A Rose is Not Just a Rose

The rose is perhaps one of the most powerful symbols in the metaphysical world. It is also one of the most accessible tools that can be used for everyday magic. The gift of a rose is also one of the simplest ways to say, "I love you" without too much hocus-pocus. The thorns on its stems represent the "prick" of love and the overcoming of obstacles to achieve your desires. It is the pinnacle of metaphorical purity and symbolizes completion and perfection.

The element associated with the rose is Water, so it is particularly friendly to the astrological signs of Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio. Both Mercury and Venus rule this flower. A bath in rose petals or rose water (which is distilled from the buds) is said to attract love to the bathing beauty. An ancient custom is to sprinkle the bed of newly weds with rose petals to sweeten the initial carnal relations. In ancient alchemical formulas the red rose is used as a masculine principle and the rose represents the feminine or receptive principle. The combination of the two (perhaps growing the two bushes intertwined in the garden) represents harmony and unity.

Rose oil, which is extracted through a rather expensive process from the petals of the flower, is also prominent in both love and healing rituals. When applied the temples the oil is said to cure a headache. When applied to the thighs or breasts it is supposed to attract a suitor. As an essential oil, the rose's essence is thought to relieve depression, PMS and postnatal depression. It is also said to cure frigidity and impotence. Bach's Herbal Remedies makes a distillation of the Wild Rose. Taking drops of this under your tongue is thought to help the patient free themselves from a rut or feelings of hopelessness and being trapped by fate. Rose water is used in cooking spells and added to curries and cake mixes to infuse the dish with good spirits and love attracting qualities. The water is also splashed on the skin (but not around the eyes) to give you a complexion as dewy as the flower.

The rose historically also symbolizes the female genitalia and is associated with Cupid, Eros, Adonis, Aphrodite, Isis, Hathor, and Demeter. Rose water and rose petals are often used in magical rituals to honor these gods and goddesses.

Although red roses are traditionally seen as symbols of lust, love and the flower also has a long association with such qualities as purity, compassion and divine perfection. The white rose in particular has an affinity with the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit.

The color of the rose is also significant. Red roses symbolize love, sex and passion. Pink roses suggest friendship, joy, gratitude and fun. Yellow roses can symbolize enthusiasm, but according to some folklore, the yellow rose can symbolize deception or "the perfect crime." Orange roses signify enthusiasm, passion and a lust for life. White roses are symbolic of significant landmarks in life (such as death, birth and marriage), unconditional love, purity and innocence.

The flower is not the only part of the rose that is used in divination and magic. To discover their romantic future, women used to take pluck three green rose leaves and name one after each of their suitors. The one that stayed green the longest was her soulmate. Rose hips can be strung like beads on a thread and worn as a necklace to attract love. Drinking rose-hip tea is thought to increase one's powers of prophecy.

Ironically, for a flower that is often given as a gift, the most powerful roses are said to be those that have been stolen from another person's garden.

Samantha Steven's articles have been published in many high-standing newspapers and she has published several books. If you wish to buy Samantha's books about metaphysics click here http://www.insomniacpress.com/author.php?id=1 10 You can meet Samantha Stevens at http://www.psychicrealm.com where she works as a professional psychic. You can also read more of her articles at http://www.newagenotebook.com

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President-elect Barack Obama introduces, Nancy Killefer, not shown, to the newly created position of chief performance officer, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, at his transition office in Washington. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)AP - President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday the recession could "linger for years" unless Congress pumps unprecedented sums from Washington into the economy, making his highest-profile case yet on an issue certain to define and dominate his early presidency.



Palestinian demonstrators use sling-shots to hurl stones at Israeli soldiers during a demonstration against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in the West Bank village of Bilin, near Ramallah,Thursday, Jan. 8, 2009. Israel resumed its Gaza offensive Wednesday after a three-hour lull to allow delivery of humanitarian aid, bombing heavily around suspected smuggling tunnels near the border with Egypt. Despite the heavy fighting, strides appeared to be being made on the diplomatic front with the U.S. throwing its weight behind a deal being brokered by France and Egypt. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)AP - The United Nations halted aid deliveries to the besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday, citing Israeli attacks on its staff and installations hours after it said tank fire killed one of its drivers as he went to pick up a shipment.



Pedestrians walk past Generations Menswear on 8th Ave. in New York Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Retailers are reporting dismal sales for December, confirming fears that the holiday season was the weakest in four decades.  (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)AP - Retailers reported dismal sales figures for December on Thursday as even Wal-Mart Stores Inc., one of the bright spots in the industry, finally buckled under the pressures of the deteriorating economy.



Illinois Rep. Roger L. Eddy, R-Hutsonville, right, studies supplied documents requested during testimony at a Illinois House Impeachment Committee hearing at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield, Ill., Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. By naming Roland Burris to the Senate, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has tied Washington in knots and diverted attention from his own problems. But he didn't make those problems go away. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman)AP - A draft report from the Illinois House panel investigating Governor Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY'-uh-vich) calls for the full chamber to vote on whether to impeach him.



