5 Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
7 But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.
8 In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.
9 But thou hast cast off, and put us to shame; and goest not forth with our armies.
10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
11 Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.
12 Thou sellest thy people for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us.
14 Thou makest us a byword among the heathen, a shaking of the head among the people.
15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face hath covered me,
16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth; by reason of the enemy and avenger.
17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way;
19 Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
21 Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.
24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust: our belly cleaveth unto the earth.
26 Arise for our help, and redeem us for thy mercies' sake.
Make a hex bag containing High John the Conqueror root, corn silk, and new salt. Once blessed, feed it with strong whiskey and pray: “As John conquered, so too shall I conquer; as everyone bowed to him, so shall all my enemies bow to me.” Finish in the name of the Trinity. Feed it weekly with the same prayer and carry it on the right side of the body or around the neck. As with all charms like this, never let it hit the ground or let anyone else touch it. If no one else even sees it or knows about it, all the better.
To get the upper hand in the workplace, in wooing a lover, or some similar situation, sprinkle new salt in your shoes.
Wear the person's picture or name paper facedown in your right shoe until it's worn and illegible. Replace it as needed.
If you don't know who is coming against you, write on a piece of brown paper “All my enemies” and mark three X's through it. With this make a poke bag containing false daisy, devil's shoestring, and ginseng root. When blessing the bag and praying over it, finish with: “the Devil can't dance when he's kneeling.” Wear this bag around your neck and feed it with whiskey.
UPROOT OR HOTFOOT
The term hotfoot has been used historically in Appalachia, from Virginia and Tennessee to Kentucky and North Carolina, as well as in the Deep South. Hotfoot means to go very fast or hightail it out of someplace. In Backwoods Witchcraft I called it uprooting, because that's what it does. It doesn't matter how long that person has been living in a place—if you work to uproot them, they'll up and go wherever, as long as it's far from you. Here are a few ways to achieve this:
Take a person's sock or shoe without them knowing, preferably the left one. Sprinkle in some salt, red pepper, and sulfur, then hide the shoe under the porch or somewhere on their property. They'll leave town soon—some say in weeks, others say in nine days.
Traditional hotfoot powders consisted of mixtures of black pepper and salt; sulfur and salt; salt and graveyard dirt; black pepper and alum; or black pepper and red pepper. This was cast on the person's doorstep or discreetly sprinkled through their home.
If you can't get near the person's residence or where they frequent before the next rain, you can make a doll of the person and fill the feet with the powder and the heart with any concerns you have of theirs. Bury this at a railroad track with the head pointing out of town or away from your house. If you can't make a doll, place their photo or hair in a jar of powder and shake it for nine days or until they leave while praying Psalm 35:1–6 three times each day over it:
1 Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord chase them.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the Lord persecute them.
Bury the jar at a crossroads when they leave.
Take their hair or photo and put it in a snuff box with salt and pepper. Throw this in the river.
Scatter pieces of lightning-struck wood around their home and under the porch.
