Subject:Mirror
Entries
Entry 592
Well, I've hear'd of 'em gittin' dirt from de fork of de road. Well, if a - you could go to the fork of the road and git dirt. You works with a mirror. You takes a mirror and you bury it at the fork of a road. Understand? And you let that mirror stay there for three days and afterward you digs this mirror up, and you don't want to be de first one to look into it. Let a cat, either a dog, look into it first. Then after that you can know just what you wants to know through this mirror if anything coming against you.
(You can see it in that mirror?)
Yes, sir - that what ah knows about the fork in the road.
Entry 2921
Dey said tuh take a black candle an' de person's name dat chew want out of de way, write it on dat candle and burn it down; but place a mirror behin' dat candle and when it burns out it wouldn't be long befo' de person dies.
Entry 2970
Ah was cooking fo' a lady in this town - now this is real fresh [personal experience] - and another lady, a real dark lady, wanted the job. She wanted the job where ah was at. And of course ah took sick. In a few days ah recovered and went back down there and the [boss] lady had hired another woman. Well, she [new cook] got afraid that the lady was goin' tuh take me back - which she had tole me tuh come back to the job - she was afraid she was goin' tuh take me back, understand. Then she [boss lady] told me, she says, "Sarah, is yo' able to work?" Ah said, "Yessum, ah kin work some, Miz Smith, but ah'm not give you all the labor that choo do have, and ah drather not work, not jest now." So ah goes back down there when ah got able tuh work and under the kitchen cabinet as ah went out of the door ah viewed two - three black candles.
(In the kitchen where you worked?)
Where ah worked at, yes sir, under the kitchen cabinet, and all three of 'em was aburning. Well, ah didn't say anything to her about those candles.
(You didn't say anything to the cook about them?)
No, ah didn't say anything to her. So that night when ah went to bed, ah dreamed about those candles, and she told me in mah sleep, "Those is to keep you away an' to keep you ailing." And then ah told another old Indian lady [hoodoo doctor] about it that come to our house, and she tole me, she say, "You take a looking-glass and turn it on its face under yore bed and you'll put those things out." Well, ah did that and shore enough, ah never seed any more of 'em. Ah visited jest to see was they still burning. So ah didn't say anything to her about 'em atall. But ah found out [from doctor] through that that's what she was burning 'em fo'. An' she's got the job today - today.
Entry 5457
Ah heard a lady dat ah knew, she wanted tuh do a person a very bad trick. She taken a bran'-new bucket, a tin bucket dat nevah been used. Put dat bucket dere an' put some graveyard dirt in it. An' put dat lady's name in whut she jis' didn't care much fo' in dere. An' walked tuh a place an' took 'er left foot, mashed it in de ground, so she could git de print of 'er foot. An' put dat in dat new bucket, an' bought a bran'-new looking glass - bran'-new ten-cent glass an' put dat in de bucket. An' den she buried dat. Dat's tuh turn them down against de world. She buried dat glass an' de left print of foot, an' de graveyard dirt, an' put it in dis new bucket an' buried it. She wuz buryin' 'er down. (She put this graveyard dirt in the bucket and then she puts this woman's name in the bucket.) De name on a papah. (Then suppose I'm doing this to you. Then I make my own footprint, put my own footprint on top.) Ah'm de one supposed tuh be puttin' mah prints on top of yo'. (You are putting your prints on me to keep me down. I understand.) [An old note of mine read, "Woman talks so fast."]
Entry 5554
Take up a track an' put it ovah a glass.
(On a glass. What kind of a glass?)
Eny kin' of lookin' glass.
(Oh! It must be a looking glass, a mirror?)
No, a mirrah [mirror] glass. An' yo' ta' kem [take them] back home.
(That all you do to it?)
No, den go tuh work an' take.some sweet cologne [unusual term] an' sprinkle 'em in de track.
(Which track do they get?)
Dey git de right-foot track. Pick it up - shovel it up an' put it on de mirrah, an' take dat cologne an' sprinkle ovah it an' put it tuh one side. An' evah day dey goes in dere an' sprinkle some more cologne fer nine days, an' in de nine days he'll come back.
