Can a calamus bonsai be kept at home? The feng shui role of calamus
Calamus, a perennial herbaceous plant. It mostly grows wild, but is also suitable for planting in green spaces beside homes. "Compendium of Materia Medica" says calamus is “the flourishing one among rushes”, and folk custom holds that its flowers signify nobility and its taste brings longevity. In ancient China, calamus was believed to be the regeneration of a heavenly star. Legend says that whoever sees a calamus flower will become noble. Calamus is widely favored and used in folk customs, and is regarded as an auspicious plant and grass that wards off evil influences.
Calamus has a very long history of cultivation in our country, and "Compendium of Materia Medica" says calamus is “the flourishing one among rushes”. Folk tradition has always regarded calamus as an auspicious herb of good fortune and an efficacious herb that wards off evil influences, the regeneration of a heavenly star, and has ranked calamus together with orchid, narcissus, and chrysanthemum as the “four elegances of flowers and grasses”. The flowers of calamus signify nobility. "Book of Liang" records that Empress Zhang of Taizu “once suddenly saw calamus blooming in the courtyard within her chamber, its radiance shining brightly, unlike anything in the world. The empress was astonished and asked her attendants: 'Have you seen it?' They all said they had not seen it. The empress said, 'I have heard that whoever sees a calamus flower will become noble,' and so she picked and ate it, and gave birth to Gaozu”.
Can a calamus bonsai be kept at home? Can calamus be grown indoors?
For most people, variegated calamus may sound like a very unusual name that they have never heard of, and they may think it is some rare and exotic plant. But in fact, variegated calamus can often be seen in our daily lives. It is a plant with upright, narrowly elongated leaves that carry golden-yellow coloring, alternating yellow and green. It is generally suitable for household potting or water cultivation.
Variegated calamus is said to be a mutated variety of calamus. According to botanical encyclopedias, it is an evergreen perennial herbaceous plant, and its rhizome is very peculiar, creeping horizontally underground. The leaves of variegated calamus are narrowly elongated, with golden-yellow longitudinal stripes embedded in the green leaves, crisscrossing in yellow and green.
As a feng shui plant for protecting the home and warding off evil, variegated calamus can be propagated by division in daily cultivation. It can be kept as an indoor potted ornamental, placed on various balconies, or indoors near a window. When work is busy, it allows the mind and eyes to relax a little.
The feng shui role of calamus:
Plants are spiritual and alive, and there exists a kind of field between plants——a biological field. Ancient feng shui holds that planting flowers, grasses, and trees in a courtyard has the function of “storing water and blocking wind, nurturing the earth's veins, dissolving baleful energy, and increasing prosperity and good fortune”. It is believed that “when vegetation is lush, auspicious energy follows”, “when wood flourishes, life is generated”, and “when beneficial wood flourishes, wind is generated”. This is also why classical Chinese gardens, though small, are filled with green shade and fragrant flowers and trees.
In southern regions, folk tradition formerly often planted calamus in front of houses, believing it could keep the family safe. There also circulated among the people a traditional pattern composed of spider, loquat, garlic, cherry, and calamus, called “Heavenly Center Gathering Auspiciousness” or “Heavenly Center Auspiciousness Forms Golden Fruit”, to imply good fortune. And during the Dragon Boat Festival, every household inserted sword-like calamus leaves (called “calamus swords”) on the door lintel or hung them in the hall or under the eaves, believing they had the divine effect of driving away ghosts and eliminating disaster.
Folk tradition also ranks calamus, mugwort, pomegranate flowers, garlic, and Chinese ixora together as the “Five Auspicious Plants of the Heavenly Center”, abbreviated as the “Five Auspicious Plants”, often used during the Dragon Boat Festival to ward off evil. Calamus also has medicinal value, and the saying that taking the flowers and leaves of calamus can prolong life is also widely circulated.
It is said that Empress Zhang of Taizu saw calamus blooming in the courtyard, its radiance shining brightly, unlike anything in the world, and when she asked her maids and eunuchs, they all said they had not seen the strange auspicious sight the empress had seen. The empress said, 'I have heard that whoever sees a calamus flower will become noble,' and so she picked and ate it, and gave birth to Gaozu”. Later this was spread among people, who believed that calamus signifies nobility, can protect the home and ward off evil, and bring good luck, which is why it is widely used in feng shui.
In our lives, many ordinary families plant calamus in front of their homes, because they feel that calamus is an auspicious plant that can protect the home, and in this way keep the family safe. Among the people, regarding variegated calamus, there are also many legends full of magical color, ranking calamus, mugwort, pomegranate flowers, garlic, and Chinese ixora together as the ”Five Auspicious Plants of the Heavenly Center“, abbreviated as the ”Five Auspicious Plants“, which can ward off evil.
The most common is during the Dragon Boat Festival, when people use the narrowly elongated, sword-like calamus leaves, (many people call them ”calamus swords“) inserted in front of the door or hung indoors, believing that in this way there is the divine effect of driving away ghosts and eliminating disaster. Besides being a feng shui plant for protecting the home and warding off evil, calamus also has medicinal value, and the saying that taking the flowers and leaves of calamus can prolong life is also widely circulated.