Subject:File
Entries
Entry 1253
Yo' use a file if yo' got de cramps. If yo' jes' have cramp all de time, why yo' take a brand new file an' jes' put it right wheresomevah yo' got de cramps. Put it on yo' an' de cramp will pass an' yo' nevah have a cramp any mo'. (What kind of cramps do you mean?) Jes' pain cramps yo' know, jes' lak yo' take a cramp in yore laig.
Entry 4523
Dey take dat an' git a new-bran' [brand-new] file, one of 'em three- cornahed files, yuh know, an' wrap [the sweatband] aroun' dat, yuh know. An' bury dat in de do' of de individual - yuh know, like yuh want tuh call de individual tuh yore do', yuh jis' do same way like yuh use de hat bow.
(You bury this file at the door.)
At yore do', yes.
(With the sweatband wrapped around it.)
An' den yuh pulls it, if yuh wan' 'em tuh come. Yuh draw it tuh yuh.
[File pulled through a wrapping about it is the old stick-in-a-hole rite.]
(That will make them come, I see, if you want to make love to anybody.)
Entry 11378
Yo' kin take a three- cornered file an' yo' kin crawl under de middle of some lucky person house - person's house - underneath de house, an' yo' kin put dis file down jes' about two inches. In three days dey'll be gone.
(That's to move them out of the house.)
Entry 11379
Git a brand-new three-cornered file; see, a brand-new one - three- cornered file. Yo' kin git one fo' a nickel right down to Kress [= Kresge, now K mart]. At fo' 'clock in de mawnin', if yo' want dis house [house in which I was then interviewing informant], see, if yo' want me [to] move outa dis house - not outa town now - jes' outa dis house. Yo' comes dere to de step an' stick it fur enough [under] so nobody kin see it, see. An' den leave it an' de folks will leave dis house.
(They will move out?)
Oh, dey gotta, ah seen dat happen.
Entry 11380
Git a ole rusty file, understan, what somebody haven't used and you kin file that file. In other words dig a hole about two steps from the door- step and put a hog foot down in dere. An' then go about two steps further and you drive that file down about two inches under the dirt. An' of course when you drive it down in, using three words. Conseguently, it won't be long till that's gone. (What three words do you use?) Well, you drive that down, In the Name of the Father, Name of the Son and the Holy Ghost.
(I see. What will that do to them then?)
Well, they have to go. That will set them going.
(Make them move.)
Entry 11381
Or yo' kin take a file an' yo' kin write a man's name an' keep him at home wit a file - keep him, make yore husband stay at home. Yo' kin buy a brand-new file, be shore it's a brand-new file, one of those flat files, an' name it yore husban'. Yo' take it home an' yo' write his name comin' tuh yo' on dat file. Dat's kinda hard tuh do but chew kin do it. Write his name on each side of dat file. An' den lay it up where he tranferrin' in an' out, an' dat'll make him stay at home.
Entry 11382
De file, dey say yo' kin take a file an' file a nail down right fine. Dat whut dis man say, cut de nail down right fine an' put de nail down undah de do'sill an' put de file up undah de sill undah de house. (You file a nail down?) Yeah, right fine - yo' know, right sharp. (To a point?) Yes. An' yo' nail it down in de ground - put it down in de ground, right undah de sill, an' den take de file an' nail it up on de sill undahneath de house. An' dey says dat will make a quiet home. [Undah de sill undah de house shows that this house is built a foot or more aboveground, resting upon 4 or 5 piles or pillars and having open sides, so that you can crawl underneath to perform this rite. We have met these houses and under-the-ground-floor rites before.]
Entry 11383
(You bury the file under the doorstep? This brings trouble into the home?) That brings trouble in a home. (The point must be....) Extendin' [pointing] to de house. Yo' don' wanta bury it dis way on de step [demonstrates]. Yo' wanta bury it dataway, extendin' to de house an' kinda elevated up. Dat brings trouble in de home.
Entry 11384
Yo' take dat file an' it's a certain place at chure steps. yo' stick dat file down on de point. But chew gotta have sompin else tuh go undah dat. Yo' gotta have... Yo' take dat John de Conkah, yore chamber lye an' a teaspoon fulla sugah. An' de blue- stone yo' beat it up, if yo' don't git it compounded. Yo' beat it up an' put it in dere, an' yo' take it an' yo' put it in a hole. Den yo' take dat file an' yo' stick it down - po' it [ingredients] in dat hole an' stick it [file] down dere, about two or three inches from yore steps. Dat's whut dat file is fo', tuh keep down dose sharp things [an enemy could bury under your doorstep].
