©2006 Sarah Fuhro -- all rights reserved
Editors' Note: This is an excerpt from a longer article published in
The Mountain Astrologer, used with their permisson.
Over the past several years, I have developed a way to work with astrology and flower essence therapy I find very satisfying for my clients and myself. This combination is not unique to me, but I developed and refined it through my own methods. I began as an astrologer, but often felt frustrated in my attempts to help my clients use astrology to enrich their lives. I knew something was missing.
I have a strong connection to the natural world and earth spirit. I wanted to share my love of nature with my astrology clients. If I could connect my clients with plants through flower essences, I knew they would discover the healing power within that is part of this natural world. After taking a certification program in flower essences, I started using the client's chart to give me clues about the correct formula of essences. I introduce plants with a connection to planets in an aspect or stellium in the client's chart, and the formula is often successful in aiding a movement toward greater consciousness.
The flower essences that clients take between sessions work their gentle power to shift perspective. They offer the protection necessary to arrive at new, sometimes radical solutions to old problems. They allow patterns in the natal chart and the energy of transits to be experienced in new and supportive ways.
I owe the integration of astrology and flower essence therapy to my Druid studies begun in 1990. As a practicing Druid, I see plants and planets in a network of life and energy, visible and invisible, which includes me and all else in its embrace. When I look at a plant, I see the energy pattern as well as the physical structure. I see lines of light that are the representation of some other current, perhaps not light, but translated into a comprehensible form, visible to my eye. Druidry sees all creation as imbued with spirit and recognizes many realms of parallel existence that are imperceptible to the senses. There is no concept of the superiority or separation of our species. There is no hierarchy in consciousness: A stone, a tree, a dog, an earth spirit, and a human perceive reality from their own viewpoint. Creation is interconnected and interdependent.
Nicholas Culpeper, a 17th-century social revolutionary, herbalist, apothecary, and astrologer, left us with several herbal guidebooks still in print today. Along with each herb, Culpeper noted its ruling planet. Correspondence between the zodiacal mapping of the human body and plant characteristics is a clue traditional herbalists were trained to observe. Yellow flowers and roots are associated with the Sun; red flowers, leaves, and roots, with Mars. A thistle might also be associated with Mars because of its spikes. The signs and symptoms of the disease -- the qualities of hot and cold, dry and moist -- were related to the appropriate plants and planets. For instance, fever, because of its heat, and bleeding because of its red color, was associated with fire (heat) and with an excess of Mars. The white-flowered yarrow plant, ruled by Venus, considered a balance for the excess of Mars, is used to staunch the flow of blood and to cool fevers.
Combining Astrology and Flower Essences
In my own work with clients, I rarely use the model of personality types (or descriptions of the use of particular flowers) employed by other flower essence practitioners. This is because the astrology chart has so much to offer as clues to flower essence formulas. Quite often, I am delighted to discover how an essence has worked on an issue that was not discussed in the session. For instance, I used Water Lily essence with a client who has the Sun and Venus in Pisces. She had terrible pains in her feet, a part of the body ruled by Pisces. The pains in her feet came at a time when she was about to take a "big step." I believed that this client was not able to trust her Piscean energy to solve problems and feel secure. The Water Lily eased the pain in her feet and allowed her to trust herself to make decisions based on feeling rather than a need for certainty.
Sometimes I hear the name of a plant as I am listening to the client and working with the astrology chart. Knowing that this person has an issue with a particular astrological transit, I look for plants that, by tradition or appearance or name, connect to the planet or sign involved. The connection between plants and planets and signs takes a variety of forms, shapes, colors, and even numbers.
For example, the Rose family has five petals and thus a traditional connection to Venus. Why Venus? Because, with her five-step cycle as evening and morning star, she has been portrayed as a five-pointed star, the pentacle; the number 5 is often associated with the feminine energy of the Goddess. A variety of Rose-family essences have helped clients who yearn for satisfying relationships but who are discouraged by a history of failed love affairs. As progressed Venus changes signs or houses, it’s not unusual for this despair to lift and for clients to find room in their hearts to try love again.
Movement in Chart Expression
People experience and express an astrological event on many levels. Flower essences help clients to shift how they react to a natal aspect or transit. Low energy and lack of fire often indicate that Mars is unable to function at its best. Mars in the chart represents our vital energy, our life force, as well as our sexual dynamic and how we feel and express anger. If the basic energy of the person is thwarted by Mars's sign, placement or aspect in the chart, the life force can feel frustrated or can be expressed only in aggression or competition.
A client who has Mars and Mercury conjunct Neptune placed near the Midheaven -- the career angle of the chart -- felt confused and "lifeless" about career issues. I tried a formula with Habañero Pepper, so she could feel the fire in her Mars. Rosemary essence gave a clear vision of Mercury through the mist of Neptune. Honeysuckle as symbolized in its spiral growth upward, offered a model for the indirect approach to Mercury and Mars. Instead of demanding action and information from her Mars and Mercury she began to hear and speak the messages that Neptune conjunct Mercury has to offer her. When Mars, Neptune, and Mercury worked together, my client found an outlet for her considerable talents in the realm of spiritual counseling. The work she finally settled on had no previous description in her experience, but is a new profession with a constantly-changing format.
As an astrologer and flower essence practitioner, I hope to provide a bridge between the astrological symbols and my clients. When clients become familiar with the dynamics of the chart and the action of flower essence formulas, they begin to grasp the resources available to them in astrology. The plants connect them to the transpersonal assistance of other realms, and to the healing momentum that is within each person.
My clients (and their charts), the flowers, and I form a triangle of experiment and inquiry. The threads of evidence that alert me to a connection between the plants, the planets in the charts, and the issues that trouble clients are woven from tradition and intuition. This process continues to evolve.
Editors' note: Want to see more articles about Astrology and Essences? See our
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sarah Fuhro combines her training as an astrology counselor and flower essence practitioner
in a healing practice she calls Star-Flower Alchemy. She is a Druid member of the worldwide teaching Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and participates in the training of Druids. She reads and teaches Tarot,
as well as astrology and flower essence therapy. She has gathered and tested more than 100 flower essences
from her garden and the woods and meadows near her home in Natick, Massachusetts (near Boston). For consultations,
phone (508) 652-9881 or e-mail sarahbeagl@aol.com.
Her web site is http://members.aol.com/sarahbeagl.
Art Credits: Background treatment by Word of Mouth Web Design, based on a design by Deborah Bier.
Photos from Photos.com and 3-D objects from Clipart.com.
The World Wide Essence Society does not mean to imply any recommendation of nor give certification to any individuals or companies above. This article is provided purely for informational purposes. We ask consumers to make their own determination as to quality of the services and products offered above. This article is not meant to be advice, and the information is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment.
