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In Feri Tradition the red rose may be used to represent the Queen and King of Faery; known by many names, including Shiela'ton & Ti'tua'ton, names similar to Titania and Oberon introduced to the tradition by Puck DeCoyote. The Fairy Queen and King are a particular manifestation of Divine Twins.
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In Alchemy the Red Rose represents the solar, masculine force of Sulphur, and is also known as the Red King or Red Sun. This Red Rose represents the force of Spirit in Alchemy (and the Self archetype in Jungian psychology). It is associated with the 'red stone of projection,' representing the fourth and final red phase (Rubedo) of the Great Work. This stage is also associated with the Phoenix, and with blood.
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The Blood Rose is of special significance in Feri Tradition, in which it represents, as it does also in Alchemy, a state of transcendence and mastery. Victor H. Anderson, Faerie Grandmaster, utilized this symbol in his poem "Thorns of the Blood Rose."
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The Magician card as illustrated by Pamela Coleman Smith in the Rider Waite Deck bears a pairing of red roses and white lilies. Such imagery may be attributed to the poet Yates, who informed the deck according to Waite volume 10 of Occult Review entitled “The Tarot: A Wheel of Fortune." Yates referenced the rose and lily together in at least three poems.
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“A weariness comes from those dreamers,
dew-dabbled,
the lily and rose"
Soon far from the rose and the lily and fret
of the flames would we be”
“Lilies of death-pale hope, roses of passionate dream” |
The Golden Dawn system of magic has its own tradition of combining lilies with roses, just as the alchemists did with the white and red rose, and this likely influenced Yates as much as Smith and Waite, all of whom were alleged members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
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The rose arbor that hangs above the Magician may reference the
Rosicrucian order within the Golden Dawn, where many a magician would have been found.
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FLOWER SORCERY
To Aid Menstruation |
The cycle of menstruation averages 28 days for most women. Malas with 28 beads are common in Buddhist prayers of prostration, and in the West have been adopted for woman-centered devotions celebrating and regulating the menstrual cycle. For this crafty spell we will be making beads from ground rose petals, and asking for the aid of Mari, The Great Mother.
Due to its color, the red rose has long been associated with menstruation, and by extension the fertility that results from it. You will require about 4 loose cups of red rose petals for this devotion. A cup requires the petals from about 3 full blooms, therefore you will need about a dozen roses. If you like to do things old school then you will want to first dry your petals, then grind them in a mortar and pestle, after which you will need to wet them (you may use rose essential oil or a rose hydrasol for this, or plain water if the scent of rose is not what you are after). A quicker way for those of us who embrace technology is to put them undried into a food processor or blender, which better retains their red color. Either way, you will want an end product that acts similar to clay, with a consistency that you can roll into balls with your fingers, without the mixture being so dry that they flake apart, or so damp that they lose shape and shrink drastically after drying. A bit of liquid can be added to solve the former issue, and starches or dried petals for the latter. A soggy mixture may also be remedied by pressure with a cloth or paper towel.
The next stage involves cushing them into balls. You will want beads sized about the width of your index finger's nail. Make about thirty of these (it is good to have a couple backups). While these are still internally damp you will wish to string them, however you may wish to let their exteriors dry overnight, or else dry them in the mircowave in repeated 30 second intervals, compacting them further with your fingers between each attempt. Get a good sized needle, and use a strong thread. While stringing them, sing this chant.
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Mari most Holy
Who in all things resides
Whose dance moves the Moon
Our Rosy Queen of the Tides |
For problems with your cycle, or as a prayer to instigate or end pregnancy, this chant may be repeated as a rosary, said twenty eight times while embracing each bead between your thumb and forefinger. Additionally, rose essential oil may be applied to each of the beads along with the prayer, as rose oil is used to regulate your cycle in aromatherapy.
Other tricks include painting the final product with clear nail polish to seal and strengthen the beads. An entirely different method involves the use of over-baked clay, in which you add powdered red rose petals to the clay, roll them into beads, thread them, then bake them in the oven (or they may be pierced along a thin skewer and later sanded and strung). However you choose to do it, the chant to Mari is always done while stringing them and ended when the knot is tied.
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Please note: The spells contained on this page are not intended as a substitute for any legal, financial, psychiatric and or medical services.
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RED ROSE MYTHOLOGY
As Cupid danced among
The gods, he down the nectar flung,
Which, on the white rose being shed,
Made it for ever after red
-Herrick
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In Catholic mysticism the red rose is a symbol for the saints, especially those who shed blood through their martyrdom. The 'miracle of the roses' refers to the experience of roses announcing the presence of the Virgin Mary. Most often this manifests as scent, often arising from the graves of saints or their caskets when opened for rites of canonization. Among certain saints, such as Elisabeth of Hungary, Elizabeth of Portugal, Caslida of Toledo, and Didacus of Alcalá, there is a common theme in which each takes food from the pantry of their unsympathetic family or monastery to distribute to the poor, and when confronted for their theft find that the food has miraculously been transformed into roses. Roses also play a part in the story of Juan Diego, to whom the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared with a message for the bishop declaring her devotion to the people of Mexico. The bishop discounted the apparition, until Diego returned with a Castilian Rose that the Virgin had given him in the midst of an otherwise barren winter.
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RED ROSE FOLKLORE
Selections on red rose lore from 'Folk-lore From Adam's County Illinois'
by Harry H. Hyatt
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#7415: A woman who dreams of a red rose will soon receive an offer of marriage.
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According to ancient fable, the red colour of the Rose may be traced to Venus, whose delicate foot, when she was hastening to the relief of her beloved Adonis, was pierced by a thorn that drew blood.
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Which on the White Rose being shed
Made it for ever after red
-Herrick
A full fed Rose on meals of Tint
A Dinner for a Bee
In process of the Noon became -
Each bright Mortality
The Forfeit is of Creature fair
Itself, adored before
Submitting for our unknown sake
To be esteemed no more --
-Dickinson
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