Wild daffodil in Symbolism and Mythology

Hey dear Hive Community, first of all I would like to welcome you all to my new post and hopefully your day was full of positive experiences! Here I would like to write something about the symbolism and mythology that hides behind a plant and hope you are able to expand your knowledge.

Here you can see pictures of a wild daffodil that I photographed today and it is also known under the scientific name Narcissus pseudonarcissus. Due to the bright yellow color, it has a very unique charisma that creates a positive mood and it is also considered a typical symbol for the beginning of spring or fertility and in different cultures their own meanings have emerged and it is also considered a sign of love, hope or self-love and can help to open the gates to the inner soul. It is strongly anchored in mythology and the origin can be traced back like Greek mythology where it has several meanings and the poets Homer and Ovid already mentioned this plant and according to a legend it is said that is has originated from the blood of the hunter Narcissus, which once fell to the ground. Narcissus was considered an extremely beautiful deity which was also regarded as very self-loving and conceited and thus even angered the gods and one day he visited a river to look at himself in the mirror image and drowned and after his body was burned, wild daffodil grew everywhere where the remains were distributed. There are different versions of the legend and in one of them he sat by the river and the strong waves changed his reflection so much that he thought he was extremely ugly and this annoyed him so much that he died and often considered another reason that he had visited the river because the goddess of love Aphrodite had banished him to it.

Some also assume that he died in the process because he did not find himself beautiful enough and persuaded himself that he was ugly and there are also interpretations that he drowned in the process when he wanted to merge with his reflection and fell into the water and there are other variations about the legend. Often the plant was also associated with the underworld and it is supposed to grow near the entrance and the god of the underworld Hades was so enthusiastic about the plant and came up with the idea of picking it in order to attract his love Persephone to take her into the underworld. In general, the Wild daffodil is also often associated with occultism and the diverse symbolism that has arisen around it makes cultivating probably doubly interesting and also from an ecological point of view it can be of great interest. For the gods, the plant was so popular that they usually fell into a spell at the sight and the smell was so intense that it was also associated with the word narcosis. Also in medicine it is of relevance and associated with the personality disorder narcissism and of course the plant has also strongly influenced art and is still a popular symbol for artists which can also be found in various coats of arms and it is also the national flower of Wales and also in the Middle Ages it was of relevance and was then worn by soldiers as a kind of identification sign.

Thank you very much for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about nature and mythology! I captured pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens!