Subject:Kill
Entries
Entry 1741
You have to have black pepper and salt - see, black pepper and salt, and any time a man have a toby or anything of the kind that way he have to be very careful, and if it isn't charged up with the right material, it don't do him any good. For instance, he'll put the fifteen cents, which represent money - silver dime and nickel in the toby. He'll put nine needles and nine pins. He will use some cinnamon powder in there with Cashmere Bouquet perfume to 'noint it with. See, writing his name and diff'rent names, the players' names that he plays with, on parchment paper - the sure enough one. They have the imitation and they have the sure enough parchment paper - it's kind of imitate [imitation] of sheepskin - having the name on the parchment paper, putting it in the toby and wearing it in their right pocket. Now, you got steel dust in there, you have a certain amount of lodestone. Now, whensomever anything going to happen in there - like a fight or any killing thataway, you will take a fearful feeling: That's time for you to leave. If any cutting or anything, any blood is drawn around in there near that it don't work any more.
(It kills the toby?)
Yeah, if any blood is drawn, you see. Any blood is drawn, you understand, it will have to be renewed again.
(I understand.)
So that's why any time anything is happening around thataway, you always have a fear feeling, you leaves out. See. And the same as a battery or anything of the kind, after a certain amount of time, you have to recharge it again, because it don't holds up - it goes away the same as a battery on a automobile. [The preceding fifteen cents is the magic of odd number - see margin-title Money - Uneven.]
Entry 3335
I had one of dose case ovah heah an' I had wanted $500 to cure dem, see, an' dey wouldn't give it to me. I'd a turned 'em loose, see. An' by dey bein' diff'ren' in color, dey killed one an' dey saved de oddah, see. Well, I ain't had no part in dat, yo' know, Doc, becuz I'm heah to live an' let live.
(Well, who did they kill, the woman or the man?)
Dey killed de woman.
(I see. Was it a colored woman? She was a colored woman?)
Colored woman.
(Was the man a white man?)
Yes.
[I wanted to be certain about the color of each.]
(I see. And they killed the woman?)
IF DEY'D KILLED DE MAN SHE'D A DIED ANYHOW. Onnahstan' [understand]? Well, DEY HAD TO KILL 'ER, see; CUZ DEY COULDN'T DO IT NO OTHAH WAY. See, becuz if dey'd been tryin' to save de woman an' kill de man, de woman would have died any- hOW. Onnahstan'? CUZ DEY HADDA CUT ROUN' TO SAVE DE MAN. DE WAY DEY HADDA CUT SHE COULDN'T OF STAN' IT. Yo' Onnahatan'? Dey hadda die. [As you can see, there Io no racial prejudice here, merely the inability of Doctors of Medicine - says hoodoo. Later we shall learn that cases sent to the hospital fare no better, the woman always paying with her life. Only once does an informant tell how a woman was saved. By the way, the amazing Doctor Brown - the man who says he could have performed the unperformable operation - will also be found: pp.1289-1294, 2246-2253, and in a number of scattered rites.]
Entry 3419
Dere wus a man goin' wit a girl an' he couldn't do nuthin wit 'er. Well, she'd have connection wit othah men, an' he couldn't ketch 'er, an' he couldn't ketch 'er. Well, dis same John McKinna, he lived at Clinton [N. Car.], he said, "Ah'll tell yo' whut tuh do." An' he tole de man whut tuh do. Well, he take a dog when she wus proudin' an' he cut it off, an' he goes home an' he wipes 'is gal wit dis thing. Now, dis wus at Wilmington [N. Car.], an' he said de nex' time dis man an' dis woman have connection, dey'll git hung up jes' lak dis dog did. An' IT WUS A WHITE MAN HAVIN' CONNECTION WIT A COLORED WOMAN. An' ah did know 'er mah- self, ah wus stayin' dere [Wilmington] at dat time. An' de doctor [M.D.] had tuh git 'em apart, an' de only [thing] he did wuz tuh give de woman a black pill. He kill 'er tuh git 'em apart. Ah saw de woman mah ownself. [Doctor McKinna appears or will elsewhere in HOODOO.]
Entry 4121
If yuh in love wit a woman an' cain't undahstan' it, an' yuh do' know why yuh love her - sompin lak dat - she given yuh some of 'er chamber lye. An' den [to free yourself] yuh taken yuh chamber lye, say nine mawnin's in suc- cessful [succession], yuh walk aroun' de house an' come back in, an' take a swallah yuh chamber lye. Dat'll kill de love fuh a woman who have ovahpowahed yuh. Yuh've seen men dat women jis' drag aroun', do' cāh [care] anythin' 'bout 'em, but dey cain't hep' dey- self. Well dey - dat whut makin' 'em [dragl. De woman put some of dat stuff, her monthly yo' might call [it, but here it is urine] intuh 'is coffee, yuh see.
[To be on the safe side, I fortunately summarize the rite.]
(Well, if this woman has used this chamber lye in his food, he can kill that by using his own chamber lye against hers. HE HAS TO TAKE A SWALLOW EVERY MORN- ING FOR NINE MORNINGS.) Fo' nine mawnin's tuh kill hers.
Entry 4226
Yes, ah have too. Ah heard dat jis' lak if somebody wuz tuh wanta fix yuh or poison yuh some way, an' if yuh kin take it - jis' lak if dey wuz tuh go 'long an' put down poison fo' yuh an' den, if yuh kin git dis heah tuh put ovah it, yuh see, befo' dis person git tuh it, den dat would kill de poison out of de dose dat dey have put down fo' yuh.
(They just sprinkle this chamber lye over it?)
Yeah, dey sprinkle it ovah it.
Entry 4280
Dey take yuh watah an' stop it up an' YUH'LL NEVAH MAKE WATAH NO MORE IN DE WORL'. Put it intuh a bottle - if yuh don't spit intuh it, see. If yuh spit in yuh urinate, dat kill de urinate [and an enemy cannot use it to harm you]. An' dey dig a hole an' put it undah de step. Well, yuh don't make watah nO mo', an' DAT CUZ YUH TUH BE WATAH BOUND.
Entry 4409
Well, dat is said to be done in dis way. Yo' have tuh watch a pusson to see where dey goes tuh discharge dere stomach, yo' understan' an' yo' git aholt of some of dat, yo' see. An' yo bo' a hole in dat tree, an' yo' git a wedge an' yo' put dat stuff in dat hole. Yo' git a wedge an' yo' drive it in jes' as tight as yo' kin drive it, an' den yo' put some table salt in dat. Dis table salt is fo' killin'. Table salt will kill a live tree, yo' know dat. An' de pusson wanted tuh git rid of yo'. When dey do dat dey wanta git rid of yo'. Bo' dat hole an' git dat table salt an' dat, dat discharge from dey stomach an' drive it. Drive it, an' as dat tree begin tuh rot - ah don't think dey kin wait dat long - but dat man will nevah discharge from de bowels no mo', in de hospital or nowheres else. Locked 'em fo'evah.
Entry 5809
If a person angry wit yo' an' yo' didn't know it, dey could put dere han's on yore haid on de top of yore hair an' it would all come out - from de top of yore haid, an' all yore hair would come out. But it would have to be a person dat is real angry wit yo'. Ah nevah heard where [whether] it wuz anythin' dey would put on de han' or Dot.
Entry 5864
Take de hair an' stop it up in a bottle an' it will run yo' crazy. An' den yo' kin take de hair an' bury it undahneath de do'steps. As long as it keep moist, it's all right, but if it dry, why it will kill yo'. (What do they put that under the door- step for?) Well, jes' yo' come walkin' in an' out an' de one dat did it, chew know, yo'll walk in an' out, walk in an' out ovah it, chew know, an' yo' don't know it'sdere.
(Well, why would they do that to me?)
Well, dey put it undah dere tuh kill yo' - some of 'em do.
Entry 6528
Yo' kin take any kinda animal bone an' grind it up. (Is there any way of getting these out of your system after you get them into you?) Sho', yo' kin take some - jis' say fo' instance yo'd have a pan an' let it rust, an' yo' kin take an' scrape de rust offa it, undahstan', an' git chew some watah an' put it in dere, an' jis' use dis [rust] watah an' dat'll cut 'em all up. [This of course is the old iron or steel remedy against witchcraft.]
Entry 6535
If anybody poisons yo', yo' git dem red ants - de red ants. Ah don' know nuthin 'bout nuthin but de red ants. An' yo' git dem red antses an' yo' put it in a li'le bit of whiskey, an' yo' put some gunpowdahs wit it. An' when yo' put it in dat whiskey an' de gunpowdah, yo' make it out a liquid yo' see, of a mub. An' den yo' put it down dere an' yo' git de white of a aig, an' yo' mix dat up as a rub stuff. An' rub yoreself wit it, an' if dere an' insect in yo', why dat'll cuz dem tuh leave. As fur as ah heard of dat.
Entry 6548
Yo' kin take a toadfrog an' hang 'im up an' kill 'im. Hang 'im fron' de fiah an' git nine drops of blood out dis frog an' put it in whiskey. Take de frog an' take an' kill 'im. If yo' kin git a snake, yo' kin take an' kill a snake an' git nine drops of 'is blood, an' put it in whiskey fo' yo'. It won' kill yo' right away. Yo' gon'a live an' be sick, but atter while dey gon'a be so big [inside you] dey kill yo'.
(How do they get those live things out?)
Well, lak dey put 'em in yo'. Go ketch yo' a snake an' don' kill 'im. Jis' split 'im open 'live an' - lak he's mad hot - an' smash it on dere, an' dat takes [those live things] outa yo'.
(Well, how do you get those frogs out?)
De same way wit snakes. Don' kill de frog, jis' ketch de frog while it's hot. Jis' play wit 'im or somepin an' make 'im mad. An' git 'im while he's mad, yo' see, an' split 'im right open an' slap it right on dat place, an' it will take de frogs out.
Entry 6606
Snakes, any kinda snakes, any kinda insex [insects], if dere somebody yo' wanta put snakes an' scorpions in an' kill 'em. Yo' kin take de snake an' kill it, any kinda snake yo' wanta be in a person. Yo' kill dis snake an' aftah yo' kill dis snake yo' name de person whosom- evah yo' wanta kill. Yo' would name 'em. An' fo' nine days yo'd go dere an' turn 'im ovah. He'd be dead. Yo' turn 'im ovah callin' de person's name fo' nine days. An' de ninth day yo' go dere an' take dat thin' an' parch 'im up, yo' know, an' jis' make a dust outa it. An' if yo' wanta put it in whiskey or amythin', or pat it in some tea or anythin' lak dat, yo' put de dust in yo' knoy vtut cheo make from dat dead snake, or scorpion or spidah or anythin', an' den yo' give it to den. It won't hurt nobody but dem dat chew called dere name. An' den when de ninth day's up dey'll take sick, an' den yo' know, dem dere snakes an' scorpions ll be livin' in dem people, whut yo' give dat dust to - in nine days tine.
Entry 6607
Yo' run 'im.
(Either the frog or the snake.)
Until he gits real hot. Yo' git chew a forked stick like dat [demonstrates] chew know. Yo' grab 'is haid while he's hot. Yo' cut dat haid off, yo' see. Yo' take it an' carry it tuh yore home, an' put intuh a chimley tuh dry tull it git so yo' kin jis' do it dataway [demonstrates] de dust of it. An' if yo' don' like a person, like ah don' like yo' an' pertend [pretend] like ah like yuh, yo' sprinkle it intuh dere food. An' dey tell me dat will certainly bring live things intuh de stomic.
Entry 6612
Ah heard 'em say yo' kin take an' ketch a blacksnake an' cut 'is head, yo' know, an' hang 'em up by de tail an' let dat blood drip in somepin. Put it in a bottle an' lak if yore frien's come roun', anybody come, yore frien's or prob'- ly yore enemies too, an' if yo' don' lak 'em, an' lak if yo' have a li'le coffee at dinnah or somepin lak dat, yo' put a li'le bit dat on dere cup an' dat will kill 'em instan'ly.
(What?)
De snake will kill 'em.
Entry 6647
Yo' kin take dis Eve-an'-Adam an' burn it tuh a powdah. Co'se yo' got'a dry it out good an' den let it stay on de stove. Don't let it burn black. Git chew some of de powdah, de ashes of it an' sprinkle it on dis candle. Git chure candle warm dat chew kin kinda work it in dere-like. Git chew a li'le of dis rattlesnake, dust outa rattlesnake rattle an' mix it intuh dat, an' light chew a candle. An' dat will keep yo' sneezin' an' cough an' effect yore eyes, until yo' won't be able tuh do anythin'. Jis' burn yo' a candle right aroun' in de room. If I'd have a li'le animosity ag'inst yo', tuh keep from doin' anythin', insultin' yo' or somepin, I may light a candle. Got it dressed an' evahthin'. Yo' set chere an' inhale dat an' yo' don't know whut's happenin'. Don't know anythin'. [You] is partly out chure haid, worse'n [worse than] like someone doped chah. It's a long run 'fore yo'll git right ag'in, from inhalin' de poison from dem rattlesnake [buttons] an' from de Eve- an'-Adam, yo' know.
Entry 6659
Ah heard dat yo' could take de hair an' take it an' put it in - jis' urap it up or tie it up in a cloth or somepin an' weah it on yo' some place. Weah it on de firs' piece yo' weah [wear next to skin] an' dey say dat will cuz yo' tuh come back tuh 'em. An' den ag'in yo' could take de hair an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up. An' put it in runnin' watah an' den it would turn tuh a snake. An' when it turn tuh a snake it would kill yo'.
Entry 6814
Well, jis' lak if people has some kinda goofah dust aroun' yo' take salt - cookin' salt - an' sulphuh an' sprinkle it aroun' wit chamber lye. Mix dat tuhgethah an' sprinkle it aroun' in yore house. Dat would kill it.
(Kill off this goofer dust.)
Dat put down fo' yo'.
Entry 6863
Red Seal Lye, bury it undah de step, takin' witch hazel, takin' para- dise seed, takin' oil of clovah, mix wit parsley an' boil well. All dose things tuhgethah, scrubbin' de place where yo' live at from de front do' tuh de reah. Aftah scrubbin', takin' de same watah, throw one glass tuh de east an' one tuh de west, sayin' In de Name of de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost. Well it [what was put down for you] don' taken no effec'. Dat'll kill off any bad spell, DEY CAIN'T HAHM YO'; NOT UNLESS YO' EAT SOMEPIN YO' SEE.
Entry 6984
[Here is a remarkable survival, perhaps my only example of the belief. This rite has survived not only time but also my notation doubtful, made only a few months after its collection out in the field!] Dey say if anybody wan'a try tuh poison yuh or anythin', or dey eithah try tuh run yuh crazy or anythin', dey say go tuh de runnin' spring [of water], an' git choo a stran' of [your] hair, an' turn yuh back to it [spring] an' t'row in de watah, an' nevah look at it, an' dey say dat'll kill dat [witch- craft]. [This is a substitution rite. The intended victim substitutes a strand of his hair, a part of his life, for the whole of his life. To earlier man, and even into the Middle Ages many springs or wells were considered holy, each well guarded by its own spirit. The Christian Church renamed these famous wells for saints. I lived for some months on a narrow winding street called Holywell, in Oxford, England. Further, the Old Testament tells us that songs were sung to wells and springs: Then Israel sang this song: "Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it, " in Numbers 21:17.]
Entry 7031
Ketch a frog an' put a pint of whiskey on a live frog an' de frog dies. [A small frog is squeezed into a bottle, whiskey poured on him, and the bottle corked up. I believe there is a simi- lar example of this frog treatment in Hoodoo.1 When de frog dies on de Viskey - it ain't goin' tuh hurt nobody - it'll make 'im sick. Jis' call a certain person, dat who all drinks so heavy, an' let 'im drink about two drinks off dat. Well, one drink, a good big drink off dat frog, an' den he won't nevah drink no mo' - have no mo' appetite fo' whiskey no mo'.
Entry 7246
I knowed a fellow and he lost all control of himself [because someone did this to him]. They cut up horsehair as fine as he [they] could cut it and put that up in his food, and after that was internal it formed snakes. They [the snakes] commenced to destroy him. This doctor took them out. He gave him saltpeter, olive oil, poke root, and other things [surely including a laxative], and mixed them all together and gave him, and perished those snakes and they crawled out of him. [For horsehair producing live snakes in person, see also Nos.6571-6572, p.3084.]
Entry 7415
Yo' take de watah. Jes' lak if dey got an idea what ah did ovah yondah to a person, an' dey wash de [dead] person. Take a half-a-pint of [this] watah an' place it to de casket [coffin] an' nine days aftah, well, if ah did de damage, ah'll follow de person. (If you killed that person?) Yes, if ah poisoned dat person, take de watah, firs' to de head. (What kind of water?) De watah dat yo' wash 'em in, git a half-a-pint of it. But jes' only wash one han' or dey feet. Git a half-a pint of it an' place it in de casket an' bury it along wit dere body. Nine days aftah dat ah'll go wit de [dead] body, too.
(You get the water from washing just one part of them?)
Jes' wash one hand or feet or anythin' - jes' git de watah.
Entry 7506
Dere's things yo' kin do to de dead man. If yo' go to dis dead man, dey claim to his grave, nine mawnin's an' call 'is name an' ast 'im who killed 'im, dey claim dat he'll tell yo' in de ninth mawnin'. (What time do you go out there in the morning? You go out there in the ' morning, you say.) Yes, go out to dis body jes' 'fore day - jes' since it's night.
Entry 7521
Gotta go to graveyard at night 'tween one an' two - dat's de time yo' gotta go. When yo' go dere yo' gotta have a heartless spirit - yes, dose terri- ble dead people yo' know. Well, jes' de way some of 'em is kilt, dey fs holler- in' dat same thing an' doin' it. Well, yo' go to dat certain grave dat dis person want dis dirt off. Ah'll go dere in de daytime an' pick dat grave out. Den ah'll go dere in de night, go in dere at one 'clock an' fes' dig doom in dere an git de dirt off dat certain person's grave. Well, ah'll come to yo' an' tell yo', ah say, "Nou, yo' take dis dirt an' if yo' wanta move such a one out chure house, yo' take dat dirt an' sprinkle it all roun' in dat house an' dat person can't say in dere to save dere life." An' dat very man yo' wus talkin' to he knows all about it, 'cuz he's de one tole me about it.
Entry 7550
Yuh kin go tuh a cemetery tuh find where a murderah wuz buried, a bad man whut got killed. An' take a dime, dig a hole, a little hole wit chure fingah. Take a dime an' put it down in dere an' covah de dirt back up. Dig yore dime back up an' take dat dirt off de top of dat dime. Take it an' sew it up in a little flannen cloth an' keep it in yore pocket.
(What will that do?)
Dat will keep anybody - anything yo' wants tuh do, why yore successful in it. An' yuh'll nevah be caught in anything yuh wants tuh do, or sompin dat yuh do, yuh'll nevah be caught in it s'long as yuh tote it.
Entry 7553
Hear dem takin' de bow out chure hat. Dey kin take de bou out chre hat - lak yuh buy a hat, go an' take de bow out chure hat. She kin take dat bow, if yuh don' git dat bow [first]. If she vants yuh fo' anythin' lak dat, she kin take dat bov an' have it dressed [by a hoodoo]; an' whatevah she val, yuh do. Even she kin take some wicked man or wicked woman dat she know, or she could have a wicked man dat got killed or anythin' lak dat. If he buried, she hin Cake dat bow an' she kin go tuh de cemetery, an' shet [shut] 'er han' lak dat [dero strates] an' take dat bow in 'er han'. An' run it down in dere, an' git some dat dirt from de foot of de grave, an' take it [dirt], an' den sewing it up an' keep- in' it up. Say jis' long as she do's dat, she's safe wit yuh - dat chure mind is nevah satisfied [unless you are near her].
(That is to hold a man.)
Entry 7621
Wal, dey learnt me dat if yuh wants tuh do any harm wit graveyard dirt, dat chew take ten cents [dime] an' go tuh a graveyard early in de amin' jis' befo' day, an' run yore han' down in dere jis' as deep as yuh kin. Have de dine in yore han' an' drop de dine dosn in. If yuh gu dem person name, yuh call dem name an' tell 'em yuh wants tuh buy a dime's wor' of dust an' do so- an'-so wit it. An' dey say when yuh git dat han'ful of dust, leave de dime dere an' take dat dust an' care [carry] it an' strike it round yore [victims] house. Jis' throw it roun' dey place of business.
(What will that do?)
Dey say that will run dem out or kill 'em, jis' whatsomevah dat yuh tell 'em
[the dead] tuh do - yuh wants tuh do wit it.
Entry 7676
If any harm wuz roun' yore place, go tuh a graveyard tuh de wickest person dat chew know dey buried in dere. Yo' come in on de right-han' side of dat grave as near as yo' kin. (The right hand side as you enter, come to the head of the grave.) Yes, dat's it. An' yo' go down, run yore han' down in dere an' come out wit as much dirt as yo' kin hold in three fingers [demonstrates].
(In the thumb, the index and the middle finger of the right hand.)
Yes. Den yo' go ahead an' yo' git chew some bluestone, pound it up fine. Den yo' go tuh all fo' cornah of yore steps an' yo' sprinkle dat down, but yo' do's dat at nine-thirty at night. An' ah don' cah [care] whut nobody put tuh de dat steps, dat stuff will run it 'way from dere.
Entry 7691
Sprinkle it [graveyard dirt] in yore baid an' it'll make yuh go away tuh nuthin. Yo' see, if somebody die, yuh go right dere an' take it right from de grave about middle- ways [center of] de grave an' say, "Lord, he'p [help] me in mah undahtakin'." When dey put it in yore baid, hit'll make yo' go away [tuh nuthin = kill you].
Entry 7806
From personal experience, yo' would go in de cemetery an' git dirt at a cer'in hour at night, an' dat hour would be twelve, 'tween twelve an' one, an' yo' would take dat if possible an' sprinkle it in de no'th cornah; an' if not possible, yo' Would sprinkle it aroun' de house nine diff'ren' times. In less dan nine days dey'd be moved wit'out any trouble. If yo' know how tuh kill it, in case if someone knew dat, had de ideah of dat, he'd do de same thing wit brown salt [salt browned on stove]. Take table salt an' as yo' sprinkle at night, why he'd git up in de mawnin' an' sprinkle ag'in, an' dat would kill it.
[As informant said, this sprinkling is done 9 times.]
(What kind of salt?)
Table salt. Yo' take it an' brown it an' dat will kill it. Now, dat's from personal experience. Ah know dat.
Entry 7998
Well, now heah's anothah one. Take yo a piece of wax an' make yo' a image of a man dat chew wanta inflict. Take yo' a needle an' do it de same as yo' do dat pit- chure, but yo've made a image outa wax.
(You don't bury that, do you?)
No sir, yo' don't bury dat. Jes' lak yo' see heah, if yo's [you is] drawin' a pichure. Yo' take a pieceof wax. AH RECKON WHEN YO' WUS A CHILE YO' USED TUH TAKE SNOW AN' MAKE LITTLE SNOW- MENS JES' LAK DAT - jes' sompin like dat. Well, den if yo' wanted tuh inflict it in de hand, arm or eye or foot, an' if yo' wanta kill it, stick dat needle right in de heart.
(That's all you have to do then.)
Entry 8013
Ah learnt dat if somebody has enemies an' yo' wants tuh do 'way wit 'em or wants dem from roun' yo' or wants tuh kill 'em, yo' kin ketch a dog an' kill him, an' dig a hole an' place him in de hole flat on 'is back. An' whosomevah it is yo' has somepin 'ginst [against], yo' name de dog aftah dem as yo' bury him. An' yo' git 'im in an' all 'is feets up, an' as yo' fillin' up dis hole buryin' de dog, yo' tell it, say, "Ah'm buryin' yo' In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, an' ah hope yo' will move." An' jes' when yo' say move fill it up. An' dey cain't stay dere. Dey must go. Dat moves 'em away.
Entry 8054
Well, yo' take a bone, say dis wrist bone here [demonstrates].
(The left wrist.)
Yeah. Yo' take de left wrist. If it's a evil person, say like some fellahs ah might recite yuh [or their] name fast: "George Bohall," "Up-jump, de Devil" [etc.]. All dose fellahs had police records, bad. Dey got kilt, dey died bad. Dey had tuh hold 'em down. Well, yo' take his bone an' yo' would bring it ovah tuh de house, an' yo' have what yo' call de dead pot.
(Dead what?)
Have a little pot about dat high, what de women use fo' po'in' [pouring] on.
(For what?)
Fo' po'in' on, tuh keep dere comb warm when dey are straight'en' [straight- ening] women's hair. Well, dey got a small little pot lak dat. It's a little stove, yo' know.
(Yes.)
Well, yo' take dat bone from dat evil spirit [the spirit of the bad man killed] an' yo' take it dere, an' yo' git some good whiskey. Yo' know, an' if he died a drunk. Dose are people dat yo' know [about], yo' know where dey grave, buried at, an' yo' go tuh dat most pahticlah [particular] grave an' git dat bone. Yo' put dat on de fiah an' yo' boil dat. Now, yo' set three hick'ry sticks across dere an' yo' set dat right on top of dat bone. Aftah yo' set dat on dat bone, why yo' take whiskey an' yo' po' ovah 'im, po' ovah dat mos' pahticlah bone. An' aftah yo' po' it ovah 'im, yo' demand 'im tuh go an' kill So-an'-so-an'-so.
(I see.)
An' dey goes on an' yo' do's de work.
(I see.)
Or else, yo' wanta, say, run 'im ovahbo'd [make him jump overboard], let 'im, let a automobile run ovah 'im. Yo' always place him in a place dat he'll git kilt.
(I see. You cross those hickory sticks?)
Cross 'em across. (And then when you - this [I demonstrate] is your pot. Are the bones in the pot?) No, dat's what de sticks are dere fo'. Supposin' de pot about dis size [dem- onstrates]. Well, yo' place [demonstrates] one here, one dere, an' one here. An' den yo' place de bone right 'cross dere lak dat [demonstrates].
(Oh, across the sticks.)
Across de sticks. Dat is tuh [I interrupt]...
(Then what do you do with the pot?)
Well, yo' mos'ly use a li'le turpentine an' linseed oil in dat pot - turpen- tine an' linseed oil in dat pot. But yo' start yuh fiah slow, jis' so, so she [pot] make an ord'nary steam. Dat is tuh keep a certain pressure on 'im. Den yo' demand 'im wit controllin' powah, say, "Ah demand yo' wit controllin' powah tuh go ovah an' do such-an'-such a thing. Go ovah an' kill Such-an'-such a one." An' yo' [the spirit] must do so. (I see.) [New Orleans, La., (819), 1171:2.] [As we have seen, there are many substitutes for the human body: (l) anything that came from the body, such as blood, semen, urine, excrement, sweat, spit, hair, fingernails, toenails, and footskin; and (2) anything that has touched the body, especially clothes. In this division we shall examine three entities that are not a part of the body and yet preeminently represent it - photograph and name and letters and handwriting. Of these three, name already has occurred so many times in the preceding rites, I shall start here with photograph.]
Entry 8098
Yo' kin take dat, jis' a tintype. Yo' kin take it an' bury it an' kill a person jis' as daid as dey evah have tuh die. Yo' take it an' carry it out somewhere an' yo' dig a hole an' put it in it, an' yo' jis' curse an' say, "Ah hope dat yo'll die an' nevah come back ag'in." An' bury it. Dat's de way tuh bury an' dey'll die. As dat tintype fade away, why dey'll fade away. Dey will shore die.
Entry 8262
Ah heard dat if yo' wanted tuh kill a person wit dere photograph, yo' could take his photograph an' set it behin' a burnin' bush or a pile of bushes, an' shoot it wit a rifle or pistol or sompin of dat sort. (Set it behind what kind of a bush?) Behin' a briar pile of bushes. Builds up de fiah an' put de pichure ovah tuh de side of it an' shoot through de fiah. Dat will kill dem. (You build a fire with the bushes and then you put this picture near the side. Right on the side?) On de side an' shoot right through de fiah.
Entry 8265
Lak yo' got a pichure, see, jis a pichure of yo'. All right, lak dey love yo', see, an' don't want see any- body else wit chew. Dey go tuh de fo'k of de road an' take a pistol an' shootdat pistol right in de centah of yo' face. When dey come back yo'll be daid. (You shoot this picture at the forks of the road.)
Entry 8267
Yo' kin take a man's pichure, anybody's pichure, an' go tuh de fo'k of de road an' shoot at dat pichure. Go nine times an' shoot at it nine mawnin's an' - eithah nine nights. An' yo' kin shoot at dat pichure nine times an' dat man will die.
(Where do you put that picture out at the fork of the road?)
Put it right at de fo'k of de road.
(Put it on the ground or up in the air or where?)
Put it on de ground. Yo' know, quite natural yo' kin take a stick yo' know an' pin it up so he kin see it, chew know, an' shoot at it.
Entry 8312
Dey kin take yore photograph, lak it be a li'le small pichure, an' take some - if dey Wanta hurt cha, dey kin hurt cha wit yore photograph. An' den dey kin bring yuh home tuh dem wit de photograph. But de way dey hurt chew wit de photograph, dey take de photograph an' dig a hole an' put it down in de hole. Bury it an' about five inches down in de ground, an' put salt an' peppah on it, cayenne peppah, dis here pulvahized cayenne peppah an' saltpetah [3 ingredients]. An' bury dat down in dere an' dat will make yuh git down sick, jes' on a drag. An' de mo' dat photograph rot, de mo' closah tuh de grave yo' will be goin'; an' aftah de photograph rots, yo' will be daid.
Entry 8397
Dey takes yore photograph, if dey wants tuh kill yuh or if dey wanta control yo'. Dey will take dat photograph an' dey will keep dat photograph in a place, where it's in dey shoe, an' dey weah it, if dey wants chew undah dere feet. But if dey Wants tuh kill yuh, dey will take dat photograph an' bury it on its face, an' leave it dere, an' take dere urinate an' wet on it, yo' undahstand. Wet on dat photograph fo' nine mawnin's an' dat's de end of dat. An' dey say as dat decay, when dat has fully decayed, why yo'll die.
Entry 8647
Now, yo' take a lemon an' put nine needles - nine goldeye needles - an' take cinnamon an' cayenne peppah an' sugah. Aftah dat chew take an' sew it up. Aftah yo' sew it up. take 'an' put it into de sock. Yo' Write de name nine times an' put it into dat sock. Aftah dat yo' jes' keep it. Dat is really goin' tuh stop de fellah from gamblin' an' won' fool aroun' wit any woman, anybody. If he have anything to say about anybody [woman] he see, he hate 'em, git against 'em. An' along fin- ally, naturally he leaves away. He leave heah lak on Friday, an' yo' won' see him no mo' at all, he disappeah. An' yo' come tuh find 'im an' he's somewheres layin' on de road daid.
Entry 9297
Take a rotten aig an' 'delible pencils, lak if yo' don' lak a person, write dere name on it an' jes' let it stan' dere until it busts. When it busts dat'll kill dat person. (Where do you let that egg stay?) Jes' bury it anywhere in de groun', jes' anywhere in de ground an' when dat aig busts, why dat person will die.
Entry 9322
(What are you going to do this for? What is the purpose of this thing?) Dat's tuh make 'em commit suicide. Yo' take 'er undahclothes an' her name, an' put it down nine ways. Yo' jes' write de writin' out till yo' cain't undahstan' it. [The writing becomes illeg- ible.] Yo' don't know whatsomevah it is. Den yo' kin take an' put it in a aig, see, an' throw dat ovahbo'd. Dat make dere mind, dey jes' go an' commit suicide. (You put this underclothing and this name - written on a piece of paper nine times - and put that all into an egg and throw that overboard. Then she will commit suicide in nine days.) [This rite is similar to preceding one, the piece of underclothing being very small.]
Entry 9341
Dey can do a lot of things with chicken eggs.
(Well, for instance?)
Ah saw a woman once with a chicken egg. She had 'im - her man an' her was mad an' she wanted him tuh, yo' know, die, bump him off. She had his pitchure drawed on dat egg, an' she taken dat egg an' she had hulled a lemon out, a large lemon, an' she put it in dere. An' she went back an' buried it in de cornah of de yard, undah de steps at de cornah of de yard.
(What happened?)
Well, he died.
(It killed him?)
Killed him.
(Was that all she had to do?)
Yes, dat was all she had tuh do.
Entry 9678
Yo' take de 'simmon bark. Ah heard dat one too, if anyone wants tuh trick yo' in any way. All right, yo' take de 'simmon bark an' yo' goes on an' yo' take nine tablespoon- fuls of table salt an' put it in dere wit dis bark. Yo' boils it. Den yo' take dis stuff an' go tuh dey house at night, chew know. An' when yo' backs out from dey house, yo' let it follah yo' from de do' tuh where yo' goin' - long as it leaks out. Well, if dey try tuh do anythin' dere's nuthin tuh dat.
(You put nine spoonfuls of salt in this persimmon bark?)
Yes.
Entry 9710
If yo' mad wit a man an' wan'a kill 'is timbah or ruin 'is timbah on 'is place [farm], yo' go dere an' bo' li'l' holes in it an' put sulphuh an' salt in dem holes. Dat'll kill 'is timbah.
Entry 9732
If yo' want tuh kill a woman or a woman wants tuh kill yuh, she could take six rusty nails an' git a piece of yore undahclothes, an' [or] ole stockin'. Takes it an' drop it intuh a quart jah an' screw de top on it. An' left about three holes in it, where jes' a li'l' sand kin drop in dere. An' bury it undah yore steps, if yo' aren't scared. An' den yo' walk in an' out an' back an' fo'wards [over it]. Jes' as de sand drop in dere, yo' [inside the quart jar] gits sick. Well, yo' git tuh de play [place] yo' won' be no mo' good tuh yuhself or nobody else. An' de mo' sand drop in dere de mo' closah yo' gits tuh yuh grave. Jes' kill yuh, yo' know.
Entry 9762
Yo' take nine nails an' drive 'em into a pine tree on de sunrise side an' make yore wish, In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' Holy Ghost. An' yo' kill a person dataway. (And you wish to kill that per- son when you are driving those nails in the tree?) Yes sir.
Entry 9796
Ah do know of crossin' three pins. Whut dat re'lly means - crossin' three pins mean dat in a very short time some person is li'ble tuh git stobbed [stabbed] or shot or cut. (Where do you cross these three pins?) Cross dese three pins up ovah yore do'. Place dem three pins up ovah de do' jes' lak yo' put one in each diff'ren' spot: one [pin] at dat run [over first pin] an' [third pin] right across dat run. [Like this arrange 3 pins.l An' puts [where] de per- son walk undah it. Well, in one or two months, or in three months, he'll be cut, shot or stobbed. [A similar six-spokes-of-wheel rite follows this rite.]
