Subject:Burst
Entries
Entry 7468
Well, if a man kill a man an' yo' know where he's at an' yo' want 'im to die, at de same moment durin' de right time, yo' takes three eggs. (What kind of eggs?) Black hen eggs. Yo' go to 'is house an' yo' throw dat egg on 'is house an' call 'is name an' cuss 'im de same time. Nex' mawnin' de undahtakah dere - de coffin man.
Entry 9008
Dey say dat yo' could take a aig from a black hen an' if yo' in any kinda trouble or wanta git out, an' yo' bust it up ovah yore do' or eithah jes' on a gatepost. Jes' lak dat yo' could even go tuh de place where, where yo' are tuh be tried at, an' bust it up on dere. Dey say dat yo' would come clear. [In this rite and the two preceding, we must remember that intention, though unexpressed, is the magic power. The following rite expresses the intention.]
Entry 9020
All right, if yo' got some of yore friends in trouble an' wants tuh git 'em out. Prob'ly yo' got a purtty bad case an' yo' wants tuh git 'em out. Well, yo' kin go tuh de graveyard at night, twelve a'clock at night - let it be daid on de minute twelve aclock. Yo' go dere at night at twelve aclock an' yo' run yore arm down in de graveyard as fur as yo' kin git it down dere, right in de centah [a quincunx rite]. Yo' git a han'fulla dirt an' yo' take dat dirt an' git chew a plain white pocket han'ke'ch'ef dat don't have any streaks atall about de pocket han'ke'ch'ef - so it's plain white. An' yo' take dat dirt an' tie it up in de cornah de han'ke'ch'ef, puts it in yore pocket an' brings it on back. Well, yo' bring it back tuh de house an' when yo' git back tuh de house, yo' git chew some sage or sompin at night. Do all dat dat night. Bring it back tuh de house an' git chew some sage or sompin an' tie it up in dere wit dis dirt an' yo' takes it up in de jail, wheresomevah dey's in jail at, an' give it tuh de person an' tell 'em tuh weah it in de bottom of dey shoes. Well, dey weah dat in de bottom of dere shoes dat night. Prob'ly dey goin' have trial tuhmahah. An' dat night befo' dey goin' have de trial, yo' have some of yore friends tuh go tuh dat co'thouse, dat nex' mawnin' or dat mawnin' befo' day - sometime befo' dey'll have de trial - an' throw three aigs on topa de buildin'. An' be shu' dat evah' one of 'em is bust. If dey don't bust, it's not any good; but chew have tuh be shu' dat de aigs is bust. An' let 'em weah dat sage an' dirt in de bottom of dere shoes, an' dat'll cleah hit up.
Entry 9182
Yo' kin take a black hen aig if yo' wanta make a person move. Yo' know, jes' lak yo' have a enemy nex' do' tuh yo' or somepin lak dat an' yo' want 'em tuh leave. Yo' take de black hen aig an' yo' put his name on it backwards [his last name first and his first name last]. Put his name on it backwards an' yo' throw it right at his steps where it will burst it. Yo' do dat between twelve an' one a'clock at night an' de nex' mawnin' when he git up he'll be rearin' tuh go.
Entry 9206
Well, if yo' wanta do anybody any harm, go tuh work an' yo' take a penny an' put it right in de crossin' of de road. An' yo' goes tuh work an' yo' take dat aig, an' yo' bust it right on dat penny. An' if dey wanta cross dat, dey can't cross.
Entry 9241
Wanta make dem move out, yo' come out heah an' take a aig an' bust it up ovah his front do'. Yo' git some of his dirt, some of his track yo' know, an' den pat it down good an' stick some nails in it, sompin lak dat, an' turn sompin tuh covah ovah it. In a few days he'll be gone away.
(Where do you put this stuff?)
Under de steps.
(Put a few nails in?)
Yes. Make it good, yo' know, lak a cake, an' stick some nails in it, an put it undah de steps.
Entry 9244
In case yo' wanta do anything wit it, yo' go dere an' yo' take two pennies. Yo' take a aig. Yo' still take a aig an' yo' take two pennies an' yo' go dere at twelve a'clock at night. Yo' bust dat aig right across of dat road. See, what- somevah yo' want, if it's evil, by dat bustin' dat aig, yo' pay de mean spirit two cents. Yo' drop dat two cents in dere [the bursted egg]. An' yo' bust dat aig right across de road at twelve a'clock at night, an' turn right an' go backwards an' don' look back.
