Subject:Pepper
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Entry 2366
Red peppah an' ashes an' saltpeter an' dey cain't come ovah it. Pin it up( ovah yore do'. Dey'll come in but dey won't be mad.
(Where do you put that, you say?)
Jis' up ovah yore do'.
(Well, it would fall out wouldn't it?)
No, yo' gon'a put it in a bag an' tie a string aroun' de bag an' hang it on de nail, an' every day yo' got'a pee on dat.
(Not up there!)
Naw. Yo' take it down an' pee in a pan, an' pee on it, an' den yo' put it back up there. Dey cain't bother yo'. Dey kin come in but dey Won't do nuthin to yo'. Dey'll be jis glad.
suspending the tied bag from a nail above the door. Retain visitors can come in but are claimed not to be angry/harmful; do not rewrite the account as absolute exclusion. predicted mitigation of visitors’ angry or bothersome conduct while allowing their entry. No total visitor exclusion These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 661) · Read full source (printed page 662)
Entry 2846
She kin call that person that's impregnant [pregnant] an' mark in they back nine times. Jis' make a mark cross it - jis' lak yo' standin' talkin' to a person - jis' be standin' up doin' anything. (Like making a cross?) Jis' all in her back an' jis' cross it all kinda ways, yo' see. Then she go on an' she write that person's name down on that black candle. An' then she burn that candle an' red peppah in a green saucer.
(What will that do then?)
Well, that will cause her tuh have pain an' she cain't have her baby, see. She'll lose it.
crossing/marking a pregnant person's back, with geometry left indefinite. The continuation states intended pain and pregnancy loss; retain it as a reported harmful purpose, not a medical fact or recommendation. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 819) · Read full source (printed page 820)
Entry 4933
Now, if you leave your own home an' you got a par [pair] of dirty socks, but dey's got tuh be a par of yore dirty socks dat dey ain't been wash. Put [in these socks] red peppah, grave- yard dirt, an' six needles. An' yuh turn de needle points, when yuh bury it, to- wards de house, right towards yore do'. Bury it in yore yard or eithah in yore back yard, but let de points be [pointing towards] de do'. Aftah dose socks o' 'hisen is buried, yuh go out dere fuh five mawnin's, straight mawnin's, take yer dirt offa dis sock, turn yore back tuh de house [an' pick upl jis' [as] much as yuh kin throw, an throw it across yore right shouldah tuh de house. Wharevah he is, if he's way way from home, if he evah go on a train or anything, he'll come back - he'll come back home. An' he'll stay dere as long as yuh handle dose dirty socks.
predicted single absent man’s return and staying, with sock ownership unresolved. No husband inferred claimed continued residence conditional on handling the dirty socks. Keep the condition as long as yuh handle dose dirty socks; no permanent retention or observed success. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 8006
[I have two versions of the story about Bowizer and his two wives, a tale concerning his mistreatment of first wife and his enslavement by second wife. Whether this is the remnant of a folktale or the beginning of a new one, or something actually factual, I do not know.] FIRST VERSION OF BOWIZER TOLD BY COUSIN Mah Cousin's brothah's wife [not speaker's cousin but cousin by marriage who had a brother who had two wives, this one the second], she taken down sick an she had doctors an' doctors an' doctors of all kind, an' none of 'em seemed tuh not tuh do 'er any good. An' he wus settin' down one day an' - dat wus 'is sec- ond wife. He wusn't good tuh 'is firs' wife, but 'is second wife, he wus so good tuh 'er. He'd wash an' scrub fo' her an' evah- thing. Jis' cook an' evahthin'. So somepin come tuh 'im an' tole 'im, say, "Yo"go an' look in de bottom of yuh trunk. Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk." Well, he'd set down dere an' nod, an' nod, an' nod. Be settin' up wit 'er an' nod, an' nod, an' he'd drowse, an' sompin would tell im ag'in. "Go an' look in de bottom of yuh trunk." So fine'ly sompin tole 'im, "Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk, " fo' about two weeks. An' so de nex' time sompin tole him, "Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk, " he got up an' went on an' looked in de bottom of 'is trunk. All kinds of fine things, jis' fine dresses, de finest kind of step-ins, bloomahs an' a big ole automatic, he didn't even know it wus in de house, wus in de bottom of dat trunk. An'.den dere wus a li'le coffin down in dere - a li'le coffin. Dere wus de seat of 'is undahweah, de centah of undah each ahm [arm] in dere, an' some of dis here, whut dey call cayenne peppah sprinkled down on dere. An' it wus de image of a person made from a stick.
(From a stick?)
Right on a piece of a board, yo' know, jis' in a image. Yo' know, jis' lak yo' take a board an' cut a image of a person, yo' know. An' den dey had dat private an' evahthing cut down dere. Yo' know, had it crossed. An' so dey had jis' down in dere jis' lak a coffin, made in de shape of a coffin. An' it wus closed up an' dere wus 'is name wrote in dere nine times. His name wrote down in dat, right down in dat coffin nine times. Some kind of a powdah wus in dere. A li'le bottle about dat high of urinate wus in dere an' de cork, li'le cork stoppah wus in it, yo' see, well it wus cut on each side, see cut on each side fo' de air tuh git in dere, an' it kin come out, yo' see. An' it wus settin' right straight up right by dat li'le image of 'is private, yo' know, settin' right by it. An' it wus closed up right in de bottom of de trunk. An' so dat's whut had 'im, kept 'im down. He couldn't git away from 'er. She would do anything dat she Wanted tuh do an' he'd be pleased at it, he jis' stayed at home, but wit 'is firs' wife he didn't do it.
(What did he finally do? Did he get the spell off of him or anything?)
Yes, he took dat li'le box out of dere an' took it tuh two-three fortune- tellahs. An' dey tole him, ast 'im who fixed 'im, an' he tole 'em, said, "It wus mah wife." Dey say, "Well, do yo' want 'er?" So he tole 'em, 'Yeah, ah loves 'er." Dey say, "Well, if yo' love her, yo' take dat box right back, set it right back where yo' got it from; but if yo' don't want 'er no mo', yo' take a jar an' put dat box in dere dat jar big enough jar tuh slip dat box in dere" - dat box no biggah'n jis' lak dat - "an' den yo' close it up an' go tuh a runnin' stream an' throw it in dere an' say, "She'll leave yuh wandahin'.
(Leave you what?)
Leave yo' wandahin', she'll wandah away. An' he did dat an' dat woman got up dere one mawnin', she got well an' evahthin'. She wusn't all dat sick. She wus jis', yo' know, actin' lak dat, playin' sick fo' him tuh do de work. She got up from dere an' left, tole 'im dat she wus goin' tuh town. An' she left from dere, didn't eat or nuthin. She didn't even take time tuh git 'er clothes. She jis' got worried an' jis' half crazy, an' she left from dere an' he don't even know where she's at.
(I thought he wanted to keep her?)
You say, if he wanted to keep her?
(I thought he told the fortunetellers he wanted to keep her?)
Said he loved 'er. He [fortuneteller] ast 'im did he love 'er.
(Yes?)
An' he tole 'em, said, yeah, he loved 'er. "So, well, yo' take dat box den an' put it right back where yo' - where it wus.
(Well, why didn't he do that?)
Well, he wanted tuh git out of de fix he wus in. but he didn't.know it wus goin' tuh run 'er away.
(I see.)
[If the reader missed it, do turn back to the first sentence of this first version: "she had doctors an' doctors an' doctors of all kind." These are unique words because the usual expression is, with variations, 'she had every doctor in town. "[Mobile, Ala., (679), 975:3.] So mah brothah, Bowizah, had a wife, firs' wife. He didn't do nuthin jis' run roun' all de time. But ah'm tellin' yo' dis here whut ah know from experience. Ah ain't tellin' somepin whut somebody say dey know. So he ma'ied anothah woman an' she had 'im so she'd go out, she run roun' an' she do whut she please. He couldn't he'p 'imself. He wash an' he scrub an' sweep - do evahthin' in de worl' he could an' he couldn't quit 'er. So one day he wus 'tendin' our garden an' somepin tole him look in 'is trunk. So he went tuh de trunk an' looked in it an' seen all kin' raimints - clothes, shoes - evah- thin' wus in dere. An' he didn't know it wus in de house. So dis [same inner voice] says somepin tuh 'im, "Look in [the bottom of] dis trunk." An' so he looked in de bottom an' dere wus a small casten [or castit = casket] 'bout dat long [demonstrates].
(What?)
Casten - coffin. An' it had de seat of 'is undahweah cut out an' right up undah his sleeve [demonstrates].
(Under his arm, the left arm.)
Yes, sir, his left ahm. An' he got it out an' ca'd [carried] it tuh one of de men's [a doctor] an' de man put it in one dese fruit jahs [jars] an' screwed it tight an' put it in a runnin' stream. So he say one mawnin' she woke up an he run 'er out dat house an' he ain't saw 'er since.
Entry 3082
I came here to find out. (Will you sit a little bit closer so I can hear you?) [To bring him nearer the microphone.] [The following paragraph will introduce you to the problem I faced every day while collecting the material of this investigation - see also Introduction.] I came here to find out what your work may be, if there is any help I kin git in connection - if there is any of your help or whatnot in connection with what has happened to me in my business. [He is a bootlegger.] That's what I wan'a know. If it's anything 'at I've to tell or go through. I wan'a know that an' I'll begin my story jis' like I started off before [before I turned on machine]. There's so much of dis recently, I thought I jes' couldn't understand it you see. Lots of people come here an' say you's someone who tryin' to trap someone, an' this is tryin' to git someone in trouble. Well, I say, "Well, I don't know what in the world it's all about, but if he, that is to say, [does] things to help me, why I don't mind goin' over an' explain myself." ['Here I explain my work." These words are my penciled comment made at the time I did the original transcription in pencil. Here I also made one of my many mistakes. I failed to transcribe my explanation. My failure however Was excus- able - hand transcription being such a tedious and impossible task I had to call in an expert transcriber for the post-Wilmington cylinders. Yet one explaining sentence does remain, "I don't heal anyone, I don't sell anything." As you will now learn, this man Was in serious trouble. My lost explanation at least set him more or less at ease.] You mind if I light my cigarette?
(No, go right ahead.)
[I was smoking a cigar, why should I mind him smoking a cigarette. A woman later over in Memphis "came in...smoking a big cigar" - see MAMMY: THE CIGAR SMOKER in INTERVIEWS.] Now first, I'm a married man. I've got a wife an' three children - jes' as well say five because I've two to take care of that's my wife's sister's, dead, an' they stayed with me from the first, each one of them, so that makes me have five [children] to take care of. Now my wife, she's sick an' has been for a long period of time. Her first [sickness] was believed by medical experience was pelegra, an' after that, why I found out something else; an' I went on an' kep' - go see her an' I kep' finding out something else. I went to work at Wrightsville Beach six years ago [1931], right down here ll miles from the city, where I was workin' for Doctor W. there. An' one day, after knowin' that my wife had been sick so long - I kep' tryin' to, wonderin' what in the world's the matter - finally I found out from Doctor H., that it was pelegra. [Here informant is returning to something already said.] Thereon he subscribed that I take her to the country for her health. No doubt it would be a little beneficial to her, an' where it was quiet an' didn't hear the runnin' of the cars, the streetcars an' so on, an' jis' git out of all that stuff, an' it would make her no doubt so she recover. An' so I carried [her] on over to Atkinson, North Car'lina, an' she stayed there for a long long time - in fact the whole summer through an' partly of the fall. An' one day I got a telephone call - it come at ten o'clock jes' before I carried [her] to Atkinson. [Informant again returns to something already men- tioned. For the difficulty in following this type of thinking, see confusing story, No. 2750, Pp.758-767.] An' that was while I livin' away from home in the country right out here. In fact she was jis' like her mother, my daughter's god- mother [grandmother?] as fer as that concern [whatever this means]. Tom T., it was his wife [who. telephoned]. She say, "Come to town at once. Eliza is crazy."
[This may be why "she was jis' like her mother."]
An' I didn't believe it. When I got in town she didn't know me from [some- thing, not Adam] or nobody else. So after havin' consulted with Doctor H., as I foresaid, I carried her on up de country. She lived up there fer a while an' I'd go there. She jis' got in such a wreck, kickin' up so, an' jis' nobody could go around 'er. She didn't want to hear what they had to say. She jis' git to the place she dispised 'er father, you know. An' even to 'er sister or to herself or anybody. She didn't wan'a see nobody. Well we goes there to Clinton, North Car'lina. There's ole man up there, they call 'im Mr. Wickins[?]. He read the cards. He also give me a dose of medicine to take.
(What did he give it to you for?)
He told me when I took that dose of medicine - after readin' my palm - he said, "This dose is goin' work for you an' not her [it is not MEDICINE BY PROXY, p.365]; and besides, you goin' get it in house when you get back home. [This is preventive medicine - see PREVENTIVE MEDICINE CARRIED TO EXTREMES, p.328.] Well, I wonderin' what he meant by that. He told me, he said, "There's someone has thrown for you," he said, ''but they're not tryin' to kill your wife in connection with you, but they're durin' [doin'] somethin' to keep her puny, ailin' along." He said, "They'll give it to you, if they're havin' a whole lot of trouble with her." He said, "Now, it's a black-skin woman an' a dark-skin woman that's doin' this." [A doctor is always vague when identifying culprit - see MADAM JACKSON ACROSS DE CREEK, p.757.] An' besides, de black-skin woman is the woman that want joo, an' de dark-skin woman don't visit chore house very often but she's helpin' fo' this people." He said, "Now, the way they did this - goin' to git it goin' their way - they went there an' sprinkled somepin in de baid while you were away [in the country].
(Did he tell you what they sprinkled there?)
He said some kin'a powder. He couldn't - he don't - he set some kin'a thing in front of him. It was a little thing that looked to me like a little horses settin' up there, an' a little somepin looked like a crab, another thing looked like a little fish, another little thing looked like a little serpent. He could touch them little things, you could see them shiver all around in - looked like to me they was settin' in a little basin or a little [over shape? = over size?] bowl of water.
(Was it a bowl of water?)
Looked to me like it was water. An' he talked to me. Den directly he go startin' talk to these little things in there, an' they kin'a quiver. [See photograph, supposedly in crystal ball, "trembled like a leaf," p.173, line 5.] An' then he start to tell somepin else. ["I suggest that these figures were magnetic, shaped in forms of the zodiac, and that they quivered whenever the root doctor holding a concealed magnet passed his hand over them. There was no water in the bowl." This comment is a part of original transcription in pencil. The evidence or experience for it I no longer remember. These quivering figures may be a diagnostic device (pp.165-217) like the trembling photograph in the crystal ball just mentioned. It is certainly one of the many tricks to impress the patient - like invisible writing (p.265).] So he told me, he said, "You weren't all right, don't sleep well at night, an' neither one of you don't sleep good at night." I said, "Well, you're right." He said, "Well, don't answer me." He said, "I know what I'm talkin' about." I have given many examples of a doctor knowing or foreseeing everything - see YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME, p.316.] I says, "Well, I must tell you, she don't sleep at all at night." He said, "Well, that's why that was sprinkled in your baid for. An' the way this black-skin woman had the dark-skin woman to do, to give it to you, were to sprinkle some of the same stuff under your door, an' that's why it got choo an' it fix you. Then I told him exactly [all that had happened.] He give me some kin' of little roots - he called one [of] them John de Conker. Then he also give me some kin' of little stuff called wood mold. It grows in the little pine [something - could be thickets?] like tha' choo go to rake it up an' you use it for makin' fertilizer - like the farmers use. [In Maryland this "little stuff is called shadders (= shatters), "fallen pine leaves or needles," used for animal bedding, which turns into manure or fertiZizer - 723, p.240.] An' he told me to take that [wood mold] an' red oak bark [frequently used for medicine, p.462 and elsewhere] - take that stuff an' boil it, make a tea out of it, an' feed her off of it. Give her all salts that I could get her to take - physic salts. An' so I did it until she got to the place that she wouldn't even take that. An' I went back to him again an' he said get Vita-Food east [brand of yeast] that come in a big tall can about that tall - somepin tha' choo sprinkle over de food when she gits ready to eat. Not de Fleshman [Fleischmann] east, something in comparsion, but it was yellowish lak sulphur maybe an' had a very strong odor. An' he had somepin called Eastborn [yeast-born or Eastbourne] tablets. Well, she had then fallin' from a hunderd an' seventy-six pounds down to a hunderd an' twenty. Well, I was feedin' [her] on that stuff an' she went back to a hunderd and fifty. An' I come on back to town. An' afterwards I brought her back from de country here an' we lived together fer a good while. My house be the second doah to my brother-in-law - from her brother house, my brother-in-law. I was at 905, where he was 909. An' rather than stay home, she'd stay over there; but when she goin' eat she'd come home, an' jes' as soon as she eat she'd be right out an' gone. Well I got worried over the gait[?]. So I told my father-in-law about it an' he says, "Well, any steps you wan'a make, why go on an' make it." So then I got into another [acquainted with] boy that was workin' there with me. We called him Skeet. Skeet told me of a woman down South - Madam Rachel - Dillon, South Car'lina. [Note that a man in North Carolina calls South Carolina down South. This was frequently done - see Introduction.] An' he also made men- tion of a old man called Doctor Buzzard.
(Where was he?)
Florence, South Car'lina. First, before I got to this Madam Rachel, this Doctor Buzzard came to my house [in Wilmington].
(He came to see you?)
He came here ordinary passin' by. An' another person he goes by [visits pro- fessionally]. An' someone told him that I'd care to see somebody of that kind. So he came in. He had a little hand bag, not a big case. [Was he referring to my 3 large cases - recorder, transcriber, and cylinder carrier?] It was a hand bag [in imitation of a M.D.'s medical kit then in use]. He had a whole lot of little snakes in that bag. [See SNAKE, Pp.66-73, and elsewhere.]
(Alive or dead?)
Alive. That snakes scared her. She's frighten anything that kind. My wife was there. She was lyin' right in de baid an' he told her, he said, "Now, I'll put choo to walkin' by tomorrow for four dollers and one cent.' I ast him what was he goin' do with de one cents. He says, "Well, the four dollars is for me; the one cent is the cure." "I says, "If you put my wife to walkin' by tomorrow, I'll give you four dollers an' one cent." [For this type of payment, see DOCTOR ARMOUR, p.891, line 2.] He say, "Well git me a pint of liquor." I say, "That'll cost you a dollar." I got a pint of liquor. He took a needle an' two straight pins an' crossed them. He crossed all three of 'em an' tied 'em together with a red piece of string an' put em into a little bag. Then he took out some little seed that appearently looked like flaxseeds. An' he told me take these seeds; if it's any time you want to go, be with some Woman. He say you drop one of these seeds in the liquor or somepin that she's drinkin' an' make her do anything you want her to do. I said, "I didn't ask you to come here to cunjure me an' wife. I ask you to come here to aid." He said, "I don't mean that." Well, I went on an' give him de four dollers an' one cent, an' [he] took all this stuff an' sewed it up in that bag [thus making a hand]. Then he took the snake out of it [iar], which [snake] he had already wrapped one around my wife's leg an' throwed [throwing] some liquor over it he wrapped it around the right leg jes' above the knee. Besides, when I got that second pint of liquor for him, he poured some down the table an' poured those snakes out of a little jar he had 'em in, an' begin to talkin' to those snake, an' they stood right straight up an' go over to him. There's where I vacate out of de room fer a few minutes. [I repeat preceding reference, SNAKE, Pp.66-73, and elsewhere. Besides after one drink of raw moonshine whiskey a person could see a few things; after two pints of it, anything.] So I came back. In a few seconds later an' he told me, "All right. Now, by tomorrow, as I told you [she will be out of bed]." Well, he went home an' she seemed to be recoverin' a little. But then this Madam Rachel, about two weeks later, she came there. This was the third party [root doctor] now. [She had been called from Dillon, S. Car., to wait on a case in Wilmington, and had heard about my informant.] An' she told me to go to the drug store to Doctor Mason [druggist], the Ideal Pharmacy. I was livin' aroun' there at that time. [This is a normal drug store, not a hoodoo store.] She tole me to git a dime worth of bluestone an' red pepper. An' she put out some dirt, some kin'a lookin' - I called it sand. She poured out a little bottle, but she tole me it was graveyard dirt. So she mixed it all together. Then she ask me before she give me that stuff, she said, "Do you know any officers in this town?
(Officers?)
Officers. Policeses. I said, "Yeah, I know jist about every one of 'em." I told her the name of them. An' [she said], "Write them down on this piece of paper I'll give you. De's somepin I wan' choo to do with it." I said, "All right." So I wrote down every one that I could think of. She said, "Now, on this set of names, how many is it that you think would do you harm, an' he goes out an' make it his business an' come arres' chew jes' out of ordinary [for no purpose at all?]?" I said, "I don't know. I hate to go through that part of it; but still, since it's personal, why I guess I'll have to tell you." So I named the one or two that I thought wasn't very good friends of mine an' knew the whole family an' my wife and her [people] before I even knew her my own self. So I named 'em down fer her. She told me, she said, "Now, you take these names on this piece of paper, go to the northeast of this house an' bury it down there, then come back to me. Then she took that dirt, that mixture she had there, an' circle all the way aroun' my house entirely. [To circle the house with salt or other substances is a fairly common protective device.] An' told me then - she says, "There somepin under your front doorstep tha' joo an' your wife are walkin' over ev'ry day is what cause you not to be gittin' along any better, an' I'm gon'a stop it. An' besides, the officers been runnin' in here on you all the time an' claim that choo have a lot of liquor an' you doin' this an' that an' de other thing you' re not doin'." She said, "I'm gon'a stop that. Besides, Im gon'a fix it so when they come to the front door they can't come in." I said, "How much is that gon'a cost me?" She said, "Give me three dollers an' you pay for the goods an' a doller on my gas bill back home." Well, she had a big Buick car out in front. I did that. Well, I found out I was gittin' along very very good then an' really my wife did come out of bed, stayed up fer a long time, gittin' along gran'. So after she'd gone, I decided then I'd move an' change houses. I thought the house was bad luck to me. I didn't know if there any other stuff [sprinkled or buried] along there. So I moved. No sooner than I moved, I got in other house, [it Wasn't] three months before I in [jail] agin. That [this] time I cooked 60 days in the county jail up here in town. I cooked up there when the cook got sick.
[At least this tells us something about the informant - he was a fair cook.]
An' when I came back, to be sure whether I was right or wrong, I moved right back in that same house. [Which house?] Then [I] started to fallin back [into the same bad luck] right away. I had a ole - sister's dead an' gone now. She came to me one day an' tole me, she said, "Let me tell you somepin. She always did call me brother. [She Was not his sister.] She say, "Let me tell you somepin, brother." She say, "There's somepin aroun' this house that it interfering with chor life an' you can' be happy. You can't live with your family like you want to," she says. "I'm goin' find it," she say. She went up under my front doorstep an' got a pair of scis- sors out from under there with one of the points broke off of it, an' ole rusty nails au' needles all tied together. An' she brought them in the house with her, "Here it is, I've got it at last." [He did not see her find the articles.] I said, "Now, Mama Annie, do you reckon that's true?" She say, "Well, here it is."
(What was her name?)
Mama Annie, we called her. Her name was Annie P. We called her Mama Annie.
[She was a root doctor.]
So she tole me then to take that, break it up, burn it up, do anything I knew to do an' I would stop that stuff goin' on then. So I ask her what it was an' she tole me it was [some]thing that somebody still tryin' to git between me an' my family. I took that pair of scissors - I had a good hot fire in the stove - needles and nails, an' I thought that stove would melt. It turnt red-hot. An' I let it there fer two or three days till I was sure it was gone. I got rid of that. Well now, a little later on comes the nex' part of it. I got in some more trouble. A man 'cused me then of sellin' 'im whiskey. This happen recently, too. This party - he's dead, the one that said it; but this party lives right here in the city now. [I am unable to straighten this out - the man will appear again.]
(How long ago was all this happening - these stories?)
It happened to an' fro within the last five or six years - right along, all up an' down the sides, right up an' down. It's right now so. Jis' like I told Mr. Gavin out here [in my waiting or reception room in the Gavin home] jis' a while ago. [Mr. Gavin, my contact man in Wilmington, N. Car., Was the husband of the sister of Julia, page one. I interviewed in the Gavin home and had lunch there each day.] I said, "I've a tendency maybe today I want my wife any second an' I'll go to her. We are sweet and loving together. An' directly another feelin' jump right [up in] me an' I'm out and gone. Maybe she'll be talkin' nice an' lovin' to me. Directly she jump right up, "Oh! So-an'-So." An' I'm out an' gone. Well, I go around to her brother's house an' go to bed an' sleep or some- where, anywhere, at some friend, an' go on to sleep. So I told her one day, I said, "Let me take you down South. I had a party aroun' there in Walnut Street by the name of J. He told me a place up [down] here between Southport an' here, that I could go to a man that he was - well, that he could clear all that stuff where I lived at. [Southport - being south of Wilmington - equals informant's "down South."] Somebody agin! [Another root doctor!] An' that [meeting with the doctor down toward Southport] was suppose to have happened this last Thursday, but I was sick - had no more than come out of the hospital. I had a rectal abscess. I'd jes' been operated on. Come out last Monday an' I wasn't able to go. I didn't have any money to go with - the first part of it. I had to pay little bills you know. An' about this last party, to git back to de same trouble'as I started to say. This man claimed that I sold him some whiskey on the 21st day of November, an' I Wasn't even in the house that day or that night. An' so dis same [Walnut Street] Mammie J., he told me that, "I know a party that you ought to see right here in town. Maybe he kin help you a little." I said, "Who is it?" [No answer.] They [the rootworker between Wilmington and Southport] were supposed to be here in town this last past Thursday, but didn't come an' I didn't have any way to get to 'em. But I did see the party here in Wilmfngton. An' they told me also that it was things down aroun' my house; that's why I couldn't live happy an' peaceful at home.
(What do you think about it?)
Well, I do think there [is something] in it. An' I'll be frank with you. There had been a time way back, when I was much younger, I didn't believe any doze kin'a things; but I still now, since I found things buried - there is so much. An' that when I'd go as I foresaid, an' try to make love to my wife, seem like ev'rything is all right, right at first an' directly things occurred in an- other different way. An' then I would come an' try to humor her along, "Honey, what's de matter? What's de occasion? Sittin' in de dining room, huggin' wit 'er as sweethearts do. We'll talk things over an' directly she'll say, "Well, let's do so-an'-so, let's be sweethearts again." She'll forgit it an' I'll do anything fer you. You kin bet chor life right on the same schedule agin. So I went to this party [in Wilmington] an' he read the cards out fer me, an' told me that there was somepin down at my house to cause to bein' this way, an' I couldn't help myself, an' give me a root, an' got it with me now as fer as that's concern. He told me to keep it wit me anywhere I went. An' I got another thing, I got two other articles at de house that I keep. An' whenever I go roun' my wife, he told me to always wipe my face down with that powder. It's a little sweet perfume powder. An' then there's a little ball somepin like you got it sewed up in a little bag. You can't tell what's in it. I didn't cut it open to see. [This is a ball-shaped hand.] I leave it at home unless I'm goin' round to her house.
(What's the name of that root?)
I don't [know] what de name of the thing. I got it here in my pocket. An' she told me to chew a piece off of it an' spit around the door before I walked in, to kill my enemies before I got dere. That's what she give it to me fer. She said that would kill my enemies before I got dere; an' if it's anyone to do any harm, it'll change their mind. That I would also find a little dark-brown-skin man there. I didn't intend to tell you about that. That's de trouble over me an' my wife. An' [she said] I would certainly find that man there. An' she also told me she did it [whatever this means]. An' my wife sometime would mention this man ["rootworker is my transcription notation] to me. She said she liked me but she never [was untrue tol me an' didn't live no man in the world but me. Well, I know that of it's true [truth]. An' the thing that - so far [the marriage?] would last three or four years jis' about perfectly right up to the minute [trouble began]. This little bag I pinned that on the inside of my clothes nex' to my flesh. Then sometime it would smell like a onion an' agin it would smell like perfume - change odors all kin' of ways, like turpentine an' agin you don't know what you smellin'. Jes' the way that thing smell. Well, as I tell you, I didn't open it up to see what was in it, because it was sewed down there. Then she give me a prayer. It was written on a piece of paper down onto the 24th Psalm, called Ezekiel, I believe it is. An' I'd read that an' memorize as much of it as possible when I'm goin' aroun' my wife - like I'm away there now an' I should happen to think [trouble Was brewing]. That [is] to quite fusses down or anything in case you may start anything. Read that as I start towards my house, an' when I git to my yard I finish it an' then go in. An' they told me when I paid her a dollar and a half more, that she would go in there an' git this thing up an' show it to me. An' I told this weekend I'd let her complete her part of the job. An' [I] found that ev'rything she told me has worked out right. Even now in this case that I have now, she told me that this case was gon'a be put off three times. An' she said, "Let's put it off some more."
(That case in court now against you?)
Yes sir, that this man J. accused me of sellin' him some whiskey, bottle of liquor on the 23rd day of November of last year, which I wasn't even in my house, as I aforesaid a while ago, dat day or night. An' she told me and said, "Well, I'm gon'a show that I'm right before I clear you completely. I'm gon'a put off your case some more." An' she has put it off eight times successfully. Now this comin' Friday will make the ninth time that I'm goin' to be tried.
Entry 504
I told him to get some pepper an' throw de seeds all aroun' on de floor. Well, after dey [a hag] came in there, they've got to pick up ever' grain of dat pepper before they kin get out. They kin ketch 'em and they won't come no more.
(Why won't he do that?)
I don't know, sir. He's 'fraid, say he git de pepper - might git it in his eyes or somepin or 'nother like that. Den I told him, I said, "Well, if 'fraid dat," I say, "well, take your broom and sweep your bed down," I say, "ever' night befo' you get in de bed." He do it for about nine nights or nine mornings, why dey won't bother him no more. But dey ride him most ever' night. See, he'll be hollerin' and moanin'.
(Where does he live?)
Next door. So one night, de night befo' last, he wus hollerin' and strugglin' in his sleep. So I called and ast him what wus de matter. And he ast de Lord to help him. He say he tore de cat up and threw him in de fire. [Informant paused here and I turned off my machine, thinking she had ended. But, she added a final statement which I had to repeat as a question to the quickly turned on machine.]
(When he woken up the cat was gone?)
Yes sir. [The witch-hag had changed into a cat before riding this man.]
Entry 1383
Git chew a box of [Red] Devil Lye an' bury one at chure step, one at each corner yore house or either at each corner of yore yard where yo' comes in an' go out, an' bluestone an' brimstone, but open de top of it an' put de brim- stone an' bluestone an' de red peppah on de top. Yo' see, dat's good tuh keep 'em away, kill out all de germs an' everything an' take care of de home. It will destroy all dat wus dere.
Entry 1836
For luck in gambling, I used to buy hands.
(Yes?)
One hand I bought, it was full of charcoal - there wasn't nuthin to dat one. But the other hand, it was purtty good. Ah bought me a ring, see, and my birth- stone was in it. And I would use lodestone and I could soak dice in pepper and chamber lye - keep those dice soaked in 'em, you see. And just like I run a gam- bling house and you come dere, well, you see I'm always got two pair of dice. Well, the dice what you shoot, they're soaked in that stuff - in that lodestone and chamber lye. But now, when it come round for me to shoot the dice, I'm going to shoot that other pair. Well, you see, you losing all de time; you can't make a point on it, but I'm going make a point because I'm shooting a diff'rent pair. See.
(I see. The pair you see, you don't do anything to at all?)
No, sir. I don't do anything to hit at all. And I keep my table, just like I got this cloth on here. I take and get me some silver - 'bacco silver.
(What's that?)
Silver off of tobacco, you know, chewing tobacco.
(Silver paper off of tobacco [tin foil], I see.)
Yassuh, take that silver and I pad it under this here tablecloth, see. I keep a shooting on de cloth all the time. Well, I pad that under there and I get me some - some pound - you see, it's pound lodestone, pound lodestone.
(You mean like powder?)
Yes, it's made up like dust. Well, I get some of that and I put dat silver down and I sprinkle dat lodestone under dat silver and put dat silver over it.
(I see.)
I put dat cloth over dat. See. Well, you don't know what's under dat. But it's all in my favor, none in yours - it's coming in my favor all the time but it's none in yours.
(I see - in shooting the dice.)
In shooting de dice. And you shoot dem dice on dat table, you kill 'em; you'll get a point, but it's three to one that you make that point. See, I can give you - ah'd give you odd bets on it. Why? Because I know ah'm got cinches on you, you ain't got none on me; but ah'm got cinches on you because I just natch'ly know. Then, after I give you odds on it, I kin turn in and switch dem dere - ketch dem dice and throw dat - send another pair out - the same dice but not the same dice what you got the points with. See.
(I see.)
And you going miss. (That silver [tin foil] under the table[cloth] then makes the fellow you are playing against - makes him miss?) Yes, sir.
Entry 1978
Now, if ah go to a two-headed person an' tell 'em tuh tell me somepin, an' he tells me whut ah'm comin' fo' an' who an' everything - he tells me whut's [what it is] ah'm comin' fo' - jes' lak if ah come in dere, why he'll tell me, "Why, yo' comin' tuh do so-an'-so, '' an' everything lak dat. Say, "Yassuh." He say, "Well, yo' ain't had no luck'" - lak dat. Well, see, if ah go tuh him an' he tell me ah'm goin' have luck - jes' lak ah go tuh him an' he give me a han' fo' gamblin'. Why he'll tell me whut tuh do. He'll give me somepin an' won't tell me whut it is, an' tell me tuh go home an' bury it undah mah back do steps, an' aftah ah bury it he'll tell me, 'Come back in two or three days," an' he'll tell me whut it is. [Magic delay.] An' he'll put a toadfrog in a sack an' sew it up an have it sprinkled wit red peppah an' bury it undah my back do'steps. An' ah'll be lucky an' ah won't lose a cent, but ah got tuh keep on renewing it up see, an' he say ah won't lose a bet.
(Well, do you leave that toadfrog under the steps then?)
Yessuh, dat's right. An' when it goes stale yo' know ah gotta go back tuh him, see. When it git old ah gotta go back to him an' keep it renewed up. An' yo' gotta have confidence in him, yo'know. An' den ah kin go tuh him an' tell him whut ah wants did, anything. He mo' den apt tuh send me back home. He ain't wanta do it de first day. He'll tell yo' come back. [Magic delay.] If ah don't believe in him when ah go dere, he'll tell yo' tuh go back an' make up in yore mind dat chew goin' believe in him. An' if ah wants tuh work - if a man is got somepin, see, ah go dere meanwhile an' ah'll tell him. An' he'll tell me how tuh go in a place, a place ah ain't nevah been - yo' know, make out where he is. Ah kin go wheresomevah he is, if he round anywhere. If he drink, ah drink - try tuh git near to him as ah kin, see, an' ah has this Jockey Club an' lodestone, an' den ah'll jes' rub it on him yo' know, put mah han's on him jes' lak if ah wanta tech him.
Entry 2225
Yo' take some of yore urinate water yo' see, an' a lil peppah, an' a little piece of lodestone if yo' kin git it. If yo' cain't git that, well, yo' take a lil piece of rabbit foot. Yo' kin take one rabbit foot an' wrap it up in flannen cloth an' tie it up, have de red peppah to it, an' carry dat in yore left pocket. Dat will make yo' have a good hand.
(That is luck in gambling?)
Yessuh. [Since I did not ask what happened to the urinate water, I probably assumed it was used for feeding the hand - see margin-title Urine later in this subsection.]
Entry 2246
Go out in de woods an' ah find some rattlesnake root an' git it an' tie 'em up in a sack an' sprinkle some black pepper ovah it an' tote 'em right in yo' left shoe.
(What will that do then?)
Well, that make yo' luck be on - people can't win then [from you].
(That's for luck in gambling.)
Entry 2265
Well, he'd [my husband would] have me sprinklin' salt fo' 'em tuh fall. Ah used to sprinkle salt on 'em fo' 'em tuh fall, so he could win. Dat'll kill yo' hand if yo' got a gamblin' han' - done went somewhere an' got a gambling hand. Dat'll kill it - salt an' red peppah.
Entry 2347
Dat's 'cordin' to whut kinda luck yo' mean. Ah know de gamblin' luck an' whut bad luck is given on dat, if a man's a gambler, see. Well, yo' kin take some turpentine an' red peppah, mix it, an' black peppah, an' mix it together. Now, if a man got a lucky hand, you kin put dat in his pocket, it will turn his luck. Dat's fo' gamblin' luck.
Entry 2565
Ah'm a bottlegger mahself - dat's how come I mos'ly knows some of them things. Yo' don't need nuthin but take yo' a can of potash an' a box of red pepper and digs yo' a hole right befo' yore steps - round hole jest enough to fit de can. And take it and take de red pepper and set it right on de lid of dat can, and set it down and bury it right dere befo' yore steps.
(You set this can of what?)
Potash.
(Up - upwards?)
Dat's it.
(And you take the red pepper and do what?)
Put it upside down on dat can.
(And cover it up. That keeps the law away.)
Entry 3136
She kin take some of 'is discharge, some of dat, an' she kin take an' tighten it down [in bottle], jes' lak she kin put it in a rag an' tighten it down airtight an' wear dat on her, an' dat will keep 'im. Dosin' it a li'le bit wit black peppah, put black peppah on it, an' de firs' thing yo' know, yo'll be at de place dat chew don' want nobody else but 'er.
