Black Magic - Duppy

Jamaican Folklore

‘Duppies’ are restless spirits of the dead that are believed to haunt the living. Though there are good and bad spirits, the ‘duppy’ is seen as malevolent because the good spirits seldom seen, choosing to reveal themselves through dreams or visions. The good spirit is sometimes referred to as ancestral spirits, who are believed to be dead family members who still take an interest in the lives of living relatives. Contrary to the good spirit, the ‘duppy’ is seen as the unnamed, unhappy, and restless dead human who is capable of doing harm.

The ‘duppy’ can linger around or be summoned by an obeah-man or woman from the grave to do harm in exchange for payment of food or drink, especially rum. ‘Duppies’ are said to live at the roots of cotton trees and bamboo thickets, from where they emerge in the nights or at midday.

It is also maintained that certain precautions must be taken to ward off or to avoid trouble with a ‘duppy’. When throwing out water at nights, care must be taken to warn the ‘duppies’ before throwing the water. Stones must not be thrown at noon or nights and one should never sit at the threshold of a door as a ‘duppy’ will walk over and injure you. Methods of getting rid of ‘duppies’ range from cursing (i.e use of expletives) or calling “Jesus Christ” to nailing a horseshoe over the doorway