Adam's head plant. Magic herbs in Russia

Adam's head Adam's head - according to Russian beliefs - magic grass. IN AND. Dahl identifies this plant (without mentioning its magical properties) as mandrake or black thistle Centaurea scabiosa.

In some herbalists, "Adam's head" is called "the king in all herbs." According to ancient herbalists, "the grass of Adam's head ... grows near the strong Ramen swamps, and grows in bushes of 8, 6, 9 and 12 in a span, the color of crimson, round, and blooms very well - jugs of all kinds ". Like other wonderful herbs, "Adam's head", according to healers, should be collected with a cross and a prayer: "And tear that grass with the cross of the Lord and say: Our Father, have mercy on me God ...".

Grass "Adam's head" has long been used as a talisman and a cure for many diseases. A decoction of it in some places was given to drink to people who were spoiled, as well as to pregnant women who had time to give birth (to facilitate childbirth). It was used as a powder on wounds: will live for three days." In the Nizhny Novgorod province. "Adam's head" together with the root of the grass "Peter's cross" was sewn into a shirt along the seams and especially into a collar, and these herbs were also tied to a pectoral cross, considering this a universal remedy for any disease. In the Perm province. "Adam's head" together with the "Peter's cross" was sewn into an amulet along with grass and hung around the cows' necks "as a warning against the plague."

According to the beliefs of different places, the grass "Adam's head" inspires courage and relieves the fear of heights: "who wants to climb high - there is no fear with her and the earth seems close." Collected on Ivan's Day and secretly preserved until Maundy Thursday, the "Adam's head" hunters fumigated their hunting equipment (snares, nets and guns with bullets), believing that after that it would be reliably protected from damage and no prey would leave the hunter. In some places, the "Adam's head" was also used in the construction of dams and mills: it was placed "on a pillow by the dam", believing that after that "the dam will be indestructible forever."

In addition, the people used the herb "Adam's head" in order to gain a certain power over unclean spirits. The peasants believed that a person who wants to see all the “fallen strength” should infuse the root of this herb on consecrated water and drink the resulting infusion, and also put the herb “Adam’s head” in the church under the throne and leave it there for forty days, after which it , according to popular belief, it will acquire such miraculous power that if you hold it in your hand, you can see the devil, devils or demons: "And whoever wants to see the devil or a heretic, take that root with water, sanctify it, and put it on the throne and do not hide it for 40 days and those days will pass, carry with you - see water and air demons. And if you want to keep water or set up mills - keep it with you.

At the same time, in some places, such a rite of consecration was advised to be performed not over the grass, but over the flower of the "Adam's head", blooming by Ivanov's day: they put it under the throne for 40 days, believing that if after that you take it in your hand, you can see different unclean spirits: "then you can rip off the hat from the goblin (i.e., the invisibility hat, which, according to legend, unclean spirits possess - goblin, bannik, etc.), put it on yourself and become as invisible as the goblin."

"King of all herbs" - so respectfully called the plant called Adam's head or mandrake, as it was called in Western Europe. It was said that “whoever wants to see a heretic or the devil, take the root of the mandrake, sanctify it and put it on the throne in the temple. After forty days, take it and carry it with you - you will recognize water and air demons. And when someone is injured, put it on the wound, and immediately everything will live."

Hunters believed in the magical effect of Adam's head in Russia. Before going to the forest to hunt, it was supposed to fumigate hunting equipment with the leaves of the plant, and it gained strength and luck. And on this day the hunting was always good, especially for wild ducks.
According to popular beliefs, you need to look for the mandrake with extreme caution. It was necessary to turn your face to the west, outline three times with a knife the place where you are looking for a plant. Then tie Adam's head to the tail of a black dog and force him to pull out the root. At the same time, at the moment of pulling out, a terrible scream was heard. If you try to pull out the plant yourself without a dog, then death is inevitable.

Adam's head, according to I. P. Sakharov, “is in great respect among the villagers. The sorcerers collect it on Midsummer Day and keep it secretly until Maundy Thursday. According to the popular concept, the magical power of Adam's head extends only to ducks. Hunters who received this herb from the hands of a sorcerer's note, fumigate all the shells they use when catching ducks in Great Quarter.

Tirlich or Witch's Potion is a herb that is considered demonic. On the eve of the holiday of Ivan Kupala, witches and sorceresses go to the Bald Mountains to collect tirlich grass. The juice is squeezed out of the grass, with which the witches lubricate their hands and feet. It helps with enchantment. Whoever is completely rubbed with grass becomes a werewolf and can turn into anyone. If a simple peasant finds this herb and does the same, he will be able to communicate with witches and ghouls. Knowing this, the sorceresses try to protect those places where the tirlich grows from ordinary people, in every possible way leading them astray.

Adam's head, Adam's beard, Adam's bone, Adam's rib, Adam's - plants and objects of unusual shape, endowed with healing or supernatural powers.

