The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1907-12-30
THE HUMAN SACRIFICE
Part of the Rites of the West In
dian Cult of Obeah.
WORSHIP OF TIE SNAKE GOD.
That Is the Root Idea OF the Peculiar
Religion OF the Negro Natives.
Dread cf the Obeakaan and the Su-
pe-stition OF the Snake Stick.

Readers OF the late Sir Walter Be
SAINTS novel THE World Went Very
Well Then" may remember The sinister
old medicine man. Mr. Brinjes. and the
snake stick, by means of which he COM
PEELED every negro he met 10 DO his
bidding. If Mr. Brinjes were alive to-
day and living in the West Indies he
would be very great Obeah man-the
prophet. priest and king OF our coloreI
brethren.
During five years spent in Jamaica,
Haiti and other West Indian islands !
found that Obeah and Naud0ux-both
derivations Of the west African fetch
ism brought over generations ago il
the slave ships-are the real beliefs of
the great majority Of the blacks, We
neered by Christianity or even grated
on to that faith. In jamaican village
the dirty, one eyed, diseased Obeah man
has usually more power than the par
son. | saw this proved once in very
striking manner. 1t was on q Sunday
morning. and the people were trooping
out of chapel with their colored min
lister. The local Obeah man was passing
| by and Knocked them. The parson
nervously attempted to rebuke him.
| but he threw his snake stick on the
ground and cried defiantly:
You no go fe b'lieye Obeah, yah,
Den pick up me stick l say him turn
into snake if you touch him."
| The stick was left lying on the
ground. Not even the colored minister
dared to touch it. He had been educat-
ed in a theological college, but he had
not quite outgrown the superstitions
that were inculcated In his youth.
The root idea of Obeahism and vau-
doux is the worship and Precipitation
of the snake god Obi, a west African
word typifying the spirit Of evil.
Obeah practiced in Haiti, Santo Domin-
go and the French West Indies. Its
rites are always accompanied by the
sacrifice OF fowls and goats and In
only too many cases by the offering up
of the 'goat without horns"-the hu-
man sacrifice, usually young girl or
boy. Several cases were officially prov
ed when l was in Haiti. How many
more never came to light can only be
guessed. The lonely groves and noun
tain caves where the devotees Of Van.
ioux enjoy the orgies Of Walpurgis
night seldom give up their secrets.
There are two sects of Vaudoux. the
| -h< xx-hin r
only believes in the sacrifice Of white
fowls and goats, is tolerated by the
laws Of Haiti, and its rites are as com
monty practiced as those Of the church
But even the red sect, which openly
stands for human sacrifice, is seldom
/ interfered with. The authorities dar'
} not suppress it, for their own police
men and soldiers stand In awe Of th'
"papaloi" and ''mamaloi'-the prizes
: and priestess Of the snake god.
More than that, there have been pres
idents Of Haiti in recent years who be
lieve in Vaudoux. Hippolyte was evel
a "papaloi" himself He beat the blacl
goatskin drum in the streets OF tn
capital to call the faithful together t
see him kill the sen-sel fowl. Anothe
: president, Geffrard, tried to do his dut
and stamp out the cult. A terrible re
venge was taken upon him. His youn
daughter, Cora, was shot dead as sh
knelt in prayer before the altar Of
church in Port au Prince. Today Their
j is a temple of the red sect in the Ha
tan capital. near by triumphal arc
which is Inscribed with the unctuou
words, Liberty - Education - Pro:
J, ress''
Under British government Obeahisl
perforce takes forms less dangerou
to the social order than 1t does
= Haiti, but it is none the less a col
slant public peril in Jamaica and Ii
other British West Indian islands.
IS the bitter foe of religion. educatio
and social advancement. In olden day
1t worked by means of wholesale pc
soning, and in quite recent days thel
have been not few cases of obea
men seeking to do murder In the o
way.
When l lived in Jamaica, an o
villain made an offer TO a black ma
whom he thought l had offended,
poison me by mixing ground glass wi
my food Unfortunately for him, t
negro gave him away, and he g
twelve months hard labor and soul
fogging Not long before an emit
family at MOntego Bay was poison'
by the same method. Another favori
\ trick of the obeah man. both in Jam;
ca and Haiti. is to mix the infinite
NAL hairs OF the bamboo in the food
persons who refuse to bow the KIN
aS to them This finally sets up mall
~ nant dysentery. If the afflicted o
70 remains contumacious, he dies; II
RI makes his neaca with the Obpah NJ