(What will that do now?)
Dat will hold yore luck in dat house. It will hold yore luck.
Entry 11388
Take a file an' place it undah yore [their] do'step, dat cause 'em tuh move. Git a piece of dere clothes, yo' know, a piece of cloth in dey garment. Prob'ly a person when dey washin' or sompin lak dat, not knowin' dat yo' have anything against 'em, cut a piece of dere garment off an' use it. Bury it undah yore [their] steps. Yo' have to do it at night quite natural.
(Whose steps do you bury it under?)
Undah dere steps. (If I wanted to harm you, I would get a piece of your garment and bury it under your step?) Yes.
Entry 12275
Yo' kin take a file or a knife an' go to de corner of yo' place an' yo' stick it down in de left-han' side an' name it. An' ever' day go dere an' push it down a little bit, an' when it git down to de last, whosomevah dey name is yo' goin' fix dat fo', dey'll fall. Dey'll fall lak dat. When it git down to de last it will fall. Dey'll nevah git ovah it.
Entry 12757
Yo'.git red beans an' yo' git gumbo file an' yo' soak them beans in that gumbo filé an' peppah, but yo' jis' put the least watah that they'll jis' swell up, yo' understan', in that file, enough to jis' git chure han in de can or somepin...otuc chew got 'em in. An' jis' stir 'en up an' throw 'em undah de step or in front dey do' - anywhere so loag as dey roll. [This is a rolling rite.] That'll move 'em.
(Do you take any number of red beans or just a handful or...?)
No, yo' git only a nickel's worth or half-a-nickel. Yo' gotta have plenty, dey gotta have movin' power. [That half-a-nickel was and still is a ney eri pression to me. A gumbo is many kinds of a thick stew in New Orleams - see The Original Picayune Creole Cook Book, pp.26-30, the 1938 editioa, de ove I bought in New Orleans that year. File, not filet, is a powder, a seasoning made from tender sassafras leaves. Gumbo filé is a special type of gcg. Be have several other red-bean rites in HOoDO0.]
Entry 12988
Yo' could take a lizard or a snake or a frog or anything like dat an' Perish it tuh death. Jes' put it in a can or sompin, yo' know, an' let 'im die. Sell, when he die yo' could, yo' know dry it up. Yo' could make a powder out of hin like dat. Well, den if yo' kin git dat in anybody's food, he gonna have dem Live things in 'im - hit'll come back tuh life. Yo' see, dey grow. Well, not de thing dey is tuh git dat out of him - jes' say, if yo' put it in 'im or anybody else put it in 'im, an' dey come tuh yo' [author become a root doctor] fo' tuh git it out of 'im, yo' git chew a silver piece of money. An' yo' wash dis heah, every edge, if yo' use a dime or a quarter or fifty-cent [piece] or anything. Let it be solid silver. An' hit every edge dat dey is round dere. Well yo' give him dat silver [intern- ally] an' dat silver will git dat out of 'im. Hit'll take every bit of dat poison out of 'im.
(You have to hit every edge. With what?)
Yes sir, hit every edge [of the milled coin] with a file. Git chew a brand- new file dat has nevah been used an' yo' hit every edge - jes' a little grated silvah an' [and you give it internally to your patient poisoned by lizard, snake or frog].
Entry 11389
If yo' wanta git me outa heah, bury dat file an' let it stay dere nine days.
(Where do you bury it?)
Undah de front steps. [New Orleans, La., (1558), 2982:10.}
Entry 1530
Cut yo' a silver dime into fo' parts wit a file, if anybody have given you any poison or anything dataway. Yo' take an' cut de silver dime into fo' parts, an' yo' take yo' some fresh beef lard an' take de cow milk an' drink that, an' yo'll vomit everything that chew took - fight it right now, in about fifteen minutes everything will come up. (You just take the dust of the dime. You don't cut the dime all the way throughthen?) Yo cut dat dime all de way through see, because yo' goin' tuh swallow that silver.
(But you must cut the silver into four parts.)
Yo' cut into fo' parts an' den roundin' it so it won't irritate de entrails, makin' it very round so yo' won't have no sharp point on it atall. See. Take an' mix it with that milk, that cow milk, an' that fresh lard an' drink it down. Anything that chew take that won't kill yo' in de co'se of twenty minutes, it comes right back up.
(You don't use the dust?)
