What’s Worse Than Zombies?
Cross of Baron Samedi
Zombies from modern zombie movies represent just about the nastiest threat out there. They come in after you waves, in mobs. Some are fast. They never stop. A plague, an army that converts as it kills. Even if they don’t kill you themselves, sooner or later you will die and join them. And they won’t just kill you, your family, your friends and your loved ones. As they spread they bring down society itself, so even the living lose the creature comforts they’re accustomed to.
What could be worse than that?
For me, I think it would be the threat of the Vodou zombie (hereafter using the Creole spelling ‘zonbi’ in this post for clarity). I don’t mean one of them coming after me, though that would be bad enough. No, I’m talking about the threat of becoming one.
Forget about the puffer fish and tetrodotoxin for a moment. I’m talking about the way it works in the Vodou folklore. I’m talking about a bokor (sorcerer) working with Baron Samedi to steal your ti bon ange (‘little good angel’, a part of your soul) and imprison it in a govi (type of gourd). People think you’re dead and bury your body, but the bokor comes along and digs you up.
From there, it’s an existence of servitude, obeying the bokor’s every command. Most of the time it’s physical labor under miserable conditions. The zonbi was rarely used in the folklore as a physical weapon. The threat of becoming one was much worse than the threat of facing one.
One exception: the zonbi astral. Remember that ti bon ange that got shoved into a govi? Well, part of the slavery of the zonbi is that your spirit can be sent after people, especially in their dreams. That’s right, not a moment of rest for the zonbi.
That idea just creeps me out. Enslaved body and soul to the will of an evil sorcerer.
All you can hope for, assuming there’s enough left of you to hope for anything, is that someone will feed you salt. That’s supposed to break the spell, letting you return to your grave in peace (possibly killing the bokor en route, if you’re lucky).
Zombies are like a natural disaster: terrible, but if it happens then it’s just something you deal with. But becoming a zonbi? That’s intensely personal and intentional, and the first thing it steals from you is your free will.
What about you? What do you think would be worse than zombies?
