Subject:Urine
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Entry 8788
[Here we are concerned with the great magic rite of wrapping, folding, rolling, turning, and twisting something to you or from you. I have added infor- mant's foot-track rite to show the "from you" aspect of the action.] Concernin' de moon, yo' wants tuh pick de new moon, growin' early, when de moon is in its infancy. Den yo', when yo' cravin' fo' luck, write chure name on a piece of papah, see, an' yo' begin tuh fold it. Roll it tuhwards yo', yo' undahstan'. An' yo' roll it tuhwards yo' an' den yo' wrap anothah piece of papah askin' or expressin' yore desire. Ask dem tuh be good enough tuh accomplish whut chews aftah. An' yo' wrap dat in a sepa- rate paper towards yo' den. Den yo' make a wish on de third papah. Roll it tuhwards yo', fold it up all de time. Yo' understan'.
(You make this wish on the third piece of paper. You write that down.)
Den yo' take dis piece of papah wit yore wish on it an' yo' bury it at chure front do', see. Bury it exactly at de centah of de steps so dat yo' could always walk ovah it, even if yo' not thinkin' of it at dat time. Yo' do dat especially fo' three mawnin's in succession, one right behin' de othah. Try to arrange tuh have tuh do all dis in de time of de new moon. Dat's de end of dat person.
(What do you do with those other two pieces of paper then?)
Dese two pieces of papah dat yo' have first written, yo' wrap dem up tuhgethah den in anothah piece of papah. Fold dat outer papah towards yo' ag'in at de same time. Den yo' repeat de 37th Psalm three times, an' each mawnin' yo' undahstan', but in de meantime yo' weah dat in yore right pocket. Keep dose two writin's in yore pocket, whilst de othah one is layin' at chure front door. (Then, how long are you supposed to wear those papers and keep that other paper under the steps?) Let dose papahs stay dere until dey have exhausted. Only yo' kin every mawnin' make yore urinate an' pour it right where yo' have dat buried.
(And what do you do all this for?)
Fo' good luck, tuh accomplish, tuh be successful in anythin' dat chew Want.
[Foot-track or "from you" rite begins:]
Dey will take dat, dis foot track an' dey will try to git every bit of it; yo' undahstan', don't leave any of it. Git dat an' put dat in a piece of papah - yes, papah. Wrap it up in three wrappin's, an' if dey wants to run yo' away, dey will take dat an' put it in de nearest runnin' stream of watah an' throw it ovah- bo'd an' den dey go ahead.
(What do you mean, wrap it in three wrappings - just one, two, three?)
Yo' wrap dat from yuh. An' den dey'll wrap it in three different papahs, see. Dat same wrappings. An' den take dat an' throw it ovahbo'd. An' dey do dat, too, in de new moon.
(And they get this dirt out of how many tracks or any particular track?)
Out of yore right track. (And do they take these three pieces of paper altogether, one, or just throw them separately into the water?)
[I knew what was done. This is merely a search for further details.]
No sir, put dem togethah, wrap 'em up. Dat is, ah mean dey wrap all dese three tuhgethah. An' every one of dem dey wrap, dey will wrap 'em goin' from dem. An' when dey wrap de last one, dey wrap it goin' from dem. An' den dey throw dat in a stream dat is goin' from de do' [throw downstream]. Dey don't throw it de way dat [stream is coming]. Dey always throw it behin' de stream. Yo' see, dey throw it so dat wrappah - so it goin' from yo', not comin' to yuh. Yo' undahstan' whut ah mean?
(I understand.) [St. Petersburg, Fla., (1051), 1705:6.]
[Closely connected with the preceding section NAME is the present section LETTERS AND HANDWRITING, the letter part of the latter title being concerned with the names of the writer and the person to whom the letter was written. Here in the written word we have magic action second only to the spoken word. As usual in hoodoo or witchcraft or magic, nothing belongs exclusively in one action, condition or location. Both letters and handwriting, therefore, are scattered throughout the complete text.]
burial of the written wish at the center of the front steps in the first rite. Preserve new-moon timing and three mornings; do not merge burial with the later from-you track rite. repeating the specifically named37th Psalm three times each morning in the first rite. No psalm text, translation, verse interpretation or outside scripture is supplied or consulted. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
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Entry 39
Oh, yes, dey take dat chamber lye and stop it up and call yo' name. After yo' answer dey stop dat chamber lye up and den dat'll stop you up. See, long as dat chamber lye is runnin', why yo' is gotta luck; but de time dat dey stop dat and call yo' dis way, dat's jes' like yore spirit. Well, dey ketch yore spirit and put it away with dat jug. Well, dat stop yo' bowels from moving altogether - you can't make no water. [This confusion between bowels and bladder is common.] No way in de world fer you to make water 'till dey take dat stopper out.
Entry 632
This fellow [root doctor] you're going to see now, said my brother-in- law was hurt - he gave him a root to put in his hand and hold it right tight, and when he opened his hand his hand was sweated, and he said, "You're hurt." He got some mullein roots, pine tops, cedar berries and put them in a pot and a pint of water and kept adding to it as it boiled down [magic rite of increasing amount]. He put in a ten-cent piece and boiled it with it. "Now," he said, "you take that drink and you'll get well." He never got well. What really was his trouble, he had bladder trouble inwardly. He couldn't urine because something went right to the tube of his bladder and stopped it and caused agony all over his system. When he would go to make water his feet would dance up and down on the floor, just like that. This fellow was working on him but he was never able to cure him. His father Was good [a good root doctor] but he's dead. He [the so-called root doctor I was going to see] don't know anything about it. They had to operate on him [the brother-in-law]. The root they principally use is called the black pip- pip-away[?]. They take that root and hold it in their hand and the hand would sweat. That's an evidence something has effected you, somebody has done some- thing to you. If your hand didn't sweat, you wasn't effected then. It looks more like a piece of snakeroot than anything else.
Entry 907
Once a woman hurted her husband. He didn't know who had hurt him. An' one he friends took him an' cared 'im to a root doctor. It was off from Georgia, [at] Aiken [S. Car.] or some'eres over there. An' this man wouldn't tell him who hurt him, but he knowed it was his wife. An' so he give him some medicine an' told him to go back home an' take some of his urinate an' put it in a jar, a one-quart jar, an' stop it up tight an' dig a hole in the middle of the road. An' he put it down in there. He watched an' this woman came [walked over the buried jar] an' she took the same kin'a disease that he took. An' then this man that told him to do this [told him that after she walked over itl to come back to him an' get instructions. An' he went back to de man an' told him how he done. This woman, swoll her up in all the same that he was in. Then this man told him to go back an' take the jar up an' throw that stuff out. An' he went there an' do that an' she got well.
Entry 1595
Ah heard that yo' could take chamber water, chamber lye - jes' lak yo' got sores anywhere on yore flesh or on yore skin, yo' kin take yore chamber watah an' 'noint 'em sores each day an' fin'lly at last yo'll git rid of 'em.
Entry 1603
They told me to go to the drug store and get some saltpeter - saltpeter and take my urine when I, you know, urinate and put it in warm water.
(Put it in some warm water.)
And put my feet in that and wash my feet with it. Carry it to my back door. Throw it over my left shoulder and walk back in the house and don't look back.
(That'll keep them from harming you?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 1605
If someone tryin' to put a spell on you, you make water and bathe in it fer nine mawnin's and throw dat watah toward de sunset.
Entry 1621
They took urine and sprinkled it around the doors of any house to keep away bad luck and evil spirits.
Entry 1636
Well, dat's whut ah'm tellin' yo' - dat's jis' de same. All yo' do is put chure urinate in that saltpeter into somethin' an' ev'ry mawnin' 'bout fo' a'clock yo' git up an' po' that right down dere. Ah know it.
(Down where?)
Down at chure do' - po' that down at chure do' an' jis' continue fo' a long time an' dere cain't nuthin harm yo'. Dat saltpeter is wonderful.
Entry 2357
What yo' should do to git de job. Yo' git up in de morning 'fore yo' say anything to anybody, take de night stuff and bath yore face in yore water bath yore face in yore water.
(Your night water?)
Yore water what chew urinate. Yo' take it and yo' bath yore face in it fer three mornings and de third morning you'll git de job, see.
Entry 2360
You go in the toilet - just like you got a toilet in there. [The toilet at Patterson Hotel was not in the room where I was interviewing informant but out in the hall at the head of the stairs - see Introduction.] You go in the toilet. You pee on your hands. You come back out and you kin rub your hands thisaway nine times. [He begins to demonstrate, stops, and I ask him to repeat.]
(How? Show me?)
[He brings his hand down over his face nine times.]
(Oh, your palm is just in a curl that way.)
Yeah, nine times down [over face] that way - once. Now, I don't say you gon'a be lucky all the way through.
(Down over your face.)
Yeah, but I don't say you gon'a be lucky all through the game [that day] but you'll be lucky in that [particular] game. In that game you gon'a be lucky. Now, then, you kin go - there's two or three ways you kin be lucky in gambling. Of course, I have gambled and I was lucky, but I don't gamble so much now, after I found other ways to make my living.
Entry 2623
Yo' use dat urinate tuh dress a house with - it's fine fo' dressin' a house. An' if you're bootleggin' an' wan'a dress a house an' wan'a bring in yore trade, yo' have to use sea salt an' urinate. (Sea salt?) Dat's de stuff yo' take a bath with, sea salt. Sho' yo' bathe with it. Whut chew do, yo' urinate - only use yore urinate. Well, yo' take that sea salt - yo' have tuh heat dat urinate good, an' den when it gits cold yo' put dat in dat. See, dat resolves [dissolves those] little balls [crystals] in dere, aftah yo' heat it. Dat's de reason yo' have tuh heat it. An' den yo' jis' clean all roun' yore house with it. [Sea salt is bath salts, perhaps a local trade name. It should consist of crystals of sea salt, probably borax to soften the water, and aromatic substances for a pleasant odor.]
Entry 2685
Dey take dere urinate an' fo' nine mornings an' sweep off de back steps wit it.
(How do they sweep?)
Yo' know wit a broom. Po' it on dere step and sweep it, yo' know, jest lak yo' sweeping off de step. (I mean how do you sweep it. Sweep it away from the house or toward the house?) Sweep toward de house.
(You sweep toward the house. Why do you do that?)
That to bring luck to bring people in. (It must be done at the back steps though. You do that when you are selling whiskey.)
Entry 2692
Take yo' some Red Seal Lye, brand-new box, an' yo' git some Hearts Perfume, git a ten-cent bottle of Hearts Perfume, and dere something in de drug store yo' call dragon's blood. Yo' put that in yo' scrub water and yo' scrub it on back. See, yo' scrub yo' floors and when yo' git through, yo' po' it all around yore gate. And yo' take a box of lye and bury it at chure steps. Bury dat lye at chure steps an' sprinkle an' po' dat scrubbing water an' scrub wit dat every morning, fresh yo' know, and put a little yore urine in it, in dat water an' yo' scrub yo' floors from yore steps backwards - on back every morning. When yo' git through, yo' po' it all around yore gate an' den from yore steps an' all. An' bury dat box of lye at de bottom of yore steps and he [the law] won't cross over it. If dey come dey will pass on by.
Entry 2695
A can of lye.
(You take a can of lye. All right.)
Yes. You urinate in a bucket. You take that lye and you put it in there with this urine of yours. Then you fust go from one corner of that house to the other just in a circle [circumambulate exterior of house], you know, and dress that banquette [sidewalk] and the ground, and call his name when you start.
(Call whose name?)
Anybody you suspicion is going in there - and call his name when you get to it. When you start, the point is this: maybe you may figure it's Ralph Johnson and you call his name when you start. When you empty the bucket you just say, "Ralph Johnson."
(He won't come there then while you are gone.)
Entry 3297
(What does she do with that urine then?)
I've heard of 'em gittin' a hold of de urine. She take it from de man dat she wanta git in dat stage [state] an' he [does not] belong to any othah woman ex- ceptin' 'er. She take it an' corks it into - put a few drops of watah, ah don't know zakly [exactly] how much, an' cork it into a bottle an' put it where yo' kin walk ovah it [this keeping man under her feet]. Some people says it is nes'ary [necessary] to have somepin else dere, but it isn't nes'ary to have more dan jes' de urine. Cork it up tight an' put it in 'tween de mattress or undah de do'step - anywhere dat chew walk ovah it. An' as long as dat bottle is corked up, yo' [the man] can't have no intahco'se wit any othah woman excep' 'er.
Entry 3981
De female sex jis' take her own urinate an' use it on 'er male - make him become humble, see. Yuh kin jis' try dat, yuh know, even on yuh animal. [I had heard so often the basic rite of urine in food or drink, I turned off my recording machine; but the final word animaZ brought me to life with some sort of question: Animal, did you say? What did you say?] I say, yuh kin even take yuh animals. Use it on a dog. Yuh kin use yuh uri- nate an' let 'im use - use it in 'is food an' he becomes domestic an' humble. So it is wit de female [what] dey kin do wit de male. She kin use dat an' make him become submistic [submissive] an' humble - make him become submistic an' huml ble tuh 'er - in ordah dat she kin handle him.
Entry 4003
Ah've heard dat people take an' bo' a hole in a tree an' takin' some of yore urine an' stuff it in a tree an' plug it up. Say dat'll stop - co'se ah've nevah seen it done.
(It will stop what?)
Dat will stop dey bowels.
Entry 4065
Ah heard of a man takin' 'is, yo' know, his urinate. He ketch 'er wit othah mens [womens? see later]. Ketchin' 'is urinate an' carin' [carrying] it back home, an' rubbin' in 'is han' an' placin' up ovah 'is wife haid. Huh hair wuz whut cuzin' [causing'er tuh run aroun' in de street. He ketched it in a [see later] an' care it back an' place it tuh 'er haid, an' he balled [balded] 'er haid. Well, aftah he balled 'er haid, he blin' 'er wit de same thin'.
(What did he catch her doing with other women?)
[For women trouble with women, see my comment at Florence, S. Car., v.1, INTRO, P. XXXVII.] He had... one-a dese ole... whut mens puts on 'em tuh protek [protect] dereself wit bad wimmins. [I am sorry about the two preceding lacunae. Evidently my transcriber thought them unprintable - they were unprintable back in the early 1940's - and unfortu- nately I missed rechecking this separate sheet with the original cylinder. For- tunately my following comment in the text reveals the deleted words:]
(Oh! a rubber bag?)
Uh-huh. [The deleted words were prick bag.] Well, he ketched it in dat. He ketched all 'is urine. See, he'd ketch it in dat. An' dat's whut he used on 'is wife's haid an' face. Well, he runned 'er blin'.
(You mean his urine or his other stuff?)
His urine, yes.
(You are sure it was his urine?)
Yes - yes, on 'uh hair an' right on 'uh face.
(And that ran her blind?)
Runned 'uh blin' an' cleaned 'uh haid [of hair]. [Sumter, S. Car., (1384).2460:2.] [Could this be an etiological story: the origin of a myth, name, place, and here a rite - something fabricated by a busybody or gossip to explain why a woman suddenly went blind and lost her hair at the same time?1
Entry 4081
Well, dat de same thin', aftah yo' git 'er tuh yo'. Well, aftah yo' git 'er tuh yo', aftah she gits tuh yo' an' gits a-goin' wit chew, aftah 'er love is come tuhwards yo' - tuh keep 'er is tuh take some of yuh urinate an' feed it in 'er food. Drops some in dere.
Entry 4136
Yo' git in dat fo'ks of de road an' yo' pee, jis' so many fo'ks as dere is in dat road yo' pee, an' turn backwards an' walk backwards out dat road, Dat's all yo' got'a do. Yo' stop dem an' dey can't go nowhere. (Who can't go' nowhere?) Whosomevah yo' wan'a - anybody, yo' or me or anybody. Yo' see, dey cain't move - DEY CAIN'T "GEE" AN' DEY CAIN'T "HAW". [To haw and gee (about) is to lead this way and that at will, that is, the person cannot turn this way or that.] Yo' got 'em.
(What would be your purpose in going to this crossroad now?)
Go tuh de crossroad cuz ah wan'a stop 'em from walkin' - anywhere dey wan'a go. If ah wan'a stop 'em from goin' anywhere an' ah'm ag'ins' dem an' ah wan'a stop 'em, well ah'll stop 'em from goin'. Dey cain't gee an' dey cain't how.
Entry 4225
Yuh kin git any woman's chamber lye, de chamber lye of a lady's, an' put it in a bottle wit some Hearts Cologne an' take it back intuh yore house undah de pillah an' bury it, an' let it stay dere a month, a month an' three days, an' take it out. An' yuh got de 'fluence of 'er. She wild about chew. Yuh go out dere an' yuh kin do any kinda way yuh want. She ain't gonna do nuthin. She's jis' worryin'. Dat'll worry an' worry an worry. An' jis' evahthin' she git 'er hand on, she give it tuh yuh, an' try tuh make yuh confident [con- tented] so yuh stay right dere wit 'er. Dat'll sure do it. Ah did it. Ah knowed a lady - a ole lady tole me dat tuh do tuh a gurl of mine.
