Beware the burning sting!

February 24, 2020 5:04 PM

Scorpions are often inspiration for some of the deadliest (and outlandish) ways of creating burning pain. For example, a legendary Chinese poison was made by “sealing venomous snakes, scorpions, and centipedes into a jar and having them fight” which reveals more about cultural relations in ancient China than how to make poison. In Game of Thrones, the way to stop flaming dragons was to use a version of one of the first siege engines, the Roman scorpio, a torsion weapon that you can make yourself (Pdf)! And if you just want to wish you were dead, you can eat the Trinidad Scorpion, one of the hottest peppers in the world, as this fascinating discussion of hot peppers in India shows.
posted by blahblahblah (4 comments total)

There's the metal-tipped(?) scourge too, notably in 1 Kings 12:11:

And now whereas my father did lade you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke: my father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 5:16 PM on February 24, 2020 [1 favorite]

Also, much love for the siege weapon PDF, cheers! I'll get right on that, ha!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 5:19 PM on February 24, 2020

Last Friday I accidentally stepped on a scorpion in an AirBnB bathroom in San Miguel de Allende. Fortunately I was wearing thick socks (and the scorpion seemed fine too). It was my first encounter with these fascinating creatures and today’s FPPs were clearly all created just for me.
posted by simra at 5:30 PM on February 24, 2020 [3 favorites]

Next post is about "Rock You Like a Hurricane" or GTFO.

Already done? Today is truly a great day.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:34 PM on February 24, 2020