Subject:Plate
Entries
Entry 2845
Take de knife an' fo'k lak yo' fixin' de table, an' de parties dat chew - but dat kills people, dey tell me. Yessuh. An' yo' puts dat black candle in dere an' dere name wrote jes' lak ah tole yo', but it's gotta be on a brand-new white plate wit dat name underneat' dat plate where dat knife an' fo'k is set around dat candle, crossed, yo' understand, an' dat name underneat' dat, underneat' dat plate, with de black candle. Dat runs 'em crazy with their haid.
(How do you write that name on that piece of paper?)
Yo' write it backwards, jes' dat one party's name dat chew wanta do dat to.
(Just once?)
Yessuh.
Entry 3399
Mah husban' wuz mistreated me fo' an- othah woman an' ah didn't want 'in to have dis woman. Ah wet mah dishrag an' ah washed my whole self wlt it an' ah wipe 'is plate out wit it an' let 'im eat out of it. He ain't goin' wit nobody but me.
Entry 4989
Yuh take nine needles an' put 'em crossways in de sock, an' put red peppah, garlic an' dese little nets dat yuh buy from de drug sto'.
(Hair nets.)
Yuh take dem an' put 'em in de sock, an' den yuh git some clay dust an' pack it, an' sew dat sock up. Dat's de way yuh fix de sock against matches. Yuh take de same amount of matches. Takes nine matches an' nine needles an' fix 'em in dat sock, an' den sew it up. An' den yuh take dat sock an' jis' throw it up undah de bed, or jis' throw it on up ovah de do'.
(What will happen then?)
Well, dat's tuh bring 'em back. When he do come back, yuh take his cloth an' wear it. Aftah yuh'all have intahco'se, yuh take de cloth an' wear it nine days. An' in de mawnin' aftah yuh wear it nine days, yuh take dat cloth an' wipe his plate out wit it.
(That will hold him there?)
Keep 'im dere.
Entry 6477
Yo' kin take jis' de dead skin. Yo' wash yore feet, soak yore feet ah mean tuh say, an' den yo' wash it, an' den yo' take dis dead skin an' scrape it off yore feet. An' den yo' wash de plate. Git chew a plate dat yore wife or sweetheart or who yo' got goin' eat. An' yo wash dat plate wit all dat dead skin, see. An yo' let it dry on dere, an' den yo' let 'em eat outa it, an' yo' nevah git shet of 'em.
Entry 7169
A woman kin have her husban' an' jis' go - it's lak he's workin' at night, an' he be here sleepin' an' she may wanta go off, yo' see, wit some other man or somepin othah. An' she - aftah he goes tuh sleep, she wan's tuh keep 'im asleep. She kin take a plate an' a knife an' fork, an' put it undah de head of dat bed right dere. De knife an' fork cross- ed in de plate undah de head of de bed. She kin put a candle undah de foot of dat bed an' light it, an' take her shimmy or 'er petticoat or somepin lak dat, an' hang it right up ovah 'is face - say prob'ly eight or ten inches from 'is face. An' he'll be sleepin' right dere when she come back home an' wake him up. He won' even wake up while she's gone. She be gone all day an' he'll sleep all day.
(She puts the candle on the foot of the bed?)
Yes, sir, puts de candle right on de foot. Yes, sir, he'll sleep.
(A candle of any particular color or just any kind of candle?)
Oh, jis' git dese big white - two for a nickel candles. [This was back in 1937 during the Great Depression!] Go dere an' buy a candle.
(All right, I see.)
See, she's going tuh make it back dere befo' dat candle goes out.
(I see.)
