Subject:Cross
Entries
Entry 879
I went to a lady and I was crossed. I used to be very luckv and I got crossed. So when I went in there she told me, she says, "Girl, vou is crossed." So I didn't know what she meant. So she told me, she say, "You is crossed in money." She say, "You give a lady fifty cents." And I had give a lady fifty cents 'cause the lady didn't have nothing. I say, "Yessum." She say, "Well, when you give her the fifty cents," she say, "she took your money. You give it to her out of your hand, a piece of silver money, and she took your money and she got it buried up under the steps with a weight on it." And she said, "That's to keep you down. You'll never be lucky no more unless you get it up. S Well, I didn't know how to get it up myself. So I went to another lady [man] and he told me the same thing. He told me that I was crossed and I start crying and he told me, "You going to be in bad luck all the time." Ah say, "Well, could you tell me what could I do to help myself."
(Did he tell you how you were crossed?)
Yes sir. He tole me I was crossed in money. He tole me a lady what I had a lot of confidence in, I gived her my money. Well, I used to give her money. He say, "She crossed you in the money. Ah say, "Well, could you tell me how I can do to help myself." He say, "You get you some saltpeter and some ammonia and," he say, "you take a bath in it for nine mornings." And he say, "After taking a bath in it, you throw your water to the sunrise." And he say, "You meet me in prayer [at] nine, twelve and three," he say, "and you ought to get that condition off you." So I did that. That been two years ago. So I did that and I got all right.
Entry 969
[Everyone has heard of the double-cross; here is a triple-cross - three crosses in a row or the letter X repeated three times:] I went to see what they call a two-headed man. And this particular man prescribed to me, he says, "Take you three tablespoonfuls of saltpeter and put in your bath water ev'ry time that you bathe. And whenever you have an intercourse with this particular individual, be careful to Wet that rag - you see, because that have the tendency to tie you, to have you tied to a woman - continually using that rag and you sleeping on that rag ev'ry night and not wetting it."
(How do you mean? What would she wet it with?)
Well, just the water - plain water, you see, because it soaks that fluid off of there and it doesn't leave any danger of any harm being done. Then, he gave me what they call [he calls] the Three X's package.
(The Three X's package?)
Three X's package, yes sir - call it the Three X's - they just the common, no more than three X's.
(Three X package.)
The Three X package [magic of repetition]. He told me to take the Three X package - it consisted of a little powder in a can - just exactly how it was - it consisted of a powder substance - the powder seemed to have been in there but it would come like a paste. Well, at that particular time I couldn't have an intercourse with any other woman other than my woman - the woman that I was living with [see No. 796, p.269]. He told me to take this stuff and place it under the head of my - just at the time that I could get ready to have an intercourse with the one that I was tied to, and that it - and in the course of time, and washing in this saltpeter and in the course of time, why I found that I could go out and have other women.
(Now, what was on this package - this XXX package?)
It - it was just the XxX package. The directions he gave me those himself, because no doubt those secrets have to be carefully guarded and like.
(Was there three X's on the package?)
Three X - yes, sir.
(And nothing else on it at all?)
That's all - three X.
(Was it drawn on or printed on?)
Printed.
(Printed on. Nothing - was it a white package or something or that sort?)
No, sir - it was just - you've seen these pill boxes haven't you?
(Yes.)
Well, the box was white trimmed in blue. It was just like you would have a pill-box.
(And then it had a sticker on there with three X's on it?)
Three X - yes, sir.
Entry 1027
[An example of crossing pain was given in Crossmark Cure (p.365), where a boil was willed or intended away. In the following rite the operator asks the spirit to cross or remove the pain - this is prayer:] Ah wus hurt. Ah caught a pain in mah side an' ah stayed sick aboat - it wus t'ree veeks [weeks] befo' ah give up, you know, in de baid. An' ah got a veak [weak] an' ah turnt re'l black. An' ah vent tuh de hospital. Dey couldn't do me no good. An' ah get, you know, medical doctah, an' none of dey [not dem] couldn't do me no good. So I vent in baid on it, stayed in dere t'ree veeks, an' dey [family or friends] had a root doctah tuh come an' zamin me. An' t'wus somepin in mah side wit a pain. It seem lak it keep movin' up - you know, lak somepin turnin' aroun' in yer side. An' she [root doctor] said dat she didn't know no [internal] medicine or nuthin lak dat would of kilt it, but she could of fix an' rub it. She take a penny an' some sulphah an' gas'lene an' salt an' pu-tit tuhgethah an' tell it to cross de pain - yuh know, cross it, cross de pain wit it, zhoo know, jis' rub it. She had tuh mix it all tuhgethah in a jah [iar] an' sha-kit [shake it] re'l good. Yuh see, dat penny get right brown - I mean lak sulphah. Fus' [first] t'ing, she take [starts] to rub it - jis' do lak dat [demonstrates]; made a cross ovah de pain wit de medi-seen. Den she jis' rub it straight down fuh nine mawnin's an' tole me to stay in de baid aboat five days. An' aftah she rubbed it fuh nine mawnin's, den I would of been able to get up, you know, an' walk aroun'. An' it sure did help.
(Did you find out who had done this?)
Dey find it. It wus some needles tied up in a little claht [cloth] an' stuff down in a bottle an' undahneat' mah baid, you know, undah de house. An' den undah de [outdoor] step it wus some match haids an' some kin'a seeds. Dat wus in a bottle. Dat wus undah de step. She found it an' brought it in de house an' sprinkled salt ovah it an' take it wit 'er. [Sulphur, as well as salt, is used to sterilize a hoodoo object - see No. 897, p.328.] She tole me ah could of keep it an' pu-tit in a runnin' watah an' it would do de same good, but ah'd ruthah, yuh know, let 'er care [carry] it off. [Wilmington, N. Car., (231), 155:2+85; happened 1932.] [I would like to illustrate further this important rite of talking over disease or ailment among persons of German descent in Adams County, Illinois:] ["Ten or eleven years ago (1920-1921) I came upon a superstition which was quite new to me at the time. Questioning a little girl about the health of her cousin who was suffering from a badly infected arm I was told that his condition was very serious, "Grandma had to talk to him last night." On inquiry I learned that Grandna knew how to 'talk over' people who were afflicted with wounds or sores and made them well, and that she frequently exercised her art for all sorts of people. She had 'talked over' Marie herself, but Marie declined regretfully but firmly to tell what she said. "You dassunt tell or something bad will happen." The school janitor to whom all the secrets of the 'South End' Ithe Calftown in No. 214, p.60] are an open book, told me that he knew several old women who pretended to this skill, and he mentioned one within two blocks of the school, a radius that would include Grandma also. I mentioned Grandma's curious practice to Mr. B., pastor of K. Church. He received the tale without any surprise and acknowledged that the thing was comnon. Walter [informant's brother] asked several acquaintances of German parentage what they knew about it, and he found that old women who will 'talk over' you can be found in north- east Quincy as well as in south Quincy. No doubt this is an old German superstition. It is certainly alive and flourishing in Quincy." FACI, 1st ed., p.206; 2ed., p.199.] [Miss Ella Randall, one of my great friends, wrote this statement as well as others and also gave material orally. She was interested in my collecting for FACI but died before the first edition of 1935. A copy of the second edition I presented as a memorial to her to the Quincy Public Library, where she for years had been on the Library Board. We first met during high- school-freshman English; she the elderly teacher, I the young pupil.]
Entry 1734
Go tuh de chimley an' mah'k cross de chimley lak dat. (They would come to my chimney.) Yassuh, an' make a mah'k [demonstrates]. (And make a cross mark like that, and I would have to move out. Well, where Would they leave that mark? On the wall or on the black stuff?) On de black stuff. [Cross mark is made in the soot - see Marks, p.254.]
Entry 2829
If yo' git de names of those persons - if yo' know de names of de ones yo' think stealed it, well yo' write their names nine times and write chure's across it. (What do you write it on?) Yo' write it on a plain piece of paper, white paper - write the name nine times. Write chure's across it an' then yo' take it an' git chew a cup of clar' water and put it down in that water. See. An' yo' put a can le on top of it. If yo' don't put de can'le on it, yo' take it an put it in yore lamp. Yo' have a oil lamp, an' put it down in that lamp an' keep that lamp continuously burning on top of it, and dat'll worry 'em so - with that name on there it'll worry 'em so, they'll have tuh come back and they'll confess to yuh.
(That they have stolen this?)
That they have stole. They'll come to yo'.
Entry 2830
You can take their name and they will move. Cross their name with the name of the landlord; that will make the landlord cross with them and he make them move. (How do you do that?) You take the landlord's name and you write it nine times, you understand. Take the person that lives in that house, write their name across it five times. Burn that underneath a black candle. That will make them move.
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 3161
Take two match sticks an' two needles, two new needles, an' take dese two needles an' stick 'em each into each end of de match stick. An' take a new piece of thread an' tie it [the 2 matches] in a cross, an' hide it up under yore girl friend's bed or somepin like dat. An' dey say she wouldn't have no courage for no guys or nuthin like dat, an' you could walk right in an' ketch 'em right at de work.
Entry 3231
Take nails an' cross 'em up in de seat of a man's underweah an' bury it in any parts about de house, yuh know, an' he cain't have nobody bat chew.
(How do you mean, cross these nails in the seat of his undervear?)
Well, yuh know yuh jis' take 'em an' cross de fo' cornahs right doo in de strotch [crotch] of 'is undahweah.
(How many nails do you take?)
Fo'[four] [demonstrates].
(Two parallel like that and two across there.)
[This designs a tick-tack-toe, or double cross or many crosses.]
Dat's right. In some of 'is dirty undahweah whut he's wo'n [worn]. See, don wash 'em. Whut he wo'n. An' jis' roll 'em up an' lay 'em up undah de side of de baid, direc'ly where he sleep at. An' he'll git tuh de place he won' wan' nobody but chew. An' re'lly de fac' of de business, he cain't go wit nobody but chew.
Entry 3317
Well, it's jes' like I'm got a woman here an' I ain't home daytimes, an' I'd urinate in a glass or anythin' an' put it undah de bed. Well, she would- n't use dat watah at all. She'd git up de nex' mawnin' aftah I leave. She'd take dat watah an' she'd put it in a bottle. She write my name nine times on a piece of papah an' take two needles an' cross 'em, an' drop it down in dat watah an' stop dat - stop it up tight an' bury it, see. Now, when she bury dat, I cannot have no connection wit no othah woman but 'er. Yo' see. She's got me tied up, yo' see.
Entry 3345
Now, heah's anothah one. Now if yo' have a girl. It quite jes' nat- chel [natural], lak some of our menfolks dey have wimmin dat dey really love, yo' see de idea. An' we don' want anyone else tuh be wit 'em, yo' see. Well, now, yo' kin go tuh work an' yo' kin take a little simple thin' in yore home, dey calls a dishcloth. Someone calls it dishtowel - some folkses, yo' see. Well, yo' go tuh work an yo' steal dat. Yo' see, when yo' goes tuh work an' steal dat, yo' goes tuh work an' yo' puts it somewhere, put it away an' let it dry. Den say, tonight yo goin' out tuh have a date. Well, yo' see, quite natchel, some use pocket han'- cheffs yo' see, an' so fo'th, but yo' have yorn. She say, "Ah got a han'cheff." Yo' say, "No, ah have a largah han'cheff den yo' got, ' yo' see. Well, yo' take dat an' in de place of she wipin', yo' see, yo' goes tuh work yo' see an' yo' take dat an' yo' wipe yoreself - yo' wipe her yo' see. An' in wipin' her, DON' NEVAH WIPE HER DOWN - WIPE HER UP AN' CROSS 'ER. [The wiping makes the sign of the cross!] Yo' see whut ah'm talkin' about? An' den aftah yo' do's dat, yo' take it an' ball it. Don' chew wipe yoreself wit it. Chew take it an' ball it an' put it away. Next day - mawnin' befo' sun up, yo' make tuh de forsest an yo' fin' a pine tree. Drive yo' a nail into de pine tree lak dat on de sunrise side. Den yo' let it hang dere fo' nine mawnin's. Hang it so de wind can't blow it off yo' know. Let it hang dere fo' nine mawnin's. Den yo' go back, an when yo' go back dere, yo' dig a hole jes' about dat deep, yo' see [demonstrates].
(About as deep as your hand?)
Dat's right, about wrist deep, as yo' said. An' yo' take a stick an' knock it off, yo' see. [IT WOULD BE DANGEROUS TO TOUCH IT.] When yo' knock it off, yo' let it fall in dat nole, yo' see, an' den aftah yo' let it fall in dat hole, yo' cover it up an' walk right straight away. An' if yo' top 'er, yo' gotta pay somebody tuh loosen 'er.
Entry 3456
Yo' go ketch a dog when a she dog an' he dog, then dey mtie", ab°git some of 'is nature from de dog an' put it on de woman, dey say. Aa' yo'croao - yo' make one straight up an' one across lak dat. [The sign of the cos 1s marked over the vouan's valva adth che dog's semen.] Yo' don't let 'a bo it, choo know - jis' azboo [as yoa] playin' wit 'er. An' [they] tell me if any othah man have anything to do dlt 'er outside of yo', he'll stay dere jis' lak a dog when he goes in a bitch. Yo' boo how long dey stay togethah.
Entry 3599
Lak if dere's a boy an' he goin' wit a girl dere an' he wants tuh - well, ah take it, say if dere's a boy goin' wit two girls. Ah mean two boys goin' wit one girl an' one boy he wanted tuh overdo dis othah one wit dis girl. He take one of dese twine strings an' tie nine knots in dis string, an' aftah 'im an' 'er have an intahco'se, measure each way two ways - cross an' straight up an' down on 'er. An' den take an' tie dat string aroun' 'is waist. An' aftah he do dat she'll come tuh be undah 'is control an' de othah boy he be so he can't have anything at all to do wit 'er. (You say he takes the string and measures her private. You say he measures it three ways. Well, how do you mean? Take the width of it?) Yessuh, an' cross dere. Den he takes an' measure on dis way [demonstrates]. (Diagonal - the corner. Measures it three ways.)
Entry 3685
Well, takin' any snail an' while de woman's sleepin', he would take dat snail an' he would pass it across her stomach right dis way an' makin' a cross dat way. Ah don't care whut man she go wit or how he been wit 'er, when he goes tuh go wit 'er, his cnbition will fall.
(He will rub that across this woman's abdomen in the form of a cross?)
Jes' cross it.
Entry 3688
Take a snail an' mark a cross, make a horse's pitchure on a woman's stomick, an' she cain't deal wit no othah man but jes' dat one. (Make what kind of a picture?) A horse's picture - a horse whut chew rides. (You have to draw a picture of a horse on a woman's stomach, but you have to use a snail - this thick stuff from the snail - and then she won't be able to have another man?) No, no man but jes' 'im. [An old note of mine reads: "I do not understand the picture, unless the per- son who draws the picture is the rider!"]
Entry 3689
So far as I know, ah kin tell yo' on dat part, too. So now, yo' take a woman - jis' lak ah'm got a ole lady mahself an' she don't want me runnin' out wit nobody but 'er. Ah seed [saw] 'er do it mahself. Dey take a snail, a live snail dat crawls aroun' - lotta people say yo' kin take yore han'. She take 'er han' an' she will run it across dis snail an' rub it on 'er stomick. Well, yo' kin do it a diff'- ren way dan dat. Yo' kin take a snail an' put it in a clean towel, see, dat yo' use to dry off or somepin. An' where dat snail greasin' dat towel - yo' don't kill 'im or nothin - jis' let 'im crawl across it or somepin an' he makes a mark across it each way he comes. [The crawling snail makes an X-mark.] An' dat towel will be folded right back up some place an' be hung right on de - or prob'ly at de foot of de baid. An' whilst de man have intahco'se wit 'er or somepin, why she han's 'im dat towel. Well, she han's 'im dat an' as long as he uses dat, why he can't do no good wit no one else.
(I see.)
Entry 3726
An' de dishrag in de same lak mannah. Take dat dishrag an' she'll wipe it, dry off wit dat dishrag. Don't make no diff'rence if it's dry or if it's been used in grease, an' dat takes 'er courage away. Takes all de nature away from 'em. Now if a woman ties yo' lak dat now de way dat she do, she'll wait till he's asleep an' she'll mess roun' wit chew an' she'll hang her gown or sompin ovah yore haid till yo' go tuh sleep yo' see [common rite]. An' she'll git a cord string an' she'll measure de length of yo', an' den when she measure de length of yo', she'll tie dat many knots in it, see. Den she'll tie it roun' 'er laig, right around de [calf] of 'er laig, or else roun' 'er wais'. Most of de time she tie it aroun' dere. Well, yo' find it an' yo' mistrust dat. Well den, yo' don't know whut tuh do, yo' tried evahthing, go to de doctors [M.D.'s] an' still dey ain't done any good. Well, yo' lay awake until yo' ketch 'er asleep, an' den yo' slip to her an' take dis cord string off of 'er. An' den when yo' take dis cord string off of 'er, while she's 'sleep, yo' kin take dis same [string] in lak mannah an' measure it [her] dis way, see. An'when yo' measure it dat way, an' den dis way, an' yo' tie it in string in dat shape.
(In a round shape?)
Yes, an' den yo' take dat same string an' yo' sew it; see, sew it from dis heah, dataway. Jes' cut it out an' sew dat togethah. An' dat will git off yo an' git on 'er. Den yo' take yo' some warm watah, as warm as yo' kin bear it, an' put table salt in it an'.wash yo'self real good. An' git cedar oil an' rub - jes' yo'self real good. An' take yo' a dry rag an' wipe down. Dry it off real good an' dat'll do away wit it.
Entry 3727
[Here is Surely ONE OF THE MOST ORIGINAL CURES IN FOLK MEDICINE, my only example of it - a man making the sign of the cross with his whole body over the whole body of a woman!!!] If a man loses 'is na- ture an' wants to have a woman, why he kin take an' git 'im a aig an' a bottle of gingerale or two aigs: a bottle of gingerale, an' git him some Hearts Cologne, an' take nine swallows eight mornings. Dat'll give him nature. An' de first woman dat he evah have communication wit, de first woman, why he jes' lay right 'cross 'er. Lay wit 'is head to de west an' 'is feet to de east [body facing east as in burial, to see rising sun on resurrection dayl. An' den turn roun' an' lay straight up an' down jes' before he uses 'er. Dat will bring 'is nature back.
Entry 3745
Yo' takes a dishrag. Go tuh anybody's home an' de dishrag is hangin' lak dey use it dis morning, yo' go tuh dere 'long 'bout now so hit's damp. Yo' steal de dishrag. Don't ask fo' it jes' steal it. An' go out tuh de way de sun rise an' turn yore face, turn yore face dat way [to east], turn yore back sunset, an' yo' takes an' yo' wipes three times straight down wit de dishrag, den across jes' lak dat [dem- onstrates].
(That will cross it out.)
[Informant's words down and then across, and my words cross it out, show in- formant makes sign of cross 3 times.l Across yore stomic.
(Oh, cross your stomach. From left to right or right to left?)
Bring it from de left tuh de right. An' yo' fold it tight, take it in yore lef' han' an' throw it ovah yore head an' go straight, don't look back. Go two blocks or mo' straight. Don't look back, jes' keep straight walkin'. Don' say nuthin to nobody. It's purtty hard tuh do 'cuz yo' might meet somebody, but place yo'self in a place whah yo' won't have tuh even speak tuh nobody. An co'se whatsomevah she got on yo' crossed up, she gotta redo it ag'in. But dat'll uncross yuh.
Entry 3819
[The sense of this badly recorded cure can be restored:] If woman has man tied up by measurin' an' wearin' [measuring] string, [if she] cross watah - when yo' [she] cross watah, she [nature] come back to yo'. [But otherwise] as long as she wear dat [you won't have any nature except for her.] [For a better insight into crossing water in witchcraft, I recommend an unusual rite, which I will quote in full because it comes from an out-of-print and limited-edition book to be found only in university, college or large library:] [When my boy was little we lived up here near Ursa [[Adams County, Illinois]]. We had an old aunt that was terrible. Well, the truth is, she was a witch. She often said when she milked her cow, she milked every cow in the neighborhood, which is true. Everyone knew it, for if she was milking her cow, no one around could get a drop of milk. Everyone was afraid of her too, afraid she would put a spell on them. I didn't think she would hurt us, but she did. My little boy was strong. He took sick in the legs, he got so weak he could not walk at all. We would put him down and he would fall right over, could not stand on his legs. We took him to the doctor in Ursa, he could not find anything wrong with my boy. We waited several days, then we brought him to Quincy to Dr.x. He could not find a thing wrong. Then I started to thinking maybe our aunt had a spell on our boy and had him in her power. My husband said, "We will take him to one more doctor and if he does not find anything wrong, we will know he is bewitched and will have to take the spell off some way. Well, we took him to the third doctor [M.D.]. It was just the same answer, nothing wrong. It's an old saying, a witch can't follow you over a body of water, if you go one way and come back another way. As soon as you start over the water, she loses her power; but if you come back the same way, she gets her power back. We came to Quincy with the boy, went down to the river, took the ferry boat across the river, carrying my boy - he could not walk, was so weak. Then we walked up to the old bridge and started to walk back to Quincy on the wagon side of the bridge. WHEN WE GOT HALF OVER THE BRIDGE THE BOY WANTED DOWN. WE PUT HIM DOWN. I AM TELLING YOU THE TRUTH, HE STARTED RIGHT OUT TO WALKING AND WALKED ACROSS THE BRIDGE WHEN HE HAD NOT WALKED FOR SEVERAL MONTHS. The spell was broken and he was strong in the legs again. Right after that, the old aunt - I should say witch - got down sick and could not walk for several years. So we knew she was the one that had our boy in a spell. She is dead now [[FACI, 2nd ed., p.893.]].] [If I am not mistaken, another crossing-water rite will appear in volume 3 or 4 of HOODOO.1
Entry 3916
Ah'm goin' tell yo' somepin dat I saw here in '23 - was in '23. Ah wus workin' fo' Halstrom Brothers. An' my firs' wife - it was a girl lived right side of us named Theresa Jackson, an' my firs' wife helped to raise dis girl. Well, dis girl, she was a stout girl, an' she was workin' fo' Dr. Knox[?]. All at once she'd taken sick an' we couldn't undahstan' why she wus sick all de time. An' ah says to her, say, "You're workin' fo' dat doctah, say, "whyn't yo' tell de doc- tah 'bout it, how bad yo' feel?" Well, dere she would go to work an' have to leave work to come home. An' she tole de doctah 'bout it. Well, de doctah say he couldn't fin' no trouble - yo' know, what was 'er complaint. So she wus off on 'er off-day an' she said, "Ah'm goin' clean up my house. Ah'm goin' from de stern-wheel to de rudder" [surely an old Mississippi River expression]. Says, "All right." Ah was layin' down sleepin'. Ah been workin' at night. An' dis girl goin' to clean up 'er house. An' right behind de middle door, she found a bottle an' a little bag. Well, when she found dis bottle an' little bag, she brought it an' showed it to my wife. My wife said to her, "Ah'm goin' to wake Steve up an' tell 'im 'bout it." Which she did wake me up. When she woke me up, ah took it an' ah looked at it, say, "Dis looks mighty funny to me. I said, give me a knife." I said, "I'm goin' open dis bag." Ah opened de bag. It had a plat of 'er hair, outa her head. It had three pieces outa her pieces, yo' know, about dat size.
(Out of her monthly clothes?)
