Subject:Parsley
Entries
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 2573
You are bootlegging and want customers. You go, you git some good - some sugar. Git you some cinnamon powder and you git you some luck - some van- van. See. You take it and put it in a bottle and you boil it - see, parsley. (Yes.) You take some parsley and you take all that [other ingredients] and you put it down in a pot and you boil it - let it boil about a solid hour before you take it out. And you take it out, you take you a whole quart - boil it first, boil it down to a quart. Then you take and you go to the alley gate - see, go to your gate or whatever it is and when you git there you start to sprinkle it backwards, you know, coming back to the house. See, just like you walking and you walk back [backwards]. Just have your mind on what you want and sprinkle it down, and you go right on the inside and you puts your bottle down. The next few minutes you see customers startin' comin' in.
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 6863
Red Seal Lye, bury it undah de step, takin' witch hazel, takin' para- dise seed, takin' oil of clovah, mix wit parsley an' boil well. All dose things tuhgethah, scrubbin' de place where yo' live at from de front do' tuh de reah. Aftah scrubbin', takin' de same watah, throw one glass tuh de east an' one tuh de west, sayin' In de Name of de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost. Well it [what was put down for you] don' taken no effec'. Dat'll kill off any bad spell, DEY CAIN'T HAHM YO'; NOT UNLESS YO' EAT SOMEPIN YO' SEE.
Entry 7422
An' yo' kin take parsley an' do de same thing [catch a murderer].
(How do you do that?)
Yo' take de parsley, green parsley an' yo' - yo' don't put de leaves part in it, de root part, an' yo' put one root in dis han', put jes' lak dis [demon- strates] lak dis is. Jes' carry 'em disaway, an' take de othah one disaway, an' close de han'. Put it back dere dataway. An' dey won't go away. (Just cross their hands with parsley in it, across their breast, and the fellow can't go away.) Yes, can't go away. (I see.) [A piece of fresh parsley root is placed in each hand of the corpse and then the hands are crossed across the breast making separate crosses with folded hands and roots - a type of dou- ble-cross. The intention to bring back murderer is also there.]
Entry 8546
(Give me that parable again now. Tell me the whole thing.)
Just like I come to see you to your house and your fire hearth got a end of brick loosened somewhere. Well, I take a piece of paper and write your name down on it unknowst to yo', an' I slip your name up under that brick, and they say, your wife would leave you. (My wife would leave me and go with you?) Yes, go away. [We must remember here, that name is not enough; there is also the mental intention for woman to leave and come to you.]
(Well, is there any way, you can check that? Cross that up?)
Yes, yo' kin check that, cross it up.
(How would you do that?)
Well, the way yo' do that, yo' get yo' some parsley, and yo' tell her put: 'er underclothing wrongside out, after yo' get de parsley. Yo' put that parsley in de bottom part of her shoe an' put some garlic in de bottom part of her [other] shoe an' make her wear that. That'll check it up. [Wrongside out, parsley and garlic are well-known witchcraft deterrents.]
Entry 9110
If yo' can get de judge's name, well yo' use dis name nine times into yore shoe, in each shoe, an' mix it wit parsley, an' yo' dress yoreself wit a oil: oil of verbena, oil of mor- itil [myrtle] an' pine oil. Yo takes a bath in dem. (What are those oils now?) Oil of verbena, oil of moritil [myrtle] an' pine oil. Yo' takes a bath in dat.
(Oil of moritil [myrtle]?)
Yes, sir. Three mornings befo' yore case comin' up, when yo' gets a sub- poena, well yo' do dat fo' three mornings. See, de last morning, dat's when yo' are goin' befo' de judge.
Entry 9945
You can take the shoe and you can bury it at the step, but before you yary it you put some parsley in it. And get one of these here bullfrogs - these toadfrogs - and bury that at your step, an' she'll have that man under her all his days. You put the frog in there too with the parsley, in the shoe and bury that shoe, and she would have hin under her all the time.
Entry 12295
A person did you somepin, and you take a lemon and you put some parsley in it, and you put some cinnamon in it and brown sugar in that lemon. [Brown sugar for a black person, white sugar for vhite person. Many examples in HOODOO of color scheme.]
(You put parsley, cinnamon and brown sugar. All right.)
Yeah, brown sugar, into the lemon, and you take that lemon and you go put it right under your step - under there - right under the middle part of your step, and bury it. They say that will move what they done did to you.
(Take it away.)
Yes.
