Subject:Flannel
Entries
Entry 3314
An' den I've heard dat yo' go an' yo' git ten-penny nails an' a piece- I'M ASHAMED TO TALK.
(YOU GO RIGHT AHEAD, I'VE HEARD ALL THAT.)
Red flannen, piece of red flannen an' den dey get a piece of dis ah - ah dis root choo call...
[A long pause.]
(What?)
John de Conkah. Gits a piece of dis John de Conkah root an' yo' puts dat in dere an' den dey gits a piece - den if yo' kin git yore husban' when yo' have connection wit yore hus- ban', git a piece of towel an' yo' put 'em undahneath de steps an' den yo' throw - dey say yo' 'throw chamber lye undahneath dere fer nine mawnin's, see. An' on de ninth mawnin', if dat man's gone, dat man will be comin' back fast.
(Now, you do this after that bottle has been there nine days?)
No, yo' put dat dere - no, dat ain't got nuthin to do wit de bottle.
(Oh! this is something different, I see.)
It's somethin' diff'rent. (You put this John de Conker and that other stuff [semen] in this piece of red cloth, and put that under the step for nine days. And the nails in there?) Uh-huh, an' den yo' put 'em undahneath de steps, see. An' dan yo' take de chamber lye - yo' [this] suppose to be done so nobody see it, nobody kin see yo 'tall [at all], an' yo' throw it dere fo' nine mawnin's, nine straight maunin's. See now?
Entry 3331
Take a person's chamber lye an' stop 'em, like if yo' got a wife an' she runnin' aroun' wit anothah man. Yo' take dat an' put it in a cloth, jis' po' it on a cloth an' let it soak intuh dere, an' wrap it tight. Wrap it up in- tuh a piece of flannel.
(Which way do you wrap it?)
Wrap it always from yo'. [It is more likely wrap to you.] Den yo' take a needle an' sew it tuhgethah tight. An' den take dat an' put it inside of yore mattress an' sew it back tuhgethah. Or eithah take it out an' bury it behin' de house or behin' a tree or by a tree, any place like dat. Den yo' kin stop 'er from runnin' roun'.
[St. Petersburg, Fla., (1025), 1659:6.]
[Rites concerning dishrag or dishcloth, and occasionally dishtowel, will also be found under CURES FOR SEXUAL IMPOTENCE, the other subsection of this subject. As in the preceding subsection MISCELLANEOUS, I start this one by quoting a few introductory beliefs. The very first margin title, parts (1) and (2), show that sexual impotence like all disease and ailments in hoodoo is not caused by biolog- ical factors, but by someone capturing your spirit. Let me repeat what I said on the page facing the PREFAcE of volume 1: To catch a spirit, or to protect your spirit against the catching, or to release your caught spirit - this is the com- plete theory and practice of hoodoo. Parts (3) and (4) of the first margin title introduce us to the incredible ideas about penis captivus, a subject unknown to folklore a generation ago. FACI has no example of it.
Entry 3997
The same old gentlemen what I just spoke to you about [a root doctor near Columbus, Miss.], his method of bringing a person to you mediately [was] by taking your urinate. Take a bran'-new piece of red flannen, urinate on it and rub it through your hands, sit down and write a letter to the person to come at once. They will do so.
Entry 4355
Takes it from [demonstrates] de top an' de side an' here.
(The top and both sides, the hair.)
An' tells me dat dey puts it in a bottle wit red flannel, nine new needles an' pins.
(How many pins?)
Nine. An' git some of yuh urine, stops it up, turn it [bottle] bottom up- wards. Jis' as it dreeps [drips] out, jis' as yuh dwindle away. An' den when dey don't turn it bottom upwards dey throw it in de rivah. Drive yuh - Hoodoo - Conjuration - Witchcraft: Rdtvorl crazy. Dat's what dey say dat dey kin do wit it.
(If they turn it upside down?)
Yuh pines away, an' if it's throwed in de rivah in quick runnin' watah, yuh'll go crazy. [Washington, D.c., (628), 805:9.]
Entry 4362
They take the underclothes and they can cut a piece out of the man from under his arm or from the tail of the shirt and wear it on a person. They sew that up in a piece of red flannel. They take that and satu- rate it, you know, with the same in- gredients, urine and Hearts Cologne. [This, of course, is a hand - pp.519-669.] They say then they can control 'em like that. Or they can take them and throw them away. They can carry them back in the woods and hang 'em up on the west side of a tree where the wind just blows and wears it all the time. They say whenever that blows and wears down from up there, why then the person will die. But chew got a new cord, like this wrappin' twine. You get that right off from the ball, right off from the cord where there's never any been pulled off, and fasten it on that tree or bush or what chew put it on. But you put it so the wind can blow it and the rain beat it. And whenever this cord rots, you see, and that blows away from where it's at, they say the person then'll soon die.
Entry 4520
If yuh have a girl fren' an' yuh love her an' she didn't seems tuh care very much fo' yuh, why yuh could sometime in goin' roun' 'er, an' git a chance tuh git 'er hat. Take de ban' from roun' 'er hat. Take de band from roun' 'er hat an' git a piece she's wearin' close tuh 'er. Take it an' some of 'er hair from a [below]. Yuh kin git chance tuh make a date wit 'er an' git some of 'er hair from roun' 'er. An' take it an' wrap it up in a piece of red flannel an' wear it nex' tuh yuh skin. Why den she come back tuh live wit chew.
(What piece of clothing do you get?)
Git de seat out of 'er drawahs. (And the hair from down below. That will make you have power over her.)
Entry 4582
Dat bow be's right back dere. Now yuh kin take dat bow out chure hat, ah've heard dat. Yuh take dat bow out dat hat an' yuh kin, whut chew call dress it. Yuh dress dat bow an' yuh kin take dat.
(With what?)
Yuh take dat bow an' yuh kin dress it.
[As we now learn, it is dressed with sweat.]
Jes' lak a woman take a bow outa man's hat. She kin take dat bow yuh see an' den rub it undah her arm, also between 'er laigs [to dress it]. An' when she take dat bow an' do dat, take it an' wrap it up in a piece of red flannel. [This is now a hand, see p.519f.] She kin eithah wear it roun' 'er neck or roun' 'er waist or eithah put it ovah 'er do'. Well, now if she put it ovah 'er do' or wear it anywhere, keep it anywhere in a close place, it'll always keep 'is haid kinda wandahin' - his mind. He'll nevah have no good mind. Jes' keep 'im wan- dahin'. He's heah today an' tuhmorrah 'is mind jes' wanta go. He can't be con- tented nowhere he goes.
Entry 4621
Dey take dat bow out of a man's hat an' dress dat an' wear it aroun' dere waist, an' it keeps 'Im undah hypnotic [something] or hypnotic powah.
(What do they do with the bow, now?)
Take dat bow out, out of de back of yuh hat, but don't - don't cut it loose, jes' cut de hat loose an' let de bow work out of dere as it is. An' wrap it up in flannel, an' write his name across a piece of pa- pah an' write his name in four ways across de piece of papah. An' wrap dat bow up an' a little piece of bluestone an' brown sugah an' wear it nex' tuh dere waist, an' dey'll almos' have him undah powah dat dey kin make him do anythin' dey wants 'im.
(What do you mean write his name in four ways?)
See, write de name jes' like dis [demonstrates]. Write it dis way, den dis Way, den dis Way, an' den dis Way. Make two squares out of it, cross it like [demonstrates].
(Like, as if you were playing tick-tack-toe.)
Yeah, dat's it.
(Two lines up and two across?)
Dat's right. [Somewhere I have called his tick-tack-toe design a double double-cross. Split this design vertically down the center and you will see what I mean # = ± ‡.]
(I see.)
Entry 4693
(A woman does what?) She take dat bow, yuh know, an' she'll tie it in a piece of flannel, yuh undahstan', an' she'll take it an' she'll urinate on it, an' take it an' tie it aroun' 'er waist, an' she kin keep it right straight up an' down 'er navel-like. Dat would keep - don't keer where yuh go or whut yuh do, yuh min' will be back dere on 'er all de time. See?
Entry 4797
(I see. Well, now, for instance, if you want to put them together after they quarrel. Do you know how that goes?) Yes, yuh kin.
(How do you do that?)
An' de bes' way on earth is tuh put de man an' woman - de bes' way on earth tuh put a man an' woman tuhgethah, yuh take a man an' take him intuh yuh [confi- dence]. If yuh goin' tuh give a man any advice in any Way tuh git tuh a woman, give it tuh 'im in a side [an aside or confidential] Way, an' give him 'is nature tuh use ovah a woman is dis: If a man takes a woman - if he has somepin dat she has soiled an' wear in 'is purse, dat she has soiled. Don't necessarily have tuh be her periodic piece, jis' somepin dat she has soiled an' wore nex' tuh 'er, an' wear it in 'is purse. Jis' take a piece of ord'nary garlic. Wrap dat up an' sew it, dat piece of cloth [and] dat garlic in a piece of red flannel. An' put it in 'is purse an' wear it dere. An' as long as he keep dat, he will keep 'er undah control an' powahs of his. [HERE IS ONE OF THE MANY TIMES I WAS ACCEPTED AS A DOCTOR AND ADVISED ABOUT ADVICE TO A CLIENT.]
Entry 4804
Yuh take yore soil undahwear, yuh know. Yuh take de seat of 'is undah- wear, de soil undahwear. An' take dat. An' tell me dey take dat an' dey kin wear it. Jis' take it an' jis' put it in a piece of red flannel, an' den sew tuh dey undahclothes, or put it in a string. Jis' wear it or pin in dere clothes. Dey said dat stop 'em [him] from goin' out too.
Entry 4808
Some man had did me some - some man had did somepin tuh me, do a trick tuh me once. Dis mahself [this is about me]. He done bo'ded [boarded] wit me sich a time [for a certain length of time] an' he didn't pay me. An' she [root- worker to whom infor- mant went] had tell me tuh bring some things dere [to her]. An' ah car' [care = carry] [them to her] but ah nevah did keep it up. Prob'ly if ah hada keep it up, he mighta come back. She tell me tuh git de man'a [man's] undahpieces. An' she [root worker] wash it an' put it [washwater] in a bottle. [Washwater because a piece of clean clothing would have been useless.] An' [she] put red flannel in dere, an' nine needle, an' some dig Hearts Cologne, an' tell me tuh keep [this bottle] in de room an' [at eertain times not given] turn it upside down an' shake it, an' tuh shake it in each [four] cornah of de house [symbolizing the four angels standing On the four corners of the earth (Rev. 7:1)] fo' nine mawnin's. But ah nevah keep it up, yuh see.
(What did she say that would do?)
Say dat would make him back; make him come back.an' pay off. But ah nevah keep it up. (Well, when did you go to this root doctor? When he left, you mean? When he left the house, you went to her and asked her advice?) Suh? [Who could have understood my involved question! But I was fishing for more details. Board money was not the whole problem. She does not go to the police. I try again.]
(When he left the house, you went to her and asked her advice.)
Ah had went dere an' ast 'er, but ah nevah did.
(But you never did what she told you to do?)
Ah nevah did keep It up. Ah nevah do whut she tole me tuh do.
Entry 5137
Well, yuh wearin' dat shoe when yuh come in an' yuh take it off. Well de moisture from yore feet is still in dere, an' yuh take dat [insole] an' fold it up. Fold dat to yuh. An' yuh use a piece of flannel. Put dat in de flannel an' keep dat wet [dress it] wit - put Epsom salt or anything. See, dat [is] salt. By me carry [carrying] some salt, well dat salt keeps it moist wit dat perfume. [Perfume either had been mentioned before recording began or this was just a mental lapse.] Dat keeps it moist so it stay alive. Sew dat up an' bury somewhere, or anything [or again], yuh kin jis' put it in a little [tin] can an' keep it on de opposite side of de bed where dey sleep on. He'll nevah notice it, won't know whut it's all about. Dey will keep )'im dere all de time. ANY WOMAN GOT A MAN SHE WANTS TUH KEEP 'IM, A HARD WORKING MAN. Well, dat's whut she do. She got de big advantage of 'im.
(She takes this inner sole out of his shoe. Either shoe?)
Eithah shoe.
Entry 5332
Dey take mah, yo' know, pick de dirt up. Ah'm walk- in' dis way an' co'se ah wuz told dat dey pick de dirt up of me goin' dis way [demonstrates].
(From the toe back to the heel.)
Yes, pick mah dirt up lak dat. Well, ah wuz told it wuz put intuh a red flannel cloth an' throwed intuh runnin' watah - BLACK RUNNIN' WATAH.
(Why black?)
Ah don' know about dat.
[This is my only example of black running water.]
(What did they do that for?)
Well, dat wuz tuh make me jes' travel an' wandah.
Entry 5440
Ah have heard a person kin run yo' crazy. Dey kin take some of de dirt, git a part of yore track. Go tuh de graveyard an' git some dirt. (Get the dirt from both tracks or just one?) Yore right feet - from yore right feet track, an' go tuh de grave of a gamblah an' git some of de dirt from de foot of 'is grave. Take it an' carry it home an' git chew some red flannel, table salt, an' take it an' put it right undah 'is steps, an' in seven days he'll be crazy or mindless. (You Wrap all this stuff up in that red flannel and bury it under his own step.) Undah 'is step.
Entry 5505
Yo' kin take her right foot track. Now, lak yo' tryin' tuh make love an' dis girl doesn't want tuh make it wit yo'. An' jes' lak it seem yo' couldn't make it up wit 'er, an' in kinda speakin' tuh 'er, yo' goin' try tuh make it some- how wit 'er. Well jes' take her right track den an' jes' take yo' a flannen rag, yo' know de red flannen rag, an' jes' git 'er right toe track outa dat toe where dat dig up. Git dat. Git about as much as yo' kin pick up [with your fingers] an' put it in dat flannen an' do [tie] it up. An' git some red peppah an' put it in dat, an' git some of 'er hair. If yo' don't do it jes' den, it may be a month or it may be a yeah yo' gotta work. Git one stran' of 'er hair out 'er haid. Don't git de lef' foot, git de right one. An' when yo' git dat, put it in dis rag an' jis' wrap it up. Sew it up. See. Well, aftah yo' sew it, make a knot. See, right befo' yo' git roun', make nine knots in it; an' de las' one at de end of yore sewin' let it be nine knots. See, jes' make nine knots befo' yo' close up de end. See. An' jes' 'ninte [anoint] it good befo' yo' go tuh sewin' wit dis. Let it be a cloth string or cotton thread string. Well, jes' use spirits of turpentine, jes' ninte [anoint] it good wit dat, an' jes' make de nine knots an' den yo' got evahthin'.
(What do you do with that bag then?)
Jes' tote it in yore right pocket - keep it. An' she'll come tuh yo', BOY. [This is the second time I have been called boy.]
Entry 5535
Well, ah kin take dat foot track if ah jis' - say jis' WAN'A KEEP ANY- yo' see. Ah kin jis' ketch 'er track in a clear place, an' git a nice li'le stick an' measure dat track, an' git a good size bottle. An' ah'll sew dat track up in a red flannen cloth, an' ah will git nine bran'-new needles, see, an' stick it in dat cloth. Stick de needle right up lak dat in dat cloth, see. An' git three rusty nail an' tie it tuh- gethah, an' drop it in dat bottle an' cork it up airtight, an' evahthin' will be okay. Won' have no mo' trouble gittin' along wit chure wife.
(You said you use the stick for something?)
Yes, jis' any piece of li'le stick. Yo' jis' kin take a knife an' run off a li'le piece jis' long 'nuff tuh measure de track lak dat, see. Den yo' take de li'le stick an' yo' break it up, break it up in a li'le pieces, see. An' yo' put it in dat red flannen an' sew it up. Yo' take up dat track yo' know. Yo' take dat track up, see, an' put it in dat flannen jis' where yo' measurin' it. Sew it up an' take dem nine needles [etc.].
Entry 5555
Dey take chure track up, jis' lak if dey would do sompin tuh yuh tuh set yuh down an' make yuh suffah, an' cain't do nut'in tuh he'p yuhself. Dey take yuh track lak dis, see [demonstrates] - lak dat right from in de middle ["hollow" of track]. An' take up jis' about - ah know dat is de truth - take up de dirt, yuh know, an' dey put 'em on a piece of papah. Dey take de othah one disaway [demonstrates]. (They take one track - they pull it towards them and one they pull away from them.) Dat's de way de' do. An' dey take dat an' dey put it tuhgethah. An' den dey git tuh put it tuhgethah, dey goes tuh work an' dey take a little pot salt [com- Ron name for ordinary salt in a pot before salt-shaker days] an' dey put in dere. Dey sew it up in a piece of red flannel or new homespun. An' dey take dat on de young moon, now. On de' young moon de' do dat. An' dey take dat t'in' an' dey'll bury it in de earth. Well, yuh is punished. Yuh go an' cain't do nut'in. It'll git chew in hard luck. Well, den dey kin take dat an' when de tide comin' up, t'row 'em down in de watah - jis' toss 'em in de rivah. An' de rivah runnin' lak dat, go right dere an' t'row it lak dat. Dey cain't stop. T'row it in de rivah an' den yuh wheel aroun' lak dat, an' turn [your] back an' say, "Go on." Yuh kin be all right fer days. Dis mont' yuh'll have sompin, de nex' mont' yuh go 'long an' have headache an' evaht'in'. Yuh'll take dat an' dis an' dis [medicine] till it become....
Entry 5585
Git nine new needles an' a piece of red flannel, an' git a spoon an' take out de tracks, de middle of de tracks, an' bottle it up an' put it in run- nin' watah. Dey won't come back any mo'. (You get this dirt out of which track, both of them?) No, de right.
Entry 5609
Ah know dis happened in Tampa. Take dis foot track of a person dat chew disliked. An' yo' kin git it an' yo' kin put it intuh a piece of red flan- nel. An' yo' kin carry it tuh a rivah of runnin' watah, an' throw it ovah yore lef'- han' shouldah an' say, "Go," an' make a curse word. An' dat person shall leave.
(You get what track?)
De left one, always de left if dey do anything.
(Why always the left?)
Don't know why de lef' but dey says de lef'.
Entry 5630
Well, yo' take dat foot track goin' dis way an' - yo' take it goin' - an' den yo'. take it comin', see. Well, aftah yo' take dat track - gits both tracks - see, yo' git one goin' an' de othah one comin'. Yo' gits a piece of Lowe's, bran'-new Lowe's cloth. It's thick stuff whut dey make sacks outa, cotton sacks.
(What they call Louis?) [Lowe's.]
Yessuh. Yo' git a piece of Lowe's an' yo' sew it up [into a bag]. An' yo' go git chew a box of table salt. Yo' git chew a box of cayenne peppah. An' take dat track an' yo' compounds all dat up tuhgethah an' yo' put in dere [small bag nade from new Lowe's cloth] an' [put] dat [Lowe's-cloth bag into a bag of] red flannen. [A bag of any material holding the ingredients of a hand is often en- closed within red flannel for added power.] An' yo' goes tuh de rivah an' yo' turn backward dis way [demonstrates] an' chunk it ovah in de rivah. See, lak dat, ovah yore lef' shouldah.
(What will that do?)
Dat will run 'em away.
Entry 5696
If yo' wan' 'em tuh go, yo' don' wan' 'im tuh stay, git choo a table- spoonful of salt, a tablespoon whut dey call cayenne peppah. Git choo a red flannin rag now, an' git saltpeter - woman salt- peter. Yo' know it's two kinds, a she saltpeter an' dere a he saltpeter. Yo' git de she. Take yo' a teaspoonful an' put it dere an' put it - make a li'le. red-flannin sack an' put it down in dere. Well, now if yo' know dis party, yo' watch 'er walk. Yo' count de tracks as dey walk. Yo' count de tracks lak dey 3 right-foot tracks. Yo' jis' take it from de toe. An' take it up, po' it in dat sack. Sew it up. Yo' meet de sun three mawnin's as it rise, an' wet on it. Take it tuh de rivah befo' de rise de fo'th day, an' throw it in dere. Ah don' care where yo' wan' 'em tuh go, dey'll leave dere. Dey can't stay.
(WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "SHE" AND "HE" SALTPETER?)
DE "SHE" IS A LARGE LUMP AN' DE "HE" IS IN LI'LE BITA CRUMBS.
Entry 5706
Well, if it's anybody yo' wanta git out of town, git dere right-han' track, de right-foot track an' take a teaspoonful of dirt outa it an' mix it wit sulphuh an' burn it. An' tie it up in a flannel rag an' go tuh where a freight train go 'long, an' jis' put it down dere. Throw it in dere as dis freight train go 'long an' say, "In de Name of de Fathah, go."
(You throw that into the freight train?)
Yessuh.
Entry 5778
Yo' kin take his track an' move him from outa town. Take his left-foot track an' git it, bind it up in a piece of red flannel. Take tuh de watah, a stream of watah, run- nin' watah an' throw it in dere. An' tell 'im tuh go, "Ah'm tired of bein' deviled wit chuh." He'll be gone.
Entry 5807
Yo' kin do dat, yo' kin take de hair outa woman's haid. Co'se [of course] ah don't know if a man do anythin' to anothah man. But if yo' have a goman yo' wanta make love wit, yo' jes' take de hair outa de mole of 'er haid if yo' POSS'bly kin. YO'D HAVE TO STEAL IT OUTA DERE CUZ WOMEN WON'T LET CHEW GIT DAT OUTA DERE IF DEY KNOW IT. An' if yo' kin, some hair out de mole of de woman's haid, yo' kin put dat into a little bottle, see, an' put some alcohol over it, see, an' put a flannen [flannel] stoppah in it - a red flannen stoppah. DAT COME DIRECT DOWN FROM DE HOODOO BUSINESS cuz ah've had dat. An' tote it in yore pocket an' dat woman'll come back to yo'. Don't care where she is, she'll come back to yo'. If she don't come back she'll go crazy. [For alcohol, see also margin title WHISKEY.]
Entry 5835
Yo' take de hair from de mole, take de hair right out de top, de mole [old] of de hair. Well, yo' take dat hair an' yo' wrap a string around it, or thread, any kinda thread aroun' dat hair, an' yo' put dat hair in a bottle, see, an' yo' po' some cphor in it, see. Well, dat will make it 'live. Shake it up, see. Yo' let dat stay in dere nine days an' yo' take dat out an' yo' wrap in a flannen cloth. Let it stay in dat flannen cloth an' den yo' wear it. Dat is tuh draw yore sveetie to yo' or anybody yo' want lak dat.
(Whose hair do you put in that bottle?)
Fell, if it's de man, he put de woman's hair; an' if it's de woman, she put de 's hair.
(What did you say THAT CAMPHOR does for the hair?)
Entry 5853
If yo' have a wife dat won't stay at home, always ready tuh run off. Well, now, if yo' kin cut de hair off a dog's tail an' git chew some hair outa her haid, an' put dat hair togethah an' wrap it up in a flannel rag, an' yo' bury dat at de do'step, an' dey all of 'em stay dere. Dey won't leave.
Entry 5915
Yo' kin take yore own hair, take a man's hair or a woman's hair [a man or woman can do this], put [wit it] graveyard dirt, three coppah cents, six pins - no needles - six pins - an' put it eithah in buckskin or eithah in red flannel. An' go to a runnin' stream, throw it wit yore left hand in dat watah. If it sink it's all right. But as long as dat stay in dere, yo've got to travel. Yo' ain't satisfied nowhere, yo've got to leave yore own home.
Entry 5956
Anything like a person's hair, you take that, you see, and you get this srahpin' twine. Now, then you take a red flannel or new yellow cotton, it's a homespun, and just a square, and make the little bag, four cor- ners. And you wrahp it up. You kin wrahp ar eitherwise you kin sew it. But always bring it towards yah, and tie it in a fat knot and make your wish. If you're wrahping it, chew know, why evah knot, cvah time you wraap, you wish that he may come to you, and you wish that he may be yours, and you wish that he may be mine and do whatever I want him to do, and sish that he may gave me mah money, and this In the Name of God. I wish that he Se united in holy matrimony, or anything like that. You see, just whatever your Tishes is. And then, you see, you tie it. And each time you wrahp it towards Rh, why that's bringing him to yah, bringing the person to yah. And you tie 1. And the last knot you tie is the last wish that chew make. You wish that Lemay be yours or may be mine all entirely and do just as I say In the Name Of God.
Entry 5972
Now if dere a ole lady yo' can't git away from yore house- dere a ole lady dere or someone roun' dere an' yo' want 'em tuh leave an' yo' can' git rid of 'em, stick roun' wit 'em where de man git 'is hair cut or sompin lak dat. Git some of 'is hair, see. Git some of 'is hair an' put 'is hair in a little flannel rag an' use some Heart Cologne. An' yo' take dis hair an' dis Eeart Cologne an' yo' do it up in dis rag. Don't sew it, yo' tie wit cotton string an' yo' do it up good. An' jes' befo' yo' do it up, tie nine knots in it, jes' about a inch from de end of de cotton string. Tie nine hard knots in it an' 'noint 'em all good in spirits of turpentine, an' make a wish evahtime yo' make a tie. See. Evahtime yo' make a tie in it, wrap it aroun' an' make a tie. Well, yo' make a tie fo' nine times, an' den jes' put it in yore pocket an' walk on tuh a runnin' creek an' throw it in dere, an' don't look back, keep a-goin'. Yo' won't have any trouble wit 'em atall no mo'.
(Runs him away.)
Yessuh, he gone.
Entry 5991
Say, fo' instan', if a man's got a woman an' he's got a little compe- tition an' den he git her fingernail or her toenail, an' den he gits some hair from de mole of her haid an' he take this toenails an' hair an' he'll put it in a bag, say, of a piece of red flannel an' sew it an' he'll write this person name nine times. (Whose name does he write?) He writes the individual that he's interested in. Be write dere name nine times one way. Write his name nine times across that name uhich make 18 names altogether. An' then he fold this piece an' he put this bag on top of this piece an' wear it right next to his heart, say, fo' instan', he pin it on de inside of 'is undahshirt.
(What is that supposed to do then?)
Dat's supposed to keep dis woman's mind to him all de while.
(The paper on which the name is written is not put in the bag itself?)
No suh, it's put on de outside.
(Next to his skin?)
Yessuh.
Entry 5994
Git chure hair an' put chure hair wit a needle, a steel needle. Jes' dt it from de mole of yore haid - be sure dat yo' git de hair from de mole of de haid an' wrap it wit a steel nee- dle, an' put it in a little bag an' put dat hair, an' a little peppah or somepin in it an' sew it in de bag. Dyput it up ovah de sill of a door, dat hair. Dey got chew wrapped up de way want chew, dat hair an' peppah, an' sew it in a red flannel an' dey keep it re, an' de thread, [use] red thread.
Entry 6000
The following expression was surely devised by someone tired of hearing the well-known expression: You give me a headache! Yo' wuz speakin' of hair. A person kin do yo' a great deal of trouble wit yore hair. Prob'ly git yuh 'sleep or git some of yore hair unbeknown to yo' - git dis hair unbeknown to yo'. Yo' take dis hair an' git yo' a little Hearts Cologne an' put it into a bottle an' yo' git choo a small piece of flannen an' cross yore needles between dat flannen an' put it in dere.
