ONE
MEANING AND USE OF INDIVIDUAL BACH FLOWERS
1: Agrimony
Characteristics
Agrimony is the essence for people who cannot recognize the truth and who go out of their way to avoid conflict. Out of the need to avoid painful conflict (both internal and external), they try to keep their true feelings (fears, aggression, or sorrow) hidden from their consciousness and hidden from everyone else by maintaining a feigned carefree, happy demeanor.
AREA OF USE
Agrimony is used as a basic treatment for fear of conflict, deception and artificiality, hidden inner discord and emotional anguish, psychic complexes, tendency to repress, glossing over of personal problems, tension, and an inclination toward alcoholism and drug abuse. Used to treat any conditions related to tension, inhibitions, fear of conflict, dishonesty, artificial behavior, or oversensitivity. In daily life, used to treat phoniness, playacting, the “tears of a clown” syndrome, insincerity, embarrassment, inhibitions, tension, inner restlessness, oversensitivity to pain, and dependence on barbiturates or alcohol.
Causes and Symptoms of Agrimony Syndrome
This condition is characterized by a pronounced sensitivity and a strong need to be happy. Harmoniously developed, the Agrimony type instinctively avoids unhappiness of all kinds. He does this the most natural way possible: he defuses problems by accepting them as part of life and by making the best of them. (Problems are created when we try to ignore reality, fight against it, or create a false one.) Spontaneous, natural, and unfit for confrontation, the harmoniously developed Agrimony type does not try to cover up or falsify the unpleasant or repress or avoid difficulties. When faced with life’s problems, he does not become lost or betray himself; when necessary, he bends with the blows like reeds in a windstorm—with a flexible, natural grace, without breaking or being damaged. Critical situations that can be catastrophic for negative individuals float harmlessly past him. He’s always natural, genuine, spontaneous, and full of life. Because his special strength (even in times of trouble or need) is always being able to recognize and hold on to the positive (“chocolate-covered”) side of life, he is always happy. It often seems as if his role on the stage of life is that of a carefree, happy character. Actually, he has a talent for acting, but every “role” he plays is an expression of his own happy self and is never a strange, artificial role. Because of his naturalness, his carefree and affable demeanor, and his optimism, he is welcome everywhere.
Unfavorably developed, the Agrimony type’s sensitivity can change to oversensitivity, his ability to love life can become a flight from reality, and his talent for acting can become mere hypocrisy. The Agrimony person cannot and will not suffer. Life can be especially difficult for him because his sensitive nature makes every unpleasant experience so incredibly painful. Out of fear of suffering, he cowardly steps out of the way of all unpleasantness, every conflict, and every argument, even when only an honest and forthright confrontation is called for. If he is not up to such a confrontation, he ignores his problems and carries on as if everything were just fine.
To avoid the conscious confrontation of problems, fears, and conflicts (even though he continues to repress them in his subconscious), he tries to replace them with the illusion of a make-believe, happy world. He wears the eternally happy mask of a carefree companion, always pretends to be optimistic and in a good mood (even though the reality can be totally different), is always joking around even though he suffers inside, bolsters the spirits of others, and pretends to be nonchalant after a doctor’s diagnosis even when he knows himself to be very ill. He tries, like a miscast actor, to fool everyone, himself included. The happy face he always shows hides his tears. He is always trying to distract himself and can never dwell on reality. He keeps smiling and doesn’t show his true inner feelings. This works, of course, only on a superficial level, while his very real problems eat away at him constantly, like rust on an old piece of iron. Even though he seems happy, he suffers from anxiety and depression. The more he tries to seem peaceful and happy on the outside, the more he loses those same qualities on the inside, and his behavior becomes that much more forced and unnatural. With time, to provide at least temporary relief, he can turn to various addictions: mindless entertainment and distraction, binge eating, work, alcohol, or drugs. (Alcohol, by the way, makes many people seem carefree, uncannily sociable, and funny and, at the same time, totally unable to engage in any real, meaningful contact.) In addition, he often suffers from sleep disorders, restlessness, cramps, and tension or aches and pains.
The Effects of Agrimony
Agrimony is the essence of choice to promote honesty and natural behavior. It works against the habit of not taking our problems seriously and awakens the desire for more honesty with ourselves and others. With Agrimony, we are more open and relaxed and also more able to engage in conflict, so that, when necessary, we can be strong enough to face unpleasant situations. Agrimony is one of the most important Bach flowers and can be used by just about everyone. It should be taken as an accompaniment to any form of psychotherapy because it strengthens the patient’s will to be truthful, to come to know himself better, and to be more open with his therapist.
Owing to the breakdown of normal psychic defense mechanisms, it often happens that suppressed fears and anxieties can become more intense with treatment and trigger an unconscious counterattack: we feel naked and defenseless. In such a case, the patient might break or spill bottles of essence—accidentally, of course—or discontinue therapy. This reaction can be corrected with the help of Walnut, which serves to strengthen the camouflage instincts of the negative Agrimony type. In general, regardless of the type of condition, Agrimony has a positive influence on the course of an illness if the patient wants to downplay it or keep it secret. This essence can resolve anxiety and tension, rheumatic complaints, constipation, sleep disorders, or inner restlessness.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Agrimony is connected with two very important psychic functions that help ensure our survival: repression and lies. Repression protects us from the consequences of our own all-too-human shortcomings and weaknesses. If we did not ignore the greater part of our perceptions and impressions, we would be unable to think clearly and make intelligent decisions. And if we were to be consciously aware of the whole truth about ourselves, we would quite simply shatter. That is why our psyche constantly filters countless bits of information, impressions, and perceptions that influence us. It takes note only of those that we can process in any given moment and stores the great majority in the archive of the subconscious, where they stay until we are ready to use them.
Lies, on the other hand, protect us from resentment and misunderstanding. At a very young age we learn to lie and be hypocritical in order to survive, or in other words, to behave ourselves, be respectable, and run with the pack. If we were to act as we truly are, say openly what we mean, or do whatever we wanted without thinking of the consequences, we would have a slim chance of survival in our world, where jungle rules are the norm. People who think that nothing ever bothers them and who are in a perpetually good mood are not being truthful to themselves about how they really feel.
Nevertheless, as helpful as repression and lies can be under certain circumstances, at bottom they also signify a betrayal of the truth. Our spirit, which is always seeking the truth, allows us to be dishonest when absolutely necessary, but not out of mere convenience. We must continually seek out a compromise that we can live with—only enough self-deception so that our external life is not threatened and sufficient honesty that our spirit allows us to go on living. The main thing is that we do not betray our personal truth, that we understand and can be responsible for our actions. When we continue to wear the mask that we normally wear only in times of danger or out of personal weakness, when we act hypocritically or lie without reason, or when we even begin to believe our own lies, our spirit resists, and this resistance causes us to suffer.
As everyone knows from experience, this suffering consists of a certain discontentment, if we are again unnecessarily fooling ourselves or pretending that our emotions are not what they really are. The Agrimony type, however, nearly always represses to minimize conflicts or deceives himself or those around him. This approach can lead to severe frustration, depression, loneliness, or a hidden mental and emotional anguish. Most Agrimony types, however, will do something about their condition only if they are under great pressure or are suffering tremendously. They commonly need psychotherapeutic help, which makes them aware of their behavior and puts them in the position to consciously steer their own course. When they can clearly and objectively evaluate their life situation, they can decide freely if and when they should disguise or repress unpleasantness. And they can also learn not to do so. The more decisively they act in this regard, the stronger they will become. Despite their supposed weaknesses and shortcomings, being able to make this conscious decision will provide them with more strength and security than all the masks they’ve been hiding behind.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Aspen (1/2): repressed fears or anxieties due to repression
Beech (1/3): artificial tolerance
Centaury (1/4): pathological cheerfulness
Cherry Plum (1/6): dangerous psychic pressure caused by repression
Chestnut Bud (1/7): learning difficulties or immaturity due to shirking
Larch (1/19): repressed inferiority complex
Mimulus (1/20): repressed fears and anxieties
Red Chestnut (1/25): repressed, secret worries
Rock Rose (1/26): frozen in panic
Star of Bethlehem (1/29): psychic wounds concealed behind the happy facade
Walnut (1/33): total self-alienation
Water Violet (1/34): human contact problems due to a lack of openness
Wild Oat (1/36): lack of self-awareness
2: Aspen
Characteristics
Aspen is for people who are tormented by unpleasant ideas or vague, indefinite anxieties or fears.
AREA OF USE
Aspen is used as the basic treatment for fears and phobias, general or unexplained anxiety, panic, horror, bizarre ideas, terrifying fantasies, and delusion in relationships. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to terrifying fantasies or unexplained fears. In daily life, used to treat general anxiety, strange feelings and premonitions, fear of the future, and fearful worries.
Causes and Symptoms of Aspen Syndrome
This condition is characterized by a well-developed sensitivity and an active imagination. Harmoniously developed, the Aspen type is a sensitive and sensible person who possesses a kind of sixth sense. Intuitively, she knows more than the average person and can often predict future events or developments or divine secret connections unnoticed by others. She pays attention to the signs that life offers, such as dreams and inspirations or unusual occurrences and miracles, and she can interpret their meanings with uncanny intuition and imagination. She goes through life with an almost sleepwalking kind of security. She knows no fear, and her deep-rooted sense of a higher power gives her the knowledge that we are all safe and fills her with an unshakable sense of optimism. When faced with problems, dangers, or suffering (which often happens, owing to her great sensitivity), she doesn’t try to avoid them but uses them as opportunities to gaze ever deeper into the secret of her existence and to affirm her confidence in life and fate. Her life is an ongoing process of developing awareness, a relentless search for personal truth, and inspiring proof that we can have a fearless, instinctive trust in the natural order of things.
Unfavorably developed, the Aspen type is not able to deal with her feelings and inspirations and cannot translate them into intuitive knowledge or clear awareness. If her strong sensitivity becomes oversensitivity, it can create overwhelming, vague, nebulous fears that can be a never-ending source of torment. This can sometimes lead to sudden panic attacks that rip her out of sleep or fall on her suddenly at work. Generally, the Aspen type will try to neutralize these vague fears and attempt to direct them to everyday occurrences. For example, she may suffer from an irrational fear of being mugged, the house burning down, a family member being involved in a serious accident, or someone wanting to hurt her. The worst is the uncertainty that is accompanied by a sense of helplessness. The Aspen syndrome can also be caused by exposure to toxic substances (such as drug use or abuse) or physical illness—for example, waking up in the middle of the night from heart palpitations, panic attacks through hormonal disruptions, or inexplicable anxieties due to a frail constitution.
The Effects of Aspen
Aspen is the essence of courage. It is effective against anxiety, foreboding, and vague and irrational fears and improves our ability to guide subconscious material into our consciousness, to deal sensibly with intuition, and to interpret anxieties and fears. Aspen can also help improve any physical conditions accompanied by anxiety, such as a frail constitution, sensitivity to changes in the weather, cardiac insufficiency, or hormonal imbalances. It should normally be combined with Mustard.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
The Aspen type has an especially sensitive, intuitive nature and can perceive much that stays hidden for most of us stuck in our daily grind. She resembles the artist who takes the material for her work out of the essential truths of life that are inaccessible to most of us. Unlike the artist, the Aspen type cannot always make sense of these intuitions or incorporate them in her life’s art. She suffers from a deep-seated mistrust of life and is too sensitive to its painful experiences and lessons.
Her mistrust prevents her—mostly unconsciously—from concerning herself with perceptions or feelings, and this can result in mental and emotional burdens. These are components of her exceedingly rich emotional life and important messages shared from the deepest recesses of her unconscious. They cannot simply be pushed away but are constantly trying to rise up to consciousness and will become more and more unbearable and anxiety-ridden the more she tries to shake them out of her thoughts. She can, to some extent, try to keep them in check by projecting them onto concrete phenomena. For example, she might predict a certain accident or accuse someone of holding ill will against her. These worries cannot, however, be controlled so easily. They lurk like wild animals in the nether regions between the conscious and subconscious, and as soon as she relents in her watchfulness, they take the form of inexplicable, generalized anxieties. This is the central problem of the Aspen syndrome.
The Aspen type’s fear shows that she has lost a part of her fundamental trust in life. This consists of an instinctive belief in a divine order and in the knowledge that despite so much pain and suffering, our world is inherently good. None of us can live without trust. We develop it in early childhood, when we are brought helpless into the world. Trust comes from the fundamental experience of being loved, especially by our parents. The knowledge that there is someone willing to make a place for us in the world, who will give us warmth and sustenance and is happy with our mere presence, is so basic and essential that it becomes forever ingrained into the psyche of a child. It is this knowledge that allows all children (animals and humans) to follow their parents with complete trust into an unknown life.
Receiving the benefits of parental care and attention (especially from the mother in a child’s infancy) is an enduring element of the human psyche. Without it, we would not know the meaning of love, security, or well-being, and it is this that opens our eyes to the good and beautiful in life and, when we become adults, gives us the knowledge that a benevolent force or being (“God the Father”) leads us through this life. People who have not developed this fundamental trust owing to a lack of parental love, or who have lost it as the result of too many negative experiences, find life to be nothing more than something that must be endured. Life no longer fills them with awe and a sense of adventure but seems only horrible and dangerous—a terrifying affair from which they always expect some sort of harm.
The Aspen type’s fears can be overcome only by maintaining a positive, optimistic attitude. At best, an improvement in her relationship with her parents is necessary, perhaps through a conscious reexperiencing of the childlike feelings of trust and love (which do not necessarily need to be directed at the people the parents have become). What is most important is that the pleasant memories of childhood are awakened and that the happy feelings lying hidden in the memory are released. Even if we no longer know our parents, or if we hate them, we have all found some substitute (grandparents, relatives, neighbors, sometimes even animals or plants) that helps us survive and has reawakened our hope and touched our hearts. The more positive memories we have of the past, the more optimism we can expect from our attitude toward the future.
Artistic, religious, or spiritual influences are also helpful in allowing us to rekindle our fundamental trust in life. Eternal beauty, the incommunicable truth of a work of art, the compelling grandeur of a great idea, or the delightful humility of a good deed can restore our hope and contentment, and they help remind a person full of fears and anxieties that, in spite of all that he has suffered and cannot comprehend, there is also an unending source of good in this life.
Anyone suffering from the Aspen condition should try seriously to confront what he feels, perceives, or believes and attempt to build a trusting, hopeful attitude. Life is constantly offering us proof of the rightness of all we experience. It is up to us to sharpen our view of the truth and beauty and learn to nurture an inner voice that speaks to us out of our inner courage and trust.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Agrimony (1/2): repression of anxieties or anxieties due to repression
Cherry Plum (2/6): sudden panic attacks or irrational behavior
Mimulus (2/20): total fear
Mustard (2/21): anxiety-ridden depression
Red Chestnut (2/25): generalized anxiety-related worries
Rock Rose (2/26): absolute panic
Rock Water (2/27): anxiety-induced self-abuse
Scleranthus (2/28): indecisiveness provoked by vague fears and anxieties
Star of Bethlehem (2/29): mental and emotional injuries due to anxieties; anxieties brought about by trauma
Water Violet (2/34): problems with human contact due to vague fears and anxieties
White Chestnut (2/35): mental block due to vague fears
3: Beech
Characteristics
Beech is for people with a deep-seated, unconscious intolerance disguised as an excessive sense of tolerance and empathy.
AREA OF USE
Beech is used as the basic treatment for excessive tolerance that serves as a compensation for and repression of a deep-seated intolerance; internalized, repressed intolerance (organic); allergies; denial of our own natural aversions and dislikes; and an inner conflict between emotional intolerance and intellectual tolerance. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to false, excessive tolerance, deeply rooted intolerance, or allergies. In daily life, used to treat allergies, a tendency to trivialize or gloss over problems, false empathy, exaggerated generosity, and aversions.
Causes and Symptoms of Beech Syndrome
Beech syndrome is characterized by an emotional intolerance at odds with intellectual tolerance. Harmoniously developed, the Beech type can accept his own natural aversions and dislikes but will not be ruled by them. He has an open, generous, tolerant spirit and can see the good in everything. If he judges something, which he is very capable of doing, he does so not frivolously or hastily but with the knowledge that there are “good” and “bad” sides to everything and that any judgment can only be relative. He tries to reject as little as possible and accept as much as he can. His sure instinct, great wisdom for life, and pronounced openness toward others allow him to find the best compromise between two conflicting choices in any situation. He is very popular because he is willing (within limits) to “live and let live” and he manages to find a positive element when others will only be able to judge and criticize.
Manifested negatively, the contradictory nature of his condition—on the one hand, the very individual, sensitive emotions that bring with them many dislikes and aversions and, on the other, an open spirit that understands and accepts everything—can lead to internal conflict. Essentially, there are two possibilities in this situation: either his inborn aversions begin to conflict with his mental and emotional openness and generosity, or (and this is the great problem with the Beech type) his tolerant nature compels him to be critical of his own intolerance. Because he possesses an open spirit and shies away from conflict, he would rather downplay or ignore his personal aversions, even when they are justified, than give up his often excessive tolerance. Better to be at odds with himself than with people around him. Thus he forces himself to see only the positive, even when it is obviously not appropriate. The Beech type irritates almost no one, understands nearly everyone, puts up with anything, and can always find a justification for everything that happens around him. Because this great facade of tolerance is merely an overcompensation for an equally strong inner intolerance and springs from a fear of conflict, it does not ring true. We never feel quite comfortable with his tolerant nature because we sense instinctively that something is not right, that he’s not expressing himself freely, and that pressures and fears are motivating his behavior. Only those of us who are very superficial, insecure, or self-centered feel comfortable with someone who finds everything about us to be just fine.
The Effects of Beech
Beech is the essence of choice in promoting a natural balance between tolerance and intolerance. Since we normally think of tolerance as a positive quality, this condition is often difficult to understand. Some “good” qualities that we display outwardly serve above all to neutralize their “bad” counterparts, of which only we are aware. Beech is used to treat decidedly tolerant, generous, understanding, positive people but in reality works against their underlying, deep-seated, unconscious, and, one could say, inbred intolerance.
Beech should be used as a means of treating the mental and emotional constitution, especially for people who naturally have a minimal range of tolerance. It is also used for those who are in constant fear of stepping on someone’s toes, who are never able to engage in conflict or to criticize, or who never allow themselves to have negative feelings. Beech is not used just for mental and emotional conditions but is also effective in treating allergies, which are a kind “cellular intolerance.”
Psychotherapeutic Notes
In a nutshell, Beech syndrome is characterized by a falsely understood tolerance and a denial and repression of our own intolerance. Tolerance is the ability or willingness to accept something or someone, and it is normally thought of as a positive quality. We all find it agreeable to be tolerated, and we tend to tolerate only what is pleasant. Intolerance, on the other hand, is typically considered in negative terms: we find intolerant people unpleasant, and we try to protect ourselves from unpleasantness.
Tolerance and intolerance are important, meaningful principles in the natural world. In nature, everything exists in very exactly defined conditions—in so-called limits of tolerance. These can be external as well as internal phenomena (such as a physical structure, physiological reactions, and a psychic constitution) and have evolved to ensure that each living thing has the best possible chances for survival. In certain circumstances, these tolerance limits can be so drastically altered that specific conditions or influences, which were previously useful or tolerable, suddenly become harmful or intolerable. We can even develop an intolerance to ourselves rather than toward the outside world, as, for example, when our organism has an allergic reaction to its own cells or when we develop self-destructive tendencies.
The Beech type’s central problem lies in this perversion of the relationship between tolerance and intolerance. He rejects—even if, to some extent, unconsciously—his own protective intolerance and aversions and develops an unnatural and unwarranted tolerance toward all shortcomings and negativity in his environment and the people around him. If this attitude were dependent on self-awareness and wisdom, it would be very possible to overcome our own small-minded intolerance through the conscious practice of generosity. The Beech type is acting unconsciously, however, out of personal weakness, a shortage of self-esteem, and moral pressures. And while these qualities are all very endearing, they are of little value. They serve only to create confusion and stunt our personal growth and development.
While many of us feel a certain amount of alienation toward ourselves, we all seek an inner truth. Such a contradiction places the Beech type in a constant and profound state of discontent. He feels intuitively that something is wrong, and his body tells him in the form of an allergic reaction that his balance of tolerance and intolerance is out of whack. He must recognize clearly that his own natural dislikes and aversions, which he constantly displaces with an excessive and false sense of tolerance, are essential conditions of his personal self-realization. Only then can he avoid the people or situations that are not good for him and proceed more confidently on his way in life. His relationships will also become more clear and honest; he will take each person as he or she really is and attribute to no one qualities that really don’t exist.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Agrimony (1/3): false friendliness and tolerance
Heather (3/14): opportunistic tolerance
Holly (3/15): allergic shock reaction
Larch (3/19): tolerance stemming from a lack of self-confidence
Mimulus (3/20): tolerance provoked by fear
Pine (3/24): tolerance on moral grounds
Rock Water (3/27): generosity with others and stinginess with oneself
Vine (3/32): total intolerance
Water Violet (3/34): distant, yet excessively tolerant and accepting
4: Centaury
Characteristics
Centaury is for people who are excessively cheerful or for obsequious people who allow themselves to be used too often.
AREA OF USE
Centaury is used to treat weak personality, lack of self-assertiveness, servility, dependence, fretful selflessness, self-deception, or self-deprivation. Used to treat all conditions related to pathological cheerfulness or servility. In daily life, used to treat shyness, excessive cheerfulness, or excessive willingness to accommodate the needs of others.
Causes and Symptoms of Centaury Syndrome
This condition is characterized by an excessive tendency to devote oneself to others and a pronounced sense of altruism. Harmoniously developed, the Centaury type is an altruistic, cheerful, empathic human being. Because he can sense if others are happy, and his own happiness is dependent on the well-being of others, he is always ready to serve others or be of assistance in times of difficulty. His behavior entails what is often meant by the best sense of the word selflessness, and because it is so natural and guileless, it is taken advantage of not just by others but also by the Centaury person himself: in his selflessness he gives full expression to his devotion, follows his inner purpose in life, and finds self-realization. This self-realization is an essential component for a fulfilling, happy life and includes developing and making full use of all of our talents and possibilities.
The well-developed Centaury type serves others without being a servant, helps himself by helping others, and is selfless in order to fulfill the needs of his self. The love his behavior inspires is increased all the more because he gives of himself so freely and with no strings attached. Unfavorably developed, the Centaury selflessness can lead to a loss of self, and his sense of devotion can result in a sense of resignation. His good-natured service serves no good and helps create inhumane relationships marked by thoughtless exploitation: the Centaury type simply allows himself to be used.
Sick Centaury types have no strength for self-assertiveness and fulfill with devotion all wishes or orders that are imposed on them. They become weak, frustrated, or depressed and are unable to lead their own meaningful, independent lives. They are like animals whose will has been broken, and their goal in life is to be used and abused. It often happens that they waste their lives in self-sacrifice, caring for egotistical, thoughtless family members, or that they are used by institutions or are subjugated by anyone who appears to wield some kind of authority.
As pure as this behavior may seem, and as pleasant as it can be for anyone who enjoys living off others, it is very damaging to the Centaury type himself. On the surface, it makes it easier for him to give in to his pathological compulsions, but in the deepest recesses of his being, it can create an inability to address his own legitimate needs and develop his own personality, which in turn leads to discontentment and depression.
The false morality that he commonly calls upon to replace his lost happiness can do nothing to rectify the situation. Seemingly pleasant, ready to be exploited, and never daring to undertake self-realization, he resembles a plant growing in an unfavorable location—which is also the result of his existing weakness or disrupted development. The weak or totally broken personality, the general lack of strength, and the fundamental absence of joy and happiness show that something is not right and that a force is working counter to life’s basic principles of growth and development. It is common for people in the company of a typical Centaury person to feel sympathy at most, but never joy.
The Effects of Centaury
Centaury is the essence of choice in treating self-resignation and pathological denial. It restores personal strength and promotes consciousness, the awareness of self-worth, and a sense that we have the right to lead our own lives. Centaury should be given to dependent, shy, or excessively cheerful people—especially children. It enables them to claim their rightful place in society. It is often used in family therapy for relationships that are dependent or exploitative. Centaury promotes the sexual development of children with colorless personalities and can also be useful in treating spinal problems of servile individuals.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
The natural ability of Centaury types to devote themselves to others, combined with their selflessness, makes it difficult for them to oppose the demands placed on them by others. They just can’t say no. For any acquisitive, demanding person, the Centaury is easy prey. Sensitive, altruistic children are often turned into slaves at an early age by egocentric, arbitrary parents or guardians. These children hardly dare to have their own wishes and needs, let alone to express them. In order to survive, they learn to defer to the wishes, needs, and demands of others while rewarding themselves very little, if at all. This behavior will become second nature as the child matures and will not allow him to develop his own personality. Even his environment will allow him no opportunity, since every human relationship has some kind of influence on us. As R. Wilhelm wrote in the I Ching, “Truthfulness against subversive elements is dangerous. Even the best of men allow themselves to come in contact with dangerous elements. Once we allow ourselves this contact, the subversive influence works, slowly but surely, and drags its dangers along with it.” When we behave badly, it provokes in those around us a sort of behavior that is equally negative. Surprisingly, this is also the case with the typical, seemingly exemplary, Centaury behavior. Just as a victim’s fear inspires aggressiveness in one who preys on others, the Centaury’s unnaturally compulsive and passive behavior provokes an opposite need to dominate. Anyone who has ever had any contact with a Centaury type has come to expect the Centaury’s automatic good-humored tractability, selfless need to accommodate, and inability to look after his own needs and desires.
This pathological element does not entirely consist of putting his own interests on the back burner to be helpful to others but stems from an unreflective, inner compulsion. The good-natured, selfless, self-sacrificing behavior is the expression of a neurosis brought about by the life-threatening pressure of an overpowering environment and is put into practice mechanically and without any conscious positive motivation. It is of utmost importance for the “thin-skinned,” sensitive, and harmony-seeking Centaury type to remain on good terms with his environment. His behavior is not the spontaneous “innocent” expression of his constitution but its distorted image, which has developed out of negative pressures. These consist not just of people with whom he comes in contact but also the mental and cultural milieu into which he is born—above all, Christian morality, which is based on guilt, renunciation, and self-denial.
According to the Christian ideal, we live to serve our neighbors. If our own needs and desires are not compatible with this view, they should be repressed or eliminated. These demands are essentially part of an unrealizable theory that runs contrary to the laws of nature (and, by the way, are hardly practiced by the Church itself), but such views are so deeply ingrained in anyone brought up in a Christian environment that we find even the smallest amount of self-realization accompanied by guilt feelings.
The good Christian develops a guilty conscience if things are going well for him and seeks immediately to atone for his happiness by replacing it with the bitter poison of the suffering of others. Absurdly, he believes that the world will be a better place if he suffers with others: suffering shared is suffering halved. In truth, however, shared suffering is suffering doubled, because two must suffer instead of one.
The tragic thing about this situation is that a totally just and decent principle is being perverted. Naturally, it is beautiful and humane to want to increase happiness and diminish suffering in the world, but we cannot achieve it by taking on a part of the suffering for ourselves. In fact, the opposite is true: we add our own voluntary suffering to the suffering of others. A Christian upbringing denies people the fundamental knowledge that only joy and happiness can create more happiness and only when we are happy ourselves can we begin to make others happy. In trying to follow a good impulse, we take the wrong path; instead of being healers, we become false healers.
The Centaury type places himself at the service of others not so much out of a personal, spontaneous, responsible motivation but rather out of a pathological inner compulsion and a dishonest self-deception. He is not happy and strong when he is serving others at sacrifice to himself, but instead frustrated in the very depths of his soul. It’s as if an iron band were constricting his heart. He knows that he needs a life of his own, and yet his heart provokes in him a negative inner voice that compels him to sacrifice his own life and deny himself happiness.
It is extremely important to take note of this spiritual crippling. The Centaury should recognize that his behavior, far from being the expression of high moral character that he has been told and believes it to be, is merely the pathological result of a suppressed personality. Moreover, he caves in to the thoughtless, selfish demands of others. He must understand that he has a right to his own life and that to whatever end his nobler, kinder tendencies drive him, he can accomplish what he needs only with his entire “egotistical” self intact.
If he learns to recognize his own needs, if he can live according to his own sense of morality and not cave in to the pressures and dogma of others, he will know what to do. One time he may refuse to help someone in need, even if that person is suffering, and another time he will place himself selflessly at the service of another, not thinking of any advantage for himself. Then he will know that he is responsible for himself and not for the rest of the world. Once we follow our inner call to selflessly stand by another, it is not simply self-resignation but a joyous fulfillment of the self.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Agrimony (1/4): pathological good-natured behavior
Cerato (4/5): dependence due to a weak personality
Chicory (4/8): selfish self-sacrifice
Gentian (4/12): weakness of the personality and will
Gorse (4/13): compliance and tractability due to hopelessness
Hornbeam (4/17): feelings of stress and overwork due to dependence
Larch (4/19): readiness to help from an inferiority complex
Mimulus (4/20): obsequiousness due to fear
Pine (4/24): self-sacrifice due to guilt
Red Chestnut (4/25): worried, anxious selflessness
Walnut (4/33): dependent and easily influenced
Wild Rose (4/37): resignation from a weak personality
5: Cerato
Characteristics
Cerato is for insecure people who do not know how to do things and constantly seek the advice and counsel of others.
