What does red poppy stand for in Europe? Red poppy (symbol). History and meaning

The poppy flower can be compared to a one-day butterfly, just as beautiful, quivering, bright and also short-lived. In the spring, when all living things awaken, the poppy flower blooms. Even before the hour, as the sun dawns over the horizon, heavy buds burst, swaying heavily on a stem that looks like velvet. Delicate scarlet petals, washed by the predawn dew, appear towards the rising sun. The poppy flower resembles a fiery bowl with a coal in the middle. An unforgettable sight. Looking at the carpet of blooming poppies, one sees 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 spring blue. However, by the evening of the next day, the scarlet petals crumble, the time of flowering is over.

Poppy. Legends of origin

There are several legends 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 veil 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 along with the arrival of Night. As the years passed, both passion and cruelty awakened in people. And once the Dream could not approach the person who planned the murder. Then Sleep thrust his magic wand to sleep with feeling. And he came to life, put down roots, grew, turned green and turned into a poppy, retaining its power to cause dreams and sleep.

A similar legend tells that the poppy was presented by the goddess of the night Flora. Night asked Flora for itself such a plant, so that when people saw it, they began to love the night, so lonely and sad. Then poppies appeared. Morpheus was appointed as a guard. Around his dwelling there were dense thickets of poppy flowers. They kept in themselves light dreams, which with the onset of Night Morpheus sent people.

When the poppy faded, a capsule appeared containing thousands of small seeds. 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 matrimony. 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 goddess of the harvest Ceres was also depicted with a poppy in her hands, and her statues were decorated with wreaths woven from ears of bread 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 was looking for her daughter Persephone, whom Hades took to his kingdom. Without sleep and rest, Demeter could no longer help the growth of loaves, hunger began. Then Hypnos gave Poppy infusion to Demeter so that she could sleep, rest and help revive the harvest.

The ancient Romans believed that the poppy grew out of the tears of the goddess Venus for the deceased 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, poppy is called "blind blow" and "weak head". 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 headaches. He was dedicated to all and night deities.

Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, was depicted as entwined with woven poppy flowers, putting the meaning of rest in this plant.

Hypnos, the god of dreams, was portrayed as a lying or seated young man who held poppy heads in his hands, or with a wreath of them on his head. They talked about his power of lulling with aspiration. Neither mortals nor gods, even Zeus himself could not resist her. Hypnos gently immersed everyone he touched with his wand or spilled sleeping pills from his horn to sleep.

The poppy flower and the god Thanatos did not bypass their attention. He was portrayed as a young man with black wings, in robes and with a wreath of poppies on his head.

The hypnotic or opium poppy is grown commercially in some countries. From unripe poppy pods, opium is obtained, which is a raw material for the manufacture of medicines, and, unfortunately, drugs, which is why poppy cultivation is prohibited in many countries.

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

But poppy seeds have also found a completely harmless application - in cooking and pastry baking. Industrial oil is made from the seeds of this plant.

Poppy. Magical meaning

In all wildflowers, to which the poppy belongs, special essences settle -. They can be both kind and evil. They can help in new endeavors, or they can be misleading. Keep this in mind as you follow on a pleasant walk through the meadows of wildflowers.

In divination 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 the restless, in counteracting evil spirits, in protecting livestock from all sorts of misfortunes. Poppy was actively used in wedding ceremonies, at the birth of children, and even in predictions of 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 a suspected witch doctor, sprinkled around the grave of suicides, gallows and sorcerers. Numerous poppy seeds and the conspiracy "Then you will enter the house when you collect this poppy" should have been saved from the "zombie" that had risen. During the funeral procession, the poppy was scattered on the way to the cemetery and thrown after the coffin.

For almost the same purpose, the whole house was sprinkled with poppy seeds, walking in the sun - this was supposed to save the house from visiting a vampire. According to legend, until the evil spirits collect a lot of scattered poppy seeds, it will not be able to go further, and, accordingly, will not cause harm. However, in order for the poppy to acquire such magical properties, it must be consecrated on St. Macovia, that is, August 1st.

Poppy was called upon to protect against evil eye and evil witchcraft. Czechs and Slovaks had a tradition to shower the corner where a woman in labor with a newborn lies. Poppy also had a protective value in wedding ceremonies.

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

In oral folk art, there are many mysteries that tell about its properties:

• He fell dead into the ground, got up alive from the ground, dropped his red cap and put people to sleep.
• Throw in gunpowder, will become a city, Moscow, Lithuania.
• There are seven hundred Cossacks under one cap.
• A homemade arrow, it is being built, it is being done by itself, on the arrow there is a town - seven hundred governors, a thousand Bukhara, one and a half hundred Tatars.