NOW, DIS IS BY EXPERIENCE. I SAW MAH BROTHAH'S WIFE DO DIS. See. An' she tol' me, say, "Brothah, he don' wan' me tuh go up tuh 'is mothah, " she say, "an' ah'm goin' an' ah know whut tuh do tuh keep 'im asleep." I SAY, "WELL, DO ANY- THIN' YO' WANTA DO ONLY DON'T KILL 'IM." An' ah sits dere an' looked at 'er do dis an' ah walked out an' set on dose row boats right ovah dere across de river in Bellpoint 'till she come back. An' when she come back, I come on ovah dere an' meet 'er an' went in de house, an' de candle done burned down about dat much [demonstrates]. An' he jis' alayin' dere dead to de world. An' she did all dem thin's.
(What did you say? Bell - where is that?)
Bellpoint. It's a li'le small town jis' across de rivah.
(Over in Louisiana?)
Yes, sir - tothah [the other] end of de bridge.
(I see.)
Entry 8721
Yes, ah heard dat chew kin take some sulphur an' burn it. Git chew some sulphur an' put it in a saucer or a plate of somepin dat it kin burn it, a'yo' stan' ovah it an' say tuh it whut chew want done, an' it will happen. Bat chew gotta stan' ovah it an' turn from east tuh no'th, an' talk to it. Yes, yo' gotta start from de east an' yo' swing it right on roun' till yo' git to de no'th, talkin' to it as yo' runnin' roun', an' call[ing] dere name three times. (That is if you Want to cross up that house, so that nobody else could move in there, after they make. you move out?) Yes.
Entry 8737
Like if anyone yo' love real good an' yo' wan'a bring 'em back to yo', for three times a day when yo' fix [prepare] zhor meal or set de table yo' kin set their plate an' de spoon an' fork [and knife] jes' like yo' set for 'em when they were there. An' call their name three times an' tell 'em to come to their dinnah or somepin or breakfas', whichevah it is, an' in nine mawnin's dey'll be back.
Entry 8746
A person kin take a new tin plate an' write a person's name in it dat's e from aroun' yo'. An' if yo' wanted tuh see 'em an' turn it down in a trunk or keep it some way where nobody Would nevah trouble it, an' dat person'll come. Ah've heard of dat.
Entry 8755
Jes' lak if somebody did sompin tuh yo' an' yo' didn't like it or sompin of de kin'. In othah words, if yo' got a man off some place or 'nothah an' yo' take a new tin plate. Git it tuh de Five-an'-Ten-Cent Sto'. An' yo' write dis chapter out de Bible, de fo'th chapter of Psalms [Psalm 4]. Yo' write dat out de Bible on dat tin plate an' write his name down de bottom [and an unusual construction of In 3 Holy Names 'De Father bids yo' come, de Son bids yo' come, de Holy Ghost bids yo' come, an' yo' must come back home tuh me in Jesus' Name." An' yo' turn dat plate an' put it undah yore mattress, where yo' gotta sleep on every night.
Entry 8761
A tin plate. If me an' yo' had done fall out or ah had sompin yo' Want an' yo' nevah could git it from me, ah come tuh yo' an' borrah [borrow] one of yore pans. Take dat pan tuh de house. Ah take it an' nurinate [urinate] in it. Keep it fo' all night wit dat nurinate an' let it set in dere. Ah take it de next mawnin' an' wash it out good an' drop some. Heart Cologne on it an' carry it back tuh yo'.
(What will that do then?)
Well, dat's tuh gain de influence of me an' yo' back.
(Bring us back together again? To restore former relations?)
Yes.
Entry 8762
Ah tell whut chew kin do, if yo's outa yore home right now an' ah Wanted yo' tuh come back heah in yore home. Ah don't think yo're treated right, dat somebody has runned yo away. Ah'm goin' write chure name on a tin plate an' mah name, but me an' yo'd be good friends an' bring yo' back in dis home. An' turn dat new tin- plate an' write chure name in it an' den dere's a brass thimble an' three teaspoons. [The name is written on and the thimble and 3 teaspoons are in the right-side-up plate.] An' turn dat plate an' turn it fo' nine mawnin's - turn it roun' nine times fo' nine mawnin's. An' sleep wit it up undah de head of yore bed. He'll come back home. [The right- side-up plate is turned on its bottom and probably turned anti-clockwise, revers- ing time to bring man home.]
