I am working with Western Red Cedar. I chose this plant/tree, mostly because it just called to me. I am also drawn to it's cleansing properties, especially it's ability to clear space when it is dried, wrapped in a bundle, and burned like incence or a smudge stick.
Western Red Cedar
Family Name: Thuja Pllicata
Latin Name: Cupressaceae
Common Names: Giant Red Cedar, Shinglewood, Canoe Cedar, Arborvitae,
Western Flat Cedar, Thuja
Related Species: Not to be confused with Eastern Red Cedar, or
Lebanon Cedar
Body System Affiliations:
1.Stomach
2.Lungs
3.Reproductive
4.Teeth
5.Heart
6.Skin
Botanical Description:
Habit: Tree
Size: Up to 150 ft.
Leaves: Scaly, growing laterally, flat and drooping, with a yellow-green
to bright green color, and a strong lemon-pine scent
Flowers: From March to April, seeds ripen Sept. to Oct
Fruit: Small woody cones, about 1/2 inch long, with thin valvate
scales arranged in 5 to 6 decussate pairs; typically upturned on
the branches.
Bark: Cinnamon Red Bark that becomes grey-brown with age
Twigs: Younger twigs are glattened while older twigs are round,
slender, flexible, and slightly zigzag; reddish brown.
Underground Parts: Roots and Rhizomes
Ecology:
Habitat: Grows singly and in small groves in moist to swampy soils, usually
in shady forests from sea level to 1050 ft.
Range: North America west coast from Alaska to Northern California, east
to Montana
Native Where: Within it's range
Harvest:
Plant Part: Branches
Season of Harvest: Summer or Fall
Method of Harvest: Gather the fanlike branches of younger trees in summer
or fall (highest oil content), and process for fresh plant tincture or
dry. For
incense, you may use whole branches for smudging, or run the leaves loosely
through a hand grinder to use on coals.Indigenous and Non-Western Use/Significance/Relationships:
Food: Hesquiat peoples made a broth out of the sticks that were used
in their fish traps. They were fish flavored. Coast Salish have made
Cambium,
dried
and eaten in the Spring.
Materials/Technology: Western Red Cedar has been used for Baby Care,
Basketry, as Fiber for clothing, as Fuel, as Insulation, Paper, Roofing,
Scouring,
as a Shelterbelt
Medicine: Used externally for Rheumatism, Coughs, Heart, Stomach
Indigenous Group: Bella Coola
Part Used: leaves
Preparation: Infusion
Medicine: Chewed Bark or Decoction of Bark taken to induce menstruation
Indigenous Group: Chehalis
Part Used: Bark
Body System Associations: Reproductive
Cautions: Abortifacient Medicine: Buds chewed for toothache
Indigenous Group: Cowlitz
Part Used: Buds
Medicine: Infusion of twigs used as a wash for venereal disease sores
Indigenous Group: Quinalt
Part Used: Twigs
Body System Associations: Reproductive
Medicine: Infusion of boughs used to soak painful joints from arthritis
and rheumatism
Indigenous Group: Colville
Part Used: Boughs
Essential Oil Information:
Essential Oils: Thuja
Medicinal Actions: Anti-fungal, Anti-bacterial
Indications: Athletes foot, ringworm, jock itch, nail fungi, warts
Cautions: Abortifacient, Irritant. Oil of Thuja can cause convulsions and miscarriage.
Irritant to the skin, must be used in extreme dilution with caution.
Personal Experience:
Materials/Technology: Branches and Leaves
Medicine: Incense
Part Used: Leaves
Medicinal Actions: Cleansing, Spiritual
Indications: Smokey
Body System Associations: Lungs, Nose
Harvest: I tore off some of the lower branches
Site Location: Priest Point Park
Site Description: Near the Water, cool rainy night.
Processing: I am drying them
Storage: I haven't stored them yet
Experience: I burned some of the leaves at my altar and they were very lovely,
crackling and sizzling as they burned. The leaves were not totally dry so I
had to keep lighting them.
Application/Preparation/Pharmacy:
Applications: I made a smudge stick
Preparation: I took the lower branches from a cedar tree, dried them, and then
tied them up in the shape of a sausage.
Pharmacy: I burn just a little around the house and at my altar for a lovely
smell, and to help me focus and find a prayerful state .
Reason/Purpose: I hope to connect with the natural land here where I live by
using this natural incense, and to connect with the trees.
Cautions: Abortifacient, Skin irritant.
References Cited:
Moerman, Daniel E. Native American Ethnobotany. Portland Oregon: Timber
Press, 1998.
2.Moore, Micheal. Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West. Santa Fe: Red
Crane Books 1993
3.Author unknown. Dendrology at Virginia Tech Website. Online at
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=260
4.Author Unknown. Cambridge Soft ChemFinder Website. Online at
http:///www.chemfinder.com. Constantly Updated. Visited 2-21-2001.
5.Plants for a Future. Online at http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Thuja+plicata&CAN=COMIND
6.Author unknown. Online at http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/earle/cu/th/plicata.htm
Heidi Staton - Arts and the Child - Fall - 2005
The Droopy Uppy Cedar Tree
a myth by heidele jo landin
There was a tree that lived all along the ocean Pacific, and it had glorious
times and gloomy times. When the sun was shining it reached its scaly green leaves
and branches up and out and towards the sun. The tippest toppest part of its
sturdy trunk reached higher and higher into the sky. It was so happy in the sun,
and it grew.
But where it lived was in a rainy rainy area, where the sun didn't always shine.
The rain helped nourish the tree and its roots were constantly drinking up water,
and sending it up into the tree, out to the tips of the branches. But all that
water going into the branches of the cedar tree made it drooopy; it was sooo
heavy. The branches hung down low - droopy - but they also contained the energy
of the sun, which helped them stay uppy! And that is why it is the Droopy Uppy
Cedar Tree.
The Western Red Cedar is a wonderful tree that grows along the west coast of
North America, from Alaska to Northern California. It grows inland as far east
as Montana. It's latin name is Cupressaceae. Another of its fancy names is Thuja
Plicata.
Native peoples that lived in the areas that it grew used the cedar for many things.
As a medicine, it was used to help the stomach, lungs, reproductive system, teeth,
heart and skin. The parts used were the leaves, leaf buds, small branches, boughs,
twigs, roots, bark, and seeds. It was also used to make clothing, build houses,
make fish traps and baskets, for fuel to make fires, and for many other things.
(Online at http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Thuja+plicata&CAN=COMIND)
The leaves and branches were used for spiritual purposes as well. Whale hunters
would put the branches under their bed the night before a hunt, to prepare them
for the following day and to ward off bad luck. The smoking boughs were waved
throughout a house after a person died to scare away their ghost. The branches
were used also to scrub the skin, to prepare one for a vision quest. (Online
at http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/earle/cu/th/plicata.htm)
People should always be very careful whenever they are using this tree for any
purpose, for it is a sacred tree, and it's medicine is powerful and can be dangerous.
The oil of Cedar is very irritating to the skin, and if a woman is carrying a
baby inside her womb, and she uses Western Red Cedar she might lose her baby
by having a miscarriage. But if we have the respect and appreciation that is
due to our Majestic Friend the Cedar Tree, and are careful not to make unsafe
medicine with it, we can certainly enjoy it's presence in our lives.
Thank You Cedar!
