Subject:Bucket
Entries
Entry 4034
Jes' lak two person togethah use a slop pail. Well, if I wanta hurt a person in dey chamber lye, I wouldn't urinate dat night in dat slop pail. Well, I let chew urinate in dere. I'd take dat pail [oldtime pail with lid] an' stop it up tight. Den take dat pail from de room dat mawnin' when yuh goin' to work an' care [carry] it - an' take anothah bucket, small tin bucket [with lid], an' take dat [and fill] wit [your] urinated water an' stop it up maybe two weeks. An' aftah yuh stoppin' dat watah up fer - aftah two weeks it become jes' lak a drawin' wine. An' it go - jes' agitate. If it warm weathah, it agitate quickah den dat. But if it's cool weathah, it take a long time tuh draw. An' aftah bein' drawin', dat jes' lak drawin' a man dat - when yuh go tuh git yuh blood draw from de hos- pital or git shots, dat's tuh draw an' keep adrawin' an' adrawin' until it weakens a person body. Den aftah weaken' de body, if dey don't - if dis person continue tuh leave it jes' lak 'tis, dey would become jes' lak a person got consumption - complexion would change. If dis man wuz a dark-complected person, it would be lightah. Den people would claim dat dat fellah got T. B., an' [or] dey'd say he got chronical disease, but dat's dat stuff adrawin' an' adrawin'. Aftah while it will weaken dis person. Den maybe dat person [will say], "Well, ah think ah go tuh a doctor [M.D.] tuh see what de mattah wit me. Look lak ah'm gittin' sick an' ah cain't he'p mahself." Ah may go tuh a doctor. A or'n'ry [ordinary] doctor [M.D.] will give him medicine an' treat 'im but it wouldn't do him any good. See, dat stuff will be drawin' 'im an' drawin' '. An' aftah while he will die.
Entry 5457
Ah heard a lady dat ah knew, she wanted tuh do a person a very bad trick. She taken a bran'-new bucket, a tin bucket dat nevah been used. Put dat bucket dere an' put some graveyard dirt in it. An' put dat lady's name in whut she jis' didn't care much fo' in dere. An' walked tuh a place an' took 'er left foot, mashed it in de ground, so she could git de print of 'er foot. An' put dat in dat new bucket, an' bought a bran'-new looking glass - bran'-new ten-cent glass an' put dat in de bucket. An' den she buried dat. Dat's tuh turn them down against de world. She buried dat glass an' de left print of foot, an' de graveyard dirt, an' put it in dis new bucket an' buried it. She wuz buryin' 'er down. (She put this graveyard dirt in the bucket and then she puts this woman's name in the bucket.) De name on a papah. (Then suppose I'm doing this to you. Then I make my own footprint, put my own footprint on top.) Ah'm de one supposed tuh be puttin' mah prints on top of yo'. (You are putting your prints on me to keep me down. I understand.) [An old note of mine read, "Woman talks so fast."]
Entry 5677
If anyone come in de house an' yo' didn't wan' dem enemies to come dere any mo', as soon as yo' step out on de outside, yo'll git a pail of watah an' throw de watah down behind 'em an' sweep it ot [out]. An' dat's de sign da' chew [that you] won't come back dere any mo'. Throw it on de flo' an' sweep dere tracks off. Yo' do dat on de sly.
Entry 6786
Yo' scrub yuh steps wherevah yo' may be, yo' know, down wit de nine buckets of hydrant watah; [I mean] eight buckets down, yo' know, an' de las' bucket throw it up. An' smoke yo'self in dragon's blood an' wash yo'self down wit linseed oil. (What will that do?) Dat'll keep 'em from harmin' yah. An' keep yuh salt throwed aroun' yah steps, wit chamber lye - yah know, yahurine. [There are many scrubbing rites in Hoodoo, most of them from New Orleans, some of them complicated. For a few of these beliefs see margin titles WATER and WATER THROWN (pp.740-743) and SCRUBBING in INDEX (vol.5). The present 9 buckets of hy- drant water - considered running water and therefore of magic power - are for rinsing what has been scrubbed. Eight buckets are dashed down; the ninth bucket is tossed up into the air, either all at one time or a particular number of times.]
(You do all these things together?)
Yo' mix dat [salt and urine] but yo' smoke yuhself in a new can by itself wit dragon's blood; or insant [incense], dat's good. [This is a protection rite against hoodoo of any kind.]
Entry 7677
If anyone disliked yuh an' wan' choo tuh move - lak yuh a nex'-do' neighbah - dey go tuh de cemetery an' git graveyard dirt tuh make yuh move. Dey say dey go in dere at twelve a'clock at night an' run dere han's jis' as fer as de joint of dere elbow right down in de earth, an' git chew three han'fulla dat fresh graveyard dirt outa dere an' put it in a bucket. An' bury three pennies in dat dirt when yuh take out de las' han'ful out. Yuh put three pennies in de grave. Dey say dat's payin' fer it. An' den yuh bring it back an' sprinkle it aroun' de person do'. An' dat will make him leave.
