Subject:Milk/Sweet milk
Entries
Entry 3720
Dis is a story of mahself. Well, ah felt lak ah wuz messed up an' ah sent to a ole man down heah in de country an' he tole me dat time, says, "Well, Ton, yo' take some sweet milk an' take a bath wit it." Ah say, "Well, how long?" He says, "Well, yo' take dat three maonin's. An' take yo' bath wit it an' bring me de milk back, de las' milk yo' use." Well, ah tuk de milk an' carried it back to him an' den he put sulphah in dis milk an' den give it back to me, an' tole me co'se milk will clabbah, an' fo' me aftah tuh use it up to de ninth mawnin'. An' so ah did so, an' co'se de milk had clabbahed an' dat whey - dat sulphuh wuz in dere, kept it from turnin' all to whey. It would not turn tuh whey, see. An' shortly aftah, ah don' know whut ah done tuh make it do dat, but ah be dogged if ah didn't git straightened out on it all right.
(You got your nature back?)
Got it on back, doggone right.
(What did you do with that clabber then?)
AFTAH DE NINE MAWNIN'S WHY AH CARRIED IT BACK TUH 'IM, See. CO'SE HE BURIED IT.
(Well, what did you do with the clabber after that?)
Ah use dat milk right straight on.
(You kept bathing with this clabber then until the ninth morning?)
Yes.
Entry 6547
Yo' take a toadfrog an' jis' lak yo' drink sweet milk, ah'll put a drog of 'is blood in dis sweet milk, an' in nine days it will come in yore body.
Entry 6813
(How do you get those black things out?) How do yo' git 'em out? Well, yo' git dem live things out - git saltpetah an' guinea peppah, garlic an' sweet milk an' parsley - heat parsley - an' it'll make 'em come up.
(That is to get the live things out. What do you do? Make this all into a tea?)
No, yo' don't make no tea at all. Yo' jis' beat it up, don't heat it, drink it in de milk.
Entry 6831
If yo' gotten any poison - yo' see, anythin' dat wuz poisoned - dey could go tuh a gumwood tree an' git de innahba'k, yo' undahstan', from de sun- rise side, an' boil it in sweet milk. An' give tuh dat person three times a day, a tablespoonful, an' dat would offset some trouble, dat poison.
(You mean if somebody has tricked them?)
[I am asking, is this ordinary or hoodoo poison.]
Yeah, somebody's tricked 'em.
(Cunjured them or something?)
Dat's right. Dere wuz a ole man dat usta [use tol come tuh mah gran'mothah's house an' he would tell 'er a certain person wuz jis' down an' out, chew know, jis' couldn't har'ly [hardly] live, an' dis same remedy dat ah'm tellin' yo' 'bout now, of de sap ba'k from de sun- rise of a gum tree. Boil dat in sweet milk an' give dat person. An' dere's somepin 'bout a blacksnake hide dat yo' git fo' 中商 dat person tuh weah it roun' 'is vaist or anythin'. Give him dat sweet milk an' gum ba'k boiled, yo' undahstan', fo' a medicine. Dat would be de remedy.
Entry 6901
Anything wrong, yo' kin take some sweet milk an' heat it real hot, an' put some red cayenne peppah in it an' put some red pod peppah in it. An' scrape some silvah off de dime an' put in de glass, an' put some gun- powdahs in it, an' yo' drink it. An' when yo' drink it, jis' makes yo' bu'st out in a big sweat an' den yo' kin vomit it up.
(This poison?)
Yeah.
Entry 6962
Take a fresh laid egg an' mix de - mix sulphur in it an' fresh milk. Jis' make a li'le crack in dere an' take a straw an' put it dere an' drink it. (What will that do?) Dat'll stop anybody doin' yo' eny harm. See, den yo' kin drink wit yo' frien's. Yo' kin take a - jis' lak somebody would wanta give yo' tuh drink a glass of wine an' dey don' lak yuh, an' dey fix it fo' yuh, say, "All right boys, let's go." Dey jis' take one [drink] an' set it dere, an' dis one [drink] an' set it dere, an' this one [drink], an' set 'em dere [you can safely drink any of them].
