WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Chaos Daemons of Slaanesh

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio. Hi,

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<v Speaker 1>my name is Robert Lamb and this is the Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 1>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 1>focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas, and monsters in time.

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<v Speaker 1>In this episode, we will finish our look at the

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<v Speaker 1>four chaos gods of the fictional far future universe in

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<v Speaker 1>Games Workshops Warhammer forty thousand. In previous episodes, we looked

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<v Speaker 1>at Bloodthirsty Corn, the hyper protean Zinch, and the plague

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<v Speaker 1>lord Nergle. Today we enter the domain of Slanesh, the

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<v Speaker 1>Lord of Excess. In forty k Lore, we are told

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<v Speaker 1>that Slanesh is the youngest of the chaos gods, having

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<v Speaker 1>only truly accreted out of mortal souls and emotions with

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<v Speaker 1>the fall of the decadent Aldari civilization, an event that

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<v Speaker 1>all but destroy the Alvari and pour open a massive

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<v Speaker 1>warp rift known as the Eye of Terror. Slanesh's domain

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<v Speaker 1>is that of hedonistic excess, but also that of need, want,

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<v Speaker 1>and obsession. The demons that manifest in Slanesh's service are

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<v Speaker 1>alluring contradictions that blur the line between pleasure and pain,

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<v Speaker 1>desire and revulsion. The demonets of Slanesh make up most

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<v Speaker 1>of the chaos God's battle force, and they feature some

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<v Speaker 1>favored characteristics of Slanesh's servants. They are humanoid beings with

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<v Speaker 1>pale flesh and long purple hair, alluring yet also equally ghoulish.

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<v Speaker 1>Their feet and legs are reminiscent of reptiles or birds,

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<v Speaker 1>bringing to mind such real world mythic traditions as that

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<v Speaker 1>of harpies and succubie. Oh yes, and they also have

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<v Speaker 1>crab claws, lots of crab claws, something that doesn't really

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<v Speaker 1>connect to any mythic or folkloric traditions that I'm aware of,

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<v Speaker 1>but they absolutely make it work and it has become

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<v Speaker 1>a signature aspect of their look. Demonets also appear bilaterally asymmetrical,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly in the chest region, where one side features a

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<v Speaker 1>female breast and the other a male breast. While titillation

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<v Speaker 1>is clearly part of this design, it also strongly echoes

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<v Speaker 1>the male female duality in the symbolism of bathom from

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<v Speaker 1>occult in Western esoteric traditions. This influence is especially prevalent

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<v Speaker 1>in the Towering Keeper of Secrets, the deadly Slaneshi demon champions,

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<v Speaker 1>which often, especially in recent depictions, feature strong goatlike characteristics

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<v Speaker 1>such as foot and head reminiscent of Bathomea. But there's

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<v Speaker 1>another servant of Slanesh that I'd like to talk about here,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's the Mask of Slanesh. This purple hued Harold

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<v Speaker 1>once danced in the good graces of the Lord of Excess.

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<v Speaker 1>But according to the ninth edition Chaos Demons Codex from

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<v Speaker 1>Games Workshop, the Mask fell out of favor with Slenesh

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<v Speaker 1>and is now cursed to dance and cavort forever across

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<v Speaker 1>strange realms and battlefields. The dance of the Mask emboldened

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<v Speaker 1>surrounding Slaneshi forces, but also in sourcel's enemy troops to

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<v Speaker 1>join into its spiraling dance, where it slices them to

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<v Speaker 1>exotic ribbons of flesh. This, of course, brings to mind

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<v Speaker 1>a famous mania from our own history, the dancing plagues

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<v Speaker 1>off the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries, as pointed out by

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<v Speaker 1>John Waller in a Forgotten Plague, Making Sense of Dancing Mania,

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<v Speaker 1>published in two thousand and nine in The Lancet. A

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<v Speaker 1>certain degree of embellishment stains some of these accounts, but

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<v Speaker 1>cases in thirteen seventy four in fifteen eighteen are pretty

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<v Speaker 1>well documented. Most sources agree that dancing plague incidents involved

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<v Speaker 1>groups of individuals swept up in long bouts of involuntary dancing.

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<v Speaker 1>The dancers cried out in pain or pleaded for mercy.

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<v Speaker 1>In some accounts, they danced until they died. While enigmatic

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<v Speaker 1>and certainly hard to believe from a modern perspective, dancing

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<v Speaker 1>plagues are not without skeptical explanation. Wilder explores a few

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<v Speaker 1>leading ideas in the paper. First, there's the possibility of

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<v Speaker 1>urgot poisoning, a topic we've discussed in depth on Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>to Blow Your Mind before. It's caused by the consumption

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<v Speaker 1>of fungus infected grains that can lead to nightmarish altered

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<v Speaker 1>states of consciousness. Waller also discusses the possibility that the

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<v Speaker 1>dancers could have been in an involuntary trance state, something

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<v Speaker 1>people are far more susceptible to during states of intense

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<v Speaker 1>psychological distress, and these centuries certainly provided plenty of stressors.

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<v Speaker 1>This explanation also require exposure to a pre existing belief

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<v Speaker 1>about dancing plagues, and in these cases, the cause would

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<v Speaker 1>be believed to be some sort of a spirit or

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<v Speaker 1>a curse, and there is evidence for this in art, literature,

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<v Speaker 1>and law from these time periods and regions. So Waller

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<v Speaker 1>writes quote every so often, when physical and mental distress

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<v Speaker 1>rendered people more than usually suggestible, the specter of the

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<v Speaker 1>dancing plague could quickly return. All it then took was

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<v Speaker 1>for one or a few poor souls, believing themselves to

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<v Speaker 1>have been subject to the curse, to slip into a

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<v Speaker 1>spontaneous trance. Then they would unconsciously act out the part

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<v Speaker 1>of the accursed, dancing, leaping and hopping for days on end.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a different sort of compulsion than that found among

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<v Speaker 1>the followers of Slanesh, but there are other examples of

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<v Speaker 1>mass hysteria or mass psychogenic illness to consider, such as

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<v Speaker 1>laughing epidemics and witchcraft panics, though of course slantash doesn't

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<v Speaker 1>have to work through such real world means to control people.

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<v Speaker 1>That's all for this monster fact series, but I think

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to continue the basic format here, with future

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<v Speaker 1>episodes drawing on groups of creatures from other fandoms and

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<v Speaker 1>other traditions. So tune in for additional episodes each Wednesday.

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<v Speaker 1>And the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast feed. As always,

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<v Speaker 1>you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 1>your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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