- Latin name
- Papaver rhoeas
- Element
- water
- Planet
- Moon
- Safe to eat?
- No, not for eating or drinking
How to use it
- Place dried seed heads on the altar in remembrance
- Add dried seed heads to a harvest wreath
- Lay fresh flowers on an ancestor altar
- Keep a pressed flower in a dream journal
Lore
The poppy was sacred to Demeter and Ceres, who were often shown holding poppies with ears of grain; one Greek tale says she ate them to ease her grief for Persephone. Since the First World War the red field poppy has been a symbol of remembrance.
Safety
For ornamental use only. Do not eat, drink or smoke any part of the plant: poppies contain alkaloids, and the corn poppy is mildly poisonous, while the opium poppy is dangerous. Keep plants and seed heads away from children, pets and livestock.
Not for eating or drinking.
Gods linked with it
- Demeter Mother of the grain and the harvest
- Ceres Mother of the grain and friend of the common people
- Persephone Queen of the underworld and the returning spring