Subject:Oil/Sweet oil
Entries
Entry 2320
Make a trade on somepin like dat, prosperity [property?] trade, yo' git a small piece of lodestone, live lodestone, bundle it wit some devil's-shoestring and put some sweet oil on it, an' yo' kin tote dat when yo' goin' tuh see de man to make de trade an' he'll agree with chew. (If you want to rent something or do anything of that sort?) Dat's de same way - yo' carry dat wit chew.
Entry 3710
Lak yo' got a husban' an' he go off an' mess wit a woman, an' she fix 'im so dat yo' can't have connection wit 'im - can't discharge himself. (How would she do that?) Well, I don't know how she do dat but I kin tell yo' how to untie it. (Well then, how do you untie it then?) Yo' go an' get yo' about that much twice of bluestone, get 1Oç bottle of sweet oil [= olive oil], an' get de white of two eggs [three ingredients], an' put it all in dere an' mix it togethah, an' shake it up an' dat bluestone will 'solve, an' take it an' rub yoreself down lak dat, an' all around up in yo', an' it will be all gone.
(That's for a man to do? Or the woman?)
It's a woman. Man kin do it too, if a man is tied up so he can't do nuthin.
(That will take off the spell if some other woman has put it on him?)
Yes.
Entry 3781
He can't git loose, somebody have to take him loose. Now, yo' take den some of dat sweet oil an' po' it right down between 'im, he'll come out. (When they are stuck together, you put the sweet oil between them. Just plain sweet oil or with this drop in it? Or just plain sweet oil?) Yo' gotta break in undah dere an' let it run down in 'er, he'll come on out. (Just plain sweet oil this time. The first time you use sweet oil and this dog stuff?) [For this cure see 487:1 (No.473), somewhere in text.] Yes.
(Well, the next time you use just plain sweet oil?)
Plain sweet oil but take undah it.
Entry 11019
(Ever hear of them using chicken feathers for anything?) [An old note of mine adds: Always asked this question to see whether Negro believed in witch wreath.] Well, er...ah.... Jis' lak a person doin' somepin tah yo an' yo' wanta git rd of 'en, yo' take some of de feathahs outa dey bed shere dey sleep at an' yo' put dis oil of bergamine [bergamot] an' sweet oil togethah an' jis' grease dose feathah with 'em, dat chew got out de bed from where dey sleep. Jis' grease dose feathahs with 'em an' take 'em an' put 'em in a can or somepin an stop 'em up, an' take 'em tuh de south side of a tree not very far from dey house an' bury it dere. See. An' when dem dere feathahs will finally pine away - dey'll jis' pine away tuh nuthin. Dey jis' git sick an' dey sick on dey stomick an' dey jis' ache all ovah. An' it jis' sompin lak de rheumatism an' cain't no doctor [M.D.] do 'em no good an' event'ly dey'll die.
Entry 12185
Dat's very easy. You can take some of this black stone [black lode- stone?] and Van Van and sweet oil. You take all that and you mix it together, and you put that in a lit- tle sack or in a little bottle. You hang that over your door, under a horseshoe. You put the horseshoe up and you hang your bottle under there, but you have the bottle so that no one can see the bottle, but they can see the horseshoe. This bottle be's behind the horseshoe. And no law in the world gon- na come in your place lessen they git permission. They kin come someone to see the proprietor before he [law] come in there. The horseshoe is in the right form just like it lays on the animal's foot [prongs or toes down] but the bot- tle is fixed [hidden] under there.
Entry 13301
(What would I do to keep the law out?) Well, yo' kin use Jockey Club perfume, sweet oil and [oil of cloves - see later].
(What are these things you take, now?)
Oil of cloves, Jockey Club perfume and sweet oil.
(What do you do with those?)
You just take them and just get you a bottle of Jockey Club perfume and keep your hands on it [have it handy], keep it in your pocket. See, when they [the law] gets too fast, why you dampen some on your hands [demonstrates] that oil of cloves, Jockey Club and sweet oil.
