Subject:Fill
Entries
Entry 3564
Yo' goin' wit dis woman an' she want yo' all to herself, wit all yore affection to her, why she jis' git a little string of some kine - some kinda fine cord or even a piece of thread. When yo' an' 'er go to bed, measure - put one knot in de end, an' she measure yo', yore instrument, see, tie dat knot. Well, aftah she measure yo', den she tie a knot dere. Den [after] yo' - all's up [yo' all is up], an' yo' is gone, or somepin, she put jis' as many knots in dere: if she wan' chew to stay wit 'er a lifetime, jis' put nine knots, see, in dat space of yore instrument, yo' undahstan'.
(Nine knots [including those] between those two end knots?)
Yeah, nine knots in dere, an' take dat right in dere, an' if it's not long enough, put anothah piece on it an' pin it aroun' 'er waist. As long as it stay dere, why yo'll fall fo' her all de time. Regardless of who yo' have any affec- tion about, why yore mind will be on 'er.
Entry 4914
Wit de man sock, well yuh take de sand from undahneat' de steps an' fill up dat stockin', de sock, like he have it on, an' dig a hole an' put it in dat hole comin' toward de house, an' he's gotta stay dere, or either take de bow out his hat. (Wait a minute, now! Wait a minute! How do you put that sock down in that hole?) Jis' stand it up jis' like it be yore feet in dere.
(And that's pointing away from the house?)
[This misdirection question I rarely used.]
No, comin' tuh de house.
(You point it toward the house, jis' as you did with the shoe?)
[The shoe was given in a preceding rite.]
Yes sir.
Entry 5082
[Wiping, different from the magic rites of rub- bing, is itself often magic action; in fact, it frequently occurs in impotence causes and cures.] If she have any of 'is clothes, she kin bring 'im back. If he left any of 'is pieces he wore close tuh 'i, she kin git 'im back. Well, she take 'em jis wherevah - if he got a sock, stockin', or anythin' he's got, she'll take dat sock an' she'll wipe herself wit it. An' she'll fill it fulla sugah an' she'll roll it tuh 'er an' she'll sew it. An' right where he lay at, dat's where she'll put dat sock. An' de ninth day he'll be back.
Entry 6203
Dey say if yo' take it [hair] outa de mole of yore head - dat's what dey say. Dey say yo' get it from de centah, from de mole of yore haid yo' call it. Yo' pull it out until yo' kin see dat littlewhite. It looks lak de root of yore hair, yo' see. An' yo' take it up on a hilltop an' take a augah an' bore a hole in a green tree. When yo bore dat out yo' stick dat [hair] in dere an' den take eithah cement or mortah or somepin an' covah dat up in dere an' dis person will always suffah wit de beadache an' have a wandahin' mind.
Entry 6614
If you walk upon [meet] a snake or lizard, catch him, don't kill him, hang him up by his head with a string around his neck. Cut off the top [tip] of his tail, and put a bowl right under his tail and catch his blood, dry it. You have to catch all of this blood until he is dead. Then you take him and lay him up on a dry place and dry him. His bones and his flesh, after it gets dry, you powder it up. You take this and this blood and mix it, and they put it down for you. They'll dig a hole in front of your door and put this in that hole and call the Lord's Name: Lord, Jesus Christ, His Namesake. You fill it up, take three steps backward, and say: Now, I've got you; that will hold you, that will take you away to an unknown world. When he comes along and steps over that, he's gone. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 7401
Mah gran'fathah said, he was in slav'ry yo' see, he said dat when a person done kill a person dey goes an' gits dis person's shoes an' dey take 'um an' put 'em full of foddah an' den dey take some dis heah lye dey use to run an' make soap outa. Ah don't know whethah yo' remembah it or not. (The old-fashioned lye.) Yes sir, used to run it outa ashes. Put hit in dere an' dey turn dat shoe bottom sides upwards dey said, an' in five days evah who did it would come back.
(Do you do one of the shoes that way or both of them?)
Jes' one of 'em. Dat left shoe.
Entry 7982
If they wanted you for to stay, they wouldn't take dose leaves [4 el- derberry leaves in a preceding rite]. Dey jis' take de back off yuh pitchure an' - jis' lak, dig a hole about, say as large as dis table [that is, an oblong or a square hole, a cof- fin symbol] an' put watah in it, which it can't run [away], an' dey'd put dat pitchure in dere an' let it stay.
(How do they take the back off a picture?)
What? Take the back off a pitchure?
(You said they take the back off a picture?)
Dey take de back off de pitchure - de back be, yo' know, de back of yuh pit- chure, if it's in a frame, an' jis' leave dat pitchure in de form dere an' dig a hole an' put dis stale [still] watah [in the hole].
(How would they put it in that water?)
Jis' drop it down dere an' don't look at it. Turn around an' walk off.
(I see.)
Entry 8170
Now, if's a pasteboard, they can't do so much with it, but if's a tin- type, they take that tintype pitchure an' care it to the graveyard an' dig a hole, an' turn the face down an' cover it up. Go thah every mawnin', put a handful of dirt on it. Go every mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's. An' yo'll pass on away. Yo' talkin' of goin' away like somebody [with] T. B., yo'll go away then. Yo'll go away in a hurry.
Entry 9477
Once someone had did somepin tuh hurt me an' dey tole me whut tuh do. Dey said go back home an' look undah de flo' - undah de step an' dig undah dere an' git some salt an' sprin- kle in dat hole. Dat would kill dat whut dey had fo'me. Wahl, ah did dat but ah don' know wus it. Ah did whut dey said all right. Dat'a de best ah knowed of it [to] do.
Entry 9853
Git chew a [new] pincushion an' git chew two packages of dem li'l ole lang packages of needles, which dey may not - dey may not take all dem. But jus' full up de pincushion jis' evahwhere yo' kin git a needle in it an' hang it up ovah yuh do'. If yo' runnin' any bad house or ca'- in' [carrying] on anythin' 'ginst de law, yo' won't nevah git pulled. If yo' git pulled why dey dat behin' yo' [persons selling liquor to you will see] yo' git cleah. [Waycross, Ga., (1110), 1783:11.] [These are not the only rites using tacks in HOODOO; other uses of tacks occur in composite rites scattered throughout the text: see No.9842 a few pages back.]
Entry 10603
Well, now heah de othah day a friend of mine wus tellin' me. He axe me did ah know where he could - firs' he axe me could ah lend him fo' dollahs. Ah tole him, no, ah didn't 'zactly have de money. He says, "Well, ah know a fel- lah," said, "he claims he kin gi' [give] yo' a han' fo' gam- blin'." Ah wus on de steamship workin' den, see, an' ah met dis fellah on de street an' he jes' stop me. An' he jes' stop me - yo' know, stop me an' jes' spoke. So he axed me did ah gamble. Told him shure, sometime ah gamble. "Well, " he says, "yo' evah have any luck?" "Shure ah has luck?" sometimes, sometimes ah don't." He says. "Well. vo' wanta have luck all de time?" Ah tole him, "Yeah, ef ah'd like tuh win all de time." He said, "Well, ah tell yo' whut chew do." Says, "Yo' go tuh work an' ketch yo' one dese little bats. Dese little black bats, " yo' know, "an' cut his wings off." Say, "Den - an' don't lose any of his blood - ketch all de blood yo' kin, an' split him open. An' jes' split him open an' take his entrails out, but try tuh keep all de blood dat chew kin." Say, "An' after yo' split him open, let him dry wit de blood in 'im." Say, "An' den fill dat back up with cheese." Fill dat bat, chew know inside of him up wit cheese. "Sew hit up," say, "an' jes' keep it in yore pocket where yo' keep yore money at all de time." Says, "Yo'll have luck all de time."
(In gambling?)
In gambling. So ah thought ah might as well try dat. Ah wus on de steamship fo' foah yeahs.
Entry 10715
Ah heard dat chew could take a bird nest. Yo' could take a bird nest if dere wuz someone interfere [interfering] with yo' in yore business or livin' in yore sec- tion close about chew. Yo' take a bird nest an' take some table salt an' put it in dis bird nest, an' take dis nest an' throw it up on top of de house. Any per- son botherin' yo', dey'll move out an' keep goin'.
(Throw it on top of the house of the person that is bothering you?)
Yessuh. Dat's right, take de bird nest an' put de salt in it. An' jes' tear it down, jes' sit dere an' tear it down, an' put dat salt in it, an' throw it up on top of somebody house. Let de nest be fulla salt an' dey will scatter - dey'll move on out.
Entry 10970
Take a aig an' boil it, cut it half in two, an' take de yelloo part out an' fill that up with salt, an' take it an' eat it without drintdn'gyatah at all. An' ask to see de man dat chure goin' tuh marry or the w yo goin' tuh marry, an' yo'll see 'em when yo' drink dat watah. [You vill see the that night in a dream. This is ordinary folklore. I have included it bere becamse divination is part of a hoo- doo or root doctor's work. He or she might offer this advice to a client.] [Fay- etteville, N. Car., 2572:16.]