In spring, the flower of pansies blossoms in many gardens, pleasing to the eye with a variety of colors. Legends and beliefs of different nations tell many interesting stories about the origin and name of these plants. We will get to know them too.
Flower description
Five delicate, often violet-yellow-white-blue, petals are located on a branchy stem about twenty centimeters high and resemble hearts in shape. Large, surprisingly delicate flowers on the plant succeed each other from spring to mid-summer. Such a colorful carpet is literally mesmerizing.
Legends and beliefs about the colors of pansies give a different interpretation of their appearance. Many of the species bred today are hybrids obtained by crossing their wild ancestors with a garden violet. And the first results of such selection appeared back in the 16th century at the court of Prince William of Hesse-Kassel. Today it is one of the most common garden flowers. Violet (viola) tricolor, pansies, bros, Ivan da Maria - these are the most common names for this beautiful plant.
Russian legend about pansies
There lived a kind, gullible, pure-hearted girl. Once she met a guy who came to their village. Annie fell in love with a young man, believed in his sincerity. And before leaving, he promised to return and take her with him. Every day a girl went out on the road and waited for her beloved, but she never appeared from. It ended tragically: the girl withered from longing and died. And on her grave amazing plants grew with three-colored petals. According to the people, their coloring correlates with different periods of Anyuta's life. White color symbolizes the heroine’s hope for reciprocity and happiness at the very beginning of the relationship. Yellow is a surprise that the groom does not come for a long time. Violet is sadness, the collapse of all dreams and death.
This legend about a pansy flower has other variations. The first says that a rich young man was married against his will to another, and the girl died of pain and grief. According to the second, the beloved went to war and died there. And Anyuta eventually turned into a flower, which still continues to wait for a sweet one on the road.
The Story of Brothers
Belarusians, Ukrainians and Poles have their own version of the origin of the pansy flower. The legends and beliefs of these peoples are also somewhat different, but their essence lies in the sinful love of a brother and sister. The most touching is the story related to the time of the raids of the Turks.
The army of conquerors attacked the Ukrainian village and captured civilians. Next to a beautiful black-browed girl, bursting into tears, a young janissary was riding. The captive pleased him, and he supported her all the way. And then he offered to flee, promising to return her to her homeland and marry. During one of the halts, they managed to complete their plan. And after they became close, the Janissary told the story of his life. That he was born in the same place where his girlfriend’s house was. What else was a child captured. That his father was a blacksmith, and near the house a pear grew and a stream raged. Here the girl understood that the Janissary was her missing elder brother, and burst into tears. They realized what sin they committed and that happiness is now impossible. Young people turned into beautiful flowers, which the people began to lovingly call brothers.
Myths about Aphrodite and Venus
Once upon a time, the gods played a big role in people's lives. Belief in their superpowers, magical power, the ability to intervene in earthly life gave rise to many interesting stories. Among them is the legend of the colors of pansies, which explains why the plant has such a shape.
Beautiful Aphrodite decided on a hot day to swim. And although she chose a pond hidden from prying eyes, she soon noticed that a whole crowd of people was watching her admiringly. The indignant goddess turned to Zeus with a request to punish those who dare to do such an act. But the thunderbolt was in a good mood that day and therefore simply turned the curious into flowers.
The ancient Romans have a similar myth about how men spied on bathing Venus. All of them suffered the same fate.
By the way, this legend about a pansy plant echoes a common story in which an ordinary earthly woman turned her eyes to what was banned. The punishment for her was turning into a flower, which in color actually resembles a human face.
And from all these stories follows another symbolic meaning of pansies - curiosity.
The myth of Jupiter's love
Another ancient Roman legend about pansies is also interesting.
Once Jupiter came down to earth and, under the guise of a shepherd, went to the temple of Juno. Among other girls, he noticed the daughter of the Argos king, Io, who performed the sacrifice. Proud and impregnable, she immediately conquered God and herself was imbued with feelings for him. But soon Juno found out about secret meetings, and Jupiter, fearing for her beloved's life, turned the girl into a white cow. Now, for days on end, unknown to anyone, she walked by the palace in Argos. Finally, Io found a way to explain to the king who he really was. Watching the suffering of his father and daughter, Jupiter turned for help to the goddess of the earth. She gave the girl an incredibly beautiful and tidbit flower. And his coloring became a symbol of the emerging love triangle.
This is one of the most common versions of the fate of Princess Io. A similar myth, again, can be found among the ancient Greeks. There, the girl whom Zeus was carried away was punished by Hera.
German legend of pansy flowers
This is a story about an evil stepmother. It is associated with an unusual flower structure. According to legend, there lived an evil stepmother - the lower petal symbolizes it. The largest and most beautiful. The woman had two natural daughters - these are middle petals. Well, and, as in any folk tale, all the troubles fell on the unfortunate stepdaughters. Therefore, the upper petals on the flower are the smallest and faded. But this is not the end of the legend. It goes on to say that initially the large petal was on top and the stepdaughter symbols were on the bottom. To somehow punish the evil stepmother and make life easier for orphans, God turned the flower over. As a result, sharp spurs appeared next to the stepmother. And her beloved daughters received a not very attractive mustache. So the legend of pansy flowers became an expression of popular sympathy for grief and the suffering of orphans.
The power of suggestion
If any legend about the colors of pansies, given here, most often raises doubts about its reliability, then the traditions formed on their basis are taken for granted by many. For example, until recently in Russia there was an opinion that this is a plant of the dead, because its place is not in the garden, but on the grave. For the same reason, the French in our time never give a bouquet of white pansies.
An interesting find was discovered in the Trappist monastery, which operated in the Middle Ages. On its wall, the artist painted a number of pansies and a dead head next to him, while he made an eloquent inscription: "Remember death."
But still, in most cases, this plant has an optimistic meaning and symbolizes true love. So, in England it was customary to give pansies to a loved one on Valentine's Day. In France, they are still used for fortune-telling on a betrothed. And in Poland, this way of a love spell has been preserved: to sprinkle the juice of a flower in the eyes of a sleeping young man and appear before him at the moment of his awakening.
Thus, in many countries, the popular folk legend about the spring flower of pansies has generated various prejudices and beliefs, some of which are still valid today.
It's curious
Every legend cited here about pansies for children will be very interesting and informative. In addition, real facts about the wonderful flower are stored in the people's memory. So, in France pansies were called pensee, which means “thought, thought”. Many attribute this to the structure of the seed box, which, incidentally, scatters over distances several times the size of the plant itself.
In the Christian world, pansies are sometimes called the flower of the Holy Trinity. Indeed, if you look closely, at the base of the petals you can see a triangle - a symbol of the all-seeing eye of God. And the rays emanating from it are supposedly the faces of the Trinity.
Pansies were Josephine's favorite flower. In history, they are also known as the emblem of the Napoleonic dynasty.
Dried pansy flowers are often used in the treatment, as they contain a lot of salicylic acid.