Rosemary oil

Price range: $6.55 through $74.75

Rosemary oil carries the resinous, clean scent of the Mediterranean herb of remembrance. It is worked for protection, cleansing, memory, love and a woman’s rule of her household.

‘There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance,’ says Ophelia in Hamlet, handing out herbs in her madness, and the line was already old wisdom when Shakespeare wrote it.

Origin & Traditional Use

Rosemary is an evergreen shrub of the Mediterranean coast; its old name ros marinus means ‘dew of the sea’. In Europe it was burned to freshen sickrooms, strewn on floors, carried at both weddings and funerals, and grown by the kitchen door as a cooking and household herb.

Uses by Tradition

Hoodoo & Rootwork

Household rule: the old saying ‘where rosemary flourishes, the woman rules’ gives rosemary its place in work for a woman to hold sway in her home; dress candles or add the oil to a floor wash.
Protection: anoint doorframes and add a few drops to a cleansing bath.

Witchcraft & Folk Magick

Memory and study: a drop on the temples or a yellow candle before exams.
Remembering the dead: dress a white candle on the ancestor altar, as rosemary was once laid on coffins.
Love: rosemary was carried in bridal wreaths and is used to dress candles for faithful, lasting love.

A Simple Working

On a Sunday, set a white chime candle on a plate by the front door.
Dress it from wick to base with rosemary oil.
Lay a sprig of dried rosemary beside it.
Light the candle and say plainly that the house is protected and you are its keeper.
Touch a drop of oil to each side of the door frame.
Let the candle burn down, then hang the rosemary sprig over the door.

Pairs Well With

Dried rosemary: to hang over doors with the oil.
A white chime candle: for protection and ancestor work.
Rue oil: for stronger protection against the evil eye.
Peppermint oil: a second herb of clear thinking for study.

Lore & History

A Spanish legend tells that the Virgin Mary spread her blue cloak over a rosemary bush to dry on the flight into Egypt, and its white flowers turned blue. English brides wore rosemary and gave sprigs to guests, and mourners threw it into graves. Cunningham assigns rosemary to the Sun and Fire and lists it for protection, love, mental powers, exorcism and purification.