85
Journal of Ethnopharmacoiogy,
9 (1983) 85-104
Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd.
THE ETHNOBIOLOGY
OF THEl HAITIAN
ZOMBI
E. WADE DAVIS
Botanical Museum of Harvard University, Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
(U.S.A.)
(Accepted July 19,1983)
Summary
For many years students of Haitian society have suggested that there is
an ethnopharmacological basis for the notorious zombies, the living dead of
peasant folklore. The recent surfacing of three zombies, one of whom may
represent the first potentially verifiable case, has focused scientific attention
on the reported zombi drug. The formula of the poison was obtained at four
widely separated localities in Haiti. The consistent ingredients include one or
more species of puffer fish (Diodon hystrix, Diodon holacunthus or Sphoereides testudineus) which contain tetrodotoxins, potent neurotoxins fully
capable of ph~~colo~c~y
~duc~g the zombi state. The ingredients,
preparation and method of application are presented. The symptomology
of tetrodotoxication as described in the biomedical literature is compared
with the constellations of symptoms recorded from the zombies in Haiti. The
cosmological rationale of zombies within the context of Voudou theology
is described. Prelude
laboratory tests are summarized.
The anthropological and popular literature on Haiti is replete with references to zombies. According to these accounts, zombies am the living
dead: innocent victims raised in a comatose trance from their graves by
malevolent Voudoun priests (bokors), and forced to toil indefinitely as
slaves. Although one author has attempted to prove that zombies exist
(Hurston, 1981), most have rather uncritically assumed the phenomenon
to be folklore (Herskovits, 1937; Leyburn, 1941; Mars, 1945; Metraux,
1959; Bourguignon, 1959; Courlander, 1960). Nevertheless, virtually all of
these writers acknowledge that the majority of the Haitian population
believes in the physical reality of zombies.
As long ago as 1938, Zora Hurston, a student of Franz Boas at Columbia
University, suggested that there could be a material basis for the zombi
phenomenon. Having visited what she believed to be a zombi in a hospital
near Gonaives in north central Haiti, she and the attendant physician “discussed at great length the theories of how zombies came to be. It was concluded that it is not a case of awakening the dead, but a matter of the
semblance of death induced by some drug known to a few. Some secret
0378-8741/83/$06.00
o 1983 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd.
Published and Printed in Ireland
86
probably brought from Africa and handed down generation to generation.
The men know the effect of the drug and the antidote. It is evident that it
destroys part of the brain which governs speech and will-power. The victim
can move and act but cannot formulate thought.” (Hurston 1981, p. 206).
Although Hurston alone gave credence to this hypothesis, subsequent
investigators certainly knew of the poison. Leyburn (1941) refers to “those
who believe that certain bocors (sic) know how to administer a subtle poison
to intended victims which will cause suspended animation and give the
appearance of death” (Leybum, 1941, p. 163). According to Metraux
(1959, p. 281), the hungun (Voudoun priest) know the secret of certain
drugs which induce a lethargic state indistinguishable from death. Courlander
(1960) adds: “the victim is not really dead but has succumbed to a virulent
poison which numbs all the senses and stops bodily function but does not
truly kill. Upon disintemment, the victim is-given an antidote which restores
most physical processes but leaves the mind in an inert state, without will or
the power to resist”. (Courlander, 1906, p. 101).
Though the anthropologists remained equivocal, the Haitians themselves
recognise the existence of the poison with some assurance. It was, for
example, specifically mentioned in the old Code Penal, Article 249 of which
reads (Leybum 1941, p. 164): “Est aussi qualifie attentat 1 la vie d’une
personne, l’emploi qui sera fait contra elle de substances qui, sans dormer la
mort, produisent un effet letharique phs ou moins prolong& de quelque
maniere que ces substances aient administrb, quelles qu’en aient et& les
suites. Si par suite de cet &at lethargique la personne a ete inhum&
l’attentat sera qualifie assassinat.“’
Although it now seems remarkable that the reports of the poison were not
properly investigated, there are, in fact, good historical reasons for the oversight. For one, they appeared during a period when Haitian social scientists,
trained in the tradition of cultural relativism and objective analysis, were
most anxious to promote the legitimacy of peasant institutions. These
intellectuals in particular were repelled by the sensational writings (Seabrook,
1929; Craige, 1934) of an earlier decade which, in their minds, had both
slanderously misrepresented the Haitian peasantry and rationalised the
American occupation of 1915-1934 (Bastien, 1966). The subject of zombies,
which had figured so prominently in the earlier writings, simply did not
interest them (Faine, 1937)2. Zora Hurston bore their contempt. Louis Mars,
1Also to be considered as attempted murder, the use that may be made against any
person of substances, which, without causing actual death, produce a lethargic coma more
or less prolonged. If, after the administering of such substances, the person has been
buried, the act shall be considered murder no matter what result follows.
‘Referring no doubt to Seabrcok (1929), Jules Faine wrote “Such legends, circumstantially garbed and presented as actual facts by certain unscrupulous authors, have served as
the theme of books which have made a great commotion in foreign countries. Taking
advantage of the credulity of a public avid for exotic matters, for mysteries, for the supernatural, these writers have gained, in certain circles, the greatest success of publicity.”
(Faine, 1937, p. 303).
87
a leading Haitian intellectual of the period, remarked of her, “This American
writer stated specifically that she came back from Haiti with no doubt in
regard to popular belief in the Zombi pseudo-science. Miss Hurston herself,
unfortunately, did not go beyond the mass hysteria to verify her information.” (Mars, 1945, p. 39).
