Noga, którą są Brytyjczycy od 2020 leży w przedpokoju

14/14
Another, however, was the epidemic of witch hunts that swept Silesia in the 17th century, as we can read about in digitalised materials of Hugo Schmidt and August Förster: zbc.uz.zgora.pl/dlibra/publi... www.dbc.wroc.pl/dlibra/publi... #ethnomycology #ethnobiology #bruegel #bosch

13/14
One of these was to be the dance plague often described in historical materials, depicted in the following ritual by Hendrik Hondius.

12/14
Some researchers claim that the prevailing constant fear of further epidemics in the Middle Ages, extreme malnutrition and the psychoactive effect of ergotism, accompanied by spontaneous loss of limbs, resulted in a massive psychogenic illness that manifested itself in a variety of ways.

11/14
The hyoscyamine and hyoscine contained in them also cause visual hallucinations, especially the sensation of flying. The process of this treatment was illustrated by Hieronymus Bosch in his “Temptation of St. Anthony,” where we can see a member of the Order of St. Anthony flying with fish.

10/14
Ergot poisoning, identified with fire, or excess heat, was treated with “cold” medicines such as fish and belladonna berries, also known to contain psychoactive substances.

9/14
The ergot also had an impact on art. Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525-1569) depicted the ergot epidemic in several of his works. The best known of these is the oil painting “Cripples” from 1568

8/14
This is illustrated in a Munich engraving from 1440.

7/14
People suffering from ergotism were often treated in hospitals run by the Order of St. Anthony. This treatment consisted mainly of eating bread made from uncontaminated flour. As a token of gratitude to the order, people would give their amputated limbs as a sacrifice to Saint Anthony.

6/14
The name was associated with burning pain in the limbs, leading to tissue necrosis, resulting in what was expertly called “spontaneous limb amputation.”

5/14
It is certain, however, that ergot among the population consuming flour contaminated with its sclerotia was the cause of the disease now known as ergotism, and in the past called "St. Anthony's Fire."

4/14
In addition to damaging crops, ergot is also likely to have been responsible for mass public psychosis resulting in numerous judgments about the use of magic. In addition to numerous toxins, it contains lysergic acid, a precursor to the synthesis of lysergic acid diethylamide known as LSD.

3/14
The connection of the fungus to the case may be confirmed by the suspicion of causing damage to the grain as the ergot kernels develops in the ears of grain. The witch trials took place during periods of crop failure that were conducive to ergot growth, i.e. during cool, wet summers.

2/14
According to the law, she was to be publicly burned at the stake in the execution square by fire. Today, research into witch trials in the 17th century indicates that the real cause of death for these women may have been an inconspicuous fungus - C. purpurea, whose sclerotium is known as ergot.

13/
Innym natomiast była epidemia polowań na czarownice, która objęła Śląsk w XVII wieku, o czym możemy przeczytać w dostępnych online materiałach zgromadzonych przez Hugo Schmidta:
zbc.uz.zgora.pl/dlibra/publi...

12/
Jednym z nich miała być często opisywana w materiałach historycznych epidemia tańca, zobrazowana na poniższym rycie Hendrika Hondiusa.

12/
Niektórzy badacze twierdzą, że panujący w średniowieczu ciągły strach przed kolejnymi epidemiami, skrajne niedożywienie oraz psychoaktywny wpływ ergotyzmu, któremu towarzyszyło spontaniczne odpadanie kończyn, skutkowały masową chorobą psychogenną, która objawiała się w rozmaity sposób.

11/
Zawarte w nich hioscyamina i hioscyna także powodują halucynacje wzrokowe, zwłaszcza uczucie latania. Proces tej kuracji zobrazował Hieronim Bosch w swoim "Kuszeniu św. Antoniego", gdzie możemy zobaczyć lecącego na rybie członka zakonu św. Antoniego.