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Entry 427
(The Rev. Young is going to tell his story again about his experience in New Orleans.) [The preceding words are not for Mr. Young who heard them, but for the concealed microphone - a notation to remind me later that his story the preceding day had not been well recorded. My previous knowledge of his adventure is the reason why I can prompt the rerecording.] This man was named Scott - that lived at Moundville, Alabama - an' he came to New Orleans and was stopping at de Chicago Hotel, run by a man by the name of A. O. Smith on de corner of [name began with P] and Liberty Streets. He come to New Orleans to see one of these wizards as they call them [never so called], or either fortune-tellers or hoodoos, and he was talking to the proprietor, Mr. Smith, relative to having someone who knew New Orleans who would take him around. He [Smith] told him he knew a young man who was in school at Leland University, and that he would possibly be there and that he was just the man he was looking for. So, while they were talking, I happened up that afternoon. I simply happened up and Mr. Smith says, "Here's the very man we Was talking about" - introduced me to him and said, "This is Mr. Scott from Moundville and he wants to go with someone who knows New Orleans, to go about with him." Well, first thing he explained the nature of his business to me, and said whatever ah charged him for mah time, he would give it to me. He was looking for a man that Would help him to find some money that was supposed to be buried on his premises, on his property. The first thing he wanted to do was to find him some of those barrooms where he could find him some gin, and he claimed that gin was lucky to him, and after clearing about a quart of this gin - drinking it - why we went round sight-seeing in New Orleans and visited a deal of places up until about possibly ten-thirty or 'leven 'clock that night. Then we went out, way out Bienville - near Galvers Street - way out - seventy-five blocks away, possibly - way out in New Orleans, Way out to Bienville Street - dat's about two blocks from Canal Street, parallel to Canal Street. We got out there, ah suppose about ten-thirty or 'leven 'clock and knocked on a door and dey - mostly all downtown houses in New Orleans have dese blinds and shutters, and de people is very superstitious - it's a very hard matter to find anybody round New Orleans. If you knock on a person's door and dey'll ask you who you looking for and sometimes you's talking to dis party, and dey won't answer you. And if dey are somewhere else in de house dey'll call 'em and perhaps yo' gone, and if you wanta see dat person perhaps they'll call you back. So [before] we went in and - his wife said, "Oh, sure it's you, Percy?" Ah said, "Yes." She said, "Come on in." Ah said, "Ah got company, someone to see Professor Frank." She say, "Why he's in bed asleep." Ah said, "Well, this is rather important and I would be glad should you call him." She say, "All right." So she went and called Professor Frank and he came out dressed in a very gorgeous robe, seem'ly made of red velvet and large arms - had a cap on same as that which a priest wears, and had dis man to come and kneel. [Since I did not ask for a description of this cap "same as that which a priest wears," I evidently assumed that it would be a biretta rather than a zucchetto and that the color would be black; this article and color being more accessible to him at a Roman Catholic religious shop. But I had not yet visited New Orleans and had much to learn - the cap was probably red.] De room was lighted with two large candles on either side of the mantlepiece - red candles - de carpet on de floor was red, and then they had a large altar over in de corner. It seem to set the room off katycornered, and there was a stool [prie-dieu] by which a man could kneel down upon as the people do in some of the churches to pray. This man knelt down on this stool and he told him to put his right hand on his heart and his left hand on a book which was supposed to be the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses of witchcraft and superstition. Then he mumbled some words, turned his back to dis man and looked up as in meditation and mumbled something and turned and told him dat he would seek what he was lookin' fo'. This altar I didn't describe it as I had yesterday - the robe [frontal] on de altar was of deep, dark red velvet with fringe all round and worked wit gold and various colors of stars, and de moon. It had a large gold and silver horseshoe mingled with seem'ly various colors - ivory.
(You spoke of that awning [his word] being held up, yesterday.)
Yes, this awning [canopy] over the altar was caught up right in de center in front, seem'ly by dis horseshoe and den draped down to a point on either side and went almost round de - in fact, it covered de altar. This altar Was made very similar to that of a pulpit - suppose it was about two and a half or three feet and about eighteen inches wide - something like dat - and he stood with dis heavy robe on him - this large robe girded round him in fringes on de end.
(It was the kind of a robe that a priest throws around him?)
Yes sir. And he had the bottom of his hand up this way - his right hand - he was seated in front of a table. Now dis table was something similar to a living- room or a parlor room mahogany table, seem'ly about four feet possibly and about eighteen inches in width, very heavy carved, de legs - I didn't say dat yesterday but it was large ole antique furniture. On this table was a large red covering with fringes that went up and down in the center. It didn't exactly cover the table. On this table was a large reading lamp with a shade seem'ly probably of gold, and he went behind dis table and sit down in large reclining revolving chair. But before he sat down in this chair - no, after he sat down in de chair, he pulled out a drawer in dis table and got out a kind of pipe - seem'ly it was gold - had a little crooked pipe stem to it [surely a calabash - my first pipe] - got some what we call moss tobacco or cut-plug - something similar to cut-plug tobacco and filled his pipe with tobacco continuously looking at this man, who sat dere and seem'ly half out of his wits and trembling - looked upon dis man as some supernatural being or some man dat was extraordinary - out of the ordinary person. He continuously looked at him searchingly, and dis man would look up at him guardedly. After he had filled his pipe with tobacco, still looking at dis man, he got out a - out from underneath his robe - the robe was lined with heavy satin - ah don't think I said that yesterday - he pulled out dis gold match- lighter and some way pushed a spring and out come a blue flame which seem'ly had something else in it - resembled that of lightning - still continuously looking at dis man. After lighting his pipe, put this cigarette lighter out and stuck it back in his pocket. He sat down and looked at this man and told him what he came there for. First he told him that his mother was dead and that he lived with his father; that he Was in a business and that he was very successful in this business, and he had a large amount of money and had come to New Orleans looking for him and that he Would find there was heap much money on this property of his buried. Seem'ly it was probably buried there by the Indians who seem'ly had formerly owned - lived in that settlement before it was thickly inhabited or populated.
(Then he sent you away for the night, didn't he?)
Yes sir. He had us to leave with the understanding that at ten 'clock de next morning he would come back and not say a word to anybody and bring $75 with him, which dis man did. We meets at de hotel and de next morning ah brought him back, since he didn't know New Orleans, and we came back - made it our business to be there exactly at ten 'clock. Came there and then he took him in his back yard. They had a rod that resembles a lightning rod, something like a lightning rod.
(What was the shape of this rod?)
Hit was round and at the ends it went down in an inner case and was made so it went down in an inner case and was made so it would go up and down at a certain length, a certain depth.
(Yesterday you said it was like a drill.)
Yes sir - it was like a drill in one end and it was curved like curved wire - like a curved lightning [rod] wire.
(How long was it?)
Oh it was possibly - probably six feet near as ah kin judge. And he went in his back yard and had some wires attached to it [the drill] - he apparently had these wires [also attached] on de wall of his house [in] back- yard, but it seems he attached them to some other wires connected with, possibly the electric wires, and place this machine out in de middle of de yard. Had it to drill itself - worked it a certain way that it worked itself down in de yard, and stood off from it, waved his hand like magic and said some peculiar words three different times, and then flames of fire like lightning flamed up at the top of [this] rod - flamed up three different times at de top of this rod. Well, the man as well as mahself, we stood there amazed because it was - well, now you understand it. We, when we went out of his house - dere was a little alley between his house and the next house - the houses in New Orleans are built very closely together - went out in the street and right in front of his home was a gutter that jes' carries off the Water, a ditch, very seldom cleaned out and there was Water in it, stopped up - stagnant water dere most all de time. Stuck dis rod down in de Water, but he never left the rod off the wire as he went through the yard - that wire was coils you know.
(He kept on to this wire - the wire was still attached to the house?)
Yes sir - still attached to the house and he uncoiled it. as he went on through the alley and sent this same rod - it was made to go down in de ditch of water, and said those same words he said in the back yard and waved his hand over this wire and then the flames came up seem'ly out of the.water through this wire. Jes' how it was [done I] don't know [!ii]. But after that he said to this man that regardless of where dis money was buried, if it was an old well, if it was in Water anywhere, or it was on dry land, dis machine would be sure to find it. And this man gave him the $75. He gave him that when he first went in the house the second day. And he was to go to this man's home at Moundville, Alabama - this side of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, up on de Alabama Great Southern Railroad between Meedan [?] [Meridian, Mississippi] and Tuscaloosa [Alabama]. And sometime that afternoon they left all of a sudden for Moundville where he was supposed to go to find dis money.
(This man went with him?)
Yes sir, this man went with him. [As the reader has already suspected, when the professor "waved his hand like magic his wife inside the house pulled the switch!] (You were telling me yesterday about this candle-burning: You said it is very prevalent along the Gulf here and New Orleans to burn candles.)
[This was several weeks before I reached New Orleans on my first trip.]
Yes sir. (What was your idea about why they burn candles in other parts of the country; you told me that yesterday.) Well, because de religious idea seem'ly is borrowed from de Catholics who burn candles in their religious ceremonies. A deal of dese people are persuaded, some of them are Catholic persuasion and some of them belong to the Catholic Church. Those who do not belong to the Catholic Church, as the Catholics to some extent predominate along the coast and in New Orleans, through Mexico, down through Central American - these peoples ideas are molded by their religious worship. These superstitious get the idea that they use these candles - they use highly perfumed candles. (You were telling me about the perfume they use over there in New Orleans - what was that?) Van-van they name it. The name is van-van - it's a highly perfumed powder jest a little above the odor of oil of peppermint - oil of cinnamon. It has a Wonderful pleasing effect on people who smell it. The people around New Orleans, white and black, around certain districts use that in scrubbing their doorsteps and houses, and even pouring this van-van which is very expensive oil - perfumed oil in the water with which they scrub their floors and even sweept off the brick pavement around their doors. They claim that it brings good luck. Racehorse men and racehorse women who play lots on racehorses are known to use this perfume greatly on their clothes. It's a very frequent thing to meet people with their clothes highly perfumed with this van-van odor. (You were telling about the women in the fast houses; do they use that in some way?) Yes sir - very much so. How do they use that? They use it perfumed in their bath water - they use it also in having their maids to scrub their houses. It's also used in these candles. Some of these candles that they burn, they are very expensive and they are perfumed. They burn that candle and practically shut that room up practically all day. Well, everything in dat house is perfumed with dat incense or whatever they call it.
(What do they do that for?)
That brings luck - that makes dem very successful or lucky, and nine times out of ten luck comes their way.
[After my informant left, I comment to the microphone.]
(This is the Rev. Mr. Young telling some of the things he told me yesterday - I just wanted to make sure I got them down.)
supposed buried-money premise in a rerecorded treasure-search account. The story was rerecorded with prompts based on a poorly recorded prior telling; no verbatim-audio fidelity. narrator-described apparent flames in a wired demonstration. Preserve the rerecording and separate Hyatt wife/switch explanation; the editorial mechanism is not an independently witnessed fact. reported repeated unknown words during a criticized demonstration. Preserve staged/criticized context, narrator uncertainty, wires and Hyatt separate switch explanation. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
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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 8679
[The doctor in the following rite for a job has an organized mind, though I was too recent in New Orleans at that time to realize it. In face, on this original transcription I formerly had a note use with care, which can still be seen despite my later erasure.] When yo' go to get a job - ah'll tell yo' about de job proposi- tion. It just like if yo' was out of a job an' yo' runnin' in bad luck. Yo' can't be success- ful in nuthin dat yo' start. Well, yo' get yo' some of dis seniment. Yo' get some of dis seniment with this rain water. (What is seniment? What is that?) Dat's a powder. (What does it look like?) It look just like - yo' ever seen this powder what they call that brown-skin powder? (You mean cinnamon powder?) Yeah. (Cinnamon powder. All right.) [How did I ever guess it!] Yo' take dat seniment powder. An' yo' get some of dis seniment powder an' yo' get what yo' call this lodestone; but ask for lodestone, see, with candy stripes. It's got a little stripe.
(What kind of stripes?)
Candy stripes. Just say, "Give me some of de lodestone." (Like this candy - now wait a minute! It's like this candy they got in the country stores, candy stripes?) Yes, just like that; round, see.
(And what do they call that?)
Lodestone.
(You said something about four-something. Four what?)
[Informant said it while recording machine turned off.1 Fo' corners. Yo' just get de fo' corners. Well, if it ain't got fo' corners, vell yo' just take anything, a file or somepin like dat an' put 'em there.
(You have to make it square. Four corners. All right.)
Yeah. Yo' go anywhere they got them rams - yo' see, them rams, or anywhere yo' know them ramhorns at. [Cowhorn appears several times in Hoodoo. This could be the only ramhorn.] Yo' gets a file an' yo' file some of that dust down there [with the lodestone dust]. Then yo' get some of this here oil what yo' call that green - Wintergreen Pasture Oil.
(Wintergreen?)
Wintergreen Pastures Oil.
(GREEN PASTURES OIL?)
[SURELY THE ENTERPRISING HOODOO-PRODUCTS SALESMAN SHOULD HAVE NAMED IT "PSALM 23 OIL"!] Yeah, an' yo' take some sugar an' seniment an' lodestone. An' take a silver dime an' yo' file dat silver dime on a piece of paper just where yo' got this stuff [various ingredients] at. Yo' take a piece of yellah paper - it [lode- stone?] comes with yellah paper - an' yo' wrap it up twice. Yo' fold it coming to you. Then, after yo' take this Wintergreen Pasture Oil an' yo' put over it, am' yo' put it in your pocket. Keep that in yore left pocket. Then yo' goes back an' yo' get this he Eve [Adam and Eve] root, see. He Eve root.
(He Eve root?)
Yeah, yo' go back an' get that an' yo' got hit, yo' got de she root in yore pocket, yo' understand. Yo' take that - powder up that. piece there - an' yo' get some rain water an' river water or hydrant water [3 running Waters], or anything like that, an' yo' put it in two glasses. Put it in two glasses like that an' yo' let it set, after yo've mixed it. Well, heap up just about de same amount in each glass. Yo' leave it set there fo' three days. Aftah yo' leave it set there fo' three days, yo' take it an' yo' pour it into one glass. Then yo' take this here - this seniment, lodestone an' dis Wintergreen Pasture Oil. Well, yo' Put it in de glass, in one glass, an' yo' let it set there fo' three days. Den take that water off - take dat watah off before yo' go out to see about a job. Just like, if yo' know the foreman's name, yo' take his name an' yo' write his name nine times backwards, just like if yo' write it backwards this Way nine times [demonstrates]. Then yo' fold it, fold it comin' to yo' like dat [demonstrates]. Then yo' write yore name on de top of it, but yo' must write yore name forwards.
(Write your name what?)
The right way.
(You write your name forwards. All right.)
Then yo' take dat an' yo' put it down in dat water where all yore stuff is in the morning when yo' going out - just when yo' going out to the foreman. Yo' got his name. Well, when yo' get ready to go there, yo' take this water out of Chere. Yo' pour it out in a basin or anything like that, an' yo' take it an' yo' wash yo' hands good with it, an' yo' wash yore fingers. Yo' takes this here lodestone an' yo' put it in yore pocket with this she Eve root. Yo' walk to him a'when yo' get there, before yo' ask, just like yo' take a piece of chewing tobacco, cut a little piece off dat she root an' put it in your mouth. An' get this here lodestone thing in your hand like that an' rub it, an' make yore wishes, as yo' walk up to him an' ask 'im for a job. Probably he may not have nuthin to do right then, but he'll run his hand in his pocket if he got any money an' he'll give yo' a piece of money. The first opening that he have - WHEN YO' LEAVE FROM THERE, YO'LL MAKE A WISH FOR ANY - JUST LIKE ANY JOB YO' WANT AROUND THERE, YO' MAKE A WISH FOR ANY BAD LUCK TO HAPPEN TO 'EM PEOPLE AT THAT PLACE. SAY PRAYERS, AN' IN A WEEK'S TIME [7 DAYS] YO'LL HAVE A JOB. There no favor that yo' ask 'im that he could turn yo' down. If he ain't got it at de present time, he will tell yo' a way to come an' get it.
foreman’s name written nine times backwards, contrasted with own name forwards. Keep foreman nine-times-backwards versus applicant forwards on top; not all names backwards. manually inscribed arrangement of foreman’s and applicant’s names. Retain foreman backwards nine times and own name forwards on top, followed by the use of the inscribed paper in the preparation. employment sought from a foreman, with conditional intermediate outcomes and harmful wish. No immediate job guarantee: preserve probably no work, money if he has it, the first opening, and the subsequent one-week claim as attributed. river as a stated possible source of water, alongside rain/hydrant wording. Keep literal rain water an’ river water or hydrant water and or anything like that; do not convert ambiguous conjunctions into an all-three requirement or flatten all alternatives. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
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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.
Read full source (printed page 3588) · Read full source (printed page 3589)
Entry 27
Take your handwritin' - see, de handwritin' where it was writ wit ink or lead. Dey take it and soak it in water and get dat ink, get dat ink off it from your handwritin'. Den dey will take dat water and boil it. See. Den take dat water and pour it out gradually - don't pour dat all at one time, fes' kinda sprinkle it along. When dat water pour out chew begin tuh feel bad - yo' hand begin to feel nervous up thru yo' arms and finally, if you don't know what to do, yo' become paralyzed in your right hand.
Entry 28
A man, he tole me his ole lady went outdoors one night an' went to her chicken coop an' got a big sack fulla chicken dirt - taken it in de house an' taken ashes out de fireplace an' taken his underwears an' rolled dis stuff up in it an' taken - yo' know, rolled it ovah. Didn't mess wit it any Way at all - jes' rolled it ovah an' take it out an' carried it to his bed an' washed his feet, an' let de watah drene off his feet into that ashes an' chicken stuff, an' says, he can't even walk now. Says, lak if he walks, seems lak needles stickin' in him.
(Was he asleep - she did that while he was asleep?)
No, he wusn't asleep - he jes' thought she wus washin' his feet. Dat's all, but he had noticed dat.
Entry 34
It will drive them away but you can't make 'em stay, see. A spirit is something that you can't nevah drive away, but you kin silence him. You silence him^by the 23rd division of the Psalms of David - 37th division of the Psalms of David, the 108th division of the Psalms of David - will silence a traveling spirit - that's the spirit that comes in and goes out and each time when he comes in, he brings from one to seven more. Now, that's how come so many people become restless and dissatis- fied - is because of evil spirits transforming 'em, back and forth. Every time you breath you are breathing in and out some kind of a spirit. Well then, at night you will begin to worry about his moving around. In other words you kin take holy water and sprinkle it at chure door - up ovah your door and on each side of it, and read de 23rd division of the Psalms of David, and you will silence them, you won't have any more trouble out of 'em. Holy water is very good. Holy water is good to sprinkle on a person who, we Would say, if they were very sick, or if they were afflicted some way, could sprinkle this holy water around. Dere's lots of times again we would say that evil spirits visit around - dis holy water keeps the evil spirit away because de holy water supposed to be blessed by holy spirits.
Entry 35
De woman kin take or either a man, ah guess - but chew kin take a dozen needles an' put 'em in watah an' let 'em stay in dere ten days an' give someone de water to drink off. Dey say it's a deadly poison - say it jes' de same as yo' drink a needle - feel like some pins is sticking yo' in de inside - somepin like, jes' like if a person wanted to put a spell of some kind on - yo'd have dat pain jes' lak yo'd swallowed some needles yo' know. It take effect on yo' dat-a-way. Whut dey would do to stop it ah don't know.
[Just as the person's essential qualities were in the bath water (see No. 29)
so also the essential qualities of the needle absorbed by a bath are transferred to a person drinking needle-water.]
Entry 54
I know that when my grandmother died they say that she came back. The reason for her coming back was that she wanted to see her youngest son. At the time of her death he was in France [World War I]. Of course he wasn't able to get home before she died. I had an aunt, Elizabeth, she was born with a veil over her eyes. It happened that she was the only one who could see my grand- mother. When she would go in a certain room she would see her mother standing up there as if she Was looking for someone. So my mother got some holy water from the church - we are Roman Catholics. She sprinkled this water around, especially in the room where my aunt had seen my grandmother. And they say they didn't see her any more.
Entry 58
I wouldn't want to speak ill of the dead, for I think they know what you are saying. My reason is, they can come back and give so many Warnings. These Warnings come mostly in your sleep. I have heard something about a man that was buried. This man kept on coming back to his family and asking them in a dream to take him up out of that grave, so finally they went and took him up, and the coffin was in water. They took him up and put him in a dry place, and they never saw him again.
Entry 76
I know something about spirits getting thirsty and coming and drinking. If you leave a glass of water overnight, don't drink out of it next morning; for they say, when it sets all night, the spirits drinks out of it. Always pour that out and get fresh water for yourself so in order not to drink after the spirit. That's what olden people used to say.
Entry 129
What they tell me about a jack-o'-lantern, it's like a ghost, just as ragged as they could be. They carry a light, and they would lead you in the Worsest briers and brambles they could find, and all through water to terrify you. They say they would laugh at you.
Entry 132
A man followed one of those jack-o'-lanterns. He took him everywhere. It led him a mile through the brush and through the water. Yes, that's just what I was coming to. He began to guess it was a jack-o'-lantern and as soon as he thought of his knife and opened it, it turned into a lump of jelly. No, he did not know it then. It just disappear. But next morning when he went back he found the lump of jelly.
Entry 195
One dark rainy night grandfather was going home on horseback. He had been to town. He lived out in the country. He had to cross a stream of water called a branch. If you were on foot, you walk across a plank; if on horseback, the horse walked through the water. When the horse got in the middle he sat down. Grandfather looked back. He saw a big black man with red eyes. Grandfather said a prayer and the thing jumped in the Water, made a terrible noise and disappeared. [New York City,
(1), by hand, Gaston, Co., N. Car.,1870 decade.]
Entry 258
Dey claim dat a person yo' know could take a black cat, see, without havin' any spots on him atall - let him be a solid black cat, yo' see. An' put chew on a pot of water yo' see, an' dump dat cat in dere alive yo' see, an' scald 'im dat way. An' dey tell me dere's a certain bone yo' know is in dat cat. Yo' see, yo' take all dem bones yo' know, an' yo' go to a runnin' stream yo' know, where it's good an' clear - yo' know, where yo' kin see yo' know, de surface of de bottom. An' throw all dem bones in dere an' watch 'em, an' dey tell me de swiftest one yo' know, dat moves about, say if yo' kin git aholt of dat, dey tell me yo' kin do all kind of witch- craft dat way, yo' know. Yo' take dat bone yo' know an' git outa sight of people yo' see, an' go in any kind of places dat chew wanta go in.[ Waycross, Ga.,
(1069), 1730:1.]
Entry 268
If ah wus goin' tuh have a black cat bone an' had to use it fo' mahself, ah would take an' git me a black cat with not a white spot on him an' ah [would] take an' cook him real done. Ah would take that cat to the runnin' watah an' throw him in dere an' all de rest of de bones dat sink dey ain't no good. De one dat stays on de top is perfect. Ah take dat bone in mah han's an' carry it cross mah face an' cuss God an' say, "Ah don' believe it's a God."
(Show me how you do that.)
Supposed to carry it cross lak dat, backwards an' forwards an' cuss God, "Ah don' wanta be saved. Ah don' believest in God. Ah wants dis tuh command me. Ah've sold mahself to de devil."
(Then what do you do with that bone?)
Well, take dat bone an' do anything wit it.
Entry 271
They tell me you take a black cat alive an' put 'im in a boilin' pot of water till he boil all to pieces - jis' like you were cookin' meal or somepin - an' the bone that come to the top, that stand on top of the water, dat's the bone fer you to use. Dat's de witchcraft bone. After you git dat bone, you suppose to go to the graveyard fer nine nights. Said the first night you just zern a little imp come an' dance up to you. [Each succeeding night additional imps appear] - then the ninth, the whole devil family, his wife an' the son, a whole bunch of 'em. If you kin stand fer whut you see, you'll be able to witch- craft in anything you want to.
Entry 278
Well, dey goes out to de fo'k of de road, but yo' gotta go at twelve a'clock in de night - a dark night at twelve a'clock. Yo' goes out dere to dat fo'k an' yo' stan' up - yo' be's talkin' to de devil - de devil have tuh come up dere an' jes' whut chew want, yo'd ask de devil fo' it. Tell de devil whut chew wanted an' whut chew wanta do wit it - tell de devil yo' want him tuh go wit chew tuh do these things. An' den yo'll make a cross mark there an' yo' git some of dat dirt from dose fo'ks. Yo' take dat dirt den an' yo' carry it on back home wit chew. Then yo' git chew - yo' have tuh git chew a black cat, an' yo' put dat black cat in a pot of watah, hot boilin' watah an' let all de meat boil off him. Den yo' take it all an' yo' carry it to a stream of watah runnin' an' yo' empty all dem down dat stream. De one dat stay dere, dat de one yo' git, but de one whut float away you let dat go. Den yo' carry it right on back home an' put it in yore pocket an' tote it. Keep dat wit chew an' dat's lucky to yo'.
(What do you do with that dirt you bring back from the forks of the road?)
Yo' puts dat wit dat - wit de bone - tote dat wit chew. Put it in a little sack an' tote wit chew. That'll he'p yo' - yo' kin do most anything.
Entry 281
Ah heard dat chew could ketch a black cat an' take him an' boil him - dat's black all ovah - take him an' boil him in water. An' dere's a crossbone dat come out of him, but chew got'a take him to a stream somewhere an' let it wash off, an' den dere's a crossbone come out of him. Ah heard that chew could take an' go to a forks of de road fo' nine mawnin's an' den de ninth mawnin' whenevah yo' go there, why den yore luck'll change. Yo' jes' keep dat same bone if yo' go to de forks of de road nine mawnin's an' then whenevah yo' come back, why take that bone in de place yo' want de luck in. An' yo' wrap it up an' jes' put it in yore pocket an' tote it an' that will bring yo' luck an' success for many years. (You go to this crossroads after you get that black cat bone? Do you carry the bone with you there?) Yes - yo' carry de bone wit yo' fo' nine mawnin's after yo' done cook him to pieces and git dat bone. Dat brings yo' luck.
Entry 282
Yo' kin take a black cat - yo' boil him alive an' go to a stream of watah an' de first bone dat wash down de stream, dat's de bone fo' yo' tuh git. An' take an' go to de fo'ks of de road nine mawnin's an' chew dat bone, an' de last mawnin' yo' go dere, everything will turn dark an' different things will come to yo'. Then yo' kin do anything - yo' be's sold yo'self to the devil. Yo' kin be de ruler of anything an' git out of it.
The informant describes a black-cat bone taken to road forks on nine mornings and chewed, with a final darkening and encounters, followed by claims of broad powers and selling oneself to the devil. These are historical source reports; the neighboring accounts' different bone-selection methods and visit counts are not imported.
Entry 286
Ah could tell yo' dat story but not knownin' whether all of it's 'zactly true or not - about de cat. Ah hear dem say dey kin - dat chew boil a black cat an' yo' put de black cat in runnin' watah after yo' boil it an' yo' git de bones dat come towards yo'. An' den fo' nine mawnin's yo' go to five points - fo'ks of de road, an' when yo' go there, dey say yo' hear de wind, stormy like, an' on de ninth mawnin' if yo' kin stand an' hear an' see whut chew see, why den - after yo' done boiled dis cat an' go through this process, why yo've sold yore soul to de devil an' yo' kin do most anything.
(You take those bones to that road?)
Yes - yo' carry them with you. In de first place yo' carry dem to the runnin' watah, an' then yo' take 'em out. See, there'll be so many come to yo' an' so many go from yo', but de ones fo' yo' is de ones dat come towards yo'. An' then yo' go to those fo'ks of de road nine mawnin's.
(You just carry those bones with you when you go to the fork of the road?)
Yes - but then those three bones dat come towards yo', you supposed to keep dem bones with you always. That's fo' yo'. De othahs is fo' de othah fellah - providin' if it's a person sellin' dat kind of work.
The informant explicitly doubts whether the black-cat story is wholly true, describing bones moving toward the collector and nine mornings at 'five points' or road forks. The follow-up specifies three bones to retain, with others for another person if the work is sold. Claimed encounters and powers stay qualified by that uncertainty.
Entry 287
Well, de way ah've heard yo' have to do dat, yo' have tuh git a black cat an' put him in - git some real hot watah an' git chure watah tuh boilin' an' don't kill de cat. From whut ah heard about it, yo' don't kill de cat. Yo' takes de cat alive wit'out any white spots atall on him - no place atall, an' throw him in dat hot boilin' watah an' let him boil until all de meat boil off his bones. Aftah de meat boil offa his bones, den yo' take de bones - takes all his bones, all de laig bones - take all his bones an' carry him to a stream of runnin' watah. Yo' take dem bones an' throw 'em in runnin' watah an' den dere's one of de bones goin' go upstream. Well, yo' take dis bone dat goes upstream - one of 'em will run up de stream. Yo' take de bone dat runs up de stream an' yo' take it an' put it in yore left-han' pocket an' yo' goes back. When yo' go back, yo' start goin' to de fo'ks of de road every mawnin' - every Sunday mawnin' an' be dere at nine 'clock. An' yo' go dere fo' nine mawnin's, an' wear dat bone in yore pocket every mawnin' an' de last mawnin' yo' go dere, dey tells me, say, practi'ly ev'rything - all kinda animals an' ev'rything dat yo' kin think of will mostly come to yo', jes' come natchral right up befo' yo' face, an' if yo' don't git scared, if yo' kin stay dere an' make it out until de las' thing come, dey tell me dat de last thing come is de devil. But if he come an' yo' kin 'ford tuh see all dat, den yo' take dis bone an' dere prob'ly some marrow in dat bone an' yo' have tuh suck it out - yo' don' have tuh swallow it, spit it out. An' then yo' kin prob'ly do anything yo' wanta do - disappeah an' all dat stuff.
The informant reports a black-cat bone selected by upstream movement, carried in the left pocket to road forks for nine Sunday mornings at nine o'clock, and a succession of beings ending with the devil. Staying without fear and sucking then spitting marrow are described conditionally; powers and invisibility remain hearsay.
Entry 300
Now, there was a man at my home whose name was Philip Williams.
(Where was your home?)
Mackey's Ferry, North Carolina.
(What county is that in?)
Dat's in North Carolina.
(What county?)
Oh, Pasquotank County. [On Albermarle Sound; county seat, Elizabeth City, a place where I collected.] Now, dis fellow - I was talking to him once about de world's gift - he could take a piece of paper and turn it to a dollar bill [bank note] or a twenty-dollar bill, or anything that he wanted to turn it to. So, well, he told me to get me a black cat and find me a stream of water runnin' off in two brothers' land. Well, I did that. Well, you take this old black cat and you stick -
(A stream of water that runs off in two brothers' land.)
And you boil dis cat till - let it be about eleven-thirty when you put him in there. Well, you put him in there and put a top on him, and while dis cat is cooking and begin to die - a wind will rise, it will begin to rain and it will thunder and lightnin' around there a little bit. And if you kin stand de test when dis cat gets done, so you kin take him up it and shake - the meat will fall off de bones. You wants to get you a looking glass. After you get your looking glass, take dis cat to a stream of water.
(The stream of water that runs on the two brothers' land?)
Yes - that runs off the two brothers' land. Kind of always, when you doing that, you must try to locate two brothers' property that joins so the water be coming offen both of 'em like - where dis bone will work. And you take dem to the stream of water an' drag de bones cross your mouth and - [but first] throw dem in the stream of water, but you want to ketch dese bones. When you come to de right bone, dis right bone will hang up in your mouth and you will disappear in this looking glass - you can't see yourself in dis looking glass. When you do that, you got the right bone. Den, the devil, he gon'a appear in front of you and ask you what you want, and you'll tell him that you wants the world's gift, and if you kin stand to get the world's gift, then you kin do anything that you want to do. You kin disappear before people and talk to 'em and they can't see you. That's what you say when you walk about wit a black cat.
(I see - that is why they say you walk with a black cat.)
That's the onliest thing you kin say.
Entry 308
Jes' take a black cat in de house an' jes' have a hot pot of water on de stove an' jes' stick him in dere. An' dey say when he boil up, say yo' jes' take it out an' go to de water an' throw de bones in - in runnin' water. De one float up de stream, dey say yo' git dat out an' dey say have it dressed an' dey say - yo' know, was luck. (How do they dress it?) Say, well, yo' take it to a root man an' have him to dress dis bone fo' yo'.
Entry 311
Well, mah aunt had a little black cat. Ah don't know if yo's heard of 'im - dere wus a man used tuh be heah in dis town, dey called Sweep, de Monkey. Dey claim he had one. Dey say he cookeded de cat - a black cat without 'ary [nary] a white spot on him, anything [white] - he couldn't have one white hair in his mustache, no white furs on him at all. Me an' mah brothah, we tooken de [aunt's] cat - take him down tuh de swamp an' he'd put on a can of watah - a large can an' we started de watah tuh boilin' - down side a stream of runnin' watah. We put de cat in - tie his feets togethah an' put him in dere alive an' shet de lid down on him. An' whensomevah we put: de lid on de can an' shet de cat up in dere an' it start - yo' know, jes' when it start tuh cookin' him, yo' understand, like he wus meat [beginning to cook], dere come up a big ole thundercloud [lightning and thunder]. Ah wanted tuh go an' mah brother he wanted tuh stay. He keep coaxin' me until ah stayed with him until all de meat boiled offa de bone. An' he takes de can an' turn it into de stream of runnin' watah - a place dey call Jeffer's Creek, a creek dey got right down dere to de Coastline [Railroad] pumphouse. An' he always hear dat de bone dat dey po'd in de runnin' watah - all de rest of de bones an' de meat would go down de stream, but de lucky bone would come back up de stream. An' dat's de one dat he got. Ah didn't git it, but he git de bone. An' he taked it to a lady dey called Doctor Campbell in dis town an' she dressed it fo' him. She wrapped it up in some red flannel an' he used de bone until he leave heah in 1921. He got into a murder scrape heah an' he leaved heah an' dey nevah did look fo' him nowhere tuh put him in jail. Dey couldn't keep him in dere, dey nevah would. Then Columbia would git him. [If they could have caught him, he Would have been sent to Columbja.] He's be gone ever since 1921. Dat's all fo' dat black cat bone. Ah suppose dat's whut dis man Sweepin' Monkey [did to get his bone] - he used his'n fo' gamblin' - an' dey nevah could shoot him an' hit him or nuthin'. Course mah brothah didn't git in dat roundup [raid] an' shootin' cause he run away - he slip through, nobody seen him. Fo' me usin' it pusson'lly mahself - ah didn't, but ah have done de cookin' proposition.
Entry 312
Ah heared dat yo' kill nine black cats an' yo' put 'em in a pot an' yo' boil 'em an' till dey drop off de bone. Den yo' take dese bones an' throw 'em in runnin' watah an' de lucky bone will come to de top. An' yo' take that an' tote it in yore right hip pocket - yo' carry it an' have it dressed - tote it in yore right hip pocket. An' then yo' kin do anything yo' want to.
(How would you dress that bone?)
Well, ah don' know.
(You get nine cats?)
Yessuh - nine cats.
Entry 315
In de gambling line dat yo' cud [could] git chew a black cat but yo' have to ketch dat cat when he 'live, an' put him in a pot of water an' boil him an' boil dat cat till all de meat boil off his bones, an' go to a runnin' stream of water an' throw him in dat water. An' all dat bone will gone down de stream but de lucky bone will come back up to yo'. Den yo' git dat bone an' git chew a little sack an' take a little bottle of heart's coZogne an' put dat bone in dat sack an' yo' keep dat bone jes' wet [feed it] wit dat cologne, yo' know, 'bout once or twice a week. [This is a hand or mojo or toby.] A boy tell me dat - said he did it an' when he went to a skin game. He broke up every skin game he'd git into.
Entry 317
Take a black cat an' take a pot of hot boilin' watah an' take dis cat alive. Yo' mus'n't kill 'im - yo' take him alive an' put him in dat hot boilin' watah live an' let him boil all to pieces. An' take dem bones an' hold dem 'fore de mirror an' de one dat shake in de mirror dat's, yo' know, dat's de right bone. Or yo' either take it to runnin' water an' de bone dat go down de stream dat's not de right bone, but de bone dat go up de stream an' de water running dat's de right bone. Take it an' put it in a black bag - sew it up in a real black bag an' jes' when yo' wanta do a trick or anything, put on a real black shirt an' yo' kin go in a store or anywhere an' git anything yo' want - nobody will nevah see yo', yo' disappear. (Now when you hold that bone in front of the mirror - what happens to that bone when you hold it in front of the mirror?) It will shake in front of de mirror.
(Oh, the bone will shake.)
De right bone will jes' shake in front of de mirror. (You do either one - you either hold it before the mirror or you go to running water.) Yo' do either one of those an' yo' git de right bone.
Entry 532
Dey claim yo' kin put a pan of watah under yore bed and say three words, jest say, "Father, Son and the Holy Ghost," and den go to bed and dey claim de witches will not come.
Entry 608
Wal, ah tole him [Edward, my contact man] ah wus poison one time. An' ah had moved in a house an' de woman had dressed de hat fo' me 'cause she didn't Want to move out of de house, an' mah han's got so till ah couldn't use 'em - mah fingers, yo' know, jes' lak a person have poison. An' ah wus in jes' sech a bad fix - two doctors wus tendin' me. Ah wus jes' about - ah thought ah wus goin' die. So a gentleman recommend me to anothah man, but he went an' got dis man an' bring him to me. An' dis man put a silver dime in mah mouth, an' ah kept it in dere fifteen minutes an' dat dime done turn black. Den he took de dime after it turn black an' put it in a black fryin' pan an' he boiled dat dime in dat fryin' pan fifteen minutes. An' when he boiled it fifteen minutes, he took de watah dat boil in de dime an' gi' me a tablespoonsful of it fo' thirty minutes. An' in twenty-fo' hours ah felt as good as ah feel right now. An' two doctors give me up.
(You say this woman had fixed you in a hat?)
Dressed me in a hat. Ah had done took de hat down an' shaken it - sweepin' yo' know, de house out, an' didn't know dat de hat was dressed fo' me.
Entry 613
I know when mah sister wus a-goin' - someone fix her up by her hat an mah mother - there's a ole witchcraft - of course, you know, jis' like mah father didn't believe in it an' she didn't allow such things at de house. So they tol' mah mother to take some needles - two needles, an' two broomstraws, an' two quartahs whut de lady wid de stars aroun', an' take a pot of boilin' watah an' put it in; an' if anybody, yo' know, did anything to you, those things will go togethah, you know, an' dance; if not [fixed or hurt], it won't. So she tried it. But sure enough it wus true. Then she take an' pour that off in a - I think de watah, it made a tea, you know, had to drink de tea. That's to kill it, de poison. [Wilmington, N. Car., (221), 210:5; at Rocky Point, N. Car.,1933.]
Entry 639
They claim that a woman, his wife, can take private hair, hers and his, and tell whether he's out having a good time with another woman. When he begins to use another woman these hairs will come together like different kinds of knots [groups]. She puts these hairs in a pan of water. If he isn't, each hair will float to itself.
Entry 704
I'll tell you about my own mother. My mother drank some water after a person had been at her home. Thirty minutes after this person had gone she was taken very ill. And her sister from the South was visiting her. The first thing she did was to put silver in hot water and give it to my mother to drink. Then she asked for a gourd what grow on a vine, and she opened this gourd and took the insides of the gourd out, and make tea and give it to my mother. As soon as she gave it to her she just vomit. In this, she vomit up, was live worms this man put in the water. People in the country have water buckets outside of the house with a top on. He goes out of the house and puts these worms in the bucket - he dried the worms and powdered them - and my mother came right on behind him and took a drink of water. The same man killed his mother-in-law. He didn't like her. He goes to the spring and brings a bucket of water back and asked her would she have a cool drink, something he had never done before. And she took a drink and was taken ill. All worked on her and nobody could do her any good. Just before she died she said to her daughter, "I've never swallowed what that man gave me." It was in her so she never could get it down.
Entry 706
A cousin of mine wus tellin' me that somebody give her somepin in her whiskey an' it 'cumulated lizard an' things in her laig. Yo' could see 'em runnin' up an' down her laigs. She went tuh several people, yo' know, tuh try to git well. So first an' last she got a man dat wus [a doctor] an' he went out in de woods an' got several diff'rent roots an' give 'em to her. An' he tole her tuh put 'em in a half a gallon of water.
(He boiled these roots down you say?)
Yessuh.
(And then what did he tell her to do?)
Take a swallow fo' nine mawnin's outa dat. An' so aftah she done dat, he tole her dat it wus at de corner of her house - somepin dat wus put down, too, fo' her. An' she went there an' dug it up. It wus in a red flannel sack [a hand] an' he tole not to take an' open that but jes' keep it. So the next time she went, he gi'd her another bottle of roots, jes' about dat high, an' she boiled them down to a pint of watah an' she drunk them. An' he tole her on that ninth mawnin' that she would vomit them up an' she done that. She vomit them up.
(The lizards?)
Come right out her mouth.
Entry 913
I married my first wife and of course I didn't know she had an enemy, and me and her was coming down the road. So we walked along talking. It was a path that lead to the house from the road, and opposite that path she slapped me on the shoulder and said, "oh, French, somebody done tricked me." And I said, "Go away, woman - who in the Name of God done anything to you?" She said, "I am tricked." She went away from here with the same thing. [The slapping makes me assume that she had a sudden and unusual pain which frightened her; this sudden pain while walking usually caused by passing over a cunjured object - see Burying objects, in Index.] I'll tell you what happened. It was the second week in August. I worked along and worked along and worked along. Finally I had to go to the doctor for her. The doctor said that she had the stomach trouble. I worked and done every way I could. Finally, I sent her to the hospital in Washington, [D. C.]. They worked on her and worked on her there. I told her when she left home, don't let them operate on her. Finally then, she came back home, I says to her, "Fannie, how do you feel?" She said, "French, I don't feel no better." I said, "What did the doctor and nurses say?" 'The doctor said I had stomach trouble and he had to operate on her [me]." One of the nurses told her, 'I could tell you what's the matter with you but we ain't allowed." So she came home on a Friday night and then I went down in the country about twenty some miles on Sunday morning. I seen a man, a hoodoo doctor, and he give me some little packages, three of them, and told me what to do with them. And I came home and done just as he told me on a Monday morning. On Wednesday she died. I don't know what was in these packages. In one of them I couldn't see nuthin but a bunch of roots. He told me to put that on in a pint and a half of water and boil it down to a pint. After boiling it down to a pint, you set it off and let it get cool, then give her three tablespoonfuls before meals. He gave me a package to throw over my left shoulder. I made the tea and give her the first dose, and go right on to running water and throw it over my left shoulder. I did so. He gave me a little pocket piece and told me to give her and carry in her pocket. It was a little package all tied up. That was the third year after the Johnstown [Pennsylvania] flood [May 31, 18891, in this [Spotsylvania] county. I went down in Caroline [County, Virginia] to get the hoodoo doctor.
Entry 957
When the moon is on the wane, a person can take a woman's minstrational cloth and wash 'em and take that water and put 'em in a tree - you know, make a hole in the root of the tree and pour that down in that hole and stop that hole up. On the waste of the moon that person will jest waste away, they'll jest ministrate too much, jest flood to death. And they can take it on the full of the moon and do the same thing - well, the person will be ill from the idea that they don't ministrate at all. That's done wit the moon.
Entry 972
Dat was in Roanoke, Virginia. Dere was a fellah over dere called Doctor [Somebody]. See, he was a negro - he was called de best root doctor in de world, Doctor Pitron, Peckrum. (Doctor what?) Doctor Peckrom - Roanoke, Virginia - Pinkerton. (Doctor Pinkerton?) Dat's right. Well, befo' he died, ah heard dat he had a house there which was called - and it was a red house, and they wouldn't let nobody go to that house. And if a patient come to him for anything, he'd send them to that little pool he had dug in there, and ah've heard several say that when they got into the pool, de pool was jest kinda ordinary water, you say for instance, but when dey come outa de pool de water would be black as de back of my han'. And he called that a consecrated healin' water from a root dey call four cormers of de world - dat's a herb. All right, but ah didn't see dat myself.
(What did he have that pool for? What did they go into that pool for?)
Dat was a place dat he had dere - people come to see him and if they had any kind of a disease or any kind of - anybody hurt 'em, dey'd cure 'em in dat way, and dey said when dey come outa dat pool, dey would nevah be bothered agin.
Entry 992
They was fixed - she was near blind. Somebody had passed their hand on her head. (Had what?) Had passed their hand on her head with something on their hand.
(Had done that?)
And had her near blind. And she goes to a lady and the lady give her some Water, clear water - clear water, blest water. She blest de water and give it to her and made her wash her face and head all the time in it, and she got her sight back all right and she got all right, and the lady turned it back on the person that put it on her.
Entry 993
Now the spiritual people when yo' go to 'em an' if yo' got any kinda disease or anything wrong wit yo', they would pray ovah this watah - dey call it de holy watah. They goin' pray ovah this watah an' yo' drink three swallows of that watah three times a day, an' when yo' drink the first three swallows it goin' make yo' sick, but chew keep on drinkin' it an' finally yo'll feel bettah. They do's that fo' some kinda sickness or fever complaint or anything lak that.
(Is that holy water that each person makes himself - these spiritual people?)
Yessuh.
Entry 994
That holy water is to bless your house and keep what is supposed to be dead people away and make success in your house, especially after you scrub, and keep one [bottle] tied up behind the door or on your bed open and the other one you close it up - take it as a tonic, some medicine, you know, when you feel bad, drink that. That's success, too, that holy water. It keeps all imps and every- thing wrong from around your house - that brightens it up, you understand.
Entry 1033
Some of 'em, dey take - lak if yo' been poisoned through a snake or Worms, yo' take dat worm an' yo' make a stew out of it an' yo' git dat oil up in dat watah. It get everything in de world dat oil will [see No. 978, p.374]. Yo' kin take dat oil from dat watah den an' make a poultice an' rub wit it. Yo' going spit up dose things. (They take these worms after they come out of you?) No, dey don't take these worms dat come outa yo' to make dat grease wit; dey git some othah worms. Dey cain't git dem worms out chew tuh make de grease Wit it. Dey go an' git some othah worils an' make de grease wit it. Dey make dat poultice an' dat make dat scent, an' dat live worm in yo' ketch de scent from de worm on de outside - dey comin' out.
Entry 1043
They use snails jes' like they use wood lice to hurt people. Now you take, you get a snail, a wood lice and you take those things and cook 'em till they're jes' all to pieces. You put 'em in somepin and jes' rub 'em up, you know, through a cloth till they're jes' mush. Then you put 'em in some rainwater, jes' a small amount of rainwater and let it set there till - you know rainwater - those things will come when it sets there long enough. Then you take that stuff and strain it out and put it in either milk or whiskey and that'll make that person - they're supposed to after a period of time that scales will come in [on] their haid and they scratch it and those scales become little live things, either wood lice or little min'ature snails. [See Live Things in You, p.227; also Index.] They're so small you can't tell what they look like but you can discern the little shell on their back. They come right out of the skin, just first start like tetter. It'll itch and as you scratch it and people are supposed to have wood lice or snails like that in their haid the way they do that. You can turn the spell right back on them and they'll automatically leave.
(Well, how would you turn the spell back on them?)
Well, just get somebody else to do the same thing to them they did to you. Cook those snails up and give them to him in a drink and when the snails come in his head they disappear out of your head. [See Like Cures Like, p.394.] That's why they say you can't cure a person that's hoodooed if the person that hoodooed them is dead. There never is no cure for them but as long as the person is alive it can be reversed. [For turning back spell, see pp.333-334 and Index.]
Entry 1102
If yo' were hurted - if someone take an' done somepin to yo', yo' see - take a red ant an' boil 'im. Take two or three of 'em, yo' know - two or three of 'em an' jes' boil 'em, boil down. Take 'em an' put 'em in a pan of water an' let 'em boil down to a tea an' drink dat, dat will take dat thing off yo'.
Entry 1103
Now if a person put a spell on yo' an' yo' have headache all de time, yo' kin go to one dem big red ants nest an' take a flour sack - a sack, yo' know or somethin' an' take up de whole, jes' as much dat nest as yo' kin. An' take it back home an' put de whole thing in a pan or kettle an' boil it. An' then bathe yo' haid in dat same watah. An' don't throw it out - jest bathe in it 'bout three times an' throw it tuhwards de sunrise. Dey say dat takes dat spell off yo' - yo' won't have dat headache spell no mo' or whatevah dey put on yo' like dat.
Entry 1129
Well, you've gotta go to work then to get you some - you kin dress your home, you have to dress your home with bluestone water to keep down all danger, you see. You sprinkles with that every morning - you sprinkle your home with bluestone water. You have a sprinkler, you know, and you go round and you sprinkle all around your steps and everything like that. That kills out the power of everything. Bluestone is the strongest thing in the world that you could use.
Entry 1132
Git yo'self some 20 mule borax and bathe yo'self in it - in luke- Warm Water and if anythin' went wrong, why you bathe yo'self all ovah and dey won't hurt chew.
Entry 1183
Yo' git de inside of de chicken gizzard, see - yo' know when yo' clean a chicken, yo' got a skin yo' pulls out dat gizzard. Well, dat's de part yo' Want - dat skin. Yo' keep dat. Well, yo' pound dat up an' if yo' were doctorin' on anybody dat had any kinda poison in 'em, yo' jes' pound it up an' put it in his medicine or in water, whatsomevah yo' givin' 'im, an' let him drink dat an' yo' would see dat poison leave.
Entry 1205
Dey supposed to let nobody see it. Dey digs a hole.
(At the forks of the road.) [He had said this before I turned on my machine.]
At de forks of the road - four forks of de road. Dey dig a hole and dey git de red sand. Well, dat is fo' if anybody do anything to yo', yo' know, an' yo' boil it in water with lemons and yo' drink it. Dat is supposed to be if anybody do anything to yo' for bad luck. Jes' like yo' is in bad luck - well, yo' do dat and dat is supposed to cut de bad luck off yo'.
Entry 1212
If a woman's in birth an' pain, it seems to be slow, well yo' kin git dat dirt dauber nest - git dem lil' daubers out of it. [Whole nest is not used as in preceding remedy.] Go an' git dat little trash out of it an' put it in a cup of hot water an' let it steep. Strain it an' put chew in a - jes' 'cordin' to how much yo' got. If yo' got a half of a half a pint of it, well yo' put a half of a half a pint of whiskey into half a pint of it an' give her a teacup of dat. An' in ten minutes aftah she drink it de pains rise on her - de pains will rise. An' when de pains rise den de watah first will bust - de watah bag, dat'll bust. When dat'll bust den de baby will come out.
Entry 1222
She take dat bow in yo' hat. When she git dat bow in yo' hat, she's got somepin dat re'lly belongs to yo' fer true. Well, now when she git dat bow in yo' hat, you crazy to see her, you understand. But de way git rid of dat, yo'll take and take you a dishrag and squeeze de water into yo' hat - squeeze de water out dat dishrag into yo' hat. See, she done got dat bow out chure hat. Well, after you done squeeze de water out dat dishrag into yo' hat, that bow what she got is no good to her.
(Well, after she got that bow, what would she do with that bow?)
She would take dat bow and tie it up and put it in her mattress an' draw yo' more near to her. [For dishwater curing guinea sickness, see No. 991, p.382.]
Entry 1229
Whenevah - if yo' have a dog, watch de dog carefully an' see whenevah he has an action. Den yo' git his manure whilst it's fresh an' place it in a quart cup of water an' den yo' boil it down to a pint an' den use it wit a cloth to dab dat in good - dis out-flannen-an't [= anointment (an't) out of (out) flannel (flannen)] it used to cure de piles.
Entry 1276
Jes' lak if a person have any kinda - been tricked in any kinda whiskey or been hurt by a person by puttin' down somepin, yo' kin take dat frog. Yo' kin cut him wide open an' take an' put him in some boilin' hot water an' let him boil down. Take an' strain dat water out an' give it to a person tuh drink, let him drink de water - jes' put it in a bottle an' jes' give it to 'em to drink.
Entry 1278
If a fellah put a spell on yo', yo' make watah and bath in it fer nine mawnin's an' po' dat watah toward de sunset. And den yo' kin take nine toadfrogs and put 'em into a pot alive an' cook 'em down - put nuthin in 'em but a little watah an' a little grease, an' grease wit de grease from dem fer nine mawnin's. Dat will break up anything that dey try to put on yo'. (These are different ways of doing this - one is you use the urine and the other way is you use the frogs. You don't use both of them together?) No, don't use both of them together - use either one of them.
Entry 1286
If anyone has a high fever - any kind of a fever - yo' goes to de swamp an' ketch yo' a swamp toad outa de watah an' cut off his tongue an' name dat toad aftah de one who had de fever. Throw it back in dis watah an' why his fever will become perfectly all right. He'll be all right in a few days.
(What do you do with that tongue out of that toad, then?)
Jes' throw it back into de watah.
Entry 1294
Ah heard 'em talk 'bout rattlesnake. De rattles of a rattlesnake, yo' take dem an' dry 'em an' if yo' want tuh put snakes in a person, why yo' jes' take an' shake dem in de water bucket or anything dat dey drink, an' de dust from dem rattles will turn tuh rattlesnake in 'em.
(Is there any way of getting those out?)
Yes sir, wit garlic.
(How would you do that?)
Eat it.
(Just eat it and that will bring those things out?)
Yes, sir. [This simplest of remedies comes from a doctor, man.]
Entry 1300
Gourds, dey keep evil from round yo', de gourds do.
(What do you do with them?)
Plant 'em - jes' plant de seed an' let 'em grow all ovah de fences an' keep 'em, drink watah out of 'em. Dose people all de way back in mah grandparents' time use tuh use dem all de time, an' always lived peaceful an' happy.
Entry 1311
Go to the cemetery and go to a sinner-man's grave and right over the middle of his chest and get some of that dirt, and as soon as I kin get it and bring it back home, and mix it up with vinegar and water and make it hard, hard, hard. Let it dry, dry. Divide it into four pieces.
(You cut this into four parts?)
Into four parts, and put one at the front door, one at the back, one this side, and [one] the other side. Can't nobody harm you, nobody come near yuh. (I see. You have some of that on each side of the house.)
Entry 1332
Well, this cow an' hog hoof, de hog hoof - yo' take yo' a hog hoof an' boil it - jes' lak yore chile - take dat hoof an' boil it an' take and give a chile some de watah, let him drink de watah, an' take a frog, a live frog an' split him wide open an' hol' de chile, put him on his mouth lak dis, wit de whoopin' cough.
(You must use both things?)
Yessuh - boil de hoof of de hog an' let him drink de watah an' den jes' ketch yo' a frog an' split him open an' hold him right ovah de mouth - dat's fo' de whoopin' cough.
Entry 1360
Well, you could go to the drug store. There's some sort of a root there you call John.de Conker root. You see, they got j'ints [joints] in 'em and you get three j'ints in the root, or else you could go to the woods - old people could go in the woods and git them themselves without going to the drug store. Yes, sir. You knows 'em in the woods that they's used. You can't miss 'em. And you can get them roots and boil 'em, and scrub your steps down with 'em with water and ah - for nine mornings, and sprinkle it round on your gallery. Then you could break that up [whatever the devilment was].
Entry 1434
Ah heard of 'em usin' de rattlesnake rattles fo' a hemorrhage. Well, yo' only Wet it - dip it in watah an' stick it to de place where yo' hemorrhage. Even if it in yore nostrils, yo' jes' stick it inside of yore nostrils; an' if it yore bowels, yo' stick it down yore lower part an' hit'll stop it right away. Ah used to tote one all de time.
Entry 1448
Yes, ah heard about dat. Dey say dat If yo' think somebody gon'a work roots on yo' or somepin lak that, or somepin dey 'fraid tuh walk ovah, den yo' git chew some cayenne peppah an' put 'bout six swallows of watah in there, yo' understand, an' boil it down to three swallows.
[This is the magic of diminishing amount.]
Yo' take three swallows of dat watah dat night - see, dat first night. Well, yo' don't take nuthin dat next night - yo' skip a night chew see. [This skipping magic is a recurrent magic delay; not the same as alternating magic - left and right, up and down, forward and backward, etc.] Take yo' a teaspoonfula sulphur de next night, chew understand, an' do that fo' - lemme see, yo' take three doses of dis peppah an' den yo' take six doses of dat sulphur. [Here is the complementary magic of increasing amount. Both diminishing and increasing amounts are in multiples of three magic. The exchange between three doses of pepper and three of sulphur is alternating magic; the three additional doses of sulphur being repetitive magic.] An' dat will keep the evil roots an' things off of yuh, so nobody can't harm yo'or nuthin.
Entry 1520
Take a silver dime an' put in a quart of watah an' boil it down to about a teacupful, an' tie de dime down yore laig an' yo' kin walk ovah anything dey is on earth.
(You have to boil that dime first, though?)
[He said this but I am asking for a repetition which often produces other details.] Oh yes! oh yes! Yo' take de dime an' boil it in a quart of water down to about a teacupful [magic of diminishing amount] and put de dime down yore laig.
(Either leg?)
Either laig an' yo' kin walk ovah anything.
Entry 1525
I hear 'em said that anybody don't want nobody to hurt 'em, to give 'em nuthin, hurt 'em inside, why they kin take a dime, but no one dime of his own. They got a dime, take it an' swap it with somebody else, git another dime. Well, they kin take that an' file it up an' put it in a - file the whole dime up an' put it in a teaspoonful of sulphur an' take that, put it in the mouth, take some water an' wash it down. Well, if you eat anything, if anybody put anything down in somepin to eat for yeh, you kin eat an' it won't hurt yeh.
Entry 1534
Yo' take three dimes, if anybody do anything to yo'. Well yo' take three dimes an' put 'em in a quart of watah an' boil 'em down to a pint. Well dat spell will git off of 'em.
(What do you do with the water then?)
Yo' drink it.
Entry 1541
I heard of a lady - she wusn't none of mah people - an' she got tricked choo see by a snake. And they said this woman had got some ole snake sheds, joo know, an' throwed it into her water bucket. An' she drank water off it an' that create snakes in her flesh. Well, she goes to someone an' they tole her about it - told her whut it wus, an' told whut to get to cure her. An' she went an' got it. She told her to get three pieces of silver money - fifty cents, twenty- five cent, an' ten cent, an' some silkroot an' boil it. Put it in a quart of water an' boil it down to a pint an', you know, jis' keep doin' that an' drink off it. An' that cured it.
Entry 1543
Yo've heard people say dey boil eight halfa dollah [eight half dollars] in silver an' give that person the watah off it, an' dey say fin'lly, event'lly, dey'll git out chew. (That is to kill these live things in you.)
Entry 1583
[The opposite of the preceding rite is also given:]
Throw the article that cunjured you into water running one way; not into out- going tide but into running water. This will either run the evil doer away or harm him.
Entry 1610
A girl wanted me an' ah'm always mighty pertic'l'r 'bout goin' round girls an' ah nevah want nobody to see me hug or play wit 'em. Well, she went to a ole man tuh do somepin fo' her. Whut she done ah don't know - what he done. But he took somepin - he knowed ah 'us comin' dere dat night. He put somepin up ovah head de do' an' when ah walked in she was setting round ovah dere, an' ah walked - tried to hug an' kiss 'er right in company, somepin ah nevah done befo' an' ah caught mahself. Ah stepped.right back out de do' an' drawed watah an' took a swallah an' that thing left me.
(What did you drink water for?)
Mah own watah.
(What did you do that for?)
Ah always heerd if de woman - if yo' took - always take that watah, take yo' own watah.
(Oh, that would kill the spell. She had this thing dressed?)
Yes, sir. In a month or two.... (You drank this water. Then how long was it after that that you had this dream?) Ah think it was about the next week maybe or earlier.
(Tell me the dream - tell me the whole story.)
Ah dreamed dat right ovah mah head hit wus a rag in de home fo' me. That jes' what ah dreamed.
(In her house or your house?)
In her house. An' it wus on mah mind all dat day. Well, soon as ah knocked off mah work - ah wus on de farm - ah goes ovah an' she wus up to de white folks house an' ah'd gone roun' to where she stopped at. An' after while she come an' made up a little fire. It wus in April an' ah pulled off mah clothes an' got into bed. Mah mind told me tuh git into bed 'fore she did. Time ah got into bed ah reached up at it an' she looked back an' seed me. She jumped up an' run up thare tuh me an' ah knocked her down. That night goin' home. (Wait a minute - you pulled it out of that hole and left her?) [He is retell- ing a story I missed while Telediphone turned off.] Yes sir.
(What did it look like?)
Ah nevah looked at [into] it - little package wrahpped up. An' ah went on back home dat night and ah had tuh cross de branch of a running watah, yo' know, an' ah turned mah back as de ole saying used tuh say an' ah believe it, made mah wish dat mah mind would leave her an' throwed it in de watah. Mah mind left her jes' like dat.
Entry 1677
Ah don't know if dey use it fo' de same thing, but ah know lak a tree dat been struck by lightnin' dataway, an' yo' go in de side - yo' see, yo' take a tree where de sun rise at it's practic'ly smooth cause it pressed [east side of tree has smooth bark because sun presses it], whereas it goes down dat draws it uP [west side of tree has rough bark because sun drows it]. Well, aftah de tree is struck by lightnin' an' yo' taken dat bark off of it, dey claim dat if a man is subject wit rheumatical pains, see - takin' an' boilin' dat bah'k an' vo' see puttin' dat in his watah when he bathe, he'll be practic'ly himself, yo' see. Where it struck wit lightnin', if it struck on de west side. See, on de east side of de tree she press de bark off de tree pretty smooth. When she goes down she draws. See. Take it from dat bah'k on de west side fo' rheumatical pain - it's de best pain dat it evah wus used fo'.
Entry 1783
You git a shingle and git de hair and put it in water and let it float away and then dey'll git so dey can't stay anywhere. That's for to git a man away from where he's livin'. Dey cut the shingle in the shape of a coffin, dey put it in water and let it float away.
Entry 1824
When a person speak about dey write de dead, yo' know - fo' de numbers yo' know. (Just how do they do that?) Well, dey jest write 'em - jes' yo' write some yo' peoples, says, "Dear Fren', I would like tuh hear from yo'. I am writin' yo' few lines to let chew know I am well. I wants dis number. I wants chew will please send hit to me tonight while ah'm sleep. An' yo' set chew a glass of water an' fold de letter up - set de glass of water on top de letter, an' dis ghost will come an' bring yo' de number in yo' sleep. He might come in de form of a cow or a dog or a horse but he'll bring yo' de number.
Entry 1904
Jes' say yo' speedin' wit chure automobile out dere an' de law run down an' subpoena yo' fo' co't in de mawnin'. Dis evenin' jes' go out dere in de woods an' git chew 'bout fo' or five big spring frogs. Put 'em in yore bosom. Yo' put 'em in water tonight an' in de mawnin' when yo' - befo' yo go up dere, put 'em in yore bosom an' when yo' go up dere befo' him why dere won't be nuthin tuh de case - it throwed out.
Entry 2142
If you have a friend that's visitin' your neighbor that you Want to make move, well you go to a cemetery and you gets some dirt off a grave. And you go to the drug store, dey got water they call war water, and you get oil they call moving oil. You mix them three together as a powder. You give it to your friend that visits in that house and sprinkle that house through and through. In a couple of days they will move.
Entry 2150
You get your boss's name, you take bottle of sweetened water - sweet - sweet - sweet - and you put your boss's name in there and your name, and you take it and you shake it up: [This is the magic rite of shaking.] Ev'ry now and then you think about that and you shake - shake it up. Now, you go and do that this morning. All right. You say, well, I'm going down this morning - you done fixed the bottle - I'm going down this morning and see what my boss say. Well, your boss - you going - maybe you'd have it in your pocket and - not too large - just big enough so when you be's talking to your boss, you be having it like this - swinging it - swinging your hand - shaking it - just like that [demonstrates]. Well, you'll get him - spirit up - you get his interest. He may start up like that and want to say - it look like he want to say something and he don't want to. You just keep - shaking it - shaking it - shaking it. And after while he will say, "Oh, come back tomorrow." You go on home and do that same thing, the same way, and the boss done give you a job.
Entry 2235
Like he wus down on his business. It's a thing look like a lily, name of rattlesnake master. Dat's one of de luckiest roots dey is out for business. Take dis heah rattlesnake master an' set it out in a bucket like yo' would a lily - or pot - an' take some water an' spit on it ever' mornin'. Business will come to yo'.
Entry 2305
It's a good many times in turnin' work - dere's good many times dat chew wants tuh take an' turn it on a man, if he's very smart an' industrious an' yo' wanta put him slowful [not slothful] where he'll lose out on a job or anywhere, any way, form or fashion. Yo' takes de snail an' yo' put 'im into a halfa pint of watah, an' de road dat dis fellah got'a walk, yo' sprinkle dat watah 'long dere fo' nine mawnin's, "In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost," an' he'll git so slow - slowful.
Entry 2322
By gettin' yo' a bar of this black tar soap, an' yo' kin write the name of those enemies on that soap an' take it to runnin' watah an' yo' kin throw it in dat runnin' watah. An' dey can't appear against yo'. That'll hold them off. (You mean they can't appear in court against you?) Yes sir - that'll hold them off, they won't go against yo'.
Entry 2356
I heerd tell of de banana boat an' ah had nevah been dere befo' and nevah met de man befo'. Yes, ah went down dere mahself. So befo' ah went down dere I - well, it's somepin I gen'lly do whensomevah ah git a little tough, ah jest by mahself make water and somepin other fer about nine mornin's and bath and throw de water towards de sunset fo' nine mornings. An' den ah nevah have went to a place - had a job where - ah went to places and had a job where dey was turnin' mens [off] and ah got jobs. An' de man cut me off - de foreman cut me off down dere, but de bossman put me right back on less time den two minutes after it happened. An' ah could go dere any time and git a job dere.
(Where did you say you went down to get a job?)
Down heah to de banana boat.
Entry 2375
I know that they can make you move. They can go to the drug store and git what they call war water, and pass your house at night and throw it like that, and when you throw it say a curse, and make a oath, and they'll move - they'll go to jail an' [or] move. Yes sir, I know that, positive fact - they'll move.
Entry 2379
Like I go out - I could get the dirt but they hardly can pick up the tracks unless you is bare-feeted. Then they can do more with the track, but just your foot track like that with your shoes - they can't get next to your necked [naked] feet.
(I see.)
But if you're bare-feeted and that, they can pick up your tracks good.
(Well, how would they do that, then?)
Well, if they can get behind you - but hardly ever you can get behind anybody to pick up their tracks.
(Why is that?)
Well, some people don't walk bare-feeted for you to pick up their tracks, you see.
(I see.)
But people in the country, you know, mostly walks bare-feeted and they can pick up their tracks, because most of them is bare-feeted sometimes. They'll walk bare-feeted - well, you can pick up their track right in the middle of their feet. But some people's got hollows in their feet where you can't. Flat-feeted folks you can do that because the whole foot goes down, you know. (Well, what would they do with that dirt after they gather it up?) [She will repeat my gather.] Well, they gather that dirt and fix it up, and they'll go to a river or any- thing what's running.
[I will repeat her fix.]
(How do they fix that dirt up?)
[See Introduction for this occasional back and forth exchange.]
Fix - they gets water - they goes and gets something like what they call war water. They can buy that in the drug store, war water. Just mix that up with that in a glass or something so that it will dry, and then when it dry, they'll go to the river and then throw it over their shoulder right down the stream [channel] what's going down the river. That'll make you keep adrifting.
Entry 2403
And if you don't do it thataway, you takes cinnamon and sugar and you sprinkle that cinnamon and sugar in the front of the door, but be sure to scrub - use nine buckets of water, one bottle of the ammonia. But when you scrub, don't scrub out your door - scrub in. You understand what I mean. Scrub it inside. Sweep your water in all the time. And after you do that, then you can sprinkle ycur cinnamon and sugar and that house'll get rented. Yes, sir.
Entry 2422
(What do you do about the landlord, now?)
You wake up on a Friday morning, don't let a black woman cross your floor - cross your door-sill, the sill or your door. You get up in the morning and you get your scrubbing brush and you get you a bucket of water, don't put no soap in it at all. Put you a little blueing in it and about two tablespoonsful of sugar - white granulated sugar, something like rock Sugar you know. And put it in that water and you scrub your house, and your landlord going to come there - he can come there for six months. Well, you tell him, say, "I ain't got nothing." He say, "Well, all right, when you got some- thing, give me something." He's gone - he ain't going to put you out, you can stay right there in that house. But the nextdoor neighbor can't make you move.
Entry 2458
You git you some oil of clover [I mean] oil of cinnamon, and when you mop up your house you put that in the water.
(Both of them or just one of them?) [To check the correction.]
One of them.
(What's that?)
Oil of cinnamon.
(All right.)
And you put that in your water when you mop up your house, but chew always, always be sure to have the floor already cleaned before you put dat down. You take lye and scrub everything clean, clean first. And after that dry then you get your oil of cinnamon and water and mop all over your house, and that will draw you luck.
(That will bring in trade?)
That will bring in trade.
Entry 2460
If you have a business place - this is your business place an' you wan'a - now, you git up in the mornin', you throw three buckets water to the sun- rise, In the Name of the Father, the Son an' the Holy Ghost. You git choo some cinnamon an' sugah an' scrub your place. Don't scrub it out, scrub your trade in; you don't want chore trade to go out, choo want it to come in. An' you have all kinds of trade.
Entry 2480
Well, if he drinking or anything like that, you mean? Well, they come in - the man who is drinking - and they's [men customers who drink are] coming in. You always have something to eat in your house. You keep a fish in your house - you always will keep water, clear water. You always will be successful and lucky and you - you change water with your fish, you know. Well, you keep your fish there. He will swim around, you see. Well, there be somebody always coming in - going and coming out your house. Keep a fish cause he's lucky and successful. ["Goldfish in the house are lucky say some; unlucky say others" - FACI,2ed., No. 1539, p.61. J
Entry 2481
Get you some mackerel brine - what I mean is mackerel brine off a mackerel fish. You take that brine - you gotta buy it, about fifteen or twenty cents worth - you take that brine and get you a bucket of water and put you some sugar and pulverized cinnamon in there and sprinkle it just as fer as your place extends; and whatever you got, you will sell out what you got. That mackerel brine, cinnamon and sugar in that water.
(That's for bootlegging?)
Any kind of business you're in you needn't a-worry.
Entry 2558
[Lye, a protection against evil (p.459f.), is used by itself and in many combinations.] If yo' got a enemy anywhere roun', yo' gits a box of potash - jis' lak if ah wus fixin' it up fo' someone, ah have them tuh bring me a box of potash. If they thought they had a enemy round wus goin' do 'em any harm, anything, ah would have yo' bring me a box of potash an' ah would take this potash an' fix it up in a liquid an' den put so much of it in a bottle an' give it to yo'. Yo' would take dis home an' git up in de mawnin' befo' de sunrise an' yo' would sweep yore steps wit it - sweep yore steps an' repeat de Psalms about de Lord makin' me lie on green pastures. De mawnin' yo' git up an' sweep yore steps wit dis lye- Water, yo' put a little bit in a basin or somepin an' jes' dip yore broom in it an' sweep it an' say de Psalms. An' dat will keep anybody from doin' any harm to yo' - keep yo' havin'" good luck.
Entry 2559
To keep the law away, ah would get me some of van-van, get me some lye, some blueing water, and ah would go to mah banquette and ah would scrub it ev'r - just wherever around mah door, I would keep it - white - white - white - white as snow. And keep it - scrubbed - scrubbed - scrubbed - and they never come across the door. Any time he come there, throw your water each way ev'ry morning for nine mornings - throw your water thisaway - bucket of water this way - and that way - and he never come in your place.
(How - which way do you throw the water now?)
Right - if you living and your front door thisaway, you throw one this way, and you throw one that way, and one this way.
(You throw one out the front door, one to the right, and one to the left?)
That's right - for nine mornings. You keep it up.
(For nine mornings.)
(Just plain water?)
Just plain Water.
(Or just scrub water?)
Plain water.
(Just three buckets?)
Three buckets - thisaway and this way and.
(You just scrub with the other stuff?)
That's right - scrub with the other stuff.
(I see.)
Entry 2579
You is bootlegging or anything like that and you want customers. You get you some [sounds like red'nin' = reddening].
(Red ink?)
Looks red like grapes. You get you some red'nin' [reddening] and you get you some lucky perfume and you get you some van-van and scrub your house Wednesdays and Mondays and Fridays - three times a week, and you throw the water in the street. And you see by.you got all that in your water scrubbing with, that draw the crowd right into you. I've seen that did.
Entry 2665
You get you some cinnamon and some sugar and Three Kings Oil [three magi: Gaspar, Melchior, Balthasar]. You put that cinnamon, sugar and that oil those three things, in the water and you start scrubbing your house from the front. You scrub before the door first and scrub your house back to the back. And after you get through scrubbing your house, then you come out on the banquette [sidewalk] and makes the same. Use only three buckets of water [three buckets is unusual - one for each king] - two for the house and one for the banquette. That's draws 'em - that's to draw in. That's if you want a roomer in your house. [For another example of Three Kings, see Nos. 2669-2670, p.729.]
Entry 2667
That kind of woman scrubs her house with oil of bergamine [bergamot], oil of cinnamon, and oil of cloves - the three combined. Three little small bottles, all three of them poured into a pail of water and sugar and scrub with that and scrub her steps going down. But she doesn't scrub them going out, she scrubs them coming in. She starts at the bottom of the steps and come up and scrub all the way back to the back of the house. That brings trade in - men.
Entry 2675
[This is a fuller version of No. 1947, p.570.]
You git choo one pound of red beans an' git choo a portion of guinea pepper seeds. Well, they call that [the latter], they call for - it's off the tree of paradise, an' you throw it up under each side of the steps, you see. No, no, put them beans up under that step - one pound of red beans - an' throw the guinea pepper seeds up under the side de steps. An' then you kin take eight buckets of water, you see, an' throw aroun' the door, an' the nin'bucket, choo throw it up, you see. An' then that keeps officers away, too, that nine buckets of water, if the officers all aroun' your door. But choo put blueing water in de eight' bucket an' de nin' bucket be loaf sugar, you throw it up jis' the same. [Tree of paradise I do not know. It and guinea pepper seeds are unrelated except in hoodoo. However, two trees are called paradise tree: Simarouba glauca of tropical North America, and Melia azedarach (China tree) of Asia, the latter being grown as an ornamental tree in U. S. A., and known by many names, chinaberry, Indian or Persian lilac, holy tree, etc.]
Entry 2689
You kin mop early in the morning 'fore the sunrise. You kin mop with oil of cinnamon and garlic, beat it up real fine, and your urinate overnight. Mix it with water and mop from the - start from the front steps and go back in your house and don't say nothing to nobody till you get done mopping. Jest hold your peace - don't say nothing to nobody - fore the sunrise....
(And mop it back?)
Yes, sir.
(That brings you trade - brings you customers if you are bootlegging?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 2699
Ah would use urinate an' concentrated lye an' yo' know soon in de mawnin'. Monday mawnin' an' Friday mawnin' ah'd always mop all de way through befo' anybody would enter - see, that would be roun' six a'clock in de mawnin'. An' aftah ah'd git through mopping ah'd throw de watah down de front steps, yo see. Den ah'd come back in an' burn mah incense befo' ah'd speak to anybody, see, an' make a wish.
(What would that do then?)
That would keep de law away.
Entry 2706
A bucket of pee. Dey puts Van-van in dis pee an' dey throws dat on de banquette an' dey take a bucket of watah an' dey rinses dat - dat urine an' dat van-van all ovah de banquette. Dat keeps de banquette damp. Ever' now an' den dey'll come out an' throw fresh watah on dat tuh keep it freshened up, so when yo' pass or anybody pass, well yore feet will get dampened by dat dere - walkin' in dat damp spot. Well, dat'll draw yore attention into dis place. If yo' go home an' yo' need anything, yo' won't go to de othah places tuh git any- thing. Yo'll go tuh dis place where yo' undah de influence of dat van-van. See, dat puts yo' undah de influence of spendin' yore money in dis place. Dat keeps de man's place packed an' jammed wit dis urine an' dis van-van.
Entry 2716
To make people come buy from you now, if you'd scrub your house out. You just would get you - just like I told you this before, if you wanta keep from getting hurt. Just get you some lye, man, and some linsin soap and put in that water.
(What kind of soap?)
Linseed[?]. That's that heavy coarse soap, but it's brownish-like. Cracker- iack Drug Store got all that right there - sell you that any time you calls for it and show you the same thing. And you put that in that water and it going to be dissolved in the water - just let it dissolve there you understand. And take that and scrub your place every morning - just about five a'clock you scrub your place with that. And you kin have that old van-van stuff and just throw it all around there every time you come in the house, and the place just going to smell likes it's cologne up in your house. [People come] thinking that you got nothing [but] cologne and such things. Well you - all your customers just going to be coming there and coming there - coming backward and forward and see you. Keep the law - the same thing, off you.
(The same way, I see.)
Entry 2966
If yo' got bad headaches an' dat headache is not natural, yo' take dat matches, two of 'em, an' cross dem in de mole of de haid. First yo' go to de hydrant an' yo' take an' let de hydrant run on yore haid in de mole fo' fifteen minutes. Now, yo' come back an' yo' 'noint dat [with what?] an' den yo' put dose matches dere an' cross 'em in yore haid. An' dat puts any lightnin' in de world out - dat puts de lights out. [Crossed matches a protection against lightning.]
(If somebody is burning a light on you, that will put it out?)
Dat will put hit out.
Entry 2973
Take two brand-new needles and cross 'em in your head - two brand-new needles - and put 'em right cross there. And if you got a hydrant, go to the hydrant every morning and let the water run right on the mole of your head - that hydrant water.
(That makes those candles go out?)
Go out.
Entry 2974
Take two. needles an' yo' cross 'em nine mawnin's in de hair - up in de hair yo' cross fo' nine mawnin's. Yo' go tuh de rivah or well an' yo' bathe yore face, dat'll pass dat pain in de haid.
(Will that put the candles out or what?)
Dat'll put 'em out - put out dat cross.
Entry 3015
Dey use holy watah tuh keep evil spirits away. Take holy watah an sprinkle it in de fo' corners of yore house an' say, "In de Name of de Father, an' of de Son an' of de Holy Ghost, St. Michael, kecp de evil spirit away." Den yo' kin take holy watah an' bathe yore haid fo' unnatural headaches [usually caused in the New Orleans area by someone burning a candle against you.]
Entry 3041
(For St. Peter. Tell me how you do that.)
Well, ah gives him a light. Ah gives him a light an' pray to him an' makes an offer tuh him an' takes him down [from the mantelpiece or wall] an' turn him upside down an' give him a red candle. Put it up 'side de wall anywhere or down on de flo'. Turn him upside down, an' give him a red candle an' throw a glass of watah in his face, an' go 'head on to co't. Dat's de co't case now, if it ain't serious. But if it's serious, yo' gotta work harder yo' know - yo' gotta start in time. But ah kin take St. Peter down dis mawnin' an' yo' goin' tuh co't an' ah kin make it easy.
Entry 3045
(Before prohibition you did that?)
Before prohibition came here, yes sir. You see, you go to the sent [saint] store, you ask for a St. Raymond sent.
(st. Raymond sent.)
He's a fellow with a little short dress on, got a crown on his head. He got something down look like the devil - this thing he got on the ground. It got a tail and horns on its head. He got a sword in his hand like that [demonstrates]. See, if he would get up, he would cut his head off or something. [Informant is confusing St. Michael with St. Raymond.] Now, that sent is for to put in a. place like you are selling whiskey, or making whiskey, to keep the law from being wor- rying you. You put that sent up over your front door where he have to come in. And that sent suppose to protect your business.
(I see.)
Yes, sir. That what you call the - you been in the Catholic Church?
(Yes.)
You see them statues and things?
(Yes.)
Well, they have pictures drawed off with the same statues on them that you use in your home, cause I got 'em in my home now.
(This is a picture of St. Raymond?)
Of St. Raymond.
(You just tack it over the door, that will keep the law away?)
Over the door, that keep the law away. (I see. They did this before - this was during Prohibition days that you used that?) Prohibition days. The reason why I know 'cause I used it myself. I run a place of business down here for a fellow they calls Joseph Faranzi. You see, he's a Italian fellow, but I run it in my name, but it wasn't my place. And I used to sprinkle holy water every morning - when I sweep up, I sprinkle the floor down with holy water. Now, that holy water come from the Catholic Church. You gits it in a quart bottle. Then I take some of that holy water and I throws it on that picture.
(Over the door?)
Over the door, you see. You have to keep that picture damp with that holy water, you see. This here picture, it works by holy water. [Here this saint is a hand which must be kept damp - fed. See p.578 and whole subdivision Hands.] You sprinkle over that picture and that picture suppose to protect your place of business. Now, half of this city is run by sent pictures. Most every home you go in, you be lookin' up to see sents over the door.
Entry 3064
Now, if yo' wanta draw de attention of anyone dat chew cares fo', yo git nine teaspoonsfula sugah an' draw a glass of watah an' yo' put it in there. Put de sugah in de watah an' yo' offer it up to de Sacred Heart of Jesus. Yo' offer dat glass of sweeten watah tuh de Sacred Heart of Jesus an' ah'll guarantee yo' it'll bring dere mind to yo' an' dey'll come to yo'. No names. Jes' offer it tuh de Sacred Heart of Jesus.
(How do you offer it? Where do you put this glass?)
Under there - undah de picture, see. Den yo' offer it to it, an' yo' set that glass there, ah guarantee yo'.
Entry 3075
It was a school teacher I was talking to and this ole woman came from Beaufort and she asked her fer a drink of water. And while she was in de house the woman told her she was a doctor and she was a sister of Doctor Buzzard in Beaufort, [S. Car.]. And she said she was so sorry that she talked with this woman, because this woman had taken her spirit for de day. She said, "Ah don't feel like doing anything else today. I am so sorry I gave her that water." Say, "She has taken my whole spirit." And this was a teacher.
(This was a school teacher.)
A school teacher in [name of Charleston school].
(How old a woman was she?)
She was about 39 years old - not older than that. She was a mathmatician in the high school. And she say, "Ah can't do a thing else today because that woman has taken my spirit." (Did she say how she had taken her spirit? Did she know how this old woman could take her spirit away from her?) No, she didn't know. But she said jes' seein' that ole woman - and de ole woman told her that she was a root doctor. Right off she just got in her mind and she couldn't do a thing else fer dat day.
(How long ago did this happen?)
It was Tuesday.
(Tuesday, here in town?)
Right here in Charleston. ["Charleston, S. C., Friday, June 25, 1937 - 495 Mrs. Clayborne - sister and brother in Augusta, James Ramsey & Sofie Lee - No. 4 Percy St. [[Charleston]] working here - Carter [[my contact man from Fredericksburg, Va.]] staying here. Numbers Book 442-621. So this is the place where I interviewed in Charleston.]
Entry 3087
It started from drinkin' water. I drinked water behind a lady and went out [the room]. And all at onest I got blind, jis' as blind as a - I couldn't see nuthin. So I called de landlady of de house. She said, "What's de matter?" I said, "I'm blind, I can't see." She said, "Why, you Was seein' a few minutes ago." I says, "Well, I don't know what's de cause of it." She carried [took] me in de room and lied me on de bed and sent for a ol' woman named Aunt Eliza. She came and prayed with me, rubbed some kind of salve over my face for nine mornings, and my eyes begin to crack open agin. They were closed. She would never tell me de name of de medicine she give me. She give me nine drops every morning for nine mornings. And she said de Lord's Prayer every morning before she give me dat medicine. And de last morning she give me dat medicine, she says, "What de Name of de Father and de Son and de Holy Ghost have I did." [Wilmington, N. Car., (241), 164: l+85; this happened in Fayetteville, N. Car.]
Entry 3142
(You say she wipes him with this towel. Then what does she do with it?) Put it in a jah [jar], yessuh. Stops it up tight an' put a weight tuh de jah, so it will sink when yo' throw it in de watah. Throw it in de watah where nobody can't git holt of it, or yo' kin even bury it, yo' see, but nobody will know where it's at but chew. An' dat will stop a man from havin' anything tuh do wit anothah woman.
Entry 3213
Why she jes' take 'im an' cut de seat outa his drawahs an' wash it an' take de watah an' goes dere wit 'im. Aftah dey go to bed at night, jes' lak she wus playin' wit 'im an' put dat watah ovah 'im. Take de hair, yo' know - burn some of 'er hair offa her, yo' know, burn it an' put it in dere, why he couldn't ride nobody.
(The hair from her head?)
De hair from under her clothes.
(And she puts that in the water from his drawers.)
Shore.
(Just what would that do then?)
Take it jes' lak she wanta wash 'im good, lak she gonna have communication wit 'im. She have dat an' - so's [so she] could put it in de basin, yo' know, an' [he could] wash hisself wit it. An' aftah he wash wit it, she pore de watah out an' den taken watah an' washes 'erself. An' he couldn't have no othah woman.
(The man loses his nature.)
Entry 3236
Jis' lak if yo', yo' know, take yo' a little small towel. All right, an' yo' an' 'im do business togethah - at least [I mean] yo' don't do no business wit 'im yo' undahstan', he do de business, see. Well, if yo' goin' do de busi- ness, yo' do it aftah he do it. Undahstan', don't do it wit 'im. Well, yo' take dat towel an' yo' takes it an' ROLL IT TO YO' NINE TIMES, jis' lak yo' do a snake [demonstrates], yo' know [see later]. An' aftah dat, all right, yo' take nine needleS an' yo' PIN DEM NINE NEEDLES IN [IT], YO' KNOW, COMIN' TO YO'. An' den aftah yo' pin de nine needles in it, well yo' take it den an' roll it roun' nine times lak dat an' den git chew a fruit jar.
(You mean you would roll it around like you would coil a snake.)
Yes sir.
(The first time you roll it towards you nine times?)
Yassuh. An' git chew a package of brand-new needles [demonstrates]. (And after you get these needles in it, then you take that roll like a jelly roll, a cake, and you make it like the coil of a rope [or lak yo' do a snake].) Den yo' take an' git.chew a fruit jar an' put chew jis' enough watah in dere to covah dis heah towel, yo' undahstan', an' den take an' put chew a little sugah in dere an' airtight it, an' take an' bear [bury] it undah yore steps. He goin come back home - bring dat money.
Entry 3462
Ah know of a woman an' a man dat been goin' togethah an' dis man wife wanted to make dis man 'shamed an' dis woman, an' let 'em be caught an' let de public see 'em. An' so she'd taken an' got sompin from a dog, an' fixed dis man. Whut ah mean she taken an' gits a dog discharge. [She] do wit 'im lak dey wuz goin' have one an' afterward - or if she wuzn't goin' have one - she would take dis an' put it on 'im. An' den he'll - an' [if he] have anyone, an' dey git hung lak dogs.
(Is there any way of getting them apart?)
Yes, ah know a way yo' kin git 'em apart, an' ah know a way dat dey didn't git 'em apart? DEY HAVE TUH KILL ONE AN' SAVE DE OTHAH ONE.
(How did they get them apart?)
Ah know in one case, see, de party dat do it kin git 'em apart.
(How do they do that?)
Wit watah, yes. Put in on 'em, jes' lak yo' do a dog.
Entry 3693
Yo' git de snail an' yo' cook de snail, an' yo' take de watah an' yo' git chew a han'ke'ch'ef, a new han'ke'ch'ef an' yo' soak dis han'ke'ch'ef wit it, an' yo' put dis on dis woman, an' she won't have any nature. If a man go dere, he can't do anything.
Entry 3794
Why he can git a dose of saltpetah, see, an' fix it an' take a drop or two evah morning, see, fo' nine mornings, an' if she's fixed 'im, where he can't have no 'co'se [intercourse], why dat will kill de taste of de othah woman an' build 'is curbed up nature. Yo' know saltpetah will entirely kill yore nature. But if yo' take it jes' a little bit, it will fix yo' straighten back up.
(How would I take this? Inside of me each morning?)
Take a drop or two an' put it in watah evah mawnin' fo' nine mornings. Dat'll straighten 'im up.
(That will bring back his nature.)
Entry 3824
Oh! Well, if he's been fixed like dat an' de one - ah've heard de way tuh cure it is fo' hin tuh cure 'isself, is tuh git up soon in de mawnin', go down tuh a runnin' stream of watah, where de watah is runnin' swift an' a very cleah stream, an' wash in dat watah three times - three mawnin's straight.
(You mean wash once each morning for three mornings?)
But use no soap.
[Informant did not answer my important question.]
(You wash just once each morning?)
Each mawnin' fo' three mawnin's but use no soap. Use no soap, jis' take 'is han' an' goes out tuh dat watah, runnin' watah, an' use dat watah. Wintah or summah, don' make any diff'rence what is de month, jis' use it fo' three mawnin's an'...
(His nature will come back?)
His nature will come back jis' de same as it wuz befo'.
Entry 3975
Well, she kin take her menstr'al - take dis woman's cloth an' carry it an' put it in a runnin' stream, an' dat woman, she'll nevah stop flowin', she'll flow until she git pale.
Entry 3976
Ah heard dat chew cud [could] take some dere. wearin' apparels, an' it said in person dat yo' cud place dem, an' read certain po'tion of Scriptures an dey wud [would] be removed [killed].
(Where would they place these pieces of clothing?)
In runnin' watah an' when all dat blood wud wash away - dat's de way mah mothah wuz killed - an' dat chew'll pass away.
(You do this in particular to the woman?)
Yessuh.
(Do you know what portion of Scripture you read on that?)
Yas, de 37th Psalms of David. [Either Psalm 37 is a guess or quoted out of context: For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb (King James Version). With- er has little in common with running water.]
Entry 3977
An' ah heard dat dey could take a woman's period an' throw it in de rivah, see, an' let it stay in de stream, an' when de watah go down dat will cause her tuh go on away.
Entry 4077
[Urine in food or drink is a widespread belief in hoodoo and witch- craft. Examples of it have already been given in HOODOO - see 2663-2364, p.661 and elsewhere. Here in the following rites the eater or drinker has been tricked; he does not know what he has eaten or drunk. Occasionally in HOODOO a person will purposely drink his own or another person's urine; a practice lin- gering on as a deviation (uralangnia) among a few persons. Superstitions similar to these urine ones will also be found regarding menstrual blood.1 Yo' kin take yore chamber lye. Jes' lak if ah wants tuh go wit a woman, or a woman wants me tuh go wit her, either one, see. Yo' kin take yore chamber lye an' put it in some watah, or either put it into sompin tuh eat, an' dat'll run yo' fool about her - all to- gethah a fool, yo' jes' wandah away [live in a dreamland] an' yo' jis' lose out on de world.
Entry 4130
Take a little yore urinate an' put it in some watah, sompin lak dat - glass of watah, somepin lak dat. An' dat will make 'er love yuh.
(I see, if she drinks that she will love you.)
Entry 4160
Yuh take saltpetah an' yuh own watah an' Hearts Cologne an' use dat aroun' de bossman, an' he'll give yuh a job. Ah've hear of sech as dat bein' done. Dis same stuff; saltpetah, Hearts Cologne an' yuh own watah, aroun' where yuh doin' business at, an' de' say dat will draw yuh customahs.
Entry 4343
Take dat chamber lye an' stop it up an' throw it in runnin' watah, in de rivah. It will run 'im away, run yuh crazy if yuh have it stopped up. If yuh don' evah git [recover] dat [bottle] why yuh'll always be crazy. [THE GENERAL READER MAY ASK: HOW CAN YOU RECOVER A BOTTLE FLOATING DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, OR A BOTTLE PERHAPS NOW DRIFTING ABOUT THE GULF OF MEXICO? REMEMBER, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE IN MAGIC. TO RECOVER A BOTTLE ON THE MISSIS- SIPPI, See 921, P.339; FOR A RIVER ON THE ATLANTIC COAST, See THE BRILLIANT WORK OF A DOCTOR IN RICHMOND, VA., 922, P.340; AND FOR GOOD MEASURE, See THE CLEVER DOCTOR OF WAYCROSS, GA., 920, p.338.]
Entry 4479
An' den sometimes yuh wan' chure man tuh bring 'is money home. Take a little watah an' wash up undah yore arm an' squeeze it in 'is coffee, see, an' serve it. He's comin' home. Yuh sho' kin do det.
Entry 4490
(What do they do with your bath water?)
Well, dey take dat bath water and strain it, an' put it up ovah de door some- where where yuh pass out an' undah, an' dat will keep yuh mind on 'em.
Entry 4497
Use de watah she'd take a bath in.
(Well, how would they do that?)
Take it an' cook food wit it, an' she kin control 'er husban'.
(The water she takes a bath in, I see.)
Entry 4504
(And what about the bath water?)
Well, take de bath watah an' put some sugah in it an' Hearts Cologne, an' den take an' [in the morning] throw it to de sunrise; an' if yuh don't want 'im, in de aftahnoon yuh take an' throw it tuh de east - ah mean west. (Well, what do you throw it to the sunrise for in the morning? Well, dat's to make him cling tuh yuh. (I see. If you don't want him, you throw it to the west.)
Entry 4508
Well, yuh bath in dat watah an' if dey kin git perten [= purtty = pretty] near all of it, left or drained in de bottom, about half of it left, dey take dat bath watah an' yuh put it in a jug - sompin dat wouldn't leak. An' yuh fix it in sompin-like what it wouldn't sink, yuh undahstan'. An' aftah it won't leak out an' it won't sink, dat's all yuh want. Put it in some runnin' watah - long as it don't sink, long as it don't leak - why dat will, yuh will nevah be no mo' good. See, 'cuz dat watah will be goin' an' it'll be comin' back - back an' fo'th jes' like de tide is goin'. Yuh kin take dat an' throw it ovahbo'd, an' den when de tide goes down, why yo' is down, yuh sick. De tide will come up, yuh coumence tuh feelin' a little bettah. But dat will be yuh ways de balance of yuh days. If yuh don't ketch dat jug an' bust it, why yuh will be goin' from dis place, from side tuh side like dat.
Entry 4704
Ah've heard - jis' lak dat little bow dat be in de back of yore hat back heah - ah've heard dat dey take hit out an' put it in runnin' watah an' make folkses leave home.
Entry 4858
Git holt of some of 'is dirty clothes an' bring 'im back. Take dem dirty clothes an' place 'em - wash 'is dirty clothes an' take de watah of it an' put it in 'is food.
Entry 4956
Take a man's sock, a dirty sock, an' tie three knots in it an' throw it in de runnin' watah. An' if de sock go down de stream, de man will go behin' it; if it go up de stream, he'll go behin' it. [Up de streom here means a tidewater river.] In- formant's statement misses the point of this rite. In at least two other examples, we also have a divination added; if the sock goes downstream, man will leave by boat; if upstream, by land or train (inland instead of seaward as at Brunswick); or, if man has not yet left: downstream indicates he will go, upstream he will remain.]
(What are you doing this for?)
Run 'im off.
Entry 5068
Jis' lak yuh take dat othah thing [we were talking] about while ago, yuh take hit an' let it soak in some watah.
(The sock?)
[My question is to establish immediately what we are going to talk about.]
Yeah. Jis' take de watah an' put it up ovah de front do', an' jis' let it set dere. Dat is if yuh wanta hold-a person. Jis' lak if yuh got a girl fren' an' she's good tuh yuh, well natchly [naturally] somebody else wan' [to] git in wit 'er an' 'bout tuh take her from yuh. Den yuh go tuh work an' do dat. Put it up ovah de front do' an' jis' let it set dere, an' she'll commence tuh leanin' on yuh evah time.
Entry 5077
Take a man's sock an' yuh kin run 'im away wit 'is sock - his lef' sock. Carry it tuh a rivah or eithah a creek, any place like dat where it's runnin' watah; an' jis' which way dat watah runs, dat's de way he'll go - drift jis' dat way.
Entry 5078
Tuh run 'im away, throw 'is lef'-footed sock in runnin' watah an' name it, as she threw it. Throw it ovah 'er lef' shouldah an' name it. Dat'll drive him away. He'll nevah come back.
Entry 5373
Ah heard dat yo' take dat. Lak de track set dat way, dat's de toe. Rake dat dirt back dat way [demonstrates].
(Toward the toe.)
Yes sir, an' if yo' wanta do 'em harm, rake it back dat way an' carry it tuh runnin' watah, an' throw it in an' dey'll run away - go crazy-lak, yo' know. If yo' wanta do 'em good, bring 'em home, lak yore wife would be gone, yo' take it from de middle of de foot back tuh de heel, bring it in an' put it in de cornah of de house, in a good place where nobody won't intahfere wit it, an' dey say she'll come home.
Entry 5403
An' jis' lak if yo' wanta run somebody 'way from a place, if dey done yo' harm or somepin othah. Roun' - yo' don' wan' 'em roun' yo'. Jis' git dere lef' track an' put it in aigshell, in a black hen's aigshell, an' yo' drop it in runnin' watah; an' as long as dat aigshell go, dey'll go.
Entry 5509
Dey tell me dat chew [they] kin git some of yore hair an' some of de dirt out chure track, an' mix it up an' throw it in some runnin' watah an' run yo' crazy.
(Get the dirt out of either track?)
Out chure lef' track. Dat tuh run yo' crazy.
Entry 5537
Jis' lak if yo' go an' make a footstep, dey go an' measure dat track... wit a cord string - jis' de way yo' goin' - an' dey picks it up from dere toe an' bring it backwards...put it in runnin' watah an' have yo' walkin'.
Entry 5569
Take yore track up - listen good - an' he kin write chure name in dat track, in dat sand. An' den take dat sand an' put it intuh a cup [can with lid] an' den go tuh de house where chew stay at, an' go roun' dat house three times an' t'row dat cup ovah dat house. An' den go git dat cup an' slacken de lid on it....
(Get that cup and do what?)
Slacken de lid, whereabout, whenevah dey gits tuh a runnin' stream, dat dat lid'll come off an' dat sand'll explode in dat stream. An' when de' t'row dat Smd in dere, whut dey taken outa yore track, why den dat watah carry dat. Dat'll o yore mind tuh wandah.
(That makes your mind wander away.)
Jis' lak dat watah carries it, dat'll cuz yore mind [to do likewise].
(He puts this into a can with a lid on it.)
Entry 5615
Well, yo' take de red peppah an' git dis track of de woman undah de hollah of 'er foot. Den yo' wrap dis dirt up in de peppah tuhgethah wit a lit- tle - in a rag, an' yo' go tuh runnin' watah an throw it intuh de watah an' don't look back. An' when it go on away, dis woman will go away an' won' bothah yore husban', fo' ah have tried dat fo' mahself.
(You just use the foot track - either one?)
De foot track, either one.
Entry 5740
If yo' wanted tuh git rid of a person, whenevah yo' would see dere track befo' it wuz ovahnight - yo'd have tuh do it wit a track not goin' ovah a day or it wouldn't do no good. But overnight, jis' befo' it's been inside de twelve hours, take de track right out of de middle, right undah de hollah of dere feet, some of dat dirt. Take it an' carry it in de night, an' dump it intuh run- nin' watah an' dey go - dat person will leave. Yo' nevah will have no trouble wit'em.
Entry 5764
Dey kin go ahead an' take up yore tracks. Take up yore lef' track an' take dat sand out from undah yore lef' track right up undah de hollah. Take it an' carry it an' put it in runnin' watah. Dat will make yo' move. Run yo' away from dat house.
Entry 5765
Yo' kin take in de hollah of yo' feet, jis' pick up a han'ful of it, an' take it tuh some runnin' watah an' throw it in dere. See, dat watah runnin', in about three days' time yo'll move.
Entry 5766
Well, if anybody wanta run a woman or a man away, yo' git de - in de middle of de track yo' git dat dirt out of de middle of de left track. An' take dat dirt an' take it tuh a stream of runnin' watah an' fold it up tight in a li'le rag an' put it in dere. An' it will float away, an' dat will drift dem clean away.
Entry 5767
Yo' take de lef' track, if yo' kin ketch de lef' track. Yo' take up dat lef' track an' throw it in a runnin' stream an' dey'll leave town. Wherevah dey go dey won't stay long, but ah don't know whut hour yo' do dat. Yo' have tuh have a pahtic'lah hour tuh do dat.
Entry 5769
Take yo' footprint an' take it up on a bo'd or sompin where yo' wouldn't lose none of it, an' carry it tuh a rivah, a runnin' rivah an' throw dat in it. Why dat'll make yo' keep goin' all de time.
(How many tracks do they take up or any particular one?)
Jest one, either one.
Entry 5770
Take dey foot tracks an' throw it in runnin' watah ovah yore lef' shouldah. Throw it in runnin' watah an' yo' supposed tuh go.
Entry 5771
Take yore track - yo' go along an' jes' take yore han'fulla track an' grab it up quick lak dat. An' carry dat tuh runnin' watah an' throw dat in run- nin' watah, an' dat will make 'em leave home.
Entry 5775
Dey said dey pick yore track up aftah it git hard yo' know. Dig it up, de whole track an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' dat would run yo' crazy or somepin lak dat. Make yo' - yo' know, can't stay in one place.
(Running all the time.)
Entry 5780
If yo' made a track, a person could take yore track, dey say - well, dey kin take dat, dey cast dat same spirit to dat, in dis way, fer as ah know. Dey say, "Ah have yore track." Yo' mean if dey wan' chew tuh leave town or somepin? Or run yo away or somepin lak dat? Or whut dey wan' chew tuh do? Or keep on goin'? Well, yo' say whut chew want. Say, "In de Name of Jesus Christ, ah have yore track an' now yo' shall do so-an'-so. Yo' can't stay heah. Whutevah ah wan' chew tuh do [yo'll do it]." Well, den, yo' take dat tuh de rivah an' yo' throw it ovah dere. Yo' combine it all in somepin an' take it tuh a runnin' stream of watah an' throw it ovah.
Entry 5781
Me an' 'er wuz good frien's, an' so she wanted tuh take mah husban' an' so she wanted tuh git mah track. 'Stead [instead] of 'er gittin' mah track, well she got hers. An' she took dat an' chunk it in runnin' watah. An' so she went down dere in 3 days, why she went down dere tuh drown 'erself.
Entry 6418
Dey could take de skin from de bottom of de feet an' mix it in wit de dlk, or watah - whatsomevah dey make de bread wit, an' feed it to a person. Dey say dat would make dem love yo'.
Entry 6421
Scrape yo' feet, I've heard dat. Dey scrape de bottom of yo' feet maybe an' po' it - yo' know, slip it in yore drinkin' watah, yo' know.
(What will that do to you?)
Dat will make 'em catah [cater] tuh yuh at yuh home.
Entry 6503
If a woman wants a man to be what you would call under her feet, she wants to command that man to do everything she say, she lets her feet get dirty. She goes two or three days without washing her feet, then she soak 'em in water until they, you know get all that dry skin off, that dead skin. She puts that in the stove and bakes it until it's just as dark as coffee. Then she rolls it out to a powder, then she cooks it in the man's coffee. And after he eats a certain portion of that, he has no will of his own at all. His will is her will- her will is his will, rather. He's down under her feet.
Entry 6509
Take de toenails or fingahnails an' put it in runnin' watah an' it will drive love to each othah, make yore love be mo' strongah.
(Suppose I love a woman. Would I put my own fingernails in the water or what?)
Her fingahnails an' put 'em in runnin' watah. Jis' put it in watah an' dat will drive yo' an' 'er love back togethah.
Entry 6562
Ah've heard tell of 'em usin' frogs fo' diff'ren' things. Now ah've heard tell of 'em - yo' take a frog an' yo' wanta put a SPELL on a person, poison a person. Yo' take a frog an' kill 'im an' let 'im git dry. Den yo' parches 'im where yo' kin powdah it up. Yo' take dat powdah an' put it intuh whiskey or watah or yore coffee, an' let - yo' know, from time tuh time, let 'em drink offa dat. An' it'll create frogs in 'em.
Entry 6565
Down right on Hanover Street, why SHE HAD FROGS IN HER. Suah [sure] she had frogs. Now, dey li'le toadfrogs what jump aroun', understand. Jis' lak yo' out in de country, see dese li'le ole rough back frogs jumpin', yo' know, why jis' ketch 'em an' yo' kept 'em an' jes' let 'em - put 'em on a rag or sompin lak dat an' let 'em make a li'le watah, yo' undahstan'. All right, dey make a li'le watah an' yo' jis' kin take dat an put it across a person [person's] somepin tuh eat, yo' undahstan', yo' more dan apt tuh git frogs an' skippahs an' crawfish - all kind of insex intuh yo' by dat. [The word skipper I have discussed elsewhere. It is not something looking like a butterfly, but a maggot infesting meat. I personally knew only the skipper in bone-cured ham, the world's greatest jumper for its size.]
Entry 6591
Take de snail an' put it in de watah an' dey go drinkin' an' dose ails will grow in 'em.
Entry 6623
How tuh put things in a person. Say yo' wanta put a snake intuh a per- son or dese ole red-haid scorpions. Gits dose things. An' kill 'em an' git dere haids off an' den hang 'em. Put 'em on a string an' put 'em somewhere until dey jis' git perfectly dry. An' den take 'em down an' put 'em intuh somepin where dat dust can't git up yore nostrils. Put 'em in.somepin an' beat 'em up, an' den take dat dust an' put it intuh some watah or a person's food. An' let 'em eat or drink 'em an' dat'll create live things in 'em.
Entry 6630
If dey want tuh kill anybody, so ah learnt - dat's how mah fathah wuz killed. Now, dey kin git a snake of any kin' yo' want. Ketch im, yo' know, 'live. An' say yo' take him an' put 'im in de stove an' bake him brown - yo' know, till he's crisp up. An' dey say yo' kin take a li'le bit of dat dust, an' dust it in watah, milk or coffee - anythin' yo' wanta dust it in. An' dey tell me it will kill a person.
Entry 6632
Ah've heard talk dat chew kin take like a snake or somepin othah like dat. Somebody dat's not 'fraid of a snake. Well, we say - wouldn't say it wus 'is blood, but say dat 'it would be like he's [his] flesh, yo' undahstan', jes' a li'le some of 'im. Jis' like he's killed an' yo' git a chance tuh put dat in 'im [enemy]. Sew dat up an' bake dat in a stove an' den powdah it. Aftah yo' bake it in de stove, powdah it up fine. An' den yo' kin put it in some whiskey or watah or wine.
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 6667
Take a spidah fo' n'instance an' put 'im in yore pot an' cook 'im in yore pot. Jis' cook 'im in a quart of watah, let it cook an' cook an' cook until he come tuh pieces. An' den yo' take dat dere spidah an' yo'll see nuthin but jis' li'le teensy pieces on de bottom of de pot; where he done cooked tuh pieces yo' know, jis' about lak de end of mah fingah- nails, jis' about - about so [demonstrates]. Well, yo' take dat an' yo' set it aside till it git good an' cool. An' when it git good an' cool - until it's very cool - den yo' take dat dere. Take yo' a teaspoon an' yo' skim all de way roun'. Skim de top an' gft de top all de way roun', off de top where yo' boiled dat spidah intuh a quart of watah. Yo' skim de top an' den yo' take dat watah an' yo' po' dat watah off. Yo' take dat watah an' yo' put it in a jah [jar], see. Well, yo' take dat spidah watah dat yo' got already new an' put it in drinks, diff'ren' things.
(What will that do to them then?)
DAT'LL MAKE 'EM CRAWL, GIT ON DERE KNEES AN' CRAWL. HAVE FITS. HAVE ALL KINDS OF FITS. BE "FITTY" OFF AN' ON.
Entry 6815
[Gopher, here, is the burrowing land tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) of the southern coastal regions, U. S. A.] Dat's if yo' wuz poisoned, an' it ain't no doctor [M.D.] kin cure it. Yo' kin ketch a gopher, pull 'is right laig out - yo' know he's got fo' laigs - de right- front laig. Jis' snatch it out, de blood's comin' from it. Well, yo' take dat blood an' put it in some warm water. Ah don' care whut's in yo', if somebody put in yo', dat blood an' some warm water, drink it as hot as yo' kin stand, an' it's comin' out. Ah don' care if it's 'live. He can't stay dere, he comin' out.
(What does a gopher look like?)
Well, it looks jis' lak a turtle, only dey haven't got a long tail. Dey got a hard shell.
Entry 6930
Take a dime, ah think, or somepin othah, whut it is, an' boil it. Boil it good an' let 'im drink de watah off it. Take silvah an' let 'im drink de watah off it. Boil it an' let it git as strong as yo' kin, an' den drink de watah from dat. If dey drinks de watah from dat, dat will cuz some confusion down in dere [stomach] an' den dey'll vomit it up. At least dat's whut ah heard.
Entry 6968
Git a pan of watah. Jis' git a pan of watah yo' see, an' put dere han' in dat watah. When yo' git dere han' in dat watah dey'll wake up, an' wit de ban' in dat watah dey goin' talk. Dey'll talk.
(They'll talk in their sleep.)
Entry 7001
[The rite under the present number and the rite to follow under a sep- arate number are almost identical, yet each comes from a different person and trip to Memphis. For a similar situation, see my introductory note on p.1872 to interVieW EUREKA HOTEL WHERE I INTERVIEWED IN MEMPHIS BUILT BY THE DEAD.1 Git a catfish whilst he's live an' stick 'im in de tail, an' ketch dat blood an' put it intuh - make it up firs' 'fore yo' put it in dere cuz de whiskey'll cook it an' make it lumpy. But chew make it up in jis' a li'le watah an' den yo' put it intuh dis whiskey an' shake it up. An' give it tuh dat man an' he won' want no mo' whiskey.
Entry 7002
Take a catfish an' git 'is blood. Stick de fish in 'is tail - he have tuh be 'live - stick 'im in 'is tail an' ketch dat blood an' mix it up in watah first, becuz de whiskey will cook de blood. Mix it up in watah an' den put it in whiskey an' shake it up an' give it tuh 'em. Dat'll prevent 'im from drink- in'.
Entry 7038
Yo' kin git de blessed watah from de Cath'lic Church, anybody; but dey don' give it tuh yuh tuh do dat. Dey give it tuh yuh fo' tuh use fo' yuh own use; anything yuh wanta use it fo', yo' see. But ah did heah dat anythin' yuh ask... (Well, now, how do you use that blessed water, if this man was a heavy drinker?) How would ah give it tuh 'im?
(Yes.)
Oh, yes, when he's might ask yuh fo' a drink a watah, an' den yuh put some a dat blessed watah in dere, an' call In de Name of God, de Fathah, de Son an' de Holy Spirit, hopin' dat he would quit drinkin' so hard. An' in dat way - dat's all dere's tuh dat.
Entry 7778
About graveyard dirt, that will give you consumption [tuberculosis].
(How do they do that?)
They take it in your water and bury it under your doorstep.
(Your drinking Water, you mean?)
Yes, sir. [Graveyard dirt in your drinking Water, though under the doorstep, contaminates all your drinking Water.]
Entry 8650
Yo' take dis party's name an' yo' write it three times. Yo' put dis name in de lemon an' yo' walk to runnin' water, an' throw it over yore left shoulder an' call dere name three times, an' dey will go [makes person leave town].