Yes. An' it had some lodestone in dere an' it had some needles an' some pins crossed dataway [demonstrates], see.
(Held that way with two crosses in it?)
Yes, sir. An' it had dat hair undah dere an' jes' like - jes' like my thumb is de hair, an' right along dere was de lodestone, see, into dis piece, an' dey had it sewed up. See. And he [the man who had tricked her] had de bottle wit 'er mon'ses [months] in hit.
(Which?)
[I either did not grasp mon'ses or wanted a fuller explanation.]
It had, yo' know, change over de moon in de bottle.
(I see.)
An' I opened it an' taked de stoppah outa de bottle an' it was jes' worsen [worse than] anythin' yo' evah smelled in yore life. Ah says to her, ah says, "Yo' take dis out dere" - ah always heard my ole uncle say dese things - ah say, "and throw it in dat runnin' watah." Dere was a little bayou - part of de bayou right back dere - part of de bridge an' de little bayou run undahneat' dere.
(Where?)
Little bayou right out chere on Rogers Street. An' she - ah say, "Now, you throw dat ovah yore left shoulder an' don't look back." An' she went out dere an' throwed it ovah her lef' shouldah in dat runnin' watah. An' he left. Dat fellow come home, but when he come home he rushed right on in de house. He says to her, "What yo' been doin' here?" She say, "Ah been cleanin' up." He say, "Yo' don't nevah clean up." He said, "Did yo' find anything of mine?" She said, "No, I find somepin of mine." He says, "What wus it?" Ah says, "If he hits yo today, I'm goin' woop 'im an' [or] he gon'a woop me eithah one." So he hauled away an' he hit 'er, an' when he hit 'er, I grabbed 'im. An' he lef' an' went to Paducah, Ky. He lef' dere an' went to Oil City, Ill. He lef' dere an' come back here to her an' stayed three days, an' went to Natchez an' she ain't been worried wit 'im since. An' she's married an' she is jes' as stout as she evah wus, an' de mothah of a child.
(She got rid of him, got rid of the fellow.)
Entry 3919
[HERE IS VERSION ONE OF THE RITE:]
Well, she goin' bring 'im home an' make 'im stay dere wit 'er. She'll take dat [sanitary] cloth an' take dem needles, dem nine needles an' cross 'em, take a silvah dime from 'i血m if she kin git it, an' take a piece of 'is hair outa his haid an' tie it, an' sew it all up in dat cloth togethah, an' cross it - crosses dose needles lak dat [demonstrates] - dat way. [The crossing of needles or pins in a cloth is a frequent magic act. Each needle or pin is stuck into the cloth so that it crosses over one or more needle or pin.] Well, aftah she do dat, she takes it an' puts it in 'er pocket. If it's nec- essary she wears it all de time.
Entry 3956
Dey take dat piece aftah yo' ministrate an' cut a piece out of it an' wrap it tight. Put de needles an' de pins through it. (Do you put any particular number or just any number?) Any number, jes' any of 'em. Yo' jab one one way an' den one anothah. An' take it tuh a tree an' bore a hole onto it. An' den take yo', yo' know, a wooden peg an' stop yo' [owner of cut-out piece] up in dere. I hear people say yo' kin do dat.
(What will that do?)
Say dat will stop yo' from ministratin' an' fin'lly it will kill yo':- [blood] commence comin' out chure mouth.
Entry 4041
It was a woman that had a fuss with another woman. Having this fuss with her she crossed her water [made in the liquid a cross mark or letter X] and stopped it up tight. This woman could not urinate. She got on her bed and swelling up, she kept swell- ing up. And after awhile the doctor [M.D.] couldn't do nothing for her. So this woman goes to her and told her that she would turn her loose, if she would only give her a job. She said, "I will." So she goes home and takes this cork out this bottle, and just laid it on the side and turn it down, and this water commenced to running and this woman commenced to urinating in the bed, and when the last of the water was out of the bottle she got up.
Entry 4042
Yo' take chamber lye an' peppah an' throw it undah de house at night, red peppah, an' if dey keep movin' in dere it'll burn it up - it'll ketch afiah
[afire]. (What did you put that under the house for?) Fo' movin'. (So when people come into the house, that'll cross the house up and.)
Cross de house up an' make it crossed. Make a cross jis' befo' throwin' dat undah - jis' befo'.
(Where do they make the cross?)
On de ground, near de house. (They cross the house up so that nobody can stay in it. If I had a fight with the landlord or anything of that sort?) Yes.
Entry 4043
If yo' wanta make a person move, yo' takes some chamber lye an' yo' leave it set. Yo' know whut ah mean, jis' leave it git lak it git ole. Yo' git chew some red peppah, [i.e.] cayenne peppah, some black peppah an' some salt, see. An' evah mawnin' befo' de sun rise, yo' go in front of dat person do' an' yo' throw dat disaway an' den yo' come back an' yo' throw it disaway - in a cross. Well, dat intahvidin' [inviting] tuh make a person move.
Entry 4044
Ah've heard 'em say dat choo kin take some chamber lye, cayenne peppah, sulphur an' go dere an' cross it fuh three times in de night, choo know, an' dey say dat'll make 'em move. Dat'll make 'em have a big fuss an' dey'll move.
(You go there and cross them?)
Yes sir, yuh go across [and cross] 'em three time.
(How do you mean?)
Jes' go dere - jes' lak dis de steps [demonstrates] po' it dis way, an' back by an' po' it ag'in [I interrupt].
(Making the form of a cross?)
Yes sir, a cross lak a [letter] X, three mawnin's straight, an' tell 'em to, "Go." An' de house will be vacant an' dey will move.
Entry 4439
Yuh take dat an' yuh wraps it, an' yuh got de east side of a pine tree, yuh bo'es a hole jis' lak mah hand sets [demonstrates] down tuh de roots. (Slant it down to- wards the roots.) Tuh de tap roots, an' yuh strike dat fer as dat augah go. An' yuh take dat an' yuh put seven needles an' seven pins, an' yuh hit it nine mawnin's, an' on de ninth mawnin' yuh drive it up. IN THIRTY MINUTES HE'LL BE DEAD.
(You put this passage in there?)
Dat's right. Yuh sticks 'em, yuh see. DAT'S CALLED DRESSIN'. Yuh sticks 'em. Yuh sticks de pins dis way, an' sticks de needles dis way - de heads dis way an' dat head dis way, so dey be crossed lak dat intuh it. It be in a cloth yuh know. An' yuh jis' stick dem pins in it, an' den yuh jis' chunk it in de crack [hole] an' put dat peg jis' tuh fit it. Jis' lak yuh bo'd de hole, de peg's gotta be jis' de same width as de augah, jis' airtight. An' yuh jis' need.tuh tap it de firs' mawnin' an' fo' nine mawnin's yuh hit one tap, an' de ninth mawnin' yuh drive it up. [Here I turned off recording machine but informant adds the place where this rite was performed. I restarted machine.]
(Where?)
Dat was done in [near] Tifton, Ga.
Entry 4575
Dey take de hat an' take dat ban' out of it.
(The band or the little bow?)
Yeah de little bow, jes' right heah [demonstrates]. Dat's a ole hat ah been hangin' up dere. Dey take dat little bow an' dey will take it an' cut fo' prongs intuh - dey cut fo' prongs intuh dis heah newspapah, jes' like dat little bow is [this makes an X or a cross]. Dey'll cut it jes like dat an den dey'll wrop dat in dere tight. Well, when dey wrop dat in dere, well, dey'll git some diff'ren' stuff an' put in dere an' dat'll make me go back. See, jes' like if I quit 'er, dat'll make me come back. She'll take it an' put it - take it an' sling it aroun' 'er wais' an' she's got me right off. See.
(By cutting out the four prongs, do you mean cutting all of that - like an X?)
Yeah, jes' an X - jes' like a X like dat.
Entry 4577
Yuh kin take dat bow out dat man's hat, an' yuh kin take a powdah called love powdah [later called movin' powdah] an' calcimine powdahs [calcimine], an' he's bound tuh come [to the woman]. He'll do anything yuh say do. Dey take dat bow [out of the hat, untie it - see KNOTS later for untying - put the powders on it] an' jis' double [fold once] dat bow tuh 'em, an' dey put three pins in dat bow [thus shutting up the powders inside the bow]. [Informant now demonstrates how these three pins hold in the powders.] Yuh stick one head dis way [up], an' yuh stick the othah head down, an' put dis one right across [the other two]. [This produces a double cross, even a triple cross or three daggers like this H. Joo take dat an put it in yer shoe an' wear it.
(What were the names of these powders?)
Dey call one of 'em de movin' powdah, all right, an' yuh call one calcimine. De movin' powdah is tuh move yuh back tuh dem; de calcimines powdah is tuh make things clean [as calcimine normally does, but here by symbolically cleaning the return road home of all difficulties]. [Come home, all is forgiven. But by wearing the bow in her shoe she indicates a determination to keep him under her foot!]
Entry 4752
Fo' tuh hur' [hurt] chew? If dey wan'a hur' chew tuh kill yuh, dey'll git a piece of yores - wha' chew weah tuh yore skeen [skin]. (Piece of what?) Git a piece of whut yuh weah when yuh [not mentioned]. An' dey'll take dat piece an' dey'll bury it. An' aftah dey bury dat piece, dey'll take a stick an' nail down [drive down into the ground] at de head of dat stick, at [the head of] dat piece. An' dey'll take a cross, a stick of a cross [the horizontal piece or crossbar of the cross] an' tack it at de head of dat. You'll bloat up.
(Where do they bury that?)
Bury it right at de end of dat fo'k - [bury] a piece of yore clothes.
(End of what fork?)
At de fo'k of dat road.
(Oh! I see.)
Uh huh.
(And they put a stick, peg down?)
Peg down, an' den put de sign [crossbar] of de cross on it.
(Oh, then you put another piece [of stick] across there?)
Cross on tuh dat, right.
(Now wait a minute. You drive that stick down.)
Down into de groun'.
(And you take another stick.)
Take anothah stick, an' put...
(And tie that cross [crossbar] there.)
An' cross dat [first stick with another one].
(Oh, to make a sort of sign of the cross.)
[Did I mean a cross sign for a crossroad?]
Uh huh. An' aftah yuh tie dat [horizontal stick] across dat [vertical stick], yuh covah dat dirt ovah dat cross, so no one kin see dat. Well, yuh goin'. (Oh, I see. Now wait a minute! You tie that one stick across the stickthat's down in the ground and leave the cross standing up from the ground.) Uh huh [though I am mistaken about the visible cross]. An' yuh covah dat cross ovah.
(So nubody can see it.)
[This rite is one of the many forms of symbolical or mock burial in HOODOO, some of which include a doll baby in a coffin.]
Entry 4761
Well, ah've heard ag'in, if yuh've got a man away an' yuh want 'im tuh come back tuh yuh, an' he leaves some of 'is clothes dere, said yuh take clothes tuh make him be on 'is haid. Put de clothes - put 'is undahweah an' 'is shirt, put de haid of it down towards 'is feet [dem- onstrates]. (On the bed?) Yessuh, yuh've gotta lay on dere yuh see. Put it down dere tuhwards 'is feet. Dey take his undah- weah an' take de bottom part - take de laigs of it an' put 'em up tuhwards de haid of de baid, an' let de body go down tuhwards it. Den yuh take his socks an' yuh take one an' bring it 'cross dis way an' let it be tuh de front of de baid.
(The head of the bed?)
No suh, de front. Yuh see - listen. Heah's whut ah mean. Now, yuh layin down dat way.
(Here's the bed. This is the head and that's the foot?)
Yessuh, now yuh lie dat sock dat way.
(Which is the foot and which way does the other part of the sock point?)
De foot part of de sock goes at de haid.
(That points to the head of the bed?)
De toe goes tuh de haid of de baid. Den heah comes de othah, de mouth of de sock, yuh know, where yuh put chure foot in. Let it be out tuh de front [demon- strates].
(One sock crosses the other.)
Yessuh. An' den aftah doin' dat. Let's see - man's sock, undahweah an' de top-shirt. Dat, she might lay in it, an' de rest of 'em yuh lay on top of 'em. Don't put a thing on top of 'em but a sheet. Den befo' yo' git in baid, make yore wishes. Put one needle up an' de othah one cross at de haid [demonstrates], 'tween de haid. Lak dis is de haid of de baid, put it down in dere, in between in dere. Don't let it git down by yore haid, but let it be up above.
(At the top of the head of the bed, you cross two needles.)
Yessuh. An' so yuh lay on dose things, an' ah think she said, in nine days he would come home.
Entry 4995
An' dey kin take yore socks an' things an' hurt chuh. De way dat's done done, dey kin take yore sock an' put nine needles in yore socks, an' have it tied [actually sewed] right where yuh sleep at on de baid. Where yuh sleep at, sew it down in de mattress where yuh cain't see it. An' ah'll guarantee yuh, like if yuh want's tuh quit dat woman, yuh cannot leave her.
(All you do is use that dirty sock.)
Yore dirty sock, yore dirty sock.
(Both of them?)
No, jis' one of 'em - yore left-foot sock. An' yuh be's - jis' like dere's sweat in 'em, dey have yore sweat up in dere. Well, see, dey take a needle.
(They do what?)
Dey take a package of bran'-new needles. Yuh know, go tuh de sto' an' git some bran'-new needles.
[Long pause.]
(Yes.)
What dey nevah been used, wit dem little gold eyes tuh 'em. Dey take an' puts nine of 'em [demonstrates] ma'ks [marks] it across like here, an' across like disaway, an' dey have it across dataway. Yuh undahstan'.
(Cross them up?)
Yes, sir, an' den turn aroun' an' take 'em - take dat thin' [dressed sock] an' wrap it up tight, jis' like a little ball or somepin, an' open de mattress up an' sew dat undah de mattress. An' ah guarantee yuh, if yuh wanta quit 'er, yuh can't leave 'er. She kin do yuh anythin' she wants an' go anywheres. Yuh won't say nuthin.
Entry 5371
Yo' kin take a person's foot track an' ran 'em away. Well, perhaps some time we cain't find 'em [tracks] an' sometimes it be's so dat we cain't git de dirt from undah 'is track. Yo' might watch an' see jes' he put his feet on de concrete. Yo' kin take a clean pocket han'- ke'ch'ef an' yo' kin go dere an' jes' wipe dat track tuh yo' - wipe dat track tuh yo'. An' den yo' kin take dat han'ke'ch'ef an' yo' kin take it home. Set down wit it an' buy yo' a bran'-new box of red cayenne peppah, an' yo' kin take a teaspoon of dat cayenne peppah an' tie in de - yo' might say in de east corner of dat han'ke'- ch'ef. Dat track is all ovah dat han'ke'ch'ef [because] quite natchly [naturally] yo' wipe it lak dat, see. An' yo' take dat teaspoon of cayenne peppah an' yo'tie hit up in dere wit 'is name wrote. Yo' cross 'is name an' yo' tell 'im tuh go an' yo' put a bad name - yo' put a bad word tuh hit, on dere name. '[Bad name] an' ah wish yo'd go an' don' stay nowhere yo' go in peace." An' tie it up an' carry it tuh de rivah 'fore de sunrise. Throw it in runnin' watah an' he'll leave.
Entry 5422
Makes some crosses intuh a crossroads. Make a cross in three forms - see, kinda, ah couldn't explain dat to yo'. (Well, just make it right there. You sit down and make it there and I'll see it.) Jis' lak dis, see [demonstrates]. Now dis de crossroads, an' dey makes it in dis mannah. Right lak dat, kin' of a "Y" shaped. Undahstan' dis way?
(Yes, like a "Y".)
Well, right up - jis' lak [demonstrates] dey come in heah [at the crossroads]. Ah come disaway - dis is de way ah live. An' dis de way - say, dat's where yo' live.
(The two prongs of the "Y" - all right, comin' together, to a meeting.)
Comin' together. An' if dey jis' take yore track from dis place, an' tie it up in a pocket hank'scuff or rag or sompin lak dat, an' tie it in a knot an' put it down undah de cornah of de do'step, yo' have tuh go.
(Go where?)
Go 'way from de city, if yo' wus in de city. (Whose doorstep do you put it under? [Your doorstepl or under the other fel- low's? This track you pick up?) De one yo' got de track off.
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 5579
Know whut dey put down? Sometime dey could take yore track an' put it. down, bury it, an' yo' have tuh leave. Bury it undah yore do'steps an' yo'd have tuh leave. Dey kin take nine needles an' put 'em crossways an' put it in wit chure track, an' put red peppah in dere an' gun- powdah, an' yo'd have tuh leave.
(Where would you put all that stuff then?)
Put it undah yore do'step.
Entry 5581
Well, say fo' 'ninstance [an instance] ah had a wife an' ah wuz doin' all dat ah pos'bly could do to make life happy fo' her, an' jis' as soon as mah back wuz turned she prob'ly had - she wuz sweetheartin' on me, see to someone dat didn't mean anythin' to her prob'bly, but would put her name in de streets. Well, ah prob'bly would git aftah 'er about it, tell 'er dat ah heard dis an' dat about 'er, prob'bly se purtty straight evidence. She seem tuh give it de lie all de time. Well, oog ah'm gon'a look out fo' mahself, see, an' see if ah kin ketch 'er. Whut ah know about dis? Well, prob'bly time mah back's turned she's always cat in de street somewhere. Well she's comin' home. Well ah prob'bly gon'a take de dust of 'er shoetrack - de print of it. Well ah'm gon'a take it an' ah'mgon'a aooceive it into a bottle - jis' de dirt of 'er track, 'ceive [conceive] it in de bottle. Git me a bunch of needles, git me a little piece of wool cloth, an' stuff in dat bottle. [But first], put jis' as many needles in dere as ah could git Orossvays. Den ah take dis bottle an' will conceive it tight [with the wool cloth aa cork?] an' put it undah de do'step. Dat'll end 'er rompin' de streets so h. Well, now, ah'm goin' ketch dis man [my wife was rompin' de streets with so much]. Ah'm goin' ketch 'im goin' away an' ah'm gon'a take his track an' ah'm gon'a conceive it in a bottle, jis' as ah have said about mah wife - needles an' de cloth de same way. An' ah'm gon'a conceive dat, an' ah'm gon'a take it den to some deep runnin' watah, an' throw it in a place where it will nevah grow dry - watah dat'll nevah be still. Dat'll keep 'im always driftin' an' nevah is contented an' nevah successfully through life. Dat's in ordah fo' me tuh have peace an' respect of dat kind.
Entry 5719
Take yo' track an' rake it from de toe back tuh de heel. Dey take dat sand an' dey tie it up in a rag an' it hangs dere fer so many days. Have it tied up in a tree or a ceilin'. Hangs it in de centah dere. Dey puts nine stick pins in it, two needles. Go across lak dat [demonstrates], pins lak dis; jis' put de needles up an' down, right across dere. Now, dat's tuh run yo' away from dere. Do yo' harm so dat yo' can't git along wit nobody dere. (Now they take up that track, they get six [nine] pins. and two needles. And what do they do with those?) Take an' put de pins dis way [demonstrates].
(Put the pins one way.)
Put de pins dis way an' dis way, an' de middle pin goin' cross dem two needles right 'cross dere.
(I see, they make a cross. Then what do they do with those things?)
Tie de things up.
(I see, they tie that foot track and these needles and pins in a rag.)
Dat's de one dat... [I interrupt. Informant was about to say, "Dat's de one dat keep yo' confus- ed."]
(Then what do they do with that rag?)
Take an' tie it up an' put it at de cornah of yo' baid. [Previously inform- ant said center of ceiling. Bed or ceiling causes confusion in home.] Dey takes de track an' yo' tie dat dirt up in a tree, tuh a limb tuh a tree. Dat's tuhmake yo' leave.
(What foot track do they take?)
De lef' foot track.
(What do they tie it up in?)
Piece of rag, jis' in any kinda rag. (What do they do with that foot track with those needles and pins in? What do they do with that?) Tie it undah yore baid. Dat's tuh keep yo' confused. Yo' an' yore family are confused.
Entry 5720
Yes sir, yo' take nine pins; new pins, see.
(Straight pins.)
[Ordinary pins in Hoodoo are frequently called straight.]
An' three of 'em wit de point dataway [demonstrates], three wit de point dat- away, an' three wit de point dataway. Wrap 'em kinda [demonstrates]. (Just like - a crossing-like - like a big "x".) An' jis' wrap 'em up an' stick anywhere yo' wanta stick 'em, yo' undahstan', an' yo' stick dem pins dere fo' nine days. If yo' wanta jis' do 'way wit de fellah or evah who i'tis [it is], jis' let dem pin stay dere 9 days. An' aftah dem nine days, yo' go an' git dem pins an' stick 'em right down at de foot of de tree. Whosomevah yo' put 'em on, yo' undahstan', an' dat will disappeah dem.
(Where do you stick those pins the first time though?)
Jis' stick 'em right in a tree.
(No, the first time you stick them, before you put them away?)
Stick 'em in a tree, stick 'em in lak dat, chew know. (Well, how do I know that I'm going to get the right fellow by using these pins?) [Informant merely has the person in mind, which is sufficient; but instead of saying I have him in mind or mentally name him, informant now creates the newrite by crossing two of the pins in the person's track.] Well, if yo' know who i'tis, yo' kin git 'im. Yo' kin git 'im by takin' two of dem pins an' watchin'. Yo' know 'im. Jis' go tuh 'is track wheresomevah he make it, an' Jis' take two of dem pins an' cross it.
(Cross them in the track?)
Yeah. An' den take dem up an' wrap 'em tuhgethah. An' when yo' do dat yo' vill known den dat [you have the right man]. An' dem pins, yo' take dem pins from up heah [on the tree] an' put 'em down heah [on the tree]. Yo'll jis' wat' chureself [watch yourself].
(Now, these two pins are taken out of these nine pins?)
Dat's right. (You cross them in his track, and pick them up and put these nine pins together and stick them in the tree. Then they stay there nine days and you take them and bury them in the foot of the tree. And that sends him away. Does it run him away or kill him or what?) Run 'im away. He'll nevah come back no mo', an' won' give yo' any trouble. [Before informant removed 2 pins to cross in victim's track, the 9 pins were stuck into a piece of cloth to look like a man walking (this being a walking or sending away rite), each line being tripled i and forming the spokes in a 3-spoke wheel or the third of a circle. By /crossing these separate 3 pins as a group over a common center we obtain a 6-spoke wheel Xfound elsewhere in Hoodoo.]
Entry 5846
Ah've seen people roun' heah take feathahs or toothpick an' dey dress 'em some way an' den cross 'em in yore hair an' keep yo' wit a severe headache. It's not tuh kill yo' but it keep yo', yo know, a-lingahin' wit a severe headache. (Do you know how they dress them?) No sir, ah'm not positive.
Entry 5847
Dey'll go tuh de fo'k of de road [changed to crossroads later] - dey'll go to de fo'k of de road till yo' passes, yo' see. Dey kin take yore hair right to dat fo'k of de road an' make a cross mark, [a cross] jes' like de road is, an' dey'll drive dat hair down in dat cross- roads. Drive it down dere, jes' like wedge it down. Dat will keep yo' down long as yo' live. Yo' can't prosper wit nuthin.:
Entry 6011
They claim that peoples got it from under your doorstep with your hair mixed in with it. Well, they say that is to cross you away. Just like, you know, I was in love with a man and another woman wanted dis man. Well, if she could get some of my hairs, she'd go and get her a dozen new needles that never been used and pins. She'd stick the pins this way and stick the needles this way [cross them], and when she get ready to put it down, she'd stand it on its head on de sharp part, cuss it and tell it to go.