In the ideas about Adamism, the line between its real and fantastic properties is difficult to discern: among the people there are many extraordinary things in nature, “resembling the forms of a person”, “as well as everything that belongs to remote times, is called Adamov or Adamovism. The poisonous plant Actaea spicata L., the most commonly used remedy for almost all diseases in the Vyatka province, is called Adam's rib. Blue balls (Echinops Ritro L.) are called Adam's head in the Perm province. This plant is sewn into the amulet along with the Peter's cross (grass that looks like a cross) and hung around the cows' necks as a warning against the plague. In the Nizhny Novgorod province, the following instruction is considered a universal remedy for any illness: take the root of Peter's cross and the grass of Adam's head, sew it into a shirt along the seams and especially on a collar or tie it on a cross.<Демич, 1899>.

The description of the grass of Adam's head is invariably found in ancient herbalists, where it is called "the king in all herbs": "There is a grass of Adam's head, grows near strong Ramen swamps, and grows in bushes of 8, 6, 9 and 12, in a leaf growing in a span, the color of crimson, round, but it blooms very well - jugs of every kind. And tear that grass with the cross of the Lord and say: Our Father, God have mercy on me.<…>And bring that herb into your house, which a man is corrupted and who spoils, let him drink and rebuke him. And whoever wants to see the devil or a heretic, take that root with water, sanctify it, and put it on the throne (church. - M.V.) and never miss 40 days and those days will pass, carry with you - see the water and air demons. And if you want to keep water or set up mills - keep it with you.<…>And when someone is wounded or cut, put it on the wound, it will heal in three days.

In the Vologda region, the Adam's head was described a little differently: "... it grows in bushes in the elbow, 3 and 5 and 12 knee high, the color is rudoyellow, red, like a head with a mouth." This herb facilitates childbirth, strengthens mill dams, inspires courage, helps in witchcraft: the flower of Adam's head (Cypripedium calceolus from the orchid family), which blooms on St. John's Day (July 7), must be "put under the throne in the church so that it lies there for 40 days ". After that, the flower “receives such a miraculous power that if you hold it in your hand, you will see the Devil, devils, goblin, in a word, all the “fallen away” power. Then you can rip off the hat from the goblin, put it on yourself and you will become as invisible as the goblin ”(Volog.)<Иваницкий, 1890>.

Collected on Midsummer Day and secretly preserved until Maundy Thursday, the hunters fumigated bullets with the Adam's head for more successful catching of wild ducks.

Adam's head was also called the "dead head", that is, the skull.

Adam's beard- plant Asclepia, which has a "root with a beard." According to V. Dahl, Adamovshchina (Adam's bone) (Arch., Sib.) - fossil wood and bone. In non-petrified form, they can be called "Noevism"<Даль, 1880>.

Adam's children- devilry; brownies, goblin, etc.

“Atchavo, are the foxes withered, vadyany, palevyy, damavay? This is at the children of Adam, that he was ashamed to show God behind you that Iago zhonka gave a whole arab ”(Smol.).

The name goes back to the apocryphal legend about the children of Adam and Eve, who were born after the fall: for this secrecy, he made it so that the children of the forefather would forever remain in places of concealment, where they live, multiplying like people ”(Olon.).

In the Smolensk province, it was said that Eve advised Adam, before going to God, to hide some of the children in the reeds: “How Adam walked from God, to think: “Let me come in, take my children from the reeds!”

And they’re already there and there’s no title, - let’s put the Yans on the table, but the dark forces have become: the owners of the ladies, the foolish ones in the forests, the vadyans on the ladies - the idea to which God made to live.

In the title "Adam's children", the folk rethinking of the biblical narrative was combined with the ideas of the peasants about the host of unclean (brownies, goblin, banniks) as special, "hidden people", ancestors, the dead. They are connected by various (family, contractual, etc.) relations with those supernatural forces and beings that, according to pre-Christian beliefs, fill the whole world - earth, water, forests.

V. Dahl adds that Adam's children are "all people in the sense of sinners"<Даль, 1880>.

Vlasova Marina. Encyclopedia of Russian superstitions

Official application

The medicinal plant Adam's head (male root; pokrik; mandrake; sleeping potion) grows in southern and central Russia, in shady places.

The properties of the root of the Adam's head are poisonous, depending on the soporific acute onset; the smell of fresh root is unpleasant, hypnotic. The taste is bitter, nauseating; root bark: sharp. When dried, the sharpness is significantly weakened.

The root of the Adam's head is given in small doses: to relieve pain and go to sleep, especially in convulsive manifestations, hysteria, aches and melancholy. Outside, the root is often used finely crushed and mixed with honey; and also steamed in milk, the root of the Adam's head is applied in the form of cataplasm, for breeding zygomatic tumors (parotides), cervical scrofulous skyr hardenings, tight groins and venereal strength of the nuclei. Fresh crushed leaves of Adam's head also serve as an analgesic and dilutive cataplasm.

