Roses are not only beautiful to behold and smell, but they are used in flower essence therapy, a form of natural healing. Different roses are purported to have different healing properties. One most associated with it is the healing of a broken heart.

Dr. Edward Bach, the famous English flower essence creator, used wild rose essence for those who are without passion for life and are caught in the doldrums of everyday living. There are now a multitude of companies that produce flower essences including the ever popular rose. You can however make your own. It's easier than you might think, and you have the added benefit of personalizing your essence with crystals or healing energy such as Reiki.

Flower essence therapy is a form of vibrational medicine. Parts of the flower are used in a simple extraction process to create elixirs for healing on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level.

The theory is that these essences act on the spiritual plane and the healing we need trickles down through the mental, emotional, and physical levels where needed. All flowers are believed to vibrate to certain subtle energy levels which affect corresponding energy patterns of health ailments.

This is the sun method for making your own essence:

• Fill a glass bowl with rose petals that are pesticide free. Cover with spring water and set out in the sun for about three to four hours. The healing essence of the flower passes into the water.
• Bottle this mixture in a dropper bottle with an equal part of brandy for preservative and grounding the flower's healing properties. This is your stock bottle of flower essence tincture.
• To use, put 2 drops of the essence in a clean 20-ml bottle with 1 teaspoon of brandy. Fill with spring water. Take 2-4 drops of this under the tongue or in a glass of water.
• To harness the energy of a specific phase of the moon in conjunction with your essence, put the flowers out under the moon for a few hours instead of the sun.

Personalize your flower essence by adding crystals appropriate for your purpose to the water as it is absorbing the flower essence in the sun or moon. Rose quartz or other heart stones such as rhodonite or rhodochrosite are excellent to use with rose flower essence. Use Reiki or other energy healing at any time during the extraction process or before you bottle it.

Disclaimer: Nothing on this page is meant to replace medical advice. Please see your natural health practitioner for specific advice on how to use flower essences.

Reference:

• Cochrane, Amanda and Clare G. Harvey. The Encyclopaedia of Flower Remedies: The Healing Power of Flowers from Around the World. Thorsons. 1995.