Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-05-29

admit their belief in Obea. and have col
lected information that is beyond disnute
Whether Obeaism was brought from Afric,
or has arisen de novo among the ienoran
negroes of the West Indies it is dificult 10,
me to say, but certain practices seem to m,
to indicate a relationship between some O
the West Indian ceremonies and those of III,
priests of ancient Egypt and modern India
Before taking up the Obea man and hi,
practices, 1 will first consider harmless,
form OF superstition, which is the fear o.
objects supposed to be haunted BY '.jum.
bies" or goblins. The word "jumbie" il
often used in compound with the objec,
haunted. Thus some trees, the Ceiba O,
silk cotton tree (Bombex Ceiba), is ALWAYS
regarded as jumbiferous, and is known a.
the ''iumbie tree" Certain forms of mango
trees are looked upon as the abode Of "jum.
bies." The crater of st. Vincent is consid-
cred to be haunted, and the invisible
souffriere bird, with his ventriloquial note,
is known to the negroes Of the islands as the
"jumbie bird" Many superstitious legends
are woven about the silk cotton trees, and
anyone who cuts down or Injuries one of these
trees is sure to die. The negroes in Jamaica
believe that, If person throws stone at the
trunk of a silk cotton tree, he will be visited
| with sickness or other misfortune; and, when
they cut one down, they first pour rum at
the root of the tree as q propitiatory offering.
THE vooDoo DOCTOR.
To see a souffriere bird in st. Vincent is
great calamity, and to kill one-which am
sure no negro ever did-is death. OF course,
these superstitions are harmless, but 0beaism
| Is another matter.
An Obea man is one who practices sor-
Gerry or incantations of certain kind, and
| is held in great fear by the negro community
in which he lives. He is supposed to be
| able to impart to certain objects power
which influences the passions or even causes
the death OF the individual for whom he
works. Thus, If planter or overseer has
seriously offended a negro and the negro de-
termines to "work Obea on him." he goes
to the Obea man and for a certain sum of
money obtains the power which may cause
his enemy's destruction. This power is
generally contained in bottle, embodied in
a lizard, spider. rusty nail or other jum-
biferous ojects, and this bottle, buried be-
meath the doorstep or on the path where the
offender is supposed to pass, will cause his
death, and there are many instances where
this result obtains.
The Obea man, in order to keep up his
reputation, with his knowledge of vegetable
poisons, which is very great, contrives to
place in the drinking water or food some
substance which will establish his prophecy.
The English Government is very strict con-
cerning Obea practice, and considers one
who lndulges in it as felon, and, when
evidence is produced, which is often diff
cult to obtain, as no negro will give evidence
against one he breads SO, is severely dealt
with.
THE oBEA BOTTLE.
The Obea bottle is not rare object in the
West Indies. The mate of vessel in which
went to Guadaloupe picked up one OF
these which he found floating in the dock
there, and we'll remember the horror ex-
pressed BY the negroes as he did so. The
bottle contained some small nails and roll |
of twine, floating in a liquid which smelt |
like GIN. Not a negro would touch |
it or come near the mate who held |
it, and have no doubt they watched |
to see this rash individual drop |
terrible jumbiferous object. One sees at |
times these Obea bottles hanging from a
favorite fruit tree; in this case it is used as
a protector; the owner OF the tree gets the
Obea man to fix bim up bottle just before
the fruit ripens, and ittis so endowed that
anyone will come to grief who touches the
tree on which it hangs. A friend of mine
found one of these bottles hanging from q
cacao tree on his estate, hung in this case to
prevent the tree from bearing. He had
lived in India for many years and was we'll
with some of the symbols used
by Hindu priests; instead. therefore. of
breaking the bottle, as is generally done by
whites when they see one, he cleared the
ground under the tree and drew there some
mystic symbols. Great was the effect on the
negro community; they seemed to under.
stand the import of the symbols, and told
him that white Obea man was more power
full than black one.
In order to work Obea successfully, GER
tain conditions are necessary; you must at
least know the offenders name; better to
possess some part of the clothing he has
worn; better still to hold some part of hiq
body, as hair. nail pairing or tooth, or
pest of all, to obtain some OF his blood. The
act that name is important for an enemy
% possess has introduced a remarkable Gus
ON on the part of the laboring class. You
will never find laborer called by his bap-
ismal name, but always by some nickname.
It Is difficult, in fact, to find out his real
lame. especially if some other negro be
bout.
HORRIBLE PRACTICES.