AREA OF USE
Cerato is used for the basic treatment of underdeveloped self-confidence, insecurity, lack of independence, dependence, and lack of instinct. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to insecurity, helplessness, or a lack of self-confidence.
Causes and Symptoms of Cerato Syndrome
The condition is characterized by the wish to make everything right and— because of a lack of self-esteem—the need to be dominated by others. Harmoniously developed, the Cerato type places high demands on herself and is always concerned with doing the right thing. She enjoys the good favor of her friends, superiors, and guardians. She is very conscientious and undertakes nothing without having studied and checked it thoroughly; she seldom makes mistakes. If she should err, no one can find fault with her because no one could have done the job better. She also has the ability to fit into any existing power structure without rocking the boat. She is attentive and has a sure instinct for not upsetting the status quo and for fulfilling the expectations of those in power. If she has religious tendencies, her higher spiritual values are an important part of her personality.
Negatively developed, the desire to make everything right can lead to a strong sense of insecurity. The Cerato type doesn’t know what she should do, doesn’t trust her opinions and instinct, always asks for advice, allows herself to be sent on wild goose chases, does everything halfheartedly, and loses her self-confidence by degrees. In this condition she has lost her mental and emotional orientation. Instead of following her inner voice and intuition, she hooks up with stronger, more self-confident people and refuses to take herself seriously. She is deeply frustrated because she doesn’t feel that she is capable of mature judgment and because she must learn again and again (the hard way) that she’s been following advice that runs counter to what she believes and that takes her down the wrong path.
The Effects of Cerato
Cerato is the essence of choice to treat insecurity. It improves our relationship with our “inner voice” and allows us to trust our own opinion, so that we can do what we really want. Cerato promotes the maturing process and mental and emotional independence in people (especially children) who, instead of solving problems by themselves, immediately seek the help and advice of others. It improves our ability to distinguish between good and bad as well as right and wrong.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
The basic motivation of the Cerato person is the desire to always do the right thing. Her problem is that she doesn’t know what the right thing is, and the mistake she often makes is that she believes that others do know and can tell her. Instead of listening to herself and trusting her own judgment, she asks everyone around her what she should do, and then becomes frustrated when she realizes that she has followed the wrong advice.
How else could it be? The “right thing” (or the “truth”) is not a universal fact that we can learn from others. It is a totally personal phenomenon that we can perceive only by listening to our inner voice, which constantly tries to guide us down the path that is right for us. The Cerato type, however, does not trust this inner voice. She is easily influenced and wants to be liked. The good thing about her disposition is that everyone likes her; she has no enemies. But her disadvantage is that she loses her sense of proportion and, in the end, has no idea how to act.
A so-called normal upbringing that teaches us to uphold the status quo and discourages us from asserting our individuality only accentuates these tendencies. Even the smallest child must learn to sacrifice her own personal needs to those of the general good and replace her own values with someone else’s. To add to the problem, Christian morality (which propagates a belief in self-denial and in our inherent guilt and brands us all as moral scoundrels) instills in her such a profound self-doubt that she can hardly dare to find good in anything that makes her happy, let alone avoid those things that make her suffer.
Despite her need for the goodwill of those around her, however, the Cerato person possesses a well-developed sense of individuality that, to a certain extent, allows her to follow her own path and puts her in conflict with what is thought to be normal and expected of her. Thus, she is often insecure and dares to do what she wants only when she is encouraged to do so, but this happens very seldom. Generally she is thwarted in her wishes, and her insecurity causes her to follow what she believes to be the best advice (which, more often than not, turns out to be the worst).
At heart, Cerato types are seekers of the truth. Their only mistake is that they look for it in the wrong place—in other people instead of in themselves. They need to trust in their own feelings, intuition, and instinct and should always make it clear to themselves that “good” and “right” are merely relative terms and make sense only if we consider them in relation to ourselves. The decisive question of our lives is not “How do I do the right thing?” or “What is the absolute right?” but “What is right for me, and how do I find it?” The more closely we pay attention to the things that speak to our bodies and souls in the form of happiness and sadness, the more clearly we will recognize the truth when it comes to us.
Receiving advice is useful only as a last resort and when we know where to look for it. Cerato types, however, tend to seek advice without really needing it and without ascertaining whether the person giving the advice is competent to do so. It is better to try to overcome this habit and risk failure. Our own mistakes are especially instructive, because they speak to both our reason and our emotions. Furthermore, we build character when we learn from our mistakes, but suffering the consequences of bad advice inflicted on us by other people is merely frustrating.
It is noteworthy that in the vicinity of the Cerato person, you will often find her opposite—the notorious know-it-all (the Vervain or Vine type), who loves to become involved in other people’s lives. Their advice (well intended, of course) is harmful to the Cerato type because it strengthens her inability to listen to her instinct or insight. Cerato types who are constantly asking for advice should, whenever possible, refuse to listen to it. This will encourage them to learn from their own mistakes. “What doesn’t kill us can only make us stronger!”
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Centaury (4/5): dependence due to a weak personality
Chestnut Bud (5/7): helplessness due to carelessness and inattentiveness
Larch (5/19): insecurity due to feelings of inferiority
Mimulus (5/20): anxious insecurity
Pine (5/24): insecurity stemming from guilt
Rock Water (5/27): mental dependence and self-abuse
Scleranthus (5/28): insecurity and indecisiveness
Star of Bethlehem (5/29): insecurity due to a shocking experience
Walnut (5/33): insecurity that leads one to be easily influenced
Wild Oat (5/36): insecurity due to the lack of a worldview
6: Cherry Plum
Characteristics
Cherry Plum is used to treat people who are in danger of committing irrational acts or of losing their reason.
AREA OF USE
Cherry Plum is used for the treatment of mental or emotional pressure, obsessive behavior, hysteria, suicidal tendencies, and irrational actions. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to hysteria, obsession, or psychotic behavior. In daily life, used to treat hysterical conduct, being too tightly “wound up,” uncontrollable emotions, and emotional problems.
Causes and Symptoms of Cherry Plum Syndrome
This condition is characterized by compulsive, imaginative emotions on the one hand and a disciplined sense of reason on the other. Harmoniously developed, the Cherry Plum type is an internally rich, resourceful person whose emotions and reason work together very well. He feels first, then thinks, and then acts. Because he understands his emotions, drives, motivations, and feelings, they do not lead him to hysteria or destructive behavior but manifest themselves in a distinctively creative manner and a rich, lively life. Anything the Cherry Plum type undertakes is always characterized by deep, lively emotions and a clear mind. In this he can be compared to the prudent operator of a dam, who oversees the transformation of a torrent into electricity and, by diverting the flow in times of high water, ensures that the dam doesn’t break.
Unfavorably developed, the contradictory nature of the Cherry Plum type can lead to a conflict between reason and its opposite, between letting go and staying in control, instead of living a merely creative, lively life. In addition, moral or rational pressures can prevent him from giving full expression to his feelings, emotions, and drives in a sensible, yet vibrant manner. The pressure from these tormenting inner struggles can build up dangerously, like the steam in a kettle, creating a highly explosive psychotic potential that threatens the mental balance. Thus, the Cherry Plum type can face a total breakdown.
People in this condition feel a catastrophe looming ominously ahead and fear (justifiably) that their sense of reason is about to explode. When these psychic pressures pile up uncontrollably, Cherry types believe they have to do something drastic, such as make a fool of themselves, break societal rules or deep-seated taboos, or even attempt suicide or run amok. As these mental and emotional torments continue to increase and a liberating/destructive eruption approaches, the Cherry Plum types strengthen their defenses. Sometimes they can seek help in time or find a way out of danger themselves. Often, however—especially when they lead relatively unenlightened lives—they will be so dominated by the approaching breakdown that they are no longer open to good advice and seem obsessive to anyone who observes them. One has the feeling that they will fall apart at any minute.
The Effects of Cherry Plum
Cherry Plum is the essence we use to treat the buildup of excessive psychic pressure. It can minimize internal tension in emotionally charged situations or prevent psychoses. Cherry Plum works to resolve internal conflicts by reducing moral or rational pressures and the intensity of emotions and compulsions. It is always helpful when the Cherry Plum type is in danger of losing his reason because of some emotionally charged situation, when he can no longer control his feelings, or when he is capable of doing something he really doesn’t want to do and may later live to regret. In such cases, Cherry Plum should be taken frequently and, if it does not achieve adequate results, should be tried in stronger potencies.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
As children of an age predominantly characterized by reason, we often tend to emphasize our rational faculties and downplay our emotions, feelings, and drives. Since these emotions (and not logic and reason) are really the things that guide our lives and provide our motivations, there arises an inner conflict that becomes more serious the more personally important the suppressed compulsions and drives are. This is the problem of the Cherry Plum type, who tends to be very tightly wound. On the one hand, he possesses a finely developed sense of reason and, on the other, a strong emotional intensity. Under the influence of an upbringing that places order over happiness and reason over emotions, he can consistently downplay every motivation and drive that serves to lead to his self-fulfillment: his sexuality, his acquisitiveness and desire for power, and his need for freedom. These drives, however, are very strong in the Cherry Plum type and are so fundamental and powerful that when they are suppressed, the result is a dangerous inner pressure that, in unfavorable conditions (especially additional emotional setbacks), can break down the control of reason like a raging stream crashing through a dam and destroy a healthy mental and emotional balance. It can also lead to hysteria, deterioration of awareness, or psychosis.
The goal of therapy for Cherry Plum types should be to loosen the control of reason while making clear that he is entitled to experience and give full expression to his emotions, feelings, and impulses. The most important thing is that he learn to distinguish between his own morality and that which is imposed on him by others. Once he learns to make this distinction, he will be able to shape his own life as it best suits him. In the end, we are all ultimately responsible for ourselves, and our own true morality does not always jibe with popular opinion.
When we find ourselves under strong emotional pressure, we must find a way to let off steam. Cherry Plum types do this instinctively for the most part. From time to time, they can go a little bit crazy, have attacks of hysteria, or fits of rage or crying. These fits provide them with some relief and will continue to do so until the next crisis arises, but they certainly do not serve as a cure. For a cure, a change of the basic makeup is necessary. This means either a breakdown of rational control or a reduction of emotional impulses. Such fundamental changes happen very seldom, however, which is why Cherry Plum types remain temperamental individuals. Once they become conscious of their inborn conflict between emotions and intellect, however, they can achieve a certain amount of stability and begin to build a self-concept that integrates both components. They must always keep in mind the needs of mental and emotional independence and their own sense of morality and be ever on guard for disruptions of the inner balance and able to take timely action to restore that balance.
The emotional life of the Cherry Plum person is like an effusive, bubbly spring that floods everything if it can’t find a sufficient outlet. Cherry Plum people should be aware of the need for an artistic outlet to allow for expression of their emotions and avoid an inner mental and emotional blockage. Sometimes they can see themselves through an impending crisis by expressing an unclear inner impulse or an inexplicable tension in a work of art that serves as a key to resolving their fundamental conflict.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Agrimony (1/6): displacement causing dangerous psychic pressure
Aspen (2/6): sudden anxiety with a danger of irrational behavior
Elm (6/11): at the end of psychic and physical resilience
Holly (6/15): uncontrollable fits of rage
Impatiens (6/18): prepsychotic restlessness
Mimulus (6/20): serious anxiety conflicts
Oak (6/22): overwork resulting in reaching the emotional breaking point
Red Chestnut (6/25): rage due to excessive worries
Rock Water (6/27): psychosis as a result of self-imposed pressures
Star of Bethlehem (6/29): psychosis as a result of mental and emotional injury
Sweet Chestnut (6/30): despair caused by emotional stress
White Chestnut (6/35): mental obsession
7: Chestnut Bud
Characteristics
Chestnut Bud is for people who have difficulties learning or who continually make the same mistakes.
AREA OF USE
Chestnut Bud is used to treat learning difficulties, undeveloped awareness, and all pathological conditions related to carelessness, learning disabilities, or pathological distracted and absentminded behavior. In daily life, used to treat carelessness and absentmindedness.
Causes and Symptoms of Chestnut Bud Syndrome
This condition is characterized by a serious inability to concentrate or to become engaged in activities. Harmoniously developed, the Chestnut Bud type is completely engaged in her experiences and activities and learns valuable lessons from them. Life is a constant learning process that broadens her intellectual horizons and helps her mature. All this is possible only when she doesn’t get bogged down in trivial details and tangents but always concentrates on the important aspects of the task at hand. Because she is uniquely predisposed or possesses special talents, many things that are important to others have virtually no meaning for her. She hardly acknowledges these things, even if they can bring her great advantage or fortune. She chooses the path that is right for her, and engages herself only with those things that make her happy. Even in school, she will excel in those subjects that engage and interest her. Some Chestnut Bud types become great scholars or sought-after experts in a unique and valuable field and don’t seem to mind that they lack knowledge in fields outside their own.
Unfavorably developed, this ability to concentrate so intensely on one specialized area can lead to losing interest in other facets of life. The Chestnut Bud type will be inattentive to reality and unable to benefit from her experiences. She will not learn from her mistakes but will make them again and again and will often find herself stuck repeatedly in the same situations. Chestnut types are often plagued with learning difficulties: she simply cannot learn from life. Or she will be unable to take notice of many things, such as certain information or an everyday event, even though she might come across them time after time; she seems to have a kind of mental block that keeps certain things from registering. Her personality is unable to develop sufficiently, she gains no experience or wisdom, and, in some respects, she remains childlike, clumsy, and undeveloped. A well-known variety of the Chestnut Bud syndrome type is the “absentminded professor”: she is a master in her area of expertise but a failure in the simplest life situations, and she repeats the same laughable mistakes again and again. By concentrating her energies so intently on complex problems, she has nothing left over for the banalities of everyday life. This is often a characteristic of students with special talents: they excel in what they know but fail miserably at everything else.
The Effects of Chestnut Bud
Chestnut Bud is the essence for mental maturity and experience. It improves our ability to learn, not in connection with specialized knowledge but in general areas. It helps us remember and learn from our experiences and cope with life in general. Our spirit is more open, we are more ready and able to take things in, and our interest in things outside our narrow area of expertise increases. Chestnut Bud is for children with difficulties in school as well as for people who are not making enough progress in their lives and find themselves always dealing unsuccessfully with the same problems. Naturally, any organic conditions that can accompany Chestnut Bud syndrome, such as vitamin deficiencies or chronic exhaustion, must be treated appropriately.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
The learning difficulties of the Chestnut Bud syndrome are mainly determined by a very self-centered personality. The Chestnut Bud type is interested only in those things that concern her personally or speak to her special talents or tendencies. General, theoretical knowledge or impersonal facts are virtually meaningless to her, and she ignores them for the most part. It is very difficult for her to occupy herself with anything with which she does not have a personal relationship. Her learning difficulty is not so much pathological as extremely characteristic of her personality.
Learning is a very subjective process. We retain what seems important to us and toss aside all other information, impressions, and insights that flow into our mind and awareness. The ideal subject matter is anything that has meaning for us and that speaks to our emotions. Lifeless, meaningless knowledge that is incessantly hammered in and learned by rote is, at best, only useful in preparing us for an automated, spiritless occupation. Such lifeless learning is also harmful because it leads to a bloodless life without emotions.
Theoretically, if the Chestnut Bud type learns properly, she retains only those things that touch and interest her personally. Her problem is only that while she has significant interest in one particular topic, the rest (the stuff that most of our lives are made of) does not receive sufficient attention. Often the cause is that such a person has been raised in a milieu that is intellectually too narrow, or that she has negative experiences associated with learning; in this situation her spirit will become flat and one-dimensional. This is especially common with children; often an unpleasant teacher or a frustrating failure will cause the psyche to close itself off to the events and attempt to repress the memories. Learning must be enjoyable if it is to make sense and be successful. We fight against anything taught to us in an unpleasant manner, and our teachers too often respond by trying to hammer things into us, often with little success.
The first objective of Chestnut Bud treatment is the fostering of intellectual openness, the broadening of general interests, and an increasing overall awareness and attentiveness. In addition, we attempt to understand the emotional memories that cause this mental block or replace them with happier memories (of success, for example). Children who are having difficulties in school sometimes simply need a change of subject matter, the learning process, the teacher, or the school in order to remember how to enjoy learning. Adults who are not successful in their work or who encounter the same problems over and over again should ask themselves if there might not be something better for them or if the conditions in which they are living and working are right for them.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Agrimony (1/7): learning difficulties or immaturity due to shirking
Cerato (5/7): helplessness due to inattentiveness
Clematis (7/9): carelessness from daydreaming
Gentian (7/12): lack of attentiveness leading to a relapse
Honeysuckle (7/16): carelessness caused by nostalgic daydreams
Scleranthus (7/28): distraction leading to learning difficulties
Water Violet (7/34): closed-mindedness
White Chestnut (7/35): carelessness caused by persistent distracting thoughts
Wild Oat (7/36): lack of a clear concept of life due to carelessness
Wild Rose (7/37): careless resignation
8: Chicory
Characteristics
Chicory is the treatment for greedy people who sacrifice themselves for others in order to get affection and cling to them.
AREA OF USE
Chicory is used as a basic treatment for conditional love and attention, an excessive need for emotional relationships, egotism, excessive greed, selfish self-sacrifice, a tendency toward inflicting emotional tyranny and terror on others, and exaggerated sympathy and self-pity. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to an unusually strong need for love or self-pity. In daily life, used to treat excessive (insincere) caring for others, mothering, helpless child feelings, excessive devotion, selfish jealousy, readiness to take offense, and self-pity.
Causes and Symptoms of Chicory Syndrome
This syndrome is characterized by the need for intense emotional relationships, the joy of helping and caring for others, and great personal strength. Harmoniously developed, the Chicory type is warmhearted and full of life and has a strong need to help other people. In caring for those he loves, he can use his great strength and satisfy his need for intensive emotional relationships. As long as he takes a personal interest in the well-being of those around him, he remains internally lively and content. He stands by the people close to him, takes care of them, takes on their problems, and tries to cheer them up and make their lives easier. Since he invests a lot of himself in everything he does, he gets something out of the relationship as well. As long as he can make someone happy, he will be just as happy, and when he is able to ease someone else’s pain, he, too, is free from the pain that he feels just as deeply. What makes his kind of love and caring so special is not just his open, friendly, easygoing spirit but also his sensitivity and need to be happy. He makes sure that he does not arbitrarily force his good deeds upon anyone or live a life of self-sacrifice and self-denial but that his help is given in a way that will benefit all parties. His behavior is distinguished by a very life-affirming, idealistic form of love that makes both the giver and the receiver happy. He helps others to help himself, gives others joy and feels joy himself, and shows compassion in order to receive it: in short, he loves and is loved in return.
Unfavorably developed, on the other hand, the Chicory type loses sight of his limits and instead of an innocent kind of helping and attention, he offers his love with strings attached. He still looks after those he loves and offers them affection, help, or self-sacrifice, but he expects that they will return in kind. He demands that they be thankful, be always at his disposal, and basically be willing to give up living their own lives. On the surface, the Chicory type appears to love intensively, but in reality he’s very selfish and wants to make others dependent on him and exploit their feelings. Anyone who is on the receiving end of the typical Chicory type’s conditional “affection” learns very quickly that she must pay for it in the form of an intense connection, obligation, and gratitude. If she tries to free herself, she will be treated to an exhibition of reproaches, insulted behavior, threats of the withdrawal of love, and self-pity.
What should be a natural need for emotional relationships is transformed into a sorrowful obsession. Instead of helping joyfully, and giving selflessly (which is his nature), the Chicory type loves conditionally and shows an attentiveness that makes the object of his affection dependent, afraid, and needing more. Naturally, this behavior is not always so blatant, but this egotistical addiction to relationships and attachments is more common than we might think and only gets stronger when it goes unsatisfied. It leads to excessive self-sacrifice, pity or self-pity, emotional blackmailing, or base jealousy. Any sort of lightness or unconditional love is lost. Typically, we see this syndrome at work in the overbearing mother who makes her children dependent and unable to cope with life by showering them with excessive attention and constantly fussing over them; in children who have a constant, insatiable need for proof that they are loved; or in selfish spouses who dominate the object of their “love” and cause them to be dependent.
The Effects of Chicory
Chicory is the essence for true love. It helps restore human relationships by breaking down pathological egotism, emotional dependence, emotional terror and blackmail, and self-pity and fosters the ability to exist in a free, loving relationship. It is an important essence for treating partners and is often used in healing neurotic parent-child relationships.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
The salient characteristic of the Chicory type is a strong need for love. Because the Chicory type has great personal strength, it often happens that he puts his partner in the passive role of a taker. When he gives and receives love freely, he’s happy. In spite of his generous nature, the Chicory person is by no means a selfless, self-denying individual but has a natural form of egotism. A musician feels pleasure when she is able to produce a beautiful sound with her instrument, and the harmoniously developed Chicory type takes great pleasure in making other people happy.
With a pathological manifestation of the Chicory syndrome, however, this is not the case. In thinking too much of his own benefit, the Chicory type has lost touch with what it means for two hearts to be united. He loses his liberating sense of generosity and exchanges love in a kind of transaction in which each instance of giving is offered with a demand for repayment. He works tirelessly for his love and takes care of him or her, but he demands a high price in return: the object of his love must show gratitude and forever be in his service.
His motive is the perfectly understandable desire for love, but he forgets that love is a matter of the heart and can exist only if it is given joyously, unselfishly, and unconditionally. It cannot be bought, sold, earned, or forced upon someone. Above all, it must awaken within us before we can encounter it outside us, and we can find only what we carry within us; doing and experiencing are expressions of being and feeling. We are mistaken when we think that love depends upon external conditions. Love is an expression of the spirit, a feeling that begins within and is projected outward. Only when we are full of love in ourselves can we shower love on those around us, and if we are not ready to love ourselves, we are deaf and blind to it.
If we are not loved, we cannot love, and if we feel unloved, we cannot see the love that exists around us in multifarious forms. It is life—the great, divine entity—but it reveals itself to us where and how it wants, not where and how we want. When we think that love must take this form or that and be related to this or that person or situation, and when we try to tie it down with preconceptions, conditions, or demands, it leaves us and appears transformed as sorrow to make us aware of our mistakes.
In Chicory syndrome, we think that we can earn love by doing good deeds or that we can force it through psychological terror. If this doesn’t work, we react with pity or self-pity, passivity or helplessness, or self-sacrifice or emotional blackmail or by being offended, hurt, jealous. When we recognize these symptoms in ourselves (we all have a little bit of Chicory in our blood), we should be attentive and recognize them as signs of an internal disruption. We need only look in the mirror that those who love us hold up to us; our love is only beneficial when the objects of our love can come to us freely and are free to go when they wish.
Parents who believe that their children don’t want to be seen with them should immediately start looking for the fault in themselves, instead of making accusations. No child leaves parents who love them and treat them well. It is always the parents who drive their children out of the house, by giving love only under certain conditions or by spoiling their children’s lives by scolding, bellyaching, or dominating them. Children who become emotional tyrants and have an insatiable demand for attention are often the victims of a Chicory mentality. At best, these children can become free only when and if their parents change or if they cut off all contact with them.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Centaury (4/8): selfish self-sacrifice
Heather (8/14): an addiction to loving and being loved
Holly (8/15): hate-love
Honeysuckle (8/16): sadness due to the loss of love
Mimulus (8/20): anxious clinging
Mustard (8/21): depression caused by unrequited love
Oak (8/22): overbearing attention and love
Red Chestnut (8/25): total self-sacrifice
White Chestnut (8/35): obsession with love
Willow (8/38): bitterness caused by rejection or ingratitude
9: Clematis
Characteristics
Clematis is for people who are susceptible to fantasies and daydreams and who lose their grip on reality.
AREA OF USE
Clematis is used as the basic treatment for a disjointed relationship to reality, daydreaming, uncritical optimism, illusions and fantasies, deteriorating consciousness, a tendency to fainting or unconsciousness, or the wish to die. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to absentmindedness or unconsciousness. In daily life, used to treat inattentiveness, sleepiness, and a susceptibility to fainting.
Causes and Symptoms of Clematis Syndrome
This syndrome is characterized by a visionary imagination, a strong need for happiness, and a general sense of optimism. Harmoniously developed, the Clematis type has a rich inner life. She takes emotions and intuition just as seriously as reason and logic. She understands how to shape a happy reality from her inspirations, dreams, and longings and can give them a sensible form in her clearheaded manner. She is perceptive and possesses a visionary talent that often enables her (as an artist, scientist, or philosopher) to predict future developments, to recognize connections between events, or to develop futuristic ideas. She is introverted and often seems a stranger to the world or a dreamer, but because of her optimism, she is often considered a transforming symbol of hope. She often gets along well in life and it frequently seems that she has a sixth sense for solving problems, but when her problems seem too great to overcome, she retreats into herself and waits patiently for better times.
Unfavorably developed—which is to say, in the case of sobering life conditions or mental and emotional strain—her intuitive, optimistic, emotional outlook can become fantasy-filled daydreaming and flight from reality. She increasingly loses her interest in everyday life and becomes inattentive, distracted, or eccentric. She begins to neglect herself and her obligations and to flee unpleasant reality in favor of a more pleasant fantasy world, to dream of a better future life, or even, if she is very unhappy, to yearn for redemption in death. She can also develop a tendency or inclination to fainting or losing consciousness. The lighter, less serious form of Clematis syndrome consists of the inability to concentrate on the here and now because the thoughts are always on vacation. While the Clematis type constantly has wonderful and interesting ideas, projects, or fantasies in mind, she is also unable to deal with practical matters that need attention. In severe cases, this syndrome is the culprit in children who make a cocoon out of their imagination and cannot develop a connection with real life, in romantic dreamers who think constantly of finding their great love, or in anyone who lives in a fantasy world. One will also find in this category the compulsive gambler who is always waiting for the next big jackpot, the religious zealot who is a stranger to life and lives in the hereafter, as well as the drug or alcohol addict who tries to substitute pleasant hallucinations for a frustrating and unsatisfying reality. These are all variations of the Clematis syndrome.
The Effects of Clematis
Clematis is the essence for a healthy relationship to reality. It addresses a tendency to distance oneself from reality and is appropriate not just in the case of severe daydreaming, fantasies, or even drug addiction but also for general carelessness, absentmindedness, or sleepiness. A susceptibility to fainting or unconsciousness is also an indication of trying to hide from reality. Clematis is a component of Rescue Remedy. Children with problems in school often need Clematis, especially when they have a hard life and try to escape through “internal emigration.” Clematis should also be tried in cases of a death wish that arises during the course of a serious illness.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Our lives are based upon the interplay between the rational and irrational, the here and now and the eternal. We need to keep an attentive, watchful eye on sobering reality as well as to be in touch with our dreamy, intuitive, visionary side to lead a rich, happy life. Life is essentially a work of art, or at least it should be, in that it allows us to translate our visions, impressions, and inspirations into an understandable, tangible form. Each of us is occupied with the task of making our dreams into reality and transforming our inner vision into a tangible form, and we do this in the way that comes most naturally to us. While the sober-minded realist concentrates on the practical and material elements, the Clematis type has a decidedly less practical orientation.
This personal mix of rational and emotional elements forms a fragile internal balance that constantly modulates to meet changing life conditions. If we become too sentimental or unrealistic, our psyche takes charge and brings us back down to earth. If our life becomes too sobering or difficult, our psyche provokes us to change the circumstances by calling forth an irresistible yearning for the beautiful and fantastic. It also gives us dreams, inspirations, and signs in the form of symbols, which we need only decipher and integrate into our lives in order to find our way back to the right path.
Clematis types tend to be very romantic and have a constant need to be happy. They are not fighters but instead tend to withdraw into their own dreamworld, which they can fashion as they like. There is always the danger, under circumstances that are too heavy for them—such as an unhappy family life or an unsatisfying career—that they will loosen even further their already tenuous grip on reality and replace the unpleasant here and now with pleasant fantasies and positive expectations. This provides some relief and helps them get by temporarily, but it actually intensifies their problems in the long run. The more the Clematis type withdraws from an uninspiring or unhappy life situation, the more she loses her motivation for a rejuvenating change of life.
Instead of fleeing unhappiness by seeking out pleasant fantasies and daydreams, we must address reality with a clear eye and an open heart. Any emotions that have been ignored or glossed over must be consciously experienced, confronted, and seriously worked through. Only then will it become clear that improvement must start from within. Only then can we stop substituting dreams for reality and start trying to make dreams become reality. Instead of waiting to be saved, we realize that we must save ourselves; instead of waiting for a prince (or princess) to come and save us from a wretched marriage, we will search ourselves; instead of taking a wild gamble, we learn to earn our own way; instead of seeking relief for a frustrating life through alcohol or drugs, we will try to make positive changes in our own lives; instead of waiting with a kind of lifeless patience for paradise in the hereafter, we can try to seek and create paradise in this life.
