Subject:Semen
Entries
Entry 3191
If a man wants tuh have a woman undah 'is jurisdiction fo' his life- time! He jes' - when yo' go an' mate wit dat woman an' take whut chey vdpe wit, yo' see. An' when yo' take it - dat whut yo' wipe wit, wit a clean pocket han'-scuff dat nevah been stained - yo' dry off wit dat, yo' see. An' when yo' dry off wit dat, yo' kin take dat an' take a little watah, yo' see, an' wet it, an' jes' drain dat into a little whiskey. Den give dat to her, den yo' can't git rid of 'er. It take death tuh part chew den. Yo' might git tired of 'er an' wanta quit 'er, but she goin' plague yo'.
Entry 3195
An' den ah've learned ag'in dat yo' kin take an' go an' urinate, see. An' den git chure come [semen] an' put jes' a lil' taste [of] dat in dat Coca- Cola an' put it somewhere on ice an' keep it cold, see. An' if yo' got a frien' dat chew wanta git up wit, well, have dat Coca-Cola in yore pocket an' walk into somebody place an' say, "Ah wan'a leave dis Coca-Cola on ice." Dey's a frien' of yo', leave de Coca-Cola on ice, unlessen dat yo' goin' to her house. Yo' got two Coca-Colas, one yo' goin' take, an' dis girl ain't lovin' yo' so good. Say, "Honey, ah got two Coca-Colas heah tuh drink. Yo' take an' put 'em on ice." Well, yo' give her de one dat's got dat dere Heart Cologne an' dat come an' dat pee in it [three in- gredients]. Boy, she'll take dat an' she'll die by yo'.
Entry 3309
In othah words, see, jes' if yo' got a woman an' yo' an' 'er - yo would like her, yo' undahstan'. Yo' would like dis woman an' yo' couldn't do nuthin in de world, yo' undahstan', to keep dis woman. But here what you'd do. Yo'll take dis woman an', yo' know, fool aroun' wit 'er, yo' see, an' you'll - jes' like yo'll discharge, de man'll discharge, eithah one of 'em [it depends upon which one wants to hold the other]. She take, yo' know, an' [keep it] herself. [Here informant changes from man to woman.] Den she takes a rag an' go off an' strap it down in a bowl, yo' undahstan'. Den she won't dis- charge wit it, yo' undahstan'. [I don't understand.] [This belief of hoodoo makes a woman into a sort of man, a lesser one at that. I have mentioned this problem several times in HOODOO.] An' aftahwards, she jes' take it an' go back an' urinate ovah herself, yo' see, [I mean] ovah hit [man's rag]. Den, aftah dat she take it [with him and her in the rag] an' rinse it out an' wash it, see. Well aftah she rinse it out an' wash it out, she take some of it an' put it down in a bottle, see. An' den when she stop it up, yo' [man] go where yo' want, yo' won't wanta see no othah woman in de world but her, yo' see.
(How can a man get rid of that?)
Well de way I get rid of dat, be jes' a-continue on - keep 'er.
Entry 3314
An' den I've heard dat yo' go an' yo' git ten-penny nails an' a piece- I'M ASHAMED TO TALK.
(YOU GO RIGHT AHEAD, I'VE HEARD ALL THAT.)
Red flannen, piece of red flannen an' den dey get a piece of dis ah - ah dis root choo call...
[A long pause.]
(What?)
John de Conkah. Gits a piece of dis John de Conkah root an' yo' puts dat in dere an' den dey gits a piece - den if yo' kin git yore husban' when yo' have connection wit yore hus- ban', git a piece of towel an' yo' put 'em undahneath de steps an' den yo' throw - dey say yo' 'throw chamber lye undahneath dere fer nine mawnin's, see. An' on de ninth mawnin', if dat man's gone, dat man will be comin' back fast.
(Now, you do this after that bottle has been there nine days?)
No, yo' put dat dere - no, dat ain't got nuthin to do wit de bottle.
(Oh! this is something different, I see.)
It's somethin' diff'rent. (You put this John de Conker and that other stuff [semen] in this piece of red cloth, and put that under the step for nine days. And the nails in there?) Uh-huh, an' den yo' put 'em undahneath de steps, see. An' dan yo' take de chamber lye - yo' [this] suppose to be done so nobody see it, nobody kin see yo 'tall [at all], an' yo' throw it dere fo' nine mawnin's, nine straight maunin's. See now?
Entry 3484
Jes' lak now if yo' wanta keep 'im an' yo' have a intahco'se wit 'im, jes' lak yo' mess up wit 'im, why yo' git chure han'scheff yo' know an' git dat [semen] an' tie it in de cornah of de han'- sheff an' bury dat undah yore do'step. An' see, dey can't leave but so fur, dey can't go outa town or nuthin, until yo' git ready tuh go yoreself, ah reckon.