Entry 9808
Yo' take seven needles an' yo' take seven straight pins an' yo' take three nails. An' yo' kin take a quart of watah an' de stoppah tuh shet [shut] de quart bottle. An' y'o kin put dem dere seven needles an' dem dere straight pins an' dem three nails in dat quart of watah. An' yo' put dat stoppah in dere. Stop it up, but don' try tuh stop it tight. An' yo' place it at sun risin' undah yore baid. An' if yo' wanta kill a puh- son - lak yo' wanta kill 'im- yo' kin hit dat stoppah wit a hammah. But yo' don' want no iron hammah, yo' wants a kinda wooden hammah, yo' undahstand. [Wooden hammer is rare in HOODOO.] An' yo' hit dat a certain many times evah mawnin' tuh kill a puhson, an' yo' hit it one time aftah it's gone down, dat sun, jes' tuh lingah dat person - jes' tuh put 'im sick, where he be Bo mo good, jes' lingahin'. An' when dem needles rust out, he rust out. It won't kill 'im right away. Take dem nails an' needles in dat quart bottle, an' yo' kin hit dat stoppah three times where de sun rise an' in seventeen days he'll be daid.... [Here I turned off machine too quickly and had to reopen conversation with a qoestion.1
(Where do you put this bottle then? Do you put it under the victim's bed?)
No sir, yo' put it undah yore baid, an' when yo' hit dat, take it out evah sasnin'-time yo' git up, an' hit dat stoppah an' jes' call [the name of] which ane yo' wanta do [kill]. If yo' want 'im tuh lingah, yo' kin hit dat stoppah ane time, as de sun goin' down, de sun settin' in de weat; an' if yo' wanta Hul 'im, yo' kin hit it early in de mawnin' three times.
Entry 9840
Take nine needles an' nine pins an' bury 'em in yore gate, see. Well, dat will cause yo' an' yore family tuh bust up an' put chew in hard luck so yo' alone. But chew must go an' git dem nine needles an' things an' don't talk to nobody when yo' leave. An' carry 'em to de runnin' watah an' throw 'em ovahbo'd. An' dat family will be busted up an' won't nevah give yo no mo' trou- ble.
Entry 9859
Yo' kin kill a person wit a toadfrog. Yo' kin git a toadfrog an' jis' lak yo' had a enemah [enemy] an' yo' didn't wanta go tuh 'im an' jis' shoot 'im down perhaps. Yo' would git chew a toadfrog an' tie 'im up an' den talk tuh 'im jis' lak yo' wuz talkin' tuh dat individual [you intended to kill]: [1] YO'S MAH ENEMAH AN' YO'S DIS, [2] DAT, [3] AN' DE OTHAH, AN' YO' DONE DIS THING. [1] AN' AH'M GOIN' KILL YUH, [2] AN' AH WAN' CHEW TUH LEAVE, [3] AN' AH DON' WANT CHEW TUH BE IN MAH WAY. An' take a bran'-new knife dat hasn't been used, an' aftah yo' git through talkin' wit 'im, aftah yo' tied 'im [toadfrog] up lak dat, talk tuh 'im lak yo' wuz in a fuss wit dis enemy of yores. Yo's re'lly mad wit 'im an' yo' start tuh cuttin' 'im wit dat bran'-new knife, jis' sayin' things tuh 'im: [1] AH WAN' CHEW TUH DIE, [2] AH WAN' CHEW TUH DIE, [3] AH WANT CHEW TUH TAKE SICK AN' DIE. Aftah yo' git through cuttin' 'im, call 'im [toadfrog] a bad name. Dat individual will take sick an' jis' dwindle away, jis' lak yo' killed dat frog [toadfrog] an' named 'im dat individual.
Entry 9861
Yo' kin trim a fat-lightah splintah, lak a peg outa it, an' yo' ketch dat toadfrog befo' de sun rise. Anyway, kill 'im befo' de sun rise. Yo' push dat peg through 'im an' yo hold 'im dere until he dies. Den yo' take de peg outa dere an' tie a cord roun' 'is feet, an' yo' kin hang 'im up any- where on a bush. Or jis' take a stake an' put 'im on it an' make yore wish, In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an'Holy Ghost. If yo' wan'a person tuh move, yo' kin stick it up an' make dem move; if yo' want luck, yo' kin stick it up an' make yore wish fo' luck.
Entry 9902
In gamblin' if yo' wanta be lucky aroun' a skin game, yo' take yo' a frog an' kill it an' go tuh ant's bed, dem ole big red ant, an' put 'im in dere, an' leave him fer nine days. An' he goin' be hard [a skeleton], dem ants goin' eat 'im all up. Jes' take dat frog an' tote 'im in yore lef' pocket. Dat's one of devilest hands yo' evah see.
(You are going to be lucky.)
Yes, sir, yo' goin' ruin dem gamblahs. [Jacksonville, Fla., (549(, 687:7.]
Entry 9903
There was one trick they had. They used to ketch a frog and take this old frog, kill an ole land frog, an ole toad. And put him in a little box and make holes in it supin like yo'd a pepperbox. Little ants would crawl in there and them ants would go in there and destroy the body of this ole frog. And after he was dead, eat him up. You put that box into run- ulag water, whare there's a place of water running right steady down, until it washed all that ole filth, that ole eat-up flesh, away from that frog, yo' know, and leave nuthin but de bone there. And there was a certain bone there, I don't know what it was, but I've heared them tell it. There was a certain bone in that frog that they'd take that out and go around de girl's house. And if she was walkin' around, cookin' an' doin' anything, she had no knowledge of what was goin' on, why you could hang that in her dress.
(Hang it on the clothesline?)
No, her dress on her. She'd have a dress on. But, if you's to take that ole bone and stick it in her clothes somewhares, she passin' around de house an' you's settin' there talkin' with her, and she couldn't git clear of you.
Entry 9933
Yo' kin take a person's stockin's an' take de same thing, toadfrog dust an' bury it in de root of a tree, a young tree while it's yet growin', an' in a few yeahs dey'll pass away. Dey daid. (You mean you put this frog dust in this stocking?) No, yo' take de same dust an' wrap it up in de socks an' pick yo' a good little place in de root of de tree, whah de root growin' whah it's goin'a covah it up. Well, fin'ly dat root covah it up an' smothah it so it cain't git no air, yore gone.
Entry 9935
Git de toadfrog. Yo' take him an' kill 'im an' aftah yo' kill 'im, plug 'is eyes out an' leave it dry an' makin' a powdah wit it. Yo' throw dat in de person's stockin's or in dey undahweah or anywheah [in clothing] an' in a length of time it'll go in de po's [pores] dat-a-way, an' it'll create one de baddest so [sores] an' ah don' care whut de phi-si-ci-an will give yo', he ain't goin' tuh stop it. It'll become tuh be kinda lak a cancah.
(Just a bad sore?)
Yes.
Entry 9938
Well, yo' take a frog an' if yo' wanta jes' kill somebody an' don' Vanta, yo' know, jes' kill 'em right now, yo' ketch a frog an' put it in de cook- stove an' bake him real hard. An' when he gits cool enough, yo' take de frog out an' jes' mash it intuh a powdah. An' de person [to be killed], whatevah room de person sleep in, yo' put it in each fo' cornahs. An' each time dey eat, yo' sprinkle jes' a pinch in dey food. If it's a well, hearty person, dey'll jes' git tuh de place where dey won't have a appetite, an' dey'll grad'ly [grad- ually], de appetite grad'ly will grow po'ah [poorer] yo' know, an' dey'll die - jes' pine away. If it's a sick person, why dey already sick an' it don' take den long tuh die. An' dis frog [dust], if dey eat much of it, will grow a live frog in 'em. Dey [frogs] will move all about in dey body but it will kill 'em.
Entry 9940
Dey take de frog an' parch it up - kill it an' parch it. Save some of de blood an' den yo' parch de frog an' grind it up, an' put dat blood back in it an' put it in watah [to drink] or put it in yore food. But dey have sulphuh in it - sulphuh an' brim- Stone in dis frog wit de blood. An' dey put it in yuh food or in yuh water [you brink] or somepin othah, or whiskey or somepin, an' give it tuh yuh an' dat would Huyuh.
(What would that stuff do when it got inside of you?)
It would eat on yuh intestines an' eat all de linin' out chore stahmuck an' yuh intestines, an' kill yuh.
Entry 9982
(What sort of toadfrog? What sort of frog do you take?)
Jis' or'nary frog. Yo' take him an' yo' kill 'im an' yo' jis' salt 'im down. Ah 'magine yo' gits a five-cent box of salt. Jis' take an' scattah dat salt, jis' wad 'im ovah dit it tuh de time yo' think yo' got all dat salted don. An' yo' put 'im in one pocket an' yo' put de salt yo' didn't give tuh 'in in de othah pocket. An' if yo' go in a room roun' anywhere dey gamblin', jis' take dat salt, an' if yo' lucky an' got money, take dat same salt an' put it ovah 'im lak dat [demonstrates] an' dat'll give yo' luck. But chew have tuh pve salt in yore pocket.
Entry 9986
If a fellah wants tuh be lucky an' go tuh a place where dere's plenty of money at, an' he wants de othah fellah tuh fall, he go out an' kill 'im a toadfrog, an' he dries dat frog up. Den he go up, if he got a chimley, an' git one dese bats dat flies roun' de chimley - chimley bats. [Does informant mean chimney swallow?] Gits one of 'em. Den he'll dry it, an' he'll put dat frog an' dat bat in each one of 'is pockets. He's got a pair of dice in dere. [What informant means by preceding expression will be learned later.] Take dem dice out an' rub 'em in han' dat-a- Way [demonstrates] aftah he done tech de frog or eithah de bat. Now, yo' got a gamblin' house heah. Well, yo' 'lowin' [allowing] people tuh shoot dey own dice [not the house dice]. Well, ah'm yuh gamekeepah. Ah'm [I am = I have] got a stack of dollahs ovah heah [demonstrates]. Well, yo' come heah an' yo' say, "Ten dollahs fo' tuh shoot." Ah say, "Yo' want any dice?" "No, ah'm got a pair of dice." "Shoot 'em, "[I say]. Well yo' throw 'em out. Firs' time dey'll crap. Nex' time dey'll crap. He's back in 'is p'int [point] up dere. An' he say, "Ah ain't got no p'int [point] ah'll ketch mah p'int." Well, when he ketch a p'int, he might ketch a fo', six or eight or ten, an' right dere where ah'm done both. An' if ah speak up tuh 'im, he'll have de whole business. Dat's fo' a gamblin' han'.
(You use either of those?)
Eithah one of 'em. Gotta put one in each one of 'is pockets dis-a-wa y[demon- strates] an' when he gits ready - don' pull 'em out. He puts 'is han' on 'em an' rub 'em dis-a-way, see [demonstrates]. (Does he have both parts of the dice [the two dice] in one pocket, or one in each pocket?)
[Here I am surprised!]
Naw, he has two sets of dice, see. If he have one set of dice, he kin put 'em in each one [either] of 'is pockets - it mattahs ary [either] one of 'is pockets will do. But yo' gotta change it up sometime from one pocket tuh de othah, see. De frog he's dried up an' de bat he dried up.
Entry 10001
Den ah heard dat when show people come tuh town an' dey winnin' a gang of money out dere [at the show-grounds], yo' know, dey have some of dat stuff. Well, yo' kin put a frog in yuh pocket an' go on out dere an' win all de money yo' want. Dat'll keep down dat. Whut chew call dat stuff?
(What do they call that now? It's a powder of some sort?)
Dey call it, yes sir. Some kinda powdah dey use. Ah jis' can't think of de name of it. (Is it goofer dust?) Yes sir, dat's right! Well, dey [the show people] sprinkle dat down roun' de place dere an' yo' can't do no winnin'.
Entry 10003
[Show people use lodestone in their work to deceive you, but there is a Way by which you can protect yourself.] If de pusson gol' tuh go tuh a show - if yo' figah [figure] a pusson gotta go tuh a show, an' if dere's lode- stone or anythin' lak dat, yo' put dat frog in yuh pockit an' yo' valk in dere. Dat man cannot show. He'll come tuh yo' an' tell yuh tuh git dat frog out chure pockit or he have tuh break up 'is show.
(Any kind of a show?)
Any kind. If its lodestone anywhere 'bout it, a toadfrog kills it - any of dat slightly [sleight-of-hand] work dey can't work it. (Or any kind of slight-of-hand, they can't work it.)
Entry 10005
Ah heard dis about a frog. Jes' lak if yo' wanta go tuh a show, yo' take a frog - a toadyfrog. Dat whut we talkin' about. An' all dem lodestones where dey makin' all dese monkey motions in dem shows, yo' take de frog an' when yo' go dere yo' kin kill evah bit of lodestone dat dem folks is got in dere. Yo' see, yo' tote it [live frog] in yuh pocket an' dat'll kill all de lodestone dey got in dere - jes' lak dey workin' tricks or have shootin' gallery.
Entry 10014
De way dey git de black cats lucky bone, kill de cat alive an' put 'im in a pot befo' he dies thoroughly dead - in a pota boilin' hot watah. All right. Let 'im boil till all de meat come off 'is bones, an' po' all de meat an' bones all in de [stream of] watah. An' de bone dat go upstream, take dat. Dat's de lucky bone, de black cats lucky bone. [Presumably cat is knocked senseless be- fore being dropped into hot water.]
Entry 10022
If yo' wanta hurt 'em without - yo' don' wanta hurt 'em. Ah tell yo' whut ah've experienced. Yo' take dat black cat an' yo' kill 'im an' yo' boil dat cat. An' when yo' boil 'im yo' git de bone. Yo' gotta git de right bone, but if yo' ain't nevah experienced it, gittin' de bone, yo' don' know which one tuh git. So, ah've done had dis one fo' li'le bettah den foah yeahs. Well, people mightn't know which one tuh git or not. An' ah keeps it in mah pocket, jis' as ah wuz tellin' yo' an' ah has it all de time fo' foah yeahg an' nevah seen a bum day: [Did he have the bone with him? Strange I do not ask about it. Unfortunately machine was turned off here and any comments were missed.] Yo' reach down, when yo' boil dis cat. Yo' wait till it gits cold an' yo' reach down dere an' yo' git de right bone. Yo' don' know if yo' gittin' de right one if yo' ain't nevah seen it befo'. Some people might tell yo' sompin 'bout a glass [mirror] or sompin yo' look it in [in it] an' disappeah. Well. dey doa kaow dat, but if yo' ain't nevah seen de bone, yo' won't know whut chew gittin'. So ah seed it befo' an' ah knowed whut ah wuz gittin'. So it took me a whole day tuh git dis bone.
Entry 10023
Dey say take de black cat an' kill 'im, an' boil 'im an' wake ot all de bones, an' whatevah bone is de lucky bone, why yo' throw 'en all in see watah, runnin' watah, an' all of 'em 'ill sink tuh de bottom but de locy bone will stay on top. Dey said yo' kin take dat bone an' open any kinda do'.
Entry 10024
Dey take dat black cat an' dey kills dis black cat an' boil 'im down, an' one'll sit an' suck dose bones. Jis' suck dose bones until dey begin tuh cain't see. When dey cain't see, den dey'll know it wuz de right bone. Den dey git up an' go on do dere work.
Entry 10053
After killing black cat and sucking bone, go to three- pronged road 7 mornings before day, you will meet devil. Luck for seven years..[Deal Island, Md., resumé, 19:3.]
Entry 10069
Kill a black cat an' take him away out in de graveyard, build a fire an' stew him down an' git 'is bones - out de lef' hind laig. An' wrap dat up an dat's what de' call de black cat bone. An' dat makes yuh husban' or yuh boy friend - jis', he's right wit chah. Nobody kin git 'im. [Evidently a woman must manage this rite, though I never heard of a woman attempting the ordeal. In theory the person who wants a black cat bone must obtain it himself, but I am certain a hoodoo person or shop could arrange the business.]
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 10112
They claim you go into a graveyard about midnight. The first black cat that crosses in the graveyard, you ketch it and kill it and get the main bone. The main bone will be a knuckle bone called the black cat wishbone. [All black cat bones are wishbones but they never look like a chicken wishbone - see No.10104, p.3939.] [Fredericks- burg, Va., Ediphone cyl.47.
Entry 10115
First you catch the cat, kill it, then you take the bone out of the front right leg. Take this bone and let it dry and tie it around your leg, either leg, and wear it all the time. That'll bring you luck.
[Fredericksburg, Va., Ediphone 50.]
Entry 10120
Ah heard dat yo' kin kill a black cat an' git de right han' back laig, an' suck de marrah out 'is back laig, an' go tuh five fo'k of de road nine mawn- in's, an' yo' kin do anything yo' wanta do wit anybody. Yo' kin turn any kinda nachure [nature] yo' kin turn tricks, yo' kin do things.
(You go to five what?)
Five fo'k of a road - jis' a road runnin' dis way an' a road dat way, jis' five fo'k.
(Five roads coming together?)
Yes sir, jis' lak five points out chere; yo' know, de Timl bleville highway, dat's a five fo'k road, see. Well, yo' go down dere nine mavn- in's at nine a'clock. (You can do anything then?) Yes sir.
Entry 10126
The way I heard of that, you get the lucky bone of a black cat. You get the bone out of his left hind leg. You have to kill him and skin him and get this out, and you wear that. [Fredericks- burg, Va., Ediphone 39.]
Entry 10137
You kin sell yourself to the devil with the black cat by killing a black cat and taking the heart out before she die and swallah it.
Entry 10138
" They take the heart out of black cat, like when her husband is a drunkard. Well, they take that heart out of the black cat, which is not much more bigger than an oyster. Well, they will take that and put it in an oyster, you see, and - like some women they feeds their husbands ~ and the husband likes for the woman to feed them. Well, the first thing she will stick in his mouth is that black cat heart, and after: he eats that black cat's heart down, he will soon go out somewhere and some man will kill him, because it makes him very mis- chievious and makes him meddlesome. Perhaps if he is colored, he will go and meddle with some white gentleman and the white people will kill him. Well, that is what she give him that for, because he loses his conscience the minute he swallows that and he will go and get rough with anybody and meddle with anybody and that is why he gets killed and that is why [what] she perhaps will want. That is what she does that for, to bring his death.
Entry 10147
If dey fixin' to throw sompin down fer you to walk on, you can git you some dead cat bone an' bury it under your back step. [Wilmington, N. Car., resume, 185:5.]
Entry 10555
Take a bat an' kill him an' ketch de blood in a bottle of watah an' carry it in yore purse. An' let de bat dry an' hang it up in de no'th corner of yore house, an' cover it up, an' it always bring luck to yo' as long as yo' live there.
Entry 10556
Now yo' kin take a bullbat an' if yo' wanta tuh, jes' lak if some people, yo' know, dey play de bolito or somepin an' dey wanta dream a good num- ber. Well dey take dat bullbat an' dey goes out an' dey kill him an' git some of de blood, yo' know when it's running from him an' take it an' jes', anything yo' know, an' [with this blood] jes' write jes' whatever yo' wanta know, yo' see, onto dat paper, an' place it under yore head dat night, an't [and it] will come tuh yo' in yore dreams, jes' whatever yo' wanta know. Yeah, if yo' wanta git de right number.
Entry 10562
Well, dey take dis bat an' kill him, an' let him dry; jest lak leather anyway, see. Jest let him dry an' jest [wrap] him up an' jest tote him in yore pocket. [For 3 dried bats see later.]
(The whole bat?)
De whole bat.
(What will that do?)
Well, dey tell me dat's lucky to yo'.
(In any particular way?)
In anything yo' start, any thing.
Entry 10574
Den, if yo' want luck wit winnin', say yo' kill a bat an' take de heart out of de bat, aftah yo' kill it. Den aftah yo' taken dat heart out, take dat heart an' make a toby, see, an' sew it. Yo' take dat heart an' git chew some good flannen, an' aftah yo' git some good flannen, den git some good perfume called Jockey Club - lucky perfume - an' a piece of lodestone. An' den yo' take an' dampen dat lodestone an' sew it togethah - sew it up. Sew it up in dat red flannen. An' den aftah yo' sew it up in dat red flannen, dat's a lucky piece [a toby]. Dat will bring yo' luck. Dat's whut chew call luck. An' all yo' gotta do is jes' grease yore han', jes' when yo' wanta go tuh gamble or sompin lak dat. Oil yore han's 'fore yo' go, den yo'll have luck. Now, if a man is got a lucky han', dey come tuh yo' [root doctor] an' say, "So-an'-so got a lucky han' an' ah wanta know how tuh stop him." All right. Yo' tum right aroun'& den an' git chew some salt an' red peppah an' sew it up in de same thing. an' give it to 'em [himl an' let 'im wear it in his right pock- et. An' when he goes tuh gamble' an' find de fellah dat's got dis luck, take his [own] bag an' hit his han' dat-a-way an' rub de dice. Dat will kill dat.
(Any kind of flannel?)
Yessuh. Jes' since it's de red flannen. Dat'll kill dat.
(Kill the other fellow's luck.)
Yessuh. Dat will kill, too.
Entry 10601
[This is the only rite in HOODOO where informant pretends I am the proprietor of a gambling house. Several of these pretenses elsewhere in these volumes I have called my being a guinea pig; a willing one, if it produced a hoodoo rite.] You can take a bat and take and kill a bat. You can take the wing, you bury the wings. Just like if this is a house where you going to gamble at, you bury one wing on this side of the house, one wing on that side of the house. You take that backbone of that bat and you get you some emory dust, you get you some Hearts perfume [has a number of small red hearts on label] and you get the name of the man that's running that place.
(You mean that gambling landlord.)
Like you is the proprietor, I'll get your name.] I'll put all of that together and wrap it in a flannel, and I'll put that in my house. See.
(Not in the gambling house, but in your own house?)
In my house, and as long as I'm got control of that thing, I kin control that gambling house. I'll be winning. I may go in there and lose a dollar and a half today, lose a dollar and a half this evening. I'd go back there tonight [or to- morrow] and I would win.
(I see.)
Entry 10635
If yo' have a house to rent an' can't have no luck in keeping people i it, probably somecne had tricked yo' with de house, ah could tell yo' bog to Straighten it [out, the problem of renting house]. All right, yo' coald go to de drug store an' buy yo'self a cake of alum, buy yo'self a cake of cpbor gu O dat cake of camphor gum in fo' parts. Put one of those parts under yo' front do'step. Put one of dose parts in de right-hand corner of de house as yo' walk in, an' one of dose parts in de left-hand corner, den put one in dis last corner up heah - dat still is in de left-hand corner [the back-of-the-house left cor- ner as you walk in]. All right, after yo' do dat, yo' take dat alum an' pound it up, with a tablespoonful of alum to each one of dose [parts]. An' if dere any kinda junk [conjure] in dat house dat gives yo' hard luck, dat alum an' stull [camphor gum] will eat it up. [The more usual form of this rite is the four-corners-of-the-house one, it representing the four corners of the world (Revelation of St. John the Divine, 7:1). In the present rite the front doorstep appears as a substitute for the fourth corner. To balance this change the two left-corners are used and the symbolism of the 3 corners (the Three Holy Names) usurps the 4 angels, 4 corners and 4 winds of St. John. The four-corner rite often becomes a quincunx by adding a fifth point in the center.]
Entry 10652
Dey jes' take de red ants an' make a tea, yo' see. Well, yo' don't know nuthin about it. Yo' know, dey may make some iced tea or lemon tea or somepin lak dat an' give it to yo', or coffee. Yo' don't know when yo' got it, but it will come to really kill yo' - stop yo' from makin' watah, see.
(That will stop you from making water.)
Yo' can't make no mo' watah.
Entry 10718
Ah nevah heard of 'em using a fish, but ah've heard of 'em using a bird. Dey take de two birds to find out whethah a woman is guilty of fornication or not...a man with his wife. Yo' take de two birds - yo' ketch de two an' take [hold] dem ovah runnin' watah, an yo' kill one an' let de othah one go, an' if she's guilty she swells up.
(What two birds do you take?)
It didn't say any certain birds, jest two fowl of de air. [This rite comes from a book, as informant's last statement shows. Nine informants preceding present one, this two-bird rite Was given in a different and expanded form. Rei versing this order, the longer rite now follows this present one.]
Entry 10737
If yo' take a person's ministrate, take watah, yo' know whut yo' wash things [with] an' take their ministrate an' stop it up in a bottle, an' when it dries up, they'll die.
(Just leave it in the bottle?)
Yeah, stop it up.
Entry 10766
Gunpowder, bluestone, brimstone an' beat it up together an' burn it five days out on de edge of yore yard to kill yore stock. I'd do dat to kill yore stock - hogs, cows, chickens an' yo' people. Yo'd have a sick pile ovah dere, fast as one git sorta straight- en [out] de rest git down; all like dat, sompin happening all de time.
Entry 10769
An' den yore boss, seems lak he doesn't lak yo' - he doesn't lak yore work. Well, yo' go home an' yo' say, "Well, ah believe ah'll fix somepin fo' mah boss tuh make him lak me." Well, yo' go ahead an' yo' git chew some saltpeter, yo' git chew some table- salt an' some sulphur, [salt and sulphur to kill cunjure put down against you] an' yo' [put the salt] in dat sul- phur an' yo' bathes in dat saltpeter. But chew use dat sulphur, yo' takes a pinch of it, an' den yo' sprinkle some sulphur in yore shoes an' rub yore hands with it. Yo' know, yo' can't go round people with it. An' sprinkle Hearts Col- Ogne round dere [where you walk]. An' when yo' go out yo'll git affection. Dere ah'll come up, right chere, "Good mawnin', everybody, good mawnin', howdee dis mawnin'?" [They answer], "Jes' dandy." "Well, why'd yo' have sech-an'-sech a thing fo' breakfast?" "Oh, i enjoyed such-an'-such a thing last night."
Entry 10772
My grandfathah said one time it wus a lady, huh husban' runnin' aroun', she couldn't nevah keep 'im at home. So some ole lady a-nother tol' der... I don't know who it wus.... But she tol' der tuh git some bramble briers - git de root- cut 'em up, boil it in 'is coffee an' give it tuh 'im when he come in, tuh keep 'im at home.
Entry 10864
Git de hair offa cat. Dey say yo' kin put dat in de food where dey eat an' dat makes hair grow in 'em an' dat'll kill 'em.
Entry 10872
Take the fur. (Cut the fur?) From under the black cat's left leg or the left quarter. (From the front or behind?) Behind, and let it get right dry and you kin fix in a way. Clip it fine and you kin throw it over somebody, but you gotta make the black cat laugh. (I see, before you cut that hair. And then when you throw it over somebody, what will that do?) Well, that goes in your flesh - sticks in your flesh.
(I mean, what is it supposed to do to you?)
It works in your flesh, they say it'll work in you and it effect the flesh so that you taken with a certain disease in your skin and you'll die.
Entry 10954
Kill de chicken while it's live an' cut it open an' put it on de wound, it will kill poison from de rattlesnake.
Entry 10958
They write a person's name in the blood of a chicken, or fowl, or bird. They kill them and they don't pull their heads plumb off, they cut it so they bleed on the side of the neck and let it drain in the basin, and take and write a person's name with it for ill omen for any particular person. That's supposed to be very, very bad luck to write a person's name in blood.
Entry 10960
Dey use de chicken's blood fo' evilness, but now, it's somepin else dat dey have tuh use wit it. Dey takes chicken blood an' writes people's name wit it. Dey have tuh use a feathah. Dey take de feathah out of de chickens tail. Take an' write a person's name wit chicken's blood an' kill 'em. Why yo' uses dat feathah fo' yore pencil an' yo' kin write dere name in de fo' cornahs on anything an' fold de fo' cornahs, jes' lak dat. Why dat gives 'em a awful mind. If it don't kill 'em it will jes' [have] dem passin' away all de time. (What do you do with that paper then, after it has those names on it?) Take dat papah aftah yo' put dat name on it an' bury it in undah dey do'steps or any place wit dat chicken blood on it. Yo' write dey name wit de chicken's blood, dey perfect [full] name fo' times on de fo' cornahs of dat papah, an' fold it an' bury it undah dere do'steps or undah yores, any- body's elses. It don't make any diff'rence jes' since it's in de earth. An' as dat chicken blood passes away, why it gives yo' success. Dey cain't stay any place.
Entry 10963
Ketch de blood when it's warm. When you kill a chicken, don't let de blood get cold, ketch it while it's warm, you see. And take and mix it with sul- phur in a can or anything and set it aside and just before it get cold, if you kin get dat person to bring some of that stuff on them, that will kill them. [This is done magically by putting on vic- tim's name or handing him something that has touched on contains the mixture.]
Entry 11045
De rooster, ah know a little sompin 'bout him. Yo' kin take a rooster three yeahs ole an' kill him. Take his haid. Yo' see a ants' bed haven't yo'? Jes' take dis ole rooster's haid an' jes' put it in dat ants' bed an' let it stay. Yo' know de ants will shore eat de meat off de skull. An' let it stay dere jes' long enough fo' dose ants to git all de meat off de skull, go through his haid an' git all de brains an everything till it come to be testified [petrified?] an' ole. Well, dat's luck.
(How would they use - what would they do with that?)
After den, dis ole fellah tells me, yo' goes tuh de 67th [6th and 7th] Book Of Moses an' den he'll give yo' de direct answer.
Entry 11117
Some people dat suppose tuh be poisoned, yo' know, dey'd drink dat coconut watah - not de coconut itself but de watah [or liquid in unopened coco- nut]; an' dey suppose tuh drink it fo' a certain ml ber of days an' nuthin else, no food or anything else, an' dat jes' kills de poison. [Poison here is boodoo, not chemical poison.]
Entry 11331
Ah said, jes' lak someone is gone an' yo' want 'em back home, why yo kin take a dove - git chew two doves. Kill one de doves an' let de othah one be live. Jes' lak, say fo' in- stance, yo' want Charlie tuh come home. Drop three drops of dat blood outa dat dead dove on de wings of dat live dove - on each wing - an' call Charlie's name wit each drop of blood. An' drop three on de next wing an' call Charlie's name. An' turn de live dove aloose an' let him go wit dose six drops of blood on his wings, yo' see. An' dat will bring de person back home whut chew wanted back.
Entry 11337
Well, yo' take now fo' love - yo' know whut dese little ole hoot owls is, yo' know. No, ah mean dese little morning [mourning] doves. (Mourning doves that coo-coo like that?) Yes. Well, see a person kin go out, chew know, an' kill one of dem an' cut de tongue from under his mouth, an' place it under yore tongue in yore mouth an' kiss a girl, an' it'll be hard fo' yo' to git rid of her. She'll come to be in love with yo' an' yo' couldn't git rid of her.
Entry 11338
Mah husband had quit me once an' a girl tole me about a dove. She tole me tuh take de tongue of dat dove an' put it tuh dry, an' den lay it in Hearts Cologne, an' den when ah gits a chance tuh go wit mah husband, tuh put it in mah mouth an' kiss him, an' his love would come new ag'in to me. So ah tried it an' suah enough, it did.
Entry 11363
It's just like if you go out and have a passage. You will take that and put it any place that will do, put it in a jar. Get nine needles and nine pins and nine tacks, and put them in there and stop that up, and it will cause you not to move your bowels. They won't move. They'll pass through your mouth and finally it will kill you.
Entry 11384
Yo' take dat file an' it's a certain place at chure steps. yo' stick dat file down on de point. But chew gotta have sompin else tuh go undah dat. Yo' gotta have... Yo' take dat John de Conkah, yore chamber lye an' a teaspoon fulla sugah. An' de blue- stone yo' beat it up, if yo' don't git it compounded. Yo' beat it up an' put it in dere, an' yo' take it an' yo' put it in a hole. Den yo' take dat file an' yo' stick it down - po' it [ingredients] in dat hole an' stick it [file] down dere, about two or three inches from yore steps. Dat's whut dat file is fo', tuh keep down dose sharp things [an enemy could bury under your doorstep].
(What will that do now?)
Dat will hold yore luck in dat house. It will hold yore luck.
Entry 11665
You go from home to the fork of the road sometime.
(You go to the forks of the road, then what?)
You go from home to the fork of the road. You, somebody wants you to do somepin for 'em to harm 'em [someone else]. You take you a frizzly chicken, you stand on the left-hand side of the fork of the road, and you got the per- son's name you wanta do harm to. And kill the chicken and put their name inside of the chicken and bury it. But it have to be before day in the morning, after twelve and before day in the morning. (I see. You bury this frizzly chicken and that name in it, the name of the person you want to harm?) Yes.
Entry 11673
Say yo' kin go to de fo'ks of de road an' take, yo' know, dat crossin' sand. [sand from crossroad used in crossing person]. An' go an' git 'im, say, a box about foah inches square. An' git a piece of flannen cloth. An jest lak it wus me, dey take mah name [write it] and [write] whatsomevah dey wanta do tuh me; lak dey wanta kill me or wanta lingah me. Dey kin take dat an' read de 35th Psalm fo' nine days at sunrise, an' [while reading it] turn yore haid to de sunrise, an' dey kin kill yo'. (What would they do with all these things in that box? You didn't tell me vhat they did with those.) Well, dey would jest go an' dey would take dat crossing sand [sand from cross- road] yore name, yo' understand, an' dat jest be closed up [in the box]. Yo understand me. Go out an' put dat ingredients in deah. It's a dragon's blood dat chew kin git - dragon's blood - put it in dere. An' put dat box back to- gether, yo' know, jest like yo' kin use dat sand an' dat dragon's blood an yore name an' read dat - yo' understand, dat 35th Psalm.
(Where do you put that box then?)
Well, yo' jest place it most anywhere about in de house, ain't got no certain place.
Entry 11732
They kin hant [= hoodoo here] choo to death by throwin' a ole grass around yuh do'; yo' know, dried-up grass. An' you git you some kerosene oil [kerosene] an' some ashes [from fireplace or stove] an' all like that, an' throw it right around your do' an' dat'll make you move out. [Informant here has combined two separate rites: first one, anything dead left or thrown at your door will hant (haunt) or hoodoo you; second one, fireplace ashes (originally) or kerosene (another substance connected with fire) will conquer the dead grass.]
