Subject:Confusion
Entries
Entry 1809
Dere's some kind of powder dat chew git - confusion powder. (What do you do with that?) Of co'se yo' goes dere an' dusts where dey live at, in de house where dey walk at, someway, and jes' cause dissatisfaction between de two.
Entry 5101
Has a sweetheart dat he may lak 'er. He may wanta git hold of 'er. Whut he'll do. He'll take - go tuh yuh front gate an' he may put 'er shoe on de right-han' side, take one of yuh ole shoe or eithah a sock, an' place it on de left. An' he'll git a bay bush, he'll stick it between dem shoe - jis' a li'le small piece. An' jis' as de wind blow dis li'le bush, den dey'll be agru- in' [arguing] an' quarrelin' - raisin' cain. An' de minute dat dis bush - de wind blow dis bush down on de ground, an' she [the bush] fall, dere's where dey part.
(That's when they'll part. That's if you want to separate these people?)
Separate dem, yeah. (But you must do that at the gate. You just get a bay bush and stick it in the ground?) Yeah, a li'le small piece of bay bush.
(A twig or something?)
Dat's de idea. Don' have it so large cuz dey might be able to find it befo' de wind blows it down. When it fall from de wind, dere's where yo' got 'em. [Norfolk, Va., No.466, Doctor Paul Bowes, see 300, p.89; 337, P.99; 410, p.122; 455, p.141;614, p.206.]
Entry 5719
Take yo' track an' rake it from de toe back tuh de heel. Dey take dat sand an' dey tie it up in a rag an' it hangs dere fer so many days. Have it tied up in a tree or a ceilin'. Hangs it in de centah dere. Dey puts nine stick pins in it, two needles. Go across lak dat [demonstrates], pins lak dis; jis' put de needles up an' down, right across dere. Now, dat's tuh run yo' away from dere. Do yo' harm so dat yo' can't git along wit nobody dere. (Now they take up that track, they get six [nine] pins. and two needles. And what do they do with those?) Take an' put de pins dis way [demonstrates].
(Put the pins one way.)
Put de pins dis way an' dis way, an' de middle pin goin' cross dem two needles right 'cross dere.
(I see, they make a cross. Then what do they do with those things?)
Tie de things up.
(I see, they tie that foot track and these needles and pins in a rag.)
Dat's de one dat... [I interrupt. Informant was about to say, "Dat's de one dat keep yo' confus- ed."]
(Then what do they do with that rag?)
Take an' tie it up an' put it at de cornah of yo' baid. [Previously inform- ant said center of ceiling. Bed or ceiling causes confusion in home.] Dey takes de track an' yo' tie dat dirt up in a tree, tuh a limb tuh a tree. Dat's tuhmake yo' leave.
(What foot track do they take?)
De lef' foot track.
(What do they tie it up in?)
Piece of rag, jis' in any kinda rag. (What do they do with that foot track with those needles and pins in? What do they do with that?) Tie it undah yore baid. Dat's tuh keep yo' confused. Yo' an' yore family are confused.
Entry 7619
(What do you know about graveyard dirt?)
Well, ah tell yuh, yuh kin take graveyard dirt - now, yuh kin go tuh de grave- yard jis' lak if yuh wanted tuh do anybody any harm. Well, yuh kin go dere. Well, yuh kin carry - it's a cert'in 'mount of pennies fo' yuh tuh carry, see. Well, yuh kin carry dem eight pennies an' yuh go tuh de haid of de person, see. Well, yuh ast dem fo' some of de dirt, see; an' tell 'em dat chew'll pay dem fo' it, see. Well, yuh drop dese pennies intuh de dirt right tuh de haid of dem, see. Den yuh take some of de dirt. Git some of de dirt an' put it in a papah an' yuh kin bring it on back home, see. Well, yuh kin take dat dirt an' jis' lak yuh go tuh a person's house, or yuh kin git someone tuh do it fo' yo'. Yuh kin go in dere an' sprinkle dat dirt roun' in dere, see. Well, it will cause dat whole room tuh git upstarted, see. Dere'll be fussin' an' fightin' an' goin' on until dey [man and woman] be separated, see.