Entry 12377
Lak if yo' go roun' de cornah fo' a job an' yo' go de first day an' de man don' hiah yo'. yo' go de second day an he don't hiah yo'. Well, de third day yo' git dis- gusted, yo' see, an' yo' study some kinda remedy tuh git dis job. Yo' see. Well, yo' go dere an' de first thing yo' do, git chew nine roots of parsley, yo' see, an' put 'em in yore shoe. An' git chew a garlic a yellah garlic, a plug of garlic an' put dat in yore shoe. An' git chew a piece of cloth about that long, yo' see. An' put nine pins in that crossways, yes, straight pins, new pins. Put 'em in dere crossways. An' let each one of dem pins, lak yore name is George, well yo' put de 'nitials yo' see at dem pins. An' yo' go to dat jar...
(Where do you put those needles and those pins?)
Undah dere yo' see, undah de pins.... See where ah got dem nine pins cross. Yo' got de 'nitials dere yo' see.
(You put the initials down with what?)
Ink.
(On the cloth or on a piece of paper?)
On de cloth. See, de pins in de cloth, see, lak dat piece of cloth about dat long. Yo' see yo' jis' put de pins lak dat crossways nine times. Yo' see each on de bottom, yo' put lak his nine dere "George" yo' see wit ink, only each one dem 'nitials. An' yo' go dere dat mawnin' an' yo' git a seal de' [they] call de 'Lucky Seal.' Yo' go to de Crackerjack Drug Sto' an' git dat. Yo' see yo carry dat an' put it right down by de gate where de man hiahs up dere. Yo' press it down dere. He'll call yo' 'fore he calls anybodys else. Lak yore name Mistah Eddy, he'll say, "Well, Mistah Eddy, come on in an' go tuh work. Ah needs yo' dis mawnin'. (That is to get the job.) [See also SEALS in CHANNEL DE WORLD, v.5.1
Entry 12429
Well the fact is, if yo' wan'a job, they have Mind Oil. You hear of it? Mind Oil. Well, suppose the boss's name John Henry. You sign his name to that parchment paper, put it in that Mind Oil. You will get you some paradise seed, get you some parsley. You take a bath with that. After taking bath, you must stay in that building all night, and throw the water out into the Middle of the street, see. And anything that instead of going contrary, you ill have a success with. [For "paradise seed" see margin title GUINEA SEEDS etc., P.570, v.1. Throwing bath water into street is a transference rite and remaining instead in building all night recalls ancient incubation rites.]
Entry 12538
Dey used tuh use dem red onion a long time ago. See... [turned off machine and turn it on again]. But people take a red onion, see. Dey take parsley as ah said a few minutes ago, red onion an' parsley an' dey'll git dis stuff dey call mustard, hot mustard. Dey put dat together an' dey'll leave dat onion dry an' dey'll grind it up good. Dey'll leave dry dere good. Yo' seen people to de [old-fashioned outdoor] toilet. It de custom to set on dere. Jes' spread it [this mixture] on de seat dataway. It supposed tuh give 'em some kind of a itch. Ah dunno. Ah see 'em all right. It'll [itch or skin trouble will] come between dere finger an' it'll come on de side an' in de bath dataway. [I have no idea what these 3 ingredients will do but at an earlier date this sort of thing was HOODOO.]
Entry 12885
Now, if you bottleggin', you want trade. Now you go to your drug store. You buy you a pound of that brown sugah, you understand. You get choo a codfish ball - you know what dat codfish, big O [ole] codfish! You get that and get you a nickel's worth of pahsley [parsley]. Now, you gona take dat pahsley, codfish ball, the sugar. You take your water, about 2 quarts or quart an' a half. Fix what you want, any kind of water. An' yo' put it in a pot or bucket, or whatsomever will hold it. And put all that stuff into the water and let it boil. Let it boil down to one quart [the magic of diminishing amount]. An' use your pot every morning, like Friday's, that myst be your busy day for Saturday. Like Wednesday you wan'a take that day for cleaning up. Well, you take that water and git you someone to go out to clean up your place for you - just sprinkle that water - go to the front - come to the front like this [demon- strates], you see, an' come right on in [from the front door, leading future customers in]. Now, I don't tell you that people will spend their money there, but I'll guarantee you'll have a crowd there an' you won't have standing room. But somebody will spend money. You understand how that is? That'll square you. I do that.
Entry 997
A silver dime in the bath-water - taking a bath in the tub at nighttime, not no day - zinc tub, a washtub. After bathing, keeping the water in the house all night, throwing it out in the middle of the street where someone pass at. The man or woman passing picks that up, picks up all your bad luck and everything that went wrong with you. You git along fine, you as anybody else.
[I stop the machine to ask for a clearer account.]
