Pinus Longaeva

В горах Сьерра-Невада в штате Калифорния, а также в некоторых районах Уайоминга, находятся самые старые деревья на земле. Это сосны Бристлеконе, Pinus longaeva. Они уже росли, когда египтяне строили свои пирамиды, и ко времени процветания греческой и майяской цивилизаций были пережитками прошлого.

Гомеопатический препарат Pinus longaeva приготовлен из корня и древесины одного из сухих деревьев, которым около десяти тысяч лет.

Согласно легендам, каждое древо Pinus longaeva хранит в себе мудрость и информацию прошлых времен и являются стражами утерянных знаний. В некоторых мифах говорится о том, что сок и кора древа Pinus longaeva обладают уникальными свойствами, придающими долголетие и целительные способности тем, кто знает как использовать их в лекарственных целях.

В процессе прувинга были выявлены темы "времени" и "общения". Возможно, эти деревья могут помочь нам преодолеть "болезни нашего времени", типа синдрома эмоционального выгорания, изоляции, чувства одиночества, депрессии и, вероятно повлияют на проявления, связанные с аутизмом.

Для людей с болезненным чувством вины, самопорицанием, требующих от себя невозможного и страдающих от "несоответствия". Ощущение "ограниченности". Установление высоких стандартов. Болезненное чувство долга.

Pinus Longaeva – The Methuselah Tree
Summary
Pinus longaeva are the longest living trees on the earth. A dream proving was conducted with a remedy made up of root and wood of a Bristlecone pine. During the dream proving, many dreams occurred with the theme ‘above and below’ related to the connection with the earth and the cosmos/spirituality. Among the others, the themes ‘no communication, being unconnected/ disconnected and insensitive’, ‘running and hurry’, ‘sadness’ and ‘lonely’ all related to the problem which is that we are increasing out of synchronization with our external time frame.

Introduction
High in the White Mountains of California, the oldest living trees on the earth are found. They are Bristlecone Pines, Pinus longaeva. They were already growing when the Egyptians built their
Pyramids and by the time the Greek and Mayan civilizations thrived, they had been the remnants of past. The seeds germinated soon after the last Ice Age was over, when the glaciers retreated. The dead wood that can still be found here is somewhat ten-thousand years old and contains a wealth of information going back for centuries. These living trees have been standing in between the heaven and the earth for forty seven centuries. They are connected to, and communicate with, both the cosmos and the earth and are outside our time frame. The homeopathic remedy that has been made was produced using the root and wood of one of these trees.

Systematic and Site Description
Pinus longaeva is assigned to a group called ‘Foxtail pines’ which includes three species. Since they all are pines, they are comprised in the Pinaceae family (lit.3 and 5). Two of these three species are Bristlecone pines. The other species of Bristlecone pine is ‘Pinus aristata’ which grows in the Rocky Mountains at some two hundred and forty kilometres from the region of White Mountains. Pinus aristata can reach an age of some 1,500 years which is old, but hardly compares to Pinus longaeva, the oldest living specimen of which is 4,700 years old.
The trees grow up to a height of sixteen metres (52 feet). The bark is reddish brown and shows deep furrows and high and irregular ridges set with scales. The branches are often twisted and drooping. The leaves are needle-like, present in fascicles of five and are slightly curved upwards. Needles measure 15 – 35 x 0.8 – 1.2 mm and reach ages between 10 – 43 years (the highest age on record). Male cones are cylindrical to elliptical, 7-10 mm long and are purplish red. Female cones ripe after two years. They are acute cylindrical, 60 – 95 mm long, reddish brown and purple when ripe and are nearly sessile. The cone scales bear slender and stiff bristles of 1 – 6 mm length. Seeds are elliptical to obovate, 5 – 8 mm long, pale, brown with dark red spots. The wings are 10 – 12 mm long.
The tree (including leaves, cones and buds) contains much resin which serves to protect the wood. The resin is exuded as a watertight layer on the branches sticking out. The dead wood remains intact for a long time and grows very slowly on account of much resin it contains, the low ambient temperature and the dry climate. The oldest dead wood examined proved to be 10,000 years old. The dead wood has streaks of different colours, ranging from reddish brown to greyish and white. Many trees are still alive because their bark is stringy. This means that when on one side of the tree, the bark has been eroded off by the wind carrying ice crystals in winters, the bark on the lee side can still be completely intact, if only over a restricted width. However, this narrow stretch of bark can carry the necessary water and dissolved minerals up to the living branches full of leaves and cones.
Pinus longaeva grows at an altitude of 2900 – 3500 metres (9500 – 11500 ft). Frosts occur during most of the year and during prolonged periods, the winds are strong and harsh. On account of the
snow, the trees can be reached for only a few months every year, mainly because of the snow that remains on the ground for a long time. These unfavourable circumstances mean that the trees at this altitude usually grow only to about nine metres (30 feet) high. Each year, the branches grow a tiny bit, causing the growth rings to become extremely narrow. One branch, measuring five cm (some 2 inches) in diameter proved to be two hundred and ten years old. The crown is the most irregular and the wood is usually crooked. The root system, which makes up to some seventy-five percent of the weight of the tree is very extensive. This is necessary in order to optimise the water intake in this dry locality.

Symbolism
The symbol value of this tree is related to the notion of time. The name ‘longaeva’ means ‘having a longlife’. They germinated after the retreat of the glaciers that remained after the last Ice Age and the wood that was grown is still around at the site. Therefore, the memory of this time span is still present there. The oldest Bristlecone pine is named the ‘Methuselah tree’. It was named after Methuselah, mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. Like this tree, he looked back upon an immensely long life. The site being in the White Mountains refers to the colour white, and the positive element, light.

Proving
During February 2006, a blind dream proving was conducted. People have slept with Pinus longaeva in 200K potency on three consecutive nights. They handled the tube containing the remedy for some time and after this, put it under their pillow. Some of them also smelt the remedy prior to their last night of dream proving. One person has slept using the remedy on three additional nights. Nineteen women and nine men aged between 31 – 67 took part. Twenty-three out of the twenty-eight participants experienced dreams. In general, they had many dreams that were usually vivid.

Proving Themes
In the analysis of the dreams, several themes were found. I will only mention the themes that occurred in several people. I will give dream excerpts as examples, along with several repertory additions assigned to these themes.

Above and Below
The large numbers of dreams about above and below were striking.
Interpretation: This might point to the connection of the trees with both the cosmos/spirituality and the earth.

We were driving downward
He allows himself to slide back down again
Sighing, she looks down somewhat dejectedly
In a space upstairs
I quickly went upstairs
I’m in an upstairs office, teaching arithmetic
DREAMS – DESCENDING
DREAMS – DOWN – going
DREAMS – LIFT – ascending
DREAMS – LOOKING – down from above

Glass
Interpretation: The Glass theme refers here to a clear connection, both upward and downward. The theme glass though, that is also present in Thuja, might suggest that transparency is also connected to Pinus longaeva. Pinus has not the brittleness of glass that we see in Thuja.

Half of the elevator is made of glass
The cottage has much glass; it resembles a hothouse
The entrance downstairs, next to a shop front
In the top of the cathedral, there’s around window, like the windows on a ship
DREAMS – GLASS
DREAMS – WINDOW – big
DREAMS – WINDOW – house with a lot of windows
DREAMS – WINDOW – cathedral, in top of a

Sexuality and Nakedness
Many dreams related to sex or nakedness were recorded.
Interpretation: This is a lower chakra theme and might refer to the connection with the earth. The
nakedness might also refer to the transparency.

My swimming trunks had come down; they had fallen to the ground
Women were sitting in deck chairs, all naked
I raised my clothes like I should do
Many dreams about having sex, erotic dreams
DREAMS – LOVE – making
DREAMS – NAKED people
DREAMS – SEXUAL – sexual activity
DREAMS – WOMEN – naked

No communication, being Disconnected and Insensitivity
This theme figures largely in the dreams.
Interpretation: The internal clock is connected to our internal feedback and the development of every unique human being. Communication with our hidden programs has broken down and we have lost our way. Our feedback must be re-connected through external communication. Sankaran mentions the theme of ‘connected, disconnected, separated and being cut off’ as the theme that is connected to the conifers. He says that this expression is caused by a deeper feeling, the familiar feeling related to Thuja: MIND – DELUSIONS – body – brittle (6) I do not see this ‘brittle’ theme in relation to the dreams in the proving of Pinus longaeva. When I visited the site where the Bristlecone pines grew in 2005, I felt the trees were standing there in isolation; they did not make contact with any other living being including humans and each other. They are just passing on the information between the heaven and the earth and they are outside our time frame.

An elderly, deaf man was unable to understand me
I cannot get in touch with her
It is not easy to remain invisible
I could not understand what they said; I was not familiar with the language and they spoke too softly
I tried to make a call using a telephone that was not connected
Unscathed, without a worry, as if nothing had happened
I feel distant from him
You are supposed to discuss that before you do it
I am unable to identify any of those present as someone that I know
DREAMS – CUT, being
DREAMS – DEAFNESS
DREAMS – DISCONNECTED – being disconnected; of
DREAMS – INVISIBLE; she is
DREAMS – RECOGNIZE – not
DREAMS – SEPARATED; being
DREAMS – TELEPHONES – not connected
DREAMS – UNMOVED

Running, Hurry and Rush
Interpretation: This rubric is related to the speeded up external time we are experiencing now. We humans are unable to cope with this speed any longer. We are caught between the two definitions of time: the external time frame (spurred on by social pressure) which is gaining speed all the time, and our internal clock dealing with feedback and development at a rate we humans can digest (1). The living trees are in a time frame of their own and do not care about our hurrying and rushing.

I could not go home because there was so much to do; I had to work overtime
He leaves the house, running; two of the others were following him
The boat becomes more of a speed boat, racing across the water. There seems no stopping; it’s going at full tilt.
Quickly, I slipped upstairs
DREAMS – BUSY, being
DREAMS – HURRY
DREAMS – RUNNING
DREAMS – TIME – short of time; he is running
DREAMS – TIMELESSNESS
DREAMS – WORK – overtime

Large
Interpretation: This is connected to this time as well. Everything seems large and massive these days.

A large mass of people
The window was huge
The head of an elk is being fixed on high, looking down on you
DREAMS – ARROGANT
DREAMS – CAR – big
DREAMS – HOUSE – big
DREAMS – KINGS
DREAMS – LOOKING – down from above
DREAMS – ROOMS – big

Alone
The theme of being alone, being left to your own resources, is one that appears regularly in dreams.
Interpretation: It belongs to the theme of being disconnected as well as unconnected. Our internal feedback is disconnected to the external communication, which gives a feeling of loneliness.

She did everything by herself
I was the only one who did not get anything
I did not join them in their meal
Why are they not together?
DREAMS – ALONE; being
DREAMS – COOPERATING
DREAMS – FORSAKEN; being

Sadness and Crying
A number of dreams were about sadness and crying.
Interpretation: Sadness is the consequence of the loss of connection between our own feedback (which, in turn, depends on our internal time frame) and external communication.

A little sad as well
She told me she was immensely unhappy
In the meantime, she was all in tears
The sick girl is starting to cry
DREAMS – SADNESS
DREAMS – WEEPING; about

Black, White and Dark
Dreams include black (or white) and dark. In Diospyros kaki (2) the theme was mainly white; in this remedy I largely see the dark side.

His Labrador (black dog)
A black bus
Showing black stripes
It is dark already
Long, dark hair
White window – curtains
DREAMS – COLOURED – black
DREAMS – COLOURED – black – white; and
DREAMS – DARKNESS

Cleaning up
There are many dreams based on the theme of something being dirty, cleaning up and renewal/replacement.
Interpretation: This can be taken to mean that the remedy could help in letting old and dark issues go.

Cleaning up, painting and ordering the house
The right side of my trousers were full of my own excrements
I found a bag. However, the outside was dirty so I threw that side away
Packing up. Filling large boxes, throwing out the junk and packing up the stuff
DREAMS – CLEANING – house
DREAMS – CLOSET – dirty – cleaning
DREAMS – DIRTY – bag
DREAMS – HOUSE – new

Orderly and Critical
Frequently, dreams that included a description of someone being orderly or critical came up.

Very neat galoshes
From what my mother told me I gather this boy taught his children very strictly and they became very polite
He was the most critical
I did my best
I had to censure the people some more about their being on time
It is not done just to shoot at everything; there are rules to be followed
DREAMS – CENSORIOUS
DREAMS – FASTIDIOUS
MIND – DUTY – too much sense of duty

Thieves, being Pursued and Feeing
Several dreams had to do with being pursued, fleeing, stealing and getting caught. A theme that is recurring daily in the dreams of one of the participants before she took part in the dream proving, usedto be: murder, manslaughter and pursuit. During the proving she did not dream about this.
Interpretation: This is also about the dark side which comes up so it can be transformated.

My bike was stolen; a second bike disappears
We have been caught doing something and flee the premises along with someone else
Like a real thief. I do not have any idea that I just broke into that house at all
Being on the run for someone
DREAMS – CATCH – being caught
DREAMS – ESCAPING
DREAMS – FLEEING
DREAMS – PURSUED, being
DREAMS – ROBBERS
Two complete dreams cited:
1: I was able to fly up to the top of a pine tree where an owl was sitting. It had golden, glossy feathers showing black streaks. This was close to a supermarket where a friend of mine happened to be, too. We got two packs of toilet paper and then went out into another room. This room had warm and rusty brown earthy colours.
Interpretation: This dream refers to the pine tree, the connection with the cosmos/spirituality and the earth. Also to wisdom (the owl) of the tree and the possibility to let the things go (toilet paper). The woman who dreamed this said: ‘The pine tree that stays green in the winters and is able to keep its light during the dark days, is wisdom. To fly means freedom. Therefore this has to do with the basic chakra and the uppermost crown chakra, since the owl had golden feathers, which is a symbol of the crown chakra.

2: I dreamed that I worked undercover for some kind of criminal investigation agency. I failed to
understand them because they were talking very softly. Moreover I did not hear what language they were speaking; I even failed to notice if they were speaking English. I awoke without any positive or negative feelings; it did not make any difference to me.

Interpretation: This dream, and its waking, refers to the rubric of no communication, of feeling distant from others, being insensitive, even to one’s own feelings.

Physical Complaints inside the Dreams
Some participants described physical complaints affecting them in their dream. Notable among the complaints were those referring to the legs (connection with the earth) and hearing (communication) was conspicuous.

Hard to move, something wrong with my legs
In a wheelchair (2x)
An elderly deaf man who was unable to understand me. I could not understand what they said.
DREAMS – EQUILIBRIUM; unstable
DREAMS – LEG – difficult motion
DREAMS – WHEELCHAIR – sitting in
DREAMS – CONTACT; no
DREAMS – DEAFNESS

Some additional rubrics
DREAMS – ANOREXIA NERVOSA
DREAMS – FEAR – narrow place, in
DREAMS – HAEMORRHAGE – stomach
DREAMS – MENSES
DREAMS – TIREDNESS; of
DREAMS – VOMITING

Physical Symptoms during the Proving
During the proving, several participants experienced some physical symptoms. Most conspicuous were the symptoms related to the female sex organs and hormones. I hereby cite them as repertory rubrics.
CHEST – RETRACTION of nipples
BACK – PAIN – menses – during
FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – METRORRHAGIA – menopause – during
FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – METRORRHAGIA – menses – between
FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – MENSES – scanty
FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – PAIN – Ovaries – burning
FEMALE GENITALIA/SEX – PAIN – Ovaries – cramping
GENERALS – HEAT – flushes of – menopause; during

Some participants experienced mind related symptoms that occur in the dreams too, such as:
MIND – DELUSIONS – separated – world; from the – he is separated
MIND – INDIFFERENCE – morning – waking; on
MIND – SADNESS
VERTIGO – VERTIGO
HEAD – HEAVINESS – lying – bed; in – agg.
EAR – PAIN
HEARING – ILLUSIONS – ceiling, on the – cracking
NOSE – SMELL – altered
MOUTH – TASTE – altered
MOUTH – TASTE – bitter
MOUTH – TASTE – wanting, loss of taste
THROAT – PAIN
STOMACH – NAUSEA
STOMACH – RETCHING
RECTUM – DIARRHOEA
RECTUM – URGING – waking; on
CHILL – CHILLINESS
GENERALS – FOOD and DRINKS – milk – agg.

Conclusion
‘Time’ and, in relation to this, ‘communication’ therefore are the themes connected to ‘Pinus longaeva’.
Interpretation: Maybe these trees can help us to conquer diseases of our time, such as Myalgic Encepahalomyelitis (ME), burn-out, isolation, feeling lonely, depressions and possibly behaviour connected to autism.

Pinus Used as a Bach Blossom Remedy
Pinus is used as a bach blossom remedy in the people who shower themselves with accusations or who suffer from unnecessary feelings of guilt. They demand the very best from themselves and therefore they get anxious, being afraid they are not up to that standard. They are always afraid and feel very restricted. Setting high standard is also a theme seen in the proving using Pinus longaeva (DREAMS – CENSORIOUS; DREAMS – FASTIDIOUS; MIND – DUTY – too much sense of duty).

Literature
Cornelis, Arnold, De vertraagde tijd. Stichting Essence, Middelburg 1999
Creveld, M. Diospyros kaki Creveld helps us to survive many traumas of our time: radioactivity, chemical substances, war, disasters, fire. Marijke Creveld publishers. 2001-2006.
www.conifers.org/pi/pin/longaeva.htm – Botanische beschrijving van Pinus longaeva.
Lewington, A. en E. Parker, Eeuwenoude bomen. Bomen die duizend jaarleven. Elmar B.V., Rijswijk 2000
Meyden, R. van der, Heukels’ Flora van Nederland. 23e editie.Wolters – Noordhoff bv, Groningen/Houten 2005
Sankaran, R., An insight into plants. Volume – I. Homoeopathic Medical Publishers, Mumbai India 2002