Subject:Shirttail
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Entry 3319
[The letter V like the equilateral triangle has three points or corners and both are magic shapes or forms in hoodoo. Usually the equilateral triangle signifies the Trinity - three sides, each equal - but originally and like the letter V it was a sign of the mons veneris. That such was the case can be substantiated by much historical evidence as well as the following rite: l A woman kin take a man's shirt, if she gon'a wash it fer Befo' she wash dis piece, she would fold de end of de shirt - de part dat hangs close to de front part of it. Fold it right near a V-shape [to fit mons veneris] as she can an' cut it off, an' dis man will be her slave. She supposed to wear dat piece of cloth on her body. Take it an' put in somepin an' tie roun 'er body nex' to her skin.
Entry 3510
Well, jis' like if she wanted havin' a man, yo' know, an' yo' don't wan' 'im to have no one else. Dey say dat dere's two ways yo' kin do dat, but de surest way to do it is to go to de store - yo' don't have to buy but about a half a yard of white homespun. I've tried dat mahself. An' when yo' make connection, jis' before he have a good time, dat he takes it out - an' of co'se some draps on de baid. Yo' take an' grab like dat an' wipe it choo know. An' den yo' tie yo' a hard knot in dat homespun. I guess it'll be about dat long. Yo' got to buy about a half a yard anyhow. Yo' might have to splice it, yo' know, so it be long enough to go roun' yore waist an' tie it, an' also tie de knot [here are the two knots]. Yo' wear it nine days an' den yo' take it an' put it somewhere 'bout chah baid, an' he can't mess wit nobody else. He be on level all de time. I did it fer curiosity. I did a man like dat an' he had to pay a man, he told me, ten dollars to git dat thing offa him.
Entry 3731
Dirt dauber nest will cure a person if dey's hurt. Take dem waspses out dere, dem little waspses lak dat yo' know, an' if yo's want tuh be wit a woman an' she's dressed [by her husband], why yo' go an' git a dirt dauber's nest an' git some young spidah's out dere, jes' one or two of dem, an' rub yore han's lak dat, an' go an' rub 'er ovah heah. An' when yo' rub dat, take de no'th cornah of yore shirttail an' rub it off dere. Yo' put dat on dere an' yo' go right on doin' jes' whut chew came to do.
(If the woman is hurt what do you do for the woman then?)
She ain't hurt, she's jes' dressed. Yes, jis' dressed. Well, if yo' take an' put dat on a woman dressed lak dat yo' know, yo' couldn't have nuthin tuh do wit er tuh save yore life. (If I thought some other man was fooling around with my woman, I would rub it where the stuff won't hurt her.) Yeah, jes' take dat an' smear it on 'er lak dat - on her person [privates].
(But you have to rub that over your own privates first?)
Yeah, an' yo' take de no'th cornah of yore shirttail an' go dere an' - dat stuff ah tole yo' - an' rub it off lak dat. Take de shirttail, de no'th cornah of it, an' spread it out lak dat. An' yo' kin go right on to her.
Entry 3929
Tell yo' whut dey did to me. See, yore shirttail - de man jes' take de scissors an' clip jes' about dat much off de end of de shirttail. (The front or back?) Cut off de front of de shirttail whut hang by his private. Den she tooks it an' she wrahps [wraps] it up in one of 'er periods rag, yo' undahstan', an' she fix it ovah de do', an' yo' be home.
(That's to keep the man home?)
Dat's right.
Entry 4778
Take an' cut off de end of 'is shirttail an' tie it in nine knots an' put it right in de house. Take jis' a little bit of 'er chamber lye an' cook it in some bread. An' he'll nevah go nowhere. [We have here two separate rites used as one for good measure.]
Entry 4809
Usely [usually] women do dat tuh keep dere husban's at home. Men do dat tuh keep dere wives at home. Dey cut a piece of dere shirttail an' stick it in a cologne bottle or vaseline jar, or bo' a hole in a tree an' put it back in dat tree. An' no mattah wherevah yuh goes, yuh'll have tuh come back tuh dat same place dat dat shirt is in dat tree. If yuh go tuh New York, yuh won' stay long. If yuh go tuh Atlanta, yuh won' stay long. Wherevah he goes, he won' be dere satisfied until he returns tuh dat place where dat stuff is in dat tree.
