Despite the strides we have made in education and enlightenment over the decades, the belief in the powers of obeah men/women (madda) to protect one from evil doers or the long arm of the law, to make one rich and even help obtain illusive visas, remains unshakable.
And it crosses class, eligious and political lines.
Many criminals, ordinary people and even parsons apparently, have always depended on these practitioners to help keep them safe.
I am always amused when I hear how religious some brutal murderers
really are. One even tried to convince me once that he structured his life
after David in the bible, so he slays his enemies!
How can I ever forget the notorious much-feared Natty
Morgan too? He roamed the streets of Kingston for months on end, terrifying
all and sundry some years ago. When he
was killed, one newspaper highlighted how his bible was found safely tucked in
his back pocket.
But back to obeah, guard rings and protection.
The guard ring recently came up in the trial of 33
alleged members of the feared Clansman Gang, now taking place in the
Supreme Court in Kingston.
Among those alleged gangsters on trial, is a woman who
is described as a pastor of a church!
For the benefit of the uninformed, this dreaded gang has
been known to be the overlords of the extortion racket in the St. Catherine
area for decades. Their success has been maintained through fear, as they
have never been hesitant to murder of burn out anyone who resists their efforts
to collect from them. Further, they have been politically aligned to the
Peoples National Party, (PNP) which has been in power in Jamaica for decades.
While for years I thought Clansman concentrated their
illicit activities at the bus park , market district and business places in
Spanish Town, I was disabused when I had a run-in with a few of them in
Caymanas Bay one Sunday.
Caymanas Bay has a nice river running through it, where my friends and I from our cycling club liked to ride to on a Sunday, swim, eat and have a wonderful time.
A lot of churches also go there to conduct baptism.
This property is owned by the Government of Jamaica.
As we arrived there that day, we saw that a gate had been
put up and there was a man there collecting “entrance fees”. I insisted
that I was not paying as it was government property and pushed past
him. (I heard later that our organizer
gave him some money.)
I learnt afterwards too that the ‘gateman’ was a Clansman!
The next day, I called the Urban Development Corporation
(UDC), the government agency which controls that property and reported the
matter, but clearly nothing was done as shortly after I read in one newspaper
that several persons in the gang had killed each other as they fought for control
of that lucrative gate.
(I seriously wondered at the time what would happen if my
friends and I tried to capture a
government property, say the UDC operated Dunn’s River Falls, and
operated it as our own! But as dem ‘say ‘puss an dawg nuh hab di same luck.)
I have never returned to Caymanas Bay, but who knows, maybe the churches still patronize that lovely spot.
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| A baptism at Caymanas River |
Using the recently minted Anti-gang legislation,
the police have finally gotten around to charging some of the alleged members and
their so-called leader. Former members of the gang have been the star witnesses
who have been testifying so far. I will therefore not comment on the ongoing
trial, only to say it was the evidence being given by the first star witness,
which reminded me of the dependence on obeah.
For in his evidence, the witness claimed to have been
offered a guard ring (gyard) by the female parson who is also on
trial.
I have not seen a gyard ring recently, but the
testimony reminded me vividly of when I was introduced to it and the 'powers'
it contains.
This was many decades ago when I had a close friend who
made gold jewelry. He showed me a thick gold ring with a flat top one day and
asked me if I knew what it was. Naturally, I replied that it was a ring.
That’s when he explained that it was not just any ring.
He turned it over and pointed to a small hole in the back. This is the hole in
which the obeah man/woman stuffs powerful, mysterious powder (could be salt or
flour for all I know😆), which will provide
the wearer with protection, he explained. Then the purchaser returns with the
ring to have the hole sealed.
I must admit that at the time I was totally ignorant
about obeah, for I hadn't left school too long before and in the neck of
the woods in the country that I grew up in, I never heard much about the
practice or even seen a red flag hoisted at anyone’s gate!
When I was educated about the ring and learnt of its
utility, I took enough interest in obeah to actually borrow from my informant,
the banned book called “The Master Key” written by one De Lawrence.
This I was told, was the bible of obeah men/women.
While it explained in detail how to cast a few obeah spells, when to beat graves, what powders to use to paralyze, poison people etc., I personally found it quite boring.
As they say, belief kills and belief cures, so if you do
not believe in these workings and the various powders they use to carry on
their trade, obeah is a waste of time and money.
Regardless, it remains ever so popular, not only in
Jamaica but worldwide, especially in places where Voodoo and Santeria and other
beliefs in the occult are popular.
I have been curious though, how so many supposedly sensible
people can believe in the power of obeah to help them get rich, for many of the
obeah men/women I have met or learnt about, appear to be only moderately
wealthy at best.
The great exception would be the late “Dr.” Kevin Smith,
who from all the reports coming out since his human sacrifice, dabbled in the
trade. But he seemed to be involved in lots of other rackets, including
convincing the gullible in his congregation to change their wills and make him
the beneficiary of their insurance, pensions etc. so I would not classify him
as a true obeah man.
Maybe the answer lies in the conversation I had with a
Haitian taxi driver some years ago. As I boarded his taxi at the airport to go
to Port of Prince, he asked if I wanted to make a stop at a voodoo ceremony.
When I asked him why I would want to go there, he replied that “he can make you
rich”. When I asked him why he was not rich, he replied confidently that “my
time has not yet come.”
So dear readers, it’s all a matter of timing.
I guess he did not recognize from my accent that I was
Jamaican, for I had often heard that Haitians respected us greatly in that
particular art, as they say we eat susumba (gully beans) which their voodoo
priests use as a powerful potent in their trade, and not for human consumption
unless you plan to kill someone.
Oh yes, the world of the occult is really fascinating and
I guess, rewarding, to them that truly believe.
