🌲 Spruce Resin is the Frankincense of our Forests
When respectfully gathering resin, you must absolutely make sure that you only take the top layer of the resin and do not expose the injured bark that safely sits beneath it. The resin is the protective “band-aid” (Pflaster) of the tree, and we deeply want to avoid injuring it again or reopening its existing wound. The resin could be symbolically compared to our own scab formation when we have a wound. It is exactly the same with a living tree.
Nature’s Additions: If you gather spruce resin yourself, it is mostly naturally polluted with small needles, pieces of bark, and dead insects. For a sacred incense blend, plant parts do not bother me at all, but for a healing salve, the resin should be completely pure.
Burgundy Pitch: Purified spruce resin is traded under the old name Burgundy pitch (Burgunderharz) and is quite expensive. The high price is fully justified when you know what kind of heavy work it truly is to get it so beautifully clean.
The Sacred Conifers: You can respectfully gather the resin from spruces, larches, firs, and pines. Essentially, from almost every coniferous tree spirit.
🌲 Purifying the Resin (Crafting Burgundy Pitch)
Purifying spruce resin is actually quite easy when you know the ancestral ways.
What do you need for the purification?
A larger, sturdy stone
An old tin can (empty, of course)
Socks made of pure wool (alternatively, sturdy gauze)
A dedicated ladle
Small, strong ropes
Protective gloves
A bowl filled with cold water
A Gentle Warning for the Craft: Please only use items that you will no longer need afterwards or that you will exclusively use for this exact magical purpose, because it truly makes a huge mess. For those who want to be completely on the safe side, please wear gloves, because the melting resin becomes incredibly hot and burns like hell on the skin. Please be very careful with this old craft.
🌿 The Old Craft: How to Purify the Resin
The Hearth: First, respectfully build a small fire outside or simply use your stove inside.
The Bundle: You put your gathered spruce resin into the wool sock or the sturdy gauze, and also safely stow the heavy stone inside it. Now everything is tightly bound together with the small ropes.
The Boiling Water: Fill the tin can or an old cooking pot with water and carefully bring it to a boil.
The Submersion: When it boils, you very carefully place the wool sock (or gauze), along with the resin, directly into the boiling water. The stone is solely there so that the sock does not float on the surface.
The Separation: Now, after a little while, you will magically see that the pure spruce resin releases itself from the sock and beautifully floats on the surface of the water.
The Shock: You now carefully skim off the resin floating on top with the ladle and immediately pour it into the bowl with the cold water.
The Harvest: The resin will instantly become hard in the cold bath, and you can now easily form small balls or handy pieces out of it.
🌀 The Ritual of Salve Crafting
The crafting of a pitch salve (Pechsalbe) is a wonderfully slow process. It is profoundly about binding the spirit and the “blood of the tree” within the warming oil.
This old peasant salve (Bauernsalbe) was traditionally often stirred during the waning moon to powerfully enhance its protective and soothing force, or simply on a deeply quiet day.
What you deeply need for this magic:
A handful of purified spruce resin (Burgundy pitch)
Cooking oil of your choice (the exact same amount as the resin)
Natural beeswax
An old, discarded pot (or a tin can) that you will only ever use for this purpose.
The Ritual:
The Melting: Place your purified resin together with the cooking oil into your pot. Let it melt slowly, very slowly, on the absolute lowest flame. The resin should strictly not boil; it should only gently “marry” with the warm oil.
The Binding: Afterwards, you gradually add the natural beeswax until the salve has reached your desired firmness (the more wax, the firmer it becomes).
The Intention: Constant, deeply mindful stirring is incredibly important here. It is the sacred moment in which you can actively weave your deep wish for protection and healing directly into the salve.
The Cooling: Afterwards, you carefully pour the golden liquid through a fine sieve and let it cool peacefully in small, dark salve jars.
Storage: The spruce resin salve should be stored safely in a dark and cool place.
A Gentle Whisper: The Patch Test You should always apply this salve as a test on a small patch of your body first, ideally in the crook of your arm or knee, to safely see if your skin reacts to tree resins with an allergic reaction.
🛡️ The Magical Protection of the Pitch Salve
This magical salve was a true blessing for all those who had to work hard outside in wind and harsh weather, whether for rugged lumberjacks, farmers, gardeners, or the wise herb women.
It was a powerful protective shield for the painful wounds on their hands. It was deeply believed that the resin gently lays itself upon them like an “energetic” protective coat.
Protection from the Elements: The salve preserves the hands from the biting cold of the wind and weather and actively helps to soothe and close small cracks or the “wounds of hard work” (Schrunden), exactly as the resin gracefully closes the wound of the living tree.
Energetic Strengthening: The sacred salve was also deeply seen as a “warming spirit.” For tired limbs, muscle tension, or back pain, when the bitter cold of winter crept deep into the bones, one rubbed oneself with it to carefully awaken the inner, warming power of the forest.
The Pitch Plaster: In earlier times, pharmacies also crafted a kind of pitch plaster (Pechpflaster), which was placed directly on the chest during a severe flu in order to fiercely drive out the “pulling cold” through the deep, penetrating warmth of the resin.
⚠️ A Gentle Disclaimer on Application
No Healing Promise: The recipes and applications presented here are based entirely on handed-down Ancestral Knowledge, traditional folk medicine, and historical sources. They by no means replace a proper medical diagnosis or professional treatment.
Personal Responsibility: The application of the herbs, salves, and incense blends described here is always absolutely at your own risk and profound responsibility. Please check all ingredients for personal intolerances or allergies before any use.
In Case of Illness: If you experience persistent, unclear, or acute health complaints, I urgently ask you to consult a trusted doctor or naturopath. Never stop taking prescribed medications on your own authority.
