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ambisun · 1 year

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Hemlock - A Little Rain Oracle

Hemlock had long been known as a deadly poison, one used throughout history for murders, executions, and suicides. According to Christian mythology, hemlock only became deadly after it started growing on the hillside of Jesus’s crucifixion – the blood turned the plant into poison — but even before that, it had a deadly reputation.

The Greek philosopher Socrates, after facing backlash for his ideology, was ordered by the court to let go of his work or die, and he chose the latter. He considered his death liberation from worldly affairs and human limitations and chose death by hemlock as his preferred way to go.

#hemlock #hemlock flower #botanical illustration #botanical oracle #floral art #poison flowers

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rachelsrandomsphotos · 11 months

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Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) on Spotted Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata)

Taken at Turkey Creek Sanctuary in Palm Bay, FL

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jonathansoren · 1 year

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Language of Flowers (2022) | Prints

#art #illustration #poppy #hemlock #foxglove #language of flowers #poisonous plants #goth #gothic #gothic art #monochrome #black and white #witch aesthetic

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heaveninawildflower · 6 months

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Hemlock, ox-eye daisies and grasses (circa 1865 - 1899) by Ellen T. Fisher.

Published by L. Prang & Co.

Image and text information courtesy NYPL Digital Collection.

#hemlock #poisonous plants #Ellen T. Fisher #wild flowers #botanical illustration

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cowboyskeletons · 2 months

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pair nettle with hemlock for a loved one who has been taken away too soon

pair nettle with oleander to warn someone that their betrayal has been discovered

#dndads #hermie the unworthy #....uh maybe #dndads spoilers #just because of the implications i guess? don't want to risk it #back at it again with flowers and hermie !!#ughghghgh i made the canvas too small so i couldn't do the hemlock properly #also the nettle... couldn't figure out how to make it not too busy without scrapping it for the 20394th time #whatever. on its own i like the hemlock and the oleander is nice #anyway hermie...... hermie brainrot.......#i have so much work to do and yet. flower language #i wanted him to hand the oleander to normal but i can't do perspectives so i gave that up quickly #also the initial idea i had was to have just a headshot with him wearing a crown of nettle and oleander but i kept looking in the book #....maybe i'll still do that actually #both of those #is this just procrastination because i am struggling with the take an l animatic? maybe #oops what did i just do #i think i made it private for like five seconds whoops

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camille-lachenille · 5 months

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I was researching something completely unrelated but I passingly saw that hemlock means mortality in Victorian and modern flower language. And my brain immediately thought of the ‘Song of Beren and Lúthien’ in FotR, specifically the first stanza:

The leaves were long, the grass was green,

The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,

And in the glade a light was seen

Of stars in shadow shimmering.

Tinúviel was dancing there

To music of a pipe unseen,

And light of stars was in her hair,

And in her raiment glimmering.

Hemlock is the third element im the description of the glade Lúthien is dancing in, even before we learn her name. We have the long leaves, the green grass and the tall hemlock; two elements traditionally associated with spring and youth, and one heavily associated with death. In two verses we know everything there is to know about Lúthien: she’s youthful and she’s going to die.

The hemlock appears again in the second stanza:

There Beren came from mountains cold,

And lost he wandered under leaves,

And where the Elven-river rolled

He walked alone and sorrowing.

He peered between the hemlock-leaves

And saw in wonder flowers of gold

Upon her mantle and her sleeves,

And her hair like shadow following.

This stanza is from Beren’s point of view, looking at Lúthien. And fact he looks at her through the hemlock leaves tells us he is mortal. Beren looks at Lúthien through the lens of a mortal gaze, and thinks her otherworldly. There is an added layer to it because, in Victorian flower language, hemlock not only means mortality but also more specifically ‘you will be my death’. And, indeed, Beren dies in his quest to obtain Lúthien’s hand.

The last occurrence of hemlock in this song is in the fourth stanza:

He heard there oft the flying sound

Of feet as light as linden-leaves,

Or music welling underground,

In hidden hollows quavering.

Now withered lay the hemlock-sheaves,

And one by one with sighing sound

Whispering fell the beechen leaves

In the wintry woodland wavering.

I find this stanza more difficult to analyse from a symbolic point of view since it’s mostly a description of autumn and winter coming, but it certainly puts emphasis on the importance of this plant in Beren and Lúthien’s story. As I interpret it, and this is my personal reading, it is an allusion to Beren and Lúthien growing old together and Lúthien choosing to die along Beren.

In The Tale of Tinúviel, the hemlock is also extremely important in the introduction of Tinúviel, and it is more or less a description in much more details of what is hinted at in the Song of Beren and Lúthien from FotR. I can’t put the quote because it’s in French but, very roughly, it says that the hemlock is so tall and dense it looks like Tinúviel is dancing on a white cloud. Then, when Tinúviel sees Beren, she hides under a very tall hemlock and her white dress makes her disappear in the hemlock, looking like moonlight on the flowers. The imagery used in this scene is absolutely beautiful and I can’t make it justice, but what is important is that, upon their first meeting, Tinúviel is metaphorically surrounded by mortality. She is an Elf yet she will die. And Beren, who is an elf too in this version (a Gnome, the proto-Noldor, and I struggle not to picture him as a garden gnome), is doomed to die too from the moment he walks amongst the hemlock in search of Tinúviel.