Entry 4815
Dey says dat yuh could take - jis' lak me mahself, an' ah had two frien' mens [men friends] an' ah didn't wan' dem tuh connect tuhgethah, didn't want 'em tuh run tuhgethah, but [I] always be in de middle evah time dey meet. Ah could [take] mah ole man's shirttail an' 'is [other man's] shirttail, an' put it in a half a gallon of watah an' boil it down tuh a quart. An' take dat quart an' all dat shirt- tail, both uh dem shirttails, an' put it in ere an' bury it. An' dey say dem mens would run tuhgethah an' always be lovin', nevah would have a fallin'-out.
Entry 4816
Take de shirttail of anothah man's shirt an' 'er husban' shirt, or anothah man lak 'is frien', an' cut de tail off even, both of 'em even. She kin take it an' sew it up in a little sack an' tote it roun' 'er wais', an' de man kin come an' be dealin' wit 'is wife or anythin', an' he nevah git mad wit de othah fellah atall. Dey be frien's altuhgethah. Dey might git in a argument, but it seems aftah while dey come right back an' dey be good frien's.
Entry 4817
Lak yuh'd wanta make two mens fight, fall out chew know. If yuh could git a string of each one's shirttail an' tie it tuhgethah, dey'll have a fuss an' fight.
(These two men would.)
Entry 5510
De track yo' know. Dey take de track, take it from de heels tuh de toes jes' lak dis [demonstrates]. [If he]' walks dat way [away from you], why yo' take it from de heel, jes' from de heel tuh de toe. Take dat track an' throw it tuh where jes' lak dey walks on [throw it direction he is walking]. Throw it dat way an' dat'll keep 'im goin', yo' see - goin'. Lak if yo' wanted 'em comin', why yo' take it from de toe tuh de heel.
(What would you do with that, then?)
Yo' takes de track den an' yo' throw it off - yo' know, throw it so far goin' from yo' [as far as possible from you] an' dat makes 'em go.
[Informant misunderstood my question, I ask it another way:]
(What if you wanted to bring them back, what would you do with that track?)
Why, if yo' want tuh bring 'em back, why yo' kin take de track from de toe tuh de heel an' keep de track. Take de track in de design lak ah wus tellin' yuh, from 'is toe tuh 'is heel, an' keep it an' he come back. Or eithah a ring outa his shirttail. Jes' cut a roun' ring outa his shirt- tail. Cut a roun' ring outa dat an' yo' kin keep it an' he'll come back. (Just cut a ring out of his shirttail and keep it. That will make him come back.) [In addition to a ring or circle of cloth cut from clothing, squares and oblongs (coffin symbols), perhaps other designs are also cut out.]
Entry 5960
Dey kin take yore hair an', yo' know, tear a piece off yore shirttail, an' wear [tie] it roun' dere laig an' dat'll make a man love yuh. Well, ah've tried dat.
(Well now, what do they do with this hair?) Wear it roun' dere laig. (Oh, they put this hair in this shirttail.) An' wear it roun' dere laig. (Either leg?)
Yore right laig.
Entry 6171
An' den if yo' wants to be in love wit a girl, yo' take de stran's of hair, about three stran's of hair out of 'er head, an' take it an' sew it into de left cornah of yore shirttail an' wear it dere. An' yo' can't git rid of 'er, she'll still love yo'. (In what part of the shirttail, front or back?) In de left corner in de front.
Entry 7951
Take a piece of de coffin.
(What kind of a coffin?)
Aftah a person is buried an' it done rotted.
(Well, what do they do with that?)
Dey take dat an' dey bury somebody else wit it - in de family. Takes a piece of it. See, aftah yo' done buried somebody in a coffin. Well, yo' know, quite natchally a cof- fin rots lak nuthin an' when it rots it comes tuh a powdah; but if dey kin git a piece of it, or if dey don't git a piece of it, dey kin git de powdah from dat coffin [or you could probably buy coffin dust at some hoodoo drug store!]. Jis' de dust off dat coffin. Dey take dat an' dey git 'em a silk han'ke'ch'ef - git a silk han'ke-ch-ef. Yo' put dat intuh dat han'ke'ch'ef. Now, when yo' put dat in dat han'ke'ch'ef, dey got nine needles an' dey got nine pins, but dey git 'em right outa de store. Dey ain't nevah been used. Now, if dey wus goin' tuh bury, say if dey wus goin' tuh bury me, or mah sistah, or somebody in mah family, dey'd git dat an' dey'd git 'er name. An' if dey kin git de - see, de tongue, yo' see, de tongue of yuh shoe.
