Subject:Whiskey
Entries
Entry 411
(Suppose you and I are going out to hunt this buried money - well, you tell me all about it.) Well, ah'm goin' tell yuh. Ah lived in a place once up in Georgia that they told me there was some money buried, an' dere was a old bachelor, dey said that run de salt mill dere had buried his money. An' we went out to dig dis money an' we found - well, dey claimed dat it was. Sound [we sounded] down dere, sound like money - ah mean like a can or pot or something. We went to digging at it. An' it had - was growed up a little tree, a little hickory tree right where it was. We dug up dat tree - it was in de wintertime, cold up [had turned cold]. We dug up dat tree - it was solid, good an' solid, little hickory, an' a little ole rattlesnake run in de hole. So we came out of it an' went an' tole de white folks about it. Dey went there - dey got instruments an' went dere an' dey said dat it was something come like a big bull; looked like it goin' jump right in de hole on 'em. They run out. They went then an' sot little tumblers of whiskey around, filled 'em fulla whiskey, an' they digged then, an' dey tole me "cause ah'd known about it - it was much as one man could roll away on a wheel- barrow. They knowed de gentlemen an' knowed whut kind of whiskey he liked [see Spirits and alcohol, in Index]. (You were telling me something about killing a dog. You started to tell me about killing a dog.) Well, they tells me that yo' kill a dog or snake or something an' bury with that money, an' it will take care of it.
(That's to guard the money?)
Dat's tuh guard de money - or a man or anything lak dat.
Entry 3273
Ef anybody git connected wit 'is wife, he git a snakeshed an' he'll consult [advise] 'is wife befo' leavin'. Tell 'er to be nice an' evahthin whilst he's gone. He say, "Now ef yo' do enythin' ah'm goin' ketchuh." Well, he go ketch 'im a - he'll do dis befo' he goes - he go an' git 'im one dose dry snakeshed, an' he take a bottle an' he take de top out of it an' he takes de snakeshed by de mouth lak dat an' it go right dere an' it go down in de bottle [demonstrates].
[I describe informant's actions.]
(Then he would let the snake[shed] go round [in] the bottle. And snake vill twirl around, twist around [in] it.) Yeah, it will go dis way [demonstrates], jes' lak dat, till it gits all de snakeshed in dere. Den he'll put whiskey on dat snakeshed [feeding the splrit in this hand, see p.578], an' dat night befo' he goes away or dat day befo' he goes away, he will have communication wit 'is wife. Well, he will brush 'er wit dat whiskey - he'd wash hisself in it [snakeshed whiskey] befo' he coumunicate wit 'er an' it stick to her. [HERE WE HAVE THE OLD THEME OF A SNAKE OR A DRAGON GUARDING TREASURE - Pafner in Wagner's opera Siegfried immediately comes.to mind. Uninspired and lowly ex- amples will be found in HOODOO: p.112, line 34; p.118, line 28; p.122, line 52; p.123, line 9; etc. For Whiskey fed to spirits, see: 77, p.32; p.123, lines 2-5; etc.] Whenevah she has anythin' to do wit dis [other] man - have anythin' to do wit dis man - dat snake will ketch 'im, in fack [fact] it 'most [almost] tie dem. Ah know dat. Het'll fasten 'im tight, so dey can't git away. (Is there anything they can do to get them apart? How would they get them apart then?) Git a piece - git a hunderd pounds of ice an' put dat between 'em in de back an' let it stay at 'is back, ah think it's two hours, an' remove de ice [from] dere an' put it right 'tween 'em. Freeze 'em.
Entry 3700
Ah heard a fellah say if a woman take his nature datavay, if he wants tuh git it back, he have tuh go tuh work an' git some of 'er ministrate. If he git dat, yo' see, an' he'll git it on a rag, an' he'll go tuh work an' take him some gin- whiskey an' put it in qin-whiskey. an' give it tuh 'er tuh drink. When she do dat she'll go tuh work an' release it offa him.
Entry 3713
An' anothah thing, yo' could take a young rooster off de yard dat jes' startin' tuh crowin', git de gizzard. An' yo' take dat gizzard out an' ' peel dat inside skin, dat rough skin in dere, an' jes' poun' dat up an' put it in corn whiskey, good corn whiskey or gin, an' dat will make him stan' up right away.
(That will bring his courage back?)
Yes, bring it right up. One dat jes' start tuh crowin', start comin' [growing] up. An' de man who's takin' it, why it'll grow, it will increase evah day.
Entry 3714
Go an' git 'im some coon root [see later] an' put it on some whiskey an' drink it three times a day, or eithah git 'im some lion tongue [lion's tongue - the spotted wintergreen]. (What is that, lion tongue?) Some dis li'le string stuff dat grows in de woods, it's got three or fo' leaves on it an' all of 'em runs out diff'ren ways, one runnin' dis way an' one runnin' dat way - runnin' east an' west an' no'th an' south.
(What does he do with that root then, just chew that or?)
Chew it or eithah put it on whiskey an' drink it.
(This will bring back his nature.)
[I can see why anything called lion's tongue would be good-magic medicine, especially when soaked in whiskey; but coon [racoon] root does not sound promis- ing. If coon root is not a root-trade name, could it be: (l) the coon grape of southeastern U. S. A., the Ampelopsis cordata, a woody vine with grapelike foliage bearing inedible bluish fruit; or (2) the fox grape Vitus labrusca?]
Entry 3772
Dere's somepin in de woods dey call a bull nettle. Yo' go in de woods an' git chew some bull nettle an' take yo' 'bout a halfa pint of whiskey, an' yo' let dat bull nettle settle in dere an' evah mawn' in' or two yo' git up an' take a teaspoonful. Drink about a teaspoonful evah maunin' an' carries it along. It'll bring yo' nature back to yo'.
Entry 3775
She git a dishrag an' she'll tie three knots in it: ONE ON DE END AN' ONE IN DE MIDDLES AN' ONE ON DE OTHAH END - make three knots. She'll have dat rag damp. When yo' make a connec- tion wit 'er dat night, she won't come herself. Yo' understan' whut ah talkin' about. She'll make yo' do it. When she do's dat she'll tie it up an' she'll put it undahneat' her mat- tress right undah yore haid, where yo' won't know nuthin about it. An' prob'ly yo' go dere to anothah woman to try to make a connection wit 'er. It'll be hard when yo' git up dere, but aftah yo' git up an' start it'll jes' fall right down.
[Here follows the cure for the preceding rite.]
Dere's a weed grows in de woods, dey call it a horse nettle. It's a little weed dat has a little button on it - little berry, yo' see - an' de root is about dat long. An' dat root got little lumps in it. Evah two or three inches dat root got a little knot in it. Well yo' take dat an' yo' drink dat fo' about nine mawnin's.
(What do you do with that root?)
Well, if anybody know it, dey kin go out in a country place an' git it. Yo' takes it an' yo' cuts it up, an' puts it in a bottle, an' yo' PO' SOME OF DIS GOOD WHISKEY ON IT, an' drink it fo' nine mawnin's, an' dat'll bring it back to yo'.
(Bring his nature back.)
Entry 3812
Go an' git a bran'-new brick dat has nevah been used, an' yo' put it in yore fire an' git it red-hot. While dat brick is heatin', he make him a pep- pah tea wid dese pod peppahs. Git nine pods an' make a peppah tea of it, an' he po' 'bout a ten-cent drink of likkah into dis an' drink it hot. Well, when he drink it hot, he urin- ate on dat brick - take it out an' urinate on dat brick, an' dat'll bring it back. Dat's one way. (That will restore his nature, his courage that has been tied up by some woman.) Yes.
Entry 3846
Yo' take de firs' fingah from de lef' han' an' yo' take a new needle an' yo' stick dis fingah [demonstrates].
(The index finger of the left hand.) Yes, an' yo' git three drops of blood an' it will bring love. (What do you do with that blood after you get it?)
Entry 3870
Ah know it tuh be a fac', if a girl break up - lak if yo' didn't love 'er so good, yo' know, an' if she be sick or sompin othah lak dat. Well, dere's one thin' dat she kin [do], if she's sick, to he'p'er- self. If she kin git yo' tuh eat anythin', or drink watah, den she take a little of 'er sickness, in 'bout a teaspoonfulla watah, an' a li'le bit of red shank, an' boil it intuh de watah. She kin po' dis stuff, jes' 'bout a halfa teaspoonfulla in some watah an' gi' yo' [give you]. Why yo's a fool about 'er, see.
(You put a piece of red shank root into that water?)
Dat right. An' if yo' wanta, dere's a way dat yo' find out dat she did do yo' dat way. Yo' goes in de woods an' gits yo' de devil's shoestring. Den yo' comes back wit dat an' yo' boil it an' take yo' a piece of mullein. Dem [mullein plant] a flat weed sompin lak 'bacca [tobacco], lak a head of 'bacca, yo' know, but it be's somewhut flattah yo' know - it don't be high, yo' know. An' yo' take dat an' yo' take nine strands of dat mullein root an' ball [boil] it, an' two leaves. De way yo' gotta do, yo' git some whiskey an' put on it, on dat, an' git chew a piece of camphor an' put it on it. Well, yo' tote dat in yore pocket fo' 'bout two or three days an' pass 'er do', an' she'll tell yo' she got de headache one day when yo' pass dere. Inside of eight days she'll tell yo' she got de head- ache. Well, yo' jes' say to her, says, "Well, dat's mighty bad but ah got some camphor heah." Well, yo' go ahead by dere an' let 'er rub 'er haid wit it. Yo got 'er an' it's offa yo' den. Well, she git tuh lovin' yo' den. Maybe, if yo' wanta love 'er an' want 'er tuh love yo' - well, it jes' quite natural if a man love a woman, he want 'er tuh love him yo' know.
Entry 4131
Now, dis chamber lye, dey kin take dat now - ah don't know dis from pers'nal experience but ah've heard of dis. If a person, say, might do dat, take it an' sprinkle it on a person's food, he would follow 'em from heah tuh Europe barefooted jis' tuh git a chance tuh be in 'is company.
Entry 4132
Ah've heard it tuh say, if someone is sellin' whiskey, why dey go tuh work an' mix a certain portion of chamber lye wit it an' give it tuh mens, so dat dey come back an' buy dere whiskey.
Entry 4710
Lotta things dey kin do wit dat, too. Dat little bow right in heah, right dere [demonstrates], dey kin take dat an' git chure sweat [in the bow]. Dey kin take dat, dat sweat, an' dey kin - git chew a little sack an' sew dat up in dere. An' take some moonshine likkah an' jis' keep dampened ovah - jis' wet it wit dat an' throw it away. An' dey tell me dat will run yuh crazy.
(Keep it dampened with moonshine liquor. And they throw it away?)
Throw it away.
(That makes you lose your mind.)
Entry 4711
She take de bow outa a man's hat an' she takes an' put it in a small bottle, yuh undahstan'. An' she take dat bottle, yuh undahstan', an' takes some whiskey an' po' in dere on it roun' about every month, see [feeding this hand - see p.578]. he'll jis' be worried aftah her all de time.
[HERE A BLACK PERSON CALLS A WHITE PERSON, "BOY."]
(What would she do with that bottle?)
Well, she'll take dat bottle up dere yuh know, an' she keep dat bottle an' feed it all de time.
Entry 4712
Take dat bow an' yuh git chew rock sulphur [a molded cake of sulphur] an' yo' git some spice, spice an' rock sulphur, an' powdah it up togethah, an' yuh sew it up intuh a bag an' yuh feed it on red whiskey [not white moonshine]. Tote it anywhere 'bout chew or pin it tuh yore clothes nex' tuh yore skin. Dat keep dem home, dey Won't go. [Brunswick, Ga., (1224), 2080:6.] [Perhaps most hoodoo believers would say that clothing is a substitute for the human body only if it contains sweat - it must be dirty. On the other hand there are cases of a clean garment being stolen from the clothesline (p.92, lines 5-12) because it has merely touched the human body.]
Entry 4829
Take a woman undahweah, if her an' her ole man been fussin' an' been havin' confusion an' she don't want 'i. She kin take some of 'is undahweah whut he weahs nex'tuh 'is HYATT skin, SHE BRING ' EM TUH YUH. [Informant thinks author a doctor trying to learn new tricks.] Yuh kin take 'em. Well, yuh take dat undahweah an' yuh burn it intuh ashes. When yuh burn it intuh ashes yuh git some Solly's Corn Whiskey.
(Sally's - Solly's [Solomon's!] Corn Whiskey?)
Yes. An' yuh take - if yuh kin git any of de herb roots, John de Conkah or any dem kinda roots, an' jis' cut it up fine an' mix it in dere. Carry it right back an' put it down anywhere. Jis' sprinkle it right on de front porch or any part of de house yuh got'a walk ovah.
(What will that do then?)
When yuh git 'is undahweah yuh take it an' burn it [I interrupt].
(What will that do after you sprinkle the stuff?)
He cain't stay dere.
(She's driving him away?)
Drivin' 'im away.
Entry 4930
Yuh take yore stockin' - if de man wants a woman, he takes 'er right- footed stockin' an' he'll put a frog, a life toadfrog, an' he'll put dat frog in dat stockin', tie him up in dere, carry 'im tuh de sunpo'ch[!] an' put 'im right undah de steps, right in de centah of de steps an' bury it, bury dat right down dere. (This man puts the toadfrog in her right-foot stocking and buries it right in the center of the steps. Is that all he needs to do?) An' den git holt of candy or dope or sompin an' wear it. Yuh kin tote de stockin' but yuh have tuh tote de stockin' wit'out de frog in yore pocket.
(But what would that do then, after you bury that stocking under the step?)
That will hold 'er undah 'is - not 'er, but undah his'n feet. Dat keeps 'er.
(What did he do with his pee?)
Kin take dat - if she drinks whiskey or dope or anythin', give her some chqmber lye in dat. Dat will change her, dat'll keep 'er. Dat stockin' an' all dat goes tuhgethah. De stockin', yuh kin take it den - de stockin', yuh kin take dat an' de frog, an' yuh kin put 'em tuhgethah in - kin carry 'em tuh watah an' throw 'em ovah- bo'd. Dat will [make] 'em leave yuh.
(You keep that live frog in the stocking?)
Dat's right, dat'll make 'em leave.
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 5081
Lak if yuh take a woman or man's - she take a pair of 'is socks an' dey kin take dem socks an' go tuh a drug sto' - anywhere yuh kin git it - an' git chew a bottle of toilet perfume. Yuh take dat perfume an' yuh take both of 'is socks, de right an' de left one, an' yuh damp it good on dere, an' yuh take dat an' put some whiskey on it an' wash 'em in dat whiskey. Hang 'em on de line an' let 'em dry on dere. Den aftah dey dry on dere, den yuh take an' yuh slip 'em back an' put 'em in 'is shoes befo' he know anythin' about it. Dey said, den he'll come back an' prob'bly put dis same pair of socks on, becuz dey be in his shoes, take an' put 'em on. An' aftah he put 'em on he'll start tuh wearin' 'em. an' dey says, lak if he goin' tuh leave, he'll start tuh walkin', an' jis' walk right on out an' he won' nevah come back no mo'.
Entry 5099
Well, lak yo' livin' in dis house 'sides [beside] yo' neighbah an' he's mad wit chew or somepin othah lak dat. Well, dey want chew tuh move out. Well, prob'ly yo' take an', if yo' kin git some of 'is shoes, an' take an' burn dem shoes, an' sprin- kle sulphuh on dem shoes as yo' burn 'em. An' if yo' take dis ashes aftah yo' burn de shoes - take de ashes an' prob'ly ketch dem goin' 'way from de house someplace or 'nothah lak dat. An' take dis ashes an' sprinkle it roun' both do'steps, de back do'step an' de front do'step. An' when dey goes in an' come out - when dey goes in de house an' come out, den yo' take dem ashes an' take an' bring 'em back, an' yo' burn 'em ag'in wit some sulphuh. Jis' burn 'em in dis sulphuh dis time, an' take an' sprinkle a li'le whiskey on it. Den dey leave ag'in, an' aftah dey leave ag'in, yo' take an' do de same thing, an' let it stay dere dis time. An' den when dey leave out dat time, den de nex' thing dey'll wanta do is move, becuz dat stuff whut she did will begin tuh start tuh work.
Entry 5787
Well, dey supposed tuh go an' gittin' yo' left feet an' git some of dat md; take that sand an' jes' put it in a han'kerchief, an' take dat an' go an git some John de Conkah an' some whiskey an' some cologne, an' take an' ball it up, an' jes' take an' cologne it. IF YO' DRINK WHISKEY, TAKE AN' PUT A LIL' WHISKEY ON IT TEE TIMES A DAY - JES' AS OFTEN AS YO' DRINK WHISKEY - AN' KEEP IT CONCEALED ' BOT LET NOBODY TECH IT. Dey says, dat'll keep 'er Watchin' yo'. Don' mat- cahs who git 'er, he can't keep 'er - dat if yo' wan' 'er. Qou do this to your girl and she couldn't leave you? That is to hold your girl or a woman could hold her man?) Yessuh.
Entry 5788
Now, de way yo' could stop yore foot track, yo' could take some - git chew a little concentrated lye, an' half-a pint of whiskey, an' 'bout a teaspoon fulla camphor, an' put it in dat bottle yo'understan'. An' also write dere name on it an' jis' shake it up an' down until dat.all come tuhgethah - dat papah an' lye an' stuff come tuhgethah. All right. Wheresomevah yo're at, if yo's in a location wheresomevah yo' be at, jis' bury it down right - jis' at de right side of de do'step, right at de right side of yore do'step. Well, den dey couldn't do a thing wit yo'.
(That would keep that person from harming you?)
Dey won't do yo' any harm.
Entry 5803
Dey kin git a thin' dey call devil's-shoestring. Dey kin git a thin' dey call Nine Witches [a hoodoo-store product?] an' put along wit dat [hair], an' den some corn whiskey, camphor an' bury dat.
(This hair?)
Yas, an' de longah dat grows - de more dat hair grow, de worsah yo'll git.
(What will that do to you?)
Well, it will send yo' crazy, if yo' don't git somebody to take it off yo'. [For the preceding Nine Witches, I did not suggest a piece of witches'-broom, that brushlike deformity of small branches of trees and shrubs caused by fungi, rusts, etc. The sug- gestion was not made because few persons in my experience know the witches'-broom and I personally never encountered any folklore saying or belief about it. Yet the oldtime Germans of Adams County, Illinois, surely knew the word hexenbesen.
Entry 5886
Yo' kin take a person's hair an' yo' kin parch it on de stove. Say, fo' instance, now - dis ain't de person dat chure are tryin' tuh do sompin wit. Yo' take yore own hair an' yo' parch it on de stove, an' aftah yo' git it parched it's jis' de same as black peppah. Den yo' take dat hair an' sprinkle it in coffee or whatevah de person might drink - whiskey or anything of de sort.
(What will that do?)
Dat's supposed to draw de person's attention to yo'.
Entry 6013
Dey have hair in dat - dey git a lock of a lady's hair, men usin' dis. An' git a lock of lady's hair an' den dey git dis lodestone an' dey gits nine needles an' Hearts Perfume. Dat's whut ah heard now. An' den dey wrap it, feeds [see p.578] dat thing wit whiskey, an' wrap it in a ball, an' tie dat black string aroun' it.
(What do they wrap it up in?)
Flannel, red flannel, an' den put de black thread aroun' it an' put a string aroun' dat, an' let it hang down in dere bosom or breast an' wear it.
(What is that supposed to do?)
Dat will draw love.
Entry 6061
If yo' has a frien' an' yo' loves 'er now, an' yo' wants 'er tuh be wit yo' - yo' take a lotta men, dey don't wanta work, dey wanta sit down an' let de women folks bring in de money. All right. Yo' take dis girl, or woman, who- somevah she is, an' yo' want 'er fo' a wife. Yo' don't want 'er fo' jes' a sweetheart or fo' whut she got - yo' want 'er fo' a wife. Yo' don't know how to drive yo'self up tuh 'er. Yo' prob'ly have a lotta property, lotta money, but still she not aftah dat. Yo' kin take dese foah fingahs, don't cay[care] whut han' it's on - jes' right or lef'. Jes' take dese foah heah [demonstrates], any of 'em, an' cut dose fin- gahnails off. Now, fingahnails sompin not supposed tuh rot. An' put dese fingah- nails into a half a pint or pint of whiskey, an' puttin' dis in dis pint of whis- key, yo' takes some of yore hair from down heah.
(Private hair?)
Dat's right, an' put it on de stove an' parch it, an' put in dis bottle wit dis heah fingahnail, an' den let hit set fo' nine days. Aftah nine days yo' take an' strain it off. Now, yo' kin drink it yo'self an' it ain't gonna hurt chew, an' den yo' kin give it tuh 'er an' let 'er drink it. Aftah de nine days, de tenth day yo' give it tuh 'er an' let 'er drink it.
Entry 6375
If she wanta take him from 'is wife. Yo' see, he's got a wife an' she wanta take him. An' 'cordin' to dat, well, he'll go an' stay wit 'er all night. Well, while he's dere, she'll cut some hair out of 'is haid, see. She'll take dat hair out an' put it intuh a quart bottle an' good whiskey on it, an' put bluestone an' lodestone in dere. An' befo' she'll speak to anybody, she'll git up evah mawnin' fo' nine straight mawnin's an' shake dat up. An' at de end of de ninth mawnin' when she shake it up, dat hair will bejes' as black as a coal in dat bottle. An' dat man will walk right out of de house an walk ovah dere tuh her, an' 'is wife won' say an'thin' tuh him.
(That takes this man away from his wife?)
Yessuh. [Memphis, Tenn., (1530), 2736:4.] [These three parts of the human body appear separately, joined with one or the other, or all together, or in various combinations with various substances. About one-third of them concern food and drink. As always in these sections of special material, not all rites are here. Others will be found elsewhere, espe- cially in INTERVIEWS.]
Entry 6460
Jis' shave it off, take a little, yuh know - jis' a little bit off yeh fingahnails. An' take a razor an' shave a little bit undah yeh ahms, an' a lit- tle bit of hair down dere. An' take dat an' put it in a pot dat choo not gon'a use any mo', an' put it on de fiah; a pot choo're not gon'a use any mo', becuz yuh know nobody fix anything dat yuh wouldn't wana eat [from] it. An' git a pint of whiskey, somebody dat choo know dat love whiskey. An' take dat stuff aftah yuh cook it - it'll git thick - let it drain off. An' when it drain off, put jis' a little bit in whiskey, until de whiskey won't git so thick dat he'll pay mind tuh it. An' den dat's de way yuh kin draw a person wid jeh. If yuh can't git 'em no othah way, yuh kin git 'em in whiskey.
Entry 6463
But ef dey git aholt of de dust from de trimmin' of yo' fingahnails, dey'd jis' mix it in a little moonshine, yo' know, or little good whiskey. Well, dey mix it wit de moonshine. An' if it's a woman an' dey wanta do any- thin' tuh yo', why dey jis' sew it anywhere in a hem or de bindin' of de sleeve dat dey weah regulah an' don' have tuh wash too much.
(What will that do then?)
Well, I suppose if dey might be a person dat care fer yo' an' yo' ain't payin' dem much attention, an' dat will change yore mind an' make yo' love dem dearly. (And they take the scrapings from a man's fingernails and put it in the whis- key?) Yes.
(What do they put that in then?)
Dey jis' put dat in dere tuh make.a moist taste. An' den dey weah it in a hem or de edge of a sleeve. But it will be a piece of material dat dey don' wash very reg'lah.
Entry 6465
Now yo' take a person toenail. Yo' take yo' toenail, yo' fingahnail. Yo' kin take dem yo' see, jis' lak we trim de fingahnail. Well a person take yo' fingahnail up. He kin take dat fingahnail up an' he kin pound it up, kinda parch it an' pound it up. Take dat an' put it in whiskey. Well, in puttin' it in whiskey hit'll create sompin lak a gern or sompin. Take dat whiskey, see, an' as long as dey keep [it], well jis' say yo' fingahnail, well de worms an' bugs will commence to eatin' undah yo' fingahnails.
(And what do [did] you say people think it is?)
DEY CALL DAT CUNJURATION.
(No, people say they think you have what?)
DEY THINK YO' HAVE DE LEPAHSIES [LEPROSY] - SOMPIN LAK DE LEPAH [LEPER], YO' SEE. IT START IN DE FINGAHNAIL AN' IT JIS' EAT, AN' [AS] DAT GERM EAT, YO' SEE, WELL HIT GOES ALL UP YORE HAND. IT MAKE YO' HAND SPOTTED 'BOUT. AN' PEOPLES CALL DAT LEPAHSIES. IT DON' BE LEPAHSY, IT BE'S DAT CUNJURATION.
(That is if you drink your own fingernails, that causes it?)
Dat's right, if yo' drink yo' own fingahnails.
Entry 6481
If dey could git holt of dat - an' if dey git holt of dat, why dey'll scorch it, see.
(These fingernails or?)
Or toenails, see, in ordah if dey wants tuh trick yo'. Dat's if a person is sellin' whiskey or somepin lak dat an' dey wants de customah tuh continue or tuh come on tuh love den, why dey'll burn dat. Dey'll scorch it, yo' see. An' aftah dey scorchin' it, den dey put de spice wit it, see. An' dey tie it in a li'le bag, see. An' maybe, if it's a woman an' she wants tuh use it, she'll [put] her dis- charges in it. An' den she'll jis' put it in a li'le whiskey an' soak in dere. See. An' aftah soakin' it well, she'll take de juice from dat an' den she'll po' it in dis whiskey. An' she'll shake it an' if yo' drink it, yo'll continue tuh go back.
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 6514
Yo' kin take an' put it in whiskey, or yo' know anythin' dey drink, amything lak dat an' make 'em wil' [wild] 'bout chew. Takes de skin, dead skin off de foots, scrape it an' put it in dere. Make 'em wil' 'bout chew.
Entry 6516
Take dere fingahnail an' scrape de fingahnail lak dat an' give tuh yuh in yuh whiskey or somepin an' dope yuh. Ah know dat. (What is it supposed to do to you if they do that?) Well, jis' dope yuh, yuh know, lak me an' you-alz goin' tuh a party an' yuh got plenty a-money, an' yuh wit de girl an' yuh got a gang a-money, yuh know, an' she wanta take yuh oat an' make yuh drunk. She jis' scrape huh fingahnails. Yuh got a bottle a hiskey, an' she'll drop a li'le bit in dere an' yuh drink it an' dat's it.
Entry 6517
Cut off de fingahnails, see. An' den wash de feet an' scrape dat dead sti from undah de bottom, an' put it in whiskey an' let it set so many hours. See. Den dey strain dis whiskey an' put it back in de bottle. An' den dey give it tuh de party, see, dat dey fix it fo' tuh drink. Dat's tuh make 'em love 'em.
Entry 6518
Ah heard mah poppah say dat chew could take it an' put it in whiskey, an' jis' lak he wus in love wit me an' ah didn't care any- thin' fo' 'im an' drink offa dat whiskey, off dose nails, an' it would make me tuh become tuh love 'im.
(These fingernails and toenails.)
Entry 6519
Ah've heard dat dey take de fingahnails an' toenails. Yo' mean tuh make a person love yo' or sompin lak dat? Yes, ah've heard of peoples takin' peoples' - takin' yore fingahnails or some othah person's fingahnails. Ah've heard tell of 'em takin' yore fingahnails an' toenails an' scrape from de bottom of yore feet, an' put it intuh whiskey, if a person drink whiskey, don't chew see, an' give it tuh a person.
Entry 6520
Lak yo' go tuh somebody's house an' dey'd be cuttin' dey fingahnails an' yo' wan'a hurt 'em. Yo' take one of de fingahnails an' put it in a bottle half camphor an' half whiskey. An' dey say dat'll make dem go crazy tuh lose dere mind [not crazy with love]. An' dey don't think lak a normal person, an' dey do jis' silly things.
Entry 6521
A person kin take yore fingahnails - dey kin trim yore fingahnails, trim three of yore fingahnails from each hand. (Which three?) Yo' usely [usually] git dese three [demonstrates]. (The three center ones.) De three centah ones. An' yo' kin take dese fingahnails an' it's a kinda root by de name of devil's shoestring. An' yo' kin boil dose roots in dose fingahnails an' put it in whiskey or somepin lak dat. When a person drink it, dem gristles will grow inside from dis nails heah. An' dis devil's shoestring will be a likkah-lak. An' dey put dis in whiskey an' yo' drink it an' den dey grows gristles in yo' - inside of yo'.
(What will that do then?)
Well, jis' grow gristles - be somepin lak a tumor jis' grow biggah an' biggah an' biggah. Will kill yo'.
Entry 6522
Dey take dem toenails, jis' trim 'em. Take dem toenails an' yo' parch dem toenails up, an' de fingahnails tuhgethah. Jis' - now, yo' got two fingahs on yo' fingahs dat is valuable. (What are those?) Dem's dese here [demonstrates]. (The thumb and the finger next to it?) Yes sir, an' yo' parch 'em up, an' if yo' drink whiskey, dey put 'em in dere. An' yo' put some of dat in dat whiskey. Let it set today, tonight. Den yo' be friends. An' yo' urinate, an' de las' dat uri- nate an' likkah, drap it [in] dere. An' yo' got 'em tied den.
Entry 6533
Dey put dat in yo'. Jis' lak yo' know, it's not de ants, it's de aigs from de ants. Jis' lak yo' know yo're [you are] sore [angry] wit a person an' dis person drinks. Well, if yo' kin git - yo' know dese ants' aigs intuh dis whiskey, yo' kin give 'em dat. An' it jis' supposed tuh hatch an' run 'em crazy.
Entry 6535
If anybody poisons yo', yo' git dem red ants - de red ants. Ah don' know nuthin 'bout nuthin but de red ants. An' yo' git dem red antses an' yo' put it in a li'le bit of whiskey, an' yo' put some gunpowdahs wit it. An' when yo' put it in dat whiskey an' de gunpowdah, yo' make it out a liquid yo' see, of a mub. An' den yo' put it down dere an' yo' git de white of a aig, an' yo' mix dat up as a rub stuff. An' rub yoreself wit it, an' if dere an' insect in yo', why dat'll cuz dem tuh leave. As fur as ah heard of dat.
Entry 6543
Yo' take some dog hair an' put it in some whiskey. Mix yo' a li'le sulphur in wit it an' yo' give dat tuh a person to drink, an' it'll 'cumulate snakes in 'em. [Snakes are created because hair, usual- ly horse hair, will turn into snakes - see SNAKES later.]
Entry 6582
[I know of them] doin' things wit de scorpions. Ah've seed dat done 'caz ah waited on de woman. Dey ketch a scorpion an' kilt: 'im an' let 'im dried. Dis was a bright [skinned] woman an' dis bright woman wus givin' dis dark-skinned woman trouble wit 'er husban'. An' she taken de scorpion an' kilt 'im an' she cured 'im dry, jis' lak if yo' dny anything. An' she crumble dat up an' put it in some whiskey, an' she called er an' give her a drink of dat whiskey an' - IF AH NEVAH MOVE AG'IN AH'VE SEEN OSE LITTLE SCORPIONS, DEY COME BACK ALIVE. DEY CREATED IN 'ER. Dem little scorpions jis' like dat.
Entry 6617
Ketch a small snake 'live an' put 'im in some whiskey - cut 'im an' let de blood, a couple-a drops of blood drop intuh dat whiskey, an' give it tuh a person dat chew wanta have 'em. An' dere. will grow in 'em live snakes, in de person. (How do they get those snakes out?) Well, now, how dey would git de snakes out. Co'se dey would have tuh be got out by some othah person.
Entry 6649
[Similar to rattlesnake rattles we have the whole tail:] If yo' git up tuh a person an' [can] cut off dis rattlesnake's tail an' put it in some whiskey an' give it tuh someone else, in dat bottle of whiskey, an' let 'em drink dis whiskey, dat'll cuz de snake tuh be in 'em. [Let the tail soak in a bottle of whiskey, take it out, and then let someone drink the whiskey.]
Entry 6858
Bush mullein, say yo' kin take dat an' boil hit down tuh a pint; an'git a good bit of it an' boil it down to a pint. Full [fill] it up wit red whiskey, any kina good whiskey, not moonshine. Dey say dat'll kill T. B. [Mullein is good for many things: croup, asthma, catarrh, kidney trouble, disinfect- ant, etc. (see INDEx of FACI, 1st ed.). If enough red whiskey is added it will probably kill almost anything in hoodoo!]
Entry 6936
If anybody wuz poisoned an' lak if anybody wuz goin' do anythin' fo' dem, an' dey jis' really knows dis one thing an' jis' make up an' do fo' dem. Well, if dey wuz poisoned in a way dat chewed wanta do sompin fo' 'em, why yo' would take whiskey, a dime drink of whiskey, an' nine drops of turpentine an' puts it in dis whiskey. An' [if] dis whiskey don' make 'em drunk an' de tur- pentine won't bothah 'em, well dey drinks it down. Well, dey drinks it down. Well, tuh make it shore, yo' takes a ten-cent [piece] an' file it off wit a file. Well, yo' puts it in sweet milk an' give it tuh dem tuh drink evah day, jis' lak yo' do a meal.
(What will that do?)
Well, dat will draw de poison from 'em.
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 7022
Says git a eelskin an' soak it in whiskey, about a pint of whiskey. Take dat eelskin an' soak it in dat whiskey fo' 'bout three days, an' den yo take dat eelskin out. An' jis' lak he be drinkin' an' come in an' eat suppah or sompin, yo' give 'im dat an' it make him purtty sick- heave a lot. But it will break 'im up from drinkin' whiskey.
Entry 7031
Ketch a frog an' put a pint of whiskey on a live frog an' de frog dies. [A small frog is squeezed into a bottle, whiskey poured on him, and the bottle corked up. I believe there is a simi- lar example of this frog treatment in Hoodoo.1 When de frog dies on de Viskey - it ain't goin' tuh hurt nobody - it'll make 'im sick. Jis' call a certain person, dat who all drinks so heavy, an' let 'im drink about two drinks off dat. Well, one drink, a good big drink off dat frog, an' den he won't nevah drink no mo' - have no mo' appetite fo' whiskey no mo'.
Entry 7036
Yo' take a man dat's been drinkin' all 'is days, or if yo' take dat [man] ain't bery long started, it easily done. But one dat's drinkin' all 'is days, most of 'em drinks whiskey or drinks [hard liquor]. De way she do 'im when he come in evah night - evah night when he comes in she goes tuh work an' clip off 'is, git 'is hair down dere.
(His private hair.)
His private hair, an' a li'le from 'is haid an' mix it tuhgethah. Den she takes dat an' puts it in a li'le bit of whiskey an' she keeps dat fo'.three days aftah she do it. Git dis li'le bit of hair an' takes dat fo' three days an' keeps it. Den she buys den a halfa pint of othah whiskey an' po's hit intuh dis whiskey, an' let 'im drink dat, an' he'll slack up on dat whiskey. Maybe he drink, perhaps it be fo' days, but it won't be ovah fo' days 'fore he come in, "Ah b'lieve ah'll slack up drinkin' whiskey, ah sho' do think it's takin' 'fect on me."
Entry 7045
Take a fish - take a mullet fish tail an' anybody drinkin' likkah... (A mullet fish?) Yes sir, take de tip end of de tail, an' take a black string an' tie it roun' dat tail, an' put it in a bottle of whiskey. An' let it set all night an' let it 'solve [dissolve] an' take it out. An' anybody git a drink of dat, dey won't drink any mo - stop 'em from drinkin'.
Entry 7186
Git chew some whiskey, some anvil dust an' vinegah jis' where he lay down. Yo' lay down wit 'im an' leave it up undah 'is bed, an' he won't wake until yo' come. Jis' undah de bed. [Memphis, Tenn., (949), 1530:15.] [This fifth and final subsection of section FOLK MEDICINE gathers fragments either from doctors themselves or from patients or their relatives or friends talking about doctors. Actually, similar fragments scattered throughout Hoodoo, show that many of these brief statements could have been placed elsewhere.]
Entry 7625
Now, if yo' know of a wicked pusson dat dies, an' yo' wanta create confusion in a home - dis pusson if yo' know where his haid lies in 'is grave, yo' know where de ahms fold...
(Where the arms fold over.)
Sure, yo' reach yuh right han' down de length of yuh ahm, as fah as yo' kin reach, an' git out - jis' squeeze yuh hand up wit de dirt, all de dirt yo' kin draW Out. Den yo' TAKE A GLASS OF WHISKEY AN' SET IT DOWN AN' PAY 'IM FER DE DIRT AN' TELL 'IM, SAYS, "NOW, AH'M PAY- IN' YUH FER DIS DIRT." An' yo' take dat dirt an' throw it in de yard or in de home of de pusson dat chew Wanta create a disturbance, an' dey'111 continue tuh have a confusion dere as long as dis dirt remains.
(Do you put that dirt at any special time?)
Yes, yo' put it eithah at de goin' down or de risin' of de sun.
(Do you get that dirt from the grave at any particular time?)
Gen'ly at midnight.
The informant describes taking dirt from a deceased person's grave, paying with whiskey and casting it into a yard or home for reported conflict while the dirt remains. Collection is generally at midnight; placement is at sunrise or sunset. The capitalized payment formula is prescribed speech, and the interviewer's clarifications remain separate.
Entry 7626
Stickbo'rd tuh de haid of graveyard [grave]...when yo' goes dere. Yo'll have tuh go dere at twelve 'clock at night. Durin' de time of goin' dere yo'll have tuh pay de graveyard-man three cents an' a half a pint of whis- key. (Where do you put that stuff?) Yo' have tuh dig in de haid of 'is breast, an' dig dat out an' set de whis- key down in de centah of it, an' step across 'im three times - backwards like dat [demonstrates] come across, go across - go across - go across - an' den go back an' talk tuh 'im in dat hole whut chew want 'im tuh do.
(What do you do with the pennies?)
Right in dat same hole where yo' put de whiskey, an' den call 'im up an' bring some of dat stuff away, out de hole, an' put it in a bottle. An' den he'll work fer yuh, do jis' whut chew want 'im tuh do.
Entry 7627
(Right from the beginning now.)
Well, right from de beginnin' of it is: Yo' takes it from anyone dat has died bad, yo' see, an' yo' goes tuh de grave an' yuh jis' tell 'em whut chew wan' 'em do fer yuh, yo' see, any troubles of any kin. (When do you go out there?) Well, yo'll have tuh go out at de nighttime, see. An' den yo' axe 'em dese questions, yo' know. YO'LL SEE 'EM SETTIN' UP ON DE GRAVE. AN' DEN YO' AXE HIM IF HE GOIN' DO DIS FER YO', yo' unnahstan'. WHUT WOULD HE DESIRE FER YO' TUH GIVE HIM. Well, IF HE'D WANT A CHICKEN, Well yo'd kill de chicken an' YO'D BRING TUH 'IM DE BLOOD, yo' know, INTAH A BOTTLE. Or if he wanted whiskey, why yo'...
[I interrupt.]
(What would you do with that blood then?)
Well, yo'd po' it right down on de grave.
(On the grave?)
Right tuh de foot of de grave. Yo'll jis'...
[I interrupt before I forget informant mentioned whiskey.]
(I see. And what if he wants whiskey?)
An' if he wanted whiskey, why yo' pour it in de same place.
(I see. And what else do you do then?)
Well, AFTAH YO' DONE DO DAT YO' UNNAHSTAND, JIS' WHEREVAH YO' GO YO' SEE, WHY HE'LL ALWAYS BE WIT CHEW. AN' YO'LL BE SO YO' KIN JIS' DISENTANGLE YUHSELF ANY TIME, INTUH ANYTHING DAT YO' WANTA BE. (I see. And didn't you say something about praying? What did you say about praying?) PRAYIN'? OH, YEAH! DAT'S RIGHT, AH DID. IT WILL BE UNUSEFUL FER YUH TUH PRAY ANY MORE, 'CUZ YUH DONE GIVED YUHSELF AWAY. [I now ask what he means without suggesting that he has sold himself to the devil.] (And is he supposed - is that supposed to be anybody special? Or just a dead man?) Anyone who died bad, especially if dey know yuh, yo' unnahstan'. Yo' KNOW INTUH A GRAVEYARD IS A VERY BAD PLACE TUH GO IF YUH NOT KNOWIN' ANYONE, YO' UNNAHSTAN'. If a [something? Evil spirit?] will come befo' yuh, yo' might make yo' a rich man yuhself. [There is just a suggestion here that you could sell yourself to an evil spirit.]
(I see.)
Entry 7654
Well, ah hear'd dey say yo' kin take graveyard dirt - yo' kin take dat graveyard dirt - go down dere at night an' dig right ovah de heart of de grave. Den bring it back an' put it umdah de steps an' po' vhis- key on it fo' nine mawnin's. Den yo' go back dere an' yo' take dis dirt up an' put it in a piece of white flannel an' take de dirt an' bury it in de ground an' let it stay dere. After yo' take it up an' put whiskey on it an' put it undah de step in de groun'. An' if dere any- one [there] dat don' lak yo', dey can't stay dere. [Is whiskey on for 9 mornings a delayed payment for the graveyard dirt?]
Entry 7719
Now, yo' take an' yo' go tuh de graveyard, an' yo' write her name down three times on a piece of papah, an' change on de stob on de grave, yo' know. Pull it up heah [de- monstrates], see, an' put it down heah [at the foot] - yo' take de haid [headboard] tuh de foot, yo' see. Well, she done left yo' an' yo' want 'ah [her] back, see. Take de haid [board] tuh de foot an' change it [with the footboard]. Dat's to come [to bring her] back. See, she have tuh come back dere.
(What do you do with that paper?)
Dat papah, yo' got 'ah [her] name on it an' yo' [demonstrates] put it down dere an' yo' put it [pour] in some whiskey an' drive it [footboard in hole]. (You put it [paper] in that hole where you pull up that headboard and put it [headboard] to the foot. Then you take the footboard and put it back in the hole in the headboard's place?) Dat's right.
(Then she'll come back?)
She'll come back. [Paying the grave spirit with whiskey is fairly common.]
Entry 7776
Once ah wuz goin' wit anothah woman - me an' anothah fellah wuz goin' yit de same girl an' we didn't know anything about it. An' she tole anothah girl dat me an' 'im, dat we wuz both ma'ied [married] an' she wuz goin' kill both of us befo' three days. Well, we went on back an' wuzn't pay- in' any 'tenshun an' she fixed a pint of whiskey up an' sont [sent] fo' me a' 'im tuh come an' git some of it. So den de fellah come on an' got de whiskey a' tried tuh git me tuh go an' ah didn't care tuh go. An' he went an' got an caken a drink of de whiskey. He taken sick an' he lived three days aftah dat. An' she tole 'im, when she got through wit 'im, she taken some of 'is hair out from off de left side of 'is haid an' put it in some whiskey an' got some grave- Yard dirt an' went to a place where dere wuz a dead snake, an' got some of 'is womes an' grin' hit up real fine an' put it in de whiskey. An' he drinken [drank] dat an' he died in three days.
Entry 8052
Yo' go in de woods. Yo' make it tuh de woods, way outa town, an' yo' turn in an' git chew a black line, a thread line - a thread line dat's black, a spool of thread. (Like a black fishing line?) Dat's right, lak a black fishin' line. An' yo' turn in an' git chew two needles. Yo' bring it [demon- strates] from heah an' yo' roll dat lak dat, reel it out from heah, jis' lak yo' stealin' dis whiskey. Jis' lak yo' in dere stealin' dis whiskey, yo' draw dat fishin' line, see, right on out. Yo's right in heah. Yo' be settin' heah, an' yo' draw dat fishin' line right on out. Well, yo' git den an' yo' stop an' yo' have a li'le yore watah in a tin can, yore pee in it already, an' yo' po' [pour] dat right down. Evah time yo' stops it [the line] po' it down. All right, yo' keep right on runnin' [out the line] an' go a certain distance. Ah [would] say yo' go about, aw jis' a short step, yo' know, aroun' an' den yo' stop an' yo' drop a li'le bit of it [urine]. Well, yo' keep right on a-runnin' [the line] an' see, yo' stop an' yo' drop a li'le of yore pee dere. An' yo' keep right a-rumnin' an' yo' stop ag'in an' yo' put a li'le pee dere. An' yo' git right back where yo' started off an' put some mo' yore pee dere.
[The urine is sprinkled in a circle about his liquor. This is to protect it.]
All right. Den yo' look aroun'. Well, ah did dis In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost, dat ah may rest from all evil, an' dat ah may die [several words], an' chunk it on away. All right, den yo' back up an' yo' git up on dis lak dis heah. Yo' back up off it, see, where yo' stop at. Yo' backed up an' yo' look at it [your whiskey]. Yo' stop five minutes an' yo' don't say a word. Yo' look at it. Den yo' walk back up to it an' yo' look at it ag'in. Den yo' back up. Den when yo' back up yo' look in dat direction an' jis' turn an' look an' jis' walk in dat direction. An' when yo' git out in dat direction, yo'll have a seat an' set down dere jis' a few minutes an' look at it. Don't say a word. Jis' look jis' fo' a few minutes. Den yo'll leave from dere an' yo'll go tuh a graveyard. An' if yo' kin git holt of a man's toes, yo' git holt of about fo' or five of de toes tuh fo'k [fork into the ground] roun' [the goods for sale]. Yo' stick 'em in de ground, yo know, round [the liquor], yo' see. An' den yo' say, Ah hope dis will be a fence fo' all [to keep everyone away], In de Name of de Fathah, Son an' de Holy Ghost. Well, devils [evil spirits] will be dere, see an' dat will keep dem dere [those] mens [low men] from comin' in lookin' fo' yo' makin' dis whiskey. Dey drove [are driven] away [by this protection] but yo' dere, but yo' know who dey are. See, yo' keep 'em drove away, but chew stay dere, but dey cain't stay dere. DEY'LL BE FRIGHTENED. WHEN DEY COME AN' CREEP AN' STOP, BEGIN TUH LOOK, DEY'LL GIT FRIGHT- ENED. SOMPIN WILL HIT 'EM ON DE BACK, SEE, AN' DEY'LL GRAB DEY PISTOL AN' TURN ROUN' AN' DERE'S NUTHIN. YO' HAVE HEARD OF THINGS SLAPPIN' PEOPLE. AH KNOW YO' KNOW.
(You said you get two needles. What did you do with those needles?)
Yo' take dose two needles - yo' take dose two needles an' yo' put 'em up on top of dis heah stove, jis' set 'em up dere. See, dat's tuh mean fo' sharp luck. Yo' carry dem needles fo' sharp luck. Yo' put dem needles up dere an' yo' cross 'em, see. Now, dem needles is dere fo' dem devils. See, dem needles is dere fo' dem devils, undahstan'. Dem needles is goin' p'int [point] at dem devils, undah- Stan'. WHEN AH CALLS DEVILS, DEM GUYS COMIN' IN DERE GOIN' TRY TUH RUN YO' OUT. WELL, AH WANTA HAVE DEVILS DERE STRONGAH AS DEY IS, an' dem needleS goin' hold 'em, dey is crossed, undahstan'. Well, ah'll look roun', see, an' put it dere, an' den got de stuff from de graveyard, yo' see, done got dem folk's toes, dem daid toes if it ain't nuthin but de bones. Ah got de toes. Well, ah done named dem, see. Ah name, jis' say, de Fathah, Son an' Holy Ghost, dat dey may keep 'way all devils. Well, when dem othah devils [law men] come, see, up dere tuh ketch me an' carry me down an' lock me up in jail, dese things will keep dem PartieS Off. DEY CAIN'T NEVAH GIT IN DERE, DEY'S ALWAYS SCARED OUT. AN' EVAH TIME DEY PULL OUT DEY PISTOL AN' GO TUH SHOOT, DEY'LL LOSE IT OR SOMPIN, DEY CAIN'T SHOOT.
Entry 8468
Well, dey will get chure photo an' a glassful of whiskey an' turn dat photo upside down [over the glass] an' de person dat de photo b'longs tuh will come. If he's away or wherevah he is, he'll come tuh dat place.
Entry 8469
(Now wait a minute! That's the photograph. What do they do that for?) Well, they do that, they say to keep the ole man or make him come back home. (First they do what with it?) Put it ovah a glass of whis- key an' they lay that ovah there - the photograph ovah that an' then they let it stay ovah there a day an' a night, an' then after that they take it off an' put it on the backside of their bed where they sleep, stand it up on the head - like that.
(That's to bring him back.)
Entry 8471
( Get a person's photograph. Yo' kin take that an' use the best of whis- key an' put it in a dark closet. An' yo' kin take their photograph an' turn it bottom upwards. Well, they won't be satisfied till they see the person according tuh the wishes yo'd make. If yo'd wish fer them to stay away, they'll stay; if yo' wish fer 'em tuh come tuh yuh, they'll come.
(What do you do with that whiskey?)
Yo' takes the whiskey an' puts in a glass. Yo' turns the photo bottom upwards over the glass.
(The photo doesn't touch the whiskey at all?)
No.
(I see, it just sets over the glass of whiskey.)
But yo' is standing on your head.
Entry 8472
Now, if I wan'a keep yo' in trouble - kin yo' hear me? [I probably nodded yes.] If I wan'a keep yo' in trouble, I get a glassful of whiskey, half full, and turn you [your photograph] down in [not on] that glass, and put [in] three old brass pen- nies, yo' know. Pennies, yo' know. And let it [photograph] stay upside down in there, and you will be in trouble the balance of yore days. [3 pennies symbolize Three Holy Names or are taken over from payment to grave spirit for graveyard dirt.]
Entry 8474
When yo' call a person's spirit, twelve 'clock at night, yo' draws on a person.
(Draw her picture?)
Draw his pichure. Git 'is name an' address. Yo' set [in] a dark room by yo'- self. Yo' take a sheet an' put it ovah yo' haid, wit chure eyes out so yo' kin see. Yo' set a li'le bit of whiskey in a glass [to draw his spirit back, spirits lov- ing whiskey, see ALCOHOL FOR an' yo' gotta memorize de person name, an' yo' call 'is name three times. Durin' de time yo's callin' 'is name, take a needle wit chure lef' han' an' punch nine holes in it. (Nine holes in what?) Nine holes in de pichure, in de form what chew draws. An' when yo' done cut de nine holes in it an' yo' watch de pichure an' blow on it. An' durin' de time aftah yo' done blowin' on it, an' if yo' hit it again tuh [do something] den chew light yo' lamp. Aftah dat, den yo' set a match tuh it. See what side she [match] bendin'; if she bend going, if she bend comin' back. She'll [match will] fall back in yuh hands. If she [match] bend goin', goin' de direc- tion she [or hel was [had departedl. she'll [match'll] fall dat way; an' if she [match leans to] dis side, she'll fall dat side; an' if she's [woman's] comin' back, she'll [match'll] fall right up in de woman form. [She] come right on back tuh you. [Informant alternating the sexes is confusing.] An' durin' de time dat dey bring 'er back, yo' git up an' yo' take yo' dishrag an' wring it ovah de do' an' call 'er name. Dat's cases if she gone an' leave yo'. If she gone an' leave yuh, if she leave any she [not her] clothes in dere lak a dress or pettycoat, lak dat, jes' take an' ball it up an' put it 'neat' chure pillah an' she will come back less dan three day's time, if she's able tuh, if she's in de city.
(That's to bring the woman back. You are calling her spirit back that way.)
Yes sir.
Entry 8475
Say yo' takes 'er pichure. Yo' goes an' git a gun an' regardless tuh who she is or how much money she got, if yo' loved 'er, git 'er photograph an' turns 'er photograph on de desk, layin' de photograph an' call 'it 'er pichure, an' mark it wit a "X' - a cross, 'X'. Take an' folds it up in a piece of news- pahah an' put it in yore shoes. Hoids up de linin' of yore shoes an' put it in dere, an' turns de haid of 'er pichure down tuh de ground an' tuhward de back of yore heel. Weah it three days an' take it an' delivah it out. An' pertends [pretends] yo' drinkin' whiskey, two glasses. Drink yores an' name hers wit de pichure ovah it. An' let it stay dere fo' three days an' she'll return tuh yo'.
(After you wear this in your shoe, you take it, the third day, and then you?)
Put it in two drinks of likkah, put it in two separate glasses. Fulls [fill] de glasses up each, an' drink one. An' put de othah one back an' name it wit de pichure in it, ovah de glass wit de face down tuh whiskey.
Entry 8621
Yo' git chew half a pint of whiskey an' yo' git chew a tablespoon con- sitrated [concentrated] lye an' jis' lak de - git chew a plain piece of papah an' write three, jis' lak it wus de sar- gint, poleeceman [policeman] lak dat. Well, yo' write dat on dat piece of papah, but yo' don't have tuh shake dat up. Write dat on a piece of papah an' bury it at de lef' side of yore steps wit de bottle. Lak dese heah yore steps right chere [demonstrates]. Dis [jis'] dig a hole deep 'nuff tuh put hit down an' let de bottle stoppah stay up jis' 'nuff to covah it in dere. An' let de bottle stoppah stay up an' yo'll nevah be worried no mo'. An' den let 'er set right ovah dere whilst dey [talking to her]...
[I demonstrate.]
(As you are going into your house, this is your step. You bury it at the left-hand side of your steps?) As yo're goin' into de house.
Entry 9210
An' den ah took an' - dis anothah story fo' tuh keep de law away, yo' undahstan'. Ah got me some aigs an' whip it up wit whiskey an' devil's-shoe- string, an' buries it undah de do'step, between midnight an' day, an' de law nevah did have any chance tuh come in. (Well, when you whip the eggs with the whiskey, where do you put those? Do you mix it up with the devil's- shoestring or what?) Yes sir, all tuhgethah. Put it in a bottle.
Entry 9508
Now if yo' runnin' a gamblin' house, sellin' whiskey, got women, if yo' wanta be lucky 'bout dis thing, always keep in yo' place loose salt, ice cream salt. Git de ice cream salt, it's in big lumps. [Ice cream salt is rare in HOODOO.] Dey says yo' could swallah oneof'em[lumps], deygood fo' yo' stomic anyway. Jes' put one in yo' mouth an' swallah it an' dey says dat ev'ry once in a while jes' scattah some all round de house. It roll up lak snow [informant not a native of place where we are talking] or sweep it out. Dey says de cops or p'lice will bar'ly evah pass by; if dey do, dey speak tuh yo' an' wave dere han's. Yo' do dat fo' nine mawnin's straight an' den yo' skip nine. Dey tell me dat'll work fine. An' ah believe some people's doin' it right heah [in the city] now, 'cuz ah been heah a long time. Dey say dat's a fact.
Entry 9820
Latsa people dey take nine needles, bran'-new needles an' dey git a piece of lodestone an' put 'em in dis way an' dat-a-way [demonstrates].... (Now wait. [I try to repeat informant's demonstration.] Put in this way and that way?) [I am making a cross.] Yes sir, cross [demonstrates].
(Cross them all.)
An' den yo' go tuh a blacksmith shop an' git chew some anvil dust, de steel from de anvil where dey make de iron, an' put it in dere. An' git chew a piece of lodestone an' put ten cents [a silver dime] in it. It's lucky tuh yuh if yo' keep it an' let nobody touch it. Feed it wit whiskey. Yo'll always have silvah money. [Even during my collecting days back in 1938 the preceding anvil dust never saw an anvil; it came from ma- chine-shop filings. Anvil dust and steel dust were the same thing, depending upon age, size, color, etc.] [In the following comment I am not talking for informant's benefit, I am an- notating for the future.] (Now in putting these needles, you put one needle like that, and then you put another needle on there like that - like a cross, sort of like little squares, like tick-tack-toe.) Yes. [Everything is arranged or sprinkled into the form of a cross before the combined materials are put in the bag.]
Entry 9877
A green frog. All right, yo' kin put dat green frog - take him an' othah 'im in a towel. (Smother him in a towel.) Smothah 'im. Jis' smothah 'im an' yo' take dat same - den yo' take 'im an' cut 'im an' let 'im bleed, an' drop jis' nine drops in watah, er in whiskey, an' let 'em tuh drink it. An' dat frog'll come in 'im, jis' hatch in 'im jis' lak it would in de watah. [Live frogs will be born in the victim.]
Entry 9939
Take a toadfrog. Ketch 'im 'live an' git chew a hot pot. Put dat toadfrog in dere an' fry 'im up an' let 'im go tuh a dust. Take dat toadfrog an' he go tuh a dust. An' yo' take an' git chew de best of whiskey, an' put dat toad- frog in dere an' yo' strain dat. Yo' strain it an' den yo' come along an' ah'll drink it. When yo' drink, jis' lak de toadfrog swell up, yo' swell up an' yo' die.
Entry 9990
An' den yo' kin take dat frog ag'in alive an' give him some whiskey, an' load 'im up wit [gun] shots, an' keep 'im alive in yore pocket. Den yo' kin go tuh any gamblin' shop an' have luck.
Entry 9991
High John de Conkah root, red and white lodestone, frog dust, in bag, vet [feed] with Ole Hearts Perfume, sometimes with whiskey, luck hand for gamb- lers.
Entry 10605
[Out in the field I rarely if ever asked directly for self-perfor ed abortion rites; what I wanted was miscarriage, delayed birth, malforation or death caused by an enemy's witchcraft. The rite now following is a piece of folk medicine or practice a hoodoo doctor, fortuneteller or wise womas ooeld sggest to a client:] Some green coffee, coffee what you drink, she'll make a tea out of that and put some whiskey in there and turpentine and drink it hot - hot, hot as she can. And take a slop-bucket of hot boiling water and sit over it. Go to the store and buy her a lead pencil, brand- new, have never been used. And take that pencil and open her womb and spill that water. And when that pencil - the mouth of it is closed, you know. She take that pencil and put - she can do that herself better than anybody can, you know. Take that pencil and shove it until the mouth of her womb is open, where the heat can get in there, stay in. When she take the pencil and shove it, well she going to take the end of the pencil and make a little hole to open it, you know. And when - while she's doing that, she still over the bucket. Well, you see, the heat is going in there. You see, that heat hit there, that make the womb open like that and there come all - what was in there, going to come out. You see. Well, now, after hit come - well, it's according to how many months she be. Well, if it be four months, it's a baby. Now, it done come and she got to get that afterbirth out [and if] she can't get nobody [to help her], she take her fist and blow hard as she can. And still stay over that. After while that afterbirth come.
Entry 10629
Take Eve-an'-Adam root an' Queen Elizabeth root an' five-finger grass an' bind dem together an' put on [them] whiskey, an' let it soak fo' seven days to abstract dere pow- ers. An' yo' take yore- self: yo' bathe yore body, anoint yore body [with this concotion] an' dey say dat will bring back love an' luck to yore lose ones, put man an' wife back together.
Entry 10880
Heah's anothah instan' [instance]. Yo' kin take a black cat an' cut some of de hair from right undah his tail. Well, yo' take some Hearts Cologne or eithah whiskey. Well, yo' bury it. Yo' taked dat cat hair an' yo' sew it up, put it wit dat whiskey. But chew bettah, if yo' kin git any part of her undahweah, or if it's a man, any of his clothes, yo' kin make 'em go like dat. Jes' bring it right back dere an' jes' drop it right in de yard, any place dat he kin walk ovah it. Or eithah yo' kin git some of dere dirt. Jes' watch hin an' whenevah he come out - man or woman - git some of de dirt of one of de shoe where he track ovah an' mix dat. Mix it in wit dat hair. Yo' kin make 'em move out de house like dat. (This cat hair - suppose you are driving me away - you get some of my hair and the cat's hair and put this in some of my clothes and put it out where I can walk over it. That's to drive me away?) Dat's to drive you away. [Brunswick, Ga., (1188), 2002:8.]
[Two cylinders later informant returns to black cat hair:]
Ah always heah 'em say keep dat same black cat hair, keep it round yore place an' keep it wet in vinegah - ah mean in Hearts Cologne or good whiskey - dat black hair. Keep it round yore place. Tell me dat's lucky fo' yore business.
(How do you get that black cat hair?)
Why, yo' ketch a black cat, any black cat, an' jes' cut de hair from undah his tail or his belly part. [Brunswick, Ga., (1188), 2004:11.]
Entry 11158
Now, I have heard that you can take a piece of devil's-shoestring; that is, you take the root. Some calls it the lady slipper, some calls it lady's tail: that's because the flow- er [blossom] looks like a tail [the orifice of the vagina]. And you can take that, the root, and put it in whiskey or cologne. You put this liquid in your hand and you rub it over the woman some place, and you can handle that woman whatever way you please. [Hoodoo and root doctors normally used the word devil's-shoestring as a singular. If I have iden- tified the plant correctly, botanists have named it Tephrosia virginiana - com- monly called catqut, a good description of its qualities - qoats-rue and wild sweet pea. This plant of eastern North America, especially in the South, is a herb almost prostrate with long wiry roots. The flowers are yellowish purple.]
[Berlin, Md., by Ediphone.]
Entry 11350
Ketch a eelfish an' scrape dat slime offa him into a cup an' po' dat whiskey on it an' let it set twelve hours an' strain it off, an' give it tuh him tuh drink. (That will stop him from drinking.) [This cure is known everywhere.]
Entry 11720
She [hoodoo woman] tell me, if you wan'a make a man an' a girl break up, jis beat up some glass right fine an' put it in a bottle with a little whis- key on it. Drain it [the glass] off of dat whiskey - strain it [the glass] off [of the whiskey], you know. An' when yo's having a party or somepin, jes' slip dat [strained whiskey] into de drink dat you gon'a give dis person. [The person who drinks this strained whiskey will have in him or her a part of the spirit of the broken glass, because spirits share a weakness for whiskey and PART OF THE SPIRIT EQUALS WHOLE OF SPIRIT, No.24, p.21, v.1. Even so the rite is dangerous.]
Entry 11835
I get some gumbo filet. That's what you put in gumbo. Perhaps you don't know what filet is. It's a leaf [from sassafras tree] that grows out in the woods, and it ground up and it is used instead of okra, when you making gumbo and the okra is not in sea- son. That is what you call filet. I get a pail of that and I get some garlic and some whiskey and mix those three together and pur [pour] it under the steps, or either if you come out of a alley, I pour it up side the alley, that you come out of, and you would have to go.
Entry 11842
[THE LETTER "H" OF CHANNEL DE WORLD BEGINS HERE and SO dO some extra rites about human hair, a subject already largely concentrated in pages 2937- 3049, volume 4. For various reasons hair, not always the primary element of a rite, is widely scattered throughout HOODOO. The following beliefs about hair start with a few longer rites, which are followed by many brief statements with- out margin titles but with the key words being underlined.] And again they say if you take it [a hair from per- son] and put it [in] some kind of manure or somepin - like if you have a cow or somepin round the lot and they do fresh manure. Say, if you take this hair and bury it in there, and set this manure about in some shady place maybe it won't dry so fast, and say let it stay there. And you take it out of there and put it in a bottle of rye whiskey, a pint bottle of rye whiskey, and say in nine days it will be a snake. I've heard that. (But they don't put that snake in you though? That snake they don't put in you?) Well, if you drink the whiskey, if you drink the whiskey before the thing kin, you know, come to be whole, well hit will come alive in you.
(I see, but you have to put it in this cow manure?)
No, take the hair out it [the manure] if you know right where you put the hair in.
Entry 11844
I tell yuh jes' what 'tis. My uncle it was, was tellin' me this. That's why I was goin' tell yuh. A lady that he was courting, he was going with her, and of course this man [rival or hoodoo man] tole him that he was hurt, because he thought he was going with her. And he told him that the lady had put somepin in a bottle an' buried it under the doorstep. And that thing that she buried under the doorstep was some of his hair that she'd gotten from the barber shop and mixed it with some salt, pep- per and whiskey, and buried it under her doorstep, and that whenever he walked over it, would hurt him. [At least we know uncle liked whiskey!] But if he would take this up and put it in some boiling water, and if it floated, then he could ward off the spell that she had put on him, and that he probably could throw it back on her, on the parties who was puttin' it on him. He could take and just take this out and roll it under his arm. [then] roll it in some meal.
(Hold it under his arm?)
Roll it. Yeah, roll it under his arm.
(Oh, under his arm first.)
Yeah, and then put it in some meal and make it into a cake-like, and bury it underneath the steps, the same step where the other stuff was buried, and that would return it on her.
Entry 12141
Well, ah wuz sellin' whiskey once mahself, yo' see. Ah got me one bottle of Hearts Cologne an' put it on a table an' some powder. (What kind of powder?) Well, ah got dis heah regular bath powder. An' ah put it dere on de table where it would perfume roun' in de house. Mens comes in, different ones comin' in, well, de luck's on de house. Dat heart is lucky perfume yo' understand. Well, dey spends lots of money.
Entry 12179
Dey could burn sulphur an' salt. Salt an' sulphur is good fo' any- thing, good fo' killin' poison an' it's good luck. [Having turned off machine because material did not sound promising, I now restart machine by repeating what had been lost.]
(Is it good for, if they want to rent the room or rent the house?)
Yes. Well, ah tell yo' sulphur an' cayenne peppah an' salt - yo' burn dat an' yo' kin git de hoofs off a shoe, yo' know de hosses hoof, an' burn it every night befo' yo' go tuh bed an' yo' stay dere an' inhale dat. Well, den whatevah kind of luck yo' want or whatevah yo' ask it tuh do, why it mo' den apt tuh come out all round...
[Again I turn off machine too soon and must restart it.]
(If you are selling anything or anything of that sort? Would that help bring in trade?) Yes. Keep de police off yo' if yo' sellin' whiskey.
Entry 12227
(When you go to get the job?) You get High John [de Conkah] and hartshorn [this name for an old- fashioned chemical some- times given to Hearts Cologne! Not a confu- sion, but a mispronun- ciation], honey suckle, crabapple [3 perfumes] and you put these in there with a teaspoonful of honey and a teaspoonful of allspice, these ground spices, cloves [other unnamed].
(cloves?)
Yes. (Well, how do they use that? I mean - you put it in this bottle. What do you do with that then, that bottle?) They puts it up on a shelf in the Name of the Lord.... (You put - grind it up and put a spoonful of High John the Conquer in this too. Put it in the bottle and then - what did you say you use the name of, when you [they] put it on themselves and when they go right down and they get the job?) Put it on yourself and you go right down [to see boss]. Course you got the odor on you too. (I see. That odor is on you while you are talking to the boss, so he's likely to give you the job. I see. And you say, In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.) After they do that, they anoint their feet, and then they turn their sock on the wrong side and use that same stuff. And turn the sock from the wrongside out, when they are going down there.
(Both socks or just one of them?)
Both of them.
(Put both of them wrongside out?)
Yes.
(They put the stuff on them that they use to get the job?)
Yes. (When they are going down, just turn their socks wrongside out on them. I see.)
Entry 12233
Dat High John de Conkah root by hitself, yo' kin take dat in de mawn- in' an' yo' kin git up 'fore de sun rise, an' dere's a word dat chew have tuh say befo' de sun rise, an' look to de east. Po' a little of it out of de bottle, de liquid offa de root into yore han' an' rub it cross yore face three times. (What will that do?) Dat's to inherit mo' money. (What words do you say?) Jes' say, "So we live, so we die, ' po' a little bit in yore han' an' rub it cross yore face an' look to where de sun risin' in de mawnin'.
(What kind of liquid do you put in the bottle?)
Yo' kin put gin whiskey on it, or eithah Hearts Cologne - nuthin excusin' dat. Hearts Cologne or eithah pure gin whiskey [gin or white whiskey].
Entry 12236
Say take John de Conker. It's in de woods, it's a weed, yo' take hit. It's got a whole lotta spring to it. An' put it in a bottle an' feed it, feed it with cologne or whiskey. Yo' feed it ever' time yo' eat, or ever' time yo' go tuh gamblin'. Feed it an' dey say hit's lucky.
Entry 12317
Now, yo' wish tuh git a girl or yore boy fren' back tuh 'em. Yo' go ahead an' go tuh a fat-lightah [pine] stump of a tree dat de lightnin' struck. An' yo' takes an' makes nine pegs. An' aftah yo' make dose nine pegs, yo goes back tuh de fo'ks of de road an' yo' makes three wishes. Dat's de way it wuz tole tuh me. Make three wishes an' aftah yo' make three wishes, yo' takes two pints of whiskey wit chew, an' aftah yo' make de three wishes, den yo' take an' yo' lie down on de flat of yore back at de fo'ks of de road, an' yo' drinks one of dose pints, an' yo' po's de othah one on de nine pegs. An' yo' git chew a match an' yo' scratch de match, an' sets dat whiskey afire an' burns up dose pegs right dere. Den dat cause de girl or de boy, which one yo' made de wishes fo', tuh come back undah yore control.
Entry 12394
Well, now, if yo' sellin' whiskey. To bring new customers, every mawnin' yo' have yo' a box of potash [usually Red Devil Lye] an' every mawnin as long as [you need it]. Yo' take dat potash an' put it on yo' stove, take yo' a broom - don't git down on yore knees an' scrub it. Yo' take yo' a broom an' scrub yore po'ch a lil' every mawnin' wit dat potash wit yore broom. Jes' sweep it right out in de street lak dat, an' ah'll okay [0. K.] yo'll be successful. Yo'll have mo customers den yo' kin be able tuh 'tend to.
[Turned off recording machine too soon.]
(You sweep it out into the street you say?)
Yes sir, out in de street.
Entry 12519
Take de red onion an' git de outside peelin', dat hard part, off. Put sugah intuh de onion an' put it on a hot stove an' let it jis' burn. Burn till it's all gone away. Dat supposed to make luck in yore house. Say, fo' instance if yo' were sellin' whiskey, dat supposed tuh bring customers.
Entry 12669
If someone is kinda cranky with someone - dat's mean, kind of mean wit someone. Well, a man or a woman kin naturally go tuh work an' dey dissolve [wash out] a rag - dese clothes [cloths], yo' know whut dat means. Yo' kin wipe undah yore arms but yo' must not do it aftah a clean bath. De odor undah yore arms must ketch in dis dissolve [water from rag] either arm. An' yo' don' have tuh wipe undah de arms. An' yo' kin take - naturally yo' kin take de same cloth an' wipe 'tweer yore toes. Den yo' kin wipe in undah de bottom of yore feet, but chew gotta git de odor from dose feets. An' yo' kin drink de same stuff right along with 'em, an' dey'll follow yo'.
(What do you do with that, after you wipe that stuff off?)
Put it in some water or whiskey or anything else, since [just so] yo' git it down 'em. Ah had a boy one time - mah mothah wuz a Indian woman, an' he used to beat me every day. An' mah mothah knowed a whole lot about things, an' she learnt me how to do it. [And I did this.] An' ah beat it in good, an' he followed me. An' he follows me up to today, an' dat's been ovah fo'ty yeahs ago.
(This boy?)
We wuz boys then.
(That is how you conquered him?)
De same way ah tole yo' jes' now.
(That is the way you conquered that boy, made a friend of him?)
Why shore, an' we friends today.
Entry 12736
Well yo' know dese little rats [mice?] be's in de house. Well, yo' git one of dose an' buy yo' some mo' whiskey, see. Jes' git half a pint or a pint, but put it in jah where yo' kin put dat rat in it, see. Put him in dere 'live an' shet it down an' set it in a cornah till dat rat drown, see. An' yo' git all his strength in dat whiskey. Yo' take dat rat out an' throw him away or eithah barn him up in de fireplace. It would be best fo' yo' tuh burn him up, see. Den yo' take dat whiskey - don't strain it or nuthin, jes' put it back in a pint bottle, see. See, jes' lak yo' ole lady come in, see, an' she wanta drink, she say, "Well, yo' know ah so wished ah had a drink." Yo' say, "Ah think d've got a little drink." Yo' still continually give her a drink out of dat. Hit'll make hah sick but when she git bettah of dat sickness, she won't nevah Ak anothah drink of whiskey.
Entry 12745
Dey tells me of a root - dat's a rattlesnake master. Yo' use dat an' put it in de whiskey an' stroke his step down different ways wit dat, an' den point de way to yore house. Dat'll [that] man will walk ovah dere, he'll go an' git dem things, an' come back to you wit it. (You don't give this man any whiskey to drink?) No sir. (You just soak the root in the whiskey.) Den take it an' go to his doorstep an' wipe it on dere an' point [the root] de way to yore house. He come out dat do' de next mawnin', his mind will git so fuddled, he'll go back an' git dem things an' bring dem to you.
Entry 12890
You kin take three mens.
(What?)
Mens, like you and I.
(Oh, take three men. Yes?)
Three men and in between these men you can just say that you wanta take one of them mens as a trap. You wanta take this man here and trap these two men. Well, you kin give that man there anything that you wanta eat [or drink]. Take a bottle of whiskey that's never been used and you take your hand and play with yourself until you discharge. [Human semen is common in HOODOO.] You put it in this whiskey and you stop it up and you turn that down like that and leave it for nine days.
(So that it is leaning against something?)
Yes, in the corner of the house - in the left hand corner of the house. [This is a cornering rite, very common. The left-hand corner is to the left as you enter house or room.]
(All right.)
All right, in 9 days you take this whiskey up. At 9 o'clock you meet this party and you ask him if he wants a drink. You gotta be sure that he do's drink, and you take some and give it to him. And then you leave him with the bottle. They drink it all up. Whatever they do with it, you see 'em drink some before you leave 'em. If they got one or two men, they'll finely wean away from them men and crave to you.
(You do this to a woman?)
Yes.
Entry 13068
If you wanta kill a person, yo' gits de snail an' gits him out of his hull [shell] yo' see. An' yo' kin take yo' some whiskey an' put dat snail in dere - in dat whiskey, lak yo' would put it in a half pint of whiskey. Let dat snail set in dere twenty-fo' hours in dat whiskey - ah mean, take dat snail outa dere an' strain yore whis- key. An' anybody dat yo' give it to, dat chew want 'em - if yo' wanta kill any- one, say, "Come on have a drink wit me, " an' yo' po' it out an' dey drink it. Dat settles it.
Entry 13082
Rattlesnake buttons - his rattles - jes' cut 'em right off an' wrap 'em up. An' put 'em in yore [breast] pocket right up 'side yore h'aht an' carry dem with you. An' if de sheriff or anybody dat is pursuing yo' tuh do yo' a vital injury, dem things would rattle jes' lak a rattlesnake would rattle an' notify yo' dat he's near.
(That the danger is near?)
Yeah. Den dey use a drop of camphor on dem to keep dem kinda saturate. Some people keep dem 'live - keep life in 'em. If yo' haven't got camphor, use a little whiskey. All dat have a tendency to keep 'em live - quickening. Dat's whut rattlesnake rattles is fo'. A man have given me $15 fo' one. I killed de rattlesnake an' cut de buttons off. Ah didn't know dat wus what he want with 'em.
Entry 13257
All yo' have tuh do is tuh git chew some sulphur an burn an' all. Yo' ketch his [policeman's] eyes whensomevah he come in an' look after him, an' let him walk across it, see. (This burnt sulpbur?) Yes sir, burnt sulpbur, an' when he come in yo be lookin' after 'in. Try tuh ketch his eyes. An' he nevah come tuh yore house no mo'. Or yo' could jes' take some - if yo' sellin' whiskey, each maslin' befo' yo' open yore do', befo' anyone come in, yo' jes' take jes' a certain aomt of it [whiskey] an' jes' throw it ovah yore do', both doors, as de customers comes in an' out, see. An' then yo' be fixed - de law will nevah bother yo'.
(You mean you throw the salt and sulphur over the door?)
No, yo' kin take some of yore whiskey.
(Oh, the whiskey. That's to keep the law away, too.)
See, when yo' burn dis sulphur, den yo' throw de whiskey ovah de head - yo' know whut ah mean, jes' throw some ovah de head of de do' up there an' dey won't nevah bother yo'.
Entry 13295
Yeah, jes' lak if yo' wanted tuh poison anybody. Jes' lak now, it lak dis, if yo' wanted tuh poison anybody yo' kin put 9 turtles in 'em. Yo' git 9 drops of dis turtle blood - or even 9 drops of snake's blood - of dis tur- tle befo' it die; after yo' kill it yo' know, whilst it warm. An' yo' put dat in whiskey - in a half pint of whiskey an' dey drink it. Dey'll [be] 9 of dem [live turtles in them] in 9 day's time.
Entry 13307
Well, if a woman wants tuh git rid of a man an' don't want him tuh come tuh her house no mo', de first thing she'll do, she'll go uptown to de drugsto' an' she git her some rock candy, an' she git her some whiskey. Git dis rock candy an' whiskey an' mix it tuhgether, an' she po's some vinegar in. An'when he come dere, she'll prob'ly have him tuh sit down. An' when he sit down, she prob'ly - yo' know a man doesn't pay much attention tuh a woman an when he go tuh sleep dere, an' she sprinkle dat ovah him. An' after she sprinkle dat ovah him he goin' leave her alone. He won't come back to her house no mo'. (What do you mean a man doesn't pay much atten- tion to a woman? What do you mean by that?) Well, some mens doesn't pay much attention tuh a woman when dey come tuh dere house. Dey jes' know dere [they are] at home. Yo' know, think dat dey [not] goin' do anything to harm 'em.
Entry 13374
Yo' kin use dey chamber lye an' boil it in his coffee or use it in his tea, or eithah if he bringin' his whiskey home, yo' kin [use] it, but chew gotta boil yore chamber lye an' let it set befo' yo' give it tuh him. See, let it set prob'ly a week or sompin lak dat. An' den boil it an' strain it by itself. See, aftah yo' boil yore own chamber lye, it forms a drugs [dregs] lak in it, an' yo' po' it off an' strain it an' po' it den. Use it in his coffee, eithah in his tea, anything dat he drinks or eithah po' it in his whiskey. Yo' don' have tuh po' dat much. Ah say roun' 'bout fo' or five drops jes' in dere tuh stop him from drinkin'.
Entry 13447
Take a horseshoe an' some sage leaves an' a black cat bone an' olive oil, an' yo' git some [whiskey].
(What do you do with that?)
Yo' jes' put it anywhere secretly aroun' yore place of business wherevah yo' at [and saturate it].
(You saturate it with what?)
Wit de whiskey, see. Dat supposed tuh keep it 'live an' tuh 'tract dere attention, of people. It's very attractive wit dat.
(If you want to bring in customers?) Yes.
Entry 13448
Goin' tuh a wil- low tree - when de tree first start tuh bloomin' out - yo' dig down an' yo' git one dem roots. When yo' git de roots yo' bring de roots back. Yo' take dat root an' put it in a bottle an' put some whiskey on it, an' yo' let dat stay in dere. Well, dat will run a person outa a house.
(How do you do that?)
Yo' take yo' willow tree roots an' bring it back - bring it home - take it an' put it in a bottle, a vial where yo' kin po' whiskey on it. An' if yo' kin git any of de dirt where a person been walkin' ovah - out de yard - put it right dere in de bottle too. Shake it an' carry it right back dere an' put it under de steps or either de gate - anywhere round dere - or if yo' kin put it where dey kin git holt of it, an' dat make 'em go 'way from town.
Entry 3082
I came here to find out. (Will you sit a little bit closer so I can hear you?) [To bring him nearer the microphone.] [The following paragraph will introduce you to the problem I faced every day while collecting the material of this investigation - see also Introduction.] I came here to find out what your work may be, if there is any help I kin git in connection - if there is any of your help or whatnot in connection with what has happened to me in my business. [He is a bootlegger.] That's what I wan'a know. If it's anything 'at I've to tell or go through. I wan'a know that an' I'll begin my story jis' like I started off before [before I turned on machine]. There's so much of dis recently, I thought I jes' couldn't understand it you see. Lots of people come here an' say you's someone who tryin' to trap someone, an' this is tryin' to git someone in trouble. Well, I say, "Well, I don't know what in the world it's all about, but if he, that is to say, [does] things to help me, why I don't mind goin' over an' explain myself." ['Here I explain my work." These words are my penciled comment made at the time I did the original transcription in pencil. Here I also made one of my many mistakes. I failed to transcribe my explanation. My failure however Was excus- able - hand transcription being such a tedious and impossible task I had to call in an expert transcriber for the post-Wilmington cylinders. Yet one explaining sentence does remain, "I don't heal anyone, I don't sell anything." As you will now learn, this man Was in serious trouble. My lost explanation at least set him more or less at ease.] You mind if I light my cigarette?
(No, go right ahead.)
[I was smoking a cigar, why should I mind him smoking a cigarette. A woman later over in Memphis "came in...smoking a big cigar" - see MAMMY: THE CIGAR SMOKER in INTERVIEWS.] Now first, I'm a married man. I've got a wife an' three children - jes' as well say five because I've two to take care of that's my wife's sister's, dead, an' they stayed with me from the first, each one of them, so that makes me have five [children] to take care of. Now my wife, she's sick an' has been for a long period of time. Her first [sickness] was believed by medical experience was pelegra, an' after that, why I found out something else; an' I went on an' kep' - go see her an' I kep' finding out something else. I went to work at Wrightsville Beach six years ago [1931], right down here ll miles from the city, where I was workin' for Doctor W. there. An' one day, after knowin' that my wife had been sick so long - I kep' tryin' to, wonderin' what in the world's the matter - finally I found out from Doctor H., that it was pelegra. [Here informant is returning to something already said.] Thereon he subscribed that I take her to the country for her health. No doubt it would be a little beneficial to her, an' where it was quiet an' didn't hear the runnin' of the cars, the streetcars an' so on, an' jis' git out of all that stuff, an' it would make her no doubt so she recover. An' so I carried [her] on over to Atkinson, North Car'lina, an' she stayed there for a long long time - in fact the whole summer through an' partly of the fall. An' one day I got a telephone call - it come at ten o'clock jes' before I carried [her] to Atkinson. [Informant again returns to something already men- tioned. For the difficulty in following this type of thinking, see confusing story, No. 2750, Pp.758-767.] An' that was while I livin' away from home in the country right out here. In fact she was jis' like her mother, my daughter's god- mother [grandmother?] as fer as that concern [whatever this means]. Tom T., it was his wife [who. telephoned]. She say, "Come to town at once. Eliza is crazy."
[This may be why "she was jis' like her mother."]
An' I didn't believe it. When I got in town she didn't know me from [some- thing, not Adam] or nobody else. So after havin' consulted with Doctor H., as I foresaid, I carried her on up de country. She lived up there fer a while an' I'd go there. She jis' got in such a wreck, kickin' up so, an' jis' nobody could go around 'er. She didn't want to hear what they had to say. She jis' git to the place she dispised 'er father, you know. An' even to 'er sister or to herself or anybody. She didn't wan'a see nobody. Well we goes there to Clinton, North Car'lina. There's ole man up there, they call 'im Mr. Wickins[?]. He read the cards. He also give me a dose of medicine to take.
(What did he give it to you for?)
He told me when I took that dose of medicine - after readin' my palm - he said, "This dose is goin' work for you an' not her [it is not MEDICINE BY PROXY, p.365]; and besides, you goin' get it in house when you get back home. [This is preventive medicine - see PREVENTIVE MEDICINE CARRIED TO EXTREMES, p.328.] Well, I wonderin' what he meant by that. He told me, he said, "There's someone has thrown for you," he said, ''but they're not tryin' to kill your wife in connection with you, but they're durin' [doin'] somethin' to keep her puny, ailin' along." He said, "They'll give it to you, if they're havin' a whole lot of trouble with her." He said, "Now, it's a black-skin woman an' a dark-skin woman that's doin' this." [A doctor is always vague when identifying culprit - see MADAM JACKSON ACROSS DE CREEK, p.757.] An' besides, de black-skin woman is the woman that want joo, an' de dark-skin woman don't visit chore house very often but she's helpin' fo' this people." He said, "Now, the way they did this - goin' to git it goin' their way - they went there an' sprinkled somepin in de baid while you were away [in the country].
(Did he tell you what they sprinkled there?)
He said some kin'a powder. He couldn't - he don't - he set some kin'a thing in front of him. It was a little thing that looked to me like a little horses settin' up there, an' a little somepin looked like a crab, another thing looked like a little fish, another little thing looked like a little serpent. He could touch them little things, you could see them shiver all around in - looked like to me they was settin' in a little basin or a little [over shape? = over size?] bowl of water.
(Was it a bowl of water?)
Looked to me like it was water. An' he talked to me. Den directly he go startin' talk to these little things in there, an' they kin'a quiver. [See photograph, supposedly in crystal ball, "trembled like a leaf," p.173, line 5.] An' then he start to tell somepin else. ["I suggest that these figures were magnetic, shaped in forms of the zodiac, and that they quivered whenever the root doctor holding a concealed magnet passed his hand over them. There was no water in the bowl." This comment is a part of original transcription in pencil. The evidence or experience for it I no longer remember. These quivering figures may be a diagnostic device (pp.165-217) like the trembling photograph in the crystal ball just mentioned. It is certainly one of the many tricks to impress the patient - like invisible writing (p.265).] So he told me, he said, "You weren't all right, don't sleep well at night, an' neither one of you don't sleep good at night." I said, "Well, you're right." He said, "Well, don't answer me." He said, "I know what I'm talkin' about." I have given many examples of a doctor knowing or foreseeing everything - see YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME, p.316.] I says, "Well, I must tell you, she don't sleep at all at night." He said, "Well, that's why that was sprinkled in your baid for. An' the way this black-skin woman had the dark-skin woman to do, to give it to you, were to sprinkle some of the same stuff under your door, an' that's why it got choo an' it fix you. Then I told him exactly [all that had happened.] He give me some kin' of little roots - he called one [of] them John de Conker. Then he also give me some kin' of little stuff called wood mold. It grows in the little pine [something - could be thickets?] like tha' choo go to rake it up an' you use it for makin' fertilizer - like the farmers use. [In Maryland this "little stuff is called shadders (= shatters), "fallen pine leaves or needles," used for animal bedding, which turns into manure or fertiZizer - 723, p.240.] An' he told me to take that [wood mold] an' red oak bark [frequently used for medicine, p.462 and elsewhere] - take that stuff an' boil it, make a tea out of it, an' feed her off of it. Give her all salts that I could get her to take - physic salts. An' so I did it until she got to the place that she wouldn't even take that. An' I went back to him again an' he said get Vita-Food east [brand of yeast] that come in a big tall can about that tall - somepin tha' choo sprinkle over de food when she gits ready to eat. Not de Fleshman [Fleischmann] east, something in comparsion, but it was yellowish lak sulphur maybe an' had a very strong odor. An' he had somepin called Eastborn [yeast-born or Eastbourne] tablets. Well, she had then fallin' from a hunderd an' seventy-six pounds down to a hunderd an' twenty. Well, I was feedin' [her] on that stuff an' she went back to a hunderd and fifty. An' I come on back to town. An' afterwards I brought her back from de country here an' we lived together fer a good while. My house be the second doah to my brother-in-law - from her brother house, my brother-in-law. I was at 905, where he was 909. An' rather than stay home, she'd stay over there; but when she goin' eat she'd come home, an' jes' as soon as she eat she'd be right out an' gone. Well I got worried over the gait[?]. So I told my father-in-law about it an' he says, "Well, any steps you wan'a make, why go on an' make it." So then I got into another [acquainted with] boy that was workin' there with me. We called him Skeet. Skeet told me of a woman down South - Madam Rachel - Dillon, South Car'lina. [Note that a man in North Carolina calls South Carolina down South. This was frequently done - see Introduction.] An' he also made men- tion of a old man called Doctor Buzzard.
(Where was he?)
Florence, South Car'lina. First, before I got to this Madam Rachel, this Doctor Buzzard came to my house [in Wilmington].
(He came to see you?)
He came here ordinary passin' by. An' another person he goes by [visits pro- fessionally]. An' someone told him that I'd care to see somebody of that kind. So he came in. He had a little hand bag, not a big case. [Was he referring to my 3 large cases - recorder, transcriber, and cylinder carrier?] It was a hand bag [in imitation of a M.D.'s medical kit then in use]. He had a whole lot of little snakes in that bag. [See SNAKE, Pp.66-73, and elsewhere.]
(Alive or dead?)
Alive. That snakes scared her. She's frighten anything that kind. My wife was there. She was lyin' right in de baid an' he told her, he said, "Now, I'll put choo to walkin' by tomorrow for four dollers and one cent.' I ast him what was he goin' do with de one cents. He says, "Well, the four dollars is for me; the one cent is the cure." "I says, "If you put my wife to walkin' by tomorrow, I'll give you four dollers an' one cent." [For this type of payment, see DOCTOR ARMOUR, p.891, line 2.] He say, "Well git me a pint of liquor." I say, "That'll cost you a dollar." I got a pint of liquor. He took a needle an' two straight pins an' crossed them. He crossed all three of 'em an' tied 'em together with a red piece of string an' put em into a little bag. Then he took out some little seed that appearently looked like flaxseeds. An' he told me take these seeds; if it's any time you want to go, be with some Woman. He say you drop one of these seeds in the liquor or somepin that she's drinkin' an' make her do anything you want her to do. I said, "I didn't ask you to come here to cunjure me an' wife. I ask you to come here to aid." He said, "I don't mean that." Well, I went on an' give him de four dollers an' one cent, an' [he] took all this stuff an' sewed it up in that bag [thus making a hand]. Then he took the snake out of it [iar], which [snake] he had already wrapped one around my wife's leg an' throwed [throwing] some liquor over it he wrapped it around the right leg jes' above the knee. Besides, when I got that second pint of liquor for him, he poured some down the table an' poured those snakes out of a little jar he had 'em in, an' begin to talkin' to those snake, an' they stood right straight up an' go over to him. There's where I vacate out of de room fer a few minutes. [I repeat preceding reference, SNAKE, Pp.66-73, and elsewhere. Besides after one drink of raw moonshine whiskey a person could see a few things; after two pints of it, anything.] So I came back. In a few seconds later an' he told me, "All right. Now, by tomorrow, as I told you [she will be out of bed]." Well, he went home an' she seemed to be recoverin' a little. But then this Madam Rachel, about two weeks later, she came there. This was the third party [root doctor] now. [She had been called from Dillon, S. Car., to wait on a case in Wilmington, and had heard about my informant.] An' she told me to go to the drug store to Doctor Mason [druggist], the Ideal Pharmacy. I was livin' aroun' there at that time. [This is a normal drug store, not a hoodoo store.] She tole me to git a dime worth of bluestone an' red pepper. An' she put out some dirt, some kin'a lookin' - I called it sand. She poured out a little bottle, but she tole me it was graveyard dirt. So she mixed it all together. Then she ask me before she give me that stuff, she said, "Do you know any officers in this town?
(Officers?)
Officers. Policeses. I said, "Yeah, I know jist about every one of 'em." I told her the name of them. An' [she said], "Write them down on this piece of paper I'll give you. De's somepin I wan' choo to do with it." I said, "All right." So I wrote down every one that I could think of. She said, "Now, on this set of names, how many is it that you think would do you harm, an' he goes out an' make it his business an' come arres' chew jes' out of ordinary [for no purpose at all?]?" I said, "I don't know. I hate to go through that part of it; but still, since it's personal, why I guess I'll have to tell you." So I named the one or two that I thought wasn't very good friends of mine an' knew the whole family an' my wife and her [people] before I even knew her my own self. So I named 'em down fer her. She told me, she said, "Now, you take these names on this piece of paper, go to the northeast of this house an' bury it down there, then come back to me. Then she took that dirt, that mixture she had there, an' circle all the way aroun' my house entirely. [To circle the house with salt or other substances is a fairly common protective device.] An' told me then - she says, "There somepin under your front doorstep tha' joo an' your wife are walkin' over ev'ry day is what cause you not to be gittin' along any better, an' I'm gon'a stop it. An' besides, the officers been runnin' in here on you all the time an' claim that choo have a lot of liquor an' you doin' this an' that an' de other thing you' re not doin'." She said, "I'm gon'a stop that. Besides, Im gon'a fix it so when they come to the front door they can't come in." I said, "How much is that gon'a cost me?" She said, "Give me three dollers an' you pay for the goods an' a doller on my gas bill back home." Well, she had a big Buick car out in front. I did that. Well, I found out I was gittin' along very very good then an' really my wife did come out of bed, stayed up fer a long time, gittin' along gran'. So after she'd gone, I decided then I'd move an' change houses. I thought the house was bad luck to me. I didn't know if there any other stuff [sprinkled or buried] along there. So I moved. No sooner than I moved, I got in other house, [it Wasn't] three months before I in [jail] agin. That [this] time I cooked 60 days in the county jail up here in town. I cooked up there when the cook got sick.
[At least this tells us something about the informant - he was a fair cook.]
An' when I came back, to be sure whether I was right or wrong, I moved right back in that same house. [Which house?] Then [I] started to fallin back [into the same bad luck] right away. I had a ole - sister's dead an' gone now. She came to me one day an' tole me, she said, "Let me tell you somepin. She always did call me brother. [She Was not his sister.] She say, "Let me tell you somepin, brother." She say, "There's somepin aroun' this house that it interfering with chor life an' you can' be happy. You can't live with your family like you want to," she says. "I'm goin' find it," she say. She went up under my front doorstep an' got a pair of scis- sors out from under there with one of the points broke off of it, an' ole rusty nails au' needles all tied together. An' she brought them in the house with her, "Here it is, I've got it at last." [He did not see her find the articles.] I said, "Now, Mama Annie, do you reckon that's true?" She say, "Well, here it is."
(What was her name?)
Mama Annie, we called her. Her name was Annie P. We called her Mama Annie.
[She was a root doctor.]
So she tole me then to take that, break it up, burn it up, do anything I knew to do an' I would stop that stuff goin' on then. So I ask her what it was an' she tole me it was [some]thing that somebody still tryin' to git between me an' my family. I took that pair of scissors - I had a good hot fire in the stove - needles and nails, an' I thought that stove would melt. It turnt red-hot. An' I let it there fer two or three days till I was sure it was gone. I got rid of that. Well now, a little later on comes the nex' part of it. I got in some more trouble. A man 'cused me then of sellin' 'im whiskey. This happen recently, too. This party - he's dead, the one that said it; but this party lives right here in the city now. [I am unable to straighten this out - the man will appear again.]
(How long ago was all this happening - these stories?)
It happened to an' fro within the last five or six years - right along, all up an' down the sides, right up an' down. It's right now so. Jis' like I told Mr. Gavin out here [in my waiting or reception room in the Gavin home] jis' a while ago. [Mr. Gavin, my contact man in Wilmington, N. Car., Was the husband of the sister of Julia, page one. I interviewed in the Gavin home and had lunch there each day.] I said, "I've a tendency maybe today I want my wife any second an' I'll go to her. We are sweet and loving together. An' directly another feelin' jump right [up in] me an' I'm out and gone. Maybe she'll be talkin' nice an' lovin' to me. Directly she jump right up, "Oh! So-an'-So." An' I'm out an' gone. Well, I go around to her brother's house an' go to bed an' sleep or some- where, anywhere, at some friend, an' go on to sleep. So I told her one day, I said, "Let me take you down South. I had a party aroun' there in Walnut Street by the name of J. He told me a place up [down] here between Southport an' here, that I could go to a man that he was - well, that he could clear all that stuff where I lived at. [Southport - being south of Wilmington - equals informant's "down South."] Somebody agin! [Another root doctor!] An' that [meeting with the doctor down toward Southport] was suppose to have happened this last Thursday, but I was sick - had no more than come out of the hospital. I had a rectal abscess. I'd jes' been operated on. Come out last Monday an' I wasn't able to go. I didn't have any money to go with - the first part of it. I had to pay little bills you know. An' about this last party, to git back to de same trouble'as I started to say. This man claimed that I sold him some whiskey on the 21st day of November, an' I Wasn't even in the house that day or that night. An' so dis same [Walnut Street] Mammie J., he told me that, "I know a party that you ought to see right here in town. Maybe he kin help you a little." I said, "Who is it?" [No answer.] They [the rootworker between Wilmington and Southport] were supposed to be here in town this last past Thursday, but didn't come an' I didn't have any way to get to 'em. But I did see the party here in Wilmfngton. An' they told me also that it was things down aroun' my house; that's why I couldn't live happy an' peaceful at home.
(What do you think about it?)