Inside, the root of the adam's head is given in liqueurs, in very small doses, putting 20 grains of dry crushed root in 10 ounces of boiling water, and after insisting ½ hour, the strained liqueur is given in a tablespoon, several times a day. In powder, taken from 2 - 3 grains, produces a soporific effect. To tame severe aches and gouty pains, Adam's head root is given from 1 to 4 grains per day, mixed with honey.

“... Speak, calculate, what kind of magical herbs are there? Speak, wizard! - ... There are all sorts of herbs. There is thorn-grass, going to Petrov post. You smoke an arrow with it, you will not miss. There is tirlich grass, it grows on Bald Mountain near Kiev. Whoever wears it on himself, there will be no royal wrath for ever. There is also a plakun-grass, if you cut a cross out of the root and hang it around your neck, everyone will be afraid of you like fire! There is a pigeon marsh; if you want to go after a bear, drink a boil of stuffed cabbage, and no bear will touch you. There is rhubarb-grass; when you start pulling it out of the ground, it groans and roars like a man, but if you put it on yourself, you will never drown in water.
- Are there no others?
- How not to be, father, there is also a kochedyzhnik, or a fern; Whoever manages to pluck its flower owns all the treasures. There is Ivan da Marya; who knows how to take it on, he will run away from the best horse on the first nag.
- Do you know such grass that a young woman will fall in love with a hateful one? The miller hesitated.
- I don’t know, father, don’t be angry, dear, God knows, I don’t know!
- And one to overcome your love, don't you know?
- And I don’t know such, father; but there is a gap-grass: when you touch it to the lock, or to the iron door, it will tear to pieces!
- Get lost with your herbs! - Vyazemsky said angrily and fixed his gloomy gaze on the miller.
A. K. Tolstoy. "Prince Silver"

Legends about good and evil plants came to us from hoary antiquity. How many legends, songs and stories about them! Good herbs were affectionately called grass-ant, silk grass, and evil ones were called dashing, fierce roots, demonic poisons. Healing plants were especially revered, with the help of which they healed from various ailments and ailments. Healers were considered special people, sorcerers who knew secrets that were inaccessible to ordinary people and could communicate with "strangers". The sorcerers-healers kept their medical secrets tightly, by word of mouth they passed on their knowledge only to trusted persons, dedicating them to the secrets of communication with otherworldly forces, which, supposedly, helped them in the treatment with herbs.

Narrations about nine magical herbs have survived to this day, with the help of which miracles can be performed. These are plakun-grass, flowering fern, gap-grass, tirlich, overpowered-grass, Adam's head, orlikhin, cover and nechuy-wind.

Plakun-grass has long enjoyed respect and fear in all villages. It was believed that this herb has amazing power: it leads to the humility of unclean spirits, casts out sorcerers and kikimors, makes demons and demons cry. Wizards collect plakun-grass on Midsummer's Day at dawn and only with their hands, without using any tools. It was important to find the root and flowers. The one who finds the grass must cast a spell: "Cryer, cryer! You cried for a long time and a lot, but you cried a little, do not roll your tears across the open field, do not carry your howl across the blue sea. Be afraid of evil demons, old witches. And they will not let you subjugation, drown them in tears, and run away from your disgrace, shut them up in the pits of the underworld. Be my word strong and firm. Age of ages!

The modern name of plakun-grass loosestrife willow. It grows along the banks of rivers and lakes and has no special medicinal properties. But in the beliefs, plakun-grass is the mother of all herbs. Healers made powders and tinctures from it, which helped with many diseases. They even took grass for melancholy and depression, in modern terms. And it did help! An old herbalist says: "Plakun-grass of goodness, keep it clean, give it to the cattle that are spinning or that the guys are not sleeping, put it in their heads, and cut a cross out of it and carry it very good with you."

Fern or Perunov fireflower perhaps the most famous plant, shrouded in secrets and legends. In Russia, medicinal plants were always collected on the day of Agrafena-bathing (July 6, according to a new style), when hot weather sets in. The soothsayers called this day "Agrofeny - evil roots", since these roots were used to make potent drugs, from which the sick often died. Healers revered this day also because it was followed by the feast of Ivan Kupala - the time of collecting magical herbs. Midsummer Night is special, only at midnight the most incredible miracles happen. Sorcerers and fortune tellers at that time collected many different wonderful herbs. But the most important miracle is the flowering of the fern or Perun's fireflower.

It happens like this. First, a holy light rises between the leaves. It moves, jumps and even chirps. At midnight, the fern bud opens with a crack and a fiery flower appears, which illuminates everything around. At the same time, thunder is heard and the earth trembles.

The one who was lucky enough to find and pick a flower should run home without looking back, despite the fact that devils and demons pursue him with howling and whooping. If you turn around, you'll be lost. Demons will catch up, dragged into the swamp and drowned there. The one who overcame all adversity and safely carried the flower to the house will have all the secrets and charms. Fern, according to popular belief, is very useful for those who want to be smart, rich and lucky. The owner of a flower can quickly find treasures with its help, become invisible, have power over devils and brownies. Belief in the miraculous power of the fern is still alive, especially in rural areas.

gap-grass is said to be extremely rare. Thieves and treasure hunters have always dreamed of her, because she has the ability to break locks and bars of prisons, to break any locks. They called her both a horse and a jumper-grass, as if a flower jumps and jumps on Midsummer Night.

