Subject:Pin
Entries
Entry 2206
Whut chew do wit pins, new straight pins, if yo' wanted tuh sell likker - anything lak dat an' to keep de officers away an' don't want no trouble. Why, yo' git chew a new roll of 'em an' jest stretch out up ovah yore do' - say dat'll turn 'em, dey can't come. (You just stretch the whole paper right across the door?) Dat's right - see, let de pins hang down, de sticking part of 'em.
Entry 2844
They takes the candles and they writes the name on them candles, and they lights them, and they burn 'em certain hours - six o'clock or either twelve o'clock. For nine days. They light those candles on people. Some of 'em light black candles. When they light black candles on 'em they puts pins - pins in em - new pins and needles. Just like if this was de top [demonstrates] turn the butt end [up] like that. You know, trim 'em at de butt end - you know, the side that goes down [butt end], well, you trim it at de butt end and light 'em.
(You turn them upside down.)
[The bottom of the candle with the new wick becomes the top.]
Uh huh. And that's - put their name on that. Well, you burns the name upside down on those black candles [because candles are burning upside down]. That's what they do.
(What will that do?)
What will that do? Well, that breaks up people. [For upside-down magic, see pp.405,660,731, and Index.]
Entry 3146
Well, when yo' an' he's doin' yo' git choo a brass pin an' put it in yore mouth up undah yore tongue, an' yo' hold yore breath. An' whilst yo' hold- in' yore breath, yo' jes' sayin', be repeatin' tuh yo' heart what choo don't wan' tim [want him] to do to nobody but choo. An' den when yo' git through, well yo' take dat brass pin an' tie it in a rag an' wear it. An' any time he go tuh anothah woman, well it'll fall.
Entry 3163
(What do they say about that?)
Dey kin use nine needles an' nine pins, too. Dat's de same thing I wus tellin' yo' 'bout wit women in bad work. Get some of dat, yo' know, an' take a little piece... (Well, will you explain the whole thing?) Take a little piece an' get some of dat on dere an' cross dem needles an' pins [in the piece]. Says yo' kin wear dat - say dat will take effect - dat will control a man, too. Co'se I've nevah tried dat.
(Well, what sort of a piece do you take?)
Jes' whatevah kinda piece yo' use, a piece of a towel or anything.
(I see, anything you wipe with. I understand.)
Entry 3187
Well, if a woman wants a man, an' don' wan' 'im tuh run roun' wit no othah woman, well if she have anythin' tuh do wit 'im, see. When dey git through she takes a white - clean pocket han'chef - see, an' wipe 'in on it, an' den she takes it an' she folds it six ways. She goes up- town an' gits 'er a bunch of safety pins an' she puts nine pins in dat han'chef an' bury it undah de steps. Well, he can't be wit no othah woman but dat woman.
(Show me how she puts them six ways?)
See, she take de han'chef - lak it's fo' cornahs, an' she fold it dis way an' she fold it dat way. Den she brings it dis way, den she bring it dat way. Dat's five ways. Den she bring it back ovah tuhgethah. Dat makes it de last, see. An' she buries it undah de steps.
Entry 3245
She say kin take a pin an' put it in her mouth. An' dat's whut she did do to make a livin, an' no man could evah, yo' know, bring 'er atall. She could have a hunderd mens a night. Jes' put a pin undah- neat', yo' know, her tongue.
(Hold it there?)
Yassuh.
Entry 3246
A pin, a brass pin. You can take a brass pin - like if she - if a woman's goin' an' she get after you and she wants to give yo' a vener'al disease, you understand. (She wants to give you a venereal disease?) Yes. (I understand.) She take dat pin - she'll take a brass pin when yo' havin' intahco'se wit 'er. An' she'll take dat brass pin an' she'll hold it in 'er mouth, see. Well, she hold it in 'er mouth. Well, all right. Aftah yo' have yore intahco'se wit 'er, see, well nine days aftahwards, if yo' don't have no idea about it, why dat thing will start to run, an' stay on if, if yo' don't know what to do. If yo' don't know whut to do to cure it, why it, jes keeP gIttin' WOrSe. An' I DON'T CARE NUTHIN ABOUT DOCTORS [M.D.'s]. HEDICINE WILL NOT CURE IT.
(I see. That's if she wants to give you a venereal disease.)
Yes, if she want to give it to yo', yo' undahstan'.
(Well, ISN'T THERE ANY WAY YOU GET RID OF IT, if she gives it tO you?)
Yes. Well, de way yo' git rid of dat, yo' go to de woods. Yo' go to de woods or a swamp somewhere an' yo' git Swamp root or de watah lily.
(The what?)
De watah lily root - swamp root.
(Water lily. All right.)
[This is probably the swamp lily, a white flowered lily (Crinum americanun) of the southern United States.] Swamp root, yo' boil dat. Yo' boil it down an' yo' take one tablespoon of sugar, one tablespoon of sulphur. Yo' mix dat togethah into a quart of watah. Yo' take three tablespoonsful a day. Before each meal yo' take a tablespoonful. Dat'll cure it. But not wit'out some Swamp root. Somepin ah'll do it wit, it'll nevah nOt cure It. DOCTORS SHOOTIN AN' ALL DAT KIN'A SHOTS WILL NOT GIT RID OF IT, AN' I HAD IT. SO MANY PERSONS A DAY IN TOWN DAT DIES FROM DAT GOIN' TUH HOS- PITALS AN' NEVAH BE'S CURED. YO' GOTA GIT SOME MAN OUTA DE WOODS, OR SOME MAN TO GIT SOMEPIN OUTA DE GROUN' TO CURE DAT.
Entry 3307
Well, dey'll take dey chamber lye, so dey say, an' dey'll put dragon's blood in it, nine drops. Dey'll put nine pins in it wit de points [up]. Dey'll drop de heads down in dere, an' nine goldeye needles. Den dey'll take dat, dat'll keep a man from havin' intahco'se wit any othah woman but de one dat does it, see.
(The woman who does this.)
De one who does dis. She kin take up de bottle, so she says, an' shake it an' anywhere's he is, he's comin'. If he see death in front of him, he can' [can't] prevent from comin'.
Entry 3487
Jes' lak yo' have a sweetheart an' yo' wanta hold 'im, well yo' take some bran'-new pins dat nevah been used, an' yo' fix dem haid an' haid [tail], but dey must be even, see. (You mean one goes this way [I demonstrate] and one goes that way - they alternate.)
[Informant misunderstands alternate, a word I should not have used.]
Yes sir, dat's right. Yo' have a connection wit chure frien'.
(How many of those pins do you use?)
Yo' make a gartah of dose. An' yo' fix 'em de haid an' haid - lak de stuck right on de haid - dey can't stick yo', see. An' yo' take dis string an' yo' measure him while he's asleep an' yo take dat. Well, when he have connection wit chew, YO' DON'T HAVE NO 'MUNICATE [COMMUNICATION] WIT 'IM BUT HE JES' HAVE ONE WIT CHEW. Well yo'wrap dat roun' an' yo' ketch dat. Well, now yo' nuse [use] dat fo' a gartah, tie it roun' yore laig. He can't have nobody else but chew.
(What do you put those pins in?)
In dat gartah. (In this piece of cloth that you make the garter with, you put those pins in there after you wipe him? And then you make that garter and you wear it?) Yes.
Entry 3842
Yo' take a pin an' scratch yo'self until yo' bleed, an' den take de blood an' write de girl's name. Jis' like if it's a girl yo' in love wit, write dat name wit dat pin wit de blood, an' send 'er dat lettah an' she would come regardless tuh where yo' wuz. She would come an' see yo'. (Do you mean you just write her an ordinary letter first, or just write her name on it?) Jis' write a or'nary lettah firs' den sign yore name wit dat blood.
Entry 3916
Ah'm goin' tell yo' somepin dat I saw here in '23 - was in '23. Ah wus workin' fo' Halstrom Brothers. An' my firs' wife - it was a girl lived right side of us named Theresa Jackson, an' my firs' wife helped to raise dis girl. Well, dis girl, she was a stout girl, an' she was workin' fo' Dr. Knox[?]. All at once she'd taken sick an' we couldn't undahstan' why she wus sick all de time. An' ah says to her, say, "You're workin' fo' dat doctah, say, "whyn't yo' tell de doc- tah 'bout it, how bad yo' feel?" Well, dere she would go to work an' have to leave work to come home. An' she tole de doctah 'bout it. Well, de doctah say he couldn't fin' no trouble - yo' know, what was 'er complaint. So she wus off on 'er off-day an' she said, "Ah'm goin' clean up my house. Ah'm goin' from de stern-wheel to de rudder" [surely an old Mississippi River expression]. Says, "All right." Ah was layin' down sleepin'. Ah been workin' at night. An' dis girl goin' to clean up 'er house. An' right behind de middle door, she found a bottle an' a little bag. Well, when she found dis bottle an' little bag, she brought it an' showed it to my wife. My wife said to her, "Ah'm goin' to wake Steve up an' tell 'im 'bout it." Which she did wake me up. When she woke me up, ah took it an' ah looked at it, say, "Dis looks mighty funny to me. I said, give me a knife." I said, "I'm goin' open dis bag." Ah opened de bag. It had a plat of 'er hair, outa her head. It had three pieces outa her pieces, yo' know, about dat size.
(Out of her monthly clothes?)
Yes. An' it had some lodestone in dere an' it had some needles an' some pins crossed dataway [demonstrates], see.
(Held that way with two crosses in it?)
Yes, sir. An' it had dat hair undah dere an' jes' like - jes' like my thumb is de hair, an' right along dere was de lodestone, see, into dis piece, an' dey had it sewed up. See. And he [the man who had tricked her] had de bottle wit 'er mon'ses [months] in hit.
(Which?)
[I either did not grasp mon'ses or wanted a fuller explanation.]
It had, yo' know, change over de moon in de bottle.
(I see.)
An' I opened it an' taked de stoppah outa de bottle an' it was jes' worsen [worse than] anythin' yo' evah smelled in yore life. Ah says to her, ah says, "Yo' take dis out dere" - ah always heard my ole uncle say dese things - ah say, "and throw it in dat runnin' watah." Dere was a little bayou - part of de bayou right back dere - part of de bridge an' de little bayou run undahneat' dere.
(Where?)
Little bayou right out chere on Rogers Street. An' she - ah say, "Now, you throw dat ovah yore left shoulder an' don't look back." An' she went out dere an' throwed it ovah her lef' shouldah in dat runnin' watah. An' he left. Dat fellow come home, but when he come home he rushed right on in de house. He says to her, "What yo' been doin' here?" She say, "Ah been cleanin' up." He say, "Yo' don't nevah clean up." He said, "Did yo' find anything of mine?" She said, "No, I find somepin of mine." He says, "What wus it?" Ah says, "If he hits yo today, I'm goin' woop 'im an' [or] he gon'a woop me eithah one." So he hauled away an' he hit 'er, an' when he hit 'er, I grabbed 'im. An' he lef' an' went to Paducah, Ky. He lef' dere an' went to Oil City, Ill. He lef' dere an' come back here to her an' stayed three days, an' went to Natchez an' she ain't been worried wit 'im since. An' she's married an' she is jes' as stout as she evah wus, an' de mothah of a child.
(She got rid of him, got rid of the fellow.)
Entry 3926
A woman, dey kin take her min'stration an' a piece yo' know, an' dey kin throw it in de rivah or yo' kin bury it. If yo' bury it, it will kill 'er; if yo' throw it in de rivah, it will run 'er an' she'll nevah come back. But dey dresses it. See dey puts dis powdahs on it, incense powdah, an' yo' pin it up wit new pins, bran'-new pins in a bottle.
Entry 3956
Dey take dat piece aftah yo' ministrate an' cut a piece out of it an' wrap it tight. Put de needles an' de pins through it. (Do you put any particular number or just any number?) Any number, jes' any of 'em. Yo' jab one one way an' den one anothah. An' take it tuh a tree an' bore a hole onto it. An' den take yo', yo' know, a wooden peg an' stop yo' [owner of cut-out piece] up in dere. I hear people say yo' kin do dat.
(What will that do?)
Say dat will stop yo' from ministratin' an' fin'lly it will kill yo':- [blood] commence comin' out chure mouth.
Entry 3960
Yo' kin take a woman, a woman's sickness yo' know, an' take a nail - ah mean put some on de end of a needle see, or de end of a pin, an' drive it into a green tree. An' dat will run 'er crazy. Jes' a little bit on de end of de point an' drive it into a green tree. Any kinda green tree.
Entry 4073
(Any other way she can make him come back to her?)
She kin do - she take nine needles an' nine pins an' put 'em in a bottle head an' tail, an' call 'is name evah time [she drops a needle or pin]. An' full de bottle full wit 'er chamber lye. An' cork it up tight an' make a fiah an' put dat bottle in de fiah, an' when it bust, call dey name. In 24 hours time he has tuh come tuh 'er runnin' - no mattah where he be, have tuh come tuh 'er.
Entry 4141
I heard this from an old man in Hick'ry [Hickory], N. Car., said that he could take a man's watah an' bottle it up with graveyard dirt, pins an' nee- dles, an' 'twould stop the ureene [urine]. An' that would be the cause of his death. [I had stayed the night at Hickory in 1922 (see vol.1, p. XXVIII), where I first heard the radio.]
Entry 4178
Yo' kin git ten penny nails, don't chew undahstan', an' brass pins. Yo' kin put 'em in a bottle wit de urine an' stop it up an' it'll set choo crazy. It'll stay in dere an' yo'll suffah clean till dey let choo out. Well, dat's mean, don't choo know. When dey let choo out, yo' got tuh git somebody [to help yuh], don't choo undahstan'.
(Why do they do that?)
Becuz dey're mad an' jealous of yo' gittin' along, an' do somepin tuh yo', don't choo know, so dat choo cain't have no luck.
(What do they do with this bottle?)
Dey buries it, buries it down in de groun' bottom upwards dey tell me.
Entry 4198
Yuh kin take a person chamber lye an' put nine brass pins in it - any- body chamber lye - kin put nine brass pins in it an' put it intuh a dry place where it will be air- tight, where no light can't hit it, an' as long as dat pins an' dat chamber lye is stopped up in dat bottle, dat person al- ways complain of pains in dere stomick.
(That gives them stomach pains.)
Entry 4199
Dey night watah, uh-huh, an' po' it in a bottle. Put about nine new needles or nine new pins in it an' co'k [cork] dat bottle up an' yuh'll be pinin 'way till yuh daid, if dey don't go an' unstop dat bottle. (You put either the needles or the pins?) Nine of each or nine of any one of 'em - de nine.
Entry 4200
Dey takes dat [urine] an' dey'll stop it up. Dey puts nine needles, lodestone, nine bran'-new pins, an' den dey'll stop dat up. Even maybe dey'll bury it in de groun' an' turn it bottom up - seals it an' turns it bottom up.
(Do this with this water, this urine?)
Yuh urinate - yuh urinate watah.
(What will that do?)
Well, dey say dat hold's de man - holds 'im, yuh know.
(Hold the man, I see.)
Entry 4202
Dey'll take dat urine an' dey'll put it in a bottle an' dey'll apply cinnamay [cinnamon] powdah tuh dat urine, mixin' dat an' de urine, sugah, nine needles an' nine pins. Bury dat where de individual pass at an' dat'll keep 'em accustomary goin' nowhere. When de sun is down, dey min' [mind] not care whut kinda powdah dey be in. It'd make 'em very home [sick], dere min' will refer back home whensomevah de sun go down, regardless of how gran' de party be, yuh can't keep 'em from home.
Entry 4203
Dey git a hold of some of yuh hair an' git some of yuh watah wit it, an' put dat in a bottle, an' dey git a hold of nine new needles an' nine new pins, an' cork de bottle up, an' dey bury dat anywhere where yuh walk along, an' dat will run yuh crazy.
Entry 4204
Dey cud [could] take yore track up, yuh know, an' dey cud use yuh watah an' some of yuh hair, from undah here an' also below here, an' take nine new needles an' nine [new] pins, an' stop it up in a bottle an' put it at chure head an' dey cud have yuh like dat. (At your head?) An' let yuh sleep on it. (And how would it harm you? What way will it harm you?) Wal, it jis' make yuh jis' stay an' take any- thin' dey do an' anythin' yuh got. Yuh jis' bring it an' give it tuh dem.
(To the man or to the woman?)
Tuh de woman. Jis' like if yuh got a woman an' she t'inks yuh runnin' roun' - yuh know, sompin like dat.
(Fix you with your hair?)
Uh-huh.
Entry 4205
Yuh know, yuh kin take a man's watah an' yuh stop it up in a bottle an' tote it. Yuh put nine needles an' nine grains of cinnamon - er [I mean] mixed spice, allspice dey call it, in a bottle. (You put just nine grains of allspice.) Nine grains of allspice an' nine goldeye needles, nine pins. Turn de nine needles one down an' one up, one down an' one up, an' de pins de same way. An' den yuh take an' hang dat up somewhere back in a cornah where he won't find it. An' he can't fool wit no othah woman - stop it airtight an' he can't fool wit no othah Woman.
Entry 4206
Dey say yuh kin take chxnber lye. Jis' lak dis yuh sweetheart, yuh kin take yuh sweetheart's chamber lye an' yuh chamber lye an' put it both tuh- gethah an' git chew nine needles an' nine pins an' nine nails, bran'-new nails, an' bury it undah de bottom of yuh footstep [doorstep] or eithah undah de bottom of yuh backsteps. Or eithah, if yuh don't wanta bury it undah dere, it's all right. If yuh wanta put it in de room anywheres it's all right, but it's bettah tuh bury it. An' dat'll make dem come home, an' love yuh very much.
Entry 4267
Anothah' way dat dey take it an' control of love wit it.
(This chamber lye.)
Kin control love wit it. An' den dey use it tuh draw a person tuh yuh. Tuh draw a pusson tuh yuh, yuh take dat an' put in it nine needles an' nine pins an' nine nails in a bottle, wit dat, jis' stop it [up]. An' drop de nails in head an' tail, de pins head an' tail, an' de needles head an' tail, callin' 'em evah time [you drop], an' make yuh wishes. An' den jis' stop de bottle up tight. Pusson apt tuh be settin' dere all alone, yuh shake dat bottle, yuh know, an' call dere name an' turn it upside down. Any place dey is, if dey ain't got de fare, dey be walkin', comin'." If dey ain't got de fare, dey try tuh be walkin' comin'.
Entry 4275
I know one time a woman had some [urine] in a bottle. She had six bottles: One was about two inches full, another was about three inches full, another about half full, an- other half full, and another almost full, and another all full. And [all] stopped up tight. The bottles had needles and pins in them and hair in it. And he couldn't pass his water until some of those bottles were opened. Her husband, she didn't like him, and she was going with another man. It' was his water she stopped up. It killed him. He actually died. [The magic rite of increasing amounts - as well as of decreasing amounts - is fairly common, but this one is rather elabo- rate, unusual.]
Entry 4354
Oh! a person kin do a lot wit dat.
(Well, what for example? One thing.)
One thing, yuh kin take dat.
(This chamber lye.)
Put it in a bottle, put some lodestone in it, steel dust, nine pins an' nine needles. Turn it upside down in yuh home. Dat would make a man stay. Yuh kin take it an' do dat wit it. If yuh want tuh harm 'em, yo' take dere pee an' stop it up in bottle wit a new stopper an' bury it: Bury it where dere's no watah, an' when dat bottle busts, dey will die. But if yuh jis' wants 'em, have dem beggered an' be wit yuh, put it undah de hydrant [considered run- ning water] where it's cool, dat watah, an' dat bottle will nevah - nevah bust, cuz de watah, it won't sour. It'll keep it cool. But yuh see, dat stuff, well hit gits strong in a bottle somewhere up in a warm place. Yuh know yuhself it will bust. Well, when it busts, dat's de last of a person.
Entry 4355
Takes it from [demonstrates] de top an' de side an' here.
(The top and both sides, the hair.)
An' tells me dat dey puts it in a bottle wit red flannel, nine new needles an' pins.
(How many pins?)
Nine. An' git some of yuh urine, stops it up, turn it [bottle] bottom up- wards. Jis' as it dreeps [drips] out, jis' as yuh dwindle away. An' den when dey don't turn it bottom upwards dey throw it in de rivah. Drive yuh - Hoodoo - Conjuration - Witchcraft: Rdtvorl crazy. Dat's what dey say dat dey kin do wit it.
(If they turn it upside down?)
Yuh pines away, an' if it's throwed in de rivah in quick runnin' watah, yuh'll go crazy. [Washington, D.c., (628), 805:9.]
Entry 4439
Yuh take dat an' yuh wraps it, an' yuh got de east side of a pine tree, yuh bo'es a hole jis' lak mah hand sets [demonstrates] down tuh de roots. (Slant it down to- wards the roots.) Tuh de tap roots, an' yuh strike dat fer as dat augah go. An' yuh take dat an' yuh put seven needles an' seven pins, an' yuh hit it nine mawnin's, an' on de ninth mawnin' yuh drive it up. IN THIRTY MINUTES HE'LL BE DEAD.
(You put this passage in there?)
Dat's right. Yuh sticks 'em, yuh see. DAT'S CALLED DRESSIN'. Yuh sticks 'em. Yuh sticks de pins dis way, an' sticks de needles dis way - de heads dis way an' dat head dis way, so dey be crossed lak dat intuh it. It be in a cloth yuh know. An' yuh jis' stick dem pins in it, an' den yuh jis' chunk it in de crack [hole] an' put dat peg jis' tuh fit it. Jis' lak yuh bo'd de hole, de peg's gotta be jis' de same width as de augah, jis' airtight. An' yuh jis' need.tuh tap it de firs' mawnin' an' fo' nine mawnin's yuh hit one tap, an' de ninth mawnin' yuh drive it up. [Here I turned off recording machine but informant adds the place where this rite was performed. I restarted machine.]
(Where?)
Dat was done in [near] Tifton, Ga.
Entry 4492
Yuh could take de bath watah.
(The water you take a bath in?)
Yeah. Put it in a quart bottle, or a pint bottle - any [either] one. Yuh gets yuh 9 needles - yuh buy 'em what ain't been used out of - 9 needles, 9 pins. Put 'em in dat [bottle], a bran'- new stoppah. Yuh stop dat [bot- tle] up tight, tight. Turn it like dis, upside down. Bury it undah de hydrant where de watah runnin'. When yuh put dat dere, dat will run 'em crazy.
(I see.)
Entry 4500
Yuh take dat watah an' put it aside an' let it git sour.
(This bath water.)
An' it get sour de suds goin' come tuh de top. Skim off dat suds an' pour all dat [water] out an' dere'll be groun's [dirt] undahneat' dere. Yuh take dat, de groun's undahneat' dere, too. Yuh know, gon'a be suds on de top, an' po' de watah off de top, den dere'll be drugs [dregs] at de bottom. Yuh take dat [dregs] an' yuh put dat in a bottle an' git dere name, write on a piece of papah nine times, nine needles, nine pins an' three nails, an' put 'em in dat bottle. See, if dey is from yuh [informant demonstrates by shaking imaginary bottle]. See, git dem tuh come tuh yuh. (Oh! You shake that bottle and the person will come to you. I see. Well, how do you get this scraping off their feet then? That off your feet or off their feet?) Dat off dey're foot, yuh know. (Oh! This is the bath water, that's right.)
Entry 4577
Yuh kin take dat bow out dat man's hat, an' yuh kin take a powdah called love powdah [later called movin' powdah] an' calcimine powdahs [calcimine], an' he's bound tuh come [to the woman]. He'll do anything yuh say do. Dey take dat bow [out of the hat, untie it - see KNOTS later for untying - put the powders on it] an' jis' double [fold once] dat bow tuh 'em, an' dey put three pins in dat bow [thus shutting up the powders inside the bow]. [Informant now demonstrates how these three pins hold in the powders.] Yuh stick one head dis way [up], an' yuh stick the othah head down, an' put dis one right across [the other two]. [This produces a double cross, even a triple cross or three daggers like this H. Joo take dat an put it in yer shoe an' wear it.
(What were the names of these powders?)
Dey call one of 'em de movin' powdah, all right, an' yuh call one calcimine. De movin' powdah is tuh move yuh back tuh dem; de calcimines powdah is tuh make things clean [as calcimine normally does, but here by symbolically cleaning the return road home of all difficulties]. [Come home, all is forgiven. But by wearing the bow in her shoe she indicates a determination to keep him under her foot!]
Entry 4578
Take dat bow. Hit stands in de back of de man's hat. Take dat bow an' take nine needles an' nine pins an' stick 'em evahwhah in dat bow crossed up yuh possibly kin. An' when yuh git 'em all fixed in dat bow lak it supposed tuh be - naow [now] a woman kin fix dat fo' a man an' run 'im crazy - an' take it an' put it in a bottle. An' put some, fill de bottle half up wit table salt, an' den fill de bottle clean up wit 'er urine an' stop dat bottle up. Turn it upside down an' stick it mos' any kin'a cornah or any kinda drawah or [place] up ovah de head or anywhere, but jes' since it's outa sight in a dark place. An' dat man'll go sta'k [stark] crazy.
Entry 4630
(Do you know how they do that?)
Well, dey take dat bow an' dey take dat bow away from yuh hat an' dat thread off dat bow. Dey take dat an' dey sew it up intuh de mattress. An' aftah dey sew it up intuh de mattress, dey'll git some of dis here essence of cinnamon. Yuh know, de essence of cinnamon from de drug store - from de Crackahjack Drug Store. (Yes.) [= continue.] Well, dey git some of dat an' dey git two brass pins an' dey stick intuh dat bow an' aftah dat dey sew it up - evahthin' intuh de mattress. An' dey fix yuh wit dat.
(What will happen? What does it do to you?)
Dey'll fix yuh so dat yuh won't nevah be no help tuh yuhself or nobody else.
(I see. What do they call that stuff you get from the drug store?)
[A mumbled answer was almost unintelligible but it was essence of cinnamon, which may be the same thing as oil of cinnamon (2458-2459, p.681).]
Entry 4800
Ah heard dat chew could take de garment yuh wear nex' tuh yuh, have tuh be de one yuh wear nex' tuh yuh, an' bury it. Put nine pins in it an' bury it, an' dey say yuh won't live. Dat's whut ah heard.
Entry 4808
Some man had did me some - some man had did somepin tuh me, do a trick tuh me once. Dis mahself [this is about me]. He done bo'ded [boarded] wit me sich a time [for a certain length of time] an' he didn't pay me. An' she [root- worker to whom infor- mant went] had tell me tuh bring some things dere [to her]. An' ah car' [care = carry] [them to her] but ah nevah did keep it up. Prob'ly if ah hada keep it up, he mighta come back. She tell me tuh git de man'a [man's] undahpieces. An' she [root worker] wash it an' put it [washwater] in a bottle. [Washwater because a piece of clean clothing would have been useless.] An' [she] put red flannel in dere, an' nine needle, an' some dig Hearts Cologne, an' tell me tuh keep [this bottle] in de room an' [at eertain times not given] turn it upside down an' shake it, an' tuh shake it in each [four] cornah of de house [symbolizing the four angels standing On the four corners of the earth (Rev. 7:1)] fo' nine mawnin's. But ah nevah keep it up, yuh see.
(What did she say that would do?)
Say dat would make him back; make him come back.an' pay off. But ah nevah keep it up. (Well, when did you go to this root doctor? When he left, you mean? When he left the house, you went to her and asked her advice?) Suh? [Who could have understood my involved question! But I was fishing for more details. Board money was not the whole problem. She does not go to the police. I try again.]
(When he left the house, you went to her and asked her advice.)
Ah had went dere an' ast 'er, but ah nevah did.
(But you never did what she told you to do?)
Ah nevah did keep It up. Ah nevah do whut she tole me tuh do.
Entry 4864
Dey kin mess yuh up on dat. Dey take dat chew know at times, take yore undahpiece dat's been worn an' carry it tuh a lake or tuh a creek where dere's runnin' watah. An' den, if it's a straight pieceorifit'satwc piece, yo' know lak undahweah, an' yuh tie it on tuh a block [of wood]. An' den yuh put nine needles on dat same block an' nine pins. Let dem be goldeye nee- dles. An' turn dat ovahbo'd an' yuh got 'em dere.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat eat [it]. Dat's drivin' de person away.
Entry 4869
She'll git sompin dat he wore tuh 'im. An' she git a piece of 'is undahweah, anythin', an' she'll take [and] she wrop it, fold it up. An' she'll take a piece of silk, black thread, an' she'll wrop it tuh 'er 365 times. An' she gits three sticks from de pins [3 stick pins from a new package of pins]. She stick one dat way [demonstrates] an' one dat Way, an' take an' wrop 'em comin' back toward 'er.
(She sticks one in the side of this package?)
Sticks one right lak dat, an' turn aroun' an' stick de othah one right lak dat, an' stick de othah one right by dat one, an' turn 'em back right lak dat [demonstrates].
(Two of them are turned back toward her. Then what does she do with that?)
Put it right in front of de house in a safe place an' call 'is name. Tell 'im tuh come back. Call 'is name three times an' tell 'im tuh come back, come back, [come back].
Entry 4925
Taken needles or pins or wire nails. An' jis' lak ah wuz tellin' yuh 'bout de sock: fold dat sock, if yuh wanta run 'em, fold it from yuh; an' if yuh wanta bring 'em tuh yuh, yuh fold it tuh yuh. An' yuh stick nine pins an' nine needles an' nine wire nails, an' yuh bury it undah yore steps, or undah dere steps, which- evah case yuh wanta do, run 'em or tuh draw 'em. If yuh wan' 'em tuh come, yuh bury it undah yore own step; an' if yuh wanta run 'em, yuh slip it in an' bury it undah dere step.
Entry 4951
A [dirty] stockin', yuh takes it an' ties three knots [one on top of the other - a threefold knot] in it. Dey say yuh take yeh right one. Gits yuh some Hearts Cologne, po' it in dere. Gits yuh nine pins, nine needles, an call dis person by name, whosomevah it is. Make yeh heart wish. See, jis' like if yuh wants yeh sweetheart tuh do sompin, tie dis tuh yuh. Every time yuh make a knot, pull yeh string [stocking] tuhwards yeh an' call dere name three times. An' put dem pins an' needles in dere [in the threefold knot]. Yuh takes dem pins, yeh lays de pins dis way [demonstrates].
(Alternate heads and points.)
An' yuh puts dis cologne on dere. An' yuh kin weah dat in yeh pocket. Dat'll make yuh - if yeh girl away from yeh, she'll come tuh yeh.
