Herblore about Roses

ROSE — Rosa rugosa

Queen of Flowers, "Mean-Old-Lady-She-Sticks-You", Meadow Rose, Sweet Briar

There are about 300 species and over 1600 varieties of rose.

The rose is known world-wide.

The rose comes from the Greek "rodon" meaning red.

Legends and Superstitions:

– The Greeks claim that the rose sprang from the blood of Adonis, the handsome young man who was killed by a wild boar.
+Aphrodite, who had fallen in love with Adonis, in her sorrow, changed his blood into a rose*.
+(*Some story tellers say it was the anemone or windflower.)
– The Roman believed that the red rose came from the blood of Venus when her foot got stuck on a thorn as she was helping Adonis.
+Venus loved Adonis better than the warrior Mars, even though Adonis was younger than Mars.
+Mars loved Venus intensely, but perceived that venus loved Adonis better than him.
+He killed Adonis, thinking it would cause Venus to return to him and forget Adonis.
+However, when Venus heard of his plans she quickly ran to rescue Adonis.
+In her rush to save him she fell in a bed of white roses which pricked and wounded her tender feet.
+She bled profusely and the roses all became red with her blood permanently in remembrance of the beautiful Venus and her love for Adonis.
– Venus threw her tender body into the rose thicket willingly to spoil its beauty out of spite for what Mars had done to her fair Adonis.

– Roses became red when Cupid was teasing the goddess at a banquet.
+The undisciplined Cupid knocked over the pot of heavenly Nectar with his wings, causing it to fall to earth and gave its color to the red rose.
+Thus the red rose is called "Cupid’s flower".
– The rose did not develop thorns until after Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden.

– To pre-Christian people the rose suggested divinity.

– Fairies are attracted to gardens where roses are planted.

– Stolen roses grow best.

– Roses were found in Egyptian tombs.
+They were offered to the soul of their dead pharaohs.
– Cleopatra seduced Marc Anthony by covering the floor of her palace knee deep in roses.

– About 1000 BC the ancient Greeks made cakes out of rose hips which were called the "Food of the Gods".

– The Greeks and Romans used roses in garlands.

– The Romans were especially appreciative of the rose, using it to decorate their banquets, float in their wine, and wear in crowns.
+Brides and grooms were crowned with roses in the same way that the images of Cupid, Venus, and Bacchus were adorned.
– Roses were strewn on the floor and even scattered in the paths of victors or beneath their chariots.
+Roman victors wore roses to feasts believing that they would prevent drunkeness.
+The rose was a sign of pleasure and the companion of mirth and wine.
+Roses were also used at funerals.
– Sappho, the Greek poetess (ca. 600BC) called the rose the "Queen of Flowers".

– The Rose of Sharon mentioned in the Bible was probably a crocus or narcissus.

– The Rose of Jericho in the Bible was not related to the rose either.
+A rose of Jericho sprang up marking every place that Joseph and the Babe rested as they fled from Herod.
– The Arabic name for rose is "gulab" meaning "Queen of the Garden" or "Queen of Paradise".

– The Turks said that the red rose was stained by the blood of Muhammad.

– Saladin, the Muslim conqueror had the Omar mosque washed in rosewater to purify it in 1187 when he entered Jerusalem.

– An Islamic tradition teaches that the first thing God made in creation was the soul of prophecy.
+The soul was so bright and burning that it began to perspire, and from the first drop, God created the essence of the rose.
– In the Middle Ages, Roger Bacon created the first conserve of roses as a drink.

– The Church reconsecrated the rose to the Virgin Mary in one of many attempts to do away with anything that was associated with sorcery or pagan practices.
+St. Dominic recognized the rose when he instituted the rosary, symbolized as roses.
– A lord’s man had gathered a considerable amount of goods for his lord.
+He had to pass through a woods with his treasure.
+Thieves were waiting for him in the woods.
+After entering the woods he remembered that he had not said the rosary that day.
+As he knelt to pray the Virgin came and placed a garland on his head.
+At each "ave" she placed a rose in the garland that was so bright that they lit up the whole woods.
+While he himself was not aware it was happening the thieves were, and allowed him to pass unharmed.
– Hanging a rose over the table was once a sign that all conversations would be held in sacred confidence.
+The plaster ornament in the center of a ceiling in some older homes is a remnant of that tradition and is known as "the rose".
– Herbalists in the 16^th century recommended that "Dry roses pu to the nose to smell, do comfort the brain and the heart."

– Rosewater was called "the gift of angels" and considered one of the safest healing agents available.

– Rose oil was discovered sometime in the 16^th century by two persian lovers.
+The Emperor Dijihanguyr, of the Moguls, had a canal dug around his gardens and filled with rose water.
+As he and the princess Nour-Dijihan were rowing in the fragrant canal on their wedding day, they noticed how the heat of the sun had separated the water from the essential oil of the rose.
+It was skimmed off and found to be an exquisite perfume which was called "Otto of Roses" or "Attar of roses".
– In the 17^th century the use of rose water was as common as present day use of vanilla.

– Rose hips and rose petals were used for rose pudding, rose syrup, and rose conserves.

– English maidens used to pluck a rose on Midsummer’s Eve to determine the faithfulness of their lovers.
+If the rose hadn’t faded by the beginning of the next month they could be certain their lover was true to them.
– A love potion can be made which will insure the love of the opposite sex.
+A certain number of red and white rose petals and forget-me-nots were to be boiled in 385 drops of water for one sixteenth of an hour.
+Three drops of the resulting elixir were to be place in something for the person to drink.
– William Penn brought 18 rose bushes with him to the new colonies when he returned from England in 1699.

– George Washington (1^st president) and Thomas Jefferson (3^rd president) both liked roses and grew them on their estates.

– John Adams (2^nd president) planted the first roses at the White House.

– The Aztecs boiled rose water to drink as a purgative.

– Rose hips were used to produce a vitamin C substitute for children in England during Word War II because of a shortage of oranges.

– A handful of rose hips contains 60 times more vitamin C than an orange.

Medicinal uses:

Arteriosclerosis – Emphysema – Lungs – Bites – Fever – Round worms – Bruises

Fever blisters – Sore eyes – Circulation – Heart – Sore throat – Colds

Infections – Stings – Contagious diseases – Influenza – Stomach – Diarrhea

Kidneys – Stress – Eczema – Liver – Yellow jaundice