Entry 7211
A gamblin' han' [the best] dat yo' evah had, if yo' wan'a gamblin' han'. Well, yo' might go intuh a graveyard where dere somebody dat yo' know well, an' dey been buried fo' several days or several yeahs, yo' might say. Yo' take dere fingah dey call a dog fingah. (Which is the dog finger? Point it out to me. Which is the dog finger?) Here 'tis, right cheah [here]. (Well, which hand?) On de right han' [demonstrates]. (All right, I see the index fin- ger of the right hand.) Dat will be de right han' dere. Dat is de third fingah from de front. (The middle finger, then, on the right hand?) Dat is de thing. (All right, the middle finger.) All right. Den yo' take dat fin- gah an' clean de bone in milk - git de li'le bone out, but yo' gotta do all dat work at twelve o'clock at night. An' yo' find yo'self dere when yo' boilin' dat. WHILE BOILIN' DAT BONE DERE, YO'LL FIND YO'SELF FEEL FEAHIN' [FEARING]. WHUT AH MEAN BY MIS[TERIOUS? OR MIS- ERABLE?] YO'LL FEEL YO'SELF - YO'LL FEEL WARM. AH DON' CARE HOW COLD YO' BE. YO' KIN DO IT IN DE MIDDLE OF DE STREET, OR IN DE MIDDLE OF DE BANQUETTE [=SIDE- WALK IN NEW ORLEANS, LA.] OR IN DE YARD DERE; AN' IF IT BE COLD AS ICE, BUT YO'LL FIND A GREAT HEAT RIGHT AROUN' YO', BECUZ WE HAVE WHUT CHEW CALL THREE WITCHES DAT RUNNIN' IN DE AIR DERE. AN' IF YO' DEALIN' WIT DEM, WHY DEN IT COMES HEAT. DEY'LL BRING HELL FLAMES TUH DERESELF AN' TUH YO'. Yo' are dealin' wit dem.
(Oh, I see, you're dealing with three witches. Oh, all right.)
An' quite natchel, if ah'm dealin' wit chew, yo' have a right tuh go ovah dere an' see aftah me [see what I am doing]. An' yo' are wit me.
(I see.)
Now, maybe all three of 'em come tuhgethah. An' TUH GIT DEM [WITCHES], YO' GOTTA SET A SUPPAH, A DINNAH. YO' HAVE TUH MAKE A DINNAH, AN' DE DINNAH WHICH DEY EAT'LL BE A TURTLE HEART.
(A turtle heart.)
An' one thing again would be cel'ry whut chew eat aroun' - make salad.
(Celery?)
Yo'd git cel'ry. An' we have one thing, which de nex' would be, three grass- hoppahs. Yo'd have tuh put dose things in yuh mouth, dat is, tuh make de suppah; cuz yo' couldn't make de dinnah if yo' wouldn't do dat. An' in othah words, yo' hardly kin make de dinnah in de wintahtime. Yo' have tuh make it in de sumah, becuz we haven't much grasshoppahs who run in de wintah. Yo' undahstand?
(I understand.)
An' aftah dis suppah is made an' is started, yo' would fin' dem. Yo' would take a glass [mirror], but yo' - dat glass have tuh be bran' new, dat nobody nevah look intuh it.
(A looking-glass?)
Yes, sir. An' yo' could see dem lookin' intuh dere aftah yo' begin tuh eat. Yo' kin see three people but chew couldn't recognize yo'self, but chew dere. But chew cain't recognize yo'self, but chew see three people; but chew dere, but chew don't see yo'self. Yo' wouldn't count yo'self 'cuz yo' cain't see yo'self. But chew see three people dere, but one of dem dere is yo'. Den yo' see upset one person, den dat'll be de dragon. He look very proud, very nice-lookin' fel- lah, standin' right dere but den he's a destroying angel. Dat's de truth ah'm tellin' yo'. Den, aftah dat yo' won't see nuthin dere. Evahthin' disappeah from dis glass. Den yo' able den fo' tuh go on an' do anythin' whut chew wanta do. (I see. They'll call the witches. After that you use your power to do these things.) Why certainly.