(Where would she put that?)
Put that at your door.
(And she uses twelve new needles and pins - six new needles and six new pins.)
Entry 6027
If yo' kin git a stran' of hair out of a person's haid, out from de top of de haid, yo' git a stran' of dere hair. An' take dat an' git nine nee- dles an' nine pins, an' yo' git a piece of red flannel, an' git some lodestone, an yo' could git some of dere sweat - perspiration yo' know - on a piece of cloth, a bran'-new piece of cloth, an' put it in dere. Stick dem pins in dere, stick 'em cross dis way. Stick 'em cross lak dat [demonstrates].
(Like making a cross - X's.)
Dat's right. Stick dem pins in dat piece of cloth, if it don' be but jes' a small piece of it, jes' so it be's dat perspiration on it. An' yo' stick dem pins in dere an' lodestone an' dat anvil dust. Anvil dust keeps de lodestone live. An' put dat in dere an' put dat hair in dere in dat thing [cloth] an' sew it up [into a bag], an' yo' kin have a person most anywhere yo' want 'em.
(What do you do with that?)
Jes' carry it [bag or package] in yore pocket. Yo' carry it reg'lah fo'about eight or nine days, an' whenevah yo' takes it out of yore pocket, yo' put it ina real pahtic'lah place where no one will bothah it but chew. An' dat will rule a person.
Entry 6028
If a person dislikes yo' an' wanted tuh do yo' some harm, well if dey kin git some of de hair out de mole of dey haid, an' take dat an' take some nee- dles an' parcel 'em up right both tuhgethah [demonstrates] jis' on an' on yo' know lak dat. (Alternate the needle - cross them.) Yes sir, an' stick it in dat hair an' put it into a piece of flan- nel, an' put dat somewhere in yore bed on de side dat chew sleep on yo' know. An' jis' as long as dat hair an' needles are dere, yo'll jis' can't rest. Ah lgu dat fo' a fac'.
(Do you use any particular number, kind of needle?)
Aw - jis' 'bout five or six.
Entry 6055
Yo' take a little hair out de mole of yore haid an' take a little strand from heah.
(Down below?)
Yeah, yo' take dose two an' yo' cross 'em ovah, jes' lak dat yo' see [demon- strates].
(Cross one over the other in the shape of a cross.)
An' yo' git chew a brass-eyed needle an' yo' run it right through dere - one of dose strands, yo' see [demonstrates], right through dere. Den yo' put it in 1 snuffbox an' take it out to yore front po'ch an' bury it right undah yore do'- steps, right undah yore do'steps. (What will that do?) Dat will make 'em come all de time. (You take one of the hairs and thread a needle with it? The other [six] hairs you just leave them as they are?) Dat's right. Put 'em in de snuffbox. (YOU HAVE THREE HAIRS CROSSING THREE HAIRS AND THE SEVENTH HAIR YOU PUT IN THE NEEDLE?) Dat's right.
Entry 6446
Well, see - jis' lak yo' go tuh de fo'ks of de road. An' dey supposed Th be crossed lak dat [demonstrates]. Well, yo' take dat part of it - dat's de same as buryin' it an' [or] throwin' it in runnin' watah. Yo' take de skin from dey feet, de one's [feet] whut chew wanta do somepin tuh "a, yo' undahstan'. Well, yo' takes it an' yo' scrapes it back. See, jis' lak da [demonstrates]. If yo' from or tuh yo' lak dat. If yo' are cleanin' dere feet, yo'll have dat chance. Yo' take it an' bury it jis' lak ah tole it. An' o takes it tuh de fo'ks of de road an' throws it ovah yore lef' shouldah. An: look back at each one of de fo'ks, an' den go on where yo' goin'. Makes a as nark in de road an' turn aroun'.
(What will that do to them?)
Dat'll make dem go - jis' insance [insane]. An' dey mind nevah will come tuh 'em lak it supposed tuh.
Entry 6468
They can take your toenails and fingahnails an' see, like mah nails mog, they could harm me purtty much for this simple reason. They're dirty. See, they are not all that much long, they are dirty. Well, they would take this nail and they would cut these nails as close as they poss'bly could with the dirt a'all into 'em. If they could get to my toes, they'd do my toes de same iden- tical way. Now, they take these nails here, an' mah toenails an' they'd put them together. If they could get a lizard, they'd take a lizard an' they'd kill the lizard an' let that lizard dry.
(They take a lizard and kill the lizard?)
They kill the lizard.
(Oh, they kill the lizard.)
An' let him dry - I mean, till he gets to a powder. When he gets to a pow- der, they mixes him with these nails of mine. They'd put that into a piece of red flannel and they buries that. AN' NOW, WHEN THEY BURIES THAT, THEY BURIES IT WITH A CROSS.
(What kind of a cross?)
THEY MAKES A CROSS THEYSELF. THEY DON'T VERY SELDOM BUY A CROSS. YOu know, ordinary, plain - just a plain cross, wooden cross; just any kind of a small cross you'll use, just since it's a cross. They buries it with a cross into that flannel. See? Well, now, when they buries that, why they got me just the Way they want me.
Entry 6884
Cross dis woman up. Dey takes - dey gits right where dis woman'll pass at. Yo' undahstan'? Dey takes a knife an' a fo'k an' put dat knife in de fo'k disaway [demonstrates by crossing knife in fork] an' put it right where she goin' tuh cross ovah at. Yo' undahstan'? An' jis' as sure as she cross ovah dat knife an' fo'k dis- away, she cain't birth dat child. Dat child turn upside in 'er stomic.
(I see. All you do is cross the knife into the fork?)
Put de knife in de fork lak dis here [demonstrates] an' let 'er cross ovah it. Stand it up lak dat [demonstrates].
Entry 7064
If de man lay down an' go tuh sleep an' dey want chew tuh stay dere, dey take two broomstraws an' cross 'em. Put 'em cross yo' an' yo'll stay dere. (Stay asleep. Where do you cross them?) Jis' take 'em an' lay 'em up heah lak dis heah [demonstrates]. Cross 'em dat way when yo're [you are] asleep... [A stop. Cylinder change.] (That would keep a person asleep. So if a woman wants to go out at night, her husband wouldn't wake up if she put two broomstraws [crossed over] him. That the idea?)
Entry 7169
A woman kin have her husban' an' jis' go - it's lak he's workin' at night, an' he be here sleepin' an' she may wanta go off, yo' see, wit some other man or somepin othah. An' she - aftah he goes tuh sleep, she wan's tuh keep 'im asleep. She kin take a plate an' a knife an' fork, an' put it undah de head of dat bed right dere. De knife an' fork cross- ed in de plate undah de head of de bed. She kin put a candle undah de foot of dat bed an' light it, an' take her shimmy or 'er petticoat or somepin lak dat, an' hang it right up ovah 'is face - say prob'ly eight or ten inches from 'is face. An' he'll be sleepin' right dere when she come back home an' wake him up. He won' even wake up while she's gone. She be gone all day an' he'll sleep all day.
(She puts the candle on the foot of the bed?)
Yes, sir, puts de candle right on de foot. Yes, sir, he'll sleep.
(A candle of any particular color or just any kind of candle?)
Oh, jis' git dese big white - two for a nickel candles. [This was back in 1937 during the Great Depression!] Go dere an' buy a candle.
(All right, I see.)
See, she's going tuh make it back dere befo' dat candle goes out.
(I see.)
NOW, DIS IS BY EXPERIENCE. I SAW MAH BROTHAH'S WIFE DO DIS. See. An' she tol' me, say, "Brothah, he don' wan' me tuh go up tuh 'is mothah, " she say, "an' ah'm goin' an' ah know whut tuh do tuh keep 'im asleep." I SAY, "WELL, DO ANY- THIN' YO' WANTA DO ONLY DON'T KILL 'IM." An' ah sits dere an' looked at 'er do dis an' ah walked out an' set on dose row boats right ovah dere across de river in Bellpoint 'till she come back. An' when she come back, I come on ovah dere an' meet 'er an' went in de house, an' de candle done burned down about dat much [demonstrates]. An' he jis' alayin' dere dead to de world. An' she did all dem thin's.
(What did you say? Bell - where is that?)
Bellpoint. It's a li'le small town jis' across de rivah.
(Over in Louisiana?)
Yes, sir - tothah [the other] end of de bridge.
(I see.)
Entry 7171
Yo' take three matches an' cross 'em undah 'is haid - right up undah 'is haid. He'll sleep right dere until she come back an' move dose matches.
Entry 7198
Yo' take an' make a circle wit chalk an' when yo' make dat circle, den yo' make a "x" yo' know. When yo' make dat "x" - when yo' make de circle dat's God. (The circle is God?) Yes sir, an' de "x" de firs' lettah is de - circle is God an' de firs' cross is God de Father, an' de nex' one is God de Holy Spirit. (Where do you make this circle with the cross? Where do you make it? Where do you draw that?) Well, right in de room where whutevah wus taken from it. [Here I turn off recording machine. What informant says, I restart machine and repeat the lost information.] (You make a circle on the wall or on the floor. And you put an "x" inside. And then inside the "x" you do what?) Well, when yo' done make dat "x" in Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost, den yo' wish whut chew want 'em tuh do. Jis' carry it right roun' jis' lak dat. (You mean just carry this circle around. You mean you keep marking the chalk around?) Yes, jis' make a roun' ring. Have yo' got a pencil? An' ah give it tuh yo' aftah [return it] right away. (Wait a minute! You draw the circle [I demonstrate]. That's God the Father. Then you [I demonstrate]. That's the Son. And [I demonstrate] Holy Ghost.) An' make yore wishes whut chew want. (And you keep going around and around and around. Like turning a wheel around.) Yo' do dat three time, three Godhead.
[I demonstrate again.]
You draw a line right through that circle and call the son, then you draw another line across it and say the Holy Ghost, and then you keep drawing that circle around and around and around, while you make your wishes for them to bring that article back that they have stolen.) Long as yo' speakin' of whut chew want done, yo' jis' keep yuh han' goin' roun' an' roun'.
Entry 7200
[Informant says something about a locust tree.] (What do they say about the locust tree?) Ah heard dat de locust tree wuz a tree - de ole lady tole me dis - IT'S A TREE DAT CHEW READ IN DE BIBLE AN' IT WUZ HANDED DOWN FROM GOD. IT'S A HERB YO' GIT FROM DE LOCUST TREE DAT NOBODY KIN CONKAH BUT GOD. An' she give me dat herb.. "An' dis herb," she say, "ah'm not chargin' anythin' fo' it, but yo' a man ah lak." Ah loaned her ten dollahs Once. An' SHE CROSSED HER BREAST [with this herb]. [Somewhere in Hoodoo I tell the story about my contact man Edward Bufford, while we. were working in Savannah, Georgia. He had sealed some money in a letter to send home to his wife but feared she might not receive it. His landlady, where I interviewed during the day, took the sealed envelope and crossing it over her breast, said to him, "Mail it, now your wife will get the money." The money ar- rived safely.] Ah asked, "Whut kinda herb dis?" She said, "Dis is a herb from de locust tree, " an' she say, "ah want chew tuh keep dis herb fo' as long as yo' kin."
(Is this for luck or something?)
Fo' luck.
Entry 7201
[Before I turn on recording machine informant says he knows about some- thing done at the forks of the road.]
(What do they do at the forks of the road?)
All right, yo' kin go tuh de fo'ks of de road [crossroad here] an' yo' kin take salt an' throw it fo' diff'ren' [rooster crows on cylinder] ways in de fo'k of de road. Make fo' mahks [marks] at defo'k of de road an' throw dat salt an' sprinkle dem marks. An' eithah [whichever] way dat yo' wan' dat person tuh go, dey'll go dataway. Jis' de direction yo' wan' 'em tuh go, he'll go dat direction, yo' see. He ain't nevah goin' tuh come back, yo' see. [Vicksburg, Miss., (725), 993:5.] [Cylinder 993:6 followed without containing any information I could use. In some manner dissatisfied with the preceding crossroad rite, I decided to return to it.} (Now, you were talking a moment ago about making those marks on the crossroad. What kind of marks would you make out there? What kind of marks?) Yo' jis' - yo' kin make straight mahks, cross 'em. Make 'em an "x".
(Like an "x"?)
In an "x" in de middle fo'k of de road where...
(In the fork of the road. The road goes four ways?)
Yes, sir.
(And you put some of that stuff in each road?)
Each road. (And if you want him to go in a certain direction, do you have to point the direction you want him to go?) Point out dat direction, jis' point 'em straight. An' if yo' wan' 'em tuh go dis direction [demonstrates], yo' kin point dataway. An' put dat stuff dataway an' throw it dataway, an' dat's de way yo' gwine.
(You only throw it in one fork of the road?)
Yes, sir.
(You only throw it one way?)
One way.
(The way he's going?)
De way he's gwine, an' he'll go dataway an' he won't nevah come back. He be gwine all de time, gwine.
Entry 7211
A gamblin' han' [the best] dat yo' evah had, if yo' wan'a gamblin' han'. Well, yo' might go intuh a graveyard where dere somebody dat yo' know well, an' dey been buried fo' several days or several yeahs, yo' might say. Yo' take dere fingah dey call a dog fingah. (Which is the dog finger? Point it out to me. Which is the dog finger?) Here 'tis, right cheah [here]. (Well, which hand?) On de right han' [demonstrates]. (All right, I see the index fin- ger of the right hand.) Dat will be de right han' dere. Dat is de third fingah from de front. (The middle finger, then, on the right hand?) Dat is de thing. (All right, the middle finger.) All right. Den yo' take dat fin- gah an' clean de bone in milk - git de li'le bone out, but yo' gotta do all dat work at twelve o'clock at night. An' yo' find yo'self dere when yo' boilin' dat. WHILE BOILIN' DAT BONE DERE, YO'LL FIND YO'SELF FEEL FEAHIN' [FEARING]. WHUT AH MEAN BY MIS[TERIOUS? OR MIS- ERABLE?] YO'LL FEEL YO'SELF - YO'LL FEEL WARM. AH DON' CARE HOW COLD YO' BE. YO' KIN DO IT IN DE MIDDLE OF DE STREET, OR IN DE MIDDLE OF DE BANQUETTE [=SIDE- WALK IN NEW ORLEANS, LA.] OR IN DE YARD DERE; AN' IF IT BE COLD AS ICE, BUT YO'LL FIND A GREAT HEAT RIGHT AROUN' YO', BECUZ WE HAVE WHUT CHEW CALL THREE WITCHES DAT RUNNIN' IN DE AIR DERE. AN' IF YO' DEALIN' WIT DEM, WHY DEN IT COMES HEAT. DEY'LL BRING HELL FLAMES TUH DERESELF AN' TUH YO'. Yo' are dealin' wit dem.
(Oh, I see, you're dealing with three witches. Oh, all right.)
An' quite natchel, if ah'm dealin' wit chew, yo' have a right tuh go ovah dere an' see aftah me [see what I am doing]. An' yo' are wit me.
(I see.)
Now, maybe all three of 'em come tuhgethah. An' TUH GIT DEM [WITCHES], YO' GOTTA SET A SUPPAH, A DINNAH. YO' HAVE TUH MAKE A DINNAH, AN' DE DINNAH WHICH DEY EAT'LL BE A TURTLE HEART.
(A turtle heart.)
An' one thing again would be cel'ry whut chew eat aroun' - make salad.
(Celery?)
Yo'd git cel'ry. An' we have one thing, which de nex' would be, three grass- hoppahs. Yo'd have tuh put dose things in yuh mouth, dat is, tuh make de suppah; cuz yo' couldn't make de dinnah if yo' wouldn't do dat. An' in othah words, yo' hardly kin make de dinnah in de wintahtime. Yo' have tuh make it in de sumah, becuz we haven't much grasshoppahs who run in de wintah. Yo' undahstand?
(I understand.)
An' aftah dis suppah is made an' is started, yo' would fin' dem. Yo' would take a glass [mirror], but yo' - dat glass have tuh be bran' new, dat nobody nevah look intuh it.
(A looking-glass?)
Yes, sir. An' yo' could see dem lookin' intuh dere aftah yo' begin tuh eat. Yo' kin see three people but chew couldn't recognize yo'self, but chew dere. But chew cain't recognize yo'self, but chew see three people; but chew dere, but chew don't see yo'self. Yo' wouldn't count yo'self 'cuz yo' cain't see yo'self. But chew see three people dere, but one of dem dere is yo'. Den yo' see upset one person, den dat'll be de dragon. He look very proud, very nice-lookin' fel- lah, standin' right dere but den he's a destroying angel. Dat's de truth ah'm tellin' yo'. Den, aftah dat yo' won't see nuthin dere. Evahthin' disappeah from dis glass. Den yo' able den fo' tuh go on an' do anythin' whut chew wanta do. (I see. They'll call the witches. After that you use your power to do these things.) Why certainly.
(Well, what about using that bone? What do you do with that bone, now?)
Well, whichevah bone dat dey call de middle bone. Many people, if dey know whut de bone is, dey kin find ft, dat is, in de black cat, wit'out goin' tuh work an' takin' it an' usin' dem all; but some people by not knowin', dey'll have tuh use all of dem until dey git tuh de right one. But, de sense, if yo' know whut de right bone is, yo' kin go right tuh it an' git it. Maybe yo' might miss one, but yo'll git de nex' one an' dat'll be it. Undahstand? An' dat bone carries three fo'ks [forks]. Dat is, three j'ints tuh it. Whut ah mean by three j'ints, three rows, an' yo'll find between de edges of de bone, yo'll find three crosses. Dat's supposed tuh be main powah. An' yo' fin' dat dey use dat in more Mason lodge and Odd Fellahs, lotsa people do, tuh do dere work. [New Orleans, La., (861), 1374:7 to 1375:4.]
Entry 7223
Say lak a hoodoo come tuh yuh house. Ah could stop any hoodoo, know how tuh stop it. Git choo fo' - yo' know runnin' grapevines run up a tree - yo' git choo fo'. Cut fo' pieces off about so long [demonstrates]. (Four inches long.) Take yo' fo' pieces an' yo' cross 'em. Yo' take 'em in de house an' yo' cross 'em. Take a nail an' tack 'em tuhgethah an' cross 'em. An' hang 'em ovah yuh do'. An' dere ain't no hoodoo will walk undah dem. (You take four of them [pieces 4 inches long] and nail them in a cross, like that [I demonstrate], and put them over the door.) Dere ain't no hoodoo comin' in, he'll turn back. [Is the grapevine run up a tree an American wild grape or the scuppernong (a form of muscadine) trained as a tree with branches spreading in all directions on an overhead trellis? In any case, a hoodoo fears either being whipped by the vine or its form of the cross. Doctor Frank Hall says a bath with the juice from the fox grapevine will cure witchcraft (see No.1304, p.447). There are two in- digenous fox grapevines in America, the northern (Vitis labrusca), ancestor of varieties Concord, Isabella, etc., and the southern (V. rotundifolia), origin of the scuppernong.]
Entry 7279
Fo' instance, if a man would kill a man an' he would cross 'im three times.
(Here is the body. Now, how would he cross him?)
[For the body I probably used my Numbers Book, small note book containing the number of each informant and brief information about him after he left.1 He'd cross him dis way [demonstrates] an' den he'd come back dis way. Den he'd come farward ag'in. Dat's three times [forward, back- Ward, forward - each on an angle to form an X or cross.] Den he'd go away an' he won't be ketched by comin' back. Yo' may ketch him in California or somewhere but not by him returnin' back hisself, yo' see. But, if yo' know de party dat commit de crime an' will take dat chicken aig an' write his name on de aig nine time backwards. If his name Charles Smith, write Smith Charles, burying dat party wit dat aig in dere. Ah guarantee yo' in about three or fo' mont' time, yo' will ketch him near de place where he commit de crime, comin' back fo' some reason. He won't stay 'way. Well, if he [you or I] commit de crime, an' havin' trouble - so no dog, no law, nuthin could find out mah business or nuthin'; but if yo' kin git to it, de turpentine swamps. yo' git de turpentine an' put it at de bottom of his feet, rub it at de bottom in de shoe sole an' de dogs won't trail him. He'll be caught by someone else, but de dogs won' trail wit turpentine.
Entry 7321
Well, when yo' goes out to de fo'ks of de road is when yo' in any kinda trouble wit de laws or anyone behin' yo'. Yo' kin take an' go out tuh de fo'k of de road an' take some sulphur an' some red peppah, an' go tuh de graveyard an' git some dirt offa any kinda grave dat chew wanta, between twelve [mid- night] to fo' a'clock. An' yo' kin scattah it all de way around yo' [make a circle round you], an' make a cross mark underneat' each one of yore feets an' one up in de hair ovah yore haid. An' jes' goes right where yo' knows evah offi- cah have tuh come out of his do' an' jes' sprinkle some of dat dirt round dere, an' jes' stay outa de way from 'im fo' nine days. Dey will nevah bothah yo'. (You have to go out to the.forks of the road - the crossroad to do that, where you make that circle.) Yes sir.
Entry 7348
Ah heard a man say he went to de forks of de road, jes' like dey did some devilment an' de law was aftah 'em. De fellah said he'd go dere, yo' know, wit a bottle of turpentine an' marks right an' one east, an' po's [pours] a little turpentine in each one of dem marks - goin' across de road, an' dey nevah couldn't trail 'em. (Now, you said just across the road he makes a mark. How would he make the first mark?) He makes one north - east yo' know, east an' west, an' den south an' north. Dere don't be but two. (He makes one east and west. Then what does he do? Then he makes another mark? Where does he make that one?) Make dat one south an' west.
(South and north you mean.)
Yes, south an' north.
(I see. Then what does he do?)
Po's [pours] de turpentine in each one of dem marks.
Entry 7367
[I am adding a number merely to call attention to several unusual rites that could have been included here: (l)
Break a straw into two pieces and cross them on the forehead of the murdered man. Each suspected person must then step over the dead body. As the murderer steps across, the corpse will begin to bleed (see No.109, p.40); (2) Two straws are crossed on the murdered man's stomach and a new pair of scissors is also used
(see No.7421, p.3273).]
Entry 7416
(Yes, what do they do out there?)
When yo' git in de fo'ks of de road, yo' makes a cross. Yo' make a cross dere in de fo'k of de road, an' den yo' turn backwards - make three steps backwards.
(What will that do?)
Whadyado? [= What do you do?] Make three steps backwards? Yo' goes dere along. See, dat's in ordah to cross up de othah person dat supposed to follah yo'. (I see.) Yeah, dat's whut dat's fo'. Yo' go out dere an' yo' make a cross right down in de road an' den yo' back three steps backwards. Well, dat's prevents de person from follahin' yo', which way yo' goin'. Dat stops 'em.
(I see.)
Entry 7417
Jes' lak if a person git killed out dere. Well, dat person be yore frien' or prob'ly yore brothah or some of yore folks, but anyway he got killed an' nobody knows how it done it. All right, yo' goes dere where he would lingah at, jes' lak yo' fin' 'im daid. Dere could be a multitude [do it], could be dat, or de othah one do it. Yo' goes right dere where dey fin' 'im at, an' make two cross marks [demonstrates]: one lak dat, one lak dat, an' one lak dat, an' den cross 'em, an' right in de centah of dat middle one, yo' take yo' a pin - jes' a ord'nary pin. Yo' know, jes' a straight pin an jes' drive it right down in de middle of dat mark, right dere, press it right down in it lak dat. An' whensomevah yo' press dat pin down in dere, see, yo backs out from dat mark an' don't chew say a word to nobody. Don' care who come 'long dere an' say sompin to yo', don't chew say nary [not even] a good [morning]. Back nine steps from dere, an' in less time den nine days dey goin' come an' give up, whosomevah i'tis [it is]. Even [if] it be his own brothah.
