sábado, 26 de janeiro de 2013

Rosmarinus officinalis: historical aspects


This plant’s Latin name is translated into "the dew of the sea" or "the mist of the sea", derivated from the words rose and marinus. It represented the base of the water perfume Queen of Hungary Water, one of the most popular beauty waters in the 17th century. A related legend says that an angel stopped in front of Queen Isabella of Hungary, who gave her a recipe of a rosemary elixir that would help her to recover her health after the queen turned 70 years old. Until the French Revolution, this eau de toilette spread throughout Europe. The Romans considered rosemary a sacred plant, a gift from their gods, and used it for religious cleansing and purification, as gifts or beautiful wreaths for weddings and other celebrations, as food, in beauty rituals and as herbal medicines. Dioscorides, the first century doctor of the Roman legion, wrote more about rosemary than any of the other 400 healing plants in his Materia Medica. According to folklore, rosemary originally had white flowers: however, they turned reddish-blue after the Virgin Mary laid her cloak on the bush.

In 1817, an Egyptian scroll was found dating back to 1500 B.C. It was a medicinal scroll mentioning over 800 herbal prescriptions and remedies for the many diseases that were successfully treated. Rosemary, as well as other oils, were used extensively for anointing and healing the sick. Since the time of ancient Greece (about 1000 BC), rosemary was burnt as an incense. Also later, cultures believed it warded off devils, a practice that eventually became adopted by the sick who then burned rosemary to protect against infection. It is said that rosemary placed under the pillow would protect you against nightmares. Superstitions say that this plant has the quality to help you recover memories and therefore it was knitted in the bed of the grooms, symbolizing the vows that the two have made to each other.

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