Rensselaer Republican, Volume 16, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 April 1884 — Sacred Flowers. [ARTICLE]

Sacred Flowers.

The lily deservedly stands first among sacred flowers, for from the birth of history until the present day she has never wanted worshipers 1 The word is of Syrian origin, and means “evening.” It was the personification of the moonlight, and no flower could so beautifully express this idea as the pale, white, golden-hearted water-lily. It has always been a subject of dispute what particular kind of lily is alluded to in the Sermon on the Moujit. If (as it is generally supposed) Cnrist delivered the memorable discourse in the spring of the year, then, at that season, the mountains of Galilee and the shores of the Levant are all glorious with the searlet, turban-like flowers of the Martagou lily. A white species, striped with purple,, is also common in Judea, and this, as combining the idea of majesty and purity, has received the suffrages of manv. It could not have been, however, the small species known, to ns as the Lily of the Valley, because this fairy-like flower, with its little illumination lamps, grows only in cold or temperate climates. . There is an old legend which says that Eve brought the rose out of Eden with her. It has always been a favorite flower with the Jews, and Solomon likens Christ to the Bose of Sharon. In later times the Rose of Jericho has usurped the place of affection so long held by that of Sharon. This rose is a native of Arabia Petrea, and opens only in fine weather. It also possesses, in a remarkable degree, a reviving power, and can recover its life when to all appearances dead; hence the Jews use it as the symbol of resurrection. A Mexican plant possessing the same wonderful tenacity of life is constantly for sale on the streets of New York, so that many must have become familiar with this phenomenon. The white rose has always been sacred to the Virgin Mary, and, mingled with the cross, it was the device of Luther and also of the Rosicrucians (sub rosa crux). The red rose is the emblem of love and also of silence, because Cupid gave it to Harpocrates, the god of silence, in order to bribe him not to reveal any of the indiscretions of his mother; hence it was often placed over the doors of guest rooms to signify that perfect freedom of conversation might be indulged “under the rose,” for nothing so said was to be repeated. And, as stratagem delights in silence as well as love, the Romans placed it on their shields. Over Greek, Roman, and Chinese graves it is a frequent emblem, and the Turks will not suffer a red one to lie on the ground since the day it was colored by the blood of Mohammed. The Arabians have a legend of a garden of roses planted by King Shaddad, and now buried in the desert, which is analogous in many respects to the Garden of Eden. Throughout Southern and Central Europe it is used in love spells and divinations. One common German superstition is to name rose leaves and then throw them into a basin of clean water. The leaf which sinks last is to be the husband or wife of the inquirer. Another superstition is to throw rose leaves on to hot coals; the burning fragrance is thought to attract - good fortune. White roses blooming at an unexpected time are, B believed in England to denote a death in the family of the owner, and red ones a marriage. As the lily is the emblem of France, so the rose is of England, where it assumes more of a historical than sacred character.