Entry 11738
Yo' kin go to the graveyard about 12 a'clock at night. Understand now, yo' git this dirt off a sinnerman's grave, 12 a'clock at night. An' yo' take this dirt an' yo' mix some salt with it an' [red] pepper. Yo' under- stand me now? An' yo' go an' git a No.6 gunshell; yo' know one of them No.6 gunpowder, those shotgun, them shells, yo' know No.6. An' yo' open it an' yo' scrape all that gunpowder out. An' yo' put that gunpowder, that cayenne pepper and that salt wit that graveyard dirt, but don't take it nowhere near your home. Yo' understand, don't let it go near your home. An' yo' take that an' throw it up on their door an' all the hunting[?] they do, they shore git killed.
Entry 12307
You catch about six big roaches and pound them up good and put them in a can and make tea out of them. And after you make that tea, you strain those roaches out and put it in your hair where the louses are, and that kills the louse off. [Lice, of course, can be put into your hair by hoodoo. This remedy kills hoodoo.]
Entry 12324
Yo' could use de strucken wood, de wood where it strucken by lightnin', an' dey said dat dey use it on a person an' dey said dat dis person will soon die.
(How would you use it on a person?)
Well, jes' go tuh work an' make a tea an' put de tea tuh de bread, from de same wood. Jes' take it an' put it in a pot an' boil it, an' give de person de tea. Or eithah jes' mix it in whatsomevah dey eat. From lightnin'-strucken [wood]. (Well, what about burning the wood. Did you say something would happen about that?) If dey burn de wood, de person will soon die.
(Who Would soon die?)
Whosomevah goes tuh work an' use de wood. Well, if dey use it In de Name of de Lord, dey couldn't take it, dey say. But yo' kin use it fo' whut chew wanta use it fo'.
Entry 12326
Said yo' could git a piece where de lightnin' struck. (A piece of wood from a tree that the lightning struck.) An' put on yore pot [put pot on fire] an' put it [lightning-struck wood] in dere an' boil it, an' scour [the bed] wit it in March, an' it will kill out de bugs, de chinches [bedbugs].
Entry 12379
Well, if dey's put down any- thing fo' yo' tuh walk ovah, why de' tell me tuh git a can of Red Devil Lye potash an' bury it in de groun' an' leave de top 'bout half open an' hit'll kill whut dey got put down.
Entry 12384
Heard of people takin' a knife an' puttin' it down [burying it] yo' know, jes' lak if ah'd go ovah tonight an' put down sompin fo' somebody an' dey git up de next mawnin' sick or could- n't move or sompin, an' anothah man would come along an' he say, "Well, yo' take some lye an' put ovah that stuff' an' that kills that.
(That kills the poison they put down.)
Entry 12387
Dis heah Red Devil lye, it's good. Yo' know it's good an' yo' know it's bad. Take it an' make good out of it an' take it an' make bad out of it. (Tell me how you can make bad out of it first?) Well, yo' kin take that an' eat so much dat'll kill yo', yo' see. An' den yo' kin take it ag'in if yo' know anyone wanta do anything to yo' roun' yore home an' yo' not knowin' it. Git chew fo' boxes of it an' yo' put chew fo' holes in each one of 'em. An' take yo' some bluestone, salt, red peppah an' put all dat in dat bottle [box] an' yo' take an' yo' bury dem at each corner of yore house. If yore yard evah be covered wit watah [after a rain] why yo' know den everything killed. (Everything is killed that they put down for you.)
Entry 12432
Ah've heard this about a mockin'bird. Ah knows dis to be a fact because me an' mah brothah is [when just] boys, yo' know, we's gwine long at night, a dark night, an' we would go whut we call bird threshin' yo' see. We went bird threshin' an' killed a mockin'bird.[This is evi- dently done with long switches or sticks, beating the shrub- bery on which bird was singing. I should have asked for details.] Well, mah mothah wuz living den - mah mothah's dead now. An' she tole us, she said, "Chillun, ef ah wuz yo' all ah wouldn't eat dat mockin'bird, " she said, "dat is mah death dat chew'all got." Well, we went ahead on. We went ahead on an' eat de mockin'bird an' sure 'nuff in about six month's time mah mothah died.
(What did that have to do with her death?)
Well, ah don't know, but dey say [to kill] a mockin'bird is bad, say dat would be murder. But we went ahead an' et dis mockin'bird. An' so dat wuz mah mothah death.
Entry 12665
(In that gambling game if somebody has a better charm than mine, could I kill this charm in any way?) Easy. Yo' kin kill this very easy, that is when yo' gambling. Yo' takes a little perfume in a bottle an' carry that with you. Yo' rub yours [gambling piece] in your hands. Yo' take that piece [gam- bling hand] off an' yo' rub it in your hands, put a little more perfume on it. Jes' have it so dey kin smell it, see, an' by yo' being perspiring yore odor is involved with it, an' that takes his [hand] too.
(That will kill his charm.)
Entry 12710
If yo' wuz sellin' whiskey an' de law wuz pretty bad, botherin' yo' aroun' yore house an' yo' wanted tuh keep 'em away, why yo' kin take a rabbit - kill a rabbit an' yo' kin kill a chicken. Take de chicken foot an' de rabbit foot an' bury dem tuhget- hah in de gate where yo' come intuh yore front do' at. Put dem in de ground an' bury dem tuhgethah. Den yo' goes back in de house aftah yo' do dat. Yo' goes back in de house an' yo' probably stay in de house ten or fifteen minutes an' den comes back out. Yo' comes back out an' yo' digs dis rabbit foot up an' dis heah chicken foot, an' yo' don' bury 'em tuh- gethah nex' time; yo' bury one on de right-han' side an' one on de left-han' side. De way ah heard it, don' make any difference which one yo' put on de right an' which one on de left. Yo' bury one on de right an' one on de left - on de left side of de do'steps, by de cornah of de do'step. An' yo' takes one of de toes off de chicken foot an' carry it roun' tuh de back do' tuh keep 'em 'way from de back, an' yo' bury dat down dere. An' dey say yo' won' have no trouble wit de law as long as dem feets is solid. An' when dey rot - yo' kin tell when it will rot down dere. Yo' have tuh bury some mo'. An' yo' won' be bothahed wit no law. A lady down heah in town heah, she had a experience wit dat.
Entry 12716
Well, you ketch you a live rabbit and cut his left-hind foot off before you kill 'em, and take it and put it in a bag. Get you brick [make it into] dust - make dust out of it, and take the hairpins of whatever vosl en you want this to be, just take the hairpins she been using in her haid and put it in that and tie it up, and tote it in your left pocket. And as long as you do she can't leave you, she be right there all the time.
(I see, that's to hold a woman.)
Yes.
Entry 12924
De way ah heard it, dey says: jes' lak yo' see a person's shadow. Yo' take de measure of his shadow. Jes' lak a person walkin' along an' he hap- pen tuh stop an' yore shadow's up 'ginst de house or.... Well yo' jes' take dat width. Write it lak 18 inches or whatsomever: two an' a half foot or whatsomever yo' see, or six and a half or whatsomever it is. Yo' jes' do dat an' bury dat - de inform- ation. Dat's tuh run someone, sompin other lak dat.
(What will that do to a person?)
Dat will kill dem.
Entry 13083
If yo' didn't like nobody an' yo' wanted to fix 'em some kind of way, says yo' kin go out in de woods an' kill a snake an' let its hide dry. An' dey say if yo' want dem to have snakes in 'em, go dere an' put it in dey water off dat hide. Dey'll have snakes in 'em.
Entry 13086
Yo' ketch yo' a snake an' kill dis snake. Now, yo' if [you] know it 'tain't but one person goin' handle dis axe, take dis snake an' rub dis snake undah dis axe handle or eithah a hoe - what [what- ever] it is. Lak now, if ah wus mad wit chew an' if ah know nobody use dis but chew, ah would jes' rub dis snake on dis axe handle good. Dat would make yo' swell up an' die.
Entry 13095
Kin put different things in it to cause yo' feet tuh swell, such as rattlesnake's - take de haid of a rattlesnake an' go out dere an' dry it in a sack yo' know an' take dat dust - dat aw- ful poison yo' know - jes' a little bit of dat. Dat's de same way as dey do tuh kill yo' - right through dis country. Dey'll take dat rattlesnake haid an' dry it yo' know an' git a dust an' lak yo' vanted a drink, dey'd be standin' aroun' an' yo' happen tuh po' de likker out, dey drop de least bit of dat in dere, yo' know. Dat's rank poison. Yo' drink dat whiskey an' it kill yo' an' it hardly kin be detected. Or dey put dat in yore shoes an' cause yore feet tuh swell.
Entry 13293
De second way yo' use dat turpin [terrapin] yo' wanta git at it by a woman. Dere's a woman now and she in love with yo'. Now dis is de way what a woman love yuh [wil] dol. She'll ketch dat turpin and she'll come and throw it in yo' house, come and throw it in yo' yard. And she done tote it in yo' yard, yo' may ketch him an' yo' might could- n't find dat turpin. Well, yo' say, "Well, ah kill dis thing cause it been dat second time ah see him in my yard." But if yo' kill dat turpin, yo' done kill yo' spirit, yo' jes' kill your spirit and yo' gotta go to her.
(How do you mean you killed your spirit?)
Yo' done killed yore spirit fer nobody but her.
Entry 13294
Ah hear a lady say she taken a turtle aig an' dry it up an' put it - jes' beat it up, jes' grind it up jes' lak she wus goin' tuh make somepin out of it, a powder of some kind. An' she taken dis turtle aig an' she put it in a turtle. She cooked de turtle fo' a lady - a sick lady - about dis lady's hus- about dis lady's hus- band. She cooked de aig in de turtle an' when de lady eat de turtle she loved de turtle. Whenevah she eat dis turtle - she et it every dat - it wus a certain time on de moon dat de turtle would come in her right breast over her heart. An' ever' time it would come out it would draw her [breast?] right down to her knees. It looked jes' lak rubber - jes' lak she stretch rubber. Dey take it an' stretch it down to her knees!
(What time of the moon?)
On de growin' of de moon.
Entry 13433
Take a glass wit some watah in it an' yore wife is sleepin'. Jes' stick her finger down in it an' she tell yo' everything, every place she been, she'll tell yo'. But chew can't keep it too long, 'cause she'll die. (Why would she die if you keep it too long?) Ah don't know. Dat take her nerve or take her breath away, but long as she sleepin' yo' kin go dere. But if yo' ain't [careful] when yo' git it from her, she liable tuh go off [die].
Entry 23
If that spirit goes out somewhere and gets killed or drownded, it will not return and the body lays dead.
Entry 250
Ah had a cousin dat wus hurt like dat - mah first experience to it. They taken some of her hair an' dey put it in de back of a frog, an' her finger- nails an' toenails, an' they got that frog an' put him into a 'bacco sack an' dey put a piece of frog bread - dere's de stuff whut chew call frog bread.
(Frog bread - what is that?)
It's somethin' grows in de woods - jest comes up jest like a sprout. Yo' ever seen celery grow? Well, yo' know how when celery come up outa de ground it's right white. Well, dat's de way dat frog bread comes up but it spreads yo' know, as it gits up outa de ground - it spread kind round like a parasol [a mushroom, always called toadstool in folklore]. Dey put a portion of dat in dat. An' afterward dey taken dat frog to mah cousin house an' dey sewed it up in de bed mattress an' dey had some pins in dat frog - [pins in dat] frog bread, tacked down. An' as dat frog - after it got in action - after dey sewed dis up in mah cousin bed - dis frog de longer it go - after it was fixed - an' as dis frog would Jump, she would fits right after one another. An' she wus jest wizlin' away to nothin'. Well, we could take her 'way from home, we could take her 'way from there an' she would git along pretty well, an' we thought she wus well enough to take back home; we'd taken her back dere an' no quicker'n she hit dat bed, she begin havin' dose fits. Dere wus a ole doctor, Mr. Marlborough.
(White or colored?)
Colored - we'd taken her tuh him. So he sont us back an' he tole her he'd be to her house de next day. Well, on de same day dat he promised us dat he would be dere, he wus dere on de noonsday hour. He goes [in] dere - he wouldn't let her see him take it out - he'd taken mah mother an' aunt an' also her husband. He went into de mattress an' he cut dat frog outa dere which dey had - dey says dey had examined it but dey refused [failed] tuh find [anything] but he went in dere an' seem to let 'em see it. So he bring it from de middle room back tuh where mah mother lived an' he'd taken it out an' he cut dat sack open an' out come de [live] frog: He tole us, says - before he ever did it - he said, "When ah open dis sack - de direction dat de ones who done it, dat direction dat dis frog gon'a try tuh go." An' sure 'nuff jest lak he did - it wus true. So he'd taken it out an' [there was] stuck in dere bluestone, stuff de color of graveyard dirt, her hair, fingernails an' all - I'll never forgit it - he po'red it down in de yard. An' he said, "Now, when ah burn dis stuff, when ah say, "strike a match to it, '" say, "hit gon'a burn like fire in all colors it gon'a be." Ah nevah see nuthin' like it befo' or since. He said, "It gon'a be a snake come heah an' dis snake he is gon'a venture to bit her" - a great long black one. He sot dat stuff afire an' it wus a long blacksnake come runnin' up an' he did his best tuh make it tuh her but he kilt it - ah reckon he jest didn't even know whut he wus doin' an' he kilt it. So he burnt dat up. He say, "In three days' time from dis day, de ones who done it, dey will leave outen de roof of dat house." De ole lady name Charlotte an' her daughter wus named Mamie, an' dey would be wanderin' from place tuh place. Course ah nevah - ah wus young den - ah nevah did learn how he done it, understand - dey have been wandering. But ah do - ah take a man oath - ah know dat's true.
The informant reports pins in the frog, followed by Hyatt's bracketed insertion and frog bread. Placement remains ambiguous; all three source layers are retained. Read the complete cousin narrative for its reported events and treatment claims, which remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 72) · Read full source (printed page 73)
Entry 1763
Dey say yo' take a buzzard an' yo' kill him an' yo' bury him an' yo' let him stay buried three days. Then yo' take him up an' yo'll cook him down to lard. Jes' cook him an' jes' take his own lard, an' then yo' put that in a box. That's fo' gamblin'. That's a gamblin' hand.
(What do you do with that lard?)
Yo' take that lard an' yo' jes' mix it up - see, jes' mix it all up. Yo' don't have tuh put anything in it. Jes' mix it up an' put it in a box an' dat's tuh use fo' gamblin' - fast luck.
(How do you use it?)
Jes' rub it on yore left han' lak dat, an' then from yore left han' go ovah to yore right han' lak that. See [demonstrates], rub up this way - rub up all de time. (Rub up on the hands.) [For upward rite, see No. 1074, p.405.]
reported fast luck for gambling. No demonstrated success These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 1819
[In my earlier collecting days a hairball among white inform- ants was: "A cow licks her hair and that hair goes down in the left side of the pouch and that forms a ball, and if you have one of those in your hand you can bewitch anyone." This object is sometimes called a witch-ball: "One morning the cow didn't come up for milking and they went out to find the cow and found it dead. It had been shot in the thigh with a hair-ball.... You see, a witch always uses a silver bullet or a hair-ball to kill anything, and this man [witch] had shot the cow with one of those witch hair-balls." FACI, 2ed., Nos. 15884 & 15885, p.797; see also No. 16151, p.827.]
[In the following account we have a different hairbalZ:]
Now, dere's a hairball - dat's concernin' a lady, misfortune between yo' an' her. Now, yo' kin wear dis hairball tuh keep in contact with her an' yo' kin wear it dat chew may nevah git in contact with her no mo'.
(What kind of a hairbalZ do you mean?)
It's an ordinary hairball.
(Well, where do you get that hair?)
Well, it's hair dat's from ole dead people, yo' know, befo' it's event'lly decayed - it's spoiled. Put it in a thimble or somethin' round that chew may put it in a ball. Quite natural, by it gittin' air it will not, yo' know whut ah mean - fade away. Quite natural if yo' know de person that die - everythin' all right. Now, this hairball - it comes in a ball. To keep in contact with this party, yo must put this in a bag - yo' know, somethin' lak a Bull Durham sack. [The latter was a small cloth sack containing a cigarette mixture used in "rolling your own" - making your own cigarettes. The paper label on the sack had the picture of a bull.] Yo' make a small bag small enough fo' it tuh git in. Now, tuh keep in contact with this person, yo' must put this hairball in that bag an' sew it. Make nine stitches, an' dere's three words yo' must say while sewin', "With me Fo'evah." Yo' know, as yo' make a stitch, jes' say a word. Now at de end, when yo' git tuh de end of de bag, do not make a knot in it. Make three turns wit chure needle - yo' know, lak yo' be sewin' dis, jes pass it roun dere three times. Den yo git chew a string an' put nine knots in dis string an' de ninth knot, yo' take a needle an' attach it to dat bag an' wear that next to yore skin. Now, tuh git rid of dis lady event ally, wear dis hairbalZ jes' outright - don't put it nex' tuh yore skin. Fo' instant [instance], lak yo' got chure coat on dere, dis top pocket heah - jes' keep it in dat pocket, jes' outside from yo'. See. An' yo' wear it thataway yo'll nevah come in contact with her. That's all it is to the hairball.
Hyatt quotes earlier FACI material comparing a silver bullet with a hair-ball as alternatives. The quoted cow account uses the hair-ball. The following Algiers informant describes a different hair-ball; the quoted bullet is not part of that later recipe.
Read full source (printed page 544) · Read full source (printed page 545)
Entry 7371
There has always been a saying that where a person is murdered or killed that any of the blood has been spilled, you can always tell because it will show itself afresh whenever it's cloudy weather or raining. The stain will become inevitable in the floor, if it's on a board, and it can't be prevented. You can scrub it but it will always come during stormy rainy weather. [New York City, by Ediphone, informant No.lO, from near Orangeburg, S. Car.]
Entry 9969
Yo' take a frog and dry him. You take a frog and wrap him up and let hin die himself. Don't you kill him. Well, when he gets dry, you tote that in your pocket. You can take that and you can do anything you want with that frog. Just like if you a dice shooter, or anything I like that, you rub that [dried frog]. Jis' put it in your pocket and take and put your hand on that [frog] and go to work and shoot dice. Be lucky. Jes' like if you had one game, and if you don't have success with that, turn your back on that game. And select you a card place, if you play cards, and you'll lose one or two games and you know that you ought to win, turn your back on that game.
(How do you mean turn your back on it?)
What I mean, walk away from that game and go to the next game.
(I see, if you have this frog in your pocket.)
drying/state of the wrapped frog after the stated let-die instruction. Keep Don’t you kill him and let him die himself as the source’s wording; do not describe the text as harmless, or replace it with active killing. rubbing the carried dry frog before dice play. Resolve the pronoun from actual complete narrator context, not only the bracketed gloss. conditional lack of success at gambling and changing games. Preserve don’t have success, the card-game losses and the practical walk-away explanation. expected winning contrasted with one or two losses and leaving the game. Preserve if you play cards, one or two losses, ought to win and the instruction to move to the next game. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 30
I was on a island 'tween here and West Point, Virginia. Dere come a little white fellow from Danville County for to see one of Capt. Dick Coleman's daughters - first cousins, too, but he was loving her. He goes up a tree - he drawed de other man's pitchure on de ground - I don't know as you wanta hear that.
(Yes, I want to hear it - yes.)
He draws his pitchure on de ground - de other man pitchure, because he wanted her himself. He draws the pitchure on de ground and he goes up a tree right at sunrise and he shot at dat picture - that is to kill the man. Way up yonder he shot at dat pitchure.
(He went up in the tree and shot down at the picture - shot down?)
Shot down on de pitchure.
(He lust drew it in the ground - with a stick or something?)
Yes, just drew him on de ground and den go up de tree with a pistol, you know, for to try to shoot him in de heart. If he shot him in de heart - up here where he drawed that there - then he'd akilled that man up in [some place]. But he didn't do it, you see - struck him all around de edges of his clothes, arms and places. If that ball hadda struck him in de heart where he drawed it, he would have killed him instantly.
(You say a white man did this?)
Yes.
(Well, whom was he doing it for - another white man or - )
He was doing it fer himself.
(Doing it for himself.)
Doing it for himself - I seen him do it. I was with him.
(What island was this on - what was the name of the island?)
Purtain - Pertin Island.
(Purtin Island - that's in the James River?)
York River.
(Oh, the York River. I see. How long ago did that happen?)
Oh, that happened now - over thirty years ago [1906-7] about de shootin'.
Entry 94
If yo' kill a man - he's lookin' yo' in yore eyes an' yo' kill 'im - an' he lookin' at yo' an' dey come back, yore picture will be in his eyes an' dey kin tell who done de deed.
Entry 108
Jes' lak dere was someone in de crowd dat yo' was trying to find out who did it, killed him, yo' could turn him on his face an' let ev'ry man tetch him, an' de man dat killed him, when he tetch him de wound will start to bleedin' agin.
Entry 257
" The old people always say you ketch a black cat about midnight and run him around the house three times, cut his tail off and put it under the doorstep. The next night run the black cat around the house three times, kill the cat and take him to the swamp and bury him. Let him stay three nights. Go back and take the cat and put him in boiling water and the lucky bone of the cat will come to the top at midnight. You have to be dere sharp at midnight to get this bone. That's called the good luck bone of a black cat. I hear that about twelve miles from here [in Spotsylvania Co., Va.] from the old people.
Entry 344
I heard you have to go to a runnin' stream whare the water runs clear an' go thare nine mornin's, an' read a certain chapter somewhare, the Bible, on ever' mornin'. An' when you go the ninth mornin' you meet the devil thare on the ninth mornin' an' he'll give you a test. An' if you kin stand the test after you git thare that he puts on you, says you kin do anything you want to an' he'll defend yo'. You kin go out an' kill a person almost an' he'll clare you.
Entry 352
Yo' kin go to de fo'k of de road an' ever'body's mad wit chew. Yo' go dere a rainy bitter night an' set down, an' jes' lak ah lak a dead man - if yo' know any murderer, yo' call his name. Well, heah will come a cat sweepin' aroun' an' aroun', talkin' cat, and - yo' take peppah an' salt with yuh, an' [while] dat cat turn aroun', throw dat salt on him. An' says, "Yo' son of a bitch, yo' come out heah." But yo' go out dere agin de nex' night, an' dis man will be settin' right dere. Yo' goin' kill him or do whut chew please with him. He be right dere to de crossroads.
(You throw this salt on the cat?)
On de cat.
Entry 375
(How do you sell yourself to the devil - what is the story?)
De way yo' sells yo'self tuh de devil, yo' got'a take somebody yo' dearly loves - a chile dat yo' dearly loves, if it's yore own chile or yore sister's chile dat yo' dearly love, an' not feel sorry for 'em an' kill it, an' go an' hide it an' bury it. Den yo've sold yoreself to de devil. Dere's no way atall fo' yo' tuh gain influence wit God agin, but still yo' goin' tuh live yo' days out. An' den de devil will learn yo' anything yo' wanta know - yo' kin do anything yo' wanta do. [For killing baby, see comment in No. 307.]
Entry 402
I know a story about fellows went hunting hidden treasure. It had been once dug up by a steam shovel and it slid away back in the dirt again. In Way- back times they use to always kill a man. They get the hole prepared and put the treasure in, then they would ask him if he would take care of this money. He wouldn't know what was going to happen. He would tell them, "Of course." Then they kill him and turn him over in the hole and cover him up. Then, when you go there, that's his spirit that takes care of the money, and it does things to frighten you so you won't bother it. They are supposed to have a machine. It's a round thing like a clock and has three points sticking out. One was set for gold, one for silver and the other for brass. It has two handles of hickory. You hold them two handles and walk along like you witch for water. When you walk over hidden money one of them points goes down. As soon as you start to dig, no talking. You use signs. If you talk, it slid away in the dirt. Well, five men went hunting it again, that's after it was dug up by the steam shovel and slid away, and as soon as they hit the old chest that was in the ground, the wind begun to blow, the trees began to weep - they rocked like they were just going to blow over. And the men begun to run. One got lost. He stayed all night and began to see every kind of a thing like a ghost - men walking, men flying, beasts in the air. He never discovered the way out until daylight appeared. And he has been afraid of it ever since. I knew this man. That happen about thirty years ago [1906] in Sussex County, Virginia.
Entry 553
Take an' go, not exactly [to] a crossroads, yo' know; roads run lak a T - one jes' run dis way, up, an' dis one come up to it lak dat, yo' know, a T road lak. An' yo' go in that road, lemme see - if dis man wus shot, dey use his coat. Carry it to dis T road an' take his hand an' reach down underneath de coat right in de middle, back of this man's coat, an' take sand an' sprinkle it all ovah dis coat, an' den walk back an' call dis man's name three times an' de coat will lift up off de ground lak dat. An' he ask 'im, say, "Did a certain person - John or Jack, kill yo'?" An' dey say that coat will move ovah in the sand, and dey say when de coat move ovah on dat side, dey say on yore way back to de house, why yo' meets de man who killed dis person. (You put this coat right out there where these two roads come together - put it on the ground and you take some dirt from under the coat and put the dirt on top of the coat? And then you ask the questions?) Yes.
(And if the coat goes in what direction?)
If the coat come up lak that.
(Goes up in the air?)
Yeah, not far, yo' know; jes' lak if yo' push it up lak that [demonstrates].
(Lifts up?)
Yeah, an' say yo' walk back off from it a lil' piece an' call this man's name dat dey say shot dis person, an' dey say dat de coat will move ovah tuh de side - like slidin' like de wind wus blowin' it, an' dey say yo'll meet de person on de way back. (The man who puts the coat out there....he calls different names, and when you get to the right name, this coat will raise up a little and move to the side. And when it does that, why he will meet this fellow on his way home?) On his way back. Maybe he'll be left out of town, but he will come back. He can't stay away.
Entry 669
Jest a - yo' see yo' git a snake - yo' kin take a rattlesnake an' dry his haid up, pound it up, an' den yo' kin go to work an' use dat as goofer dust. Kill anybody.
Entry 728
My father and mother used to tell me, in slavery times they had a bunch of hands [workmen] and one of them they used to whip. And he said he was going to get even with his master. He goes out and gets a hand. A hand is nothing but something you get from someone else to put down to stop them from doing sometking to you. [This is a very limited definition.] He goes and gets this, it Was in a bottle, and puts it under the doorstep. He covered it over. He goes to bed. In the morning his master woke up, he walks to the door, and they were looking for him to walk out for to kill the master. He walked to the door and said, "John, Dick, Peter and Tom, come here." He said, "Look right down here." He said, "Go under that doorstep and take that bottle and carry it out of there and bust it." He said, "You can't hurt old master." He said, "Don't wake me when I'm asleep." And he went on about his business.
Entry 943
You do that on the last quarter of the moon and then you see results for it on the growing of the next moon or the new moon. That's for someone doing something for you, you know, like when you want to make a person do like you want them to do. Of course, now, they say if you want to, you know, like running a person away or hurt a person or killing a person, you want to begin on the new moon and they'll go away as the moon get older. See, like when you're running a person away. Now, like I want to move you from this house. Whatsomever I do, I do it right on the new moon and the first quarter, and then, see, by the time the moon gets to the last quarter I'll leave this home or I'll waste away or die on the last of the moon.
Entry 1712
Yo' kin git baby's slobber an' put that in a pocket hans'scuff an carry it with yo' - lak yo' wipe a baby's nose, a little baby. Co'se it'll kill de baby, but chew kin do that an' git luck. An' then yo' kin ketch a leatherwing bat. (Wait a minute. Do you mean the slobber from a baby's nose or from his mouth?) From his mouth.
(Well, why would it kill the baby?)
Well, it will kill de baby cause when de luck take effect on yo', well dat kills de baby - that throws bad luck on the baby an' kills the baby. (When you become lucky in gambling, the baby will die. What about the bat now?)
Entry 2074
This love powder, just love powder, you have to put it in food to give a person to eat it. That makes them in a length of time the more they give 'em the more stronger the love gets. See. And if you don't check off it, they'll love you so sincerely they love to kill yuh; and you won't have nuthin like that to be done, because it's a wonderful thing [if used properly], but it's still and all [dangerous]. Now, if you Wanta fightin' powder - that fightin' powder will make you fight and always make you fight till you kill one another.
Entry 2864
To burn a black candle, you use the toilets - you know, like they build the sanitary toliet. You know a long time it used to be the old ones, you know; but now there's the sanitary toilets like they havin' now. Well, you set the candle right on the top of the water fount [flush tank] - you see, where the water flushes out, and you let it burn down, and when it burns out, you just take that and knock it over into the toilet and flush it three times a day. Well, they say it run him away, kill him.
[She repeats, adding several details.]
Take a black candle and write the name all around it, around 'at candle nine times, and just set it on top of the water - you know, where the water comes through, and when dat burn down you blow it out. Instead of pinching it out, you blow it out. And just rake it off about that much; rake it off and flush it into the toilet. Burn just about [demonstrates] that much of the candle each day and flush it down the toilet.
(Burn it down to about a half inch high.) [Burn one half inch each day.]
Yeah, and you blow it out and scrape it off and flush it down the toilet.
Entry 2865
How they burn the black candles? That's for death - that's to kill you.
(How would they do that?)
You take that black candle and you put the person's name - you see, the name or names means a whole lot. You could ruin a person with their name. And you burn it - you burns it in the toilet.
(In the toilet?)
In the toilet.
(How do you do that?)
You burn it every day completely and that name in the toilet, and - all right, for nine days, that's it. For nine days you get nine black candles and you name 'em and you burn 'em in the toilet. But you puts it in a tin can, you see. And that dripping - after it done dissolve and things, you supposed to flush it in the toilet. You see. That's all. And that kills them.
(What will it do to them?)
Yeah, they just be sick, they don't know what. Like they waste away to death, as the candle burn - they be sick and not knowing their condition or what's the matter with 'em. [AZs0 see 2859, p.823.]
Entry 2873
Black candles - you set nine of 'em. You burn dem nine candles on a person and when dat ninth candle burned, that person'll get sick at de first day and they'll keep agetting sicker and sicker for nine days, and when that ninth candle burns out, that person'll leave the world. You see, he's gone. (When do you burn these candles?) Burn 'em at night. You take 'em and put 'em in a place - in a dark room some- where where there ain't nobody kin see 'em or nothin', where they won't be dis- turbed. Jest set 'em in something other where dey won't [set anything afire].
Entry 2874
Yo' kin kill a person with a black candle. Write his name on dat black candle an' kill him. Burn it. Yo' gotta burn nine of dose black candle till it jes' burns all away, an' yo' gotta burn 'em nine days straight. Set it ovah be- hin' de bed where it cain't be seen. [For bed becoming altar, see 2870, p.827.]
Entry 2906
Now, yo' kin take the black candle an' yo' kin burn it an' yo' kin kill 'em. Jis' burn that black candle an' pray lak dat [pray for that purpose].
Entry 2914
That'll kill you. (Do you know how they are supposed to burn those?) Well, you take nine. (Black candles. Take nine black candles.) And you set five, you know, straight up like that [demonstrates]. And you get some little cups and you put four in them so they wouldn't touch the floor [and start a fire], and you burn the other four bottom upwards, and in nine days time you are supposed to die. (I see." Well, what do you do with that ninth candle? What about that?) [Why I do not understand will be explained later.] Ninth? You got to have a odd one.
(Oh, I see. You set that in a cup there?)
Yeah, you put it in there. There was a lady burned 'em on my aunt.
(I see. Well now, please explain that again. I can't hear with the noise.)
You see you take nine black candles - they are about this high [demonstrates].
(From the floor you mean?)
From the floor.
(About four feet high?)
Yes. They black - they are $1.50 apiece. And you take five of them and you know, you burn 'em like that. You light it right there [demonstrates].
(I see, so - standing straight up.)
Yes, and you take the other four, but you take a little tin [can] and, you know, so it wouldn't touch the floor, and you put 'em in there and you burn the other four bottom upwards. [The wick is cut off and a new wick is made at bottom of candle.] But you have your name [on paper] up under them candles, burning, you see, and by them being so high, when they burn down, you see, in the ninth day, if they be done burnt down, you know, before the ninth day, well, you die.
(You die, I see. What do you do with that ninth candle - that odd candle?)
[This shows how carefully I listen to an informant. What happened to the ninth candle?] Well, you see that have to be a odd candle for to make you pass out. It can't be even, it had to be odd.
(Well, don't they burn that ninth candle?)
Burns the ninth candle.
(Well, how do they burn that?)
Well, you see you got five up.
(Oh, I see. And four down?)
And four down.
(I see. I understand now.)
[I understand because my informant has said, "You got five up." At the begin- ning of her rite she says, "You set five...get some little cups and you put four in them." She says four when she means five; the four upside-down candles al- ready being in her mind. Many times I immediately pick up this sort of thing but in the usual noise and uncertainties of collecting an occasional unexplained action does occur. It is one of the reasons why I am inclined to over-question, sometimes beating a dead horse.]
Entry 2925
(She gets the photograph and what does she do then?)
She takes and she lays it out in ink.
(In ink? What do you mean in ink?)
Ink that you write with - black ink, and she lays it out in there. (You mean she puts the ink down there and then she puts the photograph on top of the ink?) She puts it in the ink.
(Oh, this saucer or something - puts it in there?)
Yes.
(All right.)
And she puts these brass tacks around it, nine brass tacks, and nine candles.
(What do you mean the brass tacks? Just lay them around there?)
No, just lay - they's real coffin tacks.
(And she just lays them around the saucer?)
No, she sticks them in the wood, what she got laying out there. See, she have a special desk [altar] for that.
(I see.)
That's when you go to somebody that do that kind of work for you, you see. They got a special desk [altar] for that, you understand. She put these nine brass tacks down [round] in there and set your picture in it, and she speak to hit, just like as if I was, "I'm going to kill you." Well, that's the way she talk to this photograph. And she light these nine [black] candles there and in nine days wheresomever you at, it'll kill you.
(The photograph has to be a tintype, I see.)
No, paper.
Entry 3429
Dat is to say, to tie up a person. If a man thought 'is wife wuz run- nin' aroun', he could kill a dog an' git 'ls livah an' feed de livah to his wife; an' den if de man come dere an' have intahco'se, he would git hung to her lak de dog.
Entry 3465
Yo' jes' kill a li'le dog, any kinda dog, an' take his livah. Take it an' flour it an' fry it, fix it, an' he eat a piece of it, an' den de firs' woman dat he go tuh have, dey git stuck togethah dat way. [This was the logical place to stop recording, but informant immediately con- tinuing forced me to repeat his last statement in the form of a question.]
(They have to kill the woman?)
