Editor's note : The following account was sent to us by Elly Van Ekelenburg, a flower essence therapist who lives in town of Venray in the Netherlands. Elly has come to America twice, to participate in our Practitioner Intensive and Advanced Practitioner Programs. We have been very touched by her warmth and sincerity and her great dedication to flower essence healing.  

This story suggests how flower essences might work at a collective or archetypal level for group or family healing. As well as treating an individual case, we can also consider flower essences within the larger "soul context" of a family system. This is a very important and relatively unexplored topic in flower essence therapy and we welcome further practitioner reports and comments.  

Because English is Elly's second language, this article was edited in some areas for flow of language and sentence structure.

The following story is not a case-study of one single person using flower essences but rather a report of a whole family taking flower essences. Of special note is a "type remedy" for this family—the   St. John's Wort   flower essence—which gave special aid and protection. The members of the family, which included the mother and the father and their two children, had been using flower essences for some time. One tragic night their house was burnt completely to the ground. Fortunately, no one was physically hurt.  

The father called me to report about the tragedy of this fire, and to ask if I could give some extra help with flower essences for the emotional devastation which they felt. I sensed immediately that St. John's Wort would be an important remedy for their situation. Before I visited them I checked their records and was astonished to discover that the mother and the two children had been given St. John's Wort during their last consultation. I have repeatedly noticed the strong, protective qualities of St. John's Wort flower essence, and could not help but feel that this wonderful coincidence had protected them already in advance from harm of the fire. I also noted that both of the children had Yarrow in their bottles, another remedy that I use quite often with St. John's Wort for environmental stress and sensitivity. I added extra doses of the St. John's Wort for all the family members during this traumatic time. I felt that it especially helped to protect them during their sleep and to prevent nightmares (since the fire had occurred at night). It also helped during the daytime to prevent fear of fire. This was my first special meeting with St. John's Wort for this family.  

Saint John's Wort Plant

Over a longer period of time I noticed that each member of the family met fire again in some way, through accidental burns and so forth. I treated them for these minor episodes, especially the burning accidents, with Self-Heal creme and St. John's Wort mixed into the creme.

One day the grandmother contacted me for a flower essence consultation. She had been suffering from psoriasis for some time and had witnessed the beautiful healing outcome with flower essences for her daughter and grandchildren. I chose the following formula for her: Impatiens, Crab Apple and Mountain Pride . The Impatiens was for the irritability which often accompanies such skin disorders, the Crab Apple for the feeling of uncleanliness and disturbance which she felt, and the Mountain Pride , because she felt this to be an extremely difficult and challenging health problem. Finally I added Self-Hea l to the formula to give her the faith that she really could heal herself and that the source of the healing could come from within her Higher Self.

Impatiens

Crab Apple

Mountain Pride

Self-Heal

In the beginning, her skin disorder actually got worse. I made a very large jar of Self-Heal creme for her and blended her formula of essences into this creme base. Her whole body was reacting to the healing crisis and she needed frequent applications of the creme. After some time, her situation began to improve. She was ready now to explore essences which would address the deeper cause of her illness. The formula which I discovered for her was comprised of Centaury, Pink Yarrow, Impatiens and St. John's Wort . This formula helped her to realize that she had a deep-seated need to serve others, which left her emotionally drained and devitalized ( Centaury and Pink Yarrow ). This imbalance of energy made her extremely restless and irritable ( Impatiens ). The excess of fire within her caused a burning reaction in her whole system which manifested outwardly as the psoriasis. The St. John's Wort helped her soul to come into the right relationship to the fire element and to feel protected rather than attacked by the fire.

Centaury

Pink Yarrow

Impatien s

St. John's Wort

Another special member of the family whom I was able to help was their horse, named Esther. The veterinarians had given up all hope of being able to help this horse. She had a major skin problem called “summer-eczema.” This condition gave the horse severely disturbed skin. Her skin was not a source of protection, and all of this was especially aggravated by strong sunlight. The family was on the verge of making the decision to have Esther put to sleep. The father called me to ask if I could help with the flower essences.

I made the following formula for Esther: Self-Heal, Penstemon, Yarrow and St. John's Wort . I chose the Penstemon for the severe challenge which this horse faced, and the Self-Heal to help rouse the strength within her to overcome her illness. I felt the Yarrow and the St. John's Wort would give her the protection she needed. I particularly noted that Esther's illness was expressed through her skin, which should serve to protect and cushion her from the environment. Again the theme of light and fire was predominant in her illness, since her condition was severely aggravated by sunlight. For this reason I felt the St. John's Wort would play a particularly strong role in her possible recovery. I made a dosage bottle which was used in her drinking water and I also formulated a special bottle of olive oil, to which was added St. John's Wort Oil and her formula of essences. I asked the family to massage her skin twice a day with the oil, and also to add the essences daily to her fresh drinking water.

Self-Heal

Penstemon

Yarrow

St. John's Wort

Esther's skin condition healed beautifully! Sometime later the veterinarian came to see another animal and was amazed to learn that Esther was alive and so healthy. In fact, during the following two years, Esther birthed two colts and is still happy and healthy to this day. The story of my success with Esther spread to other people who lived on farms or had domestic pets. From that day on I have been asked to treat many different animals with the flower essences.

Last year the mother of this family was pregnant with her third child. The parents asked my husband and me to be the godfather and godmother of this child. We felt very honored. They did not yet have a name for their expected baby and they asked us to meditate on a possible name.

One day when I was working with the flower essences I felt a special connection with the Quince flower essence. Suddenly the name Quincey came to me and I wrote it on a piece of paper. I called the parents and told them that I felt this might be the possible name for their child. They immediately liked the name and the inner meaning of the flower essence: developing the positive power and strength of love.

Quince

The mother used flower essences during her pregnancy and all went well. However, when the time came for the baby to be born there was a problem. The baby was overdue. There seemed to be some resistance or obstacle in its ability to come to earth. I massaged the mother with Mugwort oil and prepared a dosage bottle for her to take which would help her contact the baby: Oregon Grape (for trusting that the earth would be a safe place to come), Shooting Star (for the courage to incarnate), Yarrow (to build a protective sheath after he left the womb), and finally St. John's Wort . Again, the St. John's Wort was an important remedy to provide the divine protection which this baby needed. I felt a strong sun force within him which was trying to make its way safely to earth. Within two days the baby was born. He was a very healthy little boy and the family gave him the name of Quincey.

Oregon Grape

Shooting Star

Yarrow

A few weeks ago Quincey was burned by the sunlight. Even though he was only in the sun for a very short time, his head received an extraordinary sunburn, more severe than normal. The mother and I massaged him several times with St. John's Wort oil and we also gave him the flower essence internally. He can now play in the sunshine again. His skin has become stronger and it is more able to protect him.

I do not know what the future will bring for this family. But I do know that if something happens, my first thought is to take the St. John's Wort with me!

E-mail message to Elly van Ekelenburg

Read more written by Patricia Kaminski about the St. John’s Wort flower essence.