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There is no denying that Jesus may be considered the most famous and important man in history. Although he died on the cross two thousand years ago, Jesus is still the most talked about and known of human beings. Due to Jesus' influence, history was divided into two eras: before his birth and after his birth. He is admired not only by the billions of people of countless religions who call themselves Christians, but also by Confucians, Buddhists, Islamists and Hindus. The Christ is universally loved and admired. And why is that? The Gospel of Love Because the word that permeates his entire biography is Love. Jesus spoke of Love and demonstrated his love for Humanity in a land dominated by prejudice and discrimination at a time when fear was part of the people's routine. The rule of the Roman Empire penetrated the house of the Jews. Rome and Caesar were dominant topics of conversation. The power of Caesar enslaved the people and took their money, and the power of the high priests enslaved their souls and charged them tithes to increase the wealth of the temple. Jesus lived in a land where the damned died after suffering by being nailed to the cross for days, and as an act of compassion they had their bones broken to take away their point of support and thus accelerate their death. In fact, crucifixion at that time and in that land was such a common thing, that the bones of the damned were scattered across Mount Calvary (Golgotha) waiting for the next bones. Jesus was the most human of men, a man to his last drop of blood, until his last heartbeat. He was deeply in love with the human being, and he gave special attention to each person. Love, not fear, was the perfume that he exuded to attract people. The Christ force lived in Jesus as a human being, an enlightened human being. Within him was an enormous emotional intelligence, to manage all internal conflicts and teach people through Love how to be strong. All this flowed through Greater Love, the same archetypal Love represented by the flower we know as Holly.
The Holly Flower:
Holly is regarded as the most universally applicable of flower essences to heal the inner being and to stimulate the basic loving nature of the human soul. Dr. Edward Bach regarded Holly as one of the two most primary essences in all of his entire repertory.1 In his writings, he defined it as a protection "against all that is not Universal Love." Holly is for any persistent negative emotion that violates the sanctity of life.2
In its negative polarity, Holly deals with the dense emotions of hatred, anger and jealousy. Anger is a reaction to the invasion of the individual's sense of self. When a person is invaded, they may react with outrage. To that extent it is a natural and appropriate response. But the problem arises when outrage becomes habitual. Someone who is habitually angry must experience an habitual stimulus. The invasion or attack that breaches the sense of Self has so broken down the natural defenses that a part of the being is taken over, becoming occupied territory.3 This hostility is turned outward into the world when the soul is not secure in itself and has not mastered fierceness as a fire within the soul. Unless the Self is fortified from within, we do not meet the outer world in the right way. We respond with hostility, envy or jealousy.4 Emotional Equanimity in the Heart: The Core Christ teaching Jesus knew how to quiet his own soul; his emotions were not victim of circumstances, so he remained calm even when the world seemed to fall upon him. Patience and benevolence always accompanied him along the way. Jesus managed to awaken the loving forces of the heart, which is exactly Holly's greatest teaching. The nature of Holly is a solar force that lives not in the heights, but in the depths of the earth. It is the inner light of Self-containment gained by living in "spirit depths"—at one with the "world ground". The soul is so solidly secure and anchored within itself that nothing can assail one's sense of deep peace. When this consciousness is mastered, the journey inward of the Self is complete. The Holly gives a strength of Self that becomes the very basis of compassion.5 In the Gospels, we find several examples of this strength and wholeness of the Self that Jesus developed, which made him have complete control of his emotions. Compassion was the feeling that moved him. Jesus did not discriminate against or judge anyone: "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." 6 Jesus taught that we must love even our enemies: "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." 