A sign instructs job seekers at the California Employment Development Department in Sunnyvale, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. The country lost nearly 2 million jobs through November and more bad news is expected this week when the government releases data on weekly jobless claims and December unemployment. No matter how bad those numbers are, and economists expect at least another 500,000 jobs were lost last month, the pain is stretching into 2009.  (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)AP - The number of people continuing to seek unemployment benefits has risen sharply, according to government data released Thursday, indicating that laid-off workers are having a harder time finding new jobs as the recession enters its second year.



President-elect Barack Obama, flanked by President George W. Bush, and former President George H.W. Bush, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2008, during a meeting, with former presidents Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter.  (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)AP - The House and Senate are coming together in a centuries-old tradition to count the electoral votes from the November election and formally declare that Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States.



Buckshot the bull is corralled in front of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday Jan. 8, 2009, in conjunction with opening bell ceremonies to be rung by the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)AP - Wall Street's worries about weak consumer spending revived Thursday, sending stocks lower as bad news from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. signaled that even the stronger U.S. retailers struggled during the holiday shopping season. The Dow Jones industrials fell by 100 points.



Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer delivers the keynote address Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009, at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)AP - Microsoft Corp.'s next version of the Windows operating system is almost ready for prime time. That's one message Chief Executive Steve Ballmer delivered on the eve of the official opening of the International Consumer Electronics Show.



Christian Bale accepts the favorite action movie award for 'The Dark Knight' at the 35th Annual People's Choice Awards on Wednesday Jan. 7, 2009 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)AP - "The Dark Knight" soared away with every trophy it was nominated for Wednesday at the 35th annual fan-favorite CBS ceremony. The caped crusader flick won five awards, including favorite cast, superhero, action movie and on-screen matchup for Christian Bale's Batman and the late Heath Ledger's Joker.



Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops poses with the BCS championship trophy during a press conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009. Oklahoma will play Florida for the NCAA BCS football championship Thursday, Jan. 8. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)AP - The Oklahoma Sooners and the Florida Gators meet tonight for the BCS championship. It's a matchup that includes a pair of Heisman Trophy winners, an SEC vs. Big 12 debate and more than its share of trash talk.



President-elect Barack Obama arrives with Nancy Killefer, his appointee as White House Chief Performance Officer, during a news conference at his transition office in Washington, January 7, 2009. (Jason Reed/Reuters)Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama will seek Thursday to rally support for a massive fiscal stimulus package by warning that the United States could remain mired in recession for years without bold action.



A Palestinian boy sits in the trunk of a taxi after receiving food supplies from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, January 8, 2009. (Suhaib Salem/Reuters)Reuters - Palestinians faced even grimmer conditions in the Gaza Strip on Thursday after a U.N. aid agency halted work, saying its staff were at risk from Israeli forces fighting Hamas militants, after two drivers were killed.



A customer shops at a Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas, June 5, 2008. (Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters)Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc led U.S. retailers in disappointing December same-store sales and profit warnings on Thursday, sparking fresh recession concerns that hit stock and currency markets.



Reuters - The incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama will name Cass Sunstein, a Harvard Law School professor who pioneered efforts to design regulation around the ways people behave, as regulatory czar, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Senator Charles Schumer on Capitol Hill in a file photo. (Jason Reed/Reuters)Reuters - Citigroup Inc is leading other lenders in advanced talks with key U.S. senators on legislation that would allow judges to set new repayment terms for millions of mortgage holders who wind up in bankruptcy court, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people involved in the talks.



People walk past the Bank of England in central London, January 8, 2009. (Rob Bodman/Reuters)Reuters - Bleak economic data in Europe and disappointing December retail sales figures in the United States unsettled financial markets on Thursday, strengthening the case for more government stimulus and encouraging rate cuts.



A man looks at a large screen displaying India's benchmark share index on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange building in Mumbai, January 7, 2009. (Punit Paranjpe/Reuters)Reuters - India's Satyam Computer faces a crisis of "unimaginable proportions," its interim chief executive said a day after the chairman revealed profits had been falsely inflated for years.



Oleh Dubyna, the head of Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz, arrives at the European parliament Foreign Affairs Committee in Brussels January 8, 2009. (Francois Lenoir/Reuters)Reuters - Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly said on Thursday it would restore supplies to Europe through Ukraine, cut off after a dispute between Moscow and Kiev, as soon as international monitors are in place.



Palestinian youth inspect a destroyed kindergarten following an Israeli air strike overnight in Gaza City. Rockets fired into northern Israel from Lebanon have sparked a new military alert as Israeli jets carried out mass strikes on smuggling tunnels in Gaza.(AFP/Mahmud Hams)AFP - Rockets fired into northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday sparked a new military alert as Israeli jets carried out mass strikes on smuggling tunnels in Gaza.



A Palestinian protestor flashes the V for 'victory' sign in front of an Israeli soldier near Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's old city. Israeli warplanes bombed suspected arms-smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza early Thursday, as diplomats worked to secure a ceasefire in an offensive that has killed 700 Palestinians.(AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)AFP - Israeli warplanes bombed suspected arms-smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza early Thursday, as diplomats worked to secure a ceasefire in an offensive that has killed 700 Palestinians.




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