Laurus nobilis is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub
with green, glabrous smooth leaves, in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It
is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in
cooking.
The laurel is a symbol of victory, peace, purification,
protection, divination, secret knowledge and immortality. the aromatic bay species of Laurel was the
crowning emblem of the Greco Roman world a wreath of laurels being worn by those
worthy of honor especially poets hence poets laureate.
Paintings of victorious generals of ancient Rome also showed
him crowned with the Laurel. The laurels honorific value derived from its
Association with the God Apollo who is said to have purified himself with it in
the Groves of the temple in Thessaly after slaying the Python at Delphi.
The priestess of his Delphic cult Pythia chewed Laurel before
giving her prophecies. It was thought to deter pestilence and lightning a
superstition believed by the emperor Tiberius who used to reach for the Laurel
wreath during Thunder storms. The laurels associated with many classic deities
including Dionysus Zeus, Hera an Artemis
. The Laurel was an emblem of truce or peace as well as triumph.
A secondary symbolism of chastity derives from the myth that
the nymph Daphne was turned into a Laurel tree as she fled apollos advances. In
art she's usually shown fleeing from the God as her arms metamorph into
branches. Laurels had talismanic significance in North Africa and in China is
the tree beneath which the lunar hair mixes the elixir of immortality. It is
the Christian symbol of eternal life.
In herbal medicine, aqueous extracts of bay laurel have been
used as an astringent and salve for open wounds. It is also used in massage therapy and
aromatherapy. A folk remedy for rashes
caused by poison ivy, poison oak, and stinging nettle.
The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder listed a variety of
conditions which laurel oil was supposed to treat: paralysis, spasms, sciatica,
bruises, headaches, catarrhs, ear infections, and rheumatism.
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