Subject:Crazy
Entries
Entry 4557
Yuh kin take dat bow from de back of 'is hat, one dat he done wore - de sweat in it chew undahstan'. Yuh kin take dat an' jes' keep it in de seat of yore bloomahs all de time. Jes' pin it in dere an' wear it in dere an' dat will always keep 'im wit chew. Dat's all yuh gotta do, jes' wear it in dere all de TIME. AN' EVAH TIME YUH CHANGE A PAIR OF PANTS, YUH JES PUT IT RIGHT BACK IN.
Entry 6284
Well, ah've heard sev'ral times if a person git hold of yore hair an' Put it in runnin' watah, don't yo' see. YO' [the author] HAVE SEEN A RUNNIN' STREAM OF WATAH? AH 'MAGINE [they] said, if dey carry it to a ditch or, yo' know, any place dat de watah continue runnin', a creek or sompin lak dat, oby it will run yo' crazy. [Hoodoo has many informants, especially doctors, down- talking to me. This sort of treatment is surely the greatest compliment I ever received, I being one of them.]
Entry 6389
Take 'em an' burn 'em in de ashes, an' sew 'em up in red flannen. (These fingernails and toenails?) Yes sir, an' it'll run 'em crazy.
Entry 6550
Dey use a frog. Kin take a frog an' kill 'im, an' git a drop of 'is blood an' a drop of someone's blood an' put it tuhgethah. An' put it in some coffee or whiskey or tea or sompin lak dat, an' give it tuh dem tuh drink. Well, dey'll be poisoned an' go crazy an' yo' have tuh send 'em tuh 'sylum.
Entry 7779
An' dey could take graveyard dirt an' put it in likkah an' dey could give yo' dat. (What would that do to you?) Well, dey jes' have yuh jes' crazy, jes' foolish all de time. Yo' don't have yore right mind about it, anything.
Entry 7840
Dey kin put some graveyard dirt in de end [hem] of yuh dress an' sew it up, an' dat'll run yuh crazy, make de spirits follah yuh, see. Dey'll be aftah de dirt, choo see, an' dey'll go dere [to your house] an' git it, 股 choo see. Jis' lak yogo dere [to the graveyard] an' git it, git it off a sinnahman's grave. Yo' put de money down, put two cents in at hole where yo' git de dirt from. Yo' say, "Well, ah mean fer yo' [spirit] tuh run sich-an'-sich-a-one crazy an' keep 'em worried until yo' [victim] come ohere ah'm at [come as a corpse to the graveyard]." Well, dat'll keep 'em wor- ried, choo see, until dey die.
Entry 8031
Take yo' a bone - lak yo' go tuh de graveyard an' take yo' a bone an bury it. An' pound it up. Pound fine, fine. An' if dey wants tuh run yo' crazy, sprinkle some in yore hair. An' dey'll keep dat. Or eithah put some in yore food. An' den yo' come in a length of time, yo' begin tuh pass worms lak snakes.
Entry 8200
(What would they do with my photograph?)
Take yure photograph an' place it intuh a small lookin'-glass, face intuh de glass lak yo' would look intuh de glass, an' put it intuh a runnin' place of watah two or three weeks, an' it will run yuh crazy.
Entry 8446
An' yo' kin take dat picture an' go to a runnin' rivah an' throw dat picture ovah your haid an' don't look back, an' go off, an' it will run 'em crazy.
Entry 8455
Dey say yo' take de pichure an' put it in runnin' watah an' dat will run yo' crazy. Put yo' wit de haid down de stream an' de feet upstream, pointin' up. See, yore haid go down which will be in front, an' it will run yo' crazy in nine days.
Entry 8462
Ah kin give yuh two practices on dat. Now, dey kin take yure photo- graph, yo' know, what yo' have already gotten yureself, since dat's yo'. Write chure name at de bottom first, write chure name on de top an' tote chew right down tuh any stream of watah dat goes up an' down [tide- water stream], you git tuh a piece of wood [= woods, collection of trees] where dere a tree what de watah comes up on. Yo' know, as it comin' up it looks lak dat [water covers a part of the tree trunk].
(As the tide comes up?)
Dat's right. Turn de haid right down an' take a rusty nail an' nail it right in dere. Don't drive de nail haid in, don't drive de haid in. Jis' drive it enough tuh hold it. Evah time when de tide comes up, why yo' know yo' will jis' be all crazy, evahthing looks funny tuh yuh. An' when de tide's goin' out, why yo'll jis' set in one place - lie down in one place an' sleep all de time. Sleep comes ovah yuh jis' lak dat.
Entry 8806
It's one thing they do to you. (What's that?) Dey kin take yore handwritin'. Dey'll take a plate or saucer or somepin an' burn it jes' lak yo' did dat othah a while ago, an' den get somepin - jes' a face towel or pocket han'ke'ch'ef - somepin yo' use about yore face, an' tie dat up in it, an' take it to a runnin' stream an' run yo' crazy.
(How will it run you crazy? You mean they throw that into the running stream?)
Yes, sir.
(And that will run you crazy, I see.)
Yes, sir. [See also later margin title WATER-RUNNING.]
Entry 8818
Take yore han'writ- in' an' burn each cornah of it, an' put some perfume on it [of letter] an' let.it dry an' burn it up. Dat would cause yo' to go crazy.
Entry 9430
They take a black hen egg an' cayenne peppah an' guinea watah - er, yes - an' chuck it at yore door.
(What is that? What else do they take, now?)
Cayenne peppah, yes; a black hen egg...
(A black hen egg and then what?)
An' guinea - not guinea. Aw shucks they call it...
A black chicken egg, cayenne peppah...
(Yes, all right.)
An' yo' mix dat togethah.
(What do you mix now, what kind of water?)
War water!
(Oh! All right!)
An' yo' take an' yo' chuck it at dere door. Now, yo' see, yo' take a black hen egg by itself an' yo' chuck dat at yore door fo' nine mornings, an' dat makes yo' move an' makes yo' an' yore husband or yo' an' yore neighbor fight until yo' go to jail. (I see. All right.) Now, dat war water, just sprinkle it all around yore door. An' yo' just take a whole bottle of it an' mix it wit cayenne peppah an' den chunk it an' it busts at yore door. Yo' are sure to go to jail.
(I see.)
Entry 9862
Yo' git chew fo' toadfrogs an' yo' tie dem by a laig - by one laig, not tuhgethah but one laig at de time - an' yo'll hang dat fellah [frog] deah wit 'is haid down. Yo' tie de othah one an' yo' hang 'is haid down. An' yo' tie all fo [frogs]. Hang 'em separates [separately] down. Pluck dere eyes out an' dat'll run somebody crazy in dey house. (Wait a minute! You are not telling the story the way you told it before. How long do you leave them there and all that sort of thing? Tell me the whole story now.) All right. Dey hangs dere fo' day, foah nights. Lak yo' put 'em heah tuh- aight. Starts from tuhnight. Be shuh [sure] yo' got dose foah nights out. Well yo'kow de days is gotta come in. Each day yo' go dere an' pluck out one's eye [the eyes of one frog]. Dat takin' de eyesight from whosomevah in dat house from 'e. [4 frogs and 4 nights here does not mean 4 victims but thoroughness, deriv- ed from the "4 corners of the earth" (in Biblical Apocalypse of John,7:1) or 4 directions everywhere.]
(Wouldn't they see those frogs hanging there on the wall?)
Uell, ah don't think she saw 'em. But she cert'inly went blind.
(When do you pick out the eye, in the daytime or at night?)
[I am afraid my question was a little disconcerting.]
Night. Ah think it's night becuz yo' have dem dere dat foah nights. [In- formant himself has not performed this rite; he merely heard about it, saw the frogs, and knew the woman went blind.]
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 10646
Take dose antses, see, ketch 'em, an' dat [ant] bed dey done made - some of dat [ant] bed yo' see, an' yo' git it [some of that ant bed] in a box an' yo' bring it back. An' dey tell me yo' jes' keep dat sittin' ahin' yore bed all de time. See. Well, dey say dat's jes' tuh run yo' crazy - yore mind bad, see.
(You do that at some other person's bed?)
Yeah, doin' othah people harm.
Entry 10711
( Git de featbers out de bird nest aa' bar den, an' dey take dat an' put it in a person's hat, an' dat runs 'en crazy.
[Mephis, 1519:8.]
Entry 10724
Yo' kin go down to de forks of de road, an' yo' kin put something in a path. Yo' kin git dis root dat's called a blacksnake root. Take dis black- snake root an' yo' kin lay it at de fork of de road like dis an' [demonstrates]. Dis is de fork an' yo' lay dat root jes' at de fork, an' yo' step ovah dat place where dat root is, why yo'll go crazy. (You place that root pointing down each of these roads that meet - the forks of the road like a "Y"?) Yes sir, jest de way de roads fork, why yo' put de root. Dat's de blacksnake root.
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 10754
(Tell me about that ministratin' again. What do you do with it?)
Yo' kin take an' throw it in runnin' watah.
(A woman's menstruate?) [They have me turning a verb into a noun!]
Yessuh, yo' throw it in runnin' watah an' dat'll run her crazy. She'll be crazy bad. Nobody'll take dat off her, not lessen' dey'll take it [upon self] chew know. [Only a skilled rootman or hoodoo. A doc- tor could absorb such a dangerous condition into his own body!]
Entry 10755
Den, too, yo' kin take a woman's sick clothes. Yo' kin take dem an' yo' kin take, if dey already dry, yo' kin take an' wet 'em. Kinda mash 'em, yo' know, wit a little bit of dat on, an' cork dat up. An' she can't go wit no othah man. Or eithah, yo' kin take 'em, dey tell me, an' chunk it down de stream [to send away]. Chunk it upstream, says, an' she'll go( crazy.
Entry 10756
I heard 'em talking of gettin', yo' know, a woman, from her menstrua- tion period. Yo' put it in running water. And they say that'll make yo' [her] crazy; cause the blood to go to her head.
Entry 11018
Now, dere one chicken feathah you could use, to do any harm, dat's a frizzly fowl. A frizzly fowl is good and is bad, onnerstand. Now, yo' kin take a feathah from de top of a frizzly fowl's head and you kin take a feathah from de top of a frizzly fowl's back. And you kin take dat feathah what you git from de frizzly fowl and take one new pin and pin dem two feathah togethah and I kin take dem feathah and put 'em in your bosom or anybody's bosom and you is a crazy man ovahnight - in an hour.
(Supposed to make him lose his mind?)
Yes, sir, crazy fer de next. Yo' kin put 'em in dere dis hour and de next hour somebody gotta tie 'em down.
(Well, what else can you do with that Frizzly hen? Can you do anything else?)
Yes, you kin use de bun gut, you know.
(Gut? The intestine? The testicle?)
[My preceding questions merely ask for more information. The meaning of the word bun in the sense of anus or buttocks I had known for years, but bum gut did not penetrate immediately because I had translated the words into rotten gut
[stomach trouble, etc.l also a folk term.]
Dat's real good. You kin take dat and kill a nation. [You can kill a nation because of all that hoodoo poison that goes through a frizzly hen - see margin title DOCTOR FRIZZLY Pp.59-63, v.1, and many places.]
(How Would you do that?)
Well, you take dat and you cook a soup. Cook in a chicken soup, onnerstand. Well, I hate dat house dere. I wanna poison dat whole house, but dey is my neighbors. Well, I git dat soup and carry over dere, go across wit it.
(You poison them?)
De whole house. But now you gotta put in dat, Doc - des scrape dem in it - de fingernails. Keep dem dirty and scrape 'em - [into the soup].
Entry 11022
Well, yo' take those chicken feathers - you know, jest like you take 'em and burn 'em. Put 'em in a piece of tin and burn 'em, and then take the ashes from 'em and you know - burn 'em, don't put much [feathers], jest put a [few] after you dry 'em and - they jest look like powder. Then you put it in the water and drink off it and make yo' franzy. You know, you hear of people being franzy, yo' know. Makes you franzy-minded. Not criticize, you know what ah mean. [Unknown to informant this could be a black chicken feathers rite, or black feather could have been mentioned before recording began.
Entry 11120
[Make the coffin] first, and they they get a piece of wood and of course they cut out what you call a little statue. And that's in imitation of the person they made the cof- fin for. When they make this little coffin - of course, I'm supposed to be your friend and you did me something [wronged speaker] and I want to get even with you. I could git it in your home better than anybody else. [After you] make this coffin, make a little statue. That statue supposed to be you. And when I get it made I bring it and put it any- where around in that house. But I put some graveyard dirt in that coffin with that little statue, you understand, and I get it - if I ever get in your bopse, [I] put in some secret place. Or if not, I put it under the steps and you aalk on it. It's just the same. It'll cause you to go crazy.
Entry 11298
Certain kind of things about de bristle of a dog. Git de bristle of a dog, nine strands [hairs] of it. An' yo' git dat bristle an' yo' know, yo' kin take it an' wrap it up. Ball de clothes up in it an' he be mad all de time. No satis- faction no way atall. Mad all de time an' den he'll jest naturally go crazy.
(You just get these bristles from the dog.)
People say dey know dat shore to be done.
Entry 11745
Take yore hair - off a person's haid - an' git a little dust, grave- yard dust. Dat will run 'em crazy, dat will run 'em away.
(Well, now what about the buzzard?)
Dust of de buzzard [see later]. (How do you mean they get some of my hair?) Yeah, git some yore hair out chure haid, an' take it an' graveyard dirt an' pepper an' put it to a buzzard.
(What do you mean put it to a buzzard?)
Tie it to him or sompin like that.
(What will that do to me then?)
Run yo' crazy or run yo' away.
(The buzzard flies away with that stuff on him?)
The buzzard flies away an' yo' go.
Entry 12161
Now in So'th Ca'lina, one man wanted a girl an' de girl wouldn't notice him. An' he got a holly leaf. Now dis is whut ah heard. Now, ah don't know dis [myself]. He got a holly leaf. As she stoop- ed down tuh git her water out de spring - dey have a lotta springs dere - he throwed dat leaf ovah her haid an' dey say she went stone crazy. Ah didn't 'sperience dis an' ah can't be a eye-witness, an' ah haven't 'sperienced dat.
(Well, where was this supposed to have taken place in South Carolina?)
Ah think it at a place dey call de Beaver Dam. Dat was way back in startin' of slavery.
(What day did it happen on did you say?)
On a Sunday.
(Did he have to do it on a Sunday?)
Dis happen on a Sunday wit dis Holly leaf.
Entry 12448
"Specially dis time of yeah, dese mockin'birds. Dat's how come we take ca' of de mockin'bird's nest roun' de house. An' so jes' take dat man's hair or dat woman's hair an' put it in de bottom of dat mockin'bird's nest, an' dat man have de headache dat run him perfectly crazy.
Entry 13309
Use de thresher [thrasher] feet.
(The feet from a thrasher, the bird. What do you do with those?)
Yo' take an' put that in a bottle. Yo' bottle dat wit chure hair, an' put milk in it, an' yo' put love powders in dere, an' put sulphur in it, an' put red peppah in it, an' yo' work it up airtight, an' dat'll do de work den. Dat will run 'em away. (What do you do with that bottle?) Yo' take dat bottle an' put it in de no'th or de east corner of de garden. Yeah, dat'll make him leave, or if yo' wanta run him crazy, that will run him away.
Entry 13369
Yo' kin take a aig. Yo' kin take one aig an' yo' kin put dat aig intuh chamber lye an' let it lay fo' 9 days, see. Well, den yo' kin take dat aig, jes' lak yo' goin' tuh fix a person. Well, yo' go tuh fix 'em, well yo' kin take dat aig aftah 9 days an' yo' kin take it an' throw it ovahbo'd. See. An' if a person's aftah yo', well yo' could - yo' know - git rid of 'em. (How do you throw that egg overboard?) Yo' throw it overbo'd tuh eithah run de person crazy or make 'em leave town. (Well, how do I know I've got the right person? By just using that egg? What else do I do with that egg?) Whut else? Well, ah don't know nuthin' else except yo' know, yo' go some- wheres an' yo' git information, see.
(The egg is supposed to represent the person you are to send away?)
Shore.
(Well, how do I know it's representing that person?)
Sign dere name on de aig.
(Oh! Did you tell me that before?) [Notice the answer.]
No, ah wasn't in heah befo' tuh yo'.
(I mean, did you tell me that a moment ago?)
No.
(Did you tell me you had signed the egg?)
[Here is a good example of working hard for information informant thinks you know.] See, yo' sign dat person name on dat aig.
(Any kind of a chicken egg?)
Yeah, jes' ole black hen aig.
(You didn't tell me that before, see.)
Entry 4356
Takes yuh chamber lye an' dey puts it in a bottle an' dey puts - git nine peas, nine black-eyed peas, an' nine nails, eight-penny nails about dat long [demonstrates] an' a needle, one sewin' needle. An' po' dat [urine] in dere [the bottle], an' a piece of fat meat an' throw dat in dere, an' nine straws. An' fo' dey put dat in dere, dey'll take it an' let it set up nine days. An' when it set up nine days dey'll go an' put it - dey'll take it an' put some mo' [things in]. Put black peppah an' salt an' vinegah in it an' three pods of red peppah. An' dey takes it [bottle] tuh de rivah an' throws it ovahbo'd ovah de right shoulder [using the left hand]. Dat'll run yuh crazy.
Entry 2853
Jis' lak if yo' wanta run a person crazy, see, yo' got de sole of the shoe. Yo' go in de graveyard jis' about da'k, yo' see. Jis' to anybody's grave yo' see. An' yo mash it [shoe]. Yo' see, de leather it be's jis' flat lak this [demonstrates]. An' yo' git chew a black candle. An' yo' write de name on a piece of papah or eithah on dat candle, yo' see, but yo' see yo' can't write it mo' den nine times. An' yo' burn that fo' nine days. See, dat's de way yo always send a person tuh de graveyard. Dat mean graveyard dirt [for you]. Well, at de end of dem nine days dat person goin' die.
(Now what do you do? You get that graveyard dirt and you spread it out?)
Yo' see, sometime it be's lunpy, but yo' gotta take it somewhere where it kin be smacked - where yo' mash it fine, where yo' kin set dat candle on top of it. Jis' put dat candle. Dis be de graveyard dirt an' dis be de candle an' yo' jis' wanta set it [graveyard dirt] roun' dere [candle] an' aftah yo' write de name on dere, well dat candle goin' burn down de name 'fore de end of nine days. Yo know how long it goin' take a candle tuh burn. De candle goin' burn nights till de end of dem nine days, an' den dey goin' tuh de graveyard. (You write that name on the candle longwise, just nine tlmes? Or you can write it on a piece of paper, you say?) Yo' kin write it on de piece of papah, each [either] way yo' see. Write it on a piece of papah, well, it's good; an' if yo' write it on de candle it still bettah, yo' see, cus as dat candle be burnin', yo' see dat [name] be burnin' too.
(How do you write it on the piece of paper?)
See, lak dis de piece of papah [demonstrates]. See, yo'd write it lak this - nine times an' den yo' take an' yo' come dis way an' yo' write it nine times lak dis, nine across.
(Where do you put that paper now when you are burning that candle?)
Took de piece of papah jis' lak dis, yo' see, jis' fold it lak that, an' take de candle an' put it on de papah.
(Now where is your graveyard dirt?)
It's underneat' dat, see underneat' de papah. Or yo' kin put it in a saucer, eithah one yo' see. It be de best.
[Similarly, a foot track is burned under a black candle.]
Well, now, yo' see if a person don't lak yo' an' even so - co'se dey don't have dust lak it be's out in de country cus yo' see out in de country it's all dust roads yo' see. A person goes an' dey take yore feet yo' see or either dey kin take de shovel or anything an' pick it up, but dat track must be warm yo' see. Yo' mus' jis' be pass' dere. An' yo' take dat dirt from de bottom of yore feet an' yo' write chure name on dat an' git chew some.
(What do you write your name on?)
Yo' take dat dirt from de foot track an' yo' put it in a piece of papah, yo' see. Jis' lak ah'm goin' take yore foot track, yo' git de dirt, yo' see. But it gotta be warm. De dirt gotta be warm cus if it cold, it doesn't do any good. It gotta be warm. See, when dey gits de dirt dey gits some papah, a brown piece of papah, see, but chew gotta buy dat piece of papah - it's a brown piece of papah. An' yo' git that an' yo' write their name on that. Yo' kin write it eithah way yo' kin write it crossways or yo' kin write it de longway - eithah way yo' see. Jis' write it once. An' yo' burn dat.
(What do you burn?)