Entry 4249
Ah heard 'em say yuh kin take chamber lye an' mop roun' yuh room an' out on yuh po'ch, an' dat'll draw frien's.
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 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 4322
Ah've heard talk of 'em bo'in' a hole in a tree. Says, if yuh wanted tuh kill someone, yuh git de urinate from 'em, an' bo' yuh a hole in a tree, an' cut yuh a wedge an' wedge it in dere. Yuh see, put de stuff in an' wedge it in tight. Say dat will kill 'em.
Entry 4325
Yuh could take a person's urine an' bo' a hole in de 'simmon tree, an' when yo' bo' it in dere, bo' a hole an' put it in dere an' stop it up, an' dey can't do anythin'.
(It must be a persimmon tree?)
A persimmon tree or any kin'a hard tree.
Entry 4986
Git a man's sock an' two rocks an' urinate in a pan. Heat de rocks real hot an' name one yoreself [a woman] an' name one de man, an' bury 'em right at yore do'. (What do you do with the sock?) If yuh name one de rocks de man, wrap dat rock up in 'is sock an' bury it right at de do'. He'll always come dere.
(Which sock do you use?)
De right.
Entry 7053
A woman could take her watah or chamber lye an' put it in a man's coffee or anythin' lak dat, if he's a bad likkah drinkah, an' he'll quit off right den; won't know whut's de mattah wit 'im tuh cuz 'im - he'll think he jis' quit it.
Entry 13377
Joo jis' take yah ole bucket an' urinate in it, choo know, ev'ry mawnin' dat choo git up. Don't waste none of it. An' then mix yore lye or whatevah yo' scrub with, an' scrub yuh house wit it, an' that brings luck in your home. [Wilmington 189:9+85.]
Entry 13378
Get up before 6 o'clock, urinate in slop jar, put lye in it, mop floor, burns a lamp, then throw urine out door, make men come in, don't let woman cross [the door] first, "that crossing de luck." [Memphis 1559:1.]
Entry 13380
Urine kept at door keeps undesired persons away. [Washington, D. C., 813:6.]
Entry 13393
Boil on your stove your urine, pepper, cinnamon and outside peeling of onion; this keeps undesirable persons away. [Washington, D. C., 814:1.]
Entry 13398
To keep law away: sprinkle devil lye [Red Devil lye a brand name] and sulphur at gate and door, and wash door down every morning with urine. [Mobile 960:2.]
Entry 13400
To draw trade, throw your urine out the door about midnight. [Wash- ington, D. C., 800:8.]
Entry 1260
[Wife's story about herself:]
One morning I got up and I started to cry. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I went out in the yard and came in the house and didn't have any mind what- ever. I was as crazy as a bedbug. I didn't even know my own children. I broke down and all I could cry was, "I can't touch the door." Every time I went near the door I could see snakes and everything. A lady came in and said, Take some salt fish, urinate, and take that and wipe the door knob off, wipe the doorsill." And I did that, and the next morning I was all right. [For similar experiences see Arrestation and Paralysis, Nos. 749-753, Pp.251-254, and Index.] [Nine miles from Fredericksburg, Va., (69?), written by hand or by hand-cranked Ediphone.]
Entry 4031
Dey jes' put - stop it up in a bottle, mos' any bottle.
(All right, this chamber lye. What will that do?)
Well, dat keep yo' at home - jes' keep yo' at home.
(What do they do with that urine after they stop it up in that bottle?)
Yo' kin lay it anywheres in de house so dey don' [find it].
Entry 1304
You can take the chamber lye and mix spirits of turpentine with it and then put it on and boil it until it dries up. That'll swell you up. {This bewitched condition, retention of the urine which causes hollering spells, is cured as follows:] You go right out and get one of these old fox grapes - some calls them tangle vines. Cut it off just about as high as your privates. Then you bend it over and put that right into a jar - the piece that's in the ground you bend over and put in the jar - and let stay twenty-four hours. Then, whatever [juice] you find in jar, you take a bath [with it] all over. That'll kill any 'craft [witchcraft] and hoZlering spells.
Entry 1592
Like somebody put somepin on cheh [here] fo' yo' an' right along yore path and when yo' steps on dis, why you'd have a pain in yore laig. Well, yo' Wouldn't know what caused it but chew would go to someone and dey would tell yo' right away. Git sulphur, spirits of turpentine, put all dat on mah han's - spirits of turpentine [and sulphur] and take mah han' and go to de chamber lye and bath 'em in dat, and go right on dere [to buried cunjure] and take it up. [I can now] go over dere and dey won't ketch me, de pain won't ketch me atall. Ah'd take it [cunjuring object] up and take, carry it to de fork of de road and burn it. When ah carry it to de fork of de road and build a fire under it, why it sparks. Well, it's all gone - it go right back to where it come from, see.
[I now ask informant to repeat part of story I failed to record.]
(How did you say you knew this was laid down out there for you?)
Ah seen de spirit - jest like you'd dream, ah seen de spirit and dey go on showed it tuh me. Ah git up in morning and ah goes right straight to it. See. Ah goes straight to it and ah 11 take and bath mah face and han s in dat - dis urinate in de night, and den ah take de spirits of turpentine and ah saturate mah han's good with dat. See. Den ah'll take dat sulphur and saturate mah hands good and den ah'll go dere to de hole and dig it up. When ah dig it up ah'll pick it up and ah'll take it to de four corners of de road and put it in de middle of de street and burns it. When ah put it down dere and build mah fire under early in de morning or late in de evening, an' when ah do that why dat pops. When it pops it goes back to where it come from.
Entry 1638
When a person git yore fingernail er toenail, he take de sweat - what ah mean, not de sweat - de chamber lye from his body and put it in a bottle and begin to shake it wit nine needles and he'll do that [for a] length of time. And how you got'a git rid of that - you got'a make yore chamber lye near de stove or anywhere you make a fire - make yore water in it and throw a handful of salt in dere fer nine mornings, and call "God de Father, God de Son and God de Holy Ghost." And git up [do this] four a'clock every morning. Then he'll turn you loose.
(What does he do with those fingernails: and toenails?)
Well, de fingernails and toenails in de bottle with it. (He puts them in the bottle, too. I see. And what is this supposed to do to you?) Well, he make you do jest what he wanta do. [Charleston, S. Car., (519), 613:4; Doctor San Mongain.1
Entry 1642
[This rite and the following one are examples of the well-known scrubs of New Orleans, which offer protection against anything, even the law. More of them will be found under subsection Business and Customers.]
(You say you get up early in the morning. What time is that?)
Roun' six o'clock or five o'clock in the morning.
(Yes, and you do what?)
You get up and you take you a bucket - you understand, your wash-scrub bucket and you put you some urinate in it and put some of that incense in there. Take you some lye and pour down in there, and you come there and you scrub it - don't put no clear water at all in it. Just mix all that up together and scrub your porch, just back and forth you know, but be always scrubbin' yourself inside always. Don't never scrub yourself out. Just like you'd have to scrub, you know, just scrub this way - scrub yourself right on back in your door. Like there's a step there, you are going to scrub from your step up - bring yourself inside all the time.
(What do you do that scrubbing for?)
Well, you see, that's to keep them from putting anything - from planting anything around your home to harm you. They can't do anything.
Entry 2468
Where people go in, you know, to see each other - bootlegging or some- thing like that. That what chew talking about? (That's right.) Business like that. Well, now this is something that is sold mostly in the South. Did you ever hear of Darby's fluid?
(What does it look like?)
It's blue - looks like garment blueing: It's something that is almost the same as, you might say, Zonite or - what is this other stuff we use, it's kind of like a disinfectant. You get this fluid - it looks like blueing but it's a fluid. Well, you mix a tablespoonful to a gallon of water. After you have mopped your floors, dey usually take about a quart of urine. Say now, if you dressed your house on a Monday and Fridays, you put a quart of this urine into this water. See. And you drop nine drops of oil of cinnamon in this water and when you dress your house you start at the door and never sweep out the door, because of the sill of the door coming in you see. Just get a mop just for that purpose and don't use it for anything else. Put a half cup of sugar in dis and get it well dissolved in this same water and you just mop your house from de front clean on back to the back. And when you have done that and it is well dried, you wanta be careful don't let anyone to come in your house before that time and you wanta do that before six clock in morning. At six 'clock you get de contents of a five-cent box of sulphur. Mix a teacup of sugar in dis sulphur and measure it out in exactly how many rooms you have. Say now, you might have five rooms or you might have seven. You divide this as near equal as possible with this sugar an' sulphur. You put it on a little tin pan. You don't have to buy a pan, you can get the top of a tin bucket of some kind - just since it's clear and bright. An' put a little of that ~ jest the same as you would a candle - stick it together an' let that burn, an' don't open your house up until this have burned. Befo' three hours time your house will be so crowded you can't hardly stay in it your- self. Now, that is a fact, too.
(You make as many piles as you have rooms.)
That's right. Now that is one thing I can substantiate. I tell you how I know about that. [During a pause she told me she had formerly lived in Cincinnati. I said I also had once lived there.] I used to live right down from Mound Street across from dat undertaker - had dat big house at 714 and times were very good at that time and people were paying pretty good money for rent. But it seems that - I had nice rooms and all, but it was just so hard for me to get people to come in and pay me. They would come in and pay the first, or they would come in and give me half of it and say, "Well, I'm sorry but I haven't got it all." Well, ah wouldn't want to put them out, you know. So I was telling a friend of mine about it. She said, "Well, I will come down and see what I kin do for you." She came down and fixed my house up like that - burned de stuff in de house, and she told me to do that every Monday and Friday. After that I just had so much trade. I tried it several times since then in different places and I found it to be true. It will absolutely do that - I found it to be a fact.
Entry 2505
A hustlin' woman in de streets, yo' know tryin' tuh make money, she should ever' mawnin' befo' sunrise fall on her knees an' say her prayers, de Lord Prayer three times, an' git up an' wash her face down with olive oil an' have a olive-oil bag pinned up on her an' salt - [she corrects this to] olive oil an' salt-bag pinned up on her [salt-bag only - fed with olive oil], if she wants luck in de street wit de mens. An' pee an' throw de pee out from de house, de east corner of de house - pee in a cup or 'nother an' throw it out befo' she has anything tuh say to anybody, an' she 'posed to make money out in de streets dat day while she's out. If a hustlin' womans want tuh git out on de streets an' be lucky, make money, she'd use de van-van holy oil, drop de van-van holy oil on her. She buy de van- Van holy oil an' drop it on her an' make a wish, an' be sho' she use olive oil too.
[Van-van is not called a holy oil - see margin-title Van-van later and Index.]
(How would she use the olive oil?)
Listen - wash her face down, bathe her down good in olive oil. Put de olive oil an' salt-bag you know on there as I 'fore tole joo, an' say her prayers like dat an' - let me see, I gon'a tell you whut prayer she supposed to wear. She supposed tuh wear de prayer in her purse - Holy Idy - de Holy Name Idy in her purse. An' if yo' leavin' goin' to a strange place, a strange city, when yo' in dat city an' want tuh be successful, yo' should walk out in a vacant field, somewhere where it's vacant an' turn yore face in the south an' use that word Holy Adam - Holy Adam - Holy Idam - Hebrew lang'rige - Holy Adam.
(Do you know how to spell it?)
Not Adam but Iden - I-D-E-N.
(Do you know what it means?)
No - dat's in Hebrew lang'rige.
(It isn't the Garden of Eden?)
No suh - Iden. Yo' use dis when yore hustlin' out in de streets or eithah goin' tuh a strange place an' want tuh be successful. Yo' kin jis' walk up to someone an' use dat inward Iden - inward - an' ask them fo' a favor - they'll come very near doin it.
Entry 2542
If yo' got a roomin' house an' yo' haven't no roomers an' cain't make no success, yo' git up befo' day in de mawnin' an' yo' scrub roun' in yore house an' den yo' scrub yore po'ch. Yo' scrub it with urinate, Hearts Cologne, oil of cinnamon - jes' diff'rent things lak dat. Den yo' make a wish. An' aftah that when yo' git through, den yo' come in an' yo' burn sandalwood incense or either dis Lucky Star - jes' anything yo' prefer burnin'.
Entry 3215
Yo' kin take de bow out of a hat an' transfer [to another job] an' take dat bow wit yo', an' evah day whilst yo' gone yo' pee on it. Yo' undahstan' what ah mean?
(The bow out of her hat?)
De little bow outa her hat. Pee on dat bow and he can't do a thing in de world.
(Who can't do a thing?)
De man.
(The man who comes to see her?)
Can't do nuthin.
(I See, that prOteCts, THAT KEEPS MEN AWAY FROM HER WHILE YOU ARE GONE.)
Can't do nuthin. He kin try all he wanta. SHE GIVE UP TO HIM BUT DAT'S ALL.
Entry 4246
If dey take yuh chamber lye an' put it in a bottle an' put saltpetah in it an' Hearts Cologne, an' sprinkle it in de path where a person walk along, an' it'll cuz 'em tuh like yuh, come aroun' yuh an' visit yuh.
Entry 4268
[Here is a fragment omitted from Doctor England, called Doctor English in my interview with him - see pp.1386-1401.] Other methods on such as that of gettin' the urine from a person, their urine. And take their name and write it down for nine times on a clear piece of paper. You places nine pins and nine needles, but you head and tail, say this way [dem- onstrates]. (Alternate them - one here, one there.) Right here, place in this bottle. See, what the urine is in. You put honey and sugar in there and place it on the outside of the door and let a person walk over it three times. Bring it back and put it over your front door and walk under it three times. Then it is taken and put into their home, and any time this woman or man, either sex, want them return home immediately or want her to come, only shake it up and turn the bottle on their head.
(I see. Where does she put this bottle? Into what?)
Into any place they want to keep it private.
Entry 4281
Well, a lot of instan' [instances], like yuh's a man would have a wife, or she would have a husband, an' he would urinate yuh see. Now, if he spit in dere, it prakly [practically] kills it. If he don't, she takes dat an' she puts it in de bottle, nine pins an' nine needles, see, an' stops it up tight wit some cinnamon powdah, put it right where he passes at. By judge yuh can't git 'em apart regardless how she treat 'im.
(You mean she puts it where he can walk over it or under it?)
To walk ovah, like it be's a step tuh go upstairs, jis' put it right undah de step where he passes ovah.
Entry 7204
See, it's been about a month maybe. He had a girl he wus goin' wit 'er an' she fixed 'im. Aftah he went tuh sleep - when he went tuh sleep, he said dat he dreamt about dis bottle dat she had fo' him, an' he'd gotten right up an' went an' got it. An' he'd fell off an' he looked so bad as if he was about tuh die. HE'D GOTTEN A AWFUL SMALL LOOK, terrible small, bone 'bout tuh come through 'is skin. An' he went tuh sleep an' he dreamt about dis bottle an' co'se [of course] he got up den an' went right in de bathroom an' found it. An' dis bottle had red flannel in it an' a couple of pins an' needles, an' he'd taken it an' broke it. He brought it an' showed it tuh me, an' ah don' know whut could a been in it, but it smelled lak evahthing wus in it, ah guess. Ah reckon it wus urine in it - guess was in it. An' aftah he found 'at bottle he begin tuh git bettah.
Entry 8605
Now wit chure hair, lak if yo' an' yore ole man's tuhgethah an' if some woman is tryin' tuh bust yo' up from 'im, yo' kin take some of his hair an' put it in a lamp. An' yo' kin write this woman's name an' his name on a piece of papah an' fold it tuh yo', an' put it in dat lamp an' burn it fo' nine mawnin's. An' aftah de ninth mawnin', yo know, put de lamp out. An' den yo' 'noint chure room wit oil of [verbena probably]. Hearts Co- logne, an' scrub roun' yore flo' wit some urinate, sugah an' a li'le cinnamon. An' dat breaks dat [affair] up.
(You put his hair in this lamp?)
Yo' put his hair in de lamp an' yo' write dis woman's name who he's goin' with. Write her name crossways [this is crossing them up] an' bring his'n - yo' know write hers down first an' den bring his'n cross. An' yo' put it in a lamp an' burn off it fo' nine mawnin's. [A great many scrubbing rites are scattered through Hoodoo. That oil, instead of verbena, could be a word I eventually dis- covered was oil of Bergamot, this last word appearing in a variety of forms: bergamine, Essense instead of oil might have helped the decipherment.]
Entry 9409
Take a new aig an' write his name on dis aig, say all de way ovah dis aig, yo' see, an' den on top-a dis name, put on dere, "Come back home." Yo' see, "Come back home." Den take jis' wheresomevah he at, take 'is name an' put on some writin' papah, crossways, dat Way [demonstrates] about twelve times. An' take her name an' she put 'er name right on hit twelve times comin' tuh de house. No mattah where he is, if he is in New York or where, he'll come. An' she'll heah from 'im wherevah he comes [from] an' wherevah he stop right befo' he git home. (What does she do with that egg?) She takes dat aig an' tie it up yo' see. Roll dat egg up tight in a li'le piece of cloth about three or fo' diff'ren' times, an' put 'is name right in dere as ah say on dat papah, an' bury it right tuh de foot of de steps. Now, yo' take dat an' yo' bury it tuh de foot of de steps wit dat sharp point up, de big point of de aig down an' lean it. Ah Would lean it [whole egg] jis' 'bout dat way [demonstrates] comin' from out de - Memoirs of Alma Egan Hyatt. Foundation - street tuh de steps, comin' in de do'.