Entry 3878
Ah heard dem talk about usin' a fish. Now yo' take a fish. Well, now, yo' take a fish. See, jis' lak if a man an' a woman love one anothah, dey'll [a woman will] go to work an' take a fish, an' she'll cut 'im right straight down 'is back. Cut dat fish down 'is back an' she'll put in dat fish sompin lak black peppah. She split 'im down de back an' she'll put a little black peppah in 'im, an' she put buttah in 'i - cow buttah. She'll put dat in 'im [fish]. She'll go to work den an' she'll git some of her ministrate an' smear in dere. An' jes' by - say whut chew call a baked fish, see she'll bake it. See, dat makes somepin go all through it. When he [fish] git come, lay it on one side. Well de suction will go in dere. Well now, fish is special fo' one person. Well, now when he eat dat one fish - he eat dat fish, why regardless to who it [he] is, an' who it [she] is, dey goin' be togethah unless one 'tuthah [or the other] of 'em dies. Dere ain't no way fo' to keep 'em from bein' to- gethah.
Entry 4392
Yuh know, lak goin' tuh make a passage, yuh know yuh take some of dat an' burn it, see. Yuh take some of dat an' burn it. Co'se dat will make it so dat it will lock it tuh yuh. It'll lock it by puttin' peppah an' stuff in it, mixin' it up wit sompin else.
Entry 4877
De only thing dat will work on anyone - an' heah's another little prop- osition. Yuh sure yuh're not goin' tuh print dose things [here in Mobile]?
[I must have shaken my head to say, no.]
Well, all right. Well now, say fo' instance now, yuh's a woman an' ah wanted yuh. HAVE YUH GOT A POCKET HAN'KECH'EF DERE? GIMME YUH POCKET HAN'KECH'EF. NOW say, fo' instance how, yuh wanted a woman an' yuh couldn't git 'er. Yuh come tuh me an' says, "DoC, mah wive [wife] is gone, an heah's lady 'cross de street ah is aftah, an ah can't git 'er." Ah say, "Aw, yes yuh kin. Have yuh got ten dollahs?" [Or] ah say, "What chew gimme tuh git 'er?" He say, "Ah give yuh ten dollahs." Ah tell yuh what chew do. Ah say, "Yuh go an' kin yuh git one of 'er ole dirty stockin's?" He say, "Yes." Ah say, "Well, yuh git one of 'er ole dirty stockin's." Yuh go an' git dat stockin'. Ah say, "All right." An' ah say, "Now bring me yuh own." All right. NOW PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TUH ME. Take her stockin' jis' like dat [demonstrates]. Jis' like dis is heah, an' lay yores on top of it. YUH WATCH ME. See how dere [they are] straight. [He starts to roll them up.]
(You roll them up.)
Yo' roll 'em tuh yuh, jis' like dat. Roll 'em tuh yuh an' den when yuh git tuh de laig part, den yuh turn dat ovah tuh yuh an' roll yores ovah de top of dat jis' like dat, yuh see. Well, den yuh go ahead den an' git chew a jar, an' put nine grains of whole grain black peppah in dere - jis' drop 'em in dere. Den yuh write her name seven times an' put it in dere - an' roll it tuh yuh.
(The name must be rolled up with the stocking?)
Rolled wit de stockin'. Well, den yuh roll dat wit de stockin' into de jar, an' where yuh stay at, den yuh bury dat undah de step, see.
Entry 9084
If yo' gotta go befo' de judge, well yo' dress yo'self befo' yo' go 'fo' de judge. Well, yo' kin have yo' some dat same John de Conkah an' guinea peppah.
Entry 9142
What 'tend [intend] tuh do sompin, lak if dey could git dere an' git an' put dat salt an' peppah in de cornahs in 'is house. Dat's what dey say. If dey could git in dere an' put dat salt an' peppah....
(In the judge's office. What do they do that for?)
Tuh control de judge.
Entry 10927
Cut hair from black cat's tail, mix with black pepper; if undesired visitor, burn this on stove, won't come back. Also keeps law away. [Norfolk, Va., 476:6.]
Entry 11315
They take a white dog's...
(A white dog's what?)
A white dog's nurine and mix it with black pepper.
(Wait, the urine from the dog or the manure?)
The manure from the dog.
(And mix it with what?)
With black pepper.
(With pepper?)
Yes, sir, and sprinkle it up underneath the steps.
(What will that do?)
That will make you move out in nine days. That's what they told me. [For vhite dog manure see also No.1840, p.548, v.1.]
Entry 11545
Right foot track sewed in bag with lodestone, pepper, hair, in run- ning water, runs you crazy. [Vicksburg 1003:2.]
Entry 11776
Graveyard dirt mixed with black pepper and sprinkled at your door 9 mornings will make you move. [Memphis 1569:12.]
Entry 12126
Bury dat bow wit diff'ren' things in it, sech as peppah an' first one ole stuff an' den anothah.
(Keep them with the headache?)
Keep 'em with a headache. [Algiers, La., 1954:10.]
Entry 12552
Dey take red peppah and red onion hulls - peelin's, yo' know this shell of 'em. If yo' put dem in [on] de floor yo'll always be confused.
(If someone puts them in your house?)
Yeah, yo' can't git along in yore house. [Mobile 961:8.]
Entry 12554
To make people move, blow chopped up onion and pepper through the keyhole. [A hollow reed or other blowing-through-keyhole rites in HOODOO but not many.] [New Orleans 1123:1.]
Entry 12597
If they have a place [as a cook] an' this cook who cooked keeps on comin' back, well when she comes back to your place there, the [cook's] old place, don't choo understand, well the way you'd do. You'd git you black pepper an' sprinkle it on that hot stove, turn your back and throw it over your left shoulder.
Entry 12624
Sift or crush red pepper pod at door or gate to protect against my evil. [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone, informant half-grown boy when Civil War began and was living in what was to become the Bloody Triangle when Lee and Grant met near Fredericksburg, Va. I have a number of rites from him, but can- not find his number at the moment.]
Entry 12844
Protect yourself against evil work by bathing with red pepper and fish brine. [Richmond 325:10.]
Entry 12856
To rid yourself of an unwanted visitor, keep mixed salt and pepper handy and throw it after him or her on 3 successive visits. [Wilmington 220:7+85.]
Entry 13215
To keep law away, get spider or web, put in box of black pepper [probably a new box], set anywhere in your place [of business]. If you can't get spider, use the web. [The magic here: spider on the watch-out, the veb entangles.] [Memphis 1552:7.]
Entry 13393
Boil on your stove your urine, pepper, cinnamon and outside peeling of onion; this keeps undesirable persons away. [Washington, D. C., 814:1.]
Entry 10399
"He kin take this snail an' dress her while he knows he's leisra [home]. He kin take that red peppah an' threw it down at de do'step...she'll be jis' lak a rattlesnake by crawlin' while he's gone an' she won' pay 'a[l] any tenshun [attention]; she'll [be] sociable wit 'em but dey can't coee in dere" [Little Rock, (897), 1470:1].
This doorstep reference appears in a printed condensed excerpt. Hyatt's governing notice describes short or reduced statements; the wording includes an ellipsis and unclear forms. It is not a verbatim audio claim. Door retrieves the threshold location without equating it with a door panel. Read both the item and production notice.
Read full source (printed page 3993) · Read full source (printed page 3988)
Entry 11790
"You kin jis' take some black peppah an' some graveyard dirt an' sprinkle it where they'd [the suspected thief would] walk on it an' they'll bring it [stolen article] right straight back." [Richmond 322:6.]
Entry 12832
"Sprinkle salt and pepper around there at twelve o'clock at night, and they claim when they walks through this, they gets their feet hurtin'. They eventually leave there [their home] completely." [Richmond 459:1.]
Entry 559
I was married quite a spell and I met this woman, as I was lodging wit her. Well, she seemed to have been my best friend before she knowin' dat my husband was goin' tuh marry me. At de time we was gettin' ready to get married she attempted, no doubt, to separate us. And she got very special pieces and cut 'em into pieces. Well, I found 'em after goin' to see dis man.
(Well, tell me about going to see that man again.)
I went to see de man and he says to me, he says, "Dis woman is your worst enemy." Said, "Dis woman means to separate you and your husband." (And he was looking into a crystal or something like that wasn't he?) [She is retelling the beginning of the story because I had failed to start machine.] Yes - you want me to tell dat again?
(Yes.)
He said, "Well, I will show you dis woman as your enemy, and I wants to see whether you know her." The crystal was as big as a - great big round crystal and just as clear as a crystal - that's why I thought it was a crystal - must have been a: crystal ball.
(You actually could see her in there with her arms spread out?)
I seen her spreaded and when he put de crystal, he said, "Now, look in here - it tells you. I says, 1 "All right." "All right." Dis woman was standing between me and my husband like this. He say, "Now, dat's to keep you apart."
(Well, how did it happen that you went to see this man?)
I went home. I had something it effected [affected] me like the rheumatism - that what she had done it effected me just like a rheumatism. I had on my knees something de shape of a egg, dat you would bury you finger in - you know, it would give. (Was it a bump - a big bump?) [I am trying to prevent her from omitting details previously told.] Yes, it was right in this place and it just like you would bury a egg in sand; you know how de egg is an oval - something like dat and it would be half buried - and if you stick your finger in it in de morning it wouldn't come up through de day. And so he examined it and he had to give me a bath. He put de feet just in a bath and he - course I didn't want him to go dat far, but he said that he were my best friend. Then I begin to know it wasn't rheumatism, when he told me about de woman. So, well, I said, "I don't believe what you say." He say, '"Certainly, you don't believe it but I want to show you." And when I seen de woman I believe there was something that wasn't so. So, she was just between us - she trembled just like a leaf - just like that [demonstrates]. [How he agitated the concealed photograph depends upon whether the crystal was in his hands or on a permanent base. More important than the how is the clever- ness of the why.] I says to him, I says, "Well, why is that [trembling]?" He says, "She is very nervous - I'm sending it, turning it back to her." He said, "Now, when you go into your home" - I were leaving in a day or so - "you go to walk." I had to be carried upstairs and brought down. He say, "You go to walk and when you go in, you just say, "Take it off of me and put it on her."
(You say that as you went in the door?)
I was to say that as I go up de steps, and he give me something to sprinkle as I passed - "Take it off of me and put it on Julia" - her name was Julia - ''take it off me and put it on Julia." [He said] "In a few days Julia will become just like she wanted you to become."
(How many times did you have to say that?)
Right as I was goin' up de steps.
(Was there any number of times you had to say it?)
Right on as I goin' up the stairs - till I landed upstairs. I lived over her. And in a few days, he said, she'll become just like she intend me to become, and that was that she'd be sore - all of her private parts would be very, very sore and she'd be so - just effected nobody wanted to have her round. Well, she did. And he said that she'll ask you to wash for her. He said, "Don't fail to do it." Well, dat scared me to death and I wanted to get - you see he said, "Dat's your only savior - that's your only savior." So I went downstairs that morning - she asked me - and she was in a bad condition, and "Don't let dis woman get to your back." Well, it would be every five minutes she could be in dere, and I had to get up, you know, and turn my face to her, and I washed de clothes and I hung dem out. And when I get to my landing up de stairs again, he says, say de same thing, "Take it off of me and put it on Julia." Well, dat woman was taken down so nobody - her husband left her and nobody stayed in dere, all de lodgers left. She was just so offensive - de house and everything. And she stayed that- a-way, I reckon, about three months in de house all alone, nobody paying no attention. And she died all alone. And they found dis package dat belonged to me where she had - and - because I knew de things - and some of my dress and it was something - I said it was red pepper and dis man said it was. And he said that these things were put together to separate us through living very much like two cats or dogs, see, and they'd make me fight. [See No. 78 in which a woman becomes a drunkard because another woman put a spell on her.] Well, while he were treating me, he put me in dis bath and over here he had a table dat he mixed up all kinds of stuff - he had that table full of everything. So this solution that he give me to keep up de bath was something like bluestone, and he had bluestone - as I think it was, and - I was looking right at him - and he had sulphur and he had some kind of a white stuff looking just like salts, I guess.
(Any kind of salts - like Epsom salts.)
Epsom salts - very much like Epsom salts - and he would mix it - he'd do like that [demonstrates] - mix it.
(He would cross his arms.)
Yes. [She continues demonstration.]
(Then he would do like that - fold his arms.)
I - here - that - yes, just like that. [Demonstration continues.] (Then he would move his hands out like that - and he would bring his arms back again - and fold them again - and they would keep going out - hands going out.) Yes, six times.
(Six times - while he was mixing it over the water - after it or what?)
He had de water now, it was just like spring water - it was just so clear and. [She stopped here while I changed to cylinder 429 and as usual I talked to distract attention.]
(He mixed it for you - he put it in a bottle, this medicine?)
Yes, and I was to drop that, which - he said it was two drops or something - looked like blood.
(After it was all mixed up it looked like blood?)
Yeah - no, he just put three drops in dere - very much like blood.
(Oh, he put three drops of [something looking like] blood in there?)
Yes, and he told me to take this and bathe that leg down with mah feet settin' propped square and flat in de basin or in a tub, any place that I would get, and I was to pray and ask de Lord to uproot that. Sure enough I did - in about four days I was ready to run upstairs, and that place gone.
(Was it on the side of your knee or just above your knee?)
Just above - right up on top of de knee - not on de cap but right in de - like in de lap-like of de knee. (Oh, in the lap - I see - one on each side?) [I evidently thought I saw then what I do not see now.] Yes, one on each side, and they were to go all over me and I was to break out so my people would have left me like her people left her. Well, after she died, why I got on splendid and my health improved and every- thing seemed to be going on nicely, and this husband and I got back friendly again, and we live together now.
(Where did this happen - up here in Petersburg, you say?)
Yes - no, no - in Norfolk. Now, Petersburg is mah home. [Now - at the interview - she lived in Norfolk.]
(Oh, Petersburg is your home, I see.)
Yes, and they took me to Petersburg to this doctor.
(Oh, this doctor was in Petersburg?)
Yes, de doctor was in Petersburg.
(What was his name - is he still alive up there?)
Now? I don't think he is, because I tried to look for him for another friend and I don't believe dat he is alive. De last dat dey say dat he was in Richmond. But nobody over there kin tell anything about him no more than he were there, and nobody in Petersburg kin tell no more 'en he was there - lived over in Pocahontas in two huts - there were dirt floors and roughly fixed as a bed - you might say a bunk - that's the way he stayed. And it was a dirt floor in both of these bunks, these huts - and I went in both of 'em - send me first in one and den the other, and I stayed there all day. He ordinarily treated in those places - and when I come on there.
(He treated in one room once and then go and treat you in the other room?)
Yes, and each time I was in a different kind of a chair.
(Different kind of chairs.)
Yes - now one chair he screwed me up to be tall - you know, somepin like a office chair.
(Oh, like a office chair - I see.)
Yeah - a office chair brings you low and high, and he screwed me up. I didn't have to get down for anything until he got ready and then he would attend and do everything, but he used this medicine all de time, see.
(What you had to do at home, he did it in the office first?)
Yes. (Well what sort of - what did he have in that tub - did he have water in that tub or a special mixture in there?) He had water.
(Just plain water.)
Yes, first it was warm water, and then he put dis medicine in there.
(In the water that he had prepared?)
Yes, and then he told me what to repeat, when I went up de stairs, "Take it off of me and put it on Julia." 'Take it off me and put it on Julia." And it took me about six or ten times to say that going upstairs.
(How long ago did this happen?)
Well, that was - I was quite young.
(About how many years ago would you say that was?)
Oh - that would be thirty years - have to be thirty years and more, I think, too - yes, a long thirty years ago. And I see dis man, I think, twice after dat. After I had improved a little, I went to see him again and he says to me, he say, "Don't have anything to do with dat woman whatever - if you even correspond with her, it'll bother my work." And sure enough dat man was doing miracles round in Petersburg and I know people now that he attended, if they are alive.
(What was his name - do you know his name?)
He was named Skipper Tan - John Skippertan.
(John Skippertan?)
S-k-i-p-t-a-n.
(I see.)
A most peculiar name - and he looked very much like a cat. [This reminds me of Doghead whom I twice tried to find in his shack on an isolated public dump in or near Newport News, Virginia - see Introduction. While my machine was stopped I had evidently returned to the almost forgotten package.] My hair?
(Some of your hair was in that?)
Yes, my hair, and these pieces and this [what] looked like to be salt. They were all folded up in a neat little - you might [say] little papers, little piece of papers and there wasn't much of it, you know, but dey were in just little papers about a inch long and I reckon about a inch square - just folded 'em all in dere, and it seems dey were in something like tissue paper, and they were folded over, and when I got dem dey were under my bed. {Her words do not mean what they say - the reason for my following comment.]
(That's where they found them.)
That's where dey found 'em - under my bed. (How many were there of these little things folded up that way? Did they count them or anything like that, these little pieces of paper folded up inside of that cloth?) No, he didn't count dem.
[The doctor found them.]
They were a powder like and de other pieces in dere and my dress - piece of my goods, I knew it by dat, you see. Well, now, how anybody got it but her, I don't know. So, that's why I know when he told me dat this was the woman -Id seen de woman [in crystal ball] - he said, "Dis is de woman dat did dis to you."
(You say your mother took you down there the first time?)
Yes, mother took me.
(Well, what did she think about it?)
Well, my mother thought it was rheumatism and she took me. This friend of hers didn't believe it was rheumatism, but she didn't tell my mother - she just said it was a doctor that would cure me, and I went over there - just married, you know, and couldn't walk, so they tried everything they could to see whether it would do any good.
(How soon did this affect you after you were married?)
About three months.
(About three months after you were married?)
Yes - I was married from her house - I lodged with her. (Well, what did it feel like when it first started to come on - how did it come on you, I mean?) It come on just like, you might say, pains in mah feet and laigs, and ah complained about it for three weeks - I think it was about three weeks coming.
(Did you have a headache or backache or anything of that sort with it?)
De laigs pained and then it affected me in my back, which I never had backache since or before, and I couldn't get up and down de steps - these knees and this back wouldn't allow me. I didn't think anybody was tryin' to do anything because I didn't believe in such things. (You just gradually started to get pains in your feet and your legs and it kept getting worse?) Yes.
(And in three weeks, you said, you couldn't walk at all?)
I couldn't walk at all - I couldn't get up unless somebody helped me. Well, ah thought I was going home as I didn't have any people heah. I was going to leave and go home until I got well, and I did. When I got up there, a friend of my mother's said she knew a man that would cure me, and she believe all de time what it - what she was going to do - she went with us. Now, my mother didn't know this man, but she knew him and she took us over there, and I thought I was going to a doctor. (Well, when you first went there - what did you say to the man - did your mother speak to him or who spoke to him?) The minute I come into the hut, to the place - nobody spoke. He said, "Good morning," he says, "and what are you here for?" He didn't give me a chance to say what I was there for. He says, You're painful - you're sick - it's good dat you come." Well, ah begin to be all funny-looking and feeling funny because why should he say I was feeling bad. I was feeling awfully bad. And he says, "Walk right in dis room and I'll wait on you right. away." He says, "Now, don't you be scared." Just like dat [she imitated his voice]. Well, ah suppose he knew he was comical looking, and I would be afraid. And he didn't let my mother stay in dis room. And - but I was so anxious to get well, as I had just left my home - married and left a home - all dat.
(You left your husband in Norfolk in other words.)
Yes, he had to stay on the job but I went to my mother because I thought I Was going to be real sick. So I sent for money and he sent me $25 and I had to pay him a part of the money when I went in, and then when I got through and got well for him to discharge me, I paid him the rest. But he said, if I was to take sick like that again I could come to him and he would give me every penny back. But I never felt it or seen it again - it went away just like de wind would blow a piece of paper away. I didn't realize it was going or nothing, but I realized that I didn't see it anymore and I continued to walk. I walked everywhere after dat and I didn't - I warn't no time married before I was sick and I just couldn't understand, but now, I believe more in it after he showed me dis woman. Well, if he hadn't showed me dis woman, it would be just like some throwed to east or west 'cause I wouldn't have believed in it. But I did believe in it afterward.
(You actually saw this woman in there, you say?)
I saw her like I'm looking at you, and she was standing between me and my husband, and he said, it was to separate us, and dat was her working to an end. But she died just like she intend me to die. I would have suffered just like she suffered.
(Did she have those bumps on her when she died?)
Ah don't think she had the bumps, but she was Just all over sores - she had very bad trouble and sores. She was sore just everywhere and the doctor pro- nounced it incurable, and dey couldn't do her no good.
(I see.)
Entry 625
Well, ah had a sister an' ah know that was true. An' a rootman told her he [her sister's husband] had a sweetheart woman he was living with befo' he married mah sister. An' he told her, said that he would nevah live with mah sister, which he didn't live with her no longer den but about a month or little better. An' she [sweetheart woman] had some of her friends to slip in dere some Way or 'nother an' she had seven ole rusty keys an' seven pods of peppah an' seven needles - well, she had 'em ovah each do', one ovah de back do' an' one ovah de front. Dey nevah woulda found it unless [as] ah said, de spirit brought it to her mind. At last one day she spoke, said, "Ah believe ah'll look up ovah dis do' an' see whut's heah." She looked up dere an' dat's where she found it. Well, mah mother, she'd taken these to a man in [name of town not clear] an' this man tole her, said, "That was to keep her out all dem many years - keep her out de house, dat she nevah would live dere any mo'." But after she had found these things why he could turn it back on de woman, an' so mah mother tole him, why she didn't care fo' it to be turned back, an' so she left de keys an' thing dere with him. Say, she nevah would live with him. An' then, too, after she did that - we had been doin' some washing yo' know, an' her ministratin' clothes, yo' know, we didn't git through washin' dat - at least dat day, an' we jest left 'em out do's in de tub. She went dere an' stole dem an' taken 'em off an' buried 'em fo' 'em to kill her. An' so dis cunjureman tole mah mother, say, after them things rot, why yo' could jest pick 'em up an' dey fall, yo' know, to pieces jest lak a ole rotten rag or somepin lak dat. See, an' she would fin'lly die. Well, she did suffer, yo' know, a long time till mama got her cured by diff'rent mens yo' know. When- evah she'd go to ministrate oncest a month, why she looked like she was gon'a soon go to bed - git confined an' knots would come in her stomach as large as yore fist, an' when dat passed through - it passed through in knots like dat.
(Do you know anything - what they did to cure her?)
Yes sir. Well, a man by de name of Mr. Oleberry, he cured her - he cured her wit jest an ole green gourd. She had to make teas oncest a month outa green gourd. An' when she couldn't git de green gourd why he tole her jest to save up some dry gourds an' jest put a little turpentine in it, an' dat got her well.
(That's all that cured her?)
Dat's de only thing dat cured her. An' we had taken her to medical doctors an' all - an' all kinds of doctors an' dis man wus de only man dat reached her case. An' then sometime ago ah had a brother - he wus out in Tennessee, ah believe where he got hurt. Some wimmins hurt him. Ah don't know jest how it wus done, but anyway they had him dead from heah on down to his feet.
(From his stomach on down to his feet?)
Yes sir, an' dis same man cured him with jest de simplest thing. Yo' could jest stick a pin in him an' he couldn't feel it from his stomach on down. An' he said two wimmins an' one man fixed him lak dat out in Tennessee. An' he didn't do anything but jest had us tuh git green pine tops an' give him - bathe him, yo' know, from there on down an' give him some to drink. An' he tole him everything he do from de first day he started taking it. He hadn't walked none in twelve months, not nary a step had he walked. Yes sir, he tole him dat after de first day he'd sit up - he'd have to lay down most of de time after he had taken his bath in dis green pine-top tea an' given him some to drink an' tole him on de second day he would stand up, an' say, an' de third day, he said, "Yo' gon'a walk wit a stick out to de toilet" - de toilet wus out do's yo' know. An' really he did it. An' so we kept dat up fo' about two months, an' now he's in Florida, married an' got three children.
Entry 871
I was hurt myself - I was hurt in whiskey and I started with a little pain back of my head. And it keep hurtin' and hurtin' and I thought it was from a - I caught cold. And so I went to the doctor and I got some medicine but that made me still worse and so I got down in the bed. And so they keep gavin' me medicine and that wouldn't do no good, and so my aunt went and seen a root doctor. I was so sick I couldn't go myself. Well, she got him and bring him up to the house and he look after me. And he went and got some mustard and got some salt from the drug store, and some black pepper, and take a little bit of dat salt and black pepper and put it in the mole [mold] of my head, and when he put it in there he said, "In the Father and in the Son and Three in One." And when he did that he took that mustard and some black pepper and salt and a little flour and mixed it together, and he take it and made a plaster and he put it under the bottom of my feet. And I was so I couldn't sleep that night. And after he did that and I got relief in less than thirty minutes. If he hadn't of done somepin to me under twenty-four hours, you see, I would of been dead [thig is what the doctor told her]. He said I get it in this whiskey give me by my friend.
Entry 903
I know mah brother he vus [was] sick an' he stayed sick a long time, too. An' he vent [went] to de hospital jis' like I did [in another story] an' nothin' couldn't help 'im. So it jis' come to his min' [mind] that somebody had tried to fix im - you know, poison 'im. An' dey vent an' seed [seen] about 'im. An' de doctor she came over dere - you know, de root doctor, an' she vent under de house an' she found it vus somepin in a little bag tied up, an' stuff down under [near] de pillah [one of the stilts on which the house rested a foot or more aboveground]. This vus way [way] back up under a crack in the house. She tole 'em to burn it, but it vus somepin grainy lookin' - but dey didn't open it. An' she tole dem to take it - of course he vus re'l sick - an' put sulphah an' red peppah, camphah an' salt; put that togethah an' put it in a can an' burn it until it get to a powdah, an' take it an' put it back in de same hole where dey got it from an' that would help 'em. An' sure 'nough it did.
Entry 1773
Well, yo' kin take a black pullet - ah ain't done dese things, ah'm tellin' yo' whut ah heard about dem. Yo' kin take a black pullet - well yo' kin kill 'im an' git his gizzard out dere, an' yo' know dat skin in dere whut yo' peels off, yo' take dat skin an' sprinkle some salt an' black peppah on it, an' sew it up dere in a little rag an' wear it next to yo' skin an' sweat it through, an' dat'll make yo' lucky.
(Lucky for what - anything in particular?)
Yes sir, in most anything. [Every statement made by this informant ended, "Ah ain't done dese things."]
Entry 1774
Yo' take dis black chicken - lak ah'd move, dis is a dwelling house an' ah'd move here an' sorta thinkin' somebody was trying to get me - get me a black chicken, take it round on de side where de sun rise an' kill him an' dress him an' eat de chicken. Take de head an' sprinkle it wit black peppah an' brimstone, bluestone an' salt, an' put it in a nice little sack an' bury it jes' like yo would somebody. Cover ovah [make a burial mound over] dat sack an' dey tell me dat nobody won't nevah interfere wit chew.
Entry 1816
In gamblin' - ah used tuh heah yo' could take a dead man's fingernail - cut off a dead man's fingernail an' git to a game an' say fo' 'bout thirty minute anyway nobody couldn't tetch yo'. (What would you do with these fingernails?) Jes' take dese nails an' tie 'em up in a piece of flannel an' put a thimblespoonfula sulphur in dere wit it an' tie it up wit some black peppah. Tie it up an' tote in yore watch pocket, an' ever' now an' den yo' put chure finger in yore watch pocket, an' den come back an' put chure han' on de cards. An' yo' wouldn't be caught fo' no mo' 'bout thirty minutes. But yore mind will come to yo' an' tell yo' tuh quit, an' if yo' don't quit den, why co'se yo' goin' go ahead back tuh losin' den.
Entry 1853
Git chew some lump incense. Some people don't use red flannel - yo' kin use shammy skin an' yo' make yo' a little luck bag. Yo' put chew a little silver dime in dere. An' yo' put chew about three pieces of that lump incense in dere and yo' put yo' some guinea peppahs in dere, an' if yo' got a fishhead rock yo' put that in dere. Den yo' sew it up on a piece of garlic.
(Fishhead rock?)
Yeah, dat only comes in a drumhaid. Dere be's two little rocks in a drumhaid.
(Drumhead fish?)
Yessuh. An' yo' sew that up. Yo' kin po' yo' some bergamint [bergamot] on it or eithah some Jockey Club perfume - yo' have tuh keep it oiled up [fed] lak dat. Dat's fo' yore luck. Yo' kin wear it in yore pocket. Gamblin' luck.
Entry 1967
Fo' tuh have luck in gamblin', take white peppah, an' yo' know dat John de Conker ah wus tellin' yo' 'bout it - well, take a piece jis' about this long an' white peppah an' some white sand, yo' know, an' a piece of white lodestone an' be shore it's put into a piece of flannen or, yo' know, not those thick leather - yo' know, jis' lak a kid glove is, leather lak that [shammy or chammy]. An' be sure tuh bind it an' sew it well an' leave jis' about dat much of de little piece open. Now, look [demonstrates] - see, if ah had a string so dat ah could show yo'. Yo' needn't leave not nary piece [of string] on dat, 'cause he ain't goin' understan' dat. But let him wear dat in his vest pocket, yo' see, an' nobody put dere han's on it. Now, ah tole yo' 'bout de John de Conker. If yo' ain't got no John de Conker, ah kin get chew John de Conker. Ah kin git real John an' Low John.
(What does he put this in his pocket for?)
Well, he put that in there fo' luck in gamblin'.
(You make a little bag for that root with that little hole [dropped stitches]
in it?) Yo' don't want no hole in it - no, no hole in it. Dat string-lak kinda handle to it.
(You make a loop in it?)
Yeah. Well, dat loop belongs dere. Dat little loop belongs dere.
(Why does that loop belong there?)
Well, dat loop means yo know somethin'. Well dat little loop on dere, don't chew see, recommends. Yo' see, ah'm a Christian an' ah lak tuh tell de truth. Dat little loop recommends dat ah will make it. Dat'll make it too. [Memphis - Tuesday, May 24, 1938 - 916 - woman 50 - root doctor - not much" - Numbers Book 885-977. This is an underevaluation made because she filled two cylinders only. She is telling me how to make a hand - "leave jis' about dat much of de little piece open." She does not mean the shammy or flannel but the string used in sewing the bag. She wanted to show me how but we had no string. Then she decides, "Yo' needn't leave not nary piece [[of string]] on dat, 'cause he ain't goin' understand dat." The man for whom I was making the hand wouldn't understand the loop anyway. That loop, she says, is 'lak kinda handle to it [[the hand]].] Dat loop means yo' know somethin'...recommends...recommends dat ah will make it. Dat'll make it, too." At the time I must have known or suspected what the loop meant. I can merely guess at the meaning now. The loop was her secret sign, personal trademark. I doubt the loop would have helped me in making hands. [For another hand maker's trademark, see Broken Bottle Hand, p.532.]
Entry 2251
If de law's botherin' yo', yo' go to work - see, yo' happen to go to another fellah yo' hear talk of [from] somebody dat he kin do [your work]. Well, he'll tell yo' dis - say, "Well, ah tell yo' whut ah do, '' say, "now, if he's botherin' yo', ah'li stop him for so-an'-so much." Yo' say, "Well, if yo' stop it ah'll pay yo'." He'll go to work an' he'll fix yo' up a little bag about dat long - jest about fo' inches long. He'll put chew some black pepper in it, put chew about eight grains of spice an' he puts chew nine grains of red pepper, an' he'll put chew in about a little piece of saltpeter 'bout big as a black-eyed pea, an' he'll put chew in about three grains of'sulphur. An' he'll take dat, see, an' den he'll wrop a silk thread string - sew it wit silk thread. Yo' take dat den an' yo' wear it in yore pocket. An' any time de officers come by yore place, why, yo' have nuthin tuh do when dey come in talk wit chew - run yore han' in yore pocket an' jest kinda roll dat round in yore hand, in yore pocket. Every once in a while kinda take yore hand out an' do somepin lak dat [demonstrates]. Yeah, jest rub it ovah yore face, yo' see, an' put it back. An' he'll pass right on by yo' an' dere's no kick to come. [Rolling is a common magic rite - see following margin-title St. John's Water.]
Entry 2433
If anyone come aroun', yo' see, lak a pestilence - yo' know, someone yo' wanta keep away - yo' git de broom an' turn it an' spit on it an' say, "Ah want chew tuh go."
(How do you turn this broom?)
Well, yo' see, turn de straws up in de corner [demonstrates].
(You turn the straws up and you spit on it.)
Yeah. An' then when a person goes, throw peppah behin' dem or salt, an' curse 'em. Dey'll nevah come back.
Entry 2499
Yo' know de truth always is right. We runs - we wus fulla dem things, too. Befo' mah husband died we run de same thing an' we run de same years, but de lawyers nevah caught us. Well, now ah'm goin' tell yo' whut we use on dat. It was learned to us tuh use dat an' ah used dat. Dat was saltpeter an' dat copperas, table salt an' red peppah, an' we made a powders of dat. An' a dead spirit from de graveyard to get de dirt - yo' know, after yo' done talk to de daid spirit an' tell him whut he want do. An' den mix dat togethah an' make a powdahs, an' he has crossed de road on many a time and de law could nevah come by our do'. (Well, how did you fix that - I mean what would you do with that after you fix that up?) Yo' jes' mash it all up fine.
(Then what do you do with it?)
Throw it in de road - jes' cross de road where dey come 'cross. Jes' ary road dat lead in to yore house with de law, why yo' put dat 'cross dat road - any distance yo' wanta from de home, where yo' know he kin turn in. An' if he evah git to dat one time, he ain't comin' in no mo'.
Entry 2707
You use saltpeter, blood root, chamber lye, salt, pepper and alum. You mix it all altogether and you boil dis. You boil it in your own water MondayS, Wednesdays and Fridays and after you have boiled it down, you take the bottom of it - let it boil dry - de bottom will be a powder and you jest put it to de front door. Throw it out and rub it on yore door, and dey [officers of the law] won't come. Dey'll pass by and go to next house.
Entry 2770
An' then der'e's somethin' else dat chew kin do if you wanta move 'em from dere - to make trouble fo' dem - is dis. You git their name, you under- stan', an' de lan'lord's name, an' you write it back- wards nine times. You understan' dat. (You write this person's name - that is in the house - you write his name backwards nine times. And you get the landlord's name and write his name backwards nine times.) On top. An' then you say, you do it this way, "Son-of-bitch, ah want chew tuh vacate" - whichevah way it is. You understan', you git very angry. You don't have the good spirit with you, you'd have the mean one with you. All right. Well, you do that nine times an' you git double-strength war watah - double- strength war watah you understan', an' you git wal-wal powder. [For War Water, see p.663.] You understan' dat. You git cayenne red peppah, an' you git black peppah, but it has tuh all be fresh. You git Epsom salts an' you git soda. An' den you put these ingrediments into a bottle, de amount dat chew kin git it into, an' remember wit dat yo're not pleased, lak you talkin' to me, listenin' an' shakin' - yo're very angry, you see. You want them tuh git out an' you tell 'em that they must, an' the whole while dat chure doin' that you concentrate wit that mean spirit that chew want them tuh git out. Then you mix the ingrediments to- gether an' you shake it an' you say the same thing an' as often as you shake it, an' you tell 'em, "You must go, you shall an' you must," an' you stomp, an' den you roll it [bottle] an' you put it down. You roll it down [under your foot]. Dat puts 'em undah yore feet, you see. An' if yo evah work wit lights, yo' work wit lights.
(What do you do with this bottle now?)
Yo' keep dis bottle, yo' understand. Yo' see, yo' shake it as often as yo' kin an' den yo' use lights if yo' want 'em tuh go quick, if yo' evah use lights. You wash yore han's. Dat's devil work you doin'. All right. You see, you understan'.
(Well, what do you do with that bottle then?)
Listen, if you kin git anywheres tuh throw it - you git chureself some rattle- snake dust. You know whut that is - rattlesnake dust. Graveyard dirt, you know whut dat is. An' you mix it in dat ingrediment, you understan', an' you sprinkle it with that cayenne peppah, an' at de same time you throw it, 'Son-of-bitch, yo must vacate." But throw it wit a mean spirit. An' if you kin git aroun', you keep it sprinkle. An' dat wal-wal powder is shure tuh make 'em move, as ah set in dis chair. Yo' see. (After you get all these things in this bottle, you throw the bottle at their house?) No, nol You don't throw that bottle at their house, you keep that bottle. No, nol You kin bury that bottle, if you wanta. Co'se it'll take a little time. You kin hasten it if yo've got a place dat chew kin burn dese lights. But be shure that chew don't burn the lights in yore home. You know dat's de devil, don't chew? You know each one of the ingrediment don't mean anything good. All right. Now, if you wanta use the light - if you would wanta use the light, you go to de graveyard. All right. You gits de graveyard dirt, a lump. Understan' dat. You gits de Epsom salts. Yo' gits de cayenne peppah. Yo' git the black peppah. You git the salt. Yo' understan' that. You git chureself St. Michael - yo' understan', his picture. An' de red lights. You write dere name de same way in puttin' dat down. You understan'. You use the nine lights, you know whut time tuh use it - at midnight, while de spirit is 'sleep, you ketch it, an' you do it for nine, an' then you repeats, you see, until it do. But it guaranteed tuh do it. See.
