Subject:Ink
Entries
Entry 2819
They could take dat handwriting an' git some red ink - git a bottle a red ink and write chure same writing. Take off whut chew got wrote dere - copy dat off, see, wit red ink on de back de letter whut chew done wrote on dis side. Hit kin be turned over an' be wrote ovah agin wit red ink. (On the back side - but you have to trace just what they wrote on the other side?) That's right. Yore words have tuh be traced offa there with that red ink. [If you receive a letter in black ink, turn the sheet over and on the reverse side trace the letter in red ink. You will be writing backwards. The so-called writing. of names backwards is merely a magic exchange of two objects - first and last names - one behind the other version. By turning the back of the letter up- side down you can by tracing also write upside down.] Then a red candle - take yore letter an' yore name is already on de letter - take de lettah and take de red candle and wrap de candle up with de letter all de [way] roun'. An' wrap it [demonstrates] all de roun' lak dat - jes' leave out a point of de candle, but de candle is covered up wit de letter. An' de individual make dere wish whut would happen tuh yo', even ef yo's on a switch engine or some kinda brakeman or engine' or somepin lak dat. Whatsomever dey say, dey jes' wish dat train 'ud wreck - dey wish somepin would happen tuh yo', you'd fall off de engine or somepin like dat. Dat same thing will happen tuh yo'. Light dat can- dle an' burn dat candle ten minutes every day twelve 'clock until de letter and de candle is burnt, an' somepin other will happen to de parties whut wrote dis letter.
(At twelve o'clock noon or at midnight.)
Noon in de daytime.
Entry 5730
Ah tell yo' about de foot track as fur as ah knows. Yo' drags dat track from de toe an' drag it back wit dem two fingers, until yo' thoroughly gits back to de heel. [Demon- strates.] (You take the right hand and the index finger and the little finger. Make them as a shovel and drag it back towards the heel. And you begin with that track - your thumb must touch the heel and then where those two fingers rest, you draw them back like that.) Right in de centah of de track. Yo' takes dat track an' yo' buy yo' a bottle of ink, an' yo' mix jis' enough of dat in dat track tuh make a li'le, yo' know, a dough of it yo' might say. Den yo' go tuh a growin' tree on de sundown side an' bo' a hole right down at de foot of it. Put dat in it, pack it up, an' go back dere fo' three days evah mawnin' an' give it [peg] one tap. De third mawnin' yo' have it [peg] in wit [even with] de tree. Den take some of dat same ink an' stain all roun' dat place, an' go on about chure business. Dat man nevah go out in peace. Dat will jis' run 'im com- plete 'way from dere.
Entry 8507
Well dey use a catfish bone. It's one dose li'le fo'ked bones an' it's kinda shaped lak a ink pen. Yo' seen some fish bones dat's kinda shaped lak dat. (When you get this bone out of the catfish, what do you do with that then?) Yo' dip it in ink an' write chure name wit dat catfish bone, an' fole dat papah tuhwards yo' lak dat. An' yo' stick it down in de fo'k of dat bone, an' yo' place it wit a string aroun' [demonstrates]. (I will write your name with this fishbone on a piece of paper, and just keep folding it to me. Then, what do I do with that paper then?) Well, yo' weah dat in yo' hat. Dat's tuh draw dem.
(Do you use ordinary ink in that pen?)
Yes.
Entry 8924
Yo' kin write de name [of suspected thief] off of [with liquid from] Old Hundred [not the familiar tune first published about 155i, but a plant] an' witch hazel. Yo' git it [Old Hundred] out de ground, but chew [you] chop it up fine an' put witch hazel on it an' write de names off of dat. [This mixture is used as an lnk. I do not know either ordinary or scientific name of Old Hundred. Could this be hundred-lead grass, the yarrow (Achillea millefolium)?] An' de people whut stole anything, dey'll come back whah yuh is. An' put chur name on top of it [thief's name] an' weah [wear] it dat way. [Needless to say, the word witch in witch hazel, as well as intention, power this rite.] [Wilmington, N. Car., (220), 134:4+85; my original transcription by hand in MS.]
