The juniper was a tree with strong roots in Swedish, magical folk tradition. Among other things, it has been told that the forest deer, the guardian of the forest, could live in a juniper bush, be a juniper bush, turn into a juniper bush.
"Juniper blue, which Jesus sat on the cross on," goes a further rhyme. As the cross is locally said to be made of juniper, the juniper, according to legend, has had sacred power to protect against the devil.
From juniper berries we can make a wonderful warming oil that is pleasant to rub on cold feet or massage a sore body part with. I see a symbolism in the fact that juniper oil feels so powerful when applied to the skin. The power of the oil can be seen as an expression of the intended magical power of juniper.
DO THIS:
Pick juniper berries. One tip is to shake branches over a bag so the juniper berries fall into the bag. This makes a nice, warming oil from juniper berries at all stages of ripeness.
Crush your juniper berries. Place in a jar and cover with oil of your choice. My personal favorite is sesame oil as it has a warming quality. You can strain the oil after a month but since juniper berries are so dry they can withstand being in the oil for much longer than that.
Text and photo by Sara Bonadea George
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