Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Asia, Middle East, India History: 5000-2300 BC Sumerian cuneiform writings The Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi “Bridegroom, let me caress you, My precious caress is more savory than honey, In the bedchamber, honey filled, Let us enjoy your goodly beauty, Lion, let me caress you, My precious caress is more savory [...]
Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Africa, Uganda History: no specific dates to treat “sexual impotence and erectile dysfunction, leaves of Cannabis sativa, to chew VO[taken orally]. or to smoke, inhaling fumes” vernacular name: njayi ( Luganda), njaga (Runyankore), mbangi (Swahili) Technique: cultural/myth Effect: cure impotence; erectile dysfunction 2. Origin: Asia History: no specific dates earliest mention [...]
Category: Ingredient Origin: Americas; Brazil History: First written mention dates to 1669 in an observation by the Jesuit Joao Felipe Bettendorff who identifies the Satere-Maue as the original cultivators Cultivation estimated to have begun c. 1200 AD. Significant in the origin myth of the Satere-Maue due to resemblace of guarana fruit to eyeballs. More recently in [...]
Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Asia, Europe History: also known as “Artic root,” “Rose root” and “Hong Jing Tian” Technical: Effect: 2. Origin: ASia, Europe (Siberia) History: no specific dates- present day in mountain villages of the Caucasus and Altai mountains, a bouquet of roots is given to newlywed couples to ensure fertility and the birth of healthy [...]
Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Asia History: The first written record of its use as a medicinal agent, although not necessarily an aphrodisiac, appears in Shennong Bencao Jing (Classic Herbal of Shennong), written around 100 A.D Ginseng was so valuable in ancient China that the Qing Dynasty rose to power in the mid-sixteenth century supported by money [...]
Category: Ingredient Origin: Asia History: a “living fossil,” existing essentially unchanged for 270 million years.The oldest native tree populations are in Asia, specifically China and Japan; also known as the “Maidenhair tree.” Technique: cultural/myth; medicinal Effect: promotes blood flow/supports erection; anti-aging Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginkgo_biloba#Medicinal_uses Ratsch, Christian Berkeley, CA Ten Speed Press 1997 Nickell, Nancy L. California The Crossing Press [...]
Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Europe, Italy, France History: Mentioned in the Salerno Book of Health (Salerno Sanitatis Salernitanum), written by faculty at the Salernum. The earliest Italian Medical school in Salerno, it incorporated elements of Classical, Jewish, and Arab medicine. “Within the stomach, loins, and in the lung Praise of hot ginger rightly may be sung. It [...]
Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Africa, Uganda History: no dates specified to treat “sexual impotence and erectile dysfunction, stem, bulb, leaves, roots of Allium sativum, to chew, to cook, VO[taken orally] in H2O and in in food” vernacular name: tungurusumu (Rukonjo) Technique: cultural/myth; medicinal Effect: cure impotence and erectile dysfunction 2. Origin: Asia, India History: An Indian [...]
Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Asia, Middle East History:listed as lead ingredient to cure impotence, Nefzawi wrote: “To cure the tying of aiguillettes you must take galanga, cinnamon from Mecca, cloves, Indian cachou, nutmeg, Indian cubebs, sparrow-wort, cinnamon, Persian pepper, Indian thistle, cardamoms, pyrether, laurel-seed, and gilly-flowers. All these ingredients must be pounded together carefully, and one drinks of [...]
Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Europe, Greek History: “Aphrodisiac” was derived from the name of the Greek goddess of love and sexuality, and Aphrodite rose from the foam surrounding the genitals of Kronos’s father, which had been severed and cast upon the waters. Technique: Cultural/myth Effect: 2. Origin: Europe History: Darwian perspective that fish are the source of all [...]
Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Asia, Middle East History: 300 BC to the 200 AD Heavily traded along Incense Road Technique: Commodity/luxury Effect: 2. Origin: Asia, Middle East History: c. 10 C. BC The Queen of Sheba used Frankincese and Myrrh to seduce King Solomon and secure the freedom in incense road. Technique: cultural/myth; smell; commodity/luxury Effect: [...]
Category: Ingredient Origin: Europe, Roman History: According to Pliny the Elder the sap of fleawart was effective in securing the birth of boys. The parents needed to drink sap three times a day while fasting for forty days. Technique: cultural/myth Effect: fertility Reference: Simons, G.L. USA Harper & Row Publishers 1973 pp. 31
Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Europe History: Rome 8th century Phallic statues were carved from the wood of fig trees, and the tree itself was dedicated to Bacchus. Figs also represented the festivals of Priapus. All phallic statues were made from fig and baskets of figs featured heavily in the processions. Technique: Cultural/myth Effect: lust/desire 2. Origin: Asia [...]
Category: Ingredient 1. Origin: Europe, Greece/Mediterranean; Asia, Middle East History: Also know as “Giant Fennel” Technique: physiological; biopsychological; psychological Effect: influences estrogen/progesterone level 2. Origin: Americas, North America History: It was a main ingredient in Lydia Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound for “female complaints” (19th C.) Original formula was as follows: Unicorn root (Aletris farinosa L.) 8 [...]
Category: Individual Origin: Americas, Native American History: no specific dates dates (likely 19th C.) reportedly used by Native American tribes for dysmenorrhea, uterine prolapse, pelvic congestion and to improve ovarian function. Technique: physiological; cultural/myth Effect: improve female dysfunction; influences estrogen/progesterone level Reference: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Lydia_Pinkham
Category: Ingredient Origin: Global History: In Essence and Alchemy Mandy Aftel writes, It is truly the fecal essence of our most pungent bodily odors that draws us, even as it repels us. The precarious balance between arousal and disgust is sexual in its very nature, creating erotic tension and heightening arousal. It manifests itself in the pervasiveness of [...]
Category: Ingredient Origin: Oceania, Australia History: recent – no specific dates Australian artist, Ivan Durant accidental discovery Technique: physiological Effect: increase libido Reference: URL: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/headlines/will-egg-dust-become-new-viagra%3F-457
Category: Ingredient Origin: Global History: That eggs would be eaten for fertility and potency is an obvious association; they are a type of womb, and their yolks nourish their embryos. Eggs were sacred symbols of the earth’s regeneration in pagan spring equinox celebra- tions (which gave rise to the tradition of Easter eggs). The Perfumed Garden declares that [...]
Category: Ingredient Origin: Asia, China History: The use of the dried penis of deer, tigers, seals, and beavers are used in Chinese sex tonics Technique: Cultural/myth; medicinal Effect: libido; stimulant Reference:
Category: Ingredient Origin: Asia, China History: Used for centuries in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Recorded in Shen Nong’s Herbal Classic (Han Dynasty) Technique: medicinal; cultural/myth Effect: well-being; analgesic Reference: Nickell, Nancy L. California The Crossing Press 1999 pp. 35-36 http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/dong-quai-000238.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelica_sinensis