People used these plants to look into the future. For this, a simple ceremony was carried out. They took a dry poppy box, made a small hole in it and removed the seeds. Then a question was written on a small piece of colored paper. A leaflet with a question was folded and placed in a box, which was placed near the bed. At dawn, the sleeper received an answer from a prophetic dream.

In Germany, they thought about the events of the coming year in the following way: they stood on Christmas Day at midnight at the crossroads of two roads, held a mortar in which they poured poppy in their hands, hit it with a pestle three times - and by some miracle they heard the upcoming events in these sounds.

For poppy, many conspiracies have been invented, including on the boss and on. After all, it happens that the boss is unfair to find fault with the employee, point-blank not wanting to see the merits. Or the employee is really seriously guilty. In order for the bosses to change their anger to mercy, you should do what: prepare a poppy and a bag of natural fabric, whisper the words of a conspiracy to the poppy nine times, and then a pinch of poppy from the bag is thrown to the boss at the workplace. If you also need to make a guess for a promotion, then put poppy in your shoes and in your pocket. Meaning and superstition

https: //site/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/mk_1-150x150.jpg

The poppy flower can be compared to a one-day butterfly, just as beautiful, quivering, bright and also short-lived. In the spring, when all living things awaken, the poppy flower blooms. Even before the sun dawns over the horizon, heavy green buds burst, swaying heavily on a stem that feels like velvet. Delicate scarlet petals, washed with pre-dawn dew, appear towards the rising sun ...

Poppy tattoos have many interpretations in different world cultures. Be prepared that people may perceive your drawing on the body in different ways, both positively and negatively. To a greater extent, poppies are symbolic for Europeans, in eastern countries they do not play such an important meaning, therefore, a tattoo with such flowers is usually meaningless.

History of tattoo

Poppy found its symbolism even among the ancient Greeks. This people considered the flower and the head of a person to be similar in appearance, and therefore sacrificed poppy heads to the gods. This is how one of the meanings of poppies in tattoo appeared - salvation, immortality, humanity.

The Etruscans (modern Italy), on the other hand, have a close connection between the flower and death. The Etruscans used poppy to sew clothes for the dead and the god of the underworld. Some scientists even believe that the tradition of depicting a demon in a red cloak originated from here, because this color is characteristic of the poppy. The Egyptians placed the flowers of the plant in tombs, which is why it is also considered a symbol of Egyptian burials.

Poppy flowers in the culture of Russia had a positive meaning. The plant was a symbol of youth and beauty, which entwined with its splendor, like a dream.

A little later, the poppy began to be associated with dreams among the Greeks. It was considered an attribute of the gods of sleep and death. This is quite logical, because poppy seeds have been used as a sleeping pill since ancient times.

The Chinese have several options for what a poppy tattoo means. First of all, the flower symbolizes relaxation, rest, peace and beauty. Less commonly, it is associated with night or submission. The symbol is closely related to the life cycle and nature, shows its origin and death.

Much later, there was a meaning associated with the tragic events of the Second World War. Often, such a pattern is stuffed on the chest by army men, often also with a badge next to it - as a sign of memory and respect.

What does poppy mean in a tattoo?

Even in ancient times, poppy was considered a medicinal plant, the seeds of which were used as a sleeping pill. However, then they did not yet know exactly about the narcotic properties of the flower and the required dosage. If a person used too much of such sleeping pills, he could fall into a deep sleep, or even fall asleep forever. Hence, one of the variants of the designation of a tattoo with poppies appeared - a deadly dream, the unpredictability and transience of life, oblivion.
There is another interpretation - the truth. Ancient Greek girls used the flowers of the plant to guess whether their boyfriends were faithful to them. The poppy even had a special name - Dilefilon, which means "love spy". Over the flowers, the ancient Greeks also confessed their love to each other, which symbolized the honesty of feelings.

Often, the meaning of a tattoo with a red poppy overlaps with Christianity. For believers, such a tattoo symbolizes the blood of Christ, his suffering and self-sacrifice. However, the religious meaning can also be negative: apathy, ignorance. Christians also have the already mentioned interpretation associated with death sleep.

The meaning of a tattoo with a poppy flower may be associated with Slavic traditions. In this case, the tattoo is a powerful talisman against evil and bad influence in the newlyweds. The Slavs believed that the poppy head protects a young family from witchcraft or the evil eye.

If you make a hint in the sketch that the plant is the source of opium, then the tattoo can denote ecstasy, fertility, or even fertility.

