FLEUR DE LIS
There is evidence that this symbol came from the earliest known civilization in Mesopotamia which is in present day Turkey, Iraq & Syria. Fleur de Lis, Iris, Lily flower appears very early in Sumerian art, where the fertility goddess Inanna is flanked by two winged deities, each crowned with the Fleur de Lis & can also be traced back to ancient Greece, often associated with the goddess Iris, who was the messenger of the gods, known for her speed & agility. The significance of the Iris flower in Greek culture can also be traced back to the goddess Hera, who was the queen of the gods & the goddess of marriage & childbirth. Hera was often depicted holding an Iris flower, which symbolized her power & authority as the queen of the gods.
But much earlier than the Greeks, the lily was known to the ancient Persians, who even called the capital Susa, which means City of Lilies.
Some scholars believe that Fleur de Lis dates back to ancient Egypt where it was associated with fertility, royalty & resurrection.
In ancient Rome, at the Festival of Flora, girls competed in running in honor of the Lily flower. Every girl dreamed of getting the main prize-a wreath of white Lilies. The bride & groom were crowned with a wreath of Lilies & wheat ears, wishing them a pure life full of abundance.
In the Middle Ages, Lily was adopted as a heraldic symbol by the French monarchy & was used as a symbol of purity, loyalty & superiority of the French nobility. France was called the Kingdom of Lilies & the French king was called the King of Lilies. Lily was generally very popular in France. This flower was considered from time immemorial an expression of the highest degree of benevolence & respect. Only in very recent times researchers came to the conclusion that French heraldic Lily was as matter of fact the Yellow Marsh Iris & not the Lily. The stylized image of the flower, as well as linguistic inaccuracies & coincidences led to great confusion in one of the main legends associated with the Iris & was confused with the white Lily, known as the Lily of the Madonna. Since the beginning of the Middle Ages, the Lily sign, already a valid attribute of power, has taken on an increasingly Christian meaning. Long before Christianity, the religious items & clothing in Assyria were decorated with Fleur de Lis images.
In the Middle Ages Lily served as a reminder of eternity, but in the Renaissance it became a symbol of promiscuity, the brand on the shoulder of representatives of the oldest profession resembled a Lily. The heraldic Lily was also used to brand criminals after the Great French Revolution as a sign of contempt for the fallen monarchy. In the era of revolutionary terror, wearing the Lily sign could lead to the guillotine.
The Fleur de Lis is also seen in pagan India, appearing on the crown of a Hindu deity. The symbol can be found in the statuary of the Maya; in both India and Pre-Columbian Meso-America, the Fleur-de-lis is often upside down. The Fleur-de-lis is found in Buddhism, for example in carvings of the “footprints of Buddha.”
In ancient Germanic mythology, the thunder god Thor was always depicted holding a lightning bolt in his right hand & a scepter crowned with a Lily in his left.
The universality of the Fleur de Lis is mind blowing, yet that is not all.
In magic, the Fleur de Lis symbol is used for summoning spirits of certain fallen entities.
Upside down Fleur de Lis is a symbol for the underworld, or reverses the symbolism, taking away the original meaning of the symbol..
Fleur de Lis is also being associated with black magic & has been called the devil’s flower.
Fleur de Lis is also an occult symbol of the tree of life, divine monarchy & sacred number 3. Some believe the Fleur de Lis was a crown of Dagon, the pagan god of agriculture, fertility & the harvest from the early Bronze Age, Philistines.
Always follow your intuition before experimenting with symbols, they all hold a certain energy. Especially when getting tattoos.
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