Found in the Hermetikon archive

Rosemary

Salvia rosmarinus

Rosemary appears in Hermetikon as an archive-backed plant entry, with references across historical medical, magical, symbolic, and ritual contexts where the source texts support them.

Risk: low concern
Books: 40
Contexts: 3
Mentions: 229

Overview Reading Contexts Citations Related Books

Archive Profile

Identity, safety, and search aliases used to connect this herb to the archive.

Herb identity

Common name: rosemary
Latin name: Salvia rosmarinus(candidate)
Identity note: Historically also classified as Rosmarinus officinalis.

Safety

low concern

Culinary use is generally low concern; concentrated oil and high-dose preparations require caution.

Historical archive citations are not medical advice. Use modern clinical and poison-control sources for ingestion, dosage, pregnancy, and toxicity questions.

Kew POWO: Culinary use is generally low concern; concentrated oil and high-dose preparations require caution.

Aliases

rosemaryrosemary-flowersrosmarinusRosmarinus officinalisSalvia rosmarinus

Rosemary in Historical Sources

Curated archive synthesis of recurring uses, recipes, rituals, and interpretive problems.

Hermetikon's curated reading of Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus) is built from 3 source-linked archive notes and 2 preparation or ritual-use entries. The strongest recurring contexts are preparations, ritual uses, and astrology. Each note below links back to the archive source used for the claim.

Preparation

high

Rosemary appears in distilled preparation material. The Family Herbal's palsy drops recipe includes tender rosemary tops with lavender flowers, spirit, and water, showing rosemary as part of compound household medicine.

The Family Herbal | John Hill | 1755

Page 243

Ritual

high

Rosemary also appears in seasonal fumigation and fire customs. Frazer records bundles containing rosemary that are kept and burned on May Day, placing the herb in ritual smoke and protection contexts.

The Golden Bough | James George Frazer | 1890

Â§ 15.â€”Scapegoats.

Astrology

medium

Agrippa's fixed-star plant material gives rosemary an occult correspondence context. This is weaker than the preparation evidence but useful for explaining why rosemary appears beside other magical plant attributions in the archive.

Three Books of Occult Philosophy | Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim | 1533

Page 120

Preparations and ritual uses

Distilled palsy drops

high

The Family Herbal combines lavender flowers and tender rosemary tops with spirit and water for distilled palsy drops.

The Family Herbal | John Hill | 1755

Page 243

May Day burning bundle

high

Frazer records rosemary in bundles kept and burned on May Day with resinous splinters, hemlock, caper-spurge, and sloe twigs.

The Golden Bough | James George Frazer | 1890

Â§ 15.â€”Scapegoats.

Rosemary Archive Contexts

Compact source patterns from the extracted citation set.

Preparation

11 passages across 11 books; strongest source: Book of Black Magic.

Matched as rosemary; high confidence.

Ritual

3 passages across 3 books; strongest source: The Golden Bough.

Matched as rosemary; high confidence.

Safety

1 passage across 1 book; strongest source: King's American Dispensatory.

Matched as rosmarinus; high confidence.

Rosemary Cited Excerpts

Representative public passages with the herb mention highlighted and linked to archive source material.

5 shown

Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Nicholas Culpeper

1653

"...™s Wort, Marjoram, Horehound, Bawm, Water-cresses, Origanum, Bazil, Pennyroyal, Poley mountain, Parsley, Smallage, Rue, Rosemary, Sage, Savin, Hartwort, Time, Mother of Time, Scordium, Nettles. *Stop the terms.* Shepherdâ€™s purse, Strawberries, Mirtles, Water Lilies, Plantain, Houseleek or Sengreen, Comfry, Knotgrass. *Resist poison.* Southernwood, Wormwood, Garlick, all sorts of Maiden hair, Smallage, Bettony, Carduus Benedictus, Germander, Calaminth, Alexanders, Carline Thistle, Agrimony, Fennel, Juniper, Horehound, Origanum, Pennyroyal, Poley-mountain, Rue, ..."