The case for the poison was, indeed, suspect on several grounds. Firstly,
many informants insisted that the actual raising of the zombi depended
solely on the magical powers of the bokor (Herskovits, 1937, p. 245;
Leybum, 1941, p. 163; MCtraux, 1959, p. 282). Secondly, despite the rich
body of anecdotal lore about zombies, no physician had examined a genuine
case (Mars, 1945, p. 39). Thirdly, no sample of the elusive poison had been
obtained for scientific analysis. Hurston (1981, p. 216) did not help her case
by concluding that “the knowledge of the plants and the formulae are secret.
They are usually kept in certain families, and nothing will induce the
guardians of these ancient mysteries to divulge them.” Presumably, she
intimated that the formula of the poison would ever remain unav~lable for
scientific scrutiny. Since Hun&on, the few anthropologists to consider
zombies have rejected the poison hypothesis out of hand. Bourguignon
(1959, p. 40), for example, in her functional analysis of zombies as folklore,
suggests that the idea of a poison allcws Haitians “to hold on to a magical
belief yet give it the appearance of scientific ~pectab~ity”.
Recently, however, scientific interest in the zombi poison was rekindled
by the surfacing of three reputed zombies, one of whom may,be the first
potentially verifiable case. The first is a woman, Natagete Joseph, aged about
60, who was reputedly killed over a land dispute in 1966. In 1979, she was
recognised wandering about her home village by the police officer who 13
years before, in the absence of a doctor, had pronounced her dead. The
second case was a younger woman named Francina, supposedly buried in
1976 and found in a catatonic state in 1979 by a girlfriend. In this case, a
jealous husband was said to have been responsible for her demise. There
were two notable features of Francina’s case; her mother recognised her by a
childhood scar she bore on her temple, and later when the grave was
exhumed, her coffin was found to be full of rocks (Douyon, pers. commun.).
These two cases, though curious, were, in fact, no mom substantial than
many others that have pe~odi~a~y surfaced in the popular press of Haiti
(Mars, 1945; Hurston, 1981; Kerboul, 1973). The third case, however, was
quite interesting and warranted a full investigation.
In early May of 1962, Louis Ozias’ entered the Albert Schweitzer Hospital,
an American directed ph~~t~opic
~sti~tion located at Deschapelle in the
Artibonite Valley. Ozias had been sick with fever, body ache and general
malaise for some time, but had recently begun to spit up blood. His condition deteriorated rapidly and at 02:OO h on May 3 he was pronounced dead
by two attendant physicians, one of them an American. His medical dossier
3Louis Ozias, Angelina Ozias, Marie Claire Ozias are pseudonyms,
as is Morbien.
indicates that at the time of death, he suffered from digestive disorders,
pulmonary edema, hypothermia, respiratory difficulties and hypotension
(26/15). Present at his bedside was his sister, Angelina Ozias, who immediately notified the family. The elder sister, Marie Claire Ozias, saw the body
and affixed her thumbprint to the official death certificate. The body was
placed in a cold room for 8 h until it was taken for burial. At 1O:OO h,
May 3,1962 Louis Ozias was buried in a small cemetery north of his village
of Morbien, and 10 days later a heavy, concrete memorial slab was placed
over the grave by his family (Douyon, 1980, pers. commun.; Angelina Ozias
pers. commun. ; Louis Ozias pe,rs. commun., Pradel and Casgha, 1983).
In 1981, a man walked into the Morbien market place and approached
Angelina Ozias, introducing himself by a boyhood nickname of the deceased
brother. It was a name that only intimate family members knew, and it had
not been used since the siblings were children. The man claimed to be Ozias
and said that he had beep. made a zombi by his own brother. With many
other zombies, he had worked for 2 years as a slave on a northern sugar
plantation, until the death of their master had freed them. For the last
18 years he claimed to have wandered the countryside, fearful of the vengeful brother.
The case of Louis Ozias generated much publicity within Haiti and
attracted the attention of Dr. Lamarck Douyon, the Director of the Psychiatric Institute in Port au Prince. Douyon considered various strategies to test
the truth of Ozias’ claim. To exhume the grave would prove little. If the man
were an imposter, he or his conspirators could well have removed the bones
of Ozias. On the other hand, had Ozias actually been taken from the grave
as a zombi, those responsible might have substituted another body.
Instead, working directly with family members, Douyon designed a series
of detailed questions concerning Ozias’ childhood - questions that even a
close boyhood friend could not have answered., These were answered
correctly (Douyon, pers. commun.). Over 200 residents of Morbien who had
known Ozias were convinced that he had returned to the living. Fingerprint
analysis by Scotland Yard conch ded that there was no reason to believe
that the fingerprint on the death certificate was not that of Marie Claire
Ozias (Hulse, pers. commun.). Furthermore, there was no apparent social or
economic incentive to perpetrate a fraud. Douyon and others, therefore,
concluded that the Ozias case represented a valid example of zombification
(Douyon, pers. commun.).
One of the notable features of the Ozias case was the suggestion that he
had been made a zombi by a bokor who had used a poison. American and
Haitian physicians close to the case recognised that the proper drug, administered in correct dosage, could lower the metabolic state of an individual to
such a low point that he or she would appear dead. Fully cognizant of the
profound medical potential of such a drug, they asked me in 1982 to investigate the composition of the poison in Haiti.
During the course of three expeditions, the complete preparation of five
poisons used to make zombies was documented at four widely separated
89
villages in HaClti.Although each geographical region has a unique poison
formula, botanical and zoological determinations of the voucher specimens
indicate that the principal ingredients are consistent in three of the four
localities (Table 1). The plants involved include some with well known,
pharmacologically active constituents and several capable of severely irritating the skin of the victim. Two species are recognised hallucinogens: Datura
metel L. and Datum strumonium L., known in Haiti as concombre zombi the “zombi cucumber”. These two plants contain a number of potent alkaloids, such as scopolamine and atropine, the ingestion of which may result
in amnesia among other effects. Seeds from either species of Datum may be
ground into the zombi poison. A third species commonly used in the various
preparations, Mucuna pruriens (L.) DC., pois a gra tter, contains psychotomimetic constituents and may have hallucinogenic activity (Schultes and
Hofmann, 1980). The most consistent plant ingredient in all the various
preparations of the poison is tcha-tcha (Albiezia lebbech L.), the chemistry
of which is poorly known (Raffauf, pers. commun.).
The irritant plants added to the preparation include species with urticating
hairs (Ureru baccifera (L.) Gaud., Dalechampia scandens L.,Mucuna pruriens),
anacardiaceous plants that produce severe dermatitis (Anacardium occidentale L., Comocludia giabra Spreng.), an aroid (Dieffenbachiu sequine (Jacq.)
Schott.) with irritating needles of calcium oxalate in its tissues, and a
number of species with spines (e.g. Zanthoxylum martinicense (Lam.) DC.).
The addition of the irritants seems to be related to the way in which the
poison is applied. Though topically active, any one of the variations of the
poison is particularly effective if inhaled or applied to an open wound. One
informant suggested pricking the victim’s skin with a thorn. Another added
ground glass to the preparation. Several of the plants produce such severe
irritation that the victim, in scratching himself or herself, may cause open
wounds. The poison may be applied more than once to the victim, and
undoubtedly these self-inflicted wounds increase susceptibility to subsequent
doses.
Although a number of lizards, tarantulas, non-venomous snakes and millipedes are added to the various preparations, there are five consistent animal
ingredients to note: burnt and ground human remains; a small tree frog
(Osteopilus dominicensis Tschudi); a polychaete worm (Hermodice carunculuta Pallas); a large New World toad (Bufo ma&us L.); and one or more
species in two genera of puffer fish (Diodon hystrh L., Diodon holucanthus
L. and Sphoeroides testudineus L.). In the preparation, the human remains
are burnt almost to charcoal and may be considered chemically inert. The
skin of the tree frog, Osteopilus dominicensis (crapaud blanc, cmpaud brun),
is covered by irritating glandular secretions (Lynn, 1958), and a related
species, Osteopilus septentrionalis Dumeril and Bibron has caused temporary
blindness in Cuba (Williams, pers. commun.). The setae of Hermodice
curunculata inflict a “paralyzing effect” (Mullin, 1923) and may be
venomous (Halstead, 1978).
Kennedy (1982) describes Bufo marinus as a “veritable chemical factory”
90
TABLE 1
CONSTITUENTS
OF THE ZOMBI POISONS
Ingredients
Localitya
1
Plant
Datum stramonium L., concombre zombi
Mucunapruriens
(L.) DC., pois a gratter
Albizia lebbeck L., tcha tcha
Umra baccifem (L.) Gaud., maman guepes
Anacardium occidentale L., pomme acajou
Comocladia glabra Spreng., bresillette
Dieffenbachia sequine (Jacg.) Schott., cahnador
Zanthoxylum martinicense (Lam.) DC., bois pine
Dalechampia scandens L., mashasha
Trichilia hirta L., consigne
Tremblador, no specimen
Desmembre, no specimen
Amphibian
Bu fo marinus L., bango
Osteopilus dominicencis Tschudi, crapaud blanc
Osteopilus dominicencis Tschudi, crapaud brun
Fish
Diodon holacanthus L., cf. bilan
Diodon hystrix L., fou fou
Sphoeroides testudineus L., crapaud du mer
Annelids’
Hermodice
Cen tiped
Spirobolida,
carunculata Pallas
Polydesmida
Arachnids
Themphosidae,
a Locality:
tarantulas, crabe araignee
3
4
5
X
X
X
x
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Reptile
Ameiua chrysolaema Cope
Leiocephalus schreibersi Gravenhorst
Anolis coelestinus Cope, miti Verde
Anolis cybotes Cope, zanolite
Epicrates striatus (Fischer), mabouya
Mammal
Homo sapiens L., bones
Homo sapiens L., dried flesh
2
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
1 is Gonaives; 2 is Saint Marc; 3 is Leogane; 4 is Gonaives; 5 is Petit Riviere.
91
Fig. 1. Dried specimen of Bufo marinus.
and notes that its paratoidal glands secrete at least 26 highly active compounds. These include: (a) cardioactive steroids known commonly as bufogenins and bufotoxins; (b) phenylethylamine bases and derivatives such as
dopamine, adrenaline, noradrenaline; (c) tryptamine bases and derivatives
such as serotonin, cinobufagin (a powerful local anaesthetic) and bufotenin
(Kennedy, 1982).
As a psychoactive agent, Bufo marinus has a long history in the circumCaribbean region (Fur&, 1972, Dobkin de Rios, 1974, Kennedy, 1982).
Bones of this toad were so common in middens at the site of San Lorenzo,
Mexico that Michael Coe (1971) has suggested that the Olmec usedBufo
marinus as a hallucinogen. At late Post Classic May sites on Cozumel,
Mexico, as much as 99% of all amphibian remains have been identified as
Bufo marinus (Hamblin, 1979). The possible contemporary use of the toad
Fig. 2. Houngan with dried specimen.
92
as a hallucinogen in southern Vera Cruz, Mexico has been reported (Knab,
unpublished).
Hallucinogen or not, there is little question that, whether ingested or
applied topically, the chemical constituents of Bufo marinus are potent
poisons. Recent analysis of the toad’s skin has yielded substances resembling
those found in African arrow poisons, such as Strophanthus gratus and
S. hornbe (Flier et al., 1980 in Kennedy, 1982); in South America, the Bufo
skin has been used in arrow poison preparations (Abel and Macht, 1911 in
Kennedy 1982). As an arrow poison, it acts as a muscle relaxant and affects
the respiratory center, and in hrge doses, it can cause death. Though native
to the Americans, the toad was commonly used as a medicine/poison in
Europe as early as the 16th century. In Italy, toads were placed in boiling
olive oil and the poison was skimmed off the surface (Raffauf, per-s.commun.)
Turning to the possible role of Bufo ma&us in the creation of zombies,
it is worth considering the work of Howard Fabing, the first to experiment
with bufo~nine in the 1950’s. Fabing (1956) found that injections of bufotenine into human subjects induced a state that coincided well with literary
descriptions of the “Berserkers” of Norse legends. He characterised that
state as one of frenzied rage, reckless courage and enhanced physical
strength, and concluded that the unidentified substance ingested by the
Berserkers before their raids was a bufotenine-containing creature (Kennedy
1982). What is pertinent to our present study is that the description of his
experimental subject closely matches ch~act~~ations of zombies when they
first come out of the grave. Informants report that the zombi must be
immediately beaten and bound with rope and that as many as three men
may be required to control him or her.
The most interesting and potent ingredients in the poisons are the puffer
fish. The Haitians recognise three varieties: the fou-fou (Diodon hystrix);
the b&m (cf. Diodon holacanthus); and the crapaud du mer or seatoad
(Sp~oe~~des testudineus). These three species belong to a large pantropical
order of fish (Tetraodo~tiformes), many of which have a deadly nerve toxin
known as tetrodotoxin in their skin, liver, ovaries and intestines. Toxin
levels within the species of Diodon vary, leading some investigators to
believe that the fish serve as transvectors of tetrodotoxin (Halstead, 1978).
On the other hand, members of the genus Sphoeroides axe particularly
virulent (Fukada, 1937; Fukada and Tani, 1937a,b, 1941; Tahara, 1896).
The biogenesis of the tetrodotoxins within these fish is not yet understood, but it is of some significance to the zombi phenomenon. Of considerable interest is the reported variability of the toxin levels in natural popufations of puffer fish. Toxin levels differ not only according to sex, seasonahty
and geograph.ical locality, but from individual to individual within a single
population. A puffer fish from Brazil, Tetrodon psittacus is reported to be
poisonous only in June and July (Gonsalves, 1907). Among Japanese species
toxicity begins to increase in December, and reaches a peak in May or June
(Tani, 1940). Toxicity is correlated with the reproductive cycle and is higher
93
in females, but the remarkable variability in toxin levels amongst separate
populations of the same species has prompted suggestions that concentration
or presence of the toxins may be correlated with food habits (Halstead,
1978). Homstedt (pers. commun.) notes that puffer fish grown in culture do
not develop tetrodotoxins. It is possible that the puffer fish, in addition to
synthesizing tetrodotoxins endogenously, may serve as transvectors of either
tetrodotoxin or ciguatoxin, a poison of uncertain origins that contaminates
many marine fish (Halstead, 1978). The symptoms of ciguatera poisoning are
similar to those of tetrodotoxication and include “paresthesia with prickling
about the lips, tongue and nose together with a tingling sensation in the
extremities. . . a state of malaise. . . nausea, digestive distress. . . gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and nervous pain. . . death results from respiratory
paralysis” (Dufra et al., 1976, p. 61). In New Caledonia, Duboisia myoporoides RBr. is used as an effective antidote in ciguatera poisoning. This plant
contains nicotine, nornicotine, apoatropine, atropine and scopolamine
(Dufra et al., 1976).
In Haiti, although each zombi poison has a recognised antidote, the
ingredients and preparations of these antidotes are completely inconsistent
from one locality to another (Davis, 1983). Moreover, the antidotes are not
used to resurrect the zombi from the grave, but rather as treatments to
prevent the victim from dying from the poison in the first place. Virtually
all of the ingredients in the recognised antidotes are either considered chemically inert, or are used in insignificant quantities. However, when the zombies
are taken from the grave they are force fed a paste made from sweet potato
(Ipomoea Batatas (L.) Poir.), cane syrup (Saccharum officinarum L.) and
concombe zombi (Datum strumonium or Datum metel). As in the case of
the related solanaceous species Duboisiu myoporoides of New Caledonia,
these daturas contain atropine and scopolamine and hence may be serving
as an effective but unrecognised antidote to the zombi poison. It is significant to note that this possible antidote is one of the most potent hallucinogenic plants known. Duturu intoxication may be characterised as an induced
state of psychotic delirium (Weil, pers. commun.). It is in the midst of this
intoxication that the zombies are lead away to their workplace.
The effects of tetrodotoxin poisoning have been well documented. The
most famous cause of puffer poisoning is the well known culinary delicacy,
the Japanese fugu fish (Fugu purdulis Temminck and Schlegel, Fugu rubripes
rubripes Temminck and Schlegel, Fugu vermiculuris porphyreus Temminck
and Schlegel, Fugu vermiculuris vermiculuris Temminck and Schlegel)
(Hashimoto, 1979). In eating these fish the Japanese accept the obvious
risks because they enjoy the exhilarating physiological after effects, which
include sensations of warmth, flushing of the skin, mild paresthesias of
the tongue and lips, and euphoria (Halstead, 1978). Because of its popularity
as a food, and the relatively high incidence of accidental poisonings, the
fugu fish has generated an enormous medical and biomedical literature.
