Obayifo

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An obayifo is a vampire-like mythological creature from West Africa coming from the folklore of the Ashanti.[1] It is known as asiman by the Dahomey people.[1] The obayifo was also considered a kind of witch.[2] In Ashanti folklore, obayifo are very common and may inhabit the bodies of ordinary people.[3] They are said to have shifty eyes and be obsessed with food.[3] When travelling at night they emit a phosphorescent light from their armpits and anus.[3]

Obayifo are believed to kill children by remotely sucking their blood.[2] They can enter the bodies of animals to attack humans.[4] They are also said to suck the life from the land and weaken crops, particularly cacao.[2] Konstantinos describes the obayifo as an "intentional psychic vampire".[5]

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[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Davison, Carol Margaret; Paul Simpson-Housley (1997). Bram Stoker's Dracula: Sucking Through the Century, 1897-1997. Dundurn Press Ltd., 354. ISBN 1550022792. 
  2. ^ a b c Belanger, Michelle (2005). Sacred Hunger. Lulu.com, 128. ISBN 1411654218. 
  3. ^ a b c Williams, Joseph J. (2003). Psychic Phenomena of Jamaica. Kessinger Publishing, 62. ISBN 0766135381. 
  4. ^ Morrish, Ivor (1982). Obeah, Christ and Rastaman: Jamaica and Its Religion. Jamaica: James Clarke & Co., 23. ISBN 0227678311. 
  5. ^ Konstantinos (1996). Vampires: The Occult Truth. Llewellyn Worldwide, 27. ISBN 1567183808. 
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