Yo' burn a candle. Dat's candles. Burn a black candle - a black candle is de best.
reported black-candle burning in two distinct variants. The first account moves from running a person crazy to predicted death. Preserve this shift as source speech, not an observed outcome or clinical finding. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 821) · Read full source (printed page 822)
Entry 729
An' again dey got a root dey claim dey call de salamander root - yes, an' git dat root an' take it an' slip it in yore hat any way, it will run yo' crazy. [Like: the preceding snake-shaped root, this root has a salamander shape.]
Entry 959
Well, as fur as ah kin learn, that's whut got me - it was given tuh me in some whiskey.
(What did they give you?)
Hit was graveyard dirt - it was in whiskey. Well, ah had a spell - all right, ah talked outen mah haid. Well, but ah don't do it only at certain times - an' ah does it now, too - an' ah kin go fo' a certain time till de moon changes - when de moon changes, well, ah gitten dat drinkin' spirit in me an' ah go an drink. Well, dey went an' dey digged dis graveyard [dirt] an' wheresomevah ah got dis whiskey at - [doctor] said dey sprinkle it in dey whiskey an' ah would drink it. Well, ah didn't know it. [For drinking spell & moon, see also No.13.]
(What makes you talk that way?)
Ah don't know - ah guess ah'm been like dat ever since I wus fixed like dat. See, ah had two spells - ah like tuh went crazy. (You said something about the spirit when you first told me - what about the spirit?) Well, it's de graveyard dirt - see, dat's de spirit from dere - yo' go to dat grave an' git dat dirt. Well, dat spirit is gon'a follow dat, yo' know. Well, ah already got some of it in me, an' ah kin heah mah insides always talkin' - jest, yo' know - dey talks to me jest like yo' talkin' - all kinda talks - curses me an' everything.
(These spirits inside of you talk to you all the time?)
Talk to me an' then ah kin heah ord'nary people like dat. (And you say this only happens to you on certain times of the moon. Well, when is that?) That's right - when de moon change - ev'ry time de moon change.
(Then you hear these voices.)
Entry 3905
Well, yo' know when de month's on, why she ministratin' like dat, he kin git dem pieces an' carry it tuh de no'th cornah of de kitchen an' bury it, run her stone crazy. (The north corner - outside of the kitchen?) Yes, dig a little hole an' put 'em right down in dere, an' de nex' three or fo' hours she be crazy as a lunatic.
Entry 3949
An' den ag'in if a man quit a woman an' she kin git 'im tuh eat tuh her house - lak a woman take sick once a month - she wear a piece of steak right fol ten minutes, an' take it an' beat it up an' fry fo' him. An' aftah she beat it up an' fry it fo' him, den he eat dis steak an' he'll be jes' as crazy 'bout 'er as he evah wuz.
Entry 4083
An' den yuh kin feed 'im chamber lye. Dat'll make him crazy about chew. Intuh somepin tuh eat.
Entry 4550
Take dat little band out chure hat, carry dat an' put de jinx [a word rarely used] on it, covah it up where de sun can't git holt of it. An' yuh'll be jes' as half-minded as a rabbit.
(Thought they did that to your bow?)
Dey jes' take dat new band - dat new bow out de hat.
Entry 5355
Take it up - jes' take yo' a shovel jes' lak yo' take a track up. Scoop it right up an' build a fiah ovah dat an' burn it.
(What track do you take? Which one?)
Usely [usually] take eithah one. Evah one.
(After they burn that track, what will that do to me?)
Run yo' insane.
Entry 5436
Well, people - jis' lak dey see yore feet track, yo' know an' know it's yore track. Dey kin pick yore track up yo' see an' put it in dere pocket or any- thin', an' go an' git 'em a gourd an' bo' 'em a hole in it. [Then put track in gourd and stop it up.] An' den throw dat gourd in de rivah or anywhere in run- nin' watah, yo' know, an' dey kin run yo' crazy lak dat an' make yo' hitch-hike all de time. Yo' know, yo' cain't stay in one place long as dat gourd keep goin' down de stream. [It is evident that track went into gourd, but I want a statement from infor- mant.]
(What do they do with that foot track, put it in the pocket?)
No, dey put it in de gourd an' throw it in de'rivah or anywhere dere runnin' watah.
(They take either foot track?)
Dey take yore foot track.
(Well, why do they put it in the gourd?)
Why dey put in de gourd? Dey have to put it in de gourd on account, yo' know, sompin dat will stay floatin' on top of de watah, yo' know.
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 7555
Wal, she said dat yuh kin go - lak yuh know somebody dat been a devil. An' go tuh de haid of dere grave an' git some of de - put a dime dere, an' git some of de [dirt], yuh know, jis' a little bit. An' come back an' put it where yuh don't like somebody. Put it tuh dere do' an' if dey walk ovah it, well yuh see, dey'll go crazy. Dey have tuh leave dere. Dey couldn't stay in dis town...
(That is to drive them away.)
Entry 10742
Give 'em a small dose [of menstrual blood]. It's supposed to make 'em [him] love you an' care for you, but if you give them [him] large doses they'll just pine away to skin and bones and go into the T. B. Yes, sir, with appearance blood and menstruation, see titles at beginning of subsection (2) "HER PRIVATE TIME p.2513, v.3] it's overdose that make 'em [men] go into the T. B. overdose make them go crazy or lose their mind or they can use it to make 'em love you.
Entry 13073
Take him [a snail] w'ahre [where] he drags along, and then pick up his skelp[?] [slime] after he drags along, and put it into some food that this person eats. You know they leave a slime as they pass along. Take that and put it into some food or put it over greens, peas, or anything like that, and the person will lose their mind. [New Orleans 1144:4.]
Entry 11417
Skin from the bottoms of your feet and salt tossed into running water hurts you in some way or runs you crazy. [Wilmington 270:8+85.]
Entry 11551
"Get a piece of paper and measure their footprint and take that up in a dark place - in a dark closet, and spit 3 times at this in the dark and walk away. They claim that makes a person foolish, he won't stay no place at all."
[Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 11560
"Take a twentypenny nail an' drive it down in your [right] track an' that'll worry you, that'll run you crazy. Your necked [naked] feet [barefoot]. An' kiver [cover] a little bit of dirt over it." [Wilmington 257:2+85.]
Entry 11567
"They take this dirt out of 9 of your tracks, and take it and tie it up in a little piece of cloth, and keep it fer 9 days. And they kin carry it and throw it in a river: if it swims upstream, why you go crazy; and if it float down de stream, why, you know, it won't harm you much." [Wilmington 91:1+85.]
Entry 11829
"Graveyard dirt will run you crazy too, if they sprinkle it around your door." [New Orleans 1146:11.]
Entry 11929
"They tell me, if a person wanta run you crazy, they kin take a couple locks of your hair, and take a rusty nail and drive it on the right hand side of a tree [the right side of the tree as you approach it]." [Richmond 461:1.]
Entry 612
I know a lady in Baltimore, she was taken to the asylum. She was hurt with some kind of white stuff. Someone next door throwed it in her hair. She Was crazy. A man told us he could cure her. The day she was to be taken away he came to see her. He put a Bible under her head and told us to wash her head with tobacco and we did so. Before he did that he taken a glass of milk, he taken a silver ring off of his finger and let it stood in this milk, and give it to her to drink. It [milk left in glass after the drink] didn't turn black, so he said she wasn't hurt inside. He said let her go on to the asylum and he guaranteed in four weeks time she'll be out. So we did. He give me a [dressed] handkerchief, a brand-new one. He told me don't let my hands touch it, carry it to the asylum and give it to her to wipe her face. And I did. I could tell a diff'rence in her before I left. In four weeks time she was at home.
Entry 896
I had a uncle, he went crazy and stayed crazy about, I reckon about three years. They kep' him home that long and then they sent him to Goldsboro [North Carolina, to the asylum] and he stayed up there a long time. And so a few years back they went and got him and brought him back home and he was still crazy. So they sent for a fellah from down South to come down here. He told 'em that he'd cure him for twenty-five dollars. So he taken and brought a big bottle of medicine there for him, root medicine, give him that. Then he put somepin under the steps for him so nobody couldn't git in there to do him no harm. He wouldn't let him take nothin' that nobody give him. He took a little bag and got some kind of sand, they say he went to the graveyard and got some sand, and put some more little stuff in that, some rocks he brought with him, and wrahpped it up right tight and put it under the steps. He had to go to the [Wrightville] Sound to git some salty water to soak it in, throwed it all over that stuff, he says, so nobody couldn't git it up. And then he give him somepin to wear. He give him a belt to wear right next to his meat and put a dime on each one of his legs. And he come to git all right.
Entry 1092
[The term Eve-and-Adam is more frequently used than Adam-and-Eve, a proper name for the plant, but what an informant means by either name I do not know - it could be a plant from six or seven genera. Since one informant calls this root (possibly a corm) Adam-and-Eve-and-Their Son, I would identify it as puttyroot, common name for Aplectrum hyemale, a North American orchid producing annually a solid corm, "two or three of which remain strung together." When there are two, we have Adam and Eve; when three, the son is added. This could suggest The Trinity or The Holy Family, but as often as I heard the plant named I remember the son once. Adam-and-Eve, like lodestone and some other objects, is one of these He-and-She ingredients - see Index.] Ah knows that. Ah had a cousin, she lived in Oil Town, Arkansas. She got poison, see. Dis woman had her howlin' [like a dog - see No. 775, p.256, and second cure under Dog in this subsection later]. Now, ah know this fo' a pus'nal fac'. She wus howlin' an' sometimes she jis' crawlin' on her knees, see. Stood up diff'rent times though. Mah uncle taken her tuh her daddy - he [daddy] taken her out heah tuh Newport, tuh Ca'Zine Dyer. He taken her out theah. She got some rattlesnake dust - ah nevah will fo'git this, an' she made some little bags an' she hung one undah dis arm an' one undah dis one, an' she went an' got some dat Eve-an'-Adam dust an' she place it on cousin right heah [demonstrates]. Now, mah cousin wus crazy - she wus stone crazy.
(Right on her breast?)
Yes. She wus crazy. One [bag] wus made outa rattlesnake dust an' one [bag] wus Eve-an'-Adam dust. Dis one right heah dat's Eve-an'-Adams' dust on yore chest, an' dat whut she put undah her arm dat wus rattlesnake dust yo' see. She put one undah each one of her arms. An' when she got that Eve-an'-Adams' dust, she put that little bag an swung it right there. An' she tole mah uncle tuh buy a bottle of turpentine an' say, "Now, fo' nine mawnin's straight yo' git up an' fix yore water in a washpan an' let her wash her han's fo' nine mawnin's straight an' throw it to de.east." An' mah cousin wus jis' crazy - she wus jis' howlin', she didn't have bita sense. An' when dat woman put that on her, she come back home an' she tole her mama, she say, "Ah feel lak a diff'rent pusson." Dat wus in Newport, [Arkansas]. Strictly brought her back to her min' an' she didn't have sense 'nuff even to entertain mama.
(How did he fix this water in the morning?)
Ah'll tell yo' whut chew do. See, yo' git some watah an' yo' put it in de pan an' yo' put that turpentine in there fo' nine mawnin's straight. Yo' see, yo' take it in yore han' jis' lak yo' goin' wash yore face - co'se lotta folks use a face towel but yo' use it jis' natural, yo' see. [For use it jis' natural, see also the Uncle Ben Mackey story, No. 918, p.337.] Rub it ovah yore han' and stroke it down ovah yore face an' throw it tuh de west. See, throw that tuh de west, an' yo' say, "Lawd, heah am ah. Take all mah troubles an' heal me, In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost." Co'se ah wus with mah cousin when she do that an' she wus crazy. She wus jis' as crazy as a rud [red] lizard [see Index].
(When did this happen?)
Dis happen in 1929, Oil Town. An' ah nevah fo'git de woman's name dat did dat [spell]. Her name wus Lou T. [At a later date we shall meet Caroline Dyer again. See near end of my interview with Madam Collins of Memphis in Interview section.]
Entry 2763
Well, now, I tell you about the hair. A person takes some of your hair and cut it out of your head. I know a man did me that - that's the reason I tell you so good about it. My husband was laying and I was laying down in the bed and I was asleep - laying down on my back. He couldn't find my scissors, he got up and got the case knife. I heard something going - saw - saw - saw - you know, and I woke up like that. He was setting up in the bed - had my hair sawing a piece of it, got it out. So I went to the hair-dresser and she said, "What is your hair doing cut out." I said, "My hair ain't cut out my head." She missed it, and she say, "Yes, it is." I say, "Oh, Lord, I don't remember cutting my hair out for nobody." I say, "Gee, I'm going to watch my husband tonight when he come." He was working in the swamp and when he take a bath that night, I goes in his clothes and I look and he had a plat of my hair in his pocket. I said, "What you going to do with that hair?" He say, "I cut this here, Daisy, ' he call me Daisy, "to keep you with me 'cause I love you" - to keep me from going away from him. A Egyptian woman told me - I went to her - she say, "You suffering with your head." I say, "Yes." She say, "Some man cut your hair out your head and he dead." [See margin-title If Evildoer Dies Spell Incurable, p.396.] I say, "Yes, what did he do with it?" She say, "He take it to a tree in the woods and he bore a hole in that tree," and she say, "while he may - he put that hair in the tree," she say, "and then he closed it." That what the Egyptian woman told me. I say, "Well, what you think he want to do that for?" She told me, she say, "He didn't Want to kill you, but he wanted you to be crazy about him - cause that would make you crazy, make you follow him everywhere." Because he wanted me to go to that [camp something?] and he working there - and he wanted me to go and I didn't go. She say, "Well, you go on with him." So, well, my husband he got - he put my hair in the tree. He bore towards the sunrise. He got on the side of the sunrise and he dug the hole and she told me how to go there to get that hair. I went there right away and just like she told me, it was true - my hair absolutely Was there. I went and I take a knife and I dug the plug out. And my hair had done growed long and I taken it out and it cold-like. And I say [to myself], "Well, I declare." I say, "I never did dream about any hoodoo or nothing like that. I said [to myself], "Why she told me." I went to the hoodoo woman 'over the river" - she's dead now. She say, "Don't let no hoodoo and no fortuneteller or none 'em son-of-bitch tell you that you are fixed. You're not fixed," she say, "it's your blood cause you suffer with your head."
(Who told you that?)
Miss Helen - that was a hoodoo woman told me that. She say, "I could fool you out of money just like the rest of 'em fool you out of it," she say, "but there ain't anything ailin' you but your head." Well, that's just what the Egyptian woman had done tole me [that I was fixed]. Well, I was on two opinions. I didn't know 'aht to do. The Egyptian Woman had told me about my hair and Miss Helen done told me it was the blood. Well, I got operated on. That didn't do no good and I said it must be true what the Egyptian woman say. And I go - what the Egyptian woman told me - and I goes and that's where I found my hair was in the tree. And I say to my husband, "Well, what you want do with my hair?" He say, "Oh, I love you so much," he say, "and I don't want you to have nobody else but me and that's the only thing I'se wantin'." I say, "Well, listen."
(Did your husband die after that, then?)
Ohyeah, he got drownded.
(I see.)
He was working, he got drownded - he fell overboard, he got drowned. After I'd taken [found] that [first] piece, he cut another piece and he got drownded with the piece - that piece in his pocket. Because when they caught him [his body with a grappling hook] he was just so bad, they had to bury him with every- thing on 'em, you know, and that's why my hair is in the graveyard.
(He was so bad what?)
It did up - the fishes and things had did him so bad, you know.
(Oh, I see.)
Yeah, they had did him up so bad, so that's why they had to bury him with his pockets - with all his clothes what he had on, his working clothes. So that's.
(And he still had some of your hair? He didn't put it in a tree?)
Yeah, he still had it. And I went to hoodoos and all. I went to all. I have been to a lot of them and they tell me - some would say I was sick and [some would say]. [Egyptian woman is a fortuneteller wearing large earrings and sometimes a head covering; usually a Negro, occasionally a white woman, rarely a gypsy. Along the Mississippi River a drowned body is ''dragged for with grappling hook. For folk- lore methods to recover the body, see FACI,2ed., Nos. 15127-15136, pp.696-697.]
Entry 6683
[This fortuneteller woman or healer] tole me dat somebody, a woman had taken mah sistah's hat an' dressed it, dressed it up fo' her, an' she suffabed Wit headaches. She tole us whut she done wit dese earthworms - yo' know, dese fishing worns about dis big [demonstrates]. Take dem fishin' worms an' parch 'em up. An' so dat dust wus sprinkled aroun' in mah sistah's hat, an' as she wore it, well, de perspiration got tuh it an' drive it on tuh 'er brain. An' SHE WENT JIS' AS CRAZY AS ANY FOOL IN DE WORLD. But aftah while We got 'er back again.
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 9062
Well, now what yo' mean tuh keep a person crazy. Ah tell yo'. Now dis is a jailhouse scrape. Now, ah have tried dat mahself an' ah know about dat. Now, yo' goes at 'leven 'clock - strictly 'leven. It make no diff'rence who yo pass, don't speak tuh no one. Go on tuh de graveyard an' yo' try tuh git - yo go tuh a grave where is a wicked person buried. Where a wicked person is buried an' yo' go dere an' yo' carry wit chew two matches in yore head [hair] an' one in yore mouth. Dat three ain't [it].
(What! Do you carry those matches in your head?)
Jes' stick it [two] in yore hair an' one in yore mouth. Den yo' dig down. Jes' take dis han' [demonstrates]. Ah've done it. Ah'm tellin' yuh whut ah've done. Take yore right arm an' yo' dig down in dat grave jes' about as far as a person's here [demonstrates]. Yo' know is from dat distant [distance] in de body. Yo' dig down about dat distant [distance], so fur. (Above the elbow.) An' yo' take out three han's- fulla dirt an' put it in a papah bag. An' yo' put three pennies in dere [hole in grave]. Yo' pay 'em [dead] fo' de dirt. See, dat pays fo' de dirt. An' den yo cover dem pennies up in dere." Walk aroun' de grave three times an' say, "Ah'm doin' dis tuh change de jedge an' de jurors min's." Yo' got dat? All right. Well, now yo' goin' back home, but don' chew speak tuh a soul. Don' speak tuh 'em till yo' git in yore house. An' jes' as de sun peep in de next mawnin', yo' goes to de co'thouse where dey goin' have dis trial, where dis crim'- nal is. See, de crim'nal in de jailhouse, but de trial goin' be in de co'thouse. Yeah. An' yo' go roun' de co'thouse one time. Sprinkle some of dat dirt as yo goes. An' go up de stairs.
(You go around the courthouse once and you sprinkle this dirt around there?)
Dat's right. Den yo' know dat mo' den apt de jurors always go up on de right-hand side of de steps. An' yo' go up dat steps an' yo' sprinkle dat dirt as yo' go. An' as yo' sprinklin', yo' say, "Ah'm doin' dis tuh change de jedge an' de jurors min's. An' JES' AS SHORE AS YO' GOIN' TUH DIE, if dat person done killed somebody, he'll come cleah. An' ah mean it wouldn't cost 'em nuthin. It'll cost 'em. Dey'll give him a fine. IT JES' AS TRUE AS DE CLOCK. Ah done tried it. AH'M. TALKIN' "BOUT WHAT AH'VE ALREADY TRIED MAHSELF.
Entry 11450
Dey git chure fingernails an' yore toenails. Ah didn't hear how many yo' takes, jest so it yore fingernails an' yore toenails. Dey take dat an' dey parch it, dey go back dere an' parch 'em. Beat 'em up real fine an' put 'em in some water den an' boil 'em till dat makes - jes' makes kind of a medicine-lak out of it. Den dey'll take dat - make dis heah medicine out of it den dat's a poison-lak. Dey'll take den an' po' it - git chure hat or anything lak yo' got to wear. Lak dey be's around yo' an' dey'll po' it aroun' de rim of yore hat, an' dey puts some cologne in dis - some sweet-smelling cologne, an' put in dis, an' po' it roun' yore hat. An' dey says dat yo' smell dat, an' jest walk - dat'll run yo' crazy, give yo' a feeble mind. Jest half de time yo' won't know whut chew doin'.
(Then you get my fingernails and toenails and you put them on my hat?)
Yes, sir, anywhere dat chew git it. Put it in sompin where he [you] kin git de smell of dis, inhale dat. [St. Petersburg (lol4) 1640:2.]
Entry 13161
Get 'em some gun powder an' some black pepper, an' put in dat sock. an' get 'em some salt, an' tie dat sock 3 different knots, an' turn dat sock bottom upwards in runnin' water, an' yo' goin' go crazy. They don't take but one [sock] to kill you. [Vicksburg 1004:7.]
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 5823
Take a person's hair, a man or a personal enemy, an' put it into a bird's nest, see. An' dat will run 'em crazy. Ah've heard dat.
