Customer Reviews

The Serpent and the Rainbow: A Harvard Scientist's Astonishing Journey into the Secret Societies of Haitian Voodoo, Zombis, and Magic

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Davis guides us through a fantastic world in this superb account of his investigation into Haitian "secret societies." Although outlandish at first glance, Haitian social justice and how it's administered is revealed in its deep cultural framework. The terms "voodoo" and "zombie," so ignorantly applied in our culture over the years, are clarified by this serious scholar. Davis offers much more than simply a redefinition of what media has distorted. He examines the origins and use of various toxins that are applied to put a living person in a death-like trance. This seemingly "evil" practice has deep and positive social roots. It's the social milieu that ultimately gives this book its real value. As Davis pursues botanical sources used in rendering people comatose, he is caught up in an investigation of why the drugs are used on particular individuals.

Davis' quest began with a commission to investigate anesthetic drugs from plants and animals. His mentor, Richard Schultes, was considered the founder of ethnobotany, the study of plant chemistry as a cultural artifact. Davis is sent to Haiti in 1982, a time of growing awareness of the numbers of natural products overlooked for medicinal use. Davis is sent to Haiti to investigate the zombi myths. He learns of the use of "magic powders" to bring about a catatonic state. People are declared dead, buried, but are exhumed and led away, often to a life of near slavery. Davis, using Schultes' work as background, investigates the Datura genus of plants. Datura in various species, ranges across the Western Hemisphere and is widely used by Amerindian and other peoples for various rituals. So, too, are the excretions of Bufo marinus, the Central American "cane toad," that today is the scourge of vast reaches of Australia. Its poison was adapted for various uses in Europe within years of Columbus' voyages.

This pharmocopoeia of toxins and anesthetic drugs have been a part of many cultures, but in Haiti, they prove to be a mechanism of social justice. Wade's account of the structure of Haitian society is worth the price of the book. The classic picture of hierarchical society, resembling so vividly that of our own, is dissected carefully by Davis. Haiti, with its history of dictators and oppression, foreign rule and harsh slavery so vividly depicted by North American media, retains a hidden but powerful underlying structure. While the government seems to sit dominant in Port-au-Prince, in the rural areas an almost independent organization of communities flourish. These local structures reflect accepted norms, deal with local conflict and provide an underlying enforcement mechanism for the maintenance of social order. Their foundation is derived from African roots, modified by Roman Catholic ritual, and remain unheralded except by those who decry their secretiveness. Wade argues these community establishments are not truly "secret societies," but instead reflect the needs of people for whom bombastic pronouncements have no place in their daily existence. The houngans ["vodoun priests"] are little more than Haitian parsons supporting their local populations.

Although focused on Haiti, Davis' book cannot but evoke how much we have yet to learn about other "hidden" or "clandestine" societies. If the method of "zombification" of malefactors seems extreme in our view, it may be simply because we hide our criminals away in concrete tombs at taxpayer's expense. Davis explains that no victim of zombification has been selected arbitrarily. Each situation is carefully examined to assess whether the victim has offended family or the community. Catatonic drugs are administered to render the culprit to a state where they may be transported from the community they've offended. To Davis, it's simply the quiet application of justice. Is this a technique we could apply in our own society? Probably not, since we don't possess the cultural background. But the rendering of justice at the local level for local offenses is surely something we might consider as a behavioural innovation. Davis leaves this question open, but if we engage in the type of investigation he relates, there might be other examples in other societies from which we can learn. This book offers much information and interesting examples of lives different from our own.

I bought this book years ago and put it down after I realized it was nothing like the movie. Man, I'm glad I wizened up. The book saturates you in a country and culture where nothing is as it seems. Secret societies, Vodoun (as Davis refers to it in the book) and yes, Zombies are throughout it's pages. But what I thought was really interesting is when Davis talks about the history of Haiti. I could not get enough. Not only does he paint an amazing portrait of a remarkable people, but he masterfully takes you step by step on how the brutal origins of the country reflects it's modern day society and religion.

When he does talk about the Zombie poison, Davis makes it easy to understand how without giving specifics but revealing the major components. Beginning with a sound hypothesis when starting on his adventure and unraveling the mystery scientifically as the book progresses. He loves is terminology, but never does it frustrate the reader. Also, where he excels again is when he uses historical reference to provide many examples how similar or the same poisons have accidentally given the appearance of death in different parts and times of the world. Furthermore Davis explains that the poison is just a component to religious and social conditioning that reinforce the defintion of "Zombi".

After reading "The Serpent and the Rainbow" it will compel you to look up figures such as Macandal, Dr. Francois Devalier and especially Zore Neale Hurston, in which he names a chapter from the works of this remarkable woman.

My only complaint about the book is that I wish the author had provided a map. As descriptive as he is, it's hard to get a point of reference. One would say go on the net, but that's hard to do when your reading on a bus.

