Subject:Key
Entries
Entry 2260
De herb men see somepin dey call Peter's Protection. Key - and anoint that seven mornin's with Lucky Holy Oil and wear it on yore person.
(What will that do?)
That to protect yo', if people tryin' to do things to you. (What does this key look like?) It look like aluminum or silver or some kind of shiny stuff. It made like a key but it don't fit no lock on a door - made fer dat [protection] purpose. [This key sold by herb men, who buy it from mail-order firms or religious supplies shops, is worn for protection. The same or similar key in New Orleans area is offered to picture or statue of St. Peter (see margin-title St. Peter).]
Entry 2919
If they stole somepin from you and you want to get it back, if you know the person. If you didn't know 'em, you could get it back. If you wanted to know who the party Was, you could get the Bible and you could find out who the party Was and then you could get to 'em more so. But now, if a person would steal somepin from you and you want to get it back; if you could get a key - see, if you could get a key and get that party's name. See. You get that key and put it on a string. You get this party's name and you get you one of these dark candles - it's not a black one, it's a lavender-looking candle but it looks like its black. You get you one of them and you get these people's name and you write that name on that candle, but you take this candle and you burn the candle upside down in- stead of burning his name upside down. You turn your candle over and you trim the ends - the opposite end of it - you trim it and light that part of the can- dle. You got his name and you write his name on that candle, see. But the deeper it is - you write his name as deep in the candle as you can get it. If you can get his name, write it as deep in there as you can get it. You take that key and you put that key just like this [demonstrates]. Here's your candle here and you lay that key right across by that candle in this manner - just like that.
(Sort of like a cross.)
Yes, sir. Just like [demonstrates] I got my finger - see, on that angle just like that. That's the candle here, and lay that key just like that.
(It isn't a right angle, but it's about a 45 degree angle.)
A 45 degree angle, yes sir. Just a cross. [Candle and key are crossed. The key is laid flat on the surface of the candle-container so that it touches the bottom of the candle. As you look at the candle, the key is not horizontal or at right angles to your vision; it is at a 45 degree angle. If you mentally prolong the bottom of the candle, key and candle would form a flat letter 'X' cross or a flattened St. Andrew cross. As a matter of fact this is an upside-down (reversed) tau cross or "T" cross, also called St. Anthony cross. If we include the circular bottom of the candle or circular hole through the key, we have the crux ansata or Egyptian ankh, symbol of life and prosperity.] And he going to come back and he come back with a piece of yours that he's done taken from you. He might - he ain't going to come back to you but he going to come close around wheresomever you are at, trying to sell it. See, he may not know it's yours. He going to try to be selling it or something of that sort, or maybe have it on, and you going to recognize it and you can catch him thataway. That'll bring him back.
Entry 3906
De only thing ah heard of 'em usin' a person's blood is fo' love. Dey generally use dat an' take nine ole keys, an' sprinkle it ovah dose nine ole keys an' tie it up with a cloth, an' put it undah yore bedhead. Yo' usually git 'long wit dat person quiet [quite] well. (Where do you get this blood?) Where do yo' git it? Easy enough. All yo' gotta do, yo' know, de womens - from dey periods.
(Put it on the nine keys. Well, what is that supposed to do?)
Dat supposed tuh make a woman [man] love yo'.
Entry 7502
But de way dis would be done, yo'd have to know de person name - yo' have to know de person name. (The man who killed this man.) Lak yo' knew 'is name an' yo' know he done it, dey ain't caught 'im yet. Well, now yo' could take de Bible an' a key an' dere certain words yo' could say den an' dat pahtiklah [particular] person when yo' git to dat name, dat Bible would turn an' fall. [For Bible and key rites, See 550f., p.167f., and elsewhere.]
Entry 8882
A brass key, dat's lak a coppah key, Git chew one of dose coppah keys an' put it right in de Bible at a certain chaptah. An' den he'd wrop [profes- sional worker visited by informant would wrap] dis Bible wit a string an' let chew hold dat key lak dat [demonstrates]. Ah've helt [held] it mahself an' den he [hoodoo man] read a chaptah [from the Bible]. It says: By St. Petah, by St. Paul, by de Lord dat made us all, if sech-an'-sech Q man - jes' call de name, see yo' have tuh git de name - is got chure money, ah pray dis Bible turn an' fall. An' it shore will fall when yo' hit it right. Ah've tried it, helt dat [Bible]. But ah don't know as ah could do it lak he [doctor] did. [Informant thinks this by-St. Peter rhyme is a chapter from the Bible! How our hoodoo man and informant held Bible and key will become apparent as we proceed.]
