Cedarwood is a sacred and wise energetic being. She embodies characteristics of strength and stability while also being delicate and flexible. When things get tough for her, she cannot just simply uproot and leave. Think about it: if a bird wants to build a home in a tree’s branch or a heavy snowstorm with negative degree temperatures comes into the forest, the trees don’t get up and run away to hide in a warm and cozy home for shelter. They stand tall, practice patience and resilience and accept all situations that are thrown at them. They honor they have no control yet trust that what they are made of is more than enough to get them through. They embody faith in themselves and all things and learn and become stronger from each experience.
As humans, our feet are not rooted down, so when times get tough or things get uncomfortable, we need to practice discipline to weather the discomfort. Because sacred Cedarwood does not have a choice (for if she lets the environmental stress get the best of her, she will die), she was innately created to teach other beings acceptance and resilience. She is your teacher when you feel like running away when life gets hard or not standing tall and facing every situation (good and bad) that the universe throws at you. You see, Cedarwood, she stands tall when the sun is shining bright and proud on her or the air is still and the environment is full of peace. Her stance is the same even during a flood or if a lumberjack is cutting down her brothers and sisters in the forest. Using her will teach you to do the same: she will teach you how to embody unwavering faith and stability. She is great medicine for those to use who are facing security issues in their lives.
For thousands of documented years, Cedar has been used for practical and spiritual purposes. From a practical sense, she has been deemed “unmatched for building materials.” This is because she provides a sturdy foundation and her wood embodies immense strength: she has been chosen to be used in the construction of building an boats from biblical times (Cedarwood is what Soloman’s Temple was made from in the bible.) She is the choice of wood for centuries and centuries for building cars, bridges, voats, railways, cancels, fence and homes. She is most commonly used in pencils. She is decay resistant and she provides in many forms. Many have called her “the most important tree in the forest.” for this reason. From an energetic perspective, she teaches us to provide using our strengths and all that we are made of. She reminds you to know your gifts and use them in versatile ways to greater serve the Earth.
Cedarwood’s medicine, as essential oil, is made from her wood, so her strength is what brings physical, mental and emotional healing to those who use her medicinally. Why is her wood so strong? She is antifungal and a strong insect repellent (one of the strongest and for this reason root rot and beetles and other insects have a strong resistance to her in the forest, while other trees often die from these challenges). Her wood is a powerful antibacterial agent and anti-septic. As a living being, she has a strong immune system and can help pass this on to you (so use her when you are sick). Because of these things she helps with arthritis, inflammation, preventing infections, healing wounds, coughs and colds, muscle spasms and pains, and she is a health tonic to the skin, digestive system and stomach. She boosts functions of the kidney and liver, stimulates our metabolism, helps with dry skin and issues like eczema and acne, is a diuretic, promotes menstruation, stimulates urination….the list goes on and on.
She has also been proven to improve brain functioning and is amazing medicine for ADHD and to help bring clarity and focus to the mind. She is highly sedative and so she powerful to release stress in your life. She helps with adrenal fatigue, anxiety and overworking our stress levels.
Cedarwood trees can grow on average somewhere between 130-160 feet tall. If you are 5 of 6 feet in height, think about the lessons this energetic being can teach you about standing tall, growing to unthinkable heights, and feeling big. She, sacred Cedarwood, is a conifer. All conifers (Pines, Spruces, Firs, etc), are deeply spiritual as their cones activate healing in the third eye (the pineal gland: our center of intuition situated in the center of the brain) and they can live for hundreds to thousands of years (there are records of Cedars living up to 2000 years) so they have seen a lot of life, experienced a lot of change, and have stored a lot of wisdom in their roots and wood.
My favorite thing about Cedar is, though, is the spiritual gifts she gives us (Remember, practically she was used to build Soloman’s Temple?) The wood speaks to us and our spiritual self and helps us create a sacred space: one to feel safe to explore our spirituality and who and what we believe. Native American tribes have used her to create sacred space for spiritual rituals and ceremonies (she is consider one of the four sacred medicines for purification). Her leaves have been burned to create protection for our spiritual space. She literally has been used to build temples and churches, and symbolically been honored in rituals, and for you, she can help you create a sacred space to explore and hold reverence to your spiritual truths. Use a few drops of her to start building and honoring the temple inside of you: your heart and soul.
Cedarwood is fantastic to use when meditating. If she were a person, she’d be a great guru: your meditation teacher. Burn her incense or smudge stick of her or use her oil when meditating because Cedarwood is a spirit guide: she helps us connect with our spiritual self and find our purpose in life. She helps the mind and body in times of spiritual anxiety and stress. She teaches us constant faith and spiritual dedication. She holds our hand through walking our spiritual journey and will not let go. She helps us stay strong on our spiritual path deeplying root us into this connection with our higher self. She gives the gifts of stillness, presence and focus teaching us how to honor the spiritual being we are having this human experience. In fact, her botanical name is Sanskirt for the word translating to “Wood of Gods” and she has been nicknamed Divine Evergreen Life. She has been often mentioned in the bible and Hindu mythology for being deemed as a teacher, a place to pray or meditate, one to help us heal and one to bring us closer to love.
