Grief
Healing Grief
Sorrow
Acute Sorrow
Affliction
Health
Bitterness
Religious Superstition
Imagination
Although floriography is defined as the language of flowers, it is so much more than that! Floriography extends to common plants, fruits, and berries that were well known during the victorian era. You may be familiar with aloe vera due to its popularity as a houseplant and its health benefits, but you may be unaware of its role throughout history, even during the victorian era.
NATURAL BACKGROUND:
Aloe thrives in full or part sun and in dusty or dry soil. (1) Aloe plants grow very slender fibrous roots; their leaves, with serrated teeth on the edges, can grow incredibly tall and thick. (2) Due to its dry nature, the aloe plant is low maintenance and is an incredibly popular houseplant.
HISTORY:
It is most likely aloe vera originated from Africa. (3) However, it has also been stated that it is difficult to pinpoint aloe vera’s origins due to how widely it has been cultivated; strands occur throughout North Africa, Sudan, the Madeira Islands, Australia, Barbados, Belize, Nigeria, Paraguay, and the United States. (4) Many Victorian flower dictionaries specifically refer to Le Valliant’s, a French explorer and naturalist, account of discovering aloe vera at the Cape of Good Hope and the “the deserts of the Namaquas” in South Africa. (5) After it’s discovery, aloe vera was introduced to western Europe in 1731. (6) In Africa, aloe had a variety of uses such as making ropes from the leaves, fishing lines, bowstring, and more. (7) In Egypt, aloe was used in part of the embalming process. (8) Most commonly, aloe was used throughout many cultures for its medicinal purposes.
FOLKLORE:
Although aloe vera doesn’t have a rich history in mythology or folklore, it has been mentioned within religious traditions. Aloe was mentioned throughout the Bible, both in the Old Testament (Numbers 24:6; Psalm 45:8; Proverbs 17:7; Song of Solomon 4:14) as well as in the New Testament (John 19:39). Some biblical scholars believe the translation for “oaks” or “aloes wood” in the Old Testament truly is a translation error and are not necessarily actually aloe vera but rather a different aloe variation. (9) It is widely accepted that the New Testament reference to aloe is aloe vera due to its use in embalming processes. John 19:39 states:
“He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.” (NIV)
Nicodemus using aloe in the embalming of Jesus’ body, stated in the text above, is not only a practical choice but can also be recognised as a form of honouring the body of Christ due to aloe having been imported and being extremely expensive. (10)
Aloe was also known as a symbolic plant among Muslims; “Pilgrims, on their return from Mecca, suspend it over their doors, as an evidence of their having performed that holy journey”. (11) By hanging aloe over the doorway it was thought it had “the virtue of keeping evil spirits from their houses”. (12)
Aloe vera has also been used within witchcraft both historically and in modern witchcraft. It is thought aloe has the powers of protection and luck. (13) Aloe is seen as having protective powers over household accidents and evil influences as well as attracting good luck. (14)
MEDICINAL USES:
Aloe vera is extremely well known due to its long history of being used for medicinal purposes. From dentistry to cosmetics, aloe has been widely marketed as a cure all healing plant. (15) Aloe has been referred to as a lily of the desert, an immortality plant, and even a miracle plant. (16)
Going back as far as the first century AD there are records stating various uses for the aloe plant. The Dioscorides Materia Medica, written between 50 and 70 CE by a Greek physician in the Roman army, has an in-depth entry on aloe vera and it’s many medicinal uses.
