It is not unusual for flowers to accompany us in falling in love, birth and death. In all cultures, bouquets, garlands and other floral arrangements serve to express deep feelings, whether of joy or farewell. We do not give away roots or leaves. The tears are directed to the soul because we give them symbolism.

Over the years, different cultures have attributed different meanings to them. We explain the origin of the symbolism of the flower from different cultures.

The flower as a symbol of beauty

Connecting with flowers is a way to reestablish contact with nature. Letting ourselves be impressed by its beauty we feel part of a wonderful world. Thus, the impact of flowers has to do with their beauty. But What is beautiful is because it transmits some message to us.

They say that among animals, including human beings, Physical beauty informs the genetic perfection of the individual. From the point of view of botany, the flower is the sexual organ of the plant and represents his effort to attract the attention of insects and offer them tasty food.

These 9 flowering indoor plants that you will see in the following video will make you happier.

But they could also be considered as points of special energy concentration more subtle, where the «ether» would become more «visible», the high, pure and brilliant air that the gods breathe, soul of the world and source of all life, according to the ancient Greeks, as suggested by the intensity of the perfume and the color that can be seen in them.

Some authors maintain that in flowers the harmonious combination between the forces that come from the earth is expressedwhich provides nutrients and water, for example, and those of the sky through the light of the sun.

The curious thing is that the flowers, with their almost otherworldly colors and their shapes that evoke mandalas, They can embody as many meanings as the most diverse and distant cultures have attributed to them.

The tulip comes to us from Türkiye and Turkish sultans used to take portraits smelling a rose.

What does each flower symbolize?

The language of flowers reached its maximum expression at the Turkish court of Ahmed II, a source of inspiration for the Romantic poets of Victorian England.

Since then:

• the poppy symbolizes love impatient;
• the blue anemone, sincerity and trust;
• the lilypurity;
• he red carnationthe fiery;
• the dahliagratitude;
• he geraniumthe whim;
• he gladiolusthe secret
• he jasminedisappointment…

…and so it could be continued with all species of flowers, including their varieties of shapes and colors.

Flowers used to celebrate fertility

But first of all, flowers mean life and fertility.. It is an obvious message, since flowers help plants reproduce. The presence of flowers in festivals that celebrate spring around the world makes this explicit.

From the rose of Sant Jordi which is given every April 23 in Catalonia, until garlands that adorn Indian, Greek, German or Slavic girls in other seasonal celebrations, or the flowers that the Indian god of love, Kamadeva, shoots like a Cupid.

The christian tradition It has also incorporated flowers into its symbolism. The wild rose It is linked with Chivalry and with the Virgin Mary, sometimes called mystical rose and to which he dedicates himself May, the month of flowers par excellence.

By the way, The name of May comes from Maia, the beautiful Greek goddess of the fields and one of the Pleiades daughters of Atlas. This myth gave rise in Rome to that of Bona Dea, good goddess of fertility, healing and women.

Curiously, May flowers have continued to inspire even the modern labor movement, which has taken the rose as one of its symbols and celebrates its world holiday on the first day of the month.

The symbolism of cherry blossoms

In Japan, the hanami, which literally means «seeing flowers.» It is such an important holiday that on the news the weathermen report where the cherry trees are blooming.

Appreciating its beauty is a cultural value but, every year, when the cherry trees bloom at the end of March and beginning of April, people flock to parks and gardenswhere they gather to eat and drink under the trees.

The tradition hanami dates back to the Nara period (8th century), when The Japanese took the pleasure of contemplating flowers from Chinese culture. At that time the celebration must have also been an offering to the gods so that the harvests would be abundant.

In Spain it is also celebrated a kind of hanami. The inhabitants of Jerte Valleyin the foothills of the Sierra de Gredos, between the provinces of Cáceres, Ávila and Salamanca, celebrate for thirty years, during the second half of Marchthe «Cherry Blossom Festival», in honor of the million trees that make up the largest cherry orchard in Europe.

Why is the cherry blossom the favorite to celebrate spring? Perhaps because its existence is very short, sometimes only a couple of weeks, and it perfectly expresses the impermanence and flow of life.

That’s why We also give flower crowns to the deceased, because existence is ephemeral, but beautiful. Also as hope of rebirth.

