Birth Flower (May)

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Lily of the Valley

Sweetness and Renewed Happiness.
“Let us make up.”
Purity and Humility.

Cherished and revered in many countries for it’s symbolism and folklore, lily of the valley has been extensively used for medicinal purposes. It was believed to strengthen memory, to restore speech to those who could not speak, to treat gout, and, as a liquor smeared on the forehead and the back of the neck, to make one have good common sense. All parts of the plant are considered poisonous, despite it’s alleged powers.

Lily of the valley is wrapped in much symbolism. It is often called ladder to heaven or Jacob’s tears, and is considered the sign of Christ’s second coming. The Song of Solomon in the Bible also mentions Lily of the valley.

Legend holds that Mary’s tears turned to lily of the valley when she cried at the cross and thus are also known as Mary’s tears.

The power of men to envision a better world was attributed to the lily of the valley. A French legend tells of a holy man known as Saint Leonard, a close friend of King Clovis, who lived in the Vienne Valley near Limoges in 559 AD. Saint Leonard, a brave and fearless fighter, wanted to spend his days among the flowers and trees communing with God, and so he asked permission to go live in the woods. He lived the life of a hermit, having renounced all worldly things, in the same woods where also dwelled the dragon Temptation. Saint Leonard was at prayer and did not hear the dragon when it demanded that Saint Leonard leave the woods. So the evil dragon burned down Saint Leonard’s hut with his fiery breath. Much blood was spilled as terrible battles took place between them. Saint Leonard became the conqueror as he drove the evil dragon further and further back into the woods until the dragon disappeared altogether. Poisonous weeds began to grow where the dragon spilled his blood, but beds of lilies of the valley sprang up wherever the ground was sprinkled with Saint Leonard’s blood to mark the places of their battles.