Jumbie Le go!

Back when I was a child, a pajama party or camp-fire was not complete without the telling of a scary ghost story. These spooky stories freaked me out more than I was willing to admit; my over-active imagination had me seeing ghosts in every shadow as well as under my bed, and I would shake with fright until I fell into a night-mare ridden sleep. Ghost stories were not for the faint of heart but we begged to hear them, knowing full well that the mental images they created would haunt us later!

In this part of the Caribbean, children’s heads were filled at quite an early age with stories about “Jumbies” as opposed to ghosts, both of which pretty much boil down to the possibility of spirits of one sort or another roaming about.  A shout of, “Jumbie Le Go!” would send little children running and screaming with fright, especially if the sun had gone down. With the availability of modern technology, I am not sure frightening tales about Jumbies are still being shared; today’s young people seem to be hypnotized by devices tuned to the internet, and it makes me wonder if their parents or grandparents ever sit them down for a good, old-fashioned “scare-the-living-daylights-out-of-them” Jumbie story. They sure used to!

As a newcomer to the Caribbean, it took me a while to differentiate between such words as “Duppy”, “Jumbie”, “Obeah”, “Anansi” and “Soucouyant”. Whenever I asked for explanations, I was confused by many rapidly-told and conflicting stories, but what DID come through loud and clear was the superstitious dread held by many that black magic and evil spirits abounded on Bequia. The stories frightened children, and I actually knew several grown men who refused to walk the road alone after dark, afraid they would fall victim to a jumbie, duppy or soucouyant. They would tell me stories about being tripped up by malicious spirits when walking alone at night, and although I figured strong rum was often the culprit, there was no denying that the men were deeply afraid. Today, Bequia has vehicular traffic and some streetlights; back then, the road would be pitch black on a moon-less night and very lonely indeed. I heard many tall tales about “Jumbie Corner”, a sharp bend in the road between the Harbour and Tony Gibbons Beach that was feared by anyone walking alone at night. It was supposedly a place where jumbies concealed themselves, and waited for anyone foolish enough to be walking by themselves around that particular dark and eerie corner.  I had a small motor-bike, and whenever I drove home at night (usually after the Frangi jump-up!) I always approached Jumbie corner with trepidation; when entering the curve the bike’s light would fail, then blink back on once I had rounded the sharp bend. This ALWAYS happened, and even though I KNEW the cause had to be faulty wiring it never failed to scared the shit out of me!

I learned that people who feared jumbies often sprinkled salt in front of doors and windows, believing the salt would keep evil spirits from entering their homes. Those who felt this might not be enough protection entered their homes backwards, or spun around in a circle before going inside. Stories of how to kill a soucouyant were quite explicit, and also involved the use of salt. From what I could gather, a soucouyant was like a female vampire and sucked its victims’ blood, and in order to do this it had to shed its skin. If one moved fast enough and managed to sprinkle salt on the skin while it was empty, the soucouyant would die. Or so they say.

I never associated “bad jumbies” with All Souls on November 1^st and 2^nd, when people would (and still do) gather with candles in the graveyard and sit with their dearly departed. This was more like a social gathering, a time when friends and relatives got together to reminisce about their ancestors, and as far as I’m concerned, use of the words “jumbie Leggo” when describing All Souls night borders on the disrespectful. They are your family for heaven’s sake, light the candles and enjoy their company! If spirits roam on those nights they are apt to be friendly, at least one would assume so.

When Mac built our house at Belmont, spirits of some sort were definitely felt wandering through the property at night.  Perhaps the house had been built on a right-of-way from long ago that passed through our back yard, and although the spirits did not feel evil or threatening, they DID scare the children, especially Rachel. Mac also felt the presence of these benign jumbies at night, and finally asked my father to bless the house. Dad was reluctant to do so as the house had not been completed (some doors and windows had yet to be installed), but Mac insisted that at least the upstairs section where the children slept be blessed. My father was no stranger to ghosts, and with Holy water in hand he blessed the entire house, finished or not! He was a very special man.

Have I ever come across a Jumbie? Of course not, I don’t believe in them, except of course whenever I rounded Jumbie Corner in the dark on my motor-bike! My heart would pound and my brain would scream, “Jumbie le go!  Jumbie le go!” all the way home to Friendship…..