Oh Christmas tree, of all the trees most lovely ♪♪♪

We often think of the balsam tree only as a support for our Christmas decorations and the nice scent it brings to our house during the holiday season.

But that magnificent tree has a lot more to offer once we start enquiring a bit. It helps clean the air, feeds and shelters animals and is used in construction. Its essential oil has a wide variety of properties for beauty, wellbeing and medicine as it relaxes the body while stimulating the mind.


In the wild, fir pitch can help you start a fire, be used as an adhesive or waterproofing agent over seams of various materials. Its special substances protect the tree from infection and aid in the healing process. It does the same for human beings. As a salve that stays liquid even during winter, it forms a protective coating that glues cuts together, prevents debris and parasites from entering the wound, and accelerates healing of scrapes, burns and sores.
               
I would add that this pungent, bitter and fragrant tea can be drunk just for the joy and comfort it provides, with a bit of honey or mable syrup maybe. Native Americans and European settlers made a tea with it or ate it as a tonic and medicine it in cases of:

• bronchitis, cough and sore throats
• cancer
• inflammation of mucus membranes
• colds and flu
• dysentery
• earache
• urogenital ailments such as vaginal infections and gonorrhea
• heart ailments
• rheumatism or inflammation and pain in muscles and joints
• scurvy
• ulcers
• as an inhalant for headaches
They also applied it externally on wounds as a painkiller, an analgesic and an antiseptic. 

In Ayurvedic terms, fir is considered heating and drying, therefore beneficial for Vata and Kapha, and is recommended for back and joint pain, sore muscular tissues and as an expectorant.

The aroma and fixative properties of its essential oil are a delight in your diffuser, massage oil, soaps and aftershave.

What to think then of anything or anybody, including ouselves, we judge based on our partial and knowledge? We look at the world from the limited perspective of our habitual mind, a mind uncomfortable with change, with the unknown? Can we explore our gifts of beauty, grace and power despite the layers of judgements and emotions we have hidden them under? Can we dust those off like old skin? What do you say?

So next time you meet a fir tree, why not salute it and ask: What qualities have I still not discovered about you? What qualities of mine have I not seen? What gift is still waiting to be unwrapped? 

Have a beautiful, healthy and enlightening holiday season everyone.

Samyukta