, an' dey go away from yo' an' dey won' bothah yo' no mō'. (You do that with the bill col- lector or the law or anyone?) Anyone. (How do you put those names down now?) Take dose names an' git chew a ink pin or a indelible pencil an' yo' write yore name down three times straight an' dere name down nine times dat way. An' yo' roll it up an' yo' fold it an' yo' put dat honey down up in dere. An' yo' shake dis bottle up an' keep it corked dat way. An' every time dat person come aroun', yo' shake dat bottle an' dey won't bother yo'.
(If you are in business?)
Yes.
Entry 8706
Yo' take dey name. Yo' kin find out dey laws' name or people whosoml evah botherin' yo' aroun' in dat neighborhood. Yo' git chew some loaf sugah, dat dey call Domino Sugah [trade name] dat's in de block. Yo' take dat an' yo' put it in a bottle an yo' write dis individual name down wit a indelible pencil. Yo' Write it down nine times but yo' orite chure name - write dere name down nine times. Lak say if it wuz Sam Jones, yo' put Jones an' den put de Sam behin' it, see. An' den yo' write chure name jes' lak yo' wuz goin' [to] back a lettah. If yore name wuz James Joseph, see yo'd write James Joseph, jes' lak yo's backin' a lettah. Write it on a piece of Papah. Yo' write de individual name down nine times straight, an' yo' write yore name down nine times across it, see. But chew put chure given name first. An' yo' take dat sugah an' put it in a bottle in some watah. An' when yo' put it in dere wit dat watah, yo' put it in a cornah somewhere where nobody kinnot tech [cannot touch] it. An' every now an' den yo' take dat bottle an' yo' shake it up. Dat sweetens dere min' an' keeps dem from bothahin' yo'.
(Do you use any number of lumps of sugar or just....?)
No, yo' jes' puts enough tuh make it sweet, jes' enough tuh make de watah sweet.
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 8734
This what they have done, when they want yo' to move out de house an' de neighborhood where dey livin' at. Dey goes to de Crackerjack Drug Store an' gets bluestone. Understan'? Gets bluestone an' gets some incense, an' fix dat up together, an' put it in de bottle. An' takes their name an' write it nine times an' put it in de bottle. An' turn de bottle upside down 'neath de steps an' they have to move.
(I see. In how long?)
In nine day's time they leave dere.
Entry 8776
[Late in turning on recording machine] put chew some cayenne peppah an' some steel dust in dat [lemon, see later] an' yo' sews it up an' throw it in de rivah. Now, if yo' can't git de lemon an' yo' wants tuh use a bottle, yo' gits dat bottle an' yo' git chew some war watah. Yo' puts dere name down up in dere. All right, yo' use dis cayenne peppah an' git chew nine tacks down up in dere vinegah. All right, yo' kin stop dat up an' throw 'em in de rivah.
Entry 8782
Well, if yo' got a person - yo' kin take peoples' name an' put it in a bottle. Well, yo' take de name an' yo' write de name as ah tole yo', nine time, but yo' write it on a straight [ruled] piece of papah. Yo' kin put it in a bottle an' yo' kin take dat bottle an' yo' kin stan' anywheres off where yo' kin whip it; but yo' sup- posed tuh put peppah, vinegah an' Epsom salts an' gunpowdah wit anythin' evil dat yo' wants tuh do. Dat's in de bottle. See, yo' put all dat in dat bottle wit vinegah. An' yo' takes dat bottle an' git it on anythin' soft lak a cushion or pillah, anythin', an' yo' whips dat bottle. An' as yo' whip it yo' call dere name. An' when yo' do's dat, yo' doin' dat tuh make confusion. (And in writing those names, you write one right under each other nine times. And what do you write that with?) Yo' write it wit any kinda pencil.
Entry 8787
If yo' want to make 'em drift, yo' jes' take it an' get dat. Yo' always got to get dat name an' get dere right name, an' fix it up. Yo' put it into a bottle an' yo' get yo' some vinegar, strong, good vinegar, an' stick dat name down into dat vinegar, wit nine pods of red peppah - red peppah, not a strained peppah.
(Nine pods of red pepper?)
Yeah, an' stick it down into dat bottle wit his name in it an' dat old Epsom salts an' dat peppah. An' yo' can take it an' go to de rivah. Yo' seal dat bottle up an' yo' go to de rivah an' pitch it right in de channel. It'll float. An' as long as de bottle will float, dey'll always be goin' - dey goin' to keep goin'. Dey won't stay in no one place. Dey'll go to one place an' den dey'll come back to anothah place. Dey'll keep a-goin' an' dey'll nevah stop goin' until somepin gets dat bottle an' knocks dat stoppah out of dere. It goin' to get loose some way, if dose [things inside] won't keep it [afloat]. (I see. Now, you only write the name once on that piece of paper? You only write it once?) No, write it nine times, an' den make yore wish when yo' are writin' it.
(Oh, I see.)
Entry 8831
And they knows yore handwritin' - get holt of it, dey can.
(What will they do?)
Well, dey will take dat han'writin' an' dey kin cross-write yore han'writin', yo' see, so ah'm told. Cross-write yore han'writin', jes' like yo' write a lettah straight; well, now, dey'll go 'cross it.
(I'll write it straight?)
Straight, an' dey'll turn it [the paper upside down] an' go across it. (I see, just cross it - just turn the paper around and cross it.) Cross it, see. Dey turn de Papah aroun' an' cross it. Well, when dey cross it, den dey'll fold dat papah differently, yo' see. An' dey'll puts it in a draw, draw it with heat or watah, see. An' aftah drawin' it with heat or watah; de sweat from dat papah is what dey uses, yo' see. Well, if dey use dat sweat, dey got yore han' jes' de same, yo' see. An' dey put it in a bottle an' use it, cause yore han' tuh swell up. Dey put salt, peppah an' alum in it an' dey'll lay it in a place undah de step, an' it will cause yore hand to swell.
Entry 8836
They take yore han' - lak ah git chure han'writin' an' ah'll take yore han'writin', even if ah don't know whut tuh do, yo' git somebody else. Yo' take yore han'writin' an' put a smoothin' iron down on it an' take a smooth piece of white Papah an' put chure han'writin' down on it. Well, take a hot iron an' put it on de top [of the handwriting] an' dat'll draw jes' lak yore han' is kinda wet on de papah, dat will draw de dirt from yore han' on de clean papah. [For another example of drawing, see No.8831.] Yo' take dis clean piece of papah dat chew had de han'- Writin' in it. Den yo' take dis papah an' twist it lak dat once [demonstrates]. Git it jes' long as yo' kin till yo' git eight rolls [or twists] in dat papah. Yo' take dat papah an' yo' junk it down in a bottle. An' yo' take dat bottle dat chew put dat down in, in dere. Den yo' take salt in de pinch of yore fingah lak dis [demonstrates] eight times an' put in dere. Well, yo' take some watah lak yo' take a cowpas [see later for this word]. Boil de watah an' po' in dere off a cowpas. Yo' buys it, a cowpas, yo' buys it from de drug sto'. Dat's if somebody gittin' poisoned, yo' see, cowpassin'. Yo' buy it from de drug' sto'. (Is that what they give dogs? Something like that, what they give to the dogs?) Well, ah guess, but ah nevah see dem give it to de dogs. [I think informant is speaking about copperas, a word pronounced in many ways and occurring frequently in the text.]
(What color is it?)
It's jes' lak silvahwhite, funny-lookin' stuff. Well, yo' boil it an' puts it on dis papah. Well, see, dat stuff is tuh - eat, chew know, de papah by de- grees. Well, as it eat dis papah by degrees, dat's eatin' yo', puttin' de spell on yo' jes' as de papah eat. But yo' gotta put dis back in runnin' watah. Yo' can't keep it out until finely [finally] de papah's et [eaten] up an' de bottle is all busted an' yo' see it all gone tuh watah. Well, it's no cure fo' yo'.
(That eats you up, you say?)
It jes' eats yo' up. Yo' see people look lak dey has some kinda vener'al disease. Yo' know, look lak a sore break on yo' dere an' a sore break on yo' heah, an' when yo' git dat healed somepin else broke out on yo'. Firs' thing yo' know yo' pass away. (You put this clean piece of paper on the letter in order to draw out the perspiration - around this perspiration.) Wit a hot iron, not too hot iron, but jes' a...
Entry 8837
Well, dey say yo' kin take dat, yo' han'writin'. Dey say dey kin take yore han'writin' an' dey kin put - yo' see, yo' take yore han'writin' an' yo' roll dat up, an' yo' put dat in a bottle wit sulphuh, red peppah an' gunpowdah. An' yo' put chamber lye in dis bottle an' yo' set it up dis way [demonstrates]. Stop it up airtight an' den yo' put fire aroun' dere. It will shoot up in dere - de stoppah will shoot up in dere an' de bottle will bu'st. Dey say dat will take effect on yore nerves - dat will effect yore nerves an' stuff lak dat - yore hands. Kinda throw yo' in palsy-lak, whut dey tell me.
