Subject:Power
Entries
Entry 819
Now, he takes dat dead man's head - jest like you go dere and say, "Ah Want So-and-So to go from roun', want him to leave town" - see - 'he give me trouble." So he say [ask] what de name and you tell him. He writes de name three times and he puts three rings around it and he take it and put it in that dead man's mouth - dat skeleton haid [informant does not know word skull], and he tell it, jest like he talkin' to somebody, tell it, say, "Ah want chew to run So-and-So-and-So clean out of town, ah want 'em to git clean from around heah," and stick a match to it and that thing smoke in dere and de smoke come out dat dead man eyes and nose - see, dat skeleton haid. Ah've seen dat workin'. Ah know of a woman did dat an' she left, she cain't nevah come back no mo' - she come round but she cain't stay a whole day. Dis person ah'm referrin' to is de man do dat.
Entry 820
[The following two stories are told by the same man - see my comment at the end of the third story:] This fellah has a skull - a head, and claims this is his brother's head. He claimed his brother could do mostly anything he wanted to do and most he learnt it was from whut his brother learnt 'im. His brother wanted him to preserve his skull and keep it with him fer action. And whenever he went in to do anything he worked up to a power from this skull. He dealt with this skull, he talked to it, he sang to it, he danced to it, and it seemly he gits his power and he goes right on. Now, he would go to work, he had five lamps, he placed one in the center of each hand, he placed one on each shoulder and one on his head, and buck danced. He - I mean danced - he wasn't trying to dance, he danced! And danced jist as about as fast as any that choo would find in any theatre. Then he Was able to go right on and do anything or say anything that he would want to say to anyone. He could tell you anything mostly you wanted to know. And he said that the power that he persessed [possessed], that he could walk into any trust company, any bank, any store, or any place of business, and take, go right in to the counters, right behind the counters, open the drawers and take all the money he wanted to take, and walk out and not a soul could see him; if he wanted to do it, but he didn't want to travel that way any more. So it seemly as though he had did it once in his life, but said he didn't want to travel that way any more. And he had a lamp that he kept in his room that he only had to light it or replenish it onest every six months. And he said when that lamp should go out he'll have to go out, he can't stay in that room. [I think the informant missed the point here. This is probably an example of a person's life depending upon the condition of some material object - so common in folktales.] And he came to me one day here to my work [in the hotel] and says to me, he was visiting [boarding with] me, and he says, "Is there any place you kin take me out of town? Anywur we kin go?" "Well, '' I said, "we kin go down to Deals Island and out around the water and back, sight seeing out dere this afternoon." He says, "That's fine. Carry me anywur." He says, "De spirits are bothering me so I can't rest nowur I go." And he says, "I've got to get away, '' he says, "around the water will be a lovely place this afternoon. And that day, when we got back here that night and we jis' started into the diningroom, the people were jist calling me up all over this town asking that I would arrange an interview with this fellah for them. That was fist as though he Was jist that slick on that sort of spirits. He would read 'em [tell fortunes]. He didn't want to do it. He'd give a show. He was traveling, he had a show of his own. And his hands were so dried up they were at least three shades blacker than his face was. And the skin was right tight to the bones as though someone had been dead for months. And he wore gloves to keep anybody from seeing his hands. It looked that desperate. It would frighten you to look at his hands.
(Were you afraid of him?)
I was jis' as skeered of him as could be. I seen him hypotize [hypnotize] a boy. He hypotized a boy, and honestly, I got angry with whut he did to that boy.
(Was the boy from around here?)
Yes sir, our own boy right here in town. He stood him on his head. He stood him on his feet. He made him do anything that would be silly act before everybody. Then he jumped up and laid this fellah flat on the floor on his back, and got up in his breast and the lower part of his stomick, and just jumped up and down with both feet all he wanted, the center of this boy's stomick. When this fellah came to he stood there and laughed. Our own boy right here in town.
[As a part of his show the man escaped from a locked-up coffin.]
The: folks got nervous, very nervous. And when they put him in the coffin and sealed him all up, covered this up, he says, "Set still," he say, "if any of you want to go, I'll let choo go in a few minutes; but if I go down that door and turn around three times, not a one of you kin git up and go out. So you jes' as well set still."