Entry 8966
Take that beef tongue an' at de big part of it, just split, just dig a hole in it - don't split it open. They cuts dat tongue, dey cuts a hole in it as far as dey want it to extend. Dey write your name. Just like yo' got a case in court, ah'll give it to yo' dat way. When yo' got a case in court, dey got people to witness fo' yo'; an' if ah can git de names of de people goin' be yore witness, ah'll git de names of dese people goin' be yore witness against me. An' when ah cut dat hole in dat beef tongue, ah'll write all de names nine times. An' ah'll take dose names an' shove dem up in dat tongue an' put dat tongue in a bucket or anythin' dat is small, an' pack it wit ice, like tonight, an' it'll be froze by tomorrow. An' when yo' witnesses come, dey can't even talk. They won't know what to say.
Entry 10819
Yo' use black peppah when dey comin' to yore house, an' as dey go out use black peppah an' salt an' yo' throw it behin' 'em. An' den yo' git a broom an' yo' sweep out de do' dey goes, an' git a clear bucket of watah [bucket of clear not scrubbing water] an' throw it behin' 'em. Throw de watah right out in de street right aftah dey go out de do'; throw a clear bucket of watah right behin' 'em.
(What will that do then?)
Dat will keep 'em away. Dat drives 'em away from yore house.
Entry 10887
Take de hair out of a dog hair an' de hair out of a cat tail, or eit- her git it out of one of 'em's tail an' de other out one of dere haid - either one of dem animals. Yo' kin git dat an' put it together, an' when yo' put it together, yo' put it an' makes a ball of it. But den yo' wanta put it - yo' jes' have de least little bit of peppah in it, any kinda peppah, an' yo' make dat ball with a string to it. Put de string lak dat, but yo' take de biggest part of it now - chew git dat cat hair an' dat dog hair an' yo' put it in a piece of cloth an' den yo' git three pods of rat manure, an' yo' put dem in an' sew it up together. Yo' make dat ball together an' yo' kin come roun' - if it mah pump or mah bucket or any- thing, an' den yo' dump it in dere three times. An' den yo' throw it away. Dat'll broke us up fo' life, won't.enjoy life no mo'. Ah see dat done.
(You are supposed to go out and'drink that water?)
It jes' make us fall out fo'evah.
(If you drink the water?)
Entry 13289
A root doctor told me that. He said you git choo a bucket of watah a'a broom, an' as they goes on out de doah, he says - like aftah dey gone out, h say - he jis' go back from w'ere they's settin' at, an' gits his broom an' dip it in that bucket nine time an' jis' sweep with it. An', every time yo's make [each of] dem nine [dips], sweep it [from the visitor's chair] right on out [of the house] and make you a wish: "I hope yo'll go an' nevah come no more." He said they'll nevah come back to your house no more [mō']. [That allitera- tion go and mo occurs several times in HOODOO, it appearing to be an uncon- scious folk expression.]
Entry 13419
If yo' wanta make me move. All right. Well you get some war water. All right. You take that and you put that in some water - half a bucket of water - not too much. Well, you don't have to put it in the house nowheres, but put it around on the steps.
Entry 4
There was an old woman who went for a cunjure. She lived in King George and she must have been a good cunjure because she made her living in that way, putting on spells and taking them off. A neighbor lived not far from her house Was hunting squirrels in the squirrel season and he passed near her home in the Woods, and he saw she had a snake tied by the tail hanging up the tree, and she had cut its throat and catching the blood in a small bucket. She wasn't: there. And he said to himself, "Damn you! I always heard you was a cunjure and now I know it." That was about forty years ago. She was a real cunjure. Everybody. Was afraid of that woman, both white and colored. If she came to your house and asked you for anything, it paid you to give it to her. She said, "You're going to lose ten times more than that." [This is called "putting a bad mouth on you."] She went to a neighbor one day and asked for a watermelon and he did not believe in cunjuring. So he didn't give her the watermelon and lost his horse that night. And then on he took off his hat to this woman. I knew both of them.
[Fredericksburg, Va., (71), Ed.; King George Co., Va.,1896.]
Entry 1003
Yo' let 'em bowels move an' put it in a bucket or can an' go to de rivah an' throw it in de rivah. Go dere fo' nine mawnin's.
(What will that do then?)
Git chew straight so yo' kin git out an' git tuh walkin' an' do an' talk to yo'self. (If a person is hoodooed and you want to cure him, you take his stool and put it in a can in the water?) In de watah. Throw it in de rivah. Co'se he kin walk ovah dere an' jes' throw it in de rivah.
(But he must do that for nine mornings.)
Nine mawnin's, throw it in dere.
(Do you throw it in there any special way?)
No way - jes' throw it in dere an' walk right off - away, ain't gotta stay round dere.
Entry 2498
Yo' kin keep de law away from de house. Go to a colored cemetery an' git chew - go where yo' know dere's three people dat chew know, dat yo' wus dere when dey buried 'em. Take yo' fifteen cents an' yo' pay each one of 'em nickel a piece, yo' see, fo' each person. But let dis be newly buried - jis' yesterday or de day befo'. An' git chew ten pounds of dat dirt an' put it in yore bucket an' set it where yo' sweep yo'self. Dey won't even come near yore steps. Dose are spirits dat keep 'em back. Dat dead folks dirt whut wus buried, dey cain't come ovah it.
