Subject:Dizziness
Entries
Entry 5799
A little piece of yore hair - dey say dey takes dat piece of yore hair from de top partment in de centah [the parted place at the mold] an' put it in de [wet] cement steps an' bury it; make yo' have funny kin'a feelin's towards de haid. Yo' see, jes' lak someone is concrete fixin' [building] a concrete step, yo' kin jis' go an' chip undahneath it an' bury dat [hair]. An' fine'ly it will, dat concrete - it will.grow [the hair] yo' see in de concrete step. Dat make diz- ziness about de head.
Entry 3037
There's St. Peter. St. Peter is a saint they use with a black candle.
(A black candle? What dc they do with St. Peter?)
You see, you set that candle to St. Peter and you light this candle to St. Peter and you say to St. Peter - and you make a prayer - make a prayer, but have these people - their name. When you are prayin', you call these people name, and you set this black candle there, and this black candle has got so many days to burn. And you begin to suffer with a headache or dizziness in the head - well, this black candle then is burnin' on you. After this candle is burned out, then you begin to feel droopy - feel like you don't care about gettin' up in the mornin'. Then, fin'lly, in the longer run you begin to get weak. The first thing, you'll take to your bed; but that can be stopped, if a person know how to stop it.
Entry 4818
Well, ah heard dis now, dis way. Dere wuz a girl an' she wanted dis boy, yuh know. She loved dis man an' dis man wouldn't care much. He used tuh go off. An' she ast anothah girl frien' of 'ers, she say she would git 'im if it wuz de las' thin' she'd do. Well, she went tuh 'is house one time an' got a piece of 'is, yuh know, de tail off 'is shirt. An' [she] took an' put sulphuh, black molasses in it, an' taken it tuh de rivah an' po'd it in dere. Yuh know, out on de cloth, an' den dropped de cloth in nex' tuh dat an' let it stay dat- away, while she went back tuh.de house. An' den she ast de boy, she say, "Would yuh mind walkin' wit me?" An' he say he wouldn't mind walkin' wit 'er. Dey went on down tuh de rivah, an' she said she took 'er han' an' dipped it intuh de watah where she had dropped dis, an' rubbed it 'cross 'is face. An' she say she walked on back tuh de house, say he begin tuh git dizzy. An' so he tole her, he said - her name wuz Ellen - he say, "Ah don' mind goin' down mayself, but would joo mind goin' wit me? Ah don' wan' chew tuh leave me." An' she went on home wit 'im an' she tole - she said tuh 'er mothah dat night, she says, "Mothah, [So-and-so] is in love wit me." An' dat night about fo'a'clock in de mawnin' dere he wuz knockin' on de do'. He couldn't sleep wit'out 'er an' he couldn't eat wit'out 'er. Dat's whut ah heard.
Entry 5902
Dey will take yore hair an' bury it, ah would say sixteen inches, in de cemetery. Well, den dat would make yo' feel dizzy in de haid.
