HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY~~~

Valentine's Day is rich with history. It is celebrated throughout much of the world, though, not on the same dates. Symbols of Valentine's include Cupid, hearts, chocolates, roses, diamonds, and much more. It is a day of expressing love, though its origins had to do with martyrs...

The rose has always been valued for its beauty and has a long history of symbolism. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with their goddesses of love referred to as Aphrodite and Venus. In Rome a wild rose would be placed on the door of a room where secret or confidential matters were discussed. The phrase sub rosa, or "under the rose", means to keep a secret — derived from this ancient Roman practice...

Early Christians identified the five petals of the rose with the five wounds of Christ. Despite this interpretation, their leaders were hesitant to adopt it because of its association with Roman excesses and pagan ritual. The red rose was eventually adopted as a symbol of the blood of the Christian martyrs. Roses also later came to be associated with the Virgin Mary...

I read that the Virgin Mary's wedding garment was said to be “richly embroidered with blue, white, violet, and gold roses”. It is said that at the Incarnation, while the Angel vanished into the path leading to heaven, half-bloomed roses fell on Mary...

Roses have so many uses from expressions of love to teas. They are highly fragranced, and used as perfumes through much of the world. Rose hips are very high in Vitamin C, and thus, Rose Hips tea is very popular throughout the world...

The alternative health applications of Rose oil are many. On a physiological level, Rose Otto is a strong antiviral, used primarily to treat herpes and shingles outbreaks. The Otto is also exceptionally beneficial to the female reproductive organs. It acts as a tonic for the whole system, and can be diluted in an aromatherapy carrier oil and massaged into the pelvic region for this effect. It is said to be both a regulating and purifying agent, and may help with infertility and other conditions of the uterus...

Rose extracts are found in many of the worlds premier skincare formulas. Rose oils are particularly effective for dry and mature skin. Hence the symbol of duty brings about beauty through an overall healing action in the dermis. Rose oils are stimulating to skin cell metabolism, cleansing, hydrating, smoothing, and naturally astringent without being drying. The distillate water of Rose, called Rose Hydrosol, is used as a natural cleansing agent unto itself; it can be applied daily after the face is washed to improve skin texture and impart a healthy glow...

To make Rose oil takes an enormous amount of rose petals, and is made into Otto or Absolute. Otto being steam distilled, and Absolute being extracted at cool temperatures, and is high in fragrance, and bears the red coloring of the roses...

It is amazing the amount of information associated with a flower which we associate with love. Who knew? This is only the tip of the mountain of info on this gorgeous bloom of the Earth...

Happy Valentine's Day! May love blossom from within you, and may to come to you from without, may you bask in the glory of its joys, and may your heart and soul be fed of it daily from the many levels and sources of its essence, which is as intoxicating as fields of blooming roses....