Tree Flower - Juniper

Juniper (Juniperus communis)

The juniper has the widest distribution of any tree, growing right across Europe, Siberia, Asia and America, from Atlantic to Pacific coasts. In Britain its distribution is scattered, growing as a low shrub on chalk downland, on the limestone moors of Cumbria and Yorkshire, and in the native pine woods of Scotland where it forms a tangled understorey.

Juniper has a great many natural forms – it can resemble a gorse bush in shape, or can grow to become a neat conical tree up to about 20ft (6m). Male and female flowers grow on separate trees. In April and May they appear as small cone-like buds at the base of the needle-like leaves. Berries are dusty green and ripen to dark blue-purple in the second year. The berries are used to make gin and essential oils. The former uses the ripe berries whilst the latter produces a superior oil from the green unripened berries. The essential oil is used as an aid to kidney and bladder problems (though it can cause irritation and stress the liver in large doses). It is diuretic, disinfectant, warming and stimulating to the circulation and the immune system.

Juniper has been used worldwide as an incense and a purifier of sacred space. It is said both to summon the ancestors and drive away harmful spirits. In Scotland, juniper wood was burnt on the doorstep at Samhain (Hallowe’en) to keep spirits at bay. In the Highlands juniper was also called the mountain yew, whose form and energy it resembles.

Juniper was one of the first trees to colonise northern Britain as the ice caps retreated and it was a major part of the landscape until larger trees got established, cutting out the light that the juniper thrives upon.

The Essence

Keywords: “Doorway”; increased life-force and personal power; renunciation of the past; generosity; relaxation; old stresses released; discrimination to see past, present and future; ancestral patterns; inner versatility.

Juniper brings a strength and revitalising energy to all levels of the body. It steadies the life-energy and allows it to move in those directions best suited to the individual. Sense of purpose and personal power to achieve goals is encouraged and this influx of energy naturally supports the immune system and the maintenance of life-force. It becomes easier to clarify intentions and make practical changes according to one’s wishes.

Juniper essence helps to release us from the failures of the past. It relaxes the energy of the Circulation-Sex meridian, allowing us to accept and forgive mistakes and incorrect actions. Regret, remorse and jealousy are released. Those things that are really important and relevant are brought into focus. There is more confidence in one’s own abilities and the capability to achieve one’s own happiness. There is a relaxation, an acceptance of things as they are, and an increase in happiness and joy. Freedom from the weight of the past means the possibility of a completely new start to living.

There is a huge release of stress that has accumulated at the level of the Sacral chakra. This is where stresses that cannot be immediately dealt with are buried. They result in long-term energy blocks that restrict creativity and lead to rigidity on many levels. All the inefficiencies in a body stem from this accumulation of unresolved events. Juniper has a strong cleansing and purifying action that helps to relax the tensions and releases the blocks wherever they have been stored. Emotional and physical release together with an increased sense of joy and pleasure come with this tree’s energy. Tension is released from the areas of the head and spine and the Heart chakra is also cleansed of barriers that prevent growth.

At very fine levels of the self there is increased discrimination, an innate intelligence that is able to see the hidden beginnings of things. In practice, this helps to reveal the distant past and how it has come to influence the present. Juniper offers us a way to link to the flow of our ancestor’s history without being swayed by those events in any negative way.

Juniper is able to help us, through its cleansing properties and through its ability to link with the past, to make use of, in a positive and truly personal manner, every sort of energy and experience that we might possibly come across in our lives. This naturally instils in us a great sense of safety and self-confidence. Having access to the great passage of Time, there is little that can come completely out of the blue at us. Everything can be seen in terms of its progress, its development, its conclusion. Change, the one thing we refuse to accept easily into our lives, becomes the pattern by which all things can be measured. It becomes possible for us to see equally clearly into the Past, the Present and the Future.

Signature:

The purifying smoke; the sharp pungent, perfume of the fruits that enlivens the senses.