Most spas have names that conjure up an atmosphere of bliss and tranquility. So I am a little taken back by the sign outside the spa in the orange groves of northern Israel. It reads, ADA BARAK'S CARNIVOROUS PLANT FARM. Barak makes most of her income by showing off her plants, which eat everything from insects and reptiles to small mammals and schnitzel. She started grabbing one of the little snakes slithering in and out of the hungry plants' jaws and passing it around to visitors at the end of her act. And that was how she hit on the snakes' therapeutic value. "Some people said that holding the snakes made them feel better, relaxed." she says. "One old lady said it was soothing, like a cold compress."

Traditionally, snakes have gotten a bad rap in the Holy Land - just ask Eve - so I am surprised that Barak's technique has found acceptance here in modern Israel. After some experimenting, she eventually settled on a combo of big snakes for a deep massage, because the king and corn snakes are heavy enough to produce a kneading sensation and little ones, whose passage over the skin is a trembling flutter. “People either like it or lot or they hate it.” Says Barak. She makes this remark as a busload of Israelis arrives, and an 18-year-old with flowing brown hair agrees to lie down and let the snakes – all nonvenomous- make themselves at home on her bare belly. The little ones move over her neck and face like caressing fingers. She looks enraptured.

I decide to get the $80 to get the spa treatment, since I am dubious about both its calming and its curative effects. Barak’s cousin Dr. Nava Becher reminds me that Moses coiled a bronze snake around his staff and thrust it upward to the sky to remind people of the Almighty and that the snake is a symbol for medicine meaning that what kills you can also cure you. Many of barak’s regular clients claim that the snakes help ease migraines and soothe sore muscles.

She leads me into a bright room with tropical plants. I strip off my shirt and trousers and lie on a massage table. Just as I am psyching myself up for the treatment, I see one of the little snakes, with a string of brick-colored diamonds along its spine; open its mouth impossibly wide. Is it going to strike? No _ it coughs up a half-digested mouse, leading me to assume that the snake is as queasy about giving me a massage as I am about getting one. When Barak plops a writhing tangle of snakes on my belly, their first reaction, and mine, is panic. The race away in six directions, and she patiently plops them back, braiding them together to slow their getaway.

Once my panic subsides, I can focus on the snakes moving across my skin. They’re cool, dry and smooth. It’s not unpleasant, except when a tiny one stops to nibble on my eyelashes. Their presence stirs something deep and peaceful in me. I come away relaxed and curiously light-headed, though I don’t feel the urge to buy myself a python to continue this therapy at home.

It’s a lot to ask a tourist to be swarmed by snakes. For a more traditional massage, many visitors head up to the Sea of Galilee. Secluded in the pine forests in the Bayit Bagalil, a boutique hotel offering tasty Mediterranean cuisine, views of the water Jesus supposedly walked on and a variety of massages for those who prefer a human’s touch to a reptile’s. It’s also worthwhile to splash in the mineral-laden Dead Sea, renowned as a health spa ever since the Queen of Sheba raved about its medical properties 4,000 years ago. Around the Dead Sea, though, stay away from the snakes: their touch might soothe, but their bite is fatal.

当下，许多保健水疗会所的名字都能给人一种宁静祥和的感觉，而当我在以色列北部一片橘子林中看见一家会所招牌时，不由得惊讶，因为会所牌子上写着ADA BARA’S CARNIVOROUS PLANT FARM（艾达. 巴拉克肉食植物农场）。女店主巴拉克的大部分收入来源靠的是展示植物，这些植物无所不吃 —— 从昆虫，爬虫到小型哺乳动物以及炸肉排。她从植物正饥饿吮吸着的小蛇中抓起一条，并把它递给周围的游客传看，这就是巴拉克的蛇疗法的灵感所在。巴拉克说：“有些人说把蛇握在手里让自己感受很好，很放松，有位老太太还表示这种感觉就如同冷敷一样，能抚慰人心。”

传说中，蛇在圣地一直深受人们非议—— 只要问问夏娃就知道。我是如此的惊讶巴拉克的蛇疗法在当代以色列却能够被人接纳。经试验，巴拉克最终决定用大小蛇的组合即大蛇为人进行深度按摩，因为蛇王和玉米蛇的体重足以产生按摩的捏合感，而让那些小蛇在皮肤上来回蠕动以产生震颤感。“这种感觉，人们要么非常喜欢，要么就很厌恶，”巴拉克正说着，一辆公交车载着一车以色列游客到了。一位留着飘逸棕发的18岁女孩答应躺下来，让无毒蛇在她裸露的肚皮上随意爬行，小蛇们犹如手指般爱抚地滑向她的肚子和脸，女孩看起来深深陶醉其中。

我对蛇疗的镇静作用以及疗效心存怀疑，因此决定亲身体验一下这80元的蛇疗法。巴拉克的表亲纳瓦.贝歇博士提醒我《圣经》里的摩西将一条铜蛇挂在他的权杖上，举向天空，让人们想到万能的上帝，而这蛇就是医学的象征，意思是杀你者也能救你。巴拉克的许多常客都说蛇疗能缓解偏头痛和肌肉酸痛。

纳瓦把我领到一间长满热带植物的明亮房间。我脱下衬衫和裤子，躺在按摩桌上，正在为理疗作心理准备时，我看见一条脊背上有砖色鳞片的小蛇正把嘴巴张得异常之大，它会不会攻击我？不——它只因战战兢兢而吐出一只尚未消化一半的老鼠。这让我觉得：这条蛇也像我一样，因为要做蛇疗而有点紧张不安，它也在犯恶心。当巴拉克把一群纠结在一起的蛇倒在我肚皮上时，蛇的第一反应是惊慌失措，我也如此。它们四处逃窜，而巴拉克则耐心地翻弄着将它们挑回来，使得它们交缠在一起，让它们不要滑落我的肚皮。

恐慌一经退却，我就能集中精力体验蛇在皮肤上滑行的感觉：除了一只小蛇停下来在我睫毛上细咬时，感到有点不舒服外，总体感觉凉凉的，干干的，滑滑的，一点都不讨厌。蛇的触感让我感受到某种深层，宁静的东西。离开会所时，我尽管并不急切地买条蟒蛇带回家去给自己做理疗，但是整个人很放松，而且头脑出奇地轻松。

对大多数游客来说，他们还不愿意让蛇在自己身上爬来爬去。为了体验传统按摩，许多游客前往加利利海。隐蔽在松树林中的Bayit Bagalil 则是一家精品酒店，在那里，有美味可口的地中海美食，可以观赏到耶稣可能踏过的水域，还能享受各种形式的人工按摩。去富含矿物的死海玩玩水 —— sheba 女王早在4，000年前就已经为其疗效大肆吹捧过——值得做一做。不过，在死海周边，不要靠近蛇：它们的抚摸虽然可以缓解疼痛，但是被它们咬伤则会致人死命。