Entry 3523
Well, de way yo' know dat I undahstan' it, jes' lak if yo' have intahco'se, yo' undahstan'. Well dey'd take dat, dat same piece. Well dey'd be careful an' try to git de edge of it, yo' see. Well dey got some of yores, pref'rence. An' ketch yore urine, yo' know, an' git deres what wuz on dere. An' dey jis' tie a little string on it an' tie three knots in it, an' put dat aroun' dere waist an' wear it fer nine days.
(What will happen?)
Well dat controls yo' to dem.
Entry 3795
Ah wuz talkin' wit dis lady. Ah dunno but 'er husban' jes' had a weak- ened nature. An' othahwise she wuz a passionate woman. An' othahwise she real- ly - nightly of each week would be all right wit 'er. Othahwise, he didn't have any surplus energy to satisfy 'er. An' so some- one told 'er to jes' exactly take de [come semen] an' stick up 'is nose, so dat he might jes' smell it yo' see, an' dat will cause his passion to rise, an' he could sat- isfy 'er at sech-an'-sech a time. So dat wuz 'er method in bringin' back 'is courage. (Well, now, did she do this when he was asleep? Or did he know that she was doing it? Or what?) Well, he knew she wuz doin' it. Yes, indeed.
(And she put it on a cloth or something and held it under his nose?)
See, IT WUZ 'IS ANYWAY. BECAUSE NO DOUBT HE WOULD DRUTHER SMELL 'IS OWN MAYBE DEN SMELL SOMEONE ELSE'S. Dat worked.
Entry 3796
Take de towel [used for wiping] an' put it between de mattress an sheet an' let 'im sleep on it. Dat'll bring it back.
(His nature?)
Yessuh.
(Does he do that or does she?) His wife does. (In case somebody has taken it away from him?) Yessuh.
Entry 9366
[The following rite, one of the most interesting and puzzling in Hoo- doo, raises the question asked in the margin title. Let us begin by reading the rite itself:1 As fer as ah heered 'bout dat ah don't know fo' definite whethah it's true or it's not true. Ah tell yo' whut ah has heered. Dey tell me dey take a black hen aig, an' take it an' break it, an' use it wit an intahco'se yo' havin' wit a woman. Suck dat black hen aig an' have a intahco'se, an' soon as yo' has a intahco'se, de same identi- cal thing dat passed in de time yo' havin' use it dat same way. An' use dat black hen aig an' stop it intuh a pint bottle. An' dey tell me dey nuse [use] dat undahneat' of de house.
[Informant will explain later what he means.]
(What will that do?)
Well, dat keeps yore [male] fren's away from 'er, an' keeps yore wife at home, an' keeps a calm home an' a-down [trouble] - whut chew call a harmless home.
(Now you take this raw black hen egg?)
Yo' use one crushed tuh yuhself.
(You eat that?)
Suck it - yes, lak dat.
(Before you have intercourse.)
All right. Yo' takes de othah one [eggl an' has it ready. Den yo' have a intahco'se wit 'er, an' de same thing dat she did befo' - quite natural when a woman's [woman has an emission!] it's common. An' he's quite natchal [natural] li'ble [liable] tuh see dat [emission!] an' pick it up: Jis' pick it up an' ah take dat an' put it in a bottle unbeknowst tuh 'er, an' ah bury dat. Don't bury it, ah'd use it undah de eve [eaves] of de house.
(What would you bury, take in that [bottle]?)
Stop dat stain [up in the bottle].
(From her you mean?)
Yes sir. Puts dat in a bottle an' stop it 'up an' use it undah de eve of de house where yo' kin go tuh de [buried] bottle.
(But you must eat that black egg first?)
Use dis black egg yoreself, suck it. Well, dis stain yo' put it in dis bot- tle, an' uses de othah one [egg] in dere wit it.
(What other?)
Her nature an' dat othah aig is in dere tuhgethah.
(How many eggs are you using?)
Two, jis' two. (You eat one first, then you use the other egg with her stuff [nature] in the bottle.) In de bottle. Shake it intuh a likkah [liquid]-like. [I must now restate the margin-title question: Does a woman during coitus dis- charge a female substance, which in some way unites with man's semen to create a new life? Remember, hoodoo knows nothing about ova and Fallopian tubes. The ordinary word for semen in Hoodoo is come, a word describing an action, something coming from a man. The same word is used for a woman's action, both in hoodoo and non-hoodoo thought, according to a question commonly asked of a woman: Did you come? A more generalized term denoting sexuality for both men and women appears in the word nature, found frequently in Hoodoo. Our present rite speaks of a fluid coming from the woman and making a spot, as her nature. This nature of hers is bottled with a chicken egg: Dat keeps yore [male] frien's away from 'er an' keeps yore wife at home. A woman's nature of course could also be her hair or urine or anything from her body; but a woman's nature joined with chicken egg, as in this rite, surely suggests that she ejects a procreative liquid. Why did I not question informant closely? Not back in 1939 when this rite was col- lected and folklore in English about sexual organs and acts did not exist! Be- sides, sex was not overemphasized in my field work.]