Entry 858
I was goin' to school. It was two girls. Well, I cared for both of 'em but it was one I re'lly liked bettah. De lady's livin' today, the one tha' hurt me. An' she wanted me to marry dis girl because it was her niece, but de other girl I liked her bettah. An' so we were schoolmates. De girl I care more for, well she'd [she was the] one I kep' right up [with] in mah class. An' so afterward it come to pass, the lady, which dis girl was her niece, she sol' wine an' stuff. Well, I liked wine. Well, mah mothah an' her seemed to be purtty good frien's. Why? Becuz she want me to marry her [niece] I reckon, becuz mothah had a little property an' stuff like dat an' I was de only child mah mothah had, you know. So I reckon she t'ought she'd tie me up, but still I loved de othah girl. An' so after school broke up, so de words got out - she says Carrie an' I was gon'a get married. As fer as I could learn, this lady said, "Well, if you don't marry her, why you're not gon'a marry anybody else." "So I was at her house an' should of notice it but I didn't. I didn't notice it. We boys go down dere on Sunday, you know, in de country - you know Sunday's a big time in de country. I goes down there on Sunday an' we run in an' we'd have a little drinks. I nevah did pay fer mine. I didn't pay any 'tention but it seemed very funny. But aftah I got hurt, den I re'lize what had happen I nevah did have to pay fer my drinks. An' it went on fer a period about two mont's. But in de third mont' I commence to drinkin', I begin to go bad - I feel bad. An' so mah mothah called de doctor an' de doctah come an' she ast him what was de mattah with me - which was a country doctor, Dr. Williams, which is livin' today. He did the best he could. [I apologize for my comment at the beginning of No. 646, p.218 - here is the second person to say a kind word about a doctor and his medicine.] An' so it seem like de more his medicine I took de worser I got. So he says to mah mothah one day, he says, "Ida," he says, "I don't know what's de mattah with de boy. I can't do him no good an'," he says, "the best thing tha' I know fer to do, is to send him de hospital." Well, before tha' mothah sent me de hospital, came ole man name of Ole Man Stuckey - he's dead, he's a white fellah called a faith doctor. He came in an' so mothah ast 'im some instruction about mah case. So Mr. Stuckey [Mr. for a white man] looked at me an' he said, "Well, Ida," he say, "tha' boy hurt." He says, "He's hurt." An' she says, "How you mean?" He said, "Well, somebody have put a spell on him." She says, "Mr. Stuckey, what will happen to him?" He said, "Well, you'll have to see some root doctor becuz a medical doctor is no good." So he referred to ole man Frank Bethe, Dunn, North Carolina, which is not quite a hunderd mile from here. I guess it'll run between ninety an' a hunderd. "I guess we kin git dat boy [well] if you kin git dat boy dere," he said, "Ole Man Frank will see him." Dat's de root doctor. [Here is one of the few documented cases - among numerous possible ones - of a person looking about for clients to send to a root doctor, a doctor almost one- hundred miles distant. The woman in No. 10, p.7, also went to Dunn, 24 miles northeast of Fayetteville where she then lived. Does the person sending in patients receive a kickback? As I from personal experience have explained in the Introduction, it is not easy to find or meet a doctor without a go between.] So mah stepfathah had a little ole Buick automobile. He takes dat ole car an' he goes on to Dunn. So, aftah we got in front of the door, stopped de car, Ole Man Frank walks out. He's a ole man who wears his pants backwards - de front part of his pants is backward. Dat's a'showing, de sign dat he's a root doctor, indiff'rent [diff'rent] from anybody else. Not all of 'em will do dat. So it was five of us in de crowd. He walks out, "That fellah there, he's hot [has a spell on him]." That was before I had said anything to him. An' so Ole Man Frank he turnt around to mah stepfathah an' says, "Well, why don't choo buy you some tires?" Mah stepfathah says, "I got purtty good tires." He says, "Wha choo had two punctures for?" Well, we did had two. We run ovah a nail - it was in a board, it was two punctures, but the punctures were all at de same time but two holes. So mah stepfathah he didn't git [didn't understand] - he said, "I haven't had but one puncture." He says, "You have." He says, "No, I haven't stopped but one time to fix tires, I didn't stop no more." He says, "You had two holes in that tube didn't you?" Mah stepfathah says, "Yes." He says, "Well, you all kin march in an' line up." So we lined up. Now, we walked straight on in past the first and second room and stopped in the third [see the three little rooms in my interview of Informant 1532 of Memphis]. An' he had a long bench an' a nice line of chairs on the left-hand side. He says, "You wanta sit on that long bench?" We all sit on de bench. So we went on in an' we did jis' as he said. Well, he wasn't in there at present then. Well, we was in there awhile there came a light. It was a light lit up the room. It come jes' about dark when we got there. I didn't see [a] light - I didn't see no lamp or nuthin. The room lit up an' aftah the room lit up 'an [= than = then] the light went right out. The ole man aftah awhile come in. He walked on down the crowd and looked ovah them [for the culprit] - before I go any further I'll tell you what was said. This ole man had a very nice lookin' daughter. You know exactly how mens will talk about 'em, about womenfolks. When we was comin' up in the car, one of the boys said, the same boy that was drivin' the automobile, a man, he said, "I would like to, for dat girl to be mine. I'd like to be wit her." So, [we] was waiting for Ole Man Frank to appear when we first come in. Ole Man Frank come in and he says, "There's one of you fellahs" - he say, "who was it spoke slack about her?" Nobody didn't say anything. He looked directly at us an' said, "Listen," he say, "I want you to treat mah house with respect." He say, "I didn't think you comin up here for any devilment or disrespectable manner." He says, "I thought youse comin' up here to bring this patient." He say, "Wha' choo wanna come here an'" he said, "you said when you saw mah daughter aroun' the edge of the field there tha' choo wanted to be with 'er." Well, God knows he said so. Well, I said [to myself], "This ole man here knows somepin." [My informant's reaction, contained in the preceding underlined words, is just what Frank wanted - the mysterious light and two punctures also preparing for it. This reminds me of a man interviewed in Petersburg, Virginia; former owner of a traveling medicine-show - himself, a traveling-bag, and great experience. As a part of the tune-up for the sales-pitch, he would call out to an old man in the audience; first having secretly learned his name and local reputation. Pointing at the man, "You, out there, old Uncle Ben Smith! [[Dramatic pause.]] Everybody for miles knows you - knows you're a honest man. But, you don't look too healthy to me. Don't be frightened! I'm going to tell you what's the matter with you. Better, I'm going to give, present you with a free bottle of my medicine, which will cure you before morning. First, however, I'm going to ask you a question. These people know you will give me a truthful answer. Listen carefully. Every night, don't you have to get up and go outside to the bathroom?" The old man shouted, "Amen! AmenI That's the truth! This man knows somepin!"] An' so I sat down there awhile. He'd stopped you from sayin' anything. He said, "You go here and sit in that chair." I sit on the chair. I was sittin' [in] chair I reckon 'bout five minutes. He say, "Kin you read?" I says, "Yes." He handed me a book. He says, "Why don' choo read?" I started to readin'. I didn't know thing - I was asleep: He put ever'body in the room asleep: [If a buzzard can row Doctor Buzzard's boat - see margin-title Doctor Buzzard - don't be too skeptical.] Well, I woke up before anybody - he woke me up first. Ever'body sittin' over there asleep - snorin'. Then he ast me mah trouble. [He did nothing of the sort as we will see.] He says, "I knowed it was a black woman that's put a spell on yah," and he say, "it's two girls you was goin' with, one of them's daughter [niece] an' she jes' put a spell on you." He says, "I know exactly what's the matter with you. [Doctor Frank is merely repeating the information he had received in a letter from the white-man faith-doctor, Ole Man Stuckey. The latter could have sent the letter sometime before he called on the prospective patient - he says, "Ole Man Frank will see him.] He says, "I'm not goin' wake a one up in the house now until I fix you." He says, "You got any money?" I says, "Well, yes, I got a little bit." He says, "I don't want a dime but, '" he said, "I'm goin' fix yeh." [Frank is now preparing to advertise himself in the patient's community.] I says, "Well, Frank [I doubt that!]," I says, "I'll have to pay you, won't I?" We all knowed his name. You could see the big letters all around the wall - F-R-A-N-K B-E-T-H-E, Frank Bethe. He set down. "Well," he say, "I'm goin' fix it for you." He say, "I'll fix what I'm gon'a use." He said, "You jis' take mah money an' carry it on the back of your house, on the east end, an' put it in a piece of paper - don't bury it - a piece of newspaper an' wrap it up," he says, "I'll git it." [He means] back of mah house aftah I get back home - don't live in no Wilmington, I lived with mah mothah. I lived in Castel [North Carolina]. [What Doctor Bethe should have said, "My co-worker, white-man faith doctor, Ole Man Stuckey, will pick it up for me some night."] [A doctor picking up his fee at a distance or through the air is not rare - see No. 13, p.12 and in Index, Doctor fee.] And so I reckon I'd have spells right aroun' eight an' nine o'clock at night. It was gittin' roun' eight or nine o'clock then and I commence havin' a spell, commence gittin' dizzy an' funny an' sort of