I would like to share a beautiful magical practice with you that I just learned this summer, creating homemade flower essences. I have worked with commercially made flower essences for years, but only recently learned how to prepare them at home. Creating them myself is an entirely different experience than purchasing them ready-made and allows for a more immediate and soulful connection to their alchemical power.
Flower Essences are dilute healing infusions created from flowers, plants, and trees which can have a profound effect on emotional and physical well-being and psycho/spiritual development. They were first created by an English physician, Edward Bach, in the 1930s.
Like homeopathic remedies, their mechanism of action is vibrational in nature. They do not affect the biochemistry of the body, but rather their impact is through the subtle human energy fields, which influence physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being.
The physical process of preparation is as follows: Fresh flowers are collected and then floated on the surface of a glass or crystal bowl of water and placed in the sunlight for at least four hours. The warmth and light of the sun diffusing through the petals transfers the energetic imprint of the etheric energy pattern of the blossom onto the water, which then holds the healing archetypal signature of that plant. The blossoms are then removed, the remaining water in the bowl is measured, and an equal amount of brandy is added as a preservative. This is the Mother tincture. Five drops of this solution can then be added to a one-ounce bottle filled with three-quarters of water and one-quarter of brandy to create a remedy. Up to seven different essences can be included in a single remedy bottle.
The metaphysical process of preparation is of equal importance. I pay attention to what flower I am drawn to in my garden or what wild-growing flower attracts me. Then I do a bit of research to learn the psychospiritual properties attributed to that flower. If the meaning and effect resonate with me and feel aligned, then I tune into the flower and ask permission to take some of the blossoms to make a healing remedy. After I sense that the flower consents, then I harvest a few of the blossoms and express gratitude to the plant. I do the physical process of preparation described with an awareness of communing with a sacred world where magic is woven through everything.
The very first homemade essence I created was from a tree in my garden called a Sweet Bay Magnolia. There was a Sweet Bay Magnolia tree growing beside my childhood home in Pittsburgh which I had always loved. When I had my own home, I purchased one of these trees and planted it in the garden. The first flower essence I was drawn to create was from the Sweet Bay Magnolia that blooms in late June and July. My research revealed the following about its healing signature:
The Magnolia tree flower is so old that it was alive before the bees appeared, with some fossils identified to be over 95 million years old! The Magnolia flower essence inspires us to experience profound peace and spiritual fulfillment and increases acceptance of Divine Timing.
MAGNIFIES: Awakening, highest aspirations; deep peace, spiritual fulfillment, acceptance; ability to sense the divine in every moment
DISSOLVES: Negativity, darkness; extraneous thoughts; fear, including fears surrounding death
I loved that it was such an ancient plant, that it magnifies the appreciation of the Divine in every moment, as well as supports the acceptance of Divine timing, which is one of the keys to feeling at peace and foundational to the practice of astrology.
I created the remedy and have been taking it over the past few weeks. As I take it, I bring its alchemical properties to mind. I am finding that the flowers I am drawn to often contain the Medicine that I need at the moment. The next remedy I made was one from a flower named Common Tansy growing beside the Chestnut Hill Reservoir where I frequently walk. This flower essence has the property of dissolving procrastination, which I welcomed. The third flower I was drawn to which was also growing by the reservoir was Evening Primose. This flower essence assists with resolving incarnational trauma, also appropriate for me. My gestation and entry into the world were traumatic, as my mother was profoundly depressed during her pregnancy with me and suffered from post-partum depression. Transcending the lingering effects of a beginning like that can be the work of a lifetime.
The synchronicity with regard to which flowers offer themselves to be transformed into healing remedies is an astonishing and delightful experience. Synchronicities function to remind us that if we listen and are open, that the Universe is always whispering to us, sending us guidance and messages. They remind us that we are part of a world where everything is connected to everything else and reassure us that we are on the right path.
I hope that you will try your hand at this and that you will love it too. I would be very curious to hear about your experiences.
Here is a photo of the three remedies:
