Subject:Iron
Entries
Entry 3730
Well, yo' take de dishrag, if a woman has got a run-aroun' man an' she take de dishrag - aftah she take de dishrag, wipe him wit de dishrag. Wipe him wit de dishrag an' iron it with a very hot iron, an' bury it to de left side of a tree. When yo' bury it to de left side of de tree, dat will perish away all nature dey has fo' any woman. He can't run aroun' any mo', he'll have to stay at home. Well now, if he don't go to de graveyard an' den git de graveyard dirt from de head an' de foot, place a penny in de centah of de grave- pay de grave fo' whut chew git in de Name of de Lord. Take it back an' mix brimstone, sulphur an' sweet milk an' drink it. Well, if he don't do dat, he'll nevah be a man any mo'. He goes to T. B.
(But if he does that, it restores his nature.)
Entry 5520
Dey tell me dat dey take dat foot track an' take a hot iron an' put on dat foot track. An' carry dat iron an carry dat iron home an' put dat same iron on top of a cloth. An' fold dat cloth up an' hide it somewhere in de ceilin', or in de roof of de house some place. An' dey says dat will cause dat person to go crazy.
Entry 6466
Yo' see yo' scrape dat feet an' yo' take dat feet an' put it in a bot- tle of cologne an' black peppah. Mix wit it an' git some iron whut rust, rus' iron. An' yo' stuff down in dere wit it an' dat'll continue tuh eat dat, commence eat up dat feet dirt from yore feet. An' yo' feet will be eat de same, long as - de mo' dat dat thing, de mo' dat dat rus' commence eatin' dat scuff off yo' feet, de mo' yo' feet will be eaten.
Entry 6748
Yo' take a fellah or a woman or any age dat suffahs wit rheumatism. Put one piece of coppah in end of one shoe, one piece of galvanized iron in de othah, an' regardless of whethah he is walkin' in de street, tuhday he don't need no stick. Dat's providin' he takes de rubbah off de heel of de shoe. Gravity draws de pain right on out.
Entry 8889
Yo' go an' git chew a brass key. Yo' walk on an' yo' git de Bible. Yo' look up on de Ten Commandments. Yo' place dis key dere on dis Bible, turn de Bible. If yo' got 'em on one [a Bible], yo' turm 'em upside... (Wait a minute! You say you look up the Ten Commandments. Then what do you do with them?) Put de key on de Ten Commandments. All right. Brass key. Den yo' turn de Bible up an' call dis fellah by his name, an' 20 minutes from den he may don't come. If he won't, yo' git two brand-new needles - needles, yo' know, dat yo' sew wit. An' yo' stick dem dataway - open de Bible an' yo' stick dem dataway in de Bible [demonstrates].
(Under the leaves.)
Yeah, undah de leaves, by de key - one on each side of de key. Den yo' call dis fellah. Soon he may don't come, but a couple of hours he come an' ast yo fer somepin, lak he wanta borrah somepin. [To borrow something is from well- lmown witch rites.] He may ast yo' to lend 'im a iron or any kind of instrument in de house, see. [To borrow iron is unusual.] Well, now yo' know dat's de fellah cuz yo' done call 'is name on dat commandment. (You know that's the man that stole the thing from you.)
Entry 382
The people was afraid of the banks then [before and during the Civil War] and they would hide their money. They put it in a iron or copper pot and seal it, and then they would always take someone with them to where they would hide it, and then they would ask this person if they wanted to mind the money, and then they would kill this person and bury them with the money and they would always kept a watch over it. Sometimes they [the spirit] would get tired [of watching the money] and give it to someone. They are the only people who can get it. The spirit comes in and asks, "Do you want the money?" And they take you to this place. She was living out in the country and a white gentleman [he had been killed and buried with money to watch it, and had become tired of his task] came up to the gate. He was dressed in a long-tailored coat and high silk hat. And he spoke to her and said, "Good evening." And then he asked her did she want some money. And she said, "Yes." And he said, "I will be here tomorrow at twelve." And he vanished. And she got frightened because he went away so quick. And she went to bed. When noon [next day] came, he was right on the dot, knocked on the gate and said, "Are you ready?" She said she was sick. She was so scared she didn't want to go with him. And then he steps in the house. He made one step and went to the bed and rolled her in the bed and said, "Now you will be sick." And she was flat on her back for one year. He did it because she told the story.
