Dream Interpretation: The Rose as a Symbol of Love, Death, and Wisdom
The rose has been a universal symbol across cultures, representing love, death, and the highest stages of consciousness. Similar to the lotus in the Orient, the rose blooms with many petals, symbolizing the journey toward enlightenment.
Love and Devotion
The rose is often seen as a symbol of love and devotion, pointing to the dreamer’s feelings of security and openness to love. In Christian symbolism, Mary is depicted as a rose without thorns, symbolizing purity and sinlessness.
Contradiction of Blossom and Thorn
Despite its beauty, the rose's thorns symbolize pain and challenges, making it a symbol that encompasses both love and suffering.
Symbol of Death
The fleeting beauty of the rose, which wilts quickly, has led to its association with death. In ancient Rome, roses were used to honor the dead, and in some cultures, the rose was believed to foretell death.
The Rose and Silence
The rose has also been a symbol of silence. In ancient times, meals taken “sub rosa” were under the vow of silence, meaning that nothing from the conversation could be repeated afterward. This tradition continued into early Christianity and beyond.
Mystical and Religious Significance
The rose holds a mystical quality and has been linked to meditation and prayer. Sufis use rose fragrance to cleanse and strengthen the spirit, while early Christians and Romans associated the rose with mental clarity and wisdom.
Symbol of Wholeness and Order
According to Jung, the rose represents wholeness and order in the form of a mandala, symbolizing the universe and the balance of life’s elements: fire, water, earth, air, and ether.
The Color and Condition of the Rose
The color and condition of the rose are also significant in interpretation. A wilted rose can symbolize the end of a relationship, while a blooming rose represents love and new beginnings. Alchemists and mystics have often connected the rose to deliverance and salvation.
See Also: love, death, wisdom, purity, wholeness, enlightenment.
[1]The rose is universally used to symbolize love and passion. As the flower of many goddesses, it also suggests femininity, beauty and fertility. In dreams, roses typically suggest romance, given that they symbolize your heart, the love and beauty that you hold within and your inner rose. Common everyday idioms might point to other general interpretations.
To be in a ‘bed of roses’ can indicate a situation of ease, luxury or comfort; to do something ‘under the rose’ suggests a meeting conducted privately or secretly; ‘smelling the roses’ hints at an appreciation of beauty, whilst ‘coming up roses’ might mean a good outcome or a prosperous turnout.
Be sensitive to the different meanings that both roses and colors have in different countries or regions. White roses are generally thought of as symbols of purity and virginity, so if you dream of them it may represent a yearning for innocence. But white is also the shade of mourning in many parts of Asia, so for some dreamers the image may provoke the quite different feelings of loss or bereavement. The red rose may symbolize desire and passion, but it is also the national flower of England, although both the white rose and the mixed white and red Tudor rose are sometimes used as well. In the United States, different roses have very different functions: yellow roses are given for friendship, white roses are the flowers of weddings, whilst red roses are appropriate at funerals.
Roses, their constituent parts and the places they grow can therefore suggest a host of often contradictory meanings.
A rose garden is a symbol of paradise, so if you dream of being in a rose garden, this may indicate happiness in your waking life. Roses, however, also possess thorns. In dreams, a rose with thorns may indicate a thorny problem with which you need to grapple to gain the reward promised by the rose. In this context, a dream of thorny roses may indicate conflict within a romantic relationship.
Does a fragment of your dream conceal a thorn or danger that is a threat to you? Finally, if you are given roses in a dream, consider their number and color. Twelve red roses may be a sign that the giver is in love with you.
Symbolic Meaning of Roses
- Red rose: Love and respect.
- Yellow rose: Joy and friendship.
- White rose: Innocence, purity, and secrecy.
(Hint: When it’s time to propose marriage, choose an all-white bouquet to show the purity of your intentions and add some ivy to express your promise of fidelity.). - Dark pink rose: Thankfulness.
- Pale pink rose: Grace and joy
(These flowers are particularly suited for newborns and weddings). - Light peach rose: Modesty.
- Coral rose: Desire.
- Orange rose: Fascination.
(Blossoms, Kiss) In a dream, a rose represents a noble person, a woman, a newborn son, or it could represent the homecoming of a long awaited traveler. Plucking roses from a rosebush in a dream means harvesting honor, love, prosperity and blessings. Kissing a white rose in a dream means kissing a Godfearing woman. Plucking a red rose in a dream means kissing a fun loving woman. Smelling the fragrance of a yellow rose in a dream means kissing a sick woman.
A bouquet of roses in a dream means kisses, one after the other.
A rosebud in a dream means a miscarriage.
A rose in a dream also represents an estranged wife, or it could mean a dying woman, a losing business, a short lived happiness, or a promise that does not last. Receiving a rose from a young man in a dream means receiving a promise that will not hold too. Seeing a crown of roses over one’s head in a dream means getting married. Roses on a tray in a dream signify the pleasure of youth that does not last, or they could denote the temporary joy of this world. Roses in a dream also signify praiseworthiness, or enjoying a good reputation. Rose oil or attar which is made from the petals of damask roses in a dream means intelligence, clarity of mind, a friendly and a gentle person. Ifa sick person sees himself laying on a bed of flowers in a dream, it means that he might die within forty days, because forty days represent the life span of a rose blossom. Cutting off a rosebush in a dream means distress. Harvesting roses in a dream means joy.
