The West Indian Perspective On Witchcraft?

Witchcraft and poisoning were closely connected for West Africans and Europeans in the eighteenth-century Caribbean. An Obeah figure was brought to England in 1888, taken by Historian Rosalind Shaw. O’Neal’s “Obeah, Race and Racism: Caribbean Witchcraft in the English Imagination” draws extensively from travelogues, diaries, newspaper reports, colonial enquiries, novels, short stories, and boys’ adventure papers to demonstrate that witchcraft remains alive and hexing in the West Indies.

Between 1999 and 2001, several panics revolving around the suspected use of Obeah, a god of death in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, occurred on the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica. Gede, the god of death, is represented as an undertaker with black clothes and wears black clothing. Witchcraft is not religious but is a form of spiritual power, and anyone can be a witch.

O’Neal provides a thorough and interdisciplinary overview of the theory and practice of magic in the West in twenty years. Obeah is perhaps the oldest of all Afro-Creole religions in the Caribbean, derived from the Ashanti words Obay-ifo or Obeye, meaning wizard or witch. Some scholars contest this, but many people view these practices as taboo.

In the 1600s, the West Indies rapidly became Europe’s hub, and accusations of witchcraft were a culturally logical response to socioeconomic anxieties. However, until this article, it was never documented the school panics surrounding witchcraft in the West Indies.

What is Obeah in the West Indies?

Obeah, also known as Obiya or Obia, is a term for African diasporic religious, spell-casting, and healing traditions primarily found in the former British colonies of the Caribbean. These practices derive from West African traditions but also incorporate elements of European and South Asian origin. Many practitioners avoid the term Obeah due to its pejorative connotations in many Caribbean societies. Obeah practitioners are ritual specialists who offer a range of services to paying clients, often referring to themselves as “scientists”, “doctors”, or “professors”.

Important in these ritual systems is engagement with the spirits and the manipulation of supernatural forces. Healing practices, often incorporating herbal and animal ingredients, play a prominent role in Obeah. Other services include attempts to achieve justice for a client or provide them with spiritual protection. Cursing practices, involving the making of objects to cause harm or the production of poisons, also feature in Obeah.

During the Atlantic slave trade, thousands of West Africans were transported to Caribbean colonies controlled by the British Empire, where traditional African religious practices assumed new forms. The colonial elites disapproved of these traditions and introduced laws to prohibit them, using the term Obeah as a general label from the 1760s on. Since the 1980s, Obeah practitioners have campaigned to remove these legal restrictions, often under the aegis of religious freedom.

What is the pagan religion in the Caribbean?

Santería, the most well-known Afro-Cuban religion, is not the only one, with other Afro-Cuban traditions including Palo, Abakuá, Arará, and others. Santería has commonalities with other West African and West African-derived traditions in the Americas, collectively forming the “Orisha religion” or “Orisha Tradition”. Haitian Vodou and Brazilian Candomblé are sometimes characterized as “sister religions” of Santería due to their shared origins in Yoruba traditional religion.

Santería in Cuba was not just a continuation of Yoruba religious and cultural practices but something new, born from the encounter of diverse Yoruba tribes with one another, non-Yoruba Africans, and Europeans in a new environment and social order governed by different institutions than those of Africa. Santería is a flexible and eclectic tradition with considerable variation in how it is practiced, with no strict orthodoxy, key sacred text, or central authority in control.

It has absorbed elements from many cultures, such as Chinese migrants who came to Cuba in the 19th century, Central American and Mexican religions, New Age and modern Pagan practices, and many of its practitioners claim multiple religious allegiances.

Some priests and priestesses of Santería refuse to initiate anyone who is not a baptized Roman Catholic, while others consider themselves Spiritists, Hindus, Vodouists, or Jews.

What is West Indies most known for?

The West Indies is a multicultural, multilingual, and multinational archipelago of islands with aboriginal, European, African, and Asian ancestry. Christopher Columbus coined the term “West Indies” during his first voyage to the Western Hemisphere in 1492, visiting the Bahamas, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and St. Croix. The region is also known as the Caribbean, named after the Kalinago or Carib indigenous people.

However, not all countries in the Caribbean Sea are considered part of the West Indies. The Lucayan archipelago and the Caribbean archipelago, comprising the Greater and Lesser Antilles, are traditionally considered part of the West Indies.

What is the spirituality of the Caribbean?

Caribbean spirituality is a fluid signifier that reflects the diverse cultures and traditions of the region. It is characterized by its defiance of easy definition and resistance to domination. Despite the prevalence of Christianity in the region, Caribbean spirituality has evaded empiricism, reflecting an anticolonial and resistant epistemology. The syncretism of Caribbean spirituality reflects an inherent antagonism between the consciousness of the black masses and the reality of their lives. These practices exercise an Africa or India that is deeply rooted in the culture that sustains and defines the region, even causing deep anxiety surrounding the question of “civilization”.

Questions of spirituality in the Caribbean are questions of power, rather than what these beliefs and practices are. Many of these practices have been or remain illegal and performed in opposition to the colonial state, but remain integral to Caribbean being and self-determination. The syncretism of Caribbean religion reflects a unity that is constantly negotiated and negotiable, defined by difference.

This commitment to the spiritual has sustained the Caribbean people throughout their kidnap and colonization, shielding them from total annihilation by the “rational” materialism of their colonizers. Through the spirit, the dispossessed can be repossessed and navigate modernity and its aftershocks.

What is African witchcraft called?

African witchcraft traditions are diverse, reflecting the continent’s rich tapestry of cultures and belief systems. These practices range from healing and divination to the worship of ancestral spirits and deities. Notable African witchcraft traditions include Vodun, Hoodoo, Santería, the Ifá/Orisha religion, and Candomblé, each with its unique blend of African, indigenous, and sometimes Christian or Catholic influences.

Scholars at Duke University found Bantu-Kongo influences in Black populations in the Americas, such as the continuation of Nkisi and Nkisi Nkondi traditions and Kongo burial traditions among African Americans in the Southern United States. These practices were done to ward places from evil spirits, conjure spirits of the dead and ancestral spirits, and for spiritual protection against witchcraft.

Conjure in Africa and the Black diaspora can be used for both negative and positive purposes, with the positive purpose being protection against evil witches who cast spells on innocent people. Many of these traditions have roots in specific African ethnic groups and have evolved over centuries in the diaspora, particularly in the Americas and the Caribbean. African witchcraft traditions play a vital role in preserving cultural heritage, offering spiritual guidance, and providing a sense of community and identity for practitioners.

What religion is West Indies?

The West Indies, a subregion of North America, spans 239, 681 km2 and includes 13 independent island countries and 19 dependencies in three archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Lucayan Archipelago. The region is home to 73. 5 million Christians, with 52. 3 Catholicism, 20. 2 Protestantism, 1. 0 other Christian, 20. 6 no religion, 2. 5 folk religions, 2. 1 Hinduism, and 1. 3 others.

The region is surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and is home to 13 independent island countries and 19 dependencies in three archipelagos: the Greater Antilles, the Lesser Antilles, and the Lucayan Archipelago.

The West Indies is also home to 13 independent island countries and 19 dependencies in the Caribbean, including Anguilla, Aruba, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curaçao, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the US Virgin Islands.

What does Obeah mean in Jamaican?

Obeah is a belief in the power of spirits or supernatural agents to cause harm or prevent mischief. Originating from the Ashanti and Koromantin tribes of Africa, Obeah was introduced to the Caribbean by imported slaves as early as the mid-17th century. These men and women played a significant role in Caribbean slave societies, serving as community leaders and teachers of African folk’s cultural heritage.

Many Africans believed that Obeah men had the ability to render someone invincible, resuscitate the dead, cure all diseases, protect a man from the consequences of his crimes, and cause great harm to anyone he wished.