Entry 8885
Yo' kin find out an' it [the rite] don' tell no lie. Yo' go git aBible an' yo' gits a brass key, an' yo' put dat brass key in dat Bible an' yo' ties it up tight, an' yo' holds it in yore han' lak dis - lak dat [demonstrates]. (With two fingers.) Yes, two fingahs. If not dat, chew kin git somebody else tuh hold one of de fingahs, an' yo' hold one an' say: By St. Petah, by St. Paul, 'tain't but de one God saves us all; if Sech-an'-sech a one stole mah money or anythin', any article, ah pray Bible wheel an' fall. An' dat Bible wouldn't move until yo' call de right one's name whut stole it. An' dat Bible jes' ease, ease roun' till it drops.
Entry 8886
Use de Bible an' git de 50 Psalms [Psalm 50] of David in de Bible an' yo' read it three times. An' yo' git chew a do' key, a large do' key. Aftah yo' read dat Psalms, yo' write dat Psalm down on a piece of papah. An' yo' take dat do' key an' yo' put it on dat Psalm, an' yo' tie it wit string an' yo' read de Psalms. An' aftah yo' read dem Psalms, yo' call dis person name three time an' yo' hold dat do' key; an' if it's de individual name yo' call, dat done took sompin from yo', when yo' read de Psalm, dat do' key goin' turn roun' in dat Bible. Jes' lak yo' turn it in de lock of a do', jes' turn; an' if it ain't de individual whut took it, de do' key goin' tuh stay still. But if it's anyone dat took it an' yo' know dere name, yo' call dere name, dat key is gonna turn in dat Bible. (You write this 5Oth Psalm on a piece of paper and then you wrap that around the key?) No suh, de key is tied intuh de Bible on de 5Oth Psalm aftah yo' write it down. See, yo' write it down so yo' kin read it, an' yo' readin' it three times. An' aftah yo' read - while yo' readin' it, yo' don' call de individual [name]. Aftah yo' read it, den yo' call de individual name an' yo' hold dat key. Hold de Bible an' hold de top end of de key, an' when yo' hold dat key yo' have it tied tight in dat Bible; an' if it's dat individual, dat key's gonna turn in dat Bible jes' lak it would in de do'.
[Since key does not fall, By St. Peter rhyme not used.]
(This key though is put into the Bible where this Psalm is. The only reason that you write that 5Oth Psalm is that - so when the Bible is closed, you can read the 50th Psalm?) Yes.
Entry 8887
As the proof, yo' will take a Bible, the Testament. Yo'll take a great big brass key. Yo'll place it in that Bible. Tyin' it well, hold it with two individual forefingers sayin' this word: By St. Peter, by St. Paul, by the Lord that made us all, if Chester have my pocketbook, leave the Bible, key, turn an' fall. An' if he's got it, it'll turn an' fall. Yo' kin call twenty differen' men's names an' when yo' get de right one, it turns. De other individuals, it stays neutral.
(I see. Then what Would you do to make him bring it back, anything?)
Why yo' go to 'im an' yo' tell 'im to bring it back, if yo' found out fo' sure he got it.
Entry 8888
Say fer instance if someone stole somepin from me, ah'd take de gartah offa mah laig an' put it aroun' de Bible, an' [I would get] yore front do' key, an' get someone else [to help me] with our big two [two big] fingahs, jis' lak dat [demon- stratesl.an' hole [hold] dat key undah dere [the garter]. Ah've seen dis done. Hole dat Bible right straight, don't let it move, an' yo' say: By St. Peter, by St. Paul, by de God dat made us all, if So-an'-so stole of mine, whutsomevah it is, de Bible turn an' fall. Well, if dey didn't take it, dat Bible won't move; an' if dey did take it, it'll jis' whirl aroun' offa yore fingah. [For similar rites, See BIBLE-DIME-GARTER, P.167f.]
