Mandragora

Mandragora.

Mandragora (lot. Mandragora, angl. Mandrake) - bulvinių (Solanaceae) šeimos augalas. Natūraliai auga Pietų Europoje, Viduržemio jūros pakrantėje, Artimuosiuose Rytuose, Vidurinėje Azijoje, Himalajuose.


Mandragora yra stiprus haliucinogenas. Antikoje, Viduramžiais naudota įvairiose apeigose. Visos augalo dalys labai nuodingos. Apsinuodijimas mandragora gali nepataisomai pažeisti sveikatą arba turėti mirtiną poveikį.


Mandragora (dgs. mandragoros) - fantastinė būtybė, demonas, vaizduojamas kaip nedidelio ūgio žmonės su barzdomis. Taip pat buvo manoma, kad madragoros yra mažos lėlės ar figurėlės, kurias naudojo burtininkai, jas gavę iš Šėtono. Pati mandragorų koncepcija atrodo kilo nuo fetišo, kuris yra ne kas kita kaip šamano ar žolininko naudotas indas pagauti klajojančią sielą. Mandragora dar žinoma mandrake vardu.


The Bible.

There are two references to דודאים (dûdã'im)--literally meaning “love plant”--in the Jewish scriptures. A number of translations into different languages follow the example of the Latin Vulgate and use mandrake as the plant as the proper meaning in both Genesis 30:14-16 and Song of Solomon 7:13. Others follow the example of the Luther Bible and provide a more literal translation. The readings from the King James Bible are "And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.", and "The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.", respectively.

Note: A number of other plants have been suggested by biblical scholars, e.g., blackberries, Zizyphus Lotus, the sidr of the Arabs, the banana, lily, citron, and fig. Sir Thomas Browne, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica, ch. VII, suggests that the 'dudai'im' of Genesis 30:14 is the opium poppy, because the word 'dudai'im' may be a reference to a woman's breasts.

In Genesis 30:14, Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob and Leah finds mandrake in a field. Rachel, Jacob's infertile second wife and Leah's sister, is desirous of the דודאים and barters with Leah for them. The trade offered by Rachel is for Leah to spend that night in Jacob's bed in exchange for Leah's דודאים. Leah gives away the plant to her barren sister, but soon after this (Genesis 30:14-22), Leah, who had previously had four sons but had been infertile for a long while, became pregnant once more and in time gave birth to two more sons, Issachar and Zebulun, and a daughter, Dinah. Only years after this episode of her asking for the mandrakes did Rachel manage to get pregnant. The predominant traditional Jewish view is that דודאים were an ancient folk remedy to help barren women conceive a child.

The final verses of Song of Songs (Song of Songs 7:12-13), are:

לְכָה דוֹדִי נֵצֵא הַשָּׂדֶה, נָלִינָה בַּכְּפָרִים.נַשְׁכִּימָה, לַכְּרָמִים--נִרְאֶה אִם-פָּרְחָה הַגֶּפֶן פִּתַּח הַסְּמָדַר, הֵנֵצוּ הָרִמּוֹנִים; שָׁם אֶתֵּן אֶת-דֹּדַי, לָךְ.הַדּוּדָאִים נָתְנוּ-רֵיחַ, וְעַל-פְּתָחֵינוּ כָּל-מְגָדִים--חֲדָשִׁים, גַּם-יְשָׁנִים; דּוֹדִי, צָפַנְתִּי לָךְ

Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see whether the vine hath budded, whether the vine-blossom be opened, and the pomegranates be in flower; there will I give thee my love. The דודאים give forth fragrance, and at our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

According to the legend, when the root is dug up it screams and kills all who hear it. Literature includes complex directions for harvesting a mandrake root in relative safety. For example Josephus (c. AD 37 Jerusalem – c. 100) gives the following directions for pulling it up:

A furrow must be dug around the root until its lower part is exposed, then a dog is tied to it, after which the person tying the dog must get away. The dog then endeavours to follow him, and so easily pulls up the root, but dies suddenly instead of his master. After this the root can be handled without fear.


Harry Potter.

The mandrake was know as a medicinal plant by the Assyrians and the Ancient Greeks, and was mentioned in texts by Dioscorides and Theophrastus as a potent narcotic.

Modern scientists identified a number of estrogen like substances and the alkaloid scopolamine in the fruits of this plant.

There are many superstitions regarding its ability to attract demons and cure various illnesses. The Arabic name of this plant, "madmen's apple" suggests its use for treating mental diseases.

Mandrake Bible.

Devils apple.


Deep Purple.