The Free Radical

Good ol’ reliable Juniper! Even in times when there’s really nothing else available, you can always seek out Juniper, even in the middle of winter if need be. To hear Juniper pipe up in the midst of the season of abundance is mildly surprising.

“In the scheme of linearity, there will seldom come a time when patience and discernment are not called for. By their very nature transitions are uncomfortable, but know that you, yourself, provide your own resistance. It is you who must get out of your own way.

“Illness, infection, viruses and the like are tangled skeins of words and attitudes you have built for yourselves… according to your own unique specifications. My very nature is antiseptic… but perhaps “anti-semantic” is more helpful in the New Context (New Vision, as held and directed by Vulture).

“As communal beings, your lives are a never-ending stream of statements– many contradictory. You must find your own contradictions and resolve them, for they are the very ‘problems’ you encounter– seemingly outside of yourselves. What attitudes and ‘statements of fact’ are keeping you from experiencing the true abundance you seek?

“The deep lavender of my ‘second-season’ berries are a sweet reminder– that you may tuck away in your pocket. Allow me to dissolve and untangle the knots you have tied for yourself… and make all of your future statements open-ended, reaching for the freedom you desire.”

Pretty dense words from Juniper, I know. I have always regarded it as a very “serious” bush. There are two varieties of juniper living side-by-side. It is the low creeping bush which yields edible berries. (Perhaps the tall variety’s berries may be edible too, but I can testify that they’re pretty awful.) Only the dark blue to purple berries which cling to the bush for a second season are ripe, sweet and enjoyable, with a flavour of gin or guava. They soothe the entanglements of our physicality as they nourish our intuition. I have always prized them as a unique treasure.