Poppy Flower

Poppies are one of the most attractive wild flowers in the nature. With their soft gracious chalices, paper-like – they are waving with every blow of the wind. They are honored from the poets and writers, due to many qualities and symbol meanings.

Poppies are known even in ancient medicine, because they contain little dozes of codeine, which makes them pain-relieving.

We meet them in many colors – crimson red, vivid orange, yellow and pure white.

The most important symbols of poppies are:

~ dreams, peace, inner balance

~ recovery and sleep

~ comfort in death

~ imagination

~ signs and visions in a dream

~ Resurrection and eternal life

~ loving memory for someone lost

All kind of poppies have the scientific Latin name “Papaver” , based on the Latin word for milk “pappa”, due to the white sap which appears from cut of the poppy`s stem. Some of the most widely spread kinds for gardening are Oriental poppies (Pappaver Orientale); They are not capricious flower, require dry soil and require little watering. They can be used in medicine, for the well known poppy seeds, important ingredient in the kitchen, (its used also for making tea) and for landscaping.  It`s a great flower for drawings, decorating home or a villa in the mountain.

Legends ~

According to Greek legend Poppy was created by Somnus, the God of sleep and rest, to help Ceres (the corn goddess) who was exhausted by the search of her lost daughter and she couldn`t make the corn grow. The poppies soothed her to sleep, when she rested the corn grew again, the trees blossomed, giving rise to the belief that poppies were essential to grow corn. Demeter (Ceres) the legends says, created the poppy to get some sleep after the loss of her daugther Persephone. The twin brothers Hypnos and Tanathos (Sleep and Death) were presented as crowned with poppies or carrying poppies in their hands. Obviously the Greek were aware of the fact, that a merciful sleep induced by opium can lead to death. 

More About ~ 

Poppies come from the Greek word "rhoeas" meaning "red". Papaver is the Latin word derived from "pap" - the opium milky juice. Oriental poppies contain opium which has been used for centuries. The corn poppy does not contain opium. 

Poppies were found in Egyptian tombs dating back 3,000 years. According to the Romans the poppy could heal a love wound and they used it for witchcarft. The ancient Greeks used poppies as a love charm and though that they were sign of fertility and brought health and strength, so Greek athletes were given mixtures of poppy seed, honey and wine. 

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[ nina Lea-nura * ]