shakey, jis' like I ever was. [The Spell happens at the same time it was cast - see margin-title 11:30-5:30 Trains.] [This dizziness could explain his being put to sleep - a sudden blackout.] He come an' put his hand ovah mah forehead an' ever'thing's bright [the bright light again] an' I could look up an' talk to him till he say, "Well, I think ever'thing will be all right." And he told me to go home an' put dat money dere. He ast me how far I lived from there [Dunn]. I told him where I lived. He says, "If you live less than a hunderd miles, I kin work for you aftah I send you home. He couldn't work over a hunderd mile wid jore cast - it had to come in the percentage of a hunderd-mile list before that he could reach you case. But - he didn't want to work on you in his house. And so I left him that night. He told me, he said, "Now, you go on home and in the mornin'," he said, "you won't have any more of these spells but," he said, "you'll be weak for ovah a week." He fixed me a bottle before I left there. And so he told me about this bottle he fixed - the bottle of medicine. He told me, he says, "Now, I want you take this at nine o'clock in the morning [reverse magic - opposite to nine o'clock at night]. I wants you to take on Eastern Standard Time [just to be different or mystifying or to allow for extra hour "eight or nine"]. I said, "Well, listen, I don't know if my clock is Eastern Standard Time or not." He say, "Well, I want choo to take the medicine by one o'clock." He say, "You take it nine o'clock by your clock, take it one the next, and three the next [odd hours] and then you'll git all right." And then he said, "I'll wan' choo to come back to see me aftah you put this money in the paper. So aftah I put the money in the paper like he tole me and commence takin' the medicine, I was goin' strong, feelin' good - I didn't have any more shaking spells. So I return back and I saw him and he told me, he say, "Lewis"-he called my name, I nevah told 'im mah name. He say, "Lewis," he say, "you're coming along all right now, aren't chah?" I told 'im, "Yes sir." Do you think you kin get your money?" I says, "Yes sir, I got it." [Several preceding pieces of bad recording, very short ones, confuse the flow of events here. I am copying the text from my original pencil transcription made soon after the cylinder was recorded; an original I will now attach to this final manuscript ready for publication. The money hidden in the newspaper was not the complete fee; it was two things - (1) more atmosphere, this for local advertising about a doctor who could pick up his fee at a distance, and (2) the kickback to Old Man Stuckey who picked it up. The real fee, no price set, to be paid later.] He say, "Well now, you owe me fifteen dollars. You got it?" I told him, 'Yes sir, I got it." I thought he was goin' to charge me about hunderd dollars. I'd been borr'in' money from ever'body in de neighborhood - the man I was workin' fer I done borr'ed fifty dollars from him, and the ole lady [mother] had to mortgage de place. [This borrowing is like the expression I had ever' doctor in town. So he said, "Well, all right, give me fifteen dollars." So I paid him. I say, "Weli, Doc," I say, "look here." I say, "That medicine done me so much good," I said, "what did you put in it?" He says, "Now, if you want me to learn you what to put in this medicine," he said, "I'll have to tell you but," he said, "it'll cost you five more dollars to learn about it." I says, "I'd rather pay you five dollars," says I, "cause I like to have some more of this medicine - you see, this bottle's gone." He says, "Now, if you'll stay up here this afternoon" - he says, "I'm busy." He say, "I like the folks [patients] to be here this part of the day [all healing is done with the rising sun] but, '' says, "if you'll stay up here dis afternoon, he says, "I'll show you the ingredients that I put in the bottle." So I decided. I told 'im yes I'd stay. And so that afternoon, after he got done with his business, him and I went on out in the woods. And so he got a root that's called Eve and Adam. He showed that 'erb which I knowed today - which I could go git a piece now in less than thirty minutes. He showed me the qroundhoa, the sow and the boar, that's a 'erb that grows - not de groundhog that we talk about, I mean dat fix up de weather - female and male. And de nex' 'erb he showed me was de high John de Conker; the nex', low John de Conker. He told me to take those things an' boil 'em for four hours, add one gallon of water to it and boil it till it come down to one quart [magic of diminishing amount]. Take it jes' 'fore sunrise and go out to de east corner of de buildin', sit de bottle down jes' before sunrise, take nine steps backwards, go back an' pick de bottle up, an' ever'thing will be O.K. until the sundown. Jes' a few minutes before the sun leaves the edges of the trees, take it and carry it away - walk nine steps backwards [pick up the bottle], walk direct west nine steps, turn back and your medicine is finish.
