The Science of Flower Essence Therapy

by Richard Katz

Richard Katz, founder and associate director of the Flower Essence Society in California, explains how flower essence therapy works, based on the Society's research findings, the many reports the Society has collected from around the world over the last 20 years and case study evidence.

Much of this evidence is detailed in a book entitled Flowers that Heal by Patricia Kaminski (director of the Flower Essence Society), which revealed that there are four key stages of soul healing with flower essences. These are illustrated with case examples in which Dr Edward Bach's Five-Flower Formula or Rescue Remedy, and the Yarrow Special Formula, which combines Arnica, Echinacea and Yarrow were used to achieve the first stage of release and relaxation; Dr Bach's Mimulus essence to achieve the second stage of realization and recognition; the Mariposa Lily essence for the third stage of reaction, resistance and reconciliation; and Mimulus essence again in the final stage of renewal and reconstellation.

Another of the Society's studies has been on botanical plant families and their relationship to flower essence qualities, for instance the Sunflower family, from which Echinacea and Shasta Daisy essences derive. Although further subtle energy research is needed, Kirlian photography has revealed aura-like energy patterns emanating from flower essences, and it appears that it is the flower of a plant that embodies soul qualities in nature.

One particular case study relates the story of Maria, a five-year-old girl who presented to Mexican Dr Ernesto Bolio with a rare and severe neurological disorder called Helenox Gastox Syndrome and was treated with the flower essence Shooting Star, in combination with other flower essences. Dramatic results were achieved.

Although conventional science often put these sorts of results down to a placebo effect or self-suggestion, these cannot explain the effectiveness of the flower essences with infants and animals.

Shooting Star (Dodecatheon hendersonii). A California wildflower and relative of the cyclamen, the Shooting Star is the very picture of cosmic flight. This essence helps us to feel at home in the human family on earth, and is a good remedy for birth trauma.

The author accepts that, in view of the many vibrational essences entering the marketplace, sometimes backed up by scant research and based largely on subjective impressions, scientific research must be conducted to establish the credibility of flower essence therapy, but believes that this must be based on a 'soulful science' rather than the type of 'materialistic science' that automatically ridicules flower essence therapy.