Rosemary: magical uses, folklore and safety

How to read the labels Historical what the old sources say. Later tradition what later writers added. Modern modern practice and my own notes.

Rosemary is a wonderful first herb for a beginner. It grows happily in a pot, smells wonderful, goes into almost any savory dish and carries one of the oldest and clearest meanings in plant folklore: remembrance.

At a glance

Folklore and history

Historical The old Latin name ros marinus means “dew of the sea,” a reminder that the plant grows wild on the dry, sunny coasts of the Mediterranean. In 2017 botanists moved rosemary into the sage genus, so its scientific name is now Salvia rosmarinus.

Historical Rosemary’s link with memory is very old. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Act 4, scene 5), Ophelia hands out flowers and herbs and says, “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.” In Tudor and Stuart England, sprigs of rosemary were carried at weddings and laid on coffins at funerals, so the same herb marked both new beginnings and loss.

Later tradition English herbals gave rosemary protective powers too. Banckes’s Herbal of 1525 recommends putting the leaves under your pillow to keep away bad dreams. In 1652 the herbalist Nicholas Culpeper wrote that “the Sun claims privilege in it,” placing it under the Sun.

Modern Modern witches use rosemary for remembrance, clear thinking, protection of the home and cleansing. Many treat it as a stand-in for almost any herb, which is a practical modern habit and a sensible one, since it is easy to find.

Uses in practice

These are simple, safe ways to bring rosemary into your practice. None of them needs special tools.

• Remembrance: a sprig beside a photo on an altar for an ancestor or a friend who has died.
• Study: a small pot of rosemary on a desk while you work. See my study focus spell.
• Home: a sprig in a doorway blessing. See my home protection spell.
• Kitchen: rosemary with roast potatoes or bread, stirred with an intention for a clear head.
• Pouches: dried leaves in a travel charm or a sachet for a drawer.

Safety

Safety first. Herbs in witchcraft are symbols and kitchen ingredients, not medicine. Never eat, drink or burn a plant you cannot identify with confidence. Ordinary recipe amounts are not the same as medicinal teas, tinctures or essential oils. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or living with a health condition, ask a doctor or pharmacist before using any herb beyond normal cooking. If a child or pet may have eaten something harmful, contact a poison center, a doctor or a vet straight away.

• People: rosemary is safe in food amounts. Do not take rosemary essential oil by mouth, and do not put it undiluted on skin. Avoid rosemary oil and large medicinal amounts in pregnancy, and ask a pharmacist before using herbal preparations if you take medication.
• Pets: the ASPCA lists rosemary as non-toxic to dogs, cats and horses. Still keep essential oils and diffusers away from pets, especially cats.
• Smoke: if you warm dried rosemary for scent, use a fireproof dish, ventilate and keep pets and anyone with asthma out of the room.

A spell to try: a charm for the road

1. Do the practical things first: check travel advice, copy your documents and tell someone your plans.
2. On a slip of paper, write: “I travel with care and return well.”
3. Put a sprig of rosemary, a small stone from home and the paper into a little pouch or envelope.
4. Say: “Road and rail and sea and sky, carry me gently, carry me well. A stone from home to bring me back.”
5. Pack the pouch in your bag.
6. When you come home, put the stone back where you found it and compost the rosemary.

Check customs rules before you carry plant material across a border, because many countries prohibit it. A charm is never a substitute for a seatbelt, insurance or official travel advice.

Write down what you did and how you felt in your journal or Book of Shadows. Over time, your own notes become the most useful herbal you own.

Growing, drying and storing

If you can, grow a little rosemary yourself, in a pot on a windowsill or a corner of the garden. A plant you have tended means more than a jar from a shop, and you know exactly what has been sprayed on it. To dry herbs, hang small bundles upside down somewhere warm, dark and airy, or lay leaves on a clean cloth for a week or two, until they crumble. Store dried herbs in clean, labeled jars away from light and heat, and write the date on the label. Replace them after about a year, when the scent fades. Buy from food-grade or cultivated sources rather than wild-harvested ones.

An honest note

The meanings of rosemary come from people: from myths, herbals, poems, kitchens and, more recently, from modern witchcraft books, which often disagree with each other. I mark each layer on this page so you can see what is old and what is new. None of these meanings is a scientific property of the plant, and no herb will fix a problem on its own. What a familiar herb can do is give your intention a scent, a texture and a moment of attention, and that is where its magic lives.

Related herbs

If you enjoy working with rosemary, try bay laurel, garden sage or lavender next. For the full list of beginner herbs and safety notes, see my guide to herbs, and for pairing herbs with candles, see candle magic.

Where to go next

My book The Novice’s Guide to Witchcraft has an appendix of common herbs with folklore, safe uses and pet notes, and its kitchen witchcraft chapter shows how to bring herbs into everyday cooking. You can also read my page on kitchen witchcraft.