Tarantism was a ritual and cultural specific phenomenon prevalent in Southern Italy from the 15th to 19th centuries characterized by an uncontrollable impulse to dance for long periods to an indigenous form of music, pizzica tarantata. The afflicted, typically a female peasant, is bitten by the mythic tarantula and experiences a physical malady that can only be healed through embodiment of the culpable spider who is responsible for both ailment and cure, within a sacred, communal sphere. Musicians hired to 'play out the poison' must choose proper sensorial stimulants, including colors, rhythms, melodies and type of song, to excite the body into movement and effectively cure the ill. Tarantism and its resurgence through its modern revival known as neo- tarantism, allows for the intersection of the sacred and secular and past and present through embodied experience and performance, while ultimately transforming the ritual and its meaning with each iteration to meet the needs of the current population. Contemporary woman-centric ritual performances allow female artists to take creative agency within a patriarchal society, examine and realign the self, and publicly reclaim liminal space to ultimately foster positive inner transformation, psychosocial healing and deeper connection with their community.