I'm starting a thread for discussion of Flower Essences (sometimes referred to as Bach essences). Flower essences are the vibrational energies of various plants distilled in a carrier liquid (usually a mixture of brandy as a preservative and water). Flower essences help us with emotional, spiritual, and mental issues primarily, but are also helpful for body-mind issues. Flower essences can be purchased in the homeopathic section of many health food stores, but they are primarily personal growth tools.

I have practiced flower essences for several years, and until using PATHS, they were my primary way of bypassing the conscious mind and changing my energy in a direct and effective way. I have been amazed time and time again how much the plant world wants to help us, even though human beings haven't been the best stewards of the planet sometimes.

Flower essences work by introducing the energy to a vibration that it needs, and are taken until that energy is adopted or habituated by the person (or animal) taking the essence. Essences are usually administered by adding drops of a stock essence or dosage bottle into a glass of water or directly into the mouth, several times per day for whatever is the appropriate duration. Essences can be combined into groups, or taken singly. Some essences, such as Bach Rescue Remedy, are formulated to work with several essences together.

Flower essences are an excellent complement to PATHS. While taking spirulina helps give the body the physical fuel to run all those new and improved synapses, flower essences help the body hold the new higher vibrations that will support the new thoughts, feelings, and behaviors instructed by the modules.

I'm going to start posting here which essences I see as matching some of the most popular modules, and if anybody has any questions about which essences they might find most helpful for their particular modules, I'm happy to suggest.

When I had a health food store, I sold quite a bit of Rescue Remedy to a lot of customers. I was surprised how popular it was. I heard how effective it was from quite a few people and also heard it worked wonders for nervous dogs.

Hi Belle,

What a great thread! I am looking forward to hearing about which esssence match the paths modules. I think like Pamela, I am confusing essence with essential oil. I have a few types of oils, rose being one of them. I have not really used it because I don't know what to do with it....do you know anything about the oils? and how to use them?

Your explaination about how you take the essence until it is incorporated into your energy is interesting. Does this wear off after time? or once it is there, it is there? I really had no idea this was how it worked!

Nadine

Hi everybody,

I'll do my best to answer everyone's questions! And of course I'm not a doctor, etc.

Aaron: Yes, a lot of people use flower essences for pets and horses. Snapdragon essence is very good for animals that bite inappropriately or act aggressively toward other animals in the house.

Nadine & Pamela: Flower essences are vibrational medicine more akin to homeopathic remedies than herbal tinctures or essential oils. Flower essences are made by placing the flowering part of the plant in a bowl of pure spring water and left in the sunshine to absorb the vibrational energy of the plant into the water. Then the flowers are removed. Essences can be made without harming the flower, i.e. by bending the flower into the water without cutting it. The water with the vibration in it, combined with a bit of brandy as a preservative, is called the "mother essence." From the mother essence, stock bottles are made by making a dilution of the mother essence. Flower essences don't have a fragrance or taste other than the water and the preserving agent. (Honey or vinegar can be used in place of brandy if you're making your own essences.)

Nadine: whether the vibration stays in a person "permanently" or wears off over time is highly individual. Some people have certain issues that come and go, and thus they may feel the need for a particular essence at various times in their life. For example, Walnut essence is about confidently breaking free from influences that one has outgrown, and it is conceivable that one could need it at several points in life as you grow and change. Some people may be chronically shy, and thus feel the need to take Mallow or Sunflower anytime they anticipate they will be in a situation with a bunch of new people.

Since the Self Esteem module is one of the most popular, I'll suggest some essences to help with that one first. If any one of these resonates particularly strong for anyone, I can discuss it in more depth:

Sunflower: for contacting your inner confidence and radiance and developing healthy assertiveness. Healthy "yang" energy in men and women.

Buttercup: for believing that one's path in life, however small, is important.

Larch: for confidence in one's talents, competence, and voice. To help people who chronically believe they aren't "enough."

Pink Monkeyflower: for people who resist fully opening up and sharing their true selves with the world, because of a sense of unworthiness or shame.

Walnut: for the confidence to break free from the past, and try new things.

Harebell: for teaching that the self is the main source of validation and love.

Borage: for courage.

