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Overview
Flower essences are infusions, or decoctions, made from the flowering parts of plants that uniquely address emotional and mental aspects of wellness. The first 38 flower remedies were formulated by British physician Dr. Edward Bach in the 1930s, but new remedies from other plant species are always being formulated.
This book provides a helpful introduction to flower essences, ―what they are and how to use them. Topics covered include the following:
- How to choose essences
- How to make a bottle of essence
- Essences and their stories
- Cases studies: true stories of how essences helped
- A glossary of more than 100 essences and their uses
This is the essential introductory guide for anyone interested in alternative health and the safe, gentle vibrational healing of flower essences.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781571747655 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc. |
| Publication date: | 06/01/2017 |
| Series: | Plain & Simple Series |
| Pages: | 144 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.00(h) x (d) |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Flower Essences
Plain & Simple
By Linda Perry
Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.
Copyright © 2017 Linda PerryAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-57174-765-5
CHAPTER 1
What Are Essences?
Most people today are familiar holistic healing therapies, particularly the practice of using herbs for healing. But raise the subject of healing with flower essences, and most people are at a loss to tell you what an "essence" is.
I usually to start by clarifying what essences are not. Essences are not the same as essential oils. In fact they are very different. Essential oils are used in aromatherapy treatments, home fragrance, and bath and body products. Unlike essential oils, essences contain no biological material, have no scent, and no confirmed physical therapeutic properties that you would associate with an essential oil used in aromatherapy.
Essences are not homeopathic remedies, nor are they medicinal.
So what are they?
Essences are liquid solutions that contain the energetic or vibrational nature of the flower or plant from which it is made. An essence is the energetic imprint of the life force of the flower or plant. This imprint is captured in water and then a preservative is added (usually alcohol). This solution, or decoction, is then stored in bottles (which usually include an eyedropper) so that the essence can be taken orally, added to bath and body products, or used on chakras or meridian points.
Unlike essential oils, essences do not contain any of the biological content of the plant from which they are made; therefore, they are non-toxic.
Essences are simply water and a preservative that holds the energy signature of the particular source (say, a flower). When I am preparing essences, brandy is my preservative preference, but alternatives may be used, such as vodka, vegetable glycerin, or vinegar. The preservative is only used to increase the shelf life of the essence and kill any bacteria that sneak in from opening and closing the bottles.
An Imprint or Energy Signature
It's important to understand what an imprint or energy signature actually is, especially in relation to discussing essences. I believe, as do many others, that nature has its own energy or life force. This energy or life force allows everything around us to function, live, adapt, grow, blend, and flourish within its surroundings, and to survive its environment by evolving to cope with challenges around it.
Many people and cultures refer to this energy or life force by different names. Different cultures may also have varying thoughts and explanations of its working, origins, and meaning. But it may help you to understand the term "life force" by using terms that are more widely shared or known.
Most people are familiar with the word "chi," or "qi," used by the Chinese to describe the life force. The yogis of India refer to the life force as prana. The Hawaiians call the life force mana. Native Americans call it manitou; in Hebrew the life force is known as ruach, and in Islamic cultures it is known as baraka.
The concept of "life force," by many different names, resonates throughout time, throughout civilizations, countries, and cultures.
All life, in whatever form it takes, comprises energy, and this energy is constantly mixing, merging, and exchanging. People like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein spent years exploring it through physics and the same goes for those who are studying quantum mechanics today — so much in the universe does seem to relate to vibrations and energy. Even popular culture recognizes the concept; how many times have you heard "May the force be with you"?
Essence making is a tool for capturing the vibrations and energies of life. Much research has been done over years by scientists and other people on how water can be affected by vibration and the energy to which it is exposed, and the way that it can hold a memory of the energy or vibrations to which it has been exposed. This is why flower essences are prepared in water.
Subtle Bodies and Subtle Energies
To understand how essences work, you need to recognize that a human being is more than just a physical body. Each person has his or her own external and internal energy and vibrational centers. You may have heard of these described as auras, chakras, subtle bodies, or meridians — to just name a few. Many people simply visualize these energies and vibrations as mists that surround and go through us; they can carry different colors, frequencies, sounds, and speeds. These are not visible to human eye but they are still very much there. Interchanging, mixing, and merging with each other and all living things throughout the world.
Here is a great example of the way in which these subtle bodies and energy centers can impact the way you feel or affect what you think about a situation: Take a moment to think of a time when you met someone and liked them instantly, although you have never met before. How about a time when you have walked into a room and not been comfortable or sure about the space you were in, uncomfortable with the "vibes"? Or a time when you took a walk in nature and experienced a difference in emotion without knowing quite why? This is because your vibration and energy centers mix with the vibrations and energy centers that are around you, affecting your thoughts and feelings, thus creating a vibration and energy within you. Those external and internal energy centers evoke emotional and psychical responses, making you feel a certain way.
