THE AMBASSADORS
THE AMBASSADORS
BOOK REVIEW
Volume 1,
Issues 2
September 1998
APHRODISIACS:
The Science and the Myth
By Dr. Peter V. Taberner
In his well-written illustrated treatise, published over 13 years before the miracle drug VIAGRA's era. The book's author and editor, Dr. Taberner, discussed everything about herbal and non-herbal aphrodisiacs and presented a thorough overview of this field from A to Z. He wrote his book in an 8 year period and provided insight about one of the hottest controvertial topics in medicine, drug industry and herbalism. The book consists of 276 pages and includes the 9 following chapters entitled:
The Nature of Aphrodisiacs, The Ancient Traditions, Magic Charm, Potions & Philtres, Herbalism & quakary, The Classical Aphrodisiacs, The Scientific Approach to Sex and Aphrodisiacs, Drugs of Abuse, Drugs Used Clinically as Aphrodisiacs and Aphrodisiacs in the Future.
In the preface, Dr. Taberner stated, "...I have attempted to make the book intelligible & entertaining to the non-specialist, but at the same time ensuring that it is factually correct & adequately researched for the scientist or clinician. In fact, I don't imagine for one moment that the present work represents the last word on the subject, the legacy of Aphrodite is still too active an influence on our social and marital habits for that". The Ambassadors will present two stories from this interesting book.
"John The Conqueror Root" Aphrodisiac-Charm & "Ginseng Root"
Even the recent rapid growth of biomedical sciences & our modern educative processes have not eliminated all the elements of magic & superstitions from our society. Several specific charms have lingered in folklore. "John the Conqueror Root" is a popular 20th century charm, found particularly in the southern United States. It consists of the dried root of St. John's Wort (Hypericum elodes) which has a long and distinguished history as a magical plant. The root has an obvious phallic appearance and is placed in a bag and worn around the neck with a magic aphrodisiac effect by the law of similarity. The Indo-Chinese tea "Ginseng Root", which can present an equally phallic appearance needs to be consumed in order to have any effect as a herbal aphrodisiac and is present in all supermarkets!
(Panax Ginseng root)
In his discussion of the role of witchdoctors, magicians, herbalists and quacks, Dr. Taberner mentioned, "Nowadays, a single shark tooth on a necklace or in America the John the Conqueror Root is used as a lucky sex charm or mojo. Veterinary students, particularly girls, appear to favour the os penis of the dog as a charm & this can be seen in use in Bristol today. From a historic point of view, the mandrake root, the rhinocerous horn have provided the most potent sexual symbols & have thereby gained reputations as powerful aphrodisiacs".
"MAMA COCA" and Sigmund Freud
The Incas of South America worshipped the Sun as the father of the gods & the coca plant as a divine gift from the mother of the gods, "MAMA COCA"!! This story of the divine origin of the plant may merely have been a ploy to ensure that it was reserved for priestly use, but even before the Inca civilization had appeared, the Moche people had discovered & exploited the stimulant properties of coca leaves. In 1533, F. Pizzaro was the first European to discover the shrub of "Erythroxylon coca" after noticing the native people of Peru chewing coca leaves. In the middle of the 16th century, the 2nd council of L:ima attempted to restrict the use of coca describing it as "a useless object". In 1859, the Italian physician, P. Montegazza, who had travelled widely among the Peruvian Indians, reported its potential medical uses then the Austrian chemist A. Niemann purified the active alkaloid cocaine from coca leaves. There followed a brief honeymoon between the medical profession and "MAMA COCA" before the addictive and dangerous properties of cocaine were recognized, and its use was terminated.
The brief popularity of cocaine as a universal panacea & its association with sex, at the end of the last century, was largely due to the eloquent advocacy of the Viennese physician, Sigmund Freud. He had read about cocaine properties experimented it upon himself and encouraged his fiance, Martha, to use this drug ( To make her strong and give her cheeks a red colour). In 1884, he published an encouraging essay and by 1886, he was under attack for his un-reserved recommendation of cocaine. Freud was eventually forced to withdraw his support for the drug. Erlenmeyer referred to the drug as the "third scourge of mankind". Interestingly, Dr. Siegel's study of 23 male cocaine smokers, noticed that 20 of them ( 87%) experienced sexual impotence. In 1931, Dr. Lewin's conclusion was as follows: [Those who believe they can enter the temple of happiness through this gate of pleasure purchase their momentary delights at the cost of body & soul. They speedily pass through the gate of happiness into the night of abyss].
INVITATION: All readers are invited to visit "Selected Studies" section in order to read the article "Advertising Aphrodisiacs and Quakery in Pre- and Post-VIAGRA Era".
WARNING: In conclusion, Dr. Taberner's book sends a warning signal not to use herbal or non-herbal aphrodisiacs before your medical doctor's advice. Some of these cause addiction, others are toxic and even lethal.