It was said that in the old days robbers buried their treasures underground and locked them with huge iron locks, and threw the keys into the rivers. Even the one who found such a treasure could not open it, as the treasures were guarded by an unclean force that did not allow them to cope with iron locks. And only the owner of the gap-grass can unlock the charmed treasures.

It is believed that the gap-grass was called ordinary balsam, but this is not entirely correct, since not every balsam that grows in nature will be the same gap-grass.

Finding a gap-grass is difficult, but you can do it by accident. If you mow the grass on Midsummer Night and the scythe breaks, it means that you have stumbled upon a gap-grass. But there is another way to find grass. To do this, they look for the turtle's nest and wait for the turtle to leave the nest and crawl to the side. Immediately, without hesitation, the nest is fenced with iron nails, hammering them into the ground so that the turtle cannot enter its dwelling. Then you have to hide and wait. When the turtle returns and sees that the nest is closed, then it leaves for a while, and then comes back. You can see bits of grass in her mouth. The turtle comes up to the iron fence, touches it with grass, and a miracle happens. All iron nails break and fly away. Thus, the passage becomes free. Now you need to take the grass from the turtle and quickly run away from this place. And then everyone uses the gap-grass at their discretion, and the properties of the grass are only valid for one season. Next year, fresh grass should be found again.

The spirits of the night produced a miraculous gap-grass. Its power destroys the strongest iron. Touching it to the sword will break it into pieces. She hides from the human eye in the depths of impenetrable forests: she is always guarded by two snakes, which alternate day and night.
N.I. Lazhechnikov "Basurman"

The ancient Slavs had a myth associated with gap-grass. According to him, the young warrior, lagging behind his rati, walked tired along the edge of the forest. It was autumn outside. Suddenly, the young man's attention was attracted by the hiss of many snakes that crawled towards the mountain, took a blade of grass on their tongue, touched the rock with it - it opened and crawled inside. Then the surprised warrior also plucked this blade of grass. He felt a sharp pain in his finger, but endured and touched the stone. The rock parted, and the young man was inside the cave. There was gold and silver everywhere, jewels sparkled. In the very center of the cave stood a golden throne, on which a huge snake sat. Around her, curled up in balls, the snakes were sound asleep. Then the young man began to walk around the cave, putting aside his sword, bow and shield, touching gold ingots, pouring coins and precious stones, completely forgetting about time. Suddenly he heard that the snakes woke up and started talking. They asked each other: "Isn't it time for us?" Then the main snake said: "Now is the time!"– slipped off the throne, and everyone crawled out of the cave. The warrior, afraid that he would remain here forever, rushed after them. As soon as he had time to jump out, he was taken aback by surprise - spring was on the edge. The young man realized that he had spent the whole winter inside the cave and began to scold himself for not taking any coins, gold, or stones with him, and even leaving his weapons there. Frustrated, he wandered along the edge of the forest and suddenly saw a crowd of horsemen galloping towards him, raising their swords over the young man's head. He had only to put his hands forward, and suddenly a flame burst out of his finger, which hit the enemy. The rider fell to the ground without breathing. The rest, seeing this outcome of events, were frightened, turned their horses around and rushed away.

The young warrior guessed that he hit the enemy with the very finger that cut himself on a blade of grass. It was then that the young man realized that he had taken away the most important treasure that made him invincible.

Overcome-grass was respected and revered by the people. She has the gift to protect people on the road from various troubles and satanic slanders. They carried it around like an amulet. Before the road they always said: "I'm riding in an open field, and in an open field grass-grass grows. Grass-overcome! I didn't water you, I didn't give birth to you, mother earth gave birth to you, simple-haired girls watered you, women - cigarettes. Overcome evil people "You wouldn't think badly of us, you wouldn't think badly. Drive away the sorcerer, the sneak. Overcome the high mountains, the low valleys, the blue lakes, the steep banks, the dark forests. I'll hide you, overpowered grass, at the zealous heart, all the way and all over the road."

Odolen-grass is a water lily, a water lily. She also had another name - a mermaid flower.

Witch doctors used this plant as a remedy for toothache and to calm the nerves. It was believed that if you give the root of the grass to your enemy, then he will not be able to do anything against you. And if the shepherd chews on such a root, then his flock will never be lost and will find the shepherd itself in case of his disappearance or absence. Young guys in the village, when they went on a date with a girl, always took with them a grass that gave great masculine strength and the ability to charm their beloved.

"King of all herbs" - so respectfully called a plant called Adam's head or mandrake, as it was called in Western Europe. They told that "whoever wants to see a heretic or the devil, take the root of the mandrake, sanctify it and put it on the throne in the temple. After forty days, take it and carry it with you - you will recognize water and air demons. And when someone is injured, put it on the wound, and immediately everything will heal" .