Entry 821
I have a fellah, he told another boy an' myself - we always knowed 'im being very high [a high man = cunjureman] - he could do anything he wanted to do. In fact, I knowed 'em to put 'im in jail an' handcuff 'im, an' put 'im in a cell, a couple of hours after he'd be on the street. Nobody could never explain how he'd git out. They had to carry 'im back to jail. Jis' an ol' peaceful ol' quiet fellow, but would git drunk, you know, an' not create a scene, but jis' be disorderly we'll say. An' they'd put 'im in jail, an' the next morning they'd turn 'im out an' never would be no fine. So he said to me and another one of my boy friends - we were always walkin' down this town here - that he could fix us so that we could git all the money or anything else that we wanted, but we'd have to go with him at nighttime. Well, we decided to do it. So he told us to git shovels. So we got shovels. An' I'm not knowin' what he could do - of course, I'm skeered of those sort of things. An' we went around to his place about eight o'clock at night and he entertained us by playin' the guitar and the banjo, and singin' and dancin', till along about eleven o'clock we thought somepin ought to take place then, becuz it wus time for us to go home and go to bed. So he say at twelve o'clock we wus goin' out to the graveyard - to our colored graveyard, that there wus a body there had been buried jist a certain length of time. Seems as though a body had to be buried that's dead in a grave a certain length of time. And he said -
(Where was this cemetery?)
This cemetery wus about a half a mile out of this present town on this Deals Island road. And he said after a body laid in the grave so many days - I think he said ten days that there would be a slobber that would come from the mouth. And we had to git into this grave, that he would git this slobber. And he said twelve o'clock. Well, I wus through with 'im right then as soon as he said twelve o'clock. But he never told us whut we had to do until this particular night. And he would get this slobber. Our work would be to open the grave, and he'd go in it and git this off of this body; we'd cover it up and come on back. Then he'd build these things the next day. But he had to have that. Now I've heard speak of he had to have graveyard dust out of a coffin, but he never told us whut he could do with it or anything. But he did specialize in the slobber that would develop from a man's mouth or anyone that's been dead ten days. And that would be gotten and put together with various other things, and he would be equipped to do anything that he wanted to do and get away with.
Entry 822
I'll tell you whut happened to me. Now, I wus goin' with a gurl an' I liked 'er. It wus mah firs' wife. An' there's anothah fellow [by the name of John] liked 'er - he lived over in Baltimore aftah while an' he died over there. He left home shortly aftahward [the present story] - he liked her. He [John] goes to - there is an ole sign tha' choo kin go to a grave wahr [where] there's a preacher bur-ried an' de's a certain bone in that preacher, if you kin get it - I don't know whut it is, but I think it's a rib bone, maybe a short rib; but, a certain bone you kin get out of that preacher - an' a certain amount of dirt joo kin get. That clay, you kin git it somewahr by the head or the foot of someone's [grave]. But anyhow, you kin git a little bit of that dirt an' you work this trick. An' you could have this woman so that she can't - she won't notice the other man, she won't notice nuthin but choo. So he [John] did this. Well, I had a friend goin' with me, a great whiskey man, drinked all de time, staggerin' around. So he told me, he said - the girl got so she didn't notice me, I couldn't do anything with 'er at all, befo' that she didn't like nobody but me - he says, "There's somepin wrong" - she wus a cousin to him, too - he says, "there's somepin wrong about Henrietta." "Oh," I says, "I don't think so - jis' a kin'a way she's got." "No, no, helll Joe, there's somepin wrong, an' I'm gon'a find out." So by an' by [several days later] he come back to me an' says, "Well, I found out whut I want." I says, "Whut?" He says, "I wus to John's house the other day," he say, "an' I see'd [seen de] clay on his pants - ole overalls he wus wearin' last week." So he says, "I seen these ole pants." He says, "I seen this clay. You know wahr that come from?" I says, "No." "My GodI' he says, "that come out d'ole [the old] man Brodick's grave" - this is d'ole preacher, ole man Brodick. He says, "This come out of his grave." He says, "That scoungrel [scoundrel] has got somepin out of Brodick's