[You probably walk backwards as long as you can see the forks of the road.]
(And then you make a wish for something that you want done?)
Dat's right.
(You do that down at the forks of the road.)
Dat's right.
Entry 9247
Ah heard if yo' wants tuh move someone out of de house neah yo', or eithah yo' wanta break someone up, dey tell me yo' go dere an' 'bout seven-thirty dat night, an' take yo' fo' solid aigs, chicken aigs, an' bust 'em on de top of de house an' yo' won't have any mo' trouble. Dey move out de house an' nobody won't know how dey move out dere or why dey gone.
(You take four eggs?)
Yassuh, fo' solid aigs. Back up fo' steps from de house, walk backwards fo' steps tuh de house an' bust dem fo' aigs on top of de house, see. An' yo' won't have any mo' trouble wit dem den. [Remember, we are not talking here about a mansion, but about a small one-story structure of cabin proportions. Walking backwards four steps and tossing four eggs over your shoulder on to the roof Would not require much skill or strength.]
Entry 9255
Ah would git me a egg from a frizzly hen [for frizzly chicken, see p.59f. and elsewhere] an' ah would put it undah de steps. Den, aftah nine days, yo' see, dat egg would bus [burst]. Dat would make con- fusibn an' de landlord would put 'em out de house.
Entry 9279
Dey kin jes' take a fresh aig an' write on it an' tell 'em, 'Ah want chew tuh bust sech-an'-sech a one up." An' take it an' throw it up 'ginst de house an' let it bust up, an' dat will bust 'em up.
Entry 9327
An' yo' kin take a aig an' run a person away from a place, if yo' got a neighbah an' yo' don't want 'em round dere. Yo' kin take dat aig an' bust it on dere house. Say fo' nine diff'ren' mawnin's yo' kin bust a aig on dey house an dey'll have tuh move.
(You just bust the egg on the side of the house, you mean?)
Yes.
Entry 9375
Jes' lak now if yo' [ah] want someone tuh move, prob'ly it may be yo'. Ah'm jis' goin say it fo' a instance. Yo' in dis house an' ah don't want chew in heah. Well, ah'll take dat aig an' bust it on yore do', but ah gotta put a li'le sulphuh wit it first an' throw it on yuh do' an' yo' bound tuh move.
(You put some sulphur on that egg?)
Yes, an' bust it on yuh do'.
(Any kind of chicken egg?)
No, a black chicken aig. Put some sulphah on it befo' ah use it an' when ah throw it dere, say, "Ah'm doin' dis In de Name of de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost. Ah want chew tuh move." An' when ah do dat, why yo' bound tuh go.
Entry 9385
An' den ah know anothah way tuh break up two people. Yo' know jis' lak if ah had a wife an' jis' say fo' instance, if mah wife would be goin' tuh some fellah or 'nothah, an' ah wus tuh find out dat she wus goin' wit 'em, an' dey wus layin'up at a certain hour, jis' any house dat dey wus layin' up at. [I do not believe I had heard the expression shack up at this date.] Ah'd walk tuh de front do' - git chew three aigs, three hen aigs. Yo' walk tuh de front do' an' yo' bust one of dem hen aigs tuh de front do'. Go tuh de back do', bust it on de [back] do'. Hit it up 'ginst de [back] do'. Bust it on de front do', den yo' go tuh de back do' an' bust dat othah one on de back do'. An' when yo' walk out de gate, jis' lak yo' walk out de gate dere, git right in front of dis do' an' throw de othah aig down on de ground an' bust it.
(That other egg?)
Yes sir. Dat'll bust dem up. Don't cay [care] how much she in love wit 'im or whut kinda lovin' 'fair [affair] dey have, dat's a guaranteed fact tuh break 'em up.
(Any kind of chicken eggs?)
Yes sir, any kinda chicken eggs. It don't make no diff'rence whut kind.
