We just had a wonderful Solstice here on the west coast. In our last instagram post we talked about a ritual for summer Solstice & the blooming Rose and St. John's wort. This time of year is an absolute favourite; spending long days along the ocean picking roses. Something that is sweet about this process is the amount of rose petals it takes to make medicine. They are so fine and light; and we always make sure to leave at lest two petals on every flower. This means the process of making rose medicine brings us into patient slowness. A reminder of the Venusian rulership of this plant. Something we often forget about the archetype of Venus & the rose; is the medicine that is in the thorns too....
If you are harvesting roses, always make sure you leave at least two petals. This ensures that the rose can be pollinated by bees. Flowers & their colors are basically huge targets for pollinating insects. Doing this also ensures there will be rose hips in the fall. A valuable medicine to us, and a food for the birds. Rose hips are rich in vitamin C and antioxidants; they are somewhere between a food and a medicine. We love to use them in teas, jellies or added to an elderberry syrup. Rose hips are also useful for assisting in iron absorption. Our bodies need adequate vitamin C to absorb iron, which is why it is recommended to take the two together. You can also make your own herbal iron syrup with various herbs & add rose hips to pack it full of vitamin C. Perhaps when winter comes around, we will make a full monograph of rose for the petals and the hips! Now back to the rose petal season…
History of rose
The origins of rose are unclear, but herbal historians know that there are fossil records of rose between 7-26 million years ago. There is evidence and lore of rose being used for spiritual and medicinal purposes throughout almost all major time periods and across cultures on earth. We also see an association of roses and certain deities such as Auset (Isis), Ishtar, Venus, Freyja, and Aphrodite. If there’s one thing we know for sure it's that rose has been an important part of human history for thousands of years. There is something special about plants that old, who have evolved alongside our ancestral lineages for so long.
In the Body
As a plant ruled by Venus, we see that rose has an amphoteric effect in balancing venusian energy. Amphoteric in this context means that there will either be an increase or decrease in the effect; depending on what the individual needs. In the case of rose, we see that it can be balancing to excess venusian energy; like helping one stay grounded in love, creating boundaries around the heart or balancing fluids in the mucous membranes.
Rose has an astringent action, it reinforces the cellular integrity of our mucous membranes. Dried rose will be better at balancing an excess of mucous / water. Fresh rose will be better for helping the body hold on to water and maintain adequate moisture. If you want to learn more about herbs through this lens & build your library of herbal knowledge; check out our Home Apothecary Training.
The main constituents contained in rose that we are touching on today are: volatile oil and quercetin. The volatile oil is what gives rose its sweet delicious scent, the general amount found is rose in between 0.017-0.035% volatile oil. This is quite a small amount, and the reason why pure rose oil is so expensive. To get a 5ml vial of pure rose essential oil would take a truckload, possibly more. Because of this it is very expensive, and there are a lot of synthetic rose oils out there; make sure you are sourcing yours well. We love Nefertem Perfume Co. … check them out.
Our next constituent of interest is quercetin, an antioxidant flavonoid. Flavonoids are a fancy science term for pigments found in plants. Generally speaking, these compounds have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body via preventing the oxidation of tissues. Despite being one of our foundations for life, unchecked oxygen is actually really harmful to the internal tissues, causing inflammation, slow healing of wounds and cardiovascular distress. The actions that result from the quercetin content are, astringent, cooling and amphoteric.
Rose is consistently used in topical skin care products to soothe the skin, “tighten” pores and prevent wrinkles. Plus using rose and smelling like this delicious flower feels like a divine gift from Venus herself. Herbalists also use rose for loose stools, children's diarrhea, cardiovascular inflammation, and melancholy spirits.
Keep reading to find out how we make our Triple Rose Elixir.….
Despite rose being valuable as an internal and physiological medicine, there is a common thread throughout various cultures of the energetic and ritual uses of rose. The most commonly known association is that of love, and beauty. Used in love spells and offerings by many peoples.
A question we often get is: What is the Triple Rose used for? And it's always a bit tricky to come up with a quick witted, all encompassing answer. Triple Rose is what we affectionately call “hummingbird food”; tasting like the sweet nectar of Venus and the most quenching to the summer heat. The uses of this formula are very diverse from opening the heart, to mending grief and clearing what is stored in the body. It has the ability to instantly drop you into your heart space and move forward with an exalted expression. For days when you need tears to come, or days when you need them to go away and remember the sweetness of life.
Sounding like the medicine for you? Balance and enliven your heart with Triple Rose today!
Check back next week for Part 2 of this journal post where we will discuss the process of making triple rose more deeply!
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