grave." An' the other fellah [who enters the story for the first time] happened to come up at that time an' he stopped, talkin' with us. Both wus her cousins. He says, "Now, if I ain't too interestin'," he say, "I guess I ain't interferin' wit you fellah's business?" "No, indeed, whut we talkin' about." So we kept right on talkin'. He savs to me - he stood there with his haid down, an' when he did speak - he says, "Well, well I spect [expect] that may be so." He says, "I don't know. I don't think John would do you that way. Anyhow, he might. Anyhow," he say, "if he did do that," he says, "I'm gon'a tell you somepin to do, an' you'll know how to stop it." I says, "You will?" He says, "Yes." I says, "Well, I don't know wurther I'll do it or not, '' I say, "I ain't gon'a harm 'im." I says, "He ain't got no more sense than do that to git de gurl, he'll have to take 'er. I'm not gon'a harm 'im." "Oh! No, no," he says, "i' tain't gon'a do 'im no harm [if] you do whut I tell you." So he told me whut to do - a very peculiar thing. Now, he told me to go wahr I could find wahr somebody had made a passage - some human being, you see, passed some dung. He says, "Now, you want it to be maybe about a week or so old, two or three days old anyhow. You don't want a new pile, you want a ole un," he said, "an' you mess yourself all up, git it all on your feet, so you kin smell youself. An' if you ever ketch him aside of that gurl," he says, "don't you h'yessitate" - he say, "you knowed de time he's with 'er - he say, "you git jis' full of it." He say, "Even if you git it on some of your clothes, it don' make no difference," he say, "you kin git it off - jis' so she kin smell it - an' he could smell it - an' you could smell it. You walk right up side of her an' don' choo stop until you follow her an' him both right to de doah," he say, "an' if he's done anything like that" [put a spell on you], he says, 'he'll nevah go thah no more.'"
(What would you do, carry this stuff with you?)
No, that same night dat I knowed she wus out an' he wus to go home with her, why, fer me to git ahaid of 'em somewahr, you see, an' mess mahself up; an' then, when they come by, fer me to be already to break out. I did it. An' man! I wus smellin' turrible dat night. I didn't even like mah ownself. That's right. I thought it wus awful to be that way. But, I got aside of her an' I aimed to make out to stay aside of her. And before I got - oh, yes, I didn't git much further from here to Mr. [So-and-so's] garage [which we could see through the hotel window] before she begin to talk with me. Now, I nevah could git her to answer me - if I was aside of her, she wouldn't say nothin' to me.
(The other man was there, too?)
He was there, too.
(Did you follow them to the door?)
Right to the door. I nevah left. Soon as I got aside of her I nevah left no more. We walked about a mile - she lived about a mile, an' I walked -
(Did they smell you?)
Oh! They couldn't help it, choo know. Man! I wus in a furiosity! I wus furious! I wus in a furious shape! So I went on until I got from here to that garage, she commenced to talkin' with me, an' she talked all the way along. Ever' now an' then she'd answer me anything I ast her, all de way to her door. Now, he begin to git dumb. He begin to git so he wouldn't talk, he wouldn't have much to say. But yet he walked along with us. He didn't have much to say. When she got to the door he jis' said goodby.
(Do you think the dung affected him?)
I don't know whut it done. I nevah did know whut had happened. All I know, I did that.
(How long ago would that be?)
I'm sixty [in 1936] an' I don't guess I wus much over eighteen years old.
(Did it happen around here?)
Right over at Whitehaven, there over in Wicomico County. I lived there, born over there. [Princess Anne, Md., (133), 35:2.] [The preceding story is true - not a funny story. Was it a practical joke? Were the girl's cousins trying to help or hinder the romance? Did informant's rival belong to the conspiracy? Whatever the purpose, the conspirators devised it in terms of ancient witchcraft - human excrement (also urine) is a powerful protection against or cure for evil intent (see FACI 2ed. p.905, Nos.16488-16489 and others).] [I have preserved the name of the man who told this story; he also the teller of another remarkable story: "133 - Joe Dorman began with snake whistling - head of people expression - told story of old Indian - told story of dung - his first wife, never told her" - Nunbers Book 83-134. Snake whistling story perhaps lost. Head of people = group or crowd of people. For story of Indian, Marcellus Gates, see margin-title Zippy Tull.]
