The word duppy originates from the
Ga language as most of the African folklore and culture in Jamaica comes from the
Ashanti people (a similar
Kwa speaking people also from Ghana). In the Ga language of
Ghana,
Adope literally means dwarf, but in Ghanaian folklore spirits are dwarves. It could also originate from the special Akan day Dapaa, which occurs 9 days after the first Monday of the Akan month Fwodwo. However, in Jamaica, they celebrate this 9-day tradition after someone dies. It is called "9 nights" during which they believe it takes 9 days(a day in Akan culture starts at dusk) for the spirit to return to the ancestral land. On Dapaa, it is believed that the ancestral spirits return to their homeland, a shared belief with Jamaica. The word Dapaa may have undergone vowel changes to become the present day
Duppy, to mean ancestral spirit. In
Obeah, a person is believed to possess two souls—a good soul and an earthly soul. In death, the good soul goes to heaven to be judged by God, while the earthly spirit remains for three days in the coffin with the body, where it may escape if proper precautions are not taken and appear as a duppy. ==See also==