Thinking about the body in this way gives you a new, enhanced perspective on health and well-being. Being aware of ourselves as vibrational energy does not take away the fact that we have a physical body, it just extends our notion of ourselves beyond what we can "see."
Our physical and emotional needs will always require our attention, and working with energy and or essences should never be a replacement or alternative to getting medical care and attention. I would like to stress at this point that if you have a condition or illness you should seek out medical help by consulting your own doctor or other health care professional.
Acknowledging that our energy systems can be affected by many things leads us to think of the way that stress, shock, trauma, happiness, or love can affect us. Or how about the physical traumas such as operations, illnesses, and accidents? Add to this such concepts as our diet, surroundings, and environment, as well as electromagnetic items, televisions, computers, and phones. Also just being in nature, around people and animals, can influence how we feel and respond to the world around us.
The lives that we all lead today are fast paced, and sometimes we are forgetful or removed altogether from the natural world, meaning we sometimes we find it difficult to connect or relate to our own life force. We discover that our energy is not as strong as it could or should be. With all the normal everyday things that life throws at us and the emotions we pick up from them, we can sometimes feel unbalanced or not quite our true selves. Imagine or visualize your energy as if it has been knocked or dented, pushed away or even damaged over time due to your feelings or experience of life.
This is where our ancestors had an almost instinctual knowledge of plants and the natural world around them. When our energy systems are affected — whether by thoughts, feelings, or life experience — we can feel off-balance. This is where working with energy and using the life force and the imprint of the vibrati ons we can obtain through essences can make a difference. We use what nature has to offer, by taking the vibrational energy imprint of the flowers and plant this imprint into our own energy system. The goal is to bring about a natural balance to the vibrati ons of our mind, body, and soul, so that an optimum state of health and well-being can be achieved. As everything has its own energy, the combination of what to use and when it should be used is unique to each of us.
As a practitioner of vibrational essences, this is what I work with. I am using essences to offer you the energy and vibrations of something special, so that your own energy imprint is improved. This in turn is a way of healing and of taking power over your own general health and well-being.
CHAPTER 2How to Choose Essences
How do you choose an essence that is right for you? People ask me this all the time, and sometimes the task can appear to be more daunting than the issue they are trying to balance or the things they need help with. Understanding what an essence is is one thing. Understanding which to choose is quite another. To help you get started, I have included at the back of this book a glossary of common essences and keywords for the symptoms they treat (see page 103).
But choosing an essence need not be complicated — especially when you take your intellect out of it and learn to trust your intuition. Your body will just "know" what essence it needs for each problem. When you are just starting out working with essences, a statement like this alone is not overly helpful. Remember, however, that when working with essences, you are in the realm of the vibrational energies of life forces — your own vibrations as well as the vibrations of the plants and flowers.
Trusting your own intuition is really the only way forward. It truly is possible to listen and accept that inner voice, to recognize "knowing" without using your rational mind, and without explanation. You need to trust that there may be an unknown vibration swaying you toward essences as a whole, or to one essence in particular.
Here are a few methods that will help you choose an essence for yourself.
Feeling the Energies: Instinct and Intuition
This is my always my first suggestion when choosing essences — trust your intuition. Essences will give a lift to the way you feel, so it makes sense to connect with an essence and check it out to see how it makes you feel. To do this let me give you some suggestions:
• Find a quiet spot where you will not be interrupted or distracted, and ensure you have a pen and paper at hand, as this will help you keep a record of what happens.
• Hold an essence bottle in your hand against your chest, close to your heart, then close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths. Keep breathing deeply for a few minutes, taking the time to rest and relax.
• Now focus on your feet and feel them physically firmly connected to the ground.
• Try to clear your mind of thoughts other than this experience. Stay in this moment of space and time, knowing that all will be as it should.
• When you are ready, ask yourself. How does this essence you are holding actually make you feel?
If you are at a loss, you can help yourself by focusing on the thoughts are bubbling up during this exercise:
• What memories are there for you to access now?
• How does your body feel?
You can also visualize the plant, flower, or source of the essence and see if that brings ideas, inspiration, or guidance:
• For example, visualize a rose. See the color in your mind, conjure up a memory of the smell of the rose.
• What immediately comes to mind? Love? Peacefulness? Perhaps pain or rejection?
In all of these exercises, write down some keywords for each essence that you can refer to later.
It's important to avoid over analyzing things at this time; instead, try to focus on the essence alone, and allow the life force within the bottle to connect itself to you. If you start to doubt what you are feeling, put the bottle down, push it away from you, and try another bottle.
By allowing yourself to tune in to such subtle factors, and by trusting your inner voice, you will soon learn to recognize the essences that resonate with your own energy systems. Amazingly, you will soon know if this essence will help you feel the way you want to.
Although intuition and instinct are your most valuable tools, knowledge and intellect can also help in choosing an essence. If you happen to be in a space and time where clear thoughts and comprehension of your feelings are not possible, or you are finding it difficult to access or experience your feelings, you can simply read the manufacturer's description of the essence and see if the words mean something to you. If they do, the message will be clear.
