The Zemi Amulet

The Taíno people were the indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas and other islands of The Caribbeans, displaced by the early European explorers and settlers. Although some modern Caribbeans regard themselves as their descendants, the Taíno are largely extinct as a racial and cultural group.
Part of their spiritual practice honored the zemi, or spirits of the ancestors, using particular “spirit house” objects and amulets. One special zemi amulet is a small triangular carved stone, just over an inch on each side. When placed on the forehead of a worthy descendant of the Taíno, the amulet adheres there and grants the wearer access to the ancestral powers of the zemi, both their knowledge and their skills and abilities, including certain “spirit tools”.