Just like the rose, the poppy symbolizes passion, romance and love. A single flower tattoo indicates a sentimental and lonely person who, despite everything, loves life.

Where the image is stuffed

Most often, a sketch with poppies is placed on the forearm, shoulder, thigh or ribs. Less often, small flowers are stuffed on the wrist, neck or foot. An idea for girls looks interesting - to arrange a twig with poppies as a bracelet around the ankle or wrist. This pattern looks very gentle and feminine. Tattoos of poppies on the back are usually placed if the idea and the sketch itself are large-scale. This option is also good for drawings with a lot of small details or bright colors.

The maki army tattoo is traditionally pierced on the chest. This placement is due to the tradition of hanging valiant medals and other signs of honor on the chest.

Colors for tattoo

The photo of the poppy tattoo shows that they are usually performed in their characteristic red (also white and yellow) color, although there is also a black and white version. Additional elements of the tattoo, the leaves and the stem of the flower are also most often depicted in natural shades. Sometimes you can find stylized sketches with an original color scheme. The meaning of the tattoo, depending on its shade, may differ slightly.

Meaning of the image with red poppy

Most often, a red poppy tattoo indicates a lonely and proud person. However, this same drawing may also mean that the owner of the tattoo himself is comfortable alone, without a noisy company. A lonely poppy branch is chosen by people who are trying to cope with sadness from unrequited love or survive the betrayal and deception of a loved one.

The meaning of a red poppy tattoo can be positive - love, passion and fidelity, and in a pair tattoo - there is also a deep attachment of partners to each other. Best of all, the drawing will protect the newlyweds from trouble if you choose a sketch, the two parts of which seem to complement each other and symbolize the unity of the souls of lovers.

What does the black poppy tattoo mean?

The black poppy tattoo symbolizes sadness, anxiety, grief or death. Also, such a sketch may indicate a person in some way connected with witchcraft or otherworldly forces. In general, the meaning of poppies made in dark shades is negative.

Meaning for girls and guys

Initially, tattoos with poppies were stuffed exclusively by women, as this drawing looks too delicate in most sketches. Later, the tattoo took on its meaning among men.

For guys, a tattoo with poppies symbolizes comfort from loneliness, and in the UK - bravery and valor. On the territory of the countries of the former USSR, interpretation can be varied: the transience of life, eternal youth, strength and courage.

For women, a tattoo with poppy flowers means tenderness, humility, cheerfulness, and in China it also means beauty that will last until the end of life. The flower as a symbol is closely related to the processes of birth, dying and the rebirth of nature, which is why for a girl it symbolizes fertility, and, according to some reports, even helps to get pregnant. Superstitious women also stuff poppies as a talisman against witchcraft and the evil eye.

0 When I think about the meaning of the symbolism of the poppy, I immediately think of such a human action as a dream. At first glance, this is rather strange to hear, however, when you find out that the poppy is a symbol of Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams, then this thought will not seem so stupid.

Add our resource site to your bookmarks, because we always try to make only unique content.

I like this association. If you've ever seen a poppy growing, you know that just before dawn, bud its top looks almost into the ground, as if he were sleeping, waiting for the sunrise.

Before you continue, I would like to advise you to take a look at a few of our popular publications on the topic of symbols. For example, what does the Symbol of the Rose mean; how to understand the Toyota symbol; what does the Red thread on the hand mean; learn more about Symbol of Flowers, etc.
So let's continue Poppy flower meaning?

Most of us are familiar with the hypnagogic (hallucinogenic / narcotic) properties of poppy. From chinese opium poppy it turns out popular heroin today. The ancient Greeks understood this, and therefore we see here another connection with Morpheus and the symbolism of the poppy.

Morpheus lived in his own world - a world of dreams, fantasy and completely denied traditional reality. He was destined to live here and rule the kingdom of sleep - this was prescribed to him by his birthright. He was born from the "night" - his mother - Nyx, the goddess of night and dark creations. Morpheus's father is Hypnos, an active ruler of dreams.

For me, this speaks volumes about the potential found in " virtual"reality, and the message that he wants to convey to us through dreams, like the sweet scent of a poppy flower.

These plants are also sacred to Demeter, who, according to legend, invented an infusion of poppy ( like tea) to sleep, overcome your sadness, since Persephone was not there ( abducted by Hades). The dream continues as Persephone's cyclical trips to the underworld were timed to coincide with the seasons. In the winter, she left her mother Demeter to join her husband, Hades. Her absence meant winter, and her immersion in the underworld personified something like “ closing the blinds", And interruption of the life cycle.