Entry 8853
Well, ah knew dis much about it, dat dere mo' way 'sposed tuh be of usin' de smoke of nine matches. Dey use de smoke of nine matches intuh a bot- tle an' airtight it. Go tuh work an' git chew a han'writin' an' put it intuh a bottle, an' cut out nine matches an' git de smoke of dose nine matches intuh dat bottle an' airtight it. An' kin throw it intuh runnin' watah. Ah know dat's anothah thing dat will upset chew, block yore game in gamblin'. (HoW will that affect me if they took my handwriting and put in that bottle with that smoke? What would that do to me?) WELL, DAT WILL - DE REALLY FAC' 'BOUT IT, SUH, WILL PIZEN [POISON] YO' WITH ANYONE, 'SPOSED TUH BE DAT CHEW COULDN'T MAKE A TAP [OR TOUCH, PUT THE BITE ON ANYONE] COULDN'T GIT NO ENDS TUH MEET IN [COULD NOT MAKE ENDS MEET] NOWHERE. [I would be in a bad financial condition; could not mub two dimes together. That preceding expression cut out nine matches merely means, take 9 matches out of the matchbox, surely a new box of matches.]
Entry 8952
(Well, how would you handle a court case?)
How would I handle a court case? The sinner could be dead guilty, if he want- ed to be, you know. If the charges are up. Now, when you git to the courthouse, you kin git to the courthouse, you kin have you a nickel's worth of asafititee. After yo' get a nickel's worth of asafititee, yo' kin git yo' a bottle of vine- gar - bottle of vinegar. Now yo' sprinkle [vinegar] on that asafititee. Yo' have it done soaked, yo' have it done soaked in dat vinegar an' yo' have it in a small bottle, an' yo' jes' tote that in yore pocket an' have de stopper with a hole in it, an' jes' sprinkle it. They'll have no case up, no case at all. Dey keep putting it off, keep putting it off. Every time yo' go they keeps putting it off. Jes' have it [the bottle] in your pocket. [As in the preceding rite, once again we have witch deterrents; for vinegar see FACI, p.889, for asafetida, sev- eral places in Hoodoo.]
Entry 9135
Dat fo' co'thouse scrapes. (All right, tell me that.) Well, now, yo' kin take twelve fig leaves - yo' knog dere wus twelve disciples - an' yo' take twelve fig leaves. An' yo' git chew a bottle of ink, a bran'-new bottle of ink dat nevah been used, an' a pen dat's nevah been used, an' yo' write a disciple name on each one of dose leaves. See, yo' got twelve leaves, yo' got twelve disciples. An' yo' write dose names on dose leaves. An' den, when yo' write dose names on dose leaves, yo' take yore Bible. IT'S DE 35th PSALMS AH THINK. AH GOT MAH BIBLE HEAH, AH LAK TUH BE SHORE YO' LET ME SEE. [HE CONSULTS HIS BIBLE!] It's de 35th Psalm. Yo' take de 35th Psalm an' read it ovah dose twelve leaves. [Psalm 35 begins: Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me...] Den aftah yo read it ovah dose twelve leaves, yo' fold dose leaves tight, yo' know, small tubl gethah intuh a white piece of papah. It kin be a piece of writin' papah or a cleah piece of papah lak dis [something he may have had in the Bible] ah guess, but let it be white papah. An' yo' kin put dat in yore right pocket.
(All twelve of those leaves?)
Yes, jes' put it in dere, but chew mus' write de names on dere firs'. An' den yo' read dat 35th Psalms ovah dose leaves an' wrap dose leaves up. An' evah who gonna be tried in co't, let dem put it in dere right pocket an' dey'll cer- tainly Walk out. An' if yo' can't git dose fig leaves - sometime yo' can't git dose things, yo' can't git de fig leaves - yo' git chew twelve - use 'em fo' a tea, too - not catnip, sage leaves.
Entry 9167
If yo' had a case an' yo' gotta go befo' de judge, befo' yo' go tuh bed at night, yo' kin take yore watah, take yore chamber lye, an' stop it up in a bottle. An' yo' gotta go tuh co't tuhmahrah - we'll say tuhmahrah. Well, yo' do dis three days befo' yo' gotta go tuh co't. Stop it up in a bottle an' when yo' stop it up in dere, put black peppah an' salt in it. An' when yo' go tuh de co'thouse have a cork stoppah in it. Don't have no top on it, no hard top on it. Have a cork in it. When yo' git dere, jis' sprinkle it round in de co'thouse, an' de p'lice won' appeah up on yo' an' de judge won't be dere. Some of 'em gotta be dismissed, de' goin' be sick.
Entry 9210
An' den ah took an' - dis anothah story fo' tuh keep de law away, yo' undahstan'. Ah got me some aigs an' whip it up wit whiskey an' devil's-shoe- string, an' buries it undah de do'step, between midnight an' day, an' de law nevah did have any chance tuh come in. (Well, when you whip the eggs with the whiskey, where do you put those? Do you mix it up with the devil's- shoestring or what?) Yes sir, all tuhgethah. Put it in a bottle.
Entry 9366
[The following rite, one of the most interesting and puzzling in Hoo- doo, raises the question asked in the margin title. Let us begin by reading the rite itself:1 As fer as ah heered 'bout dat ah don't know fo' definite whethah it's true or it's not true. Ah tell yo' whut ah has heered. Dey tell me dey take a black hen aig, an' take it an' break it, an' use it wit an intahco'se yo' havin' wit a woman. Suck dat black hen aig an' have a intahco'se, an' soon as yo' has a intahco'se, de same identi- cal thing dat passed in de time yo' havin' use it dat same way. An' use dat black hen aig an' stop it intuh a pint bottle. An' dey tell me dey nuse [use] dat undahneat' of de house.
[Informant will explain later what he means.]
(What will that do?)
Well, dat keeps yore [male] fren's away from 'er, an' keeps yore wife at home, an' keeps a calm home an' a-down [trouble] - whut chew call a harmless home.
(Now you take this raw black hen egg?)
Yo' use one crushed tuh yuhself.
(You eat that?)
Suck it - yes, lak dat.
(Before you have intercourse.)
All right. Yo' takes de othah one [eggl an' has it ready. Den yo' have a intahco'se wit 'er, an' de same thing dat she did befo' - quite natural when a woman's [woman has an emission!] it's common. An' he's quite natchal [natural] li'ble [liable] tuh see dat [emission!] an' pick it up: Jis' pick it up an' ah take dat an' put it in a bottle unbeknowst tuh 'er, an' ah bury dat. Don't bury it, ah'd use it undah de eve [eaves] of de house.
(What would you bury, take in that [bottle]?)
Stop dat stain [up in the bottle].
(From her you mean?)
Yes sir. Puts dat in a bottle an' stop it 'up an' use it undah de eve of de house where yo' kin go tuh de [buried] bottle.
(But you must eat that black egg first?)
Use dis black egg yoreself, suck it. Well, dis stain yo' put it in dis bot- tle, an' uses de othah one [egg] in dere wit it.
(What other?)
Her nature an' dat othah aig is in dere tuhgethah.
(How many eggs are you using?)
Two, jis' two. (You eat one first, then you use the other egg with her stuff [nature] in the bottle.) In de bottle. Shake it intuh a likkah [liquid]-like. [I must now restate the margin-title question: Does a woman during coitus dis- charge a female substance, which in some way unites with man's semen to create a new life? Remember, hoodoo knows nothing about ova and Fallopian tubes. The ordinary word for semen in Hoodoo is come, a word describing an action, something coming from a man. The same word is used for a woman's action, both in hoodoo and non-hoodoo thought, according to a question commonly asked of a woman: Did you come? A more generalized term denoting sexuality for both men and women appears in the word nature, found frequently in Hoodoo. Our present rite speaks of a fluid coming from the woman and making a spot, as her nature. This nature of hers is bottled with a chicken egg: Dat keeps yore [male] frien's away from 'er an' keeps yore wife at home. A woman's nature of course could also be her hair or urine or anything from her body; but a woman's nature joined with chicken egg, as in this rite, surely suggests that she ejects a procreative liquid. Why did I not question informant closely? Not back in 1939 when this rite was col- lected and folklore in English about sexual organs and acts did not exist! Be- sides, sex was not overemphasized in my field work.]
Entry 9426
Ah don' know whethah it's so or not, but dey tell me yo' kin take a black hen aig an' yo' kin - if yo' wants a person tuh stay 'way from yuh house- take a black hen aig an' put it up in vinegah till it becomes long, yo' know. Yo' know vinegah will make a aig git small as dis fingah [demonstrates finger], jis' stretch it. An' says, an' aftah dat aig gits where 'bout it stretches, yo'...if yo' put a aig in vinegah - ah don' know whethah yo' have experienced dat or not, but vinegah will make a aig stretch. [If reader does not believe this, an egg and vinegar are an inexpensive experiment.] Jis' put a aig in a bottle. Yo' kin put a aig in one small bottle, ain't no mo' 'en [more than] hole dat big [demonstrates]. Yo' kin put a hen aig in dere by puttin' dat hen aig in vinegah. Yo' see, vinegah will make dat hen aig stretch lak a string. Well, yo' kin put it in vinegah, a black hen aig. Dey tell me dey do dis. An' yo' kin take dat black hen aig an' if ah don' wan' chew tuh mah house, ah kin break dat aig whilst it's got dat vinegah in it, an' ah kin jis' strow [archaic for strew = to scatter] it around mah do'step or eithah way, mah entrance way, an' yo' cānt [can not] come in dere. Anybody kin come dere 'scusin' [excusing = eXCePt] yo'. IF YO' START IN DERE WHY YO'D HAVE SECH PAIN YO'D FALL 'FORE YO' COULD MAKE IT. But whethah dat dere is true, now ah don't say dat is true.
Entry 9429
Take a egg... [I interrupt.] (Will you talk a little bit louder, please.) Take a raw egg an' war watah an' put it intuh a bottle. An' bury it up undah de steps an' dat'll cuz 'em tuh move. [War water causes confusion within.]