In the bathtub that you goin' bathe in, you see, you take de water, you put the silver dime and a nickel which is fifteen cents, odd money. Heat the warm water, pour it on the fifteen cents. After takin' this solution - with parsley, granulated sugar, with Karo syrup, ammonia and Jockey Club perfume, see - pour it in the water and bathe from head to feet, leave it stay in the house all night. That next day you throw it out in the middle of the street near to 4 o'clock that morning with the fifteen cents. Of course you know, if anybody passes money on the street, they will pick it up. The one who picks it up, well they picks up your bad luck and you start a new true life again. [For cures, see Transference in Index.]
Entry 1292
If anything dey settin' down fo' yo', yo'll go tuh work an' yo'll take red pod garlic.
(Red pod garlic?)
Uh-hunh, an' yo'll thin it jis' as thin as a slice - thin slice. Yo'll take yo' nine pieces of dat garlic an' yo'll wear dat in yore right shoe with a little slim piece of parsley an' yo'll wear dat in yore shoe an' den yo'll go tuh work an' sprinkle a little steel dust in dere. Dat'll eat up every piece of every- thing yo' got down dere - dat'll pick it up. An' make lak little beads, roun' sliced thin, till yo' git enough to go roun' yore laig, an' yo' kin eithah wear it roun' yore laig or in yore shoe.
Entry 1293
If yo' wanta put a snake in anybody, yo' kin take a snake an' yo' dry him up an' they put him in whiskey aftah they dry up, an' yo' give it to 'em in their glass tuh drink. An' den it's parsley. Yo' let chure parsley set, yo' know, lak if yo' would let somethin' set. Yo' let it set about three days an' den yo' give it to whosomevah yo' wanta give it to tuh drink. An' den in three days dat dust form aigs, an' den in nine days aftah dey become a snake in yo'. Now if yo' wants tuh take dat snake out chew, yo' take garlic an' yo' take parsley an' yo' take peppah - yo' know this horseshoe peppah. Yo' evah saw dat horseshoe peppah? Dey would call it a cayenne. It's in a powder, beat up.
(It has a horseshoe on the box?)
Yeah. [That was a lucky guess!] Yo' would take that parsley an' take de garlic an' cut it up an' yo' boil it - boil all that together an' when it git cold yo' add the peppah into it, an' yo' give it to an individual tuh drink, an' den yo' make 'em pass it up. The live things will come out.
Entry 2567
You take cinnamon, parsley and you get you some sugar, Jockey Club, Mary Garden perfume and oil of geranium, you put that in there too, and you put all that together and you put it over in the east side of the corner in two cups, and you mix all that up - together, chop it up and put it in a cup and set it in a corner, and they [law] ain't going to bother you."
Entry 2645
Tuh keep de police away yo' git de salt, keep de salt - git dis heah Bluebird Salt an' jes' sprinkle it good roun' yore do', an' keep yore flo's scrubbed wit lye. Scrub every Friday mawnin' wit concentrated lye. An' it's a silver sand dat chew use - yo' know, silver sand. Well, yo' git dat sand an' yo' sprinkle dat roun' yore do'steps. If yo' wants tuh make a place be bad or if a man is got a place tuh rent an' if yo'wanta keep him from havin' much success, yo' gits some parsley seed an' throw em out roun' de do'. Dere won't nobody hardly go dere tuh stay.
Entry 2726
If yo' runnin' a place an' want luck fo' customers, yo'd git chew some cinnamon an' yo'd git some sugah an' git yo' some oil of verbena, an' take pars- ley - yo' know parsley whut chew season food with. Yo' put it in a bucket an' put it on de stove an' boil it well. Aftah it boil, yo' start tuh scrubbin' yo' business from de front to de back. When yo' git through scrubbin' it goin' to de back, dis same watah dat chew scrub wit, throw a glassful to each way - one tc de east, one to de west, one to de south. [Presumably, unlucky north purposely omitted.] All right. When yo' git through that, yo' take yo some cinnamon agin an' yo' take yo' three of those good incense, an' yo' let dat burn very slow. Take some sugah an' mix it up well, an' throw it right in front of de do', an' throw three buckets of watah on dat. Den de place won't be able tuh hold the people.
(What do you do with that incense?)
Burn it. Mix it wit de sugah. Have tuh sterilize de'sugah aftah yo' burn it, see. Well, throw it out an' throw three buckets of watah on it.
Entry 3047
You burn a green candle to St. Raymond. You take your green candle and you got St. Raymond on your altar and you sit the green candle before the saint and then you make your wishes to him. If you want a job - and you want the boss to give you a job, if you know his name, you take his name and you write it down nine times. You get some cinnamon and you get some parsley and you get some of this garlic and you pound that all up together and you put that in. Put it before your candle, right in front of the'candle where your saint's at and burn that, and he'll give you a job and like you. You burn it before St. Raymond. You can use a green candle. Use the same green candle for him, that the onliest kind of candle to use. You burn a white candle for peace.