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Flower and plant essences fall into the category of vibrational medicine, which is a kind of energy medicine. It fits into the same category as homoeopathy and acupuncture amongst others. They work on the psychosomatic and more subtle emotional and mental aspects.

Building on the understanding that a lot of physical illness or proneness to illness comes from trauma and emotional imbalances, flower and plant essences are used to treat the underlyingemotional pattern behind physical symptoms. A way some therapists use flower and plant essences today is to address the underlying emotional pattern of an imbalance while giving other remedies addressing the physical symptom.

Hildegard von Bingen recorded the first European use of flower essences in the 1300s, where dew was extracted from flowers and used to treat emotional imbalances. In the 1930s the British doctor Edward Bach started developing his 38 well-known remedies mostly from British wildflowers, which also started with collecting dew. His findings and documentation is what forms the foundation of most western flower essence therapy today. He used both clinical and personal observation and was the first to categorize the use of flower essences.

There is not much older historical documentation for the use of flowers as medicine in the form of essences. Some of the oldest findings that point towards it is from Egypt where there are flowers portrayed in some liquid preparation used for healing on Egyptian papyrus scrolls, even though they were not necessarily prepared in the same way as an essence is today. Aboriginals have a long history of using preparations of flowers as essences for both emotional and physical healing, and in ceremonies. Flower and plant essences are herbal infusions or decoctions with no plant material or chemical compounds left in the final product (all plant matter is removed), then it’s preserved and potentized through a dilution method. They are made from mostly wildflowers, but sometimes also pristine garden flowers, and can also be made from different plant parts, although most commonly flowers. They are made in a process of connecting to the elements present in nature, which is in a balanced relationship with each other, even though it may not be obviously
perceived through the human eyes. The quintessential fifth element is the awareness and attunement of the person preparing the essence. In the alchemical process, the person preparing the remedy must go through her or his own transformation for the remedy to be able to transform from its originally separated compounds into a new collected whole.

Fresh flowers or plant material is gathered, preferably with dew on them, in the early morning, on a clear sunny day. They are then put in a clear crystal or glass bowl of clean water and left there for 2-8 hours, where the rays and warmth from the energy of the sun merge with the energy of the flower and in that way imprint the water with the archetypal signature or etheric energy pattern of the flower. The same thing can be done with moonlight. Usually, we imprint our essences with both sun and moon energy. So a transparent bowl of water, with flowers or plant material inside, is radiated by the sun and/or moon for some hours. Then the flowers or plant material is removed and the water, now containing water molecules with a ‘memory’ of the chemical and energetic signature of the flower or plant part. This is then mixed with alcohol for perseverance. After which it’s shaken in a specific way to activate, and then lastly it’s potentized by the dilution method. This is how a ‘mother-essence’ is made. This can be further potentized through additional processing.

What is inside an essence is actually ‘just’ water that once contained some flowers or plant. There is no science that proves that essences have an effect besides placebo, because you can’t measure any chemically active ingredients. There are many different perspectives on how and why essences work. Our personal understanding comes from different teachers, mostly Sajah Popham and Brooke Sulivan, whom Kaya has studied with.

The theory behind homeopathy and also essences has to do with the principle of self-organization. This takes a bit of physics explanation (forgive us for simplifying – we are not physics experts): Atoms clump together in coherency and from that emit an emergent behavior. (So when atoms come together in a clump they change behavior, that’s different from when they were separate atoms). All of this plays out within the electromagnetic spectrum of biophotons and biophones. Atoms clump together when one atom is sending out a stronger signal (oscillation), other atoms then synchronize with the strongest signal and become a self-organizing unit. When this self-organizing unit is exposed to life, it is again and again brought to disequilibrium because of constant influences from the external. The unit constantly has to rearrange itself in response to the environment to reestablish balance. The emergent behavior is the new arrangement of the parts of the unit, that is a response learned through responding to the environment. In order for the parts to communicate they have to be congruent.

