Whether fact or fiction, the supernatural world of obeah is entwined into Jamaican life. In this collection of short stories centred on the practice of obeah, Brailsford delves into its traditions, spells, rituals and amulets, which are said to have the power to bring forth numerous misfortunes and even death. However, some of these tales reveal that these unexplainable incidents can be rationalised with common sense.

A very striking and curious story, founded on fact, of the West Indies of the early nineteenth century. Robert Rutherford is sent to the Islands to learn the planter’s business from the bottom. He becomes an overseer at Rosehall, the property of a young widow, Mrs Palmer, whose three husbands have all died in curious circumstances. She takes a violent fancy to Rutherford, who is also embarrassed by the attentions of his half-caste housekeeper, Millicent. His housekeeper is urging him, with some success, to fall in with West Indian habits, when Mrs Palmer arrives. Millicent defies her and threatens her with the powers of Takoo, an Obeah man. Mrs Palmer, herself skilled in Obeah magic, puts a spell on the girl, which Takoo’s rites, shattered by the white woman’s stronger magic, are powerless to remove. “de Lisser utilizes the conventions of a romantic entanglement to investigate and debate the wider socio-political issues within the novel that relate to colonialism, Jamaican identity and culture... The White Witch of Rosehall is a delightful read, written by an author who sought not only to entertain, but also to educate.”—Donna-Marie Tuck, Society for Caribbean Studies Newsletter

This pioneering work is multi-disciplinary in approach as it examines the rich folk medicine of Jamaica. Payne-Jackson and Alleyne analyse the historical and linguistic aspects of folk medicine, based on their research, which included extensive fieldwork and interviews. They explore the sociological and ethnological dimensions of common healing and health-preserving practices which rely on Jamaica's rich biodiversity in medicinal and nutritional flora. As is the case with other aspects of Jamaican traditional culture, Jamaican folk medicine is largely misunderstood and subject to negative pejorative attitudes. This comprehensively study challenges some of the myths and misinformation. Particular attention is paid to cultural transference from Africa and the use of herbs in African-Jamaican religions. The work has an appendix and a glossary as well as a detailed bibliography.

The themes of betrayal, romance, love and mystery underpin this epic drama about Annee Palmer, one of the most memorable characters in Jamaica's history who was the bewitching owner of a plantation; Millie, a beautiful and determined slave; and John Rutherford who was caught in the middle of the torrid love story.

In 'The White Witch of Rosehall,' Herbert G. de Lisser spins a bewitching tale of love, power, and the supernatural set against the backdrop of 19th-century Jamaica. Drawing on the rich tapestry of Jamaican folklore and colonial history, de Lisser weaves a story that is both captivating and eerie, rooted in the prototypical plantation narrative and infused with gothic elements. His prose style marries the lush descriptions of the Caribbean landscape with the haunting aura of Rosehall, the reputedly haunted great house at the story's center. The novel's exploration of complex themes such as racism, slavery, and the cultural mysticism of obeah—an Afro-Caribbean spiritual practice—places it in the larger conversation of postcolonial literature and the legacy of the British Empire. Herbert G. de Lisser (1878–1944), a preeminent Jamaican journalist and author, was a seminal figure in his homeland's literary scene. His proximity to the sociopolitical developments of his time, including the stark racial and class divisions in post-emancipation Jamaica, profoundly influenced his writing. 'The White Witch of Rosehall' is perhaps his most famous work, arising from the legendary lore surrounding the real Annie Palmer, the alleged 'White Witch' who reigned with infamy over the Rosehall plantation. De Lisser's narrative is not only an unveiling of the deep-seated superstitions of the time but also a reflection on the complexities of colonial power dynamics. Recommended for aficionados of historical fiction and gothic romance, 'The White Witch of Rosehall' invites readers to delve into the dense underbrush of Jamaica's past. De Lisser's novel is an essential entry for those intrigued by the intersection of history and myth, and it provides a critical lens through which to examine issues of cultural identity and the unseen scars of colonialism. This DigiCat Publishing edition honors de Lisser's remarkable storytelling and ensures that new generations can unearth the chilling, yet telling, chronicle of The White Witch and the hauntingly beautiful land over which she ruled.

From the author of the National Book Award finalist Black Leopard, Red Wolf and the WINNER of the 2015 Man Booker Prize for A Brief History of Seven Killings "An undeniable success.” — The New York Times Book Review A true triumph of voice and storytelling, The Book of Night Women rings with both profound authenticity and a distinctly contemporary energy. It is the story of Lilith, born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the eighteenth century. Even at her birth, the slave women around her recognize a dark power that they- and she-will come to both revere and fear. The Night Women, as they call themselves, have long been plotting a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age they see her as the key to their plans. But when she begins to understand her own feelings, desires, and identity, Lilith starts to push at the edges of what is imaginable for the life of a slave woman, and risks becoming the conspiracy's weak link. But the real revelation of the book-the secret to the stirring imagery and insistent prose-is Marlon James himself, a young writer at once breath­takingly daring and wholly in command of his craft.

A study of the importance of debates about obeah, and state suppression of it, for Caribbean struggles about freedom and citizenship.

One Blood offers a wealth of ethnographic material, skillfully using traditional Jamaican images and expressions to present a coherent and systematic depiction of the Jamaican body, of how it works and of how health is maintained. Sobo explains some of the more complex issues of medical anthropology in a clear and accessible fashion and shows how gender and kinship tensions are expressed through culturally constructed syndromes. The book explores the ways in which the body serves as a medium for the expression of ideas about the social and moral order. Childhood socializations and ideas about gender relations, kinship, social obligations, sorcery, and deceit are investigated in association with beliefs about nutrition, procreation, sexuality, cleanliness, bodily flow, and sickness.

In Obeah, Race and Racism, Eugenia O'Neal vividly discusses the tradition of African magic and witchcraft, traces its voyage across the Atlantic and its subsequent evolution on the plantations of the New World, and provides a detailed map of how English writers, poets and dramatists interpreted it for English audiences. The triangular trade in guns and baubles, enslaved Africans and gold, sugar and cotton was mirrored by a similar intellectual trade borne in the reports, accounts and stories that fed the perceptions and prejudices of everyone involved in the slave trade and no subject was more fascinating and disconcerting to Europeans than the religious beliefs of the people they had enslaved. Indeed, African magic made its own triangular voyage; starting from Africa, Obeah crossed the Atlantic to the Caribbean, then journeyed back across the ocean, in the form of traveller's narratives and plantation reports, to Great Britain where it was incorporated into the plots of scores of books and stories which went on to shape and form the world view of explorers and colonial officials in Britain's far-flung empire. O'Neal examines what British writers knew or thought they knew about Obeah and discusses how their perceptions of black people were shaped by their perceptions of Obeah. Translated or interpreted by racist writers as a devil-worshipping religion, Obeah came to symbolize the brutality, savagery and superstition in which blacks were thought to be immured by their very race. For many writers, black belief in Obeah proved black inferiority and justified both slavery and white colonial domination. The English reading public became generally convinced that Obeah was evil and that blacks were, at worst, devil worshippers or, at best, extremely stupid and credulous. And because books and stories on Obeah continued to promulgate either of the two prevailing perspectives, and sometimes both together until at least the 1950s, theories of black inferiority continue to hold sway in Great Britain today.