The Lily and the Lady: Plants of Purity and Protection

There are few flowers quite as recognisable as the lily. Yet despite its beauty, the lily (Lilium) is a toxic plant. All parts of the plant are poisonous, which is why it’s recommended not to grow them if you have pet cats.

It’s probably helpful then that the orange variety represents hatred and revenge, as well as desire and pasison (Dietz 2020: 128). Yet different types of the plant also offer mixed messages. For example, the Chinese Lily (Lilium Speciosum) means both ‘You cannot deceive me’ and ‘In love forever’ (Dietz 2020: 129). Yellow lilies represented both falsehood and gaiety (Burke 1857: 36).

In some ways, this goes to show the contradictory nature of the flower, used in both bridal bouquets and funeral wreaths. Yet in other ways, its contradictory uses make sense since they often come from a common root—the link between the lily and purity.

So in this post, we’re going to explore the folklore behind the lily, as well as its uses in magick. Keep reading, or hit ‘play’ to listen to the podcast episode!

Lilies in the Ancient World

According to Samantha Gray, lilies were first discovered growing in a villa garden in Amnisos, Crete in c. 1580 BC (2015: 84). The lily was sacred to the Minoan goddess, Dictynna. also known as Britomartis. She was a goddess of hunting and mountains, though her link with the latter could be due to the belief she was an oread, or mountain nymph. Dictynna was mostly worshipped on Crete. She’s sometimes syncretised with Artemis, the Olympian goddess of hunting.

Lilies are commonly found on Minoan ceramics (Dietz 2020: 129).

It later became a plant associated with the Hellenic goddess, Hera, wife of Zeus. According to legend, Zeus fathered Heracles with Alceme, a mortal woman. He wanted Heracles to be nursed by a goddess, not a human, and decided Hera fit the bill. He drugged her and placed Heracles at her breast. Hera woke up and being both confused and horrified at Zeus’ behaviour, flung Heracles away from her. Some of the milk drops created the Milky Way, and some fell to earth. Lilies sprang up from the earthbound drops (Gray 2015: 84).

Christianity

Elsewhere, lilies came from Eve’s tears after being expelled from the Garden of Eden and discovering she was pregnant (Gray 2015: 84). Some believed that lilies grew anywhere that her tears fell (Dietz 2020: 129).

Lilies also enjoy links with the Virgin Mary. According to legend, the flowers were yellow until Mary picked some lilies and they turned white (Gray 2015: 84). They came to represent the Annunciation, and in art, saints often hand Mary and Jesus lilies (Gray 2015: 84). Gabriel in particular is often depicted carrying lilies (Baker 2011 [1969]: 90). One famous example is Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s painting, The Annunciation (1849-50), in which Gabriel hands a cowering Mary a lily to mark the news that she would be the mother of Christ.

St Catherine converted her father to Christianity after the previously scentless Madonna lily suddenly produced its famous scent (Gray 2015: 84).

These links with Christianity help to explain the associations of other species with similar qualities. The Oriental Lily (Lilium auratum) meant ‘pure of heart’ while the Meadow or Field Lily (Lilium canadense) represented humility (Dietz 2020: 129).

Miss Carruthers links the white lily with the Annunciation, or 25 March (1879: 4). She also notes that Gabriel once held a sceptre or an olive branch, but in later Italian art, he starts carrying lilies (1879: 4). The flower also became appropriate to the Visitation of Our Lady on 2 July, when Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth. Miss Carruthers cites this as happening on 2 July as it did until 1969, though it’s now 31 May in western Christianity.

St Joseph is likewise associated with the lily as Mary’s spouse. You can sometimes spot St Joseph in religious art since he often holds a lily.

Virginity

Lilies became the symbol of innocence, chastity and purity through their association with Mary. That said, their earlier association with Dictynna and Artemis could also help to explain the link. The Madonna Lily (Lilium candidum) specifically represented purity (Dietz 2020: 129). The Easter Lily (Lilium longiflorum) also represented purity, though it also helped with employment, gambling, luck, power, and protection (Dietz 2020: 129).

White lilies were used to represent virginity within the bridal bouquet (Baker 2011 [1969]: 90). They also meant celebration, sweetness, majesty, and sent the message ‘It’s heavenly to be with you’ (Dietz 2020: 129).

