Cayenne

Cedar of Lebanon

Scientific Name: Cedrus libani

Part Used: Distilled oil of the wood

In a Word: Circulation Plant

Uses: Gets the circulation moving; used to treat arthritic joints, cold bodies, and to increase circulation to the brain

The Cedar of Lebanon was one of the most popular trees amongst the ancient Israelites. We know this because it is one of the most mentioned plants in the Bible. In the Biblical days there were forests of cedar just north of Israel in what we now call Lebanon. The cedar of Lebanon is a mountain tree, living in high altitudes, from 1500 to 1900 meters above sea level. In the ancient world Lebanese cedars were in high demand. The Egyptians and the Assyrians imported the wood to build ships, altars, thrones, and carved objects. The royal houses of Israel and many other countries preferred to use Lebanese cedar as their timber. The end result was the Lebanese cedar forests disappeared long before the time of Christ. Devastating the earth is an old pastime of the human species. Modern corporations deforesting huge chunks of the earth is nothing new, King Solomon engaged in the same activity.

The ancient Israelites were actively involved with the deforestation of Lebanon. In the long list of quotes more often then not it is the wood of the cedar of Lebanon discussed. Both the first and second temples of Jerusalem were made of it. We read of King Solomon negotiating with Hiram, King of Tyre, to procure some to build the temple and sundry buildings.

Volatile oils, which cedars contain, are by nature antiseptic and have always been used to disinfect wounds and to promote healing.

Part of the popularity of these trees was due to the fact that it was a huge tree by Middle Eastern standards, reaching 90 feet in height! This height was not achieved quickly; the tree is known to live between two and three thousand years. The wood was extremely popular with the ancient people because it was available in huge pieces, it was strong, it lasted forever, and it had the usual cedar smell. In the Bible, Amos compares the sons of Anak the Amorite to the cedars of Lebanon. We have to assume that these sons were some big men!

One of the pastimes of local kings during the biblical period was to run into Lebanon and steal cedar wood. King Solomon, Hiram, Cyrus, and the kings of Assyria, not to mention any other neighbouring kings, were quite fond of the wood and did what it took to get the wood to build their palaces. The great fleet of ships anchored in Tyre was said to be made of the wood.

Apparently Solomon was so fond of the wood that when he built his temple, houses, sedans and chariots, he used nothing but the scented wood. Solomon spent seven years building his temple and 14 years building his personal house, an interesting testimony to his priorities. Those years were hard on the Lebanese cedar population! The house was called the house of the forest of Lebanon for reasons to obvious to mention. He also a built a separate house made of the wood for his favourite wife who happened to be the Pharaohs daughter. You know her home was on the plush side. Not only was the building project rough on the trees, the people that did the logging didn't exactly have a party during the process. Solomon forced 30,000 Israelites to work harvesting the wood and bringing it down from the Lebanese hills to be used in the houses. Another 150,000 slaves were used to accomplish the work, mostly losers of foreign wars.

Cedar trees had a use beyond house making; they are a source of medicine that has been used since the earliest time. The tree produces oils that are responsible for its characteristic smell and that are highly active when used internally or externally. For the Israelites it was a source of wood, oil, and resin. In fact the entire cedar family is renown for its use in healing. Because the biblical Kings were so fond of Lebanese cedars, not many exist today. As such it, it is not used in modern herbal medicine.

There are many members of the cedar family and these are used in medicine today. Family members contain similar oils and are used for similar purposes. Three close relatives, Sabina cacumina, Juniperus virginiana, and Thuja occidentalis are used in the contemporary practice of medicine and are worth looking at.

Volatile oils, which cedars contain, are by nature antiseptic and have always been used to disinfect wounds and to promote healing. Volatile oils have the ability to open up the blood vessels and deliver more immune cells to the damaged region, which in turn speeds the healing process. For the most part, cedars are associated with skin healing and the treatment of arthritic joints. The cedars are also used to treat warty conditions of the skin due to the tannins and flavonoids found in the wood. These chemicals attack abnormal tissue and leave normal tissue unmolested, thus warts disappear and the normal tissue remains unscathed.

If you know your Bible, you know the ancient Israelites were no strangers to skin afflictions. People have always been sensitive about the way their skin looked and in the biblical days a bad case of skin could have resulted in being ostracized. Lepers and other skin afflicted folk were banned from living with people. Bearing in mind that cedar has been used to treat skin problems it is likely that cedar products were used in the Biblical days to treat the lepers we read about.

In a text dating to 1475, the following is found about one cedar family member, "The European Sabina is hot and dry in the third degree. If one mixes it with honey it dries dangerous wounds and swellings and cleanses their foulness. If crushed and applied to a woman's member or if a woman drinks it with wine, it will draw from her a miscarried fetus. If mixed with white wine, and it makes the skin clear, and it is good for all diseases that come from the cold. If the head is washed with its broth or applied to the temples, it is good for headache."

This writer mentions two uses of the plant that are of interest. Many members of the cedar family have been used to induce abortion by women that found themselves pregnant and not happy about it. Unfortunately, cedar is a little too effective at terminating life and the women often died in the process of ridding themselves of the unwanted pregnancy. The other use mentioned is as an external application for headache. Volatile oils contained in the plant open up the blood vessels and increase circulation. Headaches are thought to be caused by cramps in the blood vessels in the head and failed blood flow. It is quite clever that the ancients used cedar oil to treat headaches.

