All language subtitles for oracles.and.prophets.s01e02.1080p.web.h264-cbfm_track3_[eng]

- [Narrator] Prophetic visions,

mysterious writings,

and an otherworldly
harbinger of doom.

There are moments in our history

that baffle even the
most strident skeptics

and delve into the
realm of high weirdness.

- [Woolf] Rasputin carries
with him this ability to heal.

- Fearful of where
these visions come from,

the devil, or from
an angelic being?

- [Narrator] Point
Pleasant, West Virginia.

A mysterious creature is sighted
that causes mass hysteria,

but is this
otherworldly creature

trying to warn the local
people of impending doom?

- They wonder what
this creature could be.

- [Narrator] In early
20th century China,

a scholar finds
mysterious markings

that could unlock
age-old mysteries.

- There was something unusual

about the dragon
bones that he bought

and that was the script
that was carved into them.

(ethereal mysterious music)

(quiet curious music)

- [Narrator] In 1916,
Grigori Rasputin,

the enigmatic mystic at the
heart of the Russian court,

delivers a chilling prophecy.

He warns Tsar Nicholas
II that disaster awaits,

foreseeing the violent
end of the Romanov family

and the collapse of the empire.

As whispers of
revolution grow louder,

Rasputin's vision
becomes a dark omen,

casting an eerie
shadow over the palace.

The royal family
stands on the brink,

unaware of the storm
about to strike.

- In 1916, Russia is crumbling

under the weight of World War I.

Its soldiers are ill-equipped.

Some of them don't
even have guns.

There are foods
shortages at home.

Tsar Nicolas' leadership has
been called into question.

There's social
unrest in the cities.

Russia is a country
on the brink.

- [Narrator] The royal family
faces growing discontent

as Tsar Nicholas II's
Leadership fails to address

the many crises Russia is facing

both at home and
on the frontlines.

Making matters
worse, the elite feel

that it is one of Tsar and
Tsarina's favorites at court,

the monk Rasputin,
who is to blame.

- The Russian elite
despise Rasputin

and see him as a
dangerous individual

spewing lies to the
Tsar and Tsarina.

In the early years, Rasputin
finds a way to combine religion

with spirituality as
a way to gain power,

and we see that he
becomes the go-to man

for people trying to
heal their ailments.

But is he really healing them
or is he doing something else?

- [Narrator] But
who is Rasputin,

the mad monk with
visions of doom

that has enchanted
the royal family?

- Grigori Yefimovich
Rasputin was born sometime

in the late 1860s, early 1870s,
in a small Siberian town.

Rasputin grows up
in a peasant family.

His father was a
farmer and coachman.

Russia at the time is under
the control of Alexander III

and the country is
facing widespread poverty

and social unrest.

- [Narrator] A theory known
as nominative determinism

stipulates that your name
can define your career.

In Rasputin's case, it
was quite the opposite.

This name was given
to him later in life

as his reputation defined him.

- Because in Russian the
common noun 'Rasputa'

translates as 'immoral,
debauched, good-for-nothing,'

which is very
fitting for Rasputin.

- [Narrator] As a
child, Rasputin is
known for wild behavior

and lacks formal education,

remaining illiterate
into early adulthood.

This wildness will be used
by Rasputin later in life

to further build his reputation

of being connected
to other realms.

In his young adulthood, he
experiences religious visions

and shows an unusual
interest in spirituality

for someone of his background.

Rasputin decided to
explore his spiritual side

and left for a
pilgrimage across Russia.

Though it's unclear whether
this was a voluntary sojourn

motivated by a
religious conversion

or something forced upon him
as penance for an act of theft.

- It's clear from the experience

and the way he writes about it

that he was transformed by it,

and that from this experience,

when he returned to his village,

this is when he
laid the foundations

for what would become
a charismatic ministry.

- The thing that's
interesting about Rasputin

is the fact that he
comes from Siberia

and the form of Orthodox
Christianity that's there,

this Orthodoxy of the People,
is a lot more grounded,

earthy, it's shamanic,

and I use that word
very specifically

because the Tungusic language
and the Tungusic people

that come from that same area,
Siberia, China, Mongolia,

are the progenitors
of that word.

