Subject:Sand
Entries
Entry 2275
Once dere wus a fellah went an' shot in de church - shot in through de church. All of us in de church preachin' an' ever'thin', an' he came up drunk an' he shot into de church. Some of de fellahs made him mad an' went in de church an' he went home - ran home all de way home an' got his shotgun an' come back - got his pistol an' come back. He's intendin' tuh break up de church - all of 'em drunk. Well, he come back an' shot in de church. He run dem all out, de preacher out de church an' ever'thin'. Well, when he ran dem all out he ranned on out hisself an' went tuh shootin' behin' dem. Well, his father says, "Well son, ah'm goin' git chew outa dis, if yo'be's good." He said, "Yes." He wus goin' to his father tuh git him out. [For man so mad at his church he threw graveyard dirt on congregation, see No. 655, p.221.] Well, his father went to a man an' got a root. It wus a root about that long, a blacksnake root an' dese heah lil roots yo' call de sand root - about that, so long. He give him that root an' tole him to put it - cut it an' put it in his shoe, an' take one piece an' put it in his mouth when he git up there befo' de judge an' chew dat root, an' if he'd chew dat root, he'd come clear or wouldn't have tuh make a oath for 60 or 70 or maybe 90 days. An' he taken dat root an' went up dere an' he tole him tuh keep his foot pattin' lak that while he wus up there an' while de judge wus tryin' him. Well, he taken that root an' put it in his mouth an' had one under each feet an' he's up dere pattin' de root an' de judge tried him. He tole him he could give him a life sentence or have him exe- cuted, but de best thing he could do fo' him wus let him go, tuh give him five yeahs out of town. Dat's whut he did with the root dat he had.
(All he had was the piece of blacksnake root?)
He had a piece of blacksnake root an' whut chew call de sand root. An' he had then cut it an' put in his shoe - in each shoe an' while the judge wus tryin' him he chewed dat root.
Entry 2645
Tuh keep de police away yo' git de salt, keep de salt - git dis heah Bluebird Salt an' jes' sprinkle it good roun' yore do', an' keep yore flo's scrubbed wit lye. Scrub every Friday mawnin' wit concentrated lye. An' it's a silver sand dat chew use - yo' know, silver sand. Well, yo' git dat sand an' yo' sprinkle dat roun' yore do'steps. If yo' wants tuh make a place be bad or if a man is got a place tuh rent an' if yo'wanta keep him from havin' much success, yo' gits some parsley seed an' throw em out roun' de do'. Dere won't nobody hardly go dere tuh stay.
Entry 4914
Wit de man sock, well yuh take de sand from undahneat' de steps an' fill up dat stockin', de sock, like he have it on, an' dig a hole an' put it in dat hole comin' toward de house, an' he's gotta stay dere, or either take de bow out his hat. (Wait a minute, now! Wait a minute! How do you put that sock down in that hole?) Jis' stand it up jis' like it be yore feet in dere.
(And that's pointing away from the house?)
[This misdirection question I rarely used.]
No, comin' tuh de house.
(You point it toward the house, jis' as you did with the shoe?)
[The shoe was given in a preceding rite.]
Yes sir.
Entry 6879
(How can that be done?)
Well, yo' see, de way dat dey do it, dey git a rope. Yo' know a woman's iml pregnant. Dey goes tuh de step an' dey come ovah de step.
(Wait a minute. What do they do with that rope now?)
Dey take de rope offa de mule.
(Oh, this rope is around the mule?)
De rope is aroun' de mule. Dey git tuh de step an' dey come over dat rope nine times backwards. See, dey jump ovah de rope once an' dey walk aroun' it an' dey jump ovah it ag'in. An' when dey git ovah dat rope, den dey jump up lak a mule. Now, when dis lady comes out, dat's crossin' 'er as a mule [woman's period will be as long as a mule's]. Now tuh git dis cross off 'er before dis child is born, yo' git chew a Bull Durham [tobacco] sack. Yo' take dat Bull Durham sack an' yo' wash it clean, clean, clean. Yo' go tuh one a dese big sand places such as Jenkins, Watts-Cornell [or] J. J. Cox, sand dat's nevah been used, jis' come in. Yo' fill dat bag about three-qurtah full of dat sand. It's purtty white sand. Yo' git chew nine silvah dimes an' yo' put in dat sand an' yo' git chew, git chew a half a cupa vinegah. Yo' take dat an' yo' put it intuh a pot an' yo' boil. An' aftah yo' boil, yo' boil yo' an' yo' boil it down an' yo' see dis sack done boiled enough, tuh where yo' want it tuh boil at, den yo' take dis sack an' yo' go an' throw it undah 'er steps. Dat's de woman impregnant. Yo' throws it right undah 'er step wit dese dimes an' dis sand intuh it. Now, de liquid dat's lef' from dis, from dat vinegah, yo' got dat dere. Now, she mus' take a sip of dis evah mawnin' fer nine mawnin's. An' ah'll guarantee yuh it'll knock dat off. (That checks that cross that's on that woman, checks it right away. You can't do any harm at all.)
