Marguerite, illustration from Les Fleurs animées, dessin J.J. Grandville, 1830
Plucking petals to the alternating refrain “he loves me, he loves me not,” the classic daisy game is said to divine true affections.
In French, ’effeuiller la marguerite’, literally translates as ‘to pluck the daisy’. With five options to cycle through, this version of the game lowers the 50% chance of rejection to a mere 20%.
loves me a little - loves me very much - loves me passionately - loves me madly - loves me not at all
While there have been many forms of botanical divination, the earliest form of this particular game that I am aware of is from ‘The Daisy Oracle’, a songbook written in 1471 by German nun and scribe Clara Hätzlerin.
Apparently a flower would be worn with only one or two petals remaining when a man was unsure whether his sweetheart truly loved him.
liebt mich, liebt mich nicht