Well, I do think there [is something] in it. An' I'll be frank with you. There had been a time way back, when I was much younger, I didn't believe any doze kin'a things; but I still now, since I found things buried - there is so much. An' that when I'd go as I foresaid, an' try to make love to my wife, seem like ev'rything is all right, right at first an' directly things occurred in an- other different way. An' then I would come an' try to humor her along, "Honey, what's de matter? What's de occasion? Sittin' in de dining room, huggin' wit 'er as sweethearts do. We'll talk things over an' directly she'll say, "Well, let's do so-an'-so, let's be sweethearts again." She'll forgit it an' I'll do anything fer you. You kin bet chor life right on the same schedule agin. So I went to this party [in Wilmington] an' he read the cards out fer me, an' told me that there was somepin down at my house to cause to bein' this way, an' I couldn't help myself, an' give me a root, an' got it with me now as fer as that's concern. He told me to keep it wit me anywhere I went. An' I got another thing, I got two other articles at de house that I keep. An' whenever I go roun' my wife, he told me to always wipe my face down with that powder. It's a little sweet perfume powder. An' then there's a little ball somepin like you got it sewed up in a little bag. You can't tell what's in it. I didn't cut it open to see. [This is a ball-shaped hand.] I leave it at home unless I'm goin' round to her house.
(What's the name of that root?)
I don't [know] what de name of the thing. I got it here in my pocket. An' she told me to chew a piece off of it an' spit around the door before I walked in, to kill my enemies before I got dere. That's what she give it to me fer. She said that would kill my enemies before I got dere; an' if it's anyone to do any harm, it'll change their mind. That I would also find a little dark-brown-skin man there. I didn't intend to tell you about that. That's de trouble over me an' my wife. An' [she said] I would certainly find that man there. An' she also told me she did it [whatever this means]. An' my wife sometime would mention this man ["rootworker is my transcription notation] to me. She said she liked me but she never [was untrue tol me an' didn't live no man in the world but me. Well, I know that of it's true [truth]. An' the thing that - so far [the marriage?] would last three or four years jis' about perfectly right up to the minute [trouble began]. This little bag I pinned that on the inside of my clothes nex' to my flesh. Then sometime it would smell like a onion an' agin it would smell like perfume - change odors all kin' of ways, like turpentine an' agin you don't know what you smellin'. Jes' the way that thing smell. Well, as I tell you, I didn't open it up to see what was in it, because it was sewed down there. Then she give me a prayer. It was written on a piece of paper down onto the 24th Psalm, called Ezekiel, I believe it is. An' I'd read that an' memorize as much of it as possible when I'm goin' aroun' my wife - like I'm away there now an' I should happen to think [trouble Was brewing]. That [is] to quite fusses down or anything in case you may start anything. Read that as I start towards my house, an' when I git to my yard I finish it an' then go in. An' they told me when I paid her a dollar and a half more, that she would go in there an' git this thing up an' show it to me. An' I told this weekend I'd let her complete her part of the job. An' [I] found that ev'rything she told me has worked out right. Even now in this case that I have now, she told me that this case was gon'a be put off three times. An' she said, "Let's put it off some more."
(That case in court now against you?)
Yes sir, that this man J. accused me of sellin' him some whiskey, bottle of liquor on the 23rd day of November of last year, which I wasn't even in my house, as I aforesaid a while ago, dat day or night. An' she told me and said, "Well, I'm gon'a show that I'm right before I clear you completely. I'm gon'a put off your case some more." An' she has put it off eight times successfully. Now this comin' Friday will make the ninth time that I'm goin' to be tried.
Entry 79
[There is more than one way to cast a drinking spell.]
But ah do know dis fo' a true fact. Yo' kin take a person's photograph - if he nevah drinked a drop of whiskey befo' in his life - an' turn it down ovah a little small glass of whiskey, somepin like a wineglass, an' let it stay there until de whiskey fade dat photograph, an' dat person will drink hisself to death.
(This whiskey must touch the photograph - you must put it right over there?)
No sir - not touch it.
(Just so the fumes will come up?)
Yes sir.
Entry 115
To make him follow him, they'll go to the woods and they'll get a green switch, which they call a weeping willow switch. See. They place it into the dead man's hand and they talk to this dead man and tell him whoever killed him, in nine days time he must whip this person to death. Or, they'll bust a quart of whiskey on the coffin of the person and then they will also talk to this person and tell them whoever did this trick to whip them. See. And then after they bury the person, they'll plant maybe peas on their grave. See. And when them peas come up, wherever you are, if the law doesn't get you, why you are compelled to die.
Entry 534
Ah heard tell, lak ketchin' a person's spirit - if dere's somepin dey calls a witch dat is ridin' yo' - if it's a spirit or somebody dat wantin' tuh tell yo' somepin - or somebody is tryin' tuh worry yo' because yo' worryin' some of dey folks upon heah. Ah heard tell dat at times dey might want a drink of whiskey or somepin if dey wus a big drunkard, an' dey worry yo lak dat; if yo po' down a drink of whiskey, dey're gone away an' won't bother yo' no mo'. If they bother yo' right on, yo' take an' git chew a sifter an' place it in de bed with yo', an' at the time this thing start tuh ridin', if yo' kin ketch it up - but it's kind of a strain fo' yo' tuh ketch it up, an' turn it ovah one time an' yo' ketch de spirit in dere. Dey tell me yo' see a lil' somepin de next mawnin' there in de sifter. [See Spirits, like alcohol, in Index.]
Entry 535
Well, dey say if a person dies, if he die cruel to yo' or something lak dat, say his spirit will come back. Well, it comes den through a dream - co'se dey has rid me - it jest as natchral though as I'm lookin' at chew. They jumps right up on yo' an' dey ketch yo' an' when dey ketches yo', yo' try to call but yo' can't call - yo' jes' [demonstrates] (gasp - gasp) jest lak dat until he turn yo' loose.
(Trying to catch your breath?)
That's right, until he turn yo' loose, an' yo' kin hear 'im when he hit de floor - an' yo' kin hear him when he come in, but chew can't see him.
(This is a spirit?)
That's right.
(Well, can't you keep them out of the house any way?)
Yo' take a new piece of lumber an' take yo' a lamp. First, yo' take that lumber, a new piece dat nevah been used, an' drive it right cross de do' an' set dat lamp about three and a half feet from it, an' he'll nevah walk in no more.
(What kind of a lamp?)
Jest a ordinary burning lamp, oil lamp.
(You keep that lamp lighted at night?)
Jest turn it low an' put dat piece of new lumber down dere an' yo' won't be bothered with him any more - unless you'd use it, take it up. (Did you ever hear of them catching one of those people - sometimes they catch them?) Well, ah've heard they catch them in a sifter. Yo' takes a sifter an' when yo' put it over yore face, right up on yore breast lak that, or if it's a person dat have drunk whiskey - if he is a whiskey drinker, yo' takes a little whiskey yo' put right round in dat place, an' when he comes, he'll git in dat an' yo'll ketch him and when yo' ketch him, he's jest a lump of jelly.
Entry 596
Yo' kin take a fellah whut had a peg-laig yo' know an' he die, an' when he die why yo' git dat knee-cap off an' use hearts cologne an' whiskey on it, an' tote it in yore pocket, an' yo' know, when yore luck come on hit would jump, an' then, yo' know that would give yo' more attention to bet mo'.
Entry 698
I'll tell you whut I heard by mah gran'mama. She wus hurt an' she wus hurt in peas an' rice. An' she started jis' as she got this, you know two or three days after, she started to swellin' all up in her laig, all up in her hips an' all. An' there's a ole root doctor came aroun' an' he tole 'em, he said, "If you git a root doctor," he say, "he kin fix you up" - to my gran'mama. An' so he said that he knowed whut wus de matter with her. An' so he give her two doses of sulphur. An' after that he got some whiskey an' sulphur an' a root dey call John de Conker, an' take an' boil this John de Conker in this whiskey an' add this sulphur to it an' he give this three times a day. About the fifth day or the sixth day she got deathly sick. Well, they got scared then an' stop givin' it to her, but the root doctor came back by to see 'em an' tol' 'em, "No, don't stop." He say that was workin' on her. An' so, after she went on an' took it, after she got deathly sick, a snake, a little green snake, an' a scorpion - I don't know whut that is, I've never seen one, but this is my gran'mama that's tellin' us - an' so this came from her. An' so she got all right for three months. She was all right, walkin' aroun' jis' like you or I, all right. An' so roun' 'bout two months later this swellin' started again. They went an' got this ole root doctor an' he give her the same medicine agin. Told 'em continue to give to her. In jis' about two or three more months she got all right.
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 712
This girl had two snakes in huh.
(Did she get them out?)
Yes, sir.
(What did they do to get them out?)
Give huh some silvah - jis' take silvah an' scrape it an' give huh five doses of silvah on de young moon. An' 'en, aft' she done dat, she took asafitadee on some whiskey an' give 'er some asafitadee nine mawnin's befo' de sun rise. Well, you see, aftah she do dat, dat'll make dis snake turn down [in the body so that it can be passed through the bowels]. He can't stand asafitadee. [Wilmington, N. Car., (196), 101:4; near Darlington, S. Car.,1921.]
Entry 742
They're tryin' tuh run yo'. Well, yo' take something dat chew wears next to yo' and bury it right undah de steps and if yo' bury dat undah yore steps you won't have to go nowhere. Den, if dat don't do, well, den you go - if you kin git, think of it, dere's a kinda weed dey call de devil's-shoestring. Ah used to use 'nuff [in my] time. Take dat and pound it up and put it some place ovah a pitchure somewhere about chure fireplace. Dat's de best. Now, dose things is very good. Ah used to use dem years back.
(Well, now what will this devil's-shoestring do, then?)
Well, that devil's-shoestring is a kind of a string - it always called de boss weed in de woods. Used to use it when ah was gambling.
(Well, if I put this over the mantelpiece, what will that do?)
Well, dat always will keep yo' mind togethah - put a little whiskey on it sometime, dat will keep yore mind together.
(Is that to keep people from harming you or what?)
Yeah, keep your home [safe].
Entry 806
Sellin' likker yo' mean? If yo's a man makin' moonshine or unstamped whiskey, see. All right. Now, ah'm goin' tell yo' dis heah one 'cause ah done dis mahself an' yo's a doctor an' yo' wanta know all dat. Yo' gits a little piece of red flannel - yo' have seen dis heah red flannel, an' dis brierberry root wit stickers in it.
(It has stickers on it.)
Dat's right. Well, all right, yo' git chew a piece of dat an' git chew six copper pennies, an' have a lamp. Now, yo' don't want nobody see dis lamp - yo have all dis down in de lamp where yo' po' yore oil in it, an' yo' set it ovah dere in dis corner. Well, yo' goin' burn dis oil, see. Well, now if ah come in ah ain't got no business ovah dere in dat corner - see whut yo' doin' ovah dere - have I?
(That's right.)
Well, now, git chew nine pods of red peppah an' put in there, in dat lamp, wit dem six copper pennies. But befo' yo' put dem six copper pennies in dere - to keep anybody from knowing whut yo' doin'; dat is, if yo' kin - stamp ovah 'em, put 'em into a vise, get 'em pressed out. Well, now yo' got chure little shade, yore little secret place heah in dis corner. Well, yo' set dat lamp dere an' yo burn it night an' day, 'cause yore gon'a have customers comin' in all times of de night. Well, yo' burn dat night an' day right dere, but chew kin have a little curtain up dere. Well, dey ain't nobody got no business back dere but chew - dey don't know whut chew doin'.
(That is all you have to do?)
Dat's all yo' got'a do. Ah've seen dat tried.
(And you take the lamp and you put this brier grass in there.)
Now wait. Yo' goin' pull up the sod with it. Yo' pull it up an' take yo' a hatchet 'cause it's hard, an' yo' cut off nine little blue pods.
(Pods or parts?)
Pods, dat's right. Cut it off jes' lak dese round - jes' cut one, two, three, fo', till yo' git de nine. Yo' have yore lamp right 'long wit yo' an' yo' put it in dere. Well, dat kerosene now dat chew use in dis lamp, don't nevah po' none of it out no mo' than go in dat lamp, an' don't let nobody use an' handle dat but chew. Well, yo' handle dat a different way. Yo' ain't goin' trust anybody else with it. Well, all right, dat's all yo' do. (You put the nine pods of that brier grass from the corn field in this lamp. Then you pour the oil on it. Then you take these - how many pennies?) Nine pennies. (Nine pennies and you flatten them out - put them in a vise - hold them in a vise so many days and then you put those in - and anything else you put in that lamp?) Nine pods of peppah - little cayenne red peppah, dese little pods, yo' know 'bout dat long. "An' yo' have yore little shade made right dere an' put 'em in dere an' go out 'bout chure business.
(Nothing else you put in that lamp?)
Nope - jes' dat all. An' yo' burn it night an' day till it burn down. At certain hours when yo' have no customers, git behin' yore curtain, an' feed dat lamp. Yo' ain't got'a burn it high - jes' dat-a-way, re'l dim light. An' if he come right out dere, he ain't comin' in dat place.
(The law won't come in there at all.)
An' yo' kin tell about a man whut has did it - go to 452 Montgomery Street, right round de corner.
Entry 845
(Goofer dust? What is that supposed to be?)
Goofer dust is made up out of - lawd, lemme tell you somepin - goofer dust - they say now - this old man what I was telling you about they got at the station house [who] disappears. He says he gets a blacksnake before it mate - ketch him long about in March, jes' long about March. Hang him upsides down [tail up, head down] and cut his throat and let his blood drip and have his blood drip into a jar. They take that blood and you kin mix it with whiskey if you wanta, and put that back in a dark corner. Take this snake and let him dry up and after he dry up, you grind that black- snake - the whole skin and all, and make a powder. Well, that's what the root doctors call goofer dust.
(Oh, that's goofer dust - that powder from the snake?)
From the snake.
(Well, what do they do with that blood, then?)
Well, that blood they got, if there anybody you got anything against them and dey come in or go anywhere, they just take about a tablespoonful of that and put it in whiskey - put it in a pint of whiskey. (And you say this is the remedy that this old cunjure doctor used. What did you say his name was - Alexander?) Ole man Alexander.
(Did they have any special name for him?)
Call him Daddy Snakelegs.
(Daddy Snake - Snakelegs.)
Snakelegs - cause he could run so fast and he could disappear.
(I see - because he could disappear.)
Yeah, then he had a friend and he disappeared - the law was looking for him and he would get on dat horseback - muleback and the law be close to him as here to the corner. He'd get up and just touch that horse and make him git up, say, "Git up, Ole Sal." They tell me that sech a dust would rise behin' him that they lose sight of him and couldn't never - has never found em.
(Couldn't see him for life?)
Couldn't see him.
(From the dust.)
Couldn't see from this dust. And they couldn't tell what sort of dust it was cause where he was riding, they say it was no dust at all. ["428 - Plunkie [doctor] - Ex [excellent] - woman 68 - b. Richmond - knew Alexander conjurer" - Numbers Book 340-442.]
Entry 870
They said what they give him in the whiskey - it was a bird was in it, a bird grown in him and it laid and it done hatch. And after the bird hatch up, then the boy died. The root man told him.that if he'd got him a little earlier he could of saved the boy 'fore the bird hatched in him. [This is one of many excuses either to explain failure to cure or refusal to accept the case.] [Wilmington, N. Car., (245), 242:4; near Pinewood, S. Car.,1934.]
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 1110
You kin take three sticks of assafetidee an' you kin wrap 'em up in a black rag an' sew it up, you know, an' you jis' wure [wear] it in your clothes. But you had'a soak [feed] it once a week with yore urine an' once a week with whiskey: An' jis' as long as you wure that in your clothes, why you needn't worry - nobody kin harm you.
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 1293
If yo' wanta put a snake in anybody, yo' kin take a snake an' yo' dry him up an' they put him in whiskey aftah they dry up, an' yo' give it to 'em in their glass tuh drink. An' den it's parsley. Yo' let chure parsley set, yo' know, lak if yo' would let somethin' set. Yo' let it set about three days an' den yo' give it to whosomevah yo' wanta give it to tuh drink. An' den in three days dat dust form aigs, an' den in nine days aftah dey become a snake in yo'. Now if yo' wants tuh take dat snake out chew, yo' take garlic an' yo' take parsley an' yo' take peppah - yo' know this horseshoe peppah. Yo' evah saw dat horseshoe peppah? Dey would call it a cayenne. It's in a powder, beat up.
(It has a horseshoe on the box?)
Yeah. [That was a lucky guess!] Yo' would take that parsley an' take de garlic an' cut it up an' yo' boil it - boil all that together an' when it git cold yo' add the peppah into it, an' yo' give it to an individual tuh drink, an' den yo' make 'em pass it up. The live things will come out.
Entry 1327
You drink gunpowder and whiskey. They say that's good to keep 'em from hurting you. See, gunpowder makes you cross and that will keep the witchcraft work from hurting you. [Whiskey makes?]
Entry 1548
Lak when yo' come tuh mah house an' ah got anything against yo', if ah wanta hurt yo', ah'll fix somepin an' yo' eat dat an' yo' gits sick. So dis man, yo' know, he drunk some whiskey at a woman's house an' on de way tuh curin' him, somebody got a dime, a silver dime, an' took dat silver dime an' scraped it. An' den he got some gunpowder an' he got sweet milk an' mix it together an' give it to 'im. An' he puked dat stuff up.
Entry 1660
Take de whiskey an' yo'll hear 'em movin' aroun' in de home an' movin' things, po' some outside front de do', dey [spirit] go an' won't bother you.
Entry 1662
Any time yo' has a bruise why yo' git about a tablespoon of gunpowder an' put it in whiskey an' drink dat an' dat will scatter de bruise.
Entry 1663
If yo' wanta git a spell off anybody, take some sulphur an' put it in yore shoe, po' some whiskey in dere, in yore right shoe, an' drink it - drink dat whiskey an' sulphur right out dat shoe, see. If anybody put a spell on yo', dat'll git it off.
Entry 1736
Ah went to a man fo' dat, too. He went an' gi' me a root - it wus a white bone. It wusn't a root, it wus a white bone. He give me a white bone whut chew call a blacksnake bone an' he said, "Yo' take dat bone an' yo' wrap it up in yore - put it in yore pocket an' tote dat bone." An' he say, "Fo' every nine mawnin's, yo' take some Hearts Cologne an' dip dat bone in it an' yo' have plenty of customers an' won't be worried. An' de law will come up an' yo' always know whut de law does." Ah taken dat bone an' kept hit until dat bone broke an' ah kept de bone on. An' he come back an' he give me anothah, an' he give me whut chew call a black- snake root de next time an' anothah bone. It's a little bone jes' about that long - jes' 'bout big as, whut yo' call a small little bone. Ah taken dat bone an' kept it an' de law come an' taken me. Dey come an' taken de jar of whiskey out de house an' dey tole me to meet co't. An' ah tole him ah didn't have no money, ah couldn't meet co't. He say, "Well, if yo' ain't got no money," says, "ah'll have tuh lock yo' up.' Say, '"But ah won't lock yo' up now." Said, "Go an' meet me up there next week." By de next week come, dat Sunday, ah taken de car an' went to anothah fellah an' he tole me - we went back to dis same fellah [first doctor], an' he said, "Well, '' says, "ah'm goin' fix yo' up." Says, "Then the only thing yo' kin do is jes' go outa town an' stay fo' three days an' come back an' he won't bother yo'." He give me that bone an' ah went outa town an' stayed three days, an' ah come back heah in town - dey had fo' cases against me an' dey laugh off ever' one.
Entry 1776
You runnin' a house or whiskey or anything, to keep the law away I hear'd people say you could nail on top the door a chicken bone up with some tacks under the doorsill. They say that keep law from you an' you won't have to go to court or nuthin.
(What sort of chicken bone?)
It's a little bone right on the backbone-like - join on together, whut people call a luck bone. Some people say if two people be right together an' break it, the one who had the longest bone has good luck.
Entry 1814
Yo' kin sew it yo' see, aftah it's petrified - yo' kin sew it in a rag.
(This bone from the dead person?)
Yes, an' dress it ovah wit whiskey an' oil of cinnamon an' yo' be lucky fo' anything that chew be's trying tuh run.
Entry 1882
Well, they say if you take a frog and make him drunk and go to the game and, you know, have him in your pocket. Well, if you are going to play wrong, well that frog will move and you'll know what to do - you'll know that you fixin' to bet some money in the wrong place.
(That frog warns you?)
Yes.
(He'll move around?)
Uh huh.
(How do you make him drunk?)
Well, just take the teaspoon and pour the whiskey down in him.
Entry 1887
Yo' takes a frog an' yo' kill him an' lets him dry, takes an' sews him up in a shammy skin, an' feed him with whiskey. Well, that's supposed to be a very, very nice toby fo' gamblin'.
Entry 1890
Yo' kin git graveyard dirt an' a frog an' take this frog an' put this graveyard dirt an' dis frog an' de lodestone in yore pocket an' dress it ovah wit whiskey. Den yo'll be lucky.
(Lucky in what?)
In gamblin' or runnin' a house or most anything - restaurant - anything yo' doin'.
(You put all this in a little bag?)
Yes, in a little red flannel rag. Sew it up an' it'll make a hand - jis make a hand out of it.
Entry 1930
Well, ah have use it. Yo' take graveyard dirt an' put Hearts Cologne wit it an' use it fo' luck fo' gamblin'.
(Just how would you do that?)
Go to de graveyard where a grave's been - where de grave be about six months old, de dirt. An' yo' go dere an' git dat dirt an' bring it back. Git chew a piece of red flannel. Yo' sew dat dirt an' a dime up together, a dime an' de dirt up together, an' keep dat wet in Hearts Cologne or even in good whiskey.
(What does that do for you?)
Dat's tuh give yo' luck fo' any kinda games an' gamblin'.
The informant says the material has been used and describes dirt from a grave about six months old. Hearts Cologne and good whiskey are stated alternatives for wetting it; the luck claim remains source-reported.
Entry 1964
He had that wropped in a tape, some kinda tape-lak, an' he wrops it in a square and it would be a square de size of a half a dollah, ah guess. It was, you know round, an' he tells me tuh carry dat wit me in mah wallet - carry it wit me all de time. Carry it with me an' 'noint it wit whiskey 'bout ever' fo' or five days. An' den he takes me roun' an' git anothah one. He wrops me a larger one an' tells me tuh keep dat one in de house, an' 'noint hit wit whiskey 'bout time ah think it's dry. Any time ah think it's dry, put sulphur on it an' 'noint lt wit whiskey. An' then he give me some spirits. Ah thought it wus spirits yo' know whut dey dig up out de ground [graveyard dirt?]. So den he gives me somepin, somepin like a pickel jar. He puts de whiskey in de jar an' he put de little herbs in de jar an' [told me to] keep 'em roun' mah place, an' jes' hide it where nobody can't take it - which ah did an' ah got it [now]. An' ah taken it on to de shop. Ah wouldn't take it to de house. De nex' mawnin' ah go to it an' 'noint it wit whiskey, right in de jar, an' ah have de jar right now down at de shop, an' ah jes' put whiskey ovah dat.
Entry 1973
Go to a graveyard for a gambling hand, git dat graveyard dirt and sew it up into a bag, and puts dat lucky lodestone into hit - into that bag. Yo' feeds dat lodestone. If yo' went to de graveyard, yo' feed it with whiskey, yo' puts whiskey on it; an' if you didn't go to de graveyard an' uses de lucky lodestone, yo uses de Hearts perfume on it - it'll 'vaporate, it keeps that lodestone damp and it makes yo† lucky.
(In gambling?)
Shore.
(Well, why do you use whiskey when you use graveyard dirt?)
Well, dat's a wicked person - yo' git de graveyard dirt from a wicked person. Use dat Hearts Cologne on de lodestone. Dat's de diff'rence.
Entry 2069
Dis here magnify lodestone [magnetized?], that will create chure busi- ness, make yore business more greater. Yo' know dere's two diff'rent kinds of stone an' dere's some lodestone that ain't magnify lodestone, which de magnify lodestone whut chew call a he an' a she - dere's two points of it, dere's a she an' a he. Yo' kin take dat'un [that one] an' set it in yore room an' hit will increase your business more greater 'an anything yo' mostly ever had. Ah've used it and ah've seen other people use it. (You mean this piece of lodestone is both he and she, or are there two differ- ent pieces?) Two different pieces but dere's a he an' a she in 'em.
(Magnifying lodestone?)
A magnify. Dere's lodestone but dis heah magnify lodestone is a whole lot better. Ah've got heah magnify lodestone now, with me now. Course whenever it's died down ah creates it up.
(How do you do that?)
Ah creates it up by giving it some whiskey - put on it. Ah'm gittin' 'long all right. Whensomever ah don't use whiskey on it for say, three-four weeks, why it goes down on me. Ah kin tell de change of it. But yo' kin take dese magnify lodestone an put it in dis building heah, a piece about so size [demonstrates].
(You wrap it up in a piece of rag?)
Yeah, jest about dat size.
(Only this little piece?) [The piece he held.]
Yeah take a little piece - don't care how big it is - yo' take an' put it in dis building [Negro hotel in which I was Working] yo'll cultivate more business. Yore business will be more greater. Why ah happened tuh write to dis fellah, ah had a friend an' mah friend he got in touch wit dis man by name of Johnny. He got in touch wit dis man an' ah wrote to him. He give me dat address an' ah wrote to him. When ah wrote to him he give me an answer back. An' after he give me an answer back, then ah wrote back to him an' then he sont me - he sont me this lodestone.
(Where did this man live?)
In New York [City]. An' he sent me lodestone an' he tole me how to handle it - what to do fo' it. An' ah did it an' ah has had very good luck.
(What did he tell you to do for it?)
Tole me to put de magnifying lodestone in it [sack] an' put one ten-cents with it - one ten-cent piece with it.
(You put whiskey with it?)
Put whiskey with it an' then put a dime with it.
(How long did this stone last you?)
Well, ah've it yet. Ah've got it continuing yet.
(If the stone sort of got weak, then you were told to?)
Put whiskey with it. Feed it, feed it and keep afeeding it.
Entry 2109
Take a penny an' drive it down in de front of yo' do' an' everybody come ovah dat penny - take a manhead penny an' drive it down in de front of yo' do' where everybody has tuh come in an' ovah dat penny an' yo' have good luck.
(What kind of good luck?)
Selling whiskey or any kinda luck yo' wants. Jest any.
(Just take a penny with a man on it?)
Yes, a manhead penny.
Entry 2115
If yo' bootleggin' an' yo' wants tuh have a plenty customers - when de customers come to yore house yo' jes' offer them a drink of whiskey an' after yo' offer dem dis drink of whiskey, yo' take an' put the sulphur up undah this glass they use an' let it sit there about an hour, an' then yo' take it an' wash it out an' after yo' wash it out an' rinse it out, yo' sit it back there an' yo' git two Indian head pennies an' nail one at yore front do' an' one at chure back do', an' yo'll always have customers. (Now here's the glass that he has used. You put some sulphur in' the glass or under the bottom?) Undah the bottom of the glass.
Entry 2117
Nobody can hear us? [This root doctor, a good one, a woman, was evi- dently nervous. Either I nodded or turned off my machine for a moment.] Well, yo' take yore pennies an' yo' put dem down in yore do'way. Yo' take three pennies an' put it down in yore do'way an' that would keep de officers from de house, if yo' was selling whiskey round de house.
Entry 2143
Yo' git dis little ole mullein dat grow in de yard - mullein, you've seen it. Well, yo' git dis mullein and slip it under yore rug - under each corner - de fo' corners. Dey kin walk in, it kin be dere but dey can't find it.
(What can't they find?)
Dat whiskey.
(That will keep the law from finding it?)
Dey kin come dere but dey can't find it.
Entry 2164
Yo' kin take a needle - two needles, charcoals an' red flannel wit some other graveyard dust an' put whiskey on it an' dat will give you good luck.
[Three ingredients are in the sack; whiskey feeds it.]
(Good luck in what particularly?)
In gambling.
Entry 2176
Dey say yo' take a red onion an' put it on yore stove if yo' sellin' whiskey an' it will keep de law out chure house.
(How do you mean, put it on the stove?)
Jes' take an' cut dat end off lak yo' goin' cut it half in two an' lay it on de stove an' let it burn.
Entry 2194
Jes' like yo' in business like sellin' whiskey or somepin like dat, yo' put a red onion ovah each one of yore do's, an' de Lord Prayers have it written, if yo' don't want nobody tuh pay no 'tenshun to it chew know. Git chew a small onion, de smallest one, an' jes' tack it up ovah de do' dere an' take de Lord's Prayers an' put it undahneat' yore carpet on yore floor right at chure do'. Well, yo' know yo' can't walk ovah God - dey can't go but so far ovah Him - yo' know yo' can't go ovah Him atall. Yo' take de Lord's Prayers an' put it down undahneat' dere. Co'se ah always use nine or ten.
(What will that do then?)
Dat will give yo' good luck an' no evilness kin come aginst yuh.
(That will give you luck for selling whiskey and keep the law away?)
Shore, an' people commence tuh envious against yuh. Dey'll come an' 'stead of bein' an enemy to yo' dere min'll [mind will] change an' dey'll be yore fren's instid of a enemy.
Entry 2208
Yo' kin tack de king of diamonds, de queen of diamonds, de jack of dia- monds, an' de ten of diamonds up ovah yore do' an' burn incense an' use lye. It will bring all de trade yo' need.
(Who does this?)
People dat are gamblin' an' selling whiskey.
Entry 2326
Yo' see dose little fishes. Sometime when it rainin' down dose little minnows - little small fishes dat be in de waters sometime when yo' don't see no fishes. Take three of dem an' put in a pint of whiskey an' give to anybody - dey'll stop drinkin'. [For fish falling during a rain, see FACI,2ed., No. 1537, p.61.]
Entry 2424
She kin take straws an' nail 'em cross her do', an' if anyone comes in dere to - if dey has whiskey in dere, take three straws an' nail 'em crossways an' if dey walks in, dere mo' goin' walk in with him. (You say you take three straws - from a broom?) Broomstraws - not straw broom, but stick broom straws. [Not straw or grass bent into a homemade swiss (swish) broom, a handleless broom, see Index.]
(What kind of a broom is that?)
A stick broom wit de handle to it.
(And you put three straws - each in a row - three in a row.)
Three in a row. (And if one person comes in, the rest are going to follow.)
Entry 2471
Yo' kin take devil's-shoestring an' put it in whiskey, or either camphor, an' rub it in yore hand an' dat'll make yo' lucky.
(Lucky for what?)
Lucky tuh rent chure rooms or any kind of business yo' in.
Entry 2474
(What was that?)
I know what I used to keep 'em away from my house. You ever saw any popgun elder? You've heard talk of that? (Popgun elder?) Yes.
(Yes.)
You go in your place - if there's four ways to come to your place, your house, or it's five or it ain't but three ways that it's possible that anybody can get there, you get you some popgun elder. And you cut it five inches long, and then you cut in it five notches on that popgun elder a half an inch apart.
(On each stick?)
On each stick, and you sharpen it on the end that goes in the ground.
(Make a peg of it?)
Yes, sir. You take a piece of John de Conker root.
(You take a piece of John de Conker?)
Yes, sir.
(All right.)
You take a piece of John de Conker and you make you another peg and make a hole for each one of these pegs in the pathway - say 50 or 75 feet from your house, or maybe less, and you puts John de Conker in there first and you drive your peg in on it down in the ground where nobody can't see it. The other pegs all the same way, but if it's four, the same way and turn all the notches north.
(Turn all these notches on the stick north.)
North - turn 'em all north, [the notches] in them sticks wherever you drive 'em and the law ain't coming in there over them sticks. He ain't coming. Don't skin that popgun elder - let the skin stay on there, you see. You just cut them notches and trim it at the bottom, cut it off square at the top and drive it in these holes on top of this John de Conker, and the law ain't coming there. And that - it'll draw customers, but they'll come all roads, from all roads. And the law will pass there. But I've tried this. I've experienced that my- self for nine long months and I never was bothered with the law. And the folks was pitying me all the time that I had whiskey and that I was there, but I never was worried about it. The law met me, and I was standing out on the street, you know, and he says, "Howareya? They tell you are selling whiskey?" Told him, "No, sir. You knows well what I got in my - I wish I knew where some was." He say, "I know you are lying: Hell, a nigger always lies." He was talking about the fellow that told me [him]. I know who told him. And I never was bothered with him.
(And he was standing here on one of these pegs at the time.)
[I am not suggesting anything to the informant. While machine was turned off he added this detail. See Introduction.] Just over it - just over de peg. He just drove up in his car and stopped. [I have known the elder (Sambucus canadensis) since 1902, but this is the only time it has been called popgun elder. The reason for the name is obvious. Remove the pith and you have a blowgun, add a strong rubber band, and a cylindrical wooden peg can be shot a fair distance.]
