The Blue Lotus in Ancient Egypt
The image of the Blue Lotus (Nymphaea caerulea) is all over the place in ancient Egyptian art and mythology – and for good reasons. It is a plant with powerful healing and calming properties. This ain’t no mere chamomile herbal tea!
It is featured at the very beginning of the Egyptian myth of creation as being the womb of the sun God that arose from nothingness. The center of the Blue Lotus flower is incidentally of a bright yellow. The plant also opens and closes its petals in synchronicity with the coming and going of the physical sun.
It is easy to see how this magnificent plant became so symbolic to the Egypt of the Pharaohs.
But the importance of the Blue Lotus was not merely symbolic to the ancient Egyptians. It was actually used to treat a good number of physical and psychological ailments.
It appears they utilized it as an aphrodisiac and a general tonic to enhance sexual vitality. This is not so surprising as the plant is able to bring about a strong relaxation of the body along with a slightly euphoric feeling. As such, they also seem to have used it as a pain reliever and a stimulant for the circulation bodily fluids.
Perhaps more interestingly for visitors of this site, it was apparently used to induce trance and meditative states in relation to religious and shamanic rituals. Today we know that this plant contains some psychoactive substances (but no narcotics) and most users of the plant report experiences that are pleasant, mild, relaxing, joyous, calm and blissful – an ideal blend of effects to facilitate meditation and experiences such as astral projection.
Are you interested in trying the blue lotus? Get the blue lotus here.