Lily - The Egyptian 'Lotus'
Nymphaea Caerulea, the Blue Water Lily
Part 2

Nymphaea caerulea ... contains an anti-spasmodic called Nuciferin, and likely contains aporphine... Dosage: Probably about 3-5 flowers, or about 5g. Method: Eat (put in capsules; takes longer) or make "tea (use about 20-25oz of water to get maximum content)." Effects: The history of this species says that is appears to be a hypnotic sedative ... Everything seems to refute the idea of this being MDMA-like... It is much like cannabis, codeine or propoxyphene; maybe a little hallucinatory (at higher doses) - but mainly hypnotic like cannabis/opiods.

-- Blue Lilly of the Nile: The Narcotic Lilly

The blue water lily was possibly also a symbol of sexuality - Dr Liz Williamson says that the flower "has a sort of Viagra effect". Women were wooed with the blue water lily. In certain erotic scenes from the Turin papyrus, women are shown wearing very little apart from the white lily as a headdress.

And I will say to Ptah, Lord of Truth:
"Give me my fair one tonight."
The river is like wine.
The god Ptah is its tuft of reeds,
The goddess Sekhmet is its bouquet of flowers,
The goddess Yadyt is its water lily bud,
The god Nefertem is its opened water lily.
My love will be happy!
The dawn illuminates her beauty.

-- 19th Dynasty Love Poem, Harris 500 papyrus

Qedeshet, the Syrian love goddess who the Egyptians married off to Min, was depicted as a naked woman who stood on the back of a lion, carrying snakes and water lily buds. The buds are likely linked with her role as a goddess of sexuality and fertility. Votive offerings to Hathor included bowls with water lily motifs, again alluding to fertility, the renewal of life and rebirth. (A water bowl was also the hieroglyph for a woman, which A.H. Gardiner in Egyptain Grammer believes to represent the vagina, linking the fertility sign of the water lily in the bowl to female fertility in this case.) The Egyptian idea of sexuality was identified with creation. Being a flower of creation, the flower became linked to human fertility and sexuality. The images of women holding the flower may be hinting at her ability to bear children or that she was sexually desirable, and images of men holding the flower may hint at his potency. It could also be a way to ensure that the person painted would be fertile - and sexy - in the afterlife.

When you look at its brilliance, your eyes become imbued with dynamic force. When you breath in, your nostrils dilate.

-- Horus, Talking about the Blue Water Lily, Graeco-Roman Temple of Horus at Edfu

The flower wasn't just used at parties, but it was used at funerals. As with many symbols of fertility, the blue water lily was also symbolic of rebirth after death. Tutankhamen's innermost gold coffin had blue water lily petals scattered over it along with a few other floral tributes. The Egyptians looked forward to their souls coming to life "like a water lily reopening", thinking that the deceased died as the water lily closed awaiting opening with the morning sun. The Book of the Dead has a spell to allow the deceased to transform into one of these flowers:

[The Chapter of] Making the Transformation into the Water Lily

The Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, saith:- I am the holy water lily that cometh forth from the light which belongeth to the nostrils of Ra, and which belongeth to the head of Hathor. I have made my way, and I seek after him, that is to say, Horus. I am the pure blue water lily that cometh forth from the field [of Ra].

One of the items found in Tutankhamen's tomb is that of the boy's head emerging from the water lily. There are depictions of this in the Book of the Dead with the face of the deceased. It is probably a symbolic likening of the deceased to the creation myth as the water lily opened to reveal the sun god for the first time, giving the deceased new life as the flower opens each morning.

The four sons of Horus who guard the canopic jars - Imsety, human headed protector of the liver, Hapy, baboon headed protector of the lungs, Duamutef, jackal headed protector of the stomach and Qebehsenuef, falcon headed protector of the intestines - are often shown standing on a blue water lily flower. They were thought to have, like Nefertem, out of a water lily that rose from the waters of Nun. The four mummiform gods were rescued by the crocodile god Sobek, by the orders of Ra, and Anubis gave them funerary duties. They also attend the judgement of the deceased in the Halls of Ma'at where they stand before Osiris on a half opened blue water lily.

The blue water lily was sacred to the ancient Egyptians, ornamental and sweet smelling. People who have had the pleasure described the smell as being similar to that of a hyacinth, a loquat and even of a banana. Whatever the fragrance is like, the Egyptians loved this plant that represented the sun and rebirth. It was presented at parties, and took on a sacred significance at death. There is little wonder that it became the floral symbol of Upper Egypt, and a flower enjoyed by all people throughout Egyptian history.

Egypt