Blue Lotus Flowers: The Sacred Way Egyptians Got High
Are you aware that there is a mysterious image that keeps appearing in thousands of pieces of Ancient Egyptian art? It is the blue lotus flower.
For many decades the meaning of this flower was a mystery no one knew why it was appearing on so many things but now as it turns out we have the answer. While these blue lotus flowers are technically water lilies they were extremely important throughout Ancient Egypt. These flowers were associated with the gods. It was thought they were where the sun god Ra would go during the night before reappearing each day.
This was thought because as you may know these flowers are closed during the night and open again every morning and with that they bring the sun with them. The flower itself also symbolizes the god of perfume, Nefertem and as the story goes Nefertem was said to have brought the flowers to the Sun God Ra in order to ease the suffering of his aging body. This flower was prized above all other plants in Ancient Egyptian culture.
The people holding these flowers in art depictions were often holding these flowers close to their mouths or noses and in some spiritual scenes these flowers were wrapped around bottles of wine. That was the main thing that gave researchers their biggest clue as to why this blue lotus flower was so important to the Egyptians. The flower must have had some sort of effect on the minds of the Ancient Egyptians. Apparently they were using it to get high. Yes, you read that correctly, they were using this blue lotus flower to get high. These flowers seem to lull people into relaxed states and some even to sleep. It seems to have had a similar effect but much weaker of course to that of ecstasy.
Thus leading its users to be more talkative and comfortable in general as well as promoting a state of relaxation. Modern studies on this plant have revealed that there are some sort of apomorphine in the bulb of the flowers. It has been revealed that this chemical can be used to treat things like erectile dysfunction and other issues. If steeped in wine it is also known to produce very heavy intoxication which explains the flower wrapped wine bottles. You can buy flowers like these online yourself and steep them in wine if you want to experience just what these Egyptians did. Many people have done this and seem to think maybe the Egyptians were a little faint of heart but to each their own. When looking through Egyptian art keep an eye out for the blue lotus flower, see just how many you find.