Hollywood has lastingly shaped our image of the Haitian Vodou religion – and in doing so has created a distorted picture that has little in common with the reality of the Caribbean island nation. The mythical zombies in particular inspired countless horror writers, yet the authentic zombies of the Vodou tradition differ fundamentally from the bloodthirsty creatures of popular culture.
The Traditional Zombie Concept In the belief systems of many Haitians, zombies are not monsters, but rather people who have experienced drastic punishment: Specialized priests poison individuals for serious transgressions, let them die, and resurrect them as living corpses – mindless slaves who must work for the priests.
Scientific Research Long before Hollywood discovered Haiti, the zombie phenomenon already fascinated science. Only at the end of the 20th century did Canadian anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wade Davis provide the first scientifically grounded explanatory approaches. However, his theories remained controversial – to this day, there is no consensus in research about the nature and origin of zombies.
Oliver Gauert, M.A. offers in his lecture a well-founded insight into the Vodou religion and presents the current state of research on the enigmatic zombie phenomenon from historical, pharmacological, and psychological perspectives.