Entry 10262
Ah heard dey said yo' could take yo' discharge an' put it in a rag an' put it where no air kin git to it, an' put it in yore pillah, an' he cain't do nuthin off nowheres else, an' he'll have tuh stay home.
Entry 10270
When mah husban' left home ah had some of his [pubic] hair an' ah taken it an' put it in de bottle an' stopped it up an' put it up undah de steps. An' jis' lak me an' him be to- gether, well ah got de string an' got some of it [semen] an' put it roun' mah waist; an' he always be's by me all de time. An' ah got de dishcloth an' put some [semen] on de dishcloth an' put it up ovah de do', an' whenevah he go out - he had been goin' out an' stayin' an' stayin' an' goin' off runnin' roun', an' he got so he jis' stayed at home all de time. An' den ah quit him. Aftah he got tuh bein' so good tuh me, den ah went tuh treatin' him mean. Yo' know, him treatin' me mean, ah went off tuh show him how it feel fo' him tuh do me lak dat. An' he jis' cry all de time tuh try tuh git me back.
(Did you go back to him?)
No, ah didn't go back to him. He in hospital now.
Entry 10892
Well, the first thing that happened, this girl, other girl, was going with the woman's husband; and she [other girl] wanted the woman's husband for herself, and the woman wanted the husband at home. And she [other girl] told me that she was going to make them [husband and wife] get along bad. So she put some dog hair and some cat hair dat - you know, caught 'em fighting and cut the hair out of the dog and the cat, and put this hair together and put it in there, in his coat lining. And she say, whenever he go home that would cause he and his wife to get along bad, and they'd set up argue, fuss all the dune. Quite natural nobody wants to stay with anybody like that. After which, ohen they separated - the man and wife - den she wanted him back.
(The wife wanted him back?)
The wife wanted him back. And to get him back, she decided to get to him and soft talk, you know, love and talk to get him back home to have intercourse with hin, and then she was going to take part of his and keep it at home. She say she tie it in a rag and put a silver dime in the corner of the rag, and she stick it under her bed mattress, and that would make him to come back to where be left froa.
(Well, then, did he come back?)
Yes, he came back.
(Oh, he came back all right.)
Entry 12890
You kin take three mens.
(What?)
Mens, like you and I.
(Oh, take three men. Yes?)
Three men and in between these men you can just say that you wanta take one of them mens as a trap. You wanta take this man here and trap these two men. Well, you kin give that man there anything that you wanta eat [or drink]. Take a bottle of whiskey that's never been used and you take your hand and play with yourself until you discharge. [Human semen is common in HOODOO.] You put it in this whiskey and you stop it up and you turn that down like that and leave it for nine days.
(So that it is leaning against something?)
Yes, in the corner of the house - in the left hand corner of the house. [This is a cornering rite, very common. The left-hand corner is to the left as you enter house or room.]
(All right.)
All right, in 9 days you take this whiskey up. At 9 o'clock you meet this party and you ask him if he wants a drink. You gotta be sure that he do's drink, and you take some and give it to him. And then you leave him with the bottle. They drink it all up. Whatever they do with it, you see 'em drink some before you leave 'em. If they got one or two men, they'll finely wean away from them men and crave to you.
(You do this to a woman?)
Yes.
Entry 12891
I tell you how that is did. She takes some of his discharge, and use some kind of solution on it, and use it like dat and have you [a man] so you can't have no ambitions for her or no other woman. (What would she do with that?) Just take it and there some kind of solution that made up with some kind of root, some kind of root you go out and get. I know a old man out chere got some of it. And when she gets up she shake dat bottle.
(She puts the solution together?)
Puts the solution in with the urinate, and with this root and stop it up, and shake dat bottle every morning for nine mornings. And the tenth morning, instead of her shaking it, she throws it over her right shoulder and breaks the bottle. Then as she turns around, she turns to the right.
(She turns to the right?)
Turn to the right when she turns, and pick that up. Just pick up what's left, the roots and things of that kind, and takes 'em and wraps 'em up and places 'em away to some safe place.
(And what will that do to him?)
That will keep him from having anything to do with anybody. His use goes entirely away.
