Plague Doctor

http://creepypasta.wordpress.com/2009/05/28/plague-doctor/

Now, this one is a little different. This page has a series of "infographic" images designed to teach you how to make your very own plague doctor mask.

I think the plague doctor mask remains such a striking image in our culture because of the superstition and fear that we like to think we have all left behind. Many don't know that the reasoning behind the large "beak" of the mask is that when plague doctors were at work they generally dealt with the very sick and the dead, who tend to smell horrendously bad. The plague doctors would stuff the ends of their beaks with herbs and potpourri in order to combat the terrible smells that they had to deal with on a daily basis.

The bird-like appearance of the masks also remind us all of a time before science; a time when gods seemed very near by and nature could destroy us at any given moment. This primal fear of the world and the unknown stays with us today. Now, though, our focus is turned to more esoteric extremes than simply the world around us: now we wonder at the deeps of our oceans and the wonders of space and time. We may have evolved slightly, but the emotions that drive us forward are very much the same.