Cypress a.k.a. Tree of Death
by Amethyst
There were times in Celtic life when normal routine was deliberately dismantled, and Samhain was one of these. This was the Celtic New Year, and for one night the spirits of departed loved ones were invited in to sit at the hearth and be fed and cared for. When the night was over, the ancestors were taken to the village boundaries and seen off with clattering bells and drums. The god (and/or goddess) went underground where his transformation continued underground unseen until time for rebirth at Yule. This spirit of death and rebirth is honoured through a lovely tree, the Cypress.
Botanical: Cupressus sempervirens
Planetary associations: Mars, Saturn, Neptune
Zodiac associations: Virgo
Element: Earth
Gender: Feminine
Magickal classifications: Herbe of Immortality, Religious Herbe
Invocatory: Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Ashtoreth, Cupid, Cybele/Kybele, Cyparissus/ Kyparissos, Hades, Hebe, Hecate, Jupiter, Mithras, Pluto, Zoroaster
Part Used: Leaf, twigs, fruit, bark, wood, resin and essential oil
Cupressus sempervirens, the Mediterranean Cypress (also known as Italian, Tuscan, or Graveyard Cypress, or Pencil Pine) is a species of cypress native to the eastern Mediterranean region. It is a medium-sized evergreen tree to 35 m (115 ft) tall, with a conic crown with level branches and variably loosely hanging branchlets. It is very long-lived, with some trees reported to be over 1,000 years old. The foliage grows in dense sprays, dark green (blue-green) in colour. The leaves are scale-like, 2-5 mm long, and produced on rounded (not flattened) shoots. The seed cones are ovoid or oblong, 25-40 mm long, with 10-14 scales, green at first, and maturing brown about 20-24 months after pollination. The male cones are 3-5 mm long, and release pollen in late winter. The species name sempervirens comes from the Latin for 'evergreen'.
Cypress has long been associated with the protective aspect of death. This very beautiful tree has a powerful aura, but some people consider this a gloomy tree. It has been cultivated since prehistoric times for its fragrant wood. Its stately, tall, narrow form is often found in formal gardens. It is considered a mystical tree that is usually found either growing directly in water, or very close to it, and it's a classic tree in Tuscany, where it is planted along country roads to yield a fragrant path shaded from the hot sun and protected from winds. This cypress yields the most fragrant of the various cypress essential oils. The tree produces a resin that can be gathered from incisions in the bark (some resin just seeps through the bark without cutting), or the needles can simply be harvested and added to incense and pot pourri. Men are especially fond of its scent, which is refreshing, restorative, calms anger, helps with concentration, and creates feelings of security. The fragrance has a quality that moves the senses upwards, like the branches of the tree itself. The overall effect is one of sweetness.
"Sweeter than the finest nectar
Of the honeyed pomegranate
Is the fragrance of the wind
In the grove of cypress."
Edmond Bordeaux Szekely, "The Angel of Air",
The Essene Gospel of Peace, Book Two
LORE
Cupressus sempervirens was known by the ancient Greeks and Romans as "the mournful tree", sacred to the rulers of the underworld and to their associates, the Fates and the Furies. It was customary to plant it by a grave, and, at the time of a death, to place it either before the house of the decedent or in the vestibule, to warn those about to perform a sacred rite against entering a place polluted by a dead body. No Roman funeral was complete without cypress. Mourners carried its branches as a sign of respect and the bodies of the great were laid upon cypress branches before interment. According to Ovid, the tree was named after Kyparissos, a favourite of Apollo. The young boy accidentally slew Apollo's beloved stag. He became so remorseful that he besought the gods to punish him with everlasting gloom. In compliance they transformed him into a cypress tree. The cypress is the principal cemetery tree in the Muslim world as well as in ancient and modern European cultures.
It was the traditional wood for making sarcophagi (coffins) in ancient Egypt because the fragrant wood resists rotting. In fact, in Europe, coffins were built of cypress and funeral garlands and wreaths made of its branches to represent eternal life. In ancient Greece, statues of the Gods were carved from this wood. The Minoans spread a cult form Crete to Cyprus that worshipped the cypress as a divine symbol.
This magick herb is also sacred to Hades ("the unseen"), the god of the Underworld and thus of both death and earthly riches, who was stern, ferocious in battle, and just. Cypress is also the tree of the Blood Moon (October) and is linked to elemental Earth, not only through Hades but especially in the form of the Phrygian goddess of earth and caves, Cybele/Kybele. She ruled over the natural world, wild animals, dark magick, and revenge. Cypress represents life after death and comfort for grief.
"My life is full of little deaths
I will be born again".
Song - Little Deaths
Artist - To Die For
USAGE
Despite the sorrowful aspects of this herbe, there are many possibilities for its magickal use. The scent of Cypress can ease the flow of emotional tears, especially those of parting. At times of great loss it is of value in developing an understanding that death is merely a continuum from one existence into another.
Use at times of crisis, especially at the death of a friend or family member. When worn to funerals it eases the mind and alleviates grief. Throw a sprig into the grave to bestow luck and love in the hereafter. As a symbol of eternity and immortality, it is worn to lengthen life. To make a healing wand, slowly cut, over a three-month period, a branch (with the trees permission of course). The root and cones are also healing, as is the greenery when dried and used as incense. The wand may also be used in invocations to the Gods.
Used in ritual fires to consecrate ritual tools in its smoke. Cypress might be used by those who wish to establish a bonding with their familiars, which is capable of being carried into the next reincarnation.
Cypress bark, dried and powdered, makes superior incense for those who work with the magick of the legendary King Stag of the forest. Cypress bark, dried and powdered, would make a superior incense for this work. The bark could be collected and woven into a breechcloth to be worn when running as the stag.
Cypress can also ease the transitions that are part of life, such as changing your attitude towards something or someone. For people who tend to take a hard line, it shows a more lenient approach. It also helps to overcome fear of the dark, or the unknown, and of course the fear of death itself.
Death is not always peaceful and Cypress does not deny the agony of any loss or tragedy, but it is concerned with facing the truth, and as such will lift the spirits out of introspection and into the light.
"Let him be just and deal kindly with my people,
for the dead are not powerless. Dead - I say?
There is no death. Only a change of worlds".
Chief Seattle (on surrendering his land in 1885 - the City of Seattle now stands there)
