There is much debate on the origin of the word Juniperus, however it is certain that the small black berries of the Juniper appear very early in the history of mankind. A perfume burner dating from one millennium B.C. containing fragments of juniper berries was found in 1932 in Malia, Crete. Juniper wood which is supposed to be rot-proof, was chosen to carve the beams of the temple of Artemisia at Ephesus, one of the wonders of the world. The Romans used to burn it in the streets during epidemics, and they would hang it on the doors to keep away snakes. The Greeks offered it to the Erinyes, the goddesses of vengeance, to appease them. In the 1970s, the women of Crete attributed their fecundity to the oil of juniper that they obtained by burying a rustic still over which a strong fire burned for three days. In Germany, juniper berries are not just used in sauerkraut. A ”health diet” by the famous abbot Kneipp recommends to eat it for twenty three days to be healthy.