Flower Symbolism – Easter Lily, Forsythia, Pussy Willow

It’s the first time in a few months that I have felt the pull towards an arrangement. There is an affirmation of past messages for us in the branches of the Pussy Willow and Forsythia. With the Pussy Willow, the leaves grow before the blossoms, but with the Forsythia, the flowers blossom before the leaves. This is natures’ palindrome, a return to the beginning.

FORSYTHIA: As one of the first flowers to appear in spring, Forsythia is a common symbol of hope, anticipation, and the renewal of fresh growth. Considering the color meaning of the sunny yellow Forsythia flowers.

• Confidence
• Warmth
• Joy and happiness
• Skill and wisdom
• New beginnings
• Power
• Sunny days.

One of Forsythia’s alternative common names is Easter Tree, which links the flower to the resurrection story of Jesus Christ. Victorian symbolism highlights anticipation and even excitement for an upcoming event or occasion.
https://www.petalrepublic.com/forsythia-flower-meaning/

If you do any work with numerology, forsythia is associated with the number four. This in turn is connected to the four elements–earth, air, fire, and water–as well as the cardinal directions and the four seasons. Four is sometimes connected to creativity. In Chakra energy work, the heart is the fourth chakra, and so it relates to emotions and our compassion towards others.
https://www.pattiwigington.com/forsythia-folklore-and-magic/

PUSSY WILLOWS: represent the earliest signs of spring, when they begin to bloom and the earth sheds the final weeks of winter. The Pussy Willow is also symbolic of the future, reminding us there are goals to attained. The flowering tree renews and revitalizes, awakening our inner hopes, joys, and inspirations.
https://circleofthepussywillows.wordpress.com/tag/pussy-willows/

EASTER LILY: Known as the “white-robed apostles of hope,” fragrant white lilies were believed to symbolize the purity of Christ.

In art dating back to the 14th century, the Archangel Gabriel is often depicted giving the Virgin Mary a lily when telling her that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus the flower became associated with rebirth as well as a symbol of loss which is why the lily is used in funerals to connect the departed to God.

As early as the 7th century, the Venerable Bede likened the Virgin Mary to a white lily. He noted that the white petals symbolized her pure virginal body and the golden anthers, the radiance of her soul.

The trumpet shape of the Easter lily also fit into the image of a trumpet sounding the message that Jesus had risen and thus loss becomes a form of rebirth too.

Others noted that since lilies start as ugly bulbs that live underground for at least three years and then bloom into these fragrant flowers, this is a metaphor for transformation. Jesus died a brutal death but then had a holy resurrection which has been the root of Christian faith.

Adding another layer to the lily’s significance was how the scholars of St. Bernard’s time also pointed out how the name Nazareth in Hebrew signifies a flower.

“Beautiful legends emerged to explain the origin of the flower,” says Horvat. “It was told that the lily sprang from the tears of Eve, when she was expelled from the Garden of Eden. But it was yellow until the day that the Virgin Mary stooped to pick it, thus symbolizing the role of the New Eve in restoring to the world the innocence lost by Eve.”

We particularly appreciate how this flower represents women as well as Christ.

And speaking of Christ, even in the Bible, it is said that he had a particular fondness for this flower.
In Matthew 6:25-29, Jesus says, “Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment? Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them.
So today is a time to reflect on rebirths, loss and especially the beauty of the white lily.
https://flowerpowerdaily.com/the-floral-meaning-and-history-of-the-easter-lily/
#DivineIridescence #ObedientToUnity #FlowerSymbolism