Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Mandrake root that looks like a man

Mandrake in Harry potter
•Roots: Brown, humanoid
•Leaves: Green/brownish
•Distinction(s)
•Screams can be fatal if heard with the naked ear
•Though a plant, it appears almost as if a human baby with a leafing head
•Usage
•When matured, can be cut up to serve as a prime ingredient for the Mandrake Restorative Draught, which is to cure those who have been petrified.
Video: 


Mandrake 
•a plant which has a root that looks like a human
•historically derived from
•plants of the genus Mandragora found in the Mediterranean region
•Or other species, such as Bryonia alba, the English mandrake, which have similar properties
   

History
•The most important magical plant of the Middle Ages
•It was thought to increase fertility and was valued as an aphrodisiac.
•"In the story of Rachael, Leah and Jacob, the originators of the twelve tribes of Israel, Rachael trusted in the power of the Mandrake to rouse Jacob's interest in her, hoping that the herb would make her fertile so she could bear him a child."
•"In the Song of Songs, it is mentioned as an allusion to passionate love-making"
•Mandrake was also known to have narcotic properties. It was often used as an anaesthetic for surgical procedures.
•Hailed as a miracle talisman, capable of curing just about anything due to its shape

Natural magiC
•Mandrake root emanated mysterious power to fascinate and entrance people - most likely due to its shape, which with a little stretch of the imagination could be seen to resemble a human body
•Eating things that looks like a human body à fertile
•You are what you eat à the mandrake root that resemble a human body can cure anything  

Science
•Contain highly biologically active alkaloids, tropane alkaloids in particular
•It has anticholinergic, hallucinogenic, and hypnotic effects à These effects may cause aphrodisiac effect and then increase the fertility
•The root is hallucinogenic and narcotic. In sufficient quantities, it induces a state of unconsciousness à relieve pains 

Reference

 

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