When the Clematis type has found what she needs within, she no longer goes to the cinema of her illusions to wile away a few pleasant hours (only to wake up sober in the here and now); she strives instead to use the strength of her intuitive knowledge and yearning to create a truly interesting, fulfilling, and beautiful life. Clematis children, who do not have the possibility to consciously shape their lives, must depend on the ability of their parents, guardians, or teachers to observe in which direction the child’s dreams and wishes are taking her. They should try seriously to recognize and understand the symbols that are working to make themselves understood in the child’s spirit, and attempt to determine down which path they should encourage the child to go.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Chestnut Bud (7/9): absentmindedness and daydreaming
Gentian (9/12): weak will and daydreaming
Honeysuckle (9/16): total daydreaming
Olive (9/23): drowsiness, absentmindedness, hallucinations, or loss of consciousness caused by exhaustion
Rock Rose (9/26): tendency to faint in a panic situation
Scleranthus (9/28): indecisiveness and daydreaming
Star of Bethlehem (9/29): loss of consciousness due to a shocking experience
White Chestnut (9/35): persistent daydreaming
Wild Rose (9/37): resignation and suicidal thoughts
10: Crab Apple
Characteristics
Crab Apple is for people who feel impure or poisoned—physically or spiritually.
AREA OF USE
Crab Apple is used for the basic treatment of compulsive cleanliness; compulsive obsession with character, morality, impurity, or poisoning; external or internal toxic damage; skin conditions; and chronic illnesses. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to a pathological need for cleanliness or order. In daily life, used to treat pettiness in matters of cleanliness, nausea, infections, and skin conditions.
Causes and Symptoms of Crab Apple Syndrome
This condition is characterized by an excessive need for cleanliness and order and a certain dependence and tendency to be easily influenced. Harmoniously developed, the Crab Apple type is decidedly pure and loyal and generally respects and does what is good and right and is an upstanding member of society. He is not just clean in external matters but is also internally pure and uncompromising in his values and morals. He is normally very healthy because he avoids impurities of any type (such as in food, illness-causing bacteria, or unclean, unwholesome people), which might cause illness.
Negatively developed, the Crab Apple type has a compulsive, excessive attention to inner and outer cleanliness and order that, in extreme cases, can become an obsession with filth. In such cases, cleanliness has lost its true life-affirming function. It is practiced for the most part without any justification and serves, above all, as an outlet for psychic compulsions. People with Crab Apple syndrome see, or think they see, filth everywhere they look. They clean frantically and unnecessarily, and they can also tyrannize others with their excessive demands for cleanliness or even begin loathing themselves because of imagined uncleanliness. They are often tortured with pathological nausea or a groundless fear of filth. This can manifest itself in fear of possible infection through contagion, fear of being poisoned, or even fear of immoral behavior. Sexuality brings up special difficulties—Crab Apple types often find sex filthy and repugnant and seldom develop an open, positive attitude toward it. When their energies are directed inward, they can often elaborate a life-negating pseudomorality, which they use to tyrannize themselves or to get on the nerves of those around them. Occasionally, this attitude can escalate to a neurotic desire for spiritual purity that makes it impossible for them to lead a normal life.
The Effects of Crab Apple
Crab Apple is the essence for a healthy attitude toward physical and spiritual cleanliness and purity. It reduces pathological obsessions with impurity or shame, nausea, fear of uncleanliness, and an excessive sense of “morality.” It is also good for purifying the blood. It can help protect against impurities of the skin, eczema, chronic inflammation, and infection and is useful in keeping contagions in check. Anyone who has any contact with sick people should take Crab Apple as a preventive.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Crab Apple types are relatively dependent and easily influenced. They have difficulty standing up to dominating or intolerant parents, guardians, or authority figures. As early as childhood, they have norms and preconceptions forced upon them, and then for the rest of their lives they try desperately to live up to the expectations and demands that have been forced upon them. Since these demands stem from an outside source, however, they cannot take them to heart, but can make only a superficial, halfhearted attempt to fulfill them. This has two tragic consequences: first, a compulsive pettiness and a need to emphasize structure that is totally devoid of meaning, and second, a constant fear of failure and punishment, which manifests itself in the form of feelings of guilt or inadequacy. The need for cleanliness is a basic component of the Crab Apple type’s psyche and can often progress to a neurotic compulsion for cleanliness that can focus on outer appearances or inner behavior or, as is usually the case, on both, depending on the extent of spiritual development. Instead of living by his organic and innate needs, he tries obediently and as faithfully as possible to live by norms forced upon him by others, which will often include a component of cleanliness, purity, or order.
To free himself of these compulsive drives, he must get to know his own needs better. He should become used to taking responsibility for himself and scrutinizing the opinions, rules, traditions, or dogmas of others before deciding whether they have relevance for him. Only then can he live with the integrity, correctness, and purity that are in his nature. Above all, he needs to develop a concept of cleanliness that is appropriate for him. The main point is that when cleanliness and order exist to bring happiness and improve the quality of life, they are just fine; if, however, they arise from a compulsive need and self-abuse, or as psychic countermeasures against insecurity and anxiety, they are pathological and pathogenic. The same rule applies to all forms of morality that represent an inner form of cleanliness.
Although many kinds of “morality” can address many people in a universal way, they can be harmful if they do not speak to us or our personality directly. They can disrupt the normal psychic balance, and the effects will last longer the earlier they are embodied in the psyche of a child. Finally, only a personal morality that begins within each individual can be a free and healthy expression of our being. There are times, of course, when being true to ourselves can bring us into conflict with prevailing societal mores.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Larch (10/19): feelings of uncleanliness and self-loathing
Mimulus (10/20): excessive fear of uncleanliness
Pine (10/24): morally tinged compulsion concerning cleanliness
Rock Water (10/27): excessive cleanliness and discipline
Star of Bethlehem (10/29): pathological nausea
Vine (10/32): petty, fanatical cleanliness
White Chestnut (10/35): tormenting thoughts of impurity
11: Elm
Characteristics
Elm is for those who suddenly feel unable to carry out an important mission or responsibility.
AREA OF USE
Elm is used for the basic treatment of an acute crisis related to achievement and goals, uncontrollable ambition, inappropriate behavior due to stress, and acute illnesses. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to sudden fear of failure or acute feelings of stress and overwork. In daily life, used to treat work-related stress, sudden feelings of stress and overwork, impending breakdown, and acute illnesses.
Causes and Symptoms of Elm Syndrome
This condition is characterized by a great feeling of responsibility and the need for achievement with a tendency to push oneself past one’s limits. Harmoniously developed, the Elm type is a decidedly capable, confident person who feels she is on a mission or taking on an important responsibility. She is goal- and achievement-oriented, and her goals can be social, athletic, or spiritual in nature. We often find her in an important or highly visible position. Examples would be a mother who is always there for her children, the boss on whose performance the fortunes of the entire company depends, or the politician who has spent her life serving her constituents but has also fought alone and put all of her strength into her self-imposed mission. Although she is unsparing toward herself, she is also wisely, acutely aware that we should not expect of someone more than he or she can achieve. Therein lies the secret of her success.
Unfavorably developed, the Elm type loses all sense of proportion in her desire for achievement and pushes herself, without thinking of consequences, to such a point that her reserves are exhausted and she begins to break down. When the Elm syndrome kicks in, she becomes weak, and she realizes with a certain amount of desperation that she can no longer continue. This has to do less with her physical than with her psychic abilities. She simply has no more inner strength to bear the stress that she has piled upon herself. This is a defining moment that can have serious consequences and compares with the phase of an illness in which the body suddenly loses its strength and seems on the verge of collapse. Since the Elm type has a strong constitution, however, she is soon ready to pick up the pieces and start again. She learns from her experience only seldom; normally, she just continues as she did earlier and sooner or later falls again into the same trap.
The Effects of Elm
Elm is an essence used in extreme situations, when a collapse (usually psychic) is imminent. It reduces psychic stress or pressures related to performance and releases blocked energy so that we can continue the struggle. Taken in a timely manner during a time of great exertion, it can prevent us from overextending ourselves or placing ourselves under excessive stress while increasing our ability to achieve. For serious illnesses, especially those with a sudden onset, it should always be given to mobilize additional strength.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Favorably developed, the Elm state is characterized by our ability to use our energies and strength at their maximum limits and to stretch those limits as well. This is the principle of growth, without which life itself is impossible. A growing organism dissolves its various forms and replaces them with newer, better, more advanced ones. The tendency of all beings is to want to stay in a stable state forever. To change and overcome our natural sluggishness, we must apply a certain amount of force or energy. The more energy we supply, the greater the potential for change, growth, and development.
Here lies the strength of the Elm type. Where others stay sluggish in their habits and seldom really push themselves, the Elm personality forces the Elm type to constantly push herself beyond her limits. This is the secret of her great achievements and personal growth. Strength, however (like everything else in this world), has a negative effect when given in the wrong dose. We can waste away when it is lacking, but it can also create stress or disrupt us when there is too much. Stress arises when the body mobilizes more energy than it can safely put into play. Stress creates harmful inner pressures (such as high blood pressure, stroke, or heart attack) or can lead to inappropriate, senseless behavior. At bottom, it derives from a miscalculation: when faced with an extreme challenge or danger, we lose perspective on how much energy we need to overcome it, and we overreact.
The primary cause is fear, which makes the danger seem worse than it is and prevents an appropriate response. Negatively developed Elm types have an exaggerated sense of ambition and drive in which they lose their perspective and proportion and are overcome by stress. Like settlers in the jungle with a boundless desire for possessing, they try to take on too much. Their strength becomes exhausted in a desperate and pointless fight against the forces of nature, and they stand in danger of losing everything. The very thing that serves to make their lives positive—their great strength and readiness to take action—can ruin them.
All of us are familiar with the stressful Elm condition in one form or another. Normally, we think that external factors are to blame. In fact, the primary cause is our own inability to keep the realities of life in mind when using our ability to achieve. We become stressed because we cannot properly estimate a situation, we take on too much, or we allow ourselves to undertake a fight against fate that simply cannot be won. Suddenly we find ourselves at the point where we realize that we have defeated ourselves, that our “eyes were bigger than our stomachs,” and we try to drop the whole project. These feelings of failure are very strong and vehement in Elm types. They are similar to the lightning that precedes a brewing storm, but they do not signal the coming of a final catastrophe. They are the warning signs of a psyche that is accustomed to success and falls into a panic at the first signs of difficulty (and not at the signs of a total breakdown). This psyche tends to exaggerate the extent of the danger in order to ensure a timely about-face. In this way, the Elm type gets a whiff of impending breakdown well beforehand and has thereby the possibility of a timely change of her course of action. Only seldom does a calamity actually occur. At most, her feeling of powerlessness helps her redefine more realistic goals or outline a more successful strategy. In the end, she battles on, undeterred; she has vast reserves of strength. Since these stressful conditions can drain our strength, the Elm type needs to examine more critically her ambitions and drives, be more aware of her limits, and learn to be content with what life will allow.
When Elm types pay attention to the signs accompanying stress and overwork—fear, desperation, difficulties with concentration or sleeping, tension, lack of enthusiasm, feelings of inadequacy, irritability, fear of failure, and oversensitivity—they can give up their plans before it’s too late or begin to find another way to achieve them. At the very least they should consider taking time out to reassess the situation. The human organism can withstand nearly any kind of stress, as long as it has time to recover. After periods of intense stress and overwork, it needs a chance to regenerate and rest, such as with meditation or yoga or other similar methods.
It would be best for the Elm type to limit her self-imposed compulsion to achieve so that she can grow into her challenges gradually, much the way a long-distance runner paces herself to save enough strength to finish the race. Her happiness hinges on pursuing her goals with her entire being and with all her energy, but she must be careful not to feel any bitterness or disappointment when things appear out of reach.
Common Combinations with Elm
Cherry Plum (6/11): at the end of physical and psychic endurance
Gentian (11/12): feelings of stress and overwork, despondency
Gorse (11/13): sudden feeling of hopelessness due to stress and overwork
Hornbeam (11/17): acute crisis due to one’s sense of achievement
Larch (11/19): sudden loss of self-confidence
Mimulus (11/20): sudden fear of failure
Oak (11/22): excessive demands and compulsive achievement
Olive (11/23): severe physical/spiritual exhaustion
Rock Rose (11/26): stress-induced panic
Star of Bethlehem (11/29): breakdown due to spiritual shock
Sweet Chestnut (11/30): desperation caused by stress and overwork
12: Gentian
Characteristics
Gentian is for people with a weak will and a tendency to be easily discouraged.
AREA OF USE
Gentian is used to treat weak will, lack of endurance, reactive depression, insufficient determination, and a tendency toward relapse. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to a weak will or a tendency to be easily discouraged. In daily life, used to treat discouragement, depression caused by failure and difficulties, giving up prematurely, pessimism, and relapses in the healing process.
Causes and Symptoms of the Gentian Syndrome
This condition is characterized by tractability and a great talent for adaptability. Harmoniously developed, the Gentian type is free of false desires, envy, or ambition because he is convinced that fate brings each of us what is best for us. Without frustration or regret, he can let go of goals or expectations that cannot be realized. When something does not go his way, he is not disappointed but instead realizes that fate has chosen another path for him and optimistically follows the signs that come his way. Because he possesses a thoughtful, introspective manner, he never falls into petty arrogance but believes that a clever person will need to give in and admit to being wrong on occasion. He artfully avoids insurmountable problems and continues along his personal path unimpeded. Because of his cheerfulness, indulgence, and serenity, he is well liked by those around him.
Unfavorably developed, the Gentian type’s ability to compromise and defer to others can lead to a habit of giving up too easily, and his acceptance of fate can manifest itself in pessimism. When faced with difficulties or challenges, the negative Gentian type will often say, “I knew it would turn out like this!” or “I’ll never be able to do it,” instead of trying to find out how he can better solve his problems. Hindrances and setbacks do not challenge his creativity and his will but instead serve as signs that something simply was not meant to be. Thus, he passes up many opportunities—often without justification—withdraws into himself, and becomes despondent when his plans cannot be realized without resistance. Because of his weak will, lack of determination, and pessimism, he often helps bring about failure himself; indeed, it frequently seems as if he’s looking for an excuse to give up. Because this deference and self-denial is pathological and runs counter to his natural desire for success and self-realization, he can become unhappy and depressed.
Depression arises when urgent desires are unfulfilled or when important needs are suppressed. We speak of “endogenous” depression when the cause is unclear, and “reactive” when the cause is known (as in the case of Gentian syndrome). In this case, the cause is failure brought about by the Gentian type’s own weak will and lack of resolve. The Gentian type suffers not simply because of his own pathological weaknesses but because of their consequences. Gentian syndrome can also manifest itself in the healing process of physical illness; we see it in a relapse or delay in the healing process after an initial improvement. It seems as if the organism does not possess the strength to completely overcome the illness.
The Effects of Gentian
Gentian is the essence for strength of will. It is appropriate for people who are weak willed, despondent, and eager to give up. It strengthens the will, increases our resolve and endurance, and helps instill an optimistic attitude. Because it generally improves the ability to overcome setbacks or to achieve a desired goal, Gentian is also helpful when relapses or delays interrupt the healing process.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Success means achieving our goals. This can take place in one of two ways: either we fight to reach our goals, forcefully overcoming any obstacles that may get in our way, or, from the beginning, we choose a path that has no difficulties. The secret of the successful person is going after only what can be realistically achieved. Which of these strategies is appropriate depends on the individual’s mentality. Certainly the second, when seen in relation to costs and benefits, is the more effective and simple of the two.
The harmoniously developed Gentian type is the ideal prototype of the successful person. He understands how to reach his goals, without facing opposition or loss of strength, by not allowing himself to become caught up in hopeless ventures and skillfully avoiding all obstacles. His strengths, however, can become fatal weaknesses if people with an insensitive and combative disposition influence him (especially in childhood) and induce him to go against the tide, instead of taking the path of least resistance. In this case, the difficulties that appear cannot be dealt with simply, but must be overcome forcefully, which is not a natural part of his sensitive constitution. It is no wonder, then, that in the face of inevitable failures encountered during this process, he will lose his optimism and courage and throw in the towel at the first sign of difficulties or resistance. He becomes desperate, easily discouraged, and weak willed.
Experiencing success is an essential ingredient for further success. Anyone who has achieved a goal has programmed himself for future success. A Gentian type who has failed needs reprogramming. He needs to realize, in principle, that he can achieve anything he wants, and then he needs to prove to himself that he can, in fact, succeed. When it becomes clear to him that he possesses a sensitive, prudent personality that avoids conflict, and when he learns to understand that these qualities are not signs of weakness or cowardice (as others have tried to convince him), he can begin again to live life in his way. This attitude will, as he will doubtless be quick to notice, bless him with all the success he desires. His successes are simply not so obvious, bold, or glitzy as those of more extroverted individuals.
Success is not an objective, constant fact, but a subjective matter that can be measured only by our own well-being. One outcome can be crucial for one individual and might prove quite harmful for another. Likewise, the many types of courage cannot be measured with an impersonal yardstick. Courage can be extroverted and spectacular or internal and absolutely personal. All that it really means is that we are ready to meet and overcome challenges in our own way. As long as the Gentian type admits to his sensitivity and realizes that his well-being is the measure of his success, he will avoid difficulties and failure so straightforwardly and instinctively that it will seem as if he can achieve anything he sets his mind to.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Centaury (4/12): weak will and personality
Chestnut Bud (7/12): lack of attentiveness leading to reversion to old habits
Clematis (9/12): weak will and a tendency to daydream
Elm (11/12): dejection and a feeling of pressure from stress and overwork
Gorse (12/13): weak will and hopelessness
Honeysuckle (12/16): weakness due to nostalgia
Hornbeam (12/17): pessimism and weak will
Larch (12/19): weak will and lack of self-confidence
Mimulus (12/20): yielding, deferential, and fearful
Mustard (12/21): bad moods and depression
Olive (12/23): exhausted and discouraged
Scleranthus (12/28): relapse in recovery
Star of Bethlehem (12/29): weak will due to psychic trauma
Walnut (12/33): despair caused by a major change in life
Wild Rose (12/37): resignation and weak will
13: Gorse
Characteristics
Gorse is for people without hope.
AREA OF USE
Gorse is used as the basic treatment for a pessimistic attitude, loss of hope, and serious illnesses with negative prognosis. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to hopelessness. In daily life, used to treat pessimism.
Causes and Symptoms of Gorse Syndrome
This condition is characterized by ambivalence—an especially positive and hopeful attitude tempered by a tendency to live without desires or expectations. Harmoniously developed, the Gorse type has such a fine balance of these two attributes that she is decidedly positive and optimistic, but at the same time she is prepared for self-denial, hopelessness, and lack of desire. These exist not as negative qualities but more in keeping with the Asian view that “nothing” must be a prerequisite for “everything.” In the optimistic cheerfulness of the harmoniously developed Gorse type, there is always a bit of serenity and seriousness; one has the impression that she has a deep, unconscious knowledge and that she can experience and accept life in all its “positive” as well as “negative” manifestations. For those around her, she serves as a symbol of hope, which is all the more valuable because this particular variety of hope is not the everyday, superficial kind but a deeply felt, profound knowledge and assurance that all is right with the world.
In unfavorable circumstances, this complicated makeup can lose its subtle balance and manifest itself negatively. Just as her desires for happiness can turn to an equally strong sadness when they are not fulfilled, the very optimistic attitude of the Gorse type can transform into its opposite when her expectations are disappointed. Her self-denial displaces her more hopeful, life-affirming self, and the result is a life-negating hopelessness. Renunciation no longer means a willingness to accept the greater dimensions of life but is something more akin to being closed up in a dark room. The Gorse syndrome becomes pessimism and resignation. Anyone finding herself in this position has given up any thread of hope; resignation to fate is no longer part of an invaluable process of discovery but instead a process of inner destruction.
This condition can affect our physical health, in particular; it is characterized by severe, chronic (“hopeless”) illnesses and the transition into a phase from which there is generally no hope of recovery. Gorse types who become ill do not want to go on anymore; their goal becomes the ultimate “cure” through death. If they still undertake treatment or therapeutic measures, they do so only because of the pressure of a friend or family member.
The Effects of Gorse
Gorse is the essence used to fight hopelessness. It stimulates our will to live. It braces us against loss, disappointments, or defeats and helps restore our positive, sensible attitude. For severe, hopeless illnesses, it can promote a positive change, especially when a downward trend has become evident. Gorse is especially important in cancer treatment, since cancer, when it is incurable (which, by the way, is true only in the rarest of cases), means that the organism has given up hope of overcoming the pathological cause of the illness.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Gorse syndrome normally develops during a prolonged battle (such as an illness or the achievement of an important life goal) that is plagued with misfortune and failure. It is the expression of internal exhaustion, a disruption of the balance between taking and giving. Granted, the symptoms that characterize this condition are common; we all find ourselves susceptible to losing hope in the face of failure or bad luck. It is very important in our love for life and our optimism that we always remember that all life’s beauty and its transitory desires and joys are merely the more superficial manifestations of a deeper, more meaningful dimension and that everything that happens has meaning and occurs for a reason. It is exactly this subtle trace of the transitoriness of all earthly manifestations and joys that also provides us with a fleeting glimpse of a profound and unknowable eternity.
There is a phrase sometimes used by religious people that goes something like this: “You can’t fall deeper than into the hand of God.” All of our losses, disappointments, and suffering are, in the end, trivial when seen in the greater and more profound context of our existence. Everything that we encounter has a deeper meaning and serves our divine self, of which we comprehend so little yet which is the ultimate goal of our existence. When we lose this intuitive knowledge, we find ourselves desperately enmeshed in the meaninglessness and wrongness of the world. In the Gorse syndrome, we are without positive expectations. Without hope, however, we cannot survive; we cannot face a new day, think, breathe, or act. We persistently hope that everything will be all right, that life circumstances will turn out for the better. When there is no more hope, life is finished.
As long as even one person is alive, however, there will be a hopeful element that allows us to look toward the future and fan the flame of life. We must find out at which point the lever of destruction was switched on and where the “life nerve” of the Gorse type was hit. Sometimes the reasons can seem banal and meaningless to outsiders, but for the person affected, they can speak to her very being. If we can, at this point, reopen the door that has been shut, put the fulfillment of our desires in perspective, or instill in ourselves the desire to pursue other dreams or wishes, then hope can return and, with it, life.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Centaury (4/13): passivity caused by hopelessness
Elm (11/13): sudden hopelessness through too much stress and overwork
Gentian (12/13): weak will and hopelessness
Mustard (13/21): depression caused by hopelessness
Olive (13/23): hopelessness caused by exhaustion
Star of Bethlehem (13/29): hopelessness due to severe trauma
Sweet Chestnut (13/30): absolute hopeless desperation
Wild Rose (13/37): total resignation
14: Heather
Characteristics
Heather is for egocentric people who need recognition, who cannot be alone, and who speak constantly of themselves.
AREA OF USE
Heather is used as the basic treatment for egotism, vanity, pathological self-love, craving for recognition, an inferiority complex, and fear of being alone. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to severe egocentrism, talkativeness, or an abnormal need to be in the company of others, brought about by humiliation or rejection. In daily life, used to treat boasting, need for attention, fear of not being acknowledged, talkativeness, feeling left out, and loneliness.
Causes and Symptoms of Heather Syndrome
This condition is characterized by positive but insecure behavior and an excessive need to communicate. Harmoniously developed, the Heather type is a positive person, and he carries that attitude over to those around him. He embodies self-love in its pure, innocent form—somewhat in the sense of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. Because he loves himself, he can love others and is worthy of being loved in the true sense of the word. He is without malice and has no fear of others. He loves to be around other people, chatting and exchanging thoughts. It makes him happy to share his heart freely; he has a positive relationship to himself and to the world, and he has nothing to hide. Life is a game for him, and he is happy to have others play along—if he has someone he can turn to and in whom he can find himself. If the bond to those around him is broken, he becomes lonely and unhappy, but this happens very seldom because he behaves so admirably.
Under negative circumstances, in the seriousness of the competition of life, this condition can lose its playful, lovable aspect and manifest itself in an egocentric, overbearing form of self-assertiveness. The Heather type’s naive happiness becomes contorted into a pathological need for recognition and a constant questing for one’s own worth in relation to others. The innocent talent for communication becomes an incessant chattiness, which is often a kind of naive self-eulogizing. Instead of loving his neighbor as he loves himself, his new motto might be “How can I love you if you won’t love me first?” More than anything, the Heather wants to be liked and needs others to affirm his worth. He speaks only of himself and his own problems or, if his condition is severe, pushes himself in the spotlight everywhere he goes. He gets on everyone’s nerves with uninterrupted reports of his own merits, talents, and deeds. One senses clearly his unsatisfied need for recognition or admiration—the so-called inferiority complex. The Heather syndrome is often very strong in children, such as those who make themselves very conspicuous in playing or being too loud when guests come to visit. Such behavior often has the exact result that the Heather type fears the most— isolation, loneliness, and humiliation. With his constant talking about himself, he is very annoying to those around him. He wants to use them as a sounding board for his own importance, without taking any actual interest in them. They feel no great need to be with him and, on the contrary, avoid him. He takes this as rejection—usually with good reason—or even humiliation, which puts him in even more isolation and makes him egotistical to a greater extent. His contact grows more superficial, and by degrees he becomes ill, often with problems in the lungs and heart.
The Effects of Heather
Heather is the essence used to treat vanity and the need for recognition. It helps instill a natural feeling of self-worth and minimizes feelings of inferiority. Heather promotes the ability to acknowledge and pay attention and works against boasting and arrogance. Overbearing chattiness is a special symptom. This essence should also be used to treat any illness that is the result of a humiliating experience.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Heather syndrome is a product of unfavorable conditions in which competition causes an unconscious, instinctive self-love to develop into vanity and an excessive need for attention. The Heather type who has already confronted envy, vanity, or the craving for power in his childhood notices very quickly that someone is after the position he is steering toward and that he must constantly assert or defend himself. Because his tendency is to strive toward harmony and agreement, however, he does not incline toward an active show of strength but tries to gain popularity in a roundabout, passive manner, through the blatant, unsubtle demonstration of his merits. The Heather principle can be seen in the animal kingdom in the form of the peacock, who in its beauty (accentuated by its own vanity) leaves all others in the shadows. The peacock has to deal with very little competition, but people are faced with limitless competition. For this reason, Heather types, as long as they are unaware of their personal strengths, will always have the humiliating feeling that others are better, more attractive, more intelligent, or stronger than they are.
If the peacock were to engage in a test of strength against the lion, he would also suffer from an inferiority complex. In his unconscious being, however, he sees only himself. Human beings cannot behave similarly because they are conscious beings. We must learn to recognize our strengths and weaknesses and, at the same time, come to accept that we are as unique in our way as others are in theirs. Our uniqueness is the source of our own beauty and worth. Once the Heather type understands that no good is served by constantly comparing himself to others, he can better learn to accept and love himself as he is. His big mistake is that he pays too much attention to individual details—for example, eyes, legs, memory, muscle tone, genetics, family—and doesn’t think about the whole of his personality. As unique individuals, we are all incomparable.
Heather types should also note that for any lack they may suffer, they will compensate for it in a strength. They should evaluate themselves not just in terms of superficial individual characteristics but as the sum total of their entire being. When we have developed an appropriate sense of self-confidence, we don’t need to beg desperately for recognition and love; in fact, begging will only cause us to lose those things. We can, however, openly and straightforwardly approach those around us, like an innocent animal, without being overbearing or trying to humiliate them. We can also learn to acknowledge others, accept that in some areas they may be superior to us, and not be jealous of them—without anyone thinking less of us for it. A friendly, open, peaceful coexistence can take place only when both parties accept and acknowledge each other.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Chicory (8/14): the need to be loved and liked
Honeysuckle (14/16): youthful vanity
Larch (14/19): boasting due to an inferiority complex
Mimulus (14/20): overbearing, pushy behavior caused by the fear of being alone
Star of Bethlehem (14/29): psychic trauma caused by humiliation
White Chestnut (14/35): persistent, compulsive vanity
15: Holly
Characteristics
Holly is for people who are inclined to behave in an unfriendly or aggressive manner.
AREA OF USE
Holly is used for the basic treatment of aggression, choleric or sanguine temperament, lovelessness, negative or destructive attitude, violence, and lust for revenge. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to irritability or aggression. In daily life, used to treat unfriendliness, rage, irritability, envy, hate, mistrust, and jealousy.
Causes and Symptoms of Holly Syndrome
This condition is characterized by very vital, animal-like reactions and defensiveness. Harmoniously developed, this is a person who is ready to react forcefully and, when necessary, aggressively to anything that stands in the way of her self-realization. Because she is always ready to defend herself when necessary and does not allow her emotions to become pent up, she is open, honest, and not hypocritical. Hate (which is the result of suppressed aggression) does not exist for her because she reacts to every attack spontaneously and directly. She always defends her rights with an innocent naturalness, and one always knows where one stands with her. Because you cannot come at her indirectly, there can be no underhandedness or falseness with her. Aggression has a meaningful, natural function for her. She is like a crusader who fights openly against any injustice without thinking of herself.
Under unfavorable circumstances, when her aggressiveness and spontaneity are taken away from her and her instinct for self-realization is suppressed, the Holly type can develop into a person who is very easily irritated and reacts with excessive belligerence. She cannot respond to problems calmly or with understanding but is immediately angered, becomes hateful, or flies into a rage. She is like a loaded gun with a hair trigger. Variations on these reactions are hate, envy, jealousy, lust for revenge, and mistrust. She has a lower threshold for potential threats than most people; competition loses its sporting character and takes on an underhanded, foul tone. The aggressive, hostile behavior of many Holly types is suppressed in childhood, through the influence of either parents with a gentle, defensive nature or moralistic, ideological, or selfishly motivated teachers. Because aggression is a natural, instinctive phenomenon that cannot be eliminated either by violence or reason, it seeks out other forms of expression when it cannot be expressed directly. A child who is forced to suppress her anger might vent her stifled emotions, for example, by torturing defenseless animals or by tearing up flowers. The Holly syndrome has many variants: petty, everyday anger; a bad mood for absolutely no reason; excessive irritability; and inexplicable unfriendliness. It can be especially strong in people who are normally indulgent and gentle but lose it and suddenly see red when they are faced with unusual external pressure. An illness with an aggressive nature, such as high fever, strong allergic reactions, sudden serious infection, or an unusual irritation at the beginning of an illness are also indications of the Holly syndrome.
