Orchids have been revered by completely different cultures world wide for hundreds of years, from historic China and Japan, to historic Greece and all through Europe, and even in Aztec and Incan traditions.
As plant and animal spiritualist Jordana Van tells mbg, there are over 25,000 types of orchids, and since they’re a focus of a number of completely different cultures, a “general interpretation of its symbolism is challenging as there is considerable variety in its messages.”
That stated, there are some extra pervasive concepts and themes with regards to how completely different folks world wide view this placing flower. For one factor, Van notes, many cultures affiliate orchids with love, romance, intercourse, and fertility. “In fact,” she says, “the word ‘orchid’ is a derivative of the Greek word orchis, meaning testicle.”
And after all, this flower’s magnificence is sufficient to entice loads of admiration and a focus, with many cultures merely celebrating it for its look. “Machu Picchu is known for its many breathtaking species of orchids, each of which, in addition to its unique beauty, has a different spiritual or medicinal purpose,” Van says, including that in China, “due to their delicate fragrance and graceful figure, orchids are associated with ideal feminine beauty.”
Orchids have additionally principally all the time been costly—and are nonetheless a pricier flower choice as we speak. As such, Van says, they’ve lengthy been related to wealth.
Before we dive into meanings based mostly on colour, this is a fast look at what orchids can symbolize, usually: