The lurching, rotting, hungry corpse is a staple of modern horror, but the original Haitian zombie was a creature to be pitied... and may not have been entirely folklore. Let's explore:
In 1980 Angelina Narcisse was approached by a man who claimed to be her brother Clairvius, a claim supported by his detailed knowledge of their shared family history. This was something of a surprise, since she'd stood at his funeral eighteen years ago.
The woman moved stiffly and could mumble only a few words - possibly due to brain damage sustained during being buried alive. When her grave was exhumed on the orders of a local court, it was found to contain only stones.
- The Origins of Zombie Folklore
- Making a Zombie
- Real-Life Zombies
- The Disturbing Search for Zombie Powder
- Could Tetrodotoxin (and a Toxic, Low-Salt Diet) Really Do All That?
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| Zombies would work the fields for eternity... (caruizp) |
The Origins of Zombie Folklore
17th century Haiti was known as Saint Domingue, a French colony populated by African slaves forced to work the sugar cane fields. The conditions were extremely harsh and over half those imported were dead within a few years of arrival.
Everyone can dream of better things though - before long, a belief arose amongst the slaves that their deaths would release their spirits back to freedom in lan guinée (Guinea) or Africa. There was a twist though - take your own life and your spirit would become trapped in your own body, condemned to work the plantations as a zombie (from the Kongo "zumbi" or corpse) slave for eternity.
French rule ended in 1804, but the idea of the zombie persisted and became part of Vodou. Most Vodou practitioners focus on things like healing and spiritual well being - but some (such as a bokor or caplata) are said to "serve the loa with both hands" or perform both light and dark magic as suits their needs. One of the signature abilities ascribed to these spiritual mercenaries is the creation of zombies, functioning as free labor and a threatening display of spiritual power.
Making a Zombie
Folklore claims that the process of creating a zombie is a complicated one. It begins with the poisoning of the intended zombie using tetrodotoxin, a highly dangerous paralytic found in pufferfish. Tetrodotoxin has a wide range of effects on the human body, including an irregular heart rate, hypotension, dizziness, a floating sensation, paralysis or even entering a coma. To an onlooker, the victim may well appear dead (though they might still be aware of their surroundings) which might lead to them being buried alive.
When darkness falls, the would-be master returns and exhumes the "corpse." The zombie is force-fed a mixture of sweet potato, cane syrup and Datura (Datura stramonium is called the zombie cucumber as a result) that leaves them confused and suggestible.
The end result is a (seemingly) dead person that rose from the grave and lacks any personal volition - perfect for simple manual labor and an example of what can happen when crossing the wrong person. Of course, that's all just folklore... isn't it?
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| A zombie cucumber... (Olivia Haun) |
Real-Life Zombies
To Angelina's knowledge, Clairvius had walked into a local hospital whilst spitting up blood. He had been complaining of aches and tingling sensations, with a medical examination revealing hypotension, hypothermia, breathing difficulties, pulmonary edema and digestive disorders. His condition rapidly deteriorated and he was soon pronounced dead by a team of doctors.
Clairvius claimed to remember that night as well. He recalled being conscious but paralyzed while being lowered into the ground, experiencing a floating sensation and the pain of a coffin-nail rending his cheek. He had been dug back up and revived the same night by a bokur, who had beaten him and put him to work in the fields with a number of other "zombies." Eventually his master died, freeing the zombies to make their way back home. As a side note, it's interesting how closely his symptoms mirror those of tetrodotoxin poisoning.
Clarvius Narcisse isn't the only alleged zombie to have returned to the living. A study conducted in 1997 measured the brain activity of three people who had supposedly experienced zombification. All three exhibited mental illness (and two of the subjects turned out not to be the people they resembled) but one of the women was identified (both by DNA and a facial marking) as being someone that "died" several years ago.
The woman moved stiffly and could mumble only a few words - possibly due to brain damage sustained during being buried alive. When her grave was exhumed on the orders of a local court, it was found to contain only stones.
The Disturbing Search for Zombie Powder
The idea of a potent sedative capable of putting a human in a state of "living-death" was an intriguing one. A group of scientists sponsored Wade Davis on an expedition to Haiti in search of the fabled "zombie drug."Davis eventually obtained a formula from a bokor as well as several samples of zombie powder. The samples contained pufferfish (and thus potentially tetrodotoxin) alongside various irritants such as stinging plants or even ground glass. These would encourage the target to scratch and possibly open a wound, or possibly contaminate the fingers and be transferred to the face or mouth of the victim.
It should be noted that not everyone was convinced by the accuracy of the results and as far as I know, no further supporting evidence has emerged - though the presence of tetrodotoxin does fit pretty neatly with zombie folklore. There's also a teensy little moral issue - because the formula includes human remains, Davis may have had to commission a grave robbery!
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| Pufferfish can contain tetrodotoxin... (Storme22k) |
Could Tetrodotoxin (and a Toxic, Low-Salt Diet) Really Do All That?
We actually know quite a bit about tetrodotoxin poisoning thanks to the Japanese delicacy fugu. The substance acts by blocking voltage-gated sodium channels - which in simple terms prevents nerve signals from reaching muscles. Carefully prepared, fugu contains (at most) enough tetrodotoxin to cause a tingling sensation. Any more than this mild poisoning can slow the heart and cause difficulty breathing as paralysis sets in. Though the poisoning can easily prove lethal, the toxin will break down after a couple of days... if you survive.
One particularly nasty aspect of tetrodotoxin is that paralyzed victims can remain conscious and aware of everything going on around them - which would be rather traumatic if you were being buried alive. It might even convince someone in a suggestible state that they had died and been revived!
Of course, if the toxin breaks down in a couple of days it's not going to keep anyone zombified - but that's where the diet of the zombie comes in. Folklore claims that zombies are fed on a low-salt mixture of cane sugar, sweet potato... and Datura. The symptoms of Datura poisoning include confusion, hallucination and delirium - which certainly sounds similar to the dream-like state ascribed to zombies.
Cane sugar and sweet potato contain almost no salt - and having too little sodium can lead to dizziness, low energy, confusion, hallucinations and decreased consciousness. Curiously, Haitian folklore claims that a zombie who tastes salt will return to real-life!
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