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Our beloved colleague and friend, Donatella Tordoni of Milan, Italy, departed from the earthly realm on March 2, 2022. We will profoundly miss Donatella’s wise and compassionate presence in the work of the Flower Essence Society. Ably fluent in English as well as her native Italian, Donatella was our official teacher and emissary in Italy for several decades. Much of her public service was in collaboration with Unione di Floriterapia , a nationwide association of Italian practitioners advocating education, research and healing related to flower essence therapy. Donatella’s devotion to flower essence therapy was exceptional. She was fond of quoting Dr. Bach’s core teaching, “The action of these remedies is to raise our vibrations and open up our channels for the reception of our Spiritual Self.”
Donatella fervently hoped that this approach to the practice of flower essence therapy would eventually transform the materialistic bias of medicine. She included in this assessment the increasingly popular allopathic approach to flower essences that focuses mainly on symptom alleviation and other surface changes.
We are so thankful for the many times we were able to visit Italy, with Donatella serving as our most gracious host. Treasured memories include our times in the spectacular Italian Alps and the ancient olive groves of the Tuscany region. Seeing the world through Donatella’s heart-eye was always a gift. I recall with special ardor my time with Donatella in Milan, following a seminar I taught solo there. She was a most thoughtful and generous host, treating me to the best of Italian cuisine at a prestigious restaurant. We concluded our excursion at the extraordinary Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral). Donatella guided me toward the exact spot where one’s body can experience the center point of the Cathedral’s sacred geometry. The experience of sitting in meditation with her is indelibly impressed in my memory. I felt my heart literally expanding and radiating to vast expanses of the Cosmos, in no small measure due to her presence beside me. Next, we climbed to the highest vista of the Cathedral, gazing down on all of Milan. Golden rays of the setting sun graced my dear friend in such a way that she was entirely translucent and ethereally luminous. Had Donatella suddenly sprouted wings in that moment and flown away, I would not have been astonished. I realized in those sacred moments just how transcendent and permeable to the Cosmos was Donatella’s Essential Being. From this point of view, it is remarkable that she stayed with us on the earthly plane for as long as she did. Donatella championed above all, the culminating eighth stage in the Metaflora Map of the Soul . She believed that flower essence therapy was ultimately intended by the spiritual world to guide human consciousness toward ever greater sensitivity and communion with all life on Earth. She loved not only the flowers but all animal life. Donatella was a long-time practitioner of falconry, feeling supreme connection with these fierce birds, beyond any fear. During several summer vacations she visited the Tiger Temple in Thailand. Returning from a trip there, she wrote, “When a wild animal is approached through love—and this implies that a deeper level of the common source of all living beings is actively acknowledged—the animal responds in the same way. Consequently, there is no need for fear from either side, human or animal.”
Our last collaboration with Donatella was in October 2021, when she devoted extensive time to the translation of material accompanying our online seminar, The Rainbow Path of Color and Flower Essence Therapy, for the members of Unione di Floriterapia . Donatella was especially inspired to learn of the Native American teaching that the exudations of flowers help form the Rainbow Bridge from Earth to Spirit-Land. “Imagine how glorious and fitting it will be for our souls when we cross the Rainbow Bridge. We will be embraced and guided by all the flowers we have so loved here on earth,” she said. Perhaps already then, Donatella knew inwardly that she would soon travel on this Flower Bridge. Still, we must remember that Donatella has not left us, she has only changed the vantage point from which to continue her journey of Love and Light. I close with another quotation from Dr. Bach, one that was also treasured by our dear Donatella:
Read Donatella’s articles for the Flower Essence Society (a small reflection of the extensive contribution she made to our general research):
Helping Clients Flourish: The Foundational Role of the Flourish Formulas
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