Tell Me Pastor

Is obeah real?

Dear Pastor,

I am a 21-year-old female who is confused about obeah. Does it really exist and can someone put it on you?

I am from a large family and recently an old man who was a friend of the family was dying and on his death bed he confessed that he put obeah on my entire family.

I really don't know what to believe, but it's been so strange that bad things are happening to members of my family. One of my aunts is now paralysed and doctors say that it is not strokes or any kind of disease.

No one seems to be able to tell what is wrong. All the tests done on my aunt came back negative. Could it be that this man really put obeah on my aunt?

Concerned female, Jamaica

Dear Concerned,

You are asking me if obeah exists, but at the same time you are indicating that you believe that this man might have indeed use obeah on the family. People have always practised obeah. Millions of dollars have been wasted on the practice. There are some well known obeah men and women in this country. And some folks believe in them and trust them more than they trust medical practitioners.

It is said that obeah men and women deal with 'spirits' and they have power. Even some Christians believe in obeah. However, in some circles, obeah is considered to be ungodly. Bible believing Christians know for sure that no one can use obeah against them because the Bible says the angel of the Lord encampeth around them that fear God. And when a person is a Christian, the Holy Spirit is in his/her life and no other spirit can take control of the body of a Christian.

It is said that some women go to obeah men and women to 'tie' their men and these women are often told what to put in the men's food. I have received many letters from women who informed men of the nasty things that they have done in an effort to have their men stay with them.

That is one of the reasons why a man ought to be careful what he eats and from whom. No woman can tie a man through obeah, but if she puts foreign matter in his food he may become ill over a period of time.

I don't know what is going on in your family, but I do know that the mind is a powerful thing. The dying man might have believed that he worked obeah on your family, and that it affected your family.

If you believe that to be true, it would affect you and your family in the sense that it would bother your mind. What he did might have been foolishness, but if you believe it, your belief would make you ill, not what he did.

Pastor