Subject:Prevents
Entries
Entry 891
There was once a lady and I used to be good friends. And so her husband wrote me a lettah and sent it through de mail, and he didn't sign the name to it. And so I was asking diff'rent one of my frien's did they know who it came from and they said no. So I ast de lady one day - I thought maybe she jis' playin' a joke on me - and I ast her did she write it. And she said no. But she said she would look at it and tell who handwriting it was. And the minute she looked at it, she said it was her husband's. And so she snatched it and ran out of mah house jis' like she had found some money. And [later] she came on and she tried to raise a fuss with me in de street befo' a crowd of people, but I wouldn't pay any attention to her. So later, two weeks, she came to mah house. And I jis' thought maybe she jis' come in there on a little visit, and I reckon she did. So when she left I said O.K. I went to de door with her and I half-shut de doah [after her departure]. And so I went to work dat mornin' - that was on a Satiday. And dat evenin' I commence feelin' - mah fingah got stiff, I couldn't use that hand that night. I tole my mothah about it. She bathed me in some kerosene, becuz she thought maybe it was - jis' was come from cold and so she bathed me in this kerosene. And de next mornin' I didn't seem to feel any bettah. And I couldn't use this hand, you know, dis whole arm. And it went on down in the feet. Becuz my mothah is a Holiness woman - and she thought maybe if she got some of her Saints [fellow worshippers] to pray wit me, I would get all right. And so she got 'em to pray wit me. But it didn't seem to do any good. So Tuesday - I didn't ache any at all dat Monday night - so that Tuesday night she called Dr. Somebody. Well, he came. He said he thought it was a rheumatism. And it was down in mah feet - it had left mah body and fell in mah foot. And he said - he gave me a pe'scription. But when I taken this medicine it seem like dat jis' made me ache dat much more. And so she called him again and he said he didn't know nuthin but de rheumatism. And I jis' suffered like dat hurtin' an' hurtin' for about two months. And so she had jis' told several people about it an' they said they didn't know anything unless it was the rheumatism." And so they said dey knowed a man named George or somepin ["a well-known root worker of Wilmington" - Note included in my pencil transcription made soon after interview]. But anyway, they said dis man could work roots. And when she went to dis man - and he said he could tell it and give me a treatment for fifteen dollahs down. And she said that she didn't have it all right then, but she paid him some down and he gave her some kind of medicine. And she say it was made out of some kind of St. Joseph's roots [either the doctor's own name or a commercial product like several others bearing a saint's name]. And she gave me it. And I taken about two treatments or two or three from him and I saw where it was doin' me a little good. And it continued to about two months and I got all right a little bit. And then he said that he could secure de thing dat was really de mattah. And so he found some roots buried under de doorstep in a bottle - looked like it was little verms [worms] on dis root. He showed it to mah mothah; he wouldn't let me see nuthin. He say if I didn't look at em, say he could make this spell leave me - make this so it would leave me. And it left. But he say I wouldn't feel all that sore-iness, but it would leave me enough that I could be able to walk. And so I started to walkin' on crutches and gradj'ly it left me.
Entry 901
I was hurt once by a rootworker. I was hurt in mah right leg. And mah mother she went - and I was swellen - mah mother she went out to get a doctor. The doctor didn't do me no good. And after she found out dat de doctor wouldn't do me no good, she decided on to go back and git a root doctor. Well, he told her to go back and look under de front doorstep and she'll find a little rag, a red [rag], a little ball in it - red rag with red little ball in it, wrapped up. It [ball] was made of cloth. And he told mah mother dat when she go-ed [pronounce gode] dere she might be scared to pick it up, but don't be scared to pick it up: Well, de first time she went dere she looked at it, she didn't pick it up - she's scared. And she went back. He told her dat de only Way dat I would git rid of dis swellen, de lest dat I swell right on up, she'll have to git dat and bring it to him. Shortly after she came back, she went on back and got de rag and carried it on back to him. In a couple of days after- Wards, den I feel mahself gittin' a little ease. And so he worked on me and worked on me, and turned it around on this other fellah that had me fixed up [by rootworker in first sentence]. She said dat he took it [rag and ball] and dressed it up, and told her to carry it back - he told her where it came from [who had planted the rag and ball] - and told her to go throw it over de fence [into this person's yard]. [Wilmington, N. Car., (225), 228:4; in Petersburg, Ga.,1928.]
