Juniper

Juniperus communis

🜂 Fire ♂ Masculine ☉ Sun Folk Names Aittin, Aiten, Mountain Yew, and Samh

Energetics & Properties Cleansing, funerary rites, protection rituals, spirit removal

"One breath of juniper smoke, like the perfume of sagebrush after rain, evokes in magical catalysis, like certain music, the space and light and clarity and piercing strangeness of the American West. Long may it burn.” - Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

What Is It?

Common juniper is an evergreen shrub and a species in the cypress family. The conifer has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, meaning its subspecies naturally grow in cool temperate climates all across the Northern Hemisphere. This includes North America, Europe, Northern Asia, and the Atlas Mountains of Africa. Juniper has a high tolerance for different conditions, from droughts to moisture to excess sunlight to cityscapes. However, they don't do well with standing water.

Juniper trees have green, needle-like leaves that grow in whorls of three, with a silver-white band or stripe at the stoma (a pore in the leaf's skin that controls gas exchange). What are commonly referred to as juniper berries are, in fact, not berries, but tiny fleshy cones. They ripen over 18 months, their waxy coating changing from green to blue to deep purple.

Since its flavor is too bitter and astringent to eat raw, juniper is sold dried, juiced, or as flavoring. Crushed or ground juniper is added to sauces, breads, cakes, and gamey dishes. In fact, juniper extracts can help improve meat quality and shelf-life. But by far the most popular use is gin.

You've likely noticed the English words gin and juniper have common roots. The name for the alcoholic beverage is derived from the Dutch word for juniper (genever) and the French (genièvre). Modern gin came about from an old Dutch liquor called ‘jenever,' which is a blend of grain-based malt wine and a neutral spirit infused with juniper. The shrub was used to mask the alcohol's harsh flavor. Jenever was used as a tonic during the Plague and spread in popularity to The Netherlands.

Juniper berries are also used to flavor Swedish health beer and French 'genevrette', which is made from equal parts juniper berries and barley.

The wood is popular in Estonia, France, and Scandinavia as woodworking material for small dairy containers, cooking utensils, and pocket knives.

Some cultivars are raised into ornamental garden shrubs. The 'Compressa,' 'Green Carpet,' 'Hibernica,' and 'Repanda' cultivars hold the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

How It Tastes:

Bitter, spicy, and astringent, so much so that it isn't popular to eat raw. See its flavoring uses above.

Medicinal Benefits:

Juniper berries can aid digestion and stomach ailments, arthritis, diabetes, and autoimmunity. They are high in Vitamin C, flavonoid antioxidants, and monoterpenes. This means juniper berries have anti -septic, -oxidant, -bacterial, -viral, -inflammatory, and -fungal properties.

*All medicinal benefits are for historical education purposes and entertainment. This website should not replace the advice of a doctor or other health professional. Please be responsible and consult a specialist before using a plant for healing purposes.*

Facts & Fables

Northern Poland has an Easter Monday tradition where boys chase girls, gently whipping their legs with juniper twigs to bring the girls good fortune in love.

The wood is great for burning since it gives off minimal smoke. This was especially useful for illegal whisky distillers in the Scottish Highlands. Then, during the Plague, some Scottish people fumigated entire homes with juniper smoke, with the ill occupants still inside. Then they would air the space and revive the people with whisky.

Smoking juniper wood and needles was used for ritual purification by Mediterranean witches, and by Druids for visions. The start of the Celtic Pagan year, Samhain (now Halloween), began with a juniper cleansing to remove negative energies, unwanted spells, and witchcraft.

Juniper cleansing worked for objects, too, so if you have anything that was gifted by someone who does not love you, it's said you can cleanse the gift with juniper water. Other magical benefits of juniper included wearing the berries to attract lovers, anointing oneself with oil to draw in money and prosperity, and decorating your home to protect it from thieves and dark spirits. Carrying or burning juniper was said to increase male fertility, break curses and hexes, and increase one's psychic powers.

The earliest record of juniper berries comes from a recipe to cure tapeworm infestations from Egypt, 1500 BC.

A 7,500-year-old juniper stump was excavated and discovered to be an idol of Lady Asherah of the Sea (Ăšērā in Hebrew). She was an ancient Semitic goddess of motherhood, fertility, and feminine nature, and that juniper stump is the oldest identified idol of her worship.

In the Old Testament, juniper symbolized angelic shelter for the prophet Elijah and the infant Jesus and his parents.

⚠ Cautions ⚠

There are over 45 species of juniper, but only a few of those produce edible berries. Source your juniper berries from reliable vendors before consuming.

Do not consume juniper berries if pregnant. The chemicals can stimulate uterine muscle contractions. This made juniper useful to administer during labour, but also abortions. The medieval phrase 'giving birth under the savin tree' is a euphemism for a juniper-induced miscarriage. It is highly discouraged that pregnant women ingest juniper.

The high levels of thujone in juniper can also cause stomach and kidney pains (if consumed in large quantities). People with kidney problems should avoid juniper berries as well.

Cocktails

• Juniper Berry Citrus Gin Fizz

• Juniper Champagne Cocktail

• Juniper Tangerine Gin

• Spanish Gin and Tonic

• Visit Gin for many more