[3]The loveliness of nature, or life itself.
A nearly timeless symbol of love, passion, and the spirit of beauty in all its many forms, having been originally associated with the goddess Venus.
The color of the rose here provides more meaning.
For example, purple roses are exotic emotions, red is for passionate love, and yellow is for friendship.
Thorny roses speak of the difficulties in all relationships. Native American shamans believe that nature hides its greatest treasures beneath such painful traps so that we have to work to receive the prize.
A rose with its bud just opening represents the blossoming of your highest conscious awareness.
Alchemically, the rose symbolizes wisdom; blue roses represent impossible tasks, and gold ones are an emblem for achievement.
Jung believed that in dreams a rose became a mandala representing an integrated person and wholeness.
In Babylonia and ancient Arabia, the rose became an alternative emblem for Paradise with strong sexual connotations of this also equating to a woman’s vulva. Consequently, this can be a dream figure for women, and your feelings toward women.
[4]There are many meanings surrounding this flower, as it symbolizes spiritual richness, perfection, delicateness, and emotions. It tends to be fundamentally associated with love and how you feel with respect you your past and present emotional relationships. So, dreaming that someone gives you a rose indicates that you are going through a moment of emotional plenty. However, if the thorns stab you, the dream reflects a fear of sexual relations. Freud, lastly, associated the flower with the form of female genitals, and due to its usual color, with menstruation.
Since roman times, the rose is the symbol of love. The romans believed that this flower would protect the dead from evil spirits. For this reason, there was a tradition of decorating a tomb with roses. In oneiric terms, it foretells security and protection. Many oracles believe that the omens of this dream are all advantageous.
[5]Vision: Dreaming about red roses: you are in love and that love will be returned. White roses: someone is secredv in love with you, but too shy to tell you. Yellow roses: jealous)’ and alienation in your love relationship. Wilted roses: your love for another person is dying. Getting pricked by a thorn: you will face obstacles on your path and feel hurt in your love relationship. Picking roses: you want to take someone by storm (or be taken by storm). Picking yellow roses: bouts of jealousy will be a burden on your relationship. Young girls dreaming about a wreath of red roses: a wedding is not far off.
See Also: Flowers.
Depth Psychology: The rose is a symbol of blossoming as well as wilting love, but it also shows the grace of your soul and may express your longing for a “pure,” platonic relationship—the highest form of love.
[6]Most flowers are seen as friendly dream symbols. Roses may have their own special meaning and could represent femininity, beauty, love, or romance. Roses may have some spiritual significance as well. They are used when expressing both positive and negative emotions. They unfold and can be considered symbols of innocence.
The color of the rose, as well as the details of the dream should be considered when making interpretation.
(E.g. White - purity; red - passion; Pink - romance and love; black - death.) See also: Flower
[7](1) A rose, as in a stained-glass window, may be a mandala (See Also: M, ala), representing your self, the fullness which it is vour destiny to reach.
(2) Sometimes the symbolism depends on the colour. A red rose is often a symbol oflovc; it may also represent the vagina; or passion.
(3) Roses, like flowers generally, may symbolize the beaut)’ of Nature; the beauty and loveliness of life as it could or should be.
[8]Dreams of a rose represent love. Depending upon its color, it symbolizes a particular expression of love.
Pink-Happiness
White-Charm and innocence
Red-Love and desire, and if it is a single red rose-I Love You
Burgundy-Unconscious love
White and red-Unity
Orange-Passion
Yellow-Joy and gladness
Rosebud-Beauty, youth and virginity
[9]Roses represent femininity, beauty and love. They also have strong spiritual meanings, symbolizing the struggle between good and evil.
The colors of roses in your dreams are important: red is passion, pink is romance, white is innocence, yellow is infidelity or jealousy, and black is ill health.
[10]Always a happy omen, according to the Gypsies.
A full-bloom rose indicates health, joy, and happiness.
A rose bud signifies the potential for a wonderful friendship to develop.
A faded rose means you are neglecting an old friend.
A white rose shows innocence; a red rose, satisfaction.
[11]1. Great fortune in affairs of the heart, joy and pleasure.
2. Good news is coming (to smell a rose).
3. Grace and purity (white rose).
4. Infidelity (yellow).
5. Pregnancy (to pick buds).
6. Separation (fading roses).
[12]Roses, the expression of love and beauty, are a gift given to honor a woman’s worth.
A bud opening to fullness represents blossoming into love’s expression.
The red rose is associated with romantic love, the yellow with joyous beauty, the white with purity.
[13]The rose symbolizes femininity, beauty, love, and romance. Roses also have profound spiritual significance, representing good and evil, life and death.
The colors of the petals are also symbolic: white is purity, red is passion, pink is romance, black is death.
[14]A symbol of great beauty and value.
A rose can also symbolize our relationship with Christ, Song. 2:1-2
[15]Love, beauty, innocence. The color rose signifies love.
See Also: Flower.
[16]Love, and perhaps a wedding.
[17]See Also: flowers.
[18]