The Greeks were using juniper berry oil as medicine long before the Romans, and the Indians and Egyptians were using the berries for food as well as for offerings to people who were making the transition to the afterlife before the Greeks realized what junipers could do for health. Remnants of offerings found in Egyptian tombs include juniper berries. The Romans finally caught on and used them to enhance the flavor of pepper, according to Pliny the Elder’s Natural History encyclopedia.
Juniper berry oil is extracted from Juniper cones or berries by steam distillation, but some oil is made using the needles and the wood of the plant. The quality of that oil is not as good as the oil made from the berries. In Central Europe, the oil was used for gastro-intestinal infections and rheumatism, and in France hospitals came up with a process where juniper twigs were burnt with rosemary to protect patients from infections.
When juniper oil is made from the berries, therapeutic properties surface. These are: antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, antirheumatic, antitoxic, diuretic, depurative, nervine, emmenagogue, sedative, and rubefacient, which make this oil a perfect aromatherapy remedy for a number of health issues. Essential juniper oil is used for arthritis, gout, muscle aches, and pains, oily skin, acne, rheumatism, and toxin build-up. Stress relation issues as well as nervous tension, and anxiety can also be treated using juniper berry oil in aromatherapy.
Juniper oil blends well with bergamot, basil, black spruce, black pepper, clary sage, caraway, lavender, peppermint, citronella, neroli, cypress, eucalyptus, petitgrain, pine, marjoram, rosemary and thyme, and that blending quality makes it a versatile essential oil.
A large number of people who are very familiar and work with essential oils believe that the main use for the oil is for body and mind detoxification. Juniper oil contains monoterpenes: Myrcene, limonene, sabinene, pinene, and camphene as well as terpinenol, and borneol are beneficial for the intestinal tract, acting as purifying and antiseptic agents as well as stimulants.
Juniper is considered the best aromatherapy oil for treating urinary stones, cystitis, and pyelitis. The chemicals in the oil actually flush out free radicals that invade the blood stream and enter the cells in the organs. When juniper oil is massaged into the body or is used in a dilute bath, it relieves muscle cramps and conditions the skin, and when it is inhaled it goes to work on the internal system as well as the mind.
Juniper oil impacts the emotions as much as it impacts the free radicals that create illness. Essential juniper oil is purifies the body physically, and it’s an spiritual plane cleanser as well, especially when emotionally draining situations or people interfere with balanced mental vibrations.
