As in most regions of Italy, Puglia has kept alive a wide repertoire of superstitions and folk rituals, handed down from father to son for generations.

While some of these legends and beliefs are legacies of a past with mystical and magical overtones, these averts and myths are symbolic of a'identitycultural of enormous anthropological and sociological interest, often the subject of academic studies that wish to return to the roots of these archaic customs. In Apulia this whole set of centuries-old traditions is still very strong and manifests itself in many different ways.

Tarantism

Since the dawn of time, humans have always believed in something supernatural that was capable of altering the course of events or attempted to take control of what was happening through rituals passed down through the family orally.

Folk beliefs related to superstition have been massively prevalent mainly in the rural and peasant areas, where life was marked by the seasons and the future was the unknown to be faced. It was in these situations that superstitions became strongly rooted in daily activities and major life moments such as marriage, illness and death.

Magical beliefs and practices mixed with religion still persist in southern Italy. In Apulia, for example, the tarantism, a dance thought to be caused by the bite of the tarantula. To rid themselves of the evil that had befallen them, the tarantati would break out into long dances accompanied by orchestras of a few instruments, including tambourine and accordion.

Women were the ones most affected by tarantism and had to be healed by performing this ritual cathartic and therapeutic dance. Few could say with certainty that they had actually been bitten by spiders, and sometimes someone had to repeat the ritual after a few months.

It was not a real form of collective hysteria, but it was helpful for country people, exhausted from working in the fields, to enter another dimension and let themselves go thanks to the wild dance. Today the phenomenon of tarantismo has almost completely disappeared and only the legacy left by the dance that has become part of Apulian culture remains.

Evil eye and couple superstitions

Throughout the South, and thus also in Apulia, superstitions related to the evil eye have survived, which in Apulian is called "fascinu". This can be triggered by a person just with a look because of his envy.

Thus, the evil eye is said to be the cause of physical ailments such as headaches and fatigue, and there are those who believe it can affect the course of life in a negative way. The only solution lies in the hands of the village old women who know the ritual To cancel it.

This formula is handed down from mother to daughter on Christmas night each year and consists of a set of prayers containing invocations and averts to free the person affected by the evil eye, or "l'affascinatu." There are two systems to heal from the evil eye: exclusively with prayers or by dipping the finger of the sufferer in oil and dropping drops into a white dish with salt and water.

Once freed, the person immediately feels better, and to know if the ritual has worked, simply look at the woman who removed it, who will start yawning along with the healed person. In Puglia there are then those who equip themselves with the amulets such as horseshoes, red horns and rock salt in a bag and pays attention to the stares of others, especially bearded women, who are considered the worst jinxes.

Apulian superstitions then concern a very important moment such as the wedding, considered the main event of social change and therefore more prone to negativity. Generally these beliefs concern the couple or the bride, and good omens are sought by observing certain rituals.

For example, the wedding bed should be prepared by two unmarried women, and during the ceremony the candles should not go out. Or at the time of the exchange of rings, if they do not slip on easily, it means that there will be disagreements in the family, especially if the wedding ring that does not go in is that of the groom who will turn out to be violent and mean.

Bonfire festivals

Bonfires in Apulia are one of the oldest superstitions in the area, and each town has since developed its own specific ritual. In fact, the fire in mythology it was a symbol of purification and life energy and was the central focus of pagan ceremonies in agricultural societies, later becoming important in Christian culture as well.

The bonfire was thus lit as a good omen to ward off death, sadness and fear. To preserve this tradition, the Apulia Fires Network which includes 3 events: the Fanove of Castellana Grotte, the Focara of Novoli and the Fracchie of San Marco in Lamis.

Bonfire celebrations are held in many other locations in Puglia, often on the night of St. John's. On this day, in addition to lighting fires, people have the custom of placing a bunch of St. John's herbs under their pillow to receive premonitory dreams. Another belief related to St. John's Day is that of eating snails to ward off negativity.