The Greeks used the berries in many of their Olympics events because of their belief that the berries increased physical stamina in athletes.

The Romans used Juniper Berries as cheap domestically produced substitute for the expensive black pepper and long pepper imported from India.

According to legend, when the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus were fleeing from Herod into Egypt, they took refuge under a juniper bush.

Juniper has long been associated with ritual cleansing. It was burned in temples as a apart of regular purification rites. There are several medicinal recipes that have survived in Egyptian papyri dating to 1550 BC. Folk medicine in central Europe used the oil extract from the berries to treat typhoid fever, Cholera, dysentery, tape worms and other ills associated with poverty