Monday, March 20, 2017

Have an Anthophilous Day

To be anthophilous is to be attracted to flowers and that covers every hippie or freak I ever saw but there's more to it.

Anthophilous comes from the Greek ánthos which means flower along with Greek phílos meaning friend, etc.  From there it gets to be the beauty part since ánthos may derive from the Sanskrit ándha which means the soma plant.

Using some linguistic algebra, anthophilous therefore means loves the soma plant and every stoner will sign up for that.  Loop back up to every hippie was anthophilous.

Soma appears in "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, the smartest human who ever lived before Noam Chomsky.  There may be a tiny measure of subjective distortion to that perception, however.


That isn't what ganja does, tho.  That's what people who don't smoke ganja think it does.  Ganja is many things but it isn't soma.


Fort Worth is vibing up to an anthophilous boost just now since the temperature runs to the low eighties each day which is just about ideal for me and flowers love it.  The Botanic Gardens are less than a mile from here and I've found such places are eminently excellent during times of a suboptimal circumstance ... and they're usually free.

Note:  I caught a glimpse that free admission may have changed at the Botanic Gardens here.  Must verify.


The moment emphasizes the unforgettable tome, "The Joy of Being Anthophilous," which inspired a poem, "The Elven Children:"

In a forest of giant flowers
  each with a special scent
We look for the elven children
  and wonder where they went

The sun lies soft up on us
  in this morning of the Spring
We walk in gentle silence
  through the wonders that it brings

Bluebirds fly around us
  all singing different songs
But they blend in splendid magic
  and we can sing along.

The scent from the flowers
  fills so gay the air
And the choir of the bluebirds
  surrounds us everywhere.

In that moment of tender beauty
  I ask if you would dance
Then you take my hand, you're smiling,
  perchance this brings romance.

Not long as we've been dancing
  the elven children lose their fear
They come from where they're hiding
  and dance about us near.

With flutes and tiny lyres
  the children start to play
While the bluebirds sing in chorus
  on this light and gentle day.

There's no politic in loving
  No threat from foreign shores
In harmony with Spring time
  We'll not see that anymore.

Your eyes brighter than the sunlight
  Your touch softer than the rain
Here you never will be lonely
  You will never be again

In light and love we're dancing
  while the children gently play
As the flowers scent the magic
  and the bluebirds sing the day.

- Silas

Originally posted February, 2013   Ithaka: The Elven Children (poem)


That's the Joy of being Anthophilous so do have an anthophilous day.

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