Entry 5868
Yeah, ah'd git a stran' of hair out of 'er haid or 'is haid, if ah Wanted tuh run 'em crazy. An' ah go tuh de woods an' ah dig me some bait, an' ah take it tuh de rivah an' ah'd fish till ah'd caught a catfish. An' ah'd take him off de hook quickly befo' he injure hisself, put dis hair in 'is mouth an' ah throw 'im back an' he fly away. Dese people will go 'way, run 'em ravin' crazy.
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 5900
Dey'll take yore hair an' dey'll bur' it in dah graveyar' an' dey'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 5901
When dey bury it [your hair] in de graveyard, that run you away from home. You jis' go crazy, you know. They either got to put you in a 'sylum or you're gone all the time.
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 5927
Take yore hair out chure haid an' put it in yore hat an' dress it - have it dressed - an' put it in yore hat an' wear it an' it will run yo' crazy.
(Whose hat do they put that in? Her hat or his hat?)
His hat.
Entry 5946
Ah heard dem say dey take yore hair an' put it in a Hearts Cologne bottle an' throw it ovahbo'd an' it will run yo' crazy.
(Do you mean an empty Hearts Cologne bottle?)
Wit de Hearts Cologne in it.
Entry 5948
Well, mah sistah, dey nevah did git along, dey'd always be hollerin' an' goin' on an' fussin'. I guess he got between 'er an' some man. She wuz tuh marry someone else an' dis fellah tol' 'er dat he wuz gon'a have 'er. Of co'se she nevah would - she took it tuh be a joke. An' sure enough he got revenge. So he taken, I guess by goin' tuh bed or somepin lak dat, he taken an' cut some hair from de top of 'er haid, an' 'er track, an' raked it fo'ward lak dat, from de heel to de toe, an' put it in some Hearts of Cologne an' put it in runnin' watah. An' she went crazy an' fin'lly she died.
Entry 5954
A person kin take yore hair, see kin take it like dat, an' walk right to dis wall [of interviewing room], eight steps to it, dig a little hole, an' set it in dere an' stop it up. Yo'll go rav- in' crazy.
Entry 6030
Out de mole of yore head. (They get the hair out of the mold of your head?) Yes, sir, an' take it an' d wit some cayenne peppah, put some needles in dere, git a papah of new needles Ahut's nevah been used, an' put 'em in a sack, git some lodestone, an' yo'll rua 'en crazy.
(I see. What do you do with that sack then?)
Yo' jes' carry it on yo', an' dat'll cause dem to go crazy. (I see. Well, how many needles do you put in that? The whole paper of nee- dles?) No, fo' or five - sompin lak dat. Git fine needles, an' don' break 'em.
(I see.)
Entry 6097
Well, ah heard if a person git chure hair - wanta run yo' crazy, dey take yore hair an' jes' ketch a rabbit an' split its forehaid, right behin' yo' know, an' lay it in dere an' sew it back up an' turn 'im aloose. As long as dat rabbit run, yo'll be crazy.
(You split the forehead, behind the forehead?)
Dat's right.
Entry 6154
Well, ah heard dat dey could take dat an' put it in a spool, take dis hair an' put it in a spool, into de spool dat de thread comes from. Stop up each end [of spool] an' throw it ovah de shoul- dah in runnin' watah. An' dey say dat'll make a person lose his mind an' travel. Dhroc it ovah de lef' shouldah an' don' look back.
Entry 6184
I know of a young man that was courting a young woman, and the parents of the young woman didn't like this young man because he Was very rough and row-. They told their daughter they didn't want this man to come to their house. And after that the young man he got mad. So he went away. He began to talk among other people and somebody told him how to get the advantage of this young girl. They told him to cut a piece of hair from her head and go to a tree, and take an auger and bore a hole in this tree, and put the hair in the hole and stop this hole up, and in the course of time this woman would go crazy.
Entry 6190
Ah heah of folks takin' - if dey wants run yo' crazy or sompin like dat - iis' take an' bo' a hole in a 'simmon tree an' git some of yore hair an put it in dere an' stop it up.
(Do you have to put that in a persimmon tree, or any kind of a tree?)
Have to be a 'simmon tree, yassuh.
Entry 6195
Jes' take - lak I'd be havin' a woman or somepin.
(TALK A LITTLE LOUDER, PLEASE.)
Ah say, jes' lak ah'd be havin' a woman or somepin lak dat. Well, she could - ah could be on relief or somepin lak dat, yo' see, an' she may didn't want me to quit 'er, yo' see. She'd go to work an' take some of mah hair whilst ah'm asleep or somepin an' take it out to a tree or prob'ly lak dat, an' take a nail or, yo' know, a augah or somepin an' bore a hole in dere jes' deep enough to get dat hair in dere. Well, any time yo' put it in dere, yo' gotta put it ovah six inches. Dat will make it roun' about nine inches deep lak dat. [Why 9 inches, I do not understand.] An' fill dat hole back up, but instead of puttin' back de [auger shavings], why yo' fill it up wit stuff dey usely [usually] calls famnel.
(Flannel?)
Flannel, an' den on top of de flannel, why yo' take turpentine an' turpentine dat flannel good, an' put it in yore hair an' drive it back in dat tree. Lots of times dat runs people crazy. De same thing if dey got some of yore clothes.
Entry 6206
Dey kin run yo crazy wit yore hair.
(How will they do it?)
Well, dey take yore hair an' stop it up in a hollah tree, an' as long as dat stoppah is in dat tree, well yo'll be crazy. Well, if dey Wanta take it offa yo', dey kin go dere an' take de stoppah outa de tree, an' yore mind will come back to yo'.
Entry 6208
Ah have heard of when dey git holt of dis hair, dey kin take it an' put it in a tree. Dat makes yo' go crazy. (How do they put that in a tree?) Take dat hair, live hair - dey have to git it outa yore head, yo' know - an' dey bo'es a hole in dat livin' tree an' put dat hair in dere an' peg it. Dat's whut dat is.
Entry 6210
Ah've heard two things about it. Take de hair an' bo' a hole in a green tree an' put de hair in dere an' drive a green peg on de hair. Dat'll make yo' crazy.
Entry 6211
Or take yore hair out de haid an' go tuh a tree, a green tree, an' take yore knife an' split a place in dere, an' pack dat hair in de tree an' shet it up an' let de tree grow on it. Yo'll go crazy.
Entry 6213
Heard dey put things in de tree, jes' lak dey wanted tuh har 'em or sech as runnin' 'em crazy or sompin lak dat. Ah heard dat dey kin take yore hair an' put a hole in de tree, an' put chure hair in dat tree an' stop it up, or take a nail an' punch it down - take a nail hole an' punch it [hair] down. Drive a nail down on it an' nail it in dere, an' dat will run yo' crazy.
Entry 6224
Ah tell yo' jis' how dey do dat. All right, dey will steal yuh hair- eithah parts of yuh body wherevah hair grow at. Dey kin take it an' ball it up tight, an' take a small nail an' carry it tuh a tree, an' cut a little hole into de tree, an' drive it jis' as fur in dere as dey kin. An' den dey go back an' drive dat hair fo' nine mawnin's an' den yuh's done gone crazy. Dat's de way dey drive yuh crazy, see.
(They go back there each morning and hit that nail?)
Nine mawnin's.
Entry 6225
I heard 'em say yo' takè a auger an' go tuh a tree an' bo' a hole in it. Den yo' kin take de hair - take de pieces of dere dress or dey shirt or dey clothes, whut dey wears, an' de bands out dere hat [auto horn] or anythin' lak dat - somepin dat dey use. An' take an' put it in dat tree - in dat place where yo' bo'd out. An' take an' git chew a sharp peg - a [pine] lighter peg whut won't rot, an' drive it up jis' as hard as yo' kin drive. Dey kin go out dere fo' nine mawnin's yo' know an' jis' knock it - take a hammah an' hit it one time. Do dat fo' nine mawnin's. Say dat'll run a person crazy.
Entry 6234
Dey take a lock of yuh hair an' go tuh de west side of a tree, see. An' dey take a augah an' bo' a hole, jis' a little tiny hole in dere - say a quartah inch augah. An' bore it about half-a inch an' take dat hair, an' have it wropped up in a piece of red flannel, an' put it in dat hole. Take a eight or ten-penny galvanized nail an' place it right by dat hole, jis' about a quartah of a inch, sompin sim'lah [similar] tuh dat. An' fer nine mawnin's dey go an' hit on dat nail. An' dat will - it won't kill yuh but it will run yuh crazy.
Entry 6243
[This split limb rite is similar to those under the preceding margin dtles STICK.] Sow ah here'd [heard] dat dey take yore hair an' go tuh a tree. Take a limb ff de tree an' split dat tree limb, take yore hair an' put it down in dere, bind it up. Dat run yo' crazy. (Bind up what?) Yore hair. (What are you binding up, the tree or the stick you cut off?) Take yore tree an' cut it off an' split de tree. Put chure [hair] down lengthways an' wrap dat up. Dey kin run yo Tary (You are cutting off a little tree. What are you splitting? This tree or the Lteb you cut off from the tree?) De limb yo' cut off de tree. (Then you tie up a limb, then. I wanted to find out whether you tied up the tree or tied up the limb.) De limb. All right. Take de hair again an' put it in de same thing.
(Wait a minute! Tell me the whole thing now.)
Take yore hair right on an' de limb lak ah 'fore said, [= I before said or I aforesaid]. Yo' take yore hair, an' a limb off de tree. Split it an' put chure hair down in dere. Wrap dat up. Yo' tote dat in yore pocket. Dat run yo' crazy - don't have, yo' know, no mind. (You either keep that stick in your pocket or what else do you do with it? What do you do with it in the first place - the first story you told me?) [WHAT LOOKS LIKE MY STUPID QUESTIONS ABOUT SOMETHING SELF-EVIDENT IS NOW EX- PLAINED. INFORMANT HAD GIVEN THIS RITE OR A PART OF IT BEFORE I TURNED ON RE- CORDING MACHINE. REPETITION AS USUAL OMITS SOME OF THE DETAILS AND CLARITY.] Yo' take dat an' tote it in yore pocket. Don't do nuthin wit it but jis' tote it in yore pocket.
(What do you do with it the second time then?)
All right, de second time yo' take de same 'mount of stuff, go tuh a stream of watah an' take an' throw it in de watah. An' as it goes up de [tidal] stream or down de stream - which ways it may go - den yo'll follah, den yore mind will be jis' lak dat watah runnin'.
Entry 6245
Yo' could take de hair ag'in an' put it on de sunny side of de tree. Ah mean where de sun would rise on dis side of de tree, put it in dere.
(How would you put it in the tree?)
Well, yo' cut a hole an' yo' place.it in de tree. An' den yo' put it in dere, yo' see, an' den yo' close it back up, see. Hit would run 'em crazy.
Entry 6253
Well, anyone git holt of yuh hair, why dey kin take yuh hair an' dey kin go in de swamp tuh some tree anothah [or other]. An' take a augah an' bo' a hole in de tree, an' put yuh hair in dere an' put a plug back in dat tree. Yuh'll go crazy.
Entry 6255
(What can they do with my hair?)
Well, I hear 'em say dey take yuh hair an' dey take it an' put it in de heart of a tree, an' dey say it runs yuh crazy.
(Is that all you have to do?)
[Informant misunderstands and gives another rite.]
Hang it up in a tree, yuh know, an' dey say dat runs yuh crazy.
(I see.)
Entry 6279
Dey kin take yore hair an' run yo' crazy. Dey cut chure hair right out de top of yore haid an' take it an' put nine grains of red peppah an' nine grains of black pepper, an' git a cup of yore watah [and soil] where yo' wet [urinated] an' put it togethah an' bury it. (Get some of your urine.) An' bury it. or eithah put it in runnin' watah, or eithab stop it up in a tree. Dat will cause yo' - commence de haid tuh ache an' have misery in yo' haid till yo' go crazy.
Entry 6283
Take yore hair, a lock of hair, an' put it in a quart of watah, yo' lmou, an' it would run yo' crazy.
(What kind of a quart of water?)
Yo' jis' - fresh watah, yo' know, jis' runnin' watah out of a branch, yo' tov, an' put it in a quart bottle an' stop it up. Dat hair will turn to - begin to go to work den an' run yo' crazy.
Entry 6315
Aw yuh kin take it, ah heard 'em say, an' tie it up in a rag, a piece of red flannel, an' carry it tuh de rivah tuh runnin' watah, an' throw it ovah yuh lef' shouldah an' don't look back, an' dey say hit'll run yo' crazy.
(This is your hair?)
Yes sir.
Entry 6318
Dey kin take yuh hair, so ah learnt, an' yo' kin take it an' put it in a piece of new white homespun. Yuh kin throw dat in de rivah. Dat kin run yo' crazy.
Entry 6327
Ah heard dat chew could take a person's hair an' run 'em crazy. An' yuh throw dat in runnin' watah dat run- da'no'th, dat run 'em crazy.
Entry 6328
Mos' streams, yuh know, run tuh de east, [they] say, but yuh go tuh a Stream dat run west an' it'll cuz a person tuh go crazy from a certain stran' - ah think it's nine stran's dey say dey git from de mole of yuh haid. Ah've heard dat story. (And they throw it in that Water, you say?) An' put it in dat runnin' rapids - put it in de run- nin' watah, an' dat'll cuz a man or woman tuh lose dere mind. [West-running Water means water flowing towards the sunset. It is a magic, not a topographical term, a term meaning trouble. Mos if not all water in South Carolina eventually travels east to empty into the Atlantic Ocean. However, even an eastward-bound stream can sometimes bend to the west for a short distance. The Mississippi River, for example, going south bends from north to east into Quincy, Illinois, and then immediately bends west away from the city to continue its journey south.]
Entry 6331
I've heard dey kin git some of dere sweaty clo's an' take de dirty watah from dere clo's. An' dey use dat like dey use in a bottle. An' git some mol' offa his hair [hair from the mold of the head] an' put it in theah, an' some bah'k [bark] offa [birch] tree. An' put dat [bottle] tuh floatin'. An' dey say dat'll run 'im crazy.
Entry 8055
Well, de pichure - see, lak mah pichure an' yuh pichure, it's in a frame, in a big frame.... Take dat pichure an' put it intuh a basket upside down, an' aftah dat, about three or fo' days, yo' begin tuh have a misery in yuh haid an' yo' don' even know whut it is all about. Come tuh find out, de pichure lak dis will run yo' stone crazy, if yo' don' go see [a doctor] about it right away... [I turn off machine too soon].
(You put this picture into what?)
Intuh a basket. Put chure face upside down, any kinda basket, turn yo' upside down.
Entry 8124
Well, yo' kin take dat an' yo' kin bury 'it on de face yo' know, an' yo' kin kill a person lak dat. Yeah, wit 'is photograph, jis' bury it somewhere on de face. An' tell me, say yo' kin run 'em crazy wit dat.
Entry 8178
Take his pichure an' quite natchel [natural] she kin keep dat pichure an' jis' - wherevah yo' at, she kin turn it upside down an' she kin run yo' crazy by having dat pichure upside down. If she's a good-hearted person, have yure pichure standin' up. Long as dat pichure's up, yo' won't be bothahed. She kin take dat pichure an' set it down in a cornah somewhere, or eithah hide it. Long as she's got dat pichure.... [The inference here is this photo standing up can be turned on its head.]
Entry 8329
Ah heard dat chew could take dat photograph an' climb up a tree an' turn it bottomside upwards an' nail it tuh a forked limb an' dat would make yo' go crazy.
Entry 8358
Dey tell me yo' kin take it, de photograph, take it an' carry it tuh de no'th side of a tree, an' nail it in de no'th side of a tree. As long as dey keep it in dere, long as dey keep it in, it almos' run yo' crazy.
Entry 8377
Take de photograph an' git it an' take a pencil an' puts dat on de photograph. An' take it tuh a big oak tree down 'side of a stream. An' take it an' cut a place in it - take a axe an' split a place in dere, So yo' kin jes' stick de photo in dere lak dat. An' take some ole dirt or somepin othah an' jes' put it in dere, in de place, so de pichure cain't be taken out - so de photograph cain't be taken out. An' dey tell me dat will run 'em crazy. Ah've nevah experienced dat.
Entry 8449
(What?)
Throw it in runnin' water...
(Throw this photograph in running water? And what will that do?)
That will run you crazy.
Entry 8452
Dey kin take yore photograph an' nail it to a board an' put it in an' care it to a rivah an' nail it through yo' two eyes....de nail in 'tween it, an throw it in de rivah or eithah in any runnin' watah, an' it'll run yo' crazy an' run yo' away from dere. Jis' lak if it wuz me an' yo' didn't wanta see me or nuthin...any time yo' git one of mah photographs an' nail it to a bo'd an' nail it through mah two eyes on de bo'd an' throw it in de lak [in there like] bottomside upwards an' 'long as it's in dat runnin' watah den it runs me away an' ah keeps goin' jis' lak a person goin' crazy....
(The face down?)
Yessuh, wit de face down.
Entry 8878
Tuh run yo' crazy.
(How do they do that?)
How dey do dat? Well, dey jes' goes tuh runnin' watah an' lets dat stay dere fo' so many - yo' know, a while. An' dey take it up an' dey takes dey 'nitials an' put de 'nitials on dere in a piece of cloth, an' throw it intuh de rivah, see. Dat jes' keep yo jes' all stirred up. (They simply take my handwriting and throw it in the water. That's all they do?) Throw it in de watah. Put chure 'nitials if dey kin git de - yo' know have yore 'nitials off de lettah. An' dat keep yo' goin'.
Entry 572
Well, this is fact - ah seen this. Ah went with a girl once to a hoodoo an' her husban' wus sick, an' he wus with anothah woman. See. An' he stayed sick, jes' goin' bad. An' so he tole her tuh go back an' look in de pillah an' she'd find a ball of strange feathers in dere. An' so she went back and she got de feathers out an' it wus a ball of owl feathers dat he wus sleepin' on. Yo' see, yo' take dose owl feathers an' yo' put 'em in yore pillah, see dey won't mix - dey ain't goin' mix wit de othah feathers, dey'll ball up together. An' sleep on it, see, an' dat runs yo' crazy, kill yo'.
(What did they do with them then, those feathers?)
Dey took 'em an' throwed 'em in de rivah, an' dat runs de othah person on 'bout dere business.
(The hoodoo man - was he colored or white?)
He wus colored.
Entry 831
Once ah had a very bad headache. Mah head hurt so bad until ah couldn't hardly see - had to put mah feet into warm water to bathe 'em and at de same time bathe mah head down, too. So ah went to a hoodoo doctor and ask him what's de trouble, and he look at mah head and said a piece of hair had been cut out of mah head and buried around de house, and if a storm come early an' wash it away it would help me, but if it didn't ah would go crazy.
(What happened - how did the story turn out?)
Ah tell yo' how de story turned out. Ah was a missionary - ah was going to a missionary meeting, and whilst ah was waiting fo' de people to get ready - ah was at a preacher's house an' whilst setting there ah could feel that headache coming on. I said - I grabbed both hands, I say, "Ooh, mah haid hurts so bad ah believe ah'm going have one dem terrible headaches. So de preacher asked me, said, "Do yo' believe in prayer." I say, "Yes sir." So he came an' he put his hand on de top of mah haid and he said, "Now, yo' pray whilst ah prays." An' he prayed secretly, and ah could feel that misery jest easily goin' away - jest easily goin' away. And after it had gone, seemed like ah had been off in a dream, an' ah never did have that headache again.
(Where did this experience happen - right here in Mobile?)
Yes sir.
(Just a few years ago?)
Yes.
Entry 900
Dey did it with mah brothah. Well, dey took one of de dead bones out of it, out of de dead person rib - de last rib on de left side. An' dey cut dat rib into three parts an' make it as near like a cross, see, an' den wrap it an' sew it into a piece of cloth, red flannen, an' den dey put black peppah, salt an' graveyard dirt in that, an' bury it right at de front steps, as yo' come out. That'll cause yo to go crazy, hate everybody dat near yo' would care fo' yo' - would like anybody dat hate yo', an' de people dat care fo' yo' dey can't come near yo', an' finally yo'll die. Well, it be a short death, 'cause he didn't live ovah one week an' fo' days - mah next oldest brothah. An' dis man dug it up an' showed it to us, an' he said it wus de last rib of a man an' wus cut into three parts - 'cause we looked at it. It placed in a little small three-cent cream can - was in dat an' buried undah de steps.
Entry 967
[Someone begrudged] me because ah was gittin' 'long pretty good and dey didn't wanta see me git along, you know, and so dey used some kin' of insex [insects] on me. (What happened to you?) Well, ah got so ah could hear things hollerin' all de time any - katydids was in mah haid, those ole katdydids - frogs was hollerin' like dey does in a pond yo' know - ever' kin' of thing was hollerin' in mah haid - jes' had me goin' crazy.
(What did you do then, about it?)