Entry 389
I have heard that in digging money you carry some instrument and when you stick it down into the earth this money has a tendency to draw it and one will know that he has struck money. In the meantime something comes to one in the night and tells them about where the money is buried. They are supposed to be the one who buried the money. His ghost comes and tells you. This is made of iron something like a spear. And when you are digging this money, all the time something is around you - a ghost or something, although you may not see it you hear a lot of queer noises. Sometimes people when they want to avoid this noise or this ghost they say, "What in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost do you want?" And this ghost will disappear. And in the meantime I have heard, you will see ghosts all away around you. You say, "What in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost do you want?" They say that money is buried somewhere and they disappear. You go get this money and you will never see them any more. At my home there used to be a lot of people digging money. They used to have a lot of trouble digging it. They go there three or four times and they say they would get it. Every time they go to dig money they have big bad storms - windstorms, trees would blow over. You go out on a clear night and a storm would come up. You're not supposed to say anything. [Title Three Highest Names is informant's term, FACI,2ed.,1965, pp.746,787 etc.] [Place and informant number lost; by Ed.]
Entry 407
Ah've seen one - it's a little article that hangs on a cord that - the cord is made of 'lectric [wire] - it's got 'lectrified [needs electric power] - but chew hand dat cord an' dat ball dat hangs - it a seven-pound ball an' it hangs on it - well it's got a little iron stick - kind sticks jest dat way an' he hang that there. See, if dat money's anywhere roun' there, it got fo' prongs; 'two drops an' two still stays, but de two drops. Wal now, yo' jest put thar an' give it a turn, jest turn it jest de least bit dat-a-way an' yo' talks to it. An' wheresomever -
(What do they say to it for example?)
Well, dey says, "Spirit" - jest lak whosomever dey name that buried dat money, dey call de first letter of yore name. You say, "Point me to dis money." An' dat thing will jest wave an' wave till it git dere, an' when it settle hitself, those two down prongs, if that money is that direction out, they gon'a give they- self jest lak dat, if it close near. An' if it's way out, dey both gon'a stand off jest lak de two whut do stand straight up. An' if it's right dere, dey both gon'a come jest like dat, an' den dey gets up to set it until dey git right over it. [Whatever the contraption, it works on the Jack or dowser principle.]
(When you get over this money what do you do then?)
When yo' find it, yo' dig dat money. Yo' don' talk, don' say anything, an' if yo' git to it an' happen to strike it - dere was a fellah dat found some money, him an' two fellahs together, an' when he reached down he said, "Oh! ah got it, ' jest lak dat, and dey said dat jest lak to jerk him in two an' dey heard it [the money] fall right dere. Yo' can't git it. If yo' don' speak, don' say nuthin', den yo' kin git it.
(Where do people bury this money? Do they bury it in any sort of way?)
Bury it in pots - have to bury it in pots. If they bury it in anything else, it will sink. But dey buries it in a iron pot.
(Are there any spirits around money of that kind?)
Oh, yes, if a person buried money, that people will stay right there. Yo' kin go there, if yo' got nerve enough to stick - dere'll be a spirit come to yo' an' yo' ask it lak dis, "Well, what in the Lord, whut do yo' want - what in de Name of de Lord do yo' want?" He'll say, "Yo' go look such-an'-such a place an' git dat money, ' an' if he's got a wife or children, 'an' give it to mah children or give it to mah wife," or whosomever he wants. Well, he disappear. Well, if yo' go an' git dat money, that spirit won't be worried there no more. But if yo' don't go git it, he'll be at chew again, say, "Yo' didn't do whut ah ask yo'," an' he worry yo lak dat till dat money is moved. Then after dat money is moved, dere is no more worry from him.
