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* Bahamian singer [[Exuma_(musician)|Exuma]] recorded the song "Obeah Man", which was included on his eponymous debut album in 1970.
* Bahamian singer [[Exuma_(musician)|Exuma]] recorded the song "Obeah Man", which was included on his eponymous debut album in 1970.
* African American singer, pianist and [[civil rights]] activist [[Nina Simone]] took on the role of "Obeah Woman" in the song of the same name which she performed live on ''[[It is Finished]]'' (1974). She used this image of a powerful African witch, who "could hug the sun, kiss the moon and eat thunder" to manifest her rage concerning the situation of African-Americans at the time.
* African American singer, pianist and [[civil rights]] activist [[Nina Simone]] took on the role of "Obeah Woman" in the song of the same name which she performed live on ''[[It is Finished]]'' (1974). She used this image of a powerful African witch, who "could hug the sun, kiss the moon and eat thunder" to manifest her rage concerning the situation of African-Americans at the time.
* The film ''[[Meet Joe Black]]'' features a Guyanese woman who calls the title character an "obeah man" (translated as "evil spirit") until she has learned that he is in fact a personification of [[Death]].
* The film ''[[Meet Joe Black]]'' features a Jamaican woman who calls the title character an "obeah man" (translated as "evil spirit") until she has learned that he is in fact a personification of [[Death]].
* A [[chutney music]] duo [[Babla & Kanchan]] sang a song entitled "Obeah".
* A [[chutney music]] duo [[Babla & Kanchan]] sang a song entitled "Obeah".
* Obeah is a [[Salubri]] clan discipline in [[White Wolf]]'s Role-playing game ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]''.
* Obeah is a [[Salubri]] clan discipline in [[White Wolf]]'s Role-playing game ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]''.

Revision as of 02:57, 6 July 2010

Template:Twootheruses

Obeah (sometimes spelled Obi, Obea or Obia) is a term used in the West Indies to refer to folk magic, sorcery, and religious practices derived from West African, and specifically Igbo origin.[1] Obeah is similar to other African derived religions including Palo, Voodoo, Santeria, rootwork, and most of all hoodoo. Obeah is practiced in Suriname, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Belize, the Bahamas and other Caribbean countries.[2]

Obeah is associated with both benign and malignant magic, charms, luck, and with mysticism in general. In some Caribbean nations, Obeah refers to folk religions of the African diaspora. In some cases, aspects of these folk religions have survived through synthesis with Christian symbolism and practice introduced by European colonials and slave owners. Casual observation may conclude that Christian symbolism is incorporated into Obeah worship, but in fact may represent clandestine worship and religious protest.

Origins

In parts of the Caribbean where Obeah existed slaves were taken from a variety of African nations with differing spiritual practices and religions, it is from these arrivals and their spiritualisms that Obeah originates. The theory of origin that is most accepted and is supported by the W. E. B. Du Bois Institute database[3] traces obeah to the dibia or obia (Igbo: doctoring)[4] traditions of the Igbo people.[5][6] Specialists in Obia (also spelled Obea) were known as Ndi Obia (Igbo: Obia people) and practiced the same activities as the obeah men and women of the Caribbean like predicting the future and manufacturing charms.[1][7] Among the Igbo there were oracles known as ọbiạ which were said to be able to talk.[8] Parts of the Caribbean where Obeah was most active imported a large amount of its slaves from the Igbo dominated Bight of Biafra.[3]

In another theory, the Efik language is the root of obeah where the word obeah comes from the Efik ubio meaning 'a bad omen'.[9] The last theory of the origin of Obeah lies with the Ashanti who called their priests practices Obayifo (Akan: witchcraft).[10] There is also evidence of Akan names among Obeah men of the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries.[3] The Akan origin of Obeah has been criticised by several writers with an Igbo origin thought to be more likely.[11] However, in colonies where Bight of Biafra slaves were less represented and Akan were plenty (Suriname and Guyana) Obeah is thought to be more of a mixture of Akan beliefs.[3]

Obeah came to mean any physical object, such as a talisman or charm, that was used for evil magical purposes.[12] Obeah incorporated various beliefs from the religions of later migrants to the colonies it was present. Hinduism became one of these religions when Hindu-Indian indentured servants started arriving in the Caribbean. Obeah also influenced other religions in the Caribbean, e.g Christianity which incorporated some Obeah beliefs.[2]

History

During the mid 19th century the appearance of a comet[which?] in the sky became the focal point of an outbreak of religious fanatical millennarianism among the Myal men of Jamaica. Spiritualism was at that time sweeping the English-speaking nations as well, and it readily appealed to those in the Afro-Caribbean diaspora, as spirit contact, especially with the dead, is an essential part of many African religions.

