What Are The Magical Properties Of Rosemary?

By Mark Piatt

Updated on October 30, 2023

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In magickal and spiritual circles, rosemary is often used for protection, purification, cleansing, and love spells.  The magical properties of rosemary can also be used to create spells for ridding jealousy and fidelity issues. 

Of the many herbs out there, rosemary is considered one of the most important Old World magickal herbs.

While reading this article, keep in mind there is always more than one way to accomplish your magickal goal. 

Take these suggestions we give you as a base, and make them your own. 

Magick works!

As a general rule, rosemary has magickal and spiritual powers that include 5 main properties (although there are more):

If you are interested in learning more about how you can use herbs in your magickal rituals, check out the following book by Ally Sands “Plant Magic for the Beginner Witch: An Herbalist’s Guide to Heal, Protect and Manifest“.

DISCLAIMER:

The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only.  Occult properties of herbs and essential oils are provided for historical interest only.  For possible treatments of physical or mental diseases, please seek a trained and licensed health professional.  Enchanted Aromatics is not responsible for any adverse side effects resulting from the use of any suggestions, products, preparations, or procedures mentioned or from the following historical uses of herbs and essential oils.

Rosemary Correspondence 

5 Magical Properties Of Rosemary

In “old-world magic”, using plants and herbs is one of the oldest magickal tools known.  Over many years, through observation and use, people have learned the magickal properties of plants.

In some magickal traditions, rosemary is considered so powerful, that it is a suitable substitute for many missing ingredients.

Following are some examples of how you can use rosemary in your daily magick and spiritual rituals.

Can Rosemary be used for protection?

Rosemary is believed to have powerful protection properties that can keep negative energies and harmful people away from you or your space.  Rosemary can provide powerful protection against evil spirits and evil witches. 

Turns out that today we know that rosemary possesses potent anti-bacterial properties.  So the old-world magick users knew what they were talking about.

Protection magick can be utilized under the following circumstances:

Depending on the type of occult attack, here are some common indications that may occur:

These same types of conditions can also occur from psychological and medical problems.  If you are having such problems, do not rely on magick to cure such problems, seek professional help.

Protection magick can be applied anywhere, on yourself, in your home, at work, or even in your car.  

As a result, there are countless ways to perform protection rituals.

Your intent plays a crucial role in whether your magick will work.  

Intent helps you to focus on your purpose which will help to influence events, effect change in material and non-material conditions, and help present an illusion of change that can have a positive effect on you and your surroundings.

 Burn rosemary to protect your home 

Burn rosemary to protect your space or home from negative energy.  

Burning incense has been recognized by nearly every culture as a means of harnessing the spiritual power of herbs, resins, and woods.

When burning an herb such as rosemary, you want to have your burning incense in something that will prevent ash from going all over the place.

The best way is to use a ceramic incense burner with a charcoal disc.

Instead of burning rosemary, you could diffuse rosemary essential oil.  We have many great-looking diffusers and essential oil burners that you may wish to check out Here.

Charcoal discs are inexpensive.  Click Here for a 100-pack from Amazon.

Here are a variety of Charcoal Incense Burners from Amazon.

If you are planning on burning rosemary to protect yourself, There are 3 main steps you should do when using rosemary in a protection ritual.

Once you have completed these three steps, then you can begin your burning ritual with rosemary.

Your protection ritual doesn’t start when you burn your rosemary, your protection ritual begins when you start preparing yourself, or if you grow your own rosemary, your spell starts with caring for your plant.

 Place bundles of rosemary on your door to keep bad people and evil spirits from entering 

This is similar to placing salt across your threshold to keep people with bad intentions or evil spirits from entering your home.

You can also create a decorative wreath made of rosemary that you can hang in different areas of your home to protect those areas.

 Place some dried rosemary along with other protective herbs in a mojo bag and keep it with you 

A mojo bag is a bag containing one or more magickal items.

A mojo bag derives its principal power from the signatures of the charged natural materials which are placed in them.

Other protective herbs you may wish to place in your mojo bag include:

 Spread ground-up rosemary powder in the 4 corners of a room or throughout your yard 

The energy of the home is really important.

As part of a protection spell, sprinkle ground-up rosemary or a mixture of ground-up protective herbs in each corner of your room.

While spreading your herbs, you may wish to chant your own mantra or incantation to voice your positive intentions.  

If you need to grind up your herbs, here is a nice granite mortar and pestle set from Amazon.

 Plant rosemary by your front door for protection 

What better way to utilize the protective powers of rosemary than by having a live rosemary plant protect your entrance?

Rosemary grows well in different regions and practically takes care of itself.

Read our following article “16 Essential Oils For Protection” to learn about essential oils that can help you protect yourself against magickal attacks and negative energy.

Does rosemary have magickal purification or cleansing properties?

In spell work, rosemary can be used to purify or cleanse a space or an object of negative energy.  

 Rub rosemary on your magical tools, crystals, and gemstones to cleanse them of any negative energy 

As an alternative, you can use rosemary essential oil instead of the plant.

 Use dried bundles of rosemary to smudge your home or sacred space 

Smudging is an ancient method to clear and purify a space.

Usually, when thinking of smudging, you will usually think of sage or juniper, but rosemary can be just as powerful at purifying a space.

Although you can purchase rosemary smudge sticks, the magick from your own homemade smudge sticks will be more powerful.

To make a rosemary smudge stick:

If you would rather purchase rosemary smudge sticks, they are inexpensive, such as these rosemary smudge sticks from Amazon.

