Subject:Misfortune
Entries
Entry 7607
Take dat penny an' put it in de graveyard. Yuh go dere at twelve clock at night, yuh [dig] undah an' take dat penny an' put it in, bury it an' let it stay dere fo' 24 hours. Twelve clock yuh go dere an' git it up. An' den when yuh take de penny, whut chew wanna do wit de penny, whatevah way yuh wanta treat de person, if yuh wanta treat 'em good or treat 'em bad, why yuh turn dat penny tuh de east, ran de haid of it tuh de east, see. An' dat fellah will come tuh be successful. An' if yuh turn it to de west, he'll go down.
(Well, does it happen to know that you are getting the right fellow?)
Well, yuh know. Yuh know de fellah yuh aftah [intention]. Yuh already know de fellah yuh aftah. (After you go out there and get this penny: for good luck I turn this penny to the east, or for bad luck I turn it to the west.) Dat's right.
(Well, do I do that at any particular time of the day?)
No sir, twelve.clock at night. Yuh go dere an' put it down at twelve clock at night, an' den yuh go dere an' git it up at twelve clock at night [24 hours later].
Entry 759
If they were going down the road and they met someone who was supposed to be a cunjure, they'd go back down to the crossroad where they'd met them and make an X mark right in the middle of the cross [center of the crossroad] and that would keep away the bad luck. [Snow Hill, Md., (83), 2:7; informant from Nansemond, Co., Va.1
Entry 2015
Yo' kin git graveyard dust an' mix it with some of this heah hotfoot powder an' it will give yo' ill luck.
(How would they handle that? What would they do with that after they mix it?)
Dey tell me now that they jis' sprinkle it aroun'.
(What would happen then?)
Well, de individual dat livin' in dere, dey tell me, would move or some ill luck would happen to 'em.
Entry 3052
St. Rita is a woman, she never got a good husband. She had some of them but they were all cruel to her - they beat her and they give her black eyes and they were mean to her. She never could keep a husband. The last husband she had he beat her so bad it turned her against all men, and any woman that has got a husband, St. Rita is bad luck to them in the house. Now, if she is a single woman, St. Rita will help her. But she won't do anything for men at all because she don't like them.
Entry 6899
If yo' got some peoples in yore house is evil an' bad luck tuh yo', all yo' gotta do is sprinkle plenty a red peppah roun' de house. Git de pod peppah whut grows lak yo' fingah [finger peppers] an' crumble it up. It's got seeds in it, little seeds fine an' white. Jis' sprinkle dat round de do' an' dey says none yore enemies will come 'bout. Ah often do dat times mahself, jis' keep up wit dis ole [turn machine off too soon].
Entry 10684
If a person wishes you bad luck it's a very destructive thing- Fred- ericksburg, Va., (44), by Ediphone.]
Entry 12877
Ah've heard a person kin steal yore scissors an' put chew in bad luck, take yore luck from yo'.
(How do they do that?)
Ah don't know how they do that!
Entry 3049
St. Raymond's can'le is sometime is for money.
(St. Raymond or St. Ramos?)
St. Raymond, yes sir. St. Raymond. You kin go to the Cath'lic Church an' make a novena to St. Raymond to open the way for a job or somepin like that. An' then you kin go to St. Raymond an' put somebody in bad luck dat's a enemy to you. St. Raymond or St. Michael, you kin use. You set lights an' burn on em.
(That's in the church?)
In church - in the church.
(To give them bad luck?)
To give 'em - to put 'em in tough luck.
(Suppose I went there. How would I give a person bad luck?)
You goes an' git a can'le that's got red - you know whut can'le you gon'a burn, jis' like red, sometime blue, sometime white; or, if, like you know whut choo gon'a do. If you go in there for good, you gon'a take a white can'le; but if you burn that for bad, you gon'a take black or red, or some other can'les - if you go in there to give a person bad luck. You understand.
(You light those right in the church?)
Yes sir. [Church to informant is not the Roman Catholic Church but the Public Shrine (p.770), whose custodian is sometimes called Mother.]
Entry 10722
De mon' of...any mon' dat choo born in is cause zhoo to have bad luck. Take like you born in August or I'm born August...zhoo born in March, it's a windy mon'. An' if I is born in March, it's a absent-minded. [Birthday - year month and day - is important in HOODOO, all numbers having mean- ing, but I found little interest in astrology among my informants; it was a lit- tle too abstract, dull perhaps. Besides, I was not looking for astrologers. What we call astrology today has grown like a forest fire, thanks to charts seen daily in newspapers and elsewhere, popular songs, etc. I did look for fortune- tellers, who often did a little healing and hoodoo on the side.]
