Most of us are familiar with the hypnogogic (hallucinogenic/narcotic) properties of the poppy. From the Chinese poppy opium is derived. The ancient Greeks understood this, and so we see another link to Morpheus and poppy symbolism.
Morpheus lived in his own world - a world of dreams, fantasy and complete nonadherence to traditional reality. He was destined to live here and rule the realms of dreams - it was in his genes. He was born from "night" - his mother is Nix, the goddess of night and dark creations. Morpheus' dad is Hypnos the deific governor of sleep.
To me, this speaks of the potential found in unconventional reality and messages wafting up through our dreams like a sweet fragrance - waiting to be recognized.
Poppies are also sacred to Demeter who was said to concoct an infusion of poppies (like a tea) in order to sleep through her sorrow while Persephone was absent. The theme of sleep is carried through as Persephone's cyclical excursions to the underworld were timed with the seasons. She would leave her mother Demeter in the winter to join her husband, Hades. Her absence marked the winter, her submersion in the underworld signifies a kind of "closing the shutters" and slumber in the cycle of life.
Poppy symbolism is also associated with the Muladhara chakra (I write in more details about thePoppy/Muladhara connection on my blog). Poppies come in many colors, but they're typically dressed in red, the chakra color corresponding to the Muladhara. Further, this chakra prompts human awareness to be fed from rich, nutritive soils and encourages that nourishment to be pulled from our roots and moved up through the rest of the chakras. We blossom at our crown only when we can move well-being up through our roots.
In Chinese symbolism, the poppy represents rest, beauty and success. However, its associations with opiate-induced stupors also lend meanings of sloth, dependence and an inability to temper pleasure with the banalities kicked up by living a pragmatic life. Honest masters know enlightenment is induced from within and through a connection with the infinite. Dependence upon external substances/influences to lift the veils of illusion is considered a lazy approach to enlightenment.
In Christianity, poppy symbolism is recruited to represent death as a period of tranquil slumber. This association is seen in metaphor as the red petals of the poppy symbolize the blood of a sacrificed Christ.Themes of resurrection and immortality (salvation of the soul) blossom as the poppy (and the spirit) never really die, just renew and ascend.
http://www.whats-your-sign.com/poppy-symbolism.html
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