Entry 831
Once ah had a very bad headache. Mah head hurt so bad until ah couldn't hardly see - had to put mah feet into warm water to bathe 'em and at de same time bathe mah head down, too. So ah went to a hoodoo doctor and ask him what's de trouble, and he look at mah head and said a piece of hair had been cut out of mah head and buried around de house, and if a storm come early an' wash it away it would help me, but if it didn't ah would go crazy.
(What happened - how did the story turn out?)
Ah tell yo' how de story turned out. Ah was a missionary - ah was going to a missionary meeting, and whilst ah was waiting fo' de people to get ready - ah was at a preacher's house an' whilst setting there ah could feel that headache coming on. I said - I grabbed both hands, I say, "Ooh, mah haid hurts so bad ah believe ah'm going have one dem terrible headaches. So de preacher asked me, said, "Do yo' believe in prayer." I say, "Yes sir." So he came an' he put his hand on de top of mah haid and he said, "Now, yo' pray whilst ah prays." An' he prayed secretly, and ah could feel that misery jest easily goin' away - jest easily goin' away. And after it had gone, seemed like ah had been off in a dream, an' ah never did have that headache again.
(Where did this experience happen - right here in Mobile?)
Yes sir.
(Just a few years ago?)
Yes.
Entry 832
Sometimes all they have to do is to touch you. I wanted to remember a boy and after he [a cunjure man] touched me I couldn't remember him. I didn't know what he [boy] looked like. This [spell] lasted over a year. I couldn't see [remember] this boy. I was in a family way. His mother got this cunjure man to make me forget him. He came to my house, I was in this condition, and he put his hand on my stomach and thinking of the boy when he did it, and after he removed his hand I couldn't think about him [boy]. I would see his pitchure but I couldn't think of anything of him. When this [spell] work off [after a year] it turned back on this boy - he got so he was loving me. After this spell was broken this man [cunjure man] came to me and told me he did it. He told me to put it back on the boy, the boy was in New York and would come back. He came back. I didn't marry this boy. He also gave my mother a little bag to wear on her stocking. My mother's thinking of putting me in trouble [worrying about daughter's condition]. After he gave her this bag she seemed to forget all about me being in trouble. She didn't think of it until the year was up. He told her to wear this bag. He put it there himself, on her left stocking. It had a string on it. He tied it around [her] himself. It was a little black bag. It contained something that smelled like spice, like cinnamon. Whenever he come in contact with you he kinda hypnotized you. I don't know where the hoodoo man came from. This happened in Newport News [Virginia]. His [boy's] grandmother did most of it. She died about two years afterwards. The last time I seen her she had great big knots on her face like some animal. She died a horrible death. It must of went back on her, too. I thought it'd come out on the baby but it didn't take any effect. Only he has funny little spells. Ev'ry night when he goes to bed he'll holler in his sleep. He always did do that from a little baby on up, even now. He's eleven years old.
Entry 1969
Ah used tuh try tuh be a gambler mahself, an' a fellah tole me, said, "yo' go an' see a fellah," an' he give yo' fo' winnin'." Well, ah went to where dis fellah tole me. Ah'm goin' [tell] yo' dis now - fellah name of Jackson, ah goes tuh see him an' ah tole him. Ah said, "Look heah, mister," ah said, "ah wants a han'." He says, "Whut degree han' did yo' want?" Ah said, "Well, if it don't cost too much, ah want jes' a han' de degree dat ah kin git." He says, "Well, ah works 25 degree, 30 an' 40." Ah said, "Well, how much would dat 40 degree be?" He said, "Dat's de best." Say, "Dat will cost yo' $25." Ah say, "How long would it las'?" He say he guarantee it fo' five yeahs anyway. An' he say, he give it, 'An' de first money dat chew win, yo' take it an' go tuh de bank an' git it in silver dollahs an' send me five of de money first." Said, "An' de next time yo' win," he say, "yo' send me all of it." Well, de first time when ah start tuh gamblin', ah start with a dollah an' ah win $25. An' ah say - an' ah rushed to de bank an' got $25 in silver an' sont him five of it. An' ah didn't win no mo' in about a month. Den de nex' game ah went in ah win $50. Well, ah sont him all de change [none of the paper money]. An' de second time ah win, he wrote me a lettah.
