The plant named Achillea millefolium is called celestina.
Celestina is a concept with several uses. When it comes from the character of the tragicomedy starring Melibea and Calisto , the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) indicates in its dictionary, it refers to a person who contributes to two people establishing a romantic relationship .
A matchmaker, therefore, is a woman who helps, in some way, to establish a romantic bond . Let's suppose that a young woman organizes a dinner at her house, inviting her brother who is single and a friend who also does not have a boyfriend. The young woman's intention is for her brother and her friend to meet each other, since she believes that they have a lot in common. At that first meeting, the brother and the young woman's friend get along and then begin to date. Several weeks later they formalize their courtship and years later, they get married. The young woman who organized that first dinner, therefore, was the matchmaker for the couple.
Ironically, on the other hand, the notion of matchmaker or celestine is used to name the individual who promotes or facilitates contacts for the establishment of economic, political or other types of agreements.
Various uses of the term celestina
There is also a mineral called celestine. It has a bluish hue and is composed of strontian sulphate and is part of the barite group .
A bird with a yellowish body and bluish or greenish wings and the plants with the scientific names Jasminum fruticans and Achillea millefolium are also known as celestina.
Celestine is also a mineral formed from strontian sulfate.
A literary work
The aforementioned tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea , which is attributed to the Spanish playwright Fernando de Rojas , as well as a film and an opera inspired by the work , are mentioned under the title “La Celestina” .
This work was published in 1499 and was banned in Spain. It has sparked numerous controversies regarding its authorship and has become a benchmark in Spanish literature of all time.
The play has been performed at the La Celestina theatre on numerous occasions. However, the most important performances include the one performed in 1940, directed by Cayetano Luca de Tena and starring Julia Delgado Caro, and the one performed in 1958. The latter was directed by José Tamayo and was performed by the Lope de Vega Theatre Company. Two decades later, the play was re-released, starring the great actress Julia Gutiérrez Caba.
La Celestina in painting and music
It is also interesting to know that the painter from Malaga Pablo Picasso himself gave prominence to the procuress of “La Celestina” in one of his paintings. Specifically, in 1904 he made a portrait in which she appears.
In the musical field, in addition to an opera, there are two songs about the aforementioned tragicomedy. One was presented in 1997, entitled “La Celestina” and is the work of the singer Lhasa de Sela, who included it in an album entitled “La llorona”.
The other was presented in 1999 by singer-songwriter Javier Krahe and is titled “Cuerpo de Melibea”. It was part of the album titled “Dolor de garganta”.