Slow and patient medicine of rose

Feb 13

text and watercolors by Cheryl Settino Mosher

I’d like to think that I chose rose (Rosa spp.), but I believe that rose chose me. Every single rose I see, I bury my face into the center of the bloom and inhale fully. The petals are silken against my cheeks, and they always have a scent to me—even when they don’t. I sink in and make rose my blessing.

A watercolor botanical painting of a rose leaf, petals, and hips.

Roses grow in a variety of habitats; at the edge of prairies, trails, wooded, open, moist coasts, and dry savannas, in fencerows and thickets, in upland forest, dunes, disturbed soils, and cultivated. Different parts of roses have different chemical compositions, and the type and percentage of chemical components depend on the variety of rose, growing environment, harvest time, and processing method. When harvesting, wild rose flowers should be collected in late spring or early summer during a dry morning shortly after blooming. Leaves can be collected any time before the first frost, and rose hips, the fruit of the plant, should be harvested after the first frost in the fall.

Rose hips are high in Vitamin C, and all parts of the plant particularly astringent, which is one of the primary ways in which this herb works within the body. It can help to tighten and tone tissues and mucous membranes, which makes it particularly helpful for conditions associated with excess fluid production or sweating. Rose has a naturally cooling and anti-inflammatory effect when used internally and externally, making it suited for hot and irritated conditions. Working with rose is especially helpful during and after menopause, as the “wind” of vata (dryness and busy mind) often increases with age. It can also be useful for alleviating some PMS symptoms.

Rose can help to unwind the stuck-ness that is often rooted in old grief and old trauma, the things that get locked in our body because we don’t know how—or are unable to—process; pain is rotten, why wouldn’t we block it off to hold it at bay. Every time these patterns are triggered, however, we live them over again and again, adding to low-level underlying tension. This tension helps to keep us alert, and aware, but also uses a lot of energy, and can lead to feeling unsafe all the time.

A watercolor botanical painting of a rose leaf and petals

Learning to not trust the world around us can create a deep underlying sense of fear that comes out in many ways: panic attacks, anxiety, depression. Rose helps to slowly and patiently ease the tension that holds these traumas in place. At it’s core, rose is a medicine of deep trust, deep vulnerability, and deep softening; allowing us to trust ourselves in our own bodies and to trust the world around us. As a result we can touch the world, but even more importantly let it in to touch us back.

This herb’s affinity for the heart means that it will support the organ on both a physical and emotional level, helping to relieve emotional tension, but also tension in the heart muscle itself manifesting as palpitations, for example. As a result of this effect, rose can also act as an effective aphrodisiac and also help to boost libido. Rose will open the heart chakra, increasing patience, compassion, and love.

The human body typically vibrates at 62–72 megahertz (MHz). Roses have a vibrational frequency of 320 megahertz (MHz)—which is the highest of any plant. Due to this high vibrational frequency, Roses are a sacred healing flower. Smelling a rose or using rose oil can raise your vibrational frequency, bringing balance and harmony to your body and brain.

In my explorations of the herb I’ve experimented with elixirs and infused oils—creating medicine of my own—as well as bathing in roses, anointing my face and body with rose oils, and eating and sharing rose infused foods. I also transformed fragrant rose petals into clay to shape into beads: the origin of rosaries, a process that includes drying, powdering, rehydrating, and cooking clay made from rose petals.

The more I worked with rose, the more I realized that the plant has been beside me my entire life, repeatedly revealing itself, and I now understand why. When working with rose, I feel uplifted and connected to myself in ways that I had lost sight of due to emotional quagmires. I’ve been in need of emotional support, and it was rose helping me to release the difficult that had become uneasily familiar.