Lily of the Valley
Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Tudorbeth, author of The Hedgewitch’s Little Book of Spells, Charms & Brews, The Hedgewitch’s Little Book of Seasonal Magic, and the new The Hedgewitch’s Little Book of Flower Spells.
There is a little flower that is one of my personal favourites, and yet it is notoriously hard to grow even though it is native to Europe and Asia. This amazingly aromatic flower is the Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) and is regarded as the Flower of Good Luck.
These dainty little white flowers, with their tiny, drooping, bell-shaped blooms, appear in late spring and are the traditional flower of May. These highly scented flowers are one of the most fragrant ones of spring and like to grow in woodland gardens or shady borders. Their fragrance is so powerful that it has been used in a wide range of perfumes, including those from Dior (who, in the 1950s created “Diorissimo” based on his favourite flower). Further, Penhaligon’s Lily of the Valley is still made, and is one of their most popular fragrances.
It was tradition to give someone you love a bunch of these flowers on 1st May, as it symbolised happiness and good luck for the recipient for the rest of the year.
There are many meanings regarding Lily of the Valley, and it has come to represent not just good luck but also happiness and purity. It is also regarded as a powerful flower of protection and is said to ward evil spirits.
Lily of the Valley is a firm favourite of bride,s and has been often included in the wedding bouquets of many royals, from Princess Grace of Monaco in the 1950s to Catherine Middleton when she married Prince William. In folk medicine, this flower has been used for centuries and was believed to be a cure for gout. However, it is no longer recommended for usage as all parts of this plant are highly poisonous and there is no scientific proof that this plant is of any medical benefit.
Lily of the Valley Spell for Good Luck
Buy a small handful of Lily of the Valley, and place in a vase or buy a small pot of the plant and then plant out in the garden after it has bloomed. Taking your bunch or pot of Lily of the Valley in both hands, lean in close to it and whisper to the flower:
Little flower of the spring.
Good luck this year please bring.
Leaves of green and bells of white.
Make sure everything is good and right.
Meditate on the flowers for a while and then take them through every room of your house. If you work from home, keep the flowers on your desk where you can always see them. Throughout the working day, occasionally touch them to reactivate their scent and good luck. And buy a lottery ticket on a Thursday and place under the vase or pot.
Our thanks to Tudorbeth for her guest post! For more from Tudorbeth, read her article “A Summer of Flower Power.”
