Subject:Bury/Part 2
Entries
Entry 9299
Takes a aig an' write his 'nitial all ovah dat aig, jes' let it be written all ovah it. Take yo' some yellah homespun an' covah dat ovah dat [egg] an' bury it jes' de side-a [side of] dat gate, er [or] de do', an' dat'll bring 'im back home an' he won't leave no mo'.
(Is that for any kind of egg?)
Any kind of aig, don't make no diff'rence.
Entry 9305
Yo' take a black hen aig if a person has murdered somebody, take two. Lak if de person wuz murdered, yo' put a aig in each one of dere han's, a black hen aig. An' be shuh [sure] it's a black hen aig, an' put it in each one of dere han's. Git a piece of grass rope. (What's that?) Dese heah ropes whut people ties bundles an' things with. An' yo' git a piece of dat an' yo' make nine knots in it, an' yo' tie it on dere wrist. An' when yo' git ready tuh bury dat person, yo' turn dere face bottom upwards [back of head upwards]. An' de one whosomevah murdered 'em gotta come back where dey did dat murdah. Wit dat black hen aig.
(Do you tie that rope on just one wrist?)
On both of 'em, both wristses, put a aig in each han' an' shut dat han' up. An' when yo' git ready tuh bury 'em, yo' turn dere face down. Yo' see, dey gen'ly [generally] bury people wit dere face up, in place of puttin' de face down tuh de bottom of de coffin.
Entry 9308
Ah haven't heard of 'em usin' pins an' needles [in answer to my unre- corded question about them], but ah've heard of 'em takin'a aig an' fo' ten- penny nails an' one aig, an' drive dose nails up in de ground. (You mean put the head down and let the point stick up?) Put de haid down an' let de point stick up, an' stick dat egg between dere an' den wrap it ovah. An' if yo' is in love wit someone, dat'll bust it up.
(That is if I wanted to break up some man and another woman?)
A man an' anothah woman, dat'll bust 'em up. (Well, you don't have to do anything else with that egg? You don't have to walk over it or anything of that sort?) Yo' don't have tuh walk ovah it or nuthin of dat kind. [Here is a rite of intention only. The 4 buried nails, points up, outline the coffin cradling the egg, intended victim. After the egg becomes rotten and bursts, the man or woman you have in mind will no longer annoy you.]
Entry 9311
Yo' git a fresh aig an' yo' bust dat fresh aig. Yo' first write her name an' his name on dis aig an' yo' take dat fresh aig an' bust dis aig, yo' understan'. An' yo' take de yellah of de aig an' yo' throw de white away. An' take de aig shell, aftah yo' done bust it, an' Jis' crumble it up jis' as fine as yo' kin git it. An' den take de yellah of dat aig an' mash it all up in it, an' put chew a little black peppah in it. An' put it in a piece of papah an' rag an' bury it right up undahneat' de do'steps whah she passes in an' out, an' dere won't be no gittin 'long [along]. Dat'll separate dat man an' woman.
Entry 9312
Now ah tell yo' whut ah did heah. Dey say dat if yo' jes' take a black hen, she don't have tuh have no spot on 'em atall, gotta be solid black. Jes' lak if yore wife is goin' wit anothah man yo' see, she won't hardly stay home. Yo' put her name on dis side of de aig, see [demonstrates]. Den yo' turn it tuh yo', turn it ovah, an' put yore name on de othah side of it. An' bury dat right in de middle - it gotta be where she kin penetrate right back an' fo'th ovah it. She may go out fo' about one or two nights, but aftah dat she won't go no mo'. She'll be wantin' tuh stay home an' yo'll be ready tuh go, see.
Entry 9315
They take black hen egg an' put yore name on it nine times an' bury it. It'll run yo' crazy, make yo' die.
(What's that?)
Control of yore mind.
Entry 9317
Ah don' know how dat is. Say if its de p'liceman or some law on de beat, yo' know, dat yo' could write dere name on a egg an' bury it at de steps, an' dat will prevent 'em from comin' in. (You write their name on this egg and bury it. At your own steps?) At yuh own steps. (That will keep the law from coming in?) If yo' sellin' whiskey in dis house or somepin. An' whoevah is on dis beat, yo' could bury de egg. Write de name nine times on de egg an' bury it at de front steps, an' dey wouldn't come ovah dat egg.
(I see.)
Entry 9329
( Git nine black hen aigs an' write de 'nitial of de big low name on de two big: Sheriff, de chief of police, if yo' in a town, write dere name. Bury one [of the 9 eggs] undah yore back do'step, bury one in front, den lay one up ovah yore do', an' den chunk de rest east. Won't no law come round, yo' kin sell likkah. Ah've toted it up an' down dese streets heah by de gallons, dey ain't no law 'rest [me] yet fo' likkah. Ah've sold likkah right in mah house, ain't no law 'rest [arrest] yet fo' no likkah. [Informant is the same as in the preceding rite.]
Entry 9334
Well, jes' lak if yuh ole man's gone, yo' take nine fresh aigs an' de end of one of his shirttails an' two of his socks. An' point 'em an' put.dat aig right in between, yo' know, each toe of dat sock with his shirttaii. An' yo' bury it, bury dat right up undah de steps. Dat is sup- posed tuh bring him back. (You bury these socks with the toes pointing to each other. And right where those toes point to each other you put that egg?) Put dat aig an' his shirttail.
(The shirttail is wrapped around the egg?)
Yessuh.
(There are nine eggs though, aren't there?)
Nine fresh aigs, yessuh. Gotta be fresh aigs.
Entry 9336
Said dat dey kin take chicken aigs an' take nine needles. An' yo' have tuh soak dat aig in vinegah, where yo' put dem nine needles dere, an' bury 'em intuh somebody's gate or do'step, where dey go in at. An' dey'll step on 'em, mash 'em. Dey'll leave town. (Any kind of chicken egg?) Any kind.
Entry 9341
Dey can do a lot of things with chicken eggs.
(Well, for instance?)
Ah saw a woman once with a chicken egg. She had 'im - her man an' her was mad an' she wanted him tuh, yo' know, die, bump him off. She had his pitchure drawed on dat egg, an' she taken dat egg an' she had hulled a lemon out, a large lemon, an' she put it in dere. An' she went back an' buried it in de cornah of de yard, undah de steps at de cornah of de yard.
(What happened?)
Well, he died.
(It killed him?)
Killed him.
(Was that all she had to do?)
Yes, dat was all she had tuh do.
Entry 9348
Well, yo' see, de aigs, dere are two kinds of aigs. A roostah's aig is long an' de hen's aigs are round. Well, yo' git two hen aigs an' some salt an' black peppah. Well, yo' git on dis hen aig whut chew want done. Den yo' go an dig a hole de way yo' want tuh run it - tuhwards runnin' watah. Yo' dig a hole to- Wards runnin' watah an' den yo' put dis aig down in dere an' de black peppah an' salt, an' tell it evah whut chew want it tuh do. An' dey'll come back.
(You leave it there. You use two eggs though?)
Yeah, yeah, two aigs. Dey're round aigs. Yo' see, a roostah's aig is long an' de hen aig is round [the words long or round being words based upon sexual symbolism, not biology]. Well, yo' use de hen aigs. [For long eggs and round eggs see also following rite, and for round eggs and square eggs see also No.9284, p.3738.]
(You dig a sort of a ditch?)
No, a hole tuhwards runnin' watah. Yo' know, sometime yo' have ditches run- nin'. Well, yo' kin tell which way de watah is runnin'. Well, yo' dig de hole tuhwards runnin' watah.
(You mean between your house and the running water?)
Well, if de ditch is runnin' between yore house, yo' kin dig it right in front of de ditch, jes' so's it's runnin' which way de watah is runnin'.
(You mean you dig the hole away from you, down the way the water is running?)
Yeah, well, yo' take nine steps tuhwards de runnin' watah an' dig yore hole, an' den aftah yo' dig yore hole, yo' put chure aig an' salt an' black peppah down in dere. Co'se dis aig already has on it whut chew want it tuh do. An' den yo' have it bring 'em back.
(That is to bring them back?)
Yes.
Entry 9359
Yo' could do dat - yeah, sure. All yo' gotta do, take yuh three rotten aigs, see. Take yuh three rotten aigs. Yo' bury one-a dem [one of them] right at de steps. De othah two jis' hit 'em against de house. Nobody come in dere. (That crosses up the landlord. He can't rent the house after I leave there.) Dat's whut ah'm talkin' about. Aftah yo' bury one in front of de steps an' yo' throw two against de house right ovah yuh shouldah. GOTTA THROW 'EM OVAH YUH LEFT SHOULDAH. See, IF YO' THROW 'EM FACEWARDS, DON' AMOUNT TUH NUTHIN. Jis' throW 'em ovah yuh left shoul- dah against de house, aftah yo' done bury dat one in dere [at the steps]. Can't rent, not at all.
Entry 9363
Take a black hen's aig an' put a little salt in it an' bury it at dey do'steps. Say dat would run 'em. (How do you put that salt in that egg?) Put de salt in it, yo' peck a little hole.
Entry 9364
Well, now, yo' git a black hen, yeah. An' git dat aig from a black hen, yo' undahstan'. Yeah. An' den yo' take dat aig an' keep it in salty watah fo' two days. An' den yo' git dat aig an' care [carry] it. Yo' go tuh de steps, though, yo' know, an' bury it undah de steps. Dat's whut yo' do wit dat aig, if yo' wanta git 'em 'way from dere. Yo' undahstan' dat.
(That's all you have to do?)
Yes.
Entry 9365
Well, yo' take a chicken aig an' yo' kin broke dat shell, an' put dat in a cup or a [saucer], de yellah, not de white, jis' de yellah part of it, an yo' beat dat up. Yo' git chew den de thing yo' calls Seven Yeahs Adventure. Didja [did you] evah heah about dat? (Seven years what?) Seven Yeahs 'Venture, yeah. (Adventure or [something] or what?) Deventure. Deventure, yes. Yo' know, yo' drops jis' about 12 drops of dat in dat an' stir dat up. Beat dat up jis' lak yo' gon'a make - yo' see, yo' po' dat in fo' bottles [demonstrates]. Put one heah, one dere, one dere, an' one heah.
(Sort of shape of a cross.)
Yas, an' aftah dat ain't no man kin harm yuh. house
(Where do you put those four bottles?)
Yo' kin put dose fo' bottles aroun' in yuh yard [like this]:
[The house in center of cross forms a quincunx.]
Entry 9370
Ah heard dat dey take a hen aig an' boil it an' bust it in de shoe, an' dat will make a man stay home an' nevah quit chew. (So he wouldn't know it?) No, hide de shoe. (Some shoe he isn't using?) Sho'[sure].
Entry 9373
Den ah know a woman she tole me how ah could put mahself in good luck, an' ah ast 'er how. She tole me tuh git a new fresh aig from a nest an' write on it jis' whut ah want it tuh be. Yo' know, whut ah want tuh tell it, an' black it wit sut [soot] an' bury it undah de house. An' aftah nine days why ah'll git a result. Good luck in anything dat ah wanted tuh happen, dat will happen.
Entry 9374
Den yo' kin take his socks, de left-foot socks, an' yo' kin put a hen aig in dere. Write his name on dat aig an' plant it on de no'th side of de do' an' dat'll bring 'im back.
(What do you mean by the north side of the doorstep?) Well, jes' lak de house is set- tin' dis way, on dat side [demon- strates]. (The north side of the steps.) Yessuh.
Entry 9388
Jis' lak if ah'm in dis town an' no one heah don't lak me, wants tuh kill me, wants tuh destroy me or somepin. [They tell me] dat yo' kin take three aig from a black hen an' boil it. Take dose three boiled aig an' jis' lak de individual travelin' dis way, yo' bury one dem boiled aig de firs' mawnin', on de third [second] mawnin' go fuhthah [farther] an' bury de nex' one, an' on de third mawn- in' go an' throw de othah one undah de end of de steps. An' dey say dat will git dem out chure way.
Entry 9399
If a lady wanted yo' tuh leave from yuh home, an' yo' had some chicken dat wus black, coal-black, an' yo' take three of dose aigs. De lady dat wan' shoo tuh leave home - lak if yo' wus married an' yore wlfe wanted yuh tuh leave, she would take dose aigs. An' jis' lak if yo' wus a man dat liked tuh drink an' she Would make yuh a aignog, an' take one or two teaspoons of salt an' stir it in dere, an' a li'le black peppah. Jes' enough where yo' maybe taste it an' maybe not, jis' enough tuh make yuh drink it. An' she would take some of dat same peppah outa de same hand [holding the pepper] dat she put in dose aigs. An' put 'em in a papah an' put 'em in a jah [jar] or somepin, an' stop it up fo' five days. She'll let it stay stopped up. An' den she go back an' open dis an' burn dat peppah an' stuff, jes' tuh where it git hot, an' stop it up an' bury it where dat yo' cross ovah. An' if she wants yuh tuh leave, some way or 'nothah somepin goin' happen dat chew'll have tuh leave. (She puts it in this bottle, some of the eggnog that has this stuff in it, after he has drunk some of it.) Yes.
Entry 9403
An' if yo' got any enemy roun' joo anywhere dat chew wanta git rid of 'im, an' fo'evah git rid of 'im, yo' got chure walkway intuh yuh house, goin' in. Git chew three aigs an' bury dose three on dat side an' three on dat side. An' dig a hole in both end of it [egg]. Dig a hole in de ground about dat deep [demonstrates].
(About seven or eight inches deep.)
Yeah, an' stick it down in dere, an' kivah it up, an' when dem aigs drene out from dere, dey'll be away from dere, an' dey won't - dey won't give yuh no more trouble. (You can use six eggs altogether, three on each side of the walk, the walk coming into the house.) Yes sir.
(Do you put those eggs down in the ground in any special way?)
Jis' put 'em down in any way yo' want, jis' since yo' pick a hole in both ends of'em.
(Any kind of a chicken egg?)
Yes.
(Raw egg?)
Yes. An' whenevah dem aigs drene out, why dey'll drene wit 'em. An' dey won't give yo' no mo' trouble, dey won't come back dere no mo'.
Entry 9406
Git chew a fresh hen, black hen aig an' yo' put a hole in it, an' aftah dat stuff outa dat aig [come] outa dere, git chew a bottle of turpentine. An' fill dat aig up wit dat turpen- tine an' bury it right where dey have tuh pass ovah it. Sure tuh move.
(That drives them out of the house.)
Entry 9407
AH TAKES A DOZEN AIGS. ALL RIGHT. AN' AH'LL BRING 'EM UP HEAH [I AM INTERVIEWING ON SECOND FLOOR OF DOWNTOWN BLACK HOTEL] AN' AH'LL SET DOWN AN' ASK YO' WHAT'S CHURE NAME. AN' YO' BE SETTIN' DOWN ON ONE SIDE AN' AH BE SETTIN' DOWN ON DE OTHAH JIS' LAK WE BE'S SETTIN' NOW. AN' AH HAVE A DOZEN. AIGS AN' YO' DON'T KNOW NUTHIN ABOUT IT, AH HAVIN' MAH HAT LAYIN' OVAH DEM. AN' EVAH TIME AH ASTS [ASK] YO' WHAT CHURE NAME AN' AH JIS' KEEP A-WRITIN' IT ON DE AIGS AN' TALK- IN' WIT CHEW RIGHT ON. ALL RIGHT. AN' DEN DEY TAKES DEM AIGS AN' PUTS 'EM, AN' PUTS CHURE NAME ON 'EM AN' DYES 'EM JIS' ABOUT DE COLAH OF DAT WALL DERE, DARK BLUE. An' dey take dem aigs, dey takes one tuh de windah, fo' at de steps, an' de rest of 'em at de back do'. All dem is left, chew know, from gwine roun' to de windah an' de front steps. But chew puts even [number of] aigs on de front steps, but chure name is on dem aigs. An' dey'll let 'em stay undah dere so many days [or] so many weeks. An' den dey'll go an' dig dem aigs up. If yo' don' go out dere yuhself, someone goin' tell yuh tuh go an' dig aroun' undah yuh do'step. An' when yo' dig roun' undah yuh do'step, see dem aigs settin' down dere, an' suddenly yo' goin' be hunt [hunting] fer 'em. Yo' jis' a feelin' in yuh mind yo' be hunt [hunting] fer dem. An' when yo' go dere yo' dig down. All right yo'll pick up dem eggs an' dey'll jis' bust away, jis' bust, an' all de stuff git right on yuh an' dat's de end.
(What will that do? Why do they bury those eggs under the doorstep?)
Dat's tuh run yo' crazy. Jis' lak - dere's two things dat dey'll do tuh yuh. Dey kin run yo' crazy wit 'em. An' den if yo' got a wife - jis' [like] ah got a wife heah an' she done quit me. Ef ah go an' take dem eggs an' bury 'em undah 'er do'step an' she don' come back, she'll go crazy. An' when she come back tuh me, she can't leave me no mo'. An' she kin take 'em an' go an' bury 'em undah yuh do'step, an' if yo' don' go back tuh 'er yo'll go crazy or eithah yo' won't live wit nobody else but 'er, until she dig 'em up. (The first you said, it was to set somebody crazy, but they have to find those eggs though. Doesn't somebody break them or they won't work? That right?) Yo' ain't gotta bothah. Yo' jis' goin' tuh feel tuh go out dere an' dig round undah yore do'step, or maybe jis' yo' wanta see sompin an' yo' jis' diggin' undah dere or somepin. (If they bury those eggs under your doorstep and you don't find them, does that have any effect on you?) Yes, if she don't nevah go an' find dem, dey do's jis' as much harm if she don' go an' fine [find] dem as it does tuh fine dem. De name is on dem eggs.
Entry 9414
Yo' jes' kin take two fresh aigs an' bury 'em an' say, "Make dis person change 'is min' an' let me stay heah," an' bury it underneat' de house. An' when dem nine days is up, evahthing will be all right jes' lak it always been.
(They can't make you move out of the house?)
No, can't make yo' move out.
Entry 9417
Now, if yo' constantly come tuh mah house, an' maybe ah'm carryin' on somepin dat ah wouldn't Want chew tuh come in mah house, ah wouldn't wan' tuh be bothahed wit chew. Ah wan' tuh make yo' leave an' don' come back. Ah go an' borrah two eggs from yuh, says, "Ah jes' gotta have some aigs. Will yo' loan me two until ah gits some more? Ah'll give dem back tuh yuh tuh- morrah or such a day." If yo' go past dere house at night, at six or twelve...
[I interrupt.]
(In the morning or night?)
In de morning or night, at six or twelve. Ah dig a hole dere an' ah put de eggs down dere an' ah say, "Now dis is tuh divide yo' an' me." An' ah put an inch space between de aigs. "Ah don' want chew tuh cross ovah heah no mo'." Ah Say dat when ah put 'em down. "Now ah wan' chew tuh stay on dis side an' ah'm gon'a stay ovah here." Don' let yo' cross, yo' see.
Entry 9481
Ah heard yo' could git some cookin' salt. Ah've heard dat chew kin take salt, cookin' salt, an' if anyone was kin' of a enemy of yo', dat is if yo' an' him has had some disagree- ment some way an' he seem tuh be a enemy of yuh, dat yo' could bury it undah yore steps, an' he'd walk ovah it, dey say he'll even come - really aftahwards - come tuh be yore friend, comes all de way 'long.
Entry 9510
Ah heard yo' could take salt an' sprinkle it roun' yore house. Yo' know, bury it undah de do'steps an' - if yo' wanta sell likkah an' keep de law away from dere.
Entry 9624
Sulphah an' red peppah an' put nine teaspoonsful of salt in it, an' bary it to de back do' an' to yore front do', an' dey couldn't stay dere tuh ave dere life. Dey may stay two or three weeks but dey won' stay. (You mean in the house or around the house?) No, yo' jes' bury it right undah yore back steps. An' den go to yore front step an' bury it 'bout de same place - under de front steps. An' dey couldn't stay dere to save dere life.
Entry 9667
A shell - yo' see, w'at ah shoot in a gun. Git dat gunpowdah [out of the gunshell]. Git choo a box of sulphuh an' [a box of] salt, an' dig a hole right off down in dere in front dat-a do'. Don't put it on de step, dig a hole in fronta de do'. Put some tuh de back [door] an' some tuh de front [door]. An' ah bet chah, ah guarantee dat woman wouldn't stay tuh dat house fer one day 'fo' [before] she'd be huntin' huh anothah house. [Almost every- ohere in these volumes to get a box of sulphur, salt, anything, means a new or amused ingredient. Often the remainder must not be used for any non-hoodoo pur- pose.] [This man "said he was from the South and didn't speak well" - note made at time of recording.]
Entry 9677
Well, some people take a penny an' dey nail it right down in front of de do' - a one-cent piece. Dey go tuh de back do' an' dey nail down anothah one. D go tuh de sto' an' git chew a box of Red Devil Lye potash. Yo' git chew a bran'-new box of salt. An' yo' go out in yore gate, right in de mid- dle of yore gate where de people transfah in an' out. Yo' dig a hole down dere at zakly [exactly] six inches, an' yo' take dis salt, dat whole box of salt, an' empty it right close tuh de box of lye. An' aftah yo' emptyin' it close tuh dat box of lye, yo' say lak dis: Three daid men looked outa de winda': One had no lung, de othah had no tongue; De third was deaf, druonb an' blind. Behold de spirit looked on me, As ah speak to yo' three times a day. Only goodness an' mercy shall follow me from dis day on. Yo' say dat all de while yo' po'ing dat salt on topa dat. An' aftah yo' git done why yo' cover this lye up - an' dat's also fo' bringin' customers - an' de potash will drive away de law, keep de law away.
Entry 9680
[Take] potash whut chew wash clothes with, an' take table salt, an' take dis here sulphuh, an' take one of dese here John de Conkah roots, an' put all dis tuhgethah, an' yo' take it an' bury it undah de steps. Don't let no one see yo'. If anybody move in dat house an' yo' don't want 'em tuh move in dere, dey ain't goin' stay in dere. Dey can't.
Entry 9732
If yo' want tuh kill a woman or a woman wants tuh kill yuh, she could take six rusty nails an' git a piece of yore undahclothes, an' [or] ole stockin'. Takes it an' drop it intuh a quart jah an' screw de top on it. An' left about three holes in it, where jes' a li'l' sand kin drop in dere. An' bury it undah yore steps, if yo' aren't scared. An' den yo' walk in an' out an' back an' fo'wards [over it]. Jes' as de sand drop in dere, yo' [inside the quart jar] gits sick. Well, yo' git tuh de play [place] yo' won' be no mo' good tuh yuhself or nobody else. An' de mo' sand drop in dere de mo' closah yo' gits tuh yuh grave. Jes' kill yuh, yo' know.
Entry 9747
Kin do dat easy. Jis' lak now if yo' sellin' a lil' drinks, now. Yo'll git nine nails an' yo' bury dem nails six days. Yo' bury dem nails. (Where do you bury them?) Right tuh de foot of yuh steps. Den aftah dat yo' drive one heah, drive one dere, an' drive one dere, drive one dere, drive one dere, an' yo' drive one heah [etc.]. Nine time.
(Drive them right around the steps.)
Yes, right around de steps.
(Down in the ground or into the steps?)
No, right on de edge of de steps. Yo' drive nine nails an' yo'll have de dhiskey in dis house. An' he'll come in heah an' he ain't goin' intuh dat room yhere de whiskey is atall. He come in anothah room an' look aroun' an' say, Av, dere ain't nuthin heah," an' he go on. [Charleston, S. Car., 603:2.]
Entry 9750
Peoples bury 'em, bury nails, big nails, at a certain distance, yo' know. Nine nails. An' dat will keep de law away. (Where do they bury these nails?) In de ground roun' de entrance, roun' de front yard where dey 'sposed tuh come in. Nine nails, jes' de p'int down. [Wilson, N. Car.,
(1454).2643:6.]
Entry 9759
You kin take these nails, tenpenny nails, and you kin drive 'em in the ground where some person that you doesn't like or want to move them, you move them with nails. And when you drive 'em in the ground and make your wish, you drive 'em head down an' p'int up. Or you kin drive 'em at your doorstep and nail them down under your control. You use nine nails.
Entry 9764
Take yuh nine bran'-new nails, nine [new] needles. Take 'em an' put 'em in a sack, a piece of white clot' [cloth] whut nevah had no scissah in it, no mo' [more] dan whut yuh cut it tuh sew it, an' put 'em in dere. Bury 'em undah yuh front steps. An' if he come tuh de front, sweep in tuh de back all de time.
(I see. That'll keep the law away.)
He goin' tuh stay away.
Entry 9771
Well, ah've hear'd of settin' dem nails. Jes' lak comin' up tuh yuh do' dere [in interviewing room] yo'd set dem nail wit de point down - pointin' away [demonstrates]. (Pointing away from the door.) Yes. An' [you] have tuh boil all of dem nails in sulphuh, brimstone, peppah an' bluestone. Dey [unwant- ed person: law, rentman, etc.] can't come [in] tuh save dere life. [Here I turn- ed off recording machine too soon, missing the first few words of the demonstra- tion]...place dem up lak dat [demonstration continues]. (How? Have the point straight out like that? [I demonstrate]: And all this stuff is underneath there [the doorsteps]? This lime and all this stuff?) Yes.
Entry 9790
Well, now, fo' de whole house, yo' would have tuh take two needles an' cross dem lak a "x". Yo' first bury a can of red seal lye wit de top off of it; jis' let de dirt come ovah in it. (Where do you bury that lye now?) Yo' bury dat lye where dey constantly have tuh walk ovah it. Now, aftah yo' bury dat lye, befo' yo' covah it wit de dirt, yo' put de two needles cross lak an "x" wit de points out. Yo' put dem on top of de lye befo' yo' covah it. Yo' don't covah it till yo' put de needles dere wit each point, one pointin' dis way an' one de othah way, yo' understan'; but out, out from de house. An' yo' covah dat up an' when dat lye dissolve den yo' gits results. (After that lye dissolves then that landlord can't ren that house; if he does, the people can't stay there.)
Entry 9797
Yo' take needles an' pin 'em in a flannel rag, an' it must be needles dat have nevah been used, an' yo' wrap dem in a angle an' fold'em in a angle, an' dat brings a lotta trouble. (How many needles did you say?) Three. See, yo' stick dem through de flannel lak dat [demonstrates], chew know, an' den lak dat.
(Like the spokes of a wheel?) [See diagram in preceding rite.]
Yeah. Den yo' wraps dem up an' yo' buries 'em.
(Where do you bury them?)
Undah de steps.
Entry 9802
Yo' kin take now an' git chew a bran'new pack of goldeye needles an' put one in each corner of yore house. Yo' know a house is got fo' corners to it, a house dat wuz made straight. An' put 'em in each corner. Have to dig a hole, ah think yo' know, tuh bury it. Yo' know, yo' bury it down in dat hole an' say - but chew have tuh say some words behin' it, too, yo' know. When yo' say dat it keep de policeman away.
(What words do you say behind that, do you know?)
Jes' lak de Son an' de Holy Ghost. Yo' know, jes' ah tole yo' while ago, jes' repeat dose: Hope tuh God de policeman stay away, "In de Father an' de Holy Ghost."
(You don't say the Son?)
No, dey don't say de Son.
Entry 9807
Well, dey takes a tin plates, new tin plates, an' sulphur an' six nee- dles to each plate. Take yo' six plates an' put chew six needles in each plate, an' set 'em roun' de spots yo' goin' dig at, an' burn yore sulphur wit chure needles in dere wit de points layin' dead in de sulphur. An' dat will keep 'way de spirits from comin' in. (When you are hunting money? Those points are pointing to this little bit of sulphur in that plate?) In de center of de plate. (When you are hunting money?) When yo' huntin' money. [See also section SPIRITS GUARD BURIED TREASURE, pp.111-135, vol.1, and elsewhere.]
Entry 9813
Well, yo' go git chew nine needles, nine pins; jes' take nine needles an' nine safety pins. Jes' cross de needles an' put de pins up an' dom. See, heah's de needles crossed an' heah's de safety pins across dem. Lak if yo' have a piece of cloth heah [demon- strates] an' yo' stick a needle across in it dere, yo' stick a safety pin lak dat [demonstrates] but don't hook it.
(You put the safety pin across this needle right in the cloth.)
Dat's right, but don' hook it, undahstan'. An' yo' take dat den - aftah yo' git 'em in dere, yo' take dat piece of cloth, if dey anywhere aroun' neah an' jes' take it - yo' ain't gotta bury it if yo' don' wanta. Yo' kin wrap it. Yo' kin bury it middleways of de steps, if yo' git undah dere. Go right middleway of yore steps. Don't have [to] bury it or yo' kin do it, jes' in de middleways of de steps. Dey ain't goin' stay dere long 'fore dey be gone.
(This will move them out.)
Yes sir, dey won' come roun'. Dey won' even come up dat steps no mo'. Dem same nine needles ah's tellin' yo' 'bout, dem same nine needles, yo'll cross de firs' one across. Put de needles 'cross an' de pins straight up an' down - de safety pins.
(Get a piece of cloth like that?)
Yes, an' put dem in dere an' let 'em stay in dere, an' put it 'way somewhere. "Stead [instead] of 'im goin' off, he'll stay roun' dere. De person dat's been bothahin' yo' is goin' tuh leave dere, an' de law ain't hardly goin' come. Dat's whensomevah yo' wants tuh run dis person dat's bothahin' yo', an' whensomevah yo' wants yore customah tuh come tuh yore house an' de police tuh stay away.
Entry 9814
Ah.don't know what de herb are, but yo' take dem nine needles if a woman come tuh yo' [informant thinks I am a doctor] an' want a man. He [the wanted man] got anothah woman an' she want tuh git 'im. He [doctor] tell 'er tuh take nine needles an' put 'em on a thread. Have one jes' a li'l bit 'bove de othah. [Informant is illustrating.] Jes' come right on - nevah let 'em be even - jes' come a li'l bit above de othah. An' tell 'er tuh take dem nine nee- dles an' bury 'em undah de do'step. Well, evah who [whoever] dis man is, if she wan' 'im, he's comin' an' de [other] Woman can't [do anything about it] 'cuz she got 'er wit dem needles, see. Now, ah know dat's true cuz... (She can't come, why?) She can't come where he is, no sir. She can't go tuh save huh life.
Entry 9821
Ah've hear'd dey could bury - dey ties nine needles togethah am' grease dem with de grease dey call axle grease an' bury dem dat ways. An' hit on dem nine times, not hit dem all on de same masi'. Dey bury 'em in three parts in front of de do' an' hit 'em nine times fo' nine manin's. (Hit them once each morning?) Once each masin' an' dat will - dat's tuh drive a person away - yo' know, jes' die. Yo'll jes' fade away. Nails also [can be used].
(Either nails, or needles and pins?)
The pins, eithah nails. (And the needles. And you put three, in groups of three. And you must hit each one of those once?) Yes.
Entry 9823
Dey kin bury nine needles. Point de nine needles up an' put dem intuh de groun'. An' yo' walk ovah dem nine needles. An' dey have de points right straight up from de groun' an' put dat right in de mid- dle of yore do'. An' den dey kin put nine nails. Put nine nails wit dose nine needles an' yo' walk ovah dose nails, yo' see, an' dose points. Dat goes intuh yuh.
(You don't have to step on them?)
No, yo' don' have tuh step on 'em. Dey have 'em buried, but dey have 'em pointed upwards. Yeah, dey has 'em pointed upwards.
(What would that do to you then?)
Dat would give yuh pains.
Entry 9826
If you want somepin to happen, somepin to do, he said yo' take nine needles an' bury 'em about a foot deep in the ground, an' [take] a red onion an' put with it. An' take one of those [packages] of needles an' stick in that onion. An' yo'll overcome all obsticles. He said they had to be goldeye needles.
Entry 9832
[Here is a rite said to come from Doctor McKinna, who has been mention- ed somewhere else in the printed text.] Take nine goldeyed needles. (These men down at Clinton [North Carolina], you say were root doctors?) Yessuh. He [one of these root doctors] give a man nine goldeyed nee- dles. He named 'em, evah one [of the needles] an' he had dis man [client] tuh take 'em tuh a green tree an' bury inside of a green tree, In de Name of de Lord. An' dat fellah he buried 'em fur, he went tuh bed. Hit [it] made him sick.
(What did he do, name each needle the same man?)
No suh, name de needles. [Informant misunderstands my question.] Lak ah said, dere nine in de family, he name 'em evah one of dem.
Entry 9836
Git chew nine needles. Yo' have tuh git de goldhead [usually goldeye] needles an' put five of 'em haids up an' turn fo' of 'em [heads] points down. An' yo' kin bury dem at chure gate where de people walk ovah - at de front gate. An' nuthin in de world will do yo' any harm.
Entry 9840
Take nine needles an' nine pins an' bury 'em in yore gate, see. Well, dat will cause yo' an' yore family tuh bust up an' put chew in hard luck so yo' alone. But chew must go an' git dem nine needles an' things an' don't talk to nobody when yo' leave. An' carry 'em to de runnin' watah an' throw 'em ovahbo'd. An' dat family will be busted up an' won't nevah give yo no mo' trou- ble.
Entry 9843
Dey said git a wasps' nest with nine needles, brand-new needles an' nine brand-new pins an' put de pins dis way an' de needle haid dat way, object [opposite] each othah. An' take dat an' yo' know, 'vide [divide] 'em up in nine pieces, split it, stick it intuh de Wasps' nest, holes [cells of the nest] yo' know. An' go 'long where dis person at an' jis' drop it, an' dey'll walk ovah it.
(That will harm them? What will it do to them?)
Well, it will jis' cuz 'em tuh rave an' go on home an' raise disturbances wit mos' evahbody dey meet. (You take these nine needles and nine pins, and you stick them into that wasps' nest.) Make nine holes an' stick each one in dose nine holes an' let 'em walk ovah it an' dat would make 'em very cross.
(You bury that in the ground, then?)
Bury it right in de ground.
(You leave those needles sticking in that wasp's nest?)
Dat's right. (That will cause confusion and quarrels and things of that sort.)
Entry 9844
Dat's tuh fasten a man. Jis' lak yo' had a husban' an' yo' wanted 'im down, an' he couldn't bothah yuh about [what] yo' wuz doin' or goin'. Yo' cud take nine needles out a bran'-new package an' yo' kin take nine straight [new] pins. De needles have steel in 'em an' de pins don't. Yo' kin take a strip of papah jis' off a tablet an' write dis individual's name. An' yo' stick a needle comin' tuh tuh, an' de p'int, stick a needle goin' from yuh - comin' tuh yuh an' goin' from yuh till yo' stick nine needles. Den yo' stick de pins all one way, de nine straight pins, stick each of dose p'ints tuh yuh [demonstrates]. Den yo' would take dose needles an' jis' slightly, jis' [stick] lak dat [demonstrates], chew might say, abou' two or three inches in de ground. Aftah yo' put 'em in dat concernin', ah wanta jis' cross dis party's name. Den yo' kin turn dose needles down. an' yo' make yore wish how yo' want 'im tuh be. An' den jis' covah slightly wit dirt or somepin ovah it dat he may walk in an' out ovah it daily. An' dat'll keep 'im quiet. Dat'll keep 'im down.
Entry 9860
An' yo' take dat same frog an' yo' tie 'im tuh a lightwood [pine] splintah of a tree struck wit de lightenin'. Yo' git a splintah, a fat splintah [pine splinter filled with pitch] an' yo' git chew some black thread - black silk thread - an' yo' tie dat frog aroun' dat. Yo' don't kill 'im. Aroun' dat splintah. An' yo' buries dis frog tuh de do' [of] de girl [you] is tryin' tuh make or marry an' yo'll soon marry dis girl, or yo' an' 'er will be sweethearts an' stay tuhgethah - live tuhgethah. [The splinter here is not the ordinary small sliver that runs into your finger; it can be large enough to hold a frog and much larger, a stick of wood to burn in the stove. This splinter should come from the actual wood split by lightning, not from any other part of the tree.]
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 9885
Take a toadfrog an' make anybody be out dere mind. Cut off 'is feet - yo' know, cut 'is toenail - ah call it toenail, an' put 'im in parchment [paper]. Tie 'im up an' bury 'im in a stump. [Informant may have omitted something here, such as writing victim's name on the parchment paper; but intention alone would be sufficient to power the rite.]
Entry 9928
(Oh, the shoe! You mean the rubber tire - automobile, the inner tube, the inside tube?) Yes, sir. Well, all right. Well, yo' take dat an' burn it an' git de ashes of it an' take sompin - take a little ole rock camphah an' put wit dat. See. All right den, well, now an' den yo' ketch yuh a toadyfrog. Yo' understand now. All right, ketch yuh a toadyfrog an' ef yo' don' wanta kill de toadyfrog - ah done fry de toadyfrog, fry him in a pan. An' git de grease outa 'im an' put dat in dere. An' rub dat on de bottom of yore foot [feet].
(What will that do then?)
Dey can't harm [cunjure] yo'. [The burning of the rubber tire, causing a bad odor, deters witchcraft; see Scatologic Methods to Repulse Witcheraft, Nos.16481- 16499, PP.903-909, FOLKLORE FROM ADAMS COUNTY ILLINOIS, 2nd ed., 1965.]
Entry 9933
Yo' kin take a person's stockin's an' take de same thing, toadfrog dust an' bury it in de root of a tree, a young tree while it's yet growin', an' in a few yeahs dey'll pass away. Dey daid. (You mean you put this frog dust in this stocking?) No, yo' take de same dust an' wrap it up in de socks an' pick yo' a good little place in de root of de tree, whah de root growin' whah it's goin'a covah it up. Well, fin'ly dat root covah it up an' smothah it so it cain't git no air, yore gone.
Entry 9945
You can take the shoe and you can bury it at the step, but before you yary it you put some parsley in it. And get one of these here bullfrogs - these toadfrogs - and bury that at your step, an' she'll have that man under her all his days. You put the frog in there too with the parsley, in the shoe and bury that shoe, and she would have hin under her all the time.
Entry 9946
Dat's tuh bring a man back home. Well, dey takes 'im an cuts 'im half in two - dat's de tadfrog - cuts 'im half in two an' buries 'im around de house. Dat is supposed cab bring de man back home. Jes' one toadfrog.
Entry 9954
Dey could take a frog an' put 'im in a box an' git nine goldeye needles an' bur'[ [bury] 'em am [around] a chimley or some place lak dat. An' go dere evah mawnin' about nine o'- clock, an' fuh nine mavnin's. Yo' bur' de box, den stick de needles up on top, an let it be crossed up; stick de nee- dles [crossing one another] all aroun' on top of it [box]. Yuh go dere nine panin's an' pray fuh de person tuh die. [In country districts years ago around the chimney was sometimes the toilet and a convenient place to hoodoo a person by buried object. For a remarkable example of this see the woman haunted by a buzzard.]
Entry 9955
They kin take the forg an' bury it undah yore do'step. Bury it undah there an' cause yo tuh have hard luck.
Entry 9993
(What do you mean yoo were running a house?) Running? Well, jis' liktah joint, gamblin' joint, all lak dat yo' ondahstan'. An' he [root doctor] said dat'll hold de laws away. Well, ah diddat
(What did he tell you to do now?)
Take fo' [four] frogs, fo' toadfrogs an' care [carry] 'em an' put 'em undah each pillah [pillar] of dat house in de fo' cornahs. [The average small house in the lowlands rests off the ground on 4 wood pillars.] Well, ah did dat.
(What did that do?)
Oh, no! Ah nevah had no trouble while ah wus dere an' ah stayed dere fo' two or three or fo' yeahs. (You mean that was to keep the laws away?) [Notice how much later I use his word laws.] Keep de laws away. Ah nevah had no trouble wit fellahs. Kin'dove [kind of] a jute [jutebox?] house, yo' undahstan'.
(What house?)
Jute house, yo' undahstan' - sellin' likkah an' gamblin' an' all lak dat.
Entry 10071
Yo' [some enemy] kin take yore track an' a black cat's bone an' bury it in de cemetery, an' in about nine or ten days - about a week latah - yo'll suffer. Yo' will have dis same cat, of yore own, in- side of yo', if yo' don't try to git shet of 'em.
Entry 10134
[Well, jis' say fo' instance if yo' had done kilt a man or somepin lak dat, well now heah's [what you do]. If de road goin' no'th an' so'th - well, prob'ly if it's goin' east an' west. Well, [demonstrates] heah come de mainline road comin' down heah. All right, heah come two fo'ks comin' intuh de mainline road right chere. (Making a big "Y".) Yeah. Well, now, dis man - if yo' done kilt a man an' don' want 'em tuh hahm yo', yo' ketch yuh a black ket an' yo' cut 'bout, well yo' may say about three inches of his tail off. Well, when yo' git tuh de fo'ks of dis road - now, mind yo' now, dis is de mainline road comin' down heah. If dat's a pale [dirt?] road, if it's goin' east an' west, or eithah no'th an' so'th; well, now, if dat's a hard road or concrete road, yo' step right back tuh de right. Now, yo' git de undahstandin'. Yo' come when yo' get tuh de fo'ks of dis road, yo' go right back tuh de right. Back back, don't go fahwards. Yo' go right back six feet from de hard road, jis' backwards. Well, right down dere yo' dig jis' about a half a-feet an' bury dat black ket tail right dere, an' complete de Lord's word, say, "Fathah, stan' by." All right. Now listen. Now, yo' do dat an' - don' go back dere de nex' mawn- in'. Let it be roun' about three or fo' 'clock, but don' go back dere de nex' mawnin'. Come back de third mawnin' an' do dat same thing, jis' back back - yo' ain't gotta bothah dat tail - jis' back back six feet [from the road] an' say, "Fathah, stan' by." Well, yo' do dat three days in a week, until nine mawnin's. Evahthin' will be all right. (That is, the law won't track you or won't get you. Now, you [I] do that this morning, then I wait three mornings before coming back, or I wait only two morn- ings. before coming back?) Now, de firs' mawnin' yo' go, when yo' put it down dere de firs' mawnin', don' go back de nex' mawnin' but go back de nex' mawnin' [the morning after the next morning] yo' undahstan'. De firs' mawnin' yo' bury it down dere. Well, de nex' mawnin', de second, don' go back de secon' mawnin', but go back de third mawnin' yo' undahstan'.
(Then you don't go back the fourth morning?)
De fo'th mawnin' an' den de fit' mawnin' an' - now don' go back no mo' dat week. Jis' go three days in de week. Jis' go three days in de week until nine [days]. See, three an' three is six an' three's nine.
(It takes you three weeks to do that, then?)
Jis' put it in in three weeks, yessuh. (You only go there three times in one week and then you have to wait until another week.) Anothah week an' den de next week.
(You leave that black cat tail there?)
Yeah, jis' let it stay right dere.
Entry 10212
Tuh separate 'em. Yo' take dis man when he deal wit yo'. Yo' wanta break dem [man and other woman] up. Yo' take dis man when he deals wit yo' an' yo' take dat towel dat yo' an' him uses, see. An' yo' take dis towel tuh dis woman's house - if yo' kin locate where she live at - dis woman he's runnin' roun' wit. Den yo' bury dis towel down right at her do'step, where she have tuh come out at. Yo' bury dat towel dere an' den yo' take some bluein' - Purity Bluein', see. See, yo' takes bluein' an' ink an' mix it up combined. Yo' kin jis' sprinkle dat towel, on dere, an' den yo' bury dat towel right up undah- neath whah she have tuh walk at. Dat'll break it up. Dat break it up, too.
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 10226
If he has an inter- co'se wit his wife, she takes a dishrag an' cleans him off an' takes an' bury it in de fiahplace; takes an' bury it while it's damp any place, an' he can't have no interco'se wit no othah woman but her.
Entry 10227
A woman kin go to her kitchen an' git de disbrag an' let him wipe wit it. Take dis dishrag an' bury it in de east cormer [one of the east corners] of de house, an' if he go to other woman in dis town, he back out
[unable to keep appointment].
Entry 10233
He use de cloth, yo' know, an' yo' [woman] bury it right down in [under] de eave [eaves] where de rain wash off de house, an' dat will conkah dem [man]. Dat makes him stay home [keep him away from other women].
(The cloth with which the woman has wiped the man?)
Yea, dat's right. Dat's it. Bury dat right down 'neath de house. Dat's good.
Entry 10237
He wus a married man, she wanted him. All right. She goes to this here ole lady, this ole lady in Chattanooga, Tenn., called Aunt Dinah. Eberbody in Chattanooga - you can call her name from here and eberbody - you can ast de co'thouse about her, jes' ast anybody. Jes' call de co'tenhouse [because her special- ity was court cases] and ast any- thing about Aunt Dinah, an' you'll git hist'ry of her from right here today. She goes to Aunt Dinah. Aunt Dinah says, "Well, kin you go to sleep with him?" She says, "Yes." "Can you have dealings with him?" She said, "Yes." She says, "You take a string, and when you have dealings with him, ' she says, "you measure around him." When she measured this man around here, she carries that to Aunt Dinah. Aunt Dinah takes that and she buried it in graveyard dirt. And after she let it stay in graveyard dirt two day, she told her to carry it back. She wrapped it up in red flannel and put old sharp needles, points stickin' straight up, and [said]: "Carry that back and sew it up in your bedtick. Put it on the side where he's got to sleep; and as long as that is in your tick, that man will stay with you and he'll quit his wife."
Entry 10238
An' den it's anothah one, see. Dis [first] woman, yo' know, loved dis man. Dis man, he wuz goin' wit a [second] woman. An' she [first woman] loved him yo' know, an' she wouldn't do nuthin [to stop himl. He would do dat. So [first woman] she says, "Well, he's good to me, "' says, ''but he goes out an' has a big time wit othah wimmin." Says, "Ah'm goin' stop dat." Okay. Dey goes to bed dat night an' dey got connection together, yo' know. Oh Lawd, she wus so good to him. Oh gee! An' dis an' dat an' so. An' so she says, "Wait a minute, honey, ah'll dry yo'." She take a new han'ke'ch'ef an' she dried him. When she dry him, she dry him lak dis - lak dis [demonstrates but not on body].
(Upward three times.)
Three times, yeah. An' de last time she'd jes' lak dat, yo' see. Stop dat rag [handkerchief] dere. "Oh, baby, it was so good, so nice. Oh Lawd." She stretches her lak dat. Mmmah. Dat [semen] caught in her han's, see. Threw it [new handkerchief] down [on the floor]. So she taken dat rag dat nex' mawnin' - she takes dat rag an' she sews it up in de pillah dere. An' he lay on dat ever' night fo' [until] nine mawnin's. An' de ninth mawnin' she takes dat out an' she puts it on another place. An' from dat day on, she could go off her- self, an' he nevah did have chance 'nuff to he himself do lak dat. An' when he do lak dat, it wuz her all de time. Jes' kept together.
Entry 10242
I've heard of 'em takin' a handke'chief an' measurin' [a man's penis] so many inches, don' choo understand. I don't know whether it's six inches or what it is. An' they'll tie it. I think, the handke'chief in three knots, an' they will bury it. That'll make that man, don' choo understand leave home. That's what I heard 'em say. That'll make that man leave home, don't choo understand an' go the Way that they want 'em to go. They's some women, don't choo understand, they - you know - they don't [want] de man themselves an' they don't want choo to be there wid your people. An' they'll do anything in the world they kin to break 'em up.
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 10561
Bury bat heart at your doorstep to keep law away. [Vicksburg, Miss., 1002:3.]
Entry 10601
[This is the only rite in HOODOO where informant pretends I am the proprietor of a gambling house. Several of these pretenses elsewhere in these volumes I have called my being a guinea pig; a willing one, if it produced a hoodoo rite.] You can take a bat and take and kill a bat. You can take the wing, you bury the wings. Just like if this is a house where you going to gamble at, you bury one wing on this side of the house, one wing on that side of the house. You take that backbone of that bat and you get you some emory dust, you get you some Hearts perfume [has a number of small red hearts on label] and you get the name of the man that's running that place.
(You mean that gambling landlord.)
Like you is the proprietor, I'll get your name.] I'll put all of that together and wrap it in a flannel, and I'll put that in my house. See.
(Not in the gambling house, but in your own house?)
In my house, and as long as I'm got control of that thing, I kin control that gambling house. I'll be winning. I may go in there and lose a dollar and a half today, lose a dollar and a half this evening. I'd go back there tonight [or to- morrow] and I would win.
(I see.)
Entry 10659
Yo' ketch one dese big ones - big red ones - an' yo' take three of 'em an' put it [them] in a bottle, dese red antses. Yo' put 'em in a bottle, three, an' buries it tuh de steps. Dat's tuh broke up de house an' family an' make dem move out.
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 10730
If a man an' a woman, yo' know whut ah mean, a woman an' a man in dat kind of a line. Well, yo' kin take dat an' bury it. See, jis' lak if ah jis' pulled off mah underclothes, it's gotta be somepin dat's on dose clothes so's [so as] yo' kin do anythin' lak dat. Yo' understan' whut ah mean. See, jis' lak if a woman's ministratin', it's gotta have some of dat stain on dere. See. An' dey buries dat, jis' bury it anywhere, see. An' den when dose clothes begin tuh rot well, she begin tuh linger, sick fo' a long time. An' as dose clothes be rotten, she be lingerin' sick, yo' see. An' when dose clothes finish rotten aw [a why], den dat kills her right dere.
Entry 10734
Dey come an' git dey sanitary clothes an' bury 'em, an' dat cause de woman in bad health an' lak dat. An' she cain't have no chillern; see, because dey won't even ministrate.
Entry 10735
Dis woman take her [an- other woman's] periods, jes' lak one of her napkins an' bury it. Dat will make her [other woman] leave yo' [your] husban' - [alone] leave him. She won' bother with him.
(Will that do anything to her?)
No, it won', jes' make her, [other woman] leave him [your husband] off. He won't bother with her.
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 10750
Yo' kin write his name in your monthlies an' bury it up undah de south part of your house an' put a brick ovah that an' he nevah will leave yo'. (You write this with the blood of your monthlies. What do you write it on?) Write it on papah. Write his name an' yore name both. [The original typed word preceding the word part was side, the two words transcribed side part. On checking the cylinder, side was actually something like sud or sut, actually south, which I corrected in pencil. Years later, just now (1976), I inked in south. The sun now keeps warm the two names buried on the south side of the house. An excellent ritel]
Entry 10837
Yes, sir, a butterfly root. And you take that - yo' know dere's milk in it. Yo' kin bring it to yere house. Jest dig it up and break that up - break it, jest pull de leave on it an' see de milk drop. An' yo' [take] that and it stings jest like de house is become yore [word or several words dropped = bete noire, obsession, hoosoo, etc.]. Yo' kin [take] that and bury it right out yonder to them steps an' yo' ain't nevah goin' come no further. You wanta come in de house but you cain't go [in]. You keep agoin' by. Yo' be comin' by but yo' cain't come in.
(You just bury it out in front of the steps?)
Yeah, jest take it and bury it there jest somewhere front of de steps or any- where where yo' know he ain't nevah goin' to raise his foot up to come in. [This is the common butterfly weed, a milkweed with showy orange flowers (Asclepias tuberosa) common to the eastern U. S. A.]
Entry 10838
If yo' will stew a buzzard down an' yo' wanta put it aroun' some enemy's do' an' bury it, an' dey says that that person then will become sick an' he will die.
Entry 10839
About de vulture - de buzzards. Ah heard dat chew could git de redhead buzzard an' cut his head off, an' boil it an' git his brains, an' put it in a cup or in anything, jest confine it an' dig to de clay [dig through the top soil] an' bury it. Said dat would give you luck.
(Where do you bury that?)
On de no'th side of de house.
(Do they have any buzzards around here?)
Dey had red [head] buzzards heah, yes sir.
Entry 10840
Ah hear 'em say dat dey take a buzzard aig. Yo' git hit dey said an' yo' heat it hot.but not cook it, an' yo' could carry it to a certain place around a person's house, de do' where dey visit around. An' yo' put dat - name it, yo' see. Yo' write dere name on it an' it'll either run 'em away from dere or dey nevah would have no success dere. Ah heard dat.
Entry 10841
Taking a buzzard feath- er an' bury it to yore do'step an' dat'll drift yo' 'way - make yo' leave home.
Entry 10849
If a person is stuff, yo' know, an' den dey maybe says [let us stay], dat dey has some lodestone an' dey had it workin' in dere first, see, but dat han' [of the body] is tod stiff tuh feel de money when dat lodestone draw it. [A piece of lodestone band- aged on hand before or while gambling.] Dey kill a buzzard an' bury him three days [see v.1, p.533, line 34] see. Den dey will cook dat buzzard an' den dey git dat oil, strain dat oil, an' jes' lak when dey go out in de middle of de night, dey [leave gambling room] take dat buzzard oil an' dey grease dere joints wit it, jes' a little, not much [see No.ll49, p.422, v.1] jes' grease. Aftah dey grease it, well dey come back in [return to gambling room] - grease all around an' grease back of de ears. An' dat makes 'em soup-ple [supple] an' dat makes 'em see whut come in [buzzard has keen eyes]. [While outside] put lode- stone in dere an' take it an' jes' git dat skin up enough tuh put a piece about de size of a button right in dere! An' den put a silver dollar on his tail! An' jes' come in dat house an' jes' take yore han' lak dat...
(What makes the hand stiff, though?)
Ah dunno, stiff joints. An' dey wanta be soupple, see, an' dat buzzard oil is mighty high. [If this rite means what I think it does, there is nothing quite like it! However, see the following rite for something similar.]
Entry 10857
That I worked my ownself. I take - I worked it myself.
(Oh! All right. What do you do?)
I takes nine tacks. Listen, nine tacks, and then I would take me a [dead] black cat, and I would bury that cat underneath the steps. Understand? And after I bury that cat under- neath the steps, den anybody what live in dat house, they couldn't live in there, they would have to move; but you yourself that owned the place, even if you would ogve in there, you would have to go to work and take even that cat and dig it ap [Informant with one stroke of an imaginary shovel dig up imaginary cat and throws it away.]
(Throw it away, like that?)
Throw it away.
(Well, what do you do with those nine tacks?)
The nine tacks? If anybody move in, they would move in and move out.
(Well, where do you put those nine tacks?)
You put them at the front of the door.
(How do you mean, you tack them to the door?)
Nine - you make 'em crossed, that is, five one way and four the other. That would be nine, you see. (Under the door? Under... the steps or on the side of the steps?
[There they could not be seen.]
On the sill.
(I see, where you couldn't see them?)
Yassuh. Just when they coming inside there, put them on the sill like there - on the sill, there [points].
(I see. I understand.)
And quite naturally, when their feet would step there, why they couldn't see the tacks because the reason why, their feet would hit [rest] on the tacks and they couldn't see [them]. When they look down, they wouldn't see nothing but their feet.
Entry 10858
( Git de hairs from a black cat's neck, right back of de neck an' take a aig. Take a black hen's aig, hairs from a black cat's neck - dat's if yo' wanta draw a person - an' write dat per- son's name on dat aig. An' put dat hair in dere, wrop it up, an' bury it undah yo' do'steps, an' dat'll draw 'em.
(Do you put the hair on the inside of the egg or just on the outside?)
Write de name on dere an' put de hair right on top of where yo' write de name on it, an' jes' put chew a little cloth around it.
Entry 10862
Take a cat hair, clip it off de end of his tail, if yo' got a wife dat's runnin' about an' yo' Want her tuh stay home. Yo' take an' bury it in de middle of de house an' she'll always stay round in de house. Yo' bury it down underneath de house in de ground. She will always stay round in de house. [As I have explained many times, these low- land houses are raised off the ground, a person can crawl under them. This is also a quincunx rite, a central or fifth point among four other points or cor- ners: see 9467 where mattress has 4 corners and the center has a salt bag; and No.9487 where salt is in 4 corners and the center is 2 sticks crossed - an un- usual quincunx! etc.l [Fayetteville, N. Car. (1415), 2549:7.]
Entry 10869
You see, you take the cat's hair. (Where from?) Off her tail. (Off her tail, I see.) You take the cat hair off her ail and you see, you scrape this [demonstrates] but you scrape off four of 'en.
(Four corners of the table?) [The work table between us.]
Off the table. And you wrap it up in a little piece of [meat?] skin amd yoo yary that up under the back step. That's if you got a cat and done like it and nt it to stay home.
Entry 10905
Yo' take them fingernails an' toenails an' mix 'em, yo' know, wit de same thing - cat's an' dog's bristles an' things, an' bury 'em undah de do'step an' dey'll leave town. If anybody want yo' [them] tuh leave, dey'll leave - jest break up an' jest leave, run away. (Whose fingernails and toe- nails do you take?) Take a man's, either [a woman's]. Yo' know, if yo' want de man tuh leave, git his toenails [and finger- nails]. If yo' want de woman tuh leave, git hers. An' mix them together lak dat an' bury 'em undah a do'step. Bury them where dey gotta walk in an' out ovah them.
Entry 10910
Used for back luck, too. They take a dog's hair and a cat's hair and put it together, and the person's name with it, and sew it up together an' bury it close to that person's house. And they'll want to kill everybody in that house. They get together like cats and dogs and they're fighting and killing one another and scratching and biting going on something terrible.
Entry 10911
Dog manure an' dog hair - see, dey gotta git dat dog an' cat tuh fightin'; see, if yo' Wanta separate a man an' a woman. See, yo' git - lak mah, ah have two little white dogs now. Well, yo' git a cat an' git dem tuh fightin' an' clip de hair right quick while dey both mad. Yo' put dat tuhgethah, dat cat hair 'de dog hair, an' dog manure an' cat manure, an' rat manure. Well, yo' ba de three things don' git along, don't chew? Yo' know de cat hates de rat 'de dog hates de cat. So yo' throw dat in dere. It really separate any man wife an' it will make 'em move. Throw it in de room, jis' lak ah come in ah. Fo' instance, ah wanta have sompin in mah han'. Ah could be sittin' heah 'd coald be jis' sprinklin' it aroun'. [I replaced the original four-letter odd by amure.]
Entry 10914
I know what they do with that. Just like if you has a sweetheart and she done left you and is living with someone else, well you take this dog hair and cat hair and you mix it to- gether, see. And you get you a lemon. (A lemon?) Yes, and you cut this lemon open and you stick this dog hair and cat hair in there with their name - their full name. Put it in there and mix it together with cayenne pepper - in the lemon - and bury it and they never get along.
Entry 10915
Like if I got a woman and she living with another man and I want her to break up with him. Well, I take some hair from a dog and from a cat and I gets me a lemon. I cuts this lemon open and I put them two party's names in there - this woman and this man - names down in this lemon and this dog [and cat] hair. And I takes a candle and I light it, and I close it back up [see later] you know, so they won't fall from it. Close it right up and I bury it. On the dark of the moon, I do that. And they won't get along.
(Where do you bury that?)
I just take and bury it anywhere in my yard.
(I see. You seal that lemon back up with this wax from the candle?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 10916
Heard dem say if folks wanta give you bad luck, dey kin go to grave- yard and git graveyard dust. And they kin take - and dey kin git some hair off a dog's back and cut de hair off a black cat's tail, and bury it under yore door, and dat will give you bad luck. (All those things together?) Suah [sir], all dem together and tie dem in a sack and put it under yo' door and give yo' bad luck.
Entry 10934
Catfish blood is supposed to be lucky fo' a gamblin' hand. Well, dey take de catfish an' cut him, an' de blood comes out, see, bleeds out. Den yo' take dat blood an' yo' wrap it up into a rag an' yo' bury it an' let it stay buried fo' eight days, so ah learnt, an' den take it up out of there an' put it in yore pocket an' dat supposed tuh be lucky [probably if you gamble on the 9th day].
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 10940
If yo' in a house an' de man's hard on yo' wit chure rent, yo' take one dese channel cats.
(A channel catfish?)
Dat's right, an' whilst it's 'live, cut him open. Yo' cut dat channel cat open an' whilst it's hot, yo' take an' bury dat undah de steps where de rentman gotta tuh come ovah, an' yo' kin stay dere jes' as long as yo' wanta. Yo' gotta bury it undah de steps.
Entry 10946
If yo' wanta run off de whole family - well, if yo' move de head, why de body gotta go. Git chew three cedar limbs - gotta be long as dis arm [demon- strates]. Go right in front of dere threshold - in other words right in front of dere do'step where dey comin' in an' out - an' cross dem. Jes' put 'em in dere an' kiver 'em up. Dat'll drive 'em off. [Informant demonstrated rite, I repeat his actions.] (You take three of them - one down like that, and one on top, and one on the bottom. They are crossing, those three things. Why do you use three [to make a cross] instead of two?) [I had expected to hear the 3 Holy Nomes but informant came up with an unusual answer!] Why do you use three? Dere's Faith, dere's Hope, an' dere's Charity. An' in usin' dem, yo' lay dem down an' yo' call 'em jes' like dis, "Faith, Hope, Charity."
(And they have to move.)
Entry 10960
Dey use de chicken's blood fo' evilness, but now, it's somepin else dat dey have tuh use wit it. Dey takes chicken blood an' writes people's name wit it. Dey have tuh use a feathah. Dey take de feathah out of de chickens tail. Take an' write a person's name wit chicken's blood an' kill 'em. Why yo' uses dat feathah fo' yore pencil an' yo' kin write dere name in de fo' cornahs on anything an' fold de fo' cornahs, jes' lak dat. Why dat gives 'em a awful mind. If it don't kill 'em it will jes' [have] dem passin' away all de time. (What do you do with that paper then, after it has those names on it?) Take dat papah aftah yo' put dat name on it an' bury it in undah dey do'steps or any place wit dat chicken blood on it. Yo' write dey name wit de chicken's blood, dey perfect [full] name fo' times on de fo' cornahs of dat papah, an' fold it an' bury it undah dere do'steps or undah yores, any- body's elses. It don't make any diff'rence jes' since it's in de earth. An' as dat chicken blood passes away, why it gives yo' success. Dey cain't stay any place.
Entry 11019
(Ever hear of them using chicken feathers for anything?) [An old note of mine adds: Always asked this question to see whether Negro believed in witch wreath.] Well, er...ah.... Jis' lak a person doin' somepin tah yo an' yo' wanta git rd of 'en, yo' take some of de feathahs outa dey bed shere dey sleep at an' yo' put dis oil of bergamine [bergamot] an' sweet oil togethah an' jis' grease dose feathah with 'em, dat chew got out de bed from where dey sleep. Jis' grease dose feathahs with 'em an' take 'em an' put 'em in a can or somepin an stop 'em up, an' take 'em tuh de south side of a tree not very far from dey house an' bury it dere. See. An' when dem dere feathahs will finally pine away - dey'll jis' pine away tuh nuthin. Dey jis' git sick an' dey sick on dey stomick an' dey jis' ache all ovah. An' it jis' sompin lak de rheumatism an' cain't no doctor [M.D.] do 'em no good an' event'ly dey'll die.
Entry 11032
Suppose that you leave home and the woman want to bring you back home, Want you to come home. Now, what will she do? She'll take a feather out of a rooster and get a forked stick, like this [demonstrates] cut it off here, stick a feather in that, by splitting it, you know. And stick the rooster feather in it, and name that rooster feather for whatever de man is named. And stick it in de back yard, where she want him to come, just with the top of it out, and he'll come back.
[Here is the forked or "Y" stick.]
(Just the top up with the feathers on the two sticks up?)
De fork [corrects me by demonstrating]. (You put the fork down in the ground. And that handle - so the handle is split with the feather in it?) That's it.
(But you cover that up a little bit?)
You cover up de wood but leave the feathers sticking out.
(Oh, you leave the feather sticking out. I see.)
Because the feather is named him - is named for him. Leave the feather sticking out. Say, now like, "John, I want you to come home and stay here." You stick that down with the feather out, and John will come.
(John will come home.)
[While machine is turned off, informant explains and I repeat it.]
(Now, "John, go away from home." You prepare it the same way and bury it. Then they take it up? Then he'll leave home?)
[Informant repeats what I had missed.]
Now, if you want John to go from home, why you just name that same thing to John and carry it out from home and bury it and den he won't come home. (Oh, you bury it away from home! But if you want him to come, you bury it in the back yard?) Yes, sir. [A note of mine in green ink years ago reads: notice symbolism. I suppose this means: to bring back, the handle or stem of the Y stands up人; to send away it stands Y - the shooting away position for a rubber-shooter. For a similar "Y" fork rite, see in wishbone rite in No.]
Entry 11046
To keep dem [law] from de house? Now, if you Wanta a little liquor kept [for sale] in dis place heah and you don't want no man to come in on yuh nov. You go on your station house and git one of de man's name that you'll find out. Git one, two or three - if you kin [get] nine it's much better. De ore you get de stronger it is. If you can't git but one [name], den work on dat Bne one, but let it be de leading man dat you knows is asking about you - to yoar acn judgment. Work by your own judgment, de judgment of your ear. Git dat man nae and git you a brand-new piece of board and write his name. Put 'en cross de world. Write 'em cross de world to you and write 'em backwards.
(Backwards and forwards.)
And dey can't come in fer de devil. And nail dat onto your step and dey can't be seeing you. Not when you nail dat dere. Git you de heart of a chicken and it got to be a black chicken. Cut de heart out of it. Git dat wishin' bone of de chicken breast and you take dat heart wit your hand on dose letters. Put 'em dere so it can't be rub off - on dat board. (You rub this heart over those letters?) All over dose letters, all up and down like dat. And talk at de same time. Tell 'em dat [what] dat spirit is got- ta to do. You don't want no law to worry me. You wants to be up dere selling whiskey. Ah don't want dat law to worry me. Ah don't want no kin' of law. Ah don't even wants 'em to come heah fo' a drink of liquir or beer. Ah [wants] 'em to pass by and keep on passing by. Kin go right in next door but won't come in chere. Take dat wishing-bone, and be shore dat you go. down in de groun' to your shoul- der and turn it down -人. Don't turn it up -Y
(Turn the wishing bone down, the points down?)
[Here we have rite similar to the forked stick or "Y" in No.11032.]
Turn de two prongs down. And while you have - doin' it, you talk to 'em. An' if you know any de officer's names, don't let any come in dere, de fed'ral offi- cer back, de county man back, de city officer back, de state controller, back. Dat take in all 'em, ain't it? Go on over and over. And if you git dose three class of officers, you know why it is, don't you? De federal, de state control- ler, git de county and git de highway man. Den you go to work.
(Where do you bury that wishing bone?)
Under your step, right under your step. Be sure to go under your house. Den you put dat bone. If you ain't got no front, put it in de middleways of de house. [This center under the house and the 4 corners of the house make our rite a quin- cunx.] Dat almost stop people jack-jacking to the front.
Entry 11064
Dey tell me yo' gits a piece of newspapah, an' jes' lak dis yo' makes a 'V' lak dis. Keep a-makin' it lak dis, keep a-makin' it lak dis. Keep a-makin' it lak dis. Yo' make dat nine times dis way. Yo' take dat papah an' yo' stick it in front of yore steps an' put salt - covah it wit salt an' jes' pull it. Jes' pull it- dis part heah yo' turn it back dis way. Dat's fo' 'em not tuh come in, an' pull it dis way an' yo' turn dat back dis way. Bury dat undah yore step in front of yore do'way an' den come cross an' covah dat wit salt an' dat will make 'em stay out, dey say. (I want you to draw that for me to show me just how it is done. You make your mark right on that piece of paper - this is a newspaper now [let this be the piece of newspaper you mention; probably handed informant a sheet from my note- book]. What kind of mark do you make? [Informant makes a mark.l You make a mark sort of like a crescent, it goes to the right and comes back like that.) Now, dis means "stay out, don' come in." Now, if yo' want a person tuh come in dere. If a person out an' yo' want 'em tuh come in dere, yo' jes' turn it dis way [demonstrates]. Dat means 'come in.' Dis means [demonstrates] 'stay out." (Well, those half circles, crescents, when the arc of the half circle is out from the door, that means "come in.") Yo' understand dat. [I certainly did!]
Entry 11118
Yo' take de oil of a coconut an' put dat up intuh a little jar an' bury dat at de no'th side of de house. Dat's supposed tuh keep yore husband at home or yore wife at home. [Originally I considered this oil of a coconut as the usual pharmaceutical coconut oil, but it could be the coconut water or coconut milk, which confined in a coconut would have confining qualities in hoodoo. This could also be said about coconut 011.
Entry 11159
Ah saw in there [in a book?]. It says if yo' take a piece of devil's- shoestring an' put it in de Bible, an' let it stay ovahnight, an' put it in a man's path where he walk, he won't have any mo' money - yo' know, jes' as yo' tell 'em to go, he'll go an' do. [Reference lost!]
Entry 11178
Take three pieces of devil's-shoestring an' put it [one] on top of each other. An' de shortest piece, jest how long yo' want dem to stay dere, yo put it on dere long, yo' know, an' cut it in a piece like dis an' dey'll move. Ah see dat tried. (Where do you put that devil's-shoestring then?) Down at dey front do'step. (You take three pieces. Here's the long piece, and you put a shorter piece on top, and a shorter piece on top of that, and you bury it that way?) Bury, cover it up, or either put it in a box or somepin an' put it down dere, an' dey'll leave, dey won't stay dere. [These 3 pieces of different size mean almost simultaneously: (l) you decide to move, (2) you prepare to move, and (3) you move. This can be done in 3 hours or 3 days or 3 weeks. Reader may not find everything in the rite but it is there.]
Entry 11180
( Git devil's-shoe- string an' yo' take an' bury hit at de fo' corners of dat person's house. Den yo' git underneat' de house an' bury it right in de center of dere bed, an' dey'll be uneasy an' restless, dissatisfied until dey move.
(You have to get five pieces of shoe-string altogether - devil's-shoestring.)
Yes.
Entry 11181
Now they take the nails an' they drive them down into - jes' lak yo' take dat Red Seal Lye, dat has five holes in it, an' they take an' drive a nail in each hole of the lye. An' they bury this lye undah the house an' they git it near as they possibly kin ovah that lye [devil's-shoestrings] on the inside of the house. They put whut they call de devil's-shoestring, that's a little weed- as near ovah the top of that [can of lye] as they possibly kin. That's tuh make this person weak, sickly. (They put this devil's- shoestring over that and they bury that can of lye.) Bury that can of lye jis' undah de house as near as they kin. Jis' say fo' in- stance, if dis wuz his bed, they bury it undah that as near as they kin git to it undah there. They then come up an' try tuh put whut they call de devil's-shoestring - which is jis' a little weed-lak, yo' know - put it as near undah [center] de bed as they kin.
[This is surely a quincunx rite.]
Entry 11186
You take dat to de crossroads - dat nine strands of de devil's-shoestring dere. (Nine strands?) Of devil's-shoestring. (You take a piece of devil's-shoestring?) Devil's-shoestring, and you kin take nine strands and plant it at de crossroads: dat three in de east, three in de west and three in de north, and de south is open. And cover dat up. Under- stand me, after you cover dat up, den say one word to dat. Dere you are, and turn around and go away from it - dat's a very diff'rent proposition.
(What does that do?)
Dat's a detrimental character, dere you are. If you want a person to leave from 'round you, dere yo' are.
(I see, that will make them leave?)
Shore.
(You take nine strands of the...)
Devil's-shoestring.
(You put three strands to the east.)
Three in the west.
(Three west.)
Three in the north and leave the south then open.
(What do you say when you do that?)
I say, "Go, damn you, go."
(I see, you say that and then you cover it up.)
Cover it up dere.
(Where do you come from?)
New Orleans - 219 Ramport Street.
The informant describes nine devil's-shoestring strands at a crossroads, three each east, west and north with the south open, covered with a command to make a person leave. Repeated questions clarify placement and wording; the source's command and variable ordering of speaking and covering remain explicit. The later personal address is context only.
Entry 11226
Nine dirt dauber's nests, 9 pinches out of victim's left foot track, pound up together, make wishes over, take to a grave of evil person, bury you there, you will soon die. [This is my condensation of a long rite in the material of an interview missed by my transcriber. I never had time to return to it. Original condensation in pencil attached to final manuscript.]
Entry 11230
For real good luck - real shure 'nuff good luck - yo' kin steal a dishrag outa dere house. Jes' slip [in] unbeknowst to 'em an' steal a dishrag, an' go ahead an' bury it some place way out [where houses and people are few] an' yo' git all de luck an' dey won't have any. Dey have yorn bad luck an' yo' have dere good luck.
Entry 11264
[As I said in No.7228, p.3216, v.4, "I met a galaxy of doctors in Charleston, S. Car., before I had sufficient experience to handle them. Two years later I would have been better prepared." This man has also appeared in the preceding text as follows: No.1221, P.434; No.1417, P.464; No.1638, p.507; and No.2209, p.629. Here follow other parts of the interview:] Dey take de watah yo' take a bath in, tuh do anythin' tuh harm yuh. Dat's only de occasion of if a man wanta woman, don't want nobody else tuh be wid'er. (How would you do that?) Well, dey take de [bath] water and put it in a bottle, nine needles, and de sill of yo' doorway - cut a piece of [a splinter from] de sill of yo' doorway, [dat] piece of stick dere [points to the saddle], de sill of yo' door - and dey put dat in de bottle. And you call her names and [informant shakes imaginary bottle].
(While you shake it up.)
While you shake it up. And den maybe she wanta go. Yo' turn 'em [bottle] back [to you] and she come dere - towards yo' place [demonstrates].
(You turn the head of the bottle back to you and she will come back?)
Dat's right. If he know de person and he steal it - if de person [from whom it was stolen] know him, know his [thief'sl name - if he haven't git rid of it, you kin make dis person, dis other person, and he will give it up, because he figured on it and he'd be in trouble. And in doing dat you'd have to have de root chew call Indian Conker [Conquerer].
(Indian Conquerer? What do you do with that root then?)
You take dat root, de Indian Conker and Devil's shoestring and put it toget- her [in a bag with string?] and tote it in yore pocket, and she [bag] spin around jest like a top and tell yo' who in dis section, who got it.
(You spin this around?)
You spins it around and until you asks it any question you wanta, according to how you feel it. [Here we have ubiquitus Jack - an individual, companion, fetish - who answers questions by swinging out the answers. Our great example of this device I have mentioned several times, the Jack-ball (ball hanging from a string) of informant No.1534, the doctor I interviewed in Memphis, who gave us that great page 1254 in volume 2.1
(Then after you have found out who has it, then what do you do?)
You go to the person and he'll give it up. [Yes, at the time of this interview, the average thief would restore the article if a doctor was working on the case.]
(That's when you found out who stole it?)
Yes.
(Where did you learn? Who taught you how to cure? From whom did you learn?)
My grandma Was a West Indies.
(Oh, your grandmother was a West Indian. I see. What part did she come from?)
Kingston, Jamaica.
(Where did she live when she came to this country?)
Why she came down here in slavery time....she died 1909 - see - in dis part of de country - to Meggetts [Meggett], South Carolina, Posting Line [postal ad- dress].
(Where did she live during her life in South Carolina?)
Over to....[?] South Carolina.
(What was her name?)
Flora Linton, Milton....
[I must have turned off machine accidentally.]
(Flora Milton. And she could heal people. She knew all this work. And you learned from your grandmother?)
(And she came over here in slavery time.)
Slavery time.
(Did you ever hear of Doctor Buzzard?)
I have known Doctor Buzzard.
(Was he good?)
Aw, his method all right. Some things was all right and some was not. Any man is good to kilt. Any man kin take a shotgun and write a man name and blow his brains out twelve clock at any time.
(How did he do that?)
With powder!
(And he boosted that kind of work?)
That's his daily occupation.
(I see. How long has he been dead?)
It's round about seven - eight years. A root doctor meet a root doctor dey kin tell one anothah. Why? Because de' use a stick dey calls de gum-bush sticks.
(What?)
Sweet gum.
(They call it gum?)
Gum-bush stick and that come to crossing their mind. You don't tote dat stick, but you cut dat off when yo' first start out and bury it in de ground. Hell, dey may have it buried in New York and may not go dere no more through life, and if I'd meet chew and you do mine [my line], well I kin tell if you outen my line [of work]. I kin tell.
(Well, how can you tell, then?)
By de spirit, using different points.
(You wouldn't question me or anything? You just let the spirit tell?)
That's right. See, I'd git mad wit chew; jest like two dog would meet one another an' git mad. Know then you was out of my line. You ain't not in my line. But I'm better 'em you but you ain't got to won yo' point. Yo' can't hurt me, but I kin hurt chew, but then I don't want you to be long wit me be- cause the other fella think I'm doing the same work you doing. That's how we tell one another. (You bury this stick when you first begin your work before you take your first case up?) That's right. (And always leave it buried the rest of your life, you never go back there again.) No mo'.
(Who cuts this stick?)
You cut it yo'self.
(And you bury it yourself?)
That's right. Cut it with your left hand? (You cut it with your left hand. And where do you bury it? How do you bury it?) At sundown.
(What do you mean by that?)
Jest like you stick a stick in de ground when de sun go down. See, it be dat tall [demonstrates] maybe dat tall, and you beat it down dere until you git it down to the ground. (And then you beat it down to the ground in the sunset - sundown - all the way into the ground, and then what do you do?) Well, then you jest throw a penny in the hole and yo' tole 'em what chew wanta do....whether you want to be de master king or such and such a thing, or you wanta be de master king of....of all roots, and don't want chures root to sour on hand - that's why yo' bury yo' stick. See, if yo' medicine sour and a person bring it back to you next Monday, "This medicine ain't no good - it sour." And you take it back and cure it again. Give dem the same medicine back and ther carry it back there. (You never go back to that stick again, and you drive down all the way into the ground.) That's right.
(Do you do anything before you leave this stick?)
No, jest pay it and then go on about chure business. [No other person men- tioned such a gum stick.]
Entry 11291
[In addition to the following material, there are other dog rites scattered throughout HOODOO, especially in that long group of cats-and-dogs together, 49 rites: No.10881, P.4087 to No.10930, p.4096, v.5.] Git chew a stick, cut off de length of dog; nose, tail an' all - de measure of his body. Dis little bunch [of hair] de end of his tail, cut dis end of hair, tail [hair] off altogether an' take it an' bury it undah de do'steps. An' dey say yo' take de dog an' lead him outa town, give him 'way tuh somebody or tie him off [away somewhere]. Dem peoples will leave [town].
(That will make that person leave - out of town.)
(If I wanted you to leave town, I would get a stick. Any kind of a stick?)
A hickory stick, a green one. (A green hickory stick and I would measure that dog - any dog, no matter who it belonged to. I would measure this dog from the tip of it's nose, down to the tip of it's tail, and would cut the stick off just that length. I would cut off the hairs of the tail. Then I would take this dog out of town and tie it some place. Then I would bury this stick and this hair under your doorstep, and that Would make you leave town?) Yessuh.
Entry 11296
You wanta man stay away from your house, sompin like dat, why you git a hair from one dese man [male] dogs. See. And jest - I'm making reference [giving an illustration] now - jest like you wants a man, you figure dat a man worryin' you, wit you and your family. Why you'd git some hair from a dog. You git it right off de - you know where his tether at, you git some hair right from de end of dat. All right, you git dat hair and you take a knife and you cut it up, cut it up fine. All right, after you cut dat hair up fine you carry it and you put it to dis.fellah door, right under de step. See, and bury it about three or four inches. See. After you bury it about three or four inches, you walk away from de house about ten steps. After walking away from de house about ten steps all right, you walk backward about five steps - backwards. See. You walk five steps backwards. All right, don't walk de way you walked de first time, dose ten feet. [Walk backwards at an angle.] All right, after you walk backward now, gotta walk side- Ways about 20 feet - sideways. And then you keep on about chure business and go on home. That'll keep him away from your house. See, he'll never come back. [Those preceding words hair right from de end of dat I understood at the time but failed to annotate their meaning to the cylinder. They could signify the end of the rope and hair from around the male dog's neck. These hairs then would have tied the victim down to his own home, kept him away. If so, surely the hairs would not have been cut up. Or would they? I still think these are phallic dog hairs cut up and buried at the victim's door. That leaving, the steps forwards, walking backwards at an angle, and finally sideways at a right angle, is my only example in HOODOO, though there are many examples of magic walking away.]
Entry 11297
If someone done any harm to yo', yo' ketch yo' a dog - not chure dog, neither yore cat - an' yo' take dis dog an' shave de hair from right underneath his tail, right dead up close to his tail as pos- sible. Shave it off an' take dat an' take an aig, an' break dis aig an' take de yellah out of it an' leave de white, an' den yo' put dis hair in dat shell. Den yo' set it in de stove wit a little sulphur in it an' parch it. Jes' set it in dere lak yo' bake a apple an' set it in dere till it's parched till it crumble down de center. Don't yo' have to mash it - jes' crumble down in de pan. Den yo' take it out an' bury it at de front step. Dis individual who have done somepin to yo' will come back - come back to yo' an' beg yore pardon - either [or] he will go so far away till yo'll nevah have no contact wit him any mo'. Dat's whut dat'111 do. (That is all you have to do - use that dog hair and that eggshell and the sulphur?) An' de sulphur.
Entry 11310
Lak ah'd give yo' a houn' dog an' yo' want him tuh stay home, jes' take an' cut off about dat much of his - de tip end of his tail. Ah've done dis. An' cut a little of his bristles right between his shoulders an' carry it back home an' bury it under de steps. He'll stay home.
Entry 11314
Take a dog's hair if he's bad - mean, cut off de end of his tail an' bury it right down to de do'step, an' he'll be all right.
Entry 11374
Well de fig tree is always goin' tuh be good. Yo' work good wit dat. Anything, yo' understan', tuh do or whut chew want it tuh do. (How would you do that?) Well, yo' jes' only put it at de root, anything whut chew wanta use in dat. Jes' lak if yo' wanta do ne good, an' wanta give me even good luck on it, yo'll put it at de foot of a fig tree. Yo'll jes' take me an' name me. An' den when yo' name me, why, co'se den yo' jes' only write mah name an' den yo' write whut chew want done. An' den yo'll put dat down at de fig tree root, but chew put it in dirt. Dat's all ah know 'bout dat.
Entry 11380
Git a ole rusty file, understan, what somebody haven't used and you kin file that file. In other words dig a hole about two steps from the door- step and put a hog foot down in dere. An' then go about two steps further and you drive that file down about two inches under the dirt. An' of course when you drive it down in, using three words. Conseguently, it won't be long till that's gone. (What three words do you use?) Well, you drive that down, In the Name of the Father, Name of the Son and the Holy Ghost.
(I see. What will that do to them then?)
Well, they have to go. That will set them going.
(Make them move.)
Entry 11383
(You bury the file under the doorstep? This brings trouble into the home?) That brings trouble in a home. (The point must be....) Extendin' [pointing] to de house. Yo' don' wanta bury it dis way on de step [demonstrates]. Yo' wanta bury it dataway, extendin' to de house an' kinda elevated up. Dat brings trouble in de home.
Entry 11388
Take a file an' place it undah yore [their] do'step, dat cause 'em tuh move. Git a piece of dere clothes, yo' know, a piece of cloth in dey garment. Prob'ly a person when dey washin' or sompin lak dat, not knowin' dat yo' have anything against 'em, cut a piece of dere garment off an' use it. Bury it undah yore [their] steps. Yo' have to do it at night quite natural.
(Whose steps do you bury it under?)
Undah dere steps. (If I wanted to harm you, I would get a piece of your garment and bury it under your step?) Yes.
Entry 11492
[This is the very first rite given by a young woman who came into the interviewing room without saying a word, not even answering my greeting, pulled out a deck of cards, and standing opposite the table in front of me began to run the cards - tell my fortune. I no longer remember ghat she said but I am certain it was something favorable or flattering. The rite given here is page or rite No.l of her interview. On this sheet I wrote soon after the interview: Memphis, second trip, 1518 [informant's number],43 Sages [this does not mean full pages but rites, some of them very short like the present one]. My comment at the close of 1519 [presumably on page 43] reads, ne girl, 1518, when she first came in, took out a deck of cards and ran through them. Will break up [interview later]. Several removed for cures and protectior To be guoted in part in Interview Section. This I never did.] Dey say dey kin git de dust from yore foot track an' use it, an' bury it some place an' cause yo' tuh lose yore eyesight, yore hearin's - accordin' tuh whut dey wanta do - yo' know, jes' 'fect any part of yore body. Dey kin cause it tuh be yore death or sompin lak dat. [As I have said somewhere in this section, in- tention is everything.] [Memphis 2685:1.]
Entry 11580
A lady [doctor came here and] rub his feet...she said somebody had got his tracks. And she come here and ketch him and [had him] take and make a track out in de door. And she'd taken de track up and taken de track and put it in a bag. She put de track in a bag and carried it to a old log in de woods and buried it under dere. He got well from dat.
(But who got this track under the log, the woman that was curing him?)
De lady dat was doctorin' him, and she was named Minnie Begrun, de same lady dat cured myself.
(That's all she did to cure him.)
Entry 11582
Why dey'll jest chip off a piece from de toes or de heels [foot track from informant's preceding rite] dere. An' dere's somepin dat dey has dey put it in [it in, a cloth] and dey sews hit up tight wit a brass pin. An' dat sup- posed - an' dey jest put dat anywheres in de house, or buries it underneath de steps. An' if dere is anybody around dat dey don't keer much about, why yo' won't go back to dat house no more.
Entry 11590
Ah hear'd of 'em pickin' up de tracks, zhoo know, way [where] people galks along. An' dey jis' take up de san' [from the heel of both tracks, right and left] in de han', zhoo know, an' take a piece of chewin' gum, jis' lak yo' git out de sto', an' chew it. An' take dat an' wrap it all up togethah, yo' know, an' go to a tree an' bo' a hole in de tree, an' put it in dere, an' close dat tree up. An' de nex' day dis person will be gone, dead and buried.
Entry 11629
You take this feesh, you split it open just like you gonna gut it. You open that feesh and then you take that feesh and you puts the man's name in there and you fix it. Put it...
(Wait a minute! Don't leave anything out. What about his name now?)
You take his name...
(Yes?)
And you put his name in de feesh...
(Wait a minute! What about his name?)
[I must have turned off machine accidentally because I repeat what informant says.]
(Ah, nine times. All right now. All right.)
Yes,1 nine times you puts the name in - on a piece of paper into the feesh.
(All right.)
You takes the feesh and you covers this feesh back up whole again. You takes the feesh and you takes a string - a piece of thread No.8 black - and you just tie it all over on that until you gets it together tight. Then you take the full length of the feesh and you put it in the ground just like it is. And then in the ninth day, if you see this party, he'll give you the tale about it, how he would be on the wandering on the drag. He'll never be able to make no kind of any way - no successful at all - with dat feesh.
Entry 11641
( Git chew some Red Devil lye, a[ [new] box, an' put a box of dat lye to each one of yore do'steps, an' bury it about dat deep [demonstrates] to each one of yore do'step. An' if yo' don't use de lye, den yo' kin git chew salt fish an' dey can't cross dat.
(That will keep the law away?)
Keep de law away from you.
Entry 11665
You go from home to the fork of the road sometime.
(You go to the forks of the road, then what?)
You go from home to the fork of the road. You, somebody wants you to do somepin for 'em to harm 'em [someone else]. You take you a frizzly chicken, you stand on the left-hand side of the fork of the road, and you got the per- son's name you wanta do harm to. And kill the chicken and put their name inside of the chicken and bury it. But it have to be before day in the morning, after twelve and before day in the morning. (I see. You bury this frizzly chicken and that name in it, the name of the person you want to harm?) Yes.
Entry 11713
Well, it's a root whut chew call de Georgia [George?] crooked root. It grows an' it has a red flowers. Now, yo' kin take dat root an' yo' kin bring love in yore home. Yo' take dat root an' yo' dig de root up. Put it up an' let it dry. An' aftah dis root is dried, yo' cut two 'nitials in dis root. De root grows about dat big. Lak if yo' cut L. A. or whoevah name it is. An' yo' wanta be successful in yore home an' yo' want peace dere, yo' cuts two 'nitials in dat root. Yo' bury dat root up undah de do'steps an' dat will bring plenty peace in de home.
(What do you call the name of that root?)
George Crooked root.
(Where does that grow? Around here?)
Ah nevah see any in dis state but dere's plenty of it in Georgia. [Is this the Georgia bark tree, Pinekneya pubens?]
Entry 11742
Dey kin take an' dress 'em [shoes up with graveyard dirt an' cayenne pepper.
(How do they do that?)
Why, they kin put it inside of a shoe; or they kin take that little leather [insole] out at de bottom [of the shoe] and they kin dress up. Take that out an' bury it. [That makes] feet ache and hurt all de time. (Well, now, are those two different things you have told me or are they all the same thing; that stuff in your shoe and bury it? Do that at the same time or do they do them at different times?) Well, see, these are all right separate, but they be all right together. So one at de time probably dis month and next month, probably two, three months afterwards - something like that - but it be all right together. [This is a skillful piece of tact!]
Entry 11847
I've heard that a man and a woman - a woman couldn't get along with her husband or any man, that she would like, you see, could take some of her hair. Take, get some of her hair and get some of de man's hair and put pepper between it, you see, and put it in de path where dey walk over dat. Dat would separate dem. (That is, if I wanted to break up these people, or if the woman wanted to break up the man?) Yes. Doesn't make any different [difference] who it is if you get some of each one's hair.
Entry 12057
In case if sometime a man an' wife is confused, yo' know, lak some confusion in de family. Some kinda dissatisfaction an' wanta bring peace an' harmony, den if yo' kin git a lock of de man's hair or a lock of de woman's hair, an' go tuh de graveyard an' git some graveyard dust. An' den git some of de dust of dere insteps of dey individuals' feet, see.
(Where they walk in the ground, their track?)
Yes, whether dey bared feet or whether dey have on shoes, jes' so it's from de instep of dey feet. An' dey git some sulphur an' some brimstone an' mix all up. Beat dat brimstone tuhgethah fine an' mix all dose tuhgethah. Sew it up intuh a flannen rag - cloth. Sew it up good an' tight, an' yo' kin drop a few drops of camphor; dat's tuh keep it alive, quicken it. An' jes put dat roun' de do'step, bury it two or three inches in de earth. An' dat'll bring peace in de home.
Entry 12153
Ah heard of a person takin' a hickory stick an' if dey give - jes' 1 lak yo' an' dem in a fight or sompin lak dat. Well, dey hit chew wit dat stick, an' dey take dat stick an' bury dat stick an' call yore name three times. An' dey tell me dat in nine days - ah didn't see dis done, but ah heard some people say dey have witness de same thing. Dey say in nine days dat person will be dead.
(All you do is hit that person with the stick?)
An' call dere name an' bury dat stick by de man's relative dat las' died, yo' know, in de graveyard. But chew bury it right by de person dat las' died, an' call dere name.
(Call the name of the person you hit?)
Yessuh. An' in nine days, why, if dey don't drop dead, dey jes' die sudden.
Entry 12154
Now, if a man's stayin' on a place an' yo' want him move'd from dere, yo' cut chew a growin' hickory stick an' carry it an' bury it down at his do'. If dat man has a mule, yo' kin always notice dere's a certain corner dat mule go tuh pee. Bury it right down somewheres near dere an' let it dere fo' nine days. Take it out. Let dat be on de young moon. An' go on to de cemetery an' bury it, but bury it wit de big end [of the stick] towards de sunset. An you' ll be right dere till dat house burnt down. (You have to bury this stick right where this mule waters on.)
Entry 12192
Said they git three horseshoes, an' go in de street an' pick [up] cigaret pack, an' git de tinsel [tinfoil] offen dere an' cover dose horseshoes up, an' bury 'em undah de step of de house. Dat will make dem move out. (You take three whole horseshoes and cover them with this tinfoil, and you bury them under the steps?) Yessuh. [For tinfoil not from street, see 12186.]
Entry 12206
If you got a job an' wanta hold it, why yo' go out to any little place where you kin find an old horseshoe. An' take a couple of nails - horseshoe nails - nine of 'em, an' put round dat shoe. Take it back [to place where you work] and bring them with that, an' go under in de east corner of dat place, an' put dat horseshoe down. Put in dere so nobody kin dig it up, so it can't be found, an' leave it dere. Nobody kin have your job. (You find that horseshoe that has nine nails in it and you take that whole horseshoe. You don't take the nails out or anything like that?) No, leave 'em in dere, just as is.
Entry 12231
Yo' go git chew a piece of root - John de Conkah root - and bury it in de ground 'bout three days. Take it out and git chew a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' a little bit sugah and sew it up tight in a bag. And chew you a piece ob [of] dat John de Conkah root. And when you go an' knock de boss [knock on the door?] fer a job, jest look him right dead in de eye, says, "Captain, I want a job." An' jest look him right in de eye and spit. And he say, "All right, boy, come on heah." He'll give you a job. But look him in de eye, if you want a job - look right in de eye.
Entry 12250
It have to be Red Devil Lye, de same lye dat dey use for scrubbing porches. You buy Red Devil lye in de groc'ry store, you see, but it's more... [expensive in hoodoo shops?]. Now, you git dis Red Devil Lye and after cut- ting [making an opening in] dis can, you understand, you turns it upside down [a number of "up- side down lye cans have been given in text] you see. And dere's some kind of root dey get. John de Conkah is one and it's another one. You see [there are] several of them, but I do not [remember?] even enough to know each and every one of them. And get some of dis Dragon's Blood and you sprinkle it around dere [the door]. De law will come to de door but dey will never be able enough to enter.
(Well, what do you do after you get that can open?)
Dat can - when you get dat can open you put dat can in de earth upside down, you see how it is, and cover it right back up and leave it stay dere, but it must be right to your front, de leading door dat comes in.
(What do you do with these roots then?)
Well, dose roots, well dose roots dey'll have to be right side de can. John Ce Conkah you have cause dat will conquer everything.
Entry 12276
Lak dere's a boy comin' tuh see a girl heah an' yo' wants tuh go see her, an' den she wants him tuh quit. Yo' take a pocketknife right aroun' dere [begin to demonstrate]. Yo' know, take yore pocket- knife, silk han'ke'ch'ef an' wrap roun' an' run [and bury] it roun' yore do'step. (Take a silk pocket handker- chief and wrap it around your own knife? And bury it under the doorstep?) Yessuh. An' den yo' rap on dat do'step, [do] dat 'fo' [before] mawnin'. Aftah yo' makes three trips dere, why he cut intuh dere.
(He'll live with her?)
Yes.
Entry 12283
I've heard that they take a string, one that you've worn, and take it and get hold of it, and tie a knot in it and name the knot, and ever knot is named, and they tie so many knots in that string; and then they take those knots and put them down where the individual has to walk over them. And after he's walked over 'em as many times as there are knots in that string, then that individual will become confused in his busi- ness affairs and also in any kind of work that he has to do, and he gits so he can't do it.
Entry 12295
A person did you somepin, and you take a lemon and you put some parsley in it, and you put some cinnamon in it and brown sugar in that lemon. [Brown sugar for a black person, white sugar for vhite person. Many examples in HOODOO of color scheme.]
(You put parsley, cinnamon and brown sugar. All right.)
Yeah, brown sugar, into the lemon, and you take that lemon and you go put it right under your step - under there - right under the middle part of your step, and bury it. They say that will move what they done did to you.
(Take it away.)
Yes.
Entry 12296
Like if they would like for you to move out of that house, they'd keep you in confusion all the time, if they couldn't git chew to move other w'are [other where]. They would use salt, lemon and rice. (They would use salt, lemon and rice?) Lemon and rice. (Well, how would they use that?) They'd take the salt and the rice and lemon, where- ever you got to walk over. If it's coming to a step, over a step, they would plant it under the step. Dig a hole and plant it under there. And ever time you walk over that and go back and forth, it'll always keep you in some kind of confusion in that house, and you won't never feel so very well right in that house.
(I see.)
As long as that salt and lemon sours this rice. See. And as it sours, things is getting sourer and sourer towards you in that house.
(I see. Well, do they bury the whole lemon or just the juice?)
They take a lemon. They take this lemon and stuff this lemon with that rice and salt.
(Oh! I see, I understand.)
Stuff it.
(Oh! I see, stuff it. I see, now. All right.)
Entry 12303
Ah'll take an' go tuh Krese [Kresge] an' git me a brand-new knife.
(You told her?)
Yes, an' git me a lemon an' cut de lemon up in fine pieces, jes' as many tuh eat. Start off walkin', git off, an' don't pay no attention an' chunk dem lemon seed in behin' 'em. Take dat brand-new knife an bury it under her front do'step: "De Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, ah hope ah nevah see yo' any mo'." (She wanted to get rid of him and she came and asked you how to do it?) Yes.
(She hid that under her own step?)
Yes.
Entry 12340
Yo' git three grains [pieces] of hippo roots, and one grain of lobe- lia. Yo' bury it at chure step, at de foot of yore gate. If you got a gate and de house setting back in de yard, well yo'll bury dat to - right to yore gate. De law come in dere. An' yore pickle [prickly] feet guards all over dat. [This man from the swamps used words and plant names I had never heard of.]
Entry 12378
Git chew - if it's two do's heah [in this house] yo' go tuh de grocery sto' an' git chew a can of whut chew call dis Red Devil Iye, which Southerners use down heah as potash, an' open it. Lye and pot- ash are the same in these rites, because that Red Devil Lye can has a real red devil on it!] Take yo' a tablespoon an' dig a hole jes' wit dat tablespoon, an' put de dirt outa dere track, an' yo' bury it down dere, one [can] tuh yore front an' one tuh yore back, when yo' go tuh work, an' it wouldn't hurt chew.
Entry 12381
Dey tell me de way to do, if yo' wanta put a confusion, yo' know, in a person's home. Yo' see dat way to keep 'im confused, dat chew take a box of potash yo' see, an' Red Devil lye - potash, yo' see [Red Devil tye and potash the same]. An' dig a hole at chure back steps or either yore front steps an' cover dat [can] up, an' dat person won't see no mo' peace in dat home. Dey will nevah be satis- fied while in dere. De home yo' know would be a nuisance to him, cause dat stuff yo' see is hot dataway an' it will keep him hot.
Entry 12384
Heard of people takin' a knife an' puttin' it down [burying it] yo' know, jes' lak if ah'd go ovah tonight an' put down sompin fo' somebody an' dey git up de next mawnin' sick or could- n't move or sompin, an' anothah man would come along an' he say, "Well, yo' take some lye an' put ovah that stuff' an' that kills that.
(That kills the poison they put down.)
Entry 12385
If a person take an' - anything dey take an' steal of yores, an' take potash an' bury it right at de window where yo' sleep at, an' dat potash eat it up, why he'll break out in sores. (If they bury with that potash anything that you Wear to your skin - your socks or anything - it makes you break out in sores.)
Entry 12386
Yo' kin take a box of lye an' yo' kin go out at twelve a'clock in de night, if yo' wanta run anything away. An' like runnin' away, dey tell me, dat's runnin' away de enemies of 'em - dese polices an' diff'ren' things lak dat. Yo' go out at twelve a'clock at night an' bury it down undah yore do'- step. An' after yo' bury dat dere, yo' curse de people dat chew want to stay 'way. An' yo' take a cold biscuit an' a tin nail - one dese little tin nails - an' drive right down through de center of dat biscuit into dat can. An' let it stay buried dere, de' say, fo' nine mawnin's, an' yo' kin take it up an' use it. If anything git tuh worryin' yo' - yo' havin' any trouble or anything like dat - yo' go back dere an' put down anothah can. Well, at de time yo' may not fear 'bout nuthin interferin' with yo'. Nobody won't interfere.
(Why do you put that biscuit in there?)
Ah don't know why yo' put dat biscuit down dere, but sompin othah. [One guess would be an offering to the spirit doing your work.]
(But you say you can use that lye over - you can use that if you want to.)
After it stay dere nine days, why yo' kin use it. [Normally materials cannot be reused.]
Entry 12387
Dis heah Red Devil lye, it's good. Yo' know it's good an' yo' know it's bad. Take it an' make good out of it an' take it an' make bad out of it. (Tell me how you can make bad out of it first?) Well, yo' kin take that an' eat so much dat'll kill yo', yo' see. An' den yo' kin take it ag'in if yo' know anyone wanta do anything to yo' roun' yore home an' yo' not knowin' it. Git chew fo' boxes of it an' yo' put chew fo' holes in each one of 'em. An' take yo' some bluestone, salt, red peppah an' put all dat in dat bottle [box] an' yo' take an' yo' bury dem at each corner of yore house. If yore yard evah be covered wit watah [after a rain] why yo' know den everything killed. (Everything is killed that they put down for you.)
Entry 12389
Bury five cans of potash roun' yore home: one under de step, one on one side de step an' one on de othah. Dat's three cans. An' put two to de back steps, an' dat'll keep 'em from. (From what?) From harmin' yo'. (You use five altogether: three at the front steps and two at the back?) [See illustration.] Yes sir. (At the front step you have one on each side of the step and one in the center of the step?) Yes.
Entry 12419
Yo' kin take twelve matches and bury 'em to any person's door, and when he walk over dem matches he'd have hard luck and he wouldn't stay dere long. That distance [from the door]. He has to go up across [steps] to make any headway [towards hard luck].
Entry 12472
Yeah, you see, after a man - when you kill a man and you run away and every- body huntin' you and thinkin' you ain't coming back, de man dat he killed, you kin just cut any part offa his clothes. You take that and you bury it right where dis fellov [urderer] was supposed to live. Dat's goin' bring him back. You cut just any part offa his [victim's] clothes while he's dead. That's goin' bring him right on back. You bury it.
Entry 12529
Dey said dat chew take a red onion an' split it in half, when it partways growin'. Split it lak dat an' sprinkle some sugah in it, an' carry it to a person's step an' bury it. An' dat will separate dem an' it will run dem away from dere - separate 'em or run de party out de house. Make 'em move.
Entry 12547
Well, lak if yo' want - see, a man an' a woman's been together a long time an' someone tries tuh separate 'em. See. Well, yo' kin git chew a red onion an' git de stockin' from offa her left feet, see. An' take dat red onion an' write her name on it. Take dat red on- ion, see, an' de red on- ion be round - it must be a red onion, see. An' write her name disaway [demonstrates] an' nine times dis- away. An' den take her name an' write it nine times disaway [across first 9]. Yo' cross dose names jis' right down [names slant down and cross]. An' yo' take dat an' yo' bury it. See, either where she gotta pass at - lak she gotta pass on de steps. Well, jis' put dat tuh de bottom, yo' see. An' leave it stay dere. See. Well dat run her an' him tuhgether. She begin tuh love yo' mo' an' mo'. See, dat makes her love come back, even if someone wuz tryin' tuh break yo'all up.
(That is, if the man and woman - if somebody was trying to break them up?)
Yes.
(The man could do that?)
De man would do dat yo' see tuh de woman.
(Or the woman could do it to the man?)
Well, either one. Jis' lak yo' see, if she wants de man, yo' know someone try tuh break her an' her husban' up, she kin do de same thing, yo' see, but it gotta be dose big ole red onions where yo' kin write on it nine times disaway an' nine times disaway right in a cross. See, an' bury it dere.
Entry 12548
(For a man to hold a woman.)
You take 9 of her fingernails and 9 of her toenails, and then get a red onion, and get 9 strands of hair out de mole [mold] of her head. And take that onion, red onion, and cut it open and dig a little hole in it. And then take them 9 toenails and 9 fingernails, and that 9 strands of hair out of her head, and place together and put it in there, and stop that onion up. And go round the house towards where the sun rise, and dug [dig] a little hole, and put it [in] there and then cover it up. [Copied from my rough original pen- cil transcription made soon after recording; original copy attached.]
Entry 12580
Take a penny - any copper coin - must be copper, sompin like a penny, an' put dat penny right at de right hand steps. Make no difference whut direc- tion it lay in. But chew bury dat penny somewhere where yo' would know where it would be - yo' could put somepin down dere to [so that you could find] it. An' den right at de end of de do' - yo' see dat's de outside - jes' as yo' come in de do' - make no differ- ence where de rug be - dey have a rug or somepin dere under [on] de floor, an' yo' put a hole in dat an' nail it down dere." Dat will keep dem away from dere.
(That is the second penny, you mean?)
Yes, dat's de second penny. Dat's all. Yo' want one outside, right to de - jes' lak yo' coming up [to the steps] dat must be to de right [side] of de steps. Make no difference whut direction de steps in. Dis penny must be to de right of de steps, an' de other one [penny] must be to de opposite side - de right side of de do' [looking out, but inside penny is to left as you enter]. (You mean as you come in the steps, the penny must be buried to the right hand as you are coming in?) Yes, it make no difference jes' so it's to de right hand but right under de steps.
Entry 12583
Yo' take three pennies an' nail one at de front door, nail one at de back, nail one in de middle [door]. Well if dey comes in dis [way], let 'em always come in dis way an' yo' sweep. As yo' [they] come in dis way, yo' know yo' sweep up [after them]. Yo' sweep de dust from dere feet back in de cor- nah. An' aftah yo' gits it all'dere, have yo' a bottle [jar], jes' pick it up an' put it in, an' if anything it's a bettah thing to take it an' bury it, but chew kin put it in a bottle [jar] an' burn it. [By jar I mean a bottle with a wide mouth.] But it's best to bury it. [Burning a person's foot dust could cause trouble!] Dat'll keep people coming intuh yore place - keep friends.
Entry 12584
Jes' lak if yo' wus sellin' likkah or anythin' lak dat an' don't want de law tuh run in on yo'. Whut ah used tuh do. Dey told me tuh take six pen- nies an' go early in de mawnin' jes' at sun- rise tuh de fo'k of a road, bury three [pen- nies] an' say a prayah. Goes on tuh some wicked person, or some needy person, an' give de othah three pennies tuh dat needy person. Goes on back home an' say mah prayers, say, an' dey [police] won't worry yo'.
Entry 12600
An' den anothah thing dat chew kin do, to cause 'sturbance in de home dat will break up a man an' a woman. Yo' kin take dis cayenne peppeh an' some red peppah out de garden. Let dis [garden] peppah dry an' get dis [cayenne] peppah an' mash it all up togethah, an' put it in a piece of papah or eithah a piece of cloth. It will do it bettah if it a piece of cloth. An' roll it up an' tie it up good. An' den yo', if yo' kin git in de house, git somebody tuh bury it in de hearth. Jes' take up a brick yo' know an' place it undah dat brick, so when dey'll build a fiah, it will keep dat stuff warm. An' yo' be su'prised at de racket yo' heah in dat house yo'self. It will be a few days befo' yo' see [them] go apart.
Entry 12620
Red peppah, brimstone, sulphur an' burn it an' blow de smoke [towards house] nex' to 'em an' [if people there] don' be in dey house - but if yo' burn it, yo' kin burn it in yore own house an' name it an' blow it nex' their house. Or git some of de garments of de house or somepin othah out of de house jes' since it's been worn. Well, yo' git a garment an' then yo' wrop de brim- stone, sulphur an' red peppah, an' wrop up in de garment. Take de garments to de woods an' bury it undah an' ole rotten log, an' that'll tear de home up altogethah.
(You mean after this stuff is burnt?)
Yes, in dat ole garment, jes' since it somepin out de house. Den de people all in de house - de man or de woman - well, yo' jes' take it an' bury it in de woods undah a ole rotten log.
(That is after you burn all that stuff?)
Yes, put it in that garment.
Entry 12654
Another way - the other way, take their names and put it into pepper sauce. Yo' know pepper sauce yo' put ovah hot foot - hot pepper. (In a bottle like Tabasco Sauce.) In a bottle. An' put it there [saying] de same way [words]. Put their names on there and put it in there, and then bury it. Yo' Want confusion: "I want 'em confused" in dis hot stuff [and bury it].
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 12658
Like yo' might have a girl fren' an' some other girl. Yo' might be wit chure girl fren' an' yo' like her or somepin, an' yo' wanta be on de good side of dis girl. Dis girl might be a fren' to dis other girl, but chew Want dis other girl. Yo' go an' buy yo' a pocket han'ke'ch'ef, in other words yo' buy three pocket han'ke'ch'efs, see. Yo' take dis pocket han'ke'ch'ef, de first one, an' put de 'nitial of dis girl yo' like, yo' wanna gain love with, in dis pocket han'ke'- ch'ef.
(What do you use to put the initial in there?)
Well, yo' can stamp it in dere, embroider it dere, anyway yo' wanta put it n in dere. An' yo' bury dis first pocket handkerchief, yo' see. Yo' take dis second pocket han'ke'ch'ef an' yo' do de same, yo' put dis 'nitial in dere any- way yo' prefer to put it in dere, and yo' offer her de second pocket han'ke'- chief. Well, she - in other words she may refuse dis han'ke'ch'ef. But yo' take de third one yo'self an' put chure 'nitial in it an' yo' keep dis pocket han'ke'ch'ef an' use de same thing. Yo' take any kin' high-priced perfume an' put in dis han'ke'ch'ef. Put two drops on it or one perhaps, but two be's still stronger. Well, if she refuse dis han'ke'ch'ef wit her 'nitial in it, yo' bury it wit de han'ke'ch'ef whut chew bury wit her 'nitial in it, yo' see; but chew take dis one yo' got yo'self wit chure 'nitial in it an' yo' - yo' know if yo' got de privilege to go see her, well, when yo' entertaining her, yo' jes' take dat han'ke'ch'ef, pull it out chure pocket an' sorta, yo' know, flash it 'cross her face so she git de scent of dis perfume, yo' see. An' use dis John de Con- kah root yo' call it. Chew it yo' see, or perhaps she may be de kind like to kiss or somepin. Well, yo' can kiss her an' chew on dis root. Yo' gains love like dat.
Entry 12671
Ah understan' about de snail an' a person's photo. Well, yo' kin take a photo an' bury it upside down in de graveyard, an' yo' take a snail an' yo' git some steel dust an' yo' write dat indivi- dual name down an' yo' glue it onto de snail yo' see. An' whatsomevah yo' make yore wish, whatsomevah yo' wants tuh, yo' know, make it fo'. If yo' want a person tuh drag lak dat [snail] an' as dat snail crawl yo' see an' de picture fade away, well, dat person will jis' drag until dey die. (You do those two things but you don't do anything to the photograph at all except bury it in the graveyard.) Yo' take de photograph an' yo' write de person name on it nine times, an' if yo' want 'em tuh drag or sompin, why yo' write whatsomevah yo' want, yo' know, tuh happen tuh 'em, an' turn it upside down [and bury it] in de graveyard. An' probably, maybe somebody whut chew know died bad yo' see. Yo' turn it, point it tuh where dey died [buried?] at yo' understan', upside down. An' yo' take de snail an' yo' git some steel dust an' yo' write dere name down on a piece of papah an' yo' put dat steel dust in dere, an' yo' take it - glue it, yo' know, onto de snail. An' yo' see, yo' know, a snail crawl away slow; an' jis' as dey [the snail] crawl an' dat picture fades away, well, dose people will drag an' dey'll pass out.
(Do you write this in any special way, with just an ordinary pencil or what?)
Well, yo' could write it with blue ink if yo' wanted tuh.
Entry 12710
If yo' wuz sellin' whiskey an' de law wuz pretty bad, botherin' yo' aroun' yore house an' yo' wanted tuh keep 'em away, why yo' kin take a rabbit - kill a rabbit an' yo' kin kill a chicken. Take de chicken foot an' de rabbit foot an' bury dem tuhget- hah in de gate where yo' come intuh yore front do' at. Put dem in de ground an' bury dem tuhgethah. Den yo' goes back in de house aftah yo' do dat. Yo' goes back in de house an' yo' probably stay in de house ten or fifteen minutes an' den comes back out. Yo' comes back out an' yo' digs dis rabbit foot up an' dis heah chicken foot, an' yo' don' bury 'em tuh- gethah nex' time; yo' bury one on de right-han' side an' one on de left-han' side. De way ah heard it, don' make any difference which one yo' put on de right an' which one on de left. Yo' bury one on de right an' one on de left - on de left side of de do'steps, by de cornah of de do'step. An' yo' takes one of de toes off de chicken foot an' carry it roun' tuh de back do' tuh keep 'em 'way from de back, an' yo' bury dat down dere. An' dey say yo' won' have no trouble wit de law as long as dem feets is solid. An' when dey rot - yo' kin tell when it will rot down dere. Yo' have tuh bury some mo'. An' yo' won' be bothahed wit no law. A lady down heah in town heah, she had a experience wit dat.
Entry 12718
Get a rabbit leg. Go to the graveyard and get the left-hind foot of a rabbit and get some of that graveyard dust and put it in a sack and mix some - ah forget what the man did. But dey mixed it in with it. And you know, you'll die. You'll go crazy and be buried at de same graveyard where dey go - to a colored graveyard or white graveyard. Go to a colored graveyard for colored and go to a white graveyard for a white person [and do this] and you'll die. But I don't believe that. (But they have to catch this rabbit in the graveyard?) [This catching and blood mentioned later came before recording or while machine stopped.] Yes, sir.
(And what else did they put there besides the graveyard dust? What?)
And that little - three drops of blood.
(Of what?)
Rabbit's blood, you know, gotta ketch de rabbit.
(Oh, of the rabbit?)
Yes, sir.
(And did they put something else in it too or was that all?)
That's all I knows they put in it. That's all I've heard them say. I've never tried that. (Now, they use this graveyard dirt and this left rabbit foot. The hind or the front leg?) The hind left foot of a rabbit.
(And three drops of his blood. And then you put in - a sack or what?)
In a sack.
(And then you just bury it out there?)
Bury it at the person's doorstep. But they must go either to a colored or white grave, according to whether you are a colored or a white person?) Yes, sir.
Entry 12760
Yo' kin take dis heah bush yo' call rhubarb. Dere's a root chew call rhubarb bush. Yo' kin take dat bush an' maybe ah know yore mad wit me. Ah'll take dat bush an' ah'll carry it to mah house an' ah'll put it right down at mah gate. Yo' might done sont [sent] me word dat chew comin' ovah dere an' run me aWay: Or do SOmepin to me. AH'LL GIT DAT ROOT AN' AH'LL PUT IT DOWN AT MY GATE, AN' WHEN YO' COME IN DERE, YO'LL BE JEST AS FRIENDLY WIT ME AS YO' IS NOW. Now, ah done seen dat tried.
[A compliment out of the past for the author!]
A man sent de word by me to anothah individual dat he was gwine come ovah dere an' beat him or kill him, an' ah run back an' tole dis fellah an' he tole me, "Well, ah'm gwin [going to] stop him." He runs out an' git dat, kept it ovah in de new ground, an' got a piece of dat rhubarb root an' buried it down at de gate. Mr. Wade, he come - a white man couldn't - Mr. Wade come up dere - found out about it so dis fellah wouldn't be caught, some scandal come to a head. An' Mr. Wade got dere. Dis fellah he went an' got dat rhubarb root an' put it down at de gate. Mr. Wade drive ovah dere, got down an' come in de house, say, "Well, Sam, how come yo' pick that [cotton or tobacca?]? He say, "Well." An' say, "Ah tlecided ah wouldn't fool with dat." Now, he done tole me up dere to his house [before] he come down here an' whup him or kill him. But he walked in de gate jest pleasant as he wus wit me.
Entry 12924
De way ah heard it, dey says: jes' lak yo' see a person's shadow. Yo' take de measure of his shadow. Jes' lak a person walkin' along an' he hap- pen tuh stop an' yore shadow's up 'ginst de house or.... Well yo' jes' take dat width. Write it lak 18 inches or whatsomever: two an' a half foot or whatsomever yo' see, or six and a half or whatsomever it is. Yo' jes' do dat an' bury dat - de inform- ation. Dat's tuh run someone, sompin other lak dat.
(What will that do to a person?)
Dat will kill dem.
Entry 12993
Yes sir, ah've heard dat yo' take an' steal a dime - a silver dime - an' carry it to de... (You steal this dime?) Yes sir, steal it from someone. (And then you cross it. How do you cross it?) Right cross de piece. Take a pocketknife or sompin an' cross a cross mark cross de face [on the dime]. An' carry it to de cemetery an' bury it, an' she'll follow yo' ev'ywhere yo' want her tuh.
(Whom would you steal this dime from?)
Anyone. It be best tuh steal it from her, providin if she got one.
(Oh, I see. To make her love you?)
Yes sir.
Entry 13066
Yo' know dese snails whut crawl...whut dey crawl slow. Anyhow dey takes dat an' dey go to work yo' know, dey fix it in sompin dat way it'll bust out chew know. Den dey go to work den, git some sulphur an' gunpowder together, an' dey take it an' carry it an' bury it right tuh yore door, right where yo' gotta step ovah it, yo' know. Dat'll fix yo' up. Yo'll linger 'long [along] linger 'long.
Entry 13067
Dey say if yo' put a snail in a person's path an' yo' put it 'bout dat far into de groun' [demonstrates]... (Three or four inches under the ground?) Yeah, jes' 'bout. An' he walk ovah dat, dat will cause dem to have aches an' pains of all kinds. Dat will put spells on dem, too.
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 13142
Ah experienced dat. Ah've had dat done on me, take your sock and cut de heel out of it, a pair you been wearing. Get your socks and cut de heel out of both of 'em, an' take de heel and put some salt in it, snakehead or some kind of worms [to make you crawl]. And bury de heel of dat sock under de doorstep and put de other part of it [heel] over de door, over your haid. And every time you go in and out dere, you gittin' dat, and first thing you know yo' goin' way from dere. Yo' done left, you see. Your wife, she done put you outten from dere and you gone, and you won't know how you gone. And you done missed your socks and everything. You don't know nothin' at all about it or you jest...and done you dataway, but you gone - jest gone along. Don't wanta run off, but you won't never come back until you find it. And you find dat, you come back home.
(I see. Do you put one sock down there or just one piece of the sock?)
A [2] piece [2 pieces are used].
(I see.)
Entry 13144
(Take his sock?) De sock and bury under any place and you [owner] walks over it and then you swells up.
(Well, do they bury both your socks?)
Just one.
(Which one do they bury there?)
De left foot.
(All they do is just bury that sock?)
Yes, sir.
(And then, what happens then?)
You walks over it and then yo' start to swell up.
Entry 13232
All right, ah'm gonna tell yo'. Yo' take de sock, de dirty sock. Yo' take de seven steak. Yo' git a little seven steak wit a number seven on it. [A seven steak or 7 steak is a T-bone steak, its bone shaped something like a 7!]
[It took me some time to identify the steak!]
(Where do you get that?)
[I must have thought this was a stake with No.7 on it, something from a hoo- doo shop!] At de market. Yo' git de raw meat. Git a box of salt an' a box of Epsom salts, red peppah. Git a spool of black thread. [Don't forget] cookin' salt, cayenne peppah. [Informant does not complete this holding two-persons-together rite. These articles are put in man's soiled sock and tied with a piece of the new black thread. We now come to the separating-two-persons rite.1 Yo' wanta break this person's footsteps [that is, separate two persons but using their footsteps] or break 'em up with that person an' - yo' write their names nine times across [you write his name down 9 times and then cross them with her names 9 times] an' yo' put it. An' then you'll bury it in yore yard, yo' see.
(That heals them up.)
Entry 13250
I stayed at a place up north. Every morning when I kindled de fire- I gen'a'ly made de fire - they had a package of sulphur there on that stove. When it was hot, they would sprinkle de sulphur on it, to fumigate de house with sulphur. They said that kept off the evil spirits and give it luck. (Every morning?) Every morning they'd sat- urate dat stove, when ft. got hot, you know, so that sulphur Would burn, they would sprinkle some of that sulphur on the stove. Said that kept off the evil spirits and give them luck. Druv [drove] the evil spirits out of the house, which, you know yourself, that there are more evil spirits than there are good ones. We are told by the Bible that many's the soul to walks this earth, visible or invisible. What they meant visible ones is the ones that we want to get rid of, don't want to be bothered with 'em. Well, now, we'll go back to de sulphur question. When you go to dig money, you make a circle around, all de way around de place yo' goin' to dig. Now a fellah tole me this to be a fact. Ah never seen it. An' sprinkle sulphur all around it [circle], an' yo' dig inside de ring of sulphur. When de evil spirit comes up there, he can't get inside that ring over that sulphur.
Entry 13323
In dem times dey used to bury lotsa money. Dey takes a person 'long an' dey say, "Well, we goin' away." Dat person whut chew carry 'long say, "Well, dat's fine." So, "Well, we goin' away. Would joo watch dis money fo' 中 us?" An' jest soon yo' say, "Yes, ah'll watch it, '' somebody have a sword, sompin lak dat concealed, an' cut chure haid right off. See, time yo' says, "Yes, ah'll watch it, " dey cuts chure haid right off an' put it down in dere wit dat money. Dat's so nobody would go an' git it.
Entry 13324
In de ole days dere nevah wuz nobody, as ah really evah know of, dat put money down unless dey have somebody take keer of it. Well, dey always - yo' know, not in our days anytime. Dey don't do dat now. But ah wuz learned dat dey have tuh kill someone an' de blood of dat individual have tuh be somewhere neah roun' dat money tuh take care of it.
Entry 13349
Ef dey kin git holt [hold] of yo' chamber lye, [you] know whut dey do wit it? Dey take it an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up airtight. Dey puts 9 needles in dere first wit it an' dey put - git a spider. Yo' know whut a spider is - crawls on de wall. Dey git a spider an' put it in dere [the bottle] an' dey put some spider web in it, an' dey stop it [bottle] up airtight an' bury it down - nuthin under 2 feet. An' it will lock yore bowels an' everything up. [Several times in HOODOO I have explained the confusion between bowels and bladder, the present rite locking the bladder.] An' yo' ain't goin' git rid of dat unless yo' git a root doctor [who] know Whut to do. YO' JES' BURNT, DAT'S ALL - YO' JES' A BURNT BABY. [Once again, confusion between bladder and bowels was not rare.]
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 13351
Well, dey tell me a person's chamber lye - yo' takes a person's chamber lye - do yo' mean tuh do good or do harm? (Either one. Tell one first and then the other.) Well, yo'll take a person's chamber lye an' yo' put nine needles in dat chamber lye, brand-new needles. Yo' stick one point down an' one point up, one point down, until yo' git all of 'em down in dere. Yo' take dat an' yo' put dat chamber lye - bury it somewhere where dey kin walk ovah it. Dat will do 'em harm.
(Well, just what would it do to them?)
Well - well, if yo' wanta do good, now...
(How would it harm them?)
Well, dat would harm 'em, dat would ketch 'em in dere bladdah. Dat's de way dat'll harm dem, swell dem up down in heah.
(How do they do them good, do you say, with chamber lye?)
Well, yo' take dat chamber lye, ifs yo' want a man tuh stay home, take dat chamber lye wit some salt an' some sugah an' yo' stop dat up. An' yo' put dat undah de haid of yore bed, somewheres neah yore bed, or in a dark cornah in yore room - anywhere lak dat. Dat will make him stay home an' quit runnin' an' rov- in' aroun'. Dat'll make him stay home.
Entry 13352
Dey git different root an' cork 'em down in a bottle an' bury 'em... (And bath water?) And - dat's right - and you bury 'em, and after you bury 'em you either stop up dere night water [or bath water] you understand, or dey git a pain in de head - sompin like dat. Dey cork dem dat way.
(I'm speaking now of the water you take a bath in.)
I understand. You mean de water that you taking washing in. Can't do nuthin [no hoodoo] wit dat.
(But this water, the night water?)
Dat it [you can do something with that] you kin bury dat.
(Well, what sort of root do you put with that?)
De' goes out and gits somepin dey calls snakeroot. Snakeroot for a pain in de stomach - sompin like dat. Yo' go roun' an' yo' gits cherry bark and chero- kee [cherokee rose?] you understand, and you bile [boil] dat together and yo' put dat together, de' fool around wit chew an' put dat in yo' water, yo' under- stand, an' dey'll cork dat bottle an' bury it.
(What do they do with the head after they cork it? How do you put it, down?)
[SORRY FOR THAT SLIP OF MINE!]
Turn de head down.
(I see. Do you leave the water run out or just tight?)
[I WAS STILL A LITTLE INEXPERIENCED AT CHARLESTON, BUT MY LEADING QUESTION IS IGNORED.] No, you have it fix so de water can't run out.
(I see, that will keep you from making water.)
Yes.
Entry 13366
Take chamber lye an' assafedidee an' bury that with ten needles an' put that under their door- step.
(What is is supposed to do?)
That were supposed to make you do, whether you want to do or not. An' she kin go off an' have her fun with men, you see, an' then anytime you want to go out, you see, a big argument start.
Entry 13424
There's many things you can do with your socks and there's bad things.
(Well, suppose you tell me the bad things first.)
The bad things first. Well, yo' can take a man's sock an' take, put war water in it, and write his name and perhaps a woman's name, and bury that, and it will cause them to have terrible disturbance, too. That'll make awful fuss and disturbance. Cause them to drag sick along, long as that sock is buried.
Entry 13425
And I wouldn't want you in that place. You kin go to the [hoodoo] drug store and get you what they call some war water and take that bottle and bust that bottle in front of your place, not mine, in front of your place. And in busting that bot- tle, come back and take your name and some salt and bury it right behind your place - right at the back of your place. (Your own house, now, not the hosue of the person you want to move, but be- hind your house.) No, behind your house. See, I wanta move you.
(Oh, you're moving me?)
Yes. (And you throw this water in front of my house. Now, you are going to bury my name in salt at the back of my house.) At the back of your house, see. When that salt is buried, in less than 9 days you'll be out of there.
(I see.)
Entry 13451
An' jes' lak a woman - quite natural a woman git ill sometime an' crabby an' othah things, an' if yo' want her tuh stay 'way from yore house, yo' go down an' git chew some willow string. Dat be's a long branch - yo' know, willow string root. Yo' git de willow string root an' yo' don't have tuh boil it. Yo' dig it up. It's sorta like curls up, it's a root jes' crooked jes' lak when yo' make whiskey or sompin, jes' lak a [distill- ery] worm, yo' know, yo' make whiskey, yo' put sompin in de copper outfit. It jes' bunch up, dat's de way it [root] do. An' yo' take dat an' jes' let three balls [coils] of it be's runnin' roun' an' roun' one another, an' it pile up, yo' know, sorta lak a snake. It crawl up, dat's de way it do. An' yo' bury dat undah yore do'steps, front do'steps, an' she'll nevah stop dere ag'in. Dat will keep her away. Yo'll say to her, say, "Come back." She say, "No ah got [a bet- ter place to live]."
Entry 67
There had been a burying of a person and some of the people, that was at the funeral that was at enmity with the dead person, on their way home they heard a russelling [rustlingl at the edge of the road. And when they turned to look, there was a man standing without a head. And they ran until they were out of breath. For the next few days the doctor had to attend them because they were frighten. And it was said by the people, that it was the spirit of that dead person after that man he was mad at.
Entry 111
Yo' take him lak yo' fixin' tuh bury him an' yo' turn him on his face. Well, yo' see if that man is on his face an' yo' bury dat man, de man or woman dat killed him, she's worried until she goin' soon come up an' it ain't goin' be ovah nine days 'fore she goin' come up an' give herself up.
(How did you say they carry him out of the house?)
Jes' lak if dere's a windah on dis side - well, jes' lak a windah dis heah, yo' take him out dis windah on dis side. No, don't chew take him out de do'. Carry him out either one dese windah but don't take him dis way. Let him be goin' dis Way, where de sun set at. Don't nevah take him where de sun rise - it's not goin' work as fast. But if yo' put him on his face an' carry him out de way de sun go down, it won't be nine days 'fore she goin' come back.
(You carry him out the door, though?)
No suh, don' take him out de do'. Yo' wanta put him out de windah - take his body out de windah. Let him be on his face an' take his body out de windah.
Entry 257
" The old people always say you ketch a black cat about midnight and run him around the house three times, cut his tail off and put it under the doorstep. The next night run the black cat around the house three times, kill the cat and take him to the swamp and bury him. Let him stay three nights. Go back and take the cat and put him in boiling water and the lucky bone of the cat will come to the top at midnight. You have to be dere sharp at midnight to get this bone. That's called the good luck bone of a black cat. I hear that about twelve miles from here [in Spotsylvania Co., Va.] from the old people.
Entry 375
(How do you sell yourself to the devil - what is the story?)
De way yo' sells yo'self tuh de devil, yo' got'a take somebody yo' dearly loves - a chile dat yo' dearly loves, if it's yore own chile or yore sister's chile dat yo' dearly love, an' not feel sorry for 'em an' kill it, an' go an' hide it an' bury it. Den yo've sold yoreself to de devil. Dere's no way atall fo' yo' tuh gain influence wit God agin, but still yo' goin' tuh live yo' days out. An' den de devil will learn yo' anything yo' wanta know - yo' kin do anything yo' wanta do. [For killing baby, see comment in No. 307.]
Entry 380
When they would see the earth sinking in some place, they commence to visit that place and they would meet many many spirits, and that would make them take notice. They would say, "There's some- thing buried there. The spirits are watching over it. I'll bet it's money. Let's get together and dig for it." And they would start out. They said that many people used to find it and dig for it and they would get it. They say you don't dare jto talk. They dig. No matter how near you are there, don't speak a word. If you speak airy a word, it goes down. By keeping quiet you get the money. They say it comes back, but it's really gone so deep it takes time. It really sinks and it rises, it sinks and it rises. You keep on to [till] you get it. But you get it soon. You'll get it quicker by not talking. I used to hear the olden people say they had some kind of rod for getting the money, a certain rod. I don't realize what they were. They push that down into the earth until it comes along the pot of money. They use to strike it, too. They say when it Was placed there, there would be so many names called. They were buried with the money down into the earth. The person who buried that money Would say, "Now, I want you to take care of this money and see that no one takes it away. Stay here until I come for it." Then all of those names [are] placed there to take care of it; if you get to interfering, they come before you. That's to frighten you to make you get away. No, not dead people; only the names of people living, they say, for witness to see it buried there. All these spooks around a-guarding of it, I could say they were alive. They never dig for the money in daytime. I used to ask, "Why do you dig at nighttime?" "We have to do that when everybody is quiet in order to keep the money from going way way down."
Entry 402
I know a story about fellows went hunting hidden treasure. It had been once dug up by a steam shovel and it slid away back in the dirt again. In Way- back times they use to always kill a man. They get the hole prepared and put the treasure in, then they would ask him if he would take care of this money. He wouldn't know what was going to happen. He would tell them, "Of course." Then they kill him and turn him over in the hole and cover him up. Then, when you go there, that's his spirit that takes care of the money, and it does things to frighten you so you won't bother it. They are supposed to have a machine. It's a round thing like a clock and has three points sticking out. One was set for gold, one for silver and the other for brass. It has two handles of hickory. You hold them two handles and walk along like you witch for water. When you walk over hidden money one of them points goes down. As soon as you start to dig, no talking. You use signs. If you talk, it slid away in the dirt. Well, five men went hunting it again, that's after it was dug up by the steam shovel and slid away, and as soon as they hit the old chest that was in the ground, the wind begun to blow, the trees began to weep - they rocked like they were just going to blow over. And the men begun to run. One got lost. He stayed all night and began to see every kind of a thing like a ghost - men walking, men flying, beasts in the air. He never discovered the way out until daylight appeared. And he has been afraid of it ever since. I knew this man. That happen about thirty years ago [1906] in Sussex County, Virginia.
Entry 728
My father and mother used to tell me, in slavery times they had a bunch of hands [workmen] and one of them they used to whip. And he said he was going to get even with his master. He goes out and gets a hand. A hand is nothing but something you get from someone else to put down to stop them from doing sometking to you. [This is a very limited definition.] He goes and gets this, it Was in a bottle, and puts it under the doorstep. He covered it over. He goes to bed. In the morning his master woke up, he walks to the door, and they were looking for him to walk out for to kill the master. He walked to the door and said, "John, Dick, Peter and Tom, come here." He said, "Look right down here." He said, "Go under that doorstep and take that bottle and carry it out of there and bust it." He said, "You can't hurt old master." He said, "Don't wake me when I'm asleep." And he went on about his business.
Entry 840
Durin' dis same last war [World War I] - ah wus in dis last war fo'teen months, an' me an' a fellah went tuh Camp Wheeler together, an' he said to me, he said, "Ah think ah wanta go home tuh see mah family - ah want chew tuh walk down heah tuh de woods wit me. Yo' see, ah didn't know whut he wus goin' do. He walked tuh de fo'ks of de road, crossin' of de road, an' he take three nickels an' bury it right in de fo'k of de road, an' he leaved me an' went home an' stayed home thirty days out de camp befo' dey pertake - he come up heah tuh Savannah an' stay heah thirty days an' went back befo' dey know dat he wus home.
(They didn't know he was gone at all?)
Didn't know he wus gone at all. He wus in mah company, Company 15. (They didn't know he was gone at all. What did they do to him after he got back?) Dey didn't done nuthin to 'im yo' see, because we didn't get de reg'lar soldier clothes yes - we wus wearin' dis overalls yo' know, we didn't draw no service clothes yet.
Entry 1284
Jes' lak if a person have whoopin' cough, take de frog an' cough in his mouth three times an' roll him in yore han's three times an' bury it undah yore do steps. De next mawnin' yore whoopin cough will be gone.
Entry 1779
Making a little box lak a coffin, to do evil with. Well, yo' make a little box lak a coffin an' yo' call yoreself buryin' a person. Yo' would git some of de hair or git dat [foot] track an' go an' git some things that belong to them an' put it in dis little box an' yo'd bury it. Dat buryin' dere luck an' everything. Yo' done bury it. Lak if ah'm goin' well an' yo' wanta bury me, "Well, ah'm gonna bury her." Well, yo'd git somethin' of mine - if yo' could git a piece outa mah underclothes an' put it into dat, dat would bury mah luck.
Entry 1782
A woman called Hester, she used to live aroun' there, but she don't live there no more. An' she said this man get a piece of pas'eboard, jis' shape it you know - looked like a coffin. [Look] like that he was mad with her. An' he tacked on this board an' put it down in the groun' at her steps. An' they say in nine days time she'd be gone. An' she said somehow or nother she went out an foun' it before them nine days. [Wilmington, N. Car. (309), 235:6+85.]
Entry 1784
Ah heard dat chew could take a person - jes' lak if a person slept in a room an' yo' wanted tuh do 'em some harm. Jes' like yo' wanted tuh hurt 'em up, don't want 'em to die, jes' fixed - yo' know, jes' linger an' linger. Yo' take a shingle offa dere house an' take dat shingle an' cut it into fo' diff'rent pieces. A shingle offa de top of dere room wheresomevah dey sleep in, yo' git it offa dere, an' cut it into fo' diff'rent pieces an' fix it jes' like a casket [coffin] in de ground - jes' like a casket.
(What do you do with that, then?)
Yo' buries it in de ground.
(Where do you bury it?)
Yo' bury it under dere house somewhere - somewhere where dey have tuh come out ovah it or somepin othah.
Entry 1790
An' old fashioned coffin, dey befo' yo' wus bo'n ah suppose, too; but lay it in dere dataway. Yo' cut it.
(Cut what?)
Take that photograph an' cut it in three P'ints jes' lak that old-fashioned coffin dey made. Yo' take it to the grave an' yo' bury it, an' yo' bury it on its face In de Name of Jesus. Yo' don't put it no way but on its face, bury him in dat grave on his face, a new grave, not a old one, an' yo' bury it in a new grave that's not been there long. He'll jes' pass on away. [My note on final transcription reads, "This elderly woman supposed to be good - was forgetful - probably a little scared."]
Entry 1793
A person will draw your coffin and draw your pitchure and put it in dat coffin and bury dat little coffin up under your doorstep, if dey kin git dere. Dey kin put it somewhere round your house and dey'll put dat - draw dat and put dat in dere. And den you'll start to gwine right on down - you'll start to get sick, start to gittin' sick, start to gittin' sick, and den you go.
Entry 1794
I saw is in a matchbox. Dey got a matchbox an' dey cut a pitchure - drawed a pitchure and named it de person dey was drawin' an' put it into dis matchbox an' buried it with de face down. Before dey buried it dey whipped it nine mornin's, an' den de ninth mornin' dey buried it with de face down.
(What is that supposed to do?)
Well, when you buried with your face down, you know you bound to die - you can't live.
Entry 1796
Makin' or drawin' a coffin an' writin' a person name in it. Den yo' kin draw a coffin an' write dere name an' carry it to de fo'k of a road wit de person name an' whut chew want done to it, an' bury it an' curse an' walk on off. Dey say dey will die.
Entry 1804
I've heard tell, make an image of a coffin. Dat wus done heah not so many yeahs ago - made de coffin. An' den yo' go an' murder somepin like a bird or rabbit or somepin an' put it in dat coffin, an' write chure name on it an' go an' bury it. An' dey say yo' can't live long - yo'll soon have tuh go to de Judgment.
Entry 2469
Yo's sellin' likker - bootleggin' dey call it, used tuh call it boot- leggin'. Now, yo' go tuh work ovah heah an' git chew herbs an' yore stuff whut chew want from a certain person - anybody's [anybody who is] makin' dis. Well, he tell yo' tuh go out dere tuh de fo'ks of de road or somethin' lak dat. Be sure an' try tuh git chew one, understand, dat's leadin' down by yore house - de fo'ks of de road. An' be shure, understan' dat chew git yo' in yore house, make no diff'rence if its a mark in de house. All right, git to de fo'ks of de road, an' yo' know dat mark ah make lak dat - go dere an' dig yo' a hole right in de fo'ks of de road an' bury dis in de fo'k of dat road.
(Bury what?)
[I must ask this question before I forget it, but I interrupt him. He will answer later.] Now if de sheriff's - de deputy sheriff or policeman, an' ev'ry time dey's comin' dere tuh yore house an' dey's gon'a ketch yo' - yo' see, dey gon'a set a trap an' dey ketch yo'. After yo' go up dere to dis road to de fo'k an' do dat, yo' understan', an' dey come down - yo' see, yo' knows which way dey comin', dat's why yo' go tuh de fo'k of de road - dey'll drive ovah it, see. An'when dey drive ovah it, stid [instead of] yo' house, [they go to] somebody else. Stid dey gwine to yore house start worryin' yo', den dey drive ovah it lak dat dere, right straight up de road dey goin', or right down de road dey goin' an' ain't stoppin' take time tuh look at yore house.
(What will you bury in that hole?)
Well, yo' go tuh work an' git some - yo' kin take a piece of bluestone - yo' know whut dat is - a piece of bluestone an' gits yo' den a root dey call devil's- shoestring, an' take one dem dey call High John de Conker. Put dem in dere an' den whut chew wanta do, make it stronger, go tuh de woods an' find yo' snake shed. Git chew a snake shed an' put dat in wit it - put it down in dere wit all dat together. An' dere's a root grows dere right at de edge of de forest, has a great big flower on it, wit a mane hang down lak dat, jes' lak a man mustache... call it De ole man is daid - De ole man is daid. Hit jes' lak it. Yo' go git chew a root offa dat tree. Ain't ever'body kin find dat, dey see it but don't know whut 'tis, an' put dat down dere - de root offen De ole man is daid. De root off hit is de one gotta do de work. An' yo' put dat down in dere, under- stand, an' cover dat down in dere. Den yore safe, yore safe.
Entry 2470
Like this-a one wanta bring in customers. Yo'll take you de devil's- shoestring an' yo' take that devil-shoestring an' yo' git chew dis heah green mistletoe. Yo' put dat togethah an' yo' bury dat down at yore sto' do' an' everyone comes in dere. Only de one whut come in [if only one comes in], he'll care de news an' em- brace yore business. Well, dat'll draw. They say everybody will come to them. Yo' can't wait on yore customents [customers] so I understand about dat, cause yo' have plenty trade through dat business if yo' put dat shoestring, devil's- shoestring and dat mistletoe undah yore do'step of yore business. Bury it down dere at least twelve inches in de ground an' all dat pass ovah dere will be good luck to yo'.
Entry 2808
(What kind of a candle is it?) A black candle. Yo' light dat candle and set it on anything dat it will set up on, and to de bottom of dat candle between de candle and de stool it sets on, it's some letters under dere.
(What are these letters on?)
Dey on de stuff whut de candles made out of, de tallow an' stuff - it jes' made into dat yo' see. And den when yo' burn dose candles and yo' git dat letter down dere - de candles is burnt clean down, and when yo' git dat candle burnt clean down, why den yo' kin see dose letters. Yo' kin take dem letters [printed] on a piece of paper, not thin paper, it's kinda of a - ah don't know whut chew call it. It kinda look like glass, but chew kin fold dat - yo' kin fold dat thing in a""v". (Is it what they call parchment? [He does not understand the word - see my comment later for this paper like glass.] Is it a square piece or what?) It's round like a candle. Yo' kin fold it in a square [make two opposite sides of circumference meet] like yo' wanta, des [jes'] any way yo' wanta. It's kind of a doubled-up piece like yo' seen dis little ole tissue paper kind of stuff like dat - bend it any way but it won't break, but it looks like glass. Well, de letters made on dat. An' then yo' take dat and you fold dat in a "v" an' yo' carries it to de cemetery befo' nine 'clock in de morning and bury it n de grave. Well, den dere's no harm dey kin do you in dat way [by burning a can- dle on you], but whatsomever was goin' happen tuh yo' it'll happen to whosomevah burnt dat candle on yo'. [Methods to stop a candle burning against you are given at the end of this subsection.] (Then, if someone was trying to harm me, I would burn this black candle to protect myself. That the idea?) Oh, shure. Now, if somebody don't beat chew dere and git dem letters. Some- time yo' know yo' burn a candle and jest go on 'bout chure business and don't pay it any more 'tention. People coming in dey know whut's dat fo', dey kin git dat candle - dem letters. But yo' jes' take dem candle ef yo' don't wanna do any- thing else with 'em - jes' keep 'em dere or throw 'em away or something like dat. (In other words, if you were burning a candle for me and I knew about it, and I got there when those letters were still there, and I took those letters and.) Yes sir, dat's whut ah mean. [The piece of paper looking like glass happens to be what I suggested it was, parchment, imitation of course; and the letters are not alphabetic but a design, prayer or word written or stamped on this paper. Here we have a seal, a variety of Hands (p.643 and Index). Seals comes in various sizes and shapes; the present one a circular piece of parchment fitting the bottom of the candle. By burning the candle a person releases the seal from the candle stump. Sometimes the can- dle is pressed or molded into the small glass container called stool by informant
(see No.2811, p.806.]
Entry 3151
Den if she doesn't want 'im tuh have a outside fren', yo' see, she'll take huh a new piece of new white homespun an' she goes tuh bed, yo' know, an' be wit 'i. She ketch evahthin' in dat white homespun an' she'll take dat piece of white homespun an' bury it anywhuh roun' 'uh house - undah huh steps, undah de side of de house, undah a brick pillah or anywhuh. Well, if he go out he can't have no woman, see. Dat blocks 'im any way he tryin' tuh have anothah woman.
Entry 3873
If he jis' wants 'em [a woman] to lingah an' die, take a towel wit chew an' GREASE her wit fresh hog lard, wit 'ER CLOTH - A DIRTY ONE dat she jis' used. Grease her [cloth] WIT FRESH HOG LARD an' wrap it up tight an' put it IN A JAR an' bury it UNDER DE STEPS. Dere can't no doctor [M.D.] cure her. She jes' lingah an' lingah an' lingah.
(You mean [grease] her monthly cloth, don't you?)
Yes.
Entry 3888
Go to the fork of the road - people go there specifically for this reason: They go there for matrimony more than they do anything else. And for matrimonial trouble, they go there mostly for that - to unite or to separate somebody in matrimony. (How do they do that, do you know?) Now, if you got a person that's married, and you wants to separate that particular individual. Now, the best way you do, you've got t get a close piece on the woman. You've got to get a menistration piece that she has used, and bury that there. And she have - there is no way on earth she could stay with her husband 'cuz she have no sexual nature that give satisfaction to him. [This is perhaps the only example of the word nature preceded by the word sexual.] It would almost take her nature from her completely. And after that is achieved, you can even take that up if you want to do so; and if they went back together again, use the same thing again - bury that against her. That's one thing about a woman, if you take that and bury that in that particular way where it's passed over by anything, even a horse, or a person, or any way, it takes the natural sex power over her through her nature.
Entry 3889
Lak a lady, yo' know, could take yo' periods lak dat an' carry dat to de cemetery an' bury it. Jes' stop it up tight an' it would kill yo'. Dat's all dat ah heard.
Entry 3890
Once a woman come to mah sistah's house from a hoodoo. De hoodoo sent 'er dere to take mah sistah's menistration piece. Mah sistah stop menistratina. She menistrate through 'er bowels 'fore she died. Evah mawnin'-time fo' her to pass, she'd have pains in 'er stomick an' she couldn't. A woman tooked 'er piece an' carried it to de graveyard in de fo' cornahs an' buried it, an' when she - when dat piece rotted, mah sistah died.
(What do you mean, the four corners of the graveyard?)
De fo' cornahs, lak, yo' know, it's got fo' cornahs of dis house, yo' know?
(Yes.)
Well now, jes' lak ah'd come in dis do'. Well, ah'd go jes' lak dis [demon- strates]. Yo' see, ah'd put a piece dere, a piece dere, a piece dere, an' a piece dere. (Oh! YOu PUT A PIECE OF THIS CLOTH IN EACH OF THE FOUR CORNERS - a pieCe in each corner.) Yeah. Yeah, dat's what she did an' mah sistah, she went away. Mah mothah take her to a hoodoo an' de hoodoo say, "Well, your daughter is hurted. Someone taken 'er piece." Mah mothah say, "Well how did she do it." An' she [hoodoo] tole mah mothah how she take it. She say, "By yore daughtah havin' a frien', a trustin' frien'." She say, "Her enemy couldn't take it. She pull 'er piece off an' put it in away in de cornah or sompin. An' aftah while she have her frien' an' she come an' take it, an' give it to her frien', an' her frien' give it to her frien'. Dat's how she did to get it away."
Entry 3907
Get menstrual cloth [one of her old ones], write [a note into it], "1 don't want choo to deliver this baby." Then yo' tie knot in it an' twist. Bury.
Entry 3962
Yo' could get a piece of a woman's bloomahs - yo' know, de seat of 'er bloomahs, an' 'er menstr'ation cloth, piece of dat. An' put dat togethah an' take it an' shut it up in a [pasteboard] box, or eithah a little small wooden box. Somepin lak, yo' know, one of dese little ole small wooden boxes made about dat round [size], yo' see, an' shut it up in dere. An' dey tell me, yo' kin take dat an' turn it bottom up- wards, an' bury it right undahneat' of a person's steps, an' it will stop dem from menstr'ation. [Box is a symbol for a coffin.]
Entry 4551
Take dat bow an' yuh bury dat bow. When yuh bury dat bow yuh'll die. Dat's whut chew'll do, yuh'll die.
Entry 4998
Take dat stockin' an' carry it tuh de no'th cornah of de house an' bury it. Bury it in de no'th cornah of de house an' yuh jis' lingah. Yuh won't die, yuh jis' lingah, have pains in yuh laigs.
Entry 5115
Well, lak de pieces inside dere.
(The inner sole?)
Yes. Take dat out. Yuh kin take dat out an' carry dat an' bury dat in de woods somewhere - in de woods somewhere by de creek, bury dat. An' dat person jis' continue goin', continly [continually] goin'. If yuh don't take it up, jis' go right on away. [Person will keep going because the creek is running. There are a number of these burials on the riverside.]
Entry 5120
Ah heard dey take a devil's shoestring an' wit de shoes, if yuh wan' 'em tuh return an' bury it undah de do'step an' dey will return.
(Do you put this devil's shoestring with the shoes? One or both?)
De two shoes.
(And you put the devil's shoestring with that?)
Yes, an' bury it right undah yore do'step where yuh wan' 'em tuh come in. Let 'em come in an' dey will come back.
Entry 5128
(They do what to make somebody come home?)
De son - jis' lak if yore son ovah de way [at some friend's house], yuh could bury dat shoe at de foot of yore steps. Yuh put it down at a time when dere's no one lookin' or nuthin lak dat. Yuh putty [pretty] sho', even if yuh'd have tuh go out between midnight an' day, an' bury dat shoe at de foot of de steps. An' den at a certain length of time, somepin lak six months or less, well yore son would come home.
(You would bury that a certain way wouldn't you?)
[I picked up informant's certain.]
A certain way. Yuh bury it - let de toe of de shoe turn toward de house, eithah shoe, jis' one shoe.
Entry 5132
If a person gon'a leave yuh an' yuh Wan' 'em, dis is one way if yuh wan' 'em tuh saty. Why yuh jis' take his or 'er shoes an' jis' open up dat thin little piece [insole] in de shoes.
(Inside the shoes?)
Yessuh, an' put some sugah an' peppah in dat shoe, an' den turn dat little piece back. An' go undah yore house, undah yore steps, an' bury de toe of dat shoe comin' up - yuh undahstan', up intuh de house. Jis' lak dey had it on dere feet, yuh know, an' comin' in de house, bury it de same way. An' dey'll nevah leave.
(You mean that little sole [insole] inside the shoe?)
Yeah, rip dat open an' so yo' kin put dat [pepper and sugar] up in it. An' den put it back ovah dere.
(You use both shoes?)
Jis' one, de right one. [These 24 beliefs on one cylinder is about the high- est number ever recorded. This means that informant's preceding and following statements were brief and mostly things I had heard many times before.
Entry 5172
A lota men say if yuh gota woman an' she love tuh run about an' don' lak tuh stay home, why yuh kin take one of 'er right-han' slippahs an' bring [bend] de toe of it back tuhwards de house [let the toe point toward the house], an' put a eight-penny nail in it, drive it right through it. An' bury it undah de do'step an' dat'll make huh stay home.
Entry 5248
Jis' lak yo' weah out a shoe. If he weah out 'is shoe, well he will throw de shoe outdo's. Well, she go out an' git it an' cut dis tongue out de shoe an' bury it undah de back steps.
(What will that do, make him stay home or what?)
No, make him jis' be wit no one but 'er.
Entry 5273
Dey will take yore shoe an' bury it, turn it down bottom upwards an' bury it, see. It will cuz yo' tuh lose yore mind.
(Do they use either shoe or one of them or what?)
Yo' kin use de lef' foot. [St.] Petersburg, Fla., (1056), 1716:4.]
Entry 5522
Dey will jis' take dat an' put it in a rag.
(This foot track?)
Yes, take de whole track up an' put in a rag an' tie it [1 knot], up an' den dey carry it an' bury it undah de do'step. Put a meatskin in it. It'll worry yuh, prob'ly run yo' crazy.
(What sort of meatskin? Any kind of meatskin?)
Yeah, jis' white bacon. [The meatskin is to draw some animal or insect that will chew on the meat and foot track.] (And they put your foot track under your own door.)
Entry 5575
[Name of the Lord is also used in other foot-track rites.]
It's diff'ren' things whut chew kin do wit a person's foot track. Whut chew ganta know, tuh bring peace to him or tuh drive yo' [him] 'way? (To drive them away first.) Well, now if yo' wanta drive him away, de way yo'd do dat. De Lord said de evildoer shall not stay. Yo'll find dat in de Psalms of David: 'All evildoers shall be done away wit." An' de way yo' do bat, yo' do dat in de Name of de Lord. Pick up 'is track an' bury it about a foot deep an' he'll shore leave.
Entry 5742
If yo' want [them] to be driven from love or separate, tuh take tracks of a man an' woman an' bury it undah de do'step an' it stay dere. Put red peppah wit it an' it stay dere fo' nine days. An' yo' kin separate de man an' woman. (Well, now where am I going to bury it, under my doorstep?) Yes sir. (I want to separate another man and woman? I bury their tracks under my door- step?) Yes sir. [Red pepper makes them quarrel.]
Entry 6729
If anybody's trying tuh HOODOO an' got anything buried round yore bouse, a frizzly chicken will scratch it up an' yo' kin find it in dat way.
Entry 6730
A frizzly chicken, if anybody bury anything in yore yard dat is not clean, dat frizzly chicken will dig it up an' he become naked; an' if it's too strong, hit'll killl 'im. [Among many examples of frizzly chickens digging up planted objects of cunjure or poison, this is about the only time I ever heard of the chicken being killed.]
[For other examples of frizzly chickens, see pp.59-63.]
Entry 6872
If a woman's goin' have a baby, well now if she [some woman] kin git tuh huh tuh take any huh - anythin' from huh, yuh know, an' she kin go bury it, den she'll have dis woman - it'll kill huh.
(You mean a piece of her clothing or anything like that?)
Anythin' - a piece a huh undahclothin' nex' tuh huh skin.
Entry 6873
Take a woman's clothes an' bury dem an' she'll have a hard time. Take a piece of 'er undahgarments.
(If this woman is going to have a baby?)
Sho'[sure].
(That will cross her up?)
Cross 'er so she cain't delivah de baby.
Entry 7391
Yo' kin bury him [murdered manl wit a aig in 'is han' an' he'll [mur- derer will] come back. Or eithah bury him wit his cap down ovah his face, or eithah a han'chief ovah his face, an' he'll come back.
Entry 7441
Now, yo' kin do dis. Dis anothah thing. If a pusson poison somebody belongin' to yo' an' yo' feel dat dat pusson have been poisoned, dat pusson near [to you] is a corpse. Yo' git choo a fresh hen aig - see what I mean - an' yo' put it undah dat pusson, in de corpse, undah dat pusson dat is in de corpse. Put it undah dere, don't break it dough [though]; but chew gotta do dat in secret, see. An' yo' let dat aig stay in dere an' bury 'im wit dat egg in dere, in de corpse, an' if dat pusson was kilt or poisoned, immediately aftah de egg break, de pusson who done de poisonin' will die.
Entry 7443
Take a' aig an' bury dat man wit 'is face down an' put dat aig right back on de corpse [demonstrates]. (Right in the center of the neck, right in the hollow of the neck.) Right heah in dat centah, right dere in dat little low place.
Entry 7482
If the murdered persons falls on his face and is buried on his face the murderer will return.
Entry 7492
Lak if ah wus to kill a man an' tried to git away, an' yo' want me caught. Why yo' jes' when yo' bury dis man, don't place dis man east an' west. Jes' take him an' bury 'im on 'is face north an' south, an' if ah go anywhere why ah turn an' come back.
Entry 7512
If a person kill a person, yo' kin take an' take dere pichure. [You do not photograph the murderer but try to find a photograph of him.] Jis' have dere pichure an' yo' kin take dat pichure an' - de one dat done dis killin' yo' undahstan' - an' yo' kin take it roun' in de cornah in de south end of de house on de block an' yo' kin bury dat on its face. Dat'll make him come back, too, outside of [the same as] dat aig. It's bettah den dat aig. [Informant had pre- viously given an egg rite.]
(You bury the picture to the south side of your house?)
Yessuh, becuz reason ah know, a boy kill mah brothah an' he sho' [sure] come back an' dey caught 'im right heah in'Memphis.
Entry 10033
Well, now, ah tell yuh whut de' [they] say fo' runnin' watah. In case yo' wants anybody confused aroun', a disagreeable neighbah see, dat is terrifyin' yuh. An' yo' wanta git rid of 'em, want 'em tuh leave de community or leave de home or somepin lak dat. It's got a bad story but den ah got it. Yo' git a black cat. Put dat black cat intuh a pot of boilin' watah alive an' covah de pot up. An' let 'im stay in dere until all de flesh drop offa his bones. Den yo' git dat bone. Ah don' know jis' zactly whut bone, but jis' git a bone - ah'd imagine mos' any bone - an' carry it. Well, in othah words, tuh make it cleah, plain, yo' might take a collection of dese bones aftah dey are boiled, cleahed of de meat, an' den yo' carry 'em tuh a runnin' stream of watah. An' de bone dat will float down de stream - de most of 'em will sink - an' it ain't but one of 'em float, dat bone dat will float down de stream. Take dat bone an' carry it an' bury it somewheah neah dat dis- agreeable neighbah. Dat will drive 'em off. [An unusual use for a black cat bone!]
Entry 11074
They'd [they had] crossed her.
(How did they cross her?)
Well, they gets hold of her dirty linen. You understand? One of her old dirty linens and bury that. Bury it in a place where they don't walk at, nobody walks; up close to a corner, up close to the wall where people don't walk over it. That's dirtv. [If her linen had been buried where people could walk over it, victim would have died quickly, called a fast death. Here we have a slow death rite, the reason informant calls it dirty. These terms slow death and fast death are mentioned early in HooDOO.]
Entry 11305
Take some red pepper - nine balls [pods?] of red pep- per [finger peppers?] and put it in meal [cornmeal = maize meal] and make it into a cake. An' don't cook it but put it raw under the door- step and bury it deep, and the dog would stay home.
(Where do you get this hair from the dog?)
Right in back of his neck, get the hair from the back of his neck.
Entry 11389
If yo' wanta git me outa heah, bury dat file an' let it stay dere nine days.
(Where do you bury it?)
Undah de front steps. [New Orleans, La., (1558), 2982:10.}
Entry 11516
Pick up person's going-east foot track, sew up in a bag, bury it, "cause you to run away." [EARLY NOTATION OF MINE READS: "PURPOSE UNUSUAL, PROB- ABLY NOT USE." HOW COULD A PERSON BURIED, RUN AWAY? IT TOOK ME A LONG TIME TO REALIZE THAT SYMBOLISM IS ALMOST EVERYTHING, BUT INTENTION IS THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS, THE BE ALL AND END ALL. THERE ARE MANY EXAMPLES OF BURIAL TO RUN PER- SON AWAY, THE VERY NEXT RITE FOR EXAMPLE.] [Mobile 890:5.]
Entry 11517
They could pick the whole track up just like you walking easy, but just after you have gone by not too long, you see, when you put your feet down, 'cause the heat from your [bare] feet will go in the dirt. And just after you put your feet down, they can pick up that track and go bury it in the graveyard and that will cause you to drift.
Entry 12553
A red onion, dat'll make a person move. Buy yo' a red onion an' name it whut chew want it tuh do an' bury it right undah a person's do'steps. Dat'll make 'em move.
Entry 12673
You can take a tintype picture of a person and go out in any place and bury that picture; and as that picture fades off the tin you begin to get sick and finally you'll die. [New Orleans 1348:3.]
Entry 12675
Ah heard 'em say dat chew could take yore photograph, tintype only whut chew use fo' dat, de tintype. Dat's all ah heard about de photograph, an' yo' take dat an' bury it standin' up, haid down, an' dey say dat will kill yo'. Dat's whut dey say. [Memphis, 2815:4.]
Entry 12709
Dey said go to a rabbit an' git some little rabbit balls an' take them little balls an' bury 'em undah de front do' an' undah de back. Say dat will run 'em away.
(Any number, it doesn't make any difference? Anything like that?)
No suh, no numbah.
(That is to make them move out of the house - this rabbit dung, these balls.)
Entry 13188
Take your dirty sock and bury it underneath de step, that will make you stay home. [Charleston 623:5.]
Entry 9875
Yo' kin take a toadfrog an' write de name of a person an' stick it in dat frog an' bury it in a crawfish hole. Yo' know, push it [toad] backwards in de crawfish hole an' shet dat hole up, an' den what dat toadfrog bust open dey'll bust open. (You just write that name once on a piece of paper?) Write de name once or twice or three times jis' lak yore mind leads yo', an' jis' put it [paper] down in it
[frog]. Den put him down in dat hole an' cover it up. Fix it so dat dey [toad]
cain't come outward, yo' know, an' he's bound tuh die. When he die, yo're gone.
Entry 1073
If anybody's tryin' tuh git to yo', happen tuh put anything undah yore do'step fo' yo', yo' jes' go dere an' turn dat right ovah - turn it right ovah an' let it stay right dere an' whut he put on yo', will go off an' be on him. (If he buries anything, simply turn it over.) Yessuh. [See Nos. 1058-1059, p.401f.]
Entry 11088
"She'll git his shirt tail and [to make man stay home] cut it and tie it in jes' about 3 knots, tight as she could git it; take it and bury it under de steps." [Charleston 606:5.]
Entry 11102
"She kin take some of his clothes an' bury 'em...he'll either come to 'er or he won't be living" [this may be my only example of this rite]. [Jack- sonville 690:3.]
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 11433
"You could take that fingernails and toenails and bury it and that cause to give you misery in the head." [New Orleans 1366:2.]
Entry 11436
"Dey kin take dat [fingernails and toenails] and put it in de stove an' parch it...den take it an' tie it up in a piece of rag, an' put a piece of assafitadee in it an' a little sulphur, an' dey kin bury dat aroun' de house... dat will make yo' come to dat house all de time an' yo' can't stay away."
[Mobile 951:6.]
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 11553
"Get a piece of dogwood...measure the [foot] track...take that dogwood and carry it to your house and bury it under de step...will bring 'em to you."
[Petersburg 421:8.]
Entry 11577
Woman took husband's foot track to root doctor who dressed it. Then she took it home and buried it under the door. [Wilmington 83:5+85.]
Entry 11592
"Take up your track and bury it in THREE CORNERS OF THE WORLD: north, east and south, not west - that will give you a walking spirit. [After ques- tioning informant said left track. Much more frequent is four corners of the world [not concerned with foot tracks] from Revelation of John 7:1.] [Vicksburg 1000:14.]
Entry 11681
If one wants tuh marry a man, gits a looking glass an' go de east of de fork of de road an' buries it there. Well, that makes this man marry her. (She simply takes the looking glass and goes out and buries it at the forks of the road.) Forks of the road. Turn it up, an' den she visit dat yo' know fo' nine mornings.
(Well, how does she know she is going to get the right man?)
Well, dat de one she want. Well she put his name on dat glass an' puts it dere.
Entry 11807
"Take man's dirty undersuit, take to cemetery, bury it, lay it out just as if it was in a grave, on top of the grave, flatten it out, cover up and say, God giveth and God taketh away, blessed be the Name of the Lord, Go in the Lord's Name and don't never come back."
Entry 13174
Dirty left sock and dirty left stocking, sprinkle red pepper over, put names of each in, roll tight, bury together: "makes 'em get that much closer to you." [Mobile 876:5.]
Entry 625
Well, ah had a sister an' ah know that was true. An' a rootman told her he [her sister's husband] had a sweetheart woman he was living with befo' he married mah sister. An' he told her, said that he would nevah live with mah sister, which he didn't live with her no longer den but about a month or little better. An' she [sweetheart woman] had some of her friends to slip in dere some Way or 'nother an' she had seven ole rusty keys an' seven pods of peppah an' seven needles - well, she had 'em ovah each do', one ovah de back do' an' one ovah de front. Dey nevah woulda found it unless [as] ah said, de spirit brought it to her mind. At last one day she spoke, said, "Ah believe ah'll look up ovah dis do' an' see whut's heah." She looked up dere an' dat's where she found it. Well, mah mother, she'd taken these to a man in [name of town not clear] an' this man tole her, said, "That was to keep her out all dem many years - keep her out de house, dat she nevah would live dere any mo'." But after she had found these things why he could turn it back on de woman, an' so mah mother tole him, why she didn't care fo' it to be turned back, an' so she left de keys an' thing dere with him. Say, she nevah would live with him. An' then, too, after she did that - we had been doin' some washing yo' know, an' her ministratin' clothes, yo' know, we didn't git through washin' dat - at least dat day, an' we jest left 'em out do's in de tub. She went dere an' stole dem an' taken 'em off an' buried 'em fo' 'em to kill her. An' so dis cunjureman tole mah mother, say, after them things rot, why yo' could jest pick 'em up an' dey fall, yo' know, to pieces jest lak a ole rotten rag or somepin lak dat. See, an' she would fin'lly die. Well, she did suffer, yo' know, a long time till mama got her cured by diff'rent mens yo' know. When- evah she'd go to ministrate oncest a month, why she looked like she was gon'a soon go to bed - git confined an' knots would come in her stomach as large as yore fist, an' when dat passed through - it passed through in knots like dat.
(Do you know anything - what they did to cure her?)
Yes sir. Well, a man by de name of Mr. Oleberry, he cured her - he cured her wit jest an ole green gourd. She had to make teas oncest a month outa green gourd. An' when she couldn't git de green gourd why he tole her jest to save up some dry gourds an' jest put a little turpentine in it, an' dat got her well.
(That's all that cured her?)
Dat's de only thing dat cured her. An' we had taken her to medical doctors an' all - an' all kinds of doctors an' dis man wus de only man dat reached her case. An' then sometime ago ah had a brother - he wus out in Tennessee, ah believe where he got hurt. Some wimmins hurt him. Ah don't know jest how it wus done, but anyway they had him dead from heah on down to his feet.
(From his stomach on down to his feet?)
Yes sir, an' dis same man cured him with jest de simplest thing. Yo' could jest stick a pin in him an' he couldn't feel it from his stomach on down. An' he said two wimmins an' one man fixed him lak dat out in Tennessee. An' he didn't do anything but jest had us tuh git green pine tops an' give him - bathe him, yo' know, from there on down an' give him some to drink. An' he tole him everything he do from de first day he started taking it. He hadn't walked none in twelve months, not nary a step had he walked. Yes sir, he tole him dat after de first day he'd sit up - he'd have to lay down most of de time after he had taken his bath in dis green pine-top tea an' given him some to drink an' tole him on de second day he would stand up, an' say, an' de third day, he said, "Yo' gon'a walk wit a stick out to de toilet" - de toilet wus out do's yo' know. An' really he did it. An' so we kept dat up fo' about two months, an' now he's in Florida, married an' got three children.
Entry 899
A girl hurt me, got betweeen me and a boy. I had two children for him. I was noticin' how she come aroun' and talk to him and things, and I didn't pay it no mind. I taken it for a joke. Well, it wasn't a joke. And so this girl got between me and him. And so she got my track and got two three-penny nails, she got my left track, and put them in a little white sack and bury it under mah door. And so mah feet went to swelling, and legs, and I didn't pay it much attention. I worked right on. And after awhile I got so I couldn't you know, it pained me. So I went de doctor and the doctor he bathed me for it, and it looked like all he did wouldn't do me no good. So an old lady, she lived aroun' there, told me to go to some kind of other, a root doctor. And I did. And so he told me that I was hurt, and told me I couldn't git it up from de door. He says I have to git somebody else to git it or git him. So I give him a dollar and told him to dig it up from mah door. So he did. And he told me what it was. And so he say he'd take this stuff and put it to her door and that's the onlyest way he could have it turmed off of me. And he turned it back On her. Well, she Was in the same condition. I got well.
Entry 1009
An' git, yo' understan', her ministratin' - a woman's period an' put it in wit lodestone an' some of her hair, rusty needles an' rusty pins, an' bury dat undah her do'step an' that would run her away. Well, de thing that ah saw wus a person had buried this undah a girl's house name Josephine. Well, this Josephine wus livin' in a house an' she wus goin' with a man an' de people wanted her 'way from this place. See. An' somehow or othah they got her stockin' top an' some of her hair an' lodestone. Wrapped that hair aroun' the lodestone an' then she had three rusty needles an' three rusty pins stickin' in through de hair; yo' understan', aroun' dis lodestone, an' buried that undah her steps. An' that wus tuh drive her away. Well, her sistah, Missus Malone, lived 'way on the south end, supposed tuh be one those so-called hoodoos could do things an' drive yo' away. See. An' she told her - she went tuh Miz Malone an' Miz Malone told her about this stuff wus buried undah her do'step an' she got this stuff out - out from undah her do'step. Ah saw de stuff mahself. An' she tole her whut tuh do with it de nex' day. She tole her tuh git up that mawnin' befo' sunrise an' had tuh git three persons tuh burn this stuff. Well, one boy dat ah remembered had burn dis stuff - co'se he's daid now. His name wus - an' he wus de one got de stuff out from undah dat step an' burn it fo' her.
(How do you mean three persons to burn it?)
She meant three persons that she knew - see, tuh git it out an' den each three of these persons do dat tuh see it burn.
(Well, about that piece with the blood - what did they do with that?)
Well, that wus wrapped in with the hair too. Dis bloody piece wus mixed in lodestone an' de hair aroun' de lodestone.
(Did they burn it at any particular time or do anything after they burned it?)
Ah re'lly don't know whut they did aftah dey burn it.
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 1740
And then you know, your decacal [index] finger, you see that's your blood right from your heart.
(You do what with your finger?) See, that's the finger - that's the blood that comes right from your heart. [Points to right index finger.]
(Which finger?) )[I doubt index finger.]
Your decacal finger.
(Oh, this one right here?)
Yes.
(Which hand?) [I am still doubtful about hand.]
On your right hand.
(Oh, your right hand, I see.)
You prick that with a silver needle - have never been sewed with, a goldeye, understand.
(I understand.)
You'll take that blood and you'll take a sheet of paper - not lined paper but your writin' paper what is unlined, and you write your name at de top with your crimson blood. You write his name just as small as you can and you - with dat needle but not wid a pen - and you make nine circles around that and then enclose that and you bury it at the ninth hour at night under your front steps. Really, that's why sometimes you see people try to break from the county road [chain gang] and the penitent'ry. If that is done, they goin' break away and come to yuh. There's nuthin 'tall kin hold 'em from you - they'll take any chances they can and come to you [see No.77, p.32].
Entry 1767
[Here is a device used by George Jackson, a well-known doctor on the Eastern Shore before his death about 1900. This rite was told me by an old man who met prospective clients at the railroad station and drove them out into the country to interview the doctor. For some interesting information about this remarkable doctor, see margin-title George Jackson.] Now, if a man want to break his wife from some man, he steals this dishcloth an' when that he fools with 'er he ketches her nachure in this dishcloth. After he ketches this nachure in a dishcloth, he takes it home an' wraps it up tight an' buries it at his doah - right down under his doah. Fer nine mornin's he must git up an' walk over it an' make his wish whut he wants - never man can't enter. That's [a remedy of] Uncle George's. [Many persons called Jackson Uncle George.] That's called, understand, put a man down that he can't raise up courage fer that Woman, don' care how hard or whut he do. An' he can't. He made all the married, single, go to him, [even] captuns - go off, you know, on drudgin' [dredging for oysters in the Chesapeake Bayl an' leave their wives home. Of course, no man wanted a man to bother his wife while he's gone. He'd have her crossed before he left. [Princess Anne, Md., (130), 34: l; informant Joshua Wilson, age 65.]
Entry 1774
Yo' take dis black chicken - lak ah'd move, dis is a dwelling house an' ah'd move here an' sorta thinkin' somebody was trying to get me - get me a black chicken, take it round on de side where de sun rise an' kill him an' dress him an' eat de chicken. Take de head an' sprinkle it wit black peppah an' brimstone, bluestone an' salt, an' put it in a nice little sack an' bury it jes' like yo would somebody. Cover ovah [make a burial mound over] dat sack an' dey tell me dat nobody won't nevah interfere wit chew.
Entry 1798
Well, yo' take a aig an' draw a casket [coffin] on de aig.
(Any kind of an egg?)
A hen aig.
(And you draw what on it?)
Draw a pitchure of a casket on de aig, an' yo' take dat aig an' yo' bury it fo' nine days in a woolen rag, an' yo' take dat egg after yo've buried it - on de eighth day yo' go to where dat aig is an' put chew about a teaspoon of salt, tea- spoon of sulphur an' teaspoon of black pepper, an' in de nine days [on the ninth day] it will bust. He'll be a daid man.
(Where do you bury this egg?)
Right at de middle of de doorstep.
(Whose doorstep?)
De fellah dat yo' an' him livin' disagreeable.
(The fellow you want to kill?)
Dat's right - yeah.
Entry 1863
Yo' take de dirt out de hollow of his feets. (The boss's feet?) Yeah, de boss feet an' put it in a bottle an' put it right down at de steps - turn it bottom upwards an' dig a hole an' put it right down at de steps early in de mawnin' - see, 'fore anyone see yo' go dere.
(Whose steps?)
At de boss house.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat will put chew - put chure track an' de boss track together. Now, yo' see, dat will give yo' influence wit de boss.
Entry 2564
To draw in customer, yo' git chew - lak dat chure front do' dere, yo' git chew a can of [Red] Devil Lye, potash, an' yo' git chew a handful of table salt an' put it right on top of dat can, an' yo' take a ice pick or somepin an' chunk hole all in de top of de can, an' jes' lay dat right on top, at twelve a'clock, an' bury it right in front under yore step or right in front of yore gate. An' one tuh de back. Dey'll be comin' in. Tell yo' whut chew do wit dat. Yo' take dat same potash an' yo' take three Cans - three cans. Take de cans an' open it an' put it in a boilin' pot of watah an' jes' boil it in dat watah an' jes' go all roun' yore house an' sprinkle it all roun' yore house - all in de dirt, all out in de front of yore do', right dere in de front of yore do'. An' yo' git chew a box of spice an' yo' git chew a package of sulphur an' yo' mix all that together an' table salt; an' ev'ry mawnin' befo' sunrise yo' jes' go on an' sprinkle it right out chure gate dere - throw it out dere, turn yore back an' don't look back an' walk on back in yore house. Dey'll nevah - dey'll come an' jes' be passin' by all de time.
(That is to keep the law away?)
Yes sir - keep de law away.
Entry 2566
Dey would git two cans of lye an' about midnight in de night, nobody sees yo', yo' digs a hole underneath each one of yo' steps an' put de can dere. But don't stop de can tight, let it be slant, an' yo' cover it up kinda lightly - you know, where dat scent and dat strength kin come out. An' dey tell me if dey'd come dere and start, dey wouldn't come no farther than that do'.
(That keeps the law away.)
An' he'll ask yo' questions.
Entry 2928
Go to the railroad track for spikes. (For what?) For spikes.
(What do you mean? Those big iron spikes that hold the rails down?)
Yes.
(What do they do with those?)
They take one of those spikes - like if you go out on the railroad track and say - you ain't got no - you haven't had no prosperity in your crop probably.
(Your what?)
Your crops and all that - like you make corn.
(Oh, your crop - the things you grow.)
The things you grow. You go to the railroad track and get a big spike and bring this spike back and burn you a candle over that spike, and when that, re- gardless of what length of time - you take that candle when that candle goes out, burns out there - you take that spike that was burning under that candle and was laying in your house, and bury that spike under your steps and let it stay under your steps for nine days. Bury it with the head up and the straight [side] down. Take it as near as you can to the center of your field and dig a deep, deep hole and bury it, after you take it up after the nine days under your steps where you walked over it. Take it in the center of your field, as near as you can and bury it in your field, deep, deep so you won't plow it or cultivation won't bring it up. And let it stay in the middle of your field, and you'll have better crops, bigger corn, better cotton - higher cotton and all that. (You say you burn this candle and say a novena?) [Novena shows machine had been stopped.] Yeah.
(I see. What sort of a candle do you burn for that?)
A white candle.
(Why white?)
A white candle is best to use unless you using something against some person. A white candle is the best always. [This is one of my few farming rites. As a matter of fact I never asked about them, considering them general folklore.]
Entry 3067
[This remarkable man we have already met, along with his friend who was equally adept at sudden disappearance. Perhaps you remember him by his more familiar name, Daddy Snakelegs, "cause he could run so fast and he could disappear." A precious pair! Sorry, I should also include the third member of the group, Ole Sal, the disappearing mule. See 845, p.293.] I've done hear [what you want]. I kin tell you most everything you ask me.
[I turn off machine and we talk until something of possible interest appears.]
(Burying you alive? How do they do that? Do you know?)
Burying you alive and you bound to follow the dirt.
(I see. Well, how do they say they do that?)
Well, I heard ole man Alexander tell that. He say he makes a coffin.
(Do what? Makes a coffin?)
Makes a coffin and puts this dirt in it.
(What kind of dirt?)
Graveyard dirt. Puts a needle catercorner there and puts another one cater- corner here.
(Like making an X in the coffin?)
No, just.
(Here - that's the coffin there.)
[I probably use my small oblong Nuonbers Book, used for altar, p.886.]
There's the coffin. Well, dey lay de two needles straight, right along here. And right between here they put a piece of cayenne pepper, table salt, and a piece of new salt [sulphur?] right there. Then they lay a piece of devil's root, dey call it - drive that down in there, you see, and they say that draws you up. (I see. Now, they put these needles like this [cross them], sort of making an X in the corners like that, and up here at this top part - up here at the top of the coffin.in that sort of a V there [one of the 4 angles of the crossed needles] they - what do they put up there?) They put a pinch of cayenne pepper.
(Cayenne pepper. What do they put down here in the left-hand corner?)
A pinch of sulphur.
(And what do they put in this corner - the right-hand corner of the coffin?)
New salt.
(And up here - where do they put the root?)
Up here - they put the root chere.
(Up in the.right-hand corner they put this root.)
And there's your head. (That's your head. And they put - what was the name of that stuff they put there?) Ah - ah devil's root. I suppose they want the devil to get that coffin.
(I see. And what [else] will they do for the devil to get that coffin?)
Carry it out and bury it - bury it in the dirt.
(What will that do?)
That's all - just carry that out and bury that down in the dirt. [See Coffin, PP.536-542.]
Entry 3148
I get me - DO YOU KNOW WHAT BUMBLEBEES ARE? You know what they are?
(Yes, wild bees.)
Yo' have tuh do dis in de summahtime. Yo' have tuh git someone tuh ketch dese fo' yo'. Yo' take dese nine bumblebees an' brown 'em in de stove. Jes' put 'em in an' cook 'em dere. An' den yo' jes' git yo' a hammah an' put 'em in a piece of new cloth of some kine, an' jes' take yo' a hammah an jes' poun' dem intuh powdah. Well, now, say yore husban', yo' don't wan' 'im tuh be wit no othah woman. Yo' wan'a keep 'im away from dis pahtic'lah person. So aftah yo' have - yo' take dis befo' yo' go tuh bed, yo' see, put dis in dis cloth an' rub it tuhgethah yo' kngu. Be sure yo' got dis powdah all in dis cloth. Have anothah one fo' yoreself. Yo' an' 'im both don't use de same - let 'im use dis cloth fo' 'imself. Yo' know, some people are not very careful tuh take a bath. If he should take a bath, don' give it tuh 'im until he dries. If he dries 'imself wit it befo' he takes a bath- when he gits ready tuh dry 'imself, den give 'im dat an' rub 'im wit de powdahs on it. Well, he gits finished wit dat an' he goes tuh see dis person, whenevah he has intahco'se wit dat person, dey will have a burnin' sensation. Dey will come tuh yo' an' tell yo' how somepin has happened tuh dem an' yo' will know dat dat is de person. Den take dis cloth an' fold it ovah an' tie it in a real hard knot, as hard as yo' kin draw it, an' den yo' stick dese nine small needles in dere. Dat is tuh keep yo' away from dis person. Dey always have some kin'a complaint. Yo' know yo' heah of people always havin' aches an' pains - down here in pahtic'lah. Well, dat is part of de spell tuh keep dem away from dat person.
(What do you do with the cloth then?)
Yo' go an' bury dat. An' dat will stick fast until he when [you, another woman] go wit 'em [him] dey [he] be lak dey [he] be dead. [RUBE GOLDBERG THE CARTOONIST MUST HAVE DESIGNED THIS RITE!]
Entry 3840
Ah heard yo' could take a hen aig. Take an' draw blood out dis fingah [demonstrates]. (The index finger of the right hand.) An' take an' write chure name an' 'is name on dat aig an' it would make him love 'er.
(What would you do with that egg then?)
Well, yo' would take an' bury dis egg, bury it undah yore steps.
(You write his name and your name in the blood.)
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 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 5031
Well, dey takes yore sock - like if a man an' a woman done broke up an she wan's 'im tuh come back tuh 'er, yuh see. Well, she would take his sock an' bury it up undah de step wit de feet comin' in. An' tack three tacks in de toe, three tacks intuh de heel of it, an' bury dat up undah de front steps. See, wit 'is name written in an' 'er name, an' dat will cuz 'im tuh come back.
(Where do you put these tacks in?)
Jis' intuh de groun' - jis' tack 'em down intuh de groun'.
(Oh, into the ground.)
Intuh de groun' - tack de tacks intuh de [ground].
(You move what? If you move, you do what?)
Yuh move - jis' like if yuh'd move out de house an' yuh lef' de man, yuh'd move de sock an' tack it up undah de nex' steps. (I see. I see, you put three tacks in the toe and three in heel and press it down. Then you write his name and your name and...) An' tack it down...
(On a piece of paper and that's under the sock that is tacked down.)
Yeah, undah de sock.
Entry 7534
[Depending upon the type of work you are doing, it can sometimes be easier to bury the article in a fresh or new grave:] Well, dey said tuh run yuh crazy, why dey take yore hair an' go an' git graveyard dirt an' mix yore hair - git a little bag, a little piece of new homespun, sew it up, about dat long, an' put chure hair in it. An' put de graveyard dirt in it an' carry it an' bury it in a new grave, an' in nine days yo' will go crazy.
Entry 8014
Do dat tuh a man if dey wanta run 'im away from town or if dey wanta kill 'im. See, prob'ly yo' wanta kill dis man. If yo' wants kill 'im, cain't git rid of 'im, he goin' wit some daughtah [or] 'nothah, or somebody's daughtah, an' dey cain't git rid of 'im wit'out killin' 'im, yo' jis' take an' git chew a dog. Ketch choo a dog dat some of yore neighbah's have dat yo' know 'is name. Yo' know de dog's name, an' yo' know de man's name, too, see. Well, yo' git de dog an' yo' carry him off in de woods somewhere an' bury 'im. Kill de dog, see. Yessuh [yes sir] kill de dog, take him way off in de woods somewhere an' bury him. An' yo' bury him wit 'is heels up about dat much [demonstrates] out de dust. Leave 'bout dat much of 'is feets out de dust. Jis' leave his feets out de dust. Well, dat's if yo' wants tuh kill de man. When yo' leave his feets out while yo's covahin' 'im up, when yo' turn 'im up, git 'im placed on 'is back real good, jis' lak yo' want 'im. An' while yo' covah 'im up, yo' call de dog's name nine times, an' yo' throw nine shovels of dirt on 'im, high 'nuff tuh git 'im covahed up. An' git 'is feets up above 'bout dat fur [demonstrates] 'bout couple inches or prob'ly couple an' a half inches. An' den aftah yo' git 'im covahed up an' git ready tuh leave him, say, "Ah hope yo's daid, In de Name of de Father, [Son and Holy Ghost], " an' call de man's name fo' time. An' walk away from de graveyard [burial place, not graveyard] an' don' look back at it. If yo' look back, it's not any good. Don' look back while yo's leavin'. An' dat'll kill de man. Now, if yo' don' wanta kill 'im [the man], yo' jis' wanta git 'im outa town, yo' don' kill de dog when yo' bury him, yo' see. Yo' don' kill de dog daid, but chew cuts: 'is throat or prob'ly knock 'im in de haid, so yo' leave him in a slum- bah. Put 'im in de ground an' yo' leave two of 'is feets out. Yo' leave two of 'is feets out. When yo' leavin' de graveyard [of the dog] yo' call de man's name nine times an' weah a cross pin. Yo' have tuh git a cross pin. Prob'ly go tuh Kress [Kresge] or somebody, any place, an' git a pin wit a cross on it. An' yo' weah dat cross pin tuh de grave where yo' dere messin' wit de dog. An' when yo' git ready tuh leave, yo' sticks it up in dere in de grave lak yo' do a tombstone, an' den de man will leave town.
(You kill this dog somewhere out in the woods?)
Yes.
Entry 9409
Take a new aig an' write his name on dis aig, say all de way ovah dis aig, yo' see, an' den on top-a dis name, put on dere, "Come back home." Yo' see, "Come back home." Den take jis' wheresomevah he at, take 'is name an' put on some writin' papah, crossways, dat Way [demonstrates] about twelve times. An' take her name an' she put 'er name right on hit twelve times comin' tuh de house. No mattah where he is, if he is in New York or where, he'll come. An' she'll heah from 'im wherevah he comes [from] an' wherevah he stop right befo' he git home. (What does she do with that egg?) She takes dat aig an' tie it up yo' see. Roll dat egg up tight in a li'le piece of cloth about three or fo' diff'ren' times, an' put 'is name right in dere as ah say on dat papah, an' bury it right tuh de foot of de steps. Now, yo' take dat an' yo' bury it tuh de foot of de steps wit dat sharp point up, de big point of de aig down an' lean it. Ah Would lean it [whole egg] jis' 'bout dat way [demonstrates] comin' from out de - Memoirs of Alma Egan Hyatt. Foundation - street tuh de steps, comin' in de do'.
(Have it leaning toward the door?)
Dat's right.
(Any kind of chicken egg?)
Any kind, no matter whut kind of aig, long as it is a aig. (She will write her name twelve times and then she will write your name twelve times.) Wrote his name twelve times an' den put 'er name de same way, lak yo' carry his name dis way an' take her name an' start it comin' back dat way.
(Well, now does her name go away from the house...?)
Her name an' his own comin' right tuh de house. Dere is anothah part on dat. Yo' take dis an git 'is name, as ah tell yo'. Yo' undahstan' me? An' git a bottle an' take her watah. Ah mean 'er nightwatah, pee. An' put it in dere an' shake it an' call 'is name three times - jis' what- evah 'is name am - "Henry come home - Henry come home - Henry come home." An' lay it dere right undahneath 'er pillah. In a short time or about fo' or five days he'll be there. (You use all these things, altogether. Yo'll have to use the egg and you have to use that bottle.) All at de same time.
Entry 10746
They say it'll stop your periods.
(Well, how do they do that?)
They say they take your chamber lye and put turpentine in it...
[While machine is off I ask for repetition.]
They take chamber lye and they put turpentine in it and they put cayenne red epper [to distinguish cayenne pepper from garden red peppers ground up] in it and there's some way they do with that that stops you. (Well, do you know how they fix it up?) Yeah, I seen it. (How?) They takes your chamber lue and put the cayenne pepper and the red pepper [the 2 peppers now separated] and they put it in a bottle and they bury it and that stops the periods on you.
(You heard this stops your water?)
Your periods.
(Oh, it stops your periods?)
Yeah, and it dries you up - just drift you away.
Entry 11462
Your toenails and your fingernails and the dead skin off your feet. And take that and tie it in...and a tencent [silver dime] and sew it up in a piece of red cloth and bury that underneath the doorstep, and they say he'll never come back here no more.
(Who won't come back?)
The person you wanta run away from dere.
(I see. Is that all you have to do?)
Yes, take it and put it in a red piece of cloth. Well, if you wanta keep him, you take your toenails - if you wanta keep a man or either a woman, you take your toe-nails and your fingernails and the dead skin off the bottom of your feet and put it in a piece of [red] cloth and sew it up and put a ten cent [silver dime] in dere with it and a piece of his hair, and he'll never leave you. [Norfolk 524:7.]
Entry 12026
To send a man away, wrap up in a rag some of his hair with 2 needles and several pins, and bury this package on the bank of a river. [Here again we have one of these many rites in which the victim is buried to send him traveling!]
[Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 12933
If she's got his shoes, she'll git de inside of dat lining in dere [insole] dat he wear next to his feet. She will git dat, an' if she kin git 'at, she kin take 'at an' put some - git some brimstone an' sulphur. Put dat in a piece of rag or some tissue paper first. Wrap dis up in tissue paper, but urap coming to her, see. Wrap coming to her. Dis same thing, if she take it an' put it in under her bed, yo' understand, an leave it dere fo' nine sornings under her bed or - don't put it under her haid because dat would take as much effect on her haid as it would his'n. Put it about de middle of her bed [center of bed makes this a quincunx rite] about where her body rests, yo' kmoa, fo' 9 consecutive [days]. An' 'fore dat time, dey say dat he will be just back to her or goin' crazy fo' to git back to her. (After she wraps that material up in the tissue paper, what does she do with that shoe sole?) [My words shoe sole here confuses informant, we had been talk- ing about the inner lin- ing. Another rite for the same purpose now be- gins.l Dat shoe sole, after she fix dat up, put it in some red pepper now, an' brimstone, yeah. It's red pepper an' oil of rose, yeah. Yo' git dat in de drug store. [No- tice: red pepper in the drug store.] Oil of rose, wrap dat up. Course dat's liquid but chew wrap dat together an' dat sulphur will 'solve an' come to be a cake sompin like a flour dough, yo' know. Yo' understan' whut ah mean. Yo' wrap dat together an' bury it. Bury dat at her doorsteps - at her doorsteps. An' at de same time she wanta git her whut chew call a horseshoe an' fix it up. Put dat horseshoe de way it's coming in, not de way it's goin' out - de way it's coming in. An' let it stay dere, an' don't nevah take it down. Nine mornings let it stay dere an' aftah de 9 mornings, during 9 mornings, she must make her urinate 9 mornings. Yo' understand whut ah mean. But fo'evah leave dat horse- shoe dere. When he comes back she will leave de horseshoe dere contin[ual]ly, an' use dat chamber lye fo' 9 mornings right on. Keep a using it until dat head is on dat. Ah'm working on de hair proposition, yo' hair dat chew asked me about.