The most powerful gift of Obeah was not his ability to steal people’s shadows, as described in the act of obeah or “hexing”, but his intricate knowledge of herbs and poisons. The term Obeah also suggested the word “poison” in the Caribbean plantations, as this was the preferred and most effective tool that this practitioner of “magic” had at his disposal. Through the use of herbs and medicine, Obeah could miraculously cure or poison a person to death.

Obeah was not only used as a source of power through its association with the supernatural but also with political power, specifically slave rebellions and other forms of resistance in Jamaica. They played a central role in the conception and development of any serious attempt at rebellion, providing an “ideological rallying point” in sanctioning an open rebellion. They maintained the link between traditional African culture opposed colonial rule and the Creole (Caribbean born) slaves.

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 ritual involved drawing blood from every person present, mixing it with gunpowder and grave dirt, and administering an oath to pledge inviolable secrecy, fidelity to their chiefs, and to wage perpetual war against their enemies. Few or none of them have ever been known to violate this oath or desist from the full execution of it, even though several years may intervene.

Why are Jamaicans called West Indies?

The Caribbean islands were first reached by Columbus in 1492, subsequently becoming a focal point for European colonial rivalry following their opening by the Spanish in the 16th century. The cultivation of sugar was introduced, and the population was transformed by the mass importation of West African slaves for agricultural labor. The descendants of these immigrants now constitute the largest ethnic group in the population.

Which European country is known for witchcraft?

In Early Modern European tradition, witches were often women, and European pagan beliefs in witchcraft were associated with the goddess Diana. Between 1450 and 1750, there were an estimated 110, 000 witchcraft trials in Europe, with half of the accused being executed. Witch-hunts first appeared in southern France and Switzerland during the 14th and 15th centuries, with the peak years in southwest Germany from 1561 to 1670.

It was believed that individuals with power and prestige were involved in witchcraft and cannibalism, possibly due to Europe’s involvement in the slave trade. Early converts to Christianity sought Christian clergy to work magic more effectively than the old methods under Roman paganism, and Christianity provided a methodology involving saints and relics, similar to the gods and amulets of the Pagan world.

The Protestant Christian explanation for witchcraft often involves a diabolical pact or appeal to the intervention of the spirits of evil. Witches or wizards engaged in such practices were alleged to reject Jesus and the sacraments, observe “the witches’ sabbath”, pay divine honor to the Prince of Darkness, and receive preternatural powers in return. A Devil’s Mark was believed to be placed on a witch’s skin by the devil to signify this pact.

What is the West Indies culture?

The West Indies countries share a common culture due to their experiences as plantation colonies. The Caribbean people’s culture is a blend of African, American Indian, European, and Asian influences. The islands take pride in their lively cultural scenes, including dances, parties, and festivals, particularly annual carnival celebrations. Reggae music, now world-renowned, originated in Jamaica. Modern Caribbean literature is influenced by writers and philosophers of the West Indies, including those who emigrated elsewhere.

Notable names include Aimé Césaire (Martinique), V. S. Naipaul (Trinidad), Jean Price-Mars and Edwidge Danticat (Haiti), and C. L. R. James and Derek Walcott. Press and broadcast media are best developed in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, but are present at least minimally in all political units. The extent of government control varies considerably within the region. The region covers an area of 90, 339 square miles and has a population of 41, 116, 200 as of 2009.

What is the witchcraft practiced in the West Indies?

Obeah is a practice that involves two interrelated paths: the supernatural, which involves casting spells and warding off evil, and the medical authority, which involves the knowledge and use of plants and animal products to heal illnesses. This path was often seen as a means of resistance against European colonial control, as it was often used as a retaliation for violence against enslaved Africans.

The second path, influenced by Indigenous Caribbeans, was seen as less threatening than the supernatural force, but it was also subject to mockery and ridicule among European writers, as seen in Hans Sloane’s Narrative of Hercules from A Voyage To the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S Christophers, and Jamaica.