 Ginger shares many of the same medicinal qualities as its brother from another mother, Cinnamon. However, the historical veneration for ginger is much, much stronger, as over 50% of ancient medicinal recipes contain ginger. And now, the mythology of ginger. Ginger has a strong association with the element of fire, and not surprisingly, the planet of Mars. Ginger is also associated with the deity. A what? Huh? It's not actually associated with the deity? How can the gods not love ginger? While unlike many herbs, it doesn't have a direct association with different gods and goddesses, you will find ginger being used in incense to appease various gods and goddesses. And both ancient Chinese medicine and Indian Ayurvedic medicine, hail ginger is a healing gift from the gods. The Austronesians of the South Pacific, that's the people around here, often use ginger in healing rituals as protection from evil spirits, and they would use it to bless their ships for a safe and prosperous voyage. Are you terrified by speaking in public? Maybe you've got a big date that you're nervous about? Well, people used to chew on ginger root to inspire confidence and courage before a big event. But besides food and medicine, what did people in ancient times use ginger for the most? Ginger. The Aphrodisiac. Yep, that's right. The love spice. And ginger's use as an Aphrodisiac has been extremely well documented, too. There are lots of ancient recipes and spells that call for adding a little ginger in order to make a romantic dinner or occasion just a little extra special. Its recognition as a sexual tonic has been talked about by tons of people, including ancient Greek herbalist, Disgarides, English herbalist, John Gerard, and it's even mentioned in the Arabian Chronicle, A Thousand and One Nights. The Italian medical school at the University of Salerno touted it by saying, Eat ginger and you will love and be loved as in your youth. Madame du Bartit. Du Bartit? Du Bartit. Would serve ginger to our lovers, including King Louis XV of France, in order to make them more pliant of sexual partners. The Malaysian islanders of the South Pacific would use ginger to win their partner's affections, while their cousins of the Dobu Islands chewed and spat ginger to fend off illness and windstorms. Not as sexy. An Aphrodisiac recipe with ginger is mentioned in the final chapter of the Kamasutra, and it also appears in the 15th century Arab sex manual, The Perfumed Garden, where a poorly endowed man is advised to anoint his member with honey and ginger in order to get freaky-deaky and make his woman so happy that she won't want him to get off her again. Okay, ha ha, sorry kids, I didn't know this was gonna turn into a sex ed lesson today. But to be honest, there's more truth than fancy behind this myth, as recent research has shown ginger to be helpful for sex drive and erectile dysfunction. Ginger the magician! In magic, ginger and cinnamon are also simpatico, as both are used to boost the efficacy of spells, increase finances, gain success, and increase your passion. Yeah, we kind of already covered that. Ginger being a spice associated with fire is particularly good at speeding up spells, and will cause the activation of a spell to be expedited with due haste. If you want to bring a little extra warmth and connection between your family or, well, any group, then fill up your chalice with natural ginger ale and toast to a closer bond between friends and family. Having trouble with nightmares? Place a piece of ginger under your bed. Or if your kid is having nightmares, you can sew it into their favorite stuffed animal to fend off those nasty dreams and inspire a sense of safety. Got a malevolent spirit hanging around your home? Or maybe you just got a bad habit you want to break? Then make a ginger infusion by boiling ginger root for 10 to 20 minutes. Then sprinkle the infusion on whatever you want to get out of your life. Cigarettes, drugs, candy, a photo of your ex. Or that neighbor with a bad body odor keeps stopping you to talk and, oh my god, dude, just take a bath already. Want to make a little more magic in your life? Then hit the like button, subscribe, and click Mr. Bell so you get a ring-a-ding-ding every time I release a new video. Ginger the holy. Hindu Brahmins are expected to maintain an ultra-high level of physical and spiritual purity. And sadly, part of this means that they don't eat ginger because it grows in what's considered unclean ground. Isn't there a way for them to bless the soil or something? Maybe I make it okay. I guess it's no surprise that ginger doesn't actually show up in the Bible as it really didn't become prevalent until after the beginning of the Christian era. However, ginger does show up seven times in the Quran. Wrong. It actually shows up in the Quran only once in chapter 76 verse 17. Thanks for the bad facts, internet. And it is considered the holiest of spices in the Islamic religion where ginger is said to be drunk in paradise by the righteous. The holiness of ginger tea confirmed. Yes. Spitting ginger. The last ceremonies in today's video are the most bizarre and perhaps most intriguing of all. We start in Papua New Guinea with the Trobriand Islanders where they have a peculiar practice of magically blessing their village and crops called the Villa Malia. This ritual is performed either at harvest time or when sickness and starvation problems are affecting the village. During this ritual, a spell is spoken into a conch shell. The shell is then stuffed on one side with a dry banana leaf and the other side is laid on a mat so the virtuous spell now contained in the shell doesn't escape. Still with me? Okay, next they do a spell with a conical bag of banana leaf and wild ginger root after which the conch shell is blown at the northern and southern end of the village and then the ginger root is chewed up and spat on any road that enters the village. That's probably a lot of expectation. If some wicked person performs black magic, the shaman of the village would block the spell by spitting ginger root on the people who the spell may be cast against. While this may all sound rather gross, it's actually not far removed from the Greek practice of spitting for luck, though the Greeks don't use a full-on ginger loogie like the Trobrian Islanders do. Another similar ritual can be found in Africa where certain tribes have festivals of celebration and mourning. It's less bipolar and more cathartic than it sounds. The Kujur or village shaman will welcome people by chewing up some ginger, getting up in your personal space, then hork back the biggest ball of gingery spit before unleashing it all over your cheeks and eyelids. Yay! Welcome to the party! Just how I wanted to start things off. I think we should all be glad that this hasn't become common practice. And that's it! That's the mythology of ginger! Any chance you've been involved in a spitting ritual before? I don't know, maybe yeah. Let me know in the comments down below. This could be fun. Gross. But fun. If you want to enjoy some more ginger fun, then watch the history of ginger or the benefits of ginger tea next. Please, be kind. Take care of each other and watch out who you try and spit ginger on. They may not take too kindly to it, especially if you don't know them.