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Obeah
Definitions
- 1 A form of folk magic, medicine or witchcraft originating in Africa and practised in parts of the Caribbean. countable, uncountable
"Although lacking a self-perpetuating institutional structure, Obeah was a crucial element of Afro-Caribbean religions everywhere from Suriname's Maroon societies (communities of runaway slaves) to the Leeward Islands' slave societies."
- 2 a religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery; practiced in parts of the West Indies and tropical Americas wordnet
- 3 A magician or witch doctor of the magic craft. countable, uncountable
"[…] but he went down to death, with dusky dreams of African shadow-catchers and Obeahs hunting him."
- 4 (West Indies) followers of a religious system involving witchcraft and sorcery wordnet
- 5 A spell performed in the practice of the magic craft; an item associated with such a spell. countable, uncountable
"Mr. M. J. Walhouse then read a paper on "Some Indian Obeahs", and exhibited some photos of Kurumbars, and a piece of the bone of an elk and an iron cock's spur, with which a man had been murdered, both of which had been regarded as Obeahs."
- 1 To bewitch using this kind of folk magic. transitive
"Sometimes an egg is boiled hard, and laid in the middle of the road, surrounded by a circle of plantane bark; at others, pieces of hair, cats' teeth, cocks' feathers, and bits of glass, broken amber, and snakes' skins, are placed at the person's door; but oftener buried so as to be concealed from sight. Whoever touches an obeah of this kind, is certain to bring all the mischief intended for the obeahed person, upon his own head; and the consequence is, very few Negroes, if any, venture to remove the charm, or even to come near it. A lock of the obeahed person's hair is almost indispensably necessary, […]"
Etymology
Uncertain; apparently from a Caribbean creole, probably ultimately from a West African language. The Oxford English Dictionary points to Igbo abià (“knowledge, wisdom”), obìa (“doctor, healer”). Cognate of Aukan obiya, Saramaccan obia, and Sranan Tongo obia.
Uncertain; apparently from a Caribbean creole, probably ultimately from a West African language. The Oxford English Dictionary points to Igbo abià (“knowledge, wisdom”), obìa (“doctor, healer”). Cognate of Aukan obiya, Saramaccan obia, and Sranan Tongo obia.
See also for "obeah"
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