Do you believe in obeah?

[mammadon]

You scared of jumbie? Or don't touch a silkcotton tree? Or do or believe in other such stupidness? lol!!!

Did this thing come from Africa? Someone told me that in Ghana and Nigeria they don't touch silkcotton trees either, so maybe that's where it comes from.

[Amelia]

I believe obeah exists and like good, evil also has power. I do not believe that everything we categorse as obeah in this country is such. I think that just as there are many concepts of God and many varying religious practices in every culture, so too, there is the flip side so no, it does not originate from Africa only. Bec of our history however, our version of obeah may in large part come from Africa and India. (IMO dem pundits is the biggest obeahman...and some ah dem baptist priest)

[vaio]

Do you believe in obeah?

No! i don't believe that anyone has the power to control other ppl's lives or make things happen just because they do some stupidness. I believe in God and his powers. :geek:

[kristina]

A form of religious belief of African origin, practiced in some parts of the West Indies, Jamaica, and nearby tropical America, involving sorcery.
An object, charm, or fetish used in the practice of this religion.
Nope. I am a practicing RC :fro:

[draja]

This experience is not actually about obeah, but witnessed the invocation of someone-elses "spirit/jin" that had me shaking in my socks.
The individaul was a hindu priest living near Bournes Road in St. James who was able to go into some kind of trance and speak in the exact manner of the person he was invoking. The person being invoked was alive at the time, so I knew him and his voice.

I was also told in the days following Christ's resurrection that he travelled across India where he had several offpsings, and from those offsprings came "sages" etc who could do things that the common man could not.

One person I always suspected who knew more than the common man was Sewdas Sadhu the guy that built the "Temple In The Sea". As a kid I always played around the temple when it was originally being built. One of my friends decided to find out what was inside the temple one day and he pried the open the door to take a peek. Sadhu was no where in site, but a few days after he told my dad what this kid did and that I should be carefull not to follow him. The thing was how could he have known whose son I was and how/what happened that day.

[brag]

The power of the spirit to create delusions is what obeah is about. The spirit itself cannot harm anyone with self confidence as God, but the belief in obeah as good or bad can have a psychological effect on you.

[shield_2006]

A form of religious belief of African origin, practiced in some parts of the West Indies, Jamaica, and nearby tropical America, involving sorcery.
An object, charm, or fetish used in the practice of this religion.
Nope. I am a practicing RC :fro:

I take it that this is a d3efinition of some source and that the use of the word sorcery is culturally defined by the person doing the defining. I have seen Orisha Ceremonies and Kali Puja and I wonder if they would be defined as sorcery.

[Amelia]

It seems we need a definition to continue this discussion.

[shield_2006]

How About this?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Obeah (sometimes spelled "Obi") is a term used in the West Indies to refer to folk magic, sorcery, and religious practices derived from Central African and West African origins. Obeah can either be a form of 'dark' magic or 'good' magic. As such, Obeah is similar to Palo, Voodoo, Santeria, rootwork, and hoodoo. Obeah is practiced in Suriname, Jamaica, Haiti, the Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and many other Caribbean countries.

Obeah is associated with both benign and malign magic, charms, luck, and with mysticism in general. In some Caribbean nations Obeah refers to African diasporic folk religions; in other areas, Christians may include elements of Obeah in their religion. Obeah is often associated with the Spiritual Baptist church.

[Amelia]

Thanks shield. My initial post was in reference to 'bad' stuff as being obeah. Thus I dont see Kali pujas (animal sacrifice notwithstanding) or baptist ceremonies as obeah.

[shield_2006]

Thanks shield. My initial post was in reference to 'bad' stuff as being obeah. Thus I dont see Kali pujas (animal sacrifice notwithstanding) or baptist ceremonies as obeah.

You know what is interesting about this-Slaves would have brought their religious practices into a Victorian Christian environment and it would have been viewed as primitive and the connotation would have been passed on over the years.

Orisha also has animal sacrifice and so does the Bible. The element of evil contained in our folklore about ladiablesse?? and surfactant?? etc. derived from stories and fears-I suppose-and then the Haitian business of zombies-facilitated through the poison of the blow fish does not help. Evil exists in your heart and spirit and extends and is received by the susceptible and spiritually weak.