Entry 2733
If you own a house and you wanta get a renter for that house, you take you some, what they call yellow wash, sugar, and your urine [three ingredients], and you put that in a bucket and you scrub that house all over. Start from the front steps, scrub up, and scrub it plumb to the back, and leave that house open and just make a prayer. When you make that prayer, in less time than two or three days you will have that house rented.
Entry 13371
Well, befo' sunrise in de morning - dat's another luck proposition, befo' sunrise - if yo' gotta a, yourself or jes' yore wife or family, if yo' got a slop bucket dat dey use, yo' take dat slop bucket. No! Yo' do dat jes' as de sun rise. Yo' take dat slop bucket an' go an' throw on de ground whichever Way de sun rise. Well dat will be yore lucky day. Yo' can't help but have luck dat day. Yo' do dat fo' luck.
Entry 13377
Joo jis' take yah ole bucket an' urinate in it, choo know, ev'ry mawnin' dat choo git up. Don't waste none of it. An' then mix yore lye or whatevah yo' scrub with, an' scrub yuh house wit it, an' that brings luck in your home. [Wilmington 189:9+85.]
Entry 9895
There is something else that ah didn't tell you, they has a peculiar influence on people, an' that is the frog. Did chew evah hear that? You get a toad. You know what a toad is? [I probably nod my head yes.] You take him and you go to - you seen these large ants. You take him while he's alive an' carry him to a bed of these creatures, you know, an' put an ole bucket over him so he can't get out. And they'll jes' eat him completely up, and den they will leave the bones there. It's a bone that come out of his back; it looks like a shoe- buttoner, has a little hook-like in it. You take this and get a piece of this person's clothing. Say, for instance, if you could steal a pair of a lady's stepins or jes' anything that chew have of theirs - that chew can get of theirs, small that chew can wrap up. You wrap that up into a package of some kind like it was something very precious. And as long as that bone remain there, this person will remain very near to you. Now, that is something that has been tried by millions, an' also by myself - something to be substantiated.
Entry 1642
[This rite and the following one are examples of the well-known scrubs of New Orleans, which offer protection against anything, even the law. More of them will be found under subsection Business and Customers.]
(You say you get up early in the morning. What time is that?)
Roun' six o'clock or five o'clock in the morning.
(Yes, and you do what?)
You get up and you take you a bucket - you understand, your wash-scrub bucket and you put you some urinate in it and put some of that incense in there. Take you some lye and pour down in there, and you come there and you scrub it - don't put no clear water at all in it. Just mix all that up together and scrub your porch, just back and forth you know, but be always scrubbin' yourself inside always. Don't never scrub yourself out. Just like you'd have to scrub, you know, just scrub this way - scrub yourself right on back in your door. Like there's a step there, you are going to scrub from your step up - bring yourself inside all the time.
(What do you do that scrubbing for?)
Well, you see, that's to keep them from putting anything - from planting anything around your home to harm you. They can't do anything.
Entry 2510
(What about that holy water in scrubbing, now?)
The holy water you can put it in the water and scrub. See. And that opens the way in your house and makes luck in your house. You takes the holy water and you takes some sugar - nine lumps of sugar, and you takes essence of verbena or fast luck and you put that, mix that up in the water. Then, you put it in a tub and you get you nine buckets and then you scrub from your front to the back in that same water. Then you dip some in the bucket - you take it out of the bucket and you pour it in the tub and then stir it round, then clean from the front to the back with it. That opens the way for you and makes luck and success in your house.
Entry 2697
Ah worked once in a woman's sportin' house in South Ca'lina in Sumter, South Ca'lina, de name of Annie H. In her house wus where ah worked, an' she said tuh me, she said, "Ah like yo' heah." She wus de houselady. Ah says, "Yes mam." She says, "An' aftah ah like yo', ah'm trustin' mahself. Luck been bad an' ah reckon dat ah'll let chew make me some." Ah didn't know whut tuh say, yes or no, cus ah didn't understand whut she meant. She first went in de house an' she brought out a - yo' know dis Red Devil Lye, she brought out a box of dat. Ah didn't ask her no questions. Yo' know asafetidy. A package of asafetidy is about de size of dat, an' it's a nickel. She took dat an' she chipped it up right fine. She took jes' about dat much watah an' she put it in a little bit of a pot an' she took about a tablespoonful of Red Devil Lye an' she took three bottles of Hearts Own Cologne an' she come tuh me an' she said, "Mamie?" "Yes mam." She said, "Yo' gotta go an' git us some dirt out de grave." Yo' know ah wus scared. Ah thought ah had done something. Ah didn't know whut in de worl' wus de mattah, whut ah done. An' she 'solve [dissolved] dis an' melt, an' aftah she melt it she made a lather out it. An' den when she made dat lather she po'ed it into a bucket - one of dese buckets whut chew might call a watah bucket. It's de size of a watah bucket but it nearly - dat wus de size of a watah bucket but - yet an' still aftah she made it up she po'ed dem in it - but dey had dat ring on de side an' a lock. Well, at dat time ah could use both mah han's. Now ah has three stiff fingahs - dey call it stiff-j'int rheumatism. An' ah said, "Miss Annie, whut mus' ah do?" She says, "Well, by God," she says, "scrub." Ah says, "Yes'm, ah don't min' scrubbin'." An' ah didn't bring no insult [retaliate] ~ no hard feelin's. Ah wanted tuh be nice endurin' dat house. She says, "All right, Mamie?" Says, "Yes mam." She said, "Did you know it's fo' a'clock now?" Ah said, "No'm, ah didn't. But it's all right. If it's all right wit chew, it's all right wit me." An' she said, "When de sun rises ah want dem beddin' rooms in de clear, so de company will be jes' de same as any day - if we havin' any company." Ah went roun' tuh every bedroom an' emptied every one of de chambers dat had de watah in it or anythin' - not de othah but jes' dat, an' ah scrubbed wit dat.