A fortune teller lady come dere and made me use dis here cow water from de cow on mah haid and she killed 'em.
(Well, just how did she use that?)
She had me tuh git it - ah don't know whut she did with it, but she give it tuh me and ah had to wash mah haid; took mah hair all out mah haid it did and ah commence gettin' bettah. She killed 'em. Ah could see 'em all runnin' about in mah flesh - yes sir, dey was jes' runnin' about in mah flesh - could see 'em - people could look at 'em.
(How long did you use this cow water?)
Ah had to use if off and on about six months 'fore ah got results out of it.
(Did you bathe your head every day?)
Ever' other day one - one the othah of 'em - but she told me to bathe ever' day until they got bath-ed down and when they got bath-ed down, she started to use it ever' othah day.
(Did that happen round here in Mobile?)
No sir, ah was in Marengo County, Alabama. It's been now jes' about twenty- five years ago.
[I must have asked how these live things were put into her.]
Take a frog, yo' know and tie him - tie all his feet, tie the frog hog-fashion [= hog-tie = tying all 4 feet together]. Dey take 'im an' put 'im somewhare down whare he can walk over 'im, an' dey say in 9 days dey come alive an' be in yo'. Dey say dat's how dey put dem in me. Dere's a [another] lady come an' tuk it up right whare ah walk out over 'im. (You have to walk over this before it gets into you. That's supposed to go into you.) Dat's de way she [an enemy] had me fixed up.
(How would you get rid of a thing of that sort?)
Well, dat's whut [why] she had me us.in' dat cow chamber lye. An' she had me to use de othah, too; make a pad an' put on heah - dat whut killed 'em.
(What other do you mean - the dung of the cow? Put it where - on your head?)
[This is not a leading question because she had pointed to her head when saying put on heah, but I want her to say head for the record.] Yes, she had me a big round thing made, an' I had to wear dat up on top of mah haid. An' I tole 'er ah hated to wear dat stuff on top of mah haid. She said ah had to do anything to get well.
Entry 1015
Well, someone wus tryin' tuh harm 'er 'bout five yeahs ago. Well, ever since then she be diggin' aroun' de step - yo' know, keep lookin' for somepin, lookin' fo' somepin. So fin'lly one day she found a bottle undah our step an' she took it an' break it up - bust it up an' ever'thing. An' anyway, aftah she bust de thing, well, dis woman whut put de stuff dere, she got blind, ravin' crazy. Dey had tuh send her tuh de 'sylum an' ever'thing. Fin'lly aftah she got to de 'sylum she died.
Entry 1228
A man tole me if a person is crazy or anything, yo' know, an' it's not a natch'al disease, git a dog manure. He did tell me, aftah it so many days old it turns white or yellah-lookin' - something lak dat, an' make a tea out of it an' let them drink it. An' he said that will cure them.
(Any kind of insanity? A person who is crazy?)
Yeah. He tole me tuh use that on mah mothah an' ah haven't did it yet because ah haven't been where she is.
Entry 1955
Well now, a lady got my hair one time and she stopped it up in a bottle and she buried it. So it almost run me crazy but I went to a man. He made her bring de hair back. She'd brought it face to face and give it to me and told me why she did it, because she thought I had nothing to do but sit on de porch and read papers and I was in better circumstances den her. So dis man asked me what did I want done with her. I say, "Well, tain't worth while to kill her, but jest send her away from Portsmouth." I was living in Portsmouth. Well, he sent her away and he wasn't nine days sending 'er either. He just got three pinches - jest like that - pinches of dirt and sewed it up.
(Was this out of her left track? Tell me just what he did in this case.)
He got three pinches of dirt out of her left track, right in the hollow of her foot and put it - made a little cloth bag and put that in there and sewed it up and had taken it to running water and made three wishes and threw it overboard. She went away from dere. [Norfolk, Va., (486), 514:8.] [To show that my comment did not suggest a left-track rite to informant, I will now quote the left-track rite given by informant two rites preceding present one.] Get the dirt out of the left foot, three pinches, and put that in a cloth rag you know and sew it up. And take it to running water and throw it overboard and make three wishes before you do it. And when you make them three wishes - they gone from here. An' I know that to be true.
(You make the wishes just for them to leave?)
Yeah.
(You mean just to leave town or to die?)
To leave, to die - either one. You make de wishes - if you want 'em just leave town, make it dat way; and if you want 'em to die, you make it dat way. [Norfolk, Va., (486), 514:6.] [Both these original transcriptions - 514:6 & 514:8 - are part of the final manuscript.]
Entry 2802
Dey take hit [photograph] an' bury it upside down. Either take hit an put a light to dat, de photograph, an' burn it upside down - lak heah's de photo- graph an' yo' put chure light dere an' dose cup Zights. Yo' know, dey got dose little cup candles an' den de little glasses whut dey fit, an' put his name dere - write hit backwards.
(On the photograph.)
Yeah. An' put his undah dere an' de glass on top. Dat runs him crazy. (You turn the photograph down. You put the name on it backwards and put this candle in the glass on top of it and burn it.) Dat's right.
Entry 2845
Take de knife an' fo'k lak yo' fixin' de table, an' de parties dat chew - but dat kills people, dey tell me. Yessuh. An' yo' puts dat black candle in dere an' dere name wrote jes' lak ah tole yo', but it's gotta be on a brand-new white plate wit dat name underneat' dat plate where dat knife an' fo'k is set around dat candle, crossed, yo' understand, an' dat name underneat' dat, underneat' dat plate, with de black candle. Dat runs 'em crazy with their haid.
(How do you write that name on that piece of paper?)
Yo' write it backwards, jes' dat one party's name dat chew wanta do dat to.
(Just once?)
Yessuh.
Entry 2980
I know once someone was burnin' a candle on mah brother. A two-headed person told him. So he told us what to do to put de candle out. You git chew a quart bottle. Yo' fill dat bottle with water and put dat stopper in dere jes' as tight as yo' kin git it. Yo' turn dat bottle up on de neck and leave dat way, and de candle can't burn.
(Where do you put that bottle?)
At de head of de bed.
(You turn it upside down.)
On de neck and stop it so dere won't none of de water git out [demonstrates].
(Turn it just like that [upside down].)
An' de candle cannot burn. Ah believe dat. Dat's one thing ah believe because he was sufferin' wit de headache an' 'bout to go crazy and ah declare de minute dey did dat, it stopped. Ah believe dat. Now dat's one thing ah re'lly believe.
Entry 3833
Put it down roun' in de leak of a house. Well, jes' lak if yo' take a person's blood an' stop it up in a bottle, an' turn it down on its haid, turn de bottle upside down on de mouf [mouth]. An' let it be upside down an' put it in de leak of a house, an' see, dat'll run a person crazy.
(What do you mean by the leak of the house?)
Jes' lak, yo' know, where de watah leak down on de ground - yes, off de roof.
Entry 3836
Well, dey say yo' take a piece of string, not a rag string but a cotton string yo' know, an' yo' tie a knot. Now, evahone says if yo' wan'a man tuh love yuh, or a woman, yo' kin jes' squeeze dat little thing [finger] on yore lef' han' [demonstrates]. (Squeeze the little finger on the left hand.) Squeeze it till it git kinda dead [numb], yo' know. Den yo' take a needle an' jes' keep pickin' till yo' git one drop of blood. An' yo' take dat drop of blood an' put a little bit on all nine of dem knots, an' weah it roun' yore waist. Dey'll run crazy ovah yo'.
(You take that blood from your own finger?)
Yes.
Entry 3838
Ah know about one thing, yo' kin write a person's name. Yo' kin take it - now if yo' wanta be ovah a woman or a man, yo' take an' write his name in a piece of papah wit 'ers. Now, if yo' want de woman tuh be ovah de man, write de woman's name tuh de top an' write 'is name undahneat' 'ers. Den pick yore lef' arm, an' pinch enough blood outa dat lef' arm tuh spell dose names out. Den when yo' git dose names spelled, yo' take it an' wrap it up tuh yo', dat piece of papah. Fold it comin' tuh yo'. Whutevah way yo' fold it, let it be comin' tuh yo'. An' take it an' put it in a corked bottle an' bury it at nine 'clock at night. An' dat man an' dat woman nevah will quit one another. An' if dey quit one anothah, dey'll go crazy. Dey love one another so good as long as dey live. S'long as dey live, dat las' 'em fo'evah. Bury it undah de do'step at night. If yo' can't git chance tuh bury it, jes' throw it undah de do'step, an [or] in a place where dey gotta walk in an' out. An' dey nevah will quit one another, an' jes' go crazy wit dat han'writin'.
(You must get this blood out of your left arm?)
Pick it out - yore lef' arm, yo' jes' gotta pick it.
Entry 3848
I have heard of a class of people who would get a hold of your blood. They get that from any part they can get it: from your finger, your feet or your head. And they would bury it on the shore at ebb tide, an' when the tide came in, that would flow with the tide and make them crazy. [Hampton, Va., (24, informant 8 when Civil War began), by Ediphone.] [The preceding words, all meaning the same thing, are a few of the terms to be found in the following material. White people used the same and other expres- sions. Remember, these names were collected a generation ago (before the present moment, March 1973) and are not exhaustive for their time. A careful examination of HOODOO will show that sex was not gathered for the sake of sex, but as a part of the total study.]
Entry 3899
Dey said dat a person take yore hair. Dey could take yore hair an' put it in a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' keep it an' yo'll always think swell of 'em. An' ah heard dat a person could take yore hair an', or part of yore ministration rag, an' put it togethah an' one yore dirty socks, an' throw it ovahbo'd an' yo'll go crazy.
(Now somebody would do that to a woman. Take her hair and what else?)
Her ministration rag.
(And her sock. All these things [three things] belong to her?)
Yeah. Yore dirty socks definitely belongs to the woman; the man not adding his own sock to her hair and blood. He would also have driven himself away!]
Entry 3903
Yo' kin [take] anybody's - jes' lak a woman ministratin', yo' kin jes' take dat an' stop it up in a bottle an' bury it roun' undahneat' of 'er house.
(What will that do?)
Dat'll run 'er crazy.
Entry 3922
Yo' kin take a chicken gizzard an' take it an' let it dry up, jis' let it dry up an' make a powdah outa it. An' jis' lak if yo' wanta make yore husban' crazy about chew, well yo' take dat chicken gizzard an' git some of yore mon'ses [= month- ses = months] an' mix it wit dat chicken giz- zard an' - see, yo' put chure monthlies on dat chicken gizzard whilst it's green an' let it dry up. An' den jis' lak yo' make a pie or sompin else, yo' pound dat up into a powdah an' sprinkle it in 'is coffee or bread or anything, an' he'll jis' be crazy about chew an' follah yo' evahwhere yo' go. AN' EVAH TIME HE SEE A MAN WIT CHEW HE JUMP ON YO' AN' BEAT CHEW.
(Whowill?)
Yore husban' or any man yo' goin' wit.
Entry 3952
Dey say dey take de stain of a person blood an' sew it up - make a li'le bag an' sew it up in dat li'le bag. Take it to any runnin' watah, eithah hang it high in a tree, where de dew an' de rain can lick [hit] ovah it an' drop ovah it. An' he kin git dem [periods] started an' dey won' evah stop. Dey always will run until it fin'lly run 'em crazy.
(The woman's blood on her monthly cloth?)
Yes.
Entry 3960
Yo' kin take a woman, a woman's sickness yo' know, an' take a nail - ah mean put some on de end of a needle see, or de end of a pin, an' drive it into a green tree. An' dat will run 'er crazy. Jes' a little bit on de end of de point an' drive it into a green tree. Any kinda green tree.
Entry 3974
Well, he [my contact man when testing informant] ast me about did ah know about makin' a man love yo'. Ah tell 'im, yes. Yo' take de hair out of his haid an' wear it in yore shoe an' dat will make him love yo'. An' den yo' kin take 'bout runnin' anybody crazy. Yo' kin take dere, yo' know, ministratin' pieces an' wrap hit in de seat of a Woman's pants, an' wrap it togethah an' boil [ball] it until it's, yo' know, an' den put it in runnin' watah. Dat will run 'em crazy. (Well, do you throw those pieces in running water or [throw] the water that you boil them in?)
[They are not boiled but balled.]
No, yo' throw 'em in runnin' watah an' dat will run 'em crazy.
Entry 3979
An' den yo' kin take de ministration blood, or eithah when a man have a connection wit a woman, jes' if yo' kin ketch dat. Yo' jes' ketch dat an' take it an' put it in a bottle, an' stop it up tight an' throw it into de runnin' watah, an' dat'll run 'em crazy.
(You don't do anything with the blood?)
Yeah, yo' kin do it wit dat.
(Oh, you do a woman the same way with her blood.)
Yes sir. [Florence, S. Car., (1324), 2268:9.] [As always in a section like URINE, more material is scattered through the text of HooDoO. What we have here will give us a general idea regarding the vastness of the subject. These rites are given in alphabetical order.]
Entry 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 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 4213
Dat's bad. Yuh take nine drops of dat an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up an' it will run yuh clean crazy. (Nine drops of chamber lye.) Put it in any woman's period. Yuh undahstan' about de chamber lye. Yuh jis' put it in a little bottle 'bout dat big - about nine drops, an' stop it up right tight.
(What do you do with it?)
Jis' hold it or chunk it any place yuh want tuh.
Entry 4350
Take a bottle wit dey urine, of anyone, in dere. Yuh kin put dey names jis' de same in de bottle an' yuh'll go tuh de rivah. An' yuh'll say bad words an' yuh'll curse an' yuh'll throw dat ovah de lef' shouldah. Well, yuh see dey goin' crazy.
Entry 4554
Take de bow inside of a man's hat dey claim an' run 'im crazy. Dey use dat an' burn a black light on it - called a black candle. Set dis black candle on it an' burn it 21 days, an' it will make him absent-minded. [For Sims see 34, p.23; 532, p.157;2091 p.608.]
Entry 4576
Cross two needles in dat an' run 'im crazy.
(Cross two needles in this bow in the hat.)
An' put about six aroun' de [inside of the sweatband] de linin' lak dis heah [demonstrates]. See, lak dis heah, an' it will run 'im crazy. (What about that little bow - you know, that little ribbon that is tied in a knot?) Yo' mean in de back part of de hat? Well, jes' lak dat bow ties, yuh take de two needles, two gold-eye needles an' dip 'em in chamber lye an' cross 'em dat way, an' yuh'll run 'im crazy. (Do you leave them right in the hat or do you take the bow out?) Nawsir [no sir], leave de bow in de hat.
(You put it under the bow so it can't be seen?)
So it can't be seen. Dip it in chamber lye.
Entry 4611
Ah took evah one out of mah cap dat ah'm got now. Yeah, yuh know, mah grandfathah learned me dat long time ago. Dey takes dat bow out of dere an' dey ties it on a string. Dey ties nine knots in a string. An' in tying dat knot dey lets dat bow hang right between dere laigs, an' if yuh say yuh don't want 'em, dey runs yuh crazy wit dat - wit dat bow, dat little bow.
Entry 4615
Dey kin take de bow outa yore hat, dose bows in yore hat, an' run yuh crazy. Dey take de bow in de hat an' run yuh blind, jes' make yuh blind. Take de bow outa de hat - inside of dat band, take dat bow. An' it's tied. An' un- tie dat bow, stretch dat bow out. Aftah yuh stretch dat bow, den yuh git chew some cologne. An' yuh take Heaxts Cologne, it's a powahful thing, an' put in dere, dat little ole flask - in dere wit dat bow of dat hat. An' aftah yuh put- tin' dat bow outa dat hat, den yuh takes - now dat's tuh be worn. Now, dat's fo' wimmin tuh do. Yuh takes mens, dey don't have nuthin like outa a hat fo' a man tuh do anythin' wit 'em. But dat's wimmins do dat. Yuh take - ah kin go wit a woman an' ah left 'er, ah quit her. Well, she take dat bow. Dat's tuh run me crazy or tuh drive mah love tuh 'er. Yuh undahstan'. Now, she'll take dat bow outa mah hat an' she'll untie dat bow an' she'll put dat bow in a little ole flask - little small flask. Dat's tuh wear on 'er. An' aftah she do dat, den she go uptown an' she git 'er some Hearts Cologne. Now, WHENSOMEVAH DAT AH GOES TUH INTAHCO'SE WIT 'ER, yuh see, den SHE'LL TAKE DE CLOTH DAT AH USE. AN' SHE'LL NUSE DAT CLOTH ERSELF, BUT SHE WON'T USE IT IN DE SAME MANNAH DAT AH USE IT AN' DE SAME PLACE DAT AH USE IT. See, jes' lak now she take de cloth heah [demonstrates with handkerchief]. Well, if ah nuse it heah, she ain't gonna use it dere. Yuh undahstan', she gonna move off furthah. SHE GOIN' TAKE DIS PART CHERE [used by man] AN' PUT IT IN DAT BOTTLE. See, wit dis boW off mah hat. Now, when she put dat in dat bottle wit de bow out de hat, she wear dat fo' nine mawnin's. An' aftah she wear dat fo' nine mawnin's, she goin' take dat an' she goin' tie her nine knots in dat bow. Den she bury dat on de young moon - when de moon jes is young. An' aftah she bury dat, it stay buried dere until ah comes 'er way. NOW, de ONLIEST WAY DAT YUH KIN REMOVE DIS, YUH HAVE TUH GO DERE AN' GIT IT UP YORESELF. [First you must know where to look! This means a doctor or fortune- teller who has many methods for a problem like this.]
Entry 4657
Take dat bow an' wear it in de bottom of yore shoe. Wear dat bow in de bottom of yore lef' shoe. Dat'll make him crazy about chew.
Entry 4659
A woman kin take dat bow an' jes' run yo' crazy wit it. She kin take dat bow an' she wear dat bow in her shoes. She wear dat bow way up in de mouth [toe] of 'er shoe, dat same little bow whut a man got in 'is hat back dere.
(That's all she has to do?)
Yes sir.
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 4751
Steal de seat from a person's pants an' carry it tuh de fo'k of a road an' plant it in de fo'k of de road, an' dey'll eithah go crazy or die.
Entry 4833
(What about the socks now?)
De socks, de stockin's or piece of yore garments. Now, ah've seen dis real. Split de green pine with a chisel an' a glut, a chisel an' a glut. Dat is, de glut is a piece of wood wide enough dat chew could lay it straight up an' down lak dat. [A glut is a wedgeshaped piece of wood or steel.] Nail dat together [after you put a piece of clothes in the split and remove chisel].
(What do you put in that?)
[What do you put in that split before nailing it together?]
Now, ah don't know whut he put in it, but he put dat in de tree. We got [found] de tree.
(Put what in the tree?)
De sock, an' de woman's stockin's - jis' whosomevah dey workin' ag'in, an' a piece of dere undah garment close tuh yore skin. Yuh know, de arm-holes or de seat of dey drawahs, if it's a man; if it's woman, de seat of hers. Nail dat intuh de tree wit a ten-penny nail an' let it [split] grow up [together]. Dat runs yuh crazy an' make yuh sick.
Entry 4835
Dey take de undahpiece, de piece da' choo weah, yore bloomahs, yore near piece da' choo weah close tuh yuh, undahshirt, an' put it in a tree in de woods, an' nail a spike nail tuh it, yuh know, an' dat'll run yuh crazy.
Entry 4859
I heard also that if you have something against a person and you want to harm the person, you take some of their clothes and throw it in the river and it will run the person crazy. [Snow Hill, Md., (85, a school teacher from near Richmond, Va.), 1:4,5.]
Entry 4874
[The words of the submargin title. informant's own. I consider one of the great statements in HooDoO, because they describe the essence of his hoodoo reality. Did transcriber and I mishear word soul? Could it have been soil equalling dirt in sock? Was the word sole of the sock, which is the same as the preceding meaning? Soil or dirt can be removed from the sock by washing. Those words dey claim tuh be able mean what they say - secret ability or power. Spirit rather than soul would have been more usual and frequent in HOODOO. Somehow, to me at least, soul is less amorphous and more individualized than spirit.] Dey claim if dey git aholt of 'is stockin' [sock], an' if dey kin git any of dat sand or whutevah might be in dat shoe aftah 'i, an' if dey bury dat, dat supposed tuh run a person crazy.
(What do they bury, just the sand or the stocking or what?)
Dey git holt of de sand or whatevah come out of dat stocking [sock] an' - yuh See, if de Stocking is dirty. An' DEY CLAIM TUH BE ABLE TUH MAKE DE SOUL COME OUTA DERE SOCK. AN' IF DEY BURY DAT, DAT SUPPOSED TUH RUN A PERSON CRAZY.
(An old sock. Either one of them or?)
Eithah one of 'em, or piece of 'is shoe - de linin' of 'is shoe. Ah've heard dat.
