Healing Emotional Patterns with Flower Remedies

Dr Edward Bach is the first British medical doctor, homeopath, bacteriologist and spiritual writer who founded the Bach Flower Remedies.

Born in Moseley, Worcestershire, he studied medicine at the University College Hospital, London, and obtained a Diploma of Public Health (DPH) at Cambridge.

In 1917 Bach had a malignant tumour removed from his spleen. It was predicted that he had only three months left to live, but instead he recovered. In 1930, at the age of 43, he decided to search for a new healing technique. He spent the spring and summer discovering and preparing new flower remedies – which include no part of the plant but simply what Bach claimed to be the pattern of energy of the flower. In the winter he treated patients free of charge.

Rather than being based on medical research, using scientific method, Bach's flower remedies were intuitively derived and based on his perceived psychic connections to the plants. If he felt a negative emotion, he would hold his hand over different plants, and if one alleviated the emotion, he would ascribe the power to heal that emotional problem to that plant. He believed that early morning sunlight passing through dew-drops on flower petals transferred the healing power of the flower onto the water, so he would collect the dew drops from the plants and preserve the dew with an equal amount of brandy to produce a mother tincture which would be further diluted before use. Later, he found that the amount of dew he could collect was not sufficient, so he would suspend flowers in spring water and allow the sun's rays to pass through them.

While he recognised the role of the germ theory of disease, defective organs and/or tissue, and other known and demonstrable sources of disease, Bach wondered how exposure to a pathogen could make one person sick, while another was unaffected, when to all appearances and analysis they were in equal states of health. He postulated that illness was the result of a conflict between the purposes of the soul and the personality's actions and outlooks. This internal war, according to Bach, leads to emotional imbalances and energetic blockage, which causes a lack of harmony, thus leading to physical diseases.

Bach's remedies focus on treatment of the patient's personality, which he believed to be the ultimate root cause of disease.

Dr Edward Bach categorized human emotions into 7 major types:

Group 1 - Fear

Group 2 - Uncertainty

Group 3 - Insufficient interest in present circumstances

Group 4 - Loneliness

Group 5 - Over-sensitive to influences and ideas

Group 6 - Despondency or Despair

Group 7 - Over-caring for others' welfare

There are 38 flower essences under the Bach Flower Remedies that are grouped according to the 7 major types of emotions.

Group 1 - Fear

• Mimulus - Phobias, shyness

• Aspen - Fear of the unknown

• Rock Rose - Extreme terror, panic, paralyzing or frozen fear

• Red Chestnut - Fear for others or loved ones' safety, well-being

• Cherry Plum - Fear of losing control
  

Group 2 - Uncertainty

• Scleranthus - Indecisive in choosing between alternatives, mood swings, keeping doubts within themselves without asking for advice, erratic conversation

• Cerato - Doubtful of own judgement

• Hornbeam - Procrastination, lack of mental strength

• Gorse - Feeling hopeless, giving up, pessimistic, unwilling to seek for help

• Gentian - Discouraged by setbacks, disappointment, losing faith

• Wild Oat - Feel restless, dissatisfied in life and lost in life direction

Group 3 - Insufficient interest in present circumstances

• Clematis - Feel ungrounded, daydreaming, fantasizing

• Olive - Exhaustion

• Honeysuckle - Homesick, live in the past, nostalgic

• Wild Rose - Apathy, resignation to fate

• White Chestnut - Incessant unwanted repetitive thoughts that goes round in circles, mind chattering

• Mustard - Gloomy for no reason

• Chestnut Bud - Unable or slow to learn from mistakes, slow in learning from life lessons

Group 4 - Loneliness

• Heather - Over-talkative, poor listener, saps others' energies causing others to avoid them and hence deepening loneliness

• Impatiens - Impatient, irritable and agitated by slowness of matters or people

• Water Violet - Isolated, difficult in mingling with others, enjoy solitude

Group 5 - Oversensitive to influences and ideas

• Agrimony - Humour or brave face masking turmoil, hiding worries or fears behind a mask of cheerfulness or brave face, seek out company to forget about problems

• Centaury - Unable to set boundaries or say no.

• Walnut - Unable to adapt to changing environment or new phases in life, sensitive to external influences

• Holly - Spite, jealousy, revenge, suspicion

Group 6 - Despondent or Despair

• Crab apple - Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), self-disgust

• Larch - lack of confidence, inferior

• Elm - feeling overwhelmed

• Pine - Self-blame

• Sweet chestnut - Dark night of the soul, deep anguish

• Oak - struggles on dutifully, overworking until burnout

• Willow - Victimization, self-pity, bitterness, resentment

• Star of Bethlehem - deep-rooted trauma, grief, bereavement, shock

Group 7 - Over-caring for the welfare of others

• Chicory - Manipulative, possessive, demanding, over-mothering, expect love and attention in return

• Vine - Domineering, bully

• Vervain - Zelous, opinionated

• Beech - Intolerant, critical

• Rock Water - Self-perfectionist, strict on themselves, rigid-minded, self-righteous

If you are interested in releasing your negative emotional patterns, I do offer consultation and prescription of the flower essences tailored for you. Check out on my service here:

Flower Essence Therapy | Empathy Healings