(Have it leaning toward the door?)
Dat's right.
(Any kind of chicken egg?)
Any kind, no matter whut kind of aig, long as it is a aig. (She will write her name twelve times and then she will write your name twelve times.) Wrote his name twelve times an' den put 'er name de same way, lak yo' carry his name dis way an' take her name an' start it comin' back dat way.
(Well, now does her name go away from the house...?)
Her name an' his own comin' right tuh de house. Dere is anothah part on dat. Yo' take dis an git 'is name, as ah tell yo'. Yo' undahstan' me? An' git a bottle an' take her watah. Ah mean 'er nightwatah, pee. An' put it in dere an' shake it an' call 'is name three times - jis' what- evah 'is name am - "Henry come home - Henry come home - Henry come home." An' lay it dere right undahneath 'er pillah. In a short time or about fo' or five days he'll be there. (You use all these things, altogether. Yo'll have to use the egg and you have to use that bottle.) All at de same time.
Entry 13090
Well, now this was mah experience, ah'm telling yo' experiments from mahself. Once ah had a hat ah give $7 for it. It was blue an' lavendah an' it was awful beautiful. An' ah didn't know anybody [would do suh a thing]. Ah nevah did believe in such as dis. Well, we wus goin' tuh a circles [circus] an' ah nevah wore dat hat only when ah wus goin' out to a dance or some kind of date or social like dat or party. Well, yo' kin [take] dat hat, yo' see, an' yo' hin dress it. But yo' didn't axe me about de hat. Yo' axed me 'bout de hair. An' dat hat was even dressed from de binding of it up heah. When ah placed dat hat on mah head, oh mah God, looked like mah head would bust open. Ah ddn't know nuthin but ah jes' thought ah had jes' a normal headache but, oh, it seemed dat pins was in it. Hah sistah-in-law, she had taken me about fifteen miles in de country tuh a hite man [root doctor] an' ah didn't axe him nuthin because really ah didn't know nuthin tuh axe 'im. He says tuh me, "Oh gully [girly], yore hat is dressed." Says, "Wouldn't chew go home an' burn dat hat up?" An' ah said, "Whut would yo' call dressed?" He said, "De idea is it's dressed around dat band," said, "it's got 'er..." It was rattlesnake.... It was a rattlesnake had shed it [it's hide] yo' see. Dey got de shed of dat rattlesnake an' dey parched it up yo' know. Dey jes' beat it up an' dey sprinkled dat.rattlesnake shed all 'round. An' den dey put somepin else in dere, an' dat took effects on mah eyes, an' dat give me a real headache.
(Do you know what else they put in there with that rattlesnake dust?)
Well, dey tell me dey put rattlesnake dust an' dry saltpetah, somepin like dat. An' dey said why dat it didn't make me go blind, yo' know, because dey put too much saltpetah in it chew see. Yo' know, saltpetah supposed tuh kill off any kind of germs like dat, yo' see.
(What did this man do to cure that?)
Well, ah tell yo' whut he did. Ah don't know whut it was, but he give me a little small bottle of medicine tuh rub mah head with. Seemed like it had sompin like sasparilla oil in it, chew know, an' he had me tuh take mah urinate an' fo' nine mawnin's. Ah take dat urinate every night an' ah put it in a pan, a bakin' pan by it- self yo' know, an' fo' 9 mawnin's befo' de sun rise ah bathes mah face with dat an' throw it out towards de sunrise, an' fo' 9 nights ah bathes mah feets in real hot watah an' saltpetah, an' den he gives me a medicine...ah couldn't tell yo' tuhday what it was, but in de 9 mornings, why, ah didn't have dose ole bad feel- in' - dose blind spells an' headaches. All of it was gone away.
(What did you do with this medicine he gave you?)
Ah 'nointed mah head with it.
(And did you burn the hat too?)
Ah burned mah hat away.
Entry 13397
Pour urine, salt, red pepper and sulphur at door to protect against evil and spirits. [Washington, D. C. 208:5.]
Entry 1956
An' den yo' kin take a little bit of strand out of a man's head - like if a man dat chew got an' yo' want him tuh stand by yo' or somepin lak dat. Yo' kin take a strand of hair out de mole of his haid, clip out a little hair an' do it up in a little new piece of homespun an' jes' wet it in yore watah, yore urine an' poke it down in jes' de least little crack dat che've got. Yo've not got'a take but jes' de least little tiny piece an' wrap it tight, an' poke right down in a little crack in yore baid in de wood part of it or iron part - yo' know, wheresomevah yo' kin git it punched down in dere good wit a pin. An' dey says dat will hold him.
Entry 496
They tell me that they take a bottle and pee in it and put that bottle up the chimley and when the witch comes in and comes down the chimley she'll go right in that bottle. Then cork it right up and that holds her until you find out who she is. [Wilmington, N. Car., (181),?]
Entry 1201
And there was another fellow here. His wife had his skin, his urine, his action and everything, she had it all in a bottle and had it buried an' that poor fellow - he was all he could do to walk, he could not straighten up and he bend that way for eleven months. And he couldn't eat anything but a little crackers, a little sweet milk. He came down there one evening dragging - he came in. She [doctor] went back in there - she had been out in the country and she got a big old cow turd and she tied it up in a rag and made him a big cup of tea. He drank that - he drank it, ever bit of it. She said, "Now lay down." " And he slept for about three or four hours and when he got up from there could stand straight. She give him 15c worth of castor oil and about half of a bottle of Sal Hepatica. That is what he needed and it cleaned him out. And she gave him mounds [incense molded into small conical mounds] to take home and watch his wife to burn. [While he burned the mounds, his wife was burning.] And I mean it took every bit off him, put it right back on her. She gave him the brown and black mounds to burn. He burnt these while his wife was gone and threw it right back on her. Just lighted them and burn them in the house where him and her stayed and slept.
Entry 1604
An' right in mah laig heah - ah couldn't move an' ah couldn't walk but mah sistah would bring whut ah'd tell her tuh me. Ah tole her, ah said, "Now yo' bring me a basin an' when ah urinate," ah said, "ketch dat fo' me." See, she Saved it twice, that made enough you know tuh bathe wit yo' see. An' then ah had her tuh bring me some salt an' some saltpeter. Den ah sent her tuh de drug sto' an' bought me some John de Conker an' ah had her tuh bathe me from heah out to de end of mah toes on both laigs. Ah jis' couldn't walk.
(What did you do with that John the Conker?)
Ah kept it roun' in mah pocket - jis' keep it in yore pocket.
(Why did she bathe you down that way?)
[Informant does not understand my question, I do not reask it. I wanted her to answer, "That made the cunjure go out through my toes."] She bathe me down dat way. Yo' know that cured it. Yo' see, this saltpeter an' this chamber lye an' table salt, it'll cure it. An' aftah she bathe me three times in dat ah got so ah could stretch out mah laigs an' jis' kept on an' kept on an' fin'lly till ah got up from bed an' went tuh walkin'. An' dat's whut cured me.
Entry 1635
Yo' kin take a - yore urine, see. If yo' think somebody put somepin down round yore place, yore steps, overnight joo understand, to do yo' some harm, yo' kin take yore urine an' put chew some salt an' sulphur in it an' stir it up good, an' bluestone, an' jes' [get] chew a swiss [swish] broom, see. [Swish broom is a one-handed broom; handle broom or stick broom requires two hands. Many substances were used: long grass, broom sedge (which see), leafy twigs, etc. Neither the short whisk broom nor longer besom describes this home- made article. I remember one of the housefly swishes; one large green top, or several small ones, of asparagus gone to seed.] Stick it in dere - put it in a pan - put in de broom, jes' [demonstrates].
(Sprinkle it around.)
Dat's right - yo' do dat fo' two-three mornings. Anytime dat yo' think that things is goin' wrong yo' jes' - dey kin put it there but it will kill it jes' as fast as it hit de ground. Now dese things ah'm telling you, ah've experienced dem.
Entry 1646
[Take] that there snakeroot and John de Conker root and boil it and take de urine after boilin' it and put some of that in it, and Hearts Perfume, and boil it so it git de odor through the house, and sprinkle in de front do' and back, mornin' an' night.
(What would they do that for?)
That would bring luck and stop de man from puttin' yo' out.
(Putting you out of the house.)
Yes, an' ah didn't have de money - didn't give a cent and he didn't put me out. Suah stopped that.
Entry 1705
A wood rat. You can take that rat's skin and dry it and make him eat it and that'll stop him from wetting the bed. [The more usual folklore remedy is eating a mouse prepared many ways (Nos. 6308-6309); similar cures being a head louse eaten (No. 6306), or drinking tea from "white droppings of a dog" (No. 6302) - FACI,2ed., 1965, p.289.] [New Orleans, La., (855), 1352:6.] [What is a hand? A hand is a magic helper, an object or act, which aids a person in obtaining a desire. Aladdin's lamp was not a hand because anyone could rub it to activate the indwelling spirit. Quite otherwise a hand concerns known user - it being dressed, powered for him alone, usually toward a single purpose.] [We have already examined many hands: the Black Cat Lucky Bone (pp.74-97); healing hands in Cure and Protection (pp.4lO-519); divining hands in Diagnosis (pp.165-217), particularly the talking hand, Jack (pp.190-193). Talking hand reminds me that hand has other names, among them - toby, guide, shield, roots, mojo, jomo (transposition of syllables in mojo), and hoodoo bag.] [Of interest are what I name battery hands - those that lose strength and must be recharged or they weaken and die. Recharging is called feeding and substances fed are whiskey, perfumes, urine and other liquids. Spirits do not eat solid food. A spirit of course never dies; it merely deserts its temporary dwelling place. Similarly, desertion happens to a lost hand - some informants believing the hand returns to its maker!] [A hand can become a fetish, even a part of oneself. Most instructive here are living hands - the unfortunate chicken (No. 205, p.58), and the two wandering snakes (No. 239, p.66.]
Entry 2031
Tuh git de bossman tuh five yo' a job - lak if yo' should go to de man lak heah tonight. Yo' git some Heart Perfume an' have it fixed with High John de Conker root, yo' see. Git chew some High John de Conker an' chip it up - beat it up fine an' Heart Powders, see, an' some of yore pee in dat. See. Beat it up an' jes' have it beat up re'l good an' fine. Den take it an' have it in yore han'cheff when yo' walk in an' yo' shake de han'cheff lak dat, an' yo' walk up there to him an' yo' shake it three times, an' yo' ask him fo' a job an' he'll tell yo', "Wait a minute, ah'll start yo' directly, son."
Entry 2361
It's a root choo call de Eve-and-Adam. You ever heard of that? Well, you kin take it and you get choo a bottle of Hearts Cologne and den put those roots in there. Put a little bit of your urinate in that, jis' about three or fo' drops - you know, not enough to smell, and put that little bit on [yourself] like that and always make you have lots of friends and make people be - when you go away from home jis' put a little bit on you, about once a week.
Entry 2362
You put three drops of urine in a bottle and then empty the contents of a bottle of Hearts Perfume or Cologne, and in that you put nine new needles or new pins and a small piece of lodestone about the size of a pea, and then you drop - if you know that someone's angry with you - you drop nine grains of spice in there. Well, if you gon'a have a chance to meet these persons, you jest drop a few drops of it in your hands and rub yore hands together and then rub them over your face like that. When you meet that person he is going to be pleased with you regardless to how angry - they mighta been most angry with you but that would put them in good humor.
Entry 2365
To keep de police from naggin' yo'. Yo' know dis bluestone don't chew. Yo' know table salt don't chew. Pee on it. Put it in pee an' throw it at chure do'step. Dey cain't come ovah it tuh save they life.
(That keeps the cops away.)
Entry 2366
Red peppah an' ashes an' saltpeter an' dey cain't come ovah it. Pin it up( ovah yore do'. Dey'll come in but dey won't be mad.
(Where do you put that, you say?)
Jis' up ovah yore do'.
(Well, it would fall out wouldn't it?)
No, yo' gon'a put it in a bag an' tie a string aroun' de bag an' hang it on de nail, an' every day yo' got'a pee on dat.
(Not up there!)
Naw. Yo' take it down an' pee in a pan, an' pee on it, an' den yo' put it back up there. Dey cain't bother yo'. Dey kin come in but dey Won't do nuthin to yo'. Dey'll be jis glad.
suspending the tied bag from a nail above the door. Retain visitors can come in but are claimed not to be angry/harmful; do not rewrite the account as absolute exclusion. predicted mitigation of visitors’ angry or bothersome conduct while allowing their entry. No total visitor exclusion These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Read full source (printed page 661) · Read full source (printed page 662)
Entry 2569
Ah heard 'em tell if yo' want people tuh come back to buy whiskey from yo' - if dey come dere tuh drink some whiskey, jes' befo', take an' put chew some urinate in dat whiskey, yo' understand, or either some of yore monthly discharge. If yo's a man, put some urinate; if yo's a woman, put some ministration in dere an' when dey come in dere drinkin', dey 11 come back. Dey jes' hang anto yo dey can't go nowhere else seem lak. Dey jes' come to yore place of business.
Entry 2635
Jis' lak if yo's a hustlin'woman, yo' know, an' want good business in yore home, yo' see, well yo' take ole shoes an' burn 'em. But 'fore yo' burn 'em yo' sprinkle sulphah an' salt on those shoes an' put 'em in yore cookstove an let 'em begin burnin'. An' den yo' take a shovel an' take 'em out on a shovel with this sulphah an' salt on 'em an' jis' care 'em all roun' in yore house - yo' see, in all de fo' corners of yore room an' jis' let 'em burn. An' let de odor - close yore house up an' let dat odor stay in dere. Den yo' take de ashes an' start at chore front do' an' sprinkle it from de front to de back an' dat draws trade. Den yo' take yore urinate an' put salt an' sugah in it an' jis' mop yore front po'ch an' out all on de street - out all on de sidewalk where peoples is passin', if yo's runnin' a assi'nation house, see. An' people when dey git dere dey'll jis' have tuh come in. Dat makes good business fo' yo'.
Entry 2663
For luck I burn sulphah ev'ry mornin' for luck - sulphah, cinnamon. I burn cinnamon an' sulphah. (You burn the cinnamon by itself or with the sulphur?) With sulphur an' sugar in it. Three ingredients togethah. When I want trade [informant a woman bootlegger] I wash up mah house with urine - when I want trade, wash it to me. Now, in New York [lived in New York City eight years] I could have trade. I had a plenty trade. I could draw my own trade, but here in Richmond I can't do it 'cus the people notice you too much. I had too much trade a few days ago, then I took mah sign down 'cus too many people was comin' in the house. [I can appreciate this woman's trouble. I, too, had too many people coming into the house or hotel where I worked.]
(Do you burn it at any special time?)
You suppose to burn it in the mornin' an' you read de 23rd chapter of Psalms in the Bible: The Lord is my shepherd. You suppose to burn it aroun' seven o'clock in the mornin'.
Entry 2679
Jest take a little urinate, your urinate, and a little pot salt and dis little ground peppah - hot cayenne peppah. [Three ingredients.] " You carry a certain distance from your house, see, and you sprinkle, you know. Jest like de road come up to your house or de street, why you jest sprinkle it across, you understand. Why dey couldn't come no farther than that. Every time dey git dere why dey jest change dere mind and turn back.
(That keeps the law away.)
Entry 2686
If yo' sellin' whiskey, to keep de law from yore house, yo' take an' where yo' takes a leak an' throw it out right - jes' throw it out in de front every night fo' nine nights an' in de mawnin's, too. An' throw it out dere fo' nine nights or nine mawnin's. Do it that night an' that mawnin', yo' understan'. Well, dat will keep the law from comin' in yore house. (What do you mean where you take a leak, on the ground? You mean where you do it on the ground or in the pot or what?) Where yo' do it in a can, don't chew see. [Informant has a night can.]
Entry 3302
She kin take some of 'is uri- nate an' stop it up in a bottle, yo' know, an' set it undahneath 'er bed fo' three days. Aftah dat she take it out from underneath de bed an' boil it. An' den she cut 'im off from othah women.
Entry 3304
Like, say fer instance, I'm livin' here. I have a wife here. I'm a fellow, I'm accustomed to gittin' up at night an' urine in de night jug. Now, dis: woman wants to - she don't want to kill me or nuthin like dat. She jes wants to harm me so dat she could keep me. Now, she'll take dat, dat urine - see, it mustn't be no watah. She'll take dat urine an' she'll put dat into a quart bottle. She'll put needles into dat. She'll stand it up on de head, anywhere in a cornah. It must be in a cornah so dat yo' can't see it. An' she'll have yo' so dat yo' can't be wit anyone else but 'er. If yo' go to be wit any othah womean, yo' can't do it. Yo' gotta be wit 'er.
