Our ancestors knew the power of Rosemary to help with everything from Memory to to Massage to a little Mmmmm in the bedroom.
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In a Nutshell:
A Little Rosemary Legend and Lore
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Rosmarinus Officinalis has played a role in the human story since ancient times. Officinalis is a latin word that indicates that a plant is of medicinal use. Rosmarinus comes from the Latin for dew (ros) and of the sea (marinus), reflecting the origin story of Venus, the Goddess of Love. The myths tell that she was seeded from the stars when a phallic-looking object (apparently from Uranus) fell into her mothers womb, the Sea. Venus emerged fully formed from the waters, her neck draped with rosemary. It is a gorgeous image of feminine beauty, power and love, born of both the stars and the earth, beautifully captured by Sandro Botticelli in his painting, The Birth of Venus.
The common name rosemary comes from a legend that Mary, mother of Jesus, while fleeing from Egypt, sheltered one night next to a blossoming rosemary bush. When she threw her blue cape over the bush, its white flowers turned blue. Like the sacred woman she is associated with, Rosemary's energy is loving and soothing like that of a caring mother. It is subtle and fragrant, yet grounding and supportive. But our love story with Rosemary does not end there. Its medicinal properties have benefited humans for centuries. In Ancient times, it was burned in spaces to clear the air of toxins, bacterial or spiritual. The Greeks hung rosemary bunches in study spaces to help scholars focus their minds for clear thought and inner vision. And legend has it that Rosemary oil was part of an immune system boosting blend that protected grave robbers from getting sick during the Plague. Rosemary Essential Oil Health and Wellness Benefits
Back in the day, Rosemary was used to treat respiratory issues, melancholy, gout, epilepsy, arthritis, memory problems and nerves. It was also part of regular body maintenance, both inside and out. Thats a lot of awesome wellness in one plant!
Today, rosemary essential oil is used to boost the immune system and ease breathing; relax muscles and stimulate circulation; calm the mind and hone focus. It can help eliminate harmful bacteria and fungus, soothe an upset tummy, minimize a skin breakout, uplift mood and revitalize hair. Now you have even more reasons to use Rosemary Essential Oil! But how will you put that precious elixir to use? Here are 5 suggestions for how you can put the benefits of your Rosemary essential oil into personal care rituals for yourself and your loved ones. Diffuse Rosemary Essential Oil to Improve Memory and Focus
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Rosemary is a strong cephalic essential oil, which means that it has properties that work on the head. Recent scientific studies show that Rosemary Oil can help improve memory, focus and concentration for students, as well as dementia patients. It can also reduce the level of harmful hormones released during stressful experiences.
Does your child have an exam to study for? Having trouble focusing on a project? Or a loved one experiencing short term memory loss? Try a few drops of your lovely rosemary oil in an aromatherapy diffuser. Place it in the room and let Rosemary work some of her magic. Worried about stressing out in an exam or at work? You can also take Rosemary essential oil with you on the go in an aromatherapy inhaler or in aroma jewelry. No matter what stressful dragon you might be facing down, Rosemary has your back! Make a Rosemary Massage Oil to Relieve Aches and Pains
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Rosemary is fabulous for relaxing tight overworked muscles. Its anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain-relieving) properties work wonderfully on headaches, muscle soreness, rheumatism or arthritis. Its anti-bacterial, anti-fungal properties are knock out foot and armpit odour. And its stimulating properties put a little zing back into your blood flow. Get your Rosemary Essential oil to work by creating a multi-purpose massage oil that can be used to massage your aching head, sore body and tired feet.
To make the massage oil, choose an organic, skin-loving carrier oil - like almond, rice bran or sunflower. Next, dilute your Rosemary essential oil into your carrier oil. The National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (USA) recommends using 2.5% to 10% essential oils in a massage oil formula. Your carrier oil will make up the rest. Combine both oils together in a bottle. Cap it, and gently shake it thoroughly to mix the ingredients. Heat your Rosemary Massage oil just a little before using it by placing your bottle of oil into a mug of hot water. Thats an Ayurvedic massage trick, to improve oil absorbability and fluidity. Ayurvedic self-massage has been used for centuries to keep the lymphatic system flowing smoothly, while working on acupressure points and stimulating your nervous system. Your Rosemary Massage oil is perfect to use, as Rosemary will help stimulate muscles and nerves, provide pain relief as well as clear up that brain fog! Use Rosemary as an Aphrodisiac
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Rosemarys association with the Goddess of Love explains the traditions of employing Rosemary in matters of the heart. Back in the day, it was used to make love charms. Both bride and groom would wear it in ceremony as a symbol of their love and devotion to one another. It would be placed between the sheets on the wedding night as an aphrodisiac and to ensure fertility. And planted outside the house for protection. Thats a lot of Love blessings!
