When we need
a dose or two of the Holly flower remedy, it’s because our minds are full of
vengeance, suspicion, or other hate-full thoughts. If our emotions are negative
or afflictive in any way, our outlook becomes distorted, we are unable to see
clearly. “Kathleen Raine, the Scottish poet, says that unless you see
a thing in the light of love, you do not see it at all. Love is the light in
which we see light,” wrote John O’Donohue.
In Celtic
folklore the holly tree is sacred and symbolises peace and goodwill – qualities
that are missing in us when we need to take Holly.
Today,
December 13th, is St Lucy’s Day – a day marked as a festival of
light in Sweden and elsewhere. St Lucy
is also the patron saint of sight, for without light our eyes are unable to
see. Her colour (in the church liturgy)
is the same as that of the holly berry – bright red, a colour we always
associate with heart love. The Holly
remedy reminds us that love is about giving: giving away ego. Forgiving. Giving one’s best self to others.
“Holly connects us with the fundamental unity in the
universe. There can be no hatred of
others when we and they are part of the same whole,” writes Stefan Ball in his
book Bloom (available from the Bach Centre).
Love is the
heart knowledge that we are all one, all part of the same cosmic unity.
