Subject:Steel
Entries
Entry 2314
For luck in gambling you get you some lodestone, you get you some steel dust, and you mix it together and you get you some paradise seeds, and you put all that together in a flannel bag and you sew it up. It's a bag about that size. And after you sew it up in that flannel bag, you take it and you put it down in a saucer - a round saucer and you pour some whiskey - or either good gin on it. You see, you gotta pour that on it. That's to season [feed] it. And you sprinkle a little steel dust on it - you see, that's to season it, and that is supposed to give you luck in gambling. You see, the steel dust supposed to draw and the lodestone. The paradise seeds - well, they include help to make it a success. I got lots of that stuff.
Entry 2315
De graveyard dirt by itself is not no good, but it's a certain time yo' gotta go git de graveyard, de dirt from de graveyard. One minute aftah twelve yo' supposed tuh be dere tuh git it from a fren' dat yo' an' him been long nice good - yo' an' him been good, see jes' lak a fren'. Yo' swap money wit him - could handle money wit him or somepin lak dat. One minute aftah twelve on de dot, yo call him by dey name when yo' go down dere by de graveyard, one minute aftah twelve. Say, "Joe, Jim, '' say, "come heah, ah want some luck from yo'. Ah wanta git a little de dirt." An' don't git de dirt right off de top of de groun'. Git it from as close by de casket [coffin], if de casket ain't rotted up, but it's bettah if yo' could git it right out it if de casket done been long 'nuff fo' it tuh done rotten. An' yo' take it an' mix it wit steel dust an' take yo' a silver dime - dat graveyard dust, de silver dime an' take yo' a piece of red flannen, an' git chew some oil of cinnamon an' mix wit dat an' make yo' a little bag an' wear it on yore left side. Dat's luck. Put de steel dust down in dere wit de silver dime, put it down in dere wit it an' wear dat on yore left side. Dat's luck fo' gamblin'. Success. But it's dangerous! Lightnin'! De dust, it draws. De steel dust is de same as lodestone, yo' know, it's always dangerous. Be sho' tuh take it off yo' in de case of thunder or lightnin' storm. Yo' should take it off yo'.
Entry 3276
I know anothah remedy, would stop 'im. I'll take a knife or fork an' go to bed an' he'll tell me, he say, "Come on, let's give a piece." But I say, "I don't feel lak it." I feel bad or somepin. He'll start to fussin'. I'll get up an' I go get me a fork dat yo' eat wit. I take dat fork an' I place it right back here in my back, an I lay down on it. When he get ready to go wit me, when he get right dere, he gona fall - fall. Dat fork, de way I've got dat fork, I've got dat fork stickin' de point towards mah head. But I'm layin' down right here - yo' see, right in dere [demonstrates].
(In the hollow of your back?)
In de hollah of mah back. So, he can't raise no heart. He'll have one when he git ready to go dere, but he won't - he can't put it in, he'll go fall evah time.
Entry 3864
Well, ah heard dat dey kin take - lak a man wants tuh do sompin wit a woman - he kin take a woman sanitaries an' put it into a black bottle an' bury it an' kill de woman. (He would take the sanitary piece from her and put it in this black bottle and stop it up and bury it and it would kill her.) Put devil vinegah wit it an' some cinnamon an' some steel dust [3 ingredients].
[For black bottle see BLACK BoTTLE, p.523.]
Entry 4354
Oh! a person kin do a lot wit dat.
(Well, what for example? One thing.)
One thing, yuh kin take dat.
(This chamber lye.)
Put it in a bottle, put some lodestone in it, steel dust, nine pins an' nine needles. Turn it upside down in yuh home. Dat would make a man stay. Yuh kin take it an' do dat wit it. If yuh want tuh harm 'em, yo' take dere pee an' stop it up in bottle wit a new stopper an' bury it: Bury it where dere's no watah, an' when dat bottle busts, dey will die. But if yuh jis' wants 'em, have dem beggered an' be wit yuh, put it undah de hydrant [considered run- ning water] where it's cool, dat watah, an' dat bottle will nevah - nevah bust, cuz de watah, it won't sour. It'll keep it cool. But yuh see, dat stuff, well hit gits strong in a bottle somewhere up in a warm place. Yuh know yuhself it will bust. Well, when it busts, dat's de last of a person.
Entry 4913
De woman's stockin's, put 'em up ovah de sill of de do'. An' dat steel dust, as yuh call it, put it up dere wit cayenne peppah wit it, in a bottle, stoppin' it tight. Write her name in it an' dat run 'er stone crazy. Dat give mah mamma de haidache so, she didn't know her haid from her arm or 'er feets.
Entry 4972
If he is away from yuh, if yuh wan' 'im tuh stay wit yuh, yuh take it an' yuh git cheh some steel dust - dat's drawin' - an' lodestone, dat's drawin'. Yuh put it in 'is sock. Yuh take dat sock jis' lak dat goin' in. (Going into the house.) Intuh de house. Yuh put it down in de groun' an' yuh bury it wit de feet goin' in. He cain't stay away from dat house.
(I see. You take the left.)
[Left is nowhere mentioned. Informant may be repeating story and assumes I know which sock; or after story completed I may have turned off machine and then asked left or right before restarting machine in time to catch the answer.]
Entry 5025
Yuh kin take his name an' yore name tuhgethah. Dat's to keep 'im wit yuh right on. Yuh write his name on some brown papah lak dat brown wrappin' papah. Yuh write his name on [with] indelicate [indelible] pencil - new indelicate pencil. An' yuh put it [name] between 'is socks an' yuh sew it up wit No.8 black thread - de man's dirty socks. Yuh take dat brown papah an' yuh cut it jis' lak seat [bottom or sole] of dat sock. Yuh write his name on dat paper [cut in the shape of a sole]. Yuh write jore name on dat nine times, but joo write yore name on top of 'is fer nine times. Yuh put it between dem socks. Yuh sew dat up wit No.8 black thread. Yuh take drawin' powdah, yuh take steel dust, an' roll it up through dem socks; an' put it [socks] in yer mattress, an' he sleeps on dat. Dat'll keep 'im from goin' away from yeh.
Entry 5404
Well, if a person wan'a harm yo' in a foot track, dey got diff'ren ways dey kin harm yo' in dat. Dey kin take fo' ninstance - dey kin take an' git eggs, dey kin harm yo' in dat. Dey kin use salt an' harm yo' in dat. (How do they harm you with the eggs with that?) All right. Dey take a egg. Dey kin take a egg an' break dat egg. Beat dat egg up - beat dat egg an' when dey beat dat egg, dey put sugah in it. Dey'd git what chew would call - de same thin' as ah jis' tole yo', spoke of; but yo' git de powdah, de war powdah. Yo' mixes dat tuhgethah, but when yo' mixes it, it will come as a paste, see. Well, yo' jis' mix dat tuhgethah an' yo' gits - lak DERE'S A DRUG STORE RIGHT HERE, A FEW BLOCKS FROM HERE, WE GOES TO. Yo' gO dere an' yo' git some of de steel dust, or else take a silvah dime an' scrape it. Yo' git de dus' off de dime. An' yo' stir dat up good, an' if yo' git dis person's tracks, yo' put jis' a li'le in each track. Well, yo' know dey's goin' tuh pass an' dey bound tuh put dere feet in it. Be sure yo' know dey goin' tuh put dere feet in it. Yo' ketch one track here an' yo' may ketch anothah one ovah dere. Yo' know some people make big steps. Yo' ketch de track an' yo' put some in dere, in each track of de party yo' doin' harm. See. An' dat be all of dat. Dere won't be nuthin done in dat - see, in tryin' tuh harm 'em.
(What will that do to a person then?)
Now, tuh keep a person from [I interrupt].
(What will that do to him if you put that in his track?)
Well, what will it do tuh yo'? Why, den it would maybe paralyze 'im, his foot. It could paralyze yo', make yo' go lame in one leg or maybe de whole side. See, if a person done harm yo'.
(I see. Then - what would they do then? Do you know how to prevent that?)
Entry 5628
Take de foot tracks up an' put dat in abottle of water, an' put some cayenne peppah an' salt an' steel dust, an' throw it inde rivah. Dat will make yo' drift. Track of de left foot.
