Haitian 'ZOMBI' - victims of a biotoxin illness?

[Guest guest]

I few weeks ago I was reading a chapter of a book on military use of

biotoxins in biological warfare and I was struck by the repeated use

of the words 'zombie-like' to describe victims of 'yellow rain'

(trichothecene biotoxins similar to those in stachybotrys and fusarium

sp.)

So, I did a Google search on the word 'zombie' and discovered more

about the Haitian 'zombi' myth and the 'zombification' process and not

surprisingly, it is initiated by a biotoxin brew mixed up by a Haitian

'witch doctor'.

I posted a bit about this the other days but it was one of the posts

that was munged by the system and so I'm posting it again.

Chris

(who has his 'zombi' days and his 'not so zombi' days...)

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From http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/caribarch/zombi.htm

" Zombies really exist. To find them you must travel to the western

third of the island of Hispaniola. Here, you will find the country of

Haiti. The first free black (Afro-Caribbean) republic in the world. A

country that won its independence from France, then the most powerful

country in Europe, by defeating Napoleon's Army in 1804. So while

other West Indian nations were evolving under the careful eye of

European land owners, Haiti pursued its own path. And having achieved

independence at such an early date, Haiti has invented a culture that

is unique in the world. A culture built through the syncretism of

various African beliefs in conjunction with Native West Indian Taino

and European influences. An all encompassing element of the culture is

religion. Usually spelled " Voodoo " (though the actual pronunciation is

closer to vodoun) these are actually the ceremonies in which

practitioners are possessed by the loa, the spirits. As in all

religions there exists a tension between good and evil. Most vodoun

has little to do with sorcery and black magic. Zombies, however, are

one of the exceptions. "

" The word ZOMBI probably comes from the Kongo word nzambi, which

glosses as " spirit of a dead person. " In Haiti a zombi is someone who

has annoyed his or her family and community to the degree that they

can no longer stand to live with this person. They respond by hiring a

Bokor, a vodoun priest who practices black magic and sorcery, to turn

them into a zombi. Through the application of a coup poudre (magic

powder) the victim appears to die. They are then buried and within a

few days are exhumed. Though still living, they remain under the

Bokor's power until the Bokor dies. "

" In April 1982, noted ethnobiologist E. Wade went to Haiti

following reports that two people who were supposed be dead had

recently returned to their villages. Both the victims and their

relatives attested to the fact that these two had been turned into

zombies. Fortunately for Dr. , one of the victims was able to

describe the symptoms that followed his poisoning. succeeded in

learning the recipe for poudre zombi, and was present to witness its

preparation. In the process, he recognized that the main ingredients

included fou-fou which we know as the porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix),

and the crapaud de mer, sea toad or pufferfish (Sphoeroides

testudineus). Fishes that contain a deadly nerve toxin, called

tetrodotoxin. "

" The symptoms of puffer poisoning have been described by Dr. Bruce W.

Halstead as follows: " Symptoms of tingling about the lips and tongue

and motor incoordination usually develop within 10-45 minutes after

ingestion of the fish. The tingling may later spread to other parts of

the body. In some instances, the numbness may involve the entire body,

in which instances the victim may feel as though he were 'floating'.

Excessive salivation, extreme weakness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea,

abdominal pain may soon follow. Twitching of the muscles, paralysis,

difficulty in swallowing, loss of voice, convulsions, and death by

respiratory paralysis may ensue. More than 60 percent of the victims

poisoned by this fish die. There is no specific treatment or antidote

for puffer poisoning. " (From: Dangerous Marine Animals by Bruce W.

Halstead, Cornell Maritime Press, Cambridge, MD, 1959). "

_______end of excerpt from 'Zombi' web page____

I'd also encourage people to check out the online review of a classic

book on the subject at this URL:

http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/bookreviews/davis1.htm

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PASSAGE OF DARKNESS: THE ETHNOBIOLOGY OF THE HAITIAN ZOMBIE

By Wade . Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press. 1988

Review by Bob Corbett March, 1990

In June, 1989 I attended a seminar in Port-au-Prince on zombification.

During the discussion I raised the question to the 40 or so people in

attendance, had any one of them every seen a zombie " bab pou bab, " the

Haitian equivalent of face to face. Everyone had. So I randomly

questioned one person about her experience. It turned out it wasn't

she herself who had seen the zombie, but her first cousin. The next

person hadn't actually met a zombie, but his aunt had. Someone else's

father, another's best friend and so on around the room. In the end

not one single person was able to tell a tale of having actually,

personally been face to face with a zombie.

Are there really zombies in Haiti? Wade devotes two long

sections to this question. He first looks at the popular views and

then explores cases where there have been some attempts to carefully

and more scientifically determine the status of suspected cases. His

key candidate for zombiehood is Clairvius Narcisse. In spring, 1962

Narcisse " died " at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Deschapelles,

Haiti. His death was verified by the hospital staff. 18 years later

Narcisse turned up alive and well, and claimed to be an escaped

zombie.

Having thus satisfied himself that it is likely there are zombies in

Haiti, PASSAGE OF DARKNESS is ' fascinating and provocative

attempt to explain how zombies are made.

The extraordinary thesis he puts forward is, as the subtitle tells us,

an ethnobiological story. That is, on ' account, what makes

zombies is the interplay between certain features of the culture of

Haiti and the use of drugs. However, neither the cultural phenomena

alone, nor the poisons alone can account for zombies. There are even

larger historical issues at stake:

" Evidence suggests that zombification is a form of social sanction

imposed by recognized corporate bodies--the poorly known and

clandestine secret Bizango societies--as one means of maintaining

order and control in local communities. " (p. 3.)

The essence of ' claim is this:

* there are zombies

* however, there are actually very very few of them

* they are created in part by a poisoned powder

* however, they are created in part by the effects of the culture

* zombies are created when a person first falls into a death-like

trance which is both drug and culturally induced

* then is revived and kept under the control of the houngan by the

use of other drugs

* zombies are created by Voodoo priests who are members of the

Bizango secret societies

* Bizango societies constitute a totally secret and hidden other

government beneath the surface of Haitian society

* zombification is not random nor for profit or personal vendetta

* zombification is the ultimate punishment to someone who has

seriously violated the law of the Bizango society

These ten propositions are the essence of his conclusions. They

constitute a story which has not been widely discussed before

(though himself cites the important ground work done by the

Haitian anthropologist Michel Laguerre on the secret societies).

Some are clearer than others, so I'll elucidate a few of the less clear:

claims there is a poisoned powder which causes the target

person to fall into a death-like trance. It was to seek this drug that

originally got the assignment to track down the zombie poison.

His sponsors reasoned that such a drug must exist, and if they could

find it might have valuable pharmacological possibilities as an

alternative to currently popular but unsafe anesthetics.

The great controversy which ' book has caused is mainly

connected to his claim that the chemical tetrodotoxin, gotten from the

puffer fish, is the primary active ingredient in this " zombie powder. "

However, what seems to be universally missed by ' critics, or

simply ignored, is his claim that the powder alone cannot adequately

account for nor make a zombie. describes the " set and setting "

which is required for the powder to work. " ...set, in these terms, is

the individual's expectation of what the drug will do to him or her;

setting is the environment--both physical and, in this case,

social--in which the drug is taken. " (p. 181.)

Thus the poison in the powder, which is a psycho-active drug (one

whose effect is related to specific personal psychological factors),

will have different effects depending on who one is, what one's

socialization and expectations are. In the case of Haitian members of

the Bizango sect, they have been socialized to recognize the

possibility and process of zombification and are psychologically

attuned to the appropriate effects of the drug, i.e. zombification.

' book presents a strong hypothesis concerning the why of

zombification. In a country so drastically poor as Haiti, with labor

costs for farm hands only being about $1.00 a day, one cannot account

for zombification on the grounds of seeking cheap labor. One might

imagine zombification as a way to get at enemies, but the violence of

Haiti's history suggests much simpler ways of solving that problem.

' hypothesis is perhaps attractive simply because it is so grand!

He tells the story of a long history of secret societies stretching

back into the earliest days of slavery. Escaped slaves, the maroons,

living deep in the mountains, created an alternative society, more

African than Western. These societies brought with them the remembered

lore of Africa, including knowledge of the use of local poisons. The

poisons were used as tools of social control within the maroon

communities. After independence and the radical split between the life

in the rural areas and the cities, these maroon social organizations

became the secret Bizango societies, and zombification is,

effectively, their death sentence for serious violations of the code

of conduct required in Bizango.

' thesis in PASSAGE OF DARKNESS is provocatively and

persuasively argued. Unlike his more popular account, THE SERPENT AND

THE RAINBOW, ( http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/bookreviews/davis2.htm

which I reviewed a few issues ago, ' argument is careful and

measured. Gone is the Indiana bravado of the earlier work; gone

is the " I've done it all alone " arrogance. ' use of sources and

his excellent bibliography are themselves alone worth the price of the

book!

But the critics don't think too much of ' work. Nearly all

reviewers of his two books have been quite cool towards them. More

seriously, important figures in the scholarly circles of

pharmacological literature have taken to task. In an article in

Science magazine, April 15, 1988 called: " Voodoo Science, "

Booth reports on the widespread criticism which has been heaped on

.

Critics argue that grossly exaggerated what he had found in

the powder and that he had exaggerated, if not lied, about the

chemically active properties of the powders he brought back.

Certainly was indiscreet in celebrating his victory of

discover before adequate scientific evidence was published to support

his findings. However, two things must be said in ' defense.

First, he was very careful in PASSAGE OF DARKNESS to respond to

Kao and Yasumoto's criticisms of him. In a footnote on p. 194 he

answers their primary objection. Their objection was two fold. First,

that reported as evidence a " personal communication " from

researcher Rivier, which Rivier now claims was never intended as an

official opinion. Secondly, they charge that the sample didn't have

enough tetrodotoxin to do anything to humans.

certainly should not have reported the preliminary oral

confirmation (which later turned out to be false), as scientific fact.

This was an error without doubt. But, argues in the text that to

study the powder alone, to study the amounts of tetrodotoxin alone is

a mistake. This for several reasons:

1. These powders are made as magical portions by the houngans

(Voodoo priests). They are not made according to any exact formula.

Any given portion may not work. They do them by trial and error. Some

are too strong and kill the victim outright. Others are too weak and

have no effect. A few work. is quite explicit about this: " All

that the formula of the powder suggests is a means by which an

individual might, under rare circumstances, be made to appear dead. "

(p. 181.)

2. devotes a huge portion of the book to argue the

psychobiological hypothesis that the power/poison is only one

ingredient, albeit a necessary part of zombification. ' critics

completely ignore this whole thesis and pounce on the tetrodotoxin

samples as the only issue to be considered.

3. In response to the criticism of Yasumoto and Kao that in the

infamous " sample D, " the only one of his eight powders which contained

tetrodotoxin, that the amount was insignificant, replies:

" Critically, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Of greater interest is the empirical observation that the bokor

{houngans who are doing the zombification} recognize the toxicity of

these fish {puffer fish} and include them in the powders, and that at

certain times of the year these fish contain a toxin known to have

induced apparent death. "

My argument is not that has indeed found the zombie poison. I

don't know that one way or the other. But, the vehemence with which he

has been attacked seems to belie something deeper going on. There are

several hypotheses which suggest other explanations for the heat he

has taken.

* puts forward a psychobiological hypothesis. The subtitle

of the book is quite up front about this (The ethnobiology of the

Haitian zombie). His critics are mainly biologists and

pharmacologists. Ethnobiology is a suspicious field to them. The whole

perspective of ethnobiology, as the name indicates, is that cultural

factors, not merely biological ones, account for many responses to

psychoactive drugs (drugs whose effects are tied to the psychological

state of the subject). Thus it would seem that some of the critics'

vehemence is related to their distrust of the entire field of science

which represents.

* There is no question that ' popular book THE SERPENT AND

THE RAINBOW is an arrogant and aggravating book. postures as the

great explorer invading Haiti's secret societies in just a very few

visits to Haiti. The whole story, as told in that book, stretches the

credulity of most readers. What is especially suspicious as both books

detail, but which the much more carefully documented PASSAGE OF

DARKNESS makes so clear, is that virtually all that claims can

be learned from his impressive use of existing sources. is,

indeed, a masterful researcher. But, is he the intrepid explorer he

presents himself to be? That is the question, and the source of

aggravation to the more academic critics.

* greased the way toward the powders he received by paying

informants and houngans alike. This raises two sorts of objections and

hackles: first that such payments are unethical behavior, secondly,

that he may well have been bilked, especially given the low levels of

tetrodotoxin found in his samples.

addresses these objections head on, even in somewhat angry terms.

" To be sure, it cost money, and there is an odd and unwarranted

sense among some ethnographic fieldworkers that data obtained by

financial remuneration is somehow tainted. This is, in general, an

arrogant proposition, as it assumes that the informant has nothing

better to do than provide free information to a foreign investigator.

In Haiti, such an attitude is not only unjust but counterproductive,

for within the Vodoun society to do something for nothing is generally

seen as 'less a manifestation of generosity than as a sign of

gullibility, is less a virtue than a weakness' (Murray). The Haitians

themselves pay the bokor for his knowledge and powders, and so should

the ethnobiologist. " (p. 5.)

* Lastly, any critic, perhaps especially myself, will find it hard

to forgive for allowing his text THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW to

be used for the horrible movie of the same name. , himself,

decries the nonsensical and negative image of Haiti that previous

zombie movies have given. The jacket cover of PASSAGE OF DARKNESS

claims that " demystifies one of the most exploited of folk

beliefs, and one that has been used to denigrate an entire people and

their religion. " I've seen a few of these " denigrations, " and, indeed,

they are terrible. But it's hard to imagine that any of them hold a

candle to the film version of THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW. can

argue that he didn't make the film, but only sold his book to

Hollywood. But, if one is a lover of Haiti and wants to genuinely

" demystify " her to the American public, then selling the film rights

without any concern for the outcome of the film, doesn't seem like a

very sincere way to do the job!

But none of these sources of aggravation have anything to do with the

primary thesis of ' book. He presents an utterly fascinating

hypothesis, clothed in brilliant research and challenges the reader to

critical participation. At least one of his books should be read by

all people seriously interested in Haiti. I think PASSAGE OF DARKNESS

is far and away a better book that THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW Gone is

the giant ego of the first person narrative, and the measured and

careful development of the thesis is much clearer. His impressive use

of sources and the gigantic and useful bibliography are thrown in for

good measure. Read one of the books and join the fray!

MAIN HAITI PAGE:

http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/haiti.html