Rosmarinus officinalis
The Herb of Remembrance
An evergreen shrub with needle-like leaves and small pale blue flowers.
It grows in light, rather dry soil in sheltered places.
It grows smaller on chalk but more fragrant.
Rosemary has been widely used for culinary purposes, as medicinal herb, as essential oil in aromatherapy, as fumigant and incense and a sprig of its flowers as a meaningful token.
".. one of the earliest plants to have been used in medicine.." (Davis).
It was found in Egyptian tombs.
It was the incense bush in ancient Greece and the Romans used it.
Shakespeare calls it the Herb of Remembrance.
It has the reputation to strengthen the memory and therefore sprigs were carried on weddings and funerals.
It was the lovers' token of fidelity.
In ancient Greece students carried some rosemary on exam days.
The theme of Rosmarinus officinalis is active memory, specially in connection with lovers, friends and mother. Jan Scholten had a dream of a wedding after proving Rosmarinus officinalis.
Mythology
Assyrian: Libanotis, a young man, had so much devotion for the gods that he was transformed into the herb when he was chased away by his own people.
Greek: Helios appeared to Leukothoe as her mother and seduced her. Leukothoe was then burried alive by her angry father, but transformed into this incense bush.
Or: Leukothoe, daughter of Helios, seduced her own father and as punishment was transformed into the Rosemary shrub.
Christian: The bush gave shelter to the Virgin Mary. As she hung her cloak over it, the white flowers turned blue.
Active principles from the whole plant:
borneol, camphene, camphor, cineol, lineol, pinene, resins and saponin.
Properties:
Tonic, astringent, diaphoretic, stimulant, warming, stomachic and nervine.
Regions:
Mind, brain, nerves, circulation, heart, liver, gallbladder, respiration, skin.
Clarke mentions Rosmarinus officinalis briefly from a case of poisoning, causing abortion in
a pregnant woman. Also early menses and chilliness.
As "ancient reputation" of oil of Rosmarinus officinalis he adds it as a remedy for baldness, headache and flagging mental powers. Anxiety and weak memory are the only symptoms that have made it into the Mind section.
Rubrics from Clarke and the Complete Materia Medica, Mind and Complete Repertory:
Mind
Anxiety
Dreams of a wedding
Memory, deficient
Head,
Vertigo
Headache
Heaviness and dullness of head
Weight and tension around head
Hair, affections of
baldness
falling out
Female genitalia
Abortion
Menses, frequent
4 days too early
Metrorrhagia, general
Pain, violent
Respiration
Oppression of breathing
Spasms in chest
Extremities
Coldnes, upper limbs, hands, lower limbs, foot
Sleep, Sleepiness (overpowering, with yawning), Sleeplessness
Chill, Chilliness
Generalities
Faintness, abortion, after
Pulse, frequent, irregular, small
Protection
Psychic protection, to drive out evil spirits, used in ancient religious rituals, in smudging by native American, as incense, in burners and vaporisers.
In medieval Europe to drive evil spirits out of persons. To make "light and merry".
Against nightmares, nervous depression.
As physical protection Rosmarinus has antiseptic properties, was used as fumigant in hospital wards.
Prevents/delays putrefaction of meat.
Protects teeth.
Stimulant
Stimulates all levels of the person. Rosmarinus relates to the Brow Chakra (Third Eye), stimulates brain and mental activity.
Clarity of thought, development of clairvoyance.
The oil causes sleeplessness.
The potency can cure overpowering sleepiness.
A tonic for circulation, thus warming cold extremities.
Encourages the circulation in the head, for headaches caused by sluggish circulation, for baldness, excessive loss of hair after illness.
Penetrating odour with deep action on respiration; in colds, catarrh, asthma, sinusitis, cough.
Works on CNS in loss or reduction of nerve functions: loss of smell, poor sight and hearing; affection of sensory nerves; speech impairment, temporary paralysis, affection of motor nerves.
Rejuvenating.
For weakness, loss of appetite. Stimulates bile.
Lowers cholesterol level.
Skin tonic, for clear complexion, enhancing the circulation of the skin and liver function. Cleansing the body of toxic substances by stimulating perspiration.
Relaxing
Analgesic, but not sedating, to relieve pain in arthritis and rheumatism.
For tired, stiff and overworked muscles.
Antispasmodic.
In sleeplessness.
Conditions
Depression, headaches, sleep disorders, epilepsy,jaundice, colics, degenerative conditions, arthritis, rheumatism, gout, miscarriage, asthma.
Folk medicine used rosemary wine for weakness of the heart, smoking of dry herb in astma, external use of essence on arthritis, in the bath to stimulate the skin and as aphrodisiac.
Case
Man, aged 66, presents with nervous anxiety and depression which is going on for 7 months and renders him unable to do anything.
He attributes his depression to the mental illness of his wife who thinks she is under the spell of evil spirits.
The SRP symptom is, that his condition on the day of his mother's anniversary. She had died three years prior to his illness.
Only a few weeks after Rosm. 30, he feels better and started doing things again.
Bibliography
Clarke, Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica
Davies, Aromatherapy, An A - Z
Davies, Subtle Aromatherapy
DTV Lexikon der antiken Mythen und Gestalten
Grieve, A Modern Herbal
Raetsch, Heilkraeuter der Antike
van Zandvoort, The Complete Materia Medica, Mind, and Complete Repertory