Subject:Wheel
Entries
Entry 5720
Yes sir, yo' take nine pins; new pins, see.
(Straight pins.)
[Ordinary pins in Hoodoo are frequently called straight.]
An' three of 'em wit de point dataway [demonstrates], three wit de point dat- away, an' three wit de point dataway. Wrap 'em kinda [demonstrates]. (Just like - a crossing-like - like a big "x".) An' jis' wrap 'em up an' stick anywhere yo' wanta stick 'em, yo' undahstan', an' yo' stick dem pins dere fo' nine days. If yo' wanta jis' do 'way wit de fellah or evah who i'tis [it is], jis' let dem pin stay dere 9 days. An' aftah dem nine days, yo' go an' git dem pins an' stick 'em right down at de foot of de tree. Whosomevah yo' put 'em on, yo' undahstan', an' dat will disappeah dem.
(Where do you stick those pins the first time though?)
Jis' stick 'em right in a tree.
(No, the first time you stick them, before you put them away?)
Stick 'em in a tree, stick 'em in lak dat, chew know. (Well, how do I know that I'm going to get the right fellow by using these pins?) [Informant merely has the person in mind, which is sufficient; but instead of saying I have him in mind or mentally name him, informant now creates the newrite by crossing two of the pins in the person's track.] Well, if yo' know who i'tis, yo' kin git 'im. Yo' kin git 'im by takin' two of dem pins an' watchin'. Yo' know 'im. Jis' go tuh 'is track wheresomevah he make it, an' Jis' take two of dem pins an' cross it.
(Cross them in the track?)
Yeah. An' den take dem up an' wrap 'em tuhgethah. An' when yo' do dat yo' vill known den dat [you have the right man]. An' dem pins, yo' take dem pins from up heah [on the tree] an' put 'em down heah [on the tree]. Yo'll jis' wat' chureself [watch yourself].
(Now, these two pins are taken out of these nine pins?)
Dat's right. (You cross them in his track, and pick them up and put these nine pins together and stick them in the tree. Then they stay there nine days and you take them and bury them in the foot of the tree. And that sends him away. Does it run him away or kill him or what?) Run 'im away. He'll nevah come back no mo', an' won' give yo' any trouble. [Before informant removed 2 pins to cross in victim's track, the 9 pins were stuck into a piece of cloth to look like a man walking (this being a walking or sending away rite), each line being tripled i and forming the spokes in a 3-spoke wheel or the third of a circle. By /crossing these separate 3 pins as a group over a common center we obtain a 6-spoke wheel Xfound elsewhere in Hoodoo.]
Entry 8214
Yo' put it [photograph] catacornah'd [catercornered], joo know cata- cornah'd across, not hang it straight. Yo' see [demonstrates] lak dis is de cornah heah, an' dere, yo'll hang it ovah diag'- nal dis Way. [The photo hangs with sides tilted.1 An' write dere name three times across dis way [demonstrates]. [These names are written diagonally, each three crossing the other three at the center of the photo, making a six-pointed star-like or wheel-like figure which in a similar form, the dotted triangle, will be found in v.2, p.1833.1 Well, dat'll run 'em crazy.
Entry 8940
Somebody stealin' anything from you an' he passes.through de door - he's gotta, yo' know. Yo' take a axe an' go right over de door, on de inside an' on de outside, cut off little splinters, don't care how small it is. An' go right out into the yard where there's a cart, or a wagon or automobile or anything. If it's a automobile, you've got to jack the wheel up. Then yo' lose it so yo' kin pull it off de axle an' put de two splinters right in there, an' shove it right back on. An' yo' call this thief: Thief, turn your ways backwards. Oh, Thief, yo' shall be turned back. Yo' shall stand up in your track. Yo' shall not walk one inch front nor back until yo' come back an' bring my stolen' goods to me. Say that three times. An' stop asking him to bring it back and walk away. In less time than thirty minutes, yo'll see someone coming.
Entry 8942
No - if yo' know where - if dey went in de front do', yo' jes' cut a piece off dat do' an' yo' take it an' pull off a wheel - jack up de wagon an' yo' stick dat wood in dere [on the axle] an' yo' [restore wheel and] turn it to yo' all de time. Yo' turn dat wheel to yo' an' jes' [say], "Ah demand yo' to return dis stolen goods' or sompin lak dat. Dey'll come tuh yuh, yes sir [and return goods]. But chew cut a piece from de gate or any place which dey'd be in - git chew jes' a small piece - it don't have to be so large an' yo' turn de wheel. Turns it to yuh, if yo' would have dem come to yuh, which dey more den apt.
