Emma Kathryn Wild Witchcraft

Similarities & Key Differences

As an obeahwoman and vodouisant, there seems to be one question that comes up time and time again and that is how are Vodou and Obeah similar and where do they differ, if at all?

In today’s age of information, it’s easy to lump all similar looking practices together, and in a way, I get it. Compartmentalising and generalising is something we do as humans without always realising it, and we do so in order to deal with the masses of information we take in each moment of each day. However, it can become harmful when we use it to generalise complex information and then apply it to everything that looks like it, in the process creating or feeding into existing stereotypes. It’s harmful in other ways too, such as in the decline of traditions, such as we see with Obeah.

Here then is my brief attempt to shed some light into the key similarities and differences between Obeah and Vodou.

A Shared History

Whenever I think of the Caribbean, I think of a truly magical place, one with a dark and bloodied past and to understand Obeah and Vodou, it is important to have even a very simple knowledge of the history of the place, because that is where these traditions have become unique, morphing from their West African origins and becoming what was needed by people going through some of the worst experiences in human history.

As already mentioned, both traditions were brought to the Caribbean by enslaved West Africans, but here in these wild, tropical islands, they became something more than their original form. Before both Jamaica (my family are from Jamaica, and so, as regular readers will know, whenever I write about Obeah, it comes from this perspective) and Haiti were ‘discovered’ and colonised, they were inhabited by indigenous peoples, the Arawak speaking Taino tribes. However, many of them died, either at the violence and cruelty of the European colonisers or because of the diseases they brought with them, to which the Taino had no or little immunity.

During slavery, many of the enslaved West Africans brought with them their own religions, beliefs, practices and languages. Because the plantation owners feared uprisings, many of these were outlawed, and in an attempt to minimise rebellions, many of the enslaved were mixed so that tribes people and families were separated, and so already we begin to see the emergence of new or different versions of old beliefs and practices, an amalgamation of those fragments carried by and kept alive by the enslaved. We see even more mixation and blending when escaped slaves were aided by any remaining Taino people.

Other Similarities

A shared history isn’t the only similarities between Obeah and Vodou. The human condition is another key factor in both practices. Because life in the Caribbean was hard, particularly for the enslaved and their ancestors, both traditions deal with the material concerns and conditions of the people. That’s not to say the spiritual side wasn’t taken into account, it was. But when life and death are everyday concerns, then the practicalities surrounding both just cannot be ignored.

Linked to this then is the spiritual nature of humans. The belief that the soul or spirit had two parts is a thread that weaves through both. In Vodou, it is believed that the soul has two parts, the ti bon ange and the gross bon ange. The ti bon ange or ‘little angel’ is the part of the soul that contains the essence of the individual, their personality if you will, whereas the gros bon ange or ‘big angel’ is the part of the soul that is the divine, animating spark. In Obeah, it is the part of the spirit that contains the essence of the person that can return as a duppy if the proper funerary rights are not performed.

One key similarity is the secretive nature of both practices. Both are initiated spiritual and magical practices where initiates must be apprenticed and learn from those within the traditions. While this is an important part of the traditions that help preserve their integrity, it can also lead to a lot of misinformation around the practices for those who are interested in learning about them.

Key Differences

Such brutal experiences change those who go through them, and as such, it should come as no surprise that such important spiritual and magical beliefs and practices were changed and shaped by the experiences of those who held them. This is why there is a distinction between how traditions are practised in their original or in old world forms. They had to become what the people needed them to be in the new and difficult circumstances they found themselves in. It is here that we also begin to see the new emerging offshoots begin to establish themselves as individual practices with their own beliefs and ideals.

One of the biggest differences between Vodou and Obeah is that one can be seen as organised whereas the other is less so.

Vodouisants usually belong to a house or temple with a Manbo or Houngan who is ‘in charge’ and lead the ceremonies, rites and rituals. Each house has their own way of doing things, and will each have a patron lwa or a set of them they work with and honour. Much of what is practised is governed by the Manbo and Houngan, who are often community as well as spiritual leaders, and many of the petitions to the lwa will be of benefit for the whole community.

Obeah on the other hand is very individualistic, with each obeahman or woman deciding on what they believe and practice. As such, obeah practitioners can either focus solely on the magical or spiritual, or even a combination of the two. When people practice obeah or buy the services of an obeahman or woman, it is usually for individualistic reasons that can be either positive or negative.

Obeah can also be described as a type of witchcraft, owing to the ambivalent nature of the practice, with both healing and harming spells, rituals and practices the norm. Here, we see one more similarity between the two traditions. Within Vodou, there is another type of practitioner beside the manbo or houngan. The bokor is said to serve the lwa with both hands, and is more involved with individualistic spellwork, rites and ritual. As with the obeahman or woman, the bokor is more of a magician.

So there you have it, a brief outline of some of the key similarities and differences between Vodou and Obeah. May we keep the spirit of our ancestors alive!