Oct 15, 2026 · 36 min · 10 segments
In this episode of Sanctuary, host Rhiannon Giddens begins our journey into the ways that music serves us as a vital tool for healing and community. Musician Mauro Durante introduces us to the…
Rhiannon GiddensHostMauro DuranteGuestLee HaightGuest
Borna BonakdarpourGuest
[upbeat music] The ritual of tarantism came up against the Catholic Church many times over the next few centuries.
The church has a long history of trying to control native spiritual practices, but this was too interwoven in the cultural fabric of the area.
By the 1700s, the church found it easier to fold the ecstatic dances into church practices, and they decided the tradition needed a saint.
St. Paul, in some areas, became this sort of the patron protectors of the victims of the tarantula spider.
So there are some verses that, uh, we sing, even some verses that I sing with Silkroad on stage, which are invocation to St. Paul to ask for the grace, for the relief from the pain, to ask for help in healing.
[upbeat music] When the tradition of tarantism became associated with St. Paul and the Catholic Church, it moved from a community affair that took place at home to a religious one with a pilgrimage attached.
A well next to the chapel, the legend goes, was blessed by him as he traveled through the Mediterranean.
People suffering from tarantism would now travel to the chapel for music in the water to find relief.
Those who felt that they were still afflicted could make the pilgrimage again on June 28th, St. Paul's Feast Day.
In the final years of tarantism, you know, having a, a tarantato, victim of the tarantula spider, in your family was, uh, shameful because with the arrival of television and, uh, of the Italian Republic unity or even the, you know, the, the Kingdom of Italy unity, then, uh, they were starting to...
And so they were starting to make fun of everything which was considered ignorant and poor and as, uh, something which belonged to the past.
But even in those last moments, people would, wouldn't abandon who was suffering, and instead, by using this ritual, they would be cured.
In the 1950s and '60s, a team of academics led by anthropologist Ernesto De Martino traveled to Galatina to see what remained of the tradition.
By the summer of 1980, the town of Galatina had only two visitors come in June for healing.
Because when people stopped believing in the spider, then of course the ritual died.
So I mean, if you don't believe that a, a spider bite can put you in such a state, then why use this, uh, mechanism of, uh, healing this ritual, uh, when, uh, everything collapses? And of course, the bite and the poison was a symbol for something, pain, suffering, whi- which was coming into you from the outside.
In a, in a way you were allowed to say that it wasn't your fault you were feeling bad.
So you had the right to be healed by the community, by your family, your friends, your village, because it wasn't your fault.
[upbeat music] The ritual of tarantism came up against the Catholic Church many times over the next few centuries.
The church has a long history of trying to control native spiritual practices, but this was too interwoven in the cultural fabric of the area.
By the 1700s, the church found it easier to fold the ecstatic dances into church practices, and they decided the tradition needed a saint.
St. Paul, in some areas, became this sort of the patron protectors of the victims of the tarantula spider.
So there are some verses that, uh, we sing, even some verses that I sing with Silkroad on stage, which are invocation to St. Paul to ask for the grace, for the relief from the pain, to ask for help in healing.
[upbeat music] When the tradition of tarantism became associated with St. Paul and the Catholic Church, it moved from a community affair that took place at home to a religious one with a pilgrimage attached.
A well next to the chapel, the legend goes, was blessed by him as he traveled through the Mediterranean.
People suffering from tarantism would now travel to the chapel for music in the water to find relief.
Those who felt that they were still afflicted could make the pilgrimage again on June 28th, St. Paul's Feast Day.
In the final years of tarantism, you know, having a, a tarantato, victim of the tarantula spider, in your family was, uh, shameful because with the arrival of television and, uh, of the Italian Republic unity or even the, you know, the, the Kingdom of Italy unity, then, uh, they were starting to...
And so they were starting to make fun of everything which was considered ignorant and poor and as, uh, something which belonged to the past.
But even in those last moments, people would, wouldn't abandon who was suffering, and instead, by using this ritual, they would be cured.
In the 1950s and '60s, a team of academics led by anthropologist Ernesto De Martino traveled to Galatina to see what remained of the tradition.
By the summer of 1980, the town of Galatina had only two visitors come in June for healing.
Because when people stopped believing in the spider, then of course the ritual died.
So I mean, if you don't believe that a, a spider bite can put you in such a state, then why use this, uh, mechanism of, uh, healing this ritual, uh, when, uh, everything collapses? And of course, the bite and the poison was a symbol for something, pain, suffering, whi- which was coming into you from the outside.
In a, in a way you were allowed to say that it wasn't your fault you were feeling bad.
So you had the right to be healed by the community, by your family, your friends, your village, because it wasn't your fault.
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