(What did you do with that water from the chambers?)
In that lye watah.
(Put it in that tub?)
Yes. An' ah scrubbed wit it an' brothah, ah wouldn't tell yo' one lie. Ah didn't git bit further den de front po ch, an' the hall clean up, an' ah started in anothah lady's room round de walls - jes' tuh wipe roun' dem. Ah couldn't do it. She says, "Mamie, yo'll have tuh set away dat till she git ovah." Ah says, "All right."
(Why couldn't you do it?)
Cause de room wus so fulla mens wantin' tuh go tuh bed wit dem wimmins till ah couldn't have chance tuh do dat. An' it jes' smelt so good an' wonderful, ah says tuh mahself, "If dis de way dey does, ah'm goin' tell ever'body." An' ah declare to goodness when time fo' me tuh go home, ah didn't think no mo' 'bout it. Now, ah 'sure yo', ah didn't know why ah wanted to. Dat wus mah aim to tell mah folks at home 'bout it an' some othah people ah know, but ah nevah thought a word about it. Ah told nobody. Ah don't think ah told nobody till ah'm tellin' yo' now. An' it had done left me. Ah nevah even thought about it no mo'. It jes' - she had up befo' sunrise. She had me clean all de rooms out befo' sunrise an' 'fore fo' a'clock struck. She said fo' me tuh be through an' be down to de kitchen tuh ketch all dese people goin' out. But ah didn't git no further den de second woman's bedroom. Some of de ladies in dere had friends with 'em by den. Dey called 'em de Catbone Wishers, an' ah waited on de three of dem ladies privately. An' so ah really know dat.
(These were white women, weren't they?)
Ever'one of 'em.
(And the madam was white?)
Ever'one of 'em. Ever'one of 'em in dat home an' all. Dere weren't nobody dere colored but me an' de cook. [I am unable to explain either bucket ring and lock or Catbone Wishers. Since I do not ask a question about the latter, I must have assumed the women each had or shared a black-cat lucky bone. Whether catbone wisher was then or now pro- fessional argot for anything else, I do not know.]
Entry 2702
In de mawnin' when yo' wake up lak dat - if yo' livin' a hustlin' Zife, git up early of a mawnin' an' take yore urinate an' don't let nobody else urinate in dat bucket an' scrub de po'ch with it. An' den on Fridays, well yo' kin git dis same stuff whut ah wus tellin' yo' 'bout - dis oil of bergamine [bergamot] an' put 'bout two or three drops of it in a bucket of hot watah an' mop de house on Friday with it, an' dat draws luck fo' bootleggin' and hustlin', too, but yo' mustn't speak to nobody until twelve a'clock. Don't have nuthin tuh say to no- body when yo' git up an' mop yore house. An' on Monday mawnin's don't let women folks come in yore house because it's bad luck to yo.
Entry 2723
Well, you have to take and - just like you scrub, you have to keep scrubbed up all the time. Then you take and write his name. You got to get the officer's on the beat, see, and write his name nine times. Put it into a bucket of water. You gotta throw - you throw eight buckets of water and scrub with that cinnamon and stuff, and then after that last bucket of water you have with his name, and talking to five people, and throw it in front of the door and that washes him away. (I see. Well, now, what do you put in those nine buckets of water? What solution do you put in that water, now?) The same things - cinnamon, steel dust, van-van, fast luck and white rum.
(White what?)
White rum.
(Is it liquor? The liquor rum?)
Well, it's rum. You can get that from the drug store. It's the white rum. I always bought it at the drug store.
(Is it [something]?)
It's licris [liquid]. Use that for drawing - it's for drawing [customers?].
(White rum?)
White rum.
(How do you spell that?)
R-O-N-E.
(It's made from sugar? Is that the liquor that's made from sugar cane?)
I don't know.
[He means white rum. White rum is used in candle rites later.]
(Eight buckets with this mixture - this water - and then you tear this offi- cer's name out and put it into?) Into that last bucket.
(Into the last bucket.)
[Talking to five people? After the eighth bucket, operator had to speak - good morning or something - to five persons passing by or within speaking dis- tance. If five were unavailable within reasonable time, an experienced operator would name five persons and pretend-talk to them. You tear this officer's name out? This can only mean the informant - either in a previous rite or while machine was turned off - pretended to write a name in an imaginary paper tablet and to tear out the sheet. Did my small Numbers Book with spiral binding in front of me suggest the idea?]
Entry 3316
Yo' kin take a man's pitchure, his photo, an' yo' put it in de bottom of de slop bucket, an' yo' let 'em wet on it an' yo' wet on it. Dey say dat will [tie 'em up].
(Tie them up?)
