By Patricia Kaminski

Alpine Aster flourishes in the high snow-melt meadows of the Sierra Mountains during its brief summer period. One is immediately impressed with its distinct, proportionately large central array of disk florets emanating like a mighty sun, encircled by lavender ray florets. The Alpine Aster is a member of the Composite/Asteraceae family; yet she is not like the exuberant yellow Dandelion eagerly “springing” from the earth with its first germinating impulses. Nor is she like the soaring stately Sunflower with its regal, golden blossoms. The evanescent lavender-white rays of the Alpine Aster suggest a color that is highly spiritualized, united with a luminous core. Alpine Aster deeply absorbs the full expression of the sun’s communion with the earth at an exalted vantage point of altitude not typical for most flowering plants. She offers this exquisite distillation to all the starry cosmos.

This unique soul quality of the Alpine Aster is imparted in her flower medicine. In the spectrum of healing, it is one of the most spiritualizing of flower essences, directing the consciousness of the Self beyond the personality and sensory existence, toward a sublime awareness of the Higher Spirit Self. Becoming aware of this non-physical “I-Self” is a reality that often escapes our attention on earth, yet it is always at work within us.

Our earthly bodies are not the static solid structures we might suppose. Every cell is in constant dynamic flux, completely re-creating and renewing itself every seven years. What directs this intelligent template of organizing and formative forces? We must clearly understand that it is not our physical body that engenders these creative forces. When the physical body is left entirely to itself it becomes a corpse; it is not life sustaining. The higher organizational template of the spiritual I-Self is the entity that continuously provides a cohering principle for our bodily-life identity.

Becoming aware of this I-Self without the physical “scaffold” of the body is a soul truth artfully expressed by the great American poet Emily Dickinson:

The Props assist the House
Until the House is built
And then the Props withdraw
And adequate, erect,
The House supports itself
And ceases to recollect
The Augur and the Carpenter –
Just such a retrospect
Hath the perfected Life –
A Past of Plank and Nail
And slowness – then the scaffolds drop
Affirming it a Soul.

Dickinson’s pithy image of the House as spiritual reality, becoming able to support itself without its “props” is precisely the message of the Alpine Aster flower essence. Several key therapeutic themes of healing are addressed by this flower essence, as discussed in the following overview.

Engaging the Soul’s Ability to Pray and Meditate

Many report that they are too busy and “just don’t have time” for prayer, meditation and other forms of contemplation. Others may lament that “nothing happens, I don’t seem to feel or gain anything.” What is really being said is that recognition of the spiritual identity within the soul is not yet clearly established; otherwise one would require its engagement as greatly and regularly as needing to eat. For indeed, prayer and meditation are supreme nourishment for the soul. The Alpine Aster helps to incrementally anchor this awareness of the soul and its ability to cultivate an independent spiritual life. The use of this flower essence balances and nourishes the soul in our materialistic, physically predominant culture. Many forms of stress, tension, depression, fear and anxiety can be alleviated when the soul’s inner life is vibrant and dynamic, forming a healthy counterpole to the physical body.

Building a Bridge to the Soul Realm of Dreams

It is commonly supposed that we sleep because we are tired; but it is more accurate to understand that we become tired so that we can sleep. Sleep is not only restorative for the physical body but provides the opportunity for the soul to experience a body-free dimension of activity. We spend approximately one-third of our lives in these higher realms but are largely unaware of, and inattentive to the gifts of this soul life. Alpine Aster is one of the flower essences that can help build a bridge between these dimensions of consciousness, guiding the soul to become more attuned to the messages and images that arise from the liminal spaces wherein body and soul shift daily between sleeping and waking.

Alleviating Shock or Instability Resulting from Post-Trauma Stress or Spiritual Emergence

Humanity lives in a time when the density of materialism is at its greatest intensity. This strong one-sided consciousness for the physical world and body means that the psychic impact of being suddenly thrust out of one’s body—such as a medical event, an act of violence, a drug overdose, a near-death episode, or any other form of premature spiritual awaking—is extremely unsettling and frightening to the human soul. Following such experiences, the soul can feel numbing disassociation, generalized anxiety or bewilderment. It is as though a gap—or even an abyss—now exists between the previously known sense of Self securely anchored in the physical body and the non-bodily I-self that has been suddenly and unexpectedly encountered. Alpine Aster helps to knit together these two sources of identity and thus to heal the trauma and instability that can arise following such harrowing life events.