7 In an Islamic manuscript much revered by Muslims, in the passage known as The Sayings of Jesus , it is told that Jesus passed before certain people and was cursed by them. But he replied politely, without insults. Someone then provoked him: "They speak ill of you and you speak well with them?" Jesus answered him with the same serenity: "Each one offers what he brings within himself ."8 But perhaps the greatest example of compassion, tolerance, and Love Jesus gave to mankind was when he allowed the soldiers to put the crown of thorns on his head and nail his hands and feet to the cross, without a single evil thought. Instead, Jesus pleaded in their names, "Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing ."9 Jesus also had episodes of anger, in which he did not deny his human nature, but instead acted within a context of natural and appropriate response. Jesus demonstrates his outrage in the famous passage in the Temple guarding the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem. At that moment, Jesus decides to express all the bitterness about what he had been witnessing during the two or three years he had walked through Galilee, seeing injustices, corruption, exploitation and discrimination. When he enters the Temple, he approaches the vendors and begins to expel them and the people who are buying something. He knocks down the tables where the money changers exchange the unclean Roman denarii for shekels, approved by the priests. Jesus also throws the chairs of the poultry vendors on the floor and shouts, " Isn't it written? My house will be called a house of prayer but you've made it into a den of thieves !" 10 Holly Embodies the Polarity of Light and Dark
As a flower essence, Holly deals with the awakening of the love forces of the heart achieved through a descent into the interior of Self and the earth.11 This polarity between light and dark can be observed in the signature of the plant. Despite growing in open places, Holly has a habit of sheltering under other trees, being shade tolerant. It has the ability to germinate and grow in soil covered by decaying leaves or between thin grass at the foot of an adult tree, where there is very little sunlight. The leaves are dark green and are arranged so that they receive as much light as possible. At the same time, any light not absorbed by the leaves is reflected by the shiny, waxy surface into the thick bush, so that other leaves can absorb it. It might have small trunks with a white-gray bark that has the effect of bringing light into the middle of the tree, just where it is darkest. All this presents a strongly black and white or light/dark appearance.12 It helps us understand even more the descent into the depths of the Self, bringing the inner light to shine onto the outside world.
As Jesus said to his disciples: "You are the light of the world.13 Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds." 14 Before and after the appearance of the four gospels accepted by the prevailing Christian tradition, numerous apocryphal texts were written, such as The Dialogue of the Savior,15 which was rescued in the 1940s, inside a clay jar in Nag Hammadi, northern Egypt. In it, unlike in the texts of the Gospels of the New Testament, disciples ask Jesus complex questions. He mentions Mary Magdalene as the woman who understood everything. In fact, the question she asks Jesus is extremely sensitive. "Master, while I am wearing a body, where do my tears come from, where does my laughter come from?" Jesus responds, "The body weeps because of its work, and because of what is yet to be done. The mind smiles because of the fruits of the spirit. Anyone who has never been in the darkness will not be able to see the light... You will turn on the lights, and live forever..." This symbolism of light/dark is also present in the birth of Jesus. As Mary and Joseph found no shelter anywhere, the infant Jesus was born in precarious conditions, in the most inhospitable place possible, a stable, and was placed in a manger. What darker condition could there be for a birth? However, "The Christ force, born in the depths of the earth at midnight hour of Christmas, shines forth as the essence of love in the human heart ."16 The Primacy of Love The deep intention of the Holly essence is the capacity of the flowering Holly heart that Jesus expressed himself and preached so much to his followers, and it is the greatest teaching and legacy he has left us. Jesus brings in his heart the most perfect forces of divine love, which is at the same time human love. Experiencing this true love is the most fundamental lesson for the soul and, at the same time, the most challenging. In describing the Holly flower essence, Dr. Bach wrote, "The ultimate conquest of all will be through love and gentleness, and when we have sufficiently developed these two qualities, nothing will be able to assail us, since we shall ever have compassion and not offer resistance ".17 This is the same message that Jesus practiced and taught us. Again, quoting a passage from the scroll The Dialogue of the Savior, 18 Judas Thomas asks Jesus: "I really want to know everything... Tell me, master, what's the beginning of the path? Jesus replies, "Love and kindness. If either of the two existed among rulers, evil would never have existed." Still in this context, we can also remember two passages of the gospel. A scribe asks Jesus, "What commandment is the most important of all?". Jesus replies, " This is the most important: 'Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength .' ", but he also decides to say a second commandment, which is love for human beings: "Love your neighbor as yourself." No other commandment is greater than these ." 