Obeah is back !

                         

Until recently, the practice of Obeah was punishable by flogging or imprisonment, among other

penalties. The government recently abolished such colonial-era punishments

prompting calls for a decriminalisation of Obeah to follow.

Nanny of the Maroons, face now appears on Jamaica $500 banknote.

                             

She led the Maroons, a term for runaway slaves, in their fight against the British

in the early 18th Century.

It was claimed that she was an Obeah woman because of her skill in guerrilla warfare and

military tactics. Warriors believed she could catch bullets with her bare hands :

the colonial authorities twisted the tale by a claim that she could catch them with her buttocks

1760:

In response to a major slave rebellion, the colonial government outlaws Obeah for the first time in

the Caribbean, with the :

Act to Remedy the Evils arising from Irregular Assemblies of Slaves

defining Obeah as:

"The wicked Art of Negroes :pretending to have Communication with the Devil and evil spirits "

1898:

Under the Obeah Law practitioners face 12 months in jail and flogging.

An Obeah practitioner is defined as:

"Any person who, to effect any fraudulent or unlawful purpose, or for gain, or for the purpose of

frightening any person, uses, or pretends to use any occult means, or pretends to possess any

supernatural power or knowledege "

1908:

Parliament passes the Medical Law :

intended to regulate medical practice,

but was also used frequently in cases to define difference between medicine and Obeah

Folks mostly ignore questions about their Obeah purchases.

But one young woman says she is after something that will "tie" her man :

to stop him running off with other women.  ::LOL::

"It was something my grandmother believed in. It worked then and it works now,"  :-[

Folks ,

know any stories similar to the above ...not necessarily obeah ! 

Meseret once try to " tie down " some putagee bannah  [img alt=::LOL::]http://www.westindiesforum.com/Smileys/forum/laughing.png[/img]