[The pin is driven down in center of square of the tick-tack-toe design.]
(This cross is made like this [I demonstrate], something like that. There are two lines like that and two lines crossing it?)
[I drew a tick-tack-toe as follows: #.]
Dat's right. No, dere's one dere an' one dere - dere, jes' lak dat. Den yo' make two crosses dere jes' lak dat, in dat one right dere. An' right in de cen- tah of dat one, yo' put dis.
(The cross you make is like playing tick-tack-toe?)
[Here is the special double-double cross #.]
Dat's right.
Entry 7419
Yo' kin take some eggs an' bur' [bury] 'em in 'is [corpse's] han' an' [or] put eggs in de baid, an' dat'll evah who did [the murder] dey cain't go nowhah [now- where]. All right, to fin' out who de murder[er] [is] yo' put 2 silver forks 'cross 'is heart [forks crossed] an' bur' 'im, an' de murder[er]'ll come to yore home.
(What bed do you put these eggs in?)
In 'is baid. Jis' lak yo' killed me, dey put 'em in mah baid.
(How many?)
Three eggs. [A chicken egg, a symbol of life and power, is frequently used in death and burial - see later margitn title EGG with many submargin titles.]
Entry 7420
[Someone] done kill somebody an' yo' Wanta draw 'im back. Well, here's jes' whut yo' do. "Fore dem people dies an' 'fore dey bury'u, yo' takes yo' a lemon an' a fork. Yo' take it an' yo' lay it on dere breas', see, an' yo' bury 'um wit it.
(How are that fork and lemon put on there?)
See, jes' puts de lemon.
(Wait a minute! Show me.)
See, jes' put de lemon - put de lemon on 'is breas'. Den yo' take de fork - two forks an' yo' lay 'em cross 'is breas' jes' lak dat.
(Across the lemon or near the lemon?)
Near de lemon. Jus' put de lemon, yo' see, right to de heart, right on 'is body, on 'is breas', an' yo' take two forks an' lay 'em right 'cross dere, see. An' yo' take his name, who an' evah it is, yo' take his name an' write it down five times, an' de one what dead, yo' undahstan', take his name an' yo' put 'em under dat fork, or put it in dat lemon, yo' see, right in dat lemon. Den when dat lemon rot an' all of it start a'rottin' wit him, yo' can't go nowhere. Yo' might just wander 'round - wander round - an' yo' find yourself right back dere wheresomever yo' done killed dat person - they come right back dere an' get yo'.
(Whose name do you write down?)
His name - see, de dead person's name. His name. Yo' just take it an' write it down nine times. See.
(Which name do you write down first now?)
Put de dead man's name down first. Den take hissen an' put it down [demon- strates].
(Cross it like that.)
Cross it like dat - but nine different times.
(Put the murderer's name on top of the dead man's?)
Yeah, yo' see, put 'im to keep 'im from goin'. Yo' see, yo' put his name first. See, de man dat run away, put his name first. Den the dead man, yo' put him on top. Next time yo' put this man dat run away, yo' put his name down dere, den de dead man's. Den yo' take it an' yo' open de lemon. Yo' put it up in de lemon an' put it right by de forks, an' cross it like dis.
Entry 7422
An' yo' kin take parsley an' do de same thing [catch a murderer].
(How do you do that?)
Yo' take de parsley, green parsley an' yo' - yo' don't put de leaves part in it, de root part, an' yo' put one root in dis han', put jes' lak dis [demon- strates] lak dis is. Jes' carry 'em disaway, an' take de othah one disaway, an' close de han'. Put it back dere dataway. An' dey won't go away. (Just cross their hands with parsley in it, across their breast, and the fellow can't go away.) Yes, can't go away. (I see.) [A piece of fresh parsley root is placed in each hand of the corpse and then the hands are crossed across the breast making separate crosses with folded hands and roots - a type of dou- ble-cross. The intention to bring back murderer is also there.]
Entry 7453
An' den yo' kin take a egg, or de same egg, same kin'a egg, if somebody kill someone, an' aftah dey kill someone - well a fellah killed one of us color- ed an' my grandfathah did dis. I know dis. An' he take dem eggs an' he put 'em in de person's han's an' cross de han's jes' lak dat, an' dey caught 'im. (When they put those eggs in the hands, they had to cross the hands?) Yes sir, cross de han's jes' dat way witeggs. (Cross the breast?) Cross de breast, an' he couldn't go away. Dey caught 'im.
Entry 7463
This is only a small parable I want to give as an idea. If a young girl would go out wit some boy [if] he would drown this girl. Af- ter this girl had been drowned, she would rise in three day's time. All right. They go to some foreteller an' she say, "Yes, that's what you want." Well, the final facts - if the people want to see the facts - wants this boy to do the same thing that this girl did, commit suicide. Yo' may go to work an' take a rope, before buryin' dis girl, an' place aroun' 'er neck. Tie it, bring through each arm an' tie each arm.
(Tie her arms behind her?)
No, tie 'em down.
(I see, tie them down.)
The next knot goes in around her waist, but a piece of new rope. Then tie the legs together. May look an' git two black hen eggs, put in each hand an' cross 'em up in each hand. Bury the girl on 'er face. In nine days time or five days, this fellow will be floatin' round the same place where this girl was picked up from.
Entry 7540
Yo' go to an ole cemetery dat chew nevah been to befo' an' yo' reach down - reach down an' pick up a little of dis dirt, see. Yo' go to dese fo'ks of de roads - fo'ked disaway, fo'ked disaway an' fo'ked disaway [demonstrates]. (Make the form of a cross right in the road.) Dat's right, make a fom of a cross lak yo' take a pencil an' make a mark, see. Evah whut chew want - who yo' want done or whut chew want done, it Won't be long befo' dey'll be gone. Dat will do one or 'tuthah [the other] - run 'em off, see.
(You don't make a special wish or do something out there?)
Yeah, yo' kin make a wish fo' anything dat chew wanta happen.
Entry 7664
Dey go tuh de cemetery, a person would, if dey try tuh do yo' mean. Jes' lak somebody's buried dis evenin', go dere an' git de dirt outa his grave. Go dere an' git it down nex' tuh 'is feet an' outa his stomach an' outa de haid. An' take it an' git chew a snakeshed an' put all dat - mix 'em tuhgethah an' cross 'em [throw dirt in form of a cross] an' yo' aim dat whare dey doin' yo' dirty. (Well, now you get this dirt from three places out of the grave, but it must be a grave that's been opened that day - must be a grave from that day. And you put this inside the snakeshed and you grind the snakeshed up like that. And then you mix the grave dirt with that. Show me what you do with this powder then.) Yo' take dis powdah an' put it, an' bury hit undah yore steps. If dat person come at night an' do anythin' dere, dat'll keep 'em away from dere. Dey'll jes' go an' travel an' travel, an' jes' come tuh be nuthin but skin an' bone. Always travel.
(What about the eyes going down?)
If yo' use snakeshed an' graveyard dirt. Yo' see, all dat jes' goes wit de body, yo' see. Dey ketches de same disease. De snake, yo' know, jes' lak he bit chew, see.
(Well how does it get into them? Does it get in through his eye or what?)
It will git intuh de eye, but people use it in diff'ren' kind [of ways]. Jes' lak yo's heah an' ah do's disaway. Well, when ah'm talkin' an' yore haid - take mah han' disaway, it will kill 'em [you]. (Which way are you going to do. After you get this snakeshed and graveyard dirt ground together, now what are you going to do with it? Are you going to throw it around that person or are you going to put it under your door. Which are you going to do with that? Or do you do both things?) Put it roun' yore home.
(And what is that supposed to do then?)
It 'sposed tuh break up whut dey wan' tuh do tuh yo'.
(And what will happen to them?)
Sompin happen tuh 'em, dey has bad luck.
Entry 7701
Dey'll go tuh de graveyard at midnight jis' befo' de clock strikes twelve, an' dey'll make a cross mark - dat is a X - right acrost de footbo'd an' de haidbo'd [that is 2 crosses]. Dey go tuh de foot firs', den dey take nine steps backwards, back de way yuh come in [the graveyard], den yuh kin come on out. Dat's fo' luck.
Entry 7706
Dey say dey take it if yo' wan'a person tuh leave home. Jis' lak yo' stay roun' a family of people an' yo' didn't want dem tuh stay dere or dey were sturbin' yo'. Well, yo go to de graveyard an' yo' git some dirt offa grave. Yo' know about where a per- son's heart is an' yo' take a knife an' yo' cut a splintah offa dat haidbo'd an' a splintah offa de footbo'd. Say den yo' take dat splintah an' make a cross out it. Chew know, lak yo'd make a cross.
(Just a little bit louder.)
Yo' make a cross outa dem two splintahs an' yo' take dat dirt an' yo' put it undah dere do'step an' make a grave out of it. An' den yo' take dat cross an' stick to de haid of it jis' lak it wus tuh de haid of a grave. Well, dey will have tuh move 'way from dere. Dey cain't stay dere. [Here we have 2 splinters from the graveboards making a cross for a mock grave, a subtect to be explored later in this section DEATH.]
Entry 7725
Take de footbo'd an' put it tuh de haid an' de haidbo'd an' put it tuh de feet, an' let it stay fo' [for] fo' [four] days. Go back an' reverse de footbo'd tuh de left-side an' de haidbo'd tuh de right-side, an' name de othah per- son - name de per- son [victim]. Take de length of dat grave from de haid wit a rule [string can be used]. Carry it back through a [paper bag suggested later] an' pass it tuh dem [the victim]. Give it tuh dem or some of de ones in de house - or de one dat shure tuh be condemned. Dat'll be de one who'll soon pass out of de house. (How do you mean? You go there and put the headboard to the foot and the footboard to the head?) That's right. (Then you go back there in four days. And then what do you do with those boards?) Take 'em an' jes' place 'em tuh de side, one tuh de left an' one tuh de right Iside of grave].
(Well, which is which?)
De haidbo'd tuh de left [heartside] an' de footbo'd tuh de right. Jes' take dem an' jes' push 'em dere; jes' push 'em dere an' name 'em.
[Somewhere along here informant said something about a sign on the grave.]
(That you make a sign on the grave?)
Yo' make a "x" on de grave, dat's right. Carry it [measurement] back an' give tuh de person.
(What do you give to the person?)
De measure. Yo' measure it wit a rule or a string; anything yo' want tuh, jes' since yo' git it back [to the house]. Yo' take de measure an' give it tuh dis person, somebody in de house. Yo' gotta give it tuh 'em in a papah bag or sompin - in de bag or sompin. Be sure dat chew give it tuh 'em. [Sumter, S. Car. (1384), 2460:5.]
Entry 7739
Well, they said, just like this; now, you living here and I wanted you to move, I want this house. Well, I'd go to the graveyard and I will get some dirt, and I will cross it up near the doorstep. (How do you cross it up? How do you mean?) Throw it like this [demonstrates]. (You sprinkle it in the form of a cross.) Yes. And make a wish and call your name. You'll move, can't stay there no more.
Entry 7740
I have heard that they go to the graveyard and get some dirt from the head of the grave, and then get some dirt from the foot, and bring that dirt to the house. Bury that dirt. [First, however, you] make a cross mark so. You make a cross [on the ground] with this graveyard dust. [Then] you make a hole right in the center [of the cross] and bury [the rest of] that dirt. You bury that dirt anywhere these parties to walk over it, and they won't walk long.
Entry 7742
Yo' take a lettah. Well, if she's round in town, yo' go tuh de woman's house, or whosomevah's house she's at, an' yo' draw a cross mark lak dis an' yol take sulphuh an' yo' take graveyard dirt. An' git de graveyard dirt from a sinnah [sinner's grave]. An' draw yore mark an' call dere name an' yo' put yore peppah, nine pods of red peppah. Den yo' take de sulphuh an' put it cross. Den yo' [do] lak dat wit graveyard dirt.
(Making the form of a cross all the time.)
Yes. "An' let 'im walk 'cross dat. See, he goin' walk 'cross it if he come out. Well, in nine days him an' her will start fightin' jes' lak cat's an' dogs, an' it won't be long befo' he's goin' tuh break up [leave her].
(That is to separate them. That is going to make them quarrel, isn't it?)
Well, dis is gonna break 'im up, yo' see.
Entry 7743
Yo' go out tuh de fo'ks of de road now, lak if yo' have a boy friend an' yo' want 'im tuh go, or if yo' wan' 'im tuh come back. Yo' go tuh de fo'ks of de road, de heart of de road heah, an' take yore foot or else a long stick an' make a, yo' know, a trench long enough tuh spread salt an' sulphur [demonstrates]. (You make a trench like that.) Yes, tuh each one of de fo'ks of de road. Yo' know when de road fo'ks, it fo'ks sompin lak dat [demonstrates]. Well, yo' take an' make yore lines sompin lak dat [demonstrates].
(Make and "x".)
Yes. An' yo' have yore salt an' yore sulphur an' graveyard dirt an' yo' put it in dere, sprinkle it down. Have enough tuh put in dere, an' den yo' tell it whut tuh do. Yo' use graveyard dirt, dat's very good.
(What did you tell it to do now?)
Well now, lak now, if yo' want dem tuh come back. Or if yo' want 'em tuh [be] gone, say, "Go", whichevah direction yo' want. Say, "Go, dis way or dat way, or dat way, an' don't nevah return." But if yo' say, "Wherevah yo' are, if yo' in de no'th, so'th, east or west, come back tuh me."
(You can do it either way?)
Yes.
Entry 7792
Now, if a person wanta run yo' out of a house, why dey goes tuh a ceme- tery where dere's someone deposit dead dere dat is well known, dat dey knows de disposition of de person [ill- tempered]. Dey carry along 7 pennies an' two lightvood AND HOW [fatwood or fatlighter pine] splinters [stakes]. Dey stick one on dis side jis' across de ways [waist] an' de othah cross de othah side di- rectly opposite an' dey stretch dat string zactly across dere.
(Across the breast from one stake to the other.)
Yes sir, lightly - must be caught lightly. An' den dey take anothah string an' stretch it directly from de foot tuh de haid [demonstrates].
(IN OTHER WORDS, YOU ARE FORMING A CROSS RIGHT ON TOP OF THAT GRAVE.)
Yes, sir. Den yo' go tuh work an' yo' go right intuh 'is hips, de right hip, an' yo' deposit dem 7 cents dere, an' yo' bring up from dere a handful of dat earth. Put it intuh a li'le box of some kin' dat yo' kin close it down tuh- gethah with. An' den tell 'em jis' zactly whut yo' wants done an' how yo' want it done. Den make dem undahstan' dat yo' have paid 'em, absolutely have paid 'em de price an' yo' mean fer 'em tuh do it. Yo' come on back tuh de house an yo' buy one gunshot shell an' cut de shot off, an' yo' takes de powdah an' yo' will po' it out an' measure jis' exactly how much powdah yo' want tuh put in dere. Measure de powdah an' put it intuh a clean piece of cloth an' measure de earth, jis' dat much earth, an' put it intuh dat cloth too. An' den yo'.git yo' dat much ground red peppah. Put it in dere an' fold it up tight an' yo' puts it right intuh de gun an' yo' turn directly an' face westward an' call dere name an' pull de triggah. An' if dey don't move, dey'll drop daid on de spot.
(Where did you learn that?)
Ah learned dat right chere, Charleston.
(Is that a special remedy of anyone? Of any special person?)
Yes, sir, fellah in de neighborhood name of Robert Chaplin. [Charleston, S. Car., (514, Doctor Glover), 595:2.] [For Glover see also references at end of 7214, p.3209 and elsewhere.]
Entry 7933
I have heard of them drawing a ring in the ground, and they make the shape of a coffin in the ring. Then you make a mark like this [a straight line lengthwise] through the center of the coffin, and take seven grains of pepper seed and put all up and down that mark and cover it over. Then you draw a mark through the coffin like this [a straight line crosswise]. And they can't get by there. They're going to drindle [dwindle] and drindle. Nothing will do you no good. You're going away from there. That doesn't aim to put you to death at once, that just puts a spell on you and you never get over it. They put that on the path or at the gate where you can't miss it. [Despite my comment in the preceding rite, in the present one I actually managed to squeeze in two comments to show that one straight line bisected the length, the other the width of the coffin.] [The informant's father was a well-known cunjure man, but the son has not been very successful in carrying on the work.]
Entry 7964
Take dat left shoe, yo' cut it, yo' jis' cut it all de way cross from dat heel. Yo' take dat shoe... [I interrupt.]
(From the heel to what?)
From de heel tuh de end of de toes.
(HoW would you cut it? How do you mean they cut it?)
[Just make a cut mark? Cut all the Way through? Etc?]
Yo' jis' take a knife an' cut it...
(Just make a cut?)
Yes, sir, jis' take a knife an' cut dat shoe all de way through, yo' see, de sole of it. Cut it all de way through tuh de heel.
(I see.)
An' den yo' take dat shoe an' git two cross-sticks, two cross-sticks [2 sticks to cross] an' yo' cross 'em lak dat [demonstrates].
(Like an X. All right.)
Yo' cross 'em lak dat, an' yo' goes right undahneat' of de house, of [belou] dere baid. Yo' see, yo' make somepin jis' lak a li'le coffin. An' yo' goes undahneat' of de house right undah de baid, jis' where de baid sets. An' yo' tacks de bottom of dat, dat inside of dat sole of dat shoe, [and] yo' tack it undahneat' of de house right undah de baid. An' dat person will jis' lingah, lingah, lingah - lingah until dey die. But yo' tacks it - see yo' tack it right undahneat' de bed. [Nail it to the fllor under the house:] Dat's really de truth ah'm tellin' yo' now. Dat's really de truth.
(Well, what would they do with that box?)
Evahthing ah'm tellin' yo' is really de truth. (Well, what would they do with that box that you made like a coffin? What do you do with that?) That? It all be's tuhgethah.
(Oh! you tack that box, everything. I see.)
But choo see, it all be's tuhgethah. Turn it bottom upwards.
(I see.)
An' yo' tack it right undahneat' of de baid undah de house; but choo see, yo' cross dem sticks.
(Where do you put those sticks?)
Yo' cross dem sticks right undahneat' of it, right undahneat' of de sole. An' yo' tack it an' yo' turn it all bottom ups, an' yo' tacks it right undahneat' of de baid.
(Well, now, you put these sticks in there across?)
Yes. (Then you put this piece of leather in there, from the shoe, and you turn it upside down, and tack it up under the bed, under the house? [I speak slowly and deliberately.] That leather is in there to hold those sticks, that are crossed, from falling down?) Yes, sir, keep dem sticks crossed. Don' put 'em straight, put crossed.
(I see.)
Entry 7978
Yo' takes a photograph, see, an' writes on de back of de photograph yore name, her name cross it. Don't write 'em straight. Yo' write chure name down an' yo' come back an' write her name on top of it. Yo' go to de grave- yard an' take yo' two han'- fulla dirt an' sprinkle it ovah dis picture, an' fold dis photograph up an' puts it in a envelope an' sprinkle dat dirt in de envelope, jes' 'nuff tuh put in dere an' fold it up an' puts it in de box. An' in seven days, regardless tuh where she is or who she is, she cain't be still - she'll return. She gotta come.
Entry 8052
Yo' go in de woods. Yo' make it tuh de woods, way outa town, an' yo' turn in an' git chew a black line, a thread line - a thread line dat's black, a spool of thread. (Like a black fishing line?) Dat's right, lak a black fishin' line. An' yo' turn in an' git chew two needles. Yo' bring it [demon- strates] from heah an' yo' roll dat lak dat, reel it out from heah, jis' lak yo' stealin' dis whiskey. Jis' lak yo' in dere stealin' dis whiskey, yo' draw dat fishin' line, see, right on out. Yo's right in heah. Yo' be settin' heah, an' yo' draw dat fishin' line right on out. Well, yo' git den an' yo' stop an' yo' have a li'le yore watah in a tin can, yore pee in it already, an' yo' po' [pour] dat right down. Evah time yo' stops it [the line] po' it down. All right, yo' keep right on runnin' [out the line] an' go a certain distance. Ah [would] say yo' go about, aw jis' a short step, yo' know, aroun' an' den yo' stop an' yo' drop a li'le bit of it [urine]. Well, yo' keep right on a-runnin' [the line] an' see, yo' stop an' yo' drop a li'le of yore pee dere. An' yo' keep right a-rumnin' an' yo' stop ag'in an' yo' put a li'le pee dere. An' yo' git right back where yo' started off an' put some mo' yore pee dere.
[The urine is sprinkled in a circle about his liquor. This is to protect it.]
All right. Den yo' look aroun'. Well, ah did dis In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, dat ah may rest from all evil, an' dat ah may die [several words], an' chunk it on away. All right, den yo' back up an' yo' git up on dis lak dis heah. Yo' back up off it, see, where yo' stop at. Yo' backed up an' yo' look at it [your whiskey]. Yo' stop five minutes an' yo' don't say a word. Yo' look at it. Den yo' walk back up to it an' yo' look at it ag'in. Den yo' back up. Den when yo' back up yo' look in dat direction an' jis' turn an' look an' jis' walk in dat direction. An' when yo' git out in dat direction, yo'll have a seat an' set down dere jis' a few minutes an' look at it. Don't say a word. Jis' look jis' fo' a few minutes. Den yo'll leave from dere an' yo'll go tuh a graveyard. An' if yo' kin git holt of a man's toes, yo' git holt of about fo' or five of de toes tuh fo'k [fork into the ground] roun' [the goods for sale]. Yo' stick 'em in de ground, yo know, round [the liquor], yo' see. An' den yo' say, Ah hope dis will be a fence fo' all [to keep everyone away], In de Name of de Fathah, Son an' de Holy Ghost. Well, devils [evil spirits] will be dere, see an' dat will keep dem dere [those] mens [low men] from comin' in lookin' fo' yo' makin' dis whiskey. Dey drove [are driven] away [by this protection] but yo' dere, but yo' know who dey are. See, yo' keep 'em drove away, but chew stay dere, but dey cain't stay dere. DEY'LL BE FRIGHTENED. WHEN DEY COME AN' CREEP AN' STOP, BEGIN TUH LOOK, DEY'LL GIT FRIGHT- ENED. SOMPIN WILL HIT 'EM ON DE BACK, SEE, AN' DEY'LL GRAB DEY PISTOL AN' TURN ROUN' AN' DERE'S NUTHIN. YO' HAVE HEARD OF THINGS SLAPPIN' PEOPLE. AH KNOW YO' KNOW.
(You said you get two needles. What did you do with those needles?)