Man’s grave discovered in Iraq from 60,000 years ago who was buried on a bed of hollyhocks royals, needles and other flowers. Paradise It is usually represented as a garden eternally in bloom. There the main occupation is pick flowers.

There is a relationship between flowers, the divine and immortality which is reflected in the Sanskrit language, in which the same word, pusphameans flower and temple. And the god Vishnu is also called Pushpahasathat is, «he whose laughter is flowery.»

Lotus flower: symbol of spirituality

A specific flower, the lotus, has become one of the most universal symbols of spirituality. in civilization egyptian It was related to the power of the sun and its god Ra. In the India symbolizes purity and beauty. She is the «Mother of creation» and Brahma, sovereign of all gods.

The lotus represents the triumph of high aspirations. It also expresses the fusion between masculine principles -heaven, the Father- and feminine -water, the Mother.

It sinks its root in the silt, in often turbid and stagnant water, but its stem shoots upward through the water, symbolizing the psychic evolution in the fight against ignorance and passionsand the flower opens over the water towards the sky, becoming emblem of spiritual realization.

Meditating Buddhas are usually depicted sitting on lotus flowers.. One day Buddha’s followers were gathered to hear his teachings. But he didn’t say a word: took a flower and held it so they could see it. Only one disciple, Ananda, showed with his smile that he had understood.

The flower goes to the heart. Helps realize the best wishes through kindness and joy. No wonder it has become symbol of peace, or of the vitality and hope of young people against the conventions of society.

In addition They are used to symbolize the areas (chakras or wheels) in the human body where the energy that governs the functioning of the organism is accumulated and transformed.

Each of the seven chakras is symbolized by a lotus with a greater or lesser number of petals and with different colors that correspond to its characteristics.

The Western version of the lotus flower is perhaps the fleur-de-lis or lily flower. Symbolizes perfection, light and life and we find it in heraldic shields or even in the emblem of the boy scout.

He recently became more famous, perhaps due to his appearance in the novel The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, in which he represents the lineage inherited from Jesus of Nazareth. Legend says that an angel gave a golden lily to Clovis, the Merovingian king of the Franks, when he converted to Christianity.

The fleur-de-lis has a added warrior meaning: Its most frequent representation recalls the shape of the sword and has been interpreted as a sign of the alliance between the clergy and the nobility.

To Freudian psychoanalysts it seems like a male symbol because it reminds them of the phallus and because of its connection with swordsmen.

The flower as mandala and self-knowledge

We are naturally attracted to flowers that reflect the virtues and conflicts of our personality.. Therefore, observing them can be an interesting method of self-knowledge.

The flower, any one, is a mandala where the spiritual center can be sought. As is known, mandalas are used to concentrate in meditation.

A meditative technique consists of contemplating a mandala for a long time. so that their shapes are memorized to then try to represent it internally with all its details.

From time to time the eyes are opened and compared with the originalwhich can be, for example, a real sunflower or even a church rose window.

Mandalas and flowers are psychogramsthat is, schemes where the diversity of everything that exists merges in the center into an absolute, entire and luminous consciousness that shines in the depths of our being.

It is as if we had taken the flowers for Roscharch spots in which we all projected the treasure of our thoughts and feelings.

The flower as a mandala facilitates access to the «golden flower», a concept of Chinese Taoism equivalent to the philosopher’s stone of European alchemy. It would be nothing less than the great secret that explains the generation of life and consciousness, according to psychologist Carl G. Jung.

He Indian teacher Ramakrishna wrote:

«The bee flutters around humming until it lands on the flower and drinks the sweetness of the honey that is in it. But, once inside the flower, it tastes the nectar silently. While man disputes about doctrines and dogmas, he shows that he has not tasted the nectar of Truth. Once he tastes it, he becomes silent.»

Flowers can help us develop a positive, creative and compassionate outlook on life. In some way they remind us that the same energy beats within us that achieves flowering in plants.

That is why spring is a timely season for regeneration and rebirth.. We can release ballast and bring out the best in ourselves fluidly, like plants do.

Books about the effect of flowers

• The magic of plants; Ignacio Abella. Ed. RBA-Integral
• Total health in 8 weeks; Andrew Weil. Ed. Urano
• Flower workshop; Stefan Bail. Ocean Ed.