Obeah, Christ and Rastaman

Jamaica and its Religion

by Ivor Morrish

Book cover: Obeah, Christ and Rastaman

Extent: 132 pages

Publisher: James Clarke & Co

Subjects: Religious Studies

Language: English

Hardback (No longer our product)

(November 1987)

ISBN: 9780227678312

5.47 x 8.74 inches

Price: $30.00

On back order

PDF (No longer our product)

(October 2022)

ISBN: 9780718847470

Price: $24.00

An early study of the Jamaican religious landscape historically and in the postcolonial present.


This is a book about an extraordinarily rich and varied culture – a culture in which ‘most of the religio-political movements of the world are to be found epitomised in some form’. In tracing the Jamaican people’s search for an identity through these movements, this book places the modern cult of Rastafarianism in the broadest of historical contexts. Obeah, Christ and Rastaman reflects the author’s careful, scholarly approach, his delight in a fascinating, colourful subject and his deep, humane regard for a people ‘who have, over the years, suffered incredible degradation and suppression’.

Ivor Morrish was educated at Bristol, London and Oxford Universities, graduating in philosophy and economics, theology, and classical Hebrew and Greek. He obtained an academic diploma from the University of London in philosophy, psychology and sociology, as well as founding the Unwin Education book series. During its operative years he held a position of Principal Lecturer in education at Southampton’s La Sainte Union College of Higher Education. His numerous publications include Disciplines of Education and The Background of Immigrant Children.

  • By (author) Ivor Morrish