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    Folklore of the Negroes of Jamaica - With Notes on Obeah Worship
    Folklore of the Negroes of Jamaica - With Notes on Obeah Worship
    Folklore of the Negroes of Jamaica - With Notes on Obeah Worship
    Ebook59 pages49 minutes

    Folklore of the Negroes of Jamaica - With Notes on Obeah Worship

    By Read Books Ltd.

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    About this ebook

    This collection of folklore and stories sheds light on a fascinating blend of cultures and practices.. Discussing the blend of West African religion and superstition in Jamaica through the eyes of the white Christian observer. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateSep 6, 2016
    ISBN9781473352346
    Folklore of the Negroes of Jamaica - With Notes on Obeah Worship

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    • 2/5
      Faling to distinguish between practice and superstition, this compilation only reinforces the white supremacist ideals that typified the time period. The study is without methodology and jumbles sparse examples of ritual technique with what is mostly prohibitive superstition.

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    Book preview

    Folklore of the Negroes of Jamaica - With Notes on Obeah Worship - Read Books Ltd.

    FOLKLORE OF THE NEGROES OF JAMAICA

    – WITH NOTES ON OBEAH WORSHIP –

    Contents

    FOLKLORE OF THE NEGROES OF JAMAICA

    OBEAH WORSHIP IN EAST AND WEST INDIES.

    FOLKLORE OF THE NEGROES OF JAMAICA.

    [THE following papers were written in 1896 by coloured students at Mico College, Jamaica, preparing to become elementary teachers. They were communicated to Professor York Powell by Mr. Frank Cundall, Secretary and Librarian of the Institute of Jamaica. It is thought better to suppress the writers’ names, merely distinguishing them by the letters A, B, C, &c. The flourishes about the blessings of education and civilisation with which most of them begin or end have also been omitted, with the exception of a specimen or two. Otherwise the papers are given exactly as they were written. They are in good commercial handwritings, with very few errors of spelling. Besides the intrinsic interest of the subject-matter of their contents, its bearing on the question of the transmission of folklore renders them specially worthy of attention. These negroes have preserved the beliefs of their West African ancestors as to spirits and shadows, while they have at the same time adopted many of the most familiar of trivial English superstitions, and have utilised their acquaintance with Christianity for magical purposes.—ED.]

    A.—SIGNS, OMENS, MYTHS, AND SUPERSTITIONS OF JAMAICA.

    There are lingering in Jamaica many false beliefs which are to be eradicated. It is very strange, indeed, that in such an enlightened land as Jamaica there are such beliefs, but we can safely say that they are dying out little by little. Some of the evils believed in in these days are unpractised such as you shall see indicated later on by this (X).

    It is the great work of education and religion that has diminished some of these evils, and within a few years of labour of these two principles all the false beliefs will die out. Education and religion will be the chief agents to eradicate them.

    The following are some of the beliefs formerly and presently believed in:

    Dead.

    Instead of the natural death, which is allotted to men, most people when die [sic] are believed to be killed by some one, not personal murder, but by obeah and the duppy.

    X When a man kills another, and he does not want the duppy to ride him, he makes friendship with the possessor of the deceased, in order to secure on the day of burial the first coffin shaving, and the first portion of the sod turned up by the gravedigger.

    X If a man murders another he either drinks or burns the blood to hinder the duppy from riding him.

    X To plant down the duppy they will cut a tree and invert it in the grave.

    X If they believed that the person is killed by some one they will dress him black for burial, put boots upon his feet, arm him with a knife and a horsewhip, a spur upon one of his boots to ride and kill the killer when he rises from the dead.

    They believe that a man rises three days after death, when he will go about and take the shadow of all the things he possessed during life.

    If a person dies where there are little children, after the body is put into the coffin, they will lift up each little child, and calling him by name, pass him over the dead body. In the case of an adult he will put his hand upon the chest and say a few words. The common belief in this is, that the duppy will not hurt them.

    When the coffin with the body is taken out, someone with a broom sweeps the house, casting all the refuse after it, saying he is sweeping out the dead.

    When the body is taken out of the house it is generally placed on two chairs while some devotional exercises are being performed. On lifting the coffin, the people have a belief to lift it two or three times before removing it altogether.

    One common belief is, that a body can run while on the way to be buried, and it can give weight, especially when the person who killed it carries the coffin. At this stage the coffin is believed to be dropping to the

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