Human Flower Project

Friday, January 19, 2007

Ashoka – Kick It into Bloom

Bright blooms, legend and now two physicians say this flowering tree is a real picker-upper.

Rupa & Atul Shah

Photo: Aum

With flowers bright as the rind of tangerine, Ashoka tree in bloom is a knockout. A husband and wife team of doctors in India is harnessing its power, they say, to knock out sadness. “Ashoka is a Sanskrit word meaning without grief or that which gives no grief,” writes Dr. Rupa Shah. She and her physician husband Atul have been using flower essences in their medical practice for 18 years.

Ashoka (Saraca Indica) has long been used to lift spirits in Indian folk medicine and cultural practice. You’ll see the trees planted at the edge of cemeteries—as consolation. Rupa Shah writes, “In India, drinking the water in which the flowers have been washed is widely considered a protection against grief.”

Saraca Indica

Image: Antiquariaat Jan Meemelink

The tree, which makes appearances in both Hindu and Buddhist tradition, is also believed to hold a special fondness for the fairer sex. A decidedly non-medical source says,  “The ashoka tree behaves like a prince. It enjoys the company of beautiful women. It is believed to flower when some beautiful woman kicks it.” (We’ve tried that with Coke machines but never in gardening.)

Speaking of feet, in the past, we’ve sidestepped the subject of flower essences, first because we’ve never tried them and second because we don’t practice medicine here. But we do find of interest that flower therapies have gained a medical team’s endorsement. The Shahs will be discussing their use of flowers on a popular TV show today. Here are some of the other floral remedies they recommend, and many more legends of Ashoka.

Feeling partly cloudy? So far as we’re concerned, planting or imbibing Saraca Indica isn’t really necessary. Just looking at this print of an ashoka bloom sets us on our feet again, feeling springy and ready to kick.