Meaning
An obeah man — a practitioner of obeah believed to work spells, tell fortunes, and read the 'books' of magic from which he takes his name. People consult a bookman for protection, for healing, for luck, or to work against an enemy, and he is a figure of real power and dread in the world of Jamaican folk belief. He stands alongside the 'four-eye man' and the 'reader' among those thought to command the unseen, and his 'books' are the source of his feared knowledge.
Examples
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Dem go a di bookman fi protection.
They went to the obeah man for protection.
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Di bookman read it an tell har di future.
The obeah man read it and told her the future.
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Nuh badda wid no bookman business.
Don't get mixed up in obeah dealings.
Origin
From 'book' plus 'man', for one who works from the books of magic; the term echoes the historic obeah man Dutty Boukman of the Haitian Revolution.
How it’s used
Part of obeah and folk-belief vocabulary, spoken of with a mix of respect and wariness.