FLORA & FAUNA
Today, the rose holds the power to signify a new beginning.
Beginnings. The fundamental symbol of the rose of England, understood in its histories in the War of the Roses to now.
The symbolism of beginnings, also underlying the rose of America too, as begun by the first U.S. President George Washington.
The rose allows us to begin to see other flowers, trees and plants, a new way.
A new taxonomy, in new symbolism.
This page, a brief look at a few of the flowers, trees, plants (flora) and animals (fauna) that have carried significant symbolic importance throughout history. The New Taxonomy, how might we agree or adapt those symbols to today.
FLORA & FAUNA also takes a look at the most famous garden in the Western canon: the Garden of Eden described at the very beginning of the Old Testament.
The Garden, and the first days of Creation, find a new beginning here too.
The first 7 Days of Genesis re-examined — perhaps as is becoming tradition amongst attendees of Christ’s College, from Milton to Darwin to now.
Today, to reveal a hidden organizing structure within the 7 Days.
A structure now able to help re-frame, thus solve, the most pressing issues facing the world today.
Large-scale issues requiring root-level answers that could only be solved by examining matters, from the beginning.
The hidden framework is presented here: https://stohl.org/revolutions (see also link button below)
As was true with George Washington, gardening that proves not to be the exclusive pursuit of the “gardener” per se. Not when realizing the garden is a metaphor to understand the beyond.
The one that is not purely theoretical, as it is about the ground we walk upon, the mud, the muck and the soil inseparable from the skies that nourish it from above.
The interconnected one could call an ecosystem, yet the Garden that brings it out of the conceptual domain of the “environment” and makes it human.
The human, the only creature of earth able to consciously shape his and her surroundings. Thus did Genesis place Adam and Eve in a Garden.
The Garden, and the 7 Days of Genesis, is the place to begin.
Thus has a solution been created, structured around Genesis itself. It is described in the link below, of this webpage: https://stohl.org/revolutions
In the meantime, an introductory “taxonomic” list of select flora and fauna important in human history, and how they can best serve to shape history forward.
NEW TAXONOMY
Taxonomy is the cataloguing of the natural world, usually in scientific fields.
Here, a “symbols” taxonomy, as plants and animals often carry symbolic importance to peoples across the world.
The NEW TAXONOMY recognizes a few of particular importance. Those that have endured in their meaning, or in some cases, must evolve to the new times.
The new times take into account the hidden structure in the 7 Days of Genesis, described in the link.
The New Taxonomy is introduced here with the following, plants and animals.
Plants:
Saxifraga and plants of the tundra, Lilac, Peony, Lotus, Birch, Willow, Stewartia, Mint, Frangipani, Cactus, Orchid, Rubber Plant, Baobob. Rose is considered covered under section, THE ROSE AND GEORGE.
Animals:
Lion, Snake, Tiger, Dragon, Cheetah, Deer, Elephant, Wolf, Dolphin, Turtle, Snake, Goat, Bear and Eagle.
The Eagle in its powerful symbolism is described at length at rosehouse.org/solutions.
Animals play a large symbolic role in the making of historic coats of arms. This gives rise to not just a New Taxonomy, but an historic solution for the world. This can be found at the link below, of this webpage: https://stohl.org/armige
We begin with the tundra, seen in the image above.
The tundra, the coldscape of earth mostly located in the northern hemisphere near the Arctic Circle. The largest single tundra of earth, is the northern west-east / east-west span across the width of Eurasia.
The tundra might seem like the last place to begin a botanical taxonomy, as we tend to associate plant survival with warmth.
Plants do need warmth, and sun, but have adapted in cold zones by growing low to the ground, where any warmth can be trapped.
One of the most well-known plants of the tundra is Saxifraga, its cheerful flower heads that make it popular in cold-climate gardens.
Saxifraga has come to symbolize endurance, resilience, the ability to thrive under difficult conditions.
The new taxonomy keeps this symbolism but also adds to it.
The new symbolism is also applied to other plants of the tundra which produce flowers including moss campion, snow gentian, arctic moss, arctic lupine, shrubby cinquefoil, dwarf willow and more)
The added symbolism, the one that reflects a key characteristic of flowers themselves, which is their ability to turn their flower heads towards the sun.
