About the Duda and the Magicians

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From: Daphne Amotz (2025).
"The Duda in the Eyes of Judaism – Etymological, Ethnobotanical, and Historical Aspects."
Argaman-Meitav Publishing House. Ganei Tikva.

Maimonides tells a story about a dispute that broke out between the witch and the witch doctor over who had greater power in matters of witchcraft: "Because Ilan is a 'tami [identified by the translator as a medical witch doctor. "Hatmit and Natufit are two types of plants that are very close] to those [meaning trees] that would do it as I informed you, he said that that tree stood in Nineveh for twelve thousand years, and that it quarreled with the 'Yabruach' [the dodo] from whose mouth it wanted to take its place, and that the person who prophesied about that tree [the Natufit] had his prophecy stopped for a long time, and when he prophesied about it after that time, they announced that he was in conflict with the 'Yabruach', and ordered him to write to the 'Chaldeans' [the judges] to discuss between them and say which of them is more important in their magic and more useful, the 'Khatmit' or the 'Yabruach', and that long madness [caused by the dodo] that you will learn from him if you ask him about the opinions of the people of those times and what their knowledge was like."

Let us recall that there is a very extensive literature linking the narcotic properties of species from the Solanaceae family (to which the mandrake belongs), which cause drowsiness and prolonged confusion of the senses, with witchcraft. This prolonged confusion of the senses (depending on the dosage, of course) is, apparently, the 'long madness' mentioned by the Maimonides. Shadal comments: "The mandrake [mandrake], and the ancients used to make spells from them to bring their love into the hearts of others [...] This is very far-fetched to me, because Rachel would not have needed spells to make her understand her husband, whom he already loved more than all his wives."

The use of doodads for witchcraft and poisoning was common in Europe, and hence the Jews were easily accused of possessing them. In the archives of the Inquisition, there is a record attesting to the accusation of a nun named Juan de la-Sierra who was found to have doodads in his possession "in order to bring about an act that would blind the inquisitors who would come to the city." A nun named Tereasa Sánchez was accused in 1490 of using doodads to predict her future. Another nun named Violante de Catalayud was accused of worshipping and possessing doodads. The indictment against her stated, among other things, "Suspected of crimes of heresy […] accused of disobeying the rules of the Catholic Church and of observing certain Jewish rituals." The Inquisition interpreted the use of the dowry as indicating a Jewish symbol, even though the use of dowries for religious purposes was part of European culture based on superstition. These accusations are not surprising given that in the Middle Ages the dowry was attributed magical and satanic properties. The mere possession of a dowry by a non-physician was considered a connection with the devil and his emissaries, and Joan of Arc was accused of this as well.

Many stories were prevalent in Europe about the magical power of the duda root, and it is no wonder that they also penetrated Jewish folklore. Rabbi Joseph, the shemesh of the community of Wormish (born in the seventeenth century), wrote a book of tales that contains imaginative miracles and mysteries that were common in his time. Among other things, he tells a story about "the deed of a certain reik who impregnated a single daughter in Wormish." At the center of the story is a duda root, which a tailor secretly sewed, at the request of a certain reik, into the coat of a beautiful Jewish woman from a decent and honest family. "And the duda was bewitched, and whoever wore the coat was bound to love him [the reik]." The daughter of that rich man wore the coat, and at the dance party her heart went after Arel the son of Belial and Reik. All of this was caused by the coat in which the duda was sewn, "and Maruv, whose desire for him grew, followed him from the dance hall to his house." At the end of the deed she discovered, the girl discovered that the coat was the one that caused all her misdeeds, and she returned to her father's house and told him about the evil deed that had been done to her, about the spell that the rak had cast on her, and about the uncle who had put her in her coat. The story continues as follows: "And the father went to the city council and told what had happened to his daughter, and the tailor was put in prison for the deed he had done, and the rak, who had heard about the tailor's imprisonment, fled the city."

According to the evidence presented above about the trial concerning the possession of the dove, it is implied that the Inquisition interpreted the use of the dove as indicating a Jewish symbol, even though the use of the dove was part of the European culture of superstition. Historical data indicate that the mere possession of doves was considered a pagan act of witchcraft. The Church (not only in Spain) fought fiercely against witches who possessed doves. We should add that the use of the dove for the purpose of witchcraft is not accepted among Jews and is most often mentioned by them in connection with the nations of the world.

contact: At watsapBy email

Amots Dafni
Amots Dafni
Amots Dafni: Israeli botanist and poet, professor emeritus at the Institute of Evolution and the Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology at the University of Haifa.

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