I also am advised that the Dutch buried their dead under the silk cotton tree and this apprehension arose out of the fear of disturbing the spirits of the dead.

Mind you I do believe evil exists in the world-look at Hitler, Botha Cheney and Bush-frankly-and the work of Satan in this country-despite what snowbird has said in another thread.

I once also heard that laziness is the evil an I wonder.

[jackndbox]

I am encouraged by the fact that we have transgressed the trappings of Christianity to the point that we can have an intellectual discussion regarding one of the few things that our ancestors were able to bequeath to us. Do not forget our ancestors were enslaved and adopted Christianity under the force of a whip, the threat of dismemberment and death. I am not Christian and proud of that fact. I could not adopt the religion of my oppressors, too many of my ancestors suffered at the hands of Christians. I embrace the religion of my ancestors, it may not be perfect but it is ours. I lost my true name, my language , the oral history of my forefathers and mothers but this is mine to keep nurture and pass on to my children.

[mammadon]

Do you believe in obeah?

No! i don't believe that anyone has the power to control other ppl's lives or make things happen just because they do some stupidness. I believe in God and his powers. :geek:

i still say obeah is dotish.

jumbies? steups. i'll believe it when i actually see one...

[shield_2006]

Do you believe in obeah?

No! i don't believe that anyone has the power to control other ppl's lives or make things happen just because they do some stupidness. I believe in God and his powers. :geek:

i still say obeah is dotish.

jumbies? steups. i'll believe it when i actually see one...[/quote

Careful what u wish for!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: As a matter of fact u do not have to go far-go 2 the nearest drug block -look for the big man and u will see evil and a jumbie-maybe not what u expect but look closer.

[hassanvoyeau]

NO

[Amelia]

I am encouraged by the fact that we have transgressed the trappings of Christianity to the point that we can have an intellectual discussion regarding one of the few things that our ancestors were able to bequeath to us.

Huh?
Ok lemme revisit my definition of obeah, in hopes of clarifying the view which follows.
IMO obeah is the bad stuff that ppl can do by employing the 'forces' of evil just as one can pray for good and do good by other ceremonies like jaraying or feng shui.
I dont see how one can believe in the good of a culture or religion and fail to accept that there must be a flip side to that.
So jack, I dont think that the issue of obeah have anything to do with christianity or lack thereof. A recent discussion with a local priest who once witnessed a pope-authorised exorcism revealed that one of the questions asked of the spirits possessing the person is 'who sent u'. It means therefore that persons can do this to someone.
We witness evil all the time. So I really dont know whats so shocking or unacceptable about there being a spiritual side to it.
As hindus, many of our ceremonies for the dead and acknowlege the fact that a person's spirit just do not leave their body and go to 'heaven'. There are different periods when, upon death, a person's spirit lingers around the family etc. Its in the garud puran. So yes, ghosts exist. Besides there are plenty indian pictures with the whole obeahman drama added and openly recognised and accepted.

There are so many cultures and religions across the world that understand that there is a bad to each good that I honestly wonder at the naivity of those who choose to remain blind. Closing your eyes does not make it disappear. :lol:

[Harry Williamn]

That is a hard question to answer beased upon what we have heard from what we may well believe to be

reliable sources and more than that what we may have ourselves experienced ih that arena!

[Spiderz]

Well NO. Why don't you ever see the headline that an Obeah Man wins the lotto.

[snowbird]

Do you believe in obeah?

No! i don't believe that anyone has the power to control other ppl's lives or make things happen just because they do some stupidness. I believe in God and his powers. :geek:

i still say obeah is dotish.

jumbies? steups. i'll believe it when i actually see one...

So I take it then that you do not believe in God either?

Seeing that the bible does talk about 'casting out devils', but also talks about 'miracles', I have to conclude that their may be some alternative to good, and some practices that can conjure up both.

[mammadon]

I see obeah as something different from christianity.