A CATALOGUE OF SIMPLES IN THE NEW DISPENSATORY.Open in Reader

Preparationalias: rosemaryhigh confidence

The Family Herbal

John Hill

1755

"...alsy drops is thus made best. Put into a small still a pound of lavender flowers, and five ounces of the tender tops of rosemary, put to them five quarts of common melasses spirit, and a quart of water: distil off three quarts; put to this cinnamon and nutmegs, of each three quarters of an ounce, red sanders wood half an ounce; let these stand together a week, and then strain off the spirit. The lavender water is thus made. Put a pound of fresh lavender flowers into a still with a gallon of melasses spirit, and draw off five pints. This is lavender water. LAVEND..."

Page 243Open in Reader

Preparationalias: rosemaryhigh confidence

Three Books of Occult Philosophy

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim

1533

"PHILOSOPHY OF NATURAL, MAGIC. 109 is called Elpheia; under this, amongst stones, is the topaz; amongst plants, rosemary, trifoil and ivy. The thirteenth is called the Heart of the Scorpion, under which, amongst stones, is the sardonius and amethyst; amongst plants, long aristolochy and saffron. The fourteenth is the Falling Vultur, under which, amongst stones, is the chrysolite; amongst plants, succory and fumitory. The fifteenth is the Taile of Capricorn, under which, amongst stones, is chalcedony; amongst plants, marjoram, mug-wort and catnip, and the..."

Page 120Open in Reader

Preparationalias: rosemaryhigh confidence

Encyclopaedia of Occultism

Lewis Spence

1920

"...writings to be burned publicly at Tarragona. Arnold was acquainted with the preparation of oil of turpentine and oil of rosemary, while the marcasite frequently mentioned by him is supposed to be identical with bismuth. His most important treatises are his Thesaurus Thesaurorum, Rosarium PkUosophorum, Speculam Alchemim and Perfectum Magisterum; while two others of some moment are his Test amentum and Scientia Scientice. A collected edition of his works was issued in 1520, while several writings from his pen are embodied in the Biblior tkeca Ckemica Curiosa of Ma..."

Page 484Open in Reader

Preparationalias: rosemaryhigh confidence

The Golden Bough

James George Frazer

1913

"...efore. On a Thursday at midnight bundles are made up of resinous splinters, black and red spotted hemlock, caperspurge, rosemary, and twigs of the sloe. These are kept and burned on May Day by men who must first have received plenary absolution from the Church. On the last three days of April all the houses are cleansed and fumigated with juniper berries and rue. On May Day, when the evening bell has rung and the twilight is falling, [pg 159] the ceremony of â€œBurning out the Witchesâ€ begins. Men and boys make a racket with whips, bells, pots, and pans; the w..."

Â§ 2. The Periodic Expulsion of Evils.Open in Reader

Ritualalias: rosemaryhigh confidence

Books Mentioning Rosemary

Complete public source inventory, placed after the interpretive reading so the page opens with the most useful synthesis first.

40 books

Culpeper's Complete Herbal

Nicholas Culpeper | 1653

rosemaryrosemary-flowers

78 mentionscited

King's American Dispensatory

Harvey Wickes Felter | 1854

rosmarinusrosemary

43 mentions

Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable

E. Cobham Brewer | 1870

Archive Profile

Herb identity

Safety

Aliases

Rosemary in Historical Sources

Preparation

Ritual

Astrology

Preparations and ritual uses

Distilled palsy drops

May Day burning bundle

Rosemary Archive Contexts

Preparation

Ritual

Safety

Rosemary Cited Excerpts

Culpeper's Complete Herbal

The Family Herbal

Three Books of Occult Philosophy

Encyclopaedia of Occultism

The Golden Bough

Related Archive Material

Related herbs

Books Mentioning Rosemary