Turning to that literature for clinical descriptions and case histories, one is
immediately struck by the parallels to the zombi phenomenon.
94
In describing his experience to me, Louis Ozias recalled remaining
conscious at all times, and although completely immobilised, could hear his
sister’s weeping as he was pronounced dead. Both at and after his burial his
overall sensation was that of floating above the grave. He remembered as
well that his earliest sign of discomfort before entering the hospital was
difficulty in breathing. His sister recalled that his lips had turned blue.
Although he did not know how long he had remained in the grave before
the zombi makers came to release him, other informants insist that the
zombi may be raised up to 72 h after the burial. The onset of the poison
itself was described by several houngan as the feeling in victims “of insects
crawling beneath your skin”. Another houngan offered a poison that would
cause the skin to peel off the victim. Popular accounts of zombies claim that
even the female zombies speak with deep husky voices, and that all zombies
are glassy-eyed (Kerboul, 1973; Hurston, 1981). Several houngan suggested
that the belly of the victim swells up after he or she has been poisoned.
Recall finally that Louis Ozias’ medical symptoms at the time of his “death”
included digestive troubles with vomiting, pronounced respiratory difficulties, pulmonary edema, uremia, hypothermia, rapid loss of weight and
hypotension (Douyon, per-s. commun.; Pradel and Casgha, 1983). Note
that these symptoms are quite specific and certainly peculiar.
The literature on tetrodotoxication furnishes the following specific
description of the effects.
The onset and types of symptoms in puffer poisoning vary greatly, depending upon
the person and amount of poison ingested. However; symptoms of malaise, pallor,
dizziness, paresthesias of the lips and tongue and ataxi develop. The paresthesias
which the victim usually describes as a tingling or prickling sensation may subsequently involve the fingers and toes, then spread to other portions of the extremities
and gradually develop into severe numbness. In some cases the numbness may involve
Fig. 3. Louis Ozias by his grave-site.
95
the entire body, in which instances the patients have stated that it felt as though their
bodies were floating. Hypersalivation, profuse sweating, extreme weakness, headache,
subnormal tempemtures,
decreased blood pressure, and a rapid weak pulse usually
appear early. Gastrointestinal symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and epigastric
pain are sometimes present. Apparently the pupils are constricted during the initial
stage and later become dilated. As the disease progresses the eyes become fixed and
the pupillary and cornea1 reflexes are lost. . . .Shortly after the development of
paresthesias, respiratory distress becomes very pronounced and. . . the lips, extremities, and body become intensely cyanotic. Muscular twitching becomes progressively
worse and finally terminate in extensive paralysis. The fist sreas to become paralyzed
are usually the throat and larynx, resulting in aphonia, dysphagia and complete
aphagia The muscles of the extremities become paralyzed and the patient is unable
to move. As the end approaches the eyes of the victim become glassy. The victim
may be comatose but in most cases retains consciousness, and the mental faculties
remain acute until shortly before death. (Halstead, 1978 italics mine).
Several authors report this peculiar state of profound paralysis during
which time most other faculties remain normal (Leber, 1927; Fukada and
Tani, 1937a, 1941; Akashi 1880). Others state that a degree of anaesthesia
accompanies the paralysis (Kimura, 1927; Matsuo, 1934; Yano, 1937;
Noniyama, 1942), while Fukada (1951) believes that anesthesia occurs only
at or near fatal doses. Other pronounced symptoms of tetrodotoxin poisoning include pulmonary edema (Larsen, 1925; Dincan, 1951), and hypotension (various cf. Halstead, 1978). One patient who recovered stated that he
had “felt numb from neck to toes, with the feeling of ants crawling over him
and biting him” (Larsen, 1942, p. 417). Tahara (1896) noted that several
victims of tetrodotoxin poisoning developed a distended abdomen. Ishihara
(1918) stated that respiratory distress was the first symptom of the poisoning. Halstead (1978) reports that large skin blisters appear by the third day
after exposure to the tetrodotoxins; by the ninth day the skin begins to
peel off (Halstead, 1978, p. 457, Fig. 1). Cyanosis, vomiting and hypothermia have been reported by a number of authors (Richardson, 1893; Fukada
and Tani, 1937a,b, 1941; Bonde, 1948). The poison acts on the central
nervous tissues, according to some investigators (Iwakawa and Kimura,
1922; Kawakubo and Kikuchi, 1942) and both Kimura (1927) and Duncan
(1951) note that the drug has a sedative, narcotic effect on the brain.
Not only do the individual symptoms of zombification and tetrodotoxication sound remarkably similar, but entire case histories from the Japanese
literature read like accounts of zombification. Halstead (1978) cites over
20 cases which warrant investigation, but two which he describes are very
pertinent. Akashi (1880), for example, reports:
A gambler ostensibly died by eating fugu, and the body was placed in storage for the
officials to examine. About seven days later the man became conscious and finally
recovered. The victim claimed to have recalled the entire incident and stated that he
was afraid he would be buried alive.
In the second case, the victim was considered dead and was placed on a cart and
shipped to a crematorium in a nearby town. The man recovered from the cart and
96
walked away. This latter victim also claimed to have been aware of what was happening (Halstead, 1978, p. 714-715 j.
Another relevant case study comes from the Mexican historian Francisco
Javier Clavijero (Mosher et al., 1964). While searching for a new mission site
in Baja California, four soldiers came upon a campfire where indigenous
fishermen had left a roasted piece of the liver of some botete (Sphoeroides
lob&us). Despite the warnings of their guides, the soldiers divided the meat.
One of them ate a small piece, another chewed his portion without swallowing and the third only touched it. The first died within 30 min, the second
soon after, and the third remained unconscious until the next day.
This account illustrates certain significant features of puffer fish poisoning. Although tetrodotoxin is one of the most toxic non-protein substances
known (Mosher et al., 1964, p. 1110) like any drug, its effects depend on
dosage and the way it is administered.4 Having studied over 100 cases of
tetrodotoxication,
Fukada and Tani (1941) distinguished four degrees of
poisoning. The first two are characterised by progressive hyaesthesia and
loss of motor control. The third degree includes paralysis of the entire body,
difficulty in breathing, cyanosis, hypotension, but with clear consciousness.
In the final degree failure of the respiratory system leads to death. If the
poisonous material is ingested, the onset of third degree symptoms is usually
very rapid. Death may occur as soon as 17 min after the poisonous material
is eaten (Richardson, 1893). Generally a crisis is reached after no more than
6 h. If the victim survives that period, he or she may expect a complete
recovery. When applied topically, however, the tetrodotoxins, though active
(Boy& 1911; Phisalix, 1922) are less virulent.
The Haitian bokors recognise the potency of their prepamtions, and
acknowledge, at least implicitly, the importance of proper application and
correct dosage. Although they believe that the creation of a zombi is a
magical act (see below), and that the poison always kills, they note that
certain combinations of poisons are “too explosive” or that they “kill too
completely”. Each poison must be carefully “weighed”; a notion that has
both spiritual and practical connotations. One houngun said he had three
zombi poisons, all of which included the seatoad (~p~oeroi~es ~es~~~i~e~s) ;
one poison killed immediately, another caused the victim to waste away
slowly, whereas the third caused the victim’s skin to peel away before death.
Furthermore, the poison is never put into the victim’s food; rather it is
applied repeatedly to the skin, open wounds or it may be blown across the
victim so that he or she inhales it. In preparing the poisons every effort is
made not to touch it. Face masks are worn, and an oily emulsion is applied
to the exposed parts of all participants.
4 As an anaesthetic, the minimum detectably effective dose of tetrodotoxin
of that of cocaine (Mosher et al., 1964, p. 1110).
is l/160,000
97
That the Mexican soldiers in Clavijero’s account were poisoned by roasted
meat exemplifies one final point especially relevant to the way the zombi
poisons are prepared in Haiti. Frying, stewing, boiling or baking do not
denature the tetrodotoxins
(Savtschenko,
1882; Halstead and Bunker,
1953). In every documented
preparation
of the poison, the toad (Bufo
matinus) and puffer fish (Diodon hystrh, Diodon hoZacanthus and/or
Sphoeroides testudineus) are sun-dried and then placed on hot coals along
with various fresh animals and human remains (Fig. 1). All the animals are
broiled to a soft, oily consistency and then placed together with the plant
ingredients in a mortar. All the components
of the poison are pounded to
a granular consistency and then sifted to produce the final product.
The poisons which I collected during my first two expeditions to Haiti
are currently being analysed at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and
at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Initial experiments with rats
and primates conducted
by Dr. Leon Roisin at the New York State
Psychiatric Institute have been most promising. Topical applications to
the shaved belly of a monkey produced local edema, particularly
where
the skin had been nicked by the technicians. Injected intraperitoneally
into rats in dosages of 5 mg/lOO g body wt, the poison induced a cataleptic
Fig. 4. Preparing the poison - grating cemetary materials.
Fig. 5. Preparing the poison - the mortar and pestle.
98
state. Pulse rate increased very rapidly and then gradually decreased, with
respiration becoming shallower. A needle put into the tail of the test
animal provoked no pain response. Though the EEG continued to register
central nervous system activity, the rat became completely immobilised.
Lower dosages of the poison caused pronounced reduction in activity and
local paralysis, from which the rats recovered with no apparent signs of
permanent injury. Based on dosages administered to rats, it can be suggested
that the equivalent of an intraperitoneal dose of 3.5 g of crude poison
might put a 73-kg human into a comatose, catalyptic state (Roisin, pers.
commun.).
These preliminary laboratory results, together with what we know from
the field and from the biomedical literature suggest strongly that there is an
ethnopharmacological basis to the zombi phenomenon. The consistent and
critical ingredients in the poison are the puffer fish (Diodon hystrix; Diodon
holacanthus and Sphoeroides testudineus), which contain known toxins
capable of pharmacologically inducing physical states similar to those
characterised in Haiti as zombification. That the peculiar symptoms
described by Louis Ozias match so closely the quite particular symptoms of
tetrodotoxin poisoning documented in the Japanese literature suggests that
he was exposed to the poison. If this does not prove that he was a zombi,
it does, at least, substantiate his story.
In and of itself, the formula of the zombi poison explains very little about
the process of zombification in the Haitian peasant society. Although the
sociology of zombification will be discussed elsewhere, the full significance
of the ethnopharmacological discovery will become apparent when zombies
are considered within the context of Voudou theology. According to
Voudou belief, man is a composite of five aspects: the z’etoile, the gros bon
ange, the ti bon ange, the n ‘ame, and the corps cadawe. 5 The latter is the
‘These findings on the nature of the Voudou soul are at odds in certain ways with those
of Metraux (1946) and Deren (1953). They are based, however, on extensive and separate
discussions with three prominent houngan, one of whom was personally familiar with the
conclusions of the earlier investigatorKMetraux himself suggested that research into the
nature of the Voudou soul is made “difficult by the wide range of beliefs and theories
found among Haitian Vodu (sic) worshippers according to their intellectual sophistication, their religious background and contacts with the modern world” (Metraux, 1946,
p. 84). Metraux based his interpretation largely on interviews of a single female informant
at the Bureau of Ethnology in Port-au-Prince. He notes that many of her statements were
contradicted outright by the one houngan he also interviewed, Metraux based his conclusions
on his ‘Timpression that Marie Noel’s (his informant) candid statements reflected more
closely the general beliefs of the Haitian peasantry” (Metraux, 1946, p. 85). When I commented on the range of professional interpretations by anthropologists to one of my
informants, I was impressed by his sophisticated response. He suggested that the diverse
opinions reflected the anthropologists’ implicit assumption that every Voudou initiate
or even every Voudou priest necessarily had the answers to all complex theological questions. Would one expect, he concluded, that every French peasant or even every parish
priest would be able to or even interested in addressing theological issues normally considered by the Vatican alone.
99
body itself, the flesh and the blood. The n’ume is the spirit of the flesh that
allows each cell of the body to function. Gros bon ange is the life force that
all sentient beings share; an individual’s gros bon ange is his or her particle
of that vast pool of vital cosmic energy. The ti bon ange is the aura of the
individual, that spirit that creates his or her personality, character and will
power. As the gros bon ange provides each person with the power to act, it
is the ti bon ange that molds the individual sentiments and will to act. The
z’etoile is the one spiritual component that resides not in the body, but in
the sky. It is the individual’s star of destiny, and is viewed as a calabash that
carries one’s hope and all the many ordered events that shall occur over the
course of a single lifetime.
For the voudouist, life and death stretch far beyond the temporal limits
of the corps cadaure, the mere material expression of the individual. Life
begins not at the physical conception of the body but at an earlier moment,
when God first decides that the person should exist. Complete death is
defined not as the clinical demise of the body, but as the time when each
of the five aspects of man finds its ultimate goal. The n’ume6, or the spirit
of the flesh is a gift from God which upon the death of the corps cadaure
passes slowly into the organisms of the soil. The gradual decomposition of
the corpse is a result of this slow transferal of energy, a process said to
take 18 months to complete. The gros bon ange enters the individual at
conception and functions only to keep the body alive. At clinical death,
it returns immediately to God and once again becomes part of the great
resevoir of energy that supports all life. If the gros bon ange is undifferentiated energy, the ti bon ange is the spirit directly associated with the individual.
At death the ti bon ange hovers about the body for 7 days, before descending to the world of Les Invisibles beneath the dark waters. One day and one
year after the death of the individual, however, in one of the most important
of Voudou rites, the ti bon ange is ritualistically reclaimed and placed in a
jar, the cunari. The Cunari Les Morts are fed and clothed and then during the
Ibo ceremony are sent to the forest to dwell in trees or grottos where they
wait. to be reborn. Over the course of 16 rebirths the same ti bon ange
gradually becomes a rich repository of wisdom and knowledge. After the
last incarnation, the ti bon ange goes to Dam ballah Wedo, the serpent of the
sky, a god of great benevolence and trust and the resevoir of all spiritual
wisdom. There the ti bon ange finally becomes undifferentiated as a part of
the, Djo, the cosmic breath that envelopes the universe. This lengthy passage
of the ti bon ange correspomds to the metamorphosis of the individual into
pure spiritual energy. Hence with the successive passing of generations, the
individual, identified with the ti bon ange, is transformed from the ancestor
of a particular lineage, to the generalized ancestor of all mankind.7 The
‘The n’ame in this sense is different from the nam, a term commonly used in reference to
the complete Voudou soul including the gros bon ange, ti bon ange’and the other spiritual
constituents.
100
devout voudouist, thus believing in the immortality of the ti bon ange and
the gros bon ange, fears death not for its finality but because it is a critical
and dangerous passage during which time the five vital aspects of man
dissociate themselves.
Deaths.may be natural or unnatural. Natural deaths, which are considered
rare, are a call from God (mort bon dieu) and examples might include a
child dying from a common childhood illness or an old man passing away
in his sleep. Unnatural deaths include all accidents and inevitably involve the
intervention of malevolent forces. Anyone who dies an unnatural death may
be made into a zombi.
To create a zombi, the bokor, the malevolent Voudou priest, or the
executioner must capture the ti bon ange of the victim. This is a magical act
that can be accomplished in a variety of ways. A particularly powerful
bokor, for example, may through his magic gain control of the ti bon ange
of a sailor who dies at sea or of a Haitian who is killed in a foreign land.
Alternatively, the bokor may capture the ti bon ange of the living and
hence indirectly cause the unnatural death: the individual left without
intelligence or will slowly perishes. One way of thus capturing the ti bon
ange is to spread poisons in the form of a cross on the threshold of the
victim’s doorway. The magical skill of the bokor guarantees that only the
victim will suffer. Yet a third means of gaining control of the ti bon ange
is to capture it immediately following the death of the corps cadaure, during
the 7 days that it hovers around the corpse. Hence the bokor may or may
not be responsible for the unnatural death of the victim, and the ti bon ange
may be captured by magic before or after the death of the corps cadaure.
Whatever the circumstances, the capture of the ti bon ange effects a
split in the spiritual components of the individual and creates not one but
two complementary kinds of zombies. The spirit zombi, or the zombi of
the ti bon ange alone, is carefully stored in a jar and may be later magically
transmuted into insects, animals or humans in order to accomplish the
particular work of the bokor. The remaining spiritual components of man,
the n ‘ame, the gros bon ange and the z ‘etoiZe together form the zombi
cadaure, the zombi of the flesh.
