The Story Behind Egyptian Blue Lotus — Nymphaea Caerulea

The Tomb of Nakht — By Maler der Grabkammer des Nebseni – The Yorck Project (2002)

Three thousand years ago the ancient Egyptians really knew how to party. We are talking underground candlelit sexy soirees rolling around in beds of lotus flower petals while kings and queens passed around vessels of a narcotic alcohol that opened your senses and got your blood flowing in all the right places. As the nights went on and the drink was passed, they tumbled into a sort of naked jeweled ecstasy where all the men felt invincible and the women melted into dreamy infinity.

Sign me up. 

Weaving through all of these depictions, which we can now only imagine (or experience at Burning Man) was this one common thread – a flower. It was none other than the rare mythical water lily that has come to be known as the Egyptian Blue Lotus.

It turns out the Blue Lotus everyone is selling today is not the famed Egyptian Blue Lotus.

THE BLUE WATER LILY IMPOSTER

Which one is the real one?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bear Blend Ceremonial Herbal Blends (@bearblend)

According to a recent UC Berkley study by Liam McEvoy, the products mostly branded online as blue lotus are far different from what Ancient Egyptians consumed. According to his research he found that “the nuciferine levels were much higher in verified Egyptian blue lotus when compared to the Etsy-sourced flower, leading McEvoy to believe that flowers sold online are actually a visually striking, but otherwise common, non-psychoactive water lily.”

For the last year or so, we got swept up into the craze ourselves, unknowingly buying Nymphaea Nouchali — a relative of the Egyptian Blue Lotus that grows more abundantly in Thailand, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka — and passing it off at the Nymphaea Caerulea, the much rarer Egyptian Blue Lotus. Of course we did not know that, because the farmers we were working with at the time were mistakenly selling us an incorrectly labeled product. It’s a problem. And it’s hard to say if farmers don’t know the difference, or large groups of people are collectively turning a blind eye motivated by profits, or maybe it is simply because Nymphaea Caerulea is actually quite rare and difficult to cultivate, harvest, and mass produce.

Buyer Beware: the blue lotus that is most often seen on the market is not the original egyptian blue lotus. 

In any case, whatever the reason, we’ve all been duped. And now it is time to set things straight.

Thanks to people like Liam McEvoy at UC Berkeley who is uncovering and educating others about this trend, more people are becoming aware and speaking up, including Vedda, a collective from Sri Lanka that we were blessed to recently meet. Thanks to them, we have not only been able to make the proper distinction, but we have found a source that is cultivating Nymphaea Caerulea in the old traditional way, respecting its history and heritage. And we are now proud to carry the real thing and offer it (in limited quantities) to our customers.

But why has such a craze sprung up about this old flower? Maybe we need some historical context.

THE HISTORY OF EGYPTIAN BLUE LOTUS

Ancient Egyptian funerary stele of a man named Ba (seated, sniffing a sacred lotus while receiving libations)

Of all the ceremonial herbs out there in the world known for their psychotropic properties there are very few that have as old and documented history as the mythic Blue Lotus. Not only does this legendary flower make its appearance on almost every painting and carving of ancient Egypt, but actual three-thousand-year-old botanical specimens were found mummified right alongside the bodies of royalty.

In an attempt to put a scientific stamp on what can only be seen as an obvious conclusion,  Egyptologist Joann Fletcher, with the help of some botanical archeologists, went on a quest to uncover the haunting alure of Nymphaea Caerulea. After running a series of detailed flavonoid profiles on the flower they were able to determine that it held several properties that may be responsible for increasing sexual vigor as well as opening the senses and stimulating feelings of euphoria. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

And according to the literal writing on the wall, the Blue Lotus flower was a centerpiece of a Dionysian ritual that was depicted in several temple hieroglyphs and documented on the famous Turin Erotic Papyrus. Dated from 1150 BC, the Turin Papyrus was the first playboy magazine, and, as it was found decomposing into pieces, also aged kind of like the playboy magazines that my brothers and I used to have buried in the woods. Which makes me wonder if someday someone will dig those up one day in the distant future and put them on display in a museum.

