Bitten by a spider...

 All of a sudden the other day I got the idea of  changing the position of my bed - it was facing East but I read somewhere in an article about Feng Shui that according to my kua number  it really should be facing West.  Anyway, I was itching to get more space and throw a few things away and so I did move my bed to the West. There was so much dust and dirt in my bedroom, I am not a very house proud person, moreover I live in a tiny apartment and space is scarce. You can guess what's coming next. I admit to shoving everything under my bed, usually papers, books and anything that I cannot fit anywhere else. Then I simply forget about the stuff and never do any dusting, occasionally I might vacuum the areas just around my bed, never under it.
But shifting the bed's position meant I had to take everything out and clean the room, which I did. I got rid of loads of unnecessary stuff, moved the bed by the wall next to the window and suddenly my room looked bigger. I was immensely pleased with myself, it took a good couple of hours to complete the job, I was totally filthy after doing it and even managed to break an old book shelf, now confined to the dustbin.
But wait.

 Partly because of the warm weather, partly because I disturbed them, all the spiders that had lived in my bedroom suddenly came out and last night I was mercilessly bitten. I am not happy at all, as you can imagine, I have visible bites all over and feel very itchy. At least I think they were spiders, I did clear some cobwebs and this must have caused havoc.  I spent the morning spraying insecticide and airing the room. I put on my bites an Indonesian oil called minyak gosok which has great healing properties but has a revolting smell. And then I remembered the old folk tale.
I come from the south of Italy and we have a folk dance which is known as the pizzica or the spider dance or dance of the tarantula (taranta) , hence the name tarantella, though the latter is a choreographed version of it.

According to the myth, the taranta bites people, especially women, and then  takes possession of their bodies. A group of musicians with tambourines comes along for an exorcism and the person who has been bitten and possessed by the spider (identified with evil forces) begins a frenetic dance. It goes on for hours, even days, it is a true ecstatic dance. The percussion used for the pizzica keeps on changing and nowadays it comprises North Africans drums to honour the fact that in the South of Italy there is a good ethnic mix. Pizzica rhythms are compelling and the dancing can be very wild indeed. Its purpose is therapeutic.
I dont know whether dancing the Pizzica will help me to get rid of the spider's bites. But I could always try...
Check out this video.


(Photo of  Alex B. and taken by Keenbeginner 1234)