A Quiet Celebration

Monday morning I arose early as I usually do. Just a bit before daybreak. The sun had just started to rise and the twilight before was still present. As the sun slowly made it way to break the horizon, the soft pink hue caused by the few clouds that lingered in the sky began to replace the present twilight. A stillness could be felt as I sat on the steps of my back porch, stroking one of my many cats who seemed to be glad just for the presence of human contact.

Midsummer was finally here. The Summer Solstice had begun. I knew it would be a day filled with sunshine for a longer period than any other day of the year. The peak of the year had been reached and after today the decent into the darkness would begin. I found it funny that we seldom think of the first day of summer in such a sense. The sun shines brightly and the days continue to run long even though a few minutes are shaved from its possession each day. When the time comes that we finally do realize the shortness of the sun’s presence we wonder where the time has gone and why we did not realize it sooner.

Yet for many we look at the days preceding Midsummer as the ones of light. For we know that it is the peak and there is no place left to go but down. Many gather on Midsummer’s eve to say their farewells to the Oak King who represents the waxing year; and welcome the Holly King which represents the waning year. Certain plants are gathered on this night by the light of the moon above, as they are believed to harbor magical healing powers at this time. Midsummer is also an opportune time to experience the fae. It is at this time that the Feast of the Fairies Festival takes place. It is a day when the portals between the two worlds are open and the fairy folk walk among us. Whoever welcomes them and shows them kindness,  the fae in return will bless with wisdom and joy.

Hugh bonfires are built and burnt as a means to protect those who have joined to welcome the dawn and the Summer Solstice. It is believed that spirits, especially those who are evil, roam freely as the sun turns itself towards the south once more. The bonfires are a means of discouraging them from coming into the midst of the celebration. This is a good time for magic and purification rites as energies are strong.

I have always dreamed of being on the great mound at Stonehenge as Midsummer begins. To be among the many who gather to greet the dawn. At this time observers are allowed to approach the great stones. I have heard accounts of the electric energy which flows from them and would love the opportunity to experience its strength. A trip to the Glastonbury Festival which is held each year around the Solstice would also be a treat. Maybe someday.

As for this year, my celebration was a quiet one. A treat for the fairies was placed out under the elm in its usual place on Midsummer’s Eve. A few choice herbs were gathered as the sun set and the light of the moon could be seen. The next morning was one of silent meditation by me and the cat I previously mentioned. Together we welcomed the sun to frolic in its glory. We welcomed the Summer Solstice much like a cat and an older woman would; in silence, with a plate of milk and a stout cup of coffee.

As Summer spirals its longest dance,

May we be cleansed.

As nature shows bounty and beauty, m

May we be blessed.

Blessed Midsummer.

There's Rosemary, that's for remembrance...

Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! — Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.
* Hamlet, scene i


How many of us have struggled for words when we're desperately in love with someone, only to produce an inadequate mumble? William Shakespeare was so familiar with this dilemma that in ninety percent of his plays he carefully chose flowers to illustrate humans emotions and experiences. The people who lived in the Elizabethan era, gardened and worked with the earth for both survival and pleasure. People started to learn the "language of flowers" also known as Florigraphy. Each flower had its own folklore, magical qualities and personality. Shakespeare was an avid gardener and his love for flowers ended up becoming a reoccurring theme in his work. I am going to show how Shakespeare used flowers in one speech from the play "Hamlet" spoken by the character, "Ophelia."
 











There are so many speeches of Shakespeare to admire and love, but Ophelia's speech is special for me. In high school, I was chosen to act Ophelia's "Flower Garland" speech for a Shakespeare showcase. I was drawn most to Ophelia because of how much I identified with her at the time.

 I'm not going to get into details about "Hamlet" as my focus is on Ophelia. For those who have not read or seen a production of "Hamlet," Ill tell you a little bit about Ophelia and how brilliantly Shakespeare wrote about flowers. Ophelia is a fragile and immature teenager, desperately in love with the prince of Denmark, Hamlet. At the beginning of the play, Hamlet professes his love for Ophelia and speaks about a possible future together. Ophelia's brother and father are very wary of Hamlet and beg her to stay away from him. Hamlet's father is murdered by his uncle who ends up marrying Hamlet's mother. Obviously, this took an enormous toll on Hamlet which is illustrated in the famous speech, "To be or not to be..." Hamlet now mad with revenge and hatred has no capacity to love Ophelia anymore. He tells Ophelia that he never loved her and that he wants nothing more to do with her. Ophelia, becomes overwhelmed with depression and begins to emotionally unravel. Hamlet later ends up murdering Ophelia's father which leads to Ophelia to eventual madness.


