Miscellaneous Aphrodisiac Discoveries

Amongst the aphrodisiacs there is something for everyone. There are also anecdotes and curious things that enrich the creativity, just like a good spice does to a dish. For example, to know what the Aztecs did to increase their sexual vigor, the experiments the cooks of the Spanish Crown did in the XIV century with the same end.

In synthesis, resources that in those times were considered that had an immediate affect and that today can still be used.

Mandrake
One of the first mentions of aphrodisiacs is in the Egyptian papyruses of 22300 and 1700 B.C. In the papyrus of Ebers, an ancient aphrodisiac was talked about, mandrake, as dujajim, “the fruit that excites love”.

The mummy of Tutankamon had on her neck a necklace of six rounds with eleven mandrake roots, to assure her sexual power in her other life (although she only lived until the age of nineteen).

In the bible there are also references of mandrake, to be more exact in Genesis, a section of the Old Testament that tells of very remote times. There you can find a testimony about a sexual use of this enigmatic vegetable, and it gave birth to a great amount of myths.

Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife, was sterile, whereas his other wife, Leah, had already had four children with him. The oldest son finds some mandrakes in the country and takes them to his mother.

It seems that even then these roots which were considered amongst other things sexual stimulators, were for a fertile woman, but it wasn’t only for this purpose: it also had, amongst other things, the power of resolving feminine sterility.

So Leah buys Rachel’s turn – who was supposed to sleep with Jacob that night – in exchange for some mandrakes since Rachel was worried about her capacity for giving him children, which could have created future problems in the house.

Leah got what she wanted and she gave birth to a fifth son for Jacob whose name was Isaac.

According to the rabbinical tradition, this root would have grown in the Earthly Paradise, so it is not necessary to be surprised that it is mentioned in bible stories.

As was said before, mandrake was not only considered an aphrodisiac but had a lot of other virtues. In the ancient Mediterranean cultures it was considered that it made people fall in love, cured sterility (both feminine and masculine), produced narcosis, and multiplied money.

So much capacity made it valuable, obviously, for witchcraft. According to what Homer says in the Odyssey, the witch Circe attracted men with a drink prepared with mandrake, making them love her and later on she would turn them into animals for her stables.

Mandrake also has its horror facet. It is remarkable the influence that it had in Europe during the Middle Ages. Since it is a small plant that grows at the foot of the trees, in the Middle Ages people believe that it was born from the liquids dropped by the people that were hung. A pharmaceutical French doctor in the XVI century called Laurent Catelan, assured that mandrake was caused by the sperm of a man, that in germination this plant makes a hole and the effect of a grain. He was probably referring to the sperm of the men hanging or squished under a wheel, bleeding and dripping on the grass, falling drop by drop on the ground.

The recollection of this plant was surrounded by a series of very complex rituals, and it was even thought that the person who ripped it out of the ground would die. And for this reason the collector was replaced by a dog tied to the root.

The farmers of that time were horrified of it because they believed that it had human characteristics. In the magic texts it is talked about with a lot of cult.

However, ancient documents describe mandrake as a plant that sleeps the first day and then goes wild the next. The word mandrake is of a Greek origin and means, harm to the flock.

This plant grows in shady woods, near rivers and streams where the sunlight does not reach. Its root is thick and long, generally divided in two or three branches of a whitish color that extend down to the ground; its leaves have a dark greenish tone; its flowers are white, slightly stained in purple; and the fruit is similar to that of a small apple and lets off a fetid scent.

Supposedly in order to fake her death, Juliet used and elixir with mandrake, while Romeo poised himself with aconite. It is obvious that its properties were known by instructed people, since besides Romeo and Juliet there are other theatrical plays, fables and novels until the XVII century.

Due to its high content of alkaloids in the plant, using it can cause serious intoxications, characterized by hypertension, hemorrhages etc. and for this reason its aphrodisiac action has been completely forgotten.