Subject:Whip
Entries
Entry 7507
Shot to death. Well, now if yo' is shot to death, yo' jes' take an' go in de woods an' dey git somepin dey calls scrubby oak [second-growth oak?] switch. Well yo' git one of dose switches, an' de very person whut's dead in de coffin, yo' take an' put dat in 'is han'. Put dat switch in 'is han' in de coffin, see, an' tell 'im, say, "Whip dis person across de whole worl'" - jes' who his name wus, yo' undah- stan' - "whip him until he git enough." Jes' call de dead person name an' also dis othah man's name - see, what did de killin' - an' den yo' close 'is hand on it. See [demonstrates] jes' close his hand right up on it, an' he'll finish drawin' up [!!!]. See. An' den when yo' bury 'im, in spirit dis same scrubby- oak switch an' dis fellah in spirit will whip dis othah fellah until he die. He won't live very long. If he live six months he doin' good. [Charleston, S. Car.,
(?).639:2+85.]
Entry 8782
Well, if yo' got a person - yo' kin take peoples' name an' put it in a bottle. Well, yo' take de name an' yo' write de name as ah tole yo', nine time, but yo' write it on a straight [ruled] piece of papah. Yo' kin put it in a bottle an' yo' kin take dat bottle an' yo' kin stan' anywheres off where yo' kin whip it; but yo' sup- posed tuh put peppah, vinegah an' Epsom salts an' gunpowdah wit anythin' evil dat yo' wants tuh do. Dat's in de bottle. See, yo' put all dat in dat bottle wit vinegah. An' yo' takes dat bottle an' git it on anythin' soft lak a cushion or pillah, anythin', an' yo' whips dat bottle. An' as yo' whip it yo' call dere name. An' when yo' do's dat, yo' doin' dat tuh make confusion. (And in writing those names, you write one right under each other nine times. And what do you write that with?) Yo' write it wit any kinda pencil.
Entry 8783
Dey do dat. Well, yo' jes' - lak yo' be's whippin' a natchel [natural] person, yo' whippin' on a bush. Yo' name dis bush dis person. Well, yo' could do dat, too. Yo' take dat an' yo' git up early in de mawnin' befo' de sun rise, an' takes yo' a hick- ory switch. An' yo' kin name dat bush dere my name or yore name or whosomevah it 'tis. Yo' could whip dat bush tuh death, an' tell it whut yo' want it to do or don' want it to do. An' dey'll go down jes' lak dat [demonstrates]. Jes' by whippin' it an' tellin' 'em why it'll do jes' lak dat. (In other Words that bush will die, and when it dies just whatever you want done will be done?) Dat's right.
Entry 9365
Well, yo' take a chicken aig an' yo' kin broke dat shell, an' put dat in a cup or a [saucer], de yellah, not de white, jis' de yellah part of it, an yo' beat dat up. Yo' git chew den de thing yo' calls Seven Yeahs Adventure. Didja [did you] evah heah about dat? (Seven years what?) Seven Yeahs 'Venture, yeah. (Adventure or [something] or what?) Deventure. Deventure, yes. Yo' know, yo' drops jis' about 12 drops of dat in dat an' stir dat up. Beat dat up jis' lak yo' gon'a make - yo' see, yo' po' dat in fo' bottles [demonstrates]. Put one heah, one dere, one dere, an' one heah.
(Sort of shape of a cross.)
Yas, an' aftah dat ain't no man kin harm yuh. house
(Where do you put those four bottles?)
Yo' kin put dose fo' bottles aroun' in yuh yard [like this]:
[The house in center of cross forms a quincunx.]
Entry 9868
Yo' kin run a frog up tuh yuh do'. An' whip an' talk tuh 'im. Talk about evah'where he [victim] stays. He's bad. An' take dat frog den an' care [carry] him out tuh a hick'ry tree. Take a [young] hick'ry tree an' beah [bear = bend] it down an' put dat frog on dat tree. Tied dat frog on dat tree an' when dat frog dry up, den yo' [victim] will dry up an' travel. Yo jes' dry up an' yo' won' have no mind tuh stay at one place. (What else do you do with that frog when you are whipping him? What else do you do to him?) Jes' talk tuh 'im an' tell 'im whut chew whippin' 'im fo', an' tuh do whut chew want done. Talk jes' lak, yo' know, lak somebody talkin'. Whip 'im till yo' kill 'im.
(Well, what if I get the wrong person?)
[I am fishing here to learn whether frog is named victim or victim's name is called, etc.] Yo' have tuh talk tuh 'im an' tell 'im whut tuh do.
Entry 9869
You get the frog and you whip it and you beat it, and you put it under the person's step before it die. And, I guarantee, that will make 'em move.
(I see.)
