Subject:Evil
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Entry 925
A fellah wus poisoned an' he turned black from his toes - left foot - he got black all up to his thigh. An' after he got black he stayed that way fer about three or four weeks an' he couldn't git well. An' they car'd 'im to four or five diff'rent hospitals in Florida an' he couldn't git well. An' so fin'lly, he taken from one thing to another an' his side were gittin' a little bettah. After it got a little bettah, well, a fellah got sick in de hospitial - de fellah who poisoned 'im, an' he send for 'im. So he went to dis fellah an' he wus confess on his bed dat he's dyin', see, an' he told 'im dat he poisoned 'im. He axed 'im whut he poison - said, "What choo poison me fer?" He said, "Well, jis' didn't like you; somebody axe me to poison you an' I jis' had to do it to make mah money." An' he axed 'im an' said, "Well, how will I get cured?" He said, "I'll tell you whut I poisoned you with, an' I'll tell you whut I cure you with - you kin cure yourself with it." He said, "Whut choo poison me with?" He said, "I poisoned you with runnin' huckleberry, it's de root; an' go into a graveyard an' dig right down in de center of de grave, an' git some of dat dirt an' put it in dere with dat runnin' huckleberry root, an' ball [boil] it an' take dat tea an' put it in some whiskey, an' that how you poisoned." When he axed 'im, he said, "Well, how will I git well?" He telled 'im to go in the woods an' find 'im some silkweed - it's some sort of silkweed that when you mash on it, milk it look like will come out. An' you [put it] right in some watah an' ball it, an' after it ball, you put fifteen drops of turpentine in - add it up to a quart of watah. An' you take a glassful like dat for nine mornin' until you take it all up. Be sure an' take it all up in nine mornin'. In nine mornin' your colah'll come back an' that'll cure you. Dat bin mahself. He poisoned me. I's de fellah he poisoned.
Entry 1852
Some people down there [round Charleston, South Carolina], they claim they have the evil eye. Whenever they meet one of these persons, especially if they look them right in the eye, they're supposed to walk backward and count ten. That is to break the bad luck spell.
Entry 5396
Dey say yo' kin take dat track - jes' lak dey wanta run yo' away - dey'll pull de track from de heel tuh de toe. An' take dat track an' take a aig, an' bo' a li'le hole in de aig an' dreen de contents of de aig out. An' put dat track in dat shell an' put a li'le bit of papah ovah it. An' go tuh a rivah, a stream or somepin dat's runnin', an' turn dat back an' throw it ovah de shouldah an' use three words dey say. Dey says, "In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost, let dis evil one leave." But de 'Father, Son an' HolyGhost' is de word de' speak. An' throw it ovah de shouldah an' walk away an' not look back. An' dey say long as dat aig float, yo'll continue tuh go.
(Do they take either foot track?)
Eithah one or both.
(If they want to bring you to them?)
Dey git in fron' of yore track, yo' see. Let see, yes, an' pull it from de toe tuh de heel. Well, den dey don' throw dat in no rivah. Dey take dat an' fill it full of de track, de aig, an' put sompin aroun' tuh keep it from break- in' - real tight. An' dey bury dat egg undah yore steps or put it in de middle of a loose mattress where yo' sleep. An' yo' can't leave dere. Yo'll go but yo'll come right back.
Entry 5988
Okay, we have a way of gittin' a new piece of cloth an' ballin' it [hair] up tight. Sew it up an' soak it in Hearts Cologne an' throw it away. An' say a evil prayer an' call yo' name. (What will that do?) Dat's hard luck tuh yo'. (What do you do with the hair?) We ball it up in dis sewed cloth. Jes' sew it up an' say a evil prayer an' call yore name after soakin' in Hearts Cologne.
Entry 6329
Yuh kin take a stran' out de mole of yuh haid an' carry it tuh a run- nin' watah an' throw it up de stream - don' throw it down de stream, throw it up de stream. Dat'll drive yuh crazy in two days. Yuh be jis' as crazy as a bug. [Here again, as in the preceding rite, we have a magic term, upstream, meaning against the stream. Upstream or its equivalent against the stream is a common feature of black cat lucky-bone rites - see Pp.74-97 and elsewhere.]
Entry 6832
Yo' take gunpowdah an' wet it, DAT GUNPOWDAH IS EVIL, IT'S JIS' LAK A EVIL SPIRIT. An' yo' kin take it yo' know an' wet it up. Put chure foot ag'inst de watah. Ah don' know whethah yo've evah seen dat done. Yo' put enough of it in watah an' jis' keep ' a stirrin' 'till dat watah come tuh be perfec'ly black, an' it's all dissolve jis' lak, yo' know, jis' lak sugah. Wal, den yo' take dat watah den an' reverse [see later] it on dat track whah yo' walk. Yo' put some tuh de front, some tuh de back, an' dat do's de work.
(What will that do?)
Wal, dat jis' keepS a man safe, DAT DRIVES DE PART OF EVIL AN' DE SICKNESS AWAY FROM YO'.
(This evil away from you?)
Yes. [First, you protect or cure yourself by dropping gunpowder into a bucket. Wet it up means a little water on the gunpowder in the bucket. Put chure foot ag'inst de watah shows that you mix the water and gunpowder with your foot in the bucket. Next yo' reverse it [the water], not by stirring the gunpowder water in the contrary direction, but by pouring it on dat track whah yo' walk. You pour it on one or more tracks from toe to heel, backwards, opposite the direction of your made tracks. Rites from toe to heel - reversing rites - usually sending maker of the tracks in the opposite direction, are fairly common in Hoodoo. In the present rite the spell is turned back to its sender.]
Entry 7208
Ah've hear'd sev'ral diff'ren' things about de fo'ks of de road. Ah bear'd dat when people wan' tuh separate people, dey go tuh fo'ks of de road; an' when dey wan' tuh put dem tuhgethah dey go tuh de fo'ks of de road, but it depends on whethah dey work on eithah de left or de right hand side. If yo' want people tuh separate, well dey'll write de person's name, de woman's name, nine dues on a piece of brand-new papah wit a brand-new pencil, tablet an' pencil dat nevah been used. If dey wan' tuh separate dem, dey'll write de man's name nine times an' den dey'll write de woman's crosswise nine times. Den dey take de pencil an' dey think all de evil dey kin: I jis' hope yo' son-of-bitches jis' fuss an' fight an' scratch lak cats an' dogs. [Informant scratches all over the [paper.] An' dey go dere an' dey dig down a few inches.
(They scratch that paper all up.)
Yes, jis' scratch up lak yo're mad at it an' curse dem an' think all de evil yo' kin. An' den yo' dig a hole dere an' yo' bury dat on de left-hand side of de road at de fo'k where de fo'ks meet. An' aftah buryin' it yo' po' watah on L, yo' know, tuh pack de groun' down where dat kin rot. An' by de time dat papah rots, dose people'll begin tuh disagree, an' in from three tuh nine days aftah it rots, dey're separated. An' if yo' wan' tuh put dem tuhgethah, yo' write dere names nine times an' yo' fold it tuh yuh. Of co'se de lady involved has tuh do dat huhself. She has tuh be told. An' she writes 'er lovah's name nine times an' huhs acrost it, an' she folds it tuh 'er nine times. Den she turns it aroun' an' folds it small way, dis way; an' turn it aroun' an' fold it to 'er dis way. Den she takes it an hides it on de right-hand side of de road wit all good wishes.
(Then what happens?)
Well den aftah de same period of time, aftah from three tuh nine days aftah it rots, dis person'll become vi'lently attached tuh 'er.
Entry 7517
Yes sir, ah kin go to de graveyard an' git some dirt an' put it into dis room [in Wynn Hotel where I was interviewing, see INTRO. v.1, p. XXX, line 9] an' ah betcha [bet you] can't stay in heah at night. Dere be's somepin all in de cornahs - jes' well, yo' gotta git eveh [every] grain of dat [dirt], yo' can't [become scared and] back aways from 'em [spirit]. Dat's to make, to run a person outa de house, see. Dat will run yo' outa de house. [This opening paragraph contains one of the great laws of the spirit: the complete spirit is in every grain of that graveyard dirt - see margin title, PART OF SPIRIT EQUALS WHOLE OF SPIRIT, p.21.] Dey take dat stuff - ah kin take some an' carry it to a person's house what ah wants [to move into] an' jes' walk in dere wit it in mah pocket, an' throw it all aroun' in de cornahs wit'out people not knowin' it. In a few days dey'll say dere house is ha'nted, dey'll move. Well, dat's de evil spirit comin' back fer dat dirt, to take it back to dat cemetery. To git some of dat dirt, what chew gotta do, yo' gotta put one cent down dere 'fo' [before] yo' kin bring it away; else yo' can't bring it away, so much racket be aroun' dere [the grave] dat yo' can't bring it away.
Entry 7556
Well, yuh could take graveyard dirt an' make anothah separation, keep confusion. Jis' lak somebody livin' nex' do' tuh yuh. Well, yuh go out in de graveyard an' git some evil - if yuh know someone died evil. Yuh know whut ah mean. Yuh drop dat [dirt] an' sprinkle it an' wish 'em bad luck tuh move 'em.
Entry 7642
Well, dey takes a tombstone, from mah undahstandin', from a person dat dey knows is very evil an' lived a wretched life. Jis' lak if ah wanted tuh have disturbance in de home or anythin', well, ah take dat from dere an' ah put it anywhere aroun' yore house. (What do you take, the whole tomb- stone?) Take de whole tombstone - de dirt on it. (Oh, the dirt on it?) Yes, an' put it anywhere roun' yore house an' dat. Yo' ain't goin' tuh live in dat house. Yo' undahstan'?
(How do you get that dirt off this tombstone, how do you get it?)
Dig it.
(Oh, you dig it near the tombstone?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 7672
He [my contact man] wus askin' me about how would yo' git a woman away from yore home, if yo' didn't want 'er. Wal, ah tole him dat dey kin go tuh a graveyard where yo' know it's some evil person had.died, an' dig down dere about three feet an' git so much - 'bout three teaspoonsful of sand an' mix it in with some black peppah an' take an' mix some sulphur in it an' carry it an' throw it ovahbo'd in a bot- tle, an' curse dat at de present time, lak 'Go.' Curse at de present time three times an' holler "go" - "go" - "go."
Entry 7676
If any harm wuz roun' yore place, go tuh a graveyard tuh de wickest person dat chew know dey buried in dere. Yo' come in on de right-han' side of dat grave as near as yo' kin. (The right hand side as you enter, come to the head of the grave.) Yes, dat's it. An' yo' go down, run yore han' down in dere an' come out wit as much dirt as yo' kin hold in three fingers [demonstrates].
(In the thumb, the index and the middle finger of the right hand.)