The Effects of Holly
Holly is the essence used against negative emotions. It can lessen aggression, irritability, anger, rage, lust for revenge, resentment, and jealousy; it promotes the control of aggression and makes us friendlier, more able to compromise, more patient, gentler, and more able to love. Naturally, Holly cannot simply turn rage and hate into their opposites. It should be used with other appropriate substances when unusual irritability shows itself at the beginning of an illness or when that illness runs its course very violently or aggressively.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
There would be no life without aggression. Life means growth, development, and self-realization, and these, in turn, all exact a cost on other beings. Every cell acts so that it can become larger, every plant tries to grow, every animal strives to flourish, every race or people seeks to expand. In each case, some form of aggression against other cells, plants, animals, or people is necessary in order to claim needed nourishment, space, or even existence. The territory on Earth is limited, and not all creatures can expand their size or territory to the extent they require. All beings are condemned to battle. While this means “eat or be eaten” for many living things, it also ensures that life in general may continue.
In addition to the limitations on resources and territory, we are also instilled with a natural desire to want to maintain all that we have and all that we are. The corollary is that others, who as yet have nothing, should not get anything. Naturally, they take this as a hostile stance, as we would if we were in their shoes. Who is right? We could discuss this subject and philosophize about it endlessly. Life itself answers this question simply and irrefutably, by compelling us to satisfy our needs for food or safety directly, aggressively when necessary, and at the expense of other beings.
This attitude is a function of the basic elements of life, but giving up a part of our abundance is an equally widespread natural phenomenon: trees share their fruit, springs let their water flow, even humans will share with their neighbors when they feel that they have sufficient material or spiritual resources. When we have strength, fearlessness, and self-confidence, our aggression can find an honest, direct outlet. Otherwise, it will develop into an inner pressure that we will release at the first opportunity in the form of groundless hostility, irritability, rage, hate, envy, lust for revenge, mistrust, jealousy, or other similar manifestations. In the case of Holly syndrome, we are no longer in control of our emotions. Even if we want to, we cannot be friendly or approachable, make our rage disappear, transform our hate into love, or let go of our jealousy—with some exceptions, of course.
To overcome the Holly syndrome, we need a deep understanding of the workings of our psyche. Aggression is basically an instinctive reaction that can generally be diminished with personal conditioning. We react aggressively because we feel threatened or under attack, whether or not that is actually the case. It depends on our ability to get to know our own fears and the sensitivities that create our aggression and to change them so that we can react appropriately and sensibly. Theoretically, it is entirely possible to find attitudes and values that can enable us to rise above the level of primitive life and not see a potential enemy in every person or a threat in every activity. We all have borders we must defend; how tight these limits are depends on our character and our spiritual awareness.
As conscious human beings, we have the opportunity for mental and spiritual growth as well as physical growth. The more highly developed our self-awareness and our awareness of the world, the more generous and tolerant and stronger we will be. The existence of other people will seem less of a threat to us. A true Holly type will never become an absolute pushover, but she can learn to consciously control her combative personality. She can recognize that she has a tendency to inflict violence or injustice upon others and that she can also hurt herself through her sometimes too wild behavior (her enemies can defend themselves, too). Likewise, she can learn to feel that her raging negative emotions can poison her. After all, who is happy when she is feeling envious, full of rage, jealous, ready for revenge, or steeped in hate? When this becomes clear to her, it will be in her own interest to bring her internal source of toxins into check through an honest developing of self-awareness or through the clarity that will result when she directly confronts her own worst tendencies.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Beech (3/15): allergic shock reaction
Cherry Plum (6/15): uncontrollable attacks of rage
Chicory (8/15): hate/love
Impatiens (15/18): impatient and irritable
Mimulus (15/20): anxious irritability
Star of Bethlehem (15/29): aggression due to a mental or emotional shock
Vervain (15/31): irritable do-gooder
Vine (15/32): rage at the sign of opposition or the mistakes of others
Water Violet (15/34): irritable misanthrope
White Chestnut (15/35): aggressive thoughts
Willow (15/38): bitterness with rage or hate
16: Honeysuckle
Characteristics
Honeysuckle is for people who cannot let go of the past.
AREA OF USE
Honeysuckle is used for the basic treatment of disruption in the relationship to reality, flight from reality, lack of interest in the present, melancholia, and excessive nostalgia. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to melancholic memories. In daily life, used to treat memories, homesickness, and sadness caused by loss.
Causes and Symptoms of Honeysuckle Syndrome
This condition is characterized by a dreamy sensitivity, a great need for happiness, a good memory, defensive timidity, and passive behavior. Favorably developed, the Honeysuckle type is romantic and emotional. He is generally happy and understands how to get the best out of life. To some extent, he sees the world through rose-colored glasses that emphasize the positive and minimize the negative. He doesn’t falsify reality, but his naturally optimistic nature simply accentuates the sunny perspective. He is a master of the art of never losing touch with reality (which itself is always a mixture of the positive and negative) and understands in his predominately happy reality that even the smallest hint of annoyance, distress, and grief, like the yeast in dough, allows us the opportunity to expand and develop and offers us a deeper look into the profound connections of our existence. Even (superficial) unhappiness will ultimately make him happy because it allows him to reach a more meaningful, valuable perspective. But he doesn’t experience only reality as beautiful; he also possesses the ability to view his memories with happiness, memories that are so lively that they penetrate his entire being. Artists who understand how to distill the essence of eternal beauty from a fleeting moment possess this temperament. The harmoniously developed Honeysuckle type is very popular because he revives in others the awareness of beauty and wonder that is normally lost to most of us in our everyday lives and because he has little interest in material competition.
Unfavorably developed, the Honeysuckle type’s overwhelming need to be happy, his vivid talent for remembering pleasant events, and his relative weakness can create in him the habit of fleeing the difficult present in favor of a happier past. Sensitive and passive as he is, the Honeysuckle type believes, almost as a matter of principle, that life used to be much better and easier. He achieves this view in part by glossing over his memories. In pleasant dreams and memories, he constructs soothing antidotes to an unpleasant and painful reality. Children suffering from homesickness or people who cannot recover from a loss often react in such a way that they cannot come to terms with their new circumstances. They flee the present by seeking out romantic memories and find themselves longing for the “good old days.” Poets who pine longingly for lost happiness are representative of this syndrome. The Honeysuckle syndrome makes a person largely unable to come clearly to terms with life. He sinks into sadness, homesickness, or dreaminess and loses contact with the demands of daily life. It can even lead to the development of addictions, because addictions are essentially a search for happiness and wonder through artificial means.
The Effects of Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle is the essence against pathological nostalgia. It awakens an interest in the present and in reality and allows pleasant and persistent memories to fade away. It is helpful in cases of homesickness, nostalgic passions, and especially for sadness or mourning (which itself is a sign that we cannot accept a new reality because we believe the older one to be better). It improves our ability to come to terms with new, seemingly unhappy situations (homesickness) and can reduce the tendency for addictions that are triggered by a refusal to accept things as they are.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Typical Honeysuckle behavior is the result of a hard, unhappy life. The Honeysuckle type, especially as a child, is very sensitive and needs to be happy. He lives in a protective cocoon, which he has woven out of pleasant experiences and in which he comforts and hides himself. When he is taken quickly or forcefully out of this cocoon, when he is confronted abruptly or brutally with an unpleasant reality, or when his poetic sensibility is singled out by less than sympathetic teachers, he can retreat into his own imaginary world—more out of an instinctive defensive reaction than out of defiance— and become unfit for “normal life.”
There are, however, Honeysuckle types who are able to appropriate a certain clear-eyed efficiency from life’s pressures, but these people generally develop only a very brittle shell and can plunge into an inconsolable sadness or mourning at the first sign of a deep loss or drastic change in life circumstances. They can even lose all touch with reality. We don’t do the Honeysuckle type (adult or child) any favors by trying to rid him of his “poetic” disposition to make him “fit for life.” If he is allowed to shape a life according to his own tendencies and in which his artistic self plays a major role, he can have one foot planted solidly in the “real world” and the other in a place where dreams and wonder make their home.
Anyone who has a clear case of Honeysuckle syndrome, such as in the form of an inconsolable homesickness or an unending sadness, needs empathy and understanding to help him adapt to his present reality when the fulfillment of his most urgent desires is impossible. He must be allowed to exercise and satisfy the dreamy, unreal elements of his character. We don’t help him very much by suggesting he pull himself together or by making him aware of the benefits of some external, alternate way of looking at the world. It is better to find out what his soul most craves, even if it seems incomprehensible or foolish. Only then can he begin to find the trust and courage he needs to make his way in life.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Chestnut Bud (7/16): distractedness and nostalgic dreaminess
Chicory (8/16): sadness and mourning due to the loss of love
Clematis (9/16): persistent daydreams
Gentian (12/16): nostalgia and a weak will
Heather (14/16): vain youthfulness and immaturity
Hornbeam (16/17): flight into the past due to stress and overwork
Larch (16/19): flight into the past due to a lack of self-confidence
Mimulus (16/20): flight into the past due to timidity
Mustard (16/21): depression caused by loss
Olive (16/23): inconsolable loss
White Chestnut (16/35): compulsive, persistent memories
Wild Rose (16/37): nostalgic, melancholic resignation
Willow (16/38): bitterness due to loss
17: Hornbeam
Characteristics
Hornbeam is for people who find the demands of everyday life too difficult, even though they are perfectly capable of fulfilling them.
AREA OF USE
Hornbeam is used as the basic treatment for fear of failure, a chronic feeling of being overwhelmed, groundless pessimism, and frustration. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to a constant feeling of overwork or exertion. In daily life, used to treat “blue Mondays,” morning frustration, lack of interest in work, weakness, and flight into illness.
Causes and Symptoms of Hornbeam Syndrome
The Hornbeam type is characterized by a strong need for achievement and perfection combined with a tendency toward caution, self-criticism, and modesty. Harmoniously developed, the Hornbeam type is an achiever, but she is always careful not to overestimate her own abilities. She is almost always successful because she can allot her strengths sensibly and takes on only those tasks that she is sure she can handle. She has a tendency toward cautious understatement and always makes sure to keep a reserve in any project. This prevents her from failing and also gives her a sense of security. She is greatly valued by those around her because of her combination of natural modesty and secure circumspection, with a healthy desire to achieve. One gets the feeling that her caution and her constant striving to do her work flawlessly both arise out of an innate sensitivity. When she criticizes herself, she is not just fishing for compliments; this tendency is proof that she has a sensitive insight into the complexities of life. She goes on her way confidently but cautiously, critical of herself but not overly so, modest but sure of herself.
Unfavorably developed, this combination of natural modesty and a great drive to succeed can lead the Hornbeam type to an unconscious, compulsive drive for perfection with a need to push herself to the limit. Excessive caution can foster pessimism, and the striving for perfection can result in a fear of failure. The typical Hornbeam type feels stressed and overworked both in her everyday life and at work. She is pessimistic and feels every morning that she has insurmountable tasks to accomplish. Typical variants are the Monday morning depression or the funk caused by starting the day knowing that one has to achieve the impossible. What is most notable about these conditions is that they are all produced in the head; these feelings of stress and overwork are not based on reality but arise from pessimistic expectations. They are the way that the Hornbeam type prepares herself for failure. Normally, the Hornbeam type uses her challenges as a means for personal growth; she tries to do a good job despite her own expectations. Her problem is that despite her successes, she still feels under the gun and is plagued with a fear of failure. She feels she has failed before she has even begun. Although she would like to just toss in the towel, she heaves a sigh and gets on with it—secretly, she probably knows that things are not as bad as they seem—and the more she works, the more able and active she feels. This phenomenon can often be observed in people with poor circulation: the more active they are, the better they feel.
The Effects of Hornbeam
Hornbeam is the essence that helps us overcome our day-to-day challenges. It is effective against fear of failure, promotes a healthy desire to achieve, and helps restore enthusiasm, self-confidence, and a positive, active attitude. It can also help prevent us from running away from our challenges by becoming ill. If we wake up in a morning funk that seems to lessen over the course of the day or if we are overcome with a weakness that seems to disappear when we become more active, Hornbeam is the ticket.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Hornbeam syndrome arises when we have a need for perfection in all that we do but sabotage ourselves by being overly critical and cautious. The Hornbeam type has a tendency to overestimate the tasks that face her and underestimate her own abilities. This is a constant source of torment, overwork, and fear of failure. But when her abilities are truly challenged, it’s easy to see that it’s all in her head; she is capable of achieving anything she puts her mind to.
She miscalculates her abilities when she is called upon to do something that is not in her nature and that she is not up to. This is something similar to guilt feelings, which arise when we believe that we cannot meet the moral demands placed on us by our environment simply because it is not in our nature to do what is demanded. While guilt (see the section on Pine) is related to the somewhat theoretical feeling of mental/emotional self-worth, the feelings of inferiority related to the Hornbeam syndrome have more to do with practical physical and intellectual abilities. The pessimistic expectations that characterize the Hornbeam syndrome are actually a kind of defense mechanism used to try to prevent disappointment or failure and a passive means to bring about a change in life or the demands placed on us.
When she is challenged, the Hornbeam type is truly capable of achieving great things, but we should not take that as a sign of her true abilities. That she falls so often into a state of pessimism is a sure sign that something needs to be changed. Two things have to be addressed: first, any illnesses that make her more susceptible to depression, and second, a change in her life. She needs to feel happiness and self-realization instead of obligation and compulsion. When the Hornbeam type (and this holds true for nearly anyone) is able to fulfill her own true needs, desires, and potentials—which we also think of as self-fulfillment—she will be more optimistic and able to achieve her goals. Children who suffer the effects of the Hornbeam condition should be nurtured in a way that will allow them to flourish; otherwise they will wilt like a flower in the desert.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Centaury (4/17): feelings of stress and overwork due to dependence
Elm (11/17): acute crisis related to one’s ability to achieve
Gentian (12/17): pessimistic and weak willed
Larch (17/19): feelings of stress and overwork due to a lack of self-confidence
Mimulus (17/20): fear of failure
Wild Rose (17/37): despondency due to feelings of stress and overwork
18: Impatiens
Characteristics
Impatiens is used for impatient, restless people who are always in a rush.
AREA OF USE
Impatiens is used for the basic treatment of excessively “driven” behavior, restlessness, nervous temperament, sleeplessness, and overactive metabolism. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to restlessness or nervousness. In daily life, used to treat impatience, restlessness, excessive haste, superficiality, sleep disorders, itchiness, and fidgetiness.
Causes and Symptoms of Impatiens Syndrome
This condition is characterized by “driven” behavior, restlessness and nervousness, and a compulsive need to have everything done immediately. Harmoniously developed, the Impatiens type can think and act more quickly than most. He needs only one word to start a chain reaction of thoughts, doesn’t waste his time, and usually has finished a job as soon as he’s thought of doing it. As soon as he has an idea, he begins immediately and without hesitation to see that it is put into effect. He is nimble and typically finishes his work when others are just getting around to starting.
Under less than favorable conditions, the Impatiens type loses all sense of proportion. Instead of a positive, sensible quickness, he charges into everything full bore, without thinking of any possible setbacks. In this circumstance, speed becomes not just a means to achieving a result expediently but an end unto itself, a pathological symptom of the Impatiens syndrome. People in this condition are hasty, impatient, rushed, and very driven. Everything must proceed as quickly as possible for them, even when haste is not necessary. Every delay makes them nervous and irritable, and often the relative pokiness of those around them (even if it is only imagined) gets on their nerves and makes them intolerant and unjust.
When he becomes impatient with the slowness or slow-wittedness of others, he may try to do everything himself and thus isolate himself. His nervous energy leads to frustration at work, he doesn’t have the time to be thorough or careful, his thoughts are often not fully formed, and his decisions are made in haste. His unrestrained speed allows for only mental superficiality, and he has no opportunity to explore himself. Behind the facade of constant activity and restlessness, he is often unhappy and lonesome. Even the body reacts consistently. His movements are nervous, fidgety, and often uncoordinated, and he suffers from all manner of nervous disorders, twitches and ticks, sleeplessness, cramps and tension, lack of concentration, high blood pressure, or itchiness (especially in the case of neurodermatitis).
The Effects of Impatiens
Impatiens is the essence for treating nervousness and restlessness. It fosters patience, circumspection, prudence, and thoroughness and helps us develop our own rhythms or succeed when we must live under the pressure of constant deadlines. Impatiens is useful for all conditions related to nervousness and restlessness, such as nervous tension before important appointments or interviews, hectic behavior when a deadline nears, nervous itchiness, or trembling or overstimulation accompanying a shock. Impatiens is an ingredient in Rescue Remedy.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
The essential problem for the Impatiens type lies in his need for speed. It is not just the speed in itself that is the problem but the inability to adapt that speed to different situations. He is like a coachman who constantly pushes his horses to the limit regardless of the road conditions. He can overshoot his destination and end up somewhere he never intended to be. His haste can cause him to make errors that must be put right, and he stands to ruin his nerves over unnecessary delays. With certain kinds of pressure (for example, an important appointment or job-related stress), these symptoms can appear in anyone, not necessarily just an Impatiens type. The Impatiens type could always reach his goals if he could learn to use his speed sensibly and harmoniously. Speed is fine when it is appropriate, but we also need thought and reflection. The Impatiens type, however, is compelled to put a specific idea immediately into action, to verbalize a thought too hastily, or to act so quickly that he can trip over his own feet and end up doing the opposite of what he intended.
We can try to improve the Impatiens type on two fronts: externally, by circumspectly avoiding any life situations that involve speed or deadlines and, internally, by allowing him a certain amount of time to incorporate his feelings, perceptions, realizations, experiences, and ideas into his actions. He needs a lot of conscious discipline to pull himself together after a painful experience. Even when this method is effective, the typical Impatiens type still works quickly; reflection, a slow pace, and patience are not naturally part of his character. He needs to find his own sense of perspective and keep everything in balance.
This is especially true of Impatiens children, who, because of their natural tendency toward jitteriness and hasty behavior, should not be put under pressure but should be given the chance to find their own rhythm. We should be careful not to demand of them any task requiring exactness or patience but allow them the opportunity to harmoniously and leisurely develop their own special talents. Modern computer games have an especially harmful influence by placing people under merciless pressure in a “game” context. Children who play them too often can shatter their nerves and throw their inner balance out of whack. Certain nutritional habits can also trigger serious nervous conditions, which should be kept in mind when planning a child’s diet.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Cherry Plum (6/18): prepsychotic restlessness
Holly (15/18): impatience and irritability
Mimulus (18/20): anxious restlessness
Red Chestnut (18/25): anxious restlessness
Rock Rose (18/26): panicky, driven behavior
Scleranthus (18/28): erratic, impatient behavior
Vervain (18/31): stressed and in a rush
White Chestnut (18/35): mentally driven behavior
19: Larch
Characteristics
Larch is for people who lack self-confidence.
AREA OF USE
Larch is used as the basic treatment for lack of self-confidence and problems with self-worth, tendency toward unnecessary self-denial, and an inclination to give up hastily. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to a lack of self-confidence or feelings of inferiority. In daily life, used to treat shyness and timidity.
Causes and Symptoms of Larch Syndrome
This condition is characterized by being easily influenced, a defensive attitude, and natural modesty. Harmoniously developed, the Larch type has an instinctive knowledge of the relative nature of all values and has a loving respect for all people. It would never occur to her to overestimate her own abilities and knowledge or to think of herself above others. Her sensitive wisdom and her need for the truth make it impossible for her to be caught in brazen boasting, to deal with obligations that she cannot fulfill, or to take on projects that are beyond her capabilities. Her unaffected, honest modesty (which stems from a clever insight into reality), her inner security (which comes from a realistic awareness of her abilities), and her friendly manner in dealing with others make her very popular. She does not know failure because she keeps her sense of proportion and never puts more on her plate than she is able to handle.
Unfavorably developed, her inborn self-critical modesty can turn into a false self-belittling, lack of appreciation for herself, or a form of self-deception that can, with time, become an inextricable tangle of ungrounded fears, fantasies, self-condemnation, and validations—known as an inferiority complex. The Larch type loses the ability to judge herself clearly and rationally, trusts herself too little and others too much, shies away from more daunting projects out of fear, and avoids any situations that might put her into competition with others. The Larch type is convinced that she is not good enough, attractive enough, intelligent enough, or strong enough. She often gives up an undertaking well before the thing has begun; she is easily embarrassed and tends to shy away from other people. This can essentially happen to anyone who experiences a serious failure or who is under the pressure of intense competition. While many will give up only temporarily, however, the Larch type remains dejected for a longer time, and her bad posture is often a dead giveaway to others that she is down on herself.
Larch syndrome often leads to spinal problems and a tendency toward Scheuermann’s disease, Bekhterev’s arthritis, or osteoporosis, which can deform the spine and is a physical manifestation of what is happening internally. Scheuermann’s disease can appear in shy or repressed children, Bekhterev’s arthritis in adults with a distorted feeling of self-worth, and osteoporosis in women after menopause, which is a time when they often perceive themselves as less than whole. Even the so-called widow’s hump (a hunchbacklike curvature of the spine), which used to be common, is the result of the loss of social position of a widowed woman.
The Effects of Larch
Larch is the essence for self-confidence. It minimizes inferiority complexes and promotes a feeling of security that arises within and is not dependent on the approval of others. It is often recommended for sensitive children who find themselves in a harsh, uncaring environment or who must grow up in surroundings outside their own social class. Larch also promotes the development of special talents that are somewhat unusual and often considered to be useless. In conjunction with psychotherapy designed to strengthen the personality, it can be used for long-term treatment of changes in the back or spine.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Modesty is rightly considered a virtue, but modesty does not mean self-denial and excessive (and forced) restraint, as is often thought. It means knowing our limits and taking only that to which we are entitled—no more and no less. People with a natural modesty guard themselves from excess as much as from unnecessary denial. They know that too much or too little not only makes a proper order in our world impossible but also makes them unhappy. Our spirit reacts always with frustration, pain, or suffering if everything is not as it should be.
This is quite clear in people with the Larch mentality, who could be described as having a false modesty. They are frustrated or unhappy because they have no faith in their own abilities, because they unnecessarily pass up chances and opportunities when they arise. Timid and shy, they pull back from many potentially useful opportunities that could strengthen their feeling of self-worth. In trying to protect themselves from failure, they also rule out any chance of success. They must remember that you cannot win if you do not play.
Larch types tend to be unique, special individuals, but they are also readily influenced because they can easily allow their own special talents to come into conflict with prevailing norms. Under the influence of very assured people, Larch types can lose their self-confidence and their feelings of self-worth. Parents and teachers can play an especially damaging role if they lack insight into the relative nature of all things and the need for healthy and appropriate self-criticism. If they set down their opinions as a universally binding law to a child who may be of a different nature than they are, they can cause the child to feel worthless.
Feelings of inferiority are more dangerous than we might think: they undermine our ability to lead an independent life. Our self-confidence determines whether we can properly assess the opportunities life brings our way and exercise our rights to exploit them. Our survival depends on these abilities. Having the inner conviction that we are able to master the tasks set before us is a prerequisite for success. If we do not know in advance that we are able to do something, we’ve already lost. We can see in nature that a battle between two rivals often is decided not just on physical strength but psychically as well; any opponent who senses the superiority of the other will leave the field without a fight.
When we feel ourselves to be inferior, weak, or unempowered, we are filled with a fear of failure, which is also a fear of future, imagined events. In the Larch type, these fears are based on a lack of self-esteem. We should become more familiar with our abilities and their limits, have a clearer concept of our standing in the rat race, and develop a value system that makes sense to us. This building up of our self-worth can take place only by degrees and should also be promoted externally, because we are always engaged in some kind of social competition. Larch types must recognize that if we are in the right place and using our abilities in a manner appropriate to our character, we can be successful. We should also understand, however, that failure is always a possibility and that success and failure depend on the circumstances of each situation. We need to realize that the “inferiority” we feel is, for the most part, subjective and can hardly be addressed with reason or logic. The best cure is direct experience, which often helps a living truth come to light. Sometimes it takes only a single success to restore the Larch type’s self-confidence.
The moral realignment or restoration of the Larch type must always keep the body in mind. The spine is one of the most important areas that affects and is affected by self-assurance. The belief that we are inferior or unable to do something prevents an upright posture, and, likewise, a healthy sense of self-confidence is impossible with a crooked back. An appropriate measure of physical awareness can also help support the psychic process. Also keep in mind that many seemingly self-confident individuals, especially family members, friends, therapists, or notorious “helpers,” build up their own sense of worth at the expense of the weak personality of the Larch type. It would certainly be valuable if they were to scrutinize themselves in this respect and begin their own Larch therapy—or, at the very least, take care not to put others down to make themselves look strong. As the Chinese proverb says: “You don’t need to extinguish the light of another to make your own shine!”
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Crab Apple (10/19): feelings of impurity and self-loathing
Elm (11/19): sudden loss of self-confidence
Gentian (12/19): weak will with a lack of self-assurance
Hornbeam (17/19): feelings of stress and overwork due to a lack of self-confidence
Mimulus (19/20): anxiety due to a lack of self-worth
Olive (19/23): self-doubt due to exhaustion
Pine (19/24): feelings of moral inferiority
Rock Water (19/27): feelings of inferiority from idealistic demands placed on oneself
Star of Bethlehem (19/29): loss of self-confidence due to mental or emotional trauma
Walnut (19/33): very impressionable due to a lack of self-esteem
Water Violet (19/34): human contact problems due to feelings of inferiority
Wild Oat (19/36): lack of direction due to a lack of self-confidence
Wild Rose (19/37): lack of drive due to a lack of self-assurance
20: Mimulus
Characteristics
Mimulus is for people who suffer from vague, generalized fears and anxieties.
AREA OF USE
Mimulus is used as the basic treatment for a tendency to fear excessively and too easily. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to fears and anxieties. In daily life, used to treat groundless fear, anxiety, timidity, and shyness.
Causes and Symptoms of Mimulus Syndrome
This condition is characterized by excessive sensitivity and feelings of vulnerability. Harmoniously developed, the Mimulus type is decidedly sensitive and vulnerable and feels happiness and pain more strongly than most. This finely tuned sensitivity causes him to scrutinize every situation instinctively and without interruption to look for possible sources of pain. As soon as anything threatens to become unpleasant, he will begin the most effective countermeasures he can muster or retreats skillfully. He manages skillfully and adroitly to avoid pain and suffering of all kinds. Because one hardly notices how carefully he examines everything with which he has the slightest connection, he generally gives the appearance of being brave. This impression is strengthened when he fights against the suffering of others— mostly in his own interest, since the suffering of others causes him as much pain as his own.
Unfavorably developed, this great sensitivity can turn into excessive anxiety and timidity. Instead of avoiding or neutralizing situations that could cause him suffering or unhappiness, he will often trigger them himself simply because an earlier incident that caused him pain leads him to imagine the same result. Over time, this pattern will serve to amplify his timidity, turning it into a generalized, groundless, and tormenting anxiety that his psyche tries to defuse by rationalizing and connecting his unhappiness with specific occurrences or objects. This reaction at least makes the situation somewhat manageable for the Mimulus type, but these fears are very distressing because they are excessive or simply unjustified. Typical Mimulus types are always afraid of something, which drastically limits their potential for self-realization. Adventures or risks of any sort are a horror to them; the prospect of anything new is absolutely terrifying. Their uncontrollable, lively imagination creates vivid new horrors or sorrows that hover before them or lurk in dark corners like a wretched apparition.
Sensitive children especially tend toward this condition because they possess neither the physical nor the mental strength to confront potential and unknown dangers. Sometimes the Mimulus type will try to ignore his fears by seeming self-assertive and self-confident, but normally he belongs to the group of people who say, “If you take a chance you could die from it” instead of “You cannot win if you do not play!” Even courageous people can find themselves in the Mimulus condition if they are not able to process a certain sorrowful experience. Their worldview then becomes so contorted that they become excessively cautious and fearful—at least on certain occasions. As the proverb says, “A baby burned will avoid a fire.”
The Effects of Mimulus
Mimulus is the essence used against fear. It reduces real fears and anxieties, promotes the ability to assess dangers reasonably and properly, and makes us generally more courageous. Mimulus should always be given as a supplemental treatment in the case of any illness with fear as its cause or when an illness is strengthened by fear. It is especially appropriate for children who are afraid of new situations.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Whenever a person is threatened, the organism mobilizes energy and enters into a state of tension, allowing him to defend or flee. Once this is done, the organism relaxes. Otherwise, an inner pressure would develop that would cause more inner tension and fear the longer it lasted and the stronger it grew. There are two forms of fear, depending on the nature of the threat. First, there is the immediate, unreflective, and overwhelming fear of death, which every organism experiences when faced with an acute, life-threatening situation and which stems from the fundamental knowledge of death that is innate in all living creatures. Second, there is the “theoretical” fear attached to expectation, which is caused when we anticipate or imagine potential pain or suffering. This fear has no basis in reality, since imagination and expectations can be only theoretical and unknown. It is a defensive reaction to still-active memories of earlier pain and suffering and serves to perpetuate those feelings.