Entry 603
Now, ah had dat done tuh me. Now, ah'll tell yo' de truth. In Alexan- dria, Virginia, mah privates used to ache when mah wife would go off or somepin lak dat - be off any length of time. An' ah couldn't even bothah wit nobody but her, an' ah couldn't do so much tuh her. So, we separated an' dey jis' went tuh swellin' up on me down dere. Ah called de doctah an' de doctah ast me did ah evah had a cramps or anythin' lak dat. Ah tole him, "No suh." So he give me a suscription [prescription] for a suspensor bag [suspensory] an' some medicine. An' jis' [it] ordinarily leave, yo' know - it didn't las long. So, ah wus on mah way tuh hunt mah wife - yo' know, ah had tuh go fin her. She wus in South Ca'lina down heah an' ah wus in Marylan'. So ah stop in Virginia an' someone tole me 'bout a ole woman named Stu-art ovah on de Canal in Alexandria - it's right dere [near] Washington. So, ah went ovah tuh see her - ole woman. Ah reckon she wus roun' 75 or 80 yeahs ole. She say, "Come in, son, ah know why yo' come." Say, "Sit down." An' she took a rock an' put it in mah han' jis' lak dat, an' say, "Yo' shet it tight an' think about yore trouble an' make some wishes." Ah think 'bout mah trouble an' take it out. Ah've nevah seen a rock look lak dat. An' she took it off an' she went tuh readin' dis rock.
(What color was the rock she put in your hand?)
"Bout a dove colored rock.
(Did it change while it was in your hand?)
Naw suh, it didn't change. She say, "Yo's a long way from home." Ah say, "Yes'm. She say, "Ah'm goin' stop yo' heah, now [ambiguous]. An' she say, "Yore mothah's uneasy 'bout chew." ' Say, "Dere she is - can't yo' see her? She got a big white apern [apron] on." Ah couldn't see nuthin' [on the stone]. Say, "Can't yo' see her dere?" Say, "Yo' got somebody daid in yore family?" Say, "Yes'm, mah sistah wus." Say, "Can't yo' see her dere?" Say, "She dressed all in white." Den she come down heah to de bottom of de rock an' she say, "Think now - yo' evah seen anythin' lak dat befo' in yore life?" Ah say, "No-mam." She say, "Think." Ah say, "No'm, ah can't think." "A ole rock," she say, "dat's yore wife pussy." She say, "Didn't she play deceitful wit chew when yo' git ready tuh have sexual interco'se with her? She had tuh go out in anothah room or somepin lak dat?" Says, "Well, she dressed herself fo' yuh" - she didn't tell whut she dressed it wit but she dressed her- self wit somepin - an' she say, "Yore dragged in dat while yo' wus havin' her." An' she say, "She didn't intend tuh kill yo' but in othah words, her intention wus fo' yo' tuh follow wit her wherevah she go. She's a woman wants tuh have her way." Say, "But it would event'ly [eventually] killed yo' if yo' have nevah gone back to her an' hadn't seen me. She say, "Ah'll take yore case fo' $41.50." An' ah paid her whut ah had an' she tole me, say, "Now, yo' may have tuh go tuh Baltimore" - yo' might know it - say, "Yo' go tuh Washington tuh de ole Dutch Center Market an' yo' git chew a package of mayapple root. [I interviewed a Washington root seller, also one in Mobile - see Root seller in Index.] Yo' boil it down - put it in a quart of watah an' boil it down to a pint" [diminishing amount magic - opposite of increasing amount]. An' said, "Yo' take a" - think she said it wus a tablespoonful de first night. She said, "De next night yo' git chew a package of pure apple vinegar - boil a quart of pure apple vinegar an' a package of Sensation tubacca."
(Sensation tobacco - what is that, smoking or chewing?)