(They bury the lining of the shoe?)
Or dere sock. Dat supposed tuh run 'em crazy.
Entry 4974
Well, now, if a man jis' wan' 'er, he take her sock an' wear it roun' 'is waist fo' nine mawnin's. An' de ninth mawnin' he'll take an' he'll uri- nate on it. An' he'll pass nex' tuh de house yuh know, an' drop it chew know. Well, now, see when she wear it she done got [his influence?]. See, she wash it. See, where he sweat in dat stockin', dat cause her tuh git all crazy about 'im. An' she'll follah 'im evahwhere he go out, an' ma'y [marry] 'im if he wanta ma'y her.
Entry 5027
Take de socks an' sprinkle some steel dust on it an' bury it. Dat'll run 'em crazy.
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 5057
Yuh kin take a woman's stockin' an' urinate on it an' jis' take a lil Hearts Cologne an' wrap it up tight an' put it in yore pocket, an' dat woman will go crazy long as dat stockin' wrapped up in a tight bow, an' yuh keep it anywhere on yuh. De man's sock de same way. (That makes her go crazy about him?) "Bout 'im, long as yuh have dose stockin's or socks anywhere 'bout chew.
Entry 5062
Den dey would take de War watah an' yore socks, put 'em in de war watah an' shet it up an' keep it in dere fo' a length of time. An' in a length of time yuh would become ailin' concernin' about chure body, an' YORE DOCTORS [M.D. "S] COULDN'T UNDAHSTAN' YORE SITUATION, AN' YUH IN DE GRAVE OR EITHAH IN DE CRAZY HOUSE.
Entry 5097
Take de bottom, de sole part of a right-foot shoe, an' burn it intuh ashes an' pound it, yuh know, an' use dat in de coffee of anything. Dat'll run 'em crazy, too. (Whose shoe is used for that pur- pose?) Jis' like yuh had a man, yuh know, an' been wantin' some kinda way tuh git rid of 'im. Yuh kin take dat an' use it.
(Which right shoe do you use, yours or his?)
His.
(Just coffee?)
Yes.
Entry 5106
Git chure yore shoe while yore feets sweat - sweat up to de end of yore toes.
(What do they call that?)
Toe jam, toe jam. Yo' kin take dat shoe right down an' burn it an' dat will jes' give yo' a crazy mind. A mind wit - yo' wouldn't speak right no way. Yo' wouldn't talk right. Yo' wouldn't answer right. Yo' wouldn't act like a man dat had plenty sense. Yo' wouldn't.
Entry 5118
Yeah, dey kin burn shoe soles. Den [dey] kin take, aftah dey git through burnin' de shoe soles, dey kin take an' put it in some devil vinegah an' shake it up, an' in a length of time yuh goin' pass away or commit suicide or go crazy. [For devil vinegar, see p.547 and elsewhere.]
Entry 5169
Take a pair of shoes dat yo' have worn an' yo' kin take dose shoes an' carry dose shoes tuh yore house - carry 'em tuh yore house. Den aftah yo' carry dose shoes tuh yore house, turn 'em ovah on dey face an' den go out in a cow stall somewheres an' git chew some of evahy kin'a manure yo' kin pick up from diff'ren' animals, all kin'a manure yo' kin pick up, an' put in dat shoe. An' dat will drive yo' jis' as crazy as a bedbug. (That is, if you want to harm me, you would get my old shoes and take them to your house to dress them?) Yes.
(Then what do you do with the shoes after you put that stuff in them?)
Oh! Yo' take de shoes an' carry 'em away an' bury 'em.
(What would that do to me then?)
Dat would jis' fix yo' up so yo' couldn't walk or do nuthin - paralyze yo'.
Entry 5189
Yo' kin git a person's shoe heel an' yo' kin put it, yo' know, in a stove or somewhere yo' know. An' bake it where it'll be, yo' know, right crunchy lak pie or somepin othah lak dat. An' put it in, yo' know, where de sun kin hit it, an' run 'em crazy - run 'em slap outa town. (That all you have to do?) Dat's all yo' have tuh do. Put it yo' know in some place where nobody cain't bothah it. Run 'em slap outa town.
(Use both heels, you say?)
Eithah one.
Entry 5191
De only thin' dat ah knows of dey shoes, dey take an' jes' kinda burn or scorch it a little bit an' throw it ovahbo'd.
(What will that do?)
Dat will run 'em jes' about mindless. Dey'll have spells. Dey mind is goin' an' dey jes' cain't stay one place. Evah time dat shoe would be goin', flippin' back an' fo'th, dey mind will jes' be goin' lak dat, until dey jes' go crazy an' run away from yo' or somepin lak dat.
Entry 5267
Take de sole, out chure shoe an' dey kin take dat little piece [insole] an' dey kin take it an' drive it into a tree an' run yo' crazy wit it. (The sole [insole] of either shoe or both shoes?) Yore left shoe where yo' have yore trouble at.
Entry 5295
Yo' kin take an' take a person's shoe an' have it fixed so dat he kin start walkin' an' dey jes' walk a step an' dey comes back. Well, dey jes' go 'head an' take some dis red pep- pah an' it's a gourd. Yo' know dese guts out de gourd dat be's inside of a gourd, take hit an' Parch it up an' take an' put it in dis shoe. An' throw dis shoe in runnin' watah, an' dat will fix a person so he jes' go crazy an' wandah 'way from home, an' wandah an' wandah.
Entry 5312
It's anothah thing. Yo' could take one dese great-big ants. Yo' kin Spot [easily see] it, yo' know. It ain't none dese little-size ants, [it is] one dese heah run by hitself all de time. Yo' take one dem an' git de middle of somebody's track, if yo' wants tuh run 'im 'way. An' yo' put it intuh a bottle. An' put dat ants in- tuh it an' carry it tuh de rivah, an' throw it ovahbo'd an' it will run 'imcrazy.
(How many ants do you put in that bottle?)
One, jes' one. Yo' ain't goin' see but one. Dere jes' be one by itself all de time.
(What color is it?)
It's kinda brown-spotted lookin' ants, 'bout de colah of dat shade up dere.
Entry 5342
Ah've heard de story about, if you are angry with someone or somepin... ah've heard people say, mah mothah an' oldah people say, dat people have told 'er about, dat yo' kin take dis dirt where de person walks. Take dat dirt out of dere track an' put it in a bottle an' throw at in runnin' watah, an' dey'll lose dere mind. [Snow Hi11, Md., (86), 4:8.]
Entry 5346
Dey gits de foot track up an' dey carry it tuh runnin' watah. An' stop it up in a bottle an' carry it tuh runnin' watah an' tho' it ovahbo'd, an' dey kin run a person crazy - unsettles dere min' an' go crazy in de haid.
Entry 5353
Kin take a man track - lak a woman loved me. Well, if she know whut tuh do wit dis track, she'd take dis track an' run me crazy. Well, dey take dis track an' take an' burn it - put some kinda oil an' stuff on dis track. Run me crazy. Jes' de shoe track.
Entry 5440
Ah have heard a person kin run yo' crazy. Dey kin take some of de dirt, git a part of yore track. Go tuh de graveyard an' git some dirt. (Get the dirt from both tracks or just one?) Yore right feet - from yore right feet track, an' go tuh de grave of a gamblah an' git some of de dirt from de foot of 'is grave. Take it an' carry it home an' git chew some red flannel, table salt, an' take it an' put it right undah 'is steps, an' in seven days he'll be crazy or mindless. (You Wrap all this stuff up in that red flannel and bury it under his own step.) Undah 'is step.
Entry 5506
Take some of yore hair off down below an' take some of dat [foot track] dirt; an' some of dat hair down heah, git some hair from undah yore arm. Take all dat an' put it in a little bag an' sew it up, an' take it an' bury it in de cemetery. Den yo' got 'em lak yo' wan' 'em.
(What will that do?)
Run them crazy - yo' know, jes' make yore min' jes' - yo' know, jes' make yo' go crazy.
(Whose hair would you use?)
Uh, anybody's hair.
(Whose foot track would you use?)
Lak ah'm Wit yo' - LAK AH HAD DIS FRIEN' GIRL AN' AH'M MAD WIT 'ER, AN' AH IAN'A GIT DE SPITE OUT, AH WOULD TAKE SOME OF 'ER HAIR AN' DO DAT.
Entry 5509
Dey tell me dat chew [they] kin git some of yore hair an' some of de dirt out chure track, an' mix it up an' throw it in some runnin' watah an' run yo' crazy.
(Get the dirt out of either track?)
Out chure lef' track. Dat tuh run yo' crazy.
Entry 5513
Yo' kin trick 'em disaway. Yo' kin go tuh work - see, it's yore shoe. Lak yo' walk wit de shoe in some san' [sand], an' den shape of yore shoe is lef' down dere, dat hollah right yondah. Where de track leave de hollah in dat san', yo' watch it, an' yo' go an' git chew de san'. Be sure it's 'is track, dough [though], an' start tuh [to = at] de toes of it, lak dis heah [demonstrates] an' draw it back, in de track from de shoe. Yo' draw it up once [one time only] an' tie it up.
(Which one?)
De lef' or right, don' make no diff'rence. Jes' start tuh toes of 'is shoe track an' drag it back dere lak dat. Git a handfulla dat track from de shoe, from de hollah. Be sure yo' git de hollah part right in heah. Take it 'long wit chew an' tie it up - sew it up in a li'le new piece of homespun, or a ole piece, it makes no diff'rence. Yo' jes' carry dat thing right down in yore pockets an' weah it dere. Weah it dere jes' lak dat an' yo'll run 'em crazy, long as yo' tote dat track. Yo' tote dat track.
(That is to hold the person?)
Yeah, by totin' dat track. See, he don' know it. Yo' totin' dat track evah- where yo' go. Dat's whut dey say yo' do 'bout it.
Entry 5514
Take de track - yo' know, scoop it up off de ground. Take yore track an' throw it 'cross de house an' it will run yo' crazy. (You can't throw that track across the house. Don't you put it in something?) No sir, take a ash shevel an' take up dat track an' throw de sand 'cross de house [one-story house].
(You don't put it'in anything then?)
No sir, jes' throw it 'cross de house an' it run yo' crazy.
(Either track?)
Yes sir, either track.
Entry 5520
Dey tell me dat dey take dat foot track an' take a hot iron an' put on dat foot track. An' carry dat iron an carry dat iron home an' put dat same iron on top of a cloth. An' fold dat cloth up an' hide it somewhere in de ceilin', or in de roof of de house some place. An' dey says dat will cause dat person to go crazy.
Entry 5541
Yo' take dat foot track, try tuh git it wit'out breakin' it. Yo' lay it on a piece of brown papäh an' yo'll take de measure [of] dat track. An' yo'll write dis person name crossways in it nine times. Yo' git some dirt offa sinnah -bad person died bad - yo' git dat offa dere grave, dat dirt. An' yo' put dat [grave dirt] on dere [the track]. Den yo' git chew some John de Conkah root powdah [hoo- doo drug store or mail order house product] an' yo' spread it in [the 2 dirts]. Den yo' bury dat track backwards: lak yo' gon'a walk intuh dis doah, well yo' wan'a put de foot print comin' in - yo' put de heel part comin' in. Dat'll make yer brains - mos' people bury it any way - it'll run yo' crazy, if yo' use it lak dat.
Entry 5551
Yo' be walkin' 'long an' pass by 'im. Yo' gwine down de street disa- way, ah'm comin' disaway. All right. An' when yo' pass by me yo' turn right roun' de first time yo' walk past, take up 'is track. Run down an' pick up de track. Yo' have tuh git it run- nin' an'... (How do you mean get it running? What do you mean by that?) All right, now ah'm walkin' down behin' joo, an' yo' lookin' dat way an' ah'm lookin' de same way yo' is, but ah'm lookin' at chure track an' ah'm goin' walk in a hurry. Yo' know, jis' take a little fast trot an' stoop down an' pick dem tracks up, runnin' like dat. An' take 'em an' put some salt in'em an' black peppah. An' take 'em tuh de rivah an' turn yore back an' throw 'em ovahbo'd, an' yo'll go crazy.
(What shoulder do you throw them over?)
Throw 'em ovah yore lef' shouldah.
(And what tracks do you pick up?)
Yo' jis' pick up two tracks, each foot - each one of yore foot.
Entry 5553
Yo' take a person dat yo' dislike an' yo' wan' 'em away from yo'. Yo' seet 'im. He's comin' dat way an' yo's comin' dis way. Take a bran'-new piece of papah, a piece like dat [he changes this for cloth later]. Take a bran'-new easpoon. When ah say bran'-new, ah mean one dat was nevah used fo' any purpose. An' yo' put it - take a piece of cloth, white cloth dat yo' have nevah used fo y othah purpose. Take dat wit yo'. An' prepare tuh meet yore man, whomsoevah ir is. An' meet 'im dere, an' git a smile if yo' kin. Pass 'im an' pass 'im a certain distant [distance]. But gauge yoreself so as tuh not allow 'im tuh git ay too far. An' yo' take de track up wit dat teaspoon. Begin right at de toe, don' cha know an' pull it directly back tuh de heel. An' git de spoonful an' put it intuh dis cloth, an' wrap it up so it won't - yo' know, it will be out of de way. An' yo' take a rusty nail an' yo' cross de track directly in de centah, an' den cross it ag'in from de heel tuh de toe - away from yo', directly. An' throw de nail ovah yore left shouldah. Den yo' keep de stuff dat yo' got in de cloth, take dat an' take de spoon an' throw dat ovah yuh right shouldah. Take dat cloth right on, roll it up tight, tie it away from yuh, don't cha know. Take a piece of rock an' put in it, in de othah part of it, an' yuh care [carry] it an' yuh throw it ovah yuh lef' shouldah, right ovahbo'd intuh runnin' watah. Or if de tide is goin' down, on de tide, when yuh throw it ovah. An' yuh mention de person's name. Dey goes right on out like dat [with the tide]. As it go ovahbo'd, dey die. An' if it's comin' up, yuh know what yuh call a spring tide, huh, when it's comin' up, why dey'll git almos' crazy until de tide turns. An' as soon as de tide turns ag'in, dey gone.
(Where did you learn this?)
Ah learned dat in de Bahamas.
(At Nassau?)
At Nassua.
(From this girl?)
From dis girl.
Entry 5583
Dey say dey takes 'is track an' put it in a piece of new cloth. Dey say yo' kin git chew nine needles an' nine pins an' put in it. Dat will run yo' crazy. (What do they do with that then?) Put it in runnin' watah an' shet it up [in bottle or can].
Entry 5603
"Simmon [persimmon] tree. Ah've heard dat yo' kin take 'simmon, yo' kin git a half-green root - yo' kin git a half-green 'simmon an' yo' kin take a li'le cloth, ah reckon about a yard or half a yard wide. An' yo' kin take dat half-green 'simmon an' dat half a yard of cloth, an' yo' kin take de tracks of a person an' write his name in 'is tracks. Put 'em in dat li'le cloth an' sew it up, an' care [carry] it tuh de rivah an' throw it ovahbo'd; but chew wanta throw it ovah yore lef' shouldah an' yo' leave dere walkin'. Don't nevah look back at it. An' dat'll run dem crazy.
(What do you do with that persimmon?)
Well, ah says yo' put dat 'simmon [track] in dat.
(Oh, you put that in that [track] too.)
Entry 5698
Mah gran'mothah said dat yo' could take dat track up an' wrap it up, an' yo' could tote it roun' in yore pocket fo' 'bout three days, an' throw it in a stream of watah. As long as dat watah runnin' why yo'll be crazy, an' as long as dat watah runnin' yo' be goin' places. Yo' won' stay in one place, yo' be goin' jis' keep goin'; jis' keep yo' upset an' worried until dat watah stop. In othah words, long as de watah run yo' upset.
(You take either track?)
No sir, yo' take de lef' track.
Entry 5725
Ah heah 'bout 'em bo'in' holes in a 'simmon [persimmon] tree an' stick de track up in dat tree, an' it will run 'em crazy. Bo' a hole in de tree an pick de track up, an' stick dat up in de tree. Den stop dat hole up.
(They take either track?)
Yes, eithah one.
Entry 5727
Ah heard dat yo' jis' could take dat foot track an', as yo' walkin', take it outa dat hollah [hollow] of dat foot track. Take dat dirt up an' puts it in a pocket han'ker- ch'ef. An' take dat den an' take some a fellah's stool an' put dat wit it. An' bo' a hole in a tree an' stop it, an' it will run 'im crazy.
(Make him lose his mind, this foot track and some of his bowels.)
Yes.
Entry 5775
Dey said dey pick yore track up aftah it git hard yo' know. Dig it up, de whole track an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' dat would run yo' crazy or somepin lak dat. Make yo' - yo' know, can't stay in one place.
(Running all the time.)
Entry 5798
Dey say dey kin take yore hair an' run yo' crazy. Dat why so [many] people is crazy today. Dey say yo' kin take dis top cleft from de mole of yore hair, an' dey say yo' kin take an' bury dat, dey say, an' long as yo' live, dey say, yore hair jes' begin to grow, grow longah. An' dat make yo' lose yore mind. (What hair grows longer? On your head or the hair they take?) De hair what dey takes, what dey kin git from yo'. Well, yo' see, dey take an' plant dat hair. Well, long as dat hair is planted dere, an' yo' livin', yo' see, it will grow; but when yo' die, well it will quit growin'.
(I see.)
Entry 5803
Dey kin git a thin' dey call devil's-shoestring. Dey kin git a thin' dey call Nine Witches [a hoodoo-store product?] an' put along wit dat [hair], an' den some corn whiskey, camphor an' bury dat.
(This hair?)
Yas, an' de longah dat grows - de more dat hair grow, de worsah yo'll git.
(What will that do to you?)
Well, it will send yo' crazy, if yo' don't git somebody to take it off yo'. [For the preceding Nine Witches, I did not suggest a piece of witches'-broom, that brushlike deformity of small branches of trees and shrubs caused by fungi, rusts, etc. The sug- gestion was not made because few persons in my experience know the witches'-broom and I personally never encountered any folklore saying or belief about it. Yet the oldtime Germans of Adams County, Illinois, surely knew the word hexenbesen.
Entry 5804
Dey kin take yer hair from yer haid an' take it tuh a red oak tree, an' on de east side of dat tree, yuh bo' yuh a hole - dat's fo' tuh run yuh crazy. Bo' yuh a hole in dat tree an' put dat hair in dere. Take yuh a stick an' trim it. Stop dat hole up, yuh know, jes' as yuh put in a peg lak dat. Put it in dat tree an' stop it up in dere an' go ahead on. Well, as dat hair - see, dat hair is gonna grow an' as dat hair grows, dat takes yer mind. Yuh has no mind fo' nuthin. An' when dat hair beginnin' tuh grow, hit'll run yuh stone crazy - yuh don't even know nuthin. Yuh haven't got no mind fo' nuthin.
Entry 5805
[Hair of the preceding rite was placed horizontally in tree; here we have the up an' down or vertical position.] Dey tell me dey take dat hair an' if dey wanta give yuh bad luck dey take it an' go tuh a green tree, an' put a stran' of dat hair up an' down dat green tree, yuh know, an' den let it grow up in dere as de tree grow up. Now dey say dat'll run yuh crazy. Yuh know, dat's bad luck.
Entry 5807
Yo' kin do dat, yo' kin take de hair outa woman's haid. Co'se [of course] ah don't know if a man do anythin' to anothah man. But if yo' have a goman yo' wanta make love wit, yo' jes' take de hair outa de mole of 'er haid if yo' POSS'bly kin. YO'D HAVE TO STEAL IT OUTA DERE CUZ WOMEN WON'T LET CHEW GIT DAT OUTA DERE IF DEY KNOW IT. An' if yo' kin, some hair out de mole of de woman's haid, yo' kin put dat into a little bottle, see, an' put some alcohol over it, see, an' put a flannen [flannel] stoppah in it - a red flannen stoppah. DAT COME DIRECT DOWN FROM DE HOODOO BUSINESS cuz ah've had dat. An' tote it in yore pocket an' dat woman'll come back to yo'. Don't care where she is, she'll come back to yo'. If she don't come back she'll go crazy. [For alcohol, see also margin title WHISKEY.]
Entry 5810
[I have included this margin title because LIVE THINGS IN YOU (Section 8) is based upon the theory that some animals are reproduced through their blood. Our informant evidently confines the word animal to horse, cow, dog, cat, etc.; a lizard or a snake being an insect.] Yo' kin take yore hair an' put nine drops of any- thing's blood on it - yo' know, insects - an' put it in runnin' water an' run yo' crazy. (You take nine drops of any kind of blood from an animal or insect or any- thing?) Insect - not a animal, a insect.
(Any kind of an insect?)