What I find ironic is that the movie of the same name glorifies the stereotypes in wich this book goes a lengths to disprove. But the irony within that irony is that if it wasn't for the movie, I never would have bought and read such a great book.

Written by an ethnobotanist (a combination of a botanist and an anthropologist), this book focuses on Haiti, the secret societies within Haiti, and of course, the psychological and scientific means of making a zombie. No, Wade Davis doesn't come out and say, to make a zombie, do this, this, and this. Instead, he uses reason and logic to track down the actual processes, both social and psychological, that lead to the Haitian people's tendency to believe in them. As it's written by a scientist, the focus on Haiti's past and culture should be more expected than a flat out 'Indiana Jones goes to the tropics'. For those who've seen the movie: no, he doesn't get zombie poison blown in his face. No, he doesn't get buried alive. No, he doesn't get harassed by a corrupt police chief who cuts off peoples' heads. It's pretty down to earth. For those really interested in Haitian culture and, to some extent, voodoo, this is a perfect book to read. If you want adventure, rent the movie.

In "The Serpent and the Rainbow" Ethnobotanist Wade Davis chronicles his explorations of Haitian culture and religion in what begins as a search for an actual drug used to create Zombis. As Davis delves deeper in to the Voudoun societies in search of this rumored drug, he discovers a many layered religious and social culture that raises new questions and leads to further investigations into the peasant culture of Haiti and its roots in West African religion and culture.

While not a reference work on the Voudoun religion, "The Serpent and the Rainbow" sheds new light on Voudoun practice and theology, and it's ubiquitous presence in all levels of Haitian society. This is not a horror story of "devil drums" and "Voodoo dolls" but an exploration of how history has shaped the lives and culture of the people of Haiti.

In a nutshell, this is a real life adventure that is, if anything, more entertaining, and interesting than the fictional adventures of Indiana Jones, and far more satisfying than the Wes Craven film which is loosely (very loosely) based on this book.

When much brouhaha was made over the U.S. invasion of Haiti a few years ago I sought out every book my small-town library had on the country, and this was it. I was hesitant because I knew the reputation of the movie, but the book turned out to be far superior (the film had only a shirt-tail relationship to the book). I'm at a moderately-sized university now that has about twenty titles specifically about Haiti in its library -- and not one is as concise or as comprehensible as Wade Davis' firsthand account of moving among the people. The elements of adventure, anthropology, and science blend well to make up a superior book for the average reader who doesn't want to wade through a whole lot of technical chatter or statistics. The ending is weak -- I wish he'd chosen Bizango or Bouvoir's cult and taken us in the directions either would have promised -- but the book on the whole is a good primer on Haiti, the culture, its people, the science and mythology, and everything you need to know to comment intelligently on the situation over there.

In this scientific adventure book, a Harvard ethnobotanist visits Haiti to try to get a glimpse into the world of the Vodoun religion and the process of making zombis. His mission is to discover by what potion or powder zombis are created and bring this back to the U.S. for scientific analysis. But, he also undertakes to explain zombification as a cultural artifact within the Vodoun belief system, a sort of syncretistic phenomenon incorporating elements from African religion and Roman Catholicism. The book details much of his adventure in Haiti, his involvement with Vodoun priests and magicians, and his involvement with Haitian secret societies. It is a thoroughly fascinating read and provides a unique image of a very singular culture.

The book begins with the author's early career at Harvard University. He contacts the professor Richard Evans Schultes, a famous ethnobotanist, and he begins his first journey to South America to collect plants. Upon returning after a near mishap, he enters Schultes' research group and one day receives and invitation to pursue research into zombification from a well known psychiatrist in New York. The benefits of a discovery of the zombification formula are tremendous with applications to anesthesiology. So, he undertakes a journey to Haiti to determine this formula. Once in Haiti, he explores the various Vodoun ceremonies and contacts Max Beauvoir, a local authority on the Vodoun religion. Max Beauvoir's young daughter helps Wade Davis (the author) get around in Haiti and converse with the locals. He forms the initial hypothesis that the zombi powder consists of datura (a psychoactive plant which is strongly hallucinogenic in small quantities and poisonous in large quantities) and that the antidote consists of Calabar bean. However, this will prove to be incorrect. After haggling for some time with Marcel Pierre, a houngan (Voodoo priest), he succeeds in making the powder and discovering its psychoactive components. He sends this back to the U.S. and it proves beneficial. The author later will return to Haiti and explore the deeper into the world of Vodoun culture and the zombification process. Here, he encounters secret societies, which interact with the government in various ways. He also delves into the history of Haiti and explains how these societies have arisen as revolutionary movements in that history. He becomes quite enamoured of the Haitian people and even considers joining a secret society at the end. However, he decides against this, because of the intense code he would be bound to follow were he to do so. Finally, he leaves Haiti to return home to write his book.