DAT OUTA HER, CUZ IF DEY GO TUH CUT IT OUT SHE GOIN' DIE. [FayettevIlle, N. Car.,
(1450), 2335:4.]
[We are concerned here with the simple knot, one of the oldest and most Fl portant inventions of man. What would he have done without it? No wonder the tying of a knot soon became and has remained for the untutored mind a great magic rite, one of confining the spirit, making it submissive to the tier's will.]
Entry 3630
An' den now, ah'm gon'a tell yuh somepin othah dat beat de worl'. But it ain't no use in me tellin' yuh dis an' ah won't git anythin' fo' it. Now, ah'm gon'a tell yuh dis thing. Mah daddy learned me dis 'fo' he died. Yo' see dat snail dat crawl down on de ground? Understan? Yo' git one of dem snails. Dis trick whut ah'm tellin' yuh, ah tole a man dat an' he give me $50 fo' it. But ah know yo' ain't gon'a do dat. Yo' know what yuh do wit a snail? Yo' know, dere's plenty of smart men in de worl'. Yo' take a snail. Yo' see a snail crawlin' aroun' dere?
(Yes, I've seen a snail.)
Yes? Well, all right. Yo' take a snail an' kill 'im an' yo' wipe a woman's lak dat, an' if she'll have any man but yo', ah'll eat yo' up.
Entry 3889
Lak a lady, yo' know, could take yo' periods lak dat an' carry dat to de cemetery an' bury it. Jes' stop it up tight an' it would kill yo'. Dat's all dat ah heard.
Entry 3939
Go to de sto' an' buy a piece of steak, an' take dat steak an' put it on her as a pad, jes' lak she wearin' a cloth, an' WEAR IT DERE FO' THREE DAYS [a rare length of time for this rite], an' take it an' cook it - don't hash it, jes' take it an' fry it. An' he eat. Don't care how he's been runnin' roun', he goin' stop an' commence stayin' home. But, HE WILL KILL 'ER OR SHE WILL KILL "ERSELF.
Entry 4020
Take dere chamber lye an' stop it up [in a bottle] an' bury it. Dey can't make watah, swell 'em up an' kill 'em.
(This chamber lye?)
Jes' dey necked [naked] watah.
Entry 4413
Go out tuh de fo'ks of de road an' take yuh stool, yuh know, an' bo' a hole in a tree, an' put it in dat hole an' stop it up. An' go dere an' tap dat peg about nine mawnin's, ah think dey say it is, an' dat'll run yuh crazy an' kill yuh.
Entry 4437
A man died out tuh ouah home at Flour City, Ark. An' 'is wife had taken 'is bowels an' bo'd a hole jis' ovah a limb of a tree an' stopped it up an' dat killed 'im. His baa-owels.
Entry 4442
Ah seen dis happen right down heah. If yuh's mad wit a person, if yuh kin git some of dere, yuh know, de manure, take dat an' go an' wheresomevah yuh find a green tree at, an' take a augah an' bo' holes in it an' cuts it out, an' stop it up wit it, an' drive dat peg in de tree. When he git dere tuh have a action he can't. Yuh kin let 'im have one, if yuh wanta; if yuh don't, yuh kin let 'im die. Ah know dat's true.
Entry 4446
Yuh take a young tree an' yuh bo' a hole in dat, an' yuh take a per- son's passage an' put it in dere, an' dis peg whut yuh put in dere, yuh gradually nail [peg] in dere, an' in nine days force it up. Dat will kill 'em - cause 'em tuh be constipated, dere bowels are locked.
Entry 4454
(Take this passage.)
An' bo' a hole in a tree or a stumP, yuh undahstan'. Jis' bo' de hole in it an' wrop it up an' stick it in dere, an' take a peg, yuh know, an' stop it up. Drive it in dere an' dat will kill 'em.
Entry 4456
Dey go tuh a dogwood tree. Aftah yo' go to de toilet, dey take de white part of yore nurinate [see later] carry it dere, an' bo' a hole into de tree an' go dere an' tap it. Put a stoppah into de tree, aftah yuh bo' de hole in dere, an' put de nurinate in dere, an' go an' tap dat stoppah-an' let dat stuff go back up in dat tree lak dat, an' tap it fo' nine mawnin's. Dat will kill yuh.
(YOU MEAN BY A PERSON'S NURINATE, THEIR BOWELS?)
Yessuh.
Entry 6397
Dey say dat dey jis' cut jure [your] fingahnail off. Even if yo' trin yo' fingahnail an' anybody settin' aroun', it may be at party drinkin' tuhgethah, a person dat drink. Well, if yo' trim nail an' somebody don't lak yo', got it in fo' yo', yo' [person who dislikes you] take up de nails an' - down dere whilst yo' haid turn, yo' not seein' [him] take de nails up, an' prob'ly he got de likkah [handy] or slip up an' put some of 'em [your own fingernails] intuh yo' glass. Well, usely [usually] dey [fingernails] goes down parta de way tuh de bottom furs [first] an' come back up. Po' [pour] yo' a drinka likkah an' - well, yo' not thinkin' nuthin, takin' an' prob'ly half-shot or somepin-lak, an' drink dem nails dOWD, Why YO' FINGAHNAIL IS SURELY DEAD POISON TUH YO' BODY AS A RATTLESNAKE. DEY'LL SURE KILL YAH.
Entry 6664
Take a spidah, if yo' put it in somepin fo' a person. Dat, it will kill 'em, if he's 'live, yo' know, when yo' put 'im in dere. If dey drink it, it will kill dem from de spider.
Entry 6730
A frizzly chicken, if anybody bury anything in yore yard dat is not clean, dat frizzly chicken will dig it up an' he become naked; an' if it's too strong, hit'll killl 'im. [Among many examples of frizzly chickens digging up planted objects of cunjure or poison, this is about the only time I ever heard of the chicken being killed.]
[For other examples of frizzly chickens, see pp.59-63.]
Entry 6872
If a woman's goin' have a baby, well now if she [some woman] kin git tuh huh tuh take any huh - anythin' from huh, yuh know, an' she kin go bury it, den she'll have dis woman - it'll kill huh.
(You mean a piece of her clothing or anything like that?)
Anythin' - a piece a huh undahclothin' nex' tuh huh skin.
Entry 7264
If a man's killed an' he fall on his face, de one dat done it, he'll tell it befo' he dies; if a man's killed an' he fall on his back, he won' tell it.
Entry 7265
I've heard 'em say if you kill anyone an' de man falls on his face, de murderer can't git away; an' if he go, he'll have to come back.
Entry 7269
Dey claim dat if a man gits killed, dey claim whichevah way de man falls, dat's killed, dat is de way dat de fellah dat did de killin', prob'ly de one dat did de killin', dey'll go in dat direction. Let it be eastward, north- ward or westward or southward, dey will go in de direction - jes' in de direction de man fallen dat he's killed. [Notice anti-sunwise or anti-clock motion; we have the order of the four cardinal points of the compass.]
Entry 7271
If yo' kill any person an' yo' kin git a chance tuh step ovah 'im, can't git no kinda bloodhoun's tuh git behin' atall any mo'. Jes' step 'cross 'im aftah yo' kill 'im, see. [As we shall see in a moment, any stepping over the corpse, forward or backwards, makes the sign of the cross, a sacred symbol that will protect the murderer against the avenging spirit of the dead body.]
Entry 7272
Whut dey say yo' kin do tuh git away.
(What do they say about that?)
Jes' lak if a man kill anothah man or sompin of de kin' lak dat, said jes' step ovah his body. Be shure tuh step ovah his body an' dey'll nevah ketch chew no mo' through life. Jes' step ovah his body an' don' look back.
Entry 7273
If ah kill yo', ah kin jes' step right ovah yo' an' don' nevah look back an' den yo' won' ketch me.
Entry 7482
If the murdered persons falls on his face and is buried on his face the murderer will return.
Entry 7492
Lak if ah wus to kill a man an' tried to git away, an' yo' want me caught. Why yo' jes' when yo' bury dis man, don't place dis man east an' west. Jes' take him an' bury 'im on 'is face north an' south, an' if ah go anywhere why ah turn an' come back.
Entry 7495
Yo' kin take an' go to dat grave where dat man whut got kilt. Go to his grave an' yo' kin take de headbo'd an' carry it to de foot. Take de foot- bo'd an' carry it to de head, an' say, "Whosomevah kilt dat person." He's shure tuh come back an' admit dat he did de crime.
Entry 7512
If a person kill a person, yo' kin take an' take dere pichure. [You do not photograph the murderer but try to find a photograph of him.] Jis' have dere pichure an' yo' kin take dat pichure an' - de one dat done dis killin' yo' undahstan' - an' yo' kin take it roun' in de cornah in de south end of de house on de block an' yo' kin bury dat on its face. Dat'll make him come back, too, outside of [the same as] dat aig. It's bettah den dat aig. [Informant had pre- viously given an egg rite.]
(You bury the picture to the south side of your house?)
Yessuh, becuz reason ah know, a boy kill mah brothah an' he sho' [sure] come back an' dey caught 'im right heah in'Memphis.
Entry 8016
If sompin [project?] dat ah wuz behin', or some money or sompin dat ah wanta put dere, ah go tuh one of dose trees, de 'simmon [persimmon] tree or juni- per, jes' eithah one ah choose tuh put it dere, an' ah'll take a dog or a cat an' bury dis money in a cat or a dog, evah which one ah choose. Hold 'im up dere an' ah'll kill 'im, an' den ah'll bury 'im right dere on top of dis money. An' ah'll bury 'im wit 'is right feet up an' 'is left foot down, of de front ones, an' de two hin' foots stickin' straight up. Bury 'im flat on 'is back, [feet] stickin' up straight right dere. An' tell 'em, "Ah puts chew heah in ordah tuh stay till dey come an' dig." Den ah bury roun' on de top of dat, an' when ah bury dat right up dere, if yo' don' come an' git it, cain't nobody else come an' git it. (How do you have this dog set up with one foot up and one foot down? How do you do that?) Well, yo' know, if a dog dies, he dies tuh de right [whatever that means: on his right side?]. Well, yo' kin bend one of 'is feet lak dat [demonstrates] an' let de othah one jes' lak he be's standin' up dere. An' dem two hin' ones, let dem two be stickin' up. An' when yo' covah dem, put 'im deep enough tuh covah dem all up. An' yo' bury him wit dat right feet at a angle, an' de lef' one straight up.
(That is the two front feet?)
Yes.
Entry 11302
[There are a number of these dog-in-you beliefs and rites in HOODO0:]
I have heard about people putting a spell on a person and that spell killed them, and while they are dying they bark like a dog. [New York City, by hand, inform- ant No.1, Julia, from N. Car.1
Entry 11339
Kill a dove and put de dove's tongue under yore tongue an' kiss anyone dat chew love an' dey will git affectionate.
Entry 12482
Den if a person kills anothah, dat he will return to the place dat dat crime wuz committed within twelve days, but whut will cause him tuh do dat, ah dunno. But he would. [Sumter 2436:9.]
Entry 12483
Jis' kill yo' an' jump ovah yo' backwards an' he's gone. Dey can't ketch him. [This is known everywhere.] [Algiers 2954:7.]
Entry 12486
If I'm looking at you and you kill me, as you look in my eye, your face will be in my eye. [Known everywhere.] [Norfolk 456:3.]
Entry 12675
Ah heard 'em say dat chew could take yore photograph, tintype only whut chew use fo' dat, de tintype. Dat's all ah heard about de photograph, an' yo' take dat an' bury it standin' up, haid down, an' dey say dat will kill yo'. Dat's whut dey say. [Memphis, 2815:4.]
Entry 12922
Jis' take a [gun] shell an' cut it open, an' take a silvah dime shō [sure] it be a silvah dime. Cut it up an' put it back in de shell an' shet it back up. An' yo' shadah...an' he shot at yo' shadah, he'd hi' cheh [hit you]. Dat jes' kill a person.
Entry 12902
If man and woman stuck from eating dog liver, never get them apart because the dog has been killed; it kills them. [To use the dog's liver the animal had to be killed. The purpose of this rite is to be rid of both per- sons - murder without discovery!] [Mobile 942:4.]
Entry 105
I heard a church member said dere's a ole man in de church where he were a member - he ain't got much confidence in 'em now 'cause dey did dat - ole man da'd [that would] git mad at anybody at church; you know, he'd fall out with 'em. Well, he'd go to de graveyard an' reach his han' as far in dere as he could, an' he'd git some dirt jis' off, jis' as near de coffin as he could, an' wrap it up, [and] bring it back. Well, he'd put it in somepin thin, cheesecloth or somepin or othah, an' put it in each pocket, in his coat pocket. An' he'd go to church you know, until de preacher git to preachin', you know, an' dat de people git to shoutin', why he jis' git to shoutin' an' go right aroun' near dis person [he's mad at], you know, an' jis' let dis dus' - it woula jis' fly so it'll, a 'hole lot of people would inhale it, an' dey'd git so sometime dey'd git to coughin' Well, dey say, if you git enough of it, it'd kill 'em. [Wilmington, N. Car.,
(215), 208:1; Darien, Ga.,1896.]
Entry 785
During slavery my father told me he knew a man who was a cunjure and his master and mistress trust him with everything, and he was boss over the rest of the slaves as well as being a cunjure. And he could tell many tales and never get caught. His mistress lost her gold ring and asked him to find it for her. And he said, "Missus, if you give me three days off from work, I'll find your ring" which he already had by being tricky. So he laid in bed and slept as much as he want, and got the best food from master's table. On the third day he took the gold ring and a fishhook - at first - to work the trick. So he changed off and got a grain of corn and corn meal. And he put the gold ring inside of the meal and the grain of corn and give it to a certain duck, which he had marked that he may know from the rest. And he give the duck that corn meal, grain of corn, all rolled up together, and went to his master's room and said, "Get your madam, for I'm going to find your ring right here this day. Come and go with me to the chicken yard." He told him to kill a duck which he knew did not have the ring, neither the second duck, but the third one which he killed had the ring inside. So he said, "Master, what are you going to give me for this job?" He said, "Anything you ask." He said, "One month off, boss, to court the gals." When he had killed the third duck and opened it, he found the ring. And then he got thirty days off and the ducks which he had killed. So his master after this went coon [racoon] hunting one night and caught a coon. And the other men that went with him got a bet of five-hundred dollars that his nigger couldn't tell what his master had in the bag. So he called his slave John out of bed that night that he might win the five-hundred dollars. So John got up and come indoors with a dozen other men that was in the coon hunt and also had a part in the bet that John could not tell what was in the bag. So his master said, "John, tell these men what is in the bag: So John scratched his head and lit his pipe, knowing not what was in the bag and that his master had caught him this time. So he said, "Well, master, you have got the ole coon at last." [Near Fredericksburg, Va., (71), by hand; supposed to have happened in King George Co., Va.; a folk story.]
Entry 1774
Yo' take dis black chicken - lak ah'd move, dis is a dwelling house an' ah'd move here an' sorta thinkin' somebody was trying to get me - get me a black chicken, take it round on de side where de sun rise an' kill him an' dress him an' eat de chicken. Take de head an' sprinkle it wit black peppah an' brimstone, bluestone an' salt, an' put it in a nice little sack an' bury it jes' like yo would somebody. Cover ovah [make a burial mound over] dat sack an' dey tell me dat nobody won't nevah interfere wit chew.
Entry 2866
Put it in a dark corner. (Light a black candle and put it in a dark corner.) And let it continue to burn - 'fore that candle goin' burn down, why that person that candle's burning on, why that person will be dead.
Entry 4447
[Dey say dey could take] whut pass from a person an' put it in a tree, peg it up. An' come tuh a live tree an' bo' a hole, an' put it in de live tree, an' in so many days why yuh'll be dead.
Entry 8014
Do dat tuh a man if dey wanta run 'im away from town or if dey wanta kill 'im. See, prob'ly yo' wanta kill dis man. If yo' wants kill 'im, cain't git rid of 'im, he goin' wit some daughtah [or] 'nothah, or somebody's daughtah, an' dey cain't git rid of 'im wit'out killin' 'im, yo' jis' take an' git chew a dog. Ketch choo a dog dat some of yore neighbah's have dat yo' know 'is name. Yo' know de dog's name, an' yo' know de man's name, too, see. Well, yo' git de dog an' yo' carry him off in de woods somewhere an' bury 'im. Kill de dog, see. Yessuh [yes sir] kill de dog, take him way off in de woods somewhere an' bury him. An' yo' bury him wit 'is heels up about dat much [demonstrates] out de dust. Leave 'bout dat much of 'is feets out de dust. Jis' leave his feets out de dust. Well, dat's if yo' wants tuh kill de man. When yo' leave his feets out while yo's covahin' 'im up, when yo' turn 'im up, git 'im placed on 'is back real good, jis' lak yo' want 'im. An' while yo' covah 'im up, yo' call de dog's name nine times, an' yo' throw nine shovels of dirt on 'im, high 'nuff tuh git 'im covahed up. An' git 'is feets up above 'bout dat fur [demonstrates] 'bout couple inches or prob'ly couple an' a half inches. An' den aftah yo' git 'im covahed up an' git ready tuh leave him, say, "Ah hope yo's daid, In de Name of de Father, [Son and Holy Ghost], " an' call de man's name fo' time. An' walk away from de graveyard [burial place, not graveyard] an' don' look back at it. If yo' look back, it's not any good. Don' look back while yo's leavin'. An' dat'll kill de man. Now, if yo' don' wanta kill 'im [the man], yo' jis' wanta git 'im outa town, yo' don' kill de dog when yo' bury him, yo' see. Yo' don' kill de dog daid, but chew cuts: 'is throat or prob'ly knock 'im in de haid, so yo' leave him in a slum- bah. Put 'im in de ground an' yo' leave two of 'is feets out. Yo' leave two of 'is feets out. When yo' leavin' de graveyard [of the dog] yo' call de man's name nine times an' weah a cross pin. Yo' have tuh git a cross pin. Prob'ly go tuh Kress [Kresge] or somebody, any place, an' git a pin wit a cross on it. An' yo' weah dat cross pin tuh de grave where yo' dere messin' wit de dog. An' when yo' git ready tuh leave, yo' sticks it up in dere in de grave lak yo' do a tombstone, an' den de man will leave town.
(You kill this dog somewhere out in the woods?)
Yes.
Entry 9021
Now, ah don't know whut dey do, but dere wus a man in West Florida, his daughtah killed a woman. Dey come from up heah in Georgia somewhere. An' he'd taken three hen aigs. De reason ah know how he done dis, ah wus wit 'im. (Any kind of hen eggs?) Not a duck's or lak dat - jes' hen's, chicken's. So he'd taken dem three aigs - ah don't know whethah he cooked dem, or whethah he did or not. An' 'fo' dat co't set, he went dere dat night - befo' co't settin' tuhmahrah. He went dere at twelve a'clock an' he chunked one of dem aigs ovah dat co'thouse. He chunked dat firs' aig back towards de nō't. Well, he come back in de mawnin' jes' at daylight an' he chunked dat othah aig back ovah tuh- vards de west. De mawnin' dey carried 'is daughtah up fo' trial, when dey called co't tuh ordah - people all rushin' in tuh co't - he throws dat othah aig out tuhwards de east. Dey didn't try 'er. De reason ah know he done dese things, becuz ah wus transferrin' 'im in mah car back tuh de house, but he would nevah tell me who tole 'im dis. Tell me jes'...
(They set his daughter free.)
Entry 11290
Doctor King's account of himself begins: from Columbia, S. Car. When 8 years old to Beaufort, S. Car. Not much in this for an extract. Of course he Worked or studied with Doctor Buzzard (341:9). Next comes the stationary root previously mentioned (342:1). Put black cat bone scrapings on a photograph, if you are looking for a man [a criminal, etc]. The picture turns light or dark, etc. [according to your question]. A year later I would have learned more from Doctor King about this. Later I added, "Be careful in using this unless a par(allel) secured!" Nonsense: This was the doctor's own method (344:1). A rite about snake eggs used to kill person (344:3). To take out frogs caused by frog eggs. Black seeds from a watermelon, horse hoof dust, a tea made from. I comment doubtful. Nonsense! (345:1). "Yo' kin take a woman or yourself, either one, an' if yo' git some hair from down there an' stop it up in a bottle with kerosene on that. Take away all your courage - away from you (347:1). Rub kerosene on woman's privates, takes her courage (347:2). Doctor King also appears in No.830, p.288, v.1. If I failed, remember that Doctor King was in a hurry, on his way to see a patient, but would meet me again the following day. He took a disappearing root!
Entry 12501
About 6 pins, about 6 sewing needles, any soil[ed] garment, cross [them] every which way, [to] cross up your mind, go crazy; bury it by door with the sharp points up and it will kill you. [Memphis 1553:5.]
Entry 241
Once upon a time a lady brought a friend of her a pot of rice and tomatoes, and the neighbor, not wanting to eat it, she gave it to her little girl. And the little girl ate some of it and it made her sick. After that the little girl would always go out into the woods to drink her milk. Her parents didn't know what the child was doing with this milk. Later her brother followed her to find out what was happening with this milk and he found the little girl Was giving this milk to a snake. Her brother told her father. Her father and the neighbors set out to find the snake. After they found the snake and killed it, the little girl passed away. [For snake eating or drinking child's food, see FACI,2ed., pp.62-63, Nos.1571-1573.] [New York City, (?), 370A:1; near Charleston, S. Car.,1922.1
Entry 6219
Take fo' stran's of yore hair, yo' understand, an' make a foldin' plat outa it. Aftah dey plat dat hair, dey take a brand-new nail, a eight-penny dl, an' carry it out in de woods an' git on de north side of a tree. You see, te BORTH SIDE OF A TREE HAS A HEAVY BARK on dat side. An' take dat bark an' jIs barely crack dat bark enough to put dat hair in dere, see. Wedge dat hair in tere. An' take dis eight-penny nail an' drive it in up to de eye [of the nail]. Pat SUPPOSed to kill yuh. [INFORMANT DOES NOT KNOW THAT THE NORTH SIDE OF THE TEE HERE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE THICKNESS OF THE BARK. THE NORTH SIDE OF TTHING, ESPECIALLY OF A CEMETERY, IS A VERY UNLUCKY PLACE.]
Entry 6222
Yuh git hold of some of yuh hair an' bore a hole in a tree wit a auger an' put yuh hair up in dere. An' dat'll kill yuh aftah nine days. Yuh're bound tuh die.
Entry 7488
Dere's a way dat dey could bury 'im. Ah know dat a personal fact. A frien' of mine got killed an' dey turned 'im on 'is face - dey buried 'im on 'is face. An' it's a known fact dat if somebody killed anybody, an' if yo' bury 'em on dey face an' yo' turn dey haid eastward an' face it westwards, dey can't go nowhere - dey gotta come back. (The fellow that killed him will come back?) Yessiree. It ain't no if about dat business. Dat Big Boy Brown killed a frien' of mine. Big Boy wus a friend of mine an' also dis ole man dat he killed. Ah know becuz ah got in some trouble right chere mahself at de time an' ah had tuh go to jail. Me an' 'im wus in jail at de same time. Had 'im in dere firs' an' ah got in a little trouble aftah.
(This other fellow that killed the old man?)
Yes sir.
Entry 8080
They take them [photographs], they say, and bury 'em in the ground and kill yeh.
Entry 8082
Bury it on de face tuh kill 'em. (Bury this photograph on its face and that will kill them.)
Entry 8177
Turn it bottomside upwards - stand it on its haid. Dat will kill a person.
(The photograph.)
Entry 8273
Ah heard dat a person kin take yore pichure an' put it on a tree or a stump an' shoot dat pichure an' it'll kill yo'. Ah have heard of dat.
Entry 8294
Ah heah mah gran'mothah use tuh say dat dey could take yuh photograph an' could take dat an' put it up side a tree. An' said yo' take a silvah bullet an' shoot at it, an' shoot yuh in yuh lef' side neah yuh heart. Shootin' yuh heart, it would kill right away.
Entry 8340
(What do they do with a person's photograph?) Well, yo' kin take one an' nail it de height of a person on de tree. Git de height an' put dis pichure on de tree an' nail de nail through de haid, an' kill de person - through de haid of de photograph. Or yo' kin shoot it an' person will die.
Entry 8342
Lak if yo' don' lak nobody yo' kin take it [photograph] an' [put] it upon a tree, an' nail it an' put dat nail right in its mouth, an' nail it nine mawnin's an' dey'll die.
Entry 8343
Dey tell me yo' takes it [photograph] an' yo' stick it up on a tree, right up on a tree, an' git a nail, a tenpenny nail, an' stick it right heah in de photo an' drive it right in dere fer as yo' kin git dat haid tuh go down in dere, 'an' dat'll kill dem, he'll die.
Entry 8347
I heard they say they kin take it [photo] an' nail it up side a tree, I think. An' they say fer nine mornin's, I think, they go there an' nail a nail, I think, in the heart of it. An' name it, call this person name. An' they say they'd die.
Entry 8353
Yo' kin take dat photograph an' put it up an' stob a tenpenny nail intuh it. Put de tenpenny nail right about de heart an' yo' go dere nine days, nine mawnin's an' drive dat; or nine evenin's jes' befo' de sun go down. An' hit it jes' one lick, an' yo' keep dat up until yo' drive it down tuh de haid.
(What will that do to you?)
It will kill yo'.
Entry 8355
Well, a person kin take yore photograph an' take it an' put it up, nail it up on de tree fo' nine mawnin's. De ninth mawnin' drive dat last [nail] in, don't put 'em in all de way at once; de last mawnin' drive dat dere nail clean in. An' whosomevah dat is, he'll die.
(You only use one nail?)
Dat's right, a nail a day.
(You use nine nails?)
Yes.
Entry 8371
Den anothah thing ah wanta tell yo' 'bout de pichure. Ah got sompin else tuh tell yo' 'bout a pichure - dat pichure ag'in. Yo' take a man's pichure or a woman's pichure or whutsomevah pichure or whosomevah pichure i'tis [it is]. If yo're [you arel mad wit dat person, an' yo' intend doin' sompin tuh 'em on de sly, an' don' let dem know it. Yo' jis' go an' take dat pichure an' as de sun is risin' in de mawnin', an' yo' put it on de side de sundown on. An' yo' take a tenpenny nail, a new nail, an' stick it right about de heart, an' yo' hit dat nail nine times at dat time. An' go back dere evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's an' hit it nine time each mawnin'. An' de las' lick yo' give it de ninth mawnin', dat person will fall dead.
(Where do you nail this picture?)
Nail it on a tree on de sundown side. Yo' goes when de sun rise. An' yo' see, evah mawnin' when yo' goes dere, yo' goes when de sun's jis' risin'. Hit it nine times.
Entry 8376
Git chure photo- graph an' nail it - carry it in de branch [stream of water] or in de swamp an' git small nails an' nail it tuh a tree an' it'll kill de person.
[This tree must have its roots in water.]
Entry 8381
Take a ord'nary pichure an' go tuh a white pine, go on de right side of de white pine. (The right side as you are walking to it?) Dere yo' are, as yo' walkin' tuh it. Git chew a tenpenny nail an' drive it as neah tuh de heart as possible. An' den go dere fo' nine days, drivin' dis nail an' on de ninth day, drive it up. An' den dat would kill 'im.
Entry 97
If yo' kin git de blood, if yo' kin git a shirt - [anything] dat got blood on his garment where he got killed - if yo' kin git a piece of that, take it an' git a aig, jes' a aig, an' bury it in his han', an' open his eye up first an' look in his eye, den take that aig an' put it in his han', an' dey say dat de person whut kilt him will appeah befo' yo' in his eye, will appeah befo' 'em in his eye. An' put dis heah piece of his garment whut's got his blood on it - say, yo' tack it to de no'th side of yore house. An' dat person-will come back whut kilt dis person, dey will come right to yore house.
Entry 191
Dey says if yo' could take, go an' git dat dust; says if yo' evah killed a man, said yo' could jes' git it - yo' have tuh reach in dere. Ah ain't nevah knowed nobody or seen nobody could do it, while de whirlwind's comin' by, tuh reach down in dere right quick an' git chew as much sand as yo' kin. Keep dat in yore watch pocket all de time an' if yo' evah happen tuh kill a man, or evah has killed a man, says yo' kin git away wit dat sand after yo' kill him.
(If this man has killed a man, he can get away and they can't catch him?)
Yeah, ah've heah dem say dat.
Entry 382
The people was afraid of the banks then [before and during the Civil War] and they would hide their money. They put it in a iron or copper pot and seal it, and then they would always take someone with them to where they would hide it, and then they would ask this person if they wanted to mind the money, and then they would kill this person and bury them with the money and they would always kept a watch over it. Sometimes they [the spirit] would get tired [of watching the money] and give it to someone. They are the only people who can get it. The spirit comes in and asks, "Do you want the money?" And they take you to this place. She was living out in the country and a white gentleman [he had been killed and buried with money to watch it, and had become tired of his task] came up to the gate. He was dressed in a long-tailored coat and high silk hat. And he spoke to her and said, "Good evening." And then he asked her did she want some money. And she said, "Yes." And he said, "I will be here tomorrow at twelve." And he vanished. And she got frightened because he went away so quick. And she went to bed. When noon [next day] came, he was right on the dot, knocked on the gate and said, "Are you ready?" She said she was sick. She was so scared she didn't want to go with him. And then he steps in the house. He made one step and went to the bed and rolled her in the bed and said, "Now you will be sick." And she was flat on her back for one year. He did it because she told the story.
Entry 572
Well, this is fact - ah seen this. Ah went with a girl once to a hoodoo an' her husban' wus sick, an' he wus with anothah woman. See. An' he stayed sick, jes' goin' bad. An' so he tole her tuh go back an' look in de pillah an' she'd find a ball of strange feathers in dere. An' so she went back and she got de feathers out an' it wus a ball of owl feathers dat he wus sleepin' on. Yo' see, yo' take dose owl feathers an' yo' put 'em in yore pillah, see dey won't mix - dey ain't goin' mix wit de othah feathers, dey'll ball up together. An' sleep on it, see, an' dat runs yo' crazy, kill yo'.
(What did they do with them then, those feathers?)
Dey took 'em an' throwed 'em in de rivah, an' dat runs de othah person on 'bout dere business.
(The hoodoo man - was he colored or white?)
He wus colored.
Entry 788
Once dere wus a man an' he wanted tuh marry a girl - no, he married dis girl, see. He wanted dis girl tuh stay home, an' every time he would go out he would rake his yard, see. [Raking of loose soil or sand is an ancient device.] So sometimes whenevah he went out he would see dat somebody had been walkin' cross de yard. Well, he'd ast her had she been off an' she said no. So dis heah woman re'lly wus scared of dis man, so she stayed home when he tell her. Dere wus a rooster an' he tole her he had dis rooster trained, an' he told de rooster, he said, "Now, whenevah she leaves, yo' crow." An' so dis woman, she hadn't been goin' no place, say, "Well, ah believe ah'll walk off." So she walked out that day. An' so when she walked out de rooster crowed. Well, de man come back an' he begin tuh raise Sam. [Sam = devil.] He says, "Yo' been out dere." She said, "No, ah haven't - ah haven't been no place." Say, "Yes, yo' have." Well, de man wus jes' workin' right cross de canal like from de house an' he could tell whenevah she would leave de house by dis rooster crowin'. So de next day she went off - she then begin now wantin' tuh go out, an' so whenevah she left that day, the rooster crowed agin. He heah de rooster crowin'. So when he came in de afternoon, said, "Yo' been out?" Says, "No, ah haven't." Say, "Yes, yo' have." An' he jump on her an' he beat her. De next day, she wondered why did he know. So she started out. She looked all around an' she walked out de do' an' she looked back an' she hear de rooster crow. Well, she thought about dat rooster had crowed already fo' three days. So she went out dere, yo' see, an' she looked down dere where de rooster wus, an' dere wus a kind of - a lil' [little] pint box settin' dere; yo' know, a lil' box dat hold jes' about a pint of corn. So this man had been givin' this rooster a pint of corn tuh crow. So then while she wus standin' dere she looked at de box dat wus settin' dere an' she wondered, she thought within herself, "That's why dat rooster wus crowin', because he had dat box settin' dere fulla corn." She goes an' she gits a larger box then [than] dat an' she sets it down dere an' she fills it up fulla corn. She tole de rooster, "Now, if yo' don't crow whenevah ah start out, ah'll give yo' this corn." So they says dat the rooster had said, "Well, he give me a pint of corn to crow,"' says, "yo' give me a quart, den ah won't crow." So dis woman she sets de quart of corn down dere so she went on out. So dat night whenevah her husban' come he say, "Yo' haven't been nowhere today?" She say, "No suh, ah know ah haven't. Why yo' say ah haven't been nowhere?" "Jes' because ah have a sign - dat rooster hasn't crowed." Dis woman then, she knowed fo' shure dat de rooster had been crowin', dat why dis man know dat she had been goin' off, so de nex' day she killed de rooster, an' dey didn't have de rooster to tell de tale. Ah heard that long yeahs ago - dat's a ole story.
(You heard it from some older person?)
Yes.
Entry 882
(Yes, go ahead.)
In the little town where I was born, you know there was a lotta people there that believed in hoodooism. (I see - and will you talk slow, please.) There were a lotta people and they believe in hoodooism. There was a man, he was - before he married - he was courtin' another lady, and after he married why he still Sweethearted with her. And he moved next door to her when he married. And he took care of his wife and bought her everything that she needed as far as he was able, and his sweetheart envied her, envied his wife because he neglected her mostly altogether. And she tried a certain some way of getting rid of his wife, and she - she sought around, she found out that it was a man in another county that she could go to him and have this lady fixed to get rid of her. And she went - she caught the train one evening and went to this man. It was a man. She went to the man and when the man saw her coming, he told her to come in - he knew what her business was there. (Where did this man live that she went to see? What town did he live in, or near what town?) He lived in New Orleans.
(And where was this town that you were born in?)
Taylor.
(Where?)
Taylor.
(Where is that?)
It's in Mississippi.
(Taylor - how do you spell it?)
Cary.
(All right - go ahead.)