Can rosemary be used to consecrate your magickal tools?

In many traditions, magickal tools are consecrated before they are used.  Frankincense is usually the oil of choice but rosemary incense or rosemary essential oil has also long been used to consecrate, purify, and remove negative energies from magickal tools.

There are many things related to your magick that you can consecrate with rosemary including:

The magickal items you want to consecrate don’t need to be fancy. 

For example, just use a regular drinking glass instead of a golden chalice.  Instead of a fancy ritual robe, a regular bathrobe is more than adequate. 

Rosemary does not care what your magickal items look like.  What matters is the intent and the energy you inject into your items.

 How to consecrate an object using rosemary 

Remember, this is just one example.  There are many ways to consecrate an object.

So you do not need to re-consecrate the object every time you are going to use it, when done using your object of power, keep it in a special place that is used only for ritual purposes.

Or if you choose to, you can always consecrate it every time you wish to use the object.  Do what makes you feel comfortable.

Can rosemary be used in fidelity and faithfulness spells?

Rosemary can be used to help ensure you have a faithful and obedient partner.  Incorporating rosemary into your spells to keep a partner from cheating or committing adultery can be easy to cast.

Rosemary is considered a mild aphrodisiac.  Maybe not as powerful as cannabis, maca, ginkgo biloba, or even artichokes, but many people report that inhaling rosemary increases their sexual desire, which may (or may not) help increase faithfulness in your partner. 

There are many spells related to keeping one faithful that you can incorporate rosemary into, so I won’t get into them in this article. 

Many of these fidelity spells require time to work and most of them usually involve burning various colors of candles, herbs, incantations, and other magical objects.

Traditionally, married women will hang a sachet of rosemary near the entrance of their home so that the rosemary will work its magick and keep their spouse faithful.  

Rosemary is considered a good omen of love, so having rosemary around when you are starting up a relationship will help ensure a long-lasting, faithful relationship.

Sometimes rosemary will be presented to wedding guests as a wedding gift because rosemary will help ensure faithful relations for all the guests and ensure loyalty and fertility.

To learn more about how rosemary can be used in love magick, check out my article “How To Use Rosemary In Love Spells And Rituals?“.

For a look at 21 herbs that can be used in love rituals, check out my article “Top 21 Herbs Used For Love Magic and Rituals“.

Can rosemary accelerate learning?

Since ancient times, rosemary has been used to strengthen memory.  Today, studies have even been conducted that show that just inhaling the aroma of rosemary has positive results on memory retention and concentration.   Rosemary may also help with aging-related memory problems.

Let’s face it, learning about magick requires a great deal of learning and memorizing.  

As an example, I have thousands of books on the subject of magick.  Learning about magick is no easy task (and learning to create a website and a blog, but I digress).  

Diffuse rosemary essential oil while learning about your magick will help to enhance your magick.  

While conducting any memory spell, burn rosemary or diffuse rosemary essential oil to enhance the effects of the spell.

Other magickal uses for rosemary.

After a long lingering illness, try burning a combination of rosemary and juniper together to force out the staleness from the room.

Rosemary can be used in sun magick rituals.  A few examples include rituals for:

Taking a bath with rosemary added can help remove tension and worries.

It is said that bathing in rosemary can preserve youth.  During the 15th century, Queen Isabella of Hungary would bathe in a concoction of herbs (now lost from history), including rosemary, that is said to have given her a youthful appearance.

Ancient Romans would include rosemary with their loved ones when they would die to help cheer them up and accompany them into the afterlife.  As a result of these early practices, today we still consider rosemary a plant of remembrance.

What Is Rosemary?

Rosemary is a fragrant evergreen shrub with needle-like leaves. Proliferating in sunny climates, rosemary is native to the Mediterranean.    

Rosemary produces small purplish/blue flowers which also have an interesting story attached to them.

Although not directly mentioned in the bible, rosemary is strongly associated with the Virgin Mary.

While fleeing King Herod with baby Jesus, Mary stopped to rest and wash clothes. She placed her blue cloak on a bush with white flowers, which turned the flowers blue. 

It is believed the bush she placed the cloak on was a rosemary bush.  Mary is often depicted in blue for her purity.  Her purity was transferred to the rosemary shrub.

Because of its association with the Virgin Mary, rosemary is thought to have powerful purification properties and the ability to ward off evil spirits.  As a result of the story, rosemary also stands for remembrance.

Rosemary was commonly planted in the front yards of homes because of a saying that stated “Where rosemary flourished, the woman ruled”.  But during the 15th century, men being men, who thought they were the rulers of their home, started ripping out the plants.

Well-known in culinary circles, rosemary has had a large amount of magickal folklore associated with it.

Rosemary is considered a powerful magickal herb that can be used as a substitution for other herbs and spices when they are not available, especially frankincense.

What does rosemary smell like?

Rosemary has a fresh evergreen smell known for having an astringent aroma that is pungent,  similar to eucalyptus.  Some will describe the smell as similar to pine with minty undertones.

Conclusion

Rosemary is a very powerful ally in purification and consecration rituals but can be used in many other scenarios.

I personally enjoy the smell of rosemary.  Feels refreshing.

The way you use rosemary in your magical and spiritual practices is only limited by your imagination.

If you are interested in learning about some general magical properties of essential oils, check out my article “15 Magical Properties of Essential Oils“.  

If you know of other magical properties of rosemary or different ways in which you use rosemary on your spiritual journey, we would love to hear from you so we may incorporate what you share in this article.