(Did he say how this woman had tricked you?)
Yes, sir. He told me she tricked me in drinkin'.
(He didn't tell you what she had put in it?)
Yes, he did, but I've nevah been able to do nuthin to her. But I'll nevah forgit de name he called it. He told me this woman had [gone] down side de back and got a weed that was called mint calZow[?]. That's what he told me. And he said she'd boiled the weed, that mint calZow, into a quart of water down to a pint [magic of diminishing amount] and he said she poured it into one quart of wine. And he said ever'time that I'd go there she'd give me to drink out of dat, and de rest de fellahs out of what she was sellin'. [I have a feeling that Doctor Frank was pleased to be rid of this patient. Once a woman on leaving me threw a fit out in the hall; again, two doctors out- side got into a fight - see Introduction. You don't want too much of this sort of thing. The preceding medicine-show man - my failure to take down the account of his work was one of my great failures - see Introduction.]
Entry 974
Ah was hoodooed in 1895 - ah were in de white-folks kitchen cooking. At home on de night befo' ah got blind. Ah seen a woman, yo' know, goin' down on de groun' makin' a mark - making a mark and she say, "When she come 'long she goin walk right ovah this" - in mah dream yo' know. So when ah went on that morning she was at de kitchen do. And ah walked in de kitchen do' an' opened de do' an' made a fire in de stove, and when ah made a fire in de stove ah made mah biscuits and put dem in de stove and put on mah coffee and put on mah grits, an' got mah bacon ready to fry.
(Where did this happen?)
In Camden, Alabama. Yes, sir - dat's mah home. Yes sir, Camden, Alabama. After ah got that all ready, ah went to set mah table. Got mah table all set an' everything and come back to de kitchen, ah was taken wit a swimming in de head so bad ah jes' couldn't hardly see. Ah says, "Whut's de matter?" Ah pulled de line[?] off an' then ah went on back in de kitchen. Ah went tuh stoop down to open de door to git de biscuits out de stove an' fell an' dey had tuh carry me home. Dere's a ole man name - let see whut was dat ole man name. Uncle Nase. Well, mah mother sent fo' him and he come an' tole her she jes' did send in time tuh save me, and he went in de woods and got some of these green cuckee [cockle] burs, made a poultice and put it all ovah my head - jes' wrapped me up in it chew know. An' den de next morning he was tuh bathe me. He give me some saltpeter and some sody and salt to put in water - those three things an' ah bathes with it an' every morning throw it to de sunrise. Yes, sir - every morning throw it sun- rise. An' after that ah begin tuh git all right, until ah got chere in Mobile. One day ah was working agin out heah on Montgomery Street loop in Mobile heah. Well, dat ain't been about five years ago.
(Government Street and St. Luke?)
Yes sir, that's right, and this leg swole up on me so bad, yo' see, ah thought it was broken an' ah sent fo' a doctor and no doctor - dey worked on it and dey couldn't do it any good. And so ah bathed it in salty water - yo' know that always is mighty good. Couldn't do nuthin with it. Well, it begin to burst and little ole bugs ran out of it. So ah went to a man dat was called to be wise, yo' know, and he tole me tuh git me some saltpeter and some sody an' vinegar, an' mix them all together and bathe it in. Ah did an' it's all right now.