Entry 12997
Dey could take his shoe sole an' jes' take up his shoe sole an' take a silver dime an' file it. File dis silver dime till... Jes' lak if he's got a lotta money. He jes' a business fellah an' some- body gotta grudge ag'in him, git a silver dime of his'n - any fren' yo' know, jes' lak makin' change. I jes' git holt dis dime of yore [man'sl money an' take it an' file it. Take dis shoe sole an' take all dis little dust offa dis dime an' puts it on dis shoe sole. An' dey'll take dat an' dey'll go bury dat under yore steps, right under yore steps where yo' goin' walk ovah it. An' wherevah yo' money is, as yo' go in an' come out, yore money'll jes' leave yuh - jes' fall down, fall right down to nuthin. Jes' come down to nuthin. (Now suppose I had this money and you were trying to do that to me. You would get my shoe sole, the inside sole or the outside sole?) Yes sir, take dis inside sole.
(You sprinkle the silver dust inside of my shoe, underneath that inner sole.)
Jes' take dis sole, de shoe sole - no sir, [take] dis inside piece [insole]. Yo' take it an' yo' fold it up [certainly away from you] dis [inner] sole, an' bury it under yore steps.
(You take this from either shoe?)
Yes sir, either shoe.
Entry 13199
Take yo' socks if yo' are away an' make yo' stay home: that's by putting a silver dime in it, an' put 3 knots, an' call your name, and bury it at de foot of your steps; jes' like you cut off a dog's tail if you want him to stay home and mind de house. [Left foot after questioning.] [Charleston 615:2.]
Entry 9644
(This white man owned this farm?)
No suh. See, dis colored man own dis fawm wit dis white man an' it come tuh a settlement. An' it wuz de fall term an' de white man wouldn't settle wit 'im. An' dis colored man went tuh dis root man; wants tuh make de man settle wit 'im. (And what did this root man tell him to do?) [Root man] tole 'im - ast 'im [first] did he have de law ontuh 'im [white man]. "Yeah," [answered root man's client or patient]. [Root man] tell 'im, "Yo' know de cookin' salt an' black peppah." So he tole 'im tuh mix some of dat tuhgethah, yo' know, an' make a li'le hole roun' dere where - so he won' see it - on de top-a de earth, yo' know, where he [white man] walk roun' an' [won't] see it. Bury it dere at de well. Anywhere roun dere, yo' know, where he be's [is] goin' backwards an' forwards. An' so dis man fixed de well 'imself, 'cuz he knew dat's where he'd be, see, but dis colored man did know where he put it dere, 'cuz he know 'bout where he be goin' on. So he put dat where dis man walk ovah it. An' he tole me, firs' he went in 'is house an' when he walk ovah dat, aftah he walk ovah it - he step ovah it. An' 'bout two or three day aftah den, de [white] man settle wit 'im.
Entry 2932
(How do they burn a candle on your photograph?)
Well now, a photograph, if I want - you mean that if I want to harm you or.
(Yes, either harm you or do any good or any way.)
Well now, if it's to harm you - I tell you if it's to harm you. I tell you what they do to your photograph. I use a candle again, but I use a black candle. You see, you get a black candle. You gets a black candle and instead of writing the name down thisa- way, you write it around the candle. See, you write that name [demonstrates], like you start here, you write it here - every, about every inch, you write the name. You take the photograph and you turn it upside down, what I mean, turn it on the head, and you burns it by that black candle. You take one of - if you can get two of 'em, you get two [photographs]. It would be better. You got one there by the black candle and you [get] the other one and you pin it or shove it up under your fire- hearth, you see. It's not going to burn up under there. Just put it in that fire-hearth, you make all the fire you want. You put it up under that fire- hearth, but you put it on the left-hand corner of your fire-hearth and put it as high as you can get it. And you can make fire and everything else, it's not going to burn at all. It's going to do more harm than anything else, it's not going to do no good; if it burns, it ain't going to do no good. See. But it's best not to let it burn. And, if I was going to do that to you - see, if I was going to do that to you, I would put the photograph, the second one, on the left- hand side of my fire-hearth. And I'm got one on the mantelpiece, upside down, burning by the candle. I'm got your name and I get me what you call a melt.
(A what?)
A melt.
(What's that?)
[I wanted to be certain he is not talking about melted wax - see CANDLE SPONGE BURIED, p.848f.] That's something that looks like a - it comes from a cow, looks like a cow's tongue almost, but it's called the melt.
(The melt.)
[Melt of course is milt or spleen. For example: "If hogs are slaughtered in autumn and the small part of the milt lies toward the head...sign of an open winter; if the large part...a severe winter. At times...belief differently ex- pressed...if the milt...ends in a blunt point...a cold winter...tapers to a point, a warm winter. Milt is usually called melt are rarely spleen." (FACI, 2ed.,1965, p.28.) With the original belief, I debated some time whether to use melt or milt. Moreover, I broke it up into two parts; using milt for the first
(No. 307) and spleen for the second (No.308) - FACI, 1st ed.,1935, p.12.]
I'd get me one of those melts, see. I'd get that melt, you see. I'd get that and I'm going to spread it. I spread it. I get your name and if I can get any of your filth at all, I'll cut that [melt] open and I'm going put it into this melt. I'll put this in your [my] melt and I'll keep it hung up there for three days in that fire-hearth where your picture is. Then from there I take and I goes bury that melt. I bury that melt and when I bury that melt, I take this picture from there and I buries it alongside of that melt. And after burying that picture with that melt, I cover it and I lights me another candle, but I move that candle. The first candle I got, I won't light it there [in the fire- hearth], I'll light it in a dark place. See, I'll [put] this candle in a dark place for nine days. I'll limit it to nine days and in nine days I'll have you just where I want you. Yes, sir.
(Do you light that black candle at any particular time?)
Well, I got - I light my black candle. See, if I light a candle, I light it at nine o'clock in the morning, I light it at three, and I light it at six - that's three times a day, that's all.
Entry 3322
A man an' woman can't git along togethah an' he can't have sexual in- tahco'se like he wants to wit 'er, [the reason] is becuz some othah man is got 'er mind along wit 'im. An' de way she do to hold dat good husban' at home, she'll go to work an' have it wit 'il, intah- co'se wit 'er husban', an' she'll take dat rag an' go an' bury it undah de leaks of de house where de watah falls off de top, an' dat cuts 'im down wit any othah woman, an' she kin go have all she want wit de othah man.
Entry 4066
Well, dey take dat - well, if dey git holt-a yuh fingahnail an' yuh hair, an' prob'ly maybe some-a yuh urinate, see. Well, dey stick 'em in a bot- tle an' dey bury dat in de groun', see. An' dat will do all de harm dey want. (What will that do for example?) Well, it will make yuh mindless.
Entry 5392
Well, now if dey picked chure track up goin' de same direction dat chew goin', an' take it an' 'vide [divide] it up in a li'le vial, wrap it right nice in some cloth, an' take it tuh runnin' watah an' throw it ovah dey shouldah, an' let it run on - an' dat watah runnin' east - why yo'll keep a-goin'. But if dey git in front de track an' snap it back tuhwards de heel, an' brings it back an' preserves it, tighten it up tight an' bury it undah de steps, why dat'll bring yo' back an' yo'll stay dere. (This water must be running east, you say, and you throw it over either shoulder?) Yassuh, throw it ovah yore right shouldah.
Entry 5815
Wal, dey kin take yore hair an' cut chure hair while yo' 'sleep, or where de barbah done cut chure hair. Dey kin take dat hair an' bury, an' it will run yo' crazy. Yo'll lose yore mind, yo' nevah has de right mind dat yo' did when dey didn't have yore hair. Yo' nevah will have yore right mind. [For barbershop hair, see also later margin title FISH - CAUGHT ON SUNDAY. I
Entry 5828
Fo' instance dey take a ball of a person's hair an' den takes part of his [foot] step. Ah'll make it plain as dis: If a man an' 'is wife wuz iivin' heah, an' if she wuz bad about runnin' aroun' an' wouldn't stay at home or nuthin lak dat, he'd take a plait of 'er hair an' bury it aroun' 'is house. Dat would always keep 'er wit 'im at 'is house, or sompin lak dat. Instid [instead] of bein' out in de streets she be at home.
Entry 5832
An' den if ah wanta put a spell on a person, ah go git some of dere hair. Ah burn dat hair, take dat hair an' carry it right back an' put it down ghere yo' gotta walk ovah it. An' dat make yo' have spells. An' yo' kin even take de hair an' burn it an' put it undah de - sew it up in some red flannel an' take dat flannel an' carry it tuh de house, dig a hole an' put it undah dere where yo' kin walk ovah it. Dat put anybody tuh havin' fits.
Entry 5898
They could take a piece of your hair and carry it to the cemetery and bury it and it will run you crazy.
Entry 5899
THEY TOOK MY MOTHER'S HAIR AND BURIED IT ON A SINNER'S GRAVE. AND THIS MAN [DOCTOR] PROMISED TO GET IT, BUT HE NEVER DID GET IT. [This brief statement is quite valuable because it shows what happened. The doctor on being called in diagnosed the ailment as patient's hair having been buried in a sinner's grave. He evidently promised to remove the hair at once. Was he paid in advance? The mother's death proved to my informant that the doc- tor had broken his promise! It never occurred to informant that doctor could not remove what was not there! Is this sort of practice sheer fraud? Not always. In the strange mental background of hoodoo, some doctors believe they can see the cause of illness. The present doctor did not visit a sinner's grave to remove the hair; he magically killed (tried to kill) the effects of the sickness spell while remaining at home. For this make-believe world, filled with abnormal psy~ chology, see the opening quotation of interview Doctor Heard, p.1948f. If Doctor Heard could draw a blood specimen from the shadow of a man who was not there, surely our present doctor could manage the simple task of hair in a sinner's grave.]
Entry 5902
Dey will take yore hair an' bury it, ah would say sixteen inches, in de cemetery. Well, den dat would make yo' feel dizzy in de haid.
Entry 5913
Dey say dey kin use yore hair tuh run yo' crazy - do things yo' ought not tuh do. Dey say yo' go foolish an' jump ovahbo'd - sompin lak dat.
(All right, how would they do that with the hair.)
Some of 'em say dey would take it an' bury it, or carry it - git some grave- yard dirt an' put it in a sack togethah an' throw it in de rivah, an' dat'll run yo' crazy or yo' go ovahbo'd yo'self.
Entry 6320
Git a plait of hair an' plait it tuhgethah, an tie it wit a rag or string of any kin' an' throw it in de rivah, or eithah bury it undah yuh do'-steps.
(What will that do?)
Dat will cause yuh tuh fade away.
Entry 7974
Yuh photograph has got tuh be in a tintype. Well, dey takes yuh photo- graph an' dey digs a hole jis' in de shape of a grave, an' dey take dat photo- graph an' dey puts it intuh a box or somepin lak a cigah box. Well, dey buries dat photograph on its face. An' aftah dey bury dat photograph on its face, why in a long length of time yo'll pine away an' it will kill yuh. Yo'll die! Jis' as dat photograph rots - befo' it rots, yo'll die.
Entry 7985
Make a coffin an' put a person's picture in, bury it in someone's grave in graveyard, person will die.
Entry 7986
Well, it's jis' like this. A woman loves a man an' he loves her an' she can't live with this man again like she want him. If she kin git his photo- graph, stick a pin through the heart of the photo- graph - an' the first person that die aroun' her neighborhood or anywhere that she kin slip this photograph in the coffin with the dead, and aftah they cover it up why he won't live very long.
Entry 8077
I heard that they could take your photograph and, if the person wanted to harm you, they could take your photograph and bury it; and that they thought you'd have bad luck or some ill omen would befall you.
Entry 8081
Ah've heard dat if it's on tin an' yo' bury it, dat gives yo' de head- ache.
(The photograph.)
Entry 8082
Bury it on de face tuh kill 'em. (Bury this photograph on its face and that will kill them.)
Entry 8083
Dey tell me dey take a person's photograph and buries it. It will run 'em crazy.
Entry 8103
Take dat p'otograph an' put it down on de face, an' bury it undah de doorsteps, an' walk ovah it. Dey say dat person'll jis' be gone.
Entry 8109
Dey git hold of dat photograph so as tuh do yo' any harm. Well, dey could take it an' take it home wit 'em an' bury it an' keep it about, say two or three days sompin, somewhere round de do'step. But it ain't nuthin tuh kill yuh or nuthin lak dat. But it will, yo' know, put chew in bad luck or give yo' a bad feelin' or somepin othah lak dat.
Entry 8112
Ah've heard dat dey would take dat an' bury it undah de step, dat photo.
(What would that do?)
Well, dat would bring yore lovah back, if he's left.
Entry 8113
A person could bury mah photograph bottom upwards undah mah steps an' ah'll run off but ah'll sho'ly [surely] come back, come right back.
Entry 8118
If it's a tintype, why dey kin kill yo' wit de photograph. Take de photograph an' punch holes in it an' bury it on its face.
(Would they punch that hole any particular place?)
Well, some says punch out de eye part of 'em, but ah don't know personally. But ah know 'em not tuh punch de eye part out, jis' through heah [demonstrates], somepin jis' look lak dey stick somepin through de neck of it.
(Right in the throat?)
Uh-hah.
Entry 8192
Yo' kin take yure photograph an' bury it. Ah taken mah husban' photo- graph an' buried it undah mah mattress. Put de face on de mattress. Ah went tuh work an' let it stay dere three mawnin's, an' a Sunday mawnin' he sont [sent] me $16.
Entry 26
Get a little box - a tin box. Put dat toenails in there and fingernails in there, cayenne pepper, war water - you get the war water, devil dust. You puts in there and you stop that can up tight, you see, and bury it. Den when you bury it, the person what it belongs to, their hand'll come like that - they'll draw up.
(Draw up - drawn up.)
Yeah, all drawn up. If it stay longer, the more it draw. They won't be no use for theirself.
(What is devil dust?)
Devil dust is what you get in the [hoodoo] drug store.
Entry 29
Dey tell me dat dey kin take yore bath water and bury it. Dig a hole and pore it in dere and put a piece of - jest a small piece of bluestone, sulphur an' asafitadee [assafetida] in dat hole with dat water and cover it up. And dey tell me dat will keep yo' perishing away all de time.
Entry 97
If yo' kin git de blood, if yo' kin git a shirt - [anything] dat got blood on his garment where he got killed - if yo' kin git a piece of that, take it an' git a aig, jes' a aig, an' bury it in his han', an' open his eye up first an' look in his eye, den take that aig an' put it in his han', an' dey say dat de person whut kilt him will appeah befo' yo' in his eye, will appeah befo' 'em in his eye. An' put dis heah piece of his garment whut's got his blood on it - say, yo' tack it to de no'th side of yore house. An' dat person-will come back whut kilt dis person, dey will come right to yore house.
Entry 113
Git chew a fresh yard aig an' tie it in his right han' an' bury him on his face. Now, dat happen right chere about fo' yeahs ago, right at dis basin [dock for ships along Mississippi River] befo' dey closed it in. A colored fellah kilt a girl dere an' got away, an' her mothah didn't know whut tuh do. So she sent ovah tuh mah house an' got me. So ah says, "Yo' got any chickens roun' heah?" She say, "De lady nex' do'." Ah says, "Tomorrah git me a fresh yard aig." Ah says, "Does yo' min' buryin' dis gurl on her face?" She says, "No, ah'll bury her any way if ah kin find de fellah." She put de yard aig in her han' dis-a-way an' shet her han' up on it an' tied a han'ke'chef ovah it an' buried her on her face. In twenty-four hours he come right dere where he chunked her ovahbo'd an' dis white fellah, de night watchman out dere, caught him. He carried him ovah dere an' called up de law at dis Union Station, an' the law took him ovah to the gurl's mothah's house. Den the girl's mothah went an' had de gurl redug up an' buried on her back. Dey broke his neck outen dis jail out heah.
Entry 743
An' den dere's anothah way yo' kin do it. Yo' kin take up a fellah's [foot] track. Yo' kin write his name in his track - if yo' know his name, jes' write his full name in his track.
(With what?)
Yo' know, wit yore finger. Take yore finger, dis finger, an' write his full name in his track. Take up dat track [demonstrates].
(You use that right - index finger of the right hand.)
Yes, sir. Take up that track an' go to de woods. Have yo' seen wire grass up heah in No'th Georgia?
(Wire grass? I know what it is.)
[This means I had seen a wild grass. I did not and do not know its name.]
Yes, sir. Yo' go to a big bunch of wire grass an' dig up dat wire grass by de roots; jes' take yore shovel an' have yo' another shovel - dig up dat wire grass by de root, de whole root of dat wire grass. [Presumably two spades are needed for a clump of wild grass.] Yo' dig up de whole root of dat wire grass an' jes put dat track in dere. When yo' put dat track in dere, hit on top of it three times like this, "God de Father, God de Son, God de Holy Ghost" - jes' like dat.
(What do you hit it with - your hand or the shovel?)
De shovel. An' say, "Whosoevah passes dis track with not good things in his mind" - be sure to put it though along where dis fellah travels at, yo' know he travels long dere where yo' carry dat - "whosomevah passes dis track with not good things on his mind, he shall be buried jes' de same as this dirt." An' walk away after yo' say them three words.
(You do that in case he has any hard feeling against you?)
Yes, sir - in case me an' him would git in some kind of a dispute or somepin an' ah thought he wus tryin' tuh harm me any way or he would harm me some way, an' it would better fo' me tuh do dat den to have to hurt him an' den have to go befo' de law, see.
Entry 789
There wus a man by the name of E., lived about three miles from here. My mother and father in their younger days dey used to believe in cunjuration. My mother got sick an' always complaintin' with her feet, an' so she sends fer this man, whu' choo call dese high men, an' he come over an' tole her whu' choo call her fortune. He says, "A woman has measured yore foot, foot track." An' he says, "She's got it buried under yore step." He says, "You'll not git well until this here measure is taken from under yore steps." So he says, "I'll have it taken up 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. So anyhow, when he went under the steps that night [three days later] - I'll tell you my belief after I end my story - and he come out wid a little stick about that long wid nine notches cut into this stick. [Notches are unusual, knots are common.] It was so many on one side of the stick, the notches, and so many on the other side - jis' the same you scallop anything. [Scallop - this is an old-time waterman and oysterman talking.] He come out an' he showed 'em this stick that was buried under the steps. Next, the thing he hauled out an' shows 'em wus a little red bag [a hand], that long - a red flannel bag about that long. So the next thing he shows 'em wus a little bottle [another hand] wid a whole lot of little somepin or others in it. I don't know whut wus in it - it looked like snake sheds or some kinda sheds. He comes out with that an' he shows 'em an' says, "That's whut wus buried under yore steps." I figured on that after awhile - I figure on it - an' then I had my opinion. I jis' thought that he'd put it under there hisself. That's sixty years ago [1876] on the Island here. [I was talking to this old man in the Negro home where I worked and in which I was about to spend the night described in the Introduction. His name was F. Milburn - this was Tuesday, December 8, 1936.]
Entry 877
Well, ah know of a man once he wus poisoned. He got poisoned by his wife. His wife given dis poison to her two oldest daughters to give him. Well, dis man's life lingered a good length of time befo' he died. A week befo' he died dey went to git somebody tuh see if dey could do him any good. Well, after gittin' dis man, dey were too late - dis sick man he wus too fur gone, but this man tells this man's brother that wus sick, he said that his brother wus too fer gone, dat he couldn't do him any good now, but he could git dese two persons that give this man this trick, an' two yeahs aftah dis man was buried, dey would be buried. Well, de first yeah aftah buryin' dis man - nine months aftah dis man wus buried, dis man's oldest daughter wus buried, an' in de next nine months de nex' oldest daughter wus buried.
(Well, what about that casket - is that in this story?)
Yessuh, dat's in dis story. De casket, aftah dis man died, dis man dat come dere to see could he do him some good, took him a spool of thread an' put the spool of thread in de casket with the man an' tied de loose end to the porch, an' as the ambulance went away wit de casket, dat unwind de spool of thread till it wound it all out. An' then he wus buried an' them two parties that give this man this trick, in two yeah's time dey will be buried. So dat's about de casket.
(That is all he did to make these other people die?)
Dat's all he did.
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 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 1180
Heard of 'em using chicken feathers fo' trouble round de home. Dey take de feathers of a black hen an' saturate it wit sulphur an' yo' bury dat under yore do'step. Dat will run off all de trouble an' harm round yore home.
Entry 1307
I heard that a spirit came to a woman's house one time and she didn't know how to keep it away and a woman told her to go out in the graveyard and get some fresh dirt off of a grave. She told her to take it and put it in a box and put a hole on top of the box and bury it under your house. She did that and she didn't have any more trouble with this spirit. She said that's what kept him away. That happened down on Vine Street here in town, Hampton, Va., (31), Ed.] had this woman's child and she kinda thought it was this woman [the dead mother] coming back because she had this child.
Entry 1378
Git a can of potash - Devil Lye. Yo' hear talk of Devil Lye with the devil with the red head on the can of potash. Git chew nine nails - ten-penny nails an' git - put in nine new needles, dese goldeye needles. Bury it in de center of de gate. Dat's to turn back de devil-like - dat's if anybody tryin' tuh hurt cha.
(What do you do with these needles and nails? Where do you put them?)
Put them on top of that can of potash in the gate, when yo' bury it about that deep.
Entry 1380
Ah heard 'em tell of - say if anybody got poisoned or put down anything fo' yo' an' yo' don't wanta move, yo' jes' git chew two ten-cent can of potash, Red Devil Iye, an' at twelve a'clock in de night yo' dig a hole as deep as yore elbow - measure yore hand all down - gotta do it exactly at twelve though. An yo' bury a can of dat potash an' git chew a brand-new box of cookin' salt.
(Where do you bury that potash?)
Tuh de gate - between de gate an' de steps, at twelve a'clock in de night.
(That's just one can?)
Yo' put one can dere an' a fresh box of salt whut chew have nevah nused any of it.... Yo' dig dat hole an' yo' put dat potash down in dere an' po' dat cookin' salt, de whole box, on top of it tuh yore front an' yore back. Ah don't care whut it is dey put down round dere, dat potash will eat it up. It can't hurt chew - can't harm yo'.
Entry 1381
Dat a very cheap thing, dat lye. Take dat lye an' open de can an' bury it at de foot of de front steps when yo' comin' out, an' bury it at de foot of de back steps. Aftah de lye is sot down, no witchcraft whatevah kin take yo' in, because it eats it all up. See, it cain't set in.
Entry 1457
A person dat has been tricked in de skin, it's something dat is buried for 'em or laid down on de steps for 'em - de house been dressed. You take nine teaspoonful of cooking salt, you take one dime of saltpeter, use dat, an' eight quarts of water, hot water - just like water for a bath. You pull off all of your clothes, ever'thing you got on, you get in there and take a bath in dat same water nine times.
(What do you mean nine times? All at once or different times?)
Dat same water - don't throw dat water away, you keep it in something like you take a bath in. Never rub upwards - always rub from here down [demonstrates].
(From your face right down.)
From there down. A person whut's been tricked in de skin, rub from here down and use dat water nine times, and de last time you use dat water, take it and throw it towards de sunrise, soon in de morning before de sun rise, so you get rid of dat complaint. Ah'm telling you whut's done happened 'to me.
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 1586
Dey say if someone bury somepin roun' yore house lak dat an' yo' got a idea who bury it roun' dere - yo' lookin' fo' someone tuh bury somepin lak dat roun' yore house - always keep yore bottle of turpentine an' keep yore shoes dampened inside with turpentine an' it'll nevah hurt chew. Yo' kin walk ovah it all yo' want an' it won't hurt chew.
Entry 1645
Yo' use dis stuff ammonia an' lye - concentrated lye, an' chamber lye, that's yore watah, an' wash round dat place. Yo' takes a can of lye tuh cut out all devilment dat anybody would throw, 'cause if dey goin' throw dey goin' always mostly throw undah - lak a buildin' dat's made yo' know lak this where it's a steps. Yo' takes dat can of lye - yo' don't use none of it - yo' take it an' yo' open it an' sprinkle so much all around undah dere, dry. Den yo' take that can an' yo' bury it upside down, an' that ketches all de devilment that's throwed around.
(What do you do with that other stuff, that other stuff you spoke about?)
Yeah, dat's tuh wash - if yo' think anybody's doin' devilment, wash aroun' an' dat cleans all de devilment out. Don't care whut dey put down, dat cut it up.
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 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 1730
[The well-known dead hand from a black cat, the Black Cat Lucky Bone, has been given (pp.74-97).] (How am I going to keep the law away?) Well, yo' kill him, de real black one - find one ain't got a [white hair on him], a black cat. Kill a black cat an' bury him under yore do'step, 'cept don't let nobody see yo'. When de law come by heah, dat'll banish him - keep him right on away.
Entry 1737
Yo' go to the woods an' git a piece of blacksnake root an' tie it up in a little hand'chief, put it in a cologne bottle and tote it in yore pocket three days and den take de bottle an' bury it. After three days yo' take it out chure pocket an' bury it under yore doorstep and dat will give you good luck. [Here is a buried hand.]
Entry 1750
Whut a woman do tuh make him come back to her? Well, ah'm goin' tell yo' somepin. Ah've tried this mahself an' yo' see ah know whut ah'm tellin' yo' 'bout is strictly true - dis heah ain't no story. Mah husban' left me an' ah tell yo' whut ah did. He went away from home. Ah got him tuh come back. Ah save some of his urine, see. I hate to say this to You. Ah got some an' put it in a half pint bottle, an' ah got me a tablespoon fulla sugah an' put it in dis urine of his'n, an' ah buried it undah de steps. See, dis is true - ah know whut ah'm talkin' 'bout. Ah could git him right now if ah wanted him but ah don't want him. An' he come home an' tole me, said, "Honey, ah been treatin' yo' wrong, but ah wants tuh come back home tuh stay. I buried dis mahself right undah de do'step - ah had de pint bottle of his urine. See, he made it in de slop jar an' ah didn't urinate in it with him. An' yo' see, yo' have tuh take his'n off, an' ah put this tablespoon fulla sugah in dere, an' took an' buried it at de do'step, an' every mawnin' ah say, "Lawd, yo' know whut ah did. Ah did it, In de Name of the Father, Son an' Holy Ghost, an' hope all mah wishes come true in mah happy hour." An' he come home tuh me. Ah did that mahself, an' ah learnt it from anothah man.
Entry 1763
Dey say yo' take a buzzard an' yo' kill him an' yo' bury him an' yo' let him stay buried three days. Then yo' take him up an' yo'll cook him down to lard. Jes' cook him an' jes' take his own lard, an' then yo' put that in a box. That's fo' gamblin'. That's a gamblin' hand.
(What do you do with that lard?)
Yo' take that lard an' yo' jes' mix it up - see, jes' mix it all up. Yo' don't have tuh put anything in it. Jes' mix it up an' put it in a box an' dat's tuh use fo' gamblin' - fast luck.
(How do you use it?)
Jes' rub it on yore left han' lak dat, an' then from yore left han' go ovah to yore right han' lak that. See [demonstrates], rub up this way - rub up all de time. (Rub up on the hands.) [For upward rite, see No. 1074, p.405.]
reported fast luck for gambling. No demonstrated success These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 1785
They can cross you. They can take matches and take a match and make a coffin out of it. They take and the way they set down, they shape them - they can make a coffin right up under your step, if there is any way for them to get up under the step - just like they do under the table. And then they take the other part of them matches and they make it just like they make me or you, with them matches and bury you there.
(Make the shape of a coffin with these matches.)
With these matches. (And then they put some other matches in there and make them in the form of a person.) Just make a shape just like a person.
(And they bury them.)
And they bury you there under the steps.
Entry 1786
They take your underpiece. Take a little piece of board and cut out a Strip like a coffin and take that piece. And if they got a pitchure, they take that, too. And place all them in that little coffin and carry it to a cemetery, and git right on top of a grave where somebody was buried, and then call your name and bury that in the top of that grave. And when that piece of board rot away, the persons who they named it after, they'll commence dryin' up and gettin' littler and smaller until that board rot; and when that board rot they'll die.
Entry 1787
I knew a woman once, she'd taken her landlord - she stayed in his house and she didn't want to pay rent. And she got his picture cut out of a paper. She taken a cigar box and she made a little coffin. She cut a hole in the corner behind her piano and she had - she cut a hole in the floor and put a [?] plant on there to hold this little box and had him buried there. And she stayed in that house until she finished paying for her house uptown. Stayed in there and didn't pay no rent. Every time they come there, it was something, and the house was $16 a month. She didn't pay no rent, she stayed there over a year. She got rid of - she paid 'bout - well, she didn't pay $20 in that time.
(Well, now what do you mean by cutting his picture out of a paper?)
She'd taken his photograph, you know. He was in the picture - he Was a big landlord.
(Oh, I see.)
And she'd taken his picture out of the newspaper.
(I see, out of the newspaper.)
Yes, the Picayune. She made that little coffin and put it down in the bottom - plastered it down in there in that little coffin and just buried it - put it behind the piano.
Entry 1795
Now, yo' take a person - I've heard talk of 'em taking a piece of wood, making de shape of a coffin. Well now, yo' take dat wood, see, an' make de shape of a coffin. When dey do dat, now yo' take a piece of paper an' cut it jest like de shape of a person. Well now, when dey cut dat paper de shape of a person an' put in dere, yo'll tack it down. Well, whosomevah it be, if dey's got anything in appearance [any hoodoo started against the operator], 'twon't be but three or fo' days 'fore dey are daid.
[This is a conditional death hand.]
(What do you do with that little box?)
Yo' take de box, yo' see, an' dey cut a piece of paper.
(What do you do with the box after the paper is in it?)
After yo' put de paper in it, yo' take dat box an' yo'll carry it an' bury it jes' lak yo' buryin' a person in a grave.
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 2086
To keep de police away is tuh git chew High John de Conker root. Git chew High John de Conker root an' Lucky Heart - dat's a weed dat grow up an' it shaped in a heart like, lak dey call it Lucky Heart. It's a red leaf, dey call it Lucky Heart. Yo' take dem two tuh- gether an' yo' put 'em together in a red flannel sack, yo' see. An' yo' take an' put chew some sulphur in dere wit dat. Yo' understan'. An' yo' bury dat right undah yore do'step. Git chew two sacks so yo' kin make two of 'em. Put in each do'step an' dey tell me if de law come dere, dey can't come in. If dey do, dey overlook ever'thing whut dey come in dere fo'.
Entry 2212
An' then, say, like yo' selling whiskey or yo' runnin' a place dat chew don't want de police tuh come in on yo', yo' kin git chew a ole plow - yo' know whut a plowshare is don't chew? Dat iron part dat chew plow with in de ground. Yo' kin take dat an' bury dat at chure front do' an' de policeman wouldn't go dere to save yore life, or nobody dat chew owe - don't care who yo' are or who wants tuh go dere, dey can't go ovah dat.
Entry 2223
I've heard them say you take a rabbit bone - cut his right hind leg off, put it in a pot and boil it in milk. Take it out and dry it in the sun for six days, take it and put it in the ground and bury it and let it stay in there for two nights. Dig it up and tie a piece of string around it and tie it around your arm. And anything you want you take it out and talk to it - tell it what you want and you are more than apt to get it.
Entry 2341
Yo' take that hair an' yo' bury it, yo' see, an' when yo bury that hair yo' puts it into lak a little bag, an' yo' make a toby lak yo' would make a toby, put a little hair in there an' bury it; but chew bury dat in de grave- yard.
(What will that do then?)
That will run yo' crazy.
Entry 2371
Drop nine drops of vinegar inside a bottle of white Heart Cologne an' yo' make a wish dat chew want a job an' yo' want to be lucky with a job, an' yo' take that Heart Cologne an' bury it at chure do'steps an' let it stay down dere fo' nine days. An' after nine days, yo' take dat Heart Cologne up an' jes' lak yo' - de time dat yo' wanta git dat job, yo' po' it every direction on yore clothes, yo' know, all in front of yo', an' po' a little bit in yore shoes, an' dey say dat known tuh make a person git a job. Say de man give it to yo' without any huntin' fo' it, but yo' must let it stay buried fo' nine days after yo' make a wish.
Entry 2521
It's de same thing as ah wus tellin' yo' 'bout while ago. Dat John de Conker root, it supposed to be buried to pertec yoreself if yore house is got a front do' an' a back do'. Yo' bury a piece at each place an' aftah yo' bury dis piece dere, yore supposed to make yore ma'ks - dat's a cross-lak. Yo' make dat right at each do', on de do'. An' if it's possible dat chew kin git a brand-new horseshoe, one dat nobody has evah walked on, an' cover it with dat silver-lak dat come offa cigarettes [tin foil] an' hang it dere - it be best tuh put dat in de middle of yore house. Jis' say fo' instance if dere a do' heah, put it up ovah dat do'. Dey not supposed - den yo' supposed tuh not evah be bothered wit 'em any mo'.
(Not supposed to be bothered with the law.)
Entry 2565
Ah'm a bottlegger mahself - dat's how come I mos'ly knows some of them things. Yo' don't need nuthin but take yo' a can of potash an' a box of red pepper and digs yo' a hole right befo' yore steps - round hole jest enough to fit de can. And take it and take de red pepper and set it right on de lid of dat can, and set it down and bury it right dere befo' yore steps.
(You set this can of what?)
Potash.
(Up - upwards?)
Dat's it.
(And you take the red pepper and do what?)
Put it upside down on dat can.
(And cover it up. That keeps the law away.)
Entry 2622
Yo' take lak if yo' have a scissors layin' down there an' lak if yo' have a nice business, an' ah wanta stop yo' from havin' it, why ah steal yore scissors or yore fingernail file. An' ah'll take those right to mah home an' ah'll put - as ah told yo', take that there perfume an' ah'll put mah 'gredients in there which is the sulphur an' nine grains of red peppah seeds. Put that in there an' ah'll put de scissors lak if ah got dem fo' nine mawnin's an' ah take 'em an' junk 'em down in de ground. All yore luck is cut, yo' haven't got any mo' business.
(You use perfume you say?)
Yessuh, Heamt's Perfume.
Entry 2646
Yo' kin take Sloan's linament an' turpentine an' mix a proportion of it together an' bury it down up undah de house where de bootleggah is an' dat will - dat supposed tuh keep de law away. It will fo' a while. There ain't nuthin dat's goin' keep dem police 'way all de time, but dey'll visit yo lesser den dey would without any help at all.
Entry 2671
Well, now, if yo' wanta rent that house, yo' kin dress that house or yo' kin use de Psalms - dere two ways yo' kin use that. (Tell me how to dress the house first.) Well, now, tuh dress that house yo' go tuh work an' yo' git chew a little salt an' a little sulphur an' yo' git chew some alum [three ingredients] an' pound it up together - mix it together. An' then yo' git chew some seeds. Git those gourd seeds or either any kinda seeds that grows on a vine - kin git pumpkin seed or gourd seed or watermelon seed. An' yo' git chew three of those seeds an' yo' take those three seeds an' yo' put them in a little box or a little can. Bury 'em jest like yo' would a little flower, an' when yo bury those seeds yo' say, "Hope, success an' friends." Yo' bury those seeds. An' that ingredient that chew mix, yo' take an' yo' sprinkle that around that house - a little bit at the back an' a little bit at the front. Yo' sprinkle that. Then on the inside of the house - yo' take that house an' yo' git chew some potash. Take yo' a little potash an' yo' jes' take that potash - ah jest drop a little bit around in that house. That's good fo' good luck.
(That's to rent the house?)
Yes sir.
[Now he tells how to unrent the house.]
They kin do that.
(Dress the house so they move out? Do you know what they do?)
They kin do that tuh where yo' can't rent that house. Yo' kin take a one-cent piece an' go to a wicked grave - it gotta be a wicked grave though - an' git some dirt from de head of that wicked person an' pay them with one-cent. Then yo' kin take that dirt an' mix that dirt with sulphur an' mix it with a little - see, it's three pods not - three pods of peppah. See, ah tole yo' nine pods - nine seeds wit de other but dis is three pods. Yo' git chew three pods of red peppah an' mix that together an' sprinkle that anywhere around that place. Nobody kin stay in there to save their life.
(That will make them move out of the house?)
Yes sir, but it's gotta be a wicked grave.
Entry 3107
If she'd [some woman had] gone away from you, she'd [Zippy Tull would] tell you, "Bring me the right shoe an' the last track she made of goin' from home" - take the dirt from that track goin' from home, an' her right shoe, an' bring it to her. She'd take this shoe, she dressed this shoe an' had this shoe - you see, the toe wus goin' from the house, she'd have you to bury it, the toe goin' to de house; the shoe, you change it right around. She put that [track] in the shoe. An' in nine day's time she'd tell you she'd [be] there, she come very near bein' there.
Entry 3142
(You say she wipes him with this towel. Then what does she do with it?) Put it in a jah [jar], yessuh. Stops it up tight an' put a weight tuh de jah, so it will sink when yo' throw it in de watah. Throw it in de watah where nobody can't git holt of it, or yo' kin even bury it, yo' see, but nobody will know where it's at but chew. An' dat will stop a man from havin' anything tuh do wit anothah woman.
Entry 3183
Dey say dat's when yo' have intahco'se wit someone. Dey take a linen pocket han'scuff, an' say, yo' fol' dat linen pocket han'scuff three times, an' yo'press dat pocket han'scuff wit a hot iron an' bury it right up undah de steps an' dey say dat he won't have anythin' to do wit no one but yo'. See, evah time he would try, hit would, yo' know, hit would fail on 'im - he couldn't do anythin' but wit dat woman. Dey uses dat han'scuff, don' choo know, evah...
(On one, or on both of them?)
On 'im, see. She jis' use it on 'i, see.
(Then she folds it?)
Folds it an' presses it.
(I see.)
An' den buries it undah de steps right where he have to go ovah.
Entry 3186
Or jes' lak yo' be wit 'im an' yo' love 'im. Yo' don't want 'im go out. Keep 'im from havin' othah women. Yo' git a bran'-new pocket han'scuff an' yo' be wit 'im. Yo' let 'im use dat han'- scuff an' yo' full it wit salt an' roll de fo' cornahs to yo', an' bury it undahneat' chure steps. He goin' bring dat money home when yo' git 'im lak dat.
(He isn't going out with other women.)
He ain't goin' bothah wit 'em, he cain't.
(That's the way you take his nature away from him then?)
Yes. [Brunswick, Ga., (1201), 2016: lla.]
Entry 3187
Well, if a woman wants a man, an' don' wan' 'im tuh run roun' wit no othah woman, well if she have anythin' tuh do wit 'im, see. When dey git through she takes a white - clean pocket han'chef - see, an' wipe 'in on it, an' den she takes it an' she folds it six ways. She goes up- town an' gits 'er a bunch of safety pins an' she puts nine pins in dat han'chef an' bury it undah de steps. Well, he can't be wit no othah woman but dat woman.
(Show me how she puts them six ways?)
See, she take de han'chef - lak it's fo' cornahs, an' she fold it dis way an' she fold it dat way. Den she brings it dis way, den she bring it dat way. Dat's five ways. Den she bring it back ovah tuhgethah. Dat makes it de last, see. An' she buries it undah de steps.
Entry 3220
Lak yo' loves a man an' wanted 'im, yo' know, alone fo' yo'self, why yo' an' 'im - yo' have intahco'se wit 'im. Why don't chew wipe wit de towel, yo' let 'im wipe wit it, see. An' den yo' take dat towel an' bury it down in de dirt undah de steps somewhere. Why he couldn't raise a holler wit nobody but chew, undahstand. He'd try tuh be wit othah women but when he git dere, he'll fall. He might raise up, but he'll fall. [This raise a holler will also be found later among the opening expressions of subsubsection DISHRAG.]
Entry 3238
Ah know dis wuz positive cuz ah have tried dis. Ah've known mah hus- ban' tuh run out a lot, an' ah took - an' a lady [doctor] tole me somepin tuh do, it wuz worryin' me so, yo' know. An' quite nachural it wuzn't nuthin tuh hurt 'im at all, it wuz jes' tuh gain 'im back tuh mahself, see. An' she tole me tuh go uptown an' git a nickel worth of dis cheap homespun, but let it be bran'-new an' take it an' come home an' tear a piece off an' don' use it fo' nuthin but dat. An' she tole me tuh take dis piece of homespun an' dry him off wit it fo' nine times. An' aftah ah dry 'im off dat ninth time, jump up right off de bed - don't care if it twelve a'clock, one a'clock or whut hour of night it is - while dat dishrag is wet, ah mean dat new homespun is Wet, an' take it an' BURY IT UP UNDAH DE STEPS AN' SAY, JOE, AH'M BURYIN' YORE NATURE HEAH BECUZ YO' HAVE LEAVE ME, AN' ALTOGETHAH YO' DIDN'T WANT ME. YO' WUZ GIVIN' MINE'S WHUT BELONG TUH ME TO SOMEONES ELSE. AN' AH'M BURYIN' YO' HEAH NOW FO' YO' TUH COME BACK HEAH AN' BE WIT ME AN' BESIDES ME NO OTHAH, AN' WHENEVAH YO' GO TUH GIT UP ON TOP ANOTHAH WOMAN YORE HEART WILL FALL. An' evah time he go tuh git up on anothah woman, tuh save his life he couldn't have it. Don't care if de Judgment comin' an' dat wuz goin' save him, he couldn't have 'er 'less he die, an' he cain't have her den. He jes' be up dere tryin'. Evah time he go tuh put somepin dere it jes' buckle back, couldn't do anythin' wit 'er. Ah've tried dat mahself. An' aftah ah did it fo' a limited time, ah watched 'im to see how it wuz goin' act yo' know - tuh see whut he goin' do. An' lak ah did it dis mawnin' an' on de nex' third day, he would be wit me an' all befo' he wuzn't bein' wit me. He'd be out yo' know, othahwise.
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 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 3298
By takin' 'is chamber lye an' takin' an' corkin' it up an' carryin' it off an' buryin' it, dat will take his nature 'way, see.
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 3317
Well, it's jes' like I'm got a woman here an' I ain't home daytimes, an' I'd urinate in a glass or anythin' an' put it undah de bed. Well, she would- n't use dat watah at all. She'd git up de nex' mawnin' aftah I leave. She'd take dat watah an' she'd put it in a bottle. She write my name nine times on a piece of papah an' take two needles an' cross 'em, an' drop it down in dat watah an' stop dat - stop it up tight an' bury it, see. Now, when she bury dat, I cannot have no connection wit no othah woman but 'er. Yo' see. She's got me tied up, yo' see.
Entry 3323
If yo' have a spigot - lak yo' got a spigot out in de yard, a hydrant or a pump, or a well, she do yo' dis way. She take dis heah same pocket han'ker- chuf or towel, she dry yo' off, jes' lak dat - damp it. All right, she fold it an' stick it in undah de bed lak dat. An' yo'll go ahead. Now, she'll take dat, aftah yore gone, she'll take dat thing long as it rolled up an' fresh an' wet, take dat thing an' go tuh dat hydrant, or spigot, or well, where yore watah hits de ground. Where it hits de ground dere a moist place dere all de time. Take dat thing an' bury it down in de ground, right down dere jes' lak dat. Dig a hole an' bury it right down udah dat watah. An' as long, undahstan', [as] dat watah hittin' dat rag dere, untll hit rot - co'se dat will rot in a yeah or two - yo' ain't no mo' good fo' nobody but 'er.
Entry 3345
Now, heah's anothah one. Now if yo' have a girl. It quite jes' nat- chel [natural], lak some of our menfolks dey have wimmin dat dey really love, yo' see de idea. An' we don' want anyone else tuh be wit 'em, yo' see. Well, now, yo' kin go tuh work an' yo' kin take a little simple thin' in yore home, dey calls a dishcloth. Someone calls it dishtowel - some folkses, yo' see. Well, yo' go tuh work an yo' steal dat. Yo' see, when yo' goes tuh work an' steal dat, yo' goes tuh work an' yo' puts it somewhere, put it away an' let it dry. Den say, tonight yo goin' out tuh have a date. Well, yo' see, quite natchel, some use pocket han'- cheffs yo' see, an' so fo'th, but yo' have yorn. She say, "Ah got a han'cheff." Yo' say, "No, ah have a largah han'cheff den yo' got, ' yo' see. Well, yo' take dat an' in de place of she wipin', yo' see, yo' goes tuh work yo' see an' yo' take dat an' yo' wipe yoreself - yo' wipe her yo' see. An' in wipin' her, DON' NEVAH WIPE HER DOWN - WIPE HER UP AN' CROSS 'ER. [The wiping makes the sign of the cross!] Yo' see whut ah'm talkin' about? An' den aftah yo' do's dat, yo' take it an' ball it. Don' chew wipe yoreself wit it. Chew take it an' ball it an' put it away. Next day - mawnin' befo' sun up, yo' make tuh de forsest an yo' fin' a pine tree. Drive yo' a nail into de pine tree lak dat on de sunrise side. Den yo' let it hang dere fo' nine mawnin's. Hang it so de wind can't blow it off yo' know. Let it hang dere fo' nine mawnin's. Den yo' go back, an when yo' go back dere, yo' dig a hole jes' about dat deep, yo' see [demonstrates].
(About as deep as your hand?)
Dat's right, about wrist deep, as yo' said. An' yo' take a stick an' knock it off, yo' see. [IT WOULD BE DANGEROUS TO TOUCH IT.] When yo' knock it off, yo' let it fall in dat nole, yo' see, an' den aftah yo' let it fall in dat hole, yo' cover it up an' walk right straight away. An' if yo' top 'er, yo' gotta pay somebody tuh loosen 'er.
Entry 3358
Yo' know, jes' lak if a woman got a hus- ban' an' he runnin' aroun' an' won't stay at home. She can't keep 'im home, worried wit 'im all de time. Jes' lak when dey have intahco'se yo' know togethah, she take an' use de dishrag instead of a towel, or sompin. She use dat an' take it an' bury it undah de step aftah she use it, an' den dat holds 'im home.
intercourse as the stated context preceding dishrag use. No specific sexual act beyond the source term, bodily-fluid identity or personally performed event is inferred. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified. The source says to use the dishrag instead of a towel. Towel is a rejected alternative; the subsequent use and burial refer to the dishrag. The comparison continues across the two linked pages.
Read full source (printed page 2396) · Read full source (printed page 2397)
Entry 3373
Dey take yore hair an' dis - yo' know whut ah mean - an' yo' wrap it up in a dishrag or any kinda cloth an' yo' bury it undah de do'step which he travel through an' from, an' he cain't have anything tuh do wit any othah person but dat pahtic'lah one.
Entry 3381
(TELL ME THE ONE ABOUT THE DISHRAG, THAT MY BOY [Sorry! No disreSPect.]
