OBEAH

OBEAH
AFRO-CARIBBEAN SHAMANISM

PRESENTED BY:
...the Wanderling

In and around the world of the supernatural, the occult, and the underground dark-eddies of things spiritual, there are mystics, shamans, tribal elders, wizards, sorcerers, spellcasters, diviners, necromancers, witches, and all other types and kinds of controllers and purveyors of occult abilities, drawing strength and operating in other dimensions along the edges of the conventional plane. In the realm of all those practitioners the most powerful, the most dreaded, and the most feared is the Obeah. (source)

Obeah, as practiced in Jamaica and the Caribbean, takes the USE OF and KNOWLEDGE OF ancient occult powers orginally handed down over the centuries by word of mouth from the remnants of a once very powerful and celebrated SECRET religious Order emanating from a remote age that has long since been lost in the mist of time. Over the centuries most of the original tenents became watered down, with the less powerful versions of Obeah incorporating various modifications of occult spellcraft as once practiced mostly by tribal people who spoke Ashanti from West Africa. However, the most secretive, powerful and dreaded purveyors of present day Obeah comes undiluted from the old Order. Practitioners of same will sometimes use the less volatile aspects of their brethren, but usually operate well beyond the confines of any traditional witchcraft, sorcery, shamanism, voodoo (voudon), or tribal magic.
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic/awakening101/obeah.html

Obeah (sometimes spelled "Obi") is a term used in the West Indies to refer to folk magic, sorcery, and religious practices derived from Central African and West African origins. Obeah can either be a form of 'dark' magic or 'good' magic. As such, Obeah is similar to Palo, Voodoo, Santeria, rootwork, and hoodoo. Obeah is practiced in Suriname, Jamaica, Haiti, the Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Belize, the Bahamas, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and many other Caribbean countries.
Obeah is associated with both benign and malign magic, charms, luck, and with mysticism in general. In some Caribbean nations Obeah refers to African diasporic folk religions; in other areas, Christians may include elements of Obeah in their religion. Obeah is often associated with the Spiritual Baptist church.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obeah