The Ifa’ Diaspora: The Art of Syncretism, Part 5 – Obeah and Myal

The isle of Jamaica has a very turbulent history and is one of the most spiritually diverse nations on the planet.[1]  On this small land mass the Anglican church has to share spiritual space with Rastafarianism, variations of Islam, Buddhism, and syncretic African belief systems.[2]  Though the population of this nation is very small slavery, colonization, and immigration have brought a wide range of cultural and spiritual diversity to the island.  As such, there is much to be said about Jamaica’s religious history and spiritual development particularly with regard to African syncretism.  Further, though this series has been an investigation into Ifá traditions of the diaspora, the word Obeah is Ashanti and the Obeah and Myal belief systems are primarily of Ghanaian origin.  However, the Obeah and Myal belief systems are a culmination of a number of different African spiritual traditions which also includes the Ifá tradition.  This essay will examine the foundation of Jamaica’s syncretic systems with a particular focus on the development of Obeah and Myalism and their cultural impact.[3]

Syncretic African religions in the new world share a number of qualities and characteristics that connect them.[4]  That is to say, Jamaican Obeah and Myalism is very similar to Haitian Voodoo, Brazilian Condomblé, and Cuban Santería in that they are centered on belief in a high-God and intermediaries, ancestor veneration, the use of herbs for healing as well as a focus on dance and music.  These qualities connect African religions in the Americas to those in Africa, but they also form a basic structural outline of religion belief among African people regardless of the geographic context.   Additionally, the differences between African syncretic belief systems is more than semantic as each tradition will have their particular nuances that may or may not translate cross-culturally.[5] 

Historically in Jamaica, English colonizers and enslavers considered the practice of Obeah as a ‘black’ or malevolent religious practice.[6]  To be clear however, Obeah was used as a weapon against the cruelties of the enslavers.  Meaning, the violence of Obeah was merely a reactive phenomenon to environment circumstances, not an innate element of the culture.  Nevertheless, the Obeah belief system was forced into the shadows and could not be practiced openly because of its use during the Tacky Rebellion.  Due to this, the belief system was not able to establish the necessary religiosity (substantive religious rites and/or a community of believers) that other syncretic African belief systems were able to establish.  Olmos and Paravisini-Gilbert’s text Creole Religions of the Caribbean speaks to this: they argue that Obeah “differs from Vodou and Santería in lacking the established liturgy and community rituals that mark [them] as recognized organized religions, although certain communities in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago are working on the recovery of communal practices [of] Obeah.”[7] 

Furthermore, Obeah was such a powerful belief system in Jamaica that it is citied as the reason for Tacky’s Rebellion.  This rebellion was organized and executed by a Fanti Chief named Takyi (Akan spelling) and Queen Akua in order to take control of the island-nation.[8]  The brutality of this rebellion is eclipsed only by the Haitian Rebellion that occurred thirty years later.  During the rebellion, Takyi and his cohort slaughtered a number of English planters, commandeered weapons and recruited hundreds across the Island.  Olmos and Paravisini-Gilbert state: “From the Obeahmen, slaves had learned the usefulness of poison (particularly that of the manchenil tree) to bring about death in a broad variety of injuries and illnesses, the use of slivers of glass or ground glass in the master’s food or drink, and the production of fetishes for luck and protection.”[9]  Though the rebellion was not successful, it lasted for weeks.  As well, it took months for the British authorities to capture all of the rebels.  Accordingly, the fact that the uprising was led by Obeahmen was cause for great concern to the English colonists and led to the practice of Obeah to be outlawed under penalty of death.[10] 

However, on the other side of the spiritual spectrum Myal or Myalism for many on the island of Jamaica represents ‘good magic’ to Obeah’s ‘bad magic.’  Myal is a by-product of Obeah and Christian revivalism of Jamaica.[11]  It features many of the same attributes of Obeah but Myal is more centered on the interplay between the spirits and the people.  To explain, Olmos and Paravisini-Gilbert argue Myal dance is much more community oriented than Obeah.  They state: “The ritual of the Myal dance, a hypnotic dancing in circles under the leader’s direction, involved as well a mesmerizing opening for the entrance of the spirit in the body of the initiate, providing a bridge between the spirit possession characteristic of Afro-Creole practices and the filling with the Holy Spirit found in some variants of New World Christianity.”[12]  For Myal, the Lao and the Holy Spirit serve very similar functions: conduits between the creator and humanity. 