Entry 3310
If it's 'is wife, he natch'ly [naturally] takes de nature of 'is ife away from 'er for anybody but 'imself. An' de way he would do dat, [is] when he has intahco'se wit 'is wife. He buy a bran'-new piece of domestic an' he doesn't use it 'imself, he lets 'er use it aftah dey're finished. An' he has a slop jar washed clean an' see dat he don't use it at all. He waits an lets 'er use it. He won't use it. Den he takes dat urine an' pours it in a fruit jar, an' he puts dat cloth, dat domestic dat dey use, in dere wit 'er urine. An' get a rubbah, put on dat jar an' seal it up tight. An' as long as no air strikes it, she has no nature but for de one dat put dat in dat jar. [Hemphis, Tenn., (973), 1575:4.]
Entry 3311
Dey takes dat chamber lye, yeah, from a man or coman, don make any diff'rent. Dey tell me - jes' lak ah got a wife an' ah vanta take her courage down offa her fo' anybodys else but me, an' ah git 'er urine an' stop it uP. Take a piece of 'er garment dat she wears nex' to her skin - see, make no diff'rent if it 'er stockin' or 'er drawahs or whatsomevah it may be. An' yo' burn dat, see. Yo' burn dat anywhere so yo' kin git de ashes. Well, yo' po' dat into dat chamber lye an' stop it jes' as tight as yo' kin stop it, an' yo' stop 'er courage right dere until yo' git ready fo' her. Den yo' holds 'er dere until yo' git ready to turn 'er loose, so she can't have any othah mans. She might try to an' would do it, but it wouldn' do her any - she would [not] find any result of it.
(What do you put her chamber lye in?)
In a bottle. Put dat burnin' [burned] stuff [ashes] - set it anywheres in de house commonly.
Entry 3317
Well, it's jes' like I'm got a woman here an' I ain't home daytimes, an' I'd urinate in a glass or anythin' an' put it undah de bed. Well, she would- n't use dat watah at all. She'd git up de nex' mawnin' aftah I leave. She'd take dat watah an' she'd put it in a bottle. She write my name nine times on a piece of papah an' take two needles an' cross 'em, an' drop it down in dat watah an' stop dat - stop it up tight an' bury it, see. Now, when she bury dat, I cannot have no connection wit no othah woman but 'er. Yo' see. She's got me tied up, yo' see.
Entry 3474
Ah ties 'er against 'em.
(You what?)
Against de othahs.
(What do they say about that?)
Well, it's - lots of 'em will take an' use a cord string. If yo' can't git a good cord string, yo' kin some stuff dey call catgut - see, if yo' kin make it long enough. An' yo' dresses dat stuff wit 'er when yo' have intahco'se wit 'er. An' if ah wanta be away from dere four weeks, ah put four knots in dere an' I keep dem knots tied [around my waist - see later].
(What will that do?)
Jes' lak evah day, why yo' take a man he step off sometime, lak he wanta uri- nate or somepin. Yo' go, why yo' jes' take dis han', yo' know, sometime, an' urinate in 'is han' an' kin'a keep dat string aroun"is waist livened up. Jes' lak, [you are] goin' away, befo' yo' put it [string or catgut] on yo', jes' lak fo' instance, ah have dis night-glass [empty glass jar] or somepin settin' behin' on dis floor. Well, he not supposed to use dat, if he wanta dress dat string. He takes hisself an' let 'er use an' he wets dat in dere, takes it out an' puts it on 'im. Well, he ties dem knots in it first. An' aftah tyin' dem knots in it - well, dat will keep 'er straight prob'ly till he gits back.
(And how many knots do you tie in that string?)
Well, now, yo' have - it's accordin' if yo' goin' to be gone six weeks, well yo' put six knots in dat. If yo' be gone four weeks, yo' put four knots in it.
Entry 3523
Well, de way yo' know dat I undahstan' it, jes' lak if yo' have intahco'se, yo' undahstan'. Well dey'd take dat, dat same piece. Well dey'd be careful an' try to git de edge of it, yo' see. Well dey got some of yores, pref'rence. An' ketch yore urine, yo' know, an' git deres what wuz on dere. An' dey jis' tie a little string on it an' tie three knots in it, an' put dat aroun' dere waist an' wear it fer nine days.
(What will happen?)
Well dat controls yo' to dem.
Entry 3624
Yo' have tuh take his nature fo' it, yo' understan', dat he wouldn't want othah wimmins. Yo' have tuh take his nature fo' it. Well, now to take his nature yo' would have tuh - where his privates lay on 'is clothes. Undahstan', his drawahs. Well, yo' scrape dat lint from dose drawahs - scrape de lint from dose drawahs, see. An' den yo' take dat lint an' sew it up intuh a nice white piece, see. An' den yo' got 'is nature, see. An' den yo' jis' take dat evah nine days an' dip it in urinate. Jis' dip it in yore urinate, yore own urinate. An' as yo' takin' dat yo' take de measure of 'im. See, yo' take de measure of 'is privates where dey lay at, an' dat's whut yo' scrape out - dat lint right in de seat of dat.
(What do you do with that string?)
Well, now, yo' know whut chew do wit dat string, if yo' take a notion tuh measure wit dat string [instead of measuring the drawers place] - co'se yo' kin measure wit chure fingahs. But yo' put nine knots in dat string. Yo' put nine knots in it an' yo' sew it up intuh dis white piece wit de lint. De lint is in dere. An' den yo' dip it intuh dis watah, intuh yore urinate an' yo' got 'im:
(Where do you keep that then?)
Wear it right round yore wais' an' let it hang right down straight 'tween yore laigs. Dat's whare yo' keep it at.
Entry 3626
Say fo' instance, if a woman is havin' intahco'ses wit a man an' she don't want anybody else tuh bothah wit de man. Well, now, one of de towels dat she might use, she takes 'is urine an' she take dis towel an' she wash it in dis urine - de same towel dat de two of dem use. An' den she tear a string offa de towel an' den she make nine knots in dat string, an' if it's not large enough tuh go roun' 'er body she'll make a 'ddition [an addition] tuh it jis' since she make nine knots. An' dat's supposed tuh keep 'im tuh de place where he cain't have any nature fo' anybody but 'er. Dat's whut yo' call a cross [or crossing up a man]. Dere people dat could take dat away, but ah have tuh give yo' mah best knowledge of it.
Entry 3729
Mine wus caught. Mah watah wus caught in a bottle an' wus buried, an' dey took it up an' put graveyard dirt wit it, an' ah didn't have no nature to- wards mah life. Well, on account of dat ah wus in bad luck. Me an' mah wife couldn't git along, an' dey [a rootman] tole me dat it wus somepin wus against me. An' dis man told me dat de only thing dat ah would do, ah would have tuh go at twelve a'clock at night in de cemetery. Well, dat's somepin ah wus scared tuh do, but ah had tuh do it. An' ah went an' found - [this man] say, ah must find where a little one wus buried an' jump across de grave three times, jes' frontwards dis way an' dis way backwards, an' frontwards ag'in, an' walk away from it an' don't look back at all, jes' keep on goin' regardless to whut chew hear, don't look back, until yo' git to de public highway and dat mean [here, public] street, an' den mah [bad] luck leave me. Ah [before this] wus out of a job, couldn't git no job or nuthin. An' ah felt dat it [the spell on me and the cure] wus true, 'cuz ah got a good job an' been workin' evah since.
(What cemetery did you go to?)
Laurel Grove, colored section dere. Yes sir, dere's white an' colored yo' know dere.
Entry 3774
Well ah'm tellin' yo' facts about dat, but ah'm tellin' yo' some things dat ah have heard - but it's actually. But now, would yo' lak to know how to remove dis spell? (What I could do or any man could do.) Anyone. Well, ah tell yo' somepin dat ah have heard about last year - year befo' last. An' dere ouz a man dat had some serious disease an' dey didn't know about, an' a lady wuz tellin' me what [would] it cost to remove dat. It would be a very small sum. Cost yo' prob'ly 15c. Well, I told de lady, I said, "Well, I know someone could relieve de spell." She said, "He's got money becuz he draws money from de Gov- ernment, an' he would be able to pay any amount - any price." I said, "Well, I know a person dat would remove de spell an' he wouldn't charge ovah $25, but I'm jes' a person, of co'se." [The preceding, I'm jes' a person, of co'se, means the speaker was not a doc- tor. She sold medicine, roots, powders, etc. Every aspect of the hoodoo field was known to her. She also had personality and brains.] She said, "Go ahead, ah'm goin' send 'im aroun' to talk to you." An' ah said, "Well, now, if yo' know de person really would have de money, ah'll talk to him, but if not, ah wouldn't care to talk to him; but ah know dat dis spell will be removed wit'in nine days." SHE SAID, "WELL, COULD YO' GIT IN TOUCH WIT DE MAN?" AH SAID, "YES, I SELL MEDICINE FO' HIM SOMETIMES. An' I could go to him wit de money an' I could git de medicine fo' him." Well, so when she sent 'im down, he wuz very anxious to talk wit 'im an' HE ACTUALLY PAID ME $25. WELL, NOW, AH TELL YO' WHUT CHEW GIT. DAT DOESN'T MEAN DIS PAHTIK'LAH SPELL REGARDLESS TO WHUT KIND OF WAY DEY PUT DAT SPELL ON YO'.
(THEY PUT IT ON IN DIFFERENT WAYS.)
MORE DAN TEN DIFF'REN' WAYS. Well, now, say fer instance, do yo' know whut bull's nettle are?
(It's a plant that little prongs [thorns] on it?)
[I WAS THINKING OF HORSE NETTLE WHICH I KNEW QUITE WELL.]
Has stingahs on it. Stingahs. Has somepin in de form of de way a bull's [something hangs]. Yo' see dat.
(It's a plant, isn't it?)
It's a plant, an' if yo' touch one of dose ball's, it will sting yo'.
(It's called the bull nettle?)
Bull nettle. Well yo' git de root of dat. It has de very form of a man's privates. Yo' have nevah seen dat?
(I have never seen that.)
[I have a few examples of root shapes in HooDoO, snake and man and woman being important. These and other shapes known and sought for centuries had been dying out in my time, with the disappearance of the old herb or root doctor who gather- ed his own roots. Perhaps the recent revival of witchcraft, all kinds of isms and superstitions, will revive the root trade.] Were yo' born in de South?
(No, I wasn't born in the South.)
Dey grow mostly in dis state [Alabama], Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia - roun' lak dat. Well, now, yo' go an' dig dis root up. It has de very shape of a man. Yo' take dat root an' dry it. Yo' keep it in a bottle of Hearts Cologne an' yo' git - it's anothah little plant, ah can't git it's name right dis minute, but ah will tell yo' latah.
[I turn off recording machine until she says, '"Like a tomato."]
(Like a tomato? Is it the castor oil plant?)
No, no, it's a plant dat has stickahs on it. (Tell the plot [rite or cure] to me. You might think of the name of the plant later on.)
[She tells another remedy for the same ailment.]
It's fer de same thing. But yo' know what cockleburs are?
(Yes.)
Yo' kin git nine cockleburs an' yo' kin mix 'em wit dis same root dat ah tole yo' an' put it in a bottle.
(You get the nine cockleburs and put them in this bottle with the bull nettle?)
Dat's right, an' put de contents of a 15c bottle of Hearts Cologne in dis bottle, an' den three tablespoons of urine.
(Whose urine?)
Dis person's urine, whoevah has dis spell on dem. An' yo' take a piece of new linen cloth, aftah dey have had dere bath in de mawnin' an' jes' bathe demselves wit dat pahtiklah stuff.
(This liquid.)
Dat's right. An' den make a tea of dis bull's nettle an' drink a swallah of it evah mawnin' fo' nine mornings, an' it will absolutely disappear.
(Take that spell off?)
Dat's right. An' WHEN DIS PERSON IS TAKIN' DIS TREATMENT, DEY ARE NOT SUP- POSED TO MENTION TO ANYONE DAT DEY ARE GOIN' UNDAH IT.
(They must keep it secret.)
[Several days later I asked Mrs. Brady to come for another interview, some of her material had been badly recorded.] Yo' remembah me tellin' yo' about de bull nettle. An' yo' remembah ah tole yo' dere wus anothah weed dat grow in de yard dat chew use in connection wit dat one pahtiklah weed. It's called tread salve - t-r-e-a-d s-a-l-v-e. It has a little yellah ball growin' on de weed somepin lak a tomato. Yo' know what dat [tomato] is. Well, yo' kin ask any southerner, dey kin tell you. Dey grows in all southern yards an' in de commons out in de fields or in de yards. [For the identity of this plant, see later.] Now dat is somepin fo' removin' de spell dat we were speakin' of - yo' know, dat people place on people. [I once thought preceding yellow tomato was the mayapple, Podophyllum pelta- tum, a plant I had known from childhood, having eaten its tasteless egg-shaped fruit. Later I realized it must be the maypop, a passionflower (described some- where in HOODOO), the Passiflora incarnata of the southern U. S. A.; also an in- sipid, yellow, applelike fruit.]
Entry 3812
Go an' git a bran'-new brick dat has nevah been used, an' yo' put it in yore fire an' git it red-hot. While dat brick is heatin', he make him a pep- pah tea wid dese pod peppahs. Git nine pods an' make a peppah tea of it, an' he po' 'bout a ten-cent drink of likkah into dis an' drink it hot. Well, when he drink it hot, he urin- ate on dat brick - take it out an' urinate on dat brick, an' dat'll bring it back. Dat's one way. (That will restore his nature, his courage that has been tied up by some woman.) Yes.
Entry 3869
Maybe yo' kin jes' ketch hold of 'em, yo' see, git hold of 'er - her sickness, yo' undahstand what I mean. Ministratin', yo' take dat an' yo' put dat in a bottle. Yo' un- dahstan', piece of it, piece of cloth or whatsomevah she use - cotton, whatevah it be. Take dat an' put it in a bottle. An' git yo' some of dis, de same thin' yo' call devil's-shoe- string see, [and] one of dose bottle of Hearts Cologne, an' one of High John de Conker. An' put dat in dere an' git yo' two nails an' one needle, see. If yo wanta, yo' could put three nails an' two needles, see. Den when yo' put de three nails an' two needles, why one of de nails counts fer de - one fer de Fathah, one fer de Son, an' one fer de Holy Ghost. An' put dat in a bottle togethah an' dem two nails [needles] count fer de conkerin' of de world. Put dat in a bottle to- gethah wit yore urinate, see. An' mix 'em an' stop it up tight, an' bury dat undah yore steps. An' whenevah she kin go; but she won't stay gone, see.
Entry 3992
If.anybody bites chew, makes a bruise on yuh, all yuh gotta do is git some of dere own urine an' rub it on de place, an' den yo' kin wipe it off. [This is the hair of the dog that bit you!] Co'se ah'd hate tuh put mah han's in somebody else's an' rub it on dat place. Said evah tooth in dere head will fall out in de long run. (In other words, if I bit you, you'd have to get my urine and wipe it on the bite. My teeth will come out?) Rub it on. Yuh teeth will shed - rot out by degrees.
Entry 4000
[If dey] hoodoo yuh at yuh place, tell yuh whut yuh do. Yuh go, yuh take some black molasses or else black [dark brown crude] sugar - molasses. Yuh take some cinnamon an' yuh take dere urinate, like yuh urinate tuhnight. Yuh don't let nobody touch dat. Yuh mix all dat tuh- gethah an' yuh go an' yuh scrub it. An' yuh scrub it aroun' an' yuh put it all down. Dat's tuh keep de police - de policeman'll come an' yuh'll see de policeman will pass. It goin' tuh draw a lot of flies - yo' see, dat sweet'nin' goin' tuh draw a lot of flies. De policeman will git - he'll git mos' [most] dere an' he'll turn aroun' an' go back. He'll have a mind tuh go in - yuh see yuh got, yuh get dose policeman but on dat beat. Yuh undahstan'? Yuh git dat one on dat beat. Well, if like yuh say, he intahfere wit business. Dey wouldn't be, only it de govern- ment man. It's all de same, yuh know. Yuh jis' take dis an' yuh jis' keep 'em. All dat will jis' bring in a crowd [of customers], dat cinnamon an' dat sugah an' dat. An' take some, take a lodestone an' put it all aroun' dere an' yuh scrub wit it an' jis' take dat an' do like dat. When de policeman come, yuh'll stan' up an' yuh talk wit 'im. Let 'im walk right on it. Don't be scared. He'll talk wit yuh an' when he come in he'll look aroun'. De policeman will be doin', he'll look aroun'. Yuh take yuh some cinnamon [bark], an' yuh take dat an' yuh be chewin' it. Yuh see, as dey be comin' on in dere an' yuh let 'em look like dey goin' searchin', look fo' de likkah [liquor], all yuh be doin' jis' aroun', stirrin' aroun', chewin' yuh cinnamon. An' yuh'll take yuh - like yuh be's here an' yuh think dey are comin' an' yuh start tuh scrubbin' like yuh always scrub. Aftah while dey'll say, "Aw, come on, let's go. Dere ain't nuthin here. Dat jis' low-down done [information] we got. We didn't git de dope, de right dope." Yuh see, den dey go away. Yuh keep de policeman away. Well, dey won't come back.
Entry 4035
(All right, go ahead.)
Well, dey git holt of some of yuh chamber lye. Dey take dat chamber lye an' go tuh de drug sto' an' git some calmels powdah [calomel].
(Get what kind of powder?) Calmels. (Cal - what they take for - in the stomach?) Nawsir [no sir], dis calmel yo' put on sores. Calomel. (Calomel. All right.)
An' put it in dere an' take dat chamber lye an' sprinkle it aroun' yuh house, an' yuh'll move.
(I see.)
Entry 4038
Fer a instant [instance], ah wanted mah ole lady - she wuz doin' bad things, see. I would take an' place a aig up undah de steps an' ah would put it in some urinate. An' ah would place dat egg up undah de front steps, jes' put dis aig in dere - jes' de natchal [natural] eggshell - ah could make her stay at home. Ain't any way she could leave home, long as dat aig an' urinate is undah de steps. (You take just the fresh egg. You don't take the yellow or white or anything out. The whole egg. Just any kind of a chicken egg?) No, de whole aig, any kinda chicken aig. An' place - stick a pin into de end of it. Long as dat aig stay undah dere. See, put de urinate intuh a can, an' place de egg intuh de urinate, an' place in undah de steps.
(Where she can see it?)
Where she can't see it. An' evah time she walk ovah it, she'll gits worsah [worser]. Ain't no way she kin leave home, cuz when she walks dere fo' 'bout two-three mawnin's it takes de 'vantage of 'er.
Entry 4086
Yo' take a peach or banana, or lak if yore husban' lak bananas an cream, yo' know, lak dat fo' breakwus [breakfast]. Well yo' take dis banana, peaches - I won' say peaches becuz I haven't used dat, I use bananas. An' pee in a pan at night an let dese bananas soak in 'em ovahnight, an' de nex mawnin' use dem in corn flakes or cream. Dat's fo' love.
(Would he taste that?)
No, sir. Yo' cain't taste it at all.
(You mean the sugar kills the taste?)
Yes.
Entry 4094
If a fellah loved a gurl, he would take his chamber lye. She be jes' walkin' along [and you see her] an' HAVE YO' SOME CANDY. CHOCOLATE CANDY. WHY YO' KIN JIS' TAKE IT OUT - TAKE IT OUT AN' PEE ON DAT CANDY SEE AN' LET IT DRY OFF, AN' CARRY IT AN' GIVE IT TUH 'ER AN' LET 'ER EAT IT. Well, dat makes 'er love strongah fo' him. She love him.
Entry 4154
Yuh kin take de individual's cham- ber lye an' some cayenne peppah an' also some of dere hair, an' yuh kin run 'em outa town. (What do you do with all that stuff then?) Yuh bury it.
Entry 4191
Dey say take a needle, a goldeye needle, an' stick it in de stoppah of a bottle. But yuh gotta axe dis certain somebody fo' a penny, if yuh want 'em tuh give yuh some money, see. An' take dis penny an' his hair out de top of 'is head, an' put dis hair in dat bottle an' a penny, an' use some of 'is urinate an' keep dat. Stick nine goldeye needles in dat stoppah, an' dat'll make 'e [= he = him] give yuh money. But yuh gotta git dat penny from 'im.
(But you put your own [his] urine in the bottle?)
Yes.
(But you get that penny from the man?)
Yeah, from who yuh want de money.
(You just keep this bottle?)
Yes.
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 4195
A three ounce bottle will hold three ounces. Yuh put three tablespoon- ful of urine in dis bottle. Yuh put de contents of one bottle of Hearts Cologne - yuh see dat's tuh dispose of de urine odor. An' yuh put a piece of lodestone de size of a pea in dis. Yuh put nine small needles in dat bottle an' if yuh are angry wit me - jis' like now [if] ah made yuh angry wit me, yuh git nine grains of spice an' drop in dat bottle [with this] an' say, "Well, ah want chew tuh always be pleased wit me, it is not my desire tuh have enemies." Dat person will immediately git in good humor wit yuh de very nex time yuh see dem. Dey will meet yuh wit a pleasant smile. Well now, not only dat, yuh kin put nine grains of spice in dere, if de boss is de only one dat is angry wit yuh. Dat works for dat one person. Well, maybe yuh do dat dis mawnin', an' it might be a week latah dat someone else will git angry wit yo'. Well now, let me tell yuh about a lady livin' on South Union Street in Mont- gomery [Ala.]. Well, at one time ah had a [little trouble with a woman] an' dis woman she wuz very angry wit me, an' ah had heard about dis [hoodoo] woman, an' a woman tole me, said, "If yuh go tuh dat woman, she sure goin' tuh tell yuh jis' whut tuh do." An' evahthin' worked out all right. She [hoodoo woman] said, "Dis woman will not appear in co't ag'inst chuh." Well, ah didn't har'ly believe it, but ah jis' thought ah would go on anyway. But de woman wuz one of de worst enemies ah had. I went tuh dis [hoodoo] woman an' she fixed dis bottle fo' me - tole me tuh fix it an' tole me jis' as ah have tole joo. Tole me tuh drop de spice in dere, an' ah did dat. Dis is true: Dis woman came ovah tuh mah house 'bout a half an hour befo' co't an' she tole me, she says, "Ah'm not goin' tuh court ag'inst yuh or no one else. It jis' came tuh me dat ah'd be doin' de wrong thin'. Ah'm not goin' do it." Den ah know it wuz workin'.
Entry 4198
Yuh kin take a person chamber lye an' put nine brass pins in it - any- body chamber lye - kin put nine brass pins in it an' put it intuh a dry place where it will be air- tight, where no light can't hit it, an' as long as dat pins an' dat chamber lye is stopped up in dat bottle, dat person al- ways complain of pains in dere stomick.
(That gives them stomach pains.)
Entry 4205
Yuh know, yuh kin take a man's watah an' yuh stop it up in a bottle an' tote it. Yuh put nine needles an' nine grains of cinnamon - er [I mean] mixed spice, allspice dey call it, in a bottle. (You put just nine grains of allspice.) Nine grains of allspice an' nine goldeye needles, nine pins. Turn de nine needles one down an' one up, one down an' one up, an' de pins de same way. An' den yuh take an' hang dat up somewhere back in a cornah where he won't find it. An' he can't fool wit no othah woman - stop it airtight an' he can't fool wit no othah Woman.
Entry 4214
She kin git some of 'is urine, dat'll be his watah, see, an' dey tell me dat dey kin go an' git some of dis Hearts Perfume, 25c a bottle, an' put 'er nine drops in dat an' keep it right de middle part of 'er bed [a quincunx], de bedtick yuh see, fo' nine days. An' dat'll keep 'im from runnin' aroun'. He stay at home den mo' den evah. He won't wanta leave home. She can't hardly leave him. She tell him sometime, why don't he go out somewhere. He tells 'er, "No, ah don't wanta go, want tuh stay here wit chew." Yestahday he been goin' all de time, see, night an' day. A ole lady showed me dat about thirteen or fo'teen years ago.
Entry 4244
Yuh kin take a person's chamber lye an' git chew some table salt an borax an' dat'll, dat'll put 'em outa business or - jis' lak if yuh's some woman who wanted [to] git a place. In case if yuh wanted tuh git a place an' yuh couldn't git in dere 'lessen dey [the person who had the place or job] wuz out, why den yuh take chamber lye.
(Whose chamber lye?)
Git some of yuh own chamber lye. Take yuh chamber lye an' table salt an' some borax. Yuh go dere an' jis' po' it aroun' de place an' it won't be long 'fore he [the person holding the place or job] be outa dere.
(You pour it around the place where he works or around his house?)
Aroun' de place where he work. Jis' go dere some days [nights?], jis' take it an' go right roun' de do', front an' de back.
(That is to get the other fellow's job?)
Dat's tuh git de othah fellah's job.
Entry 4262
She takes dis bottle of sweet watah - she makes it, I mean puts sugah in rain watah an' make it jis' lak syrup. She puts dat name in dere an' she shakes it up. She take dis bottle an' she put it bottom up, or eithah she put it on de side of de bed where he used tuh lay, an' he comin' back. Any time she take an' shake it up he comin' back. Or, eithah she could take his urine an' she could jis' - she gits a small tin lamp an' she takes 'is name an' she sets it in dere. She writes 'is name nine times. Write it [demonstrates] dis way an' she turns it [sheet of paper] dere, she write backwa'd an' fo'ward dataway. An' she always puts 'er name on de top.
(These are written in cross fashion?)
[Not names crossing at right angles in form of a cross, but his name is writ- ten 9 times, one under the other; then the sheet is turned and her name is writ- ten across his names. In this fashion names are written backwa'd an' fo'ward.] Yes sir. See, when she folds it, she folds it tuh her an' she sticks in dis- got to be a little small lamp - tin lamp. An' she drops it down in dere an' she lights de lamp an' she speak tuh dis lamp. [Small lamp rites are common in New Orleans, many of them scattered through text.] An' in three days - nine days be de longest - he will be back.
(WHAT DOES SHE DO WITH HIS URINE?)
She puts it in a bottle. She takes it an' she shakes it up dataway, wit 'is name in dere.
(I See, THE SAME AS WITH THE SUGAR WATER?)
Yes.
Entry 4269
If yo' got a man.
(What?)
If yo' got a man, take his urinate an' stop it up in a bottle, an' put nine [new] nails an' nine new tacks, see. An' stand it up on its head. See, dat's when he is cross an' fussy. An' sweeten dat up an' jis' keep shakin' it up. See, when he come in cross, git dat bottle an' shake it up. See, an' dat.
(That will sweeten him up.)
Entry 4299
Ah tell yuh whut she could do tuh make him come back tuh 'er. If she got any of 'is undahclothes, if he left any of 'is undahclothes dere, she would take his undahshirt an' 'is drawahs an' wash 'em, see. Wash 'em in some cleah watah. Don't put no soap in it, jis' take de cleah watah an' rinse it off. Take dis watah yuh undahstan', from 'is undahclothes an' put it in a bottle. Bury it undah 'er front steps, yuh undahstan', an' go dere fo' nine mawnin's an' pee on dis bot- tle. Ah'll guarantee yuh [he] won't fool wit no othah woman an' yo'll [he'll] come back dere an' go on in wit 'er [live with her again].
(You leave this bottle standing upright like that?)
No, turn it up.
(Turn it upside down?)
Turn dat upside down wit de watah offa yuh clothes in dere, yuh undahstan'.
turning the bottle upside down after rejecting upright orientation. Keep the full upright→No→upside-down exchange; upright is rejected, not an alternative instruction. washing/rinsing the man’s underclothes with clear water and no soap. Do not restate it as soap washing or discard the collected rinse-water purpose. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 4300
She said she cut dis piece of 'is clothes, cut out a roun' plug. Ah reckon de plug mus' have been dat roun' [demonstrates], jis' 'bout de size of a dollah. Cut it outa de seat of 'is drawahs. She said she took it an' put it in a bag an' put some fish brine salt in dere wit it. An' she said, an' carried it on de no'theast cornah of 'er house an' dug de hole an' put it in dere. She said evah mawnin' befo' de sun rise she'll go roun' dere an' make watah on it. She done it fo' nine mawnin's, she said. An' dey say he left here an' nevah did come through here [Richmond] no more. [Richmond, Va., (340), 373: l, about 1929 in Richmond.]
Entry 4312
[Here is a rite that may have been widespread and fairly common at one time, but I found few examples of it - the urine rite.] Take plain table salt an' each time dey go out, she kin throw it behin' dem. An' some people will jis' urinate behin' dem people. Ah've know dat tuh make em move.
(The salt itself will make them move?)
Jis' plain table salt, dat's it.
(If that person urinates behind them, that'll make them move?)
Dat'll make dem move.
(Well, how would they urinate behind them?)
Dey watch fo' dem, or some people will hold it fo' jis' dat length of time. If somebody goes out an' dat dey jis' hate 'em an' don't want 'em, yuh know, dey jis' squat behin' dem an' jis' do dat, an' den take de broom an' sweep it right straight out behin' dem.
Entry 4316
She kin take 'is urinate an' In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, an' she kin take it an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up real tight, an' bury it undah de do'step, an' when he go he have tuh come back.
Entry 4319
Well, now, say fo' instan' [for an instance] if a woman has a husban' or a man dat is hard tuh handle, an' say dat he chases aroun' wit othah women an' she wants tuh take pos- session of 'im. She scrape de dead skin from de bottom of 'er foot an' she git a pint bottle or a half-pint bottle - howevah, an' she'll fill it full of his.
(Of what?)
A pint bottle of urine. She must have de slop jar, she must have dat perfec'- ly clean. She must see dat don' anybody urinate in dis jar but him. Now when she take dis bottle wit a screw top, an' she'll po' it two-thirds full of dis urine. Now she'll put de scrapin' from de bottom of 'er foot in dere an' she'll set dis bottle back in a dark place where dat nobody will see it. An' each mawn in' she'll make de screw on dat top fo' nine mawnin's, an' wit de last time she screw it, it wants tuh be tight where she cain't screw it no mo', yo' undahstan'. Den she keeps dat bottle back an' dat's supposed tuh make dis fellah jis' de same as a baby, easy tuh handle. Whatevah she says goes.
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 4357
Take dey chamber lye an' stop a person. (How do they do that?) Well, dey take it an' dey put it in a bottle an' dey bottle dat up fo' nine mawnin's. An' dey'll put peppah, salt, gunpowdah, war watah an' dey stop dat up fo' nine mawnin's. An' dat'll stop yuh from urinatin', see. Dat'll almos' run yuh crazy. Den dey throw it in de rivah.
Entry 4358
I've seen this experimented to get rid of a man. I mean to make him leave town. Get a little of his urine, be sure it's all his, put it in a bottle, get a cigar box, put it in that, and one of his socks, just one of his socks, in the box, let it be dirty, wrap that box up, wrap it just the same as a piece of paper, throw it in running water so it'll go down the stream, it will not sink, and he'll leave town. Both the bottle and sock in there.
Entry 4361
Well, if dey wan' 'im tuh go away, dey will take a lock of de right head - hair on de right side, two or three locks of it - right side of de head, an' put it in a bot- tle an' put some urine in it, an' throw it away in a stream dat goes - tuh a stream dat goes up [river], carry it up, so dey [he] will go. Well, it's jis' de opposite if dey wan' 'im tuh come back, dey take it [hair] off de left side an' throw it in a stream comin' in tuh 'em - vice aversy. [This is a tide- water stream, coming in and going out.]
Entry 4362
They take the underclothes and they can cut a piece out of the man from under his arm or from the tail of the shirt and wear it on a person. They sew that up in a piece of red flannel. They take that and satu- rate it, you know, with the same in- gredients, urine and Hearts Cologne. [This, of course, is a hand - pp.519-669.] They say then they can control 'em like that. Or they can take them and throw them away. They can carry them back in the woods and hang 'em up on the west side of a tree where the wind just blows and wears it all the time. They say whenever that blows and wears down from up there, why then the person will die. But chew got a new cord, like this wrappin' twine. You get that right off from the ball, right off from the cord where there's never any been pulled off, and fasten it on that tree or bush or what chew put it on. But you put it so the wind can blow it and the rain beat it. And whenever this cord rots, you see, and that blows away from where it's at, they say the person then'll soon die.
Entry 4363
[The wearing of urine (see p.503f.)and bathing or washing hands with it (see p.660f.) 1s fairly common and some of these rites are scattered throughout the text of HooDoO. Here follow a few more:] Ah heard mah grandmothah say dey could take a person's chamber lye an' stop it up an' cause 'em not tuh make watah. Jes' lak ah'd be goin' wit a man an' ah love him. Well, when he'd make his watah - yuh know ah wouldn't do it, but ah hear some people say dat chew could take it while it wuz hot an' wear it.
(Well, how would you wear it?)
Wear it in a sack aroun' yuh waist, near yuh, yuh know.
(Near your own privates?)
Yeah.
(And then what would that do?)
Make him love yuh. [Three widely separated periods following her yuh (see original transcription of MS) show that I stopped recording here, but restarted machine to add as a question the substance of what informant had said: that a menstrual cloth could be soaked with his urine.]
(You just soak this cloth that you wear?)
Uh-huh.
Entry 4578
Take dat bow. Hit stands in de back of de man's hat. Take dat bow an' take nine needles an' nine pins an' stick 'em evahwhah in dat bow crossed up yuh possibly kin. An' when yuh git 'em all fixed in dat bow lak it supposed tuh be - naow [now] a woman kin fix dat fo' a man an' run 'im crazy - an' take it an' put it in a bottle. An' put some, fill de bottle half up wit table salt, an' den fill de bottle clean up wit 'er urine an' stop dat bottle up. Turn it upside down an' stick it mos' any kin'a cornah or any kinda drawah or [place] up ovah de head or anywhere, but jes' since it's outa sight in a dark place. An' dat man'll go sta'k [stark] crazy.
Entry 4807
Why yuh kin cut de seat outa man's drawahs. Yuh kin take de seat from a man's drawahs an' hold 'im too. He cain't leave yuh, he have tuh stay wit yuh. An' yuh take de seat outa woman's drawahs, why it will dreen [drain] 'er.
