Pine cones (tradition, pagan, catholic, religion, Wicca)

[Master Vigil]

Has anyone ever heard of the uses of pine cones? I know gypsies used to use them as incense and use the smoke as divination. They thought pine cones were filled the ancient knowledge from the trees. They also used them for protection, as with acorns. The trees were always very wise to them, and very powerful. What about other shaman traditions? Any pine cone uses?

[painted wolf]

if you have nice young green ones you can roast them and eat the sap that oozes out.... if your into that sort of thing

wa:do

[Majikthise]

My kids and I like to find dried up pine cones in the woods behind my house and put them in our chimanea.They remind me of cool summer evenings relaxing with family and friends.

[Feathers in Hair]

Umm... I'm not sure if this counts as a shamanic tradition, but I do the old thing of covering 'em in peanut butter and seed and letting the birdies eat from it. I like to use that as a way of admiring the birds from closer up and connecting with them if they allow me.

[kreeden]

The seeds are quite tasty , but takes quite a bit of effort to get at . And the needles can be used to brew a tea . Not sure if either has any Shamanic value though .

[Master Vigil]

Thanks everyone. I guess it was simply a gypsy thing. Eh well, I still love 'em.

[Prima]

Pinecones are a pagan Yule symbol - supposedly the smoke from burning them drives away evil. Ask Circle_One about it...she's sure to know more/have better resources, since she grew up wiccan.

Master Vigil, you may find this interesting, it shows a few uses of pine cones in religion - ignore the proselytizing - it's interesting. The articles main point is to prove that pine cones are evil *grin* It's also trying to prove that Roman Catholicism is pagan. *snort*

http://www.cuttingedge.org/articles/RC125.htm

This one is pretty cool. It's an art craft, but the idea is nice - since pinecones are a pagan Yule symbol, it suggests putting frankincense and myrrh powder on the outside and then burning the cone in a fire

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/...pinecones.html

Also this:

The pine cone has a long-held imperial significance. The Romans placed pine cones on their buildings and monuments to symbolize confidence in the administrative, judicial, and defensive power of the state, possibly following the practice of the Babylonians. Thus the use of pineapples on Wren's great public buildings may mimic the pine cones on Roman buildings, with the added luster of English colonial power. Pine cones are also a mechanism for displaying and spreading seeds, and thus bring to mind fertility, a valuable characteristic for any society, and certainly for an empire.

I particularly like this one: http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cd...E/X0453e06.htm

[Master Vigil]

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Catholics are pagan?? No wonder I like them more than other christians. Thanks Prima. I guess the divination idea is solely gypsy though. I haven't read that any others do the same. Atleast, not with pine cones.

[Prima]

I would say that the divination idea probably ISN'T just gypsy. The Babylonians did divination, and if they liked pine cones, too, it follows that they used them for divination. Pretty much everyone around Mesopotamia performed divination, if I recall correctly. So if you look into beliefs centered there, you might find out something.

[Master Vigil]

Indeed, many ancient religions practiced divination. But not many people I know do it with pine cones today. The sinti's were native to europe, and are one of the few I've read that actually admire the sacred attributes of pine cones. I've also read that the druids do as well. So there is probably a correlation between the two. I'm still doing research though.