"Brown Girl In the Ring" by Nalo Hopkinson

I was very interested in the magic present in Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson, so I decided to do a little bit more research on it. The specific magic used in this story is called obeah, and it was derived from the many different kinds of magic combined when slaves were imported from different parts of Africa. Obeah consists of both benign and malignant magic, like charms, mysticism, and luck. Obeah was originally used by the slaves against their owners, typically in rituals and fetishes.