Cell receptors and the compounds that fit into the cell receptors emit the same certain electromagnetic spectrum that makes them fit together. Homoeopathy and essences are based on the theory that the communication between receptor and compound starts before they physically engage. Which to us seems like a logical part of pre-engagement – to choose the direction of where to engage. On this scale, electromagnetism is basically the foundation of communication. In quantum physics there are elements of the same, when it’s addressed how a particle changes and behaves differently when it’s being observed, without physical engagement. Also, the intercellular communication of epigenetics is about the biophotons emitted from our DNA via the cell membrane, and the communication that occurs and how this is affected by the environment. In the human body, the heart is the strongest generator and receiver of electromagnetic frequencies, which is an argument for why the whole symbolism of the heart, actually may have very physical importance. This is also interesting regarding social dynamics. On an electromagnetic level people can come into synchronization, with much the same dynamics as described above (check out the HeartMath Institute).

So the essences use the signature that is held in the water, to communicate to the electromagnetic field of the person, to inform or instruct it to synchronize with the vibration of the specific signature or imprint.

An essence is chosen based on its signature or archetype. Usually by applying the Doctrine of Signatures. So everything has an electromagnetic signature, that’s constantly engaging with other electromagnetic signatures and readjusting to them. An example could be Aloe vera which grows in a very dry and hot climate, is a very obvious example of how that plant contains a response to that environment by being very moist and cooling. When choosing an essence for a specific purpose you look at the plant itself, and its relationship to its environment. And those qualities are then interpreted as symbolizing different archetypal qualities, called a signature. Aloe Vera is for example often used for stress, burned-out people, or people with an unbalanced work- or creative drive that depletes them. Aloe Vera also has physical properties that are documented amongst others for sunburn and inflammation of the digestive system. But other plants used as an essence, do not have a physical application and may even be toxic to consume in their plant form.

Here is Dr. Christina Nortrup and naturopath Jenna Carroll’s words:
“The impact of flower essences is not derived from biochemical intervention within the physiology, which is why they are challenging to study from a scientific perspective. Unlike pharmaceuticals or even some herbal medicines, which can suppress symptoms, flower essences work by the principle of resonance within the subtle human energy field, which impacts one’s physical and emotional health. In other words, flower essences are based on vibrational energetics, rather than biochemical, and stimulate the body’s natural capacity to bring itself back to homeostasis. All plants carry vibrational energy patterns, and it is said that flowers are the pinnacle of this energy. Doctrine of Signatures (DOS) play a major role in identifying the specific application of each flower. DOS originated within Alchemical and Hermetic traditions, where the most important thing was to understand how the macrocosm (universe) corresponds to the microcosm (individual). When viewed through the lens of DOS, the energetic qualities of flower essences present themselves through their colour, shape, habitat and growing patterns.
[….]
Research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology shows a clear interrelationship between physical illness, stress and emotional outlook. While flower essences don’t address specific physical ailments, such as asthma or cancer, they work on an energetic level to address the underlying emotions, release unwanted patterns, and attract what is right for you.”

Essences can be used internally and externally. They are most commonly used internally. How flower essences work is very individual. Most people only feel it subtly, and it takes a while to have an effect. Like with everything some people are very sensitive and can feel it strongly right away. Some mixes of flower essences are used for immediate effect like Dr. Bach’s ‘Rescue Remedy’ which can be a great ally to always have with you, if you suffer from anxiety or panic attacks. Because there is no chemical active ingredient, essences are generally very safe to take, also for children, animals and pregnant women. Always tune in and listen to yourself. With alcohol as the preservative, even though you are usually only taking max 4 x 4 drops a day, some people might not want to, or it might not be good for them to ingest alcohol at all. Like with the tinctures, you can drop the essences into boiling water, to decrease the alcohol amount. With essences, we recommend taking at least 1 week off, after 4 weeks of use.

While using essences we recommend keeping a journal, tracking emotions, and writing down dreams, and synchronicities. If you are interested in connecting and potentially communicating with the flower, meditating after taking or applying the essence is great. In our experience plants are eager to connect and communicate if you allow yourself to listen.