Entry 8764
Ah've heard of 'em usin' dem tin plates tuh make a person come home. Yo' take a new tin plate - take two of 'em an' write dere names in 'em. Yo' write 'em an' jes' lak yo' cut lak dat, yo' write in fo' corners, fo' places. An' say dat plate den - dem two plates an' put 'em 'tween yore mattress on yore bed.
(Put them separately right there or together?)
Uh-huh, separate. An' yo' let 'em stay right dere an' don't nobody tetch dem, an' don't make dat bed. Don't bothah till dose folks come back. (You write those names on these two pans just as if you were quartering a pie?) Yes, dat's right, fo' parts.
(Cutting it into four pieces?)
Uh-huh, yo' write it up dere. Yo' write it on dose lines.
(You write it four times on each plate then?)
Yeah, but don't nevah let it - always jam it up in dat corner in de middle of dat plate.
Entry 9325
Take an aig - advance a aig an' turn it. Jes' if [for example if] a person off [away], yo' kin take a aig an' turn it on a new tinplate. Write de girl name in dat new tin plate nine times an' turn it [egg] fo' nine mawnin's. Turn it nine times fo' nine mawnin's an' dat bring 'em back, wit an aig.
Entry 9468
[CENTER OF A CIRCLE, HERE REPRESENTED BY A PLATE, IS RARE IN HOODOO. For another example, see No.9683, p.3823. Contrariwise, center or middle of a square or oblong (bed, house, grave, room, etc.) is fairly common, the center or fifth point creating a quincunx.] Yo' kin, if yo' got a mean rent-man dat worries yo' an' yo' can't git along wit 'im. Yo' kin gits up in de mawnin' an' git yo' a fresh box of salt - cookin' salt. Teah [tear] it open an' yo' have a tablespoon- ful, an' yo' put a spoonful in yore right hand. Dat plate must be thoroughly clean dough [though]. Put it [spoonful of salt] in yore right hand an' put it in de middle of dat plate. An' yo' bring it right tuh de windah where de sun rise early dat mawnin', an yo' jes' throw it [salt] out de windah, an' come back an' turn de plate down. An' ah don't cay [care] how mean he is, when he git dere he be pleased.
(That is against the rent-man.)
Yes, de rent-man.
Entry 10159
An' a woman wants her ole man back for love, she'll burn a blue candle. Well, she put that [candle] in molasses an' his name - if a colored person [black strap] molasses an' his name - on it nine times, an' hers on top, under that sau- cer see with the blue candle [standing and burning on top of the saucer]. That brings him back. (How long does she burn that and when?) Well, she kin keep that candle burning [as long as and whenever she wants to]. That's for her husband or man.
Entry 12278
Ah tell yo' whut chew kin do, yo' kin take a fo'k an' a knife an' wipe dat plate. Git chew a clean rag an' wipe dat plate, his plate, or his fo'k or her fo'k, an' let him eat out it aftah yo' wipe wit it, ev'ry mawnin' fo' 9 mawnin's. An' if he don' stay dere, he'll come tuh stay. (What do you wipe that plate with?) With a clean cloth. Yo' wipe yo'self in heah umndah yore arms, undah both arms, an' in heah, an' den yo' take an' wipe yore plate. An' always yo' wipe it tuh yo' [demonstrates].
(With a circular motion?)
Yassuh, wipe it tuh yo' lak dat. He'll come tuh yo' if he's not staying dere.
(You don't do anything with that knife and fork then?)
Nuthin but wipe it tuh yo', jes' when yo' wipe dat fo'k yo' wipe it dataway. An' yo' wipe it up. (You have to wipe the fork the same as the plate, to you? You wipe the plate and the knife and the fork?) Yassuh, wipe all three of 'em.
Entry 12769
(What do they do with that if they get hold of your blood?)
Dey kin git a hold of yo' blood an' have yo' kind of paralyzed; or have your blood stuffed, by taking it an' putting it in a certain place. An' yo'll have to use prickle feet an' bloodroot an' blackroot to run dat bad blood back, an' to run dat evil blood what de [they] wanna put dat stuff in. (What do they do with your blood, if they get hold of it?) Oh, dey cud take dat blood an' have silver plate put in it [put your blood in a silver plate]. By dat's chure blood an' yo' drawin' out de silver plate, an' yo'll have someone near, close to yuh, to give dat blood back to yuh, after yo' done draws it wit de silver plate. To have plates to be drawin' in yo', some of yo' close relatives.
(How can you get that blood back in you, then?)
They drink it. (And how do you fix these plates up to get that bad blood out of you again? How do you fix those roots up?) Well, you take de prickle feet an' yo' set it in whiskey. Yo' take de blood- root an' yo' set 'at in whiskey - right on de prickle feets. Yo' set de black- snake root right on de prickles feet root, an' drink it three spoonful a day.
(That gets the bad blood out of you?)
Take de bad blood out. (Well this fellow that gets your blood, what does he do to make it bad blood?) Set it in a silver plate. After he set it in de silver plate, de blood draws in de silver plate. Den he begin to scrape. Put hot water on dere, a little water, an' it draws dat back an' it start back to yuh by some kind of drink yo' use. Yo' best friend will give you dat. He cannot give it to yo', 'cause he cannot git to yuh. After he git dis blood, he'll have to git someone else to git to yuh.
Entry 372
This man came out on the little end of this one. He sold himself to the devil. This happened right here in Snow Hill. I heard a man say that he wanted to play a banjo better than anybody in Snow Hill. A man came to him who could beat him playing a banjo and he went to see a man to see what he could do to learn how to play a banjo better than this other fellow. The man told him to go and get himself two tin plates, and go in the woods eight mornings straight and kneel between two tall oak trees, and rub these tin plates together, to sell himself to the devil, and pray to the devil that his heart would be as free of Jesus Christ as these tin plates are of rust - brand-new tin plates, too. And he did that thing. He got so he could play a guitar [banjo]. He done it seven mornings. And the eighth morning he went out there with these two bright shiny tin plates, playing a guitar, to be as free of Jesus Christ as these two tin plates were of rust, and one of these tall oak trees started to twisting around, you know, and moving. And he jumped. And the time he jumped, one of the limbs fell off. He left there - and the guitar, too.
Entry 13311
Take an' write de 42nd Psalms on a tin plate an' sleep with it under her haid, or his haid, an' dey will return.
(That is to bring a man back or a woman back.)
Yes. [Waycross 1778:2.]
Entry 4719
Yuh has some dirty undahweahs. Dey will go take yore undahweahs an dey will burn 'em. Dey have tuh burn 'em tuh ashes. Dey take it an' take 'em [ashes] wit 'em, see, an' blow it away dataway an' dat'll keep yuh on de drag, so when yuh got shoes, yuh need a hat; when yuh got a hat, chew need a coat; when yuh got coats, yuh need a pants. Dat keep yuh on de drag. Now, if yuh kin - if anybody yuh suspect, yuh undahstan', or whosomevah dat did so, yuh see, yuh take yuh dat parchment papah an' yo'd write dere name on dat. Den yuh write chure name roun' dat. See [demonstrates].
(You write the [your] name right around the [in a] circle?)
Yeah, yuh got dem in a circle. Take dat same papah an' burn it tuh a powdah. Put it in a plate an' blow. Yuh blow dat same luck back on 'em [this is return- ing the spell].
Entry 8765
(How did they do that?)
He went tuh a man [doctor or fortuneteller] and this man had taken a bran'-new tin plate, a common tin plate, an' he write on de back of dis tin plate in red- ink writing. Ah couldn't read de writin' but ah - when dey come - ah was livin' wit de people. Dis girl, she didn't leave de state, but she stayed aftah she left. An' he brought dis tin plate dere an' asked 'im to sign 'er name. An' he said he couldn't sign it [he could not write]. An' so, he got me to sign de girl's name at de bottom. An' he'd taken her coat - she had a little velvet coat - an' wrapped it up in dat an' put it in behin' de ceilin's in de wall. An' told 'im when she come back, tuh take it [coat] an' bring it back tuh 'im an' he [would put] 'em tuhgethah again. (And bring it back to him?) Bring it back tuh 'in. An' he tole 'im tuh go in dat room, yo' see, an' turn tuh de direction where she was, an' pray three times a day. An' said, dat inside of fo' days she would be back. An' she certainly was. (WILL YOU TELL ME THE STORY RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING. HOW IT ALL STARTED - THE WHOLE STORY, THE DETAILS.) Of dis? (Yes, the whole story. How it happened. About her leaving and that sort of thing. Tell all the story.) When she left, she didn't go tuh stay.
(She didn't go to stay?)
No, sir, she didn't go tuh leave, yo' know. At least, she didn't tell 'im she was. She had tole othah people when she left dat she wasn't comin' back.
(I see.)
An' so, her brother-in-law died an' dat's how she got away. She went tuh Louisiana.
(To Louisiana?)
Yeah. An' aftah she got over dere...
(Where was she living?)
She was livin' here in Vicksburg.
(Oh, I see. All right.)
Yes, sir. An' aftah she got ovah dere, she didn't come back an' she wrote, keep encouragin' 'im dat she would be back. An' so she wrote fo' 'im tuh send her things dere. An' he did do it. An' aftah he sent her things dere, she still didn't come back. An' so he went tuh dis man an' dis man tole him dat she wasn't thinking about comin' back.
(Did he go to a man here in town?)
Yes, sir. An' he told 'im dat she wasn't thinkin' about comin' back. An' so he told 'im dat he could brin g'er back fo' 'im. An' he went tuh 'im an' he come. Dis man come tuh 'is house an'
(YOU MEAN THIS "DOCTOR" CAME TO THIS MAN'S HOUSE?)
YES, SIR, CAME TO HIS HOUSE AN' HE BROUGHT DIS TIN PAN WIT 'IM, WIT DE WRITIN' ALREADY ON IT.
(Well, how Was it fixed up, this pan?)
De pan? Jes' a plain tin plate, yo' know pie plate, an' de writin' was on de back of it, jes' like, jes' like yo' would write a letter tuh somebody. But ah couldn't read it, but it was writin' jes' like yo' would write a lettah tuh somebody, an' at de bottom of it he wanted - somebody else had tuh sign 'er name.
(And how was it written, you said before? Written with what?)
With red ink.
(Red ink?)
Yes.
(Did it look like English writing or what?)
Yes.
(You really think it was Written in English, but you couldn't read it?)
No, sir.
[The words may have been written with English letters but meaningless.]
(I see. All right. And they [he] brought this pan back to the man's house?)
Yes.
(And then what happened?)
He took this pan and got one of her pieces, had tuh have somepin dat she wore, an' wrap dis pan up in it.
(But you signed that name though?)
Yes, sir, at de bottom, an' put it ovah behind de ceilin' of de wall.[ Vicks- burg, Miss., (775), 1066:3.]
Entry 2910
Take nine broomstraws - in fac' yo' kin take one straw an' break it up into nine pieces, an' yo' kin take dat straw an' lay it on a plate. An' lay dat straw on de bottom of a plate an' yo' set a candle light, an' yo' burn dat candle light eve'y mawnin' fo' 'bout twenty or thirty minutes. An' have it set right in de midst of those straws, an' yo' burn it eve'y mawnin' fo' 'bout nine mawnin's. Den yo' put it out. When yo' put it out yo' put dat name in de bottom of it, an' dat's fo' food. Yo' always keep plenty food in de home.
(What color candle do you use?)
Yo' use a white candle. Yo' could use a green candle - it's mo' faster, but yo' use a white candle.