Flower Essences have a deep and expansive history, they have been widely used across the world by many cultures, and are believed to date back to the ancient cultures of Lemuria & Atlantis. The earliest recorded modern use of flower essences dates to the 16th century, when the healer and mystic Paracelsus would treat his patients using the dew he collected from flowers.

A more modern pioneer of Flower essences is Dr Edward Bach, who created a selection of 38 individual flower essences and his combination five-flower or rescue remedy. His essences are still produced to this day, years after his death. Most people will probably have come across his Rescue Remedy, which is useful for both people and animals in times of great stress or shock.

Aside from the healing properties of Bach’s essences, they have also been instrumental in making people aware of the concept of flower essences and their totally unique form of healing. This has paved the way for the various other flower essences that are being created & produced today in our modern world, to tackle modern concerns.

My own personal affiliation is with the Australian Bush Flower Essences, that have been created by Ian White. I have found them particularly powerful for both myself & my animals but it is a matter of personal choice. Some of the other flower essences ranges beside the Bach & Australian Bush that are readily available today include: Alaskan essences, Greek Tree Essences and Bailey Flower essences.

Ian White making Boronia Essence

Flower essences are simple in their concept, the choosen flowers are put into spring water in a glass dish & left in sunlight to infuse the water with their unique properties. The blooms are then removed, nothing of the flower remains in the physical sense but its energetic vibration has been “imprinted” on the water. The produced essences are then combined with a small quantity of brandy to act as a preserving agent, this becomes the mother tincture which will then be diluted further in more water to make a stock bottle and diluted further to create the dosage bottle.

Beyond the actual making of an essence an understanding of how it may be used in a “healing” sense is required. This is really where the true skill lies: in discerning each flower’s unique healing qualities and abilities. The first place to start is usually to consider the aspects of the Doctrine of Signatures. This is how ancient herbalists would gain an understanding of the healing properties of plants. They would study the plant carefully and it is likely some peculiarity of shape, growth, colour, scent, and taste would indicate its healing properties. At times they were guided even by animals & what plants they would naturally seek out when “ill”.

Flower essences take a step beyond herbalism & herbal medicine, the healing energy of the essences vibrates at a higher frequency which enables them to work not only on the physical body as herbs do but also to have an influence in the energetic fields that surround our physical bodies.

An important part of healing with flower essences therefore is an understanding that behind physical disease is emotional imbalance in the energetic fields that ultimately becomes manifest in the physical body as what we describe as “disease”. The essences help to unblock these unprocessed emotions and so help the body ideally to prevent disease in the first place. Although of course they are also extremely useful when disease in the physical body has already become manifest.

Flower essences are normally given to people by putting the drops directly into the mouth under the tongue or taken by adding the drops to a glass of water which is sipped slowly. They can be given to animals in a similar fashion or can also be patted into the head & body or added to food. They can also be put into a spray bottle & misted/sprayed onto the animal or around its immediate environment. They can also be combined by experienced practitioners into creams & ointments alongside essential oils or homeopathic tinctures to give a very bespoke healing product.

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