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THE MYSTIC MANDRAKE - C.J.S. Thompson
60,00 €
TTC
The Mystic Mandrake by C.J.S. Thompson
Foreword by Corinne Boyer
Few plants in the history of botany have inspired as much fascination, fear, and supernatural speculation as the mandrake. In The Mystic Mandrake, C. J. S. Thompson guides the reader through one of the most comprehensive interdisciplinary explorations of this enigmatic plant, at the crossroads of plant lore, medicine, folklore, and occult traditions.
From the earliest civilizations of the Near East to the botanical knowledge of ancient Greece and the folklore of medieval Europe, the mandrake remains one of the most emblematic and enduring witch plants. Revered as a love charm, root fetish, magical talisman and the Devil’s ally, its human-shaped root and potent psychoactive properties gave rise to some of the most enduring legends in the history of natural magic. The belief that the plant screamed when uprooted, that it could confer fertility or wealth, or that it harboured a spirit within its roots reveals a deep symbolic relationship between nature, animistic belief and mythopoetic expressions of the natural world.
Drawing on ancient texts, medieval herbals, mystical traditions, and early scientific observations, C. J. S. Thompson reconstructs more than three millennia of mandrake lore.
At once scholarly and evocative, The Mystic Mandrake is an essential work for anyone interested in the practice of magic and the symbolic language of plants.
The book is introduced with a foreword by Corinne Boyer, folk herbalist, teacher, and author of several books on plant lore and history.
Available in 2 editions – Hardcover & Artisanal.
196 pages - featuring 18 illustrations in color.
Standard Hardcover Edition
Limited to 350 copies
• Full-color Hardcover
• Coloured Headbands and Endpapers.
• Printed on Munken Pure Cream 120gsm paper.
• Including 18 classic illustrations in color.
• Fine Typography and Layout
Artisanal Edition with Slipcase
> PREORDER / Limited to 15 copies.
• Half-leather binding in Venetian Emerald Shagreen Leather on five raised bands.
• Hand-made Marbled Endpapers.
• Gold foil blocking on rounded spine and cover.
• Coloured Headbands. Slipcase.
• Printed on Munken Pure Cream 120gsm paper.
• Including 18 classic illustrations in color.
• Fine Typography and Layout
Contents
Foreword for The Mystic Mandrake.
Introduction.
Proem.
I. Mandragora. Derivation of the name.
Description of the plant and its habitat.
II. The mandrake of the Hebrews.
The mandrake of the Bible. Rachel and the mandrakes.
III. The mandrake in Ancient Egypt, Assyria and Persia.
IV. The mandrake in Ancient Greece.
V. Demonology and plants.
VI. Dioscorides on the mandrake.
VII. Mandrake legends in China.
VIII. The mandrake of Josephus.
IX. The Romans and the mandrake.
X. The mandrake in Britain - Anglo-Saxon times.
Traditions in England and Wales.
XI. Mandrake in the Middle Ages. The demand for mannikins.
How artificial mannikins were made.
XII. The mandrake in Germany. Strange stories of Alrauns.
Their occult powers. False mannikins.
XIII. The mandrake in France. Joan of Arc and the mandrake.
The mandrake and mistletoe.
XIV. Ceremonies in gathering mandrake and other magical plants.
XV. The mandrake and the gallows legend.
XVI. The mandrake in Italy. Among Southern Slavs and the Armenians.
XVII. The mandrake in the drama, poetry and story.
XVIII. The mandrake in the Herbals of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
XIX. The medicinal and occult properties attributed to the mandrake.
XX. Mandragora in the light of modern science.
Index.
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