Obeah vigil mix-up - Event advertised on social media fails to take place

Several persons who turned up at Hope Gardens in St Andrew yesterday for an advertised obeah vigil left disappointed as the event never materialised.

When THE STAR arrived at the garden's Yellow Bandshell shortly after 6 p.m., the scene was nothing but pitch blackness - except for one worker and three big frogs squatting at the entrance. Frogs are seen as potent symbols of obeah and their croaks made the no-show even more eerie. However, when contacted, Hope Gardens management told the news team that no such event was booked at the location.

"I drive all the way from St James because mi did see it pon social media and mi seh mi haffi come check it out," said one man, who was wearing eight oversized silver rings and thick chains. Asked if the rings were spiritual guards, he declared that every one serves a purpose. The man said he was looking forward to the vigil, which was advertised as 'Iche Nche Obia - A Vigil for Spiritual Resistance'.

"From mi see the flyer mi seh mi want to come, because dem thing yah is part a wi African tradition," he explained. "Mi nuh practise it, but mi curious. Mi want to know more about the people and why dem still do it. Mi nuh believe anybody shoulda lock up for dem religion. Jamaica is supposed to be a free country."

The seemingly botched vigil came on the eve of a historic legal challenge to Jamaica's Obeah Act of 1898, which has long criminalised the practice. The fixed-day claim was filed in the Supreme Court on May 16 on behalf of Professor Clinton Hutton, director of the Institute of Theological and Educational Research at Rutgers University College. The matter is scheduled for its first hearing today at 10 a.m.

"Mi still think dem fi legalise obeah same way, just like how a man can go Sabbath, Baptist or Pentecost a wrap head, man supposed to be free fi practise him belief," said the man. Another man, who pulled up with a carload of people also flashing multiple rings, said he came out of pure curiosity.

"Mi just did come fi see way a happen. Mi just deh yah fi the excitement," he laughed before turning his vehicle back towards the exit. By 7 p.m., several disappointed motorists also departed the scene.

Attorney Bert Samuels, who is representing Hutton, argues that Jamaicans should not be persecuted for religious beliefs.

"It is my view that the Constitution of Jamaica is that there should be freedom of religion. I am protecting them and they don't even realise it," Samuels told THE STAR. "Any attempt to criminalise any religious group is an offence to the Constitution." But several church leaders are furious at the push to strike down the Act, insisting that legalising the practice would unleash spiritual disaster on the country. They cite Haiti's practising of voodoo as a reason for that nation's series of troubles over the years.