And after she went there, he told her what she - he knew what she came for. And so she explained everything to him. So he gave her a little bottle about fo' inches tall with some kind of a liquid in it - it was a little green bottle with some kind of liquid in it. And he told her, like if - when she come back to bury it under her [wife's] steps. And she came back with it one dark night and took and buried it under the steps. And the next day the lady came out, you see, to go to the store to [buy] some- thing for breakfast. And when she came out, she came down the steps, and as she came down the steps, why something caught her - a pain caught her in the leg and drew her legs up and she couldn't walk. A man came along and he called another lady and he helped put her in the bed. And she was getting worse and worse, look like it would kill her and so her husband thought he would get, you know, consult diff'rent physicians and he couldn't never get any cure for her. So one day, he was long and sad, looking for someone and he met a man, and the man told him that he knew his troubles, and then asked him how long his wife had been sick. And he said about two months. And so he said he could cure his wife. So the man went on back to his house and told him - when he got to the steps he told him to bring him a spade. He brought him a spade and he dug up that little green bottle. The man what he met was a hoodoo himself, and he dug up the bottle and carried it to some running water and threw the - opened the bottle and threw the liquid into the stream, and threw the bottle into the stream, too, both of then, and didn't even look back and went on back to the house and he asked the lady how did she feel, and she said she was feeling better all at once. And so he made up some kind of a mixture of herbs and rubbed her up with it - rubbed her with it, and fixed some stuff in a bottle and told her to put it under the pillow and let it stay under there for about three days. And then after he'd taken it from under her pillow, well, he'd taken and diggin' in the front yard, you know, puts it and buries it in the front yard in front of the gate - opposite the gate, and buried it deep enough so that no one could dig it up or nothing could dig it up. And after he done that, why - after the three days he did as the man told him, and then the lady was getting along fine. And after she was getting along fine, the lady what tried to kill her came - you know, began to visit her. And she seen that she was getting better and when she'd get there; she came in one evening to see her. The lady Was getting along, around the house doing her work, and she was sitting up in the bed. That lady brought some fish, and she ate that fish and why hit kilt her.
(It killed her? They killed the wife, you mean?)
Yes, sir.
(That killed the wife?)
Yes, sir. (What do you mean about the three days - I didn't understand - you said some- thing about three days?) Yeah, he told her for to let that - he fixed some - a little old bottle of medicine - I don't know exactly what all the ingredients was, but he told her to put it under her pillow - under the lady's pillow and let it stay under three day and then take it out and dig a deep hole in the ground and bury it deep enough so that nothing could dig it up.
(He left it under the pillow for three days?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 1058
[The preceding informant's words somebody kin do somethin' tuh offset chew...if yo' don't do that are proved true in the following two rites.] Well, yo' take a man's watah an' yo' put it into a bottle - ketch it. Don't chew pee in it, leave him only pee dere hisself. An' when he pees yo' take it in a small bottle. Yo' don't have tuh have a big one, but see dat he don't spit in it or nuthin lak dat. An' yo' take that pee an' yo' put it in a bottle. Well, yo' buries that right by yore steps. That brings him home. [This is a bottle hand - see subsection Hands - used in love rites.]
(That brings him home. Keeps him home?)
Dat's right.
(Why wouldn't you get it, if he spit into this?)
De spit supposed tuh not - might be killin' outfit whut he could do. Yo' see whut ah'm speakin' of?
(That kills the power.)
Now a woman when she could do dat - she's tuh watch an' see if he does dat, but ketch him when he wouldn't do dat - yo' see, lak a man would make watah an' he would spit in it. Den yo' kin take a man's watah an' put nine needles an' nine pins in it, yo' see, into this watah an' bury it anywhere upside down an' he won't pee any mo'. Dat will kill him. [Retention of urine, perhaps most urological trouble, is caused by hoodoo.] [New Orleans, La., (1568) 2878:9.]
Entry 1224
Den you kin take and feed dat dog - kill dat dog and get her blood while - if she's howling and gwine on and cuttin' up, and feed it to a person and he'll howl jest like dat dog. He'll howl - you'll put him to howlin', you see, put him to howlin'. He jest howlin' like a dog: [For another method of making a person bark like a dog, see No. 775, p.256.]
Entry 2052
A root doctor tole me dat if anybody was trying to harm you in any Way - like telling de police to come to yore house and different things or you in some kind of a business - you could go in de woods and ketch a black snake. Ketch him and yo' skin it - kill him and skin right there while he alive, and take that wet skin and you tie it in a bowknot and you take it home, and you sleep with it under yore pillah always. Don't ever move it from undah yore pillah. Even when you change beds let it stay right in the same spot - let it stay dere no matter how stinking it gits, let it stay dere. De law would even come at yo' doorstep but he never would wanta come in. [Jacksonville, Fla., (562), 699:5.]
[For more knots, see Spirit Caught in Knot, p.389f., and Index.]
Entry 2779
Now, you can take a white candle, if you want luck. You can take a white candle and three loafs of sugar, and you light it. Set [it] with a name. And you put a piece of paper under it [candle] with the name [this is setting it] and you light it and make your wish. That's for luck.
(What name do you write on that?)
Write whoever you burning it for - write your name or my name, anybody name you burning it for. That's for luck. Now, a red candle.
(A red candle?)
That's a white candle. Now a red candle is for blood.
(Well, how do you handle that - a red candle for blood?)
You take the person name, whoever you wanta get in trouble, and you write the name on the candle all around - up and down on the candle - and you burns it and makes a wish, bad wish. That's for blood, you see. Now a black candle, that's to kill you.
(A black candle is to kill you. Well how would they handle that?)
Well, they take the black candle and they write your name on there, see. And they takes and they cuts that top piece off - like this the top piece, well, they cut that off, and they take and turn it upside down and shape it [make a wick at the bottom end] and they light it upside down. Well, you liable to walk out your door and get killed most any minute.
(Do they use green candles, and blue and yellow, anything of that sort?)
Well, they burn them to different saints for luck.
(Now, are candles burned at any special time or just any time?)
Any time you can burn a candle if you got your saints and you believe in your saints. Well, different days you burn different candles.
(What do you mean by different days you burn different candles?)
Like Mondays, you burns a white candle. Tuesday you burn a green candle. Wednesday you burns a yellow candle or blue candle. But red and black ain't for no luck - that's for undermining work.
(When do you burn those candles? On any day?)
You burn the red candle any day.
(And you burn the black candle any day, too?)
Any day too.
Entry 2835
Dey baptize 'em in alcohol. Baptize three of 'em in alcohol. Them are tuh kill yo'. (You have to have two or three - you have to have three black candles in this alcohol. How do you baptize them?) Tie 'em together an' po' yo' alcohol in somepin an' baptize 'em. If yo' want dose black candles tuh kill somebody, yo' let 'em burn down to de end. (How do you use them?) Set 'em all afiah at once, those three, an' make yore wish who it's on an' write their name, an' turn they name down to de table, an' set dem candles. (Write the name on three pieces of paper and put a candle on each piece of paper.) Turn de name down, den put de candle an' let 'em burn down to the bottom of de candle. Won't know whut dey did [what hit them]. It'll kill 'em. Dey'll die.
Entry 2840
Ah tole yo' ah said, if you wanted a person tuh come to yuh in peace, ah said yo' take dat candle and yo' roll it in sugar. See.
(What candle?)
Well, yo' take a pink candle and a white candle and yo' kin roll that in sugar, and on dose certain hours yo' burn it - jes' like de woman did fo' to bring de fellah back. Now, if you wanta worry a person or jes' like a per- son wanted to do harm to a person or kill a person, dey take a black candle and yo' burn dat black candle at night. Take a jet black candle and put it in yore room and yo' burn it slowly at night, see. An' when dat black candle burn out that makes a person go down - a black candle. But if you wants peace, yo' take a pink or white candle and yo' roll it in Sugar, and whoever name yo' want it to burn on you write it with de name back- wards - de last name yo' write it first, three times around de candle.
Entry 2845
Take de knife an' fo'k lak yo' fixin' de table, an' de parties dat chew - but dat kills people, dey tell me. Yessuh. An' yo' puts dat black candle in dere an' dere name wrote jes' lak ah tole yo', but it's gotta be on a brand-new white plate wit dat name underneat' dat plate where dat knife an' fo'k is set around dat candle, crossed, yo' understand, an' dat name underneat' dat, underneat' dat plate, with de black candle. Dat runs 'em crazy with their haid.
(How do you write that name on that piece of paper?)
Yo' write it backwards, jes' dat one party's name dat chew wanta do dat to.
(Just once?)
Yessuh.
Entry 2875
If de' burning on you for bad luck or to kill you, dey burns black can- dles. And if dey burning for good luck, you burns white candles or blue candles or yellow. But dark blue is bad luck and black ones kill you. [Dark blue is sometimes called dark purple - it is almost black and somewhat rare.] (Well now, suppose I was trying to kill someone. What would - what have you heard I would do? Just how would I burn that black candle? How would I go about it?) Well, if in a certain length of time you wanted to kill a person, you set it for nine days, and you fix dat candle and put dese folks' name under it, and course you put nine new straight pins in it, and you burn dat candle for about five minutes for nine days.
(What time of day would I burn it for five minutes?)
Well, just the time you'd have to set it for. Whatever hour you have it set for.
Entry 2888
(Now, how would they burn a black candle?)
A black candle? You take a person's name on a piece of paper, you write it nine times thisaway [demonstrates]. Nine, like you make a cross - nine times thataway, nine times thataway. And you - every time you light that candle, you go there, you curse, you say, "You son-of-a-bitch, you ought to be dead." You see? Well, the candle'll start to popping - you see, the candle'll start to popping. When the candle start to popping, well, you go over there and you - you sell yourself to the devil, you don't say anything about the Lord at all, you saying that to the devil. Say, "You son-of-a-bitch, you ought to be dead, the way you treat me." Well, the candle'll pop - pop like that. Now, when that black candle go out, and you have your house dark, nobody pass through, nobody go you see. You have that. You don't - nobody goes there but yourself. You don't want nobody to see what you doing, because its a lot of people know what those black - know the black candle is no good. It's bad, you see. Well, so you takes it and go ahead on and lights it, and when it gets most out, he can't go nowhere. He'll have to stay there to watch it. And when it get down low, low - well you burn it three days, you see. Now in the morning you burn that. You light it at six o'clock in the morning, twelve o'clock you light one, and three o'clock you light the other one, you see. That's what you do. And then that's for - that make's he be going - starting to getting sick and droopy - and after that he'll pine jis' away. And he'll stop and say, "Ooh, my head hurt."
Entry 2924
If the pitchure is on a tintype - from my experience, not no paper, on tintype - they can kill you with that. Take and bury it bottom up and [or] then they can take and set it in ink, put nine black candles around it in the shape of a coffin and burn it for nine days. The best time to burn it is at night, whilst you sleep so it gets the spirits on them.
(That's your photograph?)
Yes, on tintype.
(Now, what else do they - for what other purpose do they burn candles?)
To evil?
(Yes.)
To kill a person and put 'em on a drift, you know, have 'em sleepyfied?
(Yes, how would they do that?)
Well, you just takes a red candle.
(A red candle.)
And [or] a black candle. And they burns that candle in ink for nine days, you'll just drift, just drift away, and you don't know what - you don't feel sick or nothing, only just drowsy and sleepy all the time. See. [New Orleans, La., (822), 1187:1+5.].
Entry 3071
We have a great man heah by de name of Doctor Buzzard. He did all dat kinda stuff an' he could see yo' befo' yo' came. He's right cross dis rivah.
(His name is Doctor Buzzard. Where does he live?)
He lives right ovah at Beaufort, S'uth Ca'lina - right cross in de - lak on a little island dere. It's a little island planted dere by itself.
(Is he still alive?)
He's still alive, he is. See, yo' git in de cane [canebrake], cross country dere. He has two large cane buzzards dat is large as eagles. Ah don't know how dey know how to row de boat - maybe it's a motor in it, but dey say ole buzzards rows it, one sittin' in de bow an' one in de stern. Say, when yo' gits dere, yo' go up dere an' go in de boat. Well, dey rows yo' right cross de rivah wit dey wings.
(Anybody else in the boat?)
Nobody else but those two buzzards - jes' dese two buzzards an' dey gits yo' to de landin'. When yo' git to de landin' he be standing at his house dere, an' he say, "Ah knew yo' wus comin'. Ah know de time yo' left home dis mawnin'." Say, "Ah know whut chew came after. Yo' came tuh git roots to kill so-an'-so Yo' came to git roots to run someone - sech-an'-sech a one away." Say, "Well, ah have 'em already fixed fo' yo." He had 'em already wrapped, an' yo' moden apt to carry it [away when you left]. An' he say, "Mah money, yo' jes' put it on yore mantelpiece tonight an' it will be brought to me." An'yocould put it anywhere in yore house an' tell him where yo' would put it befo' yo' leave. But if yo' tell him a story - that chew goin' put it sech-an'-sech a place an' don't put it nowhere an' den he don't git it - he goin' give yo' a stroke fo' life or - dere's many men been messed up tryin' tuh cheat him yo' see.
Entry 3154
He kin take de right han' of a roostah's spur an' do de same thing - take de right foot of a roostah spur an' do de same thing. An' she kin take de left one an' do de same. Yo' jes' buy yo' a roostah, kill 'im an' eat 'im, cut dat spur off, an' aftah de last dish of dat is eat up, yo' jes' take it an' rub it lak dat.
(Where do you rub it?)
Jes' rub it in yore han', de right of a roostah's spur. If she wanta work one on yo', yo' undahstan', jes' take an' rub 'em lak dat three times. Whensomevah she wit chew, she kin rub it up dere lak she's playin', an' yo' can't have nobody else. She kin take de left one [a man takes the right]. But yo' cain't do it until de chicken's eat up. Den yo' kin try it den.
Entry 3201
Jes' lak anothah woman goin' wit mah man, ah take dat toadfrog an' kill 'im an' let dat - let 'im dry - let 'im dry an' take dat dust an' scrape it off an' take an' rub it on yore husban' private, an' when he go an' have dat woman, li'le skippahs will jump outa her. Ah see a woman do dat.
(Jump out of the woman?)
Yeah, goodness! [GOODNESS! is the proper exclamation here. Skippers are usually any insect of Hesperiidae, a large family of order Lepidoptera, the latter also including the true butterflies (Phopalocera), with which skippers are popularly confused. However, in the Southern States of the U. S. A., skippers are either any maggot in- festing meat or a water skipper. The latter is meaningless here. I am certain that our skipper means the one hatching in home-cured hams, because on one of my trips south I bought a home-cured ham at a crossroads country store. They were hanging up in the back of the store. No one told me a ham unprotected from a certain fly or flies could cause trouble. I shipped the ham home to New York City. On reaching home and opening the package, the maggots began to jump! Here was an animal 1/2 inch long, twisting itself into a U, and jumping 1 foot up into the air! Soon there were lOO of them jumping all round the kitchen! No wonder my informant exclaimed GooDNESS! How skippers could come from toadfrog powder I do not know.] [For HooDoO's classical example of putting live things, a turtle, in the other woman, see 10, p.7.]
Entry 3434
It jes' lak dis: if yo' were a man - is yo' a man an goin' wit anothah man's wife. Now, lemme see if dat right. Yes. Aw - no. If yo' wuz goin' wit anothah woman an' yore wife found it out, an' she killed a puppy an' cooked dat puppy livah an' give it to yo', why yo' an' 'er [other woman] when yo' have connection yo' would git hitched [= tied]. Yo'd git hitched, an' yo' know it take doctors [M.D.'s] dat know dere business to unhitch yo'.
Entry 3437
Jes' lak a woman's husban' runnin' roun' an' she wants tuh ketch 'im, why den she kin take - lak a fellah dat eat livah or somepin lak dat, why dey kin ketch a black dog, jes' a real black dog. Kill 'im an' take his livah. Jes' lak she would buy livah fo' suppah. Take dis livah an' give it tuh 'im dis evening. If he has intahco'se wit a woman, he git caught jes' lak a dog.
(Then they can catch him.)
Entry 3438
Dog livah will tie yo' up.
(Just how do they do that?)
Yo' gits dat dog livah. Cut dat dog while he live an' take de livah from 'im, an' dey'll take dat dog livah an' put it in whiskey or in de tea or anything, an' - if dey kin git to yo' - yo'll nevah do nuthin. (You say it will tie you up. How do you mean?) If yo' connect wit a woman - if a man connect wit a woman, git fastened.
Entry 3439
[Gyp or gip has been a common term in the United States for a bitch, the word deriving from gypsy or gipsy (chiefly British) and originally meaning a gypsy-like dog - a wanderer. Here, as so often in the United States, the female is accused of a trait not exclusively hers. Dogs - the males - as I know from experience can be male tramps. Finally, Gyp or Gip is - used to be at least - a favorite name for male or female dogs.] Yo' kin take a dog's livah now, if yo' wife is havin' intahco'se wit any othah man an' yo' wanta ketch up wit 'er. Well, yo' kin kill a gyp dog an' yo' kin care [carry] her two slices of dat livah an' let 'er eat it, an' de very nex' time, if it's de nex' day or de day aftah, she have intahco'se wit dis othah man, why dey git hung jes' lak dat gyp dog would.
(A GYP DOG? WHAT KIND OF A DOG IS THAT?)
A SHE DOG.
(THEY CALL THEM GYP DOGS DOWN HERE.)
Entry 3441
Well, if a man got a wife an' she's runnin' roun' an' he wanta ketch 'er, an' he can't ketch 'er, well, he kills a dog dat's proudin' an' take de livah. An' jes' lak yo'll go uptown an' buy hog livah or cow livah, an' take it home an' let 'er cook it an' eat, an' de man dat she have connection wit, dey'll tie up jes' lak two dogs.
Entry 3458
Take a dog an' ketch 'i, a boy dog, an' ketch 'im an' cut his balls out an' cook 'em, cook 'em right soft an' den crumble 'em up in 'is [a man's] food. Dat's if 'is wife wanta ketch 'im. An' put it [in] somepin tuh eat an' den if he goes wit any woman, she'll find out who it is he goin' wit. When he go tuh be wit dis woman dey'll git hung up... [Three dots show that I turned off recording machine and restarted it in time to catch: Yo' have tuh kill one of 'em.
(To get them apart.)
[The testes of roosters and other male animals have been used for centuries as an aphrodisiac.]
Entry 3461
Othah words, if yo' can't git to her dat way, yo' kin to [with] de undahwear. Take it an' go somewhere an' git choo a male dog. An' whenevah dey [the dog] git in a hard, yo' know, an' den wipe it off. Git choo nine shingle nails - nine little wire nails - an' care [carry] it to a tree. Dig de root, dig down to [into] de ground where yo' find 'em forked roots. Nail it up in dere - tack it up in dere - put dem nine nails in dere an' covah it ovah. Well, dere he's stuck ag'in, he can't git away. But if yo' have sympathy fer 'em an' go an' take it up yore ownself, dey'll come loose; an' if not, YO' GOT TO KILL 'EM BŌF OR KILL ONE OF 'EM to git 'em loose.
Entry 3635
I have heard that when a man goes to work or on a journey, and if he believes it himself that his wife is crooked on him, not treating him right, and he desires to catch her; I have been told he can ketch a snail. I don't mean a shell snail, but a slick snail. Well, you take that snail when you have sexual intercourse with her, and you are about to leave her now - and you take this snail and mash it in your hand, and unbeknownt to her, you are loving and kind to her, you rub it over her stomick, and any man will have difficulty in bothering her in your ao- sence. Now if he's a stiff stout man and he goes in, he will be caught there until you come back, and there can't nobody remove him but you. If you love the woman, I don't know what would be the result. You have to come home to release them. As a rule any man that takes to bother her, no sooner than he starts, his tool will fall - he can't raise a heart for her, not to save his soul. In case he do, and go with her, he'll get stuck and nobody can remove him unless this man remove him. You can send for any doctor in the universe and you can't move them except killing one or the other. [For killing the man or woman, usually the lat- ter, see No.3460f.] [This was the first time I heard the snail rite, the summer of 1936. I thought the man was lying.] [Old Point Comfort, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 3755
Tuh git 'em apart, yo' gotta go right den, an' if dey stand it dey gotta eat a piece of dog. Jes' - git a - kill anothah dog an' git a piece of de meat outa de backbone right from de small part of de back. 中 Git a piece of dat an' cook it an' give it to dem. (What will that do then?) Dat will shrink 'em down an' dey come apart.
Entry 3798
How yo' do tuh git loose? All right. De way yo' do tuh git loose from dat, yo' go an' git chew a sheep. Have tuh go an' git a sheep an' git a - kill dat sheep, yo' undahstan', an' yo' git a half a teacup of dat sheep's blood. Undahstan' good, git a half a teacup of dat sheep's blood an' den yo' puts ten drops of sweet milk in dere, an' yo' mix it all up togethah. Git chew a silk pocket han scuff - gotta git a silk pocket han'scuff an' go dere an' wipe all aroun' up in dere good wit dat han's- cuff. But chew gotta have it into dat stuff what ah tole yo'. Do lak yo' bath- in'. It'll come out. If yo' don't do dat, DE DOCTOR HAVE TUH KILL ONE TO SAVE DE OTHAH [see Nos.3334-3335 and 3460-3465.]
(What would he do, kill the man?)
He have to kill, den it will come loose.
Entry 3864
Well, ah heard dat dey kin take - lak a man wants tuh do sompin wit a woman - he kin take a woman sanitaries an' put it into a black bottle an' bury it an' kill de woman. (He would take the sanitary piece from her and put it in this black bottle and stop it up and bury it and it would kill her.) Put devil vinegah wit it an' some cinnamon an' some steel dust [3 ingredients].
[For black bottle see BLACK BoTTLE, p.523.]
Entry 3901
Dey'll take one of de cloths dat she uses. Yo' know, her sickness, yes sir. Dey take dis cloth while she's - it dirty yo' know while she's got dat on 'er. An' den dey'll take dis an' put it in a bottle, in a small bottle. An' take dis cloth - but dis heah cloth will fill it up, make it plumb full. An' den dey'll take dat an' dey'll go tuh her house, wherevah she lives, an' put it up anywhere ovah her haid - up ovah her haid. An' den dey'll put a tight stoppah in dere an' put some watah in dere. An' put some watah in dere wit it, put a tight stoppah in dere wit dis cloth whilst it in dere. An' dey say dat'll stop 'er sickness from coming down on 'er; jes' keep it dere till it kills 'er, if dey don't nevah pull dis stoppah out. [For this folk-medicine condition, see comment in bracket later.] But when dey evah did pull dis stoppah out, if dey gits de evil dat dey got agains' 'er off an' wants tuh let 'er go free, why den dey take dis out an' let dis watah out an' den she'll live; but if dey don't, it'll kill 'er. [The preceding rite illustrates one of the great pairs of complementary rites in hoodoo; here of opposites, above and below - the walking under or over some- thing belonging to your body or having been touched by your body. In either case your spirit is divided. The menstrual blood over your head in the present rite, keeps the menstrual blood still in the body from going down. Is menstrual blood different from other blood in the body? Presumably so in folklore, for: Menstru- al blood is poisonous (FACI, 1st ed., p.248, No.5103). The term going down - coming down used in present rite - belongs to folk medicine: "When my mother was about twelve [1845] [[in or near Quincy, Ill.]], an old Indian doctor told them to wear black beads around their neck to keep the blood from going to the brain. All the girls in that time wore black beads all the time to get their monthly to come when coming into womanhood, for it made the blood come down." (FACI, 2nd ed., P.219, No.4969.] [After writing the preceding bracket, I happened to be watching the University of Michigan television program, which for us appears off and on, and comes just before my 7AM news. This was probably towards the end of 1972. A group of women were talking about the problems confronting the first American college women. One woman spoke of a Harvard professor, M.D., who in 1873 wrote a book condemning brain work for women. He maintained that mental effort by a woman made the blood rush to her head, a condition that could dry up her ovaries!]
Entry 3918
I can send 'em away in dis mannah. Now, if I would - say fo' ninstance if I wanted to kill a person or somepin of dat sort, why den, man or woman. If it wus a woman, I could take an' - I'd take her pieces, yo' know, when dey dirty. I'd fold 'em up an' put nine needles in 'em. I'd take an' I'd go to de riv- ah, but when I get to de rivah, when I gets jes' about twenty feets of de end of de walk where I'm goin' to stand at - dere's de wall [of the room] heah, when I get jes' about twenty feets right heah, I'd back myself back to dat, see. An I wouldn't look back, jes' back up to dere. When I gets dere I throws dat over mah left shouldah. When I throw dat in de rivah ovah mah left shouldah. I throws a silvah dime behind me, an' dat'll make her drift. She'll pine away to nuthin an' when yo' look again, why she'll be in de cemetery.
(Well, what do you throw over your shoulder?)
[I know, but I am continuing for the dime later.]
I throw 'er pieces ovah my shouldah.
(Oh! What do you mean, her monthly pieces?)
Yes, sir.
(Her monthly pieces?)
Yes.
(Well, why do you throw that dime over your shoulder?)
Dat dime is fo' death. Dat dime is to carry her on - see, dat dime is to carry her on. She's got to go.
(Does anybody get that dime? Pay her?)
[Informant already has said that dime is: for death, but I am trying to obtain a fuller statement without suggesting what I want - the dime pays the spirit for doing the desired work.] No, no, sir, nobody gets dat dime. Dat dime goes in de rivah. Nobody gets dat dime.
Entry 3957
I don't know whut side of de graveyard she got dat dirt off of but she want an' got de graveyard dirt.
(Why did she get that?)
She wus angry at dis woman about 'er husban'.
(Then what happened?)
Well she managed aroun' some way or nothah an' got a piece of dis woman used evah month, yo' know. Yo' undahstan' whut I'm talkin' about? (I understand.) An' she taken an' cut a piece outa dat, an' puts dat graveyard dirt in it an' wraps it up. An' went in de woods an' bored a hole in a tree on de north side, an' she put dis here piece of cloth an' dat graveyard dirt in dere an' stopped it up. Well, she did it to kill de woman, but it didn't kill 'er but she got small - well she got sickly from it.
Entry 3966
Jes' lak ah wus goin' kill dis woman 'cross de street dere - she doin' me dirty. Ah takes an' hire somebody down heah tuh fumble round in 'er house an' git me her minstration, see. Well, now if dey got me her minstration, well ah take it an' bundle each cloth up an' take it in de back yard to a washpot an' bury it undah dis washpot, bury it deep so nuthin won't git it. Well now, yo' know evah week ah gotta do mah washin'. Well, as dat thing dry - see, as it dries, she'll begin tuh droop as it dry. Well, finely [finally] it dry an' molt away. An' when it [does], she jes' pine away. Dat's all ah kin tell yo' 'bout dat now, cuz ah don't wanta tell yo' no story. Ah wanta give yo' de straight tales.
Entry 4005
Well, some folks dey do's diff'ren' thin's wit yore chamber lye; it's accordin' tuh whut dey wanta do tuh yuh.
(Well, tell me one thing they can do to you.)
Well, dey kin use de chamber lye de same way dey use de hair. Dey kin take some of yore chamber lye an' stop it up in a tree, an' yo'll have stomik trouble, see, down in yore stomik. An' it will kill yo' if, yo' know, yo' don't do somepin fur it.
Entry 4027
(What about that?)
Dey kin take yore chamber lye an' stop it up in a bottle an' it will kill yp.
(What will they do with that bottle?)
Dey kin take it an' stop it up an' bury it.
(I see.)
Entry 4167
Then again, if you want to harm your neighbor, if you want to keep him away from this place, from your home, you just go and get a bottle about that long. You put your [his] water in it. You hold it between your fin- gers like that, your two middle fin- gers [of the left hand], you hold it tight, and you say: Lord, Jesus Christ, your Nomesake. T Then you put the stopper right in. And when you bury it, you bury it [upright] just level with the ground. And IN NINE DAYS THAT WILL TAKE HIM OFF THIS EARTH. That stops his Water when he steps over it. IF YOU WANT TO TURN HIM LOOSE, YOU HAVE TO TURN HIM LOOSE IN EIGHT DAYS.
Entry 4374
Well, ah heard dat chew go out tuh de fo'ks of a road an' yuh take a person's - dis is tuh kill 'em. See, yuh take whut de' [they] do back heah, dere passage, an' put it in a bottle an' yuh go roun' tuh de fo'ks of de road, an' yuh dig a hole up in dere an' yo' turn de stoppah dis way up in de hole, see [demonstrates]. An' yuh pass by dere fo' nine mawnin's, jes' walk by yuh see, an' jes' hit on it lak dat, see. Well, dat last mawnin' yuh hit on it, dey gotta go. Ah'm tellin' yuh whut ah know. Dey gotta go. Dey cain't stay heah. It will kill 'em - kills 'em daid.
(How do you put that bottle in that hole now?)
[When he was demonstrating before I did not interrupt.]
Well, yuh put it in dis way wit de stoppah goin' in [demonstrates].
(Down into the hole like that, upside down.)
No, yuh dig a hole roun' disaway [demonstrates] see, in de fo'ks lak dis, an' let it go straight lak dat tuh yo', an' push it up in dere yuh see, an' daub mud back on it. (You dig a hole like a little tunnel under there and you push that stopper away from you or toward you?) Yuh push it away from yuh, an' let de back part be disaway tuh de road all de time, see. An' yuh pass by dat fo' nine mawnin's.
Entry 4443
Well, dey goes tuh work, if it yuh own toilet, yuh undahstan', an' somebody workin' roun' dere git in wit chew. Takes dat an' dey puts it in a piece of paper, undahstan', goes out in de woods tuh a green tree, bo' a hole, stop it up. Well, dat's tuh kill yuh.
Entry 4566
Woman will take dat an' run 'im crazy. Some says dey takes 'em an bring 'em back. Dey say if a woman takes de bow outa man's hat an' wear it intuh de seat of 'er pants, he will always - some says dey will stay an' some says dey will go. But ah had a friend of mine, she said she wo' hers until 'er husban' died; say he always jes' wanta be away from 'er an' say she brought 'im back dat way. Yuh takes de bow outa a man's hat an' yuh wear it intuh yore pants an' don't let 'im git holt of it. Say if he git holt of it, he'll kill yo'.
Entry 4682
Dey kin take dat, take dat bow from mah hat, if anybody git holt of it, lak dat [shows his hat]. Yuh see, dere it's hot now. Yuh see ah'm sweatin'. Sit down dere, yuh undahstan', an' takin' a knife an' scrape it outa dere, jis' lak dat, an' take all dat dirt an' sweat out of dere tuhgethah, an' git it outa dere till dey git quite a nice bladeful. Git about a knifebladeful out de bow of de hat, yuh undahstan'. An' yuh take dat an' yuh go tuh work, yuh undahstan', an' go tuh a tree an' digs yuh a hole in dere. Gits yuh somepin othah tuh gouge yuh a hole in dat tree lak dat dere. An' den take dat knife an' wipe dat thing off on a li'le piece of rag, an' take an' shove it back in dere. An' git chew a stoppah, make yuh a peg tuh fit dat hole an' drive it in dere. Drive it in dere tight jis' lak dat. Yuh kill 'em, bash it - hit ovah 'is haid.
(That gives him a bad headache and kills him?)
Kill 'im.
Entry 4796
If she doin' yuh any kinda way an' de law pertect [protect] 'er in whut she do, if yuh cain't git rid of 'er an' yuh wan'a git rid of 'er, wanta git 'er kilt. Say, fo' ninstance, yuh wanta kill 'er, an' don' want 'er tuh be pertected. See, yuh take one of 'er clothes from 'er suitcase, whut she wear, an' sprinkle salt on dat an' go tuh de no'th side of de house an' dig a hole in de ground about two an' a half feet deep, an' yuh bury dat. An' den sprinkle salt ovah dat place evah mawnin' when yuh firs' git up. An' den sixteen days from de date chew bury dat, she'll be a corpse. An' all de insurance or whatsomevah she got, yuh'll receive. An' dere cain't no doctor [M.D.] detec' it.
Entry 4928
If yuh git a forked stick - yuh git a man or woman dat chew don' like. An' if yuh wan'a kill 'em or wan' 'em tuh die or be down undah yuh, sick all de time, take dat forked stick. Yuh git one of de stockin's off dey lef' laig an' yuh take it tuh de root of a pine tree, down de root of a pine tree. Lak yuh kin drive it up undah de roots of a pine tree, an' yuh say, "Ah drive yuh heah tuh stay heah until Lulu, '' or whutevah de woman name, 'until she die." An' jis' leave it right dere. Or de man, an' call 'is name when yuh go dere. Bury it. Lak yuh go tuh bury it in dere an' yuh say, "O, son-of-a- bitch, ah put chew heah tuh stay right chere till yuh die." Well, dat's whut ah heard of 'em doin' wit a forked stick.
Entry 5117
Bury dat. Take dat shoe, dat lef'-foot shoe an' yuh take dat piece out dat shoe - dat bottom, dat piece of cloth.
(That inner sole?)
Yeah, dat innah sole. An' yuh bury dat. When yuh bury dat, when dat shoe rots, yuh'll rotten - GONE TUH HELL AN' GONE! GONE TUH HELL! SHO' KILL 'EM! OH, YE-AH!
Entry 5186
Take his shoe an' burn it. Burn 'is shoe tuh ashes an' take de ashes an' bo' a hole in a oak tree an' stop it back up. Dat will kill 'im.
(What do you do burn up, both his shoes?)
No, one - de left shoe.
Entry 5226
Yes, ah have heard of doin' sompin - takin' prackly [practically] nuthin but shoes. Bury dat shoe an' leave de top of it out, an' dat will kill 'em. (What do you mean leave the top of it out? You just bury the sole and leave the top part out?) Leave dis [top] part up, jis' so's all of it ain't in dere. Yo' kin do wit de sock de same way. Leave part of it up.
Entry 5290
Dey kin hurt yo' by burnin' yore shoes.
(What will that do to you if they burn your shoes?)
Jes' take de ashes an' put dem in a bottle an' put it in watah, airtight. DAT'LL KILL YO' IF YO' DON' GIT SOMEBODY TUH TAKE IT OFF YO'.
Entry 5563
Ah heard dat dey kin take dese heah ten-penny nails an' drive 'em in yore track an' it will kill yo'. Jes' drive nine nails in yore track, both yore tracks, de right foot an' de lef' foot, jes' whichevah way yo' goin'.
Entry 5578
Yeah, ah heard dat yo' take de centah of de right-foot track, take de dirt jes' from de centah of dat. An' den take dat dirt an' git de centah of yore right-foot sock. An' den take dat dirt an' wrahp it in dere. An' when dey wrahp it in dere dey'll put bran'-new needles in it, an' put it in de no'th cornah of a house, an' dat'll cuz 'em tuh desert dere. Maybe dey wanta kill yo' or cuz yore death aftah nine days.
(How many needles do they put in it?)
Three.
(They put it in the north corner of the house?)