Today, Rosemary and Love still go together. Valued for its aphrodisiac properties, it has the ability to stimulate both mind and body—helping you to be more present during love-making. Increased blood circulation heightens sensitivity to touch; a relaxed body can lean into an orgasm with some abandon; and a focused mind is more able to pay attention to physical and emotional needs in the bedroom,. Arouse your partner with a sensual massage using your Rosemary Massage Oil. Diffuse some Rosemary essential oil in the bedroom. Let Rosemary carry you away to your bliss.
Use Rosemary to Zap Zits
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Rosemary Essential Oil has astringent, anti-bacterial and anti-oxidant properties. That makes it particularly good at deflating the most angry of zits. You can make your own Zit Zapper Oil by pairing your Rosemary essential Oil with a lightweight, easily absorbed carrier oil that supports your skin sebum production while repairing ruptures. That gift from Nature is is Evening primrose Oil.
Put 30ml Evening Primrose oil in a dropper bottle. Add 10 drops of Rosemary Essential Oil. Cap the bottle and gently shake to thoroughly mix the ingredients together. At bedtime, complete your usual face care routine. Instead of using your regular moisturizer, apply your Zit Zapper oil blend. Place a drop or two of the oil on the affected skin area. Gently massage the oils into your skin. Leave the oils to work overnight while you sleep.
Condition and Strengthen your Hair with a Rosemary Essential Oil Treatment
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I come from a long line of women with amazing hair. Truly! Even as I turn 60 this year, I have a full head of hair with some light silvering. The secret? Coconut oil and Castor Oil. Having an oil treatment was part of a weekly routine in my youth, one I still indulge in today.
Washing, brushing and styling your hair can cause damage, leaving it looking frizzy, broken, and dry. Coconut oil can help treat split ends; its anti-bacterial properties can fight dandruff causing fungals; and its cooling feel is calming to scalp itchiness. Castor oil strengthens the hair shaft, helps smooth the hair cuticle and adds shine. Add Rosemary Essential Oil to this magic mix and you get a scalp stimulant that studies show may help slow down hair loss and graying. To make this lovely hair treatment, heat together 2 tsp Coconut Carrier Oil and 2 tsp Castor Oil in a small pan. When the oils are melted and blended, remove from heat and add 5 drops Rosemary Essential oil. Using your fingertips, massage the oil blend into your scalp. Leave it in for 30 minutes to an hour. Shampoo as usual. I hope you feel inspired to include Rosemary Essential Oil in your daily self-care practices. How are you planning to use It? Please leave a comment and let us know!.
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This Imbolc, take some time to connect with nature, let go of what no longer serves you, conserve your energy, and plant some seeds for the year to come.
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The days are getting longer and on a sunny day, your heart swells inexplicably at the thought of the return of spring. That’s you tuning into the energies of Imbolc.
Imbolc kicks off the mid-season, halfway between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere. It does not quite feel like spring, yet we see the signs of Nature awakening—a bud, a sprout, a blossom at a time. In fact, the word Imbolc means in the belly of the Mother. There is a sense of anticipation in the air, as the days get longer and the temperature gets warmer. Nature’s Magic is literally in the air, full of potential for growth and transformation. For millennia, ancestors all over the world celebrated this time of year with feast and ritual. They observed the sun and moon cycles, believing that this was a way to harmonize human activity with the cycles of Nature to ensure fertility, abundance and fruitful harvests. I think the these rituals and celebrations helped our ancestors align their lives and heart resonance with the cycles of Mother Earth and her heart beat. The rituals of our ancestors differed in content and performance but there are similarities across cultures. Offerings were made to goddesses responsible for home and hearth, protection and fertility. Cleansing and purging rituals were done, setting the energetic tone for a fresh start in the Spring. Often these would involve fire, symbolic of the way fire purges the land to restore the soil. They opened the door to a clean slate, and new beginnings. Still more rituals celebrated the union of sacred masculine and feminine energies and the blessings of new life, while other rituals honoured the larger cycles of creation, preservation and destruction. The rituals helped focus intentions through this pregnant pause time, while embracing possibility, new hope and new life—Nature’s and their own. 