Entry 2568
Your business get kinda dull, just open your half pint of whiskey or pint, or quart or whatever you want, and take some of your monthlies, clear it, and put two or three teaspoonfuls in it and whensomever they come in give 'em a drink and that'll draw your trade in.
Entry 2569
Ah heard 'em tell if yo' want people tuh come back to buy whiskey from yo' - if dey come dere tuh drink some whiskey, jes' befo', take an' put chew some urinate in dat whiskey, yo' understand, or either some of yore monthly discharge. If yo's a man, put some urinate; if yo's a woman, put some ministration in dere an' when dey come in dere drinkin', dey 11 come back. Dey jes' hang anto yo dey can't go nowhere else seem lak. Dey jes' come to yore place of business.
Entry 2570
Dey take dere monthly sickness an' put nine drops in some whiskey an' keep it saved back an' whenevah yo' sweetheart come or somepin lak dat yo' go out lak yo' goin' after de whiskey, an' yo' add some of that whut chew got - put in that fo' him.
(That's for love.)
Entry 2642
I've been in that condition myself. A ole man charged me five dollahs one time. He tole me - I gave the five dollahs [first] - he says, "Want choo git twenty-one ole shoes, I want ever' one to be a lef' shoe, an' seven [rubber] boots." He said, "I don't care whurther yore boots are lef' or right or not. Put 'em into a can, a lard can, close the top up. [Years ago meat packers packed hog lard in very large cans for butcher shops.] Go into yore back yard an' burn that can an' everything in there concern. Take that dust an' scatter it all over yore house an' sweep it north an' south, east an' west, four diff'rent way, an' go ahead an' sell yore whiskey." I did it an' I declare the law didn't never run down on me.
Entry 2686
If yo' sellin' whiskey, to keep de law from yore house, yo' take an' where yo' takes a leak an' throw it out right - jes' throw it out in de front every night fo' nine nights an' in de mawnin's, too. An' throw it out dere fo' nine nights or nine mawnin's. Do it that night an' that mawnin', yo' understan'. Well, dat will keep the law from comin' in yore house. (What do you mean where you take a leak, on the ground? You mean where you do it on the ground or in the pot or what?) Where yo' do it in a can, don't chew see. [Informant has a night can.]
Entry 2709
Jes' like yore customer yo' want tuh come to yo', yo' selling whiskey, yo' kin take a little of yore chamber lye an' put in dat whiskey an' dey always come back dere.
Entry 2861
"The black candle, that's tuh bring back. But chew must put de party name on de candle an' turn it upside down. See [demonstrates], writin' de name on de candle dataway, an' cuttin' de end off an' settin' it upside down, an' burnin' dat candle in - if de party like coffee, yo' burn it in coffee; if dey like whiskey, burn it in whiskey; if dey like gin, burn it in gin. Yo' burn dat fo' nine days. If de party don't come back in nine days, yo' git a round candle. Light it once all day - all de time. Dey guaranteed tuh come back. Dat will bring 'em back.
(You burn this candle all the time.)
Jes' be sure dey upside down, because if yo' burn dem straight dat'll keep den on away.
Entry 3459
Yo' kill a dog an' take his tools - yo' know, dem little bags whut he got. Dey tell me yo' kin take dem an' powdah 'em up an' yo' kin give it to a man in 'is whiskey or eithah in 'is coffee, an' dey tell me dat make him tie up wit a woman jes' lak a dog tie up wit anothah dog. If yo' wanta ketch - dat's how yo do when yo' wanta ketch 'em, dey tell me.
Entry 3887
A woman kin jes' take her periods, ketch some of it an' kin give yo' [him] jes' a drop every time she want yo' [him] break off drinkin', see. Jes' give him a drop in de whiskey. An' ah don't care how good he love whiskey, he will break off from it. HE WOULDN'T BREAK OFF FROM IT RIGHT JES' DAT MINUTE.
Entry 4109
Yo' takes de dead skin off de bottom of yuh feet an' put it in a halfa pint of whiskey an' takes one teaspoonful of pee an' po' it in. Dat'll make dem become tuh love yuh.
Teaspoonful denotes a quantity in this reported recipe. No utensil, calibrated modern volume or demonstrated effect is established.
Entry 4116
Jes' lak if yuh want a man tuh be wid jah an' stay wid jah. He may be pullin' off wid some othah woman. Yuh take chamber lye an' a little bit of yuh minstratin' an' put it in whiskey or coffee, eithah one of dose thin's, an' jis' give it tuh 'em. An' he drink dat an' he jis' be so fool about chew, he'll have tuh be dere.
Entry 6515
Ah heard dat chew kin take from de bottom of yore feet dat dead skin an' put it in stuff, if yo' wanta gain a man or somepin of dat lin'. Jis' put it in some whiskey or coffee or somepin dat he's gon'a drink, in 'is food or somepin lak dat. Yo' jis' keep 'em down undah yore feet all de time.
Entry 6546
Yo' kin git de blood from a frog an' yo' kin put dat in whiskey an' let em drink it an' dat'll cuz frogs tuh be in 'em.
Entry 6557
Ah know a woman had a frog in 'er throat an' it wuz put in whiskey - [I mean] in dat frog dust - an' aftah dey drink it, it formed dem live thing in 'er. It formed an' it grow back tuhgethah. Dem frogs grow. She had one right up heah in 'er throat an' it choked 'er tuh death finely [finally]. An' evah time she drink whiskey see, an' she wuz jis' crazy about whiskey, well dat thing would come up an' nearly choke 'er tuh death. Died!
Entry 6558
Well, ah heard dat yo' kin take de toadfrog. Yo' kin take de toadfrog an' ketch 'im alive an' put 'im in somepin [on or near the fire] an' let 'im git done, where yo' could jis' powdah 'im up lak yo' would powdah. An' put 'im in some whiskey an' give tuh de person an' it'll turn tuh frogs.
Entry 6559
Git a frog an' kill 'im an' let 'im dry up tuh a powdah, an' cook it in bread or anything an' give it tuh yo' in medicine or whiskey or anything lak dat, an' event'ly [eventually] dat powdah will 'cumulate an' HE'LL COME BACK A LIVING FROG, AN' YO' KIN FEEL 'IM MOVIN' RIGHT UP AN' DOWN RIGHT UNDAH DE SKIN.
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 6583
Take a scorpion ag'in an' take some of dat same scorpion an' put it in whiskey or wine or sompin an' drink it. It will have scorpions runnin' all about in yore skin.
(Is there any way of getting those things out of you?)
Why ah don't know how yo' git it out, but dere's a man dat could git it out.
Entry 6631
Ah've heard about de way people, yo' know, make live things git inyo', yo' know. Dey tell me dat ef ah kill a serpent, a snake yo' see, an' lay himout, yo' see, an' let 'im dry real dry, yo' see. An' den yo' go git 'im, yo' know, an' grind 'im up yo' see. An' it be jis' kinda lak a powdah, yo' see. An' dey tell me dat yo' could put it in whiskey. An' de person will drink it yo' see, an' dat'll make live snakes come in 'im.
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 6633
Dey say yo' take a snake an' kill 'im. Ah think yo' kill 'im, but any- how yo' dry him up an' make a powder outa dis snake. Well, now, if yore fond of drinkin' whiskey or coffee or anything, dat ah could git dis in fo' yo' tuh drink, why dat will bring live things in yo'. Eithah dey will use a scorpion or eithah a snake, an' dat will make dem things come in yo' 'live.
Entry 6651
Or yo' kin take a snake, a snake's shell, hull [shed] an' put it in whiskey an' dey drinks it, why dat'll make snakes grow inside of yo'.
Entry 6662
(He [my contact man] said that you told him a story.)
Yes. Well, now, heah's de story ah wanta tell yo' - sech as whut dey tell me an' whut ah learned, SECH AS WITCHCRAFT. Well, now, de story ah got tuh tell is sech a thing as spidahs. Yo' know whut ah'm talkin' 'bout, web spidahs yo' seen [not a fryingpan on legs called a spider]. Well, yo' kin take it an' take it tuh de fiah yo' know an' hold it. Tie a string tuh it, he can't crawl away, or put it in de stove yo' might say, in dere alive an' let it bake. [Here is the frequent rite of suffering before death.l An' aftah it git baked, den crush it up. Take dat an' crush it up intuh somepin an' put it in de whiskey. Yo' undahstan'. An' den yo' - ah'm yore enemy, yo' see. Well, aftah yo' taken an' do dat an' yo' kin git me tuh drink dat whiskey, well dere ah go, right dere. Dem spider gits in me an' create, an' dey gits an' eats mah insides out, yo' see. Dat's known tuh be de fact. Fo' me, ah hasn't tried tuh work it on no one. Anothah one, ag'in. Yo' kin take up dese qround dog whut chew fish wit. Some folks call 'em ground dogs, some folks call 'em ground puppies [the changa, or hellbender, a salamander, described elsewhere], see. Yo' take dat an' yo' kin crisp it up in a stove or sompin othah, an' yo' kin put it - grind it up intuh poudah, aftah yo' crisp it up. Jis' lak a locust, yo' see. Yo' kin take it an' grind it up an' yo' kin jes' put it - bury hit right at yore do'step. See, an' po' yo' about a mouthfulla whiskey on 'it, see. An' attah [after] yo' puttin' de mouthfulla whiskey on it, de nex' mawnin' yo'll wake up dere, yo'll find a thousand of 'em - young-uns. Dat's done, yo' know, it's done increase dat much. Jis' one, de one yo' take an' killed an' crisp it up, an' dig a hole an' bury it in, an' po' some whiskey on, put it down at yore do'step, an' de nex' mawnin' when yo' wake up an' go dere an' dig up undah dere, dey say dere'll be 'bout a han'fulla dem - de young-uns. Done create. Done create dat much.
(What do you do that for?)
Well, dat shows dat yo' might - yo' kin put it in me de same way. Dat jis' shoWS, yo' undahstan', JIS' SHOWS, PROVE OUT WHUT DESE THIN'S KIN DO. DEAD THIN'S DAT COME TUH LIFE.
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 6665
Mah aunt wus fixed wit a black spidah. Dey taken an' mashed dis spidah up an' give her in whiskey tuh drink. An' it swelled 'er foot, an' befo' we could git tuh do anythin' fo' her she died.
Entry 6691
You can dig Adam-and-Eve root up and keep it and let it dry, and when you want it you have it. If anyone puts a spell on you, you boil some of that on the stove and put a little whiskey with it and drink it, and that will cure you. [Fredericksburg, Va., cylinder 80, by Ediphone.]
Entry 6742
Soak black manure from a hen about three days in whiskey; give to per- son to make loose teeth.
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 7013
Yo' jis' take de whiskey, if he drinks a lot, an' yo' try tuh break it. Yo' take a dead man's han' an' po' de whiskey intuh a basin an' jis' take his han' an' jis' wash 'is han' off wit dat whiskey. An' yo' po' dat whiskey back in de bottle an' yo' give it tuh dat per- son [heavy drinker]. Or eithah yo' kin take some...
Entry 11393
Lotta mens an' dey drink plenty of whiskey or gin, an' dey goin right by, dey tell me yo' take some of yore fingernails an' put in it, say dat will help bring business. Put dat in dere. [Fayetteville 2599:8.]
Entry 11400
Scrape fingernails, put in coffee, tea, or whiskey, an' you'll go crazy. [Charleston 572:2.]
Entry 11401
If dirt under your fingernails is dropped into whiskey or anything, your system becomes poisoned or poisoned. [Charleston 642:5.]
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 11757
Graveyard dirt, let dry on stove, get rattlesnake buttons, beat up and mix these two, make 2 piles, put one pile in whiskey, put other pile around waist, this keeps person from harming you. Give whiskey to enemy, snakes in him.
Entry 11906
Man takes hair from mold of woman's head, sews it into a package, keeps damp with whiskey, and wears it to hold her love. [Richmond 303:1.]
Entry 12037
Hair from her armpit soaked in his whiskey will bring a present from him and create love. [Charleston 572:4.]
Entry 12045
As a substitute for hair, a woman may use dandruff from his head in his coffee or whiskey. He cannot leave here. [Mobile 904:4.]
Entry 13070
Pick up snail slime from snail track, put in whiskey, in 9 days live snails in person. [Memphis 1573:1.]
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 13118
Dey says dat yo' kin take dat blood from snake an' put it in whiskey an' cause live things, yo' know, tuh be inside of anyone. [Fayetteville 2535:15.]
Entry 13316
Take tobaccah an' put it in a pint of whiskey an' let it stay in dere till dat pint of whiskey eat up dat tobaccah. Den take it down tuh give to 'em, dey'll stop.
(To stop somebody from drinking [alcohol].)
Entry 13317
De cigar ashes - de same as ah walk in tuh take a drink. Ah'm used tuh drinkin' heavy. Why dey'd take de cigar ashes an' empty it into de stuff [alcohol] an' it would make me sick. An' if ah git ovah dat ah wouldn't have no taste for any ag'in, because it supposed tuh have double de power after yo' put dat cigar ashes into it. [This is believed everywhere.]
Entry 13318
They smoke cigars and put de cigar ashes in de whiskey, and if you drink enough of it, that'll run you crazy. [This in some form is believed everywhere.]
Entry 13319
Knock it in de whiskey.
(The ashes from the cigar?)
Yes, knock it in de whiskey. Shake it up good an' let de whiskey - it will eat de ashes up an' yo' cain't tell it wuz in dere. An' den yo' give her a drink of it. An' ah don't care how much - right den an' dere dat's de end of her. [Memphis (1530), 2737:11.]
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 11403
"They take your fingernails and soak it in whiskey, and you drink it, and it will kill you AS DEAD AS FOUR O'CLOCK." [Fredericksburg, by Ediphone.]
Entry 11468
"Dey say you kin take de skin off de bottom of your feet and scrape it, you know, scrape it off; and put it in some whiskey and give it to him to drink, and he can't go nowhere." [Wilmington 257:2+85.]
Entry 11472
"You want somebody put under your feet." Wash feet toes to heel. Scrape dry skin. Put in whiskey or coffee. "Put 'em right under your feet and they'd do anything in world you said do." [Memphis 1568:8.]
Entry 11476
"I [you] wash my [your] feet and take a knife and scrape the bottom of your feet, and you scrape from your heel up to the toes, then scrape from the toes back up to the heel. Then they say you put that in whiskey or wine and give that to a person and make 'em love yeh." [Elizabeth City 556:5.]
Entry 13069
"I have heard them say that you can take a snail and put it in whiskey and give it to someone to drink and the snail will be alive in them and run them crazy." [From bellboy at hotel in Petersburg, Va., where we stayed one night in 1936. This is my original hand transcription. He was informant No.33 on Edi- phone 26.]
Entry 701
They say some people had frogs. I don't know whether you ever heard tell of frogs that been put in 'em. See. The doctors couldn't do 'em no good. They didn't know what they had their ownself. Well, there was a old lady, she's dead now - reckon you've heard tell of her, Mother Catherine.
(Mother Catherine?)
Yes, sir. They went to her. She was living way down in St. Bernard Parish. [The State of Louisiana is divided into parishes instead of counties. St. Bernard Parish, nearly touching New Orleans, extends eastward to the Gulf of Mexico. It is almost surrounded by water and full of coastal islands. I like the informant's nostalgic words ''living way down in." Mother Catherine must have lived in a naturalist's paradise long since surely taken over by automobiles, pleasure boats and weekenders.] They went to her and she told them what to do. She gived them descriptions of what to get. Now they got - the first thing they got was this root they call sasafax [sassafras]. That was only to make a tea and to purify the blood. She told 'em, say, "Get you some sasafax and boil that sasafax, put it in a bottle and get you some whiskey and put on top of it. You drink that sasafax for nine mornings and after drinking the sasafax for the nine mornings," she told 'em, she says, just like this, "you get you some asafitadee, get that, take a silver dime and scrape it and get the dust from it with a bottle milk, and you use that for nine days." That would be eighteen days. And cured her within the eighteen days time. Got the frogs out of her stomach, you understand.
(I see. Mother Catherine is dead now, isn't she?)
She's be dead quite a spell now.
Entry 871
I was hurt myself - I was hurt in whiskey and I started with a little pain back of my head. And it keep hurtin' and hurtin' and I thought it was from a - I caught cold. And so I went to the doctor and I got some medicine but that made me still worse and so I got down in the bed. And so they keep gavin' me medicine and that wouldn't do no good, and so my aunt went and seen a root doctor. I was so sick I couldn't go myself. Well, she got him and bring him up to the house and he look after me. And he went and got some mustard and got some salt from the drug store, and some black pepper, and take a little bit of dat salt and black pepper and put it in the mole [mold] of my head, and when he put it in there he said, "In the Father and in the Son and Three in One." And when he did that he took that mustard and some black pepper and salt and a little flour and mixed it together, and he take it and made a plaster and he put it under the bottom of my feet. And I was so I couldn't sleep that night. And after he did that and I got relief in less than thirty minutes. If he hadn't of done somepin to me under twenty-four hours, you see, I would of been dead [thig is what the doctor told her]. He said I get it in this whiskey give me by my friend.
Entry 971
Now, I had some of that in our fam'ly. I remember, I an' mah aunt's boy rode eight mile from the'ah to play a game of baseball. Well, we go over the'ah. After the ball game wus over - those days whiskey wus in that country an' bein' wild, we thought we drink a little whiskey wit de boys after we win de game. We played with those boys an' they give us a real nice time. All right. So that night when we get back - we live in a little country town at that time out from Sewanee [Tennessee] - it wus a supper. It wus on a Saturday night. So we puts our horses up an' we go out to the supper. And one our niece's daughter's wus runnin' for a watch - a prize, and she says to me, she says, "Cousin Rob, '' she says, "give me somepin on mah prize." I says, "All right." When she got around to the other boy, Johnnie, she says, "Cousin Johnnie," she says, "give me somepin on mah prize." He says, "All right. He give a dollah, I give a dollah. At the main time, he says, "Alice, I don't feel good, like I'm gon'a live to see you wear it." And she wus for winnin' the prize that Sunday - takin' up a collection. The one who had the biggest collection won the prize. About ten minutes after he said that, he set down. Well, he gets dizzy head he said. All at onest he fell ovah. When he fell ovah, ever'body in the church, somepin like a church supper, they rally [really] had things to sell - well, I'm gettin' scared - thought perhaps - well, our people didn't know we drank whiskey and I thought perhaps he'd got too much whiskey, you know. Now, I'm scared now, and didn't want nobody know that we evah taken a drink. And all at onest - it wus an ole man there wus somepin like whut they call a two-head man, a witch, he comes up and he says, "Miss Howard," he says, "your boy's hurt." And another one of our aunt's boy had driv out there [to church supper] that night in a buggy. And this ole man say, "If you go to Tullahoma" - guess you heard of Tullahoma, Tennessee - "and get ole man Jack Cleveland and get him to come here and see your boy, 'cause he's hurt." He wus a fortune teller, this man who's tellin' it. And it wasn't anyone to go, and it just somepin came to me, said, "You go." I'd nevah been to Tullahoma, the dirt road, in mah life; but I'd been through there several times on the train. I knowed nothin' about the dirt road. And so mah cousin said, "There's the buggy and mare." He says, "If you drive 'er," he say, "and try to git there," he says, "you kill 'er, we got some mare." And I jis' gits in de buggy and - goes right out through de supper and gets in this buggy. And I drives as fur in de country as I knowed. When I got in this [unknown part of the] country somepin come to me, says, "Slackin' your line." I give this mare the line. She goes right straight to Tullahoma, three mile on de other side of Tullahoma, and walks up to this man gate and nickered. And when this mare nickered, this man come to the doah. Nevah seen 'im before in mah life. He called me directly by my name, told me directly before I got out whut wus the trouble. I came in the house. I'm scared after he told so much. He sent one of his girls to take the mare and put her up. He says, "Come in." I set down. I'm scared. He taken a silver dime, he filed this dime up into a glass of water, some of it, and he says, "Take a drink of it." I drank it, scared to not drink it, [being] young. I drinked that. He says, "Now," he says, "You've driv your mare purty hard," he says, "it over eighteen mile." He says, "In the morning we'll go." And he says, "Your nephew [cousin] is poisoned. He's poisoned about a girl, they tryin' to make him marry her, and the girl said he's not guilty of whut he's 'cused of. And he's poisoned in eggs." So it wus that next day, it wus Sunday. That wus Saturday night. We rest easy that night. Next morning we gets up and hitches up and we drive. When we git to our house, mah aunt's house, he say, "You go ahead and put your mare up. Well, when he step in de house - in those days we had those ole muzzle-loader shotguns, it wus up over a rack; but, he takes this gun off of the rack and gives. it to mah aunt, but tells her nothing. All right. He says, "De one that poisoned this boy, I'm gon'a bring him here so ever'body Will see 'im." And white people knowed de boy, and there wus several [white] people there to find out how he got, 'cause he's awful bad. By me drinkin' this silver killed de pains in him and ease him till he gits there. Well, after he did that, he calls this man [the poisoner's] name three times. This is true. This ole man name wus Sam H. [a white manl. He come runnin' down the big road, a lane, with his shoes off, barefooted, in his sock feet, and bare- headed and no coat on. He runs right up in de yard. He says, "Miss Howard," he says, "How is Johnnie?" And she says, "He's restin' purty well this morning, Mr. H." He turn around and he breaks right out up the lane just as - an' I reaches up after the gun and he pats me and says, "I taken kear of that." All right. He goes under our steps, but I don't know whut it wus. He taken out a little red sack about so long. In those days we'd saw a gum tree down and split it and make steps out of it. And he raises up that step and he takes it out. He takes this boy and put a tin tub under him, and he ask ever'body to come in de house. When they came in the house he taken a tin wash tub and set it by de bed. He retch over and he got this boy and he spoke in de Name of de Lord. He rubbed him in the back of his head and he commence throwing up. Jis' what he said that he wus poisoned on that night, he threw up - nothing but eggs clogged in him, eggs what would been cooked. He had ete those at this man's [Mr. H's] house. After he did that he laid back, laid back on the bed, and he rubbed him. And he says, "Now listen, ' he told 'em, ever'body, he says, "I don't put no spells on nobody," he says, "but I do mine in de Name of de Lord," he says, "but I don't know," he says, "he's got sich a holt on him," he says, "he may live five years, he may live ten." All right. He [the patient] gits up [well]. We ran together, we played ball a year or two together. One day him and I were at the woodpile cuttin' wood. This man [Mr. H.] came down de road - he'd been passing right by de house that they said poison him. He came down de road and this boy when he seen him coming, you never heard him cuss around before, he said, "Yonder comes that God damn bald-headed son-of-a-bitch" - commence to dancin', jis' dancin'. When this man gits to be even with him, he runs out and jis' splits his head wide open with this axe, killed him right there before anybody git a holt. And he jis' commence dancin' aroun', and says, "Oh, I told jah I'd git yah; I told jah I'd git yah." They caught him and sent him^to de 'sylum. He lived three days in de 'sylum. And before this child that he wus 'cused of being with this girl, before this child wus born, he [the conjurer] told directly who would be the father. And the girl never did 'cuse de boy of wrong. Her father and mother were bad black folk. He say, "When this girl bring this child it'll be a white-man child." He told de people's name. And it was true. He's a grown man today. He's livin' today.
Entry 1034
I had a - suffer with this myself. A lady went and got some - had a lizard and took the blood from this lizard and the boil of this lizard [the Water in which lizard was boiled] and took the boil of this lizard and mixed it with the blood.
(Mixed what with it?)
Of the boil - you see, had boiled the lizard low in hot water, and took the blood and put this in some whiskey and give to her by night - jes' like you was drinking liquor. And well, when she drink this liquor he took and had a lizard drin [drained into her] you might say. And she could feel somepin runnin' all through her head, jes' after taking a drink and well, when this would happen, she'd jes' get up and holler and she said somepin was runnin' all through her head. And this action was kept up for about - kept up for almost six months before they went to this - to my grand-daddy to see what was the matter with her. And so, well, they paid out a big doctor bill and the doctor couldn't - the more medicine they gave her, she just about go crazy. Well, he [qrand-daddy] told her what to do. He told her to actually take to go get a lizard and as many as she could and get the blood from those lizards and put some turpentine in and take some turpentine and salts - Epsom salts and drink this - actually drink it, and that stuff would run this out of her system. She actually done that and she got all right.
(She had to drink some of that lizard blood for that?)
She had to take that in order to get rid of it - to run it out of system.
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 1513
I've been hurt once [in 1912] by a woman. Well, I was poisoned in good fashion, I liked to die. I had Dr. A., a medical doctor, and his medicine went against me, it didn't do me no good. And the 'erbs that I kep home, which I keep some now, you boil them and then taken some and put on the whiskey in the bottle. I jis' plumb blin', jis' broke out all the way. And that's what got me my foot. And I - see, I keep that tea.
(What else do you do?)
Jis' roots and teas. Silkroots, blacksnake root and devil-shoestring root. You see, the first time you take de siZkroot - and you cut it a inch long and you steep dat in overnight water and put a cover over it. Well, it bitter, and it'll swell. You'll throw up ev'rything in you. De stuff come out of - green as you ever seen, as green as grass you ever seen. De devil-shoestring and the black- snake root you steep dem together and you drink that. Den, when I got so I could walk, I goes in the woods, take my hatchet. I gits some cherry bark, white oak bark and dogwood root, and bathed that - made a wash of this water, you know, and use it to wash with. And bathe right down, bathing that for nine mornings. And den, when you git ready to throw it away, you throw it to sunrise.
Entry 1529
I remember one time of a gentleman in our home taken violently sick and what was the ailment nobody knowed. They had the medical doctors to come to him and they seemed to do him no good - the medicine they gave him put him in a rage. So then they decided to go and get some root doctor and see if they could do any good. So at last one day they found a man named Doc F., who came to see this man how he was. And after getting there he walked into the room of this sick man and asked his wife, "How's his urine?" And she told him the best she knew how. So he asked her did she have a Canadian piece of money. She told him yes. So he asked her for a dime of Canadian money. She got it and gave it to him. And he compound this piece of Canadian money into dust, mixed it with whiskey and gin and vaseline, and gave it to this man to drink. He dranked it. He stayed with the man all night. And during the night he gave the man two doses of purgative medicine, and the next morning the man was under complusion to have a discharge; and after having this discharge, they found ground puppies, frogs and snakes, and everything of this kind in his urine pot. [Old Point Comfort, Va., (27), Ed.; Dinwiddie Co., Va.,1916.]
Entry 1659
[Whiskey is frequently fed to a protective hand or to a troublesome spirit.] Well, dey say if a person dies, if he die cruel to yo' or something lak dat, say his spirit will come back. Well, it comes den through a dream - co'se dey has rid me, it jes' as natch'r'l though as I'm lookin' at chew. Dey jumps right up on yo' an' dey ketch yo' an' when dey ketches yo', yo try to call but yo' can't call - yo' jes' [demonstrates] (gasp - gasp) jes' lak dat until he turn yo' loose.
(Trying to catch your breath?) [For a hag or spirit riding, see p.135f.]
That's right - until he turn yo' loose an' yo' kin hear 'im when he hit de floor. An' yo' kin hear 'im when he come in, but chew can't not see 'im.
(This is a spirit?)
That's right.
(Well, can't you keep them out of the house any way?)
Yo' take a new piece of lumber [see p.513f.] an' take yo' a lamp. First, yo' take that lumber, a new piece dat never been used, an' drive it right cross de do' an' set dat lamp about three and a half feet from it, an' he'll never walk in no more.
(What kind of a lamp?)
Jest a ordinary burning lamp, oil lamp.
(You keep that lamp lighted at night or?)
Jes' turn it low an' put dat piece of new lumber down dere an' yo' won't be bothered with him any more - unless you'd use it, take it up. (Did you ever hear of them catching one of those people? Sometimes they catch them.) Well, ah've heard they catch them in a sifter. Yo' takes a sifter an' when yo' put it over yore face, right up on yore breast lak that, or if it's a person dat have drunk whiskey - if he is a whiskey drinker, yo' takes a little whiskey yo' put right round in dat place, an' when he comes, he'll git in that an' yo'll ketch him an' when yo' ketch him, he's jes' a lump of jelly.
Entry 1942
They kin take this graveyard dirt, they kin take this camphah gum, with sulphah [three ingredients], an' they wear it in their pocket. Maybe they jis' dampen with whiskey an' stuff. An' jis' befo' you git to the white man you gon'a ax fer the job at, you take this stuff an' you rub all in your hand an' rub it ovah your face three times, an' you kin walk up to the man an' ax fer a job. He might deny you the first time he might, but the second time he can't deny you.
Entry 2097
[You use] High John the Conker roots, you use Little John the Conker and use Master of the [Something].
(What is the other one?)
Master of the Woods. And you use Solomon Root. And you put it together in some hot water and you put it in a jar and put a little Hearts Perfume and little whiskey in it - rye whiskey. And you sprinkle it on the outside of your house and that will keep 'em [police] away, but chew gotta say what chew want done.
[See margin-title King Solomon Root.]
Entry 2147
Just like in this precinct where there Capt. Barrett[?]. You gotta get the captain's name, you gotta get the lieutenant's name and you gotta get the Sergeant's name. You gotta get three names. You gotta write them names down, you see. And in your place of business if they come there, you put it right under your counter, you see. And you gotta add a little sugar to that three times a week. You see, that'll keep peace and keep 'em under control. But you gotta have their names. If you don't have their names, you can't do nothing. But you gotta have the head official names, not the police on the beat because he don't do nothing unless he's instructed to. But the head officials s they gotta have. I had that place there and everybody's there and everybody is paying $10 a week, but I was running the place myself and I say, "Well, I'm not running this for no dago [Italian], I can't afford to pay." They tell me, "Well, we know you's all right - go ahead and do the best you can." Well, I run that three years and they tore the place down. Got trapped all right, but got trapped by the Prohibition people not by the police. Not me. People worked there. I did excellent business down there, but I was good with the precinct.
(When you pass up, you handed this money over to the police?)
Well, you supposed to give the police ten dollars a week. Everybody else was doing it. But I was giving them $20 a month. See, I wasn't giving them no $10 a week, because I was running it myself - couldn't afford it. I was making money all right but you don't have to let them know that. They used to come by there and get quarts of whiskey, you know, for nothing and I used to treat them some kind of way. Well, they give me a break. Got raided there once. That was by the Prohibition department. Well, I couldn't do nothing with them.
(They wouldn't take anything?)
Well, if I'd a been there - you see, I know the under cover agent, you see, but the guy who was working [for me] supposed to know him and didn't know him, and he come in and he sold him liquor. See. Well, after they got the counts on him they raided place, but they didn't take me - they'd taken him. Well, I had another boy in the place. I was renting him and letting him stay there and he took sick and they took care of him in the hospital, and after he had them Prohi- bition spotters come around the place, and I told him, I say, "I don't want these fellows coming around my place." Cause he had dogs and as a matter of fact they wanted him training the dogs, see. Well, I made him move. He goes on to the post office and told Mr. Lazell[?] that the place wasn't [what it was supposed to be]. See. Well, I used to work over at the office for Mr. Lazell.
(Who were you working for when you did this?)
Wm. J. Burns - Judge Barnes' Detective Agency.
Entry 2189
I have hear tell of 'em usin' onions wit nine pins in 'em - stickpins. Well, yo' take a red onion an' yo' bo' yo' a hole all de way through de onion in de middle part of it, an' yo' put a string in dere an' yo' tie dat string around your neck an' let it hang somewheres roun' yore waist an' put nine stickpins in it, an' yo' jes' wear dat roun' dere until it git to de place yo' know, dat it dries up, an' yo' have to rechange it. But when yo' rechange it, conceal it wit de same nine pins dat yo' put in it at first, whether it be de same onion or not; but which an' evah it gits so small an' dryin' up on yo', gitin' hard, yo' take de nine pins out whut yo' put in de first an' put in de second one. Continue wit dat - keep it dataway. But soon as one dry up, why exchange wit anothah one.
(What will that do for you?)
That's supposed to be luck fo' selling whiskey. [Stickpins are not ornamental pins but ordinary pins; likewise straight pin in following rite.]
Entry 2504
Take dat graveyard dirt - take some and divide into each one, see, and git you some salt. Some of de graveyard dirt into each one of de shells.
(Of these shells?)
Yes, dey done already shot, you see. And you take another shell and git some of de gunpowder and put - divide it and put some in each one of those shells. And then you take a needle and stick it in each one - stand de needle up in dere like you goin' sew some cloths, but jest right on de tip. And put dat stuff in dere round and pack in around dere tight - jest like you fixing de shot in de shell, see. And then you take that and put one under your front step, and then you turn around and put one under the back step, you see. And if you got any side windahs or anything like that, chew kin jest take and put one at de main windah where you always keeps open, you see. [Three shells.] When de revenuer comes he'll come round to everybody house but chores, and people wonder how come he won't stop to yores - and you selling whiskey in dere, too. But he jest won't have no spirit to come towards that house. He figure there won't be nothing there, when the revenuer comes there. Never won't have no spirit. Co'se ev'ry- body don't know that, you see - don't know everybody telling that. See, if I tell a person that, I want some money fer telling that.
Entry 2690
Dat good to make a linament out of it - anything of garlic lak dat. Git six red onions an' she kin boil all dat up some day when dere ain't nobody dere, an' git a bunch of cedar [branches] an' mop yore flo's wit it; keep it secret yo' know from anybody. Mop up flo's an' dat's luck - make her have hustlin' luck - customers, anything she wants - sellin' whiskey or anything.
(Now what would she boil up together, you say?)
Cedar, garlic - one dose little burr of garlic, an' git a nickel worth of red onion an' jes' chop it up, an' chamber lye - git a whole quart of chamber lye. Mop dat flo' wit it. Don't mop outside an' don't sweep de dirt out de room out- side - take it up on a dustpan an' burn on de flo'. Always go backwards wit de mop. Don't mop out. Yo' know a lotta people mop out. Dat's yore luck goin' outdo's - mop back.
Entry 9401
Take a aig an' den she'll punch a knothole [large hole] right in de centah [of large end] an' den she'll git [a hole] in de small end yo' know. An' den she'll put on each side [3 sides of the width of the egg] three rings: [and write] de Fathah. Son an' Holy Ghost [one in each ring]. An' when yo' put dat dere, den yo' punch a least li'le hole in de centah of it, in dat top [top shell of ring, making 5 holes = 5 nail wounds in egg!] yo' know. Yo' take de spoon whut chew cook bread wit an' yo'll dig it up jis' so it's a spoon yo' uses in yore dinin'room or kitchen. An' yo'll dig a li'le small li'le hole wit dat spoon, an' throw de dirt out jis' lak if yo' puttin' it out as a grave or anythin' else. Yo' dig a li'le hole. An' yo'll set dat li'le aig [in the hole] an' set it straight up. Den yo' take some gun- powdahs an' whiskey an' sulphuh. Yo' know, gunpowdah an' whiskey an' sulphuh. An' den yo'll work dem thin's tuhgethah, in dat whiskey. An' den yo' work some in dat aig, an' jis' keep a-stirrin' lak dat, an' put it in de aig an' keep a- stirrin' it lak dat. An' yo' set dat aig down [in the hole]. Yo' bury dat aig but yo' bury it undah de back part of yore house [remember, houses in the low- lands are raised aboveground], an' yo'll set it up dere an' kivah [cover] it ovah. But now, yo' don't kivah it deep an' yo' don' bury it deep, but yo' bury it in a way dat chew know nuthin won' harm it, yo' know. An' yo'll call de man or de woman, whosomevah it is, three times, an' tell 'em whut chew want. An' yo' put dat aig down dere. She gotta shore [sure] stay in mah house, she ain't goin' no place.
(That is going to keep the man or woman home? Keep them from running around?)
Yeah, dey'll stay at home, yo' See DEY FOLLOWIN' DAT SPIRIT. [What spirit? Surely the spirit in the victim's name called 3 times to equal the threefold spirit of the Godhead.] [For another one of these rare center-of-circle rites, See SALT section, v.5., margin title beginning CENTER OF PLATE...] [The "5 WOUNDs of the margin title are not mentioned in the text, the reason why they are enclosed in a bracket. From where do the "5 wounds come? Notice that the egg has 3 circles, each circle having a hole in its center. Consequently the egg has 3 holes from the 3 circles. Add to these 2 holes, one at each end of the egg Therefore the egg has 5 holes or symbolically 5 wounds from the Cross.]
Entry 11256
Now dis was a hurt. An' she was taken sick with her stomach and her stoach swole up, and we had a medicine doctor at first, and he didn't seem to do her no good, and she stayed sick about three months. My mother, she - another old lady, you know, come dere, and told her, "Ah know a lady could do your girl good." And she asked her who it was and she told her, a lady named Mary Groom [or] Grun. (What was the name?) Mary Groom. (Here in Newport?) No, in North Ca'lina. (Oh, you are from North Carolina.) Uh-huh. (Where did this happen in North Carolina, what town?) In Tarville. (Oh, in Tarville.) [If Tarville still exists, it dows not have a post- office. There is a Tar Heel in the Dennison ZIP CODE DIRECTORY, copyright 1968.] And she went and got de old lady and she come dere and she examined de girl, my sister. And she went on dere and she seed, you know, what was de matter with her. And she told my mother, says somebody had hurt her. She said she been desired by a boy and de boy was going with another girl, and de girl give de boy some whiskey and told de boy to give it to my sister. Well my sister had taken de whiskey and she drank it, dranken de whiskey. Well, ever what it was dat was in de whiskey, got all in her flesh and she lay in de bed. And de doc- tor [M.D.] say her eyes was bad and [they] bought her glasses and [he] did every- thing, you know, he could for us. De old lady told my pappa, she says, "You give me $25 and I will cure dis girl." He went and got de $25 and give de lady and she went to work. And she went in de woods and got some roots, dug 'em up. And she told we all 'twas King of de World, and told him [father] to get a half pint of whiskey and break it [roots] up in dat whiskey. It was jes' about lak dat stem dataway, about like dis - about dat size [demonstrates].
(About a quarter of an inch thick.)
Uh-huh and he broken it up in little pieces about like dis and put it in de whiskey, and taken de whiskey, a small whiskey glass, and give her a whiskey glassful every morning. Well, [after] she been given dat, you could see dese things jes' runnin' all up an' down her flesh. An' yo' could take a pin an' stick in her, right down in her, an' she wouldn't flinch - jes' like she was dead. An' she lie dere den a long time. Ah'm goin' tell how it was, good or bad. I am goin' to tell yo' all of it.
(Oh, yes, tell me the whole thing - anything you want to say - go the limit.)
An' she'd taken it an' about Thanksgiving morning de lady come back again an' ask how she feels. She told her she was not feelin' so good. She tell her, "Well you keep atakin' dat medicine." She says, "What's in you goin' come out." She tell mamma, "Don't you let [her] go to no lavatory. You let [her] use de pot." And she let her use de pot and she use de pot and she would vomit. She would vomit things jes' like maggots. De lady told her it was maggots. Dat's what she told her. She told her dere was nests of 'em an' she was goin' to get dat out of her, too. And after while one morning she got up to de pot, and she use, and she come to straining and straining, jes' astraining. And she got up an' she take de stuff back out - de girl couldn't [could scarcely] carry de pot out [of the house]. Well, all of us got excited you know soon as she told us what was in dere. Well she'd taken de pot and carried it out and in it was a piece of white stuff, sompin like a piece of fat meat. An' my mother says before ah put my hand on it ah should pour it [piece of fat meat] on de ground, an' clean it with water an' wash it off an' take it up, an' you know, give it to de lady. She, we [went] along, an' poured it out and [the liquid] sank in de eart', it went down in it - in de eart'. After dat come out of her, well she got up den and could walk around. She couldn't even walk with it [before]. And she got well and now weighs about 200 pounds.
(She actually got well.)
Certainly she got well and she really was dat way. [510:1.] Well, ah tell you about my spell. It was about two years ago. Ah went to a party, a girl's, and de [they] passed wine, and she give me de wine an' ah drank it. Ah went back home and ah was taken sick an' ah stayed sick about three months, wasn't able to do nothing. Doctor [M.D.] was 'tendin' me every day and everything. Seemed like everything he give me was against me. Ah'd get worse and worse. He tole me to go to de hospital and ah wouldn't decide to go to de hospital because ah didn't believe ah was naturally sick. And ah stayed roun' home and stayed, and everybody told me, said, "Lady, you ought to go to de hos- pital and be operated on. Maybe you got 'pendicitis.' Ah said, "No, ah don't believe ah got no 'pendicitis." Well, ah worried and worried and worried and worried [these 4 worrieds are Shakespearian!]. And ah was staying with a lady named - de same lady we was talking about - and she says, "Mary, ah wish you'd go to de hospital." Ah said, "No, Jiss Jenkins ah'm goin' try another doctor." And ah said, "My sister was sick one time and we had a medicine doctor and he didn't do her no good." Ah said, "Now it seems ah got somepin someone want me to have" [someone had put a spell on her]. She said, "Oh no, maybe not de same thing. Maybe you got 'pendicitis." Ah said, "No I ain't." Well, ah got me some money, and wrote home to my people to send me some money, and ah took it to a ole lady named - ah forget her name, but she stayed dere - ah forget where she stayed [here in Newport News] but she is not here now. And she gave me - de woman got some [herb called] "lone worker" [my only example of this root!]. Well, it grows in de wood, a little low bush, and she dug it up and made me some medicine out of it. And I'd taken dat. I'd taken it for awhile and she [told] me to get me a silver dime and a file and grate dat dime, and take it [gratings] in a pint of sweet milk. And after I'd taken it, to get me some Red Cloud peas [Red Cloud a brand name?] and get me some [kind of] poultice. It [poultice] come in a little flat can box about dat high [demonstrates]. You buy it in de drug store - 18c. And I'd got dat and taken dat and taken de other medicine too. Well, when I'd taken de dime, I could feel, you know, sompin jes' going backwards and forwards, all jes' in me. And she told me, you jes' keep on takin' it and wait awhile and nature will take care of it. Ah think [to] myself. "Dat old lady don't know what she doin'. She can't cure nobody. Ah'm jes' goin' to die anyhow." When she come back to see me, she told me what I sayed about her. She said, "You don't think I'm going to cure you, do you?" Ah said, "Ah don't kow, don't seem like to me dat it done me any good." (What did she say to you then, when you told her that you didn't believe in her?) She tell me, "You don't believe me because de medicine is so slow; but what's in you, you have to go slow to get it out of you. I've had to go slow." Ah said, "I want to get well right away." She say, "Well it be sometime before you get well, 'cause you got some poison, in some whiskey or wine it was." Ah said, "Ah haven't got no wine." She said, "Did you go to a party on Wash Avenue?" Ah said, "Yeah, ah certainly did." She said, "Didn't somebody look in de Wardrobe and get you some wine?" Ah said, "Yeah, dat's what dey did." Well, I know she vasn't dere. She didn't know nobody or didn't see nobody to tell her. [There are many examples in HooDOO of doctors who kept their ears to the ground for all news floating about in the air.] Ah say, "Yeah dey did." [She said] "Dat's when you got dis poison in you. It's gona kill you if it don't come outa you, " she said, "but you don't believe in dat." She said, "Ah'm goin' to tell you somepin. You can't get up, can you?" Ah told her no, ah couldn't. Ah thought ah could. Well, she told me to get up. Ah got up and went in de dining room and got me some water and come back in de bed. She said, "Jes' like you got up, jis' like something goin' come out of you." Ah said, "Dere ain't nothin' in me. She said, "What's dat moving in yuh?" Ah said, "Ah don't know." She said, "Thursday morning you get up and get de pot and use it, and don't you look in de pot. Get someone else to look because it may scare you." Well, you know, ah wanta see anything come out of me myself so ah knows. And ah looked in de pot and dere was a frog in dere. Looked like a frog. And she told me it was a frog, and a scorpion about dat long with a red head to it. She got dat out me. But ah know dat somepin can be done to people. Dat was about three years ago [1934].
Entry 11635
Pound up a fish head, dry to powder, mix with salt, give in whiskey to a person; creates a live fish in him. [Washington, D. C., 625:5.]
Entry 6679
Ah know a girl dat wuz caught in some whiskey somehow or 'nothah. She ruz a frien' girl of mine, she stayed down heah. She wuz goin' wit a woman's husban' an' she [wife] didn't wan' 'im tuh go wit 'er. An' she [friend] drunk a lotta whiskey. An' so dis woman [wife], de way dis woman did tuh git dis snake in 'er - it wuz a li'le bit of snake jis' about lak a fishin' worm, an' she wuz poisoned wit it. She got dis snake inside a [of] dis girl. So dis girl commence tuh fallin' off. She commenced tuh gittin' po' an' it look lak dis snake would come right up tuh 'er [throat], come chokin' 'er or somepin lak dat. She couldn't eat nuthin; she pouldn't have no appetite or nuthin. So dey cared [carried] 'er tuh doctors an' de doctors couldn't do anythin' tuh [for] her. An' ah tole 'er, ah says, "Why don't chew go tuh dis root doctah in Orangeburg [S. Car.]? Prob'ly be might know whut tuh do." She said, "All right, ah'll go. Ah'll git mah mothah tuh take me." SHE HAD DONE FELL OFF TILL SHE WEIGHED ABOUT 80 OR 90 POUNDS - JES' NUTHIN BUT SHITCH. So she [mother] said, "Could ah [you] git someone tuh take mah daughtah up dere?" [She] said, "Ah'll pay yo' fo' gittin' 'im an' den ah'll pay 'im. Cos' dat's de only chile ah got an' ah'm crazy 'bout 'er an' ah jis' didn't want nuthin tuh happen tuh 'er." ". [She] say, "Ah believe [they] done somepin tuh 'er." So, well, we went attah [after] dis man, went on up dere. Dis man [owner?] said anybody could come in de house dat wan' tuh. So we went on in dis house an' dis man [doctor] wuz up dere [upstairs?]. He [doctor] tole us - de firs' thin' we set down. He went in dere an' he fixed up a hot - some hot boilin' watah, jis as hot as she [patient] could [stand it]. Said, "Pull down 'er [your] dress an' set ovah it." He said, "Yo' sit down on it." An' she set down on dis chambah of watah. An' he said, "Jis' set right dere till ah call yo'." An' he gone in de front. An' dis girl set down on dis chambah of hot steamin' watah, an' it wuz somepin she had in dis watah - she set on dis chambah of steamin' watah, she stayed in dere fo' fifteen or twenty minutes. An' he tole 'er. said, "Now. when yo' git up off dis watah, dere's goin' be a snake in dis chambah of watah." Says, "Don' be scared, don' git frightened."
Entry 580
I remember when the town [Hampton, Virginia] first went dry and they didn't allow any bootlegging, so they said, and two or three people got caught with their whiskey and a stiff fine was put upon them. So thereafter there came a man from Newport News [Virginia] to Hampton, going from one place to another, saying he could prevent the law from coming to my house and that I could go and sell all the whiskey I wanted to and the law could not bother me. So I took it in my charge that I would try him. I had taken in my house fifty gallons of liquor and I began to distribute it from one place to the other. Sometimes I would look out and see the law coming and was wondering whether or not they were coming to my house. I can say with a clear conscience that the day I saw the man and paid him one hundred and fifty-three dollars and fifty-three cents for this instrument, and I can say and witness the fact, that the law has never been to my house since that occasion. He gave me an instrument and told me to hang it by my stove and leave it stay there, and whensoever I saw the law coming, to take it down and put it on the table and the law would turn around and go back. It kin'a resembled a hog bladder or something of that sort. When the law was coming in your direction, this instrument would puff out, and you could always look out your casement and see the law; and then you would take it down and put it on the table, and the law would turn around and go back. Then this bag would come down to its normal size.
Entry 747
Dey comin' roun' yore home all de time an' yo' can't keep 'em 'way from dere, yo' go out in de woods an' git chew some John de Conker, which an' dat's black snakeroot. An' yo' git chew halfa pint of whiskey an' yo' take dat whiskey an' den put it in dem roots an' steep it. Po' it back in de bottle an' let it set two days. An' after it set ovah two days den yo' po' it out. Yo' strain it an' when yo' po' it out it will be brown - see, white whiskey [moonshine] will turn it brown jes' de same as charred [legal] whiskey [usually called brown ar red whiskey]. An' when dat party's comin' to yore house agin, offer him a drink an' if dey drink dat whiskey why dey ain't coming back no mo'.
(Is John the Conqueror root the same as this black snakeroot?)
Yassuh - it's de same thing. [This is informant's own identification.]
Entry 818
[Power for good or evil comes from many sources - actually, from one's desire or intention:] Well, it wus a little woman, her husband died an' leave two chil'run, a settle woman, light [complexion], an' it wus a bright-skin man, a settle man. He wus much older then she wus dough [though]. He wus single. He had liked this woman, had loved her an' wanted to marry this woman. An' another woman had love him, see, but he didn't care nuttin fer her. Well, he would buy her ev'ry kin' of thing ev'ry kin' of - nice things you know to bring this woman. He carries her candy, milk, ham an' all kin' of things to bring this woman, but she never would eat it when he'd bring it. She would take it out an' bury it. She wouldn't eat it. An' he kep' bringin' her some of his - he'd bring cloth an' all like dat. Well, she wouldn't use it. So he - fin'lly he couldn't git her that way, he came to see her one day, an' fin'lly he wed her anyhow by chewin' some chewin-gum, somepin like chewin'-gum, an' she inhaled it, choo know.
(What did he put on that?)
I don't know, sir, whut he put on it. An' he would use a white han'kerchif - you see, throw it aroun' like this [demonstrates], zhoo know, whenever he'd come to see her. [The Waving or manipulating of a white perfumed handkerchief appears to have been a fad at one time.] He'd throw it aroun' an' fin'lly she jis' went crazy about him, you see, an' she married dis man. But de other woman had loved 'im an' this other woman wus jealous of her an' this man. An' one day she came to her house an' the way she came she had to come through the back doah, an' she [wife] wus in de house. As she came along she drop some dirt down by de table.
(What sort of dirt did she drop?)
Some kin' of grey-lookin' san'" - where she always stan', you know, washin' dishes. An' she said, "Hey." She didn't hear her because she wus in de house. This wus in de country. She didn't hear her because she was inside de house. She said, "Where are you?" She said, "Here I am." She said, "I thought you ought to be standin' here washin' dishes." She say, "No, here I am in de house today." She she went in an' done dropped dis in there in the kitchen as she was passin'. An' they went on in there wit de talkin'. She said, "Well, now, Louise, I got'a get up an' fix dinnah, '' she say, "he'll be here directly for his dinnah." An' she went on back in the kitchen, went to stirrin' aroun' the table, you know, built a fire in de stove an' messin' aroun' de table an' things like that. An' all at once a pain struck her in the bottom of her foot an' then her foot went right on up to her stomach an' her stomach began to hurt an' she said, "oh," she said, "you know my feet hurt!" An' the other woman said, "Yes?" She said, "Whut's de matter with you?" She say, I don't know." She had jes' stepped on this san' an' it went all on de bottom of her foot, but she didn't see it, you see, an' this woman knowed she had put it there. An' she say, "You know, I got a pain down in this toe." It looked like it would come in spells, you know. It would lay off awhile an' come back again. An' she kep' on like that, didn't pay it no min', didn't thought it 'mount to nuthin. Fin'lly the woman kep' on worryin' her - this other woman went on back home. An' she got bad off, real sick, an' they called de doctor an' tried ev'rything they could an' didn't seem to do her no good. An' one woman come there, she say, "You know one thing, I believe you's hurt." She said, "You reckon?" She said, "Yeh, I believe you's hurt." She said, "Well, I don't know how it works but I seen people hurt an' dat's de way it worked - come in spells like dat." An' sure enough, she say that why she couldn't make a pass - couldn't have a action. An' so she tole her about a root man. They took her in de buggy an' carried her - I don't know where he lived - an' this man fixed her up. She said the man said, "This a simple thing." He worked through the spirit, with the Lord, you know. He reads the Bible an' all. Before time she walked in the house he could tell her - he commence to tellin' her whut she come for an' tell her she wus hurt. An' he gave her some plain aloes - this bitter medicine, this black aloes with whiskey on it an' tell her take a teaspoonful of that ev'ry four hour. An' he give her a box of sulphur an' tell her take a pinch of that sulphur whenever she take this aloes. So she did that an' fin'lly she begin to have a action an' you know her bowels begin to hurt an' she pass. A snake come from her. The snake had a head on both end. Den a scorpren [scorpion] at de next time. Well, she said she continued takin' that. After that passed she begin to get all right. She had to pay fifty-five dollah.
Entry 842
Mah own experience. Yo' see, me an' mah wife isn't tugethah now, cause dere wus anothah man. Ah used tuh sell whiskey an' quite natch'ly if yo' sell whiskey yo'll have plenty friends comin' in. He wus a railroad man an' he come dere an' he telled her dat he could do mo' fo' her den ah could. Well, natch'ly, he wus a friend of mine - after he were comin' dere, natch'ly ah had to take him as a friend cause he spent his money dere an' drink his whiskey. He git drunk, ah'd take ca' of 'im from de officers till he git ready tuh go home. He is a man supposed to have been a root doctor. He fixed up a medicine after he git in touch wit mah wife an'dey went tuh lovin' each othah, goin'on, an den dey couldn't git 'long so good, dey wanta git rid of me. Understand. Dey fixed up dis medicine, so dis man [a root doctor I went to] tole me - de doctor tole me, dis othah root doctor tole me dat it wus rattlesnake, de dust of a rattlesnake. It wus boiled into dis tea - de natural tea whut we drink ever' day, an' broom sage [broom sedge], dis grass; broom sage boiled with pokeroot, boiled in a halfa gallon of watah down to a quart [magic of diminishing amount]. After dat, he put it in a bottle till it become to be three days old, den see he give it to my wife tuh give tuh me. Ah were drinkin' dat. If ah come home so sick or tired until ah hardly could walk, she would give me dis medicine befo' ah eat. Ah got tuh de place so dat when ah set down lak long as ah wus [have been] settin' heah [with you], ah would have tuh git up, cause mah whole body would a'been dead - jes' lak yo' know sometime yore han' go tuh sleep, yo' know. Mah whole body would go tuh sleep. An' ah got tuh de place dat ah could not stand to talk to no woman atall - ah didn't have nutin to do wit her or no othah woman. Only one sister an' mah own father, dat's all ah got; an' ah hated dem, ah didn't go by dem. Ah wus dyin'. Ah got to de place ah couldn't work - ah lost a job - mah job. Ah used tuh run a pawn shop - ah lost a job in dere cause ah couldn't make de [pawn tickets, he probably Was going to say]. [He evidently was moon- lighting - working in pawn shop by day and selling bootleg whiskey by night.] Mah sister come an' hunt me one day an' tole me, said, "Lance, yo' oughta do somepin - where yo' sense? Dere somepin wrong wit yo' - yo' nevah been dis way." Ah said, "Well, dere's nutin fo' me tuh do - ah don't want anythin'." She said, "Well, all right, ah'm goin' see 'bout chew mahself." Says, "Dey ain't but two of us left." She goes to dis man an' tell dis man. Dis man come an' tole me, says, "Now, yo' go back home" - ah didn't have tuh tell 'im anythin', said, "an' if yo' go back home an' open yore trunk, look right down in de back of yore collar. Yore white shirt ironed an' pressed an' lay down dere, yo' ain't wearin' it. Dis lady done fold it nice an' it layin' down - de collar right stiff. Look in de bottom of dat an' yo'll find a little package containin' - about dat long - containin' three brand-new wire nails, flathead wire nails, wit de hairpins, three of 'em, an' a little pinch of salt an' eggshell, jes' tied up togethah in dis package, layin' undah a black comb of yore hair [= hair comb] whut yo' use." Say, "Yo' kin hunt fo' it."
(Under the comb?)
De comb - layin' undah de comb. De comb 'bout dat long, see. Dey wus layin' right up an' down de comb an' de comb wus on top an' it wus layin' right up an' down in de back of mah shirt. An' ah went on back home an' ah found it. He said, "Now, when yo' find dat, yo' bring it to me." Ah car'ed it back to him an' he took de package an' opened it an' showed me whut wus in it - see. Den he says, "Ahm goin' tuh keep dis. Now, whenevah she meet wit dis man agin, yo'll see 'em - yo'll be right dere an' see 'em." Ah says, "All right." He said, "But don't hurt either one of dem. Dey'll hurt deyselfs. [This is a device to protect the doctor in case of a shooting or serious disturbance. He also kept the instrument of cunjuration, the package, for the same reason.] So he fixed de comb - he took de comb an' fixed de comb. Dis man [loving informant's wife] went on out on his work to de railroad. An' he [root doctor] says, "In from three tuh nine days, he won't do her no good." So he went on out an' he got his laig cut off up to his thigh. Well, he lived around three weeks an' shortly aftah dat he died. But ah didn't tell him to do dat, but dat's whut he did with it. She's out dere in de world some place now - but me an' her's not togethah. Now, dat whut happened to me.
(Well, who told you about the snake dust thing. Who told you about that?)
De root doctor.
(What did he say?)
How dis othah man had fixed it? Dis othah man fixed it - he cut de snake - killed de rattlesnake an' cut de head off an' parched it till it come tuh be a dust like. Den he put it in dere, see, an' mix it wit dis broom sage.
(But who had fixed this comb and stuff?)
Mah wife an' him.
Entry 932
Now, dere's a girl down on de street where ah live at now, she wus fixed up heah summer 'fore last an' she ain't straightened out yet. An' we carried her to a man. An' de way she got hers, it wus a girl give her some aigs - dey said dey wus lil' snake aigs in some whiskey. An' de snake aigs bust in her body dere an' yo' see dem snakes create. An' at one a'clock, de time dat she got dat stuff - any day at one a'clock - yo' see dem snakes runnin' in her veins.
(You say these eggs busted some place?)
De lil' aigs - when she drunk 'em, yo' see de whiskey cooked dem-in de person in whut dey develop an' it made lil' snakes.
(Oh, they developed into little snakes.)
Yes.
(And she hasn't been cured yet?)
No - she's gittin' it outa her but she ain't got [cured yet].
Entry 1361
Had a corncob dressed and put in mah flower yard an' mah sister stepped on it - right in de hollow of de foot she stepped on it. And shortly after she stepped offa dat cob, de corncob, she got where she couldn't walk. An' after that it went all over her an' hit turned her eyes - her eyeballs were sharp as de end of yore fingernails. We had fo' doctors tuh her - couldn't either one of de doctors do her any good. Well, my brother went fo' miles from there and found a hoodoo and brought tuh her, and he'd taken some John de Conker and some whiskey and put in a quart bottle and gived tuh her to drink and to bath her knee with, and that's de only thing that cured her.
(Where did this happen?)
Thomasville, Ala.
Entry 1418
Now, ah have got de perfume weed mahself - it's home. Yeah, it's a vine grows in de woods lak dat [demonstrates]. Yo' pick it [a leaf] off at de [growing] end. De leaf on it is jis' lak a heart, yo' see. Now, ah want show yo' dis. Yes, heah 'tis in mah pocket. Ah stick it in dis pocket. Dis is a sanitary pocket han'scuff. See. An' dis pocket han'scuff is got dat perfume odor on it, don't chew see.
[Evidently I did not ask to smell it.]
(This perfume weed?) [For its possible identity, see later.]
Yeah - de vine. Well, ah carry dis, don't chew know jis' all de time. But it's must be a sanitary piece dat's not used at all - it's gota be used on me, yo' see.
(Why do you carry that?)
That keeps anyone from harmin' yo'. Dat's whut chew ast me, don't yo' see.
(Has this perfume weed any other name?)
Yeah. It's jes' call perfume weed, but yo' dress it yoreself, yo' see.
(How do you take the perfume out of that weed?)
Well, listen, it already smells sweet when yo' go an: dig it an' de little leaf is made, it jis' grows lak de shape of a heart. Yo' git that yoreself. Yo' know it grows kinda long.
(On the ground?)
Yeah, an' yo' git that an' dress that yoreself. Yo' dress that wit whiskey an'perfume.
(How do you dress it? What do you do with this weed?)
De roots, put 'em into a quart bottle - jis' as big a bottle as yo' want, if yo've got that much yo' see. An' see yo' po' jis' perfume, but de root always smells nice befo' yo' put it in dere. It smells lak perfume itself. An' yo' put whiskey an' half perfume an' jis' put dose roots - put jis as many roots in that bottle as yo' want, an' fo' two years, or twelve years it'll be jis' lak yo' fixed it there. Now, that's when yo' dressin' it.
(You just use that on your handkerchief?)
Yeah. [His perfume weed could be the heartleaf (see Index), common name for several American species of Asarum, all having aromatic roots; informant's root possibly being A. canadense, used as an aromatic bitter and flavoring agent.]
Entry 1433
She got holt of a thing - some kind of a snake got in her - de rattle- snake, de rattles of a snake. An' when she drink de watah from it she went blind an' she sent fo' mah mothah an' mah mothah had tuh go to her. She went an' she went an' she carried her fifteen miles from Danville, Virginia, to [somewhere] Virginia, to a man. Den he went out an' got a rattlesnake an' put him in a bottle, put him in dis thing alive an' po' s whiskey on him. See, dat cooked him an' den dey taken de whiskey an' fed mah aunty on it fo' nine days - give her nine drops, give her nine drops fo' three times a day fo' nine days, an' de ninth day she come back to her sight. An' some of these bells [buttons or rattles] wus undah her do'step an' some wus found in de spring. Dis man found 'em afterwards[!!!]. Her sight come back to her. She got well. [This is a remarkable example of like cures like (see p.394); it is also an original and brilliant piece of therapeutic thinking by a master of his craft!l (Now, what did they do with these drops? Did she drink them or put them on her eyes or what?) She drink them, she drink nine drops fo' nine days.
(Who was this?)
This mah aunty.
(And what was the name of the town?)
Danville, Virginia.
Entry 1511
[These three names are for the same plant.]
I went up in the country an - with mah mother, an' mah husband stayed at home. But it's mah home dat he stayin'. An' of co'se he wus goin' with another woman an' he had her in mah room. An' so when I come back I went to bed. An' she had put somepin in mah mattress for me. An' so I went to the medical doctor an' he told mah mother that I better see a 'erb doctor. [Evidently she explained to medical doctor that she had been tricked and he advised the mother to find a herb doctor. I found this sort of advice several times - see Index and Introduction.] He [the 'erb doctor] come to me an' he said I wus hurt, an' he told me to take ev'rything off of mah bed an' scal' [scald] mah bed off an' look in the mattress. An' I looked in the mattress. An' he had a piece in it jis' about that long - a little bag with a whole lot of little stuff in it. An' so he made me some teas. An' there was silkweed, an' whiskey, an' High John the Conker an' Low John - an' made me a tea of it. An' I took that three times a day. Then I took a bottle of three S's [SSS]. An' that's whut cured me.
Entry 1705
A wood rat. You can take that rat's skin and dry it and make him eat it and that'll stop him from wetting the bed. [The more usual folklore remedy is eating a mouse prepared many ways (Nos. 6308-6309); similar cures being a head louse eaten (No. 6306), or drinking tea from "white droppings of a dog" (No. 6302) - FACI,2ed., 1965, p.289.] [New Orleans, La., (855), 1352:6.] [What is a hand? A hand is a magic helper, an object or act, which aids a person in obtaining a desire. Aladdin's lamp was not a hand because anyone could rub it to activate the indwelling spirit. Quite otherwise a hand concerns known user - it being dressed, powered for him alone, usually toward a single purpose.] [We have already examined many hands: the Black Cat Lucky Bone (pp.74-97); healing hands in Cure and Protection (pp.4lO-519); divining hands in Diagnosis (pp.165-217), particularly the talking hand, Jack (pp.190-193). Talking hand reminds me that hand has other names, among them - toby, guide, shield, roots, mojo, jomo (transposition of syllables in mojo), and hoodoo bag.] [Of interest are what I name battery hands - those that lose strength and must be recharged or they weaken and die. Recharging is called feeding and substances fed are whiskey, perfumes, urine and other liquids. Spirits do not eat solid food. A spirit of course never dies; it merely deserts its temporary dwelling place. Similarly, desertion happens to a lost hand - some informants believing the hand returns to its maker!] [A hand can become a fetish, even a part of oneself. Most instructive here are living hands - the unfortunate chicken (No. 205, p.58), and the two wandering snakes (No. 239, p.66.]