(What do you do with the seat of a man's drawers?)
Why yuh take de seat of a man's drawahs an' take an' keep 'em. Take dem an' use dem jis' as though yuh would fo' a sanitary cloth, jis' lak if yuh go tuh de lavatory or any place, always have dat wit chew. Always have dat wit chew. Yuh wipe yuhself wit it an' git chure urinate an' evehthin' on it. Don't nevah wash it, jis' continly [continually] keep it. Yuh takes de seat outa woman's drawahs an' take it an' ball it right nice, roll it real tight, jis' lak yuh roll it dataway [demonstrates]. Always roll it from yuh lak dat. Yuh take hit an' yuh puts it in a bottle an' stop dat bottle up tight. Yuh know, jis' as she wore it. Yuh know, it have tuh be soiled drawahs or somepin othah lak dat. Put it in dat bottle. An' yuh put it in dere, stop it up real tight, as tight as yuh kin, aftah yuh put jis' about a teaspoonful of watah in dere. An' when yo' stop it up, yuh kin go an' bury it any place yuh Wanta, or yuh kin throw it away if yuh wanta. Jis' as long as it stopped up in dat, she will jis' dreen [drain] away tuh nuthin, jis' lak somebody dat's gone into T. B. She usely [usually] be sick all de time. An' nuthin will do her no good, not until somebody actly [actually] find dat bottle or bust it up or sompin of de kind. See, where de air could hit it dere, dat gives 'er relief. But Wit'out dat she don' have any.
(Did you ever hear of them taking a black bottle?)
No suh.
Entry 5004
Dey kin take yore socks or stockin's an' jis' make yuh do anythin' dat dey wan'a do, aftah dey are dirty; but if dey clean, dey cain't do yuh nuthin. (Now how - what would they do with that?) Well, fo' a instant [instance]; jis' lak mah husban' treat [mistreat] me. All right. Now, mah husban' go on away an' wants 'im back. Take dose socks, de lef' one - or if yuh cain't git it, take de bow from 'is hat, or de stockin', an' put some sugah in it an' urinate on dere. Bury dat. An' evah three time a day read de 23rd Psalm.
(Three times a day. At different hours?)
In de mawnin' about six, twelve, an' six in the evenin' [formula 6-12-6, see p.830]; nine day.
Entry 5057
Yuh kin take a woman's stockin' an' urinate on it an' jis' take a lil Hearts Cologne an' wrap it up tight an' put it in yore pocket, an' dat woman will go crazy long as dat stockin' wrapped up in a tight bow, an' yuh keep it anywhere on yuh. De man's sock de same way. (That makes her go crazy about him?) "Bout 'im, long as yuh have dose stockin's or socks anywhere 'bout chew.
Entry 5339
Well, yo' see, jes' lak if ah's walkin' across de street - yo' know, if ah wanta do yo' a injury, ah'd go dere an' ketch chure track, dig it up an' put it in a bottle an' pee on it, an' put salt an' peppah, an' jes' stop it up an' bury it in de groun'. An' dey pine away. Dey wouldn't live but a few mo' months aftah dat.
(What foot tracks do they pick up? Both of them?)
No, jes' one, de left foot.
Entry 5693
Now, jis' lak yo' say at de start back dere, ah would wan'a do yo' some evil. An' ah'd git up between midnight an' day jis' befo' de sun rise, but ah'd have tuh have some of yore urine watah or yore track. An' ah'd take dat an' ah'd mix it wit - it ain't powdah, it's a quick- silvah [and] brimstone. Yo' take dat brimstone an' ah'd have some of yore urine watah an' yo'd mix some bluestone wit, jis' lak yo' say. An' yo' take dat an' yo' git chew a tin box, yo' know, whut de lid will fasten down on, an' yo' put dat in dat box. Yo' bo' li'le holes in de bottom of de box. Yo' don' put no liquid in dat, jis' dat powdah. An' den set dat - de sun goin' tuh rise, yo' set it dis way [demonstrates]. Yo' don' lay it complete down, jis' kinda tilt it. Yo' set it so when de sun rise it'll come ovah it. Brimstone, bluestone an' quicksilvah.
(You bury that towards the sunrise.)
Yes, toward de sunrise. Yo' see de sun rise on it an' go ovah. Dis part of it tuh de sunrise. An' dat li'le box, whosomevah is doin' dis, dey got some words dey use three times a day: in de mornin' dey uses some words, dinnahtime dey use some words, when de sun go down dey use dose same words.
(What do they use?)
Entry 5748
In case yore lovah is gone 'way from yuh ag'in an' yo' wanta bring 'im back, yo' kin take yore foot track de way he's gone. Take de track an' pull it back towards yo', an' put it in some of yore urination an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up. An' dat will bring 'im back, an' she kin keep im. (Where do you keep this bottle then?) Oh, yo' know de do'step, if yo' have a steps. Put it undah de do'steps. If not, put it somewhere where he could walk ovah it.
(How many tracks do you take, just one track?)
One track, his right track. Git it - yo' know, bring it back towards yo', as he goes from yo'. See, yo' wanta bring 'im back to yo' [demonstrates].
(Bring the toe back to the heel.)
Entry 5749
Dey take yore foot track, take it up, yo' know, jis' lak it is, an' turn it aroun' an' p'int it tuh dem, an' put some of dere watah in dat. Yo' know, make a ball of it. (Make a what of it?) Make a ball - you know, wet it 'nuff tuh ball it up, yo' know, lak a snowball. (Oh! Oh! Make a mud-ball.) Yes, yes, but wet it wit some of yore watah, yore urine.
(I see.)
An' den yo' bury dat undah yore do'step. Dat brings 'em tuh yo'.
(Oh, that brings them to you.)
Yes. (I see. Well, who would do that? Some woman, a woman would do that to bring a man to her?) Or a man eithah. Make no diff'rence.
Entry 5750
Ah heard dey pick up foot track, in hollah of it. Dey tell me dey puts dat in somepin an' puts quicksilvah wit it.
(What do you mean, they put it in something?)
Dey put it in somepin like a jar or a cup or anythin' like dat an' dey puts quicksilvah wit it. An' dey tells me, yo' know yore urinate, well dey tell me dey will po' dat ovah it fo' so many days. An' dey tells me de zo' dey po' dat ovah it an' keep it shet up tuh time dat dry, it dries up a per- son, drifts 'em away-lak.
(Whose chamber lye do they put on there?)
Dere own.
(The person that is doing the bad work?)
Yes.
(That's to dry them up.)
Entry 5752
Take de dirt outa yore tracks an' put it in a tobacco sack, an' dey'll write on it an' stick it up. An' dey'll put urinate on dat, stick up dere, an' let it dry. An' dat'll cuz yo' tuh be jis' awandahin' an' leave. An' lak dat, dey could take yore tracks, take up yore tracks lak dat, an' persons dat wuz - lak two persons wuz goin' togethah. Dey ould separate two persons by takin' de dirt outa yore track lak dat.
(And what would they do with that dirt that they took up like that?)
Dey'd make watah on it an' tie it up. Let it dry an' den scattah it about. Dey would scattah an' dey would jis' leave.
Entry 5754
Yo' could take dere track an' take it an' put it in a piece of cloth ='drap a drop of yore watah on it fo' nine mawnin's. An' take it an' string it roun' yore neck an' let it go right 'long heah tuh dis li'le hollah heah [points to].
(In the breast.)
An' he'll come tuh love yo' an' yo' an' 'im will git along all right, no mat- tah how much yo'all been fell out. Dat jis' got 'im an' yo' right tuhgethah. (If two men are fighting and quarreling, or if you were fighting and quarrel- ing with somebody else, you could make him be peaceful with you by taking his foot track and doing this. You wear it right down here underneath the rib bones?) Yessuh.
Entry 5755
Ah said dat, if yo' have a loved one an' a husban' or a wife an' she's very jealous, dey tell me dat chew kin take a track an' sew it up in a piece of homespun wit nine drops of olive oil an' 'is urine an' let it dry up. (How much urine?) Three or fo' drops.
Entry 5806
Ah said dey would put it in a bottle. (What would they take?) Dey would take some of yore urine. Yuh know whut dat is don't chew? An' put in dat wit dat. (Tell me right from the beginning everything they do. What do they put in the bottle?) De hair, an' den dey put in alcohol wit dat. Hit'll make it grow yuh know. An' hit carry yuh right off. Yuh can't stay dere in dat place.
(You told me they kept it in there a certain length of time.)
Ten days.
(And where do they keep that bottle?)
Oh, somewhere close in de house - undah de bed, sompin lak dat.
(What do they do after they keep it ten days?)
Dey take it an' bury it.
(And what will that do to you?)
Dat will run yuh, won't let chew come back no mo'. [To bury something of yours to run yuh is not logical, but intention is everything in hoodoo.]
Entry 5825
If she kin git holt of a piece of 'is hair - if he's left any of 'is bair, if it ain't but two or three strands of it in a comb, yo' take dat hair der an' put it intuh a black bottle. An' den pee on dat bottle, an' at de bottom of 'er do'step turn dat bottle - dig a hole an' turn dat bottle face foremost right down In de ground. An' if he's close enough tuh be back in three days, he'll be back In three days. Jes' dat little piece of hair.
Entry 6093
Yo' want to know how to make a wumman stay wit yo' or sompin lak dat. Dey said yo' - well, yo' do her jes' lak yo' do a man. Take her watah or take de hair off 'er haid. Yo' take, yo' know offa both places an' keep cologne on it an' keep pee on it. Jes' wear it all de time, keep it in yore pocketbook.
Entry 6233
Dey could git chure hair an' go tuh a hole, if dey wanted tuh run yuh crazy. Go tuh a hole of a tree an' - bo' a hole in a tree an' put de hair in it. An' git some of yuh nurinate whut chew done, an' put in dat hole an' stick a peg in dere. An' drive dat peg fo' nine mawnin's. An' if yo' didn't go crazy, dey say it would kill yuh.
Entry 6263
Eithah a man or woman, eithah one, git holt of yore hair, undahstan', an' weah aroun' dem. Take an' wet it wit dere pee, yo' undahstan', an' weah it tuh a string, weah it aroun' yo'. Yo' wanta git 'er, yo' see, where yo' wanta. (What do you do that for?) Well, yo' do dat tuh keep anybody else from intahferin' wit yo' an' 'er. Urine de bes' stuff in de worl' tuh wet it.
Entry 6266
Yo' git a Adam-an'-Eve [root] an' put it in a bottle, an' git a stran' off de haid, [or] down below - mostly [they get] de hair de bes' [best] way dey kin, if dey have any con- nection wit it, dey'll git a piece. An' dey'll put dat in a bottle an' urinate a li'le in dere. Den dey stop dat up an' put dat undah de fron' step. Dat'll make dem part.
Entry 6267
Now, jes' lak if dey wanted yo' or loved yo' or somepin, dey would take yore hair an' put it - yo' know, jes' put it in a li'le bag or somepin - li'le ole red flannel or somepin lak dat, sew it up. Put cologne on it, jes' a li'le Hearts Cologne, an' keep it - jes' weah it, keep it. An' den dey take dere watah - yo' know, pee on it. Dat's whut dey tell me dey do wit dat.
(Why Would they do this?)
To make dem love yo'; yo' see, care fo' yo'.
Entry 6270
Well, yo' take - jes' lak yo' want someone go blind, or ah want chew tuh go blind, see. Well, yo' take mah hair an' some of mah urinate an' a little of whut pass from mah bowels, an' yo' put it in de stove an' yo' brown it. Well now, yo' brown it an' git it up tuh a good powdah. An' jes' lak [I] pass yo', yo' see, an' yo' standin' at a place an' ah see yo' pass. Well, ah may pass an' ah'll see.yo' an' ah'll throw mah han' lak dat [demonstrates]. Well, yo' see, when ah throw mah han' - have it in mah han' - an' ah do dat wit it. Yore eyes is - [changes person] dis is in mah eyes an' ah'm goin' blind.
(Makes you go blind.)
Entry 6271
Jes' fo' instance, say, if yo' were livin' wit a woman an' jes' say, yo' wanted tuh leave 'er an' she wanted yo' back. She had a lock of yore hair. Den she would put in some nails, rusty - dey'd have tuh be rusty - rusty nails an' about nine or ten rusty needles. Put 'em in a bottle an' urinate see on it. Den whenevah she's ready fo' yo', she'd prob'ly shake de bottle an' git it all upset. It won't be long 'fore yo' git back dere. [The shaking of bottled urine, also other substances is a common rite, shaking should be indexed as a magic rite.]
Entry 6273
Dere's a way to run a woman crazy so dey say. Dey take a small bottle an' put urine in it, an' put de hair down in it an' stop it up, an' throw it in a stream of water. It will go an' yo' will nevah git chure mind back unless somebody will discovah where dat bottle went an' bring it back an' uncork it. [For 2 remarkable examples of doctors recovering floating spells and destroying them, see 920, p.338; 921, P.339.]
Entry 6276
If yo' want a person tuh be crazy about choo, yo' kin take dere hair an' a roun' piece 'bout dat big [demonstrates] outa dere sock, of each sock. (About the size of a dollar?) No, about de size of aquartah or half [dollar]. Den yo' ball dat hair up tight an' yo' put it in dose two pieces of sock an' yo' sew it up tight. An' aftah yo've done dat, yo' take dat an' yo' soak it in 'is urine nine days. Put it in today, let it stay, an' take it out; put it in tomorrah an' take it out, fo' nine days; an' den yo' weah dat about yore per- son, as close to yore privates as yo' possibly kin, an' dat'll make dat person automatic'ly crazy about choo as long as yo' weah it. An' of co'se if yo' happen tuh lose it or throw it away, dat breaks de spell.
Entry 6500
Dey scrape it offen de feet an' den dey take dem fingahnails, dey trim dose, an' dey git de dirt off de toenails, from undah de toenails an' undah de feet, an' put all dat tuhgethah an' powdah dat up an' dry it. Den when dey git dat powdah up, dey put dat in a bottle. Dat's when yo' want 'em tuh love yuh an' yo' can't do 'em no harm. Yo' put dat in a bottle an' den yo' fill dat bottle wit chure urinate wit dat stuff, an' let it sit dere nine days befo' dey use it. Den aftah de nine days whenevah dey fix yo' a meal or anythin' lak dat tuh eat, or anythin' tuh drink, dey will put a teaspoonful of dat in there fo' yo'. Well, den dat gits chew jis' dey way. Gits yuh down undah dere foot an' yo' can't do no mo' den dey wan' chew tuh do.
Entry 6663
They kin take a spider an' they kin kill yo' with that. Well, they give it to yo' in lickrish [sometimes licorice, here liquid]. They put it in water or let him soak in there and die, or they put it in urine or whiskey, or they put it in food. An' that'll kill yeh, a spider will.
Entry 6897
Lak if yo're hurt, den yo' kin take red onions, an' urination, sulphuh, salt, vinegah an' boil all dat tuhgethah an' bathe 'em down in it, an' dat will run de poison out of dem.
Entry 6973
Now if somebody put a spell on yo' or sompin lak dat, Wanta kill yuh - Well, yo' know, serious - sompin gonna knock yo' out right away, see. Well, ah tell yah how tuh git rid of dat. Yo' git some bluestone, yo' know, out de drug store an' make watah. Make yer own watah, jis' lak yo' nurinate, an' put it in a bottle. An' put dat bluestone in dere an' let it stay in dere a while. An' take it an' po' [pour] in a toi- let an' it'll sink an' let it go on out. Pull de chain [old-fash- ioned device] an' let it go on out. An' de same thin' which yo' [spellcaster] wanta happen tuh me will happen tuh yo'.
[This is called returning the spell.]
(That is if somebody has hurt you, put a spell on you.)
Entry 7247
Tuh make a woman an' a man stay tuhgethah, de firs' things ah heer'd, when ah wuz growin' up - yo' know, grown folks would be talkin' an' dey wouldn't be talkin' tuh me an' ah would ketch some of dese things. Ah'd be workin' roun' - co'se [of course], mah gran'- mothah an' aunts could heah things dat grown people said. Ah heer'd some things. She said dat one time dere wuz a woman had a fellah an' he liked anothah girl. Said de woman took an' washed 'er feet right good an' den washed 'er hands an' washed from undah 'er ahms an'aroun' 'er neck, an' she washed dose places about 'er body real clean. Said de firs' place she washed from undah 'er ahms an' she squeezed dat in de watah an' she goin' tuh give it tuh 'im in somepin tuh eat. An' dey say, aftah she squeeze dat in de watah, said den she washed ag'in an' ag'in squeezed dat in de watah. Washed in palm of 'er hand an' squeezed dat in de watah. Washed dis hand an' squeezed dat in de watah. Said den she turn roun' an' didn't wash once but de nex' time tuh make it clean, an' she washed undah de bottom of 'er feets, instead of washin' 'em out dat way, she washed 'em tuh 'er, an' den cross-marked 'er hand on each foot, an' she squeezed dat in de watah. Well, she said dat worked around all right fo' awhile, den dat wore off. Den she turned aroun' an' washed 'er feet an' scraped 'em an' took de dead skin from de foot an' put all of it tuhgethah an' put it in a pot an' boiled it. An' when she did boil dat, den she goes tuh work an' strains dis watah an' put dat in somepin tuh eat an' dat's whut kept him. Dey claim he follahed 'er each an' evahwhere she'd go. Den dey said it commence tuh weah [wear] off an' she got - it's anothah part about chew dat only be's once a month, an' she got dat. She got about half tea- spoonful of dat, counted tuh seven drops of dat an' put dat in it. An' dat kept 'im.
