A real live documented Haitian zombieBut probably not. Heartbreaking, I know. All of us have a tiny person within us, and that person is wearing a tinfoil hat and crammed with doubtful beliefs. F'instance, several years ago it only took a hot ten minutes at an urban myths website to realize that many "truths" I cherished, were actually pretty nutty. And so, onward in this post, to the possible reality of zombies, which was one of those "facts" I would have mud-wrestled you over.
When it first came out, I spent many happy hours pouring over Wade Davis' book, The Serpent and the Rainbow, a respected anthropologist's account of actual Haitian zombies. Later, a train-wreck of a movie was based on his book and I spent some happy time watching that too, shivering over the scary undead and marveling that zombies were real after all. Thanks to zombie-blogging, I've had occasion to revisit Davis' research and to wonder why I bought into it in the first place.
There are several problems with the Wade Davis book. Problem #1 is that the zombie powder used by witch doctors (or bokors) in zombie-making ceremonies is, on analysis, is far too weak to make a respectable zombie. You'd need a more massive amount of puffer toad plus fuga fish in the zombie powder to put someone in the comatose condition that's required. Once it's ingested, the zombie-nominee supposedly falls into a coma state so deep, it appears to mimic death. Then, after the zombie is "dead", he's quickly buried, periodically force-fed datura paste (which makes the zombie candidate catatonic) and dug up after an unspecified length of time.
Anecdotal and scientific evidence both suggest that people have been buried alive in Haiti for all kinds of reasons and that it's not uncommon. Since it's a tropical climate, the dead are buried very quickly, which increases the odds of a sad mistake. An interesting side-note is that people can and do recover from the whole puffer-fish, buried-alive, datura horror-show. But, according to Haitian bokors, if it looks like a zombie is coming to, he's just fed more datura. What supposedly emerges is a will-less, unconscious being, easily led and directed. However, that leads to another problem with Wade Davis book.
He seems to have jumped right into the whole spooky grave-corpse-witch doctor paradigm without considering any other alternatives (aka, hypotheses as used in the scientific method) to zombieville. The photo above pictures one such supposed "zombie", who was, in fact, never touched by a witchdoctor and is severely brain-damaged but is still considered a zombie, entirely for cultural reasons.
A considerable problem with the Wade Davis book is that, despite having a boatload of zombie powder, he was never able to zombify anyone or duplicate any "results" he saw. And a replication of results is the only proof the scientific method recognizes.
A later study by the British in 1993, included interviews with supposed zombies, analyzed zombie powders and various datura pastes, and ultimately concluded that these people were more likely the products of mental illness and oxygen starvation, seen in the context of voodou.
However, putting these poor souls to one side, to me, the more innaresting questions are small ones. Why do we use terms like zombie banks? And zombie creditors? Somehow we're conflating the economy plus the undead: Zombie Bankers Who Ate My Brain!
I'm not sneering at anyone's belief or joy in zombies, whatever type they prefer. It's forgivable. A quality of our species as human beings, is that we are highly suggestible. Like Kahnweiler wrote in his Introduction to the First Cubist Exhibition, We not only look at, we look for.
Right now, I think what we're actually seeing and participating in, zombie-wise, is one of our cultural allegories. We sit before our news websites, mouths ajar, goggling at will-less, unconscious, and immoral beings who can neither be held responsible or fixed.
That is a far, far scarier sight than any raggedy-ass zombie.
HERE ENDETH THE ZOMBIE CHRONICLES.
When it first came out, I spent many happy hours pouring over Wade Davis' book, The Serpent and the Rainbow, a respected anthropologist's account of actual Haitian zombies. Later, a train-wreck of a movie was based on his book and I spent some happy time watching that too, shivering over the scary undead and marveling that zombies were real after all. Thanks to zombie-blogging, I've had occasion to revisit Davis' research and to wonder why I bought into it in the first place.
There are several problems with the Wade Davis book. Problem #1 is that the zombie powder used by witch doctors (or bokors) in zombie-making ceremonies is, on analysis, is far too weak to make a respectable zombie. You'd need a more massive amount of puffer toad plus fuga fish in the zombie powder to put someone in the comatose condition that's required. Once it's ingested, the zombie-nominee supposedly falls into a coma state so deep, it appears to mimic death. Then, after the zombie is "dead", he's quickly buried, periodically force-fed datura paste (which makes the zombie candidate catatonic) and dug up after an unspecified length of time.
Anecdotal and scientific evidence both suggest that people have been buried alive in Haiti for all kinds of reasons and that it's not uncommon. Since it's a tropical climate, the dead are buried very quickly, which increases the odds of a sad mistake. An interesting side-note is that people can and do recover from the whole puffer-fish, buried-alive, datura horror-show. But, according to Haitian bokors, if it looks like a zombie is coming to, he's just fed more datura. What supposedly emerges is a will-less, unconscious being, easily led and directed. However, that leads to another problem with Wade Davis book.
He seems to have jumped right into the whole spooky grave-corpse-witch doctor paradigm without considering any other alternatives (aka, hypotheses as used in the scientific method) to zombieville. The photo above pictures one such supposed "zombie", who was, in fact, never touched by a witchdoctor and is severely brain-damaged but is still considered a zombie, entirely for cultural reasons.
A considerable problem with the Wade Davis book is that, despite having a boatload of zombie powder, he was never able to zombify anyone or duplicate any "results" he saw. And a replication of results is the only proof the scientific method recognizes.
A later study by the British in 1993, included interviews with supposed zombies, analyzed zombie powders and various datura pastes, and ultimately concluded that these people were more likely the products of mental illness and oxygen starvation, seen in the context of voodou.
However, putting these poor souls to one side, to me, the more innaresting questions are small ones. Why do we use terms like zombie banks? And zombie creditors? Somehow we're conflating the economy plus the undead: Zombie Bankers Who Ate My Brain!
I'm not sneering at anyone's belief or joy in zombies, whatever type they prefer. It's forgivable. A quality of our species as human beings, is that we are highly suggestible. Like Kahnweiler wrote in his Introduction to the First Cubist Exhibition, We not only look at, we look for.
Right now, I think what we're actually seeing and participating in, zombie-wise, is one of our cultural allegories. We sit before our news websites, mouths ajar, goggling at will-less, unconscious, and immoral beings who can neither be held responsible or fixed.
That is a far, far scarier sight than any raggedy-ass zombie.
HERE ENDETH THE ZOMBIE CHRONICLES.
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