One girl's field notes as she visits with THE CEDAR TREE and tromps through the garden and the woods and the cupboards.
WILDSOLSTICE WREATH
This year I wanted to celebrate the cycle of seasons that solstice represents. The movement of dark into light, and to remember that there is a time for every season, for every moment on earth. I had two grandfathers, a good friend and a beloved labrador pass into the starry night this year. And I also brought a beautiful baby girl into the world just before the longest light of summer solstice. It gave me something to ponder, and the circle seemed significant in the seasons of all things. I used a few branches from our Cedar tree to make this wreath for solstice. I began with dried flower stalks from the autumn garden and slowly bound the Cedar with bits of twine. I also added some sage and a few pheasant feathers towards the top. Cedar is known as a spiritual purifier. You can make bundles of cedar leaves and burn them in your fires to protect, to heal, and to purify your space and surroundings. |
WHIMSYCEDAR SAGE TUTU
The Cedar tree is storied. It is a magic ship. It has been hollowed out and made into sturdy canoes for many centuries. It is a magic wall. It has been planted in lines creating a great fortress to protect from the northern winds. It is a magic castle. The branches leave enough room for a family of finches to have parties and invite their friends. It is a magic mirror. Both the Cherokee and the Ojibwe believe that the tree holds the spirits of our ancestors, providing guidance and knowledge and requiring that we honor and care for it as we would ourselves. This wooly tutu begins with deep green hand spun yarn, vintage lace, and several types of ribbons. There are three kinds of tulle, one with branch colored roving that's been needle felted onto the tulle. A finished waist in pale green, and cream lace ribbon to tie in the back. This fairy is found in the heart of the woods, and can change shapes when she likes. She is a magic ship, a magic wall, a magic castle, a magic mirror. She is the cedar sage. Nokomis Gisheek is Ojibwe for Grandmother Cedar Tree. |
WONDERSATURATED COLLAGE
Sometimes I imagine what it would be like to live outside every moment of every day throughout the year. In fact the thought occurs to me every time I stand in the pasture with the horses or the sheep. The Cedar tree stands near us in the garden and it knows the answer to my question. Its green branches brush me lightly as I reach for the hose to water the strawberries. Its bright scent fills our home as we string Christmas lights and deck the halls. And while we flit about like busy squirrels, it stands calmly and breathes with the moon and sleeps in the sun and rinses in the rain, and bows low to burrow in the snow. If the Cedar were a great green thundercloud, it might drop stories from each day, from every season, from every hour in the wild. We'd hear each memory. We'd be saturated in the moments. We'd be cleansed by them. I painted this collage with inky greens and acrylics. It sits on a base of vintage ephemera that has been further stamped, charcoaled sketched, and smudged. |
OTHER *CEDAR TREE* NOTES OF IMPORT
Little bits of knowledge from traipsing through libraries, internets and life. I focus on northern climate, North American varieties and techniques.
DISCLAIMER: I try to provide footnotes and links if possible but please be safe and do your homework. This is not meant as advice or consult.
DISCLAIMER: I try to provide footnotes and links if possible but please be safe and do your homework. This is not meant as advice or consult.
FOOD
A White Cedar Tea can be made by boiling the leaves. Very high in Vitamin C. Pregnant women should stay away from it. |
TOPICAL MEDICINE
White Cedar wood oil (distilled from the bark) can be used as a topical antiseptic to clean wounds, and as an astringent for teeth. |
INTERNAL MEDICINE
White Cedar wood oil can be used as a tonic and supports digestive system and nervous system with a range of benefits from hypertension to obesity to clearing toxins in the blood. Cedar is a purifier. |
NATURAL DYE
The Red Cedar root - both southwestern and eastern varieties, will make a purple dye. |
DIVINATION
Cedar is a known purifier and is burned and smudged for protection and spiritual cleansing. It is nicknamed the tree of life. |
GROWTH
Cedars can grow tightly together in rough conditions without any competition which allows them to act as a base for neighboring plants, and to grow shelter. |