“Coupe poudre is the powder used by a bokur to induce zombification. The active ingredient of coupe poudre is tetradotoxin (TTX), produced in the liver and ovaries of some species of puffer fish (e.g. Fugu rubripes). TTX is a neurotoxin 500 times more potent than cyanide. It acts by blocking the sodium ion channels which enable nerve and heart cells to produce electrical impulses. In miniscule doses TTX causes a near-death state in which metabolic functions are depressed, so that breathing and pulse rate are undetectable. Total paralysis follows, although the brain and senses remain intact. The victim is thought to be dead and is buried alive.

A few days after being buried, the ‘zombie’ is disinterred and given another powder containing atropine and scopolamine. These are toxic and hallucinogenic compounds from the plants Datura metel and Datura stramonium (both known as the ‘zombie cucumber’). This powder, when administered, puts the victim into a permanent state of delirium and disorientation in which they experience delusions and hallucinations. He or she can then be made to do menial work for those against which the crime was committed.”

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How to Make a Zombie

As a black witch I get asked often “Will make this person a zombie out of my x (husband/ girlfriend/ boyfriend/ lover/etc)” which always makes me giggle, because people don’t know what they are truly asking for. Firstly, while zombification is true and does exist, I do not do it. Secondly, it’s not as “sexy” as what you think. Do you really want your ex lover following behind you for the rest of your life? I seriously hope you said no.

Let me explain who does make zombies, and that is our friends down in Haiti. The home of Voodoo or “Vodou.”

Vodou spirituality has a rich tradition of fetish objects, including my beloved  “voodoo doll.” Practitioners of vodou also place a particular importance on herbal remedies and other concoctions that may include animal parts, such as bones and hair, dried plants, shells, minerals or other ingredients. Essentially, anything that they have which grows near to them.

[box] Remember: A witch uses the natural resources she has/ he has in the surrounding environment. You should only buy material, if it is absolutely necessary. Don’t believe the hype![/box]

Toads, worms and human remains

Vodou priests known as bokor create a white, powdery compound called coupe poudre. The ingredients in this powder can turn a person into a zombie.

Though different bokor used different ingredients in their powders, that “there are five constant animal ingredients:

1. burned and ground-up human remains [usually bone],
2. a small tree frog,
3. a polychaete [segmented] worm,
4. a large New World toad,
5.  one or more species of pufferfish.

The most potent ingredients are the pufferfish, which contain deadly nerve toxins known as tetrodotoxin.

[learn_more caption=”Euphoria, then death”] Several animals contain tetrodotoxin in their tissues; the liver, eyes and ovaries of the pufferfish (genus Takifugu) have especially high amounts of the lethal nerve toxin.

Though regarded as a delicacy in Japan, the fish and some of its organs (especially the liver) are banned as food items in many places because of the dangers.

In small amounts, tetrodotoxin causes numbness, tingling and a not-unpleasant sensation of floating — even euphoria — according to reports from brave gourmands who have sampled carefully prepared pufferfish.

High levels of the toxin, however, can cause death within minutes due to respiratory failure.

But at sublethal doses, the toxin can leave a victim in a state of suspended animation: Breathing is subdued and barely perceptible by observers, the heart rate is near zero, but the person remains conscious and aware (though unable to speak). [/learn_more] [learn_more caption=”In Haiti, zombification is a punishment for severe crimes.”] Coupe poudre is the powder used by a bokur to induce zombification. The active ingredient of coupe poudre is tetradotoxin (TTX), produced in the liver and ovaries of some species of puffer fish (e.g. Fugu rubripes). TTX is a neurotoxin 500 times more potent than cyanide. It acts by blocking the sodium ion channels which enable nerve and heart cells to produce electrical impulses. In miniscule doses TTX causes a near-death state in which metabolic functions are depressed, so that breathing and pulse rate are undetectable. Total paralysis follows, although the brain and senses remain intact. The victim is thought to be dead and is buried alive. A few days after being buried, the ‘zombie’ is disinterred and given another powder containing atropine and scopolamine. These are toxic and hallucinogenic compounds from the plants Datura metel and Datura stramonium (both known as the ‘zombie cucumber’). This powder, when administered, puts the victim into a permanent state of delirium and disorientation in which they experience delusions and hallucinations. He or she can then be made to do menial work for those against which the crime was committed.[/learn_more] [learn_more caption=”Voodoo ceremonies”] Vodun ceremonies involve outdoor gatherings where people try to make contact with the spirit world. The ceremonies typically involve a feast, the creation of a pattern of flour or cornmeal on the floor (a veve), drumming, dancing and chanting. The dance intensifies until one of the dancers is possessed by a Loa and falls to the ground, at which point it is the spirit which is in control of the dancer’s body. During the ritual sheep, goats, chickens or dogs are sacrificied in order to gain favour with the spirits. A houngan is a Vodun priest, a mambo a priestess and a bokur a Vodun sorcerer believed to be endowed with the power to perform black magic. Powders used by the sorcerers give them power over their victims, with one of those powers being zombification.[/learn_more]

Zombie slavery

This toxin, then, may form the basis of the zombie phenomenon. A person who is exposed to a certain amount of zombie powder containing tetrodotoxin can slip into a vegetative state resembling death. Shortly after the person is buried, their body is exhumed by a bokor.

Though the exhumed zombie usually suffers from apoxia (oxygen deprivation) caused by breathing the limited amount of air inside a coffin, the bokor wields control over the person by continually administering a second drug, a psychoactive compound derived from the jimson weed (Datura stramonium). This second drug causes delirium and disorientation, rendering the person incapable of normal functioning.

There are many documented cases of zombification lasting for over 10 to 20 years.

Ready To Try?

Even for me, turning somebody into a zombie slave sounds like a lot of homework, and then a lot of hard work! Plus, then you have to walk with a zombie, and a I like a more civilized lifestyle. My zombie wouldn’t fit in.