Yes. (Well, now, if you got my foot track, would you put it in the north corner of your house or in the north corner of my house?) Well now, dey'll put dat in de no'th corner of yores prackly [practically]. Yo' goin' to it. If dey cain't git tuh yore house, see, well den dey have tuh practice where yo' go. Well dey put dat dere. Or else put it where yo' sit down, see.
(What will that do then?)
Well, aftah nine day's time yo' becomes in a 'lapidated [delapidated] condi- tion, come tuh be sickly, yo' see. Yo' lingah. De longah yo' stay dere an lingah, why yo'll soon [the sooner you will] pass away.
Entry 5685
[You] kin take yore foot track an' take a thimble. Take it from de toe of de foot back to de heel. An' dey kin kill yo' wit dat. (Just how do they do that?) Well, dey take dat an' dey put nine needles in. Dey take de thimble an' dey puts a thimbleful of it, an' take it an' put nine needles in dat stuff an' put it in a jar, a bottle, an' drop it in floatin' watah an' yo' die from dat.
(Which track did you say they take, both of them?)
De lef' track. (Take a thimbleful of the dirt and put nine needles into and put it into a bottle. Do you cork it up or leave it open or what?) Stop it up tight as wax. Dat will kill de person.
Entry 5731
They take the right footprint and take this and wrap that in a rag. And put High John de Conquer and Adam-and-Eve, and they said a eagle's feather, and put that in a [the same] rag. And cut a hole with a auger in a green tree and put that in there. And strike nine licks on the stopper that chew put in there for nine days. And you do that in the morning before sunrise and then do it before you speak to anybody in the moring. That will put the person in a lingering condition and will finally die.
Entry 5744
Ah know about whut chew do wit de tracks. If yo' have a enemy or any- thin', anybody dislak yo' or anythin', an' dey wan' chew tuh leave town or sompin lak dat. Dey'll meet chew an' git chure track an' take it an' mix some dog hair an' cat hair. Yo' know cats an' dogs disagrees in anythin' lak dat. An' takes nine straight pins an' ben' dem tuhgethah, an' put dem in de fo'ks of de road, an' yo'll leave town. An' if it's a woman an' a man dat loved one anothah an' de' meet one 'nothah ag'in, dey be hatin' one 'nothah jis' lak cats an' dogs, be mad an' wanta fight an' kill up one 'nothah. No mattah how good dey is in love, dey git apart.
(This is to separate a man and his wife. Whose foot track do you take?)
Take his'n an' hers. Take his'n, yo' know, de lef' goin', an' bring it up ob yo' lak dis, an' take hers an' bring it up tuh yo'. An' mix it tuhgethah dt de hair out yore haid, if yo' kin git it. Eithah if yo' cain't git de hair oat dere haid, den git de dog's hair - yo' know, de bristles an' de cat's bris- tles, an' mix it tuhgethah wit nine straight [bent] pins.
(Wait a minute! You take the man's left foot, you say?)
De lef' foot track.
(And what about the woman's?)
Take de lef'. Uh-huh, take one goin' an' de othah one comin'. Dere's one aiie' one way an' de othah one comin' de othah way.
(Whose do you take going?)
Take de man's goin' or eithah de woman - it don' make no diff'rence, so dere's e goin' one way an' de othah one comin' de othah.
(And you bury this out at the forks of the road?)
At de fo'ks of de road, but chew mix dem cat bristles an' dog bristles wit dat track. Den take nine straight pins an' bend 'em. [Waycross, Ga., (093, 1760:6.]
Entry 5895
Git hold of yore hair an' ruin yo'. Take yore hair an' ball it up an' Pt sulphur, black pepper an' an ole toadfrog dust in it an' throw it in de rivah r burn it up. Dat kill yo' or make yo' sick. Yo' couldn't do nuthin.
Entry 5920
Den yo' kin take de hair from de same place out of 'is haid an' put it in a shell - take it all out but de powdah, an' put it in dis shell wit 'is name in it, an' den as yo' go an' fiah dat, dat jes' kills 'im den.
Entry 6047
Yo' kin take a person's hair an' yo' kin run 'em crazy.
(How do you do that?)
Yo' kin take a person's hair ag'in, but all de time take it from de mole, see. De mole of anybody's head. Fact, dat's a tendah spot about a person in de head, is de mole. Anybody yo' kin git to, git dere hair, yo' git it from de mole. Yo' gits dere hair, if yo' wants to git rid of 'em. Yo' take dat hair an' yo' git yo' what yo' call - we call it prickly pear - wit de stickahs on it, dey're green [unripe ones are]. Yo' git yo' one of dose pieces of prickly pear an' yo' lays dat down an' yo' cuts it as thin as yo' pos- sibly kin do ft. Yo' cuts yo' nine pieces of it. An' yo' try de bes' yo' know bou, when yo' plat dat hair, to plat dat hair wit dat nine pieces of de prickly pear [demonstrates]. (YOU'RE SORT OF WEAVING THAT HAIR AROUND AS YOU ARE DEMONSTRATING WITH YOUR FINGERS.)
[Informant continues demonstration.]
(You weave that around?)
Yeah, DAT HAIR HAS GOT TO COME IN BETWEEN EACH PIECE OF DAT DERE PRICKLY PEAR. SEE.
(I SEE, AS YOU'D MAKE A SANDWICH?)
Yes, sir. Now, den when yo' git dat in dere, yo' take yo' a piece of black thread an' yo' wrap each one of 'em jis' lak dat [demonstrates]. But it's all goin' to be togithah when yo' git through. Yo' wrap each one, an' as yo' wrap it close - now, when yo' git it all close togithah, yo' take yo' white thread m' yo' come disaway wit it. See, yo' wind up on dere an' den yo pull it dis- away, an' yo' wind up on dis end, an' yo' cross it disaway an' yo' come back. Den yo' wind it up ag'in dis way, see.
[I SUMMARIZE LAST DEMONSTRATION.]
(You wind that black thread around it one way.)
One way.
(And then you take the white thread and wrap it around the other way.)
T'othah way.
(As you would tie up a package.)
Yes, yo' wrap dat white thread de othah way, yo' see. Now, when yo' git dat done, yo' take an' yo' git yo' a piece of de reddest flannel yo' kin find - which flannel don't git no reddah, I don't think. Yo' wrap dat up in dere [the flan- nel] an' dat party's name. Yo' take dat name an' yo' git yo' a indelible pen- cil an' yo' write dat name down on dere fo' nine times disaway [demonstrates].
(Nine times that way.)
An' nine times disaway [demonstrates].
(Make it in [the form of] a cross.)
Makin' it across, yo' see. Now, when yo' do dat - aftah yo' do dat, yo' dig a crench where dey goin' to pass [over] dat, an' yo' bury it right where yo' know dey goin' to pass. Yo' bury it an' bury it as deep as yo' kin. Yo' bury it an' leave it dere, an' when yo' bury it an' git ready to walk ovah dat, yo' jis' say: In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost.
(What do you do - you say?)
When yo' walkin' away - when yo' bury it an' are walkin' away, yo' jis' say: Ie de Name of de Father.
(In the Name of the?)
In de Name of de Father. See, when yo' walk away, yo' say: In de Name of de Rtrer. Now, when yo' git jis' about ten feets away from dere, yo' says: de Son, 'de Holy Ghost. See. An' say: We'll depart. An' dat's dat person dat I'm dOIn' de harm tO. AN' DEY'LL GO MAYBE TO DAT RIVAH DERE, JUMP OVAHBO'D AN' DROWN; ° DEY MAYBE TAKE A GUN AN' BLOW DERE BRAINS OUT. See. Somepin goin' to be doe. Dey'll do somepin to demself to kill demself. If dey lose a dollah, dey y take an' kill dereself by losin' dat dollah.
Entry 6223
Wit chure hair - well, now, ah'll tell. Yuh want me tell yuh whut a person kin do wit chure hair. Ah tell yuh whut a man could do wit chure hair. He could take yuh hair an' bo' a hole in a tree wit a gimlet, an' stop it up in dere wit a peg an' kill yuh by it. BUT IT TAKES A DIRTY SCOUNDREL TUH DO IT. But chew could knock dat nine maWnin's until yuh drive dat peg up jis' as fur dem nine mawnin's, de peg in de tree wit a gimlet. An' yuh kill a man by it. BUT IT TAKES A DIRTY PERSON TUH DO DAT.
Entry 6227
I've heard my mother say, if you want to do anything to anyone, get a piece of their hair and carry it to the north side of a tree, put the hair against the nail, and drive the nail for nine mornings. That'll kill them.
Entry 6233
Dey could git chure hair an' go tuh a hole, if dey wanted tuh run yuh crazy. Go tuh a hole of a tree an' - bo' a hole in a tree an' put de hair in it. An' git some of yuh nurinate whut chew done, an' put in dat hole an' stick a peg in dere. An' drive dat peg fo' nine mawnin's. An' if yo' didn't go crazy, dey say it would kill yuh.
Entry 6468
They can take your toenails and fingahnails an' see, like mah nails mog, they could harm me purtty much for this simple reason. They're dirty. See, they are not all that much long, they are dirty. Well, they would take this nail and they would cut these nails as close as they poss'bly could with the dirt a'all into 'em. If they could get to my toes, they'd do my toes de same iden- tical way. Now, they take these nails here, an' mah toenails an' they'd put them together. If they could get a lizard, they'd take a lizard an' they'd kill the lizard an' let that lizard dry.
(They take a lizard and kill the lizard?)
They kill the lizard.
(Oh, they kill the lizard.)
An' let him dry - I mean, till he gets to a powder. When he gets to a pow- der, they mixes him with these nails of mine. They'd put that into a piece of red flannel and they buries that. AN' NOW, WHEN THEY BURIES THAT, THEY BURIES IT WITH A CROSS.
(What kind of a cross?)
THEY MAKES A CROSS THEYSELF. THEY DON'T VERY SELDOM BUY A CROSS. YOu know, ordinary, plain - just a plain cross, wooden cross; just any kind of a small cross you'll use, just since it's a cross. They buries it with a cross into that flannel. See? Well, now, when they buries that, why they got me just the Way they want me.
Entry 6521
A person kin take yore fingahnails - dey kin trim yore fingahnails, trim three of yore fingahnails from each hand. (Which three?) Yo' usely [usually] git dese three [demonstrates]. (The three center ones.) De three centah ones. An' yo' kin take dese fingahnails an' it's a kinda root by de name of devil's shoestring. An' yo' kin boil dose roots in dose fingahnails an' put it in whiskey or somepin lak dat. When a person drink it, dem gristles will grow inside from dis nails heah. An' dis devil's shoestring will be a likkah-lak. An' dey put dis in whiskey an' yo' drink it an' den dey grows gristles in yo' - inside of yo'.
(What will that do then?)
Well, jis' grow gristles - be somepin lak a tumor jis' grow biggah an' biggah an' biggah. Will kill yo'.
Entry 6530
Git de ants an' take an' put 'em up an' dry 'em, until dey gits good an' dry. Powdah dem. Take an' put dat in dey coffee or dere tea. Dat will do de work fo' yo' den. Dat will kill yo'.
(How Would it kill you?)
Kill yo' if yo' drink it.
(How? Will it put live things in you or what?)
[This was a leading guestion, though the answer could be inferred.]
Yeah, dere'll come live antses.
Entry 6582
[I know of them] doin' things wit de scorpions. Ah've seed dat done 'caz ah waited on de woman. Dey ketch a scorpion an' kilt: 'im an' let 'im dried. Dis was a bright [skinned] woman an' dis bright woman wus givin' dis dark-skinned woman trouble wit 'er husban'. An' she taken de scorpion an' kilt 'im an' she cured 'im dry, jis' lak if yo' dny anything. An' she crumble dat up an' put it in some whiskey, an' she called er an' give her a drink of dat whiskey an' - IF AH NEVAH MOVE AG'IN AH'VE SEEN OSE LITTLE SCORPIONS, DEY COME BACK ALIVE. DEY CREATED IN 'ER. Dem little scorpions jis' like dat.
Entry 6588
Now yo' take a scorpion, he's poison. Now yo' got sompin ag'in me an' yo' got sompin ag'in a man on King Street. Yo' may got sompin ag'in a man on Spring Street. Well, now, ah'm de fust [first] one yo' wanta git nex' tuh. Dis man on Spring Street de secon' man yo' wanta git nex' tuh. Well, yo'll take dat SCOrpion an' kill 'im. WHEN YO' DONE KILL DAT SCORPION, YO' BRING 'IM HOME HALF LIVE. YO' AIN'T KILL 'IM ALTUHGETHAH. He half live when yo' bring 'im home, but yo' finish killin' 'im when yo' bring 'im in yore house. Aftah yo' finish killin' 'im, de last lick yo' hit 'im yo' know yo' goin' kill 'im, yo' goin' call mah name. Yo' call mah name. Ah'm yore enemy. Ah'm yore dead [deadly] enemy. Ah'm de one yo' Wants tuh git nex' tuh altuhgethah. But when yo' kill dat scorpion an' call mah name, ah'm goin' take sick. Now dat man ovah heah on Spring Street, yo' goin' call 'is name by dat scorpion's tail. Yo' goin' cut dat scorpion's tail off jis' about dat much [demonstrates]. Well, yo' goin' tuh hold dat scorpion an' yo' wrap dat wit silk thread, silk thread. An' [as] yo' hit it, yo' cast it in yore yard an' say, "Go, yo' bastard, yo'." An' he's gone.
(And would it do anything to the person living on King Street, then?)
Dat man on King Street goin' work wit me.
Entry 6593
Den it's anothah somepin. A fellah will do dat. Yo' know whut a snail Is. Well, yo' could take dat an' put it in dey drinkin' watah. Sprinkle a little salt in dere. Yo' know, take de snail an' sprinkle salt on it till it dwindle all away. Ah don' care how large he is he'll dwindle on away tuh nuthin. an' yo' n do de same thing wit a woman person. Let 'em drink watah.
(What will that do to a man?)
Dat will kill 'im. Yo' know, jis' dry 'em up, jis' lak dey would git sick an is'dvindle away. (But you have to dissolve this snail dust in salt and then put that juice into irdrinking water?) Yessuh.
Entry 6618
Ketch a blacksnake an' jis' hang 'im up, cut 'is haid off an' let nine drops of blood drop in a cup. See, an' yo' put dat in whiskey an' give it tuh most anybody dat yo' think have harmed yo'. Well, dat poison, yo' see. Dat's poison den. (What will that do to them?) It would create snakes in dem. An' aftah a long while dat would kill 'em.
Entry 6625
Well, yo' kin use a rattlesnake haid. Yo' kin use a rattlesnake haid, if yo' git someone tuh kill a rattlesnake an' take de haid of it, an' put 'im in de stove an' let 'im jis' stay in dere undah a hot fiah, an' let it parch up fine. An' yo' kin take dat an' put it in anybody's [water]bucket - jis' de dus' from it, yo' know. Aftah yo' take an' beat it up, pound it up good, git de dust of it an' sprinkle it in anybody's watah bucket. Ary [or] a li'le pinch of it in dey food. An' it'll kill 'em.
Entry 6627
A fellah kin take a rattlesnake, if he's a rootman an' he has a rattle- snake. Fo' or five or 'em round dere [rootman's home]. Parch it daid. An' he take dat rattlesnake an' grind up dat head jis' lak a powdah. He's [snake is] daid yo' know. [He] got 'em roun' dere [his house]. He take dat rattlesnake an' put it in anythin' tuh eat or drink, an' it will kill yo'.
Entry 6630
If dey want tuh kill anybody, so ah learnt - dat's how mah fathah wuz killed. Now, dey kin git a snake of any kin' yo' want. Ketch im, yo' know, 'live. An' say yo' take him an' put 'im in de stove an' bake him brown - yo' know, till he's crisp up. An' dey say yo' kin take a li'le bit of dat dust, an' dust it in watah, milk or coffee - anythin' yo' wanta dust it in. An' dey tell me it will kill a person.
Entry 6658
Ah had a aunt. A man got 'er hair. See, he got mad becuz she wouldn't marry 'im. Well, he took a piece of hair from 'er mole [mold] while she wuz layin' down on 'er bed fast asleep. All right, took a piece undah 'er arm. (Both arms or one?) De lef'. An' den took a piece some- where else - down below. Dey took it tuh a new elm tree [at Algiers?].
(They took it to a new elm tree or to New Orleans?)
Yes, all right. Well, de only way, if dey didn't know nuthin 'bout it, it would liable been too late. Well, aftah dey [the man] went tuh someone in] Al- giers, dey had it fixed. Dey also had some glass, some kinda black glass [prob- ably broken from a black bottle]. Dat means fo' tuh kill 'er. An' it would have killed 'er, see, but she wuz saved by St. Anthony. Well, now, he came back [from Algiers or New Orleans] an' she begged an' begged an' cried. He told 'er dat he would not hurt 'er, see. She wus moanin' [molting?] an' moanin' [molting] away an' de only way wuz to git dat hair an' dat thin' back - dat wuz de only [way]. Well, all right. Aftah he done it, he wouldn't give her up. Well, twixt 'em, dey went out dere, way ovah de trees [in the woods] somewheres, an' got some root. A man wuz sellin' some kinda roots. He died [he is dead now]. Well, he got some root in a hurry an' made a poultice. He had some of 'er othah thin's, piece of 'er ministratin'. An' dis man got some kinda calomel [surely calamus] root. De drug stores got it [calomel], but any drug store don't got [calamus] becuz dey wouldn't know whut it is. Got some of dat an' made a tea. An' got some dog dirt, [also] yellah clay, cleah yellah clay, an' beat it up. She hadda take it though. Took it [dog dirt and yellow clay]. An' den got some new - bran'-new cloth an' bind 'er all arou', see. When he bind all aroun' 'er, well it somepin came outa 'er - through 'er bowels. Dey were kinda lak a rattlesnake - jet black. Dey had 'er fixed dataway in New Orleans-Algiers. [Algiers is a Ovah de mivah part of New Orleans.] But she pulled through an' de man came back. See, didn't know she would pull through. Aftah dat she lived ten years.
(What was the name of this doctor out here that is dead now?)
[A name informant couldn't pronounce or spell.]
Entry 6663
They kin take a spider an' they kin kill yo' with that. Well, they give it to yo' in lickrish [sometimes licorice, here liquid]. They put it in water or let him soak in there and die, or they put it in urine or whiskey, or they put it in food. An' that'll kill yeh, a spider will.
Entry 6669
[The best terrapin story in Hoodoo, a remarkable one, will be found in No.10, p.7.1 Yo' kin ketch a terrapin, dese streaked-laig terrapin. Dey tell me yo' kin ketch dose an' sech as gophahs lak dat. [Gopher along the coast of the southern states of U. S. A., is a burrowing land tortise Gopherus polyphemus.] Dey tell me dat it ain't but one way dat a person kin git dose live in yo'. Say dey'll take dem an' kill dem an' put dem out in de sun an' let 'em dry fo' so many days. Den take it an' pound it up an' put it in stuff fo' yo' tuh drink. Dey say when it mix in yore blood it'll commence tuh create dese live things.
Entry 6671
(Tell me that story all the way from the beginning, make a parable of it. What are you going to do now with this turtle?) [That word parable I picked up at the beginning of my field work down the east coast. I found it everywhere, but sus- pected it was dying out. You can see how I qualified Tell me that story to make a parable of it. The words story and tale have a bad connotation in my type of field work.1 Well, ah go back ovah it ag'in. Yo' take an' yo' kill it an' yo' let 'im dry. Den yo' take an' soak it in whiskey - see, yo' gittin' 'is nature. Den yo' give it tuh me tuh drink.
Entry 6673
(A turtle. What do they do with a turtle?)
Well, ah see a person take a turtle aig. Take a turtle aig an' break it raw an' put alcohol on it, an' yo' save it. (You save it?) Yo' put it aside. But ah think a fellah mean an'( dirty enough tuh take dat few drops of al- cohol off dat turtle egg. An' yo' put it in some whiskey or somepin an' give somebody dat tuh drink. It will kill 'em right away. Dat's de way yo' kill people dataway.
Entry 7261
If a man is kilt dere's two certain ways. If a man is kilt an' he falls on his back, dat's de man, dat's de murderer kin easily escape an' very seldom captured. But if a man's kilt an' fall on his face, de murderer of de man is easily captured. But jis' how it's done, ah don't know, ah nevah have heard jis' how it's done.
Entry 7268
Ah knowed a fellah - dat's right, he kilt a man. An' he shot de man an' de man fell on his face. An' he run dere an' - aftah de man fell - an' shoved de man on his back, see. An' den he - de woods ah reckon wus jes' about five hunderd yards, yo' know, from where he kilt de man, an' he runned yo' know an' he jumped ovah de fence in de woods, yo' see. An' when dey brought de hounds, yo' know, dere to put on his track, de hounds couldn't run 'im a bit furthah den dis swamp. An' dey ain't got 'im from dat day up until dis [1939]. Dat wus in de time of de World War [I] - it wus comin' on [before 1917].
Entry 7275
When dey kill a man, if he fall on 'is face, why if he fall on 'is face lak dat, yo' step like dis [demonstrates] step backwards ovah him. If he fall any way [you step backwards over him], but more specially if he fall on 'is face lak dat. Yo' come round dis way [demonstrates] an' step back- wards ovah him. Dey won't ketch yo'.
Entry 7280
Lak ah go out dere an' kill a fellah. Well, if ah kin manage tuh push 'im from me or step 'cross 'im three times an' walk 'way from him wit mah back to him, dat de law will nevah fin' me. (Well, how do you mean you step across him? Here's the body now. Now, how do you step across there?) See [demonstrates], if he would fall when ah shootin' 'im - if he'd a-fall to me, if ah'd manage to git to him an' turn 'im backwards an' let 'im fall on 'is back - an' ah come to him an' walk 'cross [him] lak dis [demonstrates] de first time, lak heah an' back ag'in, den ah walk away from 'im. (You walk over him once and back over him. You step across him three times and then you turn your back. Do you back away from him or just walk?) Yo' walk off from 'im. Step back an' back off nine steps dat way an' den yo' turn yore back, an' go on away from 'im, an' if yo' kin keep from lookin' back, de law will nevah git chew.
Entry 7282
Ah've undahstood it dis way, dat when dey kills a man - aftah dey kill de man - dey turn an' walk backwards ovah 'im, for five paces I believe, back- Wards ovah de man; den dey turn facewards an' go in de same direction dat you turned an' dey couldn't ketch chew. [The murderer faces his victim while killing him, and then with his back to the corpse so that he can take one step backwards over the fall- en body, he continues five more steps backwards. At this spot the killer again turns 180 degrees to look towards the original or attack direction, the direction in which he now walks or runs away.]
Entry 7293
Jes' lak ah go an' kill someone an' ah wants tuh git away, see. Ah heard dat chew kin go in a cow stall an' put both foots in de cow manure, yo' understan', an' ah done walk on off an' de dog kinnot trail yo'. Don' care where ah go, de dog will come up to de stall - come dere an' stop right dere.
Entry 7299
Well, if a man kill someone. "Long in dem days dey had bloodhounds. Well, he'd git ovah to some of 'is friends house an' git some turpentine an' he'd 'noint the bottom of 'is foots an' he'd go tuh a cow path where de cow had took a dump an' he put his foot in dat cow stuff, fresh cow stuff. an' dat turpentine, an' de dog [trailing him] he'd wandah, nevah could [dog] do anythin' wit 'im.
(DID HE ANOINT HIS FEET IN ANY PARTICULAR WAY?)
Jes' straight out [so that he would move forward]. (Oh! He rubbed his feet straight out from the heel to the toe with turpen- tine.)
Entry 7303
Ah heard dat jes' lak if yo' git in any trouble - anythin' lak dat - jes' lak if ah would kill a man or sompin othah an' ah wanted tuh git away, why ah would go den to a graveyard an' ah would git some graveyard dirt an' put it in both of mah shoes. Well, ah kin go - if it ain't nuthin but turpentine gum, it bes' tuh be turpentine spirits though, an' wet de bottom of mah foots in dat spirits. If ah can't git tuh de spirits, gits gum outa a car [truck collecting turpentine gum] an' jes' step in it. Go on, a dog can't trail yo' no way.
Entry 7307
De reason yo' use graveyard dirt, lotta people jis' say fo' instance dey kill someone an' dey git away an' don't want 'em tuh track yo'. Yo' put some of dat graveyard dust in yore shoe. Well, de bloodhoun's won't trail yo' or nuthin. If yo' want git de bloodhoun's off yore trail [another method] den put red peppah in yore shoes.
(So that bloodhounds won't track you?)
Yes sir.
The informant reports hypothetical pursuit claims for graveyard dust and a separate red-pepper method. '[another method]' is editorial; the interviewer's question and the informant's answer remain separate.
Entry 7327
Jes' lak if a man kill a man an' he wanta git away, he goes to de cem- etery an' gits some of dat graveyard dirt, an' turpentine an' put in 'is tracks, an' dey will nevah ketch 'im.
(Put it in whose tracks?)
In his own tracks.
The informant gives a hypothetical example. The interviewer asks whose tracks, and the informant replies 'In his own tracks'; the escape claim remains source-reported.
Entry 7356
Say, fer instant, now a man commits a crime. All right. Well now, yo' don't know who done de murdah. All right. But now, lak dey would go an' 'rrest a bunch of men, yo' see, dey would wanta fin' which one of 'em is de man dat done de killin' right dere. Dat is, if dey kin git dere, yo' undahstan', lak [soon aftah] it happens. Dey kin take dis man an' care [carry] him dere an' he'd place his han' on dat dead person. Why where he cut 'im or shot 'im or anythin' lak dat, he'll start to bleed ag'in.
Entry 7360
Ah always heard dat if a individ'al would git killed yo' see, dey tell me if yo' wanta find out who killed 'im, take a bunch of mens yo' see. An' dey tell me dat if yo' lay yore han's on 'im, de one dat kilt 'im, de blood, yo' know - dat's right - would gush from 'is nose or face or show up on him somewhere or othah an' dey'd find out dat was de man dat done de murdah.
Entry 7361
Well, dey say if a man kilt a man an' dey don't know whuthah he's done it, why if dey, believe dat ah, yo' or someone done it, [the way to find out] is tuh have evah man dat's roun' dere to go an' lay dey han' on dis person, an' de one dat murdered dis person, whenevah he puts 'is hand on it [corpse], de wounded place will begin tuh bleed.
Entry 7362
See, jes' lak a person would git kilt, well yo' don't know who kilt 'im. Dey might go to work an' bury him. Well, aftah dey bury him, dey go tuh work den an' wanta find out thurly [thoroughly] about dis man. Dey ain't satis- fied. If dey ain't satisfied, dey'll dig 'im up. Dey'll have evah'body dat knew 'im tuh come. Now de one dat done de killin', when yo' walk up tuh 'im yo' tetch 'im, why he goin' purge - he'll bleed.
Entry 7363
Now, yo' kin take a man, jes' lak ah jes' go out dere an' kill a man. Well, ah'd make mah escape an' dere didn't nobody know who did it. Den yo' know somebody has fresh hen aigs fresh. Yo' goes an' gits two aigs an' put one in each one of mah han's - in de daid man's han's, an' den keep 'im out de ground 24 hours. An' at de end of 24 hours ah'll be standin' right dere.
[For use of eggs to discover or bring back murderer, see later.]
[Another method:]
Dey'd have me put mah han' on 'im, an' de minute ah put mah han' on 'im, de blood goin' go free from him lak ah jes' done it.
Entry 7414
I say dey done takes dat bone, a dead person's bone, an' den dey pow- dahs dat up, makes a dust out of it. An' den dey gits de watah dat yo' bathe 'em in an' dis graveyard dirt an' dis cayenne [pepper], all be togethah, an' mixes dat up an' dust dat on 'em, dust where he sit down at. (The water they bathe in. Which water? The fellow who is doing it? Or the one against whom he is doing it?) Yes, sir, de one dat's doin' de work. Gits dat dead person's watah, bath watah, see what dey bathe him in, an' mixes all dat together an' dust it, yo' know anywhere he sit down at, or anywhere he walk at, or yore room or yore bed, eithah one.
(What will that do?)
Dat will kill yo'. Sure it will ruin yo'.
Entry 7444
[Well, when dey bury de man dat's dead, well, dey gen'ly [generally]
write de man's name dat is gone an' put it undah 'is feet an' up undah 'is haid, an' put a aig in 'is right han', an' when dat aig bust, an' as long as dat paper wit dat name is dere, when dat name goin' to rot, de man will re- turn. He got to come back. (You mean when the name is going to rot?) Rotten in dat papah, dat will cause him to [come back].
(You put one paper at his foot and one at his head.)
De man's name dat did de killin'.
Entry 7445
[My recording machine was 3 or 4 words late starting.] An' runs away, yo' take a dead person, yo' bury 'em on dere face, lak dat. Yo' take de man dat killed 'im an' yo' write his name three times. If it's possible dat chew kin git dis [dead] person's han' open, yo' put one name in dis han' [demonstrates].
(The right hand.)
See, an' yo' take a egg from a hen, white hen, if yo' kin git it. (A white hen.) If yo' kin git it, an' put dat egg in dat hand [demon- strates]. (In the left hand.) [Explained later.] If yo' can't git it in de han', put it as neah de body as yo' kin. Be sure dat dis name is in dis han' an' dat party'll come back an' give up.
(There's one thing about that. What do you do with the other two names?)
Jes' write de three names in dere an' put it in dis right hand. An' yo' put de egg in de lef' han'.
(You put the name three times on a piece of paper?)
Yes.
(I see.)
An' put it in dis han' [demonstrates].
(In the right hand.)
An' den yo' put de egg in dis han'.
(Put the egg in the left hand. All right.)
Entry 7452
Ah tell yo' whut chew do, if a man git killed an' yo' don' know who did it, tryin' tuh find out. Yo' kin take two fresh hen aigs an' put 'em in each han'. Now lotsa times yo' jes' write de man's name yo' think it is, or sompin lak dat, but de main point, yo' jes' write, "Murderer give up. ". Jes' write on it, "Murderer, give up, " an' "In the Name of God." An' put it in 'is han's. Keep 'im out de groun' 36 hours, den go 'head an' bury 'im, if he's not come. But ah'd be willin' tuh bet he'll be dere befo yo' bury 'im.
(You don't bury him with those eggs in his hands?)
Yessuh, de aig in each han', let 'em stay in dere, hen aig. Jes' so it's a fresh one. Now yo' don' want no cold storage aig. Yo' wants a fresh hen aig. An' if he hasn't give up in de 36 hours, he will give up an' it 'twon't be long.
Entry 7453
An' den yo' kin take a egg, or de same egg, same kin'a egg, if somebody kill someone, an' aftah dey kill someone - well a fellah killed one of us color- ed an' my grandfathah did dis. I know dis. An' he take dem eggs an' he put 'em in de person's han's an' cross de han's jes' lak dat, an' dey caught 'im. (When they put those eggs in the hands, they had to cross the hands?) Yes sir, cross de han's jes' dat way witeggs. (Cross the breast?) Cross de breast, an' he couldn't go away. Dey caught 'im.
Entry 7455
Put an egg under each arm of the mur- dered man and leave three days and break them just before burial.
Entry 7465
Yo' kin take, yo' see, lak if a man would kill a person, go to a stream an' take three eggs, jes' git yo' three eggs an' bur' 'em in de watah in somepin dat de eggs'll stay down dere 'til dey rot. Take dem eggs an' bur' 'em until dey git soaked in watah. Take three eggs while dis pusson is bein' waked - lak at a wake. An' bur' 'em. Bury dat per- son wit dem eggs in dere han's. Put de eggs in dere han's. An' when dat pusson is buried, if dem eggs bu'st in dere han's, aftah dey are buried - when dem eggs bu'st, aftah dem eggs bu'st, dat pusson dat kill dat pusson is comin' back to dat same scene at where he committed de crime.
(What did you bury those eggs in the water for?)
Yo' take dose eggs an' bur' dem in de watah, if yo' don't bur' dem, don't git a chance to bur' dem in de pusson's han's when he's bein' bur-ried, yo' kin take dose eggs an' wrap 'em in somepin an' bur' 'em in de watah. Yo' undahstan'?
(Oh! I see.)
An' bur' dem in de watah. But be sure dat de eggs dat yo' use come out of de house where's de pusson who is waked. Dat's been - dat's in dat house dat night, dat pusson who is waked in dat house. An' bury 'em undah watah, bury 'em in somepin so dey can't come up on de top of de watah. An' when dem eggs bu'st undah dat watah, dat pusson'll come back jes' de same if dose eggs were buried in de han's of dat pusson.
(How many eggs did you say you used?)
Take yo' three if yo' bury 'em in de watah. If yo' bury de pusson [use two eggs], put a egg in each han' - in each han' of de pusson.
(Well, why do you take three if you bury them in the water?)
Becuz yo' got no body - yo' buryin' two eggs wit de body. But when yo' bury de three eggs, one egg represents de body, an' de othah two eggs represent de han's of de pusson dat dey in.
(Oh! I see.)
Yo' undahstan' now? How it is?
(Yeah, I undahstan'.)
Yo' got no body in de watah.
(Any particular kind of eggs?)
Hen eggs.
(From any kind of a chicken?)
Take a black chicken. Eggs from a black chicken. Git yo' three eggs from a black chicken.
Entry 7468
Well, if a man kill a man an' yo' know where he's at an' yo' want 'im to die, at de same moment durin' de right time, yo' takes three eggs. (What kind of eggs?) Black hen eggs. Yo' go to 'is house an' yo' throw dat egg on 'is house an' call 'is name an' cuss 'im de same time. Nex' mawnin' de undahtakah dere - de coffin man.
Entry 7474
Jes' lak yo' kill some of mah fren's. Ah dunno [don't know] who done it, but ah got-a idea dat sech-an'-sech-a-one done it. Ah'll take de dead per- son an' turn 'im on 'is face an' de man who done it [I interrupt]. (Where are you going to turn him on his face? Where?) Turn 'im on 'is face in de coffin. Co'se yo' don't want it tuh be public. Yo' kin git de undahtakah to turn dis person on 'is face when he go tuh bury 'im. Covah 'im on up, an' aftah dat de fellah who done it will go tuh lingahin'. He'll go to lingahin' an' he'll nevah stop till he die an' follah shortly aftah. An' if dere fo' or five in de crowd dat kill.dis man - fo' or five in de crowd dat kill 'im - all who in dat crowd will certainly follah [because they did not help victim or report the crime, etc.].
Entry 7487
(What do you do now when this man is killed?)
Get dis niggah's tracks what killed 'im an' put 'em right by dis man's grave, an' turn dis man ovah face on dat track. He can't go.
