When you mention the phrase "Minoan flower," most people immediately think of lilies. Yes, the saffron crocus was very important to the Minoans - in their religion, their art, and their economy - but somehow lilies have taken the spotlight. And with good reason.
They're beautiful, for one thing. Just look at that image above! It's a portion of the Spring fresco from Akrotiri, showing a typical springtime scene of red lilies blooming and swallows returning from their winter migration to Africa. These are probably wild Turk's cap lilies (Lilium martagon) which are native to the Mediterranean.
Although flowers have had ‘meanings’ for centuries, it was the Victorians that really jumped on the band wagon with this idea, a particular flower or the scent of one on a handkerchief could send a very important message to a suitor.It was a whole ‘secret’ language devised to send messages or convey meanings in the form of flowers.The list is huge and varied but the following will give you some idea.
The power of symbolism--specifically, flower symbolism--really hit home for me on Monday.
My uncle, one of thirteen children, died last week. His funeral was Monday, and it just so happened my husband had July 2-4 off for the holiday, so we were able to attend.
Erin Lale
Fellow faculty at Harvard Divinity School posted an open letter to Wolpe in response to his article. It's available on this page, below the call for p...
Erin Lale
Here's another response. The Wild Hunt has a roundup of numerous responses on its site, but it carried this one as a separate article. It is an accoun...
Erin Lale
Here's another response. This one is by a scholar of paganism. It's unfortunately a Facebook post so this link goes to Facebook. She posted the text o...
