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.