Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Have you ever found yourself sitting with a person and their chart, having
identified the issues, challenges and problems, illumined the shadow areas,
uncovered the projections, and still wondering what on earth can be done
about it? For many years I felt frustrated with the limitations of astrology.
Undoubtedly, it is a superb diagnostic tool. Used at its best, it can awaken us
to a sense of our highest potential or ‘purpose’ in life. It can help us to cast
light on our dilemmas, complexes and inner conflicts, and equally our gifts
and talents. But what if we want to change an area of our life? How can
astrology be used as an agent for this process of transformation and change?
This kind of focus has led me to seek practical healing tools or remedies
which can meld with this ‘transformational’ approach, catalysts for change
which can help to balance, harmonize, soothe and resolve the conflicts and
dilemmas so well described by the horoscope. I see astrology and healing as
inextricably linked. Healing means ‘to make whole’ and the round birth
chart is indeed a potent symbol of this wholeness. The horoscope is our own
personal mandala, and within its roundness we can gain a glimpse of that
potential for wholeness, unity and self-actualization which lies within each
one of us.
It is believed that flower essences have been around for a very long time,
possibly dating as far back as Ancient China. Traditional peoples have
always been aware of the healing power of flowers. There is evidence that a
number of traditional cultures, including the Egyptian, Malay, African and
Aboriginal Australian, have used flowers in healing. [1]
He noticed that “every individual in that large hall belonged to one or other
of these groups, and he spent the rest of the evening watching all the people
he could see: observing how they ate their food, how they smiled and moved
their hands and heads, the attitudes of their bodies, the expressions on their
faces and, when he was close enough to hear, the tone of voice they used. So
close was the resemblance between certain people that they might have
belonged to the same family, although there was no blood relationship.” [5]
Bach spent the rest of his meal observing everybody very closely, and by the
end of the evening, he had identified twelve groups of personality traits or
twelve archetypal patterns of behaviour in people. He called them ‘world
types’, and he embarked on a quest to discover a healing remedy for each of
these types.
When Dr Bach began his search for the first twelve healing remedies, he
knew what he was looking for. He knew the personality trait or emotional
state, and he generally knew something about the quality of the plant, tree or
flower that would heal that state. It took him four years to discover the
twelve remedies and he aptly named them ‘The Twelve Healers’.
Bach taught that our personality type was determined by the Moon Sign at
birth. He described the twelve types as the “twelve great lessons of life”, and
believed that each of us is concentrating on one of these lessons in particular.
Astrologically, the Moon relates to instinctual responses, habit patterns,
emotional makeup and the past. We can understand why Bach linked the
Moon’s position to the great ‘lesson’ of life, for it is in overcoming the
instinctual and therefore entrenched negative emotional tendency of our
Moon sign that we experience the challenge of our life, or indeed its major
‘lesson’. [8]
2. Moon sign
3. Ascendant sign
6. Mercury sign
7. Saturn sign
The flower essence remedies are made by floating the freshly picked flowers
of the selected plant or tree in a glass bowl of pure water and leaving them to
sit in the sunlight for several hours. Through the action of the sun and the
process of combination of the four elements, the healing ‘essence’ or etheric
imprint of the flower is transferred into the water. The flowers are removed
and this ‘mother essence’ is preserved with brandy, diluted to make the
‘stock’ essence, and further diluted to make the dosage or medicine-strength
‘remedy’.
The first step in healing with flower essences involves identifying the
feelings. This immediately implies that we are contacting and owning our
feelings, and through this process of articulation and self-awareness alone,
much healing can occur. It takes a lot of courage to face our feelings, and
this is exactly what flower essence healing is all about – it’s about facing
ourselves.
Remember, the simple key to healing with flower essences is to first identify
the emotional issues. We can prescribe flower remedies from the case history
alone, or we can correlate planetary placements and aspects with an
emotional or mental pattern and then select the corresponding remedy.
THE SUN – Too much ego or too little, pride, self-effacement, self-
deprecation, lack of self-esteem, egotistical, arrogant, self-centred, creative
blockages, wounded inner child, father issues, lack of purpose
The following flower essences are drawn from both the Bach Flowers and
the Californian Flower Essence collections. The Californian flowers were
developed during the 1970s and to some extent they reflect their era, which
was the height of the personal growth and human potential movement. Many
of these remedies are used to enhance creativity, interpersonal
communication, spiritual growth and self-actualisation. They include a
number of familiar herbs, like yarrow, borage, sage, rosemary, garlic, dill,
dandelion and familiar plants, like sunflower, fuchsia, forget-me-not,
calendula, iris, and blackberry.
The Aries essences are also suitable for a strong Mars or 1st house influence,
Chiron in Aries or the 1st house and Chiron/Mars aspects. While I have
featured one particular remedy for each zodiac sign, a kind of archetypal or
‘type’ remedy, you may also find other remedies which are more
appropriate. The principle of healing here is that the essences selected are
designed to enhance the positive qualities of the sign or astrological energy,
and to moderate, soften or transform the negative qualities.