Entry 595
To begin with in that I have been abnormally mistreated by. superstition what we call hoodoism. See. Well, in that my family was torn to pieces and I was just wrecked and jest now recovering from that. Now, when it come ah went to a hand reader to read mah hand. (Where did you go - here in town?) Yes - she read my hand - a white lady, and she told me of dese things without coming in contact with any of them. Being a minister I found what she said about people being torn in mah congregation - I found that to be true. She told me that I wouldn't be able to get along with 'em - ah found that true. Now, ah been married three times. This wife I have now - ah was told that they did not want me to have her, and hear say to de cause and de reason why they did not ["want me to have her"] and what they done to prevent me from her and have her return back home. Ah married her against her people's consent - they didn't want me to have her. Then they put in to take her from me and to kill me - that was, she said, because of my age, you see. They wanted me out of de way so she could come back home, and in that they give me all kind of trouble. A friend of mine, who was in my church at dat time, somehow or another got onto it and told me it was best for me to go see about it mahself. I'd done got into a kind of a wreck some way - my mind wasn't nuthin' and ah couldn't remember nor think nuthin' long - couldn't do no one thing completely - ah'd start and stop. (What did this woman do to tell you to get rid of this? Did they tell you what to do?) They told me what to do and give me something to protect myself - ah kin show you some of the things now - got 'em in my pocket. See 'em [he shows them]. (This white woman gave you this to carry ~ a white fortune-teller - a hand- reader?) Yes - a reader of cards. (It's a little tin box with - it's a large quinine capsule with red powder of some sort in there. Do you know what is in there?) No, ah don't.
(What is that supposed to do - you carry that?)
Well, that is supposed to give me success and prosperity and get by. Now, this dime was given - she told me to get a dime and put in mah pocket and handle it as much as ah could fo' three days. Now, it wasn't as colored as it is now, and at that time it was real bright as you could see. And she said whatever they Was trying to do, the dime would ketch it and turn like a copper cent. And sure as I sit here today and tell you, this is the same dime - only it jest like a copper cent. And den again, I could tell just as good when the thing was going to strike me and was on me, as I can tell I'm sitting here.
(How can you tell that?)
By mah feet - by de way ah felt, and I had kind of strikes in mah toes - big toes, each one of them - and I couldn't hardly stand the blow. Well, I had a strike de side of de head like somebody struck me - it was sore for several days.
[I repeat one thing he said while machine was off for lack of interest:]
(Six people made a wish for you - gave you this bad luck?)
Yes - made a wish fo' me - an' then they was intendin' that ah'd die and mah wife come back home - right heah in dis city. Ah's pastor heah.
Entry 1205
Dey supposed to let nobody see it. Dey digs a hole.
(At the forks of the road.) [He had said this before I turned on my machine.]
At de forks of the road - four forks of de road. Dey dig a hole and dey git de red sand. Well, dat is fo' if anybody do anything to yo', yo' know, an' yo' boil it in water with lemons and yo' drink it. Dat is supposed to be if anybody do anything to yo' for bad luck. Jes' like yo' is in bad luck - well, yo' do dat and dat is supposed to cut de bad luck off yo'.
Entry 1577
Jest git chews - like ah said wit dat cologne stuff an' sulphur, an' sprinkle it around yore place. That kills all the bad luck an' de good luck comes in [cf. margin-title Begin Rite By Removing Hard Luck Spirits, p.328].
Entry 1807
I've heard though of taking nails from a coffin and wrapping it in red flannel, and give it to a person either for luck or ill luck, whichever you want them to have. They sell from twenty-five cents to a dollar.
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 2100
I entered a house to clean it and hang some paper. Nobody had lived in it for about six months. The colored man who had lived there had moved out. There were about three daughters in the family. And when I went in the house and started to tear the paper down I found in a crevice in the wall a little ball of red flannel saturated with Hearts of Cologne. There were about 25 needles stuck in it. The fellow that was with me told me that was a mojo - a good-luck piece or to put somebody into a stream of bad luck.
Entry 3007
(What do they say about St. Expedite?)
Well, they say St. Expedite is lucky, but you gotta pray to him - certain things you gotta give to him for luck. You gotta have him up in your house and have a little altar-like and burn them little tapers to him for luck. Well, if you make him a promise or anything and don't give it to him, well you falls in bad luck.
