I have had the chance to live in Barbados during summer 2001 to study spiritual practices linked to health seeking. This was the subject of my master degree research in anthropology which has been published at University Laval, Quebec, Canada.

While in Barbados I came across some healers who related themselves to obeah practices. However, it was interesting to see how secret these practices were compare to other islands as Haiti for example, on the side of the people who performed it but even more on the side of the ones who seeked this kind of "help". I even came to describe it as a study of the "invisible". In Barbados, obeah seems to be clearly associated with evil. However, from the healers perspectives and stories, it seems to be a way to chase this evil. For me, the debate is still open and only Barbadians will end it by the way they'll live it!

Please excuse my poor written english as I am a french speaker...