So many people keep dried flowers, it’s a very common thing to do—but, is it bad luck to keep dried flowers?
Flowers are so very evocative. Colorful blooms hold sway over our emotions; a certain flower in a certain color can remind you of a time, place, and a feeling you associate with it. Lovers exchange flowers as gifts, we use them to decorate our weddings, and we use them to show empathy during funerals. The sight of white petals and a rich, yellow yellow pistil can instantly teleport us back to that summer day from our childhood—you know the sort of day, it’s hot but the breeze rushing through the daisies soothes your skin.
When we consider how much flowers can mean to us, it only makes sense that we want to dry them or press them to preserve them. Taking a precious buttercup—within it, a precious memory—a preserving it as a memento makes perfect sense. It would be a shame to find out that keeping that dried flower can incur bad luck.
So, in this article we’re going to look at the possible origins of this superstition and then make a judgement on whether or not we agree that it’s bad luck to keep dried flowers.
Dried Flowers Are Dead And Therefore Attract More Death
Like almost all superstitions, when you scratch the surface you don’t get very far. In fact, when you dig deep, you still don’t get very far. And this is, of course, the case for the belief that keeping dried flowers is bad luck. The crux of the belief is that, simply, by keeping something dead you are inviting death itself into your life. Although, to be fair, people don’t typically believe you are inviting literal death, but rather the negative vibes, sorrow, or sadness associated with death.
However, the belief that dried flowers invite bad luck simply because they are no longer alive does not seem to widespread at all. Therefore, it’s difficult to use it as a justification to say that dried flowers are “bad luck”. Couple this with the very common practice of pressing flowers in books or using dried flowers as decorations, and the case that dried flowers are “bad luck” begins to fall apart.
Feng Shui And Dried Flowers
Well, if it’s not as simple as “dead flowers = dead other things” then where else could this superstition have originated? Feng shui, of course!
Actually, though, even that isn’t a cut and dry (sorry) fact. This is because, feng shui, like all systems of belief, is of course, debated. Some adherents might agree that a particular element in the home brings “bad energy,” whereas others might disagree entirely. It’s this sort of contention that makes it difficult to get behind the claim that the keeping of dried flowers engenders bad luck.
However, when we look at the origin of the notion that dead flowers bring bad energy, it’s again just simply that to decorate with dead things attracts bad energy.
To understand what attracting bad energy means, you’ll need just a very basic understanding of feng shui. Feng shui is an ancient Chinese belief in an invisible force of energy that flows—just like water and wind. This invisible force is called “Qi”. It’s not so much that you can have good or bad Qi, but rather that you can have a good flow of it or a bad flow of it. A good flow of Qi can lengthen your life, improve your finances, and make you happier. The converse is also believed.
So, the idea that decorating with dead flowers could somehow block the flow of Qi is something that could certainly be debated. Therefore, it’s not really a good example of definitive bad luck being associated with pressed, dried, or dead flowers.
Is There Any Logic To Dried Flowers Being Bad Luck?
Here at IsItBadLuck.com we like to research the origins of bad luck superstitions. As part of that investigation, we use both research and our own imagination to think about whether or not a superstition has any logic to it. For example, there is a belief that eating in the dark is bad luck. That one definitely has some sound logic behind it! Because, think about it, prior to the invention of artificial light (i.e. electric light bulbs) eating in the dark could been deadly—you go down to the cellar in the pitch black, pick up some of yesterday’s gruel and start eating it without being able to see that there’s a scorpion in the bowl! Unlikely, sure, but possible!
Anyway, so back to whether or not keeping dried flowers and bad luck—is there any sense to it? Well, for this one, there really isn’t. The only practical problem with keeping dried flowers is that they are so incredibly delicate. If you touch them, there’s a good chance they’ll crumble to dust. This could cause two problems, 1) a mess you’ll have to clean up and, 2) very hurt feelings if—as is often the case—the dried flowers in question had a degree of sentimental value.
Conclusion: Is It Bad Luck To Keep Dried Flowers?
Obviously “bad luck” superstitions don’t have science on their side, so it’s difficult to say one thing is actually is bad luck, whereas another thing isn’t bad luck. However, we don’t let that stop us! We’ve come up with a loose framework to establish whether something is or isn’t bad luck. First of all, we look for a historical foundation of belief—that is, have people believed something is bad luck for a long time. After that, we look at whether or not people still believe something is bad luck. Last, but not least, we look at whether or not a superstition has a footing in some sort of logic.
So, when we measured keeping dried flowers against our casual metrics, we came up with a big, fat no! This is because it doesn’t seem that there has been any widespread or consistent belief that dried flowers create bad luck. Also, in terms of modern day beliefs, it doesn’t seem that many people believe keeping dead flowers is bad luck. And, of course, keeping dead flowers doesn’t really cause any practical danger to you.
Here’s the final answer:
Is It Bad Luck To Keep Dried Flowers? No!
