{"id":66,"date":"2007-05-31T09:28:46","date_gmt":"2007-05-31T13:28:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blogx\/?p=229"},"modified":"2009-08-25T18:05:24","modified_gmt":"2009-08-25T22:05:24","slug":"what-does-a-lily-mean-the-fleur-de-lys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=66","title":{"rendered":"What does a lily mean? The Fleur-de-lys"},"content":{"rendered":"

Article by Rebecca
\nImage by Will Hobbs (www.sirwilliamwesley.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

The fleur-de-lys, a stylized lily, traditionally represents the kings of France. There is the legend of Clovis, the Merovingian king of the Franks. Clovis converted to Christianity, and once he did an angel gave him a golden lily as a symbol of his purification. This legend is helped by the fact that for many, the three \u201cpetals\u201d of the fleur-de-lys represent the Holy Trinity or the Virgin Mary.<\/p>\n

Others attribute the symbol to Clovis, but instead of a divine origin they say it became Clovis\u2019s adopted emblem after he was able to spot a part of the river Rhine that he could ford and it was spotted by him due to the water lilies there. Of course, this led to his victory in battle. Later Louis VII used it on his shield and by then the fleur-de-lys\u2019s connection to French royalty was secured. English kings would have the symbol on their coat of arms to signify their claims to the French throne.<\/p>\n

Oddly, despite the strong female and fertility associations with the physical flower, the fleur-de-lys is linked to masculine, martial power due to its resemblance to a spearhead.<\/p>\n

The fleur-de-lys has become a decorative symbol found anywhere from ancient shields to modern interior design. It\u2019s got the power of three on its side. Here\u2019s just a few threes:<\/p>\n

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
\nMankind\u2019s body, mind, and soul
\nGod, the creation, and royalty
\nScout\u2019s Promise: duty to God (and\/or my country), to help others, to obey the Scout Laws<\/p>\n

The fleur-de-lys has a rich history that I have barely touched on here. For a good starting point to learn more, start here: http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fleur-de-lis<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"