(Well, what about using that bone? What do you do with that bone, now?)
Well, whichevah bone dat dey call de middle bone. Many people, if dey know whut de bone is, dey kin find ft, dat is, in de black cat, wit'out goin' tuh work an' takin' it an' usin' dem all; but some people by not knowin', dey'll have tuh use all of dem until dey git tuh de right one. But, de sense, if yo' know whut de right bone is, yo' kin go right tuh it an' git it. Maybe yo' might miss one, but yo'll git de nex' one an' dat'll be it. Undahstand? An' dat bone carries three fo'ks [forks]. Dat is, three j'ints tuh it. Whut ah mean by three j'ints, three rows, an' yo'll find between de edges of de bone, yo'll find three crosses. Dat's supposed tuh be main powah. An' yo' fin' dat dey use dat in more Mason lodge and Odd Fellahs, lotsa people do, tuh do dere work. [New Orleans, La., (861), 1374:7 to 1375:4.]
Entry 7212
[Two weeks after margin title RATTLESNAKE OIL received its typing for the printer's photographic process and had been followed by other material in final page form, I found the missing page mentioned in lines 24-26, page 3098, volume 4. Here it is:] (This is Tuesday, June 29, 1937, working in Charleston, beginning the morning's work, testing the machine. In case I lose these slips [of paper] in my note book [later called Numbers Book, a book numbering each informant and making a comment about him] written out by Doctor D. Giles, root doctor, Number 512. [Here] is his recipe for making rattlesnake oil. Calls [for a] bottle of mint lOc, witch hazel lOc, sassafras root lOc. That makes snake oil.) [As the reader can see, I am testing the stylus by repeating what Doctor Giles had said the day before just in case I lost the slip or slips of paper he had written out. He had not been the last informant of the preceding day.l Now, for [the bath or the anointing you] strip [take off clothing], put two [both] hands back of the head, [then] wash hands in [sassafras] root water [wash- ing] forwards [that is, away from you]. Turn over [hands and wash other side]. Get glass [a mirror] and hold hands before mirror, and [if] they get black, why you are all right [a spell has not been put on you]; if they don't [get black] why you are not [all right]. [This is merely one of many methods of diagnosis used by doctors; see DIAGNoSIS, Pp.165-217, especially MIRRoR, p.193 and the danger of looking into it.] [To end this rite] put glass [mirror] over hand and spell root, spell root three times - R-0-0-T. (Another root doctor says [not R-O-O-T but] M-0-N-Q-T-O-N-Y or it looks like monotony. Don't think I've ever heard it before. [After repeating the word three times] the little [hand mirror] answers, "I live [by the power of God or something similar].")
Entry 7234
Ah wus goin' wit a girl about six yeahs ago an' ah quit dis girl. An aftah ah quit dis girl, ah started goin' wit anothah girl. An' dis othah [first] girl got acquainted wit dis othah [second] girl. An' so she [first girl] got acquainted wit de girl ah wus goin' wit, dis othah [second] girl. Co'se [Of course] ah didn't tell 'er dat ah had evah been wit dis girl. An' so dis [first] girl had a party one Satiday night an' she got me dis girl dat ah didn't wan' 'er tuh know of. Quite natchel ah wen' tuh de party. So she had a Victrola, wusn't no radio den. In fac' [fact] she didn't [would- n't?] have one no way. An' she had a li'le whiskey fer de party dat night. An' so, all