The Serpent and the Rainbow

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by Wade Davis


  For the early philosophical views of François Duvalier see: Denis, L., and F. Duvalier, La civilisation haïtienne: notre mentalité est-elle africaine ou gallo-latine? Revue Anthropologique 10-12 (1936): 353-73; and their later paper published in 1944, L’évolution stadiale du vodou, Bulletin du Bureau d’Ethnologie 2, no. 12: 1-29. Lorimer Denis and Duvalier also published a number of descriptive ethnographic papers based on their observations of various vodoun rituals.

  The connection between vodoun and politics in recent Haitian history is examined in: Bastien, R., Vodoun and politics in Haiti, in Religion and Politics in Haiti, Institute for Cross-Cultural Research, Washington, D.C., 1966; Nichols, D., Politics and religion in Haiti, Canadian Journal of Political Science 3, no. 3 (1970): 400-414; Laguerre, M., Voodoo as religious and political ideology, Freeing the Spirit 3, no. 1 (1974): 23-28; Laguerre, M., Voodoo and politics in contemporary Haiti, paper presented at the conference “New Perspectives on Caribbean Studies: Toward the Twenty-first Century,” Research Institute for the Study of Man and the City University of New York, August 28-September 1, 1984.

  Two extremely negative interpretations of the Duvalier years are: Diederich, B., and A. Burt, Papa Doc: The Truth about Haiti Today, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1969, and Rotberg, R., Haiti: The Politics of Squalor, Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1971.

  Acknowledgments

  My research on the zombi phenomenon was undertaken while I was supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Doctoral Fellowship). Direct financial support was generously provided by the International Psychiatric Research Foundation, the WennerGren Foundation for Anthropological Research (grant-in-aid 4554) and the National Science Foundation (Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant BSN-8411741). My botanical determinations were verified by Professor R. A. Howard of the Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University. Zoological determinations were furnished by the staff of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University. Valuable bibliographical material was provided by Professor Bo Holmstedt (Karolinska Institute, Stockholm); Dr. Bruce Halstead (World Life Research Institute); Professor C. Y. Kao (Down State Medical Center, Brooklyn); Professor M. G. Smith (Yale University); and Professor R. E. Schultes (Harvard University). I would especially like to thank Professors Smith and Schultes for their intellectual contributions and encouragement. My understanding of Haitian history is deeply indebted to the excellent work of Dr. Gerald Murray (University of Massachusetts, Boston), Dr. Michel Laguerre (University of California, Berkeley) and Jean Fouchard. The preliminary laboratory work was done by Professor Leon Roizin of Columbia University. For other laboratory work and advice I am indebted to Dr. Laurent Rivier (Université de Lausanne) and Professor James Cottrell and Dr. John Hartung (Down State Medical Center). The Zombi Project was born of the vision of three men: Mr. David Merrick, Professor Heinz Lehman, and the late Dr. Nathan S. Kline.

  The work in Haiti was made possible by the cooperation and active support of many individuals. Dr. Lamarque Douyon shared his insights concerning medical aspects of zombification and introduced me to Clairvius Narcisse. Medical records were kindly furnished by the staff of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital. In Port-au-Prince I was kindly received and assisted by Leilas Desquiron, Dr. Max Paul, and his staff at the Institut National Haitien de la Culture et des Arts, Eleanor Snare at the Institut Haitiano-Americain, and Lesly Conde at the National Office of Tourism. In rural Haiti I worked directly with several people who openly shared their knowledge. In particular I would like to thank Jean Baptiste, Jacques Belfort and Madame Jacques, Michel Bonnet, Andrés Cajuste, Andrés Celestin, Robert Erie and his wife, Carmine, Ives François, César Ferdinand, Jean-Jacques Leophin, La Bonté, Miriatel, Jean Price-Mars, Solvis Silvaise, and Marcel Pierre. All of these individuals, some of whom are herein identified by pseudonyms, were directly responsible for the success of the project. Finally I would like to acknowledge Herard Simon and Max Beauvoir. Herard Simon and his wife, Hélène, are serviteurs of the most profound awareness. A great houngan, Herard offered his spiritual and physical protection without which this project would never have been completed. Max Beauvoir was also directly responsible for the success of the project. He and his wife, Elizabeth, and his daughters, Rachel and Estelle, offered me their home and generous hospitality as well as their total support at the most critical moments. Rachel worked with me on every phase of the fieldwork and her enthusiasm, courage, and generosity were unfailing. My debt to her, as to all the people of Haiti who received me so kindly, should be readily apparent in the text of the book.

  In Virginia, Lavinia Currier gave me a place to sit still long enough to complete the manuscript, portions of which were reviewed by her and Charlie Fisher. Monique Giausserand read the entire manuscript and her comments and advice at each stage of its preparation were invaluable. Raymond Chavez and Harmon and Virginia Stevens kept my spirits up while I was writing, and for technical assistance I am indebted to Timothy Plowman and Penny Matekaitis. My agent, Jane Gelfman, supported the book from the start and introduced me to my editor, Don Hutter, without whose interest and patience this book would not have been completed. Finally, I would like to thank Monique for support and constant love.

  WADE DAVIS

  The Plains, Virginia

  Index

  aborigines, Australian, 138

  acajou, 194

  achuma, 36

  Acosta, Christoval, 38

  Adèle, 245–46, 249, 262

  Afro-American folklore, 207–8

  agamonts, 83–84

  Agwe, 172

  Aizan, 228

  Albizzia, 95, 111, 163, 164

  Albizzia lebbeck, 111, 116

  Albizzia versicolor, 111

  Albizzia zygia, 111

  Algonquin Indians, 39

  aloe, 100

  Amazon, 15–22, 173

  ammonia, 162

  amnesia, 166, 180, 187

  Andersen, Hans Christian, 133

  Anderson, Marna, 23, 24, 33, 109–110, 111

  anesthesia, 21, 30–31

  anthropology, 53, 173, 178–79, 207, 208, 234

  Arawakan Indians, 45, 94, 198

  arrondissements, 233

  arrow and dart poisons, 21, 88, 110, 111, 113

  Artibonite Valley, 104

  asphyxiation, 42, 113

  asson, 48

  asthma, 56

  atelopid frogs, 165

  atropine, 166

  Ausherman, Jay, 63, 79

  autopsies, 132–33

  autoscopic near-death experience (NDE), 140–42

  ave, 162

  ayahuasca, 17

  Ayia Eleni, Greece, 51

  Ayida Wedo (Rainbow), 176–77

  bagi, 54, 261

  Bahoruco Mountains, 193

  Balantes people, 196

  Bando, Mitsugora, VIII, 121

  “baptism,” of zombis, 187

  Baptiste, Jean, 227–28, 230, 232–33, 235–39, 241–44, 247, 249

  Baron Samedi, 210, 221, 227, 257

  bayahond leaves, 162

  BBC, 28–29, 30, 31, 44, 52, 60, 87, 97, 101, 217

  Beauvoir, Max, 44, 46–47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 64–65, 73–74, 82, 84–85, 89–91, 101, 102, 104, 148, 155, 172, 188, 213, 217–18, 223–24, 241

  Beauvoir, Rachel, 50, 52–54, 56, 73–79, 83–85, 91–92, 97, 99, 102, 145–50, 155–57, 158, 161, 162, 218–21, 237, 240–44, 248, 249, 250, 254, 259–63, 266

  Belfort, Jacques, 148–49, 154–55

  Belfort, Mme. Jacques, 149–50, 151–52, 154–55, 168

  belladonna, 38

  Berkeley, George, 133

  berserkus, 116

  Bête Sereine, 229, 242

  Biassou, 202–3, 204, 205, 206

  Bizango, see secret societies

  black magic, 100

  Black Republic, The (St. John), 208

  “blasting a black’s ass,” 191

  blowfish, 95, 116–26, 130, 163–64, 167

  blue-ringed oct
opus, 165

  Boas, Franz, 206, 207

  bois ca-ca, 100

  bois chandelle, 100

  bokors:

  houngans vs., 47, 55, 83, 96–97, 140

  magical powers of, 101, 167, 185–186, 187, 215

  religious role of, 46–47, 60, 62, 76, 80, 82, 96, 99, 125, 139–40, 265

  Bolívar, Simon, 70

  Botanical Museum (Harvard), 16, 35, 37, 107–9

  botetes, 125

  bourreaus, 81, 236

  Boyer, Jean Pierre, 69

  brain damage, 29–30

  brain scans, 26

  brainwashing experiments, 59

  bresillet, 163, 194

  Buddhism, 51

  bufogenin, 114

  Bufo marinus, 84, 95, 112–16, 117, 162, 163, 164, 167

  bufotenine, 115–16

  bufotoxin, 114

  Bufo vulgaris, 113

  Burial Act (1900), 133

  burials, premature, 25, 38, 61, 123–24, 131–42

  Burton, Lady, 133

  Bwa Caiman, 247, 248

  bwa piné, 163

  caciques, 198

  cadavre gâté, 100, 151

  cako, 102

  Calabar bean, 34–43, 56–57, 59, 61, 101, 110, 112

  California newt, 165

  Cameron, Ewen, 59

  canari, 182

  cane syrup, 164

  cannibalism, 208, 210, 237, 249, 251

  caotchu, 94

  cardiograms, 26

  Caribbean Indians, 40

  Carlisle, Anthony, 133

  Carrefour, 228

  Carrefour Road, 46, 86, 241

  cashew tree, 163

  cata, 48

  catalepsy, 134, 135

  cataplexy, 134, 135

  catatonic schizophrenia, 61, 135

  Catholicism:

  as official religion of Haiti, 70–71, 85

  vodoun vs., 72–73, 85, 170–71, 205, 256

  Cavendish, Ada, 133

  Cazamance people, 196

  cèdre, 100

  Celestin, Andrés, 202, 258–63, 265, 266

  Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurologie, 27, 57–58, 64, 79, 80

  ch’an su, 113–14

  chasseur, 236, 252

  chef de section, 234–35, 238, 257

  chef d’état-majeur, 236

  Chibcha Indians, 38

  chiri, 120, 123

  Choco Indians, 113

  cholera, 110

  Christophe, Henri, 67, 68–69, 205, 206

  CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), 59, 117

  Ciguatoxin, 165–66

  cimora, 37

  clairin, 151, 162, 167, 228

  Clavijero, Francisco Javier, 125

  Clermezine nightclub, 78–79, 156, 218

  cocaine, 118

  Cochons Gris, 209, 210

  Cochons sans Poils, Les, 206

  Collins, Wilkie, 133

  Columbus, Christopher, 40, 44–45

  communes, 233

  “Congo Bean stew,” 208

  consigne, 163

  convoi, 154

  Cook, James, 119

  corps cadavre, 181, 182, 186, 223

  corpses, 92–93, 95

  cortisone, 75

  coup l’aire, 83, 146–47, 220, 225, 236, 237

  coup n’âme, 237

  coup poudre, 83, 220, 237

  crapaud bouga, 84

  crapaud de mer, 84, 95, 112–16, 117, 162, 163, 164, 167

  Creole, 72, 79, 192, 218

  curanderos, 35–37, 57

  curare, 21, 88, 113

  cyanide, 118

  cyanosis, 108, 116, 121, 123, 125

  Dahomey, 41, 49

  Damballah (Serpent), 177, 183, 266

  Darien Gap, 17–21

  dart and arrow poisons, 21, 88, 110, 111, 113

  datura, 35–43, 56, 57, 59–60, 61, 104, 112, 164–65

  Datura metel, 56

  Datura stramonium, 37, 39–40

  death:

  clinical, 181, 182–83

  as “mort bon Dieu,” 185

  pallor of, 26, 134

  rituals for, 182

  “sham,” 134–36

  signs of, 25–26, 133–34

  “social,” 140

  unnatural, 185, 186

  death certificates, 26, 213

  death spirit, 153

  dehydration, 138

  delirium, 116

  Delphic oracle, 178

  départments, 233

  dermatitis, 163

  desmembre, 163

  Dessalines, Jean-Jacques, 67, 68, 205

  Dessounin, 182

  Deuteronomy, 118

  dhatureas, 38

  digestive problems, 108, 122

  digitalis, 114

  dinoflagellate, 165

  Diodon hystrix, 125

  djab, 220, 221, 227, 231

  Djo, 183

  Dr. No (Fleming), 117

  dokte feuilles, 184

  dolls, wooden, 136

  Domingue, 166

  Dostoyevsky, Feodor, 133

  Douce, Francis, 135

  Douyon, Lamarque, 27, 28–29, 31, 44, 57–63, 64, 80, 81

  drugs:

  mental illness treated with, 22, 59, 63

  neurotropic, 127

  psychoactive, 17, 31, 58, 88, 114, 115–16, 187

  “set” vs. “setting” of, 130

  see also specific drugs

  drums, ceremonial, 48, 49, 243

  D-tubocurarine, 21

  Duboisia myoporoides, 166

  dumbcane, 163

  Dutty, Boukman, 201, 202, 204, 247

  Duvalier, François, 32, 58, 87, 156, 227, 255–57

  Duvalier, Jean-Claude, 82, 226

  Duvalier, Michelle, 82

  Eagle Bar, 53–54, 93, 98, 145

  ecstasy, 135

  Efik tribe, 41–43, 111, 195

  Egbo (leopard society), 41–43, 195

  electroshock therapy, 59, 142

  elephantiasis, 149, 160

  embalming, 133

  Ennery, 79

  Erié, Robert, 232–33, 235, 250, 258

  Erzulie Dantor, 227

  Erzulie Freda, 171, 172, 179

  esprit, 182

  evil, good vs., 94, 101, 187–88

  evil eye, 137

  Fabing, Howard, 115–16

  fainting spells, 135

  faith healing, 137

  fakirs, 29

  fear, as cause of physiological changes, 137–38

  Felix-Mentor, Felicia, 213–15

  firewalkers, 49–51

  Fleming, Ian, 117

  floating sensation, 81, 121, 141–42

  formic acid, 163

  fou-fou, 117

  foxglove, 114

  François, Jean, 202, 204, 205, 206

  French Revolution, 65

  Freudian psychiatry, 22

  frogs, 152, 153, 163, 167

  From Russia with Love (Fleming), 117

  fugu, 120–24, 130

  Fukada, T., 125

  Fulani tribe, 40

  fwet kash, 229

  gall bladders, ground, 152

  Gitksan Indians, 98

  “giving up/given up” complex, 137

  Glycas, Nicephorus, 132

  goby fish, 165

  Gonaives, Haiti, 155–56

  govi, 182, 183

  Grans Bwa, 57, 147, 228

  Great Herbals, 118

  Griots, Les, 256

  gros bon ange, 181, 186

  guaiac, 100

  Guede, 147, 172

  Guinée, 67, 72, 190, 215, 227, 244, 247

  gunpowder, 152

  Haiti:

  African influences in, 70, 71–72, 194, 195–96, 201, 207, 219, 256

  agrarian economy of, 67–70

  appearance vs. reality in, 85, 87, 217

  Catholicism as official religion of, 70–71, 85

  civil government of, 233–35, 255–257

  French colonization of, 44�
��45, 65–68, 102, 188, 189–206, 210, 212, 232

  history of, 40–45, 65–72

  international relations of, 70–71

  legal system of, 28, 60, 158

  peasant culture of, 71–73

  rural vs. urban society in, 51–52, 71–72

  U.S. occupation of, 102, 171, 208–9, 256

  vodoun as basis of society in, 12, 72–73, 110, 183–84, 212

  hallucinogens, 17, 88, 114, 115–16

  Halstead, B. W., 122

  handshakes, secret, 194, 195, 211

  Han Dynasty, 118

  Hausa tribe, 40

  healing trees, 151

  health, as spiritual equilibrium, 183–84

  heartbeat, 26, 134

  Hector Victor, 260–61

  henbane, 38

  herbals, 113, 118–19

  Herskovits, Melville, 206

  hex, 136

  hibernation, 31, 129, 135

  Holmstedt, Bo, 109–12

  hoodoo, 207, 208

  Hotel Ollofson, 46, 50

  hounfour:

  as center of healing, 149, 184

  religious function of, 47, 53, 73, 74

  as social center, 212

  houngan macoute, 87

  houngan nieg, 241

  houngans:

  bokors vs., 47, 55, 83, 96–97, 140

  as healers, 147, 183–84

  religious role of, 44, 48, 52, 56, 72–75, 87, 96, 148, 176, 182, 183–84

  social role of, 212, 235, 238, 256

  hounsis, 47, 48, 49–50, 53

  hounsis canzo, 98

  huaca, 39

  Hurston, Zora Neale, 206–11, 212, 213–15

  Hyacinthe, 201, 247

  hypertension, 61, 108, 114, 116, 122, 125

  hypnosis, 63, 135

  hypotension, 26, 123

  hypothermia, 61, 108, 122, 123

  ibok usiak owo, 111

  Ibo tribe, 41

  ichthyotoxicology, 117

  Illeus, Francina, see Ti Femme

  Illeus, Mercilia, 77–78

  illness, psychological factors in, 137–38

  immortality, spiritual, 184–85

  Invisibles, Les, 182

  Isabella, Queen of Spain, 44

  Isnard, 221–24, 238, 241–44, 249

  itching pea, 95, 110, 163

  Japanese cuisine, 120–24

  Jean, 92, 93, 94, 95, 97, 99

  Jivaro Indians, 39

  Josef Jean, 80

  Joseph, Natagette, 27

  Josephine, 248, 249, 257–58

 

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