Aloe has widely been used to treat burns and prevent infection. (17) Additionally, the Dioscorides Materia Medica states aloe was thought to help with stomach pains by loosening the intestines and bowels and cleaning and purging the stomach; some believe aloe to be “effective in treating stomach ailments” and “gastrointestinal problems”. (18) Aloe has also been widely used to treat a multitude of skin ailments such as psoriasis, facial edema, acne, eczema, rosacea, rough skin and more. (19) Historically, aloe was used to “soothe rough skin”, heal broken and cracked skin in sensitive areas, and was believed to fight against infection and ulcers; it is likely aloe was historically used to help with what are now known as sexually transmitted infections. (20) Aloe has also been used to help with cold sores, bleeding gums, and denture stomatitis. (21) When mixed with honey and wine, it was believed that aloe would help cure sores in the mouth and was “good for the tonsils”. (22) Additionally, aloe was believed to stop coughing blood and “discharges of blood from haemorrhoids”, help heal bruises and help prevent scarring, and when mixed with honey, lower blood pressure. (23) Other uses accounted for in the Dioscorides Materia Medica include roasting aloe and creating an eye cream, and mixing it with wine to “stop the hair falling off”. (24)
Although aloe has been consumed and used for a variety of purposes for hundreds of years, it still can be toxic when ingested. (25) Please do not attempt to use aloe for any medicinal purposes without speaking with a doctor. Although aloe has been used historically for many ailments and is still continued to be widely marketable today, there is limited scientific evidence for both the “cosmetic and therapeutic effectiveness of aloe vera”. (26)
ALOE VERA IN POP CULTURE:
Victorian England saw a huge surge in naturalism and the popularity of botanicals. Floriography flourished and the aesthetic movement continued to impact daily life. Among all of this, Victorians also became increasingly interested in houseplants, gardens and terrariums. Lindsey Wells wrote an excellent blog post about cacti and succulents in victorian England and their rise in popularity. Check out Lindsay's blog post here.
Much like the popularity of succulents today, Lindsey’s blog explains succulents’ reputation of being “low-maintenance” helped in their widespread popularity, especially due to the fact that succulents “could withstand the conditions of nineteenth-century homes that were heated by coal fires or gas.” (27) Additionally, succulents and cacti became central to themes of patience, suffering, affliction, and fortitude; “The succulent that particularly embodied these virtues was the aloe. Since they often took decades to flower, aloes, or agaves, earned the colloquial name of ‘Century Plant’”. (28)
Today, aloe vera is still an incredibly popular houseplant. Many social media accounts across Pinterest and Instagram focus on indoor houseplant growing; it has become a whole subset of an aesthetic. Aloe is still being marketed for its (supposed) health benefits and continues to thrive in popularity.
SYMBOLISM:
Within floriography, aloe vera was known to represent acute sorrow, affliction, grief, bitterness and religious superstition. Most commonly, the aloe reflected grief and healing grief. Unlike other plants and flowers within floriography, the aloe’s meaning does not derive from myths and folklore. Instead, the symbolism behind aloe vera comes directly from the physical attributes of the plant itself-- the taste and the medicinal purpose. The statements below are excerpts from victorian floral dictionaries, all the dictionaries clearly relate aloe vera and it’s properties to motifs of suffering and bitterness.
“The aloe is made the emblem of acute sorrow, on account of its painful bitterness. The bitter of the aloe affects the body, that of affliction reaches the soul.” (29)
“The Aloe is attached to the soil by very feeble roots; it delights to grow in the wilderness; its taste is extremely bitter. Thus grief detaches us from the earth, separates us from the world, and fills our hearts with bitterness.” (30)
“The aloe is made the emblem of acute sorrow, on account of its painful bitterness. The bitter of the aloe affects the body, that of affliction reaches the soul.” (31)
“So sorrow drives us away from the world, detaches our hearts from the earth, and fills them with bitterness.” (32)
One of the only floral dictionaries to assign a different meaning to aloe vera is Elizabeth Wirt who credited aloe vera as symbolising “religious superstition” which can be linked to the belief that aloe protects household from negative religious spirits. (33)
Aloe vera has been popular throughout history for a variety of reasons and will continue to gain popularity. Has this information changed how you view aloe vera?
TO LEARN MORE:
“Aloes - Encyclopedia of The Bible - Bible Gateway.” Www.Biblegateway.Com, www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Aloes. Accessed 15 July 2020.
Cunningham, Scott. Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. 2nd ed., Woodbury, Minnesota, Llewellyn Publications, 2017, p. 30.
“Dioscorides Materia Medica.” Internet Archive, archive.org/details/Dioscorides_Materia_Medica/page/n1/mode/2up?q=aloe. Accessed 15 July 2020.
Dorothea Lynde Dix, and Cairns Collection Of American Women Writers. The Garland of Flora. Boston, S.G. Goodrich And Co. And Carter And Hendee, 1829.
Esling, Catharine H. Watermen. Flora’s Lexicon : An Interpretation of the Language and Sentiment of Flowers, with an Outline of Botany, and a Poetical Introduction. Philadelphia, Herman Hooker, 1839.
Greenaway, Kate. Language Of Flowers. London, George Rutledge & Sons, 2016.
Hooper, Lucy. The Lady’s Book of Flowers and Poetry; to Which Are Added a Botanical
Introduction, a Complete Floral Dictionary and a Chapter on Plants in Rooms. Philadelphia, J.C. Riker, 1846.
