The Rose has long been a symbol of the Goddess. She appears as a symbol of ancient Sumerian Goddess Inanna, of Aphrodite and Venus  and of Lakshmi. One story says that when Aphrodite emerged from the ocean foam, roses bloomed in her wake. Another tells of Aphrodite running through roses to save her lover Adonis. The thorns cut her ankles and red blood trickles onto the white petals. Aphrodite is too late to save Adonis, and the roses remain red as a tribute to their love. As Earth and the planet Venus orbit the sun, Venus makes a rose-shaped pattern around Earth every eight years.

​

Along with other flowers such as the lily and lotus, the Rose is often seen as a representation of the Goddess's vulva through which we are all born. The way the petals of the Rose unfurl mirrors the way a woman unfurls when she is nourished, turned on, and ready to bloom. But in order for the Rose to bloom in her full glory, she must be rooted down into the earth. She is not only a flower. She is an entire system of root, stem, leaves, thorns, and blossom.