Slave Religious Ceremonies

The slaves merged with the white in many process but they never surrendered to the European religious, social and cultural practices. The elements that were African derived were preserved and they converged and co existed with the Christian symbols. This policy shares a common African heritage.

In order to understand the effects of the slave religious ceremonies on the white and especially the white colonial master, it is useful to take a closer look at the Obeah practice and how the colonial master responded. The Obeah religion involved magic spells, secret nightly rituals and believes of the power of talisman amulets, which was called Obeah bags. There were ingredients such as clay, teeth, hair and bones and medical and spiritual healing. The obeah man was believed to have the power to communicate with the spirits, which were at his disposal, and he had the power to achieve good or evil. He was believed to summon the spirits to cause death; illness, poverty and he had the power to call the spirits to undo the harm.

The supernatural powers of the Obeah man made him manipulate the environment and shape it according to his will and this made him become respected and feared not only by the slaves but also by the white. The Obeah fulfilled the important social functions of the black community. Through him a thief could be convicted or murdered or made to confess his deed. The white perceived this system as a system of oppressing, which deprived of the individual of his natural right, social control and justice and they  were opposed to this religious ceremonies.

The Obeah worship and the secret rituals were performed at midnight and in a spiritual sphere, which was concealed from the white. The ritual according to the slaves represented a session of bonding. It helped the slaves keep the common memories of their African past alive and develop a cultural identity of their own which was different from that of their masters. The mystery and the secrecy surrounding the obeah made the white master’s suspect that the Obeah was a form of resistance and opposition. The profession of the Obeah was a self-conscious claim to power but there were many things that the white did not know because of their power, which according to Lawrence Levine was great as it was limited.