de while ah wus goin' wit 'er de ole Victrola, de spring 'ud [spring would] jump off sometimes an' ah used tuh fix it fer 'er, while ah wus goin' wit 'er. So she, aftah de music stopped, she tole dem dat ah could fix de Victrola. An' she'd [she had] taken de Victrola in de kitchen an' put it on de table. An ah went in dere an' see zactly [exactly] whut wus de mattah wit it an' fixed it. An' she put a pint of whiskey on de table up dere. Well AH DIDN'T PAY NO 'TEN- TION 'CUZ AH NEVAH DID BELIEVE IN DIS STUFF [HOODOO]. SO AH DRINK SOME OF DIS WHISKEY. MATTAH OF FACT AH'D TAKEN SEV'RAL DRINKS OF DIS WHISKEY. An' so, aftah ah got de Victrola completed an' evahbody got tuh dancin', an' den ah started takin' a couple a dances mahself. Well, when ah started takin' dese few dances mahself, ah got dizzy; got a li'le dizzy an' got a haidache an' got out mah haid some. An' de girl frien' ah wus goin' wit den, she'd taken me tuh 'er apartment. Aftah she'd taken me tuh 'er apartment, ah woke up nex' mawn- in' an' found mahself dere. So ah kinda come tuh mah haid a li'le bit. An' den she rent de cah [car] tuh take me home. So dey'd taken me home. An' when ah got home - ah don' remembah when ah got home or nuthin of de kin' lak dat. So 'bout nine o'clock Sunday mawnin', well ah started havin' fits, one right behin' de othah. So dey tell me, ah don' know anythin' about it. Ah fell unconscious den. So dey spent dat Sunday. DEY HAD ALL KINDA DOCTORS. DEY SPENT $74 ON ME DAT SUNDAY ON DIFF'REN' DOCTORS AN' NOBODY WOULD TAKE DE CASE. SOME DOCTORS WOULD COME IN AN' TREAT ME FER SOMPIN - DIABETES AN' DIFF'REN' THIN'S - AN' MAH REG'- LAH FAMILY DOCTOR, HE COULDN'T TAKE DE CASE. So he tole mah uncle an' evahbody dat he didn't know whut wus de mattah. It wus a case tuh 'im. So den ah stayed unconscious from dat Sunday mawnin' at nine o'clock until dat Monday night at half past eleven. Well a frien' of mine - didn't tell me - ah wus still unconscious, but he tole mah uncle. "WE DONE TRIED EVAHBODY ELSE CHERE [HERE], SUPPOSE WE TRY A HOODOO DOCTOR. IF HE DON' DO NO GOOD, WE JIS' WON' PAY 'IM. He [this doctor] run worms out mah mothah, but she [mother] said, "Ah know anothah good lady [but she is too far away], but anyway, by he bein' so bad off, we'll go up an' see dis one firs'." So dis fellah came in - so dey tell me, see ah wus still unconscious - said, "Yes, " S SAID AH WUS POISONED, AN' HE WOULD HAVE ME ON MAH FEET IN 45 MINUTES. Well, it wus about eleven-thirty den.
(In the morning or night?)
In de night. An' dis wus on a Monday night. Ah had been unconscious since Sunday mawnin' nine o'clock till ovah dat Monday night at eleven. SO HE COME IN AN' COMMENCES TUH WORKIN' ON ME. SAYS MY BOWELS WAS LOCKED AN' DIFF'REN' THIN'S. HE GIVE ME SOAP AN' BITTAH ALOES...
[I interrupt.]
(How did he give you the soap?)
He taken de soap an' he jis' mixed it up in a glass; yo' know, jis' watah enough tuh make de soap dissolve. Yo' know, Octagon soap, an' made somepin lak a pill outa it an' jis' held mah mouth an' rubbed mah throat - so dey tell me - until ah swallah dat. An' den dey give me bittah aloes an' dat unlocked mah bowels. AN' SOON AS IT UNLOCKED MAH BOWELS, AH COME TO. When ah cOme to, ah knows mahself. When ah wus on de party ah wusn't able tuh go tuh de bathroom. AN' [AFTER MY BOWELS MOVED] DEY SHOED ME A ANIMAL COME OUTA ME 'BOUT - AH GUESS ABOUT DAT LONG [DEMONSTRATES].
(As long as your little finger.)
