 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
monsters > zombies > what is a zombie
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
A zombie is a dead person who has been brought back alive by means of either Voodoo ritual, exposure to a toxic chemical or infection, or from a direct hit (bite) from a zombie. A big question is can there really be such things as zombies or the living dead? It seems doubtful, but it is steeped in both folklore, culture and in fiction.
However, ask a Haitian and he or she will tell you that zombies exist or had existed in Haiti. Haitian folklore describes that black-magic practitioners called bokors, or dark Voodoo Priests would give a potion, made from the poisonous puffer fish, to their intended victim. This toxin from the puffer fish, called tetrodotoxin is one of the most strongest nerve poisons to humans causing severe neurological damage. The poison primarily affects the left side of the brain, which controls speech, memory and motor skills, as well their pulse and respiration slows to a point barely detectable. Hence, the victims are perceived as dead. They are then buried accordingly.
However, the bokor knowing the victim is really alive, opens the coffin and takes the undead and puts them to work as slaves. They serve as perfect slaves because they are virtually brain dead, or a zombie. It is believed that many of the zombie slaves were put to work in the sugar cane fields of Haiti.
This belief in zombiism is so ingrained in the psyche of Haitians, that most locals are willing to pay huge amounts of money to have heavy slabs placed on the coffins of their loved ones to keep the bokors away.
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
