‘God blessed them, and God mentioned to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the ocean and over the birds of the air and over each dwelling factor that strikes upon the earth’

On this passage from Genesis, God is giving human beings the authority to have dominion over each different dwelling factor and that signifies that Jews and Christians have for over 2,000 years been taught that crops just like the dandelion are a step or two beneath ourselves on the ladder of being. 

The truth that sure crops have been traditionally understood as meals, textile materials, cash, spiritual objects, ornaments or weeds speaks to the various socio-economic variables at play of their categorisation; their names generally preserving traces of their numerous social lives. With this in thoughts, together with a really explicit private motive, the story of dandelions, and their ambiguous existence on the border between weeds and meals, turns into one thing that begins to open out for myself a number of avenues inside which to develop visible innovations. 

Maybe I ought to elucidate my private affiliation with dandelions. It’s twofold and sophisticated however all of the extra wealthy subsequently in its potential. My father was an obsessive garden maintainer. He was a kind of folks that loved to see an immaculate garden in entrance of the home, as if it was an indication of the ordered home behind it. I used to be taught to mow the garden in straight strains, in order that the grass was at precisely the suitable size and bent over at a selected angle in order that the garden’s stripes, lined up with the home’s axis. 

It was a time when boys up till the age of 12 nonetheless needed to put on quick trousers

A pleasant striped garden

In addition to to mow the garden, my job was to weed it. Dandelions had been for my father a selected risk they usually had been straightforward to identify, a tiny spot of yellow was for my father an eyesore and to maintain him completely satisfied, I learnt to maintain an eye fixed out for them. I used to be taught to make use of Weedol and would pour it onto any overseas plant that threatened to disturb the garden’s homogeneity and as these had been two of probably the most resented duties my father compelled on me, each mowing and weeding turned inextricable from my concept of what he represented. (Sure I’m conscious of Freud’s Oedipus complicated) A few years later I used to be to get a telephone name to inform me he had died, he had had a coronary heart assault when mowing the garden. My mom’s mom, my grandmother, lived in a village and was deeply attuned to the pure world and yearly we’d go strolling within the native fields and would decide dandelion heads, in order that she might make dandelion wine. This was a joyous expertise, as a substitute of a chore it was numerous enjoyable and was a time of immersing myself on the planet of tall grasses that ticked your legs and felt heat as you rolled down banks coated in what my dad would have considered weeds, however which my gran knew as crops with tales. These two alternate visions have stayed with me all through my life and nonetheless affect my view of the world and our relationship with it. The dandelion for myself, representing a spotlight round which these two opposing realities moved. What I am suggesting right here is that when trying to develop work round one thing, it’s typically helpful to discover a private relationship to the topic. This may increasingly in fact enable others to accuse you of creating your method too subjective, however for myself, it has at all times been a vital side of why I am bothered to make work in regards to the issues I do. 

In my father’s thoughts the human / plant relationship was one among alerts about property and possession. He didn’t need any ‘weeds’ to dilute his indicators to neighbours that he was in whole management of his home life. He owned the home and managed what was allowed inside its boundaries. However my father was not alone in his pondering. A fast search of the Web will reveal a number of how to eradicate weeds from lawns, thousands and thousands of dwelling house owners nonetheless wanting to make sure their immaculately stored lawns are free from overseas invaders. There’s a superb article on lawns by Krystal D’Costa that was printed in Scientific American, ‘The American Obsession with Lawns’, in it she states;

“Lawns are considered as an indicator of socio-economic character, which interprets into property- and resale values. Lawns are indicative of success; they’re a bodily manifestation of the American Dream of dwelling possession. To have a effectively maintained garden is an indication to others that you’ve got the time and/or the cash to help this attraction. It signifies that you simply care about belonging and wish others to see that you’re like them.” (D’Costa, 2017) 

The dandelion turns into, not simply a few steps down the ladder of being, as in Lull’s medieval hierarchy of relationships, however an financial risk to property and resale worth. A mirrored image of the gradual erosion of the Christian faith and its worth techniques and alternative by capitalism and its worth techniques.

There are dandelion tales which have been instructed again and again and in many alternative languages, widespread tales that belong to everybody and these tales comprise inside them different units of values, within the case of the next story a extra communal concept is fostered, might it maybe recommend that the dandelion be celebrated for its socialist beliefs? 

This story has been instructed many instances, generally it’s an angel that does the judging and at different instances fairies, however whichever model of the story you’ll hear, it’s at all times one which celebrates the virtues of a flower that appears to have the ability to develop nearly wherever and that has edible, roots, leaves and a flower that makes for tasty wine.

Lengthy, way back, the flowers and their fairies had been having lengthy ongoing talks and discussions as to which was probably the most lovely, probably the most particular and subsequently probably the most liked flower. The talks went on for a lot of weeks and ultimately an argument began; each flower in some unspecified time in the future claiming to be probably the most lovely and probably the most particular. Lastly, after a lot misery and shedding of petals the entire flowers agreed to let the Flower Fairies resolve. The Queen of the Flower Fairies was a good, light and sort spirit and so the fairies turned to her and requested her to settle the difficulty and to offer one plant her blessing and the title of the “most good” flower. At first she refused the duty, she instructed the flowers that they had been all great and mentioned to the opposite fairies, “They’re all lovely in their very own approach.” However the bickering started once more and he or she might see that there was not going to be an answer till all of them had a solution.

The Fairy Queen had concepts of her personal about magnificence and what was particular and he or she subsequently determined to check every flower by asking them one query. She had at all times understood that it was solely by contemplating the wants of others and the relationships between every thing that we might develop into conscious of how delicate and great the delicate nature of existence was and her query was designed to search out out if the flowers had ever themselves considered these items. Though she liked them dearly, she had at all times had a suspicion that they liked themselves a bit of an excessive amount of and that they not often considered how a lot their magnificence relied on the efforts of others.

The primary flower the Fairy talked to was the rose. “What’s your ambition?” she requested. “I want to climb the fortress wall.” mentioned the rose. “After which kings and queens and nobles would cross by on a regular basis and exclaim over my magnificence, my scent and my delicate nature.” The Flower Fairy Queen nodded her head and thanked the rose, after which moved on.

Subsequent she got here to a tulip, standing tall and proud. “What’s your ambition?” she requested the tulip. “I need to reside in a public backyard” mentioned the tulip. “The place on a regular basis folks would come and admire my great colors and see how straight and tall I stand.” As soon as once more, the Flower Fairy Queen nodded her head and after thanking the tulip, she moved on.

She walked till she got here to a forest. There she discovered some violets. She requested them “What’s your ambition little violets?” “Oh” mentioned the violets quietly “We prefer it right here hidden within the woods the place nobody can see us and the place the bushes hold the solar from dulling our lovely color.” As soon as once more, the Flower Fairy Queen nodded her head and after thanking the violets, she moved on. She then talked to the tiger lily who instructed her how wild and fierce it was, of the way it needed to be the strongest and bravest of all of the flowers. She talked to the sunflower who barely answered her as a result of all she needed to do was be warmed by the solar. The Queen talked to the orchids who solely needed to bounce and he or she tried to speak to the narcissus but it surely was too busy taking a look at it is reflection within the water to talk to her.

The queen walked on talking to flower after flower, each stuffed with self regard however of little consciousness of the wants of others or of how and why they’d themselves develop into such lovely issues.

After many months of questioning the Earth she was turning into fearful, was there no flower that understood the world in an analogous strategy to herself? She was prepared to surrender and go dwelling when she got here to a area with vivid fluffy yellow flowers on lengthy skinny stalks. The leaves had been lengthy and jagged and really near the bottom and the flowers appeared completely satisfied and cheerful. “What are you referred to as?” she requested? “I’m a dandelion” mentioned the little flower. “What’s your ambition little dandelion?”, she requested, simply as she had all the opposite flowers that she had come throughout. “I might prefer to reside wherever there are others. I need to reside beside the street, and within the meadows, and push up between the sidewalks within the cities, and make pals with snails and flies and beetles and worms and different crops and mushrooms and algae and birds. I need all issues to really feel happier once they see my vivid colors, once they really feel the skinny fingers of my roots tickle them, once they see my juicy leaves and style how scrumptious I’m.” The dandelion chattered on fortunately saying, “I need to be the primary flower that kids decide within the spring and take to their moms. I need to carry needs on the wind and develop into a part of everybody’s life.”

Eventually the Flower Fairy Queen started to smile once more, she nodded her head and mentioned “Little dandelion, you’re the most good and particular flower of all and also you shall have your want! You’ll blossom in every single place from spring till autumn and be referred to as everybody’s flower.” Because of this the dandelion comes so early and pushes its head up in every single place with such power and dedication; and why it’s so liked by different crops and soils, who provide it hospitality all year long.

So once you see a dandelion peeping out between the cracks in paving stones, sitting in alongside the too neat grasses of a manicured garden, or just holding on to what could be a naked patch of waste floor if it wasn’t round, bear in mind that it’s the most particular of flowers and blessed by the Flower Fairy Queen and should you do not deal with it with the utmost respect she’s going to know this and can bear in mind you and that’s one thing you actually do not need to occur.