(What do you mean cross your needles?)
Make a kind of a X [a cross] out of it [the 2 needles].
(Two needles?)
Two needles, an' make yo' kind of a X out of it. An' twist dis hair aroun' dese needles an' place it in dat cologne, but don't stop yore bottle stoppah tight - prob'ly fo' nine mawnin's. Yo'll leave dat stoppah in dere fo' nine mawn- in's, if yo' should git a chance to git co mah bed or to mah do'step, an' let dat bottle [stand] straight up so I got to valk ovah it, it will keep me suffahin' wid a headache. I'll lingah aftah yo'. I still suffah wid dat headache, but when I gits where yo' is, look lak it kinda Vanishes away-lak. I'll jis' lust aftah yo'. A man do a woman dat way or awoman dat way or a woman kin do a man dat way.
(You only have the headache when you are away from them?)
When yo' are away from 'em yo' have a dull headache an' yore mind, look lak yo' is worried. An' yo' arn't [are not] - it jes' stays on dem.
(You never put that cork in tight. You never put that in tight?)
Don't put it in tight, jes' leave it so yo' kin go dere an' touch it fo' nine Mvnin's, becuz de ninth mawnin' yo'll push it in tight.
Entry 6007
Yo' take fo' needles an' yo' have a ball. Yo' know, make a ball of yore hair or toenails, sompin lak dat If yo' kin git holt of 'em. An' aftah yo' make de ball - make de ball roun' - jes' stick de needle wit de point dat way. Jes' have it so eithah way it turns, one dem points will be pointin' out. Try tuh make fo' points: points it to de no't, de nex' one to de sout', one to de wes', an' one to de eas'. An' plant dose somewhere where yo steps ovah it. Dey tells me dat will run yo' crazy. Wrap it up in yore fingah- mails or hair wit jes' a piece of red flannel.
Entry 6013
Dey have hair in dat - dey git a lock of a lady's hair, men usin' dis. An' git a lock of lady's hair an' den dey git dis lodestone an' dey gits nine needles an' Hearts Perfume. Dat's whut ah heard now. An' den dey wrap it, feeds [see p.578] dat thing wit whiskey, an' wrap it in a ball, an' tie dat black string aroun' it.
(What do they wrap it up in?)
Flannel, red flannel, an' den put de black thread aroun' it an' put a string aroun' dat, an' let it hang down in dere bosom or breast an' wear it.
(What is that supposed to do?)
Dat will draw love.
Entry 6014
Yo' kin take a person's hair now, an' yo' kin take yo' nine needles up an' down [demonstrates], an' wrap dat hair between 'em wit black thread. (One needle is pointed that way and one that way.) Dat's right. Head an' tail dey call it. Yo' take dat an' wrap dat an' put chew - git chew a little red flannel bag an' git chew a dime's wut [worth] of lodestone dust an' put in dat, an' put dat in yore pocket. Yo' have de headache de balance of yore days.
Entry 6016
Yo' take a lock of yore hair, yo' git nine brass needles.
(You mean brasseye don't you?)
[They are usually called qoldeyed.]
Yes sir, an' a piece of red flannen. Yo' put dat in any kin'a little small bottle, an' yo' put dat ovah de do'. At night when he come in [for example] it jes' yo' comin' in an' ah meet chew tuh de do'. Ah be lovin' tuh yo' fo' nine mawnin's, see. Den ah won't have no mo' trouble wit chew 'bout dat. See, don't fo'git nine needles wit de outen flannens [with the flannel out- side]. [Note: Dr. Hyatt I think maybe this informant meant (outing flannel) - a term I have heard used often. Webster says (A flannelette, often with some wool). Mrs. Harry Dyel - see v.3, ILLUSTRATION 4.]
(You put that up over the door?)
Yes sir, right ovah de front do'.
Entry 6026
Git a plait of hair an' yo' plait it undahwards, yo' know, lak dat [demonstrates]. Don't plait it ovah lak we plait our hair, plait it undah lak dat. Den tie a little bow of ribbon on dere. An' aftah yo' tie dat hair in dere, yo' take an' put a piece of lodestone wit it, an' yo' put nine pins an' nine needles in dere, an' yo' sew dat up in a flannel bag, an' yo' puts a little sugah in dere, too - ah'd fo'gotten dat - an' anvil dust lak at de blacksmith shop, dat dust where dey grind.
(From the anvil?)
[From the hoodoo drug store or mail order firm I should have said.1 Yes. Put dat anvil dust in dere an' a silvah dime. Dat's tuh keep de person dat chew love, yo' know, keep dere minds contented towards yo'.
Entry 6027
If yo' kin git a stran' of hair out of a person's haid, out from de top of de haid, yo' git a stran' of dere hair. An' take dat an' git nine nee- dles an' nine pins, an' yo' git a piece of red flannel, an' git some lodestone, an yo' could git some of dere sweat - perspiration yo' know - on a piece of cloth, a bran'-new piece of cloth, an' put it in dere. Stick dem pins in dere, stick 'em cross dis way. Stick 'em cross lak dat [demonstrates].
(Like making a cross - X's.)
Dat's right. Stick dem pins in dat piece of cloth, if it don' be but jes' a small piece of it, jes' so it be's dat perspiration on it. An' yo' stick dem pins in dere an' lodestone an' dat anvil dust. Anvil dust keeps de lodestone live. An' put dat in dere an' put dat hair in dere in dat thing [cloth] an' sew it up [into a bag], an' yo' kin have a person most anywhere yo' want 'em.
(What do you do with that?)
Jes' carry it [bag or package] in yore pocket. Yo' carry it reg'lah fo'about eight or nine days, an' whenevah yo' takes it out of yore pocket, yo' put it ina real pahtic'lah place where no one will bothah it but chew. An' dat will rule a person.
Entry 6028
If a person dislikes yo' an' wanted tuh do yo' some harm, well if dey kin git some of de hair out de mole of dey haid, an' take dat an' take some nee- dles an' parcel 'em up right both tuhgethah [demonstrates] jis' on an' on yo' know lak dat. (Alternate the needle - cross them.) Yes sir, an' stick it in dat hair an' put it into a piece of flan- nel, an' put dat somewhere in yore bed on de side dat chew sleep on yo' know. An' jis' as long as dat hair an' needles are dere, yo'll jis' can't rest. Ah lgu dat fo' a fac'.
(Do you use any particular number, kind of needle?)
Aw - jis' 'bout five or six.
Entry 6040
Dey take a lock of yore hair out de mole of yore haid. If yo' vanta ake love, dey could take dat hair an' plait it as much [many] times as dey kin git it. Dey sew it up in white cloth an' den in a flannen [flannel] cloth. (What kind of a flannel cloth?) A red flannen. Dey take dat hair -' SEW IT INTO DE TICK OF PILLAH, dey pillah whut dey sleeps on, an' dey keeps it moist thoroughly wit spirits of turpentine an' dat'll make love. [This love hand is fed (p.578) spirits of turpentine because of the word pirits says an informant somewhere in text.]
Entry 6047
Yo' kin take a person's hair an' yo' kin run 'em crazy.
(How do you do that?)
Yo' kin take a person's hair ag'in, but all de time take it from de mole, see. De mole of anybody's head. Fact, dat's a tendah spot about a person in de head, is de mole. Anybody yo' kin git to, git dere hair, yo' git it from de mole. Yo' gits dere hair, if yo' wants to git rid of 'em. Yo' take dat hair an' yo' git yo' what yo' call - we call it prickly pear - wit de stickahs on it, dey're green [unripe ones are]. Yo' git yo' one of dose pieces of prickly pear an' yo' lays dat down an' yo' cuts it as thin as yo' pos- sibly kin do ft. Yo' cuts yo' nine pieces of it. An' yo' try de bes' yo' know bou, when yo' plat dat hair, to plat dat hair wit dat nine pieces of de prickly pear [demonstrates]. (YOU'RE SORT OF WEAVING THAT HAIR AROUND AS YOU ARE DEMONSTRATING WITH YOUR FINGERS.)
[Informant continues demonstration.]
(You weave that around?)
Yeah, DAT HAIR HAS GOT TO COME IN BETWEEN EACH PIECE OF DAT DERE PRICKLY PEAR. SEE.
(I SEE, AS YOU'D MAKE A SANDWICH?)
Yes, sir. Now, den when yo' git dat in dere, yo' take yo' a piece of black thread an' yo' wrap each one of 'em jis' lak dat [demonstrates]. But it's all goin' to be togithah when yo' git through. Yo' wrap each one, an' as yo' wrap it close - now, when yo' git it all close togithah, yo' take yo' white thread m' yo' come disaway wit it. See, yo' wind up on dere an' den yo pull it dis- away, an' yo' wind up on dis end, an' yo' cross it disaway an' yo' come back. Den yo' wind it up ag'in dis way, see.
[I SUMMARIZE LAST DEMONSTRATION.]
(You wind that black thread around it one way.)
One way.
(And then you take the white thread and wrap it around the other way.)
T'othah way.
(As you would tie up a package.)
Yes, yo' wrap dat white thread de othah way, yo' see. Now, when yo' git dat done, yo' take an' yo' git yo' a piece of de reddest flannel yo' kin find - which flannel don't git no reddah, I don't think. Yo' wrap dat up in dere [the flan- nel] an' dat party's name. Yo' take dat name an' yo' git yo' a indelible pen- cil an' yo' write dat name down on dere fo' nine times disaway [demonstrates].
(Nine times that way.)
An' nine times disaway [demonstrates].
(Make it in [the form of] a cross.)
Makin' it across, yo' see. Now, when yo' do dat - aftah yo' do dat, yo' dig a crench where dey goin' to pass [over] dat, an' yo' bury it right where yo' know dey goin' to pass. Yo' bury it an' bury it as deep as yo' kin. Yo' bury it an' leave it dere, an' when yo' bury it an' git ready to walk ovah dat, yo' jis' say: In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost.
(What do you do - you say?)
When yo' walkin' away - when yo' bury it an' are walkin' away, yo' jis' say: Ie de Name of de Father.
(In the Name of the?)
In de Name of de Father. See, when yo' walk away, yo' say: In de Name of de Rtrer. Now, when yo' git jis' about ten feets away from dere, yo' says: de Son, 'de Holy Ghost. See. An' say: We'll depart. An' dat's dat person dat I'm dOIn' de harm tO. AN' DEY'LL GO MAYBE TO DAT RIVAH DERE, JUMP OVAHBO'D AN' DROWN; ° DEY MAYBE TAKE A GUN AN' BLOW DERE BRAINS OUT. See. Somepin goin' to be doe. Dey'll do somepin to demself to kill demself. If dey lose a dollah, dey y take an' kill dereself by losin' dat dollah.
Entry 6073
De nex' story ah know. A man an' his wife gits ma'ied an' dey live good. Well, yo' know, people git mad 'cuz when dey gittin' 'long good in de home.[ Well, ah'm goin' tell yo', dere's people don' lak dat: "She's gittin' 'long good ovah dere," says, "an' all ah kin do [is to make ends meet]." Co'se ah'm goin' tell yo' de whole business. Well, dis woman ovah yondah she's cryin' an' wantin' 'er husban' tuh come back an' she can't git 'im tuh come back. "Ooh, ah don't know whut to do. Mah husban' won' come back, ah want 'im tuh come back." Well, ah tell yo' a good plan yo' kin do. Ah tried dis an' dey tell me it's good. Yo' kin try it. Well, ah tell yo' whut chew do. Yo' git some hair offa him down dere an' yo' sew it up in a flannel rag, an' yo' tote hit fo' nine mawn- in's, an' evah mawnin' yo' git up an' yo' speak to it an' says, "Ah totes dis an' de hairs of mah husban' will come back to me, ah'll tote dis an' de hairs of mah husban' will come to me, [surely said a third time], In de Name of de Father, Name of de Son an' Name of de Holy Ghost. Amen." Yo' say dose words nine mawn- in's an' tote dat. He'll come on back.
Entry 6092
Oh yes. Yeah. Well, now a woman kin take de hair off a man private down dere, an' take hit an' git her a piece of red flannel an' nine pins, an' sew it up in dat piece of red flan- nel. Dat hair, sew it up in dat piece of red flannel an' wear dat roun' 'er waist fo' nine days. An' if she want dat man tuh stay wit 'er, she'll keep it roun' 'er waist; an' if she want dat man tuh go, den she kin take it an' turn - jes' look attah dat man an' say, "Go, go, ah hope ah nevah see yo' no mo'." An' throw dat hair, an' he'll go an' he'll nevah come back no mo'.
(Where does she throw it?)
Jes' throw it anywhere, jes' so she throw it an' don' look aftah [back at] it. Den he'll nevah come back no mo'.
Entry 6100
Yo' kin take dat hair an' do three or foah diff'ren' thin' wit it. Yo' lin git de hair outa woman's haid, yo' take it an' carry it to de man's house, an' yo' buries it undah de step in a red piece of flannel. Well, he walks ovah dat hair. Bell, dat's tuh gain 'is influence towards de woman - dat's gainin'. If yo' kin git dat hair of de woman's an' carry it tuh his house an' put it in a piece of red flannel an' po' some Hearts Cologne, an' let him pass ovah it fo' five days. Dat's fo' one part of de hair.
(The woman does that in order to make him like her?)
Tuh make him like 'er.
Entry 6101
Take people's hair an' wrap it up in some red flannel an' wrap it wit black thread an' put it up ovah yo' do' an' run peoples crazy. (Do you put it up over your own door or over their door?) Ovah dere do'. (In other words you take some of my hair and put it over my door and run me crazy - make me lose my
[ind.)
Entry 6107
Dey kin take whut chew call a lock of yore hair, mean a plait, an' put salt an' peppah in hit, an' wrap de same thing up an' put it at chure do' an' bury it. Yo' cain't stay dere, yo' gotta go. Long as dat stays dere an' yo' don't find it, yo'll keep a-travelin', wandah, an' yo' won't nevah stop. Yo' stay awhile an' den yo'll go somewhere else. Yo'll keep a-goin' but yo' won't be at de same place. Wrap it up in a flannen cloth.
Entry 6123
Some takes dat. (That little bow from a man's hat?) Yessuh, an' a dime, a new dime, an' strain it wit hair from down heah, if dey kin git it, or eithah out de mole of 'is haid, an' dey sew dat up in a little piece of flannen rag an' put it in de bottom of dere foot an' wear it.
(What do they do that for?)
Dat's fo' tuh keep 'im controlled.
Entry 6143
(What else do they do with the hair?)
Well, yo' kin take it an' use it in anothah way. Dey kin take yore hair - dey git it in certain places.
(Where?)
In de mole of yore haid, or in de temple, or down below, an' dey kin wear dat hair in dey foot - de shoe. Put it in dey right shoe. Put it in a little thin piece of cloth, yo' know, flannen cloth an' wrap it, an' yo' git some of dis what chew call van-van an' wet it wit it. An' puts it in de bottom of yore shoe an' put a piece of newspapah on top of dat an' wear daily in yore shoe. Well, dat kinda runs yo' crazy 'bout 'em.
(Hakes you like the person?)
Makes yo' love 'em.
Entry 6267
Now, jes' lak if dey wanted yo' or loved yo' or somepin, dey would take yore hair an' put it - yo' know, jes' put it in a li'le bag or somepin - li'le ole red flannel or somepin lak dat, sew it up. Put cologne on it, jes' a li'le Hearts Cologne, an' keep it - jes' weah it, keep it. An' den dey take dere watah - yo' know, pee on it. Dat's whut dey tell me dey do wit dat.
(Why Would they do this?)
To make dem love yo'; yo' see, care fo' yo'.
Entry 6316
Well, dey kin git a-holt of a stran' of yuh hair an' wrap it up in a red flannen cloth, an' put a little red peppah in it, an' tie it up an' throw it in runnin' watah an' yo' goin' as dat - jis' long as hit run, why yo' gone.
Entry 6449
Well, dey could take yore toenails an' put 'em on a fire; parch 'em up an' make a powdah outa dem, see. Dey could take a frog, take dat frog an' put 'im in somepin where he can't git out, yo' see. Dey puts 'im on a fire an' parches 'im up tuh a powdah. Dey mixes dose two things tuhgethah, yo' undahstan'. An' aftah dey mix 'em tuhgeth- ah, den dey'll take 'em an' put 'em in a red flannel bag, a little small bag, an' dey will bury dem, see. When dey bury dem, it takes effect on yo' right away. Yo' git founded in yore feet. Yo' can't git about an' yore feet will begin tuh swell on yo'.
(I see.)
[Since I did not ask for the meaning of the preceding founded, I must have understood it as confounded in your feet (found being an obsolete form of con- found); or as fZoundered (flounder = stumble) or to stumble and go lame, as a horse.]
Entry 6468
They can take your toenails and fingahnails an' see, like mah nails mog, they could harm me purtty much for this simple reason. They're dirty. See, they are not all that much long, they are dirty. Well, they would take this nail and they would cut these nails as close as they poss'bly could with the dirt a'all into 'em. If they could get to my toes, they'd do my toes de same iden- tical way. Now, they take these nails here, an' mah toenails an' they'd put them together. If they could get a lizard, they'd take a lizard an' they'd kill the lizard an' let that lizard dry.
(They take a lizard and kill the lizard?)
They kill the lizard.
(Oh, they kill the lizard.)
An' let him dry - I mean, till he gets to a powder. When he gets to a pow- der, they mixes him with these nails of mine. They'd put that into a piece of red flannel and they buries that. AN' NOW, WHEN THEY BURIES THAT, THEY BURIES IT WITH A CROSS.
(What kind of a cross?)
THEY MAKES A CROSS THEYSELF. THEY DON'T VERY SELDOM BUY A CROSS. YOu know, ordinary, plain - just a plain cross, wooden cross; just any kind of a small cross you'll use, just since it's a cross. They buries it with a cross into that flannel. See? Well, now, when they buries that, why they got me just the Way they want me.
Entry 6469
[The two rites following explain each other:]
They say, kin get your fingernails. If you kin get a man's fingernails, or his toenails, or a piece of hair, you know, say, you get a piece of red flannen, I think, an' sew that up. An' you get chew a bottle of Hearts Cologne. An' I think you get that on the day when the moon's on the last quarter, I think. An' you fix that up and sew that up between nine and ten, an' make your wishes. An' then I think they wear that somewheres near the body, near the heart.
[Informant starts another hair rite:]
(I see. And what do they put in that bag? What would they put in that?)
Well, they's put in that a bag, it's some kind where they got their finger- nails and toenails or some of the hair where they - it's a kind of root they get dey call de Eve-and-Adam. See, those roots are twin roots together. They name one the man and the other one the woman. And then they keep it saturated, I think, in Hearts Cologne. They wear that near the body and make a wish for every stitch they make, sewing up that bag. They makes a wish. They make a bag an sews on it. They make a wish an' puts nine stitches each way [demonstrates]. (Nine stitches in the bag. This is a square bag, nine stitches on each side, nine stitches on each of the four sides of the square bag. I see. And that wish would get them, or something of that sort?) Yes, then they wear that near the heart. (That's different from the - adding that root? That's different from the first thing you told me?) Yes.
Entry 6479
Jis' lak a girl cut off a boy fingahnail, or toenail, eithah one. She'll take 'em home, yo' know, an' take a knife. She put 'em on de table an' chop 'em up fine, an' put 'em on de stove an' parch 'em, see. Well, dey tie 'em up in a red flannel an' tote dat in 'er pocket. Well, dat boy will love her long as she keep dat, see.
Entry 6713
[This case of witchcraft occurred near Leland, Brunswick Co. N. Car. It is not much of a story but the ingredients and cure are in- teresting. A doctor from Sumter, S. Car., cleared up the case by finding two packages, one buried at the front door and the other in the ground under the house and beneath the woman's bed. Each package contained 6 Adam-and-Eve roots, balls from devil's shoestring roots, running huckleberry vine roots, and 4 rusty nails, each package wrapped in red flannel. The root doctor burnt both packages.]
Entry 6867
So anyone won't hurt chew, git a piece of red flannel, pure flannel. See, git a piece of root. Ast fo' corkin' [porcupine?] vine root. Yo' evah hear of it? (Coffin vine? Corkin' [porcupine] vine.) Put dat an' put a dime, a silvah dime. See, put dat in dere an' put a li'le piece of asafitadee [asa- fetida] an' sews it up an' weahs it right dere [demonstrates] an' put a medal wit it, chew know, a St. Anthony [medal].
(Where do you wear that?)
No, sir, right dere.
(Right here on the front of your breastbone. Against your skin or?)
Right by yore meat. Yo' nevah git harmed. [The 4 preceding objects are sewed up into a red flannel bag, making a hand (see Pp.519-669), here a protective device to be worn about the neck. Suppose we analyze this hand: (1) The porcupine root I do not know, but it surely means a pointed article that will wound an intruder. Could this be a small piece of porcupine wood, the outer wood or the coconut palm with markings resembling por- cupine quills? Or have we here any root with quill-like projections. Similarly, years ago I had trouble with the identity of the alligator tree (mentioned some- where in Hoodoo), the sweet gum, so called because its bark supposedly imitates the hide of an alligator. In the present instance, however, we must remember that our informant is not a root digger, but buys this root from a hoodoo drug store or root seller. (2) The dime? This is the old silver dime, not the pre- sent [1973] dime of base metal. Hoodoo is filled with the miraculous powers of the old silver dime, any silver. (3) Asafetida? During my childhood, say 1902- 1910, and even before my time, many children wore a small piece of asafetida in a bag about the neck. This was to guard the wearer against communicable dis- eases. Actually We have here a bad smell to ward off witches. Why witches dis- like odious odors, excrement and urine for examples, I am unable to explain. (4) St. Anthony medal, a holy object, would be a useful addition to our hand. (5) Red flannel, the red alone symbolizes blood, life and power.]
Entry 7654
Well, ah hear'd dey say yo' kin take graveyard dirt - yo' kin take dat graveyard dirt - go down dere at night an' dig right ovah de heart of de grave. Den bring it back an' put it umdah de steps an' po' vhis- key on it fo' nine mawnin's. Den yo' go back dere an' yo' take dis dirt up an' put it in a piece of white flannel an' take de dirt an' bury it in de ground an' let it stay dere. After yo' take it up an' put whiskey on it an' put it undah de step in de groun'. An' if dere any- one [there] dat don' lak yo', dey can't stay dere. [Is whiskey on for 9 mornings a delayed payment for the graveyard dirt?]
Entry 7678
Go tuh de graveyard if yo' wanta do anything; in fac', if yo' want some money, or want yo' a good job. Yo' kin go tuh de graveyard an' yo' kin git chew some dirt from off de grave, but let it be a wicked person. Don't let it be a good person. Try an' let it be a wicked person yo' see. Yo' go dere tuh dat grave an' yo' digs down dere jes' about - well, jes' about a half a foot, an' yo' git some of dat dirt out of dere. Git chew jes' about three good han'fuls lak dat. Take dat on home wit chew. An' yo' take dat an' git chew some red peppah an' some salt an' sulphur an' yo' mix all dat up tuhgethah. Put a li'le bit of it in a piece of flannen cloth an' sew it up. Weah it in yore pocket. Evah mawnin' take a li'le bit 'fo' [before] yo' walk out: "By de help of God on mah journey, ah hope ah'll succeed." Put a li'le bit in de fiah. Evah mawnin', evah time yo' goin' off tuh transact business, yo' know, or anything lak dat, yo' do dat. But chew keep dat dust in yore pocket in dat red flannel. Keep dat in yore pocket an' evah mawnin' when yo' gwine off tuh business, anything yo' wanta 'tend tuh anything yo' vanta do, when yo' do dat it will be a success.
Entry 7842
Dey go tuh de graveyard an' dey git some dust. Dey go tuh de store an' dey buy a new pack of needles whut ain't be used. All right, dey take dose needles an' dey cross dose needles, an' den dey sews 'em up intuh a piece of red flan- nel. An' dey: make whut dey call a bag outa it, an' dat's fer good luck.
(How many needles do they cross?)
Two of 'em, jis' two needles. Dey cross 'em. When dey put dose two needles in dere, dey put's a piece of lodestone about so big [demonstrates] in dere wit it, see. Dat's fer good luck.
Entry 7863
Dey git graveyard dirt an' sew it up in a li'le piece of red flannen an' wet it fo' nine mawnin's wit Hearts Cologne an' weah it in yore pocket. Dat brings yo' luck in gamblin' an' on dese [playing] cards.
Entry 7952
I've heard though of taking nails from a coffir and wrapping it in red flan- nel, and give it to a person either for luck or ill luck, whichever you Wanted them to have. They sell them from twenty-five cents to a dollar.
Entry 8032
Git chew some Heart Cologne, git chew some black gunpowdah. Go tuh de graveyard an' go down dere as fer as yo' kin reach. If yo' kin reach de casket an' git a bone - jis' any bone yo' git - take it, specially a ole graveyard where de bones is awfully rotten. Git it an' make a dust [of it]. Jis' git bone enough tuh make a dust out of it. Make it kinda in a powdah. Go dere - [I mean] go back home an' put it in a flannel [cloth] an' weah it undah yuh left arm. Git chew a piece of blacksnake root dey calls it, git hit an' put it in yuh mouth. Chew it up. Aftah six days yo' dere, go tuh dis place where yo' wanta git dis job an' git tuh talkin' tuh dis fellah, an' evah now an' den yo' spit. An' he might herd joo off de firs' time, but de second time yo' go back dere an' yo' git a job.
(You wear this stuff under your arm?)
Yo' weahs it fo' six days, goes down tuh de office an' carries it on. Nevah take it off until nine days aftah yo' git chure job. (Don't take this away until you have been on the job for nine days. And then you don't have to wear it any more.)
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 8048
Yo' know what dat candle's fo'? (No.) Dat candle's fo' gamblin' purposes. (Well, how would you prepare any- thing of that sort?) Bell, if yo' kin git de bone of a dead person - de bes' thing dat yo' kin use from a dead person, if yo' kin git dat bridge of de nose, what's in a person here. If yo' would put it in... [I interrupt.]
(You mean the bridge of the nose?)
Yes, dat bridge in de nose. If yo' kin git dat an' take dat an' put it in, go tuh an' make a novena[!] ovah dat, an' burn two candles. (Well, after you get that bridge of the nose, where do you make that novena? In your home or in the church?) In yuh home.
(In your home. Then what do you do?)
Den yo' set two candles tuh burn.
(You mean two candles before, or near it, or what?)
Two candles ovah it - undah whatevah yo' got de candles in burnin', have it. Have whatevah yo' got de candles in big enough so dat de wax from de candle will rum right down in dat containah what it's settin' in. An' have dis bridge of de Dose undah dat containah. Yo' undahstan'? An' let dose two candles burn out ovah dat.
(What sort of candles do you use in a case of that sort?)
Yo' kin use two white candles.
(I see. All right, go ahead.)