Yo' take dose two needles - yo' take dose two needles an' yo' put 'em up on top of dis heah stove, jis' set 'em up dere. See, dat's tuh mean fo' sharp luck. Yo' carry dem needles fo' sharp luck. Yo' put dem needles up dere an' yo' cross 'em, see. Now, dem needles is dere fo' dem devils. See, dem needles is dere fo' dem devils, undahstan'. Dem needles is goin' p'int [point] at dem devils, undah- Stan'. WHEN AH CALLS DEVILS, DEM GUYS COMIN' IN DERE GOIN' TRY TUH RUN YO' OUT. WELL, AH WANTA HAVE DEVILS DERE STRONGAH AS DEY IS, an' dem needleS goin' hold 'em, dey is crossed, undahstan'. Well, ah'll look roun', see, an' put it dere, an' den got de stuff from de graveyard, yo' see, done got dem folk's toes, dem daid toes if it ain't nuthin but de bones. Ah got de toes. Well, ah done named dem, see. Ah name, jis' say, de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost, dat dey may keep 'way all devils. Well, when dem othah devils [law men] come, see, up dere tuh ketch me an' carry me down an' lock me up in jail, dese things will keep dem PartieS Off. DEY CAIN'T NEVAH GIT IN DERE, DEY'S ALWAYS SCARED OUT. AN' EVAH TIME DEY PULL OUT DEY PISTOL AN' GO TUH SHOOT, DEY'LL LOSE IT OR SOMPIN, DEY CAIN'T SHOOT.
Entry 8054
Well, yo' take a bone, say dis wrist bone here [demonstrates].
(The left wrist.)
Yeah. Yo' take de left wrist. If it's a evil person, say like some fellahs ah might recite yuh [or their] name fast: "George Bohall," "Up-jump, de Devil" [etc.]. All dose fellahs had police records, bad. Dey got kilt, dey died bad. Dey had tuh hold 'em down. Well, yo' take his bone an' yo' would bring it ovah tuh de house, an' yo' have what yo' call de dead pot.
(Dead what?)
Have a little pot about dat high, what de women use fo' po'in' [pouring] on.
(For what?)
Fo' po'in' on, tuh keep dere comb warm when dey are straight'en' [straight- ening] women's hair. Well, dey got a small little pot lak dat. It's a little stove, yo' know.
(Yes.)
Well, yo' take dat bone from dat evil spirit [the spirit of the bad man killed] an' yo' take it dere, an' yo' git some good whiskey. Yo' know, an' if he died a drunk. Dose are people dat yo' know [about], yo' know where dey grave, buried at, an' yo' go tuh dat most pahticlah [particular] grave an' git dat bone. Yo' put dat on de fiah an' yo' boil dat. Now, yo' set three hick'ry sticks across dere an' yo' set dat right on top of dat bone. Aftah yo' set dat on dat bone, why yo' take whiskey an' yo' po' ovah 'im, po' ovah dat mos' pahticlah bone. An' aftah yo' po' it ovah 'im, yo' demand 'im tuh go an' kill So-an'-so-an'-so.
(I see.)
An' dey goes on an' yo' do's de work.
(I see.)
Or else, yo' wanta, say, run 'im ovahbo'd [make him jump overboard], let 'im, let a automobile run ovah 'im. Yo' always place him in a place dat he'll git kilt.
(I see. You cross those hickory sticks?)
Cross 'em across. (And then when you - this [I demonstrate] is your pot. Are the bones in the pot?) No, dat's what de sticks are dere fo'. Supposin' de pot about dis size [dem- onstrates]. Well, yo' place [demonstrates] one here, one dere, an' one here. An' den yo' place de bone right 'cross dere lak dat [demonstrates].
(Oh, across the sticks.)
Across de sticks. Dat is tuh [I interrupt]...
(Then what do you do with the pot?)
Well, yo' mos'ly use a li'le turpentine an' linseed oil in dat pot - turpen- tine an' linseed oil in dat pot. But yo' start yuh fiah slow, jis' so, so she [pot] make an ord'nary steam. Dat is tuh keep a certain pressure on 'im. Den yo' demand 'im wit controllin' powah, say, "Ah demand yo' wit controllin' powah tuh go ovah an' do such-an'-such a thing. Go ovah an' kill Such-an'-such a one." An' yo' [the spirit] must do so. (I see.) [New Orleans, La., (819), 1171:2.] [As we have seen, there are many substitutes for the human body: (l) anything that came from the body, such as blood, semen, urine, excrement, sweat, spit, hair, fingernails, toenails, and footskin; and (2) anything that has touched the body, especially clothes. In this division we shall examine three entities that are not a part of the body and yet preeminently represent it - photograph and name and letters and handwriting. Of these three, name already has occurred so many times in the preceding rites, I shall start here with photograph.]
Entry 8095
Yo' kin take a man's pichure or a man kin take a woman's pichure. If yo' wan' de person tuh stay aroun', yo' kin turn it up an' dey'll be aroun' if yo' walk on tuh 'em. If yo want 'em tuh come rushin' right tuh yo' at once, turn it down. Dat puts 'em on dere haid, dey can't stay away. Den yo' kin take de pichure ag'in an' punch de eyes out, put a "x" in de mouth, an' bury it on de face of it, but punch de eyes out an' dat'll run 'em blind.
Entry 8096
If yo' didn't like a person, take dat pichure an' make cross marks on de eyes an' bury it where yo' often walks ovah, an' dey will nevah bothah yo' any mo'. (Just make a cross over each eye?) Jis' make a cross ovah each eye an' bury it, yo' know, in de path dat chew trods ovah, an' dey'd nevah bothah yo' ag'in.
Entry 8097
Yo' take de pichure an' yo' plug both eyes out. Den yo' take an' yo' put two cross mark right across lak dat [demonstrates] an' den yo' carry it tuh de right- han' cornah of de house on de Do'theast side, an' carry it an' put it undahneat' of de house up on top of de sill an' turn de face down. An' dey'll perish [you] away. (Now, after you cut the eyes out of that picture, you just cross it like that [demonstrate] twice. You make diagonals across the picture in the shape of a cross like that twice. Then you bury it under - [demonstrate] here's the house and here's the northwest corner. Now, where would you bury it under the north- east corner?) Yo' jis' put it right along - now heah's [demonstrates] de no'theast cornah. Jis' put it about lak dat, up on top of de sill of de house an' turn it face down.
Entry 8205
Well, dey can't do anything now wit de photograph, not de late one dat's made, but de one wit de tintype, dey would take dem an' bury dem upside down, see, wit two nails. Look [demonstrates] two nails crossed dataway, an' bury de photograph upside down. An' dat would keep yo' wit a mixed-up mind always, an' prack'ly [practically] wit a bulgin' headache, contin'ly [continually].
(I see.)
BUT RECENTLY DEY DON'T USE DOSE TINTYPES ANY MORE. WELL, DEY DID ONCE UPON A TIME. DEY HAD DE BIGGEST PART OF DE PEOPLE, YO' COULDN'T GIT 'EM TUH TAKE DERE PHOTOGRAPH, UNLESS YO' JIS' STEAL UP ON DEM TUH TAKE IT, BECUZ DEY KNOWED WHAT WOULD BE DE RESULT.
(I see.)
Entry 8323
Dey said dat sometimes if people git hold of yer pitchure, an' dey said dat dey could take yer pitchure, seal it up intuh a tree an' stop it up tight, let dat pitchure stay dere fer nine days, den aftah nine days go back dere an' cross dat pitchure, dat means cross dat stop [wooden peg], put a cross mark on it [peg]. Den dey say aftah dat he comes tuh be crazy.
Entry 8475
Say yo' takes 'er pichure. Yo' goes an' git a gun an' regardless tuh who she is or how much money she got, if yo' loved 'er, git 'er photograph an' turns 'er photograph on de desk, layin' de photograph an' call 'it 'er pichure, an' mark it wit a "X' - a cross, 'X'. Take an' folds it up in a piece of news- pahah an' put it in yore shoes. Hoids up de linin' of yore shoes an' put it in dere, an' turns de haid of 'er pichure down tuh de ground an' tuhward de back of yore heel. Weah it three days an' take it an' delivah it out. An' pertends [pretends] yo' drinkin' whiskey, two glasses. Drink yores an' name hers wit de pichure ovah it. An' let it stay dere fo' three days an' she'll return tuh yo'.
(After you wear this in your shoe, you take it, the third day, and then you?)
Put it in two drinks of likkah, put it in two separate glasses. Fulls [fill] de glasses up each, an' drink one. An' put de othah one back an' name it wit de pichure in it, ovah de glass wit de face down tuh whiskey.
Entry 8512
Take nine needles an' nine nails, an' also nine pins, an' a coconut wit a eggshell.
(An eggshell?)
A eggshell, an' dis quicksilvah papah.
Quicksilvah.
(You mean the paper they put around tobacco?)
[I am referring to tin foil.]
Yes, sir. Yo' take a indelible pencil an' write someone name on it nine times across.
(Over that silver paper?)
Yes. An' yo' write it nine times across dis way [demonstrates].
(You mean cross them like that, like an "x"?)
Yeah, an' den yo' cross dat again. See, jis' keep it all covahed up. Yo' are writing dere name backwards doh [though]. Yo' don't write it, yo' know, lak it should be, but yo' write it backwards. See, lak if yure name is WELLS, well yo' start wit dat SLLEW an' go right on lak dat. Write it fo' nine times, jis' lak dat, each way, backwards an' forwards, same way. Den, yo' take an' jis' put it inside of de coconut - take dis inside of de coconut an' take it tuh a midstream, an' throw it upstream, but it must be flowin' down, lak a drift [cur- rent], see. Yo' take dis coconut an' throw it out [into the stream] an' when dis coconut go down, dis person whatevah yo' wish tuh drift, dey'll come tuh dey can't be satisfied nowhere neah. If dey have no place, dey'll set out. Dey know dat yo' live in dere, an' dey'll come in an' dey won't see no peace at home. Dey are always on de go. Dat's if dey stay dere. Finally, dey'll git so dat dey can't stay in de house. Dey'll pack up whut dey got an' if de things dat dey have is too much trouble fo' 'em, dey'll take an' pro'bly sell it an' jis' go on adriftin'. Yo' pro'bly may nevah see 'em no mo'.
(What do you do with that eggshell and that stuff?)
De eggshell, dat goes intuh de coconut.
(Oh, that goes into the coconut.)
Egg, [coconut] milk, de quicksilvah, evahthing inside of dis coconut. An' yo' put it in dere an' yo' throw it ovahbo'd.
(I see.)
Entry 8528
(Now, you are going to tell me something else. Now, all right.) Now, then yo' kin get yo' a coconut. Yo' git yo' nine seeds of punkin [pumpkin]. (Pumpkin seeds, nine of them.) Nine of 'em. (All right.) Yo' get yo' nine chicken corns [kernels of maize, Zea Mays]. (Nine what?) Chicken corns. (Chicken corn, what's that for?) Dat's to put in de coconut. (Well what is chicken corn?) Dat's what de chicken eats. (You mean the same thing as a horse eats, the same kind of corn the horse eats? Chicken corn? Ordinary corn like a roasting ear of corn. All right.) Yo' get that nine pumpkin seeds, nine chicken corn, the man name, but yo' take de water out de coconut. Yo' put de man name nine times an' de woman, if in case yo' wanta break 'em up. Put it in there.
(How do you put the woman's name in there?)
Yo' put de woman name crossways, this way [demonstrates].
(Across his name. All right.)
Across his name. Then yo' make a cross toward this way [a cross is added to the paper]. Then when yo' do that, then in that, then yo' takes this cayenne peppah an' yo' set it right up in de center [of the paper] and yo' bring it to yo'. An' yo' cuss 'em as yo' putting it to yuh. An' yo' roll it on dis side an' yo' put on dis, always rolling it to yo'. An' then yo' cuss it an' yo' stick it in there.
(In this coconut.)
An' then yo' take a stopper an' yo' stop up de two eyes, then yo' take de coconut an' yo' roll it fo' nine days in yore home. Then yo' take it an' yo' goes to de rivah. Takes fifteen cents an' throws in de - de fifteen cents be- hind it [coconut], to pay spirit for the work]. An' just let it go each way or de other, an' let it float anywhere where it's gotta go. An' yo'll have him just agoing from one to de other. He'll lose his mind or else go to de river.
(What do you mean by these two eyes?)
SEE, DE COCONUT GOT TWO EYES WHERE DE WATER DRAINS OUT.
(All right, on account of those two eyes you have two corks in that coconut?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 8537
Go to this place and keep it sweetened down with sweetened water and cinnamon and sugar. (How would you do that?) Well, you'd take and write his name three times and write your name three times, see.
(How would you do that?)
Write your name three times up over his'n and write his name three times across, see. And put it in - fold the paper three times to you - and then put down into a glass or anything with water, sweetened water and cinnamon. And that keeps his name, his mind drawing for you all the time.
(Keeps drawing toward you. I see.)
Entry 8538
Ah say jes' lak if yo' got a loved one an' he's gone away. Yo' know, sometimes people be co'tin' [courting] yo' know each othah, an' dey go off ex- pectin' tuh be right back. An' dey may git a job or sompin, undahstand an' hold dem a little longer den dey wanta. Or some- times dey jes' quit an jes' tell yo' ah'll be back tomorrow an' yo' leave tuh not evah come back no mo'. Well, yo' go to de no'th- west side of yore house an' yo' turn yore face to de direction dat dis person is at. An' yo' place yore hands up ovah yore heart an' yo' call dis person's name three times, In de Name of de Fathah, Name of de Son, an' Name.of de Holy Ghost, an' yo' tell 'em tuh come on to yo', Oh, ye loved one. An' in nine days' time dey'll be home, will be back to where yo' want 'em to be. Dey say yo' have to do this three mawnin's in succession at de hour of three a'clock each mawnin'.
(Did you say something before about a cross mark?)
Yes sir, yo' jes' make this cross mark.
(Where?)
At de no'thwest side of de house, an' yo' stand, yo' know, by de mark or - it don' make no diffunce [difference] jes' so long as yo' make it by de house on de no'thwest side an' turn yore face to de direction [person has gone].
(Do you make that cross mark on the house or on the ground?)
Yo' make it on de ground.
Entry 8539
They tell me that if a person will cross two sticks and then make a cross mark, and have those sticks standing up cross each other right in that cross mark, and put nine pins in there, in that same mark around there, that whichever one that has the longest end to it, the indi- vidual that you have something against, if he has to go that direction [in the direction of the longest mark], put it down there and he'll cross over it for nine days, and then finally his mind'll get confused and he'll wander away from home.
Entry 8540
They said they make nine marks and cross 'em.
(How do you mean nine marks and cross 'em?)
Just make nine straight marks, you know, an' cross 'em tHHHHH+ ttItitt or That makes ten. The tenth mark, that's ten. (What is it supposed to do?) Well, that will put 'em to traveling, yo' know. (Well, how - where do they make these marks?) Well, yo' could make 'em with a stick or anything, yo' know, and make a wish, yo' know. Call de person's name an' make a wish, an' cross those things an' they say that it's more than apt to come true. Make a evil wish towards 'em.
Entry 8554
Put de name on a papah, write it this way [demonstrates]. Cross it all the way up. Take that papah an' fold it to yo'. Always fold it to yo' an' that will draw 'em back.
Entry 8568
Go back to de fo'k of de road an' yo' kin take a nail, two nails an' cross dose nails, an' bury 'em right at de fo'k of de road. An' de person who wanta harm - an' dat will harm de person.
(Do you put anything with those nails or what?)
Jes' go dere an' put dose two nails cross In de Name of de Fathah an' de Son an' de Holy Ghost. An' de person whut chew wanta run away, well yo' could say dat [say or call victim's name]. An' dat'll carry dem. Jes' cross dem nails out dere.
(You mention the person's name, you say?)
Yes sir, name de person name, In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' de Holy Ghost.
(That will drive them away.) [Florence, S. Car. (1308), 2212:4.]
Entry 8614
De landlord - just like as if de landlord say he didn't want yo' to move, just say he was dunnin' yo' about money, yo' didn't have it. Yo' take a piece of white paper. [Long pause.] (Yes.) An' yo' put dat landlord's name down dis way nine times [demonstrates]. (One name right under the other?) Yes, sir. De same name, just put it down nine times. Den yo' take dat papah dataway [demonstrates].
(Turn the paper around, yes.)
An' go through dere three times.
(With what, his name?)
His name. (His name again, just his name again, three times. Altogether it's nine times.)
[Not 9 times but 3 times, informant corrects.]
Nine times thisaway an' three times thisaway [demonstrates].
(Making a cross, all right.)
Makin' a cross. An' just take dat an' put it undah a rug, or anythin' dat's in de house, where's [where it is] concealed. Just let it stay right dere.
(With the names down that way?)
De name's upside down like dat [demonstrates].
(I see.)
It's a chance dat he'll come dere an' collect next door an' pass yo' up.
Entry 8658
Ah know yo' take a weepin' willow an' yo' put as many notches on it as lettahs in yore name, an' den tie it across an' throw it in de yard where yo' Work at, an' de woman dat yo' think's got yore job, say, "Yo' shall leave dere." An' yo' kin git chure job de next mawnin'. (That is to get the other per- son's job?) She take [took] mah job. Ah Want mah job back. (To get your job back, you take a willow switch and you tie as many notches in it, cut notches in it as many letters as she has in her name.) Yes, an' den tie it dataway an' tro' [throw] it in de yard an' she'll leave dere.
(You tie it like this? What - you cut it in two then?)
Yes. Nawsuh [no sir], we don' cut it in two. Jes' take de two willows an' tie a string aroun' 'em an' throw it in de yard an' dey'll leave dere.
(And you cut the notches in these willows?)
Yessuh, as many [notches as] lettahs in her name yo' see. If she got five lettahs in her name or six or seven lettahs, maybe, cut dem many. (Here are two willow switches. Now she has five letters in her name. You cut five on each stick then?) Yessuh, an' den tie it togethah an' tro' it in de yard where she take de job 'way from yo', an' she'll leave dere.
(You just make an "x"?)
[After restudying this rite I am afraid my questioning may have complicated it. Surely one switch instead of two was used, this stick being bent and tied in a circle so that the two ends formed a cross. To regain her job my informant vas crossing her successor out of the job. Two separate willow switches could have been crossed and tied for the same purpose.]
Entry 8668
Well, yo' use needles in a.way dat a - say fer ninstance [an instance] yo' courtin' a young girl, an' yo' want tuh gain influence in a decent Way wit de girl, yo' understan', an' want 'er mind direct attached tuh yo'. Yo' take two needles an' cross 'em. Take her name - yo' first get 'er name an' 'er name's on a papah. Den yo' take two needles an' cross those two needles [through that paper] an' yo' wear dem inside of yore vest pocket, coat pocket, or shirt pocket. Den she will come an' influence with yo'.
Entry 8670
Yo' take nine needles.
(Nine needles.)
An' yo' take de name of de person, yo' write his name down. Yo' see, dat's a man an' a woman's affair, too. Yo' see, yo' write yore husband's name down nine times an' yo' write yores three time ovah dat. Den yo' put de nine needles an' yo' fold it tuh yo', an' yo' wrap it up in de sock, an' yo' keep it undah linoleum or somethin' where he has to cross ovah it - pass ovah it - an' dat's to keep 'im kind [and easy to handle] yo' see.
(How do you write those names? You write his name nine times.)
No, yo' write his name nine times like dat [demonstrates]. Well, all right. Den yo' come three times across [demonstrates].
(Make it like - your name and his name forms an "x".)
Yeah - see - look. Look [demonstrates] dat's nine times, nine times, an' write three times [across]. Mine [a woman].
(You form an "x" - like a cross.)
Yes, like dat [demonstrates].
(And then you fold it to you.)
Yes, to yo'.
Entry 8684
Well, yo' go out there [to a crossroad] for whatsomevah yo' want [to] be done. Yo' make a cross in dat road. Yo' go to a 'simmon [persimmon] tree an git a 'simmon tree an' cut [a piece off] about 3 inches, yo' know what 3 inches is. Yo' make a split in that, in that piece yo' cut off, if yo' wan'a stop 'em from goin' de way they're goin', if dey goin' roun' some woman, somepin like dat. Yo' always urinate on it an' make yore wish an' write de name. Stick it [name] right down in dat cut chew made an' drive it in de ground.
[This is one of a number of split stick rites.]
(Where?)
Right in that cross, where you make dat cross.
(At the crossroad.)
Yes sir, under dat cross an' cover it.
Entry 8693
They can go to the end of a railroad track and put your name down in there an' yo'll drift. Yes, right up on the side of the [railroad] tie. Well, you write the name backwards [last name first]. You write it up an' then yo' write it across [write it in the form of an 'x or cross] an' let it be nine times. Put it right there [on the railroad track]. Put it in a can, though, see, so it won't blow away.
Entry 8717
Well, de socks, yo' take de man's socks but yo' don' have tuh nuse
[use] all of it if yo' don' wan' tuh. Yo' write his name down an' yo' [lay]
dose nine needles, de goldhead needles, an' yo' roll dat sock up. But chew put de cayenne peppah in dat name - de salt an' cayenne peppah in dat. An' to take an' nuse yore cross- in' yo' cross 'em up in dat. An' aftah yo' cross 'em up, yo' take dat an' yo' put it in dat sock. An' yo' roll it an' yo' take de pins an' yo' stick 'em, but evah time yo' stick 'em yo' cross dem. An' dat - dat part would make de man, if yo' want tuh keep de man at chure house, tuh always [stay there] when yo' bury. But yo' don' have tuh bury it all de time. Yo' could jis' put it ovah a joice [joist] somewhere. [Burying the sock could be a nuisance, if you wanted to get rid of the man later; but I suppose the sock could be dug up.]
Entry 8721
Yes, ah heard dat chew kin take some sulphur an' burn it. Git chew some sulphur an' put it in a saucer or a plate of somepin dat it kin burn it, a'yo' stan' ovah it an' say tuh it whut chew want done, an' it will happen. Bat chew gotta stan' ovah it an' turn from east tuh no'th, an' talk to it. Yes, yo' gotta start from de east an' yo' swing it right on roun' till yo' git to de no'th, talkin' to it as yo' runnin' roun', an' call[ing] dere name three times. (That is if you Want to cross up that house, so that nobody else could move in there, after they make. you move out?) Yes.
Entry 8766
Yo've got to get a plain piece of papah wit no lines drawn on it. Now, ah'm goin' tuh give yo' an idea. Ah'm goin' tuh write yore name. If yo' want tuh get even wit [someone], ah'll write yore name dis way nine times, an' ah'll turn dis papah aroun' an' ah'll write my name nine times until ah get it across yores. Den ah'll fold dat papah two turns, an' den ah'll put dat in a lamp...
(Fold that paper kitty-corner.)
[I try a folk term rather than catercornered.]
Now, dis what yo' call kitty-corner, see [demonstrates] ah'll take it jes' lak dis an' den ah'll take it again jes' lak dis. An' now when it's off, dat gives me a cornah here an' a cornah here. When dis is off, dat'll give me a cornah here.
(It's in the shape of a triangle.)
[Here as often, I am annotating for my future understanding.]
Ah'll put dat in a lamp or undah a candle an' ah'll burn it an' ah can make whatevah ah burn it fo'. Ah can wish fo' what ah want an' ah'll get it in dat papah what yore name wrote on. [For names in oil bowl of burning lamp, see, many rites under margin title LAMP RITES AND NAMES in present section NAMES; for ob- jects beneath burning candles, see section CANDLES, Pp.797-862.]
Entry 8830
With de lettah, ah say dey takes an' makes a cross mark. Dey don't burn it. Dey take an' put it in anothah envelope an' send it back tuh yuh.
(What will that do?)
Dat's insultin' yo'.
(Well now, what if they put it in the lamp, then what?)
Dat? Dey burn dem up, worry yuh.
(Do you actually burn it or just put it in the coal oil?)
Jes' put it in de lamp chimley an' de lamp burns it.
(What will that do?)
Worry yuh.
Entry 8845
Yo' kin take nine nails every - [on the] night dat chew write dis let- tah, an' yo' take nine nails an' lay 'em in a glass crossways wit watah [lay them crossways in a glass of water] an' put some dirt [identified later] in de bottom of de glass an' sprinkle a little bit of dirt in de powdahs [identified later] in de envelope, an' dey say dat'll bring 'em back. Bring 'em back an' dey'll stay wit chew long as yo' keep it up.
(What sort of dirt do you use?)
It's graveyard dirt.
(What kind of powders do you use?)
It's some Lucky Heart Powdahs. [Lucky Heart is name of firm selling the powders - see interview AGENT FOR CURIOS (Jacksonville, Fla.) pp.1075-1085, first few paragraphs of text.] (You send the letter after you put these nails in the glass of water. You put this graveyard dirt in the water and this lucky powder. Then put this letter in the water, too?) No, yo' sprinkle some in de lettah, if yo' goin' send it tuh anybody.
(What do you put in the letter, just put dust?)
Yessuh. (If you write a letter to somebody, you put [in it] this graveyard dirt and this lucky powder. What do you do with these nails in the water? What do you do that for?) Dey say de nail keep dere till dey git dere or somepin lak dat, ah hear'd de ole people say.
(You keep these nails in the water.)
Until dey git de lettah, yeah, an' dey'll come. (They'll come back. But all you do is just put the nails in the water, nothing else?) De nail an' dat dirt.
(The dirt and the powder. Then you don't put anything in the letter?)
Yes sir, see yo' puts dat powdah an' a li'le dat dirt, an' call dere name.
(You put some of that dirt and powder into the water and also the letter?)
Yeah, an' call dere name.
Entry 8871
An' yo' want 'em tuh come back tuh yuh. If yo' know where dey are, kin git in touch wit 'em, write dem a lettah some kinda way. Use dis Three S Love Powdah an' yo' sprinkle it all ovah yore lettah. Jis' evah time yo' write a word yo' dab yore fingah in dis powdah an' dab it on evah word, cross it-lak. An' when he read it he'll come right on back.
Entry 8900
[These two unusual rites demand two explanations: (1) an illustration of the crossed-keys design, which has been a detail of the Papal coats of arms for centuries; and (2) a reference to my experience with this ancient symbol. 2+ Since these crossed keys point upward symbolically unlocking the gate of heaven, they are important indeed. How important they become in hoodoo we can learn by reading the remarkable interview called CROSSED KEYS AND VISIONS, Pp.1048-1059, vol.2. The doctor who granted me this interview will now be quoted in the following italicized words; my comments during the interview will be as usual in parentheses, my later-dated comments in brackets:] Ah'm 79 an' ah works mah business [healing and hoodoo] wit de "works of gifts." Ah'm "gifted" - "born gifted, " "born wit a sign." Ah make mah own medicine an' "doctor" people. An' den ah works wit people dat gits in trouble, lawsuits an' all sech things [for this latter type of work, see the following section CoURT CASEs]... Ah was born wit a cross mark on my forehead, an' ah was twenty years [old] befo' ah evah come in contact wit any "workin'" [of healing or conjuration].
[He now tells why and how he started this work.]
Blasting rock way back [years aqo] in mah home ah found dat key undah a rock, stronge form [for a key]. Ah work dat key fo' evahthing.
[He shows me the key and here is my immediate description of it.]
(They are double keys, the keys that are crossed.)
Ah worked evahthing by dem, don't care if yo' in a lawsuit or whut. Ah don't give yo' no "roots, " don't make no "hand" tuh send yo'. [For HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS see pp.519-669 and everywhere.]
(You found this key?)
Yes.
(You had a mark on your forehead, you say?)
One lak dat, de mark of dat [crossed] key, right in mah forehead. [This "x" on his forehead was not a birthmark but some prominent crossing in the web or netting of that part of the amnion forming the caul at his birth. I was especially interested in this "x" because two years previously at Charleston, S. Car., Doctor Brown could see the same mark on my, the author's forehead: "The mark that Doctor Brown inwardly saw on my forehead was the tav or taw =.sign or cross, 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Presumably - or at least I hope - I bore the mark of the elect or chosen of God (Ezk.9:3-7); not the mark of the beast (Rev.14:9)" - p.1290, v.2.]
(And then later on you found this [double key in the.form of a cross]?)
Yeah, aftah twenty yeahs. Now, ah was born wit dat mark on mah forehead. Ah found dat key undah a rock where we's [we was] blastin! one day, I an' daddy. We went back to take up de rock an' we found dat key, an' it wus jes' as bright as it wus [is] today. An' ah kin do evahthing ah want. Ah kin work business by dat ring [in the key, he points to it].
(That little ring on the end.)
Ah kin work diff'rent object [parts of the ringl, 'cordin' to whut yore case is. Ah kin work dat mark [something on key] an' ah kin work dis heah key up heah - jes' 'cordin' to whut de case is.
(You use various parts of that key for various cases?)
Yessuh. [Though informant's double key is appropriate here, one problem remains. Did he lie about finding the key 60 years before my arrival? Even a lie would not invalidate his actual work. Another fact we must remember, the difference be- tween the real world and the world of dreams and wishes is very thin in hoodoo. What I mean can be learned by reading the interview, SHE FORESAW AUTHOR IN A DREAM, PP.1085-1097, vol.2. Finally, WHAT A REVERSAL OF CLAIMED HISTORY IT WAS TO FIND THIS KEY UNDER RATHER THAN UPON A ROCK!] [These Papal keys, stamped from metal, were formerly sold in religious, curio, occult, and hoodoo shops, as well as by mail-order firms. Also used, especially as good luck pieces, were old coins and medallions. One of the latter was given to me by an informant back in the late 1930's. It reads on one side, Bullock Electric Mfg. Co. Cincinnati; on the other side, National Association of Station- Hrmy Engineers, Boston, Sept. 2-6, 1902. One of the most interesting of these many devices were the two colored stones or rocks used by a doctor in New Orleans, see margin title ROCKS, pp.198-204, vol.1. What I found in the field among be- lievers back in the late 1930's and early 1940's may not be there today. Fashions in this sort of thing change rapidly in the world of wishful thinking and commer- cial magic.]
[We have not reached the actual rite:]
You can take the Bible and you put a key - you get the KEY OF ST. PETER. You take that key and you wrap it with the handkershief. See you wrap the Bible with handkershief. And you have the key in the Bible. And you get another friend with you which is going to talk with you, he has gotta say the same thing you say. Well, each side you hold the Bible and then you speak. Each of you use one finger. You don't leave any other finger touch it but those two. And you hold it. And then you say this little prayer. You say: By St. Peter and St. Paul, the one who stole my things, turn Bible and fall. Now, if you say: Mack or Henry stole it from me, turn key, Bible and fall, then if Henry stole it, that Bible will turn and you can go right to Henry and get the goods. Go right to Henry, or George or Peter or whosomever it may be and that's the words they use: By St. Peter. [New Orleans, La., (809), 1137:4.] [For anyone interested in the development and use of the preceding keys, see David Lindsay Galbreath, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry, Part I, Papal Heraldry, Cambridge, England, W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd., 1930. This learned work, well illustrated and docu- mented, gives many arrangements of the keys from coats of arms, seals, bookstamps or bookplates, architectural decorations, gonfalons, etc.]
Entry 8901
It's a different key from any. It's not lak de ordinary key dat we has. It's a key dat's shaped kinda lak a scissors. Yeah, shaped kinda lak a scissors. An' yo' take dat key an' yo' hold it up. Yo' git up evah mawnin' 'fore de sun rise an' yo' take dat key an' stan' up in de direction de sun's risin'. An' tell dat key whut yo' want, whoevah it wuz dat stole anythin' from yo' or whoevah yo' wanted 'em tuh bring it back, an' dat key will turn in yore han'. An' as dat key turn in yore han', if he stole anythin', he's goin' bring it back. An' if it don't turn, why yo'won't git it back. It's a key dat isn't made lak de ordinary key. It's a key shaped jes' lak a scissors, crossed.
(It's two keys crossed - like two keys crossed?)
Yes.
Entry 8959
If mah boy wuz in jail, ah would take a beef tongue an' ah would smoke it an' ah would keep it in dere [chimney]. An' ah would take de judge's name, de district attorney's name, an' take me nine needles an' put it in dere, an sew it up an' smoke dat beef tongue fo' nine days. An' ah would go tuh co't an' ah cross mah fingers, an' he Would git discharged. (How do you mean you would cross your fingers?) [Informant demonstrates.] (You would take the index finger of each hand and just cross them; each hand, like that. You would hold them crossed in court. Why do you use nine needles, any particular reason?) If dey got nine district attorneys [jurymen?] on dis case, yo' understand, if dey got nine of 'em, dem needles represent de district attorney [jurymen].
(If you have twelve jurymen then you would use the twelve.)
[Informant does not understand why 9 needles are used. We shall meet these 9 needles again and everywhere. This was the very first rite I collected on my second visit to New Orleans. Informant was the wlfe of one of my contact men, Peg Leg. She a professional worker had refused to see me two years before on my first visit. Her material, good, is scattered throughout the text.)
Entry 9026
Ah heered dem say, if yo' be in trouble or anything, why [here is] whut dey do. Jes' lak if yo' had a lawsuit yo' know, in co't, sompin lak dat, yo' kin git chew a package of needles dat ain't nevah been used, an' stick 'em straight up - stick two straight up dis Way, dis way [demonstrates].
(In your hair.)
Yes sir. Cross, ( cross 'em. An' den take two an' stick 'em 'cross de same way right chere. (Over your breast.) Yes sir. An' take a piece of chalk an' cross undah yore right feet - make a cross undah dere. An' put a dime in de bottom of yore shoe in dat [chalk] cross an' wear it. An' dey say yo'll win.
(How many needles do you use now?)
Say yo' use two up heah an' two heah. See, dat would be fo'. An' yo' jes' take a chalk an' cross undah yore feet an' wear dat dime undah dere. (You cross two needles up here in your hair and you cross two down on your breast?) Yes.
Entry 9030
Take his name and write it, the judge's name, [and] the district at- torney's name and all the high peoples names there. An' yo' write their name an' put it into yore left shoe, with that cinnamon, sugar an' steel dust, an' that sweeten 'em up. Put it in yore left shoe when yo' go in the courthouse. An' as yo' go in there, yo' cross yore fingers three times an' call their names.
(You do what with these fingers?)
Cross your fingers three times.
(Snap your fingers?)
Yeah, three times.
Entry 9109
Den ah tell yo' anothah thing dat's very good. Yo' use dat oil of amber. Yo' cross de bottom of yore feet wit dat, both feet, an' rub it on yore- self [demonstrates]. (You rub it on the hands like this, and then you rub it right at the top of - the middle of the temple, and then right down your chin.) An' yo' kin go anywheres an' dey will be so sympathizing wit yo'.
(You mean that is to get out of trouble or...)
Most anythin' [even a court case]. Ah had a girl in de hospital, she wus goin' - wanted to be graduated, goin' to be a nurse, an' she was doin' some li'le things she shouldn't have done, an de head nurse was goin' to discharge 'er. An' she didn't wanta leave fer any- thing. An' ah jest give her de stuff an' tole 'er what to do an' she stayed dere - jest graduated.
(You use that for little minor things.)
Entry 9114
Dey tell me a man kin take nine pins an' stick one a day, if yo' goin' have a case in co't. Stick one a day fo' nine days an' yo' stick 'em right in a straight line on any part yo' weah in front, yore shirt or yo' coat. Don' let nobody intahfere wit 'em. When yo' get down tuh de las' one, stick de tenth one crossways at de bottom, an' go tuh co't an' yo'll come out.
(How do you stick those pins? Do you stick them down?)
Evah point down, but let de haids be dat neah even if yo' kin, right on down.
(And the tenth one you put it horizontal.)
Put it crossways, cross de - ninth one at de bottom. An' dey tells me dat whups [whips] de lawsuit. [This upside down tau cross is the magic of reversing]
Entry 9154
(Tell me right from the beginning of it.)
From de beginnin' of de accident an' all?
(That's right, and how she had to pay this and all, you know.)
Well, she cooks fo' C. P. D. Dat big man up dere tuh Something & Company. She been workin' dere two years.
(This is your daughter.)
Ah works fo' So-an'-so, de jeweler uptown in de store. All right. Well, on de second Sunday of each month Mrs. D. lets Emily off, she's mah daughtah, fo' her tuh nuse [use] Sunday. She jes' go an' gits break- fast an' don' have tuh clean up, jes' dust. Dat's her commune Sunday. An' she jes' go an' git breakfast an' jes' dust around, make de beds - spread de two beds an' dust around. Yo' know, make things passable. An' she gits off. Well, this partic'- lah Sunday, which dis Sunday gone - a month now - wus de second Sunday. Well, she came home befo' ah did. She got off befo' ah did. She got off befo' ah did an' she came home an' she went tuh de garage an' got her car out. Well, she started to go to a girl's. She had her hair done dat Sat'day. Well, she started tuh go tuh dis girl tuh jes' have her hair turned undah yo' know. She got up dere on de cornah of Amherst an' George Street. She met two friends of hers an' dey said, "Oh, mah feets hurtin' me!" Said, "Would yo' take us home, Emily?" Emily?" say, "Why, yes, ah got time ah reckon." She looked at de watch. She says, "Yes, ah guess ah got time." Well, she went right on down de street dat way an' on House[?] on Egmont Street is where she got in dis collision wit de water - whut chew call it?
(Hydrant?)
Yes, dat's whut dey call it. An' she jes' ran right up intuh it. De steerin' wheel got locked on her. Yes, got locked on her. Well, den, it's nuthin she could do. Well, dat jes' tore de pipe all up an' muddied de streets with water an' everything, see. Well, someone ah guess up dere called up de police. Dat's de bes' thing yo' could have done. Dey came out. Well, dey 'rested [arrested] 'er an' made 'er git in dere cah. So dey called up dere at de wreckah, de Chevrolet wreckah. De Chevrolet wreckah came an' taken 'er car down tuh de Chevrolet place. [Police] taken her along tuh jail. Well, jes' about dat time - she wus in jail about five minutes. Ah got off from work an', cos' [of course] quite natchly [naturally], she gone tuh de co't- house right down dere. Evah'body ran tuh meet me, "oh Mirandy, Mirandy, have yo' heah whut happened?" Ah said, "No - no - what?" Said, "Well, Emily wus in a wreck." Ah said, "Did she git killed or git hurt?" Ah jes' wus flusterated den yo' know. So dey said, "No, she didn't git hurt. Dey taken her tuh jail." Ah said, "Well, all right." Ah went - rushed right on down tuh de fail. Dey said ah couldn't see her but dere wus nuthin wrong wit 'er. Well, where ah wus workin' at de time, ah wus workin' fo' one of de police's sistahs an' he stayed right dere, de little fellah dat rides de motorcycle, Andy C. He said, "No, Mirandy, ah wouldn't tell yo' a story, yo' know, yo' mah cook. Ah would not tell yo' a story." Ah said, "All right." So den ah came on back home aftah ah couldn't see her or talk tuh her. Ah Went ovah dere tuh Mr. G. an' ah axed Mr. G., ah said, "Goodness sake, whyn't yo' call me up an' let me know dat Emily wus in jail?" He said, "Mirandy, it jes' happened jes' now." Said, "Ah didn't know where tuh call yo' an' ah knowed yo' would see me." Ah said, "Well, ah do see." Ah said, "Ah want mah chile out, " ah say, "Emily is no jailbird." Ah said, "An' accidents are likely tuh happen tuh anybody at any time, an' especially wit a cah." Ah say, "Ah seen some cahs would go sailin' by hers a thousan' times an' say be wrecked, " ah say, "an' ah've read in de papahs where a man an' his wife were jes' married on dere honeymoon, got killed an' hurted." Jes' went on explainin tuh 'im. He say, "Yes, " he says, "Don't chew be worried." He said, "If it any sech thing lak money tuh git 'er out, why she's comin' out." Ah said, "Well, 'phone 'em an' ask is she hurted?" So he did. Dey said, "No, dey wasn't anything wrong wit Emily nor de people - de two girls whut wus in de cah. Ah said, "Well, all right." Mr. G. say, "Go on home." Ah say, "No. Well, no." He say, "Yes, yo' go on home." Ah went on home an' as soon as ah unlocked de do' an' opened up de house, den she came. Well, dat wus on Sunday, de second Sunday in last month. So Monday, dat Mon- day, yo' know, dey had co't. Well, de judge didn't wanta fine me, becuz he knows me an' 'er folks, yo' know, an' den ah worked fo' 'im. Ah have worked fo' 'im. Haven't worked fo' 'im. recently but ah have worked fo' 'im. Anyway he knows me. An' de Chief, Chief Francis, said, "Judge, dat Mills woman" - he wus talkin' 'bout me - he says, "ah've knowed her, been knowin' 'er fo' ovah 25 yeahs." He says, "She's a truthful woman. Ah believe evah word she says." He says, "She's all right." But yet, yo' see, de city had tuh pay fo' dat hydrant tuh be put back an' it cost - dey only charged her fo' dat hydrant tuh be put back. Dey had tuh hire extry help, yo' see. De watahin' people had done knocked off at dat time, yo' know, an' dey had tuh call on extry help. Dey had tuh call on extry help. Why ah guess dey had tuh pay dem extry. Ah know dey did.
(Overtime or something?)
Yes. So de Judge wus very lenient wit 'er. Dey only charge her $25.50. $25.50 but aftah she back ovah tuh de co'troom or tuh de jailroom - whatevah yo' call it - why she had tuh pay $26.50. All right, dat wus settled right fo' dat. She didn't have tuh go tuh jail. All right. Den she went on back an' fixed dinnah fo' her people. Well, de cah wus still at de Chevrolet place where she bought it from. So de one tuh go ovah - ovahhaul de cah an' see whut it would cost an' check up on it, yo' know, see whut dey could do. Well, Mrs. D., de lady dat she worked fo', friend - a personal friend is a businessman. So he tried to do it cheap as he could an' it wus $63. Well, latah on de watah people taken a 'tachment [attachment] on de cah an' Sued 'er fo' $55.55. BUT DEY'LL BE AS LONG GITTIN' DAT $55.55 AS YO' OR I WUS GITTIN' GROWN. AH'M GOIN' SEE TUH DAT PART. AH'LL TAKE CARE OF DAT MAHSELF. (Now, you were going to tell me what you have done now to take care of that - make a nice story of it.) Well, ah taken me a piece of stick - common ordinary stick an' ah hew it down jes' about lak dat [demonstrates].
(About as long as your long finger.)
Yes. Ah hewed me anothah piece about a inch, about two inches long. Ah make a cross in dat.
(You made a cross of those two sticks.)
Ah taken it an' ah put it in de back seat undah mah cah - undah de back seat of de car - our cah, de flivvah, mah cah. Well, it's mah daughtah's but ah call it mine.
(The car that was in the wreck you mean?)
Yes. Re'lly, it is mah daughtah's cah. Ah taken me three new nails, three rusty nails an' put dem in de back of dat cah. Ah got me some dust outa dat cemetery an' ah put some peppah, gunpowdah an' salt in a little sack - jes' made it about dat much - jes' a little lak dat, of each [demonstrates].
(Just a pinch of each.)
Jes' lak dat an' ah put it undah de.... [demonstrates].
(Under the seat?)
Uh-huh. Well, yo' know, ah hol' up de hood of mah cah wit a pencil [demonstrates].
(Made a cross with a pencil like that.)
Dat's de end of it.
(Well, now, where did you put those nails?)
In de back seat - undah de back seat of mah cah an' dat cross.
(Well, now the nails - usually they drive them into the wood?)
No, yo' jes' throw dem careless [demonstrates].
(Just throw them careless.)
Yes, careless.
(And just lay the cross in there?)
Jes' lak yo' would have jes' ole rubbage in yo' cah.
(Just throw stuff in.)
Yes, any stuff dat chew might need.
(And that was done so that they couldn't win this suit. That the idea?)
Dey will nevah win it, unless ah die or dat git misplaced. But DEY'LL BE AS LONG GITTIN' IT AS YO' OR AH GITTIN' GROWN UP.
Entry 9198
Get a black hen's egg. Yo' take it an' write - make a mark across it, around it - an' aroun' de long side; de long side an' de round side, twice. An den go tuh a house, if yo' wanta make a person fall out, go tuh a house an' throw it ovah de house.
Entry 9199
If yo' Wanta go an' make 'way wit anybody or eithah make 'em leave home or such as dat, yo' could take a chick- en aig an' put cross marks on it. (One cross mark?) One cross mark dis way an' one dat way [demonstrates]. (Make one 'X on it?) Dat's right, an' take it an' bury it right down at dere do', an' dey gonna walk ovah it fo' nine days. Dat suppose tuh - if dey will continue tuh walk ovah dat fo' nine days, well it doesn't make way wit dem [kill them] but dey will leave.
(Any kind of a chicken egg?)
Any kind. Don't care whut kind it is, cuz hit will go bad in nine days, an' whenevah it go bad an' bust, well dat's de end.
Entry 9200
Yo' take de black hen aig an' put a cross mark on it an' write de person name on it an' name, yo' say: De Son an' de Fathah an' de Holy Ghost, an' den if yo' in trouble, yo' turn yore back an' bust dat aig up by de tree, an' it break an' yore trouble break.
Entry 9201
Ah've seen 'em take a aig an' ma'k [mark] it roun' an' roun' dataway an' jis' dataway [demonstrates].
(Wait! Take the egg and mark it around. Which way do they mark it around?)
Each way [demonstrates]. (That's the egg. That's lengthwise. Mark it around that way. That's [the second marking is] the fat part of the egg.) Right roun' it lak dat. (Then you go around it lengthwise. You are making a cross on the egg. All right.) Take it tuh de bend of de road. Carry it tuh de bend of de road, de aig, an' dey dig a hole an' bury it - not so deep. De fus' [first] thing run ovah it an' smash it up, dey gone. Dey shō' gone.
(You mean you take that out where four roads come together?)
[Bend and curve of road are different.]
Yessuh, jes' lak dis is a road go disaway an' one go dataway. Well, yo' jes' put dat aig right in de fo'k lak dat, right in de fo'k of de road. Den de fus' thing come 'long an' mash it, dey gone, whosomevah yo' put it dere fo'. Yo' got a idea who yo' wanta run. Well, jes' put it dere fo' dem. Jes' do dat ma'k roun' an' roun' [the egg] an' put it right dere [at the fork of the road]. (In other words you would see these people coming and run out there and put that egg down, so that they would cross over it, if you want to get rid of a certain person. If some other person crossed over it, they would get it. To get the right person you would have to go out there and wait for them to come by.)
[I doubt my reasoning here. Almost always the intended person suffers.]
Don' let noboby see yo' when yo' go out dere.
Entry 9203
Yes sir, yo' kin take sulphuh an' de aig an' table salt an' some kinda perfume. Ah doesn't know whut kinda perfume dey use intuh it, but dey git it from de drug sto'. Dey say it's lucky perfume. Yo' kin take dat perfume yo' see an' po' dat perfume in [on] dat aig but yo' jes' wrap dat aig up in de sulphuh an' de salt, an' put it undah de do'step. Dat brings 'em back.
(Well, do you do anything with that egg, write their name on it or anything?)