Entry 418
Anybody that finds money has a hard time. If you talk one word, it will go away. They have an iron rod. When they get over the place where the money is and they dig and get down, they stick it down through the earth. And you can hear the rod when it touches the pot. They hold the rod on [the pot] and they go to digging around. If they are successful, they will get it; but if not, this money will start going right on, if it's not for you. You can hear it going through the earth. You know a ground mole in the earth? It makes a road just like that. Then it comes back to that same spot after you leave. You can go and do the same thing to it.
Entry 2071
When you got a case or something like that and you want to get dis- charged, well you go and use a thing they call lodestone - it's two pieces, it's the he one and a she one. Take and wrap it up in a dollar.
(In a what?)
Take and wrap it up in a paper dollar.
(Paper doll?)
Paper dollar.
(Paper dollar? Oh, a dollar bill.)
Yes, a dollar bill - one dollar bill, and you wrap it up in there and you keep it in your pocket, and when you go - well, when they call you up there in front of the court, well they going to throw it out - they just going to tell you - throw it clean out of the court.
(Well, which piece of this lodestone do you use in that dollar?)
You uses two pieces - it's the he lodestone and it's the she lodestone, it's black lodestone and a white lodestone.
(Which is the black?)
It's got fringes on it just like iron rust. You see iron rust on a old piece of tin. Well, it thataway when you knock that dust off of there.
(Well, is the black the he or the she....? What color is the he lodestone?)
It's white.
(What color is the she?)
It's black. It's got kind of a nose - kind of a tip on the end of it.
(Which one?)
The black.
(Which one did you put in this dollar?)
You put both of 'em. You make two folds with that dollar and you fold it up. You put one just like that and you make another fold, you put that other piece, and you bend the four corners of it together. Then you take this and you put it in your pocket and you keep it and you go up there. Every time you go up there they discharge you or either throw it out, say you come the next day or somepin.
Entry 3221
Take de rag whut she nuse - take it an' yo' know, press it yo' know, iron it real hard yo' know, jes' press de stuff in dere an' put it up somewhere underneat' chure bed or sompin othah lak dat, an' de' tell me dat will take yore nature away. [For another ironing rite with the same purpose, ironing a live frog, see 3203A.]
Entry 3222
Git one dese linen han'kerchuffs, a ten-cent one, an' jes' lak yo' an' 'er have'n [have an] intahco'se togethah. Yo' go back home an' sew dat up an' put it in yore pocket. Yo' go home an' hitch up yore 'lectric or any kinda iron an' iron it, see, an' spread it right out undahneat' de mattress on de springs. She couldn't git rid of dat man to save her life.
Entry 3223
She kin take a new piece of homespun an' let 'im have a connection wit 'er. When he git through wit 'er, den she take dat, take a smoothin' iron an' dry hit out on de palm of her han', an' den she keep dat an' put it in 'er bed. An' den he cain't have no othah one but 'er.
Entry 11541
"Jis' take up their track, dirt and all together, and take an' put a hot iron in it - heat it with hot irons...you have a burnin' in your foot.
[Wilmington 269:5+85.]
Entry 3224
Jes' lak dey have a man an' yo' don't want 'im tuh go out wit anybody else. Well, yo' a, yo' know, an' yo' kin take a new han'chuf an' use dat. Iron it an' fold it up - eithah a little towel - fold it up roun' an' sew it up tight as yo' kin an' stick dat in de mattress, an' he cain't go out wit nobody else. Yo' kin take an' eithah use his pocket han'chuf an' use it - iron it an' put it under yore rug an' dat will cause him tuh bring in 'is money an' stay home. (You would use this the same as you use the handkerchief you mean. You mean wipe him with that and then iron it and put it under the rug to make him bring his money home.)
