Subject:Job
Entries
Entry 2889
If you out of a job and you want a job, you have to take and burn your candle for so many days. If you couldn't get a job and it's real like times are now - you can't get a job [this is during the Great Depression of 1930's] - you really have to burn candles if you want a real good job. Of course, you can get jobs but they ain't paying nothing. But if a man want a job that's going to pay him something, he'll get him a candle. And you burn your candle, you burn your candle three times a day - keep a candle burning if you can. If you can keep it burning all day, it'd be better. Every morning you get to that candle and you say your prayers. You can light it or keep it lit.
(Oh, you keep it lit?)
You can keep it lit all day. It'd be best to keep it lit. But whichever you do at a particular time, you get to the candle and you pray. All right, when you pray at that candle, you pray like you got - you just say - well, you say th 35th [23rd] Psalm of David: The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want. Make me lie down in green pas- tures and stir up my soul. Lead me in the path of rightness for his name's sake. Either I walks in the valley in the shadow of death - I'll fear no evil. Should I weakeneth, thou rod and staff comforth me. Prepare... (etc. etc. etc.) [Comment by transcriber]...and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. See. Well, all right, you says that. Now, when you say that, don't make the sign of the cross, see. Don't make no sign of the cross at all, cause you be crossing your ownself, see. Now, you say it maybe at six in the morning, twelve O'clock you do the same thing again. Three o'clock you do it, and at six in the evening you do it, see. All right. Now, for an instance, you do that at six o'clock in the morning - five or ten minutes after six, when you get up, see. Or if you need, you go on about your daily occupation or wheresomever you going. Or [if] you're looking for a job - you're seeking for a job - well, you go along, and if there's any jobs to be gotten anywhere, you'll get one. If it ain't but for the day, you'll get you one. That's the end of it. See, now you can demand your money. If a man wants to pay you $1.50, you can get $2.00, see. You'll get a job on that [candle and prayer].
(You burn a white candle for that?)
A white candle.
Entry 3988
Some say take an' wash yuh face in chamber lye in de mawnin's when yuh goin tuh hunt a job.
Entry 3994
( Git up soon in de mawnin', pee in yore han', an' if yo' gotta do [some- thing?], put dat stool in yore han' an' rub it [in your hand], go 'head an' go tuh de bossman, an' he'll give yo' a job. [My something? shows a lacuna of 10 periods left by transcriber for a colloquial expression meaning excrement, which I also did not fill in years ago. The word stool in the text indicates what the omission was. For- tunately there is at least one, if not two rites in HooDoO using excrement in the hand when asking for a job! Most amazing of all, we have one of the finest things in HOODOO, the incredible excrement rite of love - see 822, p.284f.]
Entry 3996
Yo' put some yore chamber lye intuh a vial, an' put some Heart Cologne in dere, put some Eve-an'-Adam in dere. Den yo' po' de least bit of dat watah out of dat vial in yore han's an' rub it In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' Holy Ghost, an' den goes tuh work an' shuffle yore cards. An' derefo' yo' will have luck ingamblin'. (What is the other way of getting a job?) De nex' way dat chew could git it, take yore same watah dat chew shuffle yore cards wit. Take some of yore chamber lye an' put it into a vial an' put some Heart Cologne in dat, an' Eve-an'-Adam into it - dat vial. Rub it into yore han's thoroughly, In de Name of de Fathah, an' dress yo'self down three times an' make yore wish. An' go an' have a talk wit 'im an' he'll think about it.
(You get the job from the boss?)
Yes.
Entry 4187
Me, fo' mahself, dis whut wuz tol' me tuh do: tuh git two needles, two bran'-new needles, an' put urine in de bottle, mine. Put it in a li'le bottle 'bout dat long, jis' big enough tuh hol' dem needles, yuh know, an' - ah kin go an' git dat an' show it tuh yuh where it's right dere now in mah trunk, ah kin show yuh - dat [2 needles and urine in bottle] an' some red peppah an' some salt an' some spice. An' put it all in a bottle an' stop it up tight, an' wear it on yuh. Dey said da' chew go tuh any man or any woman an' secure a job, see. Well dat somepin tuh git money.
(WHO TOLD YOU THIS?)
SOME OLE FORTUNETELLAH FELLAH DAT HANG AROUN' MAH HOUSE RIGHT - SEE AH LIVE UP DE HILL DERE.
(DID IT HELP YOU?)
NAW, AH DON'T SEE DAT IT BENEFIT ME ANYTHING.
Entry 4366
If de person know de man name - yuh goes an' know de man name. Yuh care [carry] a li'le bottle, dis cologne bottle, an' yuh call 'is name an' stop 'im up - jes' bottle up de man [see 38, p.24f.] in yuh fob pocket. An' den yuh [go] talk tuh 'im an' he say he ain't got no job. All right, chew go back home an' fer de nex' nine mawnin's - an' yuh got 'is name all right - yuh take a cord an' tie it aroun' yuh waist an' double it nine times. Make yuh chamber lye on it an' put it in de bottle. An' go back [to the boss] an' call 'is name ag'in, stop 'im up, an' den he'll give yuh a job.
(I see, you get the spirit of his voice in this bottle.)
[An old comment of mine in pencil about this rite reads Use with care. This rite is quite all right, except I failed to understand the word double when first checking transcription with the cylinder. Thinking that the waist measure was increased 9 times, I wondered how such a long string could be squeezed into one of those tiny bottles of perfume then sold for lOc at the Five-and-Ten-Cents Store. At the time of recording I probably knew the meaning of double because I do not ask a question about it, but I must not rule out knowledge coming from later experience. Here is what happens. The man wraps a piece of ordinary pack- age-wrapping string about his waist, ties a knot, and cuts off the two unneeded ends. He now has a loop or circle of string, say about 30 inches in circumfer- ence, which he pushes down over his thighs and off his body. This string he stretches out into a straight line of double string 15 inches long and at a right angle to his body; the knot being at one end, this end away from hi. This knot he now folds toward him until it coincides with the other end of the string. This once-folded string is now 4 parallel strings each 7 1/2 inches long. Turn- ing this shortened string 180°, so that the knot is again away from him, he a second time folds the knot to him, reducing the multiple strings to a 33/4 inches length. Remember, he is folding strings soaked with his urine. The strings are folded to him 9 times, at least theoretically. All this is not stated explicitly in the rite itself; it is implicit in this type of folding rite. No boss having his spirit triply captured - tied into a knot about applican'ts body, folded up towards applicant and in applicant's urine, and finally stopped up in a bottle - no boss could possibly resist such multiple magic.] [Charleston, S. Car., (519), 616:3.] [Human excrement rites are less numerous than those about urine. Numerically the ratio is perhaps 1 to 10. As a special feature, most of them concern trees - two-thirds to be exact. The best one, an unusual love story, will be found else- where in 822, p.284.]
Entry 5642
[This is a job-stealing rite! There are a number of them in Hoodoo. To obtain a job is an important rite in hoodoo thought.] Fo' instance, yo'd walk on out dere lak yo' attah [after] quittin' a job, a feller not wantin' a job. All right, yo' could take a shovel an' pick dis [other feller's] track up, de right track, an turn it roun'. An' den de nex' mawnin' yo' kin go dere an' ast dis man fo' de [other man's] job. See? Go dere fo' - well, 'bout three mawnin's, somepin lak dat. But on de third mawnin' yo' go, de man [boss] will give yo' de job. (He would take my job away from me and give it to you, if you turned my foot track around?) Yes.
(But you must get my foot track while I am going to the job?)
Dere yo' are [exactly]. Yore right foot track whilst yo' goin' to de job.
Entry 5745
If a man wants tuh hold 'is job wit a man, dey take an' git 'is right foot, right track, right in de heart [hollow of foot]. Pick it up three times, d'; not comin' back, goin'. An' git dat track somepin lak dis heah [demon- scates] lak he come, goin' disaway. Yo' walk behin' 'im an' git it disaway [demonstrates]. (He's going one way and you walk behind him and pick it up the opposite way. Bring it back to you. I mean, back from the way he is going.) Now dat's three times. Den yo' git one of yours. Keep agoin' an' don't look back. Take dem two tracks an' yo' put dem two tracks tuhgethah. (His and yours.) Yourn an' his'n, an' yo' take dem two tracks an' yo' go right at 'is office, an' yo' put dat undah dere jis' about dat deep [demonstrates].
(Couple of inches deep.)
Git chew a pin or needle that nevah been stuck an' a piece of cloth, an' stick dat pin down in dere. Let de point be up an' let 'im walk ovah dat. Den yo' gain his influence. Dat's de way ah heard 'em say.
(I see, that is to get a job or hold it.)
Entry 6156
Yo' jis' git some his hair out de top of de mole of 'is haid, an' git choo a golgree [?] stick about de size of yore fingah. Dat's a flowah dat grow in de swamp wintah an' summah, white as ivory. An' yo' split dat stick in two. Yo' take dat hair an' put hair in dere, an' yo' kin jis' cord it [urap it with cord string] an' stick in yore pocket dataway. An' yo' [ask for 1 job] an' yo' got a job fer life.
[Is this the swamp lily, the white-flowered species of Crinum (C. americum)
found in the southern states of U. S. A? This flower appears elsewhere in the text. I first saw it in a roadside pond on my trip through Virginia and Kentucky in 1922 - see Intro. v.1, p. XxvIII, last paragraph.]
(You get some of the boss' hair [for that stick]?)
No, DON'T GIT IT OUT OF 'IS HAID. GREAT GOD! DAT'LL RUN 'IM CRAZY! [A split or cleft-stick rite is rare (except a dog's hair in, to keep him wne) but it must appear 7 or 8 times in HOODOO.]
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 7255
Dem [= them = hel wus a hoodoo doctor. [I] knew all dat. Dat's all dat wus. [He] gived me one an' it looked lak it wus a toby tuh me or somepin, [a piece of] cattle [ani- mal] heart. It wus nuthin but a plain dried cattle [animal] heart, which dey [he] had placed in it [bag with] luck pins, looked lak it wus. (What did you carry that for? You carried it? Were you supposed to carry that?) Yes, ah carried it. It looked lak ah would git a job. An' ah played - if ah played politics ah would git it [the job], until ah lost it [the bag].
(Well, how did you carry that?)
Jis' tied it up in a red bag.
(In a red what?)
In a red bag, rag, a li'le small piece, yo' know, an' ah wore it around mah waist.
(I see.)
[This toby was a small piece of dried animal heart [chicken?] with several luck pins in it, carried in a red flannel bag.] [Vicksburg, Miss., (772) 991:4.]
Entry 7258
Now, if ah wanta give yo' a job - [you] come tuh me fer a job. Fer a mattah lak dat, de firs' thing ah'd say tuh [yuh], see mah firs' word tuh yuh, "Have yuh known dis gentleman?" [You answer] "Yes." "Have yuh evah worked fer 'im?" "Yes." "Why did yuh stop?" [Doctor Washington is using the new psychology and business methods floating about in the air about 1937.] Well, he explain tuh yuh. An' while he explain tuh yuh, ah'm gittin' de foundation tuh work on, 'cuz he mighta been workin' ovah in de market an' dere mighta been a fallin' out. Now befō' remarkin' on de fallin', out ah gotta go an' hunt de man whut carry de bone [of contention?] dat where de [trouble?] come from [originally?]. Go back an' search an' den he say, "All right, yuh ali. Well see me tuhmorrah evenin', [or] come back tuhmorrah mawnin' 'tween two and three 'clock. Knock on dō' an' dō' be opened, an' come on in de room an git choo outa baid. An' ah be lookin' fer people an' ah sleep dere all alone, no one but mahself. An' mah street do' an' mah room dō' stay open. Come in dere an' shake me an' ah raise up an' turns ovah an' go on out. When yo' come back, ah say, "Well, have yuh got nine dimes? Dat's whut ah want. Well, git nine. Ah Want 19, firs' an' second half. Dat's all de job. Don't gotta [ask for more] until ah git de man, git de boss right tuh de place ah want. Gotta turn on dis man t'ree [three] times. An' de fot [fourth] time, if ah don't git [him] de t'ree [third time]. All right. Well, do whut yuh could. Now ah might go an' take yuh drawahs. Don't wash de whole, [only] right in de seat. Put 'em in a basin jis' lak dat till dat watah turn black. Wait till it [turn black] now. All right, an' take dat watah in a rag, a cotton rag an' soak it all up in dat rag, an' den use dat watah in de basin an' git it on yuh arm, both sides.
(You Wash your arms?)
All yuh arms. Den take dat same watah, wash it off de rag. Yuh goin' fer de job de second time. Wash yuh face wit it jis' lak dat.
(Won't it smell?)
Yes, it smell. SOME PEOPLE SO CRAZY FER SMELLS.- DAT'S A JOB-JOKE - but do it an' yuh go dere. "Well, Cap [Captain] ah come fer a job dis mawnin'. How about it?" "Ah don' know. Come back latah, ah may see yuh between now an' Monday mawn- in'." "All right, thankee [thank you] sir."
(You salute him with your right hand.)
Yuh salute 'im wit yuh right hand - made de connection - t'ree times. Don't hesitate now. [He] tells yuh, "Ah ain't got nuthin tuh do, but ah'll see yuh maybe 'bout Monday mawnin'. Come back an' ah'll see whut ah kin do fer yuh. Talk tuh yuh surely." "Thankee sir; thankee, sir." Right off dere yuh goes. Come on back wit yuh. Come an' 'is thought wit yuh be. Yuh comin' back an' sleepin'. Yo' go back dere Monday mawnin' an' yo' got de job. Well, whut if yo' bein' treated now, ah wus de person aftah it mahself. Give perfect satisfaction. When yuh come back tuh me, ah done knowed whut ah done wid yuh, wit de watah. Den ah want chew tuh take dat same basin or pan an' git choo some physic salts an' some sulphur. Watch me. Some vaseline, half a bottle of vaseline, an' put about a quart of hot watah in it, an' put 'em intuh a round basin an' fetch yuh. An' wash from yuh navel down. [Here is the magic bath.] Sets de whole body in an' wash from de navel right on troo [through], all troo. An' dat watah turn black. An' den Wash yuh whole haid wit dat all up on yuh arms, all yuh neck an' let it dry. Don't wipe a thing, jis' let it stay on dere an' dry on yuh. Now dat man send fer yuh.
(He'll send for you?)
Dat's right. He'll have de job [for you]. Dat man send fer yuh.
Entry 7813
You get some graveyard dust and, when you go out to seek a job, you are talking to the boss, you sprinkle a little bit near him. You put some of that on his hat, if you can get it - that's better.
Entry 7908
If yo' want a job, when yo' git ready fo' dis job, yo' go an' git chew some sulphuh an' git chew some dirt from de graveyard. An' yo' - jes' lak yo' goin' tuh dis job - yo' git tuh de house, yo' sprinkle dis roun' de house. An' when yo' sprinkle dis roun' de house, den yo' could walk up on de do' an' knock at de do'. An' ask fo' de job an' yo' do dat fo' nine mawnin's, an' in de ninth mawnin' yo'll git dis job.
(You mean you sprinkle this in front of the boss' house or the job?)
Yes [at the home of the boss].
(All the way round the house?)
Not all de way roun' de house, jes' from de front. Lak dat's de cornah [demon- strates], from dere tuh de cornah of de house.
(Just to the front of the house?)
Yes.
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 8490
Ah heard dat, an' ah heard dat de way dey do, is tuh go ovah tuh dem an' git de folkses name who are runnin' dis business. An' dey will write dere name on a piece of papah. An' say yo' will go back an' stick it undah where dey have tuh come along [and walk over it]. Dat whut dey tell yo' would git a job dere.
Entry 8495
If yo' wants tuh be on de job or anything an' yo' want tuh stand in good wit yuh boss, yo' takes 'is name an' yo' git some loaf sugah, yo' put it in a bottle, yo' writes 'is name nine times, writes it tuh yuh, not from yuh. An' ah put's mah name on top of 'is, an' ah folds it tuh me, an' ah puts it in dis bottle. (You cross it or what?) Ah puts it ovah his'n an' ah crosses it, too. See, ah write his name first dis way an' den ah changes it an' write it dataway, an' ah switches ag'in - forward an' backward, undahstand.
(I see. All right.)
See, den ah folds it up an' ah puts it in dis bottle wit cinnamon an' sugah, an' ah buries it. An' ah weahs his name in mah shoe an' keeps it dere in mah shoe. An' when ah weahs it out, well ah puts anothah one in dere. See, dat's tuh stay on de job.
Entry 8658
Ah know yo' take a weepin' willow an' yo' put as many notches on it as lettahs in yore name, an' den tie it across an' throw it in de yard where yo' Work at, an' de woman dat yo' think's got yore job, say, "Yo' shall leave dere." An' yo' kin git chure job de next mawnin'. (That is to get the other per- son's job?) She take [took] mah job. Ah Want mah job back. (To get your job back, you take a willow switch and you tie as many notches in it, cut notches in it as many letters as she has in her name.) Yes, an' den tie it dataway an' tro' [throw] it in de yard an' she'll leave dere.
(You tie it like this? What - you cut it in two then?)
Yes. Nawsuh [no sir], we don' cut it in two. Jes' take de two willows an' tie a string aroun' 'em an' throw it in de yard an' dey'll leave dere.
(And you cut the notches in these willows?)
Yessuh, as many [notches as] lettahs in her name yo' see. If she got five lettahs in her name or six or seven lettahs, maybe, cut dem many. (Here are two willow switches. Now she has five letters in her name. You cut five on each stick then?) Yessuh, an' den tie it togethah an' tro' it in de yard where she take de job 'way from yo', an' she'll leave dere.
(You just make an "x"?)
