blue rose in 2 of swords

BrightEye

i've been thinking about this card quite a bit since it came up in a reading recently. i'm wondering about the symbolism of the blue rose. where does it come from?

Crowley says that the blue rose 'represents the influence of the Mother, whose harmonizing influence compounds the latent antagonism native to the suit' (Book of Thoth, p. 204). why is it the 'Mother'? is it perhaps Frieda Harris's feminine influence or am i being too sentimental here?
 

Sophie

My thinking goes along these lines:

Blue is a receptive colour. A rose is a feminine symbol, and a symbol of feminine beauty. It convinces just by being there. Swords are aggressive and cutting. Together, we have the blue rose bringing peace and balance between two crossed swords - duelling swords, suspended by the gentleness of the rose. This gives everyone a chance to stop fighting and reach an amicable resolution of conflict. The blue rose is the mediator.

This fits the Moon in Libra - that is a feminine planet, reflective, but influential in a very subtle way on everything watery (tides, female periods, moods...); and a sign whose ruler is Venus (like the Empress), and whose vocation is to harmonize and bring balance.

To me, the blue rose is a kind of Jimmy Carter in this card.

If you start with the suit at 10, you get the pain - war, feud, domestic strife, mental breakdown, etc. You work your way towards the Ace, step by step, going through all sorts of pain and horror (9 of Swords), a locked position without possible resolution (8), a false truce because of compromise -giving the opportunity to rearm for more fighting (7), a time of detachment and tactics (6), a defeat, but not the end of the war (5), a truce (4), a realisation there is no winning this one, by either side, and that too much has been lost and damaged - and the consequent sorrow (3), a realisation that the only way through is real negotiated peace, based on justice and equality (2), and finally - a resolution: truth and light triumph (Ace).

The blue rose in that progression comes just after the torn rose of the 3 of Swords - a promise of new life after the damage of war: if we agree to lay down our weapons and talk.
 

rogue

I think the blue rose was a myth. I read about the blue rose somewhere, and I believe it represented hopes and dreams, but the blue rose didn't grow in the real world. But then I later heard that they actually have grown real blue roses in Japan now.
 

BrightEye

Fudugazi, that's very eloquent! I'll copy that out in my notebook.

Lampkin, do you mean the blue flower of the Romanticists, Novalis and people like that?

Why does Crowley call the blue rose the mother though? I'm still wondering...
 

Teheuti

The blue rose represent mystery and the unattainable (there are no blue roses in nature). Blue is the color of the Blessed Virgin Mary and roses are her main flower. The 2 of Swords corresponds to the Moon in Libra. Blue is the dominant color for the High Priestess, which corresponds to the Moon. Libra is the Justice card (usually represented by a woman and ruled by Venus - the Empress). Two is the first feminine number and is about choice and balance.

Thus, the 2 of Swords - High Priestess (Moon) in Justice (Libra) - seems to me to be a feminine harmonizing influence.

Mary
 

BrightEye

thank you, Mary.

Teheuti said:
The blue rose represent mystery and the unattainable (there are no blue roses in nature).
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that makes a lot of sense in the context of the reading the card came up in...

Teheuti said:
Blue is the color of the Blessed Virgin Mary and roses are her main flower.
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...and she seems to be following me around everywhere.

Teheuti said:
Blue is the dominant color for the High Priestess, which corresponds to the Moon.
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do you think the priestess is related to the virgin?
 

Teheuti

BrightEye said:
do you think the priestess is related to the virgin?
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It's one way of looking at the Priestess card, but not the only way. The Priestess shares iconological similarities with Faith, the Church itself (Ecclesiastes), Sophia/Shekinah, the female pope of the Gugliamiates, etc., etc.

BTW, the original term translated as virgin simply meant 'unmarried' - not belonging to a man. Blue is often associated with innocence and serenity.

Mary
 

Glass Owl

Blue roses traditionally signify mystery or attaining the impossible. They are believed to be able to grant the owner youth or grant wishes. This symbolism derives from the rose's meaning in the language of flowers common in Victorian times.

In Slavic mythology one may be granted wishes by bringing a blue rose to Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga is the wild old woman; the dark lady; and mistress of magic. She is also seen as a forest spirit, leading hosts of spirits.
http://www.dutchie.org/Tracy/dg.html said:
Baba Yaga is also known as the Black Goddess and the White Lady of Death and Rebirth. She has Her roots in the Slavic countries of Eastern Europe. The word "Baba" means "grandmother" in Russian, and is a term of respect for elder women in general. Baba Yaga is the ArchCrone Goddess and therefore represents the third aspect of the Triple Goddess. Baba Yaga is often feared since She assumes a horrible appearance - usually as a wrinkled and ugly old crone.

Baba Yaga lives in a hut in the deepest, darkest part of the forest. It is surrounded by a fence made of human bones and the hut itself stands and walks around on chicken legs. It is dangerous to visit Baba Yaga's hut, since it is said that Her appearance alone often will scare passerbys to death. She is said to then devour Her victims, which is why Her picket fence is topped with skulls.

Baba Yaga also has at Her command a number of otherworldly servants. These include a Red Knight who is the day bright sun, a White Knight who represents the dawn, and a Black Knight who signifies the night. Black, red, and white are the three colors most commonly associated with the process of personal transformation, black for the dissolution of the personality, white for its purification after darkness, and red for solar power and the vital life force that follows.Yaga is further served by six pairs of dwarves, who represent elemental spirits.

Baba Yaga rows through the air in a mortar, and uses a pestle for Her oar, sweeping the traces of Her flight from the air with a broom. Baba Yaga also has a herd of flying horses, and flies around the world once each day on the back of Her flying mare.

Baba Yaga is a good Goddess to call upon when we experience darkness, a depression, or a spiritual emptiness. She forces us to examine ourselves in the dark mirror of the soul and to seek new beginnings for ourselves.
Baba Yaga is associated with the colors red, black and white. She is also associated with mortal and pestles, brooms, horses, the dark of night, the Waning and Dark moon and skulls.
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After 13 years of joint research by an Australian company Florigene, and Japanese company Suntory, a blue rose was created in 2004 using genetic engineering.

The blue rose appears to have held a particular fascination for the designers of printed textiles; at certain times, for example the 1970s, the blue rose far outstripped roses of a more natural colour as a popular design motif.

Since 1970 the blue rose has featured predominantly on bed linen, lingeré, printed flannelette, printed tablecloths, headscarves, handkerchiefs, gros point tapestry designs, packaging and printed toilet paper.

Blue roses also adorn many printed ceramics and have done so since under-glaze blue printing became a common mode of decoration in the 1700s. In the late 1960s Wedgwood produced a range of bone china decorated with blue roses, the so-called "Ice Rose" design.


Information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_rose
 

Abrac

Maybe Crowley had a mother's love in mind. The flower - which looks more like a tulip to me but that's neither here nor there - reminds me of how a mother might lovingly resolve a dispute between two fighting children to restore harmony.
 

BrightEye

thanks for all this fascinating information. i've printed it off.

Abrac said:
Maybe Crowley had a mother's love in mind. The flower - which looks more like a tulip to me but that's neither here nor there - reminds me of how a mother might lovingly resolve a dispute between two fighting children to restore harmony.
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this really resonates with me. the card came up in a reading that asked how i could resolve an anxiety problem i had a little while ago. i guess mother love is the strongest remedy for that.

blue seems to be a bit of a theme for me at the moment. last night i dreamt blue, and in the dream the colour blue was associated with true love (that's how i heard it in the dream). is mother love true love? the cards i draw are overwhelmingly blue too.
 
Dominos? what edition is this ?