(He can't run away.)
[The word nigger is used four or five times by black persons in HOoDoo.]
Entry 7493
Well, dey takes 'im, de dead man who got killed an' bury 'im on 'is face. Den dey cut a lock of hair out de mole of 'is haid. Den dey bury dat near as dey kin find neah where dis man killed dis man at, an' dat man will be caught. An' den de person who bury him, de kinfolks, will walk ovah aroun' dis man three times an' bury de thing, dis lock of hair, an' he will be caught in three months or three years. (After they find this dead man they bury him and they walk around him three times and then bury his hair out where he was killed?) Yes. (Do they walk around the dead man as soon as he is killed or after he is buried or what?) After he is buried.
(Then they catch the fellow who has killed him.)
Entry 7507
Shot to death. Well, now if yo' is shot to death, yo' jes' take an' go in de woods an' dey git somepin dey calls scrubby oak [second-growth oak?] switch. Well yo' git one of dose switches, an' de very person whut's dead in de coffin, yo' take an' put dat in 'is han'. Put dat switch in 'is han' in de coffin, see, an' tell 'im, say, "Whip dis person across de whole worl'" - jes' who his name wus, yo' undah- stan' - "whip him until he git enough." Jes' call de dead person name an' also dis othah man's name - see, what did de killin' - an' den yo' close 'is hand on it. See [demonstrates] jes' close his hand right up on it, an' he'll finish drawin' up [!!!]. See. An' den when yo' bury 'im, in spirit dis same scrubby- oak switch an' dis fellah in spirit will whip dis othah fellah until he die. He won't live very long. If he live six months he doin' good. [Charleston, S. Car.,
(?).639:2+85.]
Entry 7511
If dey kin git 'is pichure, jes' lak if yo' wuz stayin' heah an' yo'd kill somebody an' ah wanted tuh git chew back home. Ah wanted tuh find out who it wus did it, ah'd take an' come heah an' git chure Pichure. An' take some quicksilvah an' some sulphur an' some salt an' put it all togethah. An' den some Adam-an'-Eve [root] an' put dat wit it. An' take it an' sew it up an' carry it tuh mah house, an' put it undah mah do'step, an' in two day's time yo'd be back. An' yo'd tell somebody dat chew de one dat did it. It would keep worryin' yo' till yo' did.
Entry 7513
Dey could bring 'im wit 'is pichure as ah fir' [first] said. Well now, dey take his pichure an' turn it bottomside upward to de wall on Write his name wit blood.
[This rite is also used to bring back a lover - see No.3839, p.2511.]
(With blood?)
Yeah.
(What kind of blood?)
Well any kinda blood. Write his name in dere an' turn 'is pichure up ag'in [against] de wall like dat, where nobody would 'sturb [disturb] dat pichure. Let dat pichure stay fer 9 days. Well, ef dat pichure's dere, wheresomevah he is he's worried. Well, he'll be worried until he comes back to de same place where he done de killin' at. (In using that blood, do you use a person's blood or the blood of an animal or what?) Why yo' kin use de blood of a animal or anything, but chew have to have his initials.
Entry 7604
Yuh kin [go] tuh de graveyard three or nine or fifteen days aftah any- body is dead, an' git some of dat graveyard dust, if yuh wanta harm anybody or kill 'em. Yuh dig a square hole [or oblong one, both a grave sym- bol] an' put dat dirt in it, an' take dis little bo'd an' covah dat hole up, an den put some othah dirt on top of dat, an' dey really got chah.
(Where do you put that dirt, this graveyard dirt?)
Well, yuh kin put neah tuh de do' - tuh de front do', or tuh de back do', or any de alley [gallery?], any place where dey gotta walk at, an' yuh know dey've gotta walk across it.
conditional intent to harm or kill in a described account. The source expresses conditional intended harm; no actual injury, target identity or perpetration is established. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 7644
If yo' got somebody an' maybe yo' Wanta kill dat person or wanta harm dat person. Say now if yo' go up in de graveyard an' maybe it been some man dat have lived a rowdy life. Yo know some people live a very rowdy life, nevah attempt tuh be a Christian, a very rowdy person. Some people cuss tuh de last. Say yo' go tuh dat person an' go tuh de foot of 'is grave an' dig down one foot in de groun', she say. An' git chew a handful of dat dirt an' put it in a bag, an' bring it back home an' go round at dat man's back do', an' jes' take dat dirt an' throw it lak it wuz some flour or sompin. on de ground. Say, why dat man will come afflicted wit 'is laigs, or make his foot swell up, or he'll have some kind of ailment about 'is laigs account dat graveyard dirt bein' around de dō'.
Entry 7684
Yo' go tuh a - if somebody troublin' yo' an' yo' jis' want 'em tuh git in trouble, see. Yo' go tuh a sinnah - yo' gotta know somebody wuz a wicked sinnah an' got killed - yo' see, a gamblah. Yo' go tuh 'is haid an' dig down about wrist deep. An' put three pen- nies dere an' jis' tell it - jis' lak yo' talkin' tuh in - jis' lakyo' know'im, say, "so- an'-so-an'-so, ah wan' chew tuh go tuh Such-an'-such-a-one an' give dem hell, jis' give dem hell. Wham! Fight 'em, make 'em fight. Make 'em kill if it's necessary." An' yo' put de pennies dere. Kivah [cover] de hole up an' go off. Walk off an' nevah look back. Yo' take dat graveyard dirt an' yo' ketch yore dog an' cut some hair off de end of 'is tail, see. All right, yo' ketch chew a ket [cat]. Yo' cut some hair off 'is haid an' 'is tail. An' yo' take dat dog an' cut jis' a li'le bit of hair out 'is fo'haid. Yo' git some of dis urinate, see. All right yo' git yo' some red peppah, table salt, put wit dat. An' yo go by where dem people stay an' jis' tell 'em [dirt and its ingredients] what chew want 'em do wit it. An' throw it.] Don't evah look back, keep goin'. An yo' ain't goin' be a minute off fo' yo' see 'em raisin' Sam [Sam = devil]. Dey goin' move from dere. Aftah while dey goin' move from dat state.
(That is to run them out of there, run them away.)
Dat's tuh run 'em away. Dat's hard tuh ovahcome. Now ah heah'n [heard] a man tell dat an' ah seen it work. See, fo' a fact he used tuh git me tuh go by dere sometime an' throw it dere. Dis ole Doctor Bush.
Entry 7902
Take de graveyard dirt an' put it in yo' pillah or eithah in yuh mat- tress, an' sleep on dat nine days. Yo' jes' go away - yo' know, jes' fall off an' git po' [poor] an' po' until yo' jes' go 'way an' die. Dat'll kill yo'. (After nine days.)
Entry 7931
Cut a board in shape of coffin, cut 9 knotches in it, drive 4 small nails in it, put under person's steps, just under dirt, that will kill you.
Entry 7966
Dey say dat yo' do dat, dey say dat will kill a person. (Will you explain how it's done. Do you know how it's done?) Well, dey say yo' make it jes' lak yo' makin' a grave an' yo' put de haidbo'd an' de footbo'd an' evahthing like dat. An' yo' put a stob [stake] in de centah of it lak dat [demonstrates] - a li'le stick, a stob in de centah of it lak dat. An' dey say yo' go dere evah mawnin' befō' sunrise an' knock dat peg, hit it one lick fo' nine mawnin's. When dat peg git on down in dere, dey tells me dat settles it. (You dig a little hole like a grave and put a headboard and a footboard to it?) Fix it jes' lak a grave. (Then you put that stick in the middle, that you drive down in. What is that stick supposed to be, that stick in the middle?) Dat stick in de middle, dat supposed tuh give yo' heart failure, dey say. Go dere nine mawnin's befo' de sun rise.
Entry 7979
Take yur photograph. Now, if it's made on tin but not on papah - its gotta be made on tin [a tintype]. An' yo' take dat photograph an' yo' take yo' fō' pins, an' yo' cut de haid's off dose pins, if yo's aftah kill- in' a person. An' yo' take dose pins an' yo' take an' put 'em roun' fo' cornahs lak yo' would a coffin, yo' undahstan'. An' den yo' bury dis picture on its face, but its gotta be a tin pitchure. An' as dis pitchure fade away, dey'll fade away.
(You pin those four pins around the four corners of the picture?)
Yes, ( dat's right. Dat's whut chew do. An' bury it on de face, but chew cuts de haid of 'em off, de haids of de pins off.
(But you have to bury it under the individual's door?)
Undah 'is own do'.
Entry 8007
Make dummy, make a cross on it, call name, say what is to be done - to kill, harm, or anything - and stick in nine needles, or pins, or thorns. [Washington, D. C., (627 0r 628), 805:3.]
Entry 8009
Well, take a doll baby an' make a li'le coffin an' yo' take thirteen needles [later changed to pins] an' yo' bores seventeen holes in it. (Into what?) Intuh de small li'le coffin. Bore seven- teen holes intuh dis small li'le coffin an' aftah borin' dese seventeen holes in dere, yo' place dat baby down in dere wit dose thirteen pins [needles?] stuck in 'er.
(The thirteen pins.)
De thirteen pins stuck in 'er, an' yo' po' van-van, wahoo powdah.
(War whoooo?)
Wahoo, yeah wahoo. It's a kind of grayish lookin' powdah. Dey call it wahoo. Well, last you go to work and place this powder right in dere an' yo' go off from a cemetery - not in de cemetery, off from a cemetery - an' when yo' git neah de cemetery, about 25 feet from it, yo' bury it. An' it has a tendency tuh kill yo' in 18 months.
(I see.)
Entry 8015
Ah learn how yo' kin kill a dog. See, yo' kin take an' kill a dog, yo' know, an' dig a hole, see. Yo' put dis dog in de hole, undahstan', an' have his haid up, yo' see, an' have his feets up. See, have him propped up in dat dere hole good an' solid, undah- stand. An' den yo' take an' git a li'le of dat dog's blood. As yo' covah dat dog up, see, befo' - don' put no blood on top of de dog when yo' take de blood, but aftah yo' git 'im covahed up, den puts dirt on top of 'im yo' undahstan' an' put de blood on top of de dirt, on de grave. Jes' sprinkle it down in dere, sprinkle it good. See, yo' let it drop back down in dere an' yo' drop back heah. All right, de time when yo' kivahin' [covering] up dis heah grave wit dis dog in it, yo' name dis person nine times. Yo' name de person nine times. An' when yo' name de person nine times, aftah yo' name dis person nine times, why yo' keep on po'in'[pouring] dat down, an' yo' say, "Daid, daid, daid, ah hope yo' be dyin'." An' nine days aftah yo' name dis dog nine times an' covah him up, in nine days dem people is daid.
(You do this to get rid of an enemy?)
Yassuh.
Entry 8035
Yo' pound it up.
(What do you get?)
Yo' git a bone, any bone yo' git.
(A dead person's bone?)
Yeah. Yo' jis' pound it up. Yo' kin make a powdah. Yo' kin take one bone dat long an' make a thousan' dollahs wuth [worth] of powdah, becuz it don't take but jis' so yo' got one grain of dat bone. De person dat yo' give dat tuh will die wit de same disease dat he [bone owner] died wit. An' soon as he take it he got dat disease.
(How would you give it to them?)
Well, yo'd have tuh give it tuh 'em in somepin, yeah. If it's any way - de bes' way yo' could, if yo' wus goin' to do dat, if yo' could git tuh any of dere eats, or yo' could git tuh any of 'is coffee, or a drink of likkah or anythin'. Jis' de bes' way tuh yore advantage. But jis' as soon as he take dat he'd have de same disease dat de person dat's daid. [Brunswick, Ga., (1189, small-time doctor, has 6 & 7 Books of Moses), 2008:3.] [A few bones-from-the-dead rites were given on pages 543-545, as well as scat- tered throughout the text. Let us begin with a rite that could have been indexed under graveyard and graveyard dirt margin titles on pp.3248-3254:]
Entry 8050
(Did you say they could kill you with graveyard dirt?)
Yes, not with graveyard dirt eithah. When yo' spoke of it, ah remembah now about puttin' things in peoples. Yo' kin take powdah from a graveyard - yo' know, aftah a pusson been daid so long. Well, say if yo' wanta put a daid man's bone... Have yo' heah of peoples puttin' daid man's bone in peoples?) (No.) Now yo' take a pusson dat's been daid. Now, firs' yo' kin take de haid or skull, a man's skull, aftah he's been daid fo' yeahs. Yo' kin got [go] out some place an' find a skull. Scrape de skull off, jis' scrape an' scrape until yo' git a powdah. Yo' know as yo' scrape, an' it's ole, yo' gonna git a powdah off of it. Well, yo' kin take dat powdah, or a woman or man kin do it. If yo' wanta put it in a woman, yo' [a man] kin do it; if a woman wanta put it in a man, she kin do it. All right, chew take dat powdah an' yo' mix it up [in] bread or in tea or in coffee, jis' where it won't show. Mix it up good wit sugah, where it won't show. An' let 'em drink dat. An' when it gits down intuh 'em, dat stays moriced [moist] see, an' dat bone will jis' fertilize. Dat dust will fertilize intuh a bone. Dat bone will clog right up tuh here [demonstrates].
(Right up through his breast.)
Right up through 'is breast, an' if yo' don't fin' some way tuh git it out of 'em, it will kill 'em. Evah time he breathe yo' kin jis' see dat bone jis' up in 'is breast. Yo' see dat bone by bein' moriced [moist] in yuh stomic, well dat cuzes dat powdah tuh fertilize intuh a bone, an' dat keeps dat bone in here.
Entry 8115
Git a person photograph on a tintype. Ah know dis one mahself. An' yo' stan' it on de edge, put it in de groun' where it will stan' on de edge, an' let it lay dat way 36 hours in dat one position. An' den aftah den yo' go back an' turn it ovah ag'in, see. An' if he's away, he'll show up. In de same lak mannah, if yo' wanta kill any person wit de tintype, yo' take it an' yo' lay it flat jis' lak dat on its face an' let it lay dere. In less dan 36 hours dat individual will git sick an' be daid. (Now, that first way, you put the photograph, you set it up like that [demon- strate]. Is the head up or down, or does it make any difference?) It doesn't make any diff'rence, jis' so it's settin' up on de edge. An' den de nex' time yo' turn it.
Entry 8133
Dey take yer pichure - ah don' know it [from experience] but ah heah 'em say dey take yer pichure - an' wrap it up in a cloth an' bury it on de face, an' dat will kill a person.
Entry 8136
Photograph, dey buries dat on yuh face. Go ovah tuh de cemetery an' bury it on dey face, wit de face turned facin' hell. Say, '"Hell is now undah- neat choo." (What will that do?) Well, accordin' if yo' put it deep, why den it will kill yuh; an' if yo' don't put it deep, why it will always make yuh in a lingahin' pain. [I make a one word comment about informant after he leaves: drinking.]
Entry 8140
Take dey photograph an' git dis gunpowdah out of a shell, wit sulphuh an' salt, an' go out in de field or in de house, wherevah yo' want to. Co'se de gunpowdah makes sech a noise. Yo' kin put dis pichure face down on dis an' make a fiah undah it. (Face down on what?) On de fiah. See, yo' make a fiah an' den yo' put dis pichure face down on a piece of papah wit de gunpowdah an' sulphuh, an' salt an' graveyard dirt. Tell it dat, "Ah want chew tuh run dis person away. Ah want chew tuh kill 'em." But mos'ly tuh kill de person. When de fiah ketch on de pichure, it will kill de person.
Entry 8142
Well, lak if dey got enemy people an' dey have a tintype pichure of de person whut dey tryin' tuh do hahm [harm] tuh, well dey'll take dat pichure out tuh de forks of de road, an' yo'll bury dat pichure wit de face down. An' de person whut dey doin' hahm tuh yuh, as dat face is down, dey will always have a upstirred mind, an' dey'll feel lak dat dey wan'a kill dem- selves. But dere is a way outa dat, wit dis pichure buried. Dey got two-headed people - in our, all diff'ren' towns - kin do away wit dat wit'out gittin' de pichure, by goin' gittin' methods from de whut choo call de fortunetellah people. Dey got methods fo' dat, dat 'casion [occasion]. [This is my only example of a two-header having to consult fortunetellers for methods. Here, this shows the tendency in Hoodoo to rid itself of the twoheader badge by replacing it with fortumeteller and other names, all of which were old. Was the term twoheader originally a white or a black word?]
Entry 8161
If I want tuh kill yo', I git somebody tuh take a tintype of yo', pho- tograph. Yo' know I want it. It's got tuh be a tintype. I wan'a put me some graveyard dirt an' I'll bury dis tintype pitchure of yo' headforemos' down. First, put de tintype in de hole, covah it wit dis graveyard dirt, an' put de othah dirt on top of it, but let joo be face foremos'. An' when dis dirt undah dat groun'll rot an' jis' takes all dis here whare dat yuh pitchure been drawed, dis'll mold, yo're gone.
Entry 8199
Well, ah learnt dat chew kin take a person's photo an' if yo' wants to do dem any harm, sech as killin', dat maybe yo' kin take it an' hold it ovah a lookin'-glass twixt - aftah de sun raise one hour, an' take an' carry it back tuh yure mantelpiece an' put it ovah yore mantelpiece. Turn de glass down ovah it. An' dey say in nine mawnin's he'll be a daid person.
(What kind of a glass do you turn over it?)
A lookin'-glass.
Entry 8216
Git dey pichure an' it have tuh be a whole body; jis' lak dose pi- chures dere [on the wall of interviewing room] dat girl an' one de li'le chil'- ren, jis' de whole body of a person. Well, yo take it an' it have tuh be - not no papah, see. Jis' lak dem ole common [old-time] pichure. Yo' take a tintype an' yo' take it an' put it in a saucah wit de fellah, woman, or whosomevah it is, an' yo' write it nine times, see.
(What do you write nine times?)
Well, yo' put it on a piece of papah wit ink. See, yo' put it wit ink. (You write that name nine times on a piece of paper. Now where do you put that paper?) Yes, yo' put dat papah undah de saucah, see an' den yo' put de pichure on top of de papah, an' de saucah on top of all of it, mo' tuh de groun'. Den yo' take - yo' have tuh dig de hole six feet, an' den aftah yo' do all dat yo' see, well yo put de steel dust on top of it an' de red peppah, an' all dat diff'ren kind [of things]. Jis' lak dat, yo' know, fo' tuh keep dat tuhgethah, keep de whole thing tuhgethah. Yo' put de dirt on top of it an' when de nine days out, well debody's gone. He's goin' take sick befo' den, but in de meantimes he'll disappeah.
(Why do you put that saucer on top of those things?)
Well, dat saucah, dat's fo' tuh keep it down, yo' see. Tuh keep it mo' tuh de groun'. Mos' of 'em uses Saucahs. EVAHBODY MOS'LY USES SAUCAH WHEN YO' WANTA KILL SOMEBODY IN DAT LINE. (How do you put that picture in there? Do you [I probably demonstrate] put the face up like that?) No, yo' have tuh put de face down on de name.
(And how is the name? Is that name up or is the name down?)
De name is down. De whole thing is down, de pichure, de name an' evah'thing. An' yo' turn de saucah down. All dat down tuh de ground, tuh de earth.
(And you just go out and dig a hole any place?)
Well, YO' HAVE TUH DIG IT SIX FEET. YO' CAIN'T LET NO ONE SEE YO'. ANY PLACE IN DE GROUN', BUT IT HAVE TUH BE YO' KNOW AT NIGHT. Yo' wOuldn't Want nObody [to see you].
Entry 8240
Dey kin take yore pichure - ah ain't nevah done it but ah've heered dis, undahstan'. Dey stick nine holes in it, one hole evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's. An' de ninth mawnin' aftah dey stick dat las' hole in it - when dey put de firs' hole in dere, in dat pichure, in de heart of dat pichure - lak dis is mah pi- chure an' dis is mah heart. Jes' take dat pin an' stick a hole in dat heart on dat pichure. Stick one dis mawnin', one tuhmorrah mawnin', an' one de nex' mawn- in', until de ninth mawnin'. An' de ninth mawnin', when dat last hole will be stuck in dere, de man will be in bad condition. Dere can't nobody do him no good. Can't nobody do him no good nohow unless dey kin git dat air [that there] pichure an' kin remend dem holes. But if dey don't do dat, why dat'll kill 'im.
Entry 8261
Hear 'em say if dey Wanted tuh kill yo' quick, take yore track. Ah've seen dat. Says yo' bo' a hole in a tree, in a pine tree or oak tree. Cut de head off heah [hair off top of head] an' put it in dere an' den drive a peg in it. An' as 'er hair goes away, yo' go. [For my comment about this elderly man, see later. While recording machine was off, he began a photo rite:]
(The tintype. What did they use to say years ago?)
Take an' shoot at yore pichure an' shootin' de pichure would kill yo'.
(But they generally put that picture in a certain way you said.)
Yes, toward where he's at or she's at. (You have to put that picture up in the direction in which that person is liv- ing?) Yes. (THIS OLD MAN WHO WAS JUST IN HERE WAS 87 YEARS OLD AND WAS BAREFOOT.)
Entry 8276
Alcohol - put three drops of alcohol on it, on de photograph an' stick it up side a tree an' shoot it, an' yo' ain't goin' stay heah long.
(What will it do, drive you away or kill you?)
Kill yo'.
Entry 8277
Take a photograph an' take it down tuh a tree, mos' any kinda tree, an' cut a hole in de pine tree, jis' fer 'nuff [enough] fo' de photograph tuh set in, an' cuss dat photograph three time an' back off [walk backwards] from it, an' fiah toward de photograph. Ah've tried it. Dat will kill de person.
Entry 8291
Dey take yore photograph an' dey wanta do somepin tuh yo' mean. Take dat photograph if it's on a tintype an' carry it off in de woods befo' sunup. An' nail it up on de no'th side of a tree an' take yore gun an' shoot it. Shoot chure heart be' fo' sunup. Ah don' care where yo' at, if yo' in New Yawk, dat'll kill yuh.
Entry 8292
Ah heard dey kin take a tin- type photograph an' carry it tuh de oak tree, an' if dey wanted tuh harm yuh, an' nail it dere wit a tenpenny nail an' den shoot. Say dat would kill yo'.
Entry 8296
Yes sir, yo' kin take a pichure, take it down tuh runnin' watah an' tack it on a tree an' shoot it, if yo' wanta kill 'em. Well, now, yo' kin kill 'em lak dat. Yes sir, jis' take it an' carry it tuh runnin' watah, jis' tack it on a li'le tree right by de runnin' watah, yo' know, de face of it. Shoot it. Well dat kills 'em. Dat's whut ah learnt from an ole man.
Entry 8299
Dey could do two things tuh yo' [with photograph]. Dey could kill yo' or dey could drive yo' away.
(Suppose somebody wants to kill me, now?)
Bury it face downwards.
(Bury the photograph with the face down?)
Yes.
(Well, suppose you want to drive me away?)
Well, if dey wanta drive yo' away, dey bury it standin'; yo' heah [in the interviewing room of Eureka Hotel, for blacks, see v.1, p. XxxIII]. Bury it standin' up, wit de face away from yo'. No, not on its haid, jis' lak it is standin' upward, lak dis pichure heah. Wit de face away.
Entry 8302
Take dat [photograph] an' bury it on it's face nex' tuh de sundown. Dat will kill yo'. (How do you mean they bury this photo- graph next to the sundown? What do you mean by that?) Jes' take de pichure where de sun go down an' bury it on de.face, an' turn de face towards de sundown.
(Turn the head toward the sundown?)
Yes suh.
Entry 8320
Take de pichure an' cut a piece out of de tree an' put it in dat place whut chew cut - jis' a piece out de tree an' den nail it back up dere. An' dey say dat will kill 'em.
(Cut a hole in the tree and put this picture in and nail it back up?)
Yessuh.
Entry 8333
Dey kin take an' bo' a hole in de side of a tree an' dey kin kill yo' wit dat. Bo' a hole wit a brace an' bit chew know, 'bout dat size [demonstrates] an' take a piece of wood an' plug it up in dere. (What do you put in that hole?) Put de pichure in dere, den take a piece of wood an' drive it in an' plug it up.
Entry 8337
Takes de photograph an' carry it out tuh a tree an' stick a ice pick in it, right intuh de fo'haid. An' dat person will git killed.
Entry 8346
Dey kin take yore photograph an' tack it up on a tree or anywhere in de house an' jes' about - yo' kin tell jes' about where yore heart lay, an' yo' kin drive a nail dere. An' yo' start de nail wit one lick an' evah mawnin' yo' call dat person's name an' hit dat nail one lick - evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's. But evah time yo' hit de nail one lick, call de person's name an' sompin will happen tuh him. He'll eithah fall an' git killed, git run ovah, or gits done 'way wit.
(That kills him?)
Yes sir. [Brunswick, Ga., (just before No.1240). 2104:9.]
Entry 8348
Or yo' kin take a person pichure an' put it intuh a tree. Bo' a augah hole intuh a tree an' put it in dere, an' put a tenpenny nail in dere at de middle of it, about where de navel be in de pichure, an' drive one lick on dat nail evah day fo' nine days. An' de last day yo'll drive dat nail in de tree, dat person ceases out - it will kill dat person.
Entry 8354
Well, dey say dey take yore photograph an' take nine nails an' carry it tuh a pine tree an' yo' stab nine nails down in dat photograph. Dat would kill a person, dat will kill yo'. Dat will kill yo' if dey do dat. In nine days yo'd be daid.
Entry 8357
If she wants tuh kill yuh, she kin take it in de woods an' tack it up agin a tree an' hit it nine times, an' de tenth time she hit, it kills yuh.
(I see, your photograph.)
Entry 8362
Ah heah dey say dey take a person's photograph an' carry it tuh de woods tuh a tree, an' stick a knife in de side an' stick nine pins in dere, an' dat'll kill yo'...
[Recording stopped too soon for following north side.]
(It must be on the north side of the tree?)
Yes.
Entry 8363
Take yore photograph picture, tintype. Yo' go out in de woods tuh a pine tree an' take yo' nails, see an' put dat pichure up in de tree wit de hammah an' nails. An' yo' nail dat pitchure tuh a tree, yo' see. An' evah time, evah place where dat nail go therough [through] dat pitchure, dat person will have a pain in dat spot, yo' see. Yo' kin kill 'em wit dat.
Entry 8372
Den, if it was a tintype pichure, yo' kin take dat an' carry it out an' cuz a person tuh fade away. Dat kin cuz death, kill a person. Yo'll take dat an' tack on a tree. Put tacks all through de body an' dat cuz de person tuh have actual pains. Yo' see some people doctorin' an' nobody kin cure 'em? Well dat's why a lotta people ain't havin' pichure made tuhday.
Entry 8378
Jes' lak a woman or anythin' got yore pichure. DAT'S WHY DERE SO MANY PEOPLE TUHDAY DEY'S ALWAYS 'STURB [DISTURBED], DEY AIN'T GOT NO STEADY MIND. DEY LEAVE DERE PICHURES TOO MANY PLAC[ES]. A woman kin take yore pichure an' yo' be a hunderd miles away, an' she'll take it an' go in a swamp where dere's runnin' watah, dere's a branch across it, where dere's a tree right in de middle of de place, an' a tree outside, an' de watah don' be but twelve feet each way - three trees. An' she kin take dat tenpenny nail, or any 'mount nail, jes' so dat she hit de heart of dat tree [picture] an' nail yore pichure [face] tuh- ward it. Wherevah she nail yore pichure at, see yo'll hit a bump evahtime she's drivin' a nail intuh dat pichure.
(What does she do that for?)
If she's mad wit yuh, wanta kill yuh, she could do dat. (Now what about these trees down at the branch? They have to be near each other?) See, de way it is dey cain't be ovah twelve foot apart - twelve foot. It don't make no diff'rence if it ain't no big branch, but de watah gotta be six- teen inch, an' if de fellah is a hunderd mile off, dat'll count sixty percent of one hunderd.
(What do you do? You only put that picture on one tree?)
Jes' one tree.
(And where is that one tree?)
Well, de one set nex' tuh de watah, closah tuh de watah, put it dere, but turn it facin' de watah, see. An' whenevah yo' drive a nail, yo'll heah sompin pop.
(This tree has to be near the water?)
Yes, neah de watah, an' have de pichure facin' de watah.
(And this tree has to be twelve feet from the water?)
No, dey has to be three trees, but dey has tuh be twelve foot apart.
(And you only put it on one of those trees, though?)
One dose trees an' de one closah tuh de watah. (You must find three trees near a branch, and the trees must be twelve feet apart, but the tree that's nearest to the branch, you put the picture on?) Dat's right, an' turn it neah tuh de watah.
Entry 8399
As fer as ah know 'bout usin' de photograph, now yo' kin take a per- son's photograph an' yo's in love wit a woman an' she quits yo', yo' take her photograph an' turn it bottomside upwards an' bury it an' dat'll kill 'em.
(How do you mean, turn it bottomside upwards?)
Bury it face down an' bury it in vinegah, an' dat'll make dem perish away.
Entry 8402
Well, dey kin run yuh crazy, or kill yuh, or make yuh git down sick, eithah.
(How do they do that?)
Dey take dat photograph an' git chew a saucah an' fill it about half full of vinegah, an' turn dat photograph down on de face in dat vinegah, an' take yo' a drinkin' glass an' set ovah it, an' let it set dere. An' when de vinegah eat all dat, yuh future [features] out of dat photograph, why yo' go crazy. Dey keep dat glass ovah it tuh keep de air from hittin' it. Yo' see, yo' can't let de air git in dere.
Entry 8407
Well a man tole me - lived right heah in town, supposed to be a expert root doctor - he tole me dey take yo' pichure an' put it in a glass of watah. Tip it up, wit chure face turned down. He claim dat it kill yuh in so Bany days, say it would surely kill yuh.
Entry 8453
Dey takes dat photograph, lak if dey wants yo' tuh - ah may say run yo' away or maybe sometime have yo' daid or somepin lak dat. Dey take it an' fold it up in a piece of white rag also an' put a zinc [see later] on it an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' dat supposed tuh make yo' mindless. [Zinc = sink = sinker, a lead weight used in fishing.] If dey don't do dat, dey'll take an' bury it on de face. When dey bury it on de face it supposed tuh kill yo'.
Entry 8460
Takes 'is pichure an' throw it in a stream of runnin' watah goin' so'th, a deep stream, an' dat'll kill 'im.
Entry 8519
Well, dey take de nine needles, an' aftah takin' de nine needles, write de name down nine times, whosomevah fellah it is, or de woman, den write chure name down nine times down on top of dat. Den aftah dat yo' put de cinnamon an' sugah in dere, an' de urinate, into de coconut. Den kick it from de front do' tuh de back do' nine times, fo' nine times. Take an' throw it ovah intuh de rivah. Dat guarantee tuh dry 'em up. Stop any woman in de worl'. Dry dem up, run 'em stoneZy crazy.
[The latter expression is usually stone crazy.]
(Dries up their urine? Kills them?)
Kills 'em yeah. (The person who is killed, you have to take that person's urine to put in that coconut?) Yeah, yo' take dat lady's urine, de one dat chew wanta fix, an' write dere name nine times. Den yore name on top of dat nine times. (You write his or her name nine times that way. Then you write yours on top of it like that?) Yeah. all on top of dat nine times. [New Orleans. La., (1561). 2857:7.]
Entry 8665
If yo' Want to kill a person - if yo' got it in fo' dem - git chew a nail an' go to a tree. Turn jes' towards de sun, de sunrise see, an' yo' nail dat nail in de tree see, an' call his name three times. In nine day's time why he'll be dead.
(Well, now, does he nail to- Ward the sun or does he nail it on the sunrise side of the tree?) Well, jes' lak [demonstrates]
de sun risin' disaway. See de tree settin' dat way. Yo' nail dat right in de tree towards de sunrise. (While you are facing the sunrise? Or on that side of the tree which faces the sunrise?) See, de tree will face de sun.
(And you put it in that side of the tree?)
Yo' nail it right in de side where de tree face de sun. [Florence, S. Car., (1318), 2263:3.].
Entry 9005
Heard of 'em say yo' take a black cat, yo' know, an' kill 'im an' put 'im up on de do'. Say yo' cain't stay dere. Nail him up on de do', say yo can't stay dere. (Well, I would see them if they did that, wouldn't I?) No, dey fix so yo' couldn't see, yo' wouldn't know it wuz dere. Ovah de do' or on de do', ah disremembah.
Entry 9263
Yo' kin take a aig, jes' lak a settin' hen yo' know, an' jes' lak yo' know somebody yo' wanta run crazy or yo' wanta kill, sompin othah lak dat, yo' kin write de name on dis aig, an' carry it tuh a grave dat chew know an' bury de aig, see. When de aig bust, dey tell me dem folks will die.
(You mean you have to know the grave?)
Yo' have tuh know somebody.
(You have to know who is buried in that grave.)
Yo' have tuh know who buried in dat grave.
Entry 10048
People do dat when dey sell dereself tuh de devil. Dey go out dere 'tween de fo'ks of de road. An' dey kills a black cat, yo' know, an' take a certain bone in 'im, an' dey take dat bone an' go out tuh de fo'ks of de road. An' when dey git tuh de fo'ks of de road, dey have sold deyself tuh de devil. He will come down [one of the roads]. Dat's why dey doin' dat, dat's de correct thing [to sell yourself to the devil]. People do dat, yo' know, who is notorious. It's not fo' good people tuh do dat.
Entry 10107
Kill black cat, remove collar bone, boil this until mid- night, "if they kin stand to see all the imps and stuff that ap- pear, '' kin wear it, do anything. [wilmington, N. Car., resumé, 91:12.]
Entry 10136
They say you must shoot a cat going right, a black cat crossing your road going right. Shoot him dead and then get that main bone what's called the thigh bone or femor bone of a cat, the right leg, front. And then get the bone right back of the head, and one of the right-foot bones also. Three bones. And put them to- gether and wear them in a sack around the waist, and a person can do anything he Wants to do that's devilish and tricky.
Entry 10148
You kill a black cat, boil it, then dry the bones. Put it in a luck bag and carry it around your neck for good luck. [Fredericksburg, Va., Ediphone cyl.45.]
Entry 10175
Now, that like if someone that they want to kill 'em, get 'em out chore way. You stick this black candle with 9 bran'-new needles, the darkest hour of the day, 4 o'clock in the mawnin', an' make yore wish, see. An' burn that candle ev'ry 9 days till that happens...an' yo' let the room...you put it in real dark room. Let the room be real dark.
