Subject:Sleep
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Entry 3243
How to git rid of 'em? Yo' have a Indian head penny an' buy a pocket han'skuff or eithah a piece of domestic, jis' so it a new piece of cloth. When yo' have a intahco'se wit 'im, why den yo' don't make connection, jes' let 'im make de connection. An' den yo' try to handle [the cloth] in a way da choo [That you] git all dat [semen] on [in?] one sass [sauce, try to collect the semen in one spot]. Yo' put dat Indian head penny right in de middle of dat stuff, an' den yo' tie it. All right, an' yo' sleep on it. Well, dis hol's 'im. An' de minute choo wan'a git rid of 'im, yo' jis' turn it loose, jis' throw de rag away an' take de penny an' spend it.
Entry 3255
(Do they get it out of any particular track, or doesn't it make any difference?) No, it don' make any diff'rence jis' since it de hollah of dey track, yo' undahstan'. See, right in de hollah of dey track. Dey take dat dirt, yo' undah- stan' an' wrap it up in a rag, see. Take dat rag, if yo take it out a girl's track, yo' take it to yore home, yo' undahstan', an' put dat rag up undah de baid in de rollah.
(You take the roller out and put it up in that hole and put the roller back?)
Dat's it, an' dat girl won' take nobody else, have nuthin tuh do wit inter'- co'se atall. [Bed leg, roller not mentioned, will be found later under margin title UNDERWEAR.]
Entry 3256
Jes' lak yore ole man is about tuh git away from yo', yo' git a new piece of white cloth an' jes' lak yo' know, yo' use a towel at night, an' in- stead of usin' dat, yo' use dat cloth fo' nine mawnin's. Jes' whenevah, yo' know, yo' have any dealin's wit 'im, yo' use dat cloth. If yo' want it tuh be nine days, yo' kin. An' den yo' take it aftah de ninth day an' yo' use it. Well den yo' take some sugah an' spread it out an' put it in dis new cloth an' yo' fold it to yo' an' den yo' sew it [to you] an' then yo' carry [turn] it dis- away an' bring it back [to you] disaway an' sew it. An' den de place he sleeps on, de side he sleep on, yo' put dat new cloth an' dat sugah an' that othah stuff into it, right where he lays.
(You roll that to you and then you fold the ends together?)
Yessuh, always bring it to yo', don' nevah go 'way from yo', an' jes' fold it always to yo', an' when yo' sew, sew it to yo'. An' yo' jes' let it stay right on de side where he sleeps on. Jes' cut de mattress an' put it in dere an' let it stay right on de side where he sleeps on.
Entry 3915
I hears dis here now, on de change of de moon - accordin' to de moon change. Dey say if yo' wan'a woman to con [continue] stay wit choo, yo' git 'er nachure [nature, here her menstrual blood but some- time potency, sexual feeling, etc.] an' git 'er shimmy. An' when she minestratin' - she minastrate by de moon, see. An' dey take dis all an' work it up in boilin'-hot watah, an' make 'er sleep on it fah' five days - whut I mean, five nights - wit salt, table salt [not cattle salt] an' it conkers 'er in 'er minastrate. She don't wan'a bothah wit nobody. [This is a cause of sexual impotence but I have placed it here for the moon belief.]
Entry 4193
She take her husban' urinate an' she put it in a bottle an' she put nine needles wit it an' she stopped dat up an' she put it in de bed where he wuz sleepin' at fo' nine nights. An' aftah dem nine nights she take it an' she bury it undah de steps, an' she did dat tuh keep 'im at home an' so he won' go wit no one else but 'er. An' she say he stayed undah 'er feet so much until she wanta let it go. Yes, he stayed undah 'er feet all de time an' didn't go wit no one else but 'er. Dat whut she did it fo'. He stayed at home all de time. She did it tuh stop 'im from runnin' roun'.
Entry 4671
Yuh take de bow out of a man's hat an' carry it home an' put it in matchbox an' put it undah yore haid, an' dey say dat will make 'em love yo'. [I stopped machine too soon and had to add:] (You said sleep on it.) [The matchbox, a coffin symbol (confinement) and the match, a sexual one - a frequent combination in HooDoO - explain them- selves.]
Entry 4677
De bow an' a dirty sock - out de hat an' 'is dirty sock, lef' foot sock. An' git some Eve-an'-Adam [Adam-and-Eve], some High John de Conkah, some love powdahs, an' roll 'em to yuh. Make yore wishes as yuh roll 'em. Den yuh take it an' put it in yore pillah or in yore mattress, de woman, an' sleep on it an' he'll stay dere.
Entry 4761
Well, ah've heard ag'in, if yuh've got a man away an' yuh want 'im tuh come back tuh yuh, an' he leaves some of 'is clothes dere, said yuh take clothes tuh make him be on 'is haid. Put de clothes - put 'is undahweah an' 'is shirt, put de haid of it down towards 'is feet [dem- onstrates]. (On the bed?) Yessuh, yuh've gotta lay on dere yuh see. Put it down dere tuhwards 'is feet. Dey take his undah- weah an' take de bottom part - take de laigs of it an' put 'em up tuhwards de haid of de baid, an' let de body go down tuhwards it. Den yuh take his socks an' yuh take one an' bring it 'cross dis way an' let it be tuh de front of de baid.
(The head of the bed?)
No suh, de front. Yuh see - listen. Heah's whut ah mean. Now, yuh layin down dat way.
(Here's the bed. This is the head and that's the foot?)
Yessuh, now yuh lie dat sock dat way.
(Which is the foot and which way does the other part of the sock point?)
De foot part of de sock goes at de haid.
(That points to the head of the bed?)
De toe goes tuh de haid of de baid. Den heah comes de othah, de mouth of de sock, yuh know, where yuh put chure foot in. Let it be out tuh de front [demon- strates].
(One sock crosses the other.)
Yessuh. An' den aftah doin' dat. Let's see - man's sock, undahweah an' de top-shirt. Dat, she might lay in it, an' de rest of 'em yuh lay on top of 'em. Don't put a thing on top of 'em but a sheet. Den befo' yo' git in baid, make yore wishes. Put one needle up an' de othah one cross at de haid [demonstrates], 'tween de haid. Lak dis is de haid of de baid, put it down in dere, in between in dere. Don't let it git down by yore haid, but let it be up above.
(At the top of the head of the bed, you cross two needles.)
Yessuh. An' so yuh lay on dose things, an' ah think she said, in nine days he would come home.
Entry 5048
Jis' say, if yuh wanta bust up [broken-home remedy], see. A woman kin take his socks an' take her stockin's an' put 'em tuhgethah, heel tuh heel an' toe tuh toe. Use de lef' foot. Some say de right but de lef' foot is bes'. An' yo' put some sugah in dere an' some peppah, black peppah: if it's white person, put white peppah; an' if it's a black person, put black peppah. An' den yuh put a little cayenne peppah in it, see. An' den yuh roll it to yuh, lak dat [demonstrates]. An' aftah yuh roll it tuh yuh, den yuh git chew a bran'-new co'd [cord] string an' yuh wrap it nine times.
(How do you wrap that?)
Tuh yuh. Yuh roll it tuh yuh an' wrap it tuh yuh. An' den git chew a needle an' git chew some red silk thread an' sew it on each end, nine stitches. Pull it tuh yuh all de time dis way [demonstrates]. Pull it tuh yuh all de time.
(You put nine stitches on each end.)
Dat's tuh bring peace.
(What do you do with that then?)
Well, yuh kin wear it in yore pocket or put it where yuh kin evah day jis' dress it. Yuh know, jis' take yore han', don' have tuh put nuthin on it. Jis' take yore han' or jis' put a little perfume on it - good-luck perfume, any kinda good-luck perfume an' jis' rub it in yore han'. An' den yuh kin sleep on it. Or yuh kin put it where nobody won' go by [near] it but chew. See.
(That is for them to live together in peace.)
Yes.
Entry 5083
Take de sock dat he done wored an' put it undah where - stretch it out on de side dat she lays on In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost an' sleep on it. Den he will stop runnin' roun'. (Stretch it out where?) Undahneat' 'er bed, which an' why. Put it undah de sheet on de bed an' lay on it, an' make her wish In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost dat she means tuh stop 'im from runnin' roun'. Dat will stop 'i. [Florence, S. Car. (1314), 2510:4.]
Entry 5378
If it's a man - someone yo' love, if yo' kin ketch 'is track an' jes' have a piece of newspapah wit yo', an' de minute chew pick it up, say, Come heah tuh me; yo' dirty son of a bitch. Sompin lak dat, an' put dat track in dere. An' yo' put dirt daubah wit it, an' some kinda sweet stuff lak yo' put in pies an' thin's. Yo' mix all dat tuhgethah an' put it in de mattress an' lay on it. An' ah don' care where he go, he comin back.
(You take up either track?)
Jes' take up de track an' put it in newspapah.
(Either track, it doesn't make any difference?)
Yes, it don't make no diff'rence, eithah track.
(Coming or going, it doesn't make any difference?)
Yes, it don't make no diff'rence jes' since yo' git dat track an' have dat newspapah an' put it in dere right den soon as yo' pick it up. An' yo' fix lak spice.
Entry 5647
If yo' wan'a make love yo' take his right - if he's comin' towards yo', take de dirt out 'is right foot track when he comin' towards yo'. Put it in a bag wit sugah an' spice in dere, an': sleep wit it undah yore haid, undah yore mattress undah yore hair where yo' lies.
Entry 6028
If a person dislikes yo' an' wanted tuh do yo' some harm, well if dey kin git some of de hair out de mole of dey haid, an' take dat an' take some nee- dles an' parcel 'em up right both tuhgethah [demonstrates] jis' on an' on yo' know lak dat. (Alternate the needle - cross them.) Yes sir, an' stick it in dat hair an' put it into a piece of flan- nel, an' put dat somewhere in yore bed on de side dat chew sleep on yo' know. An' jis' as long as dat hair an' needles are dere, yo'll jis' can't rest. Ah lgu dat fo' a fac'.
(Do you use any particular number, kind of needle?)
Aw - jis' 'bout five or six.
Entry 6947
Jes' lak she runnin' out on yo' an' doin' bad things an' yo' know it. She comin' in an' she kinda drinkin' a little. If she don't come in too high [drunk or intoxicated] an' don' let 'er be [something]. Yo' take a basin of watah an' take an' put 'er ban' in it, an' ast 'er a question while she's sleepin'. She'll talk wit chew jes' lak she wide awake an' tell yo' ever'thin', where she been an' whut she done an' all.
Entry 7404
Yo' kin take some of 'is clothes, de dead [murdered] person clothes, an' put dat on 'im [friend or relative of corpse], an' when he buried, it'll come tuh yo' [friend or relative] in a dream, who did it.
Entry 7823
Tisn't [It is not] but one place at ah knows of in de graveyard dat yo' kin git any dirt dat will do anythin'. Not any kind of dirt in de graveyard will not [omit not] anything. [Such a belief] it's a fake. If yo' go tuh a murdahed man's grave... [I interrupt.] (Some man that was killed?) Yeah, murdahed. He gotta be a sinnahman, a worldly man lak a gamblah or gangstah or somepin of dat kind. Yo' goes tuh 'is grave an' on 'is left-hand side at 'is haid, yo' take yuh right hand, yo' puts it down in dat earth. Yo' try tuh make it [reach the grave] aftah it rains, 'cuz de earth is soft. [As we shall see, you must grasp this dirt until you reach home and write a letter; consequently not one grain of this dirt must be dropped.] An' yo' kneels dere an' yo' ask 'im whut yo' wanta be done. Undahstan', an' as yo' ask 'im, yo' close yuh hand whilst yo' got it down in dat hole, an' den yo' brings dis dirt out. Undahstand? Yo' brings dis dirt out. Well, den yo' take it home. Yo' writes a lettah jis' lak ah'm writin' tuh a live person from which ah got dis dirt. An' in dat envelope ah'll put dis yere [here] dirt whut ah had in mah hand in dat envelope. Nevah let it [dirt] loose, nevah turn it loose until ah put it in dis envelope. An' den ah will take de sheet of papah an' ah will write tuh dat [dead] man. An' whutsomevah ah wan 'im tuh do, ah will seal dat lettah up wit dis dirt an' put it undah mah haid An' he will do anything dat yo' ast 'im tuh do. An' dat's de only place in de graveyard dat de dirt is any good.
Entry 7851
Yo' go an' git graveyard dirt an' put it in a pillahcase on dere [your] husband baid [and let him sleep on it] an' if he workin' [has a job] he won't, he can't open dat [pay] envelope until he brings the whole thing home.
Entry 7902
Take de graveyard dirt an' put it in yo' pillah or eithah in yuh mat- tress, an' sleep on dat nine days. Yo' jes' go away - yo' know, jes' fall off an' git po' [poor] an' po' until yo' jes' go 'way an' die. Dat'll kill yo'. (After nine days.)
Entry 7914
Well ah hear dem say dat if dey wanta go in anybody's house - lak any rich somebody - white people or somepin, dey wanta go in de house, an' dey'd have a bad dog or anything, dey wanta go in dere, dey git de haid stick, de stick whut's put at de haid of a grave, an' throw it undah de house. An' said dat vill put evahbody tuh sleep an' yo' kin go in de house an' git anything. [For beliefs similar to preceding ones about.theft, see Nos.7529-7530, p.3298f.]
Entry 8018
On de first Friday of de month yo' see, yo' goes an' yo' git chew a beef tongue an' yo' split dat beef tongue jis' long enough where yo' kin stick a piece of papah in dere. Stick dat person's name in dere, write dat person's name lengthways. Jis' don' cross. Kin jis Write it longways, yo' know, jis' write it nine times de long ways. Ah don' mean no cross it, yo' see. An' yo' take aftah dat, aftah yo' write his name, den yo' take it yo see an' yo' stick it down in dat beef tongue. An' yo' go in de graveyard an' yo' bury dat, see. An' when dat beef tongue begin tuh rot, dat person begins tuh feel drowsy an' droopy, sleepy, jis' continue sleep until he kinda sleep hisself away. [Algiers, La., (1590), 2987:4.] [Material about bones from the dead has already been given in many places, among them: MOANING BONES, P.36; HEAD BONE, P.38; POWER FROM HEADBONE, P.282; POWER FROM BROTHER'S SKULL, p.283; DEAD PREACHER'S BONE, p.285; and DEAD GAM- BLER'S HAND BUILT EUREKA HOTEL WHERE I INTERVIEWED IN MEMPHIS BUILT BY THE DEAD, first quotation on p.1871, from p.1876, line 17 from bottom of page, continued on p.1877. I am dividing this subsubsection on bones into: (ea) WHAT BONES FROM THE DEAD DO, and (eb) TYPES OF BONES FROM THE DEAD. These two divisions of course overlap.]
Entry 8056
Sleep on it [a photograph] with the nights and the person can't rest and they'll just be dreaming and think- ing of you. See? That'll make them think of you all the time.
Entry 8197
Take yure pitchure an' put it in a looking glass [the carboard behind the small.hand mirror having been removed]. An' turn it [photo] upside down [against mercury backing of mirror, restoring card- board back] an' put it undahneat' [you] an' sleep on it or walk on it or put it somewhere somebody'll tread on it an' break de glass, an' yo' [person of photo] got tuh come back. Go tuh de do' an' burn some disinfect [disinfectant] an' make yure wish [wish] an' burn it in de house. Den go to de do' an' make yuh wush [again] an' come back. An' 'at [that] been done in Short[?] William Street alley [here in Richmond]. Den [another method] yo' put it [photo without mirror] undah- neat' de carpet or in a trunk upside down tuh draw yuh back. Well keep yuh on yure haid or yuh feet till yuh git back home. An' use dat powdah, insex, love insex [love incense] dey call it. Burn it on a stove.
Entry 8236
Take dere pichure an' put it undah yore baid, undah de haid of yore pillah an' sleep on it nine days, an' he cain't go nowhere or quit chew. (That will keep the man? Just place it under there any way, under the pillow?) Undah de pillah.
Entry 8256
It's prak'ally [practically] de same. An' dis woman she wuz jis' givin' me so much trouble wit mah husban', dat he wuz almos' out fo' good. Ah didn't wan'a 'sturb [disturb] mah place. Ah wondah'd whut tuh do. Ah loved mah husban' an' ah wuz jis' so crazy 'bout 'im, an' jealous ah guess. So it seem lak it come tuh me one night in mah sleep, say, Jis' take his pichure an' weah it. Ah got up through de night an' ah taken dat pichure an' ah put it in mah shoe, an' ah didn't tell anybody whut ah did. Ah put dat pichure in mah shoe an' ah wore it dere. Dat one wored out an' he com- mence tuh grow bettah. Ah looked roun' an' ah found 'nothah one, photograph, an ah put dat one dere. An' ah wanta tell yo' dere ain't a bettah man dat walks, dan mah husban'. Dat's mah one experience. An' ah tole two or three othahs de same things. (I AM LETTING THIS WOMAN GO FOR THE MOMENT BECAUSE THERE IS A SPECIALL HOODOO MAN JUST CAME THAT I WANT TO TALK TO. I AM AFRAID HE MIGHT LEAVE. I'LL TALK TO HER LATER.)
Entry 8755
Jes' lak if somebody did sompin tuh yo' an' yo' didn't like it or sompin of de kin'. In othah words, if yo' got a man off some place or 'nothah an' yo' take a new tin plate. Git it tuh de Five-an'-Ten-Cent Sto'. An' yo' write dis chapter out de Bible, de fo'th chapter of Psalms [Psalm 4]. Yo' write dat out de Bible on dat tin plate an' write his name down de bottom [and an unusual construction of In 3 Holy Names 'De Father bids yo' come, de Son bids yo' come, de Holy Ghost bids yo' come, an' yo' must come back home tuh me in Jesus' Name." An' yo' turn dat plate an' put it undah yore mattress, where yo' gotta sleep on every night.
