My house wouldn’t be a home if I didn’t have rosemary growing just out the front door. I don’t think there’s another herb I love or use more than rosemary. It’s one of those incredibly versatile herbs that a witch can use for almost anything. If you grow and use just one herb, make it rosemary. Here I’ll explain rosemary magical properties and ways to use this amazing herb in your witchcraft practice.

Rosemary Magical Properties

It’s name means “dew of the sea”. Other names for rosemary include Elf Leaf, Compass Weed, Polar Plant, and Sea Dew. Rosemary’s official name was Rosemarinus officinalis, but apparently I’m behind the times because it’s name recently changed to Rosemarinus salvia.

It’s a perennial bush that grows well in full sun and regular watering. Rosemary is part of the sage family along with other plants with similar medicinal properties including basil, savory, mint and oregano. It’s connected to the Sun and to the element Fire. Rosemary’s magical properties are multiple and ALL powerful. If you have a need or intention, rosemary will cover it. It’s all-purpose. But here’s a quick breakdown of rosemary magical properties: purification, all-heal, protection, love, lust, memory and mental clarity, aids sleep, and attracts elves.

In a Spanish fairy tale called “The Sprig of Rosemary”, a young maiden meets an elf when she accidentally pulls up a rosemary plant. The young elven man seems to pop up out of the ground and then whisks her off to his kingdom through the hole where the rosemary roots once were. In this way, I believe rosemary doesn’t just attract elves, it acts as a key to the world of fairies. It may be effective in opening your third eye to seeing elementals and the faery realm. AND aids in astral travel in one’s dreams.

Ways to Use Rosemary in Your Witchcraft Practice

1. Rosemary Smoke-Cleansing

One rosemary spell I always use involves a gigantic bundle of it! I harvest rosemary from my garden, then bundle it up and burn it. I burn rosemary instead of buying white sage. It’s easily accessible and free if you grow it yourself. Rosemary smoke-cleansing is just as effective as white sage, PLUS is said to remove negative vibrations associated with poor health and illness. Not to mention it smells amazing!

2. Rosemary Baths

As long as you don’t have an allergy to rosemary, it’s perfect in ritual baths. It purifies the aura, promotes healing of all kinds, and clears the mind of negative energetic debris. I’ve also used rosemary in conjunction with other holy herbs for uncrossing baths. It is powerful in removing jinxes, bad juju and the evil eye.

3. Rosemary in Magical Oils

Another way to use rosemary’s magical properties is to infuse it in your candle dressing oils. It lends its purifying, healing energy to any candle spell. You can also use these same oils to anoint your tools OR anoint your chakras during rituals or meditations. Warm some olive oil on the stove and infuse it with fresh rosemary. Let it cool then massage into your scalp to stimulate hair growth.

4. Cook with Rosemary

Rosemary’s magical properties carry over into your meals too! I particularly love using rosemary with poultry dishes and in stews and sauces. It also tastes delicious sprinkled over potatoes and roasted in the oven! Rosemary helps the whole family to be in harmony and protects each family member. It also aids in improving memory before a big test for the students in your house.

5. Magical Rosemary Teas

Another lovely way to incorporate rosemary into your magick is to brew it in teas. It is a strong flavor, so use it sparingly. Perfect for healing, love, and purification teas. In addition, rosemary does have some medicinal properties as well. It’s known to have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, so drinking rosemary tea while sick with a cold is beneficial.

6. Rosemary Crowns

Ever heard of flower crowns for Beltane or Midsummer? You can harvest and make rosemary crowns any time, too! Stimulates memory, clears the mind, and smells divine. In addition, the ancient Romans Egyptians wore rosemary crowns at their festivals and holy days. So if you’re Egyptian or Roman pagan, adding this tradition to your sabbats is a boon.

7. Asperging with Rosemary

Asperging means to sprinkle or bless your home, etc. with holy or blessed water. It’s extra effective when you use a plant like rosemary to help sprinkle the water around. Cut a branch or multiple sprigs of rosemary from the bush, then dip into holy water. Bless your home, tools and self to cleanse and consecrate. Rosemary’s cleansing powers amplify the holy water.