[After restudying this rite I am afraid my questioning may have complicated it. Surely one switch instead of two was used, this stick being bent and tied in a circle so that the two ends formed a cross. To regain her job my informant vas crossing her successor out of the job. Two separate willow switches could have been crossed and tied for the same purpose.]
Entry 8828
If ah wanted a job wit chew an' yo' didn't want tuh have me, if ah git aholt of yore han'writin', ah could take hit an' bury it where yo' have tuh walk, wit a li'le sul- phah in it. An' tuhmorrah mawnin' ah come back, yo' be jes' [friendly and give me a job].
Entry 8861
If yo' wanted a job from a fellah, dere a man - jis' lak yo' wanted a job uptown an' yo' done been dere two or three times an' yo' can't git dat job. Well, yo' goes back an' yo' gits a piece of papah an' yo' write on it, write on dat papah an' carry it dere.
(Where do you write on it?)
Jis' write any place, jis' mark on it. Yo' take some talcum powdah an' put it in dere. Put it in de papah an' yo' jis' put it right where de man have tuh walk ovah it fo' 'bout five or six mawnin's. (And then he'll have to give you the job?) [In this and the two following beliefs, TALCUM POWDER sounds very much like TALKIN' POWDER!]
Entry 9208
Ah had a job workin' an' ah lose de job. No, ah didn't lose de job. De man jes' say he didn't have nuthin tuh do. All right, lattah ah went tuh a lady [doctor] an' she say - peoples talkin' about [her] say she wus good. All right, she tells me, say, "Ah'll git yuh job back, [you] git fired offa." Git fired off [of job] on Sunday night. She says, "Ah'm goin' tell yo' whut tuh do. Yo' take dis heah rotten aig an' yo' go tuh dis heah place where yo' wus workin' at.' Say, "Yo' take it an' chunk it up ovah de do' an' cuss." Yo' undahstand. See, yo'd cuss an' yo'd walk off. An' she says, "Don't look back." An' she say, "In two or three days yo'll git de job back." An' ah done dat. She gimme dat aig. Ah give her de money. Ah done dat. AH NEVAH GOT DAT JOB BACK AG'IN.
(You never got the job back?)
No, ah nevah got dat one back.
Entry 9259
Ah heard dat if yo' - jes' lak yo're workin' on a job an' dere's somebody dere dat try tuh work ag'inst yo', an' yo' wanta put 'em away from dere (2)1 an' yo' take his place, dey tell me dat yo' kin take a fresh hen aig an' go tuh de graveyard and git some graveyard dirt, an' bury it tuh de pahticlah [particular] place dat he always stand at, an' in a few days time he'll be gone from dere an' yo' have his place.
(You use any kind of a chicken egg?)
A black hen aig.
Entry 9342
Lak if ah been workin' in a place a long time, an' ah wants tuh stay dere, ah gits me a fresh yard aig [chicken egg laid in an old-fashioned henhouse and not on the modern commercial production line!] right aftah de hen lay it. An' ah take some straight stickin' pins [ordinary pins], dey gotta [be] new, an' ah put one right through it lak dis, see [demon- strates]. An' den ah run one across it, yo' see [demonstrates]. An' fo'evah weah dat. Even in mah pocket, jis' lak ah have a pocket, an' weah dat in dere, see [demonstrates]. An' yo' be dere [on the job] fo' a long time. Dey'll nevah fiah [fire = discharge] yo'.
Entry 9346
Take a aig an' put some quicksilvah in it. (A chicken egg?) Yes, sir. Make a little hole in it, chew know, an' put quicksilvah in it chew know. An' stop de hole up an' plant it right down at de place wheah yo' workin' at, an' dere can't nobody take dat job away from yuh.
Entry 9450
Take some table salt an' yo' wrop it up in a little piece of white rag, an' tie it up an' tote it in yore pocket. An' aftah yo' tote it in yore pocket, yo' take a little bit in yore han' an' jes' rub it right lak dat [demonstrates]. An' rub it all ovah yore haid an' face an' all lak dat.
(Over your hands?)
Yes sir, an' aftah yo' done rub it all in yore han's, jes' go [to the boss] an' he'll look out fo' yo'. Prob'ly yo' don' git de job tuhday, prob'ly not tuhmahrah, but befo' dat week or so out he'll give yo' sompin tuh do.
Entry 9451
If yo' goin' tuh hunt a job an' yo' think yo' not goin' be a success, yo' always tote yo' a li'le salt in yore pocket. Have salt in yore pocket evah mawnin' when yo' on dat job or when yo' goin' jes' tuh look fo' a job, see. An' jes"fore yo' git tuh yore boss, yo' put a li'le bita dat salt in yore han' an' goes up wit chure han' lak dat [demon- strates] an' jes' rub. An' go on tuh yore boss.
Entry 9453
Ah hear'd if yo's [you is] workin' or eithah want a job, an' somebody else was workin' dere, dat yo' could take a li'le salt, an' when de boss walkin' outa de do', an' throw it on 'is coattail, dat yo'd [you would] always have a job. [If you threw salt on the bossman's coat while he was leaving or going out a door, he would not return (see No.9442 following), but here intention is more powerful than action.
Entry 9519
Whut ah heard about de job proposition - whut chew kin do tuh make him give yo' a job or tuh make peace. Yo' undahstand me? Well, all yo' have tuh do is buy yo' a fresh box of Jack Frost [trade name] salt an' put it in yore pocket an' put some in yore shoes an' go on tuh him. (Go down to the boss and ask him for a job?) Yeah, dat'll make peace. Dat's right, dat's all yo' gotta do.
Entry 9544
.. Take de peppah an' salt an' press it tuhgethah an' burn it, an' put it in yore pocket an' carry it wit yo' when yo' goin' tuh look fo' a job, if yo' want luck. An' if yo' talkin' tuh yore man, yore bossman, dat's yo's tryin' tuh git a job wit, have dat in yore han' an' [they say yo'll git yo' a job if anybody gits one. [Wilson, N. Car., (1486), cylinder 2660: item No?]
Entry 9623
Yo' git some sulphuh an red peppah an' strew roun' yore house fo' ten nin's befo' de sunrise - sulphuh an' peppah an' table salt, an' jes' throw it roun' yuh house fo' ten mawn- in's, evah mawnin' befo' de sun rise. An' if yo' know where dis man lives, yo' go tuh 'is house an' do de same thing. Jes' throw dat peppah jes' as yo' go in. Yo' jes' throw dat peppah up an' down until yo' git tuh de do'.an' yo' throw it out lak dat an' make yore wish. An' de 'leventh mawnin dey say yo'll git a job.
Entry 9628
Yo' kin git chew sulphuh an' salt an' red peppah an' tie it up an' whenevah yo' gits roun' 'im... (Round the boss.) Yo' be talkin' tuh 'im - an' Hearts Cologne, git dat Hearts Cologne. Yo' keep it wet chew know. Yo' talkin' tuh 'im. He give yo' a job.
Entry 9673
If yo' wan'a a job, yo' don' wan'a eat no breakfus'. Jis' put a red onion in yuh pocket wit yuh salt, mos'ly in de right pocket. Keep it in a rag. An' go tuh a man fo' a job. Yo always be dere befo' he do.
Entry 9694
Anyone take salt an' li'l' sugah an' sprinkle it rom', an' dat brings luck tuh yo'. Dat's tuh keep a job, so no man kin mow yo' doon - tuh hold a job.
Entry 9695
Git some sulphur an' some table salt - not physic salt - table salt, an' lay it in yore shoe when yo' certain... [informant is re- peating].
(They can't put anything down for you to walk over it.)
No sir, dat sulphur an' salt supposed tuh...
Entry 9697
Now in case yo' want a job, yo' coming on de job [you are at the place where you want the job], put de footprint of yuh boss between dis sulphuh an'black peppah. Yo' will make a bag out'a it an' keeps it aroun' yuh neck, yo see, an' de spirit of yuh boss will always be along wit chew; yo' see. An' fer dat reason, he will nevah have yuh runned aay, as long as he have any incidental business [usually called odd jobs] at aWl. An' now, in ordah tuh fin' dout [find out] from any man de truth about dese chings. It's nuthin but such a simple thing as sulphuh an' salt, dat chew'll put In yuh pocket. An' if he [boss] wants yuh aroun', he will tell yuh; an' if not, dy he'll run yuh out'a dere.
(That's if you are hunting a job?)
Yes. No suh! Dat in case dat chew huntin' one: jes' de same uh [as] many as [men], yo' know, goin' aftah a job an' dey [boss] always puttin' yo'off puttin' yo' off. Well, if yo' directly wanted tuh find out if he gona give yo' dis job or not, den yo' goes tuh work an' yo' put a li'l' sulphuh an' a li'l' salt in dis papah, an' yo' wrap it up verah carefully an' keep it in yuh Ppcket. An' when yo' go tuh 'im, why he'll have tuh tell yo' what he's goin' tuh do; vhethah he goin' tuh give somepin.
(I see. He has to tell you whether he is going to give you a job or not.)
Entry 9712
Lak if yo' wan'a job, dey tell me sompin but ah have nevah tried it. Lak if yo' wanted a job, ah heah de boys say, go tuh de bossman's house. An' aftah yo' go tuh 'is house - lak if yo' go dere an' try tuh git a li'l' work tuh do roun' dere. Prob'ly yo' fine some things roun' dere dat he's got or somepin he weahs or somepin lak dat. Yo' take dis. An' yo' come back an' take it tuh yore home. An' yo' come back an' yo' take dis turpentine an' olive oil an' salt. An' yo' take dis stuff an' yo' fix it up. Well, aftah yo' take dis stuff an' fix it up, yo' take an' care [carry] it back tuh dis bossman's house. An' yo' take an' hide it up undah, anywhere undah where he walks aroun' in 'is room. Yo' take dat stuff an' yo' care it right dere, an' put it somewheah in 'is room, wheah he kin walk ovah it. Well, yo' take it den. Yo' take an' go back an' git it if yo kin git back an' git it. Git back an' git it. Meanwhile he wuz workin' aroun'. An' yo' take an' bury it. Lak he's got a desk wheah he do's 'is writin', keepin' time, or sompin lak dat. Yo' take an' put it up undahneat' de desk or sompin othah lak dat. An' dey say dat stuff, whut chew put in dat stuff, will take effect on 'im. An' den yo'll come tuh 'im an' he says, "Well" - when yo' ast 'im fo' a job - "come to work." He'll give yo' job. Dat stuff will take effect on 'in, work on 'im in a way, an' he'll have tuh give yo' a job.
Entry 9956
To get a job, chew John de Conkah root while talking to the boss and carry a live frog in your pocket.
Entry 9970
Well, yo' kin take a frog, jes' a or'nary frog whut jup 'round de iouse, see. Yo' take dat frog alive an' yo' kin put 'im in a containah or jah or anythin' an' yo' kin jis' take alcohol, any kind of rubbin' [lotion] or any- ching [and fill bottle] an' let 'im stay in dere till he petrify. Well, yo' kin take dat frog an' put 'im in yore pocket an' yo' kin weah him in dere an' yo'll always be lucky. (With what in particular?) In keepin' a job an' stayin' in peace wit people an' havin'- yo' know, jes' socialize wit 'em.
Entry 10070
You take a black cat and you kill it and pass with it through the graveyard.
(You pass it through the graveyard?)
Through the graveyard.
(How do you do that?)
Just like you go by a graveyard, when you'd have it; see, you is passing through the graveyard when you is going to a place for a job, and you pass it [cat] through there [graveyard] when you go there [for job]. And just like you got to go up to the office, right at his office, and you'd have some of that blood in a piece of paper, which you may call a little can. [The dead cat is not carried into office.] Well, you drop that blood on the [office] floor and you bury that cat right at his steps [steps of his house] overnight, what you may call "overnight" [is] at midnight. He'd be looking for you to give you a job.
(Just through that cat.)
[Informant having told story before recording began, I now start questions to check veracity. He is marked "ng" but here his tale held together.] (Now, what do you do? You take and catch [I am unknowingly using informant's ands] a black cat, don't you?) Yes, you ain't got to have no white one or brown one.
(Then you kill it. Then you carry him to the graveyard?)
Yes.
(Then you go and bury this cat under the boss's steps?)
Under his steps.
(That's all you have to do?)
That's all you have to do to him.
(To get a job?)
Yes, you get a job. (I thought you said something about cutting the hair off the cat's tail for something?) You cut the end, the end of his tail off - just like you see, the little tip end of his tail?
(Yes.)
Well, you would cut that off, and you would keep that with you.
(Oh! You keep that part.)
Keep that part with you. And the other, you bury it like that.
(I see, at the bottom of the step.)
At his step, and nobody can knock you from getting a job.
Entry 10146
A root doctor wrapped up a black cat bone in cloth, put in sack with salt, put in pocket on right side, go to boss for job. [Wilmington, N. Car., resume, 109:2.]
Entry 10200
St. Raymond, he's fo' tuh git chew jobs an' keep yo' in work. St. Michael is fo' peace. De Virgin Mary is tuh put bread in yore house, keep bread in yore house all de time. An' yo' use St. Michael ag'in fo' furniture dealers an' all. Lak ah owe yo' fo' furniture an' all lak dat an' yo' 'bout to take mah furniture 'way from me. Yo' see yo' set a light to St. Michael, an' yo' give him a green light, one right behin' one 'nothah fo' 'bout eight days or nine days. See. An' that'll cause yo' tuh have - yo' know whut ah mean - give me a chance tuh bring yo' some [green] money.
Entry 10611
Git dis heah Adam an' Eve, an' dis powders from Los Angeles, an' lode- stone, an' put it together. Wrop dat up together an' dat'll make a person, if yo' talk to him an' ask him fo' a job, he can't deny yo'. (What kind of powder is this from Los Ange- les. What do they call it?) It's called.... (It's sand, not a powder from some firm in Los Angeles. What is the name of the firm out there?) Yo' kin git some from de Modden?[or Molden?] Company. Dat's in Los Angeles. Don't know whether it's in Los Angeles or San Jose. It's Chicago, ah think. Yessuh. (What is the name of the company in Los Angeles?)
Entry 10615
Ah hear'd a fellah said he could take some Adam-an'-Eve an' John de Conkah an' put it in a red bag an' weah it aroun' yuh neck. De foreman he'll have some kinda feelin' or sompin an' let chuh go back tuh work.
Entry 10621
You kin take Adam-and-Eve in Hearts Cologne an' yo' kin hold your job. Like if you got a boss against yeh, you goin' to work that morning, you take an' put a little [Hearts Cologne] on yuh pocket hankechef. Jes' like I work fer you, I come here [he hems and coughs], "Good mawnin' boss, how yuh feelin'?" Dat stuff [scent] would fill over the house. You [I] keep your [my] job.
Entry 10626
Adam-an'-Eve an' High John, an' make a bag of it, an' put it cal gethah an' put a li'le sagah dd it - a teaspoonful of sugah vid it - or salt wid it. An' mix it tuhgethah an' sew it up an' care it wid joo. To'll git a job dat way.
Entry 10632
I've heard them claim that if you chew a certain root, that root is Ωlligator root, and also High John the Conquer, they claim, and chew that root and spit nine times before leaving the home, and nine time before you get to the place, and nine times after you reach the place, without speaking to anybody each time, and by doing that and just use the words, I want a job - you say that [these words] to yourself - that the individual will get a job. That's what they claim. {Alligator root here may be the root of the alligator tree, given to a sweet gum tree because its rough bark is supposed to look like alligator hide; or this may be any root, a rare one, faintly resembling an alligator. The shape of roots years ago, before my collecting days, played an important part in a doctor's pharmacopoeia.]
Entry 10671
Put red peppah in dere shoes; it's gotta be pod peppah. If yo' can't put red peppah in dere shoes [shoes guarded too well], yo' kin git chew some of dis asafitidy [asafetida]. Dat's plain asafitidy an' dis heah bor- acic watah, an' use it an' sprinkle it aroun' anywhere dat dey have tuh cross, anywhere in dere path. Yo' kin use dat to make 'em lose out [lose a job or have bad luck].
Entry 10708
Yo' take the Bible or a leave [leaf] out of the Bible an' wrap it in salt an' [red] peppah, wrap dis leaf up. An' it's jes' a few words that yo' pray ovah it. Then yo' take it wit yo' an' he'll come purtty near givin' yo' a job.
Entry 10720
You are hunting a job and you have a particular boss you want. Well, every time you go to that boss and ask him for a job, take cinnamon and sugar in your pocket and birdeye seed, and whenever you go on that job, put this [seed] down [where you Work and in] your pocketbook with the cinnamon and sugar and birdeye seed. That will make him have a sweet disposition towards you and keep a birdeye [bird's eye] upon you and always give you your job. [Birdeye or bird's-eye seed must be a package of seed sold by a hoodoo store.]
Entry 10834
Yo' go to somebody an' yo' git a little ole sompin dey calls a buck- eye, an' yo' tote dat in yore pocket. Sew it up in a lil' sack. An' yo' go to de drug sto' an' git some Heart Cologne an' po' dat on dere, an' jes' go an' ask fo' a job an' he git chew a job.
Entry 10835
Dere's a root dey call de little buckroot. It grows right straight down dere an' have sort of a fork down dere an' grows down. If yo' kin git dat an' yo's tuh tote dat an' chew a piece of it when yo' talkin' with him [boss] - yo' Want a job - an' look him right in de face an' don' look on de ground; jes' look towards his hat, dat will soften his mind, an' he'll quit talkin' tuh anyone else an' look right after yo'. An' yo' jes' talk an' tell him whut chew want, if yo' please do so-an'-so, whut yo' want. An' he'll yield to yo'. [Could little buckroot be the little buckeye = the red buckeye, a shrubby species of buckeye Aesculus pavia of Southern U. S. A?]
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 10876
Ah heered people say tuh ketch a black cat, hold him back of his neck an' strip yore han' down de tail seven times an' count 'em, an' throw him from yo' an' cuss at him, an' don't look back at him. An' dat as good a luck fo' work as a man could do. (Well, after you have done this with the cat, then what do you do?) After ah throwed de cat away, yo' [ah] cuss at him. Why zh'd git out an' go an' ask some man fo' a job, an' ah would be lucky enough to git a job by dat.
Entry 10878
Yo' take a black cat, de same cat yo' got de [lucly] bope [froa]. Yo take dat hair an' yo' tie it up. Yo' gotta tie it in a rag an' yo' wear it in yore shirttail. When yo' wear it in yore shirttail, yo' kin conker anybody. (You get the hair from the top of his tail?) Right from de top of his tail, right from de butt of his tail. (And the man will give you a job?) "Cause him tuh give yo' a job or yo' kin git anything that chew want.
Entry 10949
We call dem "charity root" [see later]. An' dey go dere and dig: piece to [from] de sunrise an' piece to [from] de sundown [sides]. Take dat and put 'em in a towel, in a piece of cloth. Jest put de both together - in 'em in 'tween de cloth. Put dat in yore pocket and you be lucky if yo' git a job most anyway. [What he says here is not what he means.] Dat's de way dat I heard it. [I had trouble understanding some informants in Charleston. My informant called the root charity root, thought my transcriber; to me the root sounded like cherrytree or Cherokee root.]
Entry 10950
They call it the chew root, a small root, something like hickory bark, as you talk to this fellow for a job.
Entry 11041
Take a gizzard of black hen, a black pullet, an' dat thin skin inside, take an' sew it up in a sack. Den yo' kin go an' ask a man fo' a job an' he'll nevah turn yo' down.
Entry 11109
De cloves, take it an' beat it up fine, an' tie it up in a little piece of new cloth an' wear it in yore pocket. Dey say dat will make 'em give yo' a job.
Entry 11136
Not a milk cow, but git de whut-dey-call-it cow.
(The bull?)
Yes. If yo' kin git dat, den yo'll take dat an' a white dog's nunbah two. Dat [these two] be made up in a powdah an' yo'll sprinkle dat anywhere yo' passes an' de people pass, an' de' cain't git a job no way. Dey cain't git a job noway. But chew put peppah an' yo' put dat salt an' anything lak dat an' yo' put dem hot things in dere. Dat'll keep 'en aigoin'
[Number two = dung.]
Entry 11165
Dere's a root out dere, ah don't know whether it's round here or not. Dat comes out de woods. [Take that] an' saltpeter. It's de devil's-shoestring! Dat's whut dey call it, de devil's-shoestring. An' beat it up - jest beat it up an' put it in yore pock- et - yo' understand, an' walk on in. An' as yo' walk in de office - dis is de office heah [demonstrates] jest put it in yore pocket an' rub yore hand lak dat over it. An' bit off a little piece an' jest lak yo' chewin' a piece of chewin' gum or somepin lak dat, an' talk to him. He'll give yo' a job. Yes sir, he'll give yo' a job.
(Do you come from South Carolina?)
North Carolina.
Entry 11177
Yo' git devil's-shoe- string an' yo' cut it in three lengths in long strings. Yo' cut three pieces of it in three [long] lengths an' yo' git dat shoestring an' yo' go round a man's job an' chew dat shoestring an' spit all round, an' yo' could go to his steering wheel an' yo' spit some of de juice on yore han' an' wipe it on de steerin' wheel.
(The steering wheel of the boss' automobile.)
Entry 11183
Yo' go out early in de morning in de summertime when de bushes is blossoming yo' know. Yo' take dat string 'fore day at sunup an' pull dat string up. (What kind of string?) Devil's-shoestring. It's a long root. Yo' pull dat up an' yo' bring it round yore finger seven time. Dere seven day in de week, isn't it?
(You bend that root around your finger seven times. Any particular finger?)
Seven times, jes' any two [adjoining] fingers. Yo' see dere seven days in de week, yo' know. Seven times. An' jes' tie de thing in yore pocket, yo' know. An' keep it dressed with alcohol, yo' know. An' chew dat an' go to a man an' ask fo' a job, why he more den apt to give you a job.
(You only go out there once to get that root?)
Yes sir, one time. (And you bend this around your finger [2 fingers] seven times. That's to get a job.) Yes sir.
Entry 11232
When yo' wanta - if yo' be's on de job, an' yo' wanta keep it, an' if yo' be like a [something?] yo' jes' [go] an' wash yore face wit a dishrag an' they will keep likin' yo' all de time.
(Then you will stay on the job?)
Yes.
(That is if you are working some place?)
Yes.
Entry 11345
One way to do, dey go on dere and dey take an' burn sulphur and dra- goa's blood. Put it behin' de do'r, front do'r. Den dey go down to do'r, one dey go after to git dat jah - job. (I see, they burn that before they go down to the house [to get job].
Entry 11346
If you be out of work and you want's to get a job, you go to the drug swre and you get you some cinnamon bark - not the ground cinnamon - cinnamon bark. You chew that. You get you 25 cents of what you call - it's a drawing powder - and you gotta pay attention too when you get that. After you get that powder... Now, for you, you have to get pink. They got two kinds of it. got the pink and white. You get that drawing powder. Of course, you rub of it in the palm of your hand like that [demonstrates]. You take that cinnamon bark and you chew that cinnamon bark. And when you get around there where the boss is, of course, spit it but not enough so nobody will pay atten- tion to you. You take some of that powder and you put it in some of your pock- ets, and because it's got a sweet smell to it, nobody never pay attention to it anyway. In your pockets. When you close to him, spit that cinnamon bark around there. And that powder will draw him to the person [to you] and he will give you a job.
Entry 11371
Dey take de root of a fig tree from de no'th side an' hang it up ovah de do' dat chew go in an' out de most, an' it would make yo' be lucky in havin' a job or anything yo' wanta undertake tuh do.
Entry 11646
Five-finger grass, and I'll put this five-finger grass in under the faucet.
(Near the faucet?)
Yes. And I'll take me a piece of John de Conquer and go out like that and that long a piece too - have it in my mouth, go out like that - I will be chewing as I go on [to see the boss]. And while I'a approaching you, I'll do like that [demonstrates].
(Spit around.)
Yes. Then I go begin ask you my favor and I won't go away unheard.
(I see, I see, but you must have that five-finger grass in your pocket.)
Yes. Yes, sir.
(I see. What do you carry that for? What's the idea of that?)
That five-finger grass, that's attractive; more, that's to make things at- tractive, that's John the Conguer's master. Must break down all the friction in between you [two], you understand. [As I have probably explained else- where, originally five-finger grass was the name five-finger given to 4 plants: the common cinquefoil, oxlip, bird's-foot trefoil, and Virginia creeper. The hoodoo root shop, mail-order firms, and individual root collectors surely extend- ed the list.]
Entry 11708
Yo' kin take garlic an' if yo' wanta have good luck, take garlic an' put it in a bottle an' put some Hearts Cologne [in it]. Dat kills de odor of it. Take fo' instance, yo' go out an' yo' wanta git a job or anything or any kind of success. Jes' take some of dat garlic like dat an' rub it on yore hands an' on yore face, den yo' go out. An' yo' be - oh, yo' be too lucky. [Waycross (1093) 1762:12.]
Entry 11710
Now to get a job. Well, if you going out to hunt you a job, you always get up in the morning, don't be angry, get up with a good pleasant mind. And you always keep you some sugar or the middle part of garlic. Tote that in your pocket. Take and pull all the garlic out and just the little mid- dle - that part that's in the middle - tote that in your pocket.
(What will that do?)
That will give you luck. See.
(I see.)
Fast luck.
Entry 12050
[I hold in my hand and will attach to this manuscript an original notation made in 1937 while transcribing cylinders recently recorded at Wilming- ton, North Carolina. All these transcriptions are pencil written so that I could reduce the number of playbacks. Here is the brief nota- tion: '50ç for (hoodoo) bag to get job. Tel. (Telediphone cylinder No.) 221 (+85). Wil. (Wilmington) No.227 (informants number)." As you know, this hoodoo material of mine was collected out in the field, in the homes and hotels of black people during the Great Depression. Let no one tell you Black people preferred the meager dole to a job. There must be 200 rites in HOODOO for get- ting or keeping a job! That price 5Oç also shows the scarcity of money.]
Entry 12139
If yo' wanta go tuh git a job fo' good [a steady job], yo' go tuh dat job. If yo' kin git tuh de office where he's at, understan', git tuh de office where he's at, yo' kin git chew some dat stuff whut chew eat. Whut dey call - yo' kin git it at most any drug sto' - shellac. Yo' know, shellac, sompin dat chew paint things wit. Jes' take an' drop one drop anywhere. jes' lak yo' wuz heah [in this rooml, jes' drop one drop anywhere on de flo' heah where yo' step ovah it. An' den yo' go on back den an' take de rest of it. Go on back an' mix a little bit of Hearts Cologne, two or mo' drops of hit, an' puts hit in de bottle. Den yo' go tuh him, yo' may go ovah tuh him, dere ain't any jobs, an' if dere somebody else on de job, yo' tell him 'bout dat job. [He will ask], "Whut kin yo' do?" Yo' say, "Anything. All right, perhaps ah wants a job real bad. De next time yo' go to him, says, "Well, ah don't want but 75." [Is 75 cents an hour the wage back in 1937?] "Come back sech an' sech a time." An' when yo' go back de third time ag'in, yo' git dat job an' start workin' right off.
(And you just drop one drop of that shellac where the boss can walk over that?)
Dat's right, in de office.
Entry 12140
If you wanta get a job, work somewhere, you kin do that. And when you go round [to] 'proach a person, wet it [usually a handkerchief with what is coming later]. Well, when you first 'proach him, maybe he liable not to need no one. He liable to turn yuh down, say, "Well, now, I don't want no one. I couldn't do that now [at this time]. I ain't gonna do that." Somepin like that. You kind of fiddle around, put a little [of this liquid] round where he walk over it. Put some of that same stuff. If you kin get that close to the person at that time, and when you go back, you be around them a little bit. You not harmin' them with it or anything like that.
(What do you sprinkle around him now?)
You take - like if you got some of where he baths [bath water]. Somepin like that, you know. You take and put it with some nice Hearts Cologne. or somepin that smell, not too loud. And just be around, you know, like you be around talking with him and you just might put a little on your fingers or down on de floor or anywhere. Long as you keep that up, there'll always be harmony with you.
Entry 12162
Well, now, ah heard - now, yo' kin take some kind of dat oil dey call de holy oil. Dey kin take dat an' 'noint all ovah dey face 'fore dey goes. So when dey git dere, yo' know de boss, he might kinda drag a little bit, but he'll give 'em a job. He'll tell 'em, say, "Come back, yo'll be sure to git a job." He'll tell 'em come back an' dey git de job.
(Where do they get that holy oil?)
Ah don't know where they git it from, but dey has it.
Entry 12206
If you got a job an' wanta hold it, why yo' go out to any little place where you kin find an old horseshoe. An' take a couple of nails - horseshoe nails - nine of 'em, an' put round dat shoe. Take it back [to place where you work] and bring them with that, an' go under in de east corner of dat place, an' put dat horseshoe down. Put in dere so nobody kin dig it up, so it can't be found, an' leave it dere. Nobody kin have your job. (You find that horseshoe that has nine nails in it and you take that whole horseshoe. You don't take the nails out or anything like that?) No, leave 'em in dere, just as is.
Entry 12227
(When you go to get the job?) You get High John [de Conkah] and hartshorn [this name for an old- fashioned chemical some- times given to Hearts Cologne! Not a confu- sion, but a mispronun- ciation], honey suckle, crabapple [3 perfumes] and you put these in there with a teaspoonful of honey and a teaspoonful of allspice, these ground spices, cloves [other unnamed].
(cloves?)
Yes. (Well, how do they use that? I mean - you put it in this bottle. What do you do with that then, that bottle?) They puts it up on a shelf in the Name of the Lord.... (You put - grind it up and put a spoonful of High John the Conquer in this too. Put it in the bottle and then - what did you say you use the name of, when you [they] put it on themselves and when they go right down and they get the job?) Put it on yourself and you go right down [to see boss]. Course you got the odor on you too. (I see. That odor is on you while you are talking to the boss, so he's likely to give you the job. I see. And you say, In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.) After they do that, they anoint their feet, and then they turn their sock on the wrong side and use that same stuff. And turn the sock from the wrongside out, when they are going down there.
(Both socks or just one of them?)
Both of them.
(Put both of them wrongside out?)
Yes.
(They put the stuff on them that they use to get the job?)
Yes. (When they are going down, just turn their socks wrongside out on them. I see.)
Entry 12231
Yo' go git chew a piece of root - John de Conkah root - and bury it in de ground 'bout three days. Take it out and git chew a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' a little bit sugah and sew it up tight in a bag. And chew you a piece ob [of] dat John de Conkah root. And when you go an' knock de boss [knock on the door?] fer a job, jest look him right dead in de eye, says, "Captain, I want a job." An' jest look him right in de eye and spit. And he say, "All right, boy, come on heah." He'll give you a job. But look him in de eye, if you want a job - look right in de eye.
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 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 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 12344
(Lodestone.)
Keep it wet with perfume and tote that in your pocket. That will give you lock to get a job like that, even be able lucky for anything - luck for anything like that.
Entry 12345
Yo' git chew a piece of lode- stone an' yo' put it in a little piece [of cloth] or yo' kin put it in yore pocketbook, an' a piece of dat in- cense, an' put it together an' keep it. An' yo' tote it in yore pocketbook an' every time yo' go to work, why yo wash yore face an' hands in dat Van-Van an' dey won't turn yo' off.
Entry 12348
They tole me tuh git - they had me tuh git a piece of - a piece of drawing lodestone an' dis same mineral oil. Ah cain't think of it [name]. They still use it as mineral oil. Dis lodestone, dis drawin' stone, you buy, see, an' dis mineral oil and de dust from a comb, ah believe it was - a head comb, de dust. An' yo' 'solve [dissolve] dis dust into dis - dis mineral oil and dust all together, and you dress dis dust and de mineral [oil] and de lodestone wit perfume an' you wears it. But ah was successful.
(That's in hunting a job.)
In hunting a job. Least how, it worked. But thinking about it, ah didn't hole [hold] de job very long. So dat's why ah didn't think dere's much to it. [To be able to buy head-comb dust indicates the catholicity of products sold by some hoodoo shops!]
Entry 12364
Yeah, you can get some love powder and you can put that on you, and after you get the love powder put on you, they got some kind of oil: say, I think they calls it coconut oil, an' coconut butter, and witch hazel, and Van-Van. See, you put all them four diff'- ren' - it together. An' they say, when you get most to the place, you have it in your pocket, and you put red pepper with it. So when you get most there, see, you rub your hand with it like that. But don't let 'em see it on you. See, after you rubbing your hand with it like that, see, the bossman, he can't tell you "no." He got to give you something to do.
(I see.)
Entry 12365
A little powder, they call it a love sashay. They say you kin take it with you. You take an' tie it in your handkerchief, an' when you go down to git the job, they say you jis' shake your handker- chief [and you will get a job].
Entry 12404
Ah know dat chew could git a job jes' by goin' to a magnolia tree. Yo' take an' git - jes' a little piece of cloth an' den sew it up in a heart- style bag in shape of a heart. Yo' take dat heart- style an' yo' fill it up wit nuthin but table salt, salt dat nevah has been used. An' go to a magnolia tree wit three roots dat's runnin' east. Don't care how small or how large it is, an' yo' tie it up together an' feed it off de cologne. An' it's a certain chap- tah in Psalms in de Bible - de Psalms of David. Ah disremembah, but chew repeat dat three times in de mawnin' befo' yo' go fo' three mawnin's, an' aftah dat third mawnin' dat chew'll be successful in gittin' a iob an' holdin' it as long as yo' kin hold dat.
(You put these magnolia roots into this little bag?)
Yes sir, yo' puts it in dat an' sew it up right wit de salt in de heart- style [bag].
Entry 12429
Well the fact is, if yo' wan'a job, they have Mind Oil. You hear of it? Mind Oil. Well, suppose the boss's name John Henry. You sign his name to that parchment paper, put it in that Mind Oil. You will get you some paradise seed, get you some parsley. You take a bath with that. After taking bath, you must stay in that building all night, and throw the water out into the Middle of the street, see. And anything that instead of going contrary, you ill have a success with. [For "paradise seed" see margin title GUINEA SEEDS etc., P.570, v.1. Throwing bath water into street is a transference rite and remaining instead in building all night recalls ancient incubation rites.]
Entry 12596
She was working fer a private family, three of 'em working together and one of 'em was very disagreeable and dis was de cook. Well, an' de other one was de maid and one was de washwoman. Well, dis washwoman she didn't like de cook an' every night and every time she'd git a chance, she would go in de kit- chen an' sprinkle peppah around de floor in order to make de white lady fire her and probably give her de cook job and git another washwoman. Well, dey linger and linger and all like dat until finally dis girl did break a valuable dish and she lost her job and dis girl dat was washing she got de job, sure enuff and dey got another washwoman. Dese people tried to locate her but she was gone to New York [by] that time.
Entry 12609
I know my brother did it. You kin take a pound of black pepper - dis grain [whole] pepper - and a pound of sugar. And you kin sit down and bite dis pepper and sugar together and put it in your pocket and go on the job. The man will give you a job. (You say your brother did that?) Yes sir.