Entry 81
Years ago in the days of my grandmother - my grandmother died before freedom was declared. I never saw her. I only heard her story from my mother. They built their houses out of logs. There was just a front door. They had nothing on the floor but the dirt. The logs were laid close together on top of each other to form the walls. They didn't even have shingles then. The logs were hewed on each side and laid close together for the roof so the water would run off. Then they made little beds in each corner, like a shelf, near the ground. We would call them bunks. In one corner they would have for a table. The chimney Was in the back of the house opposite the door. They had no windows. They [the chimneys] were made of clay. The clay was mixed up, pine straw put in it to make it stick. Just daub it. And they made the chimney like a pen with small sticks, two rows going this way and one in the back, and this [the fourth or front side] was left open. That was the fireplace. When they got up a cer- tain distance [above the fireplace opening left in the form] it was a pen with four corners. They made it as high as the house was. They filled it [the double walls of the pen] with clay and straw. In the fireplace was a iron oven and an iron pot. They had something in the middle of the fireplace [crane] they hung the pot on, with the fire under it. The oven had a iron door. The ovens were iron and made flat. They put bread in there and bake it, and potatoes. This house whenever it was completed they killed a calf. If they had sheep, they would kill a little lamb to let the blood go wherever it was killed, let the earth drink it up. This lamb was barbecued in front of the door. All of their friends and neighbors would come and have a feast there. They did that entering a new family to the house. They kill it right near the house. The blood wastes on the ground, the ground drinks it up, near the house they were dedicating to the family. Now that I have been reading the Bible, I can see that the olden people were taking that from the Bible. It was on the lines of the Bible but they didn't understand it as they do today. The Israelites were told to kill a certain lamb and put it on their door faces. The olden people were just doing it in their way the best they could. In our neighborhood [Orangeburg County, South Carolina] in erecting a home, building a new house to live in, you always are supposed in one of the front pillows [pillars] of the house to fold the Holy Bible, wrap it carefully in oil cloth, that will protect it, put it in a stiff pasteboard, and lay it in the holler [hollow] of the front pillow of the house. This is supposed to be a pro- tection sent from God on your home. And you are supposed to live happily there. This is one of the customs.
Entry 128
If you see a light and you follow that light and keep on following the light, do you think you're going to get to that light? You can't get to it. It's quite likely it's way out in the river and you'll walk overboard. If your parents are terribly, terribly smart and they should look out at nighttime and see those lights, they said, "This is a night for jack-o'-lanterns. I'm going to put an iron in the fire, my children are out, ' for feared they will get led off by jack-o'-lanterns. They used to take a poker from the fire hearth. I put it right along these ashes in the fire and let it stay right there. It will make the jack-o'-lanterns vanish, they tell me. Keep it right there until the children get back. Of course after that they had nothing to worry about.
Entry 515
If de hag rides yo', yo' gits a piece of dis rusty iron an' yo' take it an' cut it de length of de first joint of middle fingah yoah lef' han' - yoah middle fingah, an' yo' sew it up in a sack an' wear it roun' yoah neck, an' de hag won' ride yo'. Jes' lak if de hag be ridin' yo', have yo' cryin'.
(You mean that tin that comes off of roofs?)
Dat tin-iron.
Entry 2212
An' then, say, like yo' selling whiskey or yo' runnin' a place dat chew don't want de police tuh come in on yo', yo' kin git chew a ole plow - yo' know whut a plowshare is don't chew? Dat iron part dat chew plow with in de ground. Yo' kin take dat an' bury dat at chure front do' an' de policeman wouldn't go dere to save yore life, or nobody dat chew owe - don't care who yo' are or who wants tuh go dere, dey can't go ovah dat.
Entry 3183
Dey say dat's when yo' have intahco'se wit someone. Dey take a linen pocket han'scuff, an' say, yo' fol' dat linen pocket han'scuff three times, an' yo'press dat pocket han'scuff wit a hot iron an' bury it right up undah de steps an' dey say dat he won't have anythin' to do wit no one but yo'. See, evah time he would try, hit would, yo' know, hit would fail on 'im - he couldn't do anythin' but wit dat woman. Dey uses dat han'scuff, don' choo know, evah...