Entry 8867
Well, ah have heard of 'em - said dat tuh make 'em come back, by takin' 'is lettah, if she could git 'im tuh write. She take his lettah an' sleep wit 'em undah 'er haid fer ten or twelve nights, dat he'd come on back.
Entry 8868
Ah heah tell 'em takin' yore - a lettah dat chew wrote tuh a person - dat chew'd write a lettah tuh me. Ah've heard of 'em takin' dat lettah an' puttin' per- fume on it. Dat's tuh make yo' come tuh me. Yo' take dat lettah an' yo' put perfume on it an' yo' put dat lettah between yore mattress an' yo' sleep on dat lettah each night. Each night befo' goin' tuh. baid why yo' make a wish dat dis person would come, an' yo' continue tuh sleep on dat lettah. An' ah've heard dat by doin' dat an' sprinklin' it wit Hearts Perfume each night, why ah believe in de ninth night, aftah de ninth night, why dat person mo' likely tuh come tuh yo'.
Entry 9528
An' den if yo' wan' him tuh tell evahthing he knows, yo' kin put his han' while he's 'sleep - if yo' maybe ketch him drunk - put his han' in some cold salt an' watah, if yo' wanta find out whut he's doin', an' he'll tell evahthing he knows.
Entry 9795
Ah heard they kin fix needles or pins an' put 'em in yore bed an' yo' can't rest to sleep in that bed.
(Do they put any number of needles in there? Or pins?)
Three - from three to six, dat's whut ah've heard of.
(Either needles or pins, or both?)
Needles or pins, brand-new ones nevah been used.
Entry 10704
Well, if de house is ha'nted an' yo' can't git rid of de ha'nts, if yo've got a Bible, jest sleep wit it under yore haid. Dat'll stop de ha'nts.
Entry 10705
Well, if you wanted tuh be protected from de spirits, ghostes or things - wanta rest - lak if dey worrying yo' at night, yo' take a Bible an' lay it right under yore pillah wide open. An' yo' kin go to sleep an' rest all night long, and it won't no ghost an' no evil spirit or nuthin lak dat bother yo'.
Entry 10706
If a person come in an' yo' don't want dem dere, when he comes in, jest sweep him de way he come in. Sweep out his track jest as he come in, de Way he come in, if yo' don't want him dere. An' finally his conscience will jest lead him [to stay away]. Dat's jest de way yo' do de way ah jest tole yo'. Yo' kin talk nice to him an' say ah haven't got so-an'-so. Well, den if he continue to be comin' after dis, yo' git dat book an' put it under yore head an' read it, an' yo' git relieved from him.
(What is the name of that book?)
It's de Bible de 37th Psalms.
(You just put that Bible under your head?)
Entry 12576
De pillah yo' sleep on - jes' lak ah sleep on a pillah, ah have a penny in dat pillah, see, in dat cloth right in dat pillah, an' all ah have to do is jes' put mah haid on dat pillah an' sleep. (Sleep all night.) [This un- doubtedly is a rite to prevent a hag from riding you. In hag rites a penny is not generally used, though we have copper in No.527, p.156, v.1.]
Entry 12755
Yo' could take a razor an' put it in de center of yore bed crossways. An' if yo' was angry with a person an' yo' couldn't git to them yourself, yo' could write their name [on a large sheet of paper] an' wrap this razor in it, an' put it in de center of yore bed crossways an' yo' go tuh bed on it that night. It be between two mattresses or either under one mattress on de springs. An' it would cause them tuh git cut. But yo' would- n't be doin' anything, yo' jes' be there only; but by his name being wrapped in dis razor, yo' could harm dem that way.
(How do you mean crossways in the bed?)
If it's a long razor...
[I interrupt and demonstrate.]
(Here's the bed. Do you put it this way or that way?)
Put it that way - crossways. (You put it across the width of the bed. That would cause them [him] to get cut?) Yes, yes. [There are other rites in HOODOO causing a man to be cut, shot, arrested, etc.]
Entry 12881
Why yo' take dis scorpion an' kill him an' care [carry]'in tuh a... Jes' lak if yo' wanted tuh kill a person, take dat scorpion an' some black guml powder an' Bone red pep per an' some graveyard dirt an' tie it dere. Put it on - git a chance tuh git inside his house an' let him sleep on it, an' he commence failing. De doctors [H. D.'s] couldn't do anything - ain't nuthin de doctors could do - unlessen be [patient] goes tuh a man dat knows somepin about it.
Entry 13432
Take fo' instance if yo' married an' yo' go out without yore wife, an' yo' done a misdemeanor, an' yo' tave a tendency to talk in yore sleep. Well, if you have done anything, well when yo' go to sleep an' begin snoring, why she kin put chure hand in a cold pan of water an' everything that chew have done, you'll tell it.
Entry 18
I know of a man one time, he was not scared of spirits, and he said one night that he was going through the woods and he saw a ghost and he stopped. And after stopping he went around and sit on a [fallen] tree. And he made believe that he was asleep. And in the meantime this ghost came and sit on the same tree with him, and the ghost re'lly went to sleep according to his belief because he was snoring. And this man said that he got up and walked to this ghost - he did not put his hand on him though - he jumped at him and yelled hard and s'aid, 'What are you doing sleeping here!" And that ghost jumped up then and outrun the Word of God.
Entry 22
[Despite the preceding title Two Spirits, they are two in character but one in substance.] I have hear'n people say that your spirit travels - it is out walking around at places where you have worked. You're sleeping and maybe you're trying to wake up - you're having a hard time waking. If you die, your spirit is gone from you, they say. It takes a long time to get it back. Some people are hollering and hollering and can't move. You're supposed to go and put your hand on them and shake them till they speak to you. They say you sometimes dies in that condition. People say they have hear'n this, people making a noise through the night. They think they were dreaming and they didn't bother, pay any attention to them. Next morning the're late getting up. When they go to rouse them, they would be dead.
Entry 200
If you say something to someone and they don't like it, they can see a hoodoo doctor and he has some kind of an animal. And while you are asleep, the animal will just roll all over you. If you try to wake up, you'll cough or sneeze or something, and that'll make you go back to sleep again. He'll just roll on you until you break out into a sweat he'll let you alone. [Here the doctor has taken over the hag's prerogatives with a difference. Since he himself is unable to go or prefers not to, he sends an assistant - an animal. For the great master of animal assistants, see margin-title Doctor Buzzard of Beaufort; for the hag, see subsection later.]
Entry 432
Mah stepmother told a story of her father an' a witch. Her father went to sleep - he'd often heard tha' chew kin ketch witches if yo' put a Bible undah yo' haid - so he placed the sifter an' some mustard seed down besides the bed an' he went to sleep. The witch tried to lure him to sleep, he said, but jes' about de time dat she thought he was asleep she started to do something to him and he grabbed her; an' immediately when he hollered fo' his mother tuh come an' bring a light, she vanished out of his hands. Ah don't know how but that's all she tole me.
Entry 462
They claim that a witch-hag would go to a stable and get a horse and get on his back backwards and come to your house and go through the keyhole while you were sleeping and ride you to death. That is [now] called stagnation of the blood.
Entry 483
I was living in a lady's house. I couldn't sleep in de bed for nothing. And I used to hate to go upstairs to bed because every night after I would go to bed I would hear something tipping on the steps. So when it would get about middleways on the floor it would jump on me and just nearly mash the life out of me. I waked up in de morning, the lady's grandmother lived across the street, I went over there and was telling her about it. And she said, "Honey, that's an old witch." She say, "You put a knife and de Bible under your head and she won't come back no more." So I put the Bible and knife under my head and never heard of her or seen her no more.
Entry 814
(You are a prophet and you see these things before they come to pass?)
Ah lay down tuh sleep an' see diff'rent things befo' dey come tuh pass.
(Well now, could you see things for me before these things happen to me?)
Yessuh. Ah see where yo' have great luck befo' yo' an' where yo' prospers yo' make a great fortune. Yo' reach de elemental elevation very sho'tly. It take a sho't while - ah mean, a few yeahs.
Entry 937
This is one about a woman being tricked on account of another woman's husband. There was a married couple that had lived together happily for five years. Finally, they had a roomer come into the house, a girl about eighteen years old. She fell very much in love with the woman's husband, so much so that it caused a lot of trouble. This woman that was the wife went to see a cunjure woman and had this boarder tricked. She put her in a sleeping form and she slept for seven days and could not be awaked from that condition. So a hoodoo doctor was sent for in order that the spell might be removed. At the end of every seven days this woman would go into this sleeping spell and have to have the hoodoo doctor to remove it. Finally, one day she became very very sick, her stomach was swollen very badly. She began to vomit. Suddenly there were about a dozen live rats appear having come from the woman's stomach. Finally, the woman said, "If you promise to leave my husband alone, I'll have the spell removed." She had the spell removed. That happened several years ago down at Ladysmith, Virginia.
Entry 1822
I remember on one occasion there was a couple of fellows made up their mind to rob a house. The one said to the other, "What way shall we go?" ' The other fellow said to the other one, "Come and go with me in the graveyard. I know the fellow. He just died about three weeks ago. We want to go there and dig him up and get him out of the grave. There is a certain part of his body I want to get before I go to the place where we have decided to go." And they were successful in getting this body from the ground, and they got what off of it they wanted, then they put it back in the ground and went on their journey. After going on that journey, this piece they got from that body, it would burn the same as a candle. You take and light that. When you light that you put it to the keyhole of somebody's door. And whenever that odor gets in there and the occupants smell that odor, they will all fall asleep and they will never wake up while this light is burning. Then you can ransack this house all you want to so long as the light burns. When you get away from the house you blow this light out and irmediately these people will all wake up.
Entry 3117
In case if yo' don't have time, dis is a quick way now. Ah'm goin' tell yo' 'gin [again]. WANT CHEW PAY CLOSE 'TENTION AN' KETCH DIS. Yo' go tuh a fruit stan' an' git chew one banana. Undahstan' good now, jes' one. Yo' know dere's lotsa bananas are ripe, jes' so ripe dey'll almos' fall tuh pieces off de hull. Well, yo' git dat banana peelin'. Git dat banana peelin' an' den when she lay down at night an' go tuh sleep, jes slip dat banana peelin' dere, an' take dat banana peelin' an' jes' dou- ble it. See dere, double it jes' lak dat [demonstrates]. An' yo' take it an vipe dat woman. Wipe her fanny, see, an' yo' say, "No son-of-a-bitch don't git dis but me, no son-of-a-bitch don't git dis but me" [and probably repeat a third time]. All right, an' yo' do dat. Den yo' take dat banana peelin' an' throw it, throw it ovah yo' shouldah an' nobody else can't go wit 'er tuh save 'er life but chew.
Entry 7067
If a woman got chew an' she wanted to make a date wit another boy frien', why - an' she can't git out to him, she will wait some night till yo' git to sleep. An' she will take her undahskirt - take her drawahs off first - an' she will lingah, be around to find out if he is asleep. An' if she finds dat chure sleep, why she de piece - take it an' put it ovah 'is face. Take her un- dahskirt an' spread it - take her undahdrawahs lak dat, spread it lak dat ovah yer head an' de bed. Yo'll nevah wake up if she stayed out till fo' 'clock de nex' mawnin'. Yo' nevah know it till she git back.
Entry 7068
(What do they say about that?)
Well, she'll take her - she takes 'er bloomahs whut she weah. If he's asleep, well she'll hang 'em right up ovah 'is head, or lessen or not, she'll lay dem right across 'is face. An' dat keeps 'im asleep. He's - he'll be dere until she comes back.
(I see.)
Entry 7070
Whilst he be sleepin' an' she wanta go out, she jis' take her drawahs an' put 'em ovah 'is face while he be's sleep, an' he sleep right dere sound as a door-nail until she come back. He stays sleep an' he won't wake up ontil she take dat drawahs off 'is face.
Entry 7074
Dey say yo' kin take a woman's step-ins an' spread.it ovah 'is face, an' he'll lay dere an' sleep until she go where she wanta an' come back an' take it off.
Entry 7075
If a woman wants tuh go out - go off an' put a man tuh sleep when he lays down - she'll take her bloomahs off an' spread 'em ovah 'is face. Den she'll git out an' go on a car an' stay all night long. He'll lay right dere an' sleep.
Entry 7083
Her las' piece whut she weah - yo' know, her drawahs. An' if yo' wanta go out, yo' git 'er drawahs unbeknowst tuh 'er. Yo' kin set 'er drawahs right tuh 'er haid of er bed on de mattress, see, jis' where she can't see it, an' yo' kin go out an' stay till in de mawnin', she wouldn't wake up. Won' wake up till yo' come an' 'move dat cloth. (And you spread this underneath [no, on] the mattress, where she can't see it. But you use her [instead of his] drawers?) Yes, use her drawahs.
Entry 7087
If a woman wants tuh stay out all night an' 'er husban' is in de baid, befo' she leave she take her bloomahs an' put it ovah 'is haid. An' if she gon'a stay where she Wanta stay, stay all night, he'll nevah wake up 'till she come back.
Entry 7093
Well, take yore undahweah whut chew weah daily. Jis' lak yo' got on yore undahweah now an' he jis' ovah dere sleep. Yo' hang 'em up ovah dere haid. Jis' put it right ovah dere haid lak dat. Den yo' turn ovah, lak yo' goin' wake 'em up. YO' CAIN'T WAKE 'EM UP LESSEN' YO' TECH 'EM.
Entry 7094
Take yore bloomahs, yore dirty bloomahs, if yo' wanta keep 'im asleep, an' lay dem Ovah 'is haid. YO' DON' HAVE TUH JIS' LAY IT OVAH 'IS FACE. JIS' LAK YO' GOT A TABLE OR SOMPIN DERE, JIS' LAY IT OVAH DE HAID OF DE BAID WHERE HE SLEEPIN' AT, OVAH IS HAID.
Entry 7098
A woman if she wan' 'er husban' tuh not wake up while she's gone, jis' befo' she git ready tuh go, she hang aroun' an' dress an' all lak dat, an' she keep on 'er bloomahs whut she has on all day. She take 'em an' lay 'em, de seat of 'em, right cross 'is nostrils. An' SHE KIN GO OUT AN' STAY LONG AS SHE WANT, OR SHE KIN TAKE A MAN RIGHT IN DE BAID SIDE OF 'IM AN' HE WON'T KNOW ANYTHIN' ABOUT IT. Ah heard dat.
Entry 7099
Ah heard dat if a woman wants tuh go out aftah not 'er own husban', an' wants tuh keep 'im tuh sleep, take her britches an' put 'em right cross 'is nose whilst he's sleep. Jis' put 'em right cross 'is nose an' he'll stay dere. She kin go off an' stay from nine a'clock until two a'clock. He'll sleep right on dere, won't nuthin bothah 'im. Said she could be right back an' he wouldn't know nuthin 'bout it. Dat's whut ah heard about dat.
Entry 7117
Yes, ah have heard of dat, too. Say, if she wanta git out - jis' lak she wanta git off. An' she take his two shoes an' tie dem tuhgethah an' hang 'em ovah 'is haid, an' put 'is two pants laigs ovah 'is haid. Dey say he wouldn't wake up. (What do you mean, tie his shoes together?) Jis' take his two shoe- strings an' tie a knot in it an' throw 'em cross de haid of de bed. Yo' takes 'is pants an' straddle dem cross de haid of de bed, an' put one laig on one side an' one on dis side; an' put one shoe on one side an' one on de othah. An' dey say dat would keep 'im asleep.
(Make him stay home while she's gone out?)
Yes. She would take an' take 'em by de laig an' hang 'em up. Jis' lak if he wuz tuh be bad about runnin' roun' an' she would take 'em an' hang 'em up on de foot of de bed an' hang de part, yo' know, dat fits on 'er, she hang dat right ovah de place where he supposed tuh sleep. An' let it hang dere fo' five or six nights an' dat would make him stay home. Ah know a lady dat do dat now.
(Well, she doesn't let them [stay] there while he's there in the day?)
See, she waits till he goes tuh bed an' den she hang's 'em up. An' dey tell me, while - whenevah she got 'em hangin' dere, he can't go no place. An' den whenevah she hang 'em dere fo' a certain numbah of nights, he don't wanta go.
Entry 7158
Now, dat goin' in devilment trick. A woman takes yo' stockin' an', if [she] do dat 2 or 3 weeks, she take yo' stockin' an' she'll put it - no dis heah 'er stockin' whut ah'm tryin' tuh explain now. Ah ain't heard about 'is stockin' but 'er stockin'. She'll take dat an' she kin put it aroun' yo', roun' where yo' wouldn't know it's dere. An' den she'll take den 'er piece dat nex' tuh 'er, somewhere next tuh 'er skin, an' she'll put dat ovah yo'. An' yo'll sleep den, right on den, an' she kin go out an' do any kinda business she wanta, an' yo' won' wake up. DAT JIS' DE SAME AS MORPHINE YO' KIN TAKE IT.
Entry 7159
Well, ah heard dat yo' could take yore sock, if yo' wants tuh git out anywhere at night wit'out yore ole lady knowin' it or somepin lak dat. Or if she Wants tuh git out wit'out yo' knowin' it. Well she takes 'er stockin' an' while yo' sleep, she puts it ovah yore nose, see, an' yo'll nevah wake up until she come back an' move dat stockin'.
Entry 12668
All right, 'bout love again. If a man asleep an' a woman love dis man - yo' know, want dis man tuh love her, if he sleep, every two or three nights, she take an' git de scent of herself down here an' underneath heah. (Down below and under her arms?) Yes sir. An' will go cross his nose, while he's still in bed, three times. An' den de third time take an' shake it an' say, "Come undah mah command."
(She rubs her hand up under his nose, while he's asleep - three times.)
An' he inhald [inhales] it.
(And the third time she says, "Come under my command.")
An' she goin' call him an' make him answer her, see.