Well, yo' kin chew or either smoke it. An' say, "Yo' shave yore hair off easy on yore han'." Say, "Make a syrup out dat. [You have] a syrup out dis Sensation tobacca an' de vinegar. Put it [the two syrups] togethah an' boil it an' make a syrup an' see, yo' 'noint chure haid good wit it - all yore privates an' ever'thing wit it." An' say, "De next night, see, yo' git yo' a bottle of sweet oil an' yo' drink ever' bit of it." Ah did jes' lak she said. So one day, 'bout de last day dem pains, de pains got on top me an' ah went tuh hollerin' upstairs. Mah cousin came up an' she say, "Whut's de mattah?" When she came upstairs ah wus down - ah had de foot of de bed jes' lak dis - she say, "Whut's de mattah?"
(Hanging onto the bed.)
Hangin' on de bed jes' lak dat - wit de suspensor bag on me.
(What kind of a bag on?)
Had on de suspensor bag - ah still had on dat suspensor bag de doctah had give me in Baltimore.
(What's that?)
Dat's tuh hol' dem balls up - dat's a truss, dey call it. So ah look roun' after her lak dat an' ah said, "Dat woman tole me dat mah haid wus damn big an' all - dat ah couldn't hear but ah'd feel somepin dere - somepin dere - an' maybe ah ain't feelin' it now." She laughed an' says, "Ef yo' don' treat dese wimmin right, dey'll kill yo'." So she rushed dis one man next do' to dis wumman cross de Canal dat had give me dat suscription tuh use an' tole her whut a fix ah wus in an' he said she laughed at him when he got dere an' tole him, "He'd be all right when yo' go back." An' sho' 'nuff when he came back ah wus all right. An' de next day ah went tuh work at de shop fo' five hours, an' ah throw 'way dat suspensor bag or dem trusses an' ah nevah had dem pains any mo' since. Naw suh. An' jes' mah ordinary nature came back to me an' ah could go wit any woman ah wanted, an' befo' ah could hardly rear it up an' anothah woman seem jes' lak a man. Dat de truth.
(What kind of a iob did you have with the Southern Railroad - firing?)
Firelighter in de roun'house.
(Oh, you were lighting the fires in the engines.)
In de engines.
Entry 9160
Now, if you have to go before the judge, ah tell you what you do. Be fore you go away from your house, you take the chairs and you stand them upside down in the house, every one of them. Don't leave nary a one standing up like the one ah'm settin' in. Turn dem all upside down. An' yo' get yo' some sugah an' cin- namon an' holy oil, that's what you call virgin oil. Yo' get dat from certain drug stores. Yo' can't get it from everywhere. But wherever de place dat yo' can find it, yo' get dat virgin oil, and cinnamon and sugar and yo' mix all dat tuhgethah, don't yo' know. An' put it in some watah an' wash yore face an' hands good - just wash yore face an' hands. Wash all back of yore neck an' ears an' Wash on yore arms. An' turn those chairs upside down before yo' leave home. An' he will really dismiss it.
Entry 2822
And de red can'le, if it's somebody off dat chew would want dem to come, wal yo' burn dat red can'le. Yo' take de red can'le and you write dem folks name, whosomever de name be's, and you write dere names on dere five times, yo' see - you write it round, see. (Just straight around, just like a ring?) Dat's right, five times, and den you take a teaspoonful of sweet oil and a tea- Spoonful of honey and a teaspoonful of brown sugar [three ingredients] and put it together in a bowl - jes' a little neat bowl, and put de can'le down in dere and Jes' burn dat can'le. In five days time de folks you wanta see will be dere.
(Do you burn that at any special time?)
Yassuh, yo' burn it six 'clock each morning. Dat's all.
Entry 1561
Ah knowed mah uncle. See, he's crazy in de haid - yo' know, jes' have crazy fits, an' he git unfixed wit a snail. Took a snail an' breaks him an' put him in bottle an' den git some sweet oil an' mix dat in de bottle an' den a fresh aig whut jes' laid an' put dat in de bottle. Stir all dat up at night, 'noint it fo' several days an' dat crazy spell he had went away. Fo' several days jes' 'noint his haid wit it.