Yet the skies of the tundra are often overcast, sunlight that is diffuse across the clouds.
Thus do their flower heads seem to point in all-directions. Thus do we fail to notice, movement occurring.
However is movement occurring. The plant’s attempt to capture the full span of the day, from sunrise to sunset, given the briefer length of day in higher latitudes (greater distance from the equator),
The added symbolism is the one that indeed, signifies movement. The cold tundra north might be the last place we notice movement, yet is nonetheless the place on earth where such movement is most important, to capture as much sunlight as possible.
Thus the flowers known by the north, shall be signified as those “seeking east”. Flower heads seeking the first light of day, at dawn.
Another alpine (tundra) plant is the shrubby cinquefoil, the latter word which means 5-petals, and of course, falls in the botanical family Rosacea. As we see, appearing like its 5-petaled cousin the rose, as well as the apple blossom:
Thus no coincidence that the rose is believed to have originated in Eurasia, specifically the eastern portion.
Thus, while flower heads natively found in the tundra do not appear to point in one direction (as might a flower head with a more cupped or trumpet shape), in fact are they pointing towards the sun.
The sun, signified here as the direction of the east, as most exemplified by the plants of the tundra. The plants that seek the east, above all others.
The first light, most sought where sunlight is harder to come by.
The east symbolism, thus confirming the original symbol of Saxifraga, of resilience, thriving under challenge. The symbolism now associate with the direction the sun rises.
Indeed, the first moments of the day, when most are still sleeping. Here, the symbolism of seeking and facing challenges, where others may not. The symbolism is linked to the East.
As discussed at greater length in SOLUTIONS, the greatest challenge facing society today, are the geopolitics of the East. Thus is a new symbol created to reflect such a challenge, confronting humanity like no other time in human history.
One of the most well-known plant symbols is the olive branch of peace.
The olive tree, grown in warm-weather climates such as the Mediterranean. Thus the majority of olive oil in the world is produced, in Italy, Greece, Spain.
However do we address a different plant, but from the same botanical family Oleaceae, Another plant of similar leafing, but does not produce a fruit.
Indeed, the lilac, a close cousin to the olive tree.
The lilac known for its profusion of fragrant panicles in spring, in shades of purple, pink, and of course, the pink-ish purple from which we get the very color name, lilac.
Lilacs which carry symbols of new life and renewal, given its signature arrival in spring.
In the 19th century, poet Walt Whitman made an opposite association: death. Whitman who made the association based on the death of President Lincoln: “I remember where I was stopping at the time, the season being advanced, there were many lilacs in full bloom … I find myself always reminded of great tragedy of that day by the sight and odor of these blossoms. It never fails.”
Thereafter came a cultivar of lilac called President Lincoln. However is this a new symbol of lilac, compared to how ancient is the plant.
The formal name of lilac is Syringa, a reference to a Greek mythology figure named Syrinx. A river nymph pursued by the Greek god of the woods, Pan. Unable to continue to reject Pan’s advances, Syrinx turned herself into a lilac tree to disguise herself.
Later, the lilac transformed into a symbol of reminiscence of love (as opposed to escaping advances).
The scent of lilac that does seem to evoke reminiscence. The ephemeral impression we have of lilac, also due to its short bloom time in spring.
Lilacs are also of the category, in the world of perfumes, of “silent” or “mute” flowers. Along with lilies, peonies, the lilac does not yield a suitable oil for perfume making. Thus any lilac-scented perfumes, are chemical compounds trying to replicate the scent of lilac, but is never a lilac itself.
What might this signify, when considering the olive tree, and the symbol of peace?
The olive branch is depicted in the U.S. seal, held in the eagle’s right talons. The overall seal symbolism as described by the American Heritage Education Foundation:
Today, the symbolism of lilac is a limited one if tied only to mythology, poetry or romantic reminiscence. The lilac, though with a scent some might describe as delicate, is a plant of extraordinary toughness.
The lilac, some varieties of which can survive temperatures as low as -60° F.
More so, the lilac can outlive most humans. Like its olive tree cousin, the lilac can live over a century.
The olive tree is purported to be able to live up to 2000 years. However, in the coldest zones where lilacs can live, the olive tree would die in a less than a year.