Poppy symbolism is also associated with chakra Muladhara. Poppies are of different colors, but usually they are clothed in red, and the chakra color corresponds to Muladhara. With the help of this chakra we connect with “ By the spirit of Mother Earth", We feel her patience and love. This chakra represents earthly stability, that is, “solid ground under our feet,” which allows us to build our lives, supplying us with the energy for the required creative activity in the body. Moreover, the Muladhara chakra gives us perseverance and endurance.

In Chinese symbolism, poppy represents relaxation, beauty, and success. However, his associations with woozy numbness also represent laziness, addiction, and an inability to balance pleasure and the platitudes of a pragmatic life. Honest masters know that enlightenment comes from within and through a connection with the infinite. Dependence on external substances / influences to lift the veil of illusion is considered a lazy and pointless approach to enlightenment.

In Christianity, poppy symbolism represents death as a period of restful sleep. This association occurs in a metaphor, as the red poppy petals symbolize the blood of the sacrificed Christ. The themes of resurrection and immortality (salvation of the soul) are a red line in Christianity, since the poppy ( and spirit) never dies, just refreshes and rises.

Poppies are also featured in the legendary poem, " Flanders field"from John McCrae:

• "Poppies are stirring in the fields of Flanders
• Among the crosses that go into the distance
• Marking where we all lie. And in heaven
• Swallows flicker, chirping merrily,
• Drowned out by the roar of cannons on the ground ... "

The poem evokes a sense of transience, perhaps even the futility of any conflict / violence. Moreover, these lines evoke ephemeral concepts of life, as existing simultaneously fleetingly, but also continuously. This is a memory dedicated to the fallen comrades in the battle. McCray refers to the colorful poppies growing in abundance on the battlefield of Flanders. The red color of poppies is often compared to blood sacrificed in war for profit or in the struggle for higher ideals. To this day poppies worn by veterans and those who honor soldiers on Memorial Day, as well as Veterans Day.

I hope that these thoughts on the meaning of poppy symbolism have inspired you to take new perspectives on this incredibly powerful flower.

If the poppy really appeals to your intuition, don't stop here. Learn more about poppy from a local botanist, garden center, library, or better yet meditate on poppy. You will be amazed at what you can get this way.

After reading this helpful article, you learned poppy flower meaning, and now you will be able to convey this information to your family or friends.

In the collection of members of the Royal family of Great Britain there are many precious brooches ( one casket of Elizabeth is worth something: “Close to my heart: favorite brooches of Elizabeth II”), but, I think, none of them appear on the chest of monarchs with the frequency with which small brooches in the form of a red poppy appear. A bright scarlet flower has been blooming on the Windsor clothes regularly for more than a decade - members of the royal family have shown this symbol both at important memorial events and on the days of their most ordinary visits somewhere. So what is this sign and when is it appropriate to wear it?

If you take a closer look at the appearance of the Windsors at events in the first week of November, we will notice that almost all of them (with very rare exceptions) pinned a badge in the form of a blossoming poppy to their clothes. It could be a purely symbolic accessory made of thick paper, or a full-fledged decoration.

Its meaning, however, was the same: to honor the memory of the military who fell during the First World War and other conflicts with the participation of Great Britain.

The thing is that on Sunday, November 11, the whole UK, and with it the Commonwealth countries will celebrate the so-called Remembrance Day - a very sad, but certainly important event. So important that events dedicated to this day take place in the Kingdom at least a week before Sunday. And the red poppy accompanies each of them.

November 11 (in Britain, the Sunday closest to this date) was originally an event at which the memory of those killed only in the First World War was honored. Indeed, it was on this day in 1918 that the Compiegne Armistice was signed, which ended all hostilities within the framework of this conflict. Later, however, the meaning of this event was expanded and began to remember on this day the victims of other wars, including World War II.

The red poppy as a symbol of memory of the fallen was chosen about a hundred years ago almost instantly and spontaneously. But he appeared for a reason. His image was born back in 1915 and was actively used throughout the war. It was invented by a military field surgeon John McCrae, a Canadian by birth, who led a field hospital in Belgium during the First World War. He also took part in the large-scale Second Battle of Ypres, during which German troops actively used chemical weapons. In this battle, on May 2, John lost his close friend, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer. Burying him in the field of Ypres, the doctor noticed with great surprise how quickly bright poppies sprouted and blossomed around the graves of the soldiers buried here.

This sight impressed John so much that the next day he, an amateur poet, returned to his friend's grave and wrote a poem of incredible strength and bitterness called "In Flanders Fields". The work was published in Punch magazine on December 8, 1915.

