Subject:Gourd
Entries
Entry 3761
He kin git 'is nature back ag'in through de same way ah said. He kin take some gourds or one gourd an' beat it up wit saltpetah an' sulphur an' jes' bathe himself down dere - pahtic'lah dova. An' take it to a rivah an' throw it gsMr, an den dat'll be.off of 'im an' he'll becoe jes' as he once wus.
Entry 5295
Yo' kin take an' take a person's shoe an' have it fixed so dat he kin start walkin' an' dey jes' walk a step an' dey comes back. Well, dey jes' go 'head an' take some dis red pep- pah an' it's a gourd. Yo' know dese guts out de gourd dat be's inside of a gourd, take hit an' Parch it up an' take an' put it in dis shoe. An' throw dis shoe in runnin' watah, an' dat will fix a person so he jes' go crazy an' wandah 'way from home, an' wandah an' wandah.
Entry 5434
Ah heard if yo' want someone tuh leave heah, yo' know yo' wan'a git rid of someone, an' dey way dey do, dey said dey'd git chure foot track from yore toes - git chure right-foot track from de toes an' bring it tuh yo'. An' yo' put it in a green gourd an' stop it up, an' go tuh runnin' watah, where dere's runnin' watah, an' throw it ovahbo'd. Throw it ovah yore lef' shouldah, ovahbo'd. An' dey say dat will shore run 'em away. Dey'll go somewheres.
Entry 5703
Take frogs - jis' lak if yo' wanta run a person off, ketch a live frog an' split 'im wide open. Yo' take a person track - yo' take both of 'is track an' put one crossways, cut it dis way Idemonstratesl. (You cut that frog lengthwise and cross- wise - cross like an "x". All right.) Yo' put de right track straight up an' down, de left track yo' crosses dat. Dat crosses up 'is mind an' he'll drift an' drift an' drift. Dat crosses up 'is mind, see. An' den yo' sew 'im back up an' yo Pat 'im into a green gourd. Put 'im in an' stop it up. A green gourd, dat's right, an' go where de tide is gotta go a long ways, an' yo' walk dere, an' when yo' git tuh dis rivah yo' walk nine steps backwards an throw it ovah, say, "Go, Go." An' throw it ovah. Don' look back, jis' walk from de rivah an' keep agoin'. An' he'll go.
(You say "Go" twice?)
Yassuh.
Entry 6257
Take a person's hair an' git one dem green gourds. DID CHEW EVAH SEE A GOURD GROW? Cut a place out an' take de hair an' place it in dat gourd, an' put dat gourd back tuhgethah an' hang it up. Dat will make a fellah go crazy. (Where do you hang it?) Up in a tree, yessuh. When de weath- ah is calm, well of co'se dey won't rage much, but any time dere's a wind blowin', why dey have de fits. Dey jes' crazy. No less den a green gourd [will do this].
Entry 6808
(Suppose I have come to you about taking a spell off?)
Well, ah nuse [use] dis salt, peppah, sage an' stuff - salt, sugah, sage, alum an' saltpetah. Ah got dat ovah in a box, see. An' ah take some new string, nuthin have been worn, an' ah tie dem, an' whatsomevah ah Want chew tuh do [demon- strates]. (Just tie a knot.) Yeah, tie a knot, an' den ah take dat, dis stuff an' sprin- kle it ovah dere, see. An' den if dis spell [is] on me [you], see. An' whosomevah put it on yo', if yo' know dere names, yo' jis' call dere name an' tell 'em yo' want 'em to take dis spell offa yo'. Well, if dey don't, yo' wish bad luck onto dem, see. An' yo' burn dis stuff. An' den YO' STRIP BUCK NECKED [NAKED] AN' DEN TAKE DIS BLANKET AN' PUT IT: OVAH YORE HAID. AN' DIS SMOKE, YO' CAIN'T HAR'LY [HARDLY] STAND IT. If dere's anything in yo' in any way, shape, form or fashion, it'll come out, see. [The preceding term suck necked [[naked]] may be its only use in Hoodoo.] An' den yo' take a li'le whiskey glass an' yo' boil dis heah gourd tea - yo know gourds - an' yo' boil dis gourd tea an' yo' take three glasses of dis gourd tea evah day. An' dat'll take de spell off yo'.
(Especially if they have something inside of you.)
Entry 6817
Take guts from a grain [green] gourd and make a tea. Drink, and if hurt inside, you will vomit.