Entry 13364
If dere's a man left a woman an' is gone an' she cain't make him come back, an' she's done ever'thin' she wants tuh do tuh make him come back. She'll have tuh go tuh de man an' git de man tuh come tuh her house, an' aftah he come tuh her house, see, she takes him in dere an' she takes an' has intah- co'sin' wit him. Well, she'll have intahcos' wit dis man an' she'll git some of her urinate, some of her [his] stuff. An' she takes it an' she takes a lil' piece of flour dough, an' she mixes it all up wit it. An' takes it an' tie it up in a pocket han'ke'ch'ef an' drops it in one of her stockin's. She crush de stockin' all up an' puts it in de cornah behin' de dō', an' den nevah sweeps it out. An' as long as dat stay dere - she let it stay dere fo' 9 days. In dem 9 days time, say he'll come tuh de house. In 9 days time no mattah how fur he is away, if he kin git dere in 9 days he'll be dere in dem nine days.
(This man has to come to her house first?)
Yassuh, [otherwise] some othah - she have tuh git some othah man tuh come tuh her house.
(Some other man would come, so she could get this other man to come back?)
Yassuh, jes' lak ah went off an' left a girl an' den wouldn't come back tuh her, she'll git some othah man tuh come tuh her house tuh be with her so she could git chance tuh git some stuff [semen] from him. She mix it in flour dough, tie it up in a piece of han'ke'ch'ef an' drop it in one her stockin's, tie de stockin' up an' throw it behin' de do', de do' dat he comes in all de time, an' dey say in 9 days time he'll be back.
Entry 12430
You see, if a person gets your urine or gets... I know, you under- stand, jis' like, yo'll excuse me, you know, you see, like de ministrate of a man. An' dey [an enemy] bury dat an' dat will make you [man] pine away an' dry up until yo' die - jis' keep yo' mopin [listless apathy] an' mopin'... [Ministrate is an unusual word for what is normally in HOODOO call- ed his come, semen. Ministrate, of course, is a term for menstruation. A wo- man in HOODOO also has come, whatever it means in addition to orgasm in her case; but this come has nothing to do with ova or ovulation, both these latter uknown in HOODOO.1
Entry 3136
She kin take some of 'is discharge, some of dat, an' she kin take an' tighten it down [in bottle], jes' lak she kin put it in a rag an' tighten it down airtight an' wear dat on her, an' dat will keep 'im. Dosin' it a li'le bit wit black peppah, put black peppah on it, an' de firs' thing yo' know, yo'll be at de place dat chew don' want nobody else but 'er.
Entry 3593
Take a string an' measure his thing, an' tie a knot in it at evah time yo' measure it. Yo' measure de length an' de width of it - ah mean around it. Take it an put some of 'is come wit it an' wear it an' he cain't git up no heart fo' her.
(How many knots do you put in the string?)
Nine.
Entry 3623
When yo' have a intahco'se wit 'im, yo' take yo' a co'd string an' don't yo' come. She don't come wit 'im. She jes' wet dat co'd string in dat come an' 'is chamber lye an' tie nine knots in it an' wear it aroun' 'er waist. An' take de measure of 'is [penis] an' tie nine knots in dis co'd string an' wear it roun' 'er waist. Dat will stop a man from runnin' aroun' an' he cain't git up no heart fo' no othah woman. When he go it will fall. Dat ties up 'im.
Entry 10209
I hear'd about a woman taking a man's nature sure 'nough. After she menstr'ate two days, she'll take off dat piece, put dat piece down dere an' put it jes' in dat water and soak it. She takes a new linen han'ke'ch'ef and wash it. (A new red handkerchief.) No, linen. Linen, so it get soft. When he discharge, she ketch it on the han'ke'ch'ef. All right. She get bolt of dat noy and she put it in dat water to soak it, and she wring it out. And vring Lc dirty piece out and pour it in a bottle, and go down at lou water, lov tide, and when the tide is out, and put it in dere. When dat tide come in, she [tide] carries it with her, and the tide carry it out. No matter how many years, he's in for life. He's gone dere. (Is there any way he can get that off of him?) [There is no answer. It may have been lost.l
Entry 10299
Woman ties up man's semen in handkerchief with a penny and wears on leg [Richmond, 365:7].
Entry 10314
Cork man's semen in bottle and wears in front of her underwear on left side [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone].
Entry 10319
She can put some of his semen in a bottle with 9 new needles and bury the bottle neck-down or upside down [Richmond, 376:6].
Entry 10320
Woman puts man's semen in bottle with new needles and new pins, damp- ens every 9 days with gin, and wears. If this cloth becomes dry it will kill the man [Richmond, 302:11].
Entry 10321
Woman puts man's semen in small bottle, keeps in small red bag, ties string to and wears around waist [Richmond, 278:1].
Entry 10373
Woman ties clothing, on which semen falls, into 3 knots, dampens with witch hazel, and puts in mattress [Wilmington, 133:4].
Entry 10318
Catch man's semen in handkerchief, roll tight, put in bottle, bury upside down [Richmond, 383:5].
Entry 10294
Woman wipes man on her underskirt and lets semen stay there [Wilming- ton, 177:3].
The condensed account explicitly names semen left on an underskirt. The citation is editorial, and no observed act or original speaker is established.