Flower Essences are used to help transform emotions, attitudes and patterns of behaviour which hinder the person's full development or potential.
The Spring Essences are used to help with emotional growth and transformation.
For each Flower Essence there is a negative mental state, and its corresponding positive aspect.
Opening and Unfolding
As you look at the Spring Flowers, you will find a gradual progression of flowers used, from "beginning to open and unfold" with the Anemone, and "discovering and expressing one's wholeness" with the Azalea.
The flowers that follow represent in many ways the path that an individual pursues on the way to personal development
Camellias are on the whole about fear of changing, and fear of making the necessary changes for further development.
Clematis is for the ability to flourish in the present.
Daffodils are for different aspects of bringing energy, joy and enthusiasm into one's life.
Rhododendrons are to do with the issues of presenting oneself clearly to others in the three ages of man, or woman — in youth, maturity and old age.
Flower Essences for Specific Situations
There are also a number of Flower Essences for specific situations and of course any of the Flower Essences can be used in any order or in any combination.
Daphne is for a situation where there are constant or long-term responsibilities, to help balance these with an all-round balance of activities, and Plum is for when one is disheartened after seemingly futile effort, to give enthusiasm to continue, and eventually claim the fruit of one's endeavours.
Grape Hyacinth and Hyacinth represent destructive relationships as seen from both the male and female viewpoints. So Grape Hyacinth for when there has been an abuse of one's power, and Hyacinth for when one has allowed oneself to be used for a false sense of security.
Of course, these are not the only situations when these Flower Essences can be used — for example early on I used Hyacinth for an adolescent boy. It is more that the essence of the Flower Essence must be matched to the essences of the person.
Flower Photographs
The photographs can be used as a reference to the Flower Essence, as an aid for choosing which Flower Essence to use, to increase the practitioner's attunement to the Flower Essence, or as a meditation aid. Some people have commented that they can have some of the effect of the flower itself, and its Flower Essence, by just looking at the photo.
Indications for Personal Growth
The wording of the indications has been specially chosen to give as much depth and resonance to their meaning as possible, and there are many references, illusions and indeed puns in the wording.
For instance the Primrose, "to develop one's true image", as all written in photographic jargon, and if you look at the photograph itself you will find that I never did manage to get that flower in focus! Similarly the White Magnolia (Magnolia denudata), for "delicate flowering of femininity", is really about the stage in young woman's life when deflowering occurs.
As well as the individual use of words, most of the indications can be used in their own right as therapeutic tools. So in most cases for the Spring Flowers there is a negative condition mentioned, then a transformative key, and then a positive outcome, which is really the initial problem in its transformed state. One example of this Maple: "For when one is subject to swinging moods and emotions. So that one may pull a balance into the various aspects of one's being, and so provide a framework for positive emotions and behaviour."
I hope that in this way there are many keys to personal progress just sitting in the pamphlets waiting for people's discovery.
Parallels with Bach Flowers
There are a number of Christchurch Flower Essences which are also used in the Bach Flower series, and it is interesting to draw some comparisons.
It is not that the more spiritual aspects were not present in the Bach Flowers, but rather it reflects the explosion of spiritual questing that is happening today. I felt a distinct affinity with Edward Bach as I was preparing the Christchurch Flower Essences, and took comfort from the story of his life in the early stages of my Flower Essence preparation, when I briefly passed through each of the mental states related to the first batches of the Christchurch Flower Essences.
In the Bach Flower system, Cherry Plum is for Fear, for fear of losing mental and physical control, but in the Christchurch Flower Essences the same issues have been expressed from a different aspect: "to help lift a cloud or weight from one's aura, to restore calm and quiet beauty, so that one can develop serenity and a quiet joy in the processes and progression of life".
Clematis is not just for Insufficient Interest in Present Circumstances, but rather for its positive outcome: "for the ability to flourish in the present, without needing a structure or formal context, so that one can express oneself fully in the present".
And Star of Bethlehem is not for Despondency or Despair directly, but resonates with the Star of Bethlehem in the New Testament, bringing in aspects of peace, well-being and joy.
Flower Essences for Spiritual Growth
Towards the end of the Spring Kit, there are a few Flower Essences more related to spiritual growth. The Tulip is for "opening one's channel upwards", and the Winter Rose is for "inner peace, staying in one's own energy".
Yellow Hoop Petticoat is "for when the next stage of growth is to transmit light and radiance out into the world to waken others. Helps one become a beacon, with the ability to shift and heal others, and to send out radiance to bring everything around to a higher level." Isn't that what we all as healers aspire to?