Mandrake folklore - 4 - feminines influences
If the mandrake is seduced by the physical integrity of its chosen person and by their choice of timing, it remains nonetheless imbued with a sacred substance that agitates it and whose contact is perilous.
To mitigate its intensity, it is enveloped in a triple sign of the cross, and the figure of a tripod cross is engraved on its bark by incision. Three concentric circles are then traced around it with a sword specifically dedicated to this apotropaic purpose.
It can also be exposed to strong feminine influences, which have the effect of calming its titanic impetuosity: for example, if "one pours on it a woman's urine or menstrual blood… it stops moving. "A young and beautiful virgin, richly dressed and adorned with jewels, easily forces it into stillness."
But in trying to appease it, one must be careful not to strip it of its precious virtues, reducing it to the level of a mediocre common plant.
To prevent the occult power within it from escaping completely, after taking the precautions I have just described, a circular dance is performed around it, accompanied by erotic jokes, bawdy remarks, and countless sayings about physical love. If the creators of this choreographic charm are women, its effectiveness increases considerably.
Moreover, these 'enchantresses' are encouraged to give the mandrake the spectacle of their mutual caresses : "In Romania, young girls or women go in pairs at midnight, naked with their hair loose, embracing and kissing all the way to the mandrake. Once there, they lie down on top of each other…" (M. Eliade's quote)
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(in "La Mandragore" A.M Schmidt + "Sappho" by C. Mangin)
