Goddesses, elixirs, and witches : plants and sexuality throughout human history / John M. Riddle

Author:: Riddle, John M.
Published:: New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
Edition:: 1st ed.
Physical Description:: 213 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

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Contents:

1. Inanna's Huluppu Tree, Pomegranates, and Sexual Power -- 2. Pomegranate as Eve's Apple -- 3. Mandrake, the Love Apple, and the World's Religions -- 4. Artemisia, the "Mother Herb" -- 5. The Chaste Tree -- 6. Hermes, Herbs, Elixirs, and Witches.

Summary:

"Since antiquity, the medicinal qualities of certain herbs have been connected with fertility and deities, mostly goddesses. Only today does scientific and historical research help us to understand the empirical basis that these associations had, and how the use of such plants as the pomegranate, mandrake, and chaste tree, preserved in myths, redounded to humans' benefits. Riddle reveals how these herbs - once sacred to Aphrodite, Demeter, Artemis, and Hermes - substantially altered history. Over time they came to be associated with nefarious forces and seen as the instrument of demons, witches, and the devil. Such superstition allowed important medicinal information to be lost for centuries - information that even today could prove helpful for modern medicine."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject(s):

ISBN:

9780230610644 (hbk.)
0230610641 (hbk.)

Bibliography Note:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Source of Acquisition:

UP-PAT copy: Purchased with funds from the Paterno Libraries Endowment; 2009.

Endowment Note:

Paterno Libraries Endowment

View MARC record | catkey: 6140371