The Bloom Book: A Flower Essence Guide to Cosmic Balance

by Heidi Smith, Chelsea Granger (Illustrator)

Overview

“Flowers represent a branch of plant medicine that is specifically concerned with our consciousness and evolution. To connect with their essence catalyzes the blossoming of our own healing and spiritual journeys.” —Heidi Smith

From lavender’s ability to soothe frazzled nerves to rose’s charms in healing the heart, flowers don’t just delight the senses—they have a secret history as doorways to transformation. With The Bloom Book, Heidi Smith offers a holistic and comprehensive guide for working with flower essences—the vibrational signatures of our botanical allies—to bring about healing, awakening, and deep change.

A psychosomatic therapist, flower essence practitioner, registered herbalist, and long-time student of ancient wisdom traditions, Smith seamlessly integrates the healing power of flower essences with vibrational medicine and the rise of the divine feminine. The result is a cosmic doctrine of healing that empowers readers to align with their highest selves and help to bring about planetary transformation.

Highlights include:

- An intuitive approach to working with flower essences for balance and optimal health
- Detailed instructions for making, selecting, and formulating flower essences
- Rituals, recipes, and case studies for protection, grounding, dreamwork, grief, love, and more
- Complementary applications of vibrational healing—including breath work, moon cycles, colors, chakras, and sacred symbols
- Working with trauma and systemic oppression—how flower essences can support multi-generational, intersectional healing
- Reconnecting with nature, the divine feminine, and your true self through the healing power of flowers

Filled with gorgeous illustrations by artist Chelsea Granger, The Bloom Book is both an information-rich resource and interactive guidebook for anyone who wants to awaken their most vibrant, balanced, and empowered self through the healing power of flower essences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683643807
Publisher:	Sounds True, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/07/2020
Pages:	232
Sales rank:	1,027,438
Product dimensions:	7.70(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Heidi Smith, MA, RH (AHG), is a psychosomatic therapist, registered herbalist, and flower essence practitioner. Within her private practice, Moon & Bloom, Heidi works collaboratively with her clients to empower greater balance, actualization, and soul-level healing within themselves. She is passionate about engaging both the spiritual and scientific dimensions of the plant kingdom, and sees plant medicine and ritual as radical ways to promote individual, collective, and planetary healing. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her partner and two cats. For more, visit moonandbloom.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Jane Bell of Presence of Heart

Preface xiii

Chapter 1 1

Introduction and My Journey

How to Use This Book

An Intentional Invitation

Chapter 2 11

Coming into Cosmic Balance

From Moon Times to Sun Times

Divine Feminine Consciousness

Out of Cosmic Balance

Return to Cosmic Balance

Choosing Conscious Beliefs

Focusing

The Role of Relaxation

Radical Self-Care

Being of Service

Healing for Ourselves, the Collective, and the Planet

Chapter 3 51

The Blooms

What Are Flower Essences?

How Flower Essences Work

Herbal Medicine

How Nature Heals

Vibrational Medicine

Cultural Appropriation and Colonization

Within Western Herbalism and Flower Essence Therapy

Selection and Application: The Language of Plants

Formulation: How to Make Your Own Medicine

Women Healers Throughout History

The Foundations of Flower Essence Therapy

Color Theory and Rainbow Consciousness

The Flower of Life

Chapter 4 125

Flower Rituals for Healing and Transformation

The History of Flowers in Healing Traditions

Safety, Protection, and Psychic Hygiene

Working with Intention

Abundance and Privilege

The Moon, Medicine, and Ritual

Dream Work

Heart Medicine Rituals

Tend and Befriend: Circling Together

Conclusion: Flower of Life Activation

Acknowledgments 182

Appendix 183

Notes 186

Glossary 196

Resources 204

Index 209

About the Author 213

Editorial Reviews

The Bloom Book offers a vision of a new future and then helps to walk us there with flower essences as an intermediary. With equal parts evidence, faith, and personal experience, Heidi clearly lays out a path of personal healing connected to collective and planetary healing. This book was not what I expected; it’s much more than a primer on flower essences and a glossary of how to use them. Heidi ambitiously and thoroughly spans the origins and histories of vibrational medicine and social justice theory, as well as herbalism, to make this a contemporary, relevant, progressive, and beautiful resource.” —Kimberly Ann Johnson, author of The Fourth Trimester

“Heidi champions a voice for the flowers that is at once intelligent and intuitive, deeply heartfelt, and immensely insightful. Her knowing is authentically experience-based as she shares the journey of her own soul transformation as well as those of her clients. She also reaches widely into the network of practitioner research in flower essence therapy, distilling and synthesizing information into her own unique and credible approach. The Bloom Book is not a book you will read once and store on your shelf; rather it is a living source that you will return to again and again for inspiration and practical application.” —Patricia Kaminski, founder of the Flower Essence Society, author of Flowers That Heal and Flower Essence Repertory

