The myth circulates that Bunny Wailer was an Obeahman. That would mean that Bunny is a Shadow-Catcher. Bunny catch dem shadow, and dem go dead.
You say what is a shadow? Seen as the outer form of an invisible dimension of the human person which is separable from the whole, vulnerable to spiritual attack, and survives the body after death. After death this shadow is called a duppy and is a potent, volatile spiritual force. Some of the stories that circulate are Leslie Kong made a fatal error when he announced he was going to release a collection called ‘THE BEST OF THE WAILERS’..Bunny got wind of it and cornered Kong. “Don’t do it, mon” he said to Kong. “It cannot be de best of de Wailers, ‘cause our best is yet to come. When yuh seh dat de best of someone has gone, den dat person is already dead or soon dyin’, so we don’ wan dat.” Kong protested, and Bunny cut him off, “If yuh do dis t’ing I prophesize dat it is yuh who will die.” Bunny was rumored to have more than a passing acquaintance with obeah. Kong’s greed got the better of him and he paid Bunny no mind. He released the album and a year later he dropped dead, of a heart attack on the same day he became a millionaire. At that time he was the most important producer and one of the prime developers of reggae music in Jamaica.
Years earlier Bob Marley had made a prediction when Kong refused to pay him the money he owed him for his solo sessions. Bob predicted that one day Leslie would be working with Bob again but never live to enjoy the profits that would be reaped from the project.
Bunny requested a death clause from Chris Blackwell for his solo contract so if anything happened to Chris Blackwell he would be free of his contract. Blackwell said “Well, I don’t really know, really, about that…okay. I suppose we could do it.” “Good,” said Bunny. “That means I can get out of my contract at any time.”
I feel Bunny is a Myalman..seen..an Obeahman works in secret and a Myalman is working in a society for the good of man. A Myalman knows all things of Obeah but an Obeahman is not Myal.
To be Obeah Practitioner-which is science- you study the workings of the visible & invisible world. It is a long apprenticeship to becoming an Obeahman. Studies include witchcraft, sorcery, use of poisons, symbolic & therapeutic & toxic medicines, control of the spirits of the living and the dead. Jamaican pharmacopeia is known as ‘BALM WORK’ and is vast. Myal doctors worked along side medical doctors in some slave hospitals. Calling up a Duppy requires great strength & insight. Obeah spells that are formulated to stop your enemies dead in their tracks require urine, menstrual blood, hair, sweat, teeth, the like.
So Bunny is ‘FOUR-EYES’ meaning having developed the gift to see both the visible and invisible world..a Myalman has developed this gift also.
Bunny is ‘OKOMFO’..a spiritual leader..a Myalman.
A Myalman enlists the powers of spirits of the dead in order to cure ills or counteract evil; it involves the use of herbal medicines and baths, drumming and dancing to induce spirit possession, ritual sacrifices of fowls, and other ceremonial rites, some of which are performed under a silk-cotton tree. The cotton tree is sacred..is the residence of Duppies. A Myalman creates stronger magic than the Obeahman. Myalism seeks to ‘GRASP THE EVIL’ that is produced by evil and to destroy it.
When initiated into the Myal society a specific dance is done..a ‘DEATH AND RESURRECTION’ ritual dance. The Myal dance is a means of reaching identity with ancestors whose spirits entered them and communicated with them (gift of tongues)..through the Myal dance a person takes on prophetic functions and has visions. An altered state of consciousness is achieved through Myal dance. In a communal dance the spiritual vision of Myal is attained. Myal brings revelation of the invisible world. This state of mind allows the dancers to see the invisible workings of Obeah as well as to transmit messages from the other world. Being initiated into Myal involves the ingestion of an extract of the herb ‘COLATUE’, which produces a trance mimicking death. Another herbal preparation is used to resurrect the initiate from this state and he or she becomes a member of the Myal society, immune to the invisible coercions of Africans & Europeans alike. When in a state of Myal the Kumma initiate is able to detect evil and good spirits and the workins’ of Obeah.
The Myal people become ‘ANGEL MEN’.
Bob, Bunny & Peter are ‘ANGEL MEN’.

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