Mandrake root tattoo meaning for women is the magic charm, beauty, desire, conception, and fertility. For men, the mandrake root tattoo meaning is arousal and male principle. Mandrake root is a symbol of every kind of magic and especially women’s magic charm – beautiful and desirable, but at the same time extremely dangerous.
Also, mandrake tattoo is a sign of something rare and unusual – this meaning comes from the “Language of Flowers”.
The mandrake tattoo is an attribute of the Great Mother and the emblem of the sorceress Circe that turns people into pigs. In Greece, mandrake was associated with Aphrodite, who sometimes received the name Mandrake. Young men sometimes wore pieces of mandragora root as a love amulet.
The name “Mandrake” or “Mandragora” probably comes from the Armenian language. The symbolic meaning of mandrake is associated with fever, excitation, the male principle, invulnerability, and umbilical cord. In ancient times there was a belief that with the mandrake’s help is possible to get virility, find treasure, cure infertility, and even become invincible. And till now mandragora has the glory of love potion and the remedies from infertility.
Mandrake root in history and mythology
The role of mandrake in mythology can be explained by the hypnotic and aphrodisiac properties of this plant, as well as the similarity of its root with the lower part of the human body. So Pythagoras called mandragora “Human – plant” and the Roman writer and agronomist Lucius Columella called it “Half-man grass”.
Since ancient times Mandrake’s root has been widely used in medicine, magic, witchcraft, and later in alchemy. Ancient Germanic peoples made from mandrake’s root the images of household gods.
Hippocrates used this plant to treat from melancholy and suicide attempts, and Josephus treated with mandrake the demon-possessed people. Homer mentioned that the inhalation of mandrake vapors treated epileptics.
Also, there was a belief that the mandrake root is a powerful thickener of astral energy, and the human shape was considered as the basis for the fantastic theories of magicians who wanted to find in it the elixir of life.
This symbol is mostly revealed in the dark novel of German writer Hans Evers Hayts named “Alraune”, where the main heroine is a live mandrake – the daughter of a prostitute fertilized by the seed of an executed. This charming woman brings to her lover’s wealth and pleasure, but all of them soon go mad and die.
Mandrake root tattoo designs and ideas
