"As quickly as white milk with rennet thickens,

likewise the blood in the wounds of Ares became

because of Paeon's herbs."

- Iliad, Homer

"Such are my prayers. After them I pour libations.

It is your business to make them bloom with laments,

Calling out your paean for the dead."

- Electra, Choephoroi, Aeschylus (458 B.C)

Peony, Paeonia lactiflora, has been cultivated in China and Japan for at least 3000 years, as long ago as 900bc, and the many varieties of Peony become sacred to many traditions. A former Ranunculaceae member, and now the only member of the Paeoniaceae family, Peonies are some of the longest living perennials, & can live up to 100 years old, making them an elder among perennials. They have been used both ornamentally and medicinally by many cultures.

An overview of Peony's uses

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, white peony root is called bai shao yao, and is used for it's blood nourishing actions, as well as a gynecological and liver tonic. It is a part of the Xiao Yao Wan, or Free and Easy Wanderer blend taken to support the nervous system and mood. Peony root is also an antispasmodic, and was historically used to treat muscle cramping, nervousness, twitches, Epilepsy, or "falling sickness", and support the reproductive system in Europe as a uterine and ovarian tonic, helping to stimulate contractions and "to expel the placenta and aid recovery" for birthing persons (McIntyre).

Peony is also anti-inflammatory, dopaminergic, nootropic, a mild sedative, and has been used to treat wounds and fungal infections. Because certain species contain less methyl salicylate than winter-green and birch, which can be toxic in high doses, Peony can also make a great herbal Aspirin 'more appropriate for regular use" (Groves).

Peonies have long been associated with the underworld, the moon, and protection in European traditions. In parts of Europe, Peony seeds and roots were strung together as necklaces to be worn around the neck to ward off evil. These "anodyne necklaces" were understood as "protection against all sorts of illness and injury" as well as providing relief for teething children (Cohen and Siegel). In pre-Christian times, dried peony roots were carved into amulets, and when Christianity arrived, into beads for rosaries (McIntyre).

As a flower of the moon, Peony was used in the middle ages in Europe to treat “lunacy”, anxiousness, nightmares, melancholic dreams, which were believed to be caused by the moon(McIntyre, 1996). According to Pliny the Elder, Peony "prevents the mocking delusions that the Fauns bring us in our sleep." (Cohen and Siegel) Dioscorides shared the remedy that "15 seeds taken with hydromel or wine" would prevent "gasping experienced during nightmares, believed to be caused by demons strangling victims" (Cohen and Siegel). One of the treatments for lunacy and fear was to be laid down and covered with peony blossoms and petals. Just envisioning the sensory comfort that all parts of this plant gave to people for thousands of years is profound.

Peony is often used in sympathy bouquets, perhaps for its rich lineage of protection and alliance with those needing comfort and compassion. Peony is also used as a flower essence for supporting PMS, menopausal depression, tension, fearfulness, nervousness, feelings of disturbance and dread, or those who feel as though they have been stolen away to an underworld: "As a great healer, as the flower that healed Pluto the god of the underworld, peony is a good strengthener for unconscious fears, our 'underworld' that gives rise to disturbing dreams or apparently irrational fears" (McIntyre).

Peony Symbolism, Mythology, and Folklore

The english name Peony comes from the story of Paeon, the Greek God of healing, doctor to the Gods, who healed Pluto/Hades, the god of the underworld, wounded by Hercules, using milk from peony root. Paeon was said to have received the medicinal Peony "from the hands of the mother of Apollo" on Mt. Olympus (Folkard). Paeon's jealous teacher Asclepius then tried to kill him. However, Paeon was turned into a Peony flower by Zeus to save his life, & became associated with compassion, protection in the night and underworld: "In ancient Greece, the flower shone during the night and chased away evil spirits... [who] would shun the spot it was planted" (Folkard).

In some versions of the story, Paeon is also a byname or guise of Apollo, a god of archery, sunlight, music, dance, and healing. Peony bares many of the association of Apollo, and is associated with the sun and healing, though Peony is also said to have been created by the Greek goddess personifying the moon, Selene (or the Roman Luna), to offer protection by reflecting the light of the moon at night, and used as a cure for "lunacy" associated with the moon.

Astrologically, Peony has been associated with Leo, perhaps for their association with the sun via Paeon/Apollo, or perhaps for their lion-main like flower head when in full bloom.

When I think about the sensory anchor Peony has provided in the form of amulet, rosary, and blossom bath blessing, I feel like Peony medicine might ask us to lean into pleasurable experiences, beauty and enchantment medicine, when we can - to allow ourselves, the wisdom of our bodies and nervous systems - a Spring. To allow ourselves warmth, song, radiance, an anchor in the underworld of our own grief. To bask and to savor. To allow ourselves the shake of a lion's mane, our own capacity to build new neural pathways, a deep, celebratory belief in our capacity, like the moon, to shapeshift and keep shapeshifting.

As the root used to heal underworld gods, Peony makes me wonder about what Dori Midnight calls "transformative justice for demons", or perhaps what Bayo calls "anointing the feet of the monster" might look like, ceremonially or simply in the way we hold ourselves and one another. What's it like to pour out libations for the otherwise, the demons and monsters and those that disturb our sense of things?

It makes me revisit Elli Lobovits words: "Dear Grief, when were you silenced and when were you sung?" It makes me ask myself, what songs and dreams have been choked in our throats and what's it like to let them breathe? What libations do our own underworld gods need? What affirmations, offerings, praise do those buried and cracked and nonsensical parts need?

And Peony asks us to pour them, to sing those praise songs, to honor and assert the ways “Grief is the sound of being alive....Grief is praise, because it is the natural way love honors what it misses." (Martin Prechtel).

Sources

Akomolafe, B. (2018, October 16). When You Meet the Monster, Anoint Its Feet. Emergence Magazine. https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/when-you-meet-the-monster/

Barbier, L. (2021). Tarot and Divination Cards: A Visual Archive. Cernunnos.

Cohen, D., & Siegel, A. (2021). Ashkenazi Herbalism: Rediscovering the Herbal Traditions of Eastern European Jews (Illustrated edition). North Atlantic Books.

floraritualis. (2022, August 3). Peony Meaning. Flora Ritualis. https://floraritualis.com/peony-meaning/

Folkard, R. (2012). Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics: Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore of the Plant Kingdom. Forgotten Books.

Getting to Know Peonies’ Symbolism—Part 1. (n.d.). BloomThis. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://bloomthis.co/blogs/news/35582337-getting-to-know-peonies-symbolism-part-1

Holst-Warhaft, G. (1995). Dangerous Voices: Women’s Laments and Greek Literature (1st edition). Routledge.

Knab, S. H. (2020). Polish Herbs, Flowers & Folk Medicine: Revised Edition. Hippocrene Books.

McIntyre, A. (1996). Flower Power: Flower Remedies for Healing Body and Soul Through Herbalism, Homeopathy, Aromatherapy, and Flower Essences (1st edition). Henry Holt and Company.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Paean Definition & Meaning. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paean

peony—Herbal Monographs. (2020, May 10). The Sunlight Experiment. https://thesunlightexperiment.com/herb/tag/peony

The Mythology of Aries. (n.d.). Gods and Monsters. Retrieved April 6, 2023, from https://www.gods-and-monsters.com/mythology-of-aries.html

Thorne Research, Inc. (2001). Peony Monograph. Alternative Medicine Review. https://altmedrev.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/v6-5-495.pdf