Jamir, T.T., Sharma, H.K. & Dolui, A.K., 1999. Folklore medicinal plants of Nagaland, India. Fitoterapia, 70(4), pp.395–401.
John 19:39, Holy Bible; New International Version.
Kirkby, Mandy. The Language of Flowers : A Miscellany. London, Macmillan, 2011.
Laws, Bill. Fifty Plants That Changed the Course of History. Richmond Hill, Ontario, Firefly Books, 2015.
Mccabe, James D. The Language and Sentiment of Flowers. 1890. Bedford, Massachusetts, Applewood Books, 2003.
Old Farmer’s Almanac. “Aloe Vera.” Old Farmer’s Almanac, 28 Nov. 2019, www.almanac.com/plant/aloe-vera.
Osgood, Frances S. The Poetry of Flowers and the Flowers of Poetry. New York, J.C. Riker, 1841.
Phillips, Henry. Floral Emblems. London, Saunders and Otley, 1825.
Ray, A., 2012. Scope of Aloe vera as Medicinal Plant and Skin Care. Research Journal of
Topical and Cosmetic Sciences, 3(1), pp.II-3.
Shoberl, Frederic. The Language of Flowers with Illustrative Poetry. edited by Louise Cortambert and Louise-Aime Martin, Philadelphia, Lea & Blanchard, 1848.
Tyas, Robert. The Sentiment of Flowers; or, Language of Flora. edited by James Andrews, 9th ed., London, R. Tyas, 1842.
Wirt, Elizabeth. Flora’s Dictionary. Baltimore, Fielding Lucas Jr., 1832.
Wells, Lindsay. “Reflections from a Visiting Scholar: The Victorian Cactus Craze? Succulents in Nineteenth-Century Poetry | Armstrong Browning Library & Museum.” Blogs.Baylor.Edu, 19 Feb. 1029, blogs.baylor.edu/armstrongbrowning/2019/02/27/reflections-from-a-visiting-scholar-the-victorian-cactus-craze-succulents-in-nineteenth-century-poetry/. Accessed 15 July 2020.
ENDNOTES:
Old Farmer’s Almanc, “Aloe Vera”.
Catherine H. Watermen Esling, Flora’s Lexicon, 17 and Robert Tyas, The Sentiment of Flowers, 63 and Old Farmer’s Almanc, “Aloe Vera”.
Frederic Shoberl, The Language of Flowers, 240 and Bill Laws Fifty Plants That Changed the Course of History, 9 and A. Ray “Scope of Aloe Vera as Medicinal Plant and Skin Care”.
Ray, “Scope of Aloe Vera as Medicinal Plant and Skin Care”.
Shoberl, The Language of Flowers 240 and Tyas, The Sentiment of Flowers, 63.
Tyas, The Sentiment of Flowers, 63.
Elizabeth Wirt, Flora’s Dictionary, 245.
Ibid.
"Aloe- Encyclopedia of the Bible”.
Ibid.
Elizabeth Wirt, Flora’s Dictionary, 245.
Ibid.
Scott Cunningham, Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, 30.
Ibid.
Ray, “Scope of Aloe Vera as Medicinal Plant and Skin Care”.
Ibid.
Bill Laws, Fifty Plants that Changed the Course of History, 9, T.T. Sharma and A.K. Dolui, “Folklore Medicinal Plants of Nagaland”,Ray “Scope of Aloe Vera as Medicinal Plant and Skin Care”.
“Dioscorides Materia Medica”, 391 and Ray “Scope of Aloe Vera as Medicinal Plant and Skin Care”.
Ibid.
“Dioscorides Materia Medica”, 391.
Ray, “Scope of Aloe Vera as Medicinal Plant and Skin Care”.
“Dioscorides Materia Medica”, 391.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ray, "Scope of Aloe Vera as Medicinal Plant and Skin Care" and Old Farmer's Almanac, "Aloe Vera".
Ray, “Scope of Aloe Vera as Medicinal Plant and Skin Care”.
Lindsay Wells, “Reflections From a Visiting Scholar”.
Ibid.
Henry Phillips, Floral Emblem, 58.
Shoberl, The Language of Flowers, 240.
Lucy Hooper, the Lady’s Book of Flowers and Poetry, 155.
Esling, Flora’s Lexicon, 17.
Wirt, Flora’s Dictionary, 245.