Entry 12537
Ah heard of 'em using onions an' garlic - fo' being hurted - in sweet milk. Dat's good, too. (Well, how do they do that?) Well, yo' makes a tea out of it but chew cooks it all together - onions an' the garlic an' the sweet milk. Yo' puts it on an' yo' cook it together. Yo' strains it, an' then give it to 'em to drink. Well, if yo' poisoned, well, that's good fo' poison [also].
Entry 1613
If you kin get 'em [sick person] to urinate, then you take - yo' ketch de urinate, you take a dropper and pick up some of that urinate in a teacup or glass but not let it be in no tin or zinc or 'luminum. You drop nine drops of that urinate into that sweet milk and give it to them to drink.
(Whose urine do you use?)
De sick one. That will bring those things out [wasps and ants] and then after that why give them couple doses of castor oil to clear their system out.
Entry 13019
"You takes sweet milk an' grate a silver dime and drink off it." [Some of the silver dime is filed into sweet milk, not the whole dime.l [Mobile 969:6.]
Entry 414
Ah have went out wit some fellahs tryin' tuh dig money. A gang of us decided tuh go out an' dig money. We went out one night. Ah taken mah old car an' driven out one night an' stopped it up at de edge of de woods an' we went all down - took our picks an' shovels an' went on down an' started tuh diggin' de money. Well, we supposed to have de money once right where it was. Well, yo' make a white mark. Git chew a bottle of sweet milk an' make two or three marks all de way round with this milk - all de way round dis place, jes' lak dis table, yo' makes yo' a round one [circle of milk round the treasure]. An' dey all gits inside of that place. Well, we started tuh diggin' money an' we dug there, an' dug an' dug an' dug, till we got close to it. An' as we got close to the money an' we listened out an' we heered somepin comin' 'long dat be's a-hollerin' an it wus a big cow come right up to de - right up close to dat line an' jes' stood up dere an' hollered. Well, he left away an' heah come a great big bulldog an he gone up dere. He went away an' aftah while he left an' nobody stopped. Well, on dis side heah come anothah - heah come lion up. He come up an' dere didn't no one say anything, dey stood a-diggin' right on. Snakes an' ever'thing crawled all de way round an' dey nevah did stop diggin'. We looked up an' dere come a big ball of fiah right down an' jes' look lak it's goin' drop right down. It come down so fur an' stop an' a man spoke an' said, "If yo' don' move, ah'm gon'a drop it. Ah'm gon'a drop it on yo'." An' one de fellahs got scared an' dropped out de line an' it musta been a great big blue smoke an' a big ball, an' de money went an' we nevah did see de money no mo' - it jes' bo'ed a hole in de ground an' went on out lak dat. We didn't see no money atall - it wus gone.
Entry 1250
Dat's good tuh cure any poison. Yo' take de fig tree - first yo' take de leaves an' then yo' go an' git the root. Yo' git de root an' de leaves, stir it together an' make a tea. Aftah yo' stir it together an' make de tea, yo' git brimstone, sulphur, sweet milk, an' fifty cents in silver, a ole fifty cents, an' boil it together. Make a tea an' drink the tea three times daily. Take the fig root - boil de fig root an' bathe wit de water an' always throw it to sunrise; if yore poisoned, every bit will come out - it couldn't stay in.
(You drink this tea only from the leaves?)
Outa de leaves.
(And the root tea you use just for bathing?)
Fo' bathing - dat's right.
Entry 1526
He got poison in some whiskey. Don't know what he [poisoner] had in there, but he'll pour it in your liquor. Well, another fellow gave him [poisoned man], sent him a dime, a silver dime unaware to him - he didn't know anything about it. This fellow's wife cut this silver dime with a file and gave it to him to drink in sweet milk. [This is the magic rite of the unknown remedy, one of many devices for hoodwinking the disease spirit within.] That helped him awhile, until they got him to an old lady and she gave him some - some blacksnake root and rose water and May-water (see p.381) together. You take the blacksnake root, a package of blacksnake root from the drug store, and you pour it in your water, in your - or anything you going to put it in and then pour it - put this May-water and rose water in thataway and let it get hot, good and hot, and then when she cool down you drink it. And this poison in you, it'll pass up and down, from this way and that way [from mouth or bowels]. You understand. If it too hard here, well it come from up above. And through the rose water it will go through the lower bowels - it'll pass, all be gone. And the fellow will become well - that sickness will leave him.