The sensitive Mimulus types often suffer from the latter type of fear. The experience of suffering goes so deeply under their skin that all of their emotions are put into play, and, as with an allergy, they react to the smallest cause with groundless and excessive fear. It generally takes only the simple imagining of dangers or suffering to trigger such a reaction. This form of fear is so difficult to address because—in contrast to realistic fear—it cannot be countered with rational, practical measures. It is like a ghost that you can keep striking without actually hitting. It binds us and cripples us because it is irrational and can be countered (or at least minimized) only by striving for a conscious practice of clarity in our thinking and feeling.
There are several possibilities that we can pursue:
When we come to the realization that everything in our world is essentially good and that all pain and suffering pass and, ultimately, will bring us good, we can develop a positive basic attitude. We can also, as in the case of an operation, accept pain without truly suffering. It is also important to develop an acceptance of death, which, in essence, plays a role in fears of every kind. We fear death because it is the greatest, final loss, and we fear loss because we always connect it with suffering. Loss of health means illness, loss of property means poverty, loss of a partner means loneliness, loss of life means the absolute end. We must make it clear to ourselves that loss and death also mean growth and new beginnings—as with the phoenix rising from the ashes—even if on another plane of existence.
Courage does not mean rashly and daringly rushing into any adventure but rather having the willingness to confront our own fears. Courageous people dare to face their fears consciously. The (often superhuman) strength and grace they need arise in them from the trust in a powerful, eternal ideal, such as a great humanitarian idea, a life’s calling, or the belief in an ultimately divine fate or an all-powerful and benevolent god. The Mimulus type, who tends toward fear owing to his sensitivity, can, when he is ready and willing, live his life without the constant need for validation and self-deception and develop an uncommonly strong courage. Once he learns how to make the transformation, his weakness will become his strength.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Agrimony (1/20): secret fears
Aspen (2/20): total fear
Beech (3/20): tolerance due to fear
Centaury (4/20): fearful obsequiousness
Cerato (5/20): anxious insecurity
Cherry Plum (6/20): serious anxiety conflict
Chicory (8/20): anxious clinging
Crab Apple (10/20): excessive fear of filth and contagion
Elm (11/20): sudden fear of failure
Gentian (12/20): indulgent, yielding behavior and fear
Heather (14/20): pushy and overbearing due to a fear of loneliness
Holly (15/20): anxious irritability
Honeysuckle (16/20): flight into the past caused by fear
Hornbeam (17/20): fear of failure
Impatiens (18/20): anxious restlessness
Larch (19/20): fear due to a lack of self-confidence
Olive (20/23): terror and exhaustion
Pine (20/24): fear of guilt
Red Chestnut (20/25): anxious doting
Rock Rose (20/26): anxiety with a tendency toward panic
Scleranthus (20/28): anxiety-induced indecisiveness
Star of Bethlehem (20/29): anxiety due to psychic trauma
Walnut (20/33): easily influenced owing to fear
White Chestnut (20/35): anxiety-induced compulsive thoughts
21: Mustard
Characteristics
Mustard is for people who fall into depression, bad moods, or melancholia from time to time without any apparent reason.
AREA OF USE
Mustard is used for the basic treatment of endogenous depression, groundless depression, lack of joy and humor, melancholia, pessimism, and periodic world-weariness. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to sadness or depression. In daily life, used to treat lack of enthusiasm, bad moods of any kind, dejection, and sadness.
Causes and Symptoms of Mustard Syndrome
This condition is characterized by several components: an intensive need for happiness, a tendency to take things seriously, a general introversion, and a certain level of fluctuation in the emotional state. Harmoniously developed, the Mustard type has the enviable ability to combine happiness and gravity sensibly and harmoniously. This combination means that her happiness will never degenerate into mere superficial enjoyment, and her soberness will never descend into a depressive tendency to take matters too seriously. The central point of her emotional life hinges on a light, rhythmic movement between these two poles, the consequence of which is a certain flexibility in her emotional condition. The harmoniously developed Mustard type does not have a bubbly and cheerfully optimistic temperament but does have an inner balance and sense of responsibility. Her life is fulfilled with a quiet joy and a deep, clear knowledge of the meaning of all things. This causes her to have a tendency to internalize and to seek the answers to the basic questions of life through an inner dialogue more than through external communication.
Unfavorably developed, the changeable nature of her temperament can lead to an inclination toward negativity and gloom. Her normal gravity can turn into a humorless, depressive seriousness, and her inborn introversion can induce her to cut herself off absolutely from the outside world. The typical Mustard type is often plagued by melancholy, sadness, or despondency, which hangs like a dark veil over her thoughts and feelings. In such phases, she loses touch with all feelings of happiness or, at the very least, loses her enthusiasm or goes into a funk; she can no longer find any meaning in life and greets those around her grouchily and negatively or totally withdraws from the world. We all experience these moods from time to time; the Mustard condition is very widespread, though usually in a weaker form. The condition is often accompanied by weak circulation, lack of drive, susceptibility to infections, or excessive tiredness. These depressive moods eventually give way to a more “normal” state, which, in the case of the typical Mustard type, never totally resolves itself in a feeling of lightness or happiness. Sometimes the inner rhythms are so pronounced that these phases of depression will alternate with phases of excessive, unnatural optimism.
The Effects of Mustard
Mustard is the essence used to treat depression. It causes a general inner lightening and breaks down depressive moods, lack of enthusiasm, grouchiness and ill humor, joylessness, and pessimism. Mustard has an overall stimulating effect and promotes an open, optimistic, and communicative demeanor. It also has a positive influence on illnesses that are often accompanied by depression, and, as a supplemental treatment, it can help prevent a worsening of such conditions.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
In medicine, we distinguish between two distinct forms of depression— reactive and endogenous. Reactive depression is an understandably negative response to unhappy life circumstances. This negative reaction eventually disappears when the cause dissipates. Endogenous depression (which resembles Mustard syndrome), on the other hand, is neither understandable nor directly influenced. Its source lies in the innermost depths of the psyche. In medicine, endogenous means that one can find no external cause for a condition; it is often falsely linked to the word groundless.
Naturally, endogenous depression has its own valid causes, but they can be so deeply embedded in the consciousness that even the afflicted person has no access to them; they can be very serious. The psyche protects us by displacing any impressions, emotions, or insights that burden our soul and that can crush us when their real meaning is made clear to us. It allows us to process consciously only what we are ready for, while everything else gets pushed aside into the subconscious. Nonetheless, there is some psychic material that brings us to such important truths that we cannot displace it no matter how painful or injurious it may be. It tries incessantly to rise up into our consciousness to help us better our lives; when it is not allowed into our conscious life, or when we don’t recognize it for what it is, depression can be the result.
To understand depression, we must understand its place in the development of an illness:
Depression is a dangerous condition that can lead to the loss of the will to live and through which the spirit sends its last warning sign before it retreats from life. What is a depression? The name says it—a suppression, or lowering of mood, which can call forth sadness and melancholia. And what can prevent sadness or melancholia? The answer is easy—happiness!
As we ask this question, we are reminded how little we pay attention to happiness and how little respect we have for it. Because it bears no heavy burden for us, because it cannot make us rich or famous or powerful, we walk all over it, sacrifice it without thinking, and think of it as something irrelevant or inferior. It is, in fact, the basis of our existence, and neither body nor soul could exist without it; it can transform into pain and suffering if we do not consider it of prime importance in our thoughts, feelings, and actions. If we do not do so, we are committing an unforgivable and fundamental crime against ourselves.
Perhaps such words sound pathetic, but we all know from painful experience that they are true. What do all of our pain and suffering signify if not the absence of happiness? Do not sadness and melancholy result when we don’t let the sun shine in our lives? Whatever moral or philosophical thesis and ideological or idealistic slogans or excuses we use to banish happiness from our lives, the longings of the spirit will not allow us to be rid of happiness and joy. As long as happiness remains a promise unfulfilled, we are in for a life of far-reaching sorrow. This realization, which each of us has, is essential for understanding and overcoming depression. The recipe is simple: when we are depressed, it means that we are depriving ourselves of something that gives us happiness. Whatever it is, we must get it back.
Following this recipe often requires overcoming considerable, painful opposition—especially morals and guilt feelings—and it often seems impossible to many. They would rather anesthetize themselves with alcohol or drugs, distract themselves with entertainment or work, deceive themselves with high moral standards, or try to tolerate their unbearable lives—in short, instead of using their strength to make their lives worth living, they misuse it to make the prison that their lives have become inescapable. Depression is, however, a life-negating, violent phenomenon. It becomes even more serious the more radically we renounce our own happiness. When we see a burned-out, depressed person, we cannot imagine for how long they have subjected themselves to monstrous self-abuse (often for years). They wear themselves out in an exhausting, all-consuming inner struggle between forces that create happiness and self-realization and those that thwart them.
When we examine closely the source of these negative, satanic forces (Satan symbolizes any power that is torn from the great unity—call it God or life—and is then used against it), we recognize that they are the result of a violent conflict that one calls “education” or “upbringing.” We are taught very early that we have no chance of survival when we follow too closely those urges that bring us happiness. We grow accustomed to suppressing our own need for happiness, and we find the threat of punishment normal. Eventually, we grow obedient, and self-denial becomes second nature to us. Yes, even our own happiness becomes suspect because it has been beaten out of us and we’ve been browbeaten and scolded into believing that the pursuit of our own happiness is selfish, immoral, and antisocial. With this perversion of values, our chances of a happy, fulfilling life disappear. It would often be better if we would mount some resistance, despite the difficulties. As long as we’re fighting for what is important to us, we’re happy.
With Mustard depression, the desire for happiness is strongly suppressed. It requires a long process of relearning to set free our burned-out, withered longings and become conscious of them. First, the Mustard type has to experience happiness again—she must, so to speak, “taste blood.” In this way, any embers that have not been extinguished totally will flicker again, and her reawakened longings will lead her once more on the road to freedom. This work, however, she must do herself; no one can do it for her. She must also break loose of her inner bonds and free herself from her negative ideas, convictions, and habits.
In order to encourage her through our own good example, we must convince ourselves that we deserve to be happy. Most professional therapists emphasize obligation, property, propriety, reputation, power, or the morals of others as being of utmost importance, and they are not suitable to aid this process. Mustard types can best find help simply by being with people who have maintained a simple, unspoiled heart or in nature, whose plants and animals, colors, and scents can best show us the true way to joy.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Aspen (2/21): anxious depression
Chicory (8/21): depression through unrequited love
Gentian (12/21): bad moods and depression
Gorse (13/21): depression through hopelessness
Heather (14/21): depression caused by rejection or loneliness
Honeysuckle (16/21): depression caused by loss
Olive (21/24): depression caused by exhaustion or exhaustion due to depression
Pine (21/24): depression due to guilt feelings
Red Chestnut (21/25): depression and worry
Scleranthus (21/28): frequent mood swings
Star of Bethlehem (21/29): depression caused by psychic trauma
Water Violet (21/34): serious depression caused by human contact
Wild Oat (21/36): depression caused by a feeling of the meaninglessness of life
Wild Rose (21/37): depressive resignation
Willow (21/38): depression caused by bitterness
22: Oak
Characteristics
Oak is for people who cannot give up.
AREA OF USE
Oak is used for the basic treatment of pigheadedness, excessive responsibility, uncompromising and unyielding behavior, a compulsive sense of obligation, a compulsive sense of self-sacrifice, and ambition. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to unyieldingness or a compulsion to achieve. In daily life, used to treat obstinacy, obsessiveness, strain, and long-term stress.
Causes and Symptoms of Oak Syndrome
This condition is characterized by strength of will and pressure to achieve and succeed. Harmoniously developed, the Oak type is a strong-willed person who has great powers of concentration and the ability to see a task through to its completion. He eagerly takes on difficult tasks or accepts challenges that allow him to use his formidable strength. In pressured situations or illness, he never gives up hope and presses on when others have long given up. He continues with renewed efforts until he has reached his goal. As a loner, he can achieve marvelous things, and in a position of social responsibility, he is the person who carries the whole load or pulls the cart out of the mud. He never thinks of rewarding himself and has the habit of working until the last. Once he has a goal in sight, he never gives up until he has reached it. He also acts as many successful people do, in not taking on more than he can successfully accomplish. He knows his own limits and weaknesses and plans accordingly.
Unfavorably developed, the Oak type’s great ability to see a task through to its completion becomes an obstinate unyieldingness, his strength becomes mere stubbornness, and the happiness he feels in reaching his goals can become a pathological form of ambition. Oak syndrome is characterized by the inability to give up in the case of overwork or excessive pressure and stress. The Oak type resembles an arrow that misses its target and falls harmlessly to the ground. Despite being at the edge of cracking up, he cannot lighten his load; despite having undertaken too much, he cannot relieve himself of his responsibilities; and despite obvious signs that a goal cannot be reached, he will not give up. He goes off course, becomes obsessed, steels himself, and refuses to acknowledge that he has taken on too much, has been mistaken, or has deceived himself. It is no longer a question of reaching a sensible goal but instead becomes purely a question of winning, of gaining the feeling of having finished, without taking any losses into account—what matters to him is that he not give up. The Oak syndrome can even be found in everyday life—when we take on a job and find ourselves under unrelenting stress, when we ruin our health by pursuing a challenging sport, when we cannot let go of a responsibility even though we are not up to the task, and when we cannot restrain our compulsion to achieve even though we place ourselves under dangerous stress. Naturally, this condition can lead to long-term stress and has damaging effects on the body. Typical symptoms are gallbladder complications, high blood pressure, high fat levels, thyroid problems, stiffening of the joints and rheumatic complaints, lost of mental flexibility, and grinding of the teeth.
The Effects of Oak
Oak is the essence used for the treatment of intransigence, stubbornness, and pigheadedness. It makes us more flexible, yielding, and willing to compromise; reduces the compulsion to achieve and take on too much responsibility; promotes the ability to accept fate; and enhances our ability to relax. This essence can help remedy any conditions having to do with strong, deliberate, excessive, relentless exertion. Oak also helps prevent the degeneration of the circulatory system and, in favorable conditions, can improve high blood pressure and high fat levels.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
A strength of character becomes a weakness when it grows excessive or unreasonable. This is especially clear in the case of the Oak type. His naturally strong will and his goal-orientated nature can become perverted into inflexibility, a compulsive need to achieve, and closed-mindedness once these elements are allowed to become too strong in his character and overshadow the other elements. This perversion often occurs under the influence of egotistical, ambitious parents or teachers, who can place too much emphasis on the Oak child’s natural desire to achieve and readiness for responsibility. This emphasis can result in the development of a one-sided person addicted to success and with no awareness of his own limitations and no understanding of the relative nature of all things. Such a person can no longer recognize that achievement and success always need reasonable limits to be meaningful, and he is unable to admit that he cannot do everything. He becomes accustomed to using any means to have his own way, without thinking about the consequences. He is incapable of giving up, even though a task is beyond his abilities, and he cannot let go of a goal once it is in his sights.
To admit to his own powerlessness would lead to frustration and shatter his feelings of self-worth. To accept fate as something that is beyond his control goes against his grain so much that he finds himself in permanent conflict and thus open to receive a fatal blow that can bring him to his knees. At that point, he is like a mighty old tree that is immovable even in the face of a raging storm, until one day its inflexibility causes it to snap.
It is difficult for us to determine whether the Oak type, once he has latched on to a task that will take him to the very limits of his abilities, is using his abilities sensibly or whether he has become a slave to his compulsions. The deciding factor is whether it causes him to suffer and makes him unhappy—this, we find, is true of most people in most situations. As long as he’s fighting tenaciously and with all his heart, he’ll be happy. As soon as he loses his sense of proportion or suppresses other, equally important needs, he becomes locked in an inner conflict. The unhappiness he feels is a sign that something is wrong. Speaking generally, his stress and unhappiness are the result of his inability to relax. He subjects himself to an uninterrupted form of stress that is damaging because he doesn’t give his body time to regenerate or detoxify.
In times of stress, the organism normally mobilizes its strength to achieve a specific goal or avert a potential danger, thereby reducing all synthesis and detoxifying functions to a minimum, to be restored at a more opportune time. Healthy people experience stress and relaxation in shorter rhythms, such as day and night, and stay within a sustainable framework, but these rhythms can be thrown out of balance (with respect to duration and intensity) in times of extreme duress. Moreover, since all strength is put into play during times of stress, the regenerative abilities are reduced to the lowest levels possible. When a relaxation phase begins anew, the body’s regenerative functions are restored, often with a vengeance. The body reacts with signs of exhaustion and symptoms that are often mistaken for physical illness.
The Oak type should try to remain in control of his energies and continually ask himself if whatever he is engaged in is worth the effort and makes him happy. As soon as he senses that he is not happy and the symptoms mentioned earlier begin to appear, it is time to let up on the reins and take things a little less seriously. It is extremely important for him to take all of his needs into account and not to become too one-sided. Even the typical Oak type has other interests and proclivities that can seem contradictory. He should find a common denominator among his interests and needs and attempt to fulfill the whole of his personality or, as a temporary measure, limit himself to fulfilling his most pressing momentary requirements.
Everything we undertake should have the goal of serving our happiness (whatever form it may take). If not, the result will be suffering, unhappiness, illness, and destruction—all of which can have a negative impact on our lives. A certain amount of playfulness is essential to see life in its best light and to regard life’s constantly unforeseeable, changeable nature. When we take things too seriously, we single out an important element and experience it out of context with the rest of life. This seriousness then becomes the point around which all else revolves. In doing this, we dissect life and restrict its variety and vitality. There is perhaps a good reason that we use the phrases dead serious and lust for life. Parents should take note and not force their children to concentrate only on achievement and ambition; they may grow up to be successful, but they may not necessarily be happy.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Cherry Plum (6/22): on the verge of breakdown caused by stress and overwork
Chicory (8/22): stubbornly insistent care or love
Elm (11/22): overexertion caused by a compulsion to achieve
Pine (22/24): uncompromising perfectionism
Rock Water (22/27): self-tormenting compulsion to achieve
Vervain (22/31): stress caused by a compulsion to achieve
Vine (22/32): dogmatic need to achieve
Water Violet (22/34): loneliness caused by ambition
White Chestnut (22/35): compulsive thoughts related to success
Willow (22/38): unrelenting lust for revenge
23: Olive
Characteristics
Olive is for people who are physically and emotionally exhausted.
AREA OF USE
Olive is used for the basic treatment of general weakness and impaired ability to perform, anemia, and heart insufficiency. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to exhaustion. In daily life, used to treat physical and/or spiritual exhaustion, generally after a great exertion or serious illness.
Causes and Symptoms of Olive Syndrome
This condition is characterized by a certain weakness and a low level of resilience. Harmoniously developed, the Olive type knows how to use her strengths wisely and avoids anything that will cause her to overexert herself. She knows her limits and organizes her life so that she will never exceed them. For example, she will choose an easy career, takes no exhausting trips, and regularly rests in the middle of the day. She is like a delicate plant that can flourish only under the most favorable circumstances and develops its own, still beauty. The Olive condition also corresponds to a natural biological phenomenon—the parasympathetic weakening and recuperation phase, which is accompanied by fatigue and is not indicative of an illness. It is a requisite for detoxification and regeneration.
When Olive syndrome is unfavorably developed, the latent weaknesses of the Olive type manifest themselves as an ever present fatigue and limit her in many ways. She carries herself tiredly through life, feels constantly exhausted, and requires excessive amounts of sleep. A medical cause could be weakness of the heart, anemia, or a shortage of vitamins or trace elements. When this condition—generally the result of a long illness or a severe strain—continues to worsen, it marks the beginning of the Olive syndrome, which can occur in anyone. We are at the end of our rope (often not just physically but emotionally as well), we cannot bring ourselves to go on, and we experience life as a painful burden. This means as well that the regenerative parasympathetic phase becomes a constant vegetative pathological state and cannot find its way back to full health and strength.
The Effects of Oliv e
Olive is the essence used to treat exhaustion. It has a general strengthening effect and can restore the psychic and physical functions to their normal levels. It has proved effective in treating weakened conditions of all kinds, especially of the heart.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Olive syndrome is the result of chronic overexertion. Where the organism is normally able to bear heavy physical and emotional burdens, when the constitution is weakened (such as with the Olive syndrome), it takes only a small exertion to call forth the symptoms described here. A healthy organism can handle day-to-day stress with no problems. It mobilizes the body’s reserves and moves into a state of generally heightened activity, to react as quickly and effectively as possible. In this “battle” phase (related to the sympathetic nervous system), the detoxifying and synthesizing functions are minimized and will return to normal levels when the problem is solved or the goal is reached, at which time the organism switches to the “relax” mode. Everyone is familiar with the weakness or weariness that sets in as soon as a period of stress is past. If the stressful phase was very strong or of long duration (such as a long period of exertion or a serious illness), the relaxation phase will also set in heavily or even pass over into the Olive condition.
This danger is especially present when the mobilized reserves are small, which is to say, with individuals whose ability to achieve or whose strength has been lessened by hereditary factors, illness, unfavorable life conditions, or, especially, an unhappy family life. Generational conflict also plays a significant role; in this context parents attempt to suppress the increasing competition they feel with their children—the mother with the daughter and the father with the son. From a biological and evolutionary point of view, children of the same sex as a parent pose a threat. The stronger the offspring becomes, the more of a threat he or she poses.
Normally, young people develop the strength for independent existence in this instinctual battle; they become independent or even drive out the parents from the parents’ own territory. If they are not successful, they remain somewhat immature, undeveloped, and dependent on their parents. Among other things, this situation can result in disrupted sexuality, in a limp body or posture, in anxiety, in lack of physical and psychic development, or in a generally frail constitution. The Olive condition (and the Centaury and Larch conditions as well) can often persist in its subliminal nature or its characteristic weaknesses. If an Olive type finds herself in strange surroundings or if her parents die, however, she can sometimes develop into a strong, capable person. Mostly she remains in the shadows of her parents or teachers for her entire life. Only a course of psychotherapy that goes right to the core of her self-awareness can free her and set her on her way to an unimpeded process of becoming strong and growing up.
Anyone who has had firsthand experience with the Olive condition should learn to pay attention to the warning signs. Even the early signs of exhaustion should be taken seriously. If an Olive type learns to deal appropriately and carefully with her weaknesses, she will often outlast her stronger competition in the rat race. Aside from physical illness, the Olive type’s weakness is often also the result of psychic overexertion from worries, fears, or negative expectations caused by a difficult, dissatisfying life or the constant denial of important needs. In such cases, the typical Olive type almost needs to undergo a thorough examination and reordering of her life, the object of which is to put an end to her constant troubles and self-denial.
We should think of an acutely weakened condition as a biological signal that marks a period of convalescence following a period of stress; by taking us out of circulation for a while, the organism is giving itself a needed rest so that the functions of synthesis and detoxification may resume. It is a mistake to expect an immediate return to full strength after a serious illness or an unusual mental or emotional trauma. Any therapy or treatment that acts to stimulate us is inappropriate and only inhibits the body’s ability to carry on the essential acts of regeneration, so that we can never be fully rested. At best, we give ourselves up to the rhythms of nature (with the exception of life-threatening conditions), which will allow the organism to become active again only when the recovery is complete. We can learn a great deal by watching animals: when they are sick, they crawl away and hide until they are well again.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Clematis (9/23): drowsiness, absentmindedness, hallucinations, or unconsciousness due to exhaustion
Elm (11/23): unconsciousness due to exhaustion
Gentian (12/23): exhausted and discouraged
Gorse (13/23): hopelessness caused by exhaustion
Honeysuckle (16/23): flight into the past brought about by exhaustion
Larch (19/23): self-doubt due to exhaustion
Mimulus (20/23): terrified and exhausted
Mustard (21/23): depression caused by exhaustion or exhaustion caused by depression
Pine (23/24): a guilt complex wearing one down
Red Chestnut (23/25): exhausting, debilitating worries
Star of Bethlehem (23/29): lack of mental resilience due to exhaustion
Walnut (23/33): easily influenced due to exhaustion
Water Violet (23/34): antisocial behavior due to exhaustion
Wild Rose (23/37): lack of drive due to exhaustion
24: Pine
Characteristics
Pine is for people who suffer from feelings of guilt and a bad conscience.
AREA OF USE
Pine is used for the basic treatment of guilt feelings, moralistic compulsions and drives, self-judgment, self-rejection, enslavement to authority, and pathological perfectionism. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to guilt. In daily life, used to treat unwarranted pangs of conscience and finickiness.
Causes and Symptoms of Pine Syndrome
This condition is characterized by a morally hued idealism and the tendency to place oneself in the service of a higher authority or by the fear of those stronger than oneself. Harmoniously developed, the Pine type is always oriented toward high moral values and ideals and guides his thoughts and actions accordingly. He always has the feeling that there is a higher (or divine) power or authority who is responsible for him. Once he realizes that something is right or obligates himself to something, he cannot be made to give up through promises or threats. He would rather suffer greatly than be deterred from his obligations or be led to betray those he serves. This can mean God, an institution, a community, an idea, or an individual—anything that seems worthy of his worship and respect. He is loyal, reliable, and incorruptible.
Unfavorably developed, the inborn, clear knowledge of conscious responsibility of the Pine type can turn into groundless or excessive feelings of guilt. This, in turn, can mean that the Pine type can lose his thoughtful self-awareness and his orientation to higher values and instead attempt to fulfill any moralistic demands that are placed on him. In fact, he will actively seek them out. Moreover, his desire for perfection and proper behavior can lead to an incessant, tormenting feeling of inadequacy. And so he suffers from excessive or groundless feelings of guilt, a bad conscience, or his need for perfection. He can never be content with his own achievements and often believes that he has not done his duty. This feeling of being in someone’s debt is the reason that he feels guilty or sinful. Instead of repressing negative expectations, he is drawn to them. It seems as if he’s addicted to blaming himself, and he loses his ability to be happy and to make others happy. Even if he is happy, he will eventually succeed in making himself miserable. He also has the uncanny ability to pass his own wretched guilt feelings on to those around him. Cultivating guilt is by no means a sign of high morals and virtue but a pathological and pathogenic phenomenon.
The Effects of Pine
Pine is the essence used to treat guilt feelings. It helps diminish a bad conscience, guilt complex, and compulsive perfectionism. It promotes self-affirmation, responsibility to ourselves, and mental independence. Pine should be used not just for current complaints but also as a treatment for the fundamental personality. It improves our ability to enjoy our lives naturally and without guilt and can often help treat morally related sexual problems as well.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
We cannot speak of guilt feelings without thoroughly examining the phenomenon of guilt, which represents one of the most common causes of disease among people raised in the Christian tradition. It is a given that whoever is born and raised in our culture knows what it is to feel guilt and is constantly confronted with unnatural demands that he can hardly hope to fulfill. We become guilty when we do not pay our debts, when we do not obey a law, or when we do not fulfill an obligation. In itself, this would be relatively harmless and only theoretical if it were not linked with painful consequences: the punishment! This makes guilt a terrifying phenomenon to be taken seriously and avoided.
The system of guilt and punishment is a very effective method for training and controlling people. It is relatively easy to make someone guilty and subject to punishment: one need only make a demand that the person can’t (or won’t) fulfill. In early childhood we acquire our first painful familiarity with this system. In being punished, we learn that there are limits that we may not exceed and demands that we must fulfill. Thus, we live in constant fear of being punished, which is always linked with our alleged guilt and becomes an integral part of our thoughts and feelings. These feelings are always active when we notice that we cannot be what everyone expects us to be.
This emotion, known as guilt, normally gives us the impression that a higher moral order (the conscience) is making us feel guilty. In truth, there are no higher morals involved, only the simple—and totally natural—fear of punishment. If there were no punishment, no one would have a guilty conscience. To survive, we must be “well brought up,” follow the rules, and honor all the prohibitions that our overpowering surroundings impose on us. If we cannot meet these demands and expectations despite our best intentions (because they go against our grain or demand a great amount of self-deception), we develop feelings of guilt—as an expression of our fear of punishment—which become stronger the more sensitive we are and the more painful past punishments have been.
The Christian Church takes this system of guilt/punishment/fear to extremes and demands from us that we dedicate our lives to renunciation and self-denial, accept a dogma that runs counter to our natural sensibilities, and ignore our inborn needs to pursue and experience happiness, self-realization, and mental freedom. These demands are based on the irrational claim that Christ died on the cross for our endless and unredeemable sins, thereby “saving” us but putting us into an even greater debt to God and obliging us to spend our lives doing penance.
The Christian cannot help but feel that he is a continual failure and eternally guilty. He experiences a guilty conscience when things are going well and is always ready to deny himself happiness, or doesn’t even expect it. In addition, he suffers from the constant fear of an all-knowing God who allegedly mercilessly punishes us for disregarding his rules. A typical Christian would never dare admit that this domineering, petty, and far from “loving” God conspicuously resembles those people who created this image of him. Furthermore, the skillful and manipulative linking of religious reverence and awe and natural fear of punishment prevents him from undergoing a thorough and clear-eyed examination of his alleged guilt. He might notice very quickly that these alleged rules and prohibitions in truth serve the interests of those who promulgate them.