In the Book of Ceremonial Magic by AE Waite, “the ceremonies of aspersion and fumigation, that is, of purifying and consecrating, are continually enjoined. Sprinkling is performed with the Aspergillus, which, according to the Grimorium Verum, should be composed of mint, marjory and rosemary, bound about with a thread woven by a virgin girl. It should be made on the day and in the hour of Mercury, the moon waxing.”

8. Rosemary Besom

Similar to using rosemary to make crowns, rosemary can be cut and made into a small, sacred besom (broom). Use this rosemary besom to cleanse your sacred space (altar, home, etc.). You can also cleanse yourself by sweeping from your head to your feet with the rosemary besom. Then hang it above your door or bristles up by your front door to bring in prosperity and good health.

9. Use this Powerful Herb in Witch Bottles & Jars

One of my favorite ways to use rosemary’s magic is by adding it to spell jars and witch bottles. I recommend using the dried leaves or dried sprigs for this method, because fresh rosemary will mold over and spoil your jar/bottle contents. Potent in spell jars geared towards drawing love, prosperity, protection, and healing.

10. Rosemary to Encourage Hair Growth

To the magical practitioner, hair is typically an important feature. Hair often carries our strength, memories, and increases our instincts. If you’re struggling to grow your hair longer or if you’ve experienced some mild hair loss, try making a rosemary-infused oil. By warming a bit of olive oil over the stove and adding fresh rosemary sprigs. Let it cool then massage into your scalp. Allow it to soak in for at least an hour, then wash and rinse. Don’t forget to visualize or state your intentions during the process.

11. As Offering to Gods

There are certain deities that truly enjoy the aroma, taste and presence of rosemary. First, if you work with Mother Mary, note that this herb is directly linked to her in name. But truly any god or goddess of the Roman, Greek, and Egyptian pantheon may appreciate rosemary offerings. As well as some Gaelic deities, as rosemary has been used for spiritual purposes in Scotland for centuries.

12. Floor Sweeps and Washes

If you hadn’t gotten the memo that rosemary is versatile by now, here’s another clue. Add this herb to your magical floor sweeps and washes to purify your home from the ground up. A floor sweep is a mixture of herbs and salts scattered across hard floor, left for a period of time, then swept up. A floor wash is exactly what it sounds like – herb infused water that’s used to wash the floor. We often forget to cleanse our floors spiritually and this is a great herb to use when we do!

13. Literally Just SNIFF It

I find magick comes in the simplest of moments and experiences. For me, just walking outside and breaking a sprig off my rosemary bush then smelling it is MAGICK. Scents can whisk us away to other times and places. And rosemary isn’t short of transporting power. Just sniff rosemary and you’ll get flashbacks of happy memories and increase mental clarity. Seriously.

In the Symbolism of Freemasonry by Albert G Mackey in 1882, “The rosemary was a symbol of remembrance, and hence was used both at marriages and at funerals, the memory of the past being equally appropriate in both rites.”

A Personal Story About Rosemary

For many years I’ve grown rosemary in my garden or in pots on my back patio. And for many years, I’ve harvested and bundled my rosemary to use in smoke-cleansing rituals. I find it potent in clearing negative energy from my home, as well as my aura. Plus it appears more powerful to me to use what I’ve grown myself. Fast forward to just this past year, and a friend of mine did a past life reading on me. She discovered I had a past life (or lives) as a Scottish witch…and we also discovered that rosemary has been used as a saining herb in Scotland for centuries! Say what you will, but there’s some definite connections there.

MORE Rosemary Magick

Use your imagination and incorporate rosemary and its magical properties into your rituals and spells. There’s SO many ways to use rosemary and dozens of rosemary spells to cast for nearly any magical intention. Sprinkle it around your candle or roll your candle in it. Add rosemary to your magical powders. Offer it to your gods and ancestors. Sniff it before a test to aid memory. Bring it into divination sessions to increase psychic abilities and improve clarity.

Listen to our Podcast on Rosemary:

MORE Magical Herbs:

• Herb Magic for Beginners: How to Start Working with Herbs
• Ancestor Work: Must-have stones and herbs to work with one’s ancestors
• Backyard Herbs & Tools: 15 of our Favorites