The beautiful and romantic name of the wildflower ivan da marya is associated with the ancient Slavic legends about forbidden and unbreakable love. This flower was collected, among others, on the Kupala night and used for various rituals.
What wild flower is called Ivan da Marya
In fact, this name is given to several completely different plants belonging to different families. Therefore, it is rather difficult to say exactly what kind of flower our ancestors called that. In any case, it is known that this name bears a two-color flower, usually yellow with purple.
Most often, Ivan-da-Marya is called a plant, known botanically as the oak mariannik - an annual wild plant, characterized by bright yellow flowers with purple bracts. Other names for this plant are ivanova grass, brother and sister.
Sometimes Ivan da Marya is also called the tricolor violet (pansies) or meadow sage, less often the small periwinkle.
Legends about Ivan da Marya
The most common version of the legend explaining the name of the flower is associated with the name of Ivan Kupala.
Twins were once born in the same family - a boy and a girl, Kupala and Kostroma. When they were still young children, Kupala was carried away to distant lands by the bird Sirin. Many years later, the young man sailed along the river in a boat, wandering in unfamiliar lands. That hour, a girl's wreath floated past his boat. Kupala picked him up, and going ashore, he met his mistress, the beautiful Kostroma. Young people fell in love with each other with all their hearts. They got married according to the Slavic custom. And only later, when they came to their native village, they learned that they were brothers and sisters to each other.
According to one version of the legend, the gods punished Kostroma and Kupala for their forbidden love, turning them into a flower. According to another version, the unfortunate lovers themselves asked the gods about it so that they would never be separated.
Another version of the legend tells that Kostroma, unable to bear the shame, went to drown in the river and turned into a mermaid, mara.
The most cruel legend tells of a sister who tried to seduce her brother, for which she was killed by him. Before her death, she asked to plant this flower on her grave.
A softer story is about a brother and sister who lived on the banks of the river. One day, the sister was lured by mermaids and turned into mara, the wife of a mermaid. Then her brother collected the wormwood-grass and with its help defeated the aquatic.
Plant symbolism
Ivan da Marya is one of the main symbols of the holiday of Ivan Kupala, a sign of unbreakable love.
In addition, it is believed that yellow symbolizes fire, and purple - water (dew). Thus, ivan da marya is a symbol of the unity of opposites, a sign of fire and water.
