“This was supposedly smeared on the skin to give the sensation of flying, through its hallucinogenic effect.ĭue to its properties, both mythical and real, mandrake was in great demand in medieval times. Mandrake was also an ingredient in “witch’s ointment, first mentioned in the 15th century. “Give me to drink mandragora, That I might sleep out this great gap of time,” exclaims Cleopatra in Anthony and Cleopatra. Nevertheless, the association of mandrake with sleep caught the imagination of Shakespeare. The herbal extracts could possibly have induced sleep if ingested, but sniffing a “soporific sponge” would not have worked. The sponge would be allowed to dry, and when needed to induce sleep, it would be moistened and placed under the nostrils of the patient. Although there were several versions, the basic method was to soak a sea sponge in an extract of herbs that always included mandrake as well as henbane and the opium poppy. As early as the first century, Dioscorides in his famed “De materia medica” suggested that a decoction of mandrake in wine would take away the pain of snake bite and also “make patients insensitive to incisions and cauterizations.”Ĭuriously, there seems to be no further mention of the effects of mandrake until around the 10th century, when descriptions of a “spongia somnifera,” or “soporific sponge” began to appear. The mandrake root contains atropine, scopolamine and hyoscyamine along with a number of other alkaloids that can in a sufficiently high dose cause effects that range from drowsiness and hallucinations to respiratory failure and death. While the Doctrine of Signatures has no scientific merit, plants of course can harbour a multitude of physiologically active compounds. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. John Donne, the British poet, apparently bought into fertility myth, “Go and catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake root,” he penned in his famous poem Song. Much later, in the Middle Ages, the myth would be resuscitated with the popularization of the “Doctrine of Signatures.” The suggestion was that God had placed a “signature” on plants by having them resemble parts of the body to give a clue about their potential medicinal use. The fertility saga may be rooted in the shape of the underground stem of the plant which, with a bit of imagination tossed in, resembles the human body. The plant’s root was supposed to impart fertility, and as the story goes, Rachel soon gave birth to Joseph and to Benjamin. Rachel, who is barren, agrees to let her sister Leah “lie” with Jacob in exchange for some mandrake that Leah’s son had found. One of the earliest mentions of the effects of mandrake takes us back to the Bible’s Book of Genesis. The next issue of Montreal Gazette Headline News will soon be in your inbox. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. Manage Print Subscription / Tax ReceiptĪ welcome email is on its way.In particular, it gains the power of speech and its shriek becomes far stronger. In these cases, the plant becomes thorny and its powers grow substantially. As a magical plant, the mandrake sometimes takes on an unusual appearance if it grows to full flowering. If ground into a powder and brewed for a year and a day, the mandrake root becomes an elixir of health, which can cure all poisons and afflictions. Were it not for its incredible medicinal properties, the mandrake would never be cultivated at all. If the root is pulled from the ground, it wails with such piercing fury that most common folk who hear it die instantly. The mandrake remains dormant for one year, after which time it grows into a thick, tuberous root that is shaped like a young humanoid sprouting a thick, leafy head of hair. Though some herbalists can breed mandrakes, a mandrake only blooms in the wild under grisly circumstances: when an innocent youth is wrongfully hanged for theft, and the youth’s dying blood, spittle, sweat, or urine strikes the earth. An unconscious creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, regaining consciousness on a success. If it fails by 10 or more, it falls unconscious. If a creature fails the saving throw by 5 or more, it is stunned until the end of its next turn. All creatures within 60 feet of the mandrake that can hear it must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 5 (2d4) thunder damage. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 9 The leaves twitch slightly, and a faint, muffled squealing can be heard from the ground.Ĭondition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned 5e SRD > Creatures > Mandrake (Open Design)Ī crown of lettuce-like leaves sprouts from the soil.
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