Entry 12623
A man said if: I could take a needle and 3 grains of pepper, red pepper, de seed of it, and some water and put in it, and salt, and then a few grains of black pepper. And take that needle and stick it down in that bottle. And when you get ready to go out, you go and take that bottle up and jis' shake [a magic act] it up and say, "Good luck and good prospire" [prosperity]. And go out. And he said, "You get a job." The man that told me that...and I declare I went and did it, I fixed it up, and I declare I git the job, the one I got now. And I've been with it over a year.
Entry 12660
Pulverize persimmon bark and sugar, and one teaspoonful of sulphur. Put that on yore stove, on de top of your stove, on a Monday and Wednesdays. That's to get a job. Then you hold it and then you always kin pick up - getting jobs. (Well, what if you have a job?) It will cause you to pick up more, cause you to pick up more, cause you get more extra jobs. [This shows a chronic condition of the times, the Great Depression, there were few jobs for these people, and had there been permanent jobs, few were trained to hold them. Forty years later, as I write, conditions have not improved much.]
Entry 12711
Now, lak if yo' wanta job, yo' git - lotsa people say yo' git rabbit foot. Mah ole grandmother used to say yo' could git rabbit foots an' ah think it's fly root. Anyway ah think it's a fly, ah think she say dey used to git. Hit's a root made up jes' lak a onion. [Fly root having a root like an onion I am unable to identify, but an obs6lete meaning for this word fly spirit or a witch's attendamt - should be a clue for a botanist or person interested in plant lore. Could this plant be the wild onion (sometimes called wild garlic, the Allium vineale about which there is a rite somewhere in HOODOO? Poisonous? Did a witch rub or eat this root for the sensation of flying?] Yo' take it an' yo' tack it on one end - put chew a string around de rabbit foot an' tie it on de other end an' put dat in yore pocket book. She say dat's good fo' tuh git a job anywhere yo' wanta git a job.... Well, nobody else couldn't stay dere but chew. In other words de job would come normal to yo'.
Entry 12721
An' anothah thing, yo' ketch a rabbit an' yo' cut his foot off, his left foot, an' turn him loose an' let him go. An' git chew a piece of devil's- shoestrings an' a piece of five-finger root. An' yo' put them three things tol gethah. An' yo' jes' take it an' wrap dat devil's-shoestrings round dat rabbit foot, an' yo' sew it up in a piece of red cloth, an' yo' make a sack out of it, bag-like, an' yo' feed hit on Hearts Col Ogne. An' dat's anothah thing fo' a job - good luck. Long as yo' tote dat yo'll git a job anywhere.
(You get the left foot. Which one? He had two left feet.)
De left front feet.
Entry 12726
Them goes to work and git a rabbit - a wood rabbit foot - and put salt on it and wrop it up tight and he nevah tell you no. (The boss won't.) No. You must go de same day [you catch rabbit]. If you kin know de day yo' birth, dey bery day yo' birth, go dat day. President Roosevelt can't tell you no. [Even President Franklin D. Roosevelt could not refuse you.]
(What foot do you take?)
Right one.
(Which one, front or back?)
De one in de front, de front foot.
Entry 12746
Rattlesnake marster like dat is good. Jes' take it yo' know an' wear it chew know in a piece of cloth yo' know. An' den every mawnin' yo' take an' rub it in yore han' jes' like dis heah [demon- strates], an' den rub it ovah yore face.
(What will that do for you?)
Git a job.
Entry 12747
Yo' kin take rattlesnake marster, spice an' yo' kin take Hearts Own Cologne an' alum an' yo' put dat in a little bag an' yo' kin carry it 'long wit chew in yore pocket, but chew wanta have yo' some Hearts Own Cologne aloag, yo' know, to 'noint it wit, yo' know, an' keep dat liven up. [Dressing or feeding a hand as here gives it life, power.] An' yo kin go an' yo' kin git a job most anywhere. An' when yo' git it chew be de last one to be cut off practically, if de [dey or dere] be any cutting off being done.
(You would be the last one fired.)
Entry 12750
Ah hear dat if a man wanted a job an' he couldn't git none no way, he go an' git one - ah ain't nevah tried it but ah hear de fact of it. Ah don't know whether yo' ever hear tell of dis rattlesnake marster root an' burn it into a powder, an' yo' take dat powder, jest lak dis is yore job heah. Well, ah come to de job an' ah sprinkle dat powder round dere. Den ah git me some of dis shame brier root, a little brier dat grows dey call de shame brier. Ah don't know whether yo' evah hear tell of it. [For shame brier and its various names, see No.2290, p.646f., v.1, and elsewhere.] An' ah'll take dat shame brier root an' den ah'll chew it, lak ah'm talkin' wid chew, [and say] "Ah wants a job, Captain." Why all de time dat me an' yo' talkin ah be chewin' dat root an' spittin'. Dey tell me if yo' do dat, why he'll do jest 'xactly whut chew tell 'im to do. He'll give yo' a job. Or if yo' wants money, yo' take dat shame brier root an' dat rattlesnake marster dust, after yo' pound dat root up, an' keep it in yore pocket whilst yo' talkin' [to boss]. Spit an' chew it an' have dat dust - throwin' dat dust out, yo' know.
Entry 12751
Well de first thing would be if yo' wanted a job. An' dat go fo' a job, a favor or money or anything. Dat chew would git chew some of dis root whut de' [they] call rat- tlesnake marster, an' spice. An' yo' take dat root an' yo' chew dat rat- tlesnake marster, but chew have [hold] de spice in yore mouth. An' yo' spit dat when yo' speakin' tuh him. "Fore yo' consult him yo' spit from him an' nevah spit tuh him. Den he cannot turn yo' down even [whether] it's money or job or whut. If he don't place yo den, he will place yo' [later], but don't nevah spit, jes' spit tuh him but [when] chew spit jes' turn away from him, turn yore haid from him an' spit.
Entry 12775
[Letter "s" in this long CHANNEL DE WORLD division begins perhaps with the largest sentence in HOODOO:] They say, if yo' take the Twelve Apos- tle's names like I told joo, an' write 'em on a piece of paper, or each Apostle's name on a sage leaf, an' have the Apos- tle's names on another piece of paper, fold them toward joo all the time, an' keeps 'em in your pocket an' have 'em whensomever yo' go for a job, they say he'll [you will] more than apt to be lucky. [For sage leaves and court see also No.9117-9137, some of which also contain 12 Apostles, v.4.]
Entry 12875
Well, dey got a root dey call de Sampson Giant root.
(Sampson what?)
Sampson Giant root. It's a root, it's impossible almost to break it. Well, it would, could stand a tremendous pressure to break it, but jis' hand it to a person ordinarily, they can't do anything with it. An' they call it the Samp- son Giant root. And they claim that you kin take it and by using it through a perfume, or else using a piece of gum, and you apply for a job, that nine times out of ten, whoever you ask for a job, he will write you up to go to work or give you a proposition to come back at another time. That there's no way to refuse you as long as you got a piece of it, and kin get around him so as to encircle him. Why you got him under your influence during that time.
(You have to go and circle around him?)
Circle and naturally he'll stop. And you tell him your business, that you come to apply for a job. And of course he's more 'an apt to look over and give you somepin to do. That's known as the Sampson Giant root.
Entry 12925
If a man huntin' a job an' he wanted a job, de first thing, he's got- ta make de man feel he's sorry fo' him, an' to do dat, he'd have to carry on him what is known as Shame Brier. But he mustn't git de Shame Brier until [FOR IDENTITY - NAMES - EXAMPLES - SEE v.1, p.646f.] it closes up. Yo' see, de leaves is open, an' deh, dey'll close up. But chew gotta pass de han' ovah dere an' say tuh de Shame Brier tuh "be shamed", or whatevah yo' wanta do, yo' tell de brier dat an' tell de brier tuh be shamed. An' den when it closes up - it will close up itself. Well, yo' git chew nine of dose leaves. Yo' wrap dem up an' den take 'em on tuh where yo' wanta go an' den ask fo' yo' job.
(That will get you the job.)
Entry 13077
Jes' lak if a fellah wanta git a job, ah hear 'em, dey take an' kill a snake an' let him dry, yo' know. An' take him yo' know, jes' lak he git into ashes, yo' know an' put him inside of a bottle. An' take - jes' lak a cigaret smoke an' blow it in dat bottle an' stop it up. An' dey says dat every time yo' open dat bottle, a little sompin will come up out dat bottle lak a snake, yo' know. Say if yo' tote dat in yore pocket an' tote it in yore pocket bottom upwards, yo' know, dat chew could git a job. But ah ain't nevah tried it. Ah had a ole fellah tell me dat once but ah ain't nevah tried it.
Entry 13078
Yo' ask him fo' a job an' he says, "No, ah ain't got a job fo' yo'." Well, yo' go out in de woods an' find yo' a rattlesnake an' take off dose rattles, an' take an' cut one rattle an' bust it open, an' git de dust out from one dose rattlesnake rat- tles [or buttons] yo' know. An' git some gunpowders an' puts 'im in a little sack, an' tie it round yore waist an' go back to him. He'll give you a job, put chew to work.
Entry 13239
You go to a job, you have never been dere an' yo' look, yo' don't know de man when yo' walk in dere. Yo' have a little sugah in your pocket. Let it be brown sugah [if you are a black man]. An' ast 'em, if somebody [standing about], whoevah recommend to you [tell you], who is he [the boss] - de one dis [dat] de boss. An' sprinkle dat sugah [on the ground near the boss], say, De Name of de Father, de Son an' Holy Ghost, I guar'tee you git job.
Entry 13241
Sugar and cinnamon and mix it up well together and put it in your pocket. Jes' like I'd come in here and I'd wanta see you, I'd come in and I'd have my hand in my pocket, and as I'd enter the door, I'd jes get a little in my hand and sprinkle it about. And I ask you for a job. Well, you'd be more than apt to give it to me.
Entry 13313
Git choo some chewin' tobaccah an' jis' break off fo' corners of dat 'baccah an' chew it - dem fo' corners yo' chew it. Then put de otber piece In your pocket, an' go down there wheresomever you Suppose to git a job an' he'll purtty near give yo' one. [Years ago the old plug tobacco Was cut into oblong pieces as purchased. This is an unusual four corner rite, my only example of it.]
Entry 13329
You go out here an' git this trumpet root. That's a root that grows - it don't grow now'ere roun' here. It grows in the middle of a pond. When you git to that trumpet it's like a bugle. It's about that long [4 feet], it stays green winter an' summer. You take that trumpet root an' you pour some water in it [the flower] from a pump. Nuthin mus' be but de pump. An' take that water an' boil it. Yo' see, yo' boil that trumpet root all together. Well, when yo' git that water, yo' bottle it up an' take a drink. An' take that trumpet an' cut it up, an' put it out there an' let it git dry. Either put it in de stove an' let it dry. Well, yo' powder dat up. Yo' take that then an' yo' go to captain: 'Captain, I'm out of a job an' I wan'a job." Put some that [dust] on yo' [and take a drink of trumpet-root tea before you go] an' yo' got a job.
Entry 13348
(If you want to get a job from the boss, you try to get hold of some of his chamber lye and put it in a bottle airtight, and take it home and keep it. And that will make him like you and eventually he will give you a job?) Yes. [A pencil note of mine reads: "Something must have gone before. Something did go before but machine was not turned on. I am repeating as near as possible what informant had said. To bottle the boss's urine is a rare rite indeed!]
Entry 672
Well, now yo' take goofer dust - dat's jest whut chew might call cunjuration, jest lak yo' take a snake shed. Yo' know snake shed. Yo' take dat snake shed an' yo' put it up somewhere where it will dry - git right good an' dry. An' yo' take it an' pound it up - jest pound it up. Well, now yo' kin take dat an sprinkle it ovah anything - anything a person eat or drink. Well, yo' see, dat's puttin' goofer dust in 'em - dat's whut chew call de goofer dust. Jest lak a man go out huntin' a job - walk up where a big work gwine on, "Wanta see de boss." Says, "Well, ah'm de boss heah." All right, yo' walk up to him, "How are yuh, Captain?" Say, "All right." Says, "Captain, ah'm lookin' fo' a job." Well, he might answer, "Well, whut kin yo' do?" "Well, Captain, ah kin do so-an'-so." He might be fulled out. "Well, ah'm kinda fulled out." But yet an' still yo' got some dis goofer dust right on wit chew. See, yo' kin take dis goofer dust an' yo' kinda rub it on yore hand dat-a-way, rub back yore ear, back of yore ears three times. Walk right up to him regardless to how many mens he got. He goin' give yo' a Job - if yo' don't stay dere but three days he goin' give yo' a job, he can't let chew pass.
(You say this goofer dust is just a snake shed ground up.)
Jest a snake shed. [Almost anything is possible but snake-shed dust is most unusual when seeking a job.]
Entry 1761
Git chew a buckeye. Yo' know whut a buckeye is - it grows in a hull like a chestnut, great big one. Git chew one of them an' contin'lly carry it in yore pocket an' yore employer will always - seem like yo' nearer to 'em than any other one.
(Which pocket do you carry it in?)
Carry it in your right pocket. A buckeye - dey hard to git. That keep yo' job.
Entry 1844
Dragon blood an' spread it ovah yore han' - yes sir - an' yo' dress yo'self with it an' go dere an' ast him fo' a job, an' yo' lookin' him right straight in de face - an' ast him fo' a job. Well, he wouldn't dare tuh turn yo' down. [Dragon's blood is used in many combinations.]
Entry 1918
You go back to the graveyard, walk to the third grave and you get some of that graveyard dust. Now, you got'a use it when the moon is full. When the moon is weak, you can't do nuthin' with it. And just get round that job there. He goin' to hold it awhile, maybe not long. Might be in the time of the moon failing when you get it when you going for the job. And you sprinkle that dust down there where the boss goin' to walk. He got'a walk out there to see you where you is. Well, you sprinkle it just where he walks and you goin' to get that job. [See margin-title Three Graves, later.]
Entry 1950
If you out of a job and wants a job bad, you'-11 take you some seed they call Paradise Seed and you keep that seed in your mouth, and when you ask the man for work he sure can't turn you down. Paradise Seed.
Entry 1988
I'll tell you of an experience that I have had. I heard of a lady who Was supposed to be able to issue a change of luck. She gave me a little red bag sewed very tightly. I never opened it to see what was in it. The process in which she went about making this bag was this. She had me to place my hand on a piece of paper and drew a print [an outline] of my hand. She wrote my name on one end and the man's name, from which I was pursuing a job, at the other end. And she was supposed to dress it in some way and put it in this bag with some other things. And my luck was supposed to have changed. However, I didn't see any change because I didn't carry this as a guard. [I never found an example of what would have been the most wonderful hand of all; an inkprint of a person's complete hand. Perhaps my imagination is too impractical, for such a hand would have been too much like taking fingerprints.]
Entry 2006
Yo' take de same - de High John de Conker root an' de five-finger grass an' den it's whut chew call a holy oil. Den yo' use dat holy oil, as yo' walkin' an' git up to de do', why yo' rubs a little dat oil on yore hands an' back of yore ears an' all like dat. An' ask de employer or somepin about gittin' a job.
Entry 2149
Lak if he say, "Ah'll hire yo' maybe two-three days." An' when he git chew in dere, yo' find out whut his name is an' then when he tell yo' his name, yo' say lak dis to yoreself. Yo' don't have to let him know an' neither his wife. De way yo' do, yo' turn, look east. Course ah gits five dollars fo' dis. Ah don't tell ev'rybody dis one. All right, we look east lak dis an' jest say, "De Lord is mah shepherd."
[Hard to hear - she turns from microphone. After a while I hear myself say:]
(Will you say that toward me. I didn't hear some of the words. I don't hear Very well.) [See Introduction for my hearing.] All rightee, all rightee. Yo' look east, yes, an' yo' say, "De Lord is mah shepherd, de Lord is mah shepherd, de Lord is mah shepherd." [Three times.] An' then yo' say, "My Lord, my Lord, hast thou forsaken me? My Lord, my Lord, has thou forsaken me? My Lord, my Lord, has thou forsaken me? Three times. An' then yo' say, call his [boss's] name, and say, "Lord, have mercy upon Sech-an'-sech-a-one. Peace be still, he know not what he's doin'. Lord, have mercy upon Sech-an'-sech-a-one. Peace be still, he know not what he's doin'. Lord, have mercy upon Sech-an'- sech-a-one, he knows not what he's doing." [Three times.] An' he will begin to keep you on dat job.
(He will keep vou on the job?)
Yes sir, yo'll stay dere.
Entry 2168
I've heard it said, if you want de boss man to hold you on a job, dat always go to 'im in a humble way; an' if you went to 'im in a humble Way, he might turn you off, but if you jis' keep a-goin' fer nine days, an' after nine days he'll take you on. [Nine days is a frequent time formula.]
Entry 2205
Take three navy beans - ah mean pinto beans, dese gray beans, pinto beans, an' repeat de Lord's prayer ovah 'em three times an' put dem in yore han', yo' know, an' shake em lak dat an' call, "De Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost." Yo' use 'em in yore pocket fo' luck - fo' good luck, fo' gittin' a job or gittin' money. Yo' know, jes' money will come to yo' promptly - not goin' to excess, yo' know. [Pinto = mottled. This mottled bean, grown in southwestern U. S. A., resembles a kidney bean in size and shape, both belonging to species Phaseolus vulgaris.]
Entry 2331
[Here are the magic three days of the magic seven-day week; the times, not the days of the week being important.] Yo' heah talk of dis John de Conker. Yo' take dat John de Conker and some camphor an' put it in a little vial, and yo' put dat in yore pocket an' yo' shake it up - mix it well wit dat camphor an' put it in yore pocket. Yo' take a little piece an' chew it an' yo' go tuh him. If de third time, if he don't give yo' a job de third time, den don't go back dere no mo' dat week. Wait till de same day yo went dis week an' yo take dem othah three days an' de next week an' go back dere de next week. Den he supposed tuh give yo' a job.
