Norway Spruce Resin-Lithuania-Sustainably Harvested-A traditional European Folk Medicine-For Incense-Perfume-Rubs & Balms-Picea Abies

Description

Picea Abies, also known as European Spruce and Norway Spruce, is a mainstay of traditional medicine in ancient and modern Northern Europe.

This resin is sustainably harvested by an artisan in Lithuania. Someone with a reverent and respectful relationship with the trees and the land, (the kind of people I love to support). The trees are harmed in no way and offer up their resin as a gift. It is painstakingly sorted and truly beautiful quality material. This is a fragrant healing expression of nature, harvested in small quantities, painstakingly sorted and will never be available as a large volume or wholesale item.

Traditionally, a salve prepared from the resin of Norway Spruce with animal or vegetable fat/oil is used to treat wounds, ulcers and other skin issues. You will find many modern studies online that examine the efficacy of this ancient medicine.
The resin of Norway Spruce, like most other Northern Conifers, makes an excellent base for chest rubs that address myriad respiratory issues and is also effective as a rubefacient and anti-inflammatory for muscle and joint pain.
The resin when purified and filtered makes an excellent chewing gum that stimulates the gums and freshens the breath. These are only a few of the many uses our ancestors found for this beautiful tree.

Norway Spruce resin makes a lovely incense on its own or when blended with other aromatic materials.

As a natural perfume ingredient, this resin can be tinctured in alcohol. I believe freezing the tincture before filtering may reduce some of the inherent stickiness.
In oil-based perfumes, Norway Spruce resin dissolves readily in warm carrier oils and lends a beautiful fragrance to perfumes and other products that is both grounding and uplifting.
Needless to say, Norway Spruce resin makes a lovely essential oil, distinct from other species of Spruce and I look forward to distilling it in the near future.

Let me not forget to mention that Norway Spruce resin also makes a wonderful base for moustache and beard products.

On my blog- http://apothecarysgarden.com, ( In the drop-down menus at the top of the page), you will find recipes for moustache waxes and various healing salves and balms using fresh Pine, Fir or Spruce sap. You will also find instructions for building your own still and how to distill essential oils from resins.

A tip for easily removing these sticky saps from the plastic sleeve I ship them in, is to put them in the freezer for 1/2 hour or so first. When cold they will peel easily from the plastic and you won’t loose any in the process.

Dan