• By: Opal

Posted on May 16, 2009

While most know of Obeah in Jamaica, few know its counterpoint, Myal.

An Entry in Jamaica Talk: Three Hundred years of the English Language in Jamaica by Frederic G. Cassidy ( MacMillian Caribbean, 1961), we get one notation:

“Obeah, the Jamaican form of sorcery or `black magic’, [sic] was once counterbalanced by myal, or `white magic’ a healing cult.  Obeah employed its power against people; myal claimed to counter those powers.”  P. 241

Another entry in the same above text, “Another plant with supposedly magical property is spirit weed or myal weed.  These names refer to religious practices in which the myal-man used the plant to `bring back to life’ a celebrant whom he had previoulsy `killed’ with a narcotic draught.  This plant does indeed have a pungent aromatic odour, from which it is also called fit-weed or fit-bush and goat-root; snake-weed and snake-root may also allude to cultist use.” P. 380

“Gombay is considered to be a myal dance.  The term `to cathch myal’ in the Kumina cult refers to full posssession of a person by an ancestor.” – from  A-Z of Jamaican Heritage by Olive Senior. (England: Heinemann Educational Books, 1983).

See also, Erna Brodber’s novel, Myal (London: New Beacon Books, 1988).

I  am on my way to Jamaica to meet and hopefully interview current myal parctioners and learn more about their herbs, and practice.

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6 Comments

  1. Jessica Robinson May 19, 2009 at 9:33 am - Reply

    Opal– Congratulations on being the first Performing Diaspora Resident artist to post on the CounterPULSE Blog! We’re so excited to see the work that you create here at CounterPULSE!

  2. Lily Taylor May 19, 2009 at 4:50 pm - Reply

    I can’t wait to learn more about Myal when you return from Jamaica! This is so interesting. Thank you for posting information from these books, too.

  3. Danica Sena May 27, 2009 at 12:05 am - Reply

    Fascinating information Opal, I love the ancestry part, in retrospect it is what ties us all together. Now I am gearing up to post something, yayayyayay!

  4. Andrew May 28, 2009 at 2:24 pm - Reply

    Hi Opal,
    This was great info. Is there any chance you can direct me towards photos or videos of a traditional Myalist? I want to start learning the visual style of everyone’s traditional form before we start to find ways to experiment with it.

  5. Colette June 2, 2009 at 12:10 am - Reply

    Very interesting. This reminds me of a ceremony in Haiti called “Pele Fey” or “Stepping on Leaves” where in a ceremony folks sing while the drums are playing while they are dancing in a sense on top of a variety of particular leave. Which are made into a “bayen” or “bath” for healing purposes.

  6. Anya Strickland June 30, 2009 at 10:49 am - Reply

    Hope you had a good time in Jamaca

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