Entry 8019
Take de bone of a wicked person an' puttin' it in a secret place in dere house an' it will cuz confusion. (How would it cause confusion?) De spirit will wisit dat house. (The spirit comes to the house.) It wisit dat house an' nobody nevah be able tuh live in dat house.
Entry 8029
Well, dey sprinkle it roun' yore house in yore home, de dust of dat dead person - de dead folks' dust yo' know roun' yuh home. Dat creates confusion. If dey want chew tuhleave, dey do dat jis' tuh run yo' 'way from dere. From de dead person bone, dis ole dust from de bones rotten.
Entry 8714
Well, yo' take her name an' yo' write her name down three times. Yo' write yore name three times. Yo' want her now, yo' want her. (Now where would I write my name?) Yo' write her name here first [demonstrates]. Put chure name heah [underneath]. Yo' Yo' write her name heah an' put chure name in dere. Yo' write it three of each, three of each. An' yo' take den an' yo' sprinkle a li'le salt an' a li'le sugah on dis, white sugah. De sugah tuh sweeten it. Salt saves it an' sugah sweetens it. An' sprinkle dat. Yo' put dat on top of a heater an' yo' let dat brown. When yo' let dat brown, her mind will come to yo'. Dat sveetness of dat sugah will sweeten her mind tuhwards yo'. Yo' git 'er. Well, now, if yo' wanta jes', say, carry her off from where she stayin' or make confusion ovah dere first, yo' put red peppah, sulphur an' gunpowdah on dere. Put 'er husban' name or whosomevah man she got, yo' put dat on dere. Dat's tuh confuse dem. Den when yo' confuse 'em, yo' got 'em. Den yo' put dat sugah on dere to sweeten, an' dat salt to save 'er fo' yo'. Yo' put dat on dere tuh bring 'er tuh yo'.
Entry 8775
Ah heard dey take new war watah an' dey sprinkle it aroun' yore do's an' dey'd call yore name. An' den when yore husband or yore wife come in de night, yo' an' dem would have de biggest kind of humbug. Yo' wouldn't know whut is all de fuss. De' sprinkle war watah all up onto de do'.
Entry 9138
Well, now de best ah learned about a case in co't, dey had me in fo' gamblin'. Ah goes up dere dat mawnin' - ah wus out on a bond - taken up some salt an' throw it fo' diff'ren' ways an' den goes out. [You] say, evah time yo' throw it... [cylinder changed]. (You throw that four different Ways in the courthouse. All right.) Right in de fo' cornahs, an' say, "Bring peace out of confusion." Go in de othah cornah, "Bring peace out of confusion." Ovah dere, "Bring peace out of confusion." [Informant forgets fourth corner.] Take some of dat an' throw some on de judge's seat, an' on de grand jury stand. Two tuh one, dey'll turn yo' loose.
Entry 9236
[Well, now yo' kin take a black - it's gotta be a solid black hen. Yo' kin take a black hen aig an' write chure enemy's name on dere an' yo' kin bury it, if yo' wan' 'em tuh leave town or leave from aroun' yore neighborhood. Yo' put de lit- tle end out. (Out from what?) From de do'. Put de little end out. Jes' bury it right in front of yore do'. An' dat will run 'em away, but yo' will have tuh write dere name on dat aig an' it has tuh be a black hen aig. Then yo' kin take a black hen aig an' yo' kin throw it, but yo' have tuh be shore [sure] dat yo' hit right on de do'knob wit it. Yo' kin throw it an' let it strike right ag'inst a person's do'knob an' it'll cuz all kinda confusion in dat home, an' yo' can't stay dere in no peace.
Entry 9255
Ah would git me a egg from a frizzly hen [for frizzly chicken, see p.59f. and elsewhere] an' ah would put it undah de steps. Den, aftah nine days, yo' see, dat egg would bus [burst]. Dat would make con- fusibn an' de landlord would put 'em out de house.
Entry 9256
[A frizzly hen egg] take it an' write de name on de egg an' bust it in front of de person's do', will cuz a separation in de home.
(That has to be a egg from a...?)
From a frizzly hen. Only one ah was evah tole dey could use. Ah don't know about othahs.
Entry 9284
People say dat chew could take an' write a person's name on de aig an' throw it ovah de top of dey house.
(What will that do?)
Dat will cuz dem tuh move. An' den too, dey say it cuzes confusion. An' sometimes dey say, if yo' sellin' whiskey, it will cuz de law yo' know, tuh stay round de.house all de time. (It will cause the law to stay around?) If de aig busts, but if de aig don' bust, why dere ain't nuthin tuh it. (Do you use any kind of an egg?) Yo' use a black - no, it's gotta be a round aig, a real round aig; no square aig atall. It's gotta be round. [For shapes of eggs, see also R00STER EGG, No.9348f., p.3753.1
(From any kind of a chicken?)
Any kind of a chicken, jes' so's [so is] it a round aig.
Entry 9408
She says she had some trouble with her stepchildren - she married this man.- of co'se they [she and stepchildren] couldn't get along. An' so she was ready to give up everything and leave. So somebody directed her to some woman down in Augusta, Georgia. Ah was from Augusta. So she went down there to see this woman. So after talk- ing with this woman, this woman advised her instead of giving up her home to just go back home and: Get a fresh egg, a fresh-layed egg, and take this egg and place it in - [place] the tip of the egg in salt halfway, and finish covering this egg with sulphur, [let it stand] for twelve hours. Remove this egg then from the sulphur and write the parties' names all over this egg with a lead pen- cil. Take this egg and go outdoors to the room where these parties sleep [the room was in her own house and occupied by the stepchildren] and throw it against the house. And as you throw this egg, call this parties' names. And this egg will bust, and you turn right around and go on about your business and don't look back. And she said, "Within nine days somepin will happen [egg supposed to bust in 9 days - see elsewhere] and that somepin would be some confusion in the home with these parties that is causing the trouble with you and your husband; or, these children would be forced to move away." Well, she says she did that. And of course after - she said the eleventh day though, the eleventh day, this row came up and these children moved out. They were all grown and married. And she said for six years they hadn't been back. And they've gotten along just fine, she says, she and her husband.
Entry 9425
(A black hen egg? What do they do with that?)
Well, dey claims dat dey write chure name on dat an' yo' put dat in vinegah an' let it stay dere nine days. An' den yo' break it ovah de person's do', if yo' wanta make 'em move. (You just write the name on this egg, just once?) Yeah, once on de aig, an' yo' put it in vinegah. Leave it stay dere nine days, an' den yo' throw it ovah dey do'. Also a guinea aig. A guinea aig is mostly bettah den de black hen aig. [THIS MAY BE MY ( ONLY EXAMPLE OF A GUINEA EGG.] Although lotsa people believes in de black hen aig, but a guinea goes roun' de house makin' fuss all de time. Yo' know, yo' notice dat? [Guinea fowls considered as good as a watch dog.] An' if yo' wanta make fuss an' keep confusion, yo' git dat guinea aig, yo' see, an' dat keeps de confusion. (You do the same thing as you did with the black hen egg.)
Entry 9560
Well, jes' lak yo' got a good ole man an' sometimes dey begrudge yo', well, yo' jes' sprinkle salt an' cayenne peppah aroun' every mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's, an' dat keeps up a disturbance - keep 'em fightin' an' fussin'.
(That breaks you [a family] up.)
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 9849
Take nine needles an' stick it in a piece of cloth an' jis' nail it right in de cornah [of] yuh house [demonstrates] jis' lak dat: five dis-a-way an' five [four] dat-a-way.
(The needles are parallel and alternately pointing in the opposite direction.)
An' den [or either] yuh pu'tit [put it] undahneat' [demonstrates] jis' lak dat bo'd yondah.
[The top of doorsill - see explanation later.]