(What did he say in his letter?)
He tole me in de lettah dat de las' time dat ah would win, ah would have to come back an' git dat renewed agin. Well, ah nevah have went back tuh git it renewed.
Entry 2809
Git a high-power blue candle and write his name on it seven times, and git a bottle of Jockey Club Perfume and roll in dere, and burn it five minutes three time a day. Say that will bring him back. (What do you do with that perfume?) Roll de candle in it. [See margin-titles Rolling Candle.]
(What time during the day do you burn that candle?)
Six, twelve, six.
Entry 2943
If I was burning a candle on you here and you'd be in Chicago, the way to make that candle go out, if it was an evil [candle] - if it would be working - if it was a black candle and [or] it would be a red candle - [I] would be burning that candle on you. And the moment you burn an evil candle on you, why it starts with a head - you have a ten- dency to have a headache. That's first starting off you have headaches. Well you light that black candle. I turns around - the moment I find out I may go to some hoodoo or go to a fortune- teller, and she might ketch the vibration right away, if she's pretty well up on clairvoyance work, the first thing she would offer up, that is, to set a pure white light. Then sends her thought direct with concentrating and with will power, and demand- ing whatsomever she desire with controlling power, and that light immediately over there - after she would burn her light one inch - it would say - Pop! - pop! - pop! Burn down at once. It won't go out, though - it just burn clean down. Now, I've seen that over there at de house,1917, right here in Lafayette Street.
(That candle that's burning against you would melt right away?)
Melt jist like - right down like that, just push down.
(It would give her controlling power?)
Yeah, controlling power - using controlling in dealing direct with the astral plane.
Entry 4131
Now, dis chamber lye, dey kin take dat now - ah don't know dis from pers'nal experience but ah've heard of dis. If a person, say, might do dat, take it an' sprinkle it on a person's food, he would follow 'em from heah tuh Europe barefooted jis' tuh git a chance tuh be in 'is company.
Entry 7210
(All right.) = [Ready to start.]
Ah had a pair of socks an' ah had a undahsuit. Ah came from mah work an' ah rolled it up, ah couldn't git in mah room, an' ah jis' shoved in between de screen an' de do'. An' ah left. When ah come back, mah undahsuit an' mah socks wuz gone. An' ah do know whut taken place wit me aftah dat, an' ah do know whut ah wuz told through fortune- tellahs.
(All right, tell me all about it.)
De fortunetellah told me dat ah were hurt in some a mah clothes. She did not say whut kinda clothes, but it fell back tuh mah remembrance dat if ah wuz hurt, it must have been mah undahsuit an' mah socks. (Well, how did you know you were hurt? Why did you go to this fortuneteller? Did something happen to.you? Were you sick or something before you went to the fortuneteller?) No, sir, ah wuzn't sick den. Ah wuz not sick den.
(What did you go to that fortuneteller for?)
Well, ah went tuh de doctor. Went tuh Natchez Mississippi Hospital in [nine- teen] thirty an' ah stayed ovah dere 'bout thirteen or seventeen days. An' de doctor seemly dey couldn't fin' de complaint, whut wuz de mattah wit me. He said dat ah wuz all right. Well, ah wúz still sick. Well, ah decided in mah mind - ah hear'd de people talkin' about hoodoos an' witchcraft an' fortune- telZahs. It came tuh me in mah mind by a friend of mine, he said, "Why don' chew go an' see such-an'-such a one?' He said, "Dey kin tell yo' things." Well, ah decided tuh go. Well, ah went tuh dem an' dey told me dat ah wuz hurt through clothes. An' ah ast dem, "Well, whut could yo' do fer me? Could yo' cure me?" Dey tole me, "Yeah." Dey believe through de powah of God dat dey could cure me. An' dey made me up a tea. Now, ah don' know whut kinda tea it 'twuz, but any- way dey give dat tuh me fer tuh drink an' ah drinked it an' ah really hadn't rest fer [so many] nights.
Entry 8054
Well, yo' take a bone, say dis wrist bone here [demonstrates].
