Mandragora officinarum o. autumnalis Anhängsel = mandrake

‡ Folgendes hat anthroposofische Einschlüsse ‡

Around the Mediterranean, Mand., the mandrake of the Middle Ages, is one of the oldest and most efficacious medicinal plants. The records go back over almost 3.000 yrs, and the ancients had very sound and detailed knowledge as to the actions of this plant. The modern age and the development of present-day methods of investigation may be said to have caused the gradual disappearance of this plant from the materia medics.

By the beginning of the 19th century it had ceased to play any proper role in medicine, and merely figured obscurely on the dark stage of superstition and decadent occult practices. Then, towards the end of the 19th century, chemical analysis revealed the presence of a number of highly active alkaloids in the Mand. root; serious attention began to be paid not to the mandrake, but to Scop.

A mixture of morphine and scopolamine, one of the Scopolia alkaloids, has since been used to induce twilight sleep, to relieve pain during childbirth, etc.

It was quite a different form of consciousness which made use of Mand. as a therapeutic agent, a consciousness very much alive to the essential nature of the plant, rather than to the physical substance through which such

a plant demonstrates its existence to our sense organs. The ancients saw in every tree a wood-nymph, and in every plant elemental beings that were spiritual in nature. In poisonous plants they saw evil spirits. And so they surrounded the mandrake with mystic rites and cults, for they saw it in a context quite different from what modern man is generally able to perceive. Istereng (luminous root) was its Persian name, because a flame-red light

and bright rays were felt to be emanating from it in the evening, something also experienced by peoples in the Mediterranean regions. Merdomgie (likeness with man) was another name, and this strikes the same note as the expression used by the Pythagoreans, Anthropomorphon or Ebrewi sanam (= face of an idol). Then again the plant was called the dog-drawn (= Segken) and this motif we find recurring again and again later on, in the

directions to let the root be drawn from the ground by a dog, as it was said to emit a piercing cry on coming free from the ground, a cry which brought death to any who heard it. Sacrificing an animal to appease the demon

who is driven from his home when a plant is dug up or a tree is felled, is a custom not confined to those times and to Mediterranean regions. The unlawful damaging of trees (in holy places) was punished by cutting off the arm/with death. Sacrifices are still made by primitive peoples today when a tree is felled or a field harvested.

Some Chinese, we are told, still believe that from the falling tree a threatening figure in the form of a blue bull emerges. Animal and plant are experienced in a context which obviously still exists, or did exist, for that level of consciousness.

A Javanese approaching a Sarcolobus narcoticus Gentianales tree to obtain the bark he needs to prepare his arrow poison, will do so on all fours, as if he himself were a poisonous animal; he bites into the bark and then scrapes it off with great care. Quite recently information has come to light on "hunting-magic" plants. Among primitive tribes in S.America, and also elsewhere, the hunters rub the juice of such plants into their skin, or their weapons, in the belief that its magic will attract the animals they seek to hunt. There is also the belief, held all over the world, that the spirits of the dead are for a time intimately bound up with plant life (go to dwell in trees).

When Mand. was taken from its natural sphere, into areas of human use, this was accordingly done with due ritual, a ritual wholly appropriate to the type of consciousness we have touched upon. The root was dug in the evening, after bowing to the sinking sun and paying homage to the infernal gods = chthonic deities. With an iron sword not previously used for any other purpose, 3 magic circles were drawn around the plant. Then the root was exposed, all the way down except for the very last bit, with the face averted to avoid noxic vapours. The body also had to be properly protected, with oil, lest it swell up in those vapors. In later periods it was custom to tie a dog to the root and let the animal pull it free from the ground. Then the old magical and mythological consciousness vanished for mankind in the course of the centuries and more and more superstitious customs became established.

