What does the poppy symbolize? Poppy is the oldest symbol of sleep and death. The ancient Greeks considered the poppy to be an attribute of both the god of sleep (Hypnos) and the god of death (Thanatos)

What do red poppies symbolize? It is possible practically with full confidence answer that many of us have never asked this question in our lives. But the huge fiery “sea”, on which the wind creates scarlet waves, is a sight so beautiful that you can look at it endlessly. Among all peoples and at all times, this flower has been a multifaceted symbol. There are many legends and myths about it; it was dedicated to the gods and used in medicine. Red poppy - a symbol of what? What did it 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 type of poppy that is grown here today. The upper classes could guess that the flower had narcotic properties, and simple people soothed with poppy water and used it as a painkiller. Because of its beauty, the poppy became a symbol of Egyptian burials, and even today the 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 come from. According to one legend, Venus cried for a long time after the death of Adonis; nothing could calm her down. And every tear of hers 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 Hypnos in order to calm Demeter, whose daughter was kidnapped by Hades. Hypnos gave her a decoction of this flower to drink, and she was comforted. Even today, her statues are decorated with these scarlet flowers. At the same time, the poppy was also a symbol of fertility due to the good germination of seeds.

East

In Persian culture, the poppy is a symbol of happiness, eternal love, joy; the wild flower hinted at the desire for an intimate relationship. Buddhists were firmly convinced that the poppy appeared after the falling asleep Buddha touched the ground with his eyelashes. B was associated with success, beauty, relaxation and distance from the hustle and bustle. However, it later became a symbol of available women and brothels. IN early XIX century, after the Opium War, smoking 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 to be a sign that the Last Judgment would soon come. The flower, according to the beliefs of that time, recalled the terrible suffering 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 the holy gifts. In the 16th century, a treatise by the physician Theodorus Jacobus appeared warning that the seeds of the flower and its other parts should not be consumed excessively.

New time

There was a belief that it was not for nothing that red poppies grew on battlefields. They supposedly symbolize the blood of dead soldiers. This looked very plausible in the times after the First World War in Flanders. Then, after the burial of the dead soldiers, the fields suddenly turned scarlet. At that time, Professor Moina Michael turned the poppy into a symbol of charity. She sold flowers and gave the money to war veterans and disabled people.

Scarlet flower today

And today the red poppy is a symbol of what? For example, to this day this flower is the emblem of the British Legion. Every year in the fall, artificial flowers are sold as a reminder of those who died in armed conflicts and two world wars. In Ukraine, for example, poppy is associated with fertility and endless open spaces. Petals were sprinkled so that the young would have health and many children. Also in this country, red poppy has recently been used at all official events.

Tattoo with a scarlet flower

Everyone knows that 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, they often duplicate the state of death, so it is difficult to distinguish them. This is all very strange, and people have been thinking about solving the mystery for decades.

Another meaning of such a pattern on the body is truth, devotion, fidelity. When deciding to decorate your body with poppy seeds, think about whether it’s worth it. No matter what meaning you put into the drawing yourself, there will always be some secrets and meanings unknown to us.

Conclusion

As we see, history is rich not only in events, but also in such important legends and beliefs about Every nation interpreted this beautiful flower in its own way, the meanings are not just different for everyone, sometimes they even contradict each other. Let's dwell on the fact that this is a symbol of happiness, youth and fertility! Let's believe in the best - that means it will happen!

A person always wants to make his life better. And even if objectively everything is fine with him. Well, that's human nature! And you shouldn’t interfere with this endeavor. Feng Shui can significantly help in this matter. This teaching can make the life of any person more harmonious and better. And for this he has many means.

For example, why not use floristic ones? One of the most significant in this sense is the poppy, which, together with the peony, is considered the king of all flowers and plants. What are its meanings? And for what category of people will it be useful? Anyone who likes to follow Feng Shui should know all this.

Feng Shui meaning of poppy

It should be noted that poppy has several meanings, in each of which anyone can find something useful for themselves.

However, the main meaning and significance contained in the poppy according to Feng Shui lies in its beneficial effect on the love sphere of life.

