The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1892-02-03
LIFE IN THE TROPICS.
NO. 4.-sUPERsTITIoNs.

" OlSilps AK w OfSnlp ana serpent w or
ship-serpent worship was by far the
most prevalent. Scarcely a nation of the
past but what has afforded, by its litera-
ture or traditions, testimony to the ex-
tent of this worship.
Plutarch refers to the snake worship
as prominent feature in the religion of
the ancient Greeks. In the Apochrypha
allusion is made to it, as we find, in Bel
and the Dragon: "And the king of Baby
Ion said unto Daniel, wilt thou say this
is of brass? Lo! he eateth and drinketh,
thou canst not say this is no living God,
therefore worship him." JUSTIN Matyn,
who lived about 100 years after Christ,
charges the Greeks with serpent worship.
He says: among all that are reckoned
gods the serpent is acknowledged to be a
great symbol and mystery"
Eusebius, speaking of the worship of
the Greeks, says GA consecrated ser
pent was the sign"
Demosthenes, in his De Corona, shows
Bacchanalian revcls. The Muscorites,
according to Jerome of Prague, offered
sacrifices to serpents, as jerome saw
with his own eyes He says of them
every householder had snake in the
corner of his house to which he gave
food and offered sacrifice as it lay upon
tho how INa a,a oil oounaip+aJ
the legends of ST. George and the Dragon
and of st. Patrick, who, as the legend
says, drove all the snakes and serpents
away from the Emerald Isle. No one
believes in the historical reality of these
legends, yet no one but believes that be-
hind the NEUROLOGICAL drapery there is a
reality which is that serpent worship was
attacked and overcome by these Christian
heroes. Now, the prevailing supersti-
ton in Jamaica is obism, which is moth
ing else than relic of the serpent wor-
ship which SO largely prevailed among
the ancient nations of the world.
The word for serpent in Greek, Hebrew,
and Egyptian languages is almost the
same and it is the same word from which
Obeah or obism is derived. The Greek
word for serpent is 'ophis;' Egyptian,
"orb, " or "aub.' The witch of EndOr,
referred to in the Bible, was, according
to literal translation, priestess of Orb
or Obi This at once connects her with
Obism or serpent worship. Tradition
says Chat the obism of Africa was carried
thence by the Canaanites that fled before
Joshua, but it is more probable that it
has existed there from the time of
the Phariohs who opposed Israel when
ancient Egypt was at the very acme of he1
power and splendOr. Doubtless serpent
worship has existed in Africa for more
than 5000 years, and the observations of
modern travellers abundantly prove that
it exists to-day among the savage tribes
of theiCongo region, as well as in many
other parts of Africa. The obism of ia
maica, as l have said, is the same as the
serpent worship of Africa, by the negro
slaves. The voodooism of Hayti and Of
the colOred people of this country are the
same thing and from the same source.
This hoary superstition has won
derful hold upon the negro mind al
though its ancient symbol-the serpent
IS now lost or obscured. Although
the negro may pretend to ridicule obism
his belief in it is as deeply rooted as life
itself. The two grand features of an
Gent obism were the talismaniac and
the oracular. By the former term is
meant that it was protective and punt
tive. BY the latter is meant the power
to see into the future, or to reveal Sc
crets. These attributes are ascribed by
the negro to obeahism as it exists in .Ja-
maica to-day.
The protective function of obism is ex-
emplitied in a case such as the following,
which is of frequent occurrence: "a
man has piece of land which he has
planted with yams, or bananas, or corn.
as the case may be. He wants a good
crp insured. He goes to theI obeah man
who, having received his fee, furnishes
obeah which is to be placed in the field
where it is believed that it will exercise
such an influence as will keep off thieves
and cause all the forces OF nature to
unite to produce an abundant crop The
obeah in this instance consists of asmall
box made in the shape of coffin and
containing broken pieces of glass some
cats hair and claws, feathers from a