From the 16th century onwards, Mand. was increasingly forgotten, and the sceptical atmosphere of the Age of Enlightenment finally extinguished all knowledge. Yet at the turn of the present century, when scientists began the systematic investigation of the traditional medicinal plants by means of chemical analysis, it was found that behind the mystery of Mand. there is a tangible reality. Alkaloids were found in the plant, some of them known already from other poisonous Solanaceae, and one apparently specific to Mand. Yet while such details are undoubtedly of interest, they do not bring us nearer to the true essential nature of this medicinal plant, just as knowing the amount of cash in the safe would tell us little of the nature of a great trading empire.

Details like these make up the picture which modern consciousness has of Mand. It has to be admitted that it is abstract and rather then compared to the one painted by the old form of consciousness, which was in rich tones and included the whole of the human being in the experience. Yes, of course, the new one is scientific and exact, whereas the old one does seem fantastic to us. But scientific accuracy does not get us anywhere near the true nature of the creative plant-whole which actively produces out of itself such remarkable active principles as hyoscyamine, mandragorine, etc. These substances are 2ndary, the other aspect is primary.

The mandrake is a typical member and a particular variantof the nightshade family. We shall probably come closest to grasping its specific nature if we consider it against the background of the Solanaceae type.

The plant develops a mighty root, growing straight down into the ground to a depth of up to 60 cm. It is a tap root, thick, relatively soft, a plastic structure which lower down frequently divides into two or more branches, each continuing downwards on its own, and swelling into thickness. When it is dug up, the whole structure of head, trunk and legs does vaguely resemble the human form. In spring, a shock of elongated leaves, undivided but slightly sinuate, unfolds from the root. A luxuriant rosette develops, but no stem, no leafy shoot rises above it. All the substance formed in the leaves is claimed by the root, all power of growth is drawn down and held fast down below. Spring has barely reached its zenith, and we now expect the plant really to come up, when the leaves begin to yellow around the edges, curl up, and there is no further growth for this year. That is how the young plant develops from seed, sending forth leaves which get longer with each spring, until finally they reach a length of something over a foot. At the same time the root increases in length and thickness. Mand. will permit only the forces of the sun in very early spring to act upon it and build it up;

The majority of Solanaceae are summer plants, need the power of high summer. Mand. drops out of this rhythm completely; with its appearance in spring, it leads the annual procession of nightshade plants, or else, in form of its variant Mand. autumnalis, it comes at the end of the line, in late autumn, like the Colch. (= autumn crocus) among the Liliaceae, or Cycl. among the Primulaceae. Mand. is in Solanaceae as Croc-s in Iridaceae, Acon. = winter aconite in Ranunculaceae.

A number of years pass; each spring makes the root grow bigger (as Gins.) and more rich in substance, until finally the plant is ready to flower. Then for the first time an abundance of greenish-white flowers spring up in March (Mand. officinarum) to April, at the center of the rosettes of leaves. Each on a separate stalk, 2 or 3 inches high, and just over an inch in length, bell-shaped, though the upper half divides into five pointed petals. The flower is held in a calyx about half its length, gamosepalous and five-cleft to the middle. The leaves rise considerably above the flowers, and the whole inflorescence, drawn together as in a small umbel, seems to disappear among the rich, swelling foliage. More than in any other of the Solanaceae, the inflorescence has moved down, penetrated into the root region, forcing the leaves down to the ground. One might try and visualize a Bell., transformed into a Mand., by imagining its strange inflorescence one floor lower down, and the foliage moved down until it reaches the surface of the soil, with the root, as it strives downward into tremendous length and circumference, giving full expression to this downward movement.

From the flower, the berry develops rapidly, round, slightly pointed at the top, yellow, juicy and the size of a plum. The scent of the berries is peculiar and slightly narcotic, though not unpleasant, and the fruits contain a number of small seeds.

The main part of Mand. is its root with its fleshy body that has taken up so much from the flowering process coming up close to it. The root, too, gives off a peculiarly sweet, narcotic scent (cut up); it is not surprising that in earlier times both berry and root were used as a hypnotic which acted simply through its smell. An extract of the root gives a browny-yellow essence showing faint violet phosphorescence in transmitted light. It contains methylaesculin, which is closely related to the iridescent substance found in Aes-h. = aesculin. A mixture of nightshade alkaloids was found (hyoscyamine/scopolamine/atro./hyoscine/mandragorine).

4 of the five Mand. species belong to the Mediterranean region, one to the Himalayas. They are particularly at home along the coasts of the Mediterranean (Greece/Crete/Syria/N.Africa/Sicily/Spain/Palestine/Mesopotamia). In all these countries, spring brings plenty of rain, for a brief period of abundant vegetation; this is followed by a long, hot, dry summer. Mand. opens out in moderate sunlight, but withdraws into the darkness of earth when the sun comes into full force. In this way the plant has its own variation on the theme generally followed by the Solanaceae in their attitude to the light of the sun.

Keynotes:

1. Hippocrates wrote that very small doses of Mand. would soothe fear and cure deep depressions. Slightly larger doses cause the pupils to enlarge, an action characteristic for many of the Solanaceae. The eye becomes a "night eye", behaving in bright daylight as though it were in the darkness of night. Sense impressions are felt to be excessively strong, and restlessness and over-excitement develop. The blood wells up into the head, as happens in lesser degree when sleeping. Larger doses tend to sedate, and finally induce a deep sleep. The ancients thought this hypnotic effect could be produced by merely sniffing the fruit or the root, or preparations made from them. Even stronger doses induce anaesthesia. External application of Mand. can cause analgesia and even loss of sensation, whilst high doses taken internally will finally lead to total anaesthesia and death-like sleep; this enabled the ancients to do extensive surgery and cauterizations on the body and limbs, and may be seen as a precursor of modern anaesthesia. If the dosage is increased further, fatal poisoning results.

Apart from these physical effects, note must be taken also of actions on the psyche. These tend to take the form of visions, hallucinations, and even delirium.

We can see from all this how the supersensible bearer of sentient life, the soul principle, is step by step forced out of the physical organs of sensation, depending on the size of the dose, and how the Mand. action takes it place. Above, an attempt was made to describe the abnormal pattern of life dynamics which contributes to the development of the poisonous substances found in the mandrake root. In the sphere of the life-bearing, ensouled organism, this pattern provokes an abnormal pattern of dynamics that is its polar opposite, and this in turn calls upon the whole human being to counteract it.

2. If the human soul principle, the astral body, acts too strongly upon certain organic regions which should be subject to its normal activity only, this gives rise to certain symptoms of spasm, or cramp. Mand. has spasmolytic action in these cases, and its action will be stronger than that of Bell. or Hyos. Because of this, colics, persistent tenesmus in conjunction with hemorrhoids, and also asthma, hayfever and whooping cough have at various times been among the indications for this medicinal plant.

3. Mand. is an ancient aphrodisiac; it was said to promote conception, particularly if the fruit was used. Mandragoritis was one of the names given to Venus. The Arabs called the fruits devil's apples, because of the exciting dreams said to follow their consumption, but also genies' eggs, because they ensured conception. Similar properties have been claimed for other nightshade plants, for instance certain species of thorn apple. The abnormal degree to which the vegetative sphere of the plant is penetrated by intensive flowering processes comes to expression here, and those flowering processes do in a certain sense correspond to the sexual sphere in man. An added factor is that Mand. immerses its flowering process so deeply in the elemental forces of spring, forces which find expression in the sprouting growth and development of the whole plant world at that season.

4. One finds repeated mention in the old literature that the mandrake leaf - a part of the plant free from the alkaloids which cause the root, the flower, fruit and seed to be so poisonous - is excellent for the treatment of wounds and inflammation. Thus the analgesic action was seen in conjunction with an anti-inflammatory action.

5. The actions which have led to the inclusion of Mand. in the materia medica of anthroposophical medicine lie in a sphere, which is quite different from those mentioned above. This is the field of remedies for certain forms of rheumatism, and particularly for gout.

R.S. and Its Wegman: "The configuration of the human body and gout". It describes a function of the eliminating processes which until now has been given little attention. This concerns particularly the processes of production of Ur-ac. and it distribution throughout the organism. The whole of the human organization, with all the members which contribute to its being, is actively taking part in the production, distribution and elimination of characteristic substances of this type; moreover, this is done in an individuality not only in the shape of his features, or the proportional relations of his limbs, but also in the way in which a substance like Ur-ac. is produced, deposited, and eliminated. Catabolic and not anabolic processes provide the material substrate for conscious experience, and that a particularly remarkable catabolic process is the production of Ur-ac. This process is brought about by those members of man's being which develop consciousness, the ego and the astral body. The ego specifically governs the extremely subtle excretion of Ur-ac. in the brain, the astral body governs the more substantial secretion throughout the whole body, and the elimination of Ur-ac. in the urine. For man to be the conscious being he is, his organs must be impregnated to the right degree with inorganic matter. The bodily economics must be right in the healthy organism to provide for the distribution of Ur-ac. to the various regions. The proper distribution of Ur-ac. deposits is a very major factor in human health. It indicates whether the right relation exists, in any organ or organ system, between ego organization and astral body. The whole of the individual human being is always involved in every process in his body - his life organization (ether body) his soul being (astral body), and his individuality of spirit (ego).

"Let us assume that in some organ, where ego activity ought to predominate over astral activity, the latter begins to have the upper hand . . . The organ will then receive an excess of Ur-ac., and this cannot be dealt with by the ego organization . . . the Ur-ac. is deposited not outside, but within the organism itself. If it accrues in areas of the organism where the ego is not able to be sufficiently active, then inorganic matter is present, that is, matter belonging to the ego organization only, but relinquished by it to astral activity . . . Here we are dealing with gout . . . The cartilage of a joint or a section of connective tissue may be getting too much Ur-ac., resulting in an excess of inorganic matter in them, so that in these parts of the body ego activity falls behind in relation to astral activity. The whole of the human form is the product of ego activity; the irregularity we have described must therefore lead to deformation of the organs. The human organism strives to leave its form“.

To grasp this aspect of the Mand. action, let us remember that this plant pushes its flowering process down to the root process, and in doing so takes excessive astral impulses down to the tip of the root, in the production of alkaloids. In the root region, plants are predominantly engaged in activities relating to the mineral and salt processes of the soil. They conquer the mineral element, enliven it, and arrange it in its multiplicity, according to the formative laws of the species. In the root of the mandrake, domination of inorganic mineral nature comes face to face with excessive "astralization". The Mand. process, as we see it in the root, is therefore well suited to counteract excessive activity of the human astral body where the production and distribution of Ur-ac. is concerned and restore the ego organization to its position as a power able to guide and to prevail within this totality of organized catabolism, this "Ur-ac. organization" within this organism, that is so important for the development of conscious awareness.

A proving made in 1951 with potencies of the tincture from the root.

The most striking result was that no definite symptoms were noted of the central stimulation which is so characteristic of the alkaloids, be it then that the statement of one prover (5th day after D 2): 'Irritable and nervous,

very sensitive particularly to noise" is taken as pointing in this direction.

No widening of the pupils was observed, and definite visual disturbances only in 1 prover: perhaps connected with the strong congestion to the head and swelling around the eyes. The cardiovascular symptoms as well as

their modalities were similar to those known from Bell., as were also the sensory disturbances. Incoordination of voluntary movements was noted by one prover only; he was unable to control the walking movements;

the same prover also observed torticollis.

The greatest part of the provings is taken up with disturbances of the motility and of the secretions of the gastro-intestinal canal and bile ducts (very similar to Bell.), as for instance > gastric pain by stretching and

bending backwards. It is remarkable that apart from Bell. and Mand. only Diosc. has this modality and that dioscorine is also a tropane alkaloid (a tropine lacton). Two Mand. provers referred to this modality as a hunger

pain which was > by eating. Sensation of fullness, pressure and eructations > by eating. On the advice of one of the provers who had observed this peculiar syndrome on himself Mand. D 6 was given to a patient with all

the signs and symptoms of almost complete cicatricial stenosis of the bulbus duodeni. The improvement was impressive and lasting over the many months of subsequent observation. Just as with Bell. so with Mand. one

cannot speak one-sidedly of spasms in the smooth musculature. Colics certainly do occur, but atonic comes out just as much in the symptoms; for instance in that "soft stools are evacuated only with difficulty and with

much pressing". But this is a symptom which occurs with many remedies and hence is not very distinctive. One peculiar modality, like the one mentioned above, makes up for a whole register of commonplace symptoms

in the selection of the remedy.

Heart symptoms which were very frequently noted in the proving, oppression, pressure, palpitation, stitches, constriction and dyspnea, appear to be part of the gastrocardial syndrome.

Vertrauens und Werteverlust nach Gewalt und Lebensgefährlichen Situationen

Entfremdet von ihrer Familie oder Gesellschaft. Menschenscheu. Verlassenheitsgefühl. Selbstherabsetzung, Selbstmordneigung. Gefühllos.

„Angewidert von Gewalt und Wut“.*4P. Sankaran

Beschwerden infolge von: Gewalt, nach Lebensgefährlichen Sitationen.

“Aus höchster Erwartung in die tiefste Enttäuschung“ (Geburtstrauma)

Stimmungsschwankungen von Depression und Aktivitätsdrang und Euphorie. Erstarrung und Destruktivität dadurch. Selbstzerstörung. Fluchen. Impuls zu beißen, Grausamkeit. Missachtet Regeln.

Entfremdet von ihrer Familie oder Gesellschaft. Verlassenheitsgefühl. Menschenscheu. Selbstherabsetzung, Depression, Selbstmordneigung. Gefühllos. Schläfrigkeit.Geheimnis, Androgynität,

Furcht verfolgt werden, Flucht.

Wahnidee/Täuschung: allein zu sein. Vom Misserfolg, Sei hässlich, ungeliebt, allein. Kopf vom Körper getrennt, Es sei andere Person mit im Zimmer.

Träume von: Unfällen, Anschuldigungen, Fliegen. Löwen, Schlangen, Geschlagenen Frauen, Brutalität, Grausamkeit, Deformierung, Flucht, Gewehre, Verstümmelung, muss sich verstecken, in die Falle gegangen,

Särge, Vulkan. Schläfrigkeit mit Aktivitäsdrang.

Wahnidee: allein zu sein. Das stärkste Bemühen führt zum Misserfolg.

Sei dick, werde ignoriert. Sei hässlich, ungeliebt, sich niemand um sie kümmere. Wie vom Teufel geritten. Kleptomanie.

Träume: Unfällen, Anschuldigungen, Flugzeugabsturz, Fliegen ohne Angst, Löwen, Schlangen, geschlagenen Frau, Brutalität, Grausamkeit, Flucht, Gewehre, Schüsse, Mord, Verstümmelung, muss sich verstecken,

in die Falle gegangen, Vulkan.

Frostig, Brennende Schmerzen

Magen, Leber-Galle. Diarrhoe. Kopfschmerz, Kreislauf, Schwindel, Schwächeanfälle. Brust „Wie ein Eisenband eingeschnürt“.

Bewegungsaperrat, Lumbalgie, zerschlagene Glieder

Empfindlich gegen Geräusche, Gerüche

Verlangt: gesteigerte Appetit, Tomaten/Kartoffel/Tabak.

<: Feuchte Kälte/leichte Berührung/Beginn der Bewegung/stürmischem Wetter. Vor Gewitter

>: Harnentleerung/Essen/Bewegung

Miasma: Lepra

Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum