Obeah is the practice of utilizing supernatural forces through spells, rituals, and herbs. It is most often practiced in the British West Indies, with most of its practitioners being of African descent. The term “Obeah” derives from the Comorantee and Ashanti words “Obeye” and “Obay-ifo,” which translates to “wizard,” “witch,” or “herbalist.” However, during the 18th century, the word was redefined by British colonialists to refer to enslaved persons of African descent who engaged in spirituality and herbal medicines. It must be noted that Britain transported and enslaved African people from modern-day Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Togo, and Central Africa. The tribes from those regions include (but are not limited to) the Comorantee, Ashanti, Akan, Yoruba, Ibo, and Ibibio peoples. Therefore, it was not uncommon for enslaved persons to work alongside others who spoke different languages and practiced different spiritualities. Despite this diversity among enslaved persons, British colonialists used the term “Obeah” as a blanket term for all West African spiritual practices in the English-speaking West Indies. Nevertheless, over time enslaved persons banded together, Creolize their spiritualities, and on multiple occasions used it as a tool to encourage insurgency, revolt, and freedom.

Maroon Plantation Wars 1728-1740.

Between 1728–1740, the island of Jamaica was undergoing a war between the Maroons, a cast of enslaved persons who had run away from their enslavers. During this period, this band was led by a woman named Nanny, also referred to as Queen Nanny. Nanny was also an Obeah woman who derived from the Ashanti tribe in present-day Ghana. Throughout the wars, Nanny would cast spells and enact rituals for and with the comrades to ensure they would have a successful battle with as little injury as possible. Furthermore, with the Maroons’ knowledge of herbs, they employed them to heal their suffering ailments, and also to poison the plantation livestock and drinking water. 

The Art of Pretend?

Some Europeans associated African spirituality with communicating with the devil. Others argued that the engaging of African spirituality was an act of pretending; rather than being accused of engaging with the devil, persons of African descent were accused of pretending to have supernatural powers in order to manipulate and deceive the minds of others. Religion thus became a marker between truth and fallacy, and it became used to outline those who are civilized and those who are primitive, deluded and manipulative. This understanding of African spirituality is observed in Britain’s reaction to Tacky’s Revolt.

The Act to Remedy the Evils Arising from Irregular Assemblies of Slaves: Tacky’s Revolt and the Employment of Obeah.

• ‘And in order to prevent the many Mischiefs that may hereafter arise from the wicked Art of Negroes going under the appellation of Obeah Men and Women, pretending to have Communication with the Devil and other evil spirits, whereby the weak and superstitious are deluded into a Belief of their having full Power to exempt them whilst under their Protection from any Evils that might otherwise happen Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid that from and after the first day of June which will be in the year of our Lord One thousand Seven hundred and Sixty one [1761], any Negro or other Slave who shall pretend to any Supernatural Power, and be detected in making use of any Blood, Feathers, Parrots Beaks, Dogs Teeth, Alligators Teeth, Broken Bottles, Grave Dirt, Rum, Egg-shells or any other Materials relative to the Practice of Obeah or Witchcraft in order to delude and impose on the Minds of others shall upon Conviction thereof before two Magistrates and three Freeholders suffer death or Transportation any thing in this Act or any other Law to the contrary notwithstanding.’

Tacky’s Revolt

Tacky, the leader of a revolt, had an Obeah to motivate its insurgents. The Obeah conducted a sacred oath ritual that employed gunpowder, grave dirt, human blood, and rum. According to the Obeah, the ritual would ensure that the insurgents would be immune to bullets from plantation owners. Insurgents would also be encouraged by the threat of facing extreme pain and death if they broke the oath and opted out of the revolt. On behalf of British colonialists, it was argued on moral terms that Obeah should not be practiced in the West Indies because it was an abuse of power and subjugation of the minds of other enslaved persons. 

The Woman of the Popo Country: One of the First Obeah Prosecutions.