For its otherwise longevity however, the olive tree was chosen as a symbol of peace. I.e., to suggest peace could last 2000 years too.
Thus we note, 2000 years ago that marked the beginning of an era.
The Christian era begun approximately in year 0 A.D. The era, presumably under the heading of peace, based on Jesus Christ.
However, as described in section The Rose and George, the era has largely been marked by war.
Thus a new botanical symbol of peace needed. One that can evoke some of the toughest conditions on earth, i.e,, in temperatures far below zero.
Given the seal of the United States, the peace must obviously include the U.S. By extension, this means addressing Eurasia.
There where is located the longest unsolved war in the world, the Korean War. Not-coincidentally, Eurasia where is also located the two other superpowers of the world: China and Russia.
Lilac addresses a specific facet of the dilemma, which is the 2000 year era. The era that despite the olive branch, has not resulted in a world of peace.
Lilac, that illuminates an unknown truth — not merely of lilac’s relation to olive, but about the mysteries of the cold.
The mysteries that lie north, but in our “olive branch” mindset, overlooked, ignored or dismissed.
The mysteries I allude to concern Christianity, the narrative of the 2000-year frame.
In the U.S., its fail to register, the existence of a Christianity outside of the Catholic and Anglican (and Protestant) institutions, underlying America (see THE ROSE AND GEORGE).
Thus, the mysteries that concern Christian narratives outside the Catholic and Anglican traditions. However do we in America not know them.
In the not-knowing, did we not see how that contributed to the world’s difficulties.
Thus lilac, that presents the means to begin tackling a weighty subject, and dilemma.
Lilac that does not claim to encompass the entire subject and solution. But just like the olive branch, marks a beginning. The desire to begin the road of peace.
Lilac, to convey a peace by way of the cold areas of the world.
The overarching war, after all, is the Cold War. Lilac therefore, to inspire remembrance of a distant time ago, before the Cold War began.
A time before the Soviet Union, when Russia was Russia.
An ancient Russia of a 1000-year history. Lilac, the ancient symbol of renewal, that can signify a renewal of Russia itself.
Peace with Russia is as inevitable as the return of spring. Lilac that can bring lightness to the path borne with more difficulty, than we imagined it would be. Like the trudging through mud, muck at winter’s end — we wonder, what for?
Lilac, in profusion and beauty, that reminds us: spring comes to us again.
The lilac that reminds us of north, and cold. And the nation most signifying “Cold War'“, Russia.
Thus does lilac call forth, those most directly impacted by the Cold War. The road of difficulty, ongoing.
Nonetheless are all humans affected by the Cold War in some direct / indirect manner or another.
Thus does the specificity of the lilac symbol also summon universal meaning. Just as history made universal symbol of the olive branch, this is now true for the lilac.
The renewal after struggle — this time, by way of the cold. Yet the thawing, melting snows threaten to keep us mired.
Thus the difficulty is specific, that is, regarding now. Now, a time of entrenchment and stalemate. Where do we go from here?
We think back to the olive tree and the 2000-year timeframe. Lilac, of the same family, is summoned to address the same — in the way of the lilac.
In the evoking, remembrance and reminiscence — and in that 2000 years, did we the human race, get it right?
The warm-climate olive tree now looks north - to Lilac. There, where new answers lie, to the Christian dilemma.
The new answers that are in fact, the oldest ones of all. These are explained in greater length here:
In sum, Lilac, is a new symbol of peace. The peace that comes after long winter and hardship - and even, overcast spring and thaw and mud.
The peace a long time coming, in the 2000-year era. The peace, inseparable from looking in the direction of the cold.
The peace we thought came by the olive branch. The true peace, the one for the ages, expands our idea of the Beginning.
The Beginning, and the Garden - and from apple and olive, we see now the Rose and Lilac.
In Asia, peony is considered the King of Flowers and the Flower of Wealth and Glory,
The peony’s magnificent and full blooms have naturally inspired the gardens, artworks, designs of Asia's Emperors and Kings for thousands of years.
Peony in Asia also signifies royalty, longevity, legacy.
Below, a peony depicted in a 19th c. Joseon Dynasty era painting, from a recent exhibit at the National Palace Museum in Seoul South Korea:
Peony is the iconic "lush" flower, its flowers carrying up to 300 petals. Peonies come in an array of pinks, reds, whites, magentas.
