Blue roses traditionally signify mystery or attaining the impossible.
They are believed to be able to grant the owner youth or grant wishes.
This symbolism derives from the rose’s meaning in the language of
flowers common in Victorian times.
In Slavic mythology one may be granted wishes by bringing a blue rose
to Baba Yaga.The Blue Rose was also a symbolist, impressionist
influenced art movement in Tsarist Russia in the early 20th Century.
Also, according to a Chinese folktale, the blue rose signified hope against unattainable love.
According to the Yui-Tua peoples of some pacific island groups the appearance of a blue rose signals the end of times.
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose; By any other name would
smell as sweet.
William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 2 scene 2
Roses have a long and colorful history. According to fossil evidence,
the rose is 35 million years old. Today, there are over 30,000
varieties of roses and it has the most complicated family tree of any
known flower species.
The cultivation of roses most likely began in Asia around 5000 years
ago. They have been part of the human experience ever since and
mentions of the flower are woven into a great many tales from the
ancient world.
We find the beginning of the roses’ history in legend. The Garden of
Eden was full of thornless roses. When Eve fell from grace, it is said
that from then on the rose contained thorns on its stems. For over 3,
000 years the rose has been called the queen of flowers.
Greek mythology tells us that it was Aphrodite who gave the rose its
name, but it was the goddess of flowers, Chloris, who created it. One
day while Chloris was cleaning in the forest she found the lifeless
body of a beautiful nymph. To right this wrong Chloris enlisted the
help of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who gave her beauty; then
called upon Dionysus, the god of wine, who added nectar to give her a
sweet scent. When it was their turn the three Graces gave Chloris
charm, brightness and joy. Then Zephyr, the West Wind, blew away the
clouds so that Apollo, the sun god, could shine and make the flower
bloom, and so the Rose was.
Another legend of the rose also has Aphrodite. It is said she created
the rose which arose from her tears and the blood of her lover Adonis.
The Romans, turning Aphrodite into their goddess Venus, also adopted
the rose: it became the symbol of love and beauty. Cupid, offering a
rose when trying to bribe the God of Silence to hush Venus’s amorous
escapades, made the flower into a symbol for secrecy: Roman dining room
ceilings were decorated with roses, reminding guests to keep secret
what had been said during dinner. Sub Rosa, under the rose, up to this
day means "confidentially."
In an ancient Hindu legend, Brahma (the creator of the
world) and Vishnu (the protector of the world) argued over whether the
lotus was more beautiful than the rose. Vishnu backed the rose, while
Brahma supported the lotus. But Brahma had never seen a rose before and
when he did he immediately recanted. As a reward Brahma created a bride
for Vishnu and called her Lakshmi — she was created from 108 large and
1008 small rose petals.
Several thousands of years later, in
Crete, there are Frescoes which date to c. 1700BC illustrating a rose
with five-petaled pink blooms. Discoveries of tombs in Egypt have
revealed wreaths made with flowers, with roses among them. The wreath
in the tomb of Hawara (discovered by the English archaeologist William
Flinders Petrie) dates to about AD 170, and represents the oldest
preserved record of a rose species still living.
It is said Cleopatra had her living quarters filled with the petals of roses so
that when Marc Antony met her, he would long remember her for such
opulence and be reminded of her every time he smelt a rose thereafter.
Her scheme worked for Marc Antony fell madly in love with her. Such is
the power of the rose.
Roses later became synonymous with the worst excesses of the Roman
Empire when the peasants were reduced to growing roses instead of food
crops in order to satisfy the demands of their rulers. The emperors
filled their swimming baths and fountains with rose-water and sat on
carpets of rose petals for their feasts and orgies. Roses were used as
confetti at celebrations, for medicinal purposes, and as a source of
perfume. Heliogabalus used to enjoy showering his guests with rose
petals which tumbled down from the ceiling during the festivities.
During the fifteenth century, the factions fighting to control England
used the rose as a symbol. The white rose represented York, and the red
rose symbolized Lancaster. Not surprisingly, the conflict between these
factions became known as the War of the Roses.
In the seventeenth century roses were in such high demand that roses
and rose water were considered as legal tender. In this capacity they
were used as barter in the markets as well as for any payments the
common people had to make to royalty. Napoleon’s wife Josephine loved
roses so much she established an extensive collection at Chateau de
Malmaison, an estate seven miles west of Paris. This garden of more
than 250 rose varieties became the setting for Pierre Joseph Redoute’s
work as a botanical illustrator and it was here Redoute completed his
watercolor collection "Les Rose," which is still considered one of the
finest records of botanical illustration.