Entry 1709
Yo' carries lodestone or yo' carries garlic in a bag - yo' sews that up in a little bag. Git chew a piece of garlic an' git chew some lodestone an' some of dis anvil dust an' a little sugah in there, an' yo' jis' sew that up together in dat little red cloth an' yo' keep it in yore pocket an' yo' po' whiskey on it, an' when yo' goin' in why yo' rubs that in yore han' an' keep it in yore pocket where yo' kin git chure han' on it.
(That's for luck in gambling?)
Sho'. [Lodestone = drawing power, forcing anything (money here) toward you; garlic = protection against evil, specifically, against anyone in the game trying to kill your gambling hand (see margin-titles Salt and Sex later for killing a hand); anvil dust = durability, strength, and ability to attract anything toward user; Sugar = peace, here the sweetening of competitive and sometimes combative dis- positions round you; red = symbol of life within and a warning against intruders; po' whiskey = feeding a hand, technical term for maintaining its life; whiskey = the spirit within the hand likes whiskey (see No. 77, p.32; No. 411, p.122, and Index); rubs = rubbing Aladdin's lamp, which signals the spirit within the hand to act.]
Entry 1842
Dis whiskey an' sugah - fo' a man if he's runnin' round. Yo' cut dat yellah domestic - ah mention dat, an' yo' cut chew a little man out. Dat's right in de shape of a little man an' put it in dat bottle.
(What bottle?)
In de bottle whut chew put dat whiskey in, yore whiskey an' yore chamber lye an' de sugah. An' take dat an' set it back, if yo' want him tuh stay dere; an' set it in a cloth in a corner, jes' let it set down jes' lak de man do an' let it stay dere seven days. An' if he's out anywhere in town, he'll come back. But yo' got'a have de shape of de man altogethah.
(He doesn't drink that whiskey or anything? Just keep it in the bottle?)
No suh - dat's all.
Entry 2009
Take dat 'nure [manure] an' put lodestone with it an' people sell dat fo' lucky han's. Dey gits hoss manure an' cow manure an' mix all dat together an' lodestone an' salt an' that makes him be lucky. An' 'noint it down wit whiskey. See, dat'll make yo' have a lucky han'. An' yo' kin carry dat an' rub it - jis' lak yo' want a job or somepin, yo' carry it an' rub dat an' yo' mo' den apt to git chew a job.
carrying the described lucky hand while seeking work. Keep mo’ den apt as a qualified claim, not actual employment or a guarantee. combining horse/cow manure, lodestone and salt before whiskey anointing. Do not turn whiskey anointing into an unspecified extra ingredient proportion or combine neighboring recipes. These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2034
High John de Conker root is fo' gamblin'. Yo' kin take it if yo' want tuh be lucky an' successful in gamblin' an' yo' could put it in a small glass an' po' some whiskey on it fo' about fo' or five days. An' if yo' let it stay dere de fo'th day an' de sixth day, yo' take de High John de Conker root out an' yo' bite off de tip end of it an' turn to de sunrise an' make yore wishes. An' yo' go tuh de game an' yo begin tuh gamble an' yo' begin tuh win. An' if yo' want 'em tuh lose - if a person want a man tuh lose all of his money, he wanta be lucky in gittin' all of his money, he git him a box of salt any time de day of de cards an' he take some of dat salt an' sprinkle it on his back. He'll lose his money. (And that other thing about biting off that end of John the Conquer. What do you do when you bite that off?) You chew that up.
Entry 2055
From a lightnin'-struck tree yo' kin take a splin- ter an' go 'head an' boil it, an' put it in whiskey or somepin lak dat. An' dere any girl or somepin othah yo' love an' give her some of dat whiskey, dat will bring her to yo' - 'cause dat's fiah, bring her to yo'. [Hands also in margin-title Wood (2) Struck by Light- ning, p.514f.]
Entry 2088
Lotsa times yo' do it by bein' in diff'rent offices [fraternal organi- zations] diff'rent Odd Fellows, Masonic, or somepin lak dat - but jes' fo' de mercy of de judge but no help but whut chew git from, yo' know. (What do they call that around here?) Hoodoo. Yo' go down dere, now. De first thing yo' do, yo' see, yo' go by de fountain somewhere 'nothah an' yo' prob'bly gits yo' a coke, somepin - providin' yo' ain't drinkin' no whiskey or nuthin, it ain't good fo' nuthin. An' yo' git chew - we have whut we call a lucky star an' in some instances yo' burn dat. Yo'll find dat in de two chapter of Exodus, yo' find in de Bible where it speaks about dis lucky star. Well, in place of burnin' dat, yo' take it an' bring it back an' jes' a day or two 'fore trial, yo' see, yo' dry hit dere, an' yo' wear dat in yore pocket, an' yo' go down befo' de judge an' dat will he'p yo' through.
Entry 2169
Yo' go to a white oak tree an' git de root of it, right up close to de root. (Any side of the tree?) No suh, de no'th side of it. Take a white cloth an' wrap it [root] up in a lil piece of cloth, an' take a lil small piece [of root] yo' know far [large] enough to do anything, an' put it up ovah the do' where yo' gotta go past in an' out, an' dat's luck. Dat's fo' luck lak if yore gamblin', lak if yo' run a gamblin house, anything lak dat - yo' know, sellin' whiskey or dope or anything lak dat. Keep de law away.
Entry 2212
An' then, say, like yo' selling whiskey or yo' runnin' a place dat chew don't want de police tuh come in on yo', yo' kin git chew a ole plow - yo' know whut a plowshare is don't chew? Dat iron part dat chew plow with in de ground. Yo' kin take dat an' bury dat at chure front do' an' de policeman wouldn't go dere to save yore life, or nobody dat chew owe - don't care who yo' are or who wants tuh go dere, dey can't go ovah dat.
Entry 2217
But if yo's makin' whiskey an' yo' scared de law runnin' on yo', yo' git gueen weed root an' yo' git it near - on de low end of de mountain. Yo' cain't git it on flat country lak heah. Co'se up roun' mah home close tuh de Blue Ridge Mountains yo' kin fin' all kinda roots. Mah granddaddy, he's been huntin' those things all his life, even in slave time. Yo' git one dem queen weed roots an' yo kin take dat roots an' boil it. It got a elbow on it ovah five j'ints an' de j'ints is ovah a inch jes' lak dat - knots, all lak a rattlesnake's tail, yo' know, got dat bell on de rattle- snake tail. Well, it got lil knots on it an' yo' kin tell where dose j'ints is yo' know. Yo' take three of dem j'ints an' boil it in a lil hot watah. When dem three is boiled in hot watah, yo' put 'em down undah yore front do'step an' de law will not pass ovah there. He'll stand out an' he'll talk to yo', see - 'Well, ah heared so-an'-so 'bout chew, but ah tole 'em it warn't so." See. He'll vell fo' yo' 'fore he gittin' out de car, "Come on, buddy." Well if yo' bury down somepin an' yo' ain't dere, he won't come ovah dere. An' some of 'em do happens somehow or'nother tuh come ovah it sometime, but if dey do, dey'll git down in dey laig an' nevah will be no mo' good. But he'll go roun' tuh back, now, an' come in, if yo' don't set one at de back. If yo' set one at de back, put one or two elbow - not three. See, ah gene'lly put three at de front - one fo' yo' fren's, one fo' yo enemies, an' de othah one fo' de law. See, yore fren's will gi' yo, harm yo, see; an' yore enemies will, dey won't do anything to yo', only steal from yo', see. Dat's why yo have tuh put three.
Entry 2314
For luck in gambling you get you some lodestone, you get you some steel dust, and you mix it together and you get you some paradise seeds, and you put all that together in a flannel bag and you sew it up. It's a bag about that size. And after you sew it up in that flannel bag, you take it and you put it down in a saucer - a round saucer and you pour some whiskey - or either good gin on it. You see, you gotta pour that on it. That's to season [feed] it. And you sprinkle a little steel dust on it - you see, that's to season it, and that is supposed to give you luck in gambling. You see, the steel dust supposed to draw and the lodestone. The paradise seeds - well, they include help to make it a success. I got lots of that stuff.
Entry 2427
If yo' wanta be a bootleggah an' sell whiskey, don't evah sweep de tracks out do's; always take de tracks an' sweep dem in de corner of de house an' put cookin' salt in em an' put em in de stove. An' if yo' wanta keep de police from your house, keep from runnin' back an' forth out chure house, go an' git chew a new coffeepot an' git chew some loose salt, table salt, an' yo' full up dat coffeepot, two of 'em, an' put 'em to de back do' an' de front do', "In de Name of de Father, de Son an' de Holy Ghost," an' dat will keep de man from yore house.
(That will keep the officer away?)
Yes sir.
informant-recited invocation accompanying salt-filled pot placement. Preserve the exact Father/Son/Holy Ghost formula without appending words, theological identity or Prayer/Incantation equivalence. stated aim of keeping police away, with interviewer-confirmed officer referent. No housing eviction claim These are attributed source occurrences; outcomes remain unverified.
Entry 2479
Yo' wanta have business with whiskey an' yo' business no good with whiskey. Yo' take yore toenails an' cut 'em off an' scrape out from under yore fingernails an' cut dem off, an' put dem into a little bottle or into a little glass wit de whiskey - about dat much an' let it set three days. Let it set three days an' then take it an' strain it out an' put it into a gallon of whiskey. Put it into dat gallon of whiskey an' de first customers come in dere an' buy, sell 'em dat; an' de more customers come in, sell it to 'em, an' after while yore business will be so great dat ever'body be flockin' right to yore business.
Entry 2598
I've heard say then, you could take a salt when the law comes in your house. You kin take salt when he starts out an' throw it out behind him, an' they say he won't hardly come back to your house no more. They say if he comes back in, why he won't hardly arrest you for no whiskey. [Wilmington, N. Car., (298), 224:4&85.1
Entry 3099
[Pauline lived on an island 6 miles from Brunswick, Georgia, where I Was then working. What an opportunity to have explored that marvelous coastline as I had done at Beaufortl But I resisted the tempta- tion, refusing to break my rule - not to interview white doctors. I have two accounts of Pauline, both taken from broken interviews. In the first, we had been talking about Pauline - I am unable to find this - and then later I ask the following question.]
(Are there any white people that work here now?)
[Informant returns to Pauline.]
She lives on Bly's Island.
(Oh! She is still here. I don't want to talk to her but I just wondered.)
[Brunswick, Ga., (1201), C400:7 = 2017:7.]
iTne second account of Pauline comes from a man who has already given us in- formation about Doctor Buzzard - see 3071, p.893.] A white woman.
(What was her name?)
Miss Pauline.
(Where does she live?)
She lives heah at Bly's Island, a large island right cross tuh de rivah on de road to Jacksonville.
(Oh, just near Brunswick?)
Yes sir - six miles out chere [on the road] tuh Jacksonville. Well, mah mother done taken me out dere. Well, soon as ah got dere she set down an' talk tuh me. She asked me if ah evah worked any place an' ah tole her where ah worked. She asked me, "Did yo' have any enemies round dere?" Ah said, one woman wus a cook dere an' she wanted concernin' me tuh have somepin tuh do wit her - me an' her had tuh make beds in dis, yo' know, to dis home ever' mawnin' together. Ah wouldn't say nuthin to her. She said ah tried tuh play cute. She de one dat put down de stuff at de back gate of dis white tourist home where we were workin', an' ah step on it wit mah right fut gettin' ovah de fence. She done put it right whar ah got ovah de fence at ever' mawnin'. Me an' her wus de first ones dere. So after she seen me - see, ah tried to step on mah left fut, if it done kilt me. See, after two yeahs an' a half ah wus dried up to 135 pounds. She [Pauline] tole mama tuh let me come dere an' she would give me medicine. She taken sulphur, turpentine an' some kinda cocklespur weed - cocklebur weed - taken de cocklebur weed an' made a medicine out of it. [Three ingredients.] So she made a medicine an' ah started to taken dat cocklebur weeds an' sulphur an' turpentine. An' tole me tuh wear three pieces of Irish potatoes - white potatoes in each one of my shoes. So after dey figured - it came on to 'fect mah othah fut an' mah hips, yo' see, an' ah wus dead from heah down [demonstrates].
(From your hips down.)
Yeah, from de hips down. So after dat ah wore de Irish potato an' thing. an' ah begin tuh git bettah. So she tole me not tuh drink no whiskey. So ah stop off from drinkin' some whiskey an' got tuh walkin' an' ah put down de crutches. Yo' know, ah could walk wit de walkin' cane. Ah put down de crutches. So ah begin tuh drink whiskey at night wit de othah boys roun' heah. So dat throw me agin. Dey had tuh take me dere agin. She tole me ah had been drinkin'. Well, when ah got dere dat time, it had done came up into mah shoulders heah - see [demonstrates], it had me, ah'm daid in mah left ahrm - come up mah left side. So she had tuh work fast. Dey had tuh keep me out dere tuh her house fo' three days. So we had tuh pay her wit three pieces of silver money - ah had tuh find three silver dollahs somewhere. She charge only three dollahs - don't care how big de case wus - had tuh pay her wit three silver pieces of money. That concernin' de three links of chain also.
(Of Mary - that Mary wore around her neck?)
["Dat concerning de three linked chain dat Mary wore pertaining tuh de Bible" - from his interview in INTERVIEWS.] Yes sir, dat [represents] three silver dollahs dat ah had tuh pay her wit. De firs' time paid her wit a silver dollah, an' after ah went three times, had tuh pay her de three silver dollahs. So dat's de whole case of it, until ah taken up dis last bottle of medicine. Ah didn't drink any mo' an' dey said ah wus cured of it. Den ah had a fren'. He wus poison by a girl on a piece of cake. But he wus crowin' lak a rooster - jumpin' up an' down. An' ah tole him concernin' dis same lady - tole his mothah. An' she taken him out dere an' she pay her with three silver piece of money - carried him three times. See, each time it wus a dollah. When she carried him de last time, dat's when she gave him some kinda medicine an' out of his throat came a frog, little small wiggle-tail, little small snake. [Three things came out of his throat.]
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 3438
Dog livah will tie yo' up.
(Just how do they do that?)
Yo' gits dat dog livah. Cut dat dog while he live an' take de livah from 'im, an' dey'll take dat dog livah an' put it in whiskey or in de tea or anything, an' - if dey kin git to yo' - yo'll nevah do nuthin. (You say it will tie you up. How do you mean?) If yo' connect wit a woman - if a man connect wit a woman, git fastened.
Entry 3609
Ah heard dat chew could take sompin jes' lak some of yore fingahnails, toenails, things from out undah yore toenails, an' trim 'em an' put: 'em in whis- key an' let 'im drink off dat whiskey. An' say dat he'll come back. An' dey say if yo' wanta keep one, tie nine knots in a string an' have lak sompin to dc wit 'im, an' let some of dat stuff git on it an' wear dis string aroun' yo'. An' dey say dat will keep him tied to yo' where he won't leave.
Entry 3639
Well, now here's what I wanted to get information on. Dere is tricks can be turned - it's kind of a woodsy trick, things lak dat. Whether yo' wanted to heah dat.
(Yes. Oh yes, go ahead.)
Well, I have known of people, man to have a connection wit a woman an' to git hung dere lak a dog or anything. Well, de beginnin' of dat, yo' kin take one of dese ole snails. Yo' see dey have a house. When dey stretch out an' crawl dey pull dis house along wit 'em. A shell dey call it. Well, he carries a slime along as he goes. Yo' git a little of dat slime an' yo' go in de woods an' dere's a bug - a black bug an' we used to call 'im a betty bug. It's about so long [demonstrates].
(What kind of a bug do you call him?)
A Betty Bug. Yo' see it's a big black bug dat stays in ole rotten woods an' stuff lak dat. Well he's got where his neck come, his body connects togethah, it's only one drop of blood in it. Break 'im an git dat drop of blood, a little hartshorn [not sal volatite, etc., but a fairly common pronunciation of the per- fumes Hearts Own and Hearts Cologne] an' dis slime from de snail, an' use it be- fore it gits dry or anything, an' yo' kin dress a woman wit dat yo' see. A man goes an' has a connection wit 'er an' he'll git hung dere de same as a dog would to a female dog or anything. If a man want to take dat off dere, he's gotta use dat same snail, a little new milk an' prob'ly somepin lak alcohol or real good whiskey. Dat'll git 'em apart.
Entry 3980
Now, yuh kin take certain chamber lye, an' if it's a man dat drinks, take de chamber lye an' put it in a - it's 'cordin' tuh who yuh wit [your pur- pose], yo' know. She kin whip yuh wit dat thin' or yuh kin whip 'er, yuh see. She gits some of 'er chamber lye an' put it in some whiskey an' let chew feast offa dat, it'll shuh [sure] draw yuh tuh 'er. An' if yuh wan'a draw 'er tuh yuh, yuh do de same thin' an' dat'll draw 'er tuh yuh. An' den she's jis' lak dat. Not only her, not only human bein'. Yuh kin take dat chamber lye an do de same thin' wit chickens an' hogs, if yuh got chickens or hogs dat dey won- dahin' [wandering] away from home an' won' stay at yuh home [see hog and water- melon story, 222, p.64]. Yo' feed yuh - yuh fill up dat stone [crock or small cement trough] wit chamber lye fo' yuh chickens an' dey keep right aroun' yuh do'step. Now, dat's been showed attention wit mahself [I know that from ex- perience]. Dey ain't gon'a go cross dat neighbor dere - ovah his yard. Dat yuh chamber lye.
Entry 6398
Well, ah know a man de way he do. He take his toenails an' trim 'em. Where he have a knack of makin' coffee fo' his wife, yo' know, evah mawnin'. Well, he'll let dem toenails contin'sly be in de cof- feepot, an' boil coffee off dere fo' 'er an' let 'er drink it. An' so dat kinda ties her tuh 'im - keep 'er from men or anythin' lak dat. Well, a man or woman, eithah one could tie one anothah tuh 'em wit dat, by givin' it tuh 'er in whiskey tuh drink. Sev'ral diff'ren' thin's lak dat.
Entry 6448
Yo' cuts yore fingahnails an' yore toenails evah Monday or evah Friday, until yo' git a tablespoonful of it, an' den yo' take dat an' put it in whiskey. Dat's makin' yo' love me, see. Put dat in whiskey. An' den yo' put so much of dat - ah would - in yore coffee or yore tea an' let chew drink off it. Or yo' kin git it in dat powdah an' sprinkle on yore food, an' yo' eat it. (But you must cut these fingernails and toenails on Friday or Monday.)
Entry 6493
Now, if yo' got some of dis scrapin', lak ah said from undah de feet, throw it out. Have it in a papah an throw it out an' don' look back. Whichevah way yo' turn, yo' throw it ovah yore lef' shouldah an' keep agoin', but don' look back. Ah've done did dat too.
(What do you do that for?)
Dat goin' put bad luck on 'em.
(What do you mean by scraping under his feet?)
Yo' know dat dead skin.
(And where do you throw it, any place? Throw it out any place?)
In de fo'ks of de roads an' make a wish. When yo' scrape dat, yo' see some people scrape dat disaway. Scrape it back disaway. Put a piece on a papah an scrape from de toe back tuh de heel. Yo' kin put dat in whiskey an' he drink it an' he'll nevah leave yo'.
Entry 6548
Yo' kin take a toadfrog an' hang 'im up an' kill 'im. Hang 'im fron' de fiah an' git nine drops of blood out dis frog an' put it in whiskey. Take de frog an' take an' kill 'im. If yo' kin git a snake, yo' kin take an' kill a snake an' git nine drops of 'is blood, an' put it in whiskey fo' yo'. It won' kill yo' right away. Yo' gon'a live an' be sick, but atter while dey gon'a be so big [inside you] dey kill yo'.
(How do they get those live things out?)
Well, lak dey put 'em in yo'. Go ketch yo' a snake an' don' kill 'im. Jis' split 'im open 'live an' - lak he's mad hot - an' smash it on dere, an' dat takes [those live things] outa yo'.
(Well, how do you get those frogs out?)
De same way wit snakes. Don' kill de frog, jis' ketch de frog while it's hot. Jis' play wit 'im or somepin an' make 'im mad. An' git 'im while he's mad, yo' see, an' split 'im right open an' slap it right on dat place, an' it will take de frogs out.
Entry 6550
Dey use a frog. Kin take a frog an' kill 'im, an' git a drop of 'is blood an' a drop of someone's blood an' put it tuhgethah. An' put it in some coffee or whiskey or tea or sompin lak dat, an' give it tuh dem tuh drink. Well, dey'll be poisoned an' go crazy an' yo' have tuh send 'em tuh 'sylum.
Entry 6595
Yo' jis' take a snail an' beat it up real fine an' use dat dust.
(What will that do?)
Yo' know, use de dust, an' if yo' kin git a little drop of dat blood - well, jis' lak, now if yo' wanta do somepin tuh somebody, yo' take a drop of dat blood an'( dat dust from dat snail where yo' done parched it, an put it in whiskey an' give it tuh 'em. Well, yo' become tuh have live things in yo:. (What blood do you get, snail blood or blood from the/ person?) No, snail blood.
Entry 6606
Snakes, any kinda snakes, any kinda insex [insects], if dere somebody yo' wanta put snakes an' scorpions in an' kill 'em. Yo' kin take de snake an' kill it, any kinda snake yo' wanta be in a person. Yo' kill dis snake an' aftah yo' kill dis snake yo' name de person whosom- evah yo' wanta kill. Yo' would name 'em. An' fo' nine days yo'd go dere an' turn 'im ovah. He'd be dead. Yo' turn 'im ovah callin' de person's name fo' nine days. An' de ninth day yo' go dere an' take dat thin' an' parch 'im up, yo' know, an' jis' make a dust outa it. An' if yo' wanta put it in whiskey or amythin', or pat it in some tea or anythin' lak dat, yo' put de dust in yo' knoy vtut cheo make from dat dead snake, or scorpion or spidah or anythin', an' den yo' give it to den. It won't hurt nobody but dem dat chew called dere name. An' den when de ninth day's up dey'll take sick, an' den yo' know, dem dere snakes an' scorpions ll be livin' in dem people, whut yo' give dat dust to - in nine days tine.
Entry 6611
Now, dey tell me tuh take a snake, cut de snake's head off, let 'im drip, an' while his blood is drippin' ketch de blood in somepin as it drips. Jis' as many drops of dat blood yo' ketch, jis' as I - if I is a enemy, jis' how many snakes yo' desire tuh be in me, an' I lie - yo' let dat blood drip - drop - fall intuh some vessel. Whut kinda whiskey I drink, why yo' po' dat whiskey drink on dis blood, an' shake it in dere wit dis whiskey. Shake it tuhgethah an' give me dis whiskey tuh drink. Very soon I'll come tuh be fulla snakes.
(You'll have little snakes in you from those drops of blood?)
Yes, dat's right.
Entry 6618
Ketch a blacksnake an' jis' hang 'im up, cut 'is haid off an' let nine drops of blood drop in a cup. See, an' yo' put dat in whiskey an' give it tuh most anybody dat yo' think have harmed yo'. Well, dat poison, yo' see. Dat's poison den. (What will that do to them?) It would create snakes in dem. An' aftah a long while dat would kill 'em.
Entry 6619
Yo' kin take a - take a rattlesnake - yo' kin take anythin' dat wandahs in de woods snakelike - yo' take 'im an' yo' cut 'is haid off. Well, yo' put dat snake up an' let 'im be dried by de sun. Yo' take dem snake bones an' beat 'em up tuh apowdah, an' yo' put jis' a little bit of dat whiskey - alcohol, anythin' - an' yo' kin set dat bottle up, if yo' wan'a do it. Yo' set it up dere an' if yo' don' happen tuh give it tuh 'em dat day, or dat night, den mawnin' when yo' git up de snakes will be in it [bottle] - little snakes. [Snakes in the bottle next morning proves that snakes would have been in a victim, had you given the snake blood to him the day or night before.]
Entry 6629
Ketch a frog an' take a snake wit 'im an' yo' hang 'em up tuh de chim- ley. Let 'em stay until dey are, yo' know, dey are dry. Let 'em dry - snake, frogs an' lizards. Dat's what dey all puts in yo' dey tell me. Take 'em an' tie 'em up an' put 'em up in de chimley where dat smoke will dry 'em. An' den dey git tuh work an' powdah 'em up - jis' powdah 'em up soft an' fine. An' yo' takes dat - dey tell me dey take dat an' put it intuh whiskey or anythin' an' give tuh yo' tuh drink off it. An' yo'll drink it an' dey'll become live in yo'
Entry 6657
[In the following statement, as well as elsewhere in the text, the old belief about live things in you has been watered down to knots and things that look alive under the skin.] If yo' wanta damage anyone wit de snake, yo' kin kill de snake, pound it up an' put it in whiskey an' give it tuh someone. It will cause dem tuh go crazy, an' [have] knots look lak dey's 'live undah dere skin - knots lak dat, an' thin's lak lizards.
Entry 6671
(Tell me that story all the way from the beginning, make a parable of it. What are you going to do now with this turtle?) [That word parable I picked up at the beginning of my field work down the east coast. I found it everywhere, but sus- pected it was dying out. You can see how I qualified Tell me that story to make a parable of it. The words story and tale have a bad connotation in my type of field work.1 Well, ah go back ovah it ag'in. Yo' take an' yo' kill it an' yo' let 'im dry. Den yo' take an' soak it in whiskey - see, yo' gittin' 'is nature. Den yo' give it tuh me tuh drink.
Entry 6673
(A turtle. What do they do with a turtle?)
Well, ah see a person take a turtle aig. Take a turtle aig an' break it raw an' put alcohol on it, an' yo' save it. (You save it?) Yo' put it aside. But ah think a fellah mean an'( dirty enough tuh take dat few drops of al- cohol off dat turtle egg. An' yo' put it in some whiskey or somepin an' give somebody dat tuh drink. It will kill 'em right away. Dat's de way yo' kill people dataway.
Entry 6891
Rattlesnake mahstah, puts it on whiskey an' let 'em drink dat till dey drink a pint. Aft' dey drink dat pint dey'll be so dey cud [could] walk aroun'. An' yuh cud fix anothah quart, an' a quart or a pint'll cure yuh.
Entry 6997
She kin take some beef blood an' put it in some whiskey yo' know, an' give dat tuh 'im. Yo' jis' put nine drops in dere at de time, yo' know, an' let 'im drink dat. An' dat'll make 'im sick an' dat'll turn 'im against it.
Entry 7003
Well, she go tuh a market where she kin buy a catfish, a small-size cat. Bring 'im home an' wash 'im off nice an' clean. Split 'im on both sides of 'is tail about a inch an' a half down tuh de end of 'is tail. Hol' a saucah, a white saucah undah dere an' let de blood drip in dere. Git 'im a half a pinta whiskey an' put dat in de whiskey an' put it where he kin drink it. An' he'll nevah tech no mo' as long as he live, an' ah'll guarantee he won't.
Entry 7005
Mah sistah did it tuh make huh husban' stop drinkin' - wit it - becuz he wuz a pure drunkard. Dere wuz a ole fortunetellah woman wuz comin' along de street an' he always wuz drunk an' would throw 'is money away. An' he tole huh - she tole mah sistah tuh go tuh de rivah an' git 'uh a catfish, an' take two dropsa his blood an' drop it intuh dat whiskey whut he drink. An' he ain't nevah drink a drop since.
(Two drops of blood?)
Two dropsa live catfish blood. An' he ain't nevah drink a drop since.
Entry 7009
Yo' kin take a catfish or use some of de slime offa his hide, or eithah cut 'im an' git somea his blood - maybe a teaspoonful an' put it in 'is drink an' git even wit 'im. Or, if yo' wanta stop 'em from drinkin', yo' see, well, yo' see, yo' don't use quite as much, jis' a li'le. Give him dat in a drink an' he'll nevah drink no mo'. Put it intuh whiskey an' let it stay in dere fo' prob'ly, well, twenty-fo' hours. Den yo' strain it if yo' see anythin'aroun' through it. An' if dey drinks dat whiskey wit dat fish blood in it, he'll go an' throw up [vomit] - he'll try tuh turn 'is insides out. Dat's worse den eatin' [too much]. An' dat's somepin yo' kin do [to stop a person from drinking].
[Record very indistinct here so last few lines cannot be transcribed.]
But [if] yo' don't use nuthin but de slime, dat's [to] stop yo' from drinkin'; but if yo' use dat dere catfish blood, it'll kill yo'.
(It'll kill you, but the slime will cure you from drinking.)
De slime will absolutely stop yo' from drinkin'. Dat make 'im heave up a li'le, but dat blood [will kill him].
Entry 7016
Well, if yo' got a man an' yo' don' want 'im tuh drink whiskey, yo' roun' an' de firs' dog dat chew see wit young puppies, real young puppies, yo' ast de lady who owns it tuh let chew milk, or let 'er milk a li'le of dat milk intuh a glass. An' git about six or eight tea- spoonsfulla dat milk in de glass an' po' about - well, a gill of whiskey tuh it, an' let 'im drink it. No mo' whiskey fo' him.
(That will stop his drinking?)
YasSuh, it'll stOp 'em. AH STOPPED ONE FO' A WHITE LADY OUT DERE ON DE OLE STREET.
(That really will stop them.)
Entry 7018
If he's a drinkah, whut chew kin do tuh stop 'im from drinkin'. Yo' take de skin of a eel, a skinned eel, an' let de skin git dry. An' aftah it's dry, yo' beat it up intuh I powdah an' put it in some whiskey, an' give 'im dat. He'll nevah want any mo'.
Entry 7043
Take anybody who's a bad habit of drinkin' an' yo' know, lak yo' wanta try tuh break 'em from drinkin', dey tell me yo' kin ketch three li'le minnows yo' know, an' put 'em in a bottle of whiskey an' let 'em die in dere, an' den give it tuh dat party, yo' know, who's a bad drinkah, who cain't do wit'out it. Give it tuh dem an' dey'll stop. Dat stop 'em from drinkin'.
Entry 7049
(How do you do that?)
Yo' kin even make 'em stop drinkin' whiskey.
(How do you do that?)
Now, yo' know a man dat drinks whiskey. Yo' take a man dat's a heavy whiskey drinkah, when he comes home, if he drink anythin' lak coffee or tea, or anythin' lak dat. Yo' go tuh 'is shoes, when he come in at night, an' take any dust - some dust off of one of 'is shoes. See, yo' jis' take de dust off of any shoe yo' git off of 'is foot. An' take dat dust an' powdah it. Powdah it up good an' fold it in a piece of paper, an' let 'im sleep wit dat undah 'is pillow. Evah time he come, whethah he come in sobah or come in drunk, take it away where - wrap dat good an' put it undah 'is pillah, an' let it stay undah 'is pillah fo' nine days. An' aftah it stay undah 'is pillah fo' nine days, yo' take it an' take dat same dust an' po' it intuh any drink dat he drinks - whiskey or gin or anythin' an' dissolve it an' mix it well. Jis' drop it in, jis' a li'le particle of dust on dere, from any one of 'is shoes. An' let 'im sleep wit dat undah 'is head fo' nine days, an' po' it in 'is drink. An' ah'll bet if yo' continue doin' dat - if dat don't give him de natchal [natu- ral] effect de firs' time, use it on 'im ag'in. An' ah'll bet dat he'll - it'll stop 'im from drinkin'.
Entry 7051
Break yo' up completely from drinkin' whiskey. All right, yo' go in de woods an' ketch chew a snail, an' put 'im intuh a pint or half a pint of whis- key, an' shake him until all dat slime come off 'im. When it come off 'im, yo' remove de snail from de whiskey an' den give it tuh whosomevah yo' wanta stop drinkin'. An' dey won't nevah drink whiskey no mo'.
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 7167
Git a li'le graveyard dirt an' put on a person, an' when yo' put it on 'em - git a li'le graveyard dirt an' carry it, tie it up real tight, an' put it up undah de pillah an' let 'em sleep on it at night. An' if he's got a wife an' 'is wife wanted tuh go out, she could put it up undah dere an' let 'im go tuh sleep. If he's got whiskey in 'im or anythin' - anythin' at all lak whiskey on 'im, she kin go on off an' stay jis' long as she wanta. An' when she comes back she'll pull it out an' he wakes up.
(That is to keep him asleep while she is gone.)