- Siberia is an important
geographic region, expanse,

because it's disconnected
from cosmopolitan areas.

It's remote and it's wild.

And in Siberia, the Russian
Orthodox Church's beliefs

commingle with folklore

and ancient Pagan
beliefs and rituals.

- [Narrator] Here, Rasputin
begins to gain attention

for his intense religious fervor

and alleged healing abilities,

gathering a small
group of followers

dedicated to his teachings.

- On some level, I think
references to Rasputin

having dark charisma or
this very powerful aura,

I think it might be
a little overblown.

I've read that he's very
much a handsome man.

He had very phosphorescent
eyes, a nice beard.

He was tall,
supposedly well built.

And he might just
have been a guy

who really knew how
to work what he had.

- Which enables him
to entrap people.

He's almost like
an occult leader.

And it made many wonder,
is this really a man of God

who can spread the good news
of the Gospel and heal people,

or is he tapping into much
darker satanic forces?

- [Narrator] Embracing the
role of the wandering holy man,

he travels across Russia,

visiting various religious sites

and sharing his
spiritual insights.

Some are drawn to
his unconventional
approach to faith,

but there are many who question

the source of his
new-found piety.

- We need to understand
that Rasputin,

as he began to sell his
ideas of a religious leader,

was himself a
product of a unique

and very, very robust, eclectic,
religious world in Siberia.

This is a place with many
diverse religious traditions.

Many of them oppositional to
the existing Russian Orthodoxy.

- [Narrator] Many
believe that Rasputin

is influenced by the Khlysty,

an underground Christian sect

known for its
alternative doctrine.

- The Khlysty are an extremely
religious group of people.

They prioritize this sort
of antinomic perspective,

which basically said
that grace is achieved

through faith alone.

- Rather than finding God

through traditional
hierarchies and theology,

one finds God through personal
expression and salvation.

- [Narrator] But the Khlysty
movement is seen by some

to have a darker, hidden truth

behind the seemingly holy facade

- In finding that salvation,

one needs to push
sinning to its extreme

to get to a point of
pleasure in experiencing God.

Now, that pleasure often
takes the form of orgies.

- People also liked to talk
about their ecstatic practice

within the perspective of sex

and having a lot of sex
present based in debauchery

and things that are salacious.

- [Narrator] Rooted in
many ancient traditions,

this form of magic involves
harnessing sexual energy

for spiritual
enlightenment, or magika.

While definitive evidence
of Rasputin's membership

in the Khlysty is lacking,

some accounts suggest that he
is exposed to their teachings.

- Now, this is
19th-century Russia.

It's very conservative.

And as Rasputin is
trying to gain momentum

in the elite circles,

this rumor around sex magic

starts to tarnish
his reputation.

- [Narrator] Rasputin has
embraced deeper mysteries

as part of his ministry.

And one of the key
parts of his ministry

are his prophetic visions that
he shares with his followers.

- As a young adult in Siberia,

Rasputin begins to
experience visions.

And during these visions,

he goes into deep prayer
and contemplation,

and it's at this
time that he believes

he is being
communicated to by God.

- On a pilgrimage to the
monastery of Verkhoturye,

Rasputin experiences
a profound vision

in which he sees the
Virgin Mary crying

and all of the saints
conversing with him.

As a result of this
vision, he comes to believe

that his life has a
higher spiritual purpose.

- Early on, we
know that Rasputin

was already engaging
in prophecy.

And in fact, one prophecy in
particular comes up early on,

and that is his prediction

about the end of
the Romanov dynasty.

- [Narrator] These early
prophetic experiences

lay the groundwork for
the rest of his career.

With his growing reputation,

Rasputin travels to the capital
of Russia, St. Petersburg,

in the early 1900s to take
his ministry to new heights.

- In 1905, he is introduced
to influential members

of the clergy and even
Russian aristocrats.

- [Narrator] Rumors soon take
hold of Rasputin engaging

in an affair with the
wife of a general.

- According to one
version of the story,

a witness bursts into the
room where they were engaged

in sadomasochistic sexual acts

with Rasputin beating the
woman with a paddle or a stick,

and she was screaming
out, "He was Christ!"

over and over again.

