Nerve-racking day watching an obeahman at work

When popular obeahman Ruben Williams invited THE WEEKEND STAR to visit his workplace in Oracabessa, St Mary, I hesitated for months because I am no ghostbuster. Despite being curious, the very thought of entering a spirit-filled domain had me nervous.

Last week, though, with photographer Kenyon Hemans as my sidekick, I braved up and made the trip to see this obeahman. On the way from Kingston, a million images of Williams, who I have never met, came to mind. Kenyon imagined aloud that his eyes would be blood red, while I, on the other hand, pictured him as a wrinkled old man with pencils behind his ears and other tools of his craft, such as bones and candles, affixed to his waist by a belt.

We were in for a rude awakening.

Not only does the obeahman drive a high-end motor vehicle but his outfit was quite trendy. This is so because, outside of being an obeahman, Williams is also a businessman.

As soon as we got to his office, which comprised a table with a variety of candles, oils and odd paraphernalia, Williams darted to a private quarter in order to change into his work attire. The work table also had what he said was grave dirt and a bottle of reddish liquid, which he said is pig and goat blood mixed with seawater.

Left alone with Kenyon in the spooky office, I couldn't help but notice four cats staring at us. One of them had eyes fixed on me.

Feeling uneasy, I removed myself from the doorway and moved to another section of the 'obeah office'. This time, I stood near a window. My curiousity led me to take a peek through the window, and, to my absolute shock, mine and the cat's eyes made four.

Creepy!

I could not help but wonder why this big-head puss kept looking at me. My thoughts were running wild when Williams emerged. He wore a black headwrap, black pants and white shirt.

"Yea man, the same big-head puss just a wonder, yuh a who?" Williams uttered. "Yuh know, di same one weh yuh a think 'bout a while a guh and a wonder why him nah stop look at you," he continued.

Williams appeared to have read my mind. Or perhaps it was mere coincidence and common sense. The obeahman, who is in his 40s, said he has been practising obeah for more than two decades. He said he has had the ability to 'read' since he was a small child. His father, David Williams, was also an obeahman.

With a wry smile, Williams indicated that he had a job to complete. He took up a cup containing liquid, which he drank before sitting around his table. The job, he said, involved removing a curse from a client who he said was being tormented by a 'damballa spirit'. This spirit is rooted in Haitian voodoo mythology.

"The customer weh mi a deal wid a go through a lot of things. A man set the damballa and him legion dem on him and a bare pain him in. Worms and rat bat full up him house, and him a hear bare talking in the house and is him alone live," Williams said.

"Things a lick up on his window and, when him wake, a bird dead outside. Like how mi call damballa name, mi have to put things in place suh him nuh create no stir. Him have some little legions behind him, but mi have four puss outside suh him can go in them," the obeahman said.

He then lit some candles and began to burn incense, all of which he said had their individual purpose. The obeahman also 'commanded some spirits' to stay outdoors. He also claimed to have summoned spirits to his work table to assist in freeing his client from the damballa's clutches.

"As soon as unno gone, mi have to go take all of this and put in a coconut and buss it, and send dem back weh dem come," he said.

Williams' workshop also contained a voodoo doll that contains several pins. He said the doll was instrumental in the ritual he was performing. At one point, he removed one of the pins from the doll, dipped it in a container and muttered some words. Believe it or not, the pin disappeared. Williams said that it was "gone to the person who a terrorise mi client".

Although he spent a portion of the afternoon working for the client, Williams said he still had a lot of work to do, which included visiting a graveyard between the hours of 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. to ensure the damballa curse is defeated.