(The left wrist.)
Yeah. Yo' take de left wrist. If it's a evil person, say like some fellahs ah might recite yuh [or their] name fast: "George Bohall," "Up-jump, de Devil" [etc.]. All dose fellahs had police records, bad. Dey got kilt, dey died bad. Dey had tuh hold 'em down. Well, yo' take his bone an' yo' would bring it ovah tuh de house, an' yo' have what yo' call de dead pot.
(Dead what?)
Have a little pot about dat high, what de women use fo' po'in' [pouring] on.
(For what?)
Fo' po'in' on, tuh keep dere comb warm when dey are straight'en' [straight- ening] women's hair. Well, dey got a small little pot lak dat. It's a little stove, yo' know.
(Yes.)
Well, yo' take dat bone from dat evil spirit [the spirit of the bad man killed] an' yo' take it dere, an' yo' git some good whiskey. Yo' know, an' if he died a drunk. Dose are people dat yo' know [about], yo' know where dey grave, buried at, an' yo' go tuh dat most pahticlah [particular] grave an' git dat bone. Yo' put dat on de fiah an' yo' boil dat. Now, yo' set three hick'ry sticks across dere an' yo' set dat right on top of dat bone. Aftah yo' set dat on dat bone, why yo' take whiskey an' yo' po' ovah 'im, po' ovah dat mos' pahticlah bone. An' aftah yo' po' it ovah 'im, yo' demand 'im tuh go an' kill So-an'-so-an'-so.
(I see.)
An' dey goes on an' yo' do's de work.
(I see.)
Or else, yo' wanta, say, run 'im ovahbo'd [make him jump overboard], let 'im, let a automobile run ovah 'im. Yo' always place him in a place dat he'll git kilt.
(I see. You cross those hickory sticks?)
Cross 'em across. (And then when you - this [I demonstrate] is your pot. Are the bones in the pot?) No, dat's what de sticks are dere fo'. Supposin' de pot about dis size [dem- onstrates]. Well, yo' place [demonstrates] one here, one dere, an' one here. An' den yo' place de bone right 'cross dere lak dat [demonstrates].
(Oh, across the sticks.)
Across de sticks. Dat is tuh [I interrupt]...
(Then what do you do with the pot?)
Well, yo' mos'ly use a li'le turpentine an' linseed oil in dat pot - turpen- tine an' linseed oil in dat pot. But yo' start yuh fiah slow, jis' so, so she [pot] make an ord'nary steam. Dat is tuh keep a certain pressure on 'im. Den yo' demand 'im wit controllin' powah, say, "Ah demand yo' wit controllin' powah tuh go ovah an' do such-an'-such a thing. Go ovah an' kill Such-an'-such a one." An' yo' [the spirit] must do so. (I see.) [New Orleans, La., (819), 1171:2.] [As we have seen, there are many substitutes for the human body: (l) anything that came from the body, such as blood, semen, urine, excrement, sweat, spit, hair, fingernails, toenails, and footskin; and (2) anything that has touched the body, especially clothes. In this division we shall examine three entities that are not a part of the body and yet preeminently represent it - photograph and name and letters and handwriting. Of these three, name already has occurred so many times in the preceding rites, I shall start here with photograph.]
Entry 8662
Ah kin take three matches an' stick 'em up - see, let de head be up. Yo' may walk by me. Yo' walk on by me. Ah wants to take de upper hand of yo'. Well, now ah'll take dem three matches an' when yo' git by me, if ah know yo' name, ah'll call yore name three times. Yo' Won't look back but one time. De other time yo' ain't going to look back. That's when ah wanta take de upper hand of yo'. WelI, all right, chew go on to de second block or yo' may walk to de third block. Yo' stop, yo' stop right still an' yo'll turn back. But when yo' git back to where ah'm been, ah'm gone; but ah done got de scent of yo' an' yo' do jest what ah want, an' ah kin git anythin' yo' got.
(What do you do with those matches then?)
Ah take dem three matches an' ah'll jes' let 'em - an' call yo' back. Ah'll take dem three matches an' carry dem to my house an' put 'em down an' bury 'em. [The preceding rite evidently derives from the well-known spirit-catching one in which a person's name is called and his answering voice is stopped up in a bottle. Here we catch a passing person's scent by calling his name three times. He does not answer, merely looks round once. I do not recall another example of the rite. The informant, a good one, evidently believes it.]
Entry 8698
Then you can git a bottle of vinegar an' write de name upon a piece of Venrick parchment.
(What kind of parchment?)
Venrick [a trade name?] parchment. An' they put this in this bottle of vine- gar with cayenne peppah, see. An' they roll this bottle aroun'. Go to de back door an' roll it all de Way tuh de front. (Just a moment. Do they roll it with their hands or feet?) De feet. Dey kick it wit de feet an' as dey kickin' it, dey use de words, "As dis bottle rō' [rolls] ah wan' choo to do de same." (I see.) An' they take it an' dey bury it on de science [signs of the Zodiac]. Dey will do this work by science, by de twelve science [signs].
(Well, what sign would they use on that?)
On de Balance.
(Oh, the sign of the Balance.)
Yes, on de Balance; yes, sir. See, dat's when de earth has power. An' dey buries dis bottle bottom upwards. An' de next mawnin' they get up before de sun rise an' dey pour dat hot water on dat an' de bottle busts [bursts]. Den dey move.
(I see, it will make them move.
Entry 8816
Ah hear dat if dey git holt of yore han'writin' or anythin' lak dat, if yo'd write a lettah, dey take it an' burn fo' cornahs off it an' ketch de ashes, or sompin othah lak dat, an' send yo' de lettah back. Says dey got chew den. Says it will make yo' come back, as long as dey hold dem ashes dere. Jes' burn de cornah where yo' roll dat, say yo'll come back if dey want chew tuh come back.
Entry 9397
Dey kin take yuh han'writin' an' draw yuh from home, an' dey kin run yuh from home.
(Well, how do they do that?)
Dat's by - jis' as ah fo'say, ah kin take dat an' calls yuh name. Callin' yuh name ah go tuh de shop an' ah buy me three aigs, but ah gotta guarantee dey gotta be black hen aigs. [How informant knows eggs come from a black hen is not explained.] An' twelve 'clock at night, jes' de direction yo' is, ah throw dat aig an' bust it. An' jis' where she fall, SHE RUN YUH AWAY OR BRING YO' BACK.
(Well, how do you accomplish that?)
Becuz yo' are comin' - write chure [= victim's] name on de aig: "God de Fathah, God de Son an' God de Holy Ghost, Power." Den yore name come aftah it on de aig. De direction yo' are tuhward de street outside, twelve 'clock on de minute.
(You throw the three eggs?)
Throw de three aigs.
(That's to bring you?)
Bring yuh or run yuh, eithah one, whichevah yo' want done. Dat's right. (Well, how do you signify that you Want to run them away or to bring them back. How do you do that?) Tell dem on de egg, yo' write it. If yo' right in town - jis' right heah now yo' wanta run dat feliah dat be nex' do', yo' jis' come right by an' if 'is baid in de middle room, yo' throw dat right dere. Well he gone.
Entry 10003
[Show people use lodestone in their work to deceive you, but there is a Way by which you can protect yourself.] If de pusson gol' tuh go tuh a show - if yo' figah [figure] a pusson gotta go tuh a show, an' if dere's lode- stone or anythin' lak dat, yo' put dat frog in yuh pockit an' yo' valk in dere. Dat man cannot show. He'll come tuh yo' an' tell yuh tuh git dat frog out chure pockit or he have tuh break up 'is show.
(Any kind of a show?)
Any kind. If its lodestone anywhere 'bout it, a toadfrog kills it - any of dat slightly [sleight-of-hand] work dey can't work it. (Or any kind of slight-of-hand, they can't work it.)
Entry 11251
It's a woman heah from Florida an' she claim dat she kin do all dese things, yo' know. An' she say if yo' be goin' with a man an' he don' love yo', say she kin make this man love yo'; an' said she'll fix it so dat chew kin git every penny he makes.
Entry 11640
Well, it's a powder dey makes. Yo' buy some of it outa de drug store - love powder. Dey call it love powder. An' den yo' git so much of dis same Hearts Cologne an' yo' gits three fishhooks. An' yo' put it together an' yo' rub it - rub it right close to dat powder until settle. After yo' put dat Hearts Cologne in dere, it sit an' it git dry. An' dey put it together an' den yo' sprinkle it. An' if yo' want de person to love yo', [he'll love you]; if yo' want 'im to hate chew, he'll hate chew.
Entry 11695
If it was me - 'course ah been in this same shape [had a man leave me]. She kin do that in through another woman.
(How would she do it?)
She [herselfl kin, if she's a four-headed woman; she kin do things as all that. He would come back - [or] she would come back to you [a man]. She kin dress him, but ah couldn't do it myself. [Here is a woman who still thinks that bringing a husband or wife back is work for a professional worker. Tran- scriber could not understand a woman having four heads; the reason for her transcription four-handed in original transcription. Four-handed is a legiti- sate word, industrious, but not here. I believe this to be the only use of Fgur headed in HOODOO. A two-headed, two-head or two-header are common.]
Entry 12299
You can take lemons. Well, that makes you - if you going up the street right now and you got a big transaction on with a person. You take a lemon, just take a lemon and take all the peeling off the lemon. Don't break the white part of that lem- on. See, just take all that yellow peel off the lemon and take that lemon and sew it up. Rub it over good. Just rub it over good in your pockets in your hands. And ball that lemon up and put it in your inside coat pocket. Wrap it up in pure white paper with no marks or nothing on it - pure white paper. Wrap that lemon up. And on your Way down [to business transaction] just take the lemon and pass it through your hands, rub it over your hands good and put it in your inside [pocket]. Wear it on your right side, in your inside coat pocket, or your right side of your right pants pocket. But if you peel that lemon and break that white - that white skin on the inside of that yellow skin - well that lemon is no good to you. Get you a lemon and don't break that skin. Peel it off careful, but don't break through it so the juice will run off. But take that yellow peel off the outside and wrap that lemon up. Wipe that lemon off good with sugar. Rub it over good with sugar and wrap it up good in a piece of red flannel and rub it through your hands. And when you go there [place of business transaction] go in the lavatory or any private place and take that lemon out of that flannel again and rub it. Or take plain white paper. If you don't use red flannel, use plain white paper. Don't use no paper with no marks or nothing on it. No yellow or no colored paper at all. If you don't use white paper, get you a piece of red flannel and wrap it in there and go down the street with it. And as you go to the lavatory take that flannel or that paper off and just rub it over your hand again - before you go on with any business transaction - with the lemon. (What do you go and do that in the lavatory for?) [Informant has me going around in circles!] Well, you just freshen your hands up. Freshen your hands up with this. Con- tinually rub your hands, keep awashing that lemon against your hands.
(Well, what do you do that for?)
Well, that gives you a power over the man that you got a business deal with.
(Oh! I see. You do that until you get his....)
Keep awashing that lemon on your hands - like you get - like you know, you going to the next corner here, and you coming to the place, or you are in a bar, or any private place.
(You do it in secret so he can't see you.)
Yeah, you just do it in secret - just any place for secrecy. That's all.
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 12702
(What did you do with that Queen Elizabeth Root?)
Queen Elizabeth [root], you take people [working] for church or anything like that, they totes that. That have control ovah de membership. [Here is a rare rite!] Jest like she [Queen Elizabeth] did when coming ovah to dis country and like dat. Power! Women use mo' 'en [more than] anybody else. She kin control her husband, church or anything with that Queen Elizabeth root.
Entry 13240
Take a little bit of sugar and a little bit of coffee and tie it up in your handkerchief - or bread, either one, it's very good. It's luck, if you put it inside of your handkerchief and carry it around on you. It's very good.
(That's for good luck?)
Sugar is drawing you know - they all is drawing you see, because the spirits 11kes those things.
Entry 13445
Yo' kin take a rattan stick, jes' lak a person wuz workin' against yo' or somepin an' wuz doin' some things fo' yo' or yore enemy, yo' ketch 'em out, an' take a rattan [walking?] stick an' whip him an' dat'll make him lose all his power. He cain't do nuthin. [Surely working against yo' includes trying to hoodoo you.]