Entry 8943
De do' what chew goin' thru, de threshhold of de do', an' yo' cut a piece of chip from dere.
(A chip out of that door, that the thief has gone out.)
Yes. An' den ag'in, dey gits a wagon in de yard. Put dose chips into de axle of de Wagon an' den turn it backwards. An' call de thief name: In de Name of de Father an' of de Son an' de Holy Ghost, bring back whut chew done took. See, say dat, an' turn de wheel backwards. Say [turn] it backwards fast. An' yo' turn dat backwards fast. An' fo' [before] three times three days, dem people come back. If dey don't bring dat, dey'll put it on a place somewhere yo' kin find it. (This thing they took from you.)
Entry 8944
" Jes' lak somebody take somepin outa dis room heah. Yo' kin take a knife an' trim off a li'le trimmin' off dat do' dere, where yo' go out. An' yo' kin take an' care [carry] it - go tuh a man who got a wagon an' take de left-hand reah [rear] wheel off. An' put dat on dat spindle where dat[wheel] turn ovah on - put dat trimmin' whut chew got off dat do'. An' put de wheel back on dere an' yo' say, Thief, return, an' yo' turn dat wheel far- vards three times an' den yo' turn it backwards. Say, Thief, return de stolen goods which was taken outen mah possession. An' in seven days he'll return dose goods back to yo' - money or anything else. An' if he haven't got de goods, he'll come an' tell yo' dat he'll pay yo' fo' dose goods.
Entry 8945
If somebody steal sompin from yo' an' yo' want 'em tuh bring it back, yo' take dere names an' write it on a piece of papah an' put it in de wagon, undah [inside] de wagon wheel. Put it in dere an' turn dat wagon wheel ovah nine times. An' dey will be forced tuh bring it back to yo'. Call 'em when yo' turn dat thing - turn dat wheel - call 'em an' tell 'em: Yo' must come back heah tuh me an' bring dat whut chew took away. Yo' must come back an' bring it to me. De Father bids yo' come, de Son bids yo' come, de Holy Ghost bids yo' come, an' yo' must come back an' bring it back in Jesus Name.
(Do you turn that wagon wheel around either way?)
Turn it to yo' nine ways [times - see preceding nine times].
Entry 8947
I tried it mahself. Yo' can take a wheel off a wagon an' dere's a word yo' use, but ah can't speak, but ah know it's in Hebrew. An' yo' spins dis wheeL An' at a certain time dey'll [thief will] bring it back. Take it off a wagon, see, but ah can't speak de words not by experi- ence of 'em. (I see, that will make them bring back that stolen article.
Entry 9725
Dey use nails fo' sep'ratin' a man an' a woman, or eithah de husban' an' wife, whatevah yo' wan' tuh do. Yo' take de three nails an' cross; 'em dis way. See, cross 'em dat way, yo' see, an' den yo' have anothah one comin' cross dis way. (They are crossed one on top of the other like a rail fence.) Yes. An' den git chew a twine string an' yo' wrap it till - have de twine string about a-like dat [meas- ures].
(Four or five feet long.)
Yes. An' wrap it till dat string is out; all de way in all dose things [dem- onstrates].
(In all those corners?)
[In the V's between the spokes of the wheel.]
Yes. An' den when yo' git it wrapped, den yo' take it an' whosomevah house it is, yo' go tuh dere house. An' yo' go in, yo' know, an' sit down an' talk or sompin lak dat. An' den go tuh de backdo' an' throw it east, jes' as fur as yo' kin in de grass. Den yo' come on back. Dat's de way tuh separate a man an' wife.
(You just throw the whole thing altogether, just throw the whole thing away?)
Yes, de whole thing away. Dat's tuh separate a man an' wife. [There are several of these rimless wheel rites in HOODOO.]
Entry 9726
Bury 3 nails crossed together to bring person back.[ Here, as in the preceding rite and elsewhere in HOODOO, we have the well-known rimless wheel rite.]
Entry 9796
Ah do know of crossin' three pins. Whut dat re'lly means - crossin' three pins mean dat in a very short time some person is li'ble tuh git stobbed [stabbed] or shot or cut. (Where do you cross these three pins?) Cross dese three pins up ovah yore do'. Place dem three pins up ovah de do' jes' lak yo' put one in each diff'ren' spot: one [pin] at dat run [over first pin] an' [third pin] right across dat run. [Like this arrange 3 pins.l An' puts [where] de per- son walk undah it. Well, in one or two months, or in three months, he'll be cut, shot or stobbed. [A similar six-spokes-of-wheel rite follows this rite.]