Entry 6818
Yo' go an' git a green gourd, ole gourd. Yo' know dose green gourd dat grows on a vine. Jis' lak a - jis' any kinda gourd, yo' know. Yo' break dat gourd an' yo' git chew a pint of sweet milk, an' yo' beat dem guts up in dere, dem seed, jis' lak yo', yo' beat dat all tuh pieces. An' yo' put dat intuh a rag an' yo' squeeze dat. An' den take dat rag an' squeeze it [gourd juice] intuh a bottle an' yo'll give it tuh dem. An' give dat person dat tuh drink an' evahthin' dat's intuh yo' [the person] is comin' out.
(Anything that is live in them?)
Anything dat live in dem is comin' out.
Entry 6819
Now, if yo' wuh [were] poisoned an' yo' find out dat dat dime wuz turnin' black, why yo' would take a silvah dime an' yo'll file it. Yo' take [and] yo' file, file, file an' yo' take de powdahed pieces of dat dime an' put in some watah. Yo' git some killbash [calabash] an' yo' take de seeds an' yo' boil 'em tuh- gethah, an' yo' strain it an' yo' drink dat watah. Dat supposed tuh kill dat poison dead regardless of whutevah it is, eithah brings it out one way or de othah. In de case of yo' takin' a few dose of dat medicine, den yo' [take] some laxative medicine. Yo' eithah bring it out one way or de othah. It's poison.
(Well, do you boil this silver with the killbash seeds?)
Wit de silvah an' de killbash seeds tuhgethah. Boil tuhgethah.
Entry 6820
Take de grapevine an' de gourd vine an' dese things dey call sunflow- ahs, an' yo' kin make a tea wi' dat. An' dat is very good tuh take fo' de blood if anyone go tuh work an' work on yore blood agains' chuh. Well, yo' kin go tuh work an' work wit dat, an' nobody kin nevah hurt chew. A gourd vine is a very simple medicine tuh take against poison any time. If anybody take it, dey nevah git poisoned.
(Well, what would they take from the gourd vine?)
Jis' de leaves, eithah de vine.
Entry 6877
If a person impregnant, dey take a gourd an' boil de seeds
[and drink] an' dat make 'em miscarry.
Entry 9848
If yuh boy frien' wz goin' wit somebody an' yo' didn't want 'im tuh go wit 'uh, yo' could git nine red an' white [headed] matches [the red head of the match has a white dot on it], nine goldeye needles, an' nine gourd seeds, an' nine "grains" of dis red peppah.["Grains" are fre- quently used, meaning here seeds or pieces of the pep- per.] Take de inside out. Nine dose grains of dat pep- per. An' take dat an' mix it up all tuhgethah. Stir it up all tuhgethah an' tie it up real tight in a yarn rag. An' soak it in vinegah ovahnight. An' take dat an' t'row it undah somebody's step, whoevah dis boy's goin' wit, if yo' wan'a break 'im off from dis girl. An' he'll nevah go dere no more. He won' ca nuthin about nobody but chew.
Entry 441
He [informant's father] use to say that he heard that before they [witches] go out to do their mischief, that they would take a ole grease and grease all over. They kept the grease in a gourd - the big gourd for drinking. [Wilmington, N. Car., (158), 152:1; informant Carrie [Mrs. Gavin], in whose house I interviewed at Wilmington, was a sister of Julia in No. 1.]
Entry 1301
Jes' lak, now, if anyone should poison yo - put snakes in yo' or scorpions or anything inside yo'. Well, that's easy tuh cure. Yo' git chew a gourd, either a dry one or a green one, an' git de guts out of it - it's a very particular thing an' yo' have tuh be very particular with it. An' yo' boil dem guts an' give 'em one tablespoonful - if any kind of poison inside of yo', every bit of it's comin' out. If it's in de foot or de leg, den make a poultice an' it will kill it right in there. Jes' make a poultice out dose guts an' boil 'em - put a little meal with 'em, make a poultice. Dat'll kill dat.
Entry 5435
Take dat track an' yo' put it in a gourd. Yo' know, jis' cut de end of it, yo' know, off, an' yo' put dat track in de gourd, an' den yo' put a stop- pah in dere real tight an' throw it in de branch. Jis' lak dat gourd go, dat's dey way he'll go.
(That's the way this person will go?)
Dat's right.
Entry 5436
Well, people - jis' lak dey see yore feet track, yo' know an' know it's yore track. Dey kin pick yore track up yo' see an' put it in dere pocket or any- thin', an' go an' git 'em a gourd an' bo' 'em a hole in it. [Then put track in gourd and stop it up.] An' den throw dat gourd in de rivah or anywhere in run- nin' watah, yo' know, an' dey kin run yo' crazy lak dat an' make yo' hitch-hike all de time. Yo' know, yo' cain't stay in one place long as dat gourd keep goin' down de stream. [It is evident that track went into gourd, but I want a statement from infor- mant.]
(What do they do with that foot track, put it in the pocket?)
