My Journey with the Flowers

Passionate love affairs come upon us in myriad ways, sweeping and dazzling recognitions of alignment resonating at just the right frequency or perhaps unfolding slowly, like a climbing vine seeking the light, growing into an intimate knowing, assimilating a little at a time. My journey with the Flowers is no different! 

 

First introduced to Flower Essences by Steph Zabel, Ethnobotanist, Herbalist, Educator, Wisewoman, and founder of Flowerfolk Herbs and HERBSTALK, I was initially mystified at their concept. Steph had acquired a Bach Flower Essence set accompanied by a majestic circular deck on an Herbal Retreat. I remember her asking me to draw a card, generously creating an essence with brandy and the flower or tree I had summoned…Larch, Beech and White Chestnut became familiar friends, each plant potent with their own message and healing. Trusting these little cobalt and amber bottles without query, they were kept on my bedside table. Taken during first moments in the morning, before dreamtime, and somewhere in between, faithfully I journeyed with each one until it was empty. As instructed, to increase potency, I always embraced the plant’s message when ingesting. Shifts were extremely subtle, perhaps remaining undetected if not for having been documented in my journal. To be honest, at this time I didn’t fully understand what exactly flower essences were, or why they were effective, and yet could acknowledge with consistent dosing, their medicine subtly translated into actual change. 

 

Fast forward a few years, reeling after an intense heart break, Steph offers me another essence. This time a bigger bottle containing a specific blend of Red Rose and Hawthorne, these plants support the Heart. Unlike other essences, I could feel this one shift something within me IMMEDIATELY. As those 3 little drops landed under my tongue, I felt my whole soul exhale! I could sense more peace, less anxiety, could take deeper breaths, and release tension from my spine and chest. I started keeping this essence with me wherever I went. Just as I was reaching a threshold of becoming emotionally triggered, a few drops could calm me within seconds, it was miraculous! Scratching a little deeper beneath the surface, I began to understand that Flower Essences were vibrational medicine for my nervous system, addressing my psyche and emotions. It was their energetics, not their physical properties that generated healing. In the moment I was satisfied with this level of knowing, and the sweet gentleness of their nature. 

 

It was yet another year or two before I started my first focused series of herbal classes (finally!). When presented with the concept of ‘Plant Beings as our Elders and Allies’, a sort of secret garden opened up for me. Over time my approach to wellness became more and more informed by researching and cocreating remedies with Mother Earth. I was drawn to study both North American and South American herbalism. The practice of supporting healing with organic, whole ingredients, and experiencing in real time the medicinal benefits of their use was transforming something deep within me. An embodied awareness and awe of our interdependence with Nature was seeded. We ARE Nature! I started ordering organic herbs by bulk, creating my own teas, tinctures, infusions, oxymels, syrups, and decoctions. Occasionally, I would take a Flower Essence. 

 

In 2018 my life changed abruptly when an industrial accident rendered me physically disabled in my spine and pelvis. I’d never coped with sustained physical pain on this level; nerve pain and muscle spasms that kept me from sleeping, from sitting, from walking, from working, from driving, from life! I’d lost so much, my mobility, my job, my freedom, and my life and joy as I knew it. As I struggled to assimilate into the reality of my new world, I sensed I was alienating those dear to me, and falling into dark places... when I heard the Flowers calling. I had a dream about bodacious Borage, who sounded loudly with her courage! Soon the bright vibrations of Black Eyed Susan and Lily of The Valley arrived, then Bottle Gentian, Painkiller Plant and Indian Pipe ushered in new nourishing paradigms. 

 

Immersing myself in flower essence study felt like diving into a vast and captivating bottomless ocean.  I became deeply fascinated by the teachings of Molly Sheehan, Dorothy MacLean, David Dalton, and Edward Bach. I began making my own Essence blends, intuitively learning kinesiology to test which flowers would best serve me. Friends and family commented that I seemed better, lighter, brighter. While still in restrictive physical pain, my mood and outlook began to improve dramatically. The flowers supported and empowered me in untangling my anger, resentment and frustration, while encouraging and coaxing out a new peace, persistence and strength from within. 

 

Enchanted by their sage and profound powers, with eager anticipation and for the first time in my life, I decided to try growing flowers from seed in the Spring of 2019. Before those seeds broke soil, Snowdrops arrived for the first time in my garden that February, with which I created my first Mother Essence! This synchronicity felt joyously auspicious. I continued to co~create Essences with every flower in my garden, and then I started traveling to other gardens! I began offering essences to friends, family, and some open minded practitioners, eager to share their gentle support. And within the year I began receiving inquiries about individual consultations for Essences, as if the Flowers had planned this all along!

 

Flowers are absolutely bursting with faith and hope for the future. Aside from their exquisite sacred geometric design, medicinal properties, and sometimes wondrous aromas, another iteration of their gifts is born through light and water as a bioelectrical imprint. While Flowers’ mystifying beauty exists albeit briefly, the potentiality of their impact is eternal. Embracing water as a channel of consciousness, they gift their majesty in vibrational form. This concept may seem esoteric, or even suspect. No wonder it took such a deep journey to intuitively connect with their miraculous medicine! Now the Flowers feel like family, with personalities and wisdom, softly encouraging the release of old patterns and looking within for answers, seeking out silver linings where hardship has hastened growth. Without this debilitating accident, I would never have engaged with the Flowers at this level, never delighted in the sensational dark majesty of the soil, nor experienced the tiny leaves, stems, and ultimately blooms emerging from seed. Within this work I’ve discovered a deep love, an honored sense of coming home to Mother Earth, and the ongoing discovery of the gifts of all Her creations.