Mandrakes! A Witchy Wednesday article.
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| Mandrakes on display at The Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford. |
MANDRAKES!
Welcome to another Witchy Wednesday. This weeks article is about one of my favourite plants, the Mandrake. This strange magical plant has always fascinated me, many years ago long before Harry Potter was even a thought my first encounter of seeing these magical twisted mini humans was on our family holidays to Boscastle in Cornwall, in particular The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic. This museum which is still a huge draw to holiday makers and folklorist to this day has an amazing collection of magical artifacts and was a welcome attraction to a young Kat on a particularly wet and cold day way back in the 1980's! As a child it ignited my interests in Folklore and Witches, after my first visit I became quite fascinated in the history of Folklore and mythical creatures. Something that made childhood holidays much more interesting as I was never happier than finding out legends of where we were staying.
As a teenager I continued to have an interest in Folklore and often spent my holidays travelling about on my own or with friends finding interesting locations and often camping in my little tent! In those days there was only libraries, museums and books and British holiday destinations didn't really capitalise on Folklore traditions so often I would find little leaflets or pamphlets at The Tourist Information shop to help guide me.
As an adult it's continues to influenced my beliefs and been a huge inspiration in my craft work. For a time I even made a living selling miniature Witches hats and brooms. I even made a few miniature mandrakes for dolls house settings!
Modern technology has allowed me further my studies into the history and practices of Witchcraft and folklore through adult education, lectures and workshops. Something I continue to do to this day and all because of an encounter with a Mandrake on rainy cold day in Boscastle a million years ago! 😆
You can of course visit The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in person, which I highly recommend or if getting to Cornwall is not something you can do you can also visit their website which is full of interesting history, artifacts, news and there is even an online shop!
Please visit this link
https://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/
Join Chris Thorogood from the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum and he does a re-enactment of an ancient technique to safely harvest a shrieking mandrake....with a dog!
For more fascinating science from the University of Oxford visit:
Images of Mandrakes
All images below are in the public domain and sourced from Public Domain Review. They have a spectacular collection of images on line and are a valuable resource for researching history and art.
Please visit their website link.
https://publicdomainreview.org/
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| Hortus sanitatis, Me 4° 1 (Herzog August Bibliothek), 1536, p. 00339. – |
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| Ortus sanitatis, 9413026 (NLM), 1491, p. 254. |
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| Ortus sanitatis, 9413026 (NLM), 1491, p. 254. |
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| O]fft vnd vil habe ich by mir selbst betracht die wu[n]dersam werck des schepfers der natuer..., 9412223 (National Library of Medicine), 1485, p. 417. |
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| O]fft vnd vil habe ich by mir selbst betracht die wu[n]dersam werck des schepfers der natuer..., 9412223 (National Library of Medicine), 1485, p. 415 |
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| Herbarium Apuleii, Ms. 18 (Yale Medical Library), ca. 1400, p. 81. |
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| Tacuinum sanitatis in medicina, Cod. Vindob. ser. nov. 2644 (Österreichische Nationalbibliothek), ca. 1390. |
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| Ms. R.14.9 (Trinity College Library, Cambridge), ca. 12th–15th century, f. 95v. – Source |
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| Harley MS 1585 (BL), ca. 12th century |
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| Pseudo-Apuleius, 2° MS (Landesbibliothek Kassel), ca. 9th century, f. 34v. – Source |
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| Naples Dioscurides, a manuscript of De Materia Medica, Cod. Gr. 1 (Biblioteca Nazionale Napoli), ca. 7th century. |
