There are few things I cherish more in life then a great night’s sleep. 🙂 With a baby that still gets up every few hours to nurse, I need my sleep. Looking through various materials, I was on the hunt for a great oil that promoted a calm environment and restful sleep and stumbled upon Cedarwood Essential Oil. Imagine my surprise when I discovered there were also 25 references in Scripture to cedar because it was the lumber that was used for construction, and another 40 references to live cedar trees (King Solomon had planted cedar trees all throughout Jerusalem).
Cedarwood essential oil (Cedrus atlantica) is a woodsy, warm, balsamic aroma that can be added to your favorite skin care products and applied topically. This essential oil includes sesquiterpenes and its powerful scent creates a relaxing, calming, and comforting atmosphere when diffused. Cedarwood is an important ingredient in Brain Power™, Grounding™, Highest Potential™ Essential Oil Blends, and Cel-Lite Magic™ massage oil.
A BIT OF HISTORY
Cedarwood may have been the first and most ancient oil to be obtained by distillation. The Chinese, Sumerians and Egyptians were using oil of cedarwood for embalming, hygienic and other purposes more than 5,000 years ago. It is mentioned on a Babylonian tablet dated 1800 B.C.
David Stewart writes, “The idea of a cedar dwelling for a king, as well as a place for worship, is an excellent application of the power of essential oils. Cedar is a fragrant wood, due to its oil content, whose aroma lasts indefinitely. A building made of cedarwood would always carry the faint scent of cedar oil. Hence, any Biblical reference to using cedarwood as a building material is an indirect reference to the application of an essential oil. Solomon built his temple and palace out of the Cedars of Lebanon. Thus his places to live, govern, and worship all had the vapors of cedarwood oil in the air. Cedarwood contains the highest concentration of sesquiterpenes of any known substance (98%). Sesquiterpenes oxygenate the brain and support clear thinking which is what wise rulers need to have. Perhaps King Solomon was wiser than we thought. Perhaps he knew of the aromatherapeutic benefits of cedar and applied that knowledge to building his palace and temple.”
SOME SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES
Leviticus 14:4
the priest shall command them to take for him who is to be cleansed two live clean birds and cedarwood and scarlet yarn and hyssop.
1 Kings 4:33
He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish.
Psalm 104:16
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
Do you want to hear how we use it in our home? Jump on over to You Tube and check out the video that I did on Cedarwood Essential Oil. Hope that it is helpful to y’all, but in case you learn better in print, I listed some of my favorite ways to use it below.
WAYS TO USE IT
*Cedarwood essential oil is so amazing for promoting Calming. You can diffuse it or apply it to your brain stem/back of the neck.
*Supports focus and concentration. I love to mix this in a roller ball with Vetiver and Lavender for a power punched roller ball. (Remember oils work on frequency of use, so you will want to keep this roller ball near by rather then dumping the whole bottle on your kiddos! 😉 )
*Promotes hair growth (I have added this to my Copaiba Vanilla shampoo and conditioner for just this reason.)
*Supports a good night’s rest like I mentioned above. If you don’t love the aroma in your diffuser, you can always apply to your feet and put socks over and still get the benefits.
*Soothes occasional itchy skin or irritated skin (This is great, especially when combined with either Lavender or Melerose in some coconut oil)
*Minimize dry/flaky scalp
*Supports a normal monthly cycle and maintains balanced hormones associated with PMS
*Maintains healthy bathroom function
I know Cedarwood Essential Oil is a staple in so many homes because this oil has such a great price point with a lot of uses. Please leave a comment sharing how you use it!
Did you miss a post in this series?
Overview of The Oils of the Bible
Aloes/Sandalwood Essential Oil
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Hmm, I’ve never even heard of cedarwood essential oil, but it sounds so wonderful! I wonder how well this would work for an anxiety disorder?
My husband suffers from really bad dandruff and, while it has helped, tea tree doesn’t seem to have taken care of the whole problem. Sounds like I need to give cedarwood a try! Thanks so much for sharing (:
Cedarwood is wonderful for occasional anxiety, as are many essential oils I love and use for just these times. 🙂