In any case, the series of vignettes on the Turin Papyrus were couples in various pornographic positions having perhaps one wild orgiastic experimental party at a late-night Deir el-Medina swingers club. And in multiple instances, one involving a sort of ancient sex chair shaped like a pyramid and one involving an abnormally huge phallus, there were depictions of blue lotus flowers balancing on top of women’s heads seemingly in a symbol of sexual prowess.

And digging deeper into the mythical throne that this water lily seemed to occupy in ancient Egypt has revealed not only connections to sexuality, but also connections to health, longevity, and even rebirth. Another fascinating clue was the close association with wine jars and the blue lotus, indicating that maybe the Ancient Egyptians would sometimes soak the blue lotus flowers in wine. Additionally, some of the most famous mummies, including Asru (or Asrew) the singer and enchantress, were apparently mummified along with the blue lotus flowers, giving scientists preserved specimens of the plant from more than three thousand years ago.

Tomb of Aswan

A room from the tomb of Sarenput II, at Aswan (Egypt).

Wine Vessel with Blue Lotus

Pot from Faras; 300 BC – 350 AD

Funerary Stele of Ba

Ancient Egyptian funerary stele of a man named Ba (seated, sniffing a sacred lotus while receiving libations)

By Fordmadoxfraud - self-made, photo taken at the gallery of Egyptian antiquities in the Brooklyn Museum, New York

Menna and Family Hunting in the Marshes

Found in the Tomb of Menna

By Nina M. Davies

Tomb of Nakht

Tomb of Nebamun

Egyptian Blue Lotus Painting

Tomb of Nebamun

Fresco which depicts Nebamun hunting birds —1350 BC

By anonymous - The Open University, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3147253

Abydos Sokar Nefertem

Nefertum

Original Artwork by Jeff Dahl

Turin_Satirical-Erotic_Papyrus_-_Museo_Egizio_Turin_C_2031_p02_detail

Blue lotus in egypt

Although it is not exactly clear how the Egyptians used the flower, it was obviously a sacred and important flower to them that was embedded in all the different aspects of their life.

So, what exactly will the Blue Lotus do to you?  What are its effects?

THE EFFECTS OF BLUE LOTUS

And the Cautions.

Although the jury is still mostly out on this, it appears that Nymphaea Caerulea was used historically for both religious rituals and sexual enhancement. It contains a chemical called apomorphine which is used today to treat erectile dysfunction. But also, it has recently been discovered, that genuine Egyptian Blue Lotus also contains nuciferine, a psychoactive compound which may contribute to feelings of euphoria and possibly psychedelic experiences in larger doses.

According to several documented case studies, affects from larger doses of Egyptian Blue Lotus Flower can lead to some strong effects including prolonged hallucinations and euphoria along with “persistent erections”.

Although scientists dance around this subject quite a bit, I think we can all agree after reading through these reports, that if we had to come up with an elevator pitch for Egyptian Blue Lotus, it would be something like, “It’s got a sort of Ecstasy meets Viagra thing going on”.  However, also based on these reports we should certainly exercise caution when using these and any herbs as we have no idea how they might interact with our brain chemistry.

In any case, this is a powerful flower, revered by ancient pharaohs and praised in ceremonies for ages. It should be right up there in the pantheon of sacred ceremonial herbs alongside the ayahuasca, ibogaine, psilocybin, peyote, opium poppy, and coca, and like all those sacred plants it deserves our total respect and adoration. So, if you are drawn to try this herb, please tread lightly. We suggest starting with smaller doses and seeing how you feel.  Or as with any sacred ceremony, say a prayer to honor your ancestors and please celebrate wisely.

Written by

Mathew Gallagher

A freelance writer for hire, Matt Gallagher is the face and voice behind Web Copy Magician. He enjoys Bear Blend as a tea to spiritually reconnect with nature and the therapeutic wonders of chlorophyll.

Read more from Mathew Gallagher

Back to Journal

Start the conversation

Leave a comment

Website

First-time comments are moderated before they appear.

Post Comment