I must have been about 20 years old when I first realized Rosewater was a potent spell ingredient, and things just took off from there. Rosewater is part of a larger group of products called floral waters, or hydrosols more accurately.
What is a floral water?
Perfumers will sometimes make distillations specifically to create hydrosols, but more traditionally the floral waters are the water run-offs of essential oil distillation. They are sort of a lovely byproduct -- a leftover if you will. When the essential oil is separated from the water during the distillation process, the steam is condensed and becomes water again, and this water is left scented with the essential oils it just helped to create.
It's an old tradition to call any kind of hydrosol a flower water, even those waters that don't have an actual floral origin. So when you hear "flower water" (especially in some of the older texts) be aware that it can be referring to waters made of non-floral things such as rosemary or sage as well. Subtle but powerful Floral waters are amazing because they smell gorgeous, and the scent disappears very quickly. This is helpful for people who are sensitive to perfumes and/or essential oils. Very often the waters don't seem to bother people who are sensitive to strong scents. Also, the waters are very discreet. Little to no attention will be drawn to you as is sometimes the case with incense and strong perfumes.
Even when I choose to use my perfumes full strength, I still enjoy adding floral waters to my rituals. I use them as a facial spray during the ritual. This puts me into a wonderfully magical place.
Floral Waters are affordable Floral waters are a lot less expensive than perfumes or essential oils.
Hydrosols come from natural sources. This means there's a limit to the variety of flowers that are available, and substitutions have to be made if you are trying to substitute them for traditional floral perfumes. At the end of this article, I give you a few of my choices for planetary/angelic flower water correspondences.
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How do I use floral waters in magic? 1. They completely can replace smudging when sprayed in the air for purification. Some waters for purification are bergamot, sage, rosemary, lemongrass, and verbena.
2. Spray flower waters onto talismans to anoint them. 3. Use flower waters as a body spray for aura cleansing and ritual anointing.
4. Add flower waters to bathwater to ritual baths or to carry a particular vibration with you during the day. 5. Use flower waters as a facial mist during a ritual to employ the sense of smell in the most delightful way.
6. Use flower waters to flavor foods or beverages to make potent potions (use only waters labeled for food use for this purpose) .
Floral Waters Correspondences
These following are not "official" correspondences. They are just the waters I use.
When two flower waters are listed, you can use one or the other, or a combination of the two.
The waters that tend to be all-purpose are Lemongrass, Verbena, Lavender, and Rose. If you have one of those waters you can use it as a substitute for any other water if necessary.
Michael/Sun-- Orange Flower (Success, Protection, Spiritual assistance)
Gabriel/Moon -- Jasmine/Ylang (Magnetism, Home, Magic) Samael/Mars -- Rose Geranium (Energy, Protection, Sex) Raphael/Mercury -
- Lavender/bergamot (Learning, communication) Sachiel/Jupiter -- Blue Tansy/Lavender (Grace, legal help, financial growth)
Anael/Venus -- Rose (Love, friendship, beauty, art, creativity)
Cassiel/Saturn -- Lemongrass/Ylang (Karma, responsibility, debt)
Uriel -- Lemongrass/Verbena (Magical science, miracles, sudden drastic change)