- Rasputin's intermingling
between religiosity on one hand,

and sadomasochistic
sex on the other

does seem to suggest
the antimonial belief

that was of course central
to the Khlysty belief system.

- Although there's
no evidence also

that those Russian
Khlysts did that either.

In any respect, all it did was
cement Rasputin's reputation

as a very unusual person.

(mysterious music)

- [Narrator] Word of Rasputin
reaches the royal family,

particularly Tsarina Alexandra,

who is desperate to find relief

for her son Alexei's hemophilia,

a condition that
causes severe bleeding.

- The Tsar's palace
is awash with mystics

and the occult and
people who can proclaim

some sort of connection
with the divine,

which is very, very different

to how most of cosmopolitan
Russian society lived.

And there's also at
this time a feeling

that the Tsars need to connect
more with their people.

So here comes Rasputin who
claims that he can heal people,

who claims a religiosity rooted

in the folklore of the people.

- The royal family in
many ways are outsiders,

and Rasputin is an outsider.

As a result, they put
their faith in Rasputin

because they believe
that he understands them

and is the only one
who can help them.

- [Narrator] In October 1906,

Rasputin meets Tsar Nicholas
II and Tsarina Alexandra

and impresses them
with his piety

and seeming ability
to soothe their son.

He prays over Alexei,
and remarkably,

the boy's condition
appears to improve.

- Following this encounter,
Rasputin begins to visit

the royal family
more frequently,

becoming a trusted advisor
to the tsarina herself

and frequently offering
spiritual advice.

- [Narrator] But is
Rasputin actually healing

the young prince or is there
something else at play?

- So Alexei has hemophilia,

which is a propensity
to bleed or bruise

if you run into things and such.

And Aspirin is a blood thinner,
so when you take Aspirin,

it would actually make
those symptoms worse.

And so he was on those blood
thinners, the "Aspirin,"

when Rasputin first met him,

and simply by removing that
you're now thickening the blood

a little more which is going
to make those incidents

less likely to occur.

It's going to seem like
he's getting better.

- [Narrator] Regardless
of the reasons,

Rasputin's methods are effective

in helping the young
prince's condition.

This wins him support
within the royal family.

- Rasputin manages
to position himself

as the protector of
the heir's health.

At the same time, he's
able to skillfully navigate

the politics and the dynamics

of the upper echelons
of Russian society

while maintaining this
image as a humble mystic.

(curious music)

- [Narrator] But not
everyone in Russia is in love

with this wild
prophet from Siberia.

- According to some
stories, in 1907,

Rasputin returns
to his home village

supposedly followed by
a group of young women.

There, he is met by
religious authorities

who place him under arrest.

He's accused of holding
heretical beliefs

and suggested that
he has connections

to the Khlysty movement.

The investigation
goes all the way up

to the Russian
parliament, the Duma.

But eventually, it's
quashed by the royal court

who seem to be protecting him.

- Now, of course,
Rasputin's association

with the Russian royal family

is very beneficial
to him personally,

but it also comes
with a downside.

Many nobles and clergy
view him with suspicion,

some would even say contempt.

And the rumors about
his background, his
immoral behavior,

his drinking, his affairs
with the wives of generals

and other high-ranking
individuals

cause a lot of antagonism.

- [Narrator] And one of the
most controversial aspects

of Rasputin's life at this time

is his relationship with
the tsarina herself.

- Rumors begin to
swirl about perhaps

an inappropriate relationship

between Rasputin
and the tsarina.

The rumors are spread
by the political elite

and enemies of Rasputin who
believe that the royal family

is being unduly
influenced by him

and that Nicholas is being
undermined by his presence.

- [Narrator] While these rumors

are not substantiated
by fact, they spread.

And soon many in
Russia see Rasputin

as a threat to the
nation of Russia itself.

- Rasputin's enemies believe

that he's a bad influence
on the royal family

and that his position
undermines their authority.

Yet, at the same time that
Rasputin is offering solace

to the royal family, to
people outside of that,

he represents everything
that's wrong with it.