Yeah, tie dem up. (You mean - suppose a woman will take a man's photo or picture and she'll put it in the bottom of the slop bucket?) Yeah, turn it bottomside upwards.
(And she'll let him wet on it, and then she will wet on it?)
Den she wet on it. (And that will tie whom up? This man and this other woman? Or this man and the woman who does it?) Yeah - no, dis man an' de othah woman. Not 'er [the woman who does it]. De Dan an' de othah woman. (If she wants to catch him and some other woman. A wife would do that. So he goes to some other woman and she catches him.) Yeah, so she ketch 'im ovah dere.
Entry 704
I'll tell you about my own mother. My mother drank some water after a person had been at her home. Thirty minutes after this person had gone she was taken very ill. And her sister from the South was visiting her. The first thing she did was to put silver in hot water and give it to my mother to drink. Then she asked for a gourd what grow on a vine, and she opened this gourd and took the insides of the gourd out, and make tea and give it to my mother. As soon as she gave it to her she just vomit. In this, she vomit up, was live worms this man put in the water. People in the country have water buckets outside of the house with a top on. He goes out of the house and puts these worms in the bucket - he dried the worms and powdered them - and my mother came right on behind him and took a drink of water. The same man killed his mother-in-law. He didn't like her. He goes to the spring and brings a bucket of water back and asked her would she have a cool drink, something he had never done before. And she took a drink and was taken ill. All worked on her and nobody could do her any good. Just before she died she said to her daughter, "I've never swallowed what that man gave me." It was in her so she never could get it down.
Entry 1294
Ah heard 'em talk 'bout rattlesnake. De rattles of a rattlesnake, yo' take dem an' dry 'em an' if yo' want tuh put snakes in a person, why yo' jes' take an' shake dem in de water bucket or anything dat dey drink, an' de dust from dem rattles will turn tuh rattlesnake in 'em.
(Is there any way of getting those out?)
Yes sir, wit garlic.
(How would you do that?)
Eat it.
(Just eat it and that will bring those things out?)
Yes, sir. [This simplest of remedies comes from a doctor, man.]
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 1470
Yo' kin slow 'em up fo' a while. Yo' kin git a peck of salt - a peck, one level peck. Not in a tin - don't let it tetch de tin if yo' kin - git it in a bucket an' strike it off as dey used to do long yeahs ago, yo' know. [To strike Off salt or grain was to level it across the top of the container by using a straight-edged board, back of saw, etc.]
(A whole peck of salt?)
A whole peck, an' jes' as much - ah guess a quart of sulphur an' mix it all up together. Dis is yore land now - yo' kin do whut chew want on it. Yo' go to de fo' corners of yore place - well, yo' plant it jes' level wit de ground an' cover it up so dat chew won't plow into it if yo's a farmer. An if dey trying to git it from yo' unfairly, why yo' kin stop 'em a while an' yo' kin git straigtened out. Ah've seen dis done. (That is to protect you if anybody is trying to harm you by getting your property? Or drive you away?) Yes sir - dat's it.
Entry 1503
Well, now, if yo' moved in a ha'nted place an' yo' can't stay there in no peace but hearin' rackets in de walls, why yo' pick up all of yore shoes dat chew could find an' put some brimstone an' sulphur in it an' burn it - put it in a ole bucket an' burn it in all fo' corners of de house. An' dat will run ever' ole thing dat chew heah round dere.
Entry 1862
If a woman got a runnin'-'bout spell, you go to work an' wash your feet of a nights from your toe back to de hollow of your left foot - it don't make no diff'rence if's right or de left. Take de same water dat you wash de feet in, take it an' pour back into another bucket, an' let her drink a swallow or two dat water for nine mornin's. Dat'll take de runnin'-'bout spells off of her. [Cf. Bathwater, p.522f.]
Entry 2235
Like he wus down on his business. It's a thing look like a lily, name of rattlesnake master. Dat's one of de luckiest roots dey is out for business. Take dis heah rattlesnake master an' set it out in a bucket like yo' would a lily - or pot - an' take some water an' spit on it ever' mornin'. Business will come to yo'.
Entry 2559
To keep the law away, ah would get me some of van-van, get me some lye, some blueing water, and ah would go to mah banquette and ah would scrub it ev'r - just wherever around mah door, I would keep it - white - white - white - white as snow. And keep it - scrubbed - scrubbed - scrubbed - and they never come across the door. Any time he come there, throw your water each way ev'ry morning for nine mornings - throw your water thisaway - bucket of water this way - and that way - and he never come in your place.
(How - which way do you throw the water now?)
Right - if you living and your front door thisaway, you throw one this way, and you throw one that way, and one this way.
(You throw one out the front door, one to the right, and one to the left?)
That's right - for nine mornings. You keep it up.
(For nine mornings.)
(Just plain water?)
Just plain Water.
(Or just scrub water?)
Plain water.
(Just three buckets?)
Three buckets - thisaway and this way and.
(You just scrub with the other stuff?)
That's right - scrub with the other stuff.
(I see.)
Entry 2634
Burn sulphur and one foot on de left shoes into a bucket from de front to the back. That would keep dem away. When dey get far as dat, dey will turn and go another way.
(That is to keep the law away if you are bootlegging?)
Yeah.
Entry 2637
All right. You got a place of business and you ain't had no luck. You get up in the morning before twelve or one o'clock and don't speak to nobody, if your wife or a friend in the house with you. When you get up don't say anything to them until after you get fixed. You take a left shoe of a woman and the left shoe of a man, two spoons of sugar, two spoons of camphor gum.
(Camphor gum.)
Camphor gum, and you mix that together. You burn that down till it's a ashes. You go to the back, you start at your back door - you start at your front gate coming in. You want 'em to come in, you don't wanta drive nobody away - you want 'em to come in. You sprinkle that, you sprinkle that all right on through. You start at your front gate or at the back - just where they got to come in and you go on through. All right. Take your bucket or whatever you burn that in and just shake the rest of it at the back door - that where they comes - through the house and on to the back door and lay it down. And you can go ahead on back to bed and sleep the rest of the night. And another man at the next place to you - you'll have plenty of trade and he don't know. He is wondering and studying how you doing it.
(What do you do with those shoes?)
You burn em.
(Oh, you burn them.)
You burn 'em till they are down to ash dust.
(That's before you mix up those other things?)
Yes, you put that other stuff right in there. (I see. I understand. Now, this other man. What does this other man do then when he sees you making out? Making all this business?) Well, he don't know how - he don't know what to do. Well, he gotta do the same thing.
Entry 2704
(These fellows that are bootlegging, what do they do to bring the law away?) They buys some sulphur an' po' it in yore bucket, yore night bucket, an' let it set. Let it set in dere an' den dey po' some of it every morning fo' nine mornings. Dey dig a hole an' po' some of it right in front of de do - in de front an' den dey po' some of it in de back, for nine mornings.
(Out of this same bucket - the same water with this sulphur in it.)
The same water that had the sulphur in it for nine mornings - den dey po' it in dere. Den dey sprinkle it [dry] iest all around yore house - ah mean dat sulphur den. All yo' ever do every morning befo' yo' git up befo' day. Ah've had dat done - sprinkle dat sulphur.
Entry 2706
A bucket of pee. Dey puts Van-van in dis pee an' dey throws dat on de banquette an' dey take a bucket of watah an' dey rinses dat - dat urine an' dat van-van all ovah de banquette. Dat keeps de banquette damp. Ever' now an' den dey'll come out an' throw fresh watah on dat tuh keep it freshened up, so when yo' pass or anybody pass, well yore feet will get dampened by dat dere - walkin' in dat damp spot. Well, dat'll draw yore attention into dis place. If yo' go home an' yo' need anything, yo' won't go to de othah places tuh git any- thing. Yo'll go tuh dis place where yo' undah de influence of dat van-van. See, dat puts yo' undah de influence of spendin' yore money in dis place. Dat keeps de man's place packed an' jammed wit dis urine an' dis van-van.
Entry 2726
If yo' runnin' a place an' want luck fo' customers, yo'd git chew some cinnamon an' yo'd git some sugah an' git yo' some oil of verbena, an' take pars- ley - yo' know parsley whut chew season food with. Yo' put it in a bucket an' put it on de stove an' boil it well. Aftah it boil, yo' start tuh scrubbin' yo' business from de front to de back. When yo' git through scrubbin' it goin' to de back, dis same watah dat chew scrub wit, throw a glassful to each way - one tc de east, one to de west, one to de south. [Presumably, unlucky north purposely omitted.] All right. When yo' git through that, yo' take yo some cinnamon agin an' yo' take yo' three of those good incense, an' yo' let dat burn very slow. Take some sugah an' mix it up well, an' throw it right in front of de do', an' throw three buckets of watah on dat. Den de place won't be able tuh hold the people.
(What do you do with that incense?)
Burn it. Mix it wit de sugah. Have tuh sterilize de'sugah aftah yo' burn it, see. Well, throw it out an' throw three buckets of watah on it.
Entry 6725
Yo' take dat, but it must be a black chicken, black feathahs, an' yo' put it in a bucket. Take de feathahs an' put it in a bucket an' burn 'em while dey havin' spells. Jes' let 'em hol' dere nose right down ovah it lak dat, an' dey soon vell. Dey won' have no mo'.
Entry 10605
[Out in the field I rarely if ever asked directly for self-perfor ed abortion rites; what I wanted was miscarriage, delayed birth, malforation or death caused by an enemy's witchcraft. The rite now following is a piece of folk medicine or practice a hoodoo doctor, fortuneteller or wise womas ooeld sggest to a client:] Some green coffee, coffee what you drink, she'll make a tea out of that and put some whiskey in there and turpentine and drink it hot - hot, hot as she can. And take a slop-bucket of hot boiling water and sit over it. Go to the store and buy her a lead pencil, brand- new, have never been used. And take that pencil and open her womb and spill that water. And when that pencil - the mouth of it is closed, you know. She take that pencil and put - she can do that herself better than anybody can, you know. Take that pencil and shove it until the mouth of her womb is open, where the heat can get in there, stay in. When she take the pencil and shove it, well she going to take the end of the pencil and make a little hole to open it, you know. And when - while she's doing that, she still over the bucket. Well, you see, the heat is going in there. You see, that heat hit there, that make the womb open like that and there come all - what was in there, going to come out. You see. Well, now, after hit come - well, it's according to how many months she be. Well, if it be four months, it's a baby. Now, it done come and she got to get that afterbirth out [and if] she can't get nobody [to help her], she take her fist and blow hard as she can. And still stay over that. After while that afterbirth come.
Entry 9772
[In the margin title I have called this rite amazing because I had com- pletely forgotten about it and its future significance. The person I am inter- viewing here is J. R. Patterson, proprietor of the black hotel, Patterson Hotel, in New Orleans. Among the illustrations at end of HOODOO, volume 2, see the Patterson Hotel letterhead containing pictures of the hotel, the proprietor, and his signature on Wednesday, March 9, 1938, for rent on room No.17, including elec- tricity for my machine, and room space for my clients downstairs. I paid my rent each day before returning to my own hotel, the old St. Charles. To give Mr. Patterson some idea of my work, I suggested that he himself be interviewed. His following rite tells how he could be driven from his own hotel. Neither of us realized at the time that before a year had passed, Mr. Patterson would lose his hotel and I myself would be chased from the black hotel in Memphis by the police. For this later surprise, see Introduction to HOODOO, volume 1, page XxxIV, line 9 following.] De first thing yo' do, git chew a dime's worth of saltpetah. De nex' thing tuh do is git chew a box of cinnamon, a box of cloves. Git chew a nickel's worth of new tenpenny nails, an' den git chew one quart of gasoline. Den git chew a dime's worth of saltpetah. Go by dose person's house an' pick up, whethah it's mud, dirt or sand, take it up an' put it in de bucket wit dose nails. Po' yuh gasoline in dere an' strike a match an' light it, [let it burn] until it comes tuh be dry an' sandy. Den yo' take it an' go backwards from de do' where dey livin' at an' sprinkle it crossways dat way tuh de fo' cornahs of de world: [demonstrates by pointing] dat cornah, dis cornah, dis one, and dat one cross de street. In 24 hours de're [they are] gone. (You just sprinkle it like this [I demonstrate], like a wingy motion all around, cross that house?) [My demonstration of wingy motion must have been a fluttering or flipping motion like a bird. Informant misunderstands my word cross, meaning to put a hoodoo on the house, not throwing back and forth across the house.] No [you don't throw back and forth across the house] yo' tro' it from de house [demonstrates]. Yes, lak dis is de back, dis is de sidewalk out heah [demonstrates], sprinkle it dis way [demonstrates], cross ovah [demonstrates].
[I describe his demonstrations:]
(From the house out to the gutter, you sprinkle it back and forth, like a "v".)
[This "v" or triangle is the 3 Holy Names.]
One block each way, one block each way from de house. Lak Patterson [the speaker] whut chew [suppose you] wanted him tuh move. Well, yo'd git some dirt. See dat cigah ashes [he points to ashtray containing ashes of my cigar] an' [also] pick it from de sidewalk [get sidewalk dirt], an' git some dirt an' sprin- kle it aroun' dere - some sand. An' befo' he sweeps de banquette [= sidewalk in New Orleans] up in de mawnin', yo' jes' come aroun' dere an' brush up a little bit, jes' enough tuh git in yore fingahs an' put in dere. Den yo' come back heah dat night, yo' see, an' sprinkle from his do' crossways de banquette tuh dat cornah. Den yo' go tuh dis cornah an' go cross de street tuh de nex' cornah. Yo' go dat way an' go cross de street tuh de nex' cornah. Den yo' go ovah heah tuh garage. See. In 24 hours dey are moved.
(You have to throw it to the four corners of the world.)
Yes. [New Orleans, La., (1566, J. R. Patterson, proprietor of black hotel, Patterson Hotel), 2866:3.] [The title of this section could have been either Pins and Needles or Needles and Pins, both having tradition behind them; the first because a person is some- times said to walk on pins and needles; the second according to the folklore couplet: Needles and pins, needles and pins; when a man marries, his trouble begins. As in the case of the preceding section about nails, most rites about these objects have already appeared elsewhere in the printed text as parts of rites with other ingredients. The following rites will be listed according to number of pins and needles: 1, 2, 3, etc.1
Entry 9867
If a person wanta kill yo', name dat frog dis person. An' yo' hang dat frog up in a bucket or cup or somepin where he can't git out dere. An' when dis frog begin tuh git hungry, starve, he pine away an' de person will pine away. When de frog die, dat person will die.
Entry 11204
You get you a sock or sompin like that, anything you wear. Take that sock, ball it together, put it with some dirt dauber nest, roll 'em together [sock sprinkled with dirt dauber is rolled up] and you put it in a jar or any kind of bucket or anything that unleaks - what won't leak. Take it to the river, throw it in the river and let it go downstream. You'll be gone!
Entry 12467
(Well, suppose I didn't want to move, yes?)
Why, you would have to move.
(Well, what would they do to make me move out?)
Well, your next-door neighbor would - could move you out, if they wanted to move you out.
(How would they do that?)
Well, they would get what you call moving powders. They'd go to the drug store and buy what you call moving powders and when you be's asleeping, your next-door neighbor would sprinkle it around your house. But if you didn't want to move out of that house, why you just, every morning you wake up and just go to your hydrant and get you nine buckets of clear water, and throw it on your steps, and you can stay in that house as long as you want to - providing you [recording stops].
Entry 12885
Now, if you bottleggin', you want trade. Now you go to your drug store. You buy you a pound of that brown sugah, you understand. You get choo a codfish ball - you know what dat codfish, big O [ole] codfish! You get that and get you a nickel's worth of pahsley [parsley]. Now, you gona take dat pahsley, codfish ball, the sugar. You take your water, about 2 quarts or quart an' a half. Fix what you want, any kind of water. An' yo' put it in a pot or bucket, or whatsomever will hold it. And put all that stuff into the water and let it boil. Let it boil down to one quart [the magic of diminishing amount]. An' use your pot every morning, like Friday's, that myst be your busy day for Saturday. Like Wednesday you wan'a take that day for cleaning up. Well, you take that water and git you someone to go out to clean up your place for you - just sprinkle that water - go to the front - come to the front like this [demon- strates], you see, an' come right on in [from the front door, leading future customers in]. Now, I don't tell you that people will spend their money there, but I'll guarantee you'll have a crowd there an' you won't have standing room. But somebody will spend money. You understand how that is? That'll square you. I do that.
Entry 4219
Go tuh de drug sto', if yuh want aplenty customahs. Jes' lak when yuh use yuh slopbucket at night an' have yuh urinate in dere. Git chew a dime of oil of cinnamon an' a ten-cent can of Red Devil Lye, an' yore urinate. Mix it in de bucket an' let somebody scour yuh front porch wit it, an' plenty customah come in tuh yuh - be comin' dere evah day.
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 533
A bucket of water or somepin under de bed an' you'll ketch 'em [hag] or either flaxseeds. Jis' put de water under de bed, you know, an' de next mornin' you'll find a bug or somepin in it.
Entry 10427
Bucket of water under bed and flaxseed. Next morning you will find bug, the hag. [Story not worth writing out.]
The brief account names a bucket of water under the bed. An editorial note says the story was not written out; the predicted bug/hag result is not established.
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
Ah've did dat - ah've did dat mahself. Ah've cooked two of 'em
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
[black cats]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
mahself - me an' mah woman cooked one, an' me an' de preachah cook de othah....
editorial recording or production note; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
[He tells a long story to which there is no point except the three bones.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
She takes an',
reported or enacted speech · Current unnamed interviewee · Hattie (as recounted by the interviewee); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
"Look heah, Doc."
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
Ah went an' look ovah in dere
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
[the pot in which the cat had been boiled]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
. She called me
reported or enacted speech · Current unnamed interviewee · Hattie (as recounted by the interviewee); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
"Doc,"
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
Hattie did. Yes suh. She emptied it
editorial gloss or commentary; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
[the boiled cat]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
all ovah in dere, in de
editorial gloss or commentary; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
[small]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
bucket. An' hit wuzn't de bucket full - dat big big black cat.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
An' ah taken dat an' got on car an' go out back towards - in Savannah it's called East Savannah, an' dey have a East Savannah an' West Savannah. So ah went on out dere an' ah went ovah tuh a friend of mine. Jack Kettle
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
[!]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
wuz his name. He's dead now. An' ah went down to a little stream where nobody wouldn't be dere tuh bothah wit me, yo' know, suh. An' ah had tuh take mah han' in all dat ole slime den. An' yo's tuh search till yo' git evah'thing dat feel like a little gristle. An' ah jes' drop 'em dere an' put 'em in de watah an' dey'd go right on down. De watah wuzn't mo' den dat deep, suh, where yo' kin see de sand. Drop 'em in dere an' dey go on down. An' ah tell yo' whut's a fact. Dere's three bones in a cat. Ah'm be able tuh tell yo' cause ah have did it twice. An' de bones - de right foot bone it's a small bone. None don't go to de top. Dey all goes to de bottom. Dat bone will be turnin' ovah jes' lak a worm. It appears tuh come upstream, an' ah taken it out. Ah found de three.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
(What bones were they? From what part of the body?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
Ah don't know, suh, whethah dey outa de tail or where dey's from. Dey's real small.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
(You got three bones that were going upstream?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
Yessuh, on de bottom of dat sand - on de bottom, yo' know, suh. Be like a worm, jes' be turnin' ovah.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
[The bones don't float upstream on the surface of the water, but tumbled over and over upstream along the bottom of the water.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
Ah take it out. Dere three - yes suh, dere really are three. So ah took one dose bones an' sold it fo' $20. Ah had plenty luck....
Nested source context: nested reported speech · Vol. 2, p. 1842
She takes an', "Look heah, Doc." Ah went an' look ovah in dere [the pot in which the cat had been boiled]. She called me "Doc," Hattie did.
locally closed printed account with explicit editorial omission
Explicit editorial omission means locally closed printed account only, never complete original testimony; do not reconstruct the omitted story.
editorially_abridged_printed_account_not_full_event_or_procedure
The editor replaces a long story; do not reconstruct it or call this a complete ritual.
The Hattie quotation is reported dialogue, not a woman present in the interview.
Three bones, uncertain anatomy, bottom-versus-surface motion and sale are source claims; the editor’s explanatory gloss is distinct.
The final ellipsis and omitted material remain visible completeness limits.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 2, p. 1840 · Vol. 2, p. 1841 · Vol. 2, p. 1842 · Vol. 2, p. 1843 · Vol. 2, page image