[I am not asking a leading question here but trying to make informant repeat what had already been said. A note of mine on the original manuscript reads: This was explained in egg rite C688:14 (informant's rite preceding this one) which I am unable to find at the moment. It may be that C688:14 was discarded, everything being in present rite, or it may turn up in the printed text.] Yes sir, yo' write de name on it an' call 'em. Yo' know if yo' put call on dere it'll bring dem back. Jes' take dat aig tuh bring 'em home; yo' put chure sulphur an' yore table salt an' yore red peppah in dere. Well, yo' see, yo' don't break de egg an' put it in dere, yo' jes' wrap de egg up in dere. Yo' write de name straight up an down de aig. An' den yo' put de name cross de aig [making a cross]. Den yo' write on de side of it. Call "Come back," see. An' den yo' place it in dat cloth an' bury it down undah de do'step to about dis deep [demonstrates].
(What do you do with that perfume?)
Yo' wet it in de perfume. Dat's lucky. Wet de aig an' de sulphuh [etc.] an' wrap it all an' put it underneat' de step.
Entry 9205
Put seven marks on it an' git chure lef' track.
[Make 7 crosses like letter "x" - see later.]
(You put seven marks on this egg, chicken egg.)
Chicken egg. Put seven marks on dat an' dey will take it down [I interrupt].
(What about that track? What do they do with that?)
Well, dey'd take it tuh de rivah an' throw it ovah de lef' shouldah. (Well now, they get the egg and get the track. What do you do?: Do you use those separately? Or how do you handle them?) Yo'use dat, Yo' know, jis' wit de track. Dey'd put dat in a sack to- gethah. (This egg and the track?) Yes. Dey take it down tuh de rivah an' throw ovah yore lef' shouldah in de rivah. Dat cuz tuh keep yore trouble. Always on de wandah. Keep yo' dis- satisfied.
(What sort of marks do they make on that chicken egg?)
Well, jis' cross dem. Jis' lak yo' mark heah [demonstrates], take an' make a cross dere [demonstrates].
(Make a cross mark, like an "x".)
[The X cross, a roughly drawn St. Andrew's cross, is normally used. This design can be made by rapidly crossing two diagonal lines. Also usable is the plus-sign cross + called the Greek or St. George's cross, a horizontal line vertically bisected by a line of the same length. To draw a cross in hoodoo crosses a person.] Jis' mark dat egg seven times.
Entry 9251
Kin take a black hen's aig on Friday, dat's laid on Friday, an' write dere name on it. Write it roun' de aig an' den write it crossways de aig, an' den take it an' go an' throw it on dere do'. Dat will make dem move. (Now here is the egg. Do you write that name down like that? [I dem- onstrate.l And then you write it across like that?) Yes.
(You make a cross by writing the names that way?)
Yes.
Entry 9342
Lak if ah been workin' in a place a long time, an' ah wants tuh stay dere, ah gits me a fresh yard aig [chicken egg laid in an old-fashioned henhouse and not on the modern commercial production line!] right aftah de hen lay it. An' ah take some straight stickin' pins [ordinary pins], dey gotta [be] new, an' ah put one right through it lak dis, see [demon- strates]. An' den ah run one across it, yo' see [demonstrates]. An' fo'evah weah dat. Even in mah pocket, jis' lak ah have a pocket, an' weah dat in dere, see [demonstrates]. An' yo' be dere [on the job] fo' a long time. Dey'll nevah fiah [fire = discharge] yo'.
Entry 9365
Well, yo' take a chicken aig an' yo' kin broke dat shell, an' put dat in a cup or a [saucer], de yellah, not de white, jis' de yellah part of it, an yo' beat dat up. Yo' git chew den de thing yo' calls Seven Yeahs Adventure. Didja [did you] evah heah about dat? (Seven years what?) Seven Yeahs 'Venture, yeah. (Adventure or [something] or what?) Deventure. Deventure, yes. Yo' know, yo' drops jis' about 12 drops of dat in dat an' stir dat up. Beat dat up jis' lak yo' gon'a make - yo' see, yo' po' dat in fo' bottles [demonstrates]. Put one heah, one dere, one dere, an' one heah.
(Sort of shape of a cross.)
Yas, an' aftah dat ain't no man kin harm yuh. house
(Where do you put those four bottles?)
Yo' kin put dose fo' bottles aroun' in yuh yard [like this]:
[The house in center of cross forms a quincunx.]
Entry 9467
An' den, dey says, yo' kin take some table salt an' put it in a piece of new homespun. An' yo' kin put - open up yore mattress an' put it right in de centah of yore mattress. An' sew dat mat- tress back up on it an' let 'im lay on dat salt bag. Say. An' yo' talk tuh dat salt fo' nine mawnin's an tell it whut chew wan' it tuh do. Jis' PAT IT [new-homespun bag containing salt] an' den make a cross-mahk across it, yo' see. An' dey says he'll always stick tuh yo' lak dat.
(You just tell that salt anything you want done with that man?)
Wit dat'man. Make a cross-mahk across it. (You only talk to that salt while you are putting it in there, you don't talk to it each morning?) Yo' talk tuh it each mawnin', yo' make a cross-mahk each mawnin'. [This may be the only patting rite in H00DOO.]
Entry 9471
Husban' or wife or jis' a frien'. Well, dat salt, jis' as yo' come in, wherevah yo' set or wherevah yo' went in de house, sprinkle dat salt dere an' den lak dis [demonstrates two strokes making sign of cross]. If yo] step ovah de salt, dey says dat's misfortune wit yuh mind, an' yo' jis' forget about evahthing an' yo' won' come back.
Entry 9548
When person leaves, throw salt an' red peppah behin' 'im an' make sign of cross an' tell 'im tuh GO! [Washington. D. C. (?). 817:6.]
Entry 9726
Bury 3 nails crossed together to bring person back.[ Here, as in the preceding rite and elsewhere in HOODOO, we have the well-known rimless wheel rite.]
Entry 9734
If yo' want 'em tuh go, yo' git chew fo' nails. [Informant must have demonstrated size.]
(Long nails.)
Yeah. Put one dere an' one heah an' one heah. [Do this] in de yard. Fourth nail must have been shown in demonstration.] (You put three in one line and one behind it, making a triangle.) [How my 4 nails make a triangle I do not know!] No, yo' fix it lak dis. Cross it [demonstrates]: one tuh de foot [be- low] one tuh de haid [above], an' one on each side.
(A cross. [Actually 4 crosses!]
You put those in the yard?) Right in de yard. An' dey sho' can't stay dere. (And you use those large nails, you say?) Yessuh, dem spike nails.
Entry 9760
A man was likin' a woman. He get to like another woman, yo' know, an' doesn't come to her no more. She'd get nine new nails an' drive 'em down in de ground at her door, just enough to cover their heads up, and then the next morning she would take some of her water from de chamber and throw that on it. See. Then when he comes back in over that, over them nails and that chamber lye, then he'll get on with her.
(He gives the other woman up. I see.)
Entry 9784
To keep the law away? Well, I want to tell you. Well, you keep the lag off - of course, you can't keep 'em away, but you can get so that he'll never catch you or nothin'. You understand. You bootleggin' he'll never catch you or nothing. You understand. Well, you take you two - that's a separate thing - and yoa take two pins.
(Too what?)
Too stick pins.
(Two stick pins.)
[The ordinary pin is frequently called "stick" to distinguish it from safety pin.] And wear it in a cross, like a cross, and wear it right up in the center of your hat, you see. Right in the center of your hat, like this here [demonstrates by pointing to inside of his hat].
(Inside.)
Yeah, inside [demonstrates again].
(Like that, inside.)
Yeah, inside your hat.
(You get these two straight pins.)
Two straight pins. You put a cross on you, see. And a course, the law'll be looking for you but he'll never get you. Only way he'll get you, he got to walk up on you. But you always kin git away from him.
Entry 9787
In bad luck yo' kin take, if a person settin' tuh a table gamblin', git chew two needles, cross 'em in back of dere clothes, right in de centah of dere back. Cross 'em. Dat'll cause dem tuh lose. An' [or] eithah sprinkle some salt on 'em. An' yo' kin git a spidah an' put 'im in a papah sack or sompin. Long as he livin' yo' win in de game.
Entry 9789
Yo' kin take two pins an' lay 'em crossways lak dat [demonstrates] an' tie a string right in 'tween heah on each side [the crossing] yo' know, right be- tween dere lak dat [demon- strates], so dey won' fall apart, an' hang it up side de house. An' dey say dat will part a man an' his wife. [This tying of two or more objects into the form of a cross to make a rimless wheel is fairly well-known in hoodoo, some of these forms and rites at times being quite complicated; see Nos.9796, 9797, etc.]
Entry 9801
Take fo' pins - jes' lak if yo' would rent me a house or somepin lak dat; if yo' would rent me a house an' ah'd git behin'. All right, yo' came down - in de mawnin' when ah come down, yo'd be gone. See, sompin lak dat, yo' goin' put me out, undahstan'. Well, now, ah lak de place an' ah wanta stay dere. Well, de thing ah'm goin' do, ah'm goin' git me fo' pins - fo' straight pins dat's nevah been used. Ah kin take 'em an' drop 'em in a kinda of a cross-lak; one heah, one heah, one dere an' one dere.
(Like a cross - like four points in a cross?)
Dat's right. Den ah kin call De Three Godhaid.
(How would you do that?)
Ah would say, drop dis one, "Name of de Son, Name of de Fathah, Name of de Bleesed Holy Ghost. Amen." Den walk on tuh yore do' an' knock an' say, says, "Well, Captain [evah whut chure name be] ah haven't got all yore money: Ah got so much an' so much." Well, he say, "Well, all right. Stay on an' pay up when yo' can."
(Where would you bury those pins?)
Oh, don't bury 'em atall. Yo' jes' drop 'em in dem fo' angles.
(Where do you drop them, in his house or your house?)
In front of 'is do'.
(In front of the owner of the house - in front of his door?)
Dat's right, right in front of 'is do' an' knock on de do', an' den yo' tell m about de money whut yo' has. [I failed to ask whether these 4 pins formed 2 separate crosses + + or a cross with 8 arms or spokes, a rimless wheel; for 6 spokes see No.9796; v.4, No.5720.]
Entry 9805
You take the [2] needles. You take a needle and you turn it one way; one east and one north. [These ] needles are crossed, one pointing east, the other north.1 And now that [was in the] bedroom, what you left in there. You [can] take the pins and put 'em in your bedroom just thataway [the same way] you see. [For crossing 2 nee- dles or 2 pins in bedroom, see rite following this one.] (I see. Now wait a minute. You cross two needles according to the direc- tions [you gave]. You cross each like that [I demonstrate]. Then you get four new pins, and you by a [something] make another cross?) Yes, make another cross.
(All right. With those [4 new] pins. Then what do you do?)
Then you take it and you take a stocking and you put it between the stocking.
(Any piece of clothes or any kind of...?)
Yeah, any kind of clothing. I just take a stocking for a parable = [example] but any kind piece of clothes - to be sure to put it right in the middle. And then you fold it. Fold it up and you go bury it right in the middle of their house - up under the house. [This ''middle of the house is the well-known 5th point, the center of 4 other points, creating a quincunx, many examples of which have been given in HOODOO, see margin title QUINCUNX, p.710, v.1, and elsewhere.] Gotta get up under the house and bury that. And they be crossed up.
(That crosses them up.)
Entry 9813
Well, yo' go git chew nine needles, nine pins; jes' take nine needles an' nine safety pins. Jes' cross de needles an' put de pins up an' dom. See, heah's de needles crossed an' heah's de safety pins across dem. Lak if yo' have a piece of cloth heah [demon- strates] an' yo' stick a needle across in it dere, yo' stick a safety pin lak dat [demonstrates] but don't hook it.
(You put the safety pin across this needle right in the cloth.)
Dat's right, but don' hook it, undahstan'. An' yo' take dat den - aftah yo' git 'em in dere, yo' take dat piece of cloth, if dey anywhere aroun' neah an' jes' take it - yo' ain't gotta bury it if yo' don' wanta. Yo' kin wrap it. Yo' kin bury it middleways of de steps, if yo' git undah dere. Go right middleway of yore steps. Don't have [to] bury it or yo' kin do it, jes' in de middleways of de steps. Dey ain't goin' stay dere long 'fore dey be gone.
(This will move them out.)
Yes sir, dey won' come roun'. Dey won' even come up dat steps no mo'. Dem same nine needles ah's tellin' yo' 'bout, dem same nine needles, yo'll cross de firs' one across. Put de needles 'cross an' de pins straight up an' down - de safety pins.
(Get a piece of cloth like that?)
Yes, an' put dem in dere an' let 'em stay in dere, an' put it 'way somewhere. "Stead [instead] of 'im goin' off, he'll stay roun' dere. De person dat's been bothahin' yo' is goin' tuh leave dere, an' de law ain't hardly goin' come. Dat's whensomevah yo' wants tuh run dis person dat's bothahin' yo', an' whensomevah yo' wants yore customah tuh come tuh yore house an' de police tuh stay away.
Entry 9817
Git chew some needles, lak a pack of needles, an' jis' befo' dey be used [get new needles]. An' lak - go right, [points] lak dat dat person's do right dere. An' git dat needle, yo' know, an' dig dat needle [into the door], yo' know. Plant it jis' lak yo' dig it in roun' lak dis [demon- strates]. Dig one lak dis, put one lak dat, an' take one, yo' know, crossin' it right in front [of] dat per- son's do'. See. [All this has been acted out.] An' when dose needles begin tuh git rusty, well dat jis' begin tuh make 'em upset in de house, yo' see. It will make 'em upset wit de landlord an' den de landlord put 'em out. [The pre- ceding dat dat = that that = that is that = like that is that person's door.] (On that door, you put one needle like that [I demonstrate], and then you put one needle like that. Follow me [pay attention]. You put one needle like that, then you put one on top of it like that, and then you put another one on top like that. You just keep crossing them. How many do you put in there?) Yes, yo' put nine.
(That is all you have to do, use those nine needles?)
Use those nine needles.
Entry 9820
Latsa people dey take nine needles, bran'-new needles an' dey git a piece of lodestone an' put 'em in dis way an' dat-a-way [demonstrates].... (Now wait. [I try to repeat informant's demonstration.] Put in this way and that way?) [I am making a cross.] Yes sir, cross [demonstrates].
(Cross them all.)
An' den yo' go tuh a blacksmith shop an' git chew some anvil dust, de steel from de anvil where dey make de iron, an' put it in dere. An' git chew a piece of lodestone an' put ten cents [a silver dime] in it. It's lucky tuh yuh if yo' keep it an' let nobody touch it. Feed it wit whiskey. Yo'll always have silvah money. [Even during my collecting days back in 1938 the preceding anvil dust never saw an anvil; it came from ma- chine-shop filings. Anvil dust and steel dust were the same thing, depending upon age, size, color, etc.] [In the following comment I am not talking for informant's benefit, I am an- notating for the future.] (Now in putting these needles, you put one needle like that, and then you put another needle on there like that - like a cross, sort of like little squares, like tick-tack-toe.) Yes. [Everything is arranged or sprinkled into the form of a cross before the combined materials are put in the bag.]
Entry 9855
You make it like the sign of the cross down by your floor [see note later]. Take tacks, the steel tacks [not brass headed], and you make a sign just like a cross underneath your mattress [but on floor, see later]. That's to hold a man that you want. Well nine [tacks] you just put 'em like this:. that's a cross; this way and like that [demonstrates again by making cross on table or in air]. [In the original transcription our present word floor is door; the latter surely an error, which produces two crosses instead of one. Informant's word nine also indicates one cross. As you can see, the word door would produce two crosses. A cross on the floor under the bed - the fifth point in between the four legs of a bed - creates a quincunx. A bed quincunx is fairly common.]
Entry 9857
I have seen them use brass tacks to use in a house, see, after they move out - to keep anyone else from renting this house or from staying in the house. They make it with a sign of a cross. First, let it straight go up like this, and then they cross it like that. (Across like that. Well, where do they put those?) Puts 'em in the wall. (In the wall. Is that all they do?) That's all they do. [This is to cross up the house; tacks usually new.l new.] Orleans, La., (839), 1263:5.]
Entry 10113
You get hold of a cat to do different things with. You can use a - take a cat, a black cat. You take a black cat and you kill the black cat. And you kill this black cat, you boil it. And you take a bone from him after you boil 'em. You boil 'em until every bit of the meat [here, having heard this much many times, I stopped recording. The words "round bone" restarted machine].
(You get that round bone, you say?)
Yes, sir. (Any kind of a - you mean a bone like the tip of your finger, or it's round that way?)
[Here I may have demonstrated a circle.]
Yes, sir.
(Then do you do anything with that bone?)
I'll cut four corners in it.
[Informant must have gone through motions of filing.]
(Then you file those?)
I'd file the sides, make it good and round. I don't want no rough edges, no corners on it at all. (Oh, I see, you round each end of that round bone?) Yes, sir. (I see.) Then I... [pauses]. (Then what do you do?) Then I'm going to cut it. You see, I cut it [demon- strates] thisaway; cut it like that, and then disaway. (Make four notches in it?) Four notches on each end. Now, when I get them four notches in this bone, I take - well, I get me a piece of silk thread. See, I get silk thread and I'm going to wrap that bone thisaway nine times into them notches. (Now, this bone is like the little stick that you wrap your fishing cord around?) Yes, sir.
(You have the notches - the notches don't run round the [thickness of the]
bone, but it [the notch] goes out to the end [the length] of the bone.) My notches come on the end, you see, and my notches set like this [demon- strates]. See, I got four notches on each end.
(I see, go ahead.)
See, the notches cut in the bone cross the two ends thisaway, see [demon- strates]. Well, I'm using this bone different. I'm going to wrap this bone thisaway [demonstrates]. (You only have two notches in that bone, in the end of that round - it's like a cross [+] on each end of the bone?) Yes, sir.
(0r like grooves, one groove across the other one.)
Yes, sir. They cross.
(That makes four grooves?)
Yeah, four grooves.
(All right.)
Well, I'll take and use silk thread; see, blue or pink. I take and I cross it this way for nine times. I wrap it for nine times thataway and then I come back nine times thisaway. I gets me [I interrupt to annote]. (You wrap the thread nine times around one of those notches at each end and you turn around like that and wrap it nine times through the other notches in the opposite end?) You see, I'm wrapping it by the straight...
(I understand that.)
Jest come down straight thisaway, not thisaway.
(I understand.)
Thisaway. And I get me - after I wrap it around that bone, I get the thread around the bone thataway, I go and I get me some of this war powder. I'll get me war powder and with this powder that I'll scrape off of this bone, I'm going to mix that together, see. I lay this bone into a piece of silk paper.
(What kind of paper?)
Silk.
(Silk paper.)
Silk paper, see. And I lay that bone in there and I gets me one of these small candles. Small candles. You know them little bit of yellow candles. They are about three for a nickel.
(How high are they?)
They little bit of candles about this [high].
(Oh, just small candles. All right.)
Little small candles, about little bit bigger than a match stick. They about that long. Get you one of those - three, I mean. And I'm going to lay two - one on each side of this thing - this bone, you see. But I'm going to lay it in a Way, I'm going to put it in a frame-like, but it ain't going to burn, and I'm going to light them candles. Light all three of them, but I'm going to light two here and I'm going to light one on the top.
(You have these candles in a triangular form, and the bone's inside the form?)
In the center. I lights those and now when I lights these, I let 'em burn. I light 'em at twelve o'clock in the day. Every day for twelve o'clock - no more, no less. I light 'em at twelve an' let 'em burn 'till about twelve-thirty, see. Twelve- thirty, if the work ain't done, I put 'em out, an' the next day I light 'em at twelve-thirty. And then for about three or six days, whatsomever I'm after, it's got to come in the six days. In the sixth day I get whatsomever I'm after. (Here's your - now, let me talk. Here's your cat bone - it's round like that. [I should have given description!] You file off both ends and you make the both ends round. Then you make a groove, you put a cross on top of the groove. At each end make a groove. Then you wrap the thread nine times around this way and nine times around that way - just like you wrap fishing tackle.) That's right.
(All right.)
Entry 10135
Take a bone, the dead man's bone, and take a black cat bone. That's tvo bones; a certain bone in the black cat, a certain bone in the dead man. And you'll be... (You use them together?) Yes, sir. (I see. All right.) Listen. Take a: certain bone of the dead man and certain bone of the black cat, tying them across [in the form of a cross], wearing them in your pocket. After wearing them in your pocket, you'll be a mystery man at least. You'll do things that it look impossible to do. For instance, I would walk in here - come in and walk on out and I wouldn't see yoo aad you wouldn't see me. But it's a certain bone.
(What bone is that?)
That's a certain bone of that black cat you have to take, you see. They got a bone in that cat - it come from the shoulder, from the left shoulder, that bone. You take that bone, and after taking that bone, to find out if you have the right bone, you takes a mirror, see, passing those bones that way [demonstrates passing che through mouth]. And long as you see yourself in the mirror thar isg't the right one. The moment you get the right one, you don't see yourself my nore. gell, that's supposed to be that bone that you kin absolutely disappear. You'll be coming in the street there and you don't disappear, but anyhow the party you hope don't see you, won't see you. When they do see you again, you'll be a dis- tance off.
(What bone do they take out of the body? Out of that person's body?)
Out of a person body? That bone they got right here, it's a small bone near to your spine.
(At the end of the spine?)
Yes, sir.
(Where you sit down on?)
Absolutely! [Some place else in HOODOO I have another example of the "inde- structible bone, " but I cannot recall where it is.] Take that bone and that black cat bone from the left shoulder and tying them acrosst. But the bone of the cat, to be sure that you have the right one, you have to use a mirror.
Entry 10160
I know what you can do. Well, they burns a candle for that [to bring a man back].
(How?)
Well, they burns a candle and writes his name nine times thisaway and nine times thataway [demonstrates] and burn a candle. And I'll guarantee he'll come home. (Well, now what kind of a candle do they burn?) They burn ordinary candles, white or blue. (White or blue. And they write his name nine times, this way and that way [I demonstrate].) Nine this way and nine across. (I see, they write it nine one way and then across it nine times. [The names are in the form of a cross]. When do they burn that candle?) They burn the candle nine days.
(Nine days. And any special time during the day?)
No, just the nine days; nine times night and [or] day.
Entry 10260
Yo' get chureself nine matches.
(Nine ordinary matches?)
Nine ordinary matches and burn each one, an' cross yo'self down dere with dose matches an' read de Ten Commandments. An' every morning you do that for nine mornings, an' the ninth morning, why, you find it different; your nature's come back. "Cause ah've been done that way once an' ah knows. (Just to be sure I understand. Here are the nine matches. I light each one and let it burn [so that each match will become a pencil or mark- erl. Now do I take each match and just make a cross on myself?) Make a cross on it [penis]. (Cross it nine times [all together] with each one of these burnt matches and leave a black mark on it?) That's right, make a black [cross] mark on it. [Somewhere else I may have discussed the match - especially one with a red head - as a phallic symbol. One match is used each day and one cross only is made - 9 matches and 9 crosses.]
Entry 10266
[Here we have two fundamental ingredients for impotence combined in the same rite:] They can take a dishrag and snail dust and sprinkle some of that snail dust over it, the dishrag, and then let him take that and put it up and down her place there [the vulva] and cross it [thus making the sign of the cross], and Bobody's penis can stand to undertake to go in there, they claim. And then they smid that if it's a man, all she's got to do, is to ever' now and then to wrahp chat round his penis, and he can't stay away from her, he has to come home. [Aloag similar lines, in case you missed it, let me recall your attention to one of the most unusual statements in HOODOO - how to make a special sign of the cross. The Christian Church has made the sign of the cross in all sorts of ways: niht hand or left, beginning on right side or left, using any number of fingers Qd in all sorts of combinations, etc., but surely the first stroke upward is unique - see No.3345, p.2394, v.3. Preceding rite 10265 is by this present in- formant.]
