Pine Essential Oil:
Warming, Grounding Qualities that Stimulate Respiration and Circulation

Holding this archetypal picture of Saturn, we can appreciate the special importance of the Pine Tree emerging from the penumbral depths toward its towering presence in the light. In the Pine essential oil extracted from the needle leaves of the Pine, we can particularly note the remarkable healing qualities of warmth opening to air and light. Pine Essential Oil is especially appreciated for its pungent, yet uplifting and cleansing aroma. It has an ability to clear the respiratory tract of phlegm, acting as an expectorant and decongestant to promote easier breathing and soothing symptoms of colds, coughs, sinusitis, and asthma. When used for massage and baths, the warmth of Pine essential oil penetrates into muscles and joints afflicted with arthritis, rheumatism and similar cold, contracted conditions, to stimulate and enhance circulation.

One of the key chemical structures in Pine essential oil, is α-pinene; a kind of mother substance which is found in numerous other plants with later evolutionary histories. The grounding, calming, and pain-relieving qualities of a-pinene are a consistent healing theme in these other essential oils. We can say that the Pinaceae family were the “pine-eers” who first “broke ground” to capture these warming elements of earth ascending into light, and then communicated these chemical structures to many other forms of plant life.

Pine Flower Essence: Transforming Brooding Melancholia

If we hold this imaginative picture of the Pine Tree and its evolutionary path of becoming, we can gain a deeper insight in Dr. Bach’s indications for Pinus sylvestris “… those who blame themselves and are never content with their efforts or results. They are hard-working and suffer much from the faults they attach to themselves.” Here we have the Saturn archetype of a kind of dark, brooding melancholic disposition. Even the English language has incorporated this essential quality in the verb, to pine, meaning to yearn and long for what is past or no longer attainable.

Yet, the healing polarity of the melancholic longing is also contained in the Pine Tree. For it has learned to live with this darkness, finding within it transformative impulses for a future ascent into light. As the Pine Tree has learned so wonderfully to move beyond its past, —literally dropping its lower branches as it strives upward, so also this is the great lesson of the Pine personality, who becomes too burdened with its current feelings of “weight” or failure, and cannot move positively forward.

One of the key insights into the Pine Personality, is not only the outer presentation of pessimism, but a kind of interior coldness and consequent stasis. This coldness may present itself as a contracted or socially aloof condition. Loving warmth is often a quality that such a personality cannot easily receive from others or feel within oneself. In its healing process, the Pine flower essence digs deep into the memory – for instance a childhood with a stern upbringing, a prevailing mood of doom and gloom in the family constellation, or powerful past memories that shroud the soul from its earliest moments of incarnation.

This soul condition may also have penetrated into the body itself, resulting in various “cold” conditions, such as poor circulation. In fact, we need to recognize that external conditions that present as “inflammatory” such as arthritis or rheumatism, are better understood as a misdirected outer fire that attempts to compensate for the core inner warmth often lacking in the Pine constitution. For this reason, it can be very healing in many cases to use the Pine essential oil in tandem with the Pine Flower essence in order to address both the body and soul components fully.

Archetypal Role of Pine Flower Essence: A Man Finds New Purpose and Self-Worth, Overcoming Addiction and Self-Defeating Patterns of Failure

A practitioner recently submitted to the FES Certification Program, a detailed case of a man in his thirties, featuring Pine flower essence as the major constellating essence used in his successful therapy over the course of approximately one year.

At the onset of therapy, this man reported: “I am an adopted child along with an adopted sister who was the golden “perfect” child. My mom and dad were strict with very high expectations and I never felt that I met them. I was always told by my parents that I never reached my potential. As a child, I had chronic asthma and allergies. My teenage years were turbulent and rebellious. I often acted out my frustration of not feeling loved or approved, not feeling like I belonged… I have spent most of my life feeling abandoned, alone, cursed, evil, ashamed and worthless. I have struggled to even be capable of positive inner dialogue and self-talk. I would like to eliminate these negative beliefs and thoughts about myself and cultivate healthy positive beliefs about myself…”

A prominent theme in this man’s life was addiction to various substances, including tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. Attempts to curb these addictions were not successful, resulting in even greater sense of letdown and defeat. He also noted that throughout many jobs and relationships “I have felt like a failure …” He expressed his primary goals for flower essence therapy as that of seeking, "….Self-acceptance, self-worth, self-confidence, self-discipline…….I want to be more giving in all personal relationships. "

During the course of therapy, this man achieved long-term sobriety for the first time in his life. The most pronounced shift was his increased interest and commitment in ‘being with himself’, and practicing positive vulnerability. He reported an increased ability to practice acceptance and re-identification, with greater harmony and honesty in his social relationships. The client further expressed that he felt “.. more objective and compassionate when I feel any guilt, self-blame, or excessive self-criticism . I now understand their source as inherited patterns and limiting beliefs. I feel much less susceptible to those emotional states than I did when therapy started. When they do arise, instead of allowing these feelings and beliefs to paralyze me, I allow them to move through me.”

The practitioner summarized the healing role of Pine: “I feel Pine was the key archetypal remedy for this client. At the start of therapy, his mental landscape and self-image was very bleak and caustic … his overall demeanor was extremely critical and despairing. Without allowing himself the dignity of positive encouragement and the natural grace period of trial and error, it has been very difficult for him to learn, grow, move beyond the past, and express himself freely.

Therefore, he would generally expect some degree of failure, disappointment, and hardship. The Pine flower essence ‘instructed’ this client in a deep process of forgiveness and self-forgiveness. The over-paralysis generated by his belief in his ‘flawed self-worth’ began to shift as a result. In a considerably short period of time, he was able to transcend many layers of self-condemnation, behavioral imbalances, and integrate a practice of self-forgiveness into his life. I don’t think I could have convinced him that he had the choice to move forward solely through my counseling and encouragement. I truly noted the powerful role of this flower essence.”