Tirlich or Witch's potion- This is a herb that is considered demonic. On the eve of the holiday of Ivan Kupala, witches and sorceresses go to the Bald Mountains to collect tirlich grass. The juice is squeezed out of the grass, with which the witches lubricate their hands and feet. It helps with enchantment. Whoever is completely rubbed with grass becomes a werewolf and can turn into anyone. If a simple peasant finds this herb and does the same, he will be able to communicate with witches and ghouls. Knowing this, the sorceresses try to protect those places where the tirlich grows from ordinary people, in every possible way leading them astray.

Centaury, or Tirlich

Grass Cover collected by magicians at the end of summer. It is used against wedding slander. When the bride is brought from the church to the house, then the healer puts a cover under the threshold of the house of the newlyweds. The bride, having learned about this, must jump over the threshold at the entrance to the house. If she accidentally steps on the grass, then all the malicious slander of the sorcerers will fall on the girl.

The covering grass was also called wolf-killer, omeg, bleck, tar, underripe, penny chistyak, sheep's fleece, black potion, one-month-old. Scientifically, it is a woolly-mouthed wrestler from the buttercup family.

Pro nechuy-grass They say that you need to tear it only with your mouth. Only then does it transfer the ability to stop the wind and catch fish without rods and nets.

Nechuy-grass, nechuy-wind, or immortelle

Thistle, according to the peasants, drives away devils and all evil spirits in general. If you are being pursued by devils, then you must stand among the thistles and throw cones of this grass at the demons. All sorcerers and demons will immediately disappear. And if you bend the thistle to the ground, while saying: "Drive the worms from my cattle - I'll let you go," the attack from the cattle will come down.

From time immemorial, there has been a belief that if someone wants to be safe on the road, then stock up for this wax flasks in which the thistle was boiled. In the Great Russian provinces, old women-transitioners work as wax women, who went all the ways and paths from the Moscow River to the Jordan. To perform the ceremony, the thistle is first placed for seven days and nights under the pillow. No one should see or touch him. On the eighth night, the last one at Christmas time, they bring thistles to the old woman-adapter. She cooks it, with special rituals, with wax and palm. Boiled wax wax is sewn into the palm.
Tales of the Russian people collected by Ivan Petrovich Sakharov

Nettle, according to popular tradition, has the ability to determine whether the patient will live or die. To do this, put nettles in the fresh urine of the patient and let stand for a while. If, after a day, the nettle dries up, shrinks and loses color, then the patient will die. When the nettle remains green and does not lose freshness, then recovery will soon come. And nettle is also used for aches, rheumatism and colds.

love apples- through them you can get the love of the desired girl. To do this, you need to cut the apple in half, put a note with the name of your beloved in the middle and put it in the sun. As the apple dries up, the girlfriend will also suffer. When the apple is completely dry, the girl herself will come running to her admirer.

Petunia is a well-known garden plant. He was credited with the ability to protect a person from intoxication. If you are going to a feast or an important meeting where you need to drink a lot, but at the same time keep a clear head, then only petunia will help here. It is necessary to take two tablespoons of the powder of this herb an hour before drinking and drink it with a spoonful of olive oil. Now you can safely drink as much as you like and remain completely sober.

Page QR code

Do you prefer reading on your phone or tablet? Then scan this QR code directly from your computer monitor and read the article. To do this, any application "QR Code Scanner" must be installed on your mobile device.

Among the natural remedies widely used in folk medicine, special attention is drawn to the medicinal mandrake, which belongs to

Legends of the mandrake

A distinctive feature of this perennial herbaceous plant, called "male root", "cuckoo boots", "Adam's head", "raccoon berries", is a thick straight root resembling a human figure, which has become the subject of many superstitions, fictions and legends. One of them says that the medicinal mandrake, when dug out of the ground, emits a cry that can drive a person crazy or kill him. Therefore, in ancient times, a special protective rite was used to extract the “witch flower” (as the mandrake was called by the people). Only a knowledgeable person could dig up a plant. He did this not with his own hands (so as not to accept death from the plant), but tied a hungry dog to it, at a distance from which he threw a bone. The animal struggled to reach for food and, thus, pulled a magical root out of the ground, after which it died.

This magical root

The root of the plant was mined for various magical rituals, was considered a very strong amulet and was most valued if it conveyed the shape of the human body as accurately as possible, especially with the difference between gender: female and male. It is believed that men should be treated with the male mandrake and women with the female.

Herbalists used the crushed root of the plant to treat carbuncles, sore joints, and elephantiasis. Shamans used the hallucinogenic properties of the mandrake to astral travel to another world.

plant description

Mandragora officinalis (photo can be seen in the article) in natural conditions is found in Central Asia, the Himalayas, the Mediterranean, Transcaucasia, the Middle and Near East.

