Camellia Tea Ceremony
🙏'FLOWERS OF THE DEAD'😰
From early autumn vivid clusters of flowers begin to frequently appear beside the roads, rice fields and waterways of Kyōto.
In Japan spider lilies (particularly the red variety) are known as 'higanbana' (彼岸花) as they bloom around the fall equinox.
Camellia Tea Ceremony
Red higanbana may be most prevalent, but spider lilies also come in white and yellow varieties😲
Within Umenomiya Taisha's (梅宮大社) sprawling garden is a quiet grove filled with colourful higanbana.
The shrine is always a treasure trove of flowers (and cats)🙌
#Japan #Kyoto #京都 #彼岸花 #higanbana #equinox #redspiderlilies #UmenomiyaTaisha #梅宮大社
Camellia Tea Ceremony
The autumn equinox coincides with the Buddhist observance of 'Shūki Higan-e' (秋季彼岸会), when offerings are made at family graves.
Because of this the flower has, for many, come to symbolise the afterlife.
Higan (彼岸) translates as 'Other Shore', a reference to the far shore of the Sanzu River (三途の川 Sanzu-no-kawa/'River of the Three Crossings'). Similar to the River Styx in Greek Mythology, the dead would cross the river to reach the afterlife.
Camellia Tea Ceremony
It's likely higanbana were introduced from China at the same time as rice cultivation.
The poisonous flowers were once commonly planted around graveyards and fields to deter animals (particularly rodents) from feasting on corpses and rice.
Some have suggested there are over 1000 names for this one flower!
Doku-bana (毒花 poisonous flower)
Shibito-bana (死人花 flower of the dead)
Yūrei-bana (幽霊花 phantom flower)
Kitsunebana (狐花 fox flower)
Sutegobana (捨子花 abandoned child flower)
Samadhi flower (三昧花)😇
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