Yes. Den yo' go ahead an' yo' git chew some bluestone, pound it up fine. Den yo' go tuh all fo' cornah of yore steps an' yo' sprinkle dat down, but yo' do's dat at nine-thirty at night. An' ah don' cah [care] whut nobody put tuh de dat steps, dat stuff will run it 'way from dere.
Entry 7682
Tuh put evil spirits behin' yo', yo' goes tuh a graveyard an' yo' gits de dirt off of a grave but chew do not git it offa a person grave dat died - dat wuz a Christian an' vent tuh heaven. Yo' gits it off a sinner's grave, a person dey know God won' pardon dere sins. See. An' when yo' goes tuh git dat dirt chew leaves a dime, an' yo' takes dat dirt an' sprinkle it anywhere where anybody's dead [alive] an' call dat person name whut's daid an' tell 'em yo' want 'em tuh to'ment 'em. An' dey will tō'ment dat person an' dey won' be able tuh stay no- where roun' where yo' puts dat dirt.
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 8786
If you want to make a person jis' drift an' jis' become a vagabond going here and there an' nevah content in one place, yo' write dere name wit evil wishes on a teeny piece of board, wood joo know, thin board, an' yo' git choo a lots of nails an' put anothah piece on. Dere name is tacked on dat first piece of board. An' den yo' put a thin piece of board on top of dat an' nail it down fine, jis' put plenty nails in rotation. An' at 12 o'clock at night yo' throw dat in de rivah, an' as dat board floats an' drifts down de stream, why dat person will drift. Dere mind will become unsettled an' dey'll jis' go to an' fro.
Entry 8799
They burn it [hand- wmiting] an' make dere wishes an' it'll cause yore hand tuh tremble.
Entry 10118
Get a black cat, cut the right hind leg and get a bone out...and carry that around your neck, and there won't be any evil spirit harm you, and it will keep cunjures away. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 10178
It also is said that if any evil things coming around at night also, if you keep those candles burning all night long by your door, an' that will also project [eject] the evil of [from] the house. (Well, how would they burn those candles? What kind of candles would they burn?) Well, they burn one to the front an' one to the back, of the enteries [entrances] of the house, right in de middle of the hallway; very small candle, not a large one. That will also protect [you against] the evils of the house. An' also will make the family live in harmony an' in peace with each other.
Entry 10185
Git three fo' cornered, yo' know... [probably demonstrated].
(Get three four-cornered files.)
An' git about three, an' put 'em in de third [three] ways: one lak that, an' one lak that, an' one lak that right straight. (One at each side of the house, and one in the middle?) [The files are parallel to the front and two sides of the house.l Dat's it. An' den on de back [inside] of yore house, yo' burn dis heah same stuff - candles, dese same three gold [sometimes called yellow] candles.
Entry 10201
(Tell me that again.) Yes, see, if you have a wife and she wouldn't stay home, doing some evil doings, you could pray and burn to St. Michael a red candle. Well, they say, that would be good to stop 'em, to change 'em, but I....
Entry 10202
You do the same thing, you sprinkle the house down with holy water and put your light to your saint, you know. Always keep a light to St. Michael, a red light. (A red light, why?) Well, see, that light, that keeps any evil away from going into your home.
Entry 10548
If dey wanta sell deyself tuh de devil, in lotta cases tuh de fo'ks of de road, dey makes a trip down dere nine successful [successive] mawnin's an' de ninth [morning] de devil 'sposed tuh meet chew dere. An' so he an' de devil come tuh a 'greement on dat, an' de devil give him a cer- tain length of days an' yeahs - see, he gi's 'im [gives him] all dat power. Den he turn himself loose tuh him. Dat's death. Now, yo' go dere [to the forks of the road] fo' mo' den one purpose. Ah may be lak ah wuz dancin'. Ah goes tuh de fo'ks of de road fo' nine mawnin's, tuh see if dere anything dat would be in de way; see, tuh pacify yo'. Yo' go fo' nine mawnin's. Yo' go fo' nuthin [but] good, yo' goes in de Name of God, de Father, God de Son an' God de Holy Ghost. Now, when yo' goes fo' de bad, yo' takes de devil, an' all his temptin' ways tuh do de evil things. Well, yo' go dere. Ah'm comin' tuh do good an' yo' comin' tuh do de harm. [Informant demonstrates all this!] Now, ah'll come down In de Name of de Father, Son an' de Holy Ghost, down heah, see, tuh do de good; an' yo' come up heah in de way of de devil an' all his imps tuh do de harm. Well, when ah git up heah, ah beat chew an' we have a fight right heah. All right, if ah whup yo' heah, see, ah call yore name heah an' turn yo' back. Now, dose all sech things yo' do's at de hour in de mawnin' jes' befo' sun- rise. Dat whut chew do at de fo'ks of de road. [Between informant's treatment of me and my being on the devil's side, author appears to have had a hard time!]
Entry 10792
Keep de witches out (How do you do that?) Jes' take de broom an' put it across de do'. Dat's all ah know 'bout de broom.
(What will that do?)
Dat will keep de evil spirits away.
(And the witches out.)
Yes sir.
Entry 10941
Ah would jis' simply - ah would make me a smoke, an' dat would knock evahthing in de haid. (How do you make that smoke?) Ah would make it wit de fish livah an' heart. Ah would take de fiah an' ah would put de heart in a saucah an' leave dat set fo' 'bout nine days. An' aftah dat ah would take a furnace an' ah would take jis' a li'le small pinch of it. An' it drives all evil spirits clear away. Absolutely.
(What kind of fish do you use, any kind of fish?)
Catfish. De oldah de catfish is, de bettah it is.
(Now you make this smoke, then what do you do?)
Dat explores all ovah de house where yo' live. De party dat wants tuh git chew out, dey cain't be successful.
(If I want to stay in the house, I make that smoke and they can't move ne out?)
Can't move yo' out.
Entry 11073
Well, if you wants to stop 'em, if yo' goes out, from the law getting in connection with you. That's very easy to do that, too. Here's whut chew do. Yo' [go] an' git chure own garment, git a piece of your clothes that you had on this day, that has perspiration on it, an' git a piece of theirs. Take those two pieces together an' tie 'em with a piece that you don't want. Tie 'em together and put 'em in a running stream of water. And they never will do nuthin to yo'. That nmning stream takes away the evil thought between you an' him. Run that away. Run that spirit away. [I had asked about keeping the law away from the house, but informant turns my question into anyone seeking to harm you. You begin your protection with a piece of clothing you wore that day, because the perspiration in it is a part of your spirit, hence the whole of your spirit (see PART OF SPIRIT EQUALS WHOLE OF SPIRIT, p.21-23, v.1). Next, you obtain something recently worn or handled by the enemy. Then, using a spiritless piece of clothing you have discarded, you tie your spirit and enemy spirit together, making a tight knot. And immed- iately and finally you rush off and throw this package into running Water. Run- ning Water kills or purifies evil work. You understand, of course, that the evil spirit permitted itself to be tied only because it was being tied to you, now even an easier prey. This rite is called a trick. I did not understand this rite when I heard it back in 1939; the reason why my note about informant on the original transcription reads, use with care! This rite is logically illogical!]
Entry 11137
Yo' see now when yo' use that, that's somepin like a [something guard or hand] you mix that thing [cow manure] with black mulasses. I've got somepin [like] that with black molasses all now [right now]. You mix that with black molasses, see, and it gets real hard. It's nothing but hard [like] corn meal. And you make little balls of it, cut it up and make little balls. Anybody [patient] come to you [I am considered a doctor] give 'em one of those balls [pills]. That keeps away harm. No harm, anything, nothing kin come in [your house].
(Well, suppose you gave me one of those, what would I do with that then?)
You keep it off of here [your place] you [it] keep off [yourself]. [For animal manure against witches see FACI, 2ed., No.16487, etc.]
Entry 11226
Nine dirt dauber's nests, 9 pinches out of victim's left foot track, pound up together, make wishes over, take to a grave of evil person, bury you there, you will soon die. [This is my condensation of a long rite in the material of an interview missed by my transcriber. I never had time to return to it. Original condensation in pencil attached to final manuscript.]
Entry 11326
Those [are] doll babies. But inside of those doll babies, there's somepin they have in there belonging to the person that they Want to do harm to. And of course, they make them a doll baby and sit it on the dresser, anywhere, nobody will never take any- thing of yours. That's how come they make those doll babies to hide what they are doing. [Here a doll baby is an ornament that also protects against thieves, but it is also an ideal place for an evil person to hide his cunjure.]
Entry 11362
They have some powder - you go to. the Cracker Jack Drug Store dowatoun you know They calls it the Evil Powder. (Evil Powder?) Yes sir. You takes it and sprinkles it around your house or on your steps, you understand. And finally - not tomorrow you going to move, but finally, you get disgusted of the place and you'll move on away from that place.
(I see.)
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 11731
Lak dis house - yo' got a house. An' dat grapevine, yo' takes off so much of it [indicate length] an' burn it. An' dem ashes yo' put around dat do', in front of de do', an' sweep [ashes out door] an' use dat grapevine fo' dat. An' yo' kin take a bath with grapevine.
(What does that do?)
Dat's fo' luck. Keep people 'way; bring folks in an' he'p yo' undertake [overcome], yo' know, de devil.
(Overtake the devil.)
Keep de devil away.
Entry 11835
I get some gumbo filet. That's what you put in gumbo. Perhaps you don't know what filet is. It's a leaf [from sassafras tree] that grows out in the woods, and it ground up and it is used instead of okra, when you making gumbo and the okra is not in sea- son. That is what you call filet. I get a pail of that and I get some garlic and some whiskey and mix those three together and pur [pour] it under the steps, or either if you come out of a alley, I pour it up side the alley, that you come out of, and you would have to go.
Entry 12175
I have heard a gentleman, people, say that you take a piece of horse- hair and put it under your doorstep and you won't have any trouble with a evil person coming to bother you, coming to your house. [Some- how this belief sounds old. Horses and hags and witches are associated with horses. Does the presence of a horsehair confuse the hag-witch and hold her to daybreak? My wife and I stop- ped one night here at the hotel in Petersburg, Va., on our way from Old Point Comfort (not in Richmond as I said somewhere in HOODOO some years ago) - to War- renton on our Way back to New York City. At both one-night stands I interviewed the bellboy. My original transcription by hand is attached to manuscript. This vas informant No.33.1
Entry 12252
John de Conkah root.
(You call that John the Conquer root.)
It's a little thing like that, supposed to conquer anything that - anything around you: people sneezing and doing like that. Why you supposed to take that and tote it along with you, keep things like that away from you. No evil things - anybody can't do things like that way.
Entry 12387
Dis heah Red Devil lye, it's good. Yo' know it's good an' yo' know it's bad. Take it an' make good out of it an' take it an' make bad out of it. (Tell me how you can make bad out of it first?) Well, yo' kin take that an' eat so much dat'll kill yo', yo' see. An' den yo' kin take it ag'in if yo' know anyone wanta do anything to yo' roun' yore home an' yo' not knowin' it. Git chew fo' boxes of it an' yo' put chew fo' holes in each one of 'em. An' take yo' some bluestone, salt, red peppah an' put all dat in dat bottle [box] an' yo' take an' yo' bury dem at each corner of yore house. If yore yard evah be covered wit watah [after a rain] why yo' know den everything killed. (Everything is killed that they put down for you.)
Entry 12388
Yo' kin take a box of soda, jes' [as] ah tole yo' - said about de co't [court]. Yo' take de box of soda, an' yo' could take dat soda an' tote it along wit chew. Yo' could bury some undah yore back steps, an' some undah yore front steps. Den yo' kin take three boxes of Red Devil Lye an' yo' kin bury each one of them at chure - yo' know, each [front] corner of de house, an' bury one of 'em at de gate. But be shō [sure] yo' bury de soda from [at] de back steps to [at] de front steps. Dey could come by dere but dey nevah could stop. (They bury one of those Red Devil Lye's at the gate and the other two at the front corners. And one at the gate?) That's right.
Entry 12428
Take gunpowder an' milk, a woman's breast milk, jes' take an' 'dult- erate it out an' give it to a woman. Give it to 'em in anything, make 'en evil, cranky, an' all lak dat, makes 'em nervous. (You mix this gunpowder With this womam's dlk. and that makes then fight all the Une?) Yessuh.
Entry 12769
(What do they do with that if they get hold of your blood?)
Dey kin git a hold of yo' blood an' have yo' kind of paralyzed; or have your blood stuffed, by taking it an' putting it in a certain place. An' yo'll have to use prickle feet an' bloodroot an' blackroot to run dat bad blood back, an' to run dat evil blood what de [they] wanna put dat stuff in. (What do they do with your blood, if they get hold of it?) Oh, dey cud take dat blood an' have silver plate put in it [put your blood in a silver plate]. By dat's chure blood an' yo' drawin' out de silver plate, an' yo'll have someone near, close to yuh, to give dat blood back to yuh, after yo' done draws it wit de silver plate. To have plates to be drawin' in yo', some of yo' close relatives.
(How can you get that blood back in you, then?)
They drink it. (And how do you fix these plates up to get that bad blood out of you again? How do you fix those roots up?) Well, you take de prickle feet an' yo' set it in whiskey. Yo' take de blood- root an' yo' set 'at in whiskey - right on de prickle feets. Yo' set de black- snake root right on de prickles feet root, an' drink it three spoonful a day.
(That gets the bad blood out of you?)
Take de bad blood out. (Well this fellow that gets your blood, what does he do to make it bad blood?) Set it in a silver plate. After he set it in de silver plate, de blood draws in de silver plate. Den he begin to scrape. Put hot water on dere, a little water, an' it draws dat back an' it start back to yuh by some kind of drink yo' use. Yo' best friend will give you dat. He cannot give it to yo', 'cause he cannot git to yuh. After he git dis blood, he'll have to git someone else to git to yuh.
Entry 12781
First day of each month buy new box of salt, hold in right hand and throw in every corner, all four corners of the world, [throw in the 4 directions oa throw into 4 corners of room or 4 corners of house] nobody can harm you. [Informant got this in New Orleans, went there with lady friend for 3 days.]
Entry 13219
To ketch a spirit - I know a fellow who done it. You take and you gets you books [a writing tablet], gets you a pen and ink. (You get what? Pen and ink?) Yes, sir, pen and ink, writ- ing tablet and get you a bottle. Get you one of these small center tables, get you a chair, and put them in an empty room, but let that room be dark. And put these things in there. Put you a light on the table but don't light the light. Put you a lamp - you know what I mean, put your lamp on the table but don't light it. If it's a good spirit, he'll come in there and he'll write everything that's been done to you. He'll write everything that'll be done to you, he'll write that down in that book [tablet]. Next morn- ing you get up and you'll find that in that book [tablet]. You can read it for yourself. That's what a good spirit will do. But that evil spirit, he'll turn everything over in that room, and liable to come in your room and run you out of there, if there is a evil spirit there. [Rites similar to present one I have collected under DIAGNOSIS, pp.165-217, v.l. Similar ones are scattered through- out HOODOO. In the present rite I do not ask purpose of empty bottle. Could it be a lingering vestige from an earlier day, holder for a candle? I doubt it. That stopperless bottle is to entice my spirit passing by. For catching these spirits with curiosities, see TO CATCH A SPIRIT, Nos.38-47, v.1, and frequently in HOODOO.]
Entry 13233
They take a shoe - the bottom [insole] out of your shoe - and they can put some steel dust in there, you see. Steel dust! And you walk on it, you see. Well, that steel dust in there, you see, that's to swell your foot up. You see. (You put this in the bottom of the shoe, you say?) Right in the bottom of the sole of your shoe, you see, and you walks on it, you understand, when you get that.
(If they put that steel dust in your shoe, then you would see that?)
No, some of 'em could put it - you see that piece what goes in the bottom of the shoe, that leather rag, they puts it under the leather [insole]. See.
(I see.)
Entry 13250
I stayed at a place up north. Every morning when I kindled de fire- I gen'a'ly made de fire - they had a package of sulphur there on that stove. When it was hot, they would sprinkle de sulphur on it, to fumigate de house with sulphur. They said that kept off the evil spirits and give it luck. (Every morning?) Every morning they'd sat- urate dat stove, when ft. got hot, you know, so that sulphur Would burn, they would sprinkle some of that sulphur on the stove. Said that kept off the evil spirits and give them luck. Druv [drove] the evil spirits out of the house, which, you know yourself, that there are more evil spirits than there are good ones. We are told by the Bible that many's the soul to walks this earth, visible or invisible. What they meant visible ones is the ones that we want to get rid of, don't want to be bothered with 'em. Well, now, we'll go back to de sulphur question. When you go to dig money, you make a circle around, all de way around de place yo' goin' to dig. Now a fellah tole me this to be a fact. Ah never seen it. An' sprinkle sulphur all around it [circle], an' yo' dig inside de ring of sulphur. When de evil spirit comes up there, he can't get inside that ring over that sulphur.
Entry 13278
If somebody's interferin' [with] yo' aroun' yore home, ev'ry mawnin' yo' git up yo' go tuh de do' an' yo' make yore wishes an' bow tuh de sun 3 times, an' ask de Lord tuh re- move de evil spirits - tuh move away evil spir- its. An' do that three times an' do that fo 'bout 9 mawnin's. Walk tuh de do' an' make a bow tuh de sun. Yo' know de sun is a whole lot in success, yo' know. Yo' bow tuh de sun 3 times. An' aftah yo' bow tuh de sun an' [then] yo' axe Him ["De Lord"] tuh move away evil spirits.
(You do that three times for nine mornings.)
Entry 19
My brother-in-law told me the old story. And he said they were in the bed one night and they heard something coming in the house, and when they looked up to see what it was, it was an evil spirit, and it come to the fireplace and sat at the fire. While the spirit was sitting there he broke wind. The old man that was in the bed with my brother-in-law, he said, "Git up and go out of here. You done farted." The spirit got up and went away.
Entry 63
Now, about two years ago [1934], up here to my place [farm near Hampton, Virginia], an automobile driv [drove] in with five men into it and I knew them every one. They driv through my yard and went out and never did come back. When I got after them [later] they disowned it. It was their evil spirits, and they were just as natural, and they were trying to do me out of my place.
Entry 123
This woman kept a bad place on the wharf, like where sylors [sailors] came in. She Was taking little young girls. She died and nobody could run this house and restaurant any more. This ball of fire would be running all over the place. This ball of fire was this woman. Her spirit came in the ball of fire because she was such a wicked old woman. They tore the house down. [New York City, (1), by hand, at Wilmington, N. Car., about 1911.]
Entry 137
De whirlwind, well dat suppose tuh be a spirit in dat whirlwind. Some- times it's a good one an' othah times it's a bad one, but de main point of it is, it is a spirit. Den a person is suppose tuh walk backwards ten steps an' concentrate his mind, an' whatevah his mind fall on, dat's a good spirit or a bad spirit; whatevah it says, see, tuh him. An' if he has somepin tuh do, dat mind will tell him tuh go do dat - he do it, especially when he see de whirlwind; an' if dat mind tell him not tuh do, it's best fo' him not tuh do it.
Entry 138
(They say that whirlwind's a spirit?) [I am repeating what he had just said.] (Do they say you can do anything to it?) Well, dey say dat's a evil spirit, an' it's gittin' away from de good spirit, an' de two spirits are havin' a argument, an' dat's de evil spirit gittin' away from de good spirit.
Entry 139
Whut ah heard people say it wus; dat it wus a evil spirit - jes' lak a person dies wicked an' he wants to come back roun' his home or somepin lak dat, an' he comes in a whirlwind.
Entry 166
Sometime dey say it's confusion, sometime dey say death; but whensomevah yo' see dat whirlwind go round an' round lak dat, yo' watch it an' dere'll be a fuss or a fight or somebody probably git killed, jes' where it stop. Dat's whut dey say about dat.
(Do you know what they used to say about that?)
Yeah. Well, dey say some ole devil died dere, somepin lak dat - yo' know, some bad person. Some evil spirit or somepin lak dat. Dat's whut dey call dat evil spirit.
Entry 227
I heard a man say he was coming along one night and there was a little bit of a dog come trotting along behind him. He said he hollered at the little dog and asked him where he was going. And the little dog still kept trotting out after him and he turned around and kicked the little dog. He said the little dog rose up high, as high as his shoulder was, and liked to scared him to death. He ran until he fell. The dog was supposed to be an evil spirit.
Entry 331
Ah had a man tuh tell me jes' exactly how yo' do dat. In mah time of gamblin' why ah studied all dat fo' luck, you know. If yo' wants tuh sell yore- self to de devil, yo' has to swear by man an' by lan' da' chew don't want nuthin' but jes' whut chew has in dis world, an' nuthin' aftah death an' nuthin' tuh do with God. In all yore works, "Ah'm goin' work for de devil an', ah don't nevah wants tuh pray." Den, yo' have to take a oath on dat. Yo' understand? An' when yo' take dat oath dat chew don't want nuthin' but of de world, an' yo' go serve de devil all yore life, an' then won't pray none, 'cause yo' ain't gon'a serve God none, why den de devil takes yo' a sinner. Den yo' kin do any kinda devilment dat chew want - yo' kin come outa jail at twelve a'clock at night; yo' kin shake de jail an' de do' will come open.
Entry 766
I have known of people that have had the record of saying that they could put a bad mouth on you. They would say, "So-and-so will happen to you, ' and you will not go very far before something will happen to you. I am told that to a certain degree they have power for good or evil and when they use the evil it is very detrimental either to your health or to your business because they have learned that they have power and they use it for evil doings.
Entry 946
Mah grandmother used to tell me dat on a moonlight night dat a witch doctor he kin do mo' then - on a moonlight night than he could on any other dark night, because de moon helps him along With a lot of other witches and they goes out and it seem like dese witches dey jes' raise from de grave to come and help him do a lot of evil - on a moonlight night it re'lly is a evil night fer anyone.
Entry 1952
Tuh make 'em move. Well, yo' could take some dem seeds, dey call 'em de guinea peppah seeds. Take guinea peppah seed an' yo' sprinkle it if yo' visit dere, or else git someone tuh come dere to dey house yo' understan'. Yo' take de guinea peppah seed an' yo' throws it an' curse it, if it one or two of 'em. It a little bitta seed lak flaxseed. Chew evah saw flaxseed? Well, yo' take dat an' yo' throw in dere, or else go an' put it undah dey rug where dey pass, an' when dey pass, well, dey always gittin' ideas tuh move, yo' see, an' finally dey'll say, "Oh well, ah'll git outa dis house." Well, dat's really evil doin' - de guinea peppah seed.
[Make 'em move rite is followed by bring back rite.]
All yo' do, go on dere an' git de seed an' yo' passes zactly where dey livin' at, where yo' seen 'em, where dey home at, an' yo' drop de seed at mostly each step, yo' know, where yo' comin'. When yo' leavin', come an' make a block, an' yo' drop one those seeds right in front dey do' an' den when yo' comin' 'long agin. [Machine turned off too quickly but my following comment explains.] (You keep dropping these seeds from their house back to your house. That's the come back seed. That's to bring them back.) Bring 'em right back.
Entry 2798
Burning what dey call de lucky candles to keep evil from 'em. Take some little small candle about de size of yore forefinger and dey will keep dat candle burning in de house all day. Dat what dey call de lucky candle.
(What color are those candles? Ordinary candles?)
Small white candles.
(Do they burn only one?)
Jest one.
Entry 3063
Now, I got a cousin. His grandmother sold him to a evil spirit.
(Do you know how she did that?)
Now, she went - she wanted money and she went down to St. Roc. They had a church down there long years ago and she went down there.
(Where? Here in New Orleans?) Yes, sir. (Where was this church years ago?)
Down there on St. Roc's Avenue. And she went down there and she sold this child to the evil spirit. It was a evil church, didn't do nothing but evil work. And she sold her grandchild to these evil spirits. And the poor little thing he couldn't go nowhere. If he was settin' here, they Wouldn't harm you; but they just would chunk - well, you wouldn't have nothing in there that would set still. Ever'thing would move - chunk bricks and ever'thing. He used to come home to my mama's house and be settin' there eatin' and they'd take all the dishes - we didn't see where they was comin' from though - they just would go chunk. Well, you have to get rid of the child. You had to leave the child go out and you couldn't follow him; they'd chunk you all up and down the street. And that child couldn't get that spell off of him. They had policeman and ever'thing at the house, watchin' to see where the things was comin' from, but nobody never seen them or nothin' else - not until his grandmother died. (Do you know how she sold him to the devil? What she did do to sell him to the devil?) No, we didn't go down there with her, 'cause she didn't let none of us know it. His grandmother did it. And she went down to that church - it was a old church down there, and they went down there and she sold him to a evil spirit.
(Is that church still there?)
No, sir, it's tore down.
(I see. That was years ago?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 6899
If yo' got some peoples in yore house is evil an' bad luck tuh yo', all yo' gotta do is sprinkle plenty a red peppah roun' de house. Git de pod peppah whut grows lak yo' fingah [finger peppers] an' crumble it up. It's got seeds in it, little seeds fine an' white. Jis' sprinkle dat round de do' an' dey says none yore enemies will come 'bout. Ah often do dat times mahself, jis' keep up wit dis ole [turn machine off too soon].
Entry 8749
Ah heard yo' take a little tin plate an' write de individual name on it about nine or ten times an' put it undah yore mattress an' it will be peace dere in dat house. Or eithah yo' kin work it fo' peace, or yo' kin work it fo' evil.
Entry 10205
They tell me that if you wants any evil work did, get St. Joseph or St. Peter for anything that you want harm did, you know. If you want anything good did, you gets St. Theresa.
(Have you ever heard of St. Expedite?) [No answer.]
Entry 12170
"Use holy water to drive out evil influence; throw it to de 4 cornahs of de house." [Mobile 944:4.]
Entry 21
A good spirit, it leaves the body, that is why the body becomes helpless. It cannot exist any longer. It goes to decomposition because the spirit is gone. The life is gone out of it. But still the spirit never dies. It goes to its immediate loved ones on earth, it overlooks them, it hovers around them. In my belief, what I have really had experience of, we are continually being enveloped and surrounded by the spirits of our loved ones who have gone before; especially until their spirits have been reincarnated and born in some child and come back to the world in the flesh again. The reincarnation comes earlier in some and late in others. Sometimes they are reincarnated in babies who are cut off. That spirit comes right back and goes again to be on earth until it is reincarnated. That is the good spirit. The evil spirit, it is abroad in the world. That is the spirit of those who haven't lived their lives consistent with right living. Their spirits are abroad and still doing Work they were engaged in, either frightening or bringing about disorder, just like they was when in the body, until they are reincarnated. They are reincarnated. Usually it comes out in the child. The child is very fretful. Usually, if it goes to any age, it goes into crime. That is the people that chose the evil way in life. When man was created he was created in the image of God. When he fell, that is in the Garden of Eden. Then when he was redeemed, he has since that time been left as a free agent to chose which he will do, right or wrong. That is the choice given us by the Son of God who died for us that we might be redeemed under the curse of the broken Law. Since then, we have this privilege of chosing for ourselves and being left as a free agent. Then this is the point where the evil and the good spirit exist. This is the origination of the good spirit and the evil. The good is permanent and the evil spirit is a choice of man. You know how long Christ stayed on the Cross, three days. It is supposed that everybody when they die their spirit still lingers in their body and about their personalities for three days until they are planted in the ground. Then it is around and about until the changes come. When the spirit comes out of your body your body really becomes like neutral, you can't move or do anything; you never will again. The mind of the person does not die. That is the spirit after all. That is the soul so to speak. It lingers around and it really sees what's being done until its visit is complete. The person who is responsible for the arrange- ment of the final affairs will dream about them. Often you will be half asleep and that person will appear to you and give you some gestures, satisfactory or dissatisfactory. I know that by experience.
Entry 299
After you play de moosic a certain lenck of time [at the fork of the road], all de rest of spirits gon'a leave but dey gon'a leave dis spirit standin' dere. Dis de spirit da' choo want to git chore gif' from. An' den yo' ask 'im an' den he'll tell you, whut to do an' how to do it. It jis' de same as usin' a black cat bone an' ev'rything like dat. Now, de black cat bone is used at de same fork of de road. Gi' choo a black cat roun' about de ahur [hour] of twelve o'clock at night. You go out dere [to the fork of the road] an' you boil 'im out dere. You take a lookin' glass out dere wit cheh. Put it in fron' chore face like dis. Do [though] when you put dat cat in dat boilin' water, you gon'a be worried wit a-many pains, becah' zhoo got'a put 'im in dere live - you can't kill 'im an' put 'im dere, you got'a put 'im in dere live. An' you take dat cat out when de meat all boil off de bones. Now, dis is hoodooism, too. You kin git anything you want any ahur [of the] day, go in any place. You take dat glass, you hold it like dis at twelve o'clock at night, an' if it dark an' rainy would be de best. You go out dere, you pass ev'ry one dem bone crost yore mouf. You see, ain't gon'a be no meat on 'em. De meat is gon'a be boiled off de bone, but it gon'a be a hot bone. Take an' cross 'em out of yore lips. An' de bone tha' choo gon'a git, it gon'a have three forks [prongs] to it - two long forks an' a little small fork [a devil's trident?]. You pass em all aroun' in yer mouf. Well, if you didn't know dis bone, you might have to pass - dat might be de las' one you git to, cah' zhoo don't know which bone it is. But choo jis' gon'a pass till you git to de bone. When yo' git to dat bone, yore pitchure disappear from dis glass. You see, dat wha' choo call de disappearin' bone. You kin walk in a place - when you walk in a place you use dat bone in yore mouf [demonstrates].
(Hold it in your mouth like that.)
Dat make de people can't see you - you disappear. Dey may hear 'em walkin', but dey think it a cat or somepin. You understand, dey can't see you as long as you got dat bone in yore mouf. Well, dat bone don't 'pose to be used - when you gon'a go in a place - in yer pocket; it suppose to be used in your mouf. Jis' [like] you goin' into a bank or somepin to rob it; well, when you git to de doar, jis' befo' you git to de doah, put chore bone in yore mouf. By de time you git in de doar you be done disappear. You be in de bank but nobody kin see you. Well, dat used [the way you did it] at de fork of de road, bu' choo got'a talk to dis spirit when you pass dem bone across yer mouf [at the fork of the road]. Why dey gon'a be spirits all dere, out dere. Some have maybe eye like a ball of fiah; some make fiah come out dey nose. You see, some people can't stand it. It's jis' natchral somepin joo got'a go through wit to git de gif'. An' dis spirit will coumand you to go to do whatso- mever you wanta do. You see, dis is a evil spirit - he died in a evil way. You see, dey got a good spirit but de most of de people dese days dey lookin' fah somepin evil - dey not lookin' fah de good. You got to dress that bone.
(Well, why do you dress that bone?)
To be sure dat it will work. You take it to a hoodooism, an' dey'll take dat bone an' dey'll polish it. You see, dey'll polish it jis' like a lookin' glass. Now, here's a way for when you first git it. But it not 'posed to be finished. You have to take it to a hoodooism to git it finished. Now, dey take it an' dey call dat poZishin' it. Dey'll take an' dey'll have it jis' like a lookin' glass. An' den dey'll dress it. You see, in dressing it, dey'll put it down wit somepin else in it about ten or fifteen day. An' dey'll soak in dis an' dey soak it in somepin else, an' dey'll soak it in somepin else [soak it in three things]. Well dat'll cos' zhoo money to git dat done, but you wouldn't min' payin' money to git somepin done you gon'a live off of. See. An' dey will take dat bone an' dey'll dress dat bone. An' when dey give you dat bone back, dey'll let you try it. You see, dat whut dey [call] test it. If you wouldn't go give it test an' put it in yore mouf - you'd want somepin to guarantee it. Maybe, before you put de bone in yore mouf - well, you say, "How many years you goin' to guarantee it?" Now, in dis room dey gon'a have you in, it gon'a be glass all roun' you, all aroun' you. Dey put choo in a room where dere's nothin' but glass. An' den you put dat bone in yore mouf an' you look - you can't see yoreself. An' whosomever be in dere wit you, dey can't see you. Well, dey tell you to take de bone out chore mouf. You have to take de bone out chore mouf yoreself. You see, still alive in yore natchral use. You kin be in dere usin' yore arms, you see, but de other feller can't see you. Yore [you are] de same as a person dat 'vaporated away: Now, ain't many people use black cat bones becuz dey don't wanta go through - see, you have to sell yoreself to de devil. Any hoodooism is sold to de devil. You got to go dere twelve o'clock at night. A rainy night de best becuz de evil spirits walks more. When it lightnings an' thunders spirits travel more dan dey do any other night. But any ahur of night at twelve o'clock de evil spirits out.
Entry 393
Now, another thing, in the fork of the road - for instance, we was going to a buried treasure, and when we got out to that buried treasure, the forces was so bad whensomever we would start making our surrounding round dere, why we couldn't get a chance to work on account of the evil force. Ev'ry time you'd turn around something would appear. Well, you would go to that point [fork] of the road and you'd make a real call - that is, to the astral force, to gather 'em together and then you'd make what you call a payday out there [pay off the spirits]. Well, some of 'em use what you call grigri [or greegree] out of candy and diff'rent things of that kind.
Entry 1963
I got in trouble one time about some liquor and I went to de devil, Suppose to be - not persal [personal], you know what I mean [not the devil him- self]. I went to him. He said, "I can't do nuthin fer you until you pay me." He said, "I can do anything to clear you." And I already had 18 months out de 'corder's [recorders?] court. Went to de big court and I didn't have no lawyer atall and I went to dis man suppose to be workin' wid de devil. And he give me somepin and I got jes' as clear as you rockin' in dat chair [see later]. He give me a red bag. In dat bag was a piece of Juicy Fruit chewing gum and some onions and this powder dat was in it I don't know de name of it. I was supposed to chew the chewing. gum and hold it [the bag] in my left hand [during the trial]. [Between boyhood and present day this is the only time I was ever in a rocking chair and despite his words I was not rocking. It happened to be the only armed chair in the house, a necessity when sitting hour after hour at a small machine- laden table upon which I could not lean. The man's bag or hand cost $15.00.]
Entry 2354
Ah have tried dat once but ah didn't make no luck at it. Dey tell me dat chew git a dead man's bone [see p.543f.], one of his finger bone an' one of his toe bone an' keep dat in yore pocket, dat chew would be successful in all evil doin's - underworld work. Well, ah did that. Dey had lynched a fellah up heah right at [near some village] a piece up dis road heah, an' dey found a skeleton. Ah mean ah wus cooking tar den, I run across it in de swamp, an' all de meat was off his bone - nuthin but his toes an' fingers, nuthin but a skeleton yo' understand. Ah'd take one of fingers off, a joint of his finger bone, an one of his toes an' put it in mah pocket. An' ah kept it a while but ah wasn't successful in it. Ah don't think it was much to it. Now yo' kin go to a graveyard an' if it's a man of de world - a wicked man an' man dat gambles an' do all evil things - yo' go to dat graveyard an' pull yore sleeve up to yore elbow an' tell dis wicked man - de spirit - lak ah'm a wicked man an' ah'm buried heah - well - an' yo' wants some of mah dirt. Well, yo' know mah name. Yo' say, "Mark, ah wants some luck." Run yore han' down in dat grave - see, till it git to de elbow an' git some of dat dust. Say, "Well, sir, ah've got some of de dirt an' now ah'm goin' pay yo'." Yo' put two pennies in dat hole an' cover it up. See, dat pennies is tuh pay him fo' dat dirt. Yo' take dat dirt an' yo' put it in yore pocket an' yo'll be lucky gambling. Yo'll be lucky in any kind of underworZd work, sech lak sellin' likker, or if yo' thief an' yo' steal an' dey ain't goin'ketch chew. An' if yo gamble, why yo' successful in dat gamblin' - playin'poker, set-back or anything. Now, ah did that fo' gambling. Ah got some of dat dirt, put two pennies in dat hole. Tell 'im, says, "Well, ah'm paying yo' now fo' dis dirt, ah want it tuh be lucky tuh me." [My transcriber says they knifed a fellah. Above knifed I wrote lynched when checking the transcription. In either case the man died a violent death, making his bones more powerful magically.]
Entry 8999
Ketch a fellah an' take him down tuh de judge. If it's so an' dat he has some friends an' dey kin git to him an' kin give him somepin tuh he'p 'iml self. If dey do, why dey sends out tuh de drug sto' an' buys 'em 15 cents of incense. Yo' kin git it now in small packages. It use'ly cost yo' 25 an' 30 cents. Git 'im some incense an' git 'im 'some cayenne peppah. Lak yo' got a friend some place dat chew wanta be good to 'em. Git dat cayenne peppah an' dat incense an' 'bout half of a teaspoon fullah salt. Take a silver [dime] an' put it in yore mouth, an' when yo' lay dat undah yore tongue to yore mouth, why yo' goes back an' read de 23rd Psalms. Dat says, De Lord is mah shepherd. Ah shall not want. Well, yo' repeats dat nine times. An' when de judge calls yo', yo' take dat peppah an' holds it in yore han', when he call yore name, an' rubs it. Yo' hol' dat in yore han' rubs it. An' evah time de judge says somepin, yo' mashes [squeezes] yore dime an' still rubs yore peppah. An' when yo' do 'gin [begin] tuh think dat he's gittin' really rough wit chew, yo' takes an' yo' brushes yore han' lak dat. Well, de fellah dat is clost tuh yo' is goin' burn a candle on yo'. When yore trial begin tuh come, yo' burns dat candle, once in de mawnin' befo' de sunrise, an' in de evenin' jes' as de sun go down. An' whatevah it is, yo' see, yo' makes dis wish 'cuz yo' know at de same time dat chew burnin' dis candle, yo' burnin' it fo' 'im. Well, if he don' turn a-loose, he'll make it easy fo' 'im. Prob'ly he won't git no time an' if he do, he may git a light fine.
(What color candle do you burn?)
Yo' bums a perfect white candle.
(What do you do with that incense that you bought. What happens to that?)
De incense is fo' de luck an' yore success. De red peppah an' salt kills all evil spirits. Dat keeps de judge from believin' hard witness ag'inst chew.
(Where is that incense burned? Is it burned or what? Who burns it?)
Yassuh, it's tuh burn. De one dat burns de candle burns de incense, at home with de little taste of sugah in it. An' de peppah is on de stove. Yo' have tuh burn it, yo' know, fo' it's somepin hot. An' dat salt, he has hit himself. But no one cain't use no salt outa dat box fo' nuthin else but jes' fo' his use. An' aftah he git out, he takes de salt an' take it tuh de rivah an' throw it in run- nin' watah. Dat throws away all his trouble.
(He only throws away the salt?)
Yassuh, aftah he git out. Why he comin' out. Well, he goes ovah an' throw dat salt in de rivah an' don' even look back. His bad luck is gone. Jes' pitch it in dere an' walk on off.
Entry 10129
I have heard the old people say you get the two hind bones of a black cat's leg, both legs, they should be dried, and sew up into a woolen rag and they should be carried all the time. And you use these bones as your guard against evil spirits.
Entry 11276
Now, in some of them, they goes in the woods. I have an old friend of mine, it is most good for those people when they get ready to sell theirselves [to the devil] to go on by another person. He will make him lay down. Then, uty when he lay down, he will call all the different insect[s], and if he kin stand fer them to go over him, he's all right. Back in 1927 I was called down here to a place what they call Cole Coran, H. Car. [Not in Dennison U. S. Postal Zip Code Directory, 1968.] While I vas there, there was young girl who had just returned from school. Well, they put ber under an evil influence: she was pulling her hair out, screaming, wanted to jp i the gell. So the gentlemen sent fer me. I goes right out and looks aromd. Sbortly after I find a piece of beef stuck on one side of the wall and the last piece vas a piece of liver. So I'd taken it all out. Somebody had taken some [of.this geat?] and dropped it in this water and [one of] them board caskets made it be- One these insects [maggots] into this meat. They were after putting ["after putting comes from Irish transcriber; leave out "after'] insects into the water what they was drinking, become as though they had little snakes, but by pitching [throwing instead of rubbing] it stuck on the sides of the wall, and on the top of the well, and didn't get in the well.
(I see.)
The arrangement [ruse] of making the person who do's all that to return to the well to show theirself up, you look to find two large oyster shells. The oyster shells may be placed into fire and burned slowly and gradually and burn 'em halfway - just about halfway. At exactly twelve o'clock at night, you takes them and pitch them in the well. The next morning you'll go out there and the person who did that will be standing up out there where you kin see them.
[441:3.]
Entry 13397
Pour urine, salt, red pepper and sulphur at door to protect against evil and spirits. [Washington, D. C. 208:5.]
Entry 8339
Yo' take a tintype an' go tuh a tree, make yuh wishes whatsomevah [where] yo' want dis person tuh go, what time yo' wan' 'em tuh go. Git chew a brand-new tenpenny nail an' scrape it on de left side of a tree, clean it off, clean de bark off. An' nail dat pichure dere as neah de heart as yo' kin an' judge it as neah as yo' kin tuh drive dat nail. Den yo' only hit it once a mawnin', fer 9 mawnin's. Yo' hit it an' make yuh wish. Dat evil wish dis person an' evah mawnin' yo' go dere an' hit dat nail. De ninth mawnin' try tuh judge it so dat yo' kin drive it tuh de haid de ninth mawnin'. An' dat person will be lak a bug on de watah, jes' dead from de world [like a dead bug floating on the water].
Entry 34
It will drive them away but you can't make 'em stay, see. A spirit is something that you can't nevah drive away, but you kin silence him. You silence him^by the 23rd division of the Psalms of David - 37th division of the Psalms of David, the 108th division of the Psalms of David - will silence a traveling spirit - that's the spirit that comes in and goes out and each time when he comes in, he brings from one to seven more. Now, that's how come so many people become restless and dissatis- fied - is because of evil spirits transforming 'em, back and forth. Every time you breath you are breathing in and out some kind of a spirit. Well then, at night you will begin to worry about his moving around. In other words you kin take holy water and sprinkle it at chure door - up ovah your door and on each side of it, and read de 23rd division of the Psalms of David, and you will silence them, you won't have any more trouble out of 'em. Holy water is very good. Holy water is good to sprinkle on a person who, we Would say, if they were very sick, or if they were afflicted some way, could sprinkle this holy water around. Dere's lots of times again we would say that evil spirits visit around - dis holy water keeps the evil spirit away because de holy water supposed to be blessed by holy spirits.