(On one, or on both of them?)
On 'im, see. She jis' use it on 'i, see.
(Then she folds it?)
Folds it an' presses it.
(I see.)
An' den buries it undah de steps right where he have to go ovah.
Entry 3188
If a man runnin' aroun' an' a woman wanta stop 'i, cut 'im completely off where he won't have no nature, know whut chew do. She act sweet wit 'im, go to bed wit 'im tull he discharge a little. She don't do nothin', she fool wit 'im [fools him], yo' see. All right, she takesdat rag an' she fold it three times to her. She take a hot smooth- in' iron an' put on it an' leave dat set dere fer about thirty minutes. She take it up an' she fold it ag'in - she folds it three times firs'. All right, an' she leave dat iron set dere 'bout thirty minutes. She take an' fold it three mo' times to her an' leave dat iron set dere ag'in. Den she take it an' put it, hid it somewhere in de mattress or eithah hide it somewhere he gotta sleep. He cain't do nothin. Evah time he go out, he jes' go jes' lak
[demonstrates with a falling gesture].
Entry 4775
Jis' lak a lady want chew tuh love her. She wash yore clothes an' things, yuh see, an' when she iron yore shirt tuh de tail yuh know, don't pull de iron up, jis' push it down de length of it an' push it back. (Iron it down toward the tail?) Yes, iron it down toward de tail but don't pull de iron. Evah time yuh push it down, lift it up an' ketch aholt an' push it down lak dat. Don't nevah pull it up yuh see. Dat'll make a man go crazy about a woman an' make him stay home.
Entry 10225
Yo' go take it - de dishrag - yes sir, an' let him wipe wit it, but don't chew wipe wit it. An' take it to a ironing bo'd an' iron it - out stiff - an' chunk it in a crack up ovah de do'. An' it will make bim fall every time he go to have somepin tuh do with somebody 'cept yo'.
Source passage
continuous interview · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
Ah go tuh town
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
[downtown to buy that]
informant · Current interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
yo' see - yo' know, de ole-fashion iron fo'k wit de wooden handle, wit de fo' prong. Ah go tuh de Kress
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
[Kresge Co.]
informant · Current interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
an' buy me one dose iron fo'ks, an' ah walk tuh de do' an' stab it three times
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
[with the fork prongs]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
say,
recited or prescribed formula · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
"Move!"
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
Co'se yo's gotta be riled when yo' want 'em tuh move.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
[Riled shows anger like laughter a magic rite - see comment later.]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
Yo' say,
recited or prescribed formula · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
"Git outa heah, J yo' son-of-a-bitch! Leave! Move! Git outa mah path!"
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
[She demonstrated.]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1860
Dat move 'em.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[I describe demonstration.]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
(You pull the fork out.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
Walk tuh de do' an' pull it disaway.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
(Jab the fork into the door.)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
Intuh de do' an' pull it tuh yo'. See, yo' pullin' 'em outa dere.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
(You do that on the outside of the house?)
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
De outside of de do'. See dis do' here
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[demonstrates]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[She points to the door of the Eureka Hotel room in which I interviewed - see INTRODUCTION, v.1, p. Xxx111.]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
[To return to the preceding anger rite. All rites such as this one concern the magic of imprecation or malediction. They are numerous. Laughter as magic appears to be rare. I can think of only one at the moment, that of keeping po- lice from your house - see interview of informant 1376, THE KNOWIN' WOMAN, soon to follow, and the explanation given there.]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 1861
locally coherent subpassage
Keep actor demonstration and Hyatt interpretation distinct; no formula efficacy is asserted.
closed_printed_instruction_and_demonstration_commentary
She demonstrated and the door-of-hotel identification are editorial reports of interview action.
The imprecation/malediction and laughter comparison belongs to the editor.
An enacted demonstration in the room is not proof that the described removal succeeded.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 3, p. 1859 · Vol. 3, p. 1860 · Vol. 3, p. 1861 · Vol. 3, p. 1862