The Symbolism of the Rose in culture

Antiquity connects the origin of the rose with the death of young Adonis, the beloved of Aphrodite (Venus). From the blood of the young man rose the first red roses. Since then, rose has become a symbol of love that can overcome death. Already during the Hellenic era it displaces the lily. In Apulay's famous novel The Golden Donkey, Lucius, turned into a donkey, threatened the roses of the Goddess of Love, and became a man again. After a man dies and descends into the world of shadows, it is the rose that leads him to a spiritual revival under the protection of God's love. And not by chance, the triple goddess of Hell, Hekate, wore a wreath of roses on her head. Christianity dedicates the rose to the Virgin Mary by attributing to her some of the attributes of Goddess Isis. And in India, the rose is doomed to God's mother.

image source

From very long ago the rose is associated with funeral rituals. We find it at the Rosalia feast as an element of the cult of the dead in Ancient Rome. All of Italy has kept the customs of this holiday, which was celebrated during the Empire between May 11 and July 15, and now coincides with Domenica rosata. The Dionysian wine-loving guy, wearing wreaths of roses, is convinced that this flower will soothe the heat-induced heat in them and save them from the chatter. Thus rose has become a symbol of discretion. Christians sculpt in their confessional roses with five petals. The Latin expression sub rosa, literally under the rose, meant under the sign of silence. In the Divine Comedy of Dante, the rose is named rosa candida "rose with dazzling white". In the Encyclopedia of Symbols, the Christian iconography turned the rose into the Queen of Flowers, because it symbolizes the purity of Mary, the heavenly mother. As a result, only the virgins could wear wreaths of roses during the Middle Ages, and the Madonna was depicted in a forest of roses. Many of the treatises on alchemy are titled Rosarium philosopharum "The Rose Garden of the Philosophers". The rose is also an essential element in the symbolism of the esoteric Christian Brotherhood of the Rose and the Cross by the Renaissance era, also called the Collegium of Wise Men. According to the Encyclopedia of Symbols, the emblem of the Rose and the Cross is a cross on which a rose with five petals is sculptured; it is similar to Martin Luther's personal seal (1483-1546) - a wax-covered cross is depicted in the heart of a rosary rose. Masonic symbolism attaches great importance to the rose. At the funeral of one of the brothers at his grave, three roses are placed. The three roses of John are interpreted as symbols of light, love and life. In France, on the feast of St. John (June 24), the Masonic lodges are decorated with roses of the three colors.

In his poem "The Secrets" Goethe best illustrates the symbolism of the Rose and the Cross and of the Freemasonry:

Er sieht das Kreuz mit Rosen dicht umschlungen.
Wer hat dem Kreuze Rosen zugesellt?
Es schwillt der Kranz, um recht von alien Seiten
Das schroffe Holz mit Weichheit zu bekleiden.
Und leichte Silber- Himmelswolken schweben,
Mit Kreuz und Rosen sich empor zu schwingen,
Und aus der Mitte qui'lt ein heilig Leben
Dreifacher Strahlen, die aus Einem Punkte dringen;

In the symbolism of Islam, and especially in the symbolism of Sufism, the rose is a symbol of the spirit of God's messenger Mohammed. The reason for this is not just the fact based on a number of traditions that his body smelled of rose, but much more deep truth, which lies in the creation of the universe according to Sufism.

The rose is a dream, inspiration, love, life and eternity.