...was described by Dr Bach as the remedy for people who 'feel the need to see more good and beauty in all that surrounds them.' Beech people - or people in a Beech state - are intolerant of people who are not just like them. They lack compassion and understanding of the different circumstances and different paths that other people are given, and fail to see that others too are working towards perfection but in different ways.

Sometimes Beech intolerance is manifested as outbursts of irritability: the remedy helps to encourage tolerance and understanding, and as this happens so the irritability also fades.

Dr Bach's description

For those who feel the need to see more good and beauty in all that surrounds them. And, although much appears to be wrong, to have the ability to see the good growing within. So as to be able to be more tolerant, lenient and understanding of the different way each individual and all things are working to their own final perfection.

 

 

Centaury - the inability to say 'no'

Centaury...

...is for people who find it difficult to say 'no' to other people. They are kind, gentle souls and like to be of help to others. But sometimes other more ruthless people will take advantage of this, and instead of willing service the Centaury ends up the slave of another's wishes.

The Centaury remedy does not harden the Centaury personality. Instead it supports the development of courage and self-determination so that Centaury people are better able to draw the line and make space where they can be themselves free of the desires and commands of others.

Dr Bach's description

Kind, quiet, gentle people who are over-anxious to serve others. They overtax their strength in their endeavours. Their wish so grows upon them that they become more servants than willing helpers. Their good nature leads them to do more than their own share of work, and in so doing they may neglect their own particular mission in life.

 

 

Cerato - lack of trust in one's own decisions

...is the remedy for people who lackfaith in their own judgement. Faced with the need to make a decision they are not like the Scleranthus people who hesitate and cannot make up their minds, because they can come to a decision without too much trouble. But having done so the doubts creep in and they are no longer sure if what they have decided is right. They then go around asking for the opinions and advice of others. They end up hopelessly confused or doing something that they know in their hearts is not right for them.

Cerato is the remedy to give people in this state more faith in their judgement so that they can listen to their inner voices and trust their intuition.

Dr Bach's description

Those who have not sufficient confidence in themselves to make their own decisions. They constantly seek advice from others, and are often misguided.

 

 

Cherry Plum - fear of the mind giving way

Cherry Plum...

...is one of the remedies that Dr Bach grouped together under the heading of 'Fear'. The Cherry Plum fear is very specific: it is the fear that one is going to lose control of oneself and do something dreadful, which can include injuring others and suicide. Cherry Plum is also the remedy for the loss of control when it has in fact already taken place, and because because of the frantic fear and dread associated with loss of control. (Think of the fear of a small child in a screaming, irrational rage.) Fears of going mad and of acting irrationally are Cherry Plum fears.

Cherry Plum is one of the ingredients of Rescue Remedy.

 

Dr Bach's description

Fear of the mind being over-strained, of reason giving way, of doing fearful and dreaded things, not wished and known wrong, yet there comes the thought and impulse to do them.

 

 

Chestnut Bud - failure to learn from mistakes

...is for people who fail to learn the lessons of life. They may repeat the same mistakes over and over - for example, taking a succession of identical office jobs and being surprised to find each one unfulfilling. In other cases, they see others making a mistake and the results that arise, but then fail to apply this lesson to their own lives and go right ahead and make the same mistake themselves.

Dr Bach said that it was good to move on and leave the past behind, but people in the Chestnut Bud state are almost doing this too readily. They give so little thought to the past that they fail to learn its lessons and so are doomed to repeat their failures. Chestnut Bud is the remedy to help them learn from the past and then move on to genuinely new experiences.

Dr Bach's description

For those who do not take full advantage of observation and experience, and who take a longer time than others to learn the lessons of daily life. Whereas one experience would be enough for some, such people find it necessary to have more, sometimes several, before the lesson is learnt. Therefore, to their regret, they find themselves having to make the same error on different occasions when once would have been enough, or observation of others could have spared them even that one fault.

 

 

Chicory - selfish, possessive love

Chicory...

...people are full of love and care for their families and friends. But they expect to receive back all the love they give, with interest, and feel slighted and unnecessarily hurt if they don't get what they expect. Also, their great love can lead them to hold onto their loved ones and try to keep them dependent and close to hand. This can stifle the development of other personalities, or simply drive them away.

When someone falls into this negative Chicory state the remedy is used to bring out the positive side of the Chicory person: love given unconditionally and in freedom.

Dr Bach's description

Those who are very mindful of the needs of others; they tend to be over-full of care for children, relatives, friends, always finding something that should be put right. They are continually correcting what they consider wrong, and enjoy doing so. They desire that those for whom they care should be near them.

 

 

Clematis - dreaming of the future without working in the present

Clematis...

...is for people whose minds drift away from the present into fantasies of the future, or into alternative versions of the present. Often their dreams are of great future success, creative endeavour and achievement, but the danger for people in this state is that their dreams will remain fantasies because the Clematis person is not sufficiently anchored in reality to make them happen.

The remedy helps to bring these people back to earth and back to themselves so that they can build castles in life instead of in the air.

Sometimes the Clematis state is confused with the Honeysuckle state, but in fact the two are quite different. In the Honeysuckle state the person is living in nostalgic fantasies of the past or reliving old regrets; but the Clematis person's thoughts drift away to imagined futures.

Clematis is one of the ingredients in Rescue Remedy, where it is used to help the fuzzy, light-headed feeling that can come at times of emergency.

Dr Bach's description

Those who are dreamy, drowsy, not fully awake, no great interest in life. Quiet people, not really happy in their present circumstances, living more in the future than in the present; living in hopes of happier times, when their ideals may come true. In illness some make little or no effort to get well, and in certain cases may even look forward to death, in the hope of better times; or maybe, meeting again some beloved one whom they have lost.

 

 

Crab Apple - the cleansing remedy, also for self-hatred

Crab Apple...

...is known as the cleansing remedy, and as such is the added 'sixth ingredient' in Rescue Cream. Its main use is to help people who feel that they have something unclean or poisonous about them, or who dislike some aspect of their appearance or personality.

Sometimes there might be very real things wrong with someone in this state, but they will disregard the big problems and concentrate obsessively on the one thing that they have fixed on. This is why Crab Apple is sometimes given to people to cleanse obsessive, repetitive behaviour such as hand-washing, re-checking that appliances are unplugged, and so on..

Dr Bachs description

This is the remedy of cleansing. For those who feel as if they had something not quite clean about themselves. Often it is something of apparently little importance: in others there may be more serious disease which is almost disregarded compared to the one thing on which they concentrate. In both types they are anxious to be free from the one particular thing which is greatest in their minds and which seems so essential to them that it should be cured. They become despondent if treatment fails. Being a cleanser, this remedy purifies wounds if the patient has reason to believe that some poison has entered which must be drawn out.

 

 

Elm - overwhelmed by responsibility

Elm...

...is the remedy for people suffering a temporary loss of self-confidence due to the overwhelming amount of responsibility they have taken on. Genuine Elm types are people who are successful and carrying out work that they believe in, but at times feel the weight of the charge on them and become depressed and concerned that they will not be able to go on.

The remedy helps to dispel these feelings so that the Elm person can resume his or her life without thought of failure.

The Elm state can be usefully contrasted with the Larch state: whereas people in the former take up challenges willingly and then only later, and only occasionally, doubt their abilities, Larch people are convinced they are going to fail right from the start, and so they tend not to try things in the first place.

Dr Bach's description

Those who are doing good work, are following the calling of their life and who hope to do something of importance, and this often for the benefit of humanity. At times there may be periods of depression when they feel that the task they have undertaken is too difficult, and not within the power of a human being.

 

 

Gentian - discouragement after a setback

Gentian...

...is the remedy for the relatively mild downheartedness and despondency that follows when something has gone wrong. As soon as things start to go right again this kind of despondency tends to lift by itself, but the remedy can be used to lift it the sooner so that the person is better able to make things go right, instead of just hoping they will do so.

Gentian is often confused with Gorse, but in fact they can be told apart quite easily. People in a Gorse state have decided to give up and so feel completely without hope. They have pitched their tents and refuse to be encouraged, and even if they are persuaded to try to find a way out they will do so grudgingly, assuring everyone that there is no use even trying. People in a Gentian state are discouraged: but they will soon pick up again when things start to go right.

Dr Bach's description

Those who are easily discouraged. They may be progressing well in illness, or in the affairs of their daily life, but any small delay or hindrance to progress causes doubt and soon disheartens them.

 

 

Gorse - hopelessness and despair

Gorse...

...is the remedy for people who have given up belief that there is any hope for them. It is a far stronger kind of downheartedness than the Gentian state, because Gorse people almost wilfully refuse to be encouraged, so certain are they that their case is hopeless. If ill, they may think of themselves as incurable, or say that they inherited this or that from their families so that nothing can be done for them.

Gorse is however classed by Dr Bach as a remedy for uncertainty, and not as a remedy for despair like for example Sweet Chestnut. This demonstrates that the main problem with Gorse people is a loss of certainty: if they can be persuaded to see things in a different light their faith in their lives would be renewed and they could go forward with a surer step. This is what the Gorse remedy helps to achieve.