(intense music)

- A lot of Russians start
to believe that Rasputin

is actually a con man,

going about his days
targeting vulnerable people,

including the tsar and tsarina.

- [Narrator] But in an
ironic twist of fate,

it is only Rasputin who can
save the Romanov dynasty

and Russia from destruction.

As the country is on
the verge of crisis,

Rasputin reportedly
receives a prophetic vision,

one that would doom both
the nation and its royals.

- On June 28, 1914, the
archduke Franz Ferdinand,

the heir to the
Austria-Hungarian
throne, is assassinated.

Two weeks later,
Rasputin is stabbed

in an assassination attempt
by a fanatical woman.

The attempt on Rasputin's life
would have a profound impact

on the course of Russia's
involvement with the war.

- What are the chances
that anti-war Rasputin

is nearly killed,

that Archduke Franz
Ferdinand is assassinated?

Is this just a
strange coincidence,

or is there almost
a darker force

pushing Russia
towards the calamity

that would be World War I?

- [Narrator] Russia is
now at war with Germany,

Austria-Hungary, and the
other Central Powers.

As war rages on, Rasputin
makes many powerful enemies.

- As the First World
War rumbles on,

Rasputin becomes convinced
through his visions

that it's just going to
lead to more bloodshed

and calamity for
the Russian nation.

- [Narrator] Troubled by
the growing chaos at home

and reports of massive
casualties on the frontlines,

Rasputin continues to
be haunted by visions

that spell doom for the
Romanovs, and himself.

Yet, according to some, Rasputin
cares more for the country

and its leaders than himself.

According to testimony,
Rasputin said,

"I am not afraid for myself,

but I am afraid for the
people and the royal family.

Because when they kill me,

things will go badly
for the people.

And there won't be any Tsar."

- The prophecy by Rasputin
is really interesting,

because one could suspect
that he already is aware

that he is in danger.

We're dealing with a
man who rises to power

at a very volatile time
in Russian history.

He is very aware of this.

He is a product of this
peasant culture in Siberia

that was very much
active at this time

and angry and
politically engaged,

so it wouldn't be surprising

that he's using his
knowledge of what is going on

in the kingdom more generally
in order to make predictions.

- [Narrator] Rasputin's
influence over the royal court

seems to be diminishing
as the war continues

and tensions mount
on the home front.

Despite this, there are
those working in the shadows

to undermine him and bring
his influence to an end.

- In December of 1916,

there's a plot to
assassinate Rasputin.

It's led by a group
of aristocrats

led by a man named
Felix Yusupov.

(curious menacing music)

- According to legend,

they lure Rasputin
to Yusupov's palace,

and there they feed him cakes

which have been
laced with cyanide.

But the cyanide
doesn't take effect.

It seems that
Rasputin is just fine.

So they try a
different approach.

Yusupov pulls out a pistol and
shoots Rasputin in the chest.

When Rasputin still doesn't die,

the other aristocrats begin
shooting Rasputin too.

If that wasn't enough, they
roll up the body in a carpet

and beat him with sticks.

Finally, they take the body
and dump it into an icy river.

- [Narrator] But this
story of his death,

like so much of Rasputin's life,

is more legend than reality.

- The story that came
of a person so powerful

that you had to basically kill
him four times to kill him,

that really helped his
reputation grow big time.

And yeah, when we find
out that that wasn't true,

it makes us think, okay,

maybe he was just a
person who was very good

at playing what he did

and then took it a little
too far and met his demise.

- [Narrator] The
assassins of Rasputin

are banished from Russia

but are protected from
further prosecution

because of their high
status in society.

With Rasputin dead, the grip
he has on the Romanov family

and Russia is extinguished,

but the troubles for
Russia are only beginning.

- In February, just a
couple of months later,

the Russian revolution begins

and Tsar Nicholas II
is forced to abdicate.

A provisional
government takes over

and the Romanov dynasty
comes to an end.

(curious mystical music)

- Does this suggest that
Rasputin was somehow connected

to a deeper, darker
force that enabled him

to foretell what
was going to unfold?

- [Narrator] But
the most chilling of
Rasputin's prophecies

come true in 1918.

- Tsar Nicholas and his
family are being held captive

in a house by the Bolsheviks.