Further, during the enslavement period there was a clear distinction between Myalism and Obeah.  Joseph J. Williams, author of Voodoo and Obeahs: Phases of West Indian Witchcraft argues that “even the masters saw that the two classes were not identical, and so they called the latter 'Myal men' and 'Myal women'-the people who cured those whom the Obeah man had injured.”[13]    While Obeah was believed to be a nefarious cult, Myalism represented the cool or benevolent side of syncretic African religions in Jamaica.  As well, with Myalism being the benevolent system it was not proscribed like Obeah was.  However, it is more prudent to understand both syncretic systems as neutral by nature because human spiritual systems are only reflective of the people and their circumstances.[14]  Meaning, Obeah only served the needs of oppressed Africans whom were seeking freedom by any means necessary; the violence of the belief system and its practitioners is only symptomatic of the brutal environment. 


[1] Leonard E. Barrett.  The Rastafarians.  (Boston: Beacon Press, 1997), 4.
[2] Lizabeth Paravisini-Gerbert and Margarite Fernandez Olmos. Creole religions of the Caribbean: An introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo. (New York: New York University Press, 2011).  Ivor Morrish. Obeah, Christ, and Rastaman: Jamaica and its religion. (James Clarke & Co., 1982). 
[3] Lizabeth Paravisini-Gerbert and Margarite Fernandez Olmos. Creole religions of the Caribbean: An introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo. (New York: New York University Press, 2011), 155.  Kwasi Konadu.  The Akan Diaspora in the Americas.  (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010), 139-140.  In this text the author also argues that Obeah has roots in Ghanaian culture.
[4] Lizabeth Paravisini-Gerbert and Margarite Fernandez Olmos. Creole religions of the Caribbean: An introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo. (New York: New York University Press, 2011), 12-13.
[5] Ibid., 155-158.  For example, there are two methods of religious practice for Jamaican Obeah.  The first involves ritualized spells that can be used for either benevolent or nefarious purposes depending on the user and their intentions; the second involves herbal healing practices not unlike Hoodoo and Lucumí
[6] Nick Davis.  Obeah: Resurgence of Jamaican ‘Voodoo’.  BBC News. www.bbc.com, August 13, 2013.  Accessed February 2017. 
[7] Lizabeth Paravisini-Gerbert and Margarite Fernandez Olmos. Creole religions of the Caribbean: An introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo. (New York: New York University Press, 2011), 158.
[8] Alan Richardson.  “Romantic Voodoo: Obeah and British Culture 1797-1807.”  Studies in Romanticism (Boston University, 1993), Vol. 32, No. 1, 3-28.
[9] Lizabeth Paravisini-Gerbert and Margarite Fernandez Olmos. Creole religions of the Caribbean: An introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo. (New York: New York University Press, 2011), 157.
[10] D.A. Bisnauth.  History of Religions in the Caribbean.  (Trenton:  Africa World Press, Inc.  1996), 83.  Nick Davis.  Obeah: Resurgence of Jamaican ‘Voodoo’.  BBC News. www.bbc.com, August 13, 2013.  Accessed February 2017.  This article discussed the history of Obeah prohibition and the possibility that its forbidden status may soon be abolished.
[11] D.A. Bisnauth.  History of Religions in the Caribbean.  (Trenton:  Africa World Press, Inc.  1996), 96.
[12] Lizabeth Paravisini-Gerbert and Margarite Fernandez Olmos. Creole religions of the Caribbean: An introduction from Vodou and Santería to Obeah and Espiritismo. (New York: New York University Press, 2011), 145.
[13] Joseph J. Williams.  Voodoo and Obeahs: Phases of West Indian Witchcraft.  (New York: Dial Press, 1932), 145.
[14] Dianne M. Stewart.  Three eyes for the journey: African dimensions of the Jamaican religious experience. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 10-11.