flowers assigned to Juno may be mentioned the lily, crocus, and
asphodel.
Passing on to other countries, we find among the plants most
conspicuous for their sacred character the well-known lotus of the East
(Nelunibium speciosum), around which so many traditions and
mythological legends have clustered. According to a Hindu legend, from
its blossom Brahma came forth:--
"A form Cerulean fluttered o'er the deep;
Brightest of beings, greatest of the great,
Who, not as mortals steep
Their eyes in dewy sleep,
But heavenly pensive on the lotus lay,
That blossom'd at his touch, and shed a golden ray.
Hail, primal blossom! hail, empyreal gem,
Kemel, or Pedma, [1] or whate'er high name
Delight thee, say. What four-formed godhead came,
With graceful stole and beamy diadem,
Forth from thy verdant stem." [2]
Buddha, too, whose symbol is the lotus, is said to have first appeared
floating on this mystic flower, and, indeed, it would seem that many of
the Eastern deities were fond of resting on its leaves; while in China, the
god Pazza is generally represented as occupying this position. Hence the
lotus has long been an object of worship, and as a sacred plant holds a
most distinguished place, for it is the flower of the,
"Old Hindu mythologies, wherein
The lotus, attribute of Ganga--embling
The world's great reproductive power--was held
In veneration."
We may mention here that the lotus, known also as the sacred bean of
Egypt, and the rose-lily of the Nile, as far back as four thousand years
ago was held in high sanctity by the Egyptian priests, still retaining its
sacred character in China, Japan, and Asiatic Russia.
Another famous sacred plant is the soma or moon-plant of India, the
Asclepias acida, a climbing plant with milky juice, which Windischmann
has identified with the "tree of life which grew in paradise." Its milk juice
was said to confer immortality, the plant itself never decaying; and in a
hymn in the Rig Veda the soma sacrifice is thus described:--
"We've quaffed the soma bright
And are immortal grown,
We've entered into light