It would be interesting to learn more about this.

Mac is able to attract real and pure love. He knows how to “open” a person’s eyes to what is happening, in particular, to people. This is just very useful initial stage forming relationships. And then the poppy will be able to suggest the right path, which will certainly lead to peace and happiness. In your apartment you can keep not only the flower itself (for example, grown in the country), but also paintings that depict poppies.

The plant will also help you sort out confusing and complex relationships where partners cannot find mutual language or have lost the subtle connection between two souls. To do this, it is best to keep an image of a poppy near your bed.

By the way, poppy has a particularly good effect on the fair sex. It is believed that it even helps those who have not been able to get pregnant for a long time. For this purpose, a girl can, for example, start embroidering a picture with a cross, which will depict a bright red poppy.

In addition to love, poppy helps in all types of human relationships, not just love and romantic ones. The flower establishes contact between children and parents in difficult periods. This could become adolescence or other long-term conflict phenomenon. With the help of poppy, brothers and sisters, fathers and children, grandmothers and grandchildren make peace. In short, everyone can turn to the poppy for help in reconciliation.

Are there other characteristics and properties of this beautiful and captivating flower?

Additional characteristics of poppy according to Feng Shui

Attracting career success is another unique and distinctive property and meaning of poppy. He, like no one else, is capable of promoting success in any field and in any service. The plant especially favors those who are engaged in their own business. It will help minimize all risks, thereby increasing the chances of business prosperity. Business people It’s worth growing this flower in your dacha, keeping the photo on a shelf or on the table.

What else can poppies do? They have quite strong energy, which they willingly share with people. Thanks to it, you can gain self-confidence, become more purposeful, successful, sociable and energetic. This will greatly help people with low self-esteem who are used to going with the flow. It’s hard to believe, but thanks to poppies, they change in a very short period of time, experiencing positive metamorphoses.

The fiery sea, on which the wind paints scarlet waves, is a truly incredible sight that colors the fields of Europe and Asia every year. IN different times among different peoples, this simple, and at the same time luxurious flower was a multifaceted symbol that could be interpreted differently depending on the circumstances - but more often it still remained dual, like everything that exists in the Universe.

There were myths and legends about it, it was used in medicine and dedicated to the gods. “Blind strike” and “weak head” are also about poppy, whose concentrated smell causes migraines, and the color of the petals (especially in the sun) obscures the eyes. However, poppy, despite the stereotype " scarlet flower", not necessarily red - there are pink, yellow, orange, white poppies, and the most amazing one - blue - grows in the Himalayas.

Today, the poppy is most often associated with boundless freedom, a “fresh” mood and overflowing optimism - largely thanks to various printed publications, often publishing photos of cheerful people with an armful of red flowers or jumping over a poppy field - with headlines like “Finally on vacation!”, “Harmony of soul and body” and so on. Here's what the ancients thought about the hypnotic beauty of the poppy:

EgyptFor the Egyptians, the poppy served as a symbol of female beauty, youth and charm. The area near Thebes was covered with red carpets of flowers - the peasants cultivated a type of poppy, Papaver somniferum, which is still cultivated today.

While the upper classes were aware of the narcotic properties of poppy juice, ordinary people used it as a painkiller. They also used “milk of poppy seeds” to calm crying children, and gave poppy water to the sick to drink - so that inflammatory diseases proceeded more easily in sleep. The beauty of poppies even made them an attribute of Egyptian burials, and today they are found in Late Kingdom tombs.

AntiquityPerhaps Hellas and Ancient Rome were one of the greatest admirers of poppies. As is customary in cosmogonic mythology, there were several legends about the origin of the flower. According to one of them, the god of Sleep stuck his rod into the ground, which took root and turned into a red flower, inducing sleep.

Another myth tells that, having learned about the death of Adonis, the goddess Venus cried for a long time and inconsolably - and each of her tears falling to the ground blossomed like a poppy. Since then, the petals of these flowers fall as easily as tears. And another legend tells that the young god of sleep Hypnos created the poppy to console Demeter. After Hades kidnapped her daughter Persephone and took her to his underground kingdom, the Goddess was in despair and stopped caring about nature and growing grains - then Hypnos gave her a poppy decoction to drink, and she calmed down. Since then, the goddess of the earth was depicted with a poppy in her hand, and her statues were decorated with wreaths of scarlet flowers and ears of grain.