An' yo' wrap dat bridge of de nose of dat person wit one piece of garlic. Divide it an' tie it aroun' de bridge of dat nose, an' sew it in red flannel. An' let dat person keep dat piece of - dat in dat pocket, an' when dey go tuh a gamblin' house, or any place tuh gamble, rub dat ovah dere hands an' den rub dere hands ovah dere face, an' put it back in dere pocket. An' dat's all dey've got mah do wit it.
(That's a gambling hand?)
It's a gamblin' hand.
(I see.)
Entry 8179
Well, if it's on a tintype, take an' turn it upside down [here head dowal in coal oil, takin' red flannel an' red di'mond an' buryin' dat photo, dat photograph upside down yo' see. Dey claim dat dat man aftah a certain length of time, he will git so yo' undahstand, his mind will nevah be stationary on one thing; he will nevah be satisfied at anything he do. See, anything dat he would do look lak, look lak he could do bettah, an' jes' keep 'im an' he'll go from bad tuh worse.
(This photo is buried, you put it in the ground?)
Upside down wit de haid down an' de feet up. Yeah, but it cain't be done unless it's on a tintype.
(And you put this coal oil on it?)
Coal oil, kerosene oil, yeah, an' red di'mond.
(What is red diamond?)
Dat de same thing as de blue diamond an' de blue di'mond an' de red di'mond. It's some kinda thing, yo' git at de drug sto'. It's a kinda powdah.
Entry 8542
I will.
(All right.)
Well, the things that have been used to do such things as that is take a couple of things what is called bluestone, brown sugar, write the name of a per- son nine times on a piece of paper, wrap that to- gether. If by any chance you can hide or bury that under the steps of that person, sort of in a position where it can face with the name reading from east to west, where the sun rise and go down, place it under the steps of the people and face it from east to west. And you then will be able to take a power over them people by using that in that way.
(I mean just what kind of power do you want to have over them?)
A power, the person not being [stationary] at no certain place, and the per- son not being able to stop as long as you have that stuff under his steps that they lives in. But wrap it in red flannel.
(I see. Will that make them move or it just gives you the power over them?)
Give you the power over them that will keep them on the move.
(Oh, I see.)
Entry 8826
Lak if yo' write a lettah tuh someone an' dey git chure han'writin' or dey know yore han'writin', dey take dis han'writin' - take dis lettah an' cut each cornahs off it. Jes' lak yo' got a sheet of lettah an' yo' cut each cornahs off of it, an' take it an' fold it up intuh fo' parts, take an' fold it up dis Way. Den yo' take it - lak if she Wanted 'er husban' tuh come back tuh 'er. Den she take dis lettah aftah she fold it up - aftah 'er sonthly come on her - an' she take some of 'er monthly an' she take a small piece of flannel rag, an' tie it up in dat small flannel rag. Fold dat lettah, fold dat lettah fo' times, an' 'er monthlies in dis li'le flannel rag, an' den she take dat an' she weah it. Aftah she take an' fold it up, den she weahs it tuh 'er navel down heah - dis side of 'er navel.
[The navel is not meant, see later.]
(Which side?)
On 'er left side. An' den aftah she do dat, she weah it so many days. An' ah heahs women says, aftah she weahs it so many days, dey guarantee dat he will come back tuh dem, don't ca' where he's at, if he in New Yawk or anywhere. It will take effect on 'em an' dey come back. (Show me how that letter is folded with that piece of paper now? First, they tear the corners off, you say?) Dat's right, teah de cornahs. Den she take dis flannel rag an' 'er ministrate an' she put dat right in de centah of dat, an' she take it an' she fold it lak dat [demonstrates].
(She folds one corner to the opposite corner?)
Yessuh. (She folds every corner to the opposite corner, making a triangle. All right. Like making a little hat that you would wear.) Yes.
(Then she wears that right between her legs.)
Dat's it.
Entry 8985
Yo' take beef tongue an' dries it. Yo' make a dust out of dat, under- stand. Yo' take that an' dries it. Yo' take it - just like yo' take it an' lay it, let it just wither up. Hang it so it wither up, yo' see. Well, yo' take it, yo' take blood of dragon - dragon's blood. Yo' take lodestone. Yo' take that an' grind it up. An' yo' takes a piece of red flannel an' yo' puts them in there an' makes yo' a bag out of that. An' yo' sew it up an' yo' tote it in your pocket. He always be's lucky an' successful man, never being bothered or worried or caught up when he's out walking around. See, he ain't got no job or nothing, he's out hustling for his living. Laws and things don't pick him up an' ask him a lot of questions or any- thing. If they ask him, all he's got to do is to tell him, why he's goin' tend- ing to his business, an' they let's him go.
Entry 9434
Yo'll take dat chicken aig, de red[!] of de aig. An' den yo'll git chew three needles, new-bran' [brand-new] needles, an' yo' run it through dat, de red of de aig. An' yo' wrap it wit red flannen an' den throw it ovahbo'd. Well, it don' kill yo', jis' make yo' wandah - wandah aroun'.
(How do you know that you have the right person?)
Oh! well, yo' go tuh work an' pick up de right person through a card [having fortune told by cards]. Write de name of de person on de aig.
(On the outside of the egg, before you break it and get the yellow?)
Yeah, yeah, git dere name an' jes' write it - write dere name. [These 3 new needles, symbolizing the 3 Holy Names are here worked through yolk taken from egg, but I now believe the yolk was left in the egg and the needles worked through the shell and crossed inside - see No.9272, p.3736.]
Entry 9630
Yo' kin take some salt an' some sulphuh an' some red peppah an' tote it in yuh pocket in a piece of red flannel an' can't nobody hurtcha [hurt you].
Entry 9661
Heard talk of 'em usin' needles an' pins [omits pins later] an' red flannel an' cologne an' salt. Supposed tuh be nine needles. Yo' use dat. Well, I could take it, say fer in- stance, an' stick it in your bed an' whoever lays down dere, well de needles don' have tuh touch 'em, but yo'll feel jis' lak lots of needles an' pins is stickin' in yuh.
(You say nine needles. How many pins do you put in that?)
No. Well, ah nevah seen 'em use no pins, jis' only nine needles.
(Nine needles and what else?)
Den use a piece of red flannel an' nine drops of cologne an' a little salt. Jes' take a spinch of salt in yuh fingahs an' wrap it up in dat red flannel. Put it anywhere aroun' yuh baid. De needles don't have tuh touch yuh, but yo' feel de needles stickin' in yuh.
(You feel these pains.)
Entry 9754
A man an' a woman had a fuss an' got mad. An' dey'd fuss an' dey'd fuss, an' fuss an' fuss. An' dey come say whut dey goin' do. He say, "Yes, ah will take somepin an' ah'll put it round mah do'step, guess she'll be hoppin'. Okay. So, aftah he [he now changed to she] put it down, she got onto it - undah- stood it. She says, "Well, it's a two-handed game. It's jes' as much fo' me as it is fo' her. So now de first one gits de mos' of it, be de first one tuh go doon." So she goes an' she gits nine nails an' nine needles an' nine pins, an' she pat it in a red flannel rag, an' she put it undah de do'step an' let it stay dere nine mawnin's. An' de nine mawnin's, dis woman she passed by dis house an' she goes - jes' lak ah wuz walkin' 'long de street chew know, jes' lak ah wuz goin'aftah sompin, she passed right on by. So she goes off where she wuz goin' an' she turned off an' come back an' she went on home. So she laid down fo' a spell fo' a rest. When she went tuh git up, she couldn't git up. That wuz the last of dat. So dat stayed dat way fo' awhile. So she commence tuh study herself an' she says, "Ah think someone musta done opin tuh me." Says, "Ah feel very peculiah an' don't feel lak ah should feel lak dis. Ah ain't hurt nowhere, ah jes' can't use dis laig. Jes' weak in dis laig." Says, "Ah believe ah'll be smart if ah go someplace. So she goes somewhere to try tuh git relief. So she went [to a hoodoo doctor Gbo told her what had happened, the substance of this present rite]. So de man jes', he jes' kept right on tellin' stories, kept right on tellin' stories. He aoaldn't do nuthin fo' 'er. Finally she died.
Entry 9797
Yo' take needles an' pin 'em in a flannel rag, an' it must be needles dat have nevah been used, an' yo' wrap dem in a angle an' fold'em in a angle, an' dat brings a lotta trouble. (How many needles did you say?) Three. See, yo' stick dem through de flannel lak dat [demonstrates], chew know, an' den lak dat.
(Like the spokes of a wheel?) [See diagram in preceding rite.]
Yeah. Den yo' wraps dem up an' yo' buries 'em.
(Where do you bury them?)
Undah de steps.
Entry 9825
[That] create dissatisfaction in a man's home. They kin take and bot- tle them. Take so many pins and so many needles - about nine [each] - so it's a odd number. You put them pins and needles, stick them through a piece of flannel. Roll 'em up and drop 'em in a bag. Well, natchly in pass- ing in de house, in and out, if you kin get some of de dust that they sweep up off the floor, yo' puts that in that bottle too. And as long as you keep it, why it causes a great dissatisfaction in the home, so as to completely break it up. It's never known but dey use them needles and pins that way to cause dis- satisfaction in the home.
Entry 9828
Yo' take de needles an' yo' git chew nine new needles an' yo' take yore bag, a li'l piece outa red flannen [flannel]. An' yo' take dis red flannen an' sew it jis' lak a li'l bag. Well, anythin' of 'is soiled clothes, whut he sweats, somepin nex' tuh 'is flesh. Well, yo' put dat in dis bag. An' now yo' take dose nine needles. Turn all de p'ints tuhgethah. Well, it's lak if ah know yo' room heah [in the home where I was interviewing]. Well, ah'll come roun' an' put dis heah anywhere inside. If dis is yore room, ah come an' put it in yore room, undah de room - yo' know, bury it. [In the South small lowland houses are built off the ground.] Well, [as] long as yo' stay dere - well, yo' not goin' stay dere much longah becuz, yo' know, when dose needles begin - yo' know, any needles dat's in de groun' where it's kinda wet, it's goin' tuh soon rust. Well, when dey rust, yo' gonna git gone.
Entry 9837
Why ah heard dat chew git needles an' yo' git a piece of red flannel. An' yo' take nine needles an' fold dat flannel. Take nine needles, stick five dis way an' fo' de nex' [opposite] way. Den yo' git Heart Cologne an' wet dat an' sew dat up in somepin. Place it anywhere an' dere will be confusion in your house from den until yo' move.
Entry 9850
Take de needles an' dey cross 'im lak dat.
(How many do you take?)
Twelve. Cross 'em lak dat. An' den dey takes dat piece of red flannen an' dey put it aroun' dem an' den dey dresses dat. Yo' see yo' gotta have one of dose needles points jis' lak dat [demonstrates], one dat way, an' one dis way - flannen aroun' dem. Yo' have 'em all de points out an' de haids out, de same way. (How do you dress that?) Well, yo' use Love Powdah, Hearts Cologne an' dis heah Cashmere Boquet; dose three things whut chew dress it wit. (Well, what did you make this thing for?) Well, yo' kin - jis' eithah way; if yo' wanta make a woman love yo', or wanta make it tuh make a woman stay away from yuh.
(Well, how would you use it if you wanted her to love you?)
Well, yo' puts eight of dem points one way an' fo' de othah way. An' den yo' take dat an' weah it right nex' tuh yore skin, right on yuh heart. But chew can't let nobody put dere han's on it. [Here is one of the fundamental laws of hoodoo, never let anyone touch your hand; its power for you will disappear.]
(And then if you don't want her, do you do something else with it?)
Yes sir, yo' change 'em. Instead of havin' fo' one way, yo'll have five one way an' seven de othah way.
(Then what do you do with that?)
Well, dat's fo' huh tuh stay away from yuh.
(Where will you wear that, then?)
When yo' wan' dem tuh stay away from yo'? Well, yo' weah it right in yub chest here, right in de middle of yuh chest. If yo' [want] her tuh love yuh, yuh weah it right ovah yore heart.
Entry 9988
Live frog, rabbit foot, lodestone, steel dust, red pep- per - in red flannel bag. Frog is put in alive.
Entry 10141
Dey go down an' take a black cat an' take an' boil 'im. Take him down side of a creek an' boil 'im. Boil 'im all tuh pieces an' take his bones out an' throw 'im intuh three streams of watah. (You throw these bones into three streams of water?) Yessuh, throw 'em in intuh three streams of watah an' de third bone dat come up tuh de top, an' yo' take dat third bone. Yo' take dat bone an' carry an' take it an' have it beat up, jes' groun' up lak yo' would shavin' somepin othah. Aftah dat, yo' take peppah an' take salt, an' yo' does dat way [sprinkles] ovah it fo' ten times. Den yo' take dat an' put it in a red flannel rag. Aftah yo' take dat red flannel rag an' put it [this mixture] in dat. den yo' take it an' tote it in yore Watch pocket al] de time. If yo' decide tuh gamble, yo' take it out chure watch pocket an' put it in de pocket where yo's money's in. Dat's lucky.
(That's lucky in gambling?)
Yes.
Entry 10144
Black cat ashes [surely a preparation sald by a hoodoo dealer!], left hind foot of rabbit.9 claws from rabbit. 9 needle points, 9 pin points, all in red flannel bag, which is fed with Jocley Clob per fe. Wear when gambling.
Entry 10237
He wus a married man, she wanted him. All right. She goes to this here ole lady, this ole lady in Chattanooga, Tenn., called Aunt Dinah. Eberbody in Chattanooga - you can call her name from here and eberbody - you can ast de co'thouse about her, jes' ast anybody. Jes' call de co'tenhouse [because her special- ity was court cases] and ast any- thing about Aunt Dinah, an' you'll git hist'ry of her from right here today. She goes to Aunt Dinah. Aunt Dinah says, "Well, kin you go to sleep with him?" She says, "Yes." "Can you have dealings with him?" She said, "Yes." She says, "You take a string, and when you have dealings with him, ' she says, "you measure around him." When she measured this man around here, she carries that to Aunt Dinah. Aunt Dinah takes that and she buried it in graveyard dirt. And after she let it stay in graveyard dirt two day, she told her to carry it back. She wrapped it up in red flannel and put old sharp needles, points stickin' straight up, and [said]: "Carry that back and sew it up in your bedtick. Put it on the side where he's got to sleep; and as long as that is in your tick, that man will stay with you and he'll quit his wife."
Entry 10551
An' yo' could take a leather-wing bat an' kill 'im, yo' know. While he's live, take his heart out befo' he die good. An' tie it up in a red piece of flannen an' tie it undah yore right arm. An' yo'll be lucky in anything yo' wanta do. Yo'll be successful in it.
Entry 10567
Yo' gits a leather-[wing] bat an' yo' gits his heart an' yo' sew it up into a red flannel. An' gits a small piece of rock sulphur an' put it [in the flannel] together. Feed that, gi' [give] to 'em. Tell 'em [I am to tell my patient or client] while he losin', totes it in his left pocket so he kin lose. Well, when he lose as much as he wanta, change it ovah in his right pocket an' gamble right on an' he'll win.
Entry 10568
Yo' could take a leather- wing bat an' gut him alive, an' take his heart an' sew it up in a piece of red flannen, an' it vill make yo' successful in games of all kinds. Jes' while he 'live, cut him open 'live an' take his heart while it's bleedin', an' tie it up in a piece of - put it in a piece of red flannel an' it will make yo' successful in games.
Entry 10592
Yo' go an' yo' ketch yo' a leather-wing bat an' yo' cut him open while he's alive an' yo' take his heart out. Yo' take red silk thread an' red flannel, yo' know, tie it up wit dat. An' yo' use Heart Cologne on it an' yo' always be lucky. Dat's right.
Entry 10593
When yo' first ketch him, yo' cut him open an' git his heart an' have yo' a sharp - sompin lak a ice pick an' place dat straight through de center of his heart. Take yo' a red piece of ribbon or string an' run it through dat - tie dat an' den yo' put it in a red piece of flannen an' say yore prayers ovah dat - aftah yo' say yore prayers ovah dat, yo' use de lodestone with it. Dat's fo' gamblin'.
Entry 10595
You take the bat's heart, you understand. That's supposed to be luck. Take the heart from the bat before he is dead. Over that Jockey Club perfume wit Blue Di'mond, git from the pharmacy; it's a lickrish [liquid]. Saturate it, you see. Sew it up in a piece of red flannel, you see, with some steel dust. Well, if you are a gambling man, that will make you lucky.
Entry 10599
Gamblers carry it. Dey git dat wing, dat leather-wing an' dey sew it up in red flannel an' tote hit. It make 'em lucky in winnin' in a skin game, gamblin'. (Do they sew the whole bat up, do you say?) No sir, jest de wing, de leather- wing. Yo' knows dem bats dey ketch dat got de leather-wing. Dey git de leather-wing, de right wing. Jes' de right ging an' sew it up in red flannen an' dey tote it, says it lucky fo' [skin or skin game].
(Only the right wing is leather. The left wing isn't leather then?)
[What prompted that question!]
Ah don't know but dey says tuh git de right one.
Entry 10601
[This is the only rite in HOODOO where informant pretends I am the proprietor of a gambling house. Several of these pretenses elsewhere in these volumes I have called my being a guinea pig; a willing one, if it produced a hoodoo rite.] You can take a bat and take and kill a bat. You can take the wing, you bury the wings. Just like if this is a house where you going to gamble at, you bury one wing on this side of the house, one wing on that side of the house. You take that backbone of that bat and you get you some emory dust, you get you some Hearts perfume [has a number of small red hearts on label] and you get the name of the man that's running that place.
(You mean that gambling landlord.)
Like you is the proprietor, I'll get your name.] I'll put all of that together and wrap it in a flannel, and I'll put that in my house. See.
(Not in the gambling house, but in your own house?)
In my house, and as long as I'm got control of that thing, I kin control that gambling house. I'll be winning. I may go in there and lose a dollar and a half today, lose a dollar and a half this evening. I'd go back there tonight [or to- morrow] and I would win.
(I see.)
Entry 10604
I've heard, once upon a time that if yo' - dere's an old sayin', I seen it established in a book once, that if yo' wants tuh have good luck in gaml bling, is to git a leather-wing bat, wrap it into a piece of flannel an' tie it round yore waist. (They take the whole bat and tie it around the wrist.) No, the heart of the bat. (What was the name of the book?) Well, this book is related to - handing out from a doctor. Ah don't know the name since - it's right help- ful literature. [St. Petersburg, Fla., (983), 1590:3.] [The title of this long division comes from one of the activities of a Jack or Smruel or any name you want to call this personal and living fetish - a divination devise fully described by my MOJO ExPERT on page 1254, one of the great pages of EOODOO. Do not confuse this spirit object with the impersonal ouija and planch- ette, which spell out answers to anyone. Jack belongs to and works for its owner only. Jack can have any shape. Years ago somewhere in HOODOO a man's Jack to find cunjure was a child's mechanical toy! Our Jack here is ball-shaped - hence called Jack-ball - held up in the air by a string. Our operator addresses it as Sqmuel. Any name could be used. The present Jack-ball answers questions by cer- tain movements: trembling, standing still, swinging back and forth, weaving, and hirling in a circle. This latter movement, called channel de world, describes the contents within, a little of everything - a final catch-all. Therefore, inl stead of our former sections and subsections, the following material has been ar- ranged alphabetically, beginning with the letter A and word ABORTION.]
Entry 10618
Eve-and-Adam root... (Yes, Eve-and-Adam.) [same as Adam-and-Eve.] Eve-and-Adam root. You get a male and female, and you take 'em an' put 'em on top like dat [demonstrates] of each other.
(One on top of the other.)
[Somewhere in HOODOO this is done with wax figures. Candles?]
And if a woman wants her husband bound to her, put it in a new piece of flan- nel and sew it to a new piece, and wear it around her waist with that hanging down in front, and she can content her husband whensomever she want.
(You mean, hanging down in the front?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 10633
Git a piece of alum an' a piece of saltpeter an' sew it up in a little Nammen rag together, an' dey tell me dat'll make yo' lucky - lucky in gambling. Tote it in yore pocket. [After machine turned off informant adds with Hearts Cologne.] Yes sir.
Entry 10674
Asafetida in red flannel [bag, or hand or mojo]. Urinate on that [from time to time to feed it, give it power]. Keep it. Lucky in gambling.
Entry 10855
If yo' wanted tuh git a job or sompin lak dat, git chew some dis heah pinewood honey. It's sompin dat grows on a tree, but chew gotta find dat. It's in different kind of cypress called swampy ground, an' low ground, jes' pinewood honey - pinewood honey.
(Is that the name of the tree?)
No, dat's de name of de stuff whut comes off de tree. Dey call it pinewood honey. It's a certain time of month dat chew kin git dis heah offa any tree, but it's dark sompin lak tar. But when de sap is in de tree [stops talking].
(The stuff that the children used to chew?)
Dat's it, but when de sap is in de tree.
(That thick sap that the children used to chew? They call it pinewood honey?)
Pinewood honey. An' yo' use dis pinewood honey an' yo' kin carry it in yore pocket. An' git chew some dis heah cinnamon powder an' burn it an' place it ovah dis heah [pinewood honey] an' wrap dat in red flannel an' wears it about chew, when yo' goes about dere [place of business] an' ast him fo' a job.
(Where do you burn this, in your own house?)
Uhmmuh. (But you have this pinewood honey in your pocket when you go to ask for a job?) Yeah, but chew gotta have dat pinewood honey an' de cinnamon. Yo' gotta burn dis cinnamon, burn it by itself an' den aftah it browns, see, sprinkle it ovah dis pinewood honey. See, an' den put it in a bag an' carry it in yore pocket, jes' lak de [they] call de [the] tobies [the singular is toby, the same name as the jug] whut people use.
(This is a toby?)
Uh-huh. Dey call 'em tobies an' han's.
Entry 10895
He cat hair, she dog hair, make man and woman love each other; tie them [their] hairs together, put urine and Hearts Cologne on, wrap in red flannel, wrap to you. At each wrap, wish. Wrap 9 times. At each wrap wish: "I'm tying my head and your heart together etc." Choose light or dark shade of Hearts Cologne [here Hearts Powder, box with hearts on outside and several shades mentioned] as near color of person [man] as possible.
Entry 10966
If yo' livin' in a house an' ah want chew tuh move, yo' [I] git a black hen's aig an' let it be fresh, an' go to a ole cow lot an' git some fresh cow manure. An' wrap it in a piece of red flannel cloth an' wrap it tight an' tie it with three white strings. (Just how do you tie that with three white strings?) Take yore aig an' put it [manure] all ovah it an' wrap it. When yo' wrap it up in de center, always turn it to yo'. Don't turn it from yo', turn it to yo' and fold it up, an' den git chew three white strings - oh, about dat long [demonstrates].
(Several feet long.)
An' wrap it to yo'. Den wrap it round dis way. Den yo' take dat aig...
(You make a little parcel out of it?)
Yes. (You wrap it one way and then turn around and wrap it the other way, always wrapping it to you.) An' den yo' take dat aig an' go tuh a runnin' stream of watah an' put dat aig right down in dat watah, an' leave it, an' jes' de same as dat watah wash dat aig away, it'll wash yo' from where yo' are. (Well, now what connection has that egg with me? Has it some connection with me?) [The connection I wanted expressed was that the informant was trying to send me away. The rite is legitimate as it stands.] De connection ah don't know, but ah'm jes' tellin' yo' whut ah heard.
(This will make them move out of the house, make them move out of town?)
Yessuh.
Entry 11107
Yo' git whut de' call three clover leaf.
(One three-clover leaf or three different leaves?)
One leaf but three different leaves on it. It's all in one - three clover leaves. All right, chew name dose leaves de days yo' goin' tuh see yore boss an' use de same perfume on it - Hearts Perfume - use dat on it, an' tie that up in a red flannel with a needle, and put a little ashes an' salt, an' dat'll give yo' - use dat fo' luck. Ah have done it. (When you go before the boss to give you a job?) Yes sir, ah wus three days in gittin' a job, yo' see. Yo' see yo' name it de days yo' go. [If you go for a job on Monday, name the hand Monday. "Monday, I want you to get this job for me today, etc."]
Entry 11673
Say yo' kin go to de fo'ks of de road an' take, yo' know, dat crossin' sand. [sand from crossroad used in crossing person]. An' go an' git 'im, say, a box about foah inches square. An' git a piece of flannen cloth. An jest lak it wus me, dey take mah name [write it] and [write] whatsomevah dey wanta do tuh me; lak dey wanta kill me or wanta lingah me. Dey kin take dat an' read de 35th Psalm fo' nine days at sunrise, an' [while reading it] turn yore haid to de sunrise, an' dey kin kill yo'. (What would they do with all these things in that box? You didn't tell me vhat they did with those.) Well, dey would jest go an' dey would take dat crossing sand [sand from cross- road] yore name, yo' understand, an' dat jest be closed up [in the box]. Yo understand me. Go out an' put dat ingredients in deah. It's a dragon's blood dat chew kin git - dragon's blood - put it in dere. An' put dat box back to- gether, yo' know, jest like yo' kin use dat sand an' dat dragon's blood an yore name an' read dat - yo' understand, dat 35th Psalm.
(Where do you put that box then?)
Well, yo' jest place it most anywhere about in de house, ain't got no certain place.
Entry 11686
Yo' go out dere 'fore day in de mawnin' an' git a twig offa tree at de fo'ks of de road an' use it. Yo' kin use it fo' luck, fo' bad luck, an' dey use it with dis red flannel. Ah 'magine yo' seen red flannel. Yo' use red flan- nel. An' git chew a twig while de sap is in it, but chew cain't git it when it's dry, at de fo'ks of de road. Dat cause people tuh has spells, fallin' outa beds, agony in de haid, agony in de feet, athaletics feets an' all lak dat. (What do you do with this twig? How do they work that?) Well, yo' git chew a piece of red flannel an' git chew some turpentine an' asafetidy an' boil it all tuhgethah in 'bout, jes' say 'bout a cup of watah an strain it an' po' all dat drugs [dregs], let say yo' has drugs tuh it, an' strain it through dat red flannel. An' aftah yo've strained it through de red flannel, den yo' use only de watah, understan'. Set dis watah in a dark place in a closet an' keep dis twig in dis red flannel wrapped. Yo' kin weah dis roun' yore neck fo' luck fo' yo'self. An' de watah fo' bad luck yo' kin sprinkle around a person's do'steps tuh cause 'em tuh move. If yo' wanta sprinkle it fo' luck, if yo' Wanta sprinkle it, yo' kin sprinkle it tuh cause 'em tuh move. Yo' kin sprinkle it fo' a person dat's sick, tuh make 'em have iller health. Yo' kin sprinkle it where a person is sick, tuh make 'em have bettah health; accordin' tuh whut chew magic' but chew gotta git it from de fo'ks of de road 'fore day in de mawnin'.
Entry 11712
Well, garlic's for luck for skinning.
(For what?)