Is it not always the powerful who preach to the weak, obedient flock, the “haves” who lecture the “have-nots” that they should not steal, the prudish and repressed puritan who condemns a natural sex life, the fanatic who insists on order, or the compulsive character who would eradicate the spontaneous, unplanned element in life? The Pine type is especially susceptible to such guilt because he is very easily influenced and in need of sympathy. Out of insecurity, he tries to make others happy by dancing to their drummer and ignoring his own, and it happens so often that he compulsively and enthusiastically accepts the behavioral norms imposed on him by others. He is sensitive and afraid of anyone who can assert herself and tends to subordinate himself to any power or authority. Here lies the source of his religiously tinged guilt feelings: he trembles at the thought of a divine punishment, but any concept of “God” is just an abstraction of all authority figures who have ever punished or suppressed him. His fear of them is so profound that even as an adult he doesn’t dare question the role he assumed as early as childhood.
He must, however, understand this if he ever wants to be free of his guilt feelings. He must also grasp the following fact clearly: throughout history, “guilt” and “sin,” despite the inhumane suppression and punishments they have inspired, have never been totally eliminated. This fact demonstrates that there is an elemental and essential factor involved. What is the irresistible power that makes us ignore a law or prohibition that is imposed upon us? It is our drive for self-realization and happiness (which is, in any case, totally subjective and cannot be governed or regulated by others). We cannot help but feel guilt if we are forbidden to do something that it is in our nature to do.
We could look at it the way the Christian religions often do; we could take it as a given that humans are by their very nature fallen, evil, sinful creatures and must always, therefore, be engaged in acts of penance. We can also look at it another way. Feelings of guilt and sin create pain and suffering and make us sick; they can be neither healthy nor natural, and they must be overcome, cured like an illness, if we want to live a free and happy life. Doesn’t a happy life consist of joy, desire, and affirmation, and doesn’t our natural instinct tell us to resist being tormented or engaging in unnecessary self-denial? Isn’t denial a relative of death?
Accepting these simple and seemingly obvious insights is extremely important for the Pine type. Otherwise he cannot free himself from the vicious, life-negating, misery-inducing cycle of guilt/punishment/selfdenial/morality. He should also realize that his alleged sins and transgressions are themselves integral components of life. In denying them and in striving for excessive perfection or trying to adjust his behavior to a morality imposed on him by others, he is fighting against himself and against life itself.
Some people, in order to avoid a bad conscience, try to fulfill scrupulously every expectation and demand that has been made of them. As long as we can keep up, our guilt (that is, our fear of punishment) remains mute, and we perceive this to be a “clear conscience”—but it pipes up again at the smallest slip. We are not the masters of our lives, we did not give ourselves the gift of life, and we cannot determine our own fate. We can only—consciously or unconsciously—pursue the course for which we are best suited with the tools with which we are born. We are not responsible for the way things are, and we don’t behave badly intentionally. We act the best way we know how, given the particular circumstances.
Everything positive in our lives—happiness, love, health, beauty—comes about when we follow our inner voice, our longings, and our feelings; sadness, sorrow, and illness, on the other hand, are signs that we’ve strayed in thought or deed from our personal path. We must keep in mind that everything in this life, joy included, has many aspects and that the “higher” facets are also the most precious. When we strive for these higher values, and when we strive for the realization of our divine nature, it can certainly happen that we are asked to deny ourselves something. But we should not see it as a form of denial. When we give something up to receive true riches, we are not denying ourselves anything.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Centaury (4/24): selflessness due to guilt feelings
Cerato (5/24): insecurity due to fear of a bad conscience
Crab Apple (10/24): moralistic compulsion for cleanliness
Mimulus (20/24): fear of guilt
Oak (22/24): unyielding perfectionism
Red Chestnut (24/25): worries caused by a bad conscience
Rock Water (24/27): compulsive perfectionism
Star of Bethlehem (24/29): unprocessed, guilt-related trauma
Walnut (24/33): weakness in defense against accusations
White Chestnut (24/35): compulsive thoughts with overtones of guilt
25: Red Chestnut
Characteristics
Red Chestnut is for people who worry very much about others and suffer greatly when others suffer.
AREA OF USE
Red Chestnut is used as the treatment for pathological worrying over others and neurotic sympathy. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to altruistic concerns. In daily life, used to treat oppressive sympathy or pathogenic worrying about others and excessive caring for others.
Causes and Symptoms of Red Chestnut Syndrome
This condition is characterized by an introverted but nonetheless altruistic personality characterized by sensitivity and sympathy. Harmoniously developed, the Red Chestnut type cares deeply about other people. Even though she herself never bothers others with her own needs or desires, she is glad to worry about the well-being of those around her. She sympathetically participates in their lives, is there for them when they need her, and gives them the comforting feeling that they are not alone in the world. In hard times, she doesn’t waste her strength in useless worrying but helps effectively and without being asked, wherever and whenever she can. She makes sure, however, that those she helps do not grow too dependent on her or feel in any way obligated to her. She lets those she helps—especially her children—lead their own lives. She does not withdraw her affection if they do not meet her expectations. If she cannot help people—and she is clearly aware when she cannot—she is in the position to leave their fate up to them. She is wise enough to know that no one can really “fall from grace,” and that nothing truly bad can happen. She believes that everything that happens serves a higher purpose.
Unfavorably developed—which is to say, when her faith in fate has been shaken—the Red Chestnut type adopts a pessimistic, fearful attitude and tends to expect the worst. These negative expectations have less to do with herself than with those near her; for no apparent reason she will fret excessively over them, all the while neglecting herself. One often has the impression that Red Chestnut types are addicted to worrying. In any case, they almost always find someone for whom they can feel sorry, even if nothing bad has happened—yet. Sometimes the Red Chestnut type can feel that there is something unhealthy in her behavior, but she can’t help herself.
A typical example of this type is the mother who lives in constant, excessive, and unfounded worry and fear for her children. Indeed, such “worrisome selflessness” can have a function, and it fits well with our moralistic clichés. When it is excessive, however, it is useless and only causes unhappiness. It affects more than just the “victim,” who feels unhappy (and is supremely bothered by the Red Chestnut type’s incessant worrying); if you look closely, you can see that the Red Chestnut type herself has a troubled expression and suffers from inner tension, sleeplessness, and anxiety.
The Effects of Red Chestnut
Red Chestnut is the essence used to treat suffering and selfless worrying. It helps eliminate the habit of worrying about others while strengthening our confidence and restoring our trust in fate and a healthy level of egotism. Red Chestnut can treat any condition that is related to worrying, especially nervous conditions and circulatory and respiratory problems.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
The Red Chestnut type is sensitive and has an active imagination. When she experiences unhappiness, her sensitivity and imagination create her anxiety and fears, which are not directed at herself but toward other people. Behind every worry is a positive human element—the emotional investment in the fate of others and simultaneously the desire that things will work out for them. Under healthy, natural conditions, this means that we are concerned about someone else’s welfare, while under unhealthy conditions, we worry and fret about them.
In the first case, we support the object of our concern in our actions and stand by him, as much as we are able, in times of need. And we remain aware of our own abilities and limits and protect ourselves from being infected with the problems of those we are trying to help. If this empathy should transform into an unhealthy form of sympathy, the suffering doubles, and the prospects of improvement are diminished. In order to help effectively, we must not be suffering or in need of help ourselves.
In the second case, we unconsciously project our own suffering and fears on the fate of someone else. This type of worrying is useless and senseless because it offers no prospects of improvement, no appropriate help, no end of suffering and unhappiness. It actually serves the purpose of providing an outlet for our own suffering and self-pity and allows us to avoid an embarrassing encounter with the lies that we tell ourselves to survive. We avoid having to ask ourselves why we’re unhappy, what we need to change in our lives, or why we have such negative expectations of the future yet can give ourselves up to watching our own negativity (based on a totally speculative potential unhappiness) play itself out in someone else’s life.
When we worry about someone else, we give expression to our own pessimism and also gain distance from it. Instead of paying attention to our own anxieties, we think that we are concerned with the well-being of other people. The clearly pathogenic anxiety and pessimism of the Red Chestnut type lead her to worry. Making a precise diagnosis of this condition is difficult because worrying about other people is often taken to be a sort of moral superiority or moral high ground. Who could possibly admit that one’s seemingly selfless concern for the welfare of others is merely an expression of and a distraction from one’s own fears?
The essential problem for the Red Chestnut type lies in her ignoring a basic truth of life: we cannot grasp the secret of our lives, and we are not in the position to judge our own fate. Our notions of “good” and “bad” are not sufficient because they are oriented toward superficial well-being and are merely expressions of our limited insight. This is just as true of our expectations of the future. How often have we experienced that what seemed to be a catastrophe turned out to be a blessing in disguise? We realize too seldom that there is a mysterious force, order, or wisdom at work, which obviously knows better than we what is good for us.
It is up to us whether we want to have positive expectations of the future or to fear the worst. While our expectations have no influence on the future, they can affect the present. Thus, we can determine, to a certain extent, whether we will be ruled by happiness or sadness. We cannot avoid every form of misery and unhappiness, but we can certainly avoid those that we create with our own pessimism and negativity.
The problem of the Red Chestnut type is not just a lack of trust in fate or in “God” but a dishonesty with herself. She recoils at the prospect of seeing her behavior at face value, of realizing that she is not living her life correctly, that she herself has created the fears with which she lives, that she has bothered and burdened her “victims” (especially children) and has intruded on their lives and perhaps even infected them with her unhealthy habits. The solution for her problems lies within herself. It won’t help for her to convince herself, by careful consideration, that a particular worry is groundless; she must instead find a new way of behaving, which means trusting life, fate, or God. She should learn to see again that her life is an unbroken chain of positive, maturing learning experiences (positive because they help her grow), even when those experiences cause her unhappiness. She should let herself consciously examine her worries and expectations to recognize how groundless and laughable they are, and she should get used to telling herself that everything’s going to be just fine.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Agrimony (1/25): secret worries
Aspen (2/25): general, anxiety-induced worries
Centaury (4/25): worrying selflessness
Cherry Plum (6/25): rage-inducing worries
Chicory (8/25): total self-sacrifice
Impatiens (18/25): restless worrying
Mimulus (20/25): anxious, excessive concern for others
Mustard (21/25): depressive worrying
Olive (23/25): debilitating worries
Pine (24/25): worries caused by a bad conscience
Rock Rose (25/26): panic-inducing worries
Star of Bethlehem (25/29): excessive worries caused by negative experiences
White Chestnut (25/35): fretful thoughts
26: Rock Rose
Characteristics
Rock Rose is the essence for emergencies, panic, and shock.
AREA OF USE
Rock Rose is used as the basic treatment for a tendency toward panic, psychic instability, and latent anxiety. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to psychic shock or panic. In daily life, used for emergencies, shocking experiences, fear, “blanking out” during exams, loss of presence of mind, and losing one’s head.
Causes and Symptoms of Rock Rose Syndrome
This condition is characterized by emotional openness, an impressionable character, sensitivity, and great spontaneity. Harmoniously developed, the Rock Rose type is open to all impressions and reacts spontaneously. His emotions cannot be controlled by conditioning, habit, or negative experiences; they are not filtered, stifled, or faked but are expressed directly and naturally. He is not stubborn or inflexible and will not be thrown off balance by the unexpected; instead he reacts flexibly and without resistance to everything he sees and experiences, like a water plant swaying in the current. Like an innocent child, he has an open, unbiased, impartial spirit, and there is hardly anything that can surprise or frighten him. He has an inner security, natural resilience, and presence of mind.
Unfavorably developed, the sensitivity of the Rock Rose type can change to oversensitivity, his impressionable nature can cause him to be easily shaken or disturbed, and his spontaneity can lead to excessive, inappropriate reactions. Rock Rose syndrome stems from the inability to stand unusual experiences and manifests itself in panic or a breakdown. As a rule, people with the typical Rock Rose disposition end up this way. Under catastrophic conditions, these symptoms can appear in other types as well. We cannot remain calm and composed and keep our presence of mind at the sign of surprising or troublesome events; we lose our perspective, end up with an inner block, or behave unreasonably. This will happen in the case of accidents or sudden, violent conflicts with a hidden, bothersome problem with which we are confronted again and again. A typical example is when someone is diagnosed with cancer. This diagnosis sends most people into a state of panic because they often mistakenly accept it as the equivalent of a death sentence, and they cannot get used to the idea that they might die at any time.
The Effects of Rock Rose
Rock Rose is first aid for panic. It restores our quiet, our composure, our presence of mind, our courage, and our clearheadedness. Rock Rose is helpful in accidents or instances of sudden violence because it releases the blockages that these events can cause and restores the normal coordination of the mental and vegetative functions. It is an important ingredient in Rescue Remedy.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
The Rock Rose syndrome arises, as does any fear or anxiety, when an excess supply of psychic and physical defensive energy cannot be channeled appropriately, resulting in a sort of internal bottleneck. In addition, the normal mental functions are thrown out of balance, and the result is that we panic or “lose our heads.” Such conditions arise when we are faced with any kind of surprise or shock. From a biological point of view, a shock or surprise can signal a potential danger; the organism reacts by immediately mobilizing additional energy to flee or fight. Once the danger has been averted, the body returns to its normal state. If not, there is a buildup of excess defensive energy, and panic ensues. This situation comes about when we have overplanned our lives or feel too secure, but have left no room for anything unplanned or out of the ordinary. Sometimes our unprocessed negative experiences result in an anxiety-ridden oversensitivity with respect to certain life situations, and our body overreacts, as with an allergy.
There are two types or people who fall quite easily into a state of panic— the inflexible, rational person who controls and plans everything, who loses his perspective when he is confronted with an unexpected or inexplicable situation; and a sensitive person with a fragile constitution (the typical Rock Rose type!), who lives with deep-seated fears and quickly loses his cool when faced with unexpected, potentially threatening situations. Where the person of reason has too much need to control, the emotional person has too little. Essentially, both types suffer from an underlying fear that is kept in check only with great difficulty. These fears can be compared to allergies in that they can easily get out of control and themselves become a source of even more fear or panic. The rational self, which has not formed a flexible, realistic concept of life and has no room for the irrational or unexpected, has all it can do in trying to cope with everyday survival; eventually this type lose their heads and their reactions become unconscious and involuntary.
This happens especially in the case of accidents. The fundamental beliefs that shape their existence are shaken; an unexpected or intense event will disorient them and destroy their sense of perspective. They don’t know anymore what they should do; shell-shocked, they stare at the remains of what used to be their perfect, infallible world: they become crippled or else react instinctively. If we find ourselves in this situation, we should try to get some rest, distance ourselves from the causes, and give the psyche a chance to restore its balance. Sometimes this approach can help neutralize the shock and replace it with a more positive perspective.
People in a pronounced Rock Rose condition need outside guidance, at least in the short term. They cannot deal with everyday problems and need the opportunity to withdraw into themselves and find a new starting point for their lives. In extreme cases, medication that can forcefully break through the pathological mental and emotional block is called for. As a rule, we should try to avoid such drastic situations, but we can use the little surprises and disappointments of everyday life to strengthen our flexibility, presence of mind, and sense of security. The basis for this is being open to experience and developing an acceptance of fate. If we have no expectations, we can’t be disappointed; if we can accept and express our feelings, we can’t be overwhelmed by them; and when we can face our fears, anxieties, and weaknesses, we cannot fall prey to them. When we can adopt a playful, open sense of life, we will never be overcome by it.
In order to reach this attitude, we must always make it clear to ourselves that, in the end, we cannot plan our lives and we cannot control or comprehend all of its complexities. We have no power over our own fate, and we actually comprehend very little of the secrets of our existence. We can believe, however, that there is a guiding force (such as God) that creates and guides those mysteries that we don’t comprehend as well as those things that daily fill us with wonder, gratitude, and awe.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Agrimony (1/26): lack of feeling resulting from panic
Aspen (2/26): extreme anxiety-related panic
Cherry Plum (6/26): panic with the danger of losing the rational faculties
Clematis (9/26): tendency to lose consciousness with panic
Elm (11/26): panic accompanied by stress
Impatiens (18/26): driven behavior caused by panic
Mimulus (20/26): anxiety with a tendency toward panic
Scleranthus (26/28): unable to function when in a panic
Star of Bethlehem (26/29): psychic shock caused by panic
Sweet Chestnut (26/30): desperation caused by panic and fear
27: Rock Water (water from a rock spring with the power of the Sun)
Characteristics
Rock Water is for people who are too hard on themselves or have a tendency toward self-castigation.
AREA OF USE
Rock Water is used to treat ascetic, martyrlike behavior, excessive self-discipline and self-control, self-abuse with lack of joy, self-torment, compulsive fanaticism and dogmatism, and fear of emotions. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to obsessive/compulsive behavior or self-abuse. In daily life, used to treat excessive self-discipline, excessive need for planning and control, fanatical dieting, self-imposed self-denial, and strictness with oneself.
Causes and Symptoms of Rock Water Syndrome
This condition is introverted and is characterized by rationality, idealism, and a need for inner discipline. Harmoniously developed, the Rock Water type has enormous self-discipline and a highly developed sense of morals. She makes great, idealistically tinged demands of herself and sticks to them long after others have given up. She’s reliable, but she never relies on herself. She can never be talked into something that she doesn’t believe in. Although she never makes compromises with herself, she is forbearing and tolerant of others. She would never demand of anyone that they adopt her attitudes or fulfill her demands, because her philosophy is very personal and subjective and she accepts that each of us should follow his own path. She is, however, always aware of the responsibility that we all carry in that we should serve as examples for others; she strives unobtrusively to make herself a positive role model as a way of serving humanity. She is often seen as a symbol that even in today’s corrupt, self-centered world there is room for pure ideals and a strong spirit. She gives those around her the courage to stay true to themselves.
Unfavorably developed, her life-affirming, understanding idealism can turn into dogmatic, alienated thinking, and she can lose her flexibility. Her inborn self-centeredness allows her to withdraw from her surroundings and suppress her natural feelings while masking them with an uncompromising rationality. The result is a dogmatic, introverted idealism that leads to an excessive sense of self-discipline. In this condition, the Rock Water type is unable to react flexibly and effectively to life’s intensity, mutability, and contradictions. The stronger her feelings, the more rigorously she tries to suppress them; in doing so, she does not recoil from self-castigation or self-torment, as we know from certain “holy” people in their battle against sexual temptation. The typical Rock Water type strives to replace a less-than-perfect reality with an ideal and perfect inner world, and she tries to ward off life’s uncomfortable unpredictability by sticking to a very rational and strictly held regime. She uses such methods as exact scheduling of her days, a strict diet or exercise regime, or religious or ideological dogmas. She is welcome wherever idealistic or morally oriented denial, self-denial, or martyrdom are practiced, such as in religious or ideological cults. Naturally, there are physical consequences to her behavior—tension and stress, which above all affect the musculature (in conditions such as rheumatism), the circulatory system (degeneration and calcification), the liver and gallbladder (infections, stones), and sexual dysfunction.
The Effects of Rock Water
Rock Water is the essence used to treat self-denial and self-rejection. It frees us from inflexible self-discipline, makes us more open to our own feelings, and promotes mental flexibility and a carefree, positive attitude. It also works against tension and hardening due to excessive self-control. Rock Water is a primal healing essence. This invisible essence from pure, pristine rock springs loaded with energy from the Sun is the elixir of life of the Bach essences because it removes self-destructive, life-negating tendencies and fosters a positive, constructive joy in life. It represents the life-affirming and sustaining principle of natural water.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Because the Rock Water type cannot come to terms with the variety of life, she tries to grapple with it by painting everything in black and white; because her feelings make her weak and susceptible to all kinds of influences and bring her into conflict with the strong need for a clear, regulated life, she suppresses these inclinations through her dogmatism. She treats herself harshly and rationally, like a stern father keeping his children in control, in order to keep her irrational impulses in check. And there is also a somewhat romantic element in her behavior, in that she has an inclination to have “noble” interests, such as ecology, natural medicine, spirituality, and religion. The Rock Water type’s strict idealism, however noble its intentions, is nonetheless pathological and pathogenic because she tries to make the world fit into an arbitrary scheme. She tries with great force of will to realize her theoretical and often alienating ideas, but she is unable to live her life naturally, truthfully, and happily (which is to say, she is unable to live life as it really is; at times, she can be very depressed.
Rock Water behavior is very self-centered but still exerts a certain effect on other people, not just because of the Rock Water type’s inability to compromise but also because of her inborn tendency toward self-negation, which is often taken as being superhuman. Life-negating misanthropes or self-tormenting ascetics are often mistaken for holy people. Actually, however, the true holy person is at peace with herself, modest, and content. She lives an unusual life, not out of some kind of unnatural inner compulsion or obsession but because she stays true to herself and realizes what lies within her and what she is suited for. Her mode of living is so exemplary and so rare that we can’t help but marvel at it; because of the truth that it expresses, we call it holy. “Holy” in this case means “leading to salvation or redemption.” While a true holy person would never want to be “holy” in this sense, the Rock Water type has this tendency.
The solution to this problem can be found in the very thing that created the Rock Water essence. The rock springs deep in the earth correspond to the deep recesses of the human subconscious; the water accumulates in clear rock pools, which correspond to rational thought and the process of becoming conscious. Finally, the water is energized with the power of the Sun, which corresponds to the eternal divine, godlike spirit. Even if we rely too heavily on our conscious selves, we can still be happy and healthy. We should take seriously our feelings, inspirations, and intuitions, which arise from the depths of our soul, and put them into a clear, meaningful order and charge them with inspiration.
If the Rock Water type dares to acknowledge her feelings, and if she can allow herself to take life as it comes to her, she can shed her fears and lead a free and natural life. Then she can begin to recognize any ultimate truths and validate her efforts. Reason can be manipulated and programmed, but the heart is incorruptible: it gives us the answer to our question according to the right and the good, which, in any case, does not lie in compulsive ideals, dogma, or rules. Its language is so simple that anyone can understand it; it is the direct, primitive, and often “immoral” joy of living against which the Rock Water type fights so intensely and vainly
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Aspen (2/27): anxiety-induced self-abuse
Beech (3/27): generosity with others and strictness with oneself
Cerato (5/27): mental dependence and self-abuse
Cherry Plum (6/27): psychic consequences of severe self-denial
Crab Apple (10/27): excessive cleanliness and discipline
Oak (22/27): self-tormenting desire to achieve
Pine (24/27): compulsive perfectionism
Vine (27/32): strict personality
Water Violet (27/34): fleeing from the world and self-castigation
Wild Oat (27/36): self-castigation as a replacement for a purpose in life
28: Scleranthus
Characteristics
Scleranthus is for people who have difficulties making decisions.
AREA OF USE
Scleranthus is used as the basic treatment for indecisiveness, inconsistency, instability, inner turmoil, erratic and unreliable behavior, lack of concentration, and illnesses with changeable symptoms. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to indecisiveness or mutability. In daily life, used to treat scatterbrained behavior, indecisiveness, absentmindedness, distracted behavior, moodiness, and lack of concentration.
Causes and Symptoms of Scleranthus Syndrome
This condition is characterized by an open, curious, and flexible mind. Harmoniously developed, the Scleranthus type is mentally flexible and has diverse interests. Because he can see both the positive and negative sides to everything, he can never act unjustifiably or out of a one-sided, closed-minded motivation. His ability to view the positive aspects of even the most gloomy events allows him to take everything in stride. He is not easily shaken or frightened. His uncomplicated, tolerant manner, his nonjudgmental understanding for everything that life throws at him, and his accepting, comprehensive worldview make him a popular and entertaining companion who serves as living proof that things are not so bad. He makes decisions easily, with his playful lightness and sense of security. He is more open and less apt to judge harshly and has more of a talent for seeing the “big picture” than most other people, and is not handicapped by preconceptions. He can adapt to changing circumstances and alter his priorities for action at any time. If necessary, he can reevaluate his decisions from one day to the next, without fretting about it for a long time.
Unfavorably developed, this mental eclecticism can lead to inner turmoil and a general inability to make decisions. This inclination can run so deeply that both conscious and unconscious actions and reactions can become muddled and confused and the instinctive sense of security that is so important in shaping our lives can take a backseat to indecisiveness. Every action must be preceded by a clear decision, whether it is conscious or unconscious.
The unfavorably developed Scleranthus type is unable to make decisions quickly and sensibly. He finds himself constantly plagued by the tension between the many (often contradictory) aspects that he (almost against his will) discovers in everything, and he is tormented by the prospect of making a one-sided, biased decision. His diverse interests often compel him to undertake several projects at once, which he can only partially complete; this becomes another source of frustration. He should be aware that for him “less is more.”
The Scleranthus type is easily distracted and finds it difficult to concentrate on one thought or act; new ideas are coming to him all the time. A venture begun will soon become boring to him; while he’s working on one project, he’s already thinking about the next one or even shifting his thoughts back and forth among several subjects. This jumble in his head can lead to an inability to think clearly, absentmindedness, muddleheadedness, flightiness, or problems with concentration.
The Scleranthus condition, marked by a mental block or inner chaos, also arises in normal people when they have to make decisions under pressure, for example, during examinations. When this happens, the wealth of knowledge either gets mashed into a muddled mess or the fear of failure prevents an orderly train of thought. The physical symptoms of Scleranthus syndrome are constantly changing symptoms or ailments that move about the body, fluctuating temperature, mood swings, vague symptoms, and relapses during convalescence.
The Effects of Scleranthus
Scleranthus is the essence used to treat indecisiveness. It brings about a certain mental clarity and consistency, is effective against erratic behavior and mental conflict, and improves the abilities for decision making and concentration. Scleranthus is often helpful for illnesses with incompatible or seemingly inappropriate symptoms.
Psychotherapeutic Note s
Making a decision means being content with that decision. Only when we are content to choose from myriad possibilities can we make a decision. The Scleranthus type, who has difficulty making decisions, needs to learn the conscious practice of contentment. This natural contentment does not consist of a willingness to stunt ourselves or ask for less than we feel we deserve, as in the case of moral contentment, but, quite the contrary, in consciously demanding the best and pushing the rest aside. (The “best” has less to do with material advantages than with anything that can be of value for the spirit.) Natural contentment is an element of coping with life in a conscious, healthy manner; moralistic contentment, on the other hand, is a false contentment, averse to life, because life never voluntarily denies itself what it needs. At most, it can be useful to survival in a society of people obsessed with possessions and power.
The Scleranthus type’s indecisiveness can be overcome when he learns to consciously set priorities. This means making the most appropriate choices from a plethora of possibilities and, for the time being, putting everything else aside. He should be aware of where his psyche, with the help of his emotions and inspirations, will lead him. His survival instinct will serve him better and more clearly than his more rational, conditioned, learned responses. Some Scleranthus types try to overcome their indecisiveness by making totally arbitrary decisions, which they cannot truly stand behind. In doing this, they attack the problem only superficially and strengthen it internally, because they lack the motivation to learn discipline in shaping their lives. For Scleranthus types, there are only momentary solutions, not permanent ones. Because his life’s path runs a zigzag course, he should try to keep his detours to a minimum, while continually living for the moment and adjusting his strategy for action to the ever changing conditions of life.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Aspen (2/28): indecisiveness due to vague fears
Cerato (5/28): insecurity with difficulties in decision making
Chestnut Bud (7/28): learning difficulties due to distractedness
Clematis (9/28): indecisiveness due to daydreaming
Gentian (12/28): relapses during recovery from an illness
Impatiens (18/28): erratic and impatient
Mimulus (20/28): indecisiveness stemming from anxiety
Mustard (21/28): constant mood swings
Rock Rose (26/28): inability to act due to panic
Wild Oat (28/36): inner turmoil and life crisis
29: Star of Bethlehem
Characteristics
Star of Bethlehem is for people who do not have the strength to bear unhappy situations or devastating experiences.
AREA OF USE
Star of Bethlehem is used for basic treatment of unprocessed or unresolved psychic or physical trauma, seemingly unbearable life situations, inability to forget or let go, neuroses, and consequences of accidents. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to injuries or psychic trauma and shock. In daily life, used to treat unhappiness, grief, nightmares, psychic shock, excessive need for comfort, and injuries.
Causes and Symptoms of Star of Bethlehem Syndrome
This condition is characterized by a great sensitivity and a tendency to be easily influenced, a good memory, and a strong need for happiness and a perfect world that cannot be fulfilled owing to a lack of strength. Harmoniously developed, the Star of Bethlehem type is sensitive, open, and happy with her life and has a good instinct for avoiding anything that might hurt her. To this end, her unusually good memory is most useful, with the help of which she always remembers exactly if certain life conditions or behavioral patterns have pleasant or unpleasant results. This incessant caution regarding everything that can cause her sadness is unavoidable for her because her extreme sensitivity makes her suffer with any negative experiences. In addition to this outer protection, she also has an inner security that allows her to accept her fate. Because of her instinctive sensitivity, she has the ability to find an element that is right and good in everything that happens so that she doesn’t suffer. She is the kind of person who calmly feels joy from her life by carefully putting all difficulties aside; in keeping a positive attitude, she can take the sting out of misery.
