Wade Davis, a Harvard ethno-botanist, went to Haiti to perform zombie research in 1982. He interviewed Clairvius Narcisse, a man, and Ti Femme, a woman, who claimed to be zombies. Both told him how they died, witnessed their own funerals and how a bokor, black-magic Voodoo hougan (priest), woke them.
It took Davis months of research, talking to hougans, to confirm his suspicions that some form of drug was involved in the creation of zombies.
How Are Zombies Created?
The bokor creates a highly toxic mixture that includes poisonous plants and animals. Dumbcane is added because it harms the larynx, making breathing difficult and vocalizations impossible.
The poison is mixed with food to be ingested or placed over an open wound to ensure it gets absorbed into the victim’s bloodstream. The person will lapse into a deep coma-like state so life cannot be detected, then buried before being “resurrected” by the bokor. The victim is aware of what is happening, but cannot react.
The zombie is “resurrected” by being force-fed a mixture of sweet potatoes, sugar cane and Datura stramonium, referred to as zombie’s cucumber. The potion causes disorientation and hallucinations. The bokor gives the zombie a new name and a new life. Confused, the victim follows and totally obeys the bokor and his or her new master. There’s no antidote for the potions and zombies require little food. Salt is withheld because it’s believed that it can bring back the ability to speak and taste. Voodoo beliefs play an important role.
Modern Zombies
Traditionally, zombies worked in fields at night. Some Haitians considered to be zombies lead normal daily lives with families and jobs.
Papa Doc Duvallier, former Haitian dictator, had a private army of tonton macoutes, said to be in trances, who obeyed all commands. He had his own Voodoo church with many followers. Duvallier promised to return after his death; he didn’t return, but a guard was placed at his tomb, to ensure that he wouldn’t try to escape and that no one would steal his body.
There are stories of people who have died and then returned. Caesar returned eighteen years after he “died,” married, had three children and finally died thirty years later.
A student from Port-au-Prince was shot during a robbery attempt. Six months later, he returned to his parent’s house as a zombie. He said a bokor stole his body from the ambulance and transformed him into a zombie. As time went by, the student lost his ability to communicate, grew increasingly lethargic, and then died.
Zombies and the Law
Zombification was used a means of control. The Maroon societies were comprised of slaves who escaped their masters, and then hid in the mountains. Zombification enabled the slaves to establish a judicial system used to maintain order. Only a tribunal of elders could authorize this fate. Narcisse was sentenced to zombification because he was impregnating women any time he felt like it, then walked away without concern for the women or the many children he had abandoned. The tribunal felt he was a danger to the community and had to be stopped.
Today, according to Haitian Penal Code Article 249, zombification is illegal. It’s considered a form of attempted murder when a person is given substances to induce a prolonged lethargic coma; it becomes murder is when the person has been buried, whether or not s/he dies.
Related ArticlesPeople who found this article interesting might want to read Grisgris_Resquardo_Gurunfinda, Marie_Laveau_and_her_Spellwork and Vooduon_Voodoo_Hoodoo.
Sources:
Death by Enchantment, Julian Franklyn. Sphere Books Ltd., 1971.
The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits, Rosemary Ellen Guiley. Facts on File, Inc., 1992.
The Supernatural, Douglas and Pat Williams. Aldus Books, 1965.
Jill Stefko - I'd rather deal with the paranormal than human abnormal - having dealt extensively with both.