In Jamaica, an enslaved woman of African descent who was locally known as the ‘Woman of Popo Country’ was accused of Obeah when her enslaver returned to the island in 1775. The enslaver had come back to find that multiple of the people he enslaved had passed. More enslaved persons continued to fall ill and pass away despite the medical treatment he provided them. An enslaved woman thus approached him and revealed that her stepmother was an Obeah woman and the cause of the illnesses on the plantation. As a result, the enslaver sold the ‘Woman of Popo County’ to Spanish enslavers in Cuba. The illnesses thus disappeared, and the plantation functioned as usual.

Cindy Brooks: The Last Obeah Prosecution.

In 1964, an Afro-Jamaican woman named Cindy Brooks was arrested and charged with the practice of Obeah. She had received a parcel from the United States that contained holy oil and a magic book called Occultism, written by an American author named L.W. De Laurence. She had received the parcel from a relative who worked at the author’s company and advised Cindy to use these items as she was being haunted by ‘duppies’ in her sleep at the time. She was sentenced to £25 or 3 months on each charge.

L.W. De Laurence: Book of Occultism

This magic spell book was printed in the 19th century (1898). It was written by a white American man from Chicago, named L.W. De Laurence. Many Obeah practitioners hold this book to be very important. Many consider L.W. De Laurence to be one of the most powerful wizards ever.

Obeah in Community

Rather than Obeah being practiced as a community that functions similarly to those under the Abrahamic branch (for example, gathering at weekly sermons, reciting scriptures and a collective of prayers), today, Obeah is most often practiced as a tool to alleviate troubling personal circumstances. Obeah practitioners may create spells and enact rituals for themselves or on behalf of others to attain love, success, or to exact revenge:

“Git your enemy's footprint and gather up dirt where he walked into a bag. Add salt and tie de bag on your wall. Then stick pins In th’ bag. Right away, wherever he may be, de foot or arm goan swell up and take sores.”

“Jumbie dust or grave dirt is powerful stuff. If it is sprinkled where an enemy walks in bare feet, his legs will soon start to itch, then swell up and begin burning with pain and break out in festering sores. Unless he gets help from the bush doctor and soaks in prescribed herb cures, he could get an infection and might even die. (“Carricou Jack, the obeah man, took de bones and teeth from a grave, and boil dem into tea, and de victim die ‘fore de ninth day!)”

Sensoria:

• Herbs

• Oils

• Spells

• L.W. De Laurence

Though Afro-Caribbeans descend from a history of colonization, transportation, enslavement, and erasure, to plantation revolts, emancipation, and independence--which amounts to more than four centuries of oppression--African spirituality is still deeply rooted within many sectors of the British West Indies. However, Obeah—the Creolization of these African spiritualities—is where it may be the most nurtured and protected. 

Despite these traces of African spiritualities and Obeah, they are often thought to be taboo in the West Indies. Still, the truth is that these practices are part of the foundation that built the West Indies to be a region characterized by its strength, resiliency, and independence. 

Obeah encapsulates what has been lost, and what continues to be ever-present. What is absent from this practice are the independent African spiritual practices that contributed to what is now known as “Obeah.” However, what is present in practice, are the general practices that seem to be shared amongst the African spiritualities that contributed to Obeah. 

Obeah is not a scripture based practice. Much of its knowledge is passed around through oral narratives. However, scripture is not necessarily missing from the archive, as many West African spiritualities are not scripture based as well. What is missing from the archive, however, are narratives regarding what it is like to be an Obeah, how it feels to be one, why one might become one, and particular spells and rituals that an Obeah might perform. 

Obeah is not a closed-practice in that one needs to be initiated into, rather it is one that is kept sacred between those that practice it. The demonization of African spiritual practices on behalf of European colonialists is just as deeply woven in the fabric of the West Indies as African spirituality is. “Obeah” has very negative connotations, and the policing of it is likely what pushed it to become a practice not involving community, but one that is practiced independently and privately. As a result, the answers to the aforementioned questions posed above may be difficult to find.