Any kind of card games. You take garlic and antiphigestin. They have a' 'nointment, a salve-like they calls aniphigestine. People use it for sores. Well, you take garlic - take those little buttons of garlic - take one of 'em and cut it up into nine pieces. (Nine pieces.) Nine pieces of it. Take this - a whole tube of anamjestine... (Ana - anamajestine?) Anamajestine. Yes, sir. (All right.) Then you take it and wrap it up in a nice clean ohite cloth - just so the cloth is nice and clean. Then you take and take a piece of white - red flannel and wrap it up in that. And take this stove coal - hard, hard, you know, and beat it up just like a powder.
(Black coal?)
Black coal, yes, sir. And take some vinegar and put this coal in some vinegar, nalf a glass of vinegar. And put about a teaspoonful of that coal dust in that and steel dust - a small amount of steel dust. And put it on and boil it down i real low. And then you take and soak that garlic and anamajestine in it. That akes a toby.
(What's a toby?)
For cards - that tells you when your cards is on the table, when to turn 'em D. Tell you when to set.
(How will it tell you that?)
Well, when it's....it'll jump in your pocket.
(Do what?)
It'll jump.
(It'll jump to tell you to do that.)
Entry 12057
In case if sometime a man an' wife is confused, yo' know, lak some confusion in de family. Some kinda dissatisfaction an' wanta bring peace an' harmony, den if yo' kin git a lock of de man's hair or a lock of de woman's hair, an' go tuh de graveyard an' git some graveyard dust. An' den git some of de dust of dere insteps of dey individuals' feet, see.
(Where they walk in the ground, their track?)
Yes, whether dey bared feet or whether dey have on shoes, jes' so it's from de instep of dey feet. An' dey git some sulphur an' some brimstone an' mix all up. Beat dat brimstone tuhgethah fine an' mix all dose tuhgethah. Sew it up intuh a flannen rag - cloth. Sew it up good an' tight, an' yo' kin drop a few drops of camphor; dat's tuh keep it alive, quicken it. An' jes put dat roun' de do'step, bury it two or three inches in de earth. An' dat'll bring peace in de home.
Entry 12133
Heard of 'em usin' a hawk's right foot. Well, yo' take de hawk's right foot, de one dat carryin' a claw [what the other one did I forgot to ask!]. Got a claw like a rooster have on his feet. Yo' take dat foot an' yo' take an' wrap it in a piece of flan- nel cloth wit sulphur an' den wit peppah an' salt mixed [3 ingredients]. Well, dat's fo' good luck in gamblin' an' things lak dat. An' ag'in dey takes de bird [hawk's] head or snake head. Take snake head an' beat it up into a powder an' dat will cripple someone, because ah wus crippled once on dat mahself.
(Just how would that cripple them?)
Dat will cause snakes an' things in dem - sompin of that kind.
Entry 12204
Ah've heard about horseshoe nails. Dey tell me yo' git nine horse- shoe nails dat's mighty good luck. But de way ah've heard about de nine horse- shoe nails, yo' take them nine horseshoe nails an' wrap them up in a piece of flannel cloth. Jes' have de head this way heah, jes' change 'em disaway [informant demonstrates].
(You put one head one way and one the other.)
Yes sir. An' then yo' - after yo' put a piece of cord, yo' tie it tight. An' dey say yo' keep dat in yore house. That's mighty good luck in yore home.
Entry 12228
Wal, yo' kin git dat John de Conker, called de King of de World. Ah've tried dat an' dat's not so good. Wal, yo' take it when yo' git it an' git chew a piece of red flannen, see, an' sew dat up in a piece of red flannen. (Sew this John de Conkah up in this red flannel.) Dat's right an' den git chew some Hearts Perfume [bottle has 2 or more small red hearts on label] an' put chew 9 drops on dere. An' put chew twelve pins in dat, see, right out a bran'-new package of pins. Wear it in yore left pocket every day yo' go. An' in a cer- tain length of time, dat odor - yo' has to perfume it ovah ag'in - dat means every 3 weeks. It'll work fo' yo', too. Ah've tried dat.
(What do you wear this little bag for? What is that supposed to do?)
Well, dat's to keep yore enemies away from yo'. An' if yo' wanta start any business, yo' have success an' good luck after dat - no cops to bother, nuthin atall [at all]. Dey might come to yore place but when dey come to de place dey'll sit down an' talk with yuh.
Entry 12229
They says to have luck: well you know you kin take a piece of lode- stone. You kin take a lodestone an' git choo piece of'High John de Conkah root. An' yo' kin take dat an' put it in a piece of red flannin [flannel], an' take an' sew it up. An' git choo some perfume an' pour it over there. An' you'll have good luck in any games you go in. You will win. That's to draw luck - lodestone would. Jis' bathe [usually feed] it [with the perfume] say about 3 times a week to keep it kin'a mossted [moist]. An' that lodestone will grow. See, that would grow...jis' as long as you keep [feeding it] the larger it be. An' as it grow, little hairs will come out, little teenny hairs. Yo' kin see 'em comin' out. It's a lodestone, look jis' lfke a piece of coal [several places in HOODOO this is called black lodestone]. But only them hairs...an' they will move too. You could take a piece of that an' lay it on this table [between us] in one place, an' then you go back about a half an hour after, it'd be done moved.
Entry 12230
They take that gunpowder and John de Conkah an' put all that together and yo' wrap that all up in a jōhmō, jōmōh in a red piece of flannen an' yo' take that then and yo' git chew some Hearts Cologne and yo' water [feed] 'er nine days, nine mawnin's... (You water [feed] it?) Yes suh. Give it dat Hearts Cologne on it fer 9 mawnin's, and on [after] de 9 mawnin's if there don' be a change, on the ninth mawnin', you throw it away.
(What do you do this for?)
Dey say if anybody trying to do anything to you, that thing will fix [hoodoo] 'em. It will bring them to you.
Entry 12232
Git you White John de Conkah root - piece of white - piece of white root and it's hard. [Only time I ever heard of white!] You take a knife or hatchet or somepin and cut it. And you put it in your mouth and whilst you goin' round to dose person where you wants a job, you talk to 'um, but you kinda spit real fine and let it get on dere clothes.
(Spit?)
Yes.
[I turn off recording machine but soon restart it.]
(To help you with this, to get that job, you get some lodestone.)
Get some lodestone. You get dat lodestone and put it in de red flannel and you ties it up with a ten cent piece [a silver dime] and needle point. When [then] you wear dat in de pocket separate from anything where no tobacco or noth- in' kin git with it, if you have to make you a little pocket [bag] you just wear it with dat, and you - de person you go to 'em and talk to 'em with dat, why you'll finally draw dere attention and you'll get de job.
Entry 12234
If you is gambling and you wants luck, well you'll git you some steel dust. See. You git you a dime - a silver dime. Git that dime and you put it in a piece of flannel, and you take it and you git a piece of John de Conkah root. See, that John de Conkah root. You takes all that and you put it down in there. Steel dust, and then you get you some of that cinnamon powder. You understand. And you takes that down [from shelf] and put it in there, and then you git you some Van- van. You ever heard of that. Or some good Jockey Club Perfume. And you put it [flannel package or hand] in your pocket. See, that steel dust draws. Then you put it in your pocket and every time you wants to gamble with somebody, you take it and rub it like that in your hand. You see. Take it and rub it in your hand but don't let 'em see you. And whatever you doing, you going to be lucky.
Entry 12238
Git a piece of lodestone an' a piece of John de Conkah root an' a piece of Eve-an'-Adam root [Adam and Eve] root an' sew it up in a red piece of flannel an' wear dat. Dat's fo' luck an' jobs.
Entry 12240
I would get me a snakeroot and I would put that in a piece of red flannel, and I would put that in my pocket, and I would get me a he John de Conkah, and I would take it and chew it, and I would spit it, just like I spit on this Way [demon- strates] on this side of him, and I would spit it in front of him, and I would ask him for a job. [A "he" John de Conkah is rare, this may be the only one. Is there also a "she?"]
Entry 12299
You can take lemons. Well, that makes you - if you going up the street right now and you got a big transaction on with a person. You take a lemon, just take a lemon and take all the peeling off the lemon. Don't break the white part of that lem- on. See, just take all that yellow peel off the lemon and take that lemon and sew it up. Rub it over good. Just rub it over good in your pockets in your hands. And ball that lemon up and put it in your inside coat pocket. Wrap it up in pure white paper with no marks or nothing on it - pure white paper. Wrap that lemon up. And on your Way down [to business transaction] just take the lemon and pass it through your hands, rub it over your hands good and put it in your inside [pocket]. Wear it on your right side, in your inside coat pocket, or your right side of your right pants pocket. But if you peel that lemon and break that white - that white skin on the inside of that yellow skin - well that lemon is no good to you. Get you a lemon and don't break that skin. Peel it off careful, but don't break through it so the juice will run off. But take that yellow peel off the outside and wrap that lemon up. Wipe that lemon off good with sugar. Rub it over good with sugar and wrap it up good in a piece of red flannel and rub it through your hands. And when you go there [place of business transaction] go in the lavatory or any private place and take that lemon out of that flannel again and rub it. Or take plain white paper. If you don't use red flannel, use plain white paper. Don't use no paper with no marks or nothing on it. No yellow or no colored paper at all. If you don't use white paper, get you a piece of red flannel and wrap it in there and go down the street with it. And as you go to the lavatory take that flannel or that paper off and just rub it over your hand again - before you go on with any business transaction - with the lemon. (What do you go and do that in the lavatory for?) [Informant has me going around in circles!] Well, you just freshen your hands up. Freshen your hands up with this. Con- tinually rub your hands, keep awashing that lemon against your hands.
(Well, what do you do that for?)
Well, that gives you a power over the man that you got a business deal with.
(Oh! I see. You do that until you get his....)
Keep awashing that lemon on your hands - like you get - like you know, you going to the next corner here, and you coming to the place, or you are in a bar, or any private place.
(You do it in secret so he can't see you.)
Yeah, you just do it in secret - just any place for secrecy. That's all.
Entry 12343
Tuh git a job, yo' jis' have tuh dress yo'self an' ah tell yo' jis' whut chew have tuh do. Yo' have tuh dress yo'self wit lodestone an' quicksilvah an' Jockey Club Perfume - both togethah. Ah tell yo' jis' how yo' do now. Yo' git chew a red piece of flannel aftah yo' beat it all up dere to- gethah. Git chew a red piece of flannel an' den take a thread outa yore sock. See, jis' lak yo' got a pair of socks, but let it be a pair of socks yo' done worn amn' take a thread from dat sock an' tie it aroun' dis, an' den befo' yo' go in dere, yo' know, yo' kin'a run yore han's lak dis [demonstrates]. Yo' see, yo' rub yore han' lak dis an' den when he [boss] git tuh talkin' tuh yo', yo' have tuh kinda hold yore face lak dat. An' when yo' go, yo'll kin'a throw yore fingahs lak yo' kinda throwin' yore fingahs tuh him yo' know, an' he'll git de odor of it all right. Dat Jockey Club Perfume dere. The're [there are] two chances tuh one yo' won' be turned down.
(You rub this bag in your hand?)
Dat's right.
Entry 12987
De best luck is a silver dime. Git chew a silver dime an' git chew some dis heah stuff yo' cut outa a hank[?] - cheap boxes yo' know. Take dat dere stuff [packing] an' dat silver dime... [interviewer interrupts].
(Is it sort of sawdust or shavings?)
An' put hit an' de dime an' some salt an' a piece of red flannel, an' sew it an' wear it round yore laig.
(What will that do?)
That will keep you lucky...
[I ask what kind of luck and restart machine.]
Any kind of luck - most any kind of luck.
Entry 12992
You tie you a piece of - some sugar, you takes a piece of lodestone, and you put you a silver dime in that, you see. And you sew it up. You sew it up in a red piece of flan- nel. You make it like dat and you carry it in your pocket, but you won't have no luck though if you have the cheat against you. As long as you keep the cheat off you, you have luck.
(What do you mean "have the cheat against you?")
"Cheat, '' of course, if you [someone] put down loaded dice or anything, you can't beat it. See, you can't beat anybody that have [loaded dice].
(Oh, they cheat against you.)
Yeah.
(Oh, I see.)
If they cheat, you can't beat a cheat, you see. It won't do no good, you see. [This theme of "unless someone cheats is rare in HOODOO, since it would destroy confidence in ganbling "hands."]
Entry 13000
Take bluestone an' alum an' make a - an' take nine silver dimes an' sew it up together, an' anywhere yo' go, any kind of game yo' play, yo'll win all de money dey have. (What do you sew that in?) Red flannel.
Entry 13300
John de Conkah, you git dat, an' dragon's blood an' a little piece of lodestone [3 ingredients] an' wrap dat in a piece of flannen an' make a [hand and feed] Hearts Cologne or Good Riding Scent [the only appearance of this perfume] an' jes' rub dat ovah yuh face after having a couple of days of good work, yo' know. An' jes' rub dat ovah yuh an' not only de boss - nobody can't turn yuh down. [I hope the reader did not miss the poignancy of after having a couple of days of good work. This desire for work - the many rites for getting and holding jobs - is everywhere in HOODOO. That hoodoo drugstore perfume Good Riding Scent is unique.]
Entry 313
Yo' take a live black cat an' throw 'im in a hot oven - yo' know he'll soon be daid. Let him cook down. It's a certain bone, ah disremember now - ah have heard all about that. It's a certain bone dey pickin' out dere an' dey git red flannen an' dey wrop dat bone. When dey wrop dat bone, they wrop it to 'em this way - coming to them [demonstrates].
(Coming to them.)
Now, they had that fo' luck way back in those days, if they had hard luck.
(Did they use the black cat bone back in slavery times?)
Yes sir.
(Did you hear about it as a young boy?)
Yes sir - dat's why ah knows.
(I see, you were born in '58 [1858].)
Entry 586
( Get some dirt from de grave an' put some lodestone in dere, put some dragon's blood and put a piece of John de Conker, put a piece of Eve and Adam root - puts dem togedder and sew dem up tight.
(Put them in a bag?)
In a piece of red flannin and sew dem tight and you wears it somewheres around you fer two or three days and he [enemy] come around and if he annoys you, you take aholt dat, it be's hot [if an enemy is near], and you carry dat by de string you know - a little piece of string about dat long and you hold on to dat [end of the string so that the bag or sack hangs free] and you talk to 'im, "Come on, Jack, any enemy around me? Any enemy coming toward me?" And he'll [Jack will] move - if he don't move, there ain't nothing wrong.
Entry 1182
(These fingernails and toenails?)
Toenails an' parch 'em - put 'em in de stove an' parch 'em - cut 'em up real fine befo' yo' parch 'em an' then yo' take an' put 'em in de stove. An' they'll put i-dene [iodine] on 'em - i-dene - aftah dey done dried out. Jis' sew 'em in a red flannel an' then git a little piece of feather from a chicken an' put that in there with it.
(What will that do?)
Dat will keep dem from harmin' yo'. [This is a protective hand - see next subsection Hands.]
Entry 1374
[These are protection hands against evil intent. A better description of lodestone qualities and uses will be found under subdivision Hands and in Index.] Git lodestone, cayenne peppah an' sugah - not salt, sugah. Git lode- stone, genuine lodestone from de drugsto' an' yo' git chew some sugah an' cayenne peppah, not black peppah, an' sew it into a flannel an' wear it right in yore hip pocket where yore watch go in at. An' that crosses yore enemies - they cain't harm yo'.
Entry 1711
Well, I'd say for 'n-instan' [an instance] a man - a woman's not much, but a man you know is the top piece of the earth. In other words, if you get a dead man's hand and take it and put it in alcohol and let all the flesh come off of this hand, that will molt, that hand will get jes' like that; see, the fingers will be drawn togethah, they'll go right in like that. That alcohol will draw it togethah. And then you take it and sew it in a piece of red flannel. And when you sew it in a piece of red flannel, then you tote it on you daily - care it in your bag. You'll make a bag, tie it around your waist and care this and you'll always have good luck. And you do a baby's hand the same way: The best hand is a baby. You get the right hand of a man. The baby's hand is the best. If you can go and git a baby's hand, you got something. [See later, Dead - Hands From, Thief's Candle.]
Entry 1807
I've heard though of taking nails from a coffin and wrapping it in red flannel, and give it to a person either for luck or ill luck, whichever you want them to have. They sell from twenty-five cents to a dollar.
Entry 1889
A frog, now he's good fo' luck too.
(To make the lucky hand. Tell me that all over again.)
Yo' git dis - yo' take dis frog an' yo' git chew some moonshine [illegally distilled whiskey] an' make yo' a - have yo' a container an' have it deep enough where that he'll go down in there, see. Then yo' fasten him down in that stuff an' let him stay in dere until he die. [You drown the frog in moonshine.] An' when he die, then yo' git some mercury an' yo' fill his mouth - yo' know, put that in his mouth. Yo' put this mercury in his mouth an' then yo' take him an' a piece of flannel - yo' know, a square piece of flannel, red flannel, an' put him in dis flannel an' then yo' drop nine drops around in de flannel.
(What kind of drops?)
Mercury. Then yo' sew dis flannel up an' ev'ry time yo' make a stitch, bring it to yo' like that [demonstrates] - ev'ry time yo' make a stitch until yo' git it sewed plumb up. Well, when yo' git it sewed plumb up, den yo' pray de 23rd Psalms fo' three days, an' all at de same time he'll drink [soak] up this othah stuff. Put him in some more an' let him drink that an' git him good an' full of it, don't chew know. Den put that in yore pocket an' that's tuh bring yo' luck.
(In gambling?)
Yes sir.
Entry 1896
Ah seen somepin lak dat done one time. Dat wus right chere in town. Dey had a great big circus - de Robinson Show. Dat man tole me outside - he say, "Ah believe ah'll broke up de show. When we go in dere, dere certain things ah see him doin' an' ah would keep 'em from doin' it. Ah got dis heah toadfrog an' hol' de toadfrog an' look at it. A leetle bit of milk come out de back of it - look lak milk, out de back of de toadfroa." He took dat toadfrog in a piece of red flannen - ah don' know whut he had in dere wit it, wit de flannen, outside of de toadfrog an' de flannen. He might have had somethin' else. Well, he took dat frog an' we sat down in de show, a seat purtty close-ways up, an' dey couldn't git de business tuh ack. An' one of de show fellahs must be's purtty sharp. He hunt round an' he hunt round an' he hunt roun', an' after while he come right up close where ah wus settin' wit dis fellah whut had de toadfrog an' tetched him on de shoulder an' tell him, "Yo' git outa heah." Carried him tuh de do' an' make him git out.
Entry 1966
I was about 18 years old at dat time. There wasn't nuthin like dat. So once I had a ole fortune teller tell me dat somebody was tryin' to do somepin to me, she'd stop 'em if I'd give 'er $5.00. So I didn't have but three dollars. My brother - he was a stepbrother to me - and he said, "I'll lend joo de other two." So I give 'er $5.00. Well, it wasn't more than about a few weeks I lost it. It was to be kept in my right far-hand vest pocket.
(What did it look like?)
Twas long as my finger.
(Was it a bag?)
She called it a rabbit foot, but I don't know what was in it. It was about the size of my finger and in a little red flannen.
Entry 1996
It's something mostly in the shape of a heart, but what's in it I don't know. This is a hand for good luck. Most of those I have seen are made out of red flannel.
Entry 2023
They got - you kin go to the Crackerjack [drug store] and you kin buy ten cents of steel dust, twenty-five cents of Jockey Club, and you kin get a piece of red flannel. You take this steel dust and you sew it into this red flannel, and you take the Jockey Club and sprinkle it over this red flannel. Ever' time you - you know, if you figure it done got dry on you, you jest get up and go like you goin' in to urine and just wet it with this Jockey Club and just come back, and the money's gotta draw to you - you gotta win it in any game.
Entry 2094
Uh-huh, dis a gamblin' hand. Well, yo' git magic sand, an' git Adam an' Eve, an' yo' place dat together an' yo' git lodestone, an' put all that to- gether an' combine dat an' mix it. It makes a good lucky gamblin' hand...yo' put that in red flannel.
Entry 2197
I know about my father. He was an oysterman. He used to go oystering and to keep people from stealing his tongs, he would tie a piece of red flannel on his tongs and saturate it with coal oil, and he wouldn't lose them. And I have known him to leave bushels of oysters in his boat and put these tongs ring over them, with a red flannel rag on each end, and go back the next morning and the oysters were there. [The father, a young man in slavery, became an oysterman at Hampton, Virginia, inmediately after he was freed and remained one until death some 30 years later. The son, a man of 60, has also lived at Hampton all his life.]
Entry 2225
Yo' take some of yore urinate water yo' see, an' a lil peppah, an' a little piece of lodestone if yo' kin git it. If yo' cain't git that, well, yo' take a lil piece of rabbit foot. Yo' kin take one rabbit foot an' wrap it up in flannen cloth an' tie it up, have de red peppah to it, an' carry dat in yore left pocket. Dat will make yo' have a good hand.
(That is luck in gambling?)
Yessuh. [Since I did not ask what happened to the urinate water, I probably assumed it was used for feeding the hand - see margin-title Urine later in this subsection.]
Entry 2248
(What do they say about that?)
Well, now if you want a job and can't get no job, well now, you goes to these white people's house and ask them for a job. They'll turn their back on you. Well, you go back home and get you a piece of red flannel - red flannel cloth, tie three knots in it, tie it around you calf up here - right round down below your knee.
(Either foot?)
The left foot, uh-huh, and saturate it good in spirits of turpentine and you go the next day. You go there and they more than apt to give you a job.
Entry 2262
(This animal - what's the name of it now?)
It's de salamander dey call it. He's got skin kinda like one dese brown puppy dogs, an' long claws - dey gits about dis long, see. He's got a pocket [pouch] on each side of his haid, see, an' a little root jest about dat long in dose pockets. An' natchly yo' kin git dose roots outa his pockets - dey jest about de size of a penny, an' yo' wear dose roots jest natchly in yore pockets, or yo' sew it up into somepin - course yo' kin sew it up into a piece of flannel if yo' wanta, so yo won't lose it. It'll shore give yo' good luck. Ah've tried dat. An' ole lady told me about dat. Ah nevah had seen one befo' ah come down heah. Since ah been working down heah we found one out on de job while we was workin', an' quite nach'l it shore has got two little pockets one on each side of his haid. Well, ah got dose two roots - looked in dere an' found dose two roots an' ah got dose two roots. Ah didn't do anything wit 'em but ah got 'em on me heah in mah pocket now. Ah wears them in mah pocketbook every day an' ah has pretty good luck.
(Just general good luck.)
Yes sir. [I evidently looked at them. A pocket gopher (Geomys tuza) is called salamander in southeastern U. S. A.]
Entry 2340
Dey tell yo' 'bout de tree dat's struck by lightnin'. Yo' take de bark from dat tree an' yo' take dat bark an' yo' burn dat bark into ashes an' yo' take dem ashes an' yo' git chew some Epsom salt an' put wit dat. Yo' kin take de Epsom salt an' de ashes from dat tree an' yo' put it in a flannen rag with lode- stone an' yo' sew it up, an' yo' take that an' use it as a toby for all de time. If yo' wanta go yore way, jes' go on an' go yore way. Long as yo' got that wit chew, yo' cain't nevah be disappointed, nobody will evah refuse yo' no way, yo' nevah have no fusses. [For "struck by lightning," see Thunderbolt Hand above.]
Entry 3211
Co'se dis is diff'ren hair do [a different way of doing or using hair]. Tell me yo' kin take when yo' messin' wit a woman an' git a stran' of hair offa her down heah an' git a stran' from yo', an' when yo'all have yore connection dere togethah an' aftah yo'all discharge, jes' take an' put dat hair in it an' tie 'em togethah an' put it in a li'le sack - a flannel sack an' tie it aroun' yore wais' an' wear it. Dat keep love right tuh yo'. She won' love nobody but chew all de time.
Entry 3289
Well, dere was a woman her husban' used to run around quite a bit an' she couldn't understand it, see. Otherwise - yo' know some men jes' can't git enough trimmin'. Yo' see, every time yo' see 'em, jes' wanta go, wanta run, yo' see. An' so, ah don't know, some wimmin jes' can't take it [husband run- ning about] as much as others, an' someone advised dis woman tuh go down town an' buy whut chew call a new flannel rag or something, yo' see; an' so aftah yo' finish, jes' take an' wipe him off wit dis new rag, an' he can't have any desire fo' any othah woman, yo' see. He jes' can't raise heart fo' any othah woman, only fo' dis woman.
(Well, what did she do with that rag?)
She didn't do anything special wit it, only she jes' wiped him off - jes' wipe him off wit a new rag, flannel or something. Jes' wipe him off whenevah he git finish - jes' wipe him off an' dat would jes' absolutely keep him away from othah wimmin. Ah know dis woman. Her husband jes' didn't - ah don' know, aftah he married dis woman he jes' lost affection. In other words, while he wus goin' wit her, he wus jes' merely - it wus infatuation, an' aftah he married her he wanted tuh leave her. Dis woman bought some steak fo' him an' befo' she fried de steak, she took dis steak an' pulled it between her laigs an' den fried it fo' him, an' he thought it, no doubt - he thought no doubt it was de best steak he evah had in his life. An' so yo' know she didn't nevah have no mo' trouble after that.
(They call it trimming?)
Yes - yo' know lak in different sections of de country - trimmin', dey call it trimmin' down heah. (They call it trimming like trimming a stick [a piece of lumber]. Othahwise, intercoursin', yo' know. People have different names for it in different sections of the country.
(What about the egg8 in connection with that?)
Well, no mo' than maybe yo' jes' [take] certain eggs an' fix 'em in certain things. It will jes' maybe give yo' mo' energy. [Eggs here are believed to be an aphrodisiac - perhaps one of a nourishing meal.1 [At the end of informant's brief interview - he did not know much about the material I wanted - I speak to my Telediphone: "(This man in here,1389, is a school teacher. School is over now and he is going to work for us.)".]
Entry 4542
Ah heard about 'em takin' de bow out of a man's hat, an' sewin' it up in a piece of red flannel cloth, an' takin' it an' throwin' undah bed. An' dat'll keep 'im comin' roun' yore house, comin' tuh yore house, dey say, if it's a woman; an' dat if it's a man, dat it'll run 'im crazy.
(They use the woman's bow to bring her?)
Well, eithah one.
Entry 4843
(Anything else now?)
Oh yes, she kin take her watah, or she kin take her monthlies. Dat's de big- gest way de mos' of 'em do, an' mix wit 'is food. She stirs it wit a little chamber lye an' put in 'is coffee. She kin put milk in it an' keep 'im doped on dat. Dat's if he don' care nuthin about 'er. She want's tuh take 'im in, see, wal she jis' takes dat. An' if she don't wan'a do dat, she don' have tuh do it. [When] she washes, she takes 'is undahclothes, his drawahs, an' right in de seat she clips, yuh know. Jes' lak pants sewed up, yuh know, dere's a little seam. Well dat run right up dere. She jis' clips jis' dat much of it off [dem- onstrates]. Dat's all she got'a have, an' bind it up in a red flannel, jis' a small piece, an' place it undah 'er arm an' [or] undah 'er feet.
(Which arm does she place it under?)
Undah de lef' one. Always put it undah de lef'.
Entry 5165
If dey pesterin' roun' an' yo' don' wan' dem dere, take dat shoe an' cut de hollah of de foot, right in de hollah. Anybody know whut de hollah is. Yuh gits dat out, wrop dat up in a piece of flannen or somepin othah. An' yuh wants tuh be wit dem an' make frien's, an' long as yuh keep dat some place, dat is supposed tuh bring frien's.
Entry 10109
Boil black cat, take out front right foot, put in red flannel bag and wear in right side. [Richmond, Va., resume, 331:5.]
Entry 11152
Dead man's finger, keep rolled up in flannel, blow on and rub, put back in pocket, for luck when gambling. [Petersburg, 2nd trip 419:6.]
Entry 11601
To make peace in the house, tie up some of the person's foot track in a piece of flannel and wear. [Charleston 549:1.]
Entry 12158
High John de Conkah, it's made out of graveyard dirt and other soils put in red flannel. Use any liquor on it [to feed it]. Give you will power over people. [Richmond 295:9.]
Entry 13007
Dey tell me dey take a piece of silver money an' put it in a red sack - flannel - an' put a piece of garlic to it an' tote it on yo'. That be fo' good luck. [Brunswick 1992:6.]
Entry 9838
Ah heard people say yo' kin take [nine] needles, brand-new needles, an' nine pins an' red flannel. Sew it up in red flannel an' put it undah people's do's, an' dey jes' walk ovah it an' dat will cause them tuh be lingerin'; yo' know, some parts of they body go tuh pieces.
Entry 272
Git the hair of a black cat up here between the years - cut the hair between the years. Then they git it between the two shoulders, right out to the middle of the back. Take them and put them together. They got'a take that to the cemetery nine nights. They wrap that up into a piece of new red flannel that never used. And you take that to the cemetery nine nights and at one o'clock and you go to that particular grave and call that person's name and tell 'em what chew want dem to do fer you. He have to use his eyes, you know. The last night, the ninth night, you carry seven pennies and you open the - here [demonstrates].
(The breast.)
Dig down to wherever it is, deposit those pennies and tell them just exactly hoW you want that done and when, and that tends - you know, make you disappear as you wishes. You kin go out and if a certain party appears, you disappear until they pass.
[He kept-it in his pocket.]
(Which pocket do you keep this in for your hand?)
In your right hand pocket, and you will disappear every time you touch that.
Entry 585
(How do you find this money now?)
With John de Conker. [This is rare, to call Jack by the name of a root within the package or bag. Root bags as hands are common.]
(And how do you prepare that?)
Well, yo' fix it in a flannel - sew it up in a flannel, yo' see an' keep it in yore pocket. Keep it perfumed [fed] wit Hearts Own perfume [sometimes confused with Heartsorn or Heartshorn = Hawthorn? perfume]. Put chew nine pins in it an' if yo' go out 'cross de way anywhere - cross de field whare dere's any money buried, it'll point. Yo' talks to it - it's got a string on de side - an' yo' talk to it an' jest where dat money is it's goin' point directly where dat money are.
(Well, you don't point in your pocket though?)
No, yo' has to take it out chere pocket. See, it's got a little string on to it. Dis John de Conker yo' know, it's got little roots to it - all roots kind lak a [centipede?]. [A small piece of John de Conker has so many root hairs it looks like a centipede.]
Entry 602
In case someone go to the penitent'ry, you goes to the four corners of the road [crossroad] and you dig up a little of that dirt from those four corners of the road, and you bring that home and you put a little sugar and a little of that steel [dust?] - or that white powder - they call it - let me see now, they call it -
(First you put in white sugar?)
Yes.
(And then what else?)
Pulverized white saltpeter. Well, you take all dat and you put it in a little bottle. Like you take a little piece of soft flannel, you tie it in a little bundle and the party what is in trouble, you have their name on a piece of paper in that, and you roll it to the - the day the case come up, you roll it nine days before the case come up and the day the case come up, you roll it seven times early in the morning.
(How do you mean roll it seven times?)
You got it in a little ball - you know, just take a little ball like that and you just roll it like that; roll it towards you, like that.
(Oh, it's a little ball and you roll it over seven times.)
Yes, seven times. And then when you rolls it, you rolls it more like this to you.
(You roll it to you?)
Yeah, so you can get discharged. (I see. And what do you do the nine days before the trial - what do you do with that ball?) Well, you just - you just handles it and moves it around and rolls it from one corner to the other, and be wishing from St. Agnes for them to come back home - put a good-luck light [candle].
(I see.)
And then you see, a rock I got - if a person got a hard case. See that? There's two rocks. I got a hard case to get discharged in court. Now, you see that?
(There are two rocks.)
There are the two rocks. Now you see, if you want to know whether you get discharged of this dangerous crime. Well, all I got to do - say to you, "Father, Son and Holy Ghost, hand me one of them rocks." See, keep your mind on - keep your mind on your business. "Hand me one of them rocks." Now, which one would you hand me? Which rock would you -
(You mean, pick up one of those?) [I must have hesitated!]
Pick it up, it won't harm you, any one you want. Which one would you hand me? (All right - this one.) [I must have picked it up despite germs - probably the only time I ever touched anything.] You'd get clear - you'd get cleared - get cleared of your case.
(Because of that white rock?)
It's a clear rock. (A clear rock, I see. Now, someone must pick up one of those rocks for you, or you yourself pick it up?) No, I don't pick it up. If you are in trouble and you want to know whether you will get discharged out of this trouble.
(Oh, I see - if I was in trouble and I would come to you?)
Yeah, and you come to me and say, "Will I get discharged?" I say, "Well, in the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost, '' say 'pick meup one of them rocks and put it in my right hand." You pick up one and put it in my right hand and whilst you pick up that one, say, "No, you ain't going to be discharged, '' and if you pick up that one, "You going to be discharged." (I see. Now, one of these rocks is white like crystal and this is reddish brown - a dark rock. I see.) Yes. And then - now, watch. If this rock is there and then you come and say, "I wants to know the party what killed such-and-such a one. I'd like to know is it true that it is a relation of mine, or who - or is it a outsider - whether it is any relation of mine." Just take it like that - you want to know if it's an outsider. Look - I say, "Now, hand me that rock." You hand me that rock.
(All right - then I pick up this black rock?)
Yes.
(All right.)
Well, you see this light across it there?
(Oh, yes.)
Well, that's your relation - they going to get out and if you hand it to me this way, "They'll get discharged. But if you hand it to me in any way, like that - see what I mean - my hand like that - say, "No, no chance." (Now, let me put that rock down there again. Now, if it's like this - this rock is a little different - this is the big end and this is the small end - it makes a difference with that. end toward you?) Yes sir.
(Now, if I'd hand it to you this way - this way, then what would it be?)
If you hand it to me in this way, then there'd wouldn't be no chance of them getting out of trouble 'cause they got a heavy load on their back.
(Oh, a heavy load on their back. And suppose I handed it to you like this?)
Like this - it would be straightened but not great - you'd have a little trouble but not too much. If you hand right straight to me like this - straight out to me, well, there's no chance of coming out.
(I see. Well, what would happen with this little end to you?)
[I may have touched the rock once but I certainly did not play with it. These latter manipulations are surely by pointing.] You sure of - gittin' out of trouble.
(I see.)
Gittin' clear.
(I see - if I hand it to you with that large end, that means a heavy load.)
Yeah, that's it - a heavy load - that's trouble on 'em.
(I see.)
And then again, if somebody get arrested and you say, "Well, I got to go to court Monday. Do you reckon I'll get discharged Monday?" You know, they ast you, "Do you reckon I'll get discharged Monday, I've got to go to court Monday?" I'll say, "Well, let me see." Well, I'll take these two rocks again and if you hand me that light one, you'll get discharged.
(I see.)
Anything -
(And if I handed you the dark one, well you wouldn't get discharged?)
You wouldn't get discharged. (I see. You only use three rocks then - two for one thing and just one for the other?) That's all. You can use these three rocks for the - for the world [for any- thing in the world].
(Well, how would you do that?)
You could use 'em for anything - and I'll throw 'em around like this [demonstrates].
(You mix those three rocks up with your hand like that.)
If somebody come to see me that they don't know [what he is doing] - what any concern of his - don't know what my mind is.
(I see.)
Now, I'll say [demonstrates].
(You put those three rocks down.)
I'll say, "Hand me these - hand me one at a time In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost." Well, you'll either hand me either one. (You say, "Hand me one of these - one at a time, In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost?") Yes sir. Well, whatever one they pick up and hand me, I look and put that down - I remember what that's for - and you hand me another one and I say, "Well, you are going to hand a little trouble - a relation of yours going to get in a little trouble." See, that's a blood kin to you, that's a relation of yours.
(Because it's a reddish rock?)
Yeah, but you say, "Well, will he get discharged?" [I say] "Well, hand me one and see if will he get discharged." [You hand me one and I say] "Yeah, he'll get discharged." (I see, I see. Now, who taught you that way of using these three rocks - did you learn that from someone?) In my mind.
(Oh, that - that a - )
That the spirit of my mind.
(I see - the spirit of your mind just told you how to do this?)
Yes, sir. And then again. I'll show you in another way. You hand me a cup of water and a glass of water - little plain cup that nobody uses - a cup of water and a glass of water. You set that there and you say, "Well, I come to see whether my son will get out of trouble or will I get out of trouble." Ah say, "All right. In the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost." Say, "Hand me one of those utensils with the water in it." Well, you hand me the cup, see.
(I hand you the cup.)
You hand me the cup and I say, "No, no chance of him getting out." [Why? Because], when [you] travel cross water you troubled. Well, hand me the glass of water. [I hand him the glass of water.] See all the way through - you can see all the way through the glass and you can't see through a cup. (Oh, I see. If I hand you the cup, you can get in trouble because you can't see through it at all; but if I hand you the glass, it's good, you get out of trouble because you can see through a glass.) Exactly. (I see, I see. You can use the rock because you don't want - don't care to use the cards.) Yes.
(About those cards?)
There are 52 cards in a deck.
(Yes.)
Well, clubs is drinks and noise and coming of plenty people. Spades is dis- appointments, sad dissension in your family.
(Sad dissension in your family.)
Yeah - spades. And hearts is love. And diamonds is money. (And how would you run those - I mean how could you tell that those things would happen to you?) Well - you got a deck of cards with you?
(No - just pretend that you got a deck of cards.)
[Several times I was asked for a deck of cards by an informant. I did not carry a deck because I did not want it found on me in case I was arrested.] Well now, there's a spade, there's a club and here's a heart and here's a diamond. Well, now what you want to know? What you say you want me to tell you? (Well, now suppose I'm in trouble and come to you - have you read the cards for me.) Well, you hand me one of the cards out of the deck.
(Well, I'll hand you this diamond - here.)
Uh huh - you going to get out of trouble but you got to pay plenty money.
(I see. All right - now, suppose I hand you that spade.)
No chance for good.
(No chance for good. Now, I'll hand you this club.)
The club. They going to be slow to speak against you, but if the nine of clubs is with - if you pull it out of the top and it turns up, you is overcome. (I see - if it happens to be the nine of clubs. I see. What would it be if I gave you the heart?) The hearts is love - friendship - everybody likes you - everybody's on your side.
(I don't have to worry.)
Don't have to worry about nothing.
(I see.)
Entry 737
Well, oftentimes fellahs carries a lucky piece in dere pocket. Maybe it be lodestone or John de Conker or five-finger grass or some kinda perfume in lodestone - oftentimes fellahs carries it. An' den sometimes fellahs has a pocket-piece like dis dey carries fo' luck. Dat's a piece of John de Conker [he shows it].
(How do you prepare this?)
Well, yo' take it an' yo' put it in a little bag like dis [he shows it].
(In a red flannel bag.)
In a red flannel bag. Yo' take a piece of lodestone an' put in that bag with it an' yo' take a little bit of sachet powders an' put in dat bag. Yo' take a silver dime an' put it in dere between de lodestone an' High John de Conker root. Take yo' a piece of white thread an' carry it round dat-a-way nine times. Yo' carry it round dat-a-way nine times an' take it right in dere wit yore finger an' bring it right dis way nine times. Tie it into nine knots. (Now wait a minute. The first time you carry this thing away from you or towards you?) You carry it away from you nine times.
(On this side here you tie a knot?)
No sir, yo' don't tie no knot - yo' jes' carry it heah.
(You just hold it there?)
An' hold it there, yo' understand, an' make a loop ketch it - don't tie nc knot atall, make a loop ketch it. Bring it back to yo' nine times. An' yo' bring it back to yo' then nine times an' tie nine knots in it right in de center like that. All right, yo' carry it this-a-way nine times.
(Nine times lengthwise - away from you?)
Yes sir - right this-a-way nine times. All right yo' git done with it an' yo' take a straight pin an' stick right down in there - right in de top. Take dis bag an' yo' tie it real tight - tie in de top like dat an' wear it either up heah or in yore left pocket.
(Either under your heart or in your pocket.)
Or either in yore left pocket.
(And what is that bag supposed to do for you?)
Dat supposed to give you luck - drive away de evil spirits an' bring luck an' success an' make friends wit everybody - yore enemies will be yore friends, fellahs who don't like yo' will come tuh like yo'. Ah've got a piece of dis John de Conker [which he had just showed to me] supposed to be good fo' dat. Yo' supposed tuh use it wit holy oil. Dere's a oil dat yo' use wit it - it's a little red oil, dey call it de holy oil. Yo' have to order it. Yo' takes dis oil an' yo' keeps it 'nointed wit dis - keep dis root anointed wit dis oil. [The technical word for anointing is often called feeding.] An' when yo' git ready tuh leave home dat mawnin' yo' take some of dis oil an' po' it in yore han' an' rub it on yore han' dat-a-way an' rub it cross yore chest like dat - jes' like that. (Your right on your shoulder and you bring it down across your chest. And your left hand you have on the right side and bring it straight across.) Straight across it like that. An' while yo' doin' that why says de Our Father prayers.
(That's when you go down to get a job from the boss?)
Yes sir.
(That little red bag like that - where do you get those, buy them?)
Ah ordahs 'em.
(Oh, they have draw strings on them.)
Ah ordahs 'em from Tennessee.
(From Memphis - the Curio Products Company?) [That probably surprised him.)
Yes suh. Ah makes a straight nail for runnin' a person crazy by usin' three strands of dere hair in a pine tree -
(Oh, you told me that.)
Entry 744
For you to walk over? Shure, you kin do dat easy. You go to work, you kin make a cross out of dese needles. Yes, sir. Git you a piece of red flannel. Git you some of dis High John de Conker - it's notched, you kin cut off a notch of it or as many notches you want, whatsomever you wants to happen to a person. If you want him crippled up, you prob'bly take about three notches in it and - not too large dat you kin bend it - and get dat red flannel and sew it. Try to sew it in a cramp [not crimp] so it will be cramped like dat [demonstrates].
(Sew this John the Conqueror in a cramped way?)
Yes, bind it lak, you see. And stick dese needles across on each side of it - dese needles and bury it under a man's [door]steps just de way; if he is going up dis way, bury it oblong [parallel to steps] so he will walk straight ways [straight] over it. And he'll become chestbounded in his laigs. His laigs will always feel lak dey are in a strain - fin'lly git so he can't walk on his laigs. [In walking.straight (straight ways) across the root buried oblong (parallel to the doorstep), the person passing right-angled over the root completes the making of a cross sign - therefore he puts a cross on or crosses up himself (see margin-title Marks). Since a person would never walk over a crossmark on his doorstep, this underhanded (undersleeve) device (see margin-title Undersleeve Work) is a trick (see margin-title Tricks). Besides, with the crossed needles also beneath the doorstep - this is a doublecross.] (Now, in crossing these needles, do you put one across the top of the root and one underneath the root?) Dat's right. Put you a cross - jes' dis way, one on top and one underneath of it and bury it wit dem needles one across at de bottom and one on top. [The needles are crossed by sticking them through the flannel.]
Entry 863
Well, mah husband wants once tuh run a jewelry shop an' it was a woman loved him an' he wouldn't love her, so she got about twenty needles and twenty pins an' po' some kind of stuff on 'em an' put it in a red piece of flannel, an' that morning when he went to de jewelry shop it was tacked on de do' right under the knob. An' he started to touch it an' the man said, "Don't touch it." So he said, "What ah'm goin' do - how'm ah goin' tuh git in?" Said, "Wait a minute." So he threw gasoline on it an' he threw a match on it. Mah husband didn't know whut it meant, so it worried him all day, so he got on de train an' he went to Tampa. So a lady [cunjure] tole him that a lady put it on dere. So he said, "Well, whut does she mean tuh do?" Say, "She meant fo' yo' tuh tear up yore business - that's whut chew gon'a do." She say, "In less time than two months if yo' don't pay twenty-five dollars [to the cunjure for protection], yo' goin' out business." So pretty soon mah husband jest went to giving his stuff away an' selling it an' he jest said he wanted tuh git out - said his business was torn up Wit those needles and pins an' red flannel dat was sticking on de do'.
Entry 1436
Do you know what rattlesnake marster is? (I have heard of it, I have never seen it.) Well, you get a small piece of that and a small piece of John de Conker root - de High John de Conker root and a new dime and a piece of lodestone, and yo' sew dis into a little bag called a toby [another name for hand]. Sew it up and yo' kin either put a piece of red flannel or shammy skin - sew that up in it and keep it into yore left pocket always and never let anyone touch it. If you do that, 'that is a Wonderful thing.
(What will that do then?)
That will prevent anyone from harming you.
[For rattlesnake master and knots, see No. 1126, p.418.]
[Rattlesnake master - a name for several plants said to cure rattlesnake bite: Liatris squarrosa and L. scariosa, and Eryngium aquaticum of southeastern U. S. A. All plants of the genus Liatris are called button snakeroot.]
Entry 1759
Ah hear talk of that. Yo' kin work lawsuits with that even much. Take 'em an' tie 'em in de center - de broomstraws, dem short pieces. Yo' git a piece - Hoodoo - Conjuration - Witchcraft.- Rootwork - of shame brier root an' put in between dem straws, an' if yo' wanta come out ahead in anything lak dat, an' yo' got de broom straws, yo' tie 'em together. But yo' always lay it - if he killed an' yo' wanta win, yo' gotta come up higher. Dem othah joints gotta be shorter den yours. An' when yo' git 'em up dere high, yo'll be above, an' even yo' above dat shame brier root. Den yo' kin take de rattlesnake master or a piece of root of hit an' yo'll hold them right together, an' then yo'll tie nine knots in dat string an' yo' tie 'em well. An' then yo wrop it up. Yo'll fix them things an' yo'll tie 'em up. When yo' tie 'em up den yo'll wrop 'em up in a piece of red flannel an' yo' tie it up: An' all you have to do den whenevah yo' go, always, if yo' have to meet a lawsuit or anything, yo' put it in yore pocket an' yo' nevah have to be tried. Ah seen 'em work that.
Entry 1853
Git chew some lump incense. Some people don't use red flannel - yo' kin use shammy skin an' yo' make yo' a little luck bag. Yo' put chew a little silver dime in dere. An' yo' put chew about three pieces of that lump incense in dere and yo' put yo' some guinea peppahs in dere, an' if yo' got a fishhead rock yo' put that in dere. Den yo' sew it up on a piece of garlic.
(Fishhead rock?)
Yeah, dat only comes in a drumhaid. Dere be's two little rocks in a drumhaid.
(Drumhead fish?)
Yessuh. An' yo' sew that up. Yo' kin po' yo' some bergamint [bergamot] on it or eithah some Jockey Club perfume - yo' have tuh keep it oiled up [fed] lak dat. Dat's fo' yore luck. Yo' kin wear it in yore pocket. Gamblin' luck.
Entry 1976
Well, I bought one in Washington [D. C.] from a ole lady, she was blind in one eye, and I'd been gambling you see, had been losing everything dat I could beg, bahrry and steal. Now, this is jis' as true as I'm sitting here. And so I heard about this ole lady but I never had no confidence in her. So when I went to her, you understand, she told me, she says, "Uh huh," she says, "you lost everything you has and now you come here to me." She says, "No use me giving you nothing, cus you ain't gon'a believe in me nohow." Well, that jis' was mah min' when I walked in de house. I told her, "Oh yes, Miss Sarah, I believe in you." So. "Well, I can't fix you up today, she say, "you have to come back a couple few days from now." [Magic delay.] So I went back again and she wasn't fixed up then. I went back again. The next time I went back she was fixed up. She give me a little pale-blue book jest about dat square, jest like a square block, jest as wide as it was long. She told me, she says, "You go ahead and you wear that in your right-hand pocket," she says, "and whenever you go to gamble," she says, "ever once in awhile you put your hand in your pocket," she says, "den when your pocket begins to sweat," she says, "you bet everything dat joo can beg, bahrry and steal." Well now, whurther dat dis was right or whurther it wasn't, anyhow, I pays ten dollars for the Hand. Well, it was about a week before I could git hold any money, much together. Course I could gamble with a little game, but I was always wanting to git in a big game. So I gits in de game dis Sunday evening - de boys was shooting craps, plenty of money. So I gits in there. And I didn't have but a dollar and a half, all the money I had. So I gits in there. And de boys was shooting fer fifty cents. Well, you know my dollar and a half wouldn't lass long in that. Some boy shoots fifty cents worth, two or three of them faded in, you understand, and he hit 'em. I don't know whurther to fade dis dollar and a half or whurther to wait and shoot it. I didn't know what to do. I rubbed my hand in my pocket and it sweat. I take it out. So I gets some quarter bits, a couple of quarter bits, lost them. I lost them right out. "Guess I'd better stop now." So when de dice got to me I taken de dice, I don't know whurther to shoot a quarter or what to shoot. A mind comes to me shoot a dollah. Now dat's all I've got. So I says, "I'll shoot fifty cents." A fellah says, "You'll loose for a dollah." Oh, de game was bigl Money backed up you know for goodl And I wanted some of it so bad. I thought I'd shoot de dollah. And I roll de dice out. But dey got a fashion of gauging dem, you understan', ketching dem when dey come out. So I throwed de dice out and de fellah caught it. I throwed de dice out again, de fellah caught it. He caught 'em three times. With mah hand in mah pocket, my hand begin to git moist, after she told me my hand begin to sweat, I shot de dollah. I throwed a 'leven, I shot de two, I throwed a seven. I said [to myself], "I guess I'd better take down this time." So I taken down three dollahs. And shot de one, come out wid a ten. A fellah says to me, he says, "I'll bet two to one you don't ten." I says to myself, "Now dat'll bring me two dollahs." I drop right down, right straight back, jest as straight wid de ten as I could come, and I got ten for four shots and made one right after de other. Then my hand was jes' as wet inside dat ev'ry time I take hold de dice, you understand, dey'd be wet. I taken dat game. And when I come out dat night I had a hundred and forty-three dollahs. Now, whurther it was de hand or whurther it was just luck, my luck come to me, or what it was. That's right. Dat was de first hand I ever bought. De second hand I bought I was in Baltimore. I bought it from a blind man. This is a little bag, a little red flannel bag. He told me, he says when he give me this bag, he told me, he says, "Now you get some whiskey. And don't throw de whiskey on this, but put it in your mouth and spit it on it," he says, "and don't gamble with this, don't put no money much on this bag until you keep it a day or so." All right. That cost me ten dollars. Dat's in a place in Baltimore called Hollandtown. And I goes in a game in Hollandtown that night and breaks it. And the next one I bought was in Norfolk [Virginia]. Dat was a black cat's paw, de paw of a black cat. And I lost dat somewhere. I don't know where I lost dat.
(How do you carry that?)
In your pocket where your money is.
(What did you pay for the third hand?)
Ten dollars.
Entry 2011
When yo' do lak dat, yo' goes where peoples take - to a horseshoe shop where dey shoes horses an' mules. Yo' understand dat. Yo' git chew, understan', nine p'ints [points] of de horseshoe nails - nine p'ints. Whut ah mean by nine p'ints now - de whole horseshoe nail when yo' shoein' de horse, dey drive it in de hoof, an' yo' takes yore pliers, yo' drive it [nail] through de shoe into de hoof, through de hoof an' it come out ovah heah an' dat leaves de p'int stickin up lak dat, a good little piece. Well, dey rings dat off on dat side an' files it off wit a file. (They clip those little points off?). Yeah, clip dem off. Yo' pick 'em up down dere on de ground. Yo' tells de man, say, "Ah wanta, Boss, a han'ful or so of dese little p'ints of dese little horseshoe nails." Says, "Go ahead," says, "ah don't care nuthin 'bout dem - ah'm done with 'em." Pick yo' up nine p'ints an' put 'em in yore pocket. Den when yo' git dat, yo'll go back an' go where yore cow is, or mah cow, or lak dat, a cow stall or in a cow pasture, an' git chew, understan', a han'ful, jes' about dat much, of dry cow dung. Be sure dat hit dry an' hard - not green, not half-green. Gits de ole dry cow dung dat's hard an' dry, an' come back an' crumble that thing up, yo' understand, an' take dem nine p'ints of dem horseshoe nails an' put it in dere wit it. Sew it up in a lil piece of flannen, if yo' wanta, an' put it in yore pocket an' take den an' git yo' dis - git chew some dis heah whut dey call Hearts Cologne. Yo' kin git dat an' dat smells so high, so high in a crowd lak dat, yo' kin leave hit off [and use a linament]. (If you don't use the Hearts Cologne, you use this linament. Now what is it called?) Ah'm tellin' yo' now - whut dey call Nerve and Bone Linament, an' po' it on dere. Wet it good wit dat. Dat Nerve an' Bone Linament, dat takes all de man's nerves dat he git. If yo' git a man nerve, den yo' got him up any time where yo' Want him. He ain't no damn good. Yo' kin work him any kinda way yo' wanta. Dat takes de nerve 'way from all de rest of 'em. Yo' see, yo' got de nerve down. When a man's nerve gone, he's no good.
(That's for luck in gambling.)
Entry 2040
[Here is a hand which bears a price and also a moral - perhaps I should say magic - obligation.] Yo' kin take graveyard dirt for gamblin'. Yo' go to a grave at twelve a'clock at night - when de clock strikin' twelve yo' go an' git some dirt at de front, right 'long about de breast. Yo' bring it back home an' drop nine drops of vine- gar on dat graveyard dirt, but let it be a fresh [new] grave - use apple vinegar. Jes' drop nine drops on dere when yo bring it back home. Den yo' take a lil bit of sulphur, jes' pinch of sulphur an' put it in dere. Take it den an' put it in a papah an' tie - yo' can't work wit dat dirt right away, yo' ties it tight an' lays it up somewhere an' let it stay till dat dirt dry out real good. Well, when it dry out good, den yo' kin rub dat to a powder. Den take it an' jes' keep it an' ever' time yo' go tuh fix up anything, or tuh give a person a joomoo, jes' take some of dat an' put in it. But let it be not as a person dat chew know as a christian - let it be a real gambler or some wicked man, where yo' gittin' dis dirt off de person. An' ever' time yo' fix up a joomoo for a person, put some of dat in it - dat's whut chew call de Conker, High John de Conker.