Entry 1531
And there was a lady that live right in my block. She's been sick a long time. She been going to the hospital and the doctors and things, and she said maybe something was done to her. I say, "I don't know whether anything's done to you or not, but actually if it is," I say, "it is something simple - you can tell 'fore day's dying out if it is." So I made her get two dimes and I made her have the man to grate them dimes up right fine, fine, fine. Well, she grate those dimes up and I say, "Get you some sweet milk." Well, she got some sweet milk and I made her put them dimes in there and just a little pinch of aloes and she drinked it. She passed nothing but worms - long worms and it - she's right there, right where I'm at now. And she called me for to see the worms what - when she went to urinate [frequently used for defecate]. Then I made her take a dose of oil on top of that, you know, for to work her. And she took that oil. I bet they was calling me next morning to see those - how they was running from her, just trying to get away. She's right there in the block now.
Entry 700
In some cases you kin take some dragon's blood and spirits of turpentine and a little silver and mix it all up together and make a pill out of it - kind of a ball. Give 'em one of them every half a hour from - until they have taken three, six or nine. When they have taken three or de first one, they will quiet down - three they will become normal and go to sleep. When they have taken the nine, they will sleep good for a while and then they will wake up and wanta vomit or go to the toilet. Then you take a little sweet milk, which I won't say what it is you put in it - something you use - jest one something that yo' put in that sweet milk and give 'em a drink of it. An' they no quicker then [than] swallow it then in the space of five or ten seconds they start vomiting. They bring it up. Well, now in the course of time these things are in yuh, de flesh has a tendency to bring alive that powder in de same form of the animal - hatch it out. And when it comes out of yo' it come out as though it were young antses or young Wasps jest hatched - have no use of they wings, they tender and all that.
Entry 708
Well, jes' lak if ah wants tuh hurt chew - put a snake in yo'. Well, yo' kin go out - yo' know in de fall of de year snakes shed, yo' know. Yo' go out an' git de snake hide. Well, dey don't call it hide but ah call it. De snake he comes out of it - he leaves it. Yo' take dat an' yo' pound it up lak a powder. Well, yo' take dat powder an' yo' put it in a bottle of heart's perfume an' ah'll go tuh yo' ah'll have dis perfume an' ah'll put it on mah han'ke'chief - put nine drops an' ah'll be jes' playin' with yo'. Well, when dat perfume dry in yo', dat's de snake is gone in yo'. Now, if ah want tuh heal yo' an' git that snake out of yo', ah'll take nine dimes an' take a file an' file off every one of the nine dimes an' put it in sweet milk an' dat'll kill de snake an' run him out of yo'.
(What do you do with that sweet milk then?)
Yo' drinks de sweet milk - dat's in order fo' de snake tuh pass from de body. He can't stand milk.
Entry 714
There wus a woman that had gotten poisoned an' of course I knowed, you know, jis' whut to do, you know, for to save her, you see. An' I got me some stuff, you know, some swamp root an' some silkroot [silkweed] an' I put that together, you know, an' cut it all up, an' balled [boiled] it an' give it to her to drink. Of course she wus re'l bad off sick. An' so I gotten that an' made it, choo see, right away an' give it to her. An' she commence to gettin' relief, you know, after it worked. It jis' went right on through her, you know, an' she commence gettin' relief. So after that I told 'em to not to give her nuthin' heavy, you see, food to eat. Jis' give her fresh sweet milk, you know, to drink; but put de milk on an' let it boil, you know, an' skim it. An' she gotten all right.
(How did they poison her?)
Well now, she had inhaled, 'twas some dust I think, some - I think it wus snake dust. You see it jis' look like it wus jis' a powder. They throw it, choo know, an' she - it went through in her mouth.