But lilies also provided an incredibly intrusive method for worried parents to check if their daughter was still a virgin. Completely ignoring issues of consent or privacy, they might “feed her powdered yellow lily”. If she suddenly felt an urge to pee, she was still a virgin (Binney 2018: 83).

The Maiden’s Garland

Lilies also appeared in the ‘maiden garland’ to represent the deceased’s virginity (Gittings 1999: 158). This was a crown, made from either hazel or willow, and used to mark the death of a local person who had died unmarried (Morris 2003: 358). They were usually female, but not always. The mourners carried the garland above the coffin and then hung it in the church after the funeral above her pew. It was left there until it rotted away. They were sometimes thrown out during renovations.

In one description, we hear they were made of coloured paper, made to look like flowers, and fixed to a circular hoop. This is the part sometimes made from hazel. A woman’s glove was cut out of white paper and hung from the middle, and they often wrote the woman’s name and age on it. Earlier descriptions talk about real flowers and gloves, but the paper ones seemed to become more common. When fresh flowers were used, lilies were popular, through their links with purity. People laid lily wreaths on the coffins of virgins.

As local church life changed and mourning itself altered, the tradition had almost completely died out by the 1920s. Even Shakespeare mentions one in Hamlet about the funeral of Ophelia, in which “she is allow’d her virgin crants”, which is another term for such a garland. Some believe ‘crants’ comes from krans, the Old Norse word, meaning ‘wreath’ (Morris 2003: 356).

Lilies and Funerals

It’s perhaps the link between lilies and purity that explains why white lilies are so commonly used as funeral flowers. The soul of the deceased is now at peace, represented by the lily’s link with innocence. Nowadays, you can also use stargazer lilies to symbolise sympathy (Flowers by Catherine 2022).

Lilies also became popular flowers to have engraved on grave monuments for children, unmarried women, and young wives (Rugg 1999: 207). People would place lily wreaths on their coffins, again to draw on their representation of innocence.

Their somewhat pungent perfume has also become an olfactory link between floral arrangements and funerals.

The Fleur-de-Lis

We can’t really talk about the lily and not discuss the fleur-de-lis. It translates as ‘lily flower’, so it would seem to be obvious that the symbol is a lily…wouldn’t it? Not necessarily. Some people think it’s actually a stylised iris, not a lily.

According to François R. Velde, the fleur-de-lis dates back as far as Mesopotamia, and became linked with royalty during the High Middle Ages. It was first adopted as a heraldic motif in the 12th century by Philippe II. The fleur-de-lis appeared on seals and coins in the 10th century (1995-98).

It’s understandable the plant would be adopted as a symbol if it was a lily to show that the French king was blessed by God. At least, that’s a 14th-century explanation, though scholars already disputed it in the 17th century.

Velde points out that the early fleur-de-lis was always yellow, and wild lilies aren’t yellow. The wild iris, Iris pseudacorus, is. This particular plant was called the Lieschblume in German, which was sometimes spelled as ‘leys’ in the Middle Ages. Velde suggests that the fleur-de-lis could actually refer to this yellow iris as a result (1995-98).

The Legend

There’s also a lovely legend in which Clovis, the first king of the Franks, was heading to fight the king of Aquitania Alaric. But he and his men got stuck trying to cross a river. Eventually, they came across a doe who fled in fright, but she crossed using a ford that she knew and reached safety. The men followed the ford she’d used. Wild yellow irises grew on the opposite bank, so Clovis put one in his helmet to represent victory. There’s no evidence to suggest any of this actually happened, but it’s an interesting way to explain the choice of the fleur-de-lis, and also its identity as an iris, not a lily (Velde 1995-98).

That said, Britannica relates the legend in which Clovis was given a lily at his baptism. At this point, the Church used the lily to link significant events with Mary’s sanctity (2017).

It does also represent the lily in other places, such as Bosnia and Florence.

Medicinal Uses

As I explained at the beginning, the lily is a toxic plant. So I’m relating these historical uses of lilies in the interests of entertainment, not education.

You could find lilies throughout the Roman Empire. Margaret Baker suggests they planted lilies near camps because they thought the plant could cure corns. This would have been a common complaint among footsore soldiers (2011 [1969]: 91).

Meanwhile, boiled white lily roots, onion roots, and chamomile flowers were used to make a hot poultice to draw boils (Binney 2018: 121).

Bathing the face in lily-flower water could remove wrinkles (Baker 2011 [1969]: 91). Or you could just embrace your wrinkles as a sign that you’ve lived!

Superstitions

Of course, lilies are fine to admire, and they were used alongside St John’s wort, roses and birch in Midsummer decorations (Baker 2011 [1969]: 91).

Another superstition claimed that if lilies were plentiful in bloom, the wheat crop would be good that year (Baker 2011 [1969]: 91).

Meanwhile, Turk’s Cap lily would assure victory to any soldiers who looked at it. Alchemists thought it could help turn base metals into gold because “the inside of the bulb was golden yellow” (Baker 2011 [1969]: 91). It’s no surprise then that it represents both pride and wealth (Dietz 2020: 129). Its associations with both chivalry and misanthropy are a little harder to fathom.

Magickal Uses

In general terms, lilies could help with breaking love spells, banishing ghosts, repelling unwanted visitors, and providing protection (Dietz 2020: 129). The Tiger Lily (Lilium columbianum) was a good choice since it could help boost both wealth and prosperity, as well as offering protection (Dietz 2020: 129). You would probably need protection following an influx of wealth!

Plant lilies in the garden to keep away ghosts and evil (Dietz 2020: 129). White Madonna lilies are often cited as the best way to keep ghosts from the home. Yet it could also only grow “for a good woman” (Baker 2011 [1969]: 90). Carrying a lily could stop snakes from approaching you (Baker 2011 [1969]: 90).

Wearing lilies would break any love spells being cast upon you (Dietz 2020: 129). William Lilly placed white and yellow lilies into the domain of Venus in astrological magic, which makes this love link make sense (2004 [1647]: 75).

Even more strange, you could use lilies for crime detection! If you had a lily bed in your garden, you could bury a piece of leather in it. Doing so would prompt clues about crimes committed in the preceding year to come to light (Dietz 2020: 129). You don’t see that on CSI.

All Hail the Lily!

We can see that while the lily has had a myriad of uses, many of them can be traced back to its link with the Virgin Mary. Using the lily as imagery helps to either tell people you’re pure and innocent, or endorsed by the Queen of Heaven. It’s no wonder they were also a popular plant for protection and victory.

That’s why the debate over the fleur-de-lis is an interesting one. The case for the emblem being an iris is a strong one, but in many ways, the link with the lily would make more sense.

But either way, just remember that they’re bad for cats, so if you do choose to plant them, be careful where you put them. And keep a piece of leather handy if you fancy doing some floral crime detection!

What do you think of the lily?

References

Baker, Margaret (2011 [1969]), Discovering the Folklore of Plants, third edition, Boxley, Oxford: Shire Classics.

Binney, Ruth (2018), Plant Lore and Legend, Hassocks: Rydon.

Burke, L. (1858), The Illustrated Language of Flowers, London: G. Routledge & Sons.

Carruthers, Miss (1879), Flower Lore: The Teachings of Flowers, Historical, Legendary, Poetical & Symbolical, London: George Bell & Sons.

Dietz, S. Theresa (2020), The Complete Language of Flowers: A Definitive and Illustrated History, New York: Wellfleet Press.

Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2017), ‘fleur-de-lis’, Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/fleur-de-lis.

Flowers by Catherine (2022), ‘Why are lilies funeral flowers? A brief history’, Flowers by Catherine, https://flowersbycatherine.com/blog/why-are-lilies-funeral-flowers-a-brief-history-and-alternative-blooms-for-funeral-bouquets/.

Gittings, Clare (1999), ‘Sacred and Secular: 1558-1660’, in Peter C. Jupp and Clare Gittings (eds), Death in England: An Illustrated History, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 147-173.

Gray, Samantha (2015), The Secret Language of Flowers, London: CICO Books.

Velde, François R (1995-1998), ‘The Fleur-de-lis’, Heraldica.org, https://www.heraldica.org/topics/fdl.htm.

Lilly, William (2004 [1647]), Christian Astrology, Abingdon, MD: Astrology Classics.

Rugg, Julie (1999), ‘From reason to regulation: 1760-1850’, in Peter C. Jupp and Clare Gittings (eds), Death in England: An Illustrated History, Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp. 202-229.