Who we are | About our flower, the Iris
Why we chose the Iris as the EyesOnThePrize.Org flower
 The
gynecologic cancer survivors who founded EyesOnThePrize.Org knew that
the Iris is one of the earth’s oldest flowers. As a primal blossom
the Iris represented the full flower of sexuality - a creative energy
that translates itself into all the ways that women give birth to children,
projects and energies to transform the world. And we knew from experience
that gynecological cancers struck directly at our femininity, fertility
and creative energies for living.
What we did not know is that Iris was a Greek goddess who, with her male
counterpart Hermes, carried messages between the gods and humans. Her
symbol is the rainbow – the bridge between heaven and earth. One
of Iris’s duties was to guide dying women to the Elysian Fields.
In ancient Greece the graves of women were covered with irises.
The significance of the iris was not lost on American painter Georgia
O'Keeffe (1887-1986). She was fascinated with the iris' resemblance to
the female reproductive organs and explored its form in magnified views
of its blossoms.
What we chose through intuition proves to be a flower with ancient meanings,
none of which are lost on us here at EyesOnThePrize.Org. We are often
suspended between heaven and earth while living with gynecologic cancers
and we have laid irises at our sisters' graves. On the first anniversary
of our founding, Mother's Day 2001, we designate the iris our official
flower.
May 2001
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