The idea of zombification is a very interesting one, and this book has certainly gone a long way in explaining it. But, in some ways it will always remain mysterious. It turns out that the zombified individual is usually someone who has broken a code within the secret societies. The powder puts the person in a catatonic state, only to be reawakened and given an "antidote" (which is actually largely inactive). However, it is not so much the powder that determines the zombi as it is the cultural surroundings of the individual. For instance, the same component used in the powder is known in other cultures to cause paralysis and "returns from the dead", but it is never taken to be a cause of zombification. So the culture of Haiti and the Vodoun religion are actually the most important components of this procedure. This is the discovery of Wade Davis.

This book is a great read, and you will enjoy it if you like science and adventure in foreign lands. :)

Davis's book is a joy to read. It is very well written, combining both hard scientific fact with mystery and high adventure. It reads like a novel and provides an excellent background on Haitian culture and the anthropology of voodoo. I object to Davis's relativistic stance that magical and scientific thought are in some sense equally valid and that we are culturally conditioned to accept one or the other. But the science is there (after all, it was Davis who cracked the medical mystery of zombification), and his respect for the the theology of voodoo helps make his account personal and lively. I recommend it highly.

This is a fascinating real-life adventure about an ethnobotanist (think "Scientific Badass") who travels to Haiti to solve the mystery of Zombis - if they really exist, how they're created, etc. He finds a culture rich in history and ritual, which he explores in great detail.

My only complaint about the book is that the scientific mystery is solved fairly quickly, while the remainder of the book describes his deepening involvement in Haiti's culture. I would have at least preferred an epilogue about how the information Davis brought back was actually used in this country.

But if you prefer cultural explorations with a healthy dose of adventure, you'll absolutely love this book.

This book changed my life. I picked it up used, battered and torn, from a bookshop near my high school and proceeded to read it twice in a row. Never done that before or since. The Serpent and the Rainbow had such an impact on me that I went to college with the intention of becoming an ethnobotanist, myself! Or at least an anthropologist. Well, I got most of the way there before switching my major...but anyway...

This book has a little of everything: botany, history, sociology, adventure -- you name it. Davis' writing style is compelling and engaging. This book reads better than an Indiana Jones story. That's because Davis is the real deal.

I must admit I saw the movie first, but the movie pales in comparison. In fact, it's radically different and borders on the absurd. The book stays rooted in reality and is a study of what constitutes death, or for that matter, life.

An utterly fantastic read. One of my favorite books of all time, perhaps my all-time favorite non-fiction.

Highly recommended!

Wade Davis, anthropologist (Harvard 1977), was working as a graduate assistant for his mentor Professor Richard Schultes in 1982, when his life took a turn for the bizarre. At the recommendation of Schultes he met with two equally esteemed academic gentlemen - Dr Nathan Kline and Professor Heinz Lehman, former heads of departments in psychiatry and psychopharmacology (study of the action of drugs on the mind). They had a proposal for him. "Let me relieve you of any further suspense, Mr Davis. We understand from Professor Schultes that you are attracted to unusual places. We propose to send you to the frontier of death. If what we are about to tell you is true, as we believe it is, it means that there are men and women dwelling in the conscious present, where the past is dead and the future consists of fear and impossible desires". How's that for an icebreaker! The frontier of death was in Haiti, in the underground world of Voodoo, peopled with bodies without character or will; the living dead; Zombies! That Davis stuck around to hear them out shows that he was an adventurous explorer, that he agreed to go only shows that he had no idea of what he was getting into. What the Professors wanted Davis to investigate was the formula of the natural drug that was used to induce Zombification. The rationale was put this way "If we could find a new drug which made the patient utterly insensible to pain and paralyzed and another which harmlessly returned him to normal consciousness it could revolutionize modern surgery".

Thus was born the 'Zombie Project', a serious, scientific, well funded exploration and study to find the chemical explanation underpinning the whole concept of Zombies, and the subject of this book. It also explores the culture, history and politics of Haiti and we learn about the science of poisons. In contrast to the movie of the same name, Davis in real life did not get powdered poison blown in his face, nor was he buried in a coffin.

A poison was found and a substance was identified that was capable of producing the state of suspended animation characteristic of Zombies, but more fundamental to his project was the fact that he never witnessed a Zombie being brought up from the grave. Startling by it's admission is this statement from Davis. "I had, in fact, been offered two promising opportunities to do so, provided, of course, that the cash payment...be sufficient". He refused the opportunity, partly because if it turned out to be a fraud he would have wasted the money but also because of the following chilling reason. "If, on the other hand, it turned out to be legitimate, I would have no way of being certain that the money had not been responsible for the victim's fate." No statement goes further in showing the complete conversion of Davis from the deep skeptic he was when he first arrived in Haiti, to a confirmed believer in the power of Voodoo and it's importance to the culture.

Although the subject matter is almost beyond belief, this well written and balanced account handles the subject with ease. No doubt about it - a classic case of truth being stranger than fiction. The glossary of Voodoo terms at the back helps. Well worth a read.