Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Flowers Can Talk For You

By Fritz Jackson

Dating back to historical times, flowers have been a motion of kindness. We usually give them to those we love. We gift flowers to let them find out how special they are, to show appreciation, to celebrate an occasion, or even to sympathize. What we don't know is that giving certain kinds of flowers, and even their colors, actually have definitions of their own.

Floriography: (Language Of Flowers)

During medieval & Renaissance times, flowers were often given moral meanings. This is evident in artwork where saints are often portrayed with flowers that symbolize the saints' virtues. Liana DeGirolami Cheney stated in an edition of Sixteenth Century Journal that "some of the Christian symbols for Virginity or Chastity are the white rose, the myrtle, a vessel or vase, the lily, and the unicorn."

During Victorian times, flowers began to create or add emotion. The language of flowers, sometimes called floriography, began being used as a discreet form of communication. During the 18th century, sending messages in code using flowers became popular. Based on a Turkish secret language of flowers, known as Persian Salaam, a coded flower arrangement could be sent to declare feelings of attraction or even love.

A book entirely about flower interpretations by Madame Charlotte de la Tour, "Le Language des Fleurs," dates back to 1819. A similar book, "Language of Flowers" by Kate Greenaway, was written in 1884 and is still being used today.

Japan also has their variant of floriography, called "Hanakotoba." Greeting cards printed in Japan follow the Hanakotoba code, and still use the flower-language in popular culture such as in movies and cartoons, like the anime series "Wei Kreuz."

Favorite Meanings Of Flowers

Purchase or borrow a flower dictionary to see the various meanings and interpretations of flowers. Some very popular flowers and their significances are written below:

Buttercup - riches Pink carnations - a woman's love Chrysanthemum - love in general Forget-me-not - true love Lavender - devotion, distrust Purple lilac - first emotion of love White lily - purity Peach blossom- long-life Red rose - true love Sunflower - pure and lofty thoughts Yellow tulip - hopeless love

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