The Goophered Grapevine: Folk Magic, Slavery, and Southern Folklore

THE CONJURE WOMAN
“The Goophered Grapevine” is the first story in *The Conjure Woman* It is told from the perspective of Uncle Julius, an elderly Black man who narrates the story to a Northern white couple, John and Annie, who are considering buying an old Southern plantation with a once-thriving grapevine.

Uncle Julius warns the couple that the vineyard is “goophered” (cursed). He tells the tale of how, many years earlier, the enslaved people on the plantation were forbidden from eating the grapes after the master hired a conjure woman named Aunt Peggy to place a curse on the vineyard. According to Uncle Julius, anyone who ate the grapes would suffer a horrible fate.

A man named Henry, unaware of the curse, ate some of the grapes and began to wither away. The master took Henry to Aunt Peggy, who gave him a remedy that connected Henry's health to the grapevines: every spring, as the vines bloomed, Henry became younger and stronger, but in the fall, as the grapes were harvested, he aged rapidly. Henry's life became a cycle of seasonal transformations, tied to the vineyard’s fortunes.

Eventually, the vineyard is sold to a Northern speculator who ignores the curse and tries to exploit the grapes for profit. His neglect of the vineyard leads to its destruction, and Henry dies, having lost his connection to the vines.

By telling this story, Uncle Julius subtly discourages the couple from purchasing the vineyard, but John later learns that Uncle Julius has been using the vineyard for his own benefit. Nevertheless, he buys the land.

The story is a blend of folklore and social commentary, highlighting the complex and often manipulative relationships between the freedmen and their white counterparts in the post-Civil War South.