People who use them, rarely want to talk openly about it. Many of the pharmacists who sell the paraphernalia refused to talk on the record and did not want to be identified. Customers will mostly ignore questions about their Obeah purchases. But one young woman says she is after something that will "tie" her man, to stop him running off with other women.
It worked then and it works now," she says. But repealing the legislation will be tough. The Church associates Obeah with evil, others believe it is used to defraud vulnerable people, and many Jamaicans believe parliament has more important things to be getting on with, like tackling crime or improving the economy. It is a sentiment shared by former Prime Minister Edward Seaga.
He is an expert in Jamaican anthropology, and does not believe decriminalisation would make a difference. I don't remember the last time someone was arrested," he says. I don't think criminalising it one way or another will make much difference to its survival. Judge, the practitioner in St Mary, agrees. He says he will continue what he does regardless of what the politicians decide. I don't vote for any of them, it's God I vote for.
I'll just keep doing what I do," he says. Haiti's Voodoo artists. Voodoo ritual sparks fatal fire. By far the most important contribution that the Obeah man made to the resistance of the slave system was his direct participation in the preparation of the insurrectionists for war.
The Obeah man would first administer an oath to African rebels that would bind them to never reveal to anyone the identity of the insurgents or the plans of the rebellion; to do so would bring upon the individual an agonizing death. A white Jamaican planter, Edward Long, best describes the ritual that the Obeah man initiated in order to administer the oaths: "Their priests, or obeiah-man, are their chief oracles in all weighty affairs, whether of peace, war, or the pursuit of revenge.
When assembled for the purposes of conspiracy, the obeiah-man, after various ceremonies, draws a little blood from every one present; this is mixed in a bowl with gunpowder and grave dirt; the fetish or oath is administered by which they solemnly pledge themselves to inviolable secrecy, fidelity to their chiefs, and to wage perpetual war against their enemies; as a ratification of their sincerity, each person takes a cup of the mixture, and this finishes the solemn rite.
Few or none of them have ever been known to violate this oath, or to desist from the full execution of it, even although several years may intervene. Long gives a detailed account of the capture of an Obeah man who was known to have administered many of these rituals in Jamaica: "In St. He was an old Coromantin, who, with others of his profession, had been a chief in counseling and instigating the credulous herd, to whom their priests administered a powder, which, being rubbed on their bodies, was to make them invulnerable.
They persuaded them into a belief, that their generalissimo [general] in the woods, could not possibly be hurt by the white men, for that he caught all the bullets fired at him in his hand, and hurled them back with destruction to his foes.
Beginning in , various laws were enacted in Jamaica as a precaution against slave rebellion. Later, planter legislators enacted laws banning nocturnal "gatherings" and religious practices. It had taken the planters more than years, from the first law that recognized the threat of rebellion , until they implemented a law that recognized the tripartite association between slave rebellion, obeah, and poisonings. Most of the slaves who wished to poison someone but lacked the knowledge turned to the Obeah man of the region to execute the act.
These types of personal services usually required a form of consideration. Obeah men were usually compensated for their services by their followers in the form of "donations": food, shelter or money. By accumulating a large amount of "favors" throughout a plantation or region the Obeah man gained personal power and was able to execute his wishes with ease. After the accident, the calls came in from friends and acquaintances. Most of the conversations did not end without the mention of Obeah.
No, man. Something wrong! Then came the nervous laugh. But seriously, even at this moment, magical powers are winning against proscription. In the current administration began to talk about decriminalizing Obeah.
The general feeling among Jamaicans is that such a move would enable practitioners to throw open the gates of hell. In this debate, I admit: I am with the undecided. Skeptical as I am about matters of the supernatural, I leave room for the inexplicable. My father is a brilliant and practical man, yet a believer.
I know what I have seen and yet refuse to completely embrace. Perhaps this half-hug is necessary. Maybe living with such duality is why I write stories that hover somewhere between myths and the mundane.
Regardless of public opinion, the law is on the back foot, so to speak. Sign up for the Daily Wander newsletter for expert travel inspiration and tips. Read our privacy policy. AFAR Advisor. Beaches International Beaches Islands U. Beaches Water Sports. Cities We Love. Holiday Travel. Road Trips. Travel for Good. Photo Essays. Travelers Choice Awards. Weekend Getaways. Air Travel.
Business Travel. Packing Tips. The Future of Travel.
0コメント