Entry 9797
Yo' take needles an' pin 'em in a flannel rag, an' it must be needles dat have nevah been used, an' yo' wrap dem in a angle an' fold'em in a angle, an' dat brings a lotta trouble. (How many needles did you say?) Three. See, yo' stick dem through de flannel lak dat [demonstrates], chew know, an' den lak dat.
(Like the spokes of a wheel?) [See diagram in preceding rite.]
Yeah. Den yo' wraps dem up an' yo' buries 'em.
(Where do you bury them?)
Undah de steps.
Entry 11177
Yo' git devil's-shoe- string an' yo' cut it in three lengths in long strings. Yo' cut three pieces of it in three [long] lengths an' yo' git dat shoestring an' yo' go round a man's job an' chew dat shoestring an' spit all round, an' yo' could go to his steering wheel an' yo' spit some of de juice on yore han' an' wipe it on de steerin' wheel.
(The steering wheel of the boss' automobile.)
Entry 12180
Well, if yo' want good luck an' success, yo' know, yo' go to de black- smith shop an' git hoof from de horse hoof, an' yo' take it an' lay it down. Yo kin take three pieces. Have 'em all three de same length. An' yo' take an' lay 'em [demonstrates]: One fo' de Father, one fo' de Son an' one fo' de Holy Ghost. (You cross them when you are doing it.) Yes. An' then yo' put sulphur an' salt on top of that, an' while it's burnin' - burn it - an' while it's burnin', yo' jis' talk to it an' tell it anything that yo' want to have - if yo' want any good luck or anything yo' want done. [For this same design in other rites see those listed at end of rite 11879.]
Entry 13405
Well, now, fo' 'ninstan', if a thief had been to yo' home an' yo' has lost sompin from de house or dey stolen anything, yo' go an' cut chew three splinters off de do' de do' facin' or de win- dow facin' or from de vehicle or wherevah yo' lost it from. Yo' take de wagon wheel an' take de nut off it [axle] an' put dose three splinters in dere [the hub!] an' put de wheel back on, an' put de nut back on it [axle] an' den yo' turn de wheel slower. Yo' say to de thief, "Thief, thief, bring back de stolen goods," whut chew've lost from de house an'. But chew turns [wheel] gradually. Yo' call his name three times, 'Thief, thief, thief, bring back de stolen," whut chew've lost from de house, but chew still turnin' - turn slow. Don' let de wheel stop, jes' gradually turn until yo' git through talkin'. An' den on de last, yo' tell de thief, "Thief, bring back de stolen goods," dat chew have lost from de house. An' as shuah as de Virgin Mary shall not bring forth another son named Jesus, yo' shall bring back de stolen goods."
Entry 13406
All right, fust of all if ah would leave town and dat lady, if she wanted me, well it's quite nachural if ah was round dere, dere was a certain door dat ah would go through. First of all ah would take three splinters from dat and take dose splinters an' place dem in a wagon wheel an' turn it over three times, an' den put de wheel back on de wagon. Well you [I] will re- turn but 'course it wouldn't be in a stated time, but yo' [I] would be back not lak today or tomorrow, you [I] would be back within a week [seven days].
(Which way would she turn that wagon wheel?)
Turn it right. Case yo' don't know whut ah mean, yo' turn it forward.
(Turn it toward me or turn it back toward her?)
Toward her. (That means these splinters she took from the door she puts in the wagor wheel and then she turns it toward her?) Yes.
Entry 13407
Yo' kin take a man's wagon wheel if it's loose, an' if yo' want him tuh roll - want de man tuh roll - if his wagon wheel is on a tire - when it's loose - git some of his [foot] track an' jes' carry it an' git it in dere, but yo' mus' have some of dat Indian turnip wit it.] Put it in dere, underneat' dat rim, but fix dat rim in de tire. Or yo' kin fix"it anywhere roun' de wagon - anywhere.
(What will he do then?)
Well, he'll quit messin' wit chew.
(Make him move off?)
Yeah, make him roll off, he'll quit messin' wit chew. [Evidently a woman here gets rid of a man.]
Entry 13408
Lak ah tell yo', yo' take de sole [insole] of a woman's shoes or a man's shoes. See. Fo' instance if yo' don' put it on de outside where de peo- ple would see, but yo' would take it on de inside an' as dat wagon wheel roll, dat- away, jes' de same way dere mind will go - keep 'em with a rollin' mind. Dey would be in New Orleans today an' somepin would turn dem, dey git in a bad humor tuh go tuh Memphis, an' from dere tuh Arkansas, an' jes' keep 'em always on tuh rovin'. See.