Mandrake
A mandrake is one of several toxic plant species with "man-shaped" roots and some uses in folk remedies. The roots by themselves may also be referred to as "mandrakes". The term primarily refers to nightshades of the genus Mandragora found in the Mediterranean region.
Other unrelated plants also sometimes referred to as "mandrake" include Bryonia alba and Podophyllum peltatum. These plants have root structures similar to members of Mandragora, and are likewise toxic.
This article will focus on mandrakes of the genus Mandragora and the European folklore surrounding them. Because these plants contain deliriant hallucinogenic tropane alkaloids and the shape of their roots often resembles human figures, they have been associated with magic rituals throughout history, including present-day contemporary pagan traditions.
Nomenclature
The English name "mandrake" derives from Latin mandragora. While the classical name has nothing to do with either "man" or "dragon/drake", the English form made it susceptible to such folk etymology. The French form main-de-gloire has been held up as a "more complete example" of folk etymology.The German common name is Alraun, Alraune. However, the Latin mandragora, misidentified by false etymology to have a -draco stem has caused the plant and beast to be conflated into an Alraundrachen, in the sense of a household spirit. This combined form is not well attested, but the house kobold is known regionally as either alraune or drak, both classed as "dragon names" by Weiser-Aall.
The mandrake-doll in German might be called Alraun Männlein, in Belgian mandragora manneken, or in Italian mandragora maschio. In German, it is also known as Galgenmännlein stemming from the belief that they grow near gallows, also attested in Icelandic þjófarót "thieves' root".
Certain sources cite the Dutch name or , claiming the plant grows from the brains of dead thieves, or the droppings of those hung on the gallows. The name "brain thief" for mandrake also occurs in English.
Toxicity and pharmaceutical usage
All species of Mandragora contain highly biologically active alkaloids, particularly tropane alkaloids. The alkaloids make the plant poisonous – primarily the root and leaves – with anticholinergic, hallucinogenic, and hypnotic effects. Anticholinergic properties can lead to asphyxiation. People can be poisoned accidentally by ingesting mandrake root, which is likely to have other adverse effects such as vomiting and diarrhea. The alkaloid concentration varies between plant samples. Clinical reports of the effects of consumption of Mediterranean mandrake include severe symptoms similar to those of atropine poisoning, including blurred vision, dilation of the pupils, dryness of the mouth, difficulty urinating, dizziness, headache, vomiting, blushing and a rapid heart rate. Hyperactivity and hallucinations occur in the majority of patients.The root is hallucinogenic and narcotic. In sufficient quantities, it induces a state of unconsciousness and was used as an anaesthetic for surgery in ancient times. In the past, juice from the finely grated root was applied externally to relieve rheumatic pains. It was used internally to treat melancholy, convulsions, and mania. When taken internally in large doses it was said to excite delirium and madness.
Ancient Greco-Roman pharmacopoeia
Historia Plantarum wrote that the mandragora needed to be harvested by following a prescribed ritual, namely, "draw three circles around with a sword, and cut it facing west"; then in order to obtain a second piece, the harvester must dance around it while speaking as much lewd talk about sex as he possibly can. The ritual given in Pliny probably relies on Theophrastus.Dioscorides in De materia medica described the uses of mandragora as a narcotic, analgesic, and abortifacient. He also claimed a love potion could be concocted from it.
Dioscorides as a practicing physician writes that some in his profession may administer a ladle or 1 of mandrake reduction, made from the root boiled in wine until it shrivels to a third, before performing surgery. Pliny the Elder also repeats that a 1 cyathus dose of mandragora potion is drunk by the patient before incisions or punctures are made on his body. A simple juice can be produced by mashing the root or scoring and leeching out, or a reduction type made by boiling, for which Dioscorides provides distinguishing terms, though Pliny lumps these into "juice". Just the stripped bark may be infused for a longer period, or the fruits can be sun-dried into a condensed juice, and so forth. The plant is supposedly strong-smelling. And its use for eye remedy is also noted.
Both authors acknowledge that there were male and female mandragora. Pliny states there was the white male type and the dark female type of mandragora. However, he also has a different book-chapter on what he presumes to be a different plant called the white eryngium, also called centocapitum, which also are of two types, those resembling the male and female genitalia, which translators note might also be actually referring to the mandragora. If a man came into possession of a phallic mandrake, this had the power to attract women. Pliny contends that Phaon of Lesbos Island, by obtaining this phallic root was able to cause the poet Sappho to fall in love with him.