(You burn this thing in front of St. Michael's picture?)
Listen. Take St. Michael's picture an' you put it in de east corner an' call it, you understan'. An' you put chure light down but don't put it out underneath dere. He'll do yore work quicker, you understan'. An' yo'll keep him there an' yo'll burn it fo' twelve - you understan', every half hour. You see. An' you wanta draw him? All right. You git chew parchment papah. You under- stan' dat you please - you see, you want a sweet spirit [therefore you use parch- ment paper]. One, two, three (knocking). [Parenthesis is by transcriber because 3 knocks can be heard.j You call him. He'll come. He's lookin'. "Why did joo leave her? Whut did she do? Why don't chew come back?" [You knock for the spirit again.] One, two, three. He's lookin' agin, an' you tell him, "Now, ah Wants you James, tuh come back to me, Louella. James come back to Louella, James come back to Louella, James come back to Louella." Yo' continue an' yo' knock. Well now, you got his spirit to yo' into that house, fo' with papah yo' write on goin' dat way, yo' have goodness into you, an' while you writin' his name you tell him, "Ah want chew tuh come back to Louella. Ah want chew tuh come back to Louella. Ah want chew tuh come back to Louella." Whatevah name that is. See? Now, you git chew nine lumps of sugah - you know dat lump sugah. All right, you git chure money. All right, yo' git chure drawin' oil. All right, yo' git chure mind on him an' yo' git chew steel dust. You understan' dat. You git chew pink lights, cinnamon - you work wit pink. First you use yore lights. Dat is to make peace. Now, maybe he's all you have left in de worl'. Den, you understan', dat white [not pink] light is fo' peace. Den yo' use yore pink. Yo' understan'. Well, ah mostly use mine an' git results through de Sacred Heart of Jesus. He first united you together an' you use Him as a patron saint an' ask Him. Den you take St. Anthony an' you give him de brown lights, an' he brings him back. Den there's anothah remedy you wanta have. Co'se ah dunno if you would wanta give it tuh her. You know whut ah mean. You would like tuh keep it or you could give it to her, you see, tuh make money, because when dey git wise to yore reme- dies, yo cain't do anything. You git chew a choice apple, you understan' whut that is, an' you do de same thing. You know de remedies dat ah tole you into this, an' you put it into that apple, an' de same way yo'll dress that apple - you really dresses it. You kin git holy water an' you bless it wit chure Our Father ovah it. Den you wipe it [apple] with yore holy watah an' you cores dat apple an' you use the names an' you talk to him while yo're doin' it. Den yo' put the ingrediments - de same - you remembah de same ingrediments dat ah tole you dat chew do. An' you want him tuh reason with her in dis remedy an' you take nine raisins [because the English word raisin looks and sounds something like French word raison meaning reason]. You know whut that is, an' you put it into that. Well, you put that ingrediment in there - all de ingrediments dat ah told you to. An' you git chew first a white light, an' you light 'em into that. An' den you burn one pink light an' in burnin' it you put his name on each one of the pink lights an' hers on de top. Yo' first wipe it [apple] off undah yore faucet. Yo' don't know whut han' an' yo' don't know whut crossin' has been on it, an' yo wipe it dry an' yo' bless it wit chure holy watah. Den you take an' shet it up an' you stan' it up an' you wipe that off on a clean piece of papah, but you use parchment papah with their names. Yo' understan' that. An' yo' dress it - you dress it with that mind oil - dat's to keep his mind to 'em. An' dat dryin' oil, you put that on dere. You see, when you dressin' that mind oil, you put that steel dust - everything is tuh draw him. An' yo'll burn [one candle] one time into de apple. When that one light - that's the name on de light, it isn't lak ah told chew. Then you shet chure apple up, an' if it's de 23rd of that, you dress it every 23rd an' it don't bring him dere, he won't be brought back. Ah'm tellin' yo' remedies that ah used an' that have helped an' de lady dat recommend me, know that these things are really good because ah have been with her an' he'ped her in some things.
Entry 5148
Yuh take de lef' shoe an' cut a square outa de centah of de shoe.
(The center, the bottom or the top part of it?)
De bottom, jis' where yore feet fit right in de bottom of dat shoe. Yuh jis' cut a square outa de inside of de bottom of de shoe. [A square piece is cut out of the center of the insole.] An' yuh bury it.
(What will that do?)
Yuh cut de square outa de shoe an' put it in a li'le sulphuh an' red peppah an' graveyard dirt, an' yo' sew it in a li'le bag an' bury it. An' if yuh wanta hurt a person, well dat will cuz whatevah shoe it is, if it's de right shoe, why dey'll grow lame in dat side. An' dere's no doctah [M.D.] kin cure dem until yuh fin' de person dat has dat [square piece of insole] an' git it from dem. An' de only way tuh find out is tuh [see a] fortunetellah an' let 'em tell yuh how tuh git it.
(I thought it was the left shoe?)
Well, it's de left shoe dat ah'm speakin' about.
(This is out of the left shoe?)
Yes.
(You don't get the right then at all?)
Well, ah nevah learn of de right. It's de left.
Entry 7574
Yuh go tuh de Cath'lic graveyard an' reach down in dere - dig down in dere an' git chew some of dat dirt offa down on de breast. (A woman's?) Don't make no diff'rence but it's got'a be a Cath'lic grave, an' yuh git dat dirt. An' when yuh git dat dirt, yuh git cher some of dese gourd seeds - green seeds. An' yuh git chew dem green gourd seeds, an' den yuh git chew some red peppah an' git chew nine grains out dat red peppah yuh know, dose pods yuh know. Git nine grains an' roll it tuh yuh an' put it in dere. Well, den when yuh do dat yuh go tuh a - yuh know, git a good bit of it, yuh go tuh de fo'ks of de road an' yuh sprinkle a little bit of dat in de fo'k of de road. Go dere fo' de third day, but chew've got'a do it in de night an' call dose party's name. Call dere name an' dey will return.
Entry 7581
Git graveyard dirt, yuh know, an' dig tuh yore elbow on de left side - not on de right. On de left side dig tuh yore elbow an' aftah yuh git tuh yore elbow, den yuh git whut chew want outa dere. An' git a bran'-new box of peppah, red ground peppah whut peoples puts in somepin, yuh know, tuh put on de barbecue. An' git a bran'-new box of salt an' mix all dat tuhgethah. If yuh wan'a person tuh move, yuh could throw dat on dere house, or up on de house, or carry it in de house, jis' one time. An' den yuh kin take an' git chew NINE ROCKS OFF A LIL' BABY'S GRAVE jis' so's it not no ten or 'leven yeahs ole chile - a lil' small baby. Git chew nine rocks offa dat dere grave - an' dis is true 'cuz ah have tried dis mahself - an' take it, take dem nine rocks, an' if ah want some- body [to] move, ah kin throw it ovah dere windah [window] up ovah de po'ch, jis' anywhere, jis' since ah hits dat house ovah dere windah. Ah don't care 'bout de othah family, dey'll be dere [in the house]. Jis' whoevah ah want moved from dere [will be moved]. An' take dem baby rock an' throw 'em dere. Go lak tuh- night, an' tuhmorrah night ah go again, till de nine nights run out, an' ah call 'em by dere name, an' dey'll leave.
(You throw one rock each night?)
Each night. Dat's true 'cuz ah've done dat. An' dis graveyard dirt is true too.
Entry 7775
A man tole me one time when ah used tuh try tuh gamble - ah nevah was nuthin but a game-fan [watcher] - but ah've quit dese things now. But ah remem- bah dis in mah youngah days. Ah'm tellin' yo' de truth. He always tole me, said, "If yo' wanta be lucky, B" - called me B, mah name is Bidgood - he says, "if yo' wanta be lucky, yo' go tuh de graveyard an' go intuh de breast of de grave, an' put chure hand down as deep as yo' kin git in an' git some-a de dust. Git chew a piece of red flannen an' put it in dere, an' put some black peppah, some honeycomb" - lak de bees make honey, use de comb sometime fo' curin', but de honey's gone - "an' tie it up an' put it in yore pocket. When yo' go tuh a pokah game or skin game or crap game, jis' take dat ball out an' roll it in yore hands disaway [demonstrates] an' evahthing lak dat, ' an' says, "yo' prob'ly make a couple of passes on de dice - craps. Well," says, "yo' keep dat up an' rub yo' hands [until they] gits warm an' hot. Go tuh a drug store an' git chew some good cologne an' put all through dat so it have a sweet smell tuh it." He says, "Yo' more den apt tuh be lucky." But ah have nevah tried it.
Entry 8527
All right, if yo' wanta separate a person - ah mean, yo' undahstan', if yo' wanta break 'em up, too. Yo' drain de watah out de coconut. Yo' know, dey have a li'le hole an' yo' git a li'le cork, a perfume [bot- tle] cork. An' yo' git: devil war watah, dat same ingrediment, chew remembah dat in- grediment, double- strength war watah; rattlesnake dust; double-strength wal- wal powdah [used a number of times in text]; an' de strong-strong cayenne peppah.* Let it be red- hot fresh. An' strong-strong white peppah. Yo' know whut dat is, dat [is] strong, strong. An' Epsom salts, cookin' salts, soda an' lemon. Den nine steel needles across dat. name. An' yo'[ [also] stickin' intuh dere nine pins. An' yo' put it, an' yo' roll it, an' yo' shake it, an' yo' roll it. Yo' keep it rollin' an' yo' nevah raise it, an' yo' jes' keep it rollin'. BUT BE SHURE WHEN YO' GIT THROUGH, YO' KNOW HOW TUH DO WIT CHURE HAN'; DAT CHEW WASH YORE HAN' TUH GIT TUH DO YORE GOOD WORKS. [AFTER YOU DO EVIL WORKS LIKE THIS, YOU MUST WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE ATTEMPTING GOOD WORKS.]
(What do you do with that coconut after you roll it then?)
WELL, YO' PUT IT OUTA DE WAY. IF YO' WANTA GIVE IT TO ONE OF YORE CUSTOMERS [INFORMANT, WOMAN, PROFESSIONAL WORKER] TO HELP THEM, BUT BE SHURE THAT THEY NEVAH KNOW WHUT'S INTO IT. YO' see.
(What will this do?)
Aw, it'll break 'em up, oh yeah.
Entry 9036
(That's for bottlegging?)
Yeah. He took - dis [root] woman was workin' on it, had powdah, two kindza [kinds of] powdah, Hearts Cologne powdah ah think an' some kinda body powdah, black peppah, an' two strands of 'is hair. An' taken it, when de judge was talkin' tuh 'er, yo' know, askin' 'er questions about: 'im. She wanted tuh talk tuh 'im an' she slipped dat in 'is inside coat pocket. An' dey tried it [his case] first, an' dey turned dat ovah [postponed it] until de nex' time. De nex' time dey decided - de judge jis' couldn't git hisself tuhgethah, yo' know, an' all dat. [For trying a case like this first and postponing it, See Doctor Washington of Charleston, working on a bootlegging case, No.9024.] Well, she put all dat whut wuz in dere tuhgethah. Well, she went an' she fixed it all again [see Washington again!]. An'.she took it dis time an' she put de hair an' de black peppah, an' dis heah soda in dere. An' she went an' saw de judge comin' out de do', yo' know, an' taken de ink out of a bottle an' dropped three drops of dat in his track an' picked it up an [put] dat intuh it, an' den slipped dat in dere. An' dey wuz fixin' tuh give 'im light time, an' he come completely cleah.
(This fellow was bootlegging when they arrested him?)
An' he wuz bootleggin'.
(And some root woman did this for him?)
Yes.
Entry 9268
Yo' kin take a chick- en aig an' it kin be dressed wit sulphuh, graveyard dirt an' peppah, but it has tuh be a rotten aig. An' if ah don' wan' chew tuh come in dis do' no mo', aftah ah git dat dressed, ah come 'long heah early in de mawnin' an' throw it up 'ginst dat do'. Yo' know, right ovah de facin' of dat do' an' let it bust ovah dat do'. Yo' ain't comin' in heal no mo'. (How do you dress it with that graveyard dirt? Just roll the egg around in that sulphur?) [Here is a leading question, more to keep the conversation going than anything else.] Yo' make a hole in it yo' see, jes' a small hole in it, if it wus a rotten aig. Jes' lak yo' goin' suck it [if it was fresh instead of rotten]. An' den yo' pinch dat graveyard dirt in dere, jes' a li'le bit. Yo' know, don' take verah much, an' a li'le sulphuh. Take a match stem or a toothpick an' shove it down in dere. Yo' take a small piece of papah an' wet it an' put ovah dat hole an' stop it up. Put it in yore han' an' come on by dis do' in de mawnin' soon [early] or at night, an' throw it up 'ginst dat do'. Jes' say right in de middle of dat do' where it will bust, an' jes' let it run down dere. Yo' ain't comin' heah no mo'. [Intention is everything here. A woman throws this egg against another woman's door to keep a man or husband from going there, or a man similar- ly drives away another man from some woman's door. Sucking a fresh raw egg, an old custom, may be unknown to a few readers in modern cities. During my boyhood at the turn of the century, when even a city boy could live among chickens and horses, and farms were only a mile or two away, some people would make a small hole in the end of a fresh egg to suck out the contents. From this custom comes the well-known proverb: Go teach your grandmother to suck eggs.]
Entry 10456
Take red pepper an' grind it up an' put sulphur an' stuff in it. Dat's good fo'l hags. (If the hags are riding you?) Yes. sir.
Entry 10919
Mix cat and dog hair with seven ingredients: pepper, bluestone, sulphur, salt, asafetida, etc., put at door; people living there will fight like cats and dogs. [Richmond, Va., 303:10.]
Entry 11490
Well, tuh make dem quarrel and git apart, if yo' kin git a woman track - de least bit out of her track, eithah one - an' go an' buy dis ground up peppah. Go in de henhouse and git de dried-hard-up [dried up hard] hen turd [dung]. Pound it all up tuhgethah. Git some of yore friends, if yo' can't do it yo'self, tuh go dere an' sprinkle some of dat in dey stove, an' if yo' go dere dey be quarrellin' - send 'em tuh jail tuh settle it. She git so outright mad until she hardly will fix dat dinnah or breakfas'. She's ready tuh leave yo'.
(That is to cause confusion in the home?)
Yes.
Entry 11523
"They take that out of you right track...git some graveyard dust and a little sulphur and a little salt and a little pepper, put it in a bag...and if they want to run you crazy, they take and throw it in running water." [Wil- mington 148:3+85.]
Entry 11774
If you place 9 needles, 9 pins, 9 Victrola points, graveyard dirt, coffee and sugar, black pepper and salt; if you place all these under the rug at the front and back door, it will break up that home. [Norfolk 453:4.]
Entry 11975
If you stop up a person's hair with salt and pepper in a snuffbox and throw it into running water while wishing and then walk away Without looking back, you will either run the owner of the hair out of town or run him crazy. [Memphis 1545:5.]
Entry 13028
For trick or cunjure, drink 3 times daily a tea made with rainwater and following ingredients: filed dime or quarter, black pepper, salt and vine- gar, followed by a dose of Epsom salts. [Vicksburg 1013:6.]
Entry 13161
Get 'em some gun powder an' some black pepper, an' put in dat sock. an' get 'em some salt, an' tie dat sock 3 different knots, an' turn dat sock bottom upwards in runnin' water, an' yo' goin' go crazy. They don't take but one [sock] to kill you. [Vicksburg 1004:7.]
Entry 13397
Pour urine, salt, red pepper and sulphur at door to protect against evil and spirits. [Washington, D. C. 208:5.]
Entry 196
[Many examples of the most powerful of spirits, the spirit of the dead, have been given. Very potent also are spirits dwelling at or called to where two or more roads meet.] De crossin' of de road is called cross-spirit [only use of this term], an' dey goes dere, if dey think dat yo' is doin' good or goin' at anything good - dis evil-minded somebody will go dere to cross yo'. Den dey has a certain thing dey put in dere. Dey dig a hole yo' know - jes' a ord'n'ry little hole an' drop it.
(What do they put in that hole?)
Dey tells me dat dey drops cayenne peppah - whut's dat othah thing - cayenne peppah an' sulphah an' garlic, yes. It's jes' a ord'n'ry hole dat chew dig wit chure fingah an' cover it ovah quick.
(What else do you do out there? What is that supposed to do?)
Den dey has some dis same wicked graveyard dirt [dirt from a wicked person's grave] wit 'em an' leave dat evil spirit dere tuh cross yo'.
reported small finger-dug crossroads hole. The recipe is introduced as Dey tells me; no firsthand ritual performance, efficacy or inferred shovel/depth. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 198
It was tole to me that a woman took - stole another woman's door key and took it out to de forks of de road and buried it - buried dat key - sprinkle some dat - wrote dat woman's name five times on a piece of paper and sprinkled some salt and cayenne pepper - de pulverized cayenne pepper and dis heah hard ice- cream salt, but chew beat it up - not de fine table salt but ice-cream salt. An' taken dis salt and pepper and put it in dis paper wit dem names on it and put de woman's do' key in dat salt and pepper and rolled it up and jest cussed de woman; jest called her bad names and rolled it up tight and buried it right in de forks of de road. Well, de woman had to walk all on her feet for days, but still an' all de mo' dat key rusted in dat salt de worser de woman got. And when dat key rusted in dat, rust in two, dey tell me dat woman died. Yes sir, gotten rid of her.
Entry 246
When I was five years old, my mother got hurt in her knee and she called the hoodoo, and my grandfather - was living at that time. And her knee came to be swelled larger than my head, and my grandfather had taken this mackerel fish brine and he'd taken a nickel's worth of Brown Mule tobacco - puts it in a quart of water and boiled it down to a pint, and he'd taken red peppah and put in there and vinegar, and he continued to rub and rub her knee with that until she got rid of it.
(Can you tell me how she got hurt down there?)
Well, she told me that she - it was a mark across the road, you know, and she stepped cross this mark and when she stepped cross this mark, not thinkin', the pain struck her in her knee.
(What kind of a mark was it, do you know?)
Just like you would - she said, just like a snake would cross the road, she say, that's the way the mark look to be. [Either her enemy drew a zigzag mark across the road - intended for the victim only - or her hoodoo man sent a dressed snake to do the work. Had she crossed a normal snake track, she would not have had the pain. The zigzag track of a snake across path or road - zigzag being a lightning symbol - is a sign of rain; see FACI,2ed., p.20, Nos. 535-537. No wonder, "when she stepped cross this mark... the pain struck her in her knee."]
(I see, I see. How many years ago did that happen?)
That happened when I was five years old and now I'm forty-three - will be forty-four on my next birthday.
(About forty years ago. I see. Where did this happen, around here?)
Out chere about eighteen miles from here.
(About eighteen miles from Vicksburg?)
Yes sir.
Entry 451
I've hear'n about one getting out of his skin and couldn't get back in. That had been going on for a long time. They had been missing some of the food, so they decided they would really watch to see. So this old man came in. They said he commenced to shake and shake like that [twisting his shoulders]. They said they were a-watching of him and they said he got out of his skin. They said he looked to be putting something [grease] on himself. I don't know what he put on. And they said when they came to look at him, sure enough, he pull it off and laid it aside, then he commenced going all over the place and getting ever what he wanted. In the meantime some of them said to put pepper and salt in that skin. They said he couldn't get back in. The last they saw of him he Was saying, "SkinI Skin! Don't you know me?" That's the last they saw of him. Then they left. They were scared to hang around for fear he might do them some harm. That's the end of it as far as I know. I was a small child when I hear'n that. That was seventy years ago [1866].
Entry 455
(Did you ever hear that story about the old witch that got out of her skin - some old witch got out of her skin or something?) Well, yes, I heerd of dat. They tell me once that a witch used to go through the keyhole, get out and go to riding people. They'd get out of dere skin and they'd turn round in de room and say, "Round about, round about, and out you go. Well, they'd go through de keyhole. And they tell me once that a ole man was laying dere - it was chilly, you know, and he happen to watch dis witch. When she'd get out of her skin, he slips dere and takes salt and pepper and peppered dis skin; you know, filled it full of pepper as he could get it. And after he filled it full of pepper, why dis witch come back and went to get in dis skin, dis skin would burn her. Well, she was running round dere and she was hollering, "Skinny, don't choo know me! Skinny, don't choo know me!" Finally she couldn't stand it to get back in her hide, and finally she died.
Entry 527
Tuh ketch dat thing yo' call a witch - ah've known of 'em tuh ketch dat. Jes' lak if yo' 'custom to have a witch ridin' yo', yo' always have somebody notified. Jes' lak yo' will snore - yo' cain't holler, yo' kin snore, an' when dey ridin' yo', have somebody dere wit de sifter an' a whole lot'a mustard seed. An' no sonner [sooner] den dis witch startin' ridin' yo', dey come right on ovah an' jes' take dat sifter an' jes' lay it ovah dere.
(They do that while you are asleep?)
Take dat an' jes' lay dat ovah yo'. Now, when dey git offa yo', when yo' wake up den, yo'll find dem standin': Dey ate a hole in it an' dat mustard seed went through dat sifter. An' yo' kin git a - or if yo' kin git a silver ball, silver or copper or somepin lak dat, an' de person whosomevah it is dat jumped outa dere skin -
(That person whoever it is will jump out of their skin?)
Dat's right, dey call dat juonpin' out dere skin. An' if yo' see dat thing, don't kill 'em. Yo' kin go an' put some peppah an' salt on it, an' ev'ry time dev jump in dey got'a git right back out. An' dey stay dere lak dat seven or eight hours, trying tuh git in it. De black peppah burns 'em every time - de time dey jump in it.
(And that kills them?)
Yes.
Entry 545
Now in case a man's child - somebody has caused a man's child to wander about from the house, won't stay home, yo'll see the 'fect of it aroun' de fire- place. Dere'll come a drove of ants, black antses, all on de mantelpiece comin' in droves, some goin' an' some comin', an' will cross each othah this way, cross each othah goin' to an' fro. Well, people have oftentime wondered whut does that mean. Yore child will wander aroun' an' can't stay home. Well, now there's remedy fo' that. The remedy is, if yo' would like to heah it, take some salt - Epsom salts, some quinine an' black peppah an' mix it together three days continuous, an' sprinkle it all on de edge of de mantelpiece all aroun' it an' those antses will leave. Any child mind will become settled.
(Well, why are those ants there? Have you any idea?)
Well, it's a sign your child's mind is not right - it is unsettled. Where dey come from ah don't know, but dey will cease to come.
(Well, what causes that? Somebody has done something to the child?)
Somebody have done something to de child to cause de child not to stay home an' aggravate de parents, keep de parents confused an' dey don't know whut's de matter with de child. He will come home an' his mind become settled fo' a while. Event'lv de chile go clean off an' won't stay at home none at all - dat's a sign of dat.
Entry 570
Yo' kin take a earwax an' if a girl is got de bad disease an' yo' don't Want to ask her if she have it an' yo' don't know it an' she wanta turn a trick wit chew, well, yo' go an' git in de bed wit her an' take yore finger an' put it in yore ear lak dat [demonstrates] an' jes' take dat wax an' tech her; an' if she got it, she comin' out from undah yo', she cain't stay dere. Dat earwax will eat her up. [To turn a trick is known everywhere.] An' if yo' in a house an' yo' mistrustin' if anyone in dat house is got de bad disease an' yo' in dere an' yo' think dey got it, yo' jes' take a piece of red peppah, if it's in de fall of de yeah, an' throw a little piece on de fiah, an' yo' see 'em leave outa dere. Dey goin' outa dere - cain't stay in dere.
Entry 677
Dat's somepin de same thing dat ah have jes' told yo' - whut chew make UP, peppah an' salt.
(That's all goofer dust - any kind of dust?)
Yeah, any kind of dust.
Entry 679
That's tis' this fine dirt.
(Goofer dust is almost anything put down.)
Anything that would be to have influence - like you get from dis dirt dauber nest and de pepper I told you about and mix it up, that would be goofer dust.
(Well, what is goofer supposed to be?)
What they mean is to make you goofy.
(Oh, it's goofy dust?)
So now, say, for instance I want you to lose your memory, if you were going. to court or something with [against] me - it would get you where so you would prob'bly forget what you's talking about.
Entry 735
A man dat workin' cunjures an' things lak dat, up in mah country, dey take an' go an' git some peppah, sulphur, salt, an' goes in de woods an'gits a root dey calls de Friendly John - ah knows it, Friendly John. Yo' go in de woods - it grows on a ridge on a hill.- Yo' go git dat Friendly John an' break yo' off about six limbs of it. Make no diff'rence if yo' git de root of it or not - break off, git de limbs of it an' break off six of 'em an' mix 'em together an' carry dem in yore pockets or anything lak dat. An' yo' kin put some of that devil's-shoestring with that, if yo' want to, an' yo'll go fo' twelve months lak dat an' yo' kin jes' go ahead an' tear down anywhere yo' want to - yo' got a arm, whut chew call a goofer bag or a hand. Yo' got a strong one, yo' understand. Ah bought one one time.
(If you want to do any cunjuring work, that's strong?)
Dat's strong.
Entry 760
I've heerd mah mothah say dat you'd take some salt an' pepper sometime, then you could take an' mix it up with some sand, sprinkle it acrost de road, you know, an' cross it up [make a cross with it]. She say if'en you step acrost it, why it would cripple yeh.
Entry 897
I come to tell yah a little short story that happened mah a'nt once - she was in Georgia, she in Atlanta. Mah gran'mother moved down there. An' she [the aunt] was goin' with a boy an' the boy had another girl an' this girl had hated her an' she got some of her hair an' diff'rent little other mixture - I don't know whut it was - an' sewed it up in a rag an' slide it up under her doorstep. An' she got it [the spell], an' she become sick. An' one day, it was mah gran'- mother washin', a man come over, a root worker, an' ask her did she have someone sick an' she told him yes sir, it was her daughter wus sick. He ask her let him go in there an' look at her an' he went in there an' he looked at her an' say she was in pretty bad shape - you know, she was hurt by this girl. An' he made some medicine. He put dime in some milk an' pepper an' salt - he jis' stir it aroun' an' she took it. An' he looked under de doorstep an' he got this hair an' stuff tha' wus under de doorstep sewed up in rag, an' he had to put sulphur an' stuff on it before he touched it - if he don't it would of made him sick. An' dat evenin' she was able enough to play ball wid de other children.
Entry 900
Dey did it with mah brothah. Well, dey took one of de dead bones out of it, out of de dead person rib - de last rib on de left side. An' dey cut dat rib into three parts an' make it as near like a cross, see, an' den wrap it an' sew it into a piece of cloth, red flannen, an' den dey put black peppah, salt an' graveyard dirt in that, an' bury it right at de front steps, as yo' come out. That'll cause yo to go crazy, hate everybody dat near yo' would care fo' yo' - would like anybody dat hate yo', an' de people dat care fo' yo' dey can't come near yo', an' finally yo'll die. Well, it be a short death, 'cause he didn't live ovah one week an' fo' days - mah next oldest brothah. An' dis man dug it up an' showed it to us, an' he said it wus de last rib of a man an' wus cut into three parts - 'cause we looked at it. It placed in a little small three-cent cream can - was in dat an' buried undah de steps.
Entry 1030
[Although the following rite deals with love, the doctor uses this coffeepot method for all sorts of cases:] Now, listen. Dis woman an' her husband couldn't git along. He's very noisy an' he has - naturally he is diff'rent from her an' he do things she didn't like an' always cause an argument. So he goes away fo' foah months, yo' understand. He goes away fo' foah months. Well, dis woman she got in love - dis is Anna - Anna wus so much, yo' know, so crazy about him an' loved him an' want to live with him an' all lak dat, so she goes to dis woman an' tole dis woman how, whut an' ever'thing. Dis woman said, "Kin yo' come down heah eleven-thirty? Ah want chew tuh go to de cemetery. Bring two pieces of money - two pennies, an' take up dirt from de foot an' de haid an' bring it back to me. Ah'll put it in a coffeepot." She fixed it up - she put sulphur an' peppah or salt - ah don't know jes' what, but we'll say peppah an' she give it back to Anna. She put salt an' peppah with dis dirt - she put it in de coffeepot an' she prayed ovah it. Ah don't know whut de prayer. An' she give this dirt to Anna an' she said, "An' yo' write his name on a papah three times a day an' burn dis papah six a'clock in de mawnin', twelve in de day an' six in de evening" - see - "an' do dat fo' nine days, an'in de third day write him a lettah."
(The third day during those nine days?)
Yes - yo' understand. After ah do dis nine days [she reveals the identity of the woman going to the doctor], den after dat three days, write him a lettah on de third day, yo' understand. "An' yo'll hear from him, an' yo' an' him will git back together in three days or three months." An' in two months time dey wus back together. (When she went out to the graveyard, what did she do out there? She took some dirt and what?) She took dirt from de graveyard - dat wus supposed to be at twelve a'clock at night, but Anna had tuh go to dis place an' be there at eleven-thirty an' talk to dis woman. She had to go to dis place alone - de cemetery alone. Well, Anna is very nervous ~ er - ah had a lot of nerve, yo' know. She goes to de cemetery an' she gits dis dirt from de foot an' de head. Yo' understand me? An' she bring it back to this woman. She put it in a coffeepot wit, we'll say peppah - put peppah in it an' give it to Anna an' said, "Yo' write his name on a piece of papah."
(When she put it in the coffeepot did she do anything to it in the coffeepot?)
Not anythin' - jes' put it in dere an' pray ovah it an' take it out. No - no cookin'.
Entry 1061
Take some black peppah, salt an' sulphur an' mix it together, an' if they comes about chure house to harm yo' - come in, yo' know - sprinkle it on de floor an' sweep it. An' when dey come in an' go out, sweep de whole thing out an' that will stop dem from comin' dere an' cut off dere prosperity towards hurtin' yo.
Entry 1106
A good many of 'em use assafitidee and pepper and salt and dey put it in a little bag around dere neck and dat supposed to keep 'em from hurtin' you, too. They put all these things together in this bag. Dey sew it up in dere and put it around dere neck.
(I see. Any kind of a colored bag or any kind of cloth?)
Yeah, a yellow homespun bag. It have to be a yellow homespun an' it has to be new.
Entry 1123
I've heard of them taking black pepper and putting it in the shoe to keep a person from getting the dirt out of their footprint. They said the footprint won't register in the sand if they have black pepper in the shoe. [Snow Hill, Md., (83), 2:22; Nansemond Co., Va.] [Black pepper like red pepper usually occurs in combinations of ingredients; it being less frequently used than red.]
Entry 1177
When yo' think anybody has done anything to yore home, yo' burn chicken feathers and sulphur there.
(What will that do?)
Say that wards off what they have did. (You mean if they are trying to plant anything around there or sprinkle anything?) You set, yo' know, jest like if yo' were going to fumigate the house and burn that; yo' put pepper, sulphur and chicken feathers together - rather, to get black feathers is the best feathers.
Entry 1349
Ah want tell yuh dis. Ah got hurt oncest in mah feet so ah couldn't walk. Ah got dese doctors aroun' heah and dey all of 'em say diff'rent things. You know what called to me to do? Yo' know what a jimson weed is? (Yes, I know what it is.) It got cockleburs stuck on it. Pull up de whole jimson weed, put it in a pot and boil it, put a handful of table salt in it, a handful of red peppah, and you suppose to jest bath in it - see, jest as hot as you kin bear it. But ah was in such a bad fix that I drunk a teaspoonful of it before ah went to bed that night. An' ah was [had been] down fer about eight months - ah couldn't walk - an' de next mawnin' ah hit de floor fo' mawning [could stand up and walk]. An' after ah did it, ah talked wit a old experiment [experienced] root doctor and he tole dat would kill any kind of poison. [Presumably informant took bath before drinking tea. See jimson-weed bath, No. 1075, p.405.]
Entry 1358
Yo' would go ahead an' yo' would git chew some John de Conker an' yo' would git chew some salt an' yo' would git chew some peppah an' yo' would git chew some sage or somepin, an' put it in a bag an' tie it roun' yore waist - sew it around yore waist.
(They couldn't harm me?)
Couldn't harm yo'.
Entry 1439
If somebody goin' put somepin down fo' yo' tuh walk ovah or somepin like that, yo' could use salt an' red peppah in yore shoes, or either a piece of root by de name of rattlesnake conker - put that in yore shoes.
Entry 1452
Dey say if somebody is doin' something to yo' an' yo' wanted tuh stay, or yo' wanted tuh stay home. Well, yo'd git some sulphah, a little red peppah an' a little black peppah. Mix it together. Well, yo' git some of dis heah insene [incense] - yo' hear 'em talk about dat - mixes all dat togethah an' put it in a little bag [making a hand] an' sew hit round yore laig - sew it up an' pin it round yore laig. Why yo' is all right, see.
Entry 1453
If anybody's botherin' or worryin' yuh, yo' take saltpetah - yo' dress yo'self in saltpetah and peppah. Yo' put that into yore shoes. That's the old colored remedy that chew git saltpetah and red peppah. Mix that thing togethah and put it in yore shoes or on yore person.
Entry 1459
The best thing you do, when you go out in the morning, if you got - before you leave your home, if you feel that such as that is carrying on around you, you take such an ordinary thing as - take salt, black pepper and mix that together in a bottle, and scrub your place out. Don't scrub it inward, see. Always scrub out from your place. And with that water you mix salt and black pepper and scrub every morning before the sun rise. Make that a habitual habit to scrub in the morning before the sun rise - every morning scrub out your door before the sun rise, and that will give you a natural protection against anything that's evil. Somebody's put something against you, down for you, that will give you protection against that. [Many scrubbing rites for protection are also given under subsection Business and Customers.]
Entry 1476
Oh, well, yo' take yore shoes now an' a person try tuh wear it - jes' lak ah try tuh wear yore shoes an' try tuh harm yo'. Take it an' sprinkle salt an' peppah - keep salt an' peppah black peppah in dat shoe an' wear it right underneat' yore socks all de time. Ah mean not changin' dat - jes' let it stay in dat de same. An' den take yore toenails, de end of yore toenails an' trim dat an' keep hit in dere, keep it dere. He couldn't put chure shoes on fo' nuthin.
(Why would you do that?)
Well, dat tuh keep yore spirit in de shoes dat his spirit couldn't connect wit yores. (These are my shoes - whose going to do that? Am I goin' to do that to my shoes? Or some other fellow is going to do it to my shoes?) No, yo' do it to yore own shoes.
(Why am I doing that - to protect myself?)
Yes sir. [Place and reference lost.]
Entry 1480
Say if they put anything down fo' yo', if yo' wanta walk ovah it or go ovah it, jes' git chew some sulphur, some salt, black peppah an' take an' jes' make yo' a ball with it lak that an' jes' put it in a red flannel an' yo' kin go anywhere about an' it won't bother yo'.
[This is a protection hand.]
(Where do you keep that red flannel?)
Jes' keep it anywhere next to yore heart - in yore watch pocket or in yore shirt pocket, anywhere.
Entry 1486
Take salt, table salt, an' black peppah an' hone, an' mix dat together an' grease yore foot wit it an' use dat in yore shoe. Dat would keep dis offa yo' - lak if dey wanted to hurt chew, dat would keep dat off.
(If you walk over anything?)
Yes.
Entry 1488
[They get some dust] from the grave and sprinkle it in yeh house, and that cause you to have disease - cause you sickness. But.now the way they get rid of that is to take salt see, if you see this dus' in yer floor. You kin see it, you see, becus [it] is brown, yellah - whutever [color] it is. And you kin sprinkle salt over that see and you take some pepper. And you sweep all that up together and then you go out de door see, and if there's anywhere any running water, you throw it in this running water. That'll throw it back on the person.
Entry 1617
Lak yo' scared someone goin' hurt chew - yo' know, if yo' got enemies. Jes' take some red peppah an' salt an' sulphur - take an' sprinkle a little bit of chamber lye ovah dat an' wear dat in yore right-footed shoe. Yo' kin walk ovah anything in de world an' nuthin will evah harm yo'.
Entry 1618
Dey say dey use red peppah, sulphur, chamber lye an' make yo' a bag an' ev'ry mawnin' befo' yo' go out yo' takes an' 'noint [feed] dat bag [a hand] good an' yo' rub it in each one of yore shoes an' dey say dat yo' kin walk ovah any- thing dat's put down fo' yo'. (You put this pepper and salt in this bag and then you anoint it with this chamber lye each morning before you go out. What do you do - just rub that bag on the inside of the bottom of your shoe?) Yessuh - in de bottom of yore shoe.
Entry 1629
A woman was mad at my sister and I was staying across the street from her and she came by my house. And I got up next morning to go out and she had a whole lot of graveyard dirt throwed all over my porch. And do you know, I had to move out of that house - made me move. They sure make you move. I didn't know she put it there but someone tole me after I moved that she did. Of course, if I knew it, I wouldn't move I reckon. They tell me how to kill that out - to get some chamber lye and salt and pepper, and throw it all around yore house and that'll kill that out.
Entry 1726
Could take your chamber lye and stop it up in a black bottle and put cayenne pepper, red pepper, in it and go to an old bridge.
(An old what?)
An old bridge where automobiles run across.
(An old bridge?)
Yeah, and take it and shoot it up under there and it has a tendency to.
(Just throw this bottle up under the old bridge?)
Throw it up under an old bridge.
