What is the symbol of red poppies? You can almost completely confidently answer that many of us have never in our lives asked this question. But the huge fiery “sea”, on which the wind creates scarlet waves, is a spectacle so beautiful that you can look at it endlessly. For all peoples and at all times, this flower was a multifaceted symbol. There are many legends and myths about him, he was dedicated to the gods and used in medicine. Red poppy - a symbol of what? What did he mean in antiquity, in the East, and in our time? It's time to find out about it.
Egypt
For the inhabitants of this country, the flower was a symbol of youth, female beauty and charm. Once upon a time, peasants near Thebes cultivated the kind of poppy that we grow today. The upper classes could have guessed that the flower has narcotic properties, and ordinary people calmed crying children with poppy water and used it as a painkiller. Because of its beauty, poppy has become a symbol of Egyptian burials, even today flowers are found in tombs.
Antiquity
We can say that in Ancient Rome and Hellas this flower was revered most of all, it is from there that several legends about its origin hail. According to one legend, after the death of Adonis, Venus wept for a long time, nothing could calm her. And her every tear turned into a poppy. It's sad, of course, but the red poppy is a symbol of what else? According to another legend, the poppy was created by the sleep god Hypnos in order to calm Demeter, whose daughter was abducted by Hades. Hypnos watered her with a decoction of this flower; she was comforted. Even today, her statues adorn these scarlet flowers. At the same time, poppy was also a symbol of fertility due to the good germination of seeds.
East
In Persian culture, poppy is a symbol of happiness, eternal love, joy, a wild flower hinted at a desire for an intimate connection. Buddhists were firmly convinced that the poppy appeared after the asleep Buddha touched the earth with eyelashes. In China, a flower was associated with success, beauty, relaxation and remoteness from fuss. However, later it became a symbol of affordable women and brothels. At the beginning of the 19th century, after the "Opium War", smoking of this drug became so popular that the flower began to be associated with evil and decay.
Red poppy - a symbol of what in the Middle Ages?
In its bloodthirsty and gloomy traditions, Christianity declared the poppy a sign that the Last Judgment would soon come. The flower, according to the convictions of that time, reminded of the terrible sufferings of Christ, and was also a symbol of indifference and ignorance. On the day when the Descent of the Holy Spirit took place, churches were decorated with poppies, and children carried flowers and scattered petals during the procession. Next came the priest with holy gifts. In the XVI century, a treatise appeared by the physician Theodorus Jacob with a warning that you should not overuse the seeds of the flower and its other parts.
New time
It was believed that red poppies grow on the battlefields for a reason. They supposedly symbolize the blood of dead soldiers. It looked very believable in the times after the First World War in Flanders. Then, after the burial of the fallen soldiers, the fields suddenly became scarlet. At that time, Professor Moina Michael turned the poppy into a symbol of charity. She sold flowers, and gave money to war veterans and disabled people.
Scarlet flower today
And today, red poppy is a symbol of what? For example, to this day this flower is the emblem of the British Legion. Each fall, artificial flowers are sold as a reminder of those who fell in armed conflicts and two world wars. In Ukraine, for example, poppy is associated with fertility and vast expanses. Wedding loaves were sprinkled with petals, so that the young had health and many children. Also in this country, red poppy is a symbol of Victory; it has recently been decided to use it at all official events.
Scarlet Flower Tattoo
Everyone knows that the flowers depicted on the body are of great importance. What does the red poppy mean in this case? A tattoo with this flower has always been associated with death or sleep. And these two concepts are too close to each other, for example, lethargic sleep often duplicates the state of death, it is so difficult to distinguish between them. This is all very strange, and people have been thinking about solving the mystery for decades.
Another meaning of such a drawing on the body is truth, devotion, fidelity. When deciding to decorate your body with poppy seeds, think about whether it is worth doing. Whatever meaning you put into the drawing yourself, there will always be some mysteries and meanings unknown to us.