Teah [tear] yuh off a bo'd an' take a nail an' tack it up. [This "up] means 'down", where you will walk over it, not "up so that you walk under it." This is a "tacking down" rite.] Dat keeps yuh fussin', yuh cain't stay dere in no peace. [I have copied this rite from my own transcription, a rough one, made in pencil a short time after the interview. Whether there was a saddle at the door - many of them were sad- dleless - either I could not remember or else my notations would improve with experience.]
Entry 10191
[White candles are lucky and white candles are unlucky. Black candle is a death symbol. When you burn a black candle on a person that's for their death. And white candle is for luck and peace. Black candles are confus- ion. (Red candles are what?) Bloodshed.
Entry 10600
Yeah, we call dem bullbats.
(What do you hear they say they do with those?)
Well, yo' take dat bullbat an' yo' take de wing of de bullbat - his vings - aa'yo' put dat with some graveyard dirt. An' put dat in a li'l' bundle an' yo' put it up anywhere umdah a person's house or anything lak dat. Dat'll cause 'em to be confusd an' fly around jes' lak de bullbat; case 'em to fly aroun' lak dey don't have good sense. [My note on this sheet reads: "R.D. (root doctor) unusual but legitimate. The man is not lying. No two per- sons work alike. R.D., good, but broke up his material, too late to preserve
(as a whole for an interview). Good.]
Entry 10822
To make a husband an' wife be cross with one another all de time - look like dey jes' can't git along - de lady might use de broom on sweepin' off de table an' dat'll cause confusion 'tween her an' her husband. Seemed like dey'd be cross wit one another. Well, anybody oughtn't tuh do dat, but sometimes people wull do it 'cuse ah've seen 'em do it.
(Who would sweep the table with the broom?)
De lady, de man's wife.
(Well, what would she do that for?)
Dat easy cleaning de table, ah reckon. [This may not be the floor broom but the hand broom I describe elsewhere: long slender twigs, reeds or grass bent together and tied with same material just below bend - about two feet long.]
(Sweeping the table off with the broom will cause confusion in the house.)
[This is merely my comment for the microphone.]
Entry 10907
Git de cat hair an' de dog hair an' mix it together, an'( den when yo' mix it toget- her, den yo' git chew some dis same brimstone; an' burn anywhere outdo's, an' it will 'sturb a community, 'cause confusion.
Entry 10908
An' den, too, ag'in, if yo' want 'em tuh move, if yo' wanta upset peoples an' have confusion, yo' git chew a small little [young] cat an' a [young] dog: Yo' know, when a cat an a dog git tuhgethah, his bris- tles raises. Well, yo' takes dat cat an' put him tuh where a dog kin see 'em; an' when dey bristles raise up, clip de bristles off de cat an' offa de dog an' mix it tuhget- hah. An' if yo' kin git in dey house, why yo' carry it in dere an' throw it about in de house an' walk on out. Well, dat breaks 'em up an' keeps 'em always stirred up, confused tuh death.
Entry 10943
Dey take cedar an' buy [bury] undah - lak if yo' wanta do sompin tuh somebody, take cedar an' bury it undah de do'step or place where dey have tuh go in an' out. Or either put undah de do' an' it will cause a con- fusion or keep yore husband from runnin'. Lak if yore husband is goin' tuh dis woman's house, an' yo' jes' git some of it [wood] an' take it dere an' put it, dat'll cause 'em tuh break up.
(You put this cedar in her house?)
Yeah, go dere at night.
Entry 11133
Reach arm as far as possible in wicked per- son's grave, mix with bull dung, sprinkle at house, causes confusion.
Entry 11163
Devil's-shoestring keep confusion in a house until yo' break up; yo' gotta move, yo' can't stay dere. (How would you use that devil's-shoestring?) Well, yo' have to cake dat whilst it's green [fresh] and stick it roun' anywhere in de house an' de older it git, de longer it stay dere, de quicker dat's going to happen.
(This confusion in the house?)
Yes sir, it keep confusion - somebody gotta go.
Entry 11192
To break up house, beat up dirt dauber's nest, salt in it, pepper [black or redi in it, sprinkle around or through house.