In ancient mythology, rose water was used in gourmet dishes and in love
potions. Petals were used in healing incense and sachets, and burned to
provide a restful night’s sleep. The essential oil was used in ritual
baths to provide peace, love, and harmony within the self. The hips
were strung like beads and worn to attract love. Rose petals sprinkled
around the home calmed personal stress and upheavals in the home.
American Indians were well aware of the uses and beauty of the rose.
They too adorned their brides with roses. Some of their native
medicines called for roses as well. They combined the petals of wild
roses and the fat of bears and used this mixture to cure mouth sores. A
powder was made from rose petals and this was used on any type of
blister or fevered sores. They used rainwater that had been instilled
with roses to bathe sore eyes and the stringing pulp of the rose stem
was mashed and applied to boils.
Cultivated roses weren’t introduced into Europe until the late
eighteenth century. These introductions came from China and were repeat
bloomers, making them of great interest to hybreaders who no longer
had to wait once a year for their roses to bloom.
From this introduction, experts today tend to divide all roses into two
groups. There are old roses (those cultivated in Europe before 1800)
and modern roses (those which began to be cultivated in England and
France around the turn of the 19th century).
Until the beginning of the 19th century, all roses in Europe were
shades of pink or white. Our romantic symbol of the red rose first came
from China around 1800. Unusual green roses arrived a few decades later.
Bright yellow roses entered the palette around 1900. It was the
Frenchman Joseph Permet-Ducher who is credited with the discovery.
After more than 20 years of breeding roses in a search for a hardy
yellow variety, he luck changed when one day he simply stumbled across
a mutant yellow flower in a field. We have had yellow and orange roses
ever since.
The rose embodies the union of opposites. On the one hand, it is
symbolic of love, beauty, purity, completion, resurrection, hope, and
life but on the other hand, it is symbolic of pain, suffering,
martyrdom, blood, and death. It is both heavenly perfection and earthly
passions. Broken down even further, different colors of roses mean
different things as well:
A Red rose could come to your rescue if you have problems in expressing
"I love you". It symbolizes desire, passion, joy, beauty, and
consummation. Your boss could say "Job well done" with red roses and
your friends could say "Congratulations for your success" with red
rose. Red roses have names like Ambassador, Grand Gala, and Mascara.
Planning a quiet romantic night with your fiancé? White roses could do
the trick. You invite her over a candle-lit dinner, play soft music and
bend down on your knees "I am happy to be with you, my charming lady".
White roses symbolize innocence, virginity, spiritual unfolding, charm
and purity. Your idea of saying "I am worthy of you" could be done with
white rose. Virginia is one of the names of this variety.
It’s your wedding anniversary and you have got stuck with a very
important deal. You come home late and you are looking for a way to
pacify your wife. Pink rose could do the trick for you. "Please believe
me!" Pink rose symbolizes simplicity, happy love, perfect happiness,
and gentleness. Anna, Claudia, Rufi and Paris D’Yves St. Laurent are a
few popular names.
Everyone has to be careful about a Yellow Rose. This color could mean
quite contradictory emotions, if not used properly. It could symbolize
jealousy and decrease of love; or on the contrary suggest ’I care’,
’Welcome back’, Friendship, joy and ’Remember me’ emotions. Pareo,
Starlite and Yellow River are one of the popular names.
Peach roses are a suggestion of Union. It says, "Let’s get together"
and on a more professional note, "Let’s close the deal". They are a
great way of showing gratitude and appreciation. You could also show
admiration or show sympathy with Peach roses.
The Rose can also convey other sentiments. A combine of Red & White
rose could mean union of fire and water, the union of opposites. A blue
rose can symbolize the unattainable, the impossible. The Red rosebud
symbolizes Pure and lovely, while a white one depicts girlhood. A
single rose depicts simplicity while a crown of roses symbolizes reward
of virtue.
Painstaking cultivation has revealed all of the remaining colors,
except blue and black. For many, a black rose is a less than attractive
prospect with its connotations of death, but the search to discover how
to create the blue rose has been likened to a horticultural Holy Grail.
This symbol represents attaining the impossible
religious understanding that all religions have a
"Truth"
for the individual at that time.James McDonald