Entry 10441
Knife and fork crossed under the pillow to keep witch away [Mobile, 861:2.] or to keep witch from riding you [Fred- ericksburg, 67 by Ediphone].
Entry 10442
A witch will ride yo'. Yo' kin take a silver knife an' fo'k an' cross it, put it in yore bed an' dey won't bother yo'. Den yo' kin take a sharp knife, pocketknife, an' put it in dere - put it under de bed. Ah use one dese witchin' Knives undah mah bed all de time. Dat cut's 'em off.
Entry 10765
Yo' git chew a piece of bluestone an' brimstone an' pound 'em up to- gether, an' take notice when dey [unwanted persons] come, git to 'em. Take yo' a pencil or a stick about de size of dat [pencil] an' stick it down in de ground all across dat [foot tracks] - cross [make cross on foot tracks with stick]. Git chew a little piece of pap- er, a little bit of trash, anything, an' lay it right on dem tracks [foot tracks made by visitor]. An' go on 'bout chure business. Dey can't send him [rentman], bill collector, police- man] back dere. (If they could get a hold of him they couldn't send him back to that house? Keep him away?) Yes.
Entry 10775
(Ever hear of using a broom?)
You can take a broom, like if you got - there's a person you dislike. You take a broom and after you sweep with the broom, take the corner and the wall where that person sleep. See, where that person sleep, you take that broom, see, like that's your bed [points to bed in hotel room where I was interviewing]. And take that broom, just make it a habitual habit being unnoticed to me. Just set it up behind my bed, but in that broom you fasten my name. Write my name on a piece of paper, white paper, and put it down in that broom well, and fasten it so it won't come out easily.
(You put it down in the broom.)
In the broom.
(In the brush part.)
In the brush part of the broom, where it stay in there a long time, where it won't come out. And I'll betcha I won't be contented and I can't keep no clothes to save my life.
[I turn off machine but he says something about being upset.]
(Keeps you upset?)
Certainly, and I can't keep no clothes to save my life. And unless you get somebody [hoodoo doctor] to work on it, find out from somebody, go to somebody that I know, and [ask her] if she know what that [is] the person have; and they tell you something, well it'll keep you upsetted and without clothes as long as you live, unless that's taken out of there.
(You say, you put that broom behind the bed?)
Behind the bed.
(You put it up there with the brush part down?)
With the brush part up.
(Oh, the brush part up.)
The handle down but the brush part up.
(Oh, I see. Well, why did you do that?)
Well, because if you put it down, you're not against the person, see. If you put it up, you against 'eni - you against a person, see. See, if the brush part of the broom is up, that's against a person if it's behind the bed. If it's down, you don't have no hypnotic powers nowheres, nothing seems to work against him by having the broom down. You wants it against a person with the broom up where the sun goes acrost it each day. Every time the sun go across it, the sun crosses over that broom. If you has it down, well, it don't happen like that, you see.
Entry 10826
Put 2 broomstraws crossways [make cross with 2 broomstraws] over door and sweep behind, for unwelcome visitor. [For 2 broomstraws crossed and buried to be walked over in the tobacco fields near Wilson, N. Car., see No.1758, v.1.]
Entry 10857
That I worked my ownself. I take - I worked it myself.
(Oh! All right. What do you do?)
I takes nine tacks. Listen, nine tacks, and then I would take me a [dead] black cat, and I would bury that cat underneath the steps. Understand? And after I bury that cat under- neath the steps, den anybody what live in dat house, they couldn't live in there, they would have to move; but you yourself that owned the place, even if you would ogve in there, you would have to go to work and take even that cat and dig it ap [Informant with one stroke of an imaginary shovel dig up imaginary cat and throws it away.]
(Throw it away, like that?)
Throw it away.
(Well, what do you do with those nine tacks?)
The nine tacks? If anybody move in, they would move in and move out.
(Well, where do you put those nine tacks?)
You put them at the front of the door.
(How do you mean, you tack them to the door?)
Nine - you make 'em crossed, that is, five one way and four the other. That would be nine, you see. (Under the door? Under... the steps or on the side of the steps?
[There they could not be seen.]
On the sill.
(I see, where you couldn't see them?)
Yassuh. Just when they coming inside there, put them on the sill like there - on the sill, there [points].
(I see. I understand.)
And quite naturally, when their feet would step there, why they couldn't see the tacks because the reason why, their feet would hit [rest] on the tacks and they couldn't see [them]. When they look down, they wouldn't see nothing but their feet.
Entry 10859
I know they say if you start to get a job and a black cat crosses you [crosses your path], you might as well go back home be- cause you goin' have bad luck. The man doesn't goin' hire you. He'll turn you back.
Entry 10874
If yo' happen to see a cat - if it passes dat road, if it's a black cat, walk backwards, dey says, an' yo'll always succeed. But if he's a gray cat or a white cat, says step right on ovah it. (Over the cat.) Yeah, step right on ovah where he walks, but walk backwards if he's black an' yo' shore will have better luck.
Entry 10946
If yo' wanta run off de whole family - well, if yo' move de head, why de body gotta go. Git chew three cedar limbs - gotta be long as dis arm [demon- strates]. Go right in front of dere threshold - in other words right in front of dere do'step where dey comin' in an' out - an' cross dem. Jes' put 'em in dere an' kiver 'em up. Dat'll drive 'em off. [Informant demonstrated rite, I repeat his actions.] (You take three of them - one down like that, and one on top, and one on the bottom. They are crossing, those three things. Why do you use three [to make a cross] instead of two?) [I had expected to hear the 3 Holy Nomes but informant came up with an unusual answer!] Why do you use three? Dere's Faith, dere's Hope, an' dere's Charity. An' in usin' dem, yo' lay dem down an' yo' call 'em jes' like dis, "Faith, Hope, Charity."
(And they have to move.)
Entry 11119
You kin take an' draw a coffin, you understand, see, an' make you a wish on it, an' cross it up so many times - put about 3 crosses on it, an' make you a wish. An' bare [bury] it under their doorsteps or either you kin put it in front of their door. See, you kin jis' throw it in there. Wrap it up, fold it up, write it [name of person on]. An' throw it in the front of their door. An' put the [word] devil on top of it, write the devil on top of it, see right up on top. Either [instead of writing devil] you kin draw one you know, you understand, see like that. They'll die.
Entry 11139
She take de shell off de crab an' hullin' [hulls] dat crab out. Den she will take a ole [shoe]string dat individual [the victim] generally weahs an' windin' [winds] dat shoe- string up dat way [demon- strates]. Aftah windin' dat shoestring up dat way, shove one end [point] of needle through it [folded shoestring] dat way [demonstrates] an' de othah one [needle] dis way [demonstrates] yo' see, makin' a cross - one shoestring makin' a cross. De shoestring, wind it up lak de crab is dataway. [You wind this shoe- string back and forth because a crab goes backwards and forwards.] [Take de shoe- string an' wind it dat way.
(It is sort of an "x"?)
[The shoestring is laid into the crab shell in one continuous movement, a weaving, to form an "x'. See illustration above.] Yes, one dat way an' de othah one dis way [demonstrates] shovin' one dat way an' de othah one dis way. An' de fellah [owner of the shoestring] he would nevah git no woman, yo' understand, tuh treat him as he wish tuh be treated. See, dis string be weak [at the beginning we were told this shoestring was old] an' de othah one [what? see later] be weak, yo' see, 'cuz it be backin' up always, yo see [like the crab moving backward].
[I now repeat rite to make sure I have it:]
(You put one needle like that [I demonstrate] and one this other way [I demon- strate], one horizontal and one coming down, vertical, down through it - this shoestring that you have in the crab. What do you do with the crab shell after you fix [magically prepare] it up?) Take de shell and bury it. [The preceding rite, my only example of it, comes from a hoodoo doctor. In it a woman makes certain that the man does not find another woman. To accomplish this trick, she cooks a crab, hulls it - takes out the meat - and refills the cavity by winding into it an old shoestring of the man's so that it looks like an 'X or a cross. This latter is held in place by two needles, one horizontally through an arm of the cross, the other pushed down vertically through the center of the cross. Here we have two crosses; one of stocking, other of needles - a doublecross! See the diagram. The twisting and flaccid lines of the shoestring cross represent the man's own string, not shoestring. This is an important rite!]
Entry 11140
Dere several ways dat chew kin move a person. Yo' kin move a person outa de house by jes' goin' to dere house an' usin' a cross right in front of dere gate like dat. Yo' kin put a cross right in front of dere gate like dat an' dey'll move out. Or yo' kin go to dere house at night when yo' are not seen an' yo' kin stand to dere gate like dis an' put dose two thumbs on dere an' jes' say, "Yo' shall not have dis house." Yo' use dose words. (Put a thumb on each gatepost?) Jes' de thumb but use de two thumbs. Jes' put de two thumbs on de gate like dat an' say, "Yo' shall not have dis house, " or "Yo' shall move out of dis house." An' it will soon be de way yo' wanta an' dey'll come out.
Entry 11141
When the landlord gives you a notice, you take that notice and you fold it in the shape of a bouquet - like a come. You get up over the front door and make a cross up there. You take that notice and if there is any way to hide it, like up here [points], up over here, that nobody can see it. Make that cross up there and take that notice and cross and nail it up there. Put nine tacks in it so that nobody won't detect it up there, and he you] will never come in. That's to cross the landlord.
Entry 11142
They use a kind of a weed - jis' like a ole weed, yo' know, jis' growin' around. Well, they'll take this weed an' they cut this weed down. Well, they take that stick an' make a little cross like that. An' then about time that it git about just dark, they'll take that [cross] an' plant it to your back door; set it right up at chore back door. An' then at night round about twelve o'clock, they'd come back an' git it an' pick that stick [cross] up an' turn it over [turn it upside down], an' leave it there to daybreak. An' then they'll come back an' take it. An' then tomorrow you'll be arguin' all day long wit chore wife.
Entry 11143
They jes' git down there and make a cross mark on de road, and if you come along and step over that mark, they got you. They done seen you goin' come there and they'll put it right where you can't help from stepping on it. And you'll have trouble.
Entry 11175
Go an' git de herb, dey says. Dey tole me de herb dey calls de devil's-shoestring. Put it cross, right in de fo'k. (These two pieces you cross them. And where do you put them?) Put 'em right in de fo'ks of de road where he comes down an' he'll always be cross [not in disposition but crossed, hoodooed] an' travelin'.
Entry 11385
Policeman comes several times and you wanta keep him away, and you doin' underworld work. You have to get you oil of cinnamon, use your chamber lye, and cayenne pepper, and scrub every morning before the sunrise. Scrub into house [for trade], never out. Then you get you two brand-new files and you put 'em to your door and cross 'em. They can't come over that.
(Well, where did you put these at the door then? How would you put them?)
What, the files?
(Yes, at the door.)
You would put them underneath the doorstep.
(Underneath the doorstep. I see, so they won't come in.)
You have to use 'em in de back door like dat [also] if there is two entrances going in. Well they can't come across those two new files.
Entry 11496
Like dis is de fork of de road disaway [demonstrates] an' yo' cross here. Dey [your enemy] goes dere. Dey goes dere and you cross de other way. Dey kin take up your tracks, see. An' dey cross [put a cross mark in] your track. Ten [tracks]. Cross 'em like dat [demonstrates]. Here's yore track, and jes' pick up some of your track dis way, and take de other one and do dataway. Den dey keeps dat and if it's someone dat yo' really don't scared of, he will call you - come to yore home and call yo', an' den he call yo' an' take dat track - take dat bottle an' (slap, slap) wit de chamber lye in it. Take dat whatchahcall 'em cloth an' tie 'em round yore waist and dey couldn't do yo' no harm to save dere [their] dying life. (How do they cross those tracks out there at the crossroads? Tell me that again. How do they cross them?) Dere's yo' track, meanin' de foot track. How de' [dey] cross it if dey wanta harm yuh? Dere's yore track. Dere's de track one way, dey come dere. Take a stick from dere [demonstrates with an imaginary stick]. (Oh! they put a cross in each of your tracks, a cross mark. I see, make an "x", cross mark. I see.) Dat's de way dey do. Dat's de way it's done. (That's the way you cross the tracks, I see. And then after they cross these tracks, what do they do with them?) Dey takes dat and keep it, you understand. Dey keep dat and don't keer what- somever you - even yo' could be rid of de boss [person crossing your tracks] and he keep dat until he's dead.
Entry 11659
An' if yo' already outdo's, yo' git a knife an' a fo'k an' yo' bury it undah dere [front doorstep] an' see if yo' cain't conker de rent man. Ah done tried dat. Ah know dat from self experience.
(Just how do you bury that knife and fork, any special way?)
Bury de knife dis-a-way [demonstrates] an' de fo'k dis way. (The fork crossing the knife.)
Entry 11668
Walk just like you walk to the two forks of the road, from the house, make a cross mark with your right foot, you know. Turn around and go back to the house. That's supposed to be lucky to you. Sup- posed to bring luck to you. (That will bring you luck, I see.)
Entry 11670
Whut dey do's at de fo'k. Well, de fo'k of de road, when yo' do dat, yo' kin draw a person tuh yo' or yo' kin run 'em from yo'. Well, now, when yo' got dere at de fo'k of de road, yo' git dere at sunrise. Well, den yo' make a cross, jes' lak de cross dey say dat Christ hung [on], yo' know. Yo' name dat even, an' yo' cross dat, an' den yo'll take a little graveyard [dirt], good or bad [grave] it don't make no difference. An' den yo' put dat in a little bit of sulphah an' salt, an' den yo' make a powdahs of dat - lak, yo' know, an' den yo' throw it in dat place. An' dat's de way yo' uses dat at de crossroad, yo' know, anything lak a fo'k. An' dey [den?] yo' say, yo know, yo' have to talk to it, say, "Jesus Christ suf- fered an' died on Calvary Cross, why can't yo' do so- an'-so-an'-so." See, jes' anything yo' want tuh name tuh it.
(You do that for harm or bad?)
Yeah, it'll do eithah fo' good or fo' bad, but den yo' have de Lord, an' make it which way yo' want it tuh go.
Entry 11671
When yo' go to a forks of de road, make a cross mark an' go. If yo see a fork of de road, make a cross mark an' go [on your way]. Said yo' more den apt to be lucky. Dat's whut ah heard, yo' more den apt to be lucky. [For luck by making cross at fork of road, see No.11668.]
Entry 12186
(What do you do to keep the law away from a place? The law - to keep the police away?) The policeman?
(Yes.)
Well, I knows some of them puts a cross up on the side of their door.
(What kind of a cross?)
[Informant evidently thought a cross is a cross and I did not insist.]
A horseshoe - you know them horseshoe - a cross. They either take a horseshoe or either they has some silver - just like that is. [He pulls out a piece of tinfoil.1 Take a brand-new that never has walked on [an unusual expression] you see, that never been used. And be sure it's a brand-new piece. Put that there and put that horsefeet [horseshoe] up- side down [prongs or toes up]. The law will never come there. [Do not use tin- foil picked up from street or off floor. For tinfoil from street see No.12192.]
(Just one horseshoe?)
Yes. He [policeman] pass right on by there.
Entry 12470
Yo' git some mule hoof an' burn it, cross it [make sign of cross with it] fo' yo' luck, right lak that. An' sprinkle a little salt an' a little sulphur. An' in burnin' this yo' calls fo' rich man's name. An' even to that chew ask fo' yo' luck. An' yo'll be successful in whut chew tryin' tuh do.
(If you are trying to rent something or sell something?)
Yessuh.
(If you are trying to sell liquor or anything?)
Yessuh.
(Now, I'll take up this ashes [cigar ashes in tray on interviewing table]
and you put them in the shape of a cross like that [I demonstrate]. You sprinkle them in the shape of a cross?) Yes, yo' sprinkle that, then yo' sprinkle this. Then yo' make the second cross an' sprinkle that. (But you make one cross with the mule ashes first? Then the other crosses you make with this other stuff?) Yes, yes.
Entry 12499
[As in the preceding rite, only my attached pencil resume remains: "1 needle [down],1 needle up, let pin go between an' put in [stick into] hat bow [with] sugar and garlic an' wear next to you." What simple instructions: 1 needle point down,1 needle point up, and 1 pin between the 2 needles. Remember, we are sticking these needles and pins into a hat bow. Here we have a magic design, the oldest type of folklore in existence, examples by the thousands, and older than written history. We Could play with the present possibilities but suppose we confine ourselves to 4 of them: In diagram 1 the points of the needles do not touch the pin; in diagram 2 the needle points touch the pin. The heads in both diagrams form a triangle, symbol of the Trinity or the 3 Holy Names. In diagram 3 the pin crosses the centers of both needles and it separates them or is between them. Again the 3 heads form a triangle. More than this, we now have 2 Greek crosses tt or a double- cross, if you decide to undo your work. again diagram 4 again separates the several times in HOODOO. The 6 spokes of the rimless wheel of course construct 3 X'CRoSSES.]
Entry 12541
Well, now dey say if yo' take dat red onion wit red pep- pah an' dat salt, everybody go in dere will be dissatisfied. (What will you do with that?) Take it an' mix it together an' put it in dere whilst de house is empty. Take it an' put it in every corner of de house, make no difference how many rooms it is. Yo' put it in dere, an' anybody go dere dey won't be satisfied wit dere house.
(That is crossing up the house?)
Yes.
(Do you put it in the corner in any special way?)
Put it in each corner jes' as close as yo' git it up 'side de corner of de house. Tuh uncross it.
(To uncross this, all right.)
Yo' take garlic an' dis oil of cinnamon an' red peppah an' mop wit it an' dat'll uncross 'em.
(So that you can move into the house if you want to?)
Yes.
Entry 12547
Well, lak if yo' want - see, a man an' a woman's been together a long time an' someone tries tuh separate 'em. See. Well, yo' kin git chew a red onion an' git de stockin' from offa her left feet, see. An' take dat red onion an' write her name on it. Take dat red on- ion, see, an' de red on- ion be round - it must be a red onion, see. An' write her name disaway [demonstrates] an' nine times dis- away. An' den take her name an' write it nine times disaway [across first 9]. Yo' cross dose names jis' right down [names slant down and cross]. An' yo' take dat an' yo' bury it. See, either where she gotta pass at - lak she gotta pass on de steps. Well, jis' put dat tuh de bottom, yo' see. An' leave it stay dere. See. Well dat run her an' him tuhgether. She begin tuh love yo' mo' an' mo'. See, dat makes her love come back, even if someone wuz tryin' tuh break yo'all up.
(That is, if the man and woman - if somebody was trying to break them up?)
Yes.
(The man could do that?)
De man would do dat yo' see tuh de woman.
(Or the woman could do it to the man?)
Well, either one. Jis' lak yo' see, if she wants de man, yo' know someone try tuh break her an' her husban' up, she kin do de same thing, yo' see, but it gotta be dose big ole red onions where yo' kin write on it nine times disaway an' nine times disaway right in a cross. See, an' bury it dere.
Entry 12699
And then this 109th Psalms. Jest like you know if someone has mis- treated you, and you didn't want to go right to their face to settle it. Well, you pray dis 109th Psalm for 3 days. Then you go and you get you a pint of new wine and put some mustard in there - new mustard - have a new jar - everything new and put it in there. And go to that person's door the fourth night, after you pray the third - the fourth night. Den you go there and put it right cross- Ways of that door, but don't ever let a drap get on you. And so he'll go to the God that gives it [this rite is evidently pow- ered by God!]. [The horizontal bottle, at the foot of the door or steps, does not coml pletely cross vertical door, only symbolically. Moreover the "T" cross is upside down
Entry 12755
Yo' could take a razor an' put it in de center of yore bed crossways. An' if yo' was angry with a person an' yo' couldn't git to them yourself, yo' could write their name [on a large sheet of paper] an' wrap this razor in it, an' put it in de center of yore bed crossways an' yo' go tuh bed on it that night. It be between two mattresses or either under one mattress on de springs. An' it would cause them tuh git cut. But yo' would- n't be doin' anything, yo' jes' be there only; but by his name being wrapped in dis razor, yo' could harm dem that way.
(How do you mean crossways in the bed?)
If it's a long razor...
[I interrupt and demonstrate.]
(Here's the bed. Do you put it this way or that way?)
Put it that way - crossways. (You put it across the width of the bed. That would cause them [him] to get cut?) Yes, yes. [There are other rites in HOODOO causing a man to be cut, shot, arrested, etc.]
Entry 12993
Yes sir, ah've heard dat yo' take an' steal a dime - a silver dime - an' carry it to de... (You steal this dime?) Yes sir, steal it from someone. (And then you cross it. How do you cross it?) Right cross de piece. Take a pocketknife or sompin an' cross a cross mark cross de face [on the dime]. An' carry it to de cemetery an' bury it, an' she'll follow yo' ev'ywhere yo' want her tuh.
(Whom would you steal this dime from?)
Anyone. It be best tuh steal it from her, providin if she got one.
(Oh, I see. To make her love you?)
Yes sir.
Entry 13339
There's but one thing he can do - he can take his wife, take any piece of her underwear, any piece of her underwear and wrap that up. Just take it and fold it and wrap it up late at night. Before he wraps it, take her name and wrap her name - write her name - make an "x" [a cross] and write her name across that "x" [her name is crossed] and wrap it in her underwear, and wrap it good, and put it anywhere about her bed, with her name written in it. And put it anywhere about her bed Where she don't find it, until he gets back. And she ain't going to be in no sood to fool with no man. She ain't going to be in no mood to fool with no man.
Entry 13426
I've hearn it like this: if you had a neighbor and you couldn't get along, see. You would take and get you - if you wanted them to move, you under- stand, why you could make a quarrel between the people in the house an' that would cause the landlord to put them out, see. Well, you would use an egg. You could use salt or war water, see. (Just how Would you use these, now?) Well, now, you'd take - you'd get - use the war water which the war water would be the best. See, there's two things you use, you use either the powder or the water.
(Well, explain the war water.)
Well, you take the war water and you would sprinkle that war water. You would use salt - salt makes fuss anywhere.
(How would you use that salt there?)
You would take and you would sprinkle that salt at the four corners of the house and then you'd take this war water and as you - if you can enter into the place, jes' in the alley. You don't have to go in the house. Like if - like I enter this door here. I would walk to the back door which would be the kitchen. If I could get to the kitchen, I would start to sprinkle there.
(You say you begin at the back door?)
At the back door, yes, sir.
(I see. Then what do you do?)
I'm going to sprinkle this water, see. As I come out, I sprinkle the water, letting the water run out of my hand, as I'm coming out the door, jes' as I'm walking [demonstrates] and the water's coming out. And, when I gets to the door, I takes salt and I cross it [make a cross with it] right at the gate. And at the steps, I cross [make another cross at] the steps with salt. And under the steps I jes' take and I sprinkle war water, and I take salt and jes' throw it thataway, see. That's all you have to do, salt and that war water. It'll sort of confuse 'em. You can take salt and make a confusion any kind of way. Now, that would start a confusion in the house with the husband and wife. If it's the people you don't like, see, regardless of who they are, if it be the mother and the daughter, the mother and the son, then the people that you would want to get out, why that would start a confusion. Somebody would have to go. See.