(Just leave it there?)
Leave it right there - an old sloppy place where sewage and silt stops under there. Just leave it up under there - it's already in the slush and why.
(What did you say that does to you then?)
Well, it has a tendency to make you lose your nature.
Entry 1727
Well, ah tole him [my contact man] that if yo' wanted tuh break up any- one - yo' understan', separate anyone, yo' git some graveyard dirt an' yo' git dirt dauber with the holes in it, yo' understan'. Yo' roll that dirt dauber an' yo' git nine pods of red peppah an'.yo' git cayenne peppah an' yo' git vinegar an' yo' put it in a black bottle an' turn it upside down, an' in any corner of their yard. Ah guarantee it'll break anybody up dat chew Wanta break up.
(You put this bottle in the yard of the people you want to break up?)
No, in yore yard, right where yo' workin yore - yo' put that bottle. Dat'll separate anybody.
(Well, how would I know that I am separating the right people?)
Well, suppose yo' workin' fo' a person - tuh separate a party. Yo' know whut party yo' workin' fo'. Well, yo' know when dey separate. [You will know by your intention.]
Entry 1741
You have to have black pepper and salt - see, black pepper and salt, and any time a man have a toby or anything of the kind that way he have to be very careful, and if it isn't charged up with the right material, it don't do him any good. For instance, he'll put the fifteen cents, which represent money - silver dime and nickel in the toby. He'll put nine needles and nine pins. He will use some cinnamon powder in there with Cashmere Bouquet perfume to 'noint it with. See, writing his name and diff'rent names, the players' names that he plays with, on parchment paper - the sure enough one. They have the imitation and they have the sure enough parchment paper - it's kind of imitate [imitation] of sheepskin - having the name on the parchment paper, putting it in the toby and wearing it in their right pocket. Now, you got steel dust in there, you have a certain amount of lodestone. Now, whensomever anything going to happen in there - like a fight or any killing thataway, you will take a fearful feeling: That's time for you to leave. If any cutting or anything, any blood is drawn around in there near that it don't work any more.
(It kills the toby?)
Yeah, if any blood is drawn, you see. Any blood is drawn, you understand, it will have to be renewed again.
(I understand.)
So that's why any time anything is happening around thataway, you always have a fear feeling, you leaves out. See. And the same as a battery or anything of the kind, after a certain amount of time, you have to recharge it again, because it don't holds up - it goes away the same as a battery on a automobile. [The preceding fifteen cents is the magic of odd number - see margin-title Money - Uneven.]
Entry 1749
She takes an' cut dat little bow out of de back of a man's hat, any- thing, an' she puts her urine, her water, in a bottle too. An' she gits a strand of yore hair if she can. If she can't git it, why den dat bow will do de same, cause it come from de back of yore haid an' yo' been wearin' it an' sweat. Jes' 'long as she gits somepin 'bout chew. An' she take an' put that in a bottle an a lil peppah, an' den wrap it up in a flannen cloth an' keep it in de flannen cloth an' carry it roun' with her, somewhere roun' 'bout her waist. An' yo' cain't git away.
Entry 1825
Dey build whut chew call a dead man. Dey usually goes an' dey gits clay from a fresh grave dat's someone yo' know, an' dey take dat clay an' dey mixes it up wit sulphur an' red peppah an' puts it undah de step - round de front step. Dat usually brings in people or either carries 'em out - jes' whichsomevah yo' wish. Yo' have tuh wish fo' dat.
(What did you say about making a dead man?)
Yo' use clay an' red peppah an' sulphur.
(Well, what do you mean by making a dead man?)
Well, because it's a person yo' know an' dey jes' died yo' understand, an' yo' use it because it's fresh. Yo' gits it at de full of de moon.
Entry 1832
An' you know dey tryin' harm you. Well, all you got'a do - git chew a piece of devil's-shoestring and git chew some of dis salt and red peppah see, and devil's-shoestring and some sulphur. And you take it and wear some in vour shoes and take an' make a belt out of it, out of de shoestring, see, and wear it around your waist. But chew use a little piece of copper wire, you understand, mix a little piece of copper wire in it. If you ain't got devil's-shoestring, spread it [copper wire] out round your waist - see, you kin just ball de little piece of copper wire up and put it in dere amongst de red pepper, see. And then when you do that, you take and wear it around your waist. That would stop anybody, they couldn't do anything. They can't do nothing to you but put in your stomach, if dey goin' get cha. That's the only way they kin get cha.
Entry 1859
Dere's a fish he's got two stones in his head. Outa dem two stones, you wanta be sure when you open him to git de right-hand stone. Dere's two white stones. You'll take dat right-hand stone and you'll put it in yore pocket and put some red pepper with it - put red pepper with that right-hand stone. And take de left-hand stone and take a handful of sulphur, nothing but sulphur, and you'll wrap dat up good and hid it and put it down by yo' bed - on de left corner of yo' bed, de north corner of yo' bed inside of yo' mattress. But de right-hand stone, you wants to tote dat - gains everything you wants and everything you go after. Actually you got'a git it.
Entry 1931
Ah heard 'em say yo' go to the graveyard an' git graveyard dust. An' jis' lak yo' wan'a make a bag fo' tuh gamble or somethin', yo' git graveyard dust an' yo' take it an' put it in a bag, an' put needles an' red peppah an' bluestone an' sew it up in dat bag with dat graveyard dust. An' dey say when yo' go tuh gamble, all yo' got'a do is jis' rub yore han's on it an' yo'll win ever' time yo' put chure han' on it.
Entry 1943
Well, there's diff'rent things. They said that they take that grave- yard dirt and mix it with - just like if they working on a job and they wan'a get 'em away [from] there. Well they get the graveyard dirt, but they get it off a sinner's grave. And they take this graveyard dirt and you mix with pepper and salt, and get to where this person that you wan'a get off the job, and sprinkle on 'em and they won't be able to stay on that job.
Entry 1953
Well, yo' take de gunpowder an' lodestone an' nine seeds of red peppah [three ingredients] an' sew it up in a yarn rag. That's fo' tuh draw luck to yo', too, fo' money. Yo' know, if yo's a gambler, why yo' kin win an' if yore a policy player why yo' win lak that. Or if yo' a busi- ness man, why yo' know, yore business will be.mo' urgent. [Gunpowder appears in many combinations.]
Entry 2166
They take two needles an' some black peppah an' put it in a bag an' put it under the front do', one in the front an' one in the back do', in a red flannel bag, an' that keeps the law from the front an' back.
Entry 2199
Ah tell yo' whut chew do, if yo' in business fo' violation or in any way an' yo' figures de law is comin'. Well now yo' listen. Yo' git chew nine grains of red peppah outa de pods, nine grains. Git two teaspoon fulla sugah an' yo' git chew one palm of Christian seed [three ingredients] an' yo' powder dat all up togethah an' yo take an' make - yo' know, put it in a ball an' wheresomevah yo' got fiah, yo' throw it in dat fiah, an' de law will come right by de do' an' drive on 'way. [The term palm of Christian taxed my guessing ability to the limit. After efforts at various times I finally came up with palma Christi (hand of Christ), anglicized form palmcrist - the castor-oil plant (Ricinus communis). Informant's word seed probably confused me, because during my boyhood castor-oil plant seeds were called beans. They are still called castor beans, are poisonous because of ricin in them, and are nonetheless the source of castor oil. My only other folk- lore experience with the plant is a strange one: "It is against the law to cut down a castor-bean plant" - FACI, 1st ed.,1935, p.429. This could be one of those many inversions in folklore, as in life, meaning - 'It is unlawful to grow a plant having poisonous seeds."
Entry 2266
Take salt an' black peppah an' three pods of garlic an' yo' wear it in de right pocket, an' if de fellah have anything dere fo' luck, yo' understand, it won't be very severe, yo' see. If he's any man with any kind of talent at all, he'll know it's somepin wrong an' he'll fin'lly quit that game, yo' see.
Entry 2267
When yo' gamblin' yo' have a buddy, a fren'. Well, dis fren' he'll be 'long wid joo an' when de crowd git tuh gamblin', yore fren' will have yo' some salt in his han' an' some red peppah or black peppah - jes' so's it peppah. An' dey go roun' de othah people, not both together, fes' his fren' go roun' to de othah people an' jes' throw a little down deys back - three times up an' down his back wit dat salt, an' de last one of dem who he put dat salt on dey'll fall, dere luck will fall.
(That kills the luck of everybody there.)
Kills it.
Entry 2268
Ah've taken some salt an' black peppah an' stuff an' went to skin game an' ah've let mah han' git wet an' take an' jes' put it all ovah de cards an ever'thing an' ah've taken salt an' sprinkle it all roun' peoples lak dat, an' been in a game an' ah win money lak that.
Entry 2372
My mother didn't believe in anything like superstition but my aunt did. I was working in Newport News, Virginia, with my uncle and one Saturday afternoon when I came home I found my aunt had gone down and had mama arrested. She was mama's sister-in-law, not her sister. My aunt found a bottle underneath her house, it wasn't buried in the ground, and swore that mama had put that bottle there. It had vinegar, salt and pepper, and a hard boiled egg cut up in it. An officer came out to serve a warrant on mama and when she heard about it she went over after my aunt. She lived next door. She figured she was a better woman and she was going to beat her up. Before she could beat up my aunt the officer took her down to the judge. The justice fined her $6.90 for trespassing. He didn't do anything about the bottle.
Entry 2374
Ah tell you what you can do. Yo' kin take some salt an' black pepper and some cinnamon and some cloves; an' yo' go to de drug store, yo' kin git chew some war water. (What's that?) It's water in a little bottle about that size, about that high. Yo' pay ten cents fo' it.
(War water. What do you use that water for?)
You put it with this mixture, ah mean.
(I mean, ordinarily [without ingredients], what do they use that for?)
They use that fo' runnin' yo' - kin use that. Take that water and pore it on de steps, understand, and if there's somebody in this house tha' chew don't want in here.
(You buy it at the drug store?)
Yes, sir.... Yo' jes' go tuh de drug sto' an' buy yo' a bottle of war water. Yo' get dat at Mr. [Somebody's] drug sto' ovah heah on [Something] Avenue, and it cost yo' ten cents.
(It's called like a war - like a battle?)
W-a-r - war water. And you take that an' put it on de steps out dere, and when ah cross dere ah ain't coming back in heah no mo' - ain't comin' back heah no mo'.
Entry 2384
Oh, de willow tree root, yo' goes an' git, say about seven a'clock in de mornin', an' cut a piece of root from one of de sunrise [side]. Then yo' git chew a piece of red flannen wit salt an' sulphur, black peppah, an' a needle an' some Heart Perfume, an' yo' sew dat up yo' understand. Yo sew dat up an' yo' keep it 'nointed with dat Heart Perfume an' wear dat in yore pocket. If yo' git it yoreself, name it after yo'; if somebody else git it, name it after them. (Carry that for luck. You get this root from the willow tree. Which side do you get it from?) Yo' git it from de sunrise, yes sir.
interviewer-supplied luck purpose in a compound question, without informant endorsement. No blanket assent to compound question sewing the named red-flannel material combination. No stitch type, bag shape or unmentioned sewing procedure is inferred. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2473
Well, heah whut yo' git - black peppah whut chew cooks wit, whut chew eats wit. Yo'll git dirt dauber nest out de roof de house, yo'll git a little bit of dirt from under yore steps, an' yo'll mix dat an' physic salts. It's a diff'rent one dem salts though from Epsom, but den ah kin tell yo' fur as ah know de salts. Ah don't know - yo' cain't keep up wit de name of 'em, but dere's some salts dey keep right heah in de Kress Ten-Cent Sto' in bags. An' yo'll take some of dat salts an' yo'll take dat dirt dauber nest an' yo'll - now, yo' listen jes' whut ah say now - an' yo'll take a lil piece of bluestone, jes' a lil piece an' yo'll mash all of dat as a powders. See, dirt dauber nest an' black peppah, an' yo'll put them together, yo' see, wit dat little dirt from undah yore steps, an' yo'll mash 'em together an' make a powders of dat. An' all yo' have to do is jes' sprinkle it anywhere roun' yore home an' it will draw dem.
(That'll draw trade?)
Ah mean he gotta come - ah done prove dat.
reported attracting/coming effect without unambiguous trade-only target. Do not convert the claim into exclusively drawing trade/customers or a named person. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2500
Say jes' git graveyard dirt, red peppah, cayenne peppah, sulphur an' alum, an' beat it together an' sprinkle it all around yore place an' they say that will keep it away - say that will keep de law away. (What is the difference between red pepper and cayenne pepper? Is there any difference?) Well, dere's one ground, an' yo' know dere's one whole grain.
Entry 2594
This man told me if I'd ever get in any trouble and wanta skit and get away from de law, he told me to take some salt and spice and black pepper and cayenne pepper, and mix it all together in a tin can, and take and put some under my doorsteps for nine morning, de back door and front door. Dey say regardless of how much sand you raise in your house or what choo take in your house, if any- body try to send de law to your house, dat dey wouldn't come no farther then de front steps.
Entry 2603
When the law officer come in yore house one time - when he come in there that one time, as he goes out of there, yo' mixes yo' some table salt, jest put yo' de least bit of black pepper in there, and yo' walk right on behind him to de door and when he walks out de door yo' throw that right in behin' him and turn an' don't nevah look back at him and tell him, say, "Yo' go, yo' scamp, yo' ain't got no business in heah no mo'." And dey say that he will nevah come back dere.
Entry 2604
If someone came to yore house an' yo' don't like fo' dem to be dere, whenevah dey leave, yo' jest git up behin' 'em, an' yo' kin either have yore salt an' peppah where dey can't see it. When dey walk out yo' jest throw it all 'long where dey walked at an' then chunk it towards 'em an' tell 'em, "Don't come back any mo'." Course dey don't have tuh hear yo'. Yo' won't be bothered with 'em.
Entry 2605
Dey say dat chew kin take table salt an' black pepper an' jest sprinkle it round in yore house an' jes', every time dey come dere, sprinkle it round in dere house an' in dere tracks, an' it'll git it so dat dey couldn't even stand when dey go by dere - dey come to hate de place.
(That keeps them away.)
Entry 2612
Git peppah an' salt, if a person constantly comes to yore house an' prob'bly it a person dat chew don't lak an' yo' don't wanta insult dem or wants dem tuh stay away. Ah've heard dat chew take salt an' peppah an' sweep behin' dem an' yo' burn bluestone an' sulphur in de do' dat dey came heah. An' don't let 'em go out dat do' when dey leaves - send 'em out through anothah do', dat's in order dat dey go in 'cross yore house. An' yo' burn de sulphur an' bluestone in de do' dat dey came through an' yo' sweep an' yo' sprinkle salt an' peppah; whereas when dey go out down behin' 'em, sweep it out that way.
Entry 2614
You take yer graveyard dirt in the morning - like a person you're dis- satisfied with or a man wan'a leave there, an' as these people come in, you take an' sprinkle it down behind 'em. An' then you take urinate water an' pepper or salt an' sweep. That's whut they call sweepin' behin' 'em. An' that person Wouldn't come roun' you no more. If you do that as much as three times, they'll never come roun' you no more.
Entry 2622
Yo' take lak if yo' have a scissors layin' down there an' lak if yo' have a nice business, an' ah wanta stop yo' from havin' it, why ah steal yore scissors or yore fingernail file. An' ah'll take those right to mah home an' ah'll put - as ah told yo', take that there perfume an' ah'll put mah 'gredients in there which is the sulphur an' nine grains of red peppah seeds. Put that in there an' ah'll put de scissors lak if ah got dem fo' nine mawnin's an' ah take 'em an' junk 'em down in de ground. All yore luck is cut, yo' haven't got any mo' business.
(You use perfume you say?)
Yessuh, Heamt's Perfume.
Entry 2655
Well, de way dat would be done, de first thing you should do tuh bring in trade - yo' kin use whut we call a sprinkle. An' yo' could take yo' a little sulphur an' a little salt an' a little peppah an' sprinkle dat round. Den yo kin burn a little sulphur. Yo' burn sulphur on Fridays an' sprinkle a little, then sweep a little round on de flo'. That's very prosperous to bring trade.
Entry 2671
Well, now, if yo' wanta rent that house, yo' kin dress that house or yo' kin use de Psalms - dere two ways yo' kin use that. (Tell me how to dress the house first.) Well, now, tuh dress that house yo' go tuh work an' yo' git chew a little salt an' a little sulphur an' yo' git chew some alum [three ingredients] an' pound it up together - mix it together. An' then yo' git chew some seeds. Git those gourd seeds or either any kinda seeds that grows on a vine - kin git pumpkin seed or gourd seed or watermelon seed. An' yo' git chew three of those seeds an' yo' take those three seeds an' yo' put them in a little box or a little can. Bury 'em jest like yo' would a little flower, an' when yo bury those seeds yo' say, "Hope, success an' friends." Yo' bury those seeds. An' that ingredient that chew mix, yo' take an' yo' sprinkle that around that house - a little bit at the back an' a little bit at the front. Yo' sprinkle that. Then on the inside of the house - yo' take that house an' yo' git chew some potash. Take yo' a little potash an' yo' jes' take that potash - ah jest drop a little bit around in that house. That's good fo' good luck.
(That's to rent the house?)
Yes sir.
[Now he tells how to unrent the house.]
They kin do that.
(Dress the house so they move out? Do you know what they do?)
They kin do that tuh where yo' can't rent that house. Yo' kin take a one-cent piece an' go to a wicked grave - it gotta be a wicked grave though - an' git some dirt from de head of that wicked person an' pay them with one-cent. Then yo' kin take that dirt an' mix that dirt with sulphur an' mix it with a little - see, it's three pods not - three pods of peppah. See, ah tole yo' nine pods - nine seeds wit de other but dis is three pods. Yo' git chew three pods of red peppah an' mix that together an' sprinkle that anywhere around that place. Nobody kin stay in there to save their life.
(That will make them move out of the house?)
Yes sir, but it's gotta be a wicked grave.
Entry 2818
Yo' use the black candle. Dey says yo' git a lemon an' yo' use cai- yanne peppah, yo' use black peppah, an' de name wrote backwards. Lak mah name is Viola, see - Dorsey, dat's mah name. All right. Well, yo write Dorsey Viola. Each form dey cross it. De name's back- wards, yo' see, an' yo' put de cai-yanne peppah an' all kinds of peppah an' cut that lemon an' put that down in there, yo' see. An' put it upside down, an' yo' put dat black candle on dere. Dat kin be used fo' breakin' up men an' wimmin - yo see, lak a man is with anothah woman. Mah husban' would be wit anothah woman an' he wus tryin' tuh fo'saken me an' ah'd break dem up. Well, yo' kin use a black candle an' [or] yo' kin use a green candle - dat's fo' sweetenin', yo' see. An yo' use dat upside down - stead of usin' de stem [wick] yo' use it upside down an' light dat candle into a tin cup, yo' see, but down in dat lemon - an' de name down in de lemon. (Whose name would you write? Your husband's name in there and this woman's name? Both?) Yes, but write 'em backwards an' crossways. See, heah ah come [demonstrates]. Lak it's me, yo' see, ah come straight. Heah de husban' right cross dere, but it all must be backwards. Let de las' name be de first, an' de first name be las'.
(How long do you burn that candle on there?)
Well, you burn that candle. Dey supposed tuh burn it nine days - nine days dat's tuh break 'em up.
(Do you light it any particular time? Put it out any particular time?)
Well, no, she goes out herself. Now, yo' see yo' light that light at six a'clock. She supposed tuh burn from six tuh six, yo' see, if it's not too warm, or not too much air dat would git to it. See, burn it from six tuh six an' if yo' wanted to, jes' keep it on till it burn, until it six in de night. She burn it from six dat mawnin' till dat night. She put it agin at six in de evenin' an' keep a'goin' till dose nine days is up.
(You say that you would use a green candle if you wanted to break them up?)
That's fo'saken 'em.
(And you use a black candle if you want to do what?)
Tuh break 'em up, too. Dat's breakin' up, too; green an' black. Dat's right.
Entry 3203
Ah heard dat yo' git a toadfrog an' yo'od, kill 'im, an' put some black peppah an' some salt on 'in, an' carry 1m to a red ants bed an' put 'im down in dat - lay him right down in dat bed - go know, dem big bed yo' know - lay him right down in dat bed an' let de ants eat 'im up all but de skin an' bones. Den yo' kin take dat sharp bone - yo' low, let 'im stay dere though fo' nine days - an' take dat sharp bone an' carry it an stick in yore wife's garment, her nightgown, can't nobody else mess wit 'er atall but chew. [Waycross, Ga., (1136), 1850:3.] 3203A. If he had a ole shirt, an' iron a frog - yo' know a ole frog - on de tail of it...he'll stay dere... [These 3 separated periods show that I stopped my recording machine twice. A later copy of an original comment explains Why: "THE WOMAN HAS BEEN HOPPING ABOUT LIKE A FROG [[demon- strating the rite]]. Iron him [[the man represented by his shirt]] as you do the frog and his nature will be killed."]
(IRON A FROG ON THE TAIL OF THIS OLD SHIRT OF THE MAN?)
YESSUH. [This woman is marked prof? (professional) and good, but SHE EVIDENTLY HOPPED ABOUT DURING THE WHOLE INTERVIEW. This sort of thing Was Wonderful when Words accompained actions, but in the present case she was pretending that my inter- viewing table was an ironing board. But with my recording machine, switch con- trol, notebook, and old black hat on the table, I preferred demonstration a little farther away.]
Entry 3542
Ah tell yo' now jes' like dis, jes' like yo' got some ole clothes. Now yo' wear dose ole clothes, yo' undahstan', an' pull off de dirty clothes. Yo' pull it off an' she put it up; see, yo' Won't have nuthin to do wit dose clothes any mo'. Well, prob- 'ly she might git a piece of de seat of yore slip, yo' undahstan', an' cut it out yo' see. Well, perhaps she might git a piece from undah yore arms. See, yo' know jes' where yo' sweat, yo' see. An' den ag'in, she might git chure hat band or somepin like dat. Yo' know dese little bows in yore hat, she might take dat out, see. Well, she'll take dat an' she'll put some of dis - git a little car- bolic acid an' pot salt an' a little red peppah. An' she will git she a bottle of Coca Cola. She will sprinkle dat, see. An' befo' she sprinkle it why she will tie it up an' she'll put seven knots in it. Dat odds [odd number] yo' know. Now, see, seven knots. Well, she tie dat up, yo' undahstan' an' put it into yore pillah, see, cuz yo' know a woman makes de bed all de time. Yo' don't have no dealings wit beds - yo' wouldn't even think of it, see. Well, yo' have to stay home an' den ag'in yo' wouldn't even think of no othah woman but 'er.
Entry 3791
(You eat these red onions raw?)
Eat red onions raw. Jes' cut 'em up yo' understan' an' eat 'em. Yo' undah- stan', wit vinegar an' black peppah. Yo' seen 'em lak dat. Dey mostly be able tuh give a man courage.
Entry 4033
About de woman an' de bottle?
(Yes.)
Yeah. Well, her son wuz livin' wit dis woman, see, an' she wanted 'im tuh move 'way from dis woman - see, she wanted 'im to move. So she'd taken dis bot- tle, a pint bottle, an' she got some of 'is urine. She had 'i tuh - co'se he didn't know it, yuh see. She had a night-jar [any kind of glass jar used as a urinal] yuh see, an' she got some of 'is urine an' put it in dis bottle. An' den she went aroun' an' got snakeroot an' boiled it, an' she put some of dat in it, an' red peppah an' salt. An' she carried it to dis house 'bout one 'clock at night an' jes' made a wish dat he would move. An' he moved. She broke it in de vesti- bule.
Entry 4063
chamber lye is fo' all diff'ren things. Well, all right. Say fo' in- stance now, if yo' got a woman dat chew wanta 'er an' she's gone away from yo', an' she iis' come tuh yore house - ah mean at night dat way. Well any- hah, chew take yore slop jar an' set yore slop jar on de side of de bed, an' let 'er urinate in dat slop jar. Undahstan', she urinate in dere. ARE YO' GONA LET DESE BOOKS BE PRINTED CHERE?
[Same informant asks similar question elsewhere in text.]
(No, no.)
[All my informants, especially people known to be professional workers, were told I was writing a book - a book to them meaning a paperback hoodoo manual like the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses or Albertus Magnus. I was out in the field to learn from experts like themselves. This will partially explain why I was talked down to so much! At least I hope the reason was not, they had to talk down to me!] Well, she urinate in dat slop jar. Well, when she urinate in dere, yo' go down tuh de sto' an' git chew a nickel worth of whole grain black peppah. Don' git dis groun' peppah. An' yo' git chew a little vial an' po' her urinate, jis' about dat much [demonstrates] in dat little vial. An' den yo' put nine grains of black peppah in dere, see. Den yo' take yores an' put yores in dere on top of hers. See, dat's holdin' 'er down.
(Some of your urine?)
Yeah, put hers in dere firs' an' yores las'. Put dat nine grains of black peppah down in dere on dat. Den yo' git chew a little stoppah an' cut [demon- strates] one trench lak dis an' one trench dataway, yo' know so it'll ketch air. An' den yo' take dat an' bury dat undah de steps wit de mouth comin' dis way [demonstrates].
(With the mouth coming toward the house.)
She can't leave yo' tuh save her life.
Entry 4142
Now dey kin take dat chamber lye an' den dey kin take peppah an' put it wit dat chamber lye, an' put it into a bottle an' stop it up airtight, an' take it tuh a cemetery and bury it. An' den dat will effect yuh. Or in othah words, if somebody done somepin tuh yuh an' [you are unable to find that bottle], now de thing of it is, IF DEY [the spell caster] DIES BEFORE DAT YUH GIT DAT OFF YUH, WHY CONSEQUENTLY DEN DAT'S [the spell is never going to be taken off. See IF EVIL-DOER DIES, SPELL INCURABLE, P.396].
Entry 4150
Git ashes out de fiahplace, an' watch out where she throw 'er chamber lye an' go git some of dat dirt. An' yo' kin take dat an' yo' kin mix dat jis lak yo' mix up a dough. Sprinkle some red peppah ovah it an' carry it an' spread it out up undah 'er steps. When she walk ovah it she'll move.
(That is to make her move, move out of the house.)
Entry 4155
Take dey chamber lye an' make yuh so dat chew can't make watah. Well dey takes it from yuh an' save it, an' dey git a stran' of yuh hair out chure haid, an' put in it an' let it stay fo' five weeks. Well, aftah dose five weeks dey mix some sulphur wit it an' dey put dat in dere an' dey put a little salt, red peppah, yuh know, whut grows on bushes. Den yuh can't make no watah.
(Where do they put all those things?)
Where dey keep it, puts it in a bottle, airtight so no air can't git in it, an' it stay in dere.
Entry 4239
If dey take yuh urine, dey kin have yuh so dat yuh can't make yuh watah.
(How would they do that?)
Dey'd take yuh urine an' put in a bottle an' dey'd stop salt an' peppah up in dis bottle, an' dey turn dat bottle upside down an' bury it, an' jis' let it stay dere. When dat cork dissolves an' dat watah, urine drains outa dat, dat pines yuh away.
Entry 4285
chamber lye kills poison. If yuh keep chamber lye roun' yuh house, wit sulphur an' red peppah, no one can't harm yuh.
Entry 4307
Now ah tell yo' whut yo' kin do wit de chamber lye dat keeps a person at home. Now, if a person husban' - sompin lak dat - or wife is runnin' aroun', let 'em make dere chamber lye tuh demself. Well, de nex' mawnin' yo' take some of dat an' po' some intuh a little vial, an' put nine pods of red peppah in it an' de dirty heel of dat person's sock, an' stop it up real tight an' bury it down undah de front do'step where dey gotta walk down. An' dat will change dere min'.
(You just get the one dirty heel or both dirty heels?)
One of de lef' sock, one off de lef' side, de dirty heel.
Entry 4356
Takes yuh chamber lye an' dey puts it in a bottle an' dey puts - git nine peas, nine black-eyed peas, an' nine nails, eight-penny nails about dat long [demonstrates] an' a needle, one sewin' needle. An' po' dat [urine] in dere [the bottle], an' a piece of fat meat an' throw dat in dere, an' nine straws. An' fo' dey put dat in dere, dey'll take it an' let it set up nine days. An' when it set up nine days dey'll go an' put it - dey'll take it an' put some mo' [things in]. Put black peppah an' salt an' vinegah in it an' three pods of red peppah. An' dey takes it [bottle] tuh de rivah an' throws it ovahbo'd ovah de right shoulder [using the left hand]. Dat'll run yuh crazy.
Entry 4357
Take dey chamber lye an' stop a person. (How do they do that?) Well, dey take it an' dey put it in a bottle an' dey bottle dat up fo' nine mawnin's. An' dey'll put peppah, salt, gunpowdah, war watah an' dey stop dat up fo' nine mawnin's. An' dat'll stop yuh from urinatin', see. Dat'll almos' run yuh crazy. Den dey throw it in de rivah.
Entry 4390
Dey say dey take some of yore Waist an' take an' burn it an' put red peppah in it, an' - it won't lock yuh bowels but it'll jis' burn yuh, hurt chew. An' if dey wanta lock 'em, jis' take some of it an' burn it, an' take an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up an' throw it in de rivah in a runnin' stream of watah, an' dat will lock yuh bowels.
Entry 4394
Yuh kin take a little salt an' black peppah an' put it in 'is passage, yuh undahstan', an' take an' burn it, an' it stops 'is bowels.
(Locks his bowels?)
Locks 'is bowels. Dere yuh are.
Entry 4681
Dis little bow here [demonstrates] dat ah've got 'im mah hat chere, a woman kin take dis bow an' - an' take it an' put some peppah in it an' salt an' some incense, an' take it an' bury it, yuh see. An' bury dis bow accordin' tuh de moon. But she gotta bury de bow when de moon is young. An' as de moon go down, de old- ah it git, de more it take effect on me. Ah'd git a misery in mah head, yuh see, until de moon go down. When de moon go down in darkness, well ah'm certain tuh lose mah memory. Do yuh hear? [My hearing is supposed to be weak.]
(I see.)
Entry 4718
Git dat sweatban' out from undah heah, undah yer arm, dis heah lef' one. (Cut that out of the armhole. And what do they do with that?) Takes dat an' puts peppah wit dat an' salt an' buries dat. Dat's to run anybody, to git [rid] of 'em - yer enemies wit dat.
Entry 4724
Becuz if she tie yo' up an' yo' wanta git loose from 'er, jis' all yo' gotta do, git somepin belongs tuh 'er. Yo' git somepin belongs tuh 'er. Git chew some red peppah an' sulphuh an' table salt. PUT IT TOGETHAH, UNDAHSTAN' ME, 'CUZ AH'M NOT GOIN' Undahstan' it. An' put in a tin an' yo' burn it. An' when dat peppah an' dat salt an' dat gunpowdah [sulphuh] flies, her min' goes away from yo' jis' dat way.
(You put some piece of hers with those.)
Yes.
Entry 4805
Dey kin cut out de seat of 'is drawahs, de man's drawahs. Take dat an' mix it up wit salt an' peppah an' take it an' bury it on de roadside. An' dat'll keep a man always wit a mind tuh go. He won' be contented at home. [Burial on roadside is rare; in a road, no.]
Entry 4863
Yuh kin do it, but yuh have tuh git somebody's hair or somebody's gar- ments dat's got de odah in it, dat dey wore. An' if yuh take it, yuh put salt an' peppah an' sulphah in it. An' put dat in runnin' watah an' it will start 'em tuh move. (That will run them out of town, keep them on the go?) Yes, dat will keep 'em on de go.
Entry 4880
Take a lady's sock if yuh like her - dat's fo' love - take it an' put a little salt in it an' a little black peppah, an' weah it undah yore arm, pin it undah yore right arm outside. Dat got a girl evah night fo' a long time.
(That works?)
Yes sir.
Entry 4989
Yuh take nine needles an' put 'em crossways in de sock, an' put red peppah, garlic an' dese little nets dat yuh buy from de drug sto'.
(Hair nets.)
Yuh take dem an' put 'em in de sock, an' den yuh git some clay dust an' pack it, an' sew dat sock up. Dat's de way yuh fix de sock against matches. Yuh take de same amount of matches. Takes nine matches an' nine needles an' fix 'em in dat sock, an' den sew it up. An' den yuh take dat sock an' jis' throw it up undah de bed, or jis' throw it on up ovah de do'.
(What will happen then?)
Well, dat's tuh bring 'em back. When he do come back, yuh take his cloth an' wear it. Aftah yuh'all have intahco'se, yuh take de cloth an' wear it nine days. An' in de mawnin' aftah yuh wear it nine days, yuh take dat cloth an' wipe his plate out wit it.
(That will hold him there?)
Keep 'im dere.
Entry 5007
Yuh kin take a woman's stockin' an' yuh kin keep 'er home. Jis' lak if yuh love a woman, yuh kin take her stockin'. An' yuh kin take dat stockin' an' yuh kin put a teaspoonful of black peppah an' some cream of tartah an' mix it tuhgethah, an' a piece of jis' de toenail offen a rab- bit's hin' lef' laig. An' wrap it up in de bed mattress where yuh an' 'er sleep, an' she'll leave outen dat room no mo' den outdo's an' dat room. Yuh'll nevah have no trouble wit 'er long as dat in dere, but nevah let 'er know whut's in dere. Sew it up in dere an' let it stay dere. [Fayette- ville. N. Car. (1438). 2608:2.]
Entry 5046
She kin take yuh lef'-han' sock if she kin git holt [hold of] it. She'll take dat lef'-han' sock an' cut de heel an' de toe outa it. Cut de heel an' toe off an' sew it up. Jis' take it an' sew it up an' git 'er some copperas an' git 'er some red pep- pah an' put it in dere an' sew dat up tuhgethah. An' if she kin git intuh any hole dey have in de wall an' put it in dere, well, he will not stay 'way.
(What does she do with that then?)
[Informant gives another possibility.]
She take dat an' sew it up, an' put it in 'er left shoe.
(What does she put in there - copper, you say?)
Coppah, yes sir.
(What kind of copper?)
Yuh know dis - de reg'lah kinda coppah [copperas] what yuh gives dogs an' cats.
Entry 5048
Jis' say, if yuh wanta bust up [broken-home remedy], see. A woman kin take his socks an' take her stockin's an' put 'em tuhgethah, heel tuh heel an' toe tuh toe. Use de lef' foot. Some say de right but de lef' foot is bes'. An' yo' put some sugah in dere an' some peppah, black peppah: if it's white person, put white peppah; an' if it's a black person, put black peppah. An' den yuh put a little cayenne peppah in it, see. An' den yuh roll it to yuh, lak dat [demonstrates]. An' aftah yuh roll it tuh yuh, den yuh git chew a bran'-new co'd [cord] string an' yuh wrap it nine times.
(How do you wrap that?)
Tuh yuh. Yuh roll it tuh yuh an' wrap it tuh yuh. An' den git chew a needle an' git chew some red silk thread an' sew it on each end, nine stitches. Pull it tuh yuh all de time dis way [demonstrates]. Pull it tuh yuh all de time.
(You put nine stitches on each end.)
Dat's tuh bring peace.
(What do you do with that then?)
Well, yuh kin wear it in yore pocket or put it where yuh kin evah day jis' dress it. Yuh know, jis' take yore han', don' have tuh put nuthin on it. Jis' take yore han' or jis' put a little perfume on it - good-luck perfume, any kinda good-luck perfume an' jis' rub it in yore han'. An' den yuh kin sleep on it. Or yuh kin put it where nobody won' go by [near] it but chew. See.
(That is for them to live together in peace.)
Yes.
Entry 5184
If she's away from me and I want to bring her back, I'll get nine old shoes, burn one each night at midnight with [nine] ingredients: egg shell, sul- phur, ashes, salt, pepper, alum, saltpeter, cloves, ginger, and walk around this fire and say, Send me my wife, sister or friend or whatever it is, back. And the ninth morning take this ashes, all from the whole nine mornings, and throw the ashes toward the direction the person is. You must have the wind blowing that direction. [The wind blowing the right direction on the 9th morning could make this a difficult rite.]
Entry 5211
Yo' kin take a person's shoes an' put a li'le sulphur an' a li'le salt in it an' dis heah Red Devil Peppah red peppah, an' yo' could take dat shoe an' yo' could bury dat shoe, but let it be de lef' feet. An' bury it in de back yard. An' dat person nevah be able tuh walk straight any mo'. [Red Devil Pepper is either a package of red pepper with a red devil on it, a commercial brand, or a special package sold by a hoodoo drug store or mail-order firm.]
Entry 5220
Den ah've heard dat dey kin take yore shoe an' scrape de bottom of it. Lak yore shoes is - lak yo' weah yore shoes tuhday. Well, if yo' foot atall sweat, dey kin take it an' pull it off an' scrape de inside of dat shoe, an' git dat dere dirt whut come outa yore foot. An' dey could bind dat dere up an' put intuh a place whereby it cain't ketch no air atall. An yo' cain't walk. Of co'se it cain't kill yo' - won' kill yo' - but yo' won' have no use fo' dat foot. Dat takes de use of it, when dey puts dat intuh a place where it cain't ketch no air. De way dat chew comprehend [overcome] dat is tuh bring de use back tuh yore foot. Git chew some sulphur an' red peppah an' weah it in de bottom of yore shoe an' dat will kill it. See, dat'll kill it in yore foot. Dat won' be no good while dey have it in dat airtight place. Dat 'air [= dere = there] is de way dey ovahcome dat devilment when dey works it.
