The mandrake has been a source of considerable superstition, with the mystical properties likely attributed because the root may resemble a human form, with arm and leg appendages.Īccording to the legend, when the root is dug up it lets out a horrible shriek that kills all who hear it or drives them mad. Mandragora, from Tacuinum Sanitatis (1474). A number of other plants have been suggested such as bramble-berries, Zizyphus Lotus, the sidr of the Arabs, the banana, the lily, the citron, and the fig. Mandrake in Hebrew is דודאים (dûdã'im), meaning “love plant.” Most interpreters hold Mandragora officinarum to be the plant intended in Genesis 30:14 ("love plant") and Song of Songs 7:13 ("the mandrakes send out their fragrance").
There are classical Jewish commentaries which suggest that mandrakes help barren women to conceive a child. Soon after this Leah, who previously had had four sons but had ceased to become pregnant for a long while, then became pregnant once more and gave birth to a son. The trade offered by Rachel is for Leah to spend the next night in Jacob's bed. Rachel, Jacob's second wife, the sister of Leah, is desirous of the mandrakes and she barters with her sister for them. In Genesis 30, Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah, finds mandrakes in the field. Dioscorides, a Greek physician of the first century, described how a wine made from mandrake produces anesthesia, noting it can be used for those who cannot sleep, or have severe pain, or are being cauterized or cut, with the use of it resulting in that they will not feel pain (Peduto 2001).Ĭultural references, myths, and magic Hebrew Bible It historically also has been used as emetic (induces vomiting) and purgative (induce bowel movements) (Blakemore and Jennett 2001).įrom ancient times, the root was promoted for such uses as an aphrodisiac and for fertility. The root can be very toxic, but also is used as an adnodyne to relieve and soothe pain (by lessening the sensitivity of the brain or nervous system) and for its soporific properties (inducing sleep). Mandrake's medicinal uses date back to ancient times, with references to it being used as a cure to sterility in Genesis 3:14-16 and in the time of Pliny (23-79 C.E.) it was being given to patients before surgery by having them chew of pieces of root (Blakemore and Jennett 2001). The Arab name mandragora means "hurtful to cattle" (Blakemore and Jennett 2001). The fruit likewise causes poisoning in cattle.
Symptoms of overdose may include mouth dryness, dilated pupils, ataxia, urinary retention, hallucinations, convulsions, coma, and death.Īll parts of the mandrake plant are poisonous. Pharmacologically, they are the most powerful known anticholinergics in existence, meaning they inhibit the neurological signals transmitted by the endogenous neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. Chemically, the molecules of these compounds have a characteristic bicyclic structure and include atropine, scopolamine, and hyoscyamine. One of the most important groups of alkaloid compounds found in members of the Mandragora genus are tropane alkaloids, which also are found in the Solanaceae genera Atropa (the belladonna genus), Datura, and Brugmansia, as well as many others in the Solanaceae family. Even today, in neopagan religions such as Wicca and Germanic revivalism religions such as Odinism, the mandrake continues to play a role. With roots that sometimes contain bifurcations causing them to resemble human figures, mandrakes long have been associated with mystical properties and with magic rituals. References to the importance of mandrake in human culture trace back as far as the book of Genesis and in ancient Greek and Roman societies. Mandragora species are native to the Mediterranean and the Himalayas. The term mandrake also is commonly used for the roots of these plants, which contain poisonous alkaloids and have been used medicinally for their anodyne (relieves pain through external application) and soporific properties, but also can lead to delirium and hallucinations. Mandrake is the common name for any of the herbaceous, perennial plants comprising the genus Mandragora of the nightshade family Solanacea, and in particular Mandragora officinarum, whose long, fleshy, often forked root can roughly resemble the human body and has long had medicinal, mystical, and magical properties associated with it.
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