Award-winning filmmaker Sosiessia Nixon’s latest feature film “Stew Peas” brings renewed attention to obeah, a West African-based spiritual and healing tradition that has endured throughout the Caribbean for centuries. The suspenseful drama follows Jamaican detective Tessa as she investigates an old murder case, weaving the ancient practice into a contemporary narrative.
According to The Guardian, obeah represents an enduring magical and spiritual healing system rooted in West African traditions, despite being banned by colonial authorities in the 1700s. Nixon’s film highlights how these ancestral practices have persisted across Caribbean communities, including those with historical connections to Puerto Rico’s own rich blend of African, indigenous, and Spanish spiritual traditions.
The movie’s exploration of Caribbean spiritual heritage resonates particularly in Puerto Rico, where similar Afro-Caribbean traditions like Santería and espiritismo have deep cultural roots across municipalities from San Juan to Loíza, areas known for preserving African-descended customs. These shared cultural threads reflect the broader Caribbean experience of maintaining ancestral wisdom despite colonial suppression.
Nixon’s work contributes to growing recognition of Caribbean spiritual traditions as legitimate cultural expressions deserving of artistic and academic attention, potentially inspiring similar explorations of Puerto Rico’s own rich spiritual tapestry.
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