Valentine’s Day is coming soon and a lot of people will be either giving or receiving roses. But did you know that roses are medicinal?
This is the first post in a short series I’m writing about matters of the heart; both the physical AND the emotional heart.
Rose petals and hips are the parts most frequently made into medicines. Rose hips, the fruit of the rose, is high in Vitamin C and can be added to teas or made into a delicious syrup to be taken during cold and flu season.
Rose flowers (petals) are the star today, though! Not only are they beautiful and fragrant, but the petals are mildly astringent and can help reduce stress and heal heartache.
Heal heartache, you say? How?
There are several reasons that roses have become associated with love over history. Have you ever looked at a single wild rose petal before?
It looks just like a little heart! And if you’ve ever heard of the Doctrine of Signatures before, it’s a general idea that plants look like the part of the body that they treat.
Roses, like all flowers, carry their own energy and healing powers. Rose petals soften an aching heart, especially for someone who has lost a loved one or gone through a hard breakup. They work their magic in the form of teas, flower essences, and my favorite, Rose Elixir.
Rose elixir is made with rose petals, rose hips, brandy, and honey. I start making a batch in the winter with some of the ingredients I have dried on my shelf. Then as summer comes along, I add fresh petals and eventually fresh rose hips to the jar. Rose Elixir is a labor of love that takes around 8 months or more to craft, always with the intention of healing a wounded heart.
I also add rose petals to tea and incense blends to take benefit from its healing power on the emotional heart. I make Rose Water in the summer months to cleanse my face as a soothing, cooling astringent on hot days.
In my next post I’ll be telling you all about Hawthorn berry for physical heart health. There are so many ways we can support our heart, and I want to show you how powerful herbal medicines can be!
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