The Horse Herbalist

Flower Remedies – What they are and How to make them

What are Flower Remedies? What can they do? How can they help?

Flowers have been used for healing since time immemorial by humans and animals all over the world. The great healers of the past all believed that good health is the result of emotional, mental and spiritual wellbeing. Indeed without mind balance no physical cure will hold.

Flower Remedies, given appropriately, can help us all back into mental/emotional balance.
For example, we can all have times, humans, horses and others, of being too impatient, too controlling, overly fearful, jumping at shadows, gloomy, worried, over sensitive, aggressive, doubting oneself, lacking confidence and the list goes on…..

We can all unwittingly be held back, or fail to reach our true potential in life if we are bound by our old belief patterns and negative blocks. Just like humans, when horses and other animals (including all living beings) are unwell or not feeling ‘quite right’, they are often negatively affected mentally and emotionally.

Do animals have emotions?

I am puzzled as to why so many humans think we are very different from other life forms, as if we alone experience emotions. Undoubtedly the range differs and because none of us has the same voice or body language, humans are frequently ignorant of other animal’s or bird’s expressions.

All animals are sentient beings. Science has shown that birds are susceptible to mood swings including both depression and optimism, that fish feel pain, that chimpanzees can trounce humans in short term memory games, that dogs recognise unfairness and that rats practice random acts of kindness.

Whether they realise it or not, most good horsemen and women appreciate the differences in individual horse’s mental and emotional minds, as do all those humans who enjoy their pets and domestic animals.

Do they work?

Flower remedies are the little known change agents that everyone can afford and administer. They can be both powerful but sometimes subtle in effect. They do not change the essence of the individual (human or horse) but they do bring negative emotions back into balance. For example human patients given flower remedies may say some weeks later that they feel ‘much better in themselves’. It’s always easier to see the differences in others than in ourselves.

Flower remedies are a wonderful gift for all creatures great and small.
Horses and other animals often respond more quickly than humans.

Are they safe and do they swab?

Absolutely safe however, do remember, if you or your animals are unwell, you should seek the services of a qualified practitioner.

There are no contra-indications or drug interactions with Flower remedies.
Flower remedies do not swab nor should they, as they are improving mind-body balance. This will not enable anyone to run faster or jump higher, unless a negative emotional state has previously stopped the physical body achieving its potential.

How to make your own Flower remedies.

Anyone with good clear intention can make a Flower remedy.

You will need:

Fresh or dried flowers.

A clear plain bowl (no designs)made of glass or quartz. The bowl should hold around 350ml of water, but the amount can vary according to individual preferences.

Pure spring water or distilled water

The purest brandy available

Sterilised amber or blue glass storage bottles

A glass funnel with sieve

Labels to put on the bottles

Step 1 – Preparing the remedy:

It’s best to prepare remedies early in the morning on a clear sunny day. Check with a moon planner or diary for ideal dates to prepare the most energetic remedy. Choose an unpolluted peaceful area where the flowers are growing in the wild if possible, otherwise use blooms grown organically in natural surrounds.

Begin the process by entering into a quiet meditative state. Tune into the plant and ask permission to make your remedy.

Remove the blooms gently with a silver instrument or twigs from the plant, try not to handle the blooms as you place them in your bowl.

Leave bowl with blooms and water untouched for three hours, on the earth, under a cloudless sky, preferably where the plant is living.

Dried blooms may be used in the same way if the blooms have been preserved in wax bags or carefully dried by the sun.

Step 2 – Making the ‘Mother’ remedy:

Pour brandy into prepared bottles to fill 25% of volume. Top up the bottle with the remedy, poured from the bowl through a funnel. The brandy is necessary to preserve the remedy. This is called the ‘mother’ remedy. You can further energise the remedy by placing the bottles, not touching each other, under a copper pyramid and/or place quartz crystals around them for a time. This is not essential, do what feels right for you.

Store away from sunlight and strong odours. Do not keep in or on any electrical appliances including fridges.

Step 3 – Making ‘Stock’ and ‘Dose’ remedies:

‘Stock’ bottles are prepares from the ‘mother’ remedy. Pour brandy into prepared bottles to fill 25% volume and top up with distilled or pure spring water. Shake the ‘mother’ remedy and then add 7 drops to the ‘stock’ bottle.

This may be diluted down further to ‘dose’ bottles by using 7drops from the ‘stock’ bottle into brandy and water.

I prefer to administer doses from the ‘stock’ bottle rather than ‘dose’ bottle, but many practitioners find the most diluted dose is effective.

Store away from sunlight and strong odours. Do not keep in or on any electrical appliances including fridges.

Further reading:

• Flower Remedies for Horses, Pets and People – Angela Davison
• Heal Thyself – Edward Bach
• Bush Flower Essences and Bush Flower Healing – Ian White
• Second Nature, The Inner Lives of Animals – Jonathon Balcombe