Thursday 31 March 2011

The Jericho Rose

Id like to write a little about the plant that inspired the name for this blog, The Rose of Jericho.
I'm not entirely sure why I chose to name this blog after these charming little plants it was just one of those things that felt right at the time, possibly it was simply because of the beauty of its name, which conjures up all kinds of lovely ancient and exotic images.

There are lots of traditions and rituals associated with The Rose of Jericho that span several belief systems including Catholicism, Hoodoo and Santeria.

The Rose of Jericho lends its name to 2 species of plants Anastatica hierochuntica (true Rose of Jericho) and Selaginella lepidophylla (false Rose of Jericho).
These plants are also known by several other names including mary's flower, resurrection plant, doradilla, stone flower, sempre viva, spike moss, palestinian tumbleweed, dinosaur plant among many others.

They are basically a type of tumbleweed, when you buy one (they usually cost around £1-£10 depending on the size and species) they appear just like ball of coiled up brown dead spiky leaves, this is the state they spend most of their time in where they are blown around the desert floor, when the wind blows them into a place that has water, the little ball becomes moist and opens up into a rosette of lush greens leaves, once the water dries up the rosette closes again into its tumble weed form ready to be blown away by the wind to another damp place.

Catholic families sometimes keep a dried Rose of Jericho in a paper bag among their Christmas decorations, at Christmas they will place the rose in a shallow dish of water on the Christmas table allowing it to bloom, after Christmas the plant is left to dry up and packed away with the decorations for the following year, it is believed to symbolise the opening and closing of Marys womb. Other catholic families follow a similar tradition at Easter, the symbolism of death and resurrection being an obvious parallel with Jesus Christ.



In Santeria and other Yoruba based traditions the plant is sometimes believed to be sacred to the Orisha Shango, the spirit of lightening, I am unsure of the exact symbolism of why this is so, perhaps it is something to do with story of Shango committing suicide and then coming back to life, if anyone knows for certain I would love to hear why. Nevertheless the Rose of Jericho is sometimes placed on his altar by his devotees or used as an ingredient in powders, incenses, oils and baths that are made under the patronage of Shango.


In hoodoo, conjure and obeah the plant is often used as a prosperity charm, it is believed to promote good business in a place of work and happiness and abundance in the home.

I would like to share with you how I have used the Rose of Jericho in the past and how you can use it.

As I previously mentioned there are two species that have this name, the true Rose of Jericho (Anastatica hierochuntica) is much less attractive and rarer on the market, it is also costlier, it comes from the middle east and Sahara desert, it is particularly common around the vicinity of Jericho, hence its name.

The false Rose of Jericho (Selaginella lepidophylla) is much prettier in my opinion, it is much fuller and greener when open and will make an attractive addition to your home, this plant is much more readily available and cheaper, you are much more likely to see this being sold in botanicas and online.

The rose can be employed in several ways, if you have a business place it in a shallow dish of water by the door to attract customers, drop 5 coins into the water and change its water every Tuesday (other folks say Friday or Sunday), pour the old water over the doorstep and say psalm 23 as you give it fresh water.

In your home you can place it pretty much anywhere, if you have an altar dedicated to spiritual work then perhaps you would like to place it there, again place 5 pennies in the water for abundance, change the water once a week, save the old water, this can be used as part of a floor wash to invite wealth and prosperity into your home, just add it to your regular floor wash and scrub down the floor whilst saying psalm 128, you can also use the water to cross yourself or others to bring blessings and happiness.

Other less conventional magical uses of the rose are sometimes employed, one nice love spell I know of involves writing the name of the desired person in doves blood on a scrap of paper, the paper is burned to ash and the ashes placed in a tea made from certain secret herbs, this tea is placed in a shallow dish and a dried Rose of Jericho is placed in the dish, certain prayers and invocations are recited and as the rose blooms and grows so does the desired's affection for the person casting the spell.

TIPS ON CARING FOR YOUR ROSE OF JERICHO



Do not swamp the plant with too much water, they can easily grow mouldy, the rose should rest on top of a small amount of water, there should be no water on the top side of the plant.
Do not add lodestones to the water as I've seen recommended on the Internet, you will just end up with a rusty mess.
Some people recommend adding holy water to the plant, if you are going to do this just add a little splash, remember holy water from churches sometimes contains salt which may end up killing the plant.
Change the water at least once a week, don't allow the water to become stagnant.
Don't place them in direct sunlight but do place them somewhere warm.
Allow your plant to dry out occasionally if its just being kept in water.
False Rose of Jericho can be planted in soil, allow it to bloom in a dish of water for a few weeks until you see small roots appearing then transplant to a large pot of damp potting compost, don't go mad with over watering, once rooted in soil they grow huge!

