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QUICK LINKS → Blue Lily/Lotus

 

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There is a great deal of confusion on the internet regarding Blue Lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) and Sacred Blue Lily of the Nile (Nymphaea caerulea).  We have the world's leading authority on Blue Lotus and Blue Lily supplying us with both of these products, so in a nutshell:
 
Nelumbo nucifera = Blue Lotus = Lotus Eaters

Nymphaea caerulea = Sacred Blue Lily of the Nile = Egyptians
 
You can also find a great article that unravels the confusion about this plant in the Blue Lily / Blue Lotus article at Entheology.org. 

 

Blue Lotus and Blue Lily both contain nuciferine in varying amounts.  In Africa and India, it is Blue Lotus that has been used for thousands of years for its pleasant effects, but in Egypt it was the Blue Lily, and this is why we carry both products.  Be careful when making your purchase; there have been reports of pre-extracted Lily and Lotus products being offered as a dried herbal powder, but all the customer is getting is some worthless dried herb with absolutely no nuciferine content left whatsoever.   We get pharmaceutical grade dried plants directly from the growers in 200KG bundles at a time, allowing us to pass the savings onto you.  Our Blue Lotus and our Blue Lily looks like the original flower, just dried, but most of the Blue Lotus and Blue Lily products we have sampled from various venders is very dark in color, and not nearly as high quality or effective as the genuine product we take such pride in offering you.

The depictions of the floral symbol of Upper Egypt is actually known as a Nymphaea caerulea which is actually known today to be a water lily. This flower, along with the papyrus flower, was shown throughout Egypt in tombs and temples to symbolize the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, but the blue water lily had a much deeper significance to the Egyptian people.

 

The blue water lily was possibly also a symbol of sexuality.  Dr. Liz Williamson says that the flower "has a sort of Viagra effect" when mixed with wine, especially in women, but like Damiana (Turnera diffusa), it reportedly works well for both sexes. In fact, in certain erotic scenes from the Turin papyrus, women are shown wearing very little apart from the white lily as a headdress, which signified sexual virility and prowess.  And that is one example of many.

 

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 Egyptian Grammar 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.

 

But sexual connotations are only part of the allure of Blue Lily and Blue Lotus.  The pleasurable effects, especially when mixed with wine, have much anecdotal as well as historical evidence to back up the claims.  Unfortunately fresh specimens reportedly have the most powerful and potent effects, but properly extracted and preserved material such as the products we offer here at the shop are what make this one of our Top Sellers week after week, month after month.

 

You can also find much more information on The Lotus Shop; an ever-expanding resource.