No, dey put it in de gourd an' throw it in de'rivah or anywhere dere runnin' watah.
(They take either foot track?)
Dey take yore foot track.
(Well, why do they put it in the gourd?)
Why dey put in de gourd? Dey have to put it in de gourd on account, yo' know, sompin dat will stay floatin' on top of de watah, yo' know.
Entry 625
Well, ah had a sister an' ah know that was true. An' a rootman told her he [her sister's husband] had a sweetheart woman he was living with befo' he married mah sister. An' he told her, said that he would nevah live with mah sister, which he didn't live with her no longer den but about a month or little better. An' she [sweetheart woman] had some of her friends to slip in dere some Way or 'nother an' she had seven ole rusty keys an' seven pods of peppah an' seven needles - well, she had 'em ovah each do', one ovah de back do' an' one ovah de front. Dey nevah woulda found it unless [as] ah said, de spirit brought it to her mind. At last one day she spoke, said, "Ah believe ah'll look up ovah dis do' an' see whut's heah." She looked up dere an' dat's where she found it. Well, mah mother, she'd taken these to a man in [name of town not clear] an' this man tole her, said, "That was to keep her out all dem many years - keep her out de house, dat she nevah would live dere any mo'." But after she had found these things why he could turn it back on de woman, an' so mah mother tole him, why she didn't care fo' it to be turned back, an' so she left de keys an' thing dere with him. Say, she nevah would live with him. An' then, too, after she did that - we had been doin' some washing yo' know, an' her ministratin' clothes, yo' know, we didn't git through washin' dat - at least dat day, an' we jest left 'em out do's in de tub. She went dere an' stole dem an' taken 'em off an' buried 'em fo' 'em to kill her. An' so dis cunjureman tole mah mother, say, after them things rot, why yo' could jest pick 'em up an' dey fall, yo' know, to pieces jest lak a ole rotten rag or somepin lak dat. See, an' she would fin'lly die. Well, she did suffer, yo' know, a long time till mama got her cured by diff'rent mens yo' know. When- evah she'd go to ministrate oncest a month, why she looked like she was gon'a soon go to bed - git confined an' knots would come in her stomach as large as yore fist, an' when dat passed through - it passed through in knots like dat.
(Do you know anything - what they did to cure her?)
Yes sir. Well, a man by de name of Mr. Oleberry, he cured her - he cured her wit jest an ole green gourd. She had to make teas oncest a month outa green gourd. An' when she couldn't git de green gourd why he tole her jest to save up some dry gourds an' jest put a little turpentine in it, an' dat got her well.
(That's all that cured her?)
Dat's de only thing dat cured her. An' we had taken her to medical doctors an' all - an' all kinds of doctors an' dis man wus de only man dat reached her case. An' then sometime ago ah had a brother - he wus out in Tennessee, ah believe where he got hurt. Some wimmins hurt him. Ah don't know jest how it wus done, but anyway they had him dead from heah on down to his feet.
(From his stomach on down to his feet?)
Yes sir, an' dis same man cured him with jest de simplest thing. Yo' could jest stick a pin in him an' he couldn't feel it from his stomach on down. An' he said two wimmins an' one man fixed him lak dat out in Tennessee. An' he didn't do anything but jest had us tuh git green pine tops an' give him - bathe him, yo' know, from there on down an' give him some to drink. An' he tole him everything he do from de first day he started taking it. He hadn't walked none in twelve months, not nary a step had he walked. Yes sir, he tole him dat after de first day he'd sit up - he'd have to lay down most of de time after he had taken his bath in dis green pine-top tea an' given him some to drink an' tole him on de second day he would stand up, an' say, an' de third day, he said, "Yo' gon'a walk wit a stick out to de toilet" - de toilet wus out do's yo' know. An' really he did it. An' so we kept dat up fo' about two months, an' now he's in Florida, married an' got three children.
Entry 7574
Yuh go tuh de Cath'lic graveyard an' reach down in dere - dig down in dere an' git chew some of dat dirt offa down on de breast. (A woman's?) Don't make no diff'rence but it's got'a be a Cath'lic grave, an' yuh git dat dirt. An' when yuh git dat dirt, yuh git cher some of dese gourd seeds - green seeds. An' yuh git chew dem green gourd seeds, an' den yuh git chew some red peppah an' git chew nine grains out dat red peppah yuh know, dose pods yuh know. Git nine grains an' roll it tuh yuh an' put it in dere. Well, den when yuh do dat yuh go tuh a - yuh know, git a good bit of it, yuh go tuh de fo'ks of de road an' yuh sprinkle a little bit of dat in de fo'k of de road. Go dere fo' de third day, but chew've got'a do it in de night an' call dose party's name. Call dere name an' dey will return.
Entry 704
I'll tell you about my own mother. My mother drank some water after a person had been at her home. Thirty minutes after this person had gone she was taken very ill. And her sister from the South was visiting her. The first thing she did was to put silver in hot water and give it to my mother to drink. Then she asked for a gourd what grow on a vine, and she opened this gourd and took the insides of the gourd out, and make tea and give it to my mother. As soon as she gave it to her she just vomit. In this, she vomit up, was live worms this man put in the water. People in the country have water buckets outside of the house with a top on. He goes out of the house and puts these worms in the bucket - he dried the worms and powdered them - and my mother came right on behind him and took a drink of water. The same man killed his mother-in-law. He didn't like her. He goes to the spring and brings a bucket of water back and asked her would she have a cool drink, something he had never done before. And she took a drink and was taken ill. All worked on her and nobody could do her any good. Just before she died she said to her daughter, "I've never swallowed what that man gave me." It was in her so she never could get it down.
Entry 1300
Gourds, dey keep evil from round yo', de gourds do.
(What do you do with them?)
Plant 'em - jes' plant de seed an' let 'em grow all ovah de fences an' keep 'em, drink watah out of 'em. Dose people all de way back in mah grandparents' time use tuh use dem all de time, an' always lived peaceful an' happy.
Entry 1302
In case if a person is poisoned, swelled up bad, look like dey 'bout tuh bust and dey poisoned, sickly, swelled as large as a barrel, a hogshead barrel, yo' wants to go git chew a piece of saltpeter and put dat saltpeter in a half glass of water and yo' go an' git yo' some gourds, some green gourds, an' take de entrails out 'em an' boil 'em, and let 'em take a cupful of dat, an' all de worms and things in dere, will throw 'em up. Den yo' wanta release dose parties den - dose parties who did dat. When dey throw de worms up, dey take 'em an' put 'em in a bottle an' stop 'em up airtight and go to de river and throw it ovah yore shoulder. Well, den dem parties go an' jump in de rivah an' drown - kill demselves.
Entry 1303
Well, heahs another good one. Now, it's sech things as evil spirits. If a person luck have been taken away - now, dis is something dat most people dey don't know but it's true. If a fellah's luck have been crossed any way through de witchcraft way, it doesn't make any diff'rent if he's sick or a spell's been cast on him. Yo' kin take a simple thing which is gourd. Yo' take dat gourd an' yo' break it up an' put it into a pot containing saltpeter, sulphur an' salt - cooking salt an' yo' boil dat good. Then yo' take a bath with that. The person take a bath with it but dey don't bathe up - dey bathe down, see. An' after he finish dat, den he takes it to de rivah an' he throw it near de middle of de channel in a running stream of watah, an' dat relieve dat person of dat spell, whatsomevah that may be - crossing of luck or anything, sickness or anything.
Entry 2671
Well, now, if yo' wanta rent that house, yo' kin dress that house or yo' kin use de Psalms - dere two ways yo' kin use that. (Tell me how to dress the house first.) Well, now, tuh dress that house yo' go tuh work an' yo' git chew a little salt an' a little sulphur an' yo' git chew some alum [three ingredients] an' pound it up together - mix it together. An' then yo' git chew some seeds. Git those gourd seeds or either any kinda seeds that grows on a vine - kin git pumpkin seed or gourd seed or watermelon seed. An' yo' git chew three of those seeds an' yo' take those three seeds an' yo' put them in a little box or a little can. Bury 'em jest like yo' would a little flower, an' when yo bury those seeds yo' say, "Hope, success an' friends." Yo' bury those seeds. An' that ingredient that chew mix, yo' take an' yo' sprinkle that around that house - a little bit at the back an' a little bit at the front. Yo' sprinkle that. Then on the inside of the house - yo' take that house an' yo' git chew some potash. Take yo' a little potash an' yo' jes' take that potash - ah jest drop a little bit around in that house. That's good fo' good luck.
(That's to rent the house?)
Yes sir.
[Now he tells how to unrent the house.]
They kin do that.
(Dress the house so they move out? Do you know what they do?)
They kin do that tuh where yo' can't rent that house. Yo' kin take a one-cent piece an' go to a wicked grave - it gotta be a wicked grave though - an' git some dirt from de head of that wicked person an' pay them with one-cent. Then yo' kin take that dirt an' mix that dirt with sulphur an' mix it with a little - see, it's three pods not - three pods of peppah. See, ah tole yo' nine pods - nine seeds wit de other but dis is three pods. Yo' git chew three pods of red peppah an' mix that together an' sprinkle that anywhere around that place. Nobody kin stay in there to save their life.
(That will make them move out of the house?)
Yes sir, but it's gotta be a wicked grave.