Good luck and have fun xx




23 comments:

  1. Hi there, I juz bought 1 of them and placed it in a nice big wine glass with moist tissue paper to prevent the plant from getting too much water at 1 go... hehehe.. :)

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  2. This is one advanced organism.

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  3. I have a "false" Rose of Jericho. She has very powerful to me! So powerful that she took my blessings away when I left her dried for about a month. A few days after I watered her again she started giving me back some of blessings.

    However, she is starting to get mold and looks whitish if she rolls back into a ball shape. Do you have any advise on what I can do for her? Should I just get a new one? She seems to be working fine though. It's just that I'm not sure if I still should have her home with the mold.

    Thanks

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    1. Ive had this problem too in the past :( Try placing her on a bed of pebbles and watering the pebbles, that way excess water will drain away yet she will stay hydrated from the moist stones. Hope this helps!

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  4. here is also the real rose of jericho
    http://jericho-rose.com

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  5. Very interesting - could you recommend a good place to buy a true rose of jericho online? I have a feeling I won't stumble across one at a local florist any time soon...

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    1. hi lisa
      here you can find the real rose of jericho
      http://rose-of-jericho.com/

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  6. Hehe I used to buy mine at hawikins bazarre ut theyve since gone under, just google any botanica most sell them, false rose of jericho comes much easier than true rose of jericho but work just as well. :)

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  7. Very nice, thank you for all the information. Love your ArcAngel Michael wall.

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    1. Thankyou for stopping by Carmen. Glad you are enjoying :)

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  8. How do I tell the difference between the false rose and the true rose?

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  9. I need to know which rose I have. The true one or the false one. So I know what will happen when I plant it in soil. Someone please respond

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    1. The real one has a stem, the fake does not. Also you don't plant in soil. The real one you dip into a bowl of water by the STEM till it opens, once it opens you sit it in water. The fake one you set in a shallow bowl of water till it opens, once open you may want to transfer to a shallow bowl of pebbles and keep it watered from there, pebbles make good drainage so as not to cause mold.

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  10. Replies
    1. The real one has a stem, the fake does not. Also you don't plant in soil. The real one you dip into a bowl of water by the STEM till it opens, once it opens you sit it in water. The fake one you set in a shallow bowl of water till it opens, once open you may want to transfer to a shallow bowl of pebbles and keep it watered from there, pebbles make good drainage so as not to cause mold.

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  11. I have a real rose of Jericho. I've awakening it for only 1 day and the stems dried up already. I had it sitting on its roots in a bowl of water. My room is very cold. Do you think that's the reason? if so, what should I do?

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  12. If my false rose has begun to grow mold, it is salvageable?

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  13. hi. I need help.
    I have a plant w roots. I did not know that after a week in water I had to let it dry. I have had mines in water for a month. I started to think it was too much water but I was confused, bc I have seen other peoples completely under water w money. Then I read that drowning is not good. So I bought a bigger bowl & only put roots in water. I do not put money in my bowl to prevent from causing it any damage.I tried to change the water once a week but since only the roots were under water it started to dry. I watered it again, through out this time I have noticed every time I go to check it there is lil fruit flies or black flies that fly around it or out of it. Yesterday I read about the gravel rocks. I purchased some but when I to clean the water I noticed 2 lil white flies in the dish. So I decided to let keep it out of water. Through out the month I have had it, it has started to grow mold, I have been trying to scrape it off but it continues to pop up on the leaves. This morning I took after staying out over night I wiped the leaves w q-tips to remove mold. I have decided to keep her out of water the next 2 weeks. What can I do about the mold. Will drying it out help? is there a safe fungicide I can use. My plant is a dark green & gold. I really want to save her. What can I do?

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    1. I sprayed mine with Plant sprayer with water. Mould just blasted off as new in seconds.

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  14. Are you able to plant it in water beads like orbeez?

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  15. you can clean it with Hydrogen peroxide i had the same problem and it wen away. and put her in the sun not full sun but where she can get some. with pebbles you might not have the problem again. i haven't good luck

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  16. Hi Daisy, Sounds good, Mine is still mouldy; Were do you get Hydrogen peroxide & how do you apply it?. Neat?

    Regards Ron


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  17. You can see the different between the real Rose of Jericho and the fake one here
    Http://real-Rose-of-Jericho.com

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