Entry 5223
[HERE FOLLOWS A RARE SIFTING RITE - SIFTING WITH A SIFTER.]
An' ah've heard 'em say dat chew take like nuthin but wimmen, take three or fo' wimmen here, or jis' me, one person'ly, say. Now, ah take all mah ole shoes now an' burn 'em up, but ah burn 'em on somepin dat ah kin save all dose ashes. An' burn tuh a charcoal an' den mash 'em up. An' den ah take salt an' peppah an' mix wit dose shoes now. An' ah take de siftah an' between nine an' twelve a'clock at night ah go aroun' de house an' sift 'em three times tuhnight.
(How do you mean, sift it three times?)
Jis' put it in a siftah, yuh see, jis' sift de dust [shoe ashes]. (You.mean you go round the house three times, or you sift the dust three times?) How - like ah begin now from de back door, from mah back door, an' ah go around dere an' make mah wish, yuh know. If ah wish fo' all men tuh come tuh mah house, or jis' one indivij'ly [individually], yuh know. An' if dere's some Woman dat ah think she's a enemy tuh me, yuh know, an' ah don't wan' 'er tuh come dere, yuh see, ah wish fer 'er tuh not come, an' wish fer 'im tuh come an' stay always wit me.
(I see.)
Ah'd go aroun' three times lak dat an' begin. An' de last wish, dat ah make right where ah begin dat, yuh see. An' ah wish dat he may come an' stay wit me always. See, when ah says always, ah'm [back] in de house den an' turns de sift- ah loose on de inside. An' den tuhmorrah - ah do dat tuhnight between nine an' twelve. An' tuhmorrah mawnin' now between twelve an' nine, well, prob'ly yuh kin do dat at three a'clock in de mawnin', fo' or five or six a'clock, any time befo' nine a'clock, but de bes' time dat dey do it is befo' sunrise. See, aftah twelve o'clock [and] befo' sunrise - roun' about fo'-thirty or five a'clock, an' yuh do de same thin' an' come back in an' drop de siftah right at de same place again.
(You sift it all over again?)
De same thin' all ovah again. An' dey say, when yuh do dat - well, dey say yuh don't have tuh have many shoes. Doesn't take much, take much siftin's fo' dat dust, 'fo' dat dust is gone. Well, yuh do dat till all dat dust is gone through dat siftah, yuh see, an' dey say he'll nevah leave yuh den. He'll nevah leave yuh.
Entry 5233
Take dey lef'-foot shoe an' burn it wit sugah, black peppah, saltpetah an' bluestone. Dat'll call 'em back.
Entry 5241
Ah heard tell dat yo' could take a person's shoes an' put red peppah in 'em an' salt an' some coppahs. Yo' have tuh take a penny. Take a coppah or brass, dat jis' whut dey use, an' take an' scrape it. Take a file an' scrape. An' put all dis heah stuff tuhgethah an' git it in yore shoes some way or othah. Den aftah yo' git dat in yore shoes, den dey cain't wear no shoes.
[To scrape a silver dime is common; to scrape a penny is rare.]
(What will happen to him?)
Well, his [skin] will begin tuh itch. All.de shoes he'll wear will have tuh be jis' de same as sandals. Yo' know yo' cain't weah a good pair of shoes on yore feet counta [on account of] dey disfigured yo' know.
(It hurts his feet when he gets this stuff on them?)
Yessuh.
Entry 5296
Eithah one of yo' shoes, take de inside sole of dat shoe. He takes a knife an' he'll chip it up real fine, an' he'll take some sulphur an' some black peppah, an' he'll mix it all tuhgethah. Aftah he mix it tuhgethah he'll take it an' carry it tuh a stream of watah dat's runnin'. An' he kin sprinkle de least bit of it in dat sole an' he cain't stay nowhere. He start tuh travel. He cain't be satisfied nowhere he goes.
Entry 5301
He kin take de inside sole of a woman's shoe an' burn it - burn it into a powder. Beat it up fine an' git chew some Heart Cologne an' peppermint candy an' melt it, lak yo' use a syrup, melt it, take dem things an' mix up in dat, an' git chew some red peppah an' wear it in yore shoes. Why he will git 'er back.
Entry 5314
Well, yo' take a person track. Yo' put a person track wit salt, black peppah an' yo' put it down in dat dirt daubah's nest - ah mean dat antses nest. An' dem antses goes - yo' see dem antses goin' in an' out of de nest. Dey be goin' an' totin' dirt an' stuff. Dey be totin' dat stuff an' dey be wavahin' [wavering] jes' lak dat [demonstrates]. It will keep 'em on a wave jes' lak dat goin' an' comin'.
Entry 5315
Yo' kin take a person's track - take yore han' an' ketch it from de toe an' bring it tuh de heel. Put some salt an' red peppah wit it an' some sul- phur. Mix it up very good. Take it tuh a ants nest an' po' it in dere an' make yore wish In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an Holy Ghost, an' dey'll leave.
Entry 5316
Ah git yore lef'-feet track an' yore frien' lef'-feet track, take it tuh a ants nest... Ah would take some red peppah an' some black peppah an' some salt, an' call de person name, an' throw it in dere. An' he'll [the ants will] tote it evah bit out. An' when he git through totin' it evah bit out, why yuh an' yore frien' will have a big row, an' yuh'll have tuh leave yore home.
Entry 5339
Well, yo' see, jes' lak if ah's walkin' across de street - yo' know, if ah wanta do yo' a injury, ah'd go dere an' ketch chure track, dig it up an' put it in a bottle an' pee on it, an' put salt an' peppah, an' jes' stop it up an' bury it in de groun'. An' dey pine away. Dey wouldn't live but a few mo' months aftah dat.
(What foot tracks do they pick up? Both of them?)
No, jes' one, de left foot.
Entry 5360
If someone comin' tuh yore house an' yo' wanted tuh keep 'em away, well see, yo' kin git dere track an' burn peppah, sulphuh an' some ole shoes. An' go tuhwards de sunset an' say de same thing, In de Name of de Fathah, an' Son, go. Dey'll go. Yeah, yo' won' be bothahed wit dem no mo'.
Entry 5454
Well, dey git some dust out of a graveyard an' mix it tuhgethah wit some peppah an' stuff like dat. See. Den aftah yo' mix it tuhgethah an' like dat, den dey will git lodestone. Dis black lodestone is a powdah-like, yo' see. An' mix it tuhgethah. Den dey will take yore track like dis. Take yore track an' where dey come an' take yore track up, den dey'll put de dust down de way yo' go - see, disaway. An' when yo' go from de home an' travelin' ovah dat place, dey sprinkle dat dust dat- away all de time. But when yo' travel ovah dat, den dat'll make yo' come away from dat house, make yo' be uncontented here. See, yo' will move, see.
(I see, I see.)
Yo' cain't be contented in dat place. Dat'll make yo' have tuh move.
(They don't pick up the track, the earth - just put stuff in the track?)
Jis' put de stuff in de track jis' where yo' go, an' den dat make yo' be...
(Just in the track.)
Entry 5472
Jis' lak ef ah wan' chew tuh move, yo' leave heah - jis' move from de place or somepin lak dat, leave out dis town. Well, ah would go behin' joo an' git chure track offa de groun'. See, jis' lak yo' goin' dis way an' ah'm comin' behin' yo'. Well, ah grab up yore right track dat way, yo' know, de dirt, behin' yuh, yo' see [demonstrates].
(From the heel to the toe.)
Yes sir, dat's right. Well, ah puts it intuh a papah or somepin othah so ah kin keep all dat dirt, see. When ah git it ah git it goin' [track going away] jis' lak daE. So - well den, ah goes tuh de cemetery an' gits some graveyard dirt, jis' anywhere, yo' know, about de grave, an' puts it in dere wit dat dirt. Well, ah put me some black peppah intuh it an' salt, see. An' den ah takes an' carry it onto de rivah somewhere, anywhere de watah's runnin'. Well, ah throws it intuh dat stream of water an' say, "Go, yo' devil, yo'." An' so dat night, ah reckon yo'll - yo' know, git goin' some way. Hit'll run yo' off, make yo leave.
Entry 5493
Take dat - yo' take yore foot track an' yo' put dat wit sulphur, red peppah an' gunpowdah an' put quicksilvah wit dat. Yo' go tuh de rivah an' go throw it right 'cross yore right shouldah. Go on an' don' look back. Dat will run yo'. Dey say dat will run yuh. Quicksilver may be the real thing, tin foil, or scrapings from back of mirror; the important idea being the five letters q-u-i-c-k.1
(You take, use either foot track. It doesn't make any difference?)
No.
Entry 5499
Jes' lak if he run aroun' wit a woman, yo' kin take his track - dat's yore husban'. Take his right track an' git de dirt out de hollah of 'is foot, 'is track. Take dat dirt an' put some black peppah intuh it, an' a li'le salt, an' wrap it up in a piece of brown papah, an' bury it undahneat' of yore do'step. Put a li'le of 'is hair in dere. An' he'll stay bne.
Entry 5539
Well, see, if a person is stayin' 'way from home all de time, jis' come home an' eat an' tuh sleep a little while an' go right on off, doesn't have any time tuh be roun' home an' yo' wan' 'em tuh stay at home. Well, yo' ketch de track comin' home to- wards de door. An' if yo' git dat track an' yo' measure it wit a papah or eithah way [another method] yo' kin use cahton; well, if it's a piece dat dere hasn't been anything cut off of it befo'. Den when yo' write de name an' make de wishes - make yore wish yo' wanta make, an' fold it ovah, an' each fold fold it towards de house.
(You write on the cotton cloth or on the paper, and each fold you make?)
Each fold fold it towards de house an' repeat de words, "Come home an' stay at home." An' yo' fold dat an' aftah yo' fold it, yo' take a piece of new home- spun an' yo' put dis in it, an' den yo' put some salt. Yo' puts nine grains of red peppah, a pod of red peppah has nevah been any used out. Well, yo' kin put de whole nine pods or yo' kin put de nine grains, which is de seed yo' see. An' yo' put some salt an' some peppah wit dat, be sure it's de salt an' peppah whut yo' jis' bought 'specially fo' dat - an' sulphur. An' put dat down an' bury dat den. Yo' dig de top soil, yo' dig until yo' git down below de top soil, see, an yo' bury dat, an' make yore wishes. An' den de persons will stay at home.
Entry 5551
Yo' be walkin' 'long an' pass by 'im. Yo' gwine down de street disa- way, ah'm comin' disaway. All right. An' when yo' pass by me yo' turn right roun' de first time yo' walk past, take up 'is track. Run down an' pick up de track. Yo' have tuh git it run- nin' an'... (How do you mean get it running? What do you mean by that?) All right, now ah'm walkin' down behin' joo, an' yo' lookin' dat way an' ah'm lookin' de same way yo' is, but ah'm lookin' at chure track an' ah'm goin' walk in a hurry. Yo' know, jis' take a little fast trot an' stoop down an' pick dem tracks up, runnin' like dat. An' take 'em an' put some salt in'em an' black peppah. An' take 'em tuh de rivah an' turn yore back an' throw 'em ovahbo'd, an' yo'll go crazy.
(What shoulder do you throw them over?)
Throw 'em ovah yore lef' shouldah.
(And what tracks do you pick up?)
Yo' jis' pick up two tracks, each foot - each one of yore foot.
Entry 5588
Take out a piece of newspapah by yore track. Put chure foot down on de newspapah an' cut out dat track - understan', by de newspapah. An' take some sulphur an' red peppah an' sprinkle it in de bottom of yore shoe, an' set dat papah in dat, an' put chure foot in yore shoe. Yo' kin walk in it an' it [no cunjure or spell] ain't goin' hurt chew. Dat's right.
[Nothing planted for you to walk over will harm you.]
(After putting that stuff in your shoe, you simply put that insole of news- paper on top of it?) On top of it.
Entry 5617
Take a fellah's track. Git right 'long behin' 'im an' take his track, if he be walkin', movin'. Yo' know right whilst he's movin', git 'is track from right behin' 'im. An' dey say dey'll take dat track den an' dey'll go git some black peppah, red peppah, turpentine, Sloan Linament - anything real hot whut'll burn yo' know. Says dey'll put it in dis track den an' dey'll take it den an' go tuh a runnin' stream of watah. Dey'll stan' wit dere lef' shouldah tuh dis stream of watah, an' dey'll throw it ovah de lef' shouldah an' den dey'll walk away. Well, dey say den dat track as it floats down de stream, say dat'll take, carry yo' on off - will run yo' away from home, jis' make yo' go on where- evah dat goes. Yo' jis' go on off till yo' die.
(How many tracks of mine do they take - or just one?)
Jis' takes one track - eithah one.
Entry 5618
Take dere tracks an' take a pinch, three pinches an' git chew nine grains of red peppah an' nine grains of black peppah an' nine peas of black- eyed peas, an' put it in a bottle an' throw it ovahbo'd, an' don' look back. Says she'll 'peah [appear] 'way from dere. (Here's the track like that. You take three pinches out of that track - either track, the right track or theleft?) De right track.
Entry 5625
Take de dirt from undah a person's right feet an' put it in a rag, an' put red peppah an' salt intuh it an' put it in runnin' watah. Dat will cuz a person tuh bust - goes mos' anywhere yo' wan' 'em tuh go.
(That will send him away.)
Entry 5627
Yo' kin take a person track an' take red peppah an' salt an' put it in a halfa pint bottle, an' chunk it in runnin' watah de way yo' wan' de person tuh go an' dey'll leave. Dey won' evah come back.
Entry 5628
Take de foot tracks up an' put dat in abottle of water, an' put some cayenne peppah an' salt an' steel dust, an' throw it inde rivah. Dat will make yo' drift. Track of de left foot.
Entry 5629
Take dey track.
(Either track?)
No sir, de track outa de right foot. Take it up from yo', put it in a jah [jar]. Put chew some salt an' red peppah wit dat, stop it up tight. Go down tuh de rivah when de tide's goin' out an' stan' wit chure back lak dis [demon- stratesl, an' pitch it ovah yure lef' shouldah an' call dat person name. An' dey'll leave out jis' lak dat - dat bottle go down wit de ebb tide.
Entry 5631
Well, dey gits up de foot track an' dey prepare dat up an' tote it. We use red peppah an' black peppah - sech as dat. We sprinkle dat down an' we salt it. Salt is sup- posed tuh save things. We use salt wit de idea in view of de savin' powdah by dat. We put de salt in dere tuh save it. As long as de salt holds it strength, we got holt of de undahtakin' at de time. SALT IS A GREAT IHING BUT LOTTA PEOPLE DON'T KNOW IT.
(Just what do you do with that track now?)
Well, We takes dat track - IT'S NOT BUT A VERY FEW PEOPLE IN DIS DAY'S TIME HANTS TUH KILL A PERSON, BUT DEY WANTS DEM TUH COME UNDAH DERE CONTROL AN' HOLI "EM, Yo' KNOW. When dey do dis, so den dey use dese means.
[Informant, professional worker, starts another rite.]
Put DUST IN YORE SHOES. PREPARE IT WIT THREE DIFFREN THINGS. An' dey uSe dat tuh sprinkle dat in yore shoes. Dere certain things yo' kin do tuh pertect yo'. Yo' kin walk ovah any kind whatsomevah it is. It melt away. Why.all yo' would do - use salt, nine drops of vinegah.
(How would they use that?)
Weah three needles in yore cap or hatband or whatsomevah yo' gwine tuh do. Stick it - conceal it away.
(What did you do with that salt and vinegar?)
Well we take de salt an' vinegar an' drop nine drops in each shoe. Jis' put a little pinch of salt in dis shoe an' one in dis one, an' we walk anywhere we vanta go.
(You can walk over anything?)
Walk ovah anything a man kin put down.
Entry 5632
Ah heard a ole man say if yo' had a bad enemy, ah mean neighbor an' he come tuh be a enemy, he said, dat yo' could take his track. Take a track of 'is. An' he said yo' could take some black peppah an dis pulverize - yo' know yo' take peppah an' make it outa tobacco [pepper out of tobacco equals snuff]. An' he said yo' git some of dat [also] an' tie up 'is track. Tie it up good in a rag. An' take dat rag an' dey said tie it aroun' dere good an' tight. An' den take a stick an' put it down in de watah - runnin' watah. An' he said, when yo' do dat - an' leave it dere In de Name of de Lawd. An' fix it so it will be weighted down an' watah run ovah it. DEY GOIN' DOWN DAID. Now, dat's whut ah heard about it - a enemy.
(They put black pepper with that?)
Scuse me. Dey put black peppah an' salt, a tablespoonful, an' dey take de red peppah already ground an' put it.
(Cayenne pepper?)
Yessuh. An' put it in dere. An' den aftah yo' do dat, po' de salt all ovah dat, an' take an' tie it up In de Name of de Lawd. An' put nine knots in dis rag. An' den aftah yo' put dose nine knots, yo' take an' drive down de rag through a stick - drive through de rag de stick to hold it down dere. Den yo' lay a rock or somepin ovah it an' let de watah run ovah it. An' dat'll make 'em move from dat place. Dat's whut ah heard.
Entry 5637
Well, dey say dat if a person - if dey git de foot track right at de do'step, see. When dey git de foot track right at dis step right aftah dey Walked in an' out, dey could take some out of it an' put it in sompin an' put some salt, peppah, black peppah, two or three drops of vinegah, an' bury it up undah de back steps. Says, dey von' come back any mo'.
Entry 5664
When a person is doin' anything tuh yo', yo' take dey track an' take it - if dey goin' dis way, yo' take de track dis way; if dey goin' dis Way, yo' takes de track dis way [demonstrates]. (You take the track right from the toe back to the heel?) Take de track from de toe. Don't take de heel, take from de instep tuh 'is feet, from de instep of 'is feet. Take dat goin' dataway an' go an' git chew some sulphur, spirits of turpentine, black peppah an' tie it up in a ball. An' go tuh a runnin' watah an' throw it in.
(What will that do?)
Well, dey'll leave.
Entry 5690
Ah wuz tellin' [asking] a ole man about it one day, how tuh git 'er away from de county [Charles City Co.] an' she would nevah come back ag'in. An ah ast 'im whut wuz it. He tole me de firs' time ah see huh walkin' by huhself, tuh git 3 pinches of dirt outa huh right foot, an' git 3 grains of black peppah, whole black peppahs, an' wrap it up in a piece of brown papah, an' throw it in de creek at ebb tide, an' she would go away from de county an' nevah git back no mo'. Ah saw 'er comin' down de road one day. Ah know it wuz 'uh track an' ah started tuh git some of de dirt. When ah started tuh stoop down somepin spoke tuh me an' said, "Let 'uh go on, ah'll fix 'uh some day." So ah didn't git de dirt an' let 'uh go on. In a few days she wuz taken very sick an' died.
Entry 5711
Take gunpowdah an' a man track, or a woman track, an' salt, peppah an carry it to a red ants nest on a railroad an' say to it whut chew want done, an' it will be done. (You just put it there, you don't do anything else to it?) Jes' stir it roun' an' TALK TO IT AS YO' STIRRIN' AROUND; an' whut chew want done to it, it will be done. [The place collected and number of informant have temporarily been lost.]
Entry 5722
Den ag'in yo' could take up a track - yo' pulls up dat track. When she's comin' home, git behin' 'er an' take de track de same way she's goin', jis' lak she's comin' home. Yo' take it three times. (Where would you take it from, the heel to the toe or the toe to the heel?) Take it from de heel an' carry it to de toe, 'cuz she's goin' home. Take it three time.
(You take it three times. You mean three steps or all out of one?)
Take de leas' leetle bit about a half a teaspoonful, den po' dat in yore han' an' take it an' git nine. Git it nine times, make it three times three. Put dat in dere an' den take de red peppah an' put it tuhgethah. Put it in a bran'-new piece of cloth an' take it an' sew it. Sew it up an' stick it in a green tree, in de limb, an' let it grow up in dat tree. She stay home.
(How do you put it in that limb?)
Jis' take yo' pucketknife [pocketknife] an' split it an' set it right in dere; slip it right intuh dere. Split it.
(And the limb will grow together again?)
An' it will grow ag'in an' it won' hurt 'er neithah.
(That will keep the woman home?)
Yes, keep her home.
Entry 5747
This is to cross you. You take the right-foot track, you dig that out and turn it over, and fill the hole full of salt and pepper and quicksilver and sulphur and gunpowder. Then you put that foot track back in the hole upside down and tamp it down and make a wish. You do that the same both for a man and a woman, if you want to break them up.
[Berlin, Md., by Ediphone.]
Entry 5791
Go tuh de forks of de road, anybody yo' wanta send dem tuh travel or n 'em away from dere. Goes out dere when de wind be blowin'. Take some of 'is track an' red peppah an' salt, an' throw it an' say, "Go, yo' son-of-a-bitch." Dataway. Or yo' kin throw it in some watah. (Or you can throw it into some water and it will do the same thing. Which way do you throw that stuff?) De way yo' want 'im tuh go.
(Well, what about. the wind blowing?)
De wind will blow it de way he want 'em to go.
Entry 5895
Git hold of yore hair an' ruin yo'. Take yore hair an' ball it up an' Pt sulphur, black pepper an' an ole toadfrog dust in it an' throw it in de rivah r burn it up. Dat kill yo' or make yo' sick. Yo' couldn't do nuthin.
Entry 5917
Well, if yo' wanta do dat, dat's very simple. Joo git chew nine pods of dis heah whut chew call guinea peppah an' den yo' slip it round dere, yo' see. Yo' git some of dis heah woman's hair an' put it in dere an' place it into her room where she sleep - into one of de cornahs where she'll nevah find it. An' it will cuz confusion dere, cuz confusion in de home, an' fin'ly in de long run dey'll break an' leave one anothah off.
Entry 5955
[Informant speaks about intention, a word rarely used in hoodoo though its presence is everywhere; it being the power behind potive, ritual and desired result. As informant says, the present rite wouldwork eithah way, depending upon intention. Many rites work either Way - see preceding HORSEHAIR. Dey says dat dey could give good luck by taking yore hair an' mixin' it up wit othah ingredients.
(Do you know what the other ingredients are?)
Well, such as salt an' pepper an' common things of dat kind. An' put it into a little bag an' bury it undah de doorstep, an' if dere's no steps to de house, hy close roun' de house, where de person would step ovah dat in an' out of de bouse. An' dey claim dat would eithah - it would work eithah way. It would Sork so as to keep de people livin' in dat house or to move 'em out, whichevah gay dat de intentions were fer it to go. (Well suppose you intended them to stay in, would you have to do anything ex- cra? Say anything or do anything? How would you express your intention?) Well, yo'd express yore intention in dis way, in de same mannah. If yore intention wuz to keep dem in de house, why yo' would do jes' de same, use de sue ingredientses an'.... (You would form your opinion. That determined whether they were to stay or to go.) To stay or to go.
Entry 5990
Dey drive yuh crazy. Yuh kin do good an' yuh kin do bad. Well, dey take dis hair an' dey put it in a bottle, an' put a little salt an' red peppah. Dey write de person's name on dis slip of papah an' put it in de bottle an' stop it up tight. Yuh go tuh runnin' watah an' throw it ovah yuh shouldah backwards into dat watah. An' jis' since dat watah always runnin', why dat person will jis' go an' jis' go. Evah time dey git a place, dey stay a little an' dey not satisfied. Dey'll go ag'in. Finely [finally] dey'll jis' go an' quit.
Entry 5994
Git chure hair an' put chure hair wit a needle, a steel needle. Jes' dt it from de mole of yore haid - be sure dat yo' git de hair from de mole of de haid an' wrap it wit a steel nee- dle, an' put it in a little bag an' put dat hair, an' a little peppah or somepin in it an' sew it in de bag. Dyput it up ovah de sill of a door, dat hair. Dey got chew wrapped up de way want chew, dat hair an' peppah, an' sew it in a red flannel an' dey keep it re, an' de thread, [use] red thread.
Entry 6067
[The following rite is probably the only one given by my informant. It was the one told to my contact man so that she could enter the interviewing room. We wanted everyone to know before seeing me, what kind of material I want- ed, what kind of work I was doing. De- spite this information we have here one of many examp les in which I am thought to be a hoodoo doctor or fortuneteller or wonder-worker of some sort. This woman knew I did not take money from anyone or offer advice, but she still thought I might be able "to tell her something to do for a living." Here was the social problem confronting me everywhere during these years of THE GREAT DEPRESSION - sheer POVERTY: Yes, we had doles and re- lief then, we still have them in 1972, more than 30 years later. Proper relief we shall always have for a small section of the public, but what we need is work, equal justice, and proportionate taxation for all.] An' yo' know whut chew kin do ag'in [to hold a man]. Yo' kin take dat hair from undah de left arm, an' hair from on de left side of yore, down heah, an take de left fingahnails, all of 'em. Cut all five of 'em off an' all five of de [left] toenails off, an' put dat in de stove an' brown dat, too. An' yo' gotta mix dat wit black peppah, too; an' whoevah yo' want, yo' feed dat to 'em. See. Well now ah show yo' how come. Ah tell yo', yo' use black peppah 'cuz dey won' taste de taste of dat, see. Dat's how come yo' have to use de black peppah wit it, undahstan'. Jes' lak de bottom of de scrapin' of de foot. An' dey say yo' can't even tell de diff'rence. An' ah could put dis peepee [urine] an' dey couldn't even tell dat. [This left-side-of-the-body rite is excellent, unusual, and probably my only erample of it.] (THIS WOMAN WHO JUST LEFT WANTED ME TO TELL HER SOMETHING TO DO FOR A LIVING. JUST THE SAME OLD STORY [poverty everywhere].)
Entry 6107
Dey kin take whut chew call a lock of yore hair, mean a plait, an' put salt an' peppah in hit, an' wrap de same thing up an' put it at chure do' an' bury it. Yo' cain't stay dere, yo' gotta go. Long as dat stays dere an' yo' don't find it, yo'll keep a-travelin', wandah, an' yo' won't nevah stop. Yo' stay awhile an' den yo'll go somewhere else. Yo'll keep a-goin' but yo' won't be at de same place. Wrap it up in a flannen cloth.
Entry 6129
Take a plait out chure haid an' take it an' put salt in it an' black Peppah an' take it an' wear it in de bottom yore shoe. Do dat to make love.
(Do you wear it in either shoe?)
Yes sir an' when ah do it, why everything's all right.
Entry 6175
Gits de hair of a person an' put it wit red peppah, three pods of red peppah, mix it, an' call De Father, Son an' Holy Ghost. Dat three, an' go wit dat hair an' put it undahneat' dere pil- lah or sock [stuff] it up in one cornah of de pillah. An' dat will make 'em stay home. (Make a man stay home or a woman stay home.) [I have interpreted pillar as ooe of the 4 or 5 foundation pillars upon which the small lowland rests, rather than pillah = pillow. The meaning was evidently clear to me at the time, but a question here would have helped later.]
Entry 6176
Take yore hair an' put it into a pint of watah an' put some red peppah an' salt in it an' bury it in de groun' In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, an' dey'll shure leave de worl'.
(Well, how do you put that water into the ground - won't it run away or what?)
[Evidently it is stopped up in a pint bottle.]
Entry 6239
They say you can meet people that go deep into that [work you inquiring about] and involve their whole mind in it. They supposed to can get contact with Satan at the crossroads, but the words that they say in certain ceremonies they go through with, well I don't know that part of it.
[At this point I probably ask how I could protect myself against evil work.]
There are several things you could do to protect yourself, but in protecting yourself you sometimes have to hurt the other party. Now, if a person is going to get, say HOODOOING me, well he's got to make me lose my mind if he possibly can. Well, I can go to another per- son [fortuneteller, rootworker, hoodoo] and I can find out that he's trying to make me lose my mind. Well, I can make him lose his mind before he can make me lose mine, as my only means of protection in that case. Now natchly [naturally] I'm an enemy to this person and I can't get up close to them myself, but if it's a man I can put some woman up to stay with him all night and get just a teeny bit of his hair on the left-hand side of the temple, on the left temple. And we take that hair and write his name on a new piece of paper, and we put that hair with salt and pepper in that paper, and we fold it very tight. Then we go to the woods at the beginning of spring and we bore a hole in a tree, and we take a hammer and nail, and we nail that piece of paper just as far up in the tree as we can - upto Che end Of the naiI. AND THE IDEA IS, WHEN THE SAP RISES THIS PERSON WILL BEGIN TO LOSE THEIR MIND WHEN IT REACHES THAT PAPER, AND WHEN IT GOES COMPLETELY UP TO THE TOP OF THE TREE, THEIR LIVES WILL HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY LOST; AND WHEN DE FALL COMES AND THE SAP GOES DOWN, THEY DIE.
Entry 6246
Dey kin take yuh hair an' bury it, yuh see, an' dat'll run yuh crazy. Dey'll bury it wit de same hot stuff, gunpowder, red peppah. Dat's when dey wan'a run yuh crazy. An' dey'll take dat wasp nestes. Yuh know de wasp look lak dey goin' fly at chew an' goin' sting yuh. Yo'll take de wasp nestses an' take dat [wasp] powdah. Take dem little waspses outa de nest an' takes de dirt an' dey makes a little powdah. Dey makes a little powdah wit dat an' dey'll go tuh work an' dey'll.... Whut did yuh ast me? Uh-huh, yuh hair. An' dey'll take dat hair an' dey'll put all dat togethah an' dey'll bury it, or eithah put it in [a tree]. Dey'll go in de woods somewhere an' dey'll put it in a tree toward de sunrise, an' yo'll always have achin's an' achin's in yore haid an' be crazy.
Entry 6323
Ah've heard dat chew take de hair an' git a lock of hair an' pat salt an' peppah wit it. How yuh wanta know about de hair? (Well, what are you going to do with that hair now, after you put that salt and pepper with it? To harm them some way? All right.) Dat's whut ah wanta know. Ah wanta know did yo' wanta know tuh harn dem or [hrt them].
(Burt them. Either one.)
Well, yuh put salt an' peppah in dat hair, an' den yuh git dat track an' put wit dat, an' den yuh take it an' sew it in a piece of new Sea Island cloth [see later], Sea Island cloth, an' den yuh throw it in de divah. Dat's if yuh want dem tuh not think anythin' about chew atall - jis' don' vorry wit chew, don't chew know, jis' don't bothah yuh. Do dat an' throw it in de rivah an' run dere min' away from yo'.
(You take either track?)
No, yo' take de left track.
(ou want to put all those details in, in telling your story.)
[Sea Island cloth, made from Sea Island cotton (Gossypium barbadense), was so alled because this cotton with an unusually long and silky fiber Was grown on certain islands off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, until the boll wee- lll made its culture unprofitable. If I remember correctly, this (and some in- formant under BAT) is the only occurrence of the term in Hoodoo.]
Entry 6338
Wal, dey kin take yuh hair. Git 'em on a piece of papah an' wrap it up an' put some salt an' black peppah wit it. Put it in runnin' watah an' yuh got-a git outa dis town. Dat will put chew a-travelin'.
Entry 6466
Yo' see yo' scrape dat feet an' yo' take dat feet an' put it in a bot- tle of cologne an' black peppah. Mix wit it an' git some iron whut rust, rus' iron. An' yo' stuff down in dere wit it an' dat'll continue tuh eat dat, commence eat up dat feet dirt from yore feet. An' yo' feet will be eat de same, long as - de mo' dat dat thing, de mo' dat dat rus' commence eatin' dat scuff off yo' feet, de mo' yo' feet will be eaten.
Entry 6480
Yo' take yore fingahnails an' toenails an' put 'em in a piece of rag or somepin an' tote 'em, an' yo' kin make a person like yo', or even yo' kin make 'em hate chew, but chew have tuh put salt an' black peppah with it, or salt an' red peppah. (You do that to make them hate you?) Yessuh.
(And you tote them then?)
Dat's right, an' make 'em not have nuthin tuh do wit yo' in no way or form or no fashion. Dey can't harm yo', but dey Won't bothad wid joo.
Entry 6615
Well, yo' kin take de blood outa scorpion, eithah snake, eithah one, an' put it intuh a person's food In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, an' dey'll becone tuh have snakes in 'em, or scorpions in 'em. Den if yo' wan' dose outa dere, yo' git chew some salt, red peppah, sulphuh. Combine 'em tuhgethah an' let 'em take it fo' nine mawnin's In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' Holy Ghost. An' dat soon will git 'em out.
(Get those live things out?)
Yes sir.
Entry 6620
Yo' git a snake bone an' take de shoes - yo' git de snake bone an' yo' take a person's shoe an' take dat li'le leathah piece outa it whut's in dere. An' yo' take dat li'le bone an' dry it up - yo' know, kinda make li'le powdah of it. An' yo' take de othah part, de tip-end of it, dat sharp part, an' put it down intuh de shoe an' place dat li'le cloth back ovah it. Yo' take dat powdahs an' sprinkle dat all roun' in dere. If it's yore shoe, if ah wanta kill yo' or put sompin in yo', put snakes in yo' where dey won' come out. Well, yo' see when yo' put dat shoe on, yo' goin' press yore weight ag'inst it; an' when yo' does, see, it pops up intuh yo', intuh yore heel. Well, yo' see, dat poison jis' goes right straight on up in yo'. An' aftah dat poison git up intuh yo', in about de ninth day it begin tuh make li'le snakes in yo'. It begin tuh make li'le snakes in yo'. Well, if yo' wanta git dose snakes outa yo', yo' git chew some sulphuh an' green peppah, black peppah an' mix it all tuhgethah. An' den yo' git chew dis milk of magnesia an' den yo' put dat in wit it an' mix it tuhgethah, an' jis' nine drops of spirits of turpentine. Yo' mix it all up tuhgethah an' yo' take dat fo' about eight days an' it will kill dose snakes. An' yo' go tuh de woods an' dere's one li'le sprig of stuff dat dey call dat Copras it bears one of de straight leaves an' de li'le j'ints [joints]. Dey got about four li'le white j'ints run up tuhgethah. [Does informant mean copperas, and does he think it is a plant?] Yo' take dat an' weah dat intuh yore clothes, an' dey say dat will really, surely run de snakes outa yo'. Put it all tuhgethah an' it will run dose snakes out of yo'. (You just wear this root though, you don't take either of those things - just wear it?) Yes.
(And that snakebone, can you get that any place about the snake?)
Yes, yo' kin git it from de snake, jis' any part of 'is body, jis' so it has dat li'le sharp end kind lak a pin.
Entry 6746
Yo' take some black peppah an' salt an' sulphur an' a piece of homel spun; put a piece of homespun around it. Take black peppah, salt an' sulphur an~ put it on dat [package] an' as it burns tell it whut chew want it tuh do an' dey won't come back any mo'. Take a piece of new homespun an' cut it nice [demonstrates]. (Cut it round like a cir- cle.) Yes, yo' have tuh cut it out lak a circle. Den as yo' take sulphur, take a pinch of sulphur - sulphur an' salt [and black pepper] an' put it tuhgethah an say, In de Name of de Fathah, Name of de Son, an' Name of de Holy Ghost, whut chew want it tuh do.
(That will make them stay away.)
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 6904
Jis' lak if yo' were stay- in' dere in dis house an' yo' vanted tuh stay dere, didn't want anyone tuh hurt chah anyway. Ah heard 'em say dat dey could git some table salt an' black peppah, jis' whut chew kin make an' hold it roun' in yore hand, see. Mix it up well. Git enough where yo' kin go all de way roun' yore house, undahstan'. Throw dat all de way roun' yore house. Dere no harm dey kin do yo'. But be sure yo' have aplenty so it be put down all de way roun'.
Entry 6905
If anybody come tuh yore house dat is not right in heah, dere's sompin lak dat wrong, dey swole up, git chew some salt an' black peppah an' throw it in de fiah an' jis' go on out. (You mean if he has a disease, a veneral disease?) Yessuh.
Entry 7145
Tell yo' whut dey do wit yore shoes. Lak if yo' go out an' stay out late at night, or sompin lak dat, an' dey wanta keep yo' home. Dey don' wan' chew tuh go out too much at night. Or if yo' layin' down sleepin' an' dey wan chew tuh sleep soun' an' don' wan' chew tuh wake up, take an' put some black peppah an' salt in de shoe, an' turn it bottomside upwards an' put it undah yore bed - both de shoes.
Entry 7199
Yo' take a fellah now dat wan's chew tuh move out dis house an' he don' lak yuh atall [at all]. He come in de mawnin' an' he git some ashes, yo' know whut burn in de chimley; oak ashes dō [though], it cain't be pine ashes. He take dat ashes an' he takes somepin dey call - ah cain't remembah de name of it, but it's jis' lak ink. [For this ingredient see later.] An' he take dat ashes [author interrupts].
No, not gunpowdah. It's somepin lak potash. But he uses dis instrument in dis ashes. Den he took it an' he come aroun' tuh yuh dō' wit a li'le of dis black-oak ashes de firs' mawnin', an' he sprinkle it aroun'. De second mawnin' he come an' he take a li'le bit of black an' red peppah an' sulphuh, an' he sprinkle dat aroun', aroun' yuh house - walk aroun' - walk aroun' dere nine mawnin's.
(Walk around what?)