Entry 101
De lady next do' tuh me - it's some kin'a man dat curses her, it's a evil spirit, an' wherever she goes he's always using bad language tuh her an' saying things to her, putting all kind of things into her head. She went to someone an' they told her that it's a evil spirit that someone had worked on her, an' she asked him if he could cure it an' he tole her, yes. Well, he went in de house an' he asked her fo' some salt, an' she gave him some salt an' she gave him some sulphur an' two drops of hearts coZogne. Well, he put that in thar an' he tole her to put it in de corner an' every night say some kin'a word over that stuff. An' so she tole me last night at mah home that she was gittin' rid of it - said she jes' kin hear him now whisperin', and she said the man tole her that in a few days she wouldn't hear him at all.
(She can't see this man at all?)
She can't see him but she kin hear him.
(Well, what - just what do they think this thing is that is bothering.her?)
Dey think it's a evil spirit that someone got from de graveyard.
reported nightly unspecified words over a corner preparation. Nested neighbor and practitioner report, not firsthand performance or direct formula quotation. reported instruction to speak unspecified words over the mixture. Unknown words and nested report remain; no invented quotation or observed efficacy. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 107
Jes' lak if a person botherin' yo', yo' go to a graveyard where a sinful person is an' git dirt off their grave an' put it undah a person's step an' that hag will worry dem. Dat's whut chew call a jack mulatta. (You mean jack-o'-lantern?) No, jes' lak if ah wanta tantilize somebody an' ah know somebody died dat's a evil person, well ah go to their grave an' git dirt from there an' throw it undah de house. Well, dat's whut yo' call a jack mulatta an' it'll come in jes' lak a hag would - would ride yo' tuh death an' tantilize yo' an' de person fo' who ah put it dere couldn't even rest.
(But this doesn't ride you?)
It doesn't ride yo' but it jes' somepin dat tantilize yo' tuh death - nobody couldn't see it but chew.
Entry 215
I'll tell you what I have seen - twenty-eight years ago [1908] a cat behind a young woman and the young woman was kin'a intoxicated. There were two sisters. They lived together. One sister had gone out to a party and the other one was all ready to go out. And this one, that hadd't gone yet, waited for her sister to come in. She waited until eleven o'clock. And it was in the summertime. So she said, "Mrs. Duke, will you take my key." - I said, "Yes' - "to give to my sister when she comes, because I have been waiting for her. She hasn't got here yet." So I said "Very well, sure, I'll do that for you." I took the key. And her sister came in about one o'clock at nighttime and was rapping on her sister's door. I was in bed so I holler to her and say, "Emma, '' I said, "I have your key, your sister is out." She said, "Very well." I got right up and opened my door and passed her the key. Meantime, the cat got in behind her. I was trying to move back. I couldn't move [the reason is given later]. She was trying to unlock the door but couldn't. She had a little too much drink in her. I said, "Emma, come on in my house." She said, "No, I am going on in home. The door is a little hard to unlock." She unlocked it and went in. And she said, "Cordelia, there's a cat over here. Is it your cat?" I said, "No, not my cat." She said, "Yes." I said, "No, Emma," like that. I said, "Well, come on in my place." She said, "No, no, I can't do that." So in the meantime she says, "Here goes the cat. It's going out." But I am a little ahead of my story. During the time she was unlocking to get in, this cat got very tired awaiting. And it turned three different colors while she was trying to get in; one was yellow, the other was grey, the other was black - black and white. It didn't worry me about being a spirit. What came over me, I couldn't move. I said, "Couldn't it be the moonshine" - it was nighttime - looking for the moon to see if it was reflecting on the cat. Had it of been the moon I wouldn't have been frightened. After I couldn't get a sight of the moon and couldn't move, I was terribly frightened. And I never moved, couldn't move, until she unlocked the door and the cat went in behind her. Then I went and got into my bed. This was on 115th Street [New York City] where I used to live. I never had the nerve to ask her; but one thing I do know, she never came to her sister's any more. In six months she never came to her sister's house. She stayed around other people's houses further downtown. I said to her sister about the cat, "There's a meaning to that." Her sister said, "Don't mind that. That's only the devil after Emma." That was one sister speaking about the other. I knew is must have been a token. I asked a minister. The minister said, "That cat was the devil shown to you because Emma has all the faith in the world in you. She is not a Christian. It was shown to you for you talk to her because she has lots of faith in you." Six months after that she died.
Entry 302
Well, dat's if yo' wanta sell yo'self to de devil an' do anything in de world. Well, yo' kin take a black cat an' tie his fo' futs [foots] togethah lak yo' would a hog [the verb for this act is hogtie]. Have yo' on a boilin' pot of watah an' throw him into de watah until all de meat boils off his bones. Then aftah de meat boils off his bones, let it git cold. Yo' take each one those bones an' draw 'em 'cross yore mouth that way [demonstrates], until when yo' git to the right one yo' will know it - yo'll come blind as a bat an' somepin will tetch yo' an' says, "Meet me at de fo'ks of de road an' ah will talk wit joo." But when yo' go tuh de fo'ks of de road - yo' jes' go tuh any fo'ks of de road at twelve o'clock at night an' de devil will be dere wit chew. An' anything dat chew start he'll back yo' up in it.
(You can't go to the forks of the road until you get that bone?)
No suh, yo' cain't go there until yo' git that black cat bone. Then yo' kin do anything dat chure big enough tuh do.
Entry 395
(Who was this man?)
He wus a Powhatan - a mulatto, yo' know.
(That's down here near the water, isn't it?)
Dat's down heah cross de town.
(You say a Powhatan is a mulatto?)
[Momentarily, I do not understand him. A mulatto by dictionary definition is half Negro and half White. My informant calls this man - part Negro and part Powhatan (American Indian) - a mulatto.] Is a mulatto man. Someone killed him an' dey killed this man an' dey buried dis man an' at de head of his grave they buried $300 an' his cousin when he came from up in de country - he had found out about de money. He wus told dat de money wus buried there, which it wus. It wus said then that this man went there to dig up this man - dig up this grave an' git this money. He thought the money wus his'n. An' whatevah partic'lar time he goes there, an' when he got near to it, de place where de money wus buried - it wus silver money - dere jes' come a whirlwind or a storm an' about a dozen dogs, an' the wind blew an' he had tuh run away from dere immediately, with de hole open an' de money wus dere visible.
(He couldn't stand it?)
He couldn't stand it. De evil spirit or whut it wus, it wanted tuh git this money - he had to run off an' leave it.
Entry 1115
Ah heard dat chew could take graveyard dirt offa a baby's grave an' it would drive away evil spirits. But chew would have to mix dis dirt wit salt an' gunpowders an' it's a perfume yo' git outa de drug sto' - dey call it a - it's a violet perfume dat chew git out de drug sto'. You mix dat together. [Violets are a graveyard flower: Some people say that the unusually large and beautiful violets which the children used to love to gather around the old deserted Seaman property [at Fourteenth and Main Street [[Quincy, Illinois]], but no longer deserted] were unusually beautiful because years and years ago there was a cemetery there, and the graves having fallen into abandon, neglected by any relatives and friends, that the spirits of the dead cultivated the natural flowers for their own sake, and that any that were plucked and taken away immed- iately wilted and died, so that finally none but children ever ventured to pick them. (FACI, 1st ed., No. 10368, p.595; 2ed., No. 15238, p.703.)]
Entry 1175
Black chicken feathers, they burn them tuh drive evil spirits, dey say.
(Drive them away?)
Yes sir - tuh drive them away.
Entry 1203
In some parts of the South they claim, if you get some dirt from the cemetery and put it in a box and place it under the steps of your enemy, it will cause trouble in their home. And oft times they sought a cunjure man and he in turn gives them a piece of rawhide and tells them at intervals to tie a knot till that string is exhausted. That will do away with the evil spirit. [See Spirit Caught in Knot, p.389.]
Entry 1300
Gourds, dey keep evil from round yo', de gourds do.
(What do you do with them?)
Plant 'em - jes' plant de seed an' let 'em grow all ovah de fences an' keep 'em, drink watah out of 'em. Dose people all de way back in mah grandparents' time use tuh use dem all de time, an' always lived peaceful an' happy.
Entry 1342
Yo' hang a left-foot horseshoe ovah yore do', front do', an' dat'll keep all evil an' bad spirits out. [Left-foot horseshoe is rare.]
Entry 1461
I have heard a old lady say that along about sundown that if one should go out to the front door and throw out a handful of salt, no evils will approach that house over the night.
Entry 1591
Go to the woods and get yourself some turpentine and get you some bark from a walnut tree. Take this turpentine and bark and put it in water and let it boil for ten minutes. Take this water and throw it over your left shoulder. When you get through with that take two teaspoonfuls in your body. And that will keep evils and all hoodoos away from you. Another thing, if you find a bottle underneath your door and don't know what's in it, never touch it, but go to the woods and get some turpentine [raw sap from turpentine tree - several pines] and some walnut tree bark and sprinkle it over that bottle first. Then you move it and you won't be cunjured. That's the best thing I know for cunjures.
Entry 1644
Take an' sprinkle that aroun' yore do' - take chamber lye an' salt an Hearts Cologne, when yo' scrub off de step. Jes' keeps de evil from takin' effect, whut de mean people put down. Dat's whut ah hear dey say.
Entry 1645
Yo' use dis stuff ammonia an' lye - concentrated lye, an' chamber lye, that's yore watah, an' wash round dat place. Yo' takes a can of lye tuh cut out all devilment dat anybody would throw, 'cause if dey goin' throw dey goin' always mostly throw undah - lak a buildin' dat's made yo' know lak this where it's a steps. Yo' takes dat can of lye - yo' don't use none of it - yo' take it an' yo' open it an' sprinkle so much all around undah dere, dry. Den yo' take that can an' yo' bury it upside down, an' that ketches all de devilment that's throwed around.
(What do you do with that other stuff, that other stuff you spoke about?)
Yeah, dat's tuh wash - if yo' think anybody's doin' devilment, wash aroun' an' dat cleans all de devilment out. Don't care whut dey put down, dat cut it up.
Entry 2194
Jes' like yo' in business like sellin' whiskey or somepin like dat, yo' put a red onion ovah each one of yore do's, an' de Lord Prayers have it written, if yo' don't want nobody tuh pay no 'tenshun to it chew know. Git chew a small onion, de smallest one, an' jes' tack it up ovah de do' dere an' take de Lord's Prayers an' put it undahneat' yore carpet on yore floor right at chure do'. Well, yo' know yo' can't walk ovah God - dey can't go but so far ovah Him - yo' know yo' can't go ovah Him atall. Yo' take de Lord's Prayers an' put it down undahneat' dere. Co'se ah always use nine or ten.
(What will that do then?)
Dat will give yo' good luck an' no evilness kin come aginst yuh.
(That will give you luck for selling whiskey and keep the law away?)