A Drawing for Brigid, the Celtic goddess of.home and hearth, protection and fertility Photo by Elena Mozhvilo on Unsplash
There is a special kind of magic in this transitional period when you can sense the excitement of something coming into being. Maybe it is something you dreamed already; maybe it is something completely new. With the many demands of our daily schedules in the hustle and bustle of urban/sub-urban life, we can sometimes forget to notice the beauty of Nature’s quiet, slow, often subtle movements.
So what rituals and processes can we use now, in the 21st century to help us connect with the Earths current cycle? How can we focus our intentions to set into motion, ever so slowly, the dreams we dreamed for our year during the hibernation state of Winter? 1. Spend some Time Communing with Nature
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Go for a wander in the woods or thorough the nearest park. While you’re walking, listen for the birds, watch them fly around with each other. Look for squirrels and watch them play. Look for evidence of new life coming in around you—a new shoot poking its head up from the soil, a bud forming on a tree. Take the time to allow wonder to bubble up inside you, as though you are discovering all this for the very first time. Allow yourself to experience this nature walk the way your inner child would have—with awe and wonder. Take a moment to express appreciation to the Earth for the beauty of this season. Take a beat to feel the connection of your heart to hers.
2. Let Go of What no Longer Serves You
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Think of this as preparing your own soil for what you want to grow in yourself this year. It is a cleansing and purging of your mind, beliefs, programmed expectations, energetic field. If you find yourself in a rut or a comfort zone, this is your time to make a shift—not a whole sale overnight change, but a shift.
We are living through times of big changes in the world. There are going to be things within us—ways of thinking, behaving, reacting, organizing, caretaking, believing—that will not support these changes with ease and grace. The Imbolc season is a time for going within and finding what those obstacles are. They will most often look like fears of some sort—loss, security, the unknown. My favourite way to get through this part is through sitting with it, looking at it from every angle and journaling my observations and epiphanies. There is always something abstract brewing within you, a feeling or a sensation. It remains abstract until we sit with it, get to know it and name it. Once you name the obstacle, think and feel about what you would like to replace it with, something that would support your process of change. The obstacle might be a belief or a story that you have invested in for many, many years that no longer serves you. Or it might be a habit that you go to in times of stress that is not actually supporting you. Hold a compassionate space for yourself while letting go. It can be a difficult process sometimes. The key here is to take small steps, nothing too overwhelming. You are preparing your soil and putting in the mental, emotional, spiritual and physical nutrients you need to grow this year. 3. Build Your Inner Reserves and Resilience
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Being able to conserve your energy and build resilience during times of transition is a super power. It is at the foundation of self care. It is also how we prevent burnout by refusing to take on more than we can handle and taking care of ourselves—physically, emotionally or spiritually.
Physically, this could look like getting enough sleep, supporting your wellbeing with nutritious foods, herbs and aromatherapy, and getting regular exercise. Emotional health care might look like not taking on too much drama, refusing to invest in limiting beliefs or stories fuelled by fear, quitting the judgement train, talking your feelings through with people you trust, laughing for no apparent reason and journaling. A practice of being in stillness, peace and gratitude definitely helps your spiritual health. It is how you can more consciously align your heartbeat to that of the Earth’s. These are just some suggestions. You’ll know you’ve found the right thing when you feel expansive about it—literally the feeling of your heart opening in your chest. If you feel contractive, then this is not the right thing for you. 4. Plant Some Seeds
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Studies show that planting more trees and plants will help slow the effects of climate change. Plants, like us, also resonate with the Earth’s heartbeat. In fact, when they are off beat, their ability to photosynthesize is affected. Planting plants is a way to solidify our connection to the Earth and our plant relations by participating with each other’s processes.
This is also time to plant seeds for what we want to create in our lives this year. Now is the time to start taking small steps towards actualizing the dreams we dreamed during the Winter Solstice season. The goals we set are not an end; they are the lighthouse or the guidepost for the journey we will take to get there. So the plans you make right now need not be huge or detailed. Just get the journey in motion, know that you are walking towards your dream, even though you don’t have all the information about it. Feel into the direction, as you go. Your True North will be your Why. If you find yourself at crossroads, choose your path, base it on a Why that is grounded in what is most loving and for your highest good. So this Imbolc, take some time to connect with nature, let go of what no longer serves you and plant some seeds for the year to come. Enjoy your journey, your life safari!
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