Accepting the Reality of Death – Helping the Soul Cross into the Spiritual Threshold

A fundamental reality that all human beings share is that, having been born into earthly life, one will also die out of the physical life. This transition is arduous and wrenching for so many reasons: the tragedy of death that is premature and untimely, the deep love bonds that have been developed with those remaining on earth, the violence, horror and injustice of so many deaths, and the mental anguish and intense physical pain that often accompanies the dying process. Death never seems “fair” or “right” and yet these pithy lines from the poet Mary Oliver summarize the essence of the human condition:

To live in this world
you must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes
to let it go
to let it go.

Excerpt from In Blackwater Woods by Mary Oliver

Alpine Aster is as important not only for the one who is crossing the threshold, but for loved ones who are coming to terms with such a departure. It is even used for companion animals who begin to exhibit signs of stress or anxiety when their beloved caretaker is unable to be present with them; for example, he or she may be hospitalized or in a hospice setting where the animal is not allowed.

Weaving throughout all of these themes, is the transcendent awareness that the soul can anchor a firm knowing of its Self, independent of a physical structure. This precious awareness is beautifully exemplified in a case shared by Ruth Altschuler, a master flower essence therapist and mentor. Alpine Aster was the predominant flower essence used for a client who had terminal cancer and was very near to the threshold of dying. This woman experienced that even as her body failed and faded, another very real and radiant awareness dawned within her. Some of her very last words expressed this profound realization of Alpine Aster’s gift,

“I know that when my Soul becomes too large for my body, it will be time to let go of my body. I will not be sad, please do not be sad for me, there is no fear. This is a gift I never would have understood if I had not been on this particular path.”

Read more of this case report here.

Distinguishing Alpine Aster From Other Flowers Essences

Alpine Aster can also be used with the flower essences listed here, since these themes are often related. However it is useful to know some main distinctions

Star Tulip – Both flower essences open the soul to transcendent states of awareness. However the Star Tulip addresses the receptivity of the soul by encouraging a softening “yin” quality that allows for attuning to subtle dimensions. It is especially important for hardened, overly yang tendencies that blunt or stymie a more gentle and subtle awareness of non-physical realities.

Angelica – Like the Alpine Aster, the Angelica essence connects us with spiritual awareness. In this case it is not directed to the core reality of the inner Self, but rather to the awareness of divine guidance and presence. The Angelica particularly heals existential loneliness; a sense of being abandoned or cut-off and being unable to feel guardianship and guidance from the spiritual world.

Aspen – Akin to Alpine Aster, the Aspen also addresses the reality of spiritual dimensions. However, in this case the predominant emotion is one of fear or dread of the unknown. Such souls are actually quite sensitive or psychic but are typically unconsciously connected to unseen realms. Aspen dispels the fear of these unknown dimensions by encouraging more attentive and aware connection.

Forget-Me-Not – This flower also addresses one’s awareness of spiritual worlds. In this instance, it involves attention to those souls in our human community who have passed from physical existence. Forget-Me-Not strengthens the soul’s ability to remember the presence of these loved ones, even when their physical presence is no longer a reality.

Purple Monkeyflower – This flower addresses a fear of the spiritual world, and especially of dying. This fear typically arises from mental pictures that create a kind of spell on the human soul, such as a religious belief that the soul is unworthy to be received by the spiritual world or will be eternally lost or condemned, or that the soul will experience complete annihilation as a result of physical death. These fears freeze the soul and prevent its fluid awareness and experience of higher transcendent realities.

Hound’s Tongue –Hound’s Tongue is related to the theme of Alpine Aster in that it also addresses a state of density in the soul that prevents awareness of spiritual dimensions. However, in the case of Hound’s Tongue this congestion is located more in the intellectual consciousness and its relationship to the sense-perceptible world. The more imaginative and creative aspects of the soul are blunted in such a way that outer sense phenomena is perceived only in its most materialistic and abstract aspects.

Iris – The Iris flower also works to build the soul’s consciousness of the spiritual. But the particular gift of the Iris is its bridge building capacity between dimensions, making them more fluent and permeable to each other. Thus this flower especially addresses the ability to receive imaginative and inspired thoughts from higher realms and then to translate and manifest them in truly creative expressions on earth.