Aroun' yuh house. Yo' know, jis' come from de back dō tuh de front - jis' lak somebody come in yore yard befō' yo' wake an' walk tuh de back an' walk back out tuh de front [circumambulates the house]. Den aftahwahds, it looks jis' lak nuthin in dat house - yo' be upsot [upset], yo' cain't do anythin'. Yuh mind is turrible an' jis' lak someone got chew crazy, until yo' move out, if it isn't a lease.
(You can't think of the name of that stuff that they get?)
Ah cain't remembah de stuff jis' at de present time, but ah knows it jis' as good as ah knows - it somepin lak ink. But it's not ink.
(Is it liquid like oil?)
Crela - creosote! Dat's right, yes sir. Supposed tuh use dat instrument in dere. But dey pō it out an' dat stuff'll git hard jis' lak tar; yo' know, when dey beat it up.
Entry 7248
An' so aftah dat ah wus goin' wit a [another] girl an' dis girl quit De: Dat wus about three or four yeahs ago. An' ah went tuh anothah - AH NEVAH BELIEVED IN IT 'FORE, NEVAH BELIEVED NUTHIN ABOUT IT. An' ah neVah think about de girl at all, but dis man caught 'er - [this man] who had cured me. Well, he say, "Yuh girl have quit yuh, havent she?" Ah say, "Yes." He say, "Well, ah kin help yo'." Say, "Do yo' want 'er back?" Ah say, "Yeah." 'Well, '' he say, "yo' give me fō' pieces of silvah." Ah say, "Whut yo' mean by fō' pieces of silvah?' He say, "It gotta be a dime anyway." Say, "It can't be a nickel or anythin' ovah a dollah." Ah give him fo' dimes, but ah ain't payin' no ten-cent tip whutevah. Ah gives 'im dese fō' dimes an' he take de girl's name an' mah name on top, an' wrote it backwards [family name first, then given name] an' tell me tuh put in mah shoe [demonstrates].
(In your left shoe.)
In mah lef' shoe. Ah put it in mah lef' shoe. So ah goes tuh work de nex' mawnin' an' de girl says [this girl where he is] vorkin' on de job - so ah got sick of it, see. It kept on lak dat, an' kept on lak dat, an' kept on lak dat. Dis.[first] girl wus teachin' school. An' so dis girl dat wus teachin' school had gone tuh teachin' school in North Carolina, an' she thought she would go tuh New York an' event'ly [eventually] she'd come back tuh Norfolk aftah livin' in New York fō' a while. Ah really didn't want tuh see her come back. So she did. ["This low voice not at all understandable," says transcriber. Fortunately ve: soon return to the doctor.] So he [doctor] said, "Git me a red onion." Well ah wus a couple of days find- in' a red onion. Went aroun' tuh de market an' evahbody had white onions. Ah couldn't find a red onion. So by an' by ah went tuh de A & P Store an' ah passed an A & P store an' dere wus a delivery truck deliverin', an' ah saw some red onions on dere an' brought one on home. He made me cut it in half. Cut it dis way an' let de two skins on it an' cut dis.
(You cut it from the top to the bottom?)
No, no! Lak [demonstrates] dere's one skin here an' one here, dat way.
(Oh, cut it across.)
Yeah, right 'cross.
(Across the rings.)
So he'd brought some salt an' peppah. Took de salt an' peppah an' dumped a li'le pile of salt an' dumped a li'le pile of peppah, an' he said, "Take nine pinches of de salt an' put it in dis half."
(What did he put in one-half now?)
Put nine pinches of salt in de left half, nine pinches of peppah in de othah half. An' den he gives me a needle. Takes de needle an' stick it up through dis half an' pull dat needle an' take de two onions apart an' make dem tuhgethah, yo' see.
(You sort of pin the two of them together with the needle?)
Sew de onion right back, fix de onion right back so dat de salt an' peppah in it will be tuhgethah. Git a string an' tole me tuh hang it up in de no'th cornah of de wall.
(This needle was threaded with string?)
Yeah, de.onion wus hangin' on de string. Took it dere jis' lak he tole me an' he tole me in fō' day's time she would be back. Well, ah kept it dere, kept it dere fo' fō' days an' she didn't come back. So ah tole him she didn't come. He said tuh give her two mō' days. Ah give her two mō' days an' she didn't come. Ah goes back tuh 'im ag'in. He give me nine pods of red peppah. Yo' know dose red peppahs dat hang down. He give me dem an' a needle an' thread an' tole me tuh tie it, them up tuhgethah.
(These nine pods, did you put the needle through all of them or one?)
Yes, fix dem tuhgethah. Break 'em, yo' know, apart an' den take a needle an' jis' link 'em tuhgethah; yo' know, one on top of de othah. An' he tole me tuh hang it on de same nail wit dat onion. See, [demonstrates] jis' lak dis cornah of de house here is settin' dat way an' dis cornah here is de no'th dataway. An' he tole me tuh hang it in de middle of de house [making a quincunx]. See [demon- strates]. If de house wus settin' dis way, so dat would be de no'th cornah, hang it across.
(The other was hanging in what corner?)
De no'th comah. Cuz [because] she wus in New York. If she wus in de So'th, it would be in de so'th cornah.
(So you hung the peppers in the north corner, too.)
So he tole me in 24 hours she will be dere. An' she come in de nex' train, came right on de nex' train.
(She came?)
Yes sir, right on de nex' train. Ah wus made tuh do dat mahself, but he made me do it mahself - took de onion an' de salt an' peppah. But whut he did aftah dat ah really don' know.
(What did she say when she came? What did she come back for?)
Well, she tole me aftah when she come back dat she jis' couldn't sleep, jis' dreamin' about me all de time, an' diff'ren' things lak dat. But ah nevah let 'er know anything about dat. If ah had continue tuh let it hang dere she would of still been crazy [about me] an' ah had tuh throw dat away so dat she wouldn't be callin' me up on de job an' diff'ren' places lak dat.
(That's a personal experience you've had.)
Well, ah nevah have desert - ah nevah did want 'er tuh leave me no mo'. Co'se ah didn't want 'er too crazy, cuz she would call me up too much. So when she go tuh sleep ah cut a li'le piece of 'er hair off de top of 'er haid an' take some of 'er combin's, or she'd wash 'er comb an' drop a li'le bit of hair dere. So ab buried [this] down 'side of de do'step an' she nevah leave dere.
Entry 7251
If yuh evah wanta cross [the spell] anybody hurt, where somebody done witchcraft 'em - yo' undahstan', yo' don' do did but three times. [In the cure Something must be done or used 3 times.] Now de spirit brought dat tuh me an' ah see de way it works, see. Yo' do dis before sundown. Yo' go out an' any sort of green grass - yo' know whut moody grass is. Yeah dat's dat flat grass, sompin lak ole flat grass dey call moody grass. Chew know whut dat is. An' yo' whut a dog fennel is. All right. Now yo' do dis befo' sundown. Yo' turn yore face to de east right in dat grass an' yo' pull up one bunch. Pull up dat bunch of moody grass, dat flat grass. Yo' pull up dat an' call anybody, jis' anybody yo think what done it. See. Now, if dey ain't did anything tuh yuh, hit goin' give dem good luck; but if dey did sompin tuh yuh, hit goin' back tuh 'em. Ah know dat by experiment. Yo' pull up a bunch of de grass an' call dere name, yo' pull up anothah bunch an' call dey name, yo' pull it up three times an' call dere name [three times] an' say, "Ah wan' chew tuh take yore trouble offa me, In de Name of de Fathah, Name of de Son, Name of de Holy Ghost." An' yo' lay it out, see. Yo' dig a li'le trench, lay dat grass in dere an' yo' call dem people name an' talk tuh 'em lak yo' talkin' tuh 'em. Yo' take some red peppah, some cooking salt, yo' put it on it. Yo' pō' jisa li'le bit of kerosene on it an' yo' take an' stick a match tuh it. Put a piece of papah where it will smoke a li'le. See. An' while dat thing burn, yo' continue callin' dere name. So yo' call it nine times an' tell 'em yo' wan' it so. Say, "Ah wan' chew tuh take yore trouble on back, In de Name of de Fathah, Name of de Son, Name of de Holy Ghost." An' yo' kivah [cover] dat up an' step ovah it backwards, an' don't look back. An' it ain't goin' be but nine days befo' - if dey did it - dey goin' go down vury sick, an if dey ain't right sharp dey goin' die. But it goin' be offa yo'. See, it will be gone from yo'.
(I see, throws it back on them.)
But chew do dat wit dem green weeds. See dem weeds goin' die an'...
(You do this with that moody grass.)
All right yo' git dat bunch of moody grass, an' den yo' kin git a dog fennel or: any kinda othah green weed.
(What do you do with that other weed?)
Well, yo' jis' call de name, but yo' gotta have dis dog fennel an' dat moody grass. See, yo' gotta work three. Yo' know anything de spirits do is three of it all de time: Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost.
Entry 7307
De reason yo' use graveyard dirt, lotta people jis' say fo' instance dey kill someone an' dey git away an' don't want 'em tuh track yo'. Yo' put some of dat graveyard dust in yore shoe. Well, de bloodhoun's won't trail yo' or nuthin. If yo' want git de bloodhoun's off yore trail [another method] den put red peppah in yore shoes.
(So that bloodhounds won't track you?)
Yes sir.
The informant reports hypothetical pursuit claims for graveyard dust and a separate red-pepper method. '[another method]' is editorial; the interviewer's question and the informant's answer remain separate.
Entry 7325
An' black or red peppah, salt, bluestone. Make dat stuff up an' sprin- kle it down, if yo' done a crime an' yo' Wanta git away. Dey goin' take de blood- hound to git aftah yo'. Git dat graveyard dirt an' dat bluestone an' salt an' stuff an' put it in your shoe. An' anywhere yo' go dat dog'll track yo' till yo' got dat, an' den when yo' got dat he can't track yo' no furthah, yo' see. Yo' see, yo' done hoodooed dat dog. Dat dog come on back. An' he can't go ovah dat cuz it's too strong fo' 'im, yo' see - dat graveyard dirt.
Entry 7353
Well now, jes' lak if he done de killin', [he] say, "Ah wants tuh git away." Well, he'll go to work yo' see an' git 'im a pair of new shoes, he'll git 'im a bottle of turpen- tine. He'll take dat turpentine an' he'll pull 'is shoes off an' rub undah de bottom of 'is feet wit dat turpentine, an' he'll po' a little in 'is shoes. He'll go to work den an' he'll git 'im jes' about nine grains of black pepper, six grains of spice, an' git 'im jes' about a piece of bluestone a little bit biggah den a black-eyed pea. An' he'll put all dat togethah. He'll go to work den an' git 'im a dime bottle of alcohol, an' evah mawnin' regardless to where he goin', he'll take dat alcohol an' rub behin' 'is ears, rub across 'is fo'haid, an' he'll take dat turpentine an' 'noint 'is shoes - under de bottom of 'is shoes - an' he'll chew a grain of dat black peppah, one grain of dat spice, evah day, an' jes' a little crumb of dat bluestone mixed togethah. An' as long as he continue wit dat, he'll always keep a-goin'.
(Can't catch him.)
He'll keep a-goin'. [Waycross, Ga., (1097), 1771:5.] [Rites for catching a murderer are much more varied and interesting than those permitting him to escape, egg rites alone being amazing both in number and diver- sity. Everywhere the spirit of the murdered person is present or its presence assumed.]
Entry 7519
People say dat chew could go tuh de fo'ks of de road - like two roads cross [crossroad] yuh know. A person walk in dere an' if yuh wan' 'em back, yuh kin take yore han' an' pull away de left [foot] track - dis is de heart [side] chew know - back tuh yuh, jis' a little bit of dirt out de hollah [= con- cave portion of bottom of foot, called ball of foot by some informants]. An' take dat an' put a little bit of - go tuh de graveyard an' git chew some, jis' lak if somebody yuh know is dead, Mary or John, somebody. Yuh say - yuh go tuh de grave yard an' says, "Mary, ah wan' chew tuh help me. An' ah wan' chew tuh follah me." Says, "Ah wan'a buy some of yore dirt." See, if yo' don't drop dem pennies yuh'll be robbin' de dead. An' run yore han' down about lak dat [usually to the elbow] where it nex' tuh [over] de heart an' take out a snuffbox full. Take dat an' some black peppah an' de track, an' jis' put a little bit in de cornah of yore house de foah cornahs. [This is one of the many four corners of the earth rites in Hoodoo.] An' if it's a woman [who left], she'll come right back - she can't leave. If it's a man he'll come back. An' dat spirit will follah yuh, guide yuh evahwhere yuh go.
(Make you come back.)
[This same rite, with a slight variation, is now used for customers if you are in business:] Fo' frien's [customers], de same thing ah tole yuh 'bout dat grave. Yuh know frien's will speak tuh frien's. Yuh git chew some dirt, don't have no track in it yuh know. Jis' go dere an' git dat dirt an' have a little - yuh git a [new] box of black peppah an' don' use it fo' nuthin but dat. Shake a little bit of black peppah in dere an' jis' carry dat black peppah an' de graveyard dirt [back home]. Yuh wanta gain frien's when yuh in business. An' put some in yore coat Pocket an' yuh be laughin' an' talkin', jis' sorta foolin' around - yuh be - lak shakin' yore han's or somepin. [Here informant, according to my penciled nota- tion made while checking original cylinder reads: "Lowers her voice and begins to whisper." Evidently she was afraid someone could hear through the closed door.] Slap [throw] dat roun' an' wherevah it be it will draw dem - wherevah yuh at, in yore store or any business. An' dey will flock tuh yuh. Now ah've heard dat.
(You use black pepper and graveyard dirt together.)
Dat's right.
(And you get the graveyard dirt just the way you got it before?)
Yeah. Now, yuh see, yore han' drop in three pennies, an' covah de grave up, jis' lak yuh do wit chure han's yuh know. If yuh don't drop in pennies, yuh will rob de dead. If yuh carry somebody wit chew, den yuh will drop in silvah, a dime [tol keep from robbin' de dead. [THE LAST STATEMENT - PENNIES IF ALONE OR A DIME IF SOMEONE ACCOMPANIES YOU - IS PROBABLY MY ONLY EXAMPLE OF THIS BELIEF. As We shall see, a dime, no longer of silver, is sometimes given to the spirit; BUT TAKING A COMPANION WITH YOU VIOLATES THE NORMAL CUSTOM OF ONE PERSON APPROACHING THE SPIRIT.]
Entry 7606
Well, yo' go tuh de graveyard roun' about twelve a'clock at night tuh some sinnah's grave or murdahah have been killed [or executed] an' on de side de heart's on yuh put a penny down dere an' git a handful of dat dirt. An' while yo' gittin' yo' usin' a oath. An' yo' bring it back tuh de house an' take it an' put chew salt an' peppah an' sulphur in it an' yuh keep it. Put it in a jar an' anybody dat chew don't like or wheresomevah yo' go at an' yo' wanta start I confusion, yo' Jes' take dat 'long wit chew an' jes' sprinkle it all aroun' as yo' go. Dat will certainly cuz confusion wit yore enemies.
Entry 7620
Dey - yuh take graveyard dirt, it will run anybody. Dey goes out an gits some graveyard dirt out of a grave an' put a nickel in dere where dey done got de dirt from, dat whut dey call payin' fo' it. An' dey go back an' go tuh dis person's house, an' take a little pepper, an' mix wit it, an' go dere an' make lak yuh talkin' tuh 'em, yuh know, an' sprinkle it roun' in dere house. Three days aftah dat, dem folks is ready tuh leave dere.
Entry 7647
Dey says dat yo' kin go tuh a graveyard an' take de dirt off de centah of de grave, an' put it intuh a box an' carry it a few days wit yo'; but put red peppah intuh dat box. An' yo' kin take dat same thing an' mix it up an' use it in de woman's mind tuh git 'er confused, an' she won't be satisfied wher- evah she goes.
Entry 7651
Jes' reach dat deep in de grave right in de centah close tuh de heart. An' den yo' take it from de foot. An' yo' git dat graveyard dirt an' yo' take dat graveyard dirt an' yo' put black peppah in it. Yo' know dose [whole] black peppahs are very 'fective. An' yo' kin break up a person dat way.
(How?)
An' den aftah dey git dat graveyard dirt, dey put dat peppah in dere. An' dey take dat graveyard dirt in dere hand an' dey walk tuh yuh porch, an' throw it right at chure dō', where yo' goin' tuh walk out dere ovah it.
Entry 7672
He [my contact man] wus askin' me about how would yo' git a woman away from yore home, if yo' didn't want 'er. Wal, ah tole him dat dey kin go tuh a graveyard where yo' know it's some evil person had.died, an' dig down dere about three feet an' git so much - 'bout three teaspoonsful of sand an' mix it in with some black peppah an' take an' mix some sulphur in it an' carry it an' throw it ovahbo'd in a bot- tle, an' curse dat at de present time, lak 'Go.' Curse at de present time three times an' holler "go" - "go" - "go."
Entry 7723
See, yo' 'sposed tuh go tuh de graveyard twelve a'clock at night, an' yo' git dis dirt, an' when yo' start gittin' dis dirt, yo' supposed tuh say, "Dead spirit, ah didn't come tuh rob yore grave, ah came heah fo' luck In de Name of de Father, of de Son an' of de Holy Ghost." An' if yo' put money tuh dat grave or a corn or either some fresh rice, anything, yo' supposed tuh pay dem An' jes' lak if yo' want chure luck changed, yo' go dere in de nighttime at twelve a'clock an' yo' take de haidbo'd an' throw it tuh de feet an' take de feetbo'd an' throw it tuh de haid. An' yo' git dis graveyard dirt an' yo' sup- posed tuh put sulphur in it - supposed tuh put red peppah an' yo' supposed tuh put sompin yo' kin git at de drugsto', but yo' don' specially have tuh have dat, an' salt in it. An' yo' burn dis dirt three times a day. If it's wet yo' put it in de sun an' let it git dry, an' when yo' make yore fiah [fire] it gonna smell funny when it be burnin'. Yo' shet up in a room tuh yo'self an' yo' burn dis heah dirt. An' jes' lak if yo' want - if anothah party livin' next do', yo' want 'em out chure house, yo' burn dat dirt on dose people an' tell 'em dat chew want 'em tuh be out. Yo' know, move out de house. An' burn it three times a day. An' jes' lak if yo' runnin' a joint or anything, an' if no one will visit chure joint much, yo' kin burn dat dirt, an' in about ten minutes time yo'll have a crowd at chure house. An' if it's a woman yo' wants tuh see, an' yo' cain't see her, an' yo' burn dat dirt, dogged if she wouldn't be dere in about five minutes' time.
(You make your wishes when you burn that dirt.)
[This was not a leading question. Somewhere while recording machine had stopped this had been mentioned.] Yeah yo' make yore own wishes In de Name of de Fathah, an' de Son an' de Holy Ghost. (What is the stuff that you would get at the drug store if you wanted to use that and add that to it?) It's sompin, but chew specially [don't] have tuh have dat, becuz ah ain't nevah didn't nuse [use] dat. (You don't have to have it. What is it, if you do want to use it?) [Either no answer or I turn off machine too fast.]
Entry 7814
Dey did mah grandmothah dat way, an' ah went tuh a woman [doctor] dat tole me. Take de graveyard dust an' got some ole stuff dey jis call John de Conkah, an' put it wdt dat graveyard dust. An' git Jockey Club an' put it. Mix it all up tuh- gethah an' put some peppah in it. An' put it in 'er tracks an' put it at de do' where she had tuh come out. An' de woman [doctor] git one of 'er shoes an' put some in dere, an' 'er foot lak tuh rise [swell] off her.
(Almost ran off?)
Yes. [The woman doctor or fortuneteller turned the spell back on the spell-caster.1
Entry 7882
Yo' may take graveyard dirt an' go tuh someone's house dat chew don' lak, an' take cayenne peppah, black peppah an' table salt, an' run people from home. (What would you do with this powder and all this mixture then?) Mix it all up tuhgethah an' throw it aroun' de house an' throw it up on de po'ch, or carry it in de house if yo' kin git it in there, an' dey will leave.
The informant names graveyard dirt, cayenne pepper, black pepper and table salt in a mixture placed around, on or conditionally inside a house. Departure is reported by the informant; the interviewer asks about placement.
Entry 7921
Take chamber lye an' graveyard dirt an' mix it de same as ah jes' tole yo' while ago, an' jes' keep it all roun' de house. That will keep de law away. Dat chamber lye wit de graveyard dirt an' de peppah an' salt. ah wuz tellin yo' 'bout jes' awhile ago. (That will keep the law away?) Dat keeps de law away.
Entry 7997
Yo' see, she makin' yo' [your] image. Well, now she carry dat home tuh heep yo' home wit 'er. Well now she is in love wit chew. Well now, when she done git through fixin' dat, if she know what tuh do wit it, she take an' she put nine grains of red peppah. Now listen tuh me good. She put nine grains of red peppah in dere. She'll take pickle [? or pric- kle?] feet but she'll put - tetch it wit dat, not put it in. She'll tetch it wit dat. [Prickle feet could be a weed like horse nettle.] Dat got chew ag'in. An' yo'll nevah confess tuh know dat chew do it. Got chure brain dere an' all tuhgethah.
(Well, how did she make this little image?)
She make dat image of a man.
(What did she make it out of?)
She make it out of rags.
Entry 8051
Ah heard dat yo' kin go tuh de graveyard an' git one of dese bones. If it's a sinnah, yo' kin take de bone off 'is right foot, de big-toe bone, an' take it an' put some black peppah an' salt an' cayenne on it. Dat's fo' gamblin'. (How would you handle that, then?) Well, yo' jis' go an' dig it up, see. Ah ain't nevah tried dat now. Go an' dig it up, see, an' cut dat bone off. Yo' have tuh git a saw an' saw if off. Saw dat bone, dat j'int dere. Saw dat off an' git chew black peppah, salt an' bluestone, see. Well, yo' car- ries dat home dere an' let it stay undah yuh step fo' nine mawnin's, see. Well, yo' take it den an' put it up ovah de do' - jis' lak yo' sleepin' in dis room, an' put it up ovah de do' an' let it stay dere den contin'ly [continually]. But yo' have tuh sew it up intuh a black rag, see. Let it stay dere contin'ly an' den yo'll be lucky in gamblin'.
Entry 8100
Ah heer'd dat yo' could take a photograph an' put, place it in de dark, yo' see. Place it in de dark with peppah an' salt. Sprinkle on dis photograph. Wrap it up an' put it in a dark place. Well, yo' say, throw it away an' it would cuz homes tuh be broken up or somepin lak dat. Ah hear'd of dat, too.
Entry 8229
Tuh break up a home, well yo' kin take gunpowdah.
(How would you use that?)
Well yo' would take de gunpowdah an' yo' draw a pichure lak it's fo' two peo- ple. Yo' draw 'em jis' lak dey goin' tuh fight - yo' know how chil'ren kin draw funny pichures - jis' lak dey goin' tuh fight. Yo' takes de gunpowdah an' nine pinches of salt, an' nine pinches of red peppah, an' yo' put it in de stove an' make yure wishes. An' dat breaks 'em up. (Well, what do you do with the picture then?) Well, yo' take de pichure perhaps an' stand it on de head an' put it in a dark closet.
(No, this picture that you draw. What do you do with that?)
Oh, what you drew. Yo' burns dat. Yo' writes dere names on dis papah. Yo' draws on a plain piece of white papah, den yo' takes dis pichure, de man's havin' a fight, yo' puts de gunpowdah in dere, nine pinches, nine pinches of salt, an' nine pinches of cayenne peppah, red peppah. An' den yo' put it in de stove fo' nine mawnin's.
(I see, you put the stuff into the picture?)
Yeah.
(You have to draw that thing nine times?)
Uh-huh. Yo' don't have tuh draw it zactly [exactly] lak 'em, but yo' draw it lak a man if yo' kin or do it lak a woman, see.
(Well, do you do that over again and again?)
Ovah ag'in fer nine mawnin's.
Entry 8246
(If a man leaves his wife, how would she make him come back?) Make him come back?
(How would the woman make him come back?)
Well, dey kin go buy a box of salt an' take his pichure. Take dat pichure an' de box of salt an' put dat pichure head foremost - put de head down an' feet up - dat [feet] on top, de top of 'is feet in dere. See, dis side up. An' aftah it set in dere nine days, yo' take dat salt off. Take dat pichure, aftah he come - soon as he come home - take dat pichure an' put it up. If yo' wan' tuh make him come quick, take dat pichure an' put it in a li'le frame, an' put it close tuh de stove, an' keep a fiah in dat stove. An' den, if yo' want's it hot, den yo' sprinkle peppah on de bottom part of dat pichure. I heah sometime dey put....
Entry 8518
Now when a man and a woman are together and some other party wants them completely separated for good, wants to break them up completely, they buy them a new cocoanut. And they punch the three eyes out of that cocoanut and leave the milk in. And they write those two peoples' names the same as they do when they're going to the crossroads ["they'll write the man's name nine times and then they write the woman's crossing nine times" - from the same cylinder, 1574:3 somewhere in text]. And cross each other and they curse them for everything they can think of, and they fold that paper tight and stick it down in the hole of that cocoanut. Then they put anything that purges, like Epsom salts, or black draught. And they put pepper sauce in there, something very hot - pepper sauce and red peppers. And they put salt in there and saltpeter. And they write those two persons' names across each other, like this, on three separate pieces of paper, and fill the eyes of that cocoa- nut. And then at 12 o'clock at night they go to the river and throw it over their left shoulder. And if that black draught and that different stuff in that cocoanut begin to work, you know when it gets stale.it'll work, those two people begin fussing and fighting, and within a period of nine days they're absolutely separated. And there's a whole lot in that. [Memphis, Tenn., (973), 1574:5.] Those cocoanuts.
(Different from what you told me?)
Yes, just a little different. They use gunpowder instead of the salt and pepper and stuff like that. That makes people mean and drift and they can't have any luck at anything at all they do. [This woman is marked excellent pro- fessional. She was from Shreveport, La.] [Memphis, Tenn., (973), 1577:2. The first reference for this rite Was given in the text.]
Entry 8626
What other way they say they can do?
(Yes.)
They can take your name and write it nine times and write the landlord's name nine times on top of your name. Then they takes a lemon, and they gets graveyard dust, Epsom salts, red pepper, black pepper, plain salt and takes a lemon and hulls it out and puts that name down in there and bury it in de ground de butt end up, an' when that name rots, that landlord will put yo' out.
(I see, the landlord will put me out?)
Yes. Yo' an' 'im fall.out. (Now, you say - you write my name nine times in a row, then you write the landlord's name?) Across it.
(You turn it like that [I demonstrate] and cross it?)
Cross it.
(You cross it like that or just write over it?)
No, over it but cross it.
(Oh, you cross it. You turn the paper upside down and write across it?)
[Names are on same line but upside down.]
Yes.
(Well, why do you put his name on top of mine?)
To make him fall out wit yo':
(Oh, I see.)
Entry 8643
Hullin' dat lemon out, an' puttin' de partchment papah in dere wit de party's name on dat, an' puttin' some red pep- pah, salt, black peppah, sewin' it up an' buryin' it anywhere in de soil, or else tro' it in de rivah." Dat break up any party dat livin' togethah in comfort.
(That is to break up a man and woman?)
Yes.
Entry 8655
They use bluestone into a lemon, an' salt, black pepper, an' cayenne pepper, an' the woman's an' man's name, an' throw it in the river. That makes them drift. (You put this all inside the lemon?) Yes, sir.
Entry 8695
Take some red peppah an' put it in his lef' shoe, an' write his name on a piece of paper an' lay it over that red peppah. Dat'll make yo' [a woman] get his money.
Entry 8714
Well, yo' take her name an' yo' write her name down three times. Yo' write yore name three times. Yo' want her now, yo' want her. (Now where would I write my name?) Yo' write her name here first [demonstrates]. Put chure name heah [underneath]. Yo' Yo' write her name heah an' put chure name in dere. Yo' write it three of each, three of each. An' yo' take den an' yo' sprinkle a li'le salt an' a li'le sugah on dis, white sugah. De sugah tuh sweeten it. Salt saves it an' sugah sweetens it. An' sprinkle dat. Yo' put dat on top of a heater an' yo' let dat brown. When yo' let dat brown, her mind will come to yo'. Dat sveetness of dat sugah will sweeten her mind tuhwards yo'. Yo' git 'er. Well, now, if yo' wanta jes', say, carry her off from where she stayin' or make confusion ovah dere first, yo' put red peppah, sulphur an' gunpowdah on dere. Put 'er husban' name or whosomevah man she got, yo' put dat on dere. Dat's tuh confuse dem. Den when yo' confuse 'em, yo' got 'em. Den yo' put dat sugah on dere to sweeten, an' dat salt to save 'er fo' yo'. Yo' put dat on dere tuh bring 'er tuh yo'.
Entry 8724
(Dog hair and cat hair, how do they use that?)
Well, yo' take dat dog hair an' dat cat hair together, an' yo." put maybe sompin, my name or yore name, anybody dat chew wanta call. Dey will fight lak cats an' dogs, man an' his wife. Yo' jes' put dere names together, an' yo' take dat cat an' dat dog hair an' yo' put it together, an yo' put red peppah an' sulphur wit dat an' yo' burn dat. Dat will cause 'em tuh fight lak cats an' dogs.
Entry 8780
If yo' wants tuh make a person move ag'in [another method] eithah [or] make 'em live bad - it goes fo' both de things. If yo' wanta make 'em live bad, ah break some ice up, an' ah take dat beef gall, an' de dirt dauber - yo' knows dat - an' yo' roll it [dirt dauber]. Yo' know, yo' take a bottle an' put it [dirt dauber nest] in a piece of papah an' roll it up, yo' know lak yo' do bread crumbs. An' yo' take dat beef gall an' yo' take de same cayenne peppah. Yo' use a whole box of it an' de beef gall, an': yo' mix all dat up togethah. An' yo' write de individual name down nine times each way. Yo' see, yo' could write it nine times straight lak dat [demonstrates]. An' den whosomevah yo' breakin' up from, yo' could write dem on top. An' den yo' write 'em down nine times each way yo' see. Yo' write it straight lak dat, an' den urite it, yo' know, catacorner [catercornered]. Yo' undahstan' how ah mean? Write it across jis' lak a seal lak yo' make. [These 2 groups of names cross each other making an "x" or cross.] An' den yo' put it in dat piece of papah, but chew git a white piece of papah an' yo' write it in ink. An' yo' git it in dat papah an' yo' fold it up, an' when yo' fold it, don' fold it towards yo', always fold it from yo'. An' yo' put it in a jah. Yo' put all dat togethah in dat papah an' yo' put it in a jah an' yo' stop dat jah up tight an' yo' put it in a ole country toilet. Have tuh be shure tuh find a country toilet tuh put it in where nobody won' find it.
(What would that do then?)
Dat would break yo' up. Dat would break anybody up, if yo' want 'em tuh live bad an' not prosper or nuthin. Dat'll make 'em, yo' know, live bad.
(These two people.)
An' den ag'in, dat same thing yo' could do ag'in, if yo' wants tuh put some- body against - lak yo' have friends an' de people heah lak [like] yo'. If yo' put de othah person ag'inst dese othah people, yo' kin take dat same thing an orite dere name down an' den write de othah individual name on top an' put it down, an' dey'll come tuh lak yo' an' hate de othah one.
(You don't throw that in the toilet do you?)
Yes, de same thing. Yo' know it diff'ren ways yo' could do.
Entry 8782
Well, if yo' got a person - yo' kin take peoples' name an' put it in a bottle. Well, yo' take de name an' yo' write de name as ah tole yo', nine time, but yo' write it on a straight [ruled] piece of papah. Yo' kin put it in a bottle an' yo' kin take dat bottle an' yo' kin stan' anywheres off where yo' kin whip it; but yo' sup- posed tuh put peppah, vinegah an' Epsom salts an' gunpowdah wit anythin' evil dat yo' wants tuh do. Dat's in de bottle. See, yo' put all dat in dat bottle wit vinegah. An' yo' takes dat bottle an' git it on anythin' soft lak a cushion or pillah, anythin', an' yo' whips dat bottle. An' as yo' whip it yo' call dere name. An' when yo' do's dat, yo' doin' dat tuh make confusion. (And in writing those names, you write one right under each other nine times. And what do you write that with?) Yo' write it wit any kinda pencil.
Entry 8785
See, lak yo' start today. Well, yo' jes' git chew some steel dust an' sprinkle it all roun' dat house. An' git dere name an' some cayenne peppah an put it all - mix it all up dere togethah, wit some brown cinna- mon an' sugah. An' shake all dat aroun' dere. Throw it all up on dat window sill. An' curse 'em. Yo' know, give 'em a bad name. An' den take dey name an' jes' bring dat name in de window, yo' know, an' tie it up in a pocket han'ke'ch'ef. See, lak dat, an' ah guarantee yo' in two days he done left. He be walkin'. He cain't find no place in world tuh stay. Nobody want 'im. Wanta git rid of 'im an' all. Won't leave him stay. [To get rid of the man in the house, his spirit is tricked by carrying his name, his captured spirit, into house through a window. This confuses the spirit so that it no longer knows how to enter normally through the door. We have a similar piece of magic in the funeral rite in which coffin is' removed from house through window instead of door.]
Entry 8787
If yo' want to make 'em drift, yo' jes' take it an' get dat. Yo' always got to get dat name an' get dere right name, an' fix it up. Yo' put it into a bottle an' yo' get yo' some vinegar, strong, good vinegar, an' stick dat name down into dat vinegar, wit nine pods of red peppah - red peppah, not a strained peppah.
(Nine pods of red pepper?)
Yeah, an' stick it down into dat bottle wit his name in it an' dat old Epsom salts an' dat peppah. An' yo' can take it an' go to de rivah. Yo' seal dat bottle up an' yo' go to de rivah an' pitch it right in de channel. It'll float. An' as long as de bottle will float, dey'll always be goin' - dey goin' to keep goin'. Dey won't stay in no one place. Dey'll go to one place an' den dey'll come back to anothah place. Dey'll keep a-goin' an' dey'll nevah stop goin' until somepin gets dat bottle an' knocks dat stoppah out of dere. It goin' to get loose some way, if dose [things inside] won't keep it [afloat]. (I see. Now, you only write the name once on that piece of paper? You only write it once?) No, write it nine times, an' den make yore wish when yo' are writin' it.
(Oh, I see.)
Entry 8831
And they knows yore handwritin' - get holt of it, dey can.
(What will they do?)
Well, dey will take dat han'writin' an' dey kin cross-write yore han'writin', yo' see, so ah'm told. Cross-write yore han'writin', jes' like yo' write a lettah straight; well, now, dey'll go 'cross it.
(I'll write it straight?)
Straight, an' dey'll turn it [the paper upside down] an' go across it. (I see, just cross it - just turn the paper around and cross it.) Cross it, see. Dey turn de Papah aroun' an' cross it. Well, when dey cross it, den dey'll fold dat papah differently, yo' see. An' dey'll puts it in a draw, draw it with heat or watah, see. An' aftah drawin' it with heat or watah; de sweat from dat papah is what dey uses, yo' see. Well, if dey use dat sweat, dey got yore han' jes' de same, yo' see. An' dey put it in a bottle an' use it, cause yore han' tuh swell up. Dey put salt, peppah an' alum in it an' dey'll lay it in a place undah de step, an' it will cause yore hand to swell.
Entry 8838
( Git a flyin' squirrel [Glaucomys volans]. Git de heart of a flyin' squirrel, git some Hearts Cologne, an' git some red peppah an' answah dis lettah. [This is my only example of flying squirrel in Hoodoo.] (That is if I would write somebody a letter, you would get all these things?) Yes. (They would then go ahead and answer my letter.) Answer it. Den dey will sprinkle dis ovah dere, put it right ovah de lettah. See, aftah yo' - let dat squirrel heart stay in dere so many days. Stay in dere firs' until it git rot- ten, so dat dey could mix it up an' put it intuh de lettah, jes' lak yo' would make a big spot on de lettah while writin'. Den seal it [letter] an' carry it an' send it back tuh yo'.
(What would happen to me then?)
It would git chure mind, if dey wanted yo'. Why yo' come where dey want yo'. (Come to them. Use the heart of the flying squirrel. What other things did you say they put in there?) Heart Cologne an' red peppah.
(What do you do with that Hearts Cologne and that red pepper?)
Yo' mix it all tuhgethah, yo' see. Yo' know. when it rots an' make a lick- rish [= licorice = liquid] of it. Or eithah grind intuh a powdah an' sprinkle it intuh dere. An' send it tuh yuh. Purtty soon yo' git de lettah an' natchly [naturally] when yo' opens it yo' git de inhale of it. Yo' git uneasy den an' wants tuh go where dey are.
Entry 8862
Dey makes a powdah outa sulphuh an' black peppah an' some kin'a talcum powdah - any kin'a powdah dat's got a 'fume [perfume] tuh it, choo know. An' dey write choo a lettah, why [or] yo' kin dress a lettah an' send tuh dem, or eithah send one aftah [if] dey write choo. Yo' take an'...jis' lak yo' gon'a send a let- tah tuh dem, yo' take de papah, spread it out on a table or somepin, an' take de page of it dat joo've written, an' put 'em down on dat, de powdah, on each side. An' shake it off so it won't show, an' send it tuh 'em. An' if someone dat choo Wan'a see, or wan' 'em tuh do somepin yuh ask 'em tuh do, when dey receive dat lettah dey will do it or go crazy.
Entry 8927
If a person come in here an' steal somepin from yo', he may steal five dollars or he may steal ten dollars. Well, now yo' go to bed. Yo' wanta go down an' put de law behin' [the thief], but don' chew do dat. Yo' ain't gotta put de law behin' 'em. Den go to work an' lay down in yore bed at night an' de fust thing yo' dream yo' git up. De fust thing yo' have in yore dreams, yo' git up. Yo' go an' take up yo' right-footed shoe. An' take it an' put it at de head of yo' bed, underneath chure head. Well, de fust thing yo' dream after yo' put it underneath chew head, yo' come downstairs an' take some soda, cookin' soda, in yo' hand. An' take some table salt an' put it in yo' hand, an' a little bit of red pepper an' put it in yore hand. Go to de do' an' call three names of de ones dat been to yore house. An' dat man will come back dat night an' bring dat back an' say he got it.
Entry 8980
Now if yo' go before de iudge, de judge goin' to discharge yo', ac- cording to what kind of case, yo' know, yo'll have. Well, if yo' got people against yo', yo' know, an' yo' don't want to have dem part of de jury. Yo' going before de judge, like if it's a criminal case, yo' know, yo' got to have de jury. Yo' see, dey have [a panel of] 75 jurors [to select jurors from]. Well, yo' don't know what people [will be on the jury]. They don't pick out but twelve. Now, yo' don't know what twelve dey going to pick out. Dat makes yo' gotta use de whole panel. Yo' see, ah [in my work] done use 'em all.[ Well, now, de person - what jurors is against yo'. Yo' go an' get yo' a beef tongue, a fresh beef tongue. Pay odd money fo' it, not even money - 25 or 35 cents or somepin like dat. Let de money be odd money. An' yo' go an' take dat tongue an' yo' get these peoples names what is against yo', what done harm yo', don't yo' see or what yo' done harm. Yo'll take dat tongue, yo'll write de names on a piece of papah, an' yo'll write all dem jurymen's names, de dis- trict attorney.
(The whole 75 of those names?)
Yeah, just put de whole 75. Yo' have to use de 75, because outa dem yo' get twelve.
(I see. All right.)
Now, yo' get de district attorney what is de man to prosecute yo'. Yo'll get his name an' put it on dere, but not de judge in dat part. An' yo'll -git yo' dat tongue. Yo' get yo' nine needles an' nine pins. Yo'll get yo' dese people names an' yo'll put down on dere an' yo'll put dat down in de throat of dat tongue. Yo'll take dat tongue an' yo'll hang it up in de chimney. An' den aftah dat, yo'll take an' git yo' some watah an' yo'll get yo' some peppah. Yo' git yo some coarse snuff an' yo'll burn a - light a candle.
(Coarse snuff?)
Coarse snuff, dat coarse snuff; not dat in a box. An' yo'll light dat candle an' yo'll put it.in dere. Now, yo' want to come clear an' yo' want de judge to be lenient wit yo', so yo' take de judge's name. An' yo'll take de judge ame, den yo'll git yo' a block of ice, 'bout fifty pounds of ice. Yo' put it in a little pail an' yo'll sweeten it. Den yo'll light de candle, but yo'll light it straight up [the candle will be standing upl. An' den yo' see, sweeten de judge. But this othah part what yo' do, yo' take an' yo' put de candle - yo' turn 'em upside down, yo' get dat coarse snuff an' all dat, an' put in dere. Well dat make de district attorney be fightin' against dem. An' de people, what he got fo' witness, goin' to speak against yo'. Anything dey drink, perhaps dey drink whiskey. Some might drink gin or somepin like dat. Well yo'll get dat [liquor] an' yo' put dere name an' set yo' a little glass. An' put dat candle on dat [name and liquor in the glass] an' ah'll guarantee every one of 'em will go to court drunk. An' yo'll come out clear 'cause dey'll be drunk. Dey won't know what they're sayin'. They'll be lying backwards and forwards.
(What'll that ice do?)
Well, yo' see, de ice, dat's to cool, dat's fo' yore part. De ice makes yo' cool. Yo' know ice makes yo' cool. [Usually ice freezes apponent's tongue.] Well, de judge won't be fiery wit yo'. See, he'll be cool an' calm. But on dis othah side, yo' get dat snuff an' yo' put dem names in dere an' yo' get dat beef tongue. Yo' put dem things in dere an' shove dat tongue, all down in de throat, an' just hang dat tongue up an' den yo'll see. Yo'll see an' dey'll be lyin' an' dey'll be drunk. Just what dey drink, yo' set dat candle in dere [in the glass]. An' dey'll be lyin' an' dey won't say a thing against yo'. What color...just what candles you select. Don't try de black candles.
(Anything but black?)
But black candles.
(How many do you burn?)
Yo' burn - see, if dere's five people, yo' put five candles. An' if it's three, yo' put three; just accordin' to how many is against yo', yo' put dem many candles. An' den what they drink, yo' get a little glass, just what fit de candle an' put dat [liquor] in dere, an' ah'll guarantee yo' every one will be drunk.
Entry 8997
Git de buckeye an' red peppah an' John de Conkah root an' jes' pound that up into a powder an' sprinkle it in de co'troom, an' dat makes a deal of dif- ference. (Well, what do you use of the buckeye, the knob [shell] or - the knob or what?) De knob.
Entry 9029
Ah see whut it done an' done fo' me, but den yo' has a word tuh speak tuh it. If yo' wanta git dat, nuthin but gunpowdah, sulphur, aftah yo' git dat nest. Yo' git de sulphuh an' bluestone an' den dirt daubah out de nest an' dat black pep- pah. An' yo' make a good pow- dahs an' yo' kin sprinkle it anywhere roun' dere, jes' where de judge an' all de rest gotta come in ovah. When dey come inside of dat do' dere, an' dey walk ovah dere, dat settle it. Dat fur as ah know 'bout dat. An' ah've seen dat happen.
Entry 9031
Well, dey say tuh git a person's shoes, dey always say burnt shoes is good luck. Burn 'em anywheres right in yo' wash-pot in de yard or anywhere in yore house. Burnin' yo' shoes is good. But dey say de shoes is good fo' good luck, dey is good also fo' bad luck, 'cuz if yo' wanta do sompin fo' a person what- somevah yo' goin' do tuh 'em - jes' lak now, say a person uptown in de jailhouse. Well, now, yo' wanta git dat person outa jail. Or in fact, yo' wanta addle de judge an' evah'thin' dere [where] he tryin' 'im. Well, yo' take all dose judge names [officials concerned] an' yo' write 'em on a piece of papah. Yo' take yore gunpowdah an' de sulphuh an' de red peppah, an' yo wrop dat up in dose people names. Yo' stick dat down in de man's [client's] shoe an' yo' turn it bottomside upwards an' yo' burn dat. While yo' shoe burnin', yo' put yore han' tuhgethah tight, lak dis Way [demonstrates] lock yore fingahs tight.
(You interlock your fingers?)
Yes, an' yo' make yore wishes tuhwards he comin' free. Well, dey say dat will free a man.
Entry 9080
Ah hear'd dey kin git dis root dey call John de Conkah root, see, an' Eve-an'-Adam root, an' take dat root an' boil [usually sounds like ball] it up tuhgethah. If dey kin git tuh de co'thouse see, when dey un- lock it, git it an' sprinkle a aisle around de judge seat. [Sprinkle a circle about judge's chair.] Den dey will set back when yo' come in tuh where de prisonahs is. Den dey'll sit back an' eye de judge right in de eye. See, hol' [hold] dere hand on de vial what have de John de Conkah root an' Eve-an'-Adam balled [boiled] up in it. See. Dey go tuh co'thouse in de mawnin'.
(You said at an hour didn't you? What do you mean by that hour?)
Dey go dere jes' befo' de co'thouse unlock, befo' dey come in. An' dey sprinkle de aisle. Dey take de watah what dey boil up: de John de Conkah an Adam-an'-Eve root, an' gingah, & an' ten grains of black peppah. Dey'll take dat an' sprinkle it - wit de aisle an' aroun' ovah de prisonah box.
(Oh! The prisoner's box. I see, up the aisle.)
[Informant's eye or letter i had bothered me! Aisle!]
An' where de judge goes up intuh his seat, see dey do dat, an' den when de judge is talkin' tuh yuh, yo' gotta look 'im right in de eye. See [if] dey kin git de judge's eye, look 'im right in de eye. An' if de sentence - it Ziminated down. [All this reduces the sentence.] If it's ten yeahs, it Ziminated down tuh three or fo' yeahs. Ah've hear'd dat.
Entry 9143
Dey git chew up when yo' goin' 'fore de judge, yo' set right down 'fore de judge, yo' set right down 'fore de judge dere an' yo' goin' be tried tuhmah- rah. Ah nevah did tell yo' all about dis, it's a secret. Dey goin' try yuh. All right, yo' understan', yo' go tuh work an' git chew some black peppah an' put it in yore pockets; an' git chew some sul- phuh an' salt tuhgethah, an' put dat in yore pockets. Dat so it will be a hot case an' git 'em all tangled up. Undahstan'? Jes' hot as dat stuff in yore pocket, de hottah de case will be; but it all will be in yore favahs [in your favor]. Evah time it will be in yore favahs, yo' see. Well, den, when yo' git ready tuh leave home - yo' goin' be tried tuhday - yo' leave home. Yo' tell yuh wife, undahstan', or yore brothah, whoevah it is, be sure tuh git one of yore left foot of yore ole shoes - de ole shoes, not a new one. One dat's throwed aside, yo' undahstan'. An' yo' gotta tell dem whut tuh do. [I] says, when ah git offen de do'steps, ah tells mah daughtah or what- evah [whoever], says, dey chunk it as hard as dey kin. Hit me in de back. An' ah don' look back an' ah laugh. Hit me right in de back wlt it, wit dat shoe. Well, dey take dat ole shoe an' yo' goin' out dere an' WHAM! Don't chew look back, go right on. Now, if dey don' git de case dismissed...
Entry 9154
(Tell me right from the beginning of it.)
From de beginnin' of de accident an' all?
(That's right, and how she had to pay this and all, you know.)
Well, she cooks fo' C. P. D. Dat big man up dere tuh Something & Company. She been workin' dere two years.
(This is your daughter.)
Ah works fo' So-an'-so, de jeweler uptown in de store. All right. Well, on de second Sunday of each month Mrs. D. lets Emily off, she's mah daughtah, fo' her tuh nuse [use] Sunday. She jes' go an' gits break- fast an' don' have tuh clean up, jes' dust. Dat's her commune Sunday. An' she jes' go an' git breakfast an' jes' dust around, make de beds - spread de two beds an' dust around. Yo' know, make things passable. An' she gits off. Well, this partic'- lah Sunday, which dis Sunday gone - a month now - wus de second Sunday. Well, she came home befo' ah did. She got off befo' ah did. She got off befo' ah did an' she came home an' she went tuh de garage an' got her car out. Well, she started to go to a girl's. She had her hair done dat Sat'day. Well, she started tuh go tuh dis girl tuh jes' have her hair turned undah yo' know. She got up dere on de cornah of Amherst an' George Street. She met two friends of hers an' dey said, "Oh, mah feets hurtin' me!" Said, "Would yo' take us home, Emily?" Emily?" say, "Why, yes, ah got time ah reckon." She looked at de watch. She says, "Yes, ah guess ah got time." Well, she went right on down de street dat way an' on House[?] on Egmont Street is where she got in dis collision wit de water - whut chew call it?
(Hydrant?)
Yes, dat's whut dey call it. An' she jes' ran right up intuh it. De steerin' wheel got locked on her. Yes, got locked on her. Well, den, it's nuthin she could do. Well, dat jes' tore de pipe all up an' muddied de streets with water an' everything, see. Well, someone ah guess up dere called up de police. Dat's de bes' thing yo' could have done. Dey came out. Well, dey 'rested [arrested] 'er an' made 'er git in dere cah. So dey called up dere at de wreckah, de Chevrolet wreckah. De Chevrolet wreckah came an' taken 'er car down tuh de Chevrolet place. [Police] taken her along tuh jail. Well, jes' about dat time - she wus in jail about five minutes. Ah got off from work an', cos' [of course] quite natchly [naturally], she gone tuh de co't- house right down dere. Evah'body ran tuh meet me, "oh Mirandy, Mirandy, have yo' heah whut happened?" Ah said, "No - no - what?" Said, "Well, Emily wus in a wreck." Ah said, "Did she git killed or git hurt?" Ah jes' wus flusterated den yo' know. So dey said, "No, she didn't git hurt. Dey taken her tuh jail." Ah said, "Well, all right." Ah went - rushed right on down tuh de fail. Dey said ah couldn't see her but dere wus nuthin wrong wit 'er. Well, where ah wus workin' at de time, ah wus workin' fo' one of de police's sistahs an' he stayed right dere, de little fellah dat rides de motorcycle, Andy C. He said, "No, Mirandy, ah wouldn't tell yo' a story, yo' know, yo' mah cook. Ah would not tell yo' a story." Ah said, "All right." So den ah came on back home aftah ah couldn't see her or talk tuh her. Ah Went ovah dere tuh Mr. G. an' ah axed Mr. G., ah said, "Goodness sake, whyn't yo' call me up an' let me know dat Emily wus in jail?" He said, "Mirandy, it jes' happened jes' now." Said, "Ah didn't know where tuh call yo' an' ah knowed yo' would see me." Ah said, "Well, ah do see." Ah said, "Ah want mah chile out, " ah say, "Emily is no jailbird." Ah said, "An' accidents are likely tuh happen tuh anybody at any time, an' especially wit a cah." Ah say, "Ah seen some cahs would go sailin' by hers a thousan' times an' say be wrecked, " ah say, "an' ah've read in de papahs where a man an' his wife were jes' married on dere honeymoon, got killed an' hurted." Jes' went on explainin tuh 'im. He say, "Yes, " he says, "Don't chew be worried." He said, "If it any sech thing lak money tuh git 'er out, why she's comin' out." Ah said, "Well, 'phone 'em an' ask is she hurted?" So he did. Dey said, "No, dey wasn't anything wrong wit Emily nor de people - de two girls whut wus in de cah. Ah said, "Well, all right." Mr. G. say, "Go on home." Ah say, "No. Well, no." He say, "Yes, yo' go on home." Ah went on home an' as soon as ah unlocked de do' an' opened up de house, den she came. Well, dat wus on Sunday, de second Sunday in last month. So Monday, dat Mon- day, yo' know, dey had co't. Well, de judge didn't wanta fine me, becuz he knows me an' 'er folks, yo' know, an' den ah worked fo' 'im. Ah have worked fo' 'im. Haven't worked fo' 'im. recently but ah have worked fo' 'im. Anyway he knows me. An' de Chief, Chief Francis, said, "Judge, dat Mills woman" - he wus talkin' 'bout me - he says, "ah've knowed her, been knowin' 'er fo' ovah 25 yeahs." He says, "She's a truthful woman. Ah believe evah word she says." He says, "She's all right." But yet, yo' see, de city had tuh pay fo' dat hydrant tuh be put back an' it cost - dey only charged her fo' dat hydrant tuh be put back. Dey had tuh hire extry help, yo' see. De watahin' people had done knocked off at dat time, yo' know, an' dey had tuh call on extry help. Dey had tuh call on extry help. Why ah guess dey had tuh pay dem extry. Ah know dey did.
(Overtime or something?)
Yes. So de Judge wus very lenient wit 'er. Dey only charge her $25.50. $25.50 but aftah she back ovah tuh de co'troom or tuh de jailroom - whatevah yo' call it - why she had tuh pay $26.50. All right, dat wus settled right fo' dat. She didn't have tuh go tuh jail. All right. Den she went on back an' fixed dinnah fo' her people. Well, de cah wus still at de Chevrolet place where she bought it from. So de one tuh go ovah - ovahhaul de cah an' see whut it would cost an' check up on it, yo' know, see whut dey could do. Well, Mrs. D., de lady dat she worked fo', friend - a personal friend is a businessman. So he tried to do it cheap as he could an' it wus $63. Well, latah on de watah people taken a 'tachment [attachment] on de cah an' Sued 'er fo' $55.55. BUT DEY'LL BE AS LONG GITTIN' DAT $55.55 AS YO' OR I WUS GITTIN' GROWN. AH'M GOIN' SEE TUH DAT PART. AH'LL TAKE CARE OF DAT MAHSELF. (Now, you were going to tell me what you have done now to take care of that - make a nice story of it.) Well, ah taken me a piece of stick - common ordinary stick an' ah hew it down jes' about lak dat [demonstrates].
(About as long as your long finger.)
Yes. Ah hewed me anothah piece about a inch, about two inches long. Ah make a cross in dat.
(You made a cross of those two sticks.)
Ah taken it an' ah put it in de back seat undah mah cah - undah de back seat of de car - our cah, de flivvah, mah cah. Well, it's mah daughtah's but ah call it mine.
(The car that was in the wreck you mean?)
Yes. Re'lly, it is mah daughtah's cah. Ah taken me three new nails, three rusty nails an' put dem in de back of dat cah. Ah got me some dust outa dat cemetery an' ah put some peppah, gunpowdah an' salt in a little sack - jes' made it about dat much - jes' a little lak dat, of each [demonstrates].
(Just a pinch of each.)
Jes' lak dat an' ah put it undah de.... [demonstrates].
(Under the seat?)
Uh-huh. Well, yo' know, ah hol' up de hood of mah cah wit a pencil [demonstrates].
(Made a cross with a pencil like that.)
Dat's de end of it.
(Well, now, where did you put those nails?)
In de back seat - undah de back seat of mah cah an' dat cross.
(Well, now the nails - usually they drive them into the wood?)
No, yo' jes' throw dem careless [demonstrates].
(Just throw them careless.)
Yes, careless.
(And just lay the cross in there?)
Jes' lak yo' would have jes' ole rubbage in yo' cah.
(Just throw stuff in.)
Yes, any stuff dat chew might need.
(And that was done so that they couldn't win this suit. That the idea?)
Dey will nevah win it, unless ah die or dat git misplaced. But DEY'LL BE AS LONG GITTIN' IT AS YO' OR AH GITTIN' GROWN UP.
Entry 9167
If yo' had a case an' yo' gotta go befo' de judge, befo' yo' go tuh bed at night, yo' kin take yore watah, take yore chamber lye, an' stop it up in a bottle. An' yo' gotta go tuh co't tuhmahrah - we'll say tuhmahrah. Well, yo' do dis three days befo' yo' gotta go tuh co't. Stop it up in a bottle an' when yo' stop it up in dere, put black peppah an' salt in it. An' when yo' go tuh de co'thouse have a cork stoppah in it. Don't have no top on it, no hard top on it. Have a cork in it. When yo' git dere, jis' sprinkle it round in de co'thouse, an' de p'lice won' appeah up on yo' an' de judge won't be dere. Some of 'em gotta be dismissed, de' goin' be sick.
Entry 9168
I heard dey takes some salt and pepper and mix it together, and carry it in court; or either wash dere face in chamber lye and throw it over your left shoulder, before you go down in court to be tried. (That will help you out?) Yeah, that will help you out. [One of many examples in tert showing interviewer and informant repeating each other's words.]
Entry 9307
Take a chicken aig an' beat it up fine an' put plenty black peppah an' salt in it. Git chew two nails an' put it in dere mattress, if dere any way yo' kin git it in de mattress, an' sew de mat- tress back up. Anyone in dat house, dat'll run 'em outa dere.
(How would you put these two nails in that egg?)
[Since I did not kid my informant's, my mind here must have been tired!]
Yo' take two bran'-new nails an' jes' wrap it up wit de aig an' black peppah an' dat stuff an' jes' put it in de mattress.
(Use any kind of egg?)
Yes sir. any kind of hen aig.
Entry 9311
Yo' git a fresh aig an' yo' bust dat fresh aig. Yo' first write her name an' his name on dis aig an' yo' take dat fresh aig an' bust dis aig, yo' understan'. An' yo' take de yellah of de aig an' yo' throw de white away. An' take de aig shell, aftah yo' done bust it, an' Jis' crumble it up jis' as fine as yo' kin git it. An' den take de yellah of dat aig an' mash it all up in it, an' put chew a little black peppah in it. An' put it in a piece of papah an' rag an' bury it right up undahneat' de do'steps whah she passes in an' out, an' dere won't be no gittin 'long [along]. Dat'll separate dat man an' woman.
Entry 9348
Well, yo' see, de aigs, dere are two kinds of aigs. A roostah's aig is long an' de hen's aigs are round. Well, yo' git two hen aigs an' some salt an' black peppah. Well, yo' git on dis hen aig whut chew want done. Den yo' go an dig a hole de way yo' want tuh run it - tuhwards runnin' watah. Yo' dig a hole to- Wards runnin' watah an' den yo' put dis aig down in dere an' de black peppah an' salt, an' tell it evah whut chew want it tuh do. An' dey'll come back.
(You leave it there. You use two eggs though?)
Yeah, yeah, two aigs. Dey're round aigs. Yo' see, a roostah's aig is long an' de hen aig is round [the words long or round being words based upon sexual symbolism, not biology]. Well, yo' use de hen aigs. [For long eggs and round eggs see also following rite, and for round eggs and square eggs see also No.9284, p.3738.]
(You dig a sort of a ditch?)
No, a hole tuhwards runnin' watah. Yo' know, sometime yo' have ditches run- nin'. Well, yo' kin tell which way de watah is runnin'. Well, yo' dig de hole tuhwards runnin' watah.
(You mean between your house and the running water?)
Well, if de ditch is runnin' between yore house, yo' kin dig it right in front of de ditch, jes' so's it's runnin' which way de watah is runnin'.
(You mean you dig the hole away from you, down the way the water is running?)
Yeah, well, yo' take nine steps tuhwards de runnin' watah an' dig yore hole, an' den aftah yo' dig yore hole, yo' put chure aig an' salt an' black peppah down in dere. Co'se dis aig already has on it whut chew want it tuh do. An' den yo' have it bring 'em back.
(That is to bring them back?)
Yes.
Entry 9362
Dey say dat chew kin take a aig, rotten aig an' put peppah, cayenne pep- pah in it. Jab a little hole, yo' know, in it [the egg]. Put cayenne peppah in it an' shake it up, an' throw it ontuh yuh do' nine days, mawnin's. An' den, whenevah yo' git up in mawnin', take peppah an' salt, an' where yo' walk 'long, jis' sprinkle it all behin' dem. An' dey tell me dat'll make a person move away from dat place. (Now, you mean you take a different egg each morning?) No sir - yes, sir, a diff'- ren' aig fo' nine mawnin's. Dat's whut dey tell me. (In addition to that, you have to put this other stuff in there?) Dey tell me yo' jis' jab a little hole in it [the egg]. (You do both of them, to make them move.) Yes, tuh make dem move.
Entry 10141
Dey go down an' take a black cat an' take an' boil 'im. Take him down side of a creek an' boil 'im. Boil 'im all tuh pieces an' take his bones out an' throw 'im intuh three streams of watah. (You throw these bones into three streams of water?) Yessuh, throw 'em in intuh three streams of watah an' de third bone dat come up tuh de top, an' yo' take dat third bone. Yo' take dat bone an' carry an' take it an' have it beat up, jes' groun' up lak yo' would shavin' somepin othah. Aftah dat, yo' take peppah an' take salt, an' yo' does dat way [sprinkles] ovah it fo' ten times. Den yo' take dat an' put it in a red flannel rag. Aftah yo' take dat red flannel rag an' put it [this mixture] in dat. den yo' take it an' tote it in yore Watch pocket al] de time. If yo' decide tuh gamble, yo' take it out chure watch pocket an' put it in de pocket where yo's money's in. Dat's lucky.
(That's lucky in gambling?)
Yes.
Entry 10170
A friend of mine wanted tuh git rid of her husband an' she wuz in love with anothah man at de same time, an' so she took his picture, her husban's picture, an' she had some bergamot an' vinegah, salt an' peppah - jes' ordinary black peppah. And she kept it undah his bed.
(What did she do with these ingredients?)
Had them all together, folded togethah, an' even a piece of his hair. An' she folded that together an' she lighted a candle an' kept that burnin' undah his bed.
(The candle burning under his bed?)
Yessuh, little small tapers - white ones, very small. As soon as one would go out, she'd light the othah one. She kept a boxful, yo' know, continually. An' finally he left. [Some of the small tapers or candles are about the size of an old-fashioned wooden match.]
Entry 10454
Peppah seeds on floor. When they [hag] comes in, must pick up each grain.
Entry 10462
If you put salt and red pepper in empty skin of witch, she or he will be unable to reenter the skin. [This was a common theme down the Atlant coast- line.]
Entry 10596
Dem little ole leather-wing bats. Well, ah heard dat chew kin - dem little ole leather-wing bats, dem little bitta ones dat goes all up in de corner of yore house. Well, ah learnt dat chew could take one of dem an' kill him, an' git his heart while it's hot, an' keep it until it git dry, an' put some salt an' black peppah an' bluestone onto hit. An' sew it up in a rag an' wear it in yore pocket, an' dat's good fo' gambling. Make yo' win money. [Waycross, Ga., (1136) 1850:5.]
Entry 10671
Put red peppah in dere shoes; it's gotta be pod peppah. If yo' can't put red peppah in dere shoes [shoes guarded too well], yo' kin git chew some of dis asafitidy [asafetida]. Dat's plain asafitidy an' dis heah bor- acic watah, an' use it an' sprinkle it aroun' anywhere dat dey have tuh cross, anywhere in dere path. Yo' kin use dat to make 'em lose out [lose a job or have bad luck].
Entry 10679
Well, ah take dat [foot] track now, and ah put it in de bottle, see. Ah taken a 'leven birdshot.
(Number 11?)
"Leven birdshot, dat [is] little shot.
(Eleven of them.)
Dat's to weight 'em down. Ah come here tomorrow and bring you my bottle, ah show you. Ah put eleven in dere an' ah takes, gets some needles. [Ah] take, [ah] put in, see. Dat [is] two parts of one... listen now, ah takes a piece of wheat straw. Ah put two needles in one straw an' ah name dat him. (You put a needle in the wheat straw?) Naw, sir. Ah put dem two straws in dat needle dis way [demonstrates]. (You put the needles into the straws.) Yes. First, ah want to put two straws together. Ah put one edge together, see, just like dat [demonstrates]. Then ah write his name three times. Ah write it down on dat straw[!] three times, see now. Write it down on dat straw and ah say, "Listen, now..." Ah don't put no curse on 'em. Say, "Ah kin give you fourteen years or twenty-one years. See, just what your time, ah give you traveling years." When dat twenty-one years, after dat twenty- one years, you coming back. And [I] name de day he coming back. See. And ah put dat name dere. Dat shot holds 'em down in dat bottle with de cork shut tight. Ah takes some paste and ah just paste on dat stopper. An' dis man, well he's a gone boy. He's gone away from here. If he don't move inside of nine days, den ah'll take an' look to his house. If he's dere, ah'll take my gun along with nine buckshot an' ah shoot him loose. Ah'll break dat glass [bottle]. Den when ah break dat glass, he go anyhow. See, dere's certain things we use on a man sometime; but [if] you can't do much with him, you can't move him, you...
(What sort of gun do you trick him with? Just an ordinary gun?)
Yes, ordinary gun, but ah wanta show you how ah load it. You see, when ah come back here, ah bring you 3-4 [3 or 4] things - show you all ah do. Get all and bring more too. Ah kin shoot a man away and ah kin bring him back. Ah kin bring a man back, now. Ah takes three peppers. You see, when you want to bring a man back, you take one box of red pepper and bring...folks back... don't care how long dey gone. Well, if you take a little glass [mirror or glass tumbler?l and you see how dat man's track in dere and he been gone for so many years, you kin break dat glass and he'll come. Get de idea? Take dat paper and write de name nine times [on the paper] and you put nine pieces of dat pep- per in dere [the paper] 'fore sunrise, and you roll dat [paper] to you, and you tie it [rolled paper] tight, an' 'fore sunrise you burn it up. Ah guarantee he'll come right dere.
Entry 10793
Take a broom, or either a horseshoe, an' put it up ovah yore do'. Take a broom yo' know an' nail it crossways yore do', keep witches out. (Where do you put it, down on the floor or what?) Lay it right down by de do', on de flo'. (What will that do?) Dat will keep 'em out. Or ei- ther, if a person come in yore house an' yo' don' want 'em dere, yo' kin take a pod of peppah an' throw it in de fiah, an' make dem go.
(Just burn the pepper while they are in the house or after they leave?)
While dey in yore house.
Entry 10819
Yo' use black peppah when dey comin' to yore house, an' as dey go out use black peppah an' salt an' yo' throw it behin' 'em. An' den yo' git a broom an' yo' sweep out de do' dey goes, an' git a clear bucket of watah [bucket of clear not scrubbing water] an' throw it behin' 'em. Throw de watah right out in de street right aftah dey go out de do'; throw a clear bucket of watah right behin' 'em.
(What will that do then?)
Dat will keep 'em away. Dat drives 'em away from yore house.
Entry 10863
Cut hair from black cat's tail, mix with black pepper, if un- desired visitor comes, burn this on stove, won't come back; also keeps law away. [Norfolk, Va., 476:6.]
Entry 10870
Git a black cat an' git de hair. Git a strand of hair out of a black at an' - don't git as many as yo' kin, but yo' kin git 'bout one or tso scraods of hair out of a black cat. An' take somepin that kin float on de vatzh. Take at hair, sulphur, salt an' red peppah an' graveyard dirt, an'srite oo a piece of papah whut chew want done, an' put it with cat hair; all dat in a container dat will float on de watah. An' throw it in de watah, runnin' watah, whichevah watah yo' want it. An' whichevah yo' want done, it will be done. Ah've tried that.
Entry 10877
Git two cats, yes- suh, an' rub dere haids tohl gethah till dey git nad l till dey git real mad at one anothah. Den yo' smarch a lock of hair outa each cat's hzid, yo' know, an' yo' fold it togethah. An' put some red peppah an' salt in it 血' care it an' put it in de no'th cornah of dere house. Dey'll leave, dey'll part. Dat's whut separate 'em.
(Separate this man and woman?)
Ub-hah.
Entry 10886
Take a black cat hair, dog hair - don't make no difference whut kinda dog - an' nine grains of peppah an' some of dey urinate, an' put it in a bottle. An' if yo' wanta break up any- body, take dat nine grains of peppah, Heart Cologne, an' dat dog an' cat hair, an' bury it where dey walk, either one of 'em. Dey git so dey soon bust up.
Entry 10887
Take de hair out of a dog hair an' de hair out of a cat tail, or eit- her git it out of one of 'em's tail an' de other out one of dere haid - either one of dem animals. Yo' kin git dat an' put it together, an' when yo' put it together, yo' put it an' makes a ball of it. But den yo' wanta put it - yo' jes' have de least little bit of peppah in it, any kinda peppah, an' yo' make dat ball with a string to it. Put de string lak dat, but yo' take de biggest part of it now - chew git dat cat hair an' dat dog hair an' yo' put it in a piece of cloth an' den yo' git three pods of rat manure, an' yo' put dem in an' sew it up together. Yo' make dat ball together an' yo' kin come roun' - if it mah pump or mah bucket or any- thing, an' den yo' dump it in dere three times. An' den yo' throw it away. Dat'll broke us up fo' life, won't.enjoy life no mo'. Ah see dat done.
(You are supposed to go out and'drink that water?)
It jes' make us fall out fo'evah.
(If you drink the water?)
Entry 11011
Hole in frizzly chicken egg, put in graveyard dust and pepper, throw against house to make move. [Charleston, S. Car., 543:6.]
Entry 11149
An' den if de law take a habit of comin' to yore house, yo' know whut chew do. Takes black peppah an' salt an' mix it together, an' when dey come to yore house, sompin lak dat, yo' sprinkle de salt in back of 'em. Try tuh throw some right on dey back. Try tuh throw some of it when dey goin' out. Always have it prepared an' throw some of dat in dere back. An' den yo' sprinkle it on de floor right where he walk. Jes' lak ah walk in heah an' yo' sweep behin' 'em an' say, "Yo' damn son-of-a-bitch, yo' stay 'way from heah."
(And they won't come back?)
Dey ain't comin' back.
Entry 11199
Git dirt daubah dat-a-way an' put it in a bottle wit vinegah. Dat's uhut chew call a shure shot. Put it in de bottle wit vinegah, de dirt daubah, wit black peppah an' red peppah, an' if de people of dis house wuz gittin' 'long fine, a person would slip [in] heah at night an' throw it undah de house or plant it anywhere in de yard. In two week's time dey would be axin' [asking] one 'nothah fo' a divorce.
Entry 11268
You kin take up their foot track an' put it in a snuffbox, an' you puts some salt an' peppah in there an' make a wish, an' throw it in the runnin' watah an' then you kin do this [I interrupt].
(What do you do when you reach the water?)
You make a wish for them to leave town [(960), 1544:7].
Entry 11288
They takes it [hair] from de mole [mold of your head] and after tak- ing it from de mole, they tie it up with pepper or salt, and then they kin put it with some one of your soiled napkins. (The woman?) Shore. And they practi- cally will come to be what you would say dizzy in de head. Then, again, it will cause them probably to lose a portion of their hair for a time, then he begins to work.
Entry 11318
Lak de manure from a dog, why yo' take dat manure an' yo' git chew a nickel's wuth [worth] of peanuts an' git chew a box of salt. An' yo' take dose peanuts an' hull all of 'em an' mix de peanuts up an' yo' take dat whole box of salt an' put in dere an' yo' take de dog manure an' mash it all up in dere together - lak yo' got a jar with a cover on it.... Lak yo' see a dog do his business out dere, de hah'd [hard] hah'd, yo don't git dat soft. Yo' git de hah'd one, an' yo' take dat an' yo' git chew a bag of peanuts. Yo' git chew a box of salt ain't nevah been used out of. Yo' take dose peanuts an' de dog manure an' yo' have yo' somepin yo' kin beat it up in real fine tuhgethah - hammah [hammer] it up tuhgethah.
(What do you beat up, the peanut shell or the nuts?)
No, de nuts. De peanuts an' de dog manure, yo' put dat salt in dere. Yo' git chew a box of red peppah an' yo' put dat whole box of red peppah in dere. An' if yo' don't use it all, yo' take it an' po' it in de toilet: an' turn [flush] de watah on it. Well, yo' mix all of dat up tuhgethah. Well, yo' have sompin dat yo' kin.always keep it in. Yo' have dat, dat's tuh mun a person. Yo' kin take dat if anybody come in an' yo' kin use a little pile of dat. Put some quicksilvah in it an' mash all dar tuhgethah. Dat makes yo' go. Yo' gotta go.
(You take that mixture and scatter it around in there?)
Yo' cain't stay. [For peanuts and bad luck see Nos.2574, p.710, v.l, etc.]
Entry 11344
Yo' go to de drug sto' an' yo' git somepin dey call dragon's blood, a' yo' gits sulphur an' nine seeds of red peppah, an' yo' take dat an' burn it. (What will that do then?) Dat will keep de poleece away. An' den yo' take some of it an' spread it round de front, yo' know, spread it round where he'll come ovah it, but jes' a little bit chew know where it won be noticeable. Take some dragon's blood an' sulphur... Dat will keep down spells.
(That will keep down anything anybody is putting down for you.)
Ah mean keep 'em down where lak where a poleeceman's an' lak dat dey'll come try tuh come in, but dat will keep dem from comin' across.
Entry 11366
Jes' lak if mah husband be's goin' wit a woman an' ah been tryin' tuh prevail wit him tuh leave her alone an' she won't do it. Yo' git de green an' red pod peppah an' git two. All right, yo' dig all dem seed an' every- thin' outa dose two pods of peppah an' yo' kin throw dat away anywhere yo' want. yo' git chew a gunshell but it gotta be black [have black pow- derl. Git chew some dis salt in one pod of dat peppah an' name it de woman he goin' wit. Put de gunpow- dah in de othah pod an' name it he. Yo' curse her while yo' doin' dat an' den yo' curse him. Yo' git chew some fat lightwood splintahs [can be large pieces of wood] an' yo' cross dem disaway [demonstrates]...
(Like an "x"?)
Yessuh, an' while dey burnin' yo' jes' be cursin' 'em fo' everythin' yo' kin think of, an' when dat powdah blow up, when he go tuh see her ag'in, he'll beat her an' den he won't go tuh see her any mo'.
(He'll beat her?)
Yes sir. Dey'll fall out right den, see.
Entry 11677
Yo' go tuh de fo'ks of de road an', when yo' go tuh de fo'ks of de road, yo' git a pinch of dirt from de fo'ks of dat road. Den yo' go to do - befo' yo' go tuh de fo'ks of de road, yo' go tuh de graveyard yo' know, an' git some of de graveyard dirt an' mx it tuhgethah. Den go tuh de fo'ks of de road an' git some of dat, an' mix dat tuhgethah. Den yo' have tuh season it, chew know. Yo' git dem two things an' yo' git some salt an' yo' git some peppah an' some sulphur, & an' crumble it all wit dat dirt from de fo'ks of de road. An' it will do jes' whut chew want it tuh do.