There is no real belief in spirits or ghosts in christianity. Jesus is part of God and not a ghost. nowhere in the bible does it say that a person's jumbie haunt dey house after dey dead or other such stupidness that people in trini believe. nor does it say you shouldn't go to graveyards after it gets dark cos ah jumbies. :lol:

i suppose i'm not a superstitious person as such. just seems almost infantile to believe that yuh dead partner's jumbie would haunt you or other dotishness.

[shield_2006]

I see obeah as something different from christianity.

There is no real belief in spirits or ghosts in christianity. Jesus is part of God and not a ghost. nowhere in the bible does it say that a person's jumbie haunt dey house after dey dead or other such stupidness that people in trini believe. nor does it say you shouldn't go to graveyards after it gets dark cos ah jumbies. :lol:

i suppose i'm not a superstitious person as such. just seems almost infantile to believe that yuh dead partner's jumbie would haunt you or other dotishness.

R U SURE OF WHAT YOU SPEAK-HAVE U EVER HEARD OF EXORCISM-DO YOU KNOW OF THE PRACTICE IN CHRISTIANITY?

[Angie]

I see obeah as something different from christianity.

There is no real belief in spirits or ghosts in christianity. Jesus is part of God and not a ghost. nowhere in the bible does it say that a person's jumbie haunt dey house after dey dead or other such stupidness that people in trini believe. nor does it say you shouldn't go to graveyards after it gets dark cos ah jumbies. :lol:

i suppose i'm not a superstitious person as such. just seems almost infantile to believe that yuh dead partner's jumbie would haunt you or other dotishness.

R U SURE OF WHAT YOU SPEAK-HAVE U EVER HEARD OF EXORCISM-DO YOU KNOW OF THE PRACTICE IN CHRISTIANITY?

I don't think he did or does.

[Hance]

To analyse what obeah is and by extension black magic, voodoo etc, it is important to understand that that good and evil is a matter of personal perceptions of situations. The categorisation of an act as either good or bad is dependent on one culture, religious beliefs, environment etc.

An act that may consider bad in our world and culture may be in fact "good" in some other culture in a different part of the world. It is very difficult to transcend the level of everyday categorisation of individual action into "good" or "bad" . When you able to rise above the influence of religion, culture and the environment you able to go above the average mentality whereby you are taken one step closer to enlightment.

I have a healthy respect towards all that we consider good and evil. You cannot defeat your enemy unless you understand him. I am a hindu by religion but I have read a lot of other relegious texts and in most religions the existence of an evil force is very evident .Example , in the bible the books of the old testaments have a lot of examples of what we consider to be evil acts or individuals with "evil powers". One example that comes to mind immediately is the story of Moses and his abilty to change his rod into snakes on an occasion when he confronted the Pharaoh . This was done through divine intervention. This miracle was matched by the high priests of Eygpt whereby purported dark magic was involved ( I beleive the snakes of Moses devoured the snakes of the Pharoahs) . Note that the Egyptian Book of The Dead is one of the founding pillars of modern day witchcraft. A lot of information was borrowed heavily by the likes of Allstair Crowley and Madame DuBarry from this book. If you believe in the bible , then you must admit that a parallel form evil existed from since the beginning of recorded history.

[simplecandice]

You scared of jumbie? Or don't touch a silkcotton tree? Or do or believe in other such stupidness? lol!!!

Did this thing come from Africa? Someone told me that in Ghana and Nigeria they don't touch silkcotton trees either, so maybe that's where it comes from.

I believe that exist.

[brag]

The same mind that can be molded by rituals to attain goodness can also be molded by rituals to attain evil. Yes, obeah is real only in the sense of believing the experiences caused by the mind. How the power of the mind is perceived is the issue. But as is also believed, nothing in this world is real--just a play of illusion by the dangling of the mind.

[Harry Williamn]

I dare you to Define what exactly is Obeah and give a manifest example of what needs to be accomplished by

Obeah for it to be Obeah as you define it!

If Obeah is real how come the Obeah man cannot foretell the Lotto Numbers ?

[brag]

Everything is as real as you believe the mind to be for the mind is a faculty for creating the illusion of winning and losing, happiness and sadness, right and wrong, good and bad, etc. The winning number is always there in the play of the illusion.