No, not de dust - dat's very dangerous, de dust. If de dust git into de intestines dataway, yo' understan', an' settle - why, yo' understan', yo' got'a file it aroun' an' make it small enough tuh swallow de same as a pill yo' know. Not de dust. [Sometimes the whole dime is swallowed - see Dime in Index.]
Entry 12997
Dey could take his shoe sole an' jes' take up his shoe sole an' take a silver dime an' file it. File dis silver dime till... Jes' lak if he's got a lotta money. He jes' a business fellah an' some- body gotta grudge ag'in him, git a silver dime of his'n - any fren' yo' know, jes' lak makin' change. I jes' git holt dis dime of yore [man'sl money an' take it an' file it. Take dis shoe sole an' take all dis little dust offa dis dime an' puts it on dis shoe sole. An' dey'll take dat an' dey'll go bury dat under yore steps, right under yore steps where yo' goin' walk ovah it. An' wherevah yo' money is, as yo' go in an' come out, yore money'll jes' leave yuh - jes' fall down, fall right down to nuthin. Jes' come down to nuthin. (Now suppose I had this money and you were trying to do that to me. You would get my shoe sole, the inside sole or the outside sole?) Yes sir, take dis inside sole.
(You sprinkle the silver dust inside of my shoe, underneath that inner sole.)
Jes' take dis sole, de shoe sole - no sir, [take] dis inside piece [insole]. Yo' take it an' yo' fold it up [certainly away from you] dis [inner] sole, an' bury it under yore steps.
(You take this from either shoe?)
Yes sir, either shoe.
Entry 708
Well, jes' lak if ah wants tuh hurt chew - put a snake in yo'. Well, yo' kin go out - yo' know in de fall of de year snakes shed, yo' know. Yo' go out an' git de snake hide. Well, dey don't call it hide but ah call it. De snake he comes out of it - he leaves it. Yo' take dat an' yo' pound it up lak a powder. Well, yo' take dat powder an' yo' put it in a bottle of heart's perfume an' ah'll go tuh yo' ah'll have dis perfume an' ah'll put it on mah han'ke'chief - put nine drops an' ah'll be jes' playin' with yo'. Well, when dat perfume dry in yo', dat's de snake is gone in yo'. Now, if ah want tuh heal yo' an' git that snake out of yo', ah'll take nine dimes an' take a file an' file off every one of the nine dimes an' put it in sweet milk an' dat'll kill de snake an' run him out of yo'.
(What do you do with that sweet milk then?)
Yo' drinks de sweet milk - dat's in order fo' de snake tuh pass from de body. He can't stand milk.
Entry 1051
Yo' use a dime to keep anybody from poisonin' yo'. Yo' take dat dime an' a new file - yo' take a new file an' ten cents an' file it into a glass. Den yo' put into that about two good mouthfuls of sweet milk an yo' drink it down. Dat cures fo' seven yeahs - dat nobody can't hurt chew fo' seven yeahs. Yo' kin step ovah anything yo' wanta, eaten anythin' yo' wanta, an' dat silver will turn it. Dat ah've proven out dat, cause ah had a uncle dat had eaten somepin. [Could this remedy derive from the belief that, "The entire composition of the body changes every seven years?" FACI, 1st ed., No. 2855, p.139; 2ed., No. 3534, p.159.]
Entry 1538
If a person got dem live things in 'em, you kin git chew nine dimes an' take an' git chew one dose little cornered file an' git yo' a piece of newspapah. Yo' file one-half of each one of dose nine dimes an' git chew half a pint of sweet milk and take dat dust an' po' into dat drink of sweet milk. Let that silver lie in yo' all night long till de next mawnin'. Den yo' git up an' git chew a brand new bottle of castor oil an' take. That silver, dat kills that thing, and oil jis' - it'll all pass out. Silver kills poison.
Entry 2381
Some people, if they wants you to like 'em, they'll take a piece of green wood.
(Green wood?)
Wood.
(Any kind of wood?)
Pine wood. Take pine wood and go to the store and buy me a file, brand-new file. Say, they took a brand-new file and drove it through the piece of wood and break it. Put it there nine places - just driv it in there as far as they Want to and break it off. Put it there many times as she want and break it off. See, now, you got nine pieces in there, broke off you know fine - you know, small file it'll break. And after you broke it off, then you goes to the well and drops it in the well. Well, it sinks. You ever seen a well?
(Yes - in the ground, a deep well.)