(In fixing this joomoo for gambling...what else would you put in this thing?)
Well, yo' goes in de woods an' yo' gits some stuff called Eve an' Adam, an' dere 'nothah root dey call High John de Conker, and lodestone.
(Lodestone?)
Yeah. Yo' take jes' a pinch of dat an' put in it, dat's good fo' he'p [help]. Dat's jes' nuthin but lodestone, no joomoo atall - jes' a piece of lodestone. Yo' take a piece of dat an' put in it, an' dis stuff dey call Eve an' Adam, jes' a piece of hit, an' a piece of High John de Conker an' dis graveyard dirt.
(You take those things all mixed up?)
Dat's right, an' yo' sew it up in a piece of red flannel an' give it to a person, an' tell 'em tuh go 'head on an' ever' time dey makes $500 - be sho' an' give 'em de understandin' ever' time dey make $500 - to give some ole person dat unable tuh work fo' deyself, $5. Jes' give it to dem or buy 'em anothah present. Only it works best if yo' give 'em $5.
Entry 2067
Dey throw salt an' sech as that behin', yo' know, an' burn incense. Dey use graveyard dirt - mixes graveyard dirt an' git a sewin' needle an' break dat all up an' black lodestone, an' dey makes tobies from dat. Well, yo' git a piece of flannel, yo' know, red flannel an' break dat lodestone, crumble it up, an' take de needle an' break dat up an' sew dat up an' put a little perfume in dere. A man dey always say, carry dat in his left pocket. Dat'll keep lucky - dat'll keep him an' his wife on good terms.
(And it's very lucky to do what?)
Burn incense.
(Where?)
In de right corner of yore house, or eithah underneat' yore bed - burn it all night. We giner'lly burn it all night undah de beds.
Entry 2101
Yo' kin take High John de Conker an' git black lodestone an' Adam an' Eve root. Put them together with violet incense powders, an' sew them in a red flannel. They call that mojo an' dat fo' yore luck in gamblin' an' co'se yo feed it Jockey Club perfume.
(When you go to the game.)
Entry 2129
My wife was sick all the time and she came there to the house and when I came in she wanted to sell me a hand. She said I could get a job any time. So I bought the hand from her. It was nothing more than a piece of red flannel made in a bag and some kind of hair. It wasn't no count. I paid a dollar and a half for it. She told me to carry that in my pocket and if I wanted a job to ask for it and I would always get it. That's what she told me. I didn't do it.
Reported purchase price of a dollar and a half. The narrator calls the hand no count and says I didn't do it. The source specifies no coin, banknote or money-attraction purpose and establishes no employment result.
Entry 2210
Now in gamblin' yo' takes three cards - three de gamblin' cards, take three de playin' cards. Yo' takes de ace of spades and de king of di'monds and de jack of clubs. You tear jest a small tip off dose three cards - take a small tip off three cards an' after yo' take de small tip off dose three cards, git chew a file. Yo' take dis file and files a dime in half. Yo' take dis dust now from de dime, you save it too, yo' see - save de dust from dis silver dime, yo' save it. Git chew a piece of lodestone. Git chew a piece of red flannel. Yo' place dis first half of de dime on de flannel. Now see, yo' file it half in two, yo' put one half on de piece of red flannel. After yo' put de one half on de red flannel, yo' place either one [of the halves], yo' place one de three pieces of card - either one [any of three], jest a pinch of de card, yo' see. Put a pinch of de card on one piece [of the dime] and place de other half of de dime on top.
(Like a sandwich.)
Uh-huh - dat's right, like a sandwich. An' yo' put de other piece on it, den yo' put de other piece on top of it and put dis dust - dis filin' from dis dime on top of dat. See. An' yo' puts a piece of lodestone in dere with dat on dis piece of flannel - put it in dere with dat. You dress it, too, with hearts - dis Hearts Cologne, jest a little Hearts Cologne and yo' dampen dis, yo see. An' after you dampen dis, you fold it, but befo' you sew it yo' take a pin - a straight pin and cut de head off it, cut de head off de straight pin and put de head inside of it, and when you fold it up, pin dis other part of de straight pin in it and then you sew it up. See. [Pin or needle point is for sharp luck.] An' after you sew it up den you wears dat, yo' see. An' well, when yo' luck seem to be changin' a little, yo' dress it - yo' jes' take dis whole bag and pour dis Heart Cologne and dress it. Dat s to keep dis lodestone agrowin' - it's growing lodestone. (Now in putting this stuff in there - you've got two halves of the dime, haven't you. And you have three pieces of the corners of the cards. You put one piece of the card down first, then you put the half dime down, then a piece of the card, then a half dime, then a piece of the card.) Yeah, put a piece de card [last piece], den de dust on top of dat.
(What you filed from the dime on top of that. What do they call that?)
It's a gambling hand - yo' know, for luck in gambling.
Entry 2368
To make luck for gambling, there's quite a few articles you get to put together. Well, you get you some - get you some red flannel and you get lode- stone, steel dust, you see, and cinnamon. You put this together and a silver dime - put that in that little - put it in a little red bag, right in there. You sew it up. After you sew it up and [then] you pass it in a saucer in some luck you buy in the drug store.
(Luck?)
Yeah - it's luck, they call it. It's van-van. You put it in there and roll that in there like that. Then you present [sell] it to the person and you tell them ev'ry two or three weeks it have to be rubbed in some of this luck. That'll make 'em come to you. You'd have to get you - rub it over, you see, that luck.
Entry 2625
People they take a dime and some white lodestone and a needle broken in three parts and you know these little miniature dice - you want to gamble with dice - those little minature dice and sew it up in a little flannel bag. And you get that Seven-Eleven Perfume, there is a perfume Seven-Eleven, and you wet that little bag with that Seven-Eleven Perfume and you're supposed to throw mostly sevens and elevens with dice. And of course with cards you cut a diamond out of a card and put it in instead of the dice if you want to be lucky with cards.
Entry 2741
Go out there an' git that an' send that off, see.
(Get this graveyard dirt?)
Yes sir, git dat. Gits it outa de head part - de face, see, but chew have to know personally dat dose people - how dey buried. If dey buried on dere back, yo' see, an' yo' gits dat right out de face of co'se. Den yo sends that off - yo' sends it off to dose Seven Brothers in New York. Ah reckon yo' heard talk of dose Seven Brothers, an dey'll dress dat an' send it back to yo' an' de red flannel, see, an' put nine pins in dat an' dis Heart-Home Perfune - keep it perfumed [fed] wit it, helps yo' to do de work. [The mail-order firm sells ingredients only; you must make the bag - a hand.] It will give you luck an' keep yo' - it's jest lak de powders, too, it keeps yore enemies away from you an' yo' successful in business of any kind that chew wanta start.
Entry 3086
[Madam DeLong is a hand-maker and of the dime-a-dozen variety. She must be included here because my informant visited both women. Besides, her name interests me for a reason given later. Aunt Sally is a master of her craft - original, brilliant.] At Savannah, Ga. (What were their names?) Aunt Sally - Savannah, Ga. Ah first went to Madam DeLong - she was white. Ah went to Madam DeLong.
(In Savannah.)
Dat's right - on Jerome Street in 1914. But ah went to her fer gambling hand.
(What did she do for you?)
Jest a minute, now. Ah don't recall [everything] - a piece of root and some black peppah; yes, it was, and if ah understand well, three grains [seeds] out of a green pepper, cayenne pepper. She had three grains. She took dat root dey call John de Conker and she [didn't] cut it up and [but] she cut another root which is called blacksnake root and a little gypsum [ginseng]. [Three roots.] [And she did them] jest like she did de seeds, like de three seeds dat she took out of de pepper, and she grates it into a flannel. But she had another rag in dere befo' she put it into de flannel. And she sewed dat up and she give it to me for luck in gambling.
[John de Conker was not cut up but worn in one piece.]
(This was the white woman, Madam DeLong: How do you spell that?)
Madam DeLong, dey call it. She's dead now.
(How do you spell that name?)
Ah jest don't know. [I heard this so'often!] [If I remember rightly, there was a curio mail-order firm in Chicago by that name. This woman - a possible agent of theirs or buying some of her hoodoo sup- lies from them - may have used DeLong as her professional name. We have a good example of name-adoption from a firm in G. H. Smith & Company (2740, p.746).] Ah went to Aunt Sally, dat was one of mah race after dat. Le'me see, 'twas about a year after dat, ah reckon. I did [it]. [It] worked very well in dat year cause I was runnin' pract'ly a kitchen gambling house - dey gamble in de kitchen - an' nobody didn't bother me. Well den, after she died, I went to Aunt Sally. Well, I went to Aunt Sally and she give me a fishing hook and she made me step three steps right out in front of her do'. Den she sont a little boy out after that and she told him to pick up her some sand out of each one of those [three] tracks. She told me when I got to de last track, "Don't make no other step." She said, "Jis' swing around." I swung around. And ah noticed dat dat last track - de little boy brought in de sand. She put de other two sand to- gether out of de other two tracks, but dis sand heah, dis last track, she didn't put dat sand in dere. She put it into something look like a sifter and she sift- ed it into a white piece of cloth. After sifting it into a white piece of cloth, she laid it up on de sheft [shelf] and she said, "Now, you sit down fer five minutes." Ah sat down five minutes and when she rech up dere and got it agin, instead of it being sand, it was ants. It was ants! Ah looked at it myself. It was dem little antses. Den she tuk it and put it into de same package. Ah don't know whether de dirt turned to ants or not, but when she did lay it up dere five minutes and den when she looked at it, and I looked at it too, and it was ants instead of de sand. Den she fold it into de other package and fold it up. And she hand it to me like dat [demonstrates].
(With her fist down.)
Yeah, jes' dat way, with her fist down. Ah never will forget it. And den she tuk it back. Dat's how it was done. And she said, "Now," she say, "I won't give yo' dis." Ah said, "Well, why?" She said, "Yo' ain't able to pay fo'it." An' ah asked her, ah said, "What do you want fer it?" She said, "Fifty dollars." Ah say, "Ah'll pay fer it twice." And she wouldn't take de $50. She tuk $5 but she never did give me de package. She say, "Yo' go on you'll be all right.
(What was that for?)
That was for running business, a place of business - help yo' business.
(Or in ganbling.)
Yes, actually that was my business - running a gambling [business]. ["Go on you'll be all right is a common trick (see 885-886, p.319), but to change footstep-dirt into live ants and refuse a large price for them displays the hand of a master. I need not explain that some doctors work upon the theory: if you give nothing, there can be no evidence. The ants? Simple - two packages
(see bottle substitution,792, p.265).]
Entry 3097
I haven't had no dealing with that, but anyway, ah kin tell you some- thing about that lawyer.
(About what lawyer?)
My husband, he had kilt a man and I went to Mother Kate. (Mother Kate?) Yes, sir. (Where did she live?) She lives up on Jackson and Magnolia.
(Is she still living?)
Ah don't know if she's still living yet. I think she moved uptown.
(Oh, all right.)
But anyway I went there to her. I'd gived the lawyer $50, and so a lady told me to go up there to her. And I went up there to her, and I say, "Mother Kate, I come for you to help me - my husband is going to the penitent'ry. The next trial he get, he go to the penitent'ry. She say, "You know what you do," she say, "you go to the Ten Cent Store and get ten cents of brand-new needles and ten cents of pins and," she say, "you go to the market and you get you a beef tongue and," she say, "you put ten pins on each side and you put ten needles on each side." And she say, "you get you 50 pounds of ice and," she say, "let it stay 24 hours and," she say, "leave that tongue froze; and when he go to court he won't get no lifetime - he go to the penitent'ry, but he might get six months in the parish or either get three." And he got three months in the parish. And so after I got him out, he left me. And I went back there and I told her, ah said, "Don't you know he done left me - all that I did for him." She say, "Well, you got any money?" Ah say, "I got one quarter." She say, "You go to the corner and get a nickel worth of nutmeg and a nickels sugar and," she say, "you grate that nutmeg up, ' and she say, "you write his name nine times on a piece of paper, and you put some of that nutmeg [and sugar] in that paper and you put it in the lamp," she say, "you get a piece of red flannel and you burn your lamp."
(Wait a minute! What do you do with that red flannel, now?)
Get a piece of red flannel and drap it in the lamp - keep him from seeing it, you understand - and drap the paper in there [into red flannel to hide paper], and [but first] wrap it up with a piece of thread. And she say, "You write it nine times again and tie it up with a piece of thread and wear it in your shoe." And she say, "You get it nine times again and," she say, "you go to the barroom and gets you ten cents of gin and," she say, "you put it [third paper with 9 names] in a bottle and put it behind your bed and," she say, "you shake it up three times a day," she said, "and I'm betting he'll come back to you.'" And I'm got him till yet.
(Did he come back?)
Yes, I'm got him till yet.
(I see.)
And she say, "Three time a day you shake it up and say, "The Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
(I see. Mother Kate told you that.)
Yes, told me to get a nickel's worth of nutmeg and a nickels sugar.
(Yes?)
She told me to grate the nutmeg and mix it up in the sugar, and write it nine times.
(Wait a minute! Write what nine times?)
Write his name nine times on a piece of paper.
(All right.)
And put it in the lamp and get a piece of flannel and drap [or wrap] it in there. (Wait! You wrap this paper in a piece of flannel, and you put the flannel in the lamp?) Put the flannel in the lamp and wrap the nutmeg and the sugar up in the piece of paper and tie a piece of thread around it and drap that in the lamp.
(But the flannel is around the two then?)
Yes, sir, the flannel goes at the bottom - you know, the paper done sink and the flannel, you see, is all around it.
(Oh, all right. Then what?)
And then she told me, 'Write his name nine times again and put some of that nutmeg and sugar and wear it in your shoe.
(What do you wrap it up in?)
A piece of plain white piece of paper. Write it nine times and tie it up with a piece of white thread and wear it in my shoe.
(You don't put any flannel around that?)
No, don't put no flannel around it atall.
(Just the paper?)
Just the paper.
(All right.)
And she say, "Write his name nine times again on a piece of paper and wrap it up with a piece of thread." And she say, "You go to the barroom and get you ten cents of gin, and you put it in there and three time a day," she say, "you shake it up."
(Wait a minute! You put this paper in this gin?)
Put some of the sugar and the nutmeg and wrap it up with a piece of thread and drap it in the gin.
(I see.)
And then stop it up and put it behind the bed. "And three time a day," she say, ''you shake it up and say, "The Father, Son and Holy Ghost." (I see. You had to do all these three things, then - you burned the lamp, you had to wear it in your shoe, and.) And put it in ten cents of gin.
(And put it in gin. For how long do you have to burn that lamp?)
Burn it all day - but I don't burn it now.
(I see. You only burned it all day.)
Burned it all day and all night.
(I see.)
That's to get him back.
(And you wore this up in your shoe too?)
Wore that in my shoe - the nutmeg and.
(You only burned that lamp one day?)
Burn it all day. I burned it about three weeks.
(I see. OhI you burned it about three weeks.)
Yes, sir, I burned zactly three weeks.
(And he came back.)
And he come back - come back with his suitcase. (I see. You burned this lamp three weeks and you kept that thing in your shoe three weeks and you kept shaking that bottle up for three weeks.) I've got the bottle now, but I don't let him see it.
(I see. You did all those three things for three weeks.)
Three weeks.
(It was three weeks before he came back?)
It was three weeks before he came back. He come back that Monday.
(I see. All right.)
Entry 7204
See, it's been about a month maybe. He had a girl he wus goin' wit 'er an' she fixed 'im. Aftah he went tuh sleep - when he went tuh sleep, he said dat he dreamt about dis bottle dat she had fo' him, an' he'd gotten right up an' went an' got it. An' he'd fell off an' he looked so bad as if he was about tuh die. HE'D GOTTEN A AWFUL SMALL LOOK, terrible small, bone 'bout tuh come through 'is skin. An' he went tuh sleep an' he dreamt about dis bottle an' co'se [of course] he got up den an' went right in de bathroom an' found it. An' dis bottle had red flannel in it an' a couple of pins an' needles, an' he'd taken it an' broke it. He brought it an' showed it tuh me, an' ah don' know whut could a been in it, but it smelled lak evahthing wus in it, ah guess. Ah reckon it wus urine in it - guess was in it. An' aftah he found 'at bottle he begin tuh git bettah.
Entry 7520
[Florence, South Carolina - scene of my following experience with a doctor in 1939 - was with the surrounding country still a prominent hoodoo lo- cality. For years before my time it had been ranked along the Atlantic Coast as second only to Beaufort (Bū'fert) of the same state. My question to the doc- tor is unrecorded but easily recoverable from what he says. Here we have an expert at work.] Now dey've put it [witchcraft] on yo' an' sont [sent] chew 'way from heah. All right, yo' come tuh me, er [or] some of yore folks come tuh me an' say, "Mah husban', er mah son, er mah sistah, er mah fathah, er [mah] mothah's gone away an' ah haven't done anythin' in de worl' tuh 'em." All right. Dey'll come tuh me an' ah'll say, "Well, yo' come back heah in de mawnin'." Ah wouldn't do anythin' in dat time [in the meantime]. [Here is the magic delay frequently found in Hoodoo but prominently mentioned 329.6 only once - see 964, p.361.] Yo' come back dere in de mawnin'. Yo' lay yore han's upon mine an' ah'll look up tuh de no'th an' ah'll talk tuh God. An' aftah ah talk wit God, ah take a piece of red flannel cloth an' take two pennies. Ah'll tie nine knots in dat cloth an' ah'll give it tuh yo'. Ah'll say, "At twelve a'clock tuhnight or twelve a'clock tuhmorrah, yo' be at de ceme- tery. Be dere at twelve on de minute." Aftah yo' be dere, yo' go down an' yo' take de haidbo'd [headboard] up, take up de haidbo'd an' say, "Dead! Dead! Dead! Mah son is gone away, " er "mah hus- ban'" - jes' eithah one [who left] yo' know. "Ah want dem tuh return." Take dat haidbo'd an' care [carry] it tuh de foots, an' pull de feet up an' stick it dowa dere.
(Stick the headboard down at the foot?)
Yes sir. Come on roun' wit dat foot tuh de haid, an' git tuh de feet chewself. "Dead! Dead! Dead! Mah some is gone away from me. Ah wants 'im tuh return." Turn dat on roun' heah. Yo' git dere at de haid." 'Dead! Dead! Dead! Mah son is gone away. Ah want 'im tuh return." Take dose two pennies an' stick 'em right down in dere.
(In that hole at the head?)
At de haid. An' stick dat haidbo'd [footboard] down in dere. Undahstan' me plainly. Stick it down in dere. An' git chews up, call 'em three times at ary [each] place an' take up three [demonstrates]. Dat's one, two, dat's three, handfuls of dat sand dirt.
(Where are you picking that up from, now?)
Out de haid. Den yo' put dose pennies down in dere. Den yo' take dat dirt an' put it in a piece of red flannel cloth an' tie nine knots in it, an' take it tuh yore house, at twelve a'clock an' put it in de chimley. Take nine little bits outa dat [graveyard dirt] befo' yo' put it in dere, an' go tuh evah cornah of yore house an' put [demonstrates] one dere, one dere an' one dere, an' one heah - dat's fo' cornahs. Put 'em dere an' den put dat in de chimley. An' don' Say nuthin tO nObody an' gO on out. DON'T LOOK BACKWARD OR YO' BE IN DE CEMETERY. Don't say nuthin tuh nobody until yo' git home tuh yore gate. DOSE ARE THIN'S DAT CHANGES FATE.
(When you go out there at twelve o'clock what is it, day or night?)
Don't make any diff'rence. (When you first go there, you take the footboard up - no, you take the head- board up and you put it down at the foot. Then you take the footboard up and put it down at the head. Then you take them again?) Oh, nO! Yo' CHANGE DE END WIT DE WORL'. IT'S WHAT CHEW WILL, yo' understan'.
[Here is the importance of will or intention.]
(This is to bring them back?)
An' when ah change de end wit de worl' he comin' back. [As an explanation of change de end wit de worl', I can only repeat informant's preceding words: Dose are things dat changes fate.]
(And when you get this dirt, you only get it from the head?)
From de haid. (And you put those pennies down in the headboard hole, and you take the dirt out of the head [board] hole and take it back to the house.) Yes.
Entry 7775
A man tole me one time when ah used tuh try tuh gamble - ah nevah was nuthin but a game-fan [watcher] - but ah've quit dese things now. But ah remem- bah dis in mah youngah days. Ah'm tellin' yo' de truth. He always tole me, said, "If yo' wanta be lucky, B" - called me B, mah name is Bidgood - he says, "if yo' wanta be lucky, yo' go tuh de graveyard an' go intuh de breast of de grave, an' put chure hand down as deep as yo' kin git in an' git some-a de dust. Git chew a piece of red flannen an' put it in dere, an' put some black peppah, some honeycomb" - lak de bees make honey, use de comb sometime fo' curin', but de honey's gone - "an' tie it up an' put it in yore pocket. When yo' go tuh a pokah game or skin game or crap game, jis' take dat ball out an' roll it in yore hands disaway [demonstrates] an' evahthing lak dat, ' an' says, "yo' prob'ly make a couple of passes on de dice - craps. Well," says, "yo' keep dat up an' rub yo' hands [until they] gits warm an' hot. Go tuh a drug store an' git chew some good cologne an' put all through dat so it have a sweet smell tuh it." He says, "Yo' more den apt tuh be lucky." But ah have nevah tried it.
Entry 10064
If yo' wanta have yuh way anywheah in de world yo' go, wanta do any- thing yo' wanta do, yo' git chew a jet black cat. Don't let 'im have no spot on 'im atall - jet black. An' yo' take dat cat an' take yo' a kettle, an' yo' go down heah tuh de swamp alone, by yo'self, no one wit chew. Put dat cat in dat kettle of watah an' put sompin on de lid tuh hold 'im down in dere. Make yuh up a fiah an' bile it [kettle] till de meat come way from dat cat bone. Aftah doin' dat yo' take all of 'is bones an' yo' go tuh a crossroads. All kinda things comin' tuh yuh, but don' chew git frightened. Don't chew git scared. Jis' stay right dere. All kinda things comin' tuh yuh: things wit no haids, no laigs, no ahms - comin' tuh yuh. But chew stay dere. An' aftah yo' stayin' dere yo' take dese bones an' yo' go back tuh runnin' watah an' throw dem in, an' de one yo' see travel up - up - yo' git dose bones. Aftah gittin' dose bones, yo' go tuh a graveyard. An' when yo' git tuh de graveyard, why yo' put dese bones down dere an' let 'em stay down dere fo' nine days. Aftah nine mawnin's yo' go back dere an' git dem bones an' yo' left yo' [you leave] nine pennies. [For paying spirits of dead in graveyard, see pp.3316-3323, v.4 and other places in HOODOO.] Dig yo' a hol' an' let dem nine pennies down dere - at de graveyard, attah yo' git de bones. Yo' put nine pennies dere. An' when yo' take dem bones, yo' take dem bones an' yo' wrap 'em up in a piece of red flannel. An' yo' weahs dese bones. An' yo'll be all right anywhere yo' done go. Nuthin'll worry yo'. Nuthin'll trouble. If yo' in trou- ble, yo' kin git out. Nuthin will hindah yuh atall. [I put in italics that wonderful expression: alone, by yourself, no one wit chew!]
Entry 2213
Well, yo' takes dat lodestone and git chew a little piece of flannel an' sew it all up together, an' yo' buy Hearts Cologne an' jest feed it on it - hit grows as yo' feed it, 'noint it a lot. Ah had a piece once a long time ago an' de more yo' feed it wit dat Hearts Cologne why de bigger it grows, an yo'jes' use dat chew see, jest rub it in yore hand an' tote it in your right hand pocket, den yo' go on tuh gamble. Well, it's lucky anyway, jest all de time getting holt of something.
(Why do they carry it in the right-hand pocket?)
Well, dey tell me dat's de place to carry it, say if yo' tote it in yore left pocket, anything leaves yo' - de right fo' coming in an' de left fo' goin' out.
[See margin-title Three Pockets.]
Entry 5832
An' den if ah wanta put a spell on a person, ah go git some of dere hair. Ah burn dat hair, take dat hair an' carry it right back an' put it down ghere yo' gotta walk ovah it. An' dat make yo' have spells. An' yo' kin even take de hair an' burn it an' put it undah de - sew it up in some red flannel an' take dat flannel an' carry it tuh de house, dig a hole an' put it undah dere where yo' kin walk ovah it. Dat put anybody tuh havin' fits.
Entry 6083
Ef ah didn't want mah old lady to leave, ah'd take whilst she sleep - ah'd git a little of de hair out de mole of 'er haid an' a little out of each temple an' a little ovah heah. (Down below?) Yes, suh. An' ah'd take it an' ah'd git me a 'simmon [persimmon] switch an' ah'd split it an' ah'd stick dat hair right in dat switch. Undahstan' me good. An' when ah'd put it in dat switch, ah'd git me a little piece of flannel about dat long - about Iak, about dat wide. An' ah'd take an' wrop dat [small split stick] in dere, an' ah'd put a hole in de bindin' of mah shirt, an' ah'd take dat an' ah'd stick it up indere an' - wrop it tight an' slip it right up in dere. She wouldn't go nowhere. AH COULD BEAT 'ER ALL AH WANT, SHE WOULDN'T GO ON OFF.
(Where do you keep that now? In your shirt, you say?)
Yes sir, right in de bindin'. (Right in the lining - around your waist.)
Entry 6234
Dey take a lock of yuh hair an' go tuh de west side of a tree, see. An' dey take a augah an' bo' a hole, jis' a little tiny hole in dere - say a quartah inch augah. An' bore it about half-a inch an' take dat hair, an' have it wropped up in a piece of red flannel, an' put it in dat hole. Take a eight or ten-penny galvanized nail an' place it right by dat hole, jis' about a quartah of a inch, sompin sim'lah [similar] tuh dat. An' fer nine mawnin's dey go an' hit on dat nail. An' dat will - it won't kill yuh but it will run yuh crazy.
Entry 6315
Aw yuh kin take it, ah heard 'em say, an' tie it up in a rag, a piece of red flannel, an' carry it tuh de rivah tuh runnin' watah, an' throw it ovah yuh lef' shouldah an' don't look back, an' dey say hit'll run yo' crazy.
(This is your hair?)
Yes sir.
Entry 6358
Yo' kin take de hair an' yo' git chew a lodestone wit it an' sew it up in a piece of red flannel an' weah it nex' tuh yo'. Dat's yore mind. Ah've got it, yore mind. Yo' weah dat an' dat's supposed tuh draw yore mind, see. Keep it always an' weah it on yo'.
(That will draw you.)
Entry 374
[Years ago when the informant lived in Louisville, Kentucky, he did a great amount of gambling without much success. A friend offered to make him a successful gambler, provided he would participate in a certain rite. To perform this ceremony, both men one dark night went out in the woods, where the friend immediately made a large mud pie. Then, taking from his pocket a red-flannel ball which he began to roll round the outside of the pie, he asked the informant to cut the pie with a knife. But, before the latter could overcome his timidity, things began to happen. It lightened and thundered. Dishes dropped from the sky and broke on the ground. A cock appeared and began to crow. Knowing the cock to be the devil, the informant began to run and never stopped until he reached Louisville.]
Entry 581
[The following divination device is usually known as Jack, but he has other names. I have never heard him named for a woman. A person asks guestions of Jack. His answers by swinging have at times given him the nickname talking hand (see FACI, 1st ed., p.622; 2ed., p.799). Technically, Jacks are hands. For more examples, see Jack in Index.] When I first come from the country [from near Spotsylvania Court house to Fredericksburg] I was eighteen years old - I'm eighty-one now [1936]. I worked in the paper mill with this man. He wanted to learn me to make money by cunjuration. He had a little ball with something he put in it. He would speak to this ball. It was wool - flannel. He would speak to this ball and itwould go first one way then the other. The ball hung on a string. Anything he would ask this ball would twist around. He would sell you this thing for so much money. "John, now, I want you to be my guide today: If anything is in my way I want you to tell me." He made money on it. He gave this ball a name. He called it John. And John would tell him if anybody was doing anything for good or anything for harm. He was a cunjure himself. He only made this ball and sold them.
Entry 582
I used to go to an old man's house and he had a bag and he called that bag Jack. It was long and big at one end and kinda small at the other end. The string Was tied to the small end - red flannel covered the bag. And then when you would ask him any questions he would take this bag and hold it up [by the stringl and stand still and let it strike the question you asked. If you asked him if this person was hurt, this bag would spin around like a top; if he wasn't hurt, it would stand still. You asked the question, he didn't say anything at all.
Entry 587
(This is the lucky hand you say - and how is that made?)
It made with peppah an' salt an' a penny or a dime.
(A penny or a dime?)
Yes - an' sew it up in a piece of red flannel. An' dere's a string left to it an' when yo' git ready to - fo' anything to happen in yore favor, you hold it by de string lak dat an' talk to it. An' when yo' git ready tuh go 'way, yo' say, "When ah git ready tuh leave heah - when ah git ready tuh leave dis country, ah hope ah nevah come back."
(That thing will revolve?)
If yo' de nerve tuh go. When it stops, den yo' go. Well, ah tried dat once mahself - ah heard it an' ah tried it.
(What do they call that little bag?)
Dey call dat a lucky hand.
(You ask questions of it?)
Yeah. An' hit goes certain ways, an' whatevah it says, yo' do.
Entry 599
Well, ah'm sorta man - ah ain't no crazy man jealous. Ah works fo' mah livin', do ever'thing ah kin in de worl' fo' mah woman, if ah had one, but ah ain't got nobody but mahself now - haven't been fo' yeahs. But ah'm a jealous man, see whut ah mean, but ah ain't crazy. An' a woman come up fo' murder heah at Florala, Alabama. Ah reckon yo' heah talk of dat. Well, ah married her dere an' ah brought her back tuh mah home an' we live together down heah a couple of yeahs. An' she took advantage of me. A lotta people says dat a person can't do nuthin' to yo' lessen dey git something in yo' dere to stay. Dey kin take advantage of yo'. Well now, while me an' her has transaction, she got mine de same as ah would git hers, see. She got me an' dressed mah side of mah bed up. See, she know whut side ah sleep on, an' she dressed it all an' she got me so dat ah didn't pay any 'tenshun to her.
(What did she do when she dressed it?)
She got her sickness an' dres8ed it up an' got mine with hers an' put it in some flannel rag. She got a new one an' got mine an' hers together, an' she cut de fo' corners off it, see - lak de fo' corners of de world. Well, she dry hit by de sun, see, an' she bandage dat up an' dressed dat up an' had her piece wit dat. Well, she got me crazy by that - ah didn't care whut she done, how she come an' how she go. Ah wouldn't say a word. It tickle me tuh see her enjoy herself. Well, ah knowed that weren't nachural an' ah went to a man an' he fixed me. Ah went to a man at mah home an' he fixed me so that ah could come tuh mah- self - said, ah come back to mahself. Well, ah went back home an' ah tole her, "Well, that's all right. Yo' took advantage of me." Ah went dere Sunday an' Sunday night ah woke her up an' said, "Well, listen" - ah wake her up, say, "ah want talk wit yo' a little bit." She asked me, "Whut's de mattah?" So de main thing wus, "Ah ain't angry with yo' an' ah know yo' ain't with me, but we cain't stay tuhgethah any longah, 'cause ah done done de best dat ah know how. If yo' fix me one way yo' fix me anothah." An' ah said, "Bess, in de mawnin' ah'll take yo' back to yo' mother.' Thought, well, maybe some day when ah cain't he'p mahself, ah may call on her tuh do me a favor, see. "Ah'm goin' take yo' back 'way from me." So dat Monday mawnin' ah took her an' carried her back home an' told her mothah ever'thing, how it was. Well, ah came back agin tuh dis man an' he dressed me again.
(Do you know what he did?)
Yessuh.
(What did he do the first time you went there?)
De first time dat ah went dere he - now, ah tell yo' de kinda man he are. He's a lady-hearted man. He won't do nuthin' tuh harm anybody, he 11 take it off yo'. He had a pack of lil' cards dere an' dey didn't have no diamonds or nuthin' on 'em - jes' wimmin's on 'em. Had some wimmins on dose cards, an' he kept turnin' 'em up an' he handed me two, an' he kept turnin' 'em off till he got where he wanted to. So dat's all right. So he took dem back an' he give me two leaves an' he crossed 'em an' ah took 'em in dis han' an' ah couldn't turn 'em loose. Ah couldn't turn 'em loose until he got 'em. He said, "Well, ah know where it's at now." He said, "It's in yore haid." Ah said, "All right." An' he got up an' went off in his othah room an' come back in dere an' he stood up behin' mah haid an' caught me in de back of mah neck, in de spine of mah neck right dere an' he caught me dere an' ah heah him sayin' somepin - he wus prayin' or somepin. An' it jes felt lak ah wus - did yo' evah tote a load an' put it down an' it felt lak yo raisin' [it] up agin? Well, he dressed me dere twice lak dat, an' ah ain't been troubled wit dat woman an' ain't thought about her no mo' an' done fo'got about her.
(What did she do to you, fix you up so that you couldn't do anything?)
Well, ah couldn't fuss with her, see, about nuthin' she'd do.
(You just took everything she did?)
Everything.
(Was it a colored man or a white man told you this?)
It wus de white man straighten me out.
(Did he tell you how this was done?)
Yessuh.
(And what did he say that she did to you to make you that way?)
A lizard. Jes' took dis lizard an' skin dis lizard an' laid him out so many days an' dried him until he come tuh be a ashes. Well, she took dis an' den put it in mah hat, an' took mah bow outa mah hat. Well, she done somepin tuh dat bow but he didn't nevah finish tellin' me. Ah's tuh go back an' he told me he'd finish tellin' me de rest of it. Well, ah didn't nevah go back to him to finish tellin' me all of it, but he tole me dat much. An' well, ah went in dere dis man, he'd rub mah haid up lak dat an' when he'd rub mah haid up, ah'm tellin' yo' true, it jes' felt lak ah had a hundred pound of lead on me.
Entry 705
Yo' take graveyard dirt - go git de dirt off a sinner's grave an' git it right off his heart lak dat, an' take red peppah an' sulphah an' bread salt, an' put all those togethah an' sew that up into red flannel an' lay it away in de yard, in de east corner of de yard. [This is a hand.] Dat will do de work fo' dat. Dat will kill 'em or run 'em away, either one. Or dey kin take, if yo' hurt, an' dat.will cure it. Take that an' make a tea out of it an' let 'em drink that, an' that will cure 'em. (Anybody that has been tricked, you mean - cunjured? You take all this and make a tea out of it? You take the graveyard dirt - everything?) Yes, make a tea of it. If yo' got things in yore well, that will kill 'em.
(You use that to kill live things in the water in the well?)
Yes, jes' lak dey wus in mah well. Ah come home back to mah house. An' mah well, I jes' had it clean out an' dere wus Wigglers [in it again]. Ever' wiggler dere wus dat long - big as mah fingah an' jes' as thick in de watah, jes' as thick as dey could be. Yo' could heah 'em poppin' jes' lak dat - clak-clak. An yo' couldn't even see 'em. An' dat wus tuh kill me.
(Someone put them in there?)
Yeah, a doctor put 'em in dere tuh kill me.
(Did he put the live ones in?)
Yeah, he put 'em in dere an' dey come alive. He put de dust in dere an' dey come alive. But ah have sense enough to know how tuh kill dem.
(What did you do?)
Ah went an' got dat same dust whut yo' heah me talkin' 'bout from de graveyard offen a sinner's grave. An' ah come back dere an' ah put dat sulphah an' dat red peppah togethah an' tied it up in a new piece of cloth an' ah dropped it down in de bottom of dat well. Dey wus daid in two hours.
(That killed them out?)
Yeah, dat killed 'em.
Entry 715
Mah mothah, she tole me once dat huh sistah, huh oldest sistah - dey all wus livin' in de house togethah - one mawnin' she woke up an' 'uh laig wus all swollen. An' dey taken 'uh tuh tuh-three doctahs - livin' in de country - didn't seem to do 'uh any good. An' aftah while huh laigs - hard knots came in it, in huh laigs an' nuthin' wouldn't do 'er no good. So an' ole man tole 'em about a doctah, some kin'a root doctah, an' dey got 'im to come to de house. An' he taken up a bottle from de front doah an' one from de back doah. Den he make some liquid medicine. Whut was in de bottle wus red flannen, strands of hayah (hair), an' fo' brass-eyed needles. It wus in each bottle. An' whut he done, he taken tuh silvah dimes an' balled [boiled] dem. He gave 'uh de water to drink off it an' she throwed up dose black things. They couldn't make out whut dey wus. Den he got some runnin' huckleberry - grows down on de ground, it don' have a huckleberry, it's jis' de vine named dat - den some alter [alder] tags. It's a bush grows an' has little tags on it jis' about dat long. An' dey made a - yo' know, ball [boil] it an' got enough water to bathe in and bath-d 'uh all ovah in dat. Taken dese bottles an' burn 'em in some cayenne peppah, jis' un- stopped 'em an' burned 'em; jis' sprinkle de cayenne peppah ovah 'em an' set 'em - you know, put enough trash tuh 'em to burn an' burn 'em up. An' in about a day or tuh she got well.
Entry 806
Sellin' likker yo' mean? If yo's a man makin' moonshine or unstamped whiskey, see. All right. Now, ah'm goin' tell yo' dis heah one 'cause ah done dis mahself an' yo's a doctor an' yo' wanta know all dat. Yo' gits a little piece of red flannel - yo' have seen dis heah red flannel, an' dis brierberry root wit stickers in it.
(It has stickers on it.)
Dat's right. Well, all right, yo' git chew a piece of dat an' git chew six copper pennies, an' have a lamp. Now, yo' don't want nobody see dis lamp - yo have all dis down in de lamp where yo' po' yore oil in it, an' yo' set it ovah dere in dis corner. Well, yo' goin' burn dis oil, see. Well, now if ah come in ah ain't got no business ovah dere in dat corner - see whut yo' doin' ovah dere - have I?
(That's right.)
Well, now, git chew nine pods of red peppah an' put in there, in dat lamp, wit dem six copper pennies. But befo' yo' put dem six copper pennies in dere - to keep anybody from knowing whut yo' doin'; dat is, if yo' kin - stamp ovah 'em, put 'em into a vise, get 'em pressed out. Well, now yo' got chure little shade, yore little secret place heah in dis corner. Well, yo' set dat lamp dere an' yo burn it night an' day, 'cause yore gon'a have customers comin' in all times of de night. Well, yo' burn dat night an' day right dere, but chew kin have a little curtain up dere. Well, dey ain't nobody got no business back dere but chew - dey don't know whut chew doin'.
(That is all you have to do?)
Dat's all yo' got'a do. Ah've seen dat tried.
(And you take the lamp and you put this brier grass in there.)
Now wait. Yo' goin' pull up the sod with it. Yo' pull it up an' take yo' a hatchet 'cause it's hard, an' yo' cut off nine little blue pods.
(Pods or parts?)
Pods, dat's right. Cut it off jes' lak dese round - jes' cut one, two, three, fo', till yo' git de nine. Yo' have yore lamp right 'long wit yo' an' yo' put it in dere. Well, dat kerosene now dat chew use in dis lamp, don't nevah po' none of it out no mo' than go in dat lamp, an' don't let nobody use an' handle dat but chew. Well, yo' handle dat a different way. Yo' ain't goin' trust anybody else with it. Well, all right, dat's all yo' do. (You put the nine pods of that brier grass from the corn field in this lamp. Then you pour the oil on it. Then you take these - how many pennies?) Nine pennies. (Nine pennies and you flatten them out - put them in a vise - hold them in a vise so many days and then you put those in - and anything else you put in that lamp?) Nine pods of peppah - little cayenne red peppah, dese little pods, yo' know 'bout dat long. "An' yo' have yore little shade made right dere an' put 'em in dere an' go out 'bout chure business.
(Nothing else you put in that lamp?)
Nope - jes' dat all. An' yo' burn it night an' day till it burn down. At certain hours when yo' have no customers, git behin' yore curtain, an' feed dat lamp. Yo' ain't got'a burn it high - jes' dat-a-way, re'l dim light. An' if he come right out dere, he ain't comin' in dat place.
(The law won't come in there at all.)
An' yo' kin tell about a man whut has did it - go to 452 Montgomery Street, right round de corner.
Entry 900
Dey did it with mah brothah. Well, dey took one of de dead bones out of it, out of de dead person rib - de last rib on de left side. An' dey cut dat rib into three parts an' make it as near like a cross, see, an' den wrap it an' sew it into a piece of cloth, red flannen, an' den dey put black peppah, salt an' graveyard dirt in that, an' bury it right at de front steps, as yo' come out. That'll cause yo to go crazy, hate everybody dat near yo' would care fo' yo' - would like anybody dat hate yo', an' de people dat care fo' yo' dey can't come near yo', an' finally yo'll die. Well, it be a short death, 'cause he didn't live ovah one week an' fo' days - mah next oldest brothah. An' dis man dug it up an' showed it to us, an' he said it wus de last rib of a man an' wus cut into three parts - 'cause we looked at it. It placed in a little small three-cent cream can - was in dat an' buried undah de steps.
Entry 1107
Take and sew a piece of assafitidee and a piece of red flannel into a bag: You make a bag of the flannel, wear it in your pocket next to your heart and, if you have any enemies or anything, that will keep them down.
Entry 1375
Ah hear that yo' kin git a piece of lodestone and take a needle and break in three parts and on a Friday morning - be sure it's on a Friday morning, and stick each part of that needle in de side of that lodestone. Sew it up in a red piece of flannel and wear it and dey can't do you no harm.
Entry 1376
Yo' git yo' a little bit of saltpeter and a little table salt and a little tiny bit of lodestone and yo' put dat together. Git yo' a piece of red flannel - jes' a red little shallow cloth like, and roll it up in a piece of red flannel and make a knot out of it, and you take that flannel and yo' take you a string and tie it and wear it around yore waist. And yo' take that thing and yo' reduce [feed] that thing with Hearts Cologne fer nine days, and den that breaks it up - dey can't come dere.
(What can't?)
If dey tryin' do somepin to yuh - keep it away.
Entry 1480
Say if they put anything down fo' yo', if yo' wanta walk ovah it or go ovah it, jes' git chew some sulphur, some salt, black peppah an' take an' jes' make yo' a ball with it lak that an' jes' put it in a red flannel an' yo' kin go anywhere about an' it won't bother yo'.
[This is a protection hand.]
(Where do you keep that red flannel?)
Jes' keep it anywhere next to yore heart - in yore watch pocket or in yore shirt pocket, anywhere.
Entry 1732
Wal, dey say it's something whut you could fix uP as a bodyguard, but chew fix it up in a bag. Take a piece of shamry skin, something like hide, like dis shamry skin gloves - you know jis' tough skin. Take that and git diff'rent kind of roots and bark. All right, you git de John de Conker root. You git de lodestone and git de devil's- shoestring root and de black cat wishing-bone, and den you take de John de Conker and a piece of dragon's blood and take all of that and mix it up fine - yo' know, beat it up, mostly powder enough to go in a bag. And den you take that and after you git all that fixed up good, git whut chew call dis here Seven-'leven Oil and put seven drops of that. And mix it up all together and put in dis bag and sew it up. See. And take it and put it - and git a piece of red flannen and sew dis bag up in dat red flannen and jes' put a string around it and tie it and wear it around yore waist or around yore neck and dere won't nothing bother yo'.
(That's to keep people from bothering you.)
That's pertection fo' you.
(Where do you buy this Seven-'leven Oil? Where do you get that?)
You supposed to could - de woman told me that she got some from New Orleans but whut part of New Orleans ah don't know. [All black cat bones are hands (see pp.74-97) and therefore they are also in a sense wishing-bones. But wishing-bone here means form as well as power. As to form, one informant said the black cat bone was "made lak de breast of a chicken" (No. 316, p.94), meaning the furculum or wishbone in front of but not a part of the chicken breastbone. Similarly, another informant described black cat bone as "gon'a have three forks [prongs or tines]...two long forks an' a little small fork" (No. 299, p.88). I suggested this three-pronged fork could have been a 'devil's trident." Actually the "little small fork could have been the hypo- cleidium - the end adhering to the winning half of the broken wishbone. Despite informants, wishbone appears only in most birds; it appears in black cats only by the grace of hoodoo merchants. Among other black cat products I should mention black cat oil (No. 1121, p.417), black cat powder (No. 326, p.96), and black cat water (Nos.328-329, p.96f.).]
Entry 1749
She takes an' cut dat little bow out of de back of a man's hat, any- thing, an' she puts her urine, her water, in a bottle too. An' she gits a strand of yore hair if she can. If she can't git it, why den dat bow will do de same, cause it come from de back of yore haid an' yo' been wearin' it an' sweat. Jes' 'long as she gits somepin 'bout chew. An' she take an' put that in a bottle an a lil peppah, an' den wrap it up in a flannen cloth an' keep it in de flannen cloth an' carry it roun' with her, somewhere roun' 'bout her waist. An' yo' cain't git away.
Entry 1806
You can take a coffin nail and do anything that chew wish to do as long as you use that coffin nail. If it's a man, he gets the coffin nails from a wo- man's, outten a woman's coffin; and then he can do anything he wish to with that nail whenever he wishes to. And if it's a woman, she gets it from outten a man's coffin and wishes whatever she want to do. Well, they carry that nail with 'em. They keep that nail in they personal affairs somewhere here where the nail'll keep warm. They wrap that in flannel or anything. And they keep that saturated in Hearts Cologne.
Entry 1886
I had a person tuh fix me up one of those things once. He had me tuh git a toadfrog an' kill it an' hang him on de west side of a pine tree until he dries, see. Then take him then an' sew it up in a piece of flannel, red flannel an' go to a drug store an' git yo' a bottle of Hearts Cologne - keep dat 'nointed with it. Go to a skin game. Why jest befo' yo' go to skin 'em, jest unbeknowst to anybody, jest 'noint it yo' understand an' rub yore hands - rub it in yore hands. Yo' know how yo' take dese powder puff an' jest dope yore hand wit it an sit down dere. Dat's purtty lucky, too. Ah've tried dat.
Entry 1930
Well, ah have use it. Yo' take graveyard dirt an' put Hearts Cologne wit it an' use it fo' luck fo' gamblin'.
(Just how would you do that?)
Go to de graveyard where a grave's been - where de grave be about six months old, de dirt. An' yo' go dere an' git dat dirt an' bring it back. Git chew a piece of red flannel. Yo' sew dat dirt an' a dime up together, a dime an' de dirt up together, an' keep dat wet in Hearts Cologne or even in good whiskey.
(What does that do for you?)
Dat's tuh give yo' luck fo' any kinda games an' gamblin'.
The informant says the material has been used and describes dirt from a grave about six months old. Hearts Cologne and good whiskey are stated alternatives for wetting it; the luck claim remains source-reported.
Entry 1939
Dat graveyard dirt, why ah've got it mahself to be lucky. Why ah take it an' some Hearts Cologne an' git me a silver dime an' put into it, an' wrap it up in some red flannel an' wear it in mah shoe fo' nine days - in mah left shoe fo' nine days. An' ah change it out an' put it in mah right shoe fo' nine days. An' de tenth day, why if ah felt like it, if ah had a job or gambling, ah'd go back to gambling, why ah'd always be lucky.
Entry 1965
De onliest time when ah used to be gamblin' ah went to a fellah an' he sold me a hand, an' in that hand he had a piece of charcoal an' had three fish- hooks an' it had two hairpins in that wropped up wit a piece of flannel. Then yo' had to dress it with cologne - with this heah Hearts Cologne. So ah found out that the Hearts Cologne was luckier den the other stuff. Ah found out that.
Entry 2058
Use Hearts Cologne an' lodestone fo' luck. Well, yo' take yore Hearts Cologne. Take yore lodestone an' jes' sew it up in a piece of flannel. Yo' feed that lodestone with that Hearts Cologne. That's for luck. [This is a simple lodestone hand - nothing else in the bag.]
Entry 2082
You go get you some luoky seed. I'll get you a piece of lodestone.
(What are lucky seed?) A lucky seed. (What's that?)
It's a lucky bean, they calls it. And you get you a piece of lodestone.
(What does that lucky bean look like?)
It looks something like a pink bean - beans.
(Is it a real bean?)
No sir, it ain't a real bean - it's a bean but it ain't a real bean.
(What's it made of?)
It's hard, chew can break it.
(All right, then what do you do?)
Now, you get you a piece of lodestone - you get she lodestone, and you get you some gunpowder and you get you a piece of red flannel and you put all that to- gether, and a little cayenne pepper and stuff, and put it in that bag and sew it up and put it in your pocket. That's lucky.
(For gambling?)
For gambling.
Entry 2084
Told me to get some oil of wintergreen - wintergreen oil. Go to the drug store and get some wintergreen oil and this lodestone and get some steel dust and bring it to him. And he put it in a little red piece of flannel and he told me, he say, "Now, you go to this man and tell him, ask him for a job - say your prayers before you go to him. When you go there you ask him for a job. Just before you get there you say your prayers and then you ask him for a job." He say, "And he turn you down the first morning, '' and he say, "you come back to me." And after I went back to him, he give me another little thing but he didn't tell me what was in that bag. And he give me some perfume, something smell - just smell like perfume, you know. So I taken that perfume and I went there and I asked the man for the job driving Goodman's Beer truck. And so he give me a job. So I went back to him and I asked him, I say, "What kind of perfume that you done give me?" He told me, he say, "Well," he say, "I went to the Cracker- jack Drug Store and got some of this same perfume." I say, "What kind of perfume is that?" He say, "They call that Lucky Dog per fume." That's what it was - Lucky Dog.
(He didn't tell you what was in that second bag though?)
He didn't tell me what was in that bag.
narrated request for and receipt of a beer-truck driving job. The first preparation and quoted instructions, second unknown bag, perfume and claimed hiring remain separate episodes. The text does not disclose the second bag’s contents. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2086
To keep de police away is tuh git chew High John de Conker root. Git chew High John de Conker root an' Lucky Heart - dat's a weed dat grow up an' it shaped in a heart like, lak dey call it Lucky Heart. It's a red leaf, dey call it Lucky Heart. Yo' take dem two tuh- gether an' yo' put 'em together in a red flannel sack, yo' see. An' yo' take an' put chew some sulphur in dere wit dat. Yo' understan'. An' yo' bury dat right undah yore do'step. Git chew two sacks so yo' kin make two of 'em. Put in each do'step an' dey tell me if de law come dere, dey can't come in. If dey do, dey overlook ever'thing whut dey come in dere fo'.
Entry 2087
Ah know a lady dat she got sage an' cal'mus roots an' wropped it up in a bag, an' gits dis same Hearts Cologne an' Lucky Heart an' put it in a lil sack - a lil flannel, red flannel - an' tote it on her. An' then take this white Lucky Heart Powder - whut yo' jes' got it [preceding Lucky Heart] fix in dat lil bag, yo' know - an' rubs in front of yore house across de front do'steps an' cross de back, an' de law won't come dere. Dat s de way she did ovah heah an' dey nevah did come.
(You use White Lucky Heart Powder. Face powder?)
Yes. [Calamus should be the sweet flag (Acorus calamus).]
Entry 2092
(White lodestone? What does that do?)
Dey has a kind dey call de magic sand an' dey take hit an' put it wit de lode- stone. Say dat supposed tuh draw money. Dey put it in a yarn rag, put it in flannel, an' dey wear it in two sacks - put red flannel next to it an' put it in a white little sack, an' keep it wet with Heart Cologne or lucky oil, either one.
(What will that do then?)
Dat will draw de money - dat's fo' gamblin', dat give yo' luck.
Entry 2093
You get live lodestone, Horseshoe Brand.
(Horseshoe what?)
Horseshoe Brand, magic sand.
(Horseshoe Brand, magic sand.)
Magic sand and lodestone powder. Well, you mix them three mixes together, and you puts it in a piece of brand-new red flannel - you have to go buy the red flannel. And you sews it up. And anything that you goes for, well they couldn't turn you down. You may be the last man he'll turn off of the iob.
(What are these things you mix up now?)
Horseshoe Brand magic sand and a piece of live lodestone and lodestone powder.
(And lodestone powder - those three things?)
Yes. [Here lodestone powder is different from magic sand. We could say it is lodestone powdered but this would conflict with the live lodestone here.]
Entry 2100
I entered a house to clean it and hang some paper. Nobody had lived in it for about six months. The colored man who had lived there had moved out. There were about three daughters in the family. And when I went in the house and started to tear the paper down I found in a crevice in the wall a little ball of red flannel saturated with Hearts of Cologne. There were about 25 needles stuck in it. The fellow that was with me told me that was a mojo - a good-luck piece or to put somebody into a stream of bad luck.
Entry 2164
Yo' kin take a needle - two needles, charcoals an' red flannel wit some other graveyard dust an' put whiskey on it an' dat will give you good luck.
[Three ingredients are in the sack; whiskey feeds it.]
(Good luck in what particularly?)
In gambling.
Entry 2221
I went to a man when I was in North Carolina when I didn't have no work to do, an' he told me to go get somebody to kill me a rabbit, get me the right feet and tie that right feet up in a piece of red flannel, and get me a bottle of Heartshorm Cologne and makes some of my water and mix it together and pour it on that rabbit feet, and for me to go out and go from door to door and ask people if they don't want nobody to do some Work. And I have got jobs like that, and that luck did me some good.
(Well, now which foot did you use - the right foot?)
His right feet.
(Both of them or just one?)
One of them - his right feet [foot].
(I see - the front or the back one?)
The front feet [foot].
Entry 2228
Yo' git de rabbit foot - de front left foot.