Furthermore, because Obeah is demonized, and because it does not resemble religions under the Abrahamic branch, West Indian laws refrain from labeling it as a religion; therefore, those that practice it are not given the same rights as other religions. There are no weekly gatherings for Obeah rituals, or communal places of worship. Its healing practices are not recognized as well. Perhaps if Obeah had more support in the legal system, it would be more positively recognized.

The demonization and patrolling of Obeah is especially prevalent among locals living around practitioners as well. This quote is in reference to the decriminalization of Obeah in Trinidad and Tobago in the year 2000.

Trinidad and Tobago 2000, Representative Colm Imbert of their House of Commons: noted that, according to their dictionary definitions, “witchcraft” and “supernatural” were terms that implied that an individual practiced magic or had a relationship with the devil. Imbert explained, “This is why I am saying that I am having some difficulty with this legislation. From my Christian background, I am totally against any dealings with the devil.” He continued, “I would hate to be involved in anything in this Parliament where we are weakening the laws that deal with devil worship in this country. I cannot subscribe to any legislation that is going to promote and support the worship of the devil in this country.” (437)

Other words on Obeah

• “The range of epidemics, diseases, and physical abnormalities endemic to the British West Indies forced enslaved people, as well as estate owners, to supplement their limited health system with the curative skills of Africans dubbed “negro doctors” by those controlling colonial public health.”

• “‘Negro doctors’ possessed as much medical knowledge as many of the white journeyman practitioners. . . . ‘Negro doctors’ were often more successful than the whites in obtaining cures through their use of hot baths of herbs, or fermentations. . . . Slaves lacked confidence in the white physicians and so were reluctant to take their medicine, and claimed that the slave doctors never prescribed anything to be taken internally.”

• “European antidotes relied on “bleeding, blistering, and purging.” Yet, African medicinal knowledge of the “virtues of some indigenous plants,” the admin­istering of “hot baths,” and even African forms of “inoculation” against laws became indispensable to the health of the colony.” 

Haitian Revolution 

On August 14th, 1791, enslaved persons of African descent gathered in a wooded area called Bois Caiman, which was located outside of the local plantation. This meeting was led by Boukman Dutty, and Cecile Fatiman, and they set about a plan to disrupt the plantation economy. During the revolt, the enslaved would set the plantations on fire, so that work could not continue. However, what was notable about this meeting on August 14th, was that Cecile Fatiman, who was a spiritualist leader, carried out a Voodoo ritual to empower the enslaved persons for the revolt. Cecile became possessed with the lwah, Ezili Danto, and slit the neck of a pig. She then distributed its blood to the revolutionaries that would then drink it, and swear an oath to fulfill their duties of the revolt. Voodoo thus became an important motivator in the overthrowing of the richest colony of the West Indies. 

Code Noir

Code Noir was a legal code created by King Louis XIV of France in the year of 1685. It was a set of rules that outlined the limits of enslavement and the legal status of enslaved Africans in the French colonies. It outlines that enslaved persons were to be baptized and instructed by the Catholic faith; enslaved persons could not work on Sundays and other holy days of worship; enslaved persons could marry; furthermore, children of enslaved mothers were to be enslaved, even if their fathers were not, whereas children of free mothers and enslaved fathers were born free, and children with both parents free were born free as well. Essentially, the idea was that although Africans were inherently “savages,” they still had souls needing to be saved; therefore, the French went about Catholicizing them. 

As a result, in order for the enslaved to connect with the higher powers they personally believed in, they assigned their deities that appeared most similar to the Catholic Saints. For example, on n All Saints Day, a day in which Catholics acknowledge and pray to Saints—who are persons that are believed to be in heaven—go to mass and perform rituals such as sing, read passages, and consuming the Eucharist, persons who practice Voodoo celebrate Fête Gédé, which in English is called Day of the Dead. 

Sensoria:

• Singing

• Dancing

• Drumming

• Hot peppers

• Rum

• Signage

• Traditional garments

Voodoo is a very sophisticated practice. Despite all attempts of the French colonialists to erase the heritage of its enslaved, African spirituality continued to grow and strengthen through the guise of Catholicism. Furthermore, Voodoo is an empowering practice. It is what motivated enslaved persons to revolt against their enslavers, which thus led to emancipation. 

Voodoo encapsulates what has been lost, and what continues to be ever-present. What is absent from this practice are the independent African spiritual practices that contributed to what is now known as “Voodoo.” What were they called? How were they practiced? However, what is present in practice, are the general practices that seem to be shared amongst the African spiritualities that contributed to Voodoo.

Voodoo continues to be made absent through those who understand it to be demonic. It is often the one for blame if one experiences hardship, illness, or death: 

Vodou is commonly blamed. “The Church becomes a refuge because people fear Vodou. [It] is presented as evil,” Bazin said. Christian churches in Haiti have long used Vodou as a recruitment tool by presenting it as “against God.” And when the religion was slandered as “uncivilized” by Western nations, past Haitian governments sought to allay foreign fears and exert control over practitioners by criminalizing Vodou in the country. Still, cultural remnants of Vodou are present in the everyday lives of many Haitian Christians—whether they admit it or not.

Works Cited

1. Barima, Kofi Boukman. "Cutting across space and time: Obeah's service to Jamaica's freedom struggle in slavery and emancipation." Journal of Pan African Studies 9, no. 4 (2016): 16+. Gale Literature Resource Center (accessed May 19, 2023). 

2. Bernard, Ian. “Queen Nanny of the Maroons (? - 1733) ” Queen Nanny of the Maroons (1733) January 23, 2023. 

3. BOAZ, DANIELLE N. “OBEAH, VAGRANCY, AND THE BOUNDARIES OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: ANALYZING THE PROSCRIPTION OF ‘PRETENDING TO POSSESS SUPERNATURAL POWERS’ IN THE ANGLOPHONE CARIBBEAN.” Journal of Law and Religion 32, no. 3 (2017): 423–48. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26855622.

4. Brown, Vincent. Tacky’s Revolt : the Story of an Atlantic Slave War. Cambridge, Massachusetts ;: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2020.

5. Diana Paton. “Witchcraft, Poison, Law, and Atlantic Slavery.” The William and Mary Quarterly 69, no. 2 (2012): 235–64. 

6. Eltis, David. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 16, no. 2 (1985): 365–67. https://doi.org/10.2307/204213.

7. Haitian Revolution Image Collection. London, England: Bridgeman Art Library, n.d.

8. Hucks, Tracey E. Obeah, Orisa, and Religious Identity in Trinidad. Volume I, Obeah : Africans in the White Colonial Imagination. 1st ed. Durham: Duke University Press, 2022.

9. Ogundiran, Akinwumi, and Paula Saunders, eds. Materialities of Ritual in the Black Atlantic. Indiana University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt16gh620.

10. Paton, Diana. The Cultural Politics of Obeah: Religion, Colonialism and Modernity in the Caribbean World. Critical Perspectives on Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University

11. Press, 2015. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139198417.

12. Popkin, Jeremy D. A Colonial Society in a Revolutionary Era. A Concise History of the Haitian

13. Revolution. Malden, Mass. :: Wiley-Blackwell,, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444347531.

14. Sharpe, Jenny. Ghosts of Slavery a Literary Archaeology of Black Women’s Lives. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003.

15. Strackbein-Bussey, Max. “Magic and Divination in Jamaica’s Freedom Struggle, 1728-1824.”ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 2021.

Videos

1. PREEFLIX. 2023. "OBEAH MAN IN JAMAICA?" YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeiSaqkWCT8 

2. Sacred Mysteries World Wide. 2022. "Calling on Ancestor Blessings: Prayer Song (a nod to Gullah Geechee culture)" YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtVsClxa3m4 

3. Television Jamaica. 2019. "TVJ News Today: Obeah vs Spirituality - June 18th 2019" YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-FhifLThkI&t=41s 

4. Television Jamaica. 2013. "The Obeah Conundrum..." YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Pev92Z2Lg&t=50s 

5. VICE Life. 2016. "Meet the Vodou Priestess Summoning Spirits in Post-Earthquake Haiti." YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqSrTRu53Jc