Entry 7496
Mah gran'mothah says, she says, it's a devil's shoestring. She say yo' tie dis roun' yore waist - roun'about, yo'know right 'long heah [demonstrates], an' yo' git chew a little bag a sand an' put on each end of dis devil's shoestring, an' de man dat'll appear - yore mind will jes' come to 'im [your mind will show you a. picture of the killer]. De man dat did dis to yo', yo'll see 'im. An' in othah words yo' be lookin' out fo' dat. An' de first man dat chure 'tention [attention] strike an' he gits in yore mind, vell dat's de man dat really did de killin'. Yo' kin take, lak dis [dead] man dere, yo' kin git some of de dirt offa his grave an' jes' scattah it round, yo' know, lak.
(This dirt now, what about that?)
Three days aftah de man is buried yo' kin take dis dirt an' scattah it along dis road, an' if dis man evah comes along dis road ag'in, he'll show 'imself up. In othah words, if he evah cross where yo' scattah dis dirt, in othah words, de spirit is not normal till three days aftah, den yo' git it offa dere an' scattah it 'cross de road.
Entry 7655
Ah hear 'em say dat dey takes some graveyard dirt, if yo' have any man in yore community an' yo' wanted tuh move 'em. Yo' take an' yo' go tuh a sinnah man's grave an' git some of de dirt from right off on 'is left side of 'is heart. Jis' go right down in de grave till yo reach clay, an' take it out, an' take dat clay an' mix it up wit some sulphur an' magic sand.
(Magic sand?) [A hoodoo store product.]
Yessuh, magic san'. An' some dragon blood an' brimstone, an' mix all dat tuh- gethah. An' go in dat house wit'out anybody knowin' dat chew in dere, an' sprin- kle it when all de folk gone from de house. See, in de rooms, an' walk out wit'- out nobody knowin' yo' dere. Yo' know dat chew in dere an' make yore wishes. An' dey say dat dey'll have tuh go 'way from dere. Fayetteville, N. Car.,
(1420), 2560:1.]
Entry 7815
You can use graveyard dirt for many occasions. Now, you can take graveyard dirt, dirt dauber, sand.
(Sand?)
Sand.
(Ordinary sand?)
Ordinary sand, cement [and graveyard dirt] an' yo' can make a ball out of it. You take it an' make a real ball out of it. An' after you make that ball out of it, why you takes that stuff that you make mosquito bar an' yo' take that, an' wrap that around of it. An' put it out in the sun, where de sun can hit it an' let it dry, an' take that an' just put it in de house. It's just as hard as a ball, it is. An' any time, why, if yo' wants to have control over whomsomever yo' desire to have control, yo' just kick that ball aroun' an' play wit it, call his names, an' de next three or four hours he's supposed to bedere.
(I see.)
Entry 7830
Mostly dey use graveyard dirt, but dey git tuh use sand an' powdah.
(Sand and powder?)
Yeah.
(Sand and powder. What kind of powder?)
Love powdah.
(Love powder?)
Yeah, yo' see. Well, dey use graveyard dirt an' love powdah. Dat's tuh make yo' lak 'em or anything lak dat, yo' see. (Well, how would you prepare that? How would you do it?) Well, de way yo' do, yo' take yo' some graveyard dirt an' yo' mix it up de powdah in dat. (This love powder?) Yeah, love powdah an' sand. Yo' buy de love pow- dah right in de drug store, an' sand.
(Ordinary sand?)
Sand. An' yo' put a li'le sugah in dere. Sugah's fer love, see. Put a li'le sugah in dere an' yo' kin put a li'le bit in de envelope. An' lak yo' send yo a lettah, yo' put a li'le bit in de envelope. Well, dat make dat person lak yo aftah yo' git dat stuff on 'em.
Entry 8245
Ah hearn dat chew could take de photograph an' bury it in de sand, an' when dat photograph melt away offa dat whut it's taken on, yo'll die.
