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Introduction
Many people today are separated from nature, not only in a physical way but in the mind and heart as well. Flower essences are unique in that they bring the individual back to nature, and supply what is most needed; nurturing systems with the pure, untainted life-force of nature. Flower essences bring about a renewal of positive energy, relaxation and well being.
It was an English physician Dr Edward Bach (1886 – 1936) who discovered the healing energies of selected flowering plants and trees. Bach was inspired to turn to nature for gentle, non-invasive and non-toxic essences that would bring harmony and restore balance in the mind and body. Although his family originally came from Wales, Edward was born in Moseley, in Birmingham, England. In the transition the Welsh ‘Bach’ became ‘Batch’ and that was how he was always known by his colleagues. Bach trained and qualified as a doctor at University College Hospital. For several years he worked investigating the role of bacteriology in chronic disease. This work led him to recognise that there were clear personality types that related to the various patterns of ill health, irrespective of the physical symptoms being presented by the patient.
We all carry frozen patterns of emotional imbalance within us that cast shadows on our ability to show our true nature. Some of these patterns have a recent origin, some have their roots in the past, in childhood, or even in the womb. Few of us have any insight into our own emotional problems and blockages. In fact, insight into the problem is often the first stage of healing.
Flower essences are powerful catalysts of emotional transformation. Just as different pieces of music can evoke different emotions, the vibration preserved in a flower essence works as an emotional nutrient to restore emotional balance. Essences work by catalysing a release of outworn and unhelpful emotional patterns and states of mind. Powerfully and gently they allow frozen patterns of emotion to dissolve, to allow full and complete expression of positive emotional aspects.
Why is it so difficult to identify our own emotional needs? The difficulties start in childhood and are carried on through adult life. Small babies have no problems with emotions. They rapidly process emotions to a state of resolution or health – no infant carries layers of accumulated unresolved emotions: if they are wet, cold or hungry they cry. The cry brings attention, the attention removes the cause of distress, and all is calm again until the next emotional challenge. During childhood you may have been conditioned into believing that it is not OK to express your emotions, so you adopt habits of burying, repressing or hiding emotional imbalances. Unfortunately, buried and unresolved emotions are often even more toxic to long term health than allowing them to be resolved at the time.
Adults rarely express their emotions: what happens instead is a kind of constipation of emotions, a series of emotional blockages that pile up layer on layer, like the skins of an onion. Most adults have suffered the withholding of love, as a result of divorce, bereavement, the break up of a relationship or just the general traumas that occur in the playground call life.
Through his work and his beliefs, Dr Bach became psychologically and physically highly sensitive. He produced each negative emotional state, noted the physical symptoms that ensued, and then wandered about the countryside looking for the flower which would restore his peace of mind. Having found it, the physical complaints would disappear within hours.
The remedies
They are the life-force of plants collected for their energy field or aura of the plant. Life force energy is what gives plants, animals and people their vitality; the life force. The existence of energy fields around plants, people, and other living things has been demonstrated by Kirlian photography. In making flower essences, the life force energy of the plant is captured by picking flowers at dawn, at the height of their vitality, and placing them in water in the sunlight for several hours.
Flower essences are not herbal extracts, even though some are made from the flowers of such herbs as chamomile, comfrey, goldenseal and cayenne. Extracts are tinctures contain the actual plant and have potent effects on the body, being prepared specifically for medicinal purposes. Because of their strength, herbs and herbal extracts are not to be taken lightly. In the wrong amount, at the wrong time, using the wrong part of the plant for the wrong person, herbs can be toxic.
Flower remedies however are self-adjusting, which means that when the remedy is incorrect, it simply has no effect. There are no harmful side effects. The essences are not medications for physical ailments, although they can support physical healing. Their effect is not direct. There is no one remedy, for example, high blood pressure. Instead, an improved emotional state leads to an improved physical condition. Traditional physicians are now recognising that stress has a profound effect on health and that negative destructive emotions can lower our resistance to disease.
Dr Bach concluded that everyone is born with a unique blueprint for life and believed that when following this path, a person would find true fulfilment, health and happiness. However, most get drawn away from their true destiny as a result of conditioning and the demands of family and society. In response to outside interference, and depending on the particular disposition of the individual, negativity may creep into the mind which can lead to the manifestations of pride, cruelty, self-love, ignorance, instability, greed or hate. These are the real underlying causes of disease and unhappiness, Bach called them the primary defects. As these faults are cleansed, a renewed connection to the inner self, or soul, begins to form and by listening to its awakening voice, it becomes possible to find the true path again.
Flower essences recharge the system with the life-force of nature. This renewal of energy has a profound healing effect. Each essence is selected as a response to a different negative state of mind and to suit the individual’s specific need and character. Perhaps the difficulty in your personality that needs treatment is fear: since the flower essence Mimulus is an embodiment of the energetic blueprint of courage, ingesting it will supply the courage that your personality is lacking. Depending on the need, a flower essence can give support during times of exhaustion or stress, or strength to face an outside challenge such as an interview or operation.
The 38 Remedies
Dr Bach discovered 38 flowers to heal the 38 negative emotional state from which we can suffer. He then sub-divided the 38 remedies into 7 groups:
With three exceptions, the flowers used were simple flowers of the countryside. He prepared essences from the flowers only because they grow with their faces in the air and sunlight and they carry, deep in their centres, the seed which is the embryo of the continued life of the plant.
The seven groups
For Fear – Aspen, Cherry plum, Mimulus, Red chestnut, Rock rose.
For uncertainty and Indecision – Cerato, Gentian, Gorse, Hornbeam, Scleranthus, Wild oat.
For Loneliness - Heather, Impatiens, Water violet.
For insufficient interest in present circumstances – Chestnut, Chestnut bud, Clematis, Honeysuckle, Mustard, Olive, Wild rose. For oversensitivity to ideas and influences – Agrimony, Cebtaury, Holly, Walnut.
For despondency and despair – Crab apple, Elm, Larch, Pine, Oak, Star of Bethlehem, Sweet chestnut, Willow.
For over-care for the welfare of others – Beech, Chicory, Rock Water, Vervain, Vine.
“The mind being the most delicate and sensitive part of the body, Shows the onset and course of disease much more definitely than The body, so that the outlook of mind is chosen as the guide as to Which remedy or remedies are necessary” Edward Bach (1933)
all copyright belongs to Lynne Wheatman, Natural-Homeopathy
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