Symbolic Lily Meaning
Symbolic Lily Meaning
Greek lore associates lily meaning with birth and it is a symbol for motherhood because the flower was said to be created from the breast milk of Hera.
As the story goes, Zeus wanted Hercules (his son born from an extra-marital affair) to become a god. One way of doing this was to have him suckle at the breast of his wife, Hera. Zeus invoked the god of sleep, Somnus, to put Hera in a deep slumber while he enticed Hercules to suck at her bosom. He did this so vigorously that the milk overflowed. That which flowed heaven-wards became the Milky Way, and the milk that flowed to the earth turned into a white lily.
Contrarily, the lily also hold masculine qualities as the Greeks held the lily as a symbol of high eroticism and sexuality (the long pistil of the flower suggesting a phallus and the pollen symbolizing fertility).
Old wives' tales suggest telling the sex of an unborn child by using a rose and a lily. All one need do is approach an expectant mother with a lily in one hand and a rose in the other. If the mother chooses the rose, it will be a girl. If she picks the lily, it will be a boy (again, referencing the long pistil as a masculine feature).
Contemplating a quick-list of symbolic lily meaning can offer great insights in your meditations on this flower. Check out these meanings for the lily, and let their implications blossom in your psyche...
Symbolic Lily Meanings
Hope
Faith
Birth
Purity
Renewal
Promise
Passion
Becoming
Chastity
Innocence
Fertility
Cleansing
Motherhood
Remembrance
Transitioning
In alchemical symbolism lily meaning is associated with lunar and feminine qualities.
Christians hold the lily as a symbol of chastity, innocence, purity and piety. In early Christian art the white lily is symbolic of the "Madonna" as the flower is associated with the virgin Mary. It is typically depicted in a vase or held by Gabriel in Annunciation paintings.
Moreover, the parts of the lily have specific religious signficance to the Virgin Mary.
We see the lily in several Tarot cards,namely the Magician card, Temperance card, and the Ace of Pentacles card (in traditional Rider-Waite deck renditions).
In the symbolic language of the Tarot, the lily also holds symbolism of purity, innocence and fertility. Additionally, the lily symbolizes vulnerability, and the freedom to be ourselves, as well as allowing others to be as they are too. The lily is a symbolic flower of health and provision. In a reading, the lily can signal growth, development, and a quality of innocence in our lives. Depending on the surrounding cards, the lily may also indicate new relationships and births.
Please don't forget to upvote.