(But she says, "Come under my command, " while he sleeps through.)
Yes, certainly, but he ain't goin' answer, yo' know, most men asleep while dey wakin' up. Jes' lak his name, John, Bill or Joe.
Entry 13311
Take an' write de 42nd Psalms on a tin plate an' sleep with it under her haid, or his haid, an' dey will return.
(That is to bring a man back or a woman back.)
Yes. [Waycross 1778:2.]
Entry 9951
Git a toadfrog an' sleep on it fo' nine days. If they [some person is] hard tuh git along with, that'll make 'em come in the house an' be peaceful.
Entry 512
Dey claim if a witch ride joo it's a person dat's living.
(A person that is living - what about it?)
Dey say - now it's a ole story - dey come outa dere skin and comes in through a keyhole. Dat's de ole story - course it's almost impossible fo' yo' to believe it. Dey say dey comes outa dere skin and den comes in through de keyhole an' comes in only whilst yo' sleep an' rides yo' - usually be a ole woman - be a witch - turns to a witch - she be's a witch.
(How do you get rid of her?)
Well, nail a horseshoe up ovah yore do' an' she won't come in.
(Is there any way you can catch her?)
Well, dey say, de way yo' kin ketch her, say yo' kin take a handful of mustard seed and put it down right on de floor right round your bed, an' she got'a count dose seeds befo' she leaves an' dey say yo' ketch [her] dere counting de seeds.
Entry 756
It was a man in Princess Anne County [Virginia]. He had lost a lot of chickens and they kept on stealing, and so he goes and gets a bulldog and chains him to the door [of the chicken house]. This dog Was a terrible dog. So when this man came there to steal, he taken a stick, put a scratch on it [perhaps a cross mark to cross up the dogl and stuck it down in the ground, and goes in there where this dog were. That dog laid right down and went to sleep. He taken every one of this man's chickens and he written a sign and put it upon the door. It said, "Raise some more, I'm coming again."
Entry 785
During slavery my father told me he knew a man who was a cunjure and his master and mistress trust him with everything, and he was boss over the rest of the slaves as well as being a cunjure. And he could tell many tales and never get caught. His mistress lost her gold ring and asked him to find it for her. And he said, "Missus, if you give me three days off from work, I'll find your ring" which he already had by being tricky. So he laid in bed and slept as much as he want, and got the best food from master's table. On the third day he took the gold ring and a fishhook - at first - to work the trick. So he changed off and got a grain of corn and corn meal. And he put the gold ring inside of the meal and the grain of corn and give it to a certain duck, which he had marked that he may know from the rest. And he give the duck that corn meal, grain of corn, all rolled up together, and went to his master's room and said, "Get your madam, for I'm going to find your ring right here this day. Come and go with me to the chicken yard." He told him to kill a duck which he knew did not have the ring, neither the second duck, but the third one which he killed had the ring inside. So he said, "Master, what are you going to give me for this job?" He said, "Anything you ask." He said, "One month off, boss, to court the gals." When he had killed the third duck and opened it, he found the ring. And then he got thirty days off and the ducks which he had killed. So his master after this went coon [racoon] hunting one night and caught a coon. And the other men that went with him got a bet of five-hundred dollars that his nigger couldn't tell what his master had in the bag. So he called his slave John out of bed that night that he might win the five-hundred dollars. So John got up and come indoors with a dozen other men that was in the coon hunt and also had a part in the bet that John could not tell what was in the bag. So his master said, "John, tell these men what is in the bag: So John scratched his head and lit his pipe, knowing not what was in the bag and that his master had caught him this time. So he said, "Well, master, you have got the ole coon at last." [Near Fredericksburg, Va., (71), by hand; supposed to have happened in King George Co., Va.; a folk story.]
Entry 927
Two years ago - no more, ah was takin' so ah couldn't sleep at night and it went on dat way until finally my nights turned to days and my days turned tuh nights - jest went on around [days and nights were reversed]. (What do you mean by that? I couldn't quite understand you.) [To make her speak louder and repeat.] Well, ah couldn't sleep at night you know, and when ah'd see de daylight come you know, ah'd git scared, ah wouldn't know it was day. Ah hadn't been sleepin', ah hadn't closed mah eyes. And it would be day, but de minute that ah realize that it was day ah'd fall off into a deep sleep, and I would sleep from daylight until eight 'clock in de morning, but when ah'd wake up ah'd jest be fulla aches and pains, so much so that ah couldn't git up, so ah layed in bed till about ten 'clock and then at ten 'clock ah'd git up and git mah breakfast, and the minute ah'd git mah breakfast ah'd fall off tuh sleep agin. Well, it jest continue that Way tiil finally I fest give up to day-sleepin'. An' ah'd feel tuh mahself - ah feel jest like a snake do or something like that or frog or something other, but yet ah couldn't get mahself togethah. Natchurly ah couldn't work. Well, it went on like that tull ah begin to git sick inside - somepin jest jump jest like heart's beatin' and it worried me. And when ah layed down to sleep, somepin would jest go 'cross mah face like this [demonstrates] and ah'd jump and wake up, you know, and look under the pillahs. There would be nothing, ah could see nothin' you know. And sometimes ah would feel like feathers Was sticking intuh me - like de quills. Ah's take and pull dis cover off and there would be nothin', absolutely nothin' - could see nothin'. And so this continued tull finally ah became a wreck, and den dey said it was bad nerves and ah goes de hospital. De doctor pronounced it neuritis, ar-ritis, flamitary rheumatism, chronical rheumatism, muscular rheumatis, tubercular rheumatism and bone fever. Well, so then they stuck needles in mah arms - all in de shoulders, you know, and they Would hurt me tuh mah heart. And ah says, "THESE THINGS BEAT LIKE SOMEPIN LIKE HEARTS ALL OVER ME." Ah had a pocket right chere [demonstrates] - it's a little bit there now - jest like somethin' in there Would beat, beat.
(There was a pocket on your right side?)
Yes.
(Right about the waist.)
Jest like there was somethin' live in there. Well, ah takes sick at night and ah vomits turrible. It near kill me - green, pale, an' it near kill me. And ah jest kept up this thing and kept up this thing until finally one of the doctors says to me, says - these needles was hurtin' me so bad ah cried. They said, "Do those needles hurt chew like that?" Ah said, "Yes." Well the doctors said don't give her nuthin tuh rub and don't give her nuthin tuh gargle with. One little doctor was West Indian [a Negro] - dis Was at de Freedman's Hospital.
(Here in Washington?)
Yeah, and he says, "Now, ah'm goin' to put dis needle in here," he says, and he didn't hurt me and ah didn't cry, and he says, "and ah'm goin' to give you somethin' to rub with." Now, other doctors said ah shouldn't rub with nuthin, see. "Ah goin' to give you this linament to rub with and then you stop in the druggist and git you something to gargle yore throat with." And he says, "If there's a reaction, let me know." Well, ah remember that - that was the first encouragement ah had, and ah says, "Now, ah'm goin' do that. That night - see, ah's be 'sleep and somepin would work up and work up and choke me, but when ah'd wake up you know it would go back. And so, that night somepin got up heah and jest choked me turrible and I was so sleepy - ah got it out and put it on a piece of paper, and started off asleep and de second one came up. Well, it jest like to me ah was in daze condition, and den ah woke up like dat and ah felt purtty good and ah remembered dis, and ah went looked at it and it was black - it was large enough to choke me. And the other one was smaller. So when ah told de doctors about it, den they commence to jab in here - like to choke me all through de body. Dey [had] to quit, but however - then, I says, "Ah'm goin' take now - go to church fo' this and ah'm goin' tuh pray - ah'm gon'a pray to get well." Ah didn't want tuh die. Well, ah thought ah would die like ah was. So it went on that-a-way until ah moved - it happened so ah jest had to move. Ah would go on tuh de back porch and would sit there all de day long, and then go back and go lay down and go to sleep. If I would eat ah would go to sleep. But night come ah'd be jest like a bird, frog or snake - ah'd be up ready to go, see, go back and go to bed. Ah couldn't sleep, so ah moved. And gittin' worse and worse, move - bearin' on de heart all de time. An' ah was taken wit chills and the lady ah lived with she was thinkin' ah'd die, so when she would come upstairs she would call me, but when dat spell go way ah'd git up and go on down. So one day ah was laying, ah was sick and ah was layin' asleep, it was in the day and I was between sleep and awake, and a black man come - a jet black man and he come in, he come jest like dis [demonstrates].
(His - with his shoulder up to his head, sort of deformed.)
[This is a usual reference to a doctor's appearance - he is a jet black man and queer in manner or physique.] [See, Doctor in Index.] Yes, he was and he was very old and he had stubble gray whiskers - they weren't longer stubble and he was very black. He says to me, he says, "You're not sick [sick in a medical doctor's way]." He says, "Ah'm from Greenville, North Carolina, and I did it," he says, "and I am dead and I can't rest." He says, "You are a good woman," he says, "but ah did this to you for" - he called the name of the man and the name of the woman. And it was - dey done it diff'rent times.
(They did it together or separately?)
One didn't know what the other did. [My only example of this!]
(People that you knew?)
Oh, ah knew both. [We now have reached the only example of bewitched feathers in my collection of Negro folklore. The accompanying psychology is also interesting. Both I will discuss at the end of the story.] And he came back. So he says, "If you look in yore pillah," he says, "you'll find out what's the trouble with you." He says, "It is to set chew insane or to kill you or to make you have enemies all yore life." He says, "You won't be any good, you'll not be able to make a livin'." An' he says, "You git into them - if you don't, ah'll never be saved." I got up and jest took de pillah - "if dat isn't de queerest thing, ah don't believe it"-dis was a hard lump in mah pillah - why there's nothing to that" ''there isn't anything to that' - "nobody kin do nuthin like that," I says. So ah went down and ah says, "Mrs. Jones" - ah tole her, jest like ah'm tell' you, what occurred while ah was 'sleep. She says, "Miz, don't chew know when you go up[stairs] to sleep in dose spells, you know, ah'd call you befo' ah'd git to de top steps 'cause ah think you're dead." Ah said, "Well, do ah look that bad?" She says, "Come on peek, come on." An' she says, "Well, if ah was you, ah would look in there and see." And ah goes to work and takes this out and it was jest about that wide and it was like that and like that [demonstrates] an' de feathers in this thing [looked] jest like dey was born and glued - was a piece of yellah looking wood, imported wood, and it was jest like real feathers and de Way it was done, it was jest streaked through. Then these feathers was pushed down in there, but it had no head but it was de shape of a hen.
(This wood was a thick thing and the wood looked like feathers.)
And so when ah rubbed across there, you know, the feathers would come out and ah said, "Ah'm goin: take this and throw it in de stove." Ah took it down and showed it to her. "Oh," she says, "Ah never saw nuthin like that." She said, "You'd better look fer some more - ah would if ah were you." Ah goes back and ah gits de rooster. De rooster was three feathers fixed together in de shape of a rooster - red. The hen was a dominicker [Dominique] and then ah gits that. Then ah gits a piece of rope out about dat long [demonstratesl, heavy cord, about [that] long, and then ah gets jest a bunch of feathers tied round jest like this, jest tied around with a string, jest like you tie 'em to make a baby doll. Well, that would go in mah face and ah would brush it - keep me awake all night long jest torturing me. Well, then after it was quill, chicken quills and in the end of 'em was powders and dey Was corked up. It make Miz Jones sick and me too, when ah got [them] out, then - that was whut this man bring in. And the next was a snake about that long [demonstrates], jest wrapped with feathers, dis ole man did - paid and did de stuff fore dese people. And he was jest grapping in dere in de shape of a snake and everything. And the other one was a -
(This snake was about a foot long?)
About like that and this here one wasn't, and it was all in reality.
(This snake was only made of feathers?)
No - yes it was - it was all feathers - if you seen it in de pillah, you'd a thought it was feathers. Everything was made absolutely like feathers. (What was the other thing after you got the snake out? What was the other thing?) It was two snakes, a hen and a rooster, and quills, and it was about that long - supposed to be a coffin, ah reckon, and the other one was jest this - like what you'd jab to make babies laugh, string with feathers, but it was tied 'round, it was feathers. It was a bunch of feathers and these feathers would come into my face, would torment me. Now, jest like you tie this [demonstrates].
(Tie your handkerchief in a knot.)
Now you see you do that [demonstrates]. (Oh, you jingle the handkerchief up and down and - like you make a baby laugh, and that kept going over your face. And this was made of feathers, too.) Yes, all of feathers. An' ah'd git up and see nothin' you know. And when daylight would come ah would git scared, ah would say, "What is the matter with the sky - ah can't tell." And finally, ah say, "Why it's daylight." Well, now ah gits everything out and I shows it to Miz Jones and she wanta keep this thing like a hen and ah says, "No, ' ah say, "Ah'm ain't goin' keep it." Ah lays down agin and he comes right straight back. He says, "Now, you've got all ought [out] that was put in there." He says, "Now, the hen is a barnyard fowl - stays in de back - so you had a room in back - that was to keep you in there and to keep you down." You see, ah was a great worker and a lecturer. And he say, "They didn't mean you to go nowheres and you couldn't go nowheres, and when you would commence to talk you'd cackle - sound jest like cackling - or crowing like a rooster, you see." And you know, dis snake - he saysi, De snake was to make people hit at cha - pick at cha - and then you'd pick back at dem. And then they would say you weren't capable of doing the things that whut you were doing. De woman did that." That was to keep me from being president of a large club. And the man he did it because ah paid him the rent. And ah couldn't git further than the back porch - ah couldn't work - ah had to git on Emergency Relief - ah had to git on de Emergencies Relief, and ah would have died if ah did that. So then this old man, after ah gits all this out - dis ole man comes back again fer the last time, and here's whut he tole me to do with it. He says, "Now, you take all dese pillahs dat's on dis bed." So Miz Jones she got excited, it scared her - it made her sick and me too. That powder got out and got on us, got out dose quills and got on us. He says tuh me, "Yo' take dose pillahs" my two nice pillahs - "you take those pillahs and you burn dem up - the tick, the feathers and all." He says, "Yo' take those four dresses you wore de most around - de everyday dresses, and burn dem up. Take those two pair of shoes that you wore when you was in that house and burn them up." He says, "You know it's written that the wicked shall become stubbed on yore feet and shall be burned root and branches and the whole thing will go back to them. If you put it on water it will come back to you." [The preceding quotation and everything she says shows a woman with an agile mind - a qreat worker and a lecturer. Her words are a conflation - two or more passages thrown together: King James Version - (1)"The day cometh...all that do wickedly, shall be stubble [[not stubbed]]...shall burn them up...leave them neither root nor branch," Mal.1:4 -(2)'Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days," Eccl.11:1 - (3) her stubbed was suggested by stubble and "Dash thy foot against a stone," Mat.4:6 & Lk.4:11.] [As I stated previously, this story is the only certain example of bewitched feathers in my Negro-folklore-collecting experience (see Feathers in Index). Not even in Quincy, Illinois - where belief in bewitched feathers survived among persons of German descent - did I ever find a colored person interested in the matter. Similarly, I found bewitched animals rare among colored people, frequent among persons of German descent. The Reason? Racial? Economic? (For bewitched feathers in Adams County Illinois and Quincy the county seat, see FACI, 2ed., Nos.16255-16323, Pp.853-873; bewitched animals, Nos.16178-16254a, pp.834-85.)] [Since some general readers may be unfamiliar with bewitched feathers, let me briefly describe them. The witchcraft spell cast upon a person is done with the feathers in the feather pillow or feather bed (feather-tick or feather mattress) on which the victim sleeps. These feathers on which the victim lies gradually weave themselves into a form: bat (animal), bird, butterfly, chicken, rooster, coffin, cross, flowers, shapes like parts of the human body, horseshoe, etc. Sometimes these forms are combined with foreign objects: piece of clothing, key, needle, ribbon, rope, spool, thread, etc. The most frequent form of all is the wreath (symbolic of the funeral wreath) - also known as a circular. This form occurs more often because the head lying on the pillow pushes feathers out into a circle. At times a person can hear, so it is said, the weaving in the pillow a ticking sound (No.16293, p.865) or music in the pillow (No.16263, p.855). As soon as the form being Woven is completed the victim dies. If you find a form uncompleted and burn it, the victim will recover. To demonstrate this belief further, I now quote two examples from FACI:]
["Now I am going to tell you a story that was told by one of my [school]
children. A baby [about 1931] was born in a family. Although it received the very best attention, it was not thriving. An old mother in the neighborhood entered the house one day and said, "There is a wreath in the baby's pillow." The mother wished to open the little pillow and take out the wreath, as had been suggested. The father scornfully laughed and forbade the mother's opening the pillow. From that moment the child grew more delicate and passed out. The old neighborhood mother entered the room and said, "Let me examine the pillow, ' which she did, and took from the pillow a perfectly formed wreath of feathers, all going in one direction. The center of the wreath was the size of the baby's head. The feathers forming the wreath were all going in one direction [see also 16277] like the down on a dress hat. I will draw you a diagram. I saw it. It was marvelous. [The informant's diagram of this wreath I have reproduced in this book.] Underneath the wreath it seemed to be flesh; like the flesh on a chicken's breast with large pores. It had no odor. Dead chicken flesh has an odor. The skin was moist as if alive. The feathers seemed to be growing. The old woman took the wreath out and burned it, and said if ever another child came to the house to give it a new pillow and it would thrive." (FACI, 2ed., No.1255, p.853; a picture of wreath drawn by informant being reproduced just before the Table of Contents.)l ["I knew a boy out here in the south part of Quincy years ago that was sick all the time. They done everything for him and try everything anyone would tell them, but it would not do him any good. Some of the neighbors thought he was bewitched, but the folks didn't. But at last they Went to looking in the bedtick and pillows to see if they could not find anything, and in one of the pillows they found a rooster all done but a little of its tail. If that tail had of been done, that boy would of died; but they took the rooster and put it in the stove to burn. and after that the bov got well." (FACI. 2ed. No.16289, p.863.)1 [To return to our informant, once again we meet an old routine - the doctor (M.D.) fails; the doctor (hoodoo) is called in. This time, however, there is an amazing difference both in doctor and doctor.] [My informant refrains from criticizing hospital doctors for their inability to cure her, though she considers them impersonal and uninvolved. Naturally, the West Indian, a man of her own race would appear in a better light; at least he permitted her to have something 'to rub and...to gargle with." But, when the woman says, "The doctors said, "Don't give her nuthin tuh rub and...tuh gargle with, '" do not believe her, though she is telling the truth from her changed point of view. After the colored doctor offered it to her, the white doctors by not offering it to her had forbidden it. This is a mere gripe. She knew the doctors had done everything medically possible; the real trouble was herself, spiritual - "Ah'm goin'...go to church fo' this and...ah'm goin' tuh pray to get well." She realizes death stared her in the face - "Ah didn't want tuh die." Two steps having been taken toward health, she then took a third - "It happened so ah jest had to move."] [Despite her changed attitude, she still refused to accept any blame for her condition - a man and woman separately would not have hoodooed her had she been all sweetness and light! She needed a scapegoat. Scapegoat also would permit her to satisfy those childhood beliefs and fears which had floated to the surface during her illness. Too intelligent to call in a hoodoo doctor, she summons the spirit of a dead hoodoo doctor. He appears not as master giving orders but as sinner seeking forgiveness - his eternal future depending upon her. She, of course, is the spirit of the dead hoodoo doctor. Thus disguised she saves the soul of a sinner (his - actually her own) and cures herself by forgiving him (finding the bewitched feathers). In forgiving him she forgives herself. If you don't forgive yourself neither God nor Church can do it for you - though either or both may smooth the way. This solution of my informant's is the brilliancy and power that comes with a dream. This is also my guess about what happened. Each reader is entitled to a similar guess.] [Washington, D. C., (629), 808:3.] [Time in hoodoo is very important and covers a wider field than it does in scientific medicine. So wide is time that many aspects of it cannot be given in this subsection - see Time in Index for a listing of separate time entries.]
Entry 929
Twus my gate on Campbell Street where I lives at right in Wilmington. At ten 'clock - I'm talkin' about mah ownself, at what I know on Campbell Street. At ten 'clock at night I'd haf to lay down. If I didn't lay down, I would fall. But ten a'clock ev'ry night - I'd notice de clock. An' comp'ny would come to see me, an' when de comp'ny come, I say, "Now, you all set as long a' zhoo want to, because at ten a'clock I git so weak until I haf to lay down." An' I do that. One day when I come from work I met mah cousin on Fo'th Street, an' when I met 'im on Fo'th Street - mah gate fell first on.de side; too, mah fence fell. So I said to 'im, I said, "Joo come home an' help me fix up mah gate, an' alsc mah fence fell." I'm talkin' about mahself now, what I know. An' so he come home [by her house] Monday evening, he said, "Now, Cousin, two a'clock [tomorrow I got to go to work." I said, "Well, all right then; I'm gon'a cook dinnah an' you have your dinnah here [tomorrow] an' you help me fix the gate, fix mah fencei." An' we wus fixin' that fence, de time came fuh him to go. He went on. I had de shovel, I got right to mah gate, jis' as I got to come in the house, somepin say, "Dig." An' I dug, I got a bottle from mah gate, that long [demonstrates], where I'd been walkin' along. Dat wus de thing causin' me I had to lay down ten a'clock ev'ry night. An' it had sulphah in it, it had hah [hair] in it, it had bluestone in it, an' it had some kind of roots in it. An' when I took it up, I hold it right up, I says, "Oh, looka heah! Come an' see this! Somebody tryin' to cunjure me," I say. An' dey cunjured me too, beca' zhoo, zhoo know, ten a'clock at night I'd haf to lay down. An' de people come an' look at it, "Oh well, it's nothin' but childrun put that tharh." I said, "Childrun couldn't put hah." I said, "Childrun couldn't put all this kind of mess zhoo see in it; dey could not put in it." I said, "To banish it right, ah'm gon'a care [carry] it to a cunjure sure enough den dey did dat to do [to do that]." [She was going to take the bottle to a cunjure more powerful than the one who had prepared the bottle.] The people all said, "You ain't gon'a do that? I wouldn't touch it." I said, "Ah'm gon'a care it to a man that kin cunjure and cunjure right." I wus talkin' about takin' an' keepin' it - that's what I meant choo know, when I said that. I says, "No, I'm gon'a care it to cunjure right." An' so I kep' it. An' do you know that night, dat I could set up till 'leven an' twelve a'clock! I could set up till 'leven-twelve a'clock. An' so I kep' it till about on Friday evening. Dat Friday evening I made a fire in the pot in my back yard. An' I wouldn't git right over it, jis' like that [demonstrates]. I opened it like dat an' I burned it up. It wusn't long befo' de lady next do' had to go de hospital an' have her leg cut off.
Entry 2035
Well, yo' go - dere's a High John de Conker, yo' kin dig it out de woods, High John de Conker root. Yo' dig dat out de woods. An' if yo' can't dig it, yo' kin order it - High John de Conker. Yo' take that an' yo' sleep with dat undah yore haid nine nights an' yo' put dat in yore pocket, an' when yo' go to skin game, yo' jes' rub yore han' lak dat onto it, onto de flesh an' make yo' wishes, an' dey tell me yo'll win lak anything.
(You just rub your hands over that root?)
Yeah, jes' rub yore han's ovah this root an' yo'll win lak anything.
Entry 3090
My husband was hurt. Of course he's dead now. And my husband was hurt. But his first wife - he was married the second time, I'm his second wife. And his first wife, after the death of her, why his people you know how people are. You know when some people - that after the death of [in] the family, they want people to dis- tribute and jis' give everything they got away. And so his first wife, after the death of his first wife, his first wife people - he had three children and he decided that he would give their girl to the grandmother and he keep the two boys and still keep house and his things together. Well, they didn't want him to do that. They wanted him to give them all the children and the household furniture and everything and jis' break up housekeeping, and he wouldn't do it. Well after he wouldn't agree to do it, then his sister-in-law come to stay with him and keep house for him, and gonna call herself helpin' him. So he was out workin' one day and she cooked some molasses bread. And he came in that evenin' and was out takin' out his team, takin' 'em out to feed 'em, and one of the little - the oldest boy came out to the stable and he says, "Papa, he says, "Aunt Dinah got some molasses bread, cook some molasses bread today, and he said, "Aunt Dinah put somepin funny in that bread." As God should have it, He let that child told him - "Aunt Dinah put somepin funny in that bread." Still he didn't make de child any answer. He goes on in de house, he went on in and wash up and dress in the house. When he got through, Dinah call him. She says, "Come on to supper, Andrew, '' she says. He said, "No, I don't think I want any supper tonight." He says, "Dinah, I'm feelin' bad, I don't think I want any supper." So he dressed and went on out to a restaurant and got his meal. [He lived on the edge of Wilmington.] And he stop eatin' at home. And next evenin' he came and the molasses bread was up in [the] safe. The next night she says, "Andrew, don't choo want a bit [of] some molasses bread?" She says, "I cook it for yah." Still it wasn't cut. [The fact that she had not taken a slice of it was suspicious - to Andrew.] He said, "No, I don't think I want anything to eat." He says, "I don't feel good tonight." And he stop eatin at home all together. Well, that molasses bread stayed up in safe, he said, roun' 'bout three or four days. And one evenin' he came home and the molasses bread was out in the horse stable - nobody didn't eat any of it. Well, they couldn't get him like that. Well, they [went] on [trying to fix him]. After a while he got down. He begin to linger. He couldn't sleep at night. He couldn't go for to work. He began to be helpless as a newborn baby. When he'd get off his bed in the mornin' he was jis' like - when he put his feet on de floor it was jis' like stickin'-pins and needles was stickin' in de bottom [of his feet] and he was achin' like dat all ovah. And so a friend of hissen, a woman friend of hissen [by the name of Harriet] came to him and says, "Andrew, she say, "there's somepin wrong. [She] came to see him. She says, "Andrew, there's somepin wrong wid joo." Says, "I got a uncle on de Sound [Wrightsville Sound]" - between here [Wilmington] and Wrightsville Beach - "and he's name [by the name of] ole man Church Hines." But he's dead now. "And," she say, "zhoo come on and go with me." she says, "I know Uncle Hines kin do you some good, I believe." and so he says, "Well, I'll go anywhere to get somepin cure me." So when he goes down there next mornin', [after] Harriet came to see him, it all he could do to hitch his horse to his buggy. And he goes on down to the Sound. And when he got out at ole man Hines, he says, "My boy, did zhoo come to see me? You's in a bad fix, ain't choo?" [See THIS WUS BAD FIX, p.316, and MAN YOU'RE RUINED, p.314.] He says, "I's certainly is." He says, "I don't know what's ailin' me," he say. And he [Hines] say, "And I mean you's in BAD FIX!" So he says, "I tell you wha' choo do." He says, "Got any money?" He said, "Yes, I got a little." [Hines says], "How much choo got?" He says, "I got $15.00 now with me." He says, "Well, I'm gon'a char' joo $30.00." He said, "I'll pay you any price zhoo charge me, if you do me any good." He says, "I'll give you the $15.00 now, and then I'll bring you de rest when I come back agin." He say, "No, I don't want any now," he said, "but I tell you what choo do. You go on back home this evenin', and [when] you get back home, you take a little stick and look right down to left side of your front doorsteps. And jis' take dis - don't put cheh han' on it - you don't have to dig fer, jis' got to pull de dirt off it. And when you dig a little bit, jis' de least bit, you'll find a little bag." And he say, "Don't choo put yer han' on that bag. You take a stick, take it between two sticks." And he said he was so anxious to git back home he trotted de horse ev'ry step of the way from the Sound. When he got back home he dragged [himself] out de buggy. He had de stick befo' he got home. And as he said, he jis' went and pulled de dirt, and time he'd pulled de dirt, it was a little bag. And he said it was nine pins and nine needles, and somepin looked like a whole lot of little dust and stuff. He didn't know what it was. He says ole man Church Hines tole 'im to take dat bag between two sticks and carry it down to the river, and throw it cross his left shoulder and cuss it when he throw it overboard. And he said he did it. Now, he said to him to go back down to him nex' mornin'. Nex' mornin' he goes back. He say, "Did joo fin' whut I tole yah?" He says, "Yes." He says, "I know you fin' it." Well, he said he went [felt] better that night than he did fer six mon' - aftah he got dat bag. And dat de way he was. When he put his feet on de flo', it was jis' like needles and pins was stickin' in de bottom of it [because he has been walking over the needles and pins buried at the left side, the evil side of his front doorstep]. And so he said he went on back down there, and he say, "Did you fin' de bag?" And he say, "Yes, sir." [Hines says] "I know you fin' it." And he said, "Now, you come on in here." And he take 'im in de room. He says, "oh!" he says, "it's a man and a woman got choo fixed like dis" - which he didn't tell 'im none of dat de day befo'. You see, he jis' tole 'im what to do. And he said, "A man and a woman got choo fixed like dis." Says, "It's a sister and a brother. They wanted joo to do, and you wouldn't do jis' like they wanted joo to do, and they were pretend [intended] to kill yah." And he says, "Now," he says, "I got to kill one." He says, "One dem gon'a die, if I take it offa you." And he said he didn't care which one die, jis' since he get offa him. And so he said, "Now, well I charge you $30.00." And he tole 'im to go on back home now.
(What did that root doctor do to kill them?)
Well, it jest a mystery now. He never did know. He'd never did tell, don't choo see. He jis' do de work and you never knows what he did. [I evidently ask while machine stopped, "Who were the sister and brother that fixed Andrew?"] That was the sister and de brother - his mother-in-law and his mother-in-law brother. You see, the sister-in-law [Dinah] tried to get him first, but after she couldn't git him, den de mother-in-law and de brothah stepped in. And dey was intend to get him. He says, "The one got to die and the othern'll be in a bad condition, a critical condition - but she won't die right away." And so he come on back home. And it wasn't long before the ole man died bellin' [bellowing] like a bull and howlin' like a dog (see 775-776. p.256). And de mother-in-law walked on crutch[es] fer six mont's and she died.
Entry 7066
If she wan's tuh git out'a de house, an' don' wan' 'im tuh wake up, she go ahead on in de back. Well, yo' know, quite natchly how women are. She'll git dere in de back an' he's in dis room sleepin'. An' she'll go in de back room lak she's doin' somepin. She'll go on tuh singin'. She'll go tuh singin' some ole song, an' she's combin' 'er hair whilst she's singin' dis song. See. Aftah she gits through combin' 'er hair, she'll git 'er soap an' thin's. She's goin' tuh wash. She's goin' tuh powdah 'erself up. She slip on 'er undahweah an' thin's, clean, yo' know, but still an' all, she'll keep on dat dirty top-piece, until she seen 'er chance tuh git 'im asleep. Now, when she gits ready tuh go, she's got on evahthin' but de dress. Huh hair's all fixed an' evahthin'. She take an' she take 'uh undahweahs, which is uh bloomahs or uh step-in - whatevah yo' call it. She put dat ovah 'is face. She put dat ovah 'is face an' she leave dat stay dere. An' she take an' she covah 'im up, but she covah 'im up tuh here [demonstrates].
(Up to his neck?)
Up tuh his neck, see.
(With the bedclothes?)
Wit de bedclothes. But she's got uh bloomahs in 'is face. See, she's not tryin' tuh smothah 'im or nuthin 'cuz she - if she put too much or put it too heavy on 'im, it would smothah 'im. But she jis' got it where he kin, yo' know, breathe right through dat, yo' undahstan'. Well, now, as he breathin', his eyes, he's already asleep, but 'is eyes git heaviah. An' as he breathes, his heart[?] gits mo' sleepiah. Den he'll sleep dere until she comes in, if it's de nex' mawnin', when she come in. Now, she kin walk out de do' lak nuthin'. She don' have tuh sneak out. She kin walk out de do' jis' lak if he wasn't sleepin'. When she come in, she kin come in de same way. Well, she takes off uh clothes, an' she gits intuh bed, an' she take dat offa his face. Now, when she take dat offa his face, she kin shake him all she wan' tuh. He ain't goin' tuh hardly wake up. She'll git yuh some watah, cold watah. An' when. she git dat cold watah, she put it right backa his neck, an' she'll wake him up.
Entry 7100
Dese shorts whut he weah, yo' know, is real sweaty an' musty yo' know, an' when she asleep, lay 'em right by 'er nose where she kin inhale de scent, an' she wouldn't nevah wake up till he came back. [St. Petersburg, Fla., (1007). 1627:9.]
Entry 7218
Well dey go tuh de store an' git dese wire nails. Ah calls 'em tins [made of tin or tenpenny?]. An' dey git de lengt' of de man an' de lengt' of de Woman, from up here at de haid all de way down tuh de foot. Well den wrap dat man tuh yuh lak dat [demonstrates].
(Wrap this length - the string around to you, all around this nail.)
Yes, de string tuh yuh lak dat, aroun' dis nail clean until yo' wrap it right even wit de point. Den yo' take it an' nail it right down in de centah of yuh do' an' make yuh wishes. Yo' say, "Jis' as ah drive dis nail down heah ah means fer yo' tuh stay here." An' he goin' stay dere. How ah know about dat, ah got mah husban' nailed down right now. Dat's how ah know.
(Now, you say...)
[I am interrupted.]
Right now.
(Well, does it work? Well, how did you get his length?)
While he asleep. Ah got one fer me an' one fer 'im nailed right in de centah of de do'.
(And you wrap both these strings together right around the nail?)
Tuh yuh, wrap 'is tuh yuh an' yours tuh yuh, too. An' den when yo' wrap down tuh de bottom of de nail, stick it right down tuh de centah of de do', an' hit it nine times an' let de ninth lick drive it up tuh de haid.
(In the wood?)
In de wood. (In wrapping these strings around, do you wrap them both together or first one and then the other?) No, wrap de man's first, den mine.
Entry 7174
Well, yo' kin place three names, yo' undahstand. Take it an' put it in 'is pajamas ovah 'is heart, an' he'll sleep sound until de nex' mawnin', slap [right to the moment] until yo' come back an' wake 'im up tuh git dat [piece of paper with the names] outa his pajamas. (What three names do you use?) Any three names dat choo know personal. Dose three names jis' lak yo' said John, Henry, Mary or Jane, anythin' lak dat. Yo' write it down on a piece of papah. Excuse me, ah'll show yo' how's it [how it's] done [demonstrates]. [Here I probably push my Numbers Book (numbers of inform- ants) over to speaker.] Oh! Ah kin show yo' here. Yo' see, write de three names; one dere, one dere, an' one dere. Den yo' fold it an' put it jis' ovah in 'is pocket dere, or if he is sleepin' in pajamas or undahsuit, or anythin' lak dat. Jis' lak yo' be playin' wit 'im an' slip in 'is, intuh where it would git ovah 'is heart. He'll go off tuh sleep. An' den he won't wake until yo' come back. [I suggest that these 3 names could originally have been the 3 Holy Names.]
Entry 7183
Take some clear water an' put it underneath of his bed, while he's sleepin', an' see he won't be able to wake up.
Entry 58
I wouldn't want to speak ill of the dead, for I think they know what you are saying. My reason is, they can come back and give so many Warnings. These Warnings come mostly in your sleep. I have heard something about a man that was buried. This man kept on coming back to his family and asking them in a dream to take him up out of that grave, so finally they went and took him up, and the coffin was in water. They took him up and put him in a dry place, and they never saw him again.
Entry 321
Well, dere ain't but one thing ah know about this black cat bone - dis superstitious way yo' git all of these black cat bones. Yo' keep this black cat bone undah yore haid an' yo' keep it there nine nights. Yo' sleep with it undah yore haid nine nights. An' after that then yo' take this black cat bone an' yo wear it on yo'. In case yo' go to make a deal or somepin lak dat, why yo' put in yore han' an' yo' squeeze it an' yo' make yore wishes. Den yore wishes come true.~
Entry 388
Well, in finding buried money, usually when yo' move in a house if there's some money buried there, see, it be's something always there. If yo' don't say anything, or ask it - say, "Do yo' want anything in the Name of the Lord?" Then, when yo' go to sleep, a dream will come to yo' where that money is. Then, yo' git up the next morning an' yo' dig. But chew can't say anything to anybody while yo' digging. Can't talk, if yo' see anyone coming - why yo' jest have to stop diggin', 'cause if yo' say one word why yo' can't git it.
Entry 504
I told him to get some pepper an' throw de seeds all aroun' on de floor. Well, after dey [a hag] came in there, they've got to pick up ever' grain of dat pepper before they kin get out. They kin ketch 'em and they won't come no more.
(Why won't he do that?)
I don't know, sir. He's 'fraid, say he git de pepper - might git it in his eyes or somepin or 'nother like that. Den I told him, I said, "Well, if 'fraid dat," I say, "well, take your broom and sweep your bed down," I say, "ever' night befo' you get in de bed." He do it for about nine nights or nine mornings, why dey won't bother him no more. But dey ride him most ever' night. See, he'll be hollerin' and moanin'.
(Where does he live?)
Next door. So one night, de night befo' last, he wus hollerin' and strugglin' in his sleep. So I called and ast him what wus de matter. And he ast de Lord to help him. He say he tore de cat up and threw him in de fire. [Informant paused here and I turned off my machine, thinking she had ended. But, she added a final statement which I had to repeat as a question to the quickly turned on machine.]
(When he woken up the cat was gone?)
Yes sir. [The witch-hag had changed into a cat before riding this man.]
Entry 516
An' then yo' kin use a knife crossways jes' lak we wus speakin' about - not straight up an' down - Jes' cross undah yore pillah - cross de bed - right crossways of yore haid, where yo' sleep at night. Dat keep 'em from ridin' yo'.
Entry 572
Well, this is fact - ah seen this. Ah went with a girl once to a hoodoo an' her husban' wus sick, an' he wus with anothah woman. See. An' he stayed sick, jes' goin' bad. An' so he tole her tuh go back an' look in de pillah an' she'd find a ball of strange feathers in dere. An' so she went back and she got de feathers out an' it wus a ball of owl feathers dat he wus sleepin' on. Yo' see, yo' take dose owl feathers an' yo' put 'em in yore pillah, see dey won't mix - dey ain't goin' mix wit de othah feathers, dey'll ball up together. An' sleep on it, see, an' dat runs yo' crazy, kill yo'.
(What did they do with them then, those feathers?)
Dey took 'em an' throwed 'em in de rivah, an' dat runs de othah person on 'bout dere business.
(The hoodoo man - was he colored or white?)
He wus colored.
Entry 777
The Nassau people - we have quite a few of them heah from the colored race and they are very bad that way. When they are in love with yo' an' yo' quit them, they slip undah yo' bed an' light six candles - right in under yo', an' pretty soon yo' go away. They tell yo' quickly, "Ah burn candles fo' yo'. An' yo' don't know whut they mean and they don' tell you whut they mean, but someone else kin tell yo', if yo' ask them, say, "Look heah, Sech-a-one tole me they Was goin' burn candles fo' me." An' they say, "Well, yo' better look out." Well, they will light them candles under yo' bed while yo' sleep, an' dey burn dem six candles under dere and when dey go down, why yo' go down.
(What color are they - any particular color?)
Dey don't have to be no partic'lar color - any color, jest so they candles.
Entry 833
A fellow that lived about twelve miles out from here, he called himself a hoodoo doctor. People would go to him from all around. He said he could cure them. He used to put them under these spells which would last forty-eight hours. He made them go to sleep. Then he would send his boy to the attic and throw down chickens and guinea pigs. These would wake them about the time the spell was wearing off them, believing it was his method of healing. Then he proclaimed they were well. He's been dead about two years
[d.1934].
Entry 1824
When a person speak about dey write de dead, yo' know - fo' de numbers yo' know. (Just how do they do that?) Well, dey jest write 'em - jes' yo' write some yo' peoples, says, "Dear Fren', I would like tuh hear from yo'. I am writin' yo' few lines to let chew know I am well. I wants dis number. I wants chew will please send hit to me tonight while ah'm sleep. An' yo' set chew a glass of water an' fold de letter up - set de glass of water on top de letter, an' dis ghost will come an' bring yo' de number in yo' sleep. He might come in de form of a cow or a dog or a horse but he'll bring yo' de number.
Entry 1847
Dey did have somepin lak dat call a dustman - a dustman. He'd come tuh yore house - one dat was quiet anyway, he could jes' sprinkle dat in dere an' he could come on in dere an' git anything out de house that chew got in there an' yo' wouldn't waken till he git out.
(What kind of dust would he sprinkle in there?)
It's a powder - yo' orders it tho. It's a sleepin' powder, dey call it - tuh put chew tuh sleep.
Entry 2052
A root doctor tole me dat if anybody was trying to harm you in any Way - like telling de police to come to yore house and different things or you in some kind of a business - you could go in de woods and ketch a black snake. Ketch him and yo' skin it - kill him and skin right there while he alive, and take that wet skin and you tie it in a bowknot and you take it home, and you sleep with it under yore pillah always. Don't ever move it from undah yore pillah. Even when you change beds let it stay right in the same spot - let it stay dere no matter how stinking it gits, let it stay dere. De law would even come at yo' doorstep but he never would wanta come in. [Jacksonville, Fla., (562), 699:5.]
[For more knots, see Spirit Caught in Knot, p.389f., and Index.]
Entry 3259
Well, if dis man have any - if he's runnin' aroun' an' if he have any dealin' wit dis woman, she [wife] could take dat piece he use, yo' see, an' put it in some lukewarm watah an' it would clab- bah jis' lak buttahmilk. An' she puts it in a pint bottle. Yo' know, put dis watah in a pint bottle an' let 'im sleep on it three nights an' shake it up each night he sleep on it. An' well, he cain't have nuthin tuh do wit no othah woman. He cain't do dat.
(Who does this now? The wife does that?)
De wife do's it. (When he has connection with her, then she does it. Then he won't have any dealings with any other woman.) See, she have tuh use it. When he gits through, she shouldn't git through. See, jis' let 'im git through, an' den she wipe, yo' know dis rag whut he use it. Well, den she take it an' put it in some lukewarm watah an' it'll clabbah, an' den she puts it in a pint bottle an' den let 'im sleep on it three nights. Put it in de bed where he cain't see it - yo' know, all unknown tuh him, an' let 'im sleep on it three nights, an' den shake it up each mawnin' an' sleep on it, an' it ain't no woman he kin have.
(What would she do with that bottle after he sleeps on it three days?)
She has dat bottle, keeps dat bottle. She kin bury it in de ground, but it ain't nuthin he kin do.
Entry 3281
To keep a man away from yore wife, yo' git yore wife's undahshirt - see, like yo' goin' to leave [town]. Yo' git de sweat of 'er shirt. Yo' take de shirt an' yo' wrap dis shirt up an' carry it wit yo'. See, yo' carry dis shirt wit yo'. Yo' take it an' make a package wit it. Undah- stan'? An' yo' take yo' some sugah an' cinna- mon an' oil of clovah [3 ingredients], yo' see, an' yo' mix it up in dat. An yo' put dat in dat package, an' when yo' sleepin' yo' sleep on dat. An' ah bet yo' she won't worry 'bout no man, while yo' are gone.
Entry 3362
She takes de dishrag - he fast asleep, fast asleep. Jes' take dat an' jes' wipe it down 'im an' call his name. Wipe it down, don't wipe it up, cuz hit'll come up. Yes, wipe it down, an' it'll be jes' lak de dishrag.
Entry 3487
Jes' lak yo' have a sweetheart an' yo' wanta hold 'im, well yo' take some bran'-new pins dat nevah been used, an' yo' fix dem haid an' haid [tail], but dey must be even, see. (You mean one goes this way [I demonstrate] and one goes that way - they alternate.)
[Informant misunderstands alternate, a word I should not have used.]
Yes sir, dat's right. Yo' have a connection wit chure frien'.
(How many of those pins do you use?)
Yo' make a gartah of dose. An' yo' fix 'em de haid an' haid - lak de stuck right on de haid - dey can't stick yo', see. An' yo' take dis string an' yo' measure him while he's asleep an' yo take dat. Well, when he have connection wit chew, YO' DON'T HAVE NO 'MUNICATE [COMMUNICATION] WIT 'IM BUT HE JES' HAVE ONE WIT CHEW. Well yo'wrap dat roun' an' yo' ketch dat. Well, now yo' nuse [use] dat fo' a gartah, tie it roun' yore laig. He can't have nobody else but chew.
(What do you put those pins in?)
In dat gartah. (In this piece of cloth that you make the garter with, you put those pins in there after you wipe him? And then you make that garter and you wear it?) Yes.
Entry 3531
Yo' kin keep yore husban' from a woman lak dat, he cain't raise up fo' a [another] woman. Yo' kin take a bran'-new cord string an' name it 'im, an' perhaps while he's sleep, yo' measure him, an' yo' tie three knots comin' to yo', an' yo' tell it whut chew don' want 'im tuh do. Den yo' take dat an' tie it an' wear it aroun' yore wais'. He cain't raise up fo' nobody but chew.
Entry 3612
Fo' a man to lose his nature an' - lak if he has a woman an' she loves 'im, or he has a wife an' she loves 'im best. To remove him from 'er, or to take his nature away, she'll take a string, a cord string an' she'll measure his private an' den she puts nine knots in it. See. An' aftah puttin' de nine knots in it, den she'll take it an' she'll bury it or tie it undah de bed an' sleep on it. Dat is to take away his nature. or to keep 'im from goin' wit anybody else.
Entry 3682
A fellah could stop anothah fellah from goin' wit 'is wife. He'd taken a snail an' dead skin from undah his feet an' parched it an' take it an' - wit a dishrag. An' while she's asleep dat night, jes' sprinkle dat on 'er, put dat on 'er an' rub 'er wit de dishrag, so she couldn't go wit no one. Dat take de nature away from 'er.
(What did he do with this snail and the dirt and that dishrag?)
Take de snail an' ground - yo' know, groun' de whole shell an' de snail. Parch it good, make a kinda powdah out of it. An' when she went to sleep, why he sprin- it ovah 'er an' he wipe her across wit de dirty dishrag. Sprinkle dat ovah 'er on 'er drawahs, an' anyone couldn't go wit 'er no mo'. So findly [finally] dey broke up.
Entry 3725
For manhood weakness, well dat female takes advantage.
(How do you mean they take advantage?)
In dey transport demselves an' invite him to have action wit dem an' dey ketch de stuff an' store it away, see. Might take it in a cloth an' let 'im - maybe he lay down on it, sleep on it. Well, I'll advise him to go an' steal from 'is own - from 'is home a ole dishrag, yo' know, such a common thing, wipe hisself nine times or nine nawnin's dataway and dataway [demonstrates]. (Nine times each morning he wipes down and wipes across his... Nine times down this. Each and across, or?) No, nine times. See, fer nine mornings nine times, see; but heah yo' go.
[Demonstrates.]
(I see, make the cross.)
Yes, dat's one time - jes' count it as one, see.
(In other words, you make a cross nine times?)
Yeah, nine mawnin's an' each nine mawnin's. Yo' do dis each mawnin'.
(What else does he do then?)
Dat restores 'is manhood, yeah. Dat wipes it away. An' den, when yo' git on dat, den yo' takes de ole rag an' yo' supposed to do away wit it. Dat mostly come from de female sex, see.
Entry 4045
[Rites at the door are important and many in folklore and hoodoo, the door being one of the great magic places where both good and evil are encounter- ed. Most of these rites will be found elsewhere. Here I mention door separately to establish its importance.] All right yo' take de chamber in de mawnin'. Have de person sleep in de room ovahnight. Jes' befo' dey git up, slip in de room an' take de chambah out, an' put [pour] it undah de do'- step, undah yore do'step or his'n, eithah one, an' let 'im walk ovah it. Den yo' have 'im trapped [cannot leave you].
Entry 4298
Ah heard dat yuh kin take a man's undahweah, his dirty undahweah an' yuh kin wash it in yore pee, see, an' den fold it up. Yuh take de sleeves an' yuh fol' dis sleeve, fold it in, an' yuh take dis sleeve an' fold it on top of dat. Den yuh take it an' fold it tuhgethah, turn it ovah tuhgethah an' roll it up, an' put 'em undah yuhr mattress an' sleep on it. Dat is, if he's gone away from home, dat will bring 'im back.
Entry 4302
If a man leave home an' she wants 'im back tuh 'er, she kin take his clothes. If he leave any garment dere, shoes an' clothes, an' [she] take dose clothes an' put 'em undah de haid of de baid, an' some of 'er urinate an' sprinkle it ovah de clothes, sleep on it, in three days he'll be home.
Entry 4762
If yuh leave home an' she got yore undahclothes, de sweat of yore clothes - co'se she got it. When it's clean, she cain't do nuthin wit it. But if she got de sweat off yore clothes, yore undahsuit, she put it between de two mattress. She spread de suit out an' she lay on it - sleeps on it evah night, yuh see. An' yore sock, yore left-foot sock go dis way an' heel go dis way. An' yuh'll come back home.
(Well, how do you mean your "left-foot sock goes off this way?")
Yuh see, yuh put - yuh turn - yuh put a sock dis way an' de othah one dis way. Yuh see.
(You put one sock this way and?)
An' de othah one dataway, yeah. An' yore undahsuit spreads out jis' lak yuh were layin' in de baid. She sleep on dat.
(Where do you put the socks?)
The sock?
(Where does she put those socks?)
She puts 'em right up, lay 'em right at de bottom of yore foot.
(Oh, she puts them right at the bottom of your feet.)
Of the undahsuit, yes. An' dat'll bring - dat'll bring yuh back home. Yuh'll always be stayin' by home. (She puts one sock this way at the foot of the underwear, and the other one right here?) Dat's right.
(And puts them together like that.)
Entry 4779
A woman could take a man's shirt an' tie nine knots in it, yuh know. Dem knots tied, see. (What does she do with the shirt then?) She take de shirt an' put it undah 'er pillah see, an' sleep on it.
Entry 4921
Sleep wit dere stockin's undah yore haid. Take yore socks an' sleep wit 'em undah mah haid. Or take dem an' cut de feet out an' wear dem.
(What will that do?) Dey will follah yuh.
Entry 4944
Git indelible pencil an' git yuh a linen [paper] tablet, an' yuh write his name nine times down, an' yuh come back across dat an' write chure name across dat. Take it an' fold it an' wear it in yore right-foot stockin', an' don't pull it off. He'll be back in seven days. (You fold that piece [of paper] to you?) Tuh yuh, put it in yore stockin' an' sleep in it. [My question is not leading. Something was done during the conversation or before to indicate the type of folding.]
Entry 4975
Take a woman's stockin' whut she done dirtied, yuh know, wit sweat on lak dat yuh know.
(You take the woman's stocking?)
Yes, sir, wit de sweat on dere an' put it in de baid where yuh sleept. An' sleep on it an' dat will make her come back tuh yuh. An' tie it roun' yuh an' yuh sweat against it, an' dat will make her come back tuh yuh. (Both stockings?) One - don't need but one, eithah one.
Entry 5282
Yo' kin take a person's shoes, if yo' in love wit 'em, an' call dere name three times. An' turn it undah de bed where yo' sleep at, an' sleep ovah it an' dat person'll come tuh yo'. (You turn that other person's shoes up- side down under your own bed?) Mah own shoes. Jes' lak if ah wuz in love wit a man an' ah wanted tuh see him. Ah turn mah shoes - jes' right foot, turn it down undah de baid where ah sleep an' call de name three times. An' dey'd come. DO DAT EVAH NIGHT UNTIL DEY COME.
Entry 5446
Dey say if dey git chure lef' track an' put some graveyard dirt in wit dat, an' put it undah de step; dey say dat will cuz zooh tuh be LAME IN YORE LEG, OR MAKE YO' SLEEP A LOT. [Wilmington, N. Car., (205), 112:4+85.}
Entry 5497
Git de dirt outen dere track, in de middle of de feet, in de right feet, goin', an' git it outen de left. Den yo' take dat an' git de hair from heah [demonstrates] an' from de back.
(The hair from the top of the head, [and] the back of the neck.)
An' yo' mix dat tuhgethah an' yo' totes dose fo' luck. Totes dose fo' luck tuh git 'im back. Jes' lak if yo' have a husban' an' yo' cain't do anythin' wit 'im, an' den yo' take dat stuff an' put it tuhgethah. Dat'll always keep 'is mind always comin' back home.
(Where do you put this stuff after you get it?)
Well, yo' put it - jes' sew it up in yore dress, or eithah take it an' tie it up an' put it in yore baid mattress or yore pillah where yo' sleep on it.
(That will bring a man back.)
Entry 5721
(Have you ever heard of a person getting hold of your foot track and doing something with that to harm you?) Well, dey kin.
(What could they do with that?)
Well, dey kin take dat, take dat wit gunpowdah, an' while yo' are sleepin', call yo' an' yo' answah. Dat's yo'. Dey got yore spirit den. See, dey got chure spirit. See dat's all dey want. An' den dey kin take it tuh a tree, say a gum tree, an' dey kin split dat gum tree an' tack it up in dere.
(What do they tack up in there?)
Dey kin tack or eithah kin splice [split] it [tree]. Put dat right in.
(What do they put in?)