(Yes, the tongue of the shoe.)
If dey kin git dat, dey git dat an' dey puts dat wit dat. Now, when dey git dat all tuhgethah....
(What do they put the name on? On some paper?)
No, on - I take de seat of dere undahweah, de back part, any of dere undah- weahs - see, any part of it, de back of yuh shirttail, yo' see. I take dat an' I am goin' tuh pin it down, tight as I kin git it, an' I am goin' tuh write yuh name on tuh dat. Now, when I write yuh name on tuh dat, I wrap dese things up in dere. When I wrap it up in dere, I tie. When I tie it, I tie it up wit nine knots. I tie wit nine knots. I bury it, if I want.tuh; an' if I don' wan' tuh bury it, I kin throw it in de rivah, yo' see. Kin throw it in de rivah or bury it. When I bury dat, why den I got choo where I wan' choo. Yo' got tuh go. Dat I done harmed yo' in an' somethin' will happen tuh yo'.
Entry 9334
Well, jes' lak if yuh ole man's gone, yo' take nine fresh aigs an' de end of one of his shirttails an' two of his socks. An' point 'em an' put.dat aig right in between, yo' know, each toe of dat sock with his shirttaii. An' yo' bury it, bury dat right up undah de steps. Dat is sup- posed tuh bring him back. (You bury these socks with the toes pointing to each other. And right where those toes point to each other you put that egg?) Put dat aig an' his shirttail.
(The shirttail is wrapped around the egg?)
Yessuh.
(There are nine eggs though, aren't there?)
Nine fresh aigs, yessuh. Gotta be fresh aigs.
Entry 10878
Yo' take a black cat, de same cat yo' got de [lucly] bope [froa]. Yo take dat hair an' yo' tie it up. Yo' gotta tie it in a rag an' yo' wear it in yore shirttail. When yo' wear it in yore shirttail, yo' kin conker anybody. (You get the hair from the top of his tail?) Right from de top of his tail, right from de butt of his tail. (And the man will give you a job?) "Cause him tuh give yo' a job or yo' kin git anything that chew want.
Entry 11284
Ah went to a hoodoo an' he tole me to git a silver dollar. Ah don't know why ah should 'splain diz or not. Whut [ah] am goin' say now, yo' know it's kinda bad thing to explain. He tole me say, "Yo' git on a woman an' while yo' on dat woman, yo' have her to tie dat knot into yore shirttail on yore back. An' dat's de best experience ah evah had in mah life.
(Tie what knot?)
Tie a knot into my shirttail - dat silver dollar tied up into mah shirttail in dat knot. Dat's de best experience ah evah had. She did it. Ah did dat.
(What kind of luck did that give you?)
Well, ah wus lucky all de time.
(In all sorts of ways?)
Yes suh.
(You mean you had to be actually on her while she tied that?)
While she tied dat knot ah'd have to be on her. An' ah tole her whut ah want to do, a silver dollar. [For a man to tie 9 knots in a string and to tie it on woman's back while loving her, compare 10678, p.4044, v.5.]
Entry 12931
Well, you take a man dat - a person what wanna have you home all de time an' mix up, mix up [confused] from time to time dat - he would come in your home and he would git a piece of yore garment. Jes' like you got dat shirt [author's shirt brings a version of the shirttail rite to informant's mind]. If he [the man we started with] would see anything keerless around your home [soiled clothing], like you gotta hang yore shirt [but don't], some stuff around not put in de dirty bag. He [the man we began with will soon be changed to a woman because this is a shirttail rite] would take your shirt and carry it on home and take a small piece out de back, right under de back. [Here informant changes to a woman.] And a woman - most woman do it, no man. But most women do dat to keep up de home when she want dis man. See. She would take a small piece out of it and cut dat out dat shirt and slap dat [shirt]. [She] come on back and put dat shirt back where he is. And dat man would all de time be cross with his wife. [Woman cutting piece out of man's shirt is not his wife.] Nothin' she do could suit him.