The Meaning of Passion Flowers

Passion flowers symbolize faith and spirituality, guelder roses suggest heavenly thoughts, winter and age, while parsley adds lasting pleasures - flowers for those ethereal moments in life.

Passion flowers were discovered by the early Spanish conquistadors in South America. The extraordinary physical make-up of the flower appeared to them like a natural depiction of Christ's passion on the cross: with five anthers to recall his five wounds, plus nail-like stigmata and whip-like tendrils, they were seen as a divine icon.To their eternal shame, the Spanish interpreted the passion flower as a token of sacred authorization for their reign of terror over the peaceful Inca civilization.

Some time around 1568 passion flowers were brought back to Pope Pius V, who declared them miraculous. And from then on the flowers began to be seen increasingly in churches around Europe, carved into woodwork and embroidered on textiles. They symbolized the passionate faith and spiritual beliefs of a whole age.

The story of the guelder rose is similarly set in an age of faith and miracles. A legend tells how the ghost of a young girl wandered the fields she loved until an angel appeared to her and offered her the chance to become a flower and so stay on earth. She asked to become a guelder rose, which, at that time, flowered in the winter: The angel asked her: 'Why do you want to flower when all is dead?', but he granted her request and managed also to persuade the guelder rose to flower in May Now it blooms at Whitsuntide, a time that celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit and Christ's Ascension into heaven - a plethora of heavenly thoughts. Its common name, Snowball Tree, adds a more earthly link and underlines its winter symbolism.

The Greeks used parsley to decorate tombs as it was sacred to Persephone, goddess of the underworld. But they also fed it to athletes and horses to give them lasting energy before major trials. It has been an important medicinal herb since Roman times and has helped prolong and improve life's pleasures all along - not least with its lasting effect on bad breath