“Our people have always understood our relationship with the spirit of the cedar tree, so we always begin by thanking the cedar tree for giving its life for us.” –Puyallup tribal elder Connie McCloud
Our ancient forefathers and foremothers recognized the spirit indwelling all things alive. Indigenous wisdom holds that the cedar tree holds powerful guardian spirits.
From its robust and versatile wood to its fragrant and medicinal evergreen foliage, Cedar has supported many different peoples with its countless uses for millennia. Many species of Cedar grow in various parts of the world.
In this blog, I’ll share more about the history, lore, and benefits of using Cedar as a Guardian Spirit ally.
California Incense Cedar
Cedars native to North America is not true cedars. That is, they do not belong to the genus Cedrus, the genus of the true cedars from the Middle East and the Himalayas.
Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) is a “false cedar,” a name commonly used for several species of Pacific Northwest trees. False cedars share the following characteristics:
- Tiny, scale-like leaves overlap like shingles and form flat sprays like a fern.
- Distinctive, small cones remain on the tree long after their seeds are gone. Some are round, but others are not.
- Aromatic wood and leaves.
Incense Cedar is a graceful evergreen coniferous tree. They can grow up to 152 feet high, displaying a conical shape, featuring fanlike foliage, small cones, or tiny yellow flowers when they bloom. They are wind dependent on pollination and seed dispersal.
Cedar can live to be 1,200 years old and are some of the oldest trees in the forest. They may be interspersed with other conifers or hardwoods along roadsides, in open, dry places, and in more sheltered locations – riparian zones, north slopes, and otherwise cooler exposures.
Cedar trees are drought resistant, but they are highly flammable in the case of forest fires due to the essential oil content in the wood and leaves.
Delightfully fragrant, the incense cedar’s foliage and wood are full of aromatic resins, having a comforting spicy fragrance. Cedar branches make lovely additions to wreaths; the leaves are waxy and hold their color for a long time.
These aromatic qualities have contributed to its wide use in cedar chests and closets. Its resistance to decay makes it a good choice for building materials, furniture, and other outdoor uses.
Cedar Medicine
Plants have been used in traditional medicine since prehistoric times. The therapeutic properties of medicinal plants are generally attributed to secondary metabolites produced by the plants as protection against pathogens and herbivory.
As with many other aboriginal peoples, Native North Americans have used plants as medicines throughout their history. Aromatic medicines are sacred because of their contributions to the health and wellbeing of people. They are an important part of indigenous culture and legacy.
The origins of Native American healing practice and ceremony are as diverse and rich as each of the hundreds of American tribes. Nature has provided gifts that have been a vital thread between native people and their spirituality.
The Four Sacred Medicines — Tobacco, Cedar, Sage, and Sweetgrass — have a historical and continuing cultural value to people’s spiritual, physical, and emotional wellbeing.
Each sacred medicine has different uses and different unique benefits. Cedar is a medicine of protection. One of the most used and respected plants, the Cedar leaf, was used in ceremonies and rituals for spiritual and practical purposes.
Cedar is one of the herbs frequently included in medicine bundles and amulets and is commonly used as part of the sweat lodge ceremonies. It is significantly associated with prayer, healing, dreams, purification, and protection against disease.
Its incense is a potent physiological and spiritual medicine, eliminating unwanted influences of negative spirits within people, objects, and the environment. Cedar promotes positivity and balance while deeply connecting humans to the spiritual world.
Guardian Spirit Mother
The Indigenous Americans believe that the Cedar tree is a “mother tree” embodying an old, wise, and powerful spirit meant to protect and guard us to ensure survival.
Mother trees are the biggest, oldest trees in the forest. They are the glue that holds the forest together. They have the genes from previous climates; these ancient trees help the forest recover from disturbances and maintain a living presence.
A Mother Tree can be connected to hundreds of other trees to help enhance regeneration, support biodiversity, and conserve carbon storage in the soil and above ground. Their symbiotic photosynthetic capacity provides food for the whole soil web of life, and they keep the water flowing in forest communities. They are homes to many creatures and support stability and biodiversity.
Trees are part of a large, interconnected community interacting with their own and other species, including forming kin relationships with their genetic relatives. Like people, trees are social beings that exchange nutrients, help one another and communicate about insect pests and other environmental threats. They share resources and information through an intricately interconnected network forests are not collections of isolated organisms but webs of constantly evolving relationships.