Prefers well-drained sandy and loamy soils. Likes plenty of sun, also able to grow in partial shade. It is characterized by a long (about 1 meter) root, which helps the plant to wait out long dry periods. At temperatures below -15 ° C, it dies. The stem of the plant is absent or very short. The leaves are large (about 80 cm long), have an oval or lanceolate shape, are collected in a basal rosette, and are characterized by a sharp unpleasant odor.

The flowers are solitary, consist of a large 5-parted calyx and a bell-shaped 5-lobed corolla. At the beginning of flowering (in May), they are characterized by a light green color, which becomes purple closer to autumn. The fruit looks like a large orange or yellow berry, is characterized by a pleasant fruity aroma and looks like a small apple or physalis. It tastes like a tomato.

Chemical composition

Traditional medicine has managed to identify beneficial properties for the body in the poisonous mandrake and uses all parts of the plant in its recipes. The root and fruits contain psychoactive highly toxic alkaloids:

Mandragora officinalis (the photo conveys the modest attractiveness of the plant) is characterized by a calming, analgesic, cholagonic, hypnotic effect. By pharmacological properties, the plant is close to belladonna, dope, henbane.

The alkaloids that make up its composition suppress the functionality of the central nervous system, so the plant is characterized by a hypnotic effect.

Medicinal properties of the root

Mandrake root was used to relieve toothache, treat hemorrhoids and complications arising during labor. It was ground to a powder and added to beer. The same drink was recommended for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Boiled in milk, mandrake root helped as a poultice for non-healing chronic ulcers.

The freshly squeezed juice of the root helps to soothe the pain of rheumatism and gout. The great Avicenna advised him as an effective remedy for removing freckles and treating bruises. "Tears of a mandrake" was mixed into a glass of wine and given as an anesthetic during surgical operations. In combination with honey and milk in a crushed form, the root of the plant was applied externally to tumors, edematous places, compacted glands. In dried form, it was used for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, as well as joint and muscle pain.

Since ancient times, aphrodisiac properties have been attributed to the plant: a handful of crushed root was added to a bottle of wine. The drink was infused for a week. To improve the taste, 2-3 cinnamon sticks and a tablespoon of saffron were added to it. It was also believed that the medicinal mandrake, the benefits of which were proven by the scientific luminaries of antiquity, helps with infertility and inhibits the growth of cancer cells.

Methods of treatment with mandrake

Headaches, ulcers, open wounds, diseases of the liver and spleen were cured with a medicine that included dry mandrake fruits, opium poppy, cyperus flowers, common harmala and cinnamon, previously ground into powder and combined in equal parts.

A decoction of the mandrake was used for painful manifestations in the limbs, the area of the sacrum, as well as for the treatment of feverish conditions. Fresh leaves of the plant helped with toothache. To do this, they needed to be carefully chewed. The smoke from burning the leaves of the plant helped in the treatment of coughs and headaches.

In small doses, mandrake officinalis helps with phobias, melancholy and depression. Even Homer described in his works, the smoke from the burning roots of the plant was used to fumigate epileptics. To quickly fall asleep, it was enough to hold a mandrake apple in your hand before going to bed or drink a glass of wine containing dried mandrake root powder, ivy, white henbane and licorice one pinch each.

Mandrake against diseases

In ancient times, the medicinal mandrake, the description of which was well known to ancient healers, was considered a universal remedy and helped in the treatment of:

depressive states,
abscesses
eye inflammation,
tumors,
gout,
skin inflammation,
hemorrhoids,
impotence,
headaches,
convulsions,
snake bites,
food poisoning,
calluses,
worms
loss of speech
open wounds, etc.

Mandrake was also used to normalize the menstrual cycle.

Mandragora officinalis: the action of the plant

In modern medicine, the root extract is part of the painkillers, sleeping pills and antispasmodic drugs. Mandragora officinalis, the use of which was widely demanded several centuries ago, helps with disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, pains of a different nature, in the treatment of vitiligo and other skin pathologies. The leaves of the plant have a cooling effect, so the extract based on them is added to gels and ointments for the treatment of external wounds.

Today, in folk medicine, mandrake harvesting is done without the use of mystical rituals. The roots are dug out by hand in late August - early September, after the mandrake has faded. The alkaloids contained in its composition are well studied by modern medicine and are used narrowly to reduce internal secretion, acidity, intestinal and gastric activity, as well as relieve spasms.

Collecting the leaves of the plant is best done before the fruit ripens. It is recommended to dry raw materials in a well-ventilated place, without direct sunlight. In finished form, it can be used for smoking instead of ordinary tobacco, as part of smoking mixtures, or as incense and incense.

Recipe for tincture and ointment

To prepare the tincture, it is required to pour the cleaned and crushed root of the plant with alcohol in a ratio of 1 to 4. Let it brew for 15 days. In finished form, the drug is recommended to be taken for insomnia, gout and rheumatism, 3-8 drops diluted with water.