Since then, John's composition has literally become a national resistance anthem. It has been translated into many languages, and the red poppy has come to be used in almost every booklet or poster dedicated to battles. The poem has also been translated into Russian. There are many translation versions. Here, for example, how "In the Fields of Flanders" sounds translated by Igor Merlinov(2003):

Flanders fields, poppies rustle here
Between the crosses, where on a row a row
He designated us a place; in the sky, on the fly,
Larks chirp boldly that song,
She is inaudible among the cannons that rumble below.

We are all dead. But only days ago
We lived, met sunrise and sunset,
Loved loved ones, but now we lie
In the fields in Flanders.

Rise and you to battle with the enemy:
From weakening hands now we give you
The torch is yours, hold it high.
If you leave faith when we are far away,
Where poppies grow, we will not sleep
In the fields in Flanders.

When the war ended, the red poppy naturally became a symbol of all those who left their lives on the battlefield. American Moina Michael vowed to always wear a flower as a token of remembrance. The initiative was taken over by charities in both the United States and Britain. This is how a very beautiful and at the same time sad tradition appeared to wear poppy-shaped brooches on the chest and dot the streets of cities with these flowers on the eve of November 11.

As the years passed, the power of the symbol grew - and was overgrown with contradictions and almost dogmatic disputes. When to wear a brooch? Someone speaks from October 31 - until the very Memorial Day. Someone zealously proves that it is possible to put on the badge only from November 1. Most often, the poppy is attached to the left side - closer to the heart (besides, traditionally, it is on the left that war heroes hang medals for military merit). Nevertheless, part of the population adheres to the version that ladies are supposed to wear a flower on the right side (women from the Windsor family, however, still wear a brooch on the left).

Moreover, recently some politicians and activists publicly refuse to put on the brooch, believing that in this way the state justifies its right to declare war and send its people to death. But, one way or another, so far this action has much more followers than opponents. Both ordinary citizens and public figures, politicians, church ministers and, of course, members of the royal family walk with poppies on their chests.

In general, if you look closely, the Windsors attach this flower to their clothes especially often: not only on Memorial Day and the week preceding it, but also at events throughout the year. The reason is very simple: all such events, in one way or another, are associated with the memory of the victims of the First World War and the military in general. Be it, for example, ANZAC Day (a national holiday in Australia and New Zealand) or the anniversary of a particular battle. On any of these days, wearing a red poppy will be appropriate and symbolic.

In the coming days, millions of people will pin the scarlet poppy badge on their clothes. They will do this as a token of memory of those killed in the First World War. According to tradition, in addition to the victims of that distant war, at this time they also remember those who died in other military conflicts.

The Day of Remembrance itself or, as it is also called, the Day of Mourning falls on November 11 of each year, because it was on this day in 1918, as stated in the signed agreement on the end of the First World War, “the military losses ended at 11 a.m. 11 p.m. 11 months ”. In memory of the victims suffered by the allies in the war with Germany, King George V (the one who is incredibly similar to the last Russian emperor Nicholas II) commanded to celebrate the end of the war, remembering those who died on this day in all countries of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

In the twenties, in Great Britain and Canada, in commemoration of those killed in all military conflicts, the military and their family members began to pin a badge with a scarlet poppy on their clothes. The poppy owes its choice as a symbol of remembrance to the slain to the poem "In Flanders Fields", written by a Canadian surgeon named John McCrae and first published in a well-known British magazine. This kind of memorial poetic addition very quickly won the hearts of the military and the words from it began to be often used in charity campaigns and materials. So the poppy flower has become a symbol of the memory of the fallen defenders.

Nowadays, the Poppy Campaign is a charitable fundraising event for military veterans. The money collected from the sale of poppy seeds goes to support the families of the dead military and the veterans themselves. In our time in Canada, veterans include hundreds of young Canadians who have gone through the military conflicts of which we are all contemporaries. For example, they served with the Canadian contingent in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In 2013, the Poppy Campaign raised about $ 14 million. Of these, 1 million was collected in Toronto. Part of the funds raised was used to purchase wheelchairs, to adapt the homes of disabled veterans and to pay for the education of their children.

On Memorial Day, November 11th, at 11:00 am, TTC trains will be suspended and many offices will be silent.

Date of publication: 29.10.2013 Date of update: 03.11.2014

Toronto and Ontario News from - read at least three times a week!

A musical performance about a story that happened in a quiet corner of Canada called Gander in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, which once served as a major air harbor, after not ...