Image 1 of 1
Walnut (Juglans regia)
The name of this tree derives from the Anglo-Saxon for ‘foreign nut’ and is probably a Roman introduction, possibly cultivated by the Romano-British tribes, hence named after them – ‘walh, welsh, walls’ being the Old English (Anglo-Saxon) name given to the native ‘foreigners’. The Latin name ‘juglans’ means Jupiter’s nut.
The natural range of walnut is from Central Asia and China, Iran, Asia Minor, to the Balkans. In Britain it is most found in the south and central areas but has been planted as a parkland tree in the north of Scotland. Walnut prefers deep fertile soils and warm summers. In Britain the fruit rarely ripens but can be picked green for pickling.
Walnut grows rapidly up to its maximum height of 100ft (30m) and then continues to spread outwards, though it rarely lives beyond two hundred years. As a valuable timber tree mature individuals are rare to find.
The leaves are similar in structure to ash, with seven leaflets – three or four pairs plus a terminal leaflet – that get larger towards the tip of the branch. Leaves and flowers appear late in April or May. Male flowers are substantial greeny-brown catkins, and female flowers are feathered green capsules that ripen into the fruit that consists of the hard nut and its edible kernel. Walnut has a smooth grey bark with deep vertical fissures. It can be recognised by the smell of the leaves, reminiscent of boot polish.
The black walnut, native to North America, is sometimes found in Britain but has delicate roots that make transplanting difficult. Black walnut, like the ‘English’ walnut, is an important tree for high quality furniture-makers.
The leaves and bark of the walnut are laxative and astringent and have been used for skin conditions and ulcers. Walnut oil is extracted from the edible nut and is used to polish the wood, as well as being an exotic cooking oil. The leaves give a brown dye and are repellent to all insects. Walnut, particularly the American black walnut has been found to be extremely effective at removing parasites from the gut.
The Essence:
Keywords: “Liberation”; purification and cleansing; sturdiness; removal of all sorts of intrusions; getting rid of unwanted influences; personal power and integrity; sense of security.
The clear, well-known property and effect of walnut essence is familiar from the Bach Flower Remedies, where it is characterised as a link-breaker. Walnut’s energy is the protection of personal space. Dynamic energy is released that will directly effect the sense of personal power, stimulating the desire to grow and be free from any perceived restraints – especially with regard to spiritual goals (in contrast to practical ambitions).
There is a marked cleansing of the Heart meridian, which is linked to the emotional expression of love and forgiveness and, of course, their opposites, hate and blame. The clarity that walnut initiates here reveals a person’s real motivations in life – where one has begun, where one hopes to be going – and this knowledge, even if it is on an unconscious, non-verbal level of awareness, gives a sense of security. Knowing oneself is really the only way to recognise and combat the influence of other people and other circumstances outside of oneself.
A similar action occurs in the Large Intestine meridian. Here walnut energy creates purification and cleansing. It becomes more possible to let go of things that are no longer appropriate or necessary. The sense that a new start would be a very good thing, that a willing release of outworn patterns of expectation and behaviour is easy to do, that one’s potential is within one’s own control, can all arise once this meridian is brought to balance. The Large Intestine meridian is affected by the emotions surrounding the concepts of worthiness, goodness and cleanliness. ‘Not good enough’, ‘dirty!’, ‘bad!’, ‘unworthy’, are all judgements that become lodged in the belief systems whilst still a young child. They limit our potential for growth and personal achievement, also lowering our life-energy sufficiently that negative energy patterns can make further inroads. When these false ideas are revealed and they begin to be purged from the body with the help of walnut we become much less susceptible to the energies of those who seem to know better or who seem more powerful than us.
Our natural flow of energy, the pleasure we feel simply existing and playing is intensely personal and can be very sensitive to the restrictions and rigid opinions of others. Walnut creates a sense of safeness, a self- containment of the sacral chakra that allows a grounding, centring and quietening to establish the fertile ground for personal creativity.
The Astral body, the fourth level of our energy makeup, is the holding vessel for our existence in time and space. It maintains a correct balance between the universal and individual energies, and likewise keeps a healthy balance between the influences of past, present and future existences. The Astral body keeps us in the universal web whilst still maintaining our recognisable personal boundaries. Walnut energy helps to strengthen this energy body so that we can be at peace within ourselves, and simultaneously, be aware of our links with other things. We can have a clear sense of separation, a distinct individuality that can maintain its equilibrium in the face of emotions and ideas from others.
Having established this safe definition of the individual and cleared it of intrusions that drain the life-energy, walnut allows a relaxation of the awareness at very subtle levels. Being less open to unwanted influences, knowing our own qualities, and accepting ourselves, it becomes possible to be really happy just as oneself, content to be a passionate human being, enjoying life and experiencing the spiritual energy of physical existence.
Walnut shakes us awake from someone else’s dream within which we find we have been living, tells us who we are and lets us fully experience and enjoy our uniqueness.
Signature:
The leaves drive off all insects (potentially harmful energies).