About Flower Essences

Main Topics:

What is a flower essence?
How do you make the Mother Essence?
How do you make Stock Bottles?
How do you mix a Medicine Bottle?

What is a Flower Essence?

Flower essences are vibrational remedies made by capturing the energy or auric impressions of medicinal flowers in water. (Gem Elixirs are similar, except that minerals or crystals are used instead of flowers.) They work by imparting their healing vibrations to the person's aura, causing a vibrational shift in the person's energy patterns. Since "stuck" energy patterns are usually experienced as emotional or psychological "blocks", the shifts produced by an essence can assist the person in removing these emotional blockages. Essences also make excellent spiritual growth tools when used over an extended length of time, as they have an uncanny ability to teach us what it means to be fully human.

Each species of flower seems to be a master of the energies that relate to specific personality traits and behaviors. It's almost as if each flower is a cartoon character with its own quirky personality. The art of this kind of therapy consists of bringing people with problems together with the flowers that can show them the way out and letting the flowers work their subtle magic.

Making a Mother Essence

Although many flower essences may be bought in stock bottles at a store, it is possible to make them from scratch in your own backyard or nearby environs. In fact, this was Dr. Bach's original intent. The materials needed are simple and easily obtainable and it only takes a few hours time. I've always found making a new essence fun and rewarding.

When making an essence, care should be taken to identify the flower as to correct species. References (such as the Peterson Field Guides) are helpful in this.

The most common technique for making flower essences is the "sun infusion" method. For this, you need the following in your essence making kit.

Your Essence Making Kit

The Sun Infusion Method

To make the essence, find "your spot" on that sunny morning (a problem in Minnesota!) near the flowers you will work with. You should be started by 8 or 9 o'clock in the morning, at the latest. As the person's state of mind is considered important to the process, you should make sure the setting is peaceful and protected; your own emotional state should be calm and receptive. Place the pan on the ground and pour in enough water to cover the bottom (it doesn't take much!). Quartz crystals may be placed around the pan to focus the energies, but should not be placed in the pan (the remedy would pick up the crystal's energies as well as the flower's). I use four quartz crystals aligned with the 4 directions in a circle around the pan, with the points of the stones pointed towards the center of the circle.

Next, pick the flowers and add them to the glass pan of water. You should "tune into the plant" before cutting any flowers, to sense which ones should be used. Ideally, cut the flowers and let them drop right into the pan, without touching or handling them. If this is infeasible, cut them and transfer the flowers immediately to the pan, with a minimum of handling or waiting (no more than a minute or two). Cut enough flowers to cover the bottom of the pan. Choose flowers from a number of plants. And make sure to thank the plants for their gifts afterwards!

Return the pan to its "spot" and let it sit in the sun for 3 to 5 hours. It's best to stay with the flowers throughout this stage of the process -- gardening in the backyard is a good way to pass the time and stay in tune with the flowers. Let sit until early afternoon or until the flowers "feel tired" or "ready to wilt." Remove the flowers (preferably with a leaf from the same plant, so you don't touch the flowers or the water) and set them aside. Pour the water from the pan into a storage bottle (using the funnel); add an equal portion of brandy, as a preservative. The bottle should be shaken between your hands for a minute or two to "fix" the remedy.

Mixing Stock Bottles

The mother essence is rarely used by itself, but is diluted to the stock potency or medicine (dosage) bottle potency. To make a stock bottle, you need:

Put an ounce of the brandy/water in the bottle and add 2 to 7 drops of the mother essence. The exact number of drops is not too important, though some people love to argue about it. The bottle should be shaken in your hands for a minute or two (or until it "feels" done) to potentize the stock bottle. This "dilute and shake" technique is more or less the standard method in homeopathy for potentizing a remedy.

Mixing Medicine (Dosage) Bottles

The process is the same as with stock bottles, except that 2 to 7 drops of the stock potency is used instead of the mother essence. Also, if a number of remedies are needed for a client at one time (preferably no more than 5 at once, though exceptions happen), drops from each stock bottle may be added to the one medicine bottle. The brandy is not necessary if the remedy will be used up quickly. You can also substitute vegetable glycerin for the brandy as a preservative at this step.