SAID YOU TOLD HIM. Begin right at the beginning and tell the whole story now. About the dishrag.) About de dishrag, now. If yo' wanta keep - say yore husban' home from bein' wit any othah woman, or anythin' lak dat, why yo' supposed to, while he's asleep, yo' take de dishcloth an', yo' know, have it a little damp - not too wet, jes' kinda damp- an' yo' supposed to wipe him wit dat. Yo' see, yo' wipe 'im down dere wit it. Den yo' take it an' yo' double it up - fold it up. Yo' has a cord string an' yo' wrap it nine times, yo' know de long way down. Ah show yo' [demonstrates]. Jes' fold it up lak dis, an' yo' carry de string roun' dat nine times, see. An' den aftah carryin' it dis nine times, yo' take it an' yo' tie nine knots in de end of it. An' when yo' take it, dn yo carry it out. Yo' know, carry it out de do' when yo' goin' out an' bury it at de side - lak if yo' goin' out, lak dat gate, yo' bury dere. Well, when he goes out, why he ain't no good no mo' in dis house, but whenevah he came back on de inside to yo' why he's all right. But when he go out, why dere nuthin 'tall to it.
Entry 3397
It's a ole story. Ah reckon so many [times] yo' heahs about dat. So many people do's it. Well, de only thing ah've heard dat a wumman take, use a greasy dishrag, an' she would take dat dishrag aftah she'ud [she would] be wit 'im an' use it. Co'se she'd soak it in cold watah an' make her wishes on de wumman dat she had trouble 'bout, fo' nine mawnin's, an' she use it on 'im den de ninth day, see. Aftah she use it eight mawnin's, de ninth mawnin' she must have some connection wit 'im, see. An' den she use, an' den she would take it an' de nature from de othah wumman, an' den she use on 'im, an' use it on herself. Well, dat bring 'is nature to her. Ah've reckon yo' heard it dat way. (First she takes the dishrag and she put it in cold water and makes her wishes on it for eight days. The ninth day she takes that rag and uses it on him.) Use it on 'im an' den she uses it on 'erself, an' makes 'er wishes dat he wouldn't have anythin' wit no othah wumman but 'er. See. An' she takes dat rag an' den she buries it, see. Jes' as long as dat rag stay buried, why he wouldn't want nobody else.
Entry 3403
[Snail and impotence is quite a collection of material in itself - see later. The present snail rite I have decided to include here.] I've heard of people takin' snails. Take dat snail an' mash ' up fine. Yo' git a dishrag out de kitchen, I've heard, take an' wrap 'im up in dat dishrag. An' when yo' fool wid a woman yo' wipe her wid dat an' bury dat, an' she no good. Den if she happen to fool wid anudah [another] man on yo', she's gonna git hung jis' lak de dog.
Entry 3404
[To steal a dishrag is a common rite that will be found elsewhere in the text.] Now, when yo' have a intahco'se wit her, why yo' take a dishrag - steal some- one's dishrag, see. An' den when yo' an' 'er gits through havin' intahco'se, why yo' wipe her wit it an' take it an' throw it away - jes' bury it right off where dere can't nuthin git to it. An' dere can't nuthin git to it [the woman]. An' dere can't no man have her but chew.
Entry 3406
A woman can take a dishrag from a man's house she loves, wash it out and bury it in the ground. Let it stay for three weeks [21 days or 3x7 days]. Then go back and dig it up and wear it around her neck, and this man won't have anything to do with any other woman except her. That's how she can keep him.
Entry 3409
Wal, she kin take a dishrag dat she usin' in de kitchen an' let 'im an' 'er have connection togethah an' use it an' take it directly undah de eaves of de house where it rains, an' he won't have feelin' fer nobody else but 'er. She buries dis undah de eaves of de house right whare de rain drips.
Entry 3524
In case ah wanta make love to a woman - now ah go to dis woman an' make love to her an' git part of 'er "nature", de same as mah "nature", an' tie a string into three knots an' put it up ovah her do', or undah her front do'step where she have to walk ovah it. Ah make love to her. She only once walk ovah it three steps forwards an' I take it up 'fore she walk back ovah it. Ah have her trapped.
(What do you do with her nature and your nature?)
Take dat an' keep it, wear it roun' yore waist three weeks. (Well, what do you do with this string? You make three knots in the string or what?) In a string or eithah in a rag.
(What do you do with the string I mean? Is anything done to the string?)
De string - dat's it, bury it.
(How do you use that string?)
Fold it - wrap it up into a small piece of papah. Yo' take a string an' tie it - use de nature lak yo' an' a woman have "purgements" togethah, an' yo' take de string an' tie three knots in it.
(You wipe with the string.)
[Here we have a definite statement of the folklore belief about what happens in coitus; both man and woman have purgements together. To purge means to cleanse, to purify the impure or undesirable. I am certain my informant equates purgement with ejaculation or emission, not with something impure. A man's pur- gement is semen, a collection of so-called seeds. A real seed, of course, is complete in itself, needing only a soil or place in which to grow, and nurishment. These latter says folklore are what the woman's purgement supplies, a suitable liquid for the growth and development of man's so-called seed. It never occurred to folklore and earlier medicine that a man's so-called seed was incomplete; that it became a true seed only by uniting with a woman's ovum or egg. Before uniting, the single successful semen and ovum had been single separate cells; but after union they became one new cell, which immediately split into two cells and many others. What the woman purges according to folklore is part of 'er "nature", de same as mah "nature". She certainly does not ejaculate ovah to meet the ejacu- lated semen.]
Entry 3530
Mah gran'mothah tole me dis, an' I don't know whethah it's true or not. She wuz ole, I think she musta knowed. Said yo' take yo' a bran'-new pocket han'ke'chuf an', when yo' have connection wit 'im an' yo' - know how yo' do - yo' bring it towards yo' three times an' wish. Make a wish yo' know so he will nevah bothah about nobody. An' yo' take dat pocket han'ke'chuf lak dis, an' tie three knots in it, an' wish all de while yo' tie dem knots in it, an' take it an' bury it undah de doorstep. An' yo' go on in de house an' long as dat is dere, he can't bothah wit, make no love wit no othah woman but chew.
Entry 3574
Dat's tuh make a man love yo'. Well, if yo' goin' wit a man an' evah time yo'all go tuh bed togethah, evah time yo'all go out togethah, well yo' tie a knot in dis. Git chew a piece of yellah homespun an' yo' tie a knot in dis homespun until yo' git nine knots. An' aftah yo' git dose nine knots in it, yo' put it in a jar an' shet it up tight, an' den yo' take it an' bury it. An' aftah yo' bury it, dis man will - he jes' can't keep away from yore house.
Entry 3576
She'll take a cotton string, an' she said she use dat cotton string evah time she have dealin's wit 'er husban'; an' jis' how many times, she'd tie a knot in it. An' den she wear it roun' 'er waist fo so many days, an' den she take it an' put it undah de leak of a house an' bury it dere. An' den he wouldn't run aroun', he'd stay home.
(Do you know how many days she wore that?)
She said she wore it three days.
(That kept him from running around with other women?)
Yes.
Entry 3614
Yo' kin tie nine knots into a cloth if it's a cloth dat yo' use wit anybody, or dey usin' a dirty garment. Yo' tie de nine knots into de cloth an' bury it to de sunrise. It'll pine de person away.
(You mean any garment that the person has used?)
Yes, an' dey won' feel sick, dey won' feel bad or nuthin - jes' dry up on earth.
Entry 3720
Dis is a story of mahself. Well, ah felt lak ah wuz messed up an' ah sent to a ole man down heah in de country an' he tole me dat time, says, "Well, Ton, yo' take some sweet milk an' take a bath wit it." Ah say, "Well, how long?" He says, "Well, yo' take dat three maonin's. An' take yo' bath wit it an' bring me de milk back, de las' milk yo' use." Well, ah tuk de milk an' carried it back to him an' den he put sulphah in dis milk an' den give it back to me, an' tole me co'se milk will clabbah, an' fo' me aftah tuh use it up to de ninth mawnin'. An' so ah did so, an' co'se de milk had clabbahed an' dat whey - dat sulphuh wuz in dere, kept it from turnin' all to whey. It would not turn tuh whey, see. An' shortly aftah, ah don' know whut ah done tuh make it do dat, but ah be dogged if ah didn't git straightened out on it all right.
(You got your nature back?)
Got it on back, doggone right.
(What did you do with that clabber then?)
AFTAH DE NINE MAWNIN'S WHY AH CARRIED IT BACK TUH 'IM, See. CO'SE HE BURIED IT.
(Well, what did you do with the clabber after that?)
Ah use dat milk right straight on.
(You kept bathing with this clabber then until the ninth morning?)
Yes.
Entry 3851
Ah says, if a man got a woman an' also, if he can't rule de woman, he kin jes' take a woman when a woman's periods rise, an' carry it an' find a big red ants' nest an' bury it direct in dat ants' nest. Dat's all he gotta do wit dat, jes' bury it right in dat ants' nest an' walk off. Back up to ten feet an' turn yore face an' go on about chure business, an' evahthin' is okay den.
(What will that do then?)
Keep her home - yes sir, keep 'er undah yore jurisdiction.
Entry 3861
Ah know oncest it wus [a] woman hurted anothah girl wit some of 'er pah'tic'lah pieces in 'er coz [cloz = clothes]. She wus goin' wit dis woman husban'. An' she took dis coz befo' she washed 'em, an' stole 'em out de house, an' she took 'em an' bur-ried 'em. An' dis girl she goin' aroun', she went to feelin' bad. She didn't know whut wuz de mattah. She didn't pay no 'tention to huhself. An' dis woman she died. Yo' know IF ANYBODY HURT CHOO AN' DE PERSON DIE, YO'LL NEVAH GIT WELL. An' dis girl she jis' stayed sick, sick, sick. An' when dey did find out it wus too late, dat dey had some of huh cloz bur-ried, be- cuz de woman was done dead. An' dis girl she stayed sick, sick, sick. An' she dried to nuthin but jis' skin an' bones. An' she died.
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 3872
She was - yo' know, she'd git someone firs' to git somepin about 'im, some of 'is clothes, his garments, some of 'is undahgarments - yo' know, of de clothes. Yo' know, cut a piece of it an' git some of 'er frien's to git dat. She'd take it an' do what she wanted. [She'd] git some of 'er monthlies, yo' know, an' put on it. An' den she'd bury it undah- neat' de do'step or whutsomevah. An' well, den when he'd come in dere, he'd jis' be crazy about dat woman. He'll come right back jis' like dat.
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 3904
Well, ah have 'sperlence yo' know dealin' wit wimmins an' makin' 'em love yuh. An' so ah have, yo' know, got dere sick rags, yo' know. Yeah, ah have got dem an' den ah got some halr outa dere heads. An' so when ah put it undah de cornah of dere house where dey sleep - yo' see, right undah de cor- nah - an' when hit [sick rags] come to die [rot], well dey'll die dereselfs. When it rots dey'll die dereselfs. (Walt a minute! Did you bury both the sick rag and the hair together, or do you do that separately?) Aw, ah bury both of dem togethah, yeah. See, when it rotten, well time hit rotten well den dey'll come tuh die.
Entry 3909
He'd [author's contact man Carter] ask me if yo' wanta woman to stay wit yuh, how coot [could] cha make 'em stay wit yo'. Well, ah've been tole, see. Now jes' like she's - jes' like she goes an' have her, yo' know what I mean by dat. Well, yo' git dat rag an' yo' wrop it up into anothah rag, see, an' yo' tie it longways an' yo' bring it across [demonstrates]. Yo' put three knots in it, see. Bury in yore yard. Well, she couldn't leave yo' fer nuthin in de world. She goes, but she will have to come back. (Here's her rag, and you put it here and wrap it up. You have another rag there.) De longways first, one knot. No, don't put no knot longways. Yo' jes' - jes' like yo' tie a package, yo' see. Tie it longwise, an' come an' tie it across.
[Tying this package longwise and across makes sign of the cross.]
(You tie the string.)
Yes.
(I see.)
Sure, an' yo' put three knots in it.
(Three knots into that.)
Three knots onto dat cloth yo' tie up de rag in.
Entry 3934
[Take] de toe of de socks, an' git a piece of de middle, an' take dat socks an' 'er periods cloth.
(NoW you are taking her sock and her period cloth or are you taking my socks?)
Her socks an' her periods cloth. An' git some of de hair from roun' 'er pri- vate down dere, an' a little from offa heah, de mole of 'er haid, an' put it all togethah an' step to de do'. If yo' see her go outside in de yard, step to de do' an' ketch up as much of 'er track, lak dat, an' put it altogethah dere. An' ball it up an' sew it up tight as yo' kin git it, see. An' bury dat an' put in de mattress or de pillah right where she puts 'er haid. An' yo' got 'er jes' as yo' wanta - like a footstool.
Entry 3959
Yo' kin do a lotta things [informant is answering my unrecorded ques- tion]. Yo' kin take dat an' bury it an' put it into a hole in a big oak tree, an' take [write] her name [and put with it] an' dat will run 'em crazy- make all 'er blood dry up.
(Put her monthly period in that hole in that tree?)
Yeah.
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 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 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 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 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 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 4037
Well, de fingahnails, yo' kin be lucky on dem, so ah heah. But ah haven't seen anyone try it but ah jes' heard dat. Dey say yo' kin take yore fingahnails an' parch 'em an' put 'em intuh a lil' bottle an' ketch a man's watah an' run 'im pure crazy. (Well, what would they do with that water then?) Dey stops it up in de bottle. An' ketch some of 'is urinate an' stop it up on de fingahnails, an' dey say dat'll run 'im crazy as a bedbug, if he don't go tuh someone tuh take it off. His fingahnails an' 'is urinate.
(What do you do with the bottle when you stop it up?)
Yo' take it an' bury it undah de centah of yore do'steps.
Entry 4196
Git some of 'is urinate an' git 'er nine needles - goldeye needles - an' nine spices. Put it in dere an' nine cinnamons, ah mean cloves. Stop it up an' turn it bottom up- wards an' bury it undah de back do'step. If she could git 'im, yuh know dat would draw 'im back, an' den when yuh [he] walk ovah it once or twice, he'll keep comin' back.
(Just what do you put in that bottle now?)
Yuh put nine goldeye needles an' nine grains of cloves, an' nine spice. Yuh know, cloves an' spice [allspice] is diff'ren', but it's all about de same, yuh know. Put nine of each: nine needles, nine cloves an' nine spice.
(What else do you put in that bottle?)
De urinate.
(Whose? Yours?)
His.
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 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 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 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 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 4300
She said she cut dis piece of 'is clothes, cut out a roun' plug. Ah reckon de plug mus' have been dat roun' [demonstrates], jis' 'bout de size of a dollah. Cut it outa de seat of 'is drawahs. She said she took it an' put it in a bag an' put some fish brine salt in dere wit it. An' she said, an' carried it on de no'theast cornah of 'er house an' dug de hole an' put it in dere. She said evah mawnin' befo' de sun rise she'll go roun' dere an' make watah on it. She done it fo' nine mawnin's, she said. An' dey say he left here an' nevah did come through here [Richmond] no more. [Richmond, Va., (340), 373: l, about 1929 in Richmond.]
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 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 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 4424
Ah have seen dat, dis chamber lye [see later]. Dere wuz a man heah 'bout ten yeahs ago - no, it's been about twenty yeahs ago [1919]. He'd taken me, mahself, taken mahself an' buried me in a tree. An' when he buried me in a tree he sup- posed tuh hit it - tap dat wedge nine days an' den ah'd die. But he didn't tap it nine days. De Lord fixed it so dat ah wuz able tuh light [loosen] it an' knocked it out befo' ah begin tuh take bad. Befo' ah begin tuh take bad ah found it an' knocked it out.
(What did he put in the tree?)
[I ask this because of the preceding chamber lye.]
He put some of mine in-stuff in de tree, put nine needles in it.
(He put some of your passage?)
Yes sir.
(How did he prepare that?)
He took it somewheres an' put it in a tree, bo'd a hole in a big tree wit a augah, an' aftah he bo'd wit dat augah in de big tree, he'd taken nine needles an' put dem in dere. Den he made dis wedge, wedge or stoppah, an' put in dere an' hit it fo' nine masniln's, an' he didn't git a chance tuh hit it fo' nine mawnin's befo' de Lord fixed it so ah could find it. When ah founds it ah knock- ed it out an' ah got bettah.
(What did you do wdth it. just leave it there?)
Ah'd taken an' carried it to de house an' showed it tuh 'im, but de pains wuz shootin' up through mah haid lak dat. An' if ah had let it stayed dere an' he'd ahit it nine mawmin's, ah wouldn't have been heah today. Ah wuz goin' down, be- fo' ah'd taken tuh bed.
Entry 4718
Git dat sweatban' out from undah heah, undah yer arm, dis heah lef' one. (Cut that out of the armhole. And what do they do with that?) Takes dat an' puts peppah wit dat an' salt an' buries dat. Dat's to run anybody, to git [rid] of 'em - yer enemies wit dat.
Entry 4750
Dey go tuh de fo'k of de road an' if dey git any of yore clothes, dey kin bury it in de fo'k of de road where yuh pass at, an' it will run yuh crazy. (I see. They bury my clothes out at the forks of the road. If I walk over them?) Yuh'll go crazy.
Entry 4757
(What do they say about that?)
What dey say about dat?
(Yes.)
All right, dey take - git de seat of yore drawahs, yuh undahstan' yore undah- clothes, an' cut it out an' take it tuh de graveyard an' bury it.
(What will that do?)
Dat'll make yuh couldn't stay dere.
(Couldn't stay where?)
In dat house.
(That will make you move from the house?)
Yes sir, dat's tuh make yuh move from de house.
Entry 4790
When a person wanta quit chew - if a woman's goin' wit a man an' he's tryin' tuh quit 'er, ah know how she kin git 'im back. Well, when he leaves git his - she'll go on back an' git 'is undahweah an' yo' know a little ravel comes right down heah - yo' know, a seam down de front. Yes- suh, yuh know dat whut sewed down de front.
(From the front of the breast all the way down?)
Yessuh. Well, she ravel dat thread from heah on down an' git 'er two new nails about dat long [demonstrates].
[I begin to describe informant's demonstrations.]
(About four inches long.)
Dat's it, about lak dat. An' she wrap dat. An' as she wrap it [demonstrates], jis' wrap it an' let it come down, wrap it an' let it come down. (She wraps a circle [with the ravel] around the nail and then she goes down to the bottom of the nail.) Yessuh, but yuh let it come [demonstrates]: Jis' as she wrap it, let it come down between dat until it git tuh de bottom - between de two nails. (She wraps these two nails together and the next time she goes between the two nails, and then she wraps them together, and then she comes down between the two nails again.) Yessuh. An' den she takes dose nails an' bury 'em at de do'steps an' he'll stay dere. [These two nails represent the man and woman. They are.held together by weav- ing, a magic-action rite. The head of the nail should be up, the head of the other down.]
(He won't leave her?)
Nossuh.
Entry 4796
If she doin' yuh any kinda way an' de law pertect [protect] 'er in whut she do, if yuh cain't git rid of 'er an' yuh wan'a git rid of 'er, wanta git 'er kilt. Say, fo' ninstance, yuh wanta kill 'er, an' don' want 'er tuh be pertected. See, yuh take one of 'er clothes from 'er suitcase, whut she wear, an' sprinkle salt on dat an' go tuh de no'th side of de house an' dig a hole in de ground about two an' a half feet deep, an' yuh bury dat. An' den sprinkle salt ovah dat place evah mawnin' when yuh firs' git up. An' den sixteen days from de date chew bury dat, she'll be a corpse. An' all de insurance or whatsomevah she got, yuh'll receive. An' dere cain't no doctor [M.D.] detec' it.
Entry 4800
Ah heard dat chew could take de garment yuh wear nex' tuh yuh, have tuh be de one yuh wear nex' tuh yuh, an' bury it. Put nine pins in it an' bury it, an' dey say yuh won't live. Dat's whut ah heard.
Entry 4871
Yuh kin take a piece of 'er garment dat she wears nex' tuh 'er an' bury it in de back yard an' she'll nevah leave. [Baltimore, Md., (148), 93:12.] [This is the fourth subsection of section SWEAT, one of the functions of the human physical body. As previously explained, clothing such as socks and stock- ings are placed here only because of the magic power of human perspiration.]
Entry 4876
Yuh take de socks when dey are soiled. Yuh git a person's soiled socks from dere feet when dey are real dirty. Yuh know how dey git when dey are dirty. Yuh git de sock an' yuh git de seats of dere undahweah, knitted undahweah. Or should dey wear any kind of one- piece undahweah, yuh git de seats of dis undahweah an'( dese socks. An' yuh roll 'em up tuhgethah wit de inside soles of de shoes, an' yuh bury dat undah yore steps or eithah put it in some secret place where dis person won't disturb it. Some people put it in de cornah of a mattress. But it's somepin dat chew know yuh are goin' tuh keep becuz, in moving, if yuh don' take dat up, yuh see, dat breaks a person up.
(Now, you take botn the socks.)
Both de socks. Yuh cut de sock off de foot. Den also de seats of de undah- weah. Co'se if dey have long sleeves yuh git de undaharms too. But yuh mus' nevah wash it. Yuh supposed tuh keep de perspiration in it.
relocating while preserving concealed soiled-clothing materials. Keep breaks a person up unresolved; do not invent death, relationship breakup or another precise result. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 4877
De only thing dat will work on anyone - an' heah's another little prop- osition. Yuh sure yuh're not goin' tuh print dose things [here in Mobile]?
[I must have shaken my head to say, no.]
Well, all right. Well now, say fo' instance now, yuh's a woman an' ah wanted yuh. HAVE YUH GOT A POCKET HAN'KECH'EF DERE? GIMME YUH POCKET HAN'KECH'EF. NOW say, fo' instance how, yuh wanted a woman an' yuh couldn't git 'er. Yuh come tuh me an' says, "DoC, mah wive [wife] is gone, an heah's lady 'cross de street ah is aftah, an ah can't git 'er." Ah say, "Aw, yes yuh kin. Have yuh got ten dollahs?" [Or] ah say, "What chew gimme tuh git 'er?" He say, "Ah give yuh ten dollahs." Ah tell yuh what chew do. Ah say, "Yuh go an' kin yuh git one of 'er ole dirty stockin's?" He say, "Yes." Ah say, "Well, yuh git one of 'er ole dirty stockin's." Yuh go an' git dat stockin'. Ah say, "All right." An' ah say, "Now bring me yuh own." All right. NOW PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TUH ME. Take her stockin' jis' like dat [demonstrates]. Jis' like dis is heah, an' lay yores on top of it. YUH WATCH ME. See how dere [they are] straight. [He starts to roll them up.]
(You roll them up.)
Yo' roll 'em tuh yuh, jis' like dat. Roll 'em tuh yuh an' den when yuh git tuh de laig part, den yuh turn dat ovah tuh yuh an' roll yores ovah de top of dat jis' like dat, yuh see. Well, den yuh go ahead den an' git chew a jar, an' put nine grains of whole grain black peppah in dere - jis' drop 'em in dere. Den yuh write her name seven times an' put it in dere - an' roll it tuh yuh.
(The name must be rolled up with the stocking?)
Rolled wit de stockin'. Well, den yuh roll dat wit de stockin' into de jar, an' where yuh stay at, den yuh bury dat undah de step, see.
Entry 4878
Stockin', yuh cut it off even wit yuh ankle, an' yuh kin take it an' bury it, an' she'll walk fo'evah. (Which one?) Eithah one of 'em, make no diff'rence which one.
(Which part do you bury? The lower part or the upper part?)
De lowah part, de feet part of it.
Entry 4889
You take that sock off that right foot and carry it somewhere and bury it and you hurt that foot. It cause pains to come in your leg. [Richmond, Va.,
(385. Doctor Johnson, see p.1620f.) 333:4.]
Entry 5006
Jis' lak a man's sock or sompin, when yuh wanta break 'em up or sompin, or yuh wanta run 'em away, yuh bury it. Yuh jis' take it, jis' lak it's yore ole man or sompin an' yuh wanta git rid of 'im. Yuh kin run 'im away wit 'is sock, or: if yuh wanted tuh keep 'im, yuh kin keep 'im wit chure sock. (How would you run him away with the sock?) Well, yuh take his sock an' yuh wrap 'is sock up in sulphur, lodestone an' bluestone, an' yuh bury dat sock an' yuh put three rusty nails aroun' dat sock an' two pegs, an' yuh'll soon git rid of'em.
(How do you put those two pegs?)
Take de sock an' yuh bury his sock wit dat stuff in it. An' yuh take two rusty nails an' yuh put two on each side of de sock - one on dis side an' one on dat side. P An' put one in de middle of it, an' yuh put de pegs behin' it [like this N N N ]. What are those pegs supposed to do?) Ah dunno. [They symbolize the headboard and footboard of a grave. The design is a cross mark on the grave. She has crossed him.]
Entry 5016
Jis' take de sock an' roll it up - roll it tuh yuh. Jis' lak if ah want somebody tuh come tuh me, roll it tuh me.
(Whose sock?)
If it's a woman, her husban', or eithah if it's yore frien' or sompin yuh Want - if yuh could git holt of one of 'em, yeah, anybody's. Roll it tuh yuh an' put nine needles in dere, goldeye needles, an' nine rusty nails, an' bury it undah yore do'steps an' dat'll draw 'em.
(What about that red pepper?)
Yuh put de cayenne peppah in de sock.
(What will that do then?)
Dat will draw 'em tuh yuh.
Entry 5027
Take de socks an' sprinkle some steel dust on it an' bury it. Dat'll run 'em crazy.
Entry 5029
Git de socks, de right, an' jis' let it, yuh know, as yuh sprinkle it wit dat little sugah, jis' fold it tuh yuh. An' when yuh fold it tuh yuh, take it an' bury it at de steps an' he won' go anywheres.
Entry 5034
[They] take 'em an' dey buries 'em. Jis' like I got a woman an' she lef' me, an' I got 'er socks or anything dere. Well, I takes it an' I buries it undahneath de steps wit de white of an egg.
(With what?)
De white of a egg.
(Well, how do you do that? Do you mean just pour the white of an egg on it?)
Take it an' cobweb it an' mix it up tuhgethah. See, an' I folds it, dis stocking tuh me dataway, undahstan', an' I buries it right at mah step wit nine brass tacks. (This white of an egg. You just simply take the white out of an egg and put it on the stockings, and then roll it toward you?) [The verb cobweb is so unusual I missed the full meaning at the time of record- ing. Informant takes the white of an egg and cobwebs, pours a network design over the stocking, a magic entrapment and holding device.] Yes sir.
(And you put it under the steps and you use nine brass tacks?)
Yes sir.
(I see, and you tack it up under the steps?)
Yes sir.
(Anything else? That all you do?)
Dat's to - dat's if dey gone away, see. An' if yuh wanta draw 'em tuh you, well yuh have dat settin' dere. See, it's a way yuh kin draw 'em tuh yuh, when yuh have dat settin' dere fo' 'em tuh step ovah.
Entry 5037
Yo' kin take de socks or de stockin's an' bury it at de foot of yore steps. Write his name on a piece of papah an' put it in dem socks wit sulphur an' brimstone, wit a little bit of sugah tuh make it sweet. An' bury dat at de foot of yore steps. An' as he goin' an' as he comin' in an' out, see he gotta pass ovah dat. An' 'is min' den will be, yo' know, tuh come home.
Entry 5038
Yuh could fix 'em diff'ren' ways in dat if yuh got dere stockin' or anythin', cuz dere [they are] dark stockin'. Well dey - well yuh take a dirty sock or stockin' from 'em like dat. Well dey got dirt in dere. Yuh could take dat dirt an' if yuh want tuh do 'em harm, yuh could take it an' bury it or do anythin' yuh want wit it - jis' depend what yuh wan'a do it fo'. See, dat's how dey do's wit dat. Now, yuh could take her socks or stockin's from a woman an' run 'er crazy wit it.
(How would you do that?)
Well, yuh see, yuh take her stockin' an' it got dirt in it. Yuh git a piece of 'er hair an' yuh sew it up wit what yuh call dis fast luck [perfume or powder] an' sew it up tight. Yuh walk tuh any creek or any runnin' watah - an' sew it up tight - an' when yuh walk back from down tuh de creek or anywhere de running [water] is, yuh jis' turn backwards an' make three wishes - any wishes yuh want. Jis' like if yuh wanta run 'er in dat fast watah or run 'er out of town, or run 'er any part of de worl' dat yuh feel like. Jis' make de wishes fo' dat. Throw it backwards. Walk nine steps befo' dat yuh evah look back tuhward dat watah. Jis' long as dat turnin' in de water, she go on.
(You mean, you throw it over your left shoulder?)
Yeah, ovah yore lef' shouldah an' walk nine steps befo' yuh evah look back. But yuh make de three wishes, jis' de wishes yuh want.
Entry 5050
Bury it in a tree.
(Do what?)
Like I done wore dirty stockings.
(Yes.)
Well, dey kin take mah dirty stockings, an' whatevah dey put in it tuh dress it when dey bury it in de tree, well dat would make me sick - jis' pinin' away.
(How would they dress it? What would they dress it with?)
Dey dress it - dey go tuh de drug sto' an' git powdahs, anything tuh put on it.
Entry 5051
If dey kin git de sock, dey'll take yore sock an' take an' bury it - 'cordin' [according] tuh whatevah dey wish tuh do wit dis [sock]. If dey wish tuh harm yuh, dey take yore sock an' bury it undah a tree. Dey'll cut a hole in dis tree - in de trunk-like at de bottom, an' bury dis sock in dat tree. Do dis tree some hahm [harm] dat it will die. An' as dis tree die, in dataway yuh do likewise.
(I see. Now, do they take both socks?)
Take dat lef'-foot sock.
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 5114
Ah kin tell yuh jis' whut chew kin do tuh make a person leave town. Yuh take dere left shoe an' bury it, if yuh kin git holt of it. All de time yuh cain't git holt of dere left shoe, but if yuh cain't, yuh git somebody else tuh git holt of it. An' yuh bury dat left shoe. Don' care if it's de only one dat dey nuse [use], bury it an' dey won't be seen in town aftah nine days or aftah yuh bury dat. It take 'em about nine days tuh git outa town. Dey gon'a leave out fo' some special cause. [Notice quaint all de time.]
Entry 5124
Ah heard about de shoe 'cuz ah tried it mahself; jis' lak yuh wan' yore man fren' or sompin tuh come tuh yo' an' not leave yuh. Well, ah take his lef'-foot shoes - dat's pertainin' tuh de heart - an' bury it undah de do'step, es- pesh'ly [especially] de do' where he comes in.
(Do you bury it in any special way?)
Yes, bury it comin' tuh de house, not goin' away, comin' tuh de house - wit de track down, de bottom of de foot down.
(You mean the shoe is standing up, straight up? Or you turn it upside down?)
Straight up. See, jis' lak yo're [you are] walkin' in de shoe.
Entry 5125
Take a person - jis' lak ah tole yuh 'bout de lef'-han' shoe or sock. Wus it shoe or sock?
(You didn't tell me about either one.)
Well, anyway yuh kin take a person lef' shoe - SEE, DAT'S DE HEART ON DE LEF' SIDE - an' take it an' bury it deep as yuh kin undah de step, tuh keep 'im from any idea 'bout it. Bury it undahneat' de step, so he cain't leave home.
Entry 5126
(Tell me how that's done to make a man stay at home.)
[I am repeating informant's statement after turning on recording machine.]
Yuh take his shoe or slippah or anythin', an' yuh bury it undah de steps, but comin' in. He won' go nowhere.
Entry 5129
Takes dey shoes an' put 'em tuh de steps. Bury 'em wit de toe comin' in undah de step, an' jis' curse 'em when yuh put it down dere. An' he kin always - don't care where he go, long as dat shoe dere, dat track dere, he'll come in dere.
(You just put one or both shoes?)
One, jis' one foot, de right foot. An' always turn it comin' in.
(That is to make him come on home?)
Yes sir.
Entry 5131
Take dat shoe an' yuh dress it. Yuh kin put a little perfume or jis any kinda little powder or anythin' in dat shoe. An' yuh take dat shoe an' yuh dress it, an' den yuh take dat shoe an' carry it out in de woods an' bury dat shoe. If yuh don' do dat, bury it right undah de do'steps where she'll walk ovah it. Bury dat shoe. Make 'em stay at home.
Entry 5133
De shoes, if yuh wan' tuh. yuh kin take 'em an' bury de shoes. But if she wan's yuh tuh come back, see she take 'em an' bury 'em at de front of de house comin' in, wit de toes comin' in. See. Den she let dose stay dere nine days. (Then what do you do?) Den aftah de shoes are dere nine days, she'll wrote a lettah. Den when he comes back yuh git dis heah [here] - write it [the name] nine times. An' git chew nine bran'-new needles an' pin it in dere. Stick 'em - see, yuh pin 'em like dis heah [demonstrates]. Yuh put 'em where he comes in. Put it [needle] undah dere, right ovah it [weaving the needles] in an' out [of paper with name]. An' he'll continue goin' [in] an' out. An' wit dose shoes buried, he comin' back.
Entry 5142
Yuh take dat shoe - jis' take one of 'em, de one tuh de right foot. An' burn it halfway up. Den take it an' care [carry] it an' dig yuh a hole an' bury dat shoe. Pray ovah it. Go dah evah mawnin' an' throw a handful of dirt on dat, an' he'll leave yuh. Yuh won' have no trouble wit 'im, he'll go on whah he won' bothah yuh no more.
Entry 5143
Well, now, dere one dat ah heah dey do wit a shoe, wuz take it an' jis' lak make 'em restless.
(How do they do that?)
Well, yo' take dat shoe an' yo' carry it an' yo' bury it bottomside upwards; jis' lak yo' dig a hole, jis' lak yo' diggin' a grave. Yo' put dat shoe down in dere - see, bury it. An' when yo' bury dat shoe in dere, yo' cuss dat person evah kinda dirty cuss dat chew kin think of, an' pack dat dirt. Well, dere's no Way in dis worl' fo' dem tuh rest, an' dey won' be heah no longah.
(You say you bury that shoe like you are digging a grave?)
Yeah, jes' lak yo' dig a hole. Put it deep, cuz sompin othah will scratch it up. An' bury dat shoe, pack de dirt on it. An' as yo' pack it yo' cuss it, jis cuss 'em jis' as hard as [you can].
(Either shoe?)
Dat's right. Any kinda shoe, jis' since it's a shoe dey done wore. But it got'a be wored, dat shoe, a good length of time. Den yo' bury it, see. Dat's right.
Entry 5175
[Your left shoe] an' it's wore out an' yuh wanta half sole it, or yuh wanta put a whole sole on it, well she git de whole part of it, but she git it from de inside, not out- side. She git it from de inside, an' wit a piece of pastebo'd, an' den she cuts it. An' den she writes 'is name on it.
(On this pasteboard?)
Yes, sir. She writes it on dere an' she.bury it undah de steps, an' dat man's got'a come back. He cain't stay away.
(How many times does she write the name on there, just once?)
Wrote it nine times on dere.
(I see.)
Nine diff'ren' ways she write it on dat sole an' he got'a come back.
Entry 5211
Yo' kin take a person's shoes an' put a li'le sulphur an' a li'le salt in it an' dis heah Red Devil Peppah red peppah, an' yo' could take dat shoe an' yo' could bury dat shoe, but let it be de lef' feet. An' bury it in de back yard. An' dat person nevah be able tuh walk straight any mo'. [Red Devil Pepper is either a package of red pepper with a red devil on it, a commercial brand, or a special package sold by a hoodoo drug store or mail-order firm.]
Entry 5286
Dey take yore left-foot shoes, de linin' outa dat. Well, SOME PEOPLE IS LOW ENOUGH TUH TAKE IT TUH DE CEMETERY or throW it in runnin' watah.
(What do they do with it out at the cemetery?)
Dey buries it.
(All right, what will that do?)
Well, dat will jes' keep yo' lingahin' sick.
(Then what about the running Water?)
Well, de runnin' watah, it jes' keeps yo' foolish.
Entry 5287
All right, yo' kin take dey shoe an' yo' kin throw it in de rivah. Jis' lak dat shoe goes away, dat's how yo' goes away. Den yo' kin take it an' yo' kin bury it. When it rottens, yo' rottens away. Den yo' kin take dat shoe an' yo' kin tie it on de side of a train, an' when dat train pull off yo' wonders
[wanders] away.
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 5407
Dat is, if it's a woman an' yo' wan' 'er tuh visit dis place here, yo' see. Yo' kin always have her tuh come here by dat foot track, if it's any way dat de foot track, if it's been rainin' data- way, if de soil is soft enough fo' yo' tuh gathah some of dat up wit dese two fingahs. See, takin' de length of 'er feet dataway an' drawin' 'em slightly dis way [demonstrates].
(Take the thumb and the little finger.)
Dat's right, see.
(Of the left hand or right hand?)
Right hand, see. Drawin' 'em slightly dis way [demonstrates].
(You catch it up between those two fingers.)
Yes sir, an' aftah pickin' it up, yo' see, take dat an' bury it undah yore step where yo' live at, where yo' wan' 'er tuh follah.
(I see.)
An' she be accustomary woman come in dere - yo' understan' daily.
(I see. Just take that one pinch?)
Yes sir.
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 5425
Said dey'll take up de tracks. Yo' know, bring it tuh yo'.
(Weren't you going out to the forks of the road now?)
[My question shows that I was late turning on recording machine.]
Yo' mean de fo'ks of de road. Yo' mean three roads tuhgethah. Yo' pick up dose tracks an' bring 'em tuh yo', yo' undahstan', Yo' bring dose three tracks tuh yo'. Aftah yo' pick 'em up tuh yo', yo' takes 'em an' put 'em in a new piece of homespun, sew 'em up an' bury 'em undah de - jis' lak if yo' livin' tuh a place, if dere's someone dat chew wants tuh come in yore home, don' chew know - an' bury 'em undah yore do'steps.
(That will bring them to your house.)
Entry 5526
Take a can of lye, can of potash yo' know, dis Red Devil lye, an' put it undah yore step. Take yore track an' put de can of lye wit it - yo' know, jis' lak yo' seen people make tracks. Put dat lye undah dere. (Put the lye in the track?) No, take de lye - dis heah man shoe track. Take de track up an' put it in dat lye.
(Put it in this can of lye?)
Put it in dat can of lye an' bury it undah yore steps. Bury it undah yore step, jis' lak yo' go dere an' sweep up heah undah de step. Yo' can't stay dere.
(You can't stay there. That runs you out of the house.)
Yo' can't stay dere.
(That's either one of your shoes?)
Yeah, ary one yore track.
(And put this can of Red Devil lye under your step and you can't stay there.)
Entry 5539
Well, see, if a person is stayin' 'way from home all de time, jis' come home an' eat an' tuh sleep a little while an' go right on off, doesn't have any time tuh be roun' home an' yo' wan' 'em tuh stay at home. Well, yo' ketch de track comin' home to- wards de door. An' if yo' git dat track an' yo' measure it wit a papah or eithah way [another method] yo' kin use cahton; well, if it's a piece dat dere hasn't been anything cut off of it befo'. Den when yo' write de name an' make de wishes - make yore wish yo' wanta make, an' fold it ovah, an' each fold fold it towards de house.
(You write on the cotton cloth or on the paper, and each fold you make?)
Each fold fold it towards de house an' repeat de words, "Come home an' stay at home." An' yo' fold dat an' aftah yo' fold it, yo' take a piece of new home- spun an' yo' put dis in it, an' den yo' put some salt. Yo' puts nine grains of red peppah, a pod of red peppah has nevah been any used out. Well, yo' kin put de whole nine pods or yo' kin put de nine grains, which is de seed yo' see. An' yo' put some salt an' some peppah wit dat, be sure it's de salt an' peppah whut yo' jis' bought 'specially fo' dat - an' sulphur. An' put dat down an' bury dat den. Yo' dig de top soil, yo' dig until yo' git down below de top soil, see, an yo' bury dat, an' make yore wishes. An' den de persons will stay at home.
Entry 5548
[They would] tie - dey'd make nine knots in dat foot track. (How could they make nine knots in that track?) Well, dey'd measure it.
(Oh, they'd measure it. I see.)
Yo' have to measure it. Yo' make nine knots.
(In that string?)
In dat string, an' yo' take dat string an' yo' tie it tight an' bury it. Yo' see? An' yo' bury it in any yard way in de back undah of a tree. Dat would make dem person leg draw up.
(Make the leg draw up?)
Draw up.
(I see.)
Yeah. (Now, would you measure either one of those tracks, measure either one of them?) Yeah, it would have to be one of 'em, de lef'. [New Orleans, La., (798) 1113:1.]
Entry 5650
Well, ah'll tell yuh whut dey do. Dey takes dere track an' den dey pats some kinda stuff wit it, see. An' dey take dat track an' den dey take it an' dey'll throw it eithah ovahbo'd or dey buries it, see. Or dey put it in a dirty sock an' dey'll bury it, see. An' dat will prohibit yuh from goin' if yuh vanta go some place.
(Keep you from going where?)
Wherevah yuh wanta go. Jis' like providin' if yuh got somebody an' dey love yuh, see. An' dey kin prevent yuh from goin', why dey takes dat track, see. An' dey'll fix it an' dey bury it. An' dat will keep yuh from goin' away.
(What sort of powder did they put in that track, did you say?)
Dey puts some ingredients in it, see.
(What do they put in it?)
Dey puts spice, sugar, or salt, eithah one, an' dey bury it.
Entry 5746
Git dem foot tracks. Ah use dat once. Ah had put mine in a jar, in a fruit jar. Ah turn dat jar down an' buried it undah mah house an' jis' lak ah wuz totin' yore'n, dat's de way it wuz done. Take dem foot steps up an' put 'em in a fruit jar an' put it down. Turn de jar down, tighten it tight an' turn it down dataway an' bury it.
(What will that do?)
Conkah 'im. Dat's conkahin' 'im.
Entry 5749
Dey take yore foot track, take it up, yo' know, jis' lak it is, an' turn it aroun' an' p'int it tuh dem, an' put some of dere watah in dat. Yo' know, make a ball of it. (Make a what of it?) Make a ball - you know, wet it 'nuff tuh ball it up, yo' know, lak a snowball. (Oh! Oh! Make a mud-ball.) Yes, yes, but wet it wit some of yore watah, yore urine.
(I see.)
An' den yo' bury dat undah yore do'step. Dat brings 'em tuh yo'.
(Oh, that brings them to you.)
Yes. (I see. Well, who would do that? Some woman, a woman would do that to bring a man to her?) Or a man eithah. Make no diff'rence.
Entry 5753
You can go to work and take nine drops of chamber water and get nine drops of dirt out of the hollow of the right foot and get a little piece of bow out of the hat and then carry it to somebody else's house and they po to that somebody else and want to move in with them. You bury it right under dhe door. [By hand Doctor Frank Hall, near Suffolk, Nansemond Co., Va., see - INTRO., V.1, p. XXXIX, line 25f.,1958, p.573.1
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 5758
KIN DO DAT THREE DIFF'REN' WAYS. (Well, how would they do that?) Well, de way ah undah- stan', dey measures yo' feet [lengthwise], den crosswise, an' den make a triangle outa it. An' den tie dat up in bags an' bury it. Say dat will make yo' leave eithah de country or state where yo' are.
(I see. What foot tracks do you measure?)
Ah think it's de lef', fah [far] as ah undahstan'. (You measure them lengthwise. [I demonstrate.] Here's your foot track. You measure it lengthwise and then across?) Across, an' den make a angle out of it.
(Oh! Then you sort of...)
Sort of angle from de toes...
(You mean you come across this way?)
[I demonstrate.]
Yes, dat's right.
(You measure it this way and then that way, then you measure it this way?)
Jis' a angle - don't bring it all de way down dat time. Dat's de way ah andahstan'it.
(Bring it down like this?)
Dat's right.
(Sort of a...)
[I am still demonstrating.]
Jis' an' angle - a "v", see.
(A "v", I see.)
Supposed tuh be...
(You make a "v" in it like that...and...)
An' de way yo' wan' de parties tuh go, why de way de angle point, dat's de way dey'll travel. (I see. You make that angle - the way that angle points, that's the way they'll travel. I see.)
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 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 5914
Well, dey kin take yore hair an' dey kin put a little cemetery dirt wit it an' dey kin put a little sulphur wit it, an' dey kin take dat hair an' wrap it right tight, an' dey kin bury it eithah in de cemetery, or dey kin throw dat hair in runnin' watah. See. An' dat will affect chew.
(How would that affect me? What would that do?)
Well, it will cause yo', it seem lak yore mind will - at times will go away from yo'. Yo'll git frantic an' feel nersiful [nervous], an' jes' look lak if yo' jes' git to de place yo' don't care fo' nuthin.
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 5955
[Informant speaks about intention, a word rarely used in hoodoo though its presence is everywhere; it being the power behind potive, ritual and desired result. As informant says, the present rite wouldwork eithah way, depending upon intention. Many rites work either Way - see preceding HORSEHAIR. Dey says dat dey could give good luck by taking yore hair an' mixin' it up wit othah ingredients.
(Do you know what the other ingredients are?)
Well, such as salt an' pepper an' common things of dat kind. An' put it into a little bag an' bury it undah de doorstep, an' if dere's no steps to de house, hy close roun' de house, where de person would step ovah dat in an' out of de bouse. An' dey claim dat would eithah - it would work eithah way. It would Sork so as to keep de people livin' in dat house or to move 'em out, whichevah gay dat de intentions were fer it to go. (Well suppose you intended them to stay in, would you have to do anything ex- cra? Say anything or do anything? How would you express your intention?) Well, yo'd express yore intention in dis way, in de same mannah. If yore intention wuz to keep dem in de house, why yo' would do jes' de same, use de sue ingredientses an'.... (You would form your opinion. That determined whether they were to stay or to go.) To stay or to go.
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 6100
Yo' kin take dat hair an' do three or foah diff'ren' thin' wit it. Yo' lin git de hair outa woman's haid, yo' take it an' carry it to de man's house, an' yo' buries it undah de step in a red piece of flannel. Well, he walks ovah dat hair. Bell, dat's tuh gain 'is influence towards de woman - dat's gainin'. If yo' kin git dat hair of de woman's an' carry it tuh his house an' put it in a piece of red flannel an' po' some Hearts Cologne, an' let him pass ovah it fo' five days. Dat's fo' one part of de hair.
(The woman does that in order to make him like her?)
Tuh make him like 'er.
Entry 6102
All right, yo' got a girl frien' an' she don't want chew doin't [doing it] wit nobodys else but 'er. She kin take some hair from right back of de mole of yore head, middle yo' know - back of yore head, some right oat de top. An' take it an' tie it up, an' tie it up in a rag. An' put some salt in it, an' soak it wit vinegar an' black peppah an' about two pods of red Peppah. An' bury dat right at yore front do'step. An' ef yo' don't go wit 'er yo'll go crazy.
Entry 6103
Yore hair proposition - dey git chure hair right out de mole of yore haid, right out de mole of yore haid. An' aftah dey git de hair right out de mole of yore head, dey take dat an' wrap it up into some into a rag, some cloth. An' aftah dey wrap it up into some cloth, dey takes it an' puts some red peppah, undahstan'. An' aftah dey put de red peppah in it, dey takes hit, takes de - Put red peppah, bluestone, alum, an' mix it all togethah, an' sulphur, an' put hit in dere an' ties it up. An' dey ties dat up an' dey carries it. Dey'll eithah bury it right at chure do'step - bury it at chure do'step an' yo' walks ovah all dat. Den dat begin pains about chure haid, right about chure haid. Den when it begin painin' about chure haid, put chew in bad sickness.
