Violets were used in magic to heal, protect, and pacify both mortals and spirits.

Violets, the flower of February, were considered sacred to the god Ares and to Io, and possibly Apollo because it appeared in an ancient Near Eastern myth that probably inspired the Greek and Roman myth of Venus and Adonis. According to this story, the great mother goddess Cybele loved Attis, who was killed while hunting a wild boar. Where his blood fell on the ground, violets grew.

Other Greek myths tell us that violets first sprang where Orpheus laid his enchanted lute  and that the goddess Persephone and her companion Nymphs were gathering rose, crocus, violet, iris, lily and larkspur blooms in a springtime meadow when she was abducted by the god Hades. Another tale recounts how Venus had been arguing with her son Cupid, as to which was more beautiful… herself or a nearby group of girls, and Cupid, with no fear of his mother, declared for the girls. This sent Venus into such a rage that she beat her rivals till they turned blue and became violets.

Also, the Greek word for violet is “io.” Io is a character in Greek mythology and the daughter of King Argos, whom Zeus loved. However, Zeus was concerned that Hera would discover their affair, so he turned Io into a cow and then created the sweet-scented flowers that we now know as violets for her to eat.

Later, in Christian symbolism, the violet stood for the virtue of humility, or humble modesty, and several legends tell of violets springing up on the graves of virgins and saints. European folktales associate violets with death and mourning. The flowers were also used in magical healing and protection.