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sally_in_wales
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 20809
Location: sunny wales
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 Posted: Tue Apr 12, 05 7:15 am Post subject: Traditional Interpretations of Plants |
 
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Inspired by the recent thread on foraging for non-food plants, heres a short piece I wrote a few years back. Thought It might make the basis for a new thread of collected plant sayings or wisdom 
Traditional Interpretations of Plants
(or Love, Life and Naughty Innuendoes!)
Sally Pointer
article written October 2000
Herbs have been used as ingredients for charms, spells and potions since time immemorial. Even the least superstitious person will usually admit to having mercilessly dismembered a daisy as a child whilst reciting ‘he loves me, he loves me not’.
What is less widely known is the vast range of symbolism
attached to herbs over the centuries. In studying some of
these we can gain a greater understanding of why we
choose certain plants for certain occasions.
We routinely choose lilies and roses for weddings, chrysanthemums for funerals, and holly, mistletoe and ivy for midwinter celebrations. Surely though there is more at work
here than mere tradition?
Take lilies and roses for example. Many people recognise that the stately white ‘Madonna lily’ is associated with chastity and virginity through its long association with the Virgin Mary. Many beautiful Renaissance paintings of the annunciation, for example, show Mary
being presented with this flower by the archangel. It is for this reason that it is included in symbolic bridal bouquets.
Have you noticed though, that the scent of the lily is anything but demure? Few other flowers have such a rich and exotic perfume, and many of those early paintings of Mary juggle the idea of her being a worthy maiden with the need to show her as a desirable
woman, depicted according to the fashions of the time in which she was painted. This was in no way an unusual or irreverent thing. Most of these paintings were intended to be studied for hours, and the best way to retain the attention of the people was to give them something on which their eyes could happily linger. So too with the lily, its symbolism was recognised, and its scent transported the smeller to unearthly realms.
Roses have an even more complex history. Rose has long been regarded as one of the finest perfumes known to man. Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century, commented that as far as he knew, the use of roses to scent oil predated the first use of properly compounded perfumes, and banqueters at Roman feasts might dine knee deep in scented petals. The exotic scent of the rose has been linked with ideas of erotic love for centuries, and poets well understood lightly veiled allusions to ‘gathering rosebuds’ to be references to amorous conquest. We still commonly refer to a girl with a healthy flush as having ‘roses in her cheeks’. (Not all cultures saw it this way however, medieval Welsh
poets preferred the foxglove as a metaphor for a maidenly blush).
Roses have another, less immediate meaning. A rose suspended above the table symbolised discussions carried out in great secrecy, and the talks were referred to as sub-rosa’. To this day, we tend to call the circular type of plaster ceiling ornamentation
‘the rose’.
Together, the ‘lily and the rose’ was also a description of the ideal medieval complexion, used much as we might refer to a ‘peaches and cream’ skin today. Medieval symbolism didn’t stop there either, the cult of the lily and the rose recognised that precarious
balance between chaste innocence and heady seductiveness that accompanied the tradition of courtly love, in which the woman must be both untouchable and desirable, and the knight passionate but chivalrous.
Today, the gesture has degraded somewhat, when her date sends over a dozen long stemmed red roses, the modern woman recognises first his ability to pay for such a token, then tends to wonder what he wants in return! As the saying goes, every rose has its thorn...
Many of the plants that we use to decorate the house at Christmas or Yuletide have multiple meanings. On the whole these plants are evergreen, creating a reference to life within the depths of winter. Those with red berries, such as the holly are especially prized,
for all red berried plants have associations with droplets of blood, and the suggestion of a vibrant life force.
Mistletoe is more unusual, it has waxy white berries, and its habit is parasitic. No wonder that early people including the Druids regarded it as special. Norse mythology has it that a mistletoe arrow killed Baldur, the god of peace. On his restoration to life mistletoe was given to the goddess of love, and was ever after associated with kissing. Other traditions associate those waxy berries with drops of semen, again a reference to a potent life force when the world seems most barren.
Plants associated with death are less commonly discussed. Many people associate chrysanthemums with funerals, and think nothing further of it. In actuality, the chrysanthemum has an ancient lineage, and has been known in cultivation for thousands
of years. The name is a derivation of a Greek phrase meaning golden flower, and the original chrysanthemums were yellow. Today they come in almost every colour except blue. Although many westerners see it as a ‘funeral flower’, the Japanese hold it in much higher regard and it is depicted on the imperial throne. Feng Shui recommends chrysanthemums to bring happy laughter into the home.
The Victorians in particular loved the concept of hidden meanings attached to plants, and created a whole ‘language’ of flowers with which clandestine messages could be sent. The next time someone sends you an arrangement, take a closer look, you may be surprised by the symbolism hidden away in it. |
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tahir
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