The Venus Flower Basket – Symbol of Love

It is extremely beautiful, intricate, and dainty. When full grown the Venus flower basket is tube shaped and about twelve inches long, usually with some slight curvature. The smaller, tapered end is anchored to the ocean floor by a multitude of fine glass-like fibers. Because it looks like it is woven from glass it is sometimes called a glass sponge. When the Venus flower basket is small, tiny shrimp swim in and out of it. However, as the Venus Flower Basket grows it seals off the open upper end, and at the same time the shrimps grow so that they cannot swim through the side of the Venus flower basket. This pair of shrimps will spend the rest of their lives inside that Venus flower basket. A Venus flower basket is sometimes given as a wedding present in Japan because of this beautiful symbolism. With divorce gaining epidemic portions in some countries, can we learn a lesson from these shrimp? Likewise we need to learn to work out the problems in our marriage and make them work. See also in French: Robe de Mariage