In a tragic moment, they
are ordered downstairs

to the basement
under false pretenses

and are summarily executed.

The death of the tsar and
his family seems to confirm

the central promise of
Rasputin's prophecy.

He said that if he was
killed by aristocrats,

then the royal family
would meet their end

by the hands of
the Russian people.

- To this very day, Rasputin
remains a figure of intrigue.

Some maintain he was a
great mystical healer,

others that he was a dark,

almost satanic force
within Russian society.

- [Narrator] Some of
Rasputin's prophecies

spoke to national disasters,

while others live in
the realm of folklore,

despite hundreds of
eyewitness accounts.

(pulsing haunting music)

In Point Pleasant,
West Virginia,

sightings of a
mysterious creature

could be a harbinger
of future doom.

It is the late afternoon
of December 15, 1967,

and the Silver
Bridge, which links

Point Pleasant, West Virginia,
and Gallipolis, Ohio,

trembles beneath the steady
stream of rush-hour traffic.

The air is cold,
and holiday shoppers

are trying to cross the river
before dusk fully settles.

Suddenly, a deafening crack
echoes over the water.

Without warning, the
arc of the bridge

seems to shudder and twist.

In the next moments, the
steel supports give way

and pieces of the bridge drop
into the icy Ohio River below,

taking many vehicles
along with it.

In the end, 46 people
will lose their lives

from this terrible disaster.

- No one can quite believe
that the bridge had collapsed.

And although the authorities
launched an investigation,

rumors at the time spread
that people had seen

a strange creature around,

connected somehow.

- [Narrator] The
strange creature people
claim to have seen

before the bridge collapse
becomes known as the "Mothman."

The Mothman is a winged,
red-eyed creature

allegedly spotted
around Point Pleasant

in the months leading
up to the disaster.

Some claim that the Mothman
sightings are omens,

eerie portents of
looming catastrophe.

They say the creature hovered
near the bridge's supports,

its presence a dark
foreshadowing of danger.

- Many witnesses
came forward to say

that before the bridge collapsed

and during this
terrible tragedy,

the Mothman appeared,
whether in the sky or nearby.

They saw this strange
cryptid, this creature,

present in the area
almost as a portent

of what was about to happen.

- There is no evidence
that there is anything

like a Mothman, but there's
something being seen

before the Silver

- [Narrator] In the weeks before
the Silver Bridge collapse,

whispers spread
through Point Pleasant

about the mysterious
winged figure.

One of the first reported
sightings of the Mothman

occurs on November 15, 1966,

when four young
people claim their car

is chased by the Mothman
down the highway.

Earlier, a local man
named Newel Partridge

is at home watching television

when the screen
suddenly goes dark.

A strange, humming
noise fills the room,

and his German shepherd
begins to howl outside.

Stepping onto his porch,

Partridge shines a
flashlight toward the barn.

His beam catches
two glowing red eyes

reflecting back at him,

much larger than those
of any animal he knows.

The creature lurks for a moment

before vanishing into the night,

and his dog bolts into the
darkness, never to return.

- A few days later, on
the 18th of November,

volunteer fire fighters respond
to a call in a remote part.

And as they're driving
down the winding road,

they suddenly see a
bird-like creature

cast a shadow over the moon.

They see wings of about
ten feet in expanse

and they wonder, is this
something of this world?

- [Narrator] The Mothman
sightings are first recorded

by Mary Hyre, a journalist
with the Athens Messenger,

the local paper
serving Point Pleasant.

Her first article,
ominously titled

"Winged, Red-eyed 'Thing'
Chases Point Pleasant Couples

Across Countryside," hits the
press on November 16, 1966.

Soon, she aligns herself

with renowned paranormal
investigator John Keel

who conducts a
series of interviews

with people who have
seen the Mothman.

- According to Keel, he
starts to receive phone calls,

and he wonders, is this
a threat from the Mothman

to stop his investigations,

or is it a warning
of impending doom?

- For weeks, a kind of
Mothman mania grips the region

with people calling
in to journalists,

calling news rooms and claiming

that they have seen the Mothman,

they have seen this
creature in the vicinity.

And there is more reports,
one after another,

of sightings of the Mothman.

- [Narrator] On December
15, 1967, tragedy strikes.

The Silver Bridge,
a major artery

connecting Point
Pleasant to Ohio,

collapses during rush hour.

Forty-six lives are
lost in the icy waters

of the Ohio River.

In the aftermath, some
residents recall seeing

the Mothman perched
atop the bridge

days before the disaster.

They begin to wonder
if the creature

is a harbinger of calamity
rather than a source of terror.

- We still see these kind
of reports in the weeks

before the Silver
Bridge collapse

from locals in Point Pleasant.

We see these reports of these
strange things occurring,

and these are multiple reports

from multiple different people.

- [Narrator] Is the
Mothman a dark omen,

a guardian,

or simply an illusion born
from collective anxiety?

Disturbingly, Point Pleasant
is not the last place

the Mothman will be seen.

- So, it's interesting
how Mothman actually
starts to evolve

into this almost
a symbol of doom

that people report seeing
before horrible events

that occur kind of worldwide.

So, an example of this
could be right before 9/11,

where there's these
reports coming out

that there's this
winged-creature being seen.

So, you see this
Mothman that came

from this one specific instance

becoming this kind
of global symbol

that people are seeing
before these horrible events,

this kind of portent of doom
that is evolving itself.

- The moth is often seen
as a creature of doom.

You can go from Aztec mythology,

where it's seen as a dark force,

to Celtic mythology,
where the moth

is the soul departing
from the dead.

Time and time again
in world folklores,

you see the moth as
a harbinger of doom.

- [Narrator] Alternatively,
some consider the possibility

of the Mothman connected
to an ancient curse.

In Colonial America, terrible
injustices were carried out

against people of the Shawnee
Nation along the Ohio River.

It's said that before his death,

tribal leader Chief
Cornstalk utters a curse

on the region and its invaders.

- When you're thinking
of, like Chief Cornstalk,

and his desire for peace

and how colonization and all
of the wars that happened,

the slaughters of
Indigenous people,

that that could be connected
to even the Mothman.

To believe or to think that
the things that are happening

are because of the past and
what's happened there before.

- [Narrator] But the strangest
tales linked to Mothman

are its connections
to the UFO phenomena.

- In the post-war era,
the 1950s, 60s, 70s,

we see the merging of
traditional American folklore

with these cryptids,

these kind of
half-man, half-beasts.

That merges with the new
UFO phenomenon, UFO craze.

And so we get cryptids
and extraterrestrials
kind of merging

and so what's previously been
regarded as mythical beasts

now become beings
from other planets.

And you then weave
into that, of course,

the men in black who
turn up to investigate.

- [Narrator] Witnesses
who come forward

with their experiences
sometimes claim

to be visited by men in black,

mysterious figures
dressed in black suits

who warn them to remain silent.

These encounters add a
layer of intrigue and fear,

suggesting a possible
government coverup

or involvement of
secret organizations

aiming to suppress information

about extraterrestrial
phenomenon.

- We have all in the
mix the Mothman, aliens,

UFOs, men in black,

added to which we have the
collapse of Silver Bridge.

And you have to wonder,
what on earth is going on?

Is this all just a coincidence,

or is stranger things at play?

- [Narrator] Decades after
the Silver Bridge collapse,

the Mothman remains an enigma,

inspiring a range of
theories in an attempt

to explain its
mysterious appearances.

Scientifically, some
suggest that witnesses

are misidentifying
known wildlife.

- So, the Mothman is like,

half-human, half-owl, or
half-moth, half-human,

but it could actually just
be an entity in itself.

- [Narrator] Psychological
explanations also offer insight.

- The Mothman is a really
interesting kind of example

of how certain stories
or certain figures

can get really picked
up by the mass media

and can be given a
life of their own.

- One of the explanations
for the Mothman phenomenon

is that it's a form
of mass hysteria

or mass delusion.

And it's not hard to imagine

how this might be
the explanation.

- With the Mothman,

this is initially just
published in local newspapers

and eventually this starts to
get picked up by other papers

and it gains more of
a national attention.

You have radio, and
then you have this book

that comes out that
really snowballs.