(What will you do with it?)
Yo' went dere fo' a purpose. When yo' went tuh de fo'ks of de road, yo' vants somebody probably, or yo' wanta change somebody from goin' wit somebody's else, an' yo' bring yo' dese, an' why, dat means dey'll come yore way.
(What do you do with that dirt after you mix it up? What do you do with it?)
Sprinkle it.
(Where?)
Yo' know, jes' lak ah know yo' goin' out. "Sposin' ah'm goin' from heah ovah yondah an' yo've gotta cross dat othah fellah's house, ah sprinkle it right down in yore yard an' yo' walk ovah dat. Yore mind changes, dat changes yore mind. (That changes your mind. That is if you want to bring somebody back, some- thing of that sort?) Yassuh.
The informant describes a mixture of dirt from a graveyard and road forks with salt, pepper and sulphur, sprinkled to influence a person's direction or attachment. Questions clarify use and purpose. The hypothetical yard scenario begins with an unclosed printed quote, so no closing speech boundary is invented; both dirt origins and the qualified return purpose are retained.
Entry 11723
Fix it up an' go in de cemetery an' git some dirt an' fixes it up.... (That is all you put in it?) No sir, yo' put sulphur an' put dis table salt an' red peppah, grind it fine, an' yo' take it an' sprinkle it anybody's track - sprinkle it ovah dere - say dey'll leave an' dey won't come back no mo'.
(You call that mixture goofer dust?)
Yes. [This informant gave an unusual account of how to sell self to the devil, No.375, v.1.]
Entry 11744
If it's someone behind yuh, the one - you know, someone behind yuh what rid them[-selves] of other people, they will pick it [your foot track] up and mix it with graveyard dust. [Long pause.]
(All right, go ahead. What else?)
And they, they'll take that and mix it with graveyard dust, and they will take and fix it together and sprinkle it around your door, yuh see. And they will take and make - mix it with pepper, black pepper and cayenne pepper, you see. They mix all that up together and they sprinkle it around your house, and that will make for confusion with you and your neighbors, and that will cause you to have to move.
Entry 11770
Run hand into sinnerman's grave or baby's grave, take dirt from breast, mix with salt and pepper, and sprinkle round the house to "break up de home, cause confusion." [Mobile 971:4.]
Entry 11782
If they drop a mixture of graveyard dirt, salt and pepper at your step or center of gate, 'your mind will just waver all de time." [Mobile 902:2.]
Entry 11792
Mix graveyard dirt and pepper, sprinkle around house or gate, makes person within move. [Vicksburg 991:1.]
Entry 11794
Graveyard dirt, salt and pepper mixed, then thrown behind person to drive him away. [Washington, D.c., 80:7.]
Entry 11844
I tell yuh jes' what 'tis. My uncle it was, was tellin' me this. That's why I was goin' tell yuh. A lady that he was courting, he was going with her, and of course this man [rival or hoodoo man] tole him that he was hurt, because he thought he was going with her. And he told him that the lady had put somepin in a bottle an' buried it under the doorstep. And that thing that she buried under the doorstep was some of his hair that she'd gotten from the barber shop and mixed it with some salt, pep- per and whiskey, and buried it under her doorstep, and that whenever he walked over it, would hurt him. [At least we know uncle liked whiskey!] But if he would take this up and put it in some boiling water, and if it floated, then he could ward off the spell that she had put on him, and that he probably could throw it back on her, on the parties who was puttin' it on him. He could take and just take this out and roll it under his arm. [then] roll it in some meal.
(Hold it under his arm?)
Roll it. Yeah, roll it under his arm.
(Oh, under his arm first.)
Yeah, and then put it in some meal and make it into a cake-like, and bury it underneath the steps, the same step where the other stuff was buried, and that would return it on her.
Entry 11847
I've heard that a man and a woman - a woman couldn't get along with her husband or any man, that she would like, you see, could take some of her hair. Take, get some of her hair and get some of de man's hair and put pepper between it, you see, and put it in de path where dey walk over dat. Dat would separate dem. (That is, if I wanted to break up these people, or if the woman wanted to break up the man?) Yes. Doesn't make any different [difference] who it is if you get some of each one's hair.
Entry 12188
[Put] a horseshoe into yore front do'.
(To keep the ghosts away or spirits away.)
Yeassuh, yo' take an' use pepper an' salt.
(Where?)
Yo' use it into yore house, into yore bed, yo' see, to keep 'em 'way - to keep witchcrafts away. Dat's de same thing, ah imagine. [St. Petersburg 1649:4.]
Entry 12337
Ah tell yo' what ah used tuh use. Git de horseshoe - yo' know when dey are shoein' de horse, yo' take de hoof [cut off] an' yo' take a stuff dey call limestone, an' red onion peels, an' red pep- per an' burn it together. Why dat brings luck. See dat bring yo' luck.
Entry 12447
Don't know if dey use de mockin'bird aigs but ah know dey use de mockin'- bird nest. Yo' burn it to ashes, and when yo' burn it to ashes, an' yo' jes' put some sulphur an' saltpeter in it or sulphur an' pep- pah or gunpowders - either of dem three, an' yo' mix a powders with that. An jes' what yo' say it do, it works by what yo' say...
(Give me an example of one thing you could say to it?)
Well, it ain't but one thing yo' kin say, an' den dere's plenty thing yo want to say.... It jes' what yo' want to say, or jes' if yo' have good idea - jes' any feelings tuhwards me, if yo' think ah doin' sompin ah got no business to yo', an' when yo' do dat den yo' tell it whut chew want it to do to me.
Entry 12533
Yo' kin git chew - yo' know whut red onion is. Ah don' know whether yo' eat 'em or not. An' jes' git chew a red onion an' cut de root of it off. Jes' cut off a piece an' git chew some graveyard dirt offa man's grave - some ole wicked man, some- body whut's daid, an' some cayenne peppah. Mix it all up an' stop dat onion up with dat onion top. Stop it back up wit dat piece whut chew cut off.
(You put this stuff in that onion?)
Right back, yes, put it in dat onion an' stop it up an' put it in dat per- son's house.
(What will that do then?)
It move 'em out dat house.
Entry 12536
They peels a onion an' has yo' fixed an' yo'll quarrel all de time. They po' an excessive amount of salt an' pepper on de onion hull an' place it where yo' kin step ovah it an' yo become a very disagreeable person.
(Do you have somebody do that or do you do it yourself?)
Yo' kin definitely do that yo'self. (Just sprinkle this salt and pepper on the red onion hull, and chat party will walk over it and they will become disagreeable. Yeah.
Entry 12541
Well, now dey say if yo' take dat red onion wit red pep- pah an' dat salt, everybody go in dere will be dissatisfied. (What will you do with that?) Take it an' mix it together an' put it in dere whilst de house is empty. Take it an' put it in every corner of de house, make no difference how many rooms it is. Yo' put it in dere, an' anybody go dere dey won't be satisfied wit dere house.
(That is crossing up the house?)
Yes.
(Do you put it in the corner in any special way?)
Put it in each corner jes' as close as yo' git it up 'side de corner of de house. Tuh uncross it.
(To uncross this, all right.)
Yo' take garlic an' dis oil of cinnamon an' red peppah an' mop wit it an' dat'll uncross 'em.
(So that you can move into the house if you want to?)
Yes.
Entry 12543
Well, it's two different ways dat chew kin make dem move. Now, yo' kin take nine seeds out of a pod of peppah, piece of rock sulphur; take a tea- spoon fulla sugah an' de peelin' from a red onion an' burn it, an' yo' kin make 'em leave in that way.
Entry 12596
She was working fer a private family, three of 'em working together and one of 'em was very disagreeable and dis was de cook. Well, an' de other one was de maid and one was de washwoman. Well, dis washwoman she didn't like de cook an' every night and every time she'd git a chance, she would go in de kit- chen an' sprinkle peppah around de floor in order to make de white lady fire her and probably give her de cook job and git another washwoman. Well, dey linger and linger and all like dat until finally dis girl did break a valuable dish and she lost her job and dis girl dat was washing she got de job, sure enuff and dey got another washwoman. Dese people tried to locate her but she was gone to New York [by] that time.
Entry 12609
I know my brother did it. You kin take a pound of black pepper - dis grain [whole] pepper - and a pound of sugar. And you kin sit down and bite dis pepper and sugar together and put it in your pocket and go on the job. The man will give you a job. (You say your brother did that?) Yes sir.
Entry 12612
Take sugah an' peppah an' sprinkle it down in dere an' dey'll fuss all de time.
(This man and woman will fuss and fight?)
Yes sir, dey'll fuss an' fight all de time, long as dat sugah an' stuff stays round in dere.
Entry 12621
If yo' wants tuh draw de customers to de place, yo' git some sulphur an' burn dat sulphur in de fo' corners of de house or de sto' an' den take some sulphur an' salt an' black pepper an' put right in de do' underneat'de steps an' dat will draw de customers.
Entry 12623
A man said if: I could take a needle and 3 grains of pepper, red pepper, de seed of it, and some water and put in it, and salt, and then a few grains of black pepper. And take that needle and stick it down in that bottle. And when you get ready to go out, you go and take that bottle up and jis' shake [a magic act] it up and say, "Good luck and good prospire" [prosperity]. And go out. And he said, "You get a job." The man that told me that...and I declare I went and did it, I fixed it up, and I declare I git the job, the one I got now. And I've been with it over a year.
Entry 12625
Sprinkle red pepper and sulphur in yard to kill any cunjure "planted" there. [Wilmington 135:4+85.]
Entry 12757
Yo'.git red beans an' yo' git gumbo file an' yo' soak them beans in that gumbo filé an' peppah, but yo' jis' put the least watah that they'll jis' swell up, yo' understan', in that file, enough to jis' git chure han in de can or somepin...otuc chew got 'em in. An' jis' stir 'en up an' throw 'em undah de step or in front dey do' - anywhere so loag as dey roll. [This is a rolling rite.] That'll move 'em.
(Do you take any number of red beans or just a handful or...?)
No, yo' git only a nickel's worth or half-a-nickel. Yo' gotta have plenty, dey gotta have movin' power. [That half-a-nickel was and still is a ney eri pression to me. A gumbo is many kinds of a thick stew in New Orleams - see The Original Picayune Creole Cook Book, pp.26-30, the 1938 editioa, de ove I bought in New Orleans that year. File, not filet, is a powder, a seasoning made from tender sassafras leaves. Gumbo filé is a special type of gcg. Be have several other red-bean rites in HOoDO0.]
Entry 12779
Ah heard you could take - get some kind of oil and stuff and use like that, and then, if anybody [in the game] had any wager in dere against you, or you was playing against wager or somepin like dat, why you could take dat. Take a frog - use a toadfrog and carry 'em in dere, and take that salt and pepper and sprinkle it.... [Here I turned off machine but decided to continue.]
(How do you...)
[You are having bad luck because someone:]
Done went to somewhere and got somepin stronger than what you got dere - Luck.
(What do you do with that frog?)
You put him in your pocket.
(I see. And what about the salt and pepper?)
You take that salt and pepper and sprinkle it around in your house where you playing at.
(I see. That's to break up that wager.)
Wager that luck against you.
(That weight [luck] against you.)
Entry 12821
If you put salt and pepper under the chair on which visitor will sit, then when he leaves throw salt and pepper behind him, he will not return. [St. James, black community or Eastern Shore of Maryland, by hand.]
Entry 12822
Throw salt and cayenne pepper after departing person and say without his hearing you, Go out. Do this on 3 visits. [Newport News 500:1.]
Entry 12823
If a person is unwelcome, throw salt and cayenne pepper behind him and he will not return. [Petersburg, 424:2; Norfolk, 493:7; Fredericksburg, by Ediphone; Richmond, 290:4; Wilmington, 195:6+85.]
Entry 12825
After an undesirable guest, sweep out salt and pepper and wish he does not return. [Richmond 325:4.]
Entry 12826
Behind undesirable departing guest throw salt and pepper and sweep.
[Wilmington 116:12+85.]
Entry 12829
Sweep behind departing person, then sprinkle salt and pepper all over the floor and doorstep. [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone.]
Entry 12830
Bury a small package of black pepper and salt at steps to keep away undesirable visitors. [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone.]
Entry 12831
To separate man and woman, mix black pepper and salt and put it in her window sill. [Norfolk 494:2.]
Entry 12834
Sprinkle salt and pepper about house at midnight. After the occupant walks over this, his feet will begin hurting and he will move. [Richmond 335:1.]
Entry 12835
Salt and pepper are sprinkled near house as a protection. [Deal Island 24:1.]
Entry 12837
As a protection, salt and black pepper are sprinkled in the house.
[Wilmington 165:5+85.]
Entry 12838
Protect yourself by wearing salt and pepper in your shoes. [Deal Island, Md., 18:2; Wilmington 175:3+85; Petersburg, 422:8; Norfolk 426:4; Elizabeth City 511:4.]
Entry 12839
Salt and red pepper are worn in left shoe for protection. [Wilming- ton, 168:8+85.]
Entry 12840
Make a ring of salt and pepper completely round the outside of your house for protection. [Norfolk 466:4; Deal Island, informant 123, cyl. 34.]
Entry 12843
As a protection against evil, wear 3 ingredients in your shoes: pep- per, fish salt, and burnt alum. [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone.]
Entry 12849
To protect yourself against cunjure, wear salt and pepper in both shoes. [Wilmington 254:1+85.]
Entry 12857
You can rid yourself permanently of an undesirable guest by throwing salt, pepper and sulphur behind him, saying, Go you son-of-a-bitch. [Newport News 512:5.]
Entry 12860
You can protect yourself against roots or root work by wearing salt, black pepper and sulphur in your right shoe. [Wilmington 138:1+85.]
Entry 12862
As an unusual method of protecting yourself against conjuration, wear salt, pepper and sulphur on top of your head. [A note of mine reads: This is used in one cure story. Which?] [Wilmington 119:6+85.]
Entry 12865
Sprinkle salt, pepper and vinegar in your house and on the doorsteps to prevent people from giving you bad luck. [Washington, D. C. 822:2a.]
Entry 12881
Why yo' take dis scorpion an' kill him an' care [carry]'in tuh a... Jes' lak if yo' wanted tuh kill a person, take dat scorpion an' some black guml powder an' Bone red pep per an' some graveyard dirt an' tie it dere. Put it on - git a chance tuh git inside his house an' let him sleep on it, an' he commence failing. De doctors [H. D.'s] couldn't do anything - ain't nuthin de doctors could do - unlessen be [patient] goes tuh a man dat knows somepin about it.
Entry 12946
Salt and pepper in a shoe buried on the "sunrise side" of the house keeps up a fuss there all the time. [Wilmington 274:2+85.]
Entry 12947
Put salt and black pepper in shoe and bury it under the doorstep: "it jis' aworry yo', keep yo' walkin', run yo' crazy, an' keep yo' mindless."
[Wilmington 257:4+85.]
Entry 13062
If you are tricked, wear 2 silver dimes, one in each shoe with a pinch of pepper and salt. [Memphis 1569:9.]
Entry 13133
Ah heard dat they have, that they sell hands. They go out and the git - they go out and they git - jest like a man - ah don't know if you have seen dem aroun' dis part of de country, but dey go out and dey git a root dey calls snipe root. Dey git dis snipe root. (Snipe root?) Snipe root. A snipe is a long thing like a crane [bird]. Well, you take this snipe, de snipe w'at flies. Take dis snipe and cut de snipe neck off and dey pick it - jes' like, most like a crow or somepin like that. And dey pick dis snipe and dey cut dat bone out of it. De bone is somepin like a fork, jes' like a chicken bone. Den dey take dat bone and dey let dat bone set for awhile, and after settin' for awhile, dey take some sulphur. Take dat sulphur and place it on top of dat bone. After taking dat sulphur, take a little bit of red pep- pah and put on dat sulphur, a little gunpowdah and put on sulphur. Rub dat bone in dere. Then they will take a saw or sompin an' cut half that bone off. Then take that sulphur an' red peppah and combine it together and sew a little sack around it. Wear it. Don't wear it around de neck, let it drop between yore laigs. That supposed to keep de law away from de home. [Not every bird has a chicken wishbone; better check about snipe.]
Entry 13162
Wash dirty socks an' in this water put bluestone, pepper, sulphur; throw over shoulder into running water and say, "Go," an' don't look back.
[Richmond 303:3.]
Entry 13259
(What is goofer dust?) Well, whut dey call goofer dust is - dey takes sulphur, red pepper an' a red onion an' sew it up in a red piece of flannel an' dat's whut chew call goofer dust. [Normally of course this is a hand.]
(What do you do with that then?)
Take it an' wear it in yore pocket, jes' wear it all de time in yore pocket.
(What is it supposed to do for you?)
Well, it'll make yo' lucky an' successful. [This of course is not normal goofer dust, a dust; but if it is for informant, it is.]
Entry 13309
Use de thresher [thrasher] feet.
(The feet from a thrasher, the bird. What do you do with those?)
Yo' take an' put that in a bottle. Yo' bottle dat wit chure hair, an' put milk in it, an' yo' put love powders in dere, an' put sulphur in it, an' put red peppah in it, an' yo' work it up airtight, an' dat'll do de work den. Dat will run 'em away. (What do you do with that bottle?) Yo' take dat bottle an' put it in de no'th or de east corner of de garden. Yeah, dat'll make him leave, or if yo' wanta run him crazy, that will run him away.
Entry 13362
A man before going to work in the morning can sprinkle salt and pep- per around door and make a wish, or [and] can throw urine out the window. This he does to keep other men away: they won't have any nature for his wife or wo- man, she won't have any nature for them. [Richmond 349:1.]
Entry 13376
Save your urine for 9 mornin's or nights, put salt and pepper in, sweep steps down, and sweep it up, repeating what you want done to bring person back. [Memphis 1570:13.]
Entry 13394
Urine, salt and pepper sprinkled at door or about the house, inside or out, protects the house against any evil. [Elizabeth City 406:6.]
Entry 13395
You can throw outdoors urine, salt and pepper 9 mornings to protect the house against evil. [Wilmington 162:4.]
Entry 13428
Kin you understand what I say, now?
(I understand now.)
To make you move out of the house, you go and get some holy water, see [and] war water and you sprinkle that. And then you go to the graveyard, get some graveyard dust, and you go and sprinkle it with black pepper and salt. And you sprinkle it all around the step and put it underneath the steps. If it got a brick there, you put it underneath that, where they can't see it. And when anyone can't see it, it's more better. When you come down the steps and walk away, you'll cross over it. See, when you cross over it, then maybe you'll start to go black [not feel well] and then you'll come back 'round and you'll start to scrubbing - get some lye. You says, somebody's been sprinkling me. All right. You'll go and get some lye and your urinate, and take it and scrub that up. Well, the next morning, I'll go back and do the same. And when you do find it, you say, "Well, I'm going to move. Somebody is sprinkling 'round here. They must be wanting the house or something." And I done move out of the place. So that's why I give it to 'em and that's why I move.
Entry 9490
Yo' kin put red peppah an' salt - yo' weah dat in yore shoes, see. An' den yo' take salt an' put it in each cornah of de wall in yore rooms where yo' sleep at. An' if anybody [come] tuh yore house dat yo' don' want tuh come tuh yore house - dey come tuh yore house an' yo' don' wan' 'em dere - de time dey'd leave yo' sprinkle salt an' red peppah in dere tracks right out dere behin' 'em, an' sweep it out. See, an' dey won' evah come back a'gin. Well, we tried dat one time 'bout a police, about a law. Dey haven't nevah been dere tuh bothah us no mo'. (That first about that salt and pepper [in 4 corners of bedroom], that is to keep you from being harmed?) Yeah.
Entry 9563
I hear say if de rentman come to your house an' yo' ain't got de money, ain't able to pay him an' yo' don't want him to put yo' out, get yo' a brand-new box of salt, and a brand-new box of pepper. Open de door an' don't use nothin' else but that. Every time he come dere, sprinkle your house an' sweep it, sweep it in the room an' yo' oon't have no trouble with him.
Entry 9566
Dey say dey sprinkle salt an' peppah in de house an' when dey go out yo' kin sweep it out behin' 'em an' dey'll move out lak dat.
Entry 9568
Well, if yo' are here an' ah want chew tuh leave out, ah throw salt when yo' leave out de doah. Ah throw salt behin' yo' befo' yo' turn - when yo' turn yuh back tuh leave. Ah throw salt an' den ah take de broom an' ah sweep, ah sweep it all out tuh de sidewalk [sweep the visitor's foot tracks off your property]. An' if yo' continue tuh return, jis' add some pepper to it an' finely yo'll quit comin'.
Entry 9569
Ah've heard 'em say they could take salt an' red peppah an' make 'em move. (How would they do that?) When yo' leave out the house, dey sprinkle that salt an' [red] peppah an' sweep it out behin' yo', throw it ovah they left shoulder an' sweep it out behin' yo'. Den yo'll leave.
(You mean if I were doing that, I would throw it over my left shoulder?)
Yessuh.
Entry 9579
When dey come in, an' as dey go out - yo'd have yore salt an' yore peppah, an' as dey walk out yo' sprinkle it right behin' 'em. An' as dey go out - yo' have yore broom- sweep it [salt, pepper, and tracks] from inside right on out. Say, "Don' come back, don' come back." Yo' repeat dat [incantation] nine timies, evah time dey come an' fine'ly dey'll stop comin'.
(That will keep anybody away - the law or anybody.)
Anybody - de salt an' pepper in dere tracks.
Entry 9581
In dis way. Yo' kin git chew some salt an' peppah an' weah it in yore shoe an' it ain't nuthin in de world dat a person kin do [against you] wit dat salt an' peppah [in our shoes]. Salt an' peppah keeps down all of dat sorta thing [conjuration or witchcraft]. But chew has tuh weah good shoes. [The ad- monition here means you must wear holeless shoes to prevent the leakage of salt and pepper. Many of my informants wore cast-off shoes, few of them wearing con- dition, cardboard insoles being common. Remember, the material of these hoodoo volumes was collected during the Great Depression of the 1930's.]
Entry 9582
If a person tryin' tuh poison yo', yo' kin take peppah an' salt an' weah it in yore shoes. Evah time yo' put chure shoe on, keep dat red peppah an' salt in dere [see that it has not leaked out] an' ah don' care whut dey put down, it cain't hurt chew.
Entry 9583
Git salt an' red peppah an' mix all dat up tuhgethah, see, an' put it in yore shoes. See, pertect yo'self anywhere yo' goes. See, nuthin cain't harm yo'. Well, ah've heard dat.
(When you walk in anything it wouldn't hurt you.)
Entry 9584
Weah peppah an' salt in yuh shoes tuh git a job. Gits boss's min' torn up [confused], an' if he hasn't nobody he'll hire yuh. [This rite is for luck in the sense that any cunjure to keep you from obtaining the job will fail.]
Entry 9593
Ah heard dat chew could take some red peppah, cayenne peppah, an' some bluestone an' some salt an' black peppah. Dat's fo' luck. Well, yo' take an' sew hit up into a rag an' wears it in yore shoe an' dat'll keep yo' hot, dey say. [Does cayenne pepper explain red pepper or is the latter broken pieces of a pepper pod?]
(That's for luck?)
Fo' luck.
Entry 9594
I'll tell you what I would do [to make a person move]. I would get some bluestone and salt and pepper, and put that down right beside of the house and wish them to go, and they're bound to go. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 9597
Well, now, yo' see, jes' lak yo' had a house. Yo' wanted tuh rent it an' yo' wanted tuh be lucky on it. Well, yo' take an' go tuh a person, say, "Well, ah'll rent yo' dat house fo' so much." Well, now yo' wants tuh be lucky in rentin' it. Yo' go tuh work den an' yo' take yo' some black peppah, some salt, an' take yo' nine pods of red peppah, an' yo' take yo' three grains of calomel.
(Is that the stuff you take for your bowels?)
Dat's right. Take dat an' yo' put it all tuhgethah an' yo' put dat in a bag [making a hand]. Yo' take den an' yo' carry it tuh yore home an' yo' lay it right up ovah de do', or eithah put it right undah de right cornah of yore do'- step. Well, yo'll always be lucky in dat home.
Entry 9602
Dey tell me that chew go to de east side of yore house an' yo' dig a small little pail full of dirt an' yo' pat hit full of salt an' peppah an' yo' put hit right out in front of yore door where yo' gotta enter de steps an' dey say hit'll keep it away but...
(That will keep the law away?)
[My use of word "law", already used by informant, causes nervousness.]
BUT AH DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT! AH'VE NEVAH TRIED IT! Your enemies, well dat's de laws.
Entry 9609
[Take] de person name an' write it down an' git chew some salt an' peppah, an' when dey come in jes' sweep it back out. [Informant had started with a letter be- fore recording began.] (Why do you write that name down? What do you do with that?) Write 'em a lettah - jes' lak yo' gona write 'em a lettah - tell 'em stay away from your house, an' burn it up intuh a ashes. When dey come in, take dat salt an' peppah an' throw it down dere an' den sweep it back out.
(What do you do with the ashes then?)
Sweep it out 'hin' [behind]'em. (You mean with this salt and pepper [and letter ashes], sweep it out behind them. I see.)
Entry 9611
They say they take pepper and onions and table salt, and put that to- gether and name it, and throw it in the fire and burn it, and it will cause a confusion in the family between a man and his wife.
Entry 9612
If you want a person to move, you have to take a stormy night when it is raining real hard. But you gotta take a couple of pods of red pepper and nine pinches of salt and you gotta burn it. Parch it in the oven to look like dirt you know and just cook it right together. Brown it till it looks like dirt. And take a plain paper, if you know de person's name- - you don't, you find it out. Write his name nine times forwards and nine times backwards. [To write for- eards and backwards means to write the name normally turn the paper upside down, repeating the name on top of the first one. This is called crossing names.] Then parch the paper, salt and pepper all together and make a powder. Den a stormy night like we done having storms and all, don't care if it raining hard, you go up to their hall. Don't look back [going or returning] and throw this stuff and come on out. And they'll move in less time from three to nine days. They won't stay there. They kin own the property, they'll rent it out, but they gon't stay.
Entry 9627
If yo' goin' tuh git a job, git up in de mawnin', or even if de sto's now open tuhnight, git chew a package of cookin' salt. Open dat salt. Po' some salt in de cornah of a large han'- kerch'ef. Yo' put red peppah in dere an' sulphuh, an' yo' tie it up. Put it In yore right pocket an' go [to see boss]. An' if de man don' hire yo' dat day, dey'll tell yo' tuh come [back], an' de nex' time yo' go back yo' git a job.
Entry 9628
Yo' kin git chew sulphuh an' salt an' red peppah an' tie it up an' whenevah yo' gits roun' 'im... (Round the boss.) Yo' be talkin' tuh 'im - an' Hearts Cologne, git dat Hearts Cologne. Yo' keep it wet chew know. Yo' talkin' tuh 'im. He give yo' a job.
Entry 9629
Well, git chew some salt- petah an' some table salt, a little sulphuh, an' take dat an' nine pods of red peppah an' yo' jes' make a little bag an' yo' weahs dat. Dat's all.
(What will that do then?)
Dat's to keep it back. Dat kill evahthin'. Can't git up to yo' 'cuz dat keep it off.
(That is to protect you.)
Entry 9630
Yo' kin take some salt an' some sulphuh an' some red peppah an' tote it in yuh pocket in a piece of red flannel an' can't nobody hurtcha [hurt you].
Entry 9631
If dey puttin' any- thin' down tuh hurt chew, yessuh, yo' could pertec' yo'self. Well, yo' could go ahead an' take sulphuh, red peppah an' salt an' weah it - put it in de bottom of yore shoe. Weah it up undah dat little bitta place, yo' know, dat's made in yore shoe - up undah dere, on de inside [under the insole]. Weah dat in yore shoe. Sat dat [cunjure] won' do yo' harm.
Entry 9637
If yo' know anyone tryin' tuh harm yo' roun' yore home, yo' git chew some dis heah bluestone, an' sulphuh, red peppah, an' salt. Mix all of dat up togethah. Evah mawnin' [you] come outa yuh house, befo' yo' hit de flo', [I mean] hit de groun', yo' take dat dust an' go along wit [use] dat dust - evah anin' befo' yo' come up. An' aftah yo' do dat, why take a li'le bit of it an sprinkle it right in de bottom of yuh shoes, both shoes. Put on yuh shoes an' go anywheres. Dey can't harm yo' none, regardless [of what they put down for you].
Entry 9640
Ah heard dat chew take yore chamber lye an' dis salt an' peppah, an' throu it evah mawnin' befo' sunrise at chure do'. Dat'll keep de laws from run- nin' on yo' an' all fren's will come to yo'. An' don't sweep no, none of de dust out chure house, out chure front do'. Don' nevah throw none out; throw it in de fiahplace. Dat always brings in luck. But nevah carries out any [sweepings]. (If you are in business of any kind, especially bootlegging?) Yes, bootleggin' an' gamblin'.
Entry 9646
Git chew some salt an' black peppah, evah time dey come - come in yore house - jes' slip it up behin' dem an' dey'll finely [finally] leave yo' alone.
Entry 9647
Ah've heard it said, yo' kin take table salt an' black peppah. As dey go out de do' yo' sprinkle it behin' dem, an' yo' take de broom an' yo' sweep it out behin' den. And dey say dey will leave an' dey won't evah come back dere no more.
Entry 9648
He comes an' [you] have a good frien'ly talk wit 'im in de porch or at de gate wherevah he stops at. An' den watch 'im, an' soon as he leaves, go right in de house an' git chew broom. An' sprinkle roun' dere, where he was, oit salt an' black peppah, an' sweep it de way he went. He won't come back.
Entry 9649
Ah've learned dat chew kin take black peppah an' salt an' if dey come intuh de back do' an' go intuh de house, why sprinkle dat black peppah an' salt behin' 'em. If dey goes out de front, jes' sprinkle it slowly behin' dem as dey go out an' sweep, an' dey'll nevah come back ag'in.
(But they must come in the back door before you can do that?)
Dey don' have tuh go in de back do' - de same do' dey go intuh. If dey come in de front do' an' jes' go in a room an' set or stan' dere, when dey git ready tuh go out, jes' go back out de same way dey came in, all yo' have tuh do is jes' sprinkle dis black peppah an' salt behin' dem an' jes' sweep it out, an' dey'll nevah come back.
Entry 9650
(Before the law comes, what do you do to keep them out?) It's not possible tuh keep 'em away. Dey have tuh come once in ordah tuh keep 'em away. Well, yo' use de black peppah an' salt an' sprinkle it behin' dem at evah footstep dat dey make, an' den sweep it out behin' dem lak dat.
(Then they won't come back again.)
Yessuh. An' sometime yo' kin use sulphuh 'long wit it.
Entry 9651
[To] make you move from out the house. Well, I see this happen al- ready. I see this fellah take some black pepper an' salt an' mix that together. An' yo' goes to the house an' yo' sprinkle it as yo' comin' from the house. Sprinkle it goin' in the direction you wants them to Dove from, an' those people they goin' to move out of that house.
Entry 9652
Take black peppah an' salt all roun' at chure do's. Dey cain't come ovah it. (They can't come in and steal things?) No.
Entry 9654
Take salt an' black peppah, tie it up mixed togethah. Jes' take it. Yo' got some made up: Yo' gamblin'. Put dat stuff right in yore pocket. Evah now an' den, when yo' shuffle de cahds or sompin, jes' run yore han' in yore pocket. Yo' ain't gotta pull out none [of the mixture], jes' git de dust of dat on yo'. (That will give him luck.)
Entry 9688
If they don't like you and want you out of the way, the way they do, they goes to the [hoodoo] drug store and they buys some steel dust and lodestone. And they put black pepper and salt in it, and they sprinkle it around your step, see. And when they sprinkle it around your step, that'll move you.
Entry 9824
Why ah could come up tuh yuh ev'ry day an' git me a pin or eithah a needle. If ah don' borrah a pin from yuh ah'll borrah a needle from yuh. Well, when ah gits mahself nine needles an' nine pins, well all right. Ah goin' come an' borrah salt or eithah black peppah from yuh, or eithah red peppah from yuh. Well, ah done borrahed an' borrahed it. Ah knows mah num- bah what ah done got from yuh. Ah done got nine pins an' nine needles from yuh. Ah takes 'em an' carried 'em tuh a green tree, an' ah takes an' digs a li'l hole in dat green tree, an' ah - see, ah got a cork stoppah. An' ah put dem needles an' pins, drive 'em in dere, an' ah take dis cork stoppah an' stop 'em in dere. Well, in about nine days yo'll be daid. [Informant names victim by intention; besides, victim has handled the articles.]
Entry 9851
I have hear'd talk of a needle - dat yuh kin break up needles. Yuh take needles, needle dat sewin' wit, about twelve needles, an' crush 'em up. Yuh know, pind [pound]'em up. An' put 'em wit peppah an' sprinkle 'em arom' a person doah. An' dey'd soon leave dere, an' dey'll take badly off sick befo' dey go.
Entry 9927
[To] stop a man from makin' watah, yo' could take dat frog an' split 'im open an' fill 'im up fulla salt an' peppah; an' pull 'im back tuhgethah an' hang 'im up. Split 'im open 'live. Why dey couldn't make watah 'long as dat wuz done. (Do they do anything with the person's water at all?) No sir. [Since the victim's urine is not used on the frog or in any way here, magic power is one of intention verbally unexpressed.]
Entry 9987
Tuh git luck fo' gamblin' yo' goes an' git chew a toadfrog. If a man is a gamblin'-man, he goes an' gits 'im a toadfrog an' take dat toadfrog an' ketches 'im an' goes tuh any drygoods sto' [to distinguish from Wetgoods store!] an' buy 'im a box of black peppah an' red pappah an' some table salt. An' he put it in dat frog's mouth. An' when he put dat in dat frog's mouth, de frog'll go tuh coughin', an' he [man] come on back tuh dis gamblin' - where he be gamblin' at - an' he take dat salt an' throw yuh [his] han' out lak dat [demonstrates] tuh throw dat salt all ovah de whole crowd. An' dat frog he'll go tuh coughin' wit dat peppah an' will start tuh movin' roun'. An' he wins at evahthin' da' 'tis [that is] in de game. Jes' gits 'im a toadfrog, jis' a hoppin' toadfrog. Toadfrog anywhere hoppin' 'long - anywhere, jis' pick 'im up. Jis' reach down an' grab 'im an' take dat frog an' rub 'im in yore han' lak dat [demonstrates] an' go on tuh a game. An' go buy yo' some black peppah an' take it an' throw about a box in 'is mouth, an' shet 'is mouth up an' go on tuh de game. An' git chew a handful of salt an' when yo' git in de house, yo' take dat salt an' does lak dat [demonstrates]. An' when yo' do's lak dat, dat frog go tuh coughin'. When he go tuh coughin', well dat starts evahbody tuh lookin', an'evahbody lose all dey winnin's.
Source passage
continuous interview · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
Well now, I kin take this fer'n
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
[for an]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
instant
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
[instance]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
. Well, I've got a bootleggin' joint. The law comin' - I get a tip-off the law comin' mah house. I got liquor in mah house. The law walk in here.
reported or enacted speech · Current interviewee · Imagined officer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
"Well, w'a's
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
[what's]
reported or enacted speech · Current interviewee · Imagined officer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
goin' on here, Lindsay?"
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
reported or enacted speech · Current interviewee · Imagined householder addressed as Lindsay; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
"Good mornin', Cap'ain
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
[Captain]
reported or enacted speech · Current interviewee · Imagined householder addressed as Lindsay; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
."
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
reported or enacted speech · Current interviewee · Imagined officer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
"W'a's goin' on here?"
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
reported or enacted speech · Current interviewee · Imagined householder addressed as Lindsay; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
"Not a thing."
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
reported or enacted speech · Current interviewee · Imagined officer; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
"I've got a search warrant."
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
reported or enacted speech · Current interviewee · Imagined householder addressed as Lindsay; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
"Well, all you got to do is to search, Cap'ain, if you got it - I can't help you find it, I can't hinder you from searchin'."
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
Why, he's gon'a search. Well, when he enters in here - soon as he gits the center of mah house to search, he'll find his eyes is scattered. You know why?
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
(No.)
informant · Current interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
Well sir, because I keep mah red peppah burnin' an' mah sulphah an' mah ole shoes' soles. An' I keeps mah 'ead
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
[head]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
on
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
[all]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
perfumed an' keeps it, mah house, decorated
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
[dressed]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
[This is probably my only example of the term decorated.]
informant · Current interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 935
All right.
Nested source context: nested hypothetical dialogue · Vol. 2, p. 935
"Well, w'a's [what's] goin' on here, Lindsay?" "Good mornin', Cap'ain [Captain]." "W'a's goin' on here?" "Not a thing." "I've got a search warrant." "Well, all you got to do is to search, Cap'ain, if you got it - I can't help you find it, I can't hinder you from searchin'."
locally coherent subpassage
Lindsay is an enacted addressee, not authority for the current speaker identity. Hypothetical officer turns are not live interviewer turns.
closed_printed_example
Quoted search-warrant conversation is nested inside the informant turn, not a live police participant.
The decorated/dressed equivalence and unique-example evaluation are editorial.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 2, page image · Vol. 2, page image · Vol. 2, p. 933 · Vol. 2, p. 934 · Vol. 2, p. 935 · Vol. 2, p. 936