Religion, Ritual, and Re-animation

The excerpts from Zora Neale Hurston's Tell My Horse and from Alan Lomax's Notebook both deal with the ritualistic side of voodoo (however you want to spell it).

Lomax's notes from his ethnic study of Haitian voodoo is, frankly, hard to read. The wording is awkward and does not translate well into the present. But, Lomax does give an authentic feel to some of the voodoo ceremonies, describing the intricacies of each rite. The rules that must be followed in this religion (?) are quite strict and specific (the lists of the gifts that must be given to the different loa, or gods, are astounding).
Zombies make a very brief appearance in this selection, so there is not much to say directly about them here. But the reading does give a more visceral understanding of the religion that "created" zombies.

Hurston's chapters give a further (and more clearly written) explanation of the religion. She gives the background of the most important gods in voodoo. Here's the breakdown:

• Damballah - the head cheese. If you were to ask another god for a favor, that god would have to ask Damballah if it's okay.
• Erzulie - the goddess of love. She is supposed to be the ideal woman, and must be loved and obeyed... even by married men.
• Papa Legba - the gatekeeper. Praying to this god first will make sure you get where you're going.

As with Lomax's notes, these chapters go into great detail about the ritual aspects of the religion: giving similar (and always specific) gifts to the gods, having to perform certain rites, and praying in a certain order.

Then she finally gets around to talking about zombies. Many of the stories she tells here are seen in other texts we have read. But she does focus more on the idea of sacrifice within the zombie myth. She mentions the "Ba Moun" ceremony, which is a Faustian deal a person can make with a loa. The person becomes wealthy and successful, but most periodically offer up souls to the loa, and, if unable to, must give their own.

The souls that are given must be considered a real sacrifice (i.e. a family member, wife, or friend), and will then become a zombie. Hurston tells two types of stories, each with its own moral. In one, a man sacrifices his entire family in order to stay alive and wealthy. In the other, the man realizes how selfish he is being and offers himself up as the sacrifice in order to save a loved one.

The idea of a zombie being a sacrifice is interesting from a socioeconomic standpoint. Since the sacrifice is being made in order to gain wealth and prosperity, I find it interesting that the people being sacrificed are made to do menial labor with no will of their own. Sounds a bit Marxist to me. Rise up, zombies!

Sorry to ramble on.