Entry 4990
(That little bow in the back of the hat.)
Dey take dat bow out an' dey dress it - dey carry it tuh de two-head [who dresses it]. An' dey tell 'im what kind of powdahs dey've got. Dey've got graveyard powdah, rattlesnake powdah, and - whut is dat othah? [Three ingred- ients]. Well, dey take dat. Dat's to keep dere husban' wit 'em, cuz ah sepa- rate a lady an' 'er husban' by not knowin' at de time, den bein' young an' didn't know. Dey take a sock aftah dey done wore it an' dey pin it.
(They do what?)
Dey takes de toe of it an' dey pins it tuhgethah disaway. Dey git a pack of [new] needles an' a pack of [new] pins an' dey jis' cross dem pins crossways goin' an' comin' like dat in both socks. An' dey eithah put it in de bottom of dere trunk or bottom of dere drawahs somewhere, an' dey keep it dere. Dat's tuh keep dere husban' wit 'em an' he won't go roun' wit no tothah women. (Well, what was your experience? What did you do, when you said you were a girl?)
[She does not understand.]
(You did something, you said?)
I took - I wuz stayin', me an' de lady - ah wuz youn' an' didn't know nuthin den about fortunetellahs. An' she had one room an' ah anothah room. An' mah clothes wuz in Ter trunk too, becuz ah didn't have any wardrobe tuh put mines in at de time. An' ah wuz cleanin de trunk out dat Friday night, an' ah seen de two dirty socks in dere. Ah said tuh mahself, "Well, whose dirty socks down in dere wit all de clean clothes in dere." So ah went an' ah took de socks an' sat down. It took me ovah a hour tuh pick de pins an' needles outa dere, dey wuz so rusty. An' ah washed dem socks an evahthin an dat separate her an' 'er husban'.
Entry 4996
Dey had mah husban' [fixed] now. His sock in a bran'-new white han'- ke'ch'ef, nine needles an' nine pins - new pins [and surely also new needles] - graveyard dirt, cayenne pepper, an' dey wuz all in dat bottle what ah foun' undah mah steps. An' so [it] wuz mah husban's dirty sock. Dey had it fixed wit somepin in it an' wearin' it roun' 'er waist. Ah sees dat mah- self.
[Not round the woman's waist! She saw the sock showed to her by the doctor!]
(What did that do to him?)
Well, he recognized it [the sock produced by the doctor] - saw de whole thing. An' so ah got somebody look at 'im an' de woman dat looked at 'im tole me dat dere wuz a girl aftah 'im befo' he started courtin' me. De girl went 'erself an' she stole his dirty sock, had it fixed [by a doctor] an' wore - had it roun er wais'. (Well, did this woman [doctor] tell you how to get rid of that? What to do to get rid of it?) She give me some medicine, but what de medicine wuz ah don't know. [She give me some medicine is ambiguous. Was it for herself or husband? If for her, then we have one of those rare examples of MEDICINE BY PROXY - margin title p.365. This story came early in my hoodoo collecting days, otherwise I would have asked for further details. It is evident that the woman on finding the bottle took it to a Woman, who told her what was inside and why the ingredi- ents had been planted at the steps.]
Entry 5155
Ah know a case in Beaver Falls, Pa., dat a incident of dat kind hap- pened a year ago [1936]. Wus a woman whut lived dere, an' 'er husban' wure very cruel tuh 'er. An' he begin tuh stay out all night, an' he beat 'er an' knock 'er out. So she begin tuh study de Sixth an' de Seventh Book of Moses. An' wit- in studyin' dat, she found out jis' whut tuh do tuh send 'im away from 'er. An' she tole me dat she'd taken 'is lef' shoe, an' cut 'is 'nitial on de inside of it in de instep. An' taken 'is - one of 'is lef' dirty socks, an' put nine brass pins in it, an' nailed [pinned] it tuh de instep of 'is shoe, an' threw it ovah 'er lef' shouldah at sundown. Ah know he left dere an' he hadn't been back a month or so ago.
Entry 5170
Take a man's shoe, right shoe. Take de measure of it an' put some new pins an' needles in it, nine of each. An' yuh take [up] de sill [saddle] of de do'. Yuh know, pull [up] de sill of de do'. An' yuh put it [tape measure] down dere, tack it down dere. An' he have tuh cross ovah it, yuh see, an' [to] git inside. Dat will keep a person stayin' aroun' home.[Informant repeats for good measure:] Yuh git a piece of new tape an' take de measure of [right] shoe. Take it from yuh an' bring it tuh yuh. An' den yuh take dat an' pin de needles an' pins tight all de Way tuh yuh, an' as yuh put 'em in call 'is name. Den yuh take de sill [saddle] of de do' up an' yuh tack it [tape] down an' leave it stay dere. When yuh move out'a dat house, yuh take it up an' carry it wit chew. Evahwhere yuh move yuh carry it wit chew.
Entry 5194
Git holt of yore shoes, shoes or yore socks yo' know, an' jis'...
(What are they supposed to do with those?)
Supposed tuh git yore shoes an' yore socks, eithah one, an' mixes some of yorr undahclothes wit 'em, an' dese pins an' needles, an' buries 'em. Dat'll cuz yore feet tuh swell.
[Norfolk, Va., (453) 427:5.]
Entry 5297
He uses track, same ah tell yo' tuh use tuh run a person off. Kin use de sweat out de bottom of yo' shoe, lak yo' use de innah sole out de bottom of yo' shoe, yo' know. Cain't have dat. Some people rathah have de track yo' know. (Like picking up your tracks.) (What would she do with that sweat out of the bottom of your shoe?) Scrape dat out an' put it in a li'le bottle wit some needles an' pins an' li'le graveyard dirt [3 ingredients] yo' know an' throw it in runnin' watah. Dat will send de man away.
(How many needles and pins does she put in there?)
Put three of each.
The informant discusses track and shoe-sweat alternatives, then shoe scrapings in a bottle with needles, pins and a little graveyard dirt, cast into running water to send a man away. The answer specifies three of each sharp item. Hyatt's bracketed ingredient count and the interviewer's prompts remain distinct.
Entry 5463
Dey says if yo' take yore fingah, reach from hollah of de foot tuh de heel, dey take dat dirt up [demon- strates]. (YOu PUT THE INDEX FIN- GER AT THE HOLLOW AND the thumb at the heel and bring it together. Take up a pinch of that dirt. Out of either foot?) De right foot. An' yo' kin take dat den an' put 'em tuh wandahin' - trailin' [a rare word].
(What would you do with that dirt after you got it?)
Well, dey say dat yo' mix a li'le graveyard dirt wit it. Dey kin kill yo' wit it or else dey kin put yo' tuh travelin'. Take dat dirt an' sprinkle it wit nine new needles right in de direction yo' wan' 'em to go. If de house heah, dat yo' wanta run 'em from, yo' go right dere in front dat house an' put dat dirt. Say dat will run 'em. (Now I am not quite certain about those nails. You take this dirt from the foot and some of this graveyard dirt. And then you take nails or needles?) Kin take needles an' nails.
(How do you drive them - into the ground or what?)
Yeah into de ground. An' den nine new pins, an' needles wit it, but chew put dem needles between dem nine nails.
(That will make them go away.)
Entry 5566
You take nine new nails and nine new pins and nine new needles. You cut around their footprint, lift it up, turn it upside down and put it right back in the same hole; then, they stick these pins and needles and nails in it. That will give you pains in your leg. They always say they come in the left leg and changes to the right.
Entry 5583
Dey say dey takes 'is track an' put it in a piece of new cloth. Dey say yo' kin git chew nine needles an' nine pins an' put in it. Dat will run yo' crazy. (What do they do with that then?) Put it in runnin' watah an' shet it up [in bottle or can].
Entry 5584
Dey take dat[foot track] up, put dat in a bottle. Understand? Put dat in a bottle an' put war watah. Git chew a bottle of war watah an' put some of dat war watah on it, cayenne peppah, yo' undahstan', nine needles, nine pins, an' take dat an' stop it up, an' go to de rivah. Git on de ferry an' when de ferry git in de middle of de rivah, throw it an' turn aroun'.
(You throw it and you turn around?)
Throw it in de watah an' turn aroun' [demonstrates] an' say a oath.
(I see, you throw that as you turn around.)
Turnin' aroun'. Throw it an' turn aroun' [demonstrates]. Wheel like dat.
(I see.)
An' dey'll go right on behind it. Yes, sir, right on behind it.
Entry 5657
Yah suh, dey - someone has tole me dat if dey git aholt of yo' foot track, an' dey put it in a bottle, an' dey puts six needles, six pins an' six ole rusty nails, six new gold- eye needles, six pins dat nevah did been used an' six rusty nails [mistakenly repeated] - an' den dey take it an' put it in a forked stick like dat [demonstrates], see. An' dey ties dose togethah an' dey put it to de foot of de steps, see. (Well, now they put that stuff in the bottle first, don't they, and then they put that bottle in that fork of that stick.) Yeah.
(I see. Where do they put that?)
Put unnah de steps or put it on de sunrise or sundown side. See, de haid of de step like dat, see, put dat down dere.
(I see - the step must be on the sunrise side of the house?)
Yassuh.
(And what do you do at the sundown side of the house then?)
Dey put de bottle outside - dey lean de bottle, put de bottle an' lean it. Don't let it lay down flat. (I see, they put the bottle at the sunrise side of the steps and they lean it tovard the sundown?) Uh-huh an' den dey lay down. Ah don't know nuthin about it befo' ah learned. (That's what I wanta hear. What you have heard about it. That's right. What vill that do to the person?) Suh, whut dat'll do? Dat track, if yo' got a husban', dat'll make him stay bome. An' den if he ups wit any othah wimmin, he can't even run about. If an- othah woman got 'im tied up, dat'll break 'em up. Dat's supposed tuh break 'em up in nine days time. (I see. And after you bury that bottle, do you do anything else then. After you bury that bottle, you let that stay there for nine days and then.
Entry 5719
Take yo' track an' rake it from de toe back tuh de heel. Dey take dat sand an' dey tie it up in a rag an' it hangs dere fer so many days. Have it tied up in a tree or a ceilin'. Hangs it in de centah dere. Dey puts nine stick pins in it, two needles. Go across lak dat [demonstrates], pins lak dis; jis' put de needles up an' down, right across dere. Now, dat's tuh run yo' away from dere. Do yo' harm so dat yo' can't git along wit nobody dere. (Now they take up that track, they get six [nine] pins. and two needles. And what do they do with those?) Take an' put de pins dis way [demonstrates].
(Put the pins one way.)
Put de pins dis way an' dis way, an' de middle pin goin' cross dem two needles right 'cross dere.
(I see, they make a cross. Then what do they do with those things?)
Tie de things up.
(I see, they tie that foot track and these needles and pins in a rag.)
Dat's de one dat... [I interrupt. Informant was about to say, "Dat's de one dat keep yo' confus- ed."]
(Then what do they do with that rag?)
Take an' tie it up an' put it at de cornah of yo' baid. [Previously inform- ant said center of ceiling. Bed or ceiling causes confusion in home.] Dey takes de track an' yo' tie dat dirt up in a tree, tuh a limb tuh a tree. Dat's tuhmake yo' leave.
(What foot track do they take?)
De lef' foot track.
(What do they tie it up in?)
Piece of rag, jis' in any kinda rag. (What do they do with that foot track with those needles and pins in? What do they do with that?) Tie it undah yore baid. Dat's tuh keep yo' confused. Yo' an' yore family are confused.
Entry 5720
Yes sir, yo' take nine pins; new pins, see.
(Straight pins.)
[Ordinary pins in Hoodoo are frequently called straight.]
An' three of 'em wit de point dataway [demonstrates], three wit de point dat- away, an' three wit de point dataway. Wrap 'em kinda [demonstrates]. (Just like - a crossing-like - like a big "x".) An' jis' wrap 'em up an' stick anywhere yo' wanta stick 'em, yo' undahstan', an' yo' stick dem pins dere fo' nine days. If yo' wanta jis' do 'way wit de fellah or evah who i'tis [it is], jis' let dem pin stay dere 9 days. An' aftah dem nine days, yo' go an' git dem pins an' stick 'em right down at de foot of de tree. Whosomevah yo' put 'em on, yo' undahstan', an' dat will disappeah dem.
(Where do you stick those pins the first time though?)
Jis' stick 'em right in a tree.
(No, the first time you stick them, before you put them away?)
Stick 'em in a tree, stick 'em in lak dat, chew know. (Well, how do I know that I'm going to get the right fellow by using these pins?) [Informant merely has the person in mind, which is sufficient; but instead of saying I have him in mind or mentally name him, informant now creates the newrite by crossing two of the pins in the person's track.] Well, if yo' know who i'tis, yo' kin git 'im. Yo' kin git 'im by takin' two of dem pins an' watchin'. Yo' know 'im. Jis' go tuh 'is track wheresomevah he make it, an' Jis' take two of dem pins an' cross it.
(Cross them in the track?)
Yeah. An' den take dem up an' wrap 'em tuhgethah. An' when yo' do dat yo' vill known den dat [you have the right man]. An' dem pins, yo' take dem pins from up heah [on the tree] an' put 'em down heah [on the tree]. Yo'll jis' wat' chureself [watch yourself].
(Now, these two pins are taken out of these nine pins?)
Dat's right. (You cross them in his track, and pick them up and put these nine pins together and stick them in the tree. Then they stay there nine days and you take them and bury them in the foot of the tree. And that sends him away. Does it run him away or kill him or what?) Run 'im away. He'll nevah come back no mo', an' won' give yo' any trouble. [Before informant removed 2 pins to cross in victim's track, the 9 pins were stuck into a piece of cloth to look like a man walking (this being a walking or sending away rite), each line being tripled i and forming the spokes in a 3-spoke wheel or the third of a circle. By /crossing these separate 3 pins as a group over a common center we obtain a 6-spoke wheel Xfound elsewhere in Hoodoo.]
Entry 5744
Ah know about whut chew do wit de tracks. If yo' have a enemy or any- thin', anybody dislak yo' or anythin', an' dey wan' chew tuh leave town or sompin lak dat. Dey'll meet chew an' git chure track an' take it an' mix some dog hair an' cat hair. Yo' know cats an' dogs disagrees in anythin' lak dat. An' takes nine straight pins an' ben' dem tuhgethah, an' put dem in de fo'ks of de road, an' yo'll leave town. An' if it's a woman an' a man dat loved one anothah an' de' meet one 'nothah ag'in, dey be hatin' one 'nothah jis' lak cats an' dogs, be mad an' wanta fight an' kill up one 'nothah. No mattah how good dey is in love, dey git apart.
(This is to separate a man and his wife. Whose foot track do you take?)
Take his'n an' hers. Take his'n, yo' know, de lef' goin', an' bring it up ob yo' lak dis, an' take hers an' bring it up tuh yo'. An' mix it tuhgethah dt de hair out yore haid, if yo' kin git it. Eithah if yo' cain't git de hair oat dere haid, den git de dog's hair - yo' know, de bristles an' de cat's bris- tles, an' mix it tuhgethah wit nine straight [bent] pins.
(Wait a minute! You take the man's left foot, you say?)
De lef' foot track.
(And what about the woman's?)
Take de lef'. Uh-huh, take one goin' an' de othah one comin'. Dere's one aiie' one way an' de othah one comin' de othah way.
(Whose do you take going?)
Take de man's goin' or eithah de woman - it don' make no diff'rence, so dere's e goin' one way an' de othah one comin' de othah.
(And you bury this out at the forks of the road?)
At de fo'ks of de road, but chew mix dem cat bristles an' dog bristles wit dat track. Den take nine straight pins an' bend 'em. [Waycross, Ga., (093, 1760:6.]
Entry 5745
If a man wants tuh hold 'is job wit a man, dey take an' git 'is right foot, right track, right in de heart [hollow of foot]. Pick it up three times, d'; not comin' back, goin'. An' git dat track somepin lak dis heah [demon- scates] lak he come, goin' disaway. Yo' walk behin' 'im an' git it disaway [demonstrates]. (He's going one way and you walk behind him and pick it up the opposite way. Bring it back to you. I mean, back from the way he is going.) Now dat's three times. Den yo' git one of yours. Keep agoin' an' don't look back. Take dem two tracks an' yo' put dem two tracks tuhgethah. (His and yours.) Yourn an' his'n, an' yo' take dem two tracks an' yo' go right at 'is office, an' yo' put dat undah dere jis' about dat deep [demonstrates].
(Couple of inches deep.)
Git chew a pin or needle that nevah been stuck an' a piece of cloth, an' stick dat pin down in dere. Let de point be up an' let 'im walk ovah dat. Den yo' gain his influence. Dat's de way ah heard 'em say.
(I see, that is to get a job or hold it.)
Entry 5915
Yo' kin take yore own hair, take a man's hair or a woman's hair [a man or woman can do this], put [wit it] graveyard dirt, three coppah cents, six pins - no needles - six pins - an' put it eithah in buckskin or eithah in red flannel. An' go to a runnin' stream, throw it wit yore left hand in dat watah. If it sink it's all right. But as long as dat stay in dere, yo've got to travel. Yo' ain't satisfied nowhere, yo've got to leave yore own home.
Entry 6001
Well yo' jis' git a little Hearts Cologne. Why, yo' don't use de whole bottle now, yo' git a little Hearts Cologne. An' yo' git a little - well prob'ly yo' have to git 'er frien' to git a piece 'er hair - see, from 'er head. See. An' yo'll have to git 'er voice, too. (How do you get that?) Well, yo' git de Hearts Cologne an' yo' put it into anothah - yo' put some of it into anothah bottle, jis' about a half, yo' see. An' yo' git some of 'er frien' whut goes wit 'er to git a piece of hair. An' yo' git three little stick- pirs - dese little stickpins [ordinary not safety pins] dese wimmin use fo Clothes. Yo' git two bran'-new needles. See. An' yo' put it into a bottle. All right, yo' put it into dat bottle. Well, yo'll have to 'drop [eavesdrop] around 'er home at night, an' yo'll know 'er voice from anybody else, an' den she alk. When she git to talkin', why yo' jis' - EVAH TIME SHE TALK, WHY YO' STOP DAY BOTTLE. [This is an unusual and excessive opening and closing of bottle. Somally one catching of voice suffices.] Yo' got 'er voice, yo' see, an' she'll tve to come home.
[The voice caught in a bottle is catching the spirit - see p.24.]
(Well, what do you do with that bottle then?)
Hell, yo' jis' tote dat around in yore pocket, or yo' could leave it right e. De best to tote it in yore pocket.
Entry 6002
So far as yore hair concerned, yo' could be ruled by yore hair. Yo' Lou whut ah mean, somebody could take yore hair an' make yo' love dem. Yo' undahstan'. (Do you know how they do it?) How dey do it? Well, ah kin take yore hair. Dey usely [usually] gits - dey takes three pins or needles an' put it in a bottle of Hearts Perfume, yo' undahstan', but dey must know yore name.
(What do they do with that name?)
Write on dis piece of papah an' put it in wit de hair.
(Put all these things in the bottle?)
All dese combination in de bottle.
(What do you do with that bottle then?)
Take it - but wit chew, carry it. Yo' gotta carry dat bottle all de time. Sometimes peoples buries it.
Entry 6004
Of co'se dat hair - dat hair is very controllin', it's very 'fective, an' it's very dang'rous. Dey kin take dat hair, if dey don't lak yo' an' wants to destroy yo' or make unfit fo' yo' own good. Dey take dat hair an' dey'll wrap dat up wit three whut chew call needles, see. Dey git three needles an' dey gits three pins. But dose pins dey always have de heads of dose pins nipped off. An' dey wrap three needles, three pins, an' den dey git three pods of red peppah, yo' undahstan'. YO' GOTTA HAVE THREE OF THREE. Git three of de red peppah an' put in dis, dis hair, an' dey wrap dem togethah. An' when dey wrap 'em togethah, dey takes dat an' eithah jis' - if dey want a quick death [both quick death and slow death are not rare] in any way, or to run yo'( crazy, dey will take dat an' put it in a runnin' stream of watah on de first new moon. In a runnin' stream of water, an' jis' as dat stream carry yo' [hair] away, yore mind goes.
Entry 6008
An' jis' lak if someone in yore church is givin' yo' trouble in de chrch, yo' know, causin' confusion an' splits in church lak mos' people do's. Why yo' go out in de woods an' yo' ketch yo' one of 'em whut chew call dese heah red-back scorpiens [scorpions]. Ah mean a red-belly. Dey got a red stripe undah 'is stomic. An' yo' take dat scorpien an' put 'im into a pillah where dey sleep, see.
(Alive or dead?)
"Live. Den yo' git some hair outa dere haid. Git someone - if yo' cain't git tuh 'em - tuh git some hair outa dere haid an' place it in a piece[of cloth]. An' yo' take fo' pins an' - not needles but pins - an' jis' win' dat hair an' twist it up yo' know in dem pins, an' jis' ben' dem pins jis' as many ways, jis' bend 'um lak evah way yo' kin. Den yo' take dat live scorpien an' dose pins an' dat hair an' sew it up in a piece [of cloth]. An' den place it in dat pillah whare he sleep at an' he'll take a deadly misery in dere haids an' event'ly [even- tually] dey'll jis' - yo' know IT NO USE GOIN' TUH DOCTAHS [M.D.'s]. NO DOCTAH [M.D.] KIN DO ANY GOOD. An' event'ly dey jis' 中 start to pinin' away an' dat's de end of 'um.
Entry 6009
Dey say yo' take dis hair an' a piece of shed off a rattlesnake - rat- tlesnake shed an' take dat hair an' some five pins an' five needles an' put it down in a bottle of Epsom salts an' fill dat bottle up wit watah an' turn dat bottle upside down in de groun' an' bury it an' yo'll [go] stone crazy.
(Do you bury that any place?)
Bury it in de north cornah of de yard.
Entry 6011
They claim that peoples got it from under your doorstep with your hair mixed in with it. Well, they say that is to cross you away. Just like, you know, I was in love with a man and another woman wanted dis man. Well, if she could get some of my hairs, she'd go and get her a dozen new needles that never been used and pins. She'd stick the pins this way and stick the needles this way [cross them], and when she get ready to put it down, she'd stand it on its head on de sharp part, cuss it and tell it to go.
(Where would she put that?)
Put that at your door.
(And she uses twelve new needles and pins - six new needles and six new pins.)
Entry 6021
Dere one thing yo' kin do wit hair. Yo' kin take hair, nine stran's of hair out de top of yore haid. Ah'm tellin' yo' de way ah know, now. Ah don' know de way anybody know it, tell yo' de way ah know. Take nine stran's of hair out de top of yore haid an' git a white pocket han'kercheff, a bran'-new white pocket han'kercheff, an' put nine pins in it. An' wrop dat nine stran's of hair up tight wit dat nine pins, an' put five drops of Heart Cologne fo' nine days. An' put it into a dry place an' let it stay about nine days an' den take it up an' put it anywhere on mah body. Or de Woman could put it anywhere on 'er body where it won' git wet an' wear it. An' dat'll gain a man fo' yo'. A man'll go tuh her an' nobody else cain't git dat man but 'er. Dat man go tuh 'er.
Entry 6022
(What do they say they do with that?)
Dey say dey takes yore hair. An' dis lady [root doctor] tole me dat dey take yore hair an' git nine pins, an' say dey will wrap it an' git chure tracks, an' say dey will wrap it up an' put it in a bottle, an' den dey'll put somepin lak, lak if dey could git yore urine, dey will do dat, an' stop it up in a bottle an' carry it away from dere an' bury it. Sometimes dey bury it right at chure doorstep, be- cuz dey say dat's what wuz did fer me. An' she warned me always be careful how or what I do wit mah hair. Comb it. An' I tole her, yes, becuz somebody had taken out all mah hair. She says she knowed it, says dat's why she tole me to be careful. An' dey take dose pins an' take dat hair an' put dose nine pins an' stick 'em in dere an' dey wrap it. An' dey put yore track in dere an' puts in a bottle. An' say if dey can't git any of yore urines [often called ureen], dey'll try to git some watah from de place where yo' use, yo' know, lak yo' might have a well or spiggot or somepin an' dey'll - sometimes people will come an' [say], "Ah wants a drink of watah, please." Dey jis' want some of yore watah from yore house where yo're at. An' den dey've got all dey want to do wit - dey got de othah parts. (What would they do with this hair and pins after they got it? What would they do with it?) Dey buries it.
(What is that supposed to do to you then?)
Well, it 'fect yo' some way about yo' head, give yo' pain an' miseries.
Entry 6023
Yo' take dat hair.
(Do you take this hair from a man's head?)
Yeah, eithah a man or anyone dat yo' wants to do anything to. An' yo' take his hair out of his [mold of his head], yo' take nine pins an' nine needlesain't nevah [been] stuck [= new]. An' yo' take dat hair. Yo' git chew - yo' ball dat hair up wit dem needle in it. Stick 'em in de hair so dey stay togethah. Stick dem needles all in dat hair. An' de pillah dat he sleeps on, yo'll put a hole in dat pillah an' yo' seu it back up again, an' let dat stuff [be] in dere, an' let 'im sleep on dat stuff. Well dat's trickin' 'em, dat jes' trickin' 'em. Keep 'em wit yo'.
Entry 6024
[Among the many doorstep rites in HOODOO, here is a rare one about the right and left hand sides of the steps.]
Dey tell me yo' kin take yore hair out chere [head] an' put it in a bottle wit nine needles an' nine pins, stop it up, an' bury it undah de steps an' dey 'long gone [along gone = go along, go away].
(That is to send them away?)
Dat's whut dey said. (You bury it under your own steps. And if I would get your hair and bury it under my step?) Wait a minute! An' if dey bury it on de right-han' side - on de right side of de steps, yo'll stay dere, yo'll stop down. (If you bury it on the right-hand side, you stay there. What if they bury it on the left-hand side?) Yo'll go.
Entry 6025
If a woman wants 'er man back, well she takes 'is hair off de top of 'is head an' down on de bottom, yo' know, of 'is trousers. [andl put de needles an' pins an' mind watah in a can, a ole can, any kine of can. Shut it up an' put it in a cornah of de house. Dat's what dat is fo' - 9 needles an' 9 pins. Well, dey bury yore hair in 9 nee- dles, 9 pins, an' cinnamon, an' put it in mind watah." Shet it up in a can. Dat's to keep yo' wit 'em. Dey put dat can in a cornah.
(Did you say mind water?)
Yes sir. Yo' buy dat. It's to keep yore mind wit 'em. Yo' put dat in a can wit 9 needles, 9 pins, an' yore hair, an' dey'll git yore hair from down in, yo' know, when yo' sleep. Dey put dat in a can where nobody kin run across it. Dat's jis' to keep yo' wit 'em, keep yore mind towards 'em. [These ingredients can also be put in a bottle.]
Entry 6026
Git a plait of hair an' yo' plait it undahwards, yo' know, lak dat [demonstrates]. Don't plait it ovah lak we plait our hair, plait it undah lak dat. Den tie a little bow of ribbon on dere. An' aftah yo' tie dat hair in dere, yo' take an' put a piece of lodestone wit it, an' yo' put nine pins an' nine needles in dere, an' yo' sew dat up in a flannel bag, an' yo' puts a little sugah in dere, too - ah'd fo'gotten dat - an' anvil dust lak at de blacksmith shop, dat dust where dey grind.
(From the anvil?)
[From the hoodoo drug store or mail order firm I should have said.1 Yes. Put dat anvil dust in dere an' a silvah dime. Dat's tuh keep de person dat chew love, yo' know, keep dere minds contented towards yo'.
Entry 6027
If yo' kin git a stran' of hair out of a person's haid, out from de top of de haid, yo' git a stran' of dere hair. An' take dat an' git nine nee- dles an' nine pins, an' yo' git a piece of red flannel, an' git some lodestone, an yo' could git some of dere sweat - perspiration yo' know - on a piece of cloth, a bran'-new piece of cloth, an' put it in dere. Stick dem pins in dere, stick 'em cross dis way. Stick 'em cross lak dat [demonstrates].
(Like making a cross - X's.)
Dat's right. Stick dem pins in dat piece of cloth, if it don' be but jes' a small piece of it, jes' so it be's dat perspiration on it. An' yo' stick dem pins in dere an' lodestone an' dat anvil dust. Anvil dust keeps de lodestone live. An' put dat in dere an' put dat hair in dere in dat thing [cloth] an' sew it up [into a bag], an' yo' kin have a person most anywhere yo' want 'em.
(What do you do with that?)
Jes' carry it [bag or package] in yore pocket. Yo' carry it reg'lah fo'about eight or nine days, an' whenevah yo' takes it out of yore pocket, yo' put it ina real pahtic'lah place where no one will bothah it but chew. An' dat will rule a person.
Entry 6031
(What would that do?)
Well, dat would run yo' crazy.
(Well, just how would they handle that?)
Yo' see, dey take yore hair an' dey wrap it up, an' dey git a bran'-new pack of needles an' pins, an' dey wrap it up in dat hair an' pin it up wit der needles an' pins an' dey bury dat.
(I see. Any number of pins and nee- dles? It doesn't make any difference?) Don' make no diff'rence.
Entry 6032
Ah've heard of people takin' an' goin' tuh yore house, yo' know, an' gittin' a little bit of each one of 'ems hair an' mixin' it togethah as well as dey could, yo' know, an' puttin' it in a jar or little glass [bottle] or sompin of dat kind, an' puttin' some needles in it an' some salt an' some pins, sulphur an' some cayenne, red pep- pah, an' takin' it out buryin' it undah de steps. An' dat keeps up a quarrel 'tween dem all de time until dey realize it's undah dere an' git it out.