Dowsing with a Pendulum
Because essences have an energy signature or vibration, another way you can check if an essence is right for you is to visually measure it against your own energy. A very simple way to do this is to dowse. As a practitioner, this is one of my favorite ways to work with people, because it allows you to feel and see your own energies.
In order to dowse you will need some sort of pendulum. A pendulum is simply a weight suspended from a chain or string, and which is allowed to swing freely. Your pendulum could be a special purchase — there are many different varieties available — or it could be a pendulum you make from a favorite necklace, or simply a homemade arrangement that you make by tying the end of a piece of string around a stone or crystal.
How does it work? Think of the pendulum as a tool that picks up information from the unseen vibrations around and within us. The pendulum connects with the vibrations and energy waves emitted from either our thoughts, those of other people, and from places, crystals, foods, flowers, animals, and much more. These energies can't be seen, but the pendulum creates a bridge between the logical and intuitive parts of the mind, and it allows us to see the effects of the life force within whatever we are testing and it can give us visual confirmation when needed.
A common misconception is that dowsing will only work if you are psychic or unusually sensitive to unseen forces. This simply isn't true; there is nothing magical or mystical about dowsing. We are simply using the pendulum to allow us to see the vibration for ourselves. Weird as this may be, so many people are amazed at the accuracy of dowsing that they often see the process as some kind of magic.
How to Dowse
Start by making yourself comfortable. Then hold your pendulum in one hand by the chain or string and hold it still. Keep your hand and arm relaxed, because tensing up will prevent the pendulum from swinging freely.
Take a moment to ask a question in your mind or speak it out loud — the option is yours. Make sure the question you ask can be answered by a simple "yes" or "no." For example, I would ask, "Is my name Linda?" I know the answer to this is yes, so then I would watch the pendulum to see how it responds.
There is usually some movement that you can see, but you may need to practice for a while at first, so give yourself time and don't worry about the outcome. Note the way the pendulum moves; for instance, for me the pendulum will give a "yes" answer by swinging in a clockwise circle. For others it will move in the other direction or up and down or from side to side. There is no right or wrong because the results are unique to each person.
Now try a question where the answer is a definite "no." I usually ask, "Is my name Mickey Mouse?" and watch the movement change. It will move in a different way. For me it will now go counter- clockwise. Once you have established your "yes" and "no" movements of response you can start to ask other questions.
Remember we are checking the answers with our bodily vibrations, and we are not expecting the pendulum to be moved by a supernatural force. It is simply a matter of it responding to small unconscious muscle movements in your arm (this is a form of kinesiology). Through this method, you are accessing your own truth without needing to use your logical mind. The pendulum is providing a bridge, a way of allowing you to access your own internal knowledge and intuition.
Take some time to really think about what you want from your essence, and consider what you would like it to do. Try and set an intention so that next time you work with an essence, you will know what you are asking for and where you most need clarification or something to lean on. If this has succeeded, you are ready to work with an essence.
Dowsing for Essences
You can hold the essence bottle in one hand and hold the pendulum in the other hand so that it is directly over the essence. Ask yourself, "Is this essence right for me?" The "yes" or "no" answer given by your pendulum will be your answer.
It helps to set your intention on the outcome that you want from the essence. I say this because many essences can be "right," but not necessarily right for the stage of life that you are at currently. So before starting, ensure you take a moment to think about what you want to know now. Then you can ask, "Is this essence right for me?" You will get a more accurate answer this way.
Muscle Testing
Another way of selecting your essence, and determining what your body/mind needs, is through muscle testing. You can do this in many ways, but my preference for self-testing is to use the fingers. A practitioner can do this for you, but the method I describe below can be done by you for you.
• Start by making yourself comfortable.
• Press your thumb and forefinger together to make a circle.
• Now use the forefinger of the opposite hand and try and break the circle.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Flower Essences by Linda Perry. Copyright © 2017 Linda Perry. Excerpted by permission of Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Preface viii
Part 1 About Essences
1 What Are Essences? 3
2 How to Choose Essences 11
3 How to Make a Bottle of Essence 21
4 Essences, Chakras, and Subtle Bodies 27
Part 2 The Flower Essences
5 Essence Pioneer Dr. Edward Bach 37
6 Cream Rose Essence 41
7 Red Geranium Essence 47
8 Eucalyptus Essence 53
9 Yarrow Flower Essence 59
10 Purple Tulip Essence 65
11 Bluebell Flower Essence 71
12 Camellia Essence 77
13 Gorse Essence 83
14 Foxglove Essence 89
15 Buttercup Flower Essence 95
16 Lavender Essence 99
Part 3 A Glossary of Essences and Their Uses
17 Essence Treatment Keywords 105
18 How and When to Use Essences 117
19 Essences in Action: Case Studies 123