Entry 3467
Git holt of a man's pocket han'ke'chuf an' tie it up - lak yo' wish 'im tuh have trouble in two or three places, lak yo' runnin' a business ovah yondah an' want yo' tuh lose, runnin' a farm an' want chew to lose yore farm an' yo' stock. Tie knots to evah - cuss de devil an' God an' tie a knot fo' evah- thin' yo' want done. An' take dat han'ke'chuf an' burn it up, an' dat'll make yo' have hard luck.
Entry 3634
Dey say snails is hard luck to have roun' yore home. If yo' bring any of 'em roun' yore home, yo'll have a lotta misfortune, yo'll lose lotsa things dat yo' git hold of.
Entry 6512
De toenails - de trimmings of yo' toenails an' put it in, git some run- nin' watah an' put it in a bottle an' bury dat undah yo' do'. Dat'll give yo' bad luck, makes yo' ail in de feet or sompin lak dat. (You have to take the running water though and put it in a bottle.)
Entry 6906
Git a fresh box of salt, have nevah been used an' a box of red peppah, an' yo' mix a certain amount tuhgethah. Put some aroun' yore do' an' in front of gate an' yo' weah some in yore shoes. An' dat would keep dem from crossin' yuh, if dey wanta put hard luck on yo'.
Entry 6979
Whut dey put on 'em, ah don' know, but ah've known of socks bein' gotten out of a mattress. Den put it in runnin watah. Dat'll take de bad luck on off, if dey have it.
Entry 7589
At twelve a'clock at night yuh git graveyard dirt, yuh see. An' git graveyard dirt. Dat's mos'ly [mostly] fer harmin', dat's fer nuthin good. Yuh go dere at twelve a'clock at night, but not when de moon's shinin'. Yuh go dere on a dark night. An' yuh take dat graveyard dirt. If yuh jis' wan' a person in bad luck, yuh jis' take graveyard dirt an' throw it at a person - strictly wit'out anythin' else. It's strictly bad luck. Dey'll nevah be successful in nuthin dey undahtake tuh do. Anythin' dey undahtake tuh do, dey won't be suc- cessful - be disappointed.
Entry 7746
Well, dey goes out an' dey git dis graveyard dirt, an' dey kin take it, if dey wanta give yo' bad luck. Dey kin take a lot of it an' sprinkle it all roun' yo' front dō' an' yo' back dō'. Ah don't know how true dat is, but ah know a lady dat lived next do' from us. She used to go out an' git it an' take it aroun' an' sprinkle it aroun' in front-a people's do's. An' dey said dat it would give dose people bad luck. An' dey really would have a lotta bad luck.
Entry 7758
Go tuh de graveyard an' git graveyard dirt. Yo' kin bring dat grave- yard dirt back an' yo' bury dat graveyard dirt up undah de steps. See, dat will give yo' bad luck tuh run yo' away.
Entry 7952
I've heard though of taking nails from a coffir and wrapping it in red flan- nel, and give it to a person either for luck or ill luck, whichever you Wanted them to have. They sell them from twenty-five cents to a dollar.
Entry 8114
If a person got a photograph, if yo' kin git it an' burn it up an' have somebody tuh bury de ashes right back undah her steps, well dat will give her bad luck. Dat'll run 'er away from town, make her move out dat house.
Entry 9882
If yo're poisoned yo' use a frog. Yo' take dat frog an' yo' cut 'im half in two, an' lay 'im on de place where - yo' know, jis' lak it wuz a li'l swollen or sompin lak dat some place. Yo' lay dat frog on top dat place an' de one dat chew had a idea dat did do it, yo' jis' cuss 'em out an' tell 'em, "Ah want chew tuh be jis' lak dis frog is, daid an' in he-ell." An' he'll swell up jis' lak de frog would. Jis' lak yo' are, dat's jis' how it would be happen tuh dem.
Entry 10670
( Git de bone from a dead person an' it's lucky to yuh, 'cordin' tuh whut kinda luck yo' want. Jes' lak if yo' wanta, yo' gotta git a diff'ren' kind of bone, a certain part of bone from a person. Yo' kin use a person's teeth from de [dead] body fo' luck, but it's gotta be ground. Co'se [of course] doctors will grind 'em [bones from the dead] fo' yo' but yo' know dey kinda scared on 'counta de laws about dat, but chew kin git a bone from de wrist. Dat's whut dey call a article bone [article is obsolete word for a "joint of the body"]. Dey kin use dat an' wrap it up in flannel, but yo' gotta use all dese diff'ren' things. Wrap it up in flannel an' carry it around in yore pocket. Yo' don' use anything on dat [wristbone] fo' luck. An' den yo' kin git a bone from de laig. Dat's de smaller bone, de front bone. Yo' kin git a smaller bone from a person's laig an' use it an' it's fo' bad luck fo' yo' enemies things. [This should have been placed under BONES FROM THE DEAD pp.3407-3419, v.3.]
