Aphrodite Goddess of Sex & Love
The aphrodisiac or sex herb known as Eronda is the elusive Dittany of Crete grown wild only on the mountains and gorges of the Greek Island of Crete.
The local name given to Dittany of Crete is Eronda which means love.
The very word aphrodisiac comes from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and sensual pleasure. She herself reputedly used Dittany of Crete for its healing and therapeutic properties.
The beautiful many branched plant with pink flowers is prized as the magic herb of Crete and a panacea for all manner of ailments.
Newlyweds drank Dittany of Crete in wine to ensure a good and healthy sex life in their marriage.
Pink in colour, which is the colour associated with love and sex, Dittany of Crete very much "plays hard to get". Only the most ardent young lovers scrambled on mountainsides and the deep gorges of Crete gathering bunches of the pink blooms to present as love tokens. There are numerous deaths reported throughout the centuries by collectors of this magical herb.
Word of the benefits of Dittany of Crete spread and demand soon outstripped supply. At one time Dittany could command a price as high as gold and demand threatened its eradication.
Even in recent times the collection of Dittany of Crete was a very dangerous occupation for the men who risked life and limb to climb precarious rock faces where the plant grows wild in the mountains of Crete. They were named Erondades (love seekers) and were considered very passionate men to go to such dangerous lengths to collect the herb.
Today, thankfully Dittany of Crete is cultivated and is sold for many culinary, medicinal and magical purposes. And although their maybe no scientific proof of its aphrodisiac qualities, there are many Cretan men with a certain glint in their eye with no need for Viagra!
We stock dried Dittany of Crete in our Cretan Village Shop