Often Demeter (Ceres) was also called Mecona (from the Greek mecon, makon - poppy). Poppy sometimes appeared in descriptions of Demeter herself - according to myth, her annual departure to afterworld made Demeter sad - and autumn came, and at the same time nature fell asleep and peace fell on the earth.

Subsequently, the poppy became the emblem of Hypnos - he was represented as a winged youth with a poppy wreath, flying on the ground, pouring a sleeping pill and closing the eyelids of mortals with his rod. Neither people nor gods, nor even the Thunderer Zeus, could resist his power. His brother, the god of death Thanatos, also wore a poppy wreath - the only difference was that his robes and wings were black, and the sleep he induced was deeper. Poppies also grew in the kingdom of Morpheus' sleep.

At the same time, the poppy was considered a symbol of fertility due to the high germination of its seeds. The flower was dedicated to all lunar and night deities, the generalized concept of the Great Mother. Poppy heads were placed at the statue of the goddess of marriage and fertility Hera (Juno), and her temple on the island of Samos was decorated with flowers. The newlyweds' clothes were entwined with poppies so that the gods would give them children. The Hellenes also believed that poppy seeds gave athletes strength and health - so they were fed “ambrosia” from honey, wine and seeds.

In classical literature, these flowers appeared more than once - for example, Homer compared the short-lived poppy flower with soldiers killed on the battlefield. However, these flowers were at the same time considered a kind of reminder of the “cyclicality” of the Universe, and carried the promise of new life (the Greeks believed in ???????????? - metempsychosis, or reincarnation). ABOUT medicinal properties plants were also written by Virgil, Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Pliny, the “father of botany” Theophrastus - the essence of their treatises was summed up in a well-known fact: what is useful in small doses can be destructive in excessive doses.

East In Persian culture, the scarlet flower was considered a symbol of joy and eternal love, and the wild field poppy hinted at the desire for a secret intimate relationship. Buddhists believed that the poppy blossomed after the eyelashes of the sleeping Buddha touched the ground. In China, poppy was associated with beauty, success, relaxation and detachment from the bustle. Later it also became the emblem of brothels and available women. And after the “Opium War” of the first half of the 19th century, in which the Celestial Empire lost to England the right to ban the import of opium, smoking the poppy drug became such a widespread phenomenon that the flower began to be associated with decay and evil in general.

Middle Ages Christianity, in its dark and bloodthirsty traditions, proclaimed the poppy a symbol of the approaching Last Judgment, a reminder of the suffering of Christ, as well as a flower of ignorance and indifference. Churches were decorated with poppies on the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit - “flowers of angels” were carried during the procession by small children dressed as cherubs, and scarlet petals were scattered - the priest was supposed to follow with the Holy Gifts. In the 16th century, the world saw the treatise “The Juice of Poppy Seeds” by the physician and botanist Jacob Theodorus - the scientist warned of the danger overuse seeds of the plant and its derivatives.

Modern times There was a belief that it was no coincidence that so many red poppies grew on the battlefields - supposedly this was the blood of dead soldiers. This looked especially plausible after the First World War in Flanders, when, after burying the dead, the fields suddenly turned red. But everything is explained quite rationally: at rest poppy seeds they can lie for a very long time, and do not necessarily sprout - but if you dig up the ground, the flowers “come to life”. In addition, subsequently nothing is grown in such fields and no livestock is grazed - therefore, fertile poppies quickly crowd out other plants from here. This prompted several poets to write poems that spread throughout the world, firmly linking the poppy and shed blood in people’s minds. Thus, Canadian military doctor John McCrae wrote in 1915:

Everywhere poppies are burning with candles of sadness
On the war-scorched fields of Flanders,
Between the gloomy crosses that stand in rows,
In those places where our ashes were recently buried.

At the same time, Professor Moina Michael figured out how to turn the poppy from a “ghost flower” used to scare children into a symbol of charity: she sold poppies and donated all the proceeds to the needs of disabled veterans and people affected during the war. Later, the Frenchwoman Madame Guerin began creating artificial poppies, the proceeds from the sale of which she dedicated to widowed women and orphans. The flower remains the emblem of the Royal British Legion. Today, the poppy has become a global symbol of Remembrance Day (November 11), recognition and charity.

Many gardeners and summer residents associate these flowers with drugs. In reality, everything is not quite like that.

It is forbidden to grow the poppy flower, or opium poppy. Its height is about a meter, the flowers are large (10-12 cm in diameter), white, pink, orange, red, purple, with a black-bluish spot at the base.

The seeds of this poppy are edible. Morphine and opium are obtained from the seed pods. In addition, there are many different decorative species poppies that do not have drug properties. All of them are divided into three groups: perennial, annual and biennial.

Poppy (flower): description

This plant is from the Poppy family. The entire genus has more than 100 species. WITH Latin name translated into Russian as “milk”. Why? The fact is that juice is released at the cut of the flower stem. white, similar to milk.

The bush of the plant usually has a height of almost 90 cm, sometimes small, dwarf forms are also found. It has a hard, hairy stem. The leaves are pinnate, dissected. Large flowers are single, among which there are both simple and double species. June is the month of poppy flowering, after which the flower stalks and then the leaves and stems die off.

In nature, perennial poppies are common in Asia, Europe and Australia.

Choosing a site for planting and care

The poppy flower loves a well-lit place, but slightly shaded areas are also not contraindicated for it. The soil is suitable: ordinary garden soil, but well drained. Rich in minerals and nutritious, flowers will like it even more. Poppies are unpretentious, frost-resistant, and can easily withstand periods of drought.

After the end of flowering time, when the leaves are already beginning to turn yellow, the above-ground part must be cut off. In this case, around mid-August, the leaves begin to re-grow. In a warm autumn, the plant may bloom again. And the leaves may turn green under the snow. In April they begin to bloom again.

Perennial poppies can be planted either individually or in mixed groups (in rockeries). Both flowers and capsules are widely used as cut flowers. For example, boxes - good material for original dry winter bouquets.

Reproduction

The poppy flower is usually propagated by seeds. Sowing can be done both in spring and before winter, and in open ground. It is advisable to plant immediately in a permanent place of growth. If necessary, seedlings can be thinned out. The roots of adult plants are quite long, so it is difficult to replant them, as damage to the root system is possible.

Oriental poppy can also be propagated by division, as it has root shoots. However, this procedure must be carried out in the summer immediately after flowering, during dormancy.

The most common garden flowers are poppies. Kinds

In floriculture, the most widely used and widespread are oriental poppy and bract. They are the brightest and most beautiful.

The homeland of the oriental poppy (P. orientale) is the Caucasus. This perennial has thick, erect stems. Their height is up to 100 cm. Pinnately dissected basal leaves, collected in a rosette, dark green(length - up to 30 cm). Its stems, leaves, and buds are pubescent and shaggy. Large bright red flowers are up to 14 cm in diameter. At the very base of the petals there is a black square spot.

The type of bract poppy (P. bracteatum) is also native to the Caucasus. Its height reaches 140 cm. The stem is erect, the flowers are bright, crimson-red (diameter 16 cm). And at the very base of the petals there is an elongated black spot. It blooms quite profusely, starting in late May and ending in early June. Different varieties of this species differ in bush height, color and size of flowers. Both species are perennial flowers (poppies).

Perennial flowers: care

Perennials are of three types: alpine, oriental and holostem. The most widespread among gardeners, as noted above, are varieties of oriental species.

Perennial poppies do not require shelter winter period, light-loving, winter-hardy, tolerate drought well. There is a minor whim - stagnation of water is undesirable.
The poppy flower is very responsive to organic and mineral fertilizers.

This species can be propagated vegetatively by carefully separating the side rosettes in spring or autumn. Without transplantation, poppies grow for about 7 years.

Flowers look great in a group with other plants (among daisies, bells, etc.). Dwarf varieties are great for today's fashionable alpine slides.

Annuals

If there are annual poppies on the site, how is care done? These include the self-sowing plant. These poppies come in simple and double varieties. Their colors vary from white to red, and there are also white ones with a border around the edges of the petals. Garden poppy is also good and interesting. Its flowers (double varieties) resemble peonies.

Annual poppies can be sown in early spring, after the snow has melted. They produce abundant self-seeding, so it is enough to sow them just once.

Bouquets with poppies are a wonderful decoration for any room, but there is one drawback - they don’t last long after being cut.

There is a little secret that prolongs the life of flowers. They need to be cut off in the morning, and only the burst buds. Then the cut site must be held over the fire for several seconds, and then immediately placed in water. You need to add a few crystals of potassium permanganate to it. The bouquet will last longer.

What does the poppy symbolize?

What is remarkable about the poppy, what is the meaning of the flower? In the old days, and even now, it is associated with death and sleep.

Among different peoples at different times, this luxurious and at the same time simple flower had the most contradictory and varied meanings. They could be interpreted, depending on the circumstances, in different ways. However, more often the image remained ambivalent.

Various myths and legends were formed about this flower; poppies were dedicated to the gods, and they were also used in medicine. Moreover, the poppy, contrary to the prevailing stereotype, is not necessarily red. It can be pink, yellow, orange, white and even blue (in the Himalayas).

What does the poppy flower mean? In modern times, it is more often associated with limitless freedom, incredible optimism and in a great mood. And all this is mainly thanks to a variety of printed publications. They often use this technique - they combine cheerful, cheerful people with a large bouquet of red poppies in photographs and posters. All this reflects the harmony of soul and body, happy life, joyful mood, etc.

The poppy is extraordinary - the meaning of the flower is both complex and simple at the same time. The symbols that he personifies are also contradictory.

Today, this bright, excellent flower has deservedly become the world symbol of the Day of Remembrance, Charity and Recognition (November 11).

We can draw the following conclusion: you need to think only about the good and perceive the poppy as a talisman against troubles and everything bad. And most importantly, it will perfectly complement the landscape of any garden with unusual freshness and brightness.

Poppy. Meaning and superstitions

The poppy flower can be compared to a one-day butterfly, just as beautiful, vibrant, bright and also short-lived.

In spring, when all living things awaken, the poppy flower blooms.

Even before the sun breaks over the horizon, heavy green buds burst, swaying heavily on a stem that feels like velvet to the touch.

Delicate scarlet petals, washed by the predawn dew, appear towards the rising sun.

The poppy flower resembles a fire bowl with a coal in the middle. The spectacle is unforgettable.

Looking at the carpet of blooming poppies, one imagines moths fluttering in the wind, and one gets the impression that in the next moment they will break loose and begin to rise into the endless blue of spring. However, by evening next day The scarlet petals are falling off, the flowering time is over.

Poppy. Legends of origin

There are several legends and myths telling about the appearance of the poppy. God created the earth, seas and rivers, forests and mountains, animals and plants. Everyone was happy. But the night cover hid all this beauty. Night, with the help of a scattering of stars, tried to reveal the beauty of the world for its time, but its efforts were in vain.

Then God decided to make the Night happy. He created sleep and dreams. They turned out to be welcome guests with the arrival of Night. As the years passed, both passion and cruelty awakened in people. And one day Son was unable to approach the man who was planning a murder. Then Son, with feeling, stuck his magic sleeping rod into the ground. And it came to life, took root, grew, turned green and turned into a poppy, retaining its power to induce dreams and sleep.

A similar legend says that the poppy was given by the goddess of the Night, Flora. Night asked Flora for such a plant so that people, seeing it, would begin to love the night, so lonely and sad. That's when poppies appeared. Morpheus was appointed as their guard. Around his home there were dense thickets of poppy flowers. They kept within themselves light dreams, which, with the onset of Night, Morpheus sent to people.

