The week of the winter solstice is a turning point. The darkest days of the year, and also the moment when the light begins its slow return. No matter what you celebrate, this season invites rest, reflection, and a remembering of what carries us through the dark.
For me, no plant embodies this time more than pine and evergreens.
When most of the landscape looks dormant, evergreens remain green. They have long been brought into homes as symbols of life, resilience, and hope. This was never just decoration. It was a way of inviting vitality and protection into the home during winter.
Whether you have a Christmas tree, a pine garland, or even something artificial, the medicine of green still matters.
This blog post distills the information from our most recent, solo podcast episode of The Dancing Willow, where Elliott dives in to the medicinal & energetic qualities of pine. If you would like to listen to the episode, here is the link!
Why Evergreens Became Symbols of the Winter Solstice
Long before modern holidays, evergreen branches were brought indoors as a way to honor life that persists through darkness. When nothing else appears to be growing, evergreens stand as living proof that resilience is possible.
Evergreens persist when other plants retreat. They remind us that darkness does not mean stagnation and that life continues even when it is quiet.
This is especially meaningful during the holidays, when many of us are navigating full schedules, family dynamics, and emotional intensity. Pine meets us here, offering steadiness when things feel busy or overwhelming.
Pine as an Energetic Ally: Grounded, Flexible, Resilient
One of the reasons I love pine so deeply is that it embodies both strength and flexibility.
If you’ve ever watched a pine tree in strong wind, you’ve seen it sway, rooted and adaptable. Pine trees are incredibly well-anchored, yet they move with the elements rather than resisting them.
Energetically, pine teaches us how to:
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Stay grounded during chaos
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Remain steady without becoming rigid
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Adapt without losing our center
This is powerful medicine during the holidays, when plans change, emotions surface, and expectations can feel heavy.
Pine helps us stay rooted, in our bodies, our values, and ourselves, while remaining flexible enough to meet what arises.
Pine, Capricorn Season & Creating Structure with Grace
This episode lands during Capricorn season, a time associated with structure, foundations, and responsibility. It’s no accident that New Year’s resolutions emerge right now. Beneath all that goal-setting is a deeper yearning: to feel more grounded, steady, with routines that help us create a healthy foundation for the year.
Pine is one of the best building materials and has long been used to literally create structure. This carries into our lives by energetically helping us create routines that feel supportive rather than punitive, rebuilding structure after the chaos of the holidays, and taking responsibility without self-criticism
And here’s the key: pine doesn’t demand perfection.
It teaches us to build foundations with grace. To show up for ourselves, but soften when things don’t go exactly as planned.
Pine Flower Essence: From Self-Blame to Self-Respect
The flower essence of pine carries a very specific emotional medicine. It is traditionally indicated for guilt, perfectionism, and chronic self blame. It supports those who feel like they are never doing enough or who hold themselves to impossible standards.
Edward Bach described pine as a remedy for people who blame themselves even when they are successful, always feeling they could have done better. This is especially relevant during the holidays, when many of us feel pressure to be everything for everyone. Pine essence helps soften that inner harshness and supports a shift from self negation to self respect.
Pine as Winter Medicine: Immune, Respiratory & Digestive Support
Beyond its energetic gifts, pine is profoundly medicinal and particularly well suited to the ailments that tend to arise during winter.
Aromatic & Antimicrobial
Pine needles contain volatile essential oils, the compounds responsible for their unmistakable scent. These oils are naturally antimicrobial, meaning they help:
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Purify indoor air
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Reduce microbial load during cold & flu season
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Support respiratory health
This is one of the lesser-acknowledged reasons evergreen traditions persisted: bringing pine into the home actually helps keep people healthier when everyone is indoors and windows are closed.
Vitamin C & Vitality
Pine needles are also rich in vitamin C, especially during winter. In fact, winter-harvested needles contain more vitamin C than summer needles, and spring tips contain the most of all.
Historically, pine would have been one of the most accessible sources of vitamin C during winter months.
One of my favorite practices is simply chewing on a few pine needles while on a walk: chewing, tasting, then spitting them out. This acts as a vital stimulant, awakening the senses, opening the lungs, and bringing you fully into the present moment.
Pine for the Lungs, Sinuses & Cold Conditions
Pine is warming, stimulating, and especially suited for cold, damp, stagnant conditions, which describes many winter illnesses.
It is particularly helpful for:
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Congested sinuses and frontal headaches
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Productive coughs with thick mucus
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Sluggish respiratory function
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Chilled stages of fever
Pine is a stimulating expectorant and stimulating diaphoretic, meaning it helps open the lungs, move mucus, promote circulation, and support the body’s natural fever response when appropriate.
Ways to work with Pine Needles
Steam Inhalations
One of my favorite ways to work with pine is through steam inhalation.
Add fresh pine needles (or other aromatics like rosemary, thyme, oregano, juniper or our Steam Inhalation Treatment Tea) to hot water, cover, let cool slightly, then inhale under a towel.
This delivers antimicrobial compounds directly to the sinuses and lungs, far more effectively than tea. Always use whole herbs, never bottled essential oils, which can irritate delicate tissues.
Simmer Pots
Simmer pots are another beautiful way to bring pine medicine into your home. Pine needles, citrus peel, cinnamon, cloves, all gently infuse the air with antimicrobial support & the scent of the holidays!
Pine Needle Tincture
Because resinous compounds extract best in high-proof alcohol, tincture is one of the most effective ways to work with pine medicinally. Dancing Willow Herbs’ pine tincture is handmade from needles harvested on Elliott’s land.
Pine Resin: The Tree’s Wound Medicine
In addition to the pine needles, the resin is also medicinal, but we use it topically instead of internally. Pine resin is the tree’s own healing response, sealing wounds, protecting against pathogens, and restoring integrity.
This is potent medicine, both physically and symbolically.
For us, pine resin can be supportive for wound healing, drawing out splinters, toxins, and insect venom, stimulating circulation and helping with cold-damp aches, arthritis, and muscle pain.
Energetically, pine resin reminds us that the body knows how to heal. That healing comes from within, and that wounds themselves can be portals of restoration.
When used respectfully and ethically, pine resin can be worked with as a salve, or even as an anointing medicine during times of energetic healing.
A Special Seasonal Ally: The Elder Bear Elixir
Dancing Willow Herbs’ limited-edition Elder Bear Elixir blends:
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Local pine needles
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Hand-harvested elderberry
- Ethically collected Osha root
This formula supports immune resilience and deep respiratory healing- especially for those prone to lingering coughs or winter lung congestion. Created with offerings to the land, intention, and small-batch care, it embodies the spirit of bioregional herbalism. Once we run out of our locally wildcrafted ingredients, this elixir will be out of stock! Get yours before it’s too late!
A Living Relationship with Pine
Pine is not just an herb, it is a teacher.
It teaches us how to remain steady without hardening. How to build structure with patience and grace. How to persist through darkness while trusting the return of light.
Whether pine enters your life as a tree in your home, scent as you walk in the woods, or a few drops of tincture, its medicine is generous, grounding and deeply aligned with the season.
Happy solstice and happy holidays from the Dancing Willow team!