Subject:Stone
Entries
Entry 5632
Ah heard a ole man say if yo' had a bad enemy, ah mean neighbor an' he come tuh be a enemy, he said, dat yo' could take his track. Take a track of 'is. An' he said yo' could take some black peppah an dis pulverize - yo' know yo' take peppah an' make it outa tobacco [pepper out of tobacco equals snuff]. An' he said yo' git some of dat [also] an' tie up 'is track. Tie it up good in a rag. An' take dat rag an' dey said tie it aroun' dere good an' tight. An' den take a stick an' put it down in de watah - runnin' watah. An' he said, when yo' do dat - an' leave it dere In de Name of de Lawd. An' fix it so it will be weighted down an' watah run ovah it. DEY GOIN' DOWN DAID. Now, dat's whut ah heard about it - a enemy.
(They put black pepper with that?)
Scuse me. Dey put black peppah an' salt, a tablespoonful, an' dey take de red peppah already ground an' put it.
(Cayenne pepper?)
Yessuh. An' put it in dere. An' den aftah yo' do dat, po' de salt all ovah dat, an' take an' tie it up In de Name of de Lawd. An' put nine knots in dis rag. An' den aftah yo' put dose nine knots, yo' take an' drive down de rag through a stick - drive through de rag de stick to hold it down dere. Den yo' lay a rock or somepin ovah it an' let de watah run ovah it. An' dat'll make 'em move from dat place. Dat's whut ah heard.
Entry 5660
Well dey have to git it while he's 'sleep, cut it while dey sleep.
(And how would they use those tracks?)
Jis' take de hollah of de right-foot track an' put it in a li'le bag, an' jis' take it an' bury it undah de steps. Put it undah a stone so de rain won' Wash it away. But chew see when yo' dig a place undah de steps an' bury it - git dat track an' bury it, yo' see, dat will make him come back.
Entry 9872
Now yo' kin cure disease wit a frog an' yo' kin make love wit a frog.
(How do you make love with a frog?)
Well, now yo' kin take dat frog an' cut dat frog open an' it's a li'l stone, a li'l rock, a li'l stone-lak dat's in dat frog. An' yo' kin take dat li'l stone an' any woman dat chew wanta git up tuh 'er dat yo' cain't git tuh, yo' wanta git up tuh 'er, yo' jis' take an' yo' have dat stone in yore hand - anywhere dat yo' could touch 'er. Yo' could shake hands wit 'er, er anywhere yo' kin touch 'er wit dat stone in yore han'. Yo' got 'er yore way. [Informant does not know that this stone-lak is supposed to come from a toad, not a frog: The foul Toad hath a fair stone in his head, from John Lyly, Euphues, p.53, (1579); an old belief made immortal by Shakespeare in As You Like It: Sweet are the uses of adversity, Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head. Act ii, sc.1, L.12. (1599).]
Entry 12185
Dat's very easy. You can take some of this black stone [black lode- stone?] and Van Van and sweet oil. You take all that and you mix it together, and you put that in a lit- tle sack or in a little bottle. You hang that over your door, under a horseshoe. You put the horseshoe up and you hang your bottle under there, but you have the bottle so that no one can see the bottle, but they can see the horseshoe. This bottle be's behind the horseshoe. And no law in the world gon- na come in your place lessen they git permission. They kin come someone to see the proprietor before he [law] come in there. The horseshoe is in the right form just like it lays on the animal's foot [prongs or toes down] but the bot- tle is fixed [hidden] under there.
Entry 12341
[This stone] get it in the eagle nest. There's a white lodestone and there's a black lode- stone. Well, the white lodestone is the female and the black is the male. Well, the female is no good. But it's no hair grows on those stone. [Some rites speak about hair growing on lodestone.] The only thing it is, its FUZZ still grows on it, just [like] the beard on my face - it grow on the lodestone. [This is from Doctor Buzzard of Norfolk, Va., part of whose interview given Pp.1515-1517 and elsewhere.]
Entry 12348
They tole me tuh git - they had me tuh git a piece of - a piece of drawing lodestone an' dis same mineral oil. Ah cain't think of it [name]. They still use it as mineral oil. Dis lodestone, dis drawin' stone, you buy, see, an' dis mineral oil and de dust from a comb, ah believe it was - a head comb, de dust. An' yo' 'solve [dissolve] dis dust into dis - dis mineral oil and dust all together, and you dress dis dust and de mineral [oil] and de lodestone wit perfume an' you wears it. But ah was successful.
(That's in hunting a job.)
In hunting a job. Least how, it worked. But thinking about it, ah didn't hole [hold] de job very long. So dat's why ah didn't think dere's much to it. [To be able to buy head-comb dust indicates the catholicity of products sold by some hoodoo shops!]
Entry 12754
Ah heard dat chew could [take] a raven's aig. Go find his nest an' take de aigs outs his nest an' boil 'em. Say, cook 'em, an' return 'em back to dat nest, an' dat raven would go somevhere an' git a stone, an' bring it back an' jes' put it in dat nest. Den yo' go dere an' git dat stone, an' yo' have all de luck yo' wanta fo' anything. [This egg-substitution rite in various forms is told about different birds in HOODOO.]
Entry 13212
Solomon's Wise Stone whut chew find in de othah cities. [You take this] stone an' read de 121 Psalm an' say a prayer of earnest. Yo' ain't earnest fo' some things, an' yo' will obtain de job.
(What do you do with this stone?)
Wear it in yore purse. Solomon's Wise Stone.
(Where do you get that? Order it from some place?)
Yo' order it from dis company heah in Memphis, yo' order it from Chicago.
(What is the name of that company in Memphis?)
[Evidently no answer.]
Entry 13282
Well, yo' kin take a swallow's aig. Go to a swallow's nest. Yo' know in dat swallow's nest yo'll find a little stone. They always have a little stone in dere nest. An' yo' kin take dat stone - dere always be a stone in a swallow's nest - an' yo' kin go to a swallow's nest an' take out one dose aigs an' keep it out. Say a day or two days - long as yo' wanta an' return it back there. An' when yo' return it back dere, yo' git dat stone an' yo' tote that stone with yo', an' dat 'cumulate all kinda money. Dat's good fo' money matters.