Entry 11217
Yo' kin take, yo' know, if yo' an' yore husband ain't gittin' long good in yore house, yo' kin take some spice an' dirt dauber nest an' mash it up together; an' after yo' sweep, sprinkle it in each corner of de house. Every- thing will git 'long lovely. Dat's all ah know it's good fo'; yo' know, killin' anything lak dat. Wear it in yore shoe for a fuss lak dat an' sprinkle it round yore house. Dat's all ah know dat it's good fo'.
Entry 11299
If yo' have a little dog of some sort, cut dis dog tail off [hair from tail?] an' burn it. An' git chew some gunpowder an' some gasoline an' burn it [hair up. An' take de ashes an' carry it dere. Set it dere - don't let no one see - by night. Throw it in dere front do' an' go off on by. Dey never will wanta live dere any mo'.
(What do you do that for?)
Dat's to run 'em out from dere. (Run them out of the house, to cause confusion in the home, chase them out so they finally break up.
Entry 11624
Jis' like if yo' - like if you are separated from your wife and the man is always getting in trouble about it, you catches a live fish and you write his name on it. And cut that fish open while him alive and sew him up with that name in it, and throw it in the pond where you catch him from. The more the fish go, the more they going.
(What do you do that for, now? If I'm separated from my wife and she's what?)
And uh - you and your wife - this man is always keeping your wife on distur- ban', in confusion all the time, and always with him. Write his name and catch that live fish and cut him open and sew him back up with that name inside of him and turn him loose.
(This other man - that will send the other man far away from your wife?)
Yes, it will run him away.
(When the other man's running after your wife.)
Entry 12279
De' take de gunpowder an' de sulphur dust - dat not de lump sulphur - an' mix it together an' put it in a quill or some fish-pole. An' go by a per- son's house an' go dat- away three times. (Knocking three times.) [Also blowing 3 times.] An' de persons in dat yard, dey goin' have a uproar in dere. It will make a confusion between everybody. See, somebody in dere is gotta move out. If dere some enemies in dere, well dey gotta git out. [It would probably be safer to try this rite during day when no one was home. There are similar blowing through tube rites in HOODOO.1
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 12410
Why dey tell me it's danger of lending matches out chure own home. Dey tell me by lending matches out chure home dat a person kin take it to dey house an' use sulphur wit it in a way dat it'll keep confusion in yore home all de time.
(Do you know how they use it? What they do?)
Well, dey say, if yo' loan a person - a person come to yore house an' borrow three or foah matches from yo'. Dey'll go back home - if dey got a nice box wit sulphur inside, dey scrape dat sulphur off de side of de box an' put two of dose matches in de box. Put dat sulphur in dat box an' go to de sto' an' buy yo' a bottle of dis stuff whut chew call sweet spirit of niter. An' fo' three mornin's, drop a drop on each three mornin's - keep it closed - dey say dat will keep confusion an' fussin' in yore house all de time between yo' an' yore folks.
Entry 12614
Ah've heard people say yo' could take red pep- pah an' throw it round de house. Yo' know red peppah is fussin' anyway [causes a fuss]. Take red peppah an' throw it around de house. Or eithah burn it an' sulphur where dey kin git de scent of it, chew know.
(What would that do to them, then?)
It would cause confusion an' fussin' an' fights.
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 13413
They say you can put some kind of powder on you - call it war powder war water. They say you can put that down there at their door. See, you wait until they come out and after they come out you put that down there at their door. And when they go back in, well they will create trouble. Seems their husband and them will start to fight and then their minds be all upsetted and they don't stay at that house no more. They moves away, you see. That's how you do to get rid of them.
Entry 13414
I have heard and they said they would take and put such as war water to make you - to disturb you, see. They say they sprinkle that around your door and that'll upset your mind so or somepin of the kind, if you walk over it; that if you step in it, you walk it all through the house and everybody in there would get upset. And that'll worry them and get them all upset, their mind all upset, so they'll leave you - leave the house. [This informant, 35 persons after informant in preceding rite, shows present rite a common one in New Orleans.]