A parallel has been noted between the lore of the mandrake harvested from a hangman, and the unguent which Medea gave to Iason, which was made from a plant fed with the body fluid from chain-bound Prometheus.
The ancient Greeks also burned mandrake as incense.
Biblical
Two references to occur in the Jewish scriptures. The Septuagint translates דודאים as, and the Vulgate follows the Septuagint. Several later translations into different languages follow Septuagint and use mandrake as the plant as the proper meaning in both the Genesis 30:14–16 and Song of Songs 7: 12-13. Others follow the example of the Luther Bible and provide a more literal translation.The was considered an aphrodisiac or rather a treatment for infertility, as in Genesis 30:14. The anecdote concerns the fertility of the wives of Jacob, who engendered the Twelve Tribes of Israel headed by his many children. Though he had a firstborn son Reuben by Leah which was a marriage forced upon him, his favorite wife Rachel, Leah's younger sister, remained barren and coveted the dudaʾim. This plant was found by the boy Reuben who supposedly entrusted it to Leah, who would barter it in exchange for allowing her to spend a night in Jacob's bed.
However, the herbal treatment does not seem to work on Rachel, and instead, Leah, who had previously had four sons but had been infertile for a long while, became pregnant once more, so that in time, she gave birth to two more sons, Issachar and Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah. Thus Rachel had to endure several more years of torment being childless, while her sister could flaunt her prolific motherhood, until God intervened, allowing for Rachel's conception of Joseph.
The final verses of Chapter 7 of Song of Songs, mention the plant once again:
Physiologus
In the Christian allegorical bestiary Physiologus, the chapter on the elephant claims that the male becomes minded to create an offspring, it leads its mate to the growing ground for the female to find the mandragora and come into estrous, the female then brings the root to the male which in turn become inflamed and they mate, making the female immediately pregnant. The elephants are illustrated in e.g., Sloane 278.Philippe de Thaun's bestiary in Anglo-Norman verse has a chapter on the "mandragore", which states it consists of two kinds of roots, and must be extracted by the method of using a dog. He proports it to be a cure of all illnesses, save death.
Josephus
of Jerusalem instructed on a method of using a dog as surrogate to uproot the dangerous herb used in exorcism. The herb has been equated to the mandragora in subsequent scholarship. According to Josephus, it was no easy task for the harvester, because it will move away from the hand which will grab it, and though it can be stopped by pouring a woman's urine or menstrual blood on it, touching it will cause certain death. Thus in order to safely obtain it: Here Josephus only refers to the plant as Baaras, after the place where it grows, and thinks the plant is a type of rue however, it is considered to be identifiable as mandrake based on textual comparisons.Folklore
In the past, mandrake was often made into amulets which were believed to bring good fortune, cure sterility, etc. In one superstition, people who pull up this root will be condemned to hell, and the mandrake root would scream and cry as it was pulled from the ground, killing anyone who heard it. Therefore, in the past, people have tied the roots to the bodies of animals and then used these animals to pull the roots from the soil.Magic and witchcraft
According to the European folklore, when the root is dug up, it screams and kills all who hear it, so a dog must be attached to the root and made to pull it out. This piece of lore goes back centuries to Josephus's described method of sacrificing the dog to procure his baaras.It was a medieval embellishment that the root shrieked when extracted, and so was the lore that mandrake grew from the spots where criminals spilled their fluids. Neither of these were registered by the ancient Greek or Latin authors. The mandrake is represented as shining at night like a lantern, in the Old English Herbarium.
File:Tacuinum Sanitatis Mandrake Dog.jpg|thumb|Mandragora tied to a dog, from Tacuinum Sanitatis
In medieval times, mandrake was considered a key ingredient in a multitude of witches' flying ointment recipes as well as a primary component of magical potions and brews. These were entheogenic preparations used in European witchcraft for their mind-altering and hallucinogenic effects. Starting in the Late Middle Ages and thereafter, some believed that witches applied these ointments or ingested these potions to help them fly to gatherings with other witches, meet with the Devil, or to experience bacchanalian carousal.
Romani people use mandrake as a love-amulet.