Entry 8950
You will go to a creek where ther's water running at. You get you some of that sand out of the bottom of that creek. See, some of that white sand, and you get you some of that run- ning water, see. You brings it back home, you puts it in a clean basin. See, put that sand in the bottom of that basin. You puts that water in there. You take and you write your name on a piece of paper nine times. See. And you puts it in that water. Well, it's natural when that paper gets wet, it's going to sink under that water, you understand. That paper sinks under there and you stand up in it and you repeat the Lord's Prayer for seven times and make your wish. And whosomever got anything from you, they ain't going to rest until they bring it back.
(I see, if anybody has stolen anything?)
If anybody stole anything, it keep 'em tormented until he bring it back. (What do you mean by repeating the prayers seven times? You mean all on this one day?) Yes, sir.
(Or seven different days?)
Oh, no sir, just one time, yo' see. An' while yo' repeating that, that paper going to come back to the top of the water, you see. And when it come, it going to begin to float around, see. It float around, you see on that water. An' then you don't take it out; see, yo' leave that paper float in that water. See. And it's goin' keep him tormented until he brings that back. It going to create a fear on him, he can't rest nowhere.
(I see.) [New Orleans, La., (873), 1426:4.]
[Despite the following do-it-yourself rites about court cases, it was always advisable in serious crimes to employ the service of an expert, especially of a legendary person like Doctor Buzzard, who never appeared in court but sent an animal to do his work (pp.891-905). At an earlier date some witchcraft people could break up a trial by thunder and lightning, so it is said. Much of this court material is scattered throughout Hoodoo - see interview COURTROOM SPECIAL- IST, Pp.1423-1449, v.2; SIFTER AND SCISSORS, No.604, p.204, v.1; and especially a rite, No.9024 in this present section, one of the finest statements in Hoodoo; My amazing experience with Doctor Washington of Charleston, S. Car. He, using me as a guinea pig, explains how he could free me from the clutches of the law, if I were a bootlegger and had been arrested! This freedom he describes by asking me questions and then answering them himself - Shakespearian! Indirectly he will bribe the court through a go-between with the money I pay him in advance, keeping a part of it as his commission, and work his real magic with 2 black hens. Washington, after talking to me, had a fight with another doctor out in the court- yard of the house where I was interviewing. I refer to this fracas later while in Brunswick, Ga., after two doctors likewise had a quarrel outside the house where I interviewed (lines 5-6, 15-16, p.337, v.1). Washington, as also most other doctors, paid me the great compliment of my life, without any suggestion or pretense of mine. He and they considered me a hoodoo man from New York City! Big-city life would make me ignorant of animals that crawled or hopped or flew. Consequently he offered to help me by taking over any live-things-in-you cases coming my Way in Charleston - See DOCTOR WASHINGTON ASKS FOR DOCTOR HYATT'S "LIVE-THINGS-IN-YOU" CASES, pp.2253-2258, v.3.]
Entry 9155
Ah seen a fellah do dis one time, an' it come out - it come out really true, right heah on de corner of [some street]. It wuz heah in dis town, mah home town. He tuk, he went tuh anothah fellah dat stayed up heah along de road, supposed tuh be a kind of a root doctah. He went tuh dis fellah. He had called him a...or sompin othah, a purtty bad man. He went up tuh dis fellah an' dis fellah wuz standin' round, say, "Yo' boys come in dis room." Told 'im, "All right." Ah'd gone up dere wit 'im. Ah went on in de room wit 'im. He gave dis boy an' he say, "Yo' do jes' lak ah tell yo' when yo' go in de co't." De boy tole 'im, "Yessuh." He give dis boy somepin - he mixed somepin, said it wuz a salve, sulphuh wit black peppah an' he got, ah think some sage tea. Den he went got him a whole lotta snails. Not no whole lotta snails but li'le articles of sands. An' he tuk [took] an' put dem in a snuffbox an' stirred it up. Aftah he put it in dis snuffbox he stirred it up an' he tole dis boy, says, "Will yo'all step out in dis othah room?" So we stepped out intuh de othah room. We didn't know what exactly [what to expect]. So we stepped out intuh de othah room, an' he tole dis boy, said, "Now yo' take dis stuff an' has de box right in yore han', jes' about lak yo' hold de palm of yore hand, an' put it in yore right-hand pocket; an' when yo' go up dere in de co'troom an' when dey call yo', yo' called up on de stand, an' when yo' go on dere, yo' take dis stuff. Don' let nobody see it. Jes' lak yo' got chure han' in yore pocket, an' jes' take some of dis stuff an don't be watchin' whut chew doin'. An' take it as yo' goin' up dere on de stand an' jes' sprinkle it round lak yo' brushin' dis hand right down de side of de judge." An' he said, "Ah'll guarantee yo' dey won't do anything 'bout chw - guarantee yo'll git out, won't go no time." (Well, what about this other stuff, this salt and sand that was sprinkled around. He put this salt and stuff with this sand and sprinkled it around?) Yessuh, mixed it all up tuhgethah.
Entry 9613
Well, lak dey are goin' in a path - dey'll git in dat path an' de fo'ks of de road an' stop an' turn aroun' [turn around on your heel making hole in ground]. Put some pepper an' salt in dat [and spit] in de pathway [in the heel hole made in the pathway]. (What will that do?) Dat supposed tuh git chw confused. Dey have a cer- Cain scripture tuh read fo' dat dough. [If scripture (Scriptures) here means the Bible, it could be something like: Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity (Psa.6:8); but the scripture is more likely to be something like, Go! God damn you!]
(Well, what about that spitting?)
Dat spittin' is supposed tuh confuse yo'.
Entry 9732
If yo' want tuh kill a woman or a woman wants tuh kill yuh, she could take six rusty nails an' git a piece of yore undahclothes, an' [or] ole stockin'. Takes it an' drop it intuh a quart jah an' screw de top on it. An' left about three holes in it, where jes' a li'l' sand kin drop in dere. An' bury it undah yore steps, if yo' aren't scared. An' den yo' walk in an' out an' back an' fo'wards [over it]. Jes' as de sand drop in dere, yo' [inside the quart jar] gits sick. Well, yo' git tuh de play [place] yo' won' be no mo' good tuh yuhself or nobody else. An' de mo' sand drop in dere de mo' closah yo' gits tuh yuh grave. Jes' kill yuh, yo' know.
Entry 10464
Git chew a han'fula san' [sand] an' put down side yore bed an' when- evah he [witch] come dere an' mess wit chah, why he have to count ev'ry one dem grains of sand 'fore he go, an' dey say he gon'a keep on countin' dem ovah an' ovah until he try to count 'em all, but he nevah would count 'em all 'fo [before] dat morning. See, jes' count 'em ovah an' ovah.
Entry 10581
Well, you could go to the river and get twelve grain of sand - twelve grain of sand. You go to the river and you get twelve grain of sand and you get a bat. You know what they call a bat. That's some little bird about. [In folk- lore and hoodoo a bat is always a bird.] (It flies around in the air?) Fly around in the air. (All right.) And after you git that bat heart - you git the heart out de bat. And then you take that twelve grain of sand and put it right in that bat heart, and you sew it up and slip it in your pocket. And you'll win all. You'll have the best success that is in gambling.
Entry 11236
[Since we are now in the letter "D" of CHANNEL DE WORLD material - a division arranged alphabetically instead of sectionally to avoid typing compli- cations - the following 30 pages or more will be concerned with doctors, something by them or about them. Doctors of course will appear among later letters of the alphabet, but here was a convenient place to concentrate some of them. I begin with a folding rite that contains a close relative, a wrapping rite. The verb to fold does not appear in the index of Folklore from Adams County Illinois, 1st ed., 1935, and I doubt its appearance in the indexless 2nd ed. There is an index only in the files of the Center for the Study of Comparative Folklore and Mythology, University of California, Los Angeles, California. De- spite rarity, HOODOO has a number of folding rites, some of them quite compli- cated: Nos.3126, 3182-3190, etc., v.3 and elsewhere. To fold to you or away from you is a usual theme, but our present rite is an accordian fold. Especially interesting to me is the doctor, place of hearing, and time. My record concern- ing him reads: "Thurs. Feb. 15, 1940, informant No.1565, man 45, Crackerjack Store, paid, ng." (From note books E Series, 2nd New Orleans trip, numbers of informants 1558 to 1605). More about that ng in a moment. Informant was brought to me by the black man preceding him, a man who worked at the Crackerjack Store - sometimes called drug store - a famous hoodoo emporiun of that date. During the following interview I was utterly unaware that this would be my last dat at Pat- terson Hotel, 759 S. Rampart St., corner of Julia, New Orleans, La. Years later I would pay my respects to the old building by printing her picture at the end of HOODOO volume 2! The folding rite follows:] Say fo' instance yo' wanta git rid of a man. All right yo'd git his photo- graph, not a tintype. Git a cardboard [photograph] an' de medium size. Git it an' fold it in half an' find, say lak a dead chicken or a dead dog or somepin aroun' [or lying about] wit maggots. Ah mean large-size maggots as dey walkin'.... Well, yo' crease de photograph in nine folds an' as yo fold it in de nine folds, yo' drop a maggot in each one of 'em; in every fold until yo' git de nine mag- gots. Den yo' git chew a piece of separate black cord an' tie it [folded photo] nine times; den yo' git chew a piece of red [cord] an' yo' make six knots [about folded photo]. An' put in dem nine knots an' six knots.... Dat [package] is representin' dey cof- fin. Aftah yo' git through wit dat, den yo' wrap it up in a piece of cloth, which would be about fully de same size, an' git chew de nine of spades, an' wrap dat up nine times, an' jes' take an' fold it wit [3 ingredients]: one flake [flick = pinch] of salt, an' one flake of black peppah, an' one flake of red pep- pah - cayenne peppah. An' wrap 'em all up. An' yo' close it up an' regardless of whut de individual's name may be, yo' put it down nine times in a piece of silk tissue papah, fold it every time nine times. Take a match an' burn it, an' as yo' burn it, leave dem ashes go right on top.... Den yo' take all dat cloth [the several packages together] tuhgethah an' reenfold it [in one cloth] an' git chew some rivah sand, an' jes' put it in dere an' dry [tie] it up [into one pack- age]. Den yo' goes on tuh de neahest runnin' watah dat yo' kin git tuh an' dig yo' a small pit, jes' a small hole.... Dig it out six inches, jes' as dere grave. Aftah yo' do it, den yo' says - be mastah of de ceremony which is his funeral. As yo' be blessin' de body as it goin' down, every word yo' say yo' curse in between it, which is his name in between. An' as yo' doin' dat, den yo' throws a little bit of sherry wine, or if he drinks, regardless of whatevah it is, jes' throw it right on in dere....an' covah it up - an' drop it as it [coffin] goin' doup: [After this mock funeral ceremony] nine words yo' says, every day nine words, an' in de 18th day whoevah de individual will be, dey comin' unnormal deathly sick. De doctor [M.D.] or no othah one will undahstan' his case no kinda way. He'll die an' swell up [he'll swell up and die] in de next, say six or seven months, or maybe in de comin' future yeahs, from dat date.... (And you say you say nine words to that thing each day. Have you any special words you say?) Lak if de individual wuz a gamblah or a thief or a murderah, he may come home an' he'll be worried or somepin. Well yo' jes' curse him in dat name, "Yo' son of bitch. Yo' bastard. Yore mothah's no good. Yore fathah's no good. An aftah yo' hit me, whut ah won't do tuh yo'." An' aftah whut chew do to him, yo' say a prayah, "Name de Fathah, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, Amen. "... Every day [the unrecorded things done I pick up in my following comment].
(You say just nine prayers like that. Nine things you say.)
Cussin' him all de time.... [Informant had seen his best days as a doctor, that is why I preserved the remainder of his interview under the last alphabetical division XYZ. Those 4....indicate repetition of what had been said.]
Entry 11673
Say yo' kin go to de fo'ks of de road an' take, yo' know, dat crossin' sand. [sand from crossroad used in crossing person]. An' go an' git 'im, say, a box about foah inches square. An' git a piece of flannen cloth. An jest lak it wus me, dey take mah name [write it] and [write] whatsomevah dey wanta do tuh me; lak dey wanta kill me or wanta lingah me. Dey kin take dat an' read de 35th Psalm fo' nine days at sunrise, an' [while reading it] turn yore haid to de sunrise, an' dey kin kill yo'. (What would they do with all these things in that box? You didn't tell me vhat they did with those.) Well, dey would jest go an' dey would take dat crossing sand [sand from cross- road] yore name, yo' understand, an' dat jest be closed up [in the box]. Yo understand me. Go out an' put dat ingredients in deah. It's a dragon's blood dat chew kin git - dragon's blood - put it in dere. An' put dat box back to- gether, yo' know, jest like yo' kin use dat sand an' dat dragon's blood an yore name an' read dat - yo' understand, dat 35th Psalm.
(Where do you put that box then?)
Well, yo' jest place it most anywhere about in de house, ain't got no certain place.