WEBVTT - From the Vault: The Great Basilisk 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:07.440 Hey, you welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind. My 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:10.879 name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday. 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:12.800 Time to go into the vault for a classic episode 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:14.560 of Stuff to Blow Your Mind. Robert, I think you 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.200 must have gotten into a monster place with your brain. 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:20.440 Was a Bandersnatch? It was? It was exactly that, because 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.759 we just did a new episode about Bandersnatch, the Black 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:26.639 Mirror episode, and so that that brought to mind the 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:29.560 Great Basilisk that we discussed in the show previously, where 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.440 we talk a little bit about the mythology of the Basilist, 0:00:32.479 --> 0:00:38.080 but mostly we talked about a particularly horrifying technological concept. Right. 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:42.360 This episode originally aired in October of two thousand and eighteen, 0:00:42.640 --> 0:00:45.320 so we hope you enjoy this classic episode of Stuff 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:47.400 to Blow Your Mind. The podcast you were about to 0:00:47.400 --> 0:00:50.879 listen to contains a class for information hazard. Some listeners 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:55.280 may experience prolonged bouts of fear, waking, anxiety, or nightmares 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:57.880 of eternal torture in the cyber dungeons of the Great 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.639 Basilisk attended to by the Losing Black and the Thirteen 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:05.800 Children of the Flame. Also appetite loss of constillation. Proceed 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:12.840 with caution. Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:21.080 how Stuff Works dot com. Hey are you welcome to 0:01:21.120 --> 0:01:23.200 Stuff to Blow your Mind? My name is Robert Lamb 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:26.679 and I'm Joe McCormick. And since it's October, we are 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:31.360 of course still exploring monsters, terrifying ideas, and so forth, 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:33.720 and boy, have we got one for you today. I 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:36.600 just want to issue a warning right at the beginning 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:40.720 here that today's episode is going to concern something that 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:45.640 a few people would consider a genuine information hazard, as 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:49.560 in an idea that is itself actually dangerous. Now I 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:51.880 I don't, having looked into it, I don't think that 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:54.480 is the case. I don't think this episode will hurt you, 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:59.160 But just a warning. If you think you're susceptible to terror, 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:03.080 nightmares or something, when presented with a thought experiment or 0:02:03.120 --> 0:02:06.640 the possibility of being say sent to a literal hell 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:10.320 created by technology, and you think that idea could infect you, 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:12.639 could make you afraid, this might not be the episode 0:02:12.680 --> 0:02:15.400 for you. Right, But then again, I assume you're a 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:18.239 listener to Stuff to Blow your Mind, You've probably already 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:22.799 encountered some thought hazards on here you've survived those. Generally speaking, 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:25.280 I have faith in you to survive this one. However, 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:27.600 if you are going to take either of our warnings seriously, 0:02:27.960 --> 0:02:30.040 I will let you know that the first section of 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:33.279 this podcast is going to deal with the mythical basilisk, 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:36.680 the folkloric basilisk, and some of the you know, the 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.920 monstrous fund to be had there before we explore the 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:43.600 idea of Rocco's basilisk, and in that we're gonna be 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:48.639 talking about this, uh, this idea that emerges where technological singularity, 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:52.600 naval gazing, thought experimentation go a little, that dash of 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:56.359 creepy pasta, and some good old fashion supernatural thinking all 0:02:56.400 --> 0:03:01.000 converge into this kind of nightmare scenario. Now, as we said, 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:04.800 this idea is believed by some to be a genuinely 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:08.000 dangerous idea and that even learning about it could put 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:09.840 you at some kind of risk. I think there are 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.239 strong reasons to believe that this is not the case, 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:14.840 and that thinking about this idea will not put you 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:17.800 at risk. But again, if you're concerned, you should stop 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:20.520 listening now, or stop listening after we stop talking about 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:23.519 the mythical basilisk. Now, I have I just want to 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.880 say at the beginning. Listeners have suggested us talk about 0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:31.480 Rocco's basilisk before this idea that is at least purportedly 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:36.560 an information hazard, a dangerous idea, and I've hesitated to 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:40.200 do it before, not because I think it's particularly plausible, 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.680 but just because, you know, I wonder what is the 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:48.560 level of risk that you should tolerate when propagating an idea. 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:51.880 If you think an idea is unlikely but maybe has 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.760 a zero point zero zero zero zero one percent chance 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:59.200 of causing enormous harm to the person you tell it to, 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:01.720 should you say the idea or not? I don't know. 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.000 I feel like people generally don't exercise that kind of 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.680 caution when they're like sharing links with you, Like sometimes 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:10.040 they'll be like, like not safe for work, but but 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:12.240 then you click on it anyway, and then sometimes you're like, oh, 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:14.280 I wish I had not seen that, or I wish 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.520 I had not read that, and now that's in my head. 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:18.960 Now that's in my head forever. Well. One of the 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:22.279 problems with this idea is whatever you think about whether 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.320 or not you should discuss ideas that may be dangerous 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:29.400 to hear in some extremely unlikely off chance. Uh, part 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:31.600 of the problem is what happens when those ideas are 0:04:31.640 --> 0:04:34.479 just already set loose in in society. I mean, now 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:37.640 people on television shows and all over the internet or 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:39.760 talking about this idea. There are a bunch of articles 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:41.479 out about it. So it's not like you can keep 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:43.640 the cat in the bag at this point. Right this 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:48.400 Rocco's Basilist has already been a gag point on the 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.760 hit HBO show Silicon Valley, which is a fabulous show, 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.120 and I love the way that they treated Rocco's Basilist 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:57.000 on it. But uh, yeah, if they're covering it, there's 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:58.720 no danger in us covering it too. That's the way 0:04:58.720 --> 0:05:00.240 I look at it, right, and at LEAs East, I 0:05:00.279 --> 0:05:02.280 would hope that the way we cover it can give 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:04.520 you some reasons to think you should not be afraid 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:07.680 of digital hell, and also to think about the general 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:10.480 class of what should be done about something that could 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:13.320 have in fact been a real information hazard in some 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:17.119 other case. So that's all our whole preamble for before 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:19.000 we get to that section. But before we get to 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:22.440 that section, we're gonna be talking about basilisks today. Boy, 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:26.520 is the basilisk a great monster. Yes, also known as 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:31.279 the basil coock, the basil cock, the basil e cock, 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:35.039 basically any version of that of basil and cock that 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:38.120 you can put together, um, that you can slam together. 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:40.520 Then it has been referred to as such at some 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:42.640 point in its history. Now, a lot of people I 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:46.200 think probably encountered a version of the basilisk from Harry Potter. 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:48.920 But Robert, I know that was not your entryway, right, 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:50.720 I encountered it for the first time. I believe in 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.680 dungeons and dragons, of course, because it's a it's a 0:05:53.760 --> 0:05:58.159 multi legged reptile with a petrifying gaze. Um say that again, 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:02.640 multilegged reptile with a pet refying gaze, petrifying gas to 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:05.679 turn you to stone. Yeah, and is ever overy call correctly. 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.560 It has some cool biology where like the the it 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:11.240 turns you to stone and then like bust you into pieces. 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:13.760 Then it eats the stone pieces, but then its stomach 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:16.279 turns the stone back into flesh. And so if you 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:19.320 get like the stomach juices from a basilisk, then you 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:22.599 can use it to undo petrification spells, that sort of thing. 0:06:23.160 --> 0:06:26.480 It's a lot of fun, arguably more fun than than 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:30.040 the Basilisk is at times in folklore tradition because one 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:32.240 of the things is, if you you like me, you 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.680 didn't grow up hearing about the basilisk. Part of it 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:36.640 is because there are no there aren't really any great 0:06:36.680 --> 0:06:41.600 stories about the basilisk slay. The Basilisk was no heroes, 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:44.240 great ordeal. Oh yeah, I at least have not come 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:47.000 across that. Yeah, it really helps, Like if like the hydra, 0:06:47.120 --> 0:06:49.960 I mean, the hydra is arguably so much cooler. And 0:06:49.960 --> 0:06:53.040 then also it's one of the labors of Hercules, and 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:55.719 there's a cool story about how they defeat it. Well, 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:57.760 maybe it's because there is no way to defeat the 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:01.360 basilisks short of, say, uh, weasel of fluvium, which we 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:03.760 will get to. Yeah, don't don't give it away. I'm sorry. 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:05.480 Should we should we edit that out? No, no, we 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:07.880 should leave it. It's a it's it's a thought hazard. 0:07:07.920 --> 0:07:11.680 Any basilists listening. Still, there's so much more to the 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:15.560 Basilist than just this cool DND creature, because it's not 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.160 just a monster. It's not just something you encounter in 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:22.280 the dungeon. It is it is a king. Oh I see, now, 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:24.240 I know you've made note of the facts that Borges 0:07:24.320 --> 0:07:27.520 mentions the basilisk in his book of Imaginary Beings, he 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:31.480 does now he he translated translates it his meaning little king, 0:07:31.800 --> 0:07:34.480 little king, which I like. When I was reading, and 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:37.640 Carol Rose she's she points out that the name stems 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:42.120 from the Greek basilius, which means king, so king or 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:44.520 little king. I tend to like the little king translation 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:46.720 because I feel like it it ties in better with 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.240 what we're going to discuss, well, the ancient beastiary ideas 0:07:49.280 --> 0:07:51.760 of the basil I believe to say that it's not 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:55.440 that big, right, It's pretty small. Yeah, yeah. Now the 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:58.840 keen part, though, refers to a crest or, a crown 0:07:58.920 --> 0:08:01.680 like protrusion that is on the creature's head, and in 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:06.560 some depictions it's no mirror biological ornament, but an actual 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:11.760 regal crown. It means something. Yeah. Now. The descriptions very greatly, 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:15.360 and it emerges largely from European and Middle Eastern legend 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:19.840 and folklore from ancient times to roughly the seventeenth century, 0:08:19.880 --> 0:08:23.080 and that's when the basilist became less popular. In the 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:26.200 earlier descriptions, though it is indeed small and it's just 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.360 a grass snake, only it has a crown like crest 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:32.440 on its head and has this weird practice of floating 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:36.720 above the ground like vertically erect. That's creepy, of course. 0:08:36.720 --> 0:08:39.360 And then again that that does play on sometimes when 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:42.040 you see snakes rise up out of a coil, it 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.120 can be startling how high they rise. Yeah, I mean, 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.360 if I feel like I've grown up seeing images and 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:51.960 videos of cobra's doing their their dance, so I've kind 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.760 of I've kind of lost any kind of appreciation for 0:08:54.840 --> 0:08:57.600 how bizarre that is to look at. You know, if 0:08:57.640 --> 0:08:59.800 you're used to seeing a snake slither, to see it's 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.400 and up and uh you know, and rare back and 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:07.440 and and flare its hood. Absolutely. Yeah. So the basilisk 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:10.680 is said to be the king of the reptiles, But 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:13.040 you know, don't be so foolish is to think that 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:16.679 only it's bite is lethal like some of our venomous snakes. Now, 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:20.920 every aspect of the basilisk is said to just break 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:25.439 of venom and death, every every aspect. If you touch it, 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:28.720 if you inhale its breath, if you gaze upon it 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:33.120 at all, then you will die. Wait what about its saliva? Yep, saliva, 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:37.559 blood smell, gaze. Presumably I didn't see any reference that. 0:09:37.720 --> 0:09:41.200 Presumably it's it's urine, it's excrement. I mean, it's excrement 0:09:41.240 --> 0:09:44.160 has to be poisonous, the excrement of a basilisk. It 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:47.040 sounds absolutely deadly. Wouldn't it be a great inversion if 0:09:47.040 --> 0:09:50.040 it's excrement was the only good part about it? Maybe 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:53.079 so that can heal your warts? Yeah? And uh. One 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:56.480 thing that Carol Rose pointed out in in her her 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:59.200 entry about the basilisk and her or one of her 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:03.200 monster Encyclopedia's, she said that when it's not killing everything 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:05.640 in its path just via the you know, the audacity 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:08.679 of its existence, it would actually spit venom at birds 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:12.680 flying overhead and bring them down to eat them, or 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:14.560 just had a spite. I get the idea, just had 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:16.880 a spite, you know. It's just just it's just my 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:20.840 ful death, that's all it is. Okay, So where do 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:23.320 I find a basilisk? Well in the desert, of course. 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:25.520 But it's more it's more accurate to say that the 0:10:25.559 --> 0:10:28.880 desert is not merely the place where it lives, but 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:32.240 it is the place that it makes by living, Like 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:36.960 everything in its path dies, and therefore the desert is 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:40.320 the result of the basilisk. And there's a there's actually 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:44.080 a wonderful um description of the basilisk that comes to 0:10:44.120 --> 0:10:46.480 us from Plenty of the Elder in his The Natural 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:48.880 History Man. We've been hitting Plenty a lot lately. I 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:51.079 guess we've been talking about monsters. Huh. If you're talking 0:10:51.080 --> 0:10:54.480 about monsters, especially ancient monsters, you know he's he's one 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:57.439 of the great sources to turn to. Uh So, Joe, 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:01.160 would you read to us from the natural his tree? Oh? Absolutely. 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:04.560 There is the same power also in the serpent called 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.160 the basilisk. It is produced in the province of Syrene, 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.319 which that is the area to the west of Egypt. 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:13.480 It's like Libya. I think there's a settlement known as 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:18.760 like Syrene, Syrene being not more than twelve fingers in length. 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:22.920 Is that fingers long ways or fingers sideways? Oh, either 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:26.040 way you cut it. It's not a huge creature. It 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:28.960 has a white spot on the head strongly resembling a 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:32.640 sort of diadem. When it hisses, all the other serpents 0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:35.559 fly from it, and it does not advance its body 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:38.800 like the others. By a succession of folds, but moves 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:43.400 along upright and erect upon the middle. It destroys all shrubs, 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:46.400 not only by its contact, but those even that it 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:50.120 has breathed upon. It burns up all the grass too, 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:54.360 and breaks the stones. So tremendous is its noxious influence. 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.200 It was formerly a general belief that if a man 0:11:57.320 --> 0:11:59.880 on horseback killed one of these animals with a spear, 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.640 the poison would run up the weapon and kill not 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.680 only the rider but the horse as well. Oh man, 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:09.120 I love that. So it's the blood is it's like 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.720 that like a xenomorphs blood right or or kind of 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.000 like it reminds me to of Grendel's blood that was 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:16.680 said to like melt the weapon that they wolf used 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.840 against it. But it's worse than that. It doesn't just 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.400 get the weapon, It gets the person holding the weapon 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:24.320 and the horse that that person is touching. I know 0:12:24.440 --> 0:12:26.680 it feels unfair that the horse has roped into this 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:29.280 as well. Yeah, the horse didn't even sign up for 0:12:29.320 --> 0:12:31.400 going to fight a basilisk. It's just trying to get 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:34.560 some oats. But furthermore, what is this horse rider doing 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:36.720 out in the waste land of Syrene trying to kill 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:40.760 a basilisk. Well, lesson learned. Lesson learned now that the 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:45.640 basilist becomes a popular creature and h even though the 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:49.400 basilisk itself is it doesn't seem to have been mentioned 0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:52.439 in the Bible, it ends up being like roped into 0:12:52.480 --> 0:12:57.200 it via translations. Oh yeah, it's kind of like the unicorn. Actually, yeah, exactly. Yeah, 0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:00.800 we discussed in our episode on unicorns how the were 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:04.120 their words in the Bible that have been translated, saying 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.920 the King James translation of the Bible into unicorn because 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:09.840 the translators didn't know what the word referred to. We 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:13.080 think now that maybe the word probably referred to the ROCs, 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.880 an extinct bovine creature that once lived around the ancient Mediterranean. Yeah, 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.080 so you see the basilist pop pop pop up in 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:25.040 certain translations of the Book of Jeremiah, the Book of Psalms. Uh, 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:29.280 what it's associated with the devil or evil and nothing 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:32.240 short of the coming of the Messiah can can hope 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.240 to end its rule. While well, have you got a 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:39.320 quote for me? Yes, there's one translation of Psalms. This 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:44.160 is the Brinton Septuagint translation quote thou shalt tread on 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.560 the asp and basilisk and thou shalt trample on the 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:51.319 lion and dragon. Now European beast areas of the eleventh 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:56.280 and twelfth century. They both mostly maintained Plenty's description, but 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:00.000 then they described a larger body. They begin to essentially 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.120 the monster began to grow. We've got to beat this 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:05.440 thing up here. Yeah, it ended up having spots and stripes, 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:09.120 and a few other features were thrown in. Um fiery breath, 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.400 a bellow that kills. Well, that only makes sense if 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:15.000 every other thing about it kills. It makes noise. That 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:20.240 should kill things too. Also, the ability to induce hydrophobia madness. 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:22.960 I found that interesting because this clearly has to be 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:27.280 a reference to the actual hydrophobia that is inherent in rabies. Yeah, 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.200 the idea there being the and I think later stages 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:34.200 of Araby's infection, persons will often have difficulty swallowing, and 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:37.600 so that they they're said to refuse drinking water. So 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:41.840 Plenty has some additional information here about how you might 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:46.720 deal with the passilisk. Okay, so I assume not ride 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:48.960 up on a horse and stab it right. Well, tell 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:52.200 me what it is to this dreadful monster. The effluvium 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:55.520 of the weasel is fatal, a thing that has been 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:59.440 tried with success, for kings have often desired to see 0:14:59.440 --> 0:15:02.480 its body when killed. So true is it that it 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:06.440 has pleased nature that there should be nothing without its antidote. 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.560 The animal is thrown into the whole of the basilisk, 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.240 which is easily known from the soil around it being infected. 0:15:13.440 --> 0:15:17.400 The weasel destroys the basilisk by its odor, but dies 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.440 itself in the struggle of nature against its own self. 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:25.080 And John Bostock, who provided the translation of this, he 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:27.680 adds that there's probably no foundation for this account of 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:31.000 the action of the effluvium of the weasel upon the 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:34.640 basilisk or any other species of serpent. But this is 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.160 letting us know that throwing the weasel in there to 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:40.600 bleed on it or secrete fluids or whatever, that's not 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:43.560 going to kill this mythical monster. But this is interesting though, 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:48.280 because weasels, especially the stout, were thought to be venomous um, 0:15:48.600 --> 0:15:50.680 and it's worth noting that we do have some venomous 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:54.280 mammals in the natural world, such as various shrews and 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:58.120 even the slow lorist. The only known venomous primate I 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:02.200 don't think I knew that the loris was venomous. Throw 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:05.000 it into a hole with a basilist and and I'm 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:08.400 betting on the loris. But anyway, beast areas of the time, 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:11.200 they presented a few different ways that you could kill 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:13.960 the basilist. So the weasels one, weasels one always carry 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:17.080 a weasel. Also, this one is a little more elegant, 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:19.680 but I have a crystal globe with you to reflect 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:23.560 its own petrifying gaze back upon the basilist. So it's 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.520 like Perseus and Medusa exactly mirror. Yeah, basically they just 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:31.360 stole the idea from Medusa here, but then also carry 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:34.480 with you a cockrell or a young rooster. The basilist 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:38.080 will becoming enraged by the bird's crown, the idea that 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.640 this bird has a crown as well, and the basilist 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:44.960 will die from a lethal fit. That's a jealous king. Yeah, 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.640 I believe a similar thing occurs when someone refuses to 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:51.600 believe dinosaurs had fetis. You know, how dare the bird 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.040 rise above the mighty reptile and then it just loses 0:16:55.080 --> 0:16:57.880 its mind and dies. We can only hope the producers 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:00.440 of the Jurassic World movies avoid this fate. So you 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.040 see the bassilists show up in a number of different writings. 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:06.360 It's just kind of a common um really, really a symbol, 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:09.400 an idea that can be employed. Uh. And though even 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:11.679 to see it show up in the Parsons Tale, in 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:14.880 the in Jeffrey Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales, yes, quote, 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:18.199 these are the other five fingers which the devil uses 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:21.359 to draw people towards him. The first is the letters 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:24.320 glance of a foolish woman or a foolish man, a 0:17:24.359 --> 0:17:27.879 glance that kills just as the basilists kills people just 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:31.119 by looking at them. For the covetous glance reflects the 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:33.720 intentions of the heart. You know. This kind of thing 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:36.320 is actually one of my One of my favorite things 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:40.879 about monsters, especially ancient medieval monsters and uh and so forth, 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:45.080 is that they often aren't just like a large dangerous animal, 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:48.360 but they embody some kind of value. They represent something, 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:51.639 They give you something to compare other things too. Like 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:55.240 they they they're very useful as a metaphor. Uh. And 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:57.240 the really we see some more thing with the bassilist. 