Entry 8652
If yo' don't want a person, yo' take a lemon an' yo' put it in de name - de coconut de same way, too - an' yo' go direct to de Mississippi Rivah. Yo' go to de runnin' watah an' yo' take dat lemon an' yo' throw it. Now dose people, jes' like yo' see dat lemon driftin' down de stream
[they will drift away].
Entry 8922
Yo' will write dere name on paper an' stick it in a glass of water an turn it up right - if anybody done anythin' to yo', see, yo' turn dat paper bot- tom upwards, up side de house, an'when it tries to fall down, yo' do dat nine times. It shuh [sure] will bring 'em back. Don't care who it is. (Now, this is to bring them back. You write that name on a piece of paper just once. Then what do you do with that paper?) Jes' stick it up side de house, an' when it dry wit de water - see, jes' stick it in a glass of water an' stick it up side de house, an' when it dry, it will fall down. Well, de next time - like if yo' do it today - well, don't do it but once a day. An' de next day yo' do de same thing. It will jes' fall down. Nine days dey'll come back... If dey stole anything from yo' dey'll bring 'em back. (Do you put that paper on any particular side of the house or any place in the house?) Any place in the house jes' long as yo' hang it up side of de house.
Entry 9369
Yo' kin take a aigshell an' yo' kin git some of 'is hair or have someone tuh git 'is hair. Have a barbah- shop or anywhere his hair cut at, yo' manage tuh git some of 'is hair. An' yo' bo' a hole in dat aig jis' as though a man gwine suck it an' yo' put some of dat hair in dat hole, an' yo' go tuh some runnin' watah. Now, dat's if yo' wanta git rid of individual. Yo' put dat - yo' go tuh some runnin' watah an' drap dat eggshell in dere. See, all de good [raw egg] is outa de aigshell. Yo' let it run out or suck it out lak some do. Yo' put dat aigshell in some runnin' watah an' 'long as dat aigshell drift, he ain't gwine be contented nowhere. He's travelin'. Dat's gittin' rid of - yo' might say of yore enemies or somepin lak dat.
Entry 9431
[I now repeat in form of question what informant had said before recording began.]
(How do you run them crazy with an egg?)
Well, yo' kin take dat aig an' put dey name on it an' throw it in runnin' watah. Run' 'em crazy.
Entry 10028
(What do they say about getting that black cat lucky bone?)
Yo' take dat black cat. Ketch 'im alive, don' kill 'im. An' have yore watah on hot. Chunk 'im right in de pot wit'out killin' 'im. Yo' chunk [him] down in de pot 'thout killin' 'im. Put on de lid an' boil 'im. Boil 'im until prakly [practically] all de meat will leave de bones. Take de bones an' drop 'em in runnin' watah, see. De' [they] claim dat de bones will sink. In othah words dat [bone] come back up tuh de top, take it. Say dat's de lucky bone.
Entry 10049
Put a black cat in a pot of water and boil it until all the flesh comes off and the lucky bone comes to the top. Then take that lucky bone and go to the forks of the road and there you'll meet the devil. If you can stand him you can do anything you want.
Entry 10051
Now, yo' goes an' gits yuhself a straight-off black cat. Go right now an' git a straight-out black cat, yo' undahstand. Ah mean a real jet-black cat. An' take a pot an' put a big fiah undah it, an' take dat cat while he's alive an' put - throw 'im down in dat watah. An' jis' let 'im boil tuh pieces until all de j'ints come apart. An' carry it tuh a stream of runnin' watah an' yo' take all dose bones. one at a time, an' part it away [separate itl. An' yo' kin take it an dump it in dat runnin' watah, an' jis' what bone should happen tuh go off by it- self, well yo' git dat bone. But it must be jis' about midnight. An' yo' take dat b.one wot float by itself an' yo' walk tuh de fo'k of de road. An' when yo git at de fo'k of de road, why yo'll meet de devil. Den yo'll give yuh testimony tuh 'im. Den yo'll confess dat yo' sell yuh soul tuh 'im fer five yeahs. An' so yo' already sold yuhself tuh 'im, so dat's why yo' servin' de devil. Yo' workin' fer de devil an' yo' jis' have dat black cat bone an' yo' kin do anythin' dat yo' wanta do.
Entry 10068
Yo' kin go tuh a graveyard. Git chew a black cat an' go tuh a grave- yard an' stay out dere till twelve 'clock in de night. An' boil dat black cat in de graveyard. An' aftah yo' boil 'im good an' hot, why run tuh a li'l stream an' po' 'im in de stream; an' de bone dat comes up de stream, git dat an' dat's good luck.
Entry 10084
Dat black cat bone - well, yo' ketch a real black cat, see. All right. Aftah yo' ketch dat cat - he have tuh be alive, yo' see, an' yo' take 'im an' put 'im in boilin' watah. Put 'im in a big ole pot, chew know, an' boil 'im. An' when yo' done boil 'im down, well den yo' pick de bones, an' den yo' have tuh have a lookin'-glass an' fin' de right bone. Den, when yo' hit de right bone an' yo' git de right bone, dat glass gits smokey an' yo' cain't see yo'self in dat glass. Well, den dat'll be de bone dat yo' must git. (When you pick these bones - do you do anything to them when you pick these bones? What do you do with the bones when you pick them?) Well, when yo' be pickin' 'em, yo' jes' continue pickin' de bones an' lookin' in de glass, don't chew undahstan'.
(You are just picking up the bones?)
Yes, lookin' tuh see whut kind a bone yo' must git, an' den when yo' git de right bone, well, den de glass - yo' cain't see yo'self in de glass any mo'.
Entry 10094
Cats? Dey took one of 'em an' throwed 'em on de inside of a pot of hot boilin' watah, an' aftah - ah mean, aftah dis cat done boiled tuh pieces, yo' undahstan', dere'll be two bones whut swims upon de top of de watah. Yo' see, in de pot. Well, now yo take dose two bones an' yo' carries dem befo' de mirrah, an' yo' looks intuh de mirrah. An' de one derein dat chew could see yuhself in de glass, well dat, it not de bone. But de one where yo' cannot see yuhself intuh de glass, dat will be de one yuh want. Yo' cannot see yuhself. Well, all right, [that is] sellin' yuhself [to the devil]. [Could there be concealed here a forgotten catch or trap? Originally did you have the choice of either bone? If you failed with the first one, you had to start all over again, possibly meaning ad infinitum.]
Entry 10101
But you have tuh git a bone from a black cat. Well, yo' take a black cat an' yo' have a pot wit a lid on it. Air-tight [it] so dey can't knock it off. But de process dat chew go through in dat is tuh - all kinda evil things comes tuh yuh. Yo' takes dat cat an' yo' put 'im in dere alive an' den yo' shut dat lid back. If yo' kin stand it, stand all dose diff'ren' things - snakes all kinda wild things comes up in fronta yo' an' tries tuh hahm yuh; if yo' kin stan' dat an' go through wit it. An' atah dat, aftah it boils out all de bones an' evahthing is sep'rate dere, yo' ate dat stuff an' yo' drain it off. An' yo' take dose bones in some watah an mle dem in yuh han' lak dat. Git tuh a stream of watah wheah de watah is ni aia' all de time an' hole dose bones in it. An' de bone dat try tuh git auay fro yuh de most, de one dat goes up de stream, yo' best go an' git dat. Qou just hold these bones in your open hand and it's the one that tries to t away from you.) Den yo' take dat one dat is tryin' tuh git away from yuh. An' take de siple bone, jis' take it somewheah an' dry it off, an' jis' keep it moisted with Hearts Perfume. An' if yo' wan' tuh keep dat bone - an' if yo' wanta go any place an' don' wan' anybody tuh see yuh, as invisible, yo' put dat in yuh mouth. Yo' gotta keep yuh mouth shut. An' yo' go in dere an' nobody kin see yuh, but dey kin heah yuh talk.
Entry 10187
You git choo a white candle. You put it in a half a glass of water [to serve as a candlestick and precaution against fire]. You light it every night at 9 a'clock. You say, I see no evil, I hear no evil, no evil overtake me, an' think what I told, you pin on you. That's for the law away too: I see no evil, I hear no evil, no evil over- take me. An' yo' let that candle burn a half a hour. You burn that every night. That's to keep the law away. An' then you git 9 safety pins, you understand. Sou you put 'em in each shoe, nine in each shoe, an' if there's one [anyone] happens to come to try to worry you, you cut you a Irish potato half in two an you make 4 parts [by cutting each half into 2 parts]. You take that, you go outdoors an' you throw a piece to the east - that potato be in 4 parts - an' yo throw a piece to the west, an' you throw a piece behind you, an' keep the other [fourth or last piece] on you.
Entry 10494
"Basin of water under bed stops hag from riding you"
[Mobile, 891:10]. [For bucket of water and flaxseed, see No.10426.]
Entry 10690
[Here is one of the great measuring rites in HOODOO, simple and syml bolical. Though informant explains everything in the first paragraph, there is more here than meets the eye at a quick glance.l I heard one dat yo' cud git a bay stick - lak yo' wanted to run somebody away from a place - git a bay stick, an' go to dey house early in de morning 'fore de sun rise. Use it dere. Measure off space. An' measure off three turns from it.[Measure four stick lengths away from the door - see later.1 Go to de running stream of watah an' drive it in dat runnin' stream of watah. An' long as dat watah runs he runs. (You get a stick from a fig [bay] tree. How long did you say it was?) [If the length had been given, it was before recording began. Now I want informant to repeat.] Have to be three feet long. (I didn't understand what you meant by measuring. [Here is another excuse for more details.] Tell me what you meant by measuring.) Take a stick from de tree as though dis match [here] is [the stick] heah an' yo' measure it [measure match to see that it is 3 feet long]. Measure it lak dat. [Informant begins to measure.] Den turn it over lak dat, an' den turn it ovah lak dat, three times, an' tell him to go, an' he'll leave, an' yo' go drive it [stick] in de water, an' 'fore sunrise he'll be gone.
(You measure three feet from the doorstep?)
No, yo' stick de stick right up to de do'step an' turn it ovah, an' as yo' turn it ovah yo' be tellin' him to go all de time. An' aftah yo' do dat, well run down to de stream of water an' jes' as fast as yo' go to dat stream of water, where it's runnin' all de time, well dat's jes' as fast as he goin' leave town. (As if you were measuring a piece of cloth or something, you keep turning the rule [stick] over, three times. You turn this stick over three times right from the doorstep away from his house.) Runs him away. (You have to go out and cut this stick.) [This is not a stick you pick up anywhere, it is new wood, freshly cut.] Gotta go out an' cut it, cut it exactly three feet.
Entry 10975
Write name on black hen egg, throw into running water, runs out of town. [Petersburg, Va., 423:4.]
Entry 10977
Write name on black hen egg, throw into water as tide goes out; soon after, the person will die. [Newport News, Va., 512:2.]
Entry 11093
Wash man's clothes, throw this water under door he uses most, he will stay home. [Wilmington 119:2.]
Entry 11263
They tell me you git two rocks and you begin to work dat stuff. If you git this gold-finding hand that I spoke of, begin to walk backward and for- Ward from de front to the back door, and TALK TO DIS POT AND DEM ROCS WILL BOIL DE WATER IN DAT POT.
(You do what?)
You kin walk backwards from de front door to the back door, after you git dis gold-finding hand, and you kin boil water in de pot without a fire.
(Boil water in the pot without a fire?)
Boil it over. [Norfolk, Va., (Doctor Paul Bowes) 460:5; 462:2; 464:2.]
Entry 11442
Soak fingernails and toenails in whiskey 'dat dey go down to nuthin, ' pour into slow-running water, to make you useless in your hands 'like yo' para- lized in de han's." [Washington, D. C., 822:7.]
Entry 11444
Dey kin take yore fingernails an' yore toenails, if dey kin git 'em, an' dey kin take 'em an' carry 'em an' shet [dialect variety of shoot, not from a gun, but throw them into the water with as much force as you can] 'em in [into] watah an' yo' can't stop travelin'. [Florence 2269:10.]
Entry 11479
Take foot track to running water, near there walk backwards, turn your back, throw over shoulder into stream, runs person crazy. [Vicksburg 1000:1.]
Entry 11540
Pick up foot track from toe to heel, throw into running water, you can't stay home. [Richmond, "no reference, informant good, try to chedk."]
Entry 11568
Pick up 9 gravels [grains of sand or larger pieces of stone from foot track and throw into running water to run person away. [Richmond 304:1.]
Entry 11595
Take 3 pinches of foot track - one from the heel, one from the mid- dle, one from the toe - throw into water running east to send away. [Norfolk 451:1.]
Entry 11606
To throw foot track into running water gives you a "traveling mnd."
[Wilmington 96:1+85.]
Entry 11607
Right foot track in sack, tie in running water, you'll go crazy.
[Wilmington 213:3+85.]
Entry 11610
Foot track into a sack into running water, keeps you drifting.
[Vicksburg 1037:6.]
Entry 11785
Throw graveyard dirt over right shoulder into running water, while wishing a person to go away or to come back, and then walk away without looking back. [Newport News, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 11786
An enemy fixes up your name with graveyard dirt, throws it into run- ning water, says what he wants done, cursing you and telling you to go, and then leaves not looking back. [Washington, D. C., 804:3.]
Entry 11839
Well, dey takes gunpowder an' put it into water an' let it set fo' nine days, an' let anyone drink offa dat gunpowder watah. Dat will keep 'em always flusterated an' mad, hateful an' lowdown all de time.
Entry 11923
If someone cuts a hole in a tree that stands in running water and stops up in it some of your hair, you will lose your mind. [Wilmington 269:6+85.]
Entry 11950
Your hair thrown into running Water makes you Wander. [Washington, D. C., 814:3.]
Entry 11962
If you throw a person's hair into running water, that person will go there and drown himself. [Snow Hill, Md., 11:4.]
Entry 11965
You may bottle a person's hair with heartshorn perfume [Hearts Cologne] and throw it into running water to run a person crazy. [That term heartshorn, a mispronunciation for Hearts Cologne, gave me trouble until I finally realized either some informants could not pronounce the word cologne or confused it with the obsolete pharmaceutical term hartshorn, that is, spirit of hartshorn. [Wil- mington 270:5+85.]
Entry 11973
Pick a small hole into a raw chicken egg, remove the raw egg, insert a person's hair, toss the eggshell into running water, the person whose hair it is will go crazy. [Norfolk 492:10.]
Entry 11976
If you tie a person's hair into a handkerchief and throw it into run- ning water, it will run that person crazy. [Petersburg, Va., 426:1.]
Entry 11977
If you tie a person's hair into a handkerchief and throw it over your left shoulder into running water, the victim will soon leave that place. [Peters- burg, Va., 426:6.]
Entry 11979
If you tie a person's hair into a rag and tie the rag to a brick and drop the brick into running water, the owner of the hair will always be travel- ing [Richmond 292:9.]
Entry 11983
Tie 9 knots in person's hair and throw into running water, having first turned around 9 times while wishing victim will never return. [Washington, D. C., 837:2.]
Entry 12157
Well a hickory tree, yo' kin take dat an' cut it down an' put it, an' make a razor rock [first and only time I ever heard this name] out it, whut chew call a molly-backbone [molly-back hone]. Mah father made one outa dat an' let it stay 'bout seven or eight yeahs in watah an' it turnt to a molly-back hone, razor rock.
(A razor rock, for sharpening a razor?)
Yessir.
Entry 12270
They can put a kettle of water outside the door, that'll drown the noises in the house. If they [policemen] come there, they can't hear it. [This belief evidently comes down from slavery-time when a kettle upside down gas supposed to reduce or eliminate noises, if a secret meeting was being held.]
Entry 12297
They take your hair and bury your hair, see. They'll get two brass tacks and a brass pin [three brass objects] and they can put your hair in a lem- on, and then they'll turn that lemon upside down [unusual express- ion!] and bury it. And that'll give you a thun- dering headache. Now, for to cross that, you take that out. Now, you get you some war water and you get you [war water is omitted]. You go to the hydrant for nine mornings and just put your head under the hydrant like that, and let the water run on your head and say, "In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, please let this affliction go from me."
Entry 12427
Menstrual cloth bury or throw into running water, says she'll "never be any more good." [Wilmington 257:7.]
Entry 12444
Take a woman dat's goin' roun' wit yore husban', yo' git six mockin'- bird aigs an' jes' put 'em in watah jes' long enough tuh git hot - not boil 'em. Yo' take dem out an' yo' put 'em in cold watah, an' let dem set dere jes' 'bout a hour. An' den take 'em tuh dis woman's house an' put 'em andah huh pillah, dat is if yo' kin git 'em undah dere, yo' know. An' she'll nevah bothah wit yore husban' no mo'.
Entry 12445
Ah've heard about a mockingbird. Now, yo' take a mockingbird - dey claim dat chew kin rob his nest. Yo' know he have two little aigs. If yo' rob his nest, break up his nest wit de aigs, de spots on dat eggshell, if yo've got time to, count half of 'em. Take dem spots after yo' count 'em, set 'em down on sompin [piece of paper], as many as yo' count. An' yo' take dat an' yo' carry it to run- nin' water. Yo' put it in a runnin' stream. Yo' stand wit chure back an' throw it back behin' yo' an' walk right on off. Well, now, dat's jes' lak if a person is gone off somewhere an' yo' want 'em to come back. Yo' count dem spots an' yo' throw dat piece of paper, whatevah yo' got it [number of spots on]. Throw it in running water behin' yo' an' don't look back at it. In a very short while dat person will come back. It jes' give 'em de mind to come on back to yo'.
Entry 12491
This story goes, if ah wanta make yo' move, ah go buy a brand-new pot-vessel never been used. Ah go gets a low bush myrtle an' put it in de pot an' boil it. When it's boiled an' cooled, yo' take it an' walk around dere house three times, sprinkle de water an' pray dis prayer, say, "In de Name of God, within three days, move." An' dey say dat's effective. Now wheth- er it's true or not ah never tried it.
Entry 13030
You can cure internal cunjure by boiling 3 dimes and drinking the water. [Wilmington 195:1+85.]
Entry 13031
Here is an elaborate cure: For inside cunjure, boil 3 dimes and 3 quarters and drink the water - no filings, just water. [Wilmington 255:5+85.]
Entry 13032
Boil 3 pieces of silver money, money with stars on it, and drink the water for cunjure within. [Wilmington 243:8+85.]
Entry 13116
Kill a snake, he has one straight bone in him under his ribs, let dry, powder; give to anyone in water he comes alive in 18 days, in whiskey in 7 days.
Entry 13160
They say you can take 'em [socks or stockings] and put 'em in run- ning water, stop 'em up in a bottle or...like you throw the bottle into the river, take the tide going out, and let it bottle [with socks] go out with the tide and run a person away. [Elizabeth City 557:7.]
Entry 13162
Wash dirty socks an' in this water put bluestone, pepper, sulphur; throw over shoulder into running water and say, "Go," an' don't look back.
[Richmond 303:3.]
Entry 13299
Catch a terrapin, raise his shell, put person's name under, return tc water, and that person will go there and drown. [Norfolk 537:3.]
Entry 13420
Well, they have war water. See, you get a small bottle of war water and sprinkle it wherever this - jes' like if a person is - you is close neigh- bors to them, you can put it in their scrub water, you know, when you see them mopping or anything like that. You kin put it in their scrub water. If not, you can take war water and jes' sprinkle it around that house and the police will come there and they'll have all kinds of confusion - they jes' be fighting all the time, will soon break up.
(I see. This man and woman.)
Entry 13438
They say if you git to the thing that they have put down fer you and throw it in running water, it will turn back on de one that put it down fer you.
[Richmond 374:8.]
Entry 13439
They say cross water. That's the only way to get rid of a spell.
[Fredericksburg, Informant 73, by Ediphone.]
Entry 13458
Wood lice - yo' take de wood lice an' put it in watah unbeknowst tuh de othah fellah an' yo' drink off it, yo'all body'll be full [of lice]. [Flor- ence 2179:2.] COLLECTED BEFORE U. S. A. ENTERED WORLD WAR II
Entry 9729
I'll tell you this much. Just like I say I have a husband and I have a sweetheart-man, and I wants my sweetheart-man and my husband to live like - you know what I mean - like friends. I'll heat some water to make coffee and I'll put three nails in that cook-kettle or pot, whatever I heat the water in. I'll make that coffee. I'll get the first cup of coffee myself out of that. I'll give my husband the next cup and my sweetheart-man the next cup. After we drink off of that coffee, now I'll take the three nails out of that cook kettle. All right, I'm first. [Demonstrates.] I'll put one nail there [for me], my husband here - here's me right there - and my sweetheart [man] laying right here.
(You put those nails in the shape of a triangle?)
Yes. Well, but I'm first [demonstrates], my husband [I interrupt before sweetheart]. (Your husband is to your right and the other man is to the left in that tri- angle.) In that way we'll never fuss. He could come and ketch me in the bed with the sweetheart-man but he won't have nothing to say. He can't even fight with me. Him and that man will never fall out. They'll always be friends together.
(Where do you put those nails?)
In the wall. But I'm here - I'm first, and my husband is next, and this man is here, see. See I'm the boss of all both of them.
Entry 9767
Tuh keep dem [police] away, if yo' kin find out how many officahs are in town. An' fo' evah man yo' git dat many of tenpenny nails, an' drive dem all in de front of yore do'. It's not officahs goin' come tuh yore house atall. An' if yo' wanta gain customahs, if yo' have one an' he comes dere, now yo' take some of yore watah - take de last drop of yore watah - an' put it in de whiskey. An' dey says dat dey will not stop comin'. Dey'll bring yo' all de customahs yo' kin wait on.
(That is the first customer who comes?)
Yessuh.
Entry 1259
[We have already heard two persons tell the same story, neither knowing the other had told it (see Nos.73-74, Pp.30-31.) Here a story is told first by the husband at my hotel in town and then he, my contact man Carter and I drove nine miles out into the country to interview his parents, others, and wife. The latter unaware of what her husband had said, retold the story:] [Husband's story about wife:] My wife, not knowing she had created any enemies, woke early one morning and started to enter the kitchen. The door being closed she got to the door and could not touch it. She could only stand and scream. What she thought, what she seen, what she felt, nobody knew. We got my mother. She asked me did we have a salt fish. I did not. I went to the store and secured two. She taken these salt fish and crumbled them in water and washed her hands, and she could enter the door.
Entry 11417
Skin from the bottoms of your feet and salt tossed into running water hurts you in some way or runs you crazy. [Wilmington 270:8+85.]
Entry 11512
"If they want choo to be with them, why they bury it under the door- step. Like if they want chew to come...to my home, see, I bury it under the doorstep. And if they want to run you away, why put that in running Water and make a wish.
(Which tracks do they use?)
They use the right track.
(How do you mean?)
Get the dirt from under the right foot. Like, just, if you want 'em to come to your home, see, you take it when they're coming to the home. If you want 'em to leave, you get it out of that track when they leave home."
Entry 12170
"Use holy water to drive out evil influence; throw it to de 4 cornahs of de house." [Mobile 944:4.]
Entry 12685
Bury photograph face down to drown [surely it must be buried under shallow water, or where water will soon run over it - the tide here on the East- ern Shore of Maryland.] [Snow Hill 13:8.]
Entry 11
My father used to go with a lady name Lida and she got tired of him and he wus goin' with another one named Ella. Well, Miss Lida didn't like it and she sent to papa's house for him to come around to hers, and she knew that papa loved whiskey, and so papa went round there and she went back in the kitchen and brung out some drinks. And him and her sat there and drink. But while she was in the kitchen she took some sweet spirits of nitre and put it in papa's drink. Well, he didn't know no diff'rent, 'cause it was strong, and he jis' drank it right on down. And while he was asleep she took some of his hair and - she cut it out - and if you take a person's hair and put it in runnin' water it'll run 'em crazy. And so she cut some of papa's hair. So when he woke up he says, "Well," he says, "Lida, I didn't know I was goin' to sleep," he says, "please excuse me." She says, "Well, that's all right Sam," she says, "you used to come to see me and go to sleep." And he didn't think anything of it and went home. And about three days after, he begin to feelin' funny for some cause or another. And every time he'd take a drink he would - seemed like he wouldn't have any sense at all. When he'd come home, seemed like if anybody would say anything to him - at least you wouldn't have to say.anything to him - the least little fault he'd find, he'd wan'a start fightin'. And Miss Ella couldn't under- stand it. She says, "Sam, what's ailin' you?" And he'd cuss and rip and rare, and the same way he'd beat us. He'd make us all pull off our clothes and he'd take his belt - he'd always wear a heavy belt - and take it off and double it and beat us with it. And so one day a man came to the house and Miss Ella, he was a white man, he claimed to be a fortune-teller, and Miss Ella Was telling him how papa would act. And he said he would come back when papa was home. And so when he came back he looked at papa and he told Miss Ella, he says, "Ella," he said, "there's some- thing awful wrong with Sam, '' he says, ''but I'll tell you wha' choo kin do, '' he says, "zhoo can go to Conway, South Carolina, to a certain man, and he'll tell you exactly what to do to cure him." And so Miss Ella did. And she took papa to Conway. And before they got there - before they got in the gate, the man said, "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Don't come in here with all that mess on you," he say. "Wait a minute! Don't bring that in mah house. And he went out there and he took a wist [whisk] broom and brushed papa off. And he went in there. And the man told Miss Ella that the woman [Miss Lida] that he used to go with, he says, that she still wanted him but she was mad because she [Miss Ella was going with him. And he said that if he didn't get a piece of her clothes and wrap it up with some sulphur and her track - just one would be all right, the right track, a tablespoonful of her right track - he said that there was no way to cure him but dat. And put it in a little box or can or paper bag with some sulphur and a piece of her belongings, and some cayenne pepper, and mix it all up and put it over her head wure she had to go - like wure she had to pass under. And well, Miss Ella couldn't do it, because she knew that Miss Lida didn't like her. So she had her little boy to go to Miss Lida's house one day and tell Miss Lida that a certain woman wanted to see her up at de corner. And she left home and just as soon as she did, James, Miss Ella's little boy, got her track, her right track, and put it in a box. And Miss Lida came back. She says, "There wasn't anyone to see me." He said, "Yes mam, it was, it was a lady." And then he ast her fer a drink of water and den she went in dere to get him a drink of water, and he went in the front room, and he took a pair of scissors and cut a piece of her dress and he took that. And then -
(Howoldwasthelittlebov?)
He was nine years old. And he took it back to Miss Ella. And Miss Ella got some cayenne pepper, hot pepper, and some sulphur, and mixed it up all together. And she sent papa there [to Miss Lida] with it. And while she was back in the kitchen papa took and put it - jis' like that [pointing to the door], you see, put it over the door. And, the man [in Conway] told him if he would do that and leave it there, in nine days time he would be cured, you know, of the worst part of it, then to come back to him. And sure enough, in nine days time papa went back to him. And he said, "Now Sam, '' he says, "take some of your urine," he says, "in a little bottle and put it under her doorstep," and he says, "she'll come to you and confess." And papa did that. But she came while papa was at work. And she sit down and told Miss Ella just how she had done. And she said, "If you will jist please," she says, "take whatever you got on me away," she says, "I'll never do it agin." And Miss Ella had a chance to take the bottle up from under her doorstep and we didn't have any more trouble with her.
Entry 57
Yo' take a pitcher - dis wus gived to me in a vision - yo' take pennies, an' ah tried it to see whether or not it wus true. Yo' set it in de east corner of yore house, a half a pitcher of watah. An' ev'ry day yo' drop a penny in dere. See, dat's plantin' 'em. An' if yo' drop one in dere, yo' goin' git anothah one de next day, some way - if yo' don't know where yo goin' git it, yo' git it. An' ev'ry time yo' drop a penny in dat pitcher yo' say somepin good ovah it, jes' lak a Bible verse or somepin - whatevah come to yo', an' yo' jot dat down so yo' kin remember, yo' see. An' dat works out all right. It's diff'rent things yo' should say ovah 'em an' dey always come out - diff'rent things come true. Dat's called plantin' pennies.
(How long do you keep that up?)
Jes' as long as yo' evah want success to yore house or to yore business or to whatevah yo' doin'. See, try not tuh take 'em out till yo' git ready to start tuh plantin' some mo'. Don't take 'em out an' jes' leave de pitcher empty. Look lak yo' don't do so good if yo' move 'em.
Entry 253
Well, de tell me dat chew kin go out in de woods an' git chew a black cat, solid black cat, an' yo' kill him. An' yo' boil him till yo' boil all de bones - boil all de meat off de bones. Take to a runnin' branch an' po' dem bones in dat watah, an' de lucky bone will swim, an' de bone dat no good - de bones whut no good will stay on de bottom of de watah. An' yo' take dat bone an' bring it on back home, an' yo' say three words an' de Lord's Prayer. Den yo' take an' sew it up in yo' sack an' tote it - wear it [this hand] in de right hand of yore pocket an' yo'll have all de luck in de world dat chew want.
(You say three words - what are those words?)
"Lord have Mercy."
(And then you say the Lord's Prayer after that?)
Yes sir.
Entry 285
Dey says yo'll go an' yo'll ketch a black cat an' yo' take him an' yo' put him in a pot of water, live. Git one dese pots whut's got a neck to it, yol know, where yo' kin put his nose right in de neck where he won't die - where he won't drown.
(Sort of - like a teakettle? His nose is sticking in that spout?)
That's right - right whare his nose will stick in dere where he won't drown. An' then, say yo'll start - put him in cold water an' build yo' a fire after yo' put him in dere. Build yore fire an' den, dey say - den yo' boil him an' yo' boil him to pieces. Boil him till all his bones, hair, everything jes' turns loose - jes' be's a liquor - jes' be's afloatin' in dat liquor. An' dey say, den yo' take that then an' go to a runnin' stream of water an' yo' stand wit chure back to it - de left shoulder to it, an' yo' po' dis ovah yore left shoulder but don't look back at it. An' dey say whilst yore [you're] standin' dere right by it - wit chure left shoulder to it an' throw it over yore left shoulder an' po' it out - de bone dat goes - comes up de stream - whut yo' see comin' up, yo' git that bone but nevah look back. An' dey say yo' take that bone an' den yo' go den an' yo' go to a road dat's got fo' forks. Go to a crossroads dats got fo' forks to it. Yo' go dere in de mornin' - yo' go dere fo' nine mornin's. Dey say, yo' go dere an' yo' come to all de forks, go jes' right where them forks at - right in dat block [square], an' den yo' go backwards up one of 'em. Says, yo' got'a cuss God, den all yo' kin think of - jes' anything yo' kin say agin Him. Dat's fo'de firs' mornin'.
(You go into any one of those forks?)
Either one of those forks - go backwards. (When you cuss God do you stand right in the center, right where all these roads are?) Dat's where yo' starts at, yes sir. Den yo' goes backwards. Dat's de fust mornin'. Well, when yo' cusses Him de firs' mornin' dey says on de second mornin' de devil meet chew dere. He meet choo an' he'll talk wit choo, an' then he'll tell yo' - he'll show yo' then de glitter of de world - jis' whu' de world [is] an' what's in de world, an' jis' how yo' kin come to git to it - richness - jis' git rich. But still, yo' ain't not through den until yo' go to all fo' of de forks ev'ry mornin' - go up each one. De one yo' went up dis morning don't go up it de nex' mornin'. An' de second morning yo' come down dis road yo' cusses Him agin - yo' cusses Him fo' all yo' knows dat morning, an' de devil'll meet chew dere dat morning an' he promise yo' dat morning - he tells yo' tuh cuss Him an' whatever yo' promise - yo' got'a tuh make the devil a faithful promise dat chure soul is his'n when yo' cursin' God. Well, yo' go there for all nine mornin's, but de last morning - when yo' git to the ninth morning, yo' go back there, but don't run out on de fork of the road, yo' go back to the first fork where yo' started - yo' go back down that fork an' yo' curses Him agin. Well, devil dere an' yo' promise him dat chure soul is his'n. Well, dey says tha' chew take that bone an' yo' put it on a string an' tie it around yore neck an' let hang down in yore bosom heah an' yo' goes ahead on. Dey tell me yo' kin go to a lock an' jis' (puff) [demonstrates by blowing] - blow dat lock an' it'll come open. Yo' kin take dat bone then an' after yo' git everything whut chew want in dat building an' got out, yo' kin jes' take dat bone an' stick it in yore mouth an' walk out, cain't nobody see yo'. (Now while you are going down to this crossroad those nine mornings, where is this bone all that time?) Yo've got dis bone - yes sir, yo' got this bone then but dis bone won't begin to work until yo' curse God.
Entry 614
Then, when you get you two pieces of money - you understand me? If you can't read cards - well, I generally tell it with cards. I read cards - find out practically anything that I want to know. But if you can't read cards, you wants to get you two old pieces of money and put 'em in a pan and put 'em on and let the water come to a boil, and if dat money will hop about and throw the water at chew when dat water boil, you know that someone have put a trick on you. Now, what you wanta do - you wanta save dat water dat you boil this silver in and take three swallows a day for nine mornings. Well, you do that for nine mornings and you wanta to go [to] the cemetery and get three pinches of dirt each day for nine mornings, and bring that dirt and place that dirt into an old sock from de party who harmed you, if you possibly can, or either get a sock from dat house, if you can. Well, if you don't get a sock from dat house, you Wants to go by dere with dat dirt and sprinkle it across the door so he may be able to cross it. That'll take care of him.
(That'll take off the spell?)
Take the spell away. [Norfolk, Va., (466), 460: l; by Doctor Bowes.]
Entry 782
They said there wus a ole man an' his wife. They wus livin' lovely togethah fer about forty years an' nobody ever known no disagreement or nuthin' between 'em. So one day he wus workin' in the field an' there come along a ole man an' says, "I want to know if you want your fortune told?" He says, "Well, no." He says, "Yes, I'll tell you your fortune," he says, "for a quartah [twenty- five cents]. = He says, "Well, I don't - I ain't got de money, but I don't care about it." He says, "But you ought to have your fortune told becuz there some things you ought to know." So he says, "Where's your wife?" He says, "She's home." He says, "Well, now, your wife has got somepin against you." And he said, "Now, I'll tell yo' whut choo do." He say, "Well, where do you keep yore razor?" He said, "I'll tell you," he said, "I keep it home over the doah in a little box." You know, in the country where they had jis' a little one-room house like they - specially they did about twenty-five or thirty yeahs ago [before 1936] - they use'ly had a little shelf up ovah de doah, an' a rack with a gun, an' a little shelf to put the boxes where maybe they had little chains, and then maybe nails an' diff'rent things like that. So he said that's where he kept his razor. So he says, "Well, now, you got to wat-chore [watch your] wife," say, "she may try to hurt choo if she got yore razor." He says, "I see," he says, "you got a mole there - that's a lucky sign. You got a mole there," he say, "on your neck," he says, "but if you wat-chure wife," he says - "well," he says, "I jis' want to tell you to be careful." So he tole 'im good-by. He got the quartah. So he went on to the house. When he got there the old lady she wus in there fixin' up her husband's dinner [midday meal]. You know, he tole 'im, "Now, you mind too, how you eat" - whut she fix it fer 'im - "if you don't mind, she'll trick you." So when he got to the house he met her, [he] pleasant an' nice, an' tole 'er, "I want to tell yore fortune - you need yore fortune tole." She say, "You don't know anything." She say, "I don't wan'a spend mah money." So he says, "Well, I'll tell you, I'll tell yore fortune for ten cents." She says, "Well, all right." He says, "Where is yore husband?" She says, "He's in the field." He says, "Zhoo know, '' he says, "yore husband got a big big mole on his neck." She says, "He's got a mole on his neck." "You see, I tell that much; you know I know somepin, don't choo?" She says, "Yes, that's the truth. He sure has got a mole on his neck." He says, "Well, now, I'll tell you whu' choo do, '' he says, ''don't he keep his razor right over the doah?" She says, "Well, I declare, you sure do know things, don't chew!" He say, "Well, now, I tell you that much." He say, "Now, you take that razor at night when he lay down - you take that razor an' cut that mole off an' you kin git every dollah he's keepin' from you; you'll find out somepin or othah you ought to been knowin' long along." He wus so earnest that she said, "Well, I'll do it." So he says, "Now, I'll tell yeh," he says, "when he come, don't choo say nuthin' to 'im, you jis' watch 'im an'," he says, "when he goes to sleep, you go an' take that razor an' you cut that mole off." Now, he done tole the ole man out there in the field that his wife gon'a try do somepin or othah to trick 'im. So when the ole man come, he looked all up an' down. You see, both of 'em wus curious now, 'cause they'd heard somepin. So she - in order to keep from sayin' somepin or othah to 'im - she goes an' gits 'er mouth fulla watah, 'cause she's a great talker an' she couldn't keep nuthin'. An' she wanted to tell 'im so bad that this ole man had been there an' tole 'er all this. But she gon'a wait until he gits to sleep, you see. So she filled her mouth fulla watah. An' when she filled her mouth fulla watah, he come in an' he said, "Well, you got mah dinnah done?" She wouldn't talk. He wondered whut in the world wus the mattah wit 'er. She nevah said nuthin'. He wondered whut the matter. An' so he went on an' eat his dinnah. Night come an' not a word. He couldn't imagine not to hear from his wife - this man said somepin a mattah wit his wife. "Now, whut in the name's the mattah." So fin'lly, at last he laid down. An' when he laid down he says, "Now, I'm not goin' to go to sleep. So he pretended that he wus asleep. An' she waited an' waited an' waited for him to snore. Well, directly he made a little noise like he's asleep, an' she gits up an' goes to git the razor. She got the razor. He looked right at her. She got the razor an' started to the baid. Jis' as soon as she started to - this ole man jump up, he didn't wait choo see. They said he jumped up an' says, "Yes, you started to kill me." That jis' made a great big disturbance an' broke 'em up. [Wilmington, N. Car., (215), 123:5+85.] [This trick by the fortune-teller says my informant happened years ago in Effingham County, Georgia - on Savannah River and next county above Savannah. But it is a folk story. My note while transcribing original reads, "Also heard this story in S. C., use (this) as separate appendix and refer to in Intro. I have not yet found this extra version. A note about third version reads: "Story of the old woman and the razor - badly recorded - recheck - on the full moon at midnight (wife to) get hair from behind husband's left ear and had to be done with his razor - (the trickster called) cunjure doctor - badly recorded but last part well recorded, so know what story is about - wife was going to cut his throat to get insurance money to get this young man - gave this as an actual occurrence (Richmond, Va., 418,369:7)" - Introduction Notes.]
Entry 869
[How Hippocrates began a consultation I do not know, but his descendants in ancient Rome, the Greek-slave doctor, always started with, "Do you drink white wine or red wine?" Two thousand years later their modern descendants, Doctors of Medicine, still ask a similar question, "How many packs do you smoke a day?" Yet my root doctors and witch doctors, colored and white, have kept the longest healing tradition, one predating Hippocrates, "Scare hell out of them!" Without primitive mask and rattle we will now learn how the scaring is done:] Ah hear dey use de fish - dey take live fish aigs an' dey give 'em to whatevah individual dey kin put 'em on in watah, to drink it down, an' dat will cause live fish to come in 'em. An' dat fish goes to worryin' yo' - dey'll grow until some- body take dem outa yo'. Den dey use snakes - dey use snake's blood. Dey got'a kill de snake, 'cause he daid, his blood is good. Or jes' bruise him enough to git a grain or two of blood. An' dey stretch it out fo' de person whatevah dey goin' aftah. An' de snake will live right on an' long as he live dat blood will live in him. See, dat woman or whosomevah dey be, it will cause snakes to form in 'em.
(Is there any way that you can get these live things out of a person?)
Yessuh, dere a way we kin git 'em out. We goes then an' we find a ole sorcerer - whut we calls ole witchcraft. We tells her - she tells us tuh come in an' we don' have tuh tell her nuthin. She says, "Somepin wrong wit chew." Den she goes on down an' she carries us to de room an' she says, "Someone has did somepin to yo'." Yo' tell her how yo' been actin' - say, "Yes, it feel lak dere somepin jes' movin' all about down in dere." Say, "Ah went to de doctors three or fo' times - six or seven time an' he don't seem to be doin' me any good." She say, "No, de doctor can't reach yore case." Say, "Ah'll have to cure yo but chew like tuh waited too late to give yo' time tuh git it up. Well, den yo' git scared an' say, Yo' reckon ah waited too late?" She say, "No, prob'bly ah kin reach yore case. Den she goes back an' she calls 'em.
(Calls whom?)
Calls dis heah plague dat chew have in yo' - she calls 'em by name, she have de name. De sorcerer have de name for it. Yo' kin find only 'bout a few of 'em. Dere's very few now. She calls 'em an' she takes her han's an' she carries it an' she holds one on de top yore haid an' one right chere - de back of yore neck right chere. An' she calls 'em an' she gives yo' some watah an' tell yo' drink three swallows an' hold yore mouth ovah a pot, an' he comes out. Den she gives yo' somepin tuh take.
(What comes out?)
Dis heah plague whatsomevah it may be - it comes walkin' right out - dis live thing comes out. She shets him up an' shows 'em to yo' an' she axe vo' - she axe yo', "Whut yo' want done about it?" Say, "Do yo' want me tuh put it back on de party whut put it on yo'?" She calls de party name whosomevah may be did it - she say, [whoever] did it, say, "Ah kin have them fixed that way by night, if yo' wanta." Well, yo' might feel at first, "Yes, let 'em have it." Well, yo' go den an' yo' leave dat house an' yo' go dere an' find dat person in de same shape. Dat's whut dey do. But lotsa times, yo' see, it kinda raw yo' know tuh turn de trick back on de person dat pulled it ovah on yo'. But first dey got'a git somethin' in yo' to do it completely. Dey do it through anything dat chew love - sometime dey do it through a friend. (You say the fortune-teller and the sorcerer are different?) [Sorcerer = a witchcraft said informant.] Dey entirely different - dey both obtain de same thing, but de sorcerer, he have de power to take things from 'em. Lotsa fortune-tellers doesn't have dat. De fortune-teller an' de sorcerer, dey have de power of tellin' yore fortune. He kin tell yo' whut happen to you an' tell yo' who done it, de way dey did it an' whut chew wus doin' when yo' wus did. An' de fortune-teller he kin tell yore fortune - tell whut yo' lost an' where yo' stole dem goods at, tell yo' whatsom- evah yo' lost an' whatsomevah yo' ain't, love cases. Dat's de fortune-teller - he reads yore fortune.
Entry 939
I had an' a'nt and uncle. Both of them was sick at the time, so we sent fo' a doctor, and it was close to a year and de doctors kept coming and dey said dey couldn't do no good. So we got a kind of hoodoo doctor and so he came to see 'em and he came fer nine days and he told her that she'd have to go out under her step and dig. So she went out and dug an' she got a bottle, and we looked down in it and dere was some roots and lotsa needles and two sets of hair - her husband and her hair. And dey tole her she was tuh take it and put it in running water. And she did and he said in nine days he's come back again [magic delay]. So after that he started to rub 'em - rubbed both of 'em and they both commence tuh git well after that. They'd failed terrible - that's mah aunt, ah know that. Both of 'em got better. (Well that first time - he didn't tell them anything until after he came the ninth time?) No, he didn't tell 'em about it - he say he'd have to come right along.
(I see - before he did anything at all.) [Washington, D. C. (626), 801:1.]
Entry 997
A silver dime in the bath-water - taking a bath in the tub at nighttime, not no day - zinc tub, a washtub. After bathing, keeping the water in the house all night, throwing it out in the middle of the street where someone pass at. The man or woman passing picks that up, picks up all your bad luck and everything that went wrong with you. You git along fine, you as anybody else.
[I stop the machine to ask for a clearer account.]
In the bathtub that you goin' bathe in, you see, you take de water, you put the silver dime and a nickel which is fifteen cents, odd money. Heat the warm water, pour it on the fifteen cents. After takin' this solution - with parsley, granulated sugar, with Karo syrup, ammonia and Jockey Club perfume, see - pour it in the water and bathe from head to feet, leave it stay in the house all night. That next day you throw it out in the middle of the street near to 4 o'clock that morning with the fifteen cents. Of course you know, if anybody passes money on the street, they will pick it up. The one who picks it up, well they picks up your bad luck and you start a new true life again. [For cures, see Transference in Index.]
Entry 1092
[The term Eve-and-Adam is more frequently used than Adam-and-Eve, a proper name for the plant, but what an informant means by either name I do not know - it could be a plant from six or seven genera. Since one informant calls this root (possibly a corm) Adam-and-Eve-and-Their Son, I would identify it as puttyroot, common name for Aplectrum hyemale, a North American orchid producing annually a solid corm, "two or three of which remain strung together." When there are two, we have Adam and Eve; when three, the son is added. This could suggest The Trinity or The Holy Family, but as often as I heard the plant named I remember the son once. Adam-and-Eve, like lodestone and some other objects, is one of these He-and-She ingredients - see Index.] Ah knows that. Ah had a cousin, she lived in Oil Town, Arkansas. She got poison, see. Dis woman had her howlin' [like a dog - see No. 775, p.256, and second cure under Dog in this subsection later]. Now, ah know this fo' a pus'nal fac'. She wus howlin' an' sometimes she jis' crawlin' on her knees, see. Stood up diff'rent times though. Mah uncle taken her tuh her daddy - he [daddy] taken her out heah tuh Newport, tuh Ca'Zine Dyer. He taken her out theah. She got some rattlesnake dust - ah nevah will fo'git this, an' she made some little bags an' she hung one undah dis arm an' one undah dis one, an' she went an' got some dat Eve-an'-Adam dust an' she place it on cousin right heah [demonstrates]. Now, mah cousin wus crazy - she wus stone crazy.
(Right on her breast?)
Yes. She wus crazy. One [bag] wus made outa rattlesnake dust an' one [bag] wus Eve-an'-Adam dust. Dis one right heah dat's Eve-an'-Adams' dust on yore chest, an' dat whut she put undah her arm dat wus rattlesnake dust yo' see. She put one undah each one of her arms. An' when she got that Eve-an'-Adams' dust, she put that little bag an swung it right there. An' she tole mah uncle tuh buy a bottle of turpentine an' say, "Now, fo' nine mawnin's straight yo' git up an' fix yore water in a washpan an' let her wash her han's fo' nine mawnin's straight an' throw it to de.east." An' mah cousin wus jis' crazy - she wus jis' howlin', she didn't have bita sense. An' when dat woman put that on her, she come back home an' she tole her mama, she say, "Ah feel lak a diff'rent pusson." Dat wus in Newport, [Arkansas]. Strictly brought her back to her min' an' she didn't have sense 'nuff even to entertain mama.
(How did he fix this water in the morning?)
Ah'll tell yo' whut chew do. See, yo' git some watah an' yo' put it in de pan an' yo' put that turpentine in there fo' nine mawnin's straight. Yo' see, yo' take it in yore han' jis' lak yo' goin' wash yore face - co'se lotta folks use a face towel but yo' use it jis' natural, yo' see. [For use it jis' natural, see also the Uncle Ben Mackey story, No. 918, p.337.] Rub it ovah yore han' and stroke it down ovah yore face an' throw it tuh de west. See, throw that tuh de west, an' yo' say, "Lawd, heah am ah. Take all mah troubles an' heal me, In de Name of de Father, Son an' Holy Ghost." Co'se ah wus with mah cousin when she do that an' she wus crazy. She wus jis' as crazy as a rud [red] lizard [see Index].
(When did this happen?)
Dis happen in 1929, Oil Town. An' ah nevah fo'git de woman's name dat did dat [spell]. Her name wus Lou T. [At a later date we shall meet Caroline Dyer again. See near end of my interview with Madam Collins of Memphis in Interview section.]
Entry 1116
You get bazley. You take this bazley and you boil it. (You mean this vaseline out of a bottle?) No, bazley - it grows like a - smells sweet. (Basil?) Basil - sweet basil, they call it.
(Is it a flower?) [I still was not too certain.]
It's a leaf - it grows - you plant it - you gets the bazley seeds and you plant it, and it grows and it smells nice and is good around the place. Now, you take that bazley and you take some of those leaves and you boil 'em. And you take that water and you get you a handkerchief and, for instance, put it in a bowl with fust a little - that little water you boiled it in - and take it and do all this [demonstrates].
(Just wipe or wash yourself down.)
Bathe yourself with that - bathe yourself with that for nine mornings and they can't do you no harm.
(This sweet basil - is that called sweet basil?)
Basil - you buy it at the seed store and you plant it.
(Is this a kind of a flower?)
It comes up like it has a little flowers on it when it's going to seed.
(What color are those flowers?)
Little white flowers. [Good.]
(White flowers.)
And sweet smell all over - you can just put your hand over it like that and smell it - nice basil, sweet basil.
(Now, after you bathe that way, then what?)
Just throw that water out for nine mornings and they can't do you no harm.
(Just throw that water any place?)
Any place.
Entry 1328
He used black gunpowder, and ah know ah was chafed in here and he tole me, he says, "I'm goin' fix you up something," says, "and I'm goin' tell you what I'm goin' put in it and then I'm going let you see." He says, "Now, you get me a half pint of whiskey." And I got the whiskey and carried it to him. He says, "Now, you see this ain't anything but black gunpowder." And he took that gun- powder and emptied the gunpowder into the whiskey and he shook it up right well, and he anointed me down there and all the way across and then, after that - after he anointed me, he gave me a little bag and he had asafitidee, bluestone and gun- powder in de bag. He said, "Now, you wear this bag next to your skin." And ah took the bag and ah put it on me. And, he says, '"And every morning and every evening," he say, "you anoint yourself with this gunpowder and whiskey." And I used this gunpowder and whiskey. And he says, "And you husband - you goin' get rid of your husband." And he was going to kill my husband for me and I didn't know it, you know, with this little bag he give me to wear. And so after mah husband got sick and stayed sick so long - you know how you kin just dream things. In fact, don't nothing else. I always dream things. And I just saw where my husband going to die, and something told me to pull that bag off and throw it in some running water. And I did, and after I throwed the bag away, then my husband got well. But that gunpowder and whiskey forever kept me from chafing and I haven't never chafed since.
(What caused the chafing?)
I don't know. I imagine just perspire or something - don't know what it was.
(Do you think that somebody did something to you for the chafing or what?)
Ah didn't know - that's why I went to somebody that I thought would know.
(I see. You went to a root doctor?)
Ah think so.
Entry 1359
Take any ole snake dust that is dry or lizard dust or any kinda ole creeping, yo' know, a snake lak that. Take that dust an' place it up undah the lettah an' as yo' open that lettah an' git that on yore han's, natch'ral yo' rub it on yore skin an' it will create. It take yo' in yore han's right immediately. May be a little while befo' those han's goes tuh eetchin' but it will go through an' through. Dose are black art works.
(What happens to my hands?)
Whut happens tuh yore han's? Yore han's start tuh eetching an' burnin' an' if yo' don't take care of 'em with that snake dust or that lizard dust, those bumps will fin'lly graj'ly grow, an' aftah while why that snake or that ole scorpion will grow roun', yo' know, in yore skin. Yo' see people dat have snakes in dey laigs. Dey eithah gits it from sweepin' or not takin' a bath when de had things lak that. Dat whut it comes from. If yo' git it in yore laigs, yo' be sweepin' yore flo' - dat's when it gits on yore laigs, yo' see. Dat rattlesnake dust is on de flo' an' when yo' sweep it gits in de pores of yore skin an' by not takin' an' washin' it off, it'll jis' grow an' graj'ly that little bump will come an' that snake will fin'lly grow.
(Is there any way of getting them out?)
Yes, dere's a way tuh git it out, but yo' have tuh take herbs. Yo' have tuh take jimson weeds an' John de Conker, lodestones. Either git John de Conker an' give it to yo' three times a day in a pint of boilin' watah - a teaspoonful, or a tablespoonful is bettah, an' he will gradually die.
Entry 1384
Peoples has buried things in trees an' it's lotsa times people kin use de bark offa an' dat's good fo' diff'rent kind of medicines. From a willow tree it's good fo' whoopin' cough. An' yo' kin git de twigs from a maple tree cause - yo' heah de name of maple tree didn't chew? Well, yo' kin git de twigs from a maple tree an' it's good fo' any kind of eyesight tuh boil de bark an' use it fo' any kind of bad eyesight, jes' lak yo' got a catarac' ovah de eye. Or eithah, prob'bly, maybe yo' hard of hearin' - it's caused from yore eyesight. Yo' kin boil de watah an' it's good fo' dat.
Entry 1460
They was working at de new shipyard.
(You had thirteen men in your boarding house?)
Yes, and they were paying me well, and I was saving my money and keeping up with my expenses, and things were getting along fine. And I had a neighbor lived downstairs under me and she envied me so much, and she put so much bad luck on me - well, until I just - I'd just gone to nothing because a friend of hers - she Was my friend too - had a car and she would get the friend to always take her out and she told her friend - [who] told me because we been friends, been neighbors - and she says, "Miz Davis, '' she says, "let me tell you one thing, you be careful because the woman that lives downstairs under you, she's a great enemy for you." She say, "Every time we go to ride, she want me to carry her to some old root doctor 'nother," and she say, "I asked her one day, 'How come you go to those kind of folks so much?" And she say, "It's a old mess living up over me and I never let nobody stay upstairs over me but so long, ' an' say, "that old mess up there, she got a whole lot of men and things in her house and she just thinks she's the only thing. "" I didn't do nothing but work, cause I got up every morning at four o'clock and cooked for all those mens and fixed lunches - you know I didn't have much time for foolishness. Jest by myself too because I was a widow and I didn't have - my children were grown and married and gone and - but she would go [to] everybody [doctors] and she had one [root doctor] to come there and I re lly know that he was one. Dey say he come from up about Back River somewhere, and he come in selling vegetables - you know, claim to sell. Well, he wouldn't sell to her for I have asked him, I says, "'What you ask for so-and-so, '' and he wouldn't pay me any mind. And he would come - and one day after he left there, that night I had to go to church early to be at prayer meeting and I was going down by the door, at the front. I was upstairs over her. It wus a three-story building. I had the second and third floors, she had the bottom floor. Well, I d gone out and some- thing was on my door screen and it looked like where a snail or something had been, and I put my hand right in it to open the door. I said, "Ooh, I wonder what's this on my hand, and one mind caught me right away, says, "Run and wash your hands in some warm salt water, table salt." And I ran back upstairs. And they all say, "What's the matter?" I say, "There something bad on the door. I just come back to wash my hand - I got my hand in it." And they say, "What is that?" I say, "Ah don't know." But I'd taken some of that warm salt water and wring and washed it off the door. But do you know this hand got where it had went up in my shoulder and for a year or more I could hardly use this arm; I had to hire the most of my work done. But I kept a usin' it kept on my mind to use this salt and water and I used it and used it. And then it just come to my mind to sprinkle salt and I just kept salt water and sprinkled my steps and all around my door that way. And you know one thing? Fin'lly she moved herself. Now, she did. She moved herself and I didn't never bother her. We'd both belong to the same church and she was a choir member and I was usher of the same church. And while she envied me, I didn't never say anything to her - never had nothing to do with her nohow cause I worked all the time. But that's what happened to me, and she just throw bad luck on me. [Here is where this particular story ended. I thought so because I turned off my machine. But the old lady started off again, visiting a white fortune-teller before I could push the starting button.] She say, "Chile, you ought to move out of that house, you have so many enemies that.... [This advice is often given by doctors.] Her continued story not too promising, I again stopped the Telediphone. Suddenly I must have asked, "Who was this woman?" before I could maneuver to the switchbox. One neither jumps at the switch nor keeps his hand constantly on it
(see Introduction).]