Entry 1174
A black hen's feathah is good fo' dizziness, if a person has a fit. An' yo' git de feathahs off dat black hen an' yo' keep her in yore home, an' when he go tuh have one of these fits yo' git these feathahs an' yo' burn 'em. Jis' as yo' set 'em afire an' dey start tuh burn, yo' blow de fire out an' let de smoke escape up dere nose an' dat'll surely cure 'em.
Entry 7234
Ah wus goin' wit a girl about six yeahs ago an' ah quit dis girl. An aftah ah quit dis girl, ah started goin' wit anothah girl. An' dis othah [first] girl got acquainted wit dis othah [second] girl. An' so she [first girl] got acquainted wit de girl ah wus goin' wit, dis othah [second] girl. Co'se [Of course] ah didn't tell 'er dat ah had evah been wit dis girl. An' so dis [first] girl had a party one Satiday night an' she got me dis girl dat ah didn't wan' 'er tuh know of. Quite natchel ah wen' tuh de party. So she had a Victrola, wusn't no radio den. In fac' [fact] she didn't [would- n't?] have one no way. An' she had a li'le whiskey fer de party dat night. An' so, all de while ah wus goin' wit 'er de ole Victrola, de spring 'ud [spring would] jump off sometimes an' ah used tuh fix it fer 'er, while ah wus goin' wit 'er. So she, aftah de music stopped, she tole dem dat ah could fix de Victrola. An' she'd [she had] taken de Victrola in de kitchen an' put it on de table. An ah went in dere an' see zactly [exactly] whut wus de mattah wit it an' fixed it. An' she put a pint of whiskey on de table up dere. Well AH DIDN'T PAY NO 'TEN- TION 'CUZ AH NEVAH DID BELIEVE IN DIS STUFF [HOODOO]. SO AH DRINK SOME OF DIS WHISKEY. MATTAH OF FACT AH'D TAKEN SEV'RAL DRINKS OF DIS WHISKEY. An' so, aftah ah got de Victrola completed an' evahbody got tuh dancin', an' den ah started takin' a couple a dances mahself. Well, when ah started takin' dese few dances mahself, ah got dizzy; got a li'le dizzy an' got a haidache an' got out mah haid some. An' de girl frien' ah wus goin' wit den, she'd taken me tuh 'er apartment. Aftah she'd taken me tuh 'er apartment, ah woke up nex' mawn- in' an' found mahself dere. So ah kinda come tuh mah haid a li'le bit. An' den she rent de cah [car] tuh take me home. So dey'd taken me home. An' when ah got home - ah don' remembah when ah got home or nuthin of de kin' lak dat. So 'bout nine o'clock Sunday mawnin', well ah started havin' fits, one right behin' de othah. So dey tell me, ah don' know anythin' about it. Ah fell unconscious den. So dey spent dat Sunday. DEY HAD ALL KINDA DOCTORS. DEY SPENT $74 ON ME DAT SUNDAY ON DIFF'REN' DOCTORS AN' NOBODY WOULD TAKE DE CASE. SOME DOCTORS WOULD COME IN AN' TREAT ME FER SOMPIN - DIABETES AN' DIFF'REN' THIN'S - AN' MAH REG'- LAH FAMILY DOCTOR, HE COULDN'T TAKE DE CASE. So he tole mah uncle an' evahbody dat he didn't know whut wus de mattah. It wus a case tuh 'im. So den ah stayed unconscious from dat Sunday mawnin' at nine o'clock until dat Monday night at half past eleven. Well a frien' of mine - didn't tell me - ah wus still unconscious, but he tole mah uncle. "WE DONE TRIED EVAHBODY ELSE CHERE [HERE], SUPPOSE WE TRY A HOODOO DOCTOR. IF HE DON' DO NO GOOD, WE JIS' WON' PAY 'IM. He [this doctor] run worms out mah mothah, but she [mother] said, "Ah know anothah good lady [but she is too far away], but anyway, by he bein' so bad off, we'll go up an' see dis one firs'." So dis fellah came in - so dey tell me, see ah wus still unconscious - said, "Yes, " S SAID AH WUS POISONED, AN' HE WOULD HAVE ME ON MAH FEET IN 45 MINUTES. Well, it wus about eleven-thirty den.
(In the morning or night?)
In de night. An' dis wus on a Monday night. Ah had been unconscious since Sunday mawnin' nine o'clock till ovah dat Monday night at eleven. SO HE COME IN AN' COMMENCES TUH WORKIN' ON ME. SAYS MY BOWELS WAS LOCKED AN' DIFF'REN' THIN'S. HE GIVE ME SOAP AN' BITTAH ALOES...
[I interrupt.]
(How did he give you the soap?)
He taken de soap an' he jis' mixed it up in a glass; yo' know, jis' watah enough tuh make de soap dissolve. Yo' know, Octagon soap, an' made somepin lak a pill outa it an' jis' held mah mouth an' rubbed mah throat - so dey tell me - until ah swallah dat. An' den dey give me bittah aloes an' dat unlocked mah bowels. AN' SOON AS IT UNLOCKED MAH BOWELS, AH COME TO. When ah cOme to, ah knows mahself. When ah wus on de party ah wusn't able tuh go tuh de bathroom. AN' [AFTER MY BOWELS MOVED] DEY SHOED ME A ANIMAL COME OUTA ME 'BOUT - AH GUESS ABOUT DAT LONG [DEMONSTRATES].
(As long as your little finger.)
YEAH AN IT LOOKED SOMEPIN LAK DE COLAH OF A ORANGE PEELIN', AN' IT RAN UP ON DE MEDICINE GLASS TRYIN' TUH GIT OUT. Ah [had] come tuh, den. Co'se ah wuS weak aplenty. Ah wus weak aplenty from havin' dose fits. Ah wusn't any good. De fact is, he tole me it would take aroun' a couple a yeahs tuh git so ah wus well ag'in. In fact it did. So ah commence tuh askin' question Who did it. HE'D TAKEN A NEWSPAPAH AN' PLACED IT IN A PAN OF WATAH AN' LET IT SET IN DIS PAN A WATAH SOMEWHEAH ROUN' ABOUT AH THINK - IT WUS NINE MINUTES AH THINK, AN' DIS WOMAN'S PICHURE COME ON DAT NECKED [NAKED] JIS' LAK SHE WORN NUTHIN ON 'ER - NECKED ABSOLUTELY.
(The woman that did this to you?)
Yeah. So he ast me did ah know dat woman. Ah say, "Yes." He say, "Well do yo' wan' tuh have her tuh come here an' confess tuh yo'?" DE PICHURE APPEAHED ON DE NEWSPAPAH RIGHT LAK DAT AN' HE TOLE ME TUH LOOK AT IT QUICK. AN' AH LOOKED AT. IT QUICK AN' AH RECOGNIZED IT AN' IT JIS' FADED AWAY AN' JIS' STAYED LAK DAT. [Before proceeding to the doctor's magic-mirror trick, let me pause in an attempt to explain his pan-of-water trick, the latter an excellent example of hydromancy. The doctor had brought in his usual medical kit a newspaper folded into folds about 3 inches wide; the top fold containing type only, the bottom fold also the picture of a scantily dressed woman. He then holds the newspaper several inches under the Water, type side up and picture side down. Patient is instructed to free his mind of all thought except the identity of the spellcaster soon to be revealed. Gaze at the water constantly without blinking. After a long period, as much as 9 minutes, the doctor begins to rotate the newspaper so that the picture suddenly appears and disappears. He tole me tuh look at it quick an' ah looked at it quick an' ah recognized it an' it faded away.] So he said, now ah'll have her tuh come here an' confess tuh yo' dat she did it, if yo' want me tuh. Ah tole him, ah said, "Yeah, ah'll be glad tuh." He'd taken a mirrah an' turn it bottom upwards; taken a mirrah an' turn de face up lak dat [demonstrates].
(The face of the mirror up.)
