Subject:Goofer
Entries
Entry 6814
Well, jis' lak if people has some kinda goofah dust aroun' yo' take salt - cookin' salt - an' sulphuh an' sprinkle it aroun' wit chamber lye. Mix dat tuhgethah an' sprinkle it aroun' in yore house. Dat would kill it.
(Kill off this goofer dust.)
Dat put down fo' yo'.
Entry 10001
Den ah heard dat when show people come tuh town an' dey winnin' a gang of money out dere [at the show-grounds], yo' know, dey have some of dat stuff. Well, yo' kin put a frog in yuh pocket an' go on out dere an' win all de money yo' want. Dat'll keep down dat. Whut chew call dat stuff?
(What do they call that now? It's a powder of some sort?)
Dey call it, yes sir. Some kinda powdah dey use. Ah jis' can't think of de name of it. (Is it goofer dust?) Yes sir, dat's right! Well, dey [the show people] sprinkle dat down roun' de place dere an' yo' can't do no winnin'.
Entry 11721
(What is goofer dust?)
Well, it's not a particular thing. It's sompin jes' lak whut chew say, a reefer. It's not a twig, it's mo' of a flour [ = powder-like] but it's ground, ground into a powder, an' they use it fo' sprinklin' fo' luck an' they throws it on peoples' po'ch fo' bad luck. (What is a reefer?) reefer is somepin lak a cigarette; dey smoke reefers - uh-huh, jes' lak hops.
(Drugs?)
Uh-huh.
Entry 11722
Yo' go in de woods an' we got whut de call de devil's snuff - yo' see dat haven't yo'.... Yo' take dat an' powder it up an' yo' use dat with chure lodestone... [Having turned off the machine too quickly I repeat his answer to t the microphone.] (They call that goofer dust down in Louisiana.) Yes.
Entry 11723
Fix it up an' go in de cemetery an' git some dirt an' fixes it up.... (That is all you put in it?) No sir, yo' put sulphur an' put dis table salt an' red peppah, grind it fine, an' yo' take it an' sprinkle it anybody's track - sprinkle it ovah dere - say dey'll leave an' dey won't come back no mo'.
(You call that mixture goofer dust?)
Yes. [This informant gave an unusual account of how to sell self to the devil, No.375, v.1.]
Entry 11725
They claim they get a whole lot of stuff and put in there, High John the Conqueror, nimphel[?] weed [etc.]. Put all of them weeds together and beat them up good, and call that goofer dust. You are walking along in the mud and you put your whole footprint down there. They claim they can sprinkle that dust in there and make you butt your brains out. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone 39.]
Entry 11727
Dat goofer dust is made from incense. Yo' take dis lucky incense an' yo' kin burn it an' poun' it up in a can yo' know. Git it out somewhere roun' yore neighbor's an' sprinkle it, yo' know, roun'. Dat makes all of 'em come influenced to yo', yo' know.
Entry 11728
Well, them's if you would have - the police were trying to raid your place, or something like that, and you were selling whiskey. Well, in an in- stance just like that, well, they'd come and raid your place at one particular time. Well, in their absence - [I mean] just as they would leave, well, you could take the goofer dust and just sprinkle it on the floor and sweep your house as they went out, and they wouldn't bother you no more.
(I see.) [Goofer dust here is principally the salt and pepper previously mentioned.] [Vicksburg 1042:8.]
Entry 11729
Well, if dey git holt of yore han'writin', ah tell yo' whut dey kin do wit chure han'writin'. Dey kin blind yo'.
(How could they do that?)
Well, hit's nuthin but dey send yo' same lettah back to yo' wit dust in it.
(What kind of dust do they put in it?)
Goofer dust.
(How is that goofer dust made?)
It's made outa - it dark brown, looks jes' lak dat dere [informant points at something].
(What are the ingredients of goofer dust?)
Ah don't know dat.
Entry 11730
Dey claim dey kin do anything, yo' see: goofer, conjurin'. [I turn off machine too quickly, restart it to pick up what was missed.] (What is goofer dust, you say?) Sech as people claim dey kin give yo' a lucky han', conjura- tion.... [Again I stop recording too quickly.]
(What do they call that?)
Goofer.
(They call them goofer people?)
Yessuh.
(Around here?)
In other words, some calls 'em goofer, some calls it conjuration - lak dat. Several different names [cf. "Some call it hoodoo, some call it goofer, ' No.675, p.226, 1.24; but see margin title GOOFER DUST, Pp.222-227, v.1].
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.]