Entry 9408
She says she had some trouble with her stepchildren - she married this man.- of co'se they [she and stepchildren] couldn't get along. An' so she was ready to give up everything and leave. So somebody directed her to some woman down in Augusta, Georgia. Ah was from Augusta. So she went down there to see this woman. So after talk- ing with this woman, this woman advised her instead of giving up her home to just go back home and: Get a fresh egg, a fresh-layed egg, and take this egg and place it in - [place] the tip of the egg in salt halfway, and finish covering this egg with sulphur, [let it stand] for twelve hours. Remove this egg then from the sulphur and write the parties' names all over this egg with a lead pen- cil. Take this egg and go outdoors to the room where these parties sleep [the room was in her own house and occupied by the stepchildren] and throw it against the house. And as you throw this egg, call this parties' names. And this egg will bust, and you turn right around and go on about your business and don't look back. And she said, "Within nine days somepin will happen [egg supposed to bust in 9 days - see elsewhere] and that somepin would be some confusion in the home with these parties that is causing the trouble with you and your husband; or, these children would be forced to move away." Well, she says she did that. And of course after - she said the eleventh day though, the eleventh day, this row came up and these children moved out. They were all grown and married. And she said for six years they hadn't been back. And they've gotten along just fine, she says, she and her husband.
Entry 9412
Take a egg from a black hen, two black hens [1 egg from each hen]... throw it [the 2 eggs] on the house an' it'll bus' an' dey'll go away from de house.
Entry 9439
Dey git a black hen aig. Dey take it an' write some kinda - what dey want done on dere. Dey take it way late [at night] or soon in de mawnin' 'fore de sun rise, dey chuck it on yore po'ch. If dey can't git ontuh yore house, dey put it on yore po'ch, see; an' puts some kinda peppah on topa it an' busts it. Dat make yuh move. (What do you mean by getting on top of your house?) Well, dey can throw it but let it hit de fiahplace [chimney]. Makes yuh git out de house.
Entry 11200
Yo' take a dirt dauber nest an' anything, jes' lak say, yo' wanta cause confusion or sompin lak dat in a home. Yo' take a dirt dauber nest an' yo' go dere a certain hour of de night an' yo' use dat jes' lak yo' do de aig. Jes' lak dirt dauber keep a-goin' an' conin', dat person keep a-goinin' an' comin'.
(What would you do with the dirt dauber's nest when you took it to that house?)
Yo' jes' carry it an' bust it ovah de house at twelve a'clock at night, jes' lak yo' bust a aig.
Entry 5478
Ah heah 'em say, jis' lak if some people stayin' in de house an' dey don' lak yo' an' yo' want 'em tuh fall out, yo' take some gunpowdah. Yo' git dere track an' take some gunpowdah, an' mix it wit dat track an' put it up undah dere step, an' set it afiah an' let it blow up. In de night, jis' lak if dey be 'sleep, set it afiah an' let it blow up. An' iis' lak hit blow up dis mawnin dey'll have a fuss in dat house.
Entry 9019
In a lawsuit, dey say dey uses a fresh aig. Aftah dey go ahead an' fin' out de man dat's goin' try yo', dey puts his name on de aigs, an' dey puts dis name at de bottom an' yore name on top. An' dey puts de solicitor's name - ah think dey puts his name on de aigs. Dey puts de solicitor's name on de aig, too. Dey use three aigs. An' dey gotta go somewhere close by where dey has tuh sits, an' throw dem aigs up ovah de place an' busts dose aigs. Dat's all ah been told. An' make yore wishes. [In English usage, a solicitor belongs to that branch of the legal profession advising clients, representing them before lower courts, and preparing cases for barristers who try them in the higher courts. In American usage a solicitor is an officer who has charge of the legal business of a city or town.l
Entry 9356
Make a man an' 'is wife separate. Bust 'em up, yes, sir.
(How will they do that?)
Take a rotten aig an' do dat.
(How?)
Take a rotten aig an' - jis' lak ah go tuh yuh house an' ah want yuh wife tuh put chew out. Take dis rotten aig an' ah'm settin' aroun' an' prob'ly yo'all eatin' or somepin. [I'd] git outa de room an' I'd slip it in de baid an' tuh- night when yo'all go tuh baid an' lay on dere - yo' wouldn't know it was indere - an' bust it. An' when yuh bust it, why dat cuse [cause] confusion.
Entry 11278
Now, here's another black art method. This black art method was by this old - this here William Rogers. This is one of his authors.
(Down in Columbus.)
Right here in Berkeley, Va., adjoining Norfolk. [His method] was to go to a ant's hill and look for the large size red antses. He gets nine of them out of there and kill them. Then he would go and look for a snail. Take him and shove him in the stove and let him parch up. Mix this together with lard, give it to a man or woman. Give that to a man and he rub that on his wife, the next man what have intercourse with his wife, his testicle bag Will burst open.
(Burst open.)
