History Of Flowers
Flowers have held a special bond with humanity since the times unknown. Some years back, a 15,000 year old grave found in Iraq had a bunch of flowers on the corpses. Flowers were used as art pieces, jewelry, in paintings and to depict stories. Since olden times they are used therapeutically, some flowers have amazing medicinal values. They were used as colors, perfume essence, in cosmetics, for flavor in food and as symbols of almost all feelings.
A myriad of well-preserved pictures depicting flowers show its impact on people for the thousands of years. They were an integral part of people’s lives and here is are some ways how they were used.
- Symbol of feelings: Giving a woman a flower was a way to reach her heart, laying flowers on the dead meant eternal peace to the soul and rare flowers were used as a symbol of power. In England, bouquets were very famous from the Victorian Era. They were used in stationary, home décor, as ornaments to name a few.
- Therapeutic value: Ancient India, China and Australian Aborigines used flowers in a number of medicines. They carry no side effects and probably this was the reason for their widespread use.
- Essence: Each flower has a distinct essence and they were extensively used in handkerchiefs, cosmetics, as perfumes and in bath massages.
- Mood enhancers: Flowers occupied special places in people’s homes, they knew the mood lifting quality of flowers. Exquisite flower arrangements were a traditional part of Japanese, Egyptians, Greeks and Europeans. These traditions are followed till today, in each Japanese household you will find fresh flower bouquets.
It’s amazing how the use of flowers in all walks of life is still the same even today. With the modern perfumes, high quality soaps and the latest medicines, the importance of flowers has diminished. Yet now we can see a reverse trend wherein again more and more people are using cosmetics, perfumes and homeopathic medicines which have natural flower infusions.
“Earth expresses its laughter through flowers”.