Dr Bach tells us in The Twelve Healers that Red Chestnut is for those who have ceased to be concerned about themselves but excessively worry about those they love. Here’s a test to check your understanding of this Fear remedy: does it tally with the fictitious scenario below – or not?
‘Hallo love how are you?’
‘Mum?
It’s 5 am in New York, why are you ringing?’
‘Well I
wanted to see how you were doing and if you are alright.’
‘Mum, I’m
35, I told you I would be in America with my colleagues for a week and wouldn’t
be in touch. I live 100 miles away from you, it’s not as though you see me very
often anyway.’
‘But I
worry about you, whether you’re eating enough …. I was wondering: when you get
back into Heathrow, are you going to drive over here as it seems ages since we
met up?’
‘Mum!!!
It will be the crack of dawn, I’ll have been awake all night after a long
flight and too jetlagged to do anything other than go straight home and flake
out.’
‘Oh
that’s a shame ‘cos I do miss you. Take
care love. Ring me soon, bye …’
If this conversation strikes you as slightly off, slightly
disconcerting, that’s because it’s not
the selfless Red Chestnut energy of worry about her daughter. It feels much more like the clingy, vibration of Chicory trying to meet her needs.
Which is a prompt to remind us that just because someone tells us that they are
worried about their offspring does not mean we should automatically think of advising
Red Chestnut. We need to understand if
there is real anxiety there; as Dr Bach said, “It is always fearing the worst
and always anticipating misfortune for others,”[1]
as illustrated in this extract:
out until they’re home in their beds again. Sleeping implies an inability
to leap out of bed and rescue them from the emergency that will surely
find them.” Cathy Kelly in Other Women
If we are in the state where we need Red Chestnut, our sense of perspective is distorted to the extent that we worry out of all proportion to the situation. If our fear only affected ourselves, it would be detrimental enough, but our moods, thoughts and vibrations mentally and physically affect those around us. Our disproportionate fear for loved ones could cause them harm by sending negative vibrations in their direction. Emotional imbalance (of any kind) shows us a grossly distorted view of our world, our family and friends, colleagues and neighbours. Red Chestnut not only helps us to rebalance but will remove from our loved ones the burden of our unhealthy fear.
