Orchasma

Images courtesy of Laura Weber

Waves of Euphoria

Ecstatic Openings of Light

Orchasma

I call it "Orchasma," the experience of overwhelming joy in communing with orchids. It describes the scintillating, energetic euphoria inspired by close encounters with orchids.

The annual Orchid Show at the Missouri Botanical Gardens is a wintering Soulscape for SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)-depleted senses. It's a cleansing bath for the world-weary grime and festering wounds of despair that are gripping us locally and globally. This year at the Orchid Show, I was overcome by the astounding intimacy and elation I felt in the presence of such profligate beauty, intricacy, delicacy, color, fragrance, mystery and joy.

I'm not the only one. Orchidphiles (orchid enthusiasts) have been known since the 19th c. for "orchidelirium," the intense desire to collect and cultivate orchids.  Collecting and cultivating orchids indicates a fascination with their unique qualities, and with good reason.

Orchids are mostly hermaphroditic, with male and female organs fused into one column.  The name derives from an obscure Greek mythological character, Orchis (>Gk., ὄρχις  = testicle), the son of a Nymph and a Satyr.  Orchis attempted to seduce and assault a priestess of Dionysius, an offense punishable by death.  According to various legends, either Dionysius, wild animals, or the priestesses themselves tore him to shreds, and from his testicular remains grew flowers (orchids).

The fascinating sex life of orchids reflects this mythological etiology.  A significant variety of orchids involve occasional sexual deception by mimicking the appearance, scent, and tactile experience of female bees to trick pollinators into assured contact and pollination.  This is called pseudocopulation.  

Pseudocopulation aside, we know from Michael Pollan (The Botany of Desire) how plants allure pollinators and human cultivators alike with their irresistible colors, fragrances, nectars, and textures. They draw us in, in, in - for close-up and inter-personal encounters, until we are so deeply entranced, we cannot extricate ourselves from the intimate embrace. Like lovers entwined.

It's a spiritual experience. This is what I call "Orchasma," the sheer ecstatic delight that arises from enraptured captivation of all our senses by orchids, these delicate beings of color, light, fragrance, texture, and intricate design.  If it sounds erotic, it's because the full-sensory experience of orchid immersion arouses a  psycho-physiological, emotional, and spiritual experience of euphoria, wonder, humility, gratitude, awe, and joy.

Pause. As we get very close to orchid bloom interiors, we notice their mysterious and gorgeous inner sanctum:

• Sepals - three outer parts of an orchid flower that protects the petals

• Petals - three petals on an orchid are the true flower; one is modified into a lip

• A Lip/Labellum - a specialized petal, unique to orchids

• A Column - the fused sexual organ of an orchid flower

• Pollinia - a solid mass of pollen found in the anther

• Ovary - the part of the flower that develops into the fruit

• Ovule - a small protuberance in the ovary, capable of forming a seed when fertilized

• Stigma - the sticky area of the pistil that receives the pollen

Nothing quite substitutes for in-person Orchasma.  Here's a bit of sensual orchid foreplay, and maybe you will go deeper and explore orchids more fully.