Gerard repeated what the earlier herbalist had to say about the European cedars ability to cure skin problems, "The leaves stamped with honey and applied, cure ulcers, stay spreading and creeping ulcers, scoure and take away all spots and freckles from the face or body of man or woman. The leaves dried and beate into fine powder and strewed upon those excrescences sub praeputio, called caroles, and such like, gotten by dealings with uncleane women, take them away perfectly, curing and healing them."

Gerard mentions that Sabina leaf tea was effective in treating venereal warts on the penis or excrescences sub preputia as he puts it. The idea that members of the cedar family treat abnormal skin growths, whether warts or psoriasis, is consistent across the world. This action harkens back to the fact the plants have chemicals that attack abnormal tissue growth. Maude Grieve even mentions this use: "It is rarely given internally, but is useful as an ointment and as a dressing in blisters in order to promote discharge; also applied externally to syphilitic warts, and other skin troubles."

In a text dating to 1820, written by C.S. Raffinesque, the American red cedar, Juniperus virginianis, is mentioned as being used as a substitute for the European Sabina. "the leaves of savin are the official parts. Those our cedars are used as equivalents with us, under the name savin, but they are weaker than the European prescriptions. They all have the properties of the junipers in a higher and even violent degree, they increase all the secretions, but may produce haemorrhage and abortion, acting chiefly on the uterus, pregnant women ought never to use them, but they are very useful in dropsical complaints, menstrual suppressions, also in rheumatism, gout, worms, and cancer in powder, conserve, or tincture. Externally the powdered leaves may be applied to warts, venereal excrescences, ulcers, carious bones, psoriasis, tinea, and gangrenous sores, to heal them."  Raffinesque doesn't tell us much that we don't already know, a different cedar relation, a similar use. He mentions that the cedars stimulate secretions and they do this via their oils, which specifically stimulate secretion of the kidney and the lung. The end result is more urination and increased expectoration. Hence they are known as diuretics and expectorants.

Thuja occidentalis, another American cedar, known as American white cedar, was originally used by the Native Americans in their healing practice. The name thuja comes from the Greek work thuo or to sacrifice. The ancients used fragrant woods such as cedar as tinder in their process of offering smoke offerings up to the gods. Clusius, who saw this American native growing at the Royal Garden at Fontainbleu, called it arbor vitae, tree of life, a name that has stuck. As colonial physicians went rooting around America looking for drugs to use, they learned of thuja's medicinal actions. In the world of herbal medicine, thuja is by and far the most commonly used cedar.

In a text dating to 1557 from one of the early trading posts in Canada, Thevet of St.Lawrence, we see the white man’s introduction to the thuja. "Also one must not omit what is singular, that when the aforesaid savages are ill with fever or persecuted with other interior sicknesses, they take the leaves of a tree which is very like the cedars, which are found around the mountain of tarare and at Lyonnois; and take the juice which they drink. And it is not to be doubted that in twenty four hours, they are not sick, even if it is inveterate within the body, that this drink cures them; as many times the Christians have tried, and have brought the plant from there." Here we see how the pioneer doctors "discovered" thuja. In fact, their patients, having learned of it from the Native Americans brought it to them.

In 1749 in Quebec, Canada, a botanical writer had this to say of thuja, "This thuja is used for several medicinal purposes. The commandant of Fort St. Frederic, M. de Lusignan, could never sufficiently praise its excellence for rheumatic pains. He told me that he had often seen it tired with remarkable success upon several persons in the following manner. The fresh leaves are pounded in a mortar and mixed with hogs grease or any other grease. This is boiled together till it becomes a salve, which is spread on linen and applied to the part where the pain is. This salve gives certain relief in a short time."

By 1911 Thuja was a well-accepted medicine, used by all doctors to treat rheumatism and skin problems. Dr. Fyfe said the following of the plant, "locally: senile and other forms of gangrene, hemorrhages caused by malignant growths; fissured anus and hemorrhoids; warts whether on the face, hands, or genitals; syphilitic eruptions, bulging naevi, balanitis, or abrasions or excoriations on the head of the penis, or around the corona glandis; Locally it is used extensively with good success in many cases."

Though the cedars are used internally, this is better left to skilled practitioners that know what they are doing. On the other hand, using them externally poses no threat to health or safety. Indeed, from all that we have read, using cedar and cedar by-products may be a smart thing to do. We started off talking about the Cedars of Lebanon and that is where we end.

Practitioners’ Advice

The Cedar of Lebanon, when distilled, contains an essential oil that is very exciting to the circulation. If you were to put a drop on your skin, it would quickly become red and warm. This essential oil is too strong to be used in an undiluted manner, but, when added to a quantity of carrier oil or bath gel, it can be a wonderful addition to the medicine chest.

When would increased circulation be a good thing? If you are feeling the effects of the cold and want to really warm up, Cedar of Lebanon oil is an excellent choice. Say if you have been out of doors for too long or feel a cold coming on. Cedar oils have long been used in joint conditions. A bath or a massage with this oil will make a difference in both rheumatoid and osteo-arthritis. There is one proviso here. It should not be used if the joints are inflamed. That is if there is inflammation, increasing circulation would not be a good idea. It should be used when the condition is relatively cool.

On the mental and spiritual front, Cedar of Lebanon oil is excellent when you need to do some clear thinking. Increasing circulation to the brain results in the brain cells getting lots of blood flow. Increased blood flow means increased thoughts. If you are having a hard time thinking clearly, perhaps a bath or a massage with this oil will help. On the other hand, if your brain is already in an overactive state, this would be the wrong oil to use.

Most importantly, this oil should not be used in pregnancy or when there is suspected pregnancy!