Mandrake
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"The identification of the hand of glory with the mandrake is clinched by the statement in Cockayne's Leechdoms, i. 245, that the mandrake "shineth by night altogether like a lamp.""--Notes on English etymology; chiefly reprinted from the Transactions of the Philological society (1901) by Walter William Skeat "A whore had been Alraune's mother, one of the lowest sort, who had bartered herself away for pennies. And a miserable lust murderer the father, Noerrissen had been his name, she knew it well."--Alraune (1911) by Hanns Heinz Ewers “He who desires to possess a mandrake must stop his ears with wax so that he may not hear the deadly yells which the plant utters as it is being dragged from the earth. Then before sunrise on a Friday, the amateur goes out with a dog ›all black‹, makes three crosses 'round the mandrake, loosens the soil around the root, ties the root to the dog’s tail and offers the beast a bit of bread. The dog runs at the bread, drags out the mandrake root and falls dead, killed by the horrible yell of the plant.”--Custom and Myth (1883) by Andrew Lang |
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A mandrake is the root of a plant, historically derived either from plants of the genus Mandragora found in the Mediterranean region, or from other species, such as Bryonia alba, the English mandrake, which have similar properties. The plants from which the root is obtained are also called "mandrakes". Mediterranean mandrakes are perennial herbaceous plants with ovate leaves arranged in a rosette, a thick upright root, often branched, and bell-shaped flowers followed by yellow or orange berries. They have been placed in different species by different authors. They are highly variable perennial herbaceous plants with long thick roots (often branched) and almost no stem. The leaves are borne in a basal rosette, and are variable in size and shape. They are usually either elliptical in shape or wider towards the end (obovate), with varying degrees of hairiness.
Because mandrakes 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 such as Wicca and Odinism.
The English name of the plant derives from Latin mandragora through French main-de-gloire.
See also
- Mandrake (disambiguation)
- The “mandrake” medical superstition (William Netter in 'The Medical Standard')
