Rosemary: A Threat to Manhood????

I’ve been doing research on rosemary and the more I study, the more I realize just how versatile and interesting this Mediterranean herb really is. Its name is actually the Latin word rosmarinus, meaning Dew of the Sea. But rather than give you its history, or even worse, rhapsodize over the chemical properties of this wonderful herb, I thought I’d give you a glimpse of how rosemary was revered in the Middle Ages.

'Take the flowers thereof and make powder thereof and binde it to thy right arme in a linnen cloath and it shale make thee light and merrie.
'Take the flowers and put them in thy chest among thy clothes or among thy Bookes and Mothes shall not destroy them.
'Boyle the leaves in white wine and washe thy face therewith and thy browes, and thou shalt have a faire face.
'Also put the leaves under thy bedde and thou shalt be delivered of all evill dreames.
'Take the leaves and put them into wine and it shall keep the wine from all sourness and evill savours, and if thou wilt sell thy wine thou shalt have goode speede.
'Also if thou be feeble boyle the leaves in cleane water and washe thyself and thou shalt wax shiny.
'Also if thou have lost appetite of eating boyle well these leaves in cleane water and when the water is colde put thereunto as much of white wine and then make sops, eat them thereof wel and thou shalt restore thy appetite againe.
'If thy legges be blowen with gowte, boyle the leaves in water and binde them in a linnen cloath and winde it about thy legges and it shall do thee much good.
'If thou have a cough drink the water of the leaves boyld in white wine and ye shall be whole.
'Take the Timber thereof and burn it to coales and make powder thereof and rubbe thy teeth thereof and it shall keep thy teeth from all evils. Smell it oft and it shall keep thee youngly.
'Also if a man have lost his smellyng of the ayre that he may not draw his breath, make a fire of the wood, and bake his bread therewith, eate it and it shall keepe him well.
'Make thee a box of the wood of rosemary and smell to it and it shall preserve thy youth.'

Rosemary has long been associated with wedding ceremonies; the bride would wear a rosemary headpiece and the groom and wedding guests would all wear a sprig of rosemary, and from this association with weddings rosemary evolved into a love charm. Newly wed couples would plant a branch of rosemary on their wedding day. If the branch grew it was a good omen for the union and family.

In ‘A Modern Herbal’, Mrs. Grieves says “A rosemary branch, richly gilded and tied with silken ribands of all colours, was also presented to wedding guests, as a symbol of love and loyalty.” Another example of rosemary’s use as a love charm was that a young person would tap another with a rosemary sprig and if the sprig contained an open flower, it was said that the couple would fall in love.

Rosemary was used as a divinatory herb: several types of herbs were grown in pots and assigned the name of a potential lover. Then they were left to grow and the plant that grew the strongest and fastest gave the answer.

Rosemary was also stuffed into poppets (cloth dolls) in order to attract a lover or attract curative vibrations for illness.

It was believed that placing a sprig of rosemary under a pillow before sleep would repel nightmares, and if placed outside the home it would repel witches. Somehow, the use of rosemary in the garden to repel witches turned into signification that the woman ruled the household in homes and gardens where rosemary grew abundantly. By the 16th century, this practice became a bone of contention; and men were known to rip up rosemary bushes to show that they, not their wives, ruled the roost.

Now that last one’s an interesting little snippet isn’t it? It just screams of the age-old quest by men to be the dominant gender. … Great topic for another blog. I’ll have to think a bit on this one.