By Meghan Schardt
Early in December, I had a lovely live call with the online Fundamentals of Medical Herbalism program all about flower essences and their application for the holiday season. While some of those Winter holidays have come and gone, these essences still feel incredibly applicable as we recently found our way to Imbolc, the midway point between Winter and Spring. They feel additionally applicable at this treacherous time. We all deserve time for pause. For rest. For letting those moments of breath, nourishing our inner fire, to be a form of resistance.
During the live call, we felt into how experiencing essences and sharing in a group is part of what makes this medicine so rich. These group discussions are integral to our understanding of flower essences and their offerings.
Below are some essences I often consider during the holiday/Winter/season of resistance—no matter what you celebrate or don’t celebrate. I see very normal human patterns within each of these essences, especially given the terrain we sometimes experience during this season. The holiday season is often at odds with the natural rhythm of Winter, which asks us to slow, go inwards, stoke the fires for the upcoming Spring, and be patient as they quietly begin to grow. The holidays can ask us to gather in sensory stimulating environments, extrovert, travel, spend money, etc. They can also ask us to be with our families, which all have a unique dynamic. The flowers can be a gentle support for all of the above and more.
Flower Essences, as well as all herbal medicine, the plants, and trees, and minerals, and waters, and animals, are a part of our constellation of care. These networks help us both come back to ourselves but also remember that interdependence is where we will move forward, where we can build towards a new world. The essences let us both activate and rest, just like the flowers that close in the evenings, yet open during the sunlit days. We can both go inwards and connect outside of ourselves. The flowers can show us these networks and encourage us to move from independence to interdependence. We are strongest together. And this medicine reminds us that we can hold many truths at once: this is painful yet there is so much beauty. Our hearts break and we feel afraid, yet the flowers still bloom and the pollinators sing. We weep and our community buoys our hearts.
We each show up in our own unique ways. Herbalists do not have it figured out any more than anyone else. But all humans have gifts and offerings and tools to share with our communities, near and far. Flower Essences are a fantastic way to offer presence and care to those in your neighborhood. They can tend the nervous system as we struggle to make sense of the world, while we protest in the streets, while we make meals for our clients, while we feel overwhelmed, etc. They can help hold us in all of the “I don’t knows.” One of my colleagues would say that flower essences are revolutionary medicines, and I could not agree more. Flower essences are revolutionary medicines, and we certainly need a revolution.
A few of my favorite essences for this time of year are Walnut, Holly, Red Chestnut, Christmas Cholla, Star of Bethlehem, and Pine. Here’s a wee description of each (do know there is much more to say about each of these essences):
Walnut: I love this essence for all things transition related. This supports freedom from limiting influences and showing our inner strength to follow our path with firmly defined life goals. Walnut can offer a steadiness as you walk your path and keep appropriate boundaries. This medicine can keep us firmly on the path of resistance, even in the face of disagreement, dissonance, or doubt.
Holly: Holly is a fantastic essence for opening the heart to self and others. This essence shines at softening edges and strengthening tolerance. Holly the heartbeat. The holiday season is not an easy one and it can bring up pain, resentments, anger, hurt, etc. A season that tells us we must be grateful and must put joy and love at the forefront can directly oppose how we feel. Holly offers us the opportunity to look at those emotions and see where it would serve us best to soften and offer ourselves love in the process. Our sacred anger, our rage, our frustration, our heartbreak, is all rooted in love.
Red Chestnut: An essence to support those overly worried for others and suffering in the act of love. This essence loosens the bond and allows us to consider our own needs. I think of this essence a lot for herbalists and practitioners in the helping fields. It can be so easy to overly worry about our clients, and the same can be said for relationships outside of our clinical work. We can care about people and allow them freedom to make their own choices. This essence allows us to reorient towards ourselves so that we can love without grasping, care without control.
Christmas Cholla: To support all levels of clear boundaries. When there is entanglement, this essence offers balance and an unlocking from taking on the energy patterns from those around us. For the sensitive among us, this essence is a fantastic step towards being clear about what is ours and what is not ours. It is said to be for those that soak up energy around them like a sponge. If gatherings are hard because of this kind of sensitivity, think on Christmas Cholla to support your energy body from taking on what is happening in the environment around you.
Pine: A brilliant essence for self-esteem. Pine teaches us to stand tall, shake off guilt and shame, and release patterns where we are quick to blame ourselves. This essence is about self-forgiveness, reminding you of your worth and value. We can let go of shame and recognize our unique gifts with self-acceptance.
Star of Bethlehem: This essence reorients us to our own inner light. It teaches and guides us towards unity of the deepest parts of ourselves, where there is wholeness. This essence literally shines in application for traumatic experiences: think birth, death, divorce, abuse, surgery, physical injury, disaster, oppression, occupation, etc. It restores the self-healing mechanisms of the body and offers space to shift what is undigested in the system to integration. This essence is a catalyst.
This is an essential essence in Dr. Bach’s Rescue Remedy formula, which is also very well indicated for any and all stress responses that occur during these unpredictable times.
Please note: Flower Essences are safe for humans, animals, babies, nursing humans, elders, plants, and dwellings, with no contraindications with medications, which make this a sustainable offering to your community. Take your stock bottle (which you buy in commerce), and add 2 drops to a 30mL bottle filled with spring water. This is called a dosage bottle, that you will engage with. Take 4 drops, 4 times a day (or more as needed). Refill your dosage bottle as needed from the stock when you’ve finished the bottle.
To Know the Dark
By Wendell Berry
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
And find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
And is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
Standing in solidarity with all humanity,
Meghan Schardt
Clinical Herbalist, Flower Essence Practitioner, Herbal Educator, Death Care Worker, Writer