Drop it in the well. Well, it sinks, goes on the bottom and lays on the bottom, stays there until that well is cleaned out. Only way you kin get clear of it - the water gets low in dere, you will notice it there and go there and clean it out. Well, that will make a man just love you - like you - keep you - never wants to leave you - will never want you to leave there. He will send for you, I don't care where you are at. (That is in connection with a job, you mean, if you are working for this man. Or if a woman wants to keep a man.) Sir?
(Does a woman do this to a man, or does a man do this to hold a job?)
A man to hold a job. [Surely a love rite.]
Entry 2478
I lived with a woman and she was selling herself, and she told me that the law never would come to her house, and she only got her a file and drove it in each corner of her house, and she said that the law wouldn't come there. And another time when we moved in another house and she hadn't had a chance to put these files up, the law came in and she told me he'd never come back again. She say, "Baby, get some salt and throw behind him and sweep it right on out." And I went and put some salt behind him and then swept on back straight and he never came back. And no other law ever came in that house all the time she was selling herself.
(You mean, they put a file in each of the four corners of the house?)
Just a file.
(Outside or inside?)
Inside - stick 'em up in de corner.
(I see. What do you do - stick them into the wall or the floor?)
No, in the wall.
Entry 2622
Yo' take lak if yo' have a scissors layin' down there an' lak if yo' have a nice business, an' ah wanta stop yo' from havin' it, why ah steal yore scissors or yore fingernail file. An' ah'll take those right to mah home an' ah'll put - as ah told yo', take that there perfume an' ah'll put mah 'gredients in there which is the sulphur an' nine grains of red peppah seeds. Put that in there an' ah'll put de scissors lak if ah got dem fo' nine mawnin's an' ah take 'em an' junk 'em down in de ground. All yore luck is cut, yo' haven't got any mo' business.
(You use perfume you say?)
Yessuh, Heamt's Perfume.
Entry 5241
Ah heard tell dat yo' could take a person's shoes an' put red peppah in 'em an' salt an' some coppahs. Yo' have tuh take a penny. Take a coppah or brass, dat jis' whut dey use, an' take an' scrape it. Take a file an' scrape. An' put all dis heah stuff tuhgethah an' git it in yore shoes some way or othah. Den aftah yo' git dat in yore shoes, den dey cain't wear no shoes.
[To scrape a silver dime is common; to scrape a penny is rare.]
(What will happen to him?)
Well, his [skin] will begin tuh itch. All.de shoes he'll wear will have tuh be jis' de same as sandals. Yo' know yo' cain't weah a good pair of shoes on yore feet counta [on account of] dey disfigured yo' know.
(It hurts his feet when he gets this stuff on them?)
Yessuh.
Entry 6174
(What do they say about that?)
Well, yo' take Hearts Cologne lak ah tole yo', lak dey git it an' dress it fo' to keep yo'. Well, yo' git 9 pins, bran'-new pins what have nevah been used, an' yo' git Hearts Cologne. An' when yo' buy dat bottle of cologne, yo' take de stoppah out - yo' see, cuz dat stoppah been used. An' yo' buy a new stoppah, cork stoppah, an' yo' stick 9 pins in dat cork stoppah. Undahstan? An' put it right down in dat Hearts Cologne. Now, lak dere's some man ah want. I will try to git a piece off 'is clothes, anythin' an' put it in dere, yo' undahstan', fo' 9 days. Well, aftah I gits it in dere, whatsomevah ah want - den ah try to git a piece of 'is hair, an' some of 'is fingahnails an' toenails. If ah can't cut 'em, ah'll jes' take a little file here an' make out ah'm jes' playin' wit 'is han', an' file it off at de same time an' gittin' it in mah han'. Undahstan'? An' if ah kin git a piece of hair from undah his arm, yo' undahstan', an' git a piece of hair from de lowah Part, an' put it all in dere, an' 'tis nuthin atall he kin do unless ah command 'in to do it.
(I see.)
Entry 6932
An' if yo're hurt yo' kin take a dime, a silvah dime, an' file it up. Jis' take a new file an' file it, an' put it intuh some sweet milk, an' swallah it, an' dey say dat will kill it.
Entry 8034
A bone from a daid pusson depends whut chew wanta use it fo'. N Now, yo' kin use a bone from a dead pusson fo' two diff'ren' thin's. Yo' kin use it - well, say three: yo' kin use it fo' gamblin', yo' kin use it fo' tuh hahm [harm] somebody or somepin of dat sort. (How do you use it for gambling?) Well, now, yo' take a bone. If yo' kin git de bone an' yo' can't beat it, if it's too hard fo' yo' tuh beat, yo' take dat bone an' yo' git chew a file an' yo' file dat bone. An' as yo' file dat bone, yo' file it intuh somepin, a clean piece of white papah where yo' kin git all dat dust yo' file [from] dat bone. When yo' git all de dust yo' want tuh, offa dis bone, yo' git chew a silvah dime an' yo' cut fo' holes - not holes, but ah mean marks in de dime, jis' lak whut is aroun' dis ole piece of ring ah got heah [shows it and demonstrates]. Yo' cut a hole dere, one dere, an' one dere, an' one dere - yo' cut fo' holes.
(Sort of a notch, like you cut a piece of pie.)
Yes, sir, a notch.
(Cut a little piece off of it.)
Yes, yo' cut fo' lak dat in dat dime an' put dat dime in dere wit dat powdah. Yo' git chew some steel dust, see. Yo' git de steel dust an' dis dime an' yo' put 'em in, an' yo' git chew three needles. Yo' take dem three needles an' yo' put 'em on a piece of flannel - red flannel. But chew put one lak dis an' one dataway. Yo' cross 'em. An' yo' put de othah one 'way up above it dataway in dis position. See? Now, yo' wrap dis needle up here, yo' wrap it ovah dis way firs'. (Now, Wait a minute. You have these two needles crossed like that [I demon- strate], and then you put one above it like that?) Yes, sir. (One - this top one is just like you're making a "T" out of it. One, this top one is up above the "x" [the two crossed needles] there.)
[These 3 needles are now folded 9 times in a complicated rite:]
One's above de othah, yo' see. Well, dat's de one yo' fold, yo' see. Yo' fole dis othah one - when yo' fole dis othah one, yo' see, it'll fole right from dere tuh dere. Yo' kin covah dese othah two needles, yo' see. Now, when yo' fole dis way, dat one fold. See, when yo' fole ovah disaway ag'in, dat two folds. Yo' foles disaway, dat's three foles. An' disaway, dat's fo' foles. Now, yo' got fo' foles dataway. Now aftah yo' fole 'em dataway, yo' take an' yo' fole it ag'in. Dat's five. An' yo' fole disaway. Dat's six. An' fole dataway. Dat's seven. An' fole disaway. Dat's eight. See? An' yuh last fole, de ninth fole, it'll be about dat big. Dat's yuh las' fold. An' yo' fole jis' lak dat. Dat be yuh las fole an' it's goin' tuh be jis' - not a bit biggah dan what de needles, de length of de needles are. See, when yo' git through foldin' dat, dat'll be de length of de needles. Yo' put dat in yuh pocket, or yuh pocketbook rathah. An' now yo' got dat in yuh pocketbook, be sure dat chew got anothah small piece of coin dat chew kin put wit dat besides dat silvah dime yo' already have. Now, if yo' got anothah silvah dime, yo' put dat in de pocketbook wit dis othah stuff dat yo' jis' finished. Yo' put dat wit dat. Now, dat steel dust an' dose two silvah dimes, an' dose needles is tuh draw money, see. Yo' kin go an' shoot dice, play cards, anythin' yo' want. Yo' needn't tuh worry. Yo' might a-go dere an' lose de firs' dollah yo' have, yo' might even lose de firs' fifteen or twenty dollahs. Don't worry about dat. Yo'll make dat back in de nex' two plays yo' make. Yo'll make double of dat, yo'll make triple of dat. Dat steel dust an' dem dimes an' de needle is done draw yuh money tuh yo'. See.
Entry 11387
Yo' kin go tuh a hardware sto' an' buy yo' fo' new files an' stick 'em down to each corner of dat house an' somebody be always dere who wanta rent it. If yo' want anybody tuh stay, dat'll even make 'em stay. Dat's right.
Entry 13008
Nine silver dimes, file them, wear in NATION SACK with lodestone for protection and trade. [For the well-known nation sack, private bag worn by wo- men, see interview THE "NATION SACK" WOMAN, Pp.1449-1459, especially p.1458, vol.2.]
Entry 7484
Ah know two diff'rent ways yo' kin use a file. Perhaps yo' is out some place an' yo' is run intuh somepin. Yo' might be in de road yo' might say, an' yo' might be afraid tuh stay in de road or on de highway, yo' know, an' yo' might have tuh take to de woods. Well, yo' wouldn't wanta do dat. If yo' had a bran'-new file, yo' could jes' stick dat: file in a telegram [telegraph] post an' dey couldn't call [telegraph] nowhere. An' dat'd give yo' a chance tuh git away until dey'd come an' fin' dat file in dat post.