Entry 2649
Git chew some dragon's blood, frankincense, violet incense [three ingredients] an' beat all of that up together an' git chew - put it in a pan an' set it afiah. Take this much - a good bunch, an' light it an' set there. Set down an' smoke yo'self good [demonstrates].
(All over your hands and your face.)
Sho'[sure], yo'self.
(Rub your arms.)
Jis' let it smoke yo' good. An' while it burnin' yo' know, make yore wish - when yo' goin' tuh dis place - whatevah yo' goin' tuh do. Not only tuh git a job or anything, but yo' Jis' wanta change dere mind, yo' burn dat an' make yore wish, an' don't stop until yo' git where yore goin' an' ask fo' whut chew want. Dat'll change dere mind an' yo'll git it.
Entry 2999
Well, St. Espedee, I knows about him. Now he's a good sent [saint]. He delivers zhoo, too. Jis' like if you wants a job - or somepin like that - he'll open a way fer you, if you believes in 'im, an' if you don't, well it's jis' like anything else.
Entry 3022
(What do they say about Mother of Perpetual Help? What is she supposed to be good for?) She gives yo' help tuh help yo' git a job. She gives yo' help tuh keep peace in yore home. She good tuh heal yo' when yore sick.
(What sort of candle do you burn to her for these things?)
Yo' burn a pink candle to the Mother of Perpetual Help.
Entry 3024
(A green candle is money? How do you do that?)
You see, you burn it at the same hours, six o'clock in the evening, especially in the morning [six] for success, and you burn it to Mother of Petry [Perpetual] Help. That's for luck. She helps you for work. [Thinking she had finished, I stop my machine and miss the first few of her continuing words.] [You buy pictures of the] saints and you have them blessed by the priest, and you have you a little altar in the house. You have any saint you have a prefer- ence to, you see. And if you have children, you git diff'rent saints for chil- dren. And if you want work, the Mother of Petry Help, she helps you - she opens the way. The Sacred Heart of Jesus, that's for children, and you got one burnin' in de home. And St. Peter he opens the way for you - he has the key and he opens the way for you.
Entry 5086
Tuh put on yore sock wrong side outward would help yuh tuh git a job. Ah reckon if yuh'd put on yore underclothes right side out would help yuh tuh git a job. [Wilmington, N. Car., (312), 241:2.] [This is the fifth subsection of SWEAT, one of the functions of the physical human body. As previously explained, clothing such as shoes is placed here only because of the magic and power of human perspiration.]
Entry 10833
Whensomevah yo' want a job, yo' kin take one of dese heah buckeyes. Yo' know it's sompin dey call buckeyes dat grow in de woods, some kinda thing dey call de buckeye. An' yo kin take some of dat, cake bit an' put it in yore pocket. Bole [hold] it in yore hand an' squeeze it in yore hand when yo' go look fo' a job, any kinda favor. Dey'll nevah deny yo'. While yo' talkin', hol' dat buck- eye in yore hand; yo' know, squeeze it tight an' talk to dem, an' dey won' deny yo' fo' yo' job, whatsomevah yo' go dere fo'.
Entry 11645
I've heard dat you go to your bossman an' ask him fer a job, an' if he don't seem like he wants to hire you right away, why you go to work an' git you some of this five-fingah weed [grass]. You put a piece of that in your Pockit, go to him the next day. See don't he hire yuh.
Entry 12163
(All right. Now, what about that holy oil?)
If you got a holy oil, you keep yourself anointed with that. That will keep you lucky and successful with a job, or business, or anything.
Entry 12998
Yo' go to him [boss] an' yo' have a silver dime in yore han', like you jes' goin' to borrow some money from him - cause see, dat's fer luck. An' he'll give yo' dat money, an' yo' won't have to pay it back unless yo' wanta. An' he'll give you a job an' he will tell yo' to go to work. An' dey all fer yo' if yo' kin always keep dat silver dime in yore han' like dat while yo' talkin' to him.
Entry 1856
I have tried dis when ah first came to St. Petersburg - go an' look me round, couldn't git me a job nowhere. One fellah tells me, says, "Now yo' go an' take yo' a dime, '' he say, "an' buy yo' a crocus fish [fresh-water drumfish]." After yo' git dat fish, yo' cut de head off dat fish an' yo' kin do whut yo wish. Yo' kin eat de fish or yo' kin throw it away. But be shure yo' git de head of dat fish an' cut it open an' git dem two rocks outa dere an' put it in a sack an' wear it in yore pocket. Dere can't nobody turn yo' down fo' a job.
Entry 1942
They kin take this graveyard dirt, they kin take this camphah gum, with sulphah [three ingredients], an' they wear it in their pocket. Maybe they jis' dampen with whiskey an' stuff. An' jis' befo' you git to the white man you gon'a ax fer the job at, you take this stuff an' you rub all in your hand an' rub it ovah your face three times, an' you kin walk up to the man an' ax fer a job. He might deny you the first time he might, but the second time he can't deny you.
Entry 2053
Now, many people have used this partic'lar thing. If they have a job and - say they like it, like this job. They get 'em a piece of John de Conker root, piece of ladyfinger root, and a small piece of lode- stone. [Three ingredients.] It's not very good to use lodestone if you don't know how to use it. You use a very small piece about de size, I'd say, of a large-sized butter bean I think. You put these together with a few drops of oil of cinnamon - say about three drops. And you make of them - they call it a toby. You've heard of people saying they tote a tobu. Well. that's what they are talking about. And you carry that in your pocket - if it's a man he carries it in his pants pocket; if it's a woman she carries it somewhere on her person, where you kin always keep it. Well, every morning fo' nine mornings, drop a drop of oil of cinnamon and jest a little perfume - you see, the perfume on it jes' to rid the odor of the cinnamon. People gen'rally think when you got cinnamon, you got a toothache - it's used for somethin' like that. Well, you put that perfume on there...jes' you're using this on the job. You know people have to use this on the job to impress people. [Ladyfinger may be a variety of red pepper.]
Entry 2059
To make yo' keep a job after yo've got it. Dey tell me yo' kin git chew some - somepin dey call lodestone. Yo' orders it from a book. Yo' kin git dat an' git some sulphur an' bluestone an' mix dat all up together fine, an' take yo' a new piece of cloth an' sew it up in dere good an' wear it round yore waist or anywhere on yo. Keep it damp wit Heart Cologne. Say dat keep de police out
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 2186
Git a red onion. You know how a red onion is. Git a red onion and cut it four ways. You cut it like that and then cut it like that [demonstrates].
(The onion is quartered.) [See correction later.]
And then put salt each way.
(Salt in the four ways you cut it.)
Salt in the four ways you cut it.
(You cut it all the way through?)
No, don't all the way through; jis' split [girdle] it so the salt kin git in it. Then take you a string and wrap it right around it [putting the string in the girdled cuts or grooves]; then put it in yer pocket, either pocket choo want to. But befo' you do that, you git up in the mornin' and put cher underwear on wrong side outwards, put yer socks on wrong side outward - put all yer under- clothes on wrong side outward. Then take that onion and fill it [the cuts] full of salt and put it in yer pocket. Have you ever heard people say, "How come you do so-and-so-and-so?" [The questioned person answers] "I knows mah onions." Have you ever heard that said?)
(Yes.)
Well, that's what it is. Then you put some salt in your shoes, git choo some ole Hearts Cologne, then git choo ole John de Conker an' jis' put it on; put some Hearts Cologne on that ole John de Conker, and take that ole Hearts Cologne and put it all over yah. Any man'll give you a job.
Entry 2187
Git choo a red onion and put choo nine pins in there - nine needles, either one, jis' as it somepin with a sharp point. Take it and wear it in yer pocket. Make you a wush, jis' like you wush fer somepin - I'll go here and wush dis man would give me job this mornin'. Well, of course he might not give it to you right off, but choo stan' aroun' a little while and dey say you'll git it. [Red onion - like red flannel ball or bag for hands - symbolizes the human heart.]
Entry 2190
If yo' wanta git a job, yo' git chew a red onion an' yo' take dat red onion an' yo' pack dat red onion wit sulphur, "In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost." Den yo' take yo' some good perfume an' yo' po' it down in dat hole, "In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost." an' stick nine straight pins in it, an' yo' go to apply fo' a job an' it's hard fo' 'em tuh turn yo' down. [See stickpin in preceding rite and single pin in following rite.]
Entry 2201
Ah tell you what you do if you wanna git a job. Co'se I've got it with me right now about a job line. Co'se I'm using de stuff [perfume] on it. I've got it broke ev'ry day from me not using it. But jes' like if you wanted to find out or Want a job, you jes' git you some of dis - you kin order de thing you calls de Eagle Brand perfume - or either Black- snake Brand perfume - or either Adam-and-Eve Brand - or either what chew call de High John Brand. Dat's jes' de Brand - de name of it, you understand. Diff'rent names and diff'rent also de stuff - only de same [brand of] perfume. Well, you jes' take some of dis - git chew de Adam-and-Eve root, according to you' perfume, see. You headin' off with it according to the perfume that you got there - Adam-and-Eve perfume, and you jes' git chew one Adam-and-Eve root, see. Git chew a High John [root] and put it dere wit a piece of Eagle Brand [High John perfume], or either a piece of devil's-shoestring. Put them [roots] in there, four or five [different kinds] of 'em - don't make no differ[ence]. Co'se you must have three [pieces of the root]. [Informant says you must use three pieces of the same root and feed them with a perfume of the same name. "Four or five" of these roots and perfumes corre- spond.]
Entry 2250
Ah've done dat mahself. Ah have took an' - take yo' a red peppah [a small pod, not ground red pepper] an' Hearts Cologne an' gin an' put it in a tobacco sack bag. An' aftah yo' put dat in dere, you wear it. Den put one ten cen' [cents] in dere an' yo' wear dat. Don't nevah git rid of it an' [or] yore luck would fall fo' yah. Yo do dat fer luck to git jobs.
Entry 2333
In de mornin's wash yore face." If yo' workin' on a job, ev'ry mawnin' when yo' wash yore face, yo' wash yore face with three watahs to sundown. Name de watah through de help of de Lord. Ask de Lord to take charge of de water. All right, an' yo' go to de bossman dis mornin' through de he'p of de Lord an' ask him fo' a job. An' if yo' git de job, accordin' to whut kind of a job it is, an' if he evah sends yo' fo' watah or anything fo' him, wet de dog fingah and cross de watah, an' carry it to him fo' nine times. An' he'll content yo' tuh stay dere wit de job. Anything data- way dat he's gotta use on de inside, wet de dog fingah an' make it nine time - mark across it.
(Anything he eats or anything of that sort.) [Dog finger = index finger.]
Entry 3049
St. Raymond's can'le is sometime is for money.
(St. Raymond or St. Ramos?)
St. Raymond, yes sir. St. Raymond. You kin go to the Cath'lic Church an' make a novena to St. Raymond to open the way for a job or somepin like that. An' then you kin go to St. Raymond an' put somebody in bad luck dat's a enemy to you. St. Raymond or St. Michael, you kin use. You set lights an' burn on em.
(That's in the church?)
In church - in the church.
(To give them bad luck?)
To give 'em - to put 'em in tough luck.
(Suppose I went there. How would I give a person bad luck?)
You goes an' git a can'le that's got red - you know whut can'le you gon'a burn, jis' like red, sometime blue, sometime white; or, if, like you know whut choo gon'a do. If you go in there for good, you gon'a take a white can'le; but if you burn that for bad, you gon'a take black or red, or some other can'les - if you go in there to give a person bad luck. You understand.
(You light those right in the church?)
Yes sir. [Church to informant is not the Roman Catholic Church but the Public Shrine (p.770), whose custodian is sometimes called Mother.]
Entry 11106
Says if yo' go and git a piece of fo'-leaf clover and chew it and spit right down near de boss and talk to him and ask him fer a job and look hin straight in de eye, you would be successful in getting a job. [To look the boss straight in de eye is frequently a part of seeking-jobs rites.]
Entry 12298
(What do they do with that cat hair?)
They take that cat hair and they put it with a piece of woman's shimmy or petticoat or anything of that kind. Put it into a lemon, throwing it into the Mississippi River, after putting War water in there. They'll keep that woman all upset. If she's gotten a job anywhere, she'll walk away from her job. She'll quit working. Her husband can't do anything to sat- isfy her. Everything that they do it just look like it wrong to her. See. It practically looks like it takes her mind from her. See. She don't have no presence of mind. See. By using it, she have...get a...
(She what?)
Get a animal amibition-like. See.
Entry 318
Yo' kin take a black cat - ketch a black cat an' kill dis black cat an' git her right foot bone, de front foot. Git this bone an' put dis bone in a sack an' wear it roun' yore neck. Yo'll be lucky in jobs, lucky in anything yo' go fer. Jes' wear dat black cat foot bone - de right foot bone, de front bone.
Entry 730
It's a root chew call John de Conker root. An' it's a root chew call de Seven Sisters - yo' kin go git dat too, an' yo' put both dem things together an', as yo' go up an' ask de man, yo' be rubbin' 'em.
(That's when you go to ask him for a job?)
Yessuh. [Seven Sisters root I found rare; probably a freak seven-pronged root.]
Entry 740
Ah tell yo' whut ah done about dat. Ah done dis heah in '37. It wus a man in Northcross[?]. Ah went to him - someone tole me yo' know. Well, ah wus wanting a job. Ah heard dat he could do anything he wanta do - jes' lak ah wanta go up to yo' an' say, '"Captain, len' me fifty dollahs." Dis man say dat he could do dat, yo' understand. Well, ah went on ovah dere. When ah got to dis man, ah went down to de - wusn't make much, jes' makin' 'bout three or fo' dollahs. Ah paid him a dollah or two dollahs till ah git him paid, yo' see. He say, "Now, yo' give me seven dollahs an' yo' kin do anythin' in de world yo' want.' Ah went ahead on tuh work an' got dis money an' give it to dis fellah. Ah give him seven dollah an' a quarter - he wanted seven dollah and a half, but ah give him dis seven dollahs. He give me a han'ful of devil's-shoestring - whut people call devil's-shoestring an' tie it up. He tole me, he says, "When yo' git ready to do anything yo' wanta do, or borrow some money from somebody, or ask someone fo' a job," he said, "yo' take an' take a piece of devil's-shoestring an' put it underneath yore mouth an' chew it, an' take it an' spit it in each han'. Rub it in yore han', take an' spread it all ovah yoreself." An' he says, now, yo' could do anything yo' wanted tuh do. Well, ah went ahead an' tried it - went to de man dat ah wus workin' wit an' ast him. De man say, "Well, ah can't do dat." Well, he tole me, say, "Now, yo' wants tuh buy a new automobile an' ain't got de money." Say, "Yo' don't need but five dollars." He say, "Yo' go to a man an' tell him yo' got five dollahs to put on a car an' walk off fo' steps from dis man an' spit, lak to warn dis man. See, let de spit go right down on de groun' tuh Warn dis man, an' ah'll guarantee yo' he'll come at yore command an' let chew have dis car by payin' five dollahs, an' say yo' kin git de car." Well, ah went ahead an' tried all dat, but de fellah wouldn't sell de car, an' all de stuff ah tried, it nevah did come tuh pass.
Entry 746
It's a certain part of root you kin git in de woods and dey call it Alivin' Amongst de Dead. I know 'em.
(The root is called?)
Livin' Amongst de Dead. See. And dey takes two - only two grows up in one bunch, and you took dose two - it's a woman and a man and you keep dat and dat'll go to work and carry you through. Alivin' Amongst de Dead. Dat's right. (This Living Among the Dead - that root, have they any other name for that root or is that the only name they have for it?) Yes, dat's de only name. (The only name they have. I see. And if you keep that around you, then no one can hurt you?) No sir.
(What does it look like?)
You see, dere two grows up togethah, and dey bend togethah jes' like dat.
(Stick right together?)
Yes, and de bush grows up about dat tall and turns out like dat.
(Each bunch turns over towards.the ground?)
Yes, sir, dat's right.
(You put The Living Among the Dead - you carry it in your pocket.)
Yes. (When you are hunting a job - when you get there, you put it in front of you and they can't turn you down?) Yes.
Entry 748
I was in a place once in Beaumont, Texas. I was working on a job. A lady sent word by another fellow to me that she could help me out on the job. Well, when he told me that, I told him, say, "Ah don't believes in that." I say, "There ain't nothin' like dat I say ain't but one thing to help you," I say, "and dat's Jesus Christ." He say, "Oh, yes it did, boy, '' he say, "she give me so-and- so and I was so-and-so-and-so." Well, I told him - I decided then I would go. I went to her and she gives me a lodestone, gives me John the Conquer root, some kind of sweet smelling oil and powder wrapped up into a ball [this is a hand]. And I went back to the job and the man told me he didn't want me no more. That's what happened about that.
Entry 1731
Tuh git a job. Well, now yo' git chew some lodestone an' yo' set down an' yo' git chew a screenin' wire - lak dat screen up dere. (The screen in the window.) [Hotel window.] Co'se it take yo' a long time tuh do it but yo' set down an' yo'rub it an' rub until dat lodestone come tuh dust an' yo git chew some cologne - yo' know dis heah Jockey Club. Yo' take it an' put it in a bottle lak ah got heah now. See, dat lodestone. [He shows a small bottle.]
(What is the liquid you have in there?)
That's that Jockey Club Perfume. And den yo' could put yo' - if yo' wanta, yo' kill you a black cat an' git his bone an' grind dat up jis' lak yo' do de lodestone. Put it in dere an' den yo' kin go to a man, talkin' to him, an' he'll git ovah tuh yo' - give yo' a job.
