Strange Illnesses and the Folklore Surrounding Them
As winter approaches every year, we are plagued with the flu and the common cold. However, we always know they are coming, and many of us try to prepare ourselves for them as much we as possibly can. No one could have ever prepared or expected some of the plagues and illnesses that have occurred that were much stranger than the flu or the common cold. Imagine you have lost all control of your body and have found yourself dancing uncontrollably, unable to stop. That is what those affected by the dancing plague experienced. Some Christians believed Saint Vitus was the cause of this strange illness due to the folkloric belief that Saint Vitus would curse anyone that angered him with a dancing plague. Obviously, some kind of illness must have been the real cause. Many people believe starvation drove the dancing people insane, but how did starving people have the energy to dance for days? Would that be impossible without some kind of disease or chemical altering their body chemistry?