By Kalli Liddick
Making a flower essence is a great way to connect with nature and a chosen plant medicine. By making your own essence, you can ensure the highest level of positive energy and intentions throughout the entire process, resulting the production of potent vibrational medicine. It is a fun, magical, and rewarding process from start to finish. Making your own essence provides you with the ability to choose your own preservative, which is helpful for those with sensitivities, those who prefer to not use alcohol in their essences, and for those planning to use the essence in work with animals. Follow the steps below to make an essence out of any wild or cultivated flowering plant!
MATERIALS NEEDED:
- Small glass bowl
- Small glass jar
- Mesh strainer
- Tweezers
- Scissors
- Spring water
- Organic alcohol or distilled white vinegar
BEFORE COLLECTING
- Pick a good day for collection. You should have about 4 hours of clear sunlight, preferably morning sun. If making a moon essence, choose a night when the moon is full and the sky is clear.
- Meditate with the plant you wish to work with. Ask permission to use its flowers as medicine, and tune into any messages you may receive from the plant.
COLLECTING THE FLOWERS
- Once you have determined which plant you will use, prepare your bowl. Fill the bowl with spring water, and place it near the plant. It should be level and have direct access to sunlight.
- Using your tweezers and scissors, cut each blossom close to the base, placing them flat and facing up, if possible. Cover the top of the bowl with one even layer of flowers.
- Throughout this process, remain mindful. You may offer a positive affirmation or prayer to the bowl, or to each individual flower, if desired.
- When the bowl is full, give thanks to the plant, and ask that the essence reach its full potential for healing.
FINISHING THE ESSENCE
- Allow the essence to sit in the sunlight for approximately 3-4 hours, or overnight under the moon.
- When the essence is finished infusing, preserve it by pouring it through a mesh strainer into a clean glass jar with alcohol or distilled white vinegar, at a 50:50 dilution. Label the bottle appropriately.
- You now have a preserved mother essence. To make a stock essence, add 10 drops of the mother essence to a 60 mL bottle filled with 50:50 spring water and alcohol or vinegar. To make a dosage bottle, add one drop of essence from the stock bottle to 15 mL bottle filled with 50:50 water and alcohol or vinegar.
Sources:
http://www.naha.org/naha-blog/making-and-using-flower-essences/
Fundamentals of Medical Herbalism Notes: Flower Essences: Foundations of Therapy by Deanna Gabriel