Entry 10184
An' some says anothah remedy tuh put 'em [candles being burned on you] out [is one] dat yo'll use on yuh head. Well, yo'll have tuh git chew diff'ren' little things. Yo'll git chew vinegah, a teacup of vinegah an' three teaspoons of olive oil, an' one egg an' yo' beat it up - whip it [3 things] up tuhgethah. Yo' beat up de egg first an' den add de othah all tuh it. An' put it in a bottle an' shake it up. Well, yo'll take some of dat, take a swallah of it evah now an' den, about two or three time a day or somepin othah like dat. Den yo' take some of dat an' put it on. Yo' know, dey say when de candle burns, it strikes yo' on one mos' pahtic'lah place - burning an' pullin' [demonstrates]. (It strikes you in one particular place, right here in the back of your head some place [informant demonstrates]. Where your neck and head meet, right up here some place [I demonstrate].) Well, some says it will be here [demonstrates]. Sometime it will be here [demonstrates]. But more in gen'ral it be's kinda back, it's pullin' [demon- strates]. Dey tell me it work like dat.
[I describe last demonstration.]
(Or near the left temple.)
Yas, neah de lef' temple or somepin lak it. It pulls. It seems as if some- one is pullin' on de strands of yuh hair. Dere's a strain, yo' know, on yuh hair. Dey say dat's whut dat is [someone burning a candle on you] when yo' have dat. (Well, you've taken some of this mixture, then you do something else you said.) Yo' take dat mixtry [mixture], yo' take it in yore han' jes' like dat. Let yuh han's git wet jes' like dat an' jes' like dis [demonstrates].
(Just rub it right on your scalp.)
De scalp of yuh head. An' sometimes it so severe yo' take de bottle an' po' it like dat [demonstrates]. Jes' douse yo' head wit it good [demonstrates].
(What will that do then?)
Dat eases it, but yo' gotta do dat about two-three days maybe.
(Well, what does that do to the candles?)
Dey say it puts dem out. Dat's whut ah heard, it puts 'em out.
Entry 10186
An' then here's another thing. There's - some things are over others zhoo know. You see? Well the nex' thing to do, if you wanted to make 'em leave town or anything like that, you Write their name down 9 times. Understand? An' stop it up in a bottle an' go to the running water, to the river and throw it in. Throw it ovah the left shoulder an' don't look back, an' says, "I wan' zhoo to go." An' then you take a red candle. You get a red candle, you understand now, an you stick you three pins in it. You burn that at 12 a'clock at night, see, an' you make a wish. You says, "I wish my enemies would leave me alone In the Name Of the Lord."
Entry 10209
I hear'd about a woman taking a man's nature sure 'nough. After she menstr'ate two days, she'll take off dat piece, put dat piece down dere an' put it jes' in dat water and soak it. She takes a new linen han'ke'ch'ef and wash it. (A new red handkerchief.) No, linen. Linen, so it get soft. When he discharge, she ketch it on the han'ke'ch'ef. All right. She get bolt of dat noy and she put it in dat water to soak it, and she wring it out. And vring Lc dirty piece out and pour it in a bottle, and go down at lou water, lov tide, and when the tide is out, and put it in dere. When dat tide come in, she [tide] carries it with her, and the tide carry it out. No matter how many years, he's in for life. He's gone dere. (Is there any way he can get that off of him?) [There is no answer. It may have been lost.l
Entry 10219
Say, now a woman and she has a husband, and she doesn't want him to have anything to do with any other woman in the sex line. She goes to the store and she buys a brand-new big [white] pocket han'ke'ch'ef. (What kind of a pocket handker- chief?) A brand-new white pocket han'ke'- ch'ef. She takes that back home to the bed and tonight she fool with him. She will use that to wipe him on, don't cha know. And she won't use that on herself. All right. She wait until he's gone and then she'll take that and she bury it in a small jar, don't cha know, right in front of the steps where he'll have to walk over that whensomever he comes. He kin go wherever he wants and be with whoever he wants to, but he can't have nothing to do with 'em.
(Well, suppose a man did that [to a woman]?)
That just reversing it. Reversed it. When she bury it, she'll bury it on the bottom [of jar]. He'll take it and bury it on de top, on end [turn it upside down so that handkerchief will be against reversed top of jar].
(Well, how do you mean she buries it on the bottom - bottom of what?)
Bottom of the jar. Put it in the jar, see, and she gotta set the jar down and bury it. Well, he'll go there, why he just take it and put it outside of that, the way she had - upside down, the bottle up.
(I see, that fixes her, sees that she can't get away.)
I mean that she can't get away. See, the only way she kin get away is when the top rots off and the rag rots up.
Entry 10234
Dis aig - yo' take an' buy yo' a bottle of gingerale, an' break de aig into a glass an' po' de gingerale on top of it, an' stir it up like yo' making milk-shake, yo' know, an' drink it. Dat brings it [sexual potency] back. Do dat three times a day. (That brings your nature back?) Yes. (Drink that three times a day and it will bring your nature back.)
Entry 10270
When mah husban' left home ah had some of his [pubic] hair an' ah taken it an' put it in de bottle an' stopped it up an' put it up undah de steps. An' jis' lak me an' him be to- gether, well ah got de string an' got some of it [semen] an' put it roun' mah waist; an' he always be's by me all de time. An' ah got de dishcloth an' put some [semen] on de dishcloth an' put it up ovah de do', an' whenevah he go out - he had been goin' out an' stayin' an' stayin' an' goin' off runnin' roun', an' he got so he jis' stayed at home all de time. An' den ah quit him. Aftah he got tuh bein' so good tuh me, den ah went tuh treatin' him mean. Yo' know, him treatin' me mean, ah went off tuh show him how it feel fo' him tuh do me lak dat. An' he jis' cry all de time tuh try tuh git me back.
(Did you go back to him?)
No, ah didn't go back to him. He in hospital now.
Entry 10275
Well, if she could get holt of somepin belongin' to a man, if she could get holt of his - but she must be in connection with him once. And she could get the measure of him and get some of her chamber lye and mix it together, she could get him. The only Way he could get away from her.
(She takes the measure of the man with a string?)
With a string, yeah.
(And what did she do with her chamber lye, then?)
Put it in that bottle with the string.
(Oh, she puts the string in the bottle where she put the chamber lye.)
Put it in a bottle and set it up in de left corner of the house. [The left corner is either left corner, front or back, while approaching house.]
(In the left corner of the house, and that will keep him.)
That will keep him right with her.
Entry 10276
I know at one time a woman and a man were very familiar towards each other, they would do anything they were inclined to do. So at last one day this woman decided that she would take the measure [circumfer- ence] and the length of her sweetheart. And after doing so - just as if you would go and measure a dog's tail. I don't care how bad the dog is, I don't care how much stranger he is, you can measure his tail and take the length of the measure and bury it at your doorstep, and that dog will never depart from you. So this woman, after taking the measurement of this man, goes to work. Then she decreed that, I want this man for myself individual. She would go to work and take this measurement, and wrap it up in a bundle and put it in a bottle, and put this measurement in her trunk, with a small quantity of her urine with this; and stopped it up and put it in her trunk and let it remain. And this man then would always forever be ravish with her and always wanting to get to her. You measure with a piece of string, stick, anything. You put that in the bottle with the urine. The man, you measure the length; the woman, you measure the size. He would do the same sort of thing with her measure. [Hamp- ton (Old Point Comfort), Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 10277
To fix him up. Now he wants to get his nature back, all he got to do, he take and he urine in a bottle. You see, he....
(He urinates into a bottle?)
In a bottle, you see. Now, he urinates in a bottle and, if he urinate in that bottle and he can get to some of hers, see, he pour hers on top of his. Now, when he put that together, he take sugar and cinnamon and he puts that all togethah. He mixes that up good. See. Now, he put that under the head of the bed; see, where he sleep at, where he knows she can't find it. If he's got time enough to do that and she's done fixed the bed herself, he puts that hisself there, you see, because he has to do hisself good, you understand. Now, at night when he comes in - if he done come from work or if he's got work anywhere - when he comes in, long about, prob'ly it might be midnight. He'll raise up, you see. He's going to raise up. Now, when he get [raise] up, he'll get there to her, see. And as long as he keep that there [under bed] until he get hisself back together, done got back all his nature again, why then he can take that same bottle of stuff and keep it hid on the top of anything that's high where she can't get to it. And she'll have more trouble with him than the day is long. She'll have plenty trouble with him then, because he'll always want to be on her, see. He done got his nature back. (I see, that's to bring his nature back, so that he can do this with his wife.) With his wife.
(I see.)
Entry 10279
There's another thing. They can take your chamber lye again and stop you from using a woman.
(How could.they do that?)
They take your chamber lye and put it into a little small bottle like that, and after they put it into a small bottle, they let it rest overnight. And after it rest in overnight, they take that [bottled] chamber lye and put it down into some warm milk and take it [bottle] up. Draw it [bottle] up and let that milk boil away, that it almost gone out that bottle [pan]. And take that [small] bottle again and ketch a owl and shove it up in that owl's throat until it kill him. And take that bottle [with urine inside] and bury it in the ground with his [owl's] head up. Then you'll go for the balance of your life.
(You do what?)
You locked up [impotent] for the balance of your life, you can't use a woman. (You put an owl in there, an owl, a bird, an owl that steals a chicken, an owl that flies around at night?) [I am wrong. Owl is not put in bottle but very small bottle with urine is put in owl's throat.] Yeah. (An owl? And this milk. Do you pour the urine into the milk or put that bottle down into the milk?) [Again I am wrong!] Put the bottle [with urine] down in there [the milk].