During the conflict between Myal and Obeah, the Myal men positioned themselves as the "good" opponents to "evil" Obeah. They claimed that Obeah men stole people's shadows, and they set themselves up as the helpers of those who wished to have their shadows restored. Myal men contacted spirits in order to expose the evil works they ascribed to the Obeah men, and led public parades which resulted in crowd-hysteria that engendered violent antagonism against Obeah men. The public "discovery"[according to whom?] of buried Obeah charms, presumed to be of evil intent, led on more than one occasion to violence against the rival Obeah men.

Laws were passed that limited both Obeah and Myal traditions[which?], but due to the outrages perpetrated by the mobs of Myalists, the British government of Jamaica sent many Myal men to prison[when?], and this, along with the failure of their millennialist Christian prophesies, resulted in a lessening influence for Myalism, while Obeah remained a vital form of folk magic in Jamaica. By the early 20th century, Myalism was considered a thing of the past, and Obeah dominated.

Obeah in Trinidad and Tobago

One aspect of Obeah which is familiar to Trinidad & Tobago, though not all other nations where Obeah is practiced, is the Moko-Jumbie, or stilt dancer. In the Trinidad & Tobago Obeah tradition, a Jumbie is an evil or lost spirit, related to the Kongo word Nzumbi, which led to the sensationalistic Zombies of Hollywood. Jumbie however, retains more of the word's original meaning. It is sometimes associated with a child who has died before being baptized; such a child is called a Douen and is said to be forced to forever walk the earth at night and is easily identified by its backward-facing feet. The connection between the Jumbie and death is extended into botany: Abrus precatorius, a species of tropical legume bears deadly toxic red and black seeds called Jumbies, Jumbie Eyes and Jumbie Beads in English-speaking regions of the Caribbean. By contrast, the Moko-Jumbie of Trinidad & Tobago is brightly colored, dances in the daylight, and is very much alive. The Moko-Jumbie also represents the flip-side of spiritual darkness, as stilt-dancing is most popular around holy days and Carnival.

Obeah in literature

Although 18th-century literature mentions Obeah often, one of the earliest references to Obeah in fiction can be found in 1800, in William Earle's novel Obi; or, The History of Three-Finger'd Jack, a narrative inspired by true events that was also reinterpreted in several dramatic versions on the London stage in 1800 and following.[13] One of the next major books about Obeah was Hamel, the Obeah Man (1827). Several early plantation novels also include Obeah plots.

The 20th century saw less actual Obeah in open practice, yet it still appears quite often in fiction and drama. The following is only a partial list:

Notes

  1. ^ a b Eltis, David; Richardson, David (1997). Routes to slavery: direction, ethnicity, and mortality in the transatlantic slave trade. Routledge. p. 88. ISBN 0-714-64820-5.
  2. ^ a b Incayawar, Mario; Wintrob, Ronald; Bouchard, Lise; Bartocci, Goffredo (2009). Psychiatrists and Traditional Healers: Unwitting Partners in Global Mental Health. John Wiley and Sons. p. 222. ISBN 0-470-51683-6.
  3. ^ a b c d Rucker, Walter C. (2006). The river flows on: Black resistance, culture, and identity formation in early America. LSU Press. p. 40. ISBN 0-807-13109-1.
  4. ^ Eltis, David; Richardson, David (1997). Routes to slavery: direction, ethnicity, and mortality in the transatlantic slave trade. Routledge. p. 74. ISBN 0-714-64820-5.
  5. ^ Obeah. Merriam Webster. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
  6. ^ Chambers, Douglas B. (2009). Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia. Univ. Press of Mississippi. pp. 14, 36. ISBN 1-604-73246-6.
  7. ^ Desch-Obi, J. (2008). Fighting for honor: the history of African martial art traditions in the Atlantic world. Univ of South Carolina Press. p. 58. ISBN 1-570-03718-3. {{cite book}}: |first1= missing |last1= (help)
  8. ^ McCall, John Christensen (2000). Dancing histories: heuristic ethnography with the Ohafia Igbo. University of Michigan Press. p. 148. ISBN 0-472-11070-5.
  9. ^ Metcalf, Allan A. (1999). The world in so many words: a country-by-country tour of words that have shaped our language. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 78. ISBN 0-395-95920-9.
  10. ^ Chambers, Douglas B. (2009). Murder at Montpelier: Igbo Africans in Virginia. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 263. ISBN 1-604-73246-6.
  11. ^ Konadu, Kwasi (2010). The Akan Diaspora in the Americas. Oxford University Press US. p. 140. ISBN 0-195-39064-4.
  12. ^ Delbourgo, James. "Gardens of life and death". bottom: British Society for the History of Science: 3. Retrieved 07-06-2010. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ^ Obi

See also

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