S In A To Z Poppies

The letter S in A to Z poppies stands for sleep, since the first written records of poppies one of the uses for the alkaloids from the Papaver somniferum has been for sleep and it won such favor with some ancient civilizations that they used it for much more than sleep.

The ancient Greeks depicted several of their gods and goddesses wearing and carrying the poppy such as their god Hypnos. He was their god for dreams and sleep and he was depicted wearing a crown of poppies and also carried the flowers in his hands.

The ancient Egyptians believed so strongly in the powers of the opium poppy for sleep that they placed poppies in the burial chambers of their Pharos for their journey to the next life.

Hippocrates the father of medicine and the famous physician Descorides both spoke of the opium poppy for sleep and in treating other ailments.

Alexander the Great also believed in the opium poppies ability to bring sleep and its other uses so much he introduced it to China.

The Papaver somniferum has had a written record of its use since 3400 B.C. and in each written record there is talk of its ability to cure insomnia as well as its other uses that were important to these early civilizations. With the written records even through the Victorian and Colonial eras the poppy was used to bring sleep to those who suffered from insomnia.

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