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 ©2003 by Ivory PhoenixI've gotten a new respect lately for Dr. Bach's concept of the Type Remedy -- that one special remedy, different for each individual, that reaches to our core and uplifts it to a more evolved expression. Recently an old friend visited for a few days, and it was remarkable how little either of us had changed, at least at the core. Despite all manner of metaphysical and psychological work on ourselves, the gripes we had were the same gripes as in our last visit six years earlier. She still worked far too hard, at a cost to her health, and I still isolated myself from the world, at the cost of an occasional attack of acute loneliness. 
Listening to the long list of demanding projects she had pending, and to how exhausted and stretched to the limits she felt, I observed, "Maybe it's time you took another course of Rock Water." "ANOTHER course," she sputtered. "I've never taken Rock Water in my life!" "But wouldn't you say it's your Bach Type Remedy? It's for people with extremely high standards who drive themselves mercilessly. It's a Capricorn remedy, and you've got a Capricorn Moon." She pondered the qualities of Rock Water and had to agree they fit her to a tee, but protested that she wouldn't want to lower her standards any. And, didn't she just turn the tables on me later that weekend? I was bemoaning how isolated I felt since leaving the heady intellectual stimulation of the Northeast. 
"Gee," she teased, "it sounds like you could use another course of Water Violet." "ANOTHER course," I sputtered. "I've never taken Water Violet in my life!" Before she could pounce, I conceded, "Yeah, yeah, my Type Remedy." (Water Violet is the Bach remedy for capable, brainy, but rather aloof people who distance themselves from ordinary mortals.) We speculated about why we -- and others we didn't hesitate to list -- resisted taking our Type Remedy. We each came to the conclusion that we didn't WANT to change that core quality. It was part of our identity, and even if we sometimes carried it too far, we couldn't envision being any other way. Besides, the descriptions of our type remedies tend to be so unflattering! Drawing on my library of Bach Remedy books, we read the character portraits of our Type Remedies and how they could be less hard-edged and rigid after taking the remedy for a few weeks or months. We made a pact that she would take Rock Water and I would take Water Violet for a while and then report back to each other on what developed.  With some trepidation, I mixed Water Violet and started taking it. Nothing happened at first, and I felt justified that I was an EVOLVED Water Violet type and didn't need to change or, for that matter, to keep on taking the remedy. Luckily, the wiser part of me recognizes a con when it hears one, so I persevered. Then I began to notice my thoughts, the same way any remedy healing tends to begin. My thinking was sooooo UNevolved, it was humiliating! I actually found myself making a list of the people in my current city who were worth talking to, and out of maybe a million in the metropolitan area, I could only come up with five. (Did I mention that Water Violets are snobs?) Just maybe, I thought, it might be worth continuing the remedy. 
Then all hell broke loose. I bought a CD-ROM of Willie Nelson, and when I played it for the first time, I cried inconsolably for hours at that nurturing down-home sound. After the first hour, it finally occurred to me to ask why I was crying. The answer that welled up was that I really didn't have a home any more, that when I relocated, I lost all those exceptional friends who loved me so well. No wonder my heart center was so shut down to new people! That realization led me to add Bach's Honeysuckle, for homesickness and nostalgia, to the mix. I'm still taking Water Violet, despite the layers and layers of disquieting emotions and insights the remedy stirs up. I'm still noticing and processing things about myself and trying to find solutions about how to open my life and my heart to new people. Oddly enough, nearly every day someone from the past phones and says, "I was moved to call you for some reason." And those "coincidental" conversations with dear friends who have known me over the long haul led to still more observations, most of them too embarrassing to share with you, as well as to still more tears. I have no idea where Water Violet is leading me, but it seems important to take it for as long as it remains a catalyst to growth. You may wonder if it isn't a bit masochistic to keep taking the remedy if it brings up so much pain. Well, you see, flower remedies work in a different way than most Western medicine. A mainstream physician, if you are in physical or emotional pain, will typically give you a pill to suppress the pain. Unfortunately, when you suppress emotional pain -- or pain about how your life is working out -- you tend not to address its causes, but instead to maintain the same old status quo that's creating the pain to begin with. 
It helped when I reread an article about the Healing Crisis in a back issue of Vibration. It taught me that even though uncomfortable emotions and insights can come up when taking such a core remedy, they are part of a process that will support a fundamental change for the better. Flower remedy work, it turns out, takes a lot of guts. Luckily, that's one thing that even my detractors -- few as they may be -- will concede: I've got nothing if not a lot of guts! And my friend, how has her end of the pact worked out? She reports that she hasn't taken Rock Water yet -- too many demands on her time. EDITORS' UPDATE: It had been a few months since Ivory sent us this article, and we were curious about the long-range effects of taking the type remedy so intensely, so we asked her to fill us in. She reports that it was an amazing catalyst for her. She has joined a comedy improv class with young people half her age, she belongs to an autobiography writing class where she shares her life story intimately with others, and she has made new friendships in a hobby-related group. Rather than being lonely and homesick over the holidays, she enjoyed a rich round of social activities. 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ivory Phoenix is the nom de plume of someone who for the past twenty years has been a devout user of vibrational healing tools like flower remedies, homeopathy, Reiki, and light work, and who, despite all that, has yet to reach perfection. Go figure. Design by Word of Mouth Web Design, based on clip artfrom Micrografx and Art Today.
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