Legends and myths of the lotus flower

Yes, there are many legends and myths of the lotus flower that have been strengthened even by the "geek culture" or the "seventh art", all focused on the emancipatory properties for the soul that this mythical flower has had in the Middle and the Far East and its forceful entry into the West thanks to the fashion houses, military wives who received or cultivated them as gifts from their husbands and the arrival of the New Age where this mythical flower has had a special preponderance.

Deities and the Lotus Flower

Kuan-yin is an unmissable goddess on Taiwanese altars, as well as a Buddha headband, a 108-bead rosary like those used by Buddhists to recite their mantras, a willow branch that resembles the pains and redemption of humans, and the lotus flower, as a way to channel all energy, beauty and human emotions.

This deity in life was revered for his pacifism, which gave him the power to float on the lotus flowers of the ponds.

Among the legends and myths of the lotus flower, it is assured that Buddha saw everything through the pistils and seeds of this flower that birds and wind carried to every part of the world. In addition, its natural process of assimilating and following the sunlight and closing when it is not there (not as much as the Sunflower but the same principle), was the way to energize the world that Buddha had destined to bless the fields, ponds and all those who will worship and use the flower for charitable purposes.

For Buddhism, the lotus flower is the throne of honor where Buddha sits and gives life to the divine, the spiritual and the defense, as when this exotic flower closes its petals as a shield.

Buddha chose the lotus to symbolize the Lotus Sutra because it blooms as well as bears fruit, which translates to immediate enlightenment and the spread of wisdom in life. And those who seek to flourish and spread, taking it as their law, will be able to attain the state of Buddha (Buddha sees everything, Buddha knows everything).

It is said that the Egyptian god Ra (god of the Sun), arose from a lotus flower, like his younger brother Nefertum, god of perfumes and father of Nefertiti. It is the flower that accompanied the pharaohs in their tombs, as is the case of Tutankhamun, who archaeologists got DNA from these plants in his sarcophagus.

A Greek nymph fled in fear through a forest until she fell exhausted in a place called Lotus, where she sank and was trapped for centuries to emerge as a flower-shaped goddess whom they called the Lotus (Sacred Lotus), goddess of tenacity and energy. triumph.

In India it is a symbol of fertility, wealth, knowledge and this earned it the title of its national flower; In the legends and myths of the Hindu lotus flower, it is related to the goddess of abundance Maha Lakshmi for symbolizing purity, beauty and abundance, seen from a more spiritual than tangible side, as can be seen from the modus vivendi of the inhabitants of this federal republic.

Why so many legends and myths of the lotus flower have been generated

Its beauty, elegance, resistance and ability to harmonize people and environments seems to us to be as natural as it happens with all flowers, for something it is part of the pacifist and methodical symbolism of many civilizations and the symbol of societies that, although devastated by their own beliefs, show that they can continue to subsist beyond the material, focused on the transcendental, the passage to the next life, as is the case of the inhabitants of India.

Among the most deeply rooted legends and myths of the lotus flower, we find

It is the flower that symbolizes holiness; In fact, Hindus and Buddhists claim that all religions are tied to the lotus flower because it is the only one that looks and sends energy to the sky.

This flower with many petals is born from the cosmic ocean, one of the lights of the sun that came to earth and upon contact with the water, emerged as the daughter of both.

Its aroma and candor are synonymous with matter and spirit.

The strongest of the legends and myths of the lotus flower is the one that claims that it symbolizes the divine birth and is the seat of the Creator of the Universe (Brahma, the one emerged from the navel of Vishnu).

The Lotus Flower in China

Thanks to its significance, Westerners can understand the Chinese view of the legends and myths of the lotus flower, which for them are the reality of its existence.

What is to be understood as medicinal properties, for the Chinese is nothing more than the power of longevity that is acquired through a liquor prepared with its seeds on the Chinese New Year festivities.

There is a myth that if a woman wants to get pregnant, she must eat the seeds of the lotus flower in the form of candy under the light of the New Moon closest to Chinese New Year in order to achieve this.

For the Orientals, the Lotus stem is the umbilical cord that unites the flower and the man with their own origins, a child of heaven and the universe, enlightened in its genesis and who, in the course of its life, decides whether to maintain that aspiration. essential of the human soul or to move between the mundane.

Its cultural presence: symbols and meanings

Many of the legends and myths of the lotus flower They come from the vision of poets and painters, among other repeating minstrels who related fantastic stories where this flower was a blessing in its presence and spiritual meaning.

That is why it has been bordered by so much mysticism, among which we can highlight:

• Its aroma is considered that of the purity of the soul.
• Among other flowers or leaves, Lotus Flowers stand out as earthly stars.

There are those who have assured that the Garden of Eden or Earthly Paradise was full of Lotus Flowers and that their majesty and beauty were such that Adam and Eve could never describe them after their exile, but it was the last thing they saw and always missed.

The ancient legend about the Chinese prince who forced one of his concubines to dance for him pieces in order to recreate the petals, pistils, seeds and leaves of the lotus flower and that the other envious concubines bandaged his feet for evil train them, even so, she continued to perform her dance to safeguard her life and that of her relatives, it is believed that it is one of the genesis of ballet, which is a fine dance art with a high price due to the damage to the feet of the dancer.

He is one of the important figures to cite in The Book of the Dead, a transcendental work of Egyptian and Middle Eastern culture, as the flower that seals or is a portal to the world beyond.

The flowers of the Sacred Lotus were immortalized in Homer's The Odyssey, where Ulysses and his crew disembark on the island of the Lotus Eaters, food that caused them a strange and pleasant drowsiness that made them peaceful.

The New Age has been based on Hindu culture and the energy centers present along the spine, from the bottom to the crown of the head called Chakras. It is ensured that the lotus flower is present with a certain amount of petals in each chakra, the one that is higher than the one that seeks to fill with a large cluster of them, because this translates into reaching the maximum degree of illumination. It is also widely used in lotus flower mandalas and other oriental symbols. Currently, the lotus flower tattoos as of spiritual realization and mysticism.

A derivation not very common in the world, extracted from the legends and myths of the lotus flower, is shown by the Hindu astronomical science, which is the only one that has the Constellation of Lotus cataloged, justified by having the shape of a lotus flower open like a wheel which they call Satabisha or Satataraka.

Its arrival in America has been invested with the same mysticism based on its medicinal and aromatic properties, its resistance and remarkable magnificence among other plants in any ecosystem where it develops. Of very recent date are the legends and myths of the lotus flower in the West, almost all linked to the four elements and the needs of the heart, for which a small ritual has to be done with a lotus flower surrounded by water, fire , land and wind is the breath of the person who will ask for their wishes of love and prosperity, similar but more publicized to what is done with the Flower of Jericho.