0:17:57.280 --> 0:17:59.679 It becomes less far less a situation where people are 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.000 like a you need to be careful because there's a 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.919 basilisk in the desert and more and more just a 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:08.719 useful model, a useful, ridiculous idea that we can use 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:11.960 to illustrate something that is presumably true about the world, 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.119 and then ultimately loses all meaning and just winds up on, 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:20.359 you know, a heraldry and decorations. Now, as we've seen already, 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:24.159 the the basilisk has been through some transformations of form, 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:28.000 and I assume those transformations must have somewhat continued as 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:31.800 time goes by, and it becomes the transforms into this 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.760 idea of the cock of thrace. This uh, this rooster 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:37.560 with a curling serpent's tail. In fact, if you if 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:40.000 you go looking around for images the basilist, sometimes you 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:42.520 will find this image instead. You really will find you'll 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:47.439 find this alongside all the other images. Um So again 0:18:47.480 --> 0:18:51.040 a reptile to bird transferation transformation that just must enrage 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:54.320 those who oppose feathered dinosaurs. And it does feel like 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:56.639 a shame because we have this vile reptile it becomes 0:18:56.680 --> 0:18:59.400 the kind of a weirdo bird instead. And it said 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:01.960 that it's it's it's what happens when you have a 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:06.200 seven year old chicken egg hatched by a toad undead avians. 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:10.080 But it's also made deadlier in these newer versions, so 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:14.159 now it has that that poison blood power that Plenty describes. 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:17.840 It also rots fruit and poisons water everywhere it goes, 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:21.080 so it becomes this kind of embodiment of desolation and death, 0:19:21.400 --> 0:19:25.560 and the idea itself becomes popular. It influenced the naming 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:28.359 of a tutor canon like literally a cannon that shoots 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:31.960 called the basilisk, just because it's it's such a powerful weapon, 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:36.040 we have to name it after this powerful, deadly monster. Uh. 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:39.520 And it eventually got some of its reptilian features back. Um. 0:19:39.560 --> 0:19:44.000 The artist Andrew Vany has this excellent, excellent depiction of 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:47.480 it in Natural History of Serpents and Dragons that gives 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:52.720 it scales. In these it's like a fat, scaly reptile 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:58.199 bird with eight rooster legs, which I just love. This 0:19:58.240 --> 0:20:00.880 will probably be the illustration for the episode on our 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:03.960 on our website. But after that the creature largely became 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:07.000 just a part of European heraldry. It's just something you 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:11.080 would see as a mere decoration or occasionally just a 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:14.439 literary reference. Now one thing that we want to be 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:17.760 careful about is that we should not confuse the basilisk 0:20:17.800 --> 0:20:22.920 of legend the monster with true extent. Basilist lizards also 0:20:23.000 --> 0:20:26.120 known sometimes as the Jesus Christ lizard or the Jesus 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:29.960 lizard for their ability to run across the surface of 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:32.640 water without sinking for up to about four point five 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:35.840 meters or about fifteen feet. Uh. If you've ever seen 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:38.960 video this, it's really cool. How how do they do that? 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.520 I've often wondered. I didn't know until I looked it 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:44.520 up for this episode. Apparently what they've got is big 0:20:44.560 --> 0:20:47.800 feet and the ability to run very fast. And what 0:20:47.920 --> 0:20:51.080 happens is when they run, they slapped the water very 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:53.840 hard with each down stroke of the foot, and it 0:20:53.920 --> 0:20:55.840 has to do with the way that the rapid motions 0:20:55.840 --> 0:20:58.480 of their feet create these air pockets around their feet 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:01.040 as they move. A was reading an article and New 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:04.000 Scientists where some researchers who are working on this problem 0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:06.560 said that in order for an eight km or a 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:09.280 hundred and seventy five pound human to do this, you 0:21:09.320 --> 0:21:11.440 would have to run at about a hundred and eight 0:21:11.520 --> 0:21:15.280 kilometers per hour about sixty seven miles per hour across 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:18.320 the surface of the water. But anyway, you can find 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:22.120 basilist lizards in South America and Central America and Mexico 0:21:22.440 --> 0:21:24.320 and uh as far as I know, they do not 0:21:24.440 --> 0:21:27.320 kill with a glance, and you cannot fight them with 0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:31.080 weasel fluvium. All right, Well, that pretty much wraps up 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:38.080 the mythical, legendary, folkloric basilisk um. It's rise and individual fall. 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:40.760 But we're gonna take a break and when we come back, 0:21:40.960 --> 0:21:45.840 we're going to get into this idea of of Rocco's Basiliska, 0:21:46.160 --> 0:21:52.520 the great basilisk the once and perhaps future king. Thank alright, 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:54.840 we're back, al right. So, as we mentioned earlier, we're 0:21:54.840 --> 0:21:57.440 about to start discussing an idea that has been classed 0:21:57.440 --> 0:22:01.360 by some as something that could be an information hazard, 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:04.880 an idea that simply by thinking about it you somehow 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:09.240