(You have that black cat dust in this bottle? Both of them together?)
Yessuh.
(Any bone from the cat?)
Any bone? Yo' see yo' gotta git a bone from roun' his shoulder - up heah, de left shoulder, from in front. Grind it to a powder an' take dis heah bone an' rub it on dis heah screenin' wire until it comes [to a powder]. It goin' take yo' a long time tuh do it. But hit'll do it. Ah use dis fo' luck in gamblin an' luck an' successful in meetin' mah fren's an' everythin'. Ah make fren's, ah don't make no enemies. [If this man had black cat powder in his hand, it was surely a talcum or similar powder with a label showing a black cat and reading Black Cat Powder (see No.1377, p.459).]
Entry 1735
Ah heard dat chew kin use some Black Diamond Perfume which yo' orders from de company - git dat Black Diamond Perfume an' spread it on yo', see. An' yo' walk up an' 'proach de man an' he'll git a whiff of it, an dey say dat will make him come undah yore command an' give yo' a job, if dere a openin' anywhere fo' yo'. Dat Black Diamond Perfume.
Entry 1753
Go an' git a brass ring. Ah kin go an' git a brass ring an' wear that ring on yore [my] finger - what they call the ring finger on your right hand. (On which finger of the right hand?) The ring finger - the second finger - next to the little finger. The brass ring there. An' that will help yo' git a job.
Entry 1838
Yo' kin use a dishrag fo' dis purpose. If anybody visitin' yo' an' yo' Wants tuh give 'em luck, when dey be steppin' out chure house, why yo' jes' throw dat dishrag at 'em. Dat gives 'em luck. Lak if a fellah is goin' off lookin' fo' a job, his wife will throw a dishrag aftah him.
Entry 1857
A man learnt me, a hoodoo man, to take a crocus fish - it's a little fish called crocus fish, an' yo' take dat head off, an' yo' take a knife an' split dat head open an' dere's two rocks in dere. Well, yo' git dem two rocks out an' yo' put dem two rocks in a little bag an' yo' sew dat bag up. Well, when yo' sew dat bag up den, yo' give it to de party an' den he goes to de man an reports for a job, an' yo' can't hardly be turned down. An' ah have seen dat an' he have done me dataway de reason ah know. An' dat's de way he said and dat was de end of dat.
Entry 1943
Well, there's diff'rent things. They said that they take that grave- yard dirt and mix it with - just like if they working on a job and they wan'a get 'em away [from] there. Well they get the graveyard dirt, but they get it off a sinner's grave. And they take this graveyard dirt and you mix with pepper and salt, and get to where this person that you wan'a get off the job, and sprinkle on 'em and they won't be able to stay on that job.
Entry 1951
Get you some guinea seed - that's a little small seed just about as big, a little bit bigger than mustard seed, see. Get you nine of those little guinea seeds, see. You puts a small quantity of 'em in your shoe. You take nine of 'em and you put 'em in your mouth. See, hold 'em in your mouth. Every once in awhile when you round talkin' to 'em (ssphut - ssphut) [comment by transcriber because informant can be heard spitting]. Spit like that.
(I see.)
And I guarantee you he'll give you a job right away.
Entry 1989
[The shape of a human hand has been stamped from metal and used as a hand (FACI,2ed., No. 15897, p.799); in the following we have the shape of a hand cut from paper.] If I need a job - if I want to come to you to get something to give me a job, to get something, you go to the drug store and you call fer dat. They don't sell dese often. We kin go dere and git it but chew can't. You kin git it but it ain't goin work yo' business. You call fer de little hands - ten cent fer five. Wal, any firm that need anyone - anybody that you know of, you send to the drug store and git chew 50c - spend 50c and git you 50c worth of hands, little hands.
(What do they look like?)
Jis' shape of a hand - are on paper - goin' to give you hands, somepin like a - it's in the shape of a hand. And you give the fellah one of those hands when you [he] coming fer a job [when he is coming to you for something to help him get a job.] [Informant considers his handing the paper hand to the client a sufficient dressing of the hand, or he did not know how the hand should be dressed, or he was unwilling to dress the hand for me. One of the most frequent dressings for a job hand is names - see margin-title Name, later.]
Entry 2009
Take dat 'nure [manure] an' put lodestone with it an' people sell dat fo' lucky han's. Dey gits hoss manure an' cow manure an' mix all dat together an' lodestone an' salt an' that makes him be lucky. An' 'noint it down wit whiskey. See, dat'll make yo' have a lucky han'. An' yo' kin carry dat an' rub it - jis' lak yo' want a job or somepin, yo' carry it an' rub dat an' yo' mo' den apt to git chew a job.
carrying the described lucky hand while seeking work. Keep mo’ den apt as a qualified claim, not actual employment or a guarantee. combining horse/cow manure, lodestone and salt before whiskey anointing. Do not turn whiskey anointing into an unspecified extra ingredient proportion or combine neighboring recipes. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2021
Heard tell of 'em goin' tuh - well, dey don't be roun' heah, but dey takes de rock out of a jay bird's nest. Ah've heard tell of people takin' an goin' tuh de mountains an' gittin' a rock out a jay bird's nest an' bringin' it back heah, an' if dey want a job or wanta work any way, or don' wanta do nuthin, dey kin take dat rock an' keep it. It's a lil white rock look jes' lak a aig.
(Well, how do they get that rock?)
Dey go tuh dis bird's nest an' git it. De bird nest be's on de ground, see, in de rocks, kinda in a rock-lak. Well, de nest, it be's covered up an' dey take an' uncover dis nest an' git dis rock out of it an' put it in dere pocket an' bring it on back. [Cf. No. 1155, p.423.]
Entry 2061
Have yo' a little piece of live lodestone an' we call it blue oil in a little bottle about like dat. Take dat blue oil an' po' it by itself in a little bottle an' put dis lodestone in a bottle by itself. Well now, when yo' start out to seek a job, take out a little piece of dat lodestone from dat oil an' po' some of dat blue oil on it an' rub it good, dry it off, take dat wit chew in yore pocket. Well now, wherevah yo' go yo' may not be successful de first time, but dey say in de second-third trip yo' get a job by yo' comin' back an' taking dis lodestone from dis, everything, cleanin' it off good an' droppin' it back in dat bottle to itself. Ah've seen men order such things.
Entry 2070
Yassuh, ah experienced dat. De way yo' do, yo' git chew a piece of John de Conker root and a piece of de devil's-shoestring and a piece of lode- stone. Dere two kind of lodestone, de male lodestone and de female lodestone. Git chew two pieces of dat lodestone.
(The male or the female?)
A piece of each, yassuh, an' put 'em in yore pocket. Put 'em.in yore pocket or pocketbook, anything - in yo' shirt pocket, coat pocket, anything jes' since yo' got 'em about chure person. An' dat John de Conker root, yo' jes' chew dat root and jes' ack likes it's 'bacco and be jes' chewing - chewing it an' talkin'. If it's any kinda job, yo'll git it.
Entry 2077
I was stealing a ride on a train and as we went into the yards the railroad detective made me get down out of the train [boxcar] and they put me in jail. That was in Florida. The penalty from riding on a train is ten days. The charge was trespassing on private property, so they put me in jail in a part known as the bull pen where there were about twenty-two fellows. The fellow that slept in the bunk above me had a little disk-like of metal in his pocket. When we went to bed that night it fell from the top bunk of my bunk. I picked it up and looked at it, I lighted a cigarette, but I couldn't make it out. Next morning when I looked at it good I saw that it was something in the shape of a luck piece and I put it in my pocket and it has been with me ever since. It's hard for me to lose it. Not because I think it does any particular good. It fust stays with me. I have lost it sever- al times and each time I get it back again. I don't look for it however, it just seems to come back to me. I lost it one night and I couldn't find it anywhere. So I went home thinking I had lost it. When I went to pull my pants off I found it in the cuff of my pants. I don't know what became of the boy that dropped it. I only stayed there ten days. After I left there I came straight here [to the Atlantic Hotel, Ocean City, Maryland]. I was some weeks getting up here. The same night I entered this town I got my present job. You know what a hobo looks like, ragged and dirty. After I got here to his hotel, I had nothing like money or the shape of money, only this luck piece I found in jail. And my boss went and got me some clothes after giving me a job. Any time I want to go out at night, if I knew I was going out at night for a good time, I somewhat depend upon this luck piece. I put it in my left-hand pocket and go on and think no more about it. [I ask informant to lay luck piece on the table so that I could describe it. Since I was then using an Ediphone, not Telediphone, I had to speak into the Speaking-tube, adding the note about superstition after informant had departed:] (This luck piece is about the size of an English penny or an American dollar and being stamped out of copper [brass] with a dye classifies it as an article sold by mail-order firms catering to the superstitious. On each side of the medal, in the center and occupying.one half of the space, is a large open hand raised above the surface. The inscription on one side says HELP, HAPPINESS, PEACE, SUcCESS around the edge of the disk. In the center of the hand it says THE LUCKY HAND. Below the hand it says AND LUCK and below that IS MINE BY RIGHT. On the other side of the medal at the top I SHALL BE GUIDED BY THE HAND OF and below that THE SPIRIT. Below that LOVE IS MINE. Below that PEACE HAPPINESS PLENTY.)
Entry 2131
[I must emphasize Silver here, because the silver coins of the United States of America in the 1930's and 40's contained silver and were in hoodoo and witchcraft magic objects - see Silver in Diagnosis, Pp.204-208; in Cure and Protection, Pp.484-493. Not every bag hand held a dime or silver piece but many of them did.] Staht [start] dat right from a dime. Yo' use a dime. Yo' kin do dat from a dime to a dollah. Yo' go tuh work an' yo' git chew a halfa pint of de very best gin Ziquor dat chew kin git holt of. Take a sewin' thimble an' yo' po' a sewin' thimble fulla Hearts Cologne into dat halfa pint of gin Ziquor an' dat 'mount of money, if it's a dime, from a dime on up to a dollah, lak yo' let it soak dere ovah night into dat half pint of gin liquor. An' yo' put dat into yore right pocket an' yo' go befo' de boss de next mawnin'. De re'lly fac' about it, suh, yo' may have tuh make 'bout three trips. Yo' may make three trips befo' he make any oath - befo' he give yo' de job.
Entry 2183
You take a red onion an' rub it on yer haid, an' take a little piece of it an' chew it - a little piece of it. It's a little root tha' choo git out of the woods, it's got a green leaf with black spots on it - they call it Adam an' Eve. It's supposed to be a lucky root. An' it's another one called the High John the Conker. You kin take that an' put it in a bottle an' put some Hearts Cologne on it an' it will drink it up in two or three days. An' you keep, you know, puttin' it on there. An' jes' like whomsoevah you wan' to git a job of, you jes' wear that - you know, jes' sprinkle it on yerself an' jes' let 'im git a whiff of it.
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 2252
[I have described an old man in New Orleans whose cure-all root bottle was his complete theory and practice of medicine - see No. 847, p.293.] Then agin they says - in fact they has a little ball into a bottle. Ah went to him once. Ah didn't go to him 'cause ah believe in him but ah went jes' tuh please de othahs. Ah went to him down dere an' supposed to be a real cunjure. He had a little stuff put in a bottle, bottle of herbs, but de way he had yo' go through de process, hold it in yore han' lak dat [demonstrates] an' anything yo' desires, he say it comes. Yo' hold it in yore han' lak dat an' carry yore han' ovah yore haid three times an' de third time, yo' says, "In de Name of de Father, Name of de Son an' Name of de Holy Ghost." Then yo' put chure han's 'cross yore breast that way an' put chure han's around to each side an' put 'em behin' yo'. Well, we 'sposed tuh do that ev'ry mawnin'. Now dat's an instance. Now, say fo' instance, ah want a jomo, dat's whut ah would do.
(You just make that wish?) [The bottle is a wishing jomo.]
Ah jes' make dat wish. If ah want a job, de same thing.
Entry 2323
You want a job and you know the boss name. All you gotta get the boss name, just like it was John Henry Lewis. You goes to him for a job and you takes his name and you write it down on a parchment or anything and you wear it in the bottom of your foot - I mean shoe, and keep him under your foot, you see. And go to him and you get you some of these Paradise seeds and chew 'em, see. And when you go to him, you spit three ways - front, side and back, you see. And if he can't give you a job this morning, he'll tell you to come back tomorrow morning, and in nine days you'll have a job. But you gotta have his name on that parchment and put it and wear it in your shoe under the bottom of your foot.
Entry 2350
Well, I tried a little thing like that on myself that people advised me to do. I went to work an' got me some Adam-an'-Eve an' got me a root they call twin brothers, an' got me some Hearts Cologne an' put on them. An' when I went to ast fer the job I take it an' rub it on my hands an' rub it on my face. Then I walked up to him an' ast him for the job. An' he's supposed not to deny yah.
Entry 2357
What yo' should do to git de job. Yo' git up in de morning 'fore yo' say anything to anybody, take de night stuff and bath yore face in yore water bath yore face in yore water.
(Your night water?)
Yore water what chew urinate. Yo' take it and yo' bath yore face in it fer three mornings and de third morning you'll git de job, see.
Entry 2371
Drop nine drops of vinegar inside a bottle of white Heart Cologne an' yo' make a wish dat chew want a job an' yo' want to be lucky with a job, an' yo' take that Heart Cologne an' bury it at chure do'steps an' let it stay down dere fo' nine days. An' after nine days, yo' take dat Heart Cologne up an' jes' lak yo' - de time dat yo' wanta git dat job, yo' po' it every direction on yore clothes, yo' know, all in front of yo', an' po' a little bit in yore shoes, an' dey say dat known tuh make a person git a job. Say de man give it to yo' without any huntin' fo' it, but yo' must let it stay buried fo' nine days after yo' make a wish.
Entry 2650
There's a root they call High John de Conker root. You take this and you puts it in your mouth. And they got what you call flaxseeds. You put nine of them in your mouth before you walks up to him, and you spit nine times, and you have this root in your lips - this way - just talking to him. Then, before leaving your home you get up before sunrise. Get frankincense, morris [myrrh] and flaxseed [three ingredients], and you makes a smoke with that and you stand over that, and you smoke yourself over good before the sun rise. And then you go over and out on the job there, and you have this root in your mouth and you going to talk to this foreman.
Entry 2747
They goes to a woman across the creek over there right in front of the Catholic cemetery and they got five gray candles. (Is she a young woman or an elderly woman?) This is a woman around forty, jes' a little older woman than me. So they goes to this woman and git five gray candles, as I was told - of my next experi- ence of that kind of work. An' they'd taken those five candles and they wrote my name and they put my name under each one of those five candles. They burn one on Monday for me. De one that was burned on Monday for me that I would be disappointed at de first day of the week. They burned that one all day Monday. That's when ah went out to work that ah'd be confused - nuthin would go right with me, that ah'd lose out, ah'd lose mah job, couldn't keep any jobs. The second one that would be burned on me would be burned on Tuesday. That candle was burned fo' me. That was always mah lucky day when ah wanted to put ovah any business or to go to anyone for any favor. Ah would always make Tuesday mah business day to go fo' money or to transact any business. That Was to defeat me from having any business - to making any progress in any business. The one that they would burn on Wednesday, which would be the third candle - that usually was my general work day, that ah did mah washing and mah ironing. That was to take mah energy away from me that ah couldn't work on Wednesday. Ah would jest pass that day away as a no-good day. Thursday was always a time that ah usually would go to clubs and do different things like that. The candle that they burned on me fo' Thursday would be the candle that ah wouldn't have any vim to do anything in social work, as I have been doing. The one that they burned on me Friday, the whole week that has been wasted, that ah wouldn't have any money coming in to meet my demands for Saturday. And those candles was called hard-time candles, as ah was told. But ah kin tell yo' from self experience ah certainly was hard-timed. Ah've had some of the very best jobs, which at de Country Club, for the Penn Mutual Life Insurance man, at Ryker[son?] School, and would walk away from them without any reason, an' have came to the place that I has nuthin besides three dollars worth of work to support mahself and four children. So ah jes' atchly been hard-timed.
(When did they do this? How long ago did they burn these candles?)
Oh, it's been about - all of this trouble that I have had, that I can atchly relate to you, I have come in contact with it all in the past two years - from one degree on to another.
Entry 2757
[The following statements come from the interview with the girl men- tioned in the Introduction because of her youthful age for this kind of work. She - though familiar with usual hoodoo devices - is more interested in her own brand of spiritualism cen- tering around a special power rite. Two candles, one behind the other, are used - the forward blue candle named Uncle, the backward white candle named Master. Uncle or Unkas, a well-know spirit, we shall meet again (see, THE UNKAS MAN, in Interviews section). She does not say so, but any object upon which her candles rest - table, mantelpiece, bureau, box - must be called an altar. She operates a private shrine.] Well, yo' see, it's lak dis. Yo' take two candles an' yo' burn 'em. As yo' burn dese two candles, yo' tell 'em, say, "Well, Jesus, ah want chew tuh back me up. Ah want chew tuh back me up as ah go in back of mah spirit." An' as yo go, the man will tell yo', "Well, yo' come fo' a job. Well, ah kin give you a job." See, it be dat light is helpin' yo where yo' set dat light an' it burn itself. An as [before] yo' go dere yo' take an' git chew some bay rum an' yo' rub in yore han's. As yo' git dis bay rum, yo' take an' take yo' a piece of rag, an' as yo' take a piece of rag, yo' always keep dat rag movin' in yore han's, an'as yo' go in dis place when he begin' tuh ask yo' 'bout a job, well all yo' do yo remembah de light, an' if yo' say, "Lord, he'p me an' back mah light up," well, dat light will always give yo' power an' always help yo', an' yo' go dere an' dat person will give yo' a job. Maybe somebody's been dere a long time an' tryin' tuh git a job an' dey don't know how tuh git a job. All yo' do is set de light.
(What color of light? Any color?)
De bes' light is de white an' blue light, tuh git. De white one is Master an de blue one is Uncle. Yo' always say Master back of Uncle, an' yo' ast him tuh do sech-an'-sech a thing an' he'll do this thing. Yo' take a coconut but yo' must break it square. Yo' know a coconut is round but yo' must keep it square. Sometime yo' cain't break 'em - dey hard fo' yo tuh break 'em square, but it gotta be broke, yo' know, half in two in square. An' yo' take dat coconut an' yo' take de meat out of it an' yo' take a person name an' yo' write it down, but chew make a seal. Yo' evah saw a seal? [Evidently I nod, yes. I previously had seen at least one seal in St. Petersburg, Florida, see 2280, p.644.] Yo' makes a seal an' yo' take dat person's name an' yo' put it down in dat coconut an' dat Rabbit Syrup. Well, yo' take dat Rabbit Syrup an' dat cinnamon an' git chew some bay rum, an' yo' mix dat Rabbit Syrup an' dat pulverized sugah, dat fine, fine sugah whut chew buy in de box. Well, yo' sweeten it. Mix all dat together - de cayenne an' de Rabbit Syrup an' de cinnamon an' de bay rum. Yo' take his name an' yo' make a seal out dat papah, but chew must nuse brown Papah an' yo' put it down in dat coconut an' yo' take yo' a light. Yo' take yore light an' yo' put it - yo' see, yo' have dat seal made round, but chew have tuh cut it out round, yo' see, de brown papah, an' yo' put dat name, write it right in de middle of de seal.
(Just once?)
Yes, an' yo' put de light in de center of dat an' yo' burn it. Yo' make yore wish to dat light, whatsomevah yo' want, an' yo' burn it.
(What kind of light - any color?)
Well, yo' kin take Uncle light. It's a blue light, Uncle. Dat's a spirit. An' yo' kin take a lemon.
(Well, now what does that do? When you burn that in there?)
Well, yo' kin keep a person down - dey won't prosper, cain't git a job no way. Yo' understan' about dat. (To put the candle out [the candle someone is burning against you], every morning you say you get up and do what?) Yo' go to de hydrant befo' yo' say anything an' yo' let de hydrant run an' dat's tuh pray - dat's de way ah do's. Ah goes tuh de sun an' ah prays, an' whilst ah'm prayin' ah let de hydrant run an' ah take three drops - three glasses of watah, an' aftah de sun go down, yo' throw de watah tuh de sunset an' ast de spirit whatsomevah yo' dealin' with tuh give yo' power tuh put dat light out.
(What spirit would you deal with? Any spirit that you wanted to?)
Well, it's diff'rent people - de spirit contained wit yo', see. [Each person has a different or special spirit.] Yo' have a guide an' ah have a guide.
(It is your own spirit that you are getting?)
Yes. If a person tell yo', "Ah want chew tuh do sech-an'-sech a thing fo' me, '' an' [or] yo' want a person, a man. Lak yo' say, "Ah want dis man an' ah'm gon'a git dis man an' nobody have dis man." Well, yo' take a tub of watah an' yo' set dis tub ovah an' yo' take an' light a black candle. Yo' don't light dis candle, yo' put it in dis watah an' let dat watah trickle [from the faucet into the tub]. Put dis man name an' den yo' cut chew a coconut an' cut chew coconut an' put some dust [drops of melted wax] on it. Yo' evah heah dat? An' yo' let dat candle draw [drop] aroun' down in dis place heah. Dat be dat man name. [Melted wax from black candle drops on man's name written on brown paper at bottom of coconut.] Now, he's driftin' all aroun' an' aroun'. [Because his name under black candle in coconut is floating on the water in the tub; the dripping faucet makes it running Water.] He cain't nevah git a job. He nevah kin work. Every time he draw tuh yo', well he gittin' somewhere; but when he leave yo', look lak he driftin'; an' if he want any othah woman, yo' kin drift him away from dis woman - but nobody else, he's gotta have yo' an' nobody else. An' if yo' don't want give him nuthin, all yo' do, jis' put dat candle in dere an' let it drip an' so many hours. Yo' turn de chairs upside down. An' lak if a person goin' tuh co't an' dis person wanted tuh he'p yo' outa co't. All yo' take an' do, take St. Peter pit- chure an' turn it upside down, an' as yo' turn it upside down, dash some watah in [on] dat [picture] an' aftah yo' dash it, den dey come on outa jail. [See, BEER FOR ST. PETER - CIGAR FOR ST. ANTHONY, in InterviewS Section.] But chew de one he'p dem yo' see. Dat's de understandin' of luck. Yo' take an' do so many things with luck. See, den agin lak if yo' want a person - well, ah say, "Ah'm goin' make yo' drift." Well, yo' say, "Well, yo' cain't make me drift." Well, ah'll take an' take yore name, an' take a bottle of watah an' throw that bottle of watah undah mah laig or 'neath mah laig - mah left foot, an' throw it so [she demonstrates], an' tell it tuh go sech-an'-sech a place but don't nevah come back, an' as dat bottle go roun' an' jis work roun' an' roun' [under my foot], mah mind don't nevah come to me, but ah'm driftin' ever' day, goin' off an' off. Don't nevah see nobody, always thinkin' of things, always thinkin' things - diff'rent. [Her mind is faster than her words. My name is written on a piece of paper and stopped up in a bottle of water. She throws the bottle on the floor, puts her foot on it and begin to roll it back and forth. Sometimes, not here, the bottle is kicked about the room and cussed. At the last moment notice how she changes my name to her own. This is one of the many rolling rites in the New Orleans area - see margin-title St. John's Water, p.639, and Index.]
Entry 2810
Take a candle and you pay a quarter for it. (Take a candle.) Pay 25c and it burns eight days. You set that candle for eight days and let it burn, and in the eighth day he'll get you a job, whether he done turn you off or not. He maybe done turn you off, but by you burning that candle on the bossman, that will make him reflect in his mind and take you back. I've seen it happen.
(I see. What color candle would that be?)
Be white.
(White candle.)
Yes, slr.
Entry 3020
Most every home you go in, you be looking up to see saints over the door. Now, some people use a little glass like this, but it's about that high. They burns a candle in there, you understand. The candle is about that big: (A large candle?) A large candle about that [high]. (Like they have in the Roman Catholic Church - those little fat candles in little colored blue and red glasses?) Yes, red glasses. Now, them is for if you out of a job. You use one of them at a picture they call Mother Catherine.
(Mother what? Mother Catherine?)
Yeah, Catherine. Now, you put that - put that saint there and put that candle there. You got the saint up over the candle, you see, when that burns.
(You have the saint right over the candle?)
You see, this light is supposed to give life to the saint. (Wait a minute! When that is lighted it is supposed to give life to the saint?) To make him awake, you understand. You see, the saint ain't no good if you don't burn this light.
(The saint is no good unless you burn that light?)
Unless you burn that light. See, that gives life to the saint. Now, on this side you ought to have a green piece of grass - you know, like you use on All Saints Day. You use what you call palmetto - not palmetto but it's a green leaf. They use that right on the side.
(Palm leaf?)
The palm leaf. You see, you use that on the side so the saints - you know, most of the saints got a piece of green in his hand and this here green that you use would give affection [reflection or sympathy] to the green that he has in his hand. [Your piece of green is opposite green in statue or picture.] And this candle keeps life in him, and make it work, you understand.
(Well, in particular what is the candle burned for?)
If you are out of a job or you want a job or if you are in need. And you using this here through the power of God and this saint, it let you increase something every day to live off of. That what you burn this candle for.
Entry 3030
Yessuh, ah burns a red light to St. Peter or eithah a green light.
(How would you burn that?)
Ah burns a red light to St. Peter - ah burns it lak ah wants a job, ah wants mah do's tuh be open. Ah want mah man behin' me in mah work. Ah sets mah green light fo' nine days an' if ah wus in de night, ah'd raps fo' him an' ah calls him, 'St. Peter, open do's - let no man kin close 'em, because ah know yo' got de key. Ah know yo' have de key an' open do's." An' ah'll set him a bouquet of flowers an' ah'll let mah light burn fo' nine days. An' at de end of de nine days he'll give me mah wish.
(You burn these lights at any particular time?)
Ah burns 'em diff'rent days. Ah burns it on Wednesdays, Mondays - all day.
(All day, just during the daylight?)
Or de nighttime.
Entry 3047
You burn a green candle to St. Raymond. You take your green candle and you got St. Raymond on your altar and you sit the green candle before the saint and then you make your wishes to him. If you want a job - and you want the boss to give you a job, if you know his name, you take his name and you write it down nine times. You get some cinnamon and you get some parsley and you get some of this garlic and you pound that all up together and you put that in. Put it before your candle, right in front of the'candle where your saint's at and burn that, and he'll give you a job and like you. You burn it before St. Raymond. You can use a green candle. Use the same green candle for him, that the onliest kind of candle to use. You burn a white candle for peace.
Entry 4160
Yuh take saltpetah an' yuh own watah an' Hearts Cologne an' use dat aroun' de bossman, an' he'll give yuh a job. Ah've hear of sech as dat bein' done. Dis same stuff; saltpetah, Hearts Cologne an' yuh own watah, aroun' where yuh doin' business at, an' de' say dat will draw yuh customahs.
Entry 5269
If de boss fire yuh - yeah, he fired yuh. Yuh goes tuh 'im an' ast 'im fo' a job ag'in, once mo', an' he says, "No." Yuh say, "Well, ah been work- in' mighty faithful fo' yuh an' yuh's not treatin' me right.' Sompin lak dat. Git chew some spirits turpentine an' if yuh kin git tuh 'is shoe or sompin lak dat, his right shoe - if yuh kin ketch 'im wit 'is shoe off sometime, rub it on de bottom of 'is shoe, yuh know. An' take a li'le dust dere from de bottom of 'is shoe an' mix wit some turpentine an' put it in a li'le can. An' stop it up an' carry it an' bury it undah yore do'step. An' yuh got a job wit 'im right on. Yes sir, yuh git de job back.
Entry 5334
[For another rite of blowing foot track, see later margin title DEVIL'S SNUFF.] If yo' kin be roun' de bossman an' pick up 'is lef' foot track - but grab dat track from de heel tuh de toe, an' grab yore own track from de toe tuh heel, but try tuh git - an' tie dat up intuh li'le bottle an' wear it on yore lef' side. An' den go on an' talk wit man fo' a job. Take dat bottle out an' [demonstrates].
(Blow on it - three times - rub it down your face.)
Yes, an' go on tuh 'im. He give yo' a job.
Entry 5582
Beginning Norfolk, Va. [This is the first rite from Norfolk.] Take right foot track an' put nine needles in it. [Of] co'se I'd git 'em in a bottle, nine needles, an' yo' goes to de rivahside, see, nine mawnin's. See, you got nine nee- dles in dis here bottle wit de dirt in [from the right foot track]. An' goes down to de rivah nine mawnin's. An' when yo' gits down dere yo' walks backwards so many feet - yo' walks backwards nine times [9 steps] each mawnin'. An' de las' mawnin', yo' throw dat bottle ovahbo'd. Nine needles an' go down to de rivah nine mawnin's an' de las' mawnin' yo' throw dis bottle ovahbo'd.
(I see. Well now, what is this supposed to do to a person?)
Dat will cuz a person to leave his job, or cuz fuss 'tween man an' woman. If a woman want tuh git de man from 'er husban' [a bad influence on her husband, gambles, etc.], dat would make him leave. Dat's how a woman out here - a woman said dat 'er sistah had been did [sister had been sent away by some man's wife].
(Now, what foot track do they dig that dirt from...both feet or...)
Naw, dis one - de right foot.
(The right one.)
De right foot. Take dat dirt outen de right foot. Go on dere jis' as soon as de sun rise - see, 'fore de sun gits hot an' dat sun rise. [I stop recording here but informant continues. I try to recover missed words.]
(What carries it out, did you say?)
De tide, de water. You know, when de tide goes out, takes dat bottle out wit it.
(Yes, and after that carries it out, what does it do then?)
Dat cause dat man to leave, see.
(Carries him out.)
Carries 'im out, carries 'im from 'is work or 'is wife.
Entry 5604
An' den it's like if yo' got a job an' yore bossman don' like yo', yo' take up 'is track an' put it in yore right-han' pocket, an' keep it in dere all de time an' he'll come tuh be satisfied wit yo' altuhgethah. (Either track or both?) Either one. He'll come to be all right.
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 8679
[The doctor in the following rite for a job has an organized mind, though I was too recent in New Orleans at that time to realize it. In face, on this original transcription I formerly had a note use with care, which can still be seen despite my later erasure.] When yo' go to get a job - ah'll tell yo' about de job proposi- tion. It just like if yo' was out of a job an' yo' runnin' in bad luck. Yo' can't be success- ful in nuthin dat yo' start. Well, yo' get yo' some of dis seniment. Yo' get some of dis seniment with this rain water. (What is seniment? What is that?) Dat's a powder. (What does it look like?) It look just like - yo' ever seen this powder what they call that brown-skin powder? (You mean cinnamon powder?) Yeah. (Cinnamon powder. All right.) [How did I ever guess it!] Yo' take dat seniment powder. An' yo' get some of dis seniment powder an' yo' get what yo' call this lodestone; but ask for lodestone, see, with candy stripes. It's got a little stripe.
(What kind of stripes?)
Candy stripes. Just say, "Give me some of de lodestone." (Like this candy - now wait a minute! It's like this candy they got in the country stores, candy stripes?) Yes, just like that; round, see.
(And what do they call that?)
Lodestone.
(You said something about four-something. Four what?)
[Informant said it while recording machine turned off.1 Fo' corners. Yo' just get de fo' corners. Well, if it ain't got fo' corners, vell yo' just take anything, a file or somepin like dat an' put 'em there.
(You have to make it square. Four corners. All right.)
Yeah. Yo' go anywhere they got them rams - yo' see, them rams, or anywhere yo' know them ramhorns at. [Cowhorn appears several times in Hoodoo. This could be the only ramhorn.] Yo' gets a file an' yo' file some of that dust down there [with the lodestone dust]. Then yo' get some of this here oil what yo' call that green - Wintergreen Pasture Oil.
(Wintergreen?)
Wintergreen Pastures Oil.
(GREEN PASTURES OIL?)
[SURELY THE ENTERPRISING HOODOO-PRODUCTS SALESMAN SHOULD HAVE NAMED IT "PSALM 23 OIL"!] Yeah, an' yo' take some sugar an' seniment an' lodestone. An' take a silver dime an' yo' file dat silver dime on a piece of paper just where yo' got this stuff [various ingredients] at. Yo' take a piece of yellah paper - it [lode- stone?] comes with yellah paper - an' yo' wrap it up twice. Yo' fold it coming to you. Then, after yo' take this Wintergreen Pasture Oil an' yo' put over it, am' yo' put it in your pocket. Keep that in yore left pocket. Then yo' goes back an' yo' get this he Eve [Adam and Eve] root, see. He Eve root.
(He Eve root?)
Yeah, yo' go back an' get that an' yo' got hit, yo' got de she root in yore pocket, yo' understand. Yo' take that - powder up that. piece there - an' yo' get some rain water an' river water or hydrant water [3 running Waters], or anything like that, an' yo' put it in two glasses. Put it in two glasses like that an' yo' let it set, after yo've mixed it. Well, heap up just about de same amount in each glass. Yo' leave it set there fo' three days. Aftah yo' leave it set there fo' three days, yo' take it an' yo' pour it into one glass. Then yo' take this here - this seniment, lodestone an' dis Wintergreen Pasture Oil. Well, yo' Put it in de glass, in one glass, an' yo' let it set there fo' three days. Den take that water off - take dat watah off before yo' go out to see about a job. Just like, if yo' know the foreman's name, yo' take his name an' yo' write his name nine times backwards, just like if yo' write it backwards this Way nine times [demonstrates]. Then yo' fold it, fold it comin' to yo' like dat [demonstrates]. Then yo' write yore name on de top of it, but yo' must write yore name forwards.
(Write your name what?)
The right way.
(You write your name forwards. All right.)
Then yo' take dat an' yo' put it down in dat water where all yore stuff is in the morning when yo' going out - just when yo' going out to the foreman. Yo' got his name. Well, when yo' get ready to go there, yo' take this water out of Chere. Yo' pour it out in a basin or anything like that, an' yo' take it an' yo' wash yo' hands good with it, an' yo' wash yore fingers. Yo' takes this here lodestone an' yo' put it in yore pocket with this she Eve root. Yo' walk to him a'when yo' get there, before yo' ask, just like yo' take a piece of chewing tobacco, cut a little piece off dat she root an' put it in your mouth. An' get this here lodestone thing in your hand like that an' rub it, an' make yore wishes, as yo' walk up to him an' ask 'im for a job. Probably he may not have nuthin to do right then, but he'll run his hand in his pocket if he got any money an' he'll give yo' a piece of money. The first opening that he have - WHEN YO' LEAVE FROM THERE, YO'LL MAKE A WISH FOR ANY - JUST LIKE ANY JOB YO' WANT AROUND THERE, YO' MAKE A WISH FOR ANY BAD LUCK TO HAPPEN TO 'EM PEOPLE AT THAT PLACE. SAY PRAYERS, AN' IN A WEEK'S TIME [7 DAYS] YO'LL HAVE A JOB. There no favor that yo' ask 'im that he could turn yo' down. If he ain't got it at de present time, he will tell yo' a way to come an' get it.
foreman’s name written nine times backwards, contrasted with own name forwards. Keep foreman nine-times-backwards versus applicant forwards on top; not all names backwards. manually inscribed arrangement of foreman’s and applicant’s names. Retain foreman backwards nine times and own name forwards on top, followed by the use of the inscribed paper in the preparation. employment sought from a foreman, with conditional intermediate outcomes and harmful wish. No immediate job guarantee: preserve probably no work, money if he has it, the first opening, and the subsequent one-week claim as attributed. river as a stated possible source of water, alongside rain/hydrant wording. Keep literal rain water an’ river water or hydrant water and or anything like that; do not convert ambiguous conjunctions into an all-three requirement or flatten all alternatives. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 3556) · Read full source (printed page 3557) · Read full source (printed page 3558)
Entry 7579
Wal, if yuh wan' a job of any kin', yuh git a dirt dauber an' go tuh a baby's grave in de cemetery an' reach yore han' down in dat same direction. An' if yuh wan' a job anywhere, yuh mix dat same dirt - de dirt dauber's nest wit de othah dirt. An' go [sprinkle it] in front of de place roun' de office where de boss got'a go in, an' jis' say, "Little Baby, In de Name of de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost, give me mah job back." An' dey'll give it tuh yuh.