Shore, an' people commence tuh envious against yuh. Dey'll come an' 'stead of bein' an enemy to yo' dere min'll [mind will] change an' dey'll be yore fren's instid of a enemy.
Entry 2560
If yo' don't want de law tuh come to yore house, yo' use dis concen- trated lye an' burn incense. Dat concentrated lye goin' keep'away all evils - all kinda dirty acts an' doin's, jes' lak if somebody intendin' tuh sprinkle somepin fo' yo'. Why, if yo' don't want it done, or yo' heard tell of nobody do it, yo' scrubs yore house wit lye, or if yo' mop de front of yore po'ch wit lye, ain't no law comin' dere. Pract'lly, ain't nobody goin' do no harm because that lye drives away all evil things.
Entry 2826
(What would they do if they got my photograph?)
Well, your photograph - this here - of course they don't use those tintypes no more. But you could take your photograph like that. You could take a candle. Just like if you want to do evil, well you could take a black candle; if you want peace or love, well you take a blue or green candle. You take that candle and you take a pin, start from the top and you write her name coming down, all the way around, coming down until you get to the bottom. [Demonstrates.] (You write her name right around it with this pin. You scratch her name on that candle right down like a barber's pole, down to the bottom.) Yeah. Then after you get it [written], you get a little small can - get a little small can like that and you put it, the candle down in that.
(What color candle are you using now?)
Using a green one.
(A green one. All right.)
And you take it and you put it down in there - just about a half of that cup- ful of water. [Water is in the can.] You taken her picture - don't put it where it could catch afire, but set it over that and you light that candle. Well, that candle will burn. Just like you set it at nine - that's if you want her to be on a grief about you - you set that candle at nine and you take it off at twelve. Put that candle out. But whilst you got that candle burning, you have her photo- graph turned down right over that.
(Now wait a minute. That photograph is in front of the can? Outside?)
Yes, just set it over there where it wouldn't catch fire from the heat from the candle.
(Wait a minute. The photo isn't over the can?)
No.
(It's leaning against the can?)
Leaning toward the candle [but against can].
(And her picture is upside down?)
That's right.
(All right.)
Then you take it.
(You light it at nine in the morning and nine at night?)
Nine in the morning and at twelve o'clock in the day you take it out. And you light it at nine o'clock [in the morning] and at twelve o'clock, you puts it out.
(All right. Then what?)
That puts her on a grief. Then you change that picture. Every morning you do that for three morning - three nines and three twelves. See.
(How do you mean, you change that picture?)
Just like if you got it turned bottom upwards, then you take that picture anc turn in crossways.
(Sideways?)
Just like that. Yes.
(Each day.)
Yeah, first nine [in the morning] you have it bottom upwards, second nine you got it crossways, and three [third] nine you got it straight up again.
(Head down?)
Yes.
(Every day you turn that picture a different way in front of the can?)
In front of the candle.
(You turn it three times because you are burning it three days?)
Three days.
(All right. Go ahead.)
Then afterwards you take it out. After you take the three days out, well you take this picture every day at twelve o'clock for seven days at twelve o'clock. You read the prayers - just like you take the morning prayers, see, of Moses - the prayer of - any kind of prayer - "The Lord be our Shepherd" - and well then, you read that prayer every day at twelve o'clock.
(Is this before you put the candle out or after you put the candle out?)
No, you hain't got the candle burning a'tall, then. You just reading to that picture - you just praying to.
(At twelve o'clock after you put the candle out?)
Yes. Then, regardless of where that woman at, she is worried - she's worried, she coming back to you.
Entry 2834
Well, the first thing you would do, you would get some saltpeter and sugar and Eagle Lye. And you scrub that house with it to dispel all evil that has been there from people that moved out - jinxes, as you'd call it. After scrubbing it with that, take a white candle and break it in half, not so it falls to pieces, and you burn that candle and let it burn out. [To break anything often frees the spirit within. Breaking here releases the power faster. In some cases it might double the power.] And after you've done that you will get you some garlic, three pods of garlic, and some lodestone perfume.
(What is lodestone perfune?)
There is perfume that you can buy from dealers that sell all this John de Conquer.
(I see, you can buy this lodestone [perfume]. All right, go ahead.)
And you put that in the water, and you burn the garlic peel, and you put a teaspoon of sugar in that, and scrub the house with it. And within three days that house would be ready - within the amount of pods of garlic that you put in, which was three pods of garlic. Well, within three days that house should be rented.
Entry 2933
Take de scissors - lak if yore place is haunted, yo' kin take a pair of scissors an' open dem see, an' set chew a light yo' see, an' anything come round dere dat's a evil spirit, dey go away. (You set any particular kind of light?) A candle, a pink candle - eithah a white candle.
Entry 3901
Dey'll take one of de cloths dat she uses. Yo' know, her sickness, yes sir. Dey take dis cloth while she's - it dirty yo' know while she's got dat on 'er. An' den dey'll take dis an' put it in a bottle, in a small bottle. An' take dis cloth - but dis heah cloth will fill it up, make it plumb full. An' den dey'll take dat an' dey'll go tuh her house, wherevah she lives, an' put it up anywhere ovah her haid - up ovah her haid. An' den dey'll put a tight stoppah in dere an' put some watah in dere. An' put some watah in dere wit it, put a tight stoppah in dere wit dis cloth whilst it in dere. An' dey say dat'll stop 'er sickness from coming down on 'er; jes' keep it dere till it kills 'er, if dey don't nevah pull dis stoppah out. [For this folk-medicine condition, see comment in bracket later.] But when dey evah did pull dis stoppah out, if dey gits de evil dat dey got agains' 'er off an' wants tuh let 'er go free, why den dey take dis out an' let dis watah out an' den she'll live; but if dey don't, it'll kill 'er. [The preceding rite illustrates one of the great pairs of complementary rites in hoodoo; here of opposites, above and below - the walking under or over some- thing belonging to your body or having been touched by your body. In either case your spirit is divided. The menstrual blood over your head in the present rite, keeps the menstrual blood still in the body from going down. Is menstrual blood different from other blood in the body? Presumably so in folklore, for: Menstru- al blood is poisonous (FACI, 1st ed., p.248, No.5103). The term going down - coming down used in present rite - belongs to folk medicine: "When my mother was about twelve [1845] [[in or near Quincy, Ill.]], an old Indian doctor told them to wear black beads around their neck to keep the blood from going to the brain. All the girls in that time wore black beads all the time to get their monthly to come when coming into womanhood, for it made the blood come down." (FACI, 2nd ed., P.219, No.4969.] [After writing the preceding bracket, I happened to be watching the University of Michigan television program, which for us appears off and on, and comes just before my 7AM news. This was probably towards the end of 1972. A group of women were talking about the problems confronting the first American college women. One woman spoke of a Harvard professor, M.D., who in 1873 wrote a book condemning brain work for women. He maintained that mental effort by a woman made the blood rush to her head, a condition that could dry up her ovaries!]
Entry 6959
One of de greatest things fo' any disastah, it have been said, dat if anythin' happens tuh yo' by evil people, dat's tuh jis' eat plenty sulphur. Jis' lay right tuh dat sulphur an' it will kill it out.
(That's if there is anything inside of you?)
Dat's de idea. Eat dat sulphur.
Entry 7687
Fo' evil yo' kin git some graveyard dirt, mix up saltpetah in it an' sulphur, an' cast it roun' a person dwellin' an' whut yo' wush [done], say. Put de jinks [used only 3 or 4 times in Hoodoo] on 'em in diff'ren' forms. It'll make 'em unlucky wit de evil spir- its. In goin' tuh de graveyard an' git- tin' dat dirt it would be wise fo' yo' tuh know de person whose grave yo' goin' tuh. Den yo' pay dem fo' dat dirt an' work wit it. Yo' tell 'em dat, "Ah want chew tuh do dus [thus] an' so fo' me." Whutsomevah dat chew wan' 'em tuh do. It wouldn't make any diff'rence. Say, "Ah'm payin' yuh tuh do so." Yo' git de dirt from off de left side from ovah de heart, but choo runs yore han' down in de grave tuh de elbow down ~ ought tuh be [beyond] yore wrist.
The informant describes graveyard dirt with saltpetre and sulphur for reported harm, payment and requests to a known deceased person, and collection from the left side over the heart. Quoted requests are prescribed speech. Hyatt's glosses and comment on the word 'jinks' remain separate; the printed collection-depth wording is retained.
Entry 7816
In some parts of the South they claim if you get some dirt from the cemetery and put it in a box, and place it under the steps of your enemy, it will cause trouble in their home. And oft times they sought a cunjure-man and he in turn gives them a piece of rau- hide, and tells them at intervals to tie a knot until that string is exhausted. That will do away with the evil spirit. [Informant Was born in Jacksonville, Fla.]
Entry 8028
Yo' kin use dat bone [dead person's bone] in dis way. If a person is very, very, very evil, yo' take dat bone...yo' could take dat bone wit chew home [from the cemetery]. Yo' put it an' bury it undah dere back steps unbe- knownst tuh 'em fer nine nights an' nine days. Yo' take it up de tenth day an' take it back tuh de ceme- tery. It'll worry dem tuh de grave.
Entry 8856
If a person gits a lettah of yores - lak if yo' are away, yo' write a lettah tuh dis person an' dey meant tuh do evil tuh yo', somepin lak dat - ah have heard people say, but ah don't care so much fo' de superstition. But dey would take yore lettah an' drop two drops of oil of cinnamon on dis lettah. An' whoevah yol was, if someone writes chew a 'nonymous lettah an' yo' wan' 'em tuh apologize wit choo, yo' bury it at de bottom of yore do'step. An' dis person would come an' if dey didn't confess tuh yo', it would be possible dat yo' would learn dat dey were de true person. But ah don't know, ah nevah tried it. Some of de things ah tell yuh ah have tried, especially concernin' de dishrag. Ah have actually tried dat.
Entry 10050
I have heard that you take a black cat at two o'clock and carry him to a crossroad and there you will see evil spirits. Evil spirits are walking every night at two o'clock. [Hampton, Va., Ediphone cyl.24.]
Entry 10136
They say you must shoot a cat going right, a black cat crossing your road going right. Shoot him dead and then get that main bone what's called the thigh bone or femor bone of a cat, the right leg, front. And then get the bone right back of the head, and one of the right-foot bones also. Three bones. And put them to- gether and wear them in a sack around the waist, and a person can do anything he Wants to do that's devilish and tricky.
Entry 10149
Ah've heard dat chew kin wear a certain charm called black cat bone dat will ward off all evil an' bad luck.
(Where do you get this black cat bone?)
It is possible dat chew kin take a black cat, dey tell me, an' cook 'im until tuh pieces at least. Aftah yo' cook 'im yo' take dis bone an' threw 'em in a runnin' stream, an' it will come back tuh yo' at a certain place. Yo' supposed tuh take dis bone an' wear it on yo' as a charm.
Entry 10187
You git choo a white candle. You put it in a half a glass of water [to serve as a candlestick and precaution against fire]. You light it every night at 9 a'clock. You say, I see no evil, I hear no evil, no evil overtake me, an' think what I told, you pin on you. That's for the law away too: I see no evil, I hear no evil, no evil over- take me. An' yo' let that candle burn a half a hour. You burn that every night. That's to keep the law away. An' then you git 9 safety pins, you understand. Sou you put 'em in each shoe, nine in each shoe, an' if there's one [anyone] happens to come to try to worry you, you cut you a Irish potato half in two an you make 4 parts [by cutting each half into 2 parts]. You take that, you go outdoors an' you throw a piece to the east - that potato be in 4 parts - an' yo throw a piece to the west, an' you throw a piece behind you, an' keep the other [fourth or last piece] on you.
Entry 9598
If yo' don't know dey name or sompin lak dat, git chew some salt, black peppah an' sugah an' ground real fine. Yo'll have tuh beat it as a powdah. Jes' take yore rollah an' roll it jes' intuh a powdah. Sprinkle it all aroun' yore house, yo' see, tuh keep off all evils. Yo' sprinkle red peppah an' lye behin it. Dat simple thing. Den yo' kin git chew some dis chlorine salve. It's whut chew call - it's sompin lak a asic [acid] - an' dat keeps anyone from roun' yore house, close aroun'. Yo' kin use it about chure body, dat draws all yore enemies away. An' yo' kin use it as a chloride salve, jes' plain chloride salve without asic an' as adraw- in' card, fo' people's tuh yo'. But jes' dis plain chloride asic is tuh keep 'em from yo', from doin' yo' bodily harm.
Entry 9841
Put nine safety pins - jis' git or'nary safety pins about dat long [demonstrates length]. Ah got some of 'em right heah now [shows some safety pins.] Put nine of 'em in dere. Co'se [of course] ah've not got de nine in dere, but den yo' put nine safety pins. Put three right heah. Pin 'em right 'cross heah straight up an dowa. Dat's three: one - two - three. [I describe demonstration.] (Three on the left side of your breast pocket.) Yeah, three right undah by each pocket. Keep 'em in yore undahshirt. Den dey put three on dis side.
(Over your heart.)
Ovah yore heart. Den yo' put three right in de centah of yore back. "Co'se yo' kin pull yore shirt off an' do dat. Dey says yo' kin have bettah luck. Dat [rite] come from New Orleans. Ah knowed dat tuh be de fact. Dey say yo' will have bettah luck. If yo' are a gamblah, dey says evahthing will come yuh way now an' den. Dose evil's got on yo', yo' kin git dat off an' keep agoin'. [A little later, after changing the cylinder, I decided to return to the pre- ceding rite.] (Just to be sure what you just told me about those safety pins. Will you explain that again, now?) Well, yo' put three of 'em heah.
(Three safety pins in your left side, one right under the other.)
Yeah, fastened. Well yo' go back heah an' yo' put three mo'.
(On your right hand side.)
Yes sir. An' den yo' - yo' can't git 'em dere but chew pull off yore shirt, an' yo' know de centah of yo' back. Yo' put three right up an' down dere [in the back of your shirt] an' weah 'em in dere all de time. When yo' have de shirt washed, take 'em out an' put 'em back in de shirt yo' put on.
(Where did you say that came from?)
Dat come from New Orleans.
Entry 10681
Dey say when yo' go tuh put down sompin to a person's house, yo' kin go backwards three steps or nine steps an' jes' put it down an' make yore wish an' walk away from it an' don't look back until yo' git to where yo' live. (That is if you are putting down some- thing for a person to walk over?) Yeah an' harm 'em. Dat evil work.
Entry 12198
Take a horseshoe an' nail it up ovah yore do', ovah each do', an' dey say an' dat will keep de evil spirit out chure house. [Waycross 1746:2.]
Entry 12624
Sift or crush red pepper pod at door or gate to protect against my evil. [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone, informant half-grown boy when Civil War began and was living in what was to become the Bloody Triangle when Lee and Grant met near Fredericksburg, Va. I have a number of rites from him, but can- not find his number at the moment.]
Entry 12812
If an evil person comes in your house, go to the back door with salt in your hand and throw the salt over your right shoulder with your back turned to the door, and don't look back [at back door] to keep from having bad luck.
[Fredericksburg, by Ediphone.]
Entry 12861
Wear salt, red pepper and sulphur in both shoes as a protection against evil work. [Wilmington 208:2+85; Newport News 506:4.]
Entry 12977
You take and scrape de bottom of his shoe inside. Den dat'll make him evil and mean in de home. Jes' take and put it in his bedtick, rip a little hole and sew it up. [This comes from the well-known Doctor Frank Hall of Nansemond, Co., Va., in 1937, whose words I had to take down by hand. Was man or dog [to make mean) the original of this rite?)
Entry 2897
The black candle is fo' evil. That black candle does all the harm in the world. Well, yo' jest - say, if yo' wanted to do someone harm, in the day at twelve a'clock, make it no later, yo' go into yore room, pull yore blinds down, set chew a dark candle behin' yo'. An' yo' set wit chure face pointin', say to the east an' yo' set there. Yo' set there until - if yo' haven't got their picture, yo' set there until yore mind jest kinda picture them. An' yo' take that picture, say if yo' wanta cause them to git killed some way - by running into a car, by running into a train, or land somewhere where de train kin run ovah them. Well, jest whut chew want, that one particular thing to do, why yo' jest call dat an' dat black candle will be burning behind yo', see. All right, chew call dat persons name nine times. Den yo' crosses - take yore fingers an' cross it like dat. Pull it, see like dat - pull the fingers together. (Pull your fingers together like that - these big index fingers.) [Crook index fingers and pull.] Uhmm. Say, "To hell, to hell, yo go. Drift forever. No content. There's no rest for the weary." And then turn, blow the candle out an' then kneel in front of the candle an' say, ask for six feet. Then that gives that candle time to cool off. See, ask for it slowly - s i x f e e t. Why den all de smoke from dat candle an' everything will go off. Take yore candle an' go on back about yore business.
Entry 2950
[If they] burn de candle tuh harm yo', git up an' light chew a red can- dle an' read Psalms 112, an' read Psalms 113 and 114 - uh-huh, de hundred Psalms de thirteen verse an' fo'teen verse of Psalms.
(What would happen then?)
Well, whosomevah wus trying tuh do yo' evil, they would leave you alone if dey burnin' dat candle. Light the red candles, yes, when yo' git through an' - yo' read that an' put de salt in each corner of de house - an' blow it out. Yo' not supposed [ordinarily] tuh blow a candle out; yo' supposed to smother it out lak dat [demonstrates].
(Those candles vou burn vou mean?)
Yes. [Normally the red or any candle would be snuffed out, but here it is blown out.]
Entry 2954
If a person is burning a candle against you, the thing to do, if you find it out, is to burn the same kind of candle against him that you think he is burning against you, and that will stall his evil purpose against you, and that will stall your evil purpose against him; and burning the two candles on each other at the same time, it makes neither one of the candles do any harm. [For similar magic see Like Cures Like, p.394, and Similia Similibus in Index.]
Entry 13394
Urine, salt and pepper sprinkled at door or about the house, inside or out, protects the house against any evil. [Elizabeth City 406:6.]
Entry 13395
You can throw outdoors urine, salt and pepper 9 mornings to protect the house against evil. [Wilmington 162:4.]
Entry 13396
Wash floor every morning with urine, sulphur and asfetida to protect yourself against evils and hoodoo. [Richmond 369:3.]
Entry 2994
" The only thing that I knows about.
(Black Hawk?)
Black Hawk.
(What was he?)
B-1-a-c-k H-a-w-k. He was supposed to be an evil and a mean saint, see. But take St. Raymond, Saint Peter.
(Tell me something about Black Hawk. Who was he? How do you approach him?)
Who?
(Black Hawk.)
He was one of those mean saints and he never would go - he's practically - he was more infidel 'an anything else. He never did believe in the Gospel. He never did believe that we had a Creator, see. He always did believe that when a man or woman would leave this earth, that was all - no hell.and heaven. He always thought that the good and the bad would dwell together anyways. See.
(Well, how do you approach him? Do you know how they approached him?)
Black Hawk?
(Yes.)
Well, instead of you praying to the Lord, they tell you to use the devil in place of the Lord. See, he's evil, you have to pray to evil. The devil's sup- posed to be the god for the evil and the Lord supposed to be the god for the good. Well, instead of serving the Lord, you will tell all your complaints to the devil instead of the Lord.
(Is Black Hawk the same thing as the devil?)
Absolutely, he's one of the devil's servants, see.
The informant describes Black Hawk as 'supposed to be an evil and a mean saint' and reports instructions to 'pray to evil'; these remain attributed characterizations.
Entry 13386
You can throw urine about house, inside or outside or both to protect house from evil. [Richmond 293:9.]
Protection from unspecified evil is the stated purpose; no particular evil being, actual attack or achieved protection is established.
Entry 10198
(And what - would I go to a particular saint to have it done?) Yeah, you go to a saint. (What saint would I go to to get that done, I wonder?) It's a church back at - on Malfonmain and Dorbonny, you see. And the saints all up on the place - it's a great big - made like - that's a Catholic church - like a altar. With all dif- ferent saints. And every saint there is a man [or mean] but it do things evil or good.
(Where is this place?)
Malfonmain and Dorbonny.
(It's a spiritualist place, probably?)
No, it supposed to be Catholic.
(I see.)
The informant contrasts things described as evil or good. The editorial ambiguity remains unresolved; no entity identity, inherent moral character or actual effect is established.
Entry 10409
[The words witch and witchcraft are used many times in these volumes, words common down the Atlantic coast from Maryland through Florida. Here are several more to add to the long list: de man who do's de evil verk is called de Vitchcraft, and same informant adds, jis' lak if ah wan'a witch yuh now. [Wilmington, N. Car., 88:4+85.] Another informant says: huntin' fo' a job, go tuh a vitchcraft an' git a lucky "hand."
The editorial note reports wording about evil work. Its source forms remain literal; no person, universal term equivalence or actual effect is established.
Entry 10433
I've heard a gentleman say that you can take a piece of horsehair and put it under your doorstep, and you Won't have any trouble with anyone coming to bother you. An evil person won't come to your house. [This counter-magic is like the hair of the dog that bit you. If not the horse, at least the witch riding the horse will not cross the buried horsehair.] [Petersburg, Va., first visit, by Ediphone, No.33.]
The account predicts that an evil person will not approach the house. It is reported hearsay, without an identified person, a universal moral classification or established protection.