The peony’s exquisite but brief bloom period of one to two weeks in spring.
Nonetheless, the peony a long-lived plant, often living up to 100 years.
The peony constitutes its own botanical family, Peoniacaea.
Though originating in Asia, peony as a word is not rooted in Asia. The flower instead is named after Paeon, a god in Greek mythology who healed the wounds of Ares, the god of war,
Today, the world calls for a new floral symbol — and in homage to its etymology, also to an unusual kind of flower symbol.
A flower connected to war, but unlike the English rose of war, is signified in the healing of it.
The new taxonomy of peony can encompass a far larger peace. The one that embraces the equivalent canon to Ancient Greece. The canon co-existent in the timeline, and like Ancient Greece, originated thousands of years ago.
However, in the narrative sitting east of Greece then spanning all the way to the Pacific: in Asia, the place of equal long-ago history, and lore.
Asia, however, the continent where America finds itself most out of its depth. One flower that has the ability to encompass such a continent, and canon.
The peony, the flower of magnificence, to signify the continent massive and complex in scope and scale.
The peony, in its fullness, to be the signature flower of embrace — including of histories unknown to the West.
Along the way, must be remembered a lost war of Asia: the Korean War also called the Forgotten War.
As few are aware, this entails the knowing of a history that precedes that war — the war signifiing two different Koreas.
The history when Korea was one. Above, the palace in Seoul Korea where the last Queen of Korea was assassinated in year 1895. Her assassination created a vacuum of power … and two Koreas emerged to try to fill it.
Peony, the flower to mark that vacant seat. Filling it, that creates a new order. A new taxonomy, of roots in Korea. A new framework of Garden.
Peony, true to its Asian symbolism, speaks a royal story. Peony, to move beyond stale narratives of Korean War.
Peony, in its magnificence, can encompass more: a royal history of Asia. Including as it spans all the way to the West.
To the western edge of Asia where it becomes Europe. There, to signify where war must be solved: at the juncture of East and West.
Peony, and the fullness of it, to signify a new canon — and the filling of a vacant seat.
By nature of juncture, does the Asian seat also suggest one of the West. I.e., the meeting of the canons East and West.
The West, when war was healed by Paeon. The total healing, we did not realize, had to come by way of Korea.
Korea, from which peace can flourish to the other side of the world. And thus to the world.
Peony thus, the symbol of not just itself, but of an encompassing canon for the world. The one embracing East and West, and all the nations, peoples within.
The truth of the world inseparable from such a truth: of a one world of just one peoples, but canon encompassing one of all.
Peony that can signify such a fullness. As a result, peony that is the ultimate symbol of PEACE.
The peony also signifies the vastness of China, seen in the Silk Road below. The medieval-era trade route that spanned across China, and beyond.
As many are unaware, Korea is the road’s continental terminus point. The eastern edge where the thousands-mile road meets the Pacific..
Seeing Korea’s critical end point, provides an opportunity to rethink the botanical symbolism of "Silk Road", the trade route of silk. The silk itself, impossible without the trees where live the silkworm.
The peony however, presents a botanical symbol beyond the one of trade. A symbol highlighting a history that is implicitly royal, and the histories of China and Korea.
The royal history of China, as many do not realize, based on its adjacency and diplomatic relations with Korea. While there was trade between the nations, the trade was not between mere “trading partners” as spoken of in modern political language.
Instead, the trade that would not even occur, if it were not between royal nations. To understand this, we contrast to the example of the East India Company, the trading entity of the British Empire that enabled its subjugation of India.
Thus do we distinguish between the relationship by way of a trade / commerce entity, and a connection signifying something more. The connection between China and Korea is royal history.
I further contrast from the exchange between trade entities themselves, say weavers of silk yarn with the source of the yarn, the growers of silkworms. Thus what goes un-described in the telling of Silk Road histories is a connection between China and Korea, beyond commerce.
A connective thread that is not the silk yarn. It is the thousands-year old tradition Confucianism, begun in the 5th century BC.
The ancient philosophy that created the most steadfast enduring connection between China and Korea. All diplomatic relations were conducted through the Confucian frame. From this was made royal nations.
Confucianism implies a higher standard, thus was interwoven with trade. Trade otherwise, was simply between merchants. The weaving of Confucianism into exchange between the ruling parties of China and Korea, is what made royal. This positioned all matters in the Confucian frame — the one of wisdom, philosophy, and far-horizons and greatness of mind. Thus, royal.
The peony thus, in its fullness and magnificence, signifies the China and Korea connected histories, specifically as they were elevated and profound.
And thus, royal. Peony thus, that references the royal connection between China and Korea. More so, peony that has the ability to revive it, in magnificence and beauty.
The Peony, with its stop-in-your-tracks, show-stopping effect, should be capitalized on to signify “a break", that is, in the stale telling of Asian history.
Peony, to set a new stage: a new theater of engagement between nations, as should also be marked in ceremonies. Peony, to become the flower, one and the same with ceremony. Peony, that naturally lends itself to be displayed in ceremonial profusion.
One of those ceremonials moments, is the recognition of a tragic moment in history, though muddled in its telling in the West. One of the most important, and tense, geopolitical issues today, Taiwan.
As few in the West know, Taiwan was lost by China in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. This is the same war that enabled Japan to assassinate the Korea Queen a few months later.
A special cultivar of peony should be bred to mark Taiwan's lost history, mostly, in losing its sense of connection to China.
Peony thus to mark a return: for Taiwan to return to its ancestral mainland roots in China. The plethora of petals lending themselves to the same: to signify the many as one. A same-belonging to an ancient picture. The Peony to also signify a "fullness" of connectivity, across differences.
This is a good moment to make a related point about peony, essential to the New Taxonomy itself. The point, and moment, I call “Souvenir.”
Souvenir, which means to remember. Remembrance that is a theme in lilac, but in the New Taxonomy, shall be signified by the peony too.
A culture of remembrance, for flowers, does not exist in Asia as it does in the West. For instance, though the peony originates in Asia, the most famous cultivar of peony in America is called Sarah Bernhardt.
Souvenir, found in the name one of the most popular roses of the late 19th century, still grown today: Souvenir de la Maison. A remembrance of the garden at the house of Josephine de Beauharnais and Bonaparte, where she famously grew roses, called Malmaison.
The tradition of naming roses after famous persons (and beloved ones too), is indeed part of the canon of the West: the one weaving in roses. History marked not just in dates on the calendar, but plants. In the case of roses, plants that are cultivated and bred, into desired form. A taxonomy not just of native plants, but those with the touch of the human hand.
Peony calls for the same. Peonies specially-bred for well-known persons (or their loved ones), and named after them.
The importance of doing so shall not be out of vanity, as the endeavor might suggest.
Instead to mark the extremely important moments. The global-wide matters of trickle-down effect on ever human on earth. These are the geopolitical issues concerning the superpower nations — and the Korean War at their center.
Peony, in its fullness and embrace, can contribute to the solution itself. The peony, the flower originally named after a healer of war.
Thus is specificity called for, and peonies especially bred to signify persons of the following key issues:
- The Korean War
- Vacant seats of history, one signifying East, one signifying West
- Royal connection of China and Korea
- The tragic loss of Taiwan and its return
The nations primarily impacted are North and South Korea, Russia, China. Inextricably linked to all, the United States.
In the entry for peony in the New Taxonomy, shall be given visual examples by way of those very cultivars. Each one inspiring a mood, feeling, beauty of Souvenir, yet each different from the other.
What persons would be signified by what kind of peony goes beyond this site, but I indicate here, the need to begin such an endeavor. If one needs “equivalence” in the West, I return to the Yorks choosing for themselves the white rose, and the Lancasters that chose red. And again, Washington who bred the rose, Mary.
Indeed, peony the beautiful counterpoint to the rose. The rose considered the iconic beautiful flower of the West, as a result, found in every royal garden of Europe. Thus from the rose, came not just garden inspiration, but visual inspiration across centuries, seen in design, dress, architectural motif, and more.
Peony shall inspire a new visual standard, the one we didn’t quite know how far back are its roots., and from where. Peony thus, to mark a new canon, that recognizes such origins.
Peony, thus, with the power to re-imagine another origins: the most famous garden of the West: the Garden of Eden.
The peony, to imagine an Eden outside of the Mediterranean .. the one of origin, East.