Culpeper placed marjoram under Mercury within the sign of Aries, valuing it as a warming, comforting and strengthening herb, its old domestic uses given here as folk history. Its classical link to Venus survived into the folk symbolism of joy, love and happiness: it was planted on graves in the belief that if it grew well the dead were at peace, and it stood in the language of flowers for blushing modesty and for consolation. A sweet, gentle, marriage-blessing herb of the goddess of love, marjoram carries a consistently tender and life-affirming set of meanings across its long cultivation.
Marjoram was also one of the Tudor strewing herbs, scattered on floor rushes to sweeten a room and discourage vermin, a purely practical domestic use running alongside its symbolic role in the garden and the graveyard. Modern aromatherapy continues to prize marjoram oil for a calming, warming effect, a direct descendant of Culpeper's comforting, strengthening herb, though as with most aromatherapy claims the supporting clinical evidence remains limited, and nothing here should be read as medical advice rather than as the long continuity of a single reputation for gentleness.
Its dried leaves also keep their fragrance for an unusually long time compared with many culinary herbs, part of why marjoram remained a favoured filling for scented sachets and pillows long after fresher, more delicate herbs had lost their scent.