[shield_2006]

Suppose-Obeah-is actions taken with bad intentions-that result in negative results-like what we see unfolding in T&t. Bad intentions resulting in negative fallout. Negative energy creating negative results. SUPPOSE.

[jawake]

dare you to Define what exactly is Obeah and give a manifest example of what needs to be accomplished by

Obeah for it to be Obeah as you define it!

If Obeah is real how come the Obeah man cannot foretell the Lotto Numbers ?




The lotto man have a obeah man picking the numbers..... nutten easy so !

[shotta]

I am superstitious however on doing research on posting "The Claxton BaY Maiden" she visited my dreams in Florida. Hence why I stopped researching etc. Alot of people, me included don't understand how very delicate these beliefs are. It would be wise to leave them alone.

[letric]

In Africa as in the diaspora, he who is the obeah man - more commonly an elder,- has the gifts of insight, intuition, vision, strength of self preservation and the well-being of the community. But I know personally of the use of the Bible for casting out spells by the most devout Roman Catholics who would declare they will 'light a candle on the Mount St Benedict' to deal with an offender. In Trinidad & Tobago, the Shouters have a holiday and there is a greater level of comfort by the people to be themselves.

[tigerlillyorchid]

Obeah is very real and I guess you cannot really understand the impact that it has on you unless you have personally experienced it your self. Or even if a member of your immediate family has.
I speak from experience when I say that it's real but as with any thing where there is good believe me that evil exists side by side.
My experience has been with what we in trinidad would call a high science man or a lodge man .
Every night at exactly 12am - 3am when I was in my bed asleep I would feel my bed gently moving and I would feel as though the sheet was being pulled slowly from my body or my nightie would by slowly raised up or some thing would be tugging at my under wear.
In the beginning I did not take it on but in the morning I would wake up with fresh scratches on my arms, breast , thighs . However, as time went on it became worst and on a particular night I felt as if some one was actually having sexual relations with me and I could not push them off.
Like clock work every morning at 3.o5 am the entity would leave.
When I could not take it any more since this had crossed the line I went to a friend of my late grand father who was a member of the lodge and explained to him what was happening .
When he heard what I had to say he said that this should not be happening and that some one of the order was abusing their knowledge of what we would call high science .
He asked me if I had recently met any one like this and I told him that I had and that when he approached me and told me that he liked me I told him that I had grown up with lodge men and that I knew better than to become involved with one .
He told me that if he wants me he will have me .
At the time when this was happening I had stopped going to temple and I had stopped saying prayers so that I had left myself open to negative vibrations.
When I realized this I stepped up my prayers and believe me this man hated me since by doing this I stopped his access to me .
Next I remembered that 12am to 3am was the time when your body and spirit was the most relaxed and that from what I remembered this was the time when the lodge men said their prayers or what ever it was they did .
I know of instances where men would be lying down physically next to their wives but that their spirit was off troubling some one .
After this experience I started going back to temple, went for a spiritual bath , and just started saying my prayers more .
As with every thing good their is also evil to be encountered .
This is just my experience .

[letric]

Definitely not!

[alieninthecaribbean]

The thing to remember about obeah, voodoo, magic and mysticism of any kind from any culture, is that whether you believe in it or not, whether you think it evil or not that certain thoughts, feelings and actions open you up to negative energies/influences/events IN GENERAL.

Things to avoid:

Fear :?
I'm not talking about justified adreneline-based fear in the face of danger or surprise but living in a state of fear caused by feeling disempowered, cowardly to the people, situations that affect you and feeling abandoned by the Divine Parent, or if you are agnostic/atheist, feeling unsupported by friends, family and your own higher powers of reason and self-discipline.

Addiction :caching:
Once you have given up your power, ANYTHING can assume control over you. Addiction also includes obsession over people, money, power etc.

Things to hold on to:

Love :ffox:
True, love. Agape, unconditional love. Even if you are agnostic/atheist, you can have this kind of love. It is Divine and offers protection and attracts like-minded people/energies and events. It stems from deep seated gratitude for your life. It stems from appreciation that all of us deserve to feel and know that sense as well.

Truth/Light :idea:
Cling to what is true and no darkness could ever penetrate that light. For the skeptic and scientist, that is uncovering the real cause of the phenomena to dispel it. For the spiritual person that is re-affirming their power and protection in Divine Love which unearths deception.

Last of all remember...

People who deal in dark arts and use magic of any kind, in any tradition to get someone to act against their best interests can only use your own weaknesses against you. :batman: They cannot create anything original to harm you. It is always the same old tactics they apply: Terror, sexual control (particularly with women who are sexually disempowered), manipulation of an existing emotional weakness to produce sickness and/or some form of vamparism to produce the same result:

Fear
Feeling abandoned by the Divine
Feeling disempowered
Feeling uncontrollable guilt

When you are in that state and you have relinquished your sense of control and confidence that you are a child of God with power and protection available to you, they can now acheive their objectives.

Whether you believe in it or not, it is YOU who gives power to what they do.

[tigerlillyorchid]

You are s correct and it's only when one empowers themselves that they are able to take back control of their lives

[SeandSand]

I recently saw a sign that said PSYCHIC.......OUT OF BUSINESS............WHAPPEN .......did'nt
they see it coming?.............No I don't believe in Obeah.......That was the Psychic's destiny.

[Wayne]

[quote="jawake"


The lotto man have a obeah man picking the numbers..... nutten easy so ![/quote]
I am playing LOTTO for many years....the same numbers.........one day,one day,congo sah.

[letric]

When I was in Florida, we acquired a few re-possessed apartments. Most of the occupiers were on welfare, majority being Haitians, anyway, one day this chap (a tenant) If Icould lend him a few dollars, I said no, he then said, if I ever heard of voodoo, said yes, asked if he he ever heard of obeah? No, was his reply. He started a load of bull telling how he could do this and that, I replied, why is it, he is renting, when he possessed all these powers? The poor chaps, simply walked way.........My reply to the question, it does exists, but only effective if you allow it.

[Wayne]

There are two ways to slide easily through life: to believe everything or to doubt everything; both ways save us from thinking.

[drolannod]

Obeah exists, it can be harmful if one believes that it can hurt them.

[Harry Williamn]

Could anyone of you explain why is it "Mahal " and his "Sister " ended up

the way they did?

The way I hear dit is this: Mahal and His siter lied on a man and caused him to be wrongly convicted of murder in Trinidad.They did it for material gain.Mahal got a Taxi and the Sister a sewing machine which in that time could make one very wealthy.
The man's family went to an Obeah Man and Mahal and hi sister spent the rest of their days as follows: Mahal drove an imaginary taxi all over his chosen routes in Trinidad even stopping to pick up imaginary passengers and the sister sewed imaginary clothing on her imaginary machine all her life.
Explain that!

[Harry Williamn]

That lodge man eh have no sense at all for all he had to do was go in the bank and take all the money and then buy some columbian meat and full he belly! he used to turn cat or what how come he was scratching so much what happen he had claws?
Well what you should have done is not go to the lodge man but pay some criminal to go in he house between 12 and 3am and beat the crap out of him and beat him in he business real bad and when he come back you would ah here him bawling like a pig in the slaughtery!

[Harry Williamn]

Actually I heard ( don't know if its true or not) that guy guy has been attacking women on the forum between 12 and 3am and solachica had to run down south by the obeah man and get some obeah pepper water to douse him with but he smell the rat and moving on saltfish now.

[guyguy]

Actually I heard ( don't know if its true or not) that guy guy has been attacking women on the forum between 12 and 3am and solachica had to run down south by the obeah man and get some obeah pepper water to douse him with but he smell the rat and moving on saltfish now.It's not true. Actually, it's the other way around. Those women are constantly chasing me. Doh get jellus eh. Ah know how yuh blood pressure does go up wen yuh hear yuh padna gettin' all de gyuls an you have tuh settle fuh dem ex-police from Besson Street. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Parvati]

So anyone actually KNOW any obeah?

[Harry Williamn]

Your Avaatar is not reall pravati but perverted son of a ....you want to learn how to practice attacking people between 12am and 3:am well ask guy,guy how he does do it and you go know where barley seed grow you flipping pervert or praverti ?