Entry 10184
An' some says anothah remedy tuh put 'em [candles being burned on you] out [is one] dat yo'll use on yuh head. Well, yo'll have tuh git chew diff'ren' little things. Yo'll git chew vinegah, a teacup of vinegah an' three teaspoons of olive oil, an' one egg an' yo' beat it up - whip it [3 things] up tuhgethah. Yo' beat up de egg first an' den add de othah all tuh it. An' put it in a bottle an' shake it up. Well, yo'll take some of dat, take a swallah of it evah now an' den, about two or three time a day or somepin othah like dat. Den yo' take some of dat an' put it on. Yo' know, dey say when de candle burns, it strikes yo' on one mos' pahtic'lah place - burning an' pullin' [demonstrates]. (It strikes you in one particular place, right here in the back of your head some place [informant demonstrates]. Where your neck and head meet, right up here some place [I demonstrate].) Well, some says it will be here [demonstrates]. Sometime it will be here [demonstrates]. But more in gen'ral it be's kinda back, it's pullin' [demon- strates]. Dey tell me it work like dat.
[I describe last demonstration.]
(Or near the left temple.)
Yas, neah de lef' temple or somepin lak it. It pulls. It seems as if some- one is pullin' on de strands of yuh hair. Dere's a strain, yo' know, on yuh hair. Dey say dat's whut dat is [someone burning a candle on you] when yo' have dat. (Well, you've taken some of this mixture, then you do something else you said.) Yo' take dat mixtry [mixture], yo' take it in yore han' jes' like dat. Let yuh han's git wet jes' like dat an' jes' like dis [demonstrates].
(Just rub it right on your scalp.)
De scalp of yuh head. An' sometimes it so severe yo' take de bottle an' po' it like dat [demonstrates]. Jes' douse yo' head wit it good [demonstrates].
(What will that do then?)
Dat eases it, but yo' gotta do dat about two-three days maybe.
(Well, what does that do to the candles?)
Dey say it puts dem out. Dat's whut ah heard, it puts 'em out.
Entry 11116
Take dat coconut if it's a bad person aroun' yo' somewhere an' yo' jes' don't wanta run him away or yo' jes' don't wanta hurt him, but chew jes' take dat coconut yo' know an' jes' whip it, jes' keep awhippin' it, an' he'll git a whippin' from someone but it won't be from yo'. An' den aftah yo' whip it good, den yo' git it tuh somebody. Don't chew bust it; don't chew eat it. Give it tuh someone else.
(Do you do anything with that coconut before you whip it?)
Yo' don't do anything but jes' git it out de sto' an' start tuh uhippin' on it, yo' know, in a private place.
Entry 12662
She take three little 'simmon [persimmon] switches, an' she could put them undah the doahstep of these people house, an' let it stay, an' it'll split 'em up. They say it'll jis' woop [whip] 'em an' buses [= busts = bursts] 'em up. [A pencil note of mine reads: "See putting oak branch in grave of murdered man to whip murderer to death, from Charleston, S. Car. See No.7507, p.3291, v.4.]
Entry 13442
If yo' got okra dat won' bear, yo' jes' take yo' a switch every mawnin' an' go dere an' whip dat bush lightly an' it start tuh bearin' jes' lak any othah bush. (That okra is the same thing as gumbo, isn't it?) [The two African words refer to the plant, gumbo in the U. S. A. usually means a cooked product.]
(That is to make the thing bear?)
Yes.
[Informant now gives another method for making okra bear.]
Yo' kin take a sifter an' go out dere an' yo' sift it ovah de okra lak dat, an' if it won't bear, it will start bearin'.
(Do you put anything in the sifter or just the empty sifter?)
Jes' de empty sifter.
Entry 13444
If you got mad wit somebody, git you a grapevine, one that's never beared grapes, and twist that vine and go whip that person. They say she'll just come to nothin - won't be nothin, won't be nothin no more.
(A tame grapevine or a wild one?)
No, this is one - you know some tame grapes don't bear fruit.
(Now, how do you mean, you twist it?)
You just take the two branches... [demonstrates].
(Oh, I see.)
And twist it over... [continues demonstration].
(And then you whip them with that?)
Yes.
(And after that this person is no good at all.)
They'll be no good. (Well, how do you mean, "no good" - just sort of lost their spirit or ambi- tion or what?) No ambition or nothin, just walk de street barefooted, and...
Entry 13445
Yo' kin take a rattan stick, jes' lak a person wuz workin' against yo' or somepin an' wuz doin' some things fo' yo' or yore enemy, yo' ketch 'em out, an' take a rattan [walking?] stick an' whip him an' dat'll make him lose all his power. He cain't do nuthin. [Surely working against yo' includes trying to hoodoo you.]