Bach Flower Remedies
for Children
by Barbara Mazzarella
Reviewed by Cheri Kussavage
Barbara
Mazzarella’s conviction that joy is the birthright of every
living child is idealized in her book,
Bach
Flower Remedies for Children
. The entire focus of this
book is on the treatment of children using the vibrational healing
abilities of Bach flower remedies. The author has a strong belief
in administering flower essences at an early age to create balance
and harmony in a child, which ultimately ends with a happier adult.
Mazzarella has extensive experiential knowledge
on the subject of flower essences and their application to the
treatment of children. She has worked for more than twenty years
in nursery and elementary schools of Milan, Italy and encourages
the reader to administer flower essences to children with their
own faith and intuition. No harm can come from administering the
wrong remedy.
Mazarella’s book provides descriptions of
remedies and typologies of behavior, advice and suggestions, games,
guided meditations, stories and affirmations.
This book also addresses each of the 38 Bach flower
remedies in alphabetical order, beginning with a short behavior
typology. The typology provided for WALNUT is as follows: “I’m
moving to a new house and changing schools, too. I’m not
a little kid anymore; I’m turning into a young adult. All
this change is so hard!” What follows is detailed examples
of behavior and emotional issues that the flowers address. The
author adds advice and suggestions, as well as a short children’s
story that could be read as a bedtime story to help ease the child’s
distress. Each chapter ends with an affirmation to provide nourishment
for both parent and child.
Continuing
with the above example, the author explains that the WALNUT child
has a difficult time with transitions because of ambivalence and
allowing others to convince them to let go of what they really
want to do. Walnut is a helpful remedy to administer in the first
days of school attendance or when a child is teething. There are
many other circumstances in which one may use Walnut that are listed
as well. The author adds that Walnut “is a protective agent
in that it can form a sort of shield that reinforces the aura and
repels negative energies.”
The short story for Walnut flower essence is entitled: “Richard
and the Magic Scissors”. In this story, Richard is dissuaded
by his mother from leaving on a life adventure to explore the world,
but urged to stay near home. On one short venture close to home,
he is captured by a wizard who ties him up with invisible cords
to hold him in his powers. Then forced to work for the wizard,
Richard could go no further than the wizard’s garden. He
kept hope alive in his heart, but lost his sense of security and
the cords were quite tiresome. Eventually, the story ends happily
with the King of Fairies releasing Richard by cutting the wizard’s
cords with magic scissors, allowing Richard to repay the fairies
by trekking on a glorious adventure, as promised them, in search
of the fairies’ purple stone.
Word of advice is given by the author to not directly
place the child’s name or exact appearance in the story.
The stories are metaphors only, and not meant to be critical or
fault-finding for the sensitive child. The stories will need ad-libbing
for a younger child of pre-school age, and are more likely geared
towards children 8 – 10 years of age.
The affirmations that close each flower chapter
are well phrased and direct. The Walnut chapter ends with the following
affirmation:
“I free myself from all negative influence.
I follow my inner guide. I am ready for change. I allow the fulfillment
of my potential.”
Three examples of guided meditation or visualization
are provided in the last section of the book. These are guidelines
that can be used with a group of children or individuals to help
them relax, strengthen their energy or auras, and to create a “magic
room,” where anything is possible and healing, and where
joy and love abound. The child in you may want to follow along
with these exercises to receive their beneficial affects.
The Quick-Reference Table of Remedies in the back
of the book is useful for parents when first trying to narrow down
the flowers that should be used for their child’s condition.
For the Disturbance/Issue of “Bedwetting”, for example,
four Causes/Conditions are listed along with the corresponding
flower remedy. Bedwetting, “Due to daytime tension and withholding
followed by nighttime loosening” – Cherry Plum is selected. “Due
to severe anxiety masked by apparent serenity” – Agrimony
is listed. “Due to regression or trauma” – Star
of Bethlehem is indicated. “Due to birth of a sibling” – Holly
is suggested as the choice. This Reference Table provides over
sixty different disturbances or issues, and is very complete from
the aspect of most children’s troubles.
This practical working manual, written for the
lay person, is highly recommended for parents, grandparents, and
any caretaker of children. It’s easy to recognize the child
reflected in each flower chapter. This book would make a wonderful
baby shower gift, along with a bottle of Five-Flower Formula. Barbara
Mazzarella is right; each child should be happy, so why not explore
using flower essences as a way to bring harmony and balance into
a child’s life?
|