Some of the most frequently asked questions among both beginner and experienced
essence users sound something like this: "What flower essence should I choose? Should it be a single
essence? An essence combo? Which of the zillion for fear or anxiety would be the
right one? What about one that focuses on the worst challenge at the moment? Or one that supports underlying strengths and gifts?"
These questions never seem to get simpler the more you work with essences, but their complexion does seem to change over time. To the beginner, it's the sheer range of so many choices and not knowing where to start that's the initial problem. As you become familiar with more essences, you see even more possibilities. Often, the problem is that 10 or more look like "the one" -- which is too many by half (see here and here for discussions about how many essences should be taken at one time). What's an essence lover to do?
Very often, this problem can be simplified if you report to the general! That is, report to a generalist essence. I define a generalist essence as one that has the broadest possible range of action and uses. Its description will speak about stress, trauma, upset, or a need for recovery. Because after all: it's not to hard to lump all the negative states of emotion under being caused by "stress" or "trauma," now is it?
Many essence companies include at least one generalist among their offerings. For example, the best known generalist is Bach's Rescue Remedy (also called Five Flower as offered by the very fine Healing Herbs company). This is a combination of Clematis, Cherry Plum, Impatiens, Rock Rose, and Star of Bethlehem essences. It's intended for emergency or crisis response. Masters' has a Pear essence for trauma or emergency. And Whole Energy Essences has two generalists: Master Harmonizing Mixture (a combination essence for when it seems the stress is coming from within you) and White Solstice Rose (for when it seems the source of stress emanates from an outward source).
Any of these generalists are a great first-response essence: you are wounded (physically or/or emotionally), after applying appropriate first aid and calling for emergency help if the situation warrants, you can use a generalist essence to deal with the shock, upset, and fright of the situation. Like many, I carry Five Flower in my purse. Others keep it in the glove compartment of the car, as well as in the bathroom medicine cabinet. Plants and non-human animals also can benefit from a dose in cases of trauma or upset (for plants, think "transplant shock", for example). It's good to get into the habit of reaching for it at the first opportunity. Remember, the
person responding to the emergency may need it as much as the person having
the emergency!
A generalist essence can also be used when you don't know which essence to pick. So many seem so attractive you can't decide, or, conversely, none seem to strongly speak to the situation. I find that if I use a generalist for at least two weeks, often extraneous or superficial difficulties seem to be shed, and the deeper, underlying state of being can be seen and understood more clearly. -- therefore making it easier to choose the right essence. Similarly, homeopaths may use the homeopathic remedy Sulphur to start a case, to clear a confusing picture, allowing signs of the right remedy to shine through.
Generalists can also be used as a toner in an essence blend, strengthening and more smoothly blending the chosen essences. I also think that a generalist in a blend can help reduce the incidence of healing crises, since a feeling of overwhelm at so much change never seems to be able to get as good a foothold as in its absence.
However, any of these generalists can be used in other ways; one method is for long-term use (see here for an article about Rescue Remedy long term usage). I consider day-to-day stress like being traumatized over and over and over again. Maybe
none are big traumas, but there is an unending string of little upsets and
tensions. Often there is no opportunity to rest and recover afterwards, so
the person is chronically in need of repair, restoration, and relaxation.
Another reason that long term use of a generalist may be beneficial is that long after symptoms of physical trauma pass, we may remain upset about what happened. If you are still vulnerable, frightened, or pre-occupied by a past physical trauma -- or if these feelings arise months or even years later if you something reminds you of this original injury -- try a course of a generalist and see if it helps you move on emotionally and mentally.
For several years, I lectured to students at a pharmacy school as part of their complementary medicine class. Energy medicine was a bit of a reach for some of them. Certain students would be rolling their eyes in disbelief during my essence lecture! I would always bring along Master Harmonizing Mixture for them to try. I wouldn't tell them what it was; I would ask if they would like to be part of an experiment. I asked them to take the essence in silence, and record their reactions, challenging them to gather empirical data using themselves as test subjects.
Usually a number of students would have immediate and vivid physical and/or emotional reaction, perhaps 5-10% of the class (2-4 students), with about twice as many having more mild -- but noticeable -- reactions. We would gather their experiences and compare them to experiences of classmates from pervious semesters -- finding almost total agreement and clear patterns. We would then read about the remedy, discussing the Clover, Sedum and Peony essences that make it up...again, paralleing their reported experiencees. This experiment forced the students to rethink many skeptical reactions. Often, someone among the strong reactions would be one of the students who thought I was totally insane during the lecture part of the class. Gosh, that always was a lot of fun.
Once, I decided to depart from the usual approach and brought an essence with a far more narrow range of action. Only one student had a strong experience and almost no one had a more mild response. This affirmed why I usually brought MHM to these classes: as a generalist, it had the most chance of getting a response from the most people.
So, when in doubt, report to the General! And you don't have to even stand at attention to try it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: DEBORAH BIER, PhD is the maker of Whole Energy Essences
and co-editor of Vibration Magazine. For more of her articles in Vibration Magazine, see here.
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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.
