Welcome to the Crone's Corner.  This page is dedicated to the Crone's art of herbalism.  Recipes may be either healing or magikal in nature.  However, none of the recipes are to be taken as a prescription or used in the place of proper medical treatment.  If you have a favorite recipe or are looking for one,  email me. _________________________________________________________________
Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis), the herb of remembrance, has been
associated with love since medieval times.  For centuries in Europe,
maids of honor carried it at weddings, and branches were dipped into
wine goblets during toasts to the bride.  Additionally, it was believed
that a woman who laid the herb under her pillow would dream about her
future husband.  Because of the association with remembrance, Rosemary
also was linked to death.  Romans placed branches of it in the hands of
the dead, and it became customary in Europe and in Asia to plant the
herb at grave sites.

Rosemary, whose Latin name means dew of the sea (the evergreen shrub is
native to the Mediterranean), served other nonculinary purposes as
well.  Greek scholars wore garlands of it to help stimulate their minds,
and Spenser referred to the herb as "cheerful rosemarie" because it
supposedly improved one's mood.  Rosemary also has been credited with
everything from warding off evil spirits and preventing nightmares and
baldness to relieving headaches, repelling moths, and reducing
flatulence.  Rosemary is found in perfumes and soaps, too.

By most accounts, people began cooking with rosemary in the early Middle
Ages, and it was especially popular with European nobility.  These days,
the herb is a particular favorite of the Italians who use it in savory
and sweet dishes, and of the French, especially in Provence, where a
rosemary tisane to aid digestion often ends a large meal.