Unfavorably developed, which means under the influence of unbearable circumstances or a sudden, terrible experience, this sensitivity can turn into a heightened sensitivity that is the source of sorrow. The superior memory of the Star of Bethlehem type can cause her torment (this, by the way, can even occur in individuals who are psychically robust). The following symptoms illustrate Star of Bethlehem syndrome: inconsolable grief, nightmares, depressive moods, and fears or behavioral disorders related to unhappy circumstances or a traumatic event. Anyone in this condition has more or less lost the ability to have a positive attitude and the ability to focus on the future—she can think only about his misfortune. There are also people who cannot overcome a serious loss or a disappointment in love or whose lives have taken a sudden, radical turn for the worse owing to a catastrophe or who have experienced the shattering of an illusion on which their whole existence has depended or whose lives are simply miserable. They often give the impression that they have reached the low point and that their minds are fixated on the negative. It is evident to an observer that they have bottomed out.
The Effects of Star of Bethlehem
Star of Bethlehem is the great mind-altering essence if a deep and far-reaching process of awakening the consciousness is indicated. It is useful in overcoming psychic or physical trauma (or accidents) and can improve neurotic behavioral disorders. It helps us bear the burden of heavy life situations or work through terrible shocks. Nightmares are a special indication. We should always use Star of Bethlehem when we have the feeling that the process of recovery is being blocked for some unknown reason. It is one of the most important essences used in cancer treatment because cancer is often triggered by severe psychological trauma, and it cannot be brought into check without first healing the trauma (discovered by Dr. R. G. Hamer). The shock resulting from a cancer diagnosis is especially dangerous since, in their ignorance, most patients take it to be the same as a death sentence. Only the most stable individuals can overcome such a trauma, but the typical Star of Bethlehem type is shattered by such news and dies, in the end, not from the cancer itself but from the shock of receiving the diagnosis.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Humans have a consciousness that separates us from all other living creatures and that follows a general principle of growth: substances or energy is consumed, changed according to need, and made to fit into the existing structure in an appropriate form. While the body metabolizes material in a complex process of selection, purification, and metamorphosis, the spirit assimilates psychic material—information, impressions, and knowledge— and puts it through a complicated metamorphosis. The result is the so-called expanding consciousness, which distinguishes us as conscious beings.
It is notable in this process of assimilation that not just what we take in (nutrition, information) but also the system that absorbs it undergoes a change. We really are what we eat. Just as food has an influence on the makeup of the body, the quality of the spiritual and mental material processed has an influence on a person’s consciousness. The “nutrients” we receive are thus of prime importance to our mental and emotional growth. Raw, primitive, or intolerable influences affect us just as much as refined or humane ones. Depending on our upbringing, we can have a healthy, vital, naturally self-affirming spirit and be able to deal with life, or we can have an anxious, neurotic, and self-negating spirit.
Even the “digestibility” of what we absorb is important in this connection. If the food is too heavy, it drains the organism of strength or damages it; if it is too light, it will be easily consumed, but the organism cannot do much with it and does not derive much sustenance. The spirit needs appropriate stimuli that it can easily tolerate and process but that can also provide nourishment. If we are healthy, we look for tasks, themes, or problems that will serve to expand our knowledge or horizons. On the other hand, we can opt for lightweight, insubstantial fare that goes down easily but leaves us feeling empty and causes our mental faculties to atrophy.
Another factor plays a key role in mental and physical sustenance. If we hastily wolf down our food, if we don’t chew thoroughly or don’t take time to taste and enjoy our food, we don’t derive any nutritional benefits. Accordingly, our consciousness also develops insufficiently, and we become frustrated and, finally, psychosomatically ill, if we will not pay attention positively and honestly to that which we need to feed our conscious selves.
The Star of Bethlehem syndrome is, to a certain extent, a spiritual digestive problem. Our “life’s food” is too rich for the overly sensitive “psychic digestive tract” with which the pampered Star of Bethlehem type is equipped. She cannot get over the shock, the terror, the loss, the pain, the sorrow, the fateful blow; she can derive no psychic strength and cannot grow. She just sits, moaning and groaning in the corner, bemoaning her aching body and its failing functions. She can think only of the indigestible chunks fate has thrust down her throat.
In other words, anyone who finds herself with Star of Bethlehem syndrome has not experienced enough conflict in this life, has ignored the messages sent to teach her, and has neglected the abilities of her intellect and the quality of her spirit. She cannot digest the heavy fare that fate has served up for her, and this impedes her development. Unexpected events can take on a devastating character for her, and unhappy life circumstances are simply unbearable.
People with a sensitive and open demeanor and the good memory of the Star of Bethlehem type can defend themselves only with difficulty against harmful influences. They are like soft wax in which life effortlessly puts its stamp. Fate often leaves behind such clear marks in the psyche that if outside help is not available (in the form of therapy or a compensating positive experience), such people are always scarred by them. Star of Bethlehem types can naturally not recognize that such afflictions are actually signs that the spirit is trying to shake things up and find a new way of living; our psyche allows to rise to the surface only those things for which we are mentally and emotionally ready. The fact that a problem is cropping up in our lives means that we must face it; otherwise our spiritual development will be retarded.
If we are spiritually overwrought and blocked, we should try to free ourselves from this blockage so that no lasting neuroses or relationship problems remain. In general, these problems can be troubled family relationships, unhappy marriages, or humiliating or frustrating work situations. Help is relatively useless if we can’t learn to come to terms with life and its surprises. We should always strive for honesty with ourselves and a clear-eyed attentiveness for the truth and be ready to look at fate in a positive light. The Star of Bethlehem type should try to consciously face everything that she finds disturbing or shocking. At least, she can practice on the little, relatively harmless shocks of everyday life.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Agrimony (1/29): spiritual wounds behind a happy mask
Aspen (2/29): spiritual injury due to fear
Cerato (5/29): insecurity caused by a shocking experience
Cherry Plum (6/29): psychosis due to spiritual injury
Clematis (9/29): unconsciousness prompted by shocking experiences
Crab Apple (10/29): pathological loathing
Elm (11/29): breakdown caused by a spiritual shock
Gentian (12/29): weak will as the result of psychic trauma
Holly (15/29): aggression due to spiritual distress
Honeysuckle (16/29): unresolved loss
Larch (19/29): loss of self-confidence from spiritual trauma
Mimulus (20/29): anxiety due to psychic trauma
Mustard (21/29): depression caused by psychic trauma
Olive (23/29): lack of spiritual resistance due to exhaustion
Pine (24/29): unprocessed (unresolved) guilty trauma
Red Chestnut (25/29): excessive worries as the result of negative experiences
Rock Rose (26/29): psychic devastation and panic
Sweet Chestnut (29/30): despair caused by psychic devastation
Walnut (29/33): lack of resistance against (or caused by) psychic trauma
Water Violet (29/34): human contact problems stemming from spiritual trauma
White Chestnut (29/35): traumatic compulsive thoughts
Willow (29/38): bitterness caused by unprocessed or unresolved trauma
30: Sweet Chestnut
Characteristics
Sweet Chestnut is for people who are in total despair and stand on the verge of a breakdown.
AREA OF USE
Sweet Chestnut is used for the basic treatment of desperation, mental anguish, extreme depression, acute hopelessness, extreme spiritual suffering, and mental or physical breakdown. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to desperation. In daily life, Sweet Chestnut is seldom needed—only if we are at the end of our rope and don’t know how to proceed.
Causes and Symptoms of Sweet Chestnut Syndrome
This condition is characterized by a great inner strength, self-responsibility, and the ability to suffer consciously. Harmoniously developed, the Sweet Chestnut type is independent, possesses an inner strength, and is up to meeting life’s challenges. He doesn’t avoid problems but sees them as a kind of personal test and an opportunity for mental and spiritual growth. He is sure to drain the bitter cup that life has offered him without falling to pieces. He is convinced that any life is essentially good and that even the pains and sorrows that life sends his way also serve to make him better. He knows that the spirit cannot be lost or defeated and that we are never faced with a test that is beyond our ability to pass (even though we may be pushed to our limits or lose our physical lives).
Unfavorably developed, the inner strength of the Sweet Chestnut type can turn into a pigheaded, arrogant inflexibility that puts him in a power struggle with his fate. Because this is a battle he cannot win, he becomes mired in a senseless and stubborn resistance to reality that takes him to the limits of his mental and emotional powers and leaves him desperate. It’s as if he were in a trap from which there is no escape, and he feels that his next move—if he is even able to make it—will inevitably lead him to a breakdown or to his own destruction. He can’t think anymore, can’t feel anymore, can’t act anymore, and waits like a mountain climber who—in the literal and figurative sense of the word—has gone too far and for whom there is no more forward or backward, only the final fall to the end, in which he sees a possible solution.
The Effects of Sweet Chestnut
Sweet Chestnut is the essence used against total desperation. It is a type of mental “softener” and enables us to release our resistance and our reservations in dealing with reality. It gives us an acceptable perspective to go on living and lets us find a way out of a seemingly hopeless situation. Once more optimistic, realistic, and more human, the Sweet Chestnut type can let go of his weaknesses and leave himself trustingly in the hands of fate. Sweet Chestnut can also be tried when the body is in an extreme state of reactive rigidity.
The basic theme of the Sweet Chestnut type is that of “conscious suffering.” This does not mean inflicting on oneself a masochistic form of suffering or strengthening sorrows that already exist. It does mean, however, being clear with ourselves that we are suffering, why we are suffering, and that we are not entirely innocent. Most of us tend to shy away from this view because then we obligate ourselves to do something about our suffering, and this makes it impossible to act as if we are powerless to do anything. All of us, through either our behavior or our attitudes, contribute to our own misery. Suffering comes about essentially when we try to resist reality and want to have things other than the way they really are. If we understand conscious suffering, we can prevent extreme suffering by dealing attentively with our fate and our feelings, by correcting negative developments when they first arise, and by resolutely battling unhappiness.
Our life is like a line that travels in a zigzag path running between various life-determining poles. Our psyche wants to maintain its inner balance and reacts to every deviation from the personal ideal with a respective countermovement. It compels us, at the sign of frustrations, not just to correct life’s constant little irregularities but also to mount an extreme counterreaction in the case of serious deviations.
Sweet Chestnut types are always faced with the dichotomy between strength and weakness and between fighting and giving up. They normally face their problems bravely and take them as personal tests; they fight earnestly against the difficulties and challenges of their fate. On occasion, they go too far and forget that fate, like a good-natured father with his child, only enters into the struggle playfully, in order to call forth the child’s strengths and abilities. When the child (in this case the Sweet Chestnut type) tries too seriously or too stubbornly to oppose an unalterable reality, he learns who the master is, and his arrogant strength is transformed into extreme weakness and pushes him to the limits of sorrow.
Instinctively, we realize that we have brought about this situation ourselves. In truth, behind this behavior is a searching question: “Who are you, God? I challenge you to acknowledge me!” This question is an essential one for Sweet Chestnut types, who always have their lives in control because they have lost their elemental awareness that they are merely creatures and weak humans. In other words, the more inflexibly we behave and the more forcefully we refuse to accept that which fate offers us, the more deeply our soul compels us to the extreme limits in order to make us conscious of our own human pettiness and weaknesses. In the desperation of the Sweet Chestnut syndrome, we finally recognize the existence of “God”—and often so absolutely that we are not even capable of pleading or prayer. We are unable to take charge of our lives and are aware of our unconditional helplessness and absolute insignificance. The final solution lies in death or purification.
In principle, any of us could find ourselves in this situation; it occurs more commonly, however, in those with the symptoms described here. When this condition appears, reasonable words and advice do not help very much, because we are acting with an infantile helplessness. At best, the proper medication (Bach flowers and homeopathy) can bring about a rapid improvement under the right conditions; otherwise, we must—guardedly— wait until our psyche has found its way back to its normal condition.
We can avoid the Sweet Chestnut syndrome by paying attention to the warning signs, which our spirit offers us in the form of minor, frustrating losses or defeats. With its help, we can correct our inner behavior or external conditions. We can learn flexibility when we recognize that our plans are unrealistic; we can learn tractability when we cannot realize our desires; and we can learn to accept fate when things are not going well for us and to accept God when we have hit bottom.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Cherry Plum (6/30): desperation due to emotional stress
Elm (11/30): desperation caused by overexertion
Gorse (13/30): absolutely hopeless desperation
Rock Rose (26/30): desperation due to panicky fear and anxiety
Star of Bethlehem (29/30): desperation due to a mental or emotional shock
31: Vervain
Characteristics
Vervain is for people who burden others with their convictions and missionary zeal.
AREA OF USE
Vervain is used for the basic treatment of missionary tendencies, intolerant idealism, a need to improve the world, fixed ideas, inflexible beliefs and convictions, fanaticism, and blindly zealous beliefs. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to excessive zeal or missionary tendencies that are pushy or insistent. In daily life, used to treat pushiness, excessive enthusiasm, one-sidedness, preconceptions, lack of a sense of proportion, stress, nervousness, and tension.
Causes and Symptoms of Vervain Syndrome
This condition is characterized by extroversion and consists of a humane sense of idealism, goal-oriented thinking, strength of will, and a need to dominate. Harmoniously developed, the Vervain type is an enthusiastic, can-do idealist who gladly places her talents and knowledge in the service of others. She has a view for what those around her need and is always ready to help them. Her selflessness is combined with an ambitious, active spirit and a strong will—thus she can achieve remarkable results where the wellbeing of others is concerned. Because she wishes for things to go well for those around her, it never occurs to her to impose her own opinions on them, to convert them to her way of thinking, or to place them in a kind of mental yoke. She is inspired to put her personal sense of mission into action. She feels “called” and sent to share her riches with those in need and to bring them what they need for body and soul, while taking care not to force upon them anything that will be harmful.
Unfavorably developed, her idealism can turn into intolerance, her readiness to help can change to a need to impose her will on others, and her natural superiority can become dominance, which turns the Vervain type into an intolerant do-gooder or a fanatical missionary. By nature oriented toward success and driven by a sense of mission, she can lose her feeling for the uniqueness and worth of other people; she cannot stop herself from barging uninvited into the lives of others or imposing on them what she feels is best for them. She interferes exactly because she has the best intentions, and many will rightly find her to be imposing, intolerant, or fanatical. Even when she is physically not robust, she can still mobilize an unusually great amount of strength to carry out her obsession with an idea or a mission. She is restless and undeterred, and she has a wonderful capacity for dedication and concentration when it comes to reaching her goals. She is helpless against life’s diversity and mutability, however, and finds it difficult to direct her energies toward determining whether her ideas and intentions are realizable and sensible. Above all, she can become especially captivated by lofty moral values. When she loses the appropriate sense of proportion, she pursues a goal that she has set for herself like someone obsessed or tries to follow with missionary zeal what she takes to be the right path. This attitude creates an imbalance: there is more in the world than what the Vervain type thinks or feels is right. Reality has its own rules, and there are those who resist having someone else’s form of “happiness” imposed upon them. Thus, all the energy she has gathered becomes directed at herself, and she becomes rushed, tense, sleepless, or stressed, without noticing how fanatical, pushy, or intolerant she has become.
The Effects of Vervain
Vervain is the essence used to treat stress-related, missionary overzealous-ness. It helps us respect the attitudes of others and allows us to let them live happily in their own manner. It broadens our horizons and brings about the realization that we do not have a monopoly on the truth. At the same time, it prevents zeal and enthusiasm from becoming ends in themselves and creating a source of stress. In appropriate cases, it works against nervous tension, insomnia, high blood pressure, or tension and can help initiate a healing relaxation phase in the case of overwork and overexertion or stress on the sympathetic nervous system.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
The problem of the Vervain type lies in her greatest virtue, her idealistic enthusiasm for helping, when it grows out of control and becomes superficial. In this case, our culture, which is predominately devoid of meaning, is responsible, for it does not allow us to be brought up to find ourselves and develop our own sense of the truth (truth not in the moral sense but in the sense of things as they truly are). Having failed in this regard, our society does not allow us to channel our energies in a meaningful manner. In any case, the Vervain type should become clear about the meaning of idealism and helping.
“Ideals” are essentially the creations of a dissatisfied psyche. When life does not offer us what we expect or desire, we often try to replace it with a better, made-up substitute—through a fantasy image in which we fill in only a one-sided version of what seems pleasant and good to us. All of the things we take to be negative or unhappy are left out. This fantasy is constituted of true and untrue elements, and if we take the end result for what it is (a theoretical model), it can enrich us psychologically, lend a little color to life, and nourish the tendencies that lead us on our life’s path. We make a mistake if we follow and accept this false image uncritically, since only a part of it jibes with reality. In the depths of our being, we become even more discontent and enter into an even greater conflict with our less-than-perfect life, which we—despite our wishes—can lead only once.
While the ideals that we apply to ourselves do possess a certain amount of flexibility and our psyche tries to adapt to a certain degree to match reality, any ideal that we try to impose on others will lack this regulating element. Such ideas are largely theoretical because they arise predominately from our reason and often make us hard and intolerant. This is especially true (and often with disastrous effects) in education or politics, where such ideas can become dogmas. While the Vervain type acts with the best of intentions, her actions have harmful consequences for the “victims” (those she’s trying to help). She’s convinced that what is good for her is good for everyone else and judges the value and appropriateness of her actions in terms of whether they make her happy, not those that she’s trying to help.
She overestimates the value of her own convictions, ideals, and goals because she mistakes them for reality; she underestimates the uniqueness and “otherness” of other people because she closes herself off to them; and she exaggerates her ability to do good deeds because her ideas and desires obscure her clear vision. Her limited view leads her to intolerance. She believes that helping consists of solving problems for other people, and she thinks that anything she wants must be desirable for others as well. Her great enthusiasm and active nature compel her to impose her advice and help on others. She never thinks that someone might need and be looking for something else, and it never occurs to her that help given too hastily and without forethought might be more harmful than helpful because it deprives the “helpless” of the chance to help themselves and thereby make themselves stronger.
In addition, she hurts herself because, carried away with her own strength and enthusiasm, she cannot read the multifarious internal and external signals that her busy, overworked body sends in the form of stress symptoms. It’s important for her to be cool and composed, to gain a little distance (especially from herself) and concentrate on her positive aspects— her selfless enthusiasm and her pure motives. Once she does this, she can use her considerable powers of concentration and achievement sensibly and appropriately.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Holly (15/31): the irritable do-gooder
Impatiens (18/31): stress and agitation
Oak (22/31): stress due to a compulsion for overwork
Vine (31/32): totally intolerant behavior
White Chestnut (31/35): fixed ideas
32: Vine
Characteristics
Vine is for self-confident, intolerant people who want others to march to their tune.
AREA OF USE
Vine is used for the basic treatment of obstinacy, intolerance, inflexible convictions, a need to dominate, dogmatism, and fanaticism. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to mental inflexibility or intolerant domination and a need to impose one’s will. In daily life, used to treat pedantry, superiority (the know-it-all), dominating behavior, mental inflexibility, the perpetual teacher, and the domestic tyrant.
Causes and Symptoms of Vine Syndrome
This condition is extroverted and consists of self-confidence, very structured thinking, and a need to dominate others. Harmoniously developed, the Vine type is self-assured, has good judgment, and is up to tackling any problem. Because he always knows a solution, never feels desperate, and gladly places his knowledge at the service of others, he is an ideal and highly esteemed adviser. He has the ability to reduce problems to a few key factors, which goes a long way toward restraining desperation or insecurity. He also avoids trying to force his opinions on others because he knows his own limits. In whatever position he finds himself—teacher or head of a family, philosopher or statesman, priest or soldier—those around him inevitably yield to him and appoint him to a leadership position, which he assumes skillfully and convincingly. His self-assured convictions, his finely tuned sense of responsibility, and his clear and orderly mind are blessings in emergencies and catastrophes; he never loses his head and always knows how things must turn out.
Unfavorably developed, his clear opinion can turn into an obstinate dogmatism, his love of order can change to intolerance, and his readiness to help can become a need to dominate. In this situation, the Vine type takes himself to be exemplary or without fault and tries with great intolerance to force his own opinions on others. Sometimes his abilities to act in a goal-oriented, uncompromising manner turn into a small-minded thoughtlessness, making life difficult for those around him—whether he is a pedantic boss or small-minded teacher, a fanatical slave driver or a leader without compassion, a pigheaded policeman or an intolerant ideologue, or a petty, compulsive, domestic tyrant. Anything he cannot have, others should not be able to have either. Because he has a great need for clearly defined relationships, he always makes sure to keep “order” or “do the right thing.” Disorder, lack of clarity, or chaos make him profoundly insecure and lead to obstinate, blind thinking. In their less blatant forms, the Vine tendencies can also manifest as excessive love of order, small-mindedness, a need to impose one’s will on others, an inability to accept other points of view, narrow-mindedness, mental inflexibility, dogmatism, intolerant self-righteousness, or compulsive thinking.
The Effects of Vine
Vine is the essence used to treat intolerance. It promotes mental flexibility and the ability to learn and acquire new knowledge, and it breaks down pettiness and fanatical obstinacy. It frees us from the compulsion of blind convictions or dogmatic thoughts, makes us more tolerant, open-minded, kinder, and happier. It loosens up excessive discipline, releases tension, and works against all illnesses related to an insufficient inner flexibility and tractability, such as calcification (hardening of the arteries) or high blood pressure.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Humanity can be divided into many categories, among them leaders and followers. While those who will be led always have a sense of powerlessness or helplessness and feel that they are merely small cogs in a very big machine, those who lead are filled with a sense of personal responsibility and believe that their lives, or even the well-being of humankind, depend upon their actions. Vine types belong to this category. They cannot live their lives passively, cannot simply sit back and allow themselves to be guided; they must always have their hands on the wheel and attempt to shape the world to fit their way of thinking. The passive and active approaches to life are equal, complementary opposites. What would become of a leader without his followers, and vice versa? How can an active impulse be put into play without a corresponding passive act of giving way, or an act of devotion without a corresponding act of receiving? We all carry such contradictory impulses and attributes within us; today we must be active and tomorrow passive, here we must take and there we must receive, and on and on in a constant flux, according to the circumstances.
In order to be physically and spiritually healthy, we must realize our potentials and inclinations as fully as we are able. This means that we must be true to our natures. A sensitive, shy person should not be a robust daredevil, and an active, thick-skinned, practical person will never become a sensitive aesthete. The same applies to social behavior: anyone who does not feel called to serve his fellow human beings should preferably follow more egotistical, “taking” pursuits, while anyone who is born to be a warrior should take care not to be a caretaker. All such predispositions have their justifications (precisely because they exist) and can exist only in the presence of their complements. It is this interplay that ensures the existence of our world.
The problem of the Vine type is not the predisposition in itself, but the extent to which and the manner in which it manifests. As long as he comes into conflict neither with himself nor with his environment, he behaves properly. His strength of will, his clear thinking, and his tendency to impose his will, give commands, or lead can be true blessings, especially in emergencies or times of need; he helps keep order and gets done those things that need to be done. There are situations in which the good of the community depends upon concentration, the unwillingness to compromise, and the strength of will of its leader. In daily life—in the family, in relationships, in management, in politics, and in intellectual life—the stabilizing influence and leadership qualities of the Vine type are useful.
When the self-confident leadership qualities get the upper hand, however, they can squelch the Vine type’s ability to compromise and cause him to become intolerant of and ignore the needs of others or to act arbitrarily and without justification; the condition becomes pathological and pathogenic. Sensible and even necessary in chaotic situations, such behavior in daily life is unhealthy and, when it becomes a habit, makes the Vine type unable to live flexibly and sensibly. When he becomes conscious of his strengths, he can prevent them from becoming weaknesses that will cause unhappiness that can destroy his own life and the lives of others, leading him to social isolation.
The physical symptoms accompanying such a condition—high blood pressure, degeneration of the joints, liver dysfunction, calcification—are all warning signs. His mission is clear—to be an upstanding, incorruptible, self-critical master teacher or leader who can simplify problems and make them solvable, convey his convictions and act as a negotiator, and find new ways so that he may show others. He can do all of this only if he is asked and if he is needed.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Beech (3/32): total intolerance
Crab Apple (10/32): petty fanaticism for cleanliness
Holly (15/32): rage caused by opposition or errors
Oak (22/32): dogmatic compulsion to achieve
Rock Water (27/32): strict personality
Vervain (31/32): absolutely intolerant behavior
White Chestnut (32/35): compulsive dogmatism
Willow (32/38): embittered domestic tyrant
33: Walnut
Characteristics
Walnut is for people who are too easily influenced or who need more stability in a personal crisis.
AREA OF USE
Walnut is used as the treatment for weak personality, lack of self-assertiveness, sensitivity to outside influences, personal crises, lack of self-confidence, excessive need to conform, changes in life, dependence, puberty, menopause, teething (or losing the first teeth), death, and birth. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to physical or emotional defenses or a lack of inner stability. In daily life, used to combat being too easily influenced, frailness, a trusting innocence, and bad habits.
Causes and Symptoms of Walnut Syndrome
This condition is characterized by great mental and emotional openness and influenceability. Harmoniously developed, the Walnut type is open with everyone. She is a pleasant, innocently trusting, and guileless companion who neither judges nor mistrusts. Her mind and spirit are uninhibited and free from preconceived opinions. The rational and irrational, the wonderful and the banal, dream and reality penetrate her so profoundly that she has a rich, comprehensive inner view of existence. Where others see with blinders, she sees an entire panorama. She lives in her mind like the great philosopher who expressed the quintessence of his life of reflection with the words “I know that I know nothing!” She knows that behind the external, banal appearances there is endless complexity and that what most of us take to be irrefutable facts are only fleeting impressions from fixed points of view and can be refuted or annulled by other points of view—in short, the Walnut type knows that human consciousness is denied absolute knowledge, that everything is relative, and that in all things there are thousands of possibilities. With this instinctive view of life, she goes on her sometimes puzzling way, following only her inspirations, interests, and feelings. Like the child in the fairy tale, she reaches her personal goal safely; there are no life crises filled with self-doubt and errors. She has an inner compass, and if it seems that she may be too easily influenced, too gullible, and too inconsistent, it is only a sign that the observer is too deeply entrenched in preconceptions and has no sense of the unusual and the wonderful.
Unfavorably developed, this unbiased attitude can give way to an excessive tendency to be influenced. The Walnut type’s openness toward mental and emotional impressions often leads her to become insecure or can divert her from her original path. With authority figures especially, Walnut types often cannot assert themselves and find themselves in situations that they did not want to get into, such as a frustrating career, an unhappy partnership, or an unsuitable living situation. Because their spirit is suffering, it reacts with frustration or depression or takes the form of an illness—especially of the skin, lymph, or hormone system—which is a sign that something is not right.
The Effects of Walnut
Walnut is the essence for defensive strength and inner stability. It gives us a thicker skin to withstand outside influences, especially when we want to start out on a new life path. It minimizes naive and gullible behavior and excessive trustfulness when it is not called for; it strengthens the personality and allows for the development and realization of our own life concept. Natural processes of development are directed against any opposition (such as psychic and moralistic conditioning). We acquire the ability to give up old habits; to act decisively against the pressures of a hostile, unsympathetic environment; to free ourselves from dependence; or just generally to become ourselves. Walnut does not simply protect against negative influences—such as infections—but also helps in times of important life changes, such as teething or losing the first teeth, puberty, menopause, birth, or illness, and it helps us survive them relatively unscarred. It is almost always needed for its stabilizing influence (in concert with Agrimony) when we want to get rid of neurotic, defensive behavior.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Life means expansion, growth, and self-realization. The driving force in our lives is the need for unimpeded expression of our natural abilities and potential. This naturally leads to conflict—eat or be eaten. As conscious humans, we can avoid many conflicts through our highly developed insight, and from sympathy for our fellow humans, we can limit the murderous fight for survival to only the necessary battles and reign in our “scavenger instinct.” We are nonetheless ruled by our fundamental biological structure, and we are part of the natural struggle.
There are, of course, differences from one individual to the next. While one person strives toward mental and spiritual values, another tries to succeed on the physical/material level. In the struggle for survival and self-realization, the most important elements of a personality are protected, and, when necessary, the less meaningful ones are sacrificed. For the sake of sheer existence, one tosses her beautiful ideals overboard, while another sacrifices life and limb for her morals and convictions. (This must not be taken as a moral judgment, since each of us finds self-realization in our own manner and with our own justification.)
In this struggle, the Walnut type can easily get the short end of the stick; because she is easily influenced and because of her naive, innocent trust, her lack of boundaries provokes her “enemies” to attack. She is compelled, influenced, persuaded, put off her own goals, misused, made to pursue goals that are not her own, made insecure, and manipulated—in short, she does everything except what is important for her life.
This cannot last long, however, since the spirit—the real person—must express itself and pursue its own goals. To this end, it creates various warning signs, depending on the extent of self-alienation: aggression, frustration, depression, psychoses, neuroses, behavioral problems, or physical illnesses. Life changes (during which the organism develops special new qualities), such as losing the first teeth, puberty, menopause, birth, or death are critical junctures and indications of the Walnut syndrome. The more freedom that is given to our inner rhythms, the more freedom we have to express our unique qualities, and we can follow our life’s path more seriously and with more determination. Once this is done without internal or external resistance, things will go better for us, and we can be healthier and more humane.
The Walnut type should control her easy, trusting nature and give in only when it makes sense to do so. She should consciously examine her independence and, as much as possible, try to follow her own path. Staying true to oneself is often difficult; betraying oneself without a compelling reason can be hell.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Agrimony (1/33): total self-alienation
Centaury (4/33): dependent and easily influenced
Cerato (5/33): insecurity caused by being easily influenced
Gentian (12/33): despair precipitated by a life change
Larch (19/33): a lack of self-confidence causing one to be easily influenced
Mimulus (20/33): timidity leading one to be too easily influenced
Olive (23/33): exhaustion prompting one to be easily influenced
Pine (24/33): weak defense against accusations
Star of Bethlehem (29/33): lack of resistance against or caused by psychic trauma
Wild Oat (33/36): lacking a life goal
34: Water Violet
Characteristics
Water Violet is for loners who have problems with human contact.
