Pagan Eye: Freshly Harvested Mandrake Roots

Matt Xai Malachi Porter sent me this picture of his freshly harvested mandrake roots. He wrote: 

"I just wanted to share with you this photograph of a few of my two-year mature mandrake whole roots which I have taken up from my garden from a few of my mandrake plants. I am currently working on making myself a poppet doll with one of the roots and have a large number of other plants coming close to three years old."

I'm very impressed!  Mandrake is one of the plants most closely associated with witchcraft and magic, and the roots have been used for many things including poppet-making as well as a traditional ingredient in flying ointment. It famously has the reputation of having a lethal scream when pulled from the ground. However, according to the new book Witch's Garden, this was merely "a story put about by professional root-cutters worried about losing business."

I'm delighted to see the photo of mandrake roots safely harvested, and hope Matt's poppets are a great success.

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself. 

The photo at the top is copyright Matt Xai Malachi Porter. 

Previous related posts

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/09/review-witchs-garden-plants-in-folklore.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/01/witchcraft-poison-by-wolfsbane-mandrake.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/07/potato-dream-night-cramps-and-poppet.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/04/not-mandrake-what-should-i-call-my.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/09/pagan-eye-fresh-sweetcorn-good-harvest.html