Plant Meds: Sacred Cedar

I have been working some medicine for a 3rd Chakra skin imbalance, and in my search for the right medicine, learned a lot about some of Mother Earth’s finest plant gifts to us – lavender, peppermint, coconut oil, cider vinegar, aloe vera – and one of the Medicine Wheel Four: Our Lady Cedar.

 

My teacher, Pete Keshane (a Traditional Healer from Saskatchewan who heals and teaches with Anishnawbe Health, Toronto’s Indigenous Healing Center), has given me several lessons about Cedar and some of his other medicines.

Through Pete and the other Traditional Healers at Anishnawbe Health, I learned that Cedar is one of my family’s most important medicines. So I probably should have thought about her first.

All is well though, because I have learned so much about other powerful medicines over the past few weeks.

When we open ourselves to the Healing Path of The Ancestors, they will use every opportunity, event, situation, challenge, and question to teach us the Sacred ways of the Red Path. 

The Ancestors will use songs, words, numbers, birds, and animals to get our attention. Whatever it takes to reach us and teach us, they will use it – because we have all agreed to be a part of this story before we came here to Mother Earth at this time.

Because they know I am a Bird Clan Messenger in this lifetime (a teacher, storyteller, messenger for the people), The Ancestors show me the lessons they’re asking me to learn by repeatedly reminding me of an animal, bird, plant, stone, element or other Sacred gift of provision that Creator has given us for our journey here.

In this particular Medicine Walk, I have found some lessons about Cedar that I Am happy and honoured to share with You.

Every Medicine Walk of any length originates from the Medicine Wheel, which forms the core framework of everything on this planet. The Medicine Wheel is a tool that helps us discover the blueprints of who we are personally and in our families and communities, and organize and understand our daily and lifelong activities.

There is not “One” Medicine Wheel. Each one is a unique model, a great gift of love from Creator, Grandmother Moon, Grandfather Sun, Mother Earth and Father Sky.

In my Medicine Wheel (as illustrated above), the color Red represents the physical body, which is also reflected through 3rd Chakra energy-related issues. Red is where my Cherokee Ancestors, My Father, Brother, Sons, and other men in my lineage are strongly represented. It is where our family’s Wolf totem sits; and Red shows the Southern quadrant that my personal familiar and Spirit Guide, Crow keeps watch over with her powerful medicine of transformation.

It is in this quadrant that Cedar sitting for me and my family.

What all this means for us today is that I am learning and sharing about Cedar for use in healing a rash that my body is using to show me some relationships in my personal journey (with my Self, my Male Bloodline Relatives, Mother Earth and her Sacred Gifts for my physical experience) that need some loving kindness and attention. And plant medicine.

Here, Margot B offers an excellent article on, “Cedar as a Natural Healing Remedy.”

Below is a video about the Spirit Medicine of Cedar, produced by our generous Elders at Sustainable Dreaming.

And, Native Languages (dot) Org offers many good teachings about Cedar as our tree relatives and as our medicine. Native Languages is also a good resource for the stories of Turtle Island’s Original People.

My Cedar tea is now finished steeping and is ready to work with.

I’m going to try it in a bath all on its own, no other herbs or oils, to see how it will work on a rash that has come from 3rd Chakra detox (!)

3rd Chakra is the container for all of our self-worth energy, and once it is healed becomes the source of our dignity. 3rd Chakra provides the warrior energy for powerful positive transformation.

That is a pretty important health issue imho, so in addition to the Cedar bath and my other rituals, I will be listening to this Music Medicine to heal the Solar Plexus (3rd Chakra).

I’ll let you know how it goes, and in the meantime, please feel free to add your comments, thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

Thank you for being here.

swc kandace keithley ma

Turtle Island, Gaia

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