Only an odd number of flowers should be given to a person, otherwise misfortune and even death can befall him. Russians are so accustomed to this superstition that they strictly follow it. Where did these traditions come from?

Where did Even number of flowers in Russian tradition come from?

Apparently, superstition appeared in the pre-Christian era. From that era, the belief came to the Russians that even numbers are death, and odd numbers are life. Why? Everything is simple. Even numbers represent the completeness of the life cycle, and odd numbers – instability, disorder. These mystical representations have survived to this day, so for the holidays they give exactly an odd number of flowers, and they bring an even number for a funeral.

True, some florists believe that there was no such belief at all, and this custom was borrowed from the inhabitants of Japan, where the hieroglyph for the number 4 is very similar to the hieroglyph for “death”.

What about Alla Pugacheva’s famous Russian song “A Million Scarlet Roses”? It turns out that the artist in this song wished the girl to die, because a million is an even number? Not at all. Any florist will tell you about the odd to a dozen rule. That is, if there are less than 12 flowers in a bouquet, then it obeys the usual superstition and bouquets with an even number of up to 12 are given only to the dead. But if a person decides to give a bouquet of 100 or 50 flowers, then superstition no longer applies here.

How many flowers are given in other countries?

In fact, a ban on an even number of flowers exists only in the countries of the former USSR, and in other countries any bouquets are actively in demand, regardless of the number of flowers in them. By the way, France has the same traditions as Russia.