The astrological approach used here is a choice-centered one, as opposed to
a more deterministic or fatalistic approach. Maybe we do not have control
over many of the events which happen in our lives, but we do have control
over how we react to those events. We cannot change the past, but we can
change how we perceive the past and how we behave in the future. Perhaps
we can even change our future by changing our present, through becoming
more conscious of and responsible for our emotions, thoughts and actions. It
is indeed a truism that the point of power is in the now.
The idea with flower essence healing is that through healing our emotions
and changing our attitudes, we can lead lives more attuned to that essential
purpose and destiny which is so well revealed by the birth chart. This is not
to exclude or deny the existence of Fate or Mystery. An astrologer would
indeed be a fool to do that.
PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS:
Headaches, migraines, high blood pressure, insomnia, head injuries, bruises,
sprains and strains, burns and scalds, high fever, injuries due to accidents,
rashes, irritations. [12]
Positive Qualities: Mental tranquillity and calmness. Clarity and inner peace.
Ego imbalances (too little or too much), creative blockages, self esteem
problems. Anger and hostility towards father or authority figures. (Cal)
FLOWER REMEDIES: Rock Water, Elm, Borage, Oak, Wild Oat, Scotch
Broom, Sunflower, Blackberry, Gentian, Mustard, Mimulus, Larch, Aspen.
Positive Qualities: Ability to share one’s gifts with others. Gentleness and
sympathy. (Bach)
OTHER THERAPIES:
The Transcending Principle ~ The Search for Love, Unity and Divinity
Flower essences are ideal for use at times of major transitions and crisis in
our lives. Such crises can often be described by transits to the natal chart. An
analysis of the current transits helps us to pinpoint which natal issues or
personality traits are being activated at any particular time. Through an
awareness of the current transits, we can also prescribe remedies at the time
that is most appropriate for effecting real changes and breaking old patterns.
The Bach flower Walnut, for example, is an excellent all-purpose remedy for
all transitions, and is a highly recommended addition to the astrologer’s
toolkit. It is indicated for those experiencing life-changes, rites of passage
and transitions of any sort, including teething, weaning, adolescence,
retirement, retrenchment, marriage, relocation, divorce, giving birth, and so
on. Bach called it “the link-breaker”, for it not only helps us to move on, but
to break old links which are holding us back. It awakens a sense of freedom
and helps us to find the courage to find and follow our own path in life. It is
a wonderful remedy for helping us to let go of the past.
Conclusion
We astrologers focus so much on the sky. The healing flowers in our gardens
are gifts of the earth. To wed the modalities of astrology and flower essences
is to unite earth and sky. Symbolically, we can ground the starry wisdom
revealed by the map of the heavens at the time and place of our birth through
prescribing a remedy prepared from the flowers of our earth.
It seems that blockages shift, obstacles move, and something lifts. Others
experience a sense of finally being able to let go of a deep-seated emotion
that has been holding them back, like bitterness, hatred or resentment. Still
others find a new sense of purpose in life, or experience an increase in
perspective or mental clarity after a period of confusion.
Edward Bach described the flower remedies like this: “They cure, not by
attacking disease, but by flooding our bodies with the beautiful vibrations of
our Higher Nature, in the presence of which disease melts as snow in the
sunshine”. [15]
Flower remedies treat the person, not the illness. They focus on the client,
not the chart. While they are ideal for treating deep-seated problems with
their roots in the distant past, their primary focus is on the now, and on the
recognition that it is what we do now that affects the future.
Flower essences are a self-help tool par extraordinaire – they do not require
a healer, guru or astrologer-priest to fix us or to tell us what to do with our
lives. The wonderful thing about these remedies is that they are empowering.
We take them and we often know within ourselves what it is we must do. We
feel more able to make our own choices, as opposed to blindly accepting the
advice of others.
Both the philosophy of flower essence healing and clinical observation of
the effects of taking the remedies suggest that they appear to help us to flow
more with our lives, to attune more to our inner voice, and perhaps
ultimately to facilitate a more conscious participation in the unfolding of our
own destinies, as co-creators with The Great Spirit.
by Candy Hillenbrand
Notes:
[2] ibid. p. 2.
[11] Some of these flower essences have been drawn from the work of
Marcia Starck and Donna Cunningham (see Bibliography).
[13] Some of these affirmations have been drawn from Katz, R.,
Affirmations for Bach Flower Essences, and Scheffer., M., Bach Flower
Therapy.
[14] Some of these therapies have been drawn from Mann, A.T., Astrology
and the Art of Healing.
Bibliography:
Damian, Peter., The Twelve Healers of the Zodiac (Samuel Weiser Inc,
Maine, 1986)
Katz, R., Affirmations for Bach Flower Essences (Flower Essence Society,
California, 1986)
Little, Brenda., Health and the Zodiac (Reed Books, Australia, 1987)
Mann, A.T., Astrology and the Art of Healing (Unwin Paperbacks, London,
Sydney, Wellington, 1989)
White, Ian., Australian Bush Flower Essences (Bantam Books, Sydney, New
York, London, 1991)
This article was first published in The Southern Astrologer, Issue No. 4, May
1998. Some of the material contained within this article was adapted from
an earlier article by the author which appeared in the FAA Journal, Vol. 24,
No. 4, Dec. 1994.