Of critical interest to this ethnopharmacological investigation is the fact
that the bokor, in creating the zombi cadaure, may cause the prerequisite
unnatural death not by capturing the ti bon ange of the living but by means
of a poison which must be applied directly to the victim. Rubbed into a
‘The fate of the individual as held by the z’etoile reflects the progress of the ti bon ange.
When the corps cadavre dies, the z’etoile shifts positions in the sky, a shooting star, and is
refilled by a new sequence of events for the next life of the ti bon ange, a blueprint fhat
will be a function of the course of the previous lifetime. If the shooting star is bright, so
shall be the future of the individual. The houngan may contact the z’etoile and change
the order of the impending events.
101
wound, or inhaled the poison kills the corps cadaure slowly, discreetly and
efficiently. The subsequent resurrection of the zombi cadaure in the graveyard requires a particularly sophisticated knowledge of magic. Above all the
bokor must prevent the transformations of the various spiritual components
that would normally occur at the death of the body. First, the ti bon ange,
which may float above the body like a “phosphorescent shadow” must be
captured and prevented from re-entering the victim. One way to assure this
is to beat the victim violently. Secondly, the gros bon ange must be prevented from returning to its source. Thirdly, the n’ame must be retained
to keep the flesh from decaying. The zombi cadaure, with itsgros bon ange
and n ‘ame, can function; however, separated from the ti bon ange, the body
is but an empty vessel, subject to the direction of the bokor or of whoever
maintains control of the zombi ti bon ange. It is the notion of alien, malevolent forces thus taking control of the individual that is so terrifying to
the voudouist. In Haiti, the fear is not of zombies, but rather of becoming
one. The zombi cadaure, then, is a body without a complete soul, matter
without mind or mortality.
For the voudouist, the creation of either type of zombi is essentially a
magical process. However, in the case of the zombi cadaure, a slow acting
poison may be used to induce discreetly the prerequisite unnatural death.
From ethnopharmacological investigations, we know that the poison acts
to lower dramatically the metabolic rate of the victim almost to the point
of death. Pronounced dead by attending physicians who check for only
superficial vital signs of heart beat and respiration, and therefore considered
physically dead by family members and critically by the zombi maker
himself, th_evictim is, in fact, buried alive. Undoubtedly, in many cases the
victim does die, either from the poison itself, or by suffocation in the coffin.
The widespread belief in the veracity of physical zombies in Haiti, however,
is based on those instances where the victim receives the correct dosage of
the poison, wakes up in the coffin and is dragged out of the grave by the
zombi maker.
The victim, affected by the drug, traumatised by the set and setting of the
graveyard and immediately beaten by the zombi maker’s assistants, is bound
and led before a cross to be baptised with a new zombi name. After the
baptism, he or she is made to eat a paste containing a strong dose of a
potent psychoactive drug (Datum stramonium) which brings on an induced
state of psychosis. During the course of that intoxication, the zombi is
carried off to be sold as a slave labourer, often on the sugar plantations.
Acknowledgements
This research was undertaken while I was supported by the Social Science
and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Doctoral Fellowship). Direct
financial support for all phases of the project was generously provided by
the International Psychiatric Research Foundation. My botanical determinations were verified by Prof. R.A. Howard of the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard
102
University and an expert on the flcra of the Caribbean. Zoological determinations were furnished by the staff of the Museum of Comparative Zoology,
Harvard University. In particular I would like to thank Prof. Ernest Williams
and Messers Greg Mayer, Jose Rosado, Jim Knight, Franklin Ross, Karsten
Hartel and John Hunter. Complete sets of voucher specimens have been
deposited at the M.C.Z. (animals) and at the Economic Herbarium of Oakes
Ames at the Botanical Museum of Harvard University (plants).
Invaluable biblicgraphical
materials were provided by Dr. Allison Kennedy
(University of California, Berkeley), Prof. Bo. Holmstedt (Karolinska Institute), Dr. Bruce Halstead (World Life Research Institute),‘Prof.
M.G. Smith
(Yale University). The manuscript was reviewed by Prof. Smith, Dr. Timothy
Plowman (Field Museum of Natural History), Dr. Andrew Weil and Prof.
Richard Evans Schultes (Harvard University). I would especially like to
thank Profs. Smith and Schultes for their intellectual contributions
and
encouragement.
The preliminary foxicological
laboratory
work was done
by Prof. Leon Roizin of Columbia University at the New York State
Psychiatric Institute. The zombi project was born of the vision of three men:
Mr. David Merrick, Prof. Heinz Lehman and the late Dr. Nathan S. Kline.
In Haiti, I received essential logistical and intellectual assistance from a
number of individuals. Dr. Lamarck Douyon shared his insights concerning
medical aspects of zombification
and introduced me to Louis Ozias. In the
Haitian countryside
I worked directly with several houngan who openly
shared their remarkable spiritual knowledge. In particular I would like to
thank Marcel Pierre, Levoynt, Jacques Belfort and Madame Jacque, Michel
Bonnet, La Bonte. To them, and to all the people of Haiti who received me
so kindly I remain eternally grateful. Finally I would like to acknowledge
my two colleagues Mr. Herard Simon and Mr. Max Beauvoir. Herard Simon
and his wife Helen are serviteurs of the most profound awareness. One of
the truly great traditional houngan of all of Haiti, Herard offered his
spiritual and physical protection
without which this project would never
have been completed.
Max Beauvoir, a man of grace and profound
knowledge, was also directly responsible for the success of the project.
He and his wife Elizabeth offered me their home, and provided emotional,
intellectual and physical support at the most critical moments. His daughter
Rachel worked with me on every phase of the fieldwork. She showed
herself to be a courageous fieldworker, an insightful anthropologist
and a
wonderful companion.
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