Last but not least is the Lay of Leithian. Sadly, I don’t have the full Lay of Leithian so I can’t look at the meeting scene but, in an extract given in the French translation of Beren and Lúthien (Christian Bourgois, 2017) it is said that Lúthien wears white roses in her hair (Canto VI, verses 116-117) and there are a few other mentions of unspecified white flowers. White roses mean ‘I am worthy of you’, withered white roses mean ‘transient impressions’, white rosebuds mean ‘girlhood’ and a crown of roses ‘reward of virtue’. I don’t really know what to do with these informations since I don’t have the original text so I can’t say how accurate the translation is, but all of this enhance Lúthien’s ethereal, eternally youthful appearance. It also shows the association of Lúthien with white and light in opposition to Morgoth’s black darkness, I think. But I don’t doubt for a second that the hemlock is an important part of the place where Beren and Lúthien’s meeting.

Anyways, I just love digging this kind of rabbit holes in Tolkien’s poetry, because it gives us so much insight on the characters, and I am almost sure that Tolkien, who grew up in late Victorian England and loved nature, knew of the meaning of hemlock or he wouldn’t have insisted so much on it. I’d love to see if there is a paper out there about flower language/symbolism in Tolkien’s work because I am sure there is so much more of it than what I looked at today.

Sources:

https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Song_of_Beren_and_L%C3%BAthien

https://www.gardeningchannel.com/flower-meanings-dictionary-from-a-to-z-the-secret-victorian-era-language-of-flowers/

J. R. R. Tolkien, Beren et Lúthien, Christian Bourgois, 2017

And as a bonus, the Song of Beren and Lúthien in music by Clamavi de Profundis: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=11_aneHVaz8&list=PLR5qYNG5Nf7WFbZ6wr-rr7gDnALA4C8mQ&index=19&pp=iAQB8AUB

youtube

#tolkien #the silmarillion #lay of leithian #beren and luthien #the lay of leithian #the tale of tinúviel #beren #lúthien #lúthien tinúviel #flower language #hemlock #lotr poetry #tolkien song #tolkien meta #half baked ramblings by a sleep deprived tolkien fan #Youtube

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rinibayphoto · 2 days

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#photographers of tumblr #photographers on tumblr #original photographers #photography #lensblr #bay area #norcal #california #april #spring #poison hemlock #flowers #blossoms #nature #aesthetic #dreamy

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flowerishness · 11 months

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Conium maculatum (wild hemlock)

Meanwhile, down by the pier...

This deadly poisonous, invasive member member of the carrot family will forever be remembered for its connection with the death of Socrates in 399 BC. The Greek philosopher willingly drank hemlock tea after being sentenced to death for refusing to reverence the official Greek gods and corrupting youth with his teachings. In a democratic but deeply religious Athens, not believing in the right gods was a capital offence.

The trial of Socrates took place in the People's Court, located in the agora, the civic center of Athens. The jury consisted of 500 male citizens over the age of thirty, chosen by lot from among many volunteers. When the jury found him guilty, he was ordered to publicly deny his ideas or die. Socrates chose death. However, as a respected gentleman, the court gave him the right to pick the manner in which he wished to have his death sentence carried out and he chose hemlock tea. The details of his trial and death were recorded by his most famous pupil, Plato.

#flowers #photographers on tumblr #wild hemlock #Socrates #White Rock Pier #fleurs #flores #fiori #blumen #bloemen #vancouver

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badtimeswithart · 1 year

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merboy and bird(bad)boy <3

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inkwingart · 1 year

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Taking a short break from the Vietwardian lookbook to revamp some old work. I can’t believe the first iteration of this piece was from 2020. I keep surprising myself with how much I’ve improved every time I look back at my old work.

Do not edit/remove my caption, crop, edit, or repost on any platform.

#fox and hemlock #my art #illustration #fox and flower #fox te’cedar #hemlock ni’yarrow #i redid this piece bc i’m thinking of including it in a tiny art zine thing maybe #it really is more of a revamp than a redo since so much of it is traced from the first version #but i made huge alterations and completely redid the coloring from scratch #and yes mai and tayali are going to receive the same treatment #and mayhaps remin and lilac will *finally* receive their installment in the series

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gfdelmar · 3 days

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Really lovely spring evening tonite

#gfdelmar og #nature #hike #naturecore #adventurecore #flowers #wildflowers #orchid #pink lady’s slipper #hemlock #hemlock Reishi #Reishi #mushroom #mushrooms #fungi #orchids #foamflower #forest

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flowerbloom-arts · 1 year

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A Hemulector fanfic cover (which will probably never exist) I've been thinking about for months, drawings hemulens in this very shapely style is so fun

(version without the text under the cut)