A white lady and ole. And she was up there [in the country] and she say, "I would come down there and dress your house and you'd have better luck, and kill out of some of these things. Oh! if you knowed what we speaker and guiding spirit] saw over your house. You wouldn't even have no idea." And Isaid, 'But I don't bother nobody." Well, she say, "Those [are] the warnings. You tends to your business and work hard and they envies you, and you have a whole lot of trouble. You don't mind [if you are not careful] they goin' trick you." And they re'lly tricked me. You know, all those mens was runned away from there. And lemme tell you one thing, my own son run from mah home like - when he came from Philadelphia, he came from Philadelphia - because he told me because I wouldn't let him have his way, because I want everything to be quite among nice neighbors and things. He's kind of rough. He just come from Philadelphia, you know, and he wanted to keep up his old rough crowd and I wouldn't have it. And he said, "You'll just set around here and go crazy about a little money you is making here, but there ain't goin' be nobody here 'cept you." And it shore was and I always believed he did it. Now I shore does. I've had a hard time here, I certainly has, and I haven't no husband, not a soul, even I haven't a friend. I had a good friend and they even run him away from me, and we didn't falled out or nuthin - he just left. And that took all my help you see. You see, when I had no help, I just went down to nothing - jest So many spells and things. That lady told me, she said, "You cain't live here in no peace. Your house is ruined. You don't have the idea who come in there and dropped it [cunjuration] as they come in - pretend to be friends." Well, I said, "Well, I don't take nobody for no friend." " She said, "But you wouldn't have the idea." And I knowed my own son was one of them and he's living downtown today and he won't help me as much as anybody else. He certainly won't, because he envied me. And he ought not to because when his work gave out in Philadelphia he came home here and I'd taken care of him a whole year before he could get anything to do, because there wasn't any work, and soon as he got into the.shipyard he went on and got him a room somewhere else. He did that and he'd do that today.
Entry 1526
He got poison in some whiskey. Don't know what he [poisoner] had in there, but he'll pour it in your liquor. Well, another fellow gave him [poisoned man], sent him a dime, a silver dime unaware to him - he didn't know anything about it. This fellow's wife cut this silver dime with a file and gave it to him to drink in sweet milk. [This is the magic rite of the unknown remedy, one of many devices for hoodwinking the disease spirit within.] That helped him awhile, until they got him to an old lady and she gave him some - some blacksnake root and rose water and May-water (see p.381) together. You take the blacksnake root, a package of blacksnake root from the drug store, and you pour it in your water, in your - or anything you going to put it in and then pour it - put this May-water and rose water in thataway and let it get hot, good and hot, and then when she cool down you drink it. And this poison in you, it'll pass up and down, from this way and that way [from mouth or bowels]. You understand. If it too hard here, well it come from up above. And through the rose water it will go through the lower bowels - it'll pass, all be gone. And the fellow will become well - that sickness will leave him.
Entry 1609
How dey cure it - well it's very easy. Yo' use your own chamber lye, salt and red pepper and bath in it nine times - nine mornings.
(Nine times?)
No, jes' nine mornings, and you bath over running water - you know, either has a hydrant or anything where the Water is running. [In Brunswick, Georgia, a Woman buried something over the waterpipe coming from the street into the house.] And you bath in it and then you say a prayer when you bath in it and it'll carry that away, because nothing kin go against salt and pepper.
(What sort of a prayer would you use?)
Jest the Lord's Prayer.
(You say this happened to you?)
That happened to me.
(How was your hand harmed? How did they fix your hand that way?)
Don't know how they fixed it - don't know whatever they do to you, don't you know.
Entry 1643
I went to a lady onest an' it was a place I couldn't stay in de house, an' she told me to get up every morning and soon an' sprinkle a box of table salt all around the house, and leave that go until it penetrated into the place, you see. An' then around twelve o'clock, get out there with a box of lye, Red Seal Lye, and broom and some chamber lye, you know, and you scrub it. And said after that then throw nine buckets of water, clean water, and that will wash it all away - that's if somebody tricked around your place.
Entry 1728
Say fo' instance now, yo' an' a fellah's had a little run into 'bout a girl an' yo' is scared of him an' yo' know he's a guy dat'll hurt chew. Yo' say, "Well, ah don't wanta git in no trouble. Ah'll git him outa town quick." Yo' git chew one those black quart bottles - dose brown ones, yo' know. All right, yo' git chew de indelibin [indelible] pencil an' write his name thirteen ways that way, an' nine thisaway [demonstrates].
(That is nine across the thirteen - make it like an' "x", a cross?)
Yassuh. It matters [not] which way yo' put 'em. Yo' kin put nine one way an' thirteen de othah, an' thirteen one way an' nine de othah - jes' so yo' make it lak a cross dat way. Yo' fold it. Yo' take dat on a piece of papah an' roll it from yo'. See, roll it from yo' an' put it in dis bottle an' git on a boat an carry it de center of a rivah that's where de watah is swift, de current, an' jes' drap it ovahbo'd. Stop it up tight wit de name in it an' drap it ovahbo'd. In twelve hours he's gone.
Entry 1980
You take a pair of Adam and Eve and you put it in a bag, you put a piece of John de Conker in dere, and you put a piece of Gall of Earth, and you put a piece of King Solomon - dem dere three in dat bag, and put a dime in dere. [See margin-title Three Roots, later.j Dat bag gotta be made outa red flannel or pink silk. Well you sew it up tight after you put dat dime in dere. Den you take some of dis conker root and boil it. Well, you make 'bout a quart. Or either you git yourself a bottle of Hearts Cologne. You put a lot of dat cologne in dere but keep it. Den you git a ole glass and put a little water and put dis conker root juice into it and one or two drops of your own urine - dat's fer to draw - and saturate dis bag in it [this is feeding the bagl. Dat'll do business, too. Dat make so many people lucky on de numbers and things.
(Well, what's the bag supposed to do? Just luck for numbers?)
Naw, lucky bag. Yeah, you gotta carry it on yo'. Don't let nobody put dere hands on it - ain't let nobody know it's on yo'.
Entry 2104
Bluestone, some blueing.
(Is that the blueing you was with?)
Yeah, blueing. Bluestone, brown sugar and scrub your floors first, and den take dat and put it in dat water and rinch your floor. Rinch your floor with it after you mop it, and sweep dat water out de door - all de time, all de time. Ev'ry morning git up and take dat blueing Water and bluestone and brown sugar and make it up and scrub your house. Get you some ensums [incense] and burn dem in dere and den de people be comin'. [Rinch = rinse.] You could be on dat corner and I could be on dis one and if you gittin' all de trade down dere and I ain't gittin' none here, I kin go down dere and stop you from gittin' anything. If de people is comin' by me gwinin' dere, I'll stop 'em from comin' by me. Dey won't never git no further den here. Dey ain't never gwine down dere cus I'm goin' stop 'em on dis end, you see, I'm goin' stop 'em. I'm goin' go out dere and cross 'em out in de road, you see. And when dey get to dat mark, dey goin' - instead of goin' on dey goin' turn and come in here, you see, all de time.
(I see. What sort of a mark did you put in the road?)
Well, I'd go out dere and draw me a mark and take me some.
(What kind of mark did you put?)
I'd just go out dere and draw just a straight line cross de road, just about dat deep, and take me some lucky powder and some lucky mojoo and put it right down in dat and put it on a little piece and put it right down in dat little trench and cover dat right back up, right where de people walk right by. Well, when he git dere he ain't gwine by, he gonna come in here and he ain't got no How come? See, the other fellah be dere and you be down dere, come to argue - how come he ain't gittin' no trade. Ah done took your trade, you see. [Lucky mojoo here is a perfume.]
Entry 2148
Jes' write it on a piece of papah, jes' write their name down, put it on a piece of papah an' flush de toilet. Dat'll make dere water run an' dat'll give 'em a runnin' mind.
Entry 2333
In de mornin's wash yore face." If yo' workin' on a job, ev'ry mawnin' when yo' wash yore face, yo' wash yore face with three watahs to sundown. Name de watah through de help of de Lord. Ask de Lord to take charge of de water. All right, an' yo' go to de bossman dis mornin' through de he'p of de Lord an' ask him fo' a job. An' if yo' git de job, accordin' to whut kind of a job it is, an' if he evah sends yo' fo' watah or anything fo' him, wet de dog fingah and cross de watah, an' carry it to him fo' nine times. An' he'll content yo' tuh stay dere wit de job. Anything data- way dat he's gotta use on de inside, wet de dog fingah an' make it nine time - mark across it.
(Anything he eats or anything of that sort.) [Dog finger = index finger.]
Entry 2408
Why yo' git chew some sulphur an' some saltpeter an' some sugah. Well, yo' take a tablespoon an' a nutmeg an' some bluestone. Well, yo' take a rag an' yo' beat chure bluestone up an' beat up yore nutmeg and yo' takes a tablespoon fulla sulphur an' a tablespoon fulla sugah an' a tablespoon fulla saltpeter. Well, yo' take it an' put it in yore bathwatah an' some Heart's Perfruone put it in yore bathwatah, an' yo take a bath all ovah. Den yo' git up an' yo' mop all roun' de flo'. If yo' got a rug on, mop all roun' de woodwork an' all in yore do' an' wash yore do' down. Well, den yo' take some dat nutmeg an' bluestone an' sulphur an' some sugah - put it on yore shovel on a piece of papah. See, it burns hard. Light it undah de papah an' burn dat an' smoke yo'self in yore room. Do dat Mondays, Wednesdays an' Fridays.
(What do you do this for?)
Dat brings in trade an' makes yore luck good.
(That is if you are bootlegging or if you are a hustling woman?)
Dat's luck fo' yo' tuh do dat.
Entry 2409
If a woman is a hustlin'woman an' goin' tuh a new place, well, befo' she start to dis new place, when she know she goin' - quite natural, see - well she'll go tuh work an' she'll take a real new clean bath an' she'll take it some- thin' lak in de mawnin' befo' de sunrise. An' aftah she takes that watah - while in dat watah she says her prayers nine times, while she's takin' her bath. Take dat watah an' go to de cornah of de house - de east cornah of de room an' throw it east an' make a wish. Go 'head an' ketch de train an' go 'bout her business. Well, when she enter dis city - she go into dat city she takes her anothah bath. An' aftah she takes dat bath an' de 'gredients dat she have - bluestone, salt- peter, sugah an' alum. Well, dat gives her her luck right dere. She have washed away all de bad luck an' put on good.
Entry 2417
Yo' [know] whut dis insin [incense] is.
(Incense.)
Uh-hah - yassuh. An' yo' git some dragon's blood and take dose and yo' git chew some washing powder - mop de flo' good, yo' understand. Den burn yo' insin wit some brown sugah and a little sulphur, and dat'll bring yo' all de customer yo' want. Yo' know that was done heah, 'cus ah kin tell yo' about it. About fifty yeahs ago [1888] ah used to work uptown amongst de sporting people, yo' understand, and ah had to use these things fo' ketching trade, and ah had to do thet every mawnin'. Then yo' take a little beer, stale beer, and put it in de Water when yo' would go to wash but chew have to use dat dragon's blood and some washing powder - no soap or no lye - jes' dat washing powder. And yo' put dat and den yo' burn yore insin, sulphur and sugar, and that brings in de customers. An' po' yo' beer in dere - yo' see dat brings on de drinks, but it has to be stale beer - like dey leave some in de bottle or some in de barrel all night.
(Were the women in this house white or colored?)
White. (What do the girls consider bad and good luck in their business? Do they have any differences about things are bad and good luck?) Oh yes, dey use - take German Cologne and take spice, cloves and cinnamon and put that together, yo' understand and when yo' go to bath, put that in yo' water, yo'understand. That brings good luck to the body.
(And the girls did this that were in that house years ago?)
Yes.
(It sort of brings them trade, too, I suppose?)
Why suah. Those crabs - like offa people.
(Those lice off people. What do they do with those?)
Yeah, they put 'em on deyselves and that brings luck - dat's lucky.
(You mean the girls in the house would do that?)
Yessuh.
(Put lice on them for luck?)
Down dere, yo' know.
(Down below.)
Yes, sir.
(Oh, they put them down there? Do they leave them on or what?)
No. Yo' know dey jest put 'em on dere like tonight dey goin' tuh use trade yo' know, an' dey are lucky and they put 'em on dere. Dey buy 'em from other people - paid ten cents a piece fo' 'em. An' dey buy 'em and den dey'll use dem tonight to make good money.
(Well, how would they get them out again?)
Well, soon as dey'd wash wit little snuff or tubacca - somepin other like dat, why dey are gone.
(Well, they will bite while they are there won't they?)
Well, yes, but dey don't ca' 'bout dat. Dey want de money. [See margin-title Lice later.]
(Have you heard about eating peanuts in a sporting house?)
Yessuh, but you mustn't let nary a hull fall nor none of de inside of de pea- nuts fall - yo' keep it all and burn it, it's bad luck.
(It's bad luck to let the peanut fall?)
Yes. [See margin-title Peanut later.]
Entry 2418
I'm tellin' you now how to bring 'em - you see, if you are bootleggin' and you want to bring a crowd to your house. You take the nine pods of red peppers, you'll take you three ounces of sugar.
(Three what?)
Three ounces.
(Three ounces of sugar.)
Of sugar and you put that in the water. And you get you some nutmeg already ground up - you put that in your water. And then you take and get ammonia - you put that in your water. And then you'll take and scrub. And you'll get you some fast luck and put it in there and you take the broom and sweep all in the corners of the house then. Never sweep it, de dirt out de front - always let everything go to the back. And when you use that essence - that water you scrub with - you always carry it all to the back. And that draws a crowd in your house. Then, as soon as you are done, you take the beer or a little wine, anything what you got, and you put some of that in the water and scrub. But let your scrubbing always go to the back.
Entry 2461
I would get me some cinnamon and I would get me some lump sugar and get me a spice. I would go and mix it all up together - see, grind the spice up. Take that and make a tea out of it, understand. Then I would take that tea and I would sprinkle my house, and then I would take me some water, see and I would take nine buckets of water and I would scrub my house. But I would take the Water and not throw it out the door but in the door toward my house. Then I would scrub that and I would take after I scrub my house, I would take and Sprinkle me some sugar, see, brown sugar made out of pure syrup, and sprinkle it at the bed. Well that for luck. That will bring you somebody - a tenant to rent your house.
Entry 2467
Take codfish - you know codfish, and boil it and strain the water off, see. And you can put sugar and van-van and oil of geranium and fast luck - put those three in there and some sugar and you can use oil of cinnamon. And put that in a bottle and shake it up and just sprinkle it after you get it scrubbed out good with ammonia water. Just sprinkle it from the front to the back. That'll draw a crowd to spend money - and all with you.
(If you are a bootlegger.)
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 2486
Ah run a bo'din' house. Ah got oil of bergamine [bergamot], oil of cinnamon, oil of rose an' oil of wintergreen. Ah po' it in a ten-cent bottle an ah would put it in as much watah de size that ah wus goin' tuh mop mah house, an' then use Ivory Soap chips or eithah a bran'-new bar of Ivory Soap haven't been used anywheres. Ah'd start from mah front steps an' mop straight back to de very bottom step, an' mop all ovah mah house back to the back step. An' it would bring a crowd an' bring jis' whatevah yo' would want for de purpose. An' ah'd do that on Mondays an' Fridays early in de mawnin'. When ah wanted men transom [transient] trade, ah would let a man urinate in mah watah. Git enough of it tuh mop mah house through with that othah, yo' see - oil of cinnamon an' oil of rose, oil of bergamine an' oil of wintergreen. An' ah us'lly wanted male trade mo' den ah did de female, ah jis' - ah might git a young half-grown boy or somethin' an' jis' let him when ah fix mah watah bucket, he use it.
(Get any male water?)
Dat's it. (Well, what about women customers? What do you bring them in for? How do you do that?) Well, most times that's whut ah worked with [men]. Co'se if yo' wanted female roomers, yo'd git a woman tuh urinate in the watah.
Entry 2508
You wan'a bring in trade. Well, fo' whut ah've experienced about bringing in trade - ah used tuh be a bootlegger mahself, and ah kin say that ah done that mahself and got benefit out of it. Now hit's a oil - well hit's a water whut chew git and whut chew put in yo' scrub water, hit's whut chew call van-van oil. [See margin- title Van-van later.] An' put five drops in de water, even if yo' don't do nuthin wit it but jes' put it in de water, shake it up and jes' sprinkle it roun' in yo' business place. An' yo' take you some of dat same oil and some brown sugah - about a tablespoonful of brown sugah and about five or seven drops [uneven number] of dat oil, an' put it in a bottle and a tablespoonful of honey, an' take it an' put it in a bottle and fill de bottle most fulla water. An' den put two teaspoonful of holy water in it an' shake it good and set it somewhere close aroun' where yo' kin easily git chure han' on it. An' every time yo' see de law even down dere, if yo' think de law comin' in - but yo' sprinkle yo' place of business good wit dat water every morning. Every morning when yo' come in open up yo' business - when yo' open up yo' do's and do roun' lak dat - jes' sprinkle some roun' yo' do's an' up aside yo' do' facin' and all. But be shore tuh shake well befo' usin'. An' that'll jes' make business come in real breese [brisk] - yo' jes' be tuh de place - yo' jes' be overhanded wit business.
(And that will keep the law away?)
Yassuh. Ah experienced dat.
Entry 2512
I keep holy water tied on my bed - that's to keep the evil spirits away, and I sprinkle it in the four corners of my house-like when I scrub like that for luck. I scrub my house good like today and if I'm going to use lye, if I have any kind of suspicious idea of some of my enemies have crossed the sill of my door. You see? I scrub with lye today and tomorrow I will go aver my house with nine buckets of water. And I'll take that holy water, after the floor dries, and go to the four corners of the house and sprinkle some in each corner. You see? And I make the sign of the cross.
(That's supposed to prevent all evil?)
Evil. That keeps all evil spirits away.
Entry 2513
You get this policeman's name and after you get this policeman's name, you get you some - it's called this here java water. But you got to go to Palmer's drug store down here and get it. And get this java water and you get you some, some pure holy water, JAVA WATER only you got to go on Friday and get that kind. That's to keep the law from your door.
(Where do you get that [pure] holy water?)
You have to go on Friday to the church. Then, after you go to the church, be sure and ask the priest or some other be sure to bless that holy water. Well, after you get this here java water from the drug store, you mix that with that holy water and with that essence of cinnamon and then you get that policeman's name and then you write ii - not no nine times, you write hit 15 times. And you take that policeman's name ard you ball right up into that, into that water and you sop that water up, and you take that Water and you hang it in - right behind your bed, and that policeman ain't coming nowhere around that house. Nowhere around he come.
Entry 2563
Like this [business] burns [flourishes] here and that one over there [burns] - well, if that burns out and the trade here - he ain't got no trade here. And I'll tell you I always seen it did, and I've did it myself during Prohibition. I'd scrub my place out - you see, sweep it out good. and scrub it. But as I said before [in another statement], I'd sweep in all the time, though - never sweep out. Sweep in. When you sweep, you take and get you nine buckets of water. You get you a box of lye, get a bottle of ammonia - get you a bottle of ammonia and a box of lye and use nine buckets of water. You put your lye - you take lye and you sprinkle it all around your floor first. See. You throw a bucket of water to your right, one to your left, but always throw it inside. Stand at your door and throw your water. Don't never let your water go out your door - throw that in your door, see. And when you starts scrubbing your place, you scrub to the back. Start right at the front of your door but be backing up all the time. Don't never walk - back up, see. As you scrubbin', back up. When you start sweepin', then you face your place - going in all the time, but don't use over nine buckets of water. And after you scrub your place good and you get it dried out, you puts you some cinnamon and sugar down. You get you - I think it costs ten or fifteen cents for a box of it, you get you some of that incense and you light that and you burn that in your place. Now, after you got all the inside of your place straightened out and scrubbed clean, you come to your banquette [sidewalk]. You get on the outside and you use nine more buckets of water on the outside. Now, vou sweep both ways there. All the time sweep to your door, you see. You sweep thisaway [to the right], you sweep to your door; you sweep thisaway [to the left], you sweep to your door. See. Now, sweep your water to your door - don't sweep it in the place, but sweep it to your door and let it run down to the ditch itself. And then you sprinkle your cinnamon and your sugar again. See. But you sprinkle it to your door and throw it from your door - throw it in, see. Well, that make that trade come across over there to here. And that'll make - you'll get all the business over here. And, if you see where you can't do no good there, just go over there and sprinkle you some salt after you done scrubbed your place - but you have to pay somebody [to do it]. Get them to go over there and throw some salt down, and it'll cause a big row over there. See, when they start to rumpus over there, everybody will run over here to this place here.
Entry 2577
I tell you what you get. You get this yere - you get - you get some - you see that red, pure red, red brick. You got to go to the drug store to get that. It's powdered brick. Well, you get that pure red, red brick. (That's called redding?) Yeah. (All right.) You get that pure, red, red brick. You get you a bottle of essence of cinnamon from - from Crackerjack Drug Store. After you get that essence of cinnamon, you turn round and you get you a box of love powder and you. mix that with that, and you gets this here - what do they call that stuff? There's another powder you get too. It's van-van.
(Is it a powder?)
No, it's a liquid. Van-van is a liquid. You mix that together and you take nine buckets of water and you wash that place where your place of business at. And when you wash that place of business wash it with nine buckets of water, and then after you wash that place with nine buckets of water, don't say nothing to nobody when you wash that - don't even tell nobody good morning atall when you washing that place, and it going to smell very nice when you wash it, and people going just pouring in.
(You put this mixture in the water?)
In the water and wash it - wash that place with that. [See Red Brick Powder, p.470.]
Entry 2664
Yo' take coffee grounds, codfish an' wintergreen oil. Any kinda stuff dat's put down in front of yore do' an' aftah yo' picks it up, yo' gits a clear bucket of watah an' yo' puts dat coffee grounds in dere an' yo' puts dat codfish an' dat wintergreen oil an' yo' scrubs with it. Jes' dem three 'gredients in de watah, an' yo' scrub with it an' when yo' git ready tuh wash de sidewalk, yo' git chew nine bucket of watah an' yo' stan' from de gutter - from de street an'yo po's it back towards de steps an' leave it run down [into the gutter]. An' den have yo' some of dat codfish watah - yo' need nine bucket of watah, an' de last nine bucket [ninth bucket] of watah, use dat codfish, coffee grounds an' winter- green oil an' yo' scrub. Any kinda hoodoo or anything lak that, dat's put down fo'yo', scrub dat up wit it.
Entry 2669
Yo' could take dis same perfume stuff - de Three Jacks an' Three Kings [see p.728] an' Three S's [three different perfumes]. Yo' kin take it jis' alone - ah say alone in a way, but chew could git othah things tuh go with it. Take sugah an' yo' git dat brown sugah, or any kind, but de brown sugah is much bettah an' yo' urinate in it an' yo' scrub yore place, if yo' wants tuh git yore business line up. Scrub yore place out thor'ly [thoroughly]. Dat's de right way [with brown sugar and urine]. Yo' take an' clean it out with othah watah, yo' know, jis' clear watah good - scrub it out good. Den yo' take this othah stuff an' sprinkle it lak wit a mop or somethin', an' yo' put it in de fo' corners of yore house. Sprinkle it in de fo' corners of yore house, de same watah, an' scrub with it. All dat'll keep, keep confusin' down - whatevah business yo' got an' keep de law from yore house. Everybody will come to yore house beside de law.
(What do you sprinkle down? Just the sugar and this urine?)
No, wit de Three Jacks an' diff'rent othah perfumes. Yo' know whut ah mean - yeah, de Three Jacks, de Three Kings an' de Three S's. [ssS is a brand name.] (After you cleaned my house, then you put all that other stuff [perfume] to- gether and then sprinkle around the house?) Yessuh, but yo' have tuh git the first dirt out [dirt out first].
Entry 2670
There's diff'rent kinds of perfume that you can get to wear on you and if you - it's the Three Jacks and the Three Kings and Jack of Clubs. You go to the drug store and you get two bits [25c] of that and have it mixed all together. Don't wear it on your clothes. If you go into a clubroom and sit down to gamble, you'll always have it handy where nobody kin detect you puttin' some on the floor in the clubroom. And then you take this incense, luck incense, you know, and a shoe, a old shoe, if you got a clubroom and you want your clubroom to be - to bring money and to bring plenty people there to gamble to make money. You scrub your place out just as I told you and use those nine buckets of water. And you put that old shoe with some sugar and cinnamon and burn that incense in there. Close the house up and that's luck for gambling. No, don't use lye here - just the nine buckets of water - clear water - and burn the old shoe. Let the last bucket, the ninth bucket be with sugar in it.
(You can do that for bootlegging too?)
Yeah, because I bootlegged several years. Sure.
Entry 2697
Ah worked once in a woman's sportin' house in South Ca'lina in Sumter, South Ca'lina, de name of Annie H. In her house wus where ah worked, an' she said tuh me, she said, "Ah like yo' heah." She wus de houselady. Ah says, "Yes mam." She says, "An' aftah ah like yo', ah'm trustin' mahself. Luck been bad an' ah reckon dat ah'll let chew make me some." Ah didn't know whut tuh say, yes or no, cus ah didn't understand whut she meant. She first went in de house an' she brought out a - yo' know dis Red Devil Lye, she brought out a box of dat. Ah didn't ask her no questions. Yo' know asafetidy. A package of asafetidy is about de size of dat, an' it's a nickel. She took dat an' she chipped it up right fine. She took jes' about dat much watah an' she put it in a little bit of a pot an' she took about a tablespoonful of Red Devil Lye an' she took three bottles of Hearts Own Cologne an' she come tuh me an' she said, "Mamie?" "Yes mam." She said, "Yo' gotta go an' git us some dirt out de grave." Yo' know ah wus scared. Ah thought ah had done something. Ah didn't know whut in de worl' wus de mattah, whut ah done. An' she 'solve [dissolved] dis an' melt, an' aftah she melt it she made a lather out it. An' den when she made dat lather she po'ed it into a bucket - one of dese buckets whut chew might call a watah bucket. It's de size of a watah bucket but it nearly - dat wus de size of a watah bucket but - yet an' still aftah she made it up she po'ed dem in it - but dey had dat ring on de side an' a lock. Well, at dat time ah could use both mah han's. Now ah has three stiff fingahs - dey call it stiff-j'int rheumatism. An' ah said, "Miss Annie, whut mus' ah do?" She says, "Well, by God," she says, "scrub." Ah says, "Yes'm, ah don't min' scrubbin'." An' ah didn't bring no insult [retaliate] ~ no hard feelin's. Ah wanted tuh be nice endurin' dat house. She says, "All right, Mamie?" Says, "Yes mam." She said, "Did you know it's fo' a'clock now?" Ah said, "No'm, ah didn't. But it's all right. If it's all right wit chew, it's all right wit me." An' she said, "When de sun rises ah want dem beddin' rooms in de clear, so de company will be jes' de same as any day - if we havin' any company." Ah went roun' tuh every bedroom an' emptied every one of de chambers dat had de watah in it or anythin' - not de othah but jes' dat, an' ah scrubbed wit dat.
(What did you do with that water from the chambers?)
In that lye watah.
(Put it in that tub?)
Yes. An' ah scrubbed wit it an' brothah, ah wouldn't tell yo' one lie. Ah didn't git bit further den de front po ch, an' the hall clean up, an' ah started in anothah lady's room round de walls - jes' tuh wipe roun' dem. Ah couldn't do it. She says, "Mamie, yo'll have tuh set away dat till she git ovah." Ah says, "All right."
(Why couldn't you do it?)
Cause de room wus so fulla mens wantin' tuh go tuh bed wit dem wimmins till ah couldn't have chance tuh do dat. An' it jes' smelt so good an' wonderful, ah says tuh mahself, "If dis de way dey does, ah'm goin' tell ever'body." An' ah declare to goodness when time fo' me tuh go home, ah didn't think no mo' 'bout it. Now, ah 'sure yo', ah didn't know why ah wanted to. Dat wus mah aim to tell mah folks at home 'bout it an' some othah people ah know, but ah nevah thought a word about it. Ah told nobody. Ah don't think ah told nobody till ah'm tellin' yo' now. An' it had done left me. Ah nevah even thought about it no mo'. It jes' - she had up befo' sunrise. She had me clean all de rooms out befo' sunrise an' 'fore fo' a'clock struck. She said fo' me tuh be through an' be down to de kitchen tuh ketch all dese people goin' out. But ah didn't git no further den de second woman's bedroom. Some of de ladies in dere had friends with 'em by den. Dey called 'em de Catbone Wishers, an' ah waited on de three of dem ladies privately. An' so ah really know dat.
(These were white women, weren't they?)
Ever'one of 'em.
(And the madam was white?)
Ever'one of 'em. Ever'one of 'em in dat home an' all. Dere weren't nobody dere colored but me an' de cook. [I am unable to explain either bucket ring and lock or Catbone Wishers. Since I do not ask a question about the latter, I must have assumed the women each had or shared a black-cat lucky bone. Whether catbone wisher was then or now pro- fessional argot for anything else, I do not know.]
Entry 2698
You can take cinnamon and sugar and clear water and oil of verbena. See, like this is your front - well you start ascrubbing from the front, back in but not out. See, and sweep it back in. You see. Then you get what you call dragon's powder [dragon's blood]. See. You smoke the four corners up with that. [See margin-title Smoke 'em, p.723; also Incense, p.700.] Natch'ly you'll be successful in a business.
Entry 2715
Take a little sulphur and burn in yore business place in de morning of nine mornings. Open your business place and burn that sulphur. And burn that and say a little wish - wish for your money or success in there before anybody enters. And that brings you luck, that brings your trade. But burn this every morning for nine mornings. Then you take a little van-van - keep a little mop - that draw de customers. Jest mop your floor once or twice a week - Wednesdays and Fridays. That brings you trade.
(What do you mop it with?)
Van-van. That's little thin-like stuff from de drug store. Jest put little drops in yore water and mop - jest a few drops to wipe de floor Wednesday morning and Fridays.
(Do you have to mop the floor in any particular manner?)
Jest bring it in though - all in, don't carry it out. You jest come inside - starts from de stair and come inside and then you bringing your luck in. See, to draw de persons to come tuh yo'. That sulphur you burn fo' nine mornings, that keeps your luck always. But burn it nine mornings - a tablespoon or much as you want - in de place befo' anybody cross your doorstep. Don't allow nobody to come in before you get that sulphur burn.
Entry 2742
It's a gift - ah been doin' it all mah life. (This woman [an author] says that down there when a doctor of this type has any disciples or anybody he is teaching - when they are initiated - Do they have some sort of initiation ceremony? Or something like that?) Yeah, they have that shore. (Do you know anything about what they do?) Well, ah tell yo'. Now we have - ah have had a school right to here. People say they are gifted - they got a gift. Well, ah'll try 'em to see if dey kin see it - to see if they know anything. Well, if ah see the same thing they say they see, den ah know they have a gift. Well, den ah'll go on a'develop 'em. I'll even show 'em articles in de Bible to read to git dereself in dat position. [See my biblical comment p.361.] Yo' see, then after they study that and they know it fluently - and den ah write down to de Temple an' git a diploma an' give 'em, see. Den dey kin go about an' use de Temple's name.
(Where is this Temple by the way?)
St. John's Temple. That's what we call a great hoodoo place. You will find that when you go down there. You jest ask anybody and they say it's one of the largest places there of its kind.
(They teach there? Is it a church or what?)
Yeah, it's like a church and dey have a lot of understudies and they heal there. They do everything. An' people go dere. They have more white than they do colored. (Did you ever hear that in these initiations they have a altar and burn can- dles and that sort of thing?) Oh yes, I have the same thing. Ah have it now at mah place.
(Sort of an altar?)
Yeah, ah have a altar wit saints and candles and oils and different things.
(If I came around to see you, would you let me see them?)
Sure ah let chew see - sure. You come around and yo' kin see it any time. Ah'm dere every day but Sunday.
(Do you have a special room or something of that sort?)
I have a whole basement downstairs - whole basement wit all mah business in it. Ah have one at de church too. You kin come to mah church sometime and you will see how ah perform.
(Yes, where is your church?)
Things ah knows from mah own experience.
[He conveniently missed my question. I do not repeat it.]
(All right suppose you tell me one of those.)
Dey take your photograph and dey turn it upside down and take a pink light and burn it to it fer nine nights and nine days, and dat will worry your mind. Maybe dis woman or somepin dat love you - it would cause your mind to keep coming on her all de time. Yes, she can. Dis woman she takes his name and she write his name nine times, she write her name nine times across this. And then she takes a pink light and she turns this light on top of this piece of paper. When de drippings of dis candle covers this full name then he will be back. Well, you would take St. Anthony. You would take St. Anthony and you would take three lights which would be a green one, a black one and a yellow one, and you would burn this light every night and every morning until these lights burn down completely. That would relieve you or your mind.
(If someone was trying to harm me. Well, what do you do about St. Anthony?)
St. Anthony, dat's a saint. Why you take him and burn dese three lights to him and ask him to....
(Oh, you have a picture of him?)
Oh, yeah, a picture of dis saint. You take St. Peter. St. Peter is a saint that is used fo' all thieves. Yo' take a brass key and you put dis key in de Bible and then you call names. Any- body that lives in dis house and yo' suspicion that anyone in this house did dis crime. Yo' call dere name and de Bible will tell you. It will turn on de one dat stole these things when you call de name, de Bible will turn an' fall.
(Well, what do you do with that St. Peter?)
St. Peter is on a picture. You only stand him and light a light, jest a white candle, and then use dis big brass key which is de one dat gives yo' de secrets to thieves.
(I see - you put that in the Bible.)
Say they have a thing that they call guinea seeds - supposed to control and give you power. You take one of those seeds and chew it up fine and jest as you about to enter and start to talking to this party, you spit this three times in front of 'em and say to yourself what chew want them to do. And they claim that they have to do these things.
(That is used when you are going to get a job.)
Now dey claim fer frogs - in order to have someone that chew wanta trick - put frogs in 'em - you take a frog and you will boil him. After you boil him you take this water and they claim that nine drops of this water into your drinking Water will create frogs to be crawling inside of you.
(Is there any way to get those frogs out?)
The only way to get 'em out would be jest the same way as they got 'em in. Well, in other words, dey say they'd boil de water for you to drink, and well dey would boil more water for you to drink again and den de frogs would come back [out]. [For Doctor Sims, see No. 34, p.23, and Index.]
Entry 2746
Well, the trouble I had - first, the misery started in the thigh, the left, and this moved around to the right; then, something came on up and stopped in my throat. It choked me a great deal. I was troubled with that for about eighteen months. I couldn't lay on neither side. I could only lay flat on my back for eighteen months. There wasn't a doctor in Fredericksburg that could do me any good. So I met a fellow from Washington, [D. C.] and he was telling me how it was with him. From his talk he had the same complaint I had. He talked it in me for to go to Washington and see an old lady. So finally I decided to go. He taken me up there for to see this woman. When I got there now, this woman she came to the window and she says to this man, "You got Jim O. [informant] with you." She'd never seen me before. She says to me, "I know what you come for." She says, "Come on in and look around. I haven't got time to do any readin' for you today [magic delay]." So she says to Henry M. [man who took him to Washing- ton], "Bring him back Friday. So he taken me back. When I walked in she says to me, she says, "You've got a snake in your belly." She says, "Take a seat over there," and commenced then to read. When she commenced to read she brought out several people - she brought their photographs out. She showed me these pictures - she named them, she knowed them [see later]. The old lady had a glass of water in her hand and she passed me this glass of water. So I drank this glass of water. Then after awhile she passed me another glass of water - so I drank that. She said she [some woman in Fredericksburg] gave me something in a glass of water, that's why she [doctor] gave me a glass of water. And right from that I commenced to feeling bad. So she says to me, "You got a snake in you - I can't draw it from you alive." I says to her, "No, I wouldn't like to see it." So she gave me a certain glass of medicine to pass that snake the other way. She gave me a treatment in the hair [scalp treatment], then she put me in a tub of something that was black. She gave me a good bath, and while she was bathing me a lot of smoke came out of my flesh, and right from that I commenced getting better. "You is all right now - you can go back home now and do anything you are big enough to do." And while I was there she showed me a lizard in a jar that she took out of a girl's throat. She had that setting on the shelf in alcohol. It looked just like a lizard you see crawling up a log. She told me she had drawn several snakes from different people. The snake pass from me after I left there - I never did see it. I finally got better. I only spent ten days with her - she charged me $12. John N., he was tricked the very same way, so he came to me and I was telling him about this woman. Then I got it for him to go up and see her. And she cured him the same way. Her name was Mother Jones. She came from North Carolina. [These pictures - she named them - she knew them - were a new device to me; an effective one, more so than the similar and impersonal device of a deck of photographs rather than of cards. These pictures were supposedly photographs of persons she had brought out while reading the cards. Informant could not have known any of them; he was not expected to identify any of them. Henry M., man who took informant to Washington, looks like a man out in the bushes beating up trade for Mother Jones. She could not have known Jim O's name without a letter from Fredericksburg or a telephone call after his arrival in Washington. Her words look around are a most important part of the atmosphere - she wanted him to see her medical museum (see in Index).]
Entry 2751
In the year of 1928 I was going with a married man. Quite natural I knowed that was wrong and she found it out and she sent a bottle there to my house - and my brother was sitting on the porch. And so when I come home from work that evenin' the bottle was there. And so the bottle had water in it, I imagine. My mother told me not to open it. It had a lot of needles and a stopper and a cord- string tied up as if, you know, to hold the stopper out of the water - just a plain long beer bottle [probably a dark bottle]. So my mother had taken it up to a woman what, you know, knew.
(Where was this bottle?)
It was at my house - it was down by the washstand. They had give it to - the woman had give it to my brother, see. And my brother went and give it to my mother and my mother set it down in my room by the washstand and so she told me when I come home to go there and get the bottle. So, finally, I had a fear run over me and besides, about it, I never believed in this kind of stuff until this come about. And so after she told me to go and get the bottle, I went and opened [I wanted to open] it - I said, "Mama, this bottle is suspicious." She says, "Well, don't open it." I say, "Yes, Ma, I is, I'm not afraid." She said, "Don't you open it." And she taken the bottle and went on up to a woman's house with the bottle and she told the woman. The woman told my mother to take the bottle and empty it in a bayou of water or stream of water. See. So I went to Tallulah to work. I left from away from there after I thought I was going to get hurt, you know. I left home anyway and I went to Tallulah.
(Where is that?)
Tallulah, Louisiana. [About 25 miles west of Vicksburg, Mississippi.]
(All right.)
I worked over there. And after I went over, she sent me a little envelope with sand or something inside of another little envelope about dis long, and she said on there, "Six months from today your grave number will be 65 - six months from today." Well, I got scared and I was a person that never did like to tell my friends nothing about that. In fact I didn't believe in it. So I commenced to pining away and then I was losing my mind. People here in Vicksburg can shore tell you here in Vicksburg that I really lost my mind. So a friend of mine had mentioned it to a friend of mine, and she told me about a fellow. I don't know whether he's black or white. He stays in New Orleans, his name is B. B. McConnick. He stays over in Algiers. And I wrote him concerning about it. And after he wrote in a letter and told me about a dream I had. I believed in what he was telling me to do.
(Did you have a dream?)
I had a dream that I - there was some money in a old empty house for me. [For dreams of buried treasure, see 387, p.116; 426, p.127; etc.] And after I wrote this man like she [the girl] told me to write him, why he was telling that, and I was - and that's what made my belief come that he'd know what he was talking about - why I believed in what he told me to do.
(Now, wait. You had this dream and you told this man in Tallulah?)
No, I ain't told no one about it - this dream - nobody know nothing about this dream but my family folks - about this dream and the money in the house.
(I see.)
And after I told this friend of mines over there [in Vicksburg] about this woman had done sent me this stuff, and I was sick and stayed sick, well she told me about this man.
(I see - the man in Algiers?)
In Algiers - his name was Mr. B. B. McConnick. I don't know whether he is black or white. And so I wrote him and he wrote me a letter back and told me to send him $5.75 and he explained in the letter about the dream I had. Well, I believed in him, see. So I sent the money to him. I sent the money to him and he sent me a self-addressed stamp [envelope for the money]. And he sent me and told me what to do, and he sent me black candles and he told me this here black candle would burn against the parties what was harming me. Well, he told what to do - he told me to take a glass about like that, just an ordinary jelly glass, and fill it half full of sugar and stick it down in the sugar.
(This black candle?)
This black candle.
(Just one?)
He sent me more than one, cause [I sent him] $5.06, but after they give out, he told me I could get 'em from my local drug store. And he told me to use these candles six, twelve and six evening every evening. [This is the well-known 6-12- 6 time formula.] And finally I did that.
(Put this candle down in the sugar?)
Down in the sugar. He told me to not to never blow the candle out - I never seen this man before, and he told me, "Don't blow it out" - to take mv middle finger and my thumb and wet it, and say, "I wish you would leave me alone," put- ting the candle out at the same time, but not blow it. And really I did that and that woman. (Now wait a minute. How long did you let those candles burn at six, twelve and six?) Fifteen minutes - fifteen minutes.
(And when you had burned one whole candle?)
No, sir, you burn that every day. (Well, when that first candle burned out, what did you do? Burn another one then?) Could use another.
(How many did you use altogether?)
Oh, I just guess. I done even forgot how many I used, but I used just some of 'em 'cause I wanted that off of me. And really, that man helped me 'cause I know I was wrong: You see. And it turned right to that home - that woman was getting back just like I was getting, see. And I thought - two or three time I certainly felt sorry for her and I stopped using that stuff. Now, the other experience, 'cause I used to didn't believe in it until this woman was doing me like that, you see. Cause I was wrong, you see, going with her husband. But that other, I don't know nothing about that, but I'm explaining you something I really experienced my own dear self. [The preceding trick could have been performed in several ways. Friend of mine who recommended McConnick was surely his foreign correspondent for the Vicksburg district; she being his only source of information about the dream. What informant wanted could be taken care of for $5.75. Her dream about the buried treasure showed that all problems would soon be solved; she would also find the hidden wealth. The reader will notice immediately that $5.75 contains uneven numbers, which read inside outward 75 and outside inward 57. This is for- ward and backward magic, though not the pendulum magic frequently met in Jacks (p.190f.). Pulsating or heart-beat magic might be a better term. After the money was received, the candles were delivered. The package contained a printed notice something like: "These candles you ordered have been burned in the fol- lowing manner by troubled persons who claim for them the benefits of health and peace. We sell them as curios. The so-and-so drug store in your town sells these candles." There was no second letter as informant implies. All communi- cation was. brief and vague (see He'd Never Write You Much, p.319f.). McConnick is primarily a distributor of candles - a business man and surely a white man.]
Entry 2929
Yo' take some of dis same solution yo' know, salt watah, an' put it all in de room yo' know, all aroun', an' then yo' burn those little [white] tapers, too. Burn that all aroun' an' yo' git this bergamot an perfume de room with that, yo' understan', an' that's good luck.
(That will rent the room for you.)
Ah've had experience in that mahself.
Entry 3060
(What did you do to get your husband back?)
Well, I went to her [St. Rita] again and prayed. Well, when I went to her and prayed, I burned incense in my house and scrubbed incense in my house. Well, it was a woman that took my husband clean from me. I couldn't do anything in the world with him. He wouldn't stay home. He wouldn't pay no rent at home. I is a mother with children for him and he wouldn't pay no rent, he wouldn't support me, and I didn't have no cause to go to the white folks to make him support me no nothing. But I took and went on there and prayed, and after I went there, I just took holy water and scrubbed my house out and sprinkled holy water in my house, and light that candle and got me a little altar and put her in there, got her saint and put her in there, and I had three lights. And I had his name writ nine times frontwards and nine times backwards, and I lighted her candle on him - you see, where a little base.
(Oh! What kind of a candle?)
A white candle. But I had one white candle what I had his picture and his name - you know, right on it. And I had his name nine times thisaway and nine times thataway.
(Across. In a cross?)
Yes, just like you'd make a cross. You understand?) Well, all right. I laid that down just like this [demonstrates]. See, that's his picture there. I laid his name over that and set the [white] light on top of it. (You laid the names crosswise, across the picture, and now you put the candle on top of that - this white candle.) Yes, sir.
(Was it a picture or a statue of the saint?)
No, it was a statue of my saint, but I had the picture of my husband - that was his'n.
(But the saint was a statue?)
A statue - little white statue. You can get it in any Catholic church; you can get a little white statue. They give you ary one you want - any one of them.
(I see.)
So, I had my light there, but I had her back here. You see.
(Her light.)
Her light - was supposed to put her light here.
(What color was her light?)
Her light was a blue light I give her. See, that's when you wanta get your husband back. And if you have a dark light, it's for the woman what's got your husband. That white light, that's hers [the saint's] but she's working on that for you. See, she's bringing him home. And my husband come home one night at twelve o'clock and I wouldn't get no upstirring about him - you see, one, two, three, my mind was gone off of him. He stayed away from me three weeks, and when he come back home, he come right home and went and called on the landlord and paid him hisself; asked the landlord how much I'd owed him, and the landlord told him, "Well, she owe for three week's rent." And I was paying $3 a week. And he went there and he paid him. He was working right there on the riverfront, and he really did come back home and I ain't never had no trouble wit him since. That's been three year ago and I don't never move that light - I always keep that light. I always go to church every morning at six clock. You'll find me in that church on Halsey Avenue and Cologne. I'll be to that Catholic church there on my knees.
(Do you do that every morning now?)
Every morning.
(Are you a Catholic?)
Yes, sir
(Well, were you Catholic before then?)
No sir, I was no Catholic then. I was a Methodist.
(I see, you become a Catholic.)
After. I came to be a Catholic after.
(Were you confirmed or anything in the Catholic Church or did you just go in?)
Well, I ioined the Catholic Church, you understand.
(Were you baptised in the Catholic Church?)
No, I wasn't baptised yet. I wasn't supposed to get baptised until Easter Sunday. That's when they supposed to baptize me, Easter Sunday Morning.
(You haven't been baptised yet. You are going to be though?)
Yes, sir. Easter Sunday morning.
(I see.)
Easter Sunday morning.
(And you have this altar in your house and you still burn these candles?)
Yes, sir.
(And you burn the blue and the white ones?)
Yes, sir.
(You put three candles?)
I put three candles for the man - like if you wants your husband back, like if a woman want her husband back.
(One was blue?)
One was blue and one was white and the other one was blue [black]. The blue one was for the saint, but the white one was for the husband [see later]. That dark candle - the black candle was for the woman what was, you know, have took your husband from you. That was against her. [Originally she says the white candle sat on her husband's picture and name - it being the candle for him. Later she calls the white candle the saint's, but only because the saint is working through it. The blue candle is for the saint alone.]
(How did you have this arranged on the altar?)
Well, you see, just have.
(Here's the altar.)
[To represent altar, I open my small spiral-bound Numbers Book on table.]
That's the altar. Now you see, just hold this up just like this here. That's the altar here. You understand?
(Yes.)
Well, all right. That's the Virgin Mary - the Virgin right here, see.
(That's St. Rita?) [She means St. Rita.]
Yeah, that's St. Rita, right there. All right, you takes right here, right in front of the altar, you understand, that's her in here.- in that little hole. Well, you take right in front of the altar, right here [also], that's where you put - lay your husband's picture there and the name nine times, one time cross- way like that, nine time crossway like that, and once like dis, and you lay that right up on here. And you take his picture - have his picture like that with it, but you have his picture laying crossways - see, just like his head would rise to the sun, well, you make his feet get to the sun and you put it right here. Lay that on top of that and put that white candle on top of this. Then you turn round and take that dark candle and put it right here.
(On the left hand [north] side of the altar you put the dark candle?)
Yeah, put it the side of the altar but on this side. See, [evil] all the time on the left side. On the right side put the man's candle - put it right here. That saint's candle, put it right here - that blue one, that's for her, see. (I see. The white one is in the center and the blue one is on the right side of the [statue of the] saint?) Yes, sir. Then, see when you light it, you can light.
(When you light those candles, you do what?)
When you light the candles, see, you light her candle first - that's that blue candle.
(I see.)
You see, all them candles are nickel candles apiece - cost a nickel apiece. Well, you see, you light her candle first. Well, you says your wish. You make your wish to her - just like you wish for him to come home, or you wish for him to stay away. See. Any wish that you make her, say, "Well, I wish that you would send my husband home. You understand, I am in need." And you make that wish for her and light her candle first, and you turn around and you come across there and pass him up, and light the dark candle after you light hers first.
(Then you light the black candle?)
Yes. And you come right on back [to the white candle].
(What do you say when you light that black candle?)
That black candle, "Take him away from this woman, if it's your spirit will." See, that's the way you have to have your hands - just thataway. (Up against the side of your face - folded [in prayer]. Yes, just thataway.
(After you repeat the prayer?)
And after you prays the Lord's Prayer. And after the Lord's Prayer is said, you takes and [hold a match like] that to the light. And you take another match, not the same match - take another match and light this husband's candle, the white candle. And you take and set ~ burn - take all them [matches] and burn them [matches] up. And you set right there and you make the Lord's Prayers to the saint.
(You use three different matches?)
Yes, sir.
(What do you do with those matches after you light them?)
You can't use but one on that one candle.
(No, what do you do with those matches after you use them?)
You take them and throw them in the fire and burn them up. See, you can't use the same [matches again] and drag 'em around. And you make your wishes and you prays to her. And I guarantee you in three days time your husband will be back home. [Here is the prepared or dressed altar: Parentheses in diagram = spiral binding that divides Numbers Book into halves
(p.886, line one) = little hole (line 8).]
Entry 4220
chamber lye is fo' success. Dey put it in de watah dat chew mop yuh flo's wit. Put chamber lye an' put sugah in de watah an' oil of cinnamon, an scrub yuh flo's. Start at chure front do' an' scrub on back in de house. Scrub yuh do' facin's an' all, wash 'em down. If yuh got varnish do's an' yuh cain't scrub 'em, why yuh jis' sprinkle 'em; but yuh scrub yuh flo's wit it, mop 'em yuh know lak dat.
Entry 4486
Stop dat watah up in a bottle.
(This bath water?)
Yes, sir, stop it up in a bottle an' put it, bury hit down - an' bury it up- side down an' dat'll harn yuh, too. See, cuz yuh'll git sickly an' po'ly [poorly] an' things. Yuh see, dat be all yuh dirt, YUH STRENGTH an' things. BURIED BATH WATER TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
Entry 4818
Well, ah heard dis now, dis way. Dere wuz a girl an' she wanted dis boy, yuh know. She loved dis man an' dis man wouldn't care much. He used tuh go off. An' she ast anothah girl frien' of 'ers, she say she would git 'im if it wuz de las' thin' she'd do. Well, she went tuh 'is house one time an' got a piece of 'is, yuh know, de tail off 'is shirt. An' [she] took an' put sulphuh, black molasses in it, an' taken it tuh de rivah an' po'd it in dere. Yuh know, out on de cloth, an' den dropped de cloth in nex' tuh dat an' let it stay dat- away, while she went back tuh.de house. An' den she ast de boy, she say, "Would yuh mind walkin' wit me?" An' he say he wouldn't mind walkin' wit 'er. Dey went on down tuh de rivah, an' she said she took 'er han' an' dipped it intuh de watah where she had dropped dis, an' rubbed it 'cross 'is face. An' she say she walked on back tuh de house, say he begin tuh git dizzy. An' so he tole her, he said - her name wuz Ellen - he say, "Ah don' mind goin' down mayself, but would joo mind goin' wit me? Ah don' wan' chew tuh leave me." An' she went on home wit 'im an' she tole - she said tuh 'er mothah dat night, she says, "Mothah, [So-and-so] is in love wit me." An' dat night about fo'a'clock in de mawnin' dere he wuz knockin' on de do'. He couldn't sleep wit'out 'er an' he couldn't eat wit'out 'er. Dat's whut ah heard.
Entry 4838
Tuh bring a person back yuh got'a use de lef' [foot] track. Jis' lak dere's two or three ways tuh bring a person back. Well, jis' lak if it's a woman dat chew want tuh bring back, if yuh kin git even a piece dat she weah nex' tuh 'er, any place. Co'se, if yuh wanta cut a piece outa it - go on back home an' put it in some watah. Dis is tuh bring 'em back, bring a person back tuh yuh. All right, yuh take an' put it in some watah an' yuh goes tuh where two trees dat is right in tuhgethah. Yuh seen trees lean- in' ovah on one nothah. Well, if yuh ain't got a augah, take a axe an' dig a hole in it, an' jis' take dat li'le cloth an' put it in dere an' let it stay three hours. Bring it on back home den an' let it set up dere. Yuh take a li'le bita bottle jis' lak dis an' put it in dere. Now yuh take dis watah offa dere, yuh undahstan', an' yuh throw dis piece yuh got away, an' jis' let it be de watah dat yuh had it in. Take de piece outa it an throw it away. Take dis same watah an' care [carry] it tuh de tree an' let it stay in dere three hours. Take it out an' bring it on back home an' let it set dere. An' whatsomevah yuh want, yuh kin took fo' 'em from de time it will take dem tuh come from where dey are tuh where yuh live. Dey'll be dere.
Entry 7180
Take an' cross 'is han's across 'is breast.
(Cross his hands across his breast when he's asleep?)
Yes, sir, an' take a li'le bottle of watah. Yo' cross ovah 'im, step all ovah 'im an' he'll stay asleep fo' hours. Jis' take dat li'le bottle of watah an' set it somewhere neah de head, anywhere near his head. Dat keeps 'im asleep.
Entry 9160
Now, if you have to go before the judge, ah tell you what you do. Be fore you go away from your house, you take the chairs and you stand them upside down in the house, every one of them. Don't leave nary a one standing up like the one ah'm settin' in. Turn dem all upside down. An' yo' get yo' some sugah an' cin- namon an' holy oil, that's what you call virgin oil. Yo' get dat from certain drug stores. Yo' can't get it from everywhere. But wherever de place dat yo' can find it, yo' get dat virgin oil, and cinnamon and sugar and yo' mix all dat tuhgethah, don't yo' know. An' put it in some watah an' wash yore face an' hands good - just wash yore face an' hands. Wash all back of yore neck an' ears an' Wash on yore arms. An' turn those chairs upside down before yo' leave home. An' he will really dismiss it.
Entry 9271
Yo' take a black hen egg. Yo' boil dat. Yo' git graveyard dust. Yo' git dirt dauber. Yo' boil dat togethah. Den yo' git war watah. An' yo' mix that up together an' put it back in this egg shell. Yo' put it in red, a flannel yo' know, [in] somepin or othah, [because] yo' t'row it [and the mix- ture must not fall outl. In nine days time de person will move aftah dey walk over dis. Yo' t'row it on top of de house.
(What do you do with that egg?)
Yo' break de egg. Yo' boil it see, first. Den yo' break it in dis dirt dauber.
(I want to know just how they use the egg.)
Yo' take de whole [boiled] egg out de shell. Den mash it like yo' gon'a mash- mash potato wit a fork. Yo' take de dirt dauber nest. Yo' mash dat up in dere. Yo' take graveyard dirt off a bad sinner's grave. An' yo' mix dat all up tuh- gethah an' yo' put it in de stoVe. An' yo' kin GIT SOME OF DIS RED GROUND PEPPAH [ground red pepper] FROM DE HOODOO DRUG STORE an' yo' mix dat [in there]. Den yo' stuff dis shell back wit dat egg an' tie it up [in the red flannel] dis way [demonstrates, probably wrapping the string away from you, though a notation of the manner was not made at the time]. An' yo' gon'a t'row it upon dat house. Yo' t'row it in a manners so it'll roll [off and break]. An' de folks won't stay dere long.
