Rose

Rosa spp. Damask rose (Rosa × damascena) is especially important historically in rose water and rose oil, but not every commercial dried rose product is Damask rose.

Quick Reference

Traditional Uses

Rose petals have long been used in perfumery, rose water, culinary sweets, teas, potpourri, cosmetics, devotional offerings, and decorative garlands. Damask rose became especially important in rose-water and attar production. Rose hips have separate food and traditional-medicine uses.

Magical Associations

Love
self-love
compassion
beauty
attraction
devotion
emotional healing symbolism
reconciliation
friendship
peace
sensuality
grief work
remembrance.

Folklore

Roses have carried powerful symbolism across many cultures, especially love, beauty, secrecy, mortality, devotion, and sacred fragrance. In Greco-Roman traditions the rose became closely linked with Aphrodite/Venus and love. Later Christian symbolism connected roses with Mary and martyrdom, while the phrase “sub rosa” came to signify confidentiality. Meanings vary by period, culture, and flower color.

Core Correspondences

Element: Water
Planet: Venus
Gender: Feminine
Deities: Aphrodite/Venus are the strongest classical love associations other deity links vary by culture and tradition
Energy: Love, compassion, beauty, tenderness, attraction, devotion, emotional healing symbolism

Witchcraft Uses

Self-love work
love and friendship rituals
reconciliation
beauty/glamour work
devotional offerings
grief and remembrance rituals
baths
incense
candle dressing
ritual oils
sachets
altar decoration.

⚠ Caution

Use only food-grade, pesticide-free rose material for tea or food. Cosmetic or florist roses may be treated with chemicals and should not automatically be ingested. Essential oil and fragrance products require separate skin-safety guidance. Remove prickles carefully when handling fresh stems.

Educational purposes only. Not medical advice.

How to Work With

Use dried petals or buds in baths, incense blends, charm bags, candle dressing, altar bowls, or ritual oils prepared with safe infusion methods. Choose color intentionally when relevant: red for passion, pink for tenderness/self-love, white for peace/remembrance, yellow for friendship, while recognizing that color symbolism is modern and culturally variable.

Best Time to Harvest

For aromatic petals, harvest freshly opened flowers in dry weather after dew has lifted but before strong midday heat reduces fragrance. For hips, harvest when fully colored and ripe; timing varies by species and climate.

Correspondences

Color: Varies by working — red, pink, white, yellow and others
Number: 5 is a common symbolic association from the five-petaled form of many wild roses
Chakra: Heart is the dominant modern association
Tarot: The Empress and The Lovers are common modern interpretive pairings
Metal: Copper, by Venus association
Season: Late spring and summer, varying by species/cultivar

Page 2 of 2

Deeper Reading

Botanical Profile

Plant Family: Rosaceae
Common Names: rose petals · rosebuds
Growth Habit: Perennial woody shrub or climber. Growth form varies widely across hundreds of species and thousands of cultivars.
Native Range: The genus Rosa is native across much of the temperate and subtropical Northern Hemisphere. Individual species have distinct native ranges. Roses have been cultivated for millennia; Kew notes very early rose-garden traditions in China.
Habitat: Species and cultivars vary, but many cultivated roses prefer sun, fertile well-drained soil, regular airflow, and seasonal pruning.
Identifying Characteristics: Woody stems usually bearing prickles; compound leaves with toothed leaflets; flowers ranging from simple five-petaled forms to densely double cultivated blooms; many species produce berry-like rose hips after flowering.
Parts Traditionally Used: Petals, flower buds, hips, rose water/hydrosol, and essential oil depending on species and tradition.

Traditional & Historical Medicinal Uses

Rosa species appear in multiple traditional medical systems. Rose petals, rose water, and rose preparations have historically been used as cooling, aromatic, astringent, digestive, or soothing preparations, while rose hips were valued as food and later recognized as rich in vitamin C.

Magical Uses

Self-love work; love and friendship rituals; reconciliation; beauty/glamour work; devotional offerings; grief and remembrance rituals; baths; incense; candle dressing; ritual oils; sachets; altar decoration.

Modern Evidence

Rose's food, fragrance, and traditional-use histories are separate from modern clinical evidence. Ordinary symbolic or culinary use should not be presented as treatment, and essential oils or concentrated extracts require their own safety review.

Notes & Personal Connection

Add your own experiences, observations, and notes about working with this plant. How does it speak to you? What is your personal connection?

Keep This Grimoire Entry

Print Page 1 and Page 2 together, single-sided or front and back.

Download to Print