Dr Bach's description

Very great hopelessness, they have given up belief that more can be done for them. Under persuasion or to please others they may try different treatments, at the same time assuring those around that there is so little hope of relief.

 

 

Heather - self-centredness and self-concern

Heather...

...is for people who are obsessed with themselves, but who do not like to be alone. Dr Bach called them 'buttonholers' because they do anything to keep people with them, all the time talking at exhaustive length about their problems and illnesses, great and small, until people begin actively to avoid them. Thus the thing Heather people fear - loneliness - is brought about because of their own behaviour.

The remedy is given to help Heather people see their own concerns in the context of other people's. Having suffered themselves from the need to talk, they become good listeners and great supports for others. As a result people seek them out for their compassion rather than avoiding them because of their self-centredness.

Dr Bach's description

Those who are always seeking the companionship of anyone who may be available, as they find it necessary to discuss their own affairs with others, no matter whom it may be. They are very unhappy if they have to be alone for any length of time.

 

 

Holly - hatred, envy and jealousy

Holly...

...is often thought of as the remedy for anger - but this isn't necessarily the case. Where Holly is for anger, it will be because the anger is based specifically on hatred, suspicion, envy or jealousy. But in other cases other remedies would be needed, such as Impatiens when anger is due to impatience, Vervain where it is caused by a sense of injustice, or Chicory where the angry person feels snubbed and hurt by ingratitude in others.

Holly is for very negative, aggressive feelings directed at others. The basic problem is an absence of love, and the remedy works to encourage generosity of spirit and openness towards others.

Dr Bach's description

For those who sometimes are attacked by thoughts of such kind as jealousy, envy, revenge, suspicion. For the different forms of vexation. Within themselves they may suffer much, often when there is no real cause for their unhappiness.

 

 

Honeysuckle - living in the past

Honeysuckle...

...is for people who live in the past instead of the present. They feel that their best days are behind them and that there is little to look forward to, and as a consequence they prefer to dwell on past happinesses (or past misfortunes). At a more minor key, homesickness and nostalgia are also Honeysuckle states.

The remedy helps the person in this state to learn from the past without needing to relive it, so that the person can progress on into the present and take joy from today and tomorrow.

Dr Bach's description

Those who live much in the past, perhaps a time of great happiness, or memories of a lost friend, or ambitions which have not come true. They do not expect further happiness such as they have had.

 

 

Hornbeam - procrastination, tiredness at the thought of doing something

Hornbeam...

...is used against feelings of exhaustion and tiredness that come before an effort has been made. The person in this state feels that he or she is too tired to cope with the demands of the day. It's easier to stay in bed or put off making a start - but if an effort can be made to get started the weariness will fade, a sign that unlike the Olive state this is a mental rather than a physical weariness

Dr Bach's description

For those who feel that they have not sufficient strength, mentally or physically, to carry the burden of life placed upon them; the affairs of every day seem too much for them to accomplish, though they generally succeed in fulfilling their task. For those who believe that some part, of mind or body, needs to be strengthened before they can easily fulfil their work.

 

 

Impatiens - impatience

Impatiens...

...is, as its name suggests, the remedy against impatience and against frustration and irritability caused by impatience. Anyone can get into this state of mind, but there are also genuine Impatiens types, who live life at a rush and hate being held back by more methodical people. To avoid this irritation they try if possible to work alone: the Impatiens boss is the one who sends staff home early so she can get the job finished quicker!

The remedy helps these people be less hasty and more relaxed and patient with others. It is also an ingredient in the composite Rescue Remedy, where it is used to help calm agitated thoughts and feelings.

Dr Bach's description

Those who are quick in thought and action and who wish all things to be done without hesitation or delay. When ill they are anxious for a hasty recovery. They find it very difficult to be patient with people who are slow, as they consider it wrong and a waste of time, and they will endeavour to make such people quicker in all ways. They often prefer to work and think alone, so that they can do everything at their own speed.

 

 

Larch - lack of confidence

Larch...

...is the remedy for people who feel that they are not as good as others and that they are bound to fail. They lack confidence in their ability to succeed and so often do not even bother trying. (cf Elm people, where it is the desire to take on too much that causes the temporary doubt.)

The remedy helps people in this state to go ahead regardless of thoughts of success and failure. More able to take risks and be involved in life, they get more out of living.

Dr Bach's description

For those who do not consider themselves as good or capable as those around them, who expect failure, who feel that they will never be a success, and so do not venture or make a strong enough attempt to succeed.