Yes suh, a lizard or a snake, an' put it in runnin' water an' dey say dat will nmn yo' crazy.
Entry 5826
Ah've heard 'em say, yo' know, dat chew kin take a, a individual's hair a' place it, yo' know, into a bottle dat way an' stop it up tight an' bury it undah de do'step, or jes' anywhere in de dirt wit de head of it down dat way. An' dey say dat will run 'em, yo' know, kinda bout half crazy where dey'll have diff'ren' minds yo' know, have a wanderin' ird, see, not to stay in one place.
(You don't put anything else in that bottle do you?)
Nuthin else in dere, jes' de hair.
Entry 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 5833
(Well, suppose somebody wanted to harm yo' with that hair. What would they do with that then?) Well, if dey want to do yo' harm, why dey take dat an' burn it with sulphur. Dey kin harm yo' dat way.
(Well, just how would it harm you?)
Well it will give yo' a ramblin' mind, it has yo' goin' from one place to de othah, soonah or latah until yo' don't know zac'ly [exactly] whut chew wanta do. Yo' 'cumulate a silly mind - soon die.
Entry 5837
Dey kin take yo' head, dey take some hair right from de roots of yo' hair an' take dat an' burn it. An' den dey git some hair from a black cat an' burn along wit dat. An' dey take de ashes an' put in a tobacco sack. An' den dey take an' put it in a tin can an' throw de can right on straight out [into the water] and [so that it] don't come back in [with] tide. Well, dat will run 'em crazy inside of three months.
Entry 5843
Yo' git a hot-stuff bottle [bottle containing pepper sauce] an' yo' opens it up, an' yo' puts yore hair in it an' yo' bury yore hair, yo' see, some- where aroun' of a cornah of a house. Dat causes yo' to lose yore mind. (You say, they bury this bottle?) Bury de bottle an' all. (This hot stuff, you mean pepper bottle?) Uh huh. An' de more dat mold away, de more it gon'a cause yo' to lose yore mind.
Entry 5852
Ah heard dat dey would take yore hair an' dey could wear it in dere shoes until yore hair would rot. See, when yore hair would rot, it would run yo' in de insane asylum, in de crazy house. (They put that in both shoes?) In one, in de left shoe. An' den some- time yo' take it an' yo' put it in some vinegah, some devil vinegah. Don' fo'- git about de devil vinegah, an' yo' shake it an' use it.
(What will that do if you put this hair in the devil vinegar?)
It will run yo' crazy.
Entry 5854
Well, de slobber off a dog. Yessuh, yo' take yore hair an' put it on de roof of 'is tongue, an' den yo' give 'im somepin tuh make 'im go mad, see. An' dat causes yo' tuh go crazy. (What about the slobber then? He only slobbers after he goes mad, is that the idea?) Yes.
(That is to run you crazy?)
Yes.
Entry 5856
Yo' split de tail of a dog or rabbit, anythin', an' put dat person's hair on dat tail - lay it in dere, fold it an' lay it in dere, an' den sew dat tail back up an' wrap it up so dat it cain't come out. He'll grow back togethah, an' long as dat varmit livin', why dat person will be crazy minded - go tuh de 'sylum.
Entry 5891
Ah heard of 'em takin' table salt an' - if dey take de hair out of a person's haid an' git de dog an' cat bristles an' take table salt an' bury it in de fo'ks of de road, dey say dat will run a person crazy. (That's about the same as you told me at first?) Yes.
Entry 5892
Git a plait of woman's hair an' plait it into fo' strand - jes' plait it into fo' plaits, not into three an' put it in a bottle an' put it in runnin' stream of watah. Drive yo' crazy. [The number 4 sends the hair to the 4 corners of the earth - see for symbolism, The Revelation of St. John The Divine 7:1.]
Entry 5904
Right in de top of yore haid yo' git a certain stran' - git a stran' out de top of yore haid an' take an' put dat in a bottle. Fix it wit graveyard dirt an' salt an' stop it up, or eithah bury it undah yore do'steps, or else chip off a block on a tree, on de no'th side of de tree an' bury it - put it in dere. Dat will run yo' crazy.
Entry 5932
I say, dey say dey kin take yore hair, see, jes' a clip of yore hair Octa yore head - I think it's on de lef' side, see - an' take it an' bury it wit some soda an' table salt fo' nine days. An' den dig it up an' sew it in a bag an' wear it. An' what- eah dey say dey wanta to it [whatever they tell the bag they want done], why yo lin be wishin' it. Dey say it'll come true - if dey run yo' crazy or make love Tvhatevah dey desire.
Entry 5939
Yo' take a person's hair an' yo' shet it up in a bottle wit Hearts Cologne an' yo' bury it. An' when yo' bury it, aftah it stay dere sech a lengt' of time... [There is a long pause and I interrupt.] (How long Would it have to stay there?) Well, dey says [after] nine days, yo' finda, yo'll begin tuh have a headache. From time tuh time - it 'cordin' tuh how yore blood stand, it li'ble tuh run yo' crazy, if yo' don't find someone tuh relieve yo' of it.
(Someone to get the bottle?)
Yes.
Entry 5940
Take de hair - jes' lak yo' gits de hair right out de mole of yo' haid, place it in a Hearts Cologne bottle an' stop it up real tight. Let it stay in dere a certain length of time an' take it somewhere an' bury it.
(What will that do?)
Dey say dat run yo' crazy 'bout a person. (About this person. What do you mean, you let it stay there a certain length of time?) Well, nine days.
(You let it stay in this bottle nine days. Then what do you do with it?)
Dey take it up an' jes' lay it - jes' let stay dere if dey wanta. Let it stay dere fo' nine days an' finish de nine days why de work is did.
(This begins to work after nine days.)
Entry 5942
Dey kin run yo' crazy wit chure hair. Dey kin take two stran' of yore hair - two or three stran' of yore hair - an' put it in a cologne bottle an' put some more dat cologne in dat bottle. An' bury it an' it run yo' crazy, makes chew lose yore mind.
Entry 5943
(First, they get what?)
Yo' hair an' buy bottle of Hearts's Perfume an' stop it up an' bury it umdah de right [side of] do'steps. That will run yo' crazy.
Entry 5944
Ah've heered 'em say - well, lak ah heered a guy say once he wuz goin' wit a girl an' he fell in deep, in love wit dis girl, an' she didn't seem tuh care anythin' much about 'im. He wuz very much in love wit 'er. So he tuk a stran' of hair out de mole of dis girl's haid, an' he tuk it an' put it in a bottle of Heart's Cologne, an' throwed it in a stream of strong runnin' watah. An' he said in about two months or three months aftah dat he tuk dis hair an' throwed it in a stream of watah in dis Hearts Co- logne in dis bottle, it wuzn't long 'fore dis girl wuz crazy.
Entry 5945
Ah heard 'em say yo' could git some hair from in de mole of yore haid, an' take an' git chew a bottle of Hearts Cologme an' put it in dere an' put a stoppah in it, an' throw it in runnin' watah an' it would run yo' crazy.
Entry 5949
Well, dey take a piece of hair out de middle of de mole of yore haid, an' dey [take] dat hair out de mole of yore haid an' dey git a perfume dey calls Hearts Cologne. An' take dat Hearts Cologne an' dey take dat hair an' put it in dat Hearts Cologne bot- tle, an' take dat bottle an' stop it up well. Den aftah leavin' dis bottle stay aroun' 24 hours, den dey take a or'nary [ordinary] person, jes' lak yo' is man dat has a gurl dat he thinks well of an' somepin lak dat. Yo' take de fingahnail - take de dirt. An' poke between [clean] yore fin- gahnails is protection to yore body. Well, dey take an' cut off all dat fingah- nail an' all dat filth [you left under your nails] an' de' put it in dat bottle, if dey poss'bly kin get holt of it, an' dat will DRIVE A PERSON UNSANE - JES' LAK A "SHORT MIND", YO' THINKS NOW AN' AFTAH WHILE YO' CAN'T THINK. Dat mind at pre- sent is gone.
Entry 5957
All right ah'm gon'a tell yo'. Ah known a frien' of mine run wit one of mah frien' [friend's] girls, women, heah yeah befo' las'. He had 'er to git, to steal some of her hair down heah, some of her hair while she - an' she sick, yo' know. An' she got dat, she got dat an' tied it up in a - put it in some watah. Put it in a jug an' tied it up an' run 'er crazy. She nevah did git bettah. She had to leave home an' she died right den in de hospital.
Entry 5963
Yo' kin take it [hair], jes' cut a stran' or so, a long stran', an' tie it in a knot jes' lak dat [demonstrates]. An' yo' kin burn it or yo' kin bury it. (What will that do to me?) It'll hurt chah in a way, or eithah it will run yo' crazy, or keep yo' wit a terrible headache or sompin lak dat.
Entry 5966
Git chure hair an' run yo' crazy.
(What do they do with it?)
What dey do? Dey tie it up in knots an' put it in a book. Conceal it. Or othahwise dey could tie it in knots an' put it down in perfume [in a bottle]. (Put it in a book and seal it?) Put it in a book and let it stay in dere - yo' know jes' close it same as [you press] a leaf. [At the turn of the century and earlier the pressing of plant leaves in a book was a common practice.l An' den dey kin take it an' tie it in three knots as much [tight] as possible - jes' tie in three knots an' put It down in perfume bottle an' stop it up in dere, so nobody can't get to it atall, so derefore, why it will commence to run yo' crazy. Yo." will always suf- fah wit de headache. An' it will start right from here [demonstrates], right in de back dere.
(Right in the back of the head. Well, where will it go from there?)
Well, it transfah [demonstrates]. STARTS RIGHT IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD AND GOES ON TO THE FOREHEAD.
Entry 5969
If anybody git any of yore hair, dey kin run yo' crazy with it. Tie it in five knots, if it's long 'nuff, an' throw it in de rivah. Ah knows dat.
Entry 5973
If someone wuz tuh take yore hair tuh run yo' crazy, dey'll begin tuh take yore hair - takes nine stran's of yore hair. Dey wouldn't take ovah nine stran's of it. Dey'll tie around it de third time - take it jes' lak yo' wrap yore hair wit a string, a thread wrop aroun' it de third time. An' dey'll tie nine knots in it. Den dey'll take it an' take it at 'leven a'clock in de mawnin' - no, dey go in de mawnin' at 'leven a'clock, an' be dere at 'leven a'clock, to any runnin' watah an' throw it in dere. Dat's jes' all tuh git chw 'vay from heah. Throw it in dere, says, "Take him away, take him away, take him aaay. Nevah return. He's trouble long enough." Yo' goin' leave dere.
Entry 6010
If dey git hold of yore hair, why dey'll tie dat hair up jes' lak dey do wit chure [foot] track. Dey'll tie dat hair up in a bottle. Dey'll put six needles in dere wit dat hair an' dat'll keep yo' goin' crazy all de time. (What will they do with that bottle then?) Dat bottle - dey put dat bottle down in de ground, or in a trunk.
Entry 6017
Dere two things dat ah hear'd dat yo' could do wit de hair. Dey kin take nine strands of yore hair an' put it in a bag an' sew it up wit nine needles an' cross dese needles in dat hair - break 'em an' cross 'em in a little bag. Sew de bag up an' bury it somewhere. Dat is to make yo' stay. Bury it where yo' go out ovah, walk ovah it. Dat'll make yo' stay wit 'em. An' if dey don' want chew wit 'em, dey'll take it an' git it an' sew it up in a bag an' throw it in runnin' watah, or eithah carry it to a oak tree an' cut a little hole in dere an' wedge it up in dere an Stop it up. An' dat Will run yo' crazy. DAT'S WHUT AH HEAR'D A OLE WOMAN TELL A
Entry 6035
Dey could take de hair offen de - 9 strands of hair out de mole of dere haid, an' shet it into a bottle an' stop it up, an' run yo' crazy.
(What would they do with that bottle after they stop it up?)
Jes' throw it away - 9 strands.
Entry 6038
Dey take hair outa yore haid an' twist it up with needles or pins an' take it to de railroad track, yo' know, on de no'th side of de railroad, an' dey bear [bury] it up undah dere, an' dey say dat'll kill yo'. Aftah it stay dere a sich [certain] length of time, yo' have sich [such] severe headache it drive yo' crazy - it'll run yo' insane.
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 6105
If dey git holt of some of yore hair, dey kin take dat hair an' put it in some hot salty watah, yo' undahstan' an' bury it undah yore step wit de bot- tle neck turnt out from - yo' know, from de way yo' come out de house. Well, dat'll cuz yo' tuh have addle brains. If yo' don' fin' it - if it stay undah dere nine days, dat'll cuz yo' tuh have addle brains.
Entry 6157
Yuh take a person's hair from 'is haid an' put it in a stick. Wrap it tight an' throw it in runnin' watah. Dey say as de watah runs, dere mind goes from 'em - will cause dem tuh go crazy. (How do they put it in the stick?) Jis' take de stick an' split de stick open an' put it [hair] in it an' wrap it tightly [and tie].
(Any kind of stick.)
Any kind of stick.
Entry 6159
Yuh take a person's hair tuh harm 'em. Yuh kin put it in a bottle an' put a peg in it, a wooden peg an'.- - yuh take dat hair an' put it in a wooden peg, an' put it in a bottle or anythin', an' put a wooden peg in it [peg the bottle]. An' yo' kin chunk it in de rivah ovah yuh lef' shouldah an' dat will harm 'em. (What will that do?) Dat will harm yuh, kill yuh. Dat will run yuh crazy.
Entry 6162
Kin take a person hair an' put it into a sack an' tie it on a stick in runnin' watah an' run 'em crazy. S'long as dat hair stay on dat stick in runnin' watah, why dat person is crazy until yuh take dat hair off an' let it git dry - dat hair.
Entry 6170
Ah have heard from people dat chew could go to de fork of de road an' see all kind of scarey things lak dat an' people kin fix yo' lak dat. (How would they fix you like that?) Well, dey kin take - some people take yore hair an' den prick one of yore fingahs till it bleed, git three drops of blood, an' have yo' crazy where yo' jis' walk a lot. (I want you to tell me the details. What would they do with that three drops of blood they got from your finger?) Dey takes it an' put it on yore hair an' dey take it an' sew it up an' dey kin fix yo' dataway where yo' won't even love no woman or anything lak dat.
(Well, what do they do with that hair then, after they put that blood on it?)
Well, dey kin wear it. (Well, now a person would get my hair and then put her blood on my hair and sew it up?) Shure, an' den yo' begin to love nobody but 'er.
Entry 6179
Git dis dirt daubah nest an' chicken feathahs an' dat hair of de in- dividual, yo' know, dat dey'll wanta use, an' mix dat all up togethah, an' sew it in a little round piece, an' dey put one of dose papahs on it an' burn it. An' dat runs 'em crazy sometimes, especially, yo' know, if dey git enough amount of dere hair.
Entry 6194
Ah heard dat dey could take dat hair of yores an' put it in a bag, an' go tuh a cherry tree an' bo' a hole in dat tree, an' make a peg tuh fit it an' drive it up in dat tree, an' dat would run yo' crazy. [To put hair into a small bag before inserting it into tree is rare, but see 6196 which also requires a cherry tree.]
(Must it be in a cherry tree?)
Dat's whut dey tole me - a cherry tree.
Entry 6207
Dey say dey take yore hair an' stop it up in a tree, some kinda tree dey finds in de woods - I can't say it right. I heard dat when I wuz a child, but I remembah some por- tion of it. Dey take nine strands of yore hair. Dey put it in a tree an' stop it up. Dey say it'll run yo' crazy.
(Do you remember the name of the particular tree that they put it in?)
No, ah - it's a red oak.
(Red oak?)
Red oak tree wit de hollah.
(With a what?)
With a hollah - hole in it.
(Oh, there's a hole in it. I see.)
Entry 6218
Bo' a hole in a tree wit a new auger an' dey'll git a new stopper an' dl dat hair in de tree [with a new nail]. Dey say dat'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 6221
Why dey take yore hair, pin or needle points an' bore a hole in any live green tree. A hole, an' put it in dere an' take a lighter peg [see later], a wooden peg, an' drive it in dere as tight as yo' kin git it, an' saw it off right even wit de tree. Dey say dat person will go crazy. [The preceding lighter, occurring many times in Hoodoo, is a stick or piece of chopped wood from one of several pines used as a lighter for fires. If a. pine is rich in pitch, it's called a fat-lighter pine.]
Entry 6226
Now a person kin take yore hair out of yore haid an' dey kin go tuh a tree an' cut a hole outa dat tree an' den put chure hair inside dat tree on de quartah of de moon [see later] an' after dey put chure hair in dat tree - dey puts a peg in dat tree [hole] an' dey drive dat peg fo' nine mawnin's. See evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's dey go out an' hit it fo' nine mawnin's. Now, dat peg, aftah dat peg be tapped fo' de nine mawnin's, dat's fo' tuh run yo' Crazy. Dat's tuh run yo' outa yore senses. Yo' don't have no senses atall - yo' be stone crazy.
(What do you mean, the quarter of the moon?)
Jis' lak when de moon firs' came out. Dat's whut ah call quartah, when it firs' come out. [PRESUMABLY THE VICTIM WILL SWELL UP WITH THE MOON, THEN BEGIN TO PALE AWAY ITH THE MOON, AND FINALLY DISAPPEAR WITH THE MOON.]
Entry 6231
Co'se ah didn't do it mahself, but ah seed a woman doin' it. She'd taken anothah woman's hair an' bo'd a hole in a tree an' she put it in dere. She cut nine notches on a stick an' evah mawnin' she go dere an', yo' know, nail it down a notch fo' nine mawnin's.
(What happened?)
Well, de woman she went crazy.
Entry 6240
One woman said once dat chew bo' a hole in a tree on de no'th side, a red oak tree, scrape de bark off. An' scrape off de first bark an' den scrape off de second bark, an' den bo' dat hole in de so'th side of a tree. Dat's fo' de hair. An' dey take yore hair an' a bird feathah, sompin wild feather, lak birds are wild things, an' fix wit it an' stop it up in dere. Say dat will run yo' crazy. Dat's whut ah heard.
Entry 6241
An' dey take yore hair of anothah way now. Take yore hair an' run yo' crazy anothah way. Dey kin take it an' put it in a green tree, oak tree, an' make a slice up. A green growin' tree. Put de hir in dere an' see, it close back on de hair. Why yo' soon go crazy an' dere ain't no cure fo' yo'. (Go to a small growing tree and put your hair in there. And when that tree grous together again?) Yeah, de tree grows up, why de hair grows in dere, why yo' go crazy. [For bair growing though separated from body, see No.5804f.]
Entry 6246
Dey kin take yuh hair an' bury it, yuh see, an' dat'll run yuh crazy. Dey'll bury it wit de same hot stuff, gunpowder, red peppah. Dat's when dey wan'a run yuh crazy. An' dey'll take dat wasp nestes. Yuh know de wasp look lak dey goin' fly at chew an' goin' sting yuh. Yo'll take de wasp nestses an' take dat [wasp] powdah. Take dem little waspses outa de nest an' takes de dirt an' dey makes a little powdah. Dey makes a little powdah wit dat an' dey'll go tuh work an' dey'll.... Whut did yuh ast me? Uh-huh, yuh hair. An' dey'll take dat hair an' dey'll put all dat togethah an' dey'll bury it, or eithah put it in [a tree]. Dey'll go in de woods somewhere an' dey'll put it in a tree toward de sunrise, an' yo'll always have achin's an' achin's in yore haid an' be crazy.
Entry 6250
Take dey hair an' go tuh a oak tree on de west side, an' bo' yuh a hole in dere, an' put dat hair in dere, an' aftah so long a time dat person will go crazy.
(This person's hair.)
Entry 6251
Dey take de hair an' go tuh de sundown side of a sweet gum tree. Go ovah dere an' dey'll put [that] hair wit some graveyard dirt on tuh it. An' den dey'd have a augah an' bo' a hole in dat tree, an' have a peg de same size de augah, yuh know, an' drive it in dere. Tap it - got'a hit a lick evah day nine days, de ninth day yuh goin' drive it all de way down - way down, way down. Dat's when dey lose dere mind.
Entry 6252
Ef dey kin git de hair from de mole of yore haid, an' take an' put it into a bottle, an' bury it beside de green tree where de sun die - de side of de tree where de sundown - an' yo' become to losin' yore mind.
Entry 6254
I knew a girl. Shewuz goin' wit a boy an' dis othah girl wuz goin' wit 'im too. An' she didn't like it. So she says she got some dis girl's hair, see an' climbed a tree an' tied it on a limb. When de wind blow like dat [demonstrates].
(Swinging the hair back and forth.)
Dis girl jis' finally left town. Den she's crazy too, she ain't got goodmind.