Put de track - put de track in dere. See, de tree will burn.
(What do they do with that gunpowder?)
Dat gunpowdah will keep it hot. Keep yo' hot. Yo' can't stay no one place. Yo' nevah be contented. [In the present rite a part of the victim's spirit, his foot track, has already been caught and mixed with gunpowder in a bottle - see PART OF SPIRIT EQUALS WHOLE SPIRIT, p.2lf. For good measure informant now catches spirit re- maining in victim's body by calling his name and closing bottle when he answers (see TO CATCH A SPIRIT, p.24f.). Whether these two wholes or two parts of the spirit unite in the bottle, or the gunpowder keeps them dancing apart, I do not know. Evildoer pours contents of bottle into a split made in gum tree and re- moves wedge. The word gum adds to the confusion.]
Entry 5896
Well now, whut about de frog. Dat's about a woman's hair. Well, yo' din take her hair an' TIE IT TO A TOADFROG an' he'll hop aWay wit it, an' DAT'LL DC HER SIT DOWN AN' SLEEP ALL DE TIME. An' if yo' TIE IT TO A BIRD an' let 'im fly away, dat'll MAKE HER HAVE DE aDaCHE all de time. Yo' PUT IT IN A BOTTLE AN' STOP IT UP an' go to runnin' watah an' throW it in rumin' watah, an' dat'll run 'er off. An' a man kin take it an' PUT IT IN 'IS WATCH FOB or EITHAH TIE IT UP IN A RAG, THREE KNOTS in a rag, an' put it in his Watch pocket an' dat'll make her love him.
Entry 6660
Sleepin' on a feathah mattress. Yo' kin take snake eggs an' put 'em in a chicken - [I mean] in a mattress where de feathahs is, yo' undahstan'. An' dem feathahs goin' birth dem eggs. Yo' undahstan'. See, dey got li'le bits of eggs an' dey'll birth dem eggs. An dem feathahs birth dem eggs. An' long as dem - aftah dem eggs hatched, dem snakes'll be in dere, yo' undahstan'. An' yo' sleep on dere an' it'll dry yo' up, jis' lak if yo' had consumption. An' yore lungs will be jis'as solid as dey is right now. [Solid lungs right now I do not understand.]
Entry 6675
Now a terrapin is a thing, he crawls late at night, an' he crawls at certain times of de day an' he go tuh sleep. Now, dat terrapin yo' wanta wakes 'im at night. Dat terrapin will crawl out de day, an' if chew wanta git dat terrapin tuh hurt chew at night, dey'll capsize 'im from 'is den. Dey'll grab 'im an' dey may cut off 'is right laig an' call yore name. An' dey carries it tuh dey house, bury dat [leg] an' dey'll turn dat ter- rapin loose live. An' quick as dat swell up, where he cut off dat laig, dat right foot - quick as dat swell up, why yo' is a sick man. (That is one way, they use it. What about the other way?)
Entry 7049
(How do you do that?)
Yo' kin even make 'em stop drinkin' whiskey.
(How do you do that?)
Now, yo' know a man dat drinks whiskey. Yo' take a man dat's a heavy whiskey drinkah, when he comes home, if he drink anythin' lak coffee or tea, or anythin' lak dat. Yo' go tuh 'is shoes, when he come in at night, an' take any dust - some dust off of one of 'is shoes. See, yo' jis' take de dust off of any shoe yo' git off of 'is foot. An' take dat dust an' powdah it. Powdah it up good an' fold it in a piece of paper, an' let 'im sleep wit dat undah 'is pillow. Evah time he come, whethah he come in sobah or come in drunk, take it away where - wrap dat good an' put it undah 'is pillah, an' let it stay undah 'is pillah fo' nine days. An' aftah it stay undah 'is pillah fo' nine days, yo' take it an' take dat same dust an' po' it intuh any drink dat he drinks - whiskey or gin or anythin' an' dissolve it an' mix it well. Jis' drop it in, jis' a li'le particle of dust on dere, from any one of 'is shoes. An' let 'im sleep wit dat undah 'is head fo' nine days, an' po' it in 'is drink. An' ah'll bet if yo' continue doin' dat - if dat don't give him de natchal [natu- ral] effect de firs' time, use it on 'im ag'in. An' ah'll bet dat he'll - it'll stop 'im from drinkin'.
Entry 7057
Ah heard a woman say dat 'er husban' did 'er dataway. Said he taken a broom, got de broom out de cornah an' laid it aside huh, wit de broom part whut chew sweep, up de side of 'er haid. An' say he went down tuh 'is mothah's an' stayed till neahly day, an' come back an' she didn't wake up until he moved dat broom. Ah heard about dat.
Entry 7060
Ah tell yo' now - jes' lak a woman wanta go out, a very jealous husban' don' wan' 'er tuh go. Well, de thing she would do, go tuh bed wit 'im. Well, she know 'bout how hard he sleep. Honeys 'im up uatil he go tuh sleep. An' den ease up vury easy, an' jes' ease a stray broom cross 'is feets, an' ease on out de do'. An' he'll sleep right dere till she come back. An' not so [if not that way], she could hang 'uh bloomahs on de haid of de baid.
Entry 7065
Take fer a' instan' now. Yo' got a wife an' she wan'a go out - choo leor, tuh be wit anothah man, or go out somewhere. She don' wan' choo tuh wake up befo' she come [back]. Yo' layin' down dere asleep. She'll jis' take one of 'er [under] pieces of 'er drawahs, or somepin right nex' tuh uhself, yuh know, an' take it an' spread it ovah yuh face right while yuh asleep. An' yo'll jis lay right dere an' sleep an' dream, an' yo' wouldn't wake up fer de devil, until she come an' take dat thin' from ovah dere. She kin go on off an' stay long as she Want. BUT YO' MUST BE ASLEEP BEFO' SHE PUT IT OVAH DERE. [RichmOnd, Va.,
(343), 383:1 0r 286:1+86.]
Entry 7069
She do somepin tuh keep 'im home, so he won't want tuh leave dere.
[Here is a new purpose for bloomers over his face!]
(What will she do to him?)
Well, dis is mighty funny.
(That's all right, anything you want to say. I've heard lots of funny things.)
He lays down in de baid lak he goin' tuh sleep. She comes an' lays down in de baid tuh go 'sleep. An' she pull off 'er bloomahs an' jis' take 'em an' spread 'em ovah 'is haid, an' let 'em lay ovah 'is haid awhile. See. Den 'fo' he wake up, she'll take 'em off. She might let 'em stay on dere ten minutes, but he won't wake up till she take 'em off - lay right dere sleepin'. Den she taken 'em off. She'll use 'em lak dat awhile. An' aftah awhile maybe she fixes de pillah. May- be she put it undah dere, or a dress dere de same way. An' when she puts demdere lak dat, why he jis' keep layin' off from goin' anywhere. He go limpah an' limpah until he jis' git so he don't want no more dere [away from home]. An' he don't go nowhere.
Entry 7073
De dirty things. Well, yo' kin take yore undahweah, whut chew weah close to yo' - sompin lak dat. Dey say, yore slip, or yore step-ins. An' when he be asleep jis' lay it 'cross 'is face, an' he sleep till yo' come back.
Entry 7078
Why yo' would take yore bloomahs or eithah yore shimmy an' yo' would put dat on yore husban's face - put it ovah 'is head. Den yo' would back out de do' an' as yo' back out, yo' would repeat, "Stay sound asleep," fo' nine times backin' out.
Entry 7079
If he's runnin' out, tuh take her bloomahs an' dip it in a pan of watah, an' wring it out an' wave it ovah him three times. (Over his head?) Yeah, ovah 'is face an' hang it on de head of de bed. Take a sheet an' spread ovah de bed, most anythin', an' hang de bloomah fur 'nuff ovah 'is head so he can't pull 'em off.
(Is he in the bed all the time she is doing that?)
Yes, he's jis' lyin' dere 'sleep. He jis' didn't wanta git up yo' know. It make him he wouldn't wanta git up.
(That will make him stay asleep?)
Yeah, make him stay asleep. She kin go off where she please an' come back.
Entry 7085
Ah've heard of - if a woman got a husban' or a sweetheart an' he's wit chew at night, an' yo' wanted tuh go out an' he'd go tuh sleep, yo' kin take yo' garment, de piece yo' weah nex' tuh yo', an' hang it on de haid of de baid right ovah where he sleep at, an' he'll sleep right dere until yo' come back.
Entry 7086
Now, yo' take quite natchel if right tuhnight mah wife wanta make a date, yeah, out yondah. Ah wus sleepin' heah. If ah know how tuh tie her down, from - tuh keep 'er from gwine yo' know. Money an' likkah an' - dat ruin' 'em yo' know. If yo' find a woman drink likkah an' loves money, dey'll go - put chew tuh sleep an' go. Well, all right, she kin commence. She kin ketch me layin' in de sleep. She kin go tuh work an' take her undahclothes, jis' 'er bloomahs an' spread it ovah mah haid, an' ah'll sleep heah 'itll she come back. De house could burn down an' ah nevah Wake up. NOW, DAT'S JIS' A LITTLE SIMPLE "TRICK: Ah have see women try dat. De husban' didn't know anythin' atall about it, yo' see.
Entry 7103
An' den too, ah know a man de way he did 'is wife, when he'd wanta go off tuh see 'is sweetheart, yo' know. He'd go tuh work an' he'd weah 'is undah- clothes yo' see, fo' prob'ly a Week, an' 'im an' 'is wife would go tuh bed an' she wouldn't even know when he git outa de bed. He'd go tuh work an' he'd take his han's an' put 'em undah 'is arm an' roun' in 'is private, an' put it cross 'er nose lak dat. An' take dem drawahs an' put ovah 'er face. An' he could go an' stay till day de nex' mawnin', an' she wouldn't wake up until he come an' move 'is undahclothes off 'er bed. Ah've known dat tuh be true.
Entry 7104
Ah've been heah evah since de llth of Septembah anl ah declare dat's all dey do do's. Take yore step-ins or yore bloomahs an' put undah de pillah or spread it ovah dere face, an' dey'll nevah wake up until de nex' mawnin'.
(You put it either over the man's face or under his pillow, one or the other.)
Entry 7105
Put 'er undahclothes undah 'is pillahslip, or bloomahs or sompin lak dat intuh 'is pillahslip, undah 'is pillah where he sleep on, or eithah hang up ovah de head of de bed, makes 'im sleep.
Entry 7106
An' den eithah yo' kin take yore othah piece an' stick it undah yore pillah an' go out, an' when yo' come back, take it out an' he'll wake up.
(Under whose pillow do you put it? Under his or under your own?)
Undah his'n.
(And he'll stay asleep until you get back.)
Entry 7110
Sho', jis' take yore shimmy whut chew weahs. When he drops tuh sleep, yo' in de bed wit 'im, pull off yore shimmy an' turn it on de wrong side, an' hang it, lay it right cross 'is haid. An' he won't wake up till yo' come an' take dat shimmy from off dere.
Entry 7118
Take yore shoes an' turn 'em upside down right where yore bed is at. Yo'll put dat shoe in de groun' an' she'd put yo' in bed - yo' goin' tuh come dere an' go tuh bed, go tuh sleep. An' she'd git up dere, yo' won't wake up 'till she wake yo up. She kin git up any time of night she want, an' go where she want, an' come back an' yo' jis' sleepin' - can't wake up.
(Does she bury both shoes?)
One, yore lef'-foot shoe.
(Does she bury it in the ground or put it under the bed?)
Nope, she bury it in de ground, yo' know, right where de bed at; yo' know, lak dat. An' turn it upside down an' put dat shoe in de ground, see.
(She'd have to get under the house then?)
Yes, sir, she'd git undahneat' de house an' put dat dere right where de bedat.
(I see.)
Entry 7119
Ah've heard people say yo' could put 'is shoes undah de bed an' turn 'em bottom upwards. An' long as dose shoes is bottom upwards, he'll lay dere an' sleep until she comes back.
Entry 7120
Take 'em an' turn 'em down while dey sleep. (The shoes?) De shoes, an' dey cain't wake up until yo' turn 'em back up.
Entry 7122
Yo' could take de lef'-foot of any- body's shoe an' turn it down, jis' lak yo' wanta turn a trick, an' yo' be sleepin', why yo'll sleep right dere till dey do whut de wanta an' come back.
Entry 7126
How, tuh keep 'im asleep while she's out at night, take his lef'-foot shoe an' turn it down undahneath undah de head of de bed.
Entry 7127
Dey kin use a shoe dis way. If it's in yore house an' if yo' wants tuh put a person tuh sleep, yo' take de lef'-foot shoe an' turn it down right at de haid of de bed, an' dey'll sleep dere clean until yo' move dat shoe. Yo' got a chance tuh do anything in de world tuh 'em an' dey cain't wake up.
Entry 7131
Yo' want anothah woman. Jis' lak yo' runnin' a roomin' house an' got roomahs in dere an' yo' an' yore wife in bed- room goin' tuh bed, an' yo' wanna git up an' go in de othah room an' don' wan er to wake up. Yo' take 'er shoe an' put it right undah de bed an turn it upside down, lak mah hat [demonstrates] right undah 'er where she's layin' dere. An' she can't wake up until yo' go wake her up yo'self. Yo' kin go out, kin dress an' stay out till daylight, an' den come back home an wake her up. Dat woman, she won' wake up till den.
Entry 7132
(What do they do about that?) Dey [women] take his 'ef' shoe an' turn it bottom up, put it right up undah 'is head - yo' see, lak up undah de bed. Well, yo' take dat lef' shoe of his'n an' yo' turn it right up undah 'is bed bottom upwards, an' he'll sleep dere until yo' come back.
(I see. If the woman wants to go out and run around?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 7134
Git de right-foot shoe an' any piece he weah nex' tuh 'im - his undahclothes-lak. When dey go tuh sleep, take dat piece whut he weah nex' tuh 'im, an' put it ovah 'is face. An' take his shoe, de right-foot shoe an' turn it down. He'll continue sleepin' dere until dey go an' take dat from ovah 'is face an' turn 'is shoe back up straight in de night.
Entry 7135
If a woman's gittin' ready tuh go out, if she got sense, she'll lay on de bed wit 'er husban'. She pulls off 'er clothes an' while he's not lookin', she'll take and place her undah- weah undah 'is head. She'll take an' place her undahweah undah 'is head, an' he'll lay dere an' go tuh sleep an' he'll nevah wake up. Den she'll take his lef' shoe an' TURN IT DOWN IN UNDAH DE BED, AN' SHE KIN GO TUH HELL AN' COME BACK.
(And she must put the underclothes under his pillow - under his head?)
Her undahclothes undah 'is head.
(Under the pillow or under his head?)
Undah 'is head. Put 'er undahclothes undah 'is head. It kin be, as long as it's undah 'is head, she kin even put it undah de sheet. Yo' know, she put it somewhere where he can't see it.
(Oh, I see.)
Entry 7136
She'll take 'er drawahs an' pull 'em off whut she had on an' put 'em undah 'is haid; take her right-footed shoe an' turn it bottom upwards undah de foot of 'is baid, an' take his lef'-footed shoe an' turn it bottom upvards. An' he'll sleep dere until she come an' wake him up. (Where does she put his shoe?) Jis' turn it bottom upwards undah de baid. Put 'is shoe, one tuh 'er foot an' one tuh 'is, right side by side undah de bed.
(But she puts her drawers under the pillow?)
Ease it undah 'is pillah.
(And what would happen then?)
He jis' sleep.
Entry 7137
Yo' could take one of 'is shoes an' turn it down jis' somewhere at de side of de bed, an' den he sleep a long time. An' a woman kin take her skin- piece an' put it up ovah'at dis end of de bed, jis' hang it up ovah dere. Dey'll sleep sound lak dat.
Entry 7138
Ah tell yo' whut a woman kin do. Jis' lak if 'er an' 'er husban' gone tuh baid an' she wanta step out, she'll git up an' she'll take his shoe, turn 'em bottomside upwards in undah de foot of de baid. See, he cain't wake up until she come back an' turn dem shoes ovah. Den a man kin - he kin, jis' lak if he wan's tuh go out an' leave her dere asleep, all he's gotta do, jis' git up yo' know an' take his pants off or some of 'is drawahs, yo' know it's dirty, an' hang: 'em ovah de top of de baid ovah 'er haid dere, an go on off about 'is business. An' she won't wake up until he come back an' move dem things.
Entry 7140
Take a person's left shoe when he goes to sleep, hold over his nose about 10 minutes. He won't wake up.
Entry 7143
Ketch a man asleep an' take yore right-foot shoe an' carry it ovah 'is face nine times. An' yo' kin go on where- evah yo' wanta an' come on back, an' he won't wake up until yo' come back. (How do you put that shoe over his face? Show me how you do that.) Jis' lak he's layin' perhaps on 'is back. Yo' take yore shoe an' yo' turn it. Yo' know, maybe it smell inside of it, he inhale dat. Yo' jis carry it ovah 'is face lak dat [demonstrates].
(In a circular motion.)
Nine times in a motion, nine times.
Entry 7144
Turn person's shoe upside down an' leave on chest or stom- ach. Keeps him asleep.
Entry 7145
Tell yo' whut dey do wit yore shoes. Lak if yo' go out an' stay out late at night, or sompin lak dat, an' dey wanta keep yo' home. Dey don' wan' chew tuh go out too much at night. Or if yo' layin' down sleepin' an' dey wan chew tuh sleep soun' an' don' wan' chew tuh wake up, take an' put some black peppah an' salt in de shoe, an' turn it bottomside upwards an' put it undah yore bed - both de shoes.
Entry 7147
Turn de shoes bottoms upwards - his shoes. (Where?) Well, jis' lak he's pulled dem off an' gone tuh bed, she take 'em an' turn 'em bottoms up - turn de' sole up an' de top down. Say dat'll make him sleep until she come back.
