That fluttery feeling of anxiety ...

I look at this cartoon and Aspen springs to mind – the passengers who had an uneasy feeling, a foreboding about travelling on that aircraft that day.

Aspen is for the fears which seem to be groundless, with no basis in fact, which is why people who need it often do not mention their worries as they expect to be ridiculed.  For me, there is a point on a public footpath which always gives me the creeps.  It’s a footpath I only use in daylight and it’s open on 3 sides, leading to a ramp over the dual-carriageway. It’s only when I am at the top of the ramp that I breathe freely again.  I can’t say what it is that makes me apprehensive and therefore it is not a Mimulus fear – which it would be if I was scared of being mugged.

Aspen fears are felt more in the psyche than in the brain.  Mimulus is more for fears on the physical and mental plane – getting hurt, being killed, having our vulnerability exposed – for example when we are afraid of walking through a herd of cows, seeing a spider in the bath, going to the dentist or speaking in public.  Aspen is more for inexplicable fears from a nebulous level outside of ourselves.

Aspen is not necessarily about having a premonition or a fear of disaster (as hinted at in this cartoon).  A healthy instinct for something wrong should not be ignored; it is not a negative emotion.  Aspen is for the negative or unhealthy emotion of unfounded fear, fear without a cause, which affects our peace and tranquillity, such as when children can’t face going upstairs alone.

 

Cherry Plum

I’ve been learning about Cherry Plum this week. I say ‘learning’ because there’s nothing like experiencing a negative emotion for oneself in order to really understand the corresponding remedy.  Dr Bach knew this, and discovered many of his plants by suffering the emotion that would lead him to find his next flower essence.

Whilst Cherry Plum in the books is always shown as ‘fear of the mind giving way’, in our everyday lives a translation of that could be ‘fearful of showing anger to protect our vulnerability’.  We may not always be aware of feeling vulnerable but it is that which lies behind our fear – that we are not in control of a situation; that someone is dominating or manipulating us in an unacceptable way; or we feel threatened by interference with our freewill or even personal space, and we don’t know how to resolve the issue.

Early man would have felt vulnerable against attacks by wild animals with their superior strength, speed and fighting power.  His vulnerability worked to develop weapons and fire to ‘control’ his fear.  In this modern age we may live with fear on a daily basis, unconsciously, but we deal with it or sublimate it in a variety of ways.  But all fear is an expression of vulnerability – on every level, physical, emotional or mental.  And when we feel threatened because the situation is out of our control, then like a wild animal caught in a trap or fence, we want to snarl or bite to protect ourselves.

Thus Cherry Plum might help us more often than we realise.  When we’d like to throw a file at the boss, or ram the car in front because it had dangerously cut us up, or our mother-in-law comes out with her usual critical remarks, then our frustration is our vulnerability speaking and a dose of Cherry Plum will help.

My own vulnerability is to the fore at present: I feel like a bee buzzing at a window – unable to get out and going mad in the attempt.  I feel I’m being manipulated in a way that makes me want to say something I would be bound to regret.  But so much in our relationships with others is about perception rather than reality, that I know a dose or two of Cherry Plum will restore my emotional balance, soothe my vulnerability and improve my response to the situation.

Letting Go

I talked here last time about saying No, how it related to many remedies and how learning to say no, rather than yielding to the desire to follow our emotional fault lines, is the road to growth.

Another way of looking at this topic is to consider it from the angle of ‘letting go’.  What does that involve?  It means, in essence, declining to be in thrall to those emotions, judgements and opinions that we’ve zealously hung on to for so long.  Those needing Chicory are a prime example.  The ‘mother hen’ who won’t allow her ‘chicks’ out of her sight, constantly making a bid for their attention and interfering in their lives (with the best intentions, she believes), hurt when they appear capable of running their (adult) lives without her, and when they reject her advice or well-meaning instructions.  Chicory needs to ‘let go’ and to learn by virtue of taking the flower remedies appropriately, that we don’t own our family.  Letting go of that possessiveness will not mean losing her family but on the contrary, draw them closer as her love becomes more unconditional.

Many, if not most, of the remedies can be seen in this light of learning to let go. Chicory is in the Group Overcare for the Welfare of Others, and all essences in that Group can learn to give up their prejudices, and insistence of what’s right, either for themselves or others, when they let go of trying to control people.  Vervain, Vine, Rock Water and Beech all come under this umbrella.

Those requiring Pine meanwhile need to release the hold that guilt has over them and to move on.  Crab Apple needs to let go of the fear that she will never be clean enough.  The right selection of remedies will help us relinquish unnecessary worries and uncertainty. Giving up fear and doubt makes room to let in confidence and hope, optimism and strength.

“In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired.  In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.” ~ Lao Tse, 48

As we let go of our concerns and negative emotions so we slough off the defence mechanisms that we’ve built up over the years to protect us.  For instance, the speed at which we take offence (Holly), the inability to stop thinking about it (White Chestnut, a resistance to change (Walnut), our impatience with others (Impatiens), or a lack of interest in them (Heather).

Perhaps the saddest thing about negativity is that we think it is holding us prisoner, whereas in fact we are the ones who will not release our grip on it.

Artwork by Leunig