Burst wide open and kill him in three days time. [444:5.]
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 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 7437
I would git a fresh yard egg from a frizzly hen an' I would take an' place it in dis man's right han', de dead man's right han', an' I would bury 'im on 'is face. An' aftah nine days he be in de groun', de egg would bust an' dis man would come an' give himself up.
Entry 9257
Take a black hen's egg and take a needle, punch it. Take a little of gingsing oil an' pur [pour] it in an' take de cement an' plaster it right up. Take it an' drop it right on top of de house an' it bursts, an' dey will move, yo' understand. [I understood at the time but uncertainty came with the transcription, in which the key word sounded like gingsing oil. Oil? Was this oil from the aromatic ginseng root, perhaps sold by a hoodoo shop? Even with one having a Chinese proprietor? They did exist, though primarily as incense and curio centers. Ginseng, known among root collectors for years before my work began, appears rarely in Hoodoo. The importance of root shapes, once considered desirable in Chinese medicine, is also known in hoodoo, but none of these examples concerns ginseng, as far as I know. The North American plant is Panax quinquefolium, the Chinese P. schinseng.]
Entry 9337
Yo' kin take a aig, lak now a person livin' in de nex' house ovah dere. Well, yo' kin take a aig an' mark it [write name of victim on, see later], dis aig an' make a wish, an' goes somewheres by dem at de crack of sunrise. Well, do dat fo' nine mawnin's an' let de sun be lak de same, an' carry dat aig. An' evah way yo' go back dere fo' de nine mawnin's, go back anothah way, see. If yo' hap- pen tuh go round or go back dis way, let it be a object [opposite or different] mawnin'. Evah mawnin' be a new way comin'. See whut ah mean. If it happen tuh be de las' mawnin' de way yo' went de firs' time, let it be a new way comin' roun' de same thing. [Never go over the same path or road twice during the rite.] Well, yo' kin take dat aig in de last ninth mawnin' an' jes' haul off an' chunk it up on dat house an' let it bust, an' make yore wish befo' yo' bust it, one of dem names in de house. Jes' make a wish an' chunk it up dere. Write his name on de egg. See, dey goin' tuh leave. (You first get you the egg, don't you?) Yeah, git holt de aig. Take dis aig, an' well, fo' nine mawnin's yo' take up dis aig an' walk to someone yo' don't like. See, whut ah mean. Yo' want 'em tuh move out from roun' dere, from dis heah home. Yo' don't undah- stan' why people leave, yo' don't want 'em disturb. Yo' git dat aig an' yo' says, "Ah want dese heah people leave heah wit'out fussin'." Take dis aig an' carry de aig ovah heah, well jes' de time yo' see de sun jes' comin' tuh be. Well, take it out...
(Take it out where?)
To de front - tote de aig tuh de sun. See, jes' take it out where yo' kin see de sun an' turn back - don't look back. An' yo' place dat aig right back in de same place. Well, de nex' mawnin' - yo' do dat fo' de nine mawnin's, goin' out...
(Just going out and seeing the sun?)
Yeah. But don' let de sun be no fu'thah den yo' see it de firs' mawnin'. Don't let it be too fer. Jes' do dat fo' nine mawnin's an' let de sun be de same object an' 'bout de same time. Set yore clock. Do dat fo' nine mawnin's. Make yore wish an' write his name on dat aig an' jes' walk out de same mawnin' 'bout de same time, throw it an' let it bust. Yo' won't have no trouble.
(Where do you throw that egg?)
Jes' throw it an' let it bust on de house. On de left side [as you stand in front of the house looking at the house].
(That will make them move out.)
Dey gone.
Entry 9349
Well, jes' if anybody yo' want tuh move, if any of yore neighbahs is not so good an' yo' wanta move 'em.] But chew have tuh git a aig from a hen dat's been wit a roostah. De diff'- rence in dose aigs - yo' know de diff'rence in dose aigs? (No, I don't. Tell me about them?) Well, de hen dat doesn't be wlt a roostah, her aigs are round. An' de hen dat does be wit a roostah, her aigs is long. [Here as in the preceding rite, the symbolism of added length to the egg is obvious.] Well, yo' take one of dose long aigs an' yo' gits tuh de front do', an' yo' throws it ovah her house an' if dat aig busts yo're gone.
Entry 10985
To make move, burst against door a black hen egg laid on Friday.
[Mobile, Ala., 877:11.]