Wade Davis - The Serpent and the Rainbow

In Virginia, Lavinia Currier gave me a place to sit still long enough to complete the manuscript, portions of which were reviewed by her and Charlie Fisher. Monique Giausserand read the entire manuscript and her comments and advice at each stage of its preparation were invaluable. Raymond Chavez and Harmon and Virginia Stevens kept my spirits up while I was writing, and for technical assistance I am indebted to Timothy Plowman and Penny Matekaitis. My agent, Jane Gelfman, supported the book from the start and introduced me to my editor, Don Hutter, without whose interest and patience this book would not have been completed. Finally, I would like to thank Monique for support and constant love.

WADE DAVIS

The Plains, Virginia

aborigines, Australian, 138

acajou, 194

achuma, 36

Acosta, Christoval, 38

Adèle, 245–46, 249, 262

Afro-American folklore, 207–8

agamonts, 83–84

Agwe, 172

Aizan, 228

Albizzia , 95, 111, 163, 164

Albizzia lebbeck , 111, 116

Albizzia versicolor , 111

Albizzia zygia , 111

Algonquin Indians, 39

aloe, 100

Amazon, 15–22, 173

ammonia, 162

amnesia, 166, 180, 187

Andersen, Hans Christian, 133

Anderson, Marna, 23, 24, 33, 109–110, 111

anesthesia, 21, 30–31

anthropology, 53, 173, 178–79, 207, 208, 234

Arawakan Indians, 45, 94, 198

arrondissements, 233

arrow and dart poisons, 21, 88, 110, 111, 113

Artibonite Valley, 104

asphyxiation, 42, 113

asson, 48

asthma, 56

atelopid frogs, 165

atropine, 166

Ausherman, Jay, 63, 79

autopsies, 132–33

autoscopic near-death experience (NDE), 140–42

ave, 162

ayahuasca, 17

Ayia Eleni, Greece, 51

Ayida Wedo (Rainbow), 176–77

bagi, 54, 261

Bahoruco Mountains, 193

Balantes people, 196

Bando, Mitsugora, VIII, 121

“baptism,” of zombis, 187

Baptiste, Jean, 227–28, 230, 232–33, 235–39, 241–44, 247, 249

Baron Samedi, 210, 221, 227, 257

bayahond leaves, 162

BBC, 28–29, 30, 31, 44, 52, 60, 87, 97, 101, 217

Beauvoir, Max, 44, 46–47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 55, 56, 57, 64–65, 73–74, 82, 84–85, 89–91, 101, 102, 104, 148, 155, 172, 188, 213, 217–18, 223–24, 241

Beauvoir, Rachel, 50, 52–54, 56, 73–79, 83–85, 91–92, 97, 99, 102, 145–50, 155–57, 158, 161, 162, 218–21, 237, 240–44, 248, 249, 250, 254, 259–63, 266

Belfort, Jacques, 148–49, 154–55

Belfort, Mme. Jacques, 149–50, 151–52, 154–55, 168

belladonna, 38

Berkeley, George, 133

berserkus, 116

Bête Sereine, 229, 242

Biassou, 202–3, 204, 205, 206

Bizango, see secret societies

black magic, 100

Black Republic, The (St. John), 208

“blasting a black’s ass,” 191

blowfish, 95, 116–26, 130, 163–64, 167

blue-ringed octopus, 165

Boas, Franz, 206, 207

bois ca-ca, 100

bois chandelle, 100

bokors:

houngans vs., 47, 55, 83, 96–97, 140

magical powers of, 101, 167, 185–186, 187, 215

religious role of, 46–47, 60, 62, 76, 80, 82, 96, 99, 125, 139–40, 265

Bolívar, Simon, 70

Botanical Museum (Harvard), 16, 35, 37, 107–9

botetes, 125

bourreaus, 81, 236

Boyer, Jean Pierre, 69

brain damage, 29–30

brain scans, 26

brainwashing experiments, 59

bresillet, 163, 194

Buddhism, 51

bufogenin, 114

Bufo marinus , 84, 95, 112–16, 117, 162, 163, 164, 167

bufotenine, 115–16

bufotoxin, 114

Bufo vulgaris , 113

Burial Act (1900), 133

burials, premature, 25, 38, 61, 123–24, 131–42

Burton, Lady, 133

Bwa Caiman, 247, 248

bwa piné, 163

caciques, 198

cadavre gâté, 100, 151

cako, 102

Calabar bean, 34–43, 56–57, 59, 61, 101, 110, 112

California newt, 165

Cameron, Ewen, 59

canari, 182

cane syrup, 164

cannibalism, 208, 210, 237, 249, 251

caotchu, 94

cardiograms, 26

Caribbean Indians, 40

Carlisle, Anthony, 133

Carrefour, 228

Carrefour Road, 46, 86, 241

cashew tree, 163

cata, 48

catalepsy, 134, 135

cataplexy, 134, 135

catatonic schizophrenia, 61, 135

Catholicism:

as official religion of Haiti, 70–71, 85

vodoun vs., 72–73, 85, 170–71, 205, 256

Cavendish, Ada, 133

Cazamance people, 196

cèdre, 100

Celestin, Andrés, 202, 258–63, 265, 266

Centre de Psychiatrie et Neurologie, 27, 57–58, 64, 79, 80

ch’an su, 113–14

chasseur, 236, 252

chef de section, 234–35, 238, 257

chef d’état-majeur, 236

Chibcha Indians, 38

chiri, 120, 123

Choco Indians, 113

cholera, 110

Christophe, Henri, 67, 68–69, 205, 206

CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), 59, 117

Ciguatoxin, 165–66

cimora, 37

clairin, 151, 162, 167, 228

Clavijero, Francisco Javier, 125

Clermezine nightclub, 78–79, 156, 218

cocaine, 118

Cochons Gris, 209, 210

Cochons sans Poils, Les, 206

Collins, Wilkie, 133

Columbus, Christopher, 40, 44–45

communes, 233

“Congo Bean stew,” 208

consigne, 163

convoi, 154

Cook, James, 119

corps cadavre, 181, 182, 186, 223

corpses, 92–93, 95

cortisone, 75

coup l’aire, 83, 146–47, 220, 225, 236, 237

coup n’âme, 237

coup poudre, 83, 220, 237

crapaud bouga, 84

crapaud de mer, 84, 95, 112–16, 117, 162, 163, 164, 167

Creole, 72, 79, 192, 218

curanderos, 35–37, 57

curare, 21, 88, 113

cyanide, 118

cyanosis, 108, 116, 121, 123, 125

Dahomey, 41, 49

Damballah (Serpent), 177, 183, 266

Darien Gap, 17–21

dart and arrow poisons, 21, 88, 110, 111, 113

datura, 35–43, 56, 57, 59–60, 61, 104, 112, 164–65

Datura metel , 56

Datura stramonium , 37, 39–40

death:

clinical, 181, 182–83

as “mort bon Dieu,” 185

pallor of, 26, 134

rituals for, 182

“sham,” 134–36

signs of, 25–26, 133–34

“social,” 140

unnatural, 185, 186

death certificates, 26, 213

death spirit, 153

dehydration, 138

delirium, 116

Delphic oracle, 178

départments, 233

dermatitis, 163

desmembre, 163

Dessalines, Jean-Jacques, 67, 68, 205

Dessounin, 182

Deuteronomy, 118

dhatureas, 38

digestive problems, 108, 122

digitalis, 114

dinoflagellate, 165

Diodon hystrix, 125

djab, 220, 221, 227, 231

Djo, 183

Dr. No (Fleming), 117

dokte feuilles, 184

dolls, wooden, 136

Domingue, 166

Dostoyevsky, Feodor, 133

Douce, Francis, 135

Douyon, Lamarque, 27, 28–29, 31, 44, 57–63, 64, 80, 81

drugs:

mental illness treated with, 22, 59, 63

neurotropic, 127

psychoactive, 17, 31, 58, 88, 114, 115–16, 187

“set” vs. “setting” of, 130

see also specific drugs

drums, ceremonial, 48, 49, 243

D-tubocurarine, 21

Duboisia myoporoides , 166

dumbcane, 163

Dutty, Boukman, 201, 202, 204, 247

Duvalier, François, 32, 58, 87, 156, 227, 255–57

Duvalier, Jean-Claude, 82, 226

Duvalier, Michelle, 82

Eagle Bar, 53–54, 93, 98, 145

ecstasy, 135

Efik tribe, 41–43, 111, 195

Egbo (leopard society), 41–43, 195

electroshock therapy, 59, 142

elephantiasis, 149, 160

embalming, 133

Ennery, 79