dative substance
that, in the Egyptian hieroglyphs (of the Story of the Destruction of
Mankind), was represented by yellow spheres with a red covering was
confused in Western Asia with the yellow-berried plant which was known
to have sedative properties. Hence the plant was confused with the
mineral and so acquired all the magical properties of the Great Mother's
elixir. But the Indian name is descriptive of the actual properties of
the plant and is possibly the origin of the Greek word.

Another suggestion that has been made deserves some notice. It has been
claimed that the first syllable of the name is derived from the Sanskrit
_mandara_, one of the trees in the Indian paradise, and the instrument
with which the churning of the ocean was accomplished.[396] The mandrake
has been claimed to be the tree of the Hebrew paradise; and a connexion
has thus been instituted between it and the _mandara_. This hypothesis,
however, does not offer any explanation of how either the mandrake or
the _mandara_ acquired its magical attributes. The Indian tree of life
was supposed to "sweat" _amrita_ just as the incense trees of Arabia
produce the divine life-giving incense.

But there are reasons[397] for the belief that the Indian story of the
churning of the sea of milk is a much modified version of the old
Egyptian story of the pounding of the materials for the elixir of life.
The _mandara_ churn-stick, which is often supposed to represent the
phallus,[398] was originally the tree of life, the tree or pillar which
was animated by the Great Mother herself.[399] So that the _mandara_ is
homologous with the _mandragora_. But so far as I am aware, there is no
adequate reason for deriving the latter word from the former.

The derivation from the Sanskrit words _mandros_ and _agora_ seems to
fit naturally into the scheme of explanation which I have been
formulating.

In the Egyptian story the Sekti of Heliopolis pounded the _didi_ in a
mortar to make "the giver of life," which by a simple confusion might be
identified with the goddess herself in her capacity as "the giver of
life". This seems to have occurred in the Indian legend. Lakshmi, or
Sri, was born at the churning of the ocean. Like Aphrodite, who was born
from the sea-foam churned from the ocean, Lakshmi was the goddess of
beauty, love, and prosperity.

Before leaving the problems of mandrake and the homologous plants and
substances, it is important that I should emphasize t