(She would only use seven drops of that?)
Yessuh. An' put dat in an' dose drops lasted a yeah - seven yeahs. Den anothah woman tole her tuh take a tablespoonful of weewee an' put it in, an' dat still kept 'im. Dat kept 'im awhile den an' den dat begin tuh weah [off]. She tole her tuh go an' buy some beefsteak, an' she bought dat. She tole her tuh take her fingah about 'erself an' take an' wipe it on dis an' po' gravy ovah it. An' dat kept 'im. She said dat kept 'im until death.
(You said one woman did all these things?)
One woman told all dis about one woman, an' dis one woman had so much trouble wit 'im. He wuz supposed tuh be a very nice-lookin' man, it seemed lak dat all de women wuz 'bout tuh take him, an' it seemed lak she intend tuh have him an she tried all dese things.
Entry 7684
Yo' go tuh a - if somebody troublin' yo' an' yo' jis' want 'em tuh git in trouble, see. Yo' go tuh a sinnah - yo' gotta know somebody wuz a wicked sinnah an' got killed - yo' see, a gamblah. Yo' go tuh 'is haid an' dig down about wrist deep. An' put three pen- nies dere an' jis' tell it - jis' lak yo' talkin' tuh in - jis' lakyo' know'im, say, "so- an'-so-an'-so, ah wan' chew tuh go tuh Such-an'-such-a-one an' give dem hell, jis' give dem hell. Wham! Fight 'em, make 'em fight. Make 'em kill if it's necessary." An' yo' put de pennies dere. Kivah [cover] de hole up an' go off. Walk off an' nevah look back. Yo' take dat graveyard dirt an' yo' ketch yore dog an' cut some hair off de end of 'is tail, see. All right, yo' ketch chew a ket [cat]. Yo' cut some hair off 'is haid an' 'is tail. An' yo' take dat dog an' cut jis' a li'le bit of hair out 'is fo'haid. Yo' git some of dis urinate, see. All right yo' git yo' some red peppah, table salt, put wit dat. An' yo go by where dem people stay an' jis' tell 'em [dirt and its ingredients] what chew want 'em do wit it. An' throw it.] Don't evah look back, keep goin'. An yo' ain't goin' be a minute off fo' yo' see 'em raisin' Sam [Sam = devil]. Dey goin' move from dere. Aftah while dey goin' move from dat state.
(That is to run them out of there, run them away.)
Dat's tuh run 'em away. Dat's hard tuh ovahcome. Now ah heah'n [heard] a man tell dat an' ah seen it work. See, fo' a fact he used tuh git me tuh go by dere sometime an' throw it dere. Dis ole Doctor Bush.
Entry 8006
[I have two versions of the story about Bowizer and his two wives, a tale concerning his mistreatment of first wife and his enslavement by second wife. Whether this is the remnant of a folktale or the beginning of a new one, or something actually factual, I do not know.] FIRST VERSION OF BOWIZER TOLD BY COUSIN Mah Cousin's brothah's wife [not speaker's cousin but cousin by marriage who had a brother who had two wives, this one the second], she taken down sick an she had doctors an' doctors an' doctors of all kind, an' none of 'em seemed tuh not tuh do 'er any good. An' he wus settin' down one day an' - dat wus 'is sec- ond wife. He wusn't good tuh 'is firs' wife, but 'is second wife, he wus so good tuh 'er. He'd wash an' scrub fo' her an' evah- thing. Jis' cook an' evahthin'. So somepin come tuh 'im an' tole 'im, say, "Yo"go an' look in de bottom of yuh trunk. Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk." Well, he'd set down dere an' nod, an' nod, an' nod. Be settin' up wit 'er an' nod, an' nod, an' he'd drowse, an' sompin would tell im ag'in. "Go an' look in de bottom of yuh trunk." So fine'ly sompin tole 'im, "Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk, " fo' about two weeks. An' so de nex' time sompin tole him, "Go look in de bottom of yuh trunk, " he got up an' went on an' looked in de bottom of 'is trunk. All kinds of fine things, jis' fine dresses, de finest kind of step-ins, bloomahs an' a big ole automatic, he didn't even know it wus in de house, wus in de bottom of dat trunk. An'.den dere wus a li'le coffin down in dere - a li'le coffin. Dere wus de seat of 'is undahweah, de centah of undah each ahm [arm] in dere, an' some of dis here, whut dey call cayenne peppah sprinkled down on dere. An' it wus de image of a person made from a stick.
(From a stick?)
Right on a piece of a board, yo' know, jis' in a image. Yo' know, jis' lak yo' take a board an' cut a image of a person, yo' know. An' den dey had dat private an' evahthing cut down dere. Yo' know, had it crossed. An' so dey had jis' down in dere jis' lak a coffin, made in de shape of a coffin. An' it wus closed up an' dere wus 'is name wrote in dere nine times. His name wrote down in dat, right down in dat coffin nine times. Some kind of a powdah wus in dere. A li'le bottle about dat high of urinate wus in dere an' de cork, li'le cork stoppah wus in it, yo' see, well it wus cut on each side, see cut on each side fo' de air tuh git in dere, an' it kin come out, yo' see. An' it wus settin' right straight up right by dat li'le image of 'is private, yo' know, settin' right by it. An' it wus closed up right in de bottom of de trunk. An' so dat's whut had 'im, kept 'im down. He couldn't git away from 'er. She would do anything dat she Wanted tuh do an' he'd be pleased at it, he jis' stayed at home, but wit 'is firs' wife he didn't do it.
(What did he finally do? Did he get the spell off of him or anything?)
Yes, he took dat li'le box out of dere an' took it tuh two-three fortune- tellahs. An' dey tole him, ast 'im who fixed 'im, an' he tole 'em, said, "It wus mah wife." Dey say, "Well, do yo' want 'er?" So he tole 'em, 'Yeah, ah loves 'er." Dey say, "Well, if yo' love her, yo' take dat box right back, set it right back where yo' got it from; but if yo' don't want 'er no mo', yo' take a jar an' put dat box in dere dat jar big enough jar tuh slip dat box in dere" - dat box no biggah'n jis' lak dat - "an' den yo' close it up an' go tuh a runnin' stream an' throw it in dere an' say, "She'll leave yuh wandahin'.
(Leave you what?)
Leave yo' wandahin', she'll wandah away. An' he did dat an' dat woman got up dere one mawnin', she got well an' evahthin'. She wusn't all dat sick. She wus jis', yo' know, actin' lak dat, playin' sick fo' him tuh do de work. She got up from dere an' left, tole 'im dat she wus goin' tuh town. An' she left from dere, didn't eat or nuthin. She didn't even take time tuh git 'er clothes. She jis' got worried an' jis' half crazy, an' she left from dere an' he don't even know where she's at.
(I thought he wanted to keep her?)
You say, if he wanted to keep her?
(I thought he told the fortunetellers he wanted to keep her?)
Said he loved 'er. He [fortuneteller] ast 'im did he love 'er.
(Yes?)
An' he tole 'em, said, yeah, he loved 'er. "So, well, yo' take dat box den an' put it right back where yo' - where it wus.
(Well, why didn't he do that?)
Well, he wanted tuh git out of de fix he wus in. but he didn't.know it wus goin' tuh run 'er away.
(I see.)
[If the reader missed it, do turn back to the first sentence of this first version: "she had doctors an' doctors an' doctors of all kind." These are unique words because the usual expression is, with variations, 'she had every doctor in town. "[Mobile, Ala., (679), 975:3.] So mah brothah, Bowizah, had a wife, firs' wife. He didn't do nuthin jis' run roun' all de time. But ah'm tellin' yo' dis here whut ah know from experience. Ah ain't tellin' somepin whut somebody say dey know. So he ma'ied anothah woman an' she had 'im so she'd go out, she run roun' an' she do whut she please. He couldn't he'p 'imself. He wash an' he scrub an' sweep - do evahthin' in de worl' he could an' he couldn't quit 'er. So one day he wus 'tendin' our garden an' somepin tole him look in 'is trunk. So he went tuh de trunk an' looked in it an' seen all kin' raimints - clothes, shoes - evah- thin' wus in dere. An' he didn't know it wus in de house. So dis [same inner voice] says somepin tuh 'im, "Look in [the bottom of] dis trunk." An' so he looked in de bottom an' dere wus a small casten [or castit = casket] 'bout dat long [demonstrates].
(What?)
Casten - coffin. An' it had de seat of 'is undahweah cut out an' right up undah his sleeve [demonstrates].
(Under his arm, the left arm.)
Yes, sir, his left ahm. An' he got it out an' ca'd [carried] it tuh one of de men's [a doctor] an' de man put it in one dese fruit jahs [jars] an' screwed it tight an' put it in a runnin' stream. So he say one mawnin' she woke up an he run 'er out dat house an' he ain't saw 'er since.
Entry 8390
Now, dis photograph, if yo' wanta kill a woman or kill a man, yo' take de pichure an' bury it in de ground. Turn de face tuh de ground an' yo' po' pee all ovah it, an' den yo' covah it up. An' dis pichure, aftah yo' do dis pichure lak dis, dis person will die. Or yo' kin live undah six months, den dey'll die.
Entry 8519
Well, dey take de nine needles, an' aftah takin' de nine needles, write de name down nine times, whosomevah fellah it is, or de woman, den write chure name down nine times down on top of dat. Den aftah dat yo' put de cinnamon an' sugah in dere, an' de urinate, into de coconut. Den kick it from de front do' tuh de back do' nine times, fo' nine times. Take an' throw it ovah intuh de rivah. Dat guarantee tuh dry 'em up. Stop any woman in de worl'. Dry dem up, run 'em stoneZy crazy.
[The latter expression is usually stone crazy.]
(Dries up their urine? Kills them?)
Kills 'em yeah. (The person who is killed, you have to take that person's urine to put in that coconut?) Yeah, yo' take dat lady's urine, de one dat chew wanta fix, an' write dere name nine times. Den yore name on top of dat nine times. (You write his or her name nine times that way. Then you write yours on top of it like that?) Yeah. all on top of dat nine times. [New Orleans. La., (1561). 2857:7.]
Entry 10277
To fix him up. Now he wants to get his nature back, all he got to do, he take and he urine in a bottle. You see, he....
(He urinates into a bottle?)
In a bottle, you see. Now, he urinates in a bottle and, if he urinate in that bottle and he can get to some of hers, see, he pour hers on top of his. Now, when he put that together, he take sugar and cinnamon and he puts that all togethah. He mixes that up good. See. Now, he put that under the head of the bed; see, where he sleep at, where he knows she can't find it. If he's got time enough to do that and she's done fixed the bed herself, he puts that hisself there, you see, because he has to do hisself good, you understand. Now, at night when he comes in - if he done come from work or if he's got work anywhere - when he comes in, long about, prob'ly it might be midnight. He'll raise up, you see. He's going to raise up. Now, when he get [raise] up, he'll get there to her, see. And as long as he keep that there [under bed] until he get hisself back together, done got back all his nature again, why then he can take that same bottle of stuff and keep it hid on the top of anything that's high where she can't get to it. And she'll have more trouble with him than the day is long. She'll have plenty trouble with him then, because he'll always want to be on her, see. He done got his nature back. (I see, that's to bring his nature back, so that he can do this with his wife.) With his wife.
(I see.)
Entry 10280
Jes' lak a woman if she love yo', she be - well, she take de bow out yore cap. Well, she take dis bow outa yore cap an' when she mess wit chew, she take de germs from yo' an' herself, an' she'll roll dis bow up in it. She roll dis bow up in dat. An' den she'll take dis bow an' she put somepin, anything sweet, jes' amy thing dat's sweet on dere. An' she'll take dis bow an' she'll pee on dis boo every morning for seven mornings. She'll pee on dis bow for seven momings. An' den she'll take dis bow after she do dat, pee on seven mornings, take de gerns from yo' an' her germs an' put on heah. An' she'll roll dis in sulphur. Sulphur always. Ah don't know whut sulphur is but most all womenfolks use sulpbur in ever'thin'. Well, she take de sulphur an' she put it on dere an' she take dis heah bow, after she take it out, an' she'll put it in some close place where yo' transfer back an' forward all de time. An' [does] dat in order - she put [it] dere, dat's for yo' to stay close, wanta be round her. Yo' don't feel satisfied, yo' wanta be round her all de time. "Co'se it don't have nuthin to do wit your nature but chew don't wanta mess wit nobody else but her. Dat's de story ah heard about dat. [Bow of cap, any bow, sometimes considered a cross, a sacred symbol. See many beliefs about bow of cap.]
Entry 9641
It was once a rootworker told me to take some urinate some cayenne pepper and salt - half full from the urinate to de top of the bottle and the other [half fill] with sugar. An' take you a piece of cotton and stick down in there, and stick two needles in there, and keep that. That's luck to you.
Entry 9713
Git chew some salt. Sprinkle it down an' as dey go out de do' sweep it out behin' 'em. Take it [salt] tuh de back do', sprinkle it down. Dey call it de free-runnin' salt. Yo' heah 'em talk 'bout dat, de free-runnin' salt. Take dat an' sprinkle it out [of the container] chew know an' as dey go, sweep it behin' 'em. An' keep it [more salt] mdah de do'steps unbeknownst tuh 'em. [Free-running salt was an advertising device of a salt company at this period of time; it was not a hoodoo expression.] Well, yo' take yore watah dat chew make during de night, let it set two or three days, an' chunk it undah de steps. An' it won' be long 'fore dey runnin' 'gay from dere. Dey can't stay dere. Ah know dat's true.
(If you are trying to get rid of somebody in your house.)
Yes, an' yo' don' wan' 'em dere, yo' see.
Entry 9755
They kin git 9 tenpenny nails an' they urinate on 'em. Let 'em stand 3 days an' go on the north turn [see later] an' throw it under the house an you'll move. [This is my penciled transcription of the original made a few years after the recording. In that greceding bracket were the words end over side, indicating I knew this prepara- doaa was thrown under the north side of the house; yet a pencil line at the bot- to of the page adds sounds like "tum." My pencil also added the words profes- sional and excellent, reminding me that her cylinders had been missed by my transcriber and later shaved! This also happened to another unique woman at Memphis and a remarkable man in Jacksonville, Fla.]
Entry 9760
A man was likin' a woman. He get to like another woman, yo' know, an' doesn't come to her no more. She'd get nine new nails an' drive 'em down in de ground at her door, just enough to cover their heads up, and then the next morning she would take some of her water from de chamber and throw that on it. See. Then when he comes back in over that, over them nails and that chamber lye, then he'll get on with her.
(He gives the other woman up. I see.)
Entry 9923
Ketch a toadfrog an' put warts all ovah yo'. Take dat an'.git 'is oranoah lye, yo' know, when he make watah, an' git warts all ovah yo'. Take dat an' put dat chamber lye on yo' an' dere comes warts all ovah yo'... (How would they put that on a person?) They would throw it on 'em. [Wilson, N. Car., (1573),! 2680:3.]
Entry 11375
De fig tree - take a bottle an' urinate in de bottle. An' it's jes' lak if yo' got it in fo' me an' yo' wanta hurt me, urinate in de bottle an' den take somepin else [what?] an' po' in dat urinate, an' take dis red string an' tvist it real tight an' slash it to de main root of dat fig tree. Anybody go to dat fig tree an' eat it dey poisoned. If dey eat a fig offa dat tree dey's poi- soned. [The preceding word slash I evidently understood as lash according to my following question.]
(How do you tie this string around it?)
See, yo' takes de cork stop- per an' puts it into dis bottle. An' yo' takes a small nail an' makes a hole right into de center of dis stopper, right down in de cork, see. An' de end of it, take it out an' jes' twist it real tight an' jes' take yore knife an' jes' open de end of a tendril, jes' break off de tendril an' jes' let de thread in dere, an' jes' let it close right back up. See, dat urinate po' right into de tree.
(You have part of the string into the bottle and part of it hanging outside?)
[This is one of several transfusion rites in HooDoO, another example of how doc- tors imitated M.D.'s.] Yes.
Entry 11969
You can run a person crazy by stopping up his hair and urine in a bottle and throwing it into running water. [Wilmington 89:1+85.]
Entry 12103
A woman kin take that [man's hat bow] an' sew that up in her gartah, you see. You understand, sew that up in her gartah an' put it in a jar, an' pour perfume on it, understand, an' a little of her chamber lye. An' sew it up, you lnow, on the inside an' put it in her gartah, an' wear it aroun' her leg.
(This bow out of his hat?)