(How do they make that snake dust?)
Get de snake an' put 'em in de fire, you know, an' burn 'em, you know - jis' have it on a tin, you know, an' burn 'em, you know, jis' like you burn a bone, you know, down into a powder, you know. An' den take it you see, an' jis' throw it aroun'. You inhale it, you see. It's re'l strong. Jis' put any other little powder in with it, choo know, to make the scent, to make you smell of it, choo see. Well, that go all through your system. [The informant, a healer, a native of Willard, N. Car., denies title of root doctor.]
Entry 1051
Yo' use a dime to keep anybody from poisonin' yo'. Yo' take dat dime an' a new file - yo' take a new file an' ten cents an' file it into a glass. Den yo' put into that about two good mouthfuls of sweet milk an yo' drink it down. Dat cures fo' seven yeahs - dat nobody can't hurt chew fo' seven yeahs. Yo' kin step ovah anything yo' wanta, eaten anythin' yo' wanta, an' dat silver will turn it. Dat ah've proven out dat, cause ah had a uncle dat had eaten somepin. [Could this remedy derive from the belief that, "The entire composition of the body changes every seven years?" FACI, 1st ed., No. 2855, p.139; 2ed., No. 3534, p.159.]
Entry 1199
If a person comes back, they get some new lumber, put an addition to the house with the new lumber. And if that don't stop them [ghost], you get sweet milk and dress all the rooms with the sweet milk. You take the sweet milk and put it on and boil. Then you take something like a little broom, something that will sprinkle, and sprinkle all the rooms good with milk. That's supposed to stop 'em.
Entry 1334
They tell me you can take a frog, catch a frog alive, and you put him into any kind of a pot or skillet and you parch it until it come to a dust, and you sprinkle this over the food - you know, just parch it until you can just make a dust out of it and put it in the food. And when they eat it it become live again in 'em. They do the same thing wit a snake or scorpion.
(How do they get those things out of them?)
How do you get 'em out? You takes sweet milk and something they call hog hoof - that's a powder you get it down here at the Cracker Jack Drug Store and you put it in there and you boils it. See, get fresh sweet milk. Well, you put it in there [the hog hoof powder] and you boils it up. Well, you drink that and you vomit it up.
Entry 1410
If they was going to cross my house, they could do the same thing to cross my house. And if I'd find out that they got my house crossed, well then I would go and I would get me some sweet milk and I would get me some parsley right out of the ground. I'd boil that together - the sweet milk and the parsley. I'd scrub in this corner, that corner, that corner, and this corner - that's the four corners. I'd scrub the four corners of the house first. And after scrubbing those four corners of the house, I'd throw that out and I use me some fresh milk and parsley and scrub the center of my floor. And that's all over with.
Entry 1449
Dere's a protection measure dat you do in order to keep anyone from harming you. You takes a little sulphur inter a little sweet milk and you drink it, you see. Use a little red pepper and a little sulphur to keep in your shoes, you understand, and you contin'lly walk wit dat, you see. Well, tisn't likely that dere is anything dey kin ever do you. Dey kin put down things that will take effect upon you, but you would always get a shock - you'd be over it before there would be any great thing to it. [The informant says that despite "a protective measure...you Would always get a shock when passing over "put down things," but "you'd be over it before there would be any great thing to it." Another informant says, if you walk over some- thing buried for you, the ground will come up like a wave (No.717, p.239). The most frequent indication that you have walked over something evil is an immediate pain in your leg (No. 718, p.239, and Index).] (You take this drink and you wear this stuff in your shoes at the same time? Or are these separate things you do?) Well, now, I tell you, you drinks dis milk fer nine diff'rent mornings into sulphur, you understand. Think it make you sick, but get it straight - it's re'lly purtty good. Drink it - it's re'lly purtty good. And fin'lly, de next nine mornings you puts dis red pepper into your shoes, you see. Nuthin kin be done to you.