Connecting with Nature
When making vibrational essences, connecting with nature and the environment in which the flowers, plants, and trees grow is intentional. The experience of “being in nature” is personally and deeply felt, commonly evoking feelings of awe and wonder that arise spontaneously from the heart.
Quiet reflection and contemplation reveal the luminous, pulsing, sacred light essence that weaves our interdependent natures in subtle balance upon a fragile landscape.
All these sacred places have in common is that they have the power to inspire reflection, create a sense of intimacy or even transform us at our deepest core.
Making Guardian Ritual Essence
In making Guardian Ritual Essence, I visited the forest State Park on Palomar Mountain. Tree species include the varieties of White Fir, Bigcone, Douglas Fir, Black Oak, Canyon Live Oak, Coast Live Oak, Incense Cedar, and Ponderosa Pine.
Many of the trees appear to be old-growth. Two impressively large incense cedars in the Silvercrest picnic area have been dated to 400 years old.
When I arrive, the cool morning dew is dispersing, promising a warm, sunny Spring day. I follow a trail through the forest, noticing the texture of the trees and other foliage and the play of late morning light dancing across the shadows.
I notice one tree that stands out to me. Its Spirit calls to me. Before me stands a magnificent Cedar, its trunk scarred by lightning from years ago. There is a soft breeze, and its branches wave me forward.
I ask permission to approach her. I carefully, quietly, and with reverence approach as if I were approaching a wise elder.
She says, ‘yes.’ I enter her energy field with gratitude. I perceive her feminine energy as a mother. Her green laced branches curve earthward, enfolding me as I step beneath her. She holds me close, like a grandmother, in a timeless embrace that feels safe, serene, and loving.
I make an offering of tobacco along with prayers, asking her if she will share her healing essence with me/us. I listen for her voice and its affirmation that I may indeed.
I place a crystal bowl at her base and pour spring water from my bottle to fill it. The earth welcomes me in this space. I sit to meditate with her.
This tree is tall and strong, and wise. I hear the rustle of limbs and leaves as the wind caresses them. I listen to the way she speaks to my heart.
In my mind, I direct my attention to the tree’s very top, stretching toward the sky. I feel her crowning energy. Slowly, I trace her form down along her trunk and branches, feeling the strength of her core. I breathe in her delicious scent and observe her healing aroma traveling through me.
I see the hints of her roots just above the surface soil where I have nestled the water bowl. In my mind, I follow her roots as they descend deep into the earth. She is grounded and connected, a grand guardian of her environment. No matter what happens above the surface, these roots hold this tree.
I become her as I feel into her. I visualize my feet rooting to the earth, my crown reaching skyward, grounding myself. At this moment, I experience her guardian spirit embracing me, the other trees, and those living with her.
She shares with me her powerful energy, lovingly protecting me; I am interconnected to the web and tangle of soil and root, the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and the creatures who find a home in her and this forest.
I absorb her fierce feminine energy as I commune with this ancient Cedar guardian mother-spirit to protect what is sacred and which sanctifies my soul in safety and wholeness.
I end my meditation with a feeling of profound gratitude. I thank this beautiful mother tree for sharing her guardian essence with me. She encourages me to share her for the benefit of others who may need her protection and love.
Guardian Spirit Ally
Sometimes during the most challenging times in our lives, we can feel disconnected from our source, afraid, unsure, and vulnerable. This is when our allies can and want to help us more than ever.
Every time I use Guardian Ritual Essence, I return to these moments with her to pause, reflect and experience the transformational vibrational effect of being intimately connected with Cedar.
I am blessed and protected by mother Cedar’s gentle yet undeniable presence. Her guardian spirit provides a warm sense of protection and well-being, readying my personal energies for spiritual work, clearing away doubt, and inviting remembrance of her alchemical wisdom.
Guardian Ritual Essence contains the helping intention of the ancient guardian spirit who chases away harmful energy to protect what is sacred. Her benefic influence and wisdom sanctify the soul and brings a loving sense of safety and support.
Use Guardian Ritual Essence when benevolent power is needed to ward off negativity, guard against toxic people, defend against illness and disease, or call forth the blessings of spiritual support when looking after others who are vulnerable in your care.
All my aromatic love,
Vidya
