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The First Half-Second--
Essences and the Moon
By Martin Bulgerin
I had a woman come to me last winter for a consultation because of all-consuming fear
and panic in every area of her life. She was even afraid to take the flower remedies
I made up for her.
Without her cooperation, we didn't have much success getting rid of her fear, but
we did have some very illuminating conversations. What started out as,
"I'm afraid of this..." and, "I panic about that..." eventually turned into,
"I'm always afraid!" It seems her initial reaction to any novel or changing
situation was to become fearful, regardless of the outer "cause" for her worry.
It was simply her instinctive way of responding to the world and had little to do with outer causes.
These instinctive responses -- and the emotions that habitually accompany them -- are ruled in astrology by the Moon.
Astrologer Bill Herbst once defined the Moon's activity as "the way you respond in the
first half-second," before the thinking mind kicks in and starts making up stories and
excuses. These deep emotional instincts are usually life-long patterns, laid down in
early childhood or even carried over from previous lives. This makes them very difficult
to modify. However, most of the time, they serve a normal, protective function for
the person, helping them adjust to everyday living. It's only when these reactions
become exaggerated or out of balance that they become a problem. That's when flower
essences can help restore the balance that puts everything back into perspective.
This woman was gripped by unhealthy fear as her basic response to the world. Just plain
living was a source of terror. On the other hand, healthy balanced fear can be quite an
asset -- it keeps us from jumping into unknown situations before we know we'll be safe
and able to cope or urges us to action when a legitimate threat exists. It's only when
caution becomes chronic panic that we have a problem. Such free-floating fear and anxiety
sometimes comes from early family situations, especially abuse that teaches the child
the world is not a safe place. The lesson can even be learned in utero. An unhealthy mother
can subtly poison her fetus with her own bodily toxins or bad habits for months on end,
creating a sense of ill-defined "dangers" all about that follows the child throughout life.
Unbalanced fear can be helped by a wide variety of essences, including Bach's Aspen,
Lilac by Pegasus, and
Australian Bush Essences' Fringed Violet and Grey Spider Orchid.
My own "half-second response" is a form of doubt and mistrust. I need to check
and double-check everything, from whether I really put my keys in my coat pocket to what
a person really meant when they talked to me. This need to test my experiences constantly
is simply an expression of my need for clarity and certainty, but the exaggerated form
(Absolute Certainty) can be a crippling imbalance. It can make you withdraw from
forming close friendships out of mistrust, it gets you to doubt and second-guess
everything. On bad days, I don't even trust myself. There's nothing wrong with healthy
doubting and testing (it's the heart of scientific investigation, for instance), a
doubt that accepts that uncertainty and limited understanding are a normal part of life.
Unbridled doubt rages against this natural mystery of living. Possible remedies for this
imbalance include Bach's Cerato, FES's Oregon Grape and Australian Bush Essences' Bauhinia.
Obviously, there are many more of these "half-second" patterns than these two,
for after all there are twelve Moon signs. And the patterns aren't all so-called "negative
emotions" like fear and doubt, either. Even positive traits can take on exaggerated
form. Courage can turn to recklessness and foolish risk taking, self-confidence can
fade into arrogance and self-righteousness. I'm sure even love can be overdone.
Remember, it's not the emotion or behavior itself that's good or bad, only
whether it's in balance with the entire personality or not.
Having a healthy response to living is a delicate balancing act that is difficult to
master. But the beauty, joy and richness it brings to life are well worth the effort. It's
difficult to track down your own half-second patterns, since they fly by so quickly you barely
notice them, but knowing about the Moon in your astrology chart can help.
I rarely touch this
level with flower essence clients, but when I do, we can do amazing work together.
It's what Dr. Bach meant when he said treat the person, not the symptoms. We weave the
pattern of our lives out of these half-second responses, both the healthy and the imbalanced
 ones. If the weaver is in a state of balance, the result is a rich and complex tapestry.
Using essences can help make every moment count.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Apparently Dr. Bach himself felt that flower
remedies were largely aligned with the Moon sign. See Candy Hillenbrand's article
Bach's View of
Astrology: The Moon Sign and the Twelve Groups of Humanity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Martin Bulgerin is a long-time essence practitioner, an essence maker and
founder of the BioPsciences Institute (BPI). He has contributed many fine articles to Vibration, and to see more of them and
a more in-depth bio and contact information, visit his Frequent Contributor's Page.
ART CREDITS: Your editors recently discovered a delightful
site, Cigar Label Junkie, which has an
amazing and entertaining collection of antique cigar labels. Well worth a visit! The owner kindly gave us
permission to use the one this border is based on, but asks that there be no further reproduction without
permission. Other Moon images from Art Today and Micrografx.
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.
  
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