Entry 10059
De way a fellah [doctor] tole me, when ah wuz tryin' tuh gamble. "Ah wanta be a real gamblah." He tole me he cud [could] fix me up a han' fo' $25, [he said] ah could do jis' about as good as he cud, if ah [he] tole yo' [me] tuh do dis. Ah says, "Whut do yo' mean by dat?" He say, "Yo' sell yo'self tuh de devil." Ah say, "How would ah sell mahself tuh de devil?" He say, "Yo' go tuh de fo' fo'ks of de road fo' nine Sunday mawnin's," an' he say, "on de ninth Sunday mawnin', yo' ketch yo' a black cat an' carry him. (After you have been to the fork on the ninth [Sunday] morning, then you catch a cat and take him home- the black cat.) "De black cat an' carry him home [continues doctor to informant]. An' git chew a wash-pot an' fill it halffulla watah an' put chew a big heapin' fiah roun' dere an' git some kinda lid an' put ovah dat pot, an' boil dat watah till it go- jis' rollin'. An' throw dat black cat in dere, an' covah it up, an' let 'im stay two hours lak dat. When yo' take him out, take de hip bone - take two hip bones- an' up in dere cross dem two hip bones, dere's a bone in 'is back dat's a forked bone. [This forked bone always suggests the chicken wishbone, a type of bone no other animal has. We have a number of examples of this misidentification in HOODOO - see No..] Well, yo' kin take dat forked bone an' carry it tuh de runnin' watah an' throw it down de stream." An' he say, "Dat bone will come back tuh yuh." "Yo' take an' go tuh dat fo'ka de road nine mo' mawnin's an' dat ninth mawnin'."
(Sunday mornings or any morning then?)
Yassuh, any mawnin'. Jis' nine mawnin'.
[We have 9 Sunday mornings followed by 9 mornings.]
Say, "When yo' do dat, on de ninth mawnin', yo'll meet de devil dere, an' yo' shake han's wit 'im, an' evahthin' in de worl' dat chew wants tuh do, yo' kin do it." Yo' sold yo'self tuh de devil. Tole 'im ah cudn't stand dat.
Entry 10064
If yo' wanta have yuh way anywheah in de world yo' go, wanta do any- thing yo' wanta do, yo' git chew a jet black cat. Don't let 'im have no spot on 'im atall - jet black. An' yo' take dat cat an' take yo' a kettle, an' yo' go down heah tuh de swamp alone, by yo'self, no one wit chew. Put dat cat in dat kettle of watah an' put sompin on de lid tuh hold 'im down in dere. Make yuh up a fiah an' bile it [kettle] till de meat come way from dat cat bone. Aftah doin' dat yo' take all of 'is bones an' yo' go tuh a crossroads. All kinda things comin' tuh yuh, but don' chew git frightened. Don't chew git scared. Jis' stay right dere. All kinda things comin' tuh yuh: things wit no haids, no laigs, no ahms - comin' tuh yuh. But chew stay dere. An' aftah yo' stayin' dere yo' take dese bones an' yo' go back tuh runnin' watah an' throw dem in, an' de one yo' see travel up - up - yo' git dose bones. Aftah gittin' dose bones, yo' go tuh a graveyard. An' when yo' git tuh de graveyard, why yo' put dese bones down dere an' let 'em stay down dere fo' nine days. Aftah nine mawnin's yo' go back dere an' git dem bones an' yo' left yo' [you leave] nine pennies. [For paying spirits of dead in graveyard, see pp.3316-3323, v.4 and other places in HOODOO.] Dig yo' a hol' an' let dem nine pennies down dere - at de graveyard, attah yo' git de bones. Yo' put nine pennies dere. An' when yo' take dem bones, yo' take dem bones an' yo' wrap 'em up in a piece of red flannel. An' yo' weahs dese bones. An' yo'll be all right anywhere yo' done go. Nuthin'll worry yo'. Nuthin'll trouble. If yo' in trou- ble, yo' kin git out. Nuthin will hindah yuh atall. [I put in italics that wonderful expression: alone, by yourself, no one wit chew!]
Entry 10078
Well, yo' ketch a cat - a black cat - an' yo' take 'im tuh a runnin' stream somewhere off in some desolated place, an' yo' build yuh a fiah an' yo' heat watah an' yo' boil dis cat. Yo' boil all de bones off dis cat. An' aftah dis cat boiled an' all de meat fall off 'is bones, den yo' take dese bones an' yo' put dese bones in a bag, an' po' dese bones in dis stream of runnin' watah. An' den yo' sit dere. Dey say dat sev'ral things supposed tuh happen uhile yo' doin' dis. Various horrible apparitions will appear trying to fright- en you.] An' all dese bones will go downstream in swift watah, an' dis one bone come back up against de stream, dat's de bone yo' git. Den yo' git dat bone an yo' carry dat bone. Yo' carry dat bone diff'ren' places. Yo' suck it in yuh zouth when yo' wanta do things, an' carry it in yore pocket in yuh han'. Dat bone supposed tuh do sev'ral things; sech make a man invisible or any othah things dat yo' wanta do.
Entry 10085
Dat black cat - takin' de black cat, pure black, no white spot, no nuthin, an' puttin' 'im in a pot of watah alive an' boilin' 'im. Aftah he is boiled, tuh find de right bone, yo' must take a lookin'-glass an' passin' each bone through de mouth. When yuh git tuh de right bone, yuh don' see yuhself in de glass at all. Well, dat's de bone dat chew use in yuh pocket. An' whensom- evah yo' use dat bone in yore pocket, yuh walks intuh any place - yo' may be comin' up along de street an' ah see yo' comin', an' befo' yo' git tuh me yuh'll disappeah an' ah don' see yuh. See. Yo' done git invisible wit de black cat bone. But it's only one certain bone dat it kin be done wit.
Entry 10564
[The following material, read in transcription during the year after its collection, I marked n.g. (no good). At that time I still had most of my hoodoo experiences ahead of me, field work that would change many of my earlier judgments. To explain what I mean, I am giving this rite in two versions; first the original text and then my annotated text for the reader's benefit.] ORIGINAL VERSION: We have one there; myself there, what I use myself for my people, from the city.
(One what?)
One....we would take a bat.
(A bat.)
You see, the bat that flies.
(Yes.)
Now, we got two bats. We got a bat they calls, that is, the chimley bat. Then we got what you call a root bat, which got skin-like on him - look like a mice. (Yes.) That's the bat I'm talking about. I'm speaking about that bat. You take that bat. Then you take three of them and you dry them. (You dry them.) Yeah. And quite natural, if you wanta dry 'em, it would be better if I'm dry by the sun than to dry by in the heat or anything like that, 'cause if you dry it by the sun, that will give 'em a firmer drying.
(A what dry?)
A firmer drying.
(A firmer.)
Yeah, firmer drying, you see. But if you would go to work and get a drying by the oven, that would be a fourth of 'um. Then that wouldn't get a good dry- ing. All right. Then you take those three bats and you go to this place there where you wanta, that is, stay. Then you'll go to work and sew that into your clothes. When you sew it in your clothes, then when the time comes for you to come into this place there to stay, then you must go to work and take it out when you get in there. Takes it out in the middle of the floor before you puts any furniture in there. Understand that? Then you would go to work and take that bat and put it down in that gallon of water, cistern water, rain water what I mean. Have standing up. Then you take that cistern water or rain water and let it set for awhile there. Then you scrub that place out, clean on out, and let it stay for nine days. See. And you scrub that place out. Quite naturally, those bat would be den destroyed through the water. Then you scrub your place out and it would give a bad scent, but we have a - that is - a perfume that they calls The Stars.
(The what? The Stars? The Stars perfume?)
Perfume, yeah. The Stars perfume. Then you would take that and throw it in the house, just throw it out. Then that will kill all scents.
(I see. I see. That's if you want to stay in this house?)
Yeah, if you wanta stay in there.
(I see. When you rent it.) [New Orleans, La., (861), 1372:2.]
ANNOTATED VERSION: We have one [leather-wing or bull-leather-wing surely the missing words here] there [where he lives]; myself there [near New Orleans], what I [a root doctor or root worker] use myself for my people [clients or patients] from the city. (One what?) [Either leather-wing meant nothing to me at the time, or his pro- nunciation confused me, or I was telling him to continue.] One [thing we could do] we would take a bat.
(A bat.)
You see, the bat that flies.
(Yes.)= [Continue.]
Now, we got two bats. We got a bat they calls, that is, the chimley [chimney] bat. Then we got what you call a root bat, which got skin-like on him - look like a mice. [The chimney bat is the chimney swift, not a chimney swallow. The root bat with skin-like on him, look like a mice is the leather-winged bat. This is the only place I have a root bat. First let us remember that in folklore a bat is always a bird, not a mammal. Why a root bat? Let me make 3 guesses: (1) Hy informant did not say root but roost. (2) Root, because the bat is used by rootman for working roots. (3) There are stories even here in HOODOO, about stealing an egg from the nests of certain birds, this theft causing the bird to find a lucky stone to test her eggs. A bat of course lays bird eggs and has a nest only in folklore.]
(Yes.)= [Continue.]
That's the bat I'm talking about. I'm talking about that bat. You take that bat. Then you take three of them [3 bats] and you dry them. [For drying bats also see Nos., etc.]
(You dry them.)
Yeah. An' quite natural, if yo' wanta dry 'em, it would be better if I'm [to] dry by the sun than to dry by [stove or outdoor fire] in the heat or any- thing like that, 'cause if you dry it by the sun, that will give 'em a firmer drying.
(A what dry?)
A firmer drying.
(A firmer.)
Yeah, firmer drying, you see. But if you would go to work and get a drying by the oven, that would be a fourth of 'um [they would get only 1/4 of the sun drying]. Then that wouldn't get a good drying. All right. Then you take those three bats and you go to this place there where you wanta, that is stay. [A person preparing to move into anew, another house, should do all this, but it would be better to let a root doctor handle the situation.] Then you'll go to vort and sew that [3 dried bats] into your clothes. When you sew it in your clothes, then when the time comes for you to come into this place there to stay, chen you must go to work and take it out [of your clothes] when you get in there. Iakes it out in the middle of the floor before you puts any furniture in there. [Bere is a quincunx rite, middle or center of the floor being the fifth point githin four corners - many examples of them given in HOODOO - see etc.] Understand that? Then you would go to work and take that bat [3 dried bats] and put it down in that gallon of water, cistern water - rain water vhat I mean. {Before continuing, the preceding two words must be explained: cistern water is rain water. A cistern is a hole dug into the soil near a house to catch water from the roof gutters, a sort of large rain barrel sunk into the groumd. This glindrical hole is dug 8 or 10 or 12 feet deep, 4 feet wide, dimrensions vary- ing. The side walls and circular bottom are covered with a layer of bricks, which are plastered over to keep this sort of underground jug from leaking. Over this excavation at ground level is a wood platform with chain pump turned by hand. Rain water of course, clean water falling from the sky [formerly clean!], is a magic water. After house cisterns in cities were abandoned for city water pipes, turning on the water gave running water! There are examples of the latter in HOODOO.1 Understand that? Then you would go to work and take that bat [3 bats] and put it down in that gallon of water [previously mentioned], cistern water, rain water what I mean. Have [pail of water] standing up. Then you take that cistern water or rain water and let it set for awhile there. [This dried-bat water now becomes one of hundreds of scrubs in New Orleans.] Then you scrub that place out, clean on out [through the door and sidewalk if there is any]. And let it [house] stay for nine days, see. And you scrub that place out. Quite naturally, those bat [3 bats] would be den destroyed [broken up] through the water. When you scrub your place, your [place] out, and it would give a bad scent; but we have a - that is - a perfume that they calls the, The Stars [the label has a number of small stars, probably red, perhaps blue, on it].
(The what? The Stars? The Stars perfume?)
Perfume, yeah. The Stars perfume. Then you would take that [perfume] and throw it in the house, just throw it out. Then that will kill all scents.
(I see. I see. That's if you want to stay in this house?)
Yeah, if you wanta stay in there.
(I see. [You do this.] When you rent it.)
Entry 10609
What you can do for.... Well, you see, you goes and you gets some of this here Eve. Just say, "I want Eve root."
(Eve root?)
Eve root, a she Eve root.
(Wait a minute! She Eve root?)
Yes. Well, it's made something like a peanut. And you take that and you take the biggest one and you put it in your pocket, you take the smallest one, and you use it in your mouth; just like if you'd got an idea that someone Was to do you harm. Well, you take that piece and keep it in your mouth, inside of a small piece of paper or something like that, or either a little piece of clean rag. Then you gets you a glass of water, river water, and a glassful of any other kind of water - rain water like that. And you takes it and you sets it like that and you gets a Durham sack. [Evidently this is the small sack with draw string that had held Durham (trade name) cigarette tobacco.] You carries that Durham sack in nine waters - just like if you washed it once, in one water, you pour that out and you wash it [again 8 times]. After you strain it like that, but continue on pouring the water down in the same place until you gets it like that, about so high. And you leave it setting for nine days. After the nine days... (Wait! You have this Durham sack and you wash it in one water and then you pour this water in a container. Then you get some more water and wash it again, the second time. You wash it nine times. And all this water you save in another container.) You just keep it there.
(I see. All right.)
Until you get it later - until you get a glassful, just in the amount, that amount in nine times. Then you take that water and you puts it inside of a jar, or either a keg, you know.
(Any kind of an old can.)
Just any kind of a can.
(Oh! a can. A can, all right.)
And after that you leave it set for three or five days [odd number of days]. And after you've taken it out from there, you get some this here parchment paper. Parchment paper. And you write your name - 7 - 3 - 5 - [odd numbers] but you write it just coming. Don't write it straight across, just coming cater-corner you write it. And afterwards you take that and you get he Eve roots. Well, then, you takes it and you mash it up. And every morning you wake up, you take some of that, wash your face and head like that, all the way down - just a little on your hands. No way in the world for anybody to move you or do you any kind of harm.
(I see. Where do you get this ''he" Eve root?)
In the drug store.
(And you say it looks just like a peanut?)
Just like peanut and it's got...
(Are there any nuts inside of it?)
No, nothing. And it's just like a peanut but only it got a fine little string, just like a kind of string between there to hold it. Then it's got this she Eve root, you see. And you take this she Eve root and you just mash it up...
(Wait! The "she" [or] "he" [Eve] root? You mean a "she" Eve root?)
Yes, then you got the she Eve root. Then you take that and you keep it in your pocket. Now, look, even you could - afterwards, you could come along - after that going on, and if you cause - done want to make anybody drift. (Now, wait a minute! After you've used that "he" Eve root in this water, then yoa would carry that piece of she Eve root in your pocket. I understand nou. Now, you are going to tell me something different now, another story. All right, tell me the next one now.)
Entry 11078
Mah brothah had a wife - right chere in de city since ah come dowp heah - an' a fellah he wanted tuh be in company wid 'em all de time an' all. An' mah brothah all de time would ketch aftah 'im an' he nevah know whut dat wuz. He'd come in dere an', see a pipe an' say, "Well, lemme smoke yo' pipe," take de pipe an' light up. He so glad he kin speak tuh 'is wife, jis' take de pipe, yo' know, an' light up an' smoke see, lak yo' smokin' now. An' dat evenin' all aroun' 'is gum turned red. All de teet' started tuh git shaky, numb, jis'[start- ed to comin' out. He come home. An' so we had some-a dis witch- hazel, an' arnica, an' ah said, "Why doncha [don't you] tech [touch] some [of this medicine] all roun' dat.gum?" An' den dere come vhitehaid bumps all roun' dere. Ah said, "Boy, ah see sompin roun dere. Ah said, "Wha'da [what did] yo' do tuh git yo' teet' lak dat?" He said, "Ah out chere tuh mah wife tuh find out, an' ah smoked de pipe an' mah teet' getted [got] numb all tuh once." Ah said, "Oh yeah? Ah getcha." So ah go on dere an' ah git de pipe, see. An' ah put de pipe in cleah watah in de shade one day an' dat pipe started tuh bile. When it start tuh bile lak dat, chew know, ah dropped a grain of cookin' salt in it, see, an' den dropped a li'le ammonia in it. See, dat killin' [to kill] dis in 'is mouf [mouth] dere. Ah says tuh mah brothah, name Sam, says, "Now, Sam, ah tell yo' whatcha do. Dat pipe is fixed so it hurtcha, so all yo' teth'll drop out chure haid." An' ah say, "Now, ah tell yo' whatcha do. An' now, dontcha think dat ah wan'cha tuh pull dem teet' out." Said, "Ah'm goin' take a [something = method] tuh put 'em [teeth] back in after yo' goes back tuh yo' wife's house, now. An' yo' git - try tuh git now - try tuh kid 'er roun' an' git hole of it, " ah said, "den you'll...
(Get hold of what?)
Git - wanna git a piece of 'is clothes.
(Whose clothes?)
His wife's clothes. Now he wanted tuh turn sompin [back] an' [on]'i [the man who smoked brother's pipe]. Ah said, yo' git a piece, apron or enythin' - sompin whut he [she] weahs cross 'is [her] body part. So he went on dere an' he gits a...one dem close [clothes] pieces. Ah tell 'im take out six pieces: take out one piece in de back, one piece out dis side [demonstrates], one piece out dat side [demonstrates] an' roll 'em up tuhgethah tight. Dat goin' kill Lol fection he take out. An' he [brother] put dat an' bile it tuhgethah in oak bark [commonly used as hoodoo disinfectant]. An' dis oak bark, bile it good enough so it git strong while dem pieces wuz in dere. Dat would kill dis thing, dese germs whut he had in 'is teeth. An' he biled dat tuhgethah an' carry it tuh a cemetery. An' carried 'em out about three or fo' times. An' dem teet' goin' back jis' lak it ain't happened. Ah didn't realize dat would help, wit dat watah - dat cleah watah. An' [he] trow [threw] up all dem [germs] until ah put dem [pieces] tuh bile.
(He took this oak-bark water and rubbed it over his teeth?)
No, gargled 'em all wit it, jis' wash 'em out wit it. But aftah gittin' dese pieces out, put de clothes - see, bile dat right tuhgethah; see, jis' lak yo' bilin' rags or sompin. An' he gargle wit dat.
(But this pipe - this water you boiled the pipe in, what did you do with that?)
Ah buried dat, buried 'em in de - dis way of de world, de west. Down all de time. Dat's carryin' de disease down [with the sunset]. Ah buried dat an' ah nevah did - ah broke de pipe up. Somebody apt tuh git holt de pipe an' might have de same thing. See, lak dat, soon as ah trow [throw] dat salt down, dat same cookin' salt, dat pipe - dat watah, start boilin'. No fiah wuz dere atall. Dat pipe wuz packed wit de germs whut he had dere - my brothah - an' dat thing boilin' jis' as natural as yo' put a pot ovah de fiah. An' ah realized dat when nah gran'mothah tell me how tuh fix dat thin' an' ah fixed it. Dem thin's [germs] come right out. Now he's bettah off den ah is. He verks evah day an' jis' as lively.
Entry 11254
[Part 1:] Dere's a rule dat dey work best - if yo' take de young Doon - dere's a time when we say de [new] moon's in de bed [there is another example of this in HOODOO] a growing moon, dat's is yo' work dese different arts to grow stronger as de moon [grows]. [While machine is stopped I ask how he learned this work.] Well, yo' learn lots of it from master craftsmen - people, older time people who have been following it fo' years, done made experiment on dose things an' know de ones which will work.
(Are you from Georgia or South Carolina?)
Mah home in Georgia. (Well, were you initiated into the work or did you learn it? Is there some sort of an initiation?) Well, dere's some certain rules that yo' should follow an' shouldn't follow, some certain things that, as they say: if you play with fire, yo' git burned. That is, after yo' go so far it's some things that chew wouldn't wanta do fo' da reason dat dere certain things dat worry yo'. Yo' would have to carry a cer- tain burden dat chew wouldn't wanta carry; more so a burden den yo' would like tuh carry.
(I mean there is no initiation ceremony?)
Well it is a ceremony dat chew kin carry on when yo' fixin' tuh perform yore work; certain classes of work, dat is, whatever yo' goin' in tuh do, dat chew kin carry on a ceremony. Dat's right. (Well, now, the reason I ask is that someone said over in New Orleans, over there, that if you wanted to learn to do this kind of work, they Would go through some sort of a ceremony; initiate you and you, you know, learn your work.) Well, ah don't know anything 'bout de 'nitiation. It isn't anything about dat, but it's jest a ceremony. Yo' go through sompin jest lak yo' consecratin' yo'- self, for say, a certain thing whut chew goin' after. Dere's ways an' things as dat. Now yo' kin - yo' say yo' fast, an' yo' take a glass of water, an'yo lie down or sit up in de room wit chure arm folded to yo'self so many hours or sompin lak dat. Well, yo' kin do dat, jes' consecrate. Dat is if yo' have some particular work dat yo' care to go into.
(But you don't have anyone else working that with you?)
No, not necessariZy so. Yo' kin do de work fo' de person yo'self. (No, I mean, when you consecrate yourself, sometimes over in New Orleans when they do it - sometimes they will have a little ceremony and an altar and burn candles and things.) Well, yo' can do dat, if yo' wish tuh, yo' kin burn candles. [Waycross, Ga.,
(1086), 1756:1.]
[Part 2 of 11254: The following rite in the interview preceded the discussion in. Part 1.] A curse on dat house. Well, now, some of dose things - dis has been true. Ah know dis to be true dat yo' kin do it dis way. Put it in fo' de Lord. Well, yo' say, yo' send out dat. You say, "Well, In de Name of Jesus Christ, dat sech an' sech a thing would be. Well, dey [denl say, "In de Name of Jesus Christ, dis house, dat nobody kin stay in, an' it will not prosper." Well, yo' continue. Yo' concentrate on dat, but choo say dat, In de Name of Jesus Christ dat sech an sech a thing shall not be or shall be. All right. Well in using dat word, den about every three verses yo' use, den yo' say, "Rescue! Rescue! Rescue!" Dat's a shore shot fo' dat. Dat's very easy.
Entry 11450
Dey git chure fingernails an' yore toenails. Ah didn't hear how many yo' takes, jest so it yore fingernails an' yore toenails. Dey take dat an' dey parch it, dey go back dere an' parch 'em. Beat 'em up real fine an' put 'em in some water den an' boil 'em till dat makes - jes' makes kind of a medicine-lak out of it. Den dey'll take dat - make dis heah medicine out of it den dat's a poison-lak. Dey'll take den an' po' it - git chure hat or anything lak yo' got to wear. Lak dey be's around yo' an' dey'll po' it aroun' de rim of yore hat, an' dey puts some cologne in dis - some sweet-smelling cologne, an' put in dis, an' po' it roun' yore hat. An' dey says dat yo' smell dat, an' jest walk - dat'll run yo' crazy, give yo' a feeble mind. Jest half de time yo' won't know whut chew doin'.
(Then you get my fingernails and toenails and you put them on my hat?)
Yes, sir, anywhere dat chew git it. Put it in sompin where he [you] kin git de smell of dis, inhale dat. [St. Petersburg (lol4) 1640:2.]
Entry 11783
Graveyard dirt, salt, sulphur, needles, and green water (slime or algae) in corked-up bottle under steps will swell you up and kill you. [Wil- mington, 125:2+85.]
Entry 11972
A woman goes to the forks of a road, makes a crossmark on the ground, picks up some of the dirt, puts these with a man's hair, and buries at her home to hold him. To put him to going she stops these ingredients up into a black bottle and throws it into running water. [Memphis 1550:8.]
Entry 11975
If you stop up a person's hair with salt and pepper in a snuffbox and throw it into running water while wishing and then walk away Without looking back, you will either run the owner of the hair out of town or run him crazy. [Memphis 1545:5.]
Entry 12313
Ah learnt dat you could take dat dere wood from a tree right where de lightnin' struck, turn in an' go dere an' git chew three pieces, tree lil' small pieces. An' take three [silver] dimes made in de same yeah. Take three dimes an' dat piece of wood, an' put dem dere three pieces, an' put one dime 'neath dat piece of wood [demonstrates] an' de next dime right next tuh de next top piece of wood, an' de next dime right in de bottom in de jar. An' take it tuh de watah an' throw it in de watah, an' says, Ah hope yo' come back tuh me, In Name of de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost, come back. Let it go in de watah. Yo' see, yo' throw dat jar an' hit'll go so fur downstream, an' dat jar will turn roun' an' come back an' go in de bank where nobody will git dere han's on it. Dat jar will come back. Or eithah yo' kin take it lak dis: Yo' kin take a brick an' put it in dat jar wit dat, dat money an' dat piece of wood from de lightnin'-struck tree, an' it will stay down undah de watah three days. Dat's de best, it will stay undah de watah three days. Well, when dem three days out, she's back tuh yo'.
(This is bringing somebody back?)
Dat's right.
(Where do you get these dimes - get them out of your own pocket?)
Yeah, jes' go down an' try tuh git de dimes made in de same yeah.
Entry 13023
Boil silver dime and drink in water or milk for body-ailment by cunjure. [Wilmington 189:10+85.]
Entry 13028
For trick or cunjure, drink 3 times daily a tea made with rainwater and following ingredients: filed dime or quarter, black pepper, salt and vine- gar, followed by a dose of Epsom salts. [Vicksburg 1013:6.]
Entry 13034
As a prevention of or cure for cunjure boil 5 silver dimes and drink the water, and wear bluestone in both shoes. [Wilmington 113:6+85.]
Entry 13161
Get 'em some gun powder an' some black pepper, an' put in dat sock. an' get 'em some salt, an' tie dat sock 3 different knots, an' turn dat sock bottom upwards in runnin' water, an' yo' goin' go crazy. They don't take but one [sock] to kill you. [Vicksburg 1004:7.]
Entry 262
Yo' take de black cat - ya' ketch him alive an' takes a crocus bag an' yo' puts him in it.
(What kind of bag?) Crocus sack - dey call it crocus bag in de North - sacks. (What do you put in that sack?)
Put de black cat in it after yo' ketch it. An' den yo' puts chure water on, see, an' yo' has yore water boilin' an' yo' put dis perfume - dere's a perfume dat chew git fer it - it's all in de book [hoodoo manual or catalogue]. Yo' drops seven drops in dere with that water jes' lak if yo' making anything an' put that in there to color it. An' yo' drop that cat in there an' all de meat will boil off dem bones until it gits to dat bone. When it gits to dat bone, dat bone gon'a whine, an' when dat bone whines, dat's de bone to git.
(That bone will what?)
Whine lak a cat.
Entry 263
You go in front of a fireplace and take all your clothes off and take a black cat and put him in a pot of boiling hot water, alive, and turn around three times in front of the fireplace, then take the cat and the hot water and carry him down to a stream and pour him in this running stream water. Then you've sold yourself tc the devil.
Entry 328
Well, ah've heard of de black cat. Yo' take dat black cat - ah've heard of dis. Yo' take him whilst he's 'live, take him an' boil him. Ketch him an' put him in hot watah an' boil him. An' yo' take dat watah an' let it cook down an' yo' take an' mix it wit sugah an' oil of bergamot an' oil of cinnamon. Aftah yo' git dat lucky bone - ah'll tell yo' dis first. Yo' take that an' have yo' a pan of watah, aftah yo boil him all tuh pieces. Den yo' take an' put it all in dat watah an' dat lucky bone will stay on top an' de others will go to de bottom. Yo' take dat bone out an' den yo' kin go by polices or anybody else. Yo' take that black cat bone an put it ovah yore do', up ovah yore do', or either undah yore step: De polices ain't comin' no further den dat. Dat's de way yo' got'a git dat bone.
(After you boiled that black cat, what do you do?)
Take an' mop yo' flo' with it [demonstrates while I comment]. (After you put that black cat bone over your door, then you use this black cat water and this oil of bergamot, that's to mop with.) With the sugah an' the concentrated lye. Put a teaspoonful dat concentrated lye in dat watah an' yo' mop yore po'ch early in de mawnin' befo' sunup. Dat keeps de police away an' draws de luck to yore house. [This is one of many ways to bring in customers - see Scrubbing and Mopping in Index.]
Entry 498
My mother was rode by a witch. I used to sleep in the next room from her. When a witch rides you you can't talk, you holler, you just make a b-o-o-m sound. Then you know something is wrong. My mother started to making that fuss and I called and asked her what was the matter with her. And she said a witch was riding her. So I told her the next time a witch got after her I was going to catch whoever it was. They say you take a sifter, a bottle of water and a broom. You put it down at the bottom of the [door] steps. The witch has to count all those holes in the sifter, all those straws in the broom, and if day- break catches him he goes in the bottle of water and you stop him up, and you find out who was riding you. The person will come to you and beg you to turn them out of that bottle.
Entry 513
wäl, ah take a horseshoe and wets it - ah dips it in salt water an' ah place dat ovah mah door and each night ah say, "Lord, ah wish dis hag would nevah ride any mo' and ah be jest [left alone]."
Entry 705
Yo' take graveyard dirt - go git de dirt off a sinner's grave an' git it right off his heart lak dat, an' take red peppah an' sulphah an' bread salt, an' put all those togethah an' sew that up into red flannel an' lay it away in de yard, in de east corner of de yard. [This is a hand.] Dat will do de work fo' dat. Dat will kill 'em or run 'em away, either one. Or dey kin take, if yo' hurt, an' dat.will cure it. Take that an' make a tea out of it an' let 'em drink that, an' that will cure 'em. (Anybody that has been tricked, you mean - cunjured? You take all this and make a tea out of it? You take the graveyard dirt - everything?) Yes, make a tea of it. If yo' got things in yore well, that will kill 'em.
(You use that to kill live things in the water in the well?)
Yes, jes' lak dey wus in mah well. Ah come home back to mah house. An' mah well, I jes' had it clean out an' dere wus Wigglers [in it again]. Ever' wiggler dere wus dat long - big as mah fingah an' jes' as thick in de watah, jes' as thick as dey could be. Yo' could heah 'em poppin' jes' lak dat - clak-clak. An yo' couldn't even see 'em. An' dat wus tuh kill me.
(Someone put them in there?)
Yeah, a doctor put 'em in dere tuh kill me.
(Did he put the live ones in?)
Yeah, he put 'em in dere an' dey come alive. He put de dust in dere an' dey come alive. But ah have sense enough to know how tuh kill dem.
(What did you do?)
Ah went an' got dat same dust whut yo' heah me talkin' 'bout from de graveyard offen a sinner's grave. An' ah come back dere an' ah put dat sulphah an' dat red peppah togethah an' tied it up in a new piece of cloth an' ah dropped it down in de bottom of dat well. Dey wus daid in two hours.
(That killed them out?)
Yeah, dat killed 'em.
Entry 826
You take nine pins an' fold 'em a certain way an' stick 'em in a piece of papah - I knew a girl, the reason I [know this]. I know a girl gota hold a girl's han'writin' one time. Dey wus arguin' about a fellah. This woman took this han'writin' an' these nine pins an' pinned them all roun' togethah. (How did she pin that around?) She pinned them somepin like a coffin.
(On this piece of paper?)
Yeah. She pinned dem pins all around like a coffin. An' she told her child to throw this in de river - in runnin' watah. This girl didn't live ovah three or four months afterward. Now, dat's cruel. She couldn't been jis' gon'a die anyhow. But that's whut happened [1926 in Richmond]. ["383 - woman about 50 - bootlegger" - Numbers Book 340-442.]
Entry 831
Once ah had a very bad headache. Mah head hurt so bad until ah couldn't hardly see - had to put mah feet into warm water to bathe 'em and at de same time bathe mah head down, too. So ah went to a hoodoo doctor and ask him what's de trouble, and he look at mah head and said a piece of hair had been cut out of mah head and buried around de house, and if a storm come early an' wash it away it would help me, but if it didn't ah would go crazy.
(What happened - how did the story turn out?)
Ah tell yo' how de story turned out. Ah was a missionary - ah was going to a missionary meeting, and whilst ah was waiting fo' de people to get ready - ah was at a preacher's house an' whilst setting there ah could feel that headache coming on. I said - I grabbed both hands, I say, "Ooh, mah haid hurts so bad ah believe ah'm going have one dem terrible headaches. So de preacher asked me, said, "Do yo' believe in prayer." I say, "Yes sir." So he came an' he put his hand on de top of mah haid and he said, "Now, yo' pray whilst ah prays." An' he prayed secretly, and ah could feel that misery jest easily goin' away - jest easily goin' away. And after it had gone, seemed like ah had been off in a dream, an' ah never did have that headache again.
(Where did this experience happen - right here in Mobile?)
Yes sir.
(Just a few years ago?)
Yes.
Entry 882
(Yes, go ahead.)
In the little town where I was born, you know there was a lotta people there that believed in hoodooism. (I see - and will you talk slow, please.) There were a lotta people and they believe in hoodooism. There was a man, he was - before he married - he was courtin' another lady, and after he married why he still Sweethearted with her. And he moved next door to her when he married. And he took care of his wife and bought her everything that she needed as far as he was able, and his sweetheart envied her, envied his wife because he neglected her mostly altogether. And she tried a certain some way of getting rid of his wife, and she - she sought around, she found out that it was a man in another county that she could go to him and have this lady fixed to get rid of her. And she went - she caught the train one evening and went to this man. It was a man. She went to the man and when the man saw her coming, he told her to come in - he knew what her business was there. (Where did this man live that she went to see? What town did he live in, or near what town?) He lived in New Orleans.
(And where was this town that you were born in?)
Taylor.
(Where?)
Taylor.
(Where is that?)
It's in Mississippi.
(Taylor - how do you spell it?)
Cary.
(All right - go ahead.)
And after she went there, he told her what she - he knew what she came for. And so she explained everything to him. So he gave her a little bottle about fo' inches tall with some kind of a liquid in it - it was a little green bottle with some kind of liquid in it. And he told her, like if - when she come back to bury it under her [wife's] steps. And she came back with it one dark night and took and buried it under the steps. And the next day the lady came out, you see, to go to the store to [buy] some- thing for breakfast. And when she came out, she came down the steps, and as she came down the steps, why something caught her - a pain caught her in the leg and drew her legs up and she couldn't walk. A man came along and he called another lady and he helped put her in the bed. And she was getting worse and worse, look like it would kill her and so her husband thought he would get, you know, consult diff'rent physicians and he couldn't never get any cure for her. So one day, he was long and sad, looking for someone and he met a man, and the man told him that he knew his troubles, and then asked him how long his wife had been sick. And he said about two months. And so he said he could cure his wife. So the man went on back to his house and told him - when he got to the steps he told him to bring him a spade. He brought him a spade and he dug up that little green bottle. The man what he met was a hoodoo himself, and he dug up the bottle and carried it to some running water and threw the - opened the bottle and threw the liquid into the stream, and threw the bottle into the stream, too, both of then, and didn't even look back and went on back to the house and he asked the lady how did she feel, and she said she was feeling better all at once. And so he made up some kind of a mixture of herbs and rubbed her up with it - rubbed her with it, and fixed some stuff in a bottle and told her to put it under the pillow and let it stay under there for about three days. And then after he'd taken it from under her pillow, well, he'd taken and diggin' in the front yard, you know, puts it and buries it in the front yard in front of the gate - opposite the gate, and buried it deep enough so that no one could dig it up or nothing could dig it up. And after he done that, why - after the three days he did as the man told him, and then the lady was getting along fine. And after she was getting along fine, the lady what tried to kill her came - you know, began to visit her. And she seen that she was getting better and when she'd get there; she came in one evening to see her. The lady Was getting along, around the house doing her work, and she was sitting up in the bed. That lady brought some fish, and she ate that fish and why hit kilt her.
(It killed her? They killed the wife, you mean?)
Yes, sir.
(That killed the wife?)
Yes, sir. (What do you mean about the three days - I didn't understand - you said some- thing about three days?) Yeah, he told her for to let that - he fixed some - a little old bottle of medicine - I don't know exactly what all the ingredients was, but he told her to put it under her pillow - under the lady's pillow and let it stay under three day and then take it out and dig a deep hole in the ground and bury it deep enough so that nothing could dig it up.
(He left it under the pillow for three days?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 1002
De ole people say if yo' have hemorrhage - yo' know whut a hemorrhage is - well, yo' take dat blood an' put hit in a bottle an' stop it up an' throw dat in runnin' watah an' don't look back. Dey say dat will stop de hemorrhage. [Fayetteville, N. Car., (1397), 2516:7.] [The magic rite of confinement - as in drawing a circle - is also involved in the two preceding rites.]
Entry 1054
Really, de fac' 'bout it suh, yo' kin take a piece of new cloth an' yo' kin put it into a glass of watah an' let it wet good - dat is soak good an' den open it out. Yo' kin take a penny an' put on dat new cloth an' blow yore breath through it three times dat is a penny. Sew it up an' put it roun' yore neck or anywheres roun' yore waist, an' dere's no harm dat dey kin do to yo'.
(They can't put anything down for you to walk over or anything of that sort?)
Not a bit in de world. [For penny in cures, see next subsection and Index.]
Entry 1147
Well, there's a little willow that grows about that big [demonstrates height] and it spreads all out - it's called button willow. [Cephalanthus occidentalis L. Probably button bush - unrelated to true willows.] (It grows about four or five feet tall?) That's all.
(Grows by the river? Water?)
Yes, sir, many thousands of 'em - look white - looks like a stone mountain flower when you off a distance - only this one is white. But when you get to it, ain't nothing to it - it ain't no flower. You take that and you get two or three limbs and break it up - small enough to get it into a vessel and boil it in a gallon of water down to a half gallon of water. And you kin take that and get you some grain alcohol and put you - well in that quart of water you put in about a half of a half pint and you sweeten it. You take a half of a half of a pint of grain alcohol, you understand, and you pour that into that half a gallon of button-willow water that you boil down, and then you sweeten it. And then you put you about - well, somewhere around about two tablespoonsful of sweet spirits of niter into that, and you let her take a tablespoonful of it about every three and a half hours. And them chills is going to leave her. Same thing with the typhoid fever. Hit'll sweat her and hit'll work her just the same as any other kind of medicine or purgative medicine that you kin give her - something like them - pills or calomel or something like that. Hit'll clean her system up ~ do away with those chills - yes, sir.
Entry 1239
I had a mother, she wus poison. Somebody took her hair. The fellah that come to cure her said they put it in a bottle, a cologne bottle, put it in some runnin' water - that cause her min' wus goin'. He didn't zackly make her, you know, straight; but he told 'er whut wus ailin' her. He told er to git up every night jis' befo' mid- night, she wus livin' in de country, an' walk to the fork of the road. She do that fo' five or six night. I don't know zackly how many nights that he told 'er, but I know he told 'er go to de fork of a road. He told 'er take some dirt from under her front steps an' wear it aroun' her head as a poultice. He said that would help 'er. It helped a lot.
Entry 1458
Now, if - when yo' wanta be lucky an' stay lucky so yo' kin jest - yo' know, thrive an' have prosperity, yo' jest git chew a nickel worth of saltpeter an' take a tablespoonful of that an' put into yore water, five quarts of water an' take a tablespoonful of table salt an' mix with that an' let it boil down. An' after yo' git dat five guarts of water, yo' heat it. Whenever it start tuh, look like it gon'a boil, yo' jest stir this salt an' brimstone together an' then when yo' begin tuh lie down, yo' take yore bath wit it. An' when yo' take yore bath with it, yo' save dat water an' throw it east. An' every time yo' throw yo' explain lak dis - say, "Lord, moves thine evil influence." An' that [is called] putting de enemies under yore feet.
Entry 1459
The best thing you do, when you go out in the morning, if you got - before you leave your home, if you feel that such as that is carrying on around you, you take such an ordinary thing as - take salt, black pepper and mix that together in a bottle, and scrub your place out. Don't scrub it inward, see. Always scrub out from your place. And with that water you mix salt and black pepper and scrub every morning before the sun rise. Make that a habitual habit to scrub in the morning before the sun rise - every morning scrub out your door before the sun rise, and that will give you a natural protection against anything that's evil. Somebody's put something against you, down for you, that will give you protection against that. [Many scrubbing rites for protection are also given under subsection Business and Customers.]
Entry 1500
Take de ole shoes an' burn 'em for de backache - burm 'em to ashes and put 'em in a bottle an' put watah on 'em an' drink de watah off dem fo' de back- ache.
Entry 1536
I fell in my flower garden an' they taken me in de house an' by that night I couldn't walk on one of my legs an' I didn't seem to be sick any at all before. An' that night dere came some little black pimples, pizen places on it, three of 'em on my leg. An' another woman come dere an' tole 'em in de house whut to fix for me to cure it. She tole me to get a tablespoonful of salt an' a tablespoonful of sulphur an' three dimes an' ten cent worth of Brown Mule Tobacco, an' boil that together an' bathe in it. Take de tobacco when it get cool enough, that wus in it, an' jis bathe my leg from my hip on down and from my feet on out (see pp.369-377) fer three times. You bathe in de same water three times - you bathe tonight, well jis' sit it aside an' de next night heat de same thing up an' bathe in that the second time, [and] de third time do de same thing the nex' night. That's fer three nights. An' de las' night at twelve o'clock throw it - take de dimes out an' throw dis stuff, cup an' all in de middle of de street an' tell it, "From de devil you come from an' de devil you go back." That's whut they tole me to say an' so I did that. [To "take de dimes out" of the bathwater before throwing it into the street is unusual - cf. No. 997, p.384 and No. 1552, p.491 - but "de devil" may make this a rite of turning back spell on culprit rather than a rite of transference to a stranger.] Then I got nine dimes an' boiled them from a quart to a pint an' then drink de water off that. Made two drinks out of it, choo know - drink one half one time an' the other half another time. An' before I did that, the first thing they gave me was a pint of milk. I drank that, sweet milk.
Entry 1570
Yo' take sulphur an' black gunshell powder an' yo' put dem in a bottle, a pint bottle of watah, an' drink dat watah till yo' draw dat up. If dere snakes or anything live into you, take dat gunpowder an' kill all of it.
Entry 1591
Go to the woods and get yourself some turpentine and get you some bark from a walnut tree. Take this turpentine and bark and put it in water and let it boil for ten minutes. Take this water and throw it over your left shoulder. When you get through with that take two teaspoonfuls in your body. And that will keep evils and all hoodoos away from you. Another thing, if you find a bottle underneath your door and don't know what's in it, never touch it, but go to the woods and get some turpentine [raw sap from turpentine tree - several pines] and some walnut tree bark and sprinkle it over that bottle first. Then you move it and you won't be cunjured. That's the best thing I know for cunjures.
Entry 1862
If a woman got a runnin'-'bout spell, you go to work an' wash your feet of a nights from your toe back to de hollow of your left foot - it don't make no diff'rence if's right or de left. Take de same water dat you wash de feet in, take it an' pour back into another bucket, an' let her drink a swallow or two dat water for nine mornin's. Dat'll take de runnin'-'bout spells off of her. [Cf. Bathwater, p.522f.]
Entry 1955
Well now, a lady got my hair one time and she stopped it up in a bottle and she buried it. So it almost run me crazy but I went to a man. He made her bring de hair back. She'd brought it face to face and give it to me and told me why she did it, because she thought I had nothing to do but sit on de porch and read papers and I was in better circumstances den her. So dis man asked me what did I want done with her. I say, "Well, tain't worth while to kill her, but jest send her away from Portsmouth." I was living in Portsmouth. Well, he sent her away and he wasn't nine days sending 'er either. He just got three pinches - jest like that - pinches of dirt and sewed it up.
(Was this out of her left track? Tell me just what he did in this case.)
He got three pinches of dirt out of her left track, right in the hollow of her foot and put it - made a little cloth bag and put that in there and sewed it up and had taken it to running water and made three wishes and threw it overboard. She went away from dere. [Norfolk, Va., (486), 514:8.] [To show that my comment did not suggest a left-track rite to informant, I will now quote the left-track rite given by informant two rites preceding present one.] Get the dirt out of the left foot, three pinches, and put that in a cloth rag you know and sew it up. And take it to running water and throw it overboard and make three wishes before you do it. And when you make them three wishes - they gone from here. An' I know that to be true.
(You make the wishes just for them to leave?)
Yeah.
(You mean just to leave town or to die?)
To leave, to die - either one. You make de wishes - if you want 'em just leave town, make it dat way; and if you want 'em to die, you make it dat way. [Norfolk, Va., (486), 514:6.] [Both these original transcriptions - 514:6 & 514:8 - are part of the final manuscript.]
Entry 1962
I was away in Baltimore [Maryland] one time and so a friend of mine - we wag workin' on a job, de foreman he fired us - and he said to me, 'Let's go down in Spring Street." I said, "What for?" He said, "Let's go down 'ere to a woman." I said, "What a you goin' down 'ere for?" He said, "Man," he said, "we can go down 'ere and git us somepin," he says, "you can git work agin." I said, "Man, no!" 'Yes you kin, too." So I went down 'ere with him on a Friday night. We walked in. She says, "You don't live here," she says, "You come across de Waters [Cheasapeake Bay], didn't chah?" Says, "You got but very little money. She told us what happened the day before, gettin' fired. So she says, "Well, I'll give you somepin now jis' fer a dollar, jis' because you're fired," she say, "and you ain't got no money but very little." And she gave him somepin look like a dust. She told him to sprinkle that in his shoes of mornings before he touched a drop of water. Told him three words to say.
(What were those?)
"Father and Son and Holy Ghost." I believe that's what he was supposed to say when he sprinklin' that. And even so, after he did that [next] mornin', it was re'lly a surprise to me. We both went back, we goes right back de next mornin', and before we got about a hundred yards of de job the man come oudt, commence to wavin' fer us. I said to him, I said, "Johnnie," I says, "he don't want us, because we got fired here yes- terday." And we keep on walkin' up to him and he walked up to us and said, "Does you want to go to work?" We told him, "Yes." So we went to work dere and stayed on de job until de job was complete.
Entry 2259
Tuh keep de [bill] collector - tuh keep him away from yore do' [some indistinct words].
(You take river water?)
Yo' kin take it but yo' gotta git that watah an' keep it from one yeah to anothah. Yo' gotta git it on de 24th day of June [St. John the Baptist's Day]. Dat's whut chew call St. John watah an' yo' put it in yore bottle an' yo' keep de haid turn up an' yo' collector or yore landlord neither ain't goin' worry yo' too much. Ain't nobody goin' break up yore business. The laws won't come around or anything. The laws won't bother yo'.
(You just take water out of the river.)
Yo' git de clear watah out de rivah wit chure prayers. Yo' gotta pray - any prayer. Our Father - dat's de Lord's Prayer.
(That's St. John's water?)
St. John water an' yo' call him fo' protection an' he'll protect yo'.
(You just have the head of that bottle pointed out the door?)
Out de do' - dat keep 'em off. If he comin' - yo' jis' take dat bottle when yo' think yore landlord's comin' or yore enemies is comin', yo' take yore bottle an' yo' roll it. Yo' roll it wit chure feet - an' den roll it right back where it come from at de do'. [This is one of several magic rolling rites confined to the New Orleans area - rolling a bottle, a candle, a coconut, anything (see Rolling in Index).] [St. John's water is also a health measure, like May water (No. 986, p.381 and Index), and consequently a protection from evil. In Teutonic folklore St. John's fire was lighted on the night of June 24 to ward off sickness and misfortune for the coming year. The preceding evening of June 23 - Saint John's Eve or Mid- summer Eve - was the beginning of various rites.]
Entry 2334
Yo' use dat same thing, no mo' den yo' use but three. De mawnin' befo' yo' leave fo' yore trial, yo' bu'st three of dem bottles of watah, an' yo' have in dat watah sulphur an' it's a white lead; dat's whut chew has in dat watah, an' yo' bu'st dem in de house jes' lak yo' did de othah one.
(You put three bottles on the fire and burst one each - one each day?)
De same mawnin' - all three of 'em de same mawnin'.
Entry 2423
I had a woman one time give me bluestone to put in the watah to wash up mah house. That make luck in the house, that help you build up trade in the house. I was sellin' liquor. [Bluestone is usually used in a combination of ingredients.]
Entry 2426
Law bothering you, keep sugar and cinnamon around your house - just take and sprinkle it all around. Mix sugar, cinnamon and water and just get up and pour it right on out, the sugar and the cinnamon.
(What will that do?)
And pour it on out - dash it on out.
(That'll keep the law away?)
It keep them from coming to your place to bother you in any way. If they bother you too much, you get you a old broom and you take and you cut the straws all loose - them strings, you know that hold the broom together. Well, you take and you cut them loose. And get you a box of salt and sprinkle that whole box of salt down in there and wrap a white rag around it and set it behind the door. The law won't bother you at all.
(How do you set that broom down?)
Set the handle down and the straw part up.
Entry 2575
Then you scrub your place. But you go to, say to a drug store, and the first thing you get - there's something that is commonly used that everybody know but very few use it. You see, the thing that we use is peroxide - that regular form of peroxide. Well, when it be's in a powder first from the salt [oxide], you take you a teaspoonful of peroxide in a bucket of water. You take a half tablespoonful of salt and a whole tablespoonful of sugar. [Three ingredients.] Mix that and dissolve it good and scrub all your place. But sweep inside - don't never sweep nothing out chure door. But get fresh water. Don't get no water that is - try to catch water that's rain water, don't get no water from the hydrant. Get you fresh rain water in that bucket and at night you scrub that place. Scrub it at night, don't scrub it in the day. Scrub it after sundown and scrub it inward in your building and sweep that water right on back through your building. And then if you got any mop, mop up after that dry. Then clear out your place, mop up - sweep with any other water you Wanta after that. But scrub that over and let that dry in your building. You take just a half a tablespoonful of salt and a tablespoonful of sugar and a half a teaspoonful of ordinary peroxide that you use from the drug store on the sore. And scrub in your building - not out chure building, in your building. That's the way you increase your business.
Entry 2591
(So nobody will rent this house?)
Well, now, see tuh do that yo' use salt, ordinary table salt. Yo' know whut Epsom salts is, doesn't yo'? Well, yo' mix that together yo' see an' boil that jis' about two hours into jis' 'bout a quart of watah don't chew know. An' if yo' could git there, why yo'd sprinkle that jis' right aroun' the do'step, don't yo' see - jis' throw it roun' ord'nary, yo' understand.
(What do you put that on the steps for?)
Well, yo' said, "If yo' wanted git 'em 'way." Didn't that whut yo' said?
(Who away?)
The owner of the place.
(You mean that's to keep the landlord away?)
Yeah - keep de landlord away.
Entry 2610
Yo' have dat salt watah in heah, an' they come to their house an' they go out, well, they'll take that broom an' dip it in that salt watah an' jes' sweep it right out behin' 'em jes' lak dat.
(That keeps them away?)
Yes.
Entry 2648
I had a saloon and there is another fellow had a saloon, and he was doing more business than I was and I want the business to come to my place. All right. I go get me some water, some perfume called lucky, lucky perfume you know, and I take some clear water and I put it in a bottle and I shake it up. [Water will make the perfume spread farther.] I do this 'fore day in the morning 'fore anybody sees me doing what I got to do. I go to this place that is in the same block my place is. I go to the corner, see, and I come back and when I get before his door I sprinkle. I go to my place of business and go inside and sprinkle. And I take and go to the next corner, not the same corner, and I sprinkle - behind my back, never look behind, and I sprinkle all along that street. And I go to my place and I go in again. And I go back to that [first] corner, the same corner that is left [left from my door], understand, and sprinkle the same way. Sprinkle before his door and go in my place and come out, see. Then I go to the next [second or right] corner. Do that three times you see, each way. [Informant on coming out his front door turns left and walks past competitor's house to first or left corner (= crossroad of city streets). Here he starts to sprinkle his watered down lucky perfume, turns back home, sprinkling past compet- itor's house and into his own home. Immediately leaving home again, he turns and walks right to the second or right corner (= crossroad of city streets). Here he starts to sprinkle his lucky perfume, turns back, again sprinkling into his own home. This sprinkling from the two corners into his own home is repeated three times. We must assume the cork in the bottle has a small hole through which the liquid slowly drips; the word sprinkle being somewhat generous.] After that, I go in my place and I take some sugar and I sprinkle it on my floor, some plain white granulated sugar. I take some sawdust and I put it over that stuff and I go and I get me this lump incense, see. Can I stand up and show you how I come? [I must have nodded yes.] See, I get some lump incense and I burn it. I burn it, take a lamp, light it and burn, put it in a saucer, this lump incense. Then I take my clothes and smoke my clothes, understand. And after I smoke my clothes, I make my wish [demonstrates].
(You fold your hands across your breast.)
Yes sir, and make my wishes. I make my wish and I be saying, "Lord, I hope I be lucky enough to be successful in all my enemies and all my income." I say that three times. And after that I take my pants this Way and I get my pants smoked good with that incense, open it up this way and let the smoke go up - smoke up my pants leg. Then I turn round and I open my door, after that smoke is got settled in my house. While it is burning in my house, there is nobody in the house but myself. While the incense is burning, if it sparks like a match throw sparks, you know what I mean, well, that will tell that's luck. And if the smoke spreads, that's luck; if the smoke goes straight up, the incense ain't much good to you. After you do that, you put that behind your counter - put that in- cense behind the counter. And you have sprinkled the sugar already. Then you open the door. Then you can talk. You cannot talk while you are doing your business, no sir. (Now when you first make the smoke, you have to take off your pants, then you put them back on - the first time?) Yes sir. [Perhaps I should say, informant did not take off pants during demonstration.]
Entry 2826
(What would they do if they got my photograph?)
Well, your photograph - this here - of course they don't use those tintypes no more. But you could take your photograph like that. You could take a candle. Just like if you want to do evil, well you could take a black candle; if you want peace or love, well you take a blue or green candle. You take that candle and you take a pin, start from the top and you write her name coming down, all the way around, coming down until you get to the bottom. [Demonstrates.] (You write her name right around it with this pin. You scratch her name on that candle right down like a barber's pole, down to the bottom.) Yeah. Then after you get it [written], you get a little small can - get a little small can like that and you put it, the candle down in that.
(What color candle are you using now?)
Using a green one.
(A green one. All right.)
And you take it and you put it down in there - just about a half of that cup- ful of water. [Water is in the can.] You taken her picture - don't put it where it could catch afire, but set it over that and you light that candle. Well, that candle will burn. Just like you set it at nine - that's if you want her to be on a grief about you - you set that candle at nine and you take it off at twelve. Put that candle out. But whilst you got that candle burning, you have her photo- graph turned down right over that.
(Now wait a minute. That photograph is in front of the can? Outside?)
Yes, just set it over there where it wouldn't catch fire from the heat from the candle.
(Wait a minute. The photo isn't over the can?)
No.
(It's leaning against the can?)
Leaning toward the candle [but against can].
(And her picture is upside down?)
That's right.
(All right.)
Then you take it.
(You light it at nine in the morning and nine at night?)
Nine in the morning and at twelve o'clock in the day you take it out. And you light it at nine o'clock [in the morning] and at twelve o'clock, you puts it out.
(All right. Then what?)
That puts her on a grief. Then you change that picture. Every morning you do that for three morning - three nines and three twelves. See.
(How do you mean, you change that picture?)
Just like if you got it turned bottom upwards, then you take that picture anc turn in crossways.
(Sideways?)
Just like that. Yes.
(Each day.)
Yeah, first nine [in the morning] you have it bottom upwards, second nine you got it crossways, and three [third] nine you got it straight up again.
(Head down?)
Yes.
(Every day you turn that picture a different way in front of the can?)
In front of the candle.
(You turn it three times because you are burning it three days?)
Three days.
(All right. Go ahead.)
Then afterwards you take it out. After you take the three days out, well you take this picture every day at twelve o'clock for seven days at twelve o'clock. You read the prayers - just like you take the morning prayers, see, of Moses - the prayer of - any kind of prayer - "The Lord be our Shepherd" - and well then, you read that prayer every day at twelve o'clock.
(Is this before you put the candle out or after you put the candle out?)
