Poppies and Sleep

The poppy has had a long history of being used for sleep, it was used as a sleep aid thousands of years ago, with its history dating back to the ancient Mesipatainans in approximately 3400 B.C.

The ancient Greeks had their god Hypnos who had a crown of poppies who brought prophetic dreams; he soothed the pain of people suffering emotional troubles and brought sleep. Along with the crown of poppies Hypnos wears he also carried poppies in his hands. When Adonis died it was said that poppies sprung from the tears of Aphrodite when she mourned his loss.

The ancient Egyptians believed in the use of the Papaver somniferum so much for sleep that they placed it in the burial chambers of their Pharos so they would have peaceful rest while traveling in the next world.

In folklore young maidens would place the poppy seeds behind their pillow on St. Andrews night in order to dream of the man that would be their husband. Other days of the year another way to bring dreams was to write a question dealing with love on a small paper, and place the paper inside the poppy pod. The pod would then be placed underneath the pillow and the dream that it would bring would answer the question on the paper.

Laudanum and paregoric were both tonics made from the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum and were used for sleep as well as other ailments. The laudanum or paregoric tonic was given to any member of the family, including children and babies.