- The story of the Mothman
is really concretized

in the book "The Mothman
Prophecy" by John Keel,

and this has a blockbuster
effect on the market.

People now know
what the Mothman is,

what it's capable of doing
and where it's appeared.

So, now the myth is cemented.

People know about the Mothman.

- [Narrator] Others believe
the Mothman sightings

were legitimate and
that this creature

is a harbinger of tragedy.

- I think that it's probably
a description of something

that we can tie back to
something very ancient.

It's interesting, because
you could talk a lot

about Indigenous folklore,

but I will just talk
about it as our truth.

We have things like
the giant serpent

who's actually a water lynx.

You know, there's been
all kinds of sightings

in Lake Superior of this
massive sea-like creature

and it's a giant serpent.

We know that there are
spirits that live amongst us

and that there are these
creatures that are connected

to our original instructions
and that they're still here.

- [Narrator] Regardless
of its origins,

the Mothman legacy endures

as a captivating figure
in American folklore.

It evokes a mix of
fear and curiosity.

Some people remain wary,

viewing the Mothman
as a harbinger of doom

who might appear
before disasters.

Others embrace the legend
as a compelling story

that speaks to humanity's
enduring interest

in the unexplained.

The Mothman remains
a potent symbol,

bridging the gap between
folklore, prophecy,

and pop culture.

But not all prophecies
herald doom.

Some instead tell us of the
creation of great dynasties.

(deep ambient music)

In 1899, Wang Yirong,

a Chinese scholar and director
of the Imperial Academy,

is suffering from terrible
fevers due to malaria.

Desperate, Wang seeks treatment

from a traditional
Chinese apothecary

who provides him dragon bones,

the ancient fossilized
remains of dinosaurs

and other prehistoric animals,

which are thought to
have healing properties.

When Wang inspects these
dragon bones closer,

he notices unusual
inscriptions on them.

These mysterious
markings set off a quest

to find their meaning.

- Dragon bones have long played
a role in Chinese medicine,

and these dragon bones that
Wang bought at an apothecary

were intended to be ground down

and taken as a kind of potion

in order to tackle his malaria,

basically the shakes that
he was getting from malaria.

But there was something unusual

about the dragon
bones that he bought,

and that was the script
that was carved into them.

This enigmatic script
that was something

he had never seen before.

- He consults with
his friend, Liu E,

who also knows something
about early Chinese script.

They go about
gathering more examples

of these inscribed bones

and eventually they have
something like an archive

that convinces them that what
they are in fact looking at

are examples of

an ancient version
of Chinese script

that predates the
earliest known versions.

- [Narrator] This
discovery by Wang

sparks fascination and mystery.

- Scholars were flummoxed.
They had no answers.

But they wanted to know what
exactly that script said.

Where had these bones come from?

And what was that
enigmatic script

that was carved onto them?

- Wang and Liu E go
back to the apothecary

that had originally
supplied the bone

to ask where it came from,

because they want to
find more examples.

But perhaps, understandably,
the apothecary

is not exactly
willing to give up

the location of his source.

Perhaps he thinks it
will be bad for business.

In any case, he's not
willing to tell them,

and so the original location

of the source of these
bones remains unknown.

- [Narrator] After
Wang Yirong's death,

Liu E continues the research

and publishes a compilation
of the bone inscriptions.

This publication grips scholars

who are trying to
uncover the meaning

of these bones and
who created them.

One of the many scholars
working to uncover

the secrets of
these dragon bones

is Canadian Christian missionary

and amateur archeologist
James Mellon Menzies.

Menzies has been in China
working as a missionary

when he first came across
these mysterious bones.

Menzies collected thousands
of samples of bones

with these mysterious markings

and tracked down their origin
to a site of ancient ruins

near a village in
Henan province.

Recognizing the
significance of this site,

the Institute of
History and Philosophy

of the Academia Sinica initiates

systematic archeological
excavations in 1928

but they are unaware of
the historic findings

they are about to make.

- Eventually, the site
that the bones came from

is discovered and it turns out

that it's the ruins
of the City of Yin,

which was the last capital
of the Shang dynasty

dating back to the
second millennium BCE.

