Healing Herbs

18/02/2026

When beginning to work with Bach Flower Essences, it can be confusing to know where to start. It can even be confronting to our beliefs about disease.

Over the years, we have been asked just about every variation of the question, “where do I start?” The answer is always simple, come back to the person, not the disease.

In this introduction from A Guide to The Bach Flower Remedies, Julian Barnard explains the premise with a simplicity that can only come from a deep understanding of the concept and philosophy behind the essences.

“Although there are thousands of variations in physical illness the psychological causes are relatively few.

The Bach Remedies recognise 38 conditions, each specifically aligned to one of the states that generate ‘dis-ease’ within the psyche.

They are classified under seven headings: For Fear For Uncertainty For Insufficient Interest in Present Circumstances For Loneliness For Those Over-sensitive to Influences and Ideas For Despondency and Despair For Over care for the Welfare of Others Each category covers a range of mental and emotional states. Those concerned with fear, for instance, range from sheer terror (Rock Rose), to specific fears like a fear of heights or a fear of animals (Mimulus), to anxiety for the anticipated misfortunes of others (Red Chestnut). The remedies for despondency and despair range from a feeling of inadequacy (Larch) to a remedy that helps in that time of anguish that is sometimes called ‘the dark night of the soul’ (Sweet Chestnut).

Bach found the remedies by searching the countryside for those plants which he instinctively knew were suitable to help specific psychological states. The classification of these states was arrived at by careful observation of human nature and more especially by observation of the way that different people react when suffering from an illness or when under stress.

They are of two kinds: there are the Type Remedies which relate to a characteristic type of personality and the Helping Remedies which deal with the transient mood of the psyche. The latter describe conditions which are not necessarily essential to a person’s character but which have developed a strong hold upon them.”

A Guide to The Bach Flower Remedies is available online in the Julian Barnard Library – free to read and download.

You can also find extensive learning resources in our free Bach Flower Learning Study Course which is linked from the Library.

https://www.healingherbs.co.uk/learn/julian-barnard-library/

11/02/2026

Light is a theme that cannot be ignored in learning about Bach Flower Essences.

Plants absorb and reflect different bands of light which becomes a key component of the message within the essence.

There are two different methods of making essences. The first 19 (The Twelve Healers and Seven Helpers) were created using the sun method, the Second Nineteen are almost exclusively made using the boiling method. The actions of these methods are quite different (see the image below) but still relate to the qualities of light within the essence.

In Light, a talk Julian Barnard gave in the early 2000’s, he says of the sun method,

“When we begin the process the water is reflective as you can see in the glass of the bowl. We wait 3 hours and during that time the situation changes. (It is also important to note that the temperature of the water rises in this time). - The light has now been slowly absorbed in the water and it is no longer reflecting, or not so much. This change shows more strongly with the coloured flowers and is less apparent with the white ones…

What I am pointing to is that light returns through change when using the essences.”

Light becomes a dynamic form of communication within the essences and we can learn a lot about their nature by observing the transformations of light in their making.

Light is available to read in the Julian Barnard Library. If you enjoy this short talk, we would recommend following it up with Bach Flower Essences and The Patterning of Water which is also available free to read online.

https://www.healingherbs.co.uk/learn/julian-barnard-library/

04/02/2026

The Story of the Travellers

Once upon a time sixteen travellers set out to journey through a forest.

At first all went well, but after they had journeyed some distance, Agrimony began to be worried as to whether they were on the right path. As they went deeper into the shadows, Mimulus began to be afraid that they had lost the road. When the sun set, Rock Rose became full of terror. In the middle of the night, Gorse lost all hope.

Oak on the other hand, though feeling all was lost said “I shall struggle on to the very last”.

Scleranthus had some hope but at times suffered from uncertainty. Clematis plodded on quietly. Gentian at times much cheered the party, but at others fell into a state of despondency.

Heather was very sure he knew the way, Chicory had no concern about the end of the journey. Cerato had not much confidence in his judgement and meek little Centaury so wanted to lighten the burden that he was ready to carry everybody’s baggage.

Rock Water was all afire to help but depressed the party because he was critical of what they were doing wrong. Vervain should have known the path well but although he had become a little confused held forth at length as to the only way out of the wood. Impatiens too well knew the pathway home so well that he was impatient with those less speedy than himself. Water Violet had travelled that way before and knew the right road and yet was a little disdainful that the others did not understand.

And in the end they all came through the forest.

Now they go as guides to other travellers who have not made the journey before because they know there is a pathway through and because they know the darkness of the forest is but the shadows of the night.

Extract from The Story of the Travellers 1934– from Bach’s Collected Writings

https://www.healingherbs.co.uk/learn/julian-barnard-library/

28/01/2026

“Imagine a circle of stones with twelve monoliths marking the twelve points on the perimeter where the numbers stand on a clock face. In the middle of the circle there is an open space. Into this space visualise the outpouring of light from a centre that is beyond this world, in a different dimension.

From the bright light of the centre shadows extend, lengthening behind the stones, out into the darkness. One side of each stone is illuminated by the light. It is thrown into relief by the shadow and half-light, the unseen form which has turned, facing away into the dark.

These twelve stand like the twelve soul lessons of the Twelve Healers. Each of us, said Bach, is born with the purpose of learning one of these great life lessons. The negative aspect of each remedy state is seen in the shadow, in the darkness and isolation which we encounter when we turn away from the light. Wherever we stand on the circumference of the circle we can look outwards into the darkness and see fear or pain, indifference, grief, or doubt according to the soul lesson that we are here to learn. When we turn