The peony is named after Paeon a student

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The peony is named after Paeon a student of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. Asclepius became jealous of his pupil. Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into a Peony. Later the peony became a masculine motif, associated with a devil-may-care attitude and disregard for consequence.

Mischievous nymphs were said to hide in the petals of the Peony thus this lovely flower was given the meaning of ‘Shame’ or ‘Bashfulness’ in the Language of Flowers.

According to legend, the peony emanated from the moon. Its glossy seeds supposedly shone through the night offering protection from devils, nightmares and ghouls. The superstitious wore beads, carved from the flower’s roots, as amulets. They harvested the roots at night, since woodpeckers were thought to jealously guard the peony by day-and to peck out the eyes of anyone caught interfering with the plant! Some even considered it unsafe for humans to dig the roots and let dogs do the harvesting.

Peonies were used in the Far East and Europe two thousand years ago for medicinal purposes and many parts of the plant are said to have medicinal properties, roots, bark, seeds and flowers were all believed to be of some medicinal use. Known as ‘the blessed rose’ it was said to guard against illness and insanity. During the Middle Ages in Europe two peonies were widely used P officinalis (female) and P mascula (male) their uses included aiding childbirth, cure for gallstones, controlling epilepsy, warding off of evil spirits, soothing toothache and curing jaundice.

Before the 17th century it was the artists of China who used the peony in their work. Peonies are one of the main motifs of Chinese decorative arts and can be found on porcelains, woodwork, screens as well as tapestries, clothing and are referred to in poetry and literature.
Both tree peonies and herbaceous peonies were introduced into Japan at the beginning of the eighth century. The Japanese quickly began incorporating images of the peony into their paintings, porcelains, tapestries, poems, literature, and are still a very popular theme today.
Peonies are a common subject in tattoos and thier use in Japanese tattoos was inspired by the ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi’s illustrations of the Suikoden, a serialized novel from China. His paintings included peonies.
As lovely as the flowers are Peony art in the west has never attained the same level of use as in China and Japan but I would not be without mine.

• 23 Oct, 2009
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