This bow out of his hat. That'll hold 'im.
Entry 12689
(Do what?)
You kin take a pigeon's blood, you know. And you take nine drops of a pigeon's blood an' take you some - just ltke you urinated or somepin like that. You take nine drops of that pigeon's blood and you drop it down in there. See, anywhere what you want me to go that's considered like a woman want a man, you understand. She ketch pigeon's blood and she takes your urinate and put it down in there, an' just do any way she wanta use you. Any Way she wants to do with you, she could do with you. You understand.
(How?)
"Cause she have your name and that blood, you know, all mixed up together with that urinate. See. And then they could take you, with that pigeon's blood again and plant you with that blood. You understand? Put your name and stain it with the pigeon blood and then they tie [that to pigeon and] unloose that pigeon and let that pigeon go. Den see, long as that pigeon flying, you just flying and going with a waverish mind, you understand. That pigeon just flying everywhere but still you don't know what it is all about. You see. And you - they got you tied up with pigeon blood, just long as it fly.
[I turn off machine too quickly.]
(What did you say then?)
See, like the pigeon'll die, yo'll die too.
Entry 10276
I know at one time a woman and a man were very familiar towards each other, they would do anything they were inclined to do. So at last one day this woman decided that she would take the measure [circumfer- ence] and the length of her sweetheart. And after doing so - just as if you would go and measure a dog's tail. I don't care how bad the dog is, I don't care how much stranger he is, you can measure his tail and take the length of the measure and bury it at your doorstep, and that dog will never depart from you. So this woman, after taking the measurement of this man, goes to work. Then she decreed that, I want this man for myself individual. She would go to work and take this measurement, and wrap it up in a bundle and put it in a bottle, and put this measurement in her trunk, with a small quantity of her urine with this; and stopped it up and put it in her trunk and let it remain. And this man then would always forever be ravish with her and always wanting to get to her. You measure with a piece of string, stick, anything. You put that in the bottle with the urine. The man, you measure the length; the woman, you measure the size. He would do the same sort of thing with her measure. [Hamp- ton (Old Point Comfort), Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 10886
Take a black cat hair, dog hair - don't make no difference whut kinda dog - an' nine grains of peppah an' some of dey urinate, an' put it in a bottle. An' if yo' wanta break up any- body, take dat nine grains of peppah, Heart Cologne, an' dat dog an' cat hair, an' bury it where dey walk, either one of 'em. Dey git so dey soon bust up.
Entry 12883
You can go to that same drug store and you can buy some dust they call gavan dust. You take this gavan dust and you - with your overnight urine - a whole bucketful of overnight urine. An' yo' mix this gavan in the overnight urine and you stir it up. And you put that all round the ban- quette at your place. You scrub with it. And every customer that passes, and if they smell it, it attracts big attention. Catch them and they come right on into the place where you is. And if they got a nickel or dime, they is going to spend it.
(You mean van-van or...)
Gavan. They got van-van and gavan, but van-van is red and gavan is black. [My transcriber heard this word as Gagan, which may be the original.]
Entry 13198
Bury man's left dirty sock in walk, throw urine and salt on; 'he'll leave home and he won't come back any more." [Mobile 961:3.]
Entry 4109
Yo' takes de dead skin off de bottom of yuh feet an' put it in a halfa pint of whiskey an' takes one teaspoonful of pee an' po' it in. Dat'll make dem become tuh love yuh.
Teaspoonful denotes a quantity in this reported recipe. No utensil, calibrated modern volume or demonstrated effect is established.
Entry 4123
A woman down in Caroline [Co., Va.] had a husband always running about and he went to West Virginia, and he wrote to her and she sent him some tobacco. She said she had a good chance to make him come home. She took of her rumning nature - that's water, urine, and washed that tobacco and sent it to him. And he chewed it and in three days he was back in the yard. She brought him back home. She told me so herself. [Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 4135
Well, yo' go tuh de fo'ks of de road an' ketch 'er urinate, an' bury it down in de groun' at de fo'ks of dat road, an' as dat urinate dry away at de fo'ks of dat road, dey'll come tuh die.
Entry 4143
Jis' lak now, if ah wuz tuh walk out heah an' urinate on de groun' - jis' say ah make watah, urinate on de groun' - any place lak dat, don' use de lavatory. Yo' kin take dat an' put it in yore pocket, an' tie it up in sompin in yore pocket, an' a woman will love yo' an' have yo' regardless of 'er husban' [no matter] how good he is tuh 'er, an' quit 'im even fo' yo'. [Here again we have one of the many examples of the immorality of witchcraft; this woman, because of the spell upon her, being unresponsible for her actions. Any evil she does can be blamed upon a magic compulsion. This is fatalism, the mind having no choice. Why do spells never compel a person to do good? Self- ishness flourishes in witchcraft. No.wonder an intelligent civilized person no longer believes in its false wishful thinking!]
Entry 4145
Dey watah yo' know where dey pee on de groun'. Say yo' kin take a man's watah lak dat or a woman's - eithah side. Yo' kin take dere watah lak dat an' take up dat dirt down dere an' put it in a little ball, bag or somepin. Den yo' wear it on yo' an' evah night, well fo' 'bout nine maw- nin's dey say yo' pee on it yo' know. Take yore pee an' pee on dat sand in dat bag of de man's. Say dat will make 'em stay wit yo'. Dey jis' cain't leave yo'. Yo' wear it fo' a length of time den yo' take it off. Den yo' go back an' git it an' wear it ag'in.
Entry 4147
Ah don't know much about dat, but ah've heard talk of dat dat way.
(What have you heard them say?)
Ah've heard dem say dat chew kin take chamber lye, where a person urinate. Yo' kin take dat urinate an' bury it wit an ole piece of cloth dat dey have used, an' thin's lak dat, an' dey could stop 'em from ministratin' if it's a woman, or if it's a man [a piece of cloth from near his pri- vates] dey could have 'im all messed up dere until he won't be no good atall.
Entry 4171
Now yuh kin take dat urine an' burn yuh some incense yuh know. An' den take dat urine an' put chew some lye an' sugah in it, an' yuh kin scrub yuh front po'ch wit it, see. Jis' keep it right in front of yuh house an' it will bring mens intuh yuh home. Really will do it.
Entry 4172
An' den too, jis' lak if yuh want chure - if yuh husban' is runnin' aroun' an' yuh want 'im tuh stay at home, why yuh take an' yuh use one pot an' he use anothah, an' yuh put two table- spoons consitrated [concentrated] lye an' fo' tablespoons of sugah in dat urinate. Yuh see yuh use one pot an' he use anothah. See, yuh both don' use de same pot. An' yuh begin at de front do' an' mop evah mawnin' from de front do' tuh de back do' an' throw it directly ovah yore shouldah an' not look back ovah yuh left shoulder - not look back. An' he'll git to de place whare he'll jis' hang aroun' home.
Entry 4174
An' jis' lak if yuh want tuh git chure man back, jis' lak if yuh want tuh make 'em come home, if yuh kin git a chance tuh, git 'is chamber lye an' put it intuh a bottle, an' don' have no watah in dere, no spit or nuthin. Take dis chamber lye an' put it intuh a bottle an put chew a teaspoonful of sugah in dere, an' take an' stop dat up in dat bottle. Put it somewheres where it cain't be in- tahfered wit, an' turn dat bottle down lak dat [demonstrates] an' let it stay dere. An' he will come back. If yuh wanta keep 'im wit yuh, yuh git some of 'is chamber lye ag'in - dere two or three diff'ren' ways dat chew kin do it. Go tuh a cow, if she's a cow dat has a young calf, a black cow an' she's got a calf. Git chew aroun' two teaspoonful of dat milk an' po' it intuh dat bottle. An' yuh kin keep 'im jis' as fast, jis' as yuh do de sugah an' dat chamber lye tuhgethah. Put all of it tuhgethah. Set it aside or put it in de trunk or put it up ovah yuh do'. It's all right. Dat will draw 'im home an' make him stay dere. He cain't go nowhere.
(You don't do that if he's away some place?)
[No.] Jis' [to] keep 'im. All yuh gotta do is tuh keep 'll.
Entry 4189
Ah heard dat if yuh man wuz runnin' about, could take de chamber lye an' put nine needles in yuh cham- ber an' pee ovah 'em, make watah ovah dem.
(That will stop him from running about. You leave them there?)
Yessuh.
Entry 4190
Wit de chamber lye, ah tell yuh whut dey do wit dat. Yuh take nine new needles an' a person's chamber lye an' yuh stop it up in a bottle, an' yuh turn de bottle neck up- side down an' bury it. Dey'll surely die.
Entry 4215
A woman kin do de same thin', jis' lak she want me an' ah don't want 'er. Well, she kin git a piece of yuh shirt an' tie it in nine knots an' put it in 'er watah, her urinate watah, an' let it stay in dere fo' three mornin's. If she kin git dem nine knots back into mah pocket or in some of mah clothses, dat will draw me an 'er back tuhgethah.
Entry 4230
If a woman is pregnant an' yuh wanta make her lose de baby an' yuh don't lak 'er. Well, yuh see, yuh kin take some of her urinate an' stop it up in a bottle an' dat'll make her mis- carry a baby, or she'll git tuh de place she'll have sech dreadful pains in de bottom of 'er stomik, in 'er bladdah, see - sompin lak bladdah trouble, an' 'er stomik begin tuh git weak an' event'ly she'll lose out.
Entry 4232
Yuh kin take some of 'er urinate or ministration an' yuh could fix it. Yuh could take some of 'er urinate an' yuh could bury it about 'er house or any- where undah 'er house. Suppose tuh be undah 'er house close by 'er baid an' near time yuh know think she gon'a git down. Go an' git dis bottle, whatsomevah yuh git it in, yuh kin put it in a bottle or a jar or somepin, but de best partly [mostly?] puts it in a bottle. Yuh go an' git dis bottle yuh think about near time dat she gon'a git down. Yuh git dis bottle, take de stoppah out. Sometime it will shoot out, sometime it will jis' blow out, jis' lak beer or somepin, hot beer. DEN FILL DIS THIN' UP FULLAH PEPPAH. SEE DAT FILLIN' 'ER FULL OF PAINS. Den bury dis deepah on down [than] what it wuz. An' she may given birth tuh de baby but she sure won't live.
Entry 4237
Take anybody chamber lye, if yuh want 'em tuh stay wit yuh, an' put table salt in it an' bury it undahneat' yuh do'step.
(What do you put that chamber lye in, anything?)
Jis' put it in a bottle wit cookin' salt.
(Whose chamber lye do you take, that person's that you want to stay?)
Yeah, dat person yuh wanta stay. Jis' lak a man comin' tuh mah house an' goin' tuh anothah house, well ah kin take his pee an' put cookin' salt in it an' bury it undah mah do'step. Well de othah woman, she could do de same thing, if she knew how. Well he jis' have tuh keep penetratin' from dis house tuh dat house, dis house tuh dat house. He can't stay tuh one house. He gotta go tuh dat house. He come tuh see me an' he got a wife. Well ah've got 'im fixed up so bad wit diff'ren' thin's, see, dat when he go back home he can't give a good word out tuh 'is ole lady. If she say anythin' tuh 'im, it make him cross.
(That will cause confusion.)
Entry 4239
If dey take yuh urine, dey kin have yuh so dat yuh can't make yuh watah.
(How would they do that?)
Dey'd take yuh urine an' put in a bottle an' dey'd stop salt an' peppah up in dis bottle, an' dey turn dat bottle upside down an' bury it, an' jis' let it stay dere. When dat cork dissolves an' dat watah, urine drains outa dat, dat pines yuh away.
Entry 4284
Yuh don' do nuthin but jis' de sulphur an' yuh peepee, dat'll keep de law from yuh house an' it will gain dere love.
(Where do you put it?) Jis' sprinkle it on each steps, jis' throw it all roun' yuh house - all roun' yuh house.
Entry 4291
If yuh in bad luck in doin' business in yuh house, de firs' thin' yuh do in de mawnin', git up 'fo' de sunrise an' sweep yuh dirt out chure back porch [never out the front entrance if you are in business], sweep de sand off yore back porch. An' go out tuh yuh, IF YUH GOT A TOILET, out where yuh dump yuh chamber lye. Bring dat fresh stuff back an' sprinkle on yuh porch an' yuh won't be bothahed wit dat no mo'. Why ah says yuh take some of yuh chamber lye whut chew urinate, yuh own, yuh sweep off yore back porch firs', den bring some of yuh urinate back dere an' jis' sprinkle ovah de back porch, an' yuh be through wit dem fo'evah. (That is after you sweep the porch, you sprinkle it with some chamber lye. You do that in the morning for nine mornings.) Fer nine mawnin's. [These 9 mornings enter the text after the first paragraph, where the extra periods following no mo' in original transcription indicate a recording-machine stoppage. Informant's preceding words yuh be through wit dem fo'evah raises the question With whom? Her bad luck does not arise from too much competition (espe- cially severe during the Great Depression, the time of this interview), lack of business ability, quality of facilities and goods and services. No, bad luck, like disease and all ailments, is caused by an evil-minded person who has thrown a dust in her house, planted a hand outside, wished her evil, etc. Why does she use ground on which urine has been emptied? Is this a contact-with-the earth rite? Or have we a practical reason? Urine, frequently used in scrub water, would become as urine-soaked-earth more useful when sweeping.] [St. Petersburg, Fla., (1043).1693:2.]
Entry 4297
Well, dere's some piece of yuh [a man's] clothes she kin git an' wash 'em tuhgethah wit hers, an' take de suds offa dat watah an' she kin stop it up in a bottle. An' she kin take a little bit of it, an' if she kin git a holt of a little bit of 'is urine, an' she kin git dat an' stop it up in dere, shut it up tight, purtty soon he'll come back.
Entry 4341
Dey take yuh urine an' dey put it in a bottle. Aftah dey put dat urine in a bottle, dey'll stop it up wit a rubbah cork [rubber cork is unusual]. Yuh'll stop dat bottle up wit a rubbah cork an' care [carry] it tuh de Mississippi, tuh de rivah yuh know - tuh any rivah where dere's runnin watah, so it only runnin' watah - an' throw it in dere. Dat'll stop yuh from urinatin'.
Entry 4346
Well, yuh kin take - which ah've heard - take de urine of a person an' stop it in a bottle an' put it in de rivah. But choo don't - yuh tie de bottle, yuh tie de head of de bot- tle wit a string, jis' let dat stay in de watah. But choo don' let it float on wit de rivah, jis' let it stay on de watah. An' tie it on de bank somewhere an' let it stay tuh a hidden place where nobody will evah find it. As long as dat - evah time de woman or man will git ready tuh urinate, dey have a hard time doin' it.
Entry 4689
Now ah heard 'em say about dat little bow - ah always caution mah boys about dat bow. Ah don't know whut dey kin do, but ah heard 'em say dat dey take dat bow. In fact a ole wumman tole me dat. Say, yuh take dat bow an' rip up dat thin sole [insole] in yore shoes an' put dat bow undah dere. An' yuh know, jis' keep it perfumed wit dis ole Hearts Cologne an' keep dat - put chure chamber lye, put chure pee on dat, an' keep dat bow in dere, in de bottom of yore shoe. An' dey say, dat boy or man can't leave yuh tuh save his life. Say, he jis' can't go off.
Entry 4692
[Take hat bow, buy Hearts Perfume, pour 1/2 out, but don't use for anything else, fill rest of bottle with urine, wear 9 days and keep. (Authors abstract of informant missed by transcriber).]
Entry 13372
Take de hickory tree bark an' beat it up right fine until it come tuh dust - beat it right fine. Beat it up right fine, jes' keep abeatin' it up right fine an' turn roun' an' pee LOVE on dat bark. See. Let dat pee dry on dat bark. See. An' den take some Heart Perfume [red hearts on label] an' put on dat bark an' give it ouh a person. Dey'll always love 'em.
(How do you give them that bark?)
Well, yo' see, yo' take de bark an' yo' beat 'em up, see. Yo' beat de bark up. Now listen an' ah show yo'. Yo' beat de bark up good intuh a dust. All right, yo' take a lil' dat dust, if yo' got some chewin' gum. See. Yo' kin take an' put it on dat chewin' gum an' seal back in de packet right good an' nice, an' say, "Have one." Well, see, she go tuh eatin' dat, see. She eatin' dat bark an' dat pee, dat yo' got mixed up dere an' she always love yo'.
Entry 13376
Save your urine for 9 mornin's or nights, put salt and pepper in, sweep steps down, and sweep it up, repeating what you want done to bring person back. [Memphis 1570:13.]
Entry 13392
If you put urine, salt and sulphur out where you think anything has been buried or thrown fo' you, 'it won't come to nothin.' [Charleston 541:4.]
Entry 13394
Urine, salt and pepper sprinkled at door or about the house, inside or out, protects the house against any evil. [Elizabeth City 406:6.]
Entry 13395
You can throw outdoors urine, salt and pepper 9 mornings to protect the house against evil. [Wilmington 162:4.]
Entry 13396
Wash floor every morning with urine, sulphur and asfetida to protect yourself against evils and hoodoo. [Richmond 369:3.]