Entry 6257
Take a person's hair an' git one dem green gourds. DID CHEW EVAH SEE A GOURD GROW? Cut a place out an' take de hair an' place it in dat gourd, an' put dat gourd back tuhgethah an' hang it up. Dat will make a fellah go crazy. (Where do you hang it?) Up in a tree, yessuh. When de weath- ah is calm, well of co'se dey won't rage much, but any time dere's a wind blowin', why dey have de fits. Dey jes' crazy. No less den a green gourd [will do this].
Entry 6273
Dere's a way to run a woman crazy so dey say. Dey take a small bottle an' put urine in it, an' put de hair down in it an' stop it up, an' throw it in a stream of water. It will go an' yo' will nevah git chure mind back unless somebody will discovah where dat bottle went an' bring it back an' uncork it. [For 2 remarkable examples of doctors recovering floating spells and destroying them, see 920, p.338; 921, P.339.]
Entry 6276
If yo' want a person tuh be crazy about choo, yo' kin take dere hair an' a roun' piece 'bout dat big [demonstrates] outa dere sock, of each sock. (About the size of a dollar?) No, about de size of aquartah or half [dollar]. Den yo' ball dat hair up tight an' yo' put it in dose two pieces of sock an' yo' sew it up tight. An' aftah yo've done dat, yo' take dat an' yo' soak it in 'is urine nine days. Put it in today, let it stay, an' take it out; put it in tomorrah an' take it out, fo' nine days; an' den yo' weah dat about yore per- son, as close to yore privates as yo' possibly kin, an' dat'll make dat person automatic'ly crazy about choo as long as yo' weah it. An' of co'se if yo' happen tuh lose it or throw it away, dat breaks de spell.
Entry 6281
[Hair and water joined in a rite is fairly common in hoodoo. There are many kinds of water: ordinary (the Water in a bucket or still water), running, hydrant (considered running), rain, eaves, spring, well, tide, dew, etc. One example of gutter running water will be found (No.5695, p.2913). I do not recall any snow water or snow rites. Holy water, bathwater, dishwater, clotheswater, and scrubwater have been omitted because they do not occur in the following list of hair-water rites.] Take a strand of hair out de haid an' put it in a bottle of watah an' shet it up in a bottle of watah. It will run yo' crazy.
(Just ordinary Water?)
Jes' take it [hair] out an' put it in a bottle of watah an' stop it up.
Entry 6287
Take a stran' of a woman's hair, anybody's hair dat chew be goin' wit lak dat, an' den throw it in runnin' watah an' it will run dem crazy. [Wilson, N. Car. (1461), 2650:9.]
Entry 6288
Well, ah've heard dat chew kin cut a small plait of hair in de top of yore haid, de mole of yore haid, an' put it in runnin' watah. It will run yo' crazy.
Entry 6289
Ah've heard dat chew kin take hair an' put it in a runnin' stream whicb would drive a person crazy.
Entry 6290
Dey take jes' a piece of yore hair an' put it in a runnin' stream of watah, an' dat'll cuz a person tuh lose 'is mind.
Entry 6297
A person could take a stran' of hair outa mole of yuh haid, direc'ly outa de mole, an' put it in a glass vial - sompin lak a li'le vial dey use at de drug sto' fo' dang'rous medicine. Put dat hair in dere an' cork it up right tight an' throw it intuh run- nin' watah. An' dey say it will run yuh wit a bad haidache all yuh live, an' almos' run yuh crazy.
Entry 6299
Git chure hair an' kin stop it up in a bottle, throw it ovahbo'd an' it'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 6300
Dey kin git de hair out de mole of yore haid, an' dey kin take it an' stop it up in a bottle an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' dat'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 6301
If yuh git hold of it, yuh see, yuh kin take it, hair, an' put it in a bottle, stop it up: Put it in a bottle an' stop it up an' den yuh carry it an' throw it in runnin' watah. Dat way yuh could run 'em crazy.
Entry 6304
Dey say yo' kin take hair an' stick it in a bottle, an' go to a run- nin' stream an' throw dat bottle in de watah, an' let dat watah on it an' yo' kin run a person crazy lak dat. Yo' kin take a plait of hair an' do de same.
Entry 6306
Take yore hair an' put it in a tight bottle an' stop it up in dere an' throw it in runnin' watah. Dat'll take yore mind, run yo' crazy.
Entry 6313
[Take hair] outa de top of yuh haid, de mole of yore haid. Now dey kin take dat hair an' kin run yuh crazy. Dey take dat hair an' take it an' jis' sew it up in a piece of cloth, an' den take dat hair an' take it tuh de runnin' watah, an' dey kin throw it in dere. An' it will run yuh clean crazy - run yuh 'way from dere.
Entry 6321
Dey could take yuh hair an' tie it up in a rag an' wear it nine days in dat rag, an' throw it in runnin' watah an' dat run yo' crazy.
Entry 6322
Git dat hair an' yuh plat it. An' yuh plat it undah- han'. Don't plat it ovah-handed, plat it undah-handed. An' if yuh plat it undah-handed, when yuh git it plat undah-handed, den yuh git a li'le red piece of ribbon, li'le tiny piece of ribbon on dat hair, see. Yuh puts dat into a bottle. Den yuh stop it up tight an' yuh throw it in de watah, nmmin' watah, IN DE BIG MISSISSIPPI RIVAH. An' dat'll run yuh crazy or run yuh oata torn.
Entry 6325
Take a person's hair right outa his haid, 'bout de mole of 'is haid, an' put it into a silk pocket han'ke'ch'ef, an' yuh kin drop it in runnin' watab. An' dat will run 'im plumb crazy. See, dat would run 'im crazy. [Fay- etteville, N. Car., (1407),] 2528:2.]
Entry 6329
Yuh kin take a stran' out de mole of yuh haid an' carry it tuh a run- nin' watah an' throw it up de stream - don' throw it down de stream, throw it up de stream. Dat'll drive yuh crazy in two days. Yuh be jis' as crazy as a bug. [Here again, as in the preceding rite, we have a magic term, upstream, meaning against the stream. Upstream or its equivalent against the stream is a common feature of black cat lucky-bone rites - see Pp.74-97 and elsewhere.]
Entry 6330
I have heard stories about that. They would get a lock of your hair in a certain part near the top of your head [the mold] where the brain is more exposed. And they get that hair and put it with some other ingredients, and a piece of your clothes that you have happen to have worn very close to you. They tie it up tightly and throw it in running water. This is supposed, they say, to make you lose your mind and to go away from wherever you live. You will continue to want to go as long as this thing keeps in the water and keeps going. It will stop you from running if it will catch on something, a root, a snag; then they say you will stop. You will never want to come back from where you started from.
Entry 6336
Well, dey kin git holt some of yore hair. It's 'cordin' to whut dey wanta do wit yo', why dey kin take dat hair. Now, if dey wanta partly run yo' crazy, frenzy minded, dey could take dat hair an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up an' pore watah on it.
(Any kind of water?)
Any kind of a watah po' on it. Let it stay until it become to be - DAT WATAH GOIN' MAKE DAT HAIR 'LIVE LAK A LITTLE LIVE WORM IN DE WATAH, yo' see. Well, WHEN DAT HAIR BEGIN TUH GIT 'LIVE, dey take an' po' dat Water out an' t'row dat bottle in de rivah. Let it float on de way down - on - on - on. T'row it away. Whenevah dey throw it down, dey [the thrower] jes' turns aroun', dey don't look back aftah it a'gin at all. Well, dat run yo' crazy.
(They pour the water out that bottle before they throw it into the river?)
Yes, 'fore dey t'row it in de rivah, dey must keep it nine days aftah yo' put de watah in it. Yo' keep dat bottle 9 days. Have it roun' yore house an' IN 9 DAYS DAT HAIR WILL COME TO LIFE. (Yes, but I mean, you leave the water [hair] in the bottle when you throw it into the river?)
[The word water in my question is a slip of the tongue for hair.]
Yeah, oh yeah. An' de bottle's goin' float on, be goin' right on doon wit de stream.
Entry 6343
A lady tole me dat she run a lady crazy. An' she'd taken some hair out of 'er [other woman's] haid an' she put it in a bottle, jis' a bottle an' stop it up an' carry it to a runnin' stream of watah an' throw it in, an' talk an' tell it, "Ah want chew tuh run dis lady crazy." An' when dem nine days wuz up, she jis' foolin' crazy.
Entry 6344
Well, ah've heard dat yuh kin take a lock of a woman's hair an' throw it when de tide is goin' out - jis' so yo' knows de watah goes out an' comes in. Well, when de tide is goin' out why yuh throw dat bottle wit dat hair - stop dat fulla watah - an' let it go out. An' dat will run de man, ah mean dat woman, crazy.
Entry 6349
Dey git de hair from de comb an' dey mix it up wit a little - put some salt in it, de way ah heard it. Now, put salt in it an' sometimes dey puts cham- ber lye in it. Put dat in de chamber lye in de bot- tle. Put dat in de bot- tle - put de chamber lye in it an' put de salt in it an' stop it up. See, an' goes tuh de rivah an' chunk it as de tide goin' out. An' dey chunk it as de tide goin' out, well, about from three tuh five tuh nine days, yore mind will be goin' - goin' till yo' go, an aftah while yo' find yoreself crazy.
Entry 6458
All right, if yo' wants tuh run a woman crazy, yo' take some of 'er hair. An' cut 'er lef' li'le fingahnail, an' den git de middle fingahnail off de right han', an' some of 'er hair, an' tie it up tuhgethah an' go tuh a li'le saplin' tree. Bo' a hole intuh it an' place it in dat hole in dat tree. Ah guarantee yo' 'fo' a good while she be crazy.
Entry 6531
Now dey tell me yo' kin take red ants. Go tuh a red ants' bed, jis' lak if yo' wants tuh run a person crazy. Yo' kin go tuh a red ants' bed an' git dose ants an' kill 'em. An' take 'em out in de sun an' let [put] 'em in de sun an' let 'em dry. Don't dry dem in de shade. Yo' know, put 'em in de sun an' let 'em dry. An' give it tuh de folks den in sech as dey bread, or one sech lak dat, an' dey says it will create live things tuh come up an' down in 'em.
Entry 6533
Dey put dat in yo'. Jis' lak yo' know, it's not de ants, it's de aigs from de ants. Jis' lak yo' know yo're [you are] sore [angry] wit a person an' dis person drinks. Well, if yo' kin git - yo' know dese ants' aigs intuh dis whiskey, yo' kin give 'em dat. An' it jis' supposed tuh hatch an' run 'em crazy.
Entry 7256
(What do they do with that hair?)
Well, dey'll take dat hair an' dey'll tie it aroun' dere waist, yuh know. Tie dat hair wit string an' make nine knots in it. Aftah dey make dem nine knots in it, well in about fifteen days yuh'd go crazy, if yuh don't go see about chureself. Yuh'd have tuh go tuh some strong two-haided person an' see about chureself.
(Where do you get this hair from?)
Out of yuh ear.
(And what do they tie that to?)
Aroun' dey waist.
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 7399
If a man do any murderin' or anythin', yo' kin take dat ole shoe an' bury it bottom upwards; dey say, jes' in de ground an' bury it bottom upwards. Dey say he'll go crazy - wit 'is clothes.
(Whose shoes do you bury?)
Bury de ones dat done de murder.
(If you know who did the murder?)
Yes, yo' have to know he done. Bury dat shoe, he go crazy. Call dis man name all de time. (In this case you just suspected the man did the killing, and in order not to take any chances, you'd bury his shoe or either his clothing, calling his name, and if he did do it, then he'll go crazy.)
Entry 7713
Dey say yo' take graveyard dirt. It's accordin' tuh where yo' git it from, whut side yo' git it when yo' goin' git graveyard dirt. Yo' go tuh de graveyard an' take de footbo'd an' put it tuh de haid; take de haidbo'd an' yo' put it tuh de foot. An' yo' take dat graveyard dirt right about at de centah, about tuh dis fah [far] at de centah [demonstrates].
(Up to the elbow.)
Yes, about tuh de elbow. An' yo' take dat graveyard dirt an' yo' could do mos' anythin' wit dat, see. Sprinkle it roun' a person house, dat'll confuse 'em, cuz 'em tuh leave home. Sometimes cuz 'em tuh be spellbound, go crazy. Dis graveyard dirt, jes' [sprinkle it] somewhere where dey kin pass ovah it, walk ovah it. Dey tell me dat whut graveyard dirt will do.
Entry 7756
It's one thing, yo' kin go tuh de graveyard an' git some graveyard dust an' put dat on a person's do'steps. An' [they] try tuh stay dere fo' a certain length of time an' den dey will go crazy, yo' see.
Entry 7891
Take dat graveyard dirt an' put dat graveyard dirt in a li'le bag an' sew it up. An' den dey'll, yo' know, dey put dis in a, yo' know, put some in - [if] dey kin git tuh yo', dey put some of dat grave- yard dirt in yuh shoe, put it in de shoe. Well, dat run yo' crazy.
Entry 7904
Yo' take graveyard dirt an' put in one of 'is sock, de right sock, see. He be runnin' out [away from home] an' see, if yo' throw dat ovah de house - lak ah were de woman, dat ah an' mah husband live in [the house] see. In othah words, when he came back in de house. ovah mah, where hit [the sock] tetch de ground at. he wouldn't wanta go back out dere [away from me]. When he come in he be crazy about de house an' don' wanta go anywhere, wanta stay home most of de time.
Entry 7920
Take de dirt off de grave an' take it at night, twelve a'clock. An' take it an' carry it tuh de do' an' put it at de foot of de steps. An' whosomevah in dere, what dey don't like, will run 'em crazy.
Entry 8008
Lak dis - now yo' take a doll baby. Co'se dat doll baby could not belong tuh yo'. It might belong to yo' kid or sompin lak dat. Well, dey take de doll baby. Dey might take dat doll [owned by yo' kid], ight steal it from yo'. Might take dat doll baby an' stick one pin in de cor- nah of dis side of 'er mouth, an' stick a li'le stick pin in dat side of 'er mouth. See, stick one undah her lip, see, an' stick one intuh her nose, an' one in de temple - right temple. Dat will run yo' crazy. Dere a lotta way tuh run yo' crazy.
Entry 8084
Yo' kin git de photograph of me if dere is any dissatisfaction between I an' yo'. Yo' is de woman an' I'm de man, an' yo' kin git mah pichure. [Once again as so many times, I am a guinea pig - this time a female one!] Yo' kin carry dat pichure an' take up about half a tablespoonful of castor oil. Sprinkle de castor oil [demonstrates] ovah de pichure lak dat, turn it down on de face, dig a li'le dirt out de ground an' put it on topa de pichure lak dat. An' I'll go crazy. [For oil on photo, see later margin title 9 DAYS etc.]
Entry 8132
Dey take yer photograph, an' dey take it an' yo' know, an' turn it down an' place somepin [a weight] on it yo' know, an' keep it turnt down. An' den, dey tell me dat will cuz people tuh lose dere mind lak dat.
Entry 8182
Well, dey kin take yure photograph. Well, dey kin cut it all out roun' but chure haid, see. An' put dat in a bottle of alkyhol [alcohol] an' let it stay fo' awhile an' burn it up. An' dat'll ruin yo'. Dat'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 8185
Now, fo' example, dey tells me yo' takes dat photograph an' yo' bury it undah de house face upside down. Dat'll eithah molt chew away or run yo crazy. Whosoevah dis photograph belongs to, it eithah molt 'em away, be sickly an' soon die, or else dey will go crazy. Well, ah've seen dat done.
Entry 8214
Yo' put it [photograph] catacornah'd [catercornered], joo know cata- cornah'd across, not hang it straight. Yo' see [demonstrates] lak dis is de cornah heah, an' dere, yo'll hang it ovah diag'- nal dis Way. [The photo hangs with sides tilted.1 An' write dere name three times across dis way [demonstrates]. [These names are written diagonally, each three crossing the other three at the center of the photo, making a six-pointed star-like or wheel-like figure which in a similar form, the dotted triangle, will be found in v.2, p.1833.1 Well, dat'll run 'em crazy.
Entry 8321
She [his grandmother] say, "Put chure pichures up, son, don't let chure pichure hang around, if ah got holt of 'em" - she tell me about dis, say, "people kin take dat pichure an' run yo' crazy." Ah say, "Yeah?'" Ah wants tuh know it, yo' know. She say, "Dey kin take dis pichure an' run yo' crazy, boy. Yore pichure should be put up." [Informant now tells what he heard from his grandmother.] Dey take dis pichure heah an' dey go tuh de toilet, an' git some of dat stuff out of de toilet an' put on dis pichure. An' dey'll go way out in de woods some- where an' cut a little piece of bark off a tree, dat is hangin' down lak dis [demonstrates] yo' know, an' put dat pichure up dere. An' tack it up dere an' put dat bark back up dere. An' since dat tree is constantly growin', yo' know, an' dat pichure being wit dat stuff dere, why see, dat will constantly make dat thing go back ovah dere. Say it will run yo' crazy, dat pichure being in dat tree dere.
Entry 8327
Nail it tuh de.tree - nail de face up tuh a tree. In othah words, nail it up backwards, an' dat supposed tuh run 'em crazy.
Entry 8330
Well, in a gum tree. Well ah think befo' de sun rise - yes, yo' stick it [photo- graph] in de tree an' shut it up, wit dat person's name in it, but where dey cain't git it among othah trees.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat will set 'em crazy an' dey cain't git tuhgethah, yo' know.
Entry 8350
Whut chew kin do wit dat. Yo' take dis heah pichure whut yo' made yo know, if a fellah wants tuh do sompin real bad tuh yo', he kin take dat pichure an' go 'bout, chew might say, "cross de woods up 'ginst a long tall pine tree. An' he kin take, whut chew might say, dese eight- penny nails, an' he kin take dat pichure an' stick it 'ginst de tree an' nail dat dere. An' go dere fo' nine mawnin's, yo' might say, hit dat nail on de haid. An' it will run yo' stone crazy.
Entry 8365
Dey say dat if dey take yore pichure an' put it up on a tree where no one kin see yo', dat it will run yo' crazy.
(How do you put it up in the tree?)
Nail it up wit a tack. (What else did you say they do with the picture?) Or eithah take it an' put it in run- nin' watah. Or eithah take some of yore watah an' po' it in some runnin' watah, an' run yo' crazy.
(They put your photograph in running Water and that will run you crazy.)
Entry 8402
Well, dey kin run yuh crazy, or kill yuh, or make yuh git down sick, eithah.
(How do they do that?)
Dey take dat photograph an' git chew a saucah an' fill it about half full of vinegah, an' turn dat photograph down on de face in dat vinegah, an' take yo' a drinkin' glass an' set ovah it, an' let it set dere. An' when de vinegah eat all dat, yuh future [features] out of dat photograph, why yo' go crazy. Dey keep dat glass ovah it tuh keep de air from hittin' it. Yo' see, yo' can't let de air git in dere.
Entry 8417
Or yo' kin take yore pichure - ah heah mah ole grandmothah talk about dat often. Yo' kin take a pichure an' put it ovah a glass of hot boilin' watah an' - in othah words yo' sterilize it - an' den yo' go crazy. Dere isn't anything yo' kin do fo' dat. Aftah yo' git dat pichure sterilized see, when dat pichure fades away, well dey say den yo' crazy. Yo' be upset an' yo' be wantin' tuh go places all de time.
Entry 8456
Yore photograph is yore pichure. Well, ah've heard dat people have taken yore pichure an' some quicksilvah an' throwed it in watah an' run yo' crazy or make yo' leave home. (Well, what would they do with that quicksilver?) Dey taken an' put it on de pichure [quicksilver here probably tinfoil] an' put it in a li'le sack, an' throw it in a stream of cleah runnin' watah. Jes' lak dis watah's runnin' downstream an' throw it in dat stream of watah, an' turn yo' back on it an' go on back. An' it'll eithah run yo' crazy or make yo' leave home.
(You just spread that quicksilver on the picture? The back of it or?)
On de back of it.
Entry 8459
Take dat photograph an' throw it in dat stream where dere running water, it goin' so'th, an' dat will run yo' crazy.
(Runs you crazy. Must the water run south?)
Runnin' so'th, yeah.
(What if it ran north?)
Well, ah haven't heard about dat.
(It must be water running south.)
Entry 8481
Dey kin walk backwards an' call a person name, an' if dey continue tuh do dat fo' a certain many days, dat'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 8482
Jes' lak yo' were enemies tuhgethah, sompin lak dat, an' yo' wanted dem tuh go, why den yo' go ahaid an' take dere name. Take dere name - jes' lak ah'm enemies ag'inst yo' - take dere name an' write it nine times. An' wrap it up in a piece of papah wit de bird aigs an' put it in de bird nest. An' den dat'll make dem, yo' know, go wild; have a wild mind, a goin' mind tuh go. Dey won' be satisfied nowhere dey go.
Entry 8485
Well, dey says dat dey kin git chure blood an' write chure name, an' evah whut dey wanta do tuh yuh, write dat wit yore blood. Say, if dey want chew tuh go crazy, say yo'll go crazy; an' if dey want chew tuh leave town, yo'll leave town. If dey want chew tuh stay right dere wit dem - evah whut dey want chew tuh do, why dey write dat aftah dey write chure name an' yo'll stay right dere; but chew gotta take dat, aftah yo' write it, an' put it in a secret place where cain't nobody put dere hands on it but chew.
Entry 8510
(What about gunpowder?)
Well, yo' take gunpowdah an' yo' take Red Seal Lye. Yo' take gunpowdah, yo' take Epsom salt, an' yo' take de individual name. Yo' put it down in a coconut an' yo' bury dat coconut, an' yo'll keep dat party as crazy as crazy kin be. See, dat gun- powdah is de ambition, dat red peppah [Red Seal Lye] is hot, an' dat Epsom salt jis' keep - dat Epsom salt keep 'em from havin' anythin'. Evahthin' dey git slip away from 'em, yo' see. Keep 'em wit a rovin' mind.
(A roving?)
A rovin' mind, yeah. Yo' know, jis' ambition, fightin' an'....
Entry 8519
Well, dey take de nine needles, an' aftah takin' de nine needles, write de name down nine times, whosomevah fellah it is, or de woman, den write chure name down nine times down on top of dat. Den aftah dat yo' put de cinnamon an' sugah in dere, an' de urinate, into de coconut. Den kick it from de front do' tuh de back do' nine times, fo' nine times. Take an' throw it ovah intuh de rivah. Dat guarantee tuh dry 'em up. Stop any woman in de worl'. Dry dem up, run 'em stoneZy crazy.
[The latter expression is usually stone crazy.]
(Dries up their urine? Kills them?)
Kills 'em yeah. (The person who is killed, you have to take that person's urine to put in that coconut?) Yeah, yo' take dat lady's urine, de one dat chew wanta fix, an' write dere name nine times. Den yore name on top of dat nine times. (You write his or her name nine times that way. Then you write yours on top of it like that?) Yeah. all on top of dat nine times. [New Orleans. La., (1561). 2857:7.]
Entry 8701
Put some salt in there an' bluestone an' yore name mixed wit it. An' tie it up an' put de [Red Devil] lye over it an' set it afiah. Yo' burn a whole can of lye. Dey take dat an' run people crazy with it.
Entry 8872
Dey take yore han'writin' an' run yo' completely crazy, an' git chure fingahprints from de lettah dat chew wrote, an' jes' mess yo' all up in yore han's lak it be's a kin' of a stroke.
(What would they do with that?)
A woman tole me dey take it [letter] an' dress it. [Thinking informant had ended, I stopped recording machine but had to restart for an addition.]
(After they dress it, they stop it up in a green tree?)
Dress it an' den stop it up in a green tree.
Entry 10211
Well, yo' take one of 'er socks, jes' one of 'er stockin's, if yo' kin fin' dit, or eithah her menst'ration cloth. Well mos' people take de menst'ration cloth an' take a quart jah see, an' ketch [rain] watah. Jes' set yore quart jah out in de yard when it rains an' let it run full of watah [see comment later] an' take dat menst'ration cloth an' put it down in dere [the rain water] an' keep it [in the rain water] for nine days. An' aftah de ninth day she be - well, she'll go crazy for you. (Well, that breaks the spell, she had him tied up, when she ties up your [a man's] nature.) Yes sir. [First an empty quart jar set out in the yard during a rain is not going to fill up with water, despite the hoodoo powers of my informant. Finally: if a woman ties up a man, takes away his nature for all women except her, the present rite restores his nature completely.] [Rain water, like running Water, is a magic substance: see No.1431, p.467, v.1; etc.]
Entry 10713
Jis' lak yo' git someone's hair, yo' kin git de bird nest an' fold dat up an' throw it in runnin' watah. Well, dat'll run yo' crazy lak dat. Jis' makes yo' go crazy, yo' jis' always be on de path - dat's runnin' 'em. (You put this hair in the bird's nest and sew this up in some- thing?) Yes, yo' throw it in de watah.
Entry 10747
Like when a woman is ministratin' by the light of the moon or ube dark of the moon. All that work [is] done with the moon. You get one of ber clothes [cloths] and bury it behind the [outside] toilet or in the [drainage] ditch [along the street or road]. jis' anywhere there is water stays at, somewhere itmiwl rot fast, and that will cause her to go crazy.
Entry 10843
Ef ah wanta run yo' crazy an' ah don't like yo' nohow, ah lin take a buzzard's feather. Ah'll go tuh yore house an' ah'll take dat buzzard feather an' ah'll ran 'em 'bout fur as yore do', an' den yo'll git foolish, an' gamder aroun'.
(You just put it over the door?)
Uh-huh ovah de do'.
Entry 10891
Yo' kin put cat hair in a person's whiskey or coffee or tea or somepin lak dat an' dey'll begin tuh have fits an' act lak a cat or somepin. Den too, yo' kin take dog hair an' do de same thing, an' de dog hair git in it [drink] an' it'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 11335
"Bout takin' de mo'rnin' dove [= turtledove] an' takin' his heart out, dat's fo' fixin' somebody. Yo' know, fixin' 'em in any kinda way dat chew wanta, so dey mindless. Dey take de heart out of a mo'rn- in' dove an' have it parched up until it jes' be like ashes or a powder, anythin'. An' say yo' kin take dat an' put dat intuh any watah or anythin' dey use tuh drink, or anythin' dat chew Wanta put it in, an' from time tuh time after yo' give it tuh 'em in de weeks dat dey live, dat dey would be jes' mindless or go jes' crazy.
Entry 11400
Scrape fingernails, put in coffee, tea, or whiskey, an' you'll go crazy. [Charleston 572:2.]
Entry 11474
Jest like I tole you about de other thing. Dey'll take dat and scrape it and put it in a little paper sack or tie it up in a cloth and they'll drop dat overboard. Dat'll hurtcha.
(What will that do to you?)
That will cause you to be down all de time and you'll go crazy. You go ovahbo'd, sompin like dat [foot] track will.
(That is with the scraping of your feet.)
Yes. [Charleston 653:7.]
Entry 11479
Take foot track to running water, near there walk backwards, turn your back, throw over shoulder into stream, runs person crazy. [Vicksburg 1000:1.]
Entry 11857
I could take just about three strands of hair of your head and go to a tree. And I would put it on the sunset side of that tree, where the sun goes down on that hair. And just take a long spike nail and bore a hole in that tree. And ball all that hair up on the sunset side of the tree, but it has got to be when the sap is up in the tree. By what I mean by the sap is when the leaves is on the tree. And bore a hole in that tree and stick that hair up in there, and drive that nail in there behind it. And when the sun commence to go down, that cause you to have headache, don't you see. And this headache will get worse every day, and from that it will drive you crazy, and from crazy it will kill you. [you do this] when the sap is up, because when the sap begins to go down you won't live very long.
Entry 11911
Bore hole into tree and in it stop up person's hair to run him crazy.
[Washington, D. C., 837:3.]
Entry 11912
If you nail a person's hair to a tree - usually by first making a nail hole and then inserting the hair - that person will go crazy after the bark grows over the hole. [Ocean City, Md., by Ediphone.]
Entry 11915
Hair from mold of head stopped up in tree hole runs victim crazy.
[Norfolk 457:7.]
Entry 11917
If you bore a hole in a tree and stop up a person's hair in it, it will either rumn the person crazy or out of town. [For a long time I could not understand how hair stopped up in a tree could run a person out of town. Nothing could be more illogical! Gradually I learned that intention or wish was more powerful than action or symbolism.] [Wilmington 74:3+85.]
Entry 11921
Wrap hair around a nail, drive it into tree when sap is rising, and run hair owner crazy. [Richmond 328:4.
Entry 11923
If someone cuts a hole in a tree that stands in running water and stops up in it some of your hair, you will lose your mind. [Wilmington 269:6+85.]
Entry 11928
Drive victim's hair into the right side of tree as you approach it to drive victim crazy, but you must use a rusty nail. [Richmond 337:1.]
Entry 11931
Victim's hair must be stopped up in north side of tree to run him crazy. [Norfolk 480:5.]
Entry 11932
Wrap victim's hair around a nail, name it, drive it into the north side of a tree, and it will run victim crazy after 9 days. [Richmond 367:2.]
Entry 11936
If someone carries your hair to a tree early in the morning, just as the sun begins to shine on the tree, and drives your hair under the bark on the east side of the tree, you will go crazy. [Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 11938
Lay person's hair in hollow of a tree or where birds can find it and make a nest, and the latter will run the person crazy. [Baltimore 59:2.]
Entry 11939
To drive a person's hair into a tree root runs that person crazy.
[Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 11944
On the growing of the moon is the proper time to bore a hole into a tree and to put into it victim's hair and 9 tenpenny nails. This will run victim crazy in 9 days. [Norfolk 491:6.]
Entry 11946
A person whose hair is stopped up in a hollow tree will go crazy.
[Snow Hill 3:2.]
Entry 11965
You may bottle a person's hair with heartshorn perfume [Hearts Cologne] and throw it into running water to run a person crazy. [That term heartshorn, a mispronunciation for Hearts Cologne, gave me trouble until I finally realized either some informants could not pronounce the word cologne or confused it with the obsolete pharmaceutical term hartshorn, that is, spirit of hartshorn. [Wil- mington 270:5+85.]
Entry 11966
Hair is taken from the left side of victims head, stopped up in a bottle, and thrown into running water to run a person crazy. [Wilmington 262:1+85.]
Entry 11967
If you put a person's hair in a bottle and throw it over your shoulder into running water while cursing, it will run the person intended crazy. [Wil- mington 172:8+85.]
Entry 11968
Put person's hair in bottle, stop it up, go to running water, call person's name 3 times, and throw bottle into water to run him or her crazy.
[Wilmington 127:1+85.]
Entry 11969
You can run a person crazy by stopping up his hair and urine in a bottle and throwing it into running water. [Wilmington 89:1+85.]
Entry 11971
Sew up victim's hair with concentrated lye and red pepper in a red flannel bag, stop up latter in a bottle, and throw bottle into running Water to run victim crazy. [Wilmington 148:5+85.]
Entry 11973
Pick a small hole into a raw chicken egg, remove the raw egg, insert a person's hair, toss the eggshell into running water, the person whose hair it is will go crazy. [Norfolk 492:10.]
Entry 11984
They mix your hair with human excrement, add salt and vinegar, and throw it into running water before sunup to run you crazy. [Washington, D. C., 822:3.]
Entry 11989
11989-11990. Your hair buried in a bottle will drive you crazy. [Richmond 323:3; Wilmington 108:7+85.]
Entry 11990
11989-11990. Your hair buried in a bottle will drive you crazy. [Richmond 323:3; Wilmington 108:7+85.]
Entry 11993
Stop up a person's hair in a bottle and bury it on a river bank near Water to run the person crazy. [Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 12005
If you bottle a person's hair with snail-shell powder and frog powder, you will run your victim crazy. [Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 12007
If someone bottles your hair and urine with 9 new needles and 9 new pins, and buries it, it will run you crazy. [Newport News by Ediphone.]
Entry 12015
To run you crazy, they bury under your doorstep: your hair, finger- nails, toenails, and a piece of a garment you have worn next to your skin [Nor- folk 427:3.]
Entry 12292
Dat's in de lines of castin' a spell upon a person. Go tuh work an ties 36 knots, if yo' wanta cast a spell upon a person. Put a spell upon a per- son, ties thirty-six knots. Take a strand of thread and tie 36 knots an' let 'em be three inches apart. Dose knots, let 'em be three inches apart 'sposed tuh be in dat thread. An' yo' wil] throw dat thread, after yo' git dose 36 knots tied in it, why den yo'll throw dat thread ovah yore haid an' don't look back. An' yo'll step out de road - anywhere's dere a road - from de middle of de road, throw dat thread ovah yore haid an' don't look back. An' dat will really, de fac' 'bout it, suh, will give dem a purtty tight time. Make 'em crazy - whushy in dey mind.
(How do you know you've got the right person when you are tying those knots?)
Why dere 36 knots! "Cos' yo' know yo' absolutely got de right person.
Entry 12500
New piece of red flannel, 9 new needles on one side, 9 new pins on other, put under doorsteps, makes person crossing over crazy. [Memphis 1569:3.]
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 11399
Take dey fingernails and bury 'em an' make 'em lose dere mind. [Fay- etteville 2614:13.]
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 12016
You can bury a person's hair with the measure of his foot track to run him crazy. [Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
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 12020
Hair buried in a graveyard will make you crazy. [Petersburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
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 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 13099
Oh, dey'd run yo' crazy in a way wit it, wit de dust from a rattle- snake's rattles. Take de dust out of a rattlesnake's rattle an' put dat in dat bow or either sprinkle it inside of dey hat, an' if dey sweat from it, why it will run 'em blind. Ah know two-three blindin's heah today dat result of dat thing.
Entry 13185
Could take one of your socks and bury it, say that will run you part crazy. [Norfolk 447:11.]
Entry 1561
Ah knowed mah uncle. See, he's crazy in de haid - yo' know, jes' have crazy fits, an' he git unfixed wit a snail. Took a snail an' breaks him an' put him in bottle an' den git some sweet oil an' mix dat in de bottle an' den a fresh aig whut jes' laid an' put dat in de bottle. Stir all dat up at night, 'noint it fo' several days an' dat crazy spell he had went away. Fo' several days jes' 'noint his haid wit it.
Entry 4069
Takes dat person watah an' go to de fiah- place an' throw dat in de fiahplace an' den nevah look back at it. Dat'll run yo' crazy. Jis' throw it right in de fiah.
(That will harm the person whose water it was.)
Entry 4178
Yo' kin git ten penny nails, don't chew undahstan', an' brass pins. Yo' kin put 'em in a bottle wit de urine an' stop it up an' it'll set choo crazy. It'll stay in dere an' yo'll suffah clean till dey let choo out. Well, dat's mean, don't choo know. When dey let choo out, yo' got tuh git somebody [to help yuh], don't choo undahstan'.
(Why do they do that?)
Becuz dey're mad an' jealous of yo' gittin' along, an' do somepin tuh yo', don't choo know, so dat choo cain't have no luck.
(What do they do with this bottle?)
Dey buries it, buries it down in de groun' bottom upwards dey tell me.
Entry 4180
Stop dat up an' run yuh crazy, dry yuh up. (This chamber lye?) Yes.
(How do they stop it up?)
Put it in de bottle an' put chure name in dere an' stop it up an' turn it upside down.
Entry 4492
Yuh could take de bath watah.
(The water you take a bath in?)
Yeah. Put it in a quart bottle, or a pint bottle - any [either] one. Yuh gets yuh 9 needles - yuh buy 'em what ain't been used out of - 9 needles, 9 pins. Put 'em in dat [bottle], a bran'- new stoppah. Yuh stop dat [bot- tle] up tight, tight. Turn it like dis, upside down. Bury it undah de hydrant where de watah runnin'. When yuh put dat dere, dat will run 'em crazy.
(I see.)
Entry 4533
Dey kin go tuh de rivah. She kin git one sock, dat would be de right one, an' de hatban' - brim inside, de sweat [sweatband]. An' take it an' throw it in de rivah. She got 'im. He would eithah go crazy or come back tuh 'er.
Entry 4542
Ah heard about 'em takin' de bow out of a man's hat, an' sewin' it up in a piece of red flannel cloth, an' takin' it an' throwin' undah bed. An' dat'll keep 'im comin' roun' yore house, comin' tuh yore house, dey say, if it's a woman; an' dat if it's a man, dat it'll run 'im crazy.
(They use the woman's bow to bring her?)
Well, eithah one.
Entry 4545
Take dat bow intuh yore hat an' dat will run yuh crazy. Take dat bow in yore hat an' put it intuh a bottle. Airtight dis bottle an' don't let no air git intuh it an' it will run yuh crazy.
Entry 4547
Dey kin take dat little bow back dere an' run yuh crazy.
(How do they do that?)
Well, dey kin put it in a little alcohol [see 4544] an' go tuh a place where runnin' watah at, an' throw it ovah in dere. Well dey kin run yuh crazy. Or eithah dey kin take it an' put it in alcohol an' let it stay in dere fo' a certain length of time. Sew it up in a little bow an' put it undah pillah. Dey kin run yuh crazy dataway. AH DON'T WEAR NONE IN MINE. [He removes the bow from his hat, a common practice.]
Entry 4588
Dey kin run yuh crazy wit dat bow outa yuh hat easy, becus dey take dat bow outa de hat an' take it an' git some of dat stone outa graveyard - chip of stones off de [tombstone] out in de graveyard, graveyard dust, white sand out of de graveyard from de head of any grave. An' take it an' put it intuh a jar, altuhgethah, an' take it back an' plant it in dere, in de grave- yard. Dat easily kin run yuh crazy too, de same way as yuh hair.
Entry 4589
Take de bow outa dere hat an' trick 'em in any way yuh wanta trick 'em, an' dey kin keep 'em runnin' crazy or somepin lak dat. (What would you do with that bow?) Yuh take de bow an' yuh tie it up in a piece of cloth an' pin it up on yuh clothes nex' tuh yore heart.
Entry 4590
Dat bow out of a person hat, dat's de only thing tuh make a man love a woman. Dey kin take it an' put it in cologne, de Hearts Cologne. Dey kin use de bow an' Hearts Cologne an' carry it in a small bottle wit dem, an' dat will make a man crazy fo' dem.
Entry 4595
A man's hat - a man's bow outa 'is hat an' yuh kin take Hearts Cologne an' put it in. Yuh see yuh shoe heah has a last [insole] in it, see; an' yuh pull dat last up an' put it undah dere an' po' dis Hearts Cologne on dat bow an' yo' keep it wet. Dat will make him go crazy about chew, too.
Entry 4597
Dat bow - yuh take a bow out of a man's hat an' git chew a bottle of Heart Cologne, an' yuh dip it in de Heart Cologne an' yuh sew a cord string aroun' dat bow an' tie it round yore waist. Dat'll make 'em crazy 'bout chew, jes' love no one but chew.
Entry 4683
Dat little bow in de back of a man's hat, take dat an' go tuh a green pine tree an' bo' a hole wit a augah, an' drive it wit sompin back dere tight. It will run 'im crazy.
Entry 4686
Take hit an' put it - yuh know chamber lye - put it in chamber lye, dis little bow. An' keep it in dat chamber lye an' dis man go crazy ovah dat woman. He cain't guit 'er fo' no othah woman in de worl'.
(Whose chamber lye does she put that bow in?) Put it in 'ers - 'er chamber lye.
Entry 4694
Take dat little bow right out de back of yore head [hat] an' dey'll take it an' tie - a woman will take it an' when she tie it up, she take it an' she'll put it right in 'er bloomahs an' wear it. Wear it right dere right close up tuh 'er, nex' tuh 'er. An' when she git ti'ed of wearin' it, she'll take it tuh 'er do'step an' she'll bury it. An' evah mawnin' she'll go out dere an' she'll throw chamber lye on it. An' it won't be mo' dan three weeks befo' yuh'll go crazy. (And she wears that long as she wants you, and when she doesn't want you, she'll bury it under the door.)
Entry 13327
Sometimes they would get some of your hair and burn it up, or trick it in some way, and make you lose your mind. This and the following example are two early appearances of the words trick and tricking. [old Point Comfort, Va., informant 22.1
Entry 11611
Foot track [left upon questioning] into running water nms victim crazy. [Vicksburg 1012:8.]
The short account ends with 'crazy'; its linking form 'nms' remains unclear and unrepaired.
Entry 12502
Take 9 needles, 9 match stems, smut from chimley [of fireplace], black pepper, mix, plant about house where victim will walk over it. Runs him crazy. [Wilmington 92:5.]
The item attributes a harmful consequence to a described mixture and placement; the historical condition word remains source wording.
Entry 11429
Fingernails and toenails thrown into running water drives victim crazy. [Vicksburg 1012:10.]
The source calls the alleged outcome crazy. This is a reported characterization, not an observed condition, diagnosis or established causal effect.
Entry 11430
Throw his fingernails and toenails with graveyard dirt into running water to run him crazy. [Wilmington 270:7+85.]
The account states an aim of running him crazy. The source characterization establishes neither a diagnosis, actual condition nor a causal effect.
Entry 11438
Fingernails and toenails stopped up runs you crazy. [Vicksburg 1002:12.]
The brief statement claims that nails being stopped up runs a person crazy. The wording and alleged effect remain unverified.