Entry 6033
[It happened] here in Norfolk, an' I GUESS 'ER HUSBAN' HAD EVAH DOC- TOR [M.D.] IN NORFOLK BEFO' DAT, AN' DIDN'T DO ANY GOOD, AN' SO DEN DEY BEGIN TO GO AN' GIT T DESE OTHAH DOCTORS. So one old doctor tole her, he said, "Dere's some parts of yo', " he said, "dat's stopped up in a bottle." He said, "Yo' may live five years an' yo' may live ten." He says, "I'm not tellin' yo' so yo'll git scared an' fall off an' die, " but he said, "yo' may live five years an' yo' may live ten but dat bottle will nevah be discovered until you are gone." So, sure 'nough, [it was found] where we wuh livin' at. An' she died. She wuzn't in dis house [where she had been trickedlbut she had moved, an' mahself an' mah mothah had de[tricked] house. So 'bout six mont's aftah she died, I reckon, mah mothah goes out de back do' an' slams de do', an' when she slammed de do', see, de plastahin' fell out right by de do'. An' in dat piece of plastah inside of de lath - it wuz a patch- ed piece of plastah - inside of de lath lay a little bottle. She calls me an' I goes dere an' she says, "Look at dat bottle layin' up dere. Do yo' reckon dat's what de man wuz talkin' about?' I said, "Ah don't know. Let's git it." We got it an' inside of dat bottle dere wuz hair, dere wuz needles an' dere wuh pins, an' dey wuh all stuck through evah what dis wuz - evah which way. "Aftah yo' are gone" [the old man said]. An' so when mah mothah discovered dis bottle, I got it. It wuz a little small- ONE OF DESE LITTLE, Well yo' kin say TEN-CENT PERFUME BOTTLES [the uSual little bottle in HOODOO]. An' dere wuz a woman lived right 'cross from us. Mah mothah called 'er an' she came to de fence. So we broke it open, an' WHEN WE BROKE DE BOTTLE, WE BURNED IT, AN' EVAH COLOR, I reckon dat yo' evah thought of, CAME FROM DAT BoTTLE. [Colored lights from burning cunjure is rather common.] But now what it wuz, we didn't know. We jis' burnt it.
Entry 6038
Dey take hair outa yore haid an' twist it up with needles or pins an' take it to de railroad track, yo' know, on de no'th side of de railroad, an' dey bear [bury] it up undah dere, an' dey say dat'll kill yo'. Aftah it stay dere a sich [certain] length of time, yo' have sich [such] severe headache it drive yo' crazy - it'll run yo' insane.
Entry 6072
Ah've heard tell of folks who take pins an' needles an' break 'em up y' know, snuff, sugah, an' hair from down in front of yo', an' wear it, wear dere husban's hair in a bag an' pin it to dey clothes right where it be nex' to dere skin. An' dey husban' couldn't object to 'em goin' out wit othah men if dey want to.
(Do they have their husband's hair in that bag?)
Dey [husband] don't know dey got it yo' know.
(Whose hair do they put in there?)
His'n, yessuh - from down heah, see. Steal it yo' know in his sleep.
Entry 6076
Ah have heard dat chew could take a person hair an' gain de influence of 'em by carryin' dere hair in yore pocket. Yo'could take dere hair an' git chew a piece of bran'-new cloth, piece of bran'-new white cloth sech as be de - yo' know, don't be flowered lak dis. Yo' know, jes' any kin'a bran'-new cloth dat don't cost but 5c a yard - plain cloth. Yo' kin take dat an' take nine stran's of a person's hair an' carry dat nine stran's of a person's hair in yore pocket nine days, an' DE NINTH MAWN- IN' yo' git up outa de bed an' yo' say de THREE GOD MANHEAD: God de Father, God de Son, God de Holy Ghost - de ninth mawnin'. An' yo' take dem nine stran's of bair an' WALK TO DE BACK DO'. Wit yure left han' throw dem nine stran's of hair away. Don't look back aftah yo' throw 'em away, jes' throw 'em anyuay. Don't look back aftah yo' throw 'em. An' de person who yo's in love wit, y jes' lak yo' throw dere hair away, dey'll come back to yo'. [Even cloth at 5c a yard vas amazing back in 1939 - see INTR0., p. XXXV for date.] An' if it's a person dat chew wanta git away from yo', de seventh day yo' cake dat hair an' walk to de front do' jes' at sunrise an' say de THREE GOD MANHRAD, an' put it right in de centah of de do'step - right in de centah of de do'step. Den take a horseshoe - YO'VE SEEN A HORSESHOE - an' lay dat horseshoe right down ovah it; jes' yo' know square each way, jes' so it'll extend each way an' it'll be level each way. Yo' take dem nine stran's of hair an' dig a little hole an' bury it. Put dat horseshoe ovah it. Take yo' nine pins an' drive down in dere. Jes' try tuh drive 'em on top of de head of each othah it'll be bettah. An dat'll drive 'em away from yo', so yo' won't have any trouble wit dat person any
(You cover up that horseshoe so it can't be seen?)
Yes sir, yo' covah it up lightly so it can't be seen. [Despite the absence of pubic or armpit hair in this rite, I have placed it here because of 9 hairs snd9 days.]
Entry 6092
Oh yes. Yeah. Well, now a woman kin take de hair off a man private down dere, an' take hit an' git her a piece of red flannel an' nine pins, an' sew it up in dat piece of red flan- nel. Dat hair, sew it up in dat piece of red flannel an' wear dat roun' 'er waist fo' nine days. An' if she want dat man tuh stay wit 'er, she'll keep it roun' 'er waist; an' if she want dat man tuh go, den she kin take it an' turn - jes' look attah dat man an' say, "Go, go, ah hope ah nevah see yo' no mo'." An' throw dat hair, an' he'll go an' he'll nevah come back no mo'.
(Where does she throw it?)
Jes' throw it anywhere, jes' so she throw it an' don' look aftah [back at] it. Den he'll nevah come back no mo'.
Entry 6174
(What do they say about that?)
Well, yo' take Hearts Cologne lak ah tole yo', lak dey git it an' dress it fo' to keep yo'. Well, yo' git 9 pins, bran'-new pins what have nevah been used, an' yo' git Hearts Cologne. An' when yo' buy dat bottle of cologne, yo' take de stoppah out - yo' see, cuz dat stoppah been used. An' yo' buy a new stoppah, cork stoppah, an' yo' stick 9 pins in dat cork stoppah. Undahstan? An' put it right down in dat Hearts Cologne. Now, lak dere's some man ah want. I will try to git a piece off 'is clothes, anythin' an' put it in dere, yo' undahstan', fo' 9 days. Well, aftah I gits it in dere, whatsomevah ah want - den ah try to git a piece of 'is hair, an' some of 'is fingahnails an' toenails. If ah can't cut 'em, ah'll jes' take a little file here an' make out ah'm jes' playin' wit 'is han', an' file it off at de same time an' gittin' it in mah han'. Undahstan'? An' if ah kin git a piece of hair from undah his arm, yo' undahstan', an' git a piece of hair from de lowah Part, an' put it all in dere, an' 'tis nuthin atall he kin do unless ah command 'in to do it.
(I see.)
Entry 6261
Dey'll fool roun' an' soon git a scissor [or] somepin an' cut off some of yore hair. Git dat hair an' put nine pins wit it an' some graveyard dirt an' hang it up in a tree. An' in nine days, eight or nine days, yo' loses yore mind. Well, dere's a way tuh stop dat, ef dey git it [your hair] an' yo' ketch de idea dat dey got it [your hair] befo' it's too late, or aftahyo go to de [doctor] an' bring yo' back [how to cure yourself]. Yo' kin go tuh de drag store an' buy dis ole rose watah an' mastah dat rose watah.
(How do you mean master it?)
Yo' kin go tuh de drug store an' buy yo' some old rose watah - smells good - a' yo' mastah it. [Mix it with] a quart of watah an' a teaspoonful of table malt. An' yo' use dat on yore head an' at nighttime. If yo' don't want'a do dat, yo' kin git chew somepin on yo' dat chew kin do without buyin'. Well, yo' arah [urine] penetrates through yo', yo' know. Well, YO' TAKE A PINCH OF SALT A'KETCH YORE WATAH WHILE IT'S HOT AT NIGHT, AN' PUT IT ON YORE HEAD 'FORE YO' 00 TUH BED, AN' ON YORE FACE. WELL, DAT HAIR WILL FALL OUT OF DAT TREE. YeS, su, hit'll fall out of dat tree. Dey run yo' crazy when dey hangs dat up dere. IF SOMEBODY DON'T BE SO BRIGHT, T'S GOIN' STAY UP IN DERE. As long as it stays up in dere, yo'll goin' [lose yoar mind]. [I turned off machine here and had to repeat substance of informant's words S y following statement.] (If you do that at night, then this spell will be turned back on the other person.)
Entry 6496
Ah've heard dat dey'd git holt of yo' toenails an' fingahnails an' a lock [of] yo' hair, an' put vinegah in it an' take an' care [carry] 'em in de woods. An' bo' a hole in a tree an' stick nine pins in dat hole. An' take de toenails an' fingahnails an' a lock of yo' hair an' ball it up, an' put it in wit dat li'le hole yo' bo'd. An' cut choo a peg an' put it in dere, jis' lak yo' gon'a cork up anythin'. An' yo' go dere evah mawnin' jis' a li'le 'fo' sunrise an' give it two licks real light fo' nine days. An' yo've drived dat fo' nine days an' de ninth day yo' drive it clean up. An' aftah yo' drive it clean up de ninth day, den de person who yo' got, he ain't be here long. Dat'll cure dem away, but dat won' kill 'em.
Entry 6680
Yo' kin take nine new needles an' nine new pins an' nails - nine nails - an' put in a bottle. An' den yo' kin take one dese heah worm outa from undah de bottom [bark] see, think dey call 'em sawyah.
(Wood Sawyer?)
Yes sir. Dey got two little bills [horns] whut cuts in de wood. [These worms - the larvae of sawyers, several large longicorn bettles - bore large holes in timber or dead trees. Both worm and bettle are often called wood sawyers.] Put dat in dat bottle an' bury it down in de path where he walks. An' den, when he walk ovah dat, he'll ketch 'em in 'is foot. An' dat same worm [larva] whut chew see in dat bo'd, dat yo' put in dat bottle, jis' true as [what?]. [It will enter 'im an'] eat 'im up. [But this ailment can be cured.] Dat way [if you are in that condition] yo' got'a go tuh a root doctah de same way [as before]. Now a root doctor, he got'a take 'em out. A medical doctor don't do it.
(What would a root doctor do to get that worm out of him, I wonder.)
He goes an' git de root from de - dey call black haw an' red oak bark an' a stingin' nettle root. Put dat up in a bottle an' yo' got'a take. Dat stingin' nettle root, will run 'im out dere. [The other two help and also make 3 ingre- dients.]
(Well, what do you do with these roots? Make a tea of them or what?)
Yes.
Entry 7393
Yo' kin take a package of brand-new pins dat has not been no othah pin out of it, put evah pin on some garment of his'n.
(0f that corpse?)
De dead man - evah pin but be sure de pin package nevah opened of de new pins, not one was taken out. Pin it in 'is garment an' when yo' git it all pinned up, yo' wishes a prayer ovah dis dead man. Dis man cannot stay, he must return - yo've pinned 'im up. Yo' use dat whole package of brand-new pins on 'im while he's layin' out as a corpse. Dis man will come whoevah he is - he's sticked, he's sewed, jes' got him pinned up. He'll come back an' give hisself up - can't stay [away].
Entry 7417
Jes' lak if a person git killed out dere. Well, dat person be yore frien' or prob'ly yore brothah or some of yore folks, but anyway he got killed an' nobody knows how it done it. All right, yo' goes dere where he would lingah at, jes' lak yo' fin' 'im daid. Dere could be a multitude [do it], could be dat, or de othah one do it. Yo' goes right dere where dey fin' 'im at, an' make two cross marks [demonstrates]: one lak dat, one lak dat, an' one lak dat, an' den cross 'em, an' right in de centah of dat middle one, yo' take yo' a pin - jes' a ord'nary pin. Yo' know, jes' a straight pin an jes' drive it right down in de middle of dat mark, right dere, press it right down in it lak dat. An' whensomevah yo' press dat pin down in dere, see, yo backs out from dat mark an' don't chew say a word to nobody. Don' care who come 'long dere an' say sompin to yo', don't chew say nary [not even] a good [morning]. Back nine steps from dere, an' in less time den nine days dey goin' come an' give up, whosomevah i'tis [it is]. Even [if] it be his own brothah.
[The pin is driven down in center of square of the tick-tack-toe design.]
(This cross is made like this [I demonstrate], something like that. There are two lines like that and two lines crossing it?)
[I drew a tick-tack-toe as follows: #.]
Dat's right. No, dere's one dere an' one dere - dere, jes' lak dat. Den yo' make two crosses dere jes' lak dat, in dat one right dere. An' right in de cen- tah of dat one, yo' put dis.
(The cross you make is like playing tick-tack-toe?)
[Here is the special double-double cross #.]
Dat's right.
Entry 7951
Take a piece of de coffin.
(What kind of a coffin?)
Aftah a person is buried an' it done rotted.
(Well, what do they do with that?)
Dey take dat an' dey bury somebody else wit it - in de family. Takes a piece of it. See, aftah yo' done buried somebody in a coffin. Well, yo' know, quite natchally a cof- fin rots lak nuthin an' when it rots it comes tuh a powdah; but if dey kin git a piece of it, or if dey don't git a piece of it, dey kin git de powdah from dat coffin [or you could probably buy coffin dust at some hoodoo drug store!]. Jis' de dust off dat coffin. Dey take dat an' dey git 'em a silk han'ke'ch'ef - git a silk han'ke-ch-ef. Yo' put dat intuh dat han'ke'ch'ef. Now, when yo' put dat in dat han'ke'ch'ef, dey got nine needles an' dey got nine pins, but dey git 'em right outa de store. Dey ain't nevah been used. Now, if dey wus goin' tuh bury, say if dey wus goin' tuh bury me, or mah sistah, or somebody in mah family, dey'd git dat an' dey'd git 'er name. An' if dey kin git de - see, de tongue, yo' see, de tongue of yuh shoe.
(Yes, the tongue of the shoe.)
If dey kin git dat, dey git dat an' dey puts dat wit dat. Now, when dey git dat all tuhgethah....
(What do they put the name on? On some paper?)
No, on - I take de seat of dere undahweah, de back part, any of dere undah- weahs - see, any part of it, de back of yuh shirttail, yo' see. I take dat an' I am goin' tuh pin it down, tight as I kin git it, an' I am goin' tuh write yuh name on tuh dat. Now, when I write yuh name on tuh dat, I wrap dese things up in dere. When I wrap it up in dere, I tie. When I tie it, I tie it up wit nine knots. I tie wit nine knots. I bury it, if I want.tuh; an' if I don' wan' tuh bury it, I kin throw it in de rivah, yo' see. Kin throw it in de rivah or bury it. When I bury dat, why den I got choo where I wan' choo. Yo' got tuh go. Dat I done harmed yo' in an' somethin' will happen tuh yo'.
Entry 7960
An' dey make a li'le coffin dataway, git a piece of de woman's stock- ings. Dey git a piece of de woman's undahweah, if it's possible. Dey will take nine needles. Dey will take nine pins. Dey will put red peppah an' dey will put Epsom salts. Dey put oil of verbena an' bury dat undah de party's step. See. An' dey will nevah put de end tuhgethah, dey an' dey husband...
(They do what?)
Nevah git de end tuhgethah, nevah make de ends meet. Don't care if dey both be workin', dey always will be somepin: lak if dey have shoes, dey hayen't got any hat; if dey got a hat, dey haven't got any skirt; if dey got a skirt, dey owe de landlord. Dey'll nevah will be successful.
Entry 7979
Take yur photograph. Now, if it's made on tin but not on papah - its gotta be made on tin [a tintype]. An' yo' take dat photograph an' yo' take yo' fō' pins, an' yo' cut de haid's off dose pins, if yo's aftah kill- in' a person. An' yo' take dose pins an' yo' take an' put 'em roun' fo' cornahs lak yo' would a coffin, yo' undahstan'. An' den yo' bury dis picture on its face, but its gotta be a tin pitchure. An' as dis pitchure fade away, dey'll fade away.
(You pin those four pins around the four corners of the picture?)
Yes, ( dat's right. Dat's whut chew do. An' bury it on de face, but chew cuts de haid of 'em off, de haids of de pins off.
(But you have to bury it under the individual's door?)
Undah 'is own do'.
Entry 7980
I've heard whut it'll do, dat little coffin. But jis' like I tellin' yo' a few minutes ago, dat stuff about makin' a little coffin. Put 'em undah de step, yo' see, wit de people's photo in dat coffin, de party. Dat why plenty people won't take dere photos yo' see. Put it in dat coffin wit some pins, some needles, yo' see, an' some steel dust and lodestone. See. An' dat draw dose people outa dat house, yo' undahstan', an' fix 'em so dey will nevah wan' tuh see one anothah no mo'.
Entry 7981
Take dey photograph an' git a piece of white linen cloth dat ain't been used, an' put de photograph in dere - lay it on dere. An' den yo' git fō' pins, jis' lak yo' gon'a measure a casket, an' yo' put a pin at each cornah an' all lak dat. An' yo' take dat photograph an' put it in a little box or sompin an' bury it. Dat kills a person.
(How do you put that photograph in that white piece of cloth now?)
Dis is de cloth [demonstrates], de square cloth an' yo' lay de photograph in dat. Lay it with de face up. Yo' see, when yo' put it in de ground, yo' put de face down. Yo' take dat photograph an' yo' place it right in de middle. Yo' put a pin heah, an' one heah, an' yo' put one heah, an' one heah, an' yo' take dat linen den an' fol' de cornahs ovah it. Den yo' bury dat photograph.
Entry 7998
Well, now heah's anothah one. Take yo a piece of wax an' make yo' a image of a man dat chew wanta inflict. Take yo' a needle an' do it de same as yo' do dat pit- chure, but yo've made a image outa wax.
(You don't bury that, do you?)
No sir, yo' don't bury dat. Jes' lak yo' see heah, if yo's [you is] drawin' a pichure. Yo' take a pieceof wax. AH RECKON WHEN YO' WUS A CHILE YO' USED TUH TAKE SNOW AN' MAKE LITTLE SNOW- MENS JES' LAK DAT - jes' sompin like dat. Well, den if yo' wanted tuh inflict it in de hand, arm or eye or foot, an' if yo' wanta kill it, stick dat needle right in de heart.
(That's all you have to do then.)
Entry 8005
(What do they do that for? How do they do that?) Oh, dey makes a doll baby an' name it choo. (They do what?) Makes a doll baby an' name it de person dey want. (I see. What do they do with that?) An' fill it full of needles an' pins, roots, an' sew it up an' see it from 'em, jis' like dey wrap de hair [in 379:3].
(They sew it away, sew it from them?)
From 'em. Aftah sewin' it, den dey wrap it from 'em wit a cord, an' tie dat bow on de end of it. Den dey puts dat down in de groun' some place somewhere an' [they] says, long as dat baby lay in de dirt, yo'll withah away an' go [die].
Entry 8007
Make dummy, make a cross on it, call name, say what is to be done - to kill, harm, or anything - and stick in nine needles, or pins, or thorns. [Washington, D. C., (627 0r 628), 805:3.]
Entry 8008
Lak dis - now yo' take a doll baby. Co'se dat doll baby could not belong tuh yo'. It might belong to yo' kid or sompin lak dat. Well, dey take de doll baby. Dey might take dat doll [owned by yo' kid], ight steal it from yo'. Might take dat doll baby an' stick one pin in de cor- nah of dis side of 'er mouth, an' stick a li'le stick pin in dat side of 'er mouth. See, stick one undah her lip, see, an' stick one intuh her nose, an' one in de temple - right temple. Dat will run yo' crazy. Dere a lotta way tuh run yo' crazy.
Entry 8012
If a person do anything to you, you [the culprit] can go on yonder to New York or Washington or anywhere, I will ketch him. I'll take a brand-new egg from a black hen and take that egg and put it in ten pins, five one way and five the other, in the sides [the long sides] of the [uncooked] egg. You take this egg and go to a grave, just like you are digging a person's grave, bury this egg. You put it this way [demon- strates] just the same as you would the east [the large end of the egg represents the head and is laid facing the east]. You bury this egg in the Name of the Lord, and that he will never return, and moulten away. You say his name. When the egg is rot-ten he will be out of this world.
Entry 8183
De only thing ah know 'bout photo- graph, ah heard 'em say - say, if yo' poke a pin, or othahwise a knife right through a pusson's heart, chew know, poke a hole through it, say dat pusson wouldn't live long aftah dat, aftah 'bout two days aftah dat. [Fayetteville, N. Car., (1403). 2527:7.]
Entry 8215
Ah heard, quite a while ago now - hit was a lady heah in St. Augustine, Fla., was up heah, but 'uh [her] husban' had quit 'uh. Her an' 'uh husban' ep- arated. Dis was [a] woman [who] was in a li'le busi- ness. Ah don' know whethah it was dry good or grocer- ies. But anyway, huh hus- ban' ruled 'uh outa dis by dis same identical thing ah'm talkin' about now, Witchcraftin'. He ruled 'uh out [of] dis. He went somewhere an' got some kinda stuff an' come back. An' he came back. Well, she didn't have no hopes er [or] nuthin, couldn't have no use tuh do nuthin any place. Well, dey even driven 'uh 'way but she was brought back. Dis woman aftah she came back, she had some money, an' dis man sold out all de goods of dis sto' whut dey had an' taken anothah woman an' lived wit 'uh. Ah had learnt dat he wus in some part a [of] Florida. Anyway, he wus goin' fo' good, goin' tuh sea. But she went an' she had 'im brought back. An' when he wus brought back, he gave huh de money dat he even carried fo' huh. Now, dat wus wit de photograph. Now, yo' take A LOTTA PEOPLE SAY, "AH DON' HAVE MAH PICHURE TAKEN AN' ALL DIS AN' DAT AN' DE OTHAH." NOW, YO' TAKE MAHSELF. HIT'S NUTHIN AH DO'S IN DIS WORL' TUH CUZ DE OFFICAHS AN' DETECTIVES OR ANYTHING LAK DAT TUH BE LOOKIN' FO' ME.
[This is caused by enemies through witcheraftin'.]
Now, ah've been 'rested twice right in dis town heah, one time fo' bein' drunk an' de othah time becuz me an' anothah fellah got intuh a fight. Now, ah has mah pichure, mah pichure's up dere, prob'ly in Atlanta, Ga. BUT NOW AH DON'T GUESS DEY'D DO ANYTHING TO IT AT ALL.
[Informant laughs.]
Well, now yo' kin take a pichure an' cut dis pichure half in two. Let dis li'le book heah now be de pichure. [One of my Nunbers Books I always kept on interviewing table; each informant having a number - see illustration at end of volume 2 of Hoodoo, which shows actual size and contents of one of these books.] Cut dis pichure half in two. See, heah's de pichure right on dere. Dat's de body of dis man's pichure. Cut dis pichure half in two. An' aftah yo' cut dis pichure half in two, git chew a pint flask. Go uptown an' git chew a pack of brand-new needles, a pack of brand-new safety pins, git chew 25 cents bottle of Hearts Cologne. An' aftah yo' cut dis pichure half in two, yo' write his name wit de pins - see, in dis part of de body, wit de pins, see [demonstrates].
(The upper part of the body.)
Dat's right, de uppah part of de body wit de pins, see. Yo' take de pins an' stick 'em dis way, an' dis way, an' one dat way, an' one de othah way, see. Sup- posed tuh be [able] tuh write dat, in de uppah part of dis body. Den yo' take dis part an' turn it haid foremost intuh de body, jis' lak if ah drap [drop] mah haid down lak dat. Yo' take dis part wit de needles an' yo' write wit seven - his name wit de needles in dis part of de pichure. Den instead of turnin' dis pichure down de same as de haid part turnin', turn it up, yo' see [demonstrates].
(Turn the feet up?)
Turn de feet up.
(Lower the head and turn the feet up?)
Dat's right. An' den yo' got de nails in dere. Well, yo' take an' put chew half of dis Hearts Cologne on dere. Yo' kin go tuh de graveyard an' git chew some dirt outa de graveyard. Don't mattah if it's from de haid of de grave or from de foot of de grave or from de centah of de grave, but git chew some of de dirt. Puts it in dis bottle, jis' about a tablespoonful, but let it be sifted, not no tracks er nuthin, jis'.de dirt itself. An' yo' bury dis. Now, dese people kin be in Chicago, Illinois. Dey kin be in Paris, France, or England, dey'll be brought back in a length of time aftah dis is nine days old. Den a person kin take dis pichure ag'in an' dey kin run yo' crazy. Dey kin take dis pichure lak dey do wit chure hair, yo' see. Dey drive yore hair intuh a tree wit a peg.
Entry 8220
Take a needle or even a pin and stick in yure face an' bury it an' yo' sill die.
(Your photograph?)
Yes.
Entry 8237
Take a person's photograph an' take a pin an' stick dat pin in de heart of dat pichure, where de per- son's heart is on dat pichure, an' dat person will die. Dat will kill a person.
Entry 8238
Take dey photograph an' put brass pins in it an' bury it wit de face down an' dat'll cuz 'em tuh die. (How many brass pins do you take?) Fo' on each cornah.
Entry 8239
Yo' take a person's photo- graph an' take nine pins an' stick 'em in it, right through de heart, an' take an' carry it tuh runnin' watah an' throw it in. Why dat person will fall daid right anywhere dey at. Aftah nine days why dey'll fall daid.
Entry 8240
Dey kin take yore pichure - ah ain't nevah done it but ah've heered dis, undahstan'. Dey stick nine holes in it, one hole evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's. An' de ninth mawnin' aftah dey stick dat las' hole in it - when dey put de firs' hole in dere, in dat pichure, in de heart of dat pichure - lak dis is mah pi- chure an' dis is mah heart. Jes' take dat pin an' stick a hole in dat heart on dat pichure. Stick one dis mawnin', one tuhmorrah mawnin', an' one de nex' mawn- in', until de ninth mawnin'. An' de ninth mawnin', when dat last hole will be stuck in dere, de man will be in bad condition. Dere can't nobody do him no good. Can't nobody do him no good nohow unless dey kin git dat air [that there] pichure an' kin remend dem holes. But if dey don't do dat, why dat'll kill 'im.
Entry 8307
Yo' could take a pichure. Now, if yo' wanta do good, if yo' wanted de person tuh love yo' or somepin an' - yo' put dat pichure tuh de haid of yore bed, an' call de person's name nine mawnin's. An' wit a pin dat's nevah been used, a new pin, yo' put nine holes intuh dis pichure fo' nine mawnin's. An' while yo' punch dose holes, yo' talk tuh de pichure jis' lak yo' talkin' tuh de person. An' aftah de nine mawnin's, jis' whatevah de statements were dat chew made, dat person will do jis' lak yo' ast dem tuh do, but chew must keep dat pichure dere.
(You punch one hole each morning or nine holes?)
Nine holes for nine mawnin's.
(That's nine times nine?)
Eighty-one.
(And you keep it at the head of the bed?)
Yo' keep it dere tuh de haid of yore bed.
(Now you do harm you say with the photograph. Tell me about that.)
Well, if yo' wanta do harm wit de pichure, yo' could take dat pichure an' yo' take dat tuh de graveyard, an' yo' go an' yo' call de spirits of de dead. When yo' think dat de spirit is dere, yo' take out nine han'fuls of dirt out of dat grave. Den yo' place dis pichure down dere an' yo' explain tuh de spirit jis' whut yo' want 'em tuh do tuh dat pahticlah [particular] person, see. An' what- evah yo' say, den yo' pay dat spirit.
(Well, now. What do you usually pay the spirit?)
Well, it goes - Well, NOW DE FIRST DEGREE IS THREE PENNIES. DE SECOND IS NINE AN' DE THIRD IS THIRTEEN. [I do not recall that these sums of money paid the spirit are called degree elsewhere in Hoodoo.]
(Then you cover that picture up in there?)
Let it stay dere. An' yo' have tuh explain tuh dis spirit whut tuh do tuh dat pahticlah person, an' pay dem tuh do dat. Dey'll do it jis' lak yo' ast dem tuh do.
Entry 8349
Dat photograph - yo' take dat photograph an' yo' judge by de person's heart, jis' if yo' kin kill 'em. See, yo' take a pin or needle dat's nevah been used an' yo' stick it right zactly where yo' think dat dere [heart] stands at. Find a young saplin' an' yo' skin dat bark an' shove dat pichure behin' dat bark, an' stick dat pin right through it. Graj'ly [gradually] dey will pine away.
(You stick that pin through in order to hold that bark back on the sapling?)
Dat's right, right zactly where de heart is at. An' when dat sap go down an' come up, dey'll die.
Entry 8362
Ah heah dey say dey take a person's photograph an' carry it tuh de woods tuh a tree, an' stick a knife in de side an' stick nine pins in dere, an' dat'll kill yo'...
[Recording stopped too soon for following north side.]
(It must be on the north side of the tree?)
Yes.
Entry 8512
Take nine needles an' nine nails, an' also nine pins, an' a coconut wit a eggshell.
(An eggshell?)
A eggshell, an' dis quicksilvah papah.
Quicksilvah.
(You mean the paper they put around tobacco?)
[I am referring to tin foil.]
Yes, sir. Yo' take a indelible pencil an' write someone name on it nine times across.
(Over that silver paper?)
Yes. An' yo' write it nine times across dis way [demonstrates].
(You mean cross them like that, like an "x"?)
Yeah, an' den yo' cross dat again. See, jis' keep it all covahed up. Yo' are writing dere name backwards doh [though]. Yo' don't write it, yo' know, lak it should be, but yo' write it backwards. See, lak if yure name is WELLS, well yo' start wit dat SLLEW an' go right on lak dat. Write it fo' nine times, jis' lak dat, each way, backwards an' forwards, same way. Den, yo' take an' jis' put it inside of de coconut - take dis inside of de coconut an' take it tuh a midstream, an' throw it upstream, but it must be flowin' down, lak a drift [cur- rent], see. Yo' take dis coconut an' throw it out [into the stream] an' when dis coconut go down, dis person whatevah yo' wish tuh drift, dey'll come tuh dey can't be satisfied nowhere neah. If dey have no place, dey'll set out. Dey know dat yo' live in dere, an' dey'll come in an' dey won't see no peace at home. Dey are always on de go. Dat's if dey stay dere. Finally, dey'll git so dat dey can't stay in de house. Dey'll pack up whut dey got an' if de things dat dey have is too much trouble fo' 'em, dey'll take an' pro'bly sell it an' jis' go on adriftin'. Yo' pro'bly may nevah see 'em no mo'.
(What do you do with that eggshell and that stuff?)
De eggshell, dat goes intuh de coconut.
(Oh, that goes into the coconut.)
Egg, [coconut] milk, de quicksilvah, evahthing inside of dis coconut. An' yo' put it in dere an' yo' throw it ovahbo'd.
(I see.)