To prepare a healing ointment based on mandrake, you need to combine the tincture of the plant with interior fat in a ratio of 1 to 5 and apply externally to relieve pain.

For the treatment of bruises and injuries, it is effective to use lotions from fresh juice combined with water in a ratio of 1 to 5. Or you can use an alcohol tincture diluted with water at a rate of 1 to 10.

Mandragora officinalis: contraindication for use

The mandrake is very poisonous. The main damage to the brain is caused by the substance scopolamine. Its uncontrolled self-use can lead to brain disorders, hallucinations, memory loss, coma, respiratory arrest and death. Signs of mandrake poisoning are nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, staggering when walking, dilated pupils, dry mouth, asthma attacks. Pregnant women, nursing mothers and children should not use mandrake.

Fresh fruits of the plant contain a small amount of alkaloids, so their consumption does not pose any health hazard.

Modern medicine can offer a wide range of drugs of similar action, safer for health. Therefore, when choosing between preparations based on mandrake or other means with a corresponding therapeutic effect, it is better to prefer the second option.

Signs associated with the mandrake

Since ancient times, it has been known that the medicinal mandrake, whose properties have found their main application in the medical field, helps in financial transactions, so knowledgeable people used it as a talisman. This was especially true of illegal, underground transactions, which saved them from disclosure. If the root is placed in the same place as money, then their number will double.

The root of the plant is able to give its owner wealth, power, wealth, provided that the owner will never part with him: neither at night nor during the day. The use of the mandrake as a home talisman needs special treatment. The figurine must be dressed up in clothes and stored at home in a secret place, away from prying eyes. During home meals, you should put the little man in a place of honor, treat him first, and then yourself. On Saturdays, it is recommended to bathe the talisman in wine, and on the first day of the new moon, dress it up in new clothes. It is believed that the mandrake officinalis can help in the search for treasure, can predict the future.

This herb is also known under other names - cuckoo's tears, male root, sleeping potion, umbilical cord. But perhaps the most famous name is the name "mandrake".

The Adam's head has a very wide magical range of applications - for a successful hunt and summoning the devil, for eliminating the enemy and protecting the home, improving the financial situation and, of course, for victories on the love front.

Curiously, this herb is both male and female.
- The white Adam's head is male, the black Adam's head is female.

However, it should immediately be noted that conducting all the rituals is a much less complicated process than digging up and storing the roots, which in fact are the main component of all magical deeds.

The magical part of the Mandrake - Adam's head:

Ritual of digging up Adam's head:
In ancient herbalists, there is a recommendation for the extraction of this herb - "Tear it with the cross of the Lord and say" Our Father "and other three hundred prayers." But this is not a complete list of necessary actions.
Theophrastus (orator, philosopher - 372-287 BC) wrote that you need to dig up a mandrake together. The first one should outline the mandrake in three circles with a sword never before taken out of a scabbard, and stand facing west, while his assistant should dance around the plant, whispering love speeches.
But this method apparently did not guarantee complete success, because over time, more and more new items necessary for the ritual appeared.
You can dig up a plant only at night, laying your ears with cotton wool or wax. Apparently, this was due to the fact that those digging up the root noticed that the plant, as if sensing that it would be dug up, was trying to hide in the ground, and when it was pulled out, it emits a terrible scream, from which you can go deaf or go crazy.
They prevented the escape in a rather unusual way - a light need was relieved on Adam's head. Most likely, therefore, further recommendations provided that it was impossible to touch the plant with your hands.
After such a “watering”, Adam’s head was dug in with a circular ditch so that the spilled liquid would not come into contact with the root. The root itself was wrapped with a rope and hooked to the collar of a black dog. Moving to a respectful distance, the dog was thrown meat. The animal ran to the bait and uprooted.
Legends say that at this moment all life around was dying. In any case, the dog dies for sure. The corpse of the dog must be buried in the place where the root of the Adam's head will be pulled out.
Extracting the root by a human hand nullifies all the power of the Adam's head.

Keeping Adam's Head Root
The process is no less important, because if the root is stored incorrectly, it loses its strength. With the root plucked, the mandrakes perform monthly rituals according to the lunar cycle. The root is kept wrapped in a piece of red cloth (possibly white). Tissue replacement occurs at every new moon. The root must be washed every week, using red wine for this.

love amulet
To make an amulet, you need the root of the opposite sex. However, the sex of Adam's head depends only on your personal preferences.
The main part of the root must be brought home and carved on it with your knife the features of a doll whose gender is determined by your feelings. At the same time, be sure to repeat the words: “Keep this house!”. Further, the root is planted either at the crossroads of two roads, or in the church garden. This increases the strength of the root! After choosing a place, draw a circle around it in the direction of the sun. In the northern hemisphere - the direction corresponds to the movement of the hour hand, in the southern - it is the opposite. It is best to plant the root at midnight with a new moon.
After planting the root, it must be cared for for twenty-eight days, watered with a mixture of water and blood. One part blood to twelve water. The proportion is not accidental - the sum of the parts gives the number thirteen!
After twenty-eight days, the root is dug up, having previously outlined it in a circle. As with landing, it is better to do this at night.
If all the recommendations are followed correctly, the “wounds” at the root are healed. The amulet for love is almost ready!
Amulet Care
Practically - because until it is fully ready, it must “ripen” for another three months. During all this time, the root must be washed daily and smoked with verbena smoke.

home mascot
To make a talisman, you need to cut a human figure from the root of the Adam's head. Next, the figurine is dressed and stored away from human eyes. In the linen closet, secretary, in the safe. The choice of location is not restricted or regulated in any way.
But during meals, the figurine opposite is taken into the light of day. The dressed root is seated in a place of honor at the table. Moreover, the right to open a feast belongs precisely to Adam's head.
On Saturdays, the man from the root is bathed in wine, and the change of clothes falls on the first day of the lunar month.
The talisman reliably protects the house from all troubles.

Medical part of the Mandragora - Adam's head:

medicine men
In Russia, gastrointestinal diseases, muscle, joint and neuralgic pains, gland seals, tumors and edema were treated with the Adam's head.

Tincture
Well-chopped Adam's head root insist on alcohol (in a ratio of 1:4) for two weeks, then filter. Take 3-10 drops as an analgesic and sleeping pill for rheumatism, gout.

Butter
Nutria fat is mixed with a tincture of Adam's head root (1:5). Used as an external pain reliever for rheumatism and gout.
The crushed fresh plant, together with milk and honey, is used in the form of dressings as a softening agent for gland seals, tumors and edema.

Don't be greedy - rate yourself:

Here is another mythical plant of Russian healers. But if the fern flower is a myth in its purest form, then Adam's head was in the stocks of every self-respecting healer. The trouble is, in different parts of Russia this plant was imagined in its own way.

Symbolically, "Adam's head" is a skull with crossbones, a symbol of death. And a flower with such a name was supposed to remind herbalists of this well-known image. But with a certain amount of imagination, the skull can be seen in very different colors.

Therefore, in the history of Russian herbal medicine there have been several contenders for the title of "Adam's head".

lady's slipper.

This "Adam's head" settled in Siberia. Now a rare plant listed in the Red Book. Since ancient times, it has been used in Tibetan medicine, and from there it came to Siberian herbalists.

See how this strangely shaped flower really looks like a bare skull!

Cornflower rough.

This plant is well known to us. You can meet him in any meadow. Indeed, at first, a bare head on a strong fluffy stem, one can say that it looks like a skull. But then that skull sprouts into gorgeous purple hair!

It was used not for magical, but for the most urgent purposes. Solve liver and kidney problems.

Kupena.

A beautiful plant with white oblong flowers-bells. How they reminded our herbalists of "Adam's head" is unknown!

But a plant with serious medicinal properties. Its roots have been used as an anti-inflammatory and hemostatic agent. And also when coughing.

And its black and blue berries, reminiscent of blueberries, are very poisonous. Maybe that's why the kupen was considered the mythical "Adam's head."

Mandrake.

This plant is rarely found in our middle lane. More often in the southern regions. From time immemorial, this plant has been treated very respectfully. It has amazing roots that resemble a human figure. In general, the plant is poisonous, but has been used in folk medicine along with belladonna and dope.

And finally muzzle.

A very beautiful blue flower, reminiscent of a skull, except perhaps in its round shape. But in the composition, again, there are many dangerous and valuable components for medicine.

And what was the "Adam's head" interesting for healers, no matter how it looked in different areas?

Since all these "Adam's heads" are poisonous to one degree or another, it was necessary to collect skillfully. Cross yourself and say three hundred prayers, starting with Our Father.

And with the mandrake, in general, everything was very difficult. This plant screamed when it was dug up, and this voice ruined the herbalists. So, it was possible to collect the roots of the mandrake only by inserting wax plugs into the ears!

It was necessary for hunters and everyone who dealt with firearms. Smoke from the smoldering dry flowers of this plant had to be smoked with guns and cartridges on a clean Thursday in Holy Week, so that no misfires or misses. But until clean Thursday, hide this grass from prying eyes.

Helped infusions of "Adam's head" and spoilage. The intoxicating substances contained in these plants, indeed, in a certain proportion could help with neuropsychiatric diseases.

An infusion of herbs was also given to women in labor, apparently as a light anesthesia.

And the statements of herbalists are quite understandable, that with the help of this herb one can see demons in the air. First, drink the infusion, only necessarily in consecrated water, so that the demons do not move in. And then wear this grass on yourself for forty days.

Well! It may very well be. I wonder if there were many hunters to admire the demons?

They also laid this grass in the base of the water mill so that it would not collapse! This property is understandable if we remember that the water mill for our ancestors was originally a magical place. What kind of unclean force is spinning the wheel? It would be necessary to get in touch with her with the help of a witch plant.

So the properties of this plant are the most magical. The main thing is not to make a mistake in proportions!