Plant Witchery: Discover the Sacred Language, Wisdom, and Magic of 200 Plants - Juliet Diaz 2020

Rose Rosa
A Compendium of Plants

ESSENTIAL PROPERTIES

protection, love, intuition

According to fossil evidence, the rose is 35 million years old. There are several hundred species of roses, and beyond the obvious ornamental function, there’s a long history of using various parts of the rose in food, drink, and medicine. Roses have been cultivated for the past 5,000 years, and are associated with love and friendship.

MEDICINAL PROPERTIES

Rose hips (the base of the flower after the blossom has dropped off) are used to make an oil that is widely used in skin care and makeup products. Roses are a source of vitamin C—which is excellent for the skin! Certain varieties of roses are used in Chinese medicine to move stagnant energy, ease pain, and improve digestion.

MAGICAL PROPERTIES

If you grow your own roses, you will create a Magical shield of protection for life, or at least that is what my abuela says. Roses are fierce and are often underestimated when it comes to their protection ability. You’ll find rosebushes around the homes of many Witches, especially Indigenous brujas who have grown roses for this purpose for centuries.

When you grow your own roses, you can create a purpose for each rosebush you have—one for protection Magic, another for love Magic, another for opening the third eye, another for creativity, and so on. Snip a rose off the bush that holds the relevant intention so you can use it in Magical workings—the power it will give your spell will be so noticeable you’ll feel bone-deep vibrations. But you can still work with rose even if you’re unable to grow her—buy freshly cut roses and place them in a glass vase. As you fill it with water, pour your intentions into the water. You can also separate the roses and place them in single vases for different intentions. Wearing rose perfume (making sure it contains actual roses!) or sprinkling rosewater on your clothes will protect you throughout the day, or you can anoint your forehead with rose oil to amplify intuition.

PLANT WISDOM

Roses are queens. They are luxurious and sophisticated, and hold so many different meanings for so many different cultures. I could write an entire book just on the rose! She teaches us to open our eyes to the beauty of the world—the beauty of all things and all people. Dreams of roses can mean different things, depending on the color of the rose, but generally speaking she visits to bring you good news.