The narrator reports instructions to look beneath the front doorstep, then describes bringing back the rag and later disposal. Door retrieves this threshold location. The account establishes no door-panel identity, adjacent bottle contents or causal treatment finding.
Read full source (printed page 329) · Read full source (printed page 330)
Entry 3241
Makin' connection wit othah woman, in case any- thin' won't happen to him, hol' a penny in 'is mouthan' it'll kill de germs - ketch anythin'.
(Hold a penny in his mouth while he is doing this.)
Entry 6939
They claim that if you put a ten-cent piece under your tongue while you're having sexual relation wit a woman, you won't catch any diseases from the woman. [This belief should have pre- ceded No.3258, p.2373, but it was under CURES and missed. This original tran- scription of mine in pencil was never typed. See ILLUSTRATIONS for original.]
Entry 8914
I have heard 'em say that you could take a fork and stick it down at the gate or the entry or around the building near where you think they're going in, and make your wishes. And that'll keep 'em away, if you think a person's trying to steal - to perwent [prevent] a person stealing from you. And that'll keep people from talking about chew too, they say. Keep 'em from bothering you in any way, shape or form or fashion. [This fork rite has been taken over from methods to keep a hag or witch out of the house - see No.510, p.154, etc.]
Entry 9501
(Take table salt?)
Yessuh, an' sprinkle it all de way roun' dat house an' dere cain't any one go back tuh it dat chew don't want tuh. Call dat man's name dat chew don't wanta go dere. (I would do this if I didn't want anybody to rent this house? Or to live in here after I left?) Yessuh.
Entry 9652
Take black peppah an' salt all roun' at chure do's. Dey cain't come ovah it. (They can't come in and steal things?) No.
Entry 9702
The way now to do to git rid of folks - there's folks in your home an' you wan'a git rid of 'em. Yo' take sulphur an' salt - cooking salt yo' know - yo' mix it together an' jis' start right from your bed- room an' sprinkle it all aroun' in there, an' right on out the hall, right on out the steps, right on the steps, right on out de walk, an' jis' throw it north. An' that's supposin' to go out [make a person leave] if there's anybody they wan'a go out, they go out. An' if there's anybody you don't prefer comin' in there, they won't come in.
Entry 9703
About dat keepin' de person from hurtin' yuh, well dey say yo' take dis salt an' sprinkle it roun' in de fo' cornahs of yuh house. Do dat fo' nine mawnin's - dat sulphuh an' salt.
(Is the salt separately or the salt and sulphur - separate or together?)
Each sep'rately, each of 'em. (Each one of them is a different method of keeping a person away.) Yes sir, each one separately. An' yo' do dat fo' nine mawnin's. [Despite my last comment and informant's agreement, I now think sulphur and salt are thrown successively, one after the other, into each of four corners.]
Entry 10455
Sprinkle red pepper [on their skin]. Why dey can't go back in de skin. Put it [red pepper] in de keyhole of de door and sprinkle a little all down on de floor. Red pepper will keep dem from goin' back in de skin. Yo' see, dey gits out de skin when dey rides yuh.
Entry 12465
[To guard against unfulfilled desires during pregnancy:] Take the [Spanish] moss down and the woman wears this here moss across her breast, under her bubbies there; and of course, if things that she wish to want, and differ- ent [things] like that, why she wouldn't wish for that, and it won't bring her a birth-marked child.
(She just wears that moss on her breast.)
In a little bag or anything that she wants to wear it in. [For birthmarks, cause and removal, see FOLKLORE FROM ADAMS COUNTY ILLINOIS, 2nd ed.,965, Pp.111-130.]
Entry 12760
Yo' kin take dis heah bush yo' call rhubarb. Dere's a root chew call rhubarb bush. Yo' kin take dat bush an' maybe ah know yore mad wit me. Ah'll take dat bush an' ah'll carry it to mah house an' ah'll put it right down at mah gate. Yo' might done sont [sent] me word dat chew comin' ovah dere an' run me aWay: Or do SOmepin to me. AH'LL GIT DAT ROOT AN' AH'LL PUT IT DOWN AT MY GATE, AN' WHEN YO' COME IN DERE, YO'LL BE JEST AS FRIENDLY WIT ME AS YO' IS NOW. Now, ah done seen dat tried.
