What Is the Flower Language of Lilies? A Detailed Explanation of Their Meanings and Symbolism
What is the flower language of lilies? What legends are there about lilies? Today let us give a brief introduction.
What Is the Flower Language of Lilies?
Lily (all lilies): smooth sailing, wishes coming true, blessings, nobility
White lily: purity, solemnity, hearts in harmony
Black lily: love, curse
Pink lily: purity, loveliness
Red lily: love you forever
Yellow lily: a speedy recovery
Sunflower lily: victory, honor, wealth and honor
Hime lily: wealth, honor, purity, elegance
Wild lily: happiness forever
Foxtail lily: nobility, thriving prosperity, outstanding
Corn lily: persistent love, bravery
Amaryllis: talent, majesty, outstanding, noble, elegant
Christmas lily: joy, celebration, true feelings
Narcissus lily: joy, looking forward to meeting
The Legend of the Lily
The story of the lily's origin is extremely poignant. Legend has it that Eve and Adam were tempted by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit, and were thus driven out of the Garden of Eden. In her remorse, Eve could not help shedding sorrowful tears, and when the tears fell to the ground, they turned into pure white, fragrant lilies.
In Germany there is an ancient legend about the lily that people in almost every country around the world know. A girl named Alice lived with her mother in the Harz Mountains. One day, the Grand Duke of Laurenburg passed by in a carriage. He saw Alice and thought she was a fairy descended to earth, and immediately invited her to return to the city with him. He believed that as a grand duke with great power and influence, he could act unreasonably. But unexpectedly, Alice stubbornly refused. The grand duke was unwilling to give up and pulled the girl, refusing to let her go. The girl screamed and called on heaven for protection, when suddenly a divine wind blew, and the girl disappeared. From the ground where the girl had stood, a lily rose up, giving off waves of fresh fragrance. This is the origin of the lily in foreign legend. The lily represents purity and respect, and the white lily in particular is the most highly regarded. In the social customs of that time, a woman wearing white clothes and holding a lily in her hand indicated nobility and chastity. In many paintings of the Virgin Mary during the Middle Ages, the lily was painted with neither stamens nor pistils, meaning that there was no impure sexual thought whatsoever.
In ancient Greek mythology, there is another legend about the origin of the lily: Zeus, the king of the gods, had a son named Hercules, the god of strength. He had performed 12 heroic deeds. Hercules heard that if he drank the milk of the goddess Juno, he would live forever. Yet obtaining Juno's milk was no easy matter! Zeus used some clever planning and summoned the gods to a feast, deliberately arranging a large amount of nectar (the drink of the gods) for Juno, and Juno indeed drank until she was thoroughly intoxicated. Zeus then told his son Hercules to throw himself onto Juno and suckle her milk. The more Hercules drank, the more energetic he became, and before he could swallow all the milk in his mouth, it flowed onto the ground, and wherever the milk fell, snow-white fragrant flowers immediately grew, which people all called lilies.