Entry 9135
Dat fo' co'thouse scrapes. (All right, tell me that.) Well, now, yo' kin take twelve fig leaves - yo' knog dere wus twelve disciples - an' yo' take twelve fig leaves. An' yo' git chew a bottle of ink, a bran'-new bottle of ink dat nevah been used, an' a pen dat's nevah been used, an' yo' write a disciple name on each one of dose leaves. See, yo' got twelve leaves, yo' got twelve disciples. An' yo' write dose names on dose leaves. An' den, when yo' write dose names on dose leaves, yo' take yore Bible. IT'S DE 35th PSALMS AH THINK. AH GOT MAH BIBLE HEAH, AH LAK TUH BE SHORE YO' LET ME SEE. [HE CONSULTS HIS BIBLE!] It's de 35th Psalm. Yo' take de 35th Psalm an' read it ovah dose twelve leaves. [Psalm 35 begins: Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me...] Den aftah yo read it ovah dose twelve leaves, yo' fold dose leaves tight, yo' know, small tubl gethah intuh a white piece of papah. It kin be a piece of writin' papah or a cleah piece of papah lak dis [something he may have had in the Bible] ah guess, but let it be white papah. An' yo' kin put dat in yore right pocket.
(All twelve of those leaves?)
Yes, jes' put it in dere, but chew mus' write de names on dere firs'. An' den yo' read dat 35th Psalms ovah dose leaves an' wrap dose leaves up. An' evah who gonna be tried in co't, let dem put it in dere right pocket an' dey'll cer- tainly Walk out. An' if yo' can't git dose fig leaves - sometime yo' can't git dose things, yo' can't git de fig leaves - yo' git chew twelve - use 'em fo' a tea, too - not catnip, sage leaves.
Entry 9302
Jes' lak anybody went away, yore husban' or anything, an' yo' wanta bring 'em back home. Yo' know, dey gone away a long time. Yo' gits a yolk of a aig, let it be jes' laid if yo' could, an' some white wine, an' Some quicksilvah, an' yo' mix it good tuhgethah. An' den yo' git chew a pencil an' a papah an' yo' start writin'. An' yo' write a lettah an' say anything in dat lettah dat chew Want him tuh know - or she. AN' YO' WON' SEE WHAT YO' WRITIN' WHILST YO' WRITING IT, YO' CAN'T SEE IT. An' de time yo' fold it up tuh put it in de lettahs [in the envelope] [the writing] will appeah an' den yo' kin put it in dis envelope an' send it anywhere yo' wanta, an' dey'll have tuh come to yo'...
[I stopped recording too soon but my comment explains.]
(You say you won't see it because you are using this other stuff [I did not care to say invisible ink], but it comes out [appears] after awhile and you can see it?) Yeah, yo' kin see. Dat'll bring anyone back. [My preceding comment in the original parenthesis, made during the recording, shows my understanding at the time. Invisible ink had been used. For several of my experiences with invisible ink, see Doctor Cunningham, Little Rock, Ark., introduction to his interview, p.1315, v.2; and Nos.791-792, Pp.264-266, v.1. Surely the 3 ingredients and invisible ink were not mixed; pretending to use the 3 merely being a part of the trick.]
Entry 10212
Tuh separate 'em. Yo' take dis man when he deal wit yo'. Yo' wanta break dem [man and other woman] up. Yo' take dis man when he deals wit yo' an' yo' take dat towel dat yo' an' him uses, see. An' yo' take dis towel tuh dis woman's house - if yo' kin locate where she live at - dis woman he's runnin' roun' wit. Den yo' bury dis towel down right at her do'step, where she have tuh come out at. Yo' bury dat towel dere an' den yo' take some bluein' - Purity Bluein', see. See, yo' takes bluein' an' ink an' mix it up combined. Yo' kin jis' sprinkle dat towel, on dere, an' den yo' bury dat towel right up undah- neath whah she have tuh walk at. Dat'll break it up. Dat break it up, too.