[A compliment out of the past for the author!]
A man sent de word by me to anothah individual dat he was gwine come ovah dere an' beat him or kill him, an' ah run back an' tole dis fellah an' he tole me, "Well, ah'm gwin [going to] stop him." He runs out an' git dat, kept it ovah in de new ground, an' got a piece of dat rhubarb root an' buried it down at de gate. Mr. Wade, he come - a white man couldn't - Mr. Wade come up dere - found out about it so dis fellah wouldn't be caught, some scandal come to a head. An' Mr. Wade got dere. Dis fellah he went an' got dat rhubarb root an' put it down at de gate. Mr. Wade drive ovah dere, got down an' come in de house, say, "Well, Sam, how come yo' pick that [cotton or tobacca?]? He say, "Well." An' say, "Ah tlecided ah wouldn't fool with dat." Now, he done tole me up dere to his house [before] he come down here an' whup him or kill him. But he walked in de gate jest pleasant as he wus wit me.
Entry 1646
[Take] that there snakeroot and John de Conker root and boil it and take de urine after boilin' it and put some of that in it, and Hearts Perfume, and boil it so it git de odor through the house, and sprinkle in de front do' and back, mornin' an' night.
(What would they do that for?)
That would bring luck and stop de man from puttin' yo' out.
(Putting you out of the house.)
Yes, an' ah didn't have de money - didn't give a cent and he didn't put me out. Suah stopped that.
Entry 2220
An' yo' wanta keep dem away, yo' kin git chew some quicksilver an' when dey leave yore house, why yo' kin sprinkle some in front of yore do'step when dey walk 'way. Call dat person by dere name an' yo' be's sprinklin' dis stuff along. Call 'em by dey name an' say fo' 'em not tuh come back dere no mo'. An' dey won't come back no' mo'.
Entry 3151
Den if she doesn't want 'im tuh have a outside fren', yo' see, she'll take huh a new piece of new white homespun an' she goes tuh bed, yo' know, an' be wit 'i. She ketch evahthin' in dat white homespun an' she'll take dat piece of white homespun an' bury it anywhuh roun' 'uh house - undah huh steps, undah de side of de house, undah a brick pillah or anywhuh. Well, if he go out he can't have no woman, see. Dat blocks 'im any way he tryin' tuh have anothah woman.
Entry 3882
Dey do dat lotsa times. Well, ah tell yo', dey takes dere monthly due an' dey fix it - prepare it in de man's meals. Well, it's no way in de world dat he kin git away. She'll have destroy - break away from 'im, he can't git away from 'er.
Entry 4973
Carry a woman's stockin' an' wear it roun' 'is waist, an' dat keep 'er from havin' any othah mens.
Entry 6420
But if dey scrape de bottom of de feet an' dey cook dat in yore food, yo' cannot leave 'em.
Entry 9443
Aftah dey [visitor] would leave, dey turn dere backs, an' dey would bid 'em goodbye, jes' grab a han'ful of salt an' throw behin' dem. Guarantee dey are gone tuh stay.
Entry 11089
"Clip out a piece of end of his shirt, a piece in the shape of a head and place it on the front of her, on her petticoat you might say, or underskirt, and wear that. That will prevent him from going to and fro or coming in contact or having connection with other women in a sexual way." [Vicksburg 1018:2.]
Entry 1305
Jis' like a mother die an' left her young ones an' they're worried a lot at night - says you kin take a stick an' go to her grave an' broke it acrost the grave an' - you know, jis' hit right acrost the grave an' let the stick broke in half - why that would prevent 'em from botherin' the young ones that night. [See titles Whipping, p.388; Hitting Remedy, p.399, Cure By Breaking, P.389.]
Entry 1765
When I went to the army [World War I] this blacksmith [a root doctor] gave me a little bottle, he told me, for to keep men away from the home. Before I got to the camp there was more men there than when I was in town. He sold her a bottle of medicine to keep me away from her when I came back. He hung around her himself. He charged me six dollars.
Entry 2681
When yo' git up in the morning if you is worried with the polices or most anything like that, you'd git up early before de sun rise and scrub yo' porch wit chamber lye and dey not supposed to worry yuh.
Entry 2776
If yo' were livin' heah in dis house an' someone wanted tuh make yo' leave without a cause, then they [a hoodoo] would git yo' tuh stay in dis house. Dis a true fact because - yo' want some Bible facts on it erzactly how it's done? De way yo' do, yo' git chew three of these gold candles, gold-colored candles, an' yo' burn dem gold-colored candles, burn three until yo' have burn nine. An' when yo' have burnt de nine, yo'll have perfect peace, because de Bible says dat dey'd burn candles upon candlesticks. [See my comment on Bible and candles, p.361.] But chew have de instrument whut chew burn dese candles in of gold, an' have de gold- colored candles. An' ah guarantee it'll bring peace an' satisfaction heah, an' de proof is by de Bible. No one kin move yo' out. [These are gilded candles. I found no golden candlestick or container of any kind in the following rites.]
Entry 2935
Now de black candle - take a black candle and write a person's name on it right straight up and down, jest all up and down and burn it. An' if you don't want them to come to yore place any more, after you burn it you take a sponge and name it after them and bury it in the back. They will never come to that place any more.
(Take a sponge you say?)
Yassuh, take de candle sponge after it's [wax is] melted - de candle sponge after it's burnt.
(Oh, you mean that melted candle - you call that the sponge?)
Yes.
(What do you mean, put it in the back?)
In the back yard. They'll not come back to that place any more.
Entry 5234
Ah heard if dere any person dat chew don' wan' aroun' yo', in de mawn- in' 'fore de sun rise, yo' go an' sweep yore front yard. Well, when dey come dere an' dey walk in an' yo' sweep it an' yo' burn a ole shoe. Yo go roun' anywhere where dis person is an' git any ole shoe belong tuh dem an' burn it an' sprinkle it. Well dat will keep 'em 'way from roun' dere.
(You sweep first?)
Yo' sweep'an' den burn a ole shoe - jes' yo' sweep an' den yo' put some sul- phur in dat ashes of de burnt shoe. Sprinkle it in de front yard.
Entry 5354
They claim that if you take some of the dirt out of their track and put that in a rag and throw it in the fire and burn it, that they won't come back any more.
Entry 5356
When a person comes to your house and you don't want them to return, you take the dirt up out of their track and put it in the stove and burn it.
Entry 5650
Well, ah'll tell yuh whut dey do. Dey takes dere track an' den dey pats some kinda stuff wit it, see. An' dey take dat track an' den dey take it an' dey'll throw it eithah ovahbo'd or dey buries it, see. Or dey put it in a dirty sock an' dey'll bury it, see. An' dat will prohibit yuh from goin' if yuh vanta go some place.
(Keep you from going where?)
Wherevah yuh wanta go. Jis' like providin' if yuh got somebody an' dey love yuh, see. An' dey kin prevent yuh from goin', why dey takes dat track, see. An' dey'll fix it an' dey bury it. An' dat will keep yuh from goin' away.
(What sort of powder did they put in that track, did you say?)
Dey puts some ingredients in it, see.
(What do they put in it?)
Dey puts spice, sugar, or salt, eithah one, an' dey bury it.
Entry 7416
(Yes, what do they do out there?)
When yo' git in de fo'ks of de road, yo' makes a cross. Yo' make a cross dere in de fo'k of de road, an' den yo' turn backwards - make three steps backwards.
(What will that do?)
Whadyado? [= What do you do?] Make three steps backwards? Yo' goes dere along. See, dat's in ordah to cross up de othah person dat supposed to follah yo'. (I see.) Yeah, dat's whut dat's fo'. Yo' go out dere an' yo' make a cross right down in de road an' den yo' back three steps backwards. Well, dat's prevents de person from follahin' yo', which way yo' goin'. Dat stops 'em.
(I see.)
Entry 7759
Ah heard of 'em goin' tuh de graveyard an' gittin' dat dirt at twelve a'clock at night an' plantin' it undah de steps. Dat'll keep dere man, keep dere ole man; yassuh, keep de man at home, keep 'im from leavin'.