You're welcome! Glad you use essences, they're great!

Belle, you have provided alot of good information! Is it best to use 1 flower essence at a time, or is it o.k. to use a few at once? Is there one type or brand better than another?

I am on the Increased Creativity module....is there a flower essence that would be good for that?

Thanks Belle99, I love this idea for a thread! Looking forward to reading more of your posts.

You can use as many as 5 or 7 essences at a time (I like odd numbers) but fewer is usually better.

Brands: best selection is here FES Flowers: Bridging Body and Soul. There are many other wonderful essences made by other companies too.

For Creativity, definitely consider the following:

Aloe: to soothe "burnout"
Indian Paintbrush: to fuel creative energy
Larch: for confidence in one's arts, esp. for singers and actors
Madia: for mental focus, great for writers
Iris: for renewed inspiration, brings a spiritual dimension to one's art
Commandra: for a pioneering attitude
Shooting Star: for the artistic type who feels he/she doesn't fit in

Hi Belle,

I didn't realize there were other companies that sold this type of product! I thought you could only buy the "Bach" brand. This is interesting, especially since on the website it says there are new flowers for different results.

Some of the ones you had listed I couldn't find in Bach, so I may order them online. I did get Walnut, and Larch. The website you listed (can't think of it right now), had alot of good info on how to take it, and how long. I didn't realize you need to take it for approx 1 month to see the effects of it.

Thanks, Nadine

How did you start learning about flower essences--books, a teacher? What are some of the best books for beginners to read?
Great posts as always, Belle--keep 'em coming!

Hi All,

Sometimes you can get an immediate sense of calm or relief from the first dose or first few days of taking flower essences. They go through phases--after relief, there is a bit of a self-examination phase a bit like a mild form of cognitive dissonance, and then after that, conscious realizations of the deeper changes that have occurred.

The best way to learn flower essences is by sitting in nature with flowers and tuning into them--you have to try it, to know what I mean. Another way is reading about their descriptions, and then taking them yourself, to feel and experience all the additional wisdom inherent in them that is hard to articulate in words.

I do believe the most elegant descriptions of flower essences are in a book called Flower Essence Repertory, by Kaminski and Katz.

Flower Essences for trauma, clearing the past, chronic stress, PTSD, etc.

Northern Lady's Slipper: for clearing trauma from the body without consciously re-living the details of the events or origins.

Rescue Remedy/Five Flower Formula: emergency, all-purpose essence that helps bring a person back into their body, breathing calmly and grounded in a stressful situation or after an accident.

Tundra Twayblade: for clearing and opening the heart on deep levels, if it had been closed or blocked by abuse, even if that abuse was years ago.

Agrimony: for the person who masks their painful emotions with a fake smile or substance abuse.

Centuary: for the person who was the "peacemaker," who now cannot set healthy boundaries for oneself.

Chestnut Bud: to learn how to break dysfunctional patterns or repeated lessons.

Star of Bethlehem: for releasing trauma

Angelica: for feeling a connection to divine assistance

Arnica: to reconnect to the higher self following shock trauma

Black Cohosh: for the person who repeatedly gets into dangerous situations or abusive relationships, teaches healthy ways of channeling one's personal intensity and shadow self

Basil: healing sexual shame, when it comes out as bad behavior

Chaparral: for dissolving darkness in the unconscious, for people who suffer from nightmares related to trauma stemming from abuse or addiction

Sticky Monkeyflower: for healing sexual shame

Mariposa Lily: for restoring a connection to the Divine Mother

Northern Lady's Slipper: aids courage in contacting traumatic feelings stored in the body, so that they can be released

Oregon Grape: for those who perceive hostility in other people when it isn't really there--for paranoia

Echinacea: for people whose souls have been shattered by some emotionally damaging experience, to help restore the integrity of the core self

Baby Blue Eyes: aids healing the relationship with the father

Evening Primrose: aids healing the relationship with the mother, and for releasing birth trauma

Golden Ear Drops: aids remembering childhood

Black Eyed Susan: when one wants a no-holds-barred, piercing insight into oneself

Hibiscus: for restoring a connection to the female sexuality

Saguaro: for making peace with one's elders or ancestors