Rosemary

Most people know rosemary as a herb used in cooking. But for a long time, people gave it another meaning: remembrance.

In ancient Greece, students were believed to wear rosemary in their hair while studying. They thought its scent helped them concentrate and remember what they had learned.

Interestingly, modern research has found that rosemary's scent can affect alertness and memory. The ancient Greeks had no way of knowing why, but they had their own observations.

Rosemary also became connected with death and remembrance. The ancient Egyptians associated the evergreen plant with immortality and used herbs in burial practices. Later, in parts of Europe, rosemary was carried at funerals and placed on coffins as a symbol of remembering the dead.

Shakespeare used this familiar association in Hamlet. When Ophelia says, “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance,” she is referring to a meaning her audience would have recognized.

Today, rosemary is mostly something we add to food. But its association with memory has lasted for centuries.

It is a small herb with a surprisingly long history.