DON'T PLACE ROSES ON THE ALTAR

Beginning from next week, my school library will be having an exhibition on flowers. The teacher in charge of the exhibition is Grace. She has been working very hard at getting all the data and exhibits ready and she has also prepared quite a lot of activities for the following two weeks. A few of the activities are a Mother's Day Card competition in which the students have to design the cards using dried flowers, demonstrations (for flower arrangement, making dried flowers) and a slide presentation on flowers.

To assist my friend Grace, I surfed the Net to look for information about flowers to be put up on the exhibition boards. I read in one article that men are advised not to give white roses to their girlfriends or wives. White flowers can be given to an elder member of ones family. I also read that when giving flowers to a lady, the thorns must be removed first. If not that might spell the end of the relationship. There was another one about not giving red flowers to somehow who is in the hospital as they mean death. The there is this taboo about not giving red flowers to a ladylove. By doing so, one might bid goodbye to her.

Then there are some Taoists who believe that roses or other thorny flowers should not be placed on the prayer altar. My godmother tells me not to believe it as she says that whatever offerings we give to the deities is from our hearts and there is nothing wrong with the beautiful rose.