6/25/2019
DANCING ON THE CEILING
Have you heard of Saint Vitus? How about Saint Vitus' Dance?
There is a story here.
Saint Vitus is venerated as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. In the early 4th century, he was a young man, a teenager, caught up in the Roman Empire's persecution of Christians. He became a martyr to the faith with many legendary stories surrounding his life and death. There are quite a number of churches in Europe dedicated to his name.
In the 14th century, a thousand years later, a malady spread across central Europe that some called "dance mania". People - men, women and children - danced in the streets uncontrollably until they collapsed from exhaustion. Thousands of people were effected, at times, over several centuries. It was finally diagnosed in the 17th century as Sydenham's chorea (a chorea is uncontrollable movement of limbs). Some cases may have occurred as a result of a psychogenic response.
Some considered the malady as being sent by Saint John the Baptist or Saint Vitus. Many people caught up in the syndrome danced their way to the churches named Saint Vitus hoping for a cure. Incidents of mass "dance mania" broke out often right around the time the Church was celebrating the feast of Saint Vitus. It all fits together - the result is St. Vitus' Dance.
Okay, there was a lot of what we would call superstition rather than medical certainty in the Middle Ages. There may be a little of that still going on today. Where is the 'rave' happening this weekend?
There is a story here.
Saint Vitus is venerated as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. In the early 4th century, he was a young man, a teenager, caught up in the Roman Empire's persecution of Christians. He became a martyr to the faith with many legendary stories surrounding his life and death. There are quite a number of churches in Europe dedicated to his name.
In the 14th century, a thousand years later, a malady spread across central Europe that some called "dance mania". People - men, women and children - danced in the streets uncontrollably until they collapsed from exhaustion. Thousands of people were effected, at times, over several centuries. It was finally diagnosed in the 17th century as Sydenham's chorea (a chorea is uncontrollable movement of limbs). Some cases may have occurred as a result of a psychogenic response.
Some considered the malady as being sent by Saint John the Baptist or Saint Vitus. Many people caught up in the syndrome danced their way to the churches named Saint Vitus hoping for a cure. Incidents of mass "dance mania" broke out often right around the time the Church was celebrating the feast of Saint Vitus. It all fits together - the result is St. Vitus' Dance.
Okay, there was a lot of what we would call superstition rather than medical certainty in the Middle Ages. There may be a little of that still going on today. Where is the 'rave' happening this weekend?
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