25 ingredients to make a zombie
25 ingredients to make a zombie
A Roman spell to raise the dead
Why was an ancient witch trying to make a zombie?
They’re the best prophets, don’t cha’ know? In book VI of Bellum Civile (aka Pharsalia) by the Roman poet Lucan, we meet the Thessalian witch Erictho who is in dire need of a prophecy. However, she knows that the traditional oracles and Olympian divinities are not up to the task. As the most powerful witch in antiquity, she understands that the most accurate prophecies come from the mouths of the dead. She needs the voice of someone who has crossed the Styx and been to the Underworld where the Fates, rulers of all human destinies, dwell. But, the person can’t be too dead. So, she takes to the battlefields of Thessaly after clashes between the factions of Pompey and Caesar to find a freshly dead soldier. Then, she gets to work.
The ingredients for the magic zombie-making potion
She begins by placing scalding hot blood, gore, and moon poison* into the chest cavity of the body. She then adds a litany of the most potent magical substances know to antiquity. The last ingredient for this spell to work is Erictho’s voice itself, an inhuman cacophony that must reach into the depths of the Underworld to call forth the recently departed spirit of the dead soldier. Here’s a full list of the ingredients of Erictho’s spell:
fervens sanguis, “scalding hot blood”
tabum, “gore, decay”
virus lunare, “moon poison”
spuma canis rabidi, “the froth of a rabid dog”
viscera lyncis, “the entrails of a lynx”
nodus hyaenae, “part of the spine of a hyena”
medullae cervi serpente pasti, “the bone marrow of a deer that’s eaten a serpent”
echenais/piscis remora, “suckerfish”
oculi draconum, “the eyes of dragon”
aetites/aquilinus, "eagle-stone, found inside eagle nests, hollow inside, used to promote child-birth"
volucer serpens Arabum, “the winged serpent of the Arabs”
vipera quae conchas pretiosas custodit, “the viper which guards valuable shells [of pearl oysters]”
membrana cerastae Libyci, “the skin of the horned Libyan serpent”
cinis phoenicis combusti, “the ash of a cremated phoenix”
frondes carmine infando incantatae, “leaves enchanted with an abominable spell”
herbae sputo Ericthonis pollutae, “plants corrupted by the spit of Erictho”
quicquid veneni quod Erictho mundo dedit, “every poisonous thing which Erictho has given to the world”
vox herbis pollentior, “a voice more powerful than [magical] herbs”
murmura dissona et inhumana, “cacophonous and inhuman growling”
latratus canum, “the barking of dogs”
gemitusque luporum, “the mournful howls of wolves”
sonus bubonis, strigis, anguis, et aliarum bestiarum ferarum, “the sound of the horned and the screech owls, the snake, and other wild beasts”
sonus undae quae saxis illidit, “the sound of the tide which crashes on the rocks”
sonus silvarum, “the sounds of the woods”
tonitrua fractae nubis, “the thunder of a burst cloud”
And, of course, to complete the spell, you have to have the ability to send your voice composed of this wild melange down into Tartarus!
*Ancient witches seemed to have believed that the moon emitted a magical and potentially poisonous liquid which they collected from the leaves of plants at night.
Read Erictho’s full story in our upcoming book
Here’s the beginning of the spell as presented in our book, Erictho: Tartarorum Terror, showing how we unpack Lucan’s Latin into two different levels for the reader and provide a thorough Latin-Latin glossary.
Did Erictho get her zombie-prophet?
Erictho’s spell did work! To find out exactly what that prophecy was and what happens when you raise the dead from the Underworld, check out the upcoming Erictho: Tartarorum Terror, a tiered reader to help you read authentic Roman poetry!
Lucan’s verses that contain the spell
Bellum Civile, VI. 667-694
pectora tum prīmum ferventī sanguine supplet
volneribus laxāta novīs tābōque medullās
abluit et vīrus largē lūnāre ministrat.
hūc quidquid fētū genuit nātūra sinistrō
miscētur: nōn spūma canum quibus unda timōrī est,
vīscera nōn lyncis, nōn dūrae nōdus hyaenae
dēfuit et cervī pāstae serpente medullae.
nōn puppem retinēns Eurō tendente rudentīs
in mediīs echenāis aquīs oculīque dracōnum
quaeque sonant fētā tepefacta sub ālite saxa,
nōn Arabum volucer serpēns innātaque Rubrīs
aequoribus custōs pretiōsae vīpera conchae
aut vīventis adhūc Libycī membrāna cerastae
aut cinis Ēōā positī phoenīcis in ārā.
quō postquam vīlēs et habentīs nōmina pestīs
contulit, īnfandō saturātās carmine frondīs
et, quibus ōs dīrum nāscentibus īnspuit, herbās
addidit et quidquid mundō dedit ipsa venēnī.
tum vōx Lēthaeōs cūnctīs pollentior herbīs
excantāre deōs cōnfundit murmura prīmum
dissona et hūmānae multum discordia linguae.
lātrātūs habet illa canum gemitūsque lupōrum,
quod trepidus būbō, quod strix nocturna queruntur,
quod strīdent ululantque ferae, quod sībilat anguis.
exprimit et plānctūs inlīsae cautibus undae
silvārumque sonum frāctaeque tonitrua nūbis:
tot rērum vōx ūna fuit! mox cētera cantū
explicat Haemoniō penetratque in Tartara linguā.
Curate ut valeatis!