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Essential Oils – Elizabeth Kisch’s Thoughts on the Conifer Oils
January 15, 2010
I’ve always loved using essential oils. My interest in the oils were definitely renewed and deepened this year because of a little dwarf fir tree. I bought him at Trader Joe’s several years ago at Christmas time. He’s lived in a pot on my front porch, part of my mini Zen garden beside a statue of the Buddha. I put pots of annuals beside him in the spring and decorated him with Christmas lights along with the rest of the outside of the house during the holidays.
Last May when I was sitting on our front porch trimming and fixing up the plants for spring I noticed that this little fir tree needed some pruning. I had a small pair of scissors and I was trimming away trying to give him more of a Christmas tree shape. For some reason I just said out loud, “I wonder if you have a name?” Right away the name Hiram popped into my head. I remember smiling and saying, “Okay, I’ll call you Hiram.” Well, I have never thought about the name Hiram for more than 2 seconds in my entire life. And I didn’t think any more about this for several days. But one morning when I was on the internet I typed in, “What does the name Hiram mean?” I really learned a lot. Hiram is a Biblical name. (I did know that.) Many kings were named Hiram. Hiram, the king of Tyre was a friend of King David. King David always wanted to build a temple in honor of God, but in his lifetime he was always fighting wars, no time to build temples. But when his son, Solomon became the king there was peace in the kingdom, and he was moved in his heart to build a temple to honor God. He contacted King Hiram and asked if he would help. King Hiram was a friend and thought this was a noble cause that he would gladly participate in, so he agreed to send his men to help build the temple and also he would send materials – his cedar and fir trees.
I had to read this a couple of times before it clicked, his FIR TREES?? I was so touched by this because my Hiram is a fir tree! I went straight out to the front porch and sat down beside him, but I couldn’t even look at him. I just said, “Wow, Hiram, thanks so much for telling me your name. Would there be anything that I could do for you?” Right away, I got the impression that he wanted to be in the ground. So I proceeded to dig a big hole, filled it with water and natural fertilizer and put him in his new home. I know I felt him go, “ahhhhh,” kind of like taking off a pair of shoes that hurt your feet.
After this experience I started thinking about famous people whose work focused on their lives with plants. George Washington Carver was one person I thought of and I was motivated to start reading about him. George Washington Carver was born a slave in 1864. He had to overcome racial prejudice, struggled to get college degrees, and he loved studying plants so much. In spite of having to overcome many obstacles, he was never hostile or angry. He became a college professor and scientist. He revolutionized farming by developing crop rotation. He developed new uses from ordinary plants, especially the humble peanut for which he discovered over 300 uses. But he didn’t garner too much respect as a scientist because he always said when he made a new discovery that he received the information directly from God.
Then there was Luther Burbank. Luther Burbank developed many, many new varieties of plants. He was like a holy man of the plant world. He talked the spines off of a thorny cactus by telling it that he loved it and that he would protect it. Both of these men in my opinion because of their deep connection to plants and their devotion to God have served all of mankind for generations.
Well, my experience with Hiram was just a tiny thing compared to these guys, but not in my heart of hearts because it gave me a deeper appreciation for my essential oils. I started thinking about all of the uses there are for the conifer oils for healing. (Conifer essential oils are distilled from trees or plants that have cones, like all of the varieties of pine, fir, spruce, and cypress.)
When my husband and I went to France to study with Dr. Penoel, a physician specializing in aromatherapy, he stressed the conifer oils often in his lectures. He talked about how it felt to be in a pine forest. If you think about walking in a pine forest, it’s hard to be upset about anything much because it’s relaxing; it clears the mind, and its grounding. And that’s just the aroma that’s having that effect! Dr. Penoel also taught us about always using eucalyptus oil with a conifer oil in a 4 to 1 ratio because eucalyptus without the buffering effect of the conifer oil will dry out the lungs too much. The conifer helps to purify the terrain of the lungs, and promotes drainage of the lymphatic system. Conifers act as disinfectants if you diffuse them. They support wound healing, scar tissue formation, they alleviate pain, help arthritis, and bladder inflammation. Balsam fir shows a high activity against cancer. Cypress oil helps to release trauma at the cellular level, and also deep grief. Are you starting to feel a deeper respect for the conifer oils yet?
Have you ever heard the hymn, “There Is a Balm in Gilead”? It’s a beautiful hymn. If you want to hear it, go to Youtube.com and type this into the website search: Passage There is a Balm in Gilead. Here are the words to the refrain: There is a balm in Gilead, to make the wounded whole. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul. Now, I know that the author was writing about the Christ Spirit that makes the wounded whole, but I wondered, is there an actual, tangible Balm of Gilead?
I found out that there were balm trees that grew in Arabia and in the Holy Land during the time of Christ. They are now extinct. These trees were called by many names, one being the Balsam of Mecca. A resin came from these trees that was distilled and used for healing and for perfume. The oil cost more than gold and was sometimes called “gold”. There were actual stills that were discovered by researchers from the Hebrew University. They found traces of frankincense, myrrh, and another plant residue that no one knew what it was. This unknown substance was thought to be from the now extinct balm trees. There is one thought that the 3 gifts brought by the holy men from the East to the Lord Jesus were actually this “gold” oil, frankincense, and myrrh.
I contacted Young Living and asked them about the balm trees that were extinct, and she already knew about them. I asked her if the company had an oil that would be comparable to this ancient oil. She quickly answered, “Yes, indeed, that would be Balsam Fir.” It smells like a luscious fresh Christmas tree!
I like to think that we have all of the oils that were brought to the Lord Jesus. It is comforting and touching to me. And when I use the oils now I naturally use them with deeper reverence because I know that these oils are healing gifts to us. I know my clients feel this and have deeper results. I am so grateful.
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