Rosemary is native to the Mediterranean, its Latin name meaning "sea dew." The name may have more to do with the color of its flowers than with any affinity to the sea.
The most famous legend about this plant has it that rosemary's flowers were once white. They turned blue after the Virgin Mary laid her blue cloak over a rosemary shrub while fleeing from Herod. It was also once thought that the long-lived shrub never grew over six feet tall, no matter how old, because it refused to grow to be taller than Christ.
One old belief is that rosemary would only grow in the garden of a righteous person; another that if rosemary grew with vigor in a yard, the woman of the household may be stronger than the man. The association with the Virgin Mary may also be connected with rosemary's traditional use to decorate homes and churches at Christmas.
Rosemary is the herb of fidelity and remembrance. "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you, love, remember," as Ophelia said in "Hamlet."
With this in mind, rosemary has long been used in wedding ceremonies as an encouragement toward fidelity and to remind the new couple to remember their wedding vows, roots and families. Dried rosemary could also be used in the bedding to promote fidelity. (As an added bonus, a sprig of rosemary under a pillow was also thought to ward off not only bad dreams, but demons.) Sprigs have been tossed into caskets as a promise to remember the deceased.
Further illustrating the belief in its powers of memory enhancement, Greek students weaved rosemary into their hair to help them when taking exams. It was also prescribed for relief from mental disorders in ancient Greece.
Rosemary also was considered a disinfectant, especially when burned. Church flocks were purified by burning rosemary, and ancient Greeks burned it to dispel evil spirits and sickness. The French burned rosemary and juniper in hospitals during the Middle Ages to clean the air.
Historically, rosemary has been used at various times to treat nervous disorders, melancholy and depression, headaches, dizziness, epilepsy or other trembling disorders, arthritis, gout, baldness and even to reduce varicose veins.
The most famous legend about this plant has it that rosemary's flowers were once white. They turned blue after the Virgin Mary laid her blue cloak over a rosemary shrub while fleeing from Herod. It was also once thought that the long-lived shrub never grew over six feet tall, no matter how old, because it refused to grow to be taller than Christ.
One old belief is that rosemary would only grow in the garden of a righteous person; another that if rosemary grew with vigor in a yard, the woman of the household may be stronger than the man. The association with the Virgin Mary may also be connected with rosemary's traditional use to decorate homes and churches at Christmas.
Rosemary is the herb of fidelity and remembrance. "There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray you, love, remember," as Ophelia said in "Hamlet."
With this in mind, rosemary has long been used in wedding ceremonies as an encouragement toward fidelity and to remind the new couple to remember their wedding vows, roots and families. Dried rosemary could also be used in the bedding to promote fidelity. (As an added bonus, a sprig of rosemary under a pillow was also thought to ward off not only bad dreams, but demons.) Sprigs have been tossed into caskets as a promise to remember the deceased.
Further illustrating the belief in its powers of memory enhancement, Greek students weaved rosemary into their hair to help them when taking exams. It was also prescribed for relief from mental disorders in ancient Greece.
Rosemary also was considered a disinfectant, especially when burned. Church flocks were purified by burning rosemary, and ancient Greeks burned it to dispel evil spirits and sickness. The French burned rosemary and juniper in hospitals during the Middle Ages to clean the air.
Historically, rosemary has been used at various times to treat nervous disorders, melancholy and depression, headaches, dizziness, epilepsy or other trembling disorders, arthritis, gout, baldness and even to reduce varicose veins.