Amarant, Order of, and Book of the Amarant

“Amarant(h)” comes from the Greek amarantos, meaning “unwithering.” The concept derived from the amaranth flower, which took a long time to fade, and thereby came to symbolize immortality. The species of flowers called by that name today are different from those in antiquity, and different again from the growths that were ubiquitous in the Middle Ages, which were closest to the branch known today as “Love-lies-bleeding.” In modern times the word is spelled like the flower with an “h” at the end, but the original or archaic spelling is preserved in the OC. The ancient Greeks attributed healing powers to the amaranth flower, which they also called chrysanthemum. It is frequently associated with images and portrayals of gods, and also on tombs, as a symbol of immortality. The sisterhood of nuns referred to as the Masks of God belong to the Order of the Amarant, i.e., “immortality.” Their holy scripture, the Book of Amarant, consists of a compilation of Empedoclean, Pythagorean, and Gnostic teachings. The OC’s medieval sisterhood is not related to today’s Order of the Amaranth, an initiatory organization affiliated with Freemasonry, and founded originally by Queen Christina of Sweden in 1653.