The human will plays a highly interactive role with flower essences. Being vibrational in nature, they do not “biochemically impose” on us. If a person needs to sleep, he may try a sedative; for weight loss, diet pills. And yet I’ve talked to many people who didn’t sleep better or lose weight, no matter what medications they tried.

There are, basically, two components operative here: (1) the person’s will power is not in agreement with the medication; and (2) the psycho-emotional cause of the physical problem isn’t healed. We’ll talk about the first point in this post.

If a deep problem is addressed “head on” with flower essences, the ego of the individual may not be in agreement with the changes. This is what I call a “direct hit.”

A woman came to one of my classes, wanting to take Strawberry Essence for dignity, even while saying she wasn’t ready for it. These are her words:

“I’m not there yet, with Strawberry. I may have some integrity and beauty but I’m not ready to own these qualities yet. This essence might push me before I’m there yet to receive it. My paternal grandmother had self-esteem. When my sister won a spelling bee, everyone made her feel good about herself. But I’m not beautiful. I think beautiful people are better than me. That’s how I grew up.”

In the case of this woman, a good essence program would be one that helps her to build on her strengths, working “around” this deep issue of lack of self-worth. A good flower essence for her might include Raspberry Essence to strengthen her deep compassion for other people; Peach Essence, similarly, to support her expansive understanding that giving to others brings us wholeness in return; and Spinach Essence to help restore the missing “nurtured childhood” that she, as an adult, can now give to herself.

When people give a “no response” report on the essences, or when they report a negative reaction (this happens extremely rarely), the above reasons need to be considered.

A good practitioner will work with the client’s readiness and willingness to make needed changes. When these components are present, we can see the best possible response to a flower essence program.

I recently conducted a consultation for Lynne, a holistic practitioner, whose cat Sally has been expressing litter box problems for several years. Sally urinates on the floor, which is a sign of anxiety and stress, as opposed to near doorways and windows, that indicates marking behavior to keep intruders out of the house. As is typically the case, this can happen in multi-pet households, especially with more than one cat. After one week, Lynne is seeing a change in Sam’s behavior as the alpha cat, but not yet in Sally’s.

My response

Dear Lynne,
Greetings, and it’s good to hear from you. You have been in my thoughts since our consult.

As you said, it’s a good sign that Sam has “backed off” from bullying Sally. Although there have been other variables in the home, it’s safe to assume that his behavior is triggered at least in part by the Banana Essence. This IS VERY GOOD NEWS.

It sounds like Sally feels she has no space—in a different way than what we as humans can understand. Cats, being territorial as we spoke, define themselves by the space around them, and it looks as though Sam has taken that from Sally. We’re using Strawberry Essence, for grounding and boundaries, to try to recreate that sense of space for her.

As mentioned, and as you also know as a holistic practitioner, unless the cause is removed, the symptoms will remain. This is what we are working on for Sally. Hence the Strawberry, to replace the space she is missing and thus behaving in what we would consider inappropriate ways. If we could see it from her side, she’s doing her darned best to fix her situation through marking her space with her urine scent. From her point of view, this is a self-comforting behavior.

Other suggestions, short of getting her to a single-cat home where the cause of her problem would be eliminated, would be to board Sam somewhere for a few weeks and see how she does. This too would confirm what the problem is—not Sam per se, but living with a dominant cat who makes her feel uneasy in her home/territory, etc.

I was reading just this morning about some creative solutions to litter box problems. One suggestion was to put a piece of carpet in an empty litter box for the cat to use. The other was to give the cat her own litter box, without the scents of the other cats. Cats feel vulnerable when eliminating, so completely non-threatening litter box areas—meaning in this case, without the scents of the other cats—can also ease the problem.

Also, my book, Flower Essences for Animals, has a section about litter box problems that might be helpful for Sally’s situation.

Anyway, let’s see where this goes. It’s asking a lot of Sally to redirect her energy while the cause of the problem is still present, but there is hope for remedying this situation.

Applause to you for continuing to work on this.

Have a great weekend,
Lila

It’s blackberry season in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. The rural areas have exploded with berries of all shades from red to a dark purple-blue, where once their white and lavender blossoms grew. I can remember as a child being taught that it’s the ripe ones that pop off when you give them a gentle pull. Those are the sweetest, and worth risking the foreboding thorns of their bushes.

Just yesterday we received a call from a man who wanted to order some essences for his mother. Aged and still living at home with her husband, her behavior had gotten progressively more difficult to deal with, and the son was contemplating a nursing home for both parents. Flower essences were his last resort.

Yes, Peach Essence would be good, (also see blog post on Peach), to help her express the purity of a mother’s love, rather than trying to manipulate the situation in her favor. Date Essence would be another helpful suggestion, to restore her innate sweetness and to lessen, or remove altogether, any irritability or crankiness.

And then there is Blackberry Essence, to help free her from any thoughts that do not express her highest nature. Unpleasant attitudes such as pessimism, negativity and a carping spirit can be eliminated from our thoughts and behaviors with the support of this essence.

Some years back while teaching in England, I was fortunate enough to have some spare time for site-seeing. I visited the site where the Battle of Hastings took place-a war fought between King Harold II of England and Duke William of Normandy on that fateful day, the 14th October, 1066-a date that changed the course of British history.

Since this isn’t a history dissertation, I’ll get to the point. The land was covered with blackberry bushes. They grew on the plains and near the remaining ruins. Surely it was a bloody battle, owing to what we would now consider the primitive weaponry and armor of the Saxons and Normans: helmets, swords, spears, battleaxe heads, shields, and chainmail.

Considering the fierceness and brevity of the battle, one would think that an air of pandemonium and slaughter might linger on to this day. What surprised me was the clean energy of the land. I couldn’t help but think that the vibratory message of the little blackberry was responsible in part. The land felt settled, purified, and washed free of any lingering trauma.

It was a special visit to a special place with an important lesson about energy. I still have my Bayeux Tapestry t-shirt from the museum and gift shop that I bought as a memento of this trip and, when I wear it, I am reminded of the blackberries.