Entry 8539
They tell me that if a person will cross two sticks and then make a cross mark, and have those sticks standing up cross each other right in that cross mark, and put nine pins in there, in that same mark around there, that whichever one that has the longest end to it, the indi- vidual that you have something against, if he has to go that direction [in the direction of the longest mark], put it down there and he'll cross over it for nine days, and then finally his mind'll get confused and he'll wander away from home.
Entry 8633
If he be done left her, you mean?
(Yes.)
An' he living with another woman? Well, yo' take an' write his name down again, an' yo' get yo' some red peppah - yo' see, this cayenne red peppah. Well, yo' get yo' some red peppah an' yo' get yo' nine needles, brand-new needles what have never been used. An' yo' get yo' nine new pins. An' yo' stick all of dem needles an' dem pins in de wall cater- corner. An' yo' put it in dere, wit yo' know, hot peppah what yo' put on yore food [pepper sauce]. Yo' take de cayenne red peppah an' de hot peppah [sauce] an' de nine needles an' de nine pins [and the name see later] an' yo' put dat in a lemon. An' yo' bury it anywhere in de back yard, see. An' dat will break dem two people up, an' make yo' an' him come back to- gethah again. I done seen dat did.
(Well, how did she write his name in the beginning?)
Write his name? Well, just like a person's first name, like somebody is named Andrew Edmund or any name like dat. Well, yo' see, yo' put [instead of putting] Andred Edmund, put Edmund Andrew. See, yo' put it backwards, till yo' write it nine times. An' den yo' FOLD IT LIKE A HEART, COMIN' TO YO', & an' dat foldin' 'im to yo' all de time. An' yo' bury it in de backyard. An' yo' just leave it stay dere until it molds away. An' in about nine or ten day's time, his mind gets off of this othah woman an' gets back on yo', an' dat makes him leave 'er an' comes back to yo'.
(I see.) You put this name and that other mixture?)
Yes, de pins an' de needles all togethah.
Entry 8640
Well, a lemon, if yo' wanta break somebody up ag'in, lak a man an' 'is wife or sompin lak dat, yo' could take such a-thing as a lemon an' yo' could take that same cayenne peppah. An' yo' write their [man's] name down nine times an' de woman who yo' wanta break 'em up from Yo' could write their name, but whosomevah doin' it, well, dey could do it, dey could fold it, fold it but always fold it from dem. An' if yo' wants tuh put some- body togethah, yo' take that man's name, if it's a woman, an' yo' write his name down first an' that woman, write her name down. An' den she takes de papah an' she fold it comin' tuh her, see. Lak yo' take a papah an' fold it comin' tuh yo' an' make yore wish when yo' fold de papah. An' den yo' take nine dressin' [ordinary] pins, eithah yo' could use needles, but de goldhead needles would be bettah - nine goldhead needles. An' de top whut chew cut off de lemon - see, yo' cut de top off de lemon an' yo' fold dat papah tight an' yo' push it down in dat lemon. An' yo' take de top whut chew put an' stick dem nine needles, yo' know, shut it back up but stick it all de Way roun'. An' if yo' got anyway a [old-fashioned] icebox an' yo' [have a drain to the outside for] dis icebox an' [or] yo' have de foam [gutter or drainage ditch] go through [by] yore house. Well, yo' dig a hole an' yo' put it [lemon] in a moist place where it goin' be wet all de time, so it could rotten. See, an' as dat lemon rot away, yo' see, it'll break 'em up.
Entry 8644
(What do you do with that lemon?)
Take yore lemon - jis' 'long as de pin [as many pins as you have] will go roun' it - an' put de name of de individual dat chew want. Cut de lemon in half an' put dat name in dere, an' den stick it all roun' wit pins an' bury it. Dat'll bring 'em back, too.
(You mean you stick this lemon together by sticking pins through it?)
Yessuh. Cut it [lemon] in half.
Entry 8671
(Take a brand-new piece of cloth.)
Write a person's name on it an' stick nine needles an' nine pins into it. That will keep them down, they can't have any luck.
(You mean it keeps them from having luck and all that sort of thing, keeps them in trouble all the time.) [Mobile, Ala., (653?) 855:2.]
Entry 8672
They put nine needles, nine pins, nine new tacks, nine loaves of sugah, a spoon of honey, a halfa spoon of drawin' powdah, a teaspoonful of John de Conkah Root Powdah [all in a bottle]. An' dey'll stop dat up fer nine day. [Afterwards, to perform the rite] they'll git to de door [their own door] an' dey'll knock three times, an' dey will call de person [your name] - wit yore name [written on a piece of paper] in dat bottle. Dey turn dat bottle upwards [upside down] [during the ceremony] an' dat's supposed to keep yo' wor- ried. An' dey call yo', whenevah dey wan' choo [want you] to come by knockin'.
[Preceding loaves = Zwmps of sugar.]
Entry 8689
Now, ah tell yo' 'bout de stockin's. He could take her stockin's - [she could] take his socks an' put 'em undah 'er do'step. Git a beef tongue, yo' understan', an' stick pins in it; but she gotta stick a pin dere every mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's till she git nine pins in dere. An' den take a pencil an' a piece of papah an' sign his name all ovah dat beef tongue [see correction later] an' take an' wrap it up an' den put it - jes' bury it in de groun' right at 'er do'. He'll come back.
(She also puts his socks under the door?)
Undah dere.
(Do they point them any particular way or just....?)
Jis' put 'em dere - jes' so he walk ovah dere to go back an' forwards. (Well, now. She doesn't write on that beef tongue, she writes on the paper doesn't she?) She writes on de papah.
(What does she do with the paper then?)
She takes de papah an' den she folds de beef tongue up in de papah. An' den she bury it.
Entry 8690
Yo' git nine pins an' put ovah de do', an' call 'em every mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's befo' sunup. That will bring 'em back.
Entry 8717
Well, de socks, yo' take de man's socks but yo' don' have tuh nuse
[use] all of it if yo' don' wan' tuh. Yo' write his name down an' yo' [lay]
dose nine needles, de goldhead needles, an' yo' roll dat sock up. But chew put de cayenne peppah in dat name - de salt an' cayenne peppah in dat. An' to take an' nuse yore cross- in' yo' cross 'em up in dat. An' aftah yo' cross 'em up, yo' take dat an' yo' put it in dat sock. An' yo' roll it an' yo' take de pins an' yo' stick 'em, but evah time yo' stick 'em yo' cross dem. An' dat - dat part would make de man, if yo' want tuh keep de man at chure house, tuh always [stay there] when yo' bury. But yo' don' have tuh bury it all de time. Yo' could jis' put it ovah a joice [joist] somewhere. [Burying the sock could be a nuisance, if you wanted to get rid of the man later; but I suppose the sock could be dug up.]
Entry 8931
I wouldn't say that would have power to bring 'em back, but I tell yo' what yo' can easily do. Yo' can do this: If a person steals somepin from yo', yo' can take three pins - three safety pins. Yo' can take three safety pins an' write that person name on there. (On what?) On a piece of plain white writing paper like - take like yo' write letter, like yo' see me do now [demonstrates]. Write that person name, three times, with three pins, an' stick 'em through their name, through that name, the three names, an' wrap it up an' wear it in your pocket, an' I'll bet yo' what- ever [money] yo' got. Yo' jis' take three ordinary safety pins of the same size an' wrap 'em through that, stick 'em through that paper an' wrap it, an' put it in your purse or your pocket an' wear it. An' I'll bet yo' them stolen things - it won't be three days before yo' find out who and where it is. If they don't bring 'em back, yo'll give 'em a chase. But yo'll get 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 8981
[This is a rite for an altar shaped like a triangle, one of the angles being 45°, so that it will fit into the corner of a room. A triangular board as a shelf would also serve the purpose. Sometimes an oblong or a square table is placed catercornered in a corner of the room. Such a device saves space, can be shut off by a curtain, and represents one of the four corners of the earth (Reve- lation of St. John the Divine, 7:1). One of these altars I actually describe under (3) My third psalmist (INTRO- lines 16-21). Though my informant does not say so, the pan of salt holding names and burn- ing candles did not rest on the floor, but upon an altar. We must also suspect the presence of holy objects, such as pictures of saints. My great friend, the Rev. J. Langtry Williams - mentioned in Pictures for Alma at the end of Folklore from Adams County Illinois, 2nd edition - described the reli- gious arrangement of his part-time housekeeper. She being elderly and ill, he went up to Harlem (black section in New York City) on a pastoral call. Her whole room was an altar! Two wires from the four corners of the ceiling sagged and crossed in the center'of the room. Along these wires at intervals were strung holy pictures and objects. In one of the corners was a shelf or small stand hold- ing a colored light with a float. She had seen my friend's sanctuary lamp over in the church, but these private shrines were common long before she met Father Wil- liams. All these religious actions are concerned with what I call the magic of the diagonal, one arm or both of the "x" or St. Andrew's cross. Hoodoo has many similar rites - the old housekeeper's also being a quincunx, which again is well represented in Hoodoo. For similar private shrines see: CUSTODIAN OF A SHRINE, PP.1139-1158; BEER FOR ST. PETER, CIGAR AND WHISKEY FOR ST. ANTHONY, PP.1220-1236; A WOMAN AND HER THREE SAINTS, Pp.1401-1414; etc, all in v.2.] In a sense [instance?] of that kind my godmother always burned nine candles and they have a beef tongue. Well, see different peoples come there and wanted cases dismissed [from court]. They'd get a beef tongue and they'd stick that beef tongue full of pins. And they have a string running from this part of the wall to that part. They'd tie that tongue up there [demonstrates].
(So it's hanging between the walls, you mean?)
Yes sir, yo' see just like de corner there [points].
(Yes.)
Well, they'd tie it hanging - hang it in the corner that way. An' they'd put them [demonstrates].
(Across - well, just one over the other.)
Yes.
(You put the strihg across one corner, one - show me how you do.)
See [demonstrates]. (Like that, I see. One cord over the other cord just so it cuts off a corner.) Yes. (They cut off the space in a triangle [the cut-off space becomes a triangle]. All right.) The left-hand corner of the house.
(Well, which is the left-hand corner of the house?)
Well, that [points to it] would be the left-hand corner of this house. You mean coming in? (Oh, it's the left-hand corner coming in. All right. And [demonstrates again] they hang this tongue in that [2 wires] like a swing? They put it in a swing?) Yes, see.
(All right.)
Just put two string between two corners - see, like that.
(Holes [nails] right in the corner.)
An' they puts [in the tongue] a whole paper of stick pins, pointed pins, yo' know. Stick 'em in this all ovah, all around. An' they write dat name on them candles - they got nine candles there.
(What name do they write on there?)
They write your name [client] on there.
(The person that wants to get free.)
Sure. Now they write your name on there. And then they take any kind of pan an' they'll fill that pan with salt, an' they'll write that judge an' the dis- trict attorney name on there, an' put it in this salt.
(What will they write all that on?)
On paper.
(I see, and put it in the salt. All right.)
An' put it in this salt. An' when they light them candles they go ahead on to the court house. If yo' not discharged that day, the case is throwed off. An' when they come back again, make another dressing [repeat the candle ceremony], maybe it throwed off again. (Now, you put all these nine candles in that pan of salt, burning. Are they all lighted at once? What color are the candles?)
[All candles are lighted at the same time.]
Different colors.
(I see.)
Red, blue, green, yellow, white - different colors. (Different colors, I see. But my name [client's name] is written on those candles, I see.) See, an' they write de judge an' de district attorney name - put that on that paper upside down like that an' light them candles an' go on out. Now, that case liable to be thrown out today. All right, call that case up again, fust de morning before that case is called at 9:15, dey light them candles again. Maybe throwed out that time. Next time....
Entry 9016
Well, dere wus a guy roun' heah dat supposed tuh been a wise man. An' So ah'd got in a li'le trouble. An' mah wife she went tuh 'im tuh see could he he'p 'er. Well, he claimed tuh he'p 'er. He give her a red onion dat wus fulla straight pins, fo' her tuh keep. [A number of examples of the term wise man occur in Hoodoo as a synonym for witchcrafter, herb doctor, hoodoo, healer, two-head, etc. This word, old in English, is familiar to use from wise men from the East (Matt.2:1) King James Version; but translated by the New English Version as astrologers.]
(For your wife to keep?)
An' he give her a couple of aigs to bring to de jail where ah wus, an' when she start up de stairs, to drop one an' bust it. An' in de way of comin' in, take one an' throw up against de side of de jail, but how it wus fixed ah do not know - how it wus dressed.
Entry 9033
They can take a fish, yes sir. An' they can lay that out - that's fo' a court scrape, too. They take that fish an' put it between a lOO pounds of ice yo' know an' stick that full of needles an' pins on the ice, if a person is against yo' in the court house. They can't do nuthin, they can't talk against yo'. Any kind of a fish, so it's a fish. But have the fish live, like when yo' put it on the ice. An' nine needles an' nine pins in there, an' their name under that fish, an' put that ice on top of it. No, they can't talk because yo' see that chills the tongue. Some people use a fish an' some people use a beef tongue [For frozen beef tongue rites, see Nos.8961-8976, Pp.3637-3643, v.4.]
Entry 9111
[The red onion is one of the well-known objects in hoodoo, having been inherited from folk medicine as well as what passed for the scientific medicine of the day. A few examples of its use will be found in margin title ONION, Pp.622-626, v.1. 0n p.625, line 6f., I find a note of my own: 'Red onion - like red flannel ball or (red) bag for hands - symbolizes the human heart." Where that came from I no longer remember. Perhaps an informant in Hoodoo says it. Since the rite about to be given is a squeezing rite (another type of magic often ignored and unindexed), see No.2188, p.625, for another red onion squeezed in court.] If yo' goin' up befo' de judge an' yo' don' want de judge tuh put no sentence on yuh atall, yo' wanta come cleah of whut chew done. Git chew a red onion an' yo' cut a roun' hole in dere, cut a roun' hole in dat onion. An' aftah cuttin' de hole in dat onion, yo' take yo' some salt an' full it up, full dem holes wit dat salt.
(How many holes?)
Fo' [demonstrates]: one heah, one dere, one dere, an' one dere - de fo' holes. An' evahone dat yo' thinks ag'inst chew, yo' take yo' pins - stickpins [ordinary pins], an' evahone yo' learn ag'inst chew, call dere name an' punch it down in dere. Evahone yo' thinks ag'ins' chew, call dere name, "By de he'p [of God] ah wan' chew tuh git me off." Do dat in de mawnin' or any time in de day, jes' put 'im down in dere. Put 'im down in dere, evahone yo' think ag'ins' yuh, jes' stick 'em down in dat onion. An' aftah stickin' 'em in dat onion, take dat onion an' take an' put it in yore pocket. But be sure tuh hold it [keep your hand on it]. Jes' lak yo' put dese pins down in dere, be sure tuh hold it in yore han's jes' lak dat [demonstrates] jes' dat-a-way. (Bring your fingers over the top of the onion, and have the heads of the pins under them.) Yes, dat's right. Keep it in yore pocket. Keep it tight an' he can't do anything wit chew. He'll turn yo' loose.
Entry 9114
Dey tell me a man kin take nine pins an' stick one a day, if yo' goin' have a case in co't. Stick one a day fo' nine days an' yo' stick 'em right in a straight line on any part yo' weah in front, yore shirt or yo' coat. Don' let nobody intahfere wit 'em. When yo' get down tuh de las' one, stick de tenth one crossways at de bottom, an' go tuh co't an' yo'll come out.
(How do you stick those pins? Do you stick them down?)
Evah point down, but let de haids be dat neah even if yo' kin, right on down.
(And the tenth one you put it horizontal.)
Put it crossways, cross de - ninth one at de bottom. An' dey tells me dat whups [whips] de lawsuit. [This upside down tau cross is the magic of reversing]
Entry 9115
Yo' kin do dis. Yo' kin take nine brass pins an' go where yo' see some li'le hickories [young hickory trees] growin'. Twist 'em up tuhgethah an' den take dose pins, nine of 'em tuhgethah, an' pin dat tuhgethah. Twist 'em till yo' kin pin it tuhgethah. Let [demonstrates] one haid be dis way an' one haid dataway an' de points come tuhgethah. (All the points and the heads come together?) Come tuhgethah, an' pin it tuh- gethah. An' hit'll stay right dere. An' dat'll shet de mouth up, of all of 'em.
(In a court case or anything of that sort?)
Yes.
Entry 9342
Lak if ah been workin' in a place a long time, an' ah wants tuh stay dere, ah gits me a fresh yard aig [chicken egg laid in an old-fashioned henhouse and not on the modern commercial production line!] right aftah de hen lay it. An' ah take some straight stickin' pins [ordinary pins], dey gotta [be] new, an' ah put one right through it lak dis, see [demon- strates]. An' den ah run one across it, yo' see [demonstrates]. An' fo'evah weah dat. Even in mah pocket, jis' lak ah have a pocket, an' weah dat in dere, see [demonstrates]. An' yo' be dere [on the job] fo' a long time. Dey'll nevah fiah [fire = discharge] yo'.
Entry 9422
Put dat [urine] in a bottle an' put de needles an' pins in it. An' yo' kin put a aig in dere an' when dat aig busts, dat person will die. (They put this chamber lye in this bottle, and needles and pins. Any number of them?) Any number of pins, any kin' of a aig. Dey bury dat bottle an' when dat aig rots an' bust, yo' bloat up [and bust?].
Entry 9670
Well, ah been tricked one time by some of mah things. A girl lived in our home an' she fell out wit me concernin' a man. She'd taken a dress of mine, one of mah monthly period cloths, an' some of mah hair an' got underneath de ahm [arm] where ah sweat at, an' taken it an' cared [carried] it across [town] tuh a man [cunjureman]. (Wait a minute! What did she get from under your arm, the hair or just the sweat?) De sweat from de dress. An' she'd taken it tuh a man an' she had it mixed wit graveyard dirt, peedles an' pins an', well one or two mo' thing but de man [healer I went to] didn't name 'em, see. He put it in a jah [jar] an' brought it back tuh our house unbeknown tuh all of us, late hour of de night, an' buried it. Now, it wus buried out 'bout along by de lavatory, see. Well, one Sunday mawnin' ah was sittin' on de po'ch an' ah got up an' ah went out tuh de lavatory. An' ah had a spell. From den ah commenced tuh feel as though....
(What kind of a spell did you have? How did you feel?)
Ah felt as though ah was dyin' fo' a few minutes. Well, ah started back tuh de house an' when ah got back home, ah tole mothah tuh call de doctah. Our lavatory was out from de house. An' she said, "Well, whut's de mattah? Yo' don't look sick?" Ah said, "Well, ah am." She said, "Well, yo' don't look sick." An' so ah went on de porch. She said, "Go back an' lay down, if yo' want me tuh call de doctah. Don't stan' on de front porch." Ah said, "Well, ah cain't lay down." While she was callin' de doctah ah went runnin' down tuh de drug store. Seemed as though mah mind wus leavin' me, see. An' all ah could have on mah mind right den was dyin' or eithah seein' mahsel' confined in a 'sylum. See? An', well ah got back home an' de doctah came out. He examined me thoroughly. He said nuthin was wrong. Well, ah knowed it was somepin wrong. Still, he said it wasn't anything wrong. Well, mah mothah tried two mo' doctahs. Both of 'em said dere wasn't anything wrong. She'd taken me crosstown tuh a man by de name of Mr. Lee [a root doctor].
(What town was this?)
Waycross, Georgia. Yes. An' ah went ovah dere on Lee Avenue tuh Mr. Lee. An' he tole me of dese things dat had been taken from me. An' tole me dat de onliest way dat he could get dis spell offa me was tuh dig dese things up. An' tole me de charges of diggin' it up. An' he say he knowed dat ah didn't have much money, an' ah could pay dis on installments. See, dat he would charge me $25 fo' takin' dese things up. See. So he charged de $25 an' mah mothah paid 'im ten of it down. He came ovah tuh our house an' he digged dese things up. Dug 'em up an' it was in a jar an' it was stopped up tight. An' it looked as though it had begin tuh kinda rot. See. He'd taken it out. He got a pan of warm watah an' put some lodestone in it an' a little salt. Taken dese things an' po'd 'em in dere. An' - well, ah don't know whut he done wit it. Ah know he'd taken it wit 'im whatevah it was, see. An' he didn't nevah give me anythin' tuh take, but grad'ly by degrees dis spell commence tuh weah off, until now ah'm fine.
(How long ago did that happen, did you say?)
That's been - ah imagine now - dat's been around seven or eight months. No longah, no soonah. [These are the experiences difficult to find.]
Entry 9753
Take nine bran'-new wire nails an' drive 'em right in de path right in de front of de house, right in de walk where yo' go out; [also] nine needles an' nine pins. An' turn 'em towards de east. Dat'll make yo' go. (Now [I demonstrate] this is the path. You drive the nine nails down there, nine needles and nine pins. How do you mean you turn them toward the east?) Yo' turn de haid toward de east.
(You drive them in on a slant then? That will make you move out of the house.)
Yessuh.
Entry 9754
A man an' a woman had a fuss an' got mad. An' dey'd fuss an' dey'd fuss, an' fuss an' fuss. An' dey come say whut dey goin' do. He say, "Yes, ah will take somepin an' ah'll put it round mah do'step, guess she'll be hoppin'. Okay. So, aftah he [he now changed to she] put it down, she got onto it - undah- stood it. She says, "Well, it's a two-handed game. It's jes' as much fo' me as it is fo' her. So now de first one gits de mos' of it, be de first one tuh go doon." So she goes an' she gits nine nails an' nine needles an' nine pins, an' she pat it in a red flannel rag, an' she put it undah de do'step an' let it stay dere nine mawnin's. An' de nine mawnin's, dis woman she passed by dis house an' she goes - jes' lak ah wuz walkin' 'long de street chew know, jes' lak ah wuz goin'aftah sompin, she passed right on by. So she goes off where she wuz goin' an' she turned off an' come back an' she went on home. So she laid down fo' a spell fo' a rest. When she went tuh git up, she couldn't git up. That wuz the last of dat. So dat stayed dat way fo' awhile. So she commence tuh study herself an' she says, "Ah think someone musta done opin tuh me." Says, "Ah feel very peculiah an' don't feel lak ah should feel lak dis. Ah ain't hurt nowhere, ah jes' can't use dis laig. Jes' weak in dis laig." Says, "Ah believe ah'll be smart if ah go someplace. So she goes somewhere to try tuh git relief. So she went [to a hoodoo doctor Gbo told her what had happened, the substance of this present rite]. So de man jes', he jes' kept right on tellin' stories, kept right on tellin' stories. He aoaldn't do nuthin fo' 'er. Finally she died.
Entry 9778
A sewin' needle, where a woman been sewin'. If her an' a woman had been havin' some kinda dispute ovah 'er or eithah a man, yo' kin take dat nee- dle an' carry it an' yo' burn de point of it. Jes' lak if me an' yo' had de [argument or quarrel], well, if ah kin git a needle, or eithah a pin, or borrah yore pocketknife [because you are a man], carry it home an' burn it. Ah burn it off good. Take it an' put it in some sulphah an' burn it ag'in. An' ah put some Hearts Cologne on it [knife or needle] an' sprinkle it [perfume] roun' [where I picked up object] an' put it right back where yo' kin git it.
(What would that do then?)
Well, dat will - if me an' yo' been havin' fusses an' things an' we be bad Out, well dat will gain de influence of me an' yo' back [together again].
(You will be on good terms again?)
Be on good terms.
Entry 9783
Yo' kin take a tinpan an' control a person. Yo' kin take a brand-new tinpan an' yo' kin write - lemme see. Ah got it right heah, de psalms yo' find where it says 'Vau - v-a-u. Yo' kin take that an' write that on a brand-new tinplate. (This psalm in which the word "Vau" is used?) Yes sir. It's in psalms [the psalm of a hoodoo book] an' yo' kin write that. But now yo' don't write it with a pen- cil or nuthin like that. Yo' take a needle or pin or new nail that's sharp - anything that's sharp except a pencil - an' yo' write that psalm on that tin- plate. Then yo' kin take that tinplate an' put it away where it won't be dis- turbed or be handled by anybody else. An' yo' kin control that person if yo grite that psalm fo' them.
Entry 9784
To keep the law away? Well, I want to tell you. Well, you keep the lag off - of course, you can't keep 'em away, but you can get so that he'll never catch you or nothin'. You understand. You bootleggin' he'll never catch you or nothing. You understand. Well, you take you two - that's a separate thing - and yoa take two pins.
(Too what?)
Too stick pins.
(Two stick pins.)
[The ordinary pin is frequently called "stick" to distinguish it from safety pin.] And wear it in a cross, like a cross, and wear it right up in the center of your hat, you see. Right in the center of your hat, like this here [demonstrates by pointing to inside of his hat].
(Inside.)
Yeah, inside [demonstrates again].
(Like that, inside.)
Yeah, inside your hat.
(You get these two straight pins.)
Two straight pins. You put a cross on you, see. And a course, the law'll be looking for you but he'll never get you. Only way he'll get you, he got to walk up on you. But you always kin git away from him.
Entry 9786
If a man wanted tuh do somebody some harm, jes' say, lak it wus a woman, an' yo' know whut happens yo' know in de month. Well, if yo' take needles an' pins an' cross, if yo' could git aholt of dat [piece of hers], yo' cross one [demonstrate]. Yo' see, put one dis way an' one dat way - jes' cross 'em.
(Needles or pins?)
Needles or pins.
(Just two?)
Well, yo' kin use many as yo' want, but when yo' do dat she be all up an' down fo' de balance of huh days.
(What would you do with that cloth then?)
Well, yo' jes' - anything yo' wanta do. Yo' could bury it or throw it away or anything, jes' so yo' leave dem needles in dere. Yeah. Don't care whut chew do wit it.
Entry 9789
Yo' kin take two pins an' lay 'em crossways lak dat [demonstrates] an' tie a string right in 'tween heah on each side [the crossing] yo' know, right be- tween dere lak dat [demon- strates], so dey won' fall apart, an' hang it up side de house. An' dey say dat will part a man an' his wife. [This tying of two or more objects into the form of a cross to make a rimless wheel is fairly well-known in hoodoo, some of these forms and rites at times being quite complicated; see Nos.9796, 9797, etc.]
Entry 9795
Ah heard they kin fix needles or pins an' put 'em in yore bed an' yo' can't rest to sleep in that bed.
(Do they put any number of needles in there? Or pins?)
Three - from three to six, dat's whut ah've heard of.
(Either needles or pins, or both?)
Needles or pins, brand-new ones nevah been used.
Entry 9796
Ah do know of crossin' three pins. Whut dat re'lly means - crossin' three pins mean dat in a very short time some person is li'ble tuh git stobbed [stabbed] or shot or cut. (Where do you cross these three pins?) Cross dese three pins up ovah yore do'. Place dem three pins up ovah de do' jes' lak yo' put one in each diff'ren' spot: one [pin] at dat run [over first pin] an' [third pin] right across dat run. [Like this arrange 3 pins.l An' puts [where] de per- son walk undah it. Well, in one or two months, or in three months, he'll be cut, shot or stobbed. [A similar six-spokes-of-wheel rite follows this rite.]
Entry 9801
Take fo' pins - jes' lak if yo' would rent me a house or somepin lak dat; if yo' would rent me a house an' ah'd git behin'. All right, yo' came down - in de mawnin' when ah come down, yo'd be gone. See, sompin lak dat, yo' goin' put me out, undahstan'. Well, now, ah lak de place an' ah wanta stay dere. Well, de thing ah'm goin' do, ah'm goin' git me fo' pins - fo' straight pins dat's nevah been used. Ah kin take 'em an' drop 'em in a kinda of a cross-lak; one heah, one heah, one dere an' one dere.
(Like a cross - like four points in a cross?)
Dat's right. Den ah kin call De Three Godhaid.
(How would you do that?)
Ah would say, drop dis one, "Name of de Son, Name of de Fathah, Name of de Bleesed Holy Ghost. Amen." Den walk on tuh yore do' an' knock an' say, says, "Well, Captain [evah whut chure name be] ah haven't got all yore money: Ah got so much an' so much." Well, he say, "Well, all right. Stay on an' pay up when yo' can."
(Where would you bury those pins?)
Oh, don't bury 'em atall. Yo' jes' drop 'em in dem fo' angles.
(Where do you drop them, in his house or your house?)
In front of 'is do'.
(In front of the owner of the house - in front of his door?)
Dat's right, right in front of 'is do' an' knock on de do', an' den yo' tell m about de money whut yo' has. [I failed to ask whether these 4 pins formed 2 separate crosses + + or a cross with 8 arms or spokes, a rimless wheel; for 6 spokes see No.9796; v.4, No.5720.]
Entry 9805
You take the [2] needles. You take a needle and you turn it one way; one east and one north. [These ] needles are crossed, one pointing east, the other north.1 And now that [was in the] bedroom, what you left in there. You [can] take the pins and put 'em in your bedroom just thataway [the same way] you see. [For crossing 2 nee- dles or 2 pins in bedroom, see rite following this one.] (I see. Now wait a minute. You cross two needles according to the direc- tions [you gave]. You cross each like that [I demonstrate]. Then you get four new pins, and you by a [something] make another cross?) Yes, make another cross.
(All right. With those [4 new] pins. Then what do you do?)
Then you take it and you take a stocking and you put it between the stocking.
(Any piece of clothes or any kind of...?)
Yeah, any kind of clothing. I just take a stocking for a parable = [example] but any kind piece of clothes - to be sure to put it right in the middle. And then you fold it. Fold it up and you go bury it right in the middle of their house - up under the house. [This ''middle of the house is the well-known 5th point, the center of 4 other points, creating a quincunx, many examples of which have been given in HOODOO, see margin title QUINCUNX, p.710, v.1, and elsewhere.] Gotta get up under the house and bury that. And they be crossed up.
(That crosses them up.)
Entry 9808
Yo' take seven needles an' yo' take seven straight pins an' yo' take three nails. An' yo' kin take a quart of watah an' de stoppah tuh shet [shut] de quart bottle. An' y'o kin put dem dere seven needles an' dem dere straight pins an' dem three nails in dat quart of watah. An' yo' put dat stoppah in dere. Stop it up, but don' try tuh stop it tight. An' yo' place it at sun risin' undah yore baid. An' if yo' wanta kill a puh- son - lak yo' wanta kill 'im- yo' kin hit dat stoppah wit a hammah. But yo' don' want no iron hammah, yo' wants a kinda wooden hammah, yo' undahstand. [Wooden hammer is rare in HOODOO.] An' yo' hit dat a certain many times evah mawnin' tuh kill a puhson, an' yo' hit it one time aftah it's gone down, dat sun, jes' tuh lingah dat person - jes' tuh put 'im sick, where he be Bo mo good, jes' lingahin'. An' when dem needles rust out, he rust out. It won't kill 'im right away. Take dem nails an' needles in dat quart bottle, an' yo' kin hit dat stoppah three times where de sun rise an' in seventeen days he'll be daid.... [Here I turned off machine too quickly and had to reopen conversation with a qoestion.1
(Where do you put this bottle then? Do you put it under the victim's bed?)
No sir, yo' put it undah yore baid, an' when yo' hit dat, take it out evah sasnin'-time yo' git up, an' hit dat stoppah an' jes' call [the name of] which ane yo' wanta do [kill]. If yo' want 'im tuh lingah, yo' kin hit dat stoppah ane time, as de sun goin' down, de sun settin' in de weat; an' if yo' wanta Hul 'im, yo' kin hit it early in de mawnin' three times.
Entry 9809
Well, now if yo' is livin' neah me an' dey brings on confusion between I an' yo' which we can't git along or make us bat up wit one 'nothah, yo' kin take eight straight pins. Eight straight pins now. Yo' lay fo' of 'em tuh yore front do'. Yo' lays fo' tuh yore back do'. An' yo' goin' have tuh move 'way from dere. Yo' can't stay. (Do they lay those in any particular way?) Well, yes, yo' lay all de p'ints back out at de front steps, see. Jes' lak yo' go in de house, yo' come up an' go in de house over de step, well, yo' lay dose pins lak dat, de p'ints p'intin' out p'intin' 'way from de house back an' front.
(That makes you move.)
Entry 9812
Use de pins an' needles. Yo' kin use it fo' nine points or eighteen points. Dat's tuh make love an' tuh hold a person.
(How do they do that?)
Well, yo' kin take yo' a bran'-new nine. Ah'm goin' use nine points. It's accordin' tuh how many points. It runs from nine tuh eighteen points. If yo' goin' tuh nine points, yo' kin git chew nine bran'-new needles dat nevah been used. An' yo' git chew nine bran'-new pins dat nevah been used, an' yo' take a piece of clot' [any kind of cloth] lak dis [demonstrates] an' yo' run one needle dat way an' run one dis way, see [demonstrates]. (You altermate them.) Yes, but when yo' put a needle, yo' put a pin; yo' put a needle an' yo' put a pin. Dat's de way yo' do. [You altemate needles and pins which are alternated heads and tails.] An' den yo' wrap dat up - jes' wrap it up good an' tight lak dat - an' yo' kin put dat somewhere; seal [conceal] dat undah each [anyl side of de house. See. An' yo' kin control dose people by dat needle. Now if dey seems tuh be cold towards yuh an' yo' wan' dem tuh be friendly tuh yo', yo' go tuh dose needles an' pick 'em up an' jes' turn 'em aroun'.- reverse dem. If yo' got 'em layin' dis way [demonstrates] jes' take dis end an' turn it back heah. Jest reverse it. Any time dat anything oc- curs wit chew an' dat party, why yo' jes' reverse dose needles an' dat'll keep 'em right tuh yo'. Evah time yo' reverse it, dat brings dere mind tuh yo', see. An' yo' use dem [the needles or the person or both] dat way.
Entry 9813
Well, yo' go git chew nine needles, nine pins; jes' take nine needles an' nine safety pins. Jes' cross de needles an' put de pins up an' dom. See, heah's de needles crossed an' heah's de safety pins across dem. Lak if yo' have a piece of cloth heah [demon- strates] an' yo' stick a needle across in it dere, yo' stick a safety pin lak dat [demonstrates] but don't hook it.
(You put the safety pin across this needle right in the cloth.)
Dat's right, but don' hook it, undahstan'. An' yo' take dat den - aftah yo' git 'em in dere, yo' take dat piece of cloth, if dey anywhere aroun' neah an' jes' take it - yo' ain't gotta bury it if yo' don' wanta. Yo' kin wrap it. Yo' kin bury it middleways of de steps, if yo' git undah dere. Go right middleway of yore steps. Don't have [to] bury it or yo' kin do it, jes' in de middleways of de steps. Dey ain't goin' stay dere long 'fore dey be gone.
(This will move them out.)
Yes sir, dey won' come roun'. Dey won' even come up dat steps no mo'. Dem same nine needles ah's tellin' yo' 'bout, dem same nine needles, yo'll cross de firs' one across. Put de needles 'cross an' de pins straight up an' down - de safety pins.
(Get a piece of cloth like that?)
Yes, an' put dem in dere an' let 'em stay in dere, an' put it 'way somewhere. "Stead [instead] of 'im goin' off, he'll stay roun' dere. De person dat's been bothahin' yo' is goin' tuh leave dere, an' de law ain't hardly goin' come. Dat's whensomevah yo' wants tuh run dis person dat's bothahin' yo', an' whensomevah yo' wants yore customah tuh come tuh yore house an' de police tuh stay away.
Entry 9822
Yo' jes' take nine pins, dat if yo' got anybody an' don't want 'em around yo'. Yo' jes' take nine pins an' stick 'em up in a roll or sompin yo' got in de house, so nobody couldn't see 'em. An' evah mawnin' yo' git up fo' nine mawnin's an' yo' pull one dose pins outs an' jes' throw it right ovah yore shouldah. Walk on outside an' throw it ovah yore shouldah jes lak nobody see where yo' throw it. Nobody know whut chew doin'. Jes' evah mawnin' fo' nine mawnin's an' de las' day he's gone. He'll leave dat town. (You put these pins in his house and you throw them. Show me how you throw them over your shoulder.) Jes' 'sposed tuh throw 'em dat ways.
(Over the left shoulder.)
Yes.
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 9825
[That] create dissatisfaction in a man's home. They kin take and bot- tle them. Take so many pins and so many needles - about nine [each] - so it's a odd number. You put them pins and needles, stick them through a piece of flannel. Roll 'em up and drop 'em in a bag. Well, natchly in pass- ing in de house, in and out, if you kin get some of de dust that they sweep up off the floor, yo' puts that in that bottle too. And as long as you keep it, why it causes a great dissatisfaction in the home, so as to completely break it up. It's never known but dey use them needles and pins that way to cause dis- satisfaction in the home.
Entry 9835
Ev'y do' dey got where yo' have tuh come in an' out, undahstan', stick nine pins up dere. [Divide 9 pins among the doors.] If yo' got three do's, put three ovah de [each] do'; an' if yo' got jis' two do's, yo' must 'vide [divide] it [the nine pins] an' put 'em ovah de two do's. (Put four over one and five over the other. What kind of nails [pins] do you put over there?) Jis' dress pins.
(Just ordinary straight pins. Do you put them in any particular way?)
No, jis' stick 'em in dere straight lak dat, lak yo' would a nail, but don' drive 'em up. (I see, just tap them in so they will stay. Tap them in a little bit so they won't fall out. That is supposed to keep that house?) Dat's whut dey tells me. (The person that wants to stay in the house and don't want to be put out will do that?) Yeah, jis' any way, yo' know [to stay in the house].
Entry 9840
Take nine needles an' nine pins an' bury 'em in yore gate, see. Well, dat will cause yo' an' yore family tuh bust up an' put chew in hard luck so yo' alone. But chew must go an' git dem nine needles an' things an' don't talk to nobody when yo' leave. An' carry 'em to de runnin' watah an' throw 'em ovahbo'd. An' dat family will be busted up an' won't nevah give yo no mo' trou- ble.
Entry 9841
Put nine safety pins - jis' git or'nary safety pins about dat long [demonstrates length]. Ah got some of 'em right heah now [shows some safety pins.] Put nine of 'em in dere. Co'se [of course] ah've not got de nine in dere, but den yo' put nine safety pins. Put three right heah. Pin 'em right 'cross heah straight up an dowa. Dat's three: one - two - three. [I describe demonstration.] (Three on the left side of your breast pocket.) Yeah, three right undah by each pocket. Keep 'em in yore undahshirt. Den dey put three on dis side.
(Over your heart.)
Ovah yore heart. Den yo' put three right in de centah of yore back. "Co'se yo' kin pull yore shirt off an' do dat. Dey says yo' kin have bettah luck. Dat [rite] come from New Orleans. Ah knowed dat tuh be de fact. Dey say yo' will have bettah luck. If yo' are a gamblah, dey says evahthing will come yuh way now an' den. Dose evil's got on yo', yo' kin git dat off an' keep agoin'. [A little later, after changing the cylinder, I decided to return to the pre- ceding rite.] (Just to be sure what you just told me about those safety pins. Will you explain that again, now?) Well, yo' put three of 'em heah.
(Three safety pins in your left side, one right under the other.)
Yeah, fastened. Well yo' go back heah an' yo' put three mo'.
(On your right hand side.)
Yes sir. An' den yo' - yo' can't git 'em dere but chew pull off yore shirt, an' yo' know de centah of yo' back. Yo' put three right up an' down dere [in the back of your shirt] an' weah 'em in dere all de time. When yo' have de shirt washed, take 'em out an' put 'em back in de shirt yo' put on.
(Where did you say that came from?)
Dat come from New Orleans.
Entry 9842
(Tell me how they make a person stay at home?)
Wit dere sock. Well, take dis sock an' put chure sugah an' yore cinnamon in dis sock, an' take yo' nine needles an' nine pins an' - fold yore sock an' put [in] dem nine needles an' nine pins. An' yo' use 'em all, gotta git 'em all in dere. See, dem eighteen sticks [sticking ob- jects] gotta be in dere. An' yo' take three tacks an' nail 'em down at de front of yore do', or eithah if yo' got a fiah hearth, yo' take a brick up an' yo' lay dat brick dere. Lay it dere an' put it on top dat. An' yo'll nevah git rid of 'em. Dat'll hold 'em.
Entry 9843
Dey said git a wasps' nest with nine needles, brand-new needles an' nine brand-new pins an' put de pins dis way an' de needle haid dat way, object [opposite] each othah. An' take dat an' yo' know, 'vide [divide] 'em up in nine pieces, split it, stick it intuh de Wasps' nest, holes [cells of the nest] yo' know. An' go 'long where dis person at an' jis' drop it, an' dey'll walk ovah it.
(That will harm them? What will it do to them?)
Well, it will jis' cuz 'em tuh rave an' go on home an' raise disturbances wit mos' evahbody dey meet. (You take these nine needles and nine pins, and you stick them into that wasps' nest.) Make nine holes an' stick each one in dose nine holes an' let 'em walk ovah it an' dat would make 'em very cross.
(You bury that in the ground, then?)
Bury it right in de ground.
(You leave those needles sticking in that wasp's nest?)
Dat's right. (That will cause confusion and quarrels and things of that sort.)
Entry 9844
Dat's tuh fasten a man. Jis' lak yo' had a husban' an' yo' wanted 'im down, an' he couldn't bothah yuh about [what] yo' wuz doin' or goin'. Yo' cud take nine needles out a bran'-new package an' yo' kin take nine straight [new] pins. De needles have steel in 'em an' de pins don't. Yo' kin take a strip of papah jis' off a tablet an' write dis individual's name. An' yo' stick a needle comin' tuh tuh, an' de p'int, stick a needle goin' from yuh - comin' tuh yuh an' goin' from yuh till yo' stick nine needles. Den yo' stick de pins all one way, de nine straight pins, stick each of dose p'ints tuh yuh [demonstrates]. Den yo' would take dose needles an' jis' slightly, jis' [stick] lak dat [demonstrates], chew might say, abou' two or three inches in de ground. Aftah yo' put 'em in dat concernin', ah wanta jis' cross dis party's name. Den yo' kin turn dose needles down. an' yo' make yore wish how yo' want 'im tuh be. An' den jis' covah slightly wit dirt or somepin ovah it dat he may walk in an' out ovah it daily. An' dat'll keep 'im quiet. Dat'll keep 'im down.
Entry 9845
Yo' kin take nine needles an' sulphuh an' salt an' put it undah yore do'steps, an' if yo' walk ovah it - it be about nine days befo' it start tuh burn an' de ninth day yo'll feel somepin up an' down yore laigs lak needles an' pins. An' dat'll be cun- juration workin'. Co's' ah've had experience of dat 'cuz ah wus hurt lak dat once. Den dey could take nine pins, lak if yo' wanta bring some- body back or if dey off stay- in' wit anothah woman. Yo' git nine - git a pack [package] of [new] pins an' take nine out of dat an' put 'em up ovah yore do' where dey'll come in an' out. Co's' if dey're not dere, why dey won't; but dey's away, yo' git up evah mawnin' befo' sunrise an' yo' go tuh dat do', an' open dat do' an' say, "Name of de Fathah, Name of de Son, an' Name Of de Holy Ghost, ah want mah husban' tuh come back tuh me." Or whoevah it is, "Ah want dem come back in Name of de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost." An' in de ninth day, if dey don' come in dat do' - den yo' keep it up an' yo' don' take it down. Yo' keep 'em up dere, where dey walk in. Aftah dey come back, den yo' know where dey walks in an' out. Den yo' don't do it right on lak, yo' kow, right fo' de nine days, but chew do it occasion'ly, in case it die down. Yo know yo' do it occasion'ly, jes' keep it on. Don't do it [all the time], keep it right on straight.
Entry 9847
[This rite I preserved only in my own original notations made soon after the interview.1 Her sister, they found her hair and nine needles and nine pins in a cologne bottle - salt in the hair - buried under the house beneath the head of the bed. She broke out in sores and pains. A root doctor called in and told them the woman had been tricked. To prove his diagnosis he crawled under the house and came out with the bottle. He showed the bottle but would not let anyone touch it, especially the patient, who would have died!]
Entry 9852
Go tuh de Ten' Cent Store anywhere an' git chew a package of straight peedles - straight pins whut ah mean tuh say, straight pins. An' yo' kin take an' git chew a li'l bittee hammah, an' at chure front do' tack up eighteen dat way in a line right across dere. M' at chure back do' tack up seven of dem straight pins. An' dere won't no law Ble inside dere tuh search.
Entry 10144
Black cat ashes [surely a preparation sald by a hoodoo dealer!], left hind foot of rabbit.9 claws from rabbit. 9 needle points, 9 pin points, all in red flannel bag, which is fed with Jocley Clob per fe. Wear when gambling.
Entry 10165
If yo' got a gurl - it's dis way. Ah got a gurl an' she runned away from me. She done lef' me. She's gone. Well, lak [I] say, dere's a lotta watah 'ween heah an' New Yawk. Say she's gone tuh New Yawk. She jes' jumped up an lef' me an' ah haven't did anythin' tuh 'er an' want 'er back. She won' come bach tuh me by writin' tuh 'er. All right. Ah go tuh de drug sto' an' ah gits me a 15-cents blue candle. Take de same nails an' needles an' put in dat.
(How do you put them in there now? How many do you get?)
A nickel wuth of ten-penny nail. Put eight nails, an' de whole papah of needles, an' about eight big pins. Yo' git dem ovahsize sticky pins yo' know, dem ovahsize one. Some packages dey sell two fo' a nickel. Dey are de small size. An' de large package it's got one long one dat way; dey sells dem one fo' a nickel. Yo' git chew a piece of lookin'-glass lak dat an' yo' tum de part dat chew look it, an' git chew a saucah of watah or git chew a bowl or cream saucah, or anything dat will hold watah. Den turn dat [looking] glass down ovah dat way. Take dat candle an' take de end of it which yo' is gonna set down, take a match an' light it dat way. Don' light de top part where de stem is; light de bottom part an' put it on dat glass.
(With the top part downward?)
Yessuh, on top of de glass, an' let it set dere an' make yuh wishes fo' hit. But yo' start hit at ten minutes an' burn it fo' twenty-five. In twenty-five [days?] yo' receive a lettah from her, to send aftah her or send her ticket. She's on her way back tuh yo'.
Entry 10169
If you want to bring a woman back home to you, after she done left you and - you want to get her back home. Now, you take her name, and you take you two pins, just fix them like this here. Just cross it like a "x" you see; right over her name, you see. And you burns it with a candle, you see. You burn that for nine days and in nine days that woman'll come back home to you.
(What do you burn, a white candle?)
No, burn a red candle. Red candle is - black candle is evil, red candle and white candles is all good ones. You see, brings her home.
Entry 10186
An' then here's another thing. There's - some things are over others zhoo know. You see? Well the nex' thing to do, if you wanted to make 'em leave town or anything like that, you Write their name down 9 times. Understand? An' stop it up in a bottle an' go to the running water, to the river and throw it in. Throw it ovah the left shoulder an' don't look back, an' says, "I wan' zhoo to go." An' then you take a red candle. You get a red candle, you understand now, an you stick you three pins in it. You burn that at 12 a'clock at night, see, an' you make a wish. You says, "I wish my enemies would leave me alone In the Name Of the Lord."
Entry 10278
Whut chew kin do with a dirty sock, least dat is tuh keep a man with a woman, dat is she's about tuh go or he's about tuh go from her, is dis: His urine is his nature. Yo' understan' dat. Yo' git de bottle an' git de urine an' yo' git de he lodestone, steel dust, cinnamon, sugah, drawin' oil, mind oil. Write de name nine times, nine needles an' nine pins. An' yo' put dat ingrediment [ingredients] together, yo' understan', an' yo' shake it well an' put it undah de do'step. Be shure dat it crosses ovah it three times, an' den aftah yo' take it an' put it anywheres in yore place. Yes, ah kin guarantee yo' it bring de woman dat ah did de work fo' dat ah he'ped [helped] out with it, an' through prayers, goin' to de chapel an' makin' prayers.
(That'll hold the man?)
Listen, dat'll hold him an' yo'll nevah git, but don' evah - dat means a man'll kill yuh if he gits holt of dat, yo' see. Dat means death. An' it really will hold him.
Entry 10411
Bible under head in bed [under pillow or mattress] keeps witch away.
[Wilmington, N. Car., (206), 113:8+85; also informant 31 at Hampton, Va.]
Bible under head of bed [on floor] keeps witch away. [Baltimore, Md., (near 142), 46:4+85.] Bible under bed and hang sifter overhead. [Deal Island, Md., (108), 16:3+85.] Bible and 3 pins to keep hag away. [Richmond, Va., (343), 287:2+85.] Bible under pillow and 3 stick pins [ordinary pins] underhead. The hag turned into a little piece of red meat, found next morning. Stop the meat up and the hag [unable to breathe] will come. [Richmond, Va., (343), 287:2+85.] Bible and stub of a broom [the straw part of a worn-out broom] at head of bed to keep hag away. [Wilmington, N. Car., (about 249), 161+85, diffuse story not worth copying.]
Entry 10579
Yo' kin take a leather-wing bullbat an' cut his heart out whilst he 'live, an' put it on a straight pin [ordinary pin, not safety pin]. Run a straight pin through it an' put it in a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' rub yore han'. Rub it on yore han' every time yo' go to a skin game an' yo'll win.
Entry 11018
Now, dere one chicken feathah you could use, to do any harm, dat's a frizzly fowl. A frizzly fowl is good and is bad, onnerstand. Now, yo' kin take a feathah from de top of a frizzly fowl's head and you kin take a feathah from de top of a frizzly fowl's back. And you kin take dat feathah what you git from de frizzly fowl and take one new pin and pin dem two feathah togethah and I kin take dem feathah and put 'em in your bosom or anybody's bosom and you is a crazy man ovahnight - in an hour.
(Supposed to make him lose his mind?)
Yes, sir, crazy fer de next. Yo' kin put 'em in dere dis hour and de next hour somebody gotta tie 'em down.
(Well, what else can you do with that Frizzly hen? Can you do anything else?)
Yes, you kin use de bun gut, you know.
(Gut? The intestine? The testicle?)
[My preceding questions merely ask for more information. The meaning of the word bun in the sense of anus or buttocks I had known for years, but bum gut did not penetrate immediately because I had translated the words into rotten gut
[stomach trouble, etc.l also a folk term.]
Dat's real good. You kin take dat and kill a nation. [You can kill a nation because of all that hoodoo poison that goes through a frizzly hen - see margin title DOCTOR FRIZZLY Pp.59-63, v.1, and many places.]
(How Would you do that?)
Well, you take dat and you cook a soup. Cook in a chicken soup, onnerstand. Well, I hate dat house dere. I wanna poison dat whole house, but dey is my neighbors. Well, I git dat soup and carry over dere, go across wit it.
(You poison them?)
De whole house. But now you gotta put in dat, Doc - des scrape dem in it - de fingernails. Keep dem dirty and scrape 'em - [into the soup].
Entry 11047
Sew dat up in a rag.
(What do they sew up in a rag?)
De black hen manure. Sew it up in a rag an' put de person name in it if dey doin' yo' harm an' yo' don't like 'em. An' yo' take it to runnin' water to de rivah an' throw it in. Put new safety pins in [package] an' throw it in [river] an' dat person'll go clean away an' won't trouble yo' no mo'. Ah done that mahself.
(Just put one safety pin?)
Two - three, yes sir, yo' put one on each end an' pin one across it, three. (Like the letter "H" on the package.) [The figure is more like this Ha double cross.] Yes sir.
Entry 11171
If yo' git a chance tuh git in dat house - de devil's-shoestring, yo' take dat devil's-shoestring an' jes' ball a little bit of it an' put it ovah de do'sill or somewhere in de house, some corner of de house. Dey ain't goin' stay in dere. An' yo' kin give a fellah a walkin' figit. (How do you give a fellow a walking figit?) Jes' take some nails an' drive 'em in de ground an' turn 'em de way he goes. Put some needles an' pins between 'em. Off he go.
(Any special number?)
Nine [new] needles [nine new pins] an' nine new nails.
(You cover those up so they don't stick him?)
Jes' drive 'em right down in de ground.
(Where he'll walk over them.)
Entry 11213
Take the dirt dauber and take dis man's name.
(Yes?)
And you write the man's name and you set this in the bottle, and when you puts this in the bottle...
(Now what do you put in the Bible?)
You puts - in de bottle!
(Oh, in a bottle. You put all this in a bottle?)
All this in a bottle. Well, I call a bottle a jar - one of these pickle jars - and put the vinegar in there with the man's name in there. That's the dauber dust. Then you takes this man's name and you just put the pin and the tacks and the needles in there. And then you put it in there, and every day at twelve o'clock you shake it up and call this man's name. Every day you do the same thing until the ninth day that you see that you get your wishes.
(What kind of wishes do you make?)
Well, the wishes that I would make, would be the bad destruction on him. That'd be bad luck for him to have. That's the bad wishes.
Entry 11363
It's just like if you go out and have a passage. You will take that and put it any place that will do, put it in a jar. Get nine needles and nine pins and nine tacks, and put them in there and stop that up, and it will cause you not to move your bowels. They won't move. They'll pass through your mouth and finally it will kill you.
Entry 11582
Why dey'll jest chip off a piece from de toes or de heels [foot track from informant's preceding rite] dere. An' dere's somepin dat dey has dey put it in [it in, a cloth] and dey sews hit up tight wit a brass pin. An' dat sup- posed - an' dey jest put dat anywheres in de house, or buries it underneath de steps. An' if dere is anybody around dat dey don't keer much about, why yo' won't go back to dat house no more.
Entry 12135
Jis' like you'd cut out a heart [from a piece of paper]...jis' like you say you gon'a...you draw a mark heah [demonstrates] - all right - comparin' to a heart [draw shape of heart on a piece of paper]. You kin take them [9] pins an' stick it [them] in that [paper] heart. You kin do jis' what choo wan' 'em to do after you stick dem pins in there. You use so many needles. You got to use needles - real sharp needles.
(How many pins do you stick in that heart?)
You kin take 9 pins an' put in there [demonstrates].
(In the center of the heart.)
You put 8 needles.
(Around the edge of the heart.)
You don't put it even, you understand. It's got to be odd [demonstrates].
(The heads and points of the pins and needles are alternated.)
An' you take that an' put it in your pillah. You kin use any kind of body [person] you want; you kin use 'em to your understandin'. [For alternate needles and pins, see Nos.9836-9837, 9844, 9849 & 9850, v.5.]
Entry 12228
Wal, yo' kin git dat John de Conker, called de King of de World. Ah've tried dat an' dat's not so good. Wal, yo' take it when yo' git it an' git chew a piece of red flannen, see, an' sew dat up in a piece of red flannen. (Sew this John de Conkah up in this red flannel.) Dat's right an' den git chew some Hearts Perfume [bottle has 2 or more small red hearts on label] an' put chew 9 drops on dere. An' put chew twelve pins in dat, see, right out a bran'-new package of pins. Wear it in yore left pocket every day yo' go. An' in a cer- tain length of time, dat odor - yo' has to perfume it ovah ag'in - dat means every 3 weeks. It'll work fo' yo', too. Ah've tried dat.
(What do you wear this little bag for? What is that supposed to do?)
Well, dat's to keep yore enemies away from yo'. An' if yo' wanta start any business, yo' have success an' good luck after dat - no cops to bother, nuthin atall [at all]. Dey might come to yore place but when dey come to de place dey'll sit down an' talk with yuh.
Entry 12300
Take nine pins an' stick them into a lemon. See, stick dem nine pins into a lemon an' squeeze it good an' well. It will give yo' power. Give yo' influence to accomplish whut yo' desires to make yore fren' or whoevah yo' concerned with - make dem come to yore request.
Entry 12301
Pass a hole into a lemon an' squeeze de juice out of it an' full it up wit sulphur an' brimstone an' salt. Take nine pins an' put through it an' den wrop it up jes' as tight as yo' kin, an' tie nine knots in it - into de string dat yo' wrop aroun' it. An' stick nine pins in it an' go ahead. (What will you do with that then?) Well, jes' carry it with yo'. (What is that supposed to do then?) An' den ah'll go ahead an' attack whatevah busi- ness yo' wanta attack, an' dat supposed to help yo' accomplish it.
(Any favors or anything of that sort?)
Yes.
Entry 12377
Lak if yo' go roun' de cornah fo' a job an' yo' go de first day an' de man don' hiah yo'. yo' go de second day an he don't hiah yo'. Well, de third day yo' git dis- gusted, yo' see, an' yo' study some kinda remedy tuh git dis job. Yo' see. Well, yo' go dere an' de first thing yo' do, git chew nine roots of parsley, yo' see, an' put 'em in yore shoe. An' git chew a garlic a yellah garlic, a plug of garlic an' put dat in yore shoe. An' git chew a piece of cloth about that long, yo' see. An' put nine pins in that crossways, yes, straight pins, new pins. Put 'em in dere crossways. An' let each one of dem pins, lak yore name is George, well yo' put de 'nitials yo' see at dem pins. An' yo' go to dat jar...
(Where do you put those needles and those pins?)
Undah dere yo' see, undah de pins.... See where ah got dem nine pins cross. Yo' got de 'nitials dere yo' see.
(You put the initials down with what?)
Ink.
(On the cloth or on a piece of paper?)
On de cloth. See, de pins in de cloth, see, lak dat piece of cloth about dat long. Yo' see yo' jis' put de pins lak dat crossways nine times. Yo' see each on de bottom, yo' put lak his nine dere "George" yo' see wit ink, only each one dem 'nitials. An' yo' go dere dat mawnin' an' yo' git a seal de' [they] call de 'Lucky Seal.' Yo' go to de Crackerjack Drug Sto' an' git dat. Yo' see yo carry dat an' put it right down by de gate where de man hiahs up dere. Yo' press it down dere. He'll call yo' 'fore he calls anybodys else. Lak yore name Mistah Eddy, he'll say, "Well, Mistah Eddy, come on in an' go tuh work. Ah needs yo' dis mawnin'. (That is to get the job.) [See also SEALS in CHANNEL DE WORLD, v.5.1
Entry 12499
[As in the preceding rite, only my attached pencil resume remains: "1 needle [down],1 needle up, let pin go between an' put in [stick into] hat bow [with] sugar and garlic an' wear next to you." What simple instructions: 1 needle point down,1 needle point up, and 1 pin between the 2 needles. Remember, we are sticking these needles and pins into a hat bow. Here we have a magic design, the oldest type of folklore in existence, examples by the thousands, and older than written history. We Could play with the present possibilities but suppose we confine ourselves to 4 of them: In diagram 1 the points of the needles do not touch the pin; in diagram 2 the needle points touch the pin. The heads in both diagrams form a triangle, symbol of the Trinity or the 3 Holy Names. In diagram 3 the pin crosses the centers of both needles and it separates them or is between them. Again the 3 heads form a triangle. More than this, we now have 2 Greek crosses tt or a double- cross, if you decide to undo your work. again diagram 4 again separates the several times in HOODOO. The 6 spokes of the rimless wheel of course construct 3 X'CRoSSES.]
Entry 12542
Ah have heard somepin 'bout a onion. Yo' take pins an' put 'em down in dere. Yo' hol' dat onion in yore han' an' go up to anybody an' ask emfo' mostanythingwhut chew want. Ask 'em, an' jes' keep rubbin' an' squeezing dat onion. Dey hardly kin tell yo' no.
(You do that to get a job, you say?)
Yes.
Entry 12545
Git red onion and put nine needles and nine pins in it and go to the river and throw it over the left shoulder and walk back [home]. Don't look wack. And just as fer as that onion will travel on the water, they will travel.
(Do they do anything else with that onion?)
That's all I know. (Hell, how do you know whether the spell will work? How can you tell whether dhat person that you intend to go away - don't you do anything with the onion to...) [Intention is sufficient.]
Entry 12990
Yo' kin take a dime an' put it in, yo' know, in a letter. Yo' would take de dime an' jes' lak yo' know somebody, an' yo' wanta git 'em back, an' jes' keep it yo' know wit a piece of lodestone. Wear it wit a piece of lodestone, yo' know, 'bout two or three weeks sompin othah lak dat. Put dis dime in a letter an send it to her an' tell her, yo' know, jes' lak yo' want a pin or sompin othah. An' tell her about dat. An' dey tell me, say, she'll come in de place or send de pin.
Entry 7538
For to send anybody away, somepin like that - just to send them away, not kill them, not atall like that - you go to the head of a grave, an ole grave, and you dig down there and you get a handful of graveyard dirt. An' yo' take ten new nails, nine new pins, an' seven grains of shot. An' yo' can take this, if yo' want to send them away from home, send them on adrift, an' yo' sprinkle it where they walk. An' the last sprinkle yo' make every time yo' sprinkle yo' drop three pins an' two wire nails - why they'll get in a fidget to go away some place an' they'll go. The chances is they won't be back under three year no how. [For as old a grave as yo' kin' find, see lO lines from bottom of p.2239.]
digging at an old grave's head to collect dirt for a stated non-killing send-away purpose. Retain old-grave/head location, handful wording and explicit send-away/not-kill distinction. direct conditional sprinkling of a prepared mixture to send someone away rather than kill. Preserve the explicit send-away/not-kill distinction and conditional purpose. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified. The informant explicitly distinguishes sending someone away from killing them and reports a chance of absence for three years. Hyatt's final cross-reference is editorial; the ingredients remain separate.
Entry 12416
Just fix 'em, Put- tin' 'em in a cross like a "x", you know, and might get a powder an' tie 'em up together, and take that and bury it at yo' [victim's] door.
(Bury it at your door? They cross them like a real "x"?)
Just like that [demonstrates].
(I see. How many do they use? How many matches do they put that way?)
They git 'bout eight or nine.
(I see and they bury it at your door?)
Bury it at your door. And pins - take needles and pins and put 'em in de same way like dese matches.
(Cross them.)
And git some - if they kin git some hair out de mole of yo' haid. Wrap that up - wrap that round dere and cross 'em and bury that at your door.
(What does that do?)
They say that will kill you.
physical X arrangement of materials in a reported burial procedure. Quotation marks around x indicate shape emphasis, not a new quoted speaker. wrapping available hair around the described crossed materials before burial. Keep the conditional availability of hair from the mole of the head without extra anatomical interpretation. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 4332) · Read full source (printed page 4333)
Entry 181
Ah know dey say yo' could throw a brass pin in dere an' yo' see de devil - a lil' brass safety pin. Ah know yo' seen dese lil' yellow pins. (You throw it into the whirlwind and you'll see the devil.)
Entry 1803
Ah've heard a lady say yo' kin take matches, or so many pins - ah don't know how many now exactly but ah'm goin' git all dis together, ah think ah'll have to come back again - and perform a casket or coffin under de side of de house, and nail nine nails around. Yo' know, make it jes' lak a person's grave an' nail nine nails around de heart. And dey say you'll drap dead off yore feet.
[The coffin is outlined with matches see No. 1785, p.538.]
Entry 8600
Dat supposed tuh be jis' as fur as he kin go. She supposed to be draw- ing back tuh him by - remembah how ah tole yo' tuh write those names: Write thosé name, 18 names. (Nine one way and nine the other.) Den yo' take this papah that chew write 'em on in this case an' fold the papah to yo', fold it very small. Yo' take jis' a ordi- nary lamp dat burns kerosene an' yo' wrap this papah around de wick. An' yo' pin de papah to de wick an' yo' put it back down in a full lamp. An' yo' set it in a da'k corner an' burn it, jis' constantly burn it. When it - don't even let it go out fo' tuh [put] mo' kerosene in there - fo' nine days. Then dat draws a person back.
Entry 12006
Stop up in a bottle hair from top of person's head [the mold] with 9 needles and 9 pins and bury under door. Victim, usually a man, cannot leave that house permanently. [Washington, D. C., cylinder number forgotten.]
Entry 12526
Ah say if anybody put onion peelin's around in front of de house, it will cause yo' tuh fuss all de time. An' then yo' kin take a piece of onion aftah yo' cut it off, an' yo' shouldn't leave de piece dere, yo' should throw it away because it will cause a fuss; but aftah it's cut, chew kin take an' stick a pin or toothpick in it, an' it'll be all right.
Entry 12688
All right, yo' kin draw de pichure of dat man an' yo' kin git chew a brand-new papah of pins an' write his name on dere an' pin him up. Pin him up ovah de head of de do' where dey transferin' back an' fo'th at, an' yo' kin draw him back. [Memphis - Informant No.1529a who gave No.2101, p.610, v.1, this No.6 probably on same cylinder.]
Entry 9999
( Get a rough frog, a toad, stick pin through throat, pin to wall until dead, let dry out, carry in pocket. Show people will not let you in if they know you have a frog.
Entry 12121
A woman can take a man's hat bow an'... "10 new needles an' 3 new pins an' his name, an' wear that in the bottom of your [her] left shoe; an' everywhere you [she] go at, he gon'a come lookin' fer yuh [her." [New Orleans 1101:4.]
Entry 197
I remember one time when I wus in Philadelphia. There wus a lady, her husband left her, she wanted to bring him back. So she got ready an' she went to this doctor. So she ast 'er, she said, "Could joo get my husband back?" She told 'er, "Yes." She said, "Whut way could joo get 'im back?" So she said, "I'll tell you wha' choo do." She said, "You get a black cloth, you make it up like you do a baby, an' you stick out one pin an' one needle in it - new needle an' new pin." An' she [the wife later] taken the needle an' she stuck it up one place, here [she demonstrates].
(In the head.)
I guess it must of been the eyes she makin' - an' [she half-pantomimes].
(The pin.)
Another place. [Many persons acted out everything they did.]
(For the other eye.)
She put it [the doll] right up over the doah [still demonstrating]. (So that it was held there by the needle and pin stuck through the eyes and into the plaster.) [Final result of my commenting.] I was in the house. I seen that mahself. An' she [the doctor] said, "Ev'ry time you come to this house [the wife's own]," she said that - "an' I'll pin it up here over the doar - an' ev'ry time you come in," [she] said, "before you speak to anybody," she said, "you cuss at it, an' that'll bring 'im back again an' make 'im stay with you." So, after that, another time, I seen her dress [prepare magically] a letter, this lady [the wife]. She dressed a letter for to send to him. An' when she dressed that letter she took an' went down there [the page] jes' like that with her fingernails - you know, went down jes' like that. Den she had somepin, ever' now an' then she dip her fingernails into this mess - it was jes' like perfume. She'd dip her fingernails into it, she'd make a straight line, she'd go straight on down [the page] for to make him start writin'. So they went on at dat an' went on at dat [using various devices to bring the man back]. So the next two weeks - I think it wus, yes - the moon wus shinin'. You see, this wus dark nights when this happened. So the next two weeks there would be a moon shinin' at night. So after that [in the light of the moon], she said to dis lady, she said, "When you came again," she said, "you bring me a piece of money, but let it be silver - a ten-cent piece, but don't bring it in two nickels." So when this woman [the wife] came [home] again she ast me to go with 'er, an' I went back with 'er. An' it wus some way out in de country, see. We taken de trolley [or streetcar] because we went a long ways. You know I'd heard tell of these things an' I wanted to see 'em. So when I went with 'er, she taken this money - she tied it up. It wus tied up in four corners - it was a handkerchief. She made it [the four corners of the handkerchief] in a cross like - like a baby. An' after she got way out de country, she taken an' threw it to the end of this road. The road was crossed up. She threw it to the end of the road [down the left prong which was crooked]. She threw it over her right shoulder an' said somepin three times. So I said to the lady, I said, "Whut did you do that for?" She said, "We got to pay off the evil spirits whut we git our work to act, So they'll do whut we want to do, see." So I imagine that's whut dey did that for. That's all I know about that. But anyhow I went with 'er. So after that, why she [the doctor] said to this woman, she says, "When this baby falls down off of the doah, '' she says, "in seven days after that, if not seven days then the ninth day," she says, "he'll come home." I didn't go back with 'er though after dat baby fell, but I went with 'er for to pay off, you know, dat concern to the ends of that road. I went with 'er den. So after that I ast the lady, I said, "Did your husband came?" She said, "Yes, he come back all right." I said, "Well, how he's treatin' you?" She said, "Fine, better than he did before."
Entry 616
The pins and needles - well, that's when someone hurts yeh and you're trying to turn it back on them. You buy a new paper of needles and a new paper of pins. And you take nine needles and nine pins, and you put on a quart of water, and you put a fifty cents or a dollar or a dime - any silver piece of money in there - and then let it come to a boil. And if you're hurt, why this money will turn over. Well then, if the water boil, it'll turn with the boiling water. You do that when the moon's on the last quarter or right on the full moon as the moon's going away. That's when you boil this money, they say. And that tells whether you're hurt. This money'll boil and turn over, just continue to turn over and just rattle. And then you drop these needles and pins in there and make your wish, you see, that whatsomever they do to you may return back on the ones that put it on you., See? Well then, after it boiling, you boil it down. You take a quart, say for a instant [instance], you boil it to a half a pint. Then you make this same wish again. And you go on back down then until it gets to a half a pint. You never boil it clean completely away. You drink this water, you see, when you take this spell off. And then you take those needles and pins and put them in something that you doesn't care for, something about your person, put 'em in paper or, if you found you anything around there where it's been put down, why you put all this together and throw that in running Water between nine and twelve o'clock, anytime after sunset. And make your wish just whatever way that chew goin'. (While wishing, stand facing the direction that you will take after the article has been thrown into the river.) You see, you can turn around [backwards] on your way [to the river]. Don't never turn around [after reaching the river]. Be in the position that chew goin' when you throw them away. And never look back. Well, you see, if you do it right on the full moon, see, then by the time it changes and goes completely away, see, why this spell is off of you; then, see, and those needles and pins, they've done and washed on away.
Entry 737
Well, oftentimes fellahs carries a lucky piece in dere pocket. Maybe it be lodestone or John de Conker or five-finger grass or some kinda perfume in lodestone - oftentimes fellahs carries it. An' den sometimes fellahs has a pocket-piece like dis dey carries fo' luck. Dat's a piece of John de Conker [he shows it].
(How do you prepare this?)
Well, yo' take it an' yo' put it in a little bag like dis [he shows it].
(In a red flannel bag.)
In a red flannel bag. Yo' take a piece of lodestone an' put in that bag with it an' yo' take a little bit of sachet powders an' put in dat bag. Yo' take a silver dime an' put it in dere between de lodestone an' High John de Conker root. Take yo' a piece of white thread an' carry it round dat-a-way nine times. Yo' carry it round dat-a-way nine times an' take it right in dere wit yore finger an' bring it right dis way nine times. Tie it into nine knots. (Now wait a minute. The first time you carry this thing away from you or towards you?) You carry it away from you nine times.
(On this side here you tie a knot?)
No sir, yo' don't tie no knot - yo' jes' carry it heah.
(You just hold it there?)
An' hold it there, yo' understand, an' make a loop ketch it - don't tie nc knot atall, make a loop ketch it. Bring it back to yo' nine times. An' yo' bring it back to yo' then nine times an' tie nine knots in it right in de center like that. All right, yo' carry it this-a-way nine times.
(Nine times lengthwise - away from you?)
Yes sir - right this-a-way nine times. All right yo' git done with it an' yo' take a straight pin an' stick right down in there - right in de top. Take dis bag an' yo' tie it real tight - tie in de top like dat an' wear it either up heah or in yore left pocket.
(Either under your heart or in your pocket.)
Or either in yore left pocket.
(And what is that bag supposed to do for you?)
Dat supposed to give you luck - drive away de evil spirits an' bring luck an' success an' make friends wit everybody - yore enemies will be yore friends, fellahs who don't like yo' will come tuh like yo'. Ah've got a piece of dis John de Conker [which he had just showed to me] supposed to be good fo' dat. Yo' supposed tuh use it wit holy oil. Dere's a oil dat yo' use wit it - it's a little red oil, dey call it de holy oil. Yo' have to order it. Yo' takes dis oil an' yo' keeps it 'nointed wit dis - keep dis root anointed wit dis oil. [The technical word for anointing is often called feeding.] An' when yo' git ready tuh leave home dat mawnin' yo' take some of dis oil an' po' it in yore han' an' rub it on yore han' dat-a-way an' rub it cross yore chest like dat - jes' like that. (Your right on your shoulder and you bring it down across your chest. And your left hand you have on the right side and bring it straight across.) Straight across it like that. An' while yo' doin' that why says de Our Father prayers.
(That's when you go down to get a job from the boss?)
Yes sir.
(That little red bag like that - where do you get those, buy them?)
Ah ordahs 'em.
(Oh, they have draw strings on them.)
Ah ordahs 'em from Tennessee.
(From Memphis - the Curio Products Company?) [That probably surprised him.)
Yes suh. Ah makes a straight nail for runnin' a person crazy by usin' three strands of dere hair in a pine tree -
(Oh, you told me that.)
Entry 863
Well, mah husband wants once tuh run a jewelry shop an' it was a woman loved him an' he wouldn't love her, so she got about twenty needles and twenty pins an' po' some kind of stuff on 'em an' put it in a red piece of flannel, an' that morning when he went to de jewelry shop it was tacked on de do' right under the knob. An' he started to touch it an' the man said, "Don't touch it." So he said, "What ah'm goin' do - how'm ah goin' tuh git in?" Said, "Wait a minute." So he threw gasoline on it an' he threw a match on it. Mah husband didn't know whut it meant, so it worried him all day, so he got on de train an' he went to Tampa. So a lady [cunjure] tole him that a lady put it on dere. So he said, "Well, whut does she mean tuh do?" Say, "She meant fo' yo' tuh tear up yore business - that's whut chew gon'a do." She say, "In less time than two months if yo' don't pay twenty-five dollars [to the cunjure for protection], yo' goin' out business." So pretty soon mah husband jest went to giving his stuff away an' selling it an' he jest said he wanted tuh git out - said his business was torn up Wit those needles and pins an' red flannel dat was sticking on de do'.
Entry 866
I can tell you one thing they can do to hurt you. This is very true. I know a lady. She ministrated. A woman taken her clothes and carried it away and buried it in the cemetery. This woman began to get thin. She ministrated every day for about five years. An old woman came by one day traveling and told this woman - the cemetery wasn't far from the house - she told her exactly where this thing Was buried. She carried her out to this spot underneath a big oak tree. It was buried in brown paper. It looked like brown salve. And it had needles and pins - these great long horsepins - and a piece of rusty wire, and it had about six or seven strands of grey hair. And this was put into a little tin box [symbolic coffin]. The box was covered with a piece of someone's shirt or dress. It was buried under this tree. This old cunjure woman taken it up, she burned something and held it over it. She taken this woman down to the branch. She repeated something for her about three times. She let her drop something out of this tin box, each time she repeated these words, into the stream. She taken one of the old rocks which was near and held it on top of the can and bore nine holes in it, and put the rock in the can and dropped it in the stream. The woman now is living. She is not ministrating. She is about fifty-eight years old. [The created situation must have been frequent at one time, both in city and rural districts - see margin-title Doctor Plays Both Sides, p.257; especially story of Old Woman and Razor, No. 782, p.258.]
Entry 906
A man was telling us one day [about] a woman's daughter. She had lovely hair on her head. And this woman's daughter and her [another woman's daughter] used to go to church together. It seems that this other woman didn't like this girl because her hair was so much better than her daughter's. So she fixed this child - she used to go and comb her hair. Finally, one evening this girl went off crazy. And then her mother asked this old man [who told the story to informant] did he know anybody that could do her any good. And he told her, "Yes, I'll have to go five miles to get to this man's house." So he got a fast horse [and buggy] and he got away from there that night. And when they got to this man's house the man told him, "I know what you all came for. Sit down a minute. You all came here because the girl is crazy and you want me to do something for her." They told him, "Yes." He said, "You all go ahead and I will be there presently." So they went on and got to the girl's house. They weren't there more than two hours when he came in. So when he got in he spoke to them and said, "Get me a basin full of hot water and a towel." And they got the basin and towel for him. And he put the towel right down in the boiling water and wrung it out and put it right to her head. After he put this to her head she came to real life and knew where she was at. He must have put something in the water, but the old man didn't say. He stayed there until four o'clock next morning. Before he left the girl had come to and knew everybody in the house. And he told this man that went after him, "Son, you know what I want you to do? Come on and go around the house with me." They went around the house. It Was getting kind of light then. They carried a lantern. This girl's father was with them. They had a spade. When they got to the corner of the house he told him to dig right down. He dug. They found a little barrel. They dug it and picked it up and gave it to him. They took it into the house. He asked them did they Wwant it and they said no they didn't want it. So when they opened it, the lmage of this girl was cut out of a piece of black cloth. It had needles and pins in there and a whole lot of stuff. He did not say what all was in there. This man said, "You all don't want this?" And they said, "No." So he took it himself. And he said, "Before I go I am going to leave something here for you to do." He told this other man to come on outdoors with him. And he took a stick and drew a ring all the way around the house, and he gave this man some white powder and said, "You sprinkle this all away around on this mark and you all watch the results" - he left about nine-thirty - "at ten o'clock you'll all see who fixed this girl." And he said sure enough they all sat there and watch when he was gone, and exactly at ten o'clock they say they seen somebody come up and try to get in where this girl was, but they couldn't get over this ring. [Did the doctor - or a confederate left outside and away from the house - try to "get over this ring' and then "vanished away?"] After they couldn't get over this ring they turned and went on and vanished away. And they didn't see no more of them. An' old gentleman told me this about eight years ago [1928] and he said it happen 35 or 40 years ago over in Wight [Isle of Wight] County, [Virginia] where he lived.
Entry 941
Now, de woman that ah'm [was] living with, she'd taken advantage of me that way. An' ah had a gypsy Woman [usually a colored woman wearing large ear- rings and pretending to be a gypsy] to tell me all about it, an' de gypsy Woman tole me jes' where to find the nail on de east side of de tree, an' on de north side ah'd find a peg, an' on de west side ah'd find a snuff-can top drove in de tree. I wrote home to mah mother an' tole her about it. She had that tree cut down an' found those items in dat tree - dere was a big nail, a small bottle with a piece of mah shirt, an' in that bottle there were some safety pins - hairpins, an' that shirt, an' two worms about that long an' they were jes' white. An' the fellah [doctor] that did it - mah mother kept it an' she preserved those things fo' certain days - ah don't know whut cause her to do it - an' the fellah that did it was standin' at de windah - an' she pored those things in the stove an' put kerosene to them an' de wind blowing jes' dat way - he was standin' dere an' it blew all in his face [see Smoke in Index]. He was den makin' preparations to go out on de water [as sailor or fisherman] but he never did go - he went crazy. An' dey figured dat returned back on him an' he couldn't stand his own work.
(Well, it didn't affect you in any way?)
Well, ah couldn't stay in no place, no place.
(How did it happen that this gypsy woman told you about this?)
Ah were down heah in Egypt [colored community] - right 'cross in de same town heah. [There was a Little Egypt near somewhere I worked on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.] But it wasn't did here - it was did in the city Key [West?] Florida. An' she came by havin' a big bundle on her shoulder an' she were hungry. So she ast me fo' somethin' to eat. Ah was making mah breakfast-dinner [brunch] then. Ah tole 'er to wait. So when ah tole her dat, de woman she - I let 'er in, an' when ah let 'er in, shé ast me to let 'er read mah hand. So ah did so, an' she tole me jes' how ah got chere an' when ah came an' how ah came. Ah.came de first Sunday in de month, de first day in de week, de first of de month an' de first day of de year. An' she said, "Dis woman yo' marry 'er but," she says, "she's not chure wife." An' she tole me jes' lak ah tole yo' whut was done, an' she [the wife] had did it [through a doctor]. Dat wus put on me fo' nine months, an' ah went ailin' fo' those months, an' a fortune-teller man tole me after dat, if I had gone jes one more month, ah never would have [been] able to regain [myself]. (Well, did you go back home or did you go back to your mother's to get rid of that stuff?) I did. [My question is not tricky; his answer is not a lie - writing home was going home (see Introduction for questions and communication problems).]
Entry 1009
An' git, yo' understan', her ministratin' - a woman's period an' put it in wit lodestone an' some of her hair, rusty needles an' rusty pins, an' bury dat undah her do'step an' that would run her away. Well, de thing that ah saw wus a person had buried this undah a girl's house name Josephine. Well, this Josephine wus livin' in a house an' she wus goin' with a man an' de people wanted her 'way from this place. See. An' somehow or othah they got her stockin' top an' some of her hair an' lodestone. Wrapped that hair aroun' the lodestone an' then she had three rusty needles an' three rusty pins stickin' in through de hair; yo' understan', aroun' dis lodestone, an' buried that undah her steps. An' that wus tuh drive her away. Well, her sistah, Missus Malone, lived 'way on the south end, supposed tuh be one those so-called hoodoos could do things an' drive yo' away. See. An' she told her - she went tuh Miz Malone an' Miz Malone told her about this stuff wus buried undah her do'step an' she got this stuff out - out from undah her do'step. Ah saw de stuff mahself. An' she tole her whut tuh do with it de nex' day. She tole her tuh git up that mawnin' befo' sunrise an' had tuh git three persons tuh burn this stuff. Well, one boy dat ah remembered had burn dis stuff - co'se he's daid now. His name wus - an' he wus de one got de stuff out from undah dat step an' burn it fo' her.
(How do you mean three persons to burn it?)
She meant three persons that she knew - see, tuh git it out an' den each three of these persons do dat tuh see it burn.
(Well, about that piece with the blood - what did they do with that?)
Well, that wus wrapped in with the hair too. Dis bloody piece wus mixed in lodestone an' de hair aroun' de lodestone.
(Did they burn it at any particular time or do anything after they burned it?)
Ah re'lly don't know whut they did aftah dey burn it.
Entry 1093
Take yo'self - you kin git somepin and fix 'em up - dress yo'self so nobody could harm yo'. (Well, what do I get to dress myself?) Yo' could take three dimes and go to de graveyard - three dimes and three matches and three new pins, and any place you kin git some of dat dust, you pick it up and yo' pay 'em wit de matches and de dimes. Pay de grave. Take up a little of dat dust and fix 'em up together, understand, and git some of rock salt. Take some of dat dey call de elder [alder].
(What?) [Words alder and elder are frequently confused.]
Yo' know de elder [alder] dat grow in de creeks like, you take dat [graveyard dirt] and you fix/it wit dis elder [alder] and you bile 'em you understand. You boil 'em together and you git some gunpowder and you sew it up and wear it round your waist or your neck. Nothing could harm you....
(What do you do with that money and pins...?)
Well, ah tell yo' what ah do wit de money. Now if you go to de graveyard and don't pay 'em, dat one goin' - you understand, he.do somepin to harm yuh. You go and give him a dime. Now 'fore you git some dust - heah, yo' see [demonstrates]. You'll have de matches wit de pins stickin' in de matches head. Put dat dere and put a dime dere. An' you come back and you git some dirt. You do de same thing and when you done, you say, "De Lord giveth and de Lord taketh away, Blessed be de Lord." An' you walks straight away - back out.
(With this graveyard dirt.)
Dat's de graveyard dirt. Den bring it home and you go down to de creekside; you find yo'self a creek. Sometime dey find 'em in de tide - de root in de tide like, you see.
(The alder.)
Den dey git some of dem and dey bile 'em together, and when yo' done boilin' 'em you take dat same stuff and take the things out, you understand....
(What do you do with that graveyard dirt?)
You put de graveyard dirt and de elder [alder] root together and you bile it. Den when you done biling dem, understand, yo' take de water - leave it go off. You take de elder [alder] and same [graveyard] powder and you sew it up in a root bag or cloth or something like that and you wear it from your waist or from your neck and nobody can't harm you.
Entry 1834
Well, dey kin take yore hand-writin' - sho' dey kin. Ah've heard that. Dey take - lak yo' write me a lettah an' ah wanta do yo' something, ah take yore writin' an' ah fold it, ah fold it nine times. Den ah put me some pins an' nee- dles, nine needles an' nine pins in that an' put it in some steel dust an' some devil watah an' some ammonia an' bury it. Den yo' act'lly goin' tuh die.
(What is devil watah?)
Devil watah is devil vinegar. (And when you fold it how do you fold it? Fold it to you like this?) [I demonstrate.] No, fold it from yo'.
Entry 1840
See, ah takin' in a little washin' an' ironin'. Wal, I'se makin' good and she call herself fren' of me an' I believed 'er then. So she come to mah house an' says, "Ann, come heah a minute." An' ah went to her. She says, "Come walk around a piece with me." Well, ah did, but ah said, "Well, ah ain't got time cause ah gotta go an' wash." Well, there was another woman called me at de time, says, "Ann, do yo' know who dat woman is dat walk wit chew." Ah says, "Yes, dat's Lulu Taylor." She says, "Wal, now, ah want tell yuh dat woman will put chew in de worst luck - she put chew in de worst luck yo' evah been in yore life. That's Lulu Taylor's job. She call herself great frien's but she kin put chew in de worst luck yo' evah saw and yo' watch what ah tell yuh." She says, "Lulu Taylor is goin' put chew in hard luck," cause she has put her [speaker] in hard luck. She says, "She goin' put chew in hard luck." Ah says, "Well, how will she do that?" "[She] says, "She goin' burn sulphur on Friday on yo' and she goin' to git graveyard dirt to run yo way from heah. Dat's what she goin' do; put chew in de worst kind of luck." Wal, she did do it. She asked me to come home wit her and ah went and says - when she got a piece out she says, "Ann, does yo' know where any white dog manure is? Wal, ah wanna git some." She say a man's name. Now, it was a man there she had been knockin' aroun' wit, an' another woman come and commence to lose time with him. She say, "Come on an' go with me." Ah said to mahself, "Ef she goin' do this kind of trick, ah wanta see how it's done." Ah goes with her. She went to the graveyard and she dug in top of dis grave, down in de grave about dat deep [demonstrates].
(To her elbow.)
An' she got some dirt out of the grave and she say, "Heah's a penny." She put de penny down and tuk away de dirt, come on back to wheah I was wit it in her han' and says, "What ah want chew to do de first time yo' see any white dog's manure, git it fer me." Wal, by time she got to de house, ah walks on heah and ah see it. Ah calls her and she come on back dere to dat stuff. She mix dis heah stuff and put three pins in dere. She put three pins in dis stuff she had fixed - she wouldn't tell de [other] stuff she had. But she run dis man away. Ah know she done dat. Dat [given name] Thompson, ah think it was [his given name] - she run him away from there. Well, he went. [The preceding statement, come on back to wheah I was, shows the first rule of graveyard procedure - all rites must be performed by operator alone. A good illustration of this is the man who waits outside graveyard while woman enters; he not speaking to woman again until they reach home (see No. 77, p.32). Present informant talking about penny is merely after-the-rite knowledge projected for- ward. If present operator had mentioned penny to present informant before-the- rite, she would have violated the rule of secrecy, this causing failure.]
Entry 2210
Now in gamblin' yo' takes three cards - three de gamblin' cards, take three de playin' cards. Yo' takes de ace of spades and de king of di'monds and de jack of clubs. You tear jest a small tip off dose three cards - take a small tip off three cards an' after yo' take de small tip off dose three cards, git chew a file. Yo' take dis file and files a dime in half. Yo' take dis dust now from de dime, you save it too, yo' see - save de dust from dis silver dime, yo' save it. Git chew a piece of lodestone. Git chew a piece of red flannel. Yo' place dis first half of de dime on de flannel. Now see, yo' file it half in two, yo' put one half on de piece of red flannel. After yo' put de one half on de red flannel, yo' place either one [of the halves], yo' place one de three pieces of card - either one [any of three], jest a pinch of de card, yo' see. Put a pinch of de card on one piece [of the dime] and place de other half of de dime on top.
(Like a sandwich.)
Uh-huh - dat's right, like a sandwich. An' yo' put de other piece on it, den yo' put de other piece on top of it and put dis dust - dis filin' from dis dime on top of dat. See. An' yo' puts a piece of lodestone in dere with dat on dis piece of flannel - put it in dere with dat. You dress it, too, with hearts - dis Hearts Cologne, jest a little Hearts Cologne and yo' dampen dis, yo see. An' after you dampen dis, you fold it, but befo' you sew it yo' take a pin - a straight pin and cut de head off it, cut de head off de straight pin and put de head inside of it, and when you fold it up, pin dis other part of de straight pin in it and then you sew it up. See. [Pin or needle point is for sharp luck.] An' after you sew it up den you wears dat, yo' see. An' well, when yo' luck seem to be changin' a little, yo' dress it - yo' jes' take dis whole bag and pour dis Heart Cologne and dress it. Dat s to keep dis lodestone agrowin' - it's growing lodestone. (Now in putting this stuff in there - you've got two halves of the dime, haven't you. And you have three pieces of the corners of the cards. You put one piece of the card down first, then you put the half dime down, then a piece of the card, then a half dime, then a piece of the card.) Yeah, put a piece de card [last piece], den de dust on top of dat.
(What you filed from the dime on top of that. What do they call that?)
It's a gambling hand - yo' know, for luck in gambling.
Entry 3097
I haven't had no dealing with that, but anyway, ah kin tell you some- thing about that lawyer.
(About what lawyer?)
My husband, he had kilt a man and I went to Mother Kate. (Mother Kate?) Yes, sir. (Where did she live?) She lives up on Jackson and Magnolia.
(Is she still living?)
Ah don't know if she's still living yet. I think she moved uptown.
(Oh, all right.)
But anyway I went there to her. I'd gived the lawyer $50, and so a lady told me to go up there to her. And I went up there to her, and I say, "Mother Kate, I come for you to help me - my husband is going to the penitent'ry. The next trial he get, he go to the penitent'ry. She say, "You know what you do," she say, "you go to the Ten Cent Store and get ten cents of brand-new needles and ten cents of pins and," she say, "you go to the market and you get you a beef tongue and," she say, "you put ten pins on each side and you put ten needles on each side." And she say, "you get you 50 pounds of ice and," she say, "let it stay 24 hours and," she say, "leave that tongue froze; and when he go to court he won't get no lifetime - he go to the penitent'ry, but he might get six months in the parish or either get three." And he got three months in the parish. And so after I got him out, he left me. And I went back there and I told her, ah said, "Don't you know he done left me - all that I did for him." She say, "Well, you got any money?" Ah say, "I got one quarter." She say, "You go to the corner and get a nickel worth of nutmeg and a nickels sugar and," she say, "you grate that nutmeg up, ' and she say, "you write his name nine times on a piece of paper, and you put some of that nutmeg [and sugar] in that paper and you put it in the lamp," she say, "you get a piece of red flannel and you burn your lamp."
(Wait a minute! What do you do with that red flannel, now?)
Get a piece of red flannel and drap it in the lamp - keep him from seeing it, you understand - and drap the paper in there [into red flannel to hide paper], and [but first] wrap it up with a piece of thread. And she say, "You write it nine times again and tie it up with a piece of thread and wear it in your shoe." And she say, "You get it nine times again and," she say, "you go to the barroom and gets you ten cents of gin and," she say, "you put it [third paper with 9 names] in a bottle and put it behind your bed and," she say, "you shake it up three times a day," she said, "and I'm betting he'll come back to you.'" And I'm got him till yet.
(Did he come back?)
Yes, I'm got him till yet.
(I see.)
And she say, "Three time a day you shake it up and say, "The Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
(I see. Mother Kate told you that.)
Yes, told me to get a nickel's worth of nutmeg and a nickels sugar.
(Yes?)
She told me to grate the nutmeg and mix it up in the sugar, and write it nine times.
(Wait a minute! Write what nine times?)
Write his name nine times on a piece of paper.
(All right.)
And put it in the lamp and get a piece of flannel and drap [or wrap] it in there. (Wait! You wrap this paper in a piece of flannel, and you put the flannel in the lamp?) Put the flannel in the lamp and wrap the nutmeg and the sugar up in the piece of paper and tie a piece of thread around it and drap that in the lamp.
(But the flannel is around the two then?)
Yes, sir, the flannel goes at the bottom - you know, the paper done sink and the flannel, you see, is all around it.
(Oh, all right. Then what?)
And then she told me, 'Write his name nine times again and put some of that nutmeg and sugar and wear it in your shoe.
(What do you wrap it up in?)
A piece of plain white piece of paper. Write it nine times and tie it up with a piece of white thread and wear it in my shoe.
(You don't put any flannel around that?)
No, don't put no flannel around it atall.
(Just the paper?)
Just the paper.
(All right.)
And she say, "Write his name nine times again on a piece of paper and wrap it up with a piece of thread." And she say, "You go to the barroom and get you ten cents of gin, and you put it in there and three time a day," she say, "you shake it up."
(Wait a minute! You put this paper in this gin?)
Put some of the sugar and the nutmeg and wrap it up with a piece of thread and drap it in the gin.
(I see.)
And then stop it up and put it behind the bed. "And three time a day," she say, ''you shake it up and say, "The Father, Son and Holy Ghost." (I see. You had to do all these three things, then - you burned the lamp, you had to wear it in your shoe, and.) And put it in ten cents of gin.
(And put it in gin. For how long do you have to burn that lamp?)
Burn it all day - but I don't burn it now.
(I see. You only burned it all day.)
Burned it all day and all night.
(I see.)
That's to get him back.
(And you wore this up in your shoe too?)
Wore that in my shoe - the nutmeg and.
(You only burned that lamp one day?)
Burn it all day. I burned it about three weeks.
(I see. OhI you burned it about three weeks.)
Yes, sir, I burned zactly three weeks.
(And he came back.)
And he come back - come back with his suitcase. (I see. You burned this lamp three weeks and you kept that thing in your shoe three weeks and you kept shaking that bottle up for three weeks.) I've got the bottle now, but I don't let him see it.
(I see. You did all those three things for three weeks.)
Three weeks.
(It was three weeks before he came back?)
It was three weeks before he came back. He come back that Monday.
(I see. All right.)
Entry 4266
Well, if yo' wan'a person jealous of yo' - yo' know how womenfolks are.
(You want to make a man jealous of you?)
Jes' love yo', yo' know, an' don't want 'im tuh go out. Well yuh git 'is chamber lye. Yuh git nine bran'-new goldeye needles, nine pins - bran'-new pins, straight pins. An' yuh take nine of dese spices, whole spices [all- spices], nine cloves an' about nine teaspoonful of sugar an' cinnamon [9 each] wit dat. Yuh stop it up in a bottle an' den turn dis bottle on de head in a cornah or secret place. Ah don't care where dey at - jes' lak if yo' say, "Ah wanta see So-an'-so, if dey on de job," an' dey could be jes' lef' [left the job]. Yo' shake dis bottle, see, shake dis bottle up an' cāre [carry] it aroun' yuh head three times, an' bring it tuh yuh dis way three times [demonstrates], an' den yuh jes' shake, shake it, shake it, yuh know, three times, down tuh de flo' [floor], yuh see, an' always keep it [bottle] on de head [upside down], an' dat'll make 'em jes' go crazy [about you].
[Here's my immediate comment, at this point, about the demonstration.]
(Turn [instead of informant's care] this bottle round yuh head three times like a halo.) [Circle would have been a better word, but halo fully describes the action and also shows me commenting to cylinder, not to informant who probably would not have understood halo.]
Entry 4270
Now, from a man or eithah a lady tuh keep 'em tuhgethah, yuh know, wit yuh, yuh take it [urine] an' yuh put it in a bottle. Yuh put nine needles, nine pins, nine tacks, an' a table- spoonful of steel dust, an' a piece of John de Conker root, an' a tablespoonful of honey. Dat's to keep 'er from injur- in' yuh, undahstan'. Now dat's de way yuh tie up a man or a woman. An' keep it turned upside down, an' keep it behin' yuh bed or anywhere in yuh room. An' any time when yuh wanta see 'er when she is away, or him, yuh jis' take it [bottle] lak dis an' shake it to yuh an' call dere name. Dat's whut yuh call tyin' up a person.
Entry 4281
Well, a lot of instan' [instances], like yuh's a man would have a wife, or she would have a husband, an' he would urinate yuh see. Now, if he spit in dere, it prakly [practically] kills it. If he don't, she takes dat an' she puts it in de bottle, nine pins an' nine needles, see, an' stops it up tight wit some cinnamon powdah, put it right where he passes at. By judge yuh can't git 'em apart regardless how she treat 'im.
(You mean she puts it where he can walk over it or under it?)
To walk ovah, like it be's a step tuh go upstairs, jis' put it right undah de step where he passes ovah.
Entry 7204
See, it's been about a month maybe. He had a girl he wus goin' wit 'er an' she fixed 'im. Aftah he went tuh sleep - when he went tuh sleep, he said dat he dreamt about dis bottle dat she had fo' him, an' he'd gotten right up an' went an' got it. An' he'd fell off an' he looked so bad as if he was about tuh die. HE'D GOTTEN A AWFUL SMALL LOOK, terrible small, bone 'bout tuh come through 'is skin. An' he went tuh sleep an' he dreamt about dis bottle an' co'se [of course] he got up den an' went right in de bathroom an' found it. An' dis bottle had red flannel in it an' a couple of pins an' needles, an' he'd taken it an' broke it. He brought it an' showed it tuh me, an' ah don' know whut could a been in it, but it smelled lak evahthing wus in it, ah guess. Ah reckon it wus urine in it - guess was in it. An' aftah he found 'at bottle he begin tuh git bettah.
Entry 8523
Yo' take de name an' put it in a coconut. Write de name nine times on a piece of parket [parchment] papah. Dat's white papah. It looks like a linen but it's somepin like a of a kink in it. Yo' cain't tear dat good [difficult to tear]. Yo' write de first name nine times [see later margin title FIRST NAME]. Yo' git choo nine needles, nine pins, nine new tacks. Yo' roll dat up in dat dere [parchment]. Yo' put it in dere [the coconut]. Git choo a teaspoonful of dis hot peppah FROM DE HOODOO DRUG STORE. Yo' git some bittah aloes an' put in dere [the coconut]. Yo' take yuh a lemon, a lemon dat's neah rotten. Yo' squeeze it intuh it [the coconut]. Den yo' take dese li'le ole green hot peppahs. YO' BURY DAT FROM DE HOODOO DRUG STORE. Yo' put nine of 'em down in dere [the coconut] with nine steel tacks [new?]. An' yo' git chew a little cork [surely new from de hoo- doo drug store] to fit dat hole [by punching out an eye of the coconut] an' yo' stop it [coconut] up. An' yo' git in de [Mississippi] river on the boat [ferry I used twice a day when I collected on the west side of the river in Algiers - the west bank]. An' when yo' git midways of de rivah, when yo' tinks [thinks]it's about middleways, yo' drop dat coconut. Well, long as dat coconut will drift an' won't git broke, why yo'll drift. But finely [finally] no doubt de coconut'll git tuh a place where it'll git jambed an' gits broke. Well, den it'll stop. But long as dat coconut drift like dat, yo'll drift.
Entry 9269
Take graveyard dirt an' sulphah an' put people back tuhgethah, an' yo' kin take it an' part 'em. Well, yo' take dat sulphuh an' table salt an' grave~ yard dirt, take it an' break yo' a aig an' put jes' a lit- tle of it in a aig if yo' wanta run 'em now. An' den yo' stick nine pins in dat aig. Den yo' take dat aig an' write de name cross it an' den write de name straight up an' down dat aig. Den yo' take dat aig at twelve'clock in de night an' bust it up onto dere house. Dey gotta go.
(How do you get those pins into the egg?)
Jes' punch 'em in dere, jes' stick dem in dere till de haid go down.
Entry 11044
I seen a woman dress a chicken head for to bring her husband back to her.
(Well, how would they do that?)
Well, she take the head and take that fork and bone part out the head and stuff it with his name and nine new needles and pins, and bury it. Put his name, sugar, cinnamon and that white rum, and nail it up over the sill[!] of the door. See, and that draws him back. (Up over the top of the door. That's to bring him back?) [Here the sill is considered the ceiling of the door; see No.10972 for open space above a door.]
Entry 11260
They kin get your socks and they get your toenails and any kind of little dirt from under your fingernails or toenails. When they get that, if they be around your house, they kin get your clothes. And they take a little piece of your underwear and cut a little piece where you sweats. Well, they take all of that and put it in a bottle. They goes to work and they gets vinegar, and then they go to work and takes your nature [surely means urine here] you know, if they can get your nature; but if they can't get your nature, they'll go to work and get someone to get it for 'em. They will put all that in a bottle and take it and stop it up. So when they stop it up, they'll put pins and needles and all in there. And when they stop it up, you see, well they uses psychology on you.
(I see.)
They'll go to work, some people, and get someone to go round to see you. See. That's the people is on [know what's going on] you know. And then when he [helper] goes to work and gets that stuff, then he'll go to work and start boostin' this fellow [professional hoodoo man]. You know, when they standing around, he say, "I know a man will do so-and-so and so-and-so." See. Well, dey done got you den. Well, if you are weak-minded, you believe that. See. Then they go to work then and you get all upset. You know, by being weak-minded they kin do so-and-so. Then they turn right around up on top of dat and say, "Well, I charge $25 or $30." Well, you know they are right, but someone went around and talked to you. I know a man that will do it. See, a strange man in town. Then, if you is weak-minded, you believe, you'll have confidence in 'em. Well, that's the people.
Entry 11279
Well, heah in '37 me an' a fellah got in a lil' tangle an' ah went tuh a fellah an' tole him. Dat mawnin' when ah got dere, he had two or three pa- tients. Tole me tuh sit down in de cornah, said, "Ah know whut it's all about," said, "yo' sit down dere." Ah wuz scared. (Scared of what?) Scared of de law 'cause dey run me 'way from de house, an' ah went tuh him. He says, "Sit down, ah knows. Dere ain't nobody goin' bothah yo'." Ah says, "Man, lemme see yo' a minute." "Well," he says, "jes' sit down, don't worry. He says, "Ah know whut's wrong wit yo'." He reached ovah on de trunk an' got sompin in a jar looked lak cleah oil. He says, "Heah, take a drink of dat." Ah took a drink of dat, an' all mah burden jes' went off. Ah sot down dere, ah reckon, all day, waitin' on him tuh git rid of his customers. Got rid of dem an' he say, "Now, ah'm ready fo' yo'." He says, "Yo's a lil' warm, ain't chew?" Ah says, "Yessuh." He said, "Why'd yo' hit dat man?" Ah said, "Hit whut man?" Ah make out lak ah didn't know whut he wuz talkin' 'bout.'Hit whut man?" He said, "Yo' know yo' hit dat man on a certain night wit a piece of heatah - piece of de heatah off a stove." He said, "Yo' busted dat man's haid." Ah said, "Not me." He said, "Yes, yo' did." Said, "Yo' might as well come on an' tell me." Well, ah seed dat he know whut he's talkin' 'bout den, an' ah said, "Yessuh, de reason ah hit dat man, he started on me wit a pocketknife." He said, "Yo' win no money in dere? Yo' know how far dey come from?" "Shure, far off - come from New Orleans." He said, "Well, ah tell yo', ah fix yo' up. Ah'm goin' show yo' whut ah'm goin' do." He say, "Ah ain't goin' charge yo' much but ah'm goin' jes' show yo' whut ah'm goin' do so if anything else come up, ah'm goin' charge yo' mo' de next time." So he said, "Yo' stay roun' heah wit me tuhday, where dere ain't nobody." Say, "Where yo' wife?" Ah say, "She home." He say, "Anybody roun' near Henry Street know?" Ah said, "Yes." He said, "Well, yo' send fo' her. Ah wanta talk wit her some." We sont fo' her tuh come an' she come up at eight a'clock. He give me anothah drink out dat jar an' he give her one. He said, "Now, don't be scared. When de law come an' ast yo' anything, yo' got nerve enough tuh tell 'em." We sot up dere, an' he said, "Yo' want chure husban' tuh go home?" She said, "Yes." He said, "Yo' shure yo' want him tuh go?" Say, "Yessuh, ah want him tuh go." He say, "Yo' want him tuh try it. Git three straight pins." An' he got a piece of bluestone jes' about dat long [demonstrates]. He got dat bluestone an' he beat it up right fine. An' he laid one of dem straight pins lak dis an' one across de othah one lak dat, an' put de othah point - de prong stuck an' de haid out dat way. (You mean along - the two pins were in a row, and one was across them?)[A letter "H" - here 2 crosses together, a doublecross.] Cross de othahs, yes.
(Like a long cross?)
Yes. An' he got some mo' stuff outa dere looked lak powders an' put it wit dat bluestone an' stuff. Ah don' know whut dat wuz, he didn't tell me de name of it. He said, "Well, " he took mah han' an' shook it three times, an' said, "Now, yo' take dis ball ah'm givin' yo'" - it wuz a ball about dat large [indicates] - "an' put it in yore watch pocket." Say, "Yo' carry it every day wit yo'. An' if yo' meet de law or see 'em, yo' take dis stuff - git dis lil' ball an' rub it in yore han' three times [demonstrates], jes' lak dat, an' rub it on yore face. Rub yore face down twice lak dat [demonstrates], an' twice dat way [demonstrates] lak dat." (Twice down over your face and then twice back over your hair? Over your head with your hands?) Yes. "An', " he said, "ah'll guarantee yo' dere won' de police say nuthin tuh yo'." Ee say, "If dey do, yo' come an' tell me an' ah'll do somepin else." He say, "Now when yo' go on home, ' he say, "yo' goin' meet de patrol right in front of yore house." When ah got tuh mah do'step neah de front of de house, de patrolman comes right by an' slowed up lak he wuz goin' stop. Dat wuz in '37 an' dey ain't been dere yet.
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 239
There was a woman that died - the night before she died, we was crossing Gilmore and Moore Street, going to church and her snake got away.
(Her snake?) Her snake got away from her. (Did she have a snake?)
Yes, kept two snakes in de house - say she could send 'em anywhere/ she wanted to.
(Oh, I see.)
And those snakes got away and come out and one run down de culver' [one ran into a culvert and was lost] and a man killed one, and when the one he killed - when he killed that snake she drahpped [dropped] sick in de chair. So I went around next morning to see her and she made me open de drawers. I was about twenty-nine years old then. And she had a drawer on side of de wall there - settin' up in a rack - and she made me open that drawer and pull out about half a dozen socks, tied in a knot in the middle and pins were up in de toes. And then she had pieces belongs to diff'rent women, and one of the women that the pieces belonged to lived right up in the square, and she got that when she give birth to a baby, and she was ridden down, but she didn't die till recently because somebody - they cleaned the place up and burnt up all them rags. She had rags - she had hair - she had pieces cut out the seat of a person's pants - oh, she had everything, in a jar about that tall. (Well, why did she die when these snakes were killed - what did she say about that?) [He doesn't understand me. He would have, had he known the answer.] She takes the snakes - she say she could take them snakes and. make 'em go anywhere she wanted 'em and sprinkle the dust.
(Well, that's what she did - but she died when those snakes were killed?)
She died - well, they say that that was all her company. [He almost has the answer. She and the snakes are really one spirit; her life being magically bound up with the lives of the snakes.]
(Well now, this woman you say, that was going to have a baby or something?)
She had a baby. And she paid five dollars for somebody to get one of her sanitary pieces and she had that stopped up there in a box.
(Trying to harm her or something?)
Harm her, which she did harm her. Whatever she did, now, I didn't know; but whatever she did it jest rid her down.
Entry 1956
An' den yo' kin take a little bit of strand out of a man's head - like if a man dat chew got an' yo' want him tuh stand by yo' or somepin lak dat. Yo' kin take a strand of hair out de mole of his haid, clip out a little hair an' do it up in a little new piece of homespun an' jes' wet it in yore watah, yore urine an' poke it down in jes' de least little crack dat che've got. Yo've not got'a take but jes' de least little tiny piece an' wrap it tight, an' poke right down in a little crack in yore baid in de wood part of it or iron part - yo' know, wheresomevah yo' kin git it punched down in dere good wit a pin. An' dey says dat will hold him.
Entry 6353
Well, some people'll [people will] take haih. Jes' lak yo' take mah hair yo' know an' weah it, weah it on me [you], put it in a bag or somepin an' pin it tuh de clothes on de inside. [They] says dat'll make mah mind cleave tuh dem [you].
Entry 8120
Take a straight pin an' scratch de eye of 'em on de photograph, dat will run a person blind.
Entry 494
I have heard that if a witch rides you at night take a small vial, put hairpins and plain pins and vinegar and a loose stopper in the bottle, and put it under your pillow, and they say it will catch the witch. The witch will get in the bottle, can't get out. The pins will catch the witch and keep him in, and the vinegar will dissolve him and change the color of the contents and you will know that you have the witch. You'll never have trouble with witches as long as you live.
Entry 826
You take nine pins an' fold 'em a certain way an' stick 'em in a piece of papah - I knew a girl, the reason I [know this]. I know a girl gota hold a girl's han'writin' one time. Dey wus arguin' about a fellah. This woman took this han'writin' an' these nine pins an' pinned them all roun' togethah. (How did she pin that around?) She pinned them somepin like a coffin.
(On this piece of paper?)
Yeah. She pinned dem pins all around like a coffin. An' she told her child to throw this in de river - in runnin' watah. This girl didn't live ovah three or four months afterward. Now, dat's cruel. She couldn't been jis' gon'a die anyhow. But that's whut happened [1926 in Richmond]. ["383 - woman about 50 - bootlegger" - Numbers Book 340-442.]
Entry 867
[A picture of a handbill will be found among the illustrations. In the Introduction I explain my experience with handbills in Baltimore. My Mojo Expert of Memphis in Interview section is puzzled because I did not advertise.] Here on Madison Avenue in the same block and - so one morning I'd gone to the store and I'd taken a awful pain in my foot and I had to hop, and I hobbled back home and ah told my daughter, ah say, "You go and tell Mrs. Dawson, I can't come up dere this morning, '' I say, ''because somethin' happen to mah foot before I got up there." And you know before the day was gone my feet was this way [demonstrates].
(Swollen?)
Swole. Well, I couldn't wear a shoe, a bedroom slipper or nothin', and I hobbled round there for most of the week. But one day I was settin' on de porch and see de wind blow somethin' - some advertisin' papers [handbill] up near de gate and I called my daughter to come and get dem so I could read dem and see what they was. [See illustrations of handbills given to me.] When she brought dem - went and got dem and I see where it was a man out to Merrimac Avenue and he was from New York, so de paper said, and he say he want ever'body that was sick to come and get well. Well, I got her to get her boy friend to take me out dere and he'd taken me out dere. He called himself Professor Purvis. And we'd gone out there and he look at my feet and legs and he said, "Oh," he said, "you are in bad shape." He says, "Where did you get this from?" I said, "Well, what is it?" "You walked over something," he said, "a enemy put down fer yuh and you didn't have - you wasn't wise to the fact." He say, "It's a woman this man is dealing with and it seems like he likes you better," and he say, "that she is stopping you from going to the house - to the store." And he says, "You've taken [this] thing between your house and the store?" I said, "I sure did." He said, "Well, I tell you," he say, "that's purtty serious," he say, "but I will work on you," he say, "but ah works peculiar - ah don't give you anything, but ah give something to wear." And he gave me a little piece of something like silver and he say, "When I work on anyone and cure them, it always goes back where it come from." Well, I'd gone on [home]. He say, "Now, in a few days you goin' be so dizzy you can't get up, but stay in bed." Well, sure 'nuff, I was. And so when I commence to getting dizzy, well [that meant] this swelling going out of my feet and veins, because I couldn't even walk - had to get my daughter pull me around in a chair. And so after then, purtty soon I heard talk of a woman being very sick. Well, her friend asked me where did I go and I told her where to go, but they never could catch him at home. Well, they'd gone to North Carolina and got an old man and brought him up there and this old man told her - her friend told me because she lived upstairs over me - she might of known about her puttin' this out on me. But I didn't see this [what was] put out fer me because he said he was goin' to get that one night himself. He said it was in a bottle and it was put down fer me and I asked him what was it. He say, "It's your tracks with some pins in it." He say, "Dere's nine pins and your tracks is in there." and he say, "that's to give great effect," he say, "and then there's some graveyard dirt too," he say, "that took great effect on yuh," and says, "but I'll get that one night myself." I never did see it. He say he got it and I got well, but the other woman was taken sick. And this man from North Carolina came and her own friend told me, that when he come in and she was going on so, he said, "What's the matter?" He says, "Nothin' the matter with yuh but just reapin' what you sows." He says, "You sowed somethin' to somebody that hadn't did anything to you and they was just sharp enough to turn it back on you," and say, "I can't do you no good, when you beginnin' to reap I can't cure you." Say, "You just reapin'" and they say he took his bag and went on back to North Carolina. He didn't do anything for her and she died. And she was one of my lodge members, too.
(That's all you did - was to wear this silver?)
Wore that silver, all I did - little piece of silver that I wore a long time. It look white as my old hat here - just as white. But I'd gotten well - whatever he did, ah don't know. He didn't give me anything to take or nothin', jest told me to wear that.
quoted participant cure claim and refusal, followed by narrator-reported uncertain recovery. No verified cure or causal efficacy These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified. A quoted participant specifically claims graveyard dirt; the narrator says she never saw it. This occurrence is retrieved under the broad historical Dirt index without merging it with the separate Graveyard dirt destination. The contents, responsible person and causal cure remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 305) · Read full source (printed page 306)
Entry 1008
He had a aunt named Aunt Rachel and she used to cook for Mr. S. at Lake Waccamaw. And she had a friend and this friend wanted her iob and she didn't know how to get it honest. It was Jis' like she knowed she couldn't get it honest, I guess, and so she worked a scheme to get it. Well, she went to work and - of course we didn't know what it was all about until she taken sick. But after she taken sick dey had several doctors to her, dey didn't know still about de matter - de doctors couldn't found what was de trouble with her. So one day she swoll all up. She swoll, look like she gon'a burst all her skin, had this fit, and pant for breath. She jis', you know, like every breath would be de last. She couldn't do anything but jis' lie dere and shake and hold her hands like dat. Dis is a real story that I'm tellin' yah, I know about it. She took like dat and dey couldn't do anything atall. De doctors couldn't do anything with her. And so one day Mr. S. told his waitress aroun' there, he says, "Ed," he say, "suppose we do some work aroun' the yard today." Ed said, "Well, Mr. S.," he says, "what will be the first thing on the docket?" He says, "I tell you. I spect we'll move that pump, tear it down and put a new platform and all aroun' it." So they began to move de pump and to taken down this platform all aroun' de pump. And right under de pump after dey begin -.dey take up de pump - dey was two bran'-new saucers and a dozen brass pins, and some stuff and some hair was pinned up in this two bran'-new saucers. Dey [saucers] were plant one over de other, plant together, and dey were placed under de pump. And she was - that Was her dose under de pump. And jes' as soon as that pump was moved and these saucers were removed from this place she got all right. They burned 'em up.
[Wilmington, N. Car., (256), 252:3; Lake Waccamaw, Columbus Co., N. Car.,1896.]
Entry 1058
[The preceding informant's words somebody kin do somethin' tuh offset chew...if yo' don't do that are proved true in the following two rites.] Well, yo' take a man's watah an' yo' put it into a bottle - ketch it. Don't chew pee in it, leave him only pee dere hisself. An' when he pees yo' take it in a small bottle. Yo' don't have tuh have a big one, but see dat he don't spit in it or nuthin lak dat. An' yo' take that pee an' yo' put it in a bottle. Well, yo' buries that right by yore steps. That brings him home. [This is a bottle hand - see subsection Hands - used in love rites.]
(That brings him home. Keeps him home?)
Dat's right.
(Why wouldn't you get it, if he spit into this?)
De spit supposed tuh not - might be killin' outfit whut he could do. Yo' see whut ah'm speakin' of?
(That kills the power.)
Now a woman when she could do dat - she's tuh watch an' see if he does dat, but ketch him when he wouldn't do dat - yo' see, lak a man would make watah an' he would spit in it. Den yo' kin take a man's watah an' put nine needles an' nine pins in it, yo' see, into this watah an' bury it anywhere upside down an' he won't pee any mo'. Dat will kill him. [Retention of urine, perhaps most urological trouble, is caused by hoodoo.] [New Orleans, La., (1568) 2878:9.]
Entry 1640
This here thing of puttin' a spell on anybody, you takes that off wit dere water - see, dere own water. You make it in a bottle an' you git - it's nine pins. See, you turn four de p'ints up - de p'int of de pin. You tie them into a thread. Take a thread an' tie fo' of de p'ints up - de fo' cormer of de world, an' five down, you understand, an' jis' like it's joo, you take an' leak in de bottle an' put dese pin in dere, see, an' jis' stop dat bottle up. You go to a ole wrecken [delapidated] house dat nobody lives in an' take up a brick. [I ask a lost question] yeah, yeah, in de fiahplace some ole house in de country or anywhere dat dere nobody livin'. You know, take up a brick, take dis bottle - you got but three words to say to dis when you set it, see - you understand whut I mean, "Bad luck go away, good luck follah," three times. You set it [bottle] down an' place dat [brick] jis' like it was before, an' you go ahead an' return home. Don't look back - no lookin' back atall. I'm tellin' you ezactly whut will do dat. An' you go right on home. Den after you git in de house, you kin come out an' look where you wan' to - after you git tuh de house. Well, in nine days it'll [the spell will] be off. De fellah dat put it on them [you], dey'll
[he'll] be feelin' it.
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 2099
If yo' got a woman an' wanta make love wit her, yo' goes to her house. She don't want chew dere yo' see, but den yo' go to her house - make it specially to go tuh her house to git a few words wit her. Then yo' mess roun' an' if yo' kin git a chance tuh ketch her han's, yo' git de lengt' of dat lef'- han' fingah - dat dog fingah [demonstrates]. (The index finger of the left hand?) The fingah off her lef' han' - de dog fingah. See, yo' git de joint of it, de first joint.
(What do you do? You are not taking it off of any woman are you?)
No, yo' don't take it off, yo' jes' ketch it an' git de measure of it, somepin lak dat. Den go out git chew nine dem broom sweepers - see, git chew nine straws about de same length, every one of 'em, see. Git one of her gloves, see, an' yo' let it go out [straighten it out] an' cut de fingah off right in dere, an' yo' tie it with a string, tie it up in dere.
(What do vou tie up in that?)
Dem nine straws.
(You tie those nine straws in that little finger that you cut off the glove.)
Den yo' put chew nine single pins in dere an' tie it up an' wear it in yore pocket, an' dat girl will love yo' from den on, an' wouldn't make love wit any othah individual either - jes' tie her. [This is called tying a person.] (Here's what you do, get the length of that first joint of the dog finger - the index finger of the left hand. Then you get nine broomstraws that length. Then you get her glove with that same finger and cut the end of that glove finger off and put the nine broomstraws in there.) [To measure a finger joint measures the whole body because part of the spirit equals the whole of the spirit (see p.21). Measuring is like drawing a circle about a person or scratching a circle on the ground for him to walk over - you confine him, control him. By the law of the opposite, treasure hunters put a circle about themselves as a protection against spirits (see the Magic Circle, p.123).]
Entry 2395
Someone who used to live on the Riprap Road found a box at the gate one morning and brought it to my house and said, "Look what I dug up at my gate." I said to her, "What's in it?" And she opened it and there was pins in there and needles and some of her hair and sulphur in a bag in there and a piece of red flannel that had four sticks sewed up into that and a dime into it. It was a wooden box about that long. (Eight inches long and four inches wide.) [Probably a cigar box - symbolic coffin.] She said she was going to take it and see who put it there, she was going to take it over to Norfolk to a fortuneteller. And when she came back she told me that her husband put it there. That's what the fortuneteller told her.
Entry 2826
(What would they do if they got my photograph?)
Well, your photograph - this here - of course they don't use those tintypes no more. But you could take your photograph like that. You could take a candle. Just like if you want to do evil, well you could take a black candle; if you want peace or love, well you take a blue or green candle. You take that candle and you take a pin, start from the top and you write her name coming down, all the way around, coming down until you get to the bottom. [Demonstrates.] (You write her name right around it with this pin. You scratch her name on that candle right down like a barber's pole, down to the bottom.) Yeah. Then after you get it [written], you get a little small can - get a little small can like that and you put it, the candle down in that.
(What color candle are you using now?)
Using a green one.
(A green one. All right.)
And you take it and you put it down in there - just about a half of that cup- ful of water. [Water is in the can.] You taken her picture - don't put it where it could catch afire, but set it over that and you light that candle. Well, that candle will burn. Just like you set it at nine - that's if you want her to be on a grief about you - you set that candle at nine and you take it off at twelve. Put that candle out. But whilst you got that candle burning, you have her photo- graph turned down right over that.
(Now wait a minute. That photograph is in front of the can? Outside?)
Yes, just set it over there where it wouldn't catch fire from the heat from the candle.
(Wait a minute. The photo isn't over the can?)
No.
(It's leaning against the can?)
Leaning toward the candle [but against can].
(And her picture is upside down?)
That's right.
(All right.)
Then you take it.
(You light it at nine in the morning and nine at night?)
Nine in the morning and at twelve o'clock in the day you take it out. And you light it at nine o'clock [in the morning] and at twelve o'clock, you puts it out.
(All right. Then what?)
That puts her on a grief. Then you change that picture. Every morning you do that for three morning - three nines and three twelves. See.
(How do you mean, you change that picture?)
Just like if you got it turned bottom upwards, then you take that picture anc turn in crossways.
(Sideways?)
Just like that. Yes.
(Each day.)
Yeah, first nine [in the morning] you have it bottom upwards, second nine you got it crossways, and three [third] nine you got it straight up again.
(Head down?)
Yes.
(Every day you turn that picture a different way in front of the can?)
In front of the candle.
(You turn it three times because you are burning it three days?)
Three days.
(All right. Go ahead.)
Then afterwards you take it out. After you take the three days out, well you take this picture every day at twelve o'clock for seven days at twelve o'clock. You read the prayers - just like you take the morning prayers, see, of Moses - the prayer of - any kind of prayer - "The Lord be our Shepherd" - and well then, you read that prayer every day at twelve o'clock.
(Is this before you put the candle out or after you put the candle out?)
No, you hain't got the candle burning a'tall, then. You just reading to that picture - you just praying to.
(At twelve o'clock after you put the candle out?)
Yes. Then, regardless of where that woman at, she is worried - she's worried, she coming back to you.
Entry 2838
White candles or blue candles for peace; black candles for danger or for to kill you or to run you crazy or something like dat. (Just how would they burn them? How do you mean they burn them?) Well, they say that they kin stick pins in black can- dles and roll them in pepper and salt and burn them at seven o'clock in the morning, you know, or eleven o'clock - some [uneven] hour like that, eleven or seven in the morning and the same at night. That will run you crazy or confuse you or something of the kind. That's a black candle. And the white one, they say you sprinkle them with sugar and burn them - you know, at the hours of seven-eleven, or a blue candle for love. Ah've heard that.
Entry 2859
They burn a candle on it and turn it down. Do you know why ah knows this? (Now wait a minute. [I demonstrate.] Here's the photograph. The face is up. Now what do you do? How do you put the candle on there? This is the candle. You set the candle on the face like that?) You turn de bottom up. (You turn the face down and the bottom is up, and you put the candle right on top of it - right in the center like that., [This makes a quincunx - p.710 and Index.] What kind of candle do you use?) You use a black candle.
(Just one. And do you say anything or do anything when you do this?)
Yes, you say something, "I want her to sink to the bowels [of the earth]." That means to die. You burn it nine times dere, nine mornings.
(Then what happens?)
Well, if someone don't hurry an' do something, dey be sure gone. Well, you know why ah know that. You see ah had a sister, she was almost dead and she went to - she had to get her photo made, see. I say, "Maybe somebody got chure photo." She say, "Oh, ah suffer wit mah haid." She looked like she was going crazy. Well, ah took a new needle - new needles and pins and crossed 'em.
(Where did you cross them?)
Fo' to make de headache go off, put de pin right dere - brand-new - in her hair, right in de mole [mold of her head]. Den you cross it, you see. An'den after you cross it, you take some Hearts Perfume, dampen it all together and den take some camphor and put it right dere - on chere [demonstrates]. (Put it right on there on that hair at the ears. And then did her headache stop?) It sure did. And then when it stopped I say to her, say, "Now, you go and get your photo." And she went to get her photo. Dey have a - [a privy] in de back yard, a fren' girl of her. She was kind of mad with her about her husband. You see, she had mah sister's husband and mah sister liked tuh die. An' sure 'nuff, when she went in there [the privy], she had her photo behind the door with that candle on it.
[See margin-title IN THE ToILET, p.826 and Scatologic rites in Index.]
(That black candle on it.)
Mah sister took dat candle and took it and throw it in de river. And her and dat woman had a fight about it, but she got her photo and dat candle. She liked tuh been dead. Well, your picture, they can bury your picture. They can bury your picture bottom down. That'll make you drag: Your head'll be hurtin' you all the time, pain, and your head ache.
(How do they burn that on you?)
They say they light a candle, burn a candle to put you down - with the picture down, you see. With the picture down - they can't do nothing with it up, you see. They have the face down, you see. (What kind of a candle do they burn? How do they fix that candle up? What do they do?) Well, that candle, you see. They put the candle in a saucer, you see, and as for the saucer, they lay it right on top of the picture, you see, and they let it burn, you see. And you burn that candle for nine days, see.
(What times? Right on through?)
Right on through.
(Never let it go out?)
Never let it go out atall - nine days, right in that dark corner - right up in the corner, you see. Nine days.
(What color candle do they use? A white candle for that?)
Well, they generally use a black candle when they want to do evil.
(I see.)
A white candle - it's for goodness, see. Evil is a black candle.
Entry 2871
Dey say if anyone steal anything from you, take dis black candle and write dere name on it nine times and burn it fifteen minutes. Set it in a dark corner in de no'th corner - one in de no'th corner and one in de southeast corner of yere house. An' stick nine pins in it an' nine needles. When you light dis candle call dere name nine times, and burn 'em fifteen minutes six, twelve and six in de evening. An' when you put it out - jest wet it an' put it out like dat [demonstrates].
(Pinch it out.)
Yes.
(And what is that supposed to do then?)
That will make 'em bring those things back if they stole them.
(How many candles do you use?)
Two.
(And you put one in one corner of the house - what corners are those?)
De no'th corner and de southeast jest like heah now [demonstrates].
(Opposite corners. One in the northwest or northeast?)
[Wanting to know whether this was the magic of the diagonal, I purposely avoided the question opposite corners.] Northwest - dat's whut ah would call it.
Entry 2875
If de' burning on you for bad luck or to kill you, dey burns black can- dles. And if dey burning for good luck, you burns white candles or blue candles or yellow. But dark blue is bad luck and black ones kill you. [Dark blue is sometimes called dark purple - it is almost black and somewhat rare.] (Well now, suppose I was trying to kill someone. What would - what have you heard I would do? Just how would I burn that black candle? How would I go about it?) Well, if in a certain length of time you wanted to kill a person, you set it for nine days, and you fix dat candle and put dese folks' name under it, and course you put nine new straight pins in it, and you burn dat candle for about five minutes for nine days.
(What time of day would I burn it for five minutes?)
Well, just the time you'd have to set it for. Whatever hour you have it set for.
Entry 3102
[My discovery of Zippy Tull and George Jackson - former celebrities of the high-man or witchcraft world along the Eastern Shore - I have described in the INTRODUCTION. One of the great stories about her has already been given - No. 8, page 5. For George Jackson, see page 912.] [Nicknames characterize the woman - "Zippy'" meaning '"lively'" and 'smart," and "Aunt Zippy'" revealing an affectionate regard by many people. She lived a large part of her life a mile or so from the Maryland line at a place once called Drummondtown, near New Church, Accomac County, Virginia. Approximate dates of birth and death would be the decade of 1830 and the year 1900. I have four stories about her, each told by a different informant; also three remedies given by a fifth person. Never again would I meet anyone who, I felt, had actually been so near old-time workers. All material, except the story by Mrs. Williams, I collected while working the region and stay- ing the last few days at the old Washington Hotel in Princess Anne, Maryland.] [Story No. 1 - recorded in my hotel dining room, Princess Anne, Maryland, was told by a former slave 89 years old.] That's been aboat [about] 70 years ago when I wus - 75 years ago [1861]. I know dat myself, I'm not talkin' about whut I hear somebody 'say. I wus a young man - guess I wusn't a young man neither. I called myself a young man an' I wus courtin' a girl. An' some people lived on a fahm [farm] that didn't like me so very well. I wus a very bright boy an' very swift at that time. So dey begin to wuk [work] on me, as I thought. We has an ol' woman named Zippy Tull, she's a fortuneteller. So I goes down to Miss Zippy an' I says to 'er, "I wan' chew to tell my fortune." She knew my father. She says, "All right, George," she says, "take a seat there." An' she goes over [the cards] an' I never said a word. I jis' sit down there an' listened at 'er. I hadn't tol' 'er nuthin atall yet. So she said, "George," she said, "there's a big dark woman," she said, "that don't like your mother an' don't like your father - an' she poisoned your dog." Well, that wus a fact. An' this dog died sort of tight anyhow. "Well, anyhow," she says, "it's workin' on you. Now, I ain't had no mind it seems to me for nuthin atall. "Well," I said, "I wan' chew to do somepin for me if you kin." She says, "I will, if you do whut I tell you to do," she says. "I will, an' farthermore," she says, "I'll make dem people come to you an' 'splain to you dey done it demselves." I tol' 'er that wus purtty good. Well, I goes to work an' done whut she told me to do. An' fo' or five days from that.
(What did she tell you to do?)
I ain't exposed [supposed] to do [tell] this.
[After all these years the old man was reluctant to tell!]
(Oh! I see. All right.)
In fo' or five days from that, I done jis' whut she told me, an' I done whut she tole me to do Saturday night. Aboat in two or three davs from then, mayhaps a week - that woman hadn't beer to my house in three years - she come there at twelve o'clock. She don't come in. She put both hands on the door an' says - my mother's name wus Liddy - she says, "Liddy," she said, "if ever I git over this, I shall never do any harm to nobody else while I live." "Well, Caroline," she said, "git over whut?" "Whut I've done." She says, "Whut have you done?" "Well," she said, "Liddy, I done a whole lot, I've done a whole lot in my time, but, '' she says, "I've done somepin now which I think that I've gone to my good scene [death] from outside [outside because her own spell had been turned against her by Zippy Tull]. She said, "I'll jes' say to you that I'll never will do nuthin else to nobody while I live, again." "Well, whut have you done?" "Well," she said, "I'll never do nuthin to nobody else while I live." Well, that woman went away, she went back to her home again - she went back aboat a quarter of a mile from me and she pined away. An' whut I done - as that stuff wasted away, she wasted away; when that stuff wus all gone, she went.
(What did she do? Can't you tell?)
Did I tell what I done?
(No. Did she [Zippy] tell what she [the bewitcher] did?)
No, she didn't tell me what she done to me.
(And what did you do, now? What did you get?)
Well, I [he still hesitates] - well, I done this. She [Zippy Tull] tole me to git some new needles, pins, an' some of my own water - an' I fergit now the other t'ings I take, been so long. I fergit the other odd t'ings that she tole me aboat, but some five or six diff'rent. But I know these new needles an' these new pins, an' I think some shot; put it all into a bottle, an' some of my own water into the bottle, an' dug a hole in de fahplace - taken up a brick an' dug a hole in de fahplace in my home. An' I buried this bottle, put it down - the stopper down. She says, "Now, when dat bottle leaks out - all dat stuff dat's in dat bottle, she'll die," she said, "but she'll waste away dat way same as dat bottle." She said, "Stop it up tight," she said, "turn it upside down, cover it up an' place this brick back on top of it." Well, I done that an' buried it, jest as she tole me, where I dug.
(Did she die?)
DIEI Why she smothered! [Princess Anne, Md., (127), 29:2.] 0. [Story No. 2 - came from Mr. J. Shrieve (Numbers Book 83-134), my hotel manager at Princess Anne, a man past fifty, the only white informant interviewed. The latter alone makes him memorable, but a favor he also did later made the day doubly a worthy memory (see INTRODUCTION). This story, No. 2, is numbered 0000. because it is already in the text - see No. 8, page 5.]
Entry 4038
Fer a instant [instance], ah wanted mah ole lady - she wuz doin' bad things, see. I would take an' place a aig up undah de steps an' ah would put it in some urinate. An' ah would place dat egg up undah de front steps, jes' put dis aig in dere - jes' de natchal [natural] eggshell - ah could make her stay at home. Ain't any way she could leave home, long as dat aig an' urinate is undah de steps. (You take just the fresh egg. You don't take the yellow or white or anything out. The whole egg. Just any kind of a chicken egg?) No, de whole aig, any kinda chicken aig. An' place - stick a pin into de end of it. Long as dat aig stay undah dere. See, put de urinate intuh a can, an' place de egg intuh de urinate, an' place in undah de steps.
(Where she can see it?)
Where she can't see it. An' evah time she walk ovah it, she'll gits worsah [worser]. Ain't no way she kin leave home, cuz when she walks dere fo' 'bout two-three mawnin's it takes de 'vantage of 'er.
Entry 4201
Ah heard dat chew kin take nine needles an' nine pins an' some piece of 'is, or 'er chamber lye an' put it in a bottle. An' turn de - jis' put one pin dis way an' put one needle de same way, an' one needle up, p'int up, an' one pin de p'int up, instead of git de nine needles. But chew mus' put de p'int of de haid of de pin down an' de head of de needle down first, an' de p'int up of de needles an' de pins, un- til yh git de whole nine needles in dere, an' stop it up. An' take dat an' set it in a close place - in de closet or any place lak dat. Dat will keep 'll home.
Entry 4557
Yuh kin take dat bow from de back of 'is hat, one dat he done wore - de sweat in it chew undahstan'. Yuh kin take dat an' jes' keep it in de seat of yore bloomahs all de time. Jes' pin it in dere an' wear it in dere an' dat will always keep 'im wit chew. Dat's all yuh gotta do, jes' wear it in dere all de TIME. AN' EVAH TIME YUH CHANGE A PAIR OF PANTS, YUH JES PUT IT RIGHT BACK IN.
Entry 5013
(How would they do that?) Dey'd take de sock or stockin' an' dey roll dat up tuh yo' lak dis [demonstrates]. See, always roll it tuh yuh. An' when yuh roll dat tuh yuh lak dat, well den dey pin dat right at de joist of de house where yuh gotta come in an' go out. See, dey pin dat right dere, an' long as dat stays up dere, dey have a dominion on yuh.
Entry 5351
Git two of dose straws an' put 'em tuhgethah. (Two straws from the broom?) Yes sir. Put 'em tuhgethah, which an' why, lay 'em 'cross one anothah, an' stick a pin through 'em, an' put 'em out intuh where de tracks is runnin'. An' make yore wish: In de Name of de Fathah, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, an' call de individual name dat yo' mean tuh git rid of. An' dat will git rid of 'em. (They will leave.)
Entry 5473
If yo' want 'em tuh go, yo' kin git de track up from yo' - take it from yo'. See, if yo' want 'em tuh go [demonstrates]. (Here's the toe here and here's the heel, then I take it up right like that. Like this?) Start at de hollah of de foot an' take it from dere tuh de toe. See, dat whut ah mean. Yo' want 'em tuh go. Take it jis' dis way, see. An' yo' take dat foot track an' put chew some red peppah an' some salt in dere. Listen, some grave- yard dirt, an' sew dat up an' go tuh de rivah befo' de sunrise. Yo' kin turn yore back an' throw it right where de watah's runnin' right along, an' throw it ovah dis way [demonstrates].
(Over your right shoulder?)
Yes. An' when yo' leave, yo' kin say anythin' - some of de baddest things, an' don't look back, an' walk away an' nevah look back. Dey'll go. An' if yo' wan' 'em tuh stay, yo' take it tuh yo' - if yo' wan' 'em tuh stay. Take it up tuh yo', see. Take dat track an' yo' kin fold it in a piece of news- papah. See, stretch it on out an' write dere name down nine times, an' pin it ovah yore do' an' make yore wish - where dey's comin' in an' out. An' dey's comin' in dere. Dey will continue comin' as long as yo' - until yo' take dat up an' destroy dat. Dat's tuh bring 'em, see, if yo' wanta.
Entry 6029
Someone who used to live on the Riprap Road found a box at the gate one morning and brought it to my house and said, "Look what I dug up at my gate." I said to her, "What's in it?" And she open- ed it and there were pins in there and neodles and some of her hair and sulphur in a bag in there, and a piece of red flannel that had four sticks sewed up into that and a dime in it. It was a wood- en box [coffin] about that long [demonstrates].
(Eight inches long and four inches wide, probably a cigar box.)
She said she was going to take and see who put it there, SHE WAS GOING TO TAKE IT OVER TO NORFOLK TO A FORTUNETELLER. AND WHEN SHE CAME BACK SHE TOLD ME HER TOLD HER.
Entry 250
Ah had a cousin dat wus hurt like dat - mah first experience to it. They taken some of her hair an' dey put it in de back of a frog, an' her finger- nails an' toenails, an' they got that frog an' put him into a 'bacco sack an' dey put a piece of frog bread - dere's de stuff whut chew call frog bread.
(Frog bread - what is that?)
It's somethin' grows in de woods - jest comes up jest like a sprout. Yo' ever seen celery grow? Well, yo' know how when celery come up outa de ground it's right white. Well, dat's de way dat frog bread comes up but it spreads yo' know, as it gits up outa de ground - it spread kind round like a parasol [a mushroom, always called toadstool in folklore]. Dey put a portion of dat in dat. An' afterward dey taken dat frog to mah cousin house an' dey sewed it up in de bed mattress an' dey had some pins in dat frog - [pins in dat] frog bread, tacked down. An' as dat frog - after it got in action - after dey sewed dis up in mah cousin bed - dis frog de longer it go - after it was fixed - an' as dis frog would Jump, she would fits right after one another. An' she wus jest wizlin' away to nothin'. Well, we could take her 'way from home, we could take her 'way from there an' she would git along pretty well, an' we thought she wus well enough to take back home; we'd taken her back dere an' no quicker'n she hit dat bed, she begin havin' dose fits. Dere wus a ole doctor, Mr. Marlborough.
(White or colored?)
Colored - we'd taken her tuh him. So he sont us back an' he tole her he'd be to her house de next day. Well, on de same day dat he promised us dat he would be dere, he wus dere on de noonsday hour. He goes [in] dere - he wouldn't let her see him take it out - he'd taken mah mother an' aunt an' also her husband. He went into de mattress an' he cut dat frog outa dere which dey had - dey says dey had examined it but dey refused [failed] tuh find [anything] but he went in dere an' seem to let 'em see it. So he bring it from de middle room back tuh where mah mother lived an' he'd taken it out an' he cut dat sack open an' out come de [live] frog: He tole us, says - before he ever did it - he said, "When ah open dis sack - de direction dat de ones who done it, dat direction dat dis frog gon'a try tuh go." An' sure 'nuff jest lak he did - it wus true. So he'd taken it out an' [there was] stuck in dere bluestone, stuff de color of graveyard dirt, her hair, fingernails an' all - I'll never forgit it - he po'red it down in de yard. An' he said, "Now, when ah burn dis stuff, when ah say, "strike a match to it, '" say, "hit gon'a burn like fire in all colors it gon'a be." Ah nevah see nuthin' like it befo' or since. He said, "It gon'a be a snake come heah an' dis snake he is gon'a venture to bit her" - a great long black one. He sot dat stuff afire an' it wus a long blacksnake come runnin' up an' he did his best tuh make it tuh her but he kilt it - ah reckon he jest didn't even know whut he wus doin' an' he kilt it. So he burnt dat up. He say, "In three days' time from dis day, de ones who done it, dey will leave outen de roof of dat house." De ole lady name Charlotte an' her daughter wus named Mamie, an' dey would be wanderin' from place tuh place. Course ah nevah - ah wus young den - ah nevah did learn how he done it, understand - dey have been wandering. But ah do - ah take a man oath - ah know dat's true.
The informant reports pins in the frog, followed by Hyatt's bracketed insertion and frog bread. Placement remains ambiguous; all three source layers are retained. Read the complete cousin narrative for its reported events and treatment claims, which remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 72) · Read full source (printed page 73)
Entry 8971
They take that beef tongue and they put them nine pins in 'em, nine pins and nine needles. And they take that tongue and they take and - that's if you are going to court or going against anybody - and they take that tongue and they'll put it on ice. They freeze it, put that ice around it. Yo' know, pack it right around with that ice. Well, that's when yo' go to talk, that chill yore tongue and yo' can't say what yo' want to say. That chill yore tongue.
Entry 8972
See, if it was a hard case an' yo' wanted to go before de judge. May- be yo' being tried fo' murder an' yo' done murder somebody. Well, yo' got may- be - yo' have a witness against yo' - all of dem against yo', dead against yo', yo' see. But still an' all yo' tried fo' cold-blood murder, yo' understand, an' yore wit- ness all against yo'. Now, yo' know what yo' do. Yo' go to de market an' yo' git a beef tongue. See, when yo' get de beef tongue, yo' take de beef tongue an' yo' carry it home. See. Jes' like yo' know what section yo' goin' in 'fore de judge - what judge yo' goin' to. Yo' know what policeman even what done 'rest yo'. Yo' know de people against yo' on de witness stand. Yo' take dem people's name an' yo' - an' dat judge's name, whomevah what court yo' goin' in." Yo' take his name an' yo' write it down. Yo' take dat beef tongue an' yo' split it open. Put all de witnesses against yo', put 'em down in dat beef tongue. Den yo' get yo' some nails. Take it an' nail it down in dat beef tongue. Den yo' get yo' some nee- dles - jis' needles - as many needles an' pins as yo' could, an' just stick 'em all down in dat beef tongue. Den yo' take yo' - maybe about a block of ice, yo see. Yo' take a block of ice an' yo' take dat tongue an' put it down undah dat ice. Yo' take it an' put it down undah dat ice, yo' see. Den yo' consider yo' freezin' dem people out; yo' freeze dere mine, yo' see.
Entry 8974
(A beef tongue and wrap it up.)
They use a beef tongue. It's like if they got somebody done prosecute 'em, see, an' dey'll get up on de stand [to] prosecute. Well, yo' take dat beef tongue, an' write dere name nine times an' sew it up into de - a piece of de tongue - wit nine needles an' nine pins. An' aftah dey sew it up into dat, dey put it on ice de day of court, an' de people dey get to go on de stand can't talk. Stop 'em from talking.
Entry 10320
Woman puts man's semen in bottle with new needles and new pins, damp- ens every 9 days with gin, and wears. If this cloth becomes dry it will kill the man [Richmond, 302:11].
Entry 10663
Write names of 12 Apost- les, pin them on you, and also write Psalm 70. Write them every time the moon changes. Take off the old one and put on the new ones for protection. [Since the moon is new, the charm must be renewed.]
Entry 10913
Jes' lak if yo' got a dog an' a cat - ain't chew seen two dogs and two cats meet, an' de cat make up his bristles an' de dog make up his bristles? An' while dey got dere bristles made up, yo'll git de hair behin' both of 'em's neck, see; an' put it in a piece of cloth an' fold up de cloth, an' pin nine straight pins in it - one each way. See [demonstrates] pin one in it [cloth] dat way - an' one in it dat way [heads and points, alternated] an' dat jes' will make 'em fuss an' fight. (Well, now what do they do with that cloth after they pin it up? Where do they put that?) Yo' tote dat in yore pocket, see. When dey git together jes' lak dat dog an' cat fight yo' see; jes' fuss an' fight, be mad [every] time dey see one 'nother. Do dat wit de hair. (But they have to get near one another.) [Here without suggesting an answer, I am asking informant how all these concerns the two victims. Do they walk over Package? Is it thrown into their house? Does he name pins them? Without some such device all this is done by informant's intention.]
Entry 12007
If someone bottles your hair and urine with 9 new needles and 9 new pins, and buries it, it will run you crazy. [Newport News by Ediphone.]
Entry 12028
I heard of people taking your hair and put it in a bottle and put 9 strands of hair, they say, and 9 needles and 9 pins. They say they take that bottle some [of] 'em and bury it under your doorstep to do you harm. [Wilming- ton 72:6+85.]
Entry 12036
Woman wraps some of man's private hair around a hairpin or two small pins, adds graveyard dirt, sews into a bag, and hides it in the bed. [The 2 prongs of the hairpin or 2 ordinary pins probably symbolize the man and woman bound together.] [Richmond 374:3.]
Entry 12172
Hoodoo doctors put needles and pins in these bags. They tell you it gives you sharp luck. [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone.]
Entry 12500
New piece of red flannel, 9 new needles on one side, 9 new pins on other, put under doorsteps, makes person crossing over crazy. [Memphis 1569:3.]
Entry 8630
Yo' take some de entrails out [of the lemon] yo' know whatsomevah it [inside of lemon] is [called] an' yo' take a person name. Yo' could take it three times. Yo' could write it three times or else nine, de most is nine, but yo' could take it at three. An' yo' puts anyone yo' want. Heah's anothah separation. Dere plenty ways fo' separation. 1 make 'em confuse an' angry wit anothah, tuh keep 'em apart. Well, yo' put dis down in dere, put de name down in dere. Yo' don' have tuh take ink, yo' could put ink or else a pencil lak dat ink - yo' know, indelible or any kind. An' yo' do it zactly lak ah said wit dis othah one. Put nine time or three time wit one on top each othah. Den yo' take dis steel dust an' dis pePpah, de same red peppah. RED PEPPAH IS REAL HELL. Well, yo' put dat red peppah an' salt an' all dat togethah, an' dis steel dust togethah, an' yo' take it an' put it down in dat lemon, see. An' yo' take de top of de lemon whut chew cut off an' yo' pin it togethah, see. Hit don' have tuh be six feet of dirt where yo' could make a little hole about dat deep [demonstrates].
(About a foot deep.)
Yessuh. An' yo' put it down in dere an' yo' curse it. AN' YO' HAVE TUH BE DRUNK. Yo' have tuh git drunk, an' let de evil come up, yo' undahstan', an' curse it while puttin' it in. When yo' be puttin' de dirt on be cursin' it, yo' undahstan'. Any kinda ole dirty cursin' yo' wants tuh do.
(What will that do then?)
Well, dat's separation ag'in, dat's fightin'.
(While you are doing this, you have to be drunk to do it.)
Yo' have tuh be good an' - not say good an' drunk. WHUT AH MEAN, KNOWIN' WHUT CHURE DOIN'; BUT YO' HAVE TUH HAVE PLENTY LIKKER IN YO'. An' jis' curSe it, yo' know, while puttin' it any place in de ground.
Entry 12996
Jes' lak anybody, well, jes' say if a woman have a friend or sompin an' he is able tuh give her, an' can give her, an' hit look lak he don't wanta use her fo' convenience, why she kin git a dime from him an' she kin take dat dime an' put it in a brand- new piece of domestic an' fold it tuh her nine times, an' sew it an' wear it right next tuh her an' dat's good. Dat'll help out a whole lot in peace with him an he'll provide for her mo' bettah.
(Just wear it any place on her body?)
Yeah, jes' pin it right inside her on de right side, wear dat down dere.
(Next to the skin?)
Yes.
Entry 2975
To make that candle go out? Well, they burn that on your head, you see - that the way they burn that on you, on your head. Now, what you do to make that candle go out. You take you two Pins and put 'em in the top of your head, cross em - make a cross out of 'em two pins. Take some salt and rub it right in the top of your head and wear that there for about four days, and I'll guarantee that headache will pass out - put 'em candles out.
Entry 2976
Take t'ree dressin' pins an' wear: 'em crossways in de mole of yer haid heah, right up in de top heah, an' yo' wear 'em crossways dere. If yo're burnin' dat candle, dat'll make dem - dey have to take dere min' off of from burnin' de candle. Dere wouldn't be luck 'nuff to burn dat candle all de while on yo'.
Entry 874
(I see. Can you tell me what happened - just how it was done or how they were cured? What happened?) Was no cure to dis.
(Oh, I see. You know how it was done, though?) Yes. (All right - suppose you tell me that?) Hit was - (Go ahead - go ahead.)
It was a girl friend of mine. She was hurt. Well, she went to a doctor and the doctor say she have to be operated on. Well, she went through the operation and come back home and about a year - she lingered and lingered about a year after the operation. Well, her father say, "Well, I'm going to take you to a lady that I know could tell me something concerning your trouble." So he carried her.
(Where did this happen - here in Vicksburg?)
No, sir.
(Where did this happen?)
In Louisiana - way over in Louisiana. And he said, "I'm goin' carry you to a lady that kin tell me more about your trouble. And he carried her to the lady and she told him, say, "Look, you twelve months late with this girl," say, "her insides is eat up - her insides is fulla holes just like a sifter, and it's done into her by brass pins." She'd taken them there rags, you know.
(A woman's rags?)
Yes, sir.
(Monthly rags?)
Yes, sir. She took them pins and that brass pin in there and buried it and eight-penny nails - about twelve eight-penny nails. That's what she told him.
(How many brass pins did he put in?)
Twelve and twelve nails.
(Well, what did he do with that rag then, after he put those nails in it?)
Buried it.
(Where did this happen in Louisiana?)
Near Leesville, Louisiana.
(Near Leesville, Louisiana. How many years ago would that be?)
That was in '29 [1929].
The reported account names brass pins and separately nails. The alleged practice and injury are not authenticated, and pins are not relabeled as needles.
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
Why, yo' take a dead person's bone. Yo' gits de middle bone out of 'em. Dat aoapin lak de backbone, sompin lak dat - dat s de middle part of 'em. Yo' gits one joint of dat.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
[The fact that I do not ask the doctor to identify the middle bone would nor- ally indicate that I understood what he was talking about, or thought I did. Bat my transcriber, on the contrary, was confused or impressed, she typing back- back instead of backbone! The jointed bone in the middie of the body, sompin lak de backbone, is the coccyx. And the one joint of dat is the pointed end joint called the indestructible bone or everlasting bone or something - it being able to withstand fire and decay, a magic bone.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
Well, yo' takes it an' yo' dress it - it an' de black cat bone tuhgethah. Yo' go tuh de drug sto' an' yo' git whut chew call de quicksilvah. Yo' gits it in a Ⅱ'le ball about as big as a cent - cost yo' 25c.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
[This is tin foil, not quick- silver.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
Yo' wraps dat up in it an' git chew about fo' ounces of sulphur an Puts in dere wit it. Yo' gits nine pins an' lay 'em in dere 'side of it. Yo' take 'em tuh de no'th cornah of yore house, or in de east cornah of yore house an' lay 'em down. Covah 'em - hide 'em-like. Yo' come tuh be complicated
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
[?]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
or cones tuh - not enemies, or yo' won' have no fren's come roun', yo' know, an hart chew.
Nested source context: informant term and editorial correction · Vol. 3, p. 2099
go tuh de drug sto' an' yo' git whut chew call de quicksilvah. Yo' gits it in a Ⅱ'le ball about as big as a cent - cost yo' 25c. [This is tin foil, not quick- silver.]
locally coherent printed subpassage
Aoapin/backbone and other uncertain forms remain literal. Coccyx/tin foil are Hyatt interpretations/corrections, not the speaker's resolved anatomy/material identity.
closed_printed_instruction_with_ambiguous_terms
Coccyx, indestructible bone and the rationale for identification are editorial assertions, not the informant’s literal identification.
Quicksilver is the informant term; tin foil is the editor’s correction. Preserve this disagreement.
The damaged-looking words and complicated[?] outcome do not support a more precise reconstruction.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 3, p. 2098 · Vol. 3, p. 2099 · Vol. 3, p. 2100 · Vol. 3, p. 2101 · Vol. 3, p. 2102