Starting from the early seeds of the Bach flower range, it is now thought that there are over 400 other ranges of flower essences. It is from the Bach flowers that most of other flower pioneers have found their inspiration. Having tried the Bach flowers out of curiosity and perhaps emotional need, they too realised that flower essences truly do work. Of course, not everyone who takes Bach flowers is going to go off and discover their own flower range, but for some people, I believe, the experience ignites an understanding of what flower energy is, and a desire to harness the energy of other flowers.
There was no “handbook” written by Edward Bach on how to find and make your own flower essence range. In fact he burnt all of his work except for the one book “Heal Thyself”. He believed that his findings would cause distraction, as he wanted to keep things as simple as possible. What it did was to leave a vacuum of questions, where writers have tried to fill in the gaps over the years with so many different theories. When you read “Heal Thyself”, it is very apparent straight away that Dr. Bach was a very spiritual man. In my opinion, I feel that within every different flower essence range, there has to be a very spiritual person behind the creation.
The Difference Between The Flower Essence Ranges And How To Choose One
With so many to choose from, where do you start? The first thing I would suggest is to do some research on the range of essences you are drawn to. Flower essences are not cheap, so perhaps start off with an individual essence for a specific emotional problem that you would like to address. Who created them? What is their background? Which flowers, trees, places, and animals have the essences been created with?
Although not containing any flower energy you may come across other essence ranges made from trees, places and animal energy. How can places and animals make up a range of essences you may think; the thing to remember is that the essence not only harnesses the “energy” of the flowers, it is also possible to harness the energy of a place, a weather condition, and an animal energy. How so, you may ask? Everything creates its own energy; a storm, a spiritual place, a spiritual time of year and an animal’s demeanour. Flower essence innovators travel specific countries discovering new flower energies, such as the Alaskan Flower Essences and Australian Bush Flower Essences. It makes total sense to me that flowers growing in theses differing climates will have different energies. Some will travel the world capturing environmental energy such as the northern lights, a full moon and summer solstice. In fact, the ranges of flower essences are infinite and they are only restricted by any lack of imagination by the creator.
Combining Different Flower Essence Ranges
You can combine different ranges of flower essences together; in fact I do this often. There are only so many emotions that animals and humans exhibit, so different ranges will have their own essences for grief, fear and 
jealousy etc. The key to choosing the correct one is to be guided by your intuition and what you feel is the nearest description to your animal’s problem. Take for example “grief”: each flower essence range will have their own interpretation of “grief”. Look through each range of essences and find the one with the closest description to your animal’s behaviour; this will be the correct one to choose. Of course “grief” when dissected is made up of many other behaviours such as; apathy, lack of appetite, loss of control, distress and perhaps worry. Each animal will exhibit individual responses to how they deal with their grief. By using different ranges of flower essences you will have a wider choice to match exactly your animals individual behaviour to the explanation given. Each animal is unique, as is each flower, and by expanding your choice of essences from different ranges, the easier it is to find the perfect treatment bottle for your animal.
I myself am using 3 ranges of flower essences; Bach Flower Remedies, Alaskan Essences, and the Australian Bush Flowers. I have just purchased the Baileys Flower Essence Range and I am patiently waiting for them to arrive. As I write this, I have thought of the many reasons that lead me to my choices.
- I was very drawn to them, in fact had an overwhelming desire to purchase them
- I researched them in detail via books and the Internet, spending hours reading any relevant information
- Whilst working on an animal consultation, my research has lead me to a specific essence in a specific range
- Each range has a huge support package; books, training programmes, workshops, correspondence courses, detailed research of each essence and an excellent website
- Easily obtainable and responsibly sourced
- Having a deep respect for the person who created them and the reasons behind why they discovered their essence range
I am really excited about receiving my Bailey’s essences; it has taken me 4 years, from first hearing about them, to reading books about Arthur Bailey, who was such an interesting man, and of course having to save up the pennies to purchase it. I love his integrity and am fascinated by the way he discovered his flower essences. The point is that whatever range you choose, there will be some driven reason behind your choice. There is no right or wrong flower essence range. Just have faith that your intuition will lead you to the right one at the right time for you and your animal.
Caroline Thomas