Entry 10478
A witch is worser than a ghost, they tell me. You know these old hand sifters? You put that at the door of your room. He has got to go through every hole in that sifter before he can come in your room. And if daylight catches him, he was found in the sifter. Then kill whatever you find in the sifter and they kill the witch. [Old Point Comfort, Va., (21, from somewhere nearby), by hand, probably out on street somewhere.]
Entry 10551
An' yo' could take a leather-wing bat an' kill 'im, yo' know. While he's live, take his heart out befo' he die good. An' tie it up in a red piece of flannen an' tie it undah yore right arm. An' yo'll be lucky in anything yo' wanta do. Yo'll be successful in it.
Entry 10571
Use his heart. Take him an' kill him an' take his heart. His heart De quivering jest lak dat [illustrates]. Ah don't know when it dies but it be's quivering aftah yo' clean it. An' then yo' sew that heart up. That's fo' gambling, that's fo' Ld, that's fo' jest anything that yo' wish to do, yo' see. But chew gotta have ething to keep it dressed after a certain time. What would you dress it with?) Becrts [hesitates]. Qou mean Hearts perfume. And you take this heart of the bat while he's alive L use that [Hearts] on it.) Ihat's right.
Entry 10584
Ah hear a real gambler say if yo' wants be real lucky in gamblin', kill yo' one of dese leather-wing bats an' cut de heart out of 'em, an' lay it up until it git good an' seasoned. An' go an' buy yo' a piece of pure red silk cloth an' sew it up in dat, an' keep it in yore pocket an' go to yore game. Nobody can't hardly ketch yo'. Fact [in fact] ah have seen dat tried.
Entry 10587
Yo' kill a bat. Yo' shoot a bat. Git him whilst he's hot an' cut dat heart out. Put dat heart into a red silk bag an' sew it up an' wear it round yore left arm an' yo' will win in all yore games.
Entry 10588
Ah heard of anothah thing in gamblin' but it's a hard thing tuh git. But ah believe dis cus' de man dat tole me, cos' he's daid now, but he used tuh be a great gambler. He tried tuh git me one dem once. Yo' ketch a leather-wing bat. Dey say if yo' kin ketch a leather- wing bat an' kill him, an' take his heart an' wrap it in a silk han'kerchief, an' wrap it round heah [demonstrates], yo' can't be caught in no poker game yo' play in.
(Wrap it in a silk handkerchief you say, and tie it around your arm.)
Tie it round yore arm an' wear it jes' whilst yo' playing. Dis fellah gambled wit 'em. Ah didn't gamble wit 'im, an' he gambled wit white people, wit colored people, an' ah've known him tuh have as much as two an' three thousand dollahs at one time. [I turned off machine too soon. Informant mentioned name of hotel where this gambler had worked.l
(He was working at the.... Hotel?)
Yessuh.
Entry 9620
Take sulphur an' salt, cayenne peppah an' spread it roun' yore house - undah de house or roun' in de house. If yo' got any enemies or any- thin' put down dere, it'll kill it.
Entry 9685
An' if yo' don't want 'em tuh come tuh yore house, yo' take table salt an' snake dust - cos' [of course] snake dust will kill yo'. Dey throw it at chew when yo' goin' tuh de house. Yo' take dat an' chunk it. Dey call it throwin' it at chew, but dey don't throw it at chew, dey put it down fo' yo' tuh walk ovah it. But if dey don't want chew tuh come tuh de house, yo' take one of yore right-foot shoes, an' sweep dat shoe, dirt an' all out de do', an' den dey'll walk backward from dat shoe in de house. Dey ain't comin' back no mo'.
(Whose shoe do they put out there?)
Yores. Jes' put a little table salt in dere. Dat will carry dem away.
(What do you do with the snake dust?)
Dat snake dust? Well, now, dat's tuh kill yo'. Dey won' do nuthin but jes' pur dat down, right down in yore pathway.
(Where you can walk over it?)
Yessuh, an' yo' walk ovah it. (But if they want to get rid of you, they just put that salt in your shoe and seep it out?) Yessuh. But dat snake dust, if yo' walks ovah dat snake dust an' dey got it in dere, why dat'll git chew, see, 'cuz dey got dat lodestone in it, yo' see.
Entry 9716
Yo' kin take a nail - a spike. Take dat an' kill a puhson. Ah tell yuh whut. Nail dat about de height of de puhson. Yo' care dat tuh a tree an' yo' kin care it in dis country [South Carolina] - yo' care it tuh whut's known as a workin' pine. Dat's de lady pine. Dere's a he an' a she, yo' know, suh, in de pine trees. An' yo' care it tuh dat. Go dere early in de mawnin'. An' dere's anothah one. Yo' kin care it tuh a peah [pear] tree an' drive it in dere about de height of 'em [the victim]. Drive dat in dere. Call 'em, hit it, drive it in dere hard, Ah drive dis spike intuh yore reart, dat no longah shall yo' Zive'r [live or] remain on earth. Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Den turn roun' an' call dem. Call dem, but don't put yore hamah or hatchet down. Hold it in a drivin' position. Drive it! An' evah tine yo' drive yo' say, Die! Die! Dat'll bring on quick-enough death. Drive it! Tell 'em yo' drivin' it through dey heart, dey witals an' weins. Yo' shall Die! Die! Yo' must die! Yo' shall die!
Entry 9831
An' den a person kin take needles an' put 'em in a - up undah yuh house. Put so many needles undah dere, nine needles undah yuh house, right wheah yuh haid is, right on dere. An' dem nine needles will kill yuh in nine dasy. In nine days yo'll be daid. (You put them under where you sleep.) Undah wheah yo' sleep. Dey go up undahneat' de house. An' stick nine needles up dere in a row wit de p'ints up. An' dem nine needles in nine days, yo'll git sick, an' 'fore de nex' nine days out, yo' daid.
Entry 9873
Yo'll take dat toadfrog an' yo'll dry 'im, yo' see, an' dere's two ways yo' dry dem toadfrogs. Den yo' go tuh work an' yo' let it be lak - makes a powdah outa it, yo' see, an' yo' sprinkle dat. Dat's fo' gittin' outa a home, too [making a person move]. Den, yo' kin ketch a toadfrog an' don' kill 'im, if yo' wants tuh send a person away ag'in. Ketch a toadfrog an' don' kill 'im, an' den let 'im go off an' die. Yo'll cut 'im at a place whah [where] yo' kin put dese names in dere; lak yore name or some- body yo' have wanta send 'em 'way from dere. Yo' see, yo'll go tuh work an' yo'll cut dat toadfrog, an' it's a way dat dey kin put dat papah up in dat toadfrog an' turn 'im a-loose an' let 'im go, an': jis' [the way] as he goes dem people'll go.
Entry 9893
Now, if yo' got a girl an' yo' wan' 'er tuh love yo', yo' kin go tuh one dem red ants baid. Ketch yo' one dem toadfrogs, dem ole rough toadfrogs an' kill 'im. Put dat toadfrog in dat ants baid an' let 'im stay in dat ants baid until dem antses eat 'im up, till he gits tuh where he ain't nuthin but a shell [skeleton]. Den yo' take dat frog den an' yo' git dat straight bone dat runs down 'is back. An' yo' kin take dat bone den an' any woman dat chew want or any man dat chew want, whilst me an' yo' talkin' or me an' 'er talkin', ah stick dat bone in dat garment dat she had on or dat he has on. If ah'm a woman ah stick it in a man [garment] or if ah'm a man ah stick it in a woman [garment]. Yo' see, stick dat bone in dere, jes' a small piece of dat bone, an' leave it in dere. Den yo'll come tuh be mah sweetheart if ah wan' chew, or yo'll come tuh be 'er sweetheart if she wan' chew.
Entry 9920
Yo' kin take a hen aig an' rub it ovah de stomach of a frog an' den cook it in anybody's food an' dat will kill 'em.
(Cook what in the food?)
Cook de aig. Jes' chip de aig in de food an' it will kill 'em.
(You just rub the whole egg?)
[My whole egg could include the shell!]
Yeah, jes' rub de raw aig ovah dis frog's stomach an' dat will kill 'em. [In- forant surely means toad, an animal considered poisonous in folklore. The words r aig indicate that the cook, after cracking the egg, lets the yolk run down orer the belly of the animal and then cooks it for the victim.]
Entry 9963
Kill a frog while he's hot. Take a frog while he's hot an' kill 'im an' split him open while he's hot. An' take an' rub yore han's on 'im an' rub down yore han's lak dat. An' yo' go out tuh any card game yo' wanta an' yo' be successful. Git chew a live frog an' split him back open, an' rub yore han's on 'im down dere.
Entry 11257
[The following document and the one preceding it, mentioned later, are of social significance, the effect of hoodoo on mornings and family relationships. This woman was merely one of many informants who could express herself fluently and idiomatically.1 The next experience that I had, I had a visitor to come to see me; a daughter [husband's] from Detroit and a daughter [husband's] from New Orleans, and a new- phew [husband's] and a [his] girl friend. After they left, they made the remark, "If it's the last thing we could do, we goin' to see her losing her home and not living with our father." Mah husband - ah am his fo'th wife - he has three sets of children. They gets their youngest sis- ter - they would get the ingredients of what dey call go powder or get away powder. This go powder would be placed on mah front porch and burned. It would leave a white acid spot on de floor. Dat didn't seem to make me go. They went an' got a oil an' po'd it at mah front gate - ah kept in touch with all of this work as they were going along.
(What did they call this oil, did they have a name for that?)
Well, the oil, as the get away powder didn't work, they got what they call de get away oil - a liquid oil so that they could pour it and it would git on de ground so I would walk on it. Don't chew see, that carried it in de house, and to be confused with it in there to git it on mah feet when ah'd pull mah shoes off. Well, that didn't seem to work very much. They got a ole white woman [hoodoo doctor] to come to mah house at the absence of me in the presence of mah husband. She poured a liquid - something looks like lead melted - ah don't know the name of it [quicksilver?], but she poured that on de floor. And that was poured on de floor that I would have five years of hard luck there - that I would be defeated finishing paying for that home - that everything, every effort I made I would be defeated in it, because I was determined to pay for it. Well, after doing that they found I had begin to drift, begin to lose interest in the home - begin to lose interest in everything. Then the person of itself and the daughter had got in a conversation together, from whom I had bought - bargained to buy de place. She gave me a warranted deed, and this warranted deed stated that there was no lien, no incumberance on the said property that's locat- ed at the corner of St. Peter Street and Plum Street. I paid on that warranted deed, believed the statement after having two lawyers to examine the papers. They stated that it was all right. Going on through this daughter and the individual that I bought from, they did something, ah don't know what it was, but ah became confused and left home and went to New York. Jest picked right up and taken mah jewelry and went on up to New York. Ah stayed up there three months and three days. On the 27th day of June ah had a job working fo' Dr. Friedman on 9Oth and Broadway. Ah was lying on de bed an' - it was a Friday.
(What year was this?)
That was last year.
(1937.)
1937. Ah got up and ah said to the madam of the house, ah said, "Ah'm going home, mah mind leads me tuh go home." I had got a letter that day and that letter, it jes' looked like to me - it worked me up jes' in de mood to leave. I couldn't understand why it was. It was nuthin wrote on the letter that was confused but only the letter said like this: Dear Elsie: When I sit on the front porch each day ah think of you and the children - it makes me feel so blue, until I feel like screaming. Well dat letter jest worked me all up.
(Who wrote this letter?)
Mah husband wrote the letter but the daughter done de fixing to the letter. Whatever they done to that letter confused me so that I had to come home. My money that I made [author interrupts].
(That was your stepdaughter?)
That was mah stepchild. The money that ah made - ah bought mahself $1.27 dress - ah made $347.80. Ah had that much besides paying mah bus fare and mah two other children's bus fare. I come back home and turned that money over to mah husband. Instead of him paying the money on that place - yo' see that how ah was hardtimed all de way through. It was understooden between the daughter, the person that ah bought it from, and the husband - to overthrow me in mah way, to defeat me of the home. He didn't pay it, he jest done away with it. When ah ast him about it, he jest put me off and ah never could get any information. So ah became grevious. Ah goes back to this same person [black doctor] that ah carried these first things to [in rite 975, pp.369-372]. Ah said to her, ah said, "Please mam, tell me what is the trouble with me that I am defeated in everything that I put forth efforts to try to exist to make a living." She says, "You have fought a good fight." She says, "Yo' goin tuh be defeat- ed, yo' goin' tuh be put out of doors. That's the very best you can do because the things that they have done is to turn everybody against chew, not to believe your statements of whut chew say; whut yo' would tell 'em when you would go to 'en, that chew can't keep a job an' yo' can't keep any money.' Ah could have. Ah have had as much as $25. It would go away from me, and in three days. Ah couldn't tell whut that money was spent for. She said, "Yo' are fixed so that everything, all de money an' everything yo' git will go away from yo' an' yo' can't tell what it's goin' fo'." Part of it ah'd give it to him - give it to mah sisters. Ah would buy things with it. Ah jest destroy it. Through the year until November, that same trouble of last year that I was having - I go to the party that I had bought from and ah said to her, I says, "I can't continue - couldn't no longer continue to pay yo' on this property until yo' go an' straighten yore taxes up. Ah have been smart enough to find by the Home Owners Loan that chew had a mortgage on it." And ah said, "You have got the biggest po'tion of the money, which leaves me a small sum." Ah say, "You owes $276.67." Ah says, "Ah owes yo' $325." Ah said, "When ah'd gone today to the tax office, de man down there refuses to take mah money." Ah said, "Now, let us get together as friends, go down and pay those taxes off, ' and ah says, "an yo' turn the Home Owners Loan over to me that ah kin continue mah payments, that I would have a clear title according to yore warranty deed dat yo' gave me." Ah said, "Then ah kin proceed to pay yo'." She says, "Well, all right ah'll go." She went off and she brought me back a verbally statement. You see, mah hus- band, the stepdaughter and de woman all understood each other. So she came back and brought me a verbally statement. The statement was this: "Mr. Tooart said that the County and State taxes was mo' important to pay then the city tax." Ah said, "Well, ah don't keer whut Mr. Tuart says."
(Truehart?)
Tooart - ah don't know how to spell it. He's a tax man. So she said to me - ah said, "Ah don't care what Mr. Tooart says to you, " ah says, "it is necessary for all taxes to be paid to be a loyal citizen." Ah says, "And that's why we pay our taxes - that our city kin be properly cared fo' and our school funds can be raised for our children to go to school, " and ah says, "ah believe in doing the things that's right." 'Now, " I say, "if he tells you that it's more - one tax is more valuable to pay than the other - they all are valuable the same way." Ah said, "Now, ah can't pay you any money until you do this - until you turn this Home Owners Loan over to me and let us go and pay the taxes. I have the money to pay you." So she shut her mouth and talked with mah husband and this [step]daughter. They let it rot on from November up until the 5th of February. She never said anything at all to me whut was her intention. She then, when ah came in on Sat'day afternoon which was the 5th day of February - a neighbor called me as I was pass'n by, she called me by name, she said, "Do you know you are write up in de papers in Mobile [newspaper]?" [I] tole her, "No, " I says, "it's good thing, " I says, "that ah am." She says, "Yore place is to be sold on the 28th day of this month for cash to the highest bidder." Ah said, "Where is it?" She said, "Do you take The Press?" Ah say, "Ah do." Ah goes on home and I look in it and ah found it and ah read it. Ah goes to her and ah says, "Belle, " I says, "ah don't feel that you have treated me right." Ah said, "Ah give you mah money three months in advance," said, "me and mah chillun didn't even have their gruel cooked on Friday - didn't even have wood [to cook it] - to pay yo', an' ah advanced yo' three months at de time." And ah says, "However, if you feel that chew dealt square with me by treating me that way, it's all right." I then leaves her and ah goes downtown. To show you how ah have been actually defeated every way. Ah come back home. When ah come back home, it was something spreaded - ah didn't git back home till late. When ah got back there ah felt dubious about something, and it looked like to me it was a lotta white beach sand - sand that come off near a creek where it was real clean - spreaded all over de gallery [porch]. And as I walked up on the gallery ah begin to do mah feet that way [scrapes her feet] - it was so thick on mah feet - scrape mah feet and ah went on in de house. And ah said to mah husband, ah says, "There's some- thing goin' on wrong since ah left here and went to town - ah'm jest confused to death." So ah didn't say anything else to him. He said, "What did you learn when you went down town?" Ah said, "Ah went down there to Lawyer Gaston[?] and Gostrom[?], an' they told me that they had come in touch with Mr. Vickers, the Home Owners laywer, and he had stated to them that ah would have to pay $407.25 or else the fore- closure would be offered on the 28th day of this month." He [husband] said, "That's funny." He said, "Well, ah guess you have got yore just desserts. You've been defeated in everything. Ah'm goin' take mah clothes and ah'm goin' ovah there."
(Going where?)
He's going over the bay - over to Locksley, over at Dafney - 'I'm goin' ovah the bay." So he did. So this morning - after they had treated me like they did, and ah was defeated and all of mah lawyers and everything with the disadvantages that they had on me, that they had turned their backs against me - this morning, ah had a barn in de back yard was lOxl5 feet. Ah sent mah brother word, tole him to come an' tear the barn down, take it off. So he came to tear the barn down to take it off. To prove all the statements of the advantages she had been taking, she came out this morning and emptied it all open to me - tole me right to mah face. She walked out to him and she said, "Have the law give yo' permission to tear dat barn down?" He say, "What chew talking about?" An' ah was looking out of the window, the kitchen window and ah could see her out there. So ah walked out and ah said, "Good morning, " ah said, "what is it all about?" She 'lowed [allowed = declared her opinion or intention], "Heah yo' come to interfere. You cannot take anything out of that house. You cannot take anything offa this property. It's orders by the law. And if you do, you'll be dead, " she says, "damned and will live less than 24 hours, because whom ah got working fo' me determined to kill yo', if ah can't git chew outa dis house by law." Ah looked at her and ah says to her, I says, "Now, ah'll tell you one thing, " ah said, "for the respect that ah have for mah brother and mah children, " ah said, "ah'll see you an' all yo' cohorts in hell an' me pissin' on top of yo', " ah says, "befo' ah'm goin' be actually defeated in everythin' ah do." Ah says, "Ah still have a chance." I says, "Ah'ms not a tramp, ah'ms a citizen." An' ah says, "Now yo' have come out verbally an' told me whut yo' intends to do and whut yo' has tole me an' all of yore advantages." Ah says, "Tear de barn down, '' Ah says, "ah'll stand de conseguences. So he toe [tore] de barn down and when he left, she commence takin' somethin' in her hand [demonstrates] that way throwing at him. She says, "Well, if yo don't die, he will." Ah says, "By God, ah come from a family of folks that lives from 75 to 115 an'," ah said, "ah'll live that long too." So ah've been defeated in everything through the advantages that they have taken of me. Ah can't git nuthin. Today I hasn't got one penny in de vorld.
(What is the outcome of that story - what happened to the property, then?)
The property - they supposed to put me out doors Monday morning.
(This happened recently?)
This jes' happened today - happening today - working up to Monday - ah'm sup- posed to put out Monday. (Then your story about your husband leaving goes on to this story?) [Her husband's leaving is a separate story. Where is it?] Goes right on to the same thing. Yo' see, his advantage was to make me leave.
(He was also trying to make you leave.)
He was the real object [instigator] of it all. He was to make me leave, don' yo' see; den before de foreclosure was, that he could have it to say that ah walked off an' left him.
Entry 11365
Turpentine and red pepper with excrement put in north side of tree to kill or burn victim's hind end.
Entry 11768
Dirt from a sinner's grave, mixed with quicksilver, placed on or under a bed will kill the person who sleeps there. [Wilmington 260:4+85.]
Entry 11857
I could take just about three strands of hair of your head and go to a tree. And I would put it on the sunset side of that tree, where the sun goes down on that hair. And just take a long spike nail and bore a hole in that tree. And ball all that hair up on the sunset side of the tree, but it has got to be when the sap is up in the tree. By what I mean by the sap is when the leaves is on the tree. And bore a hole in that tree and stick that hair up in there, and drive that nail in there behind it. And when the sun commence to go down, that cause you to have headache, don't you see. And this headache will get worse every day, and from that it will drive you crazy, and from crazy it will kill you. [you do this] when the sap is up, because when the sap begins to go down you won't live very long.
Entry 11859
Take yore hair an' a piece of yore clothes an' nail it into a tree. Ah've heard of dat.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat'll dry yo' up, kill yo' by degrees; yo' know, jis' dry yo' dat way.
Entry 11918
To kill a person bore a hole in a tree and stop up some of his hair.
[Deal Island, Md., 21:3.]
Entry 11924
You can kill a person by airtighting some of his hair in a small bot- tle and stopping it up in a hole you have bored into a tree. [Wilmington 228:3+ 85.]
Entry 12288
Ah heard tell of a person takin' a string - a cord jes' like dey ties - if yo' want a person hurt. Why, where it will kill 'em, yo' know, or sompin like dat. Jes' git some of dis heah string an tie 9 knots in it, jes' as tight as yo' kin. An' bo' a hole into a green tree, any kind of a tree, jes' so it's green, an' put dat knot in it, dat dere string dat chew tied dem knots into dat tree, an' stop it up.
(Don't you say anything or do anything?)
Nosuh, jes' makes 'em sick till dey dies.
(You have to get a string from them, or what?)
Yassuh, from dey house. Anywhere roun' dere house yo' git dat string dat dey been usin'.
Entry 12416
Just fix 'em, Put- tin' 'em in a cross like a "x", you know, and might get a powder an' tie 'em up together, and take that and bury it at yo' [victim's] door.
(Bury it at your door? They cross them like a real "x"?)
Just like that [demonstrates].
(I see. How many do they use? How many matches do they put that way?)
They git 'bout eight or nine.
(I see and they bury it at your door?)
Bury it at your door. And pins - take needles and pins and put 'em in de same way like dese matches.
(Cross them.)
And git some - if they kin git some hair out de mole of yo' haid. Wrap that up - wrap that round dere and cross 'em and bury that at your door.
(What does that do?)
They say that will kill you.
physical X arrangement of materials in a reported burial procedure. Quotation marks around x indicate shape emphasis, not a new quoted speaker. wrapping available hair around the described crossed materials before burial. Keep the conditional availability of hair from the mole of the head without extra anatomical interpretation. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 4332) · Read full source (printed page 4333)
Entry 12473
Ah heard of a man once dat wuz goin' wit a girl. He wuz a married man. An' dis girl wanted tuh go tuh de show. He didn't want her tuh go because a single [man] was carryin' her. So he called for her an' had her go tuh his office. An' he strangles her first. An' den he dismembered her body, cut de haid off first an' her arms, an' den he cuts her body off [up]: cuts her thighs off, den de laigs - jes' dismembered her dat way. Dere wuz nobody in de office, an' he lived about ten miles out. He carries her out past his home an' put [the parts of] her body different places, an' two weeks later de news got out an' he didn't say anything about it, when he heard de news. He went tuh her people about her. He hadn't seen her in a couple of weeks an' she was on a vacation. It was man seen him put de haid out - out of a truck. He know de man's face but he didn't know his name. An' when de news got out about her, dey go tuh dis place an' git de haid, an' roun' in dat settlement dey found all de parts of de body. He burnt her clothes an' shoes in his office. An' dis man, after dey got her back tuhgether, de man dat killed her, dat was her sweetheart. Dey carried dis man tuh de undertaker's shop tuh identify her. But it didn't seem tuh take any 'fect on him de first three times dey carried him. So de third time he wus dere, why dey used some kind of - dey called it perfume, but ah don't know de name of de perfume. It was tuh weaken him. De nex' time dey didn't have tuh carry him dere. He went hisself an' gave up. After he looked at her, he jes' broke an' telled dem.
Entry 8669
Yo' take an' git chew a pack of bran'-new needles an' yo' buy yo' a beef tongue. An' yo' put nine needles in it an' yo' take dat beef tongue an' yo' bury it toward de east coast of de tree, or right undah de tree in de no'th corner of yore garden or yore fence. Dat's tuh kill dem. Rill me or anybody else. It'll rot. Yo' put de name on de tongue. (All right. You didn't tell me that.) Well, ah'm tellin' yo' now. (Now, how do I know?) We-ll, ah'm tell yo'. (How do you put the name on the tongue, now? Tell me.) Nine time, an' on a piece of papah, an' pin it wit dem needles nine times. Nine needles, see. An' yo' pin dat an' yo' bury dat tongue upside down. An' when dat tongue rot, dey rot.
Entry 8822
They kin take yore han'- writin' - dey kin receive a lettah from yo'. Dey take dat lettah an' dey clip all four cornahs of it, see. Don't clip the whole lettah, clip all fo' cornahs of it off like dat, see. Dey take dat lettah den an' dey burn a little hole in it right in de middle, see. Aftah dey have burnt dat den, dey goes out an' dey. gets a lizard, an' dey takes an' dey kills dis lizard, yo' see. An' dey parches 'im up to where dey kin make a powdah out of it. Aftah dey make dat powdah, den dey sprinkle it all ovah dat lettah, yo' see. Dey folds dat lettah up good, see, an' dey folds it up an' dey take it an' bury it some place in de ground, yo' see, an' yo' lose control of dat hand.
(I see.)
Entry 10279
There's another thing. They can take your chamber lye again and stop you from using a woman.
(How could.they do that?)
They take your chamber lye and put it into a little small bottle like that, and after they put it into a small bottle, they let it rest overnight. And after it rest in overnight, they take that [bottled] chamber lye and put it down into some warm milk and take it [bottle] up. Draw it [bottle] up and let that milk boil away, that it almost gone out that bottle [pan]. And take that [small] bottle again and ketch a owl and shove it up in that owl's throat until it kill him. And take that bottle [with urine inside] and bury it in the ground with his [owl's] head up. Then you'll go for the balance of your life.
(You do what?)
You locked up [impotent] for the balance of your life, you can't use a woman. (You put an owl in there, an owl, a bird, an owl that steals a chicken, an owl that flies around at night?) [I am wrong. Owl is not put in bottle but very small bottle with urine is put in owl's throat.] Yeah. (An owl? And this milk. Do you pour the urine into the milk or put that bottle down into the milk?) [Again I am wrong!] Put the bottle [with urine] down in there [the milk].
(But you don't let any milk get into the bottle?)
No, you have it sealed.
(Yes, but you let this [bottled] urine boil in the milk?)
Yeah.
(I understand, I see. But you have to kill this owl, inside the bottle?)
[As I explained, owl is not in bottle.]
Yes. (And bury the bottle [in owl's throat] with the owl's head up. You have to ase a large bottle for that [no!] I understand. [No, the urine is in very small bottle in owl's throat, but owl buried head up.]
Entry 10731
A man kin take a woman ministrate an' stop it up in a bottle an' bury it, an' when hit done fade out everythin' off it, hit'll kill her.
Entry 10910
Used for back luck, too. They take a dog's hair and a cat's hair and put it together, and the person's name with it, and sew it up together an' bury it close to that person's house. And they'll want to kill everybody in that house. They get together like cats and dogs and they're fighting and killing one another and scratching and biting going on something terrible.
Entry 11443
They bury fingernails and toenails under the steps to kill you. [New Orleans 1313:2.]
Entry 12478
Throw into grave the clothes man got murdered in, to kill murderer.
[Charleston 606:9.]
Entry 13037
To kill live things in baby, drink tea from the dust of silver half- dollar scraped upwards. [Vicksburg 1032:9.]
Entry 13068
If you wanta kill a person, yo' gits de snail an' gits him out of his hull [shell] yo' see. An' yo' kin take yo' some whiskey an' put dat snail in dere - in dat whiskey, lak yo' would put it in a half pint of whiskey. Let dat snail set in dere twenty-fo' hours in dat whiskey - ah mean, take dat snail outa dere an' strain yore whis- key. An' anybody dat yo' give it to, dat chew want 'em - if yo' wanta kill any- one, say, "Come on have a drink wit me, " an' yo' po' it out an' dey drink it. Dat settles it.
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 1554
Lak a spirit or somethin' lak dat, dat chew wanta kill an' keep 'em from messin' with yo', yo' take de balls out [shotgun shell] an' put chew a silver dime in dere an' shoot it, an' dey claim it won't bother yo' no mo'. (This spirit won't bother you no more?) [This repetition of his words is unconscious, not intended.] No suh. [A spirit cannot be killed as he admits later.]
Entry 1570
Yo' take sulphur an' black gunshell powder an' yo' put dem in a bottle, a pint bottle of watah, an' drink dat watah till yo' draw dat up. If dere snakes or anything live into you, take dat gunpowder an' kill all of it.
Entry 2897
The black candle is fo' evil. That black candle does all the harm in the world. Well, yo' jest - say, if yo' wanted to do someone harm, in the day at twelve a'clock, make it no later, yo' go into yore room, pull yore blinds down, set chew a dark candle behin' yo'. An' yo' set wit chure face pointin', say to the east an' yo' set there. Yo' set there until - if yo' haven't got their picture, yo' set there until yore mind jest kinda picture them. An' yo' take that picture, say if yo' wanta cause them to git killed some way - by running into a car, by running into a train, or land somewhere where de train kin run ovah them. Well, jest whut chew want, that one particular thing to do, why yo' jest call dat an' dat black candle will be burning behind yo', see. All right, chew call dat persons name nine times. Den yo' crosses - take yore fingers an' cross it like dat. Pull it, see like dat - pull the fingers together. (Pull your fingers together like that - these big index fingers.) [Crook index fingers and pull.] Uhmm. Say, "To hell, to hell, yo go. Drift forever. No content. There's no rest for the weary." And then turn, blow the candle out an' then kneel in front of the candle an' say, ask for six feet. Then that gives that candle time to cool off. See, ask for it slowly - s i x f e e t. Why den all de smoke from dat candle an' everything will go off. Take yore candle an' go on back about yore business.
Entry 4059
Yo' kin take a person chamber lye an' po' it in a bottle, an' take it an' bury it underneat' chure do'step. Have a little hole in dere, yo' know, where it will drip it lak dat. An' when de las' drop go out, drop out, DEY'LL LEAVE WIT DAT LAS' DROP.
(I would do that with their chamber lye to make them leave?)
Make 'em leave, see - git rid of 'em, kill 'em. See, dey'll lingah along yo' see.
The account places a bottle beneath a doorstep. This link retrieves that doorway location; it does not identify the doorstep with a door panel. The continuation describes making someone leave and killing them; these are source claims, with no established outcome.
Entry 4070
Den yo' kin jis' take his chamber lye an' jis' put it in a bottle an' put it down undah yore hearth right by de fiah yo' know, where it won't break. [They] say put it down in dere. Dat is if yo' wants tuh kill 'em or do sompin lak dat - wanta make him lingah or suffah 'fo' [before] he die, an' cuzin' [causing] dat watah tuh dry up in dat bottle from de heat. An' dat's how it dry up in 'is bladdah.
Entry 4322
Ah've heard talk of 'em bo'in' a hole in a tree. Says, if yuh wanted tuh kill someone, yuh git de urinate from 'em, an' bo' yuh a hole in a tree, an' cut yuh a wedge an' wedge it in dere. Yuh see, put de stuff in an' wedge it in tight. Say dat will kill 'em.
Entry 13324
In de ole days dere nevah wuz nobody, as ah really evah know of, dat put money down unless dey have somebody take keer of it. Well, dey always - yo' know, not in our days anytime. Dey don't do dat now. But ah wuz learned dat dey have tuh kill someone an' de blood of dat individual have tuh be somewhere neah roun' dat money tuh take care of it.
Entry 779
"I'm goin' to throw for you." That means I'm goin' to cunjure you to kill you in some way.
The item explains the quoted threat as cunjuring with an intended killing aim; it reports no accomplished killing.
Entry 2788
Take an' write a person's name on a candle - yo' see dese big yellah candles, an' write a person's name on a candle an' light dat candle an' let it burn, so dey says. Dat's fo' doin' 'way wit a person. Dat will kill 'em. They will dry up an' go off lak dat. [Person turns yellow like a leaf and drys up.]
The informant reports, 'so dey says', a candle practice meant to do away with a person; the yellowing explanation is bracketed editorial matter.
Entry 11406
If parched toenails are dropped into your food, they will grow in you and kill you. [Charleston 620:3.]
The short account conditionally predicts that the described toenails will grow and 'kill you'; no actual result is established.
Entry 13038
Silver half dollar, scrape and make pills to kill poison. [Memphis 1569:8.]
The item gives killing poison as the aim of described pills; no successful treatment or safety is established.
Entry 4323
Tell yuh one thing whut ah've seen done wit mah own eyes. Ah seen 'em take a person's urine, yuh know, an' make a roun'hole in dat tree, an' take an' fill it up [with urine], an' put a stäb in it an' stäb it up, an' dat kill people goin' an' comin'.
The informant describes actions they claim to have seen and alleges a killing effect. No actual death or causal effect is independently verified.
Entry 10284
"One of the parties stuck together must be killed." [Norfolk, 466:3 and material in volume 3. According to reports, See volume 3, surgeons at hospitals almost always killed the woman to save the man. If I am not mistaken, one woman was actually saved!]
The quoted statement asserts that one party must be killed. This is a reported assertion, not an established necessity or event; the hospital commentary is editorial.
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
Take nine ten-penny nails, dese wire nails about dat long
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
[denonstrates]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
, an' yo' puts 'em in a jar of watah, clear watah. Jes' go tuh de well an' drav a bocket - a bucket of watah, fill up de jar half-fuli. Put nine nalls in dere. Jes' lak now ah come tuh yore house an' ah want a drink of watah, an' ah ask yo fo' a drink of watah. Ah go git a drink of watah - go git dat jar an' po' out a glass of watah an' yo' drink off it. Yo' drink offen
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
[off of]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
dat satah fo' nine days, an' evah time yo' come dere ah give yo' some of dat watah. Bell, yo'll
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2100
come tuh be ailin' in yore stomach. Well, dem nails den, de mo' dey stay in dere, de mo' dey come tuh be rusty, an' all dat goes inside of yo'. Fin'ly kills yo' in so many days it kills yo'.
locally coherent printed subpassage
This is a printed hypothetical account of a harmful practice. Unclear source wording is retained; chemical or clinical effects are not established.
Changing first- and second-person positions remain as printed; no specific real victim or actor is established.
The source describes a claimed causal result, not a witnessed event or a recommendation.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 3, p. 2098 · Vol. 3, p. 2099 · Vol. 3, p. 2100 · Vol. 3, p. 2101 · Vol. 3, p. 2102