Over the past month I have been getting to know a Rose of Jericho plant. A strange plant that you place in a bowl of water not in the earth. It is often used in hoodoo practice for attracting wealth, especially if you leave 5 coins within its water.
I ordered this plant on the internet during the 2020 lockdown. I thought wealth was a good thing to be enchanting for during this time of economic uncertainty. On receiving the plant I put it in the back of the cupboard and forgot about it. I did do the wealth magick and was happy with the results; I just didn’t include the Rose of Jericho.
It’s often the case with us humans in the western world that we receive something awesome and then leave it in the back of a cupboard only to be amazed a few years later when we rediscover it. Sometimes it can take us some time to realise the value of what we have. We neglect to experience the joy of what is staring at us in the face. So while redecorating my bedroom I went through my cupboard and rediscovered this plant curled up and looking dead.
The Rose of Jericho is an interesting plant in that it can be dormant for many years. When it is without sustenance it curls in on itself and looks dead. Then when conditions are right for growth it leaps into life and spreads forth its petals. I had wondered whether my rose would grow at all, as it had been left in a cupboard for four years. I was astounded having placed the plant in its bowl of water that it sprang into life within hours. I guess it’s not called the “resurrection plant” for nothing.
I have spent some time with the plant talking and meditating with it. It’s clear that sometimes when things appear to be dead; when nothing seems to be happening our senses deceive us. There is something going on, we just can’t see it. During the time around Yule the evidence of this is all around us. I have seen the lovely leafy plant that I speak with each Saturday in the park, turn back its leaves and now it looks completely dead. Experience has taught me that this is an illusion, in a few months’ time it will burst forth again in furious green. There is always a creation and always a passing away, mirrored by the chaos star with the inward and outward arrows symbolising the beating heart of creation.
The photos below are of the same plant, leafy and green in August and looking dead in December.
We see this pattern in our lives as well. Sometimes it appears that nothing is happening for us but it is, we just cannot see it yet. Sometimes we want something to happen and it just won’t. Perhaps it’s just not the right season or the conditions for growth are not quite right. On some occasions the thing we are striving for is not really for us and its best to take another course, but usually at the right season and in the right conditions we can achieve our wills. Sometimes it just takes a little longer for things to manifest and patience is key.
As magicians we have all the tools to be able to assess what is going on and to wait for the right season or use our magick to change the conditions; to create an environment where our goals can flourish. Taking our inspiration from good gardeners we can work in empathy with the existing conditions to make slight shifts in favour of what we want to achieve. It’s often the subtle changes such as adding the right fertilizer that bring results rather than the overly assertive laying down of concrete which has side effects that we would want to avoid.
It also pays to have a look in the back of your cupboard, the very thing you need may be lurking there. I’m lucky with the Rose of Jericho as the plant can bear to be left neglected but I hear the warning. Not everything in the back of my cupboard is as resilient as the rose. What the plant is telling me is to appreciate the true value of what I already have and not to neglect it. So the Rose of Jericho did bring me wealth, not in the sense of bringing me more stuff but in the sense of nudging me to open my mind to the wealth that already surrounds me within the beauty of the cosmos.
The rose has also agreed that I can add a few of its leaves to the magical oil that I am making. It will be interesting to see what results transpire from that. The rose is known for being able to resurrect anything in your life but I suspect it does this in unexpected ways.