Entry 7148
Turn yore shoes upside down, if yo' tuh bed. Turn yore shoes upside down an' walk on out, an' yo' won' wake up until he come back an' turn de shoe ovah.
(Do you use both shoes or just one?)
Use both shoes. Put it crossways lak dat [demonstrates].
(On top of each other crossways.)
Entry 7153
Dey tell me dat de women kin - 'fact a woman tried it on me - take her shoes an' turn 'em right undahneath de head of 'er bed, an' put a half a dollah undah each shoe, an' go out an' stay out, den come in, an' yo' won' know it. Yo' won' wake up until she come back an' move 'em.
Entry 7154
Take both 'is shoes an' turn 'em undah de head of de bed, upside downwards, fo' an' aft. (How do they turn them?) Foah an' aft. (That's the toe, one. And the heel?) Dat's right. Heah's a toe an' heah's a toe. See, dats de way. Undah de head of de bed. (Toe and heel, and heel and toe?) [Shoes are together upside down facing opposite directions.] Dat's right, an' he cain't wake up until she come back an' turn 'em up. An' he kin go an' do her de same way, if she's got low quartahs or top.shoes. But if she's got top shoes, dose high-top shoes, yo' have to put de tops undah, fold de tops undah, yo' see, so dey'll set straight. Jis' put 'em undah de head of de bed.
Entry 7155
Home at night? Take yore shoes, turn one tuh de head an' de othah back tuh de foot; yo' know, jis' de opposite ways, yo' see, wit sugah in each one of dem shoe, an' sleep lak dat. Tie one knot in 'uh undahskirt or 'er chemise, whatevah she has, an' sleep until she returns. She jis' has tuh keep it on, de one she has on. (Put one shoe with the toe pointing to the head and one to the foot. You put the shoes upside down, together, or one at the foot and one at the head?) Upside down, one at de head an' one at de foot. Set 'em nex' tuh each othah right in a row, right foot at de head of de man; one fo' de head an' one fo' de foot.
Entry 7156
After he's gone to sleep, look, she takes one of his shoes an' turn it to the head [of the bed] an' the other one to the foot, see, tying three knots in her underslip, an' he'll sleep there until she return back an' re- move those shoes.
Entry 7157
Heard 'em say dey kin take dere shoe from de right foot an' turn it up by a do', an' if dat person 'sleep, he'll sleep dere till yo' remove dat shoe 'fo' he wake up.
(You turn it up by the door?)
Yo' have tuh turn it up on de flo' facin' at de do' on de side.
(You turn it upside down?)
Yes sir, like dat.
(The right-foot shoe?)
Yes sir, an' say he will sleep until yo' remove dat shoe.
Entry 7160
Sock - kin take a sock. A SOCK FER TRUE HAVE COME DOWN FROM HISTORY. If yo' kin take a stockin' an' if a person is asleep - has plenty of money - yo' kin take it an' lay it, yo' sleepin', an' heah: s yore nose heah, an' yo' kin lay it right dere in fron' of yore nose. AN' YO' KIN TRY IT ANY TIME YO' WANTA, AN' YO' WOULDN'T WAKE UP. Ah kin be right dere when yo' woke up. Well ah been out de house, done been evahwhere, an' ah'll come back an' yo' sleepin' right on. An' den ah'll come dere an' take dat sock, an' soon as yo' commence drawin' long breaths, ah'll remove dat sock. Look lak yo' sawin' inside - look lak a saw. Minute dat sock is gone yo' don't heah dat. Reckon ah'll shake yo' an' wake yo' up, but ah done got whut chew got an' gone wit it. Done carried it somewheah, but ah wake yo' up. Me an' yo' lay down tuhgethah. Yo' couldn't sweah ah took it. Well, yo say dere's nobody else in de house but us two. How could it be gone? Well, if yo' didn't know, [who knows]?
Entry 7161
Well, dey always say, dat if a man asleep an' yo' wan' 'im tuh sleep till yo' come back, take yore [his] dirty socks an' hang 'em ovah de head of 'is bed an' he sleep till yo' git back. Take one of 'is dirty socks, de right foot, as neah as yo' kin see. Yo' kin see how de toe is printed in de sock. Yo' take dat sock an' yo' hang it ovah de head of de bed.an if he sleepin', he sleep till yo' come back.
Entry 7163
Dey kin git de footbo'd or de headbo'd at least an' come an' put it undah yore house an' yo' can't wake up. (You can't wake up? Why would they put that under the house to keep you asleep?) Dey put yo' tuh sleep lak de dead man is. (Why would they put you to sleep? What was their idea of doing that?) De idea tuh put chew to sleep, den yo' nevah wake up.
(Oh, this is to kill you.)
Entry 7164
Take dat an' put 'em undahneat' chore house in de midnight, but yo got'a do dat on de young moon. An' take one of dem headbo'ds an' bring 'em an' put 'em, right jis' lak it wus yore bed here, an' shove 'em undahneat' dere. If yo' wanted tuh git up in de maw- nin' on time, YO' WOULD SLEEP AN' SLEEP UNLESSEN SOMEBODY WOULD WAKE YO'. Yo' can't - yo' wanta git up but choo can't. Yo' go back tuh sleep.
Entry 7165
Take some graveyard dirt an' sprinkle it ovah de house. Dat will put 'em fast asleep, dey say. Ah nevah experienced it but ah jis' heard whut dey would say.
(You mean it would put this man asleep?)
Puts 'im fast asleep an' she kin git up an' go jis' where she wanta.
(Where does she sprinkle that stuff?)
Sprinkle it ovah yore house.
(Oh, all around the house - inside the house.)
Yeah.
Entry 7167
Git a li'le graveyard dirt an' put on a person, an' when yo' put it on 'em - git a li'le graveyard dirt an' carry it, tie it up real tight, an' put it up undah de pillah an' let 'em sleep on it at night. An' if he's got a wife an' 'is wife wanted tuh go out, she could put it up undah dere an' let 'im go tuh sleep. If he's got whiskey in 'im or anythin' - anythin' at all lak whiskey on 'im, she kin go on off an' stay jis' long as she wanta. An' when she comes back she'll pull it out an' he wakes up.
(That is to keep him asleep while she is gone.)
Entry 7169
A woman kin have her husban' an' jis' go - it's lak he's workin' at night, an' he be here sleepin' an' she may wanta go off, yo' see, wit some other man or somepin othah. An' she - aftah he goes tuh sleep, she wan's tuh keep 'im asleep. She kin take a plate an' a knife an' fork, an' put it undah de head of dat bed right dere. De knife an' fork cross- ed in de plate undah de head of de bed. She kin put a candle undah de foot of dat bed an' light it, an' take her shimmy or 'er petticoat or somepin lak dat, an' hang it right up ovah 'is face - say prob'ly eight or ten inches from 'is face. An' he'll be sleepin' right dere when she come back home an' wake him up. He won' even wake up while she's gone. She be gone all day an' he'll sleep all day.
(She puts the candle on the foot of the bed?)
Yes, sir, puts de candle right on de foot. Yes, sir, he'll sleep.
(A candle of any particular color or just any kind of candle?)
Oh, jis' git dese big white - two for a nickel candles. [This was back in 1937 during the Great Depression!] Go dere an' buy a candle.
(All right, I see.)
See, she's going tuh make it back dere befo' dat candle goes out.
(I see.)
NOW, DIS IS BY EXPERIENCE. I SAW MAH BROTHAH'S WIFE DO DIS. See. An' she tol' me, say, "Brothah, he don' wan' me tuh go up tuh 'is mothah, " she say, "an' ah'm goin' an' ah know whut tuh do tuh keep 'im asleep." I SAY, "WELL, DO ANY- THIN' YO' WANTA DO ONLY DON'T KILL 'IM." An' ah sits dere an' looked at 'er do dis an' ah walked out an' set on dose row boats right ovah dere across de river in Bellpoint 'till she come back. An' when she come back, I come on ovah dere an' meet 'er an' went in de house, an' de candle done burned down about dat much [demonstrates]. An' he jis' alayin' dere dead to de world. An' she did all dem thin's.
(What did you say? Bell - where is that?)
Bellpoint. It's a li'le small town jis' across de rivah.
(Over in Louisiana?)
Yes, sir - tothah [the other] end of de bridge.
(I see.)
Entry 7171
Yo' take three matches an' cross 'em undah 'is haid - right up undah 'is haid. He'll sleep right dere until she come back an' move dose matches.
Entry 7176
Yo' know de time de snake's sheddin', yo' know, well yo' kin take an' use his shed an' grind it up into powdahs - right fine powdah-lak dust an' sprinkle it roun' in yore hat. He'll jis' make yo' sleep all de time.
Entry 7177
A man say, fo' an' instan', if he got a wife an' he wan'a go out at night an' wan'a keep 'er home. Well, say fo' instan', if de night is real hot, she will perspire. Ah do dis now mahself. Well, ah tell yo' jis' lak yo' come tuh me dis way. Well, all right. Yo' go home now an' sleep wit chore wife, sleep on one side of de baid. Now, heah's whut chew wan' do in case if yo' wan' chure wife tuh stay home at night. Like yo' wan'a go out an' have a nice time or go out wit some othah woman, maybe. In othah words, yo' won wanta hurt 'er or anythin' but chew goin' out. All right. Well, now, yo' let 'er sleep on one side of de baid fo' three nights an' be shore she slept dere long enough so dat puspire [perspiration] would go through de mattress. In othah words, her scent go through de mattress an' git into de cotton. Well, natchly [naturally], yo' know, she git up an' yo' tell 'er tuh go fix breakfas' - anythin', jis' tuh git 'er out de room fo' a short uhile. An' when she do dat yo' git a small 'mount of de cotton - not a big piece, jis' a small 'mount.
(How do you get that?)
Well, YO' JIS' SPLIT DE MATTRESS, an' yo' jis' take yore fingahnail an' jis' do lak dat on de mattress. Quite natchel [natural] de lint'll come up jis' fas' as yo' do dat. Well, when it come up lak dat, yo' jis' git a small 'mount of it. In othah words, sompin 'bout lak dat. Den yo' brings it tuh yo' place, den yo' puts it in a piece of wool cloth, see. An' aftah yo' put it in a piece of wool, sew it up, an' go up undah de house in de same direction where she sleeps an' bury it. In case, maybe, it's a house dat a li'le on de ground, sometimes - say fo' instan' lak she sleeps heah [in house where we were sitting], yo' can't git up undah heah. Well, yo' kin git roun' de house on dat side dere, an' put it on dat side tuh de restin' of 'er haid. Maybe she sleep tuh both end, but one end of de baid she sleep tuh mo' den de othah one. Put it tuh dat end. An' den she'll continue tuh stay home until yo' come back. An' de minute yo' git in de bed she wakes up. Long as yo' stay out she'll always sleep. (In other words, all you have to do is to get some of this cotton out of the mattress and bury it under the house, under where she sleeps, and that'll keep her asleep while you are out?) Dat's right.
Entry 7178
If she has connection wit 'im an' take her a towel - use a towel an' hang it ovah de baid an' she kin go an' he'll sleep dere till she comes back.
(But she has connection with him first though? Then she hangs that towel over his head?)
Yes.
Entry 7181
An' dey kin [go] right straight along ag'in, an' yo' kin go tuh sleep. An' yo' have any money, yo' kin go tuh sleep, an' if ah kin git tuh yo' - yo' done dead tuh de worl' when yo' drop tuh sleep. Dere's dis han' layin' on de kivah [cover], dis han' - dere's de right han' [demonstrates]. De lef han' is jis' lak dat [demonstrates]. An' yo' sleep dere till ah git anythin' dat ah want in yo' home.
(What do you do with that left hand?)
Git a basin of watah - an' yo' be sleepin' now - an' set it right side de baid an' lay yo' han' in it jis' lak dat [demonstrates] in yo' sleep, an' yo' sleep right on dere until dey git jis' whut de wants. Den when dey gits whut dey wants, dey'll make a li'le racket an' throw de watah out an' yo'll wake up. Ah knowdat, mahself.
Entry 7182
She could take her step-ins an' hang 'em up ovah de head of de bed. Wash 'em an' hang 'em up ovah de head of de bed an' put 'is han' down in a cold pan of watah. He'll sleep dere until she come back. (She must wash those things first?) No sir, jis' hang 'em. An' den she kin take her undah- Weah an' spread 'em ovah 'is face, an' put 'is han' in a cold pan of watah an' he'll tell evahthin' he done dat night.
Entry 7184
Take de watah an' sweeten it an' have salt in it an' set it by de bed, an' he'll stay asleep until yo' come back. (You put each of these in a separate thing or?) No, yo' put a little watah in a little bottle eithah a little glass an' set it undah yore bed. Dat'll keep 'im asleep.
Entry 7185
Yo' kin take yore drawahs, yore bloomahs, an' hang 'em ovah de head of de bed, an' yo' take a pint of watah an' yo set de pint of watah down tuh de foot of de bed. Den yo' kin go on out an' go anywhere yo' Wanta, an' come back in an he's still asleep, 'cuz ah've tried it.
Entry 7214
Dat whut chew call tyin' down. Dey'll wait until de man come in an' go tuh sleep, an' dey git a bran'-new ball of cot- ton yarn an' puts it on de inside of de baid, where de man gotta sleep. Why dey measure from de tip of 'is haid tuh de sole of 'is feet. Tie a knot tuh de neck, an' tie a knot tuh de waist, an' tie a knot tuh de knees, an' tie a knot tuh de ankles, an' tie one tuh de sole of yuh feet [5 knots]. An' den dey take dat an' dey care [carry] it undah de baid tuh de side dat he sleeps on an' tie it, yo' know, undah de springs wit de two ends tuhgethah double. Tie it right undah where [demonstrates]. Dis part of de body.
(Near the backside?)
Yes. Dat keeps 'im down, dat keep 'em from runnin' aroun'. [Charleston, S. Car., (514), 599:5.] [For more material by Doctor Glover, see Pp.2258-2259; No.112, P.41; No.272, P.79; and No.335, p.99.]
Entry 7253
A young boy, a young girl wus wild about 'im an' he wus crazy tuh go tuh school - he didn't caah tuh fool wit girls. Well, her people did all sech as dat [hoodoo work] an' so she slips, knowin' whut tuh git - she had some of dis snail dust, an' worm dust, an' also some ground puppy dust. [The latter is called ground puppy or mud puppy = chango or hellbender or salamander. We have here 3 dusts: snail, worm and mud puppy.] De end of dat, she, knowin' evahthin', bein' aroun' [experienced], she put a li'le [of these 3 dusts] around in de band of 'is hat. He become deaf. Den he got speechless, he couldn't talk. Den he got mindless. He had no misery nowhere but, see, jis' aroun' here [demonstrates].
(Throat.)
So he wus brought here [to New Orleans] an' de second night he wus here de lady [doctor] dat treated 'im dat day when he got here, ah helped 'er. Ah was right dere wit 'er. She sent tuh de drug store an' got a dime of castor oil, an' she got some sweet oil an' laudanum mixed. I am uncertain about laudanum, which transcriber transcribes lavender.] An' den she got pure olive oil. An' den she goes in de henhouse an' she gits a white hen turd, a dry one, an' she put dat intuh a teacup an' drew de tea out. Now, she gave 'im dis whole dime of [sweet] oil, an' as she brewed de tea, why she put nine drops of dis pure olive oil in dere an' she had 'im tuh gargle 'is throat good wit dat. She let 'im lay until 'is bowels moved, an' it moved quickly, becuz he seemed tuh be very much clogged up. An' jis' as soon as dey moved, den she gave 'im five spoonfuls of sal he- patica. An' de nex' mawnin' she goes an' gits some shame flowah. [This Shame flower, the sensitive vine or brier Schrankia Uncinata, is usually called: Shame brier, shame vine, sensitive brier, shame face, Shame Jim, or Shamin' Judy (see P.646).] She gits two of de li'le bu'bs [bulbs], yuh know. Evah heah [hear] yuh look at 'em [the plant] an' say shame, dey fold up? [I probably answered this question by shaking my head, yes or no. For saying shame to the plant or blos- som, see No.2290, p.646.] She got two of dose [bulbs]. She gits de leaf off de flag lily, one leaf, an' one peetal [petal] off de bloom. An' she makes a tea of dat an' she bathes 'is neck an' haid good wit dat. An' den, when she got through bathin' 'im wit dat, she gave 'im three aspirins. He couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't notice nuthin, but he went tuh sleep an' he slept all dat night. De nex' mawnin' we got up, we were fixin' breakfast." "Hello' [he says]. Here he comes walkin', lookin' well. She had a very purtty li'le girl dere which she Vus raisin' [bringing up] an' he looked at 'er an' smiled. Soon as she got close tuh 'im, he threw 'is han's on tuh 'im an' say, "Hey, " the firs' time he had spoken in nine months. Fo' fifteen days dat wus all she done wus tuh keep dat treatment up. His speech wus almost normal. His hearin', his sense of evah- thing wus almost normal. An' den, when she got 'im dat good, she asked me tuh tell 'er a good nerve builder to build 'im up. Ah said, "Well, give 'im Dr. Miles Nerve Medicine, an' Dr. Miles Anti-pain Cure." Ah wish yuh would see 'im today. He is a big hearty man as lives. An' he had lost 'is mind completely.
Entry 7381
Well, suppose you kill me, tisn't but one thing. But do dis now. If you kill me right now - why do you kill any person, woman or man - go to yore house an' get one shirt, or one undahshirt, or one drawers, or a pants, or a sock, anything dat chew wear [wear]. Put it undahneat' dat woman or dat man's head, an' yo' can't go anywhere. Yo'll come back. It'll be far, but yo'll come back in town.
(That's the way they catch you, if you kill somebody.)
