Flower Essences and Essence Therapy

It is nearly 80 years since Edward Bach, a British physician and homeopath discovered and made available 38 flower essences from the English countryside to be used to “heal the patient and not the disease.” The next wave of flower essences globally emerged in the late 70s and early 80s and Pacific Essences® has the distinction of being part of this wave and is the first Canadian essence company.

In retrospect it always seemed to me that this time was a paradigm shift or a watershed experience – both terms which relate to the phenomenon known as the morphogenetic field which is a scientific demonstration of our interconnectedness on the planet. We were inspired by Bach and responding to the call of the Nature Spirits which grace Mother Earth in our own geographic environments. Initially we knew nothing of each others’ work but by 1990 there was sufficient energy and information circulating the globe that the first international conference on flower essences was held in Grenoble, France. Those of us who had begun to diligently research the plants in our own areas got together and presented some of our early findings to 800 participants.

Following Bach’s protocol, the first wave of developers researched the healing potential of other than the original 38 English plants. The procedure is to find plants in pristine natural environments early in the morning, to be attracted by a plant, cut some blossoms and place them in a crystal bowl filled with spring water until the unique energy of the plant is imprinted on the water.

Now with the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto – The Message from Water, we can more easily see how water holds the memory of whatever it comes in contact with. So with all his published pictures of water crystals it is much easier to comprehend that an essence made from Blue Camas and an essence made from Nootka Rose could offer completely different healing possibilities despite the fact that they both look and smell the same in the final product. And in fact Blue Camas is specifically used for integrating the left and right hemispheres of the brain and is particularly helpful for learning disabilities like dyslexia or even other learning disabilities like making the same mistakes over and over again. Nootka Rose is the essence bar none for ‘spiritual crisis.” In fact I had one student refer to Nootka Rose as “the Prozac of flower essences.”

At the simplest level plants make us “feel good”. They are our companions on the earth journey. We have used them in our celebrations and rights of passage cross culturally and throughout time. We use their chemistry for herbal medicine and many herbs have become the model or precursors for pharmaceuticals.  Essence therapy is based on a fundamental understanding that the body has an innate intelligence to heal itself. In western medicine this fundamental principle is called homeostasis. In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda this intelligence is called balance or harmony.

I have been blessed to be a student of TCM for over 30 years and it is the window through which we at Pacific Essences® research all of our essences to discover what energies and intelligence within the Body/Mind the essences will interact with. In TCM we assess all aspects of the human being – physical, mental, emotional and spirit. I have coined the phrase “multi-dimensional homeostasis” because all of these aspects must be addressed in a holistic model of health and healing. And essences are providing that resonance or “attractor pattern” which can assist in shifting dis-ease at whatever level is required to bring us back to balance, health and the wholeness of who we are.    

Written by Sabina Pettitt, founder of Pacific Essences ® and creator of the flower essences used in Conscious Water