Entry 8889
Yo' go an' git chew a brass key. Yo' walk on an' yo' git de Bible. Yo' look up on de Ten Commandments. Yo' place dis key dere on dis Bible, turn de Bible. If yo' got 'em on one [a Bible], yo' turm 'em upside... (Wait a minute! You say you look up the Ten Commandments. Then what do you do with them?) Put de key on de Ten Commandments. All right. Brass key. Den yo' turn de Bible up an' call dis fellah by his name, an' 20 minutes from den he may don't come. If he won't, yo' git two brand-new needles - needles, yo' know, dat yo' sew wit. An' yo' stick dem dataway - open de Bible an' yo' stick dem dataway in de Bible [demonstrates].
(Under the leaves.)
Yeah, undah de leaves, by de key - one on each side of de key. Den yo' call dis fellah. Soon he may don't come, but a couple of hours he come an' ast yo fer somepin, lak he wanta borrah somepin. [To borrow something is from well- lmown witch rites.] He may ast yo' to lend 'im a iron or any kind of instrument in de house, see. [To borrow iron is unusual.] Well, now yo' know dat's de fellah cuz yo' done call 'is name on dat commandment. (You know that's the man that stole the thing from you.)
Entry 8890
If yo' wanta find out de person dat done de stealin', yo'll git de Bible an' git a brass key, an' find de middle verse of de Bible - de very middle leaf an also de middle verse in dere. Ah don't know now [what it is], yo' see, 'cuz ah not much of a Bible readah. An' yo' jis' take dat [place] an' take dat key an' put it in de centah, an' tie a string on it an' tie it aroun' on de backside of de book, see. An' den'yo' git chew anothah fel- lah, yo' an' 'im tuhgethah, an' he put it on 'is fingah an' let de othah fellah bold it on 'is fingah. See, jis' put one fingah apiece on it, two persons. All right. Den de man whut wanna find out who did de stealin' - jis' lak us all be lined up, chew say, By St. Peter, by St. Paul, ain't but one God made us all. See. An' yo' supposed tuh say somepin else wit it but ah don't know jis' zactly [exactly] whut chew say, yo' see. An' den yo' say, If so, Henry stole so-an'- s0 - dis box or book - Bible please reel an' fall. An' if he stole it sure 'nuff [enough], dat Bible'll turn ovah. See, dat Bible'll turn right on 'is han' [hand] an' fall on de table or on de flo' on de [Bible's] face; but if not, it won't move. Dat whut chew do tuh find out.
Entry 8893
Well, ah'll tell yuh, yo' take a brass key, if yo' [want to] find out who it is; an' aftah tyin' de brass key in de Bible, put de brass key down in dat Bible, takin' two men - a woman must nevah hold any of dose keys - sayin', By St. Petah, by St. Paul; by de Lord dat made us all; if Such-an'-such has mah money or watch, leave de [= dere= there] key Bible an' all. [For preceding obscurity see later.] It has been proven dat way. De party dat chew had no suspicion for, would feel guilty an' return it. He will volunteer to come back with it. [THIS IS MY ONLY EXAMPLE OF A WOMAN FORBIDDEN TO HOLD A KEY! The reason is obvious. A key is something that goes into a hole, unlocks. Elsewhere in the text I have written about former moral theology forbidding women to assume the superior position, either she lying or sitting. Folklore cautions her against stepping over a man lying on the floor or crawling over him in bed. Here We also have the locked-room theme of Blue- beard, who gave the keys of the castle to his wife, forbidding her to unlock one room.] [The preceding bracket [[= dere = there]] properly placed in its context reads: leave there key, [[leave]] Bible an' aZl.]
Entry 8894
If yo' wanta find sompin dat's stolen - if somebody steal sompin from yuh - yo' take dat Bible an' git chew a brass key whut we call a skeleton key, but it's brass. Yo' take dat key an' a cord string an' run de string through de Bible dat way [demonstratesl, an' twist it on de string, dis end, an' twist it on de othah end de same way. Each end of de string is wrapped ovah on de key. An' yo' kin take dat key, yo' an' anothah person, an' hold yore fingah upon dat key, an' dat Bible ain't goin' move till yo' call de right name. An' whoevah yo' thinks got it - yo' call several names befo' dem tuh be shore yo's undahstandin' whut chure doin'. An' when yo' git tuh de right person, dat Bible will turn roun' an' fall.
Entry 8896
Well, lak if ah would steal sompin from yo' an' yo' know dat ah wuz de only one dere, but yo' didn't know whethah person'ly dat wuz me. Well, yo' kin git de Bible an' tell dat. Dat tell yo', de Bible an' a key. Well, yo' kin git de Bible an' yo' read de firs' verse of Psalms an' yo' close de Bible. An' yo' ties a string roun' de centah of de Bible. An' yo' gits a key, a do' key, an' hangs on dat string. Hangs it on each string where it hang steady, an' let it stay dere until it git perfectly still. Den yo' say: By St. Petah, by St. Paul, if John took so-an'-so from me, turn Bible an' fall. An' he didn't, dat Bible will not move; but if he did, yo cannot hol' [hold] it till it turn.
Entry 8897
Then, you want to find out who it was, stealing? Well you get the Bible and put the key on the Seven Songs of Moses [whatever that is] and turn it [key] nine times. [Does in- formant mean the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, the hoodoo or witchcraft man- ual?] If you think of that person - you mean, if you want to know who it was?
(Yes, and then I want to make them pay [bring] it back, too.)
Turn that key on 'im an' jes' say: By St. Peter, by St. Paul, by the Lord and God who made us all; if So-and-so took it, turn key, Bible, and fall. If it's him, it'll fall. If it's this man it'll fall. And if it falls on this man [when his name is called], what you do, you get some lodestone; if you know where he lives. You got'a know where he lives to make him bring it back. Get some lodestone and put it up under his step in a little sack. Put nine pearl buttons in there. And if he walks over that, he will bring back whatever he took, right back where he got it from. But you got'a put that name what you called in that sack at the bottom step.
Entry 8898
Take a Bible, a small Bible. with a new do' key. an hang de new do' key - tie de Bible aroun' disaway, six times wit a cord. Tie de key into de leaves of de Bible, intuh Genesis chaptah. Hang it on a nail an' name it. An' de nex' mawnin' dat Bible will be turned right tuh de direction of de one who did de damage.
(Whoever stole the stuff?)
Yes.
Entry 8900
[These two unusual rites demand two explanations: (1) an illustration of the crossed-keys design, which has been a detail of the Papal coats of arms for centuries; and (2) a reference to my experience with this ancient symbol. 2+ Since these crossed keys point upward symbolically unlocking the gate of heaven, they are important indeed. How important they become in hoodoo we can learn by reading the remarkable interview called CROSSED KEYS AND VISIONS, Pp.1048-1059, vol.2. The doctor who granted me this interview will now be quoted in the following italicized words; my comments during the interview will be as usual in parentheses, my later-dated comments in brackets:] Ah'm 79 an' ah works mah business [healing and hoodoo] wit de "works of gifts." Ah'm "gifted" - "born gifted, " "born wit a sign." Ah make mah own medicine an' "doctor" people. An' den ah works wit people dat gits in trouble, lawsuits an' all sech things [for this latter type of work, see the following section CoURT CASEs]... Ah was born wit a cross mark on my forehead, an' ah was twenty years [old] befo' ah evah come in contact wit any "workin'" [of healing or conjuration].
[He now tells why and how he started this work.]
Blasting rock way back [years aqo] in mah home ah found dat key undah a rock, stronge form [for a key]. Ah work dat key fo' evahthing.
[He shows me the key and here is my immediate description of it.]
(They are double keys, the keys that are crossed.)
Ah worked evahthing by dem, don't care if yo' in a lawsuit or whut. Ah don't give yo' no "roots, " don't make no "hand" tuh send yo'. [For HANDS: MAGIC HELPERS see pp.519-669 and everywhere.]
(You found this key?)
Yes.
(You had a mark on your forehead, you say?)
One lak dat, de mark of dat [crossed] key, right in mah forehead. [This "x" on his forehead was not a birthmark but some prominent crossing in the web or netting of that part of the amnion forming the caul at his birth. I was especially interested in this "x" because two years previously at Charleston, S. Car., Doctor Brown could see the same mark on my, the author's forehead: "The mark that Doctor Brown inwardly saw on my forehead was the tav or taw =.sign or cross, 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Presumably - or at least I hope - I bore the mark of the elect or chosen of God (Ezk.9:3-7); not the mark of the beast (Rev.14:9)" - p.1290, v.2.]
(And then later on you found this [double key in the.form of a cross]?)
Yeah, aftah twenty yeahs. Now, ah was born wit dat mark on mah forehead. Ah found dat key undah a rock where we's [we was] blastin! one day, I an' daddy. We went back to take up de rock an' we found dat key, an' it wus jes' as bright as it wus [is] today. An' ah kin do evahthing ah want. Ah kin work business by dat ring [in the key, he points to it].