Lak dat. An' he said - ast me whut wus 'er name. An' ah tole 'im 'er name. Ast me whut wus mah name, an' ah tole him mah name. He wrote mah name at de top an' 'er name at de bottom.
(On this mirror?)
On a piece of papah an' placed it on topa dis mirrah. An' den he'd taken a clock an' turned it face down, almos' right on topa de mirrah, an' let dat stay dere fo' five minutes. An' he'd taken it up in fo' an' a half minutes, an' put it down fō' a few seconds, den picked it up. He tole me she would be dere in five minutes. Ah don' know where she wus. She wus away cross town, somewhere. But he tole me tuh watch out fer 'er, she would be dere in five minutes. Ah Wus wondahin' how she goin' tuh git dere. She lived on Marshall Avenue 'bout fō' or five blocks from dere. Well in fō' an' a half minutes from de clock she wus dere. She come up on - man had a automobile, a taxi. Ah don' know whethah she wus on 'er way dere or whut, but in fō' an' a half minutes she wus dere. She tole me dat she did it an' she wus sorry. She says she didn't do it 'erself, said she got somebody else tuh do it, an' tole me his name an' evahthin'. (Do you know what they put in the whiskey to hurt you that Way? What she put into the whiskey?) Yes, dis fellah had taken two grains of snake dust an' put in de whiskey. But dat wasn't did dat Satiday night. Had it been did dat Satiday night, it wouldn't a worked so fast, see. She had did it somewhere roun' about three months agO, an' DAT LIVE ANIMAL HAD BEEN PERFORMED FROM DAT SNAKE DUST. An' den ah had been away from 'er fō' fō' or five months, an' had been goin' wit anothah girl an' had passed 'er up. Well dis girl wus teachin' school. Well ah wouldn't let dis girl know dat ah had evah been wit 'er, cuz ah thought dere would be a lot a jealouSy dere. WELL, WHEN AH WENT BACK DAT NIGHT, DEY STIRRED IT UP, YO' SEE, AN' DAT MADE DIS LIVE ANIMAL LOCK MAH BOWELS. AN' IT HAD TUH PASS THROUGH OR ELSE AH'D A LIVED SO MANY HOURS HAVIN' DOSE FITS AN' DIED.
Entry 11124
Dey take de rule, de pocket rule.
(What do they do then?)
And say dey take dis to de crossroads and dey fix it. Dey fix it so and when you come along dey'll make you fall. Yes, sir. [I] hear: 'em tell dat, at de crossroads where you go down, and de roads comes across like dat [demonstrates] and dey fixes it. (I see. What would they fix there? I mean what would they put there?) Dey say dey'll get - dey'll get a scorpion, a red-headed scorpion. (A red-headed scorpion?) Yes, sir. Fix him and dey put him - make sompin like a coffin and dey'll put him down in de middle of dat fo'k, yes, sir. Yes, sir, in middle of de fo'k.
(In the middle of the fork?)
[The center of two roads crossing is the center of a square or a quincunx rite.] Yes, sir, in de middle of de fo'k and you git dere and you won't know it, but you commence having swimming 'bout de head. Head commence swimming, feeling bad; yes sir, and make you fall. I hear say dey tell dat.
(They put this scorpion in sort of a little coffin-like?)
It is a coffin. What I mean, sompin dey makes like a coffin. Dat what dey tole me. And dey'll put him in dere alive and when dey fixes him, it make you tremble, you know. And he'll die. Dey'll fix him dataway.
(I see.)
The informant reports a pocket rule and then a red-headed scorpion in a constructed coffin at the middle of crossing roads, with claimed dizziness and falling. Questions clarify these objects and the middle location; Hyatt supplies a square or quincunx interpretation. No unstated relation between the pocket rule and scorpion is invented.
Entry 11288
They takes it [hair] from de mole [mold of your head] and after tak- ing it from de mole, they tie it up with pepper or salt, and then they kin put it with some one of your soiled napkins. (The woman?) Shore. And they practi- cally will come to be what you would say dizzy in de head. Then, again, it will cause them probably to lose a portion of their hair for a time, then he begins to work.