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Brudda, you make me smile... Great trip report. You're vibe is straight up! Will remember to take my iPhone charger. Was sorta thinking "well, no service", hadn't really thought about it as my portable personal trip documentation assistant. Oh, yeah, and flashlight! :)
Dude that is a great video and trip report. Inspiration for our trip that begins on Monday!
Brasi January 2012 Trip Report #15
My Brush with Obeah and the Occult
Obeah (sometimes spelled Obi, Obea or Obia) is a term used in the West Indies to refer to folk magic, sorcery, and religious practices derived from West African, and specifically Igbo origin.[1] Obeah is similar to other African derived religions including Palo, Voodoo, SanterĂ*a, rootwork, and most of all hoodoo. Obeah is practiced in Suriname, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Guyana, Barbados, Grenada, Belize and other Caribbean countries.[2]
I’ve been waiting a while to decide whether or not to post this. I don’t want to be thought of as crazy. I don’t want to be thought of as disrespectful to either Jamaica or my ex-fiancee…who passed away last June 21.
But awhile back on this board I saw a post about Obeah…or, in loose terms, Jamaica's (and other West Indies islands) version of voodoo. It got me thinking and I arrived in Jamaica prepared to execute a plan if I got the nuts up to do it. Turns out, I was nuts enough.
It is up to you whether or not to believe this account, or trust in my perception of what happened on the night of January 6, 2012. But this is my honest version of events that may or may not have been wise of me to invite onto myself.
...........................
I’d been drinking heavily in anticipation of what I was going to do. A few Q’s, Red Stripes, lots of smoking. I got back to the room, checking the time…deciding if I was actually going to implement my plan…and sat at the computer and began looking back at pictures of me and “Sarah.” I went to my suitcase and made sure I still had the item I had brought with me…and decided I was going to go through with the plan I’d set up yesterday. I love her so much. I wanted to say goodbye properly.
It was 2:30 am. I left the room quietly, carrying the item. I tiptoed so as not to wake my neighbors. I had the gate opened, and walked down Seastar Lane in the dark. The West End was quiet, quiet…as the darkest hour approached…3 a.m.
Twenty minutes later, I found the woman where she said she’d be. She was wearing a red dress and her little chair was on the dirt floor…right in front of the mirror…right where she’d been sitting the day before, when on a whim I asked about Obeah and where I might find someone to help me speak with a person I had lost and loved so much.
Her eyes were smoky. She said…”you came to the right spot.”
Now, I was back, at the time she’d suggested would be best.
“Ah, you come,” she said, a whisp of a smile crossing her face. “Give me the dress.”
She took it from me and looked into the mirror. Her eyes immediately focused, and seemed to gaze upon a face…hard to explain…but she seemed to be seeing someone…nodding like “yes..” “I see, yes..” “mmmm…”
“Ah, yes…yes,” she said, now looking into the mirror, a smile of sorts now crossing her face that seemed…frankly…evil. She looked down. Nodded at the mirror. Then over at me, and back to the mirror.
“She is here and saying you argued,” she said matter-of-factly. “Right before it happened, you argued.”
I broke into tears. I had not told this woman any details...except that I had lost my girlfriend.
“Stop, I can’t do this,” I said. Tears were running down my face.
“I’m sorry. I can’t handle this, please…” I started backing out of the hut/building.
Because she was right. We’d had a petty argument a few minutes before I’d found her and just prior to the 911 nitemare. The nitemare that causes me to break into cold sweats. Seeing her face and not being able to do anything for the person that I’d waited for all my life. The nitemare I would do anything to change…anything at all…anything.
We’d made up, and comfortingly the last words I’d said to “Sarah” were “I love you.” But this was more powerful and ill-advised than I’d ever thought it could be. I was scared out of my mind. Then:
“She loved you…” she said, looking into the mirror. “No I do not want your man, lady,” said the woman, sternly looking in the mirror, convincing me she was indeed talking to someone…because she raised her voice, as if yelling back at someone.
“Stop, please,” I said…and I just ran. I ran in between the shacks and through a small path...then up the West End Road as fast as I could, crying, leaving an old dress of Sarah’s behind with a woman I did not know…never to return…and losing any grip on sanity I had that evening…instantly sober…with no one in the world to call or contact at this hour.
When I got back to my room I cried for what might have been hours. Sleep never came and I was glad to see the sun, because then I could get out of my room and see someone without smokey eyes and who’d offer some level of comfort from the storm I’d brought into my world the nite before.
...I told only two people in Jamaica about this while I was still on the island…and now it’s off my chest….
Whoa! I'm not sure I would have pursued something like that, but I understand why you did, and can see why it scared the hell out of you. Pretty heavy stuff there.
Ohhhhh Brasi..... My heart is in my throat.........
It was chilling.
I don't know what to say......I'm so sorry for your pain! My sincere best wishes to get through this and move on your journey. My thoughts go out to you. Many blessings to you in your future, Brasi!
Scary scene..
WOW! Good on you Brasi for dealing with your situation. You will find peace soon enough. Our loses in the end help us appreciate life that much more.....
ok you just blew my mind, brother! That is so intense and the way you described it was so evocative. I know about obeah and have had some brushes with it in Jamaica, but never would have seeked it out intentionally--it was more like I stumbled on it. Blessings to you and your lost love--and and prayers for you to be at peace with what happened.