YEAH AN IT LOOKED SOMEPIN LAK DE COLAH OF A ORANGE PEELIN', AN' IT RAN UP ON DE MEDICINE GLASS TRYIN' TUH GIT OUT. Ah [had] come tuh, den. Co'se ah wuS weak aplenty. Ah wus weak aplenty from havin' dose fits. Ah wusn't any good. De fact is, he tole me it would take aroun' a couple a yeahs tuh git so ah wus well ag'in. In fact it did. So ah commence tuh askin' question Who did it. HE'D TAKEN A NEWSPAPAH AN' PLACED IT IN A PAN OF WATAH AN' LET IT SET IN DIS PAN A WATAH SOMEWHEAH ROUN' ABOUT AH THINK - IT WUS NINE MINUTES AH THINK, AN' DIS WOMAN'S PICHURE COME ON DAT NECKED [NAKED] JIS' LAK SHE WORN NUTHIN ON 'ER - NECKED ABSOLUTELY.
(The woman that did this to you?)
Yeah. So he ast me did ah know dat woman. Ah say, "Yes." He say, "Well do yo' wan' tuh have her tuh come here an' confess tuh yo'?" DE PICHURE APPEAHED ON DE NEWSPAPAH RIGHT LAK DAT AN' HE TOLE ME TUH LOOK AT IT QUICK. AN' AH LOOKED AT. IT QUICK AN' AH RECOGNIZED IT AN' IT JIS' FADED AWAY AN' JIS' STAYED LAK DAT. [Before proceeding to the doctor's magic-mirror trick, let me pause in an attempt to explain his pan-of-water trick, the latter an excellent example of hydromancy. The doctor had brought in his usual medical kit a newspaper folded into folds about 3 inches wide; the top fold containing type only, the bottom fold also the picture of a scantily dressed woman. He then holds the newspaper several inches under the Water, type side up and picture side down. Patient is instructed to free his mind of all thought except the identity of the spellcaster soon to be revealed. Gaze at the water constantly without blinking. After a long period, as much as 9 minutes, the doctor begins to rotate the newspaper so that the picture suddenly appears and disappears. He tole me tuh look at it quick an' ah looked at it quick an' ah recognized it an' it faded away.] So he said, now ah'll have her tuh come here an' confess tuh yo' dat she did it, if yo' want me tuh. Ah tole him, ah said, "Yeah, ah'll be glad tuh." He'd taken a mirrah an' turn it bottom upwards; taken a mirrah an' turn de face up lak dat [demonstrates].
(The face of the mirror up.)
Lak dat. An' he said - ast me whut wus 'er name. An' ah tole 'im 'er name. Ast me whut wus mah name, an' ah tole him mah name. He wrote mah name at de top an' 'er name at de bottom.
(On this mirror?)
On a piece of papah an' placed it on topa dis mirrah. An' den he'd taken a clock an' turned it face down, almos' right on topa de mirrah, an' let dat stay dere fo' five minutes. An' he'd taken it up in fo' an' a half minutes, an' put it down fō' a few seconds, den picked it up. He tole me she would be dere in five minutes. Ah don' know where she wus. She wus away cross town, somewhere. But he tole me tuh watch out fer 'er, she would be dere in five minutes. Ah Wus wondahin' how she goin' tuh git dere. She lived on Marshall Avenue 'bout fō' or five blocks from dere. Well in fō' an' a half minutes from de clock she wus dere. She come up on - man had a automobile, a taxi. Ah don' know whethah she wus on 'er way dere or whut, but in fō' an' a half minutes she wus dere. She tole me dat she did it an' she wus sorry. She says she didn't do it 'erself, said she got somebody else tuh do it, an' tole me his name an' evahthin'. (Do you know what they put in the whiskey to hurt you that Way? What she put into the whiskey?) Yes, dis fellah had taken two grains of snake dust an' put in de whiskey. But dat wasn't did dat Satiday night. Had it been did dat Satiday night, it wouldn't a worked so fast, see. She had did it somewhere roun' about three months agO, an' DAT LIVE ANIMAL HAD BEEN PERFORMED FROM DAT SNAKE DUST. An' den ah had been away from 'er fō' fō' or five months, an' had been goin' wit anothah girl an' had passed 'er up. Well dis girl wus teachin' school. Well ah wouldn't let dis girl know dat ah had evah been wit 'er, cuz ah thought dere would be a lot a jealouSy dere. WELL, WHEN AH WENT BACK DAT NIGHT, DEY STIRRED IT UP, YO' SEE, AN' DAT MADE DIS LIVE ANIMAL LOCK MAH BOWELS. AN' IT HAD TUH PASS THROUGH OR ELSE AH'D A LIVED SO MANY HOURS HAVIN' DOSE FITS AN' DIED.
