VOODOO and THE TATTOOED QUEEN, PART THREE - ZOMBIES

Datura Stramonium

THERE ARE A LOT OF ZOMBIE STORIES OUT THERE. In the past ten years (give or take), they've resurfaced and recaptured the public's attention as brain-eating, mindless (or not so mindless) monsters. In previous decades, movies such as I Walked With A Zombie (1943) and Night of the Living Dead (1968) contributed to the popular culture; character origins might have been as early as the 1800's. Theories abound as to why zombie stories are so popular today - anything from a general belief in an inevitable and future dystopia, to a common need for more control in a society where people don't feel they have any. (What better way to experience a sense of control, than to vicariously kill something?)

Truth be told, I don't particularly enjoy zombie-themed stories unless they're well written, and even then, I insist on seeing something authentic (Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring), or funny (as in Shaun of the Dead). I'll also give a shout-out here to Kristi Charish's Voodoo Killings: A Kincaid Strange Novel, a contemporary fantasy/detective tale, which I also enjoyed. But as for the 'we gotta kill them before they kill us' theme, I can do without the mindless violence that has little in the way of depth. In the minds of many writers and readers, it's become a given that 'zombies eating brains' are what zombies do. It's become a cliché, unless handled with a twist.

So what are zombies really about? An excellent resource is Wade Davis's, The Serpent and the Rainbow, a book to which I referred (among others) to properly depict zombification in The Tattooed Queen. The word zombie (in French, zombi) comes from the Kongo term nzambi, which means 'spirit of the dead'. The process involves a bokor (a sorcerer - one who practices 'with the left hand' or who is willing to commit an evil deed, 'evil' depending upon one's point of view. Many of those who are zombified are actually malefactors themselves, having committed wrongs against members of their own community). To create a zombi, a bokor composes and administers a combination of powdered poisons (coupe poudre) to his victim. Every bokor has his particular recipe, but generally, these powders originate from toxic sources, including the bufo marinus or marine toad, several varieties of puffer or blowfish, millipedes, tarantulas, and noxious plants. The toad and puffers, in particular, are loaded with tetrodotoxins that contribute to paralysis, cyanosis, and, if the victim ingests too much, death. There are several ways to administer the coupe poudre; generally, the poison is rubbed into a wound or inhaled with the target unaware. If the bokor has administered a proper dose, his victim will be pronounced dead, then awaken in his coffin days later, where he'll be given a psychoactive antidote which renders him submissive. He becomes enslaved to the bokor's will.

One incident of synchronicity (that pleased me to no end) while doing this research, was discovering that the antidote to the coupe poudre is Datura (also known as Devil's Snare, Hell's Bells, Jimson Weed, etc. I've depicted it in the upper left-hand corner of this post.) In Haiti, a variety of it (Datura Stramonium) is called the Zombi Cucumber. It causes delirium and counteracts some of the effects caused by the coupe poudre. In the first book of my trilogy, The Tattooed Witch, I introduce Datura as Dartura, a goddess herb which, in small doses heals, but in larger ones causes paralysis. Dartura also plays a role in the second book, The Tattooed Seer, and an even greater one in The Tattooed Queen. I had no idea it would become so important, but sometimes, that's just how the writing goes. (If you're wondering when The Tattooed Queen is going to be released, I've been told by Five Rivers that it will be out this December. Right now, I'm awaiting the galleys.)

I hope you've found these posts about voodoo and zombies interesting. For those of you who are attending the When Words Collide Festival in Calgary, this August 12-14, I'll be reading from The Tattooed Queen on Saturday, 1:00 p.m. in Kananaskis 1, Atrium Building. I'll also be discussing similar topics of interest to the audience (more on zombies, gypsy culture, psychic abilities, etc.), some of which I've covered on this blog. Hope to see you there!

- Susan.

VOODOO and THE TATTOOED QUEEN, PART ONE

Vévé for Damballa

BECAUSE I'LL BE READING from my forthcoming book, The Tattooed Queen at the When Words Collide Festival in Calgary (August 12-14), as well as covering some of my research for it, I thought it might be interesting to post some of my findings, here. Especially in light of zombie popularity, I thought I'd start off with voodoo, or vodou as it's also known in Haiti, being the French term. Voodoo plays a big part in The Tattooed Queen.

But first - a little background about some of the choices I made for the book as a preliminary, before we get to the religion and the magic.

I had always planned for Miriam, my protagonist, to cross the Great Ocean Sea (the Atlantic, as it was first called) in order to settle in the Caribbean or New World. In book two, The Tattooed Seer, one of her love interests - Joachín - is shown a map of a gold mine on Xaymaca (Jamaica, being the island's present-day name.) Xaymaca was an Arawak term meaning 'land of wood and water', the Arawak being the indigenous people of the Caribbean and parts of South America. They were also known as the Taino. (In Queen, I refer to them as the Tain. Interesting how one small thread of research leads to another, isn't it?) Anyway, I decided on Xaymaca (or Jamaica) for book two, because Jamaica actually does have gold which is mined in the Blue Mountains today.

Voodoo isn't just about zombies, and it certainly isn't about 'zombies eating your brain', although that's how it's often portrayed in popular culture. The term vodun from which voodoo derives comes from the Yoruba, a west African tribe, and means 'spirit'. Today, it's a syncretized Afro-Christian faith, or set of faiths. There are different varieties, depending upon where it is practised: Santeria in Cuba, Candomblé in Brazil, Voodoo in New Orleans and America, Vodou in Haiti, and Obeah in Jamaica, where it tends to include more magic.

One of the things I had to consider was what voodoo on Jamaica might have been like back in 1550, when the book is set, and before it melded with Christianity to the extent it has. Because the slave trade was active throughout the Caribbean, with slaves bought and sold, and many escaping horrific conditions, I decided to incorporate both the French and Jamaican versions of voodoo - Voudou and Obeah, to better reflect a melding of African cultures. I used a little creative license in allowing a French presence on Jamaica. One of my key characters, Papa Kodjo, is an escapee from Esbañiola (Hispaniola being the original place name for present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Papa K is also a houngoun or voodoo priest, and honours the lwa or voodoo gods. Another of my characters, a wild girl named Ekua, worships the Obeah pantheon, and Ogun, a machete-wielding warrior orisha, in particular. I hesitate to say the terms lwa and orisha are interchangeable, but they have similar meanings. On her arrival to Xaymaca, Miriam unexpectedly encounters Ekua, who claims that Ogun 'rules her head'. When a lwa 'rules your head' it means that a particular god has chosen you, and that he or she rides or possesses you as and when they choose. This possession is seen as a great blessing by the vodouisants who are ridden. Miriam finds the similarities between Ekua's religion and her own striking (as did I, when I was writing and doing research for the book. Both vévés and tattoos can be magical symbols, opening doors for spirit to enter.)

The vévé, above left, represents Damballa or Damballah Wedo, one of the most important lwa in the pantheon. Damballah is the Sky God, the great serpent who encircles the universe, and who is the creator of all life. Next post, I'll talk a little more about voodoo in general, as well as describe some of the lwa/orisha pantheon.

And yes, eventually we're going to talk about zombies. :-)