Entry 6835
[Here is one of many examples in Hoodoo of my restarting recording machine, hoping informant will repeat the brief rite just given:] (You use that for poison?) Poison, yo' know. Yo' take gunpowdah an' steel dust an' yo' grin' dat up an' yo' take dat a sweet milk, drink it, an' whatevah inside'a yo', yo'll pass it.
Entry 6965
It's also good fo' dose evil thin's. Yo' take de silvah, any kinda silvah or steel. Yo' scrape de - yo' file it, chew know, an' yo' take dat dust an' yo' eat a li'lepincha [pinch of] it in yuh foods. Dat'll always project [eject] de evil, whutsomevah dey've did fo' yo' - tuh yo'.
Entry 7980
I've heard whut it'll do, dat little coffin. But jis' like I tellin' yo' a few minutes ago, dat stuff about makin' a little coffin. Put 'em undah de step, yo' see, wit de people's photo in dat coffin, de party. Dat why plenty people won't take dere photos yo' see. Put it in dat coffin wit some pins, some needles, yo' see, an' some steel dust and lodestone. See. An' dat draw dose people outa dat house, yo' undahstan', an' fix 'em so dey will nevah wan' tuh see one anothah no mo'.
Entry 8034
A bone from a daid pusson depends whut chew wanta use it fo'. N Now, yo' kin use a bone from a dead pusson fo' two diff'ren' thin's. Yo' kin use it - well, say three: yo' kin use it fo' gamblin', yo' kin use it fo' tuh hahm [harm] somebody or somepin of dat sort. (How do you use it for gambling?) Well, now, yo' take a bone. If yo' kin git de bone an' yo' can't beat it, if it's too hard fo' yo' tuh beat, yo' take dat bone an' yo' git chew a file an' yo' file dat bone. An' as yo' file dat bone, yo' file it intuh somepin, a clean piece of white papah where yo' kin git all dat dust yo' file [from] dat bone. When yo' git all de dust yo' want tuh, offa dis bone, yo' git chew a silvah dime an' yo' cut fo' holes - not holes, but ah mean marks in de dime, jis' lak whut is aroun' dis ole piece of ring ah got heah [shows it and demonstrates]. Yo' cut a hole dere, one dere, an' one dere, an' one dere - yo' cut fo' holes.
(Sort of a notch, like you cut a piece of pie.)
Yes, sir, a notch.
(Cut a little piece off of it.)
Yes, yo' cut fo' lak dat in dat dime an' put dat dime in dere wit dat powdah. Yo' git chew some steel dust, see. Yo' git de steel dust an' dis dime an' yo' put 'em in, an' yo' git chew three needles. Yo' take dem three needles an' yo' put 'em on a piece of flannel - red flannel. But chew put one lak dis an' one dataway. Yo' cross 'em. An' yo' put de othah one 'way up above it dataway in dis position. See? Now, yo' wrap dis needle up here, yo' wrap it ovah dis way firs'. (Now, Wait a minute. You have these two needles crossed like that [I demon- strate], and then you put one above it like that?) Yes, sir. (One - this top one is just like you're making a "T" out of it. One, this top one is up above the "x" [the two crossed needles] there.)
[These 3 needles are now folded 9 times in a complicated rite:]
One's above de othah, yo' see. Well, dat's de one yo' fold, yo' see. Yo' fole dis othah one - when yo' fole dis othah one, yo' see, it'll fole right from dere tuh dere. Yo' kin covah dese othah two needles, yo' see. Now, when yo' fole dis way, dat one fold. See, when yo' fole ovah disaway ag'in, dat two folds. Yo' foles disaway, dat's three foles. An' disaway, dat's fo' foles. Now, yo' got fo' foles dataway. Now aftah yo' fole 'em dataway, yo' take an' yo' fole it ag'in. Dat's five. An' yo' fole disaway. Dat's six. An' fole dataway. Dat's seven. An' fole disaway. Dat's eight. See? An' yuh last fole, de ninth fole, it'll be about dat big. Dat's yuh las' fold. An' yo' fole jis' lak dat. Dat be yuh las fole an' it's goin' tuh be jis' - not a bit biggah dan what de needles, de length of de needles are. See, when yo' git through foldin' dat, dat'll be de length of de needles. Yo' put dat in yuh pocket, or yuh pocketbook rathah. An' now yo' got dat in yuh pocketbook, be sure dat chew got anothah small piece of coin dat chew kin put wit dat besides dat silvah dime yo' already have. Now, if yo' got anothah silvah dime, yo' put dat in de pocketbook wit dis othah stuff dat yo' jis' finished. Yo' put dat wit dat. Now, dat steel dust an' dose two silvah dimes, an' dose needles is tuh draw money, see. Yo' kin go an' shoot dice, play cards, anythin' yo' want. Yo' needn't tuh worry. Yo' might a-go dere an' lose de firs' dollah yo' have, yo' might even lose de firs' fifteen or twenty dollahs. Don't worry about dat. Yo'll make dat back in de nex' two plays yo' make. Yo'll make double of dat, yo'll make triple of dat. Dat steel dust an' dem dimes an' de needle is done draw yuh money tuh yo'. See.
Entry 8043
Take de dead man's bone, take fo' of 'is fingahs. Yo' see, dese: one, two, three, fo' fingahs here. An' take each one of 'em j'ints. Yo' undahstand. Yo' take de end of dem fingahs, aftah all de meat's done faded offa dem.
(Either hand?)
No, no, take off de right hand.
(All right.)
Dat's 'is gamblin' hand, makes a gamblin' hand outa it. Dat's tuh make yuh win, undahstand. Dat's supposed tuh make yo' lucky, make yo' win. Take dem fo' fingahs here an' dey chip 'em right in half. When dey chip dem fo' j'ints in half, dey puts 'em intuh a li'le bag, yo' undahstand. An' put some steel dust in dere an' lode- stone an' six needles, gold-eyed needles, an' sew dat up an' give it tuh yuh. Call dat a lucky hand.
(For gambling.)
Entry 8216
Git dey pichure an' it have tuh be a whole body; jis' lak dose pi- chures dere [on the wall of interviewing room] dat girl an' one de li'le chil'- ren, jis' de whole body of a person. Well, yo take it an' it have tuh be - not no papah, see. Jis' lak dem ole common [old-time] pichure. Yo' take a tintype an' yo' take it an' put it in a saucah wit de fellah, woman, or whosomevah it is, an' yo' write it nine times, see.
(What do you write nine times?)
Well, yo' put it on a piece of papah wit ink. See, yo' put it wit ink. (You write that name nine times on a piece of paper. Now where do you put that paper?) Yes, yo' put dat papah undah de saucah, see an' den yo' put de pichure on top of de papah, an' de saucah on top of all of it, mo' tuh de groun'. Den yo' take - yo' have tuh dig de hole six feet, an' den aftah yo' do all dat yo' see, well yo put de steel dust on top of it an' de red peppah, an' all dat diff'ren kind [of things]. Jis' lak dat, yo' know, fo' tuh keep dat tuhgethah, keep de whole thing tuhgethah. Yo' put de dirt on top of it an' when de nine days out, well debody's gone. He's goin' take sick befo' den, but in de meantimes he'll disappeah.
(Why do you put that saucer on top of those things?)
Well, dat saucah, dat's fo' tuh keep it down, yo' see. Tuh keep it mo' tuh de groun'. Mos' of 'em uses Saucahs. EVAHBODY MOS'LY USES SAUCAH WHEN YO' WANTA KILL SOMEBODY IN DAT LINE. (How do you put that picture in there? Do you [I probably demonstrate] put the face up like that?) No, yo' have tuh put de face down on de name.
(And how is the name? Is that name up or is the name down?)
De name is down. De whole thing is down, de pichure, de name an' evah'thing. An' yo' turn de saucah down. All dat down tuh de ground, tuh de earth.
(And you just go out and dig a hole any place?)
Well, YO' HAVE TUH DIG IT SIX FEET. YO' CAIN'T LET NO ONE SEE YO'. ANY PLACE IN DE GROUN', BUT IT HAVE TUH BE YO' KNOW AT NIGHT. Yo' wOuldn't Want nObody [to see you].
Entry 8484
Ah say yo' could take him an' write him [his name on a piece of paper] an' put 'im in one of these black wine bottles; his name and some steel dust an' some golden powder, washing powder. Take an' throw him [bottled] in de rivah. (Any kind of washing powder in black bottle?) An' that makes 'im go on a drag. [Black bottle in New Or- leans before Prohibition] and World War I was always the French dark-green-glass wine bottle. These bot- tles, become scarce after Prohibition, introduced the dark bottle, usually a brown beer bottle. Though informant does not name the golden washing powder, I am sure the formerly well-known Gold Dust Twins was meant.]
Entry 8511
(What do you do with that graveyard dust?)
Well, yo' take graveyard dust an' put it wit - tuh break up a woman an' a man.
[Long pause by informant.]
(How would they handle that? How would they use that?)
Well, dey take de graveyard dust an' steel dust an' guinea seeds an' war wa- tah, an' put it intuh a coconut, yo' see, an' red peppah, cayenne peppah, Epsom salts an' bittah apple an' bury it. An' yo' see, dat cuz a 'sturbance. Den dey writes de man's name an' de woman's name nine times an' dat break 'em up, cuz dem tuh make terrible 'sturbance. An' dat cuz dem tuh break up, see. (Where do they bury this?) Well, dey bury it undah de porch - bury it in de ground, bury it in de ground. [For preceding guinea seeds, see long margin title GUINEA SEEDS... GRAINS OF PARADISE, p.57Of. Red pepper in present margin title could be a repetition for preceding cayenne pepper, but more likely it means a piece of hot red-pepper pod. The preceding bitter apple - also called bitter cucunber and bitter gourd - is the colocynth (Citrullis colocynthis), a Medi- terranean and African vine related to the watermelon.]
Entry 8514
(What are you going to do when you get the coconut?)
Whut chew goin' do wit de coconut? Yo' goin' empty de watah [milk or juice] out de coconut, dry it out good. See, don' leave no watah in dere, let it drain good. An' den put jis' a li'le steel dust an' a piece of lodestone, an' yo' orite dat name nine times. Write his name nine times. Take dat spool of thread, No.8 black, an' wrap dat comin' tuh yuh [saying] "Ah want chew tuh stay heah. Yo nst stay an' yo' gotta stay. Ah want chew heah." Yo' put dat intuh dat coconut an' yo' take a li'le stoppah an' yo' cut de stoppah off, an' shet dat up an' bury it undah de steps. See. (Is there any special way you must bury it under the steps?) No, yo'jis'.... Yo'see, yo' have tuh bury it up lak dat [demonstrates]. Yo' bury it up lak dat, but de coconut is in de ground. See. Now ah did dat. (What will that do then?) Well, dat brings 'is mind, makes 'im stay dere, an' him an' her been tuhgethah evah since.
Entry 8564
Git de dirt from a person foot track an' yo' could put some steel dust with, an' hair from undah yore arms, an' yo' could bury it, an' yo' could keep a person down lak that. Either yo' could make 'em travel. Yo' could take a person's foot tracks an' yo' could take de steel dust, hair from undah yore arms an' dirt from undah yore fingernails. An' yo' take dis ole [anything you measure with] yo' know de length that yo' measure. Measure it [foot track] crossway an' straight up an' down, too. An' yo' could write de name [on a piece of paper or article used for measuring] an' bury it an' yo' keep 'em down. An' yo' could take a piece of their sock with that, yo' understan'.
Entry 8592
A light, a light - she take this lamp an' she write your [a man's] name nine times, an' she take: de steel dust, dat's to draw; lodestone, dat draws; put it in dis lamp. She takes his name an' she pins it on de wick.
(On the wick of the lamp?)
Yes. After she write his name nine times, she write hers on top of his name. Always she'd be on de top (I see.) Pin that on the wick an' set this light. When she decided to set this light.... [I interrupt.] (She lights the light?) [I want to know, does set mean light the lamp.] She puts that name on there and she puts lodestone and steel dust over it right in the bottom of this light, some sugar. [To set this light means to prepare the lamp.] And she lights this light and whilst lighting it she - she light it and make the Lord's Prayer. An' say, "In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost, I want this man back to me, '' an' light it an' leave it light- ed. Don't let it go out an' he'll come back.
Entry 8630
Yo' take some de entrails out [of the lemon] yo' know whatsomevah it [inside of lemon] is [called] an' yo' take a person name. Yo' could take it three times. Yo' could write it three times or else nine, de most is nine, but yo' could take it at three. An' yo' puts anyone yo' want. Heah's anothah separation. Dere plenty ways fo' separation. 1 make 'em confuse an' angry wit anothah, tuh keep 'em apart. Well, yo' put dis down in dere, put de name down in dere. Yo' don' have tuh take ink, yo' could put ink or else a pencil lak dat ink - yo' know, indelible or any kind. An' yo' do it zactly lak ah said wit dis othah one. Put nine time or three time wit one on top each othah. Den yo' take dis steel dust an' dis pePpah, de same red peppah. RED PEPPAH IS REAL HELL. Well, yo' put dat red peppah an' salt an' all dat togethah, an' dis steel dust togethah, an' yo' take it an' put it down in dat lemon, see. An' yo' take de top of de lemon whut chew cut off an' yo' pin it togethah, see. Hit don' have tuh be six feet of dirt where yo' could make a little hole about dat deep [demonstrates].
(About a foot deep.)
Yessuh. An' yo' put it down in dere an' yo' curse it. AN' YO' HAVE TUH BE DRUNK. Yo' have tuh git drunk, an' let de evil come up, yo' undahstan', an' curse it while puttin' it in. When yo' be puttin' de dirt on be cursin' it, yo' undahstan'. Any kinda ole dirty cursin' yo' wants tuh do.
(What will that do then?)
Well, dat's separation ag'in, dat's fightin'.
(While you are doing this, you have to be drunk to do it.)
Yo' have tuh be good an' - not say good an' drunk. WHUT AH MEAN, KNOWIN' WHUT CHURE DOIN'; BUT YO' HAVE TUH HAVE PLENTY LIKKER IN YO'. An' jis' curSe it, yo' know, while puttin' it any place in de ground.
Entry 8699
[To] make them move out of that house, tell you, yo' go an' get some of that olive oil.
(Wait a minute! Olive oil?)
Olive oil, and get some of dis here steel dust. Get a fresh bottle of vinegar.
(Get a fresh bottle of vinegar.)
Yes, sir. Yo' get the neighbor's name, either one in de family name [the man's or woman's]. Take a piece of papah an' cut it off just how many letters in that name. [The name is writ- ten and then each letter of the name is clipped off as a separate slip of paper.] An' take it an' put it down in that bottle. An' after puttin' it [these slips of papers] down in the bottle, take it an' roll it on de floor. After rollin' it on de floor, yo' take dat bottle an' set it up. If yo' ever could get anywhere close to de house, yo' set. it at sunrise. An' when yo' set it there, in three days dem people goin' from there.
(They will move away?)
Done gone away without any confusion at all. Yo' [they] wouldn't know how it was did. [New Orleans. La., (829).1221:1.]
Entry 8776
[Late in turning on recording machine] put chew some cayenne peppah an' some steel dust in dat [lemon, see later] an' yo' sews it up an' throw it in de rivah. Now, if yo' can't git de lemon an' yo' wants tuh use a bottle, yo' gits dat bottle an' yo' git chew some war watah. Yo' puts dere name down up in dere. All right, yo' use dis cayenne peppah an' git chew nine tacks down up in dere vinegah. All right, yo' kin stop dat up an' throw 'em in de rivah.
Entry 8785
See, lak yo' start today. Well, yo' jes' git chew some steel dust an' sprinkle it all roun' dat house. An' git dere name an' some cayenne peppah an put it all - mix it all up dere togethah, wit some brown cinna- mon an' sugah. An' shake all dat aroun' dere. Throw it all up on dat window sill. An' curse 'em. Yo' know, give 'em a bad name. An' den take dey name an' jes' bring dat name in de window, yo' know, an' tie it up in a pocket han'ke'ch'ef. See, lak dat, an' ah guarantee yo' in two days he done left. He be walkin'. He cain't find no place in world tuh stay. Nobody want 'im. Wanta git rid of 'im an' all. Won't leave him stay. [To get rid of the man in the house, his spirit is tricked by carrying his name, his captured spirit, into house through a window. This confuses the spirit so that it no longer knows how to enter normally through the door. We have a similar piece of magic in the funeral rite in which coffin is' removed from house through window instead of door.]
Entry 8939
If yo' got any way of leaving your friends, if yo' got a idea of that, of somebody goin' to come there an' trouble yo', yo' understand. Yo' know, all yo' have to do, use this here steel dust and this cinnamon an' sugar. That will sweeten up the place there and they will change their mind. Yo' see, yo' takes a bottle of vinegar and the apartment have - probably may two or three windows into the apartment where you at. Well, yo' take this fresh bottle of vinegar - yo' could get a nickeZ[!] bottle of vinegar - an' yo' put it in a dif- ferent bottle [bottles numbering] just how many windows or doors that you got. Yo' take your cinnamon an' this steel dust an' yo' put down in there [bottles] an' sugar. Put it [bottle] down beneath any window or any door, where they could enter into the building. Just put that there. Every time they get there, their mind is upsetted - changed.
(Do you mix this stuff with the vinegar or use the vinegar alone?)
The vinegar and this here steel dust and this [cinnamon and sugar].
(What do you use the vinegar for?)
The vinegar, that's the strength - to strengthen, to sour it.
(Oh! To strengthen it.)
And sour it. Yo' see, that's to sour that - just like that sugah, that sugah sweetenin' that vinegar. Yo' see? Then yo' take lemons, such as lemon juice, an' squeeze it down in there. Well, yo' put it at all the windows in any little bit of bottle - small little bottle - an' just shake it. An' yo' put it in dere. Well, anywhere round that building they come at, that sugar an' sweetening. When they get there, they'll say, "Oh, well, I'll delay that for another day."
(They won't take anything from there? Won't steal anything from there?)
No, never would take nuthin.
Entry 8964
Yo' take de beef tongue, yo' see. Yo' first upset de house, yore house, evahthing into it, or if yo' have a partner dat have a court case, yo' do dis to git de judge. Git de judge's name. All right, git de client name dat de judge is gonna per- secute [prosecute!]. Yo' understan' dat. Den de person dat's persecutin' 'em [prosecuting attorney]. All right. Yo' have dat. Now, yo' take dis person dat chew workin' fo' - her name - an' de judge name an' de lawyer's name together, dat dey'll cooperate together. Yo' see, den yo' git dat same remedy. Well, yo' git first dis Drowin' Oil, den yo' git dis Min' Oil; yo' git Florida watah, an' yo' git Orange Blossom watah. Yo' know whut dat is. Den yo' git steel dust, an' den yo' git dat nine lumps of sugah an' yo' git dat honey. Dat is fo' dat good act. Dat is to git 'em togethah. When yo' do dat way ahead when dey come to yo' first. An' yo' shake it [these things in a bottle]. Jes' shake it. Yo' keeps dat an' yo' shake it. Well, yo' put it off [aside]. Now, as fer as de beef tongue. Tuh freeze a client's [tongue] dat yo' know gonna talk, git chew 50 pound of ice an' take de beef tongue. Yo' know how tuh do dat. An' den wit de names dat are goin' against de person dat chure workin' fo', an' freeze 'em, an' dey won't be able tuh talk.
(You use both the beef and these other ingredients in the bottle?)
Yes.
Entry 9030
Take his name and write it, the judge's name, [and] the district at- torney's name and all the high peoples names there. An' yo' write their name an' put it into yore left shoe, with that cinnamon, sugar an' steel dust, an' that sweeten 'em up. Put it in yore left shoe when yo' go in the courthouse. An' as yo' go in there, yo' cross yore fingers three times an' call their names.
(You do what with these fingers?)
Cross your fingers three times.
(Snap your fingers?)
Yeah, three times.
Entry 9688
If they don't like you and want you out of the way, the way they do, they goes to the [hoodoo] drug store and they buys some steel dust and lodestone. And they put black pepper and salt in it, and they sprinkle it around your step, see. And when they sprinkle it around your step, that'll move you.
Entry 9855
You make it like the sign of the cross down by your floor [see note later]. Take tacks, the steel tacks [not brass headed], and you make a sign just like a cross underneath your mattress [but on floor, see later]. That's to hold a man that you want. Well nine [tacks] you just put 'em like this:. that's a cross; this way and like that [demonstrates again by making cross on table or in air]. [In the original transcription our present word floor is door; the latter surely an error, which produces two crosses instead of one. Informant's word nine also indicates one cross. As you can see, the word door would produce two crosses. A cross on the floor under the bed - the fifth point in between the four legs of a bed - creates a quincunx. A bed quincunx is fairly common.]
Entry 9988
Live frog, rabbit foot, lodestone, steel dust, red pep- per - in red flannel bag. Frog is put in alive.
Entry 10278
Whut chew kin do with a dirty sock, least dat is tuh keep a man with a woman, dat is she's about tuh go or he's about tuh go from her, is dis: His urine is his nature. Yo' understan' dat. Yo' git de bottle an' git de urine an' yo' git de he lodestone, steel dust, cinnamon, sugah, drawin' oil, mind oil. Write de name nine times, nine needles an' nine pins. An' yo' put dat ingrediment [ingredients] together, yo' understan', an' yo' shake it well an' put it undah de do'step. Be shure dat it crosses ovah it three times, an' den aftah yo' take it an' put it anywheres in yore place. Yes, ah kin guarantee yo' it bring de woman dat ah did de work fo' dat ah he'ped [helped] out with it, an' through prayers, goin' to de chapel an' makin' prayers.
(That'll hold the man?)
Listen, dat'll hold him an' yo'll nevah git, but don' evah - dat means a man'll kill yuh if he gits holt of dat, yo' see. Dat means death. An' it really will hold him.
Entry 10595
You take the bat's heart, you understand. That's supposed to be luck. Take the heart from the bat before he is dead. Over that Jockey Club perfume wit Blue Di'mond, git from the pharmacy; it's a lickrish [liquid]. Saturate it, you see. Sew it up in a piece of red flannel, you see, with some steel dust. Well, if you are a gambling man, that will make you lucky.
Entry 11219
You get the mud dauber.
(Yes.)
Out of a big stable anywhere. You stick this finger.
(Which finger?)
This one.
(The middle finger of the right hand?)
Yes. Get the blood out of it.
(Yes.)
Get all the blood. You write the name nine times on a piece of paper. You roll that mud dauber, that name, steel dust, lodestone, wrap it up. Roll it up tight, and you get [have] some luck. (It separates them.) Man and woman.
Entry 11651
You git that brown sugar, an' you git that flaxseed, an' you git some steel dus' [3 ingredients] an' mix it up. An' jis' like I'm livin' on this - you livin' on this corner an' you bootleggin'. All right. You take an' you sprinkle it both sides of the street on each corner. The law ain't gon'a bother you.
Entry 11712
Well, garlic's for luck for skinning.
(For what?)
Any kind of card games. You take garlic and antiphigestin. They have a' 'nointment, a salve-like they calls aniphigestine. People use it for sores. Well, you take garlic - take those little buttons of garlic - take one of 'em and cut it up into nine pieces. (Nine pieces.) Nine pieces of it. Take this - a whole tube of anamjestine... (Ana - anamajestine?) Anamajestine. Yes, sir. (All right.) Then you take it and wrap it up in a nice clean ohite cloth - just so the cloth is nice and clean. Then you take and take a piece of white - red flannel and wrap it up in that. And take this stove coal - hard, hard, you know, and beat it up just like a powder.
(Black coal?)
Black coal, yes, sir. And take some vinegar and put this coal in some vinegar, nalf a glass of vinegar. And put about a teaspoonful of that coal dust in that and steel dust - a small amount of steel dust. And put it on and boil it down i real low. And then you take and soak that garlic and anamajestine in it. That akes a toby.
(What's a toby?)
For cards - that tells you when your cards is on the table, when to turn 'em D. Tell you when to set.
(How will it tell you that?)
Well, when it's....it'll jump in your pocket.
(Do what?)
It'll jump.
(It'll jump to tell you to do that.)
Entry 12128
(What does she do?)
She gets some steel dust.
(And what does she take?)
The bow out of your hat. And she mix it with this bow and this steel dust together. And she put it right in the front of your hat thataway. She slips it back in there. See, when you perspire, why the steel dust will run with it and go into your eyes.
(What will that do?) Run you blind.
Entry 12234
If you is gambling and you wants luck, well you'll git you some steel dust. See. You git you a dime - a silver dime. Git that dime and you put it in a piece of flannel, and you take it and you git a piece of John de Conkah root. See, that John de Conkah root. You takes all that and you put it down in there. Steel dust, and then you get you some of that cinnamon powder. You understand. And you takes that down [from shelf] and put it in there, and then you git you some Van- van. You ever heard of that. Or some good Jockey Club Perfume. And you put it [flannel package or hand] in your pocket. See, that steel dust draws. Then you put it in your pocket and every time you wants to gamble with somebody, you take it and rub it like that in your hand. You see. Take it and rub it in your hand but don't let 'em see you. And whatever you doing, you going to be lucky.
Entry 12275
Yo' kin take a file or a knife an' go to de corner of yo' place an' yo' stick it down in de left-han' side an' name it. An' ever' day go dere an' push it down a little bit, an' when it git down to de last, whosomevah dey name is yo' goin' fix dat fo', dey'll fall. Dey'll fall lak dat. When it git down to de last it will fall. Dey'll nevah git ovah it.
Entry 12671
Ah understan' about de snail an' a person's photo. Well, yo' kin take a photo an' bury it upside down in de graveyard, an' yo' take a snail an' yo' git some steel dust an' yo' write dat indivi- dual name down an' yo' glue it onto de snail yo' see. An' whatsomevah yo' make yore wish, whatsomevah yo' wants tuh, yo' know, make it fo'. If yo' want a person tuh drag lak dat [snail] an' as dat snail crawl yo' see an' de picture fade away, well, dat person will jis' drag until dey die. (You do those two things but you don't do anything to the photograph at all except bury it in the graveyard.) Yo' take de photograph an' yo' write de person name on it nine times, an' if yo' want 'em tuh drag or sompin, why yo' write whatsomevah yo' want, yo' know, tuh happen tuh 'em, an' turn it upside down [and bury it] in de graveyard. An' probably, maybe somebody whut chew know died bad yo' see. Yo' turn it, point it tuh where dey died [buried?] at yo' understan', upside down. An' yo' take de snail an' yo' git some steel dust an' yo' write dere name down on a piece of papah an' yo' put dat steel dust in dere, an' yo' take it - glue it, yo' know, onto de snail. An' yo' see, yo' know, a snail crawl away slow; an' jis' as dey [the snail] crawl an' dat picture fades away, well, dose people will drag an' dey'll pass out.
(Do you write this in any special way, with just an ordinary pencil or what?)
Well, yo' could write it with blue ink if yo' wanted tuh.
Entry 12706
Then, if any woman that far off, from you, or anything and you wants to see them...
(You say they're far off?)
Yeah - just like - far off - well, they's got a [liquid] which they - we call The Long Long Livest Friend.
(The Long Long Livest Friend.)
Yeah. Well, you go get some of this Long Livest Friend and you take some of this Paris Ennis Oil. It ain't but 25c a bottle.
(Paris what?)
Paris Ennis Oil, and you take it and you put it inside of this bottle with some of this, which we call this here steel dust. You get steel dust and you get some of this here rock salt. And when you put it down, just anything that they ever slept on - any- thing they ever left there - socks, or old shoes, or any bedclothes they laid on, well you just take that and just every morning, you get up, just sprinkle it all over that. Take some of this sugar of lead with this rock salt...
(Sugar of what?)
Sugar of lead - yes, sir, with this rock salt, beat it and put it in the cen- ter of your bed [center of bed = quincunx]. Anywhere, they get at, their mind is rdght back where they come from.
(That's to bring - that's if you want to hear from them or bring them back.)
Yes sir. They coming back, they going to come back in - don't care, inside of chree or five days she'll be back, if there any way for 'em to get there at that time.
Entry 12882
Scrub your home with sugar, cinnamon and wintergreen and you mop that out. Don't put no soap or no powder, just mop the place in. Always start at de sill of the door, mop it in. Then after that, take you some cinnamon and steel dust and sprin- kle all around into the home, just sprinkle it into the place - the four corners of the house. And that draws openers for you for business.
Entry 13130
You take water, if you going to take a bath in water. You wanta hurt me or anything of that sort. Well, I'm going to take my bath and probably just before I take my bath, if you after hurtin' me [that word after preceding hurt- ing was added by Irish transcriber], you would take, say for instance, this is my bathroom. I'm fixin' to go in there to take my bath. Well, I liable to draw my water first. See, and I got my water took, I'm liable to walk out. And if I don't do that, you take and you - before I go in the bathroom to draw my water, you get you some of the stuff you call kankeena.
(What do you call that?)
Kankeena.
(Kankeena?)
Kankeena.
(Where do you get that?)
It's a powder you can get it at most any drug store.
(I see.)
Get kankeena, it's a white powder. You get very little for a nickel, just a very small quantity for a nickel. You gets that. Now, when you get that pow- der, you sprinkle it around that tub, all around on the edges, not to the bot- tom, but be sure it gets just around the tub, like that.
(On the outside or inside of the tub?)
On the inside of the tub. It's got to get into the water, see. Now, that stuff there is to take - when I bathe in the tub, this powder going to get on me. Now, when I get this powder on me, it liable to startin' and itchin' an everythin'. After I done bathin' it start in itchin'. It won't be the soap, it won't be the water. I won't know what it's all about. See. It'll start me to itchin', probably, I'm liable to start to breakin' [out] in a few days - break all kind of sores out on me [quite a separation between break and out!]. See. Well, then I liable have to go to a doctor [M.D.] to find out what it is. He think it's my blood's bad. He try to use different medicine. He wanta give me shots of somepin. Probably he can't do me no good with the shots and all that they gives you. Well, then, if he couldn't do me no good, he done give me [I turn off machine to bring informant to point]. (This doctor [M.D.] couldn't do you any good and you go to the Cracker Jack Drug Store and get the same things you said, you mentioned.) I'm going to get - I'm goin' to get more than the one thing, I'm goin' to get some of this steel dust.
(I see.)
I'm goin' to go to the Cracker Jack - I'm usin' steel dust again. I'm going to use the steel dust. I'm going to get me what you call the snake oil - they sells that. I'm going to get that snake oil. I'm goin' to get steel dust. Now, when I get the snake oil and the steel dust, I'm goin' to put those two together. See. I'm going to use that to rub with. I rub myself with that at least three times a day. Now, in rubbin' with that stuff, I says the 35th [23rd] Psalms of David. See, that's a prayer. You say it, that's the 35th [23rd] Psalm of David. I says that! "The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want." See, as I'm rubbing: 'The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want." And I just keep arubbin'. See. Well, now I may have to do that, maybe nine or ten days. I may have to do it for a couple of weeks. Eighteen or twenty days at the most, anyway. See. Well, then I do that and as I do that every day for three times a day, I says the 35th [23rd] Psalm of David and for about twenty days and then I'm over with that. See.
Entry 13233
They take a shoe - the bottom [insole] out of your shoe - and they can put some steel dust in there, you see. Steel dust! And you walk on it, you see. Well, that steel dust in there, you see, that's to swell your foot up. You see. (You put this in the bottom of the shoe, you say?) Right in the bottom of the sole of your shoe, you see, and you walks on it, you understand, when you get that.
(If they put that steel dust in your shoe, then you would see that?)
No, some of 'em could put it - you see that piece what goes in the bottom of the shoe, that leather rag, they puts it under the leather [insole]. See.
(I see.)
Entry 13234
Well, of course, if they got you in jail, of course, you done have somebody [usually a hoodoo doctor] on the outside to handle that for you. Now, you get you some sugar and you get you some cinnamon, you get some steel dust and lode- stone. You beat that all in a powder, you see. Now, when you beat that in a powder - now they got you before the judge, you have somebody come in the door, and when they [pris- oner] come in the door, in the judge's door - while he be coming in, he [your doctor] be dropping it and he be counting nine times, long as it take you - until you get clean up to the stand. See. Just drop a little of it on the floor the ninth time. I bet you walk out of that place.
(But somebody else has got to do that for you?)
Yeah, somebody got to do that for you, you see, because they already got you in there.
(I see.)
Entry 1292
If anything dey settin' down fo' yo', yo'll go tuh work an' yo'll take red pod garlic.
(Red pod garlic?)
Uh-hunh, an' yo'll thin it jis' as thin as a slice - thin slice. Yo'll take yo' nine pieces of dat garlic an' yo'll wear dat in yore right shoe with a little slim piece of parsley an' yo'll wear dat in yore shoe an' den yo'll go tuh work an' sprinkle a little steel dust in dere. Dat'll eat up every piece of every- thing yo' got down dere - dat'll pick it up. An' make lak little beads, roun' sliced thin, till yo' git enough to go roun' yore laig, an' yo' kin eithah wear it roun' yore laig or in yore shoe.
Entry 1363
Well, you take some steel dust - steel dust and Conquer Root Powder, and you mix that together with a little silver. Lift up that back piece in your shoes, don't you know. (That little piece inside there?) Inside the shoe and you puts that - sprinkle that in the shoe and put a dime down in there in your shoe and wear it.
(What will that do then?)
That keep anybody from doing you any harm. Or takes a dime, put a hole in the dime and wears it around the ankles - you know, tied around the legs.
Entry 2023
They got - you kin go to the Crackerjack [drug store] and you kin buy ten cents of steel dust, twenty-five cents of Jockey Club, and you kin get a piece of red flannel. You take this steel dust and you sew it into this red flannel, and you take the Jockey Club and sprinkle it over this red flannel. Ever' time you - you know, if you figure it done got dry on you, you jest get up and go like you goin' in to urine and just wet it with this Jockey Club and just come back, and the money's gotta draw to you - you gotta win it in any game.
Entry 2464
You go to the drug store and you get some cinnamon and some oil of clover, and you get some of this yere steel dust and lodestone and you mix that together, and take some parsley and boil it down, and you mix that [all these] together and then you put that down and you sprinkle it all over your house - in the four corners of your house, you see. Sweep in inwards, don't sweep it out; sweep it inwards and then someone will rent the house.
Entry 2717
If you wants to draw them to you, you goes to the drug store and get you a dime's worth of steel dust. You get that steel dust and you get you a box of cinnamon. You can get a box of cinnamon for a nickel. After you getting the box of cinnamon, you take and get some van-van. This is supposed to be like - you mix that all together and you shakes it well. And you scrub out your place. You scrub out your place with this steel dust, van-van and cinnamon and sugar. You scrubs it out all around your place, around with that. When everybody is out you scrubs it out, and when you come in, as you come in, well, people come in and look like your business done pick up. That van-van done gives it a sweet smell.
Entry 4260
Yo' wanta heah 'bout de cleah nurinate. Well, de nurinate, yo' see - yo' take a person's nurinate, jis' de cleah nurinate an' yo' put it in a bottle wit salt an' cayenne peppah an' [or] red pappah [see later]. Yo' put it in dere an' dere name nine times in de bottle, an' yo' shake it up. (How do you write that name nine times?) Well, yo' see yo' write de name nine times - de party's name, yo' know whut ah mean - jis' dey whole firs' name. Jis' lak yo' want two people dere separations. Well, yo' put one of 'em tuh de top an' one of 'em to de bottom, jis' zakly [exactly] dat way nine times [demonstrates]. (The first one nine times that way, and the other one nine times on top of it.) On top of it. Jis' lak two han' on each othah lak dat [demonstrates]. [Two hands is a good illustration, each hand pointed in the opposite direc- tion. Normally the first 9 names are written one under the other and to the right, then the paper is turned upside down and the other 9 names are written to the right over the first 9 names - each group in the opposite direction. Ex- amples occur in the text.]
(Do you put this whole piece of paper in there?)
De whole piece of papah, don' teah [tear] it up; jis' de whole piece of papah wit de whole two peoples name, one on de top an' one onto de bottom. An' yo' shake it up wit de cayenne peppah [showing red pepper the same thing] an' de salt. An' den if yo' wanta, yo' could put de steel dust in it; it'll keep 'em togethah - tuh keep 'em renited [united]. An' [but to separate them] shake it up at six a'clock in de mawnin' an' at twelve or else nine. Yo' undahstan', nine in de mawnin' an' at twelve. Jis' keep 'em a-goin' [at each other]. Dere's cer- tain days lak Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays - see, three days a week. [Another magic combination is Monday, Wednesday and Friday - see p.830.] Jis' keep 'em humbuggin' all de time. [The word may mean humming and buzzing at each other rather than, though perhaps including, cheating and deceiving.] Dat's if yo' wanta break peace. An' den AG'IN IF YO' WANTA HEAH AG'IN ABOUT KILLIN' SOMEBODY. Keep it [bot- tle] in a cornah of a house, in yore house if yo' care to, where nobody tuh dis- turb it, if yo' wanta keep shakin' it up. Keep de confusin', yo' undahstan', an' it gon'a break de home up, wit de woman an' man.
Entry 8631
All right. Yo' take dere names an' git chew a aig [means lemon] an write it [name] down nine times on some brown papah. an' yo' take dat an' yo put some steel dust in it, yo' put some cayenne peppah, Epsom salts. Yo' take dat lemon an' yo' sew it up wit black thread, an' yo' bury it where dey have mud at to- Wards de sunrise. Dat's tuh make 'em git out de house. (You put this all in the lemon?) Yassuh, all into a lemon.
Entry 13004
A root doctor when digging up cunjure outside a patient's home used a silver spoon! Unfortunately this unusual procedure was not much of a story. A note of mine reads "of man in Baltimore who used fork." If I remember ex- actly the Baltimore man used a steel fork, steel being avoided by witches and cunjures. [Wilmington 207:3, my comment reading not much of story.]
Entry 1933
That's used for gambling.
(How do they handle that?)
They take graveyard dust and white sand and put it in a tobacco sack. Take a tobacco sack and wash it out in clear water and turn it wrong side out. And [take] two teaspoonful of graveyard dust and two teaspoonful of salt and a silver dime. And tie 'em nine knots - tie it nine times, which would make 81 knots in de sack and wear it in yore pocket.
(What do you do with that white sand?)
The white sand - that's a - they use that in place of steel dust.
(Well, do you put it in that sack, too?)
Yes, sir.
(How much?)
About a teaspoon and a half of white sand. (I see. What do you mean by tying nine knots? How could you tie nine knots in that sack?) Well, you see, there's two strings to it.
(Oh, yes.)
And you take and every time you tie a knot, you.tie it to you, you know. You see, tie nine knots in it, see. And after you tie the ninth knot, you see, well then you turn that sack like this.
(How do you mean, you turn the sack? How do you mean?)
Just take the sack like that and hold the strings - hold one string in this hand and one string in this hand and turn the sack over to you [demonstrates].
(You swing the sack over toward you. I see.)
Yes. Then you tie nine more, you see. Nine times nine is 81. (I see. You have to swing the sack at the end of each nine knots. You pre- pare that for what? Gambling you say?) Yes, sir.
Entry 2368
To make luck for gambling, there's quite a few articles you get to put together. Well, you get you some - get you some red flannel and you get lode- stone, steel dust, you see, and cinnamon. You put this together and a silver dime - put that in that little - put it in a little red bag, right in there. You sew it up. After you sew it up and [then] you pass it in a saucer in some luck you buy in the drug store.
(Luck?)
Yeah - it's luck, they call it. It's van-van. You put it in there and roll that in there like that. Then you present [sell] it to the person and you tell them ev'ry two or three weeks it have to be rubbed in some of this luck. That'll make 'em come to you. You'd have to get you - rub it over, you see, that luck.
Entry 4270
Now, from a man or eithah a lady tuh keep 'em tuhgethah, yuh know, wit yuh, yuh take it [urine] an' yuh put it in a bottle. Yuh put nine needles, nine pins, nine tacks, an' a table- spoonful of steel dust, an' a piece of John de Conker root, an' a tablespoonful of honey. Dat's to keep 'er from injur- in' yuh, undahstan'. Now dat's de way yuh tie up a man or a woman. An' keep it turned upside down, an' keep it behin' yuh bed or anywhere in yuh room. An' any time when yuh wanta see 'er when she is away, or him, yuh jis' take it [bottle] lak dis an' shake it to yuh an' call dere name. Dat's whut yuh call tyin' up a person.
Entry 8589
Yo' can draw a man to yo'. Like a woman an' her husban' is broke up, an' another woman done cause 'em to break up, see. Well, jest like yo' take an' bury his sock, well yo' take an' write his name nine times an' put dat cinnamon, sugar an' steel dust, an' dat white rum, an' put it into a lamp. An' put dat lamp in de corner of her house. An she knock fo' three times, every day see, fo' nine days, because he return dat ninth day. Dat sock belong wit it. Yo' know, yo' do dat wit it. Dat goes along wit dat.
Entry 10166
If yo' Wanta bring a person back - lak a man is away from his wife an' yo' wants tuh bring him back - well de way ah use. Ah takes dere name three times an' put 'er name three times, an' git rose water, orange blossom an' Jockey Club Cologne [for 3 perfumes see p.729, v.1] yo' know whut dat is, honey, crushed sugah, white, three lumps, an' put it in dey bottle. White lodestone, a she an' a he one, yo' knows dat. A ball of quicksilver an' a teaspoonful of steel dust. Dat's tuh return 'im. An' yo' put it in de glass bottle an' set it up - put de haid to [cork in]. Dis is de front do [demonstrates]. Well, yo' put de haid dat-away tuh come in. Dat is to come.
(The head is pointing into the house?)
Into de house. Dat's fo' tuh return de man back. (On this piece of paper on which you wrote the names, you wrote his name three times and hers three times on top of each name?) On top of his'n.
(That is to bring him back.)
[This rite can be done another way.]
Well, yo' take de names an' write it de same way. Yo' take de name an' yo' write it three times an' dey [woman's] name on top. An' den yo' cross de woman's name on top an' den yo' put yore candle an' yore honey, an' yore names in a glass. It supposed tuh be used in a glass an' holy watah with prayers.
(What sort of candle do you use?)
Well, yo' kin use a white one or blue one, anything but a black candle or a red one.
(Do you burn that candle any special time or anything?)
Yes, an hour. Yo' light it six a'clock in de mawnin' an hour an' den yo' put it out. Yo' light it at twelve a'clock ag'in an' dat hour, an' at one a'clock yo' put it out. Den three a'clock till fo', den yo' put it out.
(You do that just one day?)
No, no, yo' do dat about seven days.
(In putting these names down on the paper, do you put his name down first?)
Yo' put his name down first if yo' aftah bringin' 'im.
(Her name is over that?)
On top of his'n.
Entry 2723
Well, you have to take and - just like you scrub, you have to keep scrubbed up all the time. Then you take and write his name. You got to get the officer's on the beat, see, and write his name nine times. Put it into a bucket of water. You gotta throw - you throw eight buckets of water and scrub with that cinnamon and stuff, and then after that last bucket of water you have with his name, and talking to five people, and throw it in front of the door and that washes him away. (I see. Well, now, what do you put in those nine buckets of water? What solution do you put in that water, now?) The same things - cinnamon, steel dust, van-van, fast luck and white rum.
(White what?)
White rum.
(Is it liquor? The liquor rum?)
Well, it's rum. You can get that from the drug store. It's the white rum. I always bought it at the drug store.
(Is it [something]?)
It's licris [liquid]. Use that for drawing - it's for drawing [customers?].
(White rum?)
White rum.
(How do you spell that?)
R-O-N-E.
(It's made from sugar? Is that the liquor that's made from sugar cane?)
I don't know.
[He means white rum. White rum is used in candle rites later.]
(Eight buckets with this mixture - this water - and then you tear this offi- cer's name out and put it into?) Into that last bucket.
(Into the last bucket.)
[Talking to five people? After the eighth bucket, operator had to speak - good morning or something - to five persons passing by or within speaking dis- tance. If five were unavailable within reasonable time, an experienced operator would name five persons and pretend-talk to them. You tear this officer's name out? This can only mean the informant - either in a previous rite or while machine was turned off - pretended to write a name in an imaginary paper tablet and to tear out the sheet. Did my small Numbers Book with spiral binding in front of me suggest the idea?]
Entry 2724
[The preceding informant gives a similar rite as follows:]
Well, just you scrubs it. You gets van-van, steel dust, cinnamon, fast luck and scrub your house from front to back. Start at the front door and then you take and pour nine buckets of water and blueing, and throw that nine buckets of Water in front of your door, and that's to draw in a crowd.
(Either for bootlegging or [men for] women?)
Anything. It the same thing.
Entry 309
Get that bone right from back here.
(Right from in back by the rectum?)
Yes. Right there. It's a kind of crooked bone - and that's the black cat bone - anybody that can carry that in their pocket - it's worth something to 'um 'cause anything they do or get in, it sucks them out. When this is gone - when some person is fixed, you know. They [doctors] done fixed this bone and give it to you - not just picked it ordinary out of the cat.
(Well, how do they fix it, I wonder?)
Oh, well, you take this bone. You get a saucer. You got to pray over it. You got to roll this in that steel dust, roll it in this powder they call the come back powder. All the drug stores down here got all this I'm telling- sells all that down on Rampart Street.
(Would they sell to me?)
Correct. Everything you want. (You mean that I couldn't just go out and get this black cat bone? I would have to get it from somebody that had them fixed up - prepared?) Yes.
(I see. Well, where would I get that?)
Here. [So far as I knew, informant was not a professional worker, hence my note after the interview - "guessing at how it is prepared." Had informant been a doctor, the bone could have been dressed in this way or any Way.]
Entry 676
(What do they call goofer dust?)
Well, you can get steel dust - mostly any dust, you understand, that you mix.
(They call that goofer dust?)
Yes sir, dat's the meaning of goofer dust.
Entry 1748
Sew it in a - you see, you can take ribbon - have a red and yellow ribbon for luck, and you take it and put it [bow] right between the ribbon with steel dust and sugar and wear it there, and he gives you lots of money and all. And it always be night when he come in, you press it. You take the little bow, and put that in one of the garters and put it on the left leg. You see, you take and sew the elastic - you know, you take the ribbon and put another piece under- neath that and make it like a ruffle on it [garter], but you put it in there. That's to keep him from paying attention to where it is. (It's hidden in that garter, inside where he can't see it.)
Entry 1860
Well, for gambling I've taken and get me a new nee- dle and get me a piece of five-fingered grass, and get me a piece of lodestone and some steel dust, and take it and sew it - that needle, brand-new needle, not no needle that's been used - in a little piece of leather bag. And use this here fast luck - keep it damp whenever I go to gambling
Entry 2084
Told me to get some oil of wintergreen - wintergreen oil. Go to the drug store and get some wintergreen oil and this lodestone and get some steel dust and bring it to him. And he put it in a little red piece of flannel and he told me, he say, "Now, you go to this man and tell him, ask him for a job - say your prayers before you go to him. When you go there you ask him for a job. Just before you get there you say your prayers and then you ask him for a job." He say, "And he turn you down the first morning, '' and he say, "you come back to me." And after I went back to him, he give me another little thing but he didn't tell me what was in that bag. And he give me some perfume, something smell - just smell like perfume, you know. So I taken that perfume and I went there and I asked the man for the job driving Goodman's Beer truck. And so he give me a job. So I went back to him and I asked him, I say, "What kind of perfume that you done give me?" He told me, he say, "Well," he say, "I went to the Cracker- jack Drug Store and got some of this same perfume." I say, "What kind of perfume is that?" He say, "They call that Lucky Dog per fume." That's what it was - Lucky Dog.
(He didn't tell you what was in that second bag though?)
He didn't tell me what was in that bag.
narrated request for and receipt of a beer-truck driving job. The first preparation and quoted instructions, second unknown bag, perfume and claimed hiring remain separate episodes. The text does not disclose the second bag’s contents. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2090
Well, now de beginnin' of dis first story is tuh git his shirt, his sweaty shirt - jes' lak yo' go out dere an' work. An' yo' git de sweat outa dat shirt an' de strength is in dat shirt. Not no one man's strength is de same - de're [dey are] not alike. An' not no one man's taste is de same. Yo' take dis shirt an' mix it wit magie control powder, but git de powder jes' de color of him an' yo' put it into some box - jes' lak into a box there. An' hit'll grow. Yo' know, magic will grow - magic lodestone an' steel dust. An' jes' as that grow, why he'll go. He won't stay no one place. He won't even stop tuh tell yo' [good-by when he leaves].
(You must put this magic steel dust and what else?)
An' controllin' powder but git de powder de color of him. (In addition to that controlling powder, you take steel dust and lodestone, and put it in this shirt and then put the shirt away?) Yeah, put dat shirt away.
(That is to get rid of him - to make him move?)
Yes. ["Beginning second trip to New Orleans, La., Wed., Feb.14, 1940 [[four persons were interviewed and then came]] 1562 - man - works Crackerjack Drug Store [[see Index]] - Ida Bates [[meaning he was brought or sent by Ida Bates Whose interview will be given in the Interviews section]]" - Numbers Book 1558- 1605. A note on the present text reads, "He became a sort of contact man."]
Entry 2136
Fo' luck in gamblin' yo' use de John de Conker. Yo' take dat an' yo' kin put it in a bag an' yo' put chew a little steel dust in dere an' put chew 45 cents - two dimes an' a 25 cents piece, nuthin wit even money. See. An' put dat in a bag an' wear it in yore pocket. An' yo' take any high [smelling] perfume an' yo' 'noint dat wit dat, wit dat perfume. It seems lak yo' would give de man a ambition, an' give him dose silver [pieces], an' when he bet he bet always right until de othah fellah dat is playin' wit chew - understan', he beats him so many times until he lose ambition, see. An' he be a certain amount loser thataway an' he will always play. When he first start losin' he plays tuh win, when he find out he's losin' he plays tuh ketch back. An' he gits so far around de fellah, he beat him so much until he jes' lose all ambition.
Entry 2920
A green candle's for money, see. (How would you burn that?) You take three green candles, just like this [demonstrates]. Fix 'em just like the - you know, kind of a round.
(You fix the three together? Tie in a circle?) [Tie into a triangle.]
Yes, into a shape. You cut the top of 'um off. You write the person's name nine times - whose ever name you wanta be on that candle, nine times. You put it in a saucer with some cinnamon, sugar, steel dust and quicksilver, and you let it burn out there. And whatever you want 'em to do, they come and do that, after that, after that candle's burned out.
Entry 5994
Git chure hair an' put chure hair wit a needle, a steel needle. Jes' dt it from de mole of yore haid - be sure dat yo' git de hair from de mole of de haid an' wrap it wit a steel nee- dle, an' put it in a little bag an' put dat hair, an' a little peppah or somepin in it an' sew it in de bag. Dyput it up ovah de sill of a door, dat hair. Dey got chew wrapped up de way want chew, dat hair an' peppah, an' sew it in a red flannel an' dey keep it re, an' de thread, [use] red thread.
Entry 7213
Ah'm purtty shure 'bout dat becuz ah'm constant comin' in contact wit somepin lak dat. Maybe it be rattlesnake mastah, High John de Conkah an' Low John de Conkah, wild sprig of Sweet John - some people call it St. John. Dat's- ain't evahbody knows, but dey would know, yo' know, whut color it has. Git chew dose, yo' know, five or six tuhgethah, an' den have real good gin. Three times a week. An' red flannel. (You take red flannel. I see. You get this good gin then?) Yes, sir. Yo' know, yo' don' sew it. Be sure not tuh sew it becuz in sewin', why yo' might stick de needle in de roots don't chew know. Yo' don' wan'a sew wit de needle becuz dat is steel, unlessen yo' wan'a include somepin in it. But chew fold it up propahly tight an' yo' roll with black thread [demonstrates].
(And you roll it towards you.)
An' don't make no knot. Roll it an' carry de ends loose. Yo' know, don' tie a knot. IF YO' TIE A KNOT, WHY YUH WORK IS BROKEN. An' whenevah yo' gO out lookin' fer a job, why, when yo' dress, take it [this hand] in yuh hand befo' yo' left de house. Yo' be on hand an' made de wish lak yo' desires, an' take dat [hand] an' put it back intuh whatevah pocket yo' carry it an' den yo' wipe it right down tuh yuh waist [privates] three times. An' ah don' cā [care] if dey don't hire anybody else on de job, yo' will be hired.
(You will be hired?)
Cuz dat's not takin' advantage of no one. [597:5.] Whut ah learned ah learned from a well-learned man, great-experienced man, an' who really did delivah de goods.
(Where, by the way, did you learn?)
Part of what ah learned, in Jamaica.
(Oh, in Jamaica. Where were you born?)
Born and reared right in this city.
(Oh, you were born in this city.)
But ah wuz travelin' at large aroun' de Bahamas and down de British West Indies as far as Kingston, Jamaica. Ah begin tuh practice wit a girl, whut ah supposed tuh be a girl, but ah found she wuz a woman. She really could do things. An' dey wuz so simple an' so - lak it wuz impossible.
(Where was this? Where was this girl?)
In the Bahamas.
(Oh, she was down in the Bahamas?)
And dat's all right. An' ah come on up an' came tuh Kingston, Jamaica, an' ah found many more. Dey could meet chew an' look yo' up an' down, an' dey could do certain things, an' tuhmorrah yo'd be as crazy as a fool. An' ah wasn't sat- isfied until ah learned dat. An' de thing tuh do, yo' know, wuz tuh git right intuh 'em. Aftah ah could git dem tuh undahstand me [my English] an' ah undah- stand dem. An' dey simply do dis. Ah tried dat out while it wuz not mah desire, an' ah tried dat out an' ah found it true tuh de lettah. (Well, did you learn all these things in the West Indies, or have you learned some of them in this country?) In dis country. Now, dis partic'lah thing is de question dat chew ast me 'bout takin' a person's track tuh harm 'em. [Charleston, S. Car., (514 Doctor Glover) 597:5 and 594:1.]
Entry 8608
Well, yo' could take a person an' jis' put sugah, cinnamon an' steel dust, an' yo' put it in de lamp. An' write dere names fo' so many days, nine days or.three days or anything, an' put some oil of cinnamon or oil of rose. They have those kinda oils. Den yo' put it in dere. Well, that's fo tuh draw these people back to yo' ag'in. See, dey have tuh come back.
Entry 9820
Latsa people dey take nine needles, bran'-new needles an' dey git a piece of lodestone an' put 'em in dis way an' dat-a-way [demonstrates].... (Now wait. [I try to repeat informant's demonstration.] Put in this way and that way?) [I am making a cross.] Yes sir, cross [demonstrates].
(Cross them all.)
An' den yo' go tuh a blacksmith shop an' git chew some anvil dust, de steel from de anvil where dey make de iron, an' put it in dere. An' git chew a piece of lodestone an' put ten cents [a silver dime] in it. It's lucky tuh yuh if yo' keep it an' let nobody touch it. Feed it wit whiskey. Yo'll always have silvah money. [Even during my collecting days back in 1938 the preceding anvil dust never saw an anvil; it came from ma- chine-shop filings. Anvil dust and steel dust were the same thing, depending upon age, size, color, etc.] [In the following comment I am not talking for informant's benefit, I am an- notating for the future.] (Now in putting these needles, you put one needle like that, and then you put another needle on there like that - like a cross, sort of like little squares, like tick-tack-toe.) Yes. [Everything is arranged or sprinkled into the form of a cross before the combined materials are put in the bag.]
Entry 2491
For that you go - you see, you go to people for to do that. They don't never get you - they won't - you'd have to pay them for to tell you. Like if I want a job, I go to one of them spiritual people and you go - you gotta scrub. You go to the drug store and you get you some oil of Geranium.
(Oil of what?)
[She had said something like gerange according to my penciled note on original transcription. Some of my informants had trouble with the word. I did tco - it being some time before I could be certain that my original guess was a fact. Thank heavens druggists did not call this substance oil of Pelargonium.] Oil of Geranium. You put that in your water and you put you some cinnamon an sugar an' you scrub, you see, an' then you get you some steel dust an' put it in the corners of your place - that's to draw, that's to draw people. Steel dust.
Entry 2793
[This sounds like pink pill for pale people.]
Well, go an' write his name three times, de bossman's name - yore name first an' his underneat'; but all straight, not backwards. Dat's fo' good. Now, yo' use dis Toulouse Syrup an' steel dust. Yo' gits dat from de drug sto', de Toulouse Syrup, an' yo' put dat name in dere an' yo' puts dat light on dat. Fo' a man yore color, yo' would use a pink light - a white man, a pink light, yo' see an' burn dat. Put chure name first, his underneath three times, an' put it undah dat light, undah that pink light an' he'll send fo' yo'.