Ahhh… the sweet fragrance of Rosemary, its romantic, fresh qualities with notes of pine are so distinctive. This aromatic herb has more to it than its allure to the senses.
Admired for its symbolism of love and everlasting memories, as well as its deep flavour and fragrance. Rosemary has been worn, gifted, inhaled, digested, bathed in and ground into tonics since ancient times. Even before its natural antiseptic properties were known, sprigs of the plant have been used to cleanse and warn off evil spirits. Cultivated for over 5,000 years, Rosemary’s history is understandably immersed in myths and folklore.
Believed to reveal a person’s true love, Rosemary has been used since ancient times in proclamations of love and fidelity. In more modern-day realms, fresh sprigs of the herb are used in wedding ceremonies to represent love and ever-lasting memories.
Some Victorian brides would include the herb to show that she carried with her loving memories of her old home to her new one. It symbolised a keep-safe for both memories of the couple’s past and the new ones to be made in their future.
In France, the Victorian meaning of Rosemary was “your presence revives me,” perhaps because of its striking and awakening fragrance. How romantic!
We may all be a little (ahem, very) forgetful at times - and from Egyptian tombs dating back to 3,000 B.C to the ancient Greeks, Rosemary was used to remedy forgetfulness. Ancient Egyptians used sprigs of the herb in their tombs for connection and remembrance and Greek scholars often wore crowns of Rosemary to energise their minds and assist their memory during exams.
Though recent day scientific studies have proven that there are beneficial memory-increasing chemical compounds found in Rosemary, our predecessors have known this for millennia. Today's diverse use of Rosemary, symbolising love and ever-lasting memories, and its equally diverse uses in ancient times shows us just how truly amazing it is to connect with the plant in such similar ways to our ancestors before us!
The herb is a natural antiseptic and helps to purify the air and its aromas have been used to prevent infections in hospitals, but the Romans even used a waft of Rosemary to deter evil spirits.
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