Entry 7234
Ah wus goin' wit a girl about six yeahs ago an' ah quit dis girl. An aftah ah quit dis girl, ah started goin' wit anothah girl. An' dis othah [first] girl got acquainted wit dis othah [second] girl. An' so she [first girl] got acquainted wit de girl ah wus goin' wit, dis othah [second] girl. Co'se [Of course] ah didn't tell 'er dat ah had evah been wit dis girl. An' so dis [first] girl had a party one Satiday night an' she got me dis girl dat ah didn't wan' 'er tuh know of. Quite natchel ah wen' tuh de party. So she had a Victrola, wusn't no radio den. In fac' [fact] she didn't [would- n't?] have one no way. An' she had a li'le whiskey fer de party dat night. An' so, all de while ah wus goin' wit 'er de ole Victrola, de spring 'ud [spring would] jump off sometimes an' ah used tuh fix it fer 'er, while ah wus goin' wit 'er. So she, aftah de music stopped, she tole dem dat ah could fix de Victrola. An' she'd [she had] taken de Victrola in de kitchen an' put it on de table. An ah went in dere an' see zactly [exactly] whut wus de mattah wit it an' fixed it. An' she put a pint of whiskey on de table up dere. Well AH DIDN'T PAY NO 'TEN- TION 'CUZ AH NEVAH DID BELIEVE IN DIS STUFF [HOODOO]. SO AH DRINK SOME OF DIS WHISKEY. MATTAH OF FACT AH'D TAKEN SEV'RAL DRINKS OF DIS WHISKEY. An' so, aftah ah got de Victrola completed an' evahbody got tuh dancin', an' den ah started takin' a couple a dances mahself. Well, when ah started takin' dese few dances mahself, ah got dizzy; got a li'le dizzy an' got a haidache an' got out mah haid some. An' de girl frien' ah wus goin' wit den, she'd taken me tuh 'er apartment. Aftah she'd taken me tuh 'er apartment, ah woke up nex' mawn- in' an' found mahself dere. So ah kinda come tuh mah haid a li'le bit. An' den she rent de cah [car] tuh take me home. So dey'd taken me home. An' when ah got home - ah don' remembah when ah got home or nuthin of de kin' lak dat. So 'bout nine o'clock Sunday mawnin', well ah started havin' fits, one right behin' de othah. So dey tell me, ah don' know anythin' about it. Ah fell unconscious den. So dey spent dat Sunday. DEY HAD ALL KINDA DOCTORS. DEY SPENT $74 ON ME DAT SUNDAY ON DIFF'REN' DOCTORS AN' NOBODY WOULD TAKE DE CASE. SOME DOCTORS WOULD COME IN AN' TREAT ME FER SOMPIN - DIABETES AN' DIFF'REN' THIN'S - AN' MAH REG'- LAH FAMILY DOCTOR, HE COULDN'T TAKE DE CASE. So he tole mah uncle an' evahbody dat he didn't know whut wus de mattah. It wus a case tuh 'im. So den ah stayed unconscious from dat Sunday mawnin' at nine o'clock until dat Monday night at half past eleven. Well a frien' of mine - didn't tell me - ah wus still unconscious, but he tole mah uncle. "WE DONE TRIED EVAHBODY ELSE CHERE [HERE], SUPPOSE WE TRY A HOODOO DOCTOR. IF HE DON' DO NO GOOD, WE JIS' WON' PAY 'IM. He [this doctor] run worms out mah mothah, but she [mother] said, "Ah know anothah good lady [but she is too far away], but anyway, by he bein' so bad off, we'll go up an' see dis one firs'." So dis fellah came in - so dey tell me, see ah wus still unconscious - said, "Yes, " S SAID AH WUS POISONED, AN' HE WOULD HAVE ME ON MAH FEET IN 45 MINUTES. Well, it wus about eleven-thirty den.
(In the morning or night?)
In de night. An' dis wus on a Monday night. Ah had been unconscious since Sunday mawnin' nine o'clock till ovah dat Monday night at eleven. SO HE COME IN AN' COMMENCES TUH WORKIN' ON ME. SAYS MY BOWELS WAS LOCKED AN' DIFF'REN' THIN'S. HE GIVE ME SOAP AN' BITTAH ALOES...
[I interrupt.]
(How did he give you the soap?)
He taken de soap an' he jis' mixed it up in a glass; yo' know, jis' watah enough tuh make de soap dissolve. Yo' know, Octagon soap, an' made somepin lak a pill outa it an' jis' held mah mouth an' rubbed mah throat - so dey tell me - until ah swallah dat. An' den dey give me bittah aloes an' dat unlocked mah bowels. AN' SOON AS IT UNLOCKED MAH BOWELS, AH COME TO. When ah cOme to, ah knows mahself. When ah wus on de party ah wusn't able tuh go tuh de bathroom. AN' [AFTER MY BOWELS MOVED] DEY SHOED ME A ANIMAL COME OUTA ME 'BOUT - AH GUESS ABOUT DAT LONG [DEMONSTRATES].
(As long as your little finger.)
YEAH AN IT LOOKED SOMEPIN LAK DE COLAH OF A ORANGE PEELIN', AN' IT RAN UP ON DE MEDICINE GLASS TRYIN' TUH GIT OUT. Ah [had] come tuh, den. Co'se ah wuS weak aplenty. Ah wus weak aplenty from havin' dose fits. Ah wusn't any good. De fact is, he tole me it would take aroun' a couple a yeahs tuh git so ah wus well ag'in. In fact it did. So ah commence tuh askin' question Who did it. HE'D TAKEN A NEWSPAPAH AN' PLACED IT IN A PAN OF WATAH AN' LET IT SET IN DIS PAN A WATAH SOMEWHEAH ROUN' ABOUT AH THINK - IT WUS NINE MINUTES AH THINK, AN' DIS WOMAN'S PICHURE COME ON DAT NECKED [NAKED] JIS' LAK SHE WORN NUTHIN ON 'ER - NECKED ABSOLUTELY.
(The woman that did this to you?)
Yeah. So he ast me did ah know dat woman. Ah say, "Yes." He say, "Well do yo' wan' tuh have her tuh come here an' confess tuh yo'?" DE PICHURE APPEAHED ON DE NEWSPAPAH RIGHT LAK DAT AN' HE TOLE ME TUH LOOK AT IT QUICK. AN' AH LOOKED AT. IT QUICK AN' AH RECOGNIZED IT AN' IT JIS' FADED AWAY AN' JIS' STAYED LAK DAT. [Before proceeding to the doctor's magic-mirror trick, let me pause in an attempt to explain his pan-of-water trick, the latter an excellent example of hydromancy. The doctor had brought in his usual medical kit a newspaper folded into folds about 3 inches wide; the top fold containing type only, the bottom fold also the picture of a scantily dressed woman. He then holds the newspaper several inches under the Water, type side up and picture side down. Patient is instructed to free his mind of all thought except the identity of the spellcaster soon to be revealed. Gaze at the water constantly without blinking. After a long period, as much as 9 minutes, the doctor begins to rotate the newspaper so that the picture suddenly appears and disappears. He tole me tuh look at it quick an' ah looked at it quick an' ah recognized it an' it faded away.] So he said, now ah'll have her tuh come here an' confess tuh yo' dat she did it, if yo' want me tuh. Ah tole him, ah said, "Yeah, ah'll be glad tuh." He'd taken a mirrah an' turn it bottom upwards; taken a mirrah an' turn de face up lak dat [demonstrates].
(The face of the mirror up.)
Lak dat. An' he said - ast me whut wus 'er name. An' ah tole 'im 'er name. Ast me whut wus mah name, an' ah tole him mah name. He wrote mah name at de top an' 'er name at de bottom.
(On this mirror?)
On a piece of papah an' placed it on topa dis mirrah. An' den he'd taken a clock an' turned it face down, almos' right on topa de mirrah, an' let dat stay dere fo' five minutes. An' he'd taken it up in fo' an' a half minutes, an' put it down fō' a few seconds, den picked it up. He tole me she would be dere in five minutes. Ah don' know where she wus. She wus away cross town, somewhere. But he tole me tuh watch out fer 'er, she would be dere in five minutes. Ah Wus wondahin' how she goin' tuh git dere. She lived on Marshall Avenue 'bout fō' or five blocks from dere. Well in fō' an' a half minutes from de clock she wus dere. She come up on - man had a automobile, a taxi. Ah don' know whethah she wus on 'er way dere or whut, but in fō' an' a half minutes she wus dere. She tole me dat she did it an' she wus sorry. She says she didn't do it 'erself, said she got somebody else tuh do it, an' tole me his name an' evahthin'. (Do you know what they put in the whiskey to hurt you that Way? What she put into the whiskey?) Yes, dis fellah had taken two grains of snake dust an' put in de whiskey. But dat wasn't did dat Satiday night. Had it been did dat Satiday night, it wouldn't a worked so fast, see. She had did it somewhere roun' about three months agO, an' DAT LIVE ANIMAL HAD BEEN PERFORMED FROM DAT SNAKE DUST. An' den ah had been away from 'er fō' fō' or five months, an' had been goin' wit anothah girl an' had passed 'er up. Well dis girl wus teachin' school. Well ah wouldn't let dis girl know dat ah had evah been wit 'er, cuz ah thought dere would be a lot a jealouSy dere. WELL, WHEN AH WENT BACK DAT NIGHT, DEY STIRRED IT UP, YO' SEE, AN' DAT MADE DIS LIVE ANIMAL LOCK MAH BOWELS. AN' IT HAD TUH PASS THROUGH OR ELSE AH'D A LIVED SO MANY HOURS HAVIN' DOSE FITS AN' DIED.
Entry 7242
Wal yo' goes an' use de devils-shoestring, black root, rattlesnake mastah, an' use de calomel [calamus] root [sweet flag (Acorus calamus)] dat goes on a - yo' kin take a li'le whiskey an' yo' put dat on dere. Dat goes through an' through de human body - which an' why it is de only way de most in de haid, yo' see, it flusteratin' through de jungle vein. An' from de - from it functions tuh de bowels it goes on an' den it gotta take effect on de kidneys. Den de kidneys git wrong an' den it gotta take effect on de bladdah. An' den she take dat line an' it goes up tuh de lungs. Den fore dey git de heart pertected [protected], yo' see, dat makes a function tuh it - dat makes it a slow. Den dat goes up in de haid. Den dat goes an' make dem absent-minded. But now, aftah yo' give dem dat, dey gon'a use yo' gon'a use yore method den. An' de firs' thing yo' have tuh do is give dem salts from Central America. A teaspoonful an' dat take it 'way, which an' why dat gon'a make de othah fellah whut done it - yo' see he goin' tuh know but he cain't tell whut's de trouble. An' one [once] yo' take it [spell] off, it will nevah come back no mō'. (How do you give her these roots? Do you put them in a bottle of whiskey or does she drink it or what does she do?) Nah, yo' let [her] take dat - yo' let 'er drink it.
(And then you use this powder too?)
Dat salts from Central American.
(How do you use that powder?)
Yo' jis' take it an' give it tuh - give dem a dose, jis' lak yo' take in yore hand a halfa teaspoonful.
(That will cure her then?)
Dat will cure her cuz dat will got through all de art'ries, all de jungle veins. Yo' see, dat goes when de heart is vaporating de bloods from de lungs. Dat will go tuh de brains, dat will go tuh de cap of de brain an' dat will cuz de - dat will work on de bowels an' git all de stuff whut is in dem. Dat'll empty it. Den yo' give dem de rattlesnake mastah or John de Conkah; an' den yo' give dem de blackroot, supposed tuh be anothah method whut yo' kin use in anothah way.
[While recording machine is turned off, something is said about spirits.]
(Well, now suppose you tell me this method first. Whose spirit do you call? The person who had this spell put on the person? Or do you call a root doctor or a conjurer?) Yo' jis' make a prayah: Lord, heah ah am an' whosomevah put de spell on me, Lord ah wan' chew tuh achly [actually] he'p 'em tuh take it off. Den dat will come tuh be, reveal [itself]. See, de spirit will go wit de man doin' de right thing. (Well, after the woman is cured, then what do you do with the spirit that you caught?) Wal, when she cured, turn 'im loose.
(How do you turn him loose?)
All yo' gotta do, unscrew it [bottle] an' let 'im go.
Entry 7777
You can take the graveyard dirt, they say, and put it in whiskey and give a person consumption.
Entry 8030
Well, yo' have tuh grind dat up, grind de bone of de dead man up. An' perhaps dey might put it intuh yuh food or perhaps yo' may drink. Why jis' grind it up fine or jis' take a hammah or sompin lak dat an' beat it up - put it in a rag an' beat it up fine, yo' know, jis' lak flour on somepin. An' put it intuh yuh food or jis' put it intuh whiskey yo' drink or soft drink or anything lak dat an' yo' drink it down. Why dat would give yo stomic trouble. De balance of yuh days yuh stomic will nevah be no good tuh yo'. Keep yo' in lingahin' death.
(What do they call that?)
Suffahin' a man.
Entry 8053
Well, ah've toted mahself in cologne fo' luck, a woman bones. Her small toe bones an' den her fingah bones, dese heah two fingahs heah [points].
(The two middle fingers?)
Dat's right.
(What did you tote that for, what kind of luck?)
Luck in gamblin' an' luck fo' sellin' whiskey.
Entry 8054
Well, yo' take a bone, say dis wrist bone here [demonstrates].
(The left wrist.)
Yeah. Yo' take de left wrist. If it's a evil person, say like some fellahs ah might recite yuh [or their] name fast: "George Bohall," "Up-jump, de Devil" [etc.]. All dose fellahs had police records, bad. Dey got kilt, dey died bad. Dey had tuh hold 'em down. Well, yo' take his bone an' yo' would bring it ovah tuh de house, an' yo' have what yo' call de dead pot.
(Dead what?)
Have a little pot about dat high, what de women use fo' po'in' [pouring] on.
(For what?)
Fo' po'in' on, tuh keep dere comb warm when dey are straight'en' [straight- ening] women's hair. Well, dey got a small little pot lak dat. It's a little stove, yo' know.
(Yes.)
Well, yo' take dat bone from dat evil spirit [the spirit of the bad man killed] an' yo' take it dere, an' yo' git some good whiskey. Yo' know, an' if he died a drunk. Dose are people dat yo' know [about], yo' know where dey grave, buried at, an' yo' go tuh dat most pahticlah [particular] grave an' git dat bone. Yo' put dat on de fiah an' yo' boil dat. Now, yo' set three hick'ry sticks across dere an' yo' set dat right on top of dat bone. Aftah yo' set dat on dat bone, why yo' take whiskey an' yo' po' ovah 'im, po' ovah dat mos' pahticlah bone. An' aftah yo' po' it ovah 'im, yo' demand 'im tuh go an' kill So-an'-so-an'-so.
(I see.)
An' dey goes on an' yo' do's de work.
(I see.)
Or else, yo' wanta, say, run 'im ovahbo'd [make him jump overboard], let 'im, let a automobile run ovah 'im. Yo' always place him in a place dat he'll git kilt.
(I see. You cross those hickory sticks?)
Cross 'em across. (And then when you - this [I demonstrate] is your pot. Are the bones in the pot?) No, dat's what de sticks are dere fo'. Supposin' de pot about dis size [dem- onstrates]. Well, yo' place [demonstrates] one here, one dere, an' one here. An' den yo' place de bone right 'cross dere lak dat [demonstrates].
(Oh, across the sticks.)
Across de sticks. Dat is tuh [I interrupt]...
(Then what do you do with the pot?)
Well, yo' mos'ly use a li'le turpentine an' linseed oil in dat pot - turpen- tine an' linseed oil in dat pot. But yo' start yuh fiah slow, jis' so, so she [pot] make an ord'nary steam. Dat is tuh keep a certain pressure on 'im. Den yo' demand 'im wit controllin' powah, say, "Ah demand yo' wit controllin' powah tuh go ovah an' do such-an'-such a thing. Go ovah an' kill Such-an'-such a one." An' yo' [the spirit] must do so. (I see.) [New Orleans, La., (819), 1171:2.] [As we have seen, there are many substitutes for the human body: (l) anything that came from the body, such as blood, semen, urine, excrement, sweat, spit, hair, fingernails, toenails, and footskin; and (2) anything that has touched the body, especially clothes. In this division we shall examine three entities that are not a part of the body and yet preeminently represent it - photograph and name and letters and handwriting. Of these three, name already has occurred so many times in the preceding rites, I shall start here with photograph.]
Entry 8980
Now if yo' go before de iudge, de judge goin' to discharge yo', ac- cording to what kind of case, yo' know, yo'll have. Well, if yo' got people against yo', yo' know, an' yo' don't want to have dem part of de jury. Yo' going before de judge, like if it's a criminal case, yo' know, yo' got to have de jury. Yo' see, dey have [a panel of] 75 jurors [to select jurors from]. Well, yo' don't know what people [will be on the jury]. They don't pick out but twelve. Now, yo' don't know what twelve dey going to pick out. Dat makes yo' gotta use de whole panel. Yo' see, ah [in my work] done use 'em all.[ Well, now, de person - what jurors is against yo'. Yo' go an' get yo' a beef tongue, a fresh beef tongue. Pay odd money fo' it, not even money - 25 or 35 cents or somepin like dat. Let de money be odd money. An' yo' go an' take dat tongue an' yo' get these peoples names what is against yo', what done harm yo', don't yo' see or what yo' done harm. Yo'll take dat tongue, yo'll write de names on a piece of papah, an' yo'll write all dem jurymen's names, de dis- trict attorney.
(The whole 75 of those names?)
Yeah, just put de whole 75. Yo' have to use de 75, because outa dem yo' get twelve.
(I see. All right.)
Now, yo' get de district attorney what is de man to prosecute yo'. Yo'll get his name an' put it on dere, but not de judge in dat part. An' yo'll -git yo' dat tongue. Yo' get yo' nine needles an' nine pins. Yo'll get yo' dese people names an' yo'll put down on dere an' yo'll put dat down in de throat of dat tongue. Yo'll take dat tongue an' yo'll hang it up in de chimney. An' den aftah dat, yo'll take an' git yo' some watah an' yo'll get yo' some peppah. Yo' git yo some coarse snuff an' yo'll burn a - light a candle.
(Coarse snuff?)
Coarse snuff, dat coarse snuff; not dat in a box. An' yo'll light dat candle an' yo'll put it.in dere. Now, yo' want to come clear an' yo' want de judge to be lenient wit yo', so yo' take de judge's name. An' yo'll take de judge ame, den yo'll git yo' a block of ice, 'bout fifty pounds of ice. Yo' put it in a little pail an' yo'll sweeten it. Den yo'll light de candle, but yo'll light it straight up [the candle will be standing upl. An' den yo' see, sweeten de judge. But this othah part what yo' do, yo' take an' yo' put de candle - yo' turn 'em upside down, yo' get dat coarse snuff an' all dat, an' put in dere. Well dat make de district attorney be fightin' against dem. An' de people, what he got fo' witness, goin' to speak against yo'. Anything dey drink, perhaps dey drink whiskey. Some might drink gin or somepin like dat. Well yo'll get dat [liquor] an' yo' put dere name an' set yo' a little glass. An' put dat candle on dat [name and liquor in the glass] an' ah'll guarantee every one of 'em will go to court drunk. An' yo'll come out clear 'cause dey'll be drunk. Dey won't know what they're sayin'. They'll be lying backwards and forwards.
(What'll that ice do?)
Well, yo' see, de ice, dat's to cool, dat's fo' yore part. De ice makes yo' cool. Yo' know ice makes yo' cool. [Usually ice freezes apponent's tongue.] Well, de judge won't be fiery wit yo'. See, he'll be cool an' calm. But on dis othah side, yo' get dat snuff an' yo' put dem names in dere an' yo' get dat beef tongue. Yo' put dem things in dere an' shove dat tongue, all down in de throat, an' just hang dat tongue up an' den yo'll see. Yo'll see an' dey'll be lyin' an' dey'll be drunk. Just what dey drink, yo' set dat candle in dere [in the glass]. An' dey'll be lyin' an' dey won't say a thing against yo'. What color...just what candles you select. Don't try de black candles.
(Anything but black?)
But black candles.
(How many do you burn?)
Yo' burn - see, if dere's five people, yo' put five candles. An' if it's three, yo' put three; just accordin' to how many is against yo', yo' put dem many candles. An' den what they drink, yo' get a little glass, just what fit de candle an' put dat [liquor] in dere, an' ah'll guarantee yo' every one will be drunk.
Entry 9284
People say dat chew could take an' write a person's name on de aig an' throw it ovah de top of dey house.
(What will that do?)
Dat will cuz dem tuh move. An' den too, dey say it cuzes confusion. An' sometimes dey say, if yo' sellin' whiskey, it will cuz de law yo' know, tuh stay round de.house all de time. (It will cause the law to stay around?) If de aig busts, but if de aig don' bust, why dere ain't nuthin tuh it. (Do you use any kind of an egg?) Yo' use a black - no, it's gotta be a round aig, a real round aig; no square aig atall. It's gotta be round. [For shapes of eggs, see also R00STER EGG, No.9348f., p.3753.1
(From any kind of a chicken?)
Any kind of a chicken, jes' so's [so is] it a round aig.
Entry 9533
Den, in case, if de police come tuh yuh house an' yo' runnin' a whiskey house or some kinda business, well yo' kin take some salt an' throw it out behin' dem, an' sweep it out wit a bran'-new broom. He won't come back no mo'. Dat will keep 'em from comin' back.
Entry 9676
If ah wus in trouble, like ah wus wantin' tuh sell whiskey like evah- body is doin', wanted tuh have a success fo' mah business where de man wouldn't bothah me. Git me a package of salt an' bury it tuh mah front do'steps, bury one tuh de back where yo' have to come ovah - walk ovah it [them].: Take me a penny an drive it down, drive de penny right down on de do'stop; yo' know, like de do' [denonstrates], drive it right up dere. De police may come dere an' try tuh search me. He'd look a little bit - ah'll jest show yo' [demonstrates about roan]. "Well [says policeman] he ain't got nuthin. Let's go." [For pennies at door, see also many examples in vol.1, p.6llf., Nos.2108-2120 and elsewhere.]
Entry 9922
Ketch a toadfrog an' kill 'im an' drop nine drops of blood in a blf pint of whiskey, an' dat'll stop him.
(From drinking - a heavy liquor drinker.)
Entry 10712
Ah heard dey tke, not de egg, dey take where a bird sit at in dat nest an' take some of de trash out of dat.
(The manure.)
Yes sir, an' put it in dat, an' yo' can't stay nowhere.
(Put it where?)
Put it in whiskey or tea or coffee, an' give yo' wandering mind.
(That gives you a wandering mind.)
Entry 10891
Yo' kin put cat hair in a person's whiskey or coffee or tea or somepin lak dat an' dey'll begin tuh have fits an' act lak a cat or somepin. Den too, yo' kin take dog hair an' do de same thing, an' de dog hair git in it [drink] an' it'll run yo' crazy.
Entry 11636
Live fish blood in you creates a live fish in you. [This blood of course should be as fresh as possible and uncooked. A person's whiskey is prob- ably the best Way to administer it. Charleston 616:11.]
Entry 11728
Well, them's if you would have - the police were trying to raid your place, or something like that, and you were selling whiskey. Well, in an in- stance just like that, well, they'd come and raid your place at one particular time. Well, in their absence - [I mean] just as they would leave, well, you could take the goofer dust and just sprinkle it on the floor and sweep your house as they went out, and they wouldn't bother you no more.
(I see.) [Goofer dust here is principally the salt and pepper previously mentioned.] [Vicksburg 1042:8.]
Entry 11868
Woman stops up man's private hair in a bottle with Hearts Cologne and whiskey and wears. [Wilmington 257:9+85.]
Entry 12350
[Here is a hand from an excellent hoodoo woman whose material was lost before it could be transcribedl: Lodestone, John de Conkah, saltpeter, dime (silver one), make wish while sewing bag to you, anoint every 9 days with whiskey or Jockey Club Perfume, "feed it, ' a bag. [This is my original resume of the rite in pencil, attached to final manuscript.]
Entry 12715
If yo' in a place an' sellin' whiskey - listen good den - yo' git a rabbit foot, yo' understand. An' when yo' git dat rabbit foot - understan' ah don' care if he jes' now got shot. Now, ah'm goin' jes' tell yo'. Yo' have de rabbit live. Ketch him in a box, a trap box [figure 4 trap?]. Yo' don't have tuh set it. If yo' git dat rabbit an' yo' git de left foot. Ah don' mean de right foot - mean de left foot, back foot. All right, yo' git dat rabbit, yo' understan', an' yo' go dere tuh de drugsto' lak ah tell yo' an' git yo' some Heart's Cologne - cost ten cents a bottle [during Great Depression] - jes' a bottle about dis big [demonstrates tiny bottle]. It smell lak a perfume. All right, yo' take dat rabbit's foot an' soak it in it all dat day - yo' under- stan', yo' soak it all dat day. De next day, don' care whut man yo' know, law or no law, yo' go on, go out there, say, "Ah think ah'll open up a likkah joint" - jes' lak dat yo' undahstan'. "Yo' know ah'm de law."
Entry 11046
To keep dem [law] from de house? Now, if you Wanta a little liquor kept [for sale] in dis place heah and you don't want no man to come in on yuh nov. You go on your station house and git one of de man's name that you'll find out. Git one, two or three - if you kin [get] nine it's much better. De ore you get de stronger it is. If you can't git but one [name], den work on dat Bne one, but let it be de leading man dat you knows is asking about you - to yoar acn judgment. Work by your own judgment, de judgment of your ear. Git dat man nae and git you a brand-new piece of board and write his name. Put 'en cross de world. Write 'em cross de world to you and write 'em backwards.
(Backwards and forwards.)
And dey can't come in fer de devil. And nail dat onto your step and dey can't be seeing you. Not when you nail dat dere. Git you de heart of a chicken and it got to be a black chicken. Cut de heart out of it. Git dat wishin' bone of de chicken breast and you take dat heart wit your hand on dose letters. Put 'em dere so it can't be rub off - on dat board. (You rub this heart over those letters?) All over dose letters, all up and down like dat. And talk at de same time. Tell 'em dat [what] dat spirit is got- ta to do. You don't want no law to worry me. You wants to be up dere selling whiskey. Ah don't want dat law to worry me. Ah don't want no kin' of law. Ah don't even wants 'em to come heah fo' a drink of liquir or beer. Ah [wants] 'em to pass by and keep on passing by. Kin go right in next door but won't come in chere. Take dat wishing-bone, and be shore dat you go. down in de groun' to your shoul- der and turn it down -人. Don't turn it up -Y
(Turn the wishing bone down, the points down?)
[Here we have rite similar to the forked stick or "Y" in No.11032.]
Turn de two prongs down. And while you have - doin' it, you talk to 'em. An' if you know any de officer's names, don't let any come in dere, de fed'ral offi- cer back, de county man back, de city officer back, de state controller, back. Dat take in all 'em, ain't it? Go on over and over. And if you git dose three class of officers, you know why it is, don't you? De federal, de state control- ler, git de county and git de highway man. Den you go to work.
(Where do you bury that wishing bone?)
Under your step, right under your step. Be sure to go under your house. Den you put dat bone. If you ain't got no front, put it in de middleways of de house. [This center under the house and the 4 corners of the house make our rite a quin- cunx.] Dat almost stop people jack-jacking to the front.
Entry 12769
(What do they do with that if they get hold of your blood?)
Dey kin git a hold of yo' blood an' have yo' kind of paralyzed; or have your blood stuffed, by taking it an' putting it in a certain place. An' yo'll have to use prickle feet an' bloodroot an' blackroot to run dat bad blood back, an' to run dat evil blood what de [they] wanna put dat stuff in. (What do they do with your blood, if they get hold of it?) Oh, dey cud take dat blood an' have silver plate put in it [put your blood in a silver plate]. By dat's chure blood an' yo' drawin' out de silver plate, an' yo'll have someone near, close to yuh, to give dat blood back to yuh, after yo' done draws it wit de silver plate. To have plates to be drawin' in yo', some of yo' close relatives.
(How can you get that blood back in you, then?)
They drink it. (And how do you fix these plates up to get that bad blood out of you again? How do you fix those roots up?) Well, you take de prickle feet an' yo' set it in whiskey. Yo' take de blood- root an' yo' set 'at in whiskey - right on de prickle feets. Yo' set de black- snake root right on de prickles feet root, an' drink it three spoonful a day.
(That gets the bad blood out of you?)
Take de bad blood out. (Well this fellow that gets your blood, what does he do to make it bad blood?) Set it in a silver plate. After he set it in de silver plate, de blood draws in de silver plate. Den he begin to scrape. Put hot water on dere, a little water, an' it draws dat back an' it start back to yuh by some kind of drink yo' use. Yo' best friend will give you dat. He cannot give it to yo', 'cause he cannot git to yuh. After he git dis blood, he'll have to git someone else to git to yuh.
Entry 13095
Kin put different things in it to cause yo' feet tuh swell, such as rattlesnake's - take de haid of a rattlesnake an' go out dere an' dry it in a sack yo' know an' take dat dust - dat aw- ful poison yo' know - jes' a little bit of dat. Dat's de same way as dey do tuh kill yo' - right through dis country. Dey'll take dat rattlesnake haid an' dry it yo' know an' git a dust an' lak yo' vanted a drink, dey'd be standin' aroun' an' yo' happen tuh po' de likker out, dey drop de least bit of dat in dere, yo' know. Dat's rank poison. Yo' drink dat whiskey an' it kill yo' an' it hardly kin be detected. Or dey put dat in yore shoes an' cause yore feet tuh swell.
Entry 1565
De snakeroot - well, yo' take dat snakeroot an' yo' pulls it up by de roots an' yo' shake de dirt off it an' wash it. Well, yo' put hit into a bottle. Well, then you kin put whiskey on it - hit's good fo' most any kinda disease.
Entry 4115
Heard of 'em takin' dere chamber lye an' also dere monthly. An' put it - about two drops of dey monthly an' a teaspoonful of dere chamber lye in a man's or a woman's food. Dat's, if it's a woman, she puts it intuh de man's food, her monthly. If it's a man, lak if de woman drinks or somepin lak dat, he puts some of 'is chamber lye intuh 'er whiskey or Coca-cola or somepin lak dat. An' dat's tuh keep 'em tuhgethah.
Entry 4119
If yuh want yuh wife tuh be crazy 'bout chuh, yuh take yuh nine drops of chamber lye. Put it intuh a bottle an' evah time dat choo go tuhgethah, or anythin', yuh drop one drop in dere, yuh know, in some tea or whiskey - whut- evah she drink. She'll be crazy 'bout choo.
Entry 3776
To cure tied up [use] a root round like a carrot. Chew call 'em horse nettle. Cut it up jes' lak carrot an' put it in whiskey an' den dat brings a man's powah back up ag'in.
(You cut like what?)
Jes' lak yo' cut okra - jes' lak yo' cut up okra an' drink it [with whiskey], an' dat will bring yo' powah back ag'in. An' when yo' git yo' powah back ag'in, yo'll have no feelin's fer dat [whiskey?].
Entry 7042
Yo' take dem li'le bitta minnow fish. Yo' see [you have seen] minnow fishes. Yo' take dem minnow fish an' git chew some whiskey an' let 'im [minnow] stay on it about two days. An' po' it [whiskey] off an' give it to 'em [man] an' he puke his entrails loose. An' he won' nevah take anothah drink. [The word entraiZs instead of guts is either false modesty, sheer habit, or respect for the white man. Fortunately this type of respect did not occur often. For other fish in this subsection on ALCOHOLICS, see preceding mar- gin titles CATFISH, FISH and following margin title MULLET.]
Entry 1661
Put whiskey roun' de do', dey [spirit] want tuh drink whiskey.
Spirit is bracketed editorial matter; the eligible whiskey placement instruction does not identify dey.
Entry 2708
A fellah told me that he wus at a place drinkin' somewheres an' he says, "One man says, "Ah dunno why ah come heah an' git mah whiskey, but ah does it," he says, "it's not because it's so nice an' clean, ' says, "but ah do come heah an' git it," he says. [Man who told my informant asks] "Well, why'd yo' reckon it wus go good?'[The drinker answer] "Well, ah don't know. But do you know, anothah fellah tole me dat she pees in it." [Cf. Menses, p.708.]
The whiskey reference is quoted dialogue within a reported account; the later contents allegation remains hearsay.
Entry 2784
Black candles - them is directly fo' enemies. De blue ones is fo' luck and de white ones are fo' luck. And dese here red ones is for whiskey drinking
[to reform a drunkard].
The informant’s whiskey-drinking wording is followed by a separate editorial explanation.