The Onion and the Mandrake: Plants in Yezidi Folk Beliefs

Abstract

The non-dogmatic character of the Yezidi religion presupposes the presence of a heavy layer of so-called “primitive” religious elements, including plant worship. This paper focuses on plants having obvious sacred connotations in Yezidi beliefs, both on the level of the cult and marginal folk beliefs. There is no explicit tree cult in the Yezidism, or dendrolatry, despite the existence of a cultic complex connected with the so-called Dārā mirāzā or “The trees of Desire”. Still, there are representatives of the flora world that bear obvious cultic attribution, the most important of which are the onion and the mandrake. The mandrake has mystical fame and reverence not only among the Yezidis, but also among many other peoples of the region. This panacea for all diseases, widely used in folk medicine, is also considered an important element of the materia magica, primarily due to its aphrodisiac qualities. This paper will provide a comparative analysis of plant worship among the Yezidis and several other traditions of the Caucaso-Iranian region.

In search of traces of the mandrake myth: the historical, and ethnobotanical roots of its vernacular names

“…Similarity to other plants Language/sub-category Name Ethnic transcription Meaning Selected references B1 Arabic [ šağarat aṣ-ṣanam ] شجرة الصنم Lit. [“The image’s (idol) tree,” “a human (shaped) tree”] [ 88 :14]; [ 98 , IV: 443]; [ 99 ] Armenian [ marda-khot ] Literarily [“Human (-like) plant”] [ 100 : 106]; [ 101 : 152]; [ 102 : 251] Czech mužijk, mužicek [“little man”] [ 103 : 43]; [ 104 : 289]; [ 12 : 166] Czech strýček [“uncle”] [ 104 : 289] Danish dukkeurt [“doll’s herb”] [ 27 : 344] Dutch aardmannetje [“little earth man”] [ 76 , I:95]; [ 31 : 45]; [ 105 : 35] Dutch alruinmanntje [“mandrake’s little man”] [ 106 :29] Dutch mandragora mannetje …”

“…[“The image’s (idol) tree,” “a human (shaped) tree”] [ 88 :14]; [ 98 , IV: 443]; [ 99 ] Armenian [ marda-khot ] Literarily [“Human (-like) plant”] [ 100 : 106]; [ 101 : 152]; [ 102 : 251] Czech mužijk, mužicek [“little man”] [ 103 : 43]; [ 104 : 289]; [ 12 : 166] Czech strýček [“uncle”] [ 104 : 289] Danish dukkeurt [“doll’s herb”] [ 27 : 344] Dutch aardmannetje [“little earth man”] [ 76 , I:95]; [ 31 : 45]; [ 105 : 35] Dutch alruinmanntje [“mandrake’s little man”] [ 106 :29] Dutch mandragora mannetje [“mandrake’s man”] [ 28 : 71]; [ 31 : 45] Dutch wortelmannetje [“little root man”] [ 107 : 63]; [ 31 : 45] …”

“…com. 30.10.19) [ 63 , I: 537]; [ 101 :154] Farsi [ šā(h)bīzak Spelling variants: sābisaj / šbizak / sbysq, š’bysk ] شابیزک [“plant with black seeds”] (see above, also A. belladonna ) [ 130 : 36]; [ 95 : 688]; [ 100 : 106] Greek [ avgoulátsa/ avgoudátsa ] αυγουλάτσα, αυγουδάτσα [“bearing little egg-shaped fruits”] [ 59 : 430] Greek [ chondrovotáni ] χοντροβοτάνι [“fat herb”] (probably due to its large leaves or its fat taproot)] [ 59 : 439] (Lakonia) Greek [ kourouniá ] κουρουνιά [“crow nest-shaped”] (leaves) [ 59 : 433–434] (Nisyros and Leros islands) Greek [ megalovotáni ] μεγαλοβοτάνι [“large herb”] (due to its large leaves or fat taproot) [ 59 : 439] (Lakonia) Greek [ papútsa ] παπούτσα [“shoe-shaped”] (leaves) [ 59 : 440] (Cyprus) Serbo-Croatian [ nadliška ] Haдлишкa “ Nad ” means over, above; “ liška ” means leaf. Probably the word means something stronger or more important than leaf (which is close to the root in the mandrake) or could also emphasize the fruit (“above the leaf”) [ 71 : 20] Serbo-Cro...…”

“…Narcotic, hallucinogenic, poisonous; C3. Aphrodisiac Language/subcategory Name Ethnic transcription Meaning Selected references C1 Arabic [ abu salām] أبو سلام [“father of health”] [ 145 : 709] Arabic [ ʾabd es-salām ] عبد السلام [“the servant of health”] [ 122 : 268] Armenian [ t ‘agawor amen Xotic ] [“king of all (every) grasses (and forbs)”]; see text [ 141 : 389]; [ 101 : 153] German, Old ârzat uvûrze, arzanwurt, arzatwurz [“doctor’s root”] [ 75 : 229]; [ 137 : 93]; [ 134 , III:53]; [ 31 : 41]; [ 114 : 330]; [ 30 : 330]; [ 142 : 38] German heilmännchen, heilmännlein [“healing male”]/healing mannikin [ 120 : 113]; [ 31 : 41]; [ 81 : 23] Greek [ fistulóriza ] φιστουλόριζα [“fistula-healing root”] [ 143 : 331]; [ 59 : 427,435] Greek [ fistulóchorto ...…”

In Search of Traces of the Mandrake Myth – The Etymological, Historical, and Ethnobotanical Roots of Its Vernacular Names

“…: 251-2). In the Yezidi folk tradition, to avoid death, the soil must rst be dug around the root, after which a hungry dog or a goat is tied to it [101]. The rst record of using a dog in Europe appears in the sixth c. in the famous illustration of the Codex of Anicia [142:69] and later only from the twelfth c. onwards [142:69; 201:380].…”