By Dennie Quill, ContributorON A recent visit to our second city, I was a bit taken aback to learn that obeah is alive and well in Montego Bay and its environs. This off-shoot of the old Ashanti tribal religion, which has survived many centuries, continues to flourish there and appears to be providing a decent livelihood for its practitioners.
Persons showed me a substantial building in the heart of the city which they say belongs to one of the leading obeah practitioners in Montego Bay. The obeah woman, believed to be in her late 40s, is kept very busy as her clients start lining up from early morning and sometimes 'consultations' run way into the night. I was also shown her spanking new SUV parked neatly on the pavement. So obeah is no longer undercover; it is being paraded before our very eyes.
OBEAH FOR SUCCESS, REVENGE
From my observations over the years, I have determined that people yearn for two things: success and revenge. And there are many people among us who believe that the obeah man and woman can exercise extraordinary powers of the occult over places, people and things to produce spectacular results. So, although my modern day friends will dismiss obeah as foolishness, the believers are prepared to pay good money to achieve these goals.
The most interesting part of this story as told to me was the suggestion that some of western Jamaica's notorious criminals are regular clients of the obeah man and woman. They, too, go to seek protection and invariably they are given a copy of the New Testa-ment with the advice to read specific verses. Sometimes their clothes are "fixed" up and they are advised what colours to wear to court in order to secure an acquittal.
This just confirms to me what I always thought about criminals deep down they are cowards and they crave life just as much as you and I. They have no qualms about snuffing out the lives of others but they want to be around to see their children grow up to enjoy the beautiful things that life has to offer and despite the horrible crimes they have committed they believe God will protect them. Lord have mercy!
This is where the church comes in, as brutal as they are these men, and they are mostly men, they appear to be struggling for something that would help to give meaning to their lives, and maybe there can be redemption. Saving of souls, that's a subject for another column.
Surely, the police in western Jamaica know about all of this. Are they afraid to make a move? Law enforcement is also about intelligence gathering, or simply put, getting information. It seems that a raid on one of these premises could yield handsome rewards for the police as they try to grapple with the daring of gun-toting criminals in that part of the island. Gun powder may still be on their fingers, Mr Amos!
I have listened to many stories about obeah to know that there are some people who are deathly afraid of obeah men or women or healers, or whatever they call themselves. But the beneficiaries of their deeds, whether they were asked to sprinkle some kind of powder or administer some potion, boast of tremendous success.
OBEAH IN THE COURT
Traditionally, court houses have been one of the arenas where litigants seek to take advantage of the obeah workers' 'powers'. There is anecdotal evidence of frogs with padlocked mouths turning up at court and the case being thrown out. Then recently, I heard about a judge who was sweating profusely as she came to deal with a certain case. According to reports 'she was talking foolishness' and the accused man walked free.
Many years ago, a Kingston Resident Magistrate was identified as being very vulnerable to the effects of obeah. Many of the persons who appeared before him would at a certain point in the proceedings produce a red handkerchief and mop the brow. According to reports, this single act was enough to get the accused person off. So as the word spread throughout the criminal world, there was a boom in the sale of red handkerchiefs which coincided with a dearth of convictions in this particular court. Sorry, but I don't believe a word of it.
A friend of mine bought himself a farm in St. Thomas many years ago. He could not reap a hand of banana, because the thieves would watch each stem and as it matured they would steal it. He was never able to apprehend anyone and the police were clueless. So he decided to take matters into his own hands.
He got together about a dozen bottles and he filled them with sand and other innocuous material and tied long strings to the necks of the bottles and had them dangling from a fence. Two weeks, later a man died in the district from natural causes. Suddenly, word spread in the community that he was done in by obeah. From that day hence, not a finger of banana went missing. My friend had found the cure for praedial larceny and it didn't cost him a cent. So much for obeah.
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at DennieQuill@hotmail.com.