(That little ring on the end.)
Ah kin work diff'rent object [parts of the ringl, 'cordin' to whut yore case is. Ah kin work dat mark [something on key] an' ah kin work dis heah key up heah - jes' 'cordin' to whut de case is.
(You use various parts of that key for various cases?)
Yessuh. [Though informant's double key is appropriate here, one problem remains. Did he lie about finding the key 60 years before my arrival? Even a lie would not invalidate his actual work. Another fact we must remember, the difference be- tween the real world and the world of dreams and wishes is very thin in hoodoo. What I mean can be learned by reading the interview, SHE FORESAW AUTHOR IN A DREAM, PP.1085-1097, vol.2. Finally, WHAT A REVERSAL OF CLAIMED HISTORY IT WAS TO FIND THIS KEY UNDER RATHER THAN UPON A ROCK!] [These Papal keys, stamped from metal, were formerly sold in religious, curio, occult, and hoodoo shops, as well as by mail-order firms. Also used, especially as good luck pieces, were old coins and medallions. One of the latter was given to me by an informant back in the late 1930's. It reads on one side, Bullock Electric Mfg. Co. Cincinnati; on the other side, National Association of Station- Hrmy Engineers, Boston, Sept. 2-6, 1902. One of the most interesting of these many devices were the two colored stones or rocks used by a doctor in New Orleans, see margin title ROCKS, pp.198-204, vol.1. What I found in the field among be- lievers back in the late 1930's and early 1940's may not be there today. Fashions in this sort of thing change rapidly in the world of wishful thinking and commer- cial magic.]
[We have not reached the actual rite:]
You can take the Bible and you put a key - you get the KEY OF ST. PETER. You take that key and you wrap it with the handkershief. See you wrap the Bible with handkershief. And you have the key in the Bible. And you get another friend with you which is going to talk with you, he has gotta say the same thing you say. Well, each side you hold the Bible and then you speak. Each of you use one finger. You don't leave any other finger touch it but those two. And you hold it. And then you say this little prayer. You say: By St. Peter and St. Paul, the one who stole my things, turn Bible and fall. Now, if you say: Mack or Henry stole it from me, turn key, Bible and fall, then if Henry stole it, that Bible will turn and you can go right to Henry and get the goods. Go right to Henry, or George or Peter or whosomever it may be and that's the words they use: By St. Peter. [New Orleans, La., (809), 1137:4.] [For anyone interested in the development and use of the preceding keys, see David Lindsay Galbreath, A Treatise on Ecclesiastical Heraldry, Part I, Papal Heraldry, Cambridge, England, W. Heffer and Sons, Ltd., 1930. This learned work, well illustrated and docu- mented, gives many arrangements of the keys from coats of arms, seals, bookstamps or bookplates, architectural decorations, gonfalons, etc.]
Entry 8901
It's a different key from any. It's not lak de ordinary key dat we has. It's a key dat's shaped kinda lak a scissors. Yeah, shaped kinda lak a scissors. An' yo' take dat key an' yo' hold it up. Yo' git up evah mawnin' 'fore de sun rise an' yo' take dat key an' stan' up in de direction de sun's risin'. An' tell dat key whut yo' want, whoevah it wuz dat stole anythin' from yo' or whoevah yo' wanted 'em tuh bring it back, an' dat key will turn in yore han'. An' as dat key turn in yore han', if he stole anythin', he's goin' bring it back. An' if it don't turn, why yo'won't git it back. It's a key dat isn't made lak de ordinary key. It's a key shaped jes' lak a scissors, crossed.
(It's two keys crossed - like two keys crossed?)
Yes.
Entry 10703
Yo' kin take de Bible, fo' one thing with a key, an' if yo' an' I wus in heah. or three - foah of us, yo' kin call de rights one name. see. an' yo' kip tell exactly who it is, if yo' know how tuh turn it. It goin' tell de truth. Now bringin' it [stolen article back, ah don't know 'bout bringin' it back, but yo' kin tell who it is. True. [This is an incomplete Bible and key rite, a very common type of divination. You ask the Bible "yes' and "no answer ques- tions: Did John Jones take my pocketbook? If so, the Bible will turn and the key will fall, meaning "yes." There are examples of this rite scattered in HOODO0.]