(But you don't let any milk get into the bottle?)
No, you have it sealed.
(Yes, but you let this [bottled] urine boil in the milk?)
Yeah.
(I understand, I see. But you have to kill this owl, inside the bottle?)
[As I explained, owl is not in bottle.]
Yes. (And bury the bottle [in owl's throat] with the owl's head up. You have to ase a large bottle for that [no!] I understand. [No, the urine is in very small bottle in owl's throat, but owl buried head up.]
Entry 10412
Dey call yo' like when yo' sleepin'. An' dey has de bottle fixed an dey calls yo' an' soon as yo' answer, den dey put dat stopper in an' knock it down tight. Well, dat's supposed to be if a hag is ridin' dem an' dey think it's yo'. Well, dat's de way dey ketch chah. [For catching person's spirit in bottle, see Nos.38-41, P.24f., v.l; in the latter of these rites, performer substituting his own breath for victim's!]
Entry 10413
My mother told me once there was a woman, she had another woman. This lady took a bottle full of water. She [hag] came in that night. The lady put the stopper in the bottle and caught her in there, and she didn't live very long.
Entry 10414
Do somebody dat way - take a bottle an' put a green leaf in it.
(Any kind of a green leaf?)
Any kind of a green leaf. Call dis fellah an' he answer yo'. Stop it up, den yo' got his voice in dere. Take some runnin' water an' throw it in dere [throw the bottle into run- ning water], an' he'll be gone. (But the fellow must answer you, you call and he must answer you?) [He had said this on first giving the rite.] Yes.
(Why do you put that green leaf in there? Do you know why it's done?)
To hold his voice.
Entry 10417
Keep hag away - 9 needles in bot- tle. [Caught hag] looked like jellyfish. Sot much of story.
Entry 10579
Yo' kin take a leather-wing bullbat an' cut his heart out whilst he 'live, an' put it on a straight pin [ordinary pin, not safety pin]. Run a straight pin through it an' put it in a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' rub yore han'. Rub it on yore han' every time yo' go to a skin game an' yo'll win.
Entry 10622
Use Hearts Cologne on Adam-an'-Eve. They git a pair, which is Adam- an'-Eve an' 'noint it with this Hearts Cologne perfume. That is to draw the Woman friend to them in love. (What would they do after they anoint those roots? What would they do with those roots?) They keep those roots into a jar or either a bottle, an' they take this per- fume whut they roots is soakin' in an' 'noint themselves.
(That is to help them [women] get a man?)
Yes.
Entry 10625
You get 'em - two together, you know.
(Oh! It's a root that grows together.)
Two of 'em together; one's Adam, the other Eve. Now those, the things they are used for, will keep a man and woman together - they will keep them together. (Well now, how would they use that?) They go to work and get that Adam-an'-Eve root, get it green [fresh], and you name one Adam and the other one Eve, after you wash it off good. And you put it in a bottle, ay old bottle, and don't break 'em loose. One Adam and the other one is Eve. Dren they put perfume in there.
(Any special kind of perfume?)
No, any kind. Put the perfume in there. They name [one] for the woman and Che other the man, when they are speaking about 'em. They may use chamber lye ad perfume in it. Stop it up. Long as you keep that, you will hold the man if you want to.
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 10738
Fo' nine mawnin's jes' drop it - jes' drop it in dere fo' nine mawn- in's.
(You save this [menstrual] blood for nine mornings?)
Fo' nine mawnin's. An' if ah wanta gain de influence of yo' mo' den whut chew is [interested] in me, ah'll cook yo' a pie, or, [if you are] a customer or sompin or [put it in] whiskey. Buy yo' a bottle of whiskey. Ah'll make it closer, an' drop it in dere - nine drops. [That statement of aine Ne in the parenthesis show I did not understand this rite at the time. My comment about informant later may ea- plain why: This woman was so long-winded she almost drove me crazy. Bnd of 1526. Not a very Christian remark about someone trying to help me, but at least it shous some of the tension under which I worked.]
Entry 10752
If yo' ministratin' or anything, yo' take an' wash de cloth an' git de blood out of it an' stop it in a bottle. An' yo' kin take an' put it anywhere in de tree, de 'side de tree, any- where yo' wanta, an' dey won' ministrate any mo'. Dey jes' pine away. [Originally the tree was probably a pine: you pine away.]
Entry 10886
Take a black cat hair, dog hair - don't make no difference whut kinda dog - an' nine grains of peppah an' some of dey urinate, an' put it in a bottle. An' if yo' wanta break up any- body, take dat nine grains of peppah, Heart Cologne, an' dat dog an' cat hair, an' bury it where dey walk, either one of 'em. Dey git so dey soon bust up.
Entry 10898
[Here are two versions of the same rite by the same informant, an excellent professional worker, they being on separate cylinders:] Version (l) Ketch you a black cat that's a rambler an'... (That's a what?) Tha's wha' choo call a rambus, that's wha' choo [call] rambler, or black cat, he's the luckiest thing you kin do. Pull out vha' choo got an let him lick right - jis' lick it right well.
(What do you pull out?)
You know, wha' choo got between your legs.
(A man?)
Or either a woman. Let her lick it [instead of the cat]. Then she wet in this bottle. Yo' want to cross de house up don' choo? Well, yo' get the persod's Dame whoever in the house. Yo' got to know the name, yo' see. Write it down an put it in this bottle. Yo' see, take it right out them back doorstep an' bury it chere. Yo' wan'a cross the house, yo' wan'a start disturb[ment] in the house don' choo? [Memphis, Tenn., (967), 1562:7.] Version (2) A similar version: If you want to have luck in the house you git choo a black cat, they call that a rmbler. An' every morning before the sun rise for nine mornings, take it. if it's a woman, let him lick dat, an' if it's a man let him lick it. Nov he ain't gon'a bite choo. An' turn him loose and luck you wana git hold of sill be right dere in that house. Yo' won't have a bit of trouble. [This woman. born in Borth Carolina, able, excentric, tough, gave an excellent and long interview. a transcriber missed all these cylinders. I transcribed a feu rites by band - dese scattered through HOODOO - intending to return to them. Similarly I lost another informant in Memphis, and my best one in Jacksonville.] [Memphis, Tenn.,
(967).1563:3.]
Entry 10903
Well, yo' take de hair off a bad dog's back, de hair off a cat's back, an' take a woman's underwear when it's dirty, an' wash it, taking dat watah an' applyin' it wit dat hair off de dog's back an' off de cat's back, an' puttin' turpentine wit it, an' shuttin' de bottle up, an' throw it in de Miss'ippi Rivah. It will cause one de greatest rows in dat house yo' evah did see.
Entry 10937
Take a catfish entrails, split him open while dey alive - channel cat - an' take dat entrails an' put it in a bottle, or else bury it undah yore do'steps; jes' lak yo' had a place an' wanted tuh stay dere, why yo' kin stay dere as long as yo' wanta, if yo' bury dat undah dere, wit dere name.
(The name of the landlord on it?) Den yo' kin stay at dat place as long as yo' want to.
Entry 11034
Ah heard dem usin' a chicken feather. Yo' take a black hen feather an' put it in a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' stop it up airtight. Dat's good fo' luck.
(You carry that for luck.)
Entry 11111
But they's got to have more to go with that skin to do you harm, besides just the skin off you feet. They can take the skin off the bottom of your feet and if they can get some of your hair, take that skin and some of your hair, and take a coconut, or either a bottle, and fill it up with vinegar, and throw it in the water where it will run and you start going and you'll never go back home again. In a bot- tle or coconut, but you gotta stop it up so it don't come out.
Entry 11112
They take a bath and leave the bath water. They [an enemy kin take that water and get war water from the pharmacy and mix it into that water. Take it and stop it up in a bottle or a coconut - anything that is air- tight - throwing it in the Mississippi River, in a flowing stream, and just as it flow away, just as you'll drift away from town to town.
(I see.)
With that dirty [bath] water.
Entry 11197
Dirt dauber powder in bottle, put under brick of house, "dey leave dere." [This probably means under a house but covered by a brick, not to hide it, but to add weight to your intention. Also under the house would mean removing a brick from one of the piers on which lowland houses rest; the bottle then being under a brick. Also possible but more difficult, unless everyone was away for the day, would be the removal of a brick from the hearth.] [Wilmington, N. Car., 261:4+85.]
Entry 11199
Git dirt daubah dat-a-way an' put it in a bottle wit vinegah. Dat's uhut chew call a shure shot. Put it in de bottle wit vinegah, de dirt daubah, wit black peppah an' red peppah, an' if de people of dis house wuz gittin' 'long fine, a person would slip [in] heah at night an' throw it undah de house or plant it anywhere in de yard. In two week's time dey would be axin' [asking] one 'nothah fo' a divorce.
Entry 11213
Take the dirt dauber and take dis man's name.
(Yes?)
And you write the man's name and you set this in the bottle, and when you puts this in the bottle...
(Now what do you put in the Bible?)
You puts - in de bottle!
(Oh, in a bottle. You put all this in a bottle?)
All this in a bottle. Well, I call a bottle a jar - one of these pickle jars - and put the vinegar in there with the man's name in there. That's the dauber dust. Then you takes this man's name and you just put the pin and the tacks and the needles in there. And then you put it in there, and every day at twelve o'clock you shake it up and call this man's name. Every day you do the same thing until the ninth day that you see that you get your wishes.
(What kind of wishes do you make?)
Well, the wishes that I would make, would be the bad destruction on him. That'd be bad luck for him to have. That's the bad wishes.
Entry 11247
"Man gave woman some candy to eat but her daughter ate it and took sick. [Mother then took daughter to a root doctor.] Root doctor says, I saw you ever since yester- day comin' [see also p.8, line 44, for doctor for- seeing patient on the road to him]. You jis' been three days later, he says, you would lose [have lost] your daugh- ter. She's hurt. He put the scorpion in a bottle after it was taken out. It wasn't for her but for you. This scorpion, had it stayed three days longer, it would have hatched and killed the girl. [This whole statement violates the nor- mal belief that you cannot be harmed by hoodoo not intended for you. A few other violations will be found in HOODOO, but normally the old rule was generally held.
Entry 11327
(Your mother was sick?)
Uh-huh an' de doctor said dat somebody had put somepin down for 'er. So I kin remembah dat he dug up - you know, dey had dese fireplaces, an' he had taken up threw whole bricks. [I] remembah when he'd taken up dese bricks. Dey had a bot- tle buried an' had a form as a baby wit feathahs. Dat Was sewed up in a piece of yellah cotton [or unbleached homespun] an' in dat - see, he opened it - an' in dat dey had a red piece of flannen an' red cayenne peppah intuh dis bag. An' dis baby had its legs an' feet an' arms made outa feathahs.
Chicken feathahs. An' some of 'er hair was in dis bag. An' so he tole my mothah tuh leave it tuh him, dat he would 'tend tuh dat bag. So, well, I don' think he did anythin' good enough. But still he put somepin else down dere, but my mothah always said dat whoevah put dat stuff down; dat dis man instead of workin' fuh 'er, he was workin' fuh de people what put it down. An' she didn't give him dat. [Patient keeping doll baby is most unusual. Poor doctor!] (Well, how was your mother sick? I mean - how did she happen to call him in? How did it start?) She had, she was kept wit dese wretched headaches, you know, an' she had de [medical] doctor, couldn't do nuthin. She kept sick all de time an' was jes' pinin' away tuh nuthin. An' so somebody told 'er tuh see one of dese root doc- tors. An' so she got one. An' de time he come dere, he says, "Yes, dere's somepin right here." An' she [said], "Dere's somepin dere? Go get it." He went an' got it. Looked like he know right where 'twas.
(Was it inside of the house or outside?)
Inside de house, in dat hearth, 'neath de three bricks, an' dere it was all laid out fer 'er. (Was this thing in a - what did you say the name of the thing, this feather thing was in?) In a, you know, a bag, in a yellah cotton bag. Was made on purpose fer it, so it would be shaped all of de baby.
(The bag was in that shape, too.)
[The bag was a baby doll form stuffed with feathers.]
Uh-huh. Dey done fixed it an' had made it out of feathahs, an' put it down fer 'er. Now, my mother's ['s = was] sick all de time.
Entry 11352
Well, yo' know, as ah first said, if somebody yo' have somepin in fo' 'em - ain't goin' de way yo' want 'em - tuh puttin' 'em tuh walkin' or sompin othah, anything. Well, yo' go down tuh de rivah an' yo' fish an' try tuh ketch a eel. Yo' know it's a long ole fish look lak a snake. Well, yo' cut de haid off an' have a bottle or a glass or sompin ready, an' hit's one drop of blood dat will drop from dis eel's haid. So yo'll take dat an' yo'll take some honey. An' dey'll take some honey an' de root dey call de High John de Con- ' kah an' dere's one dey call de Low John de Conkah. Well, yo' take dis root an' yo' boil dat an' yo' make a kind of a syrup-lak, an' as yo' go tuh dis friend or whoevah it is, house, an' jes' lak dey shoes be's sittin' undah de dressah - somewhere yo' know, round de house. Well, yo' kin drop three drops in de shoes or anywhere jes' so long as it be's neah de shoe or a little bit git on de shoe. An' yo' kin say whatevah yo' want tuh be done, "In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost." An' in de limits of time, dey say it will come tuh pass.
(What did you do with that drop of eel's blood? What did you do with that?)
Yo' take dis drop of eel's blood an' yo' fixes it wit dis honey an' dis othah root - High John de Conkah.
Entry 11375
De fig tree - take a bottle an' urinate in de bottle. An' it's jes' lak if yo' got it in fo' me an' yo' wanta hurt me, urinate in de bottle an' den take somepin else [what?] an' po' in dat urinate, an' take dis red string an' tvist it real tight an' slash it to de main root of dat fig tree. Anybody go to dat fig tree an' eat it dey poisoned. If dey eat a fig offa dat tree dey's poi- soned. [The preceding word slash I evidently understood as lash according to my following question.]
(How do you tie this string around it?)
See, yo' takes de cork stop- per an' puts it into dis bottle. An' yo' takes a small nail an' makes a hole right into de center of dis stopper, right down in de cork, see. An' de end of it, take it out an' jes' twist it real tight an' jes' take yore knife an' jes' open de end of a tendril, jes' break off de tendril an' jes' let de thread in dere, an' jes' let it close right back up. See, dat urinate po' right into de tree.
(You have part of the string into the bottle and part of it hanging outside?)
[This is one of several transfusion rites in HooDoO, another example of how doc- tors imitated M.D.'s.] Yes.
Entry 11496
Like dis is de fork of de road disaway [demonstrates] an' yo' cross here. Dey [your enemy] goes dere. Dey goes dere and you cross de other way. Dey kin take up your tracks, see. An' dey cross [put a cross mark in] your track. Ten [tracks]. Cross 'em like dat [demonstrates]. Here's yore track, and jes' pick up some of your track dis way, and take de other one and do dataway. Den dey keeps dat and if it's someone dat yo' really don't scared of, he will call you - come to yore home and call yo', an' den he call yo' an' take dat track - take dat bottle an' (slap, slap) wit de chamber lye in it. Take dat whatchahcall 'em cloth an' tie 'em round yore waist and dey couldn't do yo' no harm to save dere [their] dying life. (How do they cross those tracks out there at the crossroads? Tell me that again. How do they cross them?) Dere's yo' track, meanin' de foot track. How de' [dey] cross it if dey wanta harm yuh? Dere's yore track. Dere's de track one way, dey come dere. Take a stick from dere [demonstrates with an imaginary stick]. (Oh! they put a cross in each of your tracks, a cross mark. I see, make an "x", cross mark. I see.) Dat's de way dey do. Dat's de way it's done. (That's the way you cross the tracks, I see. And then after they cross these tracks, what do they do with them?) Dey takes dat and keep it, you understand. Dey keep dat and don't keer what- somever you - even yo' could be rid of de boss [person crossing your tracks] and he keep dat until he's dead.
Entry 11842
[THE LETTER "H" OF CHANNEL DE WORLD BEGINS HERE and SO dO some extra rites about human hair, a subject already largely concentrated in pages 2937- 3049, volume 4. For various reasons hair, not always the primary element of a rite, is widely scattered throughout HOODOO. The following beliefs about hair start with a few longer rites, which are followed by many brief statements with- out margin titles but with the key words being underlined.] And again they say if you take it [a hair from per- son] and put it [in] some kind of manure or somepin - like if you have a cow or somepin round the lot and they do fresh manure. Say, if you take this hair and bury it in there, and set this manure about in some shady place maybe it won't dry so fast, and say let it stay there. And you take it out of there and put it in a bottle of rye whiskey, a pint bottle of rye whiskey, and say in nine days it will be a snake. I've heard that. (But they don't put that snake in you though? That snake they don't put in you?) Well, if you drink the whiskey, if you drink the whiskey before the thing kin, you know, come to be whole, well hit will come alive in you.
(I see, but you have to put it in this cow manure?)
No, take the hair out it [the manure] if you know right where you put the hair in.
Entry 11843
You got to take and burn de gunpowder and get the scent - not de scent but de gas from this gunpowder - and take a stran' of yuh hair, or eithah a piece of cloth or sompin dat joo have, dat de person you tryin' to hurt had, and put it in this bottle. And shut it up in this bottle. And they say that'll make de person lose de min', or eithah make 'em sore in some parts of de body.
Entry 11844
I tell yuh jes' what 'tis. My uncle it was, was tellin' me this. That's why I was goin' tell yuh. A lady that he was courting, he was going with her, and of course this man [rival or hoodoo man] tole him that he was hurt, because he thought he was going with her. And he told him that the lady had put somepin in a bottle an' buried it under the doorstep. And that thing that she buried under the doorstep was some of his hair that she'd gotten from the barber shop and mixed it with some salt, pep- per and whiskey, and buried it under her doorstep, and that whenever he walked over it, would hurt him. [At least we know uncle liked whiskey!] But if he would take this up and put it in some boiling water, and if it floated, then he could ward off the spell that she had put on him, and that he probably could throw it back on her, on the parties who was puttin' it on him. He could take and just take this out and roll it under his arm. [then] roll it in some meal.
(Hold it under his arm?)
Roll it. Yeah, roll it under his arm.
(Oh, under his arm first.)
Yeah, and then put it in some meal and make it into a cake-like, and bury it underneath the steps, the same step where the other stuff was buried, and that would return it on her.
Entry 12165
Well, yo' uses holy watah lak fo' somepin good. Yo' kin use it lak fo' sprinklin' round yore house, yo' see. An' then yo' kin git a bottle of holy watah an' keep dat on de back- side of yore bed. Lak de bed. An' ah put a leetle string [on the bottle] an' keep it hung on dere [behind bed]. Dat's luck, yo' know. It's successful [brings success] in yore home, too.