Entry 7825
If yo' wanta be lucky, dey tell me yo' kin write a lettah tuh a fellah, lak yo' know a real bad fellah dat died. Yo' kin write lettah tuh 'im care of hell. Go tuh de graveyard an' write de lettah tuh 'im. Come back an' put it undah de haid of yuh baid dat night an' yo'll dream about 'im. Yo'll be lucky an' git money, lucky tuh git a job - anything. [In general folklore to dream of the dead is lucky - see FACI 2nd ed., Nos.8271-8272, 8274, p.367.]
(You write the letter in care of hell?)
Yassuh.
Entry 7828
Git some lodestone powdah an' graveyard dirt an' mix dat tuhgethah an' dat will make yo' git a job. Put it in yuh pocket an' tote it.
(The boss will give you a job.)
Entry 7869
Dey could take dat an' make de person do as dey want 'em tuh do.
(How would they do that?)
Dey would go git de graveyard dirt an' dey mix some wit table salt, put it in yore pocket, an' go on talk wit 'im an' he will give yuh a job.
(Don't you have to do anything with that salt at all?)
No sir.
Entry 8041
Well, ah've heard fo' luck, if a person wanted to git lucky an' make plenty of money, yo' know, jes' if someone died yo' know. An' cut dat li'le [fingers] right in de second joint, cut dis fingah from de second j'int [demon- strates]. (The left hand.) Yes, from de left hand, an' burn it until it come jis' uhite, jis', yo' know. An' jis' take it an' put it in a eel skin, fresh eel skin, an' [or] jis' keep it round [wrapped up] wit snakeskin. Plenty good luck long as yo' iive.
(Keep it where?)
Round yore neck, yes in a piece of skin.
(You tie it around your neck with a string or something?)
Yes, sir, let it hang down around about de middle of yore chest. See.
(What sort of luck is that supposed to give you?)
Well, it be fo' luck tuh git a job, or win money, or speed-up doin' anything yo' wanta do.
Entry 8492
Put cinnamon an' sugah an' yo' weah it in both of yore shoes. Now if yo' know dere name, yo' kin take dere name an' put it in dere, an' whenevah yo' git tuh 'em dey'll give yo' a job.
Entry 8711
Yo' go to a place - if yo' know de place where yo're goin' an' know de people's name [name of person who hires]. Yo' git chew a piece of pastebo'd an' yo' cut it down as a shoe sole, de print of a shoe sole [an insole]. Yo' write dem people name down nine times wit a indelible pencil. (You just write one right after the other?) One right aftah de othah, nine times. (Now, if the boss's name was Sam Jones, you just write Sam Jones right underneath Sam Jones?) Yassuh, an' den aftah yo' do dat, yo' git chew some cinnamon an' yo' git chew some sugah. An' yo' puts dat in yore shoe an' yo' weah dat. An' yo' git yo' a piece of John de Conkah root, an' yo' chews dat root, an' as yo' go in dere yo' spits, an' make yore wish fo' whut chew goin' dere, whut kinda job yo' goin' dere tuh be successful. Yo' git dis job.
(You just make one sole [insole] or two?)
Jes' one sole.
(For either shoe?)
Fo' either shoe, it don' make no diff'rence.
(It doesn't make any difference what shoe.)
Either one.
Entry 8770
Take dis bossman whut yo' got in yore mind - yo' got it in yore mind fo' tuh go tuh dis bossman. Yo' goin' dere tuh git a job. Yo' take dis man's name an' yo' write it an' yo' write de twelve apostle. Dese are de twelve apostles. Yo' write de twelve apostles first an' den yo' write dis man's name twelve time, an' each apostle [demonstrates] each apostle heah an' yo' write his name heah. Dis de 'postle heah, an' yo' write his [boss] name dere, dis 'postle heah, an' yo' write his name dere. Continue dat an' yo' put dat in de bottom of yore shoes, an' yo' weah dat three days 'fore yo' go tuh 'im. An' when yo' go tuh 'im, he'll give yo' de job.
Entry 10124
Boil black cat, take left hind leg bone, put in pocket, can do any- thing - get a job. [Wilmington, N. Car., 97:2.]
Entry 9584
Weah peppah an' salt in yuh shoes tuh git a job. Gits boss's min' torn up [confused], an' if he hasn't nobody he'll hire yuh. [This rite is for luck in the sense that any cunjure to keep you from obtaining the job will fail.]
Entry 9601
Salt, peppah, devil's snuff [all] in bag, carried in right-hand pocket to boss. Look 'im in eye when askin' fo' job. [Devil's snuff originally was the powder from puffballs - various fungi of the family Lycoperdaceae (class Basidiomycetes) - globular shaped, discharging ripe spores when pressed. As a boy I found their brown powder or smoke inter- esting, though warned that it was poisonous, and did not know puffballs were mushrooms. The plant must have been specially created for old-fashioned rootmen, but I suspect enterprising hoodoo drugstores in later years manufactured a devil's snuff of their own.
Entry 10859
I know they say if you start to get a job and a black cat crosses you [crosses your path], you might as well go back home be- cause you goin' have bad luck. The man doesn't goin' hire you. He'll turn you back.
Entry 11128
Yo' takes a cow horn, burn it, an' then, when it parches up it'll burn jest like gutta percha, somepin othah. Yo' know, parch it up, an' yo' kin git chew some prepared alum, already powdered alum. Dat's simple but it's a fact. Ah ain't nevah lost a job yet. An' mix dat cow horn tuhget- her wit dat an' Hearts Colo- gne an' rub it in yore hand. If yo' kin git tuh git his [boss] glove or anything, jest let de scent of dat git on it - de scent from your hand git on his glove. An' have yo' a piece of union 'erb. It grows in de woods. It's a little root about dat long an' it's got a top on it jest like a - yo' seen a carrot top. It grows sorta like a carrot top. An' have yo' a piece of ABC root [a root that has the letters of the alphabet!], dat grows like a fern, an' jest cut it. Cut until yol cut de first letter of yore name, an' yo' take dat an' put it in yore left hip pocket. Yo' take dat union herb an' put it in yore mouth an' chew it whilst yo' talkin' to him [boss] or makin' yo'self acquainted wit him, while de wind of yore breath is goin' in his face, an' de scent of dat cow horn an' alum is on his hand. He'll give yo' a job. Jest whatsomevah yo' require him tuh pay a day, he'll pay it.
(Do you use all these things together?)
Put de ABC root in yore left pocket, yo' have dis heah burnt cow horn an' alum on de hands. Rub it on yore hands an' have [it there].
Entry 11694
Sompin yo' do to make de boss give yo' a job - find dat herb.
(All right, do you know how to do it?)
It's a four-finger herb, jest lak a, made jest lak a man's [the 4 fingers of his hand]; like a gombling han', four-fingered herb. All right, yo' go in de woods some place an' yo' kin find dat herb. Yo' kin find dat herb in Alabama. Probably kin find it in de vest part of Florida, but ah nevah found it. Yo' break off de second from de last little finger - break dat one off, probably stick it in yore mouth jes' lak yo' would a match stem. Den yo' walk in an' ask de boss fo' a job an' he can't turn yo' down.
(What do they call this root?)
Dat root is called de fo' finger, de fo' finger lucky root. (Wait, you break off the finger next to what would be the index finger - break off this one here?) [I demonstrate.] Dat's right.
Entry 12152
A hickory tree is good, dey say - not exactly a hickory tree, but dey say if a person wanta tie a person down, tie a person down, dey go tuh a hickory tree an' yo' measure it yore size - come tuh yo' - measure tuh yore waistline. Yo' stand up an' measure it tuh yore waistline, an' yo' bring 'em [bend tree] down lak dat, yo' bring it down till yo' bring de top end down tuh de bottom [of tree]. Dat fasten a man down an' he cain't - he's havin' good process, pro- gress an' all dat - an' dey say dat fasten him down an' cause him so he cain't git no success. Yo' know, jes' lak throwin'a man intuh tough luck where he can't git no job - jes' go tuh pieces. Take dat hickory tree an' yo' put dat hickory down tuh de groun'.
(You do this to the little hickory tree.)
Jes' de lil' small hickory tree.
(You keep bending it down and bending it down.)
Yeah it down till yo' bend it on down tuh de roots dere. Dat ties a man down where he cain't have no success.
(Well, do you leave that tree bent down then?)
Yo' tie it down. Yo' wind it down dere. Yo' wind it down dere nine times with a thread, brand-new thread. Dat keeps a man down.
Entry 12237
Dey got a lodestone dat's pretty good an' it's oil of cinnamon, an' yo' kin git - if yo' kin git John de Conkah - dat's good to use in spittin' when yo' go in, yo' know.
(To get a job?)
Yes.
Entry 12239
Take Hearts Perfme an yo' take dis blacksnake root an' take de John de Conkah an' yo' put it in dis perfume an' let it stay fo' twenty-fo' hours an' in twenty-fo' hours, yo' put dat perfume on yo' an' yo' go down an' as yo' ask 'im fo' a job, yo' take dis perfume on yore han'ke'ch'ef an' yo' wavin' it lak dis [demon- strates].
(Just wave it around.)
Jes' wave an' dat'll change his mind an' he'll give yo' a job, even if yo' quit, an' he'll send back fo' yo'.
Entry 12241
Well, you use John the Conkah root, just take it and put it in your mouth and chew it. And just like I wanted a favor out of you, I'd just keep achewing it and spit while I be talking to you, and that'll make it all right.
(Especially if you want a job.)
Yes sir.
Entry 12247
Well, yo' git a piece an' put it in yore pocket. The best way, though, tuh use it is tuh pound it up. [To use pounded-up John de Conqueror is unusual.] (The High John the Con- queror.) Yo' kin kinda strike [cut off] a little edge of it, yo' know, if there's time, yo' know, an' they [victim] won't notice. Put a little in yore mouth yo' know, every time yo' goin' places, an' yo' [other person] cain't see it, but chew kin kinda...
(To get a job if you are going in to the boss?)
Yes.
Entry 12253
Yo' takes - it's sompin yo' chews - it's whut chew might call a Spanish Root, ah think, dat way. Yo' takes it an' yo' chew it an' yo' spits. An' jes' wheresomevah he stay or where his office or anythin lak dat, well it's best tuh go whah he live. Ketch him at home whah yo' kin stand in de house whah yo' kin jes' spit, chew know, an' talk tuh him jes' lak dat wit dat stuff in yore mouth. Well if yo' kin, git up close enough tuh him, close enough tuh him tuh jes' talk wit him. An' yo' know a person kinda do dat. Yo' do dat. An' if he got anythin' fo' yo' tuh do, he'll give yo' a job; an' if he ain't, he will git chew a job. Jes' chew it.
(What is the name of that root?)
It's Spanish, jes' name of a Spanish Root. Yo' orders it. [This shows an influence from the Cuban population in nearby Tampa, a cigar-making place in those days.]
Entry 12254
High John de Conkah, yo' know, an' chew it up, yo' know, an' spittin' in yuh hand an' rub yuh hand. An' be a-spittin' all around while yo' talkin' tuh 'im. Yo' kin git job. [Elizabeth City 393:1.]
Entry 12255
Spit John de Conkah before speaking to the boss for a job. [Richmond 330:9.]
Entry 12262
Use de John de Conkah root.
(You use the same thing when you go to get a job?)
Yeah. An' then yo' kin take Hearts Cologne an' po' that on there an' go down an' ask fo' a job. [Fayetteville 2558:2.]
Entry 12772
Yo' wanta git a job from de boss. Yo' take dat prickle feet an' yo' make chew a small bag an' take an' put nine drops of Hearts Cologne an' drap it in yore hand. Rub yore prickle feet befo' yo' go. An' when yo' go to de boss, yo' go to him wit it in yore hand - talking to him. An' when yo' gits through talkin' to him, yo' cast yore hands out like dat [demonstrates] an' he can't do no mo' den say yes.
[Remember, you rub prickle feet only after you have removed the prickles.]
(How do you use this prickle feet?)
Yo' go in de woods an' git dat - go in de woods an' git dat prickle feet. Yo' cook dat prickle feet. Yo' kin cook it or yo' kin use it dry. Or yo' hn pinch off a little piece an' rub it [demonstrates]. (Do you rub it with that liquid, too? Do you rub them together or [leave them] separate?) Yo' kin rub it. After yo' git it - it's about dat long [demonstrates]. Yo' kin pinch off a little bit of piece, a little piece of it, an' yo' kin rub it in yore [demonstrates] han'. An' whenever yo' gotta go, yo' git dat nine drops of Hearts Cologne an' rub it in yore hand like dat, de whole tine dat chew talkin' to dis man. Want dis job. He will talk to yo'. An' quick as yo' done open yore hand, dat odor done hits his face, yo' see. Understand? Well, he gotta say yes.
Entry 12876
Chew Sampson snakeroot and spit 3 times in front of boss when asking for job. [Memphis 1561:5.]
Entry 12928
Yo' walk down de railroad [track] to a bramble brier an' when dis brier leaves begin tuh [turn up], yo' gits down an' git a piece of de root. Chew jes' a little piece an' keep a little piece in yore hand. Yo' walks up to him an' says, "Boss, ah'm down, ah want a job today." Well, if yo' jes don' let him look around an' yo' keep his eye right into yore eyes [looking boss in the eyes is a common feature of many job rites] an' if anything roun dere he goin' give yo' a job dat day.
Entry 12989
Or yo' kin take an' go to - if yo' believe in the root-working or hoodooing - go to them an' yo' tell them that yo' are out looking for a job. Git a cotton cord string an' take a dime an' put a hole in it an' put this string - run the string through that hole of the dime an' jest hang it around yore left ankle. Let it hang down so it can be in yore shoes, hang down in yore shoes, so anyone can't see it. An' yo' keep that around there an' that will give you luck to have work as long as yo' kin any time.
Entry 13212
Solomon's Wise Stone whut chew find in de othah cities. [You take this] stone an' read de 121 Psalm an' say a prayer of earnest. Yo' ain't earnest fo' some things, an' yo' will obtain de job.
(What do you do with this stone?)
Wear it in yore purse. Solomon's Wise Stone.
(Where do you get that? Order it from some place?)
Yo' order it from dis company heah in Memphis, yo' order it from Chicago.
(What is the name of that company in Memphis?)
[Evidently no answer.]
Entry 2273
Ah proved dis mahself, when yo' want a job, take yo' some table salt an' tie it up in de corner of yore han'kerchief an' go dere an' ask him fo' a job, an' feel dat salt in yore pocket an' mash on dat salt, work on dat salt, lookin' him straight in de eye an' tell him whut chew want, an' he'll give yo' a job. Ah done tried it.
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 2293
Yo' kin go out on de railroad track an' it's a lil vine dat grow out dere dey call de Shamin' Judy - yes, Shamin'. Some calls it Ashamin', but it's a Shamin' Judy. See, if yo' touch it, an' it close up - when yo' touch de bush de leaves close up. An' yo' dig dat root an' carry it in yore pocket an' take a piece - if yo' wants a' job, yo' takes a piece an' carry it in yore pocketbook - have good luck all de time. But if yo' wanta go see a man for a iob, chew dat root an' eye 'em - yo' know, jes' look him right on de eyes an' den he wouldn't turn yo' down.
Entry 2907
Ah would buy me a green candle an' burn de green candle an' put mah face to de east an' mah face in de west an' use de holy name Vah seven times - look to de east and look to de west an' use de holy name Vah seven times. [See how she changes 'put mah face to ''look."]
(How do you spell that?)
V-a-h. (vah.) Uh-huh. (When do you burn these green candles - how long?) Now, de ways of burnin' de green candles - ah lights 'em twelve a'clock in de day. See, if ah'm goin' tomorrah tuh git hired, ah'll burn it twelve a'clock - light it twelve a'clock today an' burn it smack up an' go up an' ask fo' me a job. Jis' burn one candle. Jis' lak ah'm goin' tuh work today an' ah want me a job an' ah know where ah'm goin' to, ah jis' burn dat one candle an' go on up an' ast me a job. Use de holy name Vah.
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 13315
To get a job, chew tobacco and spit some of it into the back of the boss's automobile. [Presumably a part of you, saliva, rides with him constantly as a reminder. This sort of thing I have considered individual rather than gen- erally used rites.]
Entry 13457
Dis pullin' bone in a chicken, yo' take dat bone an' yo' do a lotta different things wit dis bone. Yo' take dis pullin' bone an' keep it in yore pocket an' it gives yo' good luck. Sometimes yo' git a job or yo' find money. An' yo' take dis pullin' bone again an' break it an' stick it through de do' at de first man dat come in. Dat'll be yore husband.