‘There is only one active ingredient in plant medicines: friendship.’
-Eliot Cowan, Plant Spirit Medicine
Flower essences are vibrational medicines, meaning they work on the subtle levels of reality, and do not contain any plant material or bio-active compounds, making them safe and sustainable ways to connect with the generous intelligence of plants.
Dr. Edward Bach is celebrated as the creator of flower essences, and his contribution and formalization of these ancient emotional healers is certainly worth honoring. However, shamans and healers of every age and culture have been collaborating with the consciousness of plants since time immemorial.
In the Peruvian Amazon, the Shipibo-Conibo people work with a variety of ‘plantas maestras’ or master plants- literal teachers and healers, to address a number of physical, emotional, and spiritual maladies. Many other indigenous nations share this view of plants as elders and living spirits, and virtually every ethnic group can trace its roots back to animism- a cosmology that acknowledges the essence, the spirit, the consciousness of all beings, both human and more than human.
Animism is less like a phoenix rising from the ashes of a reductionist worldview and more like a smiling truth, watching in silence as science catches up with ancient myth and the color returns to the picture, desaturated by modern thought, with richness.
Many are recognizing what anthropologist Jeremy Narby describes as the ‘stepping down from the pedestal’ humanity is being called to do, as we find our place in the interdependent, intelligent, and spiritually vibrant ecosystem of this planet. Many are recognizing that colonizer mentality is not only violent and pervasive, but also embarrassingly arrogant.
But we have all been steeped in the same tea- a tea that’s been brewing for centuries. And it will take time and allies to come into to clarity, to come into harmony.
Listening to and integrating indigenous wisdom isn’t about returning to a lost past, but about repairing a broken connection, and building a more beautiful future. This is where I believe flower essences can come into play, can help fill the gaps inside a fractured culture’s soul in a good and soft way. Plants are elders to all of us, and connecting with their spirit is a deeply intimate and personal approach to healing.
Success with flower essences begins with respect, just as with any good relationship. Acknowledging the ‘personhood’ of plant spirits allows for a connection to be made on the basis of dignity, and from that foundation, many beautiful experiences and surprises may emerge.
When we ‘take’ flower essences- whether that is directly into the mouth or on the skin, or by wearing flower-essence infused jewelry, we are really interacting with the spirit of a conscious entity. If we treat plant spirits as ‘things to use’, we cannot expect a deep and rich relationship to flourish. The same thing happens when we treat other people as ‘things to use’- it feels like shit and it doesn’t add to the beauty and harmony of life.
So the invitation is to interact with flower essences, with plant spirits, as if you were meeting a person, even courting them as a lover or friend. Approach with curiosity. Approach with respect. Let your energy field connect with theirs and see what emerges. If it feels good to you, pray. If it feels good to you, play.
-Maggie