“Until I sat down with this book, I had not ever really considered what soul work is and how it could help others. Like many people, I’ve sometimes dismissively associated a lot of aspects of self-care and psychic healing. I was surprised to immediately connect with her ideas not to understand everything exactly (that would be the journey, right?), but to want to understand even more about myself and our world on psychic and cosmic levels. And yet that makes the end goal sound self-serving, which it is not. What Heidi presents is a story of how the world, and all of us along with it, got so out of whack. She is worried and passionate about inequity, imbalance, and the interplay of misogyny, racism, and privilege with the innermost aspects of individuality. Her writing is transportive but still accessible, even on the most mind-blowing of notions (quantum reality, vibrational medicine). Her learning, which she invites you to use as your own teaching, is deeply personal and duly engaging. And her book, best of all, is a work of hope.” —Claire Howorth, executive editor of Vanity Fair

“The Bloom Book offers a pathway to healing that could lead to our collective transformation. Heidi Smith makes flower essences accessible through clear and engaging prose that grounds what could be a very esoteric topic in relevant history and the urgency of now. This gorgeous book should be read and returned to again and again by anyone interested in evolving through this present moment to manifest a world that is more just, whole, and interconnected.” —Aimee Meredith Cox, PhD, anthropologist at Yale University and author of Shapeshifters

“A wild ride. This book was written with a conscious mind. It is innovative and informative as well as enthralling and provocative.” —Patrick Fratellone, MD, RH (AHG)

“In these very turbulent times, Heidi’s book is a clarion call for us to return to our essential nature through plant medicine and a realization of the wisdom of divine feminine energy. The Bloom Book is a wonderful offering to everyone who is working to bring their life back into balance. It guides us from ego to heart center—a vantage from which we can really show up for ourselves and for our fellow humans on this planet.” —Raghu Markus, executive director of the Love Serve Remember Foundation

“Heidi Smith has written a verbal and visual masterpiece. She writes from a perspective of guiding the reader toward the energetics within and around us and how to identify, accept, and positively affect them for ourselves and those we seek to heal. For laypersons and practitioners alike, Heidi digs into that which we cannot see, but most certainly can feel, sense, and imagine in a way that teaches and guides. This book offers a depth of understanding and resulting confidence that will leave you wanting to add flower remedies to both your personal healing kit and that of your patients.” —Dr. Penelope McDonnell, ND

“Flowers are gentle yet powerfully restorative—containing the highest healing vibrations of all plants, having a subtle, profound effect on our health and well-being. Heidi Smith’s beautifully written The Bloom Book is an invaluable guide for those of us who wish to explore the process of self-discovery through the vibrational healing of flower essences in a clear and accessible way.” —Julie Elliott, creator and founder of In Fiore

“Heidi Smith has created an invaluable resource for personal and spiritual growth in The Bloom Book. She demystifies the intricate world of flower essences—steeped in ancient wisdom stretching from all corners of the earth and various healing modalities, yet accessible and approachable. It reads as a warm, open invitation back to a world in balance with the plant kingdom.” —Alison Carroll, founder of Wonder Valley

“The Bloom Book is a deep and profound offering of healing in collaboration with Mother Earth. With a truly holistic, honest, in-depth, and beautiful layout, this book will act as an ongoing ally to readers as they grow through the wisdom, practices, and rituals offered. The historical and social context is refreshing given our current political, environmental, and social climates. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is ready to enter into new levels of consciousness and heal in relationship with themselves, their communities, and the Earth.” —Vanessa Chakour, herbalist

“This is the book on flower essences that I’ve been waiting for! Heidi Smith emphasizes the importance of setting intention with plant work and letting your intuitive force guide you in the process. These words, alongside those charming illustrations, have resonated with me more so than any other book on flower essences that I have come across so far.” —Spencre L.R. McGowan, certified herbalist, author of Blotto Botany, and creator of Gingertooth & Twine

“Heidi focuses on flower essences as a way to work through ingrained traumatic familial and societal imprints that lead to destructive belief systems. These belief systems can become psycho-spiritual conflicts embedded in the physical body as expressions of unresolved wounds. With her practical and deeply thoughtful book, Heidi draws us back to the power of plants and flowers to transform us—to be subtle partners in healing not only our own personal wounds, but the larger collective and societal ones as well.” —Jon Keyes, LPC, NCC, herbalist

“Heidi Smith’s transformative practice-oriented book marries a deeply holistic and self-actualized approach to personal healing and growth with an incredibly thoughtful understanding of the power plant medicine offers us. Her intuitive and inspiring methodology is sure to help us all dive more fully into the pursuit of cultivating collective well-being through more immersive explorations as to how we integrate flower essences into our own practices. The intention and expression of this book is as engrossing as it is enriching, a must-have for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of the healing power right outside our doorsteps.” —Gretchen Jones, strategic business advisor and Neuro-Linguistic Programming practitioner

“A provocative and thoughtful book that will inspire the next generation of herbalists and individuals looking to bring the art and magic of flower essences into their everyday lives. It’s a wonderful offering for those looking to live with a deeper connection to the intricate energies of the universe, a love poem to this mysterious life in all its glory.” —Jovial King, founder of Urban Moonshine

From the Publisher