AREA OF USE
Water Violet is used for the treatment of problems with human contact, fear of attachment, reserved behavior, shyness, being a “loner,” arrogance, contempt, coldness of emotions, disapproval of others, and pride. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to human contact problems. In daily life, used to treat shyness, reserved behavior, being unapproachable, and being a loner.
Causes and Symptoms of Water Violet Syndrome
This condition is characterized by introverted behavior, mental independence, and a strong need for freedom. Harmoniously developed, the Water Violet type is self-sufficient and independent and expresses his individuality. Freedom and independence are the pillars of his existence. To keep these, he avoids anyone who wants to obligate him in any form whatsoever, and he spends time only with those who understand him; given his unique views, this happens very rarely. In any case, he does not want other people to become involved in his affairs or help him solve his problems, because he wants to remain independent and because there are very few people who understand his ideas. His inborn extravagance—an unusual appearance, a singular manner of thinking, uncommon preferences, special abilities, or a unique background—ensures that he generally goes his own way to protect his individuality. He gives the impression that he needs very little outside stimulus, and this attitude allows him even more rest for himself. He is a pleasant companion because he bothers no one with demands, is very tolerant, and allows everyone to do as they please.
Unfavorably developed, his disposition loses its carefree, happy tone and transforms itself into the Water Violet syndrome: the inborn, supercilious independence can lead to human contact problems or to a cold pride, and his unusual characteristics can make him an eccentric outsider. This sensitive independence can transform the Water Violet type into an unhappy misanthrope or a shy person, filled with complexes. The desire to be alone drives him into a painful loneliness and makes it impossible for him to accept human companionship or gifts or advice. He reduces his contact with other people more and more, either by an active withdrawal or by a passive retreat into himself, thus alienating him from the rest of society. This retreat can have a truly irritating effect on even the most good-natured of his friends. The Water Chestnut type feels that an unsympathetic and uncomprehending environment has forced him to be the way he is. We often find Water Violet syndrome at work in outsiders, rootless people, recluses, or with people who are cool and keep their distance. We often have the impression that they don’t want to be the way they are, but circumstances forced the role of the outsider upon them and offered them a chance for survival. We also find this situation at work in shy, “loner” children who misunderstand themselves and feel compelled to act in a way that is not natural to them, choosing to seek their salvation by retreating into themselves.
The Effects of Water Violet
Water Violet is the essence used to treat problems with human contact. It makes us more sociable, more open, and friendlier to other people, and it works against loneliness. It is particularly helpful (especially in children) when negative circumstances or a developing illness make us shy away from people and become antisocial. It is also indicated in cases of unnatural pride, arrogance, or excessive reserve, since these are often neurotic defense mechanisms.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
An interest in other people and the need to exchange thoughts and feelings with them are fundamental characteristics of the human spirit and essential for our psychic health. Contact with other people enriches us by exposing us to new ideas and information and stimulating our emotions; above all, it serves our developing consciousness. Our companions are reflections of ourselves: they react to our behavior—like an echo—and all the qualities we see in them are counterparts of our own.
The need for communication varies from one person to the next. While an extrovert needs human contact as much as he needs air, an introvert might need only a limited amount. While the extrovert merely stores his impressions, the introvert’s go straight to the depths of his psyche, where they are distilled. The more attention and energy he must devote to this process, the less he is able to take in new impressions, and his psyche essentially shuts itself down to them. He becomes less social and wants only to be alone, much as an animal that has just eaten will seek out a quiet place to “digest.”
The Water Violet type is introverted by nature and needs this downtime more than most. When he is bombarded with too many impressions or influences, he begins to withdraw, as a protective mechanism. Under very difficult circumstances, such as a severe shock, an injury, or a major disappointment, this withdrawal can take on pathological proportions and lead to extremely cold and isolated behavior. He can no longer distinguish between those influences that are useful and those that are harmful, and, for this reason, he limits the amount of contact he allows himself to have much more than he would like and more than is actually good for him. He avoids everyone, becomes taciturn, sullen, lonesome, and unhappy.
Sometimes this happens at the onset of an illness. Monosyllabic responses, withdrawn behavior, and a need to be alone are all signs that there is an internal problem that must be worked through, not in a dialogue with others but in a dialogue with oneself. Illness is a kind of healing reaction that expels all sorts of toxins from the body and attempts to restore order. Treatment for the Water Violet type includes quiet and rest, a calm understanding, and a constant willingness to communicate. He must reach a balance between introversion and extroversion and be able to have as much contact with other people as he needs. Anything more than that he must learn to bear lightly.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Agrimony (1/34): interpersonal problems due to a lack of openness
Aspen (2/34): human contact difficulties caused by vague fears
Beech (3/34): excessively tolerant, yet unapproachable
Chestnut Bud (7/34): closed-mindedness
Holly (15/34): the irritable misanthrope
Larch (19/34): problems with human contact related to an inferiority complex
Mustard (21/34): severe depression and interpersonal problems
Oak (22/34): ambition leading to loneliness
Olive (23/34): antisocial due to exhaustion
Rock Water (27/34): flight from the world and self-castigation
Star of Bethlehem (29/34): human contact problems due to a mental and emotional trauma
Willow (34/38): bitterness stemming from restricted freedom
35: White Chestnut
Characteristics
White Chestnut is for people who are tyrannized by certain unpleasant thoughts or ideas.
AREA OF USE
White Chestnut is used for the basic treatment of compulsive thoughts, fixations, and mental and emotional overstimulation. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to compulsive thoughts or fixations. In daily life, used to treat sleep disorders, jumbled thoughts, difficulties with concentration, “wired” behavior, and headaches due to excessive mental and emotional stress.
Causes and Symptoms of White Chestnut Syndrome
This condition is characterized by mental alertness, great sensitivity, and intensive thought processes. Harmoniously developed, the White Chestnut type has an agile mind and a powerful imagination. Everything she undertakes, she engages in with great intensity, concentration, and imagination—to the extent that everything else not related to the subject at hand just disappears. She is very effective at mental work and can jump easily from one subject to another and turn her attention to whatever idea, problem, or question is occupying her.
Unfavorably developed, the intensive mental processes of the White Chestnut type can result in uncontrollable, obsessive thoughts; certain thoughts or ideas can just take over. (This can happen to anyone who has been through a devastating experience.) Generally, these thoughts take on a decidedly unpleasant character, in the form of worries, fears, or problems. Sometimes a positive thought will push its way so prominently to the foreground that she can’t think of anything else. Her thoughts become stuck like a broken record; her reason becomes a prisoner of fixations or obsessions that keep spinning around in her head without any rhyme or reason. A song, a phrase, or a word will repeat itself over and over without interruption, and she is powerless to do anything about it. She takes to brooding, can’t relax, can’t shut off her obsessions, and can’t form any new thoughts. This condition is often accompanied by headaches or sleep disorders.
The Effects of White Chestnut
White Chestnut is the essence for mental clarity. It frees us from tormenting ideas and helps us break out of vicious mental cycles, inhibits obsessive thoughts, and supports positive suppressive behavior. It encourages our ability to concentrate, helps us order our thoughts, and aids us in solving problems or storing them away in our subconscious. It can improve headaches or sleep disorders caused by obsessive thoughts.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
We all know what good it does us to express our anger or our pain, say by screaming or howling; it allows our internal emotional energies an outlet and frees up emotional blockage. We all know someone who is temperamental and uninhibited, and we’ve seen how they release their intense emotions immediately, which makes them feel much better and more relaxed. When we try to hold back our problems, worries, pains, fears, or aggressions, it’s like chewing on something bitter or rotten; when we swallow, it makes us sick and unhappy.
This happens especially with introverts. Everything affects them deeply, and their experiences are processed and changed into another form—either as a new realization or awareness or as something more negative—and then integrated into the personality. This is also the case with the White Chestnut type, but she has another problem: everything affects her with great intensity and profundity, and her thoughts become so emotionally charged and full of conflict that she can’t get them out of her head. It’s like chewing on a bone for hours without deriving any nutrients from it. She is plagued by thoughts that she doesn’t want to acknowledge; worries, fears, and needs that she doesn’t want to give up; problems that she doesn’t want to solve for reasons she doesn’t want to admit. Her consciousness is often so dominated by negative ideas or intense desires that she can no longer think rationally.
Normally, such overbearing thoughts are suppressed by the psyche, which examines countless thoughts, impressions, and bits of information and determines whether they contribute to our physical or spiritual growth. Anything that is not deemed appropriate for immediate use is stored away in the subconscious and will be recalled when it’s needed. This process ensures that we don’t suffer from an overload of information or from thoughts or impressions that might be too difficult to distill. This material can be recalled when we are ready to accept it and take it in, and it can be incorporated into another phase of personal growth. At that point, it is time to face this material and integrate it in a meaningful way into our lives, for example, by expanding our worldview, modifying a personal assumption, or making a practical change in how we live.
Most of us find ourselves plagued by this aspect of the White Chestnut condition at one time or another. When we see the symptoms, we should try to clarify our emotions, face our problems, and make sure our outer lives are appropriate to meet our internal needs. When a problem becomes so serious that it causes us to suffer, suppression is no longer a viable strategy; it must be confronted and worked through. We should ask why a particular thought keeps running through our heads and look for a new answer to the fundamental question that is plaguing us. Too often, we try to avoid these questions. We should not be afraid of taboos that are no longer meaningful.
This search alone will often lead to breaking up the vicious cycle of tormenting thoughts. Sometimes, as a drastic measure, we can only try to replace these thoughts with their more positive opposites, in an attempt to reprogram ourselves; the conscious mind can then distance itself from these unsolvable problems and questions, and the psyche can work on finding an intuitive, subconscious solution.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Aspen (2/35): mental block caused by nebulous fears
Cherry Plum (6/35): mental obsession
Chestnut Bud (7/35): compulsive thoughts leading to distraction
Chicory (8/35): obsessive love
Clematis (9/35): obsessive daydreaming and planning
Crab Apple (10/35): tormented by dirt and filth
Heather (14/35): obsessive vanity
Holly (15/35): aggressive, obsessive thoughts
Honeysuckle (16/35): obsessive memories
Impatiens (18/35): mentally “driven”
Mimulus (20/35): obsessive anxieties
Oak (22/35): obsessed with success
Pine (24/35): obsessed with guilt
Red Chestnut (25/35): worried thoughts
Star of Bethlehem (29/35): obsessed with traumatic thoughts
Vervain (31/35): obsessive dogmatism
Willow (35/38): bitter, obsessive thoughts
36: Wild Oat
Characteristics
Wild Oat is for people who want to do something sensible and meaningful but don’t know how to go about it.
AREA OF USE
Wild Oat is used as the basic treatment for a feeling of pointlessness, lack of clarity, lack of goals, self-alienation, crises related to new beginnings, life crises, and depression caused by lack of purpose in life. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to frustration and a lack of purpose. In daily life, used to treat discontent and frustration with our daily lives, indecisiveness, and a lack of clarity.
Causes and Symptoms of Wild Oat Syndrome
This condition is characterized by openness and enthusiasm and a strong need for a meaning and purpose in life. Harmoniously developed, the Wild Oat type understands how to give meaning and purpose to his life. He doesn’t waste his time or energy on trivialities but follows his inner voice with determination and does what is important to him. His goals can be materialistic or spiritual in nature, superficial or deep, but they always speak to his wants and needs and are tailor-made for him alone. From his orientation and his theoretical needs and possibilities, on the one hand, to his more practical life situation, on the other, he achieves great peace of mind, which allows him to be objectively successful. The harmoniously developed Wild Oat type always knows what he wants, goes after it without hesitation, and does what makes him happy. He is successful and knows how to make the best of things—not because he goes after life with blind ambition but because he lives his life with dedication, concentration, and confidence. He is often interested in philosophy, religion, or the arts and, at the very least, has a natural sense of the more profound questions of life.
Unfavorably developed, his tendency to seek meaning in life can become so strong that he constantly searches for it but never finds it. He loses his clarity and his reliable instinct, which otherwise guide him so well. He will begin a project and, soon after, decide that it’s not right for him. Then he’ll start something new and decide that that’s not right for him either. Alternatively, he will plan a project but never get around to actually carrying it out. He longs desperately for a meaningful life or a satisfying occupation. He doesn’t want to compromise but is so unclear that he can never reach a goal. He is so incapable of finding a calling or the right path that it makes him depressed and unhappy.
This could happen to anyone. Sometimes we see this condition in young people who are just beginning to assert their independence and are filled with expectations and enthusiasm but don’t know exactly where to begin. It also happens quite often when we are faced with a crisis of life, work, or a relationship in which we feel that we must change something, but we don’t know what or how. We make a few halfhearted attempts to change; we do something foolish—change our job or our partner—and, in the end, we feel that we’ve left ourselves hanging, frustrated, and depressed.
The Effects of Wild Oat
Wild Oat is the essence for clarity and self-realization. Taken over a longer period (months!), it restores our inner order and imperceptibly opens our eyes to the ongoing process of recognizing our spiritual needs. It brings us clarity and decisiveness, lets us find our calling, helps us choose a career or a partner, helps us make a new beginning in life, and fights depression or any illnesses related to discontent or a lack of inner clarity. It can also be used when we lack a goal or purpose in life.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
The need to find a meaning in everything is a typically human trait and an expression of our consciousness. Whether we’re nihilists, materialists, esotericists, religious people, philosophers, rationalists, dreamers, idealists, ideologues, or free spirits, we all need to find meaning, be it positive or negative, in what we experience and what we do with our lives. We seek this meaning by developing great philosophical ideas, religious visions, or intuitive works of art or in catastrophes, laws of nature, or even physical laws or any kind of connection in which we can seek to bring order and meaning to our lives.
This search for meaning plays a definitive role in our personal lives as well, which is a kind of ongoing work of art that gives evidence of our inner maturity. Depending on our age, certain aspects become more prominent. In childhood and youth, we try to achieve an external ordering of the world and society, whereas in our later years, this becomes a striving for self-awareness and developing our relationship to the transcendent side of the world. Normally, this development takes place in small steps and is given direction by all of our feelings, intuitions, and inspirations. These elements, and not our rational faculties, are what guide us through life, because they more fully reflect the complexity of our nature. When we ignore these less rational impulses, we run the risk of one day being faced with a violent reaction in the depths of our soul; we begin to question everything we believe, and we lose our orientation. Everything that seemed to hold water loses its value. A less forceful version of this process happens in young people because they sense never-ending frustration and see that they cannot make a connection with their lives.
It is important for Wild Oat types to rediscover (or to learn for the first time) what is right for them. They must learn to take their impressions, intuitions, and feelings seriously and to pay attention to the signs that life sends them every day. Frustration and happiness will show them the way. They must get to know themselves better so that they can make a new beginning consciously and seriously. In this process, meaningless taboos will be jettisoned, no longer valid morals will be tossed aside, and personal compulsions and obsessions will be overcome. Sometimes this process can take years. They will be encouraged once they feel they are on the right track, and they will have the needed determination to overcome their frequent lean periods. We can be reborn, perhaps with a new career, a new partner, new surroundings—or, in any case, with new behavior that harmoniously combines the subjective and objective, internal and external elements of life.
Common Combinations with Other Essence s
Agrimony (1/36): lack of self-awareness
Cerato (5/36): insecurity due to a lack of goals
Chestnut Bud (7/36): lacking life goals because of inattentiveness
Larch (19/36): no purpose in life stemming from a lack of self-confidence
Mustard (21/36): depression resulting from a feeling of meaninglessness
Rock Water (27/36): self-castigation as a replacement for a purpose in life
Scleranthus (28/36): internally broken and suffering a life crisis
Walnut (33/36): lacking a purpose in life
Wild Rose (36/37): lack of drive due to a lack of purpose
37: Wild Rose
Characteristics
Wild Rose is for people who are resigned and who can’t bring themselves to be active.
AREA OF USE
Wild Rose is used as the basic treatment for apathy, lack of drive, resignation, pathological resignation, convalescence, or illnesses that sap the energy. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to a lack of drive, resignation, or a lack of willpower. In daily life, used to treat lack of interest and enthusiasm.
Causes and Symptoms of Wild Rose Syndrome
This condition is characterized by adaptability, dedication, and a certain awareness of fate. Harmoniously developed, the Wild Rose type is able to adapt to constantly changing situations without losing sight of the positive side. He has no problem with his destiny because he gives himself up fearlessly and without resistance to the greater powers that determine everything in this life. As a realist in the best sense, he never tries to make reality (that which has happened) into something different but instead has an innocent, positive attitude and takes everything as it comes. His lack of prejudice and refusal to take things for granted makes it difficult for him to encounter any situation that will make him unhappy. Like a sapling that sways with the wind, he allows himself to be taken here and there by the whims of fate, dreamily, playfully, and willingly. He never looks at reality with preconceptions or stubborn ideas; he can see things with an inner freedom and innocence that allow him to make the best of anything he encounters.
Unfavorably developed, his passive, accepting nature can get the better of him. He allows himself to go through life without will or drive, and he has no interest in his life; he develops a kind of resignation that has a hint of a departure from life. He is no longer able to clearly assess his situation, to take reasonable countermeasures when required, or to ask for help. The Wild Rose syndrome does not usually consist of extreme resignation but of a lessened enthusiasm and a tendency just to let things run as they are. One has the impression that the Wild Rose type uses only a fraction of his potential and does not develop himself fully. He is not able to accomplish as much as he should and needs to stop and rest often, which leads to a limited life. If he should start a project, he comes immediately to a halt, like a vehicle stuck in the sand. His potential remains unfulfilled, he just hangs around aimlessly, and, even when things are not going well for him, he can’t pick himself up to do anything about it. He’ll do nothing to change an unhealthy living situation, he’ll stay with a lousy marriage, and he’ll take any wretched situation as it comes. If his behavior were a conscious and aware answer to an unavoidable circumstance, it would make sense as a kind of survival tactic. In this case, however, it is a sign of a pathological lack of interest and vitality and an extensive loss of creativity.
The Effects of Wild Rose
Wild Rose is the essence for enthusiasm and interest in life. It fosters an attention to life and makes us more interested and invested and more open and enthusiastic. It minimizes indifference, mental passivity, and resignation. If these symptoms appear in connection with an illness, they could accompany a decisive deterioration, and Wild Rose is indicated. It is generally helpful during any phase of convalescence and should be used as an adjunct to medical treatment in any case of anemia, vitamin or mineral deficiency, or other organic condition.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
Resignation should by no means be confused with an acceptance of fate. This distinction becomes especially clear when we examine the Wild Rose syndrome. Acceptance of fate means trusting ourselves to the hands of fate because we recognize a greater positive order, power, or being (God) at work. With this attitude, we can learn to accept reality and strive to make the best of it. We still try to fulfill our desires the best we are able, but we also know enough to give up when we recognize we’re in over our heads. We can change our plans without any regrets.
Resignation, on the other hand, means rejecting fate. Where acceptance of fate is distinguished by positive expectations, resignation means troubling ourselves with only those things that we encounter directly and living our lives without resistance, without investing our selves, and without active participation; life just passes us by. Resignation is still a pathological phenomenon even when it is not extreme. It can affect our physical functions, in the form of bad posture, a weak spine, poor circulation, or a reduced sexual drive. Typical Wild Rose types share similarities with Centaury, Larch, and Olive types, and they are usually the product of mistreatment in early childhood by dominating, egocentric parents or teachers. This sort of upbringing downplays the tendency to compete and causes the child to lead a sort of shadow life, undemanding, “sweet,” and unobtrusive. He becomes used to suppressing his wishes for happiness and self-realization and learns to accept obediently whatever he is allowed. This profound loss of his natural initiative and enthusiasm dominates his character later in life as well and makes him into a person who is unable to “follow through.”
People who are resigned become ill much more easily than more life-affirming types. Conversely, a serious illness can cause us to be resigned and lose our will to live and our will to become healthy again. This is always a bad sign. As already discussed in the section (see Mustard), there are several distinct phases in an illness: the aggressive phase, in which we fight actively and vitally against an encroaching illness; the frustration phase, in which our aggression abates; the depressive phase, in which our aggression is blocked and our behavior becomes more self-defeating; and resignation, the final phase before death, which means that we are broken—we’ve given up the fight and are ready for the end.
The Wild Rose syndrome is not easily overcome. In any case, it’s important to determine whether an organic illness (heart, kidneys, hormone system) or some deficiency (vitamins, trace elements) might play a role and institute the appropriate treatment. Sometimes resignation is a consequence of a severe but passing psychic trauma. In this case, we need only wait (while using the appropriate Bach Flower essence) in quiet until the psyche rebounds like a blade of grass that has been trod upon. Long-term loss of enthusiasm or initiative is more difficult to combat, and it can have far-reaching effects on a person’s overall behavior. The Wild Rose type usually finds it challenging to pull himself up by his bootstraps (this would indicate the recovery phase of an illness), and he often needs help. This help must include supporting him while he becomes healthy again. Giving him words of encouragement is not enough. Even when we can persuade him to act, after a short time he will lose interest, and his troubles will be back.
Wild Rose types do not have a natural, innate, positive attitude. Their tendency, in difficult times, to let things run their course indicates a (pathological) inclination to leave everything up to fate. Wild Rose types need to find a better, more personal, and more conscious relationship to whatever gives meaning to their lives, but they can’t come to this point because they’ve been cut short in their quest for self-realization. Finding meaning in life means having a goal. Having a goal allows us to channel our strength and to become more active. Finding meaning in life means living with our senses open and discovering whatever makes us happy and whatever our hearts need. Psychotherapy can be useful for the Wild Rose type by making him aware of how his self-realization is being stifled and which desires and longings he is sacrificing. When he finally has the courage to reward himself with what he needs and to take what he deserves, and when he is finally able to let himself be happy, the life-affirming spirit within him will awaken.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Centaury (4/37): resignation due to a weak personality
Chestnut Bud (7/37): distracted and resigned
Clematis (9/37): resignation and a longing for death
Gentian (12/37): resigned and weak willed
Gorse (13/37): total resignation
Honeysuckle (16/37): wistful resignation
Hornbeam (17/37): lack of drive caused by stress and overwork
Larch (19/37): lack of drive due to a lack of self-confidence
Mustard (21/37): depressive resignation
Olive (23/37): lack of drive due to exhaustion
Star of Bethlehem (29/37): resignation resulting from mental and emotional trauma
Wild Oat (36/37): lack of drive stemming from a sense of meaninglessness and futility
38: Willow
Characteristics
Willow is for people who are disappointed, bitter, or offended.
AREA OF USE
Willow is used for the basic treatment of bitterness, resentment, a need for revenge, an inability to reconcile, and being at odds with fate. Used to treat all pathological conditions related to disappointment or bitterness. In daily life, used to treat disappointment or feeling offended or slighted.
Causes and Symptoms of Willow Syndrome
This condition is characterized by a pronounced sense of justice and an intensive need for love and happiness. Harmoniously developed, the Willow type can come to terms with the ever changing circumstances of her life and can take the good with the bad. She can accept her defeats, losses, and difficulties just as she can enjoy the happier aspects of her life. This is a valuable ability, and it is seldom found. In the case of the Willow type, it stems from her finely tuned, incorruptible sense of justice, which is not preoccupied with external factors but with the truth. It is a justice that seeks what is right, a justice that does not seek personal advantage but is the expression of an unknowable divine order. It is clear to her that things simply are the way they are and that everything is right and just whether or not she likes or understands it. From this “higher” sense of justice, she learns to accept what life, fate, or God have arranged. She reacts coolly and thoughtfully to situations that make others angry and bitter. Life for her is not a dangerous struggle for existence but a glorious adventure that she faces with a wide-eyed innocence and openness, a fascinating journey to unknown dimensions in which conflict, defeats, and losses all serve as signs to mark the way.
She has a clear, strong yearning for happiness. These feeling are very genuine and very real; she has no sweet delusions or expectations, and this spares her from becoming bitter. In her life-affirming attitudes and behavior, the Willow type is living proof that there is a higher, divine justice that speaks for all of us, including those who are petty or corrupt. When we accept this justice, we can never think that we’re being treated unfairly, and we’re spared a lot of suffering.
Unfavorably developed, the inborn sense of justice can turn into a sense of self-righteousness that in itself can lead only to injustice. This is what gives the unfavorably developed Willow type the feeling that she has been treated unfairly, which causes her to become bitter and resentful and to want revenge. When she reacts in this way, she shows that she hasn’t learned from the lessons or advice that life has given her. These lessons simply don’t fit into her self-righteous worldview. She refuses to examine thoroughly whether her expectations and wishes are truly just, and she feels hurt, offended, bitter, or disappointed; she sulks, feels resentment, and wants to get even. Her unhappiness is contagious. Indeed, it often seems that she derives a certain amount of pleasure in drawing others into her negativity and bitterness. She is a miserable companion and becomes a burden on herself and others. When she finally sees that she is not always in the right or that everything is not as bad as she thought, she will calm down. As a rule, she doesn’t learn her lesson, and it is only a matter of time until she suffers the next insult.
The Effects of Willow
Willow is the essence for conciliation and forgiveness. It counters the tendency to feel that we’ve been treated unjustly and the need for revenge; it makes us more conciliatory, understanding, and content. It’s useful for children who get their way through sulking or tantrums, and it is especially suitable for people who cannot accept their fate and who become sick as a result. As long as they maintain this attitude, they’ll never recover.
Psychotherapeutic Notes
When dealing with someone who is bitter or sullen, we must first ask whether the behavior is genuine; many people, especially children, will pretend to be hurt in order to have their way. The more successful they are, the more strongly they develop as emotional tyrants who take advantage of the sensitivity, sympathy, or guilt feelings of their parents or companions. This kind of emotional blackmail should not be tolerated, because it does no good for anyone involved. The Willow type will learn to act sullen and hurt every time life puts an obstacle in her way. Life, however, does not allow itself to be blackmailed; it gives us the options only of meeting its challenges or dying, of sinking or swimming. We should all learn (especially children) the fundamental lesson that we need to be realistic in our expectations and satisfied with what we are given.
In training us for life, parents or teachers must make these lessons clear. They must be sure that their word is respected and that the child learns that she can’t have everything she wants, that there are limits. When a child learns these fundamental lessons, she’ll be able to deal with life’s many disappointments. We must be careful not to let ourselves be blackmailed by “strategic” sullenness and sulking but allow our blackmailer to simmer in her own juices for a while until she understands that she can’t always have her way and readjusts her behavior accordingly.
A genuine Willow condition is something entirely different and has a destructive potential. The otherwise positive attitudes and behavior of the Willow type and her pronounced need for happiness turn into their opposites when her expectations can’t be fulfilled. She is truly disappointed and embittered, injured and hurt; she becomes sullen and withdraws from the world and from other people or she feels that life has treated her unfairly. Her positive, life-affirming energy becomes an equally intense negativity. She becomes aggressive to everything that stands in her way—in extreme cases against the world or against fate itself—or, if she is more introverted, directs her negative energy against herself in the form of a bitter and disappointed renunciation of the world.
In the genuine Willow condition, we should assume that the Willow type—at least subjectively—is justified in her views and, if the condition is serious, make sure to help; excessive unyieldingness can run the risk of ongoing psychic damage (especially with children, who can be deeply disappointed or injured through incidents that seem meaningless to an observer). In such cases, it is pointless to exert more pressure; you will only be adding fuel to a raging fire. Better to leave disappointed or embittered people in quiet and try to point out to them (in a nonthreatening manner) that their behavior is leading them to a dead end. They are trying to fight against an intractable reality, and they stand to lose the most.
People who tend to suffer from disappointment, hurt, and bitterness need to make a fundamental change in their attitude. They need to realize that they are only hurting themselves with their denials, accusations, and “facts”; life is not concerned with their opinions. They also need to develop a more realistic view that includes the true facts and that takes into account that humans are merely feeble creatures dependent on their creator.
As long as the Willow type is convinced that someone is taking a personal and intentional interest in her misfortune, she takes it very personally, and it goes straight to her heart. When it is made clear to her, however, that everything that happens is part of a larger scheme and that everything and everyone—including the Willow type—serves as a tool for an unknowable fate, she’ll be able to take her misfortune in stride and look at it as just another fateful event. It would also be helpful to get her to make the same demands on herself that she makes on others, since this would allow her to see matters in a gentler, more forgiving light (by the way, it often transpires that even the things that disappoint her have a way of turning out for the best). Life is a process of development and maturity with a secret goal toward which all that we experience plays a part—this includes unpleasant and negative experiences. It’s like a fruit with a prickly skin that hides a delicious core. Overcoming the Willow condition means getting past the prickly part and finding the sweet fruit.
Common Combinations with Other Essences
Chicory (8/38): bitterness due to rejection or ungratefulness
Holly (15/38): bitterness combined with rage or hate
Honeysuckle (16/38): bitterness due to a loss
Mustard (21/38): depression caused by bitterness
Oak (22/38): relentless desire for revenge
Star of Bethlehem (29/38): bitterness caused by an unprocessed or unresolved trauma
Vine (32/38): embittered, domestic tyrant
Water Violet (34/48): bitterness due to restricted freedom
White Chestnut (35/38): bitter obsessive/compulsive thoughts