Entry 8196
If a person is away an' yo' wan' 'em back, yo' could take a photograph, no mattah whethah it's tin or pastebo'd. No mattah if it tin or papah, dey kin take dat an' put it on top of de dressah, what choo call de bu- reau. Git ready, yo' take dat. Take a pichure, male or female, an' yo' could take dat an' wrap it up. If a woman wan' tuh bring 'im back, take a piece of 'er clothes an' weah it nex tuh him. [Informant has right idea but may have had a drink.] An' he wrap dat pichure up an' turn it on de haid an' rip dat piece, yo' know whut ah mean, be- hind de glass [of the mirror] an' put it dere lak dat [demonstrates]. Ah don' [care] whäh he is, aftah nine days he'll come, or twelve days, soon as he kin git dere.
Entry 8197
Take yure pitchure an' put it in a looking glass [the carboard behind the small.hand mirror having been removed]. An' turn it [photo] upside down [against mercury backing of mirror, restoring card- board back] an' put it undahneat' [you] an' sleep on it or walk on it or put it somewhere somebody'll tread on it an' break de glass, an' yo' [person of photo] got tuh come back. Go tuh de do' an' burn some disinfect [disinfectant] an' make yure wish [wish] an' burn it in de house. Den go to de do' an' make yuh wush [again] an' come back. An' 'at [that] been done in Short[?] William Street alley [here in Richmond]. Den [another method] yo' put it [photo without mirror] undah- neat' de carpet or in a trunk upside down tuh draw yuh back. Well keep yuh on yure haid or yuh feet till yuh git back home. An' use dat powdah, insex, love insex [love incense] dey call it. Burn it on a stove.
Entry 8198
Jis' lak if yo' got a daughtah run away from home, yo' undahstan', an' she might run away wit some young man dat married, yo' undahstan'. An' yo' don' know where she at an' don' know where she gone, an' she won' write chew or come. See, lak yo' got 'er pichure dere. All yo' gotta. do, take dat pi- chure dat's dere an' turn it bottom upwards. Turn it bottom upwards [demon- strates].
(Take the picture and turn it like that?)
Dat's right.
(Turn it on its face.)
Thah's de pichure right dere leanin' back 'ginst de wall lak dat, yo' see. Bell, all yo' gotta do - some of 'em say take dat pichure an' put it 'ginst de nirror lak dat [demonstrates].
(Put the face to the mirror?)
Dat's right. Well, now, de way ah heah it. See, lak dat [demonstrates], de pichure's facin' yo'. All yo' gotta do, turn de haid down dataway.
(Have the picture standing on its head?)
Dat's right.
(What will that do then?)
Well, dat'll make her git on de haid about chew, an' den she'll come back home.
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 8200
(What would they do with my photograph?)
Take yure photograph an' place it intuh a small lookin'-glass, face intuh de glass lak yo' would look intuh de glass, an' put it intuh a runnin' place of watah two or three weeks, an' it will run yuh crazy.
Entry 8201
Use it fo' back luck, by scrapin' dat silvah offa dere; well, dat silvah offa [the back of] dat lookin'-glass. Dey take dat an' scrape it offa pichure. Jis' lak if dey wanta harm yo', dey take an' scrape dat silvah off dat pichure [mirror] an' put it in yure face, on yure pichure.
(On the face of your picture?)
Dat's right, an' den dey take it an' put it in sompin, [anything to hold the scrapings and photo], an' bury it, bury it [face] down. Dat'll make yo' dwindle down an' die. Make yo' stay sick an' nuthin will cure yo' unlessen somebody [hoodoo doctor or healer] take an' find whut's wrong wit chew.
Entry 8420
Take yo' pichure now - if yo' had a fellah's pichure an' wanted tuh draw 'im back tuh yo', take dat pichure an' turn it down ovah a glass of watah. Put a lookin'-glass on top of it.
(You turn that face down over the glass of water.)
Face down. (Then you put a mirror over that? A mirror ovah it. Dat'll draw 'im back tuh yo'. Dat's all yo' have to do.
Entry 10079
Yo' kin git a black cat an' boil it an' stan' befo' a mirror in a dark room an' run dem bones across de mouth an' de one dat's de natural bone, why it will be a whole lot- ta diffrent sights dat will appeah befo' yo'. [Here is a tricky one: if you can see into mirror in a dark room, you do not need a black cat bone! Probably my informant means you will see all the horrors including the devil, you missed, had you gone to a crossroads.]
Entry 10082
[I heard of] people using a cat.
(All right, how do they use that?)
Well, yo' git a real black cat. Dat's now in regard if yo' wants tuh hurt someone, yo' undahstan'. Ah've heard yuh git a real black cat, an' yo' heat yuh some watah. Yo' git de watah real hot an' yo' put de cat in dere alive. Yo' put a lid on topa de pot an' jis' drop de cat in dere alive. An' aftah he's in dere alive, let 'im boil 'til evah bone in 'im - 'til it come all off de meat, therly [thoroughly] done. An' aftah yo' boil 'im therly done, den yo' take 'im out an' yo' suck evah bone in de cat 'til yo' git tuh de right bone. Whenevah yo' git tuh de right bone, it'll cuz yuh [to disappear] by yo' cannot see yuhself - yo' can't see yuhself in a mirrah. Yo' kin look in a mirrah an' yo' fail tuh see yuhself.
(Then what do you do?)
Well, yo've got de right bone, an' yo' kin do mos' anything den yo' wants tuh. Yo'll accomplish mos' anything yo' want tuh accomplish.
Entry 10089
De black cat bone, ah've always heard dat wus good. Ketch a black cat about midnight in de night an' throw 'im in a hot pot of boilin' watah. An' yo' git befo' a mirrah an' yo' be- gin fittin' de bones 'cross yore mouth whilst lookin' in de mirrah; an' when yo' git tuh de right bone, den yo' vanish - yo' cain't see yo'self in de mirrah. Dat's de way ah've heard it.
Entry 10090
See, jis' lak dis black cat bone - yo' kin disappeah. (How do you do that?) Well, dey tell me yo' kin take dat black cat bone an' yo' keep agoin' till yo' git de right bone; an' when yo' git de right bone, yo' rub yore face on it an' look in de glass [mirror] an' can't see yuhself, yo' disappear. Can't no one else see yo'.
Entry 10091
That fer stealin' also. Yo' take a black cat with notta white spot on it. Yo' understand what I mean. Yo' take this black cat an' yo' have a hot boilin' pot of water. Yo' put this black cat in there. Cover him up, and let him cook all to pieces. After he cooks all to pieces, then you take him out and pour that water off of it. Dash them bones in some cold water and take a looking glass, and put that stuff before this looking glass. And take ev'y bone and pass it between yore teeth and look in this glass. An' the bone that yo' pass between your teeth and yo' can't see yourself in this glass, that's the right bone. Yo' can tote that bone and do anything you wanta.
Entry 10093
Put a black cat in boiling water while he is alive and keep him there, and when the meat comes off, you take the bones and stand before a mirror. And put them bones through your lips, yes, one at a time, and when you can't see your- self in the mirror, that is the right one, the black cat lucky bone. All black cats have it. If you are gambling or anything and losing and want to leave, if you run a black cat lucky bone through your lips, suck it, out you go and they can't see you.
Entry 10102
Yo' take a live black cat an' tie 'im, an' put 'im intuh a large pot what have a covah - live. An' yo' boils 'im alive. Yo' kill 'em [by boiling]. Co'se dat's jis' de same as goin' tuh de crossroads. When yo' boil 'em, yo' boil 'im so's [so he's] right off de bones - meat comes right off de bone. Yo' git a mirrah, yo' know a small mirrah an' yo' put it right between yuh two laigs. An' yo' takes evah one of dem bones, one by one, an' pass it through yuh teeth. An' de one dat yo' passes through yuh teeth lak dat an' yo' cain't see yuhself, dat's de one dat yo' want. Dat de bone dat yo' keep, see. Dat's fo' yuh appearance an' disappearance.
Entry 10135
Take a bone, the dead man's bone, and take a black cat bone. That's tvo bones; a certain bone in the black cat, a certain bone in the dead man. And you'll be... (You use them together?) Yes, sir. (I see. All right.) Listen. Take a: certain bone of the dead man and certain bone of the black cat, tying them across [in the form of a cross], wearing them in your pocket. After wearing them in your pocket, you'll be a mystery man at least. You'll do things that it look impossible to do. For instance, I would walk in here - come in and walk on out and I wouldn't see yoo aad you wouldn't see me. But it's a certain bone.
(What bone is that?)
That's a certain bone of that black cat you have to take, you see. They got a bone in that cat - it come from the shoulder, from the left shoulder, that bone. You take that bone, and after taking that bone, to find out if you have the right bone, you takes a mirror, see, passing those bones that way [demonstrates passing che through mouth]. And long as you see yourself in the mirror thar isg't the right one. The moment you get the right one, you don't see yourself my nore. gell, that's supposed to be that bone that you kin absolutely disappear. You'll be coming in the street there and you don't disappear, but anyhow the party you hope don't see you, won't see you. When they do see you again, you'll be a dis- tance off.
(What bone do they take out of the body? Out of that person's body?)
Out of a person body? That bone they got right here, it's a small bone near to your spine.
(At the end of the spine?)
Yes, sir.
(Where you sit down on?)
Absolutely! [Some place else in HOODOO I have another example of the "inde- structible bone, " but I cannot recall where it is.] Take that bone and that black cat bone from the left shoulder and tying them acrosst. But the bone of the cat, to be sure that you have the right one, you have to use a mirror.
Entry 10162
Take his photograph and turn it up bottom [upside down] to the [look- ing] glass and burn the candles, nine of them; claim if you's in Europe that would bring you back. (How would you do that?) With a candle. Put your name on it nine times - put mine on top and write yours up to mine. And turn you [in photograph] up, bottomside up [upside down] to the looking glass. And burn the candle for nine days. That'll bring you back.
(I see.)
Entry 10165
If yo' got a gurl - it's dis way. Ah got a gurl an' she runned away from me. She done lef' me. She's gone. Well, lak [I] say, dere's a lotta watah 'ween heah an' New Yawk. Say she's gone tuh New Yawk. She jes' jumped up an lef' me an' ah haven't did anythin' tuh 'er an' want 'er back. She won' come bach tuh me by writin' tuh 'er. All right. Ah go tuh de drug sto' an' ah gits me a 15-cents blue candle. Take de same nails an' needles an' put in dat.
(How do you put them in there now? How many do you get?)
A nickel wuth of ten-penny nail. Put eight nails, an' de whole papah of needles, an' about eight big pins. Yo' git dem ovahsize sticky pins yo' know, dem ovahsize one. Some packages dey sell two fo' a nickel. Dey are de small size. An' de large package it's got one long one dat way; dey sells dem one fo' a nickel. Yo' git chew a piece of lookin'-glass lak dat an' yo' tum de part dat chew look it, an' git chew a saucah of watah or git chew a bowl or cream saucah, or anything dat will hold watah. Den turn dat [looking] glass down ovah dat way. Take dat candle an' take de end of it which yo' is gonna set down, take a match an' light it dat way. Don' light de top part where de stem is; light de bottom part an' put it on dat glass.
(With the top part downward?)
Yessuh, on top of de glass, an' let it set dere an' make yuh wishes fo' hit. But yo' start hit at ten minutes an' burn it fo' twenty-five. In twenty-five [days?] yo' receive a lettah from her, to send aftah her or send her ticket. She's on her way back tuh yo'.