Entry 1538
If a person got dem live things in 'em, you kin git chew nine dimes an' take an' git chew one dose little cornered file an' git yo' a piece of newspapah. Yo' file one-half of each one of dose nine dimes an' git chew half a pint of sweet milk and take dat dust an' po' into dat drink of sweet milk. Let that silver lie in yo' all night long till de next mawnin'. Den yo' git up an' git chew a brand new bottle of castor oil an' take. That silver, dat kills that thing, and oil jis' - it'll all pass out. Silver kills poison.
Entry 1612
Dey kin take yore chamber lye - jes' lak anybody go tuh work an' poison yo' or anything, yo' see. Well, yo' kin git some sweet milk, yo' see, an' honey, yo' understan', an' a lil' likker an' mix dat chamber lye - jes' a little, yo know - an' likker an' honey an' vinegar. Well, yo' take dat yo' see an' dat would make yo' vomit it up yo' see.
Entry 1704
A wood louse is good fo' yallah ja'ndice. Yo' take nine wood louse an' put it in sweet milk an' feed it to de person an' dat kill de yallah ja'ndice.
Entry 3157
Dey say when yore man is runnin' aroun say if yo' bathe him wit dat sweet milk from a black cow, an' it will stop 'im, say dat he cain't have a woman. (Bathe whom?) Bathe de man - whatevah yore frien' may be, or anybody dat chew come in contact wit dat chew don't want tuh run aroun'
(I mean how would you bathe him? Where would you bathe him?)
Bathe him down heah, his privates.
(With this milk from the black cow and that will keep him from running round?)
Yessuh.
Entry 3709
Well, yo' kin mix yo' a glass of sweet milk an' yo' kin crack yo' a aig evah mawnin' befo' yo' git up an' drink it evah mawnin'. Dat's fo' yore nature. An' in othah words yo' kin suck it raw.
Entry 3717
If yo' got a husban' an' he's runnin' roun' too much an' not, yo' know, any service to yo', why yo' kin take a cord string an' measure his thing. An' aftah yo' measure it, take an' tie it up in ninekmots an' den wear it roun' yore laig. An' den yo' wear it roun' yore laig an' whenevah he git ready tuh have a woman or anything, why he can't have 'em an' he won't know whut's de mattah wit 'im. An' he'll be dat way as long as yo' keep dat string. BUT IF YO' EVAH LOSE DE STRING, WHY HE'LL BE JES' LAK HE ALWAYS WUZ. He take sweet milk an' bathe himself in it an' he kin git rid of it - dat if he wants tuh. Put cream or sweet milk.
(If he was tied up that way by being measured?)
Yes.
Entry 3718
Den if he wants tuh git rid of dat, he takes an' gits 'im a quart of sweet milk an' washes 'isself down wit it. Then he kin go an' have anybody he wants to. (He washes himself down. His whole body?) Jes' 'is private, yo' know.
(Couldn't he wash them up?)
Ah don't know, but dat whut dey always say, whenevah he wanta git rid dat. If anybody put anything lak dat on 'im so yo' can't use yo'self, jes' git chew a quart of sweet milk an' jes' bathe yo'self down wit it. An' let dat stay dere.
Entry 3719
(Is there anything that a man can do to get his nature back?)
Well, ah've had a woman took a dishrag an' kinda fixed me so ah couldn't have no othah woman but 'er. Ah've tried othah women. Ah've been a railroad man all de time, lak ah runnin'[from here] in to At- lanta. No mattah how badly ah wanted dis woman, how much powah ah had, de minute ah lay down on dis woman - be wit 'er yo' know - come to be jes' as limbah as de end of mah fingah [demonstrates] dataway. But de onliest way dat ah evah cured mahself of dat, git me some sweet milk an' bath mahself down wit it nine mawnin's Dat'll give me as much power as ah evah did have. Or ah'll go to some runnin' watah, watah dat's runnin', an' bath off dataway. Dat'll give yo' powah.
(You go to running water and bathe?)
Bathe, or bathe in sweet milk.
(How could you bathe there in running water?)
Evah nine mawnin's.
(Do you bathe up or down?)
Down, bringin' yo' out all de time. Yo' don't want nuthin tuh draw back. Let it stretch out.
