To say something ‘sub rosa’, under the rose, is to say it in confidence: Romans and later Europeans hung or carved roses above tables where secrets were kept.
Origin & Traditional Use
Roses have been cultivated for their scent for thousands of years in Persia, the Mediterranean and China. Rose water and rose oil were distilled in the medieval Islamic world for perfume, cooking and religious use, and the rose became Europe’s great flower of love and of the Virgin Mary.
Uses by Tradition
Witchcraft & Folk Magick
- Love: dress a pink or red candle with rose oil for romance; pink for tenderness, red for passion.
- Beauty: add a few drops to a bath or to your face cream jar on a Friday for a glamour working.
- Peace at home: a drop in each corner of the bedroom or living room after a quarrel.
Hoodoo & Rootwork
- Reconciliation: dress a honey jar or a pair of figure candles with rose to bring a lover back and sweeten their mood.
- Attraction: wear on the wrists and over the heart to be found lovable.
Folk Catholicism & Spiritism
- Marian devotion: anoint candles and rosaries for the Virgin; the rose is her flower, and Our Lady of Guadalupe is remembered for the roses that filled Juan Diego’s cloak.
A Simple Working
- On a Friday, set a pink chime candle on a small plate.
- Scatter a few dried rose petals around it.
- Dress the candle with rose oil from the wick down, thinking of the love you want.
- Dab a drop of the oil over your heart.
- Light the candle and say aloud the kind of love you are calling in.
- Let it burn down, then put the petals in a sachet under your pillow.
Pairs Well With
- Dried rose petals: for sachets and to circle love candles.
- A pink chime candle: for gentle love and self-love.
- Honey: for sweetening and reconciliation jars.
- Ylang ylang oil: a richer floral note for passion.
Lore & History
Greek writers linked the rose with Aphrodite, and one tale has red roses coloured by the blood of the goddess or of her lover Adonis. The rosary takes its name from the Latin rosarium, a rose garden. In 1531, according to the tradition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Juan Diego gathered Castilian roses out of season on Tepeyac hill, and the Virgin’s image appeared on his cloak as they fell from it.
What You Receive
Rose oil in 2 dram, 1 oz and 16 oz (1 lb) sizes.
Did You Know?
It takes roughly three to four tonnes of fresh Damask rose petals to distil a single kilogram of true rose oil in Bulgaria’s Rose Valley.
| Weight | N/A |
|---|---|
| Size | 2 dram, 1 oz, 16 oz |
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