Flowers in general have a long history of being used in various ways for human healing by different cultures of the world, including the Chinese, the Egyptians, and the Australian Aborigines. The modern-day form of flower essences we see today, emerged in the early 1930’s from the work of the late English physician, Dr Bach. Through years of trial and error, hard work and personal sacrifice, Dr Bach developed 38 flower remedies from wild plants in England for the purpose of treating a person holistically.

Flower essences are liquid extracts taken medicinally, most often as drops under the tongue. They support mental and emotional wellbeing while also fostering one’s soul-level growth. Known for their gentle yet deeply transformative effects, flower essences are part of the broader field of subtle energy medicine – similar to practices like acupuncture – that work on the body’s energetic system to restore balance and harmony. Flower essences can be used for both humans and animals, and CMW offers services to support both.

Based on the understanding that everything is energy at its most fundamental level, flower essences are water-based solutions that hold the energetic imprint of a flower and its parent plant. Unlike herbal extracts or essential oils, flower essences contain no physical components of the plant – only its vibrational essence remains.

Each flower essence is unique, capturing the distinct qualities of the plant from which it is derived. Core energetic patterns—expressed through the physical appearance of the flower and its parent plant, as well as through growth habits and behaviour—are referred to as the plant’s doctrine of signatures. This concept represents the plant’s individual ‘signature’ or blueprint: an underlying energetic map or core template that informs its form, behaviour, and qualities.

Dr. Edward Bach specifically chose flowers for making essences because they are the most evolved and expressive part of a plant. Flowers act as powerful messengers, offering deep insight into the nature and healing potential of the plant they belong to.

To create flower essences, flowers are placed in pure water and left to infuse under sunlight for several hours. Water is the chosen medium because of water’s unique ability to absorb and store information. Through this process, the energetic blueprint of the flower – the information the plant holds about itself – is imprinted onto the water, which retains this information as memory for extended periods of time. The resulting solution is then preserved, typically with brandy, to maintain its stability. Flower essences are nature’s intelligence encapsulated. They are essentially ‘information in a bottle’.

When taken internally for medicinal purposes, water-based flower essences are thought to interact with the body’s internal water by conveying energetic information. The human body is composed of approximately 60–70% water, while animals range from around 60–80%. This allows for an energetic exchange between the flower essence and the individual. Flower essences may also be administered externally, such as through spray bottles applied to the body or the surrounding environment. Even when not taken internally, their energetic influence remains evident, as reflected in their successful results.

The doctrine of signatures guides the selection of a flower essence. It is based on the principle of “like heals like,” whereby the physical characteristics and behaviours of a flower and its plant are thought to reflect or resonate with the traits, tendencies, or emotional patterns of a person (or animal). The essence is then used to support healing in those very aspects.

The interaction between the flower essence and the individual creates a kind of energetic recalibration of sorts, promoting greater wellbeing through improved mental and emotional balance. Because flower essences are energy based and work on an energetic level, they have a greater effect on the more subtle aspects of a person – such as thoughts and emotions – rather than the dense, physical body.

It’s important to understand that flower essences do not add anything to a person, nor do they force change or influence behaviour. Instead, they help to gently dissolve mental and emotional blockages gathered throughout one’s life, making room for one’s true nature to emerge more clearly with authentic transformation. As part of the greater web of nature – of which both humans and animals are inherently a part of – this process reflects the quiet yet profound intelligence of Mother Nature herself.

For more information about flower essences and the connection they have with Chinese medicine, read more here.