Zombies - this is the concept that came to us from the adepts of Voodoo magic. Voodoo is a syncretic (multi-unit) religion of the peoples of Africa, in some countries it is even state. In the Voodoo religion, the magic of popular beliefs with Christianity, which the European and American preachers who came to them, tried to instill in the black aborigines. Vedaists believe that God the Demiurge has distanced himself from his work, now the world he created is led by Loa, the lowest spirits. They are approached with petitions, using music and dancing, which is typical of syncretic religions. Then everyone falls into a trance and begins to perform strange actions. This means that it was possible to contact Loa.
Obviously, such events and the fact that the Voodoo, naturally, believe in witchcraft, attracted the attention of mystics from the US and Europe.
Zombies and Voodoo
Wizards are very respected in Voodoo, although the official religion treats them wary. The confidence of many people that zombies exist is based on rituals performed by Voodoo sorcerers - bokors.
The wizard Voodoo may, in the opinion of the adherents of religion, kidnap a person's soul by means of special ceremonies (for such purposes the peasant is better suited and more healthy); he encloses the soul in a vessel and keeps it with him. With the help of spells, the sorcerer first kills an obese man, he is buried. Then the sorcerer goes to the cemetery and enlivens the body of the "deceased" by means of a rite with songs, dances and sacrifices of chickens. He rises from the coffin and becomes a zombie - a creature capable of a limited number of actions, but not able to think and with the lack of a strong-willed personality. The zombie is completely conquered by the sorcerer and is actively used by him as a free labor. Zombies do not need to be fed, treated, entertained. They are ideal slaves. Whether there are zombies in fact, this is an open question, but the desire to have free slaves exists, there is no doubt.
Belief in zombies is very widespread among Americans, and in part Europeans, back in the 19th century, but a particularly popular topic of zombies that actually existed was after it was covered in cinematography. On the attack of gluttonous zombies on a peaceful town in 1968, the horror film "Night of the Living Dead" was filmed. Zombies are depicted as beings unable to think and barely dragging their feet, but immortal. They terrorize the inhabitants of the town, wanting to eat them.
In the understanding of the townsfolk, through cinematography, the idea of a zombie was established, as a walking dead man who dreams of biting everyone. The bitten zombie also turns into a zombie. Sorcerers in these beliefs are often no longer mentioned, like the religion of Voodoo, and it becomes unclear what these ghouls in the grave do not lie. In Russia, where there are few people from Africa, the zombie theme is not as popular as in the US and other American countries.
However, it is now customary to explain the emergence of zombies not as witches, but as scientists. It's about the zombie virus, which is supposedly already created and exists. This virus affects the frontal lobes of the brain, depriving a person of intelligence , personality traits and, in part, motor skills, since the lesion affects the cerebellum.
Are there any zombies?
Prions are abnormal proteins. Once in the brain, they destroy it, replacing the tissue of the brain with its own tissue, as a result of which it acquires a spongy structure. Prion disease (several of them are known, all of them are not treated and are fatal), for example, is mad cow disease. There is an opinion that it is possible to catch a prion disease from the meat and blood of infected cattle. A case of infection of a significant number of people in the village in Africa is described; they during a religious ceremony ate raw meat
So, the modern opinion about whether there are zombies in real life, is based on ideas about prion diseases. They cause personality changes and dementia, and can also cause partial impairment of motor function.
In addition, the cause of diseases caused by prions, is still unknown. Maybe it's heredity or spontaneous rebirth, or maybe an infection created as a biological weapon. However, prion diseases are a rarity, and scientists have already invented a medicine that allows treating mice. So the invasion of the zombie for now, like, does not threaten.