No, you hain't got the candle burning a'tall, then. You just reading to that picture - you just praying to.
(At twelve o'clock after you put the candle out?)
Yes. Then, regardless of where that woman at, she is worried - she's worried, she coming back to you.
Entry 2901
If yore loved one gone, yore man or yore husban' or whosomevah an' yo' want him back. Yo' git chew nine pink candles. First git chure parchment papah, yo' know dat white parchment papah, an' yo' write his name nine times on dis papah an' git chew nine wax candle. Dey say wax. Ah tried dat mahself. Whut ah'm tellin' yo' ah did dat mahself. So ah knows. An' set de candle on dis table an' every candle yo' sets, yo' moves it up a little. Yo' jis' move it up jisa speck. [This is the magic rite of diminishing distance similar to diminishing time, quantity, etc.]
(The first one you put down at the bottom of the paper?)
Yeah. Yo' see, yo' put it lak dat [demonstrates]. "Dat's de name, see - right there. See, dat's de name. Now, yo' done burned that one [candle], see. Now yo' moves it [next candle] up agin. [These candles are successively moved nearer to you.] Sometime it won't set if yo' put it at de end. Sometime yo' have tuh put it right direct in de center. [This candle in the center of a sheet of paper makes the magic quincunx - see No. 2799, p.802.] See, right in de center, fo' it tuh hold, cause sometime it'll creel ovah [probably means keel over]; but now when yo' light de candle, Wash it - yo' wash yore candle first. But chah turn it bottom upward so dat de wick won't git wet, an' yo' wash it off wit clean watah - jis' let de watah drip off it, lak that. Den yo' light chure candle. An' then yo' git that incense temple [temple incense] - dat goes wit dem can- dles. Yo' burn dat. Yo' put a little dribble - well, say it's a dram in anothah saucer. Den yo' put de candle ovah in dis saucer an' yo' burn dat light. See, dat makes de smoke dat goes with dis name an' dis candle. Now, sometime in burnin' dis candle it'll bring back 'fore nine days. An' he'll come unexpected. Yo' [when he appears at the door] gotta rush back an' pinch it out. Don't blow it out. Yo'll have tuh wet chure fingers an' pinch de light out. An' burn it in a tub lak a zinc, cause yo' know candles is somepin dat ketch fiah sometime when it fall ovah. An' yo' put it [candle saucer and perhaps incense saucer] in a tub an' yo' burn it in yore private room where yo' sleep. Dat means in yore bedroom - not in yore front [room], neight [right] in yore back [room]; neither in de sides [hall or side room if any]. Yo' gotta burn it right where yo' sleeps in yore bedroom tuh bring back yore loved one. It gotta be right dere where yo' at.
Entry 3143
If de man have a date wit dis woman. Now, yo' know she make a connec- tion wit 'im. Well, when dey git through, she don' have tuh if she don' want tuh. When dey git through den, she take dis new pocket han'ch'ef an' wipe 'im wit it chew know, an' take an' cut off de wettest part of dis pocket han'ch'ef, an' put it in a bottle an' stop it up, an' go throw it in runnin' watah an'dat'll kill a person.
(Klll him?)
Yes sir, dat would kill 'im. Well, nobody would wanta do dat.
Entry 3191
If a man wants tuh have a woman undah 'is jurisdiction fo' his life- time! He jes' - when yo' go an' mate wit dat woman an' take whut chey vdpe wit, yo' see. An' when yo' take it - dat whut yo' wipe wit, wit a clean pocket han'-scuff dat nevah been stained - yo' dry off wit dat, yo' see. An' when yo' dry off wit dat, yo' kin take dat an' take a little watah, yo' see, an' wet it, an' jes' drain dat into a little whiskey. Den give dat to her, den yo' can't git rid of 'er. It take death tuh part chew den. Yo' might git tired of 'er an' wanta quit 'er, but she goin' plague yo'.
Entry 3205
They go to the buryin' groun' w'ere the grave is sunken an' dig about six inches down in there an' git some of dat dirt. An' they claim dat they mix dat up with it [semen] an' it'll either run you out of town or will stop you [make you impotent]. Stop lt up. An' can't no- body le' choo loose until somebody break the bottle an' throw it in runnin' water.
Entry 3244
Dere is de roots of de 'simmon tree. Yo' go out dere an' yo' git de roots offa dat. [A rooster began to: crow. I must have put up my hand asking for silence, be- cause informant inquires:] Suh?
(That rooster is crowing in the daytime. Means change in weather doesn't it?)
[I did not ask him what it meant because I was not collecting folklore uncon- nected with spirits or magic rites.] Yes.
[We continue.]
(Get that root of the persimmon tree?)
Yessuh.
(Any place?)
From dis side [demonstrates]. Always gits it from dis side, from de sundown side. An' in de mawnin' yo' git it from sunrise, see. An' yo' take dat off dere den an' yo' carry it back home an' yo' boils it - yo' make a tea out of it. When yo' make de tea out of it, den yo' kin put dat, chew know, into a bathe fo' a woman tuh bathe. Put jes' some in de watah in case she wants - she goin' wit chew [her husband] sompin. An' jes' a little teaspoonful of alum an' dat will make her close up - see, jes' draw up. An' he swears she won' have no- body but 'im. He swears nobody go dere but 'im. (You say if she takes a douche with this bath water, with this persimmon root boiled in it, it makes her close up?) Close up, an' a little piece of alum.
(And who would do this? The woman does that to herself?)
To herself, whut she do it fo'. An' when he go dere he swear she ain't messin' wit nobody but 'im. He ain't nuthin but a fool about it. She jes' ain't goin worry 'im 'bout it. An' she kin mess wit, have a hunderd diff'ren mens; but she nevah git it - close right down. An' he go right behin' dem an' swear she ain't nevah have no one.
(She is having those men. It would be too open if her husband [unexpectedly]
came around. She uses that and she closed it back up again. And he won't think anybody has been there.) Dat's right. [THE THEORY OF MAGIC HERE IS: A ROOT FROM THE SUNRISE SIDE OF THE TREE OPENS; FROM THE SUNSET SIDE, CLOSES.]
Entry 3246
A pin, a brass pin. You can take a brass pin - like if she - if a woman's goin' an' she get after you and she wants to give yo' a vener'al disease, you understand. (She wants to give you a venereal disease?) Yes. (I understand.) She take dat pin - she'll take a brass pin when yo' havin' intahco'se wit 'er. An' she'll take dat brass pin an' she'll hold it in 'er mouth, see. Well, she hold it in 'er mouth. Well, all right. Aftah yo' have yore intahco'se wit 'er, see, well nine days aftahwards, if yo' don't have no idea about it, why dat thing will start to run, an' stay on if, if yo' don't know what to do. If yo' don't know whut to do to cure it, why it, jes keeP gIttin' WOrSe. An' I DON'T CARE NUTHIN ABOUT DOCTORS [M.D.'s]. HEDICINE WILL NOT CURE IT.
(I see. That's if she wants to give you a venereal disease.)
Yes, if she want to give it to yo', yo' undahstan'.
(Well, ISN'T THERE ANY WAY YOU GET RID OF IT, if she gives it tO you?)
Yes. Well, de way yo' git rid of dat, yo' go to de woods. Yo' go to de woods or a swamp somewhere an' yo' git Swamp root or de watah lily.
(The what?)
De watah lily root - swamp root.
(Water lily. All right.)
[This is probably the swamp lily, a white flowered lily (Crinum americanun) of the southern United States.] Swamp root, yo' boil dat. Yo' boil it down an' yo' take one tablespoon of sugar, one tablespoon of sulphur. Yo' mix dat togethah into a quart of watah. Yo' take three tablespoonsful a day. Before each meal yo' take a tablespoonful. Dat'll cure it. But not wit'out some Swamp root. Somepin ah'll do it wit, it'll nevah nOt cure It. DOCTORS SHOOTIN AN' ALL DAT KIN'A SHOTS WILL NOT GIT RID OF IT, AN' I HAD IT. SO MANY PERSONS A DAY IN TOWN DAT DIES FROM DAT GOIN' TUH HOS- PITALS AN' NEVAH BE'S CURED. YO' GOTA GIT SOME MAN OUTA DE WOODS, OR SOME MAN TO GIT SOMEPIN OUTA DE GROUN' TO CURE DAT.
Entry 3259
Well, if dis man have any - if he's runnin' aroun' an' if he have any dealin' wit dis woman, she [wife] could take dat piece he use, yo' see, an' put it in some lukewarm watah an' it would clab- bah jis' lak buttahmilk. An' she puts it in a pint bottle. Yo' know, put dis watah in a pint bottle an' let 'im sleep on it three nights an' shake it up each night he sleep on it. An' well, he cain't have nuthin tuh do wit no othah woman. He cain't do dat.
(Who does this now? The wife does that?)
De wife do's it. (When he has connection with her, then she does it. Then he won't have any dealings with any other woman.) See, she have tuh use it. When he gits through, she shouldn't git through. See, jis' let 'im git through, an' den she wipe, yo' know dis rag whut he use it. Well, den she take it an' put it in some lukewarm watah an' it'll clabbah, an' den she puts it in a pint bottle an' den let 'im sleep on it three nights. Put it in de bed where he cain't see it - yo' know, all unknown tuh him, an' let 'im sleep on it three nights, an' den shake it up each mawnin' an' sleep on it, an' it ain't no woman he kin have.
(What would she do with that bottle after he sleeps on it three days?)
She has dat bottle, keeps dat bottle. She kin bury it in de ground, but it ain't nuthin he kin do.
Entry 3261
[AS YOU KNOW, THE READER WHO HAS MORE THAN DIPPED INTO HOODOO, I AM FREQUENTLY USED AS A GUINEA PIG. THE FOLLOWING EXAMPLE IS A LITTLE UNUSUAL!] I will tell yo' - of co'se yo' could - maybe if yo' have to - now, yo' know what yo' do? It's a sure sign - yo' could try it. Now, lak if me [a man] an' yo wus a woman - listen good! - yo' an' me lie in de bed an' go to bed. Now, well, yo' know she'd use de hair. Soak it in watah. Well, she give yo' one rag an' he take one. Well, while yo' [who?]. Yo' undahstan', don' chew [the woman] wipe wit dat, undahstan'. Listen good! Yo' wipe wit de one what yo' have.
(Well, what would she use then?)
No, what you use.
(I see. [I see that I am still the guinea pig.])
An' yo' cut a piece out right dere an' wear dat in yore shoe. I betcha she do dat evah day.
(I see - that's to hold her [or him].)
Entry 3366
Yo' wanta learn how a man can't have no nature fo' a woman outside de woman dat he goin' wit dere? All right, jes' lak yo' have connection wit each othah. Dey take dat dishrag an' use it, see. All right, dey don' let dat dishrag git dry. Dey keep dat dishrag moistahin' [moistering] becuz she an' 'im done used it, see, an' he can't use it wit no othah woman. Yo' undahstan'?
(That's all she has to do, just keep that rag moist - damp.)
When it git dry, keep it damp right off.
(What does she dampen it with?)
Jes' dishwatah.
[Informant now gives a cure:]
He might feel suspicion. Well, now, if he fin' de dishrag - he goin' look fo' things if he a sensible man, undahstan'. All right, he might say, "Ah believe yo' done sompin tuh me." All right, he goin' look fo' - see, he can't raise, can't do nuthin, see. An' he goin' look fo' dat dishrag, see, 'cuz he figures, sometimes he knows a lots about it, see. All right, well, he finds dat dishrag. Undahstan'? If he fin' dat dishrag, take an' hang it out an' let it dry, an' den he's all right ag'in. But he gotta fin' dat.
Entry 3701
Yo' kin take yo' a little bluestone an' put it in some watah, not too strong, an' yo' kin jes' mop dat. Keep dat mopped wit dat bluestone watah an' dat will bring it back. (Bring your nature back?) Yes sir, or yo' kin use sweet milk. Sweet milk is good. Yo' kin jes' bathe in dat sweet milk. Sweet milk will bring it back.
Entry 3747
(How could he get rid of that condition?)
De onliest thing dat I heered talk of dat, dat dey could do wit dat, is dat he'd have to steal. He'd have to steal de dishrag - git him a greasy dishrag, but he'd have to steal it. Steal de greasy dishrag. An' he'd have to wash 'is belly in greasy dishwatah, de watah dat she used, fo' about nine mornings, see, to wash dat off. Dat's de only way dat he could git dat out of de skin. (What do you mean by saying he'd have to get the greasy dishwater? What do you mean by that?) Dat's de watah dat yo' wash dishes wit.
(Well, does he use that water?)
Yes, sir, de watah dat she used. Git de watah dat she used. Well, dat's de watah dat she would have to use to git dat off of 'er. (Oh, I see. He wouldn't have to do anything - use this dishwater. He doesn't need that. He'd use the dishrag.) Yes, sir. Dat's all he'd have to do, jis' use dat dishrag - jis' keep dat dishrag. Take dat dishrag an' carry it off somewhere an' when he git ready to use it, why he don't have to do nuthin but dampen it in dat dishwater.
(Did he take the dishwater, too?)
Yes, he take dat dishwatah an' put it in a can or somepin othah, an' put it in a place where he kin go, where dere ain't nobody won't know it, yo' lmov, an keep it.
(He must get the dishwater that she has used?)
Yes, sir. An' when he git ready to use it, an' dis dishrag be dry, he would- n't do nuthin but soak it in dere, yo' know, an' take it out an' wash 'imself. Carry it an' put it back up until he git rid of dat.
Entry 3759
[As a piece of magic, what could be more logical magically than the following 5 ingredients: 1 of them prickly, 3 of them red, and the 5th called life everlasting?] But I anticipate. The doctor who is instructing me will explain why he uses each of the 5 ingredients.] Well, now - case now dere's some man or some woman may come tuh yo' an' tell yo' dis [my instruction by the doctor begins]. He say, "Listen, yo' know one thing, "" says, "ah haven't got no nature left at all - I ain't go no nachure left. Ah wants tuh have feelin' fo' mah ole man or mah ole woman, an' ah ain't got no feelin's left." Yo' say, "Well, all right, right. Ah'll tell yo' whut ah'll do." Yo' say, "Yo' come ovah heah an' ah'll give yo' somepin." Well, all right. Yo' walk out dere an' yo' go to a tree, an' git dis prickly ash. Yo' know whut prickly ash is. Git dat inside bark - undahstan' good - see, dat rough side yo' know is got stickahs on it lak pins. Git de inside of dat prickly ash bark. An' go in de woods an' den git chew a [wild] cherry tree an' git dat cherry bark. Git chew some cherry bark an' de inside of a red oak bark, an' it's a kinda brier dat dey call de life evahlastin' [the cudweed (not a kinda brier) - see hayfever cure, FACI, 1st ed., 4498-4499, p.216.] Git dat an' boil dat togethah an' when yo' boil dat togethah, den yo' strain dat. But yo' wanta git rain watah. Don't git dis hydrant watah, git rain watah an' yo' boil all dat togethah. An' yo' put about a half, jes' about dat much, as much cayenne peppah in dere as yo' kin hold in yore two fingahs, see. An' shake dat up togethah an' let 'em take dat, see. An' dat will give dem nature. An' see, dis peppah is fo' tuh give yuh nature, an' dis red-oak bark is fo' tuh cleanse yore blood, an' dis prickly ash is tuh make de man's thing stand. See, DAT'S WHY DEY CALL IT PRICKLY ASH. An' dis life evahlastin' is supposed tuh work yo', tuh work de filth an' stuff offa yo' kidney's an' yo' bladdah. See, evahthin' yo' gotta do wit dat is wrong.
Entry 3833
Put it down roun' in de leak of a house. Well, jes' lak if yo' take a person's blood an' stop it up in a bottle, an' turn it down on its haid, turn de bottle upside down on de mouf [mouth]. An' let it be upside down an' put it in de leak of a house, an' see, dat'll run a person crazy.
(What do you mean by the leak of the house?)
Jes' lak, yo' know, where de watah leak down on de ground - yes, off de roof.
Entry 3854
If yore man is well 'way from yo' an' yo' want 'im tuh come home an' yo've evah had anythin' tuh do wit 'im an' yo've nevah washed up de cloth, take it an' wash it an' git de small amount of watah, jis' enough fo' tuh dampen de cloth an' let it soak an' git it out of it. Take it an' put it in a bottle an' put chew jis' about a tea- spoonful of sugah in it. Den yo' set it up ovah de do' where he came in at. Do dat in de evenin' time an' de nex' mawnin' yo' grab de bottle an' call 'is name three times. Shake it up. In 24 hours he'll be at chore residence, if he's anywheres lak he kin git dere. If he don't come in 24 hours, he'll be close enough tuh drop yo' a card an' let chew know he's comin'. [This rite should have gone under IMPoTENCE, following No.3259.]
Entry 3901
Dey'll take one of de cloths dat she uses. Yo' know, her sickness, yes sir. Dey take dis cloth while she's - it dirty yo' know while she's got dat on 'er. An' den dey'll take dis an' put it in a bottle, in a small bottle. An' take dis cloth - but dis heah cloth will fill it up, make it plumb full. An' den dey'll take dat an' dey'll go tuh her house, wherevah she lives, an' put it up anywhere ovah her haid - up ovah her haid. An' den dey'll put a tight stoppah in dere an' put some watah in dere. An' put some watah in dere wit it, put a tight stoppah in dere wit dis cloth whilst it in dere. An' dey say dat'll stop 'er sickness from coming down on 'er; jes' keep it dere till it kills 'er, if dey don't nevah pull dis stoppah out. [For this folk-medicine condition, see comment in bracket later.] But when dey evah did pull dis stoppah out, if dey gits de evil dat dey got agains' 'er off an' wants tuh let 'er go free, why den dey take dis out an' let dis watah out an' den she'll live; but if dey don't, it'll kill 'er. [The preceding rite illustrates one of the great pairs of complementary rites in hoodoo; here of opposites, above and below - the walking under or over some- thing belonging to your body or having been touched by your body. In either case your spirit is divided. The menstrual blood over your head in the present rite, keeps the menstrual blood still in the body from going down. Is menstrual blood different from other blood in the body? Presumably so in folklore, for: Menstru- al blood is poisonous (FACI, 1st ed., p.248, No.5103). The term going down - coming down used in present rite - belongs to folk medicine: "When my mother was about twelve [1845] [[in or near Quincy, Ill.]], an old Indian doctor told them to wear black beads around their neck to keep the blood from going to the brain. All the girls in that time wore black beads all the time to get their monthly to come when coming into womanhood, for it made the blood come down." (FACI, 2nd ed., P.219, No.4969.] [After writing the preceding bracket, I happened to be watching the University of Michigan television program, which for us appears off and on, and comes just before my 7AM news. This was probably towards the end of 1972. A group of women were talking about the problems confronting the first American college women. One woman spoke of a Harvard professor, M.D., who in 1873 wrote a book condemning brain work for women. He maintained that mental effort by a woman made the blood rush to her head, a condition that could dry up her ovaries!]
Entry 3967
Jes' lak if yo' wanta kill a woman, jes' lak if she should be mini- stratin'. Co'se ah wouldn't lak fo' dese things tuh happen. Take a piece of her guard whutsomevah she have, an' yo' know deses holes whut bring watah tuh yore house. Put it in a quart jar an' bury it undah dere, an' she'll nevah see any mo'. Doctors [M.D.'s] wouldn't do her any good, she'll die.
(These what that come in your house?)
watah holes - yo' know, de pipes, watah pipes. Jes' lay it undah dat so hit will be undah runnin' watah. (And what do they get? A piece of her guard, you say? What do you mean by her guard?) Whut she ministrate on.
(They call it a guard.)
Yes. Jes' take dat an' put it in dat jar, if yo' wanted tuh kill a woman, see. An' bury it undah dat place, bury it undah de runnin' hose [or horse] an' she'll die. No doctor [M.D.] couldn't start on her [stop the flow]. (You call that pipe a running horse [or hose] that brings the water into the house.)
Entry 3968
Fixin' a woman where dey'd flow to death. Yo' take it an' stop it up airtight in a bottle an' put it to a pump where it stay wet, where yo' pump wa- tah, or to a spigot where watah run on it mostly all de time. An' dere can't a doctor [M.D.] 'twixt here an' Europe stop it, unless yo' git dat bottle an' take de stoppah out of it an' pour it out.
Entry 3974
Well, he [my contact man when testing informant] ast me about did ah know about makin' a man love yo'. Ah tell 'im, yes. Yo' take de hair out of his haid an' wear it in yore shoe an' dat will make him love yo'. An' den yo' kin take 'bout runnin' anybody crazy. Yo' kin take dere, yo' know, ministratin' pieces an' wrap hit in de seat of a Woman's pants, an' wrap it togethah an' boil [ball] it until it's, yo' know, an' den put it in runnin' watah. Dat will run 'em crazy. (Well, do you throw those pieces in running water or [throw] the water that you boil them in?)
[They are not boiled but balled.]
No, yo' throw 'em in runnin' watah an' dat will run 'em crazy.
Entry 4203
Dey git a hold of some of yuh hair an' git some of yuh watah wit it, an' put dat in a bottle, an' dey git a hold of nine new needles an' nine new pins, an' cork de bottle up, an' dey bury dat anywhere where yuh walk along, an' dat will run yuh crazy.
Entry 4216
Dey takes de chamber lye an' stop it up in a bottle an' bury it undah de steps of de house at de no'th corner an' dat, yo' know, stops dere watah an' all.
Entry 4245
Yuh kin use garlic an' [or] yuh kin use onions an' yuh kin use yuh slop jar watah.
(How do you use garlic for example to keep the law away?)
Take a package of garlic, a small piece of garlic an' put it up each night, a piece of it in yore slop jar an' throw de table salt, de table salt dat chew use, an' let it git on yore table. [Let it come from your table.] Yuh jis' keep it damp somewhere an' mix it an' throw it aroun' yuh do' both front an' back. An' co'se yuh have some good lodestone an' grad'ly [gradually] dey'll pass on by yuh an' yuh kin sell right on. Dat keep de officahs away. Throw it in de grass an' all lak dat aroun' yore do', but don't walk in it yuhself. [NEVER WALK OVER YOUR OWN HOODOO!] Leave it so dat people kin pass ovah it. Let it lay dere an' dey ain't goin' worry yuh.
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 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 4332
Bury yuh hair down in a bottle an' dey kin turn aroun', dey kin go. Jis' like yuh live off in de country-like - yuh understand, off at de edge of town, say. Well, dey take it atop - right up chere [demonstrates], de mole of yuh haid. Dat's de part right chere dey wants - see, dat's de mole of yuh haid [demonstrates]. Dey kin take dis an' take a - jis' about three stran' of it, dey wants. An' take dat an' stop it up in a little small bottle, an' put up some holy water an' a little urinate an' things up in it. Yuh own urinate now. Kin take yuh own urinate an' po' it up in dere. Jis' like yuh git up in de mawnin' an' leave yuh wife. Well [she] go on aftah de chambah [you used] an' [get the] thing [urine] herself. An' she pour dat out dere herself, see. An' [she] kin go, jis' like dey got a ole tree. She kin dig a hollah right down side of de tree an' bury dat [threefold mixture] an' I guarantee when dat thing rotten out, yuh'll die.
Entry 4344
Dey take yuh chamber lye an' bottle it in a tight bottle, an' throw it in watah an' dat will cause yo' tuh die.
Entry 4349
Well, jis' lak if yuh wants tuh harm a person, yuh see, lak dat, or yuh wanta git dat yuh might got 'em down undah yore feet tuh a certain point. An' yuh take dat hair an' yuh put it in a bot- tle, but chew put in it chamber lye an' salt. An' den yuh stop dat bottle tight, an' den yo' kin bury dat bottle or chunk it in runnin' watah - eithah one of dem things. Dat's whut de story ah got. Well, each one of 'em will harm yuh.
Entry 4355
Takes it from [demonstrates] de top an' de side an' here.
(The top and both sides, the hair.)
An' tells me dat dey puts it in a bottle wit red flannel, nine new needles an' pins.
(How many pins?)
Nine. An' git some of yuh urine, stops it up, turn it [bottle] bottom up- wards. Jis' as it dreeps [drips] out, jis' as yuh dwindle away. An' den when dey don't turn it bottom upwards dey throw it in de rivah. Drive yuh - Hoodoo - Conjuration - Witchcraft: Rdtvorl crazy. Dat's what dey say dat dey kin do wit it.
(If they turn it upside down?)
Yuh pines away, an' if it's throwed in de rivah in quick runnin' watah, yuh'll go crazy. [Washington, D.c., (628), 805:9.]
Entry 4360
Take yuh chamber lye an' stop it up an' take it tuh runnin' watah. Stop dat bottle so she goin' float, it goin' part de way down anyways. Ketch dat tide goin' whichevah way yuh want dis person tuh go an' den put it ovah dere - drop it ovahbo'd an' turn an' walk from it. Don't look back at it an' make yuh wishes whatevah direction yuh want 'im tuh go. An' he's goin' wandah roun' an' leave dere. He come tuh not be any good aroun' 'is home - somepin of de kin'. He'll jis' drift away an' people won't know what happened tuh him.
Entry 4372
Dey even done put it in bottles.
(This action?)
Yes, dey cork it up an' throw it in de runnin' watah, an' as fer as dat drift, why yuh mind would drift. Yuh become constipated, event'ly [eventually] suffah an' die.
Entry 4482
(How do you do that?)
Yuh kin take bath watah an' jes' make a person jes' pale away. Dey won't be sick or nuthin of de kin' like dat, but yuh kin put 'em on a [what? Drag?].
(How do you do it?)
Yuh takes an' yuh bottles it up an' yuh buries it. (This bath water?) Yes sir. (I see. What does that do to them?) Jes' pale 'em - make 'em pale away.
(Oh! it makes him pale away.)
Entry 4483
Wal, yuh'll take a bath in de watah. Dey kin git a chance tuh git tuh dat watah an' dey'll take a bottleful. Take a bottleful of dat watah. If dey wanta conkah yuh, dey'll take a bottleful of dat watah an' put a stoppah in it. Pack it down tight an' put it down to yuh steps, er [or] tuh dey steps. Dat'll draw all yuh attention tuh nobody but dem.
Entry 4485
They kin take the water that you bathe in and use it, and if properly used give you some kind of a ailments in your skin. If they take that water and put sulphur in it and put it in a bottle and stop it up, your skin will break out with some kind of disease - something like itch or nettZe- rash or something. It will always continue to be thataway. Of course, I don't know that you couldn't go to a doctor [M.D.] and get shots or somepin. [HERE IS A MEMORABLE STATEMENT! INFORMANT THINKS IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE TO GO TO A DOCTOR (M.D.) FOR SHOTS TO CURE AN ITCH CAUSED BY HOODOO! A hundred times or more in HOODOO a Doctor of Medicine is dismissed as useless for hoodoo; in fact for most ailments. FOR A GOOD ACCOUNT OF THIS SITUATION BACK IN 1938 AT MOBILE, DESCRIBED BY PROFESSIONAL ROOT SELLER, See 12, p.11f.]
Entry 4487
Like yuh bath [not bathe], she'd get a quart bottle, get dat quart bottle of watah out chure - de watah dat yuh bath in.
(Yes?)
Aftah yuh bath, she'd take it an' gets a quart bottle of dat watah, an' she bury it about one a'clock dat night at de east cornah of de house, an' derefo' yuh can't 'scape no way. (You can't do what?) Yuh can't leave no way. [You] jes' be goin' all de time [and that stops it].
(That will keep you [from] going all the time?)
Yes.
Entry 4488
Well, dey jes' take de watah an' kinda jes' skim it off de top-like de grease-like.
(Of your bath water?)
Uh-huh an' dey'd put it in a bottle an' stop it down an' - dat's if dey is against yuh - an' dat will jes' run yo' away from around dem, too. [Intention here is more important than symbolism.]
Entry 4493
Dey'll take dat watah dat yuh bath in an' dey'll take an' put dat watah in a bottle. Well, dey gon'a git chew. Like if yuh take a bath an' yuh wantsme, don' take dat watah an' [throw it away]. Den yuh put dat watah in a bottle an' evah ah come an' ask yuh fer a bottle of watah, drink of watah, yuh'll give dat watah [to me]. An' den dat'll make mah 'fluence [feelings] go towards yuh.
Entry 4500
Yuh take dat watah an' put it aside an' let it git sour.
(This bath water.)
An' it get sour de suds goin' come tuh de top. Skim off dat suds an' pour all dat [water] out an' dere'll be groun's [dirt] undahneat' dere. Yuh take dat, de groun's undahneat' dere, too. Yuh know, gon'a be suds on de top, an' po' de watah off de top, den dere'll be drugs [dregs] at de bottom. Yuh take dat [dregs] an' yuh put dat in a bottle an' git dere name, write on a piece of papah nine times, nine needles, nine pins an' three nails, an' put 'em in dat bottle. See, if dey is from yuh [informant demonstrates by shaking imaginary bottle]. See, git dem tuh come tuh yuh. (Oh! You shake that bottle and the person will come to you. I see. Well, how do you get this scraping off their feet then? That off your feet or off their feet?) Dat off dey're foot, yuh know. (Oh! This is the bath water, that's right.)
Entry 4543
[Sweatband bow combined with other substances in a bottle will be found later, as well as in other parts of the text.] Dey take dat little bow an' put it in a bottle an' fill half full of watah, an' turn it bottom upwards an' bury it wit de mouth down, so dat watah drippin' in de groun'. Yuh'll go intuh de groun', see; cuz I put a little hole in dat stoppah, so dat watah kin seep out. An' [when] all dat watah run out dat bottle, den yuh goin' tuh de grave.
Entry 4739
If a cook has got a job an' wan'a hold it, she'll take her undahweah an' boil 'em where - in de same watah dat chure dishes is boiled in, an' wash de dishes in dat watah. She stay dere long as she please. Dat's true.
(She'll hold her job.)
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 4830
De story about de woman?
(About the man, to make him come home.)
Yuh could git 'is underweah. Well, take 'em in de fron' an' wash, yuh know, in jis' a li'le watah, an' put it in a bottle. If yuh kin git some of 'is hayah [hair], put it in dere wit it an' stop it up wit some Heart Cologne. (With it, what will that do then?) Bring 'im back.
Entry 4854
Aftah yuh wear yore garments, when dey git soiled, don't chew know, yuh put 'em off. A person kin take dem an' wash 'em. Dey've got yore odors. Dey take dat Water an' bury it right in front of de steps. An' dey will al- ways have yuh, yuh know, what chew might call footpath, lappy dog. Dey jis' walk in here lak [lappy dog] see. An' anythin' dey comman' yuh tuh do, yuh've got tuh do.
Entry 4860
Den anothah one tole me tuh git a garment of yo's, whut chew weah nex' tuh yo's. Tie it up an' put it in some runnin' watah an' carry it on away from dere. Yo' nevah will have no trouble wit dat person no mo' - run 'em out. Jis' lak someone roun' yore home givin' yo' some trouble wit chure home or somepin lak dat. Why if yo' do dat tuh dat fellah, dat would run 'im away from dere.
Entry 4861
Ah knows about how a man kin take an' cut de seat out of a soiled pair of bloomahs whut de woman wore. An' he kin take it an' go tuh de rivah when de tide goin' down, an' he kin throw it in de watah ten steps backwards from dat an' don' look back, an' dat will always keep 'er wit him. See, dat will keep 'er mind on 'im all de time. [Normally I would say this rite sends her away, but intention is everything. Besides, clothes going out with the tide will come back with the tide. Or to put it another way; if she ever leaves she will return. Then again, the clothes could be thrown backwards towards the retreating Water but not actually into it. Symbolically he invites the woman to leave, just as he departs without looking back; then, before the tide turns, he retrieves the clothes.]
Entry 4862
Yuh kin take dere shoes. Yuh kin git de inside sole [the insole], a piece of de inside sole of dere shoes, yuh undahstan'. Or git a piece outa dere shirt, yo' know, outa de back of it, or out de side of it or de undah- weah. Jis' cut a piece, yuh know, right out anywhere out dere unions [union suit], anything, an' wrop it up, yo' undahstan', an' put it in salt an' watah. Let it sits dere in salt an' watah an' let it stay in dere two days. Take it out an' put it in runnin' watah.
(That will run them away?)
Yes sir.
Entry 4863
Yuh kin do it, but yuh have tuh git somebody's hair or somebody's gar- ments dat's got de odah in it, dat dey wore. An' if yuh take it, yuh put salt an' peppah an' sulphah in it. An' put dat in runnin' watah an' it will start 'em tuh move. (That will run them out of town, keep them on the go?) Yes, dat will keep 'em on de go.
Entry 4864
Dey kin mess yuh up on dat. Dey take dat chew know at times, take yore undahpiece dat's been worn an' carry it tuh a lake or tuh a creek where dere's runnin' watah. An' den, if it's a straight pieceorifit'satwc piece, yo' know lak undahweah, an' yuh tie it on tuh a block [of wood]. An' den yuh put nine needles on dat same block an' nine pins. Let dem be goldeye nee- dles. An' turn dat ovahbo'd an' yuh got 'em dere.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat eat [it]. Dat's drivin' de person away.
Entry 4882
Weah de socks till dey git dirty, yuh know. Some people's feet sweats, what ah mean, yuh know. Well, till dey git dirty anyhow. Take dem socks an' put 'em in a pail a watah, dey says. Den don' wash 'em till dey soaks an' git dat dirt. An' take dem dirty suds an' put 'em in a bottle. Well, dere some mo' tuh go wit it. Put dat in a bot- tle. Den down undah yuh arm, yuhknow where yuh perspirate undah yuh arm, take dat an' yuh socks an' yuh rub. Git all dat watah tuhgethah. Yuh rub undah de shirtsleeve of yuh arm an' yuh socks. Den yuh put dat watah in a bottle an' dig undah yuh steps, an' put it undah de steps an' turn dat bottle bottom upwards. Well, dey do dat tuh keep yuh, jis' like if a person wants tuh keep yuh from goin' anywhere. Yuh kin go anywhere but chew comin' dere. Yuh goin' be always hangin' - if yuh go anywhere yuh goin' hurry back. Yuh can't stay away from home, yuh gotta come back.
Entry 5003
A man kin take a woman's stockin', he kin dress it - whut dey call dressin'. Take dat yuh see - take dat stockin' an' carry it off somewhere an' git off tuh deyself. An' skin yuh [thing] back an' de whut chew call gnat bread be roun' dere - be's roun' de haid of yore [thing]. Well, why see, yuh take dat an' yuh balled it up an' go tuh runnin' watah an' wet de stock- in'. Well, dat makes all dat stuff be 'solved [dissolved] all through. Well, now, when she put dem stockin's on ag'in, dere ain't nuthin in de worl' will keep 'er from bein' wit dat man no way whatevah - she's fer 'im.
(What do they call that stuff - sort of scum-like on the head of his tool?)
Yeah, bread.
(What do you call that stuff? I didn't understand that name?)
Dey call it gnat bread.
(What does the first word mean? Gnat like a little bug? Gnat bread?)
Dat's right. [My emphasis shows interest and surprise. I had not heard the term for years, momentarily could scarcely recall the first word. Years ago this condition was associated with a lack of personal hygiene; the reason for the word scum. If I remember, the term does not appear elsewhere in HOODOO.]
Entry 5064
Well de sock, yuh see, yuh don't have tuh - mos'ly [mostly] dey washes 'em, yuh see, if yuh git 'em kinda dirty. Yuh see dat's [that sweat is] yore strength intuh yore sock. An' yuh takes dat watah an' bottle dat what chew wash 'em an' bury hit.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat will hold a person.
Entry 5067
Take a man's sock, if dey's got a man an' he's tryin' tuh run aftah some othah wimmin or sompin lak dat. Take a man's sock especially if de wimmins live wit 'im or anythin' lak dat. Takes an' wash dem socks out an' take dat watah where yuh wash dem socks an' put it in a quart bottle. Put dat watah in de quart bottle an' stop it up an' put it ovah de sill of de house lak dat do' dere, yo' know. Take an' open dat ceilin' dere an' put it in dere an' let it set in dere. [The ceiling near the door is opened so that the bottle can be placed on the top of the hidden door frame, here as so frequently, called the sill of the door - sill equalling ceiling of door.] Make him stay home. [Wilson, N. Car. (1496).2665:6.]
Entry 5071
Yuh wash a man's sock, his lef'-foot sock an' git dat watah an' put it in a bottle, an' gain de influence of 'im. (What do you do with that bottle then?) Yuh jis' keep dat bottle, add mo' tuh it. Dat will git chure man tuh love yuh.
Entry 5073
Take an' git dere socks. An' take his socks an' wash 'em. An' take de watah an' put it in a bottle wit de soft watah, sompin lak rain watah, in a kinda crystal watah. Let half of it be de watah from washin' de socks an' half of it be's de crystal watah.
(Soft water?)
Yeah, take dat an' put a little sugah.in it an' put Epsom salts in dat. An' yuh take an' burn de incense an' de red onion - lump incense - on de stove, an' sprinkle a little sugah in it. Dey mos'ly use sugah mos' in anything. An' yuh burn dis lump incense an' de red onion on de stove an' call de name three times. Burn dat fo' 'bout nine mawnin's an' he'll come back an' dere won' be no trouble.
(What did you do with that sock water? What did you do with that?)
Take dat an' set it in de no'th cornah of de house an' keep it dere fo' three days - three tuh nine days. An' yuh take it out an' yuh po' it 'cross de do'- steps an' aftah it dries... [I turned off recording machine too soon or accidentally and had to restart it to repeat informant's words.]
(He'll come back?)
Yessuh.
Entry 5074
Yuh take dat sock - like if yuh wear a sock, yuh pull dat sock off, eithah one, yuh soak dem socks. Yo' squeeze de watah out of dem an' yuh take dat watah come out dem socks an' yuh put dat watah in a bottle. Den yuh take some of yore watah [urine] an' put in dere. DAT'S A TRICK IT AIN'T NO HURTIN' NOR NUTHIN, JIS' A TRICK. [For tricks, see TRICKS, Pp.260-269 and elsewhere.]
(What will that do?)
It will jis' trick 'um tuhgethah an' dey cain't git loose from one anothah. Dat's all it is. Ah know dat. Yuh give a little bit of de watah tuh drink.
Entry 5075
If it's a lady an' she wants dis man an' [or] if it's a man an' he wants de lady, he'll take his socks an' wash 'is socks real good. Or eithah wash 'is sock an' take hit an' make watah on it. Or eithah put it in whiskey an' give her dat tuh drink offa dis foot - enough in it tuh keep from colorin' de whiskey. An' drink dat. An' if it's a man, he'll take his sock an' wash it an' dreen [drain] dat watah off yuh know. Well, den dat holds 'er. Dat holds de woman right wit 'im. Dey don' git away.
Entry 5260
Yo' kin take de right-foot shoe of a man, if yo' won't want tuh be bothahed, an' yo' take table salt an' a pod of red peppah - not li'le brown pep- pah, de red peppah. Go tuh a train where a box- car an' tack it up dere an' dat party will leave. Or yo' kin do de same thin' an' carry it tuh de rivah an' put dat shoe in any watah dat's runnin' an' he will leave. Dat is true, also.
Entry 5290
Dey kin hurt yo' by burnin' yore shoes.
(What will that do to you if they burn your shoes?)
Jes' take de ashes an' put dem in a bottle an' put it in watah, airtight. DAT'LL KILL YO' IF YO' DON' GIT SOMEBODY TUH TAKE IT OFF YO'.
Entry 5323
" An' take a apple, a large-size apple, an' bo' a hole out of it. An' in bo'in' [boring] de hole out of it, pick up de hollah track [hollow or center of the track] of a person's feet. An' yo' kin carry it tuh a rivah or stream an' throw in. Dey'd leave. (What do you do with that track as you pick it up?) Take it an' put it in de hollah of dat apple, where yo' cut de hole out, an' place de top back on dere. An' throw it in de rivah an' don't evah look back. An' de person will leave home.
(Put the top on the apple again and throw the apple into the water?)
Yes.
Entry 5345
(Either foot-track?)
Yessuh, put it in some kin'a anything lak a tin or bottle, where de watah can't git intuh it, an' throw it in runnin' watah. Say dat will run de people outa town, have dose people goin' all de time.
Entry 5346
Dey gits de foot track up an' dey carry it tuh runnin' watah. An' stop it up in a bottle an' carry it tuh runnin' watah an' tho' it ovahbo'd, an' dey kin run a person crazy - unsettles dere min' an' go crazy in de haid.
Entry 5408
Take yore foot track - see, yore right track, take dese two fingahs right chere [demonstrates].
(Which hand?)
De right hand.
(The thumb and the forefinger.)
An: dey go down in de middle of yore tracks an' git a pinch of dat dirt three time right in de middle of yore tracks. Put it in dat cologne bottle. Put it half fulla watah an' bury it undah yore do'. Evah mawnin' yo' be tuh 'er house. (The woman does this to a man, so that he will come to her house.)
Entry 5468
[Yo'] takes de right foot track but yo' got'a be meetin' dose people. Yo' got'a be meetin', not git behin' an' pick up de track - not behin' dem lak dat. Dey goes dis way an' yo' be comin' dis way [to- wards them]. Den yo' meet dat person an' git de dirt out de hollah of de right track. Well, den dey put dat dirt in a place an' den dey go tuh de cemetery an' dey git some of de graveyard dirt. An' dey puts dat tuhgethah. An' dey puts dat tuhgethah an' a piece of lodestone an' takes it - let it stay nine days in dey house. Takes it den aftah nine days an' put it on a shingle, an' takes it tuh de rivah or de runnin' watah, an' put it in dere an' let it go on down jis' lak dat. An' den yo' jis' turn right roun' an' put it in dere an' walk on off away from it an' not nevah look back. Well, dey tell me dat's a good way tuh git evahthing goin' jis' lak dey wan' it tuh go, if dey Wan' chew tuh go out de country or leave out. Or whutevah dey wan' chew tuh do, why dat's whut dey do tuh do dat.
Entry 5532
Ah've heard dat dey kin git chure foot track an' measure yore foot track, an' take some of de dirt out de hollah of yore track, see. Den go tuh de graveyard aftah twelve o'clock an' git some de dirt from de heart, about de heart, an' from de head an' from de foot [3 places]. An' mix it wit dat dirt whut dey took out of yore track. An' march aroun' dat grave fo' times, firs'. Den come back an' march aroun' it ag'in five, six, seven. De seven is de uneven numbah. March roun' dat seven times. Den take dat dirt whut dey got wit de graveyard dirt outen yore track, an' go an' mix it tuhgethah, an' boil it in salt an' water an' lime. Throw dat in salt, watah an' lime. Den dey will take dat an' sprinkle it wherevah yo' gotta go, where yo' cross ovah at, if it's yore doorstep or some path yo' go. If yo' in a car, why dey'd sprinkle it aroun yore car - sompin like dat - an' dat will do yo' harm. See, when yo' git in dere, yo'll be painful an' cain't rest, an' have no min' tuh stay at home - only be goin' all de time. (NOW TO MAKE CERTAIN ABOUT THIS. When you get this graveyard dirt after twelve o'clock at night, you get it from three places: on the head, the heart, and the feet. And before you get that dirt, do you walk around the grave four times or after?) Aftah.
(Then you say you walk around it again five times?)
Firs' yo' walk aroun' it, dat make five. Den yo' walk aroun' it seven times.
(Seven separate times or all together?)
Altuhgethah.
(You walk around it four times. Then what do you do?)
Yo' walk aroun' it fo' times an' yo' speak words.
(What will you say?)
Yo' will say, "Ah wan' dis man tuh be subjec' tuh me. Ah wan' 'im tuh go an' not come back. Dat 'is min' may go from 'im, dat he may not undahstan' whut he do." See, dat's whut dey'll say.
(Then you will walk around it?)
Two mo' time. Dat makes seven. (They walk around it four times. They dig that dirt up and walk around it four times. Then what do they do after the fourth time, after they say those words?) Den dey walk aroun' it ag'in one time. Dat makes five, yo' see.
(Then do they say anything?)
Naw, don't say anything. Den de fifth time, den de sixth an' de seventh. Den dey march aroun' dere de seventh time, den dey will repeat de same words over ag'in....
(Then you go on away with the graveyard dirt.)
Entry 5536
[HERE IS AN UNUSUAL RITE, ONE DEVISED FOR PICKING UP A PERSON'S FOOT TRACK INSIDE THE HOUSE BY WASTING WATER ON THE FLOOR:1 Well, if yo' wan' someone tuh stay home - yo' heah me? Yo' heah me? Yo' measure dey footsteps an' yo'll take nine nails an' yo'll take dat footstep, de real footstep, an' yo'll put nine needles [nails] in de footstep. Dat's when we comin' in, when we in de house. Aftah yo' git 'em in de house, don' let 'em see it. Yo'll do dat even if dey sleep. Yo'll take dem nails an' yo'll - yo'll take dat whole footstep whilst dey in sleepin'. Now, if yo' wanted 'em tuh go 'way from home...
(Is that one thing complete now about the nine nails and the footstep?)
Well, yes, dey have tuh be in de house. Dey have tuh git 'em, an' if he sleepin', yo' kin do it bettah. Yo'll take nine nails an' yo'll ketch dey foot- step.
(How do you catch the footstep?)
See, lak mah shoe - see, lak dey comin' in an' yo' make a footstep. Maybe if dey got watah - always Wet sompin so dat dey kin step in it tuh git dey step, so becuz many time it dry an' yo' kinnot [cannot] git dey steps. Yo' have tuh waste watah or make where he gotta walk in it. An' den when he pass, it always - fo instan' [instance] yo'll make it wit a pencil so yo'll take de full step of de person. Yo' gotta git de full step of dat. Now, when he's in, yo' do dat - see, dat nine nails.
(What do you do with those nine nails now?)
Jis' leave 'em in de flo' wheresomevah he's at, dat's when he's comin' out de house. Well, now, fo' instan', if yo' wan'a use, scusin'[excusing] dat, dat's if a woman husban' is stayin' off.
(Here's my footstep. Now, you pick that up on something?)
Yes.
(Then you bring it into the house?)
No.
(What do you do with it now?)
Yo'll take de measure of dat footstep wit a pencil, if yo' gotta waste de watah or somepin fo' 'im tuh make de step. (There's the step now, then you take the length of it with a stick or some- thing? Now what do you do?) Yo' nails nine nails intuh de step [foot track] aroun' de marks [of the track] tuh ketch de whole footstep.
(You nail nine nails into the ground?)
No, intuh de house, intuh de house if he's in a house.
(You put that around the measure?)
Yes, if it's de whole measure. (You put that measure on the floor and then you put the nine nails around the measure?) Yessuh, dat's whut ah wanta [have been trying to] tell yo'.
Entry 5558
Whut dey would do if dey git holt of yore foot track. Well, dey'd pick dat dirt up an'.dey would take dat dirt intuh a bottle, an' dey would git 'em a rusty nail. An' den dey would stop dat dirt up in dere, an' den dey would throw it in runnin' watah. Dat would run yo' away from heah.
(Why do they put the nail in?)
Well, becuz it's rusty, an' it got a p'int tuh it.
Entry 5582
Beginning Norfolk, Va. [This is the first rite from Norfolk.] Take right foot track an' put nine needles in it. [Of] co'se I'd git 'em in a bottle, nine needles, an' yo' goes to de rivahside, see, nine mawnin's. See, you got nine nee- dles in dis here bottle wit de dirt in [from the right foot track]. An' goes down to de rivah nine mawnin's. An' when yo' gits down dere yo' walks backwards so many feet - yo' walks backwards nine times [9 steps] each mawnin'. An' de las' mawnin', yo' throw dat bottle ovahbo'd. Nine needles an' go down to de rivah nine mawnin's an' de las' mawnin' yo' throw dis bottle ovahbo'd.
(I see. Well now, what is this supposed to do to a person?)
Dat will cuz a person to leave his job, or cuz fuss 'tween man an' woman. If a woman want tuh git de man from 'er husban' [a bad influence on her husband, gambles, etc.], dat would make him leave. Dat's how a woman out here - a woman said dat 'er sistah had been did [sister had been sent away by some man's wife].
(Now, what foot track do they dig that dirt from...both feet or...)
Naw, dis one - de right foot.
(The right one.)
De right foot. Take dat dirt outen de right foot. Go on dere jis' as soon as de sun rise - see, 'fore de sun gits hot an' dat sun rise. [I stop recording here but informant continues. I try to recover missed words.]
(What carries it out, did you say?)
De tide, de water. You know, when de tide goes out, takes dat bottle out wit it.
(Yes, and after that carries it out, what does it do then?)
Dat cause dat man to leave, see.
(Carries him out.)
Carries 'im out, carries 'im from 'is work or 'is wife.
Entry 5585
Git nine new needles an' a piece of red flannel, an' git a spoon an' take out de tracks, de middle of de tracks, an' bottle it up an' put it in run- nin' watah. Dey won't come back any mo'. (You get this dirt out of which track, both of them?) No, de right.
Entry 5594
Dey would pick up evah othah one of yore tracks for nine tracks, but dey take de right feet fer nine tracks. An' dey would take it off an' place dat into a bottle. Aftah placin' into a bottle dey would take - yo've seen dese pickanettle roots. People call 'em [par?] nettles.
(No, I don't know them [pickanettle] but I know what you are talking about.)
[This is probably the horse nettle, which appears several times in Hoodoo.]
It grows wit a white blossom into de top. Take dis blossom an' put it into a pot an' boil it. An' put a little linament, Sloan Linament into dat one, an' put watah onto de linament an' some kinda flesh meat. An' take it out an' yo' got a linament of yo' own creatin'. An' put on top of dat - stop it up tight [in a bottle] - write chure name onto de linament [bottle] be- fo' yo' put it [lina- ment] in dere. Write chure name an' turn it into de bottle, an' turn de bottle down to de groun' dis way.
(Turn that bottle down like that. All right. Then what do you do?)
Yes, sir, turn de bottle down dis way. Turn it down an' put chure name on it. Write chure name on it an' use a verse in de Bible.
(Do you know what verse in the Bible?)
Yes, sir, an' use de Second Kings but read it backwards, see. Read it back- wards an' write chure name. Writes chure verse three times an' write chure name three times. It must be backwards. Put on de linament in de bottle an' turn de bottle downward, down dis way [demonstrates].
(Cork down.)
An' dat'll take 'fect on 'em.
(Well, where are these foot tracks now? Where are the foot tracks?)
De dirt ah got from de foot tracks ah got it in de bottle.
(How much dirt did you take up?)
Jis' a small little.
Entry 5609
Ah know dis happened in Tampa. Take dis foot track of a person dat chew disliked. An' yo' kin git it an' yo' kin put it intuh a piece of red flan- nel. An' yo' kin carry it tuh a rivah of runnin' watah, an' throw it ovah yore lef'- han' shouldah an' say, "Go," an' make a curse word. An' dat person shall leave.
(You get what track?)
De left one, always de left if dey do anything.
(Why always the left?)
Don't know why de lef' but dey says de lef'.
Entry 5628
Take de foot tracks up an' put dat in abottle of water, an' put some cayenne peppah an' salt an' steel dust, an' throw it inde rivah. Dat will make yo' drift. Track of de left foot.
Entry 5671
If yo' don't have nuthin tuh do wit 'em an' yo' wants tuh drive 'em, Yeep 'em away from yore house, yo' take some bluestone an' burn it well. An' while de bluestone is burnin', yo' take an' mix watah an' let it cook in dere good. An' dey come back tuh yore house an' yo'don' wan' 'em dere, when dey walk out, yo' po' it right in de tracks where dey make tuh go out, an' sweep it. Dat whut dey do wit de bluestone.
(They won't come back?)
Won't come back.
Entry 5738
Dey git twelve of yore tracks. Ah'm tell yo' whut ah knows. Red Devil Lye, rose watah, anothah potash - ah can't name it, ah think it's [something] - Hearts Cologne. Fix all dat up an' throw it in runnin' watah. See, dat will cuz yo' or ah tuh run away. (You take up one step right after the other, both right and left. Twelve of them?) Yes.
Entry 5741
Go 'long an' pick up yore track while it's warm an' put it in a bottle. Put a little sugah in dere an' stop it up, an' den throw it in runnin' watah. Yo'll run jis' as dat bottle goin', watah runnin'.
Entry 5768
Dey say dey kin take some of yore footstep. Take some of dat where yo' make yore footstep an' take some out de palm of yore feet, right where de centah of yore feet. Take an' put dat in a bottle, cork it up an' throw it in a runnin stream. Dey say dat'll put chew tuh goin'.
(What foot do they take?)
Say de left foot.
Entry 5810
[I have included this margin title because LIVE THINGS IN YOU (Section 8) is based upon the theory that some animals are reproduced through their blood. Our informant evidently confines the word animal to horse, cow, dog, cat, etc.; a lizard or a snake being an insect.] Yo' kin take yore hair an' put nine drops of any- thing's blood on it - yo' know, insects - an' put it in runnin' water an' run yo' crazy. (You take nine drops of any kind of blood from an animal or insect or any- thing?) Insect - not a animal, a insect.
(Any kind of an insect?)
Yes suh, a lizard or a snake, an' put it in runnin' water an' dey say dat will nmn yo' crazy.
Entry 5831
[Similar to the margin title BURIED HAIR, only a few examples of burn- ing hair will be given here. Many other rites are scattered through the text.] Dey take mah hair an' put it wit some sulphur an' brimstone, an' dey put it in some of yore watah an' de sand - some of dat sand out de hollah of yore track, or eithah dey take a piece outa yore sock at de hollah of yore feet [if unable to obtain the foot track]. An' put it together an' if dey want chew tuh go, why dey throw it in a runnin' stream wrapped up, an' as long as hit run, why jes' de furthah yo' will go. An' when- evah it stop, yo' will stop until it start rainin' ag'in - till de stream start washin' it, see. An' if dey wanted yo' tuh stay or wanted yo' tuh kill yo'self, why dey'd take it an' put it in - bo' a hole in a tree an' put it in dere an' put a piece back in dere ovah it tuh hold - keep de air from it. Or, eithah dey would take an' burn it. An' if dey burn it, why whenevah - at a certain time de spell, dat spell would come on yo', a real full spell - kinda out of yore senses, an' yo' stick yore head in de fiah or maybe yo' jump ovah- bo'd an' kill yo'self or sompin. Well, dere wuz a boy ah know, hit wuz a girl he wuz goin' wit, an' he wuz leavin' for de CCC [Civilian Conservation Corps, of the U. S. A.] Camp. An' she'd taken 'is picture an' she put it in a - his picture an' some sulphur an' some brimstone an' some of de hair out 'is haid an' de bow outa his hat, an' dey [wo- men] put dis togethah an' burn it. An' aftah dey burn it, dey taken it out de fiah - jes' burn it, put it in a separate place an' burn it in a little box - an' den dey taken it an' wrapped it up good an' real tight an' wore it in dey clothes, in dere undahclothes. Well, as long as she wore it in 'er undah- clothes why he stayed dere. He couldn't stay 'way from 'er house. An' when she taken off 'er cloth [holding the ashes] an' put it - she'd throw it in de fiah, an' he'd taken an' stuck 'is haid in de fiah. It taken six people tuh hol' 'im out de fiah. An' den he got away an' got in de fiah an' caught afiah. An' whenevah dey could git 'im out, he'd ketch hold of de bed, jes' lak dat [may have demonstrated], dey said. An' he'd ketch de foot of it an' draw it togethah, jes' bend it [the 2 legs of the bed together]. An' he kept on lak dat till he died.
Entry 5872
Well, dey take yore hair - one of de details of it. A person maybe wanta drive yo' crazy. Well, dey'll e de hair an' take it out by a fish, a catfish, an' tie de hair into de gill dey'll turn de catfish loose - put him back in de water.
Entry 5893
Ah knowed dis, pers'nal sperience. Ah give yo' dis firs'. Now, dis is not fo' love 'fairs, but dis is tuh make yo' leave heah. Yo' kin take some of yore hair an' yo' kin put it in a frog mouth an' yo' kin throw 'im ovahbo'd if it's on fresh watah, an' as long as dat frog go, yo' go be wanderin' somewheres. Well, if yo' put it in dis salt watah like de tide goes an' QES: IF DEY PUT IT ON DE GOIN' OUT TIDE, WHY YO' GOIN' LEAVE HEAH; BUT IF YO FUT IT ON DE COMIN' IN TIDE, YO' CAN'T GIT AWAY FROM HEAH. BrUNSWiCk, Ga.,
(1189), 2007:2.1]
Entry 5947
An' ah tole him [my contact man Edward Bufford] 'bout takin' de hair from de mole of yuh haid, an' takin' an' puttin' it in a bottle of cologne, an' go tuh any kinda runnin' stream an' jis' drop it ovah. An' dat wuz anothah way tuh git rid of 'em, run 'em away.
Entry 6006
If yo' know someone dat chew wanta git rid of 'em an' dey are casin' confusion in yore home, why yo' kin take dere hair an', yo' know, git jis' fo' needles. Yo' cross dose needles somepin lak dat [demonstrates]. Make a square. [This square or oblong is a symbolical coffin or grave.] (Put two parallel needles like that, and two parallel - on the top and the bottom.) Dat's right. An' den yo' take dere hair, an' cut de hair out de mole of dere haid, an' put it in a little bot- tle [originally a tiny bottle of perfume sold at Five and Ten Cents Stores] an' stop it up, an' place it direck [directly] between dat square of dose needles. An' den git chew a red piece of rag or flannin an' sew it up in dere, an' walk tuh de rivah an' chunk it ovah yore lef' shouldah an' dey will leave. Dey jis' gotta go an' dey cain't stop. Dey cain't res' contented nowhere dey go.
(What holds these [needles] in place?)
Yo' wrap 'em wit some thread, wit a piece of red cord.
(Like you were making a picture frame?)
Dat's right. An' aftah yo' fix [tie] dat up lak dat, den yo' place dis bot- tle in de centah.
(Then you wrap the whole thing up?)
Wit a red piece of rag [red flannel]. An' den yo' chunk it direck ovah yore lef' shouldah in runnin' watah.
Entry 6009
Dey say yo' take dis hair an' a piece of shed off a rattlesnake - rat- tlesnake shed an' take dat hair an' some five pins an' five needles an' put it down in a bottle of Epsom salts an' fill dat bottle up wit watah an' turn dat bottle upside down in de groun' an' bury it an' yo'll [go] stone crazy.
(Do you bury that any place?)
Bury it in de north cornah of de yard.
Entry 6012
Some people kin take yo' hair, dey take seven needles, brass-eyed needles, an' dey will do dat hair up wit dose seven brass-eyed needles, naming evah one of dem yo' name. An' put 'em into somepin an' take em down by de watah stream. Not in de watah, but dig a hole In de groun' an' put it [these things] in a bottle or tin box or somepin an' close it up. Turn de top [of bottle or box] down. Let de eye of dose needles be down. Bury dat six to nine inches in de ground, down by de side of dat watah, an' make a drain where de watah will pass by it - barely runnin' ovah it.
(A little channel.)
An' aftah so many days - nine days - yo' will feel de effects of it. An' dose who know yo' will begin notison [noticing] somepin dat peculiar about chah, somepin diff'ren', somepin unusu'l. An' from time to time it will cuz yo' to dvin'le away an' die.
Entry 6017
Dere two things dat ah hear'd dat yo' could do wit de hair. Dey kin take nine strands of yore hair an' put it in a bag an' sew it up wit nine needles an' cross dese needles in dat hair - break 'em an' cross 'em in a little bag. Sew de bag up an' bury it somewhere. Dat is to make yo' stay. Bury it where yo' go out ovah, walk ovah it. Dat'll make yo' stay wit 'em. An' if dey don' want chew wit 'em, dey'll take it an' git it an' sew it up in a bag an' throw it in runnin' watah, or eithah carry it to a oak tree an' cut a little hole in dere an' wedge it up in dere an Stop it up. An' dat Will run yo' crazy. DAT'S WHUT AH HEAR'D A OLE WOMAN TELL A
Entry 6086
Well, ah heard in mah days past if yo' had a woman or a man an' yo' wnted tuh make love wit 'em an' wanted tuh make 'em stay wit yo', [take] some [hair] from de centah of de top of dere haid an' some of de hair from dey body down heah. An' some of de hair from undah dere arms. An' Cobine dat an' carry dat wit yo' to a young grave, where yo' could bury it. Or, yo' know, yo' could take all of dat an' if yo' wanted to make a person leaveyo', S0 dey'd worry 'bout yo' an' wanta come back to yo', but dey couldn't come back yo', jes' throw it in runnin' watah.
Entry 6130
Do dat in diff'ren' ways. I kin take yore hair - I take yore hair, but if I take yore hair, I take from de mole of de haid. Take yore hair from de mole of yore haid. I would plat yore hair. If I Wants to do yo' any harm, I would plat yore hair. If yo' wuz a woman an' I wanted to make yo' come back to me or some- pin of dat sort, I'd put it in de toe of my shoes, an' I'd wear dat hair in de toe of my shoes. I'd plat it an' put it in de toe of my shoes an' I'd wear dat bair in dere. An' while I'se got dat hair in my shoes, walkin' aroun' wit dat wr, I'd gits me one of dese little small perfume bottles. I writes 'er name dosn wit pen an' ink, nine times. I makes dis bottle full of sweet water, jes' as sweet as I possibly kin git it, but say, anyhow, into a syrup. I would take sngah an' make it into a syrup, see, wit dis watah. Put 'er name down into dis bottle an' 'er hair in de toe of my shoe. Dat's if I would want 'er. See, an' I'd keep 'er dere into dis bottle an' in de toe of my shoe, an' I puts dis bot- te udah my steps, but I would bury it undah de steps. I wouldn't bury it so deep. I would bury it an' den she would come on back home. See.
Entry 6173
Take de hairs from underneath yore arm an' de haid - yo' know, undah yore clothes down dere, an' wash yore feet. An' yo' know, sometime yo' don't wash yore feet in a long time, dere be lots of ole dead skin on it, yo' know, an' yo' kin take an' scrape dat off. An' den yo' kin take dis watah yo' see an' put it in sompin. A woman had mah brothah fixed lak dat. AN' AH PROMISED DE LORD AH'D NEVAH FIX A MAN NO HAY. IF ONE DON'T WANT ME, AH DON' WANT 'IM. So she had mah brothah fixed jes' lak dat - she had 'im fixed up jes' lak dat.
Entry 6260
[To swing, either oneself or something else, can be a magic rite.]
An' anothah way yo' kin git 'er, if yo' kin jes' git three stran's of 'er hair from de mole of 'er haid an' stick it into a cologne bottle an' let it stay dere. Don't airtight it, jes' let it stay dere, jes' so dat it, yo' know, kin be a li'l bit of air gittin' to it all de time. She'll love yo' right out. But if yo' wanta quit 'er an' don' want 'er be worrying aftah yo' an' follahin' aftah yo', de way fo' yo' tuh do. Yo' carry dat hair down tuh a stream of watah, where de watah runnin' swift; an' tie it an' let it swing dere. An' long as dat hair swing dere, she'll swing 'way from yo'. She won' gi' [give] yo' no trouble. Yo' kin go wit whoevah yo' want an' she won' say a harmin' word 'ginst yo' - have nuthin tuh say 'ginst yo'. [Please notice the man's Christian act of leaving the bottle open so that the Woman would not suffocate or lose her mind!] [This belief could also have been placed under the hair and running water rites given later.]
Entry 6285
A man or a woman kin ketch a stran' of yuh hair, one stran' an' ball it, an' put it in runnin' watah. [That will] lighten yuh brains, yo' nevah be standin' still any mo'. [This rite evidently sends you crazy and away at the tue.
Entry 6287
Take a stran' of a woman's hair, anybody's hair dat chew be goin' wit lak dat, an' den throw it in runnin' watah an' it will run dem crazy. [Wilson, N. Car. (1461), 2650:9.]
Entry 6288
Well, ah've heard dat chew kin cut a small plait of hair in de top of yore haid, de mole of yore haid, an' put it in runnin' watah. It will run yo' crazy.
Entry 6289
Ah've heard dat chew kin take hair an' put it in a runnin' stream whicb would drive a person crazy.
Entry 6290
Dey take jes' a piece of yore hair an' put it in a runnin' stream of watah, an' dat'll cuz a person tuh lose 'is mind.
Entry 6291
Heard 'em say dey could git holt of yore hair an' run 'em [you] crazy.
(Well, how would they do that?)
Well, dey say dey could put it in watah, in runnin' watah.
(Run them crazy?)
Yes.
Entry 6293
Kin take yore hair. Take yore hair an' take it an' put it in, chunk it in de rivah, in runnin' watah. An' dat will run yo' 'way.
Entry 6294
Take yore hair an' put it in runnin' watah. Dat make yo' go away, yo' know - leave, jis' wondah, yo' know.
Entry 6295
If yo' git holt of dere hair, why yo' kin put it in runnin' watah - anyone givin' yo' trouble - an' dey have to go outa town.
Entry 6298
Wal, dey take yore hair, git it from de mole of de head in yore sleep. An' dey git dat out de mole of yore head an' bottle it up and take it to a run- ning stream, an' dey throw dat in a runnin' stream an' dey say dat got a bad effect on yore brains some way. (They bottle it up and just throw it in that running water.)
Entry 6300
Dey kin git de hair out de mole of yore haid, an' dey kin take it an' stop it up in a bottle an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' dat'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 6301
If yuh git hold of it, yuh see, yuh kin take it, hair, an' put it in a bottle, stop it up: Put it in a bottle an' stop it up an' den yuh carry it an' throw it in runnin' watah. Dat way yuh could run 'em crazy.
Entry 6302
Ah heard dat dey kin take a stran' of yore hair an' close it in a bot- tle an' throw it in runnin' watah an' dat will put chew tuh goin', too.
Entry 6303
Heard dat dey says yo' take de hair an' close it up in a bottle an' all lak dat, an' put it in runnin' watah an' all dat stuff.
(What was that supposed to do?)
Ah dunno, drive a person crazy.
Entry 6304
Dey say yo' kin take hair an' stick it in a bottle, an' go to a run- nin' stream an' throw dat bottle in de watah, an' let dat watah on it an' yo' kin run a person crazy lak dat. Yo' kin take a plait of hair an' do de same.
Entry 6305
Take yuh hair an' dey bury it an' put - even dey kin put it in a bottle am' stop it up an' take it tuh driftin' watah. Dey'll throw it in dere. It'll keep yuh wit de headache an' make yuh drift.
Entry 6306
Take yore hair an' put it in a tight bottle an' stop it up in dere an' throw it in runnin' watah. Dat'll take yore mind, run yo' crazy.
Entry 6321
Dey could take yuh hair an' tie it up in a rag an' wear it nine days in dat rag, an' throw it in runnin' watah an' dat run yo' crazy.
Entry 6322
Git dat hair an' yuh plat it. An' yuh plat it undah- han'. Don't plat it ovah-handed, plat it undah-handed. An' if yuh plat it undah-handed, when yuh git it plat undah-handed, den yuh git a li'le red piece of ribbon, li'le tiny piece of ribbon on dat hair, see. Yuh puts dat into a bottle. Den yuh stop it up tight an' yuh throw it in de watah, nmmin' watah, IN DE BIG MISSISSIPPI RIVAH. An' dat'll run yuh crazy or run yuh oata torn.
Entry 6325
Take a person's hair right outa his haid, 'bout de mole of 'is haid, an' put it into a silk pocket han'ke'ch'ef, an' yuh kin drop it in runnin' watab. An' dat will run 'im plumb crazy. See, dat would run 'im crazy. [Fay- etteville, N. Car., (1407),] 2528:2.]
Entry 6329
Yuh kin take a stran' out de mole of yuh haid an' carry it tuh a run- nin' watah an' throw it up de stream - don' throw it down de stream, throw it up de stream. Dat'll drive yuh crazy in two days. Yuh be jis' as crazy as a bug. [Here again, as in the preceding rite, we have a magic term, upstream, meaning against the stream. Upstream or its equivalent against the stream is a common feature of black cat lucky-bone rites - see Pp.74-97 and elsewhere.]
Entry 6330
I have heard stories about that. They would get a lock of your hair in a certain part near the top of your head [the mold] where the brain is more exposed. And they get that hair and put it with some other ingredients, and a piece of your clothes that you have happen to have worn very close to you. They tie it up tightly and throw it in running water. This is supposed, they say, to make you lose your mind and to go away from wherever you live. You will continue to want to go as long as this thing keeps in the water and keeps going. It will stop you from running if it will catch on something, a root, a snag; then they say you will stop. You will never want to come back from where you started from.
Entry 6335
Anybody kin do dat. Jes' take nine strands of hair out de top of yore haid, very perfect, an' put it in a bottle an' stop it airtight, an' put it in runnin' watah - jes' run 'em 'way, an' drown 'em.
Entry 6338
Wal, dey kin take yuh hair. Git 'em on a piece of papah an' wrap it up an' put some salt an' black peppah wit it. Put it in runnin' watah an' yuh got-a git outa dis town. Dat will put chew a-travelin'.
Entry 6346
If a man would take some hair out a woman haid, or eithah a man haid, an' jes' or'nar'ly - see, we got a sluggish slow tide chere. An' yo' stop it up [in a bottle] jes' as tight as it kin be stopped, see, an' put jes' enough water or anythin' dat sink dat bottle. Jes' let it swim wit de tide a piece, not [sink] right down to de bottom. An' she left town. She won't come, be back, but she won't be hurt. Dat de woman's hair, see.
(That's to run her out of town?)
Yeah, dat's to run her outa town.
Entry 6456
Take an' cut yore toenails off an' take dat an' put it in runnin' branch watah. An' take dis green stuff whut chew call moss, an' put it up in dere kinda like a tea an' put it in dat bottle. Shet it up airtight an' yo' put it up ovah de sill of yore porch.
(What will that do?)
Yeah, yo' wrap 'em up in dis green moss whut runs in runnin' watah [algae], an' yo' takes it an' puts it in a bottle an' put it up ovah de jois' [joist] of yore porch. (What is it supposed to do?) Sometimes dat'll - it will run some folkses CRAsY an' [but other folks] stay home. Dat'll bring peace in yore home.
Entry 6484
Well, it's quite natchel if a man love a woman, he wan' 'er tuh love 'im yo' know. When she rub 'er haid - when she mub 'er haid wit 'im, well she love yo' an' yo' love 'er. Well, but if yo' wanta git sho [sure] of 'er, if yo' got dat much 'er toenail yo' cut off - cut chure toenail off an' tie it tuh a string wit jis' about dat much Adam Weed Root [Adam-and-Eve?] in dat, wit dat toenail, an' let it swing off intuh runnin' watah. An' jis' as long as dat vill stay dere, she'll love yo'.
(That's her toenail you tied?)
Sho', her toenail.
Entry 6487
(You were saying something about a woman holding or bringing something back - to hold it back or something. What were you going to tell me about that?) Hold yo' back? (Yes.) Oh! Keeping yo', jis' keepin' yo'. Jis' lak, if yo' come here, lak yo' is now an' someone taken a likin' tuh yuh. Well, she will fool around wit yo' but she nevah could git yuh mind. Well, dat's like me. Well, ah could be a man of plenty of money an' a woman could heah talk of me. She say, "Well, I heah talk of dat fellow. He got plenty of money. I'm goin' tuh try tuh git in touch wit 'im." Well, she gits - some day she be settin' down an' she'll scrape de bottom of 'er feet. But she'll scrape it a diff'ren' way at least - a man kin take an' git holt of a woman de same Way, if she is a whiskey drinkah. Well, she scrape it back. Don' nevah scrape it fo'ward.
[Informant will continue to confuse person or sex of who is doing what.]
(How will she scrape it back, from the toes to the heel?)
[This is quite evident, but I wanted a statement from informant.]
From de toe tuh de heel, right in de hollah yo' see. Well she'll git dat. Well, her feet is got tuh be soft yo' know, got tuh be soft tuh do dat. She'll soak 'er feet in watah, yo' know, tuh git dis skin of it soft. Well, she'll take dat den an' she'll put dat intuh dis whiskey, an' she'll let dat whiskey set about ten days. In ten days time, well yo' kin hold it up an' yo' cain't see anything atall in it. Well, yo' might come an' yo' be settin' aroun' an' she come an' set in yuh lap an' yo' say, "Well, sugah," say, "ah brought somepin fo' yo'." Yo' reach back in yuh pocket. She say, "Whut is dat?" She say, "Aw, yo' been talkin' about whiskey." She say, "Ah'll give yo' a drink of whiskey. Ah bought some fo' yo'. Ah git ti'ed [tired] of yo' worryin' me fo' some whiskey all de time." Say, "Ah bought dis especially fo' yo'. Ah don' wan' nobody drink dis but yo'." Well, she take some an' drink it. Well, yo' still-drink. Yo' ain't drinkin' none atall, 'cuz yo' know whut it is. Yo' say, "Drink - drink - drink. Help yuhself, drink." Say, "I bought it fo' yo'." Well, fin'ly yo' - yo' do dat twice. Unlessen not, if it don' take no effect, well yo' do it three times. Well fin'ly it will take effect. It gits so den, when yo' git ready tuh go, if she'sa young girl - if she - yo' kin take holt of a young girl de same way. Her mothah cain't keep 'er at home. She'll come zactly where yo' is at. She'll - first thing yo' know, yo' look dere, an' yo' see her comin'. She say, "Where's Mr. So- and-So at? "' 'He's not here." 'How long he been gone?" '"Oh, he's been gone such- an'-such a time! He'll be back directly." "Do yo' reckon dat he'll be back?" "Yeah." Well, if yo' don't come, well she'll go on away huntin' yo'. Well, yo've got de underholt of 'er, see. Dat's where yo' take de underholt of 'er.
Entry 6573
Yo' take a lizard or a salamandah or anything lak dat - yo' take a lizard now. Ef a person take him an' ketch 'im an' kill 'im, yo' take him den an' yo' let 'im dry up. Well, aftah he dry up, yo' take him an' pound 'im up an' put 'im in anything, an' aftah while he'll grow. Jis' lak yo' put 'im in watah or sompin tuh eat, an' a person eat it, git it in 'em. He'll grow an' in a very short while he'll be runnin' all through 'is flesh.
Entry 6576
(A lizard can harm her?)
If yo' done wanta, take a lizard, jis' keep 'im swimmin' in watah, jis' keep 'im alive in dat watah. Keep 'im in dat watah, while dat woman is neah 'er time. Always jis' keep dat lizard in dat watah an' evah mawnin' git chew a teaspoonful of dat watah an' drop it in de watah she drinks. An' keep dat lizard in dat watah. An' it will make 'er have a hard birth or a miscarriage.
Entry 6580
May water, cayenne pepper, nine pods of pep- per, salt; bathe down and take physic. Live things come out.
Entry 6593
Den it's anothah somepin. A fellah will do dat. Yo' know whut a snail Is. Well, yo' could take dat an' put it in dey drinkin' watah. Sprinkle a little salt in dere. Yo' know, take de snail an' sprinkle salt on it till it dwindle all away. Ah don' care how large he is he'll dwindle on away tuh nuthin. an' yo' n do de same thing wit a woman person. Let 'em drink watah.
(What will that do to a man?)
Dat will kill 'im. Yo' know, jis' dry 'em up, jis' lak dey would git sick an is'dvindle away. (But you have to dissolve this snail dust in salt and then put that juice into irdrinking water?) Yessuh.
Entry 6598
[I follow the preceding snake story with a rare account of a woman with cancer, who, after hospital treatments and as a last resort, visits a spiritualist or hoodoo. About as revealing as the material itself, is my pencil note written on the original transcription sheets within a year of the original interview: MisceZl [miscellaneous material] several small things - will take [choose] one out later. The present cancer ex- perience is the only small thing I took out. Twenty or thirty years later I put over that old comment of mine 3 large exclamation marks in red ink!!!] Dis lady, she wus a frien' of mine, but ah knew 'er fer a long while. An' she had firs' - supposed tuh be a tumor on 'er arm. Had de tumor taken off an' she went on fer years an' anothah one came a'out some place else. She had dat taken off. An' fine'ly [finally] she had trouble wit 'er stomic. She wus comin' from work one day an' she wus comin' up de steps an' a pain struck 'er an' dey had tuh bring 'er in. She couldn't walk. Dey brought 'er in an' put 'er tuh baid an called de doctor. She wus swollen up from 'er toes all de way up tuh 'er hips. De doctor said she had a tumor an' made arrangements fer 'er tuh go tuh de hos- pital. She went tuh de hospital on Sunday an' she wus tuh be operated on Monday, but dey kept aftah 'er so. An' dey couldn't git 'er in any kinda condition fer operatin'." Dey had 'er dere a month 'fo' dey operated on 'er. Aftah dey operat- ed on 'er, dey'd taken a'out a very peculiah tumor. She tole me it had knots on it like a knotty white potato. [Potato in the Southern States usually meant sweet potato.] An' so aftah dey'd taken dis tumor a'out she stayed in de hos- pital a week, two weeks, an' den she went tuh 'er son so she could git 'er strength tuh come home. She wus at 'er son's, she had anothah one come out on 'er neck - up heah on 'er neck - an' she wus so dat she couldn't swallah. An' she said she could feel sompin movin'. She could feel sompin movin' in 'er throat. An' she would go tuh cleah 'er throat an' she would feel sompin like a claw, very painful an' 'er throat wus very sore. Ah know mahself she couldn't swallah. It would take her all day long. She couldn't git down so much as a glass or orange juice. [There is material in Hoodoo showing that live things in a person sometimes try to leave the body through the person's mouth; this being one of the causes of serious choking spells.l So a frien' of mine tole her about goin' tuh see somebody dat supposed tuh be A SPIRITUALIST OR HOODOO, or whutevah yo' might call 'em, an' - aw, she wus very sick, she couldn't eat anythin'. So dis girl [taking care of patient] she went tuh see dis [hoodoo] woman. Ah don' know where de woman is [her street ad- dress]. Anyhow, dis woman she tole her tuh come see her, an' she say she didn't go out, de woman would have tuh come tuh 'er. An' we [corrected later to girl] tole her de woman wus too ill - de girl tole her de woman wus too ill. So she said bring 'er in a taxi. So ah mahself helped tuh git 'er ready, but ah didn't go tuh de woman wit 'er. She went tuh see dis woman, an' dis woman tole her dat it had been seven years ago dat it had been snake aigs wus powdahed an' put in 'er icebox in watah, an' she drank dis watah an' dese aigs 'cumulated in 'er. Yo' see, an' yo' know, dey jis' had formed in 'er an' dis woman said 'er insides wus scally like a fish. An' so, at first she tole her she didn't know whethah she could do her any good or not, but fer 'er tuh come back de nex' day [THE MAGIC DELAY SO OFTEN ENCOUNTERED IN HOODOO]. An' IN DE MEANTIME SHE GAVE HER, SHE CALLED IT GRAVEYARD DUST, IN SOME WATER. [This graveyard dirt was probably a blackish powder known as black draft or black drink, two different preparations, cathartics, frequently mentioned in Hoodoo.] She vomited up. De girl wus wit 'er. Now, ah wusn't wit 'er, de girl wus wit dis woman. She tole me she vomited up absolutely little yallah eggs. An' dis woman [hoodoo] said she had been so long [in finding out what was wrong with her] she wus jis' bedded wit aigs. See? An' she vomited up dese aigs in a pan. She give her a bucket aftah she give her dis graveyard dust. She vomited up dese aigs in dis pan. An' she tole her tuh stop by de store on de way home an' git mack'rel an' take it right a'out, salt mack'rel, an' take it right a'out de, yo' know, a'out de brine, jis' as it wus, an' don' wash it off or anythin'. Don' care whut it had on it, jis' take evah- thin' along wit it an' eat de belly of de mack'rel. Now dis is de truth. Now ah know dis fer mahself. An' she et [ate] dis mack'rel an' she said dis thin' dat wus up along 'er neck - it wus a snake in 'er neck, see - an' SHE SAY DIS BELLY OF A MACK'REL WOULD TURN DIS SNAKE DOWN, SEE. AN' SHE WOULD GIVE HER TREATMENTS AN' WORK IT DOWN TUH 'ER STOMACH [so that it could gO out through the bowels]. Well, she did an' she hadn't et anything fer a long time. She did. She et [ate] dis belly of dis mack'rel an' dat's de firs' thin' she had swallah- ed fer ovah a month. Yo' know, she couldn't swallah anythin' hard. An' den aftah dat, nachur'ly [naturally] she got bettah an' dis woman tole her if she Would keep on comin' tuh 'er she could cure her. NOT TUH GO BACK TUH DE HOSPITAL 'CUZ DE DOCTORS DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO FO' HER.
(What sort of treatment did she give her when she went to her house?)
She give her dis snake dust, er [I mean] graveyard dust. Dis made her vomit up dose aigs, yo' see. An' ah don' know whut she did. Ah guess she continue givin' 'er dat so much each time she would go dere. But anyhow she got bettah an' she got so she could go tuh dis woman 'erself. Now dis is de truth 'cuz ah know dis mahself. Ah seen 'er. Ah know 'er. She wus a frien' of mine. An' she WuS gittin' along fine an' CO'SE SHE WEN' TUH DE HOSPITAL TAKIN' RADIUM TREAT- MENTS FER A CANCER, yo' see. An' it burned 'er neck, yo' see, an' of co'se her son bein' [modern and insisting that she go to the hospital, etc.] [Something must have happened here. Machine turned off. I ask her to re- peat.] Yes, she wus goin' tuh de hospital takin' radium treatments an' yo' know dat hot thin' had burned 'er. An' see in de co'se of time it made her neck sore, an' of co'se as she wus sick she wasn't able tuh work den, an' 'er son he wus 'er main support. He started tuh go work fer [against] dis woman [hoodoo], an' den she went back, started goin' back tuh de hospital again. But dey didn't do her any good in de hospital. But dis thing it did git out of 'er neck. Whatevah it was it got out of 'er neck, an' she got so dat she could eat, 'cuz ah used tuh carry 'er food mahself, so dat she could eat. Of co'se, aftah 'er son wouldn't give 'er money [to go to the hoodoo], I give her money two or three times mah- self tuh go tuh dis woman. An' so in de co'se of time - an' in de meantime dis woman tole 'er dat dis woman had got mad wit 'er an' dey fell out about sompin othahs. Dis woman wus a roomah intuh 'er house. Dis woman put de stuff in 'er. An' dat had been seven yeahs ago dat stuff had been in 'er. See, it wus jis' workin' on 'er grajly [gradually]. Dat wus in '35. She wus supposed tuh die in '35. Well, she didn't die in '35. Well she died de fifth of [5th month] '36 - 1936. [I interviewed this informant, March, 1938.1 An' so ah used tuh go ahead an' bath 'er. Ah don' know whut it wus, but her had a big knot almos' as big as mah fist, she had it right undah 'er arm. She had a big knot an' truly yo' put chure han' on dat, it would move. Yo' know, yo' put chure han' right on it dere an' yo' could feel it slip. Ah don' know whut it wus.
(Where was this woman living when this happened?)
Yes, indeed, right heah in Washington, D. C.,
(And the root or hoodoo doctor lives right here in Washington, too?)
Uh-huh, she lived here in Washington City. An' she jis' continue tuh git wuse [worse] an' wuse an' got so bad off. She an' 'er son were livin' tuhgethah an' yo' know, she wus 'fraid tuh leave her home by 'erself an' all, she got so weak an' all. Dey'd taken 'er back tuh de hospital ag'in, right down heah to de [?] Hospital. Dey had taken 'er down to Doctor Reed [Walter Reed] Hospital. An' she jis' continued tuh grow weakah an' weakah, an' den, ah don't know whut it wus, but she had somepin othah an' she lost mo' strength. But dat thin' dat she had in 'er arm would achly [actually] make her arm jump, jis' dis Way [demon- strates]. An' it did like dat until she died.
(What did the doctors say was wrong with her?)
Ah nevah had nerve enough tuh ast de: son, but ah heah 'im talk dat ovah aftah she died.
Entry 6643
Say, if ah wanted tuh' do sompin tuh yo', ah would git me a snake an' kill 'im an' put 'im intuh a sompin an' bake 'im, an' ah would use mah wish. Ah would take de ashes an' ah would drop it in- tuh yore meal or intuh de watah yo' drink, an ah would made de wish fo' whut ah wanted tuh happen tuh yo'. An' it would happen.
(Do you mean you would wish anything?)
Anything dat yo' wanted tuh wish. Dat's de way ah heard of it.
(Wouldn't that dust create certain things in you or what?)
[My question is leading but the live things are obvious.]
Yes sir.
Entry 6702
Dey tell me if yo' kin git some red antses, take an' carry 'em an' boil 'em. Boil 'em down therly [thoroughly]. Well yo' kin take dat watah an' give it tuh a person an' let 'em drink it. Dat's good fo' any kinda tricks. [For tricks, see TRICKS, p.280f., and elsewhere.]
(That cures them?)
Cures 'em, yassuh.
Entry 6749
Yo' git some corn shucks an' yo' boil 'em an' yo' make a tea. An' don' let 'er drink no watah, no cold watah or othah kinda watah, excep' dat. An' dat'll drive it out an' dry it up [measles].
Entry 6832
Yo' take gunpowdah an' wet it, DAT GUNPOWDAH IS EVIL, IT'S JIS' LAK A EVIL SPIRIT. An' yo' kin take it yo' know an' wet it up. Put chure foot ag'inst de watah. Ah don' know whethah yo've evah seen dat done. Yo' put enough of it in watah an' jis' keep ' a stirrin' 'till dat watah come tuh be perfec'ly black, an' it's all dissolve jis' lak, yo' know, jis' lak sugah. Wal, den yo' take dat watah den an' reverse [see later] it on dat track whah yo' walk. Yo' put some tuh de front, some tuh de back, an' dat do's de work.
(What will that do?)
Wal, dat jis' keepS a man safe, DAT DRIVES DE PART OF EVIL AN' DE SICKNESS AWAY FROM YO'.
(This evil away from you?)
Yes. [First, you protect or cure yourself by dropping gunpowder into a bucket. Wet it up means a little water on the gunpowder in the bucket. Put chure foot ag'inst de watah shows that you mix the water and gunpowder with your foot in the bucket. Next yo' reverse it [the water], not by stirring the gunpowder water in the contrary direction, but by pouring it on dat track whah yo' walk. You pour it on one or more tracks from toe to heel, backwards, opposite the direction of your made tracks. Rites from toe to heel - reversing rites - usually sending maker of the tracks in the opposite direction, are fairly common in Hoodoo. In the present rite the spell is turned back to its sender.]
Entry 6894
Ah have know of sompin about trees fo' makin' medicine, red oak an' beechnut an' sycamore. Mix dem three barks tuhgethah an' put it in a 'luminum pot an' boil it until it come tuh a certain amount, jis' as much 'mount as yo' want. Jis' lak if yo' wanta make a half gallon, why yo' put chew a gal- lon of watah in on dose barks an' let 'em boil down tuh a half gallon, an' den take it out an' git chew some dis heah brown sugah an' put it in dere, an' den strain dat dere bark out dere. Den put dat sugah on dere an' make a syrup. An' put chew jis' a li'le pinch of alum in dere. Well, dat's good fo' coughs.
Entry 6937
One thing you can do to keep anybody in the world from doing anything to you, you get a silver dime, grate it, put it in water and drink it. Put a dime in each shoe. I guarantee you that you'll never be hurt. That silver dust will stick to the lining of your stomach and remain there indefinitely, and if it is not right, it will come right straight back up.
[Fredericksburg, Va., by Ediphone.]
Entry 6948
Yo' could take de shoe an' take it an' lie it undah de baid, bottosl side upwards, an' lie dere han' in a pan of watah an' make 'em tell whut de'
[dey = they] done aftah night. Tell evahthin'.
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 6993
If yo' have a frien' dat drinks likkah an' yo' wants tuh stop 'im from it, yo' take - yo' cut 'is own shirt right undah de arm where he sweats at [de- monstrates]. (Under the left arn.) Uh-hmm. An' yo' boil it in a li'l watah. Den yo' take an' strain it an' po' it intuh some moonshine or whiskey - yhutevah he drinks - an' put it where he kin git it 'isself. When he drink dat, he'll nevah drink anothah drop.
(Take a piece from his own shirt, his undershirt.)
Entry 7054
De wife'll take de sage tea an' put it in a quart of watah, an' boil it down to a half a quart. An' she'll take some of 'er urinate, de amount of dat about half a teacup, an' po' dat in dere. An' sweeten it wit sugah an' syrup, jis' a li'le syrup, an' den yo' go tuh eat, dey'll po' some of dat in yer coffee. But chew don' know it. An' den dat'll turn yo' ag'inst whis- key, 'cuz evah time yo' drink it, it'll make yo' sick an' yo' can' keep it on yer stomic.
Entry 7208
Ah've hear'd sev'ral diff'ren' things about de fo'ks of de road. Ah bear'd dat when people wan' tuh separate people, dey go tuh fo'ks of de road; an' when dey wan' tuh put dem tuhgethah dey go tuh de fo'ks of de road, but it depends on whethah dey work on eithah de left or de right hand side. If yo' want people tuh separate, well dey'll write de person's name, de woman's name, nine dues on a piece of brand-new papah wit a brand-new pencil, tablet an' pencil dat nevah been used. If dey wan' tuh separate dem, dey'll write de man's name nine times an' den dey'll write de woman's crosswise nine times. Den dey take de pencil an' dey think all de evil dey kin: I jis' hope yo' son-of-bitches jis' fuss an' fight an' scratch lak cats an' dogs. [Informant scratches all over the [paper.] An' dey go dere an' dey dig down a few inches.
(They scratch that paper all up.)
Yes, jis' scratch up lak yo're mad at it an' curse dem an' think all de evil yo' kin. An' den yo' dig a hole dere an' yo' bury dat on de left-hand side of de road at de fo'k where de fo'ks meet. An' aftah buryin' it yo' po' watah on L, yo' know, tuh pack de groun' down where dat kin rot. An' by de time dat papah rots, dose people'll begin tuh disagree, an' in from three tuh nine days aftah it rots, dey're separated. An' if yo' wan' tuh put dem tuhgethah, yo' write dere names nine times an' yo' fold it tuh yuh. Of co'se de lady involved has tuh do dat huhself. She has tuh be told. An' she writes 'er lovah's name nine times an' huhs acrost it, an' she folds it tuh 'er nine times. Den she turns it aroun' an' folds it small way, dis way; an' turn it aroun' an' fold it to 'er dis way. Den she takes it an hides it on de right-hand side of de road wit all good wishes.
(Then what happens?)
Well den aftah de same period of time, aftah from three tuh nine days aftah it rots, dis person'll become vi'lently attached tuh 'er.
Entry 7220
An' a girl, she wuz wantin' tuh leave. She wuz goin' tuh leave me lak on a Friday evenin' an' ah wuz lovin' 'er real hard an' ah didn't wan' 'er tuh go. She wuz goin' tuh leave me an' ah didn't Wan' 'er tuh go. So ah goes tuh a man [doctor] an' he tells me tuh go ahead an' go tuh a grave- yard befo' dat dat mawnin' an' git some dirt from undah - from off a man's breast, right off 'is heart, an' put it in a piece of flannel cloth; an' go tuh a grave where a woman hadn't been long died an' git some dirt offa her heart. An' den take it [both dirts] an' sew it up in a piece of red flannel cloth an' tote it on me. Tie it on mah lef' side, an' he guarantee dat she wouldn't leave. An ah did dat an' she didn't go nowhere. Yo' kin take graveyard dirt an' go tuh a stream of runnin' watah an' turn yore back an' throw it upstream, crost yore lef' shouldah, an' if dey wanted tuh go some place dey couldn't go. (Well, wouldn't you do something else, use someone's hair or something of that sort?)
[Informant ignores my leading question.]
Dat if ah wuz in love wit somebody an' she wuz fixin' tuh leave, an' prob'ly ah would heah dat, an' couldn't git 'er not tuh leave, an' ah could git some graveyard dirt an' go tuh any stream of runnin' watah, an' turn mah back an' throw it behin' me upstream. An' she wouldn't wanta leave, she can't go.
(You don't say anything while you are doing it?)
[Again my leading question is ignored.]
No suh, not anything at all. Jis' go by yo'self an' throw it crost yore left shouldah, an' she'll stay dere. [The intention of the rite is sufficient here.]
Entry 7240
Well, mah sistah got hurt once in 'uh han' [hand]. Also one a [of] mah brothahs got hurt. He [doctor] come tuh de house. Mah daddy went [to Ouincy] an' got 'im. An' he tole fathah, say, "Yo' make me a fiah in de stove." He got nine needles in a li'le bottle of watah. Ah don' know whut else he done tuh 'uh. He say de people's been here [who caused her trouble]. An' fō' many mō' minutes dat thing got tuh boilin'. He says, "Dere's a woman goin' come in, ast yo' tuh give her somepin." He say, "Don' give her nothin. She goin' come in aftah some salt." Dat woman did come dere an' it jis' pō'in' down rain. She come in de rain, an' ast mah daddy fer tuh give her a li'le bit of cookin' salt. He tole 'er, "No, ah'm sorry." "Well, all right, goodbye." An' she went right off in de rain, see. Well now, HE WUS TAKIN' DE SPELL OFFEN MAH SISTAH AN' SHE [visitOr] CARRIED IT RIGHT BACK WIT 'ER. Dat's true. [The preceding story, simply and briefly told, is one of the finest statements in Hoodoo. I consider it a work of black literature, beautiful, saying much with little. Consider those two groups of five words each: it jis' po'in' down rain when the woman arrived, immediately repeated as she come in de rain. Within a few minutes the whole world changed. Before the woman's arrival the rain poured, after her immediate departure the rain fell gently, because she carried it [the spell] right back wit 'er. Remember, the informant is speaking extemporaneously. Try to rewrite this story using the same number of words. The doctor's equipment also amazes me. Nine needles in a small bottle! Yes, the woman was a confede- rate, quite worthy of the doctor. After her request for salt is refused, she answers, Well, all right, goodbye. Simplicity is everywhere, exaggeration no- where. Some day I hope a black Lady Gregory will discover this tale and trans- form it into a vehicle for great black, not white-folks acting.] [For a parallel to the preceding story, see NEVER LEND TO A WITCH, in which the witch also comes to borrow salt (FACI 2nd ed., p.875, story of Germanorigin). In our present hoodoo story we have, not some neighbor dropping in to borrow; but the appearance of the mysterious stranger, an awesome theme as old as history.] [A penciled note of mine on the transcription reads R.D. (= root doctor) near Quincy, Fla.]
Entry 7250
De reason ah'm tell'n yo' dis is it's from mah wife. Mah wife - dere wus a lady mad wit 'er an' she loaned a ole lady 'er bonnet, named Rachel Keller. An' she [Rachel] wō de bonnet away an' she kep' it about a week. She wus a frien' of our'n. Well, dis girl whut stayed dere, she found out it wus mah wife's bonnet. She watched 'er. She got some snail, a young snail an' fixed 'em - jis' take 'em lak she have - got 'em an' worked 'em up lak she wanted tuh swell 'em, an' jis' squirted de juice in watah. Washed 'em an' squirted de juice in watah an' put dat in a bottle. She [my wife] goes all tuh pieces-lak. She [the girl] takes an' sprinkles dat bonnet wit it an' mah wife wore it, an' she come jis' as blind as a bat - couldn't see nowhere.
(Real blind.)
She come blind as a bat. She had a li'le girl, name of Carnation. Call dat li'le girl sometime an' she try tuh go tuh de do'. Neah tuh de do' an' couldn't see it. She wus right behin' de dō', thought she wus tuh de dō', but she wus be- bhin' de do'. Couldn't even see me when ah come in de house. Ah carried 'er tuh de same ole lady, Mrs. Brown, an' ah know whut she done.
(You don't know what she did to her?)
I did.
(Oh, you did?)
An ah know whut she done an' whut she tole me tuh do. An' ah did it. She give me de stuff, cayenne peppah, a li'le piece of pod, yo' see. Put it in a skillet an' boil it till de watah wus red. Took a li'le meal, of what chew call...
(Corn meal?)
An' bind it right ovah 'er eyes jis' lak dat, until she got so she could see.
(That's what cured her?)
Made her so she could see. Now she kin see. Dat's been fifteen yeahs ago.
(Was this down in Pilesville?)
[Powersville? N. Car.]
Yes, sir.
Entry 7258
Now, if ah wanta give yo' a job - [you] come tuh me fer a job. Fer a mattah lak dat, de firs' thing ah'd say tuh [yuh], see mah firs' word tuh yuh, "Have yuh known dis gentleman?" [You answer] "Yes." "Have yuh evah worked fer 'im?" "Yes." "Why did yuh stop?" [Doctor Washington is using the new psychology and business methods floating about in the air about 1937.] Well, he explain tuh yuh. An' while he explain tuh yuh, ah'm gittin' de foundation tuh work on, 'cuz he mighta been workin' ovah in de market an' dere mighta been a fallin' out. Now befō' remarkin' on de fallin', out ah gotta go an' hunt de man whut carry de bone [of contention?] dat where de [trouble?] come from [originally?]. Go back an' search an' den he say, "All right, yuh ali. Well see me tuhmorrah evenin', [or] come back tuhmorrah mawnin' 'tween two and three 'clock. Knock on dō' an' dō' be opened, an' come on in de room an git choo outa baid. An' ah be lookin' fer people an' ah sleep dere all alone, no one but mahself. An' mah street do' an' mah room dō' stay open. Come in dere an' shake me an' ah raise up an' turns ovah an' go on out. When yo' come back, ah say, "Well, have yuh got nine dimes? Dat's whut ah want. Well, git nine. Ah Want 19, firs' an' second half. Dat's all de job. Don't gotta [ask for more] until ah git de man, git de boss right tuh de place ah want. Gotta turn on dis man t'ree [three] times. An' de fot [fourth] time, if ah don't git [him] de t'ree [third time]. All right. Well, do whut yuh could. Now ah might go an' take yuh drawahs. Don't wash de whole, [only] right in de seat. Put 'em in a basin jis' lak dat till dat watah turn black. Wait till it [turn black] now. All right, an' take dat watah in a rag, a cotton rag an' soak it all up in dat rag, an' den use dat watah in de basin an' git it on yuh arm, both sides.
(You Wash your arms?)
All yuh arms. Den take dat same watah, wash it off de rag. Yuh goin' fer de job de second time. Wash yuh face wit it jis' lak dat.
(Won't it smell?)
Yes, it smell. SOME PEOPLE SO CRAZY FER SMELLS.- DAT'S A JOB-JOKE - but do it an' yuh go dere. "Well, Cap [Captain] ah come fer a job dis mawnin'. How about it?" "Ah don' know. Come back latah, ah may see yuh between now an' Monday mawn- in'." "All right, thankee [thank you] sir."
(You salute him with your right hand.)
Yuh salute 'im wit yuh right hand - made de connection - t'ree times. Don't hesitate now. [He] tells yuh, "Ah ain't got nuthin tuh do, but ah'll see yuh maybe 'bout Monday mawnin'. Come back an' ah'll see whut ah kin do fer yuh. Talk tuh yuh surely." "Thankee sir; thankee, sir." Right off dere yuh goes. Come on back wit yuh. Come an' 'is thought wit yuh be. Yuh comin' back an' sleepin'. Yo' go back dere Monday mawnin' an' yo' got de job. Well, whut if yo' bein' treated now, ah wus de person aftah it mahself. Give perfect satisfaction. When yuh come back tuh me, ah done knowed whut ah done wid yuh, wit de watah. Den ah want chew tuh take dat same basin or pan an' git choo some physic salts an' some sulphur. Watch me. Some vaseline, half a bottle of vaseline, an' put about a quart of hot watah in it, an' put 'em intuh a round basin an' fetch yuh. An' wash from yuh navel down. [Here is the magic bath.] Sets de whole body in an' wash from de navel right on troo [through], all troo. An' dat watah turn black. An' den Wash yuh whole haid wit dat all up on yuh arms, all yuh neck an' let it dry. Don't wipe a thing, jis' let it stay on dere an' dry on yuh. Now dat man send fer yuh.
(He'll send for you?)
Dat's right. He'll have de job [for you]. Dat man send fer yuh.
Entry 7405
Ah've hear'd dat if a man kills a man an' runs away or do somepin - misdemenah [misdemeanor] whatevah it done be - an' gits away. Well, an' dey Wants tuh do somepin tuh make 'im come back. Well, yo' go - yo' gotta have some kinda piece which dis man wo'. It don't make no diff'rence what - if it wus 'is coat or whut - but it must be some kinda piece which he has wo'. An' yo' takes it, see. An' yo' dresses it. Yo' dresses it wit three diff'ren' mixtures, an' yo' puts it in a place where it won't - no one partici- pates in [frequents or looks into], dat place, yo' see. An' aftah thirteen days dat individual [murderer] will show up on de scene dere. But yo' must take it an' yo' gits one of yuh, one of dese [ingredients] dat yo' dress it wit; dat ah've hear'd yo' dress it wit, is de left horn of a cow.
(The left horn?)
De left horn of a cow.
(The left horn of a cow.)
Yo' take dat an' in... [I interrupt].
(What do you do, take the whole horn?)
No, yo' jis' git some of dat. Yo' jis' take a knife an' jis' scrape, jis' scrape some of dat left horn of a cow. An' de nex' thing yo' git, yo' goes down tuh de graveyard an' yo' gits yuh some dirt - some soil. Den yo' go tuh de west enda [end of] dis individual house. Yo' mus' know where he lived at - where he lived at.
(What did you say now?)
Go tuh de west enda his house where he lived at, an' yo' dig up some soil an' yo' mix dat. Den yo' bring it back an' yo' goes an' yo' git a piece of 'is socks, an' yo' put dat in dere. An' yo' puts dis in a secret place where nobody lives an' yo' waits about thirteen or fourteen days. An' yo' go git it an' bring it out, an' sprinkle it down with salt an' watah. An' in a few days dat guy Sii show up on de scene. So ah heard.
Entry 7885
Go tuh a graveyard an' git graveyard dirt an' mix salt wit it an' whut's dis dey call some kinda sulphur.
(Sulphur?)
An' jes' sprinkle it round in de house and sprinkle it de way dey want chew tuh go. Sprinkle it all de way through de house. Well, dey gits chure track an' take it an' wrap it up in somepin - a cloth - put graveyard dirt wit it an' if dey goin' down to runnin' watah, throw it down in runnin' watah. (These are two different ways of making you move?) Yes. An' dey take an aig an' write chure name on de side of it an' throw it cross yore house an' break it: if it breaks cross dere, yo' gotta move; if it don't yo' git sick. If somebody [root man] don't do somepin fo' yo', yo' liable tuh die.
The informant reports two dirt-related ways to make someone move: a graveyard-dirt mixture scattered in a house, and a track wrapped with graveyard dirt and cast into running water. A subsequent named-egg rite is separate and does not establish dirt use there. Departure, illness and death remain reported claims.
Entry 7956
They say to put four nails, nails which you nail your coffin with, four pins [from the garments of the corpse], and the [death] sheet over you, and a lock of hair. The hair is supposed to molt away. When that hair molts, you're supposed to molt. They would bury this, put it all in a bottle, wrap it up tight and bury it anywhere near your home. If you found this bottle, then they would em- ploy some old cunjure doctor to come and get this bottle and throw it in the river of running Water.
Entry 8401
I've heard that you can take a person's photograph an' soak it in warm water and vinegar for sev- eral hours, so much so that the paint leaves the photograph. And take it out- doors and put it in some old outhouse, and turn the face to the wall, and leave it there for twenty-eight hours. Then bring it back and put it where it was at first, and bad luck will happen to this person.
Entry 8408
Some one tole me dat - say if yo' got anybody's photograph, an' if yo' take dis photograph an' turn it upside down ovah a glass of watah, regardless of where dis man is, he's gotta come back. Dat's all ah know about dat.
(What did you say?)
Turn 'em upside down ovah a glass of watah an' regardless of where dis person lives, he gotta come.
Entry 8409
Ah've seen 'em take yore pichure. Yo' git a glass of watah an' turn it [photo] up. Yo' know, turn it bottom up lak dat [demonstrates]. It won't hurt cha, it twon' kill yo', but it jis' keeps yo' sick, sick, sick all de time.
Entry 8410
Well, dey said lak, yo' know, dey goin' wit a gurl an' dey happen tuh leave 'uh, dey say she could take a glass of watah an' turn dis pitchure, yo' know, down ovah it - de face down, yo' know, nex' tuh de watah. Wheresomevah yo' wus, yo' know, yo'd come back.
Entry 8433
Well, she take his pichure an' her pichure, undahstand, if he gone away from 'er. Take a watahglass, set it down, her face an' his'n tuhgethah. (Whose does she put down first?) Put 'er pichure down first, an' his'n on top of 'ers. Dat'll bring 'im back. (Do you put her picture down under water?) See, on top. See, both de faces is face tuh face, an' de glass of watah, an' let it stay right at de haid of 'er baid. An' dat'll make dis man worried. He can't wait till he sees 'er all de time.
Entry 8440
Take dere pichure an' put it intuh runnin' watah, an' dat'll put a person tuh walkin'. Dey cain't stay at a place contented.
Entry 8441
Now, yo' could take a pichure, an' yo' could take it an' throw it in runnin' watah. An' ah don't care where dat person go, dey couldn't stay an' be satisfied. Evahwhere dey go dey wanta wandah.
Entry 8442
They say they kin take yuh pitchure an' throw it in some runnin' watah. An' if yo' be anywhere, yo'd come back home. [This belief is quite possible, but at the moment I am unable to think of a parallel.]
Entry 8447
Put it in runnin' watah.
(This photograph. What will that do?)
De same, make yo' lose yore mind.
Entry 8451
If dey wanta drive yo' 'way outa town or keep yo' goin', dey take yore photograph an' take it tuh anything dat's sealed airtight, an' set it in dat so it float on de watah. An' put it in dere an' tighten it up good, an' turn dat pichure bot- tomsides, upside down. Jes' as long as dat watah runnin' an' dat pichure floatin' yo' continue goin', yo' see. (How do you mean you turn this picture upside down, in this container you mean?) In de containah - lak jes' de glass heah [glass jar for my cigar ashes?]. Dis de glass. Why yo' [demonstrates] turn de pichure upside down dat way, see. Den yo' take it tuh de rivah. Screw it up airtight so de watah can't git in dere, see lak it float on de watah. Anyway so it will float. Jes' as long as dat watah runnin' an' dis in dere, why yo' continue tuh go. If it evah stops, yo' know, it dry up lak, see yo' begin tuh stop. Well, den if de watah come back flowin' again, yo' begin tuh go again.
Entry 8455
Dey say yo' take de pichure an' put it in runnin' watah an' dat will run yo' crazy. Put yo' wit de haid down de stream an' de feet upstream, pointin' up. See, yore haid go down which will be in front, an' it will run yo' crazy in nine days.
Entry 8460
Takes 'is pichure an' throw it in a stream of runnin' watah goin' so'th, a deep stream, an' dat'll kill 'im.
Entry 8463
I've heard people say that people could git chere fortergraph - I think its on de tintype, we call it - an' put it down tuh the lowah watahmark; an' de tide rises ovah that an' comes tuh de high watahmark an' it covahs it. They say [they] can do somepin tuh yuh by that way.
Entry 8464
Now, yo' take some dose people kin git holt of yore photograph an' dey take it an' dey carry it tuh streamin' watah, yo' know, an' put it in streamin' branch watah. Let it run up an' turn round, den dey take it out an' bury it undahneath de do'step, an' dat will kinda worry yo' a li'le bit. (Wait! About this photograph. They put it in a stream of running water and let it go up the stream.) Dat's it.
(Then turn it around and let it go back.)
Float back.
(It goes up with the tide.)
Go up wit de tide an' come back right tuh de tide. Pick it up an' bury it right undahneath yuh do'step anywhere where yo' could walk ovah it.
(They bury it under my doorstep?)
Yes sir.
Entry 8498
Ah'll tell it ag'in, see, jis' lak ah say, "Margrit?" An' she say, "Ooh!" Covah de bottle, covah de bottle stoppah up.
(What will that do?)
Dey done fo' good. Ah think dat's tuh drill yuh away. Now, ah'm not positive. (What is in that bottle?) Nuthin but jis' de voice. An' dey go throw dat in runnin' watah an' don't look back. Tell me yo'll dreen [drain] away or eithah move or go outa dis town. (That's catching your spirit.) [See TO CATCH A SPIRIT, p.24 and many places in text, especially margin title BLACK WINE BOTTLE in present section.]
Entry 8514
(What are you going to do when you get the coconut?)
Whut chew goin' do wit de coconut? Yo' goin' empty de watah [milk or juice] out de coconut, dry it out good. See, don' leave no watah in dere, let it drain good. An' den put jis' a li'le steel dust an' a piece of lodestone, an' yo' orite dat name nine times. Write his name nine times. Take dat spool of thread, No.8 black, an' wrap dat comin' tuh yuh [saying] "Ah want chew tuh stay heah. Yo nst stay an' yo' gotta stay. Ah want chew heah." Yo' put dat intuh dat coconut an' yo' take a li'le stoppah an' yo' cut de stoppah off, an' shet dat up an' bury it undah de steps. See. (Is there any special way you must bury it under the steps?) No, yo'jis'.... Yo'see, yo' have tuh bury it up lak dat [demonstrates]. Yo' bury it up lak dat, but de coconut is in de ground. See. Now ah did dat. (What will that do then?) Well, dat brings 'is mind, makes 'im stay dere, an' him an' her been tuhgethah evah since.
Entry 8528
(Now, you are going to tell me something else. Now, all right.) Now, then yo' kin get yo' a coconut. Yo' git yo' nine seeds of punkin [pumpkin]. (Pumpkin seeds, nine of them.) Nine of 'em. (All right.) Yo' get yo' nine chicken corns [kernels of maize, Zea Mays]. (Nine what?) Chicken corns. (Chicken corn, what's that for?) Dat's to put in de coconut. (Well what is chicken corn?) Dat's what de chicken eats. (You mean the same thing as a horse eats, the same kind of corn the horse eats? Chicken corn? Ordinary corn like a roasting ear of corn. All right.) Yo' get that nine pumpkin seeds, nine chicken corn, the man name, but yo' take de water out de coconut. Yo' put de man name nine times an' de woman, if in case yo' wanta break 'em up. Put it in there.
(How do you put the woman's name in there?)
Yo' put de woman name crossways, this way [demonstrates].
(Across his name. All right.)
Across his name. Then yo' make a cross toward this way [a cross is added to the paper]. Then when yo' do that, then in that, then yo' takes this cayenne peppah an' yo' set it right up in de center [of the paper] and yo' bring it to yo'. An' yo' cuss 'em as yo' putting it to yuh. An' yo' roll it on dis side an' yo' put on dis, always rolling it to yo'. An' then yo' cuss it an' yo' stick it in there.
(In this coconut.)
An' then yo' take a stopper an' yo' stop up de two eyes, then yo' take de coconut an' yo' roll it fo' nine days in yore home. Then yo' take it an' yo' goes to de rivah. Takes fifteen cents an' throws in de - de fifteen cents be- hind it [coconut], to pay spirit for the work]. An' just let it go each way or de other, an' let it float anywhere where it's gotta go. An' yo'll have him just agoing from one to de other. He'll lose his mind or else go to de river.