(Now, just how do you prepare that?)
Yo' git dat rabbit foot an' yo' take it as it is an' put three needles in an' yo' put it in flannen, red flannen, an' keep it wit chew all de time. Yo' sew it up in dere - keep dis rabbit foot with yo' all de time.
(What do you use that for?)
Dat's fo' luck in games - gamblin'.
Entry 2314
For luck in gambling you get you some lodestone, you get you some steel dust, and you mix it together and you get you some paradise seeds, and you put all that together in a flannel bag and you sew it up. It's a bag about that size. And after you sew it up in that flannel bag, you take it and you put it down in a saucer - a round saucer and you pour some whiskey - or either good gin on it. You see, you gotta pour that on it. That's to season [feed] it. And you sprinkle a little steel dust on it - you see, that's to season it, and that is supposed to give you luck in gambling. You see, the steel dust supposed to draw and the lodestone. The paradise seeds - well, they include help to make it a success. I got lots of that stuff.
Entry 2315
De graveyard dirt by itself is not no good, but it's a certain time yo' gotta go git de graveyard, de dirt from de graveyard. One minute aftah twelve yo' supposed tuh be dere tuh git it from a fren' dat yo' an' him been long nice good - yo' an' him been good, see jes' lak a fren'. Yo' swap money wit him - could handle money wit him or somepin lak dat. One minute aftah twelve on de dot, yo call him by dey name when yo' go down dere by de graveyard, one minute aftah twelve. Say, "Joe, Jim, '' say, "come heah, ah want some luck from yo'. Ah wanta git a little de dirt." An' don't git de dirt right off de top of de groun'. Git it from as close by de casket [coffin], if de casket ain't rotted up, but it's bettah if yo' could git it right out it if de casket done been long 'nuff fo' it tuh done rotten. An' yo' take it an' mix it wit steel dust an' take yo' a silver dime - dat graveyard dust, de silver dime an' take yo' a piece of red flannen, an' git chew some oil of cinnamon an' mix wit dat an' make yo' a little bag an' wear it on yore left side. Dat's luck. Put de steel dust down in dere wit de silver dime, put it down in dere wit it an' wear dat on yore left side. Dat's luck fo' gamblin'. Success. But it's dangerous! Lightnin'! De dust, it draws. De steel dust is de same as lodestone, yo' know, it's always dangerous. Be sho' tuh take it off yo' in de case of thunder or lightnin' storm. Yo' should take it off yo'.
Entry 2384
Oh, de willow tree root, yo' goes an' git, say about seven a'clock in de mornin', an' cut a piece of root from one of de sunrise [side]. Then yo' git chew a piece of red flannen wit salt an' sulphur, black peppah, an' a needle an' some Heart Perfume, an' yo' sew dat up yo' understand. Yo sew dat up an' yo' keep it 'nointed with dat Heart Perfume an' wear dat in yore pocket. If yo' git it yoreself, name it after yo'; if somebody else git it, name it after them. (Carry that for luck. You get this root from the willow tree. Which side do you get it from?) Yo' git it from de sunrise, yes sir.
interviewer-supplied luck purpose in a compound question, without informant endorsement. No blanket assent to compound question sewing the named red-flannel material combination. No stitch type, bag shape or unmentioned sewing procedure is inferred. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2395
Someone who used to live on the Riprap Road found a box at the gate one morning and brought it to my house and said, "Look what I dug up at my gate." I said to her, "What's in it?" And she opened it and there was pins in there and needles and some of her hair and sulphur in a bag in there and a piece of red flannel that had four sticks sewed up into that and a dime into it. It was a wooden box about that long. (Eight inches long and four inches wide.) [Probably a cigar box - symbolic coffin.] She said she was going to take it and see who put it there, she was going to take it over to Norfolk to a fortuneteller. And when she came back she told me that her husband put it there. That's what the fortuneteller told her.
Entry 3810
An' he told me. I knew de girl dat did it. Well, I'm goin' to tell yo' now how it started. I heard of it befo'. I wuz goin' wit 'er, an' I had been goin' wit 'er, an' I wuz in good health, evahthing. An' de way I wuz, dis girl wuz crooked on me, an' I say, "I'm goin' quit messin' roun' wit yo', I ain't goin' to" - well I got me anothah girl, started wit 'er, went wit 'er a time or two. An' I got hold of dis girl's pit- chure whut I wuz goin' wit. I had been messed up in dat stuff befo' but not wit dis girl. An' she wuz from de same place dat I wuz. She knowed broad people, all dose people down dere roun' South Carolina an' way to Georgia. Dere's a whole lot of people down dere dat knows a lot of stuff, dere's lot of em down dere dat knows plenty. I says - I been wit dis girl a time or two - I says, "I ain't goin' to hide yore pitchure, goin' to leave it in my pocket." Dis girl got dis girl's pitchure. She seed it but she wuz scared to bother wit it. I says, "Well.... [A short lacuna appears on the cylinder, probably an accidental rather than intended stoppage.] Seem lak evah time I'd go roun' where she wuz - where she wuz at - I would get cowardah [cowarder] an' cowardah [more and more he lacked courage], didn't have any manhood atall. I goes on. I [finally] went to a doctor [M.D.] an' he gived me some medicine. Kept on havin' de medicine, kept on havin' it. Well, I'd taken it fer about six months an' nevah seen it [the ailing member], gotten no manhood atall. I wuz workin' an' I says, "Hell, somepin's gotta be done." I went to see dis person [a man mentioned later] an' [he] says, "What's de mattah wit yo'?" [I] say, "He's [ailing member is] sick. He can't do nuthin. He haven't [had] a woman. It must be woman [causing this trouble]." I kept a- thinkin' about 'er if I didn't seen 'er [he kept thinking about the first woman though he had not seen her]. I wuz talkin' to a man about dis an' he told me who to go to. I went to a ole lady dat had one leg longah den de othah, an' she told me, said, "Boy," said, "time yo' got here." [Her opening words are quite professional - see CONSULTATION TECHNIQUE, Pp.307- 319. Her long leg and short leg were good for business - see NAMES FOR DOCTORS and PERSONAL APPEARANCE, PP.293-301.] She told me how I wuz messed up wit - how my manhood wuz cut down, an' she said, "But I kin fix yo' all right." I says, "Yo' can?" She say, "Yes." says, "Well, what yo' goin' do?" She says, "Well, dat's all right about whut I do. I'll fix yo' all right." An' she say, "Well, I tell yo' what yo' do. Yo' go an' buy me a half pint of whiskey." I say, "Sure enuff." I says, "If yo want a drink of whiskey, " I say, "I'll give yo' a drink of whiskey, but yo' say yo' kin fix me. Yo' told me somepin an' yo' must know somepin, ain't it?" She say, "Yo' go an' buy me a half pint of whiskey, an' if yo' wanta give me a drink, buy yo' one an' me one, an' I'm goin' to give yo' nuthin out of dat." She told me - she took a knife, jes' about a, lak a case knife, an' black gun- powdah, an' a little bit of sulphur, an' a little bit of salt, an' a little bit of red peppah, an' told me how to use it - how to take dis, put it in de whiskey an' shake it up. She got a piece of flannel - said white flannel or eithah red flannel would do, which she preferred white flannel. She had de scissors an' she cut it off an' had taken some mutton suet. She told me to take dis den an' jes' lathah [lather] it wit dis mutton suet befo' a hot stove, or anything, dat a lamp would do if it were hot enough, an' put in on jes' lak dis [demonstrates] an' give a wish.
(And pull it up three times.)
An' it would stay dere, keep it stayin' dere. Told me if when I got dere, if it would fall down, to come on back. So. I didn't pay, didn't pay 'er a thing until I came back - if I didn't want to, see. Well, it did an' it's been stand- in' evah since.
(Well, WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THIS WHISKEY, then?)
I take a swallah of it three times a day. An' it nevah bothahed me no more. Told me evah time when I started wit anybody dat I wuz payin' attention to, if I thought dey had any underworld ideas - but I nevah had nuthin to do ag'in. [The preceding experience was given on cylinder 482:9. Before that, on 482:6, came the tying-up rite, and now follows on 482:7, the pre-statement for the ex-perience:] Dere's a way dat yo' kin take some salt, an' a little bit a pinch of sulphur on a knife blade, an' somepin lak some sheep suet an' heat it ovah a red hot - somepin lak a red-hot stove. If yo' reach down lak dat an' git it when it cools, an' make a wish, yo' see if it stand up [demonstrates].
(How do you pull it down?)
No, yo' pulls it up, three times.
(Three times?)
Pull it three times an' make a wish.
(And then it stays up itself.)
Yeah.
Entry 5144
Take yore shoes an' scrape, yuh know, some outa de instep. An' dey kin roll dat up in a piece of red flannel an' carry it right down tuh any cemetery, any grave in de cemetery, right at de foot, an' [bury it and] IT WILL MAKE YUH WALK YORE BRAINS OUT - keeps yuh walkin'.
Entry 5424
Yo' go down tuh de fo' fo'k of a road an' yo' git de lef' track of a person. Yo' take it from de toe back tuh de heel wit de lef' han' an' yo' keep dat wit yo', if it's some- one dat chew love an' try- in' tuh git back tuh yo'. (You wrap that up in some- thing?) Yes sir, yo' put dat in de piece of cloth - red flannen.
Entry 6029
Someone who used to live on the Riprap Road found a box at the gate one morning and brought it to my house and said, "Look what I dug up at my gate." I said to her, "What's in it?" And she open- ed it and there were pins in there and neodles and some of her hair and sulphur in a bag in there, and a piece of red flannel that had four sticks sewed up into that and a dime in it. It was a wood- en box [coffin] about that long [demonstrates].
(Eight inches long and four inches wide, probably a cigar box.)
She said she was going to take and see who put it there, SHE WAS GOING TO TAKE IT OVER TO NORFOLK TO A FORTUNETELLER. AND WHEN SHE CAME BACK SHE TOLD ME HER TOLD HER.
Entry 6180
If yo' want 'em [to] stay, why dey git a lock of yore hair, see, an' salt, peppah an' blacksnake root or Samson [snakeroot] - it's one of dose root, an' wrap it in flannen cloth an' put it in a bottle an' airtight it, den bury it. Bury it undah de step of yore do'.
Entry 6389
Take 'em an' burn 'em in de ashes, an' sew 'em up in red flannen. (These fingernails and toenails?) Yes sir, an' it'll run 'em crazy.
Entry 7209
Many yeahs ago [this happened]. An' dis woman tole me. She wuz mah fathah's sistah. She tole me dat a man came from de country tuh de city an' stopped wit a woman, yo' know, an' got work heah an' stayed in de house wit 'er. Dat Woman Wanted 'im tuh stay dere [per- manently] an' dat man couldn't git tuh 'is wife. He couldn't go home. So he talked tuh a frien' an' he says, "Don' chew know ah've got a wife an' ah cain't go home. Evah time ah start tuh go, it seems dat dere's somepin dat ah cannot go." Well, dis man tole 'im somebody did sompin tuh 'im. He tuk [took] 'im some- whah whah he found out - some fortunetellah, ah guess or medium. Dey [fortuneteller or medium] says, "Yes, dis woman has done somepin tuh yo' tuh keep yo'." Says, "She has a bag sewed up in a flannel an' she keeps it 'roun 'er laig." He says, "If yo' kin git dat, yo' kin git back tuh yer wife." So dis woman had a way of settin' up wit 'er laigs crossed, so Aunt Julia tole me. So he jis' watched an' had a penknife an' he jis' saw dat bag. An' he clipped it an' ran outa de house, an' she woke up an' right behind 'im. He flew. An' he took de train an' went home tuh 'is wife. She dashed aftah 'im fer evah inch of 'er life, but she didn't ketch 'im.
(What did she have in that bag?)
Ah don't know whut wuz fn dere. [Hoodoo has a hundred examples of what a woman or man can put in similar bags or hands.]
Entry 7213
Ah'm purtty shure 'bout dat becuz ah'm constant comin' in contact wit somepin lak dat. Maybe it be rattlesnake mastah, High John de Conkah an' Low John de Conkah, wild sprig of Sweet John - some people call it St. John. Dat's- ain't evahbody knows, but dey would know, yo' know, whut color it has. Git chew dose, yo' know, five or six tuhgethah, an' den have real good gin. Three times a week. An' red flannel. (You take red flannel. I see. You get this good gin then?) Yes, sir. Yo' know, yo' don' sew it. Be sure not tuh sew it becuz in sewin', why yo' might stick de needle in de roots don't chew know. Yo' don' wan'a sew wit de needle becuz dat is steel, unlessen yo' wan'a include somepin in it. But chew fold it up propahly tight an' yo' roll with black thread [demonstrates].
(And you roll it towards you.)
An' don't make no knot. Roll it an' carry de ends loose. Yo' know, don' tie a knot. IF YO' TIE A KNOT, WHY YUH WORK IS BROKEN. An' whenevah yo' gO out lookin' fer a job, why, when yo' dress, take it [this hand] in yuh hand befo' yo' left de house. Yo' be on hand an' made de wish lak yo' desires, an' take dat [hand] an' put it back intuh whatevah pocket yo' carry it an' den yo' wipe it right down tuh yuh waist [privates] three times. An' ah don' cā [care] if dey don't hire anybody else on de job, yo' will be hired.
(You will be hired?)
Cuz dat's not takin' advantage of no one. [597:5.] Whut ah learned ah learned from a well-learned man, great-experienced man, an' who really did delivah de goods.
(Where, by the way, did you learn?)
Part of what ah learned, in Jamaica.
(Oh, in Jamaica. Where were you born?)
Born and reared right in this city.
(Oh, you were born in this city.)
But ah wuz travelin' at large aroun' de Bahamas and down de British West Indies as far as Kingston, Jamaica. Ah begin tuh practice wit a girl, whut ah supposed tuh be a girl, but ah found she wuz a woman. She really could do things. An' dey wuz so simple an' so - lak it wuz impossible.
(Where was this? Where was this girl?)
In the Bahamas.
(Oh, she was down in the Bahamas?)
And dat's all right. An' ah come on up an' came tuh Kingston, Jamaica, an' ah found many more. Dey could meet chew an' look yo' up an' down, an' dey could do certain things, an' tuhmorrah yo'd be as crazy as a fool. An' ah wasn't sat- isfied until ah learned dat. An' de thing tuh do, yo' know, wuz tuh git right intuh 'em. Aftah ah could git dem tuh undahstand me [my English] an' ah undah- stand dem. An' dey simply do dis. Ah tried dat out while it wuz not mah desire, an' ah tried dat out an' ah found it true tuh de lettah. (Well, did you learn all these things in the West Indies, or have you learned some of them in this country?) In dis country. Now, dis partic'lah thing is de question dat chew ast me 'bout takin' a person's track tuh harm 'em. [Charleston, S. Car., (514 Doctor Glover) 597:5 and 594:1.]
Entry 7550
Yuh kin go tuh a cemetery tuh find where a murderah wuz buried, a bad man whut got killed. An' take a dime, dig a hole, a little hole wit chure fingah. Take a dime an' put it down in dere an' covah de dirt back up. Dig yore dime back up an' take dat dirt off de top of dat dime. Take it an' sew it up in a little flannen cloth an' keep it in yore pocket.
(What will that do?)
Dat will keep anybody - anything yo' wants tuh do, why yore successful in it. An' yuh'll nevah be caught in anything yuh wants tuh do, or sompin dat yuh do, yuh'll nevah be caught in it s'long as yuh tote it.
Entry 7602
Den it's de las' one ah know - pahtic'ly [particularly] good, yo' see. Ah wanta tell yo' sompin whut ah done experienced mahself. Now, if yo' goin' off anywhere an' yo' goin' wit some mean folks, befo' yo' go, yo' goes yo' knows people at de cemetery becuz mos' any cemetery - people dat lives in a city or anywhere dey come tuh know somebody dat buried in a cemetery. Yo' goes dere first dark an' yo' carry one penny wit chew. An' yo' goes right tuh de head of 'is grave an yo' call 'im three times, yo' say, "So-an'-so, So-an'-so, [So-an'-so], ah come fo' some of yore dust, an' ah goin' pay yo' fo' it." See, an' yo' take it right off 'is breast right heah [demonstrates]. (Right off the middle of his breast.). An' yo' stick dat penny down an' - stick dat penny way down fur as yo' kin git it. Den yo' take dat dirt an' put it in whut chew wanta put it in [the container unimportant here], an' covah dat grave back up.
(What do you do with that dirt after you get it?)
Yo' kin take dat dirt an' yo' jis' kin sew it up in a red flannen or any piece of brand-new - yo' gotta sew it up in a brand-new piece of cloth, not no cloth dat been used. Jis' go an' git a nickel worth of some kinda cloth, an' sew dat dirt up in dere good an' yo' totes it. [This becomes a hand.] An' about once a week, yo' take a little bit of dis ten-cent cologne, yo' know, an' yo' puts on it [you feed it], an' yo' totes it in yore pocket. An' yo' kin go anywhere in any crowd of mean people, dey won't say a word tuh yo', an' yo' git 'long jis' as good as yo' want tuh.
Entry 9052
Well, yo' kin git - jes' lak if de law ketch yo' an' yo' git out on a bond. Yo' wanta go down an' be dismissed. Yo' kin git a piece of red flannel. Yo' kin git chew some sulphuh an' git a little bit of grave- yard dirt. An' when yo' go in de co'thouse dat mawnin', have jes' a little in dat red flannel, an' jes' sprinkle it roun' de co'thouse.
(That all you have to do?)
Yes sir, sprinkle it right roun' in de co'thouse.
(And then yo'll get off?)
Yes sir.
Entry 10670
( Git de bone from a dead person an' it's lucky to yuh, 'cordin' tuh whut kinda luck yo' want. Jes' lak if yo' wanta, yo' gotta git a diff'ren' kind of bone, a certain part of bone from a person. Yo' kin use a person's teeth from de [dead] body fo' luck, but it's gotta be ground. Co'se [of course] doctors will grind 'em [bones from the dead] fo' yo' but yo' know dey kinda scared on 'counta de laws about dat, but chew kin git a bone from de wrist. Dat's whut dey call a article bone [article is obsolete word for a "joint of the body"]. Dey kin use dat an' wrap it up in flannel, but yo' gotta use all dese diff'ren' things. Wrap it up in flannel an' carry it around in yore pocket. Yo' don' use anything on dat [wristbone] fo' luck. An' den yo' kin git a bone from de laig. Dat's de smaller bone, de front bone. Yo' kin git a smaller bone from a person's laig an' use it an' it's fo' bad luck fo' yo' enemies things. [This should have been placed under BONES FROM THE DEAD pp.3407-3419, v.3.]
Entry 11327
(Your mother was sick?)
Uh-huh an' de doctor said dat somebody had put somepin down for 'er. So I kin remembah dat he dug up - you know, dey had dese fireplaces, an' he had taken up threw whole bricks. [I] remembah when he'd taken up dese bricks. Dey had a bot- tle buried an' had a form as a baby wit feathahs. Dat Was sewed up in a piece of yellah cotton [or unbleached homespun] an' in dat - see, he opened it - an' in dat dey had a red piece of flannen an' red cayenne peppah intuh dis bag. An' dis baby had its legs an' feet an' arms made outa feathahs.
Chicken feathahs. An' some of 'er hair was in dis bag. An' so he tole my mothah tuh leave it tuh him, dat he would 'tend tuh dat bag. So, well, I don' think he did anythin' good enough. But still he put somepin else down dere, but my mothah always said dat whoevah put dat stuff down; dat dis man instead of workin' fuh 'er, he was workin' fuh de people what put it down. An' she didn't give him dat. [Patient keeping doll baby is most unusual. Poor doctor!] (Well, how was your mother sick? I mean - how did she happen to call him in? How did it start?) She had, she was kept wit dese wretched headaches, you know, an' she had de [medical] doctor, couldn't do nuthin. She kept sick all de time an' was jes' pinin' away tuh nuthin. An' so somebody told 'er tuh see one of dese root doc- tors. An' so she got one. An' de time he come dere, he says, "Yes, dere's somepin right here." An' she [said], "Dere's somepin dere? Go get it." He went an' got it. Looked like he know right where 'twas.
(Was it inside of the house or outside?)
Inside de house, in dat hearth, 'neath de three bricks, an' dere it was all laid out fer 'er. (Was this thing in a - what did you say the name of the thing, this feather thing was in?) In a, you know, a bag, in a yellah cotton bag. Was made on purpose fer it, so it would be shaped all of de baby.
(The bag was in that shape, too.)
[The bag was a baby doll form stuffed with feathers.]
Uh-huh. Dey done fixed it an' had made it out of feathahs, an' put it down fer 'er. Now, my mother's ['s = was] sick all de time.
Entry 11600
Keep a pod of red pepper in the toe of each shoe if someone is trying to harm you. Or take enemy's footprint or footstep and tie up in red flannel with cayenne pepper. Or bury footprint under your doorsteps and that will keep them away.
Entry 11879
To hold woman, man obtains hair from her head, adds lodestone, wraps these into a piece of red flannel, and into this package weaves 3 needles cross- ing one another * [the common rimless wheel device or emblem already given a number of times elsewhere: No.5720, p.2920, Z.10, v.4; No.8214, p.3447, v.4; and No.9796, p.3853, v.5; cf. No.10181, P.3961, v.5]. This package he carries in his pocket or keeps elsewhere. [Compare this rite with following 5 needles one, HAIR 11884.] [Memphis, informant (963), 1555:8.]
Entry 11971
Sew up victim's hair with concentrated lye and red pepper in a red flannel bag, stop up latter in a bottle, and throw bottle into running Water to run victim crazy. [Wilmington 148:5+85.]
Entry 12500
New piece of red flannel, 9 new needles on one side, 9 new pins on other, put under doorsteps, makes person crossing over crazy. [Memphis 1569:3.]
Entry 12023
Tie up a person's hair with thread, or cork it up in a bottle, or wrap it up in a piece of red flannel, and then bury it at the foot of a mean person's grave to run crazy the owner of the hair. [Wilmington 111:8+85.]
Entry 2276
If a fellah gits in bad luck altogethah an' ev'rythin' he git, he jis' run away an' he jis' lose it - jis' nuthin come fo' him atall. Well, if he'd go uptown an' buy him a piece of red flannen, an' go in de woods an' git a blackberry root - git a blackberry root an' he git him a root dey call sassafras. Yo' know, yo' see people takin' sassafras tea. Well, yo' git de sassafras root an' de blackberry root, yo' come on back to town wit 'em an' yo' git chew some sulphur, an' take dat root an' sulphur an' put it together an' sews it up in dat flamnen cloth. [Three ingredients.] An' 'stead of yo' puttin' it in yore pocket - don't wear it in yore pocket, wear it roun' yore waist, hangin' in front of yo' all de time. Well, quite natch'l it bring plenty of luck to yo' all de time. Yo'll have a job all de time.
Entry 4690
Dey tell me yuh take dat bow out dat hat an' puts Hearts Cologne on it an' a little of yore chamber lye. An' put it in a flannen rag an' wear it right nex' tuh yore flesh. Say dat will make a man love yuh.
Entry 13259
(What is goofer dust?) Well, whut dey call goofer dust is - dey takes sulphur, red pepper an' a red onion an' sew it up in a red piece of flannel an' dat's whut chew call goofer dust. [Normally of course this is a hand.]
(What do you do with that then?)
Take it an' wear it in yore pocket, jes' wear it all de time in yore pocket.
(What is it supposed to do for you?)
Well, it'll make yo' lucky an' successful. [This of course is not normal goofer dust, a dust; but if it is for informant, it is.]
Entry 2441
('Get me some oil of clover." And then what?)
Then I would get me some business powder. And if I know the law's name - he is the only one that would understand my business, see - I would take me a piece of paper, understand that, and I would write his name down nine times, see and I would fold it, you know. And after I fold it and I would take it and I would take me a lamp: If I had electric light in my place, I would get me a little lamp at the Ten-Cent Store and I would put it in that lamp - put his name in that lamp and I would burn it. That would keep him away from me. That business powder, I would put all that together and fold it up, you know, and take me some little piece of flannel and stick that in my lamp in a secret corner, see, and burn my lamp on it.
(Well, now, would you put this little package inside the lamp?)
In where you put the coal oil in the lamp and drop it down there, but I have it sewed up, understand so it could not get out.
(The name, this oil of clover and this business powder [three ingredients]
I see.)
Entry 2367
(You go out to the graveyard?)
Yo' go out to de graveyard at some certain hour an' takes dirt from de foot, from de breast, an' from de haid [three places], an' yo' fold dat into a tight piece of flannen [flannel] - most people uses dat. Yo' fold dat down in two - one in dat way, one pointin' dis way, an' one dat way [three ways] - fold dat in, see. Dey say dat is best den - jes' git it tight as a ball. An' by urinatin' on it, an' yo' rub dat, an' see it puts kind of a mystery ovah de othah fellah - fo' luck in gambling. (The man I have just interviewed that was just in here is supposed to be a root doctor of sorts but he talked so doggone fast, I couldn't stop him - and he was so profuse and rambling, I don't know whether I got much out of him or not. End of 1515.)
The source says flannen; its flannel expansion is bracketed editorial matter.
Entries from source headings
These entries are listed under the following headings in the source volume:
- WRAP TIGHTLY FROM YOU IN FLANNEL - WIFE'S URINE; SEW IT INTO MATTRESS - OR BURY BEHIND HOUSE OR AT TREE — Volume 3, entries 3331. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → SEXUAL IMPOTENCE → CAUSES OF SEXUAL IMPOTENCE → DISHRAG.
- URINATE - ON BOW IN FLANNEL - TIE UP AND DOWN OVER NAVEL — Volume 3, entries 4693. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → SWEAT → HAT - SWEATBAND - BOW → BOW FROM SWEATBAND OF HAT.
- (4) HEARTS COLOGNE - GUN POWDER - BONE DUST; IN FLANNEL UNDER LEFT ARM - CHEW BLACKSNAKE ROOT; AFTER 6 DAYS SEEK JOB FROM BOSS - SPIT; WEAR BAG 9 DAYS AFTER JOB IS YOURS — Volume 4, entries 8032. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → COFFIN - DOLL BABY - BURIAL - BONES → BONES FROM THE DEAD → WHAT BONES FROM THE DEAD DO.
- TEAR OR CUT EACH CORNER FROM MAN'S LETTER; PUT IN CENTER OF LETTER MONTHLY BLOOD IN; FLANNEL - FOLD 4 TIMES - CORNER TO CORNER; MAKING TRIANGLES - WEARS IN PUBIC REGION — Volume 4, entries 8826. Source context: THE PHYSICAL HUMAN BODY ITSELF → DEATH AND BURIAL AND GRAVEYARD → THREE SUBSTITUTES FOR HUMAN BODY → LETTERS AND HANDWRITING.
- WRIST - WEAR ON - GAMBLING - BAT HEART IN FLANNEL — Volume 5, entries 10604. Source context: ADDITIONAL RITES AND BELIEFS → BAT - THE LEATHER-WING.