19 Jesus preaches love, selfless love, love for others, whoever the other is. And the scribe, understanding this, replies: "Right, Teacher, you have stated correctly that God is One and there is no other but Him, and to love Him with all your heart and with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, which is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." 20 In another passage Jesus says: "So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." 21 The Crown of Thorns as a Symbol of Holly Perhaps the most profound archetypal image of Holly is evoked through the symbolism of Jesus on the cross with a Crown of Thorns. Jesus became the sacrificed god-king; His crown of thorns, a Holly wreath; the four-petaled white flowers a symbol of His purity and the cross; the red berries the drops of His blood. 22
The age at which Jesus died is also symbolic; after all, the inaccuracy of dates in the gospels and documents is so much, that it is impossible to say for certain his age when he died.23 Jesus was crucified on Golgotha (often translated as skull in English, but more accurately it means cranium , the part of the skull enclosing the brain) at the reported age of 33. Thirty-three is the number of our vertebrae, through which the Kundalini energy circulates and arrives at the skull (Golgotha).24 Jesus walked this alchemical path to enlightenment and was crowned with a crown of thorns. Patricia Kaminski writes, "The kingly crown typically elevates one to a higher status by activating the crown chakra. But the crown of thorns works in a reverse way in the Christ being. It is a crown that makes the head bleed, bringing the high spiritual essence into the human heart. The divine becomes human, the king becomes man in Christ. He is called the Son of Man, for Christ is the bearer of all that becomes human through the force of love in the heart."25
Artist: Dirk Bouts (circa 1420-1475) The crucifixion was Jesus' greatest act of humanity. It was the descent into darkness to bring light. Holly deals with the fierce ability of the human soul to descend into the underworld, bringing inner light into darkness. Holly makes one turn inside, as did Jesus by living an extremely human experience of pain and interiorization during the crucifixion to discover the divine within himself. During the six hours Jesus remained crucified, he uttered only eight sentences and gave a final cry. Four of the sentences were spoken in the first three hours, and the others were spoken close to the last beat of his heart.26 He was silent most of the time. He turned inside himself, showed love, tolerance, and compassion, and nurtured the intimate relationship he had with his God. At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until 3 o'clock.27 Is it more symbolism? Silently, everything darkened and descended into the underworld, and then the light of resurrection shone. Jesus incarnated and incorporated the Cosmic Christ, the son of God. This light that Jesus expanded, the divine spark that is the Father-Mother God himself in us, dwells as a potential in the heart of every human being, even if not embodied yet, in a place behind the heart chakra. Jesus showed the way for each of us to follow him and expand this light.28 Holly teaches us exactly this, that we can't find love outside ourselves, if it's not anchored from within the human heart. Holly creates what is divine from within what is human. Holly helps the human heart know its own wholeness, its own holiness, because it feels permeated by divine love 29 In his encounter with a Samaritan woman in front of a well, Jesus taught this. Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father," 30 as if to say that it is not necessary to come to God using intermediaries, for the Temple is within us. In the Gospel of Thomas Jesus expressed his concern for human beings who did not understand the message: "And my heart was afflicted by human beings, because they are blind in their hearts and have no vision... for they have come into this world empty and will leave it empty." 31 Jesus was and continues to be an enlightened spiritual guide, directly associated with the Spirit of God, who came down to earth to show the path to eternity. In a similar way, Holly helps us integrate all spiritual wisdom, knowledge and experience at the heart level , directing the soul toward compassion and love as the highest values of spiritual development. 32 About Gabriela Cristofolini
End notes
Bibliography
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Gabriela Cristofolini is a pharmacist who specializes in compounding pharmacy, as well as aesthetics and body image. A graduate of the Regional University of Blumenau (FURB), she worked for many years as both as a pharmacist and a massage therapist. In 2016, on her journey of self-discovery, she was introduced to Flower Essence Therapy: a dividing line in her life. In the same year, she took the Professional Training Course of the
Flower Essence Society
, and other specialization classes. In 2020, she completed the
Certification Process of FES
, earning the certificate of Practitioner. She has been a Flower Essence Practitioner since 2017.
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