Last week, I noticed some odd looking, pinkish stalks that sprang up in the yard very quickly. I took my dog for a walk that evening, and when we got back, the stalks had exploded into masses of glowing white flowers that covered the little bank behind the house. I say they were glowing because that is what it looked like. The evening light was fading when they bloomed, and it seemed like hundreds of faint, almost fairy like lamps had been placed in the yard. I had to look up what these flowers are, and discovered they’re called rain lilies.
The rain lily’s official, scientific name is Zephyrus Anthos. Zephyrus refers to the Greek god of the west wind, and anthos means flower. The west wind god, also known as Zephyr, was a gentle soul, according to mythology, who lost his life to the jealous Apollon. Apollon is said to have regretted the incident and turned the dying youth into a flower as a form of apology. The West Wind is the gentlest of the four winds in mythology, sometimes referred to as the first breath of spring.
Rain lilies are known to bloom after a good rainfall, and are also called fairy lilies because they seem to appear out of nowhere. They do often open right as the sun goes down, and seem to like growing in bare places. Some say they can bloom without a rain when spurred on by a wind from the west. They are considered poisonous, although the flower has been used for centuries before industrialized medicine to treat conditions such as breast cancer.
Rain lilies are considered by the mystics as symbolic of rebirth, new beginnings and joy. I can see that. The fact that these ethereal plants bloom at sunset is powerful to me. Not many flowers do this. If there is a message in that, it might be something like a guide or a promise to us that when night comes, as it always will, there will still be light and beauty to see us through. I’m guessing the new beginnings idea comes from the same line of perception, that the flower comes out when the day is finished. So at the end of one stage, when you least expect it, something can pop up and bring a rebirth, even right at the end of the story!
Don’t miss seeing the soft glow of these little fairy flowers, most noticeable right at sunset and in the early dawn. The gentle rain lilies are dotting roadsides and yards everywhere right now, and it’s a glorious thing to see, if you take the time to really look. They spring up out of nowhere, on their slender stalks, a special treat for flower lovers as we head into fall, and a reminder that the future holds many wonderful things yet to come.
Early Irish Christians used to talk of places or events they called ‘thin’, meaning in certain locations there is a closer relationship to heaven and earth. In these ‘thin’ places, a person can feel more what heaven will be like. Maybe this is where the rain lilies grow. .
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Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns appear Thursdays on BrownwoodNews.com. Comments regarding her columns can be emailed to [email protected].