Entry 12185
Dat's very easy. You can take some of this black stone [black lode- stone?] and Van Van and sweet oil. You take all that and you mix it together, and you put that in a lit- tle sack or in a little bottle. You hang that over your door, under a horseshoe. You put the horseshoe up and you hang your bottle under there, but you have the bottle so that no one can see the bottle, but they can see the horseshoe. This bottle be's behind the horseshoe. And no law in the world gon- na come in your place lessen they git permission. They kin come someone to see the proprietor before he [law] come in there. The horseshoe is in the right form just like it lays on the animal's foot [prongs or toes down] but the bot- tle is fixed [hidden] under there.
Entry 12236
Say take John de Conker. It's in de woods, it's a weed, yo' take hit. It's got a whole lotta spring to it. An' put it in a bottle an' feed it, feed it with cologne or whiskey. Yo' feed it ever' time yo' eat, or ever' time yo' go tuh gamblin'. Feed it an' dey say hit's lucky.
Entry 12420
If she got any of his clothes, jes' lak if she got any of his under- weah - if she haven't got any of his own clothes dat she kin use, if she kin git in any place where he has slept. See, jes' lak if he has slept in dat bed, she kin cut a piece of dat mattress. Jes' cut a hole in dat mattress, undahstan', an' git a piece of de cotton, or anything dat goes, yo' know, undah where he has slept. Yo' see, his scent is still dere, undahstan'. Put it in de bottle an' git chew some dis heah 'bernekay. It sompin lak de peoples drink, sometimes fo' gittin' drunk off of it. It's a varnekay wafah [wafer], an' yo' puts it heah with this heah cloth, umdahstan' eithah with de cotton, whichevah one yo' use, an' stop it up in dis bottle, an' puts it in de closet dere. An' within nine days, eithah he or she vill return.
Entry 12531
Well, yo' kin use red onions for a whole lotta diff'rent things. (Well, what do you use a red onion for in connection with [good] luck or bad luck?) Yo' use red onions fo' luck. Well, jes' say now, yo's goin' to a skin game tonight, well yo' take yo' two solid [= fresh] red onions an' cut 'em up an' put 'em in a spider [a skil- let with legs] put a lit- tle sugah to 'em an' yo' boil 'em till dey come to a sugah. An' when it come to a sugah yo' po' it out into a bottle. An' go in dere [to a game] tonight an' yo' take yo' one or two drinks, an' yo' carry yore [liquor] bottle wit chew - jes' as lucky as it kin be. See, 'cause dey kin smell dat onions on yore breath, yo' know, an' people - a whole lotta folks don't like de smell of onions an' dat jes' draws de 'tenshun from de cards to yore onions. Yo' win up every dime in dere. [Informant does not understand why a red onion is lucky in a card game. The onion does not draw de 'tenshun from de cards to yore onions; the onion pro- tects you against the other man's hand or luck piece, or prevents you yourself from being hoodooed in the game. Nevertheless, if informant, a small-time root Worker believes in his own interpretation, the rite is valid from him.]
Entry 12562
(Well, nog, suppose I'm bootlegging amd I want to keep the lay aoay from the place, what would I do to keep the lay away from the place?) Well, you use this here sugar. You get this sugar, you get some of this saltpeter, and every time that you think of the law or anything, at night, you do it yourself or the one that be's in [the shop] there. You fix it up in a bottle with any kind of green leaf - you know, any kind of green leaf - but leave it be different leafs: might be willow leaf or Palm Of Christian or any kind of leaf. Just a differ- ent leaf. You take it in a bottle with this sinimond [cinnamon], sugar...
[I interrupt. Palm of Christian had to be explained!]
(Now, wait a minute! Where does this Palm of Christian grow?)
That Palm of Christian? Well, just put it in there like that, but stop... (Where does that grow? Here in Louisiana? Does it grow here?) [In New Orleans?] Yes, sir, it grows here - find it everywhere - in the country - they got some right uptown there. (It grows out in the woods - you mean that little palm - that little short palm?) It grows up about that high but with wide leaves.
(Oh! I see.)
[I did not know what it was at the time but I soon found out!] Well, you could take some of them leaves and sprinkle like that - get different leaves, just so its green. And you put it in a bottle and you take - put that sugar and cinament in the bottle like that. Every morning - that's when you thinking that the law's is [= 's & is here] coming and interfere with you, you see - coming and made a raid on your place. Every night and every morning, through the day, re- gardless of how many people are in there [your illegal liquor joint] don't say anything to nobody. Jest take your bottle [of green leaves] like you cleaning up and walk at the end of your property and jest like you'd take the broom and you shaking that bottle, you know, jest like sprinkling to keep the dust down - on back in [into] your place. Any time the law coming there, when he get to your property, he - he jest as pleased as ever. He'll come in there - probably be like this - he'll drink. He'll ask you to give him a [free] drink, a [free] cigar or somepin of the kind like that. And he'll tell you, remember that [a boss] be's over him. He'll tell, too, he'll say, "Well, you be particular, you can git what you want. I was just passing by this way. Well, you jest keep that sugar and ciniment right at your steps, wherever you comes down. And re- gardless of who comes there, he'll never do you no harm. And in prohibition time, well, the time the town went dry, I sold liquor here - I hit on [which he does, you can hear him]. Never had been caught yet. Never have been scared about no law - no prohibition or nothing of the kind... never have. [See margin title PALMA CHRISTI, No.2199, P.626, v.1, and my long comment there.]
Entry 12623
A man said if: I could take a needle and 3 grains of pepper, red pepper, de seed of it, and some water and put in it, and salt, and then a few grains of black pepper. And take that needle and stick it down in that bottle. And when you get ready to go out, you go and take that bottle up and jis' shake [a magic act] it up and say, "Good luck and good prospire" [prosperity]. And go out. And he said, "You get a job." The man that told me that...and I declare I went and did it, I fixed it up, and I declare I git the job, the one I got now. And I've been with it over a year.
Entry 12655
Yo' git chew dis peppah, peppah sauce, an' yo' git a tea- spoon an' yo' put nine drops of dat peppah sauce in dat teaspoon an' stop it up in a bottle. Go undah de house an' bury it upside down. Dat'll move 'em - move anything yo' please, anyone yo' wanta do.
Entry 12704
Ah told him take quicksilvah, lak mah name would be Goldie[!l. Well, ah tolt him take dat an' put it in a lil' bottle of watah lak dat an' set it up an' have all kinds of luck in yore home. (What kind of luck?) Luck fo' anything. Jes' lak if yo' move in a place an' peoples don' want chew dere an' yo' Want de place an' want tuh stay dere, yo' put it in dere an' nobody kin move yo'. [Quicksilver can be mercury but usually it is scrapings from back of mirror or tinfoil from around tobacco.]
Entry 12723
Then yo' take - now if yo' a gamblin' man, yo' kin take a rabbit an' ketch him. Take his left front feet an' cut it off right in de knee joint dere, an' git chew a bottle of Hearts Cologne am' put on it. Keep it up tlll it git dry, yo' take it an' put it right in yore fob pocket up heah on yore pants, an' go to a gae an' rub it in yore han' lak dat [demonstrates]. Rub it in dere. Go in dere am' vin whut chew wanta win. Dat de way ah did.
Entry 12890
You kin take three mens.
(What?)
Mens, like you and I.
(Oh, take three men. Yes?)
Three men and in between these men you can just say that you wanta take one of them mens as a trap. You wanta take this man here and trap these two men. Well, you kin give that man there anything that you wanta eat [or drink]. Take a bottle of whiskey that's never been used and you take your hand and play with yourself until you discharge. [Human semen is common in HOODOO.] You put it in this whiskey and you stop it up and you turn that down like that and leave it for nine days.
(So that it is leaning against something?)
Yes, in the corner of the house - in the left hand corner of the house. [This is a cornering rite, very common. The left-hand corner is to the left as you enter house or room.]
(All right.)
All right, in 9 days you take this whiskey up. At 9 o'clock you meet this party and you ask him if he wants a drink. You gotta be sure that he do's drink, and you take some and give it to him. And then you leave him with the bottle. They drink it all up. Whatever they do with it, you see 'em drink some before you leave 'em. If they got one or two men, they'll finely wean away from them men and crave to you.
(You do this to a woman?)
Yes.
Entry 12891
I tell you how that is did. She takes some of his discharge, and use some kind of solution on it, and use it like dat and have you [a man] so you can't have no ambitions for her or no other woman. (What would she do with that?) Just take it and there some kind of solution that made up with some kind of root, some kind of root you go out and get. I know a old man out chere got some of it. And when she gets up she shake dat bottle.
(She puts the solution together?)
Puts the solution in with the urinate, and with this root and stop it up, and shake dat bottle every morning for nine mornings. And the tenth morning, instead of her shaking it, she throws it over her right shoulder and breaks the bottle. Then as she turns around, she turns to the right.
(She turns to the right?)
Turn to the right when she turns, and pick that up. Just pick up what's left, the roots and things of that kind, and takes 'em and wraps 'em up and places 'em away to some safe place.
(And what will that do to him?)
That will keep him from having anything to do with anybody. His use goes entirely away.
Entry 12896
Now, if you want to divorce her - if you want to break this up - if you get on to [suspect] her - you are suspicious. [If you suspect she had you tied up, has made you sexually impotent.] Jis' go on, put you on you some clean socks, walk on to a beer joint - some place. (To a beer joint?) Yeah. Get you a bottle of beer and go on walking. Walk far enough where you begin to perspire and when your feet get hot and you perspire, stop and sit down. Take the left shoe off. Pour this bottle of beer in that left shoe. Drink the beer out of the shoe instead of the bottle. Close the bottle. Stand this way [demonstrates] and turn your hands [this way] and throw it [bottle] straight out in front of you, with your wish [that your impotence leaves]. It [potency] comes back again.
(I see.)
Yes, all the affection is taken away from her. (I see. Take this beer bottle in the left hand, then, you bring it around to the back of your neck.) Yes, that's right. And take that [bottle] in your right hand and throw right directly in front of you.)
(I see. And that breaks the spell of that string around her waist.)
Sure. Yes, sir. [My preceding comment is a good example of my using in- formation informant had given before researching began. Woman had "tied him up by measuring him with a string and tying it about her waist.]
(It should do it?)
Sure. I've seen it do it.
(I see, I see.) [The wish is the power!]
Entry 13077
Jes' lak if a fellah wanta git a job, ah hear 'em, dey take an' kill a snake an' let him dry, yo' know. An' take him yo' know, jes' lak he git into ashes, yo' know an' put him inside of a bottle. An' take - jes' lak a cigaret smoke an' blow it in dat bottle an' stop it up. An' dey says dat every time yo' open dat bottle, a little sompin will come up out dat bottle lak a snake, yo' know. Say if yo' tote dat in yore pocket an' tote it in yore pocket bottom upwards, yo' know, dat chew could git a job. But ah ain't nevah tried it. Ah had a ole fellah tell me dat once but ah ain't nevah tried it.
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 13137
If you got a husband that runs around, [or] if a man got a woman that runs around, he can take her dirty stockings and wash the toe and the heel - not the whole stocking, wash the toe and wash the heel. In about, well, I'd say about two ounces of water - that's suffi- cient, two ounces of water. And take that water and pour it in a bottle and stop it up, and bury it underneath the steps and that party will stay home all the time.
Entry 13139
Yo' kin put a man tuh walkin' wit his socks, if yo' kin git dem when dere [dey + are] dirty. Take a man's stockin' when it's dirty an' wash it out, an' put dat watah in a bot- tle. An' take it an' bury it where he has tuh travel ovah, an' he'll start tuh walkin'. His feet git hot, he hot-footed den. He cain't stay nowhere.
(You bury it out in the road somewhere?)
Bury it somewhere whah he transfah at - goes on.
Entry 13301
(What would I do to keep the law out?) Well, yo' kin use Jockey Club perfume, sweet oil and [oil of cloves - see later].
(What are these things you take, now?)
Oil of cloves, Jockey Club perfume and sweet oil.
(What do you do with those?)
You just take them and just get you a bottle of Jockey Club perfume and keep your hands on it [have it handy], keep it in your pocket. See, when they [the law] gets too fast, why you dampen some on your hands [demonstrates] that oil of cloves, Jockey Club and sweet oil.
Entry 13305
I'd go to the graveyard where a sin- nerman' buried, and get me some graveyard dust and some coffee grinds and put it in a bottle with some war water. And whilst the people be asleep, I'd take the war water and sprinkle all over the front step and they couldn't be in there 12 days.
(You put all these things in that bottle, in the same bottle?)
In the same bottle.
Entry 13309
Use de thresher [thrasher] feet.
(The feet from a thrasher, the bird. What do you do with those?)
Yo' take an' put that in a bottle. Yo' bottle dat wit chure hair, an' put milk in it, an' yo' put love powders in dere, an' put sulphur in it, an' put red peppah in it, an' yo' work it up airtight, an' dat'll do de work den. Dat will run 'em away. (What do you do with that bottle?) Yo' take dat bottle an' put it in de no'th or de east corner of de garden. Yeah, dat'll make him leave, or if yo' wanta run him crazy, that will run him away.
Entry 13329
You go out here an' git this trumpet root. That's a root that grows - it don't grow now'ere roun' here. It grows in the middle of a pond. When you git to that trumpet it's like a bugle. It's about that long [4 feet], it stays green winter an' summer. You take that trumpet root an' you pour some water in it [the flower] from a pump. Nuthin mus' be but de pump. An' take that water an' boil it. Yo' see, yo' boil that trumpet root all together. Well, when yo' git that water, yo' bottle it up an' take a drink. An' take that trumpet an' cut it up, an' put it out there an' let it git dry. Either put it in de stove an' let it dry. Well, yo' powder dat up. Yo' take that then an' yo' go to captain: 'Captain, I'm out of a job an' I wan'a job." Put some that [dust] on yo' [and take a drink of trumpet-root tea before you go] an' yo' got a job.
Entry 13346
They take your water, you see, they stop it up in a little bottle. And after they stop it up, they take it and lay it up over a door where you walk under, and let chew walk under it so many morn- ings. I think it's 9 mornings. After 9 morn- ings - you see, you don't move it no more, it stay where you put it. And they say take it and carry down to the river and throw it overboard. That'll stop you from making water.
Entry 13347
Well, they can take that chamber lye, that [is] the urine, get some cinnamon and some sugar, and mix that lye [urine] up with it [3 ingredients] but you got to be sure that you didn't spit in it because the spit would cause it not to work. And put in a bottle. And they throw the bot- tle most anywhere, anywhere you couldn't find it. And after awhile that chamber lye will dry up, it will come to be just the empty bottle - it evaporates. And if you want to leave me, you couldn't do it. That's to hold a man.
Entry 13350
All right, he wanta pee. Ah let him come on it, heah's a bucket. Well, ah [woman] give him a bucket tuh pee in. Maybe ah ain't got no slop jar an' ah give him a bucket tuh pee in. Well, ah ain't goin' pee in dat dere. [This is a fre- quent statement in these rites, urine on top of another urine destroys the power of first urine. Similarly spit into urine kills latter's potency.] Ah take his watah an' po' it in a bottle an' ah keep it fo' nine mawnin's. Maybe ah'll bury it, understan'. He done comin' back. If ah love him, he comin' back.
Entry 13353
Take dere chamber lye an' let it set fo' days an' put it in a brown bottle an' bury it undah de steps, an' den dat'll run 'em away from home. Dat run de man away. (Whose chamber lye do you put in the bottle?) Yores. Mix some of yores and some of deres together - some of de woman's an' some de man's together. An den dat'll drive him 'way from home. It still make him go 'cross watah an nevah come back. [Either informant dropped something out of this rite or the desire of the magician is sufficient. There are other examples of 2 persons buried together, giving victim a sense of security.]
Entry 13448
Goin' tuh a wil- low tree - when de tree first start tuh bloomin' out - yo' dig down an' yo' git one dem roots. When yo' git de roots yo' bring de roots back. Yo' take dat root an' put it in a bottle an' put some whiskey on it, an' yo' let dat stay in dere. Well, dat will run a person outa a house.
(How do you do that?)
Yo' take yo' willow tree roots an' bring it back - bring it home - take it an' put it in a bottle, a vial where yo' kin po' whiskey on it. An' if yo' kin git any of de dirt where a person been walkin' ovah - out de yard - put it right dere in de bottle too. Shake it an' carry it right back dere an' put it under de steps or either de gate - anywhere round dere - or if yo' kin put it where dey kin git holt of it, an' dat make 'em go 'way from town.
Entry 13449
Well, now a persimmon - de persimmon ain't much good as dat. But de weepin' willow tree, it's mighty fine fo' luck. A weepin' willow tree, is mighty lucky.
(Well, how do you do that?)
Well, yo' take dat an' gits de leave of it, de roots of it, an' dry it. When yo' shake it dry, den yo' jes' put it in a bottle an' set it up on de mantel- piece. About once a month yo' take a taste of it. An' ah declare hit'll bring luck in yore home fo' hit shore brought it in mine. [Since the weeping willow is a tree of ill-omen and generally considered unlucky, our present rite is unusual, one of defiance of fate, or one based upon contraries, or the well- known poison kills poison doctrine.]
Entry 13456
I'll go get me a pint of this here sour wine, the Italian wine. You go there to the gate and break it right at their gate. They come out there and fuss. Nobody kin go in there without there be a fuss, fuss. What I'd do... [turn off machine too quickly and must repeat.]
(Nobody can rent that house?)
Nobody rent it.
(Because there'd be a fuss in there.)
Be a fuss all the time.
(Do you sprinkle this bottle of sour kind of wine?)
No, just break it, don't sprinkle it. Just throw this bottle on the floor, say a bad word: "God damn, you go." So there'll be a fuss all the whole time. [Not on their floor but at their gate as at the beginning of rite.]
Entry 9641
It was once a rootworker told me to take some urinate some cayenne pepper and salt - half full from the urinate to de top of the bottle and the other [half fill] with sugar. An' take you a piece of cotton and stick down in there, and stick two needles in there, and keep that. That's luck to you.
Entry 9730
Lak somebody have did somepin tuh someone an' dey wanted tuh change it onto dem - turn it back ontuh dem. Dey kin take three nails, rusty nail, an' put in dat bottle a chamber lye. An' let it set dere fo' nine mawnin's an' den take an' throw it intuh runnin' watah.
(This will turn the spell back on the person that put it on them?)
Yes sir.
(Whose chamber lye do you use?)
Yo' kin use yore chamber lye. See, if yo' wanted tuh take it off yoreself, use yores.
(That is if you tricked me, I would use my own chamber lye?)
Yes sir. [Informant would not throw his own stopped-up urine into running water, he throws emptied bottle.]
Entry 9808
Yo' take seven needles an' yo' take seven straight pins an' yo' take three nails. An' yo' kin take a quart of watah an' de stoppah tuh shet [shut] de quart bottle. An' y'o kin put dem dere seven needles an' dem dere straight pins an' dem three nails in dat quart of watah. An' yo' put dat stoppah in dere. Stop it up, but don' try tuh stop it tight. An' yo' place it at sun risin' undah yore baid. An' if yo' wanta kill a puh- son - lak yo' wanta kill 'im- yo' kin hit dat stoppah wit a hammah. But yo' don' want no iron hammah, yo' wants a kinda wooden hammah, yo' undahstand. [Wooden hammer is rare in HOODOO.] An' yo' hit dat a certain many times evah mawnin' tuh kill a puhson, an' yo' hit it one time aftah it's gone down, dat sun, jes' tuh lingah dat person - jes' tuh put 'im sick, where he be Bo mo good, jes' lingahin'. An' when dem needles rust out, he rust out. It won't kill 'im right away. Take dem nails an' needles in dat quart bottle, an' yo' kin hit dat stoppah three times where de sun rise an' in seventeen days he'll be daid.... [Here I turned off machine too quickly and had to reopen conversation with a qoestion.1
(Where do you put this bottle then? Do you put it under the victim's bed?)
No sir, yo' put it undah yore baid, an' when yo' hit dat, take it out evah sasnin'-time yo' git up, an' hit dat stoppah an' jes' call [the name of] which ane yo' wanta do [kill]. If yo' want 'im tuh lingah, yo' kin hit dat stoppah ane time, as de sun goin' down, de sun settin' in de weat; an' if yo' wanta Hul 'im, yo' kin hit it early in de mawnin' three times.
Entry 9833
Dey git nine needles an' tie 'em tuhgethah an' dey'll put 'em in a bottle, but wit de point of 'em down lak dis - de haid part up. [Normally points should be up, see No., etc.] Jis' tie 'em tuhgethah. An bury it undah de steps, an' dey say dat'll put a puhson [walk- ing over them] in pain.
Entry 9847
[This rite I preserved only in my own original notations made soon after the interview.1 Her sister, they found her hair and nine needles and nine pins in a cologne bottle - salt in the hair - buried under the house beneath the head of the bed. She broke out in sores and pains. A root doctor called in and told them the woman had been tricked. To prove his diagnosis he crawled under the house and came out with the bottle. He showed the bottle but would not let anyone touch it, especially the patient, who would have died!]
Entry 9863
Ah'd get me a frog an' ah'd squeeze the left eye, squeeze de milk out of it...ah'd put it in a bottle an' put it right by my steps an' de law can't come in my house. [This blinding of frog blinds the law!]
Entry 9866
Lak ah was mad wit chew an' we lived purty neah where we could git tuh each othah. Ah'd take a toadfrog an' git me a quart bottle an' wash it out good an' clean. An' he may be large but he'll go in; jes' mash [squeeze] 'im an' he'll go right on in alive. Take an' tie a string or wire aroun' de neck de bot- tle, an' climb up in a tree close tuh yuh place - 'long as it's about yuh place - an' hang it dere. Let it hang right dere until dat frog dies. Den take dat bottle down. Take dat bottle down an' take de frog out, an' bury de frog an' put de bottle back up dere. An' if yo' won't leave, yo'll nevah be able tuh work roun' dere; yo' jes' be dere, dat's all.
(Where do you put that bottle?)
Put it right back up, up in de tree.
(What do you do with the frog?)
Burry him.
(Where?)
Right down dere at de root of dat tree, burry de frog. An' if yo' stay dere yo'll nevah be able tuh do nuthin an' yo' more den able...
(Where would you do all this, at your own home?)
At de home - lak ah was mad wit chew, ah would do dis at chure home.
Entry 9968
Heard dat yo' could git a toadfrog an' stop 'im up till he's dry an' mash 'im up; yo' mov, parch 'im an' git de dust an' carry it in a bottle. Yo' know, jes' put it in a bottle an' stop it up an' tote it in yore pocket. Well, ah've heard dat but nevah have tried dat. (Do you use it in any way at all on you? This is for gambling, this toad dust. Do you sprinkle that on yourself too?) No, sir, jis' carry it [bottle] in yore pocket.
Entry 4008
Dat's de same thing [as excrement], stop it up in a bottle.
(This chamber lye?)
Yessuh. Dey take dat an' stop it airtight in a bottle an' dat'll stop yo' from urinatin'. - it'll lock yore bowels on yo'.
Entry 898
And the bottle [that the root doctor found buried under informant's house], that he got to turn upside down. He said he had to turn it upside down - it more or less kill you, if he don't do nothin' fer it. So he had de bottle turn upside down.
The account says a bottle was turned upside down; the claimed danger and editorial discovery details remain separate.
Entry 2714
Yo' ain't gotta take nuthin but dis Van-van. Yo' git it at de drug sto'. Take van-van. You git about dat much fo' a dime, ah think it is. Yo' take about dat much an' mix it up in a quart of watah aftah yo' sweep, scrub. Sweep up [first]. Yo' sprinkle dat aroun' in dere [after you scrub]. Take de bottle an' sprinkle all around in dere, an' de customers comin'.
The informant names a bottle in the sprinkling instruction. Product details and the claimed customers remain source descriptions, without a bottle subtype or verified result.
Entry 11542
"The left foot track in the sand, get that track and put it in a bottle and stop it up, and throw it into running water, and it'll run 'em per- fect crazy." [Wilmington 212:1+85.]
The bottle is explicit in the quoted instruction; the claimed 'crazy' result is source wording, not a clinical finding or verified effect.
Entry 10416
Story how to catch a hag with needles in bottle. Check later and copy if wanted. Hag turns to jelly-water.
[Rite following gives number.]
The collector's work-note names needles in a bottle and says to check and copy the story later if wanted. It does not supply the full story or establish the reported capture or transformation.
Entry 11085
Stop up man's shirt tail in bottle, put over door, beeps Ble.
[Wilmington 135:2.]
The brief account names a bottle holding a shirt tail over a door. The final wording remains unresolved, and no performed act or effect is established.
Entry 11412
Footskin in cologne bottled and worn for love. [Wilmington 238:2+85.]
The brief account describes footskin in cologne as bottled and worn for love. It establishes neither a particular bottle nor performed preparation, wearing or a relationship effect.
Entry 11428
If you fasten person's fingernails and toenails in a bottle, that makes this man think of you and keeps him coming to your house. [Washington, D. C., 805:11.]
The conditional account names a bottle for the nails and alleges thoughts and visits. Neither a performed act nor those effects are established.
Entry 11441
Put fingernails and toenails in bottle with 9 needles and 9 pins and bury. "You will dry up and vanish away." [Washington, D. C., 827:6.]
A bottle is named for holding nails, needles and pins in a burial instruction. The separately quoted harmful outcome is unverified.
Source passage
continuous interview · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
An' I goes in the swamps an' I gits mah 'erbs. I know w'a' to go in
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[for]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
. I goes in ole fiel's
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[fields]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
an' git mah 'erbs.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(I see.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
I know w'a' to go an' git.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[Here he showed his shield - nine articles wrapped up in a very dirty hand- kerchief.]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Oh yes. Uhuh. You keep those wrapped up in a handkerchief.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
I keeps these with me.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Uhuh.)
informant · Current interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
The're suppose to be in a bottle. I dropped mah bottle an' broke it. Those
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[are]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
diff'rent kind of 'erbs.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[Bottle instead of bag shows that the contents of this hand were constantly kept moist, that is fed in a liquid (p.578) - here, a perfume.]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(What's the round thing?)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
This here?
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Yes.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
That's a Jeruzlum bean.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Jerusalem bean.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
Yes sir.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Uhuh.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
That's for luck in gamblin'.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(I see.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
This is a devil-shoestring.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Devil's-shoestring.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
That's a piece of High John the Conker.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(High John the Conquer.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
That's a piece of bloodroot.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Bloodroot.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
Yes sir. This here's a Samson
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[or Sarpson - sometimes called Sampson snakeroot]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Samson.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
Samson This here's the bub
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[bulb]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
off of w'a' choo call the live-an'-everlastin'.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Life-everlasting.)
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[His live pronounced Zyve.]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
Yes sir. Now, this here right here. See w'a' this is right here? You see that little small piece?
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Uhuh.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
Why that's a little piece of w'a's
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[what is]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
called devil's-bit.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Devil's what?)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
Devil's-bit.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Bit?)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
Devil's-bit. That's a root. I've got over nine diff'ren'
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[different]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
'erbs in here.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
(Uhuh.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
Now, I'll git nine differn' 'erbs that I have. You see I cares
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[carries]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
this daily.
editorial recording or production note; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 934
[Side one will continue later.]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
You kin smell the perfume on 'em. I cares this daily - cares it on me. That is I had it jes' because I was comin' up here
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
[to see you]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
because there's mah fish an' mah reels an' ev'rything right there. I've got about sixteen pounds of fish hangin' on the porch out there neigh mah fishin' tackle. Tha's the reason why I'm not - didn't make no change
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
[of clothing]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
.
locally coherent subpassage
Recording-side notes do not close the semantic unit. Botanical glosses remain editorial; informal pronunciation is not taxonomic identity.
bounded_demonstration_account_with_recording_continuation_marker
Nine versus over nine is retained; the passage is not an exhaustive inventory.
The bottle/liquid-feeding explanation is editorial interpretation, not the informant explaining why it is fed.
Printed names supplied or repeated by the interviewer remain interviewer speech.
The Side one continuation marker does not authorize reconstructing any absent recording.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 2, page image · Vol. 2, page image · Vol. 2, p. 933 · Vol. 2, p. 934 · Vol. 2, p. 935 · Vol. 2, p. 936