Entry 10795
Put a person in bad luck, yo' take de broom an' sweep him down every morning.
(How do you do that?)
Jes' take - leave him stand up in de house an' take yore broom an' sweep him down. Put him in all de worstest luck in de world. Or let somebody sweep 'cross yore foots [feet] wit a broom, dat de same thing.
Entry 10802
Yo' take a broom. A broom is a concern, jes' say fo' instance, yo' vorkin' wit someone, yo' know, an' dey smart or sompin lak dat, an' yo' jes' haul off an' hit 'em wit de broom. Dat will make a person have bad luck. Put bad luck on dem. Dey'll either git fi'ed [fired from his work] or sompin vill bg pen to him. [For hitting person with broom, also see JAIL margin title under BROOM later.]
Entry 10807
If yo' take a broom an' yo' sweep ovah a person's foot, dat's bad luck, says yo'll go tuh jail.
Entry 11025
Dey use chicken feathers dey say fo' bad luck. Probably if yo' got some chickens or sompin lak dat an' ah wanta make yo' have bad luck, ah kin take de feathers from yore chick- ens and burn 'em in mah stove. See, an' use de ashes an' dese chicken fea- thers an' take 'em an' sprinkle 'em all round yore house. Dat will cause all yore chickens tuh die, or someone in yore family to die, or sompin lak dat. Dat's whut de' call a re- buke to a family. Or either if ah should happen to have tuh buy a chicken or sompin lak dat, ah kin git some of yore dirt from roun' in yore yard where yo' have travel on, an' use it an' burn it an' cause yo' tuh have bad luck to some of yore family or either probably to yo'.
Entry 11328
A woman, that she didn't appreciate what choo do for her, and you want her to be in bad luck an' didn't want her to keep any money. An' yo' get you one dollar from her, you burn the dollar to ashes. Blow it out of your hand that way [demonstrates]. And she will never be able to keep anything in the world.
Entry 11721
(What is goofer dust?)
Well, it's not a particular thing. It's sompin jes' lak whut chew say, a reefer. It's not a twig, it's mo' of a flour [ = powder-like] but it's ground, ground into a powder, an' they use it fo' sprinklin' fo' luck an' they throws it on peoples' po'ch fo' bad luck. (What is a reefer?) reefer is somepin lak a cigarette; dey smoke reefers - uh-huh, jes' lak hops.
(Drugs?)
Uh-huh.
Entry 11822
To throw graveyard dirt under step causes trouble in house or a special misfortune. [Wilmington, 235:5+85.]
Entry 12171
A hoodoo bag you're supposed to drop it either in the house or under the steps of those you wish to bring ill luck to. Of course the hand you carry for good luck. A hoodoo bag doesn't look like a hand at all. It looks like a sache bag. You sew them and you put them around the waist or around the leg. [These definitions are too absolute, too exclusive. Some persons would call a nand a hoodoo bag, or this latter the former.] [Fredericksburg, Va., No.43, by Ediphone.]
Entry 12280
Yo' kin tie a knot in a rope or either in a pocket han'ke'ch'ef or sompin lak dat an' yo' kin use it. Dat's whut dey call a jinx to peoples. Ah could tie a knot in yore pocket han'ke'ch'ef an' dat could be a jinx to yo'. An' aftah [that] ah wash it an' den pressed it out. Dat's ohut dey call a jinx to a person. It's no luck to nobody, a pocket han'ke'ch'ef wit knots in it. Or either some peoples passes by yo' might seen clothes line hangin' out. Peoples could put knots in dat fo' a jinx to peoples which dey call bad luck. An' den dey kin fix it in dere fo' luck fo' peoples. It's a certain way dey tie it. Some of 'em tie it in a bow knot an' some they call it in de crawfish oot an'....
Entry 12441
Well, de mockin'bird eggs is puttin' spells on people. Yo' write, jes' like yo' write on 'em [black-hen eggs previously given by informant]. Yo' take dose eggs, de same identical way. Well, yo' take dat egg an' yo' put it somewhere where he breed, an' den when he breed it, why den dat will be his luck, his bad luck, dat happen to him wit dat mockin'bird egg. [You write on egg whatever you want to happen to victim and restore egg to nest. When egg hatches your wish comes true.]
Entry 12524
As I told you a while ago, you use that just like you do garlic, but you cut the onion up fine and put it in hard water, and you put salt in there instead of sugar. And you, just like a person tell me to mop their house, I'm sup- posed to keep their house mopped out with that, and instead of having good luck, it's bad luck. You get arrested or anything. That Salt jinX them. [AS FAR AS I CAN REMEMBER, THIS IS THE ONLY HARD WATER RITE IN "HOODOO," and it Was given by that professional hoodoo woman from Shreveport, La., the woman who said, "They tried to run me out of Louisiana." Little did either of us realize that within a few hours I myself would be chased out of Memphis!]
Entry 9230
Take chicken aigs an' bury 'em undah de do'step an' a lady an' 'er husband tuh separate. (Any kind of chicken egg?) Black chicken aig. (Any number of eggs? How many?) Two an' [or] three. [Waycross, Ga., (1133), 1937:14. Two cylinders later in- formant returns to same subject.]: [I heard] of 'em usin' black hen aigs an' [or] usin' black hen dung.
(What would they do with that black hen egg?)
Bury 'em undah yore steps tuh part chew an' yore husband, cuz yo' tuh have back luck. [Waycross, Ga., (1133), 1839:10.]
Entry 9239
Take a black hen's aigs fo' somebody yo' want tuh have bad luck or sompin bad happen tuh 'em; git 'im from out de way, mark himself off de earth. Take a pencil an' write his name tuh de bottom of de aig on de little end. Write yore name - jes' lak yo' wanted tuh run me off or ah wanted tuh run yo' off, or do 'way wid yuh, ah would write chure name on de bottom of dat aig; see, on de little end. Write mah name on de top, on de big end of de aig. Go dere an' bury it right down where yo' had tuh walk ovah dat aig.
(How would you bury that egg?)
Neah de do'steps.
(How would you bury it, little end up or big end up?)
Little end down, big end up. Befo' long dat egg will come tuh git hot, or sour or bust. Dat locks chure bowels. Ain't a doctor [M.D.] 'tween heah an' nowhere kin do yo' no good. Whenevah dat aig bust down dere, yore bowels will lock an' bust inside. Right den all yore action will be on de inside yo' know, an' yo' won't be no mo' good. Won't be long 'fo' yo' be gone.
Entry 1552
All right. You will take you some cinnamon powder, you will take some bluing, you will take you some Jockey Club Perfume. You.will mix that together. You will go to the market and get some parsley, you'll boil it well - after boiling it well, making a solution, putting that in their bathtub where the party bath at, leaving them bath in that tub, putting a amount of [silver] money in the water which you bath with. After that water - you bath with it, keeping it in the house overnight, 'fore day in the morning throwing it out into the street or the path wheresomever the people go to and fro. Leave them pick up that money and they will take your bad luck and you'll start off new again. [Cf. 997, p.384.]
(What will you do with that money then?)
The money that you throw out into the street?
(Oh, you throw the money out into the street?)
That's to keep them from passing by - anyone will pick up money if they practically see it in the street. Well, the solution that you see in the water, that's to wash all your bad luck off you, and the money draws it into the money, and throwing it out - well the one who picks up that, they picks up the bad luck.
(I see.) [For "the money draws it into the money," see No.1558, p.493.]
Entry 13251
Well, ah heard dat chew burn sulphur in yore house dat wus luck tuh yore enemies and den it wus bad luck tuh yore neighbors, because it's 'cordin' tuh de way yo' burn dat. Yo' burn dat sulphur certain hours in de night fo' luck fo' yo' friends, an' den yo' burn it certain hours fo' luck fo' yo' enemies. Dat means dat yo' enemies whut chew burn fo' dem will cause dem tuh be in hard luck. An' whut chew burn fo' yore friends dat'll be good luck, but it be certain hours of de night - from 12 to 4 in de mawnin'. Yo' burn sulphur in de night about 12 a'clock. When yo' burn dat sulphur why yo' burn dat sulphur fo' yo' friend providin' if her enemy tryin' tuh harm her an' tuh keep her enemy from harmin' 'er. Well, 4 'clock in de mawnin' yo' burn de sulphur fo' de enemies. See.