Editing Juniper (section)

===Ethnic and herbal use===
Most species of juniper are flexible and have a high compression strength-to-weight ratio.<ref name="Hamm">{{cite book |last1=Hamm |first1=Jim |title=Traditional Bowyers Bible, Volume 2 |date=March 2001 |publisher=Lyons Press |isbn=1585740861 |page=117}}</ref> This has made the wood a traditional choice for the construction of hunting bows among some of the [[Indigenous Peoples of North America|Native American cultures]] in the [[Great Basin]] region.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Millar CI, Smith KT |year=2017 |title=Reconsidering the process for bow-stave removal from juniper trees in the Great Basin |url=https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2017/nrs_2017_millar-c_001.pdf |journal=Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=125–131}}</ref> These bow staves are typically backed with sinew to provide tension strength that the wood may lack.<ref name="Hamm" />

Ancient Mesopotamians believed that juniper oil could be used to ward off the [[evil eye]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXOeCwAAQBAJ&dq=evil+eye+juniper+oil+from%3A%2A.edu&pg=PT120 | title=Beware the Evil Eye Volume 1: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World—Introduction, Mesopotamia, and Egypt | isbn=9781498273657 | last1=Elliott | first1=John H. | date=11 November 2015 | publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers }}</ref>

Embalming vessels in the burial chambers from a 26th Dynasty embalming workshop at Saqqara have shown the usage of Juniper oil/tar.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rageot |first1=Maxime |last2=Hussein |first2=Ramadan B. |last3=Beck |first3=Susanne |last4=Altmann-Wendling |first4=Victoria |last5=Ibrahim |first5=Mohammed I. M. |last6=Bahgat |first6=Mahmoud M. |last7=Yousef |first7=Ahmed M. |last8=Mittelstaedt |first8=Katja |last9=Filippi |first9=Jean-Jacques |last10=Buckley |first10=Stephen |last11=Spiteri |first11=Cynthianne |last12=Stockhammer |first12=Philipp W. |date=2023-02-01 |title=Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming |journal=Nature |volume=614 |issue=7947 |language=en |pages=287–293 |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-05663-4 |pmid=36725928 |pmc=9908542 |bibcode=2023Natur.614..287R |issn=1476-4687}}</ref>

Some [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas]] use juniper in [[traditional medicine]]; for instance the [[Navajo people|Dineh (Navajo)]], who use it for [[diabetes]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=McCabe |first1=Melvina |last2=Gohdes |first2=Dorothy |last3=Morgan |first3=Frank |last4=Eakin |first4=Joanne |last5=Sanders |first5=Margaret |last6=Schmitt |first6=Cheryl |year=2005 |title=Herbal therapies and diabetes among Navajo Indians |url=http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/diacare/28/6/1534.2.full.pdf |journal=[[Diabetes Care]] |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=1534–1535 |doi=10.2337/diacare.28.6.1534-a |pmid=15920089 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Juniper ash has also been historically consumed as a source of [[calcium]] by the Navajo people.<ref name=":52">{{Cite journal |last1=Christensen |first1=Nedra K |last2=Sorenson |first2=ANN W |last3=Hendricks |first3=Deloy G |last4=Munger |first4=Ronald |year=1998 |title=Juniper Ash as a Source of Calcium in the Navajo Diet |journal=Journal of the American Dietetic Association |volume=98 |issue=3 |pages=333–4 |doi=10.1016/s0002-8223(98)00077-7 |pmid=9508018}}</ref><ref name=":62">{{Cite journal |last1=Ballew |first1=Carol |last2=White |first2=Linda L. |last3=Strauss |first3=Karen F. |last4=Benson |first4=Lois J. |last5=Mendlein |first5=James M. |last6=Mokdad |first6=Ali H. |date=1997-10-01 |title=Intake of Nutrients and Food Sources of Nutrients among the Navajo: Findings from the Navajo Health and Nutrition Survey |journal=The Journal of Nutrition |language=en |volume=127 |issue=10 |pages=2085S–2093S |doi=10.1093/jn/127.10.2085s |issn=0022-3166 |pmid=9339174 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Juniper is traditionally used in [[Scottish culture|Scottish]] folkloric and [[Celtic reconstructionism|Gaelic Polytheist]] [[saining]] rites, such as those performed at [[Hogmanay]] ([[New Year]]), where the smoke of burning juniper, accompanied by traditional prayers and other customary rites, is used to cleanse, bless, and protect the household and its inhabitants.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McNeill |first=F. Marian |title=The Silver Bough, Vol.3: A Calendar of Scottish National Festivals, Halloween to Yule |publisher=William MacLellan |year=1961 |isbn=978-0-948474-04-0 |location=Glasgow |page=113 |chapter=X Hogmany Rites and Superstitions}}</ref>

Local people in Lahaul Valley present juniper leaves to their deities as a folk tradition. It is also useful as a folk remedy for pains and aches, as well as [[epilepsy]] and [[asthma]]. They are reported to collect large amounts of juniper leaves and wood for building and religious purposes.<ref name=":0" />