Obeah in the Caribbean

This post is dedicated to my great-grandmother, Evlyn Mason Burnside ( Order of Eastern Star Lodge Queen(Nassau)/Obeahwoman. 
 Obeah ( in the Bahamas ) is the phenomenon of the supernatural. It renders evil or good; makes dreams come true; influences individuals either for their demise or holding them in one's power. It can cause an illness, either physical or mental or can cure any physical or mental problems.  It is a type of spiritualism, surrounded by many tales of unexplained phenomena, and surrounded with superstitions that evolve into a plethora of articles (fetishes), bush medicines, signs and specific directions as to what one may do. Obeah relates to the' supernatural, but is not indigenous to the Bahamas. Haiti has its "Voodoo", Trinidad and Cuba, "Shango", Cuba, "Santeria". In fact, wherever African slaves were transported and settled, African religious beliefs, healings and superstitions were taken and are still in evidence today. It is interesting to note that people in the American South (Black & White), have similar beliefs that are found in the Caribbean. Many "unexplained" mysteries, supernatural happenings and illnesses are ascribed to the influence of being "belted", "fixed", "hagged", "obeahed" or "placed under a spell".

Check this out:

In 1760, slave owning legislators in Jamaica passed this Act "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 in a belief of their having full power to exempt them, whilst under their protection, from any evils that might otherwise happen."

Accordingly, death or transportation was the penalty for any 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, Eggshells or any other materials relative to the practise of Obeah or witchcraft, in order to delude and impose on the minds of others." This statute did not define Obeah, but some years later a Committee of the Privy Council attempted a definition of Obeah:

"It is very common among these people, who have so small a portion of human endowments, for some to pretend to super-natural powers, and thereby to practise upon the imagination of those, who believe they can be protected by them from the harms of his life. This practise of witchcraft is commonly called Obeah, and is always made an offense punishable with death."

Thus, in Jamaica, from 1760 until the abolition of slavery, the provision against the practise of Obeah became a permanent feature of the slave laws.

"Legislators throughout the Caribbean, and the white population, generally believed that Obeah was a force to be reckoned with, and they saw in the 'Obeah man' the incarnation of all that was evil, including their own destruction." 

An example of some of the convictions in Jamaica was described by Dr. Madden:  In the criminal record book of the Parish of St. Andrews, I find the following Obeah cases:

1773 - Sarah, tried 'for having in her possession cats' teeth, cats' claws, cats' jaws, hair, beads, knotted cords, and other materials relative to the practise of Obeah, to delude and impose on the minds of the negroes' - sentenced to be transported.
1776 - Solomon, 'for having materials in his possession for the practise of Obeah' – sentenced to be transported.
1777 - Tony, 'for practising Obeah, or witchcraft, on a slave named Fortune, by means of which said slave became dangerously ill' —not guilty.
1782 - Neptune, 'for making use of rum, hair, chalk, stones, and other materials relative to the practise of Obeah. or witchcraft' —to be transported.

  

excerpt from pg. 55, Ten, Ten The Bible Ten : Obeah in the Bahamas, McCartney (1976)