Entry 6130
Do dat in diff'ren' ways. I kin take yore hair - I take yore hair, but if I take yore hair, I take from de mole of de haid. Take yore hair from de mole of yore haid. I would plat yore hair. If I Wants to do yo' any harm, I would plat yore hair. If yo' wuz a woman an' I wanted to make yo' come back to me or some- pin of dat sort, I'd put it in de toe of my shoes, an' I'd wear dat hair in de toe of my shoes. I'd plat it an' put it in de toe of my shoes an' I'd wear dat bair in dere. An' while I'se got dat hair in my shoes, walkin' aroun' wit dat wr, I'd gits me one of dese little small perfume bottles. I writes 'er name dosn wit pen an' ink, nine times. I makes dis bottle full of sweet water, jes' as sweet as I possibly kin git it, but say, anyhow, into a syrup. I would take sngah an' make it into a syrup, see, wit dis watah. Put 'er name down into dis bottle an' 'er hair in de toe of my shoe. Dat's if I would want 'er. See, an' I'd keep 'er dere into dis bottle an' in de toe of my shoe, an' I puts dis bot- te udah my steps, but I would bury it undah de steps. I wouldn't bury it so deep. I would bury it an' den she would come on back home. See.
Entry 6167
If a man leaves a woman an' she want 'im back, she git two stran's of 'is hair, an' aftah she git dose two stran's of 'is hair, she takes some sugah an' den some sulphur an' mix it togethah. An' put 'is hair in dis sugah an' dis sul- phur an' bury it up undah de bottom of 'er do'steps. An' she'll keep 'im all de time. He won't nevah leave her no mo'.
Entry 6176
Take yore hair an' put it into a pint of watah an' put some red peppah an' salt in it an' bury it in de groun' In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, an' dey'll shure leave de worl'.
(Well, how do you put that water into the ground - won't it run away or what?)
[Evidently it is stopped up in a pint 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 6258
Yuh wanta put 'em in de road - 'cordin' tuh how yuh want it. If yuh want 'em tuh stay home, yuh bury it. [Here, having heard buried hair so often, I turned off recording machine; but informant continuing with something about first hair, I restarted machine.] (Where do you take the first hair?) Git it from undah yo' arm, undah yuh lef' arm. Yuh put it in a tin can an' screw it tight. Hang it up in a gum tree an' evah time de wind blows an' blow it aroun' lak dat, an' when dat string pop loose an' it fall, den yuh gone.
Entry 6386
(They trim them? Well, what do they say they do with those [nails]?)
De trimmin's of 'em, dey takes 'em an' scorch 'em, an' scorch 'em - scorch 'em tuhgethah. Aftah dey do's dat, dey buries 'em in a piece of papah. An' when de papah begin tuh rot away All dis dust of dey trimmings go down in de dirt, dey say yo' begin den an' molt away, come down like yo' got consumption.
Entry 6392
Yo' trimmin' yo' fingahnails an' dey'll tie it up in a cloth an' dey'll bury dat. Dat'll harm yo'.
(Well, how would it harm you? What would it do to you?) Whut will it do tuh yo'? Why, yo' fingahs will rot off.
Entry 6395
Take when yo' scrape de bottom of yore feet. Some people have crusts or whatsomevah, ole dead skin, up undah de bottom of dere feet. Yo' take dat an' yo' put it in a jar an' bury it up undah yore back do'step. An' aftah yo' bary it up undah yore back do'step, whutsomevah trouble yo' have wit dis persmn, it'll be all ovah.
(You take that to somebody you are having trouble with?)
Yes sir.
Entry 6502
You can scrape the bottom of a person's feet, you see, aftah yo' sweat, an' dat's yer stren't'. An' if you scrape the bottom of a person's feet an' you buries it, well some people say to leave it stay buried about six months an' some about nine. Well, you begin to feel bad. Nuthin'll hurt you at all, but you just getting weak, they tell me, in your breath, an' you begin to feel bad until you just pines away to nuthin until yo' die.
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 427
(The Rev. Young is going to tell his story again about his experience in New Orleans.) [The preceding words are not for Mr. Young who heard them, but for the concealed microphone - a notation to remind me later that his story the preceding day had not been well recorded. My previous knowledge of his adventure is the reason why I can prompt the rerecording.] This man was named Scott - that lived at Moundville, Alabama - an' he came to New Orleans and was stopping at de Chicago Hotel, run by a man by the name of A. O. Smith on de corner of [name began with P] and Liberty Streets. He come to New Orleans to see one of these wizards as they call them [never so called], or either fortune-tellers or hoodoos, and he was talking to the proprietor, Mr. Smith, relative to having someone who knew New Orleans who would take him around. He [Smith] told him he knew a young man who was in school at Leland University, and that he would possibly be there and that he was just the man he was looking for. So, while they were talking, I happened up that afternoon. I simply happened up and Mr. Smith says, "Here's the very man we Was talking about" - introduced me to him and said, "This is Mr. Scott from Moundville and he wants to go with someone who knows New Orleans, to go about with him." Well, first thing he explained the nature of his business to me, and said whatever ah charged him for mah time, he would give it to me. He was looking for a man that Would help him to find some money that was supposed to be buried on his premises, on his property. The first thing he wanted to do was to find him some of those barrooms where he could find him some gin, and he claimed that gin was lucky to him, and after clearing about a quart of this gin - drinking it - why we went round sight-seeing in New Orleans and visited a deal of places up until about possibly ten-thirty or 'leven 'clock that night. Then we went out, way out Bienville - near Galvers Street - way out - seventy-five blocks away, possibly - way out in New Orleans, Way out to Bienville Street - dat's about two blocks from Canal Street, parallel to Canal Street. We got out there, ah suppose about ten-thirty or 'leven 'clock and knocked on a door and dey - mostly all downtown houses in New Orleans have dese blinds and shutters, and de people is very superstitious - it's a very hard matter to find anybody round New Orleans. If you knock on a person's door and dey'll ask you who you looking for and sometimes you's talking to dis party, and dey won't answer you. And if dey are somewhere else in de house dey'll call 'em and perhaps yo' gone, and if you wanta see dat person perhaps they'll call you back. So [before] we went in and - his wife said, "Oh, sure it's you, Percy?" Ah said, "Yes." She said, "Come on in." Ah said, "Ah got company, someone to see Professor Frank." She say, "Why he's in bed asleep." Ah said, "Well, this is rather important and I would be glad should you call him." She say, "All right." So she went and called Professor Frank and he came out dressed in a very gorgeous robe, seem'ly made of red velvet and large arms - had a cap on same as that which a priest wears, and had dis man to come and kneel. [Since I did not ask for a description of this cap "same as that which a priest wears," I evidently assumed that it would be a biretta rather than a zucchetto and that the color would be black; this article and color being more accessible to him at a Roman Catholic religious shop. But I had not yet visited New Orleans and had much to learn - the cap was probably red.] De room was lighted with two large candles on either side of the mantlepiece - red candles - de carpet on de floor was red, and then they had a large altar over in de corner. It seem to set the room off katycornered, and there was a stool [prie-dieu] by which a man could kneel down upon as the people do in some of the churches to pray. This man knelt down on this stool and he told him to put his right hand on his heart and his left hand on a book which was supposed to be the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses of witchcraft and superstition. Then he mumbled some words, turned his back to dis man and looked up as in meditation and mumbled something and turned and told him dat he would seek what he was lookin' fo'. This altar I didn't describe it as I had yesterday - the robe [frontal] on de altar was of deep, dark red velvet with fringe all round and worked wit gold and various colors of stars, and de moon. It had a large gold and silver horseshoe mingled with seem'ly various colors - ivory.
(You spoke of that awning [his word] being held up, yesterday.)
Yes, this awning [canopy] over the altar was caught up right in de center in front, seem'ly by dis horseshoe and den draped down to a point on either side and went almost round de - in fact, it covered de altar. This altar Was made very similar to that of a pulpit - suppose it was about two and a half or three feet and about eighteen inches wide - something like dat - and he stood with dis heavy robe on him - this large robe girded round him in fringes on de end.
(It was the kind of a robe that a priest throws around him?)
Yes sir. And he had the bottom of his hand up this way - his right hand - he was seated in front of a table. Now dis table was something similar to a living- room or a parlor room mahogany table, seem'ly about four feet possibly and about eighteen inches in width, very heavy carved, de legs - I didn't say dat yesterday but it was large ole antique furniture. On this table was a large red covering with fringes that went up and down in the center. It didn't exactly cover the table. On this table was a large reading lamp with a shade seem'ly probably of gold, and he went behind dis table and sit down in large reclining revolving chair. But before he sat down in this chair - no, after he sat down in de chair, he pulled out a drawer in dis table and got out a kind of pipe - seem'ly it was gold - had a little crooked pipe stem to it [surely a calabash - my first pipe] - got some what we call moss tobacco or cut-plug - something similar to cut-plug tobacco and filled his pipe with tobacco continuously looking at this man, who sat dere and seem'ly half out of his wits and trembling - looked upon dis man as some supernatural being or some man dat was extraordinary - out of the ordinary person. He continuously looked at him searchingly, and dis man would look up at him guardedly. After he had filled his pipe with tobacco, still looking at dis man, he got out a - out from underneath his robe - the robe was lined with heavy satin - ah don't think I said that yesterday - he pulled out dis gold match- lighter and some way pushed a spring and out come a blue flame which seem'ly had something else in it - resembled that of lightning - still continuously looking at dis man. After lighting his pipe, put this cigarette lighter out and stuck it back in his pocket. He sat down and looked at this man and told him what he came there for. First he told him that his mother was dead and that he lived with his father; that he Was in a business and that he was very successful in this business, and he had a large amount of money and had come to New Orleans looking for him and that he Would find there was heap much money on this property of his buried. Seem'ly it was probably buried there by the Indians who seem'ly had formerly owned - lived in that settlement before it was thickly inhabited or populated.
(Then he sent you away for the night, didn't he?)
Yes sir. He had us to leave with the understanding that at ten 'clock de next morning he would come back and not say a word to anybody and bring $75 with him, which dis man did. We meets at de hotel and de next morning ah brought him back, since he didn't know New Orleans, and we came back - made it our business to be there exactly at ten 'clock. Came there and then he took him in his back yard. They had a rod that resembles a lightning rod, something like a lightning rod.
(What was the shape of this rod?)
Hit was round and at the ends it went down in an inner case and was made so it went down in an inner case and was made so it would go up and down at a certain length, a certain depth.
(Yesterday you said it was like a drill.)
Yes sir - it was like a drill in one end and it was curved like curved wire - like a curved lightning [rod] wire.
(How long was it?)
Oh it was possibly - probably six feet near as ah kin judge. And he went in his back yard and had some wires attached to it [the drill] - he apparently had these wires [also attached] on de wall of his house [in] back- yard, but it seems he attached them to some other wires connected with, possibly the electric wires, and place this machine out in de middle of de yard. Had it to drill itself - worked it a certain way that it worked itself down in de yard, and stood off from it, waved his hand like magic and said some peculiar words three different times, and then flames of fire like lightning flamed up at the top of [this] rod - flamed up three different times at de top of this rod. Well, the man as well as mahself, we stood there amazed because it was - well, now you understand it. We, when we went out of his house - dere was a little alley between his house and the next house - the houses in New Orleans are built very closely together - went out in the street and right in front of his home was a gutter that jes' carries off the Water, a ditch, very seldom cleaned out and there was Water in it, stopped up - stagnant water dere most all de time. Stuck dis rod down in de Water, but he never left the rod off the wire as he went through the yard - that wire was coils you know.
(He kept on to this wire - the wire was still attached to the house?)
Yes sir - still attached to the house and he uncoiled it. as he went on through the alley and sent this same rod - it was made to go down in de ditch of water, and said those same words he said in the back yard and waved his hand over this wire and then the flames came up seem'ly out of the.water through this wire. Jes' how it was [done I] don't know [!ii]. But after that he said to this man that regardless of where dis money was buried, if it was an old well, if it was in Water anywhere, or it was on dry land, dis machine would be sure to find it. And this man gave him the $75. He gave him that when he first went in the house the second day. And he was to go to this man's home at Moundville, Alabama - this side of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, up on de Alabama Great Southern Railroad between Meedan [?] [Meridian, Mississippi] and Tuscaloosa [Alabama]. And sometime that afternoon they left all of a sudden for Moundville where he was supposed to go to find dis money.
(This man went with him?)
Yes sir, this man went with him. [As the reader has already suspected, when the professor "waved his hand like magic his wife inside the house pulled the switch!] (You were telling me yesterday about this candle-burning: You said it is very prevalent along the Gulf here and New Orleans to burn candles.)
[This was several weeks before I reached New Orleans on my first trip.]
Yes sir. (What was your idea about why they burn candles in other parts of the country; you told me that yesterday.) Well, because de religious idea seem'ly is borrowed from de Catholics who burn candles in their religious ceremonies. A deal of dese people are persuaded, some of them are Catholic persuasion and some of them belong to the Catholic Church. Those who do not belong to the Catholic Church, as the Catholics to some extent predominate along the coast and in New Orleans, through Mexico, down through Central American - these peoples ideas are molded by their religious worship. These superstitious get the idea that they use these candles - they use highly perfumed candles. (You were telling me about the perfume they use over there in New Orleans - what was that?) Van-van they name it. The name is van-van - it's a highly perfumed powder jest a little above the odor of oil of peppermint - oil of cinnamon. It has a Wonderful pleasing effect on people who smell it. The people around New Orleans, white and black, around certain districts use that in scrubbing their doorsteps and houses, and even pouring this van-van which is very expensive oil - perfumed oil in the water with which they scrub their floors and even sweept off the brick pavement around their doors. They claim that it brings good luck. Racehorse men and racehorse women who play lots on racehorses are known to use this perfume greatly on their clothes. It's a very frequent thing to meet people with their clothes highly perfumed with this van-van odor. (You were telling about the women in the fast houses; do they use that in some way?) Yes sir - very much so. How do they use that? They use it perfumed in their bath water - they use it also in having their maids to scrub their houses. It's also used in these candles. Some of these candles that they burn, they are very expensive and they are perfumed. They burn that candle and practically shut that room up practically all day. Well, everything in dat house is perfumed with dat incense or whatever they call it.
(What do they do that for?)
That brings luck - that makes dem very successful or lucky, and nine times out of ten luck comes their way.
[After my informant left, I comment to the microphone.]
(This is the Rev. Mr. Young telling some of the things he told me yesterday - I just wanted to make sure I got them down.)
supposed buried-money premise in a rerecorded treasure-search account. The story was rerecorded with prompts based on a poorly recorded prior telling; no verbatim-audio fidelity. narrator-described apparent flames in a wired demonstration. Preserve the rerecording and separate Hyatt wife/switch explanation; the editorial mechanism is not an independently witnessed fact. reported repeated unknown words during a criticized demonstration. Preserve staged/criticized context, narrator uncertainty, wires and Hyatt separate switch explanation. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
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Entry 5412
Well, yo' take it up, if yo' Wanted 'em tuh stay wid chah. Take it up comin' tuh yuh, de lef' feet, an' tie it up in a rag. Take a brick up outa de hearth an' bury it in dere an' dey wouldn't leave yuh.
(And suppose they didn't want you to stay?)
Yo' could take it up goin' from yo' an' go off wit it. Go off lak yo'd go about a mile or sompin an' throw it ovah yore lef' shouldah an' say, "Go, God damn yo'!"
burial beneath a removed hearth brick in the retaining alternative. Do not assert the removed brick is the buried object or borrow a precise substance from adjacent entries. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 8788
[Here we are concerned with the great magic rite of wrapping, folding, rolling, turning, and twisting something to you or from you. I have added infor- mant's foot-track rite to show the "from you" aspect of the action.] Concernin' de moon, yo' wants tuh pick de new moon, growin' early, when de moon is in its infancy. Den yo', when yo' cravin' fo' luck, write chure name on a piece of papah, see, an' yo' begin tuh fold it. Roll it tuhwards yo', yo' undahstan'. An' yo' roll it tuhwards yo' an' den yo' wrap anothah piece of papah askin' or expressin' yore desire. Ask dem tuh be good enough tuh accomplish whut chews aftah. An' yo' wrap dat in a sepa- rate paper towards yo' den. Den yo' make a wish on de third papah. Roll it tuhwards yo', fold it up all de time. Yo' understan'.
(You make this wish on the third piece of paper. You write that down.)
Den yo' take dis piece of papah wit yore wish on it an' yo' bury it at chure front do', see. Bury it exactly at de centah of de steps so dat yo' could always walk ovah it, even if yo' not thinkin' of it at dat time. Yo' do dat especially fo' three mawnin's in succession, one right behin' de othah. Try to arrange tuh have tuh do all dis in de time of de new moon. Dat's de end of dat person.
(What do you do with those other two pieces of paper then?)
Dese two pieces of papah dat yo' have first written, yo' wrap dem up tuhgethah den in anothah piece of papah. Fold dat outer papah towards yo' ag'in at de same time. Den yo' repeat de 37th Psalm three times, an' each mawnin' yo' undahstan', but in de meantime yo' weah dat in yore right pocket. Keep dose two writin's in yore pocket, whilst de othah one is layin' at chure front door. (Then, how long are you supposed to wear those papers and keep that other paper under the steps?) Let dose papahs stay dere until dey have exhausted. Only yo' kin every mawnin' make yore urinate an' pour it right where yo' have dat buried.
(And what do you do all this for?)
Fo' good luck, tuh accomplish, tuh be successful in anythin' dat chew Want.
[Foot-track or "from you" rite begins:]
Dey will take dat, dis foot track an' dey will try to git every bit of it; yo' undahstan', don't leave any of it. Git dat an' put dat in a piece of papah - yes, papah. Wrap it up in three wrappin's, an' if dey wants to run yo' away, dey will take dat an' put it in de nearest runnin' stream of watah an' throw it ovah- bo'd an' den dey go ahead.
(What do you mean, wrap it in three wrappings - just one, two, three?)
Yo' wrap dat from yuh. An' den dey'll wrap it in three different papahs, see. Dat same wrappings. An' den take dat an' throw it ovahbo'd. An' dey do dat, too, in de new moon.
(And they get this dirt out of how many tracks or any particular track?)
Out of yore right track. (And do they take these three pieces of paper altogether, one, or just throw them separately into the water?)
[I knew what was done. This is merely a search for further details.]
No sir, put dem togethah, wrap 'em up. Dat is, ah mean dey wrap all dese three tuhgethah. An' every one of dem dey wrap, dey will wrap 'em goin' from dem. An' when dey wrap de last one, dey wrap it goin' from dem. An' den dey throw dat in a stream dat is goin' from de do' [throw downstream]. Dey don't throw it de way dat [stream is coming]. Dey always throw it behin' de stream. Yo' see, dey throw it so dat wrappah - so it goin' from yo', not comin' to yuh. Yo' undahstan' whut ah mean?
(I understand.) [St. Petersburg, Fla., (1051), 1705:6.]
[Closely connected with the preceding section NAME is the present section LETTERS AND HANDWRITING, the letter part of the latter title being concerned with the names of the writer and the person to whom the letter was written. Here in the written word we have magic action second only to the spoken word. As usual in hoodoo or witchcraft or magic, nothing belongs exclusively in one action, condition or location. Both letters and handwriting, therefore, are scattered throughout the complete text.]
burial of the written wish at the center of the front steps in the first rite. Preserve new-moon timing and three mornings; do not merge burial with the later from-you track rite. repeating the specifically named37th Psalm three times each morning in the first rite. No psalm text, translation, verse interpretation or outside scripture is supplied or consulted. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
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Entry 6764
If a person got a wen on dere arm or anywhere about 'em, 20 wanted tuh git rid of dat wen, when a person dies, yo' kin go dere an' jis take dat wen an' wipe it on 'em jis' 'fore dey git cold, or eithah wash it down. Jis' take it an' wipe it on 'em. An' when dey bury dat person, in three day's time dat com- sence tuh wizen [wither or shrivel] away an' it'll go. [The verb to wizen, from the Anglo-Saxon, is obsolete, though it lingers on as dialect.] [Sumter, S. Car.,
(1368), 2422:2.] [Bone from dead cures warts, No.8027, p.3409.]
Entry 6878
Take a horse mane - dat's from back of de horse - yo' know dat long mane, an' yo' put nine knots in it. Lak if she gotta come out of 'er gate - an' bury it right at dat gate. An' if she walk ovah it, she can't birth 'er child. (You take the mane off the horse?) Yeah, yo' gotta take it off.
(You don't take the whole mane, just some of his hair?)
Yo' know, not de whole mane, jis' some of de hair, by 'is haid.
Entry 6909
Well, yo' kin put chew some red peppah, nine balls, [I mean] seeds of red peppah. Yo' have de seeds tuh put in dere. Grind dat peppah. Nine drops of spirits of turpentine, halfa tea- spoonfula salt, halfa teaspoonfula sulphur. An' put it in yore shoe an' weah it an' dat will kill dat.
(Anything they put down for you?)
Planted fo' yo'.
(Do you wear this in one or both shoes?)
Yo' kin put it in de shoes, or else if yo' want, yo' kin put it undah de steps, put it all tuhgethah an' bury it undah de steps.
Entry 7362
See, jes' lak a person would git kilt, well yo' don't know who kilt 'im. Dey might go to work an' bury him. Well, aftah dey bury him, dey go tuh work den an' wanta find out thurly [thoroughly] about dis man. Dey ain't satis- fied. If dey ain't satisfied, dey'll dig 'im up. Dey'll have evah'body dat knew 'im tuh come. Now de one dat done de killin', when yo' walk up tuh 'im yo' tetch 'im, why he goin' purge - he'll bleed.
Entry 7380
Ah heard dey take his clothes off 'im an' bury de clothes an' de per- son dat killed 'im would go crazy.
Entry 7384
To bring a fellah back whut's went off an' done sompin an' run off, yo' go to work an' git a piece of dis fellah's clothes or eithah a shoe or sompin, an' yo' take dat an' carry it to yore place of [hoo- doo] business, see. An' yo' dress dat wit dis heah - git some of dis Heart Cologne, see, wit drawin'-love powdah an' some dis heah High John de Conkah root. An' yo' take dat an' yo' come back home den, an' yo' take it an' bury it undah yore house, see. Yo' take it an' bury it right undah yore house right behin' undah yore dohstep. Hell, fo' so many mawnin's yo' go round yore house, about nine mornings - one time evah mawnin'. Inside of dat time dat fellah goin' eithah be back or sompin be's happen to 'im.
Entry 7385
Ah heard dat jes' lak if some of mah people wus tuh git killed an' ah wouldn't know who killed 'em - lak ah'd find 'em daid somewhere an' ah wanted tuh know if somebody killed 'em. Well, den yo'd go to de undahtakah's shop an' yo' dress 'em, an yo' cut nine pieces out de tail or out de hem of whatsomevah dey had on. An' den you take dis heah an carry it to yore home, an' yo' keep it dere prob'ly until yo' git ready to bury 'em. Den dey tell me yo' prays nine prayahs ovah 'em, an' den yo' takes it an' carries it back to dis corpse, jes' lak if yo' goin' bury 'em. Yo' carry it back an' set it on de grave jes' yo' seen 'em bury dem right heah in de graveyard. Yo' take an' put one ovah his heart, yo' puts one ovah each eye an' one ovah 'is nose, one ovah his mouth an' one in each one of 'is ears, an' den put one in de palm of 'is han' - of dese heah little blocks yo' cut out de hem of 'is pants or dress or whatsomevah. An' den say, whosomevah killed dis person, dat dey would come back. (You put this right over the body itself, right over the eyes. You cut nine pieces, there are two eyes, nose and mouth - that's four. The ears, that is six. The two palms, one of each hand, that's eight. Now what is for the ninth piece?) One ovah the heart.
Entry 7396
Say fo'stance [for instance], now, if a person kill someone an' dey Want 'em [killer] tuh come back. Undahstan' good. If yo' git holt a piece [of] one of his shirts, any piece [of clothing] dat he wore, yo' take dat piece an' roll it tight tuh yo', an' bury dat undah de side of de house - undah de house, undah yore house. Ah'll bury it anywhah whah he stayed at, an' he'll wandah right roun' dat place an' come right back dere. See, he'll come back. He cain't stay 'way to save his life, he will come back.
Entry 7400
Take yore shoes sometime an' lak if dey did anythin', yo' kin take dere shoes an' have 'em caught.
(How would you do that?)
Well, yo' take an' put - yo' git chew some quicksilvah. Well, yo' kin git some of dat an' put nine drops in each shoe. Dat's, if yo' wanta git dis person, put nine drops in each shoe. Den yo' take dese shoes an' yo' pray ovah dem fo' three days, an' yo' use de 26 Psalm on dat fo' three days 'fore sunup, an' put 'em undah de steps whence [where] he goin' back to. Bury dem undah dose bo'ds. An' in nine days he'll be back dere.
(If he has committed some crime.)
Entry 7415
Yo' take de watah. Jes' lak if dey got an idea what ah did ovah yondah to a person, an' dey wash de [dead] person. Take a half-a-pint of [this] watah an' place it to de casket [coffin] an' nine days aftah, well, if ah did de damage, ah'll follow de person. (If you killed that person?) Yes, if ah poisoned dat person, take de watah, firs' to de head. (What kind of water?) De watah dat yo' wash 'em in, git a half-a-pint of it. But jes' only wash one han' or dey feet. Git a half-a pint of it an' place it in de casket an' bury it along wit dere body. Nine days aftah dat ah'll go wit de [dead] body, too.
(You get the water from washing just one part of them?)
Jes' wash one hand or feet or anythin' - jes' git de watah.
Entry 7420
[Someone] done kill somebody an' yo' Wanta draw 'im back. Well, here's jes' whut yo' do. "Fore dem people dies an' 'fore dey bury'u, yo' takes yo' a lemon an' a fork. Yo' take it an' yo' lay it on dere breas', see, an' yo' bury 'um wit it.
(How are that fork and lemon put on there?)
See, jes' puts de lemon.
(Wait a minute! Show me.)
See, jes' put de lemon - put de lemon on 'is breas'. Den yo' take de fork - two forks an' yo' lay 'em cross 'is breas' jes' lak dat.
(Across the lemon or near the lemon?)
Near de lemon. Jus' put de lemon, yo' see, right to de heart, right on 'is body, on 'is breas', an' yo' take two forks an' lay 'em right 'cross dere, see. An' yo' take his name, who an' evah it is, yo' take his name an' write it down five times, an' de one what dead, yo' undahstan', take his name an' yo' put 'em under dat fork, or put it in dat lemon, yo' see, right in dat lemon. Den when dat lemon rot an' all of it start a'rottin' wit him, yo' can't go nowhere. Yo' might just wander 'round - wander round - an' yo' find yourself right back dere wheresomever yo' done killed dat person - they come right back dere an' get yo'.
(Whose name do you write down?)
His name - see, de dead person's name. His name. Yo' just take it an' write it down nine times. See.
(Which name do you write down first now?)
Put de dead man's name down first. Den take hissen an' put it down [demon- strates].
(Cross it like that.)
Cross it like dat - but nine different times.
(Put the murderer's name on top of the dead man's?)
Yeah, yo' see, put 'im to keep 'im from goin'. Yo' see, yo' put his name first. See, de man dat run away, put his name first. Den the dead man, yo' put him on top. Next time yo' put this man dat run away, yo' put his name down dere, den de dead man's. Den yo' take it an' yo' open de lemon. Yo' put it up in de lemon an' put it right by de forks, an' cross it like dis.
Entry 7427
De man what dey bury, whut got killed, bury 'im wit a - wit a egg in his lef' han', a egg, an' dis fellah cain't stay away.
Entry 7428
Well, yo' know dat dead fellah, yo' kin put a aig in 'is han' an' dis is fac's an' a bran'-new pair of scis- sors undah 'is haid. When dat aig busts he'll come back an' give up. Ah know dat happen right heah in Memphis.
(What hand is that egg in?)
In de left han'.
(Any kind of an egg?)
A hen aig, gotta be a fresh aig, see.
(And a scissors under his head?)
Undah de dead woman's haid, an' de aig in de dead person's han', see. An' dey buried wit dat aig in dere han's.
Entry 7434
Jes' lak if a man gits killed, some man gits killed, somebody gits killed an' yo' don't know who killed 'em. Fin' somebody dead an' dey run off an' don' know who kill 'em. Yo' take a black hen egg, but have to be sure it's a black hen. Yo' take a black hen egg an' yo' bury de people wit de egg in 'is lef' han', an' in two week's time, jes' wheresomevah dat people bury dat, well, whosomevah kill 'im will come dere an' give hisself up. Ah've seen dat did.
Entry 7435
Yo' go to work an' yo' git choo a black hen's aig. Yo' take dat aig an' yo' bring it back to de party whut dat he killed, if yo' could git to 'em [the corpse]. Yo' put dat aig into his right han', yo' shet dat han' up on it, an' bury 'im wit dat aig in dere han'. An' he [the killer] boun' to come back to 'im. He'll come right back to dat same house where dey killed dat pusson [person].
Entry 7438
Bury murdered person wit egg undah left arm. [The usual rite is an egg buried in each armpit.
Entry 7449
If de man daid an' dey wanta know who killed 'im. Well, dey take dis daid man an' put a aig in each one of 'is han's an' yo' bury'i on 'is face. De person dat done dat will return an' acknowledge dat dey did dat. Dat's whut dey tell me.
Entry 7450
Put an egg in each hand of the murdered man, bury him face doon, and that will bring murderer back.
Entry 7451
All yo' do, go whah dey got, yo' know in de country whah dey got fresh- laid aigs. An' dat daid man, yo' take 'im an' bury 'im wit one fresh aig in each han'. An' in two or three weeks time, dat man whut did de killin', he gon'a come right back.
Entry 7452
Ah tell yo' whut chew do, if a man git killed an' yo' don' know who did it, tryin' tuh find out. Yo' kin take two fresh hen aigs an' put 'em in each han'. Now lotsa times yo' jes' write de man's name yo' think it is, or sompin lak dat, but de main point, yo' jes' write, "Murderer give up. ". Jes' write on it, "Murderer, give up, " an' "In the Name of God." An' put it in 'is han's. Keep 'im out de groun' 36 hours, den go 'head an' bury 'im, if he's not come. But ah'd be willin' tuh bet he'll be dere befo yo' bury 'im.
(You don't bury him with those eggs in his hands?)
Yessuh, de aig in each han', let 'em stay in dere, hen aig. Jes' so it's a fresh one. Now yo' don' want no cold storage aig. Yo' wants a fresh hen aig. An' if he hasn't give up in de 36 hours, he will give up an' it 'twon't be long.
Entry 7455
Put an egg under each arm of the mur- dered man and leave three days and break them just before burial.
Entry 7459
Yo' take a black hen aig, jes' lak anybody git killed, an' yo' put one in de man's han' when yo' bury 'im. Den yo' bury one at de haid of de grave an' de person cain't go no place. Dey'll come back an' admit whut dey did.
(Which hand do you bury it in, either hand?) Let's see, ah think it's de left hand. Turn it down, yo' know de sharp point down. (When you bury these eggs, at the head of the grave, bury with the sharp point down.) At de haid of de grave, yes.
Entry 7464
Bury 'im on 'is face wit a aig in each han' an' tie him wit a piece of seagrass rope. Dat wuz done heah not so long ago right in dis town, ovah de ri- vah at least. (What will that do then?) Dat'll make 'im come back an' give himself up. (You tie that on his hands or?) Tie de feets togethah wit dat piece of seagrass rope, an' dey han's wit de two aigs. Not at dey face, but dere han's wit de two aigs, an' dey'll sho' come back. Any kinda chicken aigs, hen aigs, yo' know.
(You bury the man on his back?)
On 'is face.
Entry 7467
Yo' take three black hen eggs an' yo' shore [sure] dey black hen eggs, an' yo' take an' yo' put - yo' half boil it [them] an' yo' put [demonstrates] one undah dis heah an' one dere an' one 'tween 'is legs. [One...heah an' one dere are quite all right while I watch informant's actions of pointing under each arm, but next week or next year I may not understand the words. That is the reason why I must always describe actions when possible, as follows:] (Wait a minute! You put one in his left armpit, and one in his right armpit, and one there, next to his privates.) In dere, yes. An' den yo' put on 'is clothes an' bur' 'im, an' whoevah killed 'im, dey got to come to dat spot an' dey be picked up.
(I see, they'll be picked up.)
Dat's for sure.
(I see.)
Well, yo' have to half boil dose black hen eggs - jes' halfways - to control dat dey won't be so easily rotted. Dey -yo wants 'em good enough to stan awhile. Use half-boiled eggs.
(I see.)
Cuz if dey are raw in handlin' de dead dey bu'st. A half day dey are bu'sted. (I see. Don't use raw ones because they might bu'st in handling the dead. That's the reason they boil them, so that they will be harder?) Yes, a little bit. An' de party will natchly [naturally] come back where he killed dat man an' want to be [taken].
[Informant now adds a variant of what can be done with the third egg.]
Put de party's name on a piece of papah - de one who killed 'im, write 'is name on de papah an' put it 'tween 'is legs wit a egg 'tween 'is legs. He has got to come to dat spot.
(I see.)
Entry 7469
Lak he be dere. Well yo' kin put two aigs in each 'is han', bury 'im Wit two aigs in each han'. An' yo' kin put a bran'-new pocket han'chuf ovah 'is face, an' whoevah dat kill 'im, dat will draw dat person back.
(How do you put that handkerchief over his face?)
Jis' put it catah-cornah [here diamond-shaped to face] ovah dey face lak dat [demonstrates]. (One point to the head [forehead], one to the throat, and one tovard each shoulder. You mean put two eggs in each hand. Use four eggs. Any kind ofeggs?) Yes, any fresh hen aigs.
Entry 7470
Put two eggs under each arm and one under the head of the murdered aan, and after these five eggs rot and bu'st in the grave the murderer will return.
Entry 7490
Ah tell yo' it make sure yo' wouldn't last long. Dat's de easiest method. Ah seed dat done right in mah home. (In Orangeburg.) In Orangeburg [S. Car.]. Ah knowed dey [normally] dig dat grave lak dat - digs de grave up an' down, east an' west. Well dey turn it lak dat [demon- strates north and south, see later], see, an' drives de footstep, de footpost [footboard] down so yo' can't see dat atall, an' leave de head [headboard] stand- in'.
[I now explain preceding demonstrations.]
(You make this grave north and south and you drive the footboard all the way down.) All de way down an' de head [board] you leave high. Den yo' go back home, now, an' yo' done find out dis fellah git killed, an' yo' goes an' yo' turns - jes' lak yo' dies on dis bed [in interviewing room]. Dat's dere three days. Yo' lay ovah a couple of days. Yo' take dese clothes whut he gits killed in an' bury de clothes. Bury de same clothes. Be sure dat yo' bury 'em at, right by 'is do though.
(By whose door?)
By de fellah who do de killin'. Well, he cain't git away dere cuz he have to walk both ways. An' de firs' time dat he walks ovah it, or de firs' day dat he be's neah around it, he'll git right up an' say, "Ah don't feel good," an' he start tuh throw up. He start tuh throw up in is sleep, yo' know, "Sech-an-sech- a-one bothahin' me. Oh, ah gotta go pay dis man. Ah gits sick." Dat wus fer de - dat wus fer de murderer's death sure. Ah see dat happen. Ah standin' in de room right nex' to - lak dat room dere, an' he's talkin' to me. He's dead but he - he gotta go to pay a debt. Now, dat ketch 'im, he ain't gonna live long cuz yo' done crossed 'im 'cross de world, see [with the north-south grave]. But he's goin' follah 'im down. Dis man [his spirit] gonna worry 'im. Soon as he see dat, he goin' - well he ain't goin' live long: He'll die about a day or two aftah.
Entry 7573
Take some of dere hair an' yuh carry it an' bury it right 'side somebody yuh know. An' make yore wish whethah yuh wan' 'em tuh stay or leave. Dey'd have tuh leave, dey couldn't stay [if you wished them to leave].
(Where would you bury that hair?)
Yuh bury it right de side of a christian, yuh know, right at de haid.
(Somebody's grave.)
Entry 7593
(To bring in customers.)
Yo' use de dead man an' de way dey mix it, yo' mix it wit de clay taken from a fresh grave at de full of de moon. Mix de clay an' sulphur an' red peppah an' bury it undah de foot of de step, an' it use'ly brings in per- sons.
Entry 7622
Take some dimes an' git chew a little graveyard dust an' bury it undah de front dō'steps an' dat finely [finally] make 'em leave. Yessuh, some dimes an' wrap 'em up right tight in a rag, an' put some of dat dust dere an' bury it undah dat do'step. (What is the idea of putting the dimes, I wonder?) Well, dem dimes - see, dey stay dere so long ah guess, an' dey cankers, see, an' yo' know anything dat cankers will gen'ly [generally] make anything go 'way. [Is this the reason? Or is the rare case of payment for the dirt being kept with the dirt?]
Entry 7654
Well, ah hear'd dey say yo' kin take graveyard dirt - yo' kin take dat graveyard dirt - go down dere at night an' dig right ovah de heart of de grave. Den bring it back an' put it umdah de steps an' po' vhis- key on it fo' nine mawnin's. Den yo' go back dere an' yo' take dis dirt up an' put it in a piece of white flannel an' take de dirt an' bury it in de ground an' let it stay dere. After yo' take it up an' put whiskey on it an' put it undah de step in de groun'. An' if dere any- one [there] dat don' lak yo', dey can't stay dere. [Is whiskey on for 9 mornings a delayed payment for the graveyard dirt?]
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 7758
Go tuh de graveyard an' git graveyard dirt. Yo' kin bring dat grave- yard dirt back an' yo' bury dat graveyard dirt up undah de steps. See, dat will give yo' bad luck tuh run yo' away.
Entry 7762
I've heard of them getting graveyard dust. That is to lay you so you won't bother me. If you have an enemy you get graveyard dust and you wrap it up ip a paper and bury that and you won't by me. You put that some place where they can walk over it.
Entry 7778
About graveyard dirt, that will give you consumption [tuberculosis].
(How do they do that?)
They take it in your water and bury it under your doorstep.
(Your drinking Water, you mean?)
Yes, sir. [Graveyard dirt in your drinking Water, though under the doorstep, contaminates all your drinking Water.]
Entry 7875
Well, ah've heard 'em say dat dey go tuh de graveyard an' git some dirt an' bring it back an' git some salt an' peppah an' mix dem wit it. An' come tuh yore house an' have it fixed so dat dey would throw it from yore front do' to de back an' drop a bag of it up undah yore steps, or eithah slip back up dere at night an' bury it up undah yore steps. Dat'll make dem move.
(You say you take this from the front door?)
Yes, where dey come in from de front an' sprinkle it all de way up de steps as dey come. An' have it fixed so dey have dere han' in dere pocket an' have a hole in dere pocket lak dat an' have it so dat it'll be siftin' out as yo' be goin' on. [Hole in the pocket is a coumon trick.] Git up an' ast 'em fo watah, an yo' go on, yo' know wit yore han' in de pocket an' drink de watah. An' go tuh de back do' an' walk out on de po'ch an' sprinkle it, aftah yo' got de watah, aftah yo' done got through drinkin".
(They must take it all through the house?)
Yes, take it all de way through de house.
Entry 7876
If dey go tuh de graveyard an' git some dirt, an' yo' go tuh somebody an' in some way git holt of dis dirt, an' take it an' carry an' put some salt an' peppah [black?] in it. An' den take it an' bury it undahneath dere do'step, de same thing will turn back on dem.
[This is a method for returning the spell.]
(You bury this under the back doorstep?)
Dat's it. [This informant, a note tells me, was a rapid talker.]
Entry 7890
Take de graveyard dirt an' put it in a glass an' set it ovah dere man- telpiece fer seven days, an' aftah [that] yo' turn it undah de bottom of yo' steps see. An' dey says dey kin harm yo' lak dat.
(Well now who gets this graveyard dirt? The person that is trying to harmyou?)
Yes.
(All right, do I put the graveyard dirt on your mantle then?)
Dat's whut ah'm speaking about.
(And then put it under your step.)
Put it undah mah step.
(Well, you would see it on the mantle, wouldn't you?)
Sometimes yo' bury dat.
The informant describes graveyard dirt in a glass on a mantel for seven days, then beneath steps, and attributes harm to what people say. The interviewer supplies the proposed victim perspective in several questions; the informant also mentions burial. The bracketed time completion is editorial.
Entry 7903
Jes' lak ah told yo' 'bout de [grave- yard] dirt. Dey put dat in it or dey put de salt in dat sock, dat dirty sock, an' dey'll also bury it. An' dat also will keep yo' away, a wife from goin' off anywhere.
Entry 7941
Well, it's got tuh have yuh initial on it, though. Yo: see, dey take dat tie clamp wit de initial an' dey put dat in an envelope. Aftah dey put it in de envelope, well dey will bring it somewhere [where] dere is, a wake is at, where someone is dead at. An' dey will pertend [pretend] lookin' at de daid person an' dey will take an' drop dat envelope wit dat tie clamp, wit yuh initial on it, an' drop it in dat coffin. When dey bury dat body, well dey bary dat. Well, aftah dat tie clamp is buried wit dat daid body, well dis person which de tie clamp belongs tuh, become bad feelin' all ovah dere body, aches an' pains in de jaws.
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 7959
Take paper money or a new piece of paper, fold in shape of coffin, write person's name in, bury, soon die.
Entry 7961
Prackly [practically] on de same thing, dey jes' take an' make a arti- ficial, yo' know, a li'le casket. An' den dey kin go an' git chure, pick [up] yuh track an' put it in dis casket. An' dey'll commit dat tuh de ground, jes' lak dey wus buryin' a body jes' so. An' jes' say - dey say, when dey commit chew tuh de ground, "Ashes tuh ashes, dust to dust." But dey gotta call yuh name an' den dey bury dat.
(What will happen then?)
Well, de person who dey bury, why he won' live long.
Entry 7971
Cut a pasteboard box in shape of coffin, put in tintype face down, bury, you would pine away.
Entry 7975
Well, ah heard dat dey could go tuh work an' take yer photograph an' dig a hole, jis' lak yo' diggin' a grave, yo' see, an' dey lay dat photograph down dere jis' lak yo' buryin' anyone; but still yo' know, dey bury yo' on yer face wit chure photo- graph. Yo' see de idea. An' dey could take a tenpenny nail, a bran' new ten- penny nail, an' dey could nail it through de back of yo', yo' see, down intuh de groun'. Dat's de photograph nail down intuh de groun'. Den dey covah yo' up. Ah heard dat in nine days time yo'll be a corpse, yo'll be daid. Yo' see de idea. Dat's whut ah heard dat dey could do wit dat.
Entry 7979
Take yur photograph. Now, if it's made on tin but not on papah - its gotta be made on tin [a tintype]. An' yo' take dat photograph an' yo' take yo' fō' pins, an' yo' cut de haid's off dose pins, if yo's aftah kill- in' a person. An' yo' take dose pins an' yo' take an' put 'em roun' fo' cornahs lak yo' would a coffin, yo' undahstan'. An' den yo' bury dis picture on its face, but its gotta be a tin pitchure. An' as dis pitchure fade away, dey'll fade away.
(You pin those four pins around the four corners of the picture?)
Yes, ( dat's right. Dat's whut chew do. An' bury it on de face, but chew cuts de haid of 'em off, de haids of de pins off.
(But you have to bury it under the individual's door?)
Undah 'is own do'.
Entry 8004
Well, yo' git a box an' yo' make it lak a coffin an' yo' git one of these heah li'le baby dolls. Yo' put it in dat coffin an' yo' buries it undah de do'step where dey passes at, an' dat's. supposed tuh carry 'em tuh de grave. If dey don' nevah find it, dat sho' [sure] will carry 'em tuh de grave. (You don't put anything else in that coffin?) Nuthin in dat box atall but dat baby doll in dat coffin. An' inside of dat box yo' write dere name, on de in- side of de box; but yo' put nuthin but de baby doll in de box an' dey name.
(How do you write that name?)
Well, yo' write de entire firs' an' de given name las'. Yo' writes it down once. Jes' write dey real name an' put dat doll in dere an' stick it undah de do'step wheresomevah dey passes at. (If this name was Sam Jones, you would write the name down?) Jones, Sam.
Entry 8015
Ah learn how yo' kin kill a dog. See, yo' kin take an' kill a dog, yo' know, an' dig a hole, see. Yo' put dis dog in de hole, undahstan', an' have his haid up, yo' see, an' have his feets up. See, have him propped up in dat dere hole good an' solid, undah- stand. An' den yo' take an' git a li'le of dat dog's blood. As yo' covah dat dog up, see, befo' - don' put no blood on top of de dog when yo' take de blood, but aftah yo' git 'im covahed up, den puts dirt on top of 'im yo' undahstan' an' put de blood on top of de dirt, on de grave. Jes' sprinkle it down in dere, sprinkle it good. See, yo' let it drop back down in dere an' yo' drop back heah. All right, de time when yo' kivahin' [covering] up dis heah grave wit dis dog in it, yo' name dis person nine times. Yo' name de person nine times. An' when yo' name de person nine times, aftah yo' name dis person nine times, why yo' keep on po'in'[pouring] dat down, an' yo' say, "Daid, daid, daid, ah hope yo' be dyin'." An' nine days aftah yo' name dis dog nine times an' covah him up, in nine days dem people is daid.
(You do this to get rid of an enemy?)
Yassuh.
Entry 8021
Ah tole yo' 95 percent of de people in dis town an' othah towns have got frauded outa money goin' tuh people, yo' undahstan', who claim dey kin do dose things an' frauded 'em outa money wit'out any proof. Yo' git a bone, a dead person's bone, yo' undahstan' an' yo' Would bury it undah de step where de party is at, tying nine knots in dat bone, yo' see, an' it will keep sickness in de house, yo' see. It will keep de people who can't undahstan' one anothah - man, wife and daughter, dey can't undahstan' one anothah. Dey all pull contrary somehow or anothah, see. An' dey will nevah make de end Iends] meet.
(Well, how do you tie the knots in that bone?)
Tie them in a cord an' den tie de bone wit de cord.
Entry 8042
Yo' kin take a pusson's skull attah dey daid, thirty days attah dey daid. [Nothing more is said about skull.] If yo' kin go tuh de graveyard an' turn de casket roun' an' yo' kin take one clip off de end of dis fingah, an' carry it back tuh dey house an' bury it tuh de'steps - dat's wherevah dey come from yo' know, or anybody dat yo' have anythin' ag'inst - dat's about nine days aftah dey's daid, jes' take de fingah off, jes' so yo' git one j'int, an' yo' bury dat at de do'steps an' say, "Yo' leave," jes' lak dat, an' bury it down. If yo' don' believe it, yo' try it, an' it will be datavay. Wit de fingahnail up facin' de house, jes' lak dat, an' dem people have tuh move. Hobody Will nevah stay at dat place. AH KNOWS TWO PLACES RIGHT NOW IN TOwN NO- BODY BEEN ABLE TUH STAY IN LONG AS AH'M IN TOWN. (All you do, you just go out there and just take this finger and bury it in the door. You don't do anything with the skull?) No, yo' ain't gotta do nuthin wit de skull tuh do dat.
Entry 8254
Git 'is photograph. She kin go tuh any place an' have anothah one taken. Put one in 'er right shoe, an' bury one undah de do'step. Bury it wit de face down, an' weah one in de bottom of 'er shoe, an' see whut results yo' git outa dat. (What do you do that for?) Dat's if yo' wanta bring 'im back, an' rule 'im, put 'im undah 'er command.
Entry 8328
Yo' kin take his pichure an' make him come back.
(How would they do that?)
Well, yo' kin go tuh a tree an' cut it on a certain side an' nail 'is pichure up in dere wit de face tuhwards it, an' dat'll make him come back.
(The face toward what?)
De tree. Cut de tree an' put 'is pichure right up dere, an' nail it up in dere - up in dat tree. (Well, you said, the face towards what?) De inside of de tree - inside. (And what side of the tree did you make that hole in?) Well, it depend on which way yo' think he's gone; de south side, de north side, eithah one [whatevah direction].
(I see, to make this man come back, when he's run away from that...)
An' dey said yo' could bury de person on dey face an' dat'll make him come back.
(I see.)
Entry 8453
Dey takes dat photograph, lak if dey wants yo' tuh - ah may say run yo' away or maybe sometime have yo' daid or somepin lak dat. Dey take it an' fold it up in a piece of white rag also an' put a zinc [see later] on it an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' dat supposed tuh make yo' mindless. [Zinc = sink = sinker, a lead weight used in fishing.] If dey don't do dat, dey'll take an' bury it on de face. When dey bury it on de face it supposed tuh kill yo'.
Entry 8464
Now, yo' take some dose people kin git holt of yore photograph an' dey take it an' dey carry it tuh streamin' watah, yo' know, an' put it in streamin' branch watah. Let it run up an' turn round, den dey take it out an' bury it undahneath de do'step, an' dat will kinda worry yo' a li'le bit. (Wait! About this photograph. They put it in a stream of running water and let it go up the stream.) Dat's it.
(Then turn it around and let it go back.)
Float back.
(It goes up with the tide.)
Go up wit de tide an' come back right tuh de tide. Pick it up an' bury it right undahneath yuh do'step anywhere where yo' could walk ovah it.
(They bury it under my doorstep?)
Yes sir.
Entry 8514
(What are you going to do when you get the coconut?)
Whut chew goin' do wit de coconut? Yo' goin' empty de watah [milk or juice] out de coconut, dry it out good. See, don' leave no watah in dere, let it drain good. An' den put jis' a li'le steel dust an' a piece of lodestone, an' yo' orite dat name nine times. Write his name nine times. Take dat spool of thread, No.8 black, an' wrap dat comin' tuh yuh [saying] "Ah want chew tuh stay heah. Yo nst stay an' yo' gotta stay. Ah want chew heah." Yo' put dat intuh dat coconut an' yo' take a li'le stoppah an' yo' cut de stoppah off, an' shet dat up an' bury it undah de steps. See. (Is there any special way you must bury it under the steps?) No, yo'jis'.... Yo'see, yo' have tuh bury it up lak dat [demonstrates]. Yo' bury it up lak dat, but de coconut is in de ground. See. Now ah did dat. (What will that do then?) Well, dat brings 'is mind, makes 'im stay dere, an' him an' her been tuhgethah evah since.
Entry 8542
I will.
(All right.)
Well, the things that have been used to do such things as that is take a couple of things what is called bluestone, brown sugar, write the name of a per- son nine times on a piece of paper, wrap that to- gether. If by any chance you can hide or bury that under the steps of that person, sort of in a position where it can face with the name reading from east to west, where the sun rise and go down, place it under the steps of the people and face it from east to west. And you then will be able to take a power over them people by using that in that way.
(I mean just what kind of power do you want to have over them?)
A power, the person not being [stationary] at no certain place, and the per- son not being able to stop as long as you have that stuff under his steps that they lives in. But wrap it in red flannel.
(I see. Will that make them move or it just gives you the power over them?)
Give you the power over them that will keep them on the move.
(Oh, I see.)
Entry 8566
That's where you're [they're] supposed to bury your name out there at the forks of the road. Well, you [they] write your name down nine times and put it in a can and bury it there, walk away and leave it. Well, that's [to] make you drift.
Entry 8568
Go back to de fo'k of de road an' yo' kin take a nail, two nails an' cross dose nails, an' bury 'em right at de fo'k of de road. An' de person who wanta harm - an' dat will harm de person.
(Do you put anything with those nails or what?)
Jes' go dere an' put dose two nails cross In de Name of de Fathah an' de Son an' de Holy Ghost. An' de person whut chew wanta run away, well yo' could say dat [say or call victim's name]. An' dat'll carry dem. Jes' cross dem nails out dere.
(You mention the person's name, you say?)
Yes sir, name de person name, In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' de Holy Ghost.
(That will drive them away.) [Florence, S. Car. (1308), 2212:4.]
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 8689
Now, ah tell yo' 'bout de stockin's. He could take her stockin's - [she could] take his socks an' put 'em undah 'er do'step. Git a beef tongue, yo' understan', an' stick pins in it; but she gotta stick a pin dere every mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's till she git nine pins in dere. An' den take a pencil an' a piece of papah an' sign his name all ovah dat beef tongue [see correction later] an' take an' wrap it up an' den put it - jes' bury it in de groun' right at 'er do'. He'll come back.
(She also puts his socks under the door?)
Undah dere.
(Do they point them any particular way or just....?)
Jis' put 'em dere - jes' so he walk ovah dere to go back an' forwards. (Well, now. She doesn't write on that beef tongue, she writes on the paper doesn't she?) She writes on de papah.
(What does she do with the paper then?)
She takes de papah an' den she folds de beef tongue up in de papah. An' den she bury it.
Entry 9422
Put dat [urine] in a bottle an' put de needles an' pins in it. An' yo' kin put a aig in dere an' when dat aig busts, dat person will die. (They put this chamber lye in this bottle, and needles and pins. Any number of them?) Any number of pins, any kin' of a aig. Dey bury dat bottle an' when dat aig rots an' bust, yo' bloat up [and bust?].
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 10043
Well, mah bruthah killed a black cat once, an' dis black cat didn't have any spot on 'im - white spot on 'im nowhere. He wus black all ovah. An' he'd taken dis black cat an' he put 'im - caught 'im alive an' put 'im intuh a boilin pot of watah. Cooked 'im. But de way he did, he built a kind'a dam-lak ovah one stream of watah, an' dis fiah wus up ovah dat, see. An' when it boiled all good, den he'd have a lookin'-glass an' he helt it lak dat ovah dis pot. An' only two of dem bones showed up in dat lookin'-glass. He throwed off both-a dem bones. One-a de bones floated crossways de rivah an' one of dem floated up tuh 'im. Well, de one whut floated up tuh 'im, dat's de one he'd taken an' put in 'is pocket. An' de bone dat floated off from 'im, he'd taken dat an' buried it. An' dat one bone dat he took, he could disappeah he says fo' a time, if dere anything dat he Wanted tuh do. Jis' hol' dat bone in 'is mouth an' disappeah. An' hit wus some boys wus standin' on de cornah. Dey tole me, says mah brothah walked up tuh dem one day an' ast dem did dey wanted a drink. Dey said, "Yes." An' so he said, "Hol' mah suitcase till ah come back." An' when he came back dey saw 'im at a distance when he got at dis sto', but when he got at de sto' dey didn't see 'im no mo'. When dey see 'im ag'in, he wus comin' back wit a case of whiskey. [To informant, a doctor and man, these two bones were dangerous, the reason for not looking into the pot. The bone floating away from him he safely buried, the one floating to him was harmless if properly used.]
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 10318
Catch man's semen in handkerchief, roll tight, put in bottle, bury upside down [Richmond, 383:5].
Entry 10358
Wipe slut when she becomes loose from dog, wipe woman with this rag or handkerchief, bury it; she's no good until cloth is taken up and washed.
[Wilmington, 172:5.]
Entry 10728
De instinct or de blood - understand me, from de index finger here [demonstrates]. (Well what do they [do], squeeze the blood from the index finger?) [This is not a leading question. He, like so many before him is acting: pretending to prick his finger and to squeeze out blood.] Yeah, an' you kin take de brand-new tin plate and you take de needle, understand me, and prick your index finger till it bleeds. And write dat name down in dat brand-new tin plate and bury it with de point down dere - I mean with de tin plate down here. Den you write one verse of de 16th chapter of Ezekiel and de 6th verse. [He repeats verse rapidly.]
(Well, now will you repeat that verse slowly for me so I can get it?)
And when I passed by and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I says unto thee, when thy wasting thy blood live, and yeah, I says unto thee when dey wast- ing thy blood, live. [This is an understandable but not an exact quotation from any version of the Bible.] Now, dat'll stop any blood from flowin' in de world; not only on human beings but on animals, of any character, anybody with a shot, cut or have a hemorrhage in any respect in life - dat will sure as God stop it.
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 10881
Well, jes' lak dis, if ah wus de type of dis kind, dat ah wouldn't wanta see a woman an' a man gittin' along, see, an' ah wanted tuh part dem. Listen good - an' when dis dog an' ket. Yo' know kets an' dogs will quarrel some- time. Well, when dis dog make dis ket kinda angry, dis cat will bring up her fur on her back. Well, an' de same time yo' take a knife or scissors - shears, at least yo' should call 'em, an' cut a little piece of dat.
(Cut a little piece of what?)
De hair out de ket's back. Listen, an' a little of de dog, when dey in dat angry nood [mood] - jes' lak dey would be angry, yo' know. An' yo' take dat an' sew it up in piece of black cloth, whut chew would call broadcloth. An' bury it under de steps, an' dey couldn't git along nohow in de world.
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 10992
Get a egg from a black hen an' write their name upon it 9 times, an' bury it underneath their steps an' make 'em move.
Entry 11043
A chicken head and they write your name in it - write your name, you know, on a piece of paper.
(Yes.)
And they put a chicken head and they take and bury that chicken head.
(What will that do?)
That to keep they husband or they boy friend, or whoever it is, if they figure their boy friend is about to get away from them. They get their name and they write, just like I shoved you just now, nine times, and they put it in that chicken head and they bury it either at their front door or at their back door, where they can walk over it all the day long.
Entry 11091
To control person, take his garment, bury it in the middle of a three- pronged road. [Washington, no reference.] [The center of a three-pronged road is rarer than the center of a four-pronged crossroad, this latter with object in center creating a quincunx. I have sometimes called this three-pronged road a "Y" crossroad.]
Entry 11097
Man buries in back yard garment woman wears close to skin, she'll never leave. [Baltimore, no reference.]
Entry 11139
She take de shell off de crab an' hullin' [hulls] dat crab out. Den she will take a ole [shoe]string dat individual [the victim] generally weahs an' windin' [winds] dat shoe- string up dat way [demon- strates]. Aftah windin' dat shoestring up dat way, shove one end [point] of needle through it [folded shoestring] dat way [demonstrates] an' de othah one [needle] dis way [demonstrates] yo' see, makin' a cross - one shoestring makin' a cross. De shoestring, wind it up lak de crab is dataway. [You wind this shoe- string back and forth because a crab goes backwards and forwards.] [Take de shoe- string an' wind it dat way.
(It is sort of an "x"?)
[The shoestring is laid into the crab shell in one continuous movement, a weaving, to form an "x'. See illustration above.] Yes, one dat way an' de othah one dis way [demonstrates] shovin' one dat way an' de othah one dis way. An' de fellah [owner of the shoestring] he would nevah git no woman, yo' understand, tuh treat him as he wish tuh be treated. See, dis string be weak [at the beginning we were told this shoestring was old] an' de othah one [what? see later] be weak, yo' see, 'cuz it be backin' up always, yo see [like the crab moving backward].
[I now repeat rite to make sure I have it:]
(You put one needle like that [I demonstrate] and one this other way [I demon- strate], one horizontal and one coming down, vertical, down through it - this shoestring that you have in the crab. What do you do with the crab shell after you fix [magically prepare] it up?) Take de shell and bury it. [The preceding rite, my only example of it, comes from a hoodoo doctor. In it a woman makes certain that the man does not find another woman. To accomplish this trick, she cooks a crab, hulls it - takes out the meat - and refills the cavity by winding into it an old shoestring of the man's so that it looks like an 'X or a cross. This latter is held in place by two needles, one horizontally through an arm of the cross, the other pushed down vertically through the center of the cross. Here we have two crosses; one of stocking, other of needles - a doublecross! See the diagram. The twisting and flaccid lines of the shoestring cross represent the man's own string, not shoestring. This is an important rite!]
Entry 11172
Git a devil's-shoestring 'bout dat long an' tie it [demonstrates]. Jis' take it, it's jis' about dat long, an' bring a knot in it lak dat. Well, yo' kin keep it or yo' bury it. Jis' put it in a secret place. (Is that all she has to do to bring the man back?) He'll stay right dere [he will not leave].
Entry 11280
Yo' kin take a pusson's shoe an' yo' kin measure de length of dey track an' yo' kin go tuh a spring. De spring yo' know is 16 inches wide or 20; de 20 is de length. If it ain't ovah 20 inches wide, yo'd measure dat shoe an' measure dat spring fo' ways, on dat shoe track. An' dem people come tuh yo' an' dey borrow an' borrow an' borrow. Well, yo' got 'em steppin' den, 'cause yo' done took advantage of 'em. Dey come tuh yo' tuh bor- row a match or sompin all de time. Well, de way fo' yo' tuh do den, yo' go ahead an' yo' git chew some bear roots, lak it [root] be's on [in] de swamps. [Bear root I am unable to identify. It may be the bearberry (Ilex deidua) of southern U. S. A., or less likely the inkberry, a holly (Ilex glabra) of eastern North Am- erica.] Yo' boil dat bear root good till it turn yallah. Bear roots are sorta black-yallah root-lak. An' yo' boil it an' boil it an' boil it, until it git feelin' right soft-lak. Den yo' take dat out an' clip 'bout dat much off of it [demonstrates], an' de fust chance yo' git yo' pit [put] it on anythin' fo' 'em tuh drink - anythin'. Well, yo' gotta git some on anythin' yo' give to 'em, or eithah yo' git a chance tuh put a piece in his pocket. He'll wandah away an' yo'll nevah see him. If yo' git ary a piece of it in his pocket.
(The spring you measure. You mean that has got water in it, a spring?)
Yeah, a spring dat have watah in it. Yo' measure it fo' ways, with his foot- track - have de length of his track. But a silk string. Don' have no othah kind of string, any kinda silk string. Don' care if it's offen a woman's stock- in' laig. An' measure it [spring] fo' ways. If his track will measure eight inches, measure it, an' if it's a sixteen inches spring, measure it twice fol ways [measure it twice on each of its 4 sides] an' yo' can't be wrong. Fo' ways. An' if yo' hit it jes' right, he'll come to yore house de same time de next time. Don't care if it's ten a'clock in de day, yo' done it, he'll be in yore house at ten a'clock tonight tuh borrow sompin. He gotta know sompin it... [he must know what you are doing to him].
(What does he come to borrow for?)
Well, yo' gittin' - worryin' him yo' know. See, dat's buryin' his track yo' know. Dat's drawin' him to yo', yo' know, by doin' dat.
(What do you draw him to you for?)
[Here is the secret of the rite.]
Draw him to yo' fo'? Well, jes' lak if yo's mad wit him or sompin, yo' know, an' yo' wanta aggravate him or somethin' othah, yo'd do dat. [My informant's reason for drawing the borrower to him just to annoy him does not make sense. A constant borrower you would want to keep away. Surely this is the remmant of a rite on how to bring a witch bewitching you to your house so that you could refuse to loan anything and free yourself from his or her spell. See "Never Lend to a Witch, " No.16338, p.875 and elsewhere in that witch- craft section, FOLKLORE FROM ADAMS COUNTY ILLINOIS, 2nd ed.]
Entry 11306
Yes, sir, ah heah 'em say if yo' got a dog. Ah hear'd 'em say if yo' have a dog at yuh house an' dat dog keep goin' in somebody's house, or won't stay away, yo' kin take some of de hair out 'is tail, an' take it an' put some salt wit it, an' take it an' bury it at yuh steps, undah yuh steps. Dey say dat dog'll nevah leave dere no more. (I see, that keeps the dog at home.) [The addition of salt to this rite is not common.]
Entry 11320
Take de dog manure an' bury it under yore house. Dat keep anybody from interferin' with yore busines [also a witchcraft deterrent].
Entry 11399
Take dey fingernails and bury 'em an' make 'em lose dere mind. [Fay- etteville 2614:13.]
Entry 11443
They bury fingernails and toenails under the steps to kill you. [New Orleans 1313:2.]
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 11475
(What do they do with that?)
Well, they kin make you leave town with that. Just get that, what they scrape off the bottom of your feet, and take that and go to the drug store and get you some concentrated lye and put it into that. And then take it and tie it up in a handkerchief or something, and then leave it it set such a length of time.
(For a certain length of time?)
Well, about a week, about a week or six days. And then take that and go bury it under your doorstep. And you'll leave.
(Under the doorstep of a person that you want to move?)
Yes, sir, the same thing as that. [Vicksburg 1008:7.]
Entry 11519
Man's foot tracks measured and buried so many feet from his door - buried with graveyard dirt. He died. Happened in Arundal Co., Md. [My original transcription soon after belief collected, H. M. H., this note Nov. 23, 1976.]
[Baltimore, Md. 45:3.]
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 11675
Go out to de fo'ks of de road an' git some dirt, if it a person at yure house, yo' know, an' yo' want 'em tuh leave or eithah come back, see. Yo' git dat dirt out de fo'k of de road an' bury dat up undah de steps. An' put so some sugah an' two brand- new needles ain't been used. (What will that do?) That will make them stay at home.
Entry 11682
What do they do at the forks of the road? Well, dey go out dere some- time tuh bury glass, a broken glass. Dey go out dere to meet spirits in some way but ah cain't explain dat ex- actly, 'cos' ah done fo'got. (What kind of glass do they bury out there?) Well, dat's a mirror, a lookin' glass. Well, dey bury that there tuh bury their troubles to these fo'ks.
Entry 11689
Dey go to de fo'ks of de road an' dey turn three times, but ah heard dey go to de graveyard befo' an' dey gits some dirt. An' dey take dat dirt an some sugah an' some sugah of lead an' some sulphur, an' take it an' take dat dirt an' bury it undah de steps, undah de front steps, either de back - if dey's out an' yo' want 'em tuh come in...yo' take it an' yo' mix dat all up togethah. Yo' take it an' bury it undah yore steps, where dey gotta come ovah. An' dat'll make dem come back.... Either yo' take it an' bury it out from de steps. Dat'll make 'em go away.
(What about the forks of the road?)
Ah say, ah've heard of 'em goin' to de fo'ks of de road but it be at de grave- yard at de fo'ks of de road, an' git dat graveyard dirt.
(You have to go to a graveyard that's near a forks of the road?)
Yassuh, tuh git dat dirt, but now if yo' say go to de graveyard an' git dat dirt off a grave fo' dat somebody dat's went away.... An' yo' wanta git 'em back.... Dat's whut ah'm tryin' tuh tell yo' 'bout dat graveyard dirt. Yo' go dere an' git dat an' yo' bury dat dirt.
Entry 11848
(This woman would take his hair and bury it where?)
Take an' tie it in a washrag an' bury it underneath the do'step.
(What will that make him do then?)
Make him come back home.
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 12006
Stop up in a bottle hair from top of person's head [the mold] with 9 needles and 9 pins and bury under door. Victim, usually a man, cannot leave that house permanently. [Washington, D. C., cylinder number forgotten.]
Entry 12008
Hair of person buried to bring him or her back home. [New Orleans 1158:9.]
Entry 12010
Hair from the mold of a woman's head is wrapped in cloth and buried at a man's doorstep to hold her there or to bring her to his house. [Norfolk 494:9.]
Entry 12016
You can bury a person's hair with the measure of his foot track to run him crazy. [Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 12017
Hair from mold of head, inner sole of shoe, one tenpenny nail, bury at doorstep. That'll make them love you. [Mobile 918:6.]
Entry 12018
If you mix a person's hair with salt and vinegar and bury it, you will run him crazy. [Wilmington 216:3+85.]
Entry 12019
If you bury a person's hair in graveyard he will lose his mind.
[Washington, D. C., 838:4.]
Entry 12021
Hair buried in a graveyard runs its owner crazy, or runs him away, or make a wanderer of him. [Baltimore 44:3.]
Entry 12022
If someone buries your hair in a graveyard, you will never recover from the headache it will cause you. [Wilmington 90:2+85.]
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 12024
To keep his love, woman takes piece of his clothes, graveyard dirt, soaks them in vinegar and turpentine, wraps tight, seals in jar, and buries under steps. [Richmond 341:6.]
Entry 12126
Bury dat bow wit diff'ren' things in it, sech as peppah an' first one ole stuff an' den anothah.
(Keep them with the headache?)
Keep 'em with a headache. [Algiers, La., 1954:10.]
Entry 12183
Take animal manure and dry it. See, you got a good animal and dey want it. See, dey take de animal manure and dry it right dry. Take an' dey pound it up, see. And dey will take alcohol, see, and put in dat manure and bury it. See, and den bury it under dere doorstep. And you'll often be to their house to sell 'em dat horse. See, you'll want to sell him dat horse better dan anybody else. And he [horse trader] kin git de horse from you cheaper dan you bought de horse fo'.
Entry 12379
Well, if dey's put down any- thing fo' yo' tuh walk ovah, why de' tell me tuh git a can of Red Devil Lye potash an' bury it in de groun' an' leave de top 'bout half open an' hit'll kill whut dey got put down.
Entry 12400
Scrub in and out of house with Red Devil lye, punch hole in the can, bury under steps, no one can put anything down to harm you.
Entry 12401
Git a can of lye dey tell me, can of concentrated lye, an' dig a hole undah de steps an' bury it. An' if anybody put anything down fo' yo', dat'll eat it up. But yo' gotta punch a hole in de top of it wit a nail.
Entry 12427
Menstrual cloth bury or throw into running water, says she'll "never be any more good." [Wilmington 257:7.]
Entry 12442
Heard dat chew take a mockin'bird aig, if yo' wanta run a person away. Take a mockin'bird aig an' carry it to de person house an' bury it undah de step, an' dat will run dem away. [Sumter 2411:7.]
Entry 12462
If you want a woman, there's two or three ways that you can bring people to you. Just - the question you've asked me - there's two or three ways that you can do these things. It's always worked on the dark of the moon. See, just like if you want to do good, you do it on the new moon - of course, it be on the new moon and on the Balance. And if you want to do bad to them, you do that on the dark of the moon, work under the signs, the twelve signs. See.
(The twelve signs of the zodiac?)
Yes. See, just like if you want to make love or friendship, you set candles on a person that get the tendence[?] the two little Twins, at least. See. And if you want to do earth work, say, if you want to bury anything, you do that on the Balance. If you want to use any water from any river or anything, you use that on the Balance [surely the Waterman]. Just like if I want to break up a man and a woman. She done left me and I want her to come back to me. Well, I takes a linen sheet and I has it on the bed, after I done set my work[?] for her to come there, and I get morris [myrrh], aloes and cinnamon. [Preceding vord tendance = attention?]
(This myrrh, and what else?)
Aloes and cinnamon.
(Cinnamon?)
Yes, mixed in together. And I makes a powder and perfumes my bed with that. And she come there and [lay on] my bed, I ain't got to worry about her no more. See. She ain't going nowhere.
(She is going to stay right with you?)
Yes.
Entry 12477
Git piece of murderer's clothing, dip in blood of murdered man, bury at left-hand corner of murdered man's house, to bring murderer back. [Charles- ton 644:1.]
Entry 12480
Bury murdered person across de world and on his face to bring back murderer. [Charleston 641:10.]
Entry 12481
Put in coffin some of clothes person was murdered in and bury him crossway8 of de world, de murderer will die.
Entry 12582
Now heah's one good fo' dat, if yo' wanted tuh keep de lav away. Yo' ldn use jes' a common penny. Yo' drive one down at de front do' an one at de back, an' den yo' take a can Red Devil lye an' yo' Would drive nine holes in dat an' yo' would bury dat neah where yuh people would pass ovah it. An' dat's been a suah one tuh keep away de law an' yo' don't be bothered wit de law.
Entry 12719
(You get a rabbit foot you say?)
Git a rabbit foot an' cut de hair out de knee of de foot an' bury dat an' carry dat an' yo'll have good luck in gamblin'.
(What foot from the rabbit?)
De left.
(Which left? There are two left feet.)
So - a rabbit ain't got but one left, one right, fo' [four] feet.
(All right, which do you Want, the front left or the back left?)
De front.
(The left front.)
Entry 12830
Bury a small package of black pepper and salt at steps to keep away undesirable visitors. [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone.]
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 12939
To bring person back home bury his or her shoe under the steps. [Deal Island, Md. 24:5.]
Entry 12943
Person's left foot shoe bury in front of steps with toe pointing to house to bring back. [Memphis 1580:1.]
Entry 12944
Take de shoe an' bury it. Dey bury de shoe in jis' de place where dey de only one has tuh travel, an' as de shoe rot, dey'll be runnin' 'way from home. Take de right-foot shoe. [Memphis 1516:8.]
Entry 12945
Jes' de sole off de shoe - one, de right feet, an' tie it up in a piece of new homespun, sew it up in it, an' bury it underneat' de steps. Dat why he couldn't leave yo'. [Sumter 2409:9.]
Entry 12946
Salt and pepper in a shoe buried on the "sunrise side" of the house keeps up a fuss there all the time. [Wilmington 274:2+85.]
Entry 12947
Put salt and black pepper in shoe and bury it under the doorstep: "it jis' aworry yo', keep yo' walkin', run yo' crazy, an' keep yo' mindless."
[Wilmington 257:4+85.]
Entry 12948
Into right shoe put salt, red pepper, bluestone and alum, and bury shoe heel out and toe to house. This makes wearer of shoe stay home. [Mobile 906:1.]
Entry 12949
To bring back, a woman buried her husband's shoe under the steps with heel down and toes up[ [Wilmington 256:1+85.]
Entry 12951
Bury left foot shoe 5 feet from doorsteps or at north corner of house and he'll come back.
Entry 13143
Yo' kin take his sock to make 'im love you an' yo' stockin' an' put it [them] together. Understand? An' puts some sugah with it. An' take it out an' bury it on the side of your house, an' go out there every mawnin' an' pour your chamber lye there. Don't you under- stand? See, on that. An' you take the sock an' your stocking an' roll it together, see. Now put a red onion with it, a dime - that's to make 'im give her money - roll it together. Sew it to you an' make your wish - that's her, you see - sew it up in your mattress. That man'll give you money, give 'er roney as long as he's there.
Entry 13185
Could take one of your socks and bury it, say that will run you part crazy. [Norfolk 447:11.]
Entry 13195
Woman with cruel husband, doesn't want her to go anywhere. She puts a teacup of sugar in his right sock, buries where he walks over, an' you's free to go anywhere you want and he'll be pleasant for you to go. [Mobile 969:4.]
Entry 13196
Take man's right foot sock, put sugar in, stop up in bottle or jar, bury under house, he can't leave. [Memphis 1560:11.]
Entry 13198
Bury man's left dirty sock in walk, throw urine and salt on; 'he'll leave home and he won't come back any more." [Mobile 961:3.]
Entry 13200
Take your socks, the left foot...tie 9 knots in dem an' dey'll bring you from anyw'ure you was...bury it. [Charleston 602:6.]
Entry 13210
Bury de socks and de shoes...to keep you at a certain place. [Jack- sonville 691:12.]
Entry 9553
Take some salt an' red peppah an' bury it undah de steps. Dat'll make 'em leave.
(Make them move out of the house?)
Yessuh.
Entry 9558
Heard 'em say dat tuh put bad luck on yo', dey would git some cayenne peppah an' salt an' bury it at dere step where yo' come up at - so yo' have tuh walk ovah it. Aftah yo'd leave out [depart], den dey'd sprinkle some salt on yo' - throw it onto yo'. Yo' know, jis' as yo'd be passin' out [through the door], dey'd throw it on yo' lak dat [demonstrates].
(What will that do then?)
Thet would run yo' away from de place.
Entry 9698
(Do what?)
(You get some sulphur.)
And sprinkle it on your front and back steps, and get some disinterested per- son to get a fresh box of table salt, you know that never been used out of it, and just sprinkle it and someone clean house with it and sweep it out, you bound to move. (I see. You bury the sul- phur under the front steps and back steps, and then you have to have this salt.) Table salt.
(That hasn't been used. What do you do with that salt now?)
Sprinkle it in the house and just like if I, you know, come in or walk out, well then as soon as I walk out, then you sweep my tracks, sole and all out to- gether, and say, "Well, that settles it. You won't come back, again."
Entry 9712
Lak if yo' wan'a job, dey tell me sompin but ah have nevah tried it. Lak if yo' wanted a job, ah heah de boys say, go tuh de bossman's house. An' aftah yo' go tuh 'is house - lak if yo' go dere an' try tuh git a li'l' work tuh do roun' dere. Prob'ly yo' fine some things roun' dere dat he's got or somepin he weahs or somepin lak dat. Yo' take dis. An' yo' come back an' take it tuh yore home. An' yo' come back an' yo' take dis turpentine an' olive oil an' salt. An' yo' take dis stuff an' yo' fix it up. Well, aftah yo' take dis stuff an' fix it up, yo' take an' care [carry] it back tuh dis bossman's house. An' yo' take an' hide it up undah, anywhere undah where he walks aroun' in 'is room. Yo' take dat stuff an' yo' care it right dere, an' put it somewheah in 'is room, wheah he kin walk ovah it. Well, yo' take it den. Yo' take an' go back an' git it if yo kin git back an' git it. Git back an' git it. Meanwhile he wuz workin' aroun'. An' yo' take an' bury it. Lak he's got a desk wheah he do's 'is writin', keepin' time, or sompin lak dat. Yo' take an' put it up undahneat' de desk or sompin othah lak dat. An' dey say dat stuff, whut chew put in dat stuff, will take effect on 'im. An' den yo'll come tuh 'im an' he says, "Well" - when yo' ast 'im fo' a job - "come to work." He'll give yo' job. Dat stuff will take effect on 'in, work on 'im in a way, an' he'll have tuh give yo' a job.
Entry 9805
You take the [2] needles. You take a needle and you turn it one way; one east and one north. [These ] needles are crossed, one pointing east, the other north.1 And now that [was in the] bedroom, what you left in there. You [can] take the pins and put 'em in your bedroom just thataway [the same way] you see. [For crossing 2 nee- dles or 2 pins in bedroom, see rite following this one.] (I see. Now wait a minute. You cross two needles according to the direc- tions [you gave]. You cross each like that [I demonstrate]. Then you get four new pins, and you by a [something] make another cross?) Yes, make another cross.
(All right. With those [4 new] pins. Then what do you do?)
Then you take it and you take a stocking and you put it between the stocking.
(Any piece of clothes or any kind of...?)
Yeah, any kind of clothing. I just take a stocking for a parable = [example] but any kind piece of clothes - to be sure to put it right in the middle. And then you fold it. Fold it up and you go bury it right in the middle of their house - up under the house. [This ''middle of the house is the well-known 5th point, the center of 4 other points, creating a quincunx, many examples of which have been given in HOODOO, see margin title QUINCUNX, p.710, v.1, and elsewhere.] Gotta get up under the house and bury that. And they be crossed up.
(That crosses them up.)
Entry 9828
Yo' take de needles an' yo' git chew nine new needles an' yo' take yore bag, a li'l piece outa red flannen [flannel]. An' yo' take dis red flannen an' sew it jis' lak a li'l bag. Well, anythin' of 'is soiled clothes, whut he sweats, somepin nex' tuh 'is flesh. Well, yo' put dat in dis bag. An' now yo' take dose nine needles. Turn all de p'ints tuhgethah. Well, it's lak if ah know yo' room heah [in the home where I was interviewing]. Well, ah'll come roun' an' put dis heah anywhere inside. If dis is yore room, ah come an' put it in yore room, undah de room - yo' know, bury it. [In the South small lowland houses are built off the ground.] Well, [as] long as yo' stay dere - well, yo' not goin' stay dere much longah becuz, yo' know, when dose needles begin - yo' know, any needles dat's in de groun' where it's kinda wet, it's goin' tuh soon rust. Well, when dey rust, yo' gonna git gone.
Entry 9829
Dey put nine needles, dey say, in a snuffbox an' bury 'em at a do'step. Dat'll make de person be painful as long as dey cross 'em.
Entry 9839
Take nine needles an' stick 'em in a Irish potato, which is a white potato, an' bury it underneath a person's do'step - if yo' wanta harm 'en in some fashion - In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, an' jis' whatevah yo' make yore wish fo', dat will happen. (You want to harm them in some way, you say. Anything you wish for to harm them?) Yes sir.
Entry 9884
Say fer instance if dere somebody livin' in dis house dat chew wanted tuh run 'em crazy. Well, yo' would git chew nine frogs an' put 'em in a jah. Covah dat jah up. Say [for instance] yo' know who's sleepin' in dis bed chere. Yo' take dat jah of frogs an' put it right undah de house, bur' it right undah dere baid, an' dey tell me dat in six days dat individual will go crazy an' de ninth day he'll die. [In dis bed chere means the bed in my interviewing room at a private home. Not my bedroom; I stayed at a hotel.]
Entry 3534
See, ah taken a pocket han'ke'ch'ef, bought me a bran'-new pocket han'ke'ch'ef have nevah been used. Take dis pocket han'ke'ch'ef an' aftah yo' have intahco'se wit one 'nothah, take dis pocket han'ke'ch'ef den an' tie de fo' cornahs.
(How do you mean you tie each corner?)
Tie each cornah. - Hoodoo - Conjuration - Witchcraft Rootwork - (Into a knot?) Into a knot, bury it undah de do'step an' jes' let it lay right dere undah dat do'step. (What would that do then?) She be lak a lamb, jes' follah me wherevah ah goes.
(You do that so that girl will stay with you?)
Yes.
Entry 3535
A woman kin tie up a man. Ah guess yo've hear of dat. Ah've experi- enced dat. Ah wuz dataway fo' eighteen months. Well, de way a woman does it. When a man have connec- tions wit 'er - at least has dealin's wit 'er - aftah dey have connections, den she takes yo' know an' cleans 'erself wit a bran'-new pocket han'ke'chuf. An' den she ties it in fo' knots, an' she takes it an' sews it in de mattress; an' as long as it dere, yo can't have any dealin' wit any othah woman. Evah time yo' go tuh have dealin wit a woman, yo' know, yo' fall. If she git pregnant, aftah de chile born, somehow uh nothah he's free. But in othah words, de way a man gits out of dat condition, he goes an' takes an' does de same thing wit 'er. Undahstan', when he has dealin's wit 'er, an' cleans 'isself wit a bran'-new pocket han'ke'chuf an' tie it in fo' knots, an' bury it andah de front do'step, an' den he jes' as good as he evah wuz befo'.
(But if the woman has a child then that spell is taken off the man?)
De spell goes off de man. Ah experienced dat.
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 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 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 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 4188
Now dis is about six needles - three needles up and three down, see [demonstrates]. (You put three up like that and three up like that - I mean down. Or do you put them like this [I must have demonstrated]?) Three up an' three down [demonstrates]. (One's up and one's down, one's up and one's down, and so on.) [The needles are alternately up and down.] See, yuh turn three point up an' den down, an' yuh takes some of de hair out chure haid an' yuh put it in de bottle - a glass bottle. Yuh buys some perfume, put about dat much in dere, yuh see; I mean full enough tuh covah dat - de haid [and points] of dem needles. An' yuh take yuh toenails an' put dat down in, den yuh take some of de hair from down below an' yuh watah.
(And your water on both.)
Yes, yuh puts some of de watah in dat an' mix dat wit dat cologne. Yuh kin bury dat. Yuh buries it right about three or four inches in de groun'. When dat bottle work out de groun', when dat bottle will bus' [bust], dey stop comin'. Dat person gone.
(Where do you bury this?)
Yuh buries it right aroun' de steps, de same somepin like what ah tole yuh while ago.
(Well, will this bottle come up out of the ground?)
Yes, dey work out de groun'. Yuh see, somepin like when it rain, work outa de groun'. See, work up. Some days dey work up dat much [demonstrates]. See, stick de haid up, de stoppah, an' keep aworkin' up an' git dat much out de groun'. An' den de bottle shoot up at a certain time when [something] an' bottle bus'. De man gone.
(Well, whose hair and stuff do you put in that bottle?)
His, his 'cuz he ain't buyin' any whiskey. See, whilst he's sleepin', she is playin' aroun'.
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 4391
Ah heard dey kin take yore bowels an' put some hot cayenne peppah on it an' burn it an' den take it an' bury it an', yuh undahstan', yuh couldn't pass no mo'.
(That's to upset [lock] the bowels.)
Entry 4396
Dey stop it up, dey stop up de manure of a person, a human, an' it will cuz dem tuh have - dey'll ketch it in a cup [can] dat has a top dat it will fit tight, an' dey bury it or eithah throw it away, an' it will lock de bowels.
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 4530
Den dey kin wheel aroun' [change about] an' take yuh hat. Dey take yuh hat, dis ban' off yore hat, an' dey take de ban' tuh hurt cha. An' when dey take it off dere, dey keep dat. (They take that bow off.) Yes sir, dey keep dat. Den dey done take dat, dey keep dat. If dey kin git tuh yore shoes, dey take yore right foot shoe an dey'll burn it up tuh ashes, an' de oddah foot de same way. An' dey kin take dat ban' off de hat an' put it in deah, in heah, an' bury 'em an' keep yuh down.
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 4546
If dey jes' take some of yuh hair out chure haid, dey takes dat hair an' buries it. See, dat's tuh git chew in de action tuh work like dey want chew tuh work. An' jes' like if dis cap [informant's own], OR DIS HAT [MY BLACK HAT ON RECORDING TABLE]. Dis heah boW yuh see in dis cap [demonstrates], why yuh kin take dis bow heah out of dis cap an' run me crazy. See, ah gen'ral' [generally] WHEN AH GITS A CAP OR HAT AH ALWAYS TAKES DIS [demonstrates] OUT, CUZ IT'S DANGEROUS, see.
(Well, how would they do that?)
Well, dey takes dis bow heah out of yuh cap or hat an' dey takes dat bow an' dey dresses it, see. Dey dress it wit dis heah, some kinda whut de' call Hearts Cologne. Takes it an' put dat on it, an' dis heah stuff dey call - dat's a great thing - table salt. Dat's great. Dey take dat an' put dat in dere wit it an' dey sew it up, an' dey try tuh work in a way tuh git where yuh stay at. See, play partnahs wit yuh. An' when dey git tuh where yuh stay at, dey put it up ovah yuh do'. Den, when yuh git tuh actin' funny an' gittin' crazy [anything of yours over a door you walk under makes you light-headed], see it will run yuh crazy, an' yuh won't even know whut it's all about.
Entry 4639
Dey take dat bow an' dey bury dat bow. Dey takes dat bow an' deyburies it, if a woman gits it. Ah guess she musta puts it - wears it in 'tween 'erlaigs or sompin or othah like dat [first], if she wan'a man tuh be crazy about 'er an' jes' go crazy about 'er. She takes it an' wears it so many days right 'tween 'er laigs. An' dey said she takes dat bow an' she ties it up in a little ole - jes' sews it up in somepin an' she puts it in 'er pocketbook an' she wears it in 'er pocketbook. Dat's de way she did.
Entry 8656
Just like if yo' wanta dere's a woman dat ah was livin' wit an' she's livin' wit someone else an' ah want tuh put 'em in hot watah. What ah mean, ah want tuh keep 'em afightin' dat dey can't git along. Ah go an' ah gets me a lemon, an' ah cuts dis lemon open. Ah get me a fresh box of cayenne peppah an' gunpowdah. Ah mix 'em up de same amount an' puts it intuh dis lemon. An' ah puts dere name in it. Dat is if ah ain't got none of 'er wearin' [clothes], see. Ah buries dis upside down. Every mornin' ah boils me a pot of watah 'fore sunrise an' ah pours it on dat. Yo' see. An' dat keeps 'em in a uproar all de time.
Entry 8856
If a person gits a lettah of yores - lak if yo' are away, yo' write a lettah tuh dis person an' dey meant tuh do evil tuh yo', somepin lak dat - ah have heard people say, but ah don't care so much fo' de superstition. But dey would take yore lettah an' drop two drops of oil of cinnamon on dis lettah. An' whoevah yol was, if someone writes chew a 'nonymous lettah an' yo' wan' 'em tuh apologize wit choo, yo' bury it at de bottom of yore do'step. An' dis person would come an' if dey didn't confess tuh yo', it would be possible dat yo' would learn dat dey were de true person. But ah don't know, ah nevah tried it. Some of de things ah tell yuh ah have tried, especially concernin' de dishrag. Ah have actually tried dat.
Entry 8902
Chicken feathahs - a black chicken. Take black chicken feathahs an' put hit undah de steps. Whenevah a person steal or anythin' lak dat from yo', when yo' expectin' somebody tuh come in on yo', don't chew know, befo' dis chicken die, put dem feathah undah dere, an' dat'll scare dem away. (If somebody is coming fn to steal something from you?) Yes, if yo' expectin' a burglah tuh come in, yo' git three feathahs out of 'is left wing befo' he die an' bury dem undah yore steps. An' whenevah he comes aroun' tuh bothah or anythin', why dat chicken will run 'im away from dere.
Entry 9273
Ah said, three aigs, graveyard dirt, if he or she are gone away, it will bring dem back.
(What do you do with those three eggs to bring them back?)
Bury them.
(Where?)
Anywhere.
(Anything else you have to do?)
Nothing.
Entry 13269
Dey say if anybody have done anything to yo', yo' kin take sulphur an' sprinkle it all around yore house an' bury some of it under de doorstep, an' den take some of it an' put it in a rag an' wear it round yore waist. Say dat'll kill it.
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 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 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 13208
She takes his right sock, puts into it some of his right footprint, sews sock up and buries where he will walk over it: "will keep 'em coming where you are." [Mobile 896:1.]
The burial action is stated outside the quotation; the quoted prediction remains separate context with unresolved attribution.
Entry 3
[My account of the funeral of the preceding white witch follows:]
Some South End (of Quincy) women were out to the cemetery after J's (Mary's) funeral, and they said they tried several times to lower her casket and they couldn't do it. They had to dig the hole larger than usual. [I now comment on this informant's statement.] This refers to the burial of a reputed witch who died in 1932 and is a good example of the unreliability of eyewitnesses, espe- cially when these witnesses were expecting something unusual. It should be remembered that by this time a coffin was not lowered into an empty grave, but into a wooden container; hence the width and length of a grave were much larger than the coffin. Another witness, however, said it was only the lowering appa- ratus which refused to work. (Even that would be awesome!) This was probably the case. A third witness said the reason the coffin could not be lowered was that J ''didn't want to go." [FACI, 2ed., 1965, p.711, No. 15374.]
The informant reports the women's account; the editor separately questions it and gives alternative explanations.
Entry 12009
She can bury a lock of the man's hair at the doorstep to make him re- turn home. [Berlin, Md., by Ediphone.]
The short item describes a lock of hair buried at the doorstep with returning home as its stated aim.
Entry 12012
Bury hair to run its owner crazy. [Norfolk 448:4.]
The item describes burying hair and attributes a harmful intended consequence to that action.
Entry 12923
They take the measure of your shadow and bury this measure: "Yo' begin to lingah an' drindle away." [Washington, D. C., 824:1.]
The account describes burying a measure of a shadow, followed by an attributed lingering and dwindling consequence.
Entry 2720
Take a east [yeast] powder bottle and put it full of vinegar, salt and 'pepper, and put it right down at your gate - you bury it in the ground - and this person that you don't want to come to your house, he won't come in then.
The printed instruction explicitly directs burying the bottle in the ground. The visitor-exclusion result remains an unverified source claim.
Entry 13170
Take your [his] stockin's an' turn 'em wrong side outwards, don't Wash 'em, git 'em dirty, an' fold 'em de toe to yo', right on to you till yo' roll it up. Bury 'em under your doorstep. It'll bring you [him] back. [Wil- mington 79:2+85.]
The instruction involves stockings and burial beneath a doorstep. The predicted return is a claim, and the bracketed pronoun changes remain visible.
Entry 13186
Sock buried draws person. [Mobile 967:5.]
The abbreviated statement links a buried sock with drawing a person; it supplies no fuller procedure or verified outcome.
Entry 13190
A woman buries man's right sock under the doorstep to keep him home or to hold him. [Memphis 1568:13.]
The statement describes burying a man's right sock under a doorstep to keep him home or hold him; these are stated aims without a demonstrated result.
Entry 13205
Man turns woman's stocking inside out, buries under his step, and she will come to his house anytime he wants her. [Here is a double-barrel rite, reversing and burial.] [Washington, D. C. 823:7.]
The account describes a stocking turned inside out and buried beneath a step. The later visit is a claimed result; the bracketed explanation of the combined rite is editorial context.
Entry 6727
If dere's [a] chicken out in yore yard an' as long as she stays friz- zled, nobody cain't hurt chew, but if she gits necked [naked], someone's tryin' tuh bury somethin' [cunjure] aroun' yo'. An' ah've heard a black hen's good luck around.
The account describes suspected burying around someone, conditional on the chicken's state. The bracketed cunjure is editorial; no completed burial is established.
Entry 7478
Bury dat [murdered] man on 'is face an' he'll [murderer will] come back.
The account says to bury a man on his face. The murdered and murderer identifications come from editorial insertions; no burial or return is established.
Entry 7480
Bury murdered man on face to bring murderer back.[ Vicksburg, Miss.,
(?), 1034:1.]
The printed statement presents burial on the face as intended to bring a murderer back. Its attached citation remains separate; no burial or return is established.
Entry 7503
Bury the murderer's name [if known] with the corpse to bring back mur- derer.
The account says to bury a name with the corpse but does not specify its physical carrier. If known is editorial, and the intended return is not established.
Entry 11086
Cut off man's shirt tail, bury under step. [Wilmington 195:3.]
The account instructs burying the cut shirt tail under a step. It establishes neither an identified place nor an actual burial or effect.
Entry 11434
They bury your fingernails and toenails to keep you. [Petersburg, Va., 421:6.]
The statement names burial of fingernails and toenails with a keeping aim. The people, location and intended sense of keeping remain unresolved; no performance or effect is established.
Entry 11435
Wrap victim's fingernails or toenails in red flannel [a red coffin!], bury it, make a wish, and after nine days the person will take sick, die, or go crazy. [Richmond 367:1.]
The account directs burial of nail material wrapped in red flannel. Its claimed later harms are unverified.
Entry 11437
Bury toenails and fingernails in the graveyard - 'will start choo to perishin' an' stayin' sickly an' unhealthy until yo' jis' perish away to nuthin."
[Mobile 945:9.]
The account directs graveyard burial of toenails and fingernails, followed by a separate quotation claiming wasting and illness. Those effects are unverified.
Entry 11455
The dirt off the bottom of your feet...bury that with your toenail and fingernail TO KEEP YOU ON THE GO TO THE GRAVEYARD... KEEP YOU ON A DRAG.
[New Orleans 1289:7.]
The account directs burial of dirt from feet with nail material. Its graveyard and drag outcome wording remains unresolved and unverified.