- [Narrator] And the most
pressing mystery revolves

around the bones that
drew the scholars

to this site in the first place.

- As the expedition
progresses, it is revealed

that these bones are actually

an ancient form of
fortune-telling.

And what's really
interesting here

is that during
the Shang dynasty,

it wasn't just the
kings and queens,

the kind of ruling
classes that were engaging

in this form of
fortune-telling and prophecy,

but rather that every
person was using these bones

and fortune and prophecy was
of interest to everyone there.

- [Narrator] The scholars learn

not just what the bones
were, but also how they work.

- Ancient diviners used
bones to predict the future.

They'd look at the cracks,
the markings, and the shape.

- The bones that were
used for this writing

were typically turtle
shells or ox scapulae

and the fortune tellers
would carve these letters

onto the bone that
were predictions

of the affairs of
states, the royal family,

or what was going to
happen to the weather,

or in local villages, and so on.

Predictions.

- [Narrator] To
perform divination,

the practitioner applies
intense heat to specific points

on the inscribed bone or shell,

usually by inserting a heated
metal rod into drilled pits.

- It's the process of
heating that creates cracks

that are then interpreted
so that the diviner

can get a sense of whatever it
is that they've asked about.

These early traditions
of divination

which are so tangible
and real and grounded,

bones, earth, water, fire,

they might be early,

but they're still very
much in use today.

There are people throughout
Canada and the United States

who read bones, osteomancy
is still a thing.

Pyromancy, whether you're
working with flames

in a fireplace, flames outside,
the flames of a candle,

in order to determine what the
success of your working is.

Whether you're doing geomancy,

literally in the ground,
right, with earth.

Or looking at the
movement of the trees,

and the air, and birds,

it's all these things
that are proximate to us

because they're grounded and
they're real and tangible.

And we have been doing
them since prehistory

and we'll probably continue
until the last human exists.

- [Narrator] Many ancient
people used divination

as an important part of ruling.

- So, the importance of
divination in the ancient world,

and specifically when it
comes to the Shang dynasty,

is once again the
ability to predict.

It's the ability to preempt,

to make certain
what is uncertain,

especially when you
don't necessarily have

the technology to assist
you if something goes wrong.

So, if you don't
have rain, right

you can go towards famine.

If you don't have insight

into what your military
opponents are doing,

you're people can die.

- [Narrator] Another
importance of these bones

was in regards to
military affairs.

- For rulers in particular,
it helps them make decisions

that affect their
entire society.

Whether it's about going to war.

Whether it's whether they
can predict the harvest.

But it's just part
of which they engage

in the order of the universe.

- Part of it is the attraction

of the divination ritual itself

that's a very exciting
kind of thing,

but then that sense
of knowledge gained

is again, that predictive power,

that the brain always wants.

And even if it's only
accurate some of the time,

we'll remember
those accurate times

and we'll keep at the ritual

and keep doing it in the future.

- [Narrator] While these
bones are important

to the people of Shang, China,

they are also important to us

as they give us insights
into the earliest stages

of the Chinese language.

- These Oracle Bones
have huge importance

for those studying the history
of the Chinese language,

because they contain scripts

that date back three
thousand years.

They give us a
window into the past

to see how the ancestors
of today's Chinese wrote

and expressed themselves
thousands of years ago.

- The writing on these
bones actually traces

a linguistic lineage
that can be traced

to modern Chinese
writing as well,

so it's an earlier form
of pictographic writing

that has evolved to
current forms of writing.

- You have this ritual that
brings together human language

and interpretive skills

with these very
specifically chosen

pieces of the natural world

and they're being brought
together in such a way

that it's like the
universe itself

is speaking through the
bones to human beings.

(curious mystical music)

- [Narrator] From
these ancient destinies

etched into fire-cracked bone,

to the foreboding
records of the Mothman,

and the whispers of Rasputin,

each of these tales communicates
a common foretelling

of what may lie beyond the
horizon of human knowledge.

Whether guiding royals
through a time of crisis

or offering communities
of presage to catastrophe,

these oracles challenge us

not merely to fear
the darkness ahead

but to summon the
courage to face it.

(epic mystical music)