Originating in Asia, the Black Death was an epidemic that became a pandemic in China, the Middle East, and Europe between 1346 and 1353. Generally known as “The Great Plague” at the time, the bacterium responsible was carried by fleas that infested the fur of the common black rat, which in turn infested the habitats and settlements of humans. The fleas feed on blood and pass on the pathogen as they do so.
Responsible for the deaths of perhaps 100 million people of a world population of around 450 million, this “mass event” was a classic example of a globally shared experience meant to awaken medieval humanity to the need for change.
It was one of the first “mass events” instigated at a higher level of consciousness designed to produce a cognitive shift (changes in the way we think) in the collective mind of our species.
Imagine yourself for a moment being at this higher level of consciousness that prompted this mass event
Think of yourself as one of a council of benevolent spiritual overseers (an angel if you like) intent on supporting the evolution of humanity. As you look down or up (whichever you prefer) at medieval mayhem, you can see that the vast majority of humans live in poverty, are undernourished if not starving, uneducated, and have lives that bring little in the way of value fulfillment.
You are saddened by the fact that life expectancy outside of those affiliated to a Royal Court or religious order is just 30 years of age. Usually, 30 years of misery. Only those in the aristocracy, if they managed to survive their 20th birthday, have a reasonable chance of living past the age of 60.
You are particularly downcast because you know that life is supposed to be fun!
With your elevated perception, you can clearly see that radical changes need to occur if the human race is to develop societies that are more egalitarian. Moreover, you are aware that to bring about physical changes, any intervention must begin with psychological transformation. Indeed, a psychological reformation is required that will get those that have the time and liberty to think, to think in innovative ways that will engender healthier and more liberated lifestyles for greater numbers of people.
Because the medieval world has no mass communication system, no media to hand, there are only a few ways by which you can grab the attention of the majority and hopefully get your message of crucial reform across to the collective conscious mind. No mass communication system means you are restricted to the medium of a mass event. A mass event just might trigger a “mass epiphany” amongst the populous. And for it to have the maximum impact, it needs to be of gigantean proportions. You need to shock the minds of the many, in order that the minds of an influential few become consciously aware of the unsustainability of current societal structuring.
High numbers of deaths is always going to be a shocker
Add to this the fear of death (as no one yet understands the importance of death to life), and the notion of engineering a “Great Plague” looks promising. The more deaths involved the better, as the more people who were not infected would be affected. Such a massive mass event should affect virtually everyone who survived it – on a personal level. Of the affected living there will be a few that will intuitively understand the underlying message of change required. Some of these will be thinkers of influence, and they would be at the forefront of forging much-needed social reform.
History tells us your council of angels solution worked!
(You can come down from the higher level of consciousness now!)
Image courtesy of Luc Viatour – www.lucnix.be
Papal Schism
The aftershock of the Black Death created a series of religious (Papal Schism), social (The Renaissance), and economic upheavals (e.g., The Peasants’ Revolt), which had profound effects on the course of European history. The Black Death changed the way we were thinking, and thus the configuration of our collective beliefs and values.
ASIDE: Incidentally, another spelling for medieval is mediaeval. Medieval derives from New Latin, medi(um)aev(um)—the middle age—with the suffix “-al” (of); so, medieval means, “of the middle age.”
I would promote the case for our present Western culture to adopt the alternative spelling as being descriptive of our current era—“of the media age.”
This term may then act as a reminder to us that we are still prone to a medieval mentality. Where once we acquiesced to wealth being the privilege of Royal Courts and religious institutions, we now venerate the relative few who manage to acquire wealth, despite many of these few being marinated in the unmistakable odor of avarice.
Our own “media-eval” age has reached a zenith in terms of mass communication. Media facilities, along with the internet, bring awareness at lightning speed to the vast percentage of the global populous. We are so adept at utilizing mass communication these days it should not be necessary for our angelic overseers to organize a mass event on quite the same scale as a pandemic to get a message across.
We do though need to heed the underlying message of less global mass events.
When a lesser mass event occurs like the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the media may well allow us to mobilize our physical and medical defences more quickly, but we are still largely ignorant of any subtler, deeper psychological issues involved in the manifestation of the occurrence. The media remains inadequate at identifying the underlying message behind such mass events.
It is time we had a body of people dedicated to the psychological analysis of mass events.
Part 2 of this Post… revealing the message behind the Ebola mass event and how your response as an individual can beneficially affect your Self…