Entry 8902
Chicken feathahs - a black chicken. Take black chicken feathahs an' put hit undah de steps. Whenevah a person steal or anythin' lak dat from yo', when yo' expectin' somebody tuh come in on yo', don't chew know, befo' dis chicken die, put dem feathah undah dere, an' dat'll scare dem away. (If somebody is coming fn to steal something from you?) Yes, if yo' expectin' a burglah tuh come in, yo' git three feathahs out of 'is left wing befo' he die an' bury dem undah yore steps. An' whenevah he comes aroun' tuh bothah or anythin', why dat chicken will run 'im away from dere.
Entry 9442
Well, anybody comin' tuh yuh house an' yo' git tired of 'em comin' tuh yuh house, yo' jis' follah dem tuh de do' as dey goin', an' have some salt in yuh han' an' throw it on 'em. Dey won't come back.
Entry 11672
Take de dirt out de fork of de road, if you don't want 'em to leave. Take de dirt out of de fork of de road and put it in a bag and hold it there. Keep it, that will keep them from going away. (You just go out to the forks of the road and pick up that dirt.) Yes, an' put cayenne pepper with that, and hold it. That's what ah heard.
Entry 12310
Go to a tree dat de lightning struck an' git a couple of splinters from de tree, an' drive one inside de yard, an' one jes' on de outside of de yard, in both ways dat dey enter into de house, an' dat will prevent de evil of de house.
(What kind? Any kind of evil, if anybody wants to do you harm?)
Dat's de idea. You just drive it dere. (You'll drive a stick in the yard and then one outside the yard on each trail that leads into the house.) [My explanation at the time indicates 4 splinters, but probably 2 only were used: one on path leading to front door, other on path leading to back door.] One dat lightning tear from a tree, git one dose kinda sticks.
Entry 12531
Well, yo' kin use red onions for a whole lotta diff'rent things. (Well, what do you use a red onion for in connection with [good] luck or bad luck?) Yo' use red onions fo' luck. Well, jes' say now, yo's goin' to a skin game tonight, well yo' take yo' two solid [= fresh] red onions an' cut 'em up an' put 'em in a spider [a skil- let with legs] put a lit- tle sugah to 'em an' yo' boil 'em till dey come to a sugah. An' when it come to a sugah yo' po' it out into a bottle. An' go in dere [to a game] tonight an' yo' take yo' one or two drinks, an' yo' carry yore [liquor] bottle wit chew - jes' as lucky as it kin be. See, 'cause dey kin smell dat onions on yore breath, yo' know, an' people - a whole lotta folks don't like de smell of onions an' dat jes' draws de 'tenshun from de cards to yore onions. Yo' win up every dime in dere. [Informant does not understand why a red onion is lucky in a card game. The onion does not draw de 'tenshun from de cards to yore onions; the onion pro- tects you against the other man's hand or luck piece, or prevents you yourself from being hoodooed in the game. Nevertheless, if informant, a small-time root Worker believes in his own interpretation, the rite is valid from him.]
Entry 9317
Ah don' know how dat is. Say if its de p'liceman or some law on de beat, yo' know, dat yo' could write dere name on a egg an' bury it at de steps, an' dat will prevent 'em from comin' in. (You write their name on this egg and bury it. At your own steps?) At yuh own steps. (That will keep the law from coming in?) If yo' sellin' whiskey in dis house or somepin. An' whoevah is on dis beat, yo' could bury de egg. Write de name nine times on de egg an' bury it at de front steps, an' dey wouldn't come ovah dat egg.
(I see.)
Entry 12845
Put salt in foot tracks to keep person from harming you. [Memphis 1550:2.]
Entry 4051
Yo' kin stop 'em from comin' dere, anybody come dere, too. Yo' jes' take a chambahpot an' go right front de steps, put it out dere on de groun'. Yo' do dat an' if he [the law, bill collector, etc.] come dere, it'll cut 'im off. He'll start tuh come dere but befo' he'll git dere he'll turn off.
The informant predicts that an approaching person will turn away before arriving. No actual visitor or effective deterrence is established.