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Myth and Folklore: Geraniums

© Gregg Pasterick

In Shocking the World With Wild Geraniums, I wrote about how the flowers were instrumental in our first learning about the roll insects play in pollination. (It's hard to imagine we didn't always know something so alarmingly elementary, huh?) But that was science; this is myth and folklore!

For instance, according to an old Moslem legend, geranium was once a common mallow. One day, maybe the sun was shining, maybe it wasn't, it doesn't matter, but Mohammed hung his shirt on the plant to dry. When he removed it, the plant was covered with brightly colored flowers with a spicy aroma. A mallow no more, it was now a geranium! (Myth and folklore requires a lot of exclamation points!)

The geranium falls under the influence of Venus. Its element is water and its mystical powers are useful fertility, matters of health, love and protection. Its gender is feminine.

It is a flower of remembrance, an upright blossom indicating an impending reunion. It reminds us to hold our past in high regard, for all those missteps and failures and triumphs are all a part of who we are today. (Of course, if you're a snot-nosed crybaby, well, maybe you should consider taking a left turn at the next intersection and see where that leads ya.)

The opposite, a blossom that points downward, is a warning that you are living in the past, letting life pass you by. (It might also suggest you are not a very good gardener, if your geranium blossoms are drooping.)

Red geraniums in a pot, near a witch's cottage, warn of approaching visitors by their movements. The flowers become magically charged, pointing in the direction of the approaching strangers. (Let's face it, anyone who's out and about and approaching a witch's cottage has got to up to no good. Witch's cottages are not your typical Sunday stroll destination; a witch needs to be warned.)

Red geraniums, in general, are protective, and strengthen health. (Why should witches get all the perks?) Pink-flowered geraniums are used in love spells, while white ones increase fertility.

In some parts of New England it was believed snakes would not go near where wild geraniums grew. (Must not have been any of those in the Garden of Eden. Some things might have been a whole lot different, huh?) It was also believed that a geranium in the window kept flies out of the house.

"Myth and Folklore: Geraniums" (c) 2004 Gregg M. Pasterick - All Rights Reserved.

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