When the poppy faded, a capsule containing thousands of small seeds appeared. The boxes burst, and the seeds scattered, fell to the ground, giving life to new plants. Therefore, the poppy acquired the meaning of fertility and marriage. He became a constant companion of Hera, the goddess of earth and fertility, and her temple and statue, located on the island of Samos, were decorated with poppy heads. The harvest goddess Ceres was also depicted with a poppy in her hands, and her statues were decorated with wreaths woven from ears of grain and decorated with poppy flowers.

According to the ancient Greeks, the poppy flower was created by the god of sleep Hypnos for the goddess Demeter. For a very long time, Demeter had been looking for her daughter Persephone, who had been taken to his kingdom by Hades. Without sleep and rest, Demeter could no longer help the grain grow; famine began. Then Hypnos gave Demeter a poppy infusion so that she could sleep, relax and help revive the harvest.

The ancient Romans believed that the poppy grew from the tears of the goddess Venus for the death of her beautiful beloved Adonis. And according to Buddhist legend, these flowers grew where the eyelashes of the sleeping Buddha touched the ground.

Poppy: meaning and deities

In some translations, the poppy is called "blind blow" and "weak head." The poppy acquired the first meaning due to its such a bright, dazzling color, the second - because of the strong aroma of flowers that can cause headache. It was dedicated to all lunar and night deities.

Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, was depicted entwined with woven poppy flowers, investing the meaning of peace in this plant.

Hypnos, the god of dreams, was depicted as a lying or sitting young man holding poppy heads in his hands, or with a wreath of them on his head. They talked about his power of sleep with aspiration. Neither mortals, nor gods, even Zeus himself could resist her. Hypnos gently put everyone he touched into sleep with his wand or poured a drink from the horn of sleeping pills.

Thanatos, the god of death, also paid attention to the poppy flower. He was depicted as a young man with black wings, in black clothes and with a wreath of poppies on his head.

In Christianity, a blooming red poppy personified the suffering of Christ; it became a symbol of self-sacrifice. However, its narcotic component also did not go unnoticed, meaning ignorance and sleep.

On the day of the descent of the Holy Spirit, churches were decorated with poppy flowers, considering them to be the flowers of angels. In front of the procession, led by a priest, were small children dressed as angels and showering the road with poppy petals.

In Greece, the poppy was called a love spy. The girls wondered how much their chosen one was in love with them. Later, this fortune-telling was borrowed from Germany, but there it gained popularity as the children's game "rose-cracker."

In France, Belgium and the Netherlands there is a belief that growing poppies are ghost flowers, they suck blood from people, so local residents they are afraid of poppy fields.

In China, they put a different meaning into this flower - the poppy for the Chinese became a symbol of relaxation and beauty, success and retirement, but also decay and evil, as it was a source of opium.

IN different countries collecting poppies was considered something impossible or difficult. The interpretation of dreams also did not foretell anything rosy: either the poppy dreamed of lies and flattery, or the fragile and unsteady results of what was done.

Many people believe that poppy fields grow in places of past battles where many soldiers died. It is believed that these are not flowers at all, but the blood of the dead, which sprouts from the ground, turns into poppies and calls on the living to pray for the repose of their souls. Since the First World War, this theme has been sung in many poems. Later, a tradition emerged of making artificial flowers and selling them. The proceeds were transferred to various funds for orphans and widowed women. This tradition passed from America to France and Belgium, and then to Great Britain and other countries.

Medicinal properties

Poppy has been known since antiquity. Theophrastus described in detail healing properties this flower. The juice from it was used in surgical operations to put the patient to sleep. Homer, describing the Trojan War, mentioned how Helen the Beautiful eased the suffering of wounded soldiers with poppy juice.

According to Hippocrates, poppy is a nourishing and strengthening agent, and Virgil called poppy “giving oblivion.” Later, Jacob Theodorus, a physician and botanist, wrote an entire book about the overdose of poppy in in various forms, which can lead to death.

The sleeping pill or opium variety of poppy is grown on an industrial scale in some countries. Opium is obtained from unripe poppy pods, which is a raw material for manufacturing medical supplies, and also, unfortunately, drugs, which is why poppy cultivation is prohibited in many countries.

