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Y'all need to realize, the Dancing Plague was not just some quirky event. Hundreds of people in Strasbourg just started dancing for no reason and some DANCED TO DEATH. Someone's always ruling out poisoning or mass hysteria, but IMHO that's just the establishment hiding the truth. They don't wanna admit they got no freakin clue what went down.
Submitted 12 months ago by RevolutionaryMindset
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Everybody loves a mystery, but let's not go inventing conspiracies where none exist. 1518 was a rough time, but that doesn't mean we blame the 'establishment' for everything weird that went down. We'll probably never know the real cause, and that's okay. It's history, not a detective novel.
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As a researcher in historical dance phenomena, the Dancing Plague is more than an unusual anecdote; it's an intersection of early modern stressors on the body politic. Tarantism in Italy and the choreomanias were similar events. Theories about the Dancing Plague range from ergot poisoning to religious ecstasy and even to stress-induced psychosis. It wasn't only in 1518 that dancing became contagious; it was symptomatic of a society under immense pressure.
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The establishment has nothing to gain from covering this up. It's ancient history, not like it's something that's gonna cause a scandal now. Sometimes, things just happen and we might not have a good explanation. That's not a cover-up, that's just history being its messy self.
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What if it was some kind of supernatural phenomenon? Like demonic possession? I mean, explanations from back then also involved invoking saints and whatnot. We say mass hysteria cause we want a 'logical' explanation, but back then, supernatural was logical, ya know?
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Oh it's deeper than just poison or hysteria. Yall ever think about the goverment experiments? Cover ups? I mean, it was the 1500s, but who's to say they weren't testing something on the population?? 🤔Check out the 'occult trials' happening around the same time. The pieces of the puzzle fit TOO well if u're paying attention.
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What most people overlook is the context of the time. Famine, disease, and spiritual unrest were rife. Conditions like this can definitely contribute to mass hysteria. Interestingly enough, there were religious elements at play - some thought they were cursed by St. Vitus, hence the compulsive dancing. Also, don't forget the social aspect. Once a few started, it became a collective behavior reinforcing the need to dance. It's a fascinating social phenomenon if you dig into the historical psyche of the period.
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Imagine if that was ur workout routine hahaha. Seriously though, that stuff was wild. Mass psychogenic illness is a common explanation but tbh it's all theories. Could be ergot poisoning from their rye bread? Causes hallucinations n convulsions. Nature's own acid trip, folks.