ancient wisdom, chinese culture, communal efforts, community solidarity, cultural resilience, dongguang county, epidemic tales, epidemics, faith and epidemics, german history, historical narratives, historical pandemics, medieval europe, oberammergau, pandemic, pandemic history, plague survival, plagues, public health history, qing dynasty, traditional beliefs, village survival stories

Historical Plague Survival: The Oberammergau Story and the Dongguang County Mystery

Plagues have the power to topple the mightiest empires and disband the strongest armies. Seemingly impartial and ruthless, neither wealth nor power offer protection. Even a nation’s ruler can easily fall victim. Despite our advanced material and scientific civilization, we have not been immune to the indeterminate origins of current viral crises. However, plagues are ...

Mikel Davis

Pieter Bruegel's painting 'The Triumph of Death,' depicting the Black Plague in Europe.

Surviving the Plague: Divine Punishment or Coincidence?

The ancient Roman Empire perished from plagues. During the reign of Emperor Diocletian, the nobility lived in corruption and decadence, and they treated prisoners of war and slaves inhumanely. For example, there was a practice of killing slaves and using them as food for giant eels. It was believed that doing so would make the ...

Mikel Davis

Bust of Roman Emperor Diocletian.

Recorded Miracles During History’s Epidemics

Over the course of history, humans have experienced many epidemics and plagues, such as the Plague of Athens in 430 B.C., the Black Death in the 14th century, and the Spanish Flu during World War I. Though they have brought great disaster to society, there have also been many recorded miracles during history’s epidemics.  A ...

Tatiana Denning

The painting 'St. Charles Borromeo Administering the Sacrament to Plague Victims' by S.Caula.

Do Plagues and Their Impacts Show Intelligence? (Part 2)

In the few great plagues in human history, many people prayed for the protection of whatever God they believed in, but while some of the prayers were effective, some had little effect.   So where is the difference? The key lies in the word “piety.” It’s not about superficial piety, how much money you donate to the church, or ...

Helen London

Zhang Daoling riding a large feline.

Do Plagues and Their Impacts Show Intelligence?  (Part 1)

Since the existence of humanity, the development of human civilization has always been accompanied by plagues. Statistically, more people were killed through plagues than by war and famine.    Despite experiencing many plagues, large and small, humans have still not been able to identify some of their strange characteristics. They come and go without a trace ...

Helen London

Angel of Death during plague in Rome.

How Did the Ancients Cope With Plagues?

The ancients believed that to escape plagues, it was necessary for people to sincerely confess their sins to God and repent. In modern times, people speak of “raising their vibration.” And the steps required to reach such a level include developing kindness, honesty, integrity, tolerance, selflessness, optimism, and respect for the divine. The ancients also ...

Helen London

People dying from a plague.