Poppy found distribution in the East. And if before the ninth century he was known only as food supplement, then later this plant began to be grown precisely for the purpose of obtaining opium. The harmful and destructive hobby has reached such proportions that the government, in particular China, banned the cultivation of poppies and the import of opium.

But poppy seeds have also found a completely harmless use - in cooking and confectionery. Technical oil is produced from the seeds of this plant.

Poppy. Magical meaning

All wildflowers, which include the poppy, are inhabited by special essences - spirits. They can be both good and evil. They can help in new endeavors, but they can also mislead. Don't forget about this as you go on a pleasant walk through the meadows of wildflowers.

In fortune telling and magic Poppy should be used with caution. The results will not always be expected and predictable.

However, poppy seeds are widely used in love magic, in protection from restless spirits, in counteracting evil spirits, protection livestock from all sorts of misfortunes. Poppy was actively used in wedding ceremonies, at the birth of children, and even in predicting the future.

Poppy served as a talisman against various evil spirits. Our ancestors used it against the “walking dead.” This flower was lowered into the coffin of those suspected of being a witch doctor, and sprinkled around the graves of suicides, hanged men and sorcerers. Numerous poppy seeds and the spell “Then you will enter the house when you have collected this poppy” were supposed to save you from the rising “zombie”. During the funeral procession, poppies were scattered along the road to the cemetery and thrown after the coffin.

For almost the same purpose, the entire house was sprinkled with poppy seeds while walking in the sun - this was supposed to protect the house from visits by a vampire. According to legends, until the evil spirit collects many scattered poppy seeds, it will not be able to pass further, and, accordingly, will not cause harm. However, in order for the poppy to acquire such magical properties, it should be consecrated on St. Day. Makovia, that is, August 1.

The poppy was called upon to protect against the evil eye and evil witchcraft. Czechs and Slovaks had a tradition of showering the corner where a woman in labor and her newborn lie. The poppy also had a protective meaning in wedding ceremonies.

Mak was the protector of people and their livestock from snakes. On the eve of the holidays, the villagers laid poppies in the house, fumigated the hut with it, and sprinkled it on the livestock so that the snake would not crawl and bite.

Orally folk art exists many riddles, which talk about its properties:

He fell into the ground dead, rose from the ground alive, dropped his red cap and put people to sleep.

I throw gunpowder and it will become a city, Red Moscow, White Lithuania.

Seven hundred Cossacks under one cap.

The arrow is a homemade one, it is built by itself, it is made by itself, on the arrow there is a town - seven hundred governors, a thousand Bukharans, one and a half hundred Tatars.

For this, a simple ritual was performed. They took a dry poppy box, made a small hole in it and removed the seeds. Then on a small piece of paper yellow color a question was written. The piece of paper with the question was folded and placed in a box that was placed near the bed. At dawn, the sleeper received an answer from a prophetic dream.

In Germany for the events of the coming year they made plans as follows: on Christmas Eve, at midnight, they stood at the crossroads of two roads, held a mortar in their hands, into which they poured poppy seeds, hit it three times with a pestle - and by some miracle they heard future events in these sounds.

Many conspiracies have been invented for the poppy, including the boss and money.

After all, it happens that a boss unfairly finds fault with an employee, point-blank not wanting to see the merits. Or the employee really did something seriously wrong. In order for the boss to change his anger to mercy, you need to do the following: prepare a black poppy and a black bag made of natural fabric, whisper the words of the conspiracy to the poppy nine times, and then throw a pinch of poppy from the bag to the boss workplace. If you also want to make a wish for a promotion, then they put poppy seeds both in your shoes and in your pocket.

Money plot It was also quite simple: a green cloth was spread on the table, a circle was drawn on the cloth with new soap, and poppy seeds were poured into its center. Ring finger right hand They drew a cross on the hill and read the words of the conspiracy. After this, the poppy could be divided into two approximately equal parts. Pour something into your wallet, and the rest into a bath with warm water, in a crosswise motion. Then they stood in the bath, recited the plot seven times, then lowered them into the water and turned on their imagination, imagining how money was flowing from all sides.