(What do you mean by these two eyes?)
SEE, DE COCONUT GOT TWO EYES WHERE DE WATER DRAINS OUT.
(All right, on account of those two eyes you have two corks in that coconut?)
Yes, sir.
Entry 8532
Use a coconut, put turpentine in dere an' de party's name, an' stop it up tight an' throw it intuh de Mississippi River, when it will float in de watah, an' de party will leave dere home. Turpentine in dere, yes.
Entry 8563
Dey take yore [bare] footprint, ketch de track wheresomevah yo' make it, an' picks it up an' puts it in a can or bottle, eithah one, an' writes your name down in it an' put it in a bottle, an' throw it anywhere where dey got runnin' watah. (How do you write the name?) Yo' write de name - lak whatsomevah yore name is, well yo' write yore fami- ly name first an' yo' write chure given name last. See, suppose tuh write chure family name first an' den write chure given name last. Yo' write it down nine times, wit a indelible pencil. An' yo' cross it. Every time yo' write it an' yo' put dat dust an' yo' cross it, an' den yo' put it in a bottle, or in a can, sompin dat chew kin seal up. An' yo' throws it splash into dat runnin' watah.
(Either foot track, it doesn't make any difference?)
Either foot track, jes' so long as dey git de track wheresomevah yo' put chure print, shoes or barefooted, eithah one.
Entry 8728
[Here is an unusual use of the terrapin-turtle rite.1 He in trouble, leave-like to keep yo' from ketchin' 'im. Yo've seen dese streaked-laig terrapin?
(Yes.)
Dem ole streaked-laig one. Ketch one an' cut 'is name on de back of de shell. Drop 'im back in de watah. He's gone. (You say this fellow is a criminal and that you want him to get away free. You cut his name on this terrapin, so that they can't catch him.)
Entry 8907
If somebody take anythin' from yo' - they come in yore home an' take somepin - yo' get yo' some dragon's blood. It's a stick [it comes in the form of a stick], a dragon's blood. Yo' get yo' some quicksilvah an' yo' beat dat dragon's blood up into a powdah. An' if yo' know de person, who dat is dat stole it from yo', an' [you take] dat quicksilvah. Wheresomevah dey live, yo' go to dere home an' try to get it undahneath de door - get into dere room. If yo' can't get into dere room, yo' try to put it on de step, but yo' have to get watah or somepin an' scrub it, get dat dragon's blood on dat step. Dat's goin' to drag dem wit what dey brought from yo' back. [The drag in dragon's blood makes thief drag stolen goods back!] But yo' gotta get dere name an' yore name, an' write yore name undah de bottom of deres an' dere name on top cause dey goin' to drag what dey brought from yo' back to yo'. [The magic of their name on top is not too clear!] See.
(Well, where do you put that name?)
Yo' take dat name an' place it undah dere steps - undah dere steps into de mud wide open - into de mud. Jes' put it down dere an' jes' put de mud ovah it. An' put dragon's blood in dere, an' every time dey walk ovah dat [thief will say]: "Ah'm shore is sorry ah took dat from Mr. So-an'-so. Ah'm goin' to bring it back. Ah've got de pass [ticket where he had sold the article]. Ah've got to go where ah done sold it. Ah've gotta go get it an' bring it back." Gotta drag it back dere or dey [thief] goin' to drag like a dog.
(What did you do with that quicksilver?)
QUICKSILVER IS TO MAKE 'EM BRING IT QUICK. [This quick from quicksilver and the preceding drag from dragon's blood are good examples of magic thinking at its worst! Or best?]
(Well, what did you do with that quicksilver?)
It's in a runnin' form but yo' gotta ketch it quick an' put it in dat dragon's blood. (Oh, you put it in the dragon's blood - that's what I wanted to know. That's all right.)
Entry 8964
Yo' take de beef tongue, yo' see. Yo' first upset de house, yore house, evahthing into it, or if yo' have a partner dat have a court case, yo' do dis to git de judge. Git de judge's name. All right, git de client name dat de judge is gonna per- secute [prosecute!]. Yo' understan' dat. Den de person dat's persecutin' 'em [prosecuting attorney]. All right. Yo' have dat. Now, yo' take dis person dat chew workin' fo' - her name - an' de judge name an' de lawyer's name together, dat dey'll cooperate together. Yo' see, den yo' git dat same remedy. Well, yo' git first dis Drowin' Oil, den yo' git dis Min' Oil; yo' git Florida watah, an' yo' git Orange Blossom watah. Yo' know whut dat is. Den yo' git steel dust, an' den yo' git dat nine lumps of sugah an' yo' git dat honey. Dat is fo' dat good act. Dat is to git 'em togethah. When yo' do dat way ahead when dey come to yo' first. An' yo' shake it [these things in a bottle]. Jes' shake it. Yo' keeps dat an' yo' shake it. Well, yo' put it off [aside]. Now, as fer as de beef tongue. Tuh freeze a client's [tongue] dat yo' know gonna talk, git chew 50 pound of ice an' take de beef tongue. Yo' know how tuh do dat. An' den wit de names dat are goin' against de person dat chure workin' fo', an' freeze 'em, an' dey won't be able tuh talk.
(You use both the beef and these other ingredients in the bottle?)
Yes.
Entry 9055
Yo' take de vine, de bramboo vine.
(Is that like a fishing pole?)
[I am asking, is that a bamboo?)
Yes, but it's got thorns on it, bramble vine, an' de devil horseshoe string [devil's-shoestring]. An' take dem two pieces an' put it in a glass, an' put three spoonsful of salt in dere wit it, an' a few reesins [raisins] whut growed on de vine - like yo' buy 'em out de store on a vine [unstemmed raisins]. An' put 'em in dat glass 'bout fulla watah an' put it undah yore baid an' sleep ovah it. Den git up de nex' mawnin' an' take, throw de watah out de sunrise, an' take reesins out an' cast some of dem on yuh an' take de othahs an' de two roots an' carry 'em to de graveyard an' bury 'em. An' dey tell me dat dey won't git a trial an' dey turn 'em loose free. (What are the names of these two roots now that you put in there?) [Machine stopped too soon for answer already given.]
Entry 9080
Ah hear'd dey kin git dis root dey call John de Conkah root, see, an' Eve-an'-Adam root, an' take dat root an' boil [usually sounds like ball] it up tuhgethah. If dey kin git tuh de co'thouse see, when dey un- lock it, git it an' sprinkle a aisle around de judge seat. [Sprinkle a circle about judge's chair.] Den dey will set back when yo' come in tuh where de prisonahs is. Den dey'll sit back an' eye de judge right in de eye. See, hol' [hold] dere hand on de vial what have de John de Conkah root an' Eve-an'-Adam balled [boiled] up in it. See. Dey go tuh co'thouse in de mawnin'.
(You said at an hour didn't you? What do you mean by that hour?)
Dey go dere jes' befo' de co'thouse unlock, befo' dey come in. An' dey sprinkle de aisle. Dey take de watah what dey boil up: de John de Conkah an Adam-an'-Eve root, an' gingah, & an' ten grains of black peppah. Dey'll take dat an' sprinkle it - wit de aisle an' aroun' ovah de prisonah box.
(Oh! The prisoner's box. I see, up the aisle.)
[Informant's eye or letter i had bothered me! Aisle!]
An' where de judge goes up intuh his seat, see dey do dat, an' den when de judge is talkin' tuh yuh, yo' gotta look 'im right in de eye. See [if] dey kin git de judge's eye, look 'im right in de eye. An' if de sentence - it Ziminated down. [All this reduces the sentence.] If it's ten yeahs, it Ziminated down tuh three or fo' yeahs. Ah've hear'd dat.
Entry 9300
Yo' kin take a hen aig - take a black hen aig an' yo' kin write de 'nitial or de name. Yo' write dat name on dis aig an' yo' make nine dots wit de pencil whut chew have in yore hand. Dat nine dots fo' dose nine mawnin's. [You make one dot on each of nine successive mornings.] Yo' go tuh a runnin' stream of watah... Now, yo' take a rotten aig... [I stop informant from starting a different rite.] (Wait a minute! After you go to running Water, what do you do then?) Yo' go tuh runnin' watah, aftah yo' put dose nine dots in dere wit de pencil. Den yo' go tuh runnin' watah an' throw it jes' as fur ovah yore haid as yo' kin git it. Jes' throw it up [into the air]. When it gon'a hit de watah it ain't gon'a break. Jes' throw it up. An' aftah yo' throw it up, don't look back, walk on off. Jes' long as dat aig go, dat person's goin'; long as dat aig goes, he's travelin'.
Entry 10023
Dey say take de black cat an' kill 'im, an' boil 'im an' wake ot all de bones, an' whatevah bone is de lucky bone, why yo' throw 'en all in see watah, runnin' watah, an' all of 'em 'ill sink tuh de bottom but de locy bone will stay on top. Dey said yo' kin take dat bone an' open any kinda do'.
Entry 10029
Well, ah haven't heard of a bone from a dead person, but ah've heard jis' yo' take a black cat an' boil 'is bones. An' carry it tuh runnin' watah an' throw it in runnin' watah, an' de bone dat floats dat'll be yuh lucky bone. [Everywhere believed.]
Entry 10035
It's awful [dreadful] tuh say so, but chew kin take a black cat. Ah've seen a fellah dat did try dat. Ah had a brothah dat tried it. Put it in de watah an' boil it an' take de bone out, see. Take all de bones. Boil it till it's boiled all tuh pieces, see. An' den aftah it's boiled all tuh pieces - don't go in de home of no one, boil it out [outdoors]. An' let all de meat fall from de bones, an' take it an' carry it tuh a branch - a creek, a small creek ~ an' put it in dere. An' de bone dat go backwards, yo' kin take dat bone. An' den yo' [can] go an' steal an' all lak dat [probably because you can make yourself invisible].
Entry 10037
Said dat dey would take de cat an' put 'er intuh a pot an' boil 'er wit'out killin' 'er. Let 'er kill 'erself in de pot. An' take her tuh de run- nin' watah. Do dat aftah dey already cooked 'er up an' until de flesh would fall off de bone. An' take de pot tuh de runnin' watah an' empty it ovah in de runnin' watah. An' de bone dat goes up de stream is de lucky bone.
Entry 10056
Dey git a black cat an' care 'im tuh de fo'ks uh de road fuh nine mawnin's about six a'clock. An' dey come back home an' bile dat cat. An' dey says den dey kin do mos' anythin' dey want. Dey bile dat cat an put 'im a - take all de bones, yuh know, aftah dey boil de cat, an' care it down tuh a creek am trow all de bones ovahbo'd. Well, all de mos' a dem bones'll go tuh de botto. save de bone w'ut float. Dey say dat be de lucky bone.
Entry 10060
Ah hear'd if a man wanted any luck, wanted tuh learn how tuh be a ex- pert or a musician, or if he wanted tuh be a expert gamblah or what not, dey goes out tuh dat crossroads fo' nine mawnin's. An' de ninth mawnin' when he go out there - but befo' he go out dere, he goes den an' he git 'im a black cat. Ah bettah [begin again] so yo' kin undahstan' it good. Befo' he goes tuh de crossroads dat nine mawnin's, he goes de firs' mawnin' an' he git 'im a black cat. An' he takes dat black cat an' he cares 'im out dere wit 'im tuh de crossroad nine mawnin's. An' when he cares 'im dere nine mawnin's, de ninth mawnin' when he git dere, dey says dat de devil 'imself meets 'im dere. An' dey says he'll tell 'im anything dat chew wan'a do or anything yo' wan'a know. Says, he'll give me anythin' between de sole of yuh haid an' de crown of yuh feet. [With a mixup like this between sole [soul] and crown, devil still must have been working.] He says, "It shall be granted tuh yo'." An' so when- evah he do dat, he takes dis black cat, which he's got alive, an' he gits 'im a pot.
(After he has gone there nine mornings, he takes the cat and gets this pot?)
Yessuh. An' when he gits dis pot, den he goes den tuh a stream of watah dat's runnin'. He makes 'im a fiah on de hill right up above de watah. An' when he makes dis fiah an' git dat watah boilin', he throws dat black cat in de pot alive an' lets dis cat cook alive. An' when de cat cooks until all de flesh has come off de bone, he takes de carcass of dat cat an' throw it in de runnin' watah. An' all de bones an' all de ones dat goes down de stream, he let 'em alone. He takes de - an' de bone dat runs up de stream, dat goes back up de stream de object [opposite] way, why he takes dat bone den an' he totes dat in 'is lef'-breas' pocket. An' when he tote it in 'is lef'-breas' pocket why anythin' he desires den, he'll git dat.
Entry 10061
Ah hear'd of people takin' a black cat an' boil 'em in a pot of hot boilin' watah alive an' den take 'im out. Take his bones out, all 'is bones, an' carry 'em tuh a stream of watah. An' throw 'em in dat stream of watah an' de one whut go upstream, take it out, an' de rest of 'em'ill go downstream. Let 'em go 'bead. An' de one dat go upstrea yo' take dat out an' put it in yore pocket. An' go tuh de fo'ks of de road evah Sunday mawnin' fo' nine Sopday mawnin's, an' de ninth mawnin' yo'll meet de devil dere. An' if yo' don' y My Duthin tuh 'im, he won' say nuthin tuh yo'. An' yo' turn rou' a'cone on back. An' yo' kin go down heah tuh de National Bank, any bank yo' want tuh - so ah've hear'd - an' take anythin' out. De law won't bothah yo'. Yo' disappeah. Yo' kin 'tempt [attempt] de cashier, yo' kin 'tempt de dogs, anythin' yo' wanta 'tempt.
Entry 10062
Whut chew call gittin' de black cat bone. Yo' take him intuh de fo'k of de road. Yo' take 'im out tuh de fo'ks of de road an' make a fiah, an' a pot, an' boil it. An' den yo' would take all dese bones, when it boil all tuh pieces, tuh a runnin' stream. An' yo' would put all dose bones in de stream an' de one dat floats up de stream, dat's de one tuh git. An' aftah dat dey'll go back tuh de fo'ks of de road nine nights. Go back evah night fer nine nights an' talk wit de devil. Yo' go dere an' meet de devil dere. An' den aftah dey do dat fer nine nights, dey is through. Dey kin do any- thin' dey wanta do.
(Well, what time do they go out there at night?)
Roun' nine 'clock.
Entry 10076
Yo' put chew a pot of watah on an' boil it. An' ketch a black cat, a all-black cat, an' put 'im in de pot of boilin' watah an' put 'im in dere 'live. Boil 'im until - boil 'im tuh pieces. An' de lucky bone will come on top. An' dis bone dat come on top, yo' take dis bone out an' suck de bone [suck out marrow?] an' den lay it up an' let it dry. An' carry it in yore pocket an' yo'll be lucky enough tuh git anythin' yo' want or do anythin' yo' wanta do. Yo' kin even disappeah.
(Why did you suck it?)
Jis' suck de bone aftah it comes tuh de top. De only way yuh'll know dat bone, yo' see, aftah de cat boils, de meat boils off de cat an' dis bone will come to de top, an' all de resta de cat'll go tuh de bottom.
(You don't suck it at any particular place?)
No, yo' jis' put it in yuh mouth an' suck it. An' aftah yo' suck it, den yo' lay it out on anythin' an' let it dry out.
Entry 10082
[I heard of] people using a cat.
(All right, how do they use that?)
Well, yo' git a real black cat. Dat's now in regard if yo' wants tuh hurt someone, yo' undahstan'. Ah've heard yuh git a real black cat, an' yo' heat yuh some watah. Yo' git de watah real hot an' yo' put de cat in dere alive. Yo' put a lid on topa de pot an' jis' drop de cat in dere alive. An' aftah he's in dere alive, let 'im boil 'til evah bone in 'im - 'til it come all off de meat, therly [thoroughly] done. An' aftah yo' boil 'im therly done, den yo' take 'im out an' yo' suck evah bone in de cat 'til yo' git tuh de right bone. Whenevah yo' git tuh de right bone, it'll cuz yuh [to disappear] by yo' cannot see yuhself - yo' can't see yuhself in a mirrah. Yo' kin look in a mirrah an' yo' fail tuh see yuhself.
(Then what do you do?)
Well, yo've got de right bone, an' yo' kin do mos' anything den yo' wants tuh. Yo'll accomplish mos' anything yo' want tuh accomplish.
Entry 10088
You get a real black cat, jet black, and throw him in a pot of hot water and let him stay there until the bones all come to pieces. You take all the bones out then and put them in your mouth, one at a time, and when you strike that bone, the lucky bone, you'll become blind. Then you have struck the right bone. You carry that for luck. [This is a tricky rite! After I draw each bone through my lips and still see, what happens then? Are some black cats without lucky bones? Am I supposed to continue in rotation or haphazardly redrawing the bones through my lips ad infinitum? Is this merely a folk trick? A practical joke?] [Hampton, Va., Old Point Comfort, Ediphone cyl.30.]
Entry 10089
De black cat bone, ah've always heard dat wus good. Ketch a black cat about midnight in de night an' throw 'im in a hot pot of boilin' watah. An' yo' git befo' a mirrah an' yo' be- gin fittin' de bones 'cross yore mouth whilst lookin' in de mirrah; an' when yo' git tuh de right bone, den yo' vanish - yo' cain't see yo'self in de mirrah. Dat's de way ah've heard it.
Entry 10202
You do the same thing, you sprinkle the house down with holy water and put your light to your saint, you know. Always keep a light to St. Michael, a red light. (A red light, why?) Well, see, that light, that keeps any evil away from going into your home.
Entry 10209
I hear'd about a woman taking a man's nature sure 'nough. After she menstr'ate two days, she'll take off dat piece, put dat piece down dere an' put it jes' in dat water and soak it. She takes a new linen han'ke'ch'ef and wash it. (A new red handkerchief.) No, linen. Linen, so it get soft. When he discharge, she ketch it on the han'ke'ch'ef. All right. She get bolt of dat noy and she put it in dat water to soak it, and she wring it out. And vring Lc dirty piece out and pour it in a bottle, and go down at lou water, lov tide, and when the tide is out, and put it in dere. When dat tide come in, she [tide] carries it with her, and the tide carry it out. No matter how many years, he's in for life. He's gone dere. (Is there any way he can get that off of him?) [There is no answer. It may have been lost.l
Entry 10667
Well, for instance, there is two parties together, like you would have a daughter and her husband and the husband and her didn't look like they were getting along well, and you want them to be together. You get a delicious apple and you will sign his name at the bottom and her name on top on parchment paper.[Core the apple.] You fill that apple full of granulated sugar. You fill that apple full of syrup or honey. The sweeter it is the better it is. You get you some holy water, you put that fern down in that apple after you hull it out. You see, hull the delicious apple out. You put that fern down in there. And then after that you pour the holy water on top that water in that flower pot. Now, as that fern grow, their love grow. Well, that fern, that put them together after signing their name to it, you see. Take a delicious apple, hull it out well, take the fern and put down in there, in the hollow apple. After putting it in the hollow apple, then you git you granulated sugar, pour it down in there, then you put your syrup, here come de holy water, then the dirt back on the fern, you see. You see no apple at all, it is at the bottom. Well, if the fern grow, their love grow; they get along like two birds in one nest. (They put the hollowed-out apple in the flower pot, and the names on, they put that there too. That brings this man and woman together.)
Entry 10668
(How do you use an apple or orange?) An apple is to create love. (How do you do that?) Taking an apple, a delicious apple, hulling it out; taking any kind of fern and putting down into the bottom of that apple.
(The plant, the fern - f-e-r-n?)
Absolutely, putting it down in the apple and getting some honey - making it as sweet as possible - granulated sugar, holy water from the Catholic Church, pouring down in that, pressing the flowerpot up with mud, putting the individual name there that you want into that apple and as the fern grow, as the love grow.
(I see.)
Entry 10688
After you have taken a bath, they can get some of that water and stop it up in a bottle, and of course they can bury that, and that will cause your body to dry up and waste away - something like you have a wasting disease.
Entry 10754
(Tell me about that ministratin' again. What do you do with it?)
Yo' kin take an' throw it in runnin' watah.
(A woman's menstruate?) [They have me turning a verb into a noun!]
Yessuh, yo' throw it in runnin' watah an' dat'll run her crazy. She'll be crazy bad. Nobody'll take dat off her, not lessen' dey'll take it [upon self] chew know. [Only a skilled rootman or hoodoo. A doc- tor could absorb such a dangerous condition into his own body!]
Entry 10756
I heard 'em talking of gettin', yo' know, a woman, from her menstrua- tion period. Yo' put it in running water. And they say that'll make yo' [her] crazy; cause the blood to go to her head.
Entry 10759
After you have a bath in that water, you put household ammonia and some sugar and some blueing [in the used] water, and that will uncross your bad luck, and bring you success- ful. An' yo' take that and you throw it where the sun rise.
Entry 10846
If someone is a enemy to yo' - dey wanta see yo' linger or somepin - yo' kin use it fo' dat, but 'scusin dat ah haven't hear't [heard]. Dey cook it down to a oil, dat buzzard grease, an' yo' give it to 'em.
(How?)
In dey food or in water.
(What will that do to them?)
An' dey will come to be limber - in other words, dey wouldn't iwould] lose de use of deyself [by becoming too limber!].
(Why would they do that?)
Why, jest lak if a person had a grudge against yo' or anything, if dey wanted tuh do yo' harm some way an' dat de onliest way. Anyway dey could git to git dey 'venge out dey would do so.
Entry 11022
Well, yo' take those chicken feathers - you know, jest like you take 'em and burn 'em. Put 'em in a piece of tin and burn 'em, and then take the ashes from 'em and you know - burn 'em, don't put much [feathers], jest put a [few] after you dry 'em and - they jest look like powder. Then you put it in the water and drink off it and make yo' franzy. You know, you hear of people being franzy, yo' know. Makes you franzy-minded. Not criticize, you know what ah mean. [Unknown to informant this could be a black chicken feathers rite, or black feather could have been mentioned before recording began.
Entry 11047
Sew dat up in a rag.
(What do they sew up in a rag?)
De black hen manure. Sew it up in a rag an' put de person name in it if dey doin' yo' harm an' yo' don't like 'em. An' yo' take it to runnin' water to de rivah an' throw it in. Put new safety pins in [package] an' throw it in [river] an' dat person'll go clean away an' won't trouble yo' no mo'. Ah done that mahself.
(Just put one safety pin?)
Two - three, yes sir, yo' put one on each end an' pin one across it, three. (Like the letter "H" on the package.) [The figure is more like this Ha double cross.] Yes sir.
Entry 11096
To hold man, wash sweat from his suspenders[!]. Bottle this water and conceal at foot of her bed. [Petersburg 417:6.]
Entry 11111
But they's got to have more to go with that skin to do you harm, besides just the skin off you feet. They can take the skin off the bottom of your feet and if they can get some of your hair, take that skin and some of your hair, and take a coconut, or either a bottle, and fill it up with vinegar, and throw it in the water where it will run and you start going and you'll never go back home again. In a bot- tle or coconut, but you gotta stop it up so it don't come out.
Entry 11112
They take a bath and leave the bath water. They [an enemy kin take that water and get war water from the pharmacy and mix it into that water. Take it and stop it up in a bottle or a coconut - anything that is air- tight - throwing it in the Mississippi River, in a flowing stream, and just as it flow away, just as you'll drift away from town to town.
(I see.)
With that dirty [bath] water.
Entry 11157
Now, if yo' don' wanta take an' do dat, chew kin git chew some devil heart watah [hoodoo store preparation?] an' bluein' an' shake dat up an' bust dat bottle. Git de devil heart watah an' put it into dat bottle; den yo' git chew some bluein' an' put it into dat bottle. An' take dat bottle an' shake it up an' wherevah de person livin' at, yo' bust dat bottle in front dey do' an' dat make 'em move.
Entry 11268
You kin take up their foot track an' put it in a snuffbox, an' you puts some salt an' peppah in there an' make a wish, an' throw it in the runnin' watah an' then you kin do this [I interrupt].
(What do you do when you reach the water?)
You make a wish for them to leave town [(960), 1544:7].
Entry 11280
Yo' kin take a pusson's shoe an' yo' kin measure de length of dey track an' yo' kin go tuh a spring. De spring yo' know is 16 inches wide or 20; de 20 is de length. If it ain't ovah 20 inches wide, yo'd measure dat shoe an' measure dat spring fo' ways, on dat shoe track. An' dem people come tuh yo' an' dey borrow an' borrow an' borrow. Well, yo' got 'em steppin' den, 'cause yo' done took advantage of 'em. Dey come tuh yo' tuh bor- row a match or sompin all de time. Well, de way fo' yo' tuh do den, yo' go ahead an' yo' git chew some bear roots, lak it [root] be's on [in] de swamps. [Bear root I am unable to identify. It may be the bearberry (Ilex deidua) of southern U. S. A., or less likely the inkberry, a holly (Ilex glabra) of eastern North Am- erica.] Yo' boil dat bear root good till it turn yallah. Bear roots are sorta black-yallah root-lak. An' yo' boil it an' boil it an' boil it, until it git feelin' right soft-lak. Den yo' take dat out an' clip 'bout dat much off of it [demonstrates], an' de fust chance yo' git yo' pit [put] it on anythin' fo' 'em tuh drink - anythin'. Well, yo' gotta git some on anythin' yo' give to 'em, or eithah yo' git a chance tuh put a piece in his pocket. He'll wandah away an' yo'll nevah see him. If yo' git ary a piece of it in his pocket.
(The spring you measure. You mean that has got water in it, a spring?)
Yeah, a spring dat have watah in it. Yo' measure it fo' ways, with his foot- track - have de length of his track. But a silk string. Don' have no othah kind of string, any kinda silk string. Don' care if it's offen a woman's stock- in' laig. An' measure it [spring] fo' ways. If his track will measure eight inches, measure it, an' if it's a sixteen inches spring, measure it twice fol ways [measure it twice on each of its 4 sides] an' yo' can't be wrong. Fo' ways. An' if yo' hit it jes' right, he'll come to yore house de same time de next time. Don't care if it's ten a'clock in de day, yo' done it, he'll be in yore house at ten a'clock tonight tuh borrow sompin. He gotta know sompin it... [he must know what you are doing to him].
(What does he come to borrow for?)
Well, yo' gittin' - worryin' him yo' know. See, dat's buryin' his track yo' know. Dat's drawin' him to yo', yo' know, by doin' dat.
(What do you draw him to you for?)
[Here is the secret of the rite.]
Draw him to yo' fo'? Well, jes' lak if yo's mad wit him or sompin, yo' know, an' yo' wanta aggravate him or somethin' othah, yo'd do dat. [My informant's reason for drawing the borrower to him just to annoy him does not make sense. A constant borrower you would want to keep away. Surely this is the remmant of a rite on how to bring a witch bewitching you to your house so that you could refuse to loan anything and free yourself from his or her spell. See "Never Lend to a Witch, " No.16338, p.875 and elsewhere in that witch- craft section, FOLKLORE FROM ADAMS COUNTY ILLINOIS, 2nd ed.]
Entry 11301
Ah heard dat chew could git de blood from a dog, a black dog. Jes' git his blood from him an' put it into - jes' lak ah git de dog's blood, see, an' put it into yore coffee whut chew drink, or water, anything yo' drink. Let yo' drink it an', well, yo' have a dog in yo'. Most everything yo' eat will make yo' sick on de stomic.
Entry 11335
"Bout takin' de mo'rnin' dove [= turtledove] an' takin' his heart out, dat's fo' fixin' somebody. Yo' know, fixin' 'em in any kinda way dat chew wanta, so dey mindless. Dey take de heart out of a mo'rn- in' dove an' have it parched up until it jes' be like ashes or a powder, anythin'. An' say yo' kin take dat an' put dat intuh any watah or anythin' dey use tuh drink, or anythin' dat chew Wanta put it in, an' from time tuh time after yo' give it tuh 'em in de weeks dat dey live, dat dey would be jes' mindless or go jes' crazy.
Entry 11481
Foot track in bottle thrown into running water "puts you to traveling."
[Wilmington 272:2+85.]
Entry 11483
Foot track in bottle throw into running water; lose mind. [Snow Hill 3:4.]
Entry 11608
Throw foot track into running water to send away; sometimes wrapped in paper, sometimes put in bottle, sometimes thrown over left shoulder. [4 separate beliefs from Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 11964
If you stop up a person's hair in a small bottle and throw it into a tidal river, as tide comes and goes victim's mind will come and go. [Wilmington 111:11+85.]
Entry 11966
Hair is taken from the left side of victims head, stopped up in a bottle, and thrown into running water to run a person crazy. [Wilmington 262:1+85.]
Entry 11967
If you put a person's hair in a bottle and throw it over your shoulder into running water while cursing, it will run the person intended crazy. [Wil- mington 172:8+85.]
Entry 11968
Put person's hair in bottle, stop it up, go to running water, call person's name 3 times, and throw bottle into water to run him or her crazy.
[Wilmington 127:1+85.]
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 11982
If you bottle a person's hair with graveyard dirt, cayenne pepper and perfume and throw it into running water, you will run your victim crazy.
[Wilmington 271:1+85.]
Hyatt's printed résumé reports a mixture of hair, graveyard dirt, cayenne pepper and perfume. Its claimed effect is source-reported; the résumé is distinct from verbatim informant speech.
Entry 11993
Stop up a person's hair in a bottle and bury it on a river bank near Water to run the person crazy. [Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 12003
If a person cuts up victim's hair, corks up pieces in a bottle of water, buries bottle under victim's door, these pieces Will turn into snakes and run the victim crazy. The victim can be cured only by finding a "DOUBLE HEAD." [This term is a rather rare name for a "TWO-HEAD" or "TWO-HEADER, " a person who knows so much he needs two heads to hold it, a hoodoo doctor.] [Fredericksburg by Ediphone.]
Entry 12148
Dey jis' git dat, jis' git de plain water, an' jis' put it in a co- logne bottle with a little Hearts Cologne, an' jis' stops it up, jis' put it right under de bed, an' dey got yo'. Dat holds yuh. [Wilmington 160:4+85.]
Entry 12164
Well, before the judge you use the holy water too. You can sprinkle yourself good with it and read the 23rd Psalm of David. You can read the 23rd Psalm of David and sprinkle yourself with holy water. It'll make you wish [you will make your wish] and go before the judge.
Entry 12165
Well, yo' uses holy watah lak fo' somepin good. Yo' kin use it lak fo' sprinklin' round yore house, yo' see. An' then yo' kin git a bottle of holy watah an' keep dat on de back- side of yore bed. Lak de bed. An' ah put a leetle string [on the bottle] an' keep it hung on dere [behind bed]. Dat's luck, yo' know. It's successful [brings success] in yore home, too.
Entry 12167
Yeah, holy water is good for spirits. You see, like if the spirits worry you at night, or any time of the day the spirits worry you. As long as you have holy water over your bed and keep it in your room, that keeps the spirit out.
Entry 12177
Yo' kin take a horsehair an' take it an' put it in a bottle of watah an' let it stay fo' a couple of weeks, an' she'll turn to a live little snake. fFlorence, S. Car., (1310), 2220:3.]
Entry 12535
(What do you do with the red onion?)
Well, dey say if yo' break de skin of it an' jes' carry it in yore pocket, some of it, or either throw it away, jes' throw it away, dey say dat's lucky. If yo' boil it, boil yo' three dimes in it an' den drink de watah, dat's lucky fo' yo' - yore in- come will be good.
Entry 12545
Git red onion and put nine needles and nine pins in it and go to the river and throw it over the left shoulder and walk back [home]. Don't look wack. And just as fer as that onion will travel on the water, they will travel.
(Do they do anything else with that onion?)
That's all I know. (Hell, how do you know whether the spell will work? How can you tell whether dhat person that you intend to go away - don't you do anything with the onion to...) [Intention is sufficient.]
Entry 12789
Unwanted visitor will not return if after his departure you wash the doorstep with a pound of salt in water. [Presumably this should be new salt and kept ready for the occasion.] [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone.]
Entry 12879
Take de scissors an' don' close 'em up, open dem out yo' know, an' stick dem [them] down jes' undahneath yore bed. Stick de points up lak dat [demonstrates]. Keep yo' in good luck.
(Have the scissors open and the points sticking up under your bed?)
Yes. Yo' know, jes' lak de scissors open dis way, an' jes' stick dem down dat way [demonstrates]. [Points of scissors stick down into floor.] Or eithah a glass of watah. Yo' see, dat glass of watah, jes' have enough watah in it to know dere's watah in de glass undah yore bed. Dat's for luck.
(The points of the scissors are sticking down to the floor under the bed.)
Entry 12885
Now, if you bottleggin', you want trade. Now you go to your drug store. You buy you a pound of that brown sugah, you understand. You get choo a codfish ball - you know what dat codfish, big O [ole] codfish! You get that and get you a nickel's worth of pahsley [parsley]. Now, you gona take dat pahsley, codfish ball, the sugar. You take your water, about 2 quarts or quart an' a half. Fix what you want, any kind of water. An' yo' put it in a pot or bucket, or whatsomever will hold it. And put all that stuff into the water and let it boil. Let it boil down to one quart [the magic of diminishing amount]. An' use your pot every morning, like Friday's, that myst be your busy day for Saturday. Like Wednesday you wan'a take that day for cleaning up. Well, you take that water and git you someone to go out to clean up your place for you - just sprinkle that water - go to the front - come to the front like this [demon- strates], you see, an' come right on in [from the front door, leading future customers in]. Now, I don't tell you that people will spend their money there, but I'll guarantee you'll have a crowd there an' you won't have standing room. But somebody will spend money. You understand how that is? That'll square you. I do that.
Entry 12967
Throw both of person's shoes into running water to make him or her travel. [Richmond 290:3.]
Entry 12968
If you throw a person's shoe into running water, it will run that per- son away. [Elizabeth City 591:2.]
Entry 12970
Dey throw shoes in runnin' watah, git de right shoe an' throw it in runnin' watah. Well, he will go 'way - he'll go clean away. [Wilson, cylinder reference lost, but informant, No.1500, comes between informants 1499 (cyl.2667) and informant 1504 (cyl.2671).]
Entry 13098
They could it it with that hair. They can take that hair and mingle it in your comb, and dress that hair under a burnt snakehide, and put that in [on] your head and you'll go bald, and when that perspiration dries in your eyes, you'll go blind.
(You take "burnt snakehide?")
Burnt snakehide.
(You dress that with the comb?) [Dress comb with that!]
Over with the comb. See? And wrap that hair - soak that hair in water and something. Put it in that burnt-snakehide dust, and put it - wrap it in a - like if a person's using the comb, they don't pull all the hairs left out of the comb, and it'll take it to your head. And gradually that stuff will poison the roots of your hair and run you bald.
(I see.)
And if it drips in yore eyes...
Entry 13130
You take water, if you going to take a bath in water. You wanta hurt me or anything of that sort. Well, I'm going to take my bath and probably just before I take my bath, if you after hurtin' me [that word after preceding hurt- ing was added by Irish transcriber], you would take, say for instance, this is my bathroom. I'm fixin' to go in there to take my bath. Well, I liable to draw my water first. See, and I got my water took, I'm liable to walk out. And if I don't do that, you take and you - before I go in the bathroom to draw my water, you get you some of the stuff you call kankeena.
(What do you call that?)
Kankeena.
(Kankeena?)
Kankeena.
(Where do you get that?)
It's a powder you can get it at most any drug store.
(I see.)
Get kankeena, it's a white powder. You get very little for a nickel, just a very small quantity for a nickel. You gets that. Now, when you get that pow- der, you sprinkle it around that tub, all around on the edges, not to the bot- tom, but be sure it gets just around the tub, like that.
(On the outside or inside of the tub?)
On the inside of the tub. It's got to get into the water, see. Now, that stuff there is to take - when I bathe in the tub, this powder going to get on me. Now, when I get this powder on me, it liable to startin' and itchin' an everythin'. After I done bathin' it start in itchin'. It won't be the soap, it won't be the water. I won't know what it's all about. See. It'll start me to itchin', probably, I'm liable to start to breakin' [out] in a few days - break all kind of sores out on me [quite a separation between break and out!]. See. Well, then I liable have to go to a doctor [M.D.] to find out what it is. He think it's my blood's bad. He try to use different medicine. He wanta give me shots of somepin. Probably he can't do me no good with the shots and all that they gives you. Well, then, if he couldn't do me no good, he done give me [I turn off machine to bring informant to point]. (This doctor [M.D.] couldn't do you any good and you go to the Cracker Jack Drug Store and get the same things you said, you mentioned.) I'm going to get - I'm goin' to get more than the one thing, I'm goin' to get some of this steel dust.
(I see.)
I'm goin' to go to the Cracker Jack - I'm usin' steel dust again. I'm going to use the steel dust. I'm going to get me what you call the snake oil - they sells that. I'm going to get that snake oil. I'm goin' to get steel dust. Now, when I get the snake oil and the steel dust, I'm goin' to put those two together. See. I'm going to use that to rub with. I rub myself with that at least three times a day. Now, in rubbin' with that stuff, I says the 35th [23rd] Psalms of David. See, that's a prayer. You say it, that's the 35th [23rd] Psalm of David. I says that! "The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want." See, as I'm rubbing: 'The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want." And I just keep arubbin'. See. Well, now I may have to do that, maybe nine or ten days. I may have to do it for a couple of weeks. Eighteen or twenty days at the most, anyway. See. Well, then I do that and as I do that every day for three times a day, I says the 35th [23rd] Psalm of David and for about twenty days and then I'm over with that. See.
Entry 13302
Well, even you could take, just like across the street. That's a man, he's got plenty of customers com- ing in his place. Your place is over on this side. You ain't got much customers. You don't know what's the matter. Every time you look around, you could see officers there. Well, this man over there, he hadn't oughta be there. You take some of this sinamint [cinnamon] and sugar and you take and get actual bat dust.
(Bat dust?)
Bat dust.
(Like a bat that flies around in the air.)
Yeah, that be's up in the fire-hearth [chimney]. Well, you git it and you take his heart and you burn it as a powder - down to a powder. You get any kind of fowl, duck or chicken and kill 'em. And you take that gizzard from a chicken, and you take that skin from off his gizzard, and you take it and you burn that down. You take the gill of a fish and you burns it down to ashes. You takes a piece of somepin like a bar, a piece of barring; you know, bar what you put on the bed for to keep the mosquitos [away].
(Mosquito bar?)
[I had never heard the word barring!]
Yeah, just like that curtain is there.
(Mosquito bar, something like cheesecloth.)
Yeah.
(All right.)
You take that and if you can't get over to that place, you send somebody in there with that all mixed up in there as a powder; you see, that bat-heart dust, that gizzard dust, and that fish-gill dust - with sinemint [cinnamon] and sugar. Hell, now, you take it and you send somebody over to that place. You got some com water. You get war water and he have it in his pocket - just like if you got [carrying] something to drink. You understand. And you take that fish-gill dust and for to keep the odor down, open that war water. He goes to the lava- tory - anywhere, you see - and sprinkle it down in there. And when you leave out of there, pretend just like there be something happen to his shoes, or pants leg or something of the kind like that. He got this here stuff wrapped up and he got a handkerchief in hand and he sprinkle it all the way there, back into your place. And you couldn't turn [round] for the people being in your place. And every morning, you take this stuff and from the end of your property where you at, just come back where you is and sprinkle it - sprinkle your sugar and Sprinkle you sinemint [cinnamon] and do it just after - but don't use no war uater at your place, that will make confusion at your place. You see. But that ear water going to make confusion over to the next place, then that bring the custiment [customers or custum] over at your place. (I see. Well, now do you sprinkle that stuff from his place over to your place?) Yes, just. You ain't got to put it all the way - just like you got...
(He wrapped it up in this cloth, this mosquito bar?)
Yes, just as it come through that. (You sprinkle this war water over his lavatory to cause trouble and then you sprinkle this sweet stuff all the way over to your place?) Yes, just every now and then you coming across the street, just [demonstrates].
(Shake it.)
Shake it and right into your house [place of business]. When you get to your hoase, you turn backwards and [back] into your door. That make a confusion - that war water going to make a confusion over there and that going to make peace Bne in your place. People leaving from there coming following that luck right orer in your place.
Entry 13305
I'd go to the graveyard where a sin- nerman' buried, and get me some graveyard dust and some coffee grinds and put it in a bottle with some war water. And whilst the people be asleep, I'd take the war water and sprinkle all over the front step and they couldn't be in there 12 days.
(You put all these things in that bottle, in the same bottle?)
In the same bottle.
Entry 13310
Dey kin take yo' bath water - like you washes, yo' know. Dey take dat. Like dey have to have somepin from yo', dey kin take dat and take a pair of socks of yours. And dey have to throw it in de tide going out. When it comin' up it ain't no good, when it goin' back down ev'ry time it come up, you'll be all right, but when it goin' back down, yo' mind goin' jes' dataway. I see all dat happen. I see dat an' know dat's a fact.
Entry 13413
They say you can put some kind of powder on you - call it war powder war water. They say you can put that down there at their door. See, you wait until they come out and after they come out you put that down there at their door. And when they go back in, well they will create trouble. Seems their husband and them will start to fight and then their minds be all upsetted and they don't stay at that house no more. They moves away, you see. That's how you do to get rid of them.
Entry 13414
I have heard and they said they would take and put such as war water to make you - to disturb you, see. They say they sprinkle that around your door and that'll upset your mind so or somepin of the kind, if you walk over it; that if you step in it, you walk it all through the house and everybody in there would get upset. And that'll worry them and get them all upset, their mind all upset, so they'll leave you - leave the house. [This informant, 35 persons after informant in preceding rite, shows present rite a common one in New Orleans.]
Entry 13417
They take war pow- ders an' war water. You git it from the drug store. An' take this bottle an' put it in. Go in front of their house an' throw it an' break it. Well, it make 'em move.
Entry 13418
If yo' wants tuh make a person move lak dat, well yo' go an' buy some war watah. Yo' understan', dat war watah, an' yo' pass in front of de do' lak if yo' had tuh pass in front of de do', an' if yo' have tuh throw de bottle across de house, yo' make yore wish. If yo' jis' break de bottle in front of de house an' make yore wish, why yo' could break 'em up an' make a big disturbance. Make 'em move an' de house would be upsetted. Yo' could upset de home.
Entry 13421
That war water, that confusion in the house. See, I would go by the house at night, understand, w'ilst they be sleepin'. Understand that? An' I would sprinkle this house. [Good heavens! don't get any of that on you, all materials in hoodoo are dangerous. See many places.] Jis' like if I sprinklin' the house I wouldn't say nothin'. [Does this mean silence is a part of the rite or informant would not tell victims he was sprinkling them!] Sprinkle the house fer 3 days. See, I come out late hours at night. Then they'll have to move.
Entry 13424
There's many things you can do with your socks and there's bad things.
(Well, suppose you tell me the bad things first.)
The bad things first. Well, yo' can take a man's sock an' take, put war water in it, and write his name and perhaps a woman's name, and bury that, and it will cause them to have terrible disturbance, too. That'll make awful fuss and disturbance. Cause them to drag sick along, long as that sock is buried.
Entry 13426
I've hearn it like this: if you had a neighbor and you couldn't get along, see. You would take and get you - if you wanted them to move, you under- stand, why you could make a quarrel between the people in the house an' that would cause the landlord to put them out, see. Well, you would use an egg. You could use salt or war water, see. (Just how Would you use these, now?) Well, now, you'd take - you'd get - use the war water which the war water would be the best. See, there's two things you use, you use either the powder or the water.
(Well, explain the war water.)
Well, you take the war water and you would sprinkle that war water. You would use salt - salt makes fuss anywhere.
(How would you use that salt there?)
You would take and you would sprinkle that salt at the four corners of the house and then you'd take this war water and as you - if you can enter into the place, jes' in the alley. You don't have to go in the house. Like if - like I enter this door here. I would walk to the back door which would be the kitchen. If I could get to the kitchen, I would start to sprinkle there.
(You say you begin at the back door?)
At the back door, yes, sir.
(I see. Then what do you do?)
I'm going to sprinkle this water, see. As I come out, I sprinkle the water, letting the water run out of my hand, as I'm coming out the door, jes' as I'm walking [demonstrates] and the water's coming out. And, when I gets to the door, I takes salt and I cross it [make a cross with it] right at the gate. And at the steps, I cross [make another cross at] the steps with salt. And under the steps I jes' take and I sprinkle war water, and I take salt and jes' throw it thataway, see. That's all you have to do, salt and that war water. It'll sort of confuse 'em. You can take salt and make a confusion any kind of way. Now, that would start a confusion in the house with the husband and wife. If it's the people you don't like, see, regardless of who they are, if it be the mother and the daughter, the mother and the son, then the people that you would want to get out, why that would start a confusion. Somebody would have to go. See.
Entry 13427
People generally use this stuff they call war water. They use the powder called war water. There is a liquid called war water. Now you take that and you form it into one [mix war water powder and war water liquid]. Then you take Epsom salts and table salt and coffee grounds. Now, you make one package of that, you see. Just like a fellah lives in that yard over there, you take that before day in the morning and you sprinkle it in the yard. In a couple of days they have a racket in the home, you under- stand.
Entry 9528
An' den if yo' wan' him tuh tell evahthing he knows, yo' kin put his han' while he's 'sleep - if yo' maybe ketch him drunk - put his han' in some cold salt an' watah, if yo' wanta find out whut he's doin', an' he'll tell evahthing he knows.
Entry 9682
You take some salt, get you some soda and some rainwater. You understand, that's about the best. All right, you get up there and you mop good, and anywhere those people wants to make you move, then they cn't make you move.
(You do that so that they can't make you move?)
Sure, ah knows that positively.
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
Ah've did dat - ah've did dat mahself. Ah've cooked two of 'em
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
[black cats]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
mahself - me an' mah woman cooked one, an' me an' de preachah cook de othah....
editorial recording or production note; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
[He tells a long story to which there is no point except the three bones.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
She takes an',
reported or enacted speech · Current unnamed interviewee · Hattie (as recounted by the interviewee); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
"Look heah, Doc."
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
Ah went an' look ovah in dere
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
[the pot in which the cat had been boiled]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
. She called me
reported or enacted speech · Current unnamed interviewee · Hattie (as recounted by the interviewee); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
"Doc,"
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
Hattie did. Yes suh. She emptied it
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
[the boiled cat]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
all ovah in dere, in de
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
[small]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1842
bucket. An' hit wuzn't de bucket full - dat big big black cat.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
An' ah taken dat an' got on car an' go out back towards - in Savannah it's called East Savannah, an' dey have a East Savannah an' West Savannah. So ah went on out dere an' ah went ovah tuh a friend of mine. Jack Kettle
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
[!]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
wuz his name. He's dead now. An' ah went down to a little stream where nobody wouldn't be dere tuh bothah wit me, yo' know, suh. An' ah had tuh take mah han' in all dat ole slime den. An' yo's tuh search till yo' git evah'thing dat feel like a little gristle. An' ah jes' drop 'em dere an' put 'em in de watah an' dey'd go right on down. De watah wuzn't mo' den dat deep, suh, where yo' kin see de sand. Drop 'em in dere an' dey go on down. An' ah tell yo' whut's a fact. Dere's three bones in a cat. Ah'm be able tuh tell yo' cause ah have did it twice. An' de bones - de right foot bone it's a small bone. None don't go to de top. Dey all goes to de bottom. Dat bone will be turnin' ovah jes' lak a worm. It appears tuh come upstream, an' ah taken it out. Ah found de three.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
(What bones were they? From what part of the body?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
Ah don't know, suh, whethah dey outa de tail or where dey's from. Dey's real small.
interviewer · Hyatt (interviewer); context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
(You got three bones that were going upstream?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
Yessuh, on de bottom of dat sand - on de bottom, yo' know, suh. Be like a worm, jes' be turnin' ovah.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
[The bones don't float upstream on the surface of the water, but tumbled over and over upstream along the bottom of the water.]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 2, p. 1843
Ah take it out. Dere three - yes suh, dere really are three. So ah took one dose bones an' sold it fo' $20. Ah had plenty luck....
Nested source context: nested reported speech · Vol. 2, p. 1842
She takes an', "Look heah, Doc." Ah went an' look ovah in dere [the pot in which the cat had been boiled]. She called me "Doc," Hattie did.
locally closed printed account with explicit editorial omission
Explicit editorial omission means locally closed printed account only, never complete original testimony; do not reconstruct the omitted story.
editorially_abridged_printed_account_not_full_event_or_procedure
The editor replaces a long story; do not reconstruct it or call this a complete ritual.
The Hattie quotation is reported dialogue, not a woman present in the interview.
Three bones, uncertain anatomy, bottom-versus-surface motion and sale are source claims; the editor’s explanatory gloss is distinct.
The final ellipsis and omitted material remain visible completeness limits.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 2, p. 1840 · Vol. 2, p. 1841 · Vol. 2, p. 1842 · Vol. 2, p. 1843 · Vol. 2, page image
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
Take nine ten-penny nails, dese wire nails about dat long
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
[denonstrates]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
, an' yo' puts 'em in a jar of watah, clear watah. Jes' go tuh de well an' drav a bocket - a bucket of watah, fill up de jar half-fuli. Put nine nalls in dere. Jes' lak now ah come tuh yore house an' ah want a drink of watah, an' ah ask yo fo' a drink of watah. Ah go git a drink of watah - go git dat jar an' po' out a glass of watah an' yo' drink off it. Yo' drink offen
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
[off of]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2099
dat satah fo' nine days, an' evah time yo' come dere ah give yo' some of dat watah. Bell, yo'll
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2100
come tuh be ailin' in yore stomach. Well, dem nails den, de mo' dey stay in dere, de mo' dey come tuh be rusty, an' all dat goes inside of yo'. Fin'ly kills yo' in so many days it kills yo'.
locally coherent printed subpassage
This is a printed hypothetical account of a harmful practice. Unclear source wording is retained; chemical or clinical effects are not established.
Changing first- and second-person positions remain as printed; no specific real victim or actor is established.
The source describes a claimed causal result, not a witnessed event or a recommendation.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 3, p. 2098 · Vol. 3, p. 2099 · Vol. 3, p. 2100 · Vol. 3, p. 2101 · Vol. 3, p. 2102
Source passage
continuous interview or recording context · Source-local attribution; no resolved person identity is asserted.
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
SO NOW, DERE WUZ ANOTHAH WOMAN AN' SHE WENT TUH A DANCE ONE NIGHT, an' he wuz a real dancah
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[dancer]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
. An' 'er fellah didn't wan' 'er tuh dance wit nobody, an' he hauled off an' pushed 'er. Well, heah come anothah fellah wuz likin' 'er, yo' undahstan'. BE TOOK AN' LAID 'IS HAND ON DIS FELLAH'S SHOULDAH AN' DIS FELLAH FELL. AN' WHEN HE FELL HE COMMENCE TUH HOWLIN' LAK A COLLIE. Well, dey'd taken ' im an' carried 'im home. An' aftah dey carried 'im home, dey ran an' got de doctor. Well, he begin tuh retch very bad, yo' see. Oh! he jis' got restless as if he possessed. An' aftah 'im doin' dat, AFTAH DE DOCTOR COME, DE DOCTOR LOOKED AT 'IM AN' HE SAY,
reported or enacted speech · Current unnamed interviewee · Medical doctor represented in the account; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
"AH CAN'T DO HIM NO GOOD. AH DON'T KNOW"
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
- A MEDICAL DOCTOR, YO' KNOW -
reported or enacted speech · Current unnamed interviewee · Medical doctor represented in the account; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
"AH DON' KNOW WHUT'S DE MATTAH WIT 'IM. AH NEVAH SEED A MAN ACT LAK DAT BEFO'."
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
DIS FELLAH YET HOWLIN' LAK DAT COLLIE. AN' SO, DEY TURNED DAT MAN OVAH TUH LOOK AT 'IS BACK, THINKIN' YO' KNOW HE HAD A FEVAH. DERE WUZ THREE SNAKES: A RATTLESNAKE AN' A GARTAH SNAKE AN' A CHICKEN SNAKE IN 'IS BACK. BUT YO' COULD SEE DEY WUZ SNAKES BY DERE SKIN - jis' right In 'is skin in 'is back. Well, dis same fellah dat ah'm tellin' yo 'bout - ah think yo' heard me speak of Doctor Martin - he come.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[For Doctor Martin, see p.2327, line 15.]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(Where is he from?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
HE'S AT AVON, MISSISSIPPI.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(Avon, Mississippi.)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
DOCTOR MARTIN COME AN' GOT DEM SNAKES OUTA DAT FELLAH'S BACK AN' HE GOT WELL.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(Do you know how he got them out? What he did to get them out?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
YES, SIR.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(What did he do to get them out?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
WHEN HE GOT READY TUH GIT 'EM OUT, HE PUT 'IM IN A BATHTUB AN' HE WENT TUH DE SOUTH SIDE OF A HILL AN' HE GOT SIX DIFF'REN' KINDA ROOTS, an' he Say One of de roots wuz de Queen Elizabeth root an' de othah root wuz de shargrass root
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[?]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(What kind?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
Shargrass
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[?]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
root. Shargrass root an' de Queen of Elizabeth root. An' de othah
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[4 of the 6]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
wuz de blacksnake root, an' de ginseng root, an' de beechluck
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[beechnut = beech]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
root, an' de sippahred
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[?]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
root.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
(Sipper?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
Sippah-red
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
[?]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2338
root. Well, he'd taken dat an' he boiled it. Den aftah he
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
boiled dat, he dropped a KNO4 tablet in it.
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
(What KNO?)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
KNO4 tablet an' de watah turnt as red - well, it turnt as red as dat, as dat spot in dere.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
[He may have pointed to something red in the room; carpet or window curtain.]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
interviewer · Interviewer; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
(I see.)
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
AN' HE LAID "IM IN DAT WATAH AN' BATH-ED
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
[NOT BATHED]
context only; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
"IM. AN' WHEN HE GOT THROUGH BATHIN' 'IM, HE TOLE 'IM, LOOK BACK BEHIND IM. AN' WHEN HE LOOKED BACK, WELL DERE DEM SNAKES WUZ IN DE BATHTUB! BUT DEY WUZ DAID. YO' SEE. DEY WUZ DAID, BUT HE
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
[DOCTOR]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; supporting excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
KILLED DEM. HE PUT 'EM IN DAT WATAH. YO' SEE, NOW, WHOT WUZ GIVIN' IM DE TROUBLE, DEY WUZ ALIVE, SEE. SEE, WHEN DEY WUZ MOVIN' ABOUT
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
[IN HIM]
informant · Current unnamed interviewee; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
DEY WUZ HURTIN' 'IM.
editorial gloss or commentary; context excerpt · Vol. 3, p. 2339
[My informant doctor is saying Dootor Martin killed the snakes with the red bath water. I say a good trick!]
Nested source context: nested reported medical doctor speech · Vol. 3, p. 2338
HE SAY, "AH CAN'T DO HIM NO GOOD. AH DON'T KNOW" - A MEDICAL DOCTOR, YO' KNOW - "AH DON' KNOW WHUT'S DE MATTAH WIT 'IM. AH NEVAH SEED A MAN ACT LAK DAT BEFO'."
locally coherent printed subpassage
A local printed ending does not establish unabridged recording coverage.
The medical doctor’s quoted speech is narrated, not a live clinician in the room.
Root names, KNO4 and the uncertain gesture remain literal; no chemical or plant identity is resolved.
He may have pointed is the editor’s conjecture, not a confirmed interview demonstration.
The good trick conclusion is the editor’s competing interpretation.
Bounded passage retrieval, not complete corpus coverage or practitioner consensus.
Read the full source context: Vol. 3, p. 2336 · Vol. 3, p. 2337 · Vol. 3, p. 2338 · Vol. 3, p. 2339 · Vol. 3, p. 2341