Show ap 00 V 9 00 lk I 1 ae hail k the ak V all 0 7 t of the world I 1 flowers ever in mens minds at eastertide easter Is the oldest festival known to mankind it was instituted by nature her self and was originally celebrated in honor of the spring primitive man could not fathom the spring miracle but he could appreciate it and ce celebrate lebrat e this joyous festival re stival of breaking bud and scented breath every nation had its own name and legend for spring the resurrection of life each year when nature lived and blossomed anew the tender beauty of the flowers stirred the human mind to wonder and deep speculation lit grature Is rich in beautiful legends of the flowers which tradition says first bloomed in heaven when the evil angels were driven from heaven they snatched their arms full of flowers and carried them away but god would not permit his celestial blossoms to be taken to hades hades so he caused the wicked angels to become tired and one by one they dropped the flowers over the earth before they reached their destination another old legend which accounts for thle begin nin ning of the flowers states that venus sprinkled nectar into the blood of the wounded adonis and flowers sprang up the word flower itself comes from flora goddess of flowers ALTHOUGH the flowers were anally connected with pagan cus toms and beliefs most of them are now closely boaen by christian bradl alons to the event of the resurrection of christ in all ages and lands the white lily illy has been closely associated with the two greatest mysteries of human life birth and death juno the queen of the roman gods chose the lily illy as her symbol and the classics tell us of feasts given among the lilies joan of arc was crowned with white lilies to typify the purity and sacredness of her mission the first lily illy used as a symbol of the resurrection was the madonna or an lily illy in their pictures of saints angels and the madonna in the madonna pictures there are tre fre three lilies on a stem to represent the trinity or the annunciation conception and birth of the savior A pot of these lilies over doors and win dows Is symbolical of the virgin in ecclesiastical art and architecture but lily illy pillars or columns typify the resurrection IN N MODERN times the easter lily illy has taken the place of the madonna lily illy both in america and europe because it Is a hardier plant the easter illy or bermuda illy was wag anally a native of japan more than years ago a pirate sea captain brought some of the bulbs to bermuda where it grew larger and more be beau iu ticul than in the orient it became known as the bermuda illy and for generations its care and cultivation were handed down from father to son until it became one of the household gods of the island planter until very recent years america was entirely dependent upon china japan and ber der muda for bulbs of the easter illy but through painstaking experiments the united states government has learned to produce our own bulb supply not only the christians but all other religions of the world have used the illy lily to typify consolation and hope the lotus illy Is sacred to the budd fists and to it they dedicate ceaseless prayers which are printed on parch ment and fastened to constantly re evolving cylinders in the great temples of thabet from egypt to china super stations lons ions and great love abounds for the sacred lotus tradition also relates that jud th the israelite heroine of the wore a crown of lotus lilies when she went upon her mission to destroy and all the world knows that cleopatra wore lotus blooms in her hair THERE HERE is a legend old as chris anity which says that the virg n spilled a few drops of her milk on the ground and from these drops sprang the dainty little lily illy of the valley those fairy bells that bring incense to the spring but in some of the old anglish country villages this precious little flower is called the ladder of heaven the ancient druids believed that it symbolized fu ture happiness and they used it at weddings to insure wedded bliss to the bride and bridegroom in the old days all marriages were celebrated in the spring few rew modern brides realize that they follow an ancient pagan cus torn when they carry a bridal bouquet of lilies of the valley in the days of dim antiquity all flow era ers were divided into two general classes the bell shaped blossoms were called lilies and all the others were roses this is said to account for some flowers being called robes which do not belong to our present rose fam lly ily the roe ot of jericho Is one of these it lt Is not a rose at all but a sort ot of vegetable this plant Is sometimes used as a symbol of the resurrection because it Is usually found in a scriv aled dried up condition but it Is lal mediately med lately revived or resurrected by a little moisture however the rose of jericho Is more commonly called the rose of mary because tradition says that it grew to mark every resting place of the holy family during the journey to egypt N I 1 OTHER flower of the easter sea ason A son the primrose Is likewise not a rose its old generic name Is primula or first and since it was not bell shaped it wae was called a rose this flower blooms so early that it has become the symbolical flower of the month of january primroses the spring may love them summer knows but little of them the briar rose according to ancient christian tradition grew from the drops of blood that fell to the earth from the saviors brow when it N as pierced by the crown of thorns on the cross but there Is another legend which says that christ s crown of thorns was made of the white briar rose itself and the red rose sprang from these blood stained roses men alen pierced his brow with thorns but angels stanched bis his blood with roses to this day the faithful in some parts of russia will never suffer a red rose to he ile on the ground the red rose Is usually considered an emblem of the crucifixion but the white rose belongs to mary she dried her mourning veil on a rose bush and tho the bush bore white roses ever after CUPID C gave the god of silence a rose and that flower has since become the symbol of silence when the greeks wished the conversa con Nersa alons at their feast tables to be kept secret a freshly gathered rose was hung from the ceiling just above the head of the table it was considered dishonorable and even criminal to reveal anything said sub rosa under the rose but the mythical blue rose Is symbolic of heavenly bliss and un attainable earthly ideals the passion flower got its name from the fancied resemblance of certain parts of the flower to the instruments of the cruel cruet dixion it is also a symbol of faith the evil mandrake which Is found in southern europe north africa and asia minor Is also bound by tradition to easter only at Fastert irne does the he devil lose his power over this herb washington star |