Ophelia wanders into Hamlet's castle, singing strange songs to herself about a young girl who loses her virginity and death. She looks wild and unkempt, with flowers and herbs weaved into her hair and clothes. She stops before Hamlet, his parents and her brother and starts to speak;

"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that's for thoughts," said Ophelia to her brother Laertes. "There's fennel for you, and columbines. There's rue for you, and here's some for me; we may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. O, you must wear your rue with a difference. There's a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died."

As I mentioned before, Shakespeare knew exactly what he wanted to portray when he wrote about specific flowers. Shakespeare and many of his contemporaries had a fascination with early civilizations, especially the "Golden Age of Greece" and incorporated their myths for themselves. In Ophelia's speech, most of the flowers are based upon the Greek myths and stories. Ophelia starts off with "rosemary for "remembrance". Greek students would wear wreaths of rosemary as they believed it helped them with memorizing their studies. In Shakespeare's time, rosemary developed new meanings and associations. If a man couldn't smell the fragrance of rosemary, he was known for never being able to love a woman properly. If a home had a rosemary bush in the front yard it said to everyone that the woman was the head of the household. It was also believed to ward off certain types of illness. If you slept with a sprig of rosemary beneath your pillow, it would help to bring sweet dreams. Ophelia sadly beseeches Hamlet to remember.
 
Pansies are for thoughts, Ophelia says. The word "Pansy" was originally a French word, "Pensée," literally meaning thought. Pansies back then were much smaller and grew all over the fields as wild flowers. They came to have the nickname, "Heartsease" because it was believed that pansies could heal a broken heart and to bring back joy. Shakespeare also used the Pansy in one of his other plays, "A Midsummers Night's Dream" for a very different purpose. The King of the Fairies, Oberon, had his servant Puck, wipe the juice of the pansy wiped on his Fairy Queen Titania as she slept. They were in a tiff, and Oberon wanted the upper hand over Titania. When someone had pansy juice on them while sleeping they would wake up and fall in love with the first thing they saw. Titania wakes up and falls in love with a man who's been changed into a donkey. Not being one of the tragedies that Shakespeare wrote, "A Midsummers Night's Dream" is one of those plays where all's well that ends well. So Pansies also had an aphrodisiacal power.


Fennel seeds were eaten by the Greek soldiers who were starving at wartime. Fennel were used to appease the hunger, but they never worked or helped the way people wanted them too. Fennel became known as the "false flower." Ophelia uses Fennel to show how she was falsely loved and hurt by Hamlet.

Columbine symbolized ingratitude and became known as "the thankless flower." Again, Ophelia is speaking to Hamlet of his cruelty and lack of any type of appreciation for her.

The word "Rue" itself came from the Greek word, "ruta", meaning repentance. The Greeks had many stories about the flower rue didn't always represent repentance. Rue was eaten for strength and protection in battles. The English were the one's who fully used the flower rue to symbolize repentance. A good churchgoer after sunday confession was supposed to have feelings of remorse and sorrow for whatever sin they had committed. Rue was also known as the "Herb of Grace o' Sundays." Ophelia wished for repentance upon Hamlet who never showed any degree of repentance.

The flower "daisy" was originally called daeges eage, meaning "day's eyes". Daisies the flower unfurls during the day and then closes up at night time. The qualities for daisies were daisies were innocence and purity. Ophelia carried a bouquet of daisies with her throughout the play.

And finally Ophelia speaks of the Violet flower. Violets bloom early in spring and then fade away. The English would forever connect violets with the early death of a person.Hamlet told Ophelia once that violets had a sweet scent that never lasted and faded away too quickly.
 
After Ophelia finishes her speech, she is never to be seen alive again. Hamlet's mother who loved Ophelia as a daughter tells Hamlet of her death;

There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
There with fantastic garlands did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them:
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;
When down her weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide;
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up:
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes;
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element: but long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with their drink,
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay
To muddy death.

So, do you speak the language of flowers as Shakespeare knew how to? And if so, what do they say to you?