Entry 3721
He kin bathe in sweet milk fuh nine mawnin's - see, jis' de milk whut yo' milk out of a cow's bag whilst it's warm. An' bathe his privates down fuh nine mawnin's. An' take dat an' saltpetah, see an' alum fuh nine mawnin's, an' dat'll bring 'is nature back to him. (Do you take this milk bath separately or do you put this saltpeter and alum in it?) No, yo' see, yo' bathe in de raw milk by it- self warm, jis' as it come outa de cow's bag. An' aftah yo' do dat fuh nine mawnin's wit de milk, den yo' see when yo' take a bath, jis' a or'nary bath, yo' bath fuh nine days in dat saltpetah an' alum. An' dat'll restore yore nature back.
Entry 3722
(Now what would a man have to do to get rid of that, if he wants tc regain his nature?) Bathe hisself, his person in sweet milk an' spirits of turpentine nine nights or nine mawnin's. An' it'll come back to him, natch'ly [naturally].
Entry 3723
(To remove this spell, if a man has put this spell on the woman.)
To keep 'er from havin' intahco'se, see. An' evah time a man would go to her, his nature, yo' know, his nature won't rise on 'im. (And you were going to tell me how a man would regain his courage, his nature.) Yes, or a woman, see. Now, if yo' trick 'em wit dat snail. (Yes, what about that milk now? This is to get the person's courage back again. All right.) All right. Yo' take - yo' buy a guart of sweet milk, see, an' yo' wash wit it. Eithah one kin wash wit it, see an throw dat away - jes' wash wit milk see. De next, drink half of de milk out first; an' den do it wit dis third bottle, an' den yo' kin use it. An' yo' kin- see, yore courage go back to yo'. See, dat's to break de spell off a person.
(You use three bottles of milk.)
Yo' use three bottles of milk.
(The first bottle you wash with.)
De nex' yo' drink half of it an' den wash wit it, see. (Wash with the other half and the third bottle you drink, and after the third bottle you are all right.)
Entry 3724
[Some of the cylinders containing the interview of informant 962 were missed by my transcriber. While I was rechecking them I transcribed in pencil several of the rites and made a few brief notes of others, intending to return to the cylinders later for complete transcriptions of special material. My origlnal penciled note attached to this present statement in the original manuscript reads: Coal oil & sweet milk bathe down Memphis, Tenn., 1554:5 - 962 good.]
Entry 3730
Well, yo' take de dishrag, if a woman has got a run-aroun' man an' she take de dishrag - aftah she take de dishrag, wipe him wit de dishrag. Wipe him wit de dishrag an' iron it with a very hot iron, an' bury it to de left side of a tree. When yo' bury it to de left side of de tree, dat will perish away all nature dey has fo' any woman. He can't run aroun' any mo', he'll have to stay at home. Well now, if he don't go to de graveyard an' den git de graveyard dirt from de head an' de foot, place a penny in de centah of de grave- pay de grave fo' whut chew git in de Name of de Lord. Take it back an' mix brimstone, sulphur an' sweet milk an' drink it. Well, if he don't do dat, he'll nevah be a man any mo'. He goes to T. B.
(But if he does that, it restores his nature.)
Entry 3750
Take a dishrag - jes' a dishrag. Lota women, yo' know, wipe de rag off - take dat rag an' dry him off 'erself wit dat dishrag. An' when he go to go wit anothah woman, it will fall on 'im evah time. Well, de same thing work one way an' it will work de othah. He take - if he feel dat she did 'im dataway, why he take a dishrag ag'in - yo' know he must steal one from somebody, or eithah if he got a home of 'is own, he kin take de dishrag outa his house, an' wash 'isself down wit it. An' take pure coal oil an' rub 'isself down, an' sweet milk. aftah dat - fresh sweet milk. It's all gone.
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 5168
Yo' git de inside sole of a man's shoe. All right now. Yo' git some lightnin'-struck wood an' yo' take some sweet milk, an' yo' soak dat three days. Den yo' make a dress of dat [dressing or hand of wood and milk] an' yo' go tuh de crossroad where hit like dat, see [demonstrates a crossroad]. Den yo' call - git some salt.
[Here is an example of details often omitted in an interview.]
(Wait a minute! What do you mean you call?)
Call 'is name, say, "Ah wanta run So-an'-so." YO' HAVE TUH CALL 'EM TUH RUN "EM. Git chew some salt an' yo' make a dressin' of dat an' yo' bury dat. An' YO' TELL IT WHUT CHEW WANT IT TUH DO. An' evah - in about three days yo' go back there an' make yore dressin' an' tell it whut chew want it tuh do. DAT LIGHTNIN'-STRUCK WOOD GIT'S 'EM CONFUSED IN 'IS MIND. Yo' haVe tuh work 'is mind to do anythin' wit it. [This piece of wood dressed with lightning, milk and salt, 3 things, becomes a hand.]
Entry 6762
You mean poison, hoodoo-like?
(Yes.)
Yo' git a teacup fulla sweet milk, halfa teacup of grease, piece of salt- petah about big as a red bean. [Magic of diminishing size.] (A red bean.) Piece of saltpetah about as big as a red bean. Yo' take all dat an' mix dat tuhgethah an' give it tuh yo' an' let yo' drink it. An' yo' vomit it up or eithah it'll kill it [the poison], kill it on de inside of yo'.
Entry 6818
Yo' go an' git a green gourd, ole gourd. Yo' know dose green gourd dat grows on a vine. Jis' lak a - jis' any kinda gourd, yo' know. Yo' break dat gourd an' yo' git chew a pint of sweet milk, an' yo' beat dem guts up in dere, dem seed, jis' lak yo', yo' beat dat all tuh pieces. An' yo' put dat intuh a rag an' yo' squeeze dat. An' den take dat rag an' squeeze it [gourd juice] intuh a bottle an' yo'll give it tuh dem. An' give dat person dat tuh drink an' evahthin' dat's intuh yo' [the person] is comin' out.
(Anything that is live in them?)
Anything dat live in dem is comin' out.
Entry 6834
Ah've hear'd of - yo' kin use gunpowdah in drinkin' it in sweet milk, a woman or girl dat would breed children. It'll stop 'em from breedin'.
Entry 6835
[Here is one of many examples in Hoodoo of my restarting recording machine, hoping informant will repeat the brief rite just given:] (You use that for poison?) Poison, yo' know. Yo' take gunpowdah an' steel dust an' yo' grin' dat up an' yo' take dat a sweet milk, drink it, an' whatevah inside'a yo', yo'll pass it.
Entry 6932
An' if yo're hurt yo' kin take a dime, a silvah dime, an' file it up. Jis' take a new file an' file it, an' put it intuh some sweet milk, an' swallah it, an' dey say dat will kill it.
Entry 6933
Well, yo' kin tell by takin' somepin. Here's whut yo' take if yo' have a mine [mind] dat dere is someone got de best of yo'. Yo' git a silvah dime. Yo' grit [grate] it wit a pocketknife. Yo' grit some pieces offa it an' git 'em on a piece-a papah or piece-a rag, yo' undahstan', an' put dat intuh bot- tles wit one quart of sweet milk. An' drink dat an' den yo' pass dis. An' yo' put it somewhere dey kin see de bucket of slop. An' IF YO' "TRICKED" INSIDE, YUH PASSAGE IS BOUND TUH BE AS BLACK AS DAT SUIT YO GOT ON. NEW OrlEanS, LA.
(815), 1150:3.]
Entry 6961
Jes' lak anyway dey had git it in somepin tuh eat, or sompin othah lak dat, well, sweet milk an' sulphur, dey take dat. If dey git dat in time, take it 'fo' [before] it git on too fur, why dat'll cure 'em. Sweet milk an' sulphur. (That will kill this stuff that they have been tricked with.)
Entry 10942
Cream of sweet milk ovah your eye - will take de cataract eye soeebody put ovah your eye [= cream of sweet milk put in your eye will take off or cure into your eye]. [This is surely my only example of cataract being caused by hoodoo!] ]