Yes, sir, if yo' kill somebody - if yo' jes' shoot 'em, why dey can't get yo' anyway. If yo' kill somebody, yo' can't go. Yo'll go but yo' won't sleep, an' don't care where yo' sleep, yo' goin' to git so tired dat yo' come an' give yore- self up to de law. [The dead man's spirit will not let the murderer sleep. It pesters the killer until he returns and gives himself up to the law.]
Entry 7516
Dey take graveyard dirt an' put it in dey shoe an' dat will keep dem from interferin' in de family, an' it will cause dere death. Say, if yo' kill dat person yondah, well yo' bury 'em. An' ah'll go take some graveyard dirt an' sprinkle it ovah yore flo' an' put some in yore shoes, an' when yo' go out an' travel on, yo' tell it 'fore yo' know it.
(You'll find out on me that I killed that man. How would you find it out?)
By dat graveyard dirt. Yo' lay down an' go tuh sleep an' yo' know yo' did a bad crime. an' yo' - why den yo' go an' tell it. Dey go an' stick yore fingah in a pan of watah [while you are asleep] an' yo' tell evahthing about it. [Wilson, N. Car., (1474), 2654:7.] [This section contains merely a part of the many beliefs and rites in Hoodoo about death, burial and graveyard (see preceding section MURDER and everyvhere); therefore the subject matter here is not as complete as it could be. I have divided the section into three subsections, the first two concerned with grave- yard dirt: (1) HOW TO OBTAIN GRAVEYARD DIRT, and (2) WHAT TO DO WITH GRAVEYARD DIRT; and (3) COFFINS REAL OR MOCK - PHOTOGRAPH AND COFFIN - DOLL BABY - ANIMAL SUBSTITUTE - BONES FROM THE DEAD. This latter subsection (3) will be given in lettered subsubsections as we reach them.] [Graveyard dirt or dust, the most deadly and feared hoodoo substance, is act- ivated by the spirit of a dead person - a dangerous power to handle. An amateur would be wise to leave graveyard dirt in the hands of an expert, but if he or she desires a do-it-yourself experience or wants to avoid professional expense, here are the rules and procedures to be observed, beginning with a few words about the spirit itself.] [The Spirit in Graveyard Dirt is the same spirit we met at the beginning of Hoodoo (vol.1, Pp.19-164) and elsewhere in the text. Beliefs and rites in this subsubsection reestablish former atmosphere:]
Entry 7518
An' dey put it in yore bed.
(This graveyard dirt?)
Yes sir, eithah sprinkle it aroun' yore house or anything like dat. (Well, what do they put it in the bed for? What will that do if they put it in the bed?) Well, yo' see, de dead would come where de dust is. Dat'll harm. Yo' see, yo' can't sleep at night. Take it - an' de bed will 'come [become] de way de dust is, if it wus somebody who wus evil, becuz dey done me like dat.
Entry 7529
[Not so well known as the violent side of graveyard dirt is its cause of sleep. What could be more logical, the word cemetery itself means sleeping place? Unfortunately this quieter aspect of graveyard dirt has fewer examples: a thief with straw blowing graveyard dust through keyhole to keep his victim in house asleep; and chicken thief scattering graveyard dirt to put watchdog asleep, even chickens asleep! Here is another one: Someone put graveyard dirt in a mon's hat and every time he sat down he went to sleep! Short story. This was a short story I read on the Richmond cylinders but did not transcribe. Further I probably on the cylinder-space tab drew an X indicating to transcriber not to transcribe. My original notation in pencil is attached as given above except for the reference: Richmond, Va., (402), 350:5+85.]
Entry 7530
Dey use it fo' puttin' a person tuh sleep. If yo' wanta keep 'em sleepin' all de time, yo' go tuh de graveyard an' yo' git some of dat dirt an' yo' put dat in watah or anythin' tuh drink, wine or anything, an' dey drink dat. Well, den dey jes' have a sleepin' disease. Dey sleep all de time an' dey nevah kin keep dey eyes open. [Algiers, La., (1575), 2898:11.] [The following list of grave types from which to obtain dirt is rather long but surely incomplete. I neither made an effort to complete it, nor could I spend time searching for further examples printed in the preceding volumes. The Index will accomplish that task I hope. For an important grave not mentioned among those that follow, a drunkard's grave, see No.1929, p.566.]
Entry 7731
Dey put de li'le bag - yo' sleep in anywhere - in yo' baid in yo' mat- tress, anything. Dey'll slip dat graveyard dirt in it an' put it in de mattress, sew it up intuh de mattress. An' if dey wanta run yo' outa town, run yo' away from dere, den yo'll leave dere, if yo' sleep in dat baid.
Entry 7736
Put dat grave- yard dirt undah yore steps an' up undah yore house right back tuh where it turn. Sprinkle it from de foot right straight 'cross tuh de haid. Dey couldn't rest fo' nuthin. Dey cain't sleep.
(Where do they sprinkle that?)
Undah de house...
[I turn off machine too quick and must repeat informant's words.]
(Under the bed from the foot to the head and you couldn't sleep fo' nuthin.)
Entry 8208
(To make the man come back?)
Well, if yo' have his photograph, yo' kin bring 'im back. Well, yo' kin take his photograph an' sleep wit it an' use dat photograph upside down, see. An' EVAH NIGHT AT TWELVE A'CLOCK CALL "IM DE SAME AS HE WUS DERE. Jis' don' tell 'im anything, but continue callin' 'im. WHEREVAH HE AT, AT DAT PAHTIC'LAH TIME OF DE NIGHT, HE'LL GIT UPSETTED, AN' WHICH AN' WHILE [uSua11y Which and why] DE SPIRIT WILL BRING 'IS MIND ON HOME, AN' HE WILL COME HOME.
(Where do you keep that photograph?)
Well, yo' kin keep it - jis' say fo' a' instan' [instance] if ah want chew tuh do it. See, YO' BRING ME DE PHOTOGRAPH AN' AH'LL DO DE WORK, See. But quite natchly [naturally] if he come tuh Savannah yo' goin' tuh see 'im, see.
Entry 8462
Ah kin give yuh two practices on dat. Now, dey kin take yure photo- graph, yo' know, what yo' have already gotten yureself, since dat's yo'. Write chure name at de bottom first, write chure name on de top an' tote chew right down tuh any stream of watah dat goes up an' down [tide- water stream], you git tuh a piece of wood [= woods, collection of trees] where dere a tree what de watah comes up on. Yo' know, as it comin' up it looks lak dat [water covers a part of the tree trunk].
(As the tide comes up?)
Dat's right. Turn de haid right down an' take a rusty nail an' nail it right in dere. Don't drive de nail haid in, don't drive de haid in. Jis' drive it enough tuh hold it. Evah time when de tide comes up, why yo' know yo' will jis' be all crazy, evahthing looks funny tuh yuh. An' when de tide's goin' out, why yo'll jis' set in one place - lie down in one place an' sleep all de time. Sleep comes ovah yuh jis' lak dat.
Entry 8469
(Now wait a minute! That's the photograph. What do they do that for?) Well, they do that, they say to keep the ole man or make him come back home. (First they do what with it?) Put it ovah a glass of whis- key an' they lay that ovah there - the photograph ovah that an' then they let it stay ovah there a day an' a night, an' then after that they take it off an' put it on the backside of their bed where they sleep, stand it up on the head - like that.
(That's to bring him back.)
Entry 8762
Ah tell whut chew kin do, if yo's outa yore home right now an' ah Wanted yo' tuh come back heah in yore home. Ah don't think yo're treated right, dat somebody has runned yo away. Ah'm goin' write chure name on a tin plate an' mah name, but me an' yo'd be good friends an' bring yo' back in dis home. An' turn dat new tin- plate an' write chure name in it an' den dere's a brass thimble an' three teaspoons. [The name is written on and the thimble and 3 teaspoons are in the right-side-up plate.] An' turn dat plate an' turn it fo' nine mawnin's - turn it roun' nine times fo' nine mawnin's. An' sleep wit it up undah de head of yore bed. He'll come back home. [The right- side-up plate is turned on its bottom and probably turned anti-clockwise, revers- ing time to bring man home.]
Entry 8819
Cut de cornahs off of it, all fo' cornahs off of it, an' yo' kin do somepin wit 'em dataway. Well, yo' kin take 'em jes' lak anybody writin' yo' a love lettah. Jes' lak yo' git a lettah - jes' lak ah got a fren' boy [boy friend] an' he got anothah fren' girl [girl friend]. Well, jes' lak he goin' wit her an' goin' wit me but ah don't know nuthin 'bout it. Well, suppose she goin' write 'im a lettah. Well, if ah happen tuh git de lettah an' read it, an' don't lak whut she say on it, don't even know he wuz goin' wit 'er, well ah take dat lettah an' burn all fo' cornahs. All fo' cornahs off dat lettah an' singe it wit chure hair. Yo' know, not [don't singe it] on yore haid, but yo' singe it wit dat, an' wrap it up an' sleep wit it evah night. An' dat'll soon make 'i an' dis girl break up. Yeah, jes' lak yo' take a match an' jes' stick a fire tuh de hair an' singe it an' burn all fo' cornahs off it, de lettah, an' den yo' seal dis hair up in de lettah. An' yo' take it an' put it undah yore pillah an' sleep wit it undah dere evah night. An' dat'll make him an' dis girl soon break up. (You take some of your own hair an' burn this hair over that letter and let this dust fall on that letter. Then you fold that dust in that letter and sleep on it?) Yes.
Entry 9058
Well, anybody in jail git dat graveyard dirt an' a red onion, an' let dem sleep wit it undah dere haid dat night. Nex'l mawnin' turn dere clothes wrongsides out an' put it on, an' put dat graveyard dust in dey shoe. An' dey come cleah. Dey can't fine 'em, don't care whut dey do. It's de spirits [in the graveyard dirt] is worryin' de judge.
(Now, that night, you put that graveyard dirt under you in something?)
Yo' puts dat onion - undahstand, sleep dat night in de jailhouse. Yo' git up an' turn yore clothes wrongside outahs [outwards] an' pin dat onion on yo', an' sprinkle dat graveyard dust in shoe. Undahstan'? An' dey can't try yo' cuz de daid folks is worryin' 'em.
Entry 10213
She kin measure him if she wanta with a string or with ribbon when he goes tuh sleep. She kin tie that roun' her laig or she kin put it in her pocketbook or in her pillow an' she kin control him, but that will lead to accidents in de long run. He'll hurt her.
Entry 10228
Jes' him an' her could mate together. She would take de dishrag an' give it to him an' let him use it, an' take it an' put it in de middle of her mattress an' sleep on it ever' night. Dat will keep him from messin' wit any othah woman.
Entry 10421
Well, it supposed to be nuthin but a hag ride chew. Jes' lak yo' can't sleep at night, yo' know. See, de hag jump on yo' an' will ride yo' an can't rest. If yo' gits up in de night an' put de broom, a straw broom, across de path right wheresomevah dey supposed tuh come in an' in de mawnin' when yo' go by dere, yo' be done caught de witch. It'll be nuthin but a ball of jelly dat look lak de watah [gummy sap] out of a peach tree.
(You said you put the cap what?)
Put a cap ovah de do' [the knob of door with man's cap over the keyhole]. [Straw broom for sweeping floor, has long wooden handle; hand broom is made of small twigs or long grass doubled together and tied at bend for a handle.]
Entry 11059
De chicken stuff from a chicken an' rub it in de top of his head when he's asleep, an' all his teeth will rotten out.
Entry 11071
Dey say if a man's runnin' round - jest lak ah'm got a husband an mah husband would be runnin' with a other lady, an' ah want 'im to break off. Ah could take a garment dat he wear next to him. Let it be dirty, have his scent in it, an' sleep on it every night. Put it between mah sheet an' de mattress an' sleep on it every night, an' dat'll make him stay home. Ah have tried dat an' dat worked.
Entry 11851
Ah has a comb heah [she shows me the comb]. Ah has a man an' been livin' with him a long time, an' if he don't treat me right, ah takes dis comb. Dis 'lectricity comb wuz given tuh me. Now ah show yo' 'bout dis comb. Ah combs his hair on de left side of his haid wit dis comb an' any [hair] come from dis comb, ah gits it out. Well, ah wrap dis up in a thin piece of cloth an' ah keeps it. An' ah sleeps wit it undah mah haid for nine mawnin's an' dat will make him come up close an' love me mo'. Now, 'cause befo' ah got dis comb ah couldn't do nuthin with him. Every nine mawnin's ah comb his haid. Now sometimes he comes in a hurry, but yet an' still when he stays all night an' he sleeps in mah bed all night, then ah gits up de nex' mawn- in' an' combs his hair, see, wit dis comb, anyway fo' nine mawnin's, but ah combs dis side of his haid [demonstrates] mo' so den ah do's dis side. But ah always comb de left side.
(Then you keep this hair in a thin cloth in your bed?)
Yessuh, in mah bed undah mah pillah.
Entry 12122
Sleep with the bow from a man's hat under your head 9 nights "to win you a boy friend." [Wilmington 194:3+85.]
Entry 12421
He lay down in de bed - jes' like he lay down. Now, you go right dere when he's sleeping. Git a little cord, new cord, and if he stiff and hard [if his body is stretched out] you kin measure, you know, right straight on down to yore [his] feet.
(From your head to your feet.)
Yes sir, and then you put nine knots in it, see, an' tie 'em around yore Waist - jes' like you'd lock a person's trunk, dey can't git out - can't gc no more, can't go.
Entry 12422
If yore husban' is runnin' aroun' an' yo' want him tuh stay at home, yo' ketch him 'sleep an' yo' git chew some tape, dis white tape whut de lady- folks trim dey dress wit. Yo' git chew some of dat an' yo' ketch him asleep an' yo' measure him, long enough, an' have de string kinda long enough dat chew kin make nine knots in it, aftah yo' measure him. An' yo' take dat tape an' yo' tie it to any tree. Jes' tie it up on any tree, an' he'll stay home. He won't go out nowhere an' run aroun'.
(Any tree outside the house?)
Any tree outside of a house or in de yard or anywhere, jes' any one any- where yo' kin find one. Jes' take it an' tie it up to it an' leave it stay dere.
Entry 9055
Yo' take de vine, de bramboo vine.
(Is that like a fishing pole?)
[I am asking, is that a bamboo?)
Yes, but it's got thorns on it, bramble vine, an' de devil horseshoe string [devil's-shoestring]. An' take dem two pieces an' put it in a glass, an' put three spoonsful of salt in dere wit it, an' a few reesins [raisins] whut growed on de vine - like yo' buy 'em out de store on a vine [unstemmed raisins]. An' put 'em in dat glass 'bout fulla watah an' put it undah yore baid an' sleep ovah it. Den git up de nex' mawnin' an' take, throw de watah out de sunrise, an' take reesins out an' cast some of dem on yuh an' take de othahs an' de two roots an' carry 'em to de graveyard an' bury 'em. An' dey tell me dat dey won't git a trial an' dey turn 'em loose free. (What are the names of these two roots now that you put in there?) [Machine stopped too soon for answer already given.]
Entry 12984
If he is sleeping, just take his left-foot shoe and turn it down under the bed, right under him where he is sleeping. Or she can pull off an underpiece of hers and hang it up on the bed over his head and he won't wake up. [New Orleans, 1347:10, a widely known rite and other examples in HOODOO.]
Entry 4278
Put soda in it. (Put soda in the chamber lye?) Yes sir, put soda in it. Jis' lak if yuh wuz layin' down tuh sleep, or me, an' when we git up through de night, someone ease [into] our room an' git dat stuff an' bottle it up an' put some soda or somepin in it an' dey bury it. An' de nex' time yuh git ready tuh do dat, it will stop on yuh an' give yuh pain.
(You mean some man or woman will get it?)
No, de man kin be alone.
(Or the woman alone.)
Yes.
(They only do this with your own chamber lye?)
Yes. (They put the soda or something in it and then they bury this.)
Entry 13254
You kin take gunpowder and sulphur, and if you kin get close enough to dem when dey go to sleep or lay down - yo' know where de' goin' to lay down - take and dust it. See, jis like de shett up, and dust de mattress and put it back where de' sleep - goin' lay down over it. And dat thing get in dere bones, see, and dey won't live 6 months.
Entry 13433
Take a glass wit some watah in it an' yore wife is sleepin'. Jes' stick her finger down in it an' she tell yo' everything, every place she been, she'll tell yo'. But chew can't keep it too long, 'cause she'll die. (Why would she die if you keep it too long?) Ah don't know. Dat take her nerve or take her breath away, but long as she sleepin' yo' kin go dere. But if yo' ain't [careful] when yo' git it from her, she liable tuh go off [die].
Entry 505
You buy yo' five cents worth of [corn] meal an' you go to yo' bed an' you sweep de floor clean an' take dat meal an' set it right down by yo' bed on each side. Well, now he got'a count ev'ry nine grains of that thing, ev'ry nine piece of it. In which you got'a go to work an' - [unless you set the witch this counting task] your blood, you get strangulation an' yo' can't speak, yo' Rin not say nothin'. [But] when dem nine grain dere - all dat meal down - counted it, all dem grains - [the witch] can't [do] nothin' - [from] de time yo' go to sleep ain't nothin' harm yo' till yo' wake up. [Charleston, S. Car., (525), 630:8.] [This witch in hag form is quite simple-minded, able to count only to nine - the reason why he must separate thousands of corn-meal grains into little piles of nine. Such a primitive system of counting he had inherited from his witch ancestors. Witches are most conservative. Using the four fingers of his left hand - a witch would never start with the right hand - he presses each in turn against his left thumb; then he presses the four fingers and thumb of the right hand against the left thumb. The total is nine - a magic number. Yes, he forgot to count his left thumb! Actually, the left thumb of a right-handed person was useless until late in civilization when an unknown genius gave us one of the greatest of all inventions, a concept of vast importance - he called the left thumb zero. The decimal system was born.]
The informant claims freedom from harm between sleep and waking; the counting explanation is separate editorial commentary.