Subject:Speaking
Entries
Entry 4674
Yuh could use yore chamber lye an' dat'll cause 'im tuh love yuh. Take yuh chamber lye befo' yuh speak tuh anyone early in de mawnin' an' yuh dampen dat little bow an' wear it. Wear it in yore right-foot shoe. Dat will cause de man tuh love yuh.
Entry 4919
If a woman's hus- ban' is gone an' she kin git any of 'is socks dat he wore 'fo' he left dere, she jis' go an' git one of 'er own stockin's, an' she bury dem tuh de sunrise side of 'er house. An' three mawnin's aftah she bury dat - don' bury it any deepah den dat [demonstrates].
(About as deep as your hand.)
Fo' three mawnin's take her night pot - don't let nobody use it but her. She pass dat watah [urinates] when she git up in mawnin' 'bore she speak tuh anybody. An' she take dat pot an' she set it aside until she go out [the door], undah- stan', an' empty dat pot on dat place dose mawnin's, an' he go back [returns] in several days. (She takes one of her stockings and one of his socks, either one of them, and just buries them together. That will bring him back?) Yes. She use dat pot three mawnin's 'fore she begin tuh eat.
(She must be fasting?)
Yes. (Then she will take the chamber lye and sprinkle it on this place three morn- ings?) Yes.
Entry 5644
Take de foot tracks out from behin' somebody as dey be walkin' along, don' let 'em see yo'.
(Foot tracks?)
Both tracks, dat he [you] wanted to run away. An' take it to de rivah an' de early part of de mawnin', when yo' firs' wake up befo' yo' speak to anybody an' throw it in de rivah ovah yore lef' shoul- dah. An' walk away an' nevah look back at it an' dat'll run 'im away.
Entry 5646
Dey kin go an' see yore track an' begin at de toe an' pick it up completely to de heel, right undah de middle. Don't let any of it fall off, evah bit of it. An' put it in a silk piece of cloth, a piece of silk ole or new. Don't make [no difference] jis' so long as it's silk. An' go to de rivah, drop in de middle of dat rivah. Don't say a word but jis' make yore wish, jis' like yo' say, "Go, yo' devil! Yo' go!" Turn yore back de moment yo' drop it an' don't look back. Come on away an' dey'll go.
Entry 5731
They take the right footprint and take this and wrap that in a rag. And put High John de Conquer and Adam-and-Eve, and they said a eagle's feather, and put that in a [the same] rag. And cut a hole with a auger in a green tree and put that in there. And strike nine licks on the stopper that chew put in there for nine days. And you do that in the morning before sunrise and then do it before you speak to anybody in the moring. That will put the person in a lingering condition and will finally die.
Entry 6375
If she wanta take him from 'is wife. Yo' see, he's got a wife an' she wanta take him. An' 'cordin' to dat, well, he'll go an' stay wit 'er all night. Well, while he's dere, she'll cut some hair out of 'is haid, see. She'll take dat hair out an' put it intuh a quart bottle an' good whiskey on it, an' put bluestone an' lodestone in dere. An' befo' she'll speak to anybody, she'll git up evah mawnin' fo' nine straight mawnin's an' shake dat up. An' at de end of de ninth mawnin' when she shake it up, dat hair will bejes' as black as a coal in dat bottle. An' dat man will walk right out of de house an walk ovah dere tuh her, an' 'is wife won' say an'thin' tuh him.
(That takes this man away from his wife?)
Yessuh. [Memphis, Tenn., (1530), 2736:4.] [These three parts of the human body appear separately, joined with one or the other, or all together, or in various combinations with various substances. About one-third of them concern food and drink. As always in these sections of special material, not all rites are here. Others will be found elsewhere, espe- cially in INTERVIEWS.]
Entry 7417
Jes' lak if a person git killed out dere. Well, dat person be yore frien' or prob'ly yore brothah or some of yore folks, but anyway he got killed an' nobody knows how it done it. All right, yo' goes dere where he would lingah at, jes' lak yo' fin' 'im daid. Dere could be a multitude [do it], could be dat, or de othah one do it. Yo' goes right dere where dey fin' 'im at, an' make two cross marks [demonstrates]: one lak dat, one lak dat, an' one lak dat, an' den cross 'em, an' right in de centah of dat middle one, yo' take yo' a pin - jes' a ord'nary pin. Yo' know, jes' a straight pin an jes' drive it right down in de middle of dat mark, right dere, press it right down in it lak dat. An' whensomevah yo' press dat pin down in dere, see, yo backs out from dat mark an' don't chew say a word to nobody. Don' care who come 'long dere an' say sompin to yo', don't chew say nary [not even] a good [morning]. Back nine steps from dere, an' in less time den nine days dey goin' come an' give up, whosomevah i'tis [it is]. Even [if] it be his own brothah.
[The pin is driven down in center of square of the tick-tack-toe design.]
(This cross is made like this [I demonstrate], something like that. There are two lines like that and two lines crossing it?)
[I drew a tick-tack-toe as follows: #.]
Dat's right. No, dere's one dere an' one dere - dere, jes' lak dat. Den yo' make two crosses dere jes' lak dat, in dat one right dere. An' right in de cen- tah of dat one, yo' put dis.
(The cross you make is like playing tick-tack-toe?)
[Here is the special double-double cross #.]
Dat's right.
Entry 8331
Den yo' kin take - if he's 'way from yo' an' yo' worried, mad becuz he's gone - yo' kin take his pichure or her's an' go tuh a tree, an' put it on de side dat de sun rises on. Well, yo' gits up early in de mawnin' 'bout six 'clock or six-thirty an' don' say a word tuh anyone. Well, yo' goes out dere den an' yo' hit dis heah pichure, drive a nail through dat in de heart, an' yo' hit it right on dere. Well, now yo' hit it fo' nine mawnin's an' in nine mawnin's yo'll die.
Entry 9527
Why, if yo' is gone away from yuh wife an' [often equals Or] she gone away from yo', why yo' kin git up soon in de mawnin', mos' any mawnin'. Don't speak tuh anyone. An' jes' go back dere an' git salt - a box. Git some salt an' call 'er name fer three mawnin's. De foth mawnin', if she is a li'le mind of it, [if she has the slightest intention of returningl, she comin' back.
(What do you do with that salt?)
Take dat salt an' throw it de way she went.
Entry 10632
I've heard them claim that if you chew a certain root, that root is Ωlligator root, and also High John the Conquer, they claim, and chew that root and spit nine times before leaving the home, and nine time before you get to the place, and nine times after you reach the place, without speaking to anybody each time, and by doing that and just use the words, I want a job - you say that [these words] to yourself - that the individual will get a job. That's what they claim. {Alligator root here may be the root of the alligator tree, given to a sweet gum tree because its rough bark is supposed to look like alligator hide; or this may be any root, a rare one, faintly resembling an alligator. The shape of roots years ago, before my collecting days, played an important part in a doctor's pharmacopoeia.]
Entry 10697
Yo' go to a fortuneteller or Hoodoo and pay them a certain amount of money to have what is known as good luck to follow your home while you are gone. And it is said that she would tell you for this amount [of money given to her] to buy de Bible and not open it. Open it in de house [itself] and find de 17 division of Psalms, Psalms of David, [close Bible] and walk in yore garden and git as near de center as possible [here is a quincunx rite!] not yet opening Bible. And turn yore face as near towards de east as possible, and valk 17 steps and stop, and read de 17 division of de Psalms, and den close de book. And no harm will befall yore home or nuthin will happen to yore wife. (This is to sort of to protect your family; especially if a man is going away from home?) Yes, that's on leaving home. The same thing holds good, de wuman tole me, if a man's wife leaves him and he wants her to return.
Entry 10739
Whut dis man did, dat wuz down in South Ca'lina, he wuz goin' wit a girl, yo' know. Well, she say she's a big shot. Ah goes wit anybady ah worta, nobody kin hurt me. Ah qoes wit de man. Well, so - she wus purty good. She went every time. So dis man got mad one day, he says, Well, de bettah ah do, de worsah she gits tuh me. So ah think ah'm goin' do sompin. So he goes off tuh a ole woman. She wus about ninety yeahs ole. So he went tuh huh an' said, Well, now, mah ole woman don't treat me lak she used tuh an' ah wants sompin done. Okay. Says, Well, Zisten. Ah tell yo' whut chew do. Yo' go back an' de end of de mont', yo' bring me a lil' somepin of huhs in a bottle, 'cause yo' have tuh bring it in somepin lak dat; jes' a drop of two, but if yo' kin, try tuh git me nine drops. Okay, ah'Zl do dat. So sho' 'nuff, she wus nice 'nuff, watched huh yo' know, when she went tuh use de chambah. He wuz smart enuff tuh git it out of de chambah. So he got it. So he take dat an' he put, added cologne - two kinds. It wuz Lily of de Valley - an' Hearts Cologne. She mixed dat tuhgethah wit it, huh ministrate [menstrual blood] an' put it back in dis same bottle - mixed it tuhgethah yo' know. An' tole him tuh take dat an' keep it an' tote it, an' dress hisself wit it fo' three days, straight mawnin's, an' he'd speak tuh it: Name of de Fathah, Name of de Son, dis woman will always be mine an' nobody else's. He didn't have no mo' trouble wit huh.
Entry 12751
Well de first thing would be if yo' wanted a job. An' dat go fo' a job, a favor or money or anything. Dat chew would git chew some of dis root whut de' [they] call rat- tlesnake marster, an' spice. An' yo' take dat root an' yo' chew dat rat- tlesnake marster, but chew have [hold] de spice in yore mouth. An' yo' spit dat when yo' speakin' tuh him. "Fore yo' consult him yo' spit from him an' nevah spit tuh him. Den he cannot turn yo' down even [whether] it's money or job or whut. If he don't place yo den, he will place yo' [later], but don't nevah spit, jes' spit tuh him but [when] chew spit jes' turn away from him, turn yore haid from him an' spit.