Entry 11625
Just like if [you wants to make drift].
(Make them drift, you said?)
Yes, anybody you wants to make drift. Well, you catches a live fish, or any kind of fresh fish, and you take that fish and you split that fish half in two. Then you take a ink [pen], pin but let it be red ink. You write that name down in that fish and you take that fish.... (Wait! What do you write it on? On a piece of paper or on the flesh?) On the flesh of the fish. (All right.) Then you take that fish and throw that fish back. You use the three words: Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, and throw it in any running water. They'll be driftin, couldn't stay nowhere. Everywhere they go they're not satisfied.
Entry 12377
Lak if yo' go roun' de cornah fo' a job an' yo' go de first day an' de man don' hiah yo'. yo' go de second day an he don't hiah yo'. Well, de third day yo' git dis- gusted, yo' see, an' yo' study some kinda remedy tuh git dis job. Yo' see. Well, yo' go dere an' de first thing yo' do, git chew nine roots of parsley, yo' see, an' put 'em in yore shoe. An' git chew a garlic a yellah garlic, a plug of garlic an' put dat in yore shoe. An' git chew a piece of cloth about that long, yo' see. An' put nine pins in that crossways, yes, straight pins, new pins. Put 'em in dere crossways. An' let each one of dem pins, lak yore name is George, well yo' put de 'nitials yo' see at dem pins. An' yo' go to dat jar...
(Where do you put those needles and those pins?)
Undah dere yo' see, undah de pins.... See where ah got dem nine pins cross. Yo' got de 'nitials dere yo' see.
(You put the initials down with what?)
Ink.
(On the cloth or on a piece of paper?)
On de cloth. See, de pins in de cloth, see, lak dat piece of cloth about dat long. Yo' see yo' jis' put de pins lak dat crossways nine times. Yo' see each on de bottom, yo' put lak his nine dere "George" yo' see wit ink, only each one dem 'nitials. An' yo' go dere dat mawnin' an' yo' git a seal de' [they] call de 'Lucky Seal.' Yo' go to de Crackerjack Drug Sto' an' git dat. Yo' see yo carry dat an' put it right down by de gate where de man hiahs up dere. Yo' press it down dere. He'll call yo' 'fore he calls anybodys else. Lak yore name Mistah Eddy, he'll say, "Well, Mistah Eddy, come on in an' go tuh work. Ah needs yo' dis mawnin'. (That is to get the job.) [See also SEALS in CHANNEL DE WORLD, v.5.1
Entry 13219
To ketch a spirit - I know a fellow who done it. You take and you gets you books [a writing tablet], gets you a pen and ink. (You get what? Pen and ink?) Yes, sir, pen and ink, writ- ing tablet and get you a bottle. Get you one of these small center tables, get you a chair, and put them in an empty room, but let that room be dark. And put these things in there. Put you a light on the table but don't light the light. Put you a lamp - you know what I mean, put your lamp on the table but don't light it. If it's a good spirit, he'll come in there and he'll write everything that's been done to you. He'll write everything that'll be done to you, he'll write that down in that book [tablet]. Next morn- ing you get up and you'll find that in that book [tablet]. You can read it for yourself. That's what a good spirit will do. But that evil spirit, he'll turn everything over in that room, and liable to come in your room and run you out of there, if there is a evil spirit there. [Rites similar to present one I have collected under DIAGNOSIS, pp.165-217, v.l. Similar ones are scattered through- out HOODOO. In the present rite I do not ask purpose of empty bottle. Could it be a lingering vestige from an earlier day, holder for a candle? I doubt it. That stopperless bottle is to entice my spirit passing by. For catching these spirits with curiosities, see TO CATCH A SPIRIT, Nos.38-47, v.1, and frequently in HOODOO.]