The Mystic Rose

Compassion. Devotion. Humility. Humanity. Grace.

The rose was a symbol of the Goddesses of old, so it’s no wonder that when Christianity absorbed large parts of the indigenous Celtic traditions in Europe, the Mother Goddess Mother Mary became associated with the rose. Perhaps the reason Mary is so beloved is because she was the only Mother Goddess who could be worshiped safely and as such carries with her the devotion and yearning of all those who longed to worship the Goddess in a feminine form.

Mary’s connection with the rose is seen in some of her titles, including Rosa Mystica (the Mystic Rose) and the Rose without Thorns. Like those of the pagan Goddesses before her, the processions that honored Mary involved walking on rose petals. The Church altered the stories of Goddesses past – including those that featured roses, such as Aphrodite turning the white rose red with her blood – putting Mary in the Goddesses’ place. Churches were erected all over Europe and beyond, in many cases on the site of Celtic temples and places of Goddess worship. Many had beautiful rose windows in the west – the direction of the feminine – in dedication to Mary, mother of the rose.

This is a card of compassion, devotion, and grace. It encourages us to soften toward humanity and to endeavor to see the world, and even those who have hurt us, with understanding, an open heart, and deep humility. To see that we all carry hurt and are wounded. We have all experienced severing. Mother Mary is inviting you to open your heart to humanity when you most want to close.