Goddesses, Elixirs, and Witches: Plants and Sexuality throughout Human History [Hardcover]

From the earliest times, the medicinal properties of certain herbs were connected with deities, particularly goddesses. Only now with modern scientific research can we begin to understand the basisand rationality that these divine connections had and, being preserved in myths and religious stories, they continued to have a significant impact through the present day. Riddle argues that the pomegranate, mandrake, artemisia, and chaste tree plants substantially altered thedevelopment of medicine and fertility treatments.The herbs, once sacred to Inanna, Aphrodite, Demeter, Artemis, and Hermes, eventually came to be associated with darker forces, representing theinstruments of demons and witches. Riddle's ground-breaking work highlights the important medicinalhistory thatwas lost and argues for itsrightful place as one of the predecessorsInanna's Huluppu Tree, Pomegranates, and Sexual Power Pomegranate as Eve's Apple Mandrake, the Love Apple, and the World's Religions Artemisia, the 'Mother Herb' The Chaste Tree Hermes, Herbs, Elixirs, and Witches

Riddle s insistence that one must know the texts first - and in their original tongues - before drawing conclusions from them, sets him apart from the large majority of those who publish in both the History of Medicine and Pharmacy. - HerbalGram

The book is pure Riddle: extraordinary history and blinding insight with a touch of whimsy. Recommended only for those interested in plants, war, altered states, witches, and sex - in other words, everyone! - Mark J. Plotkin, Ph.D., President of the Amazon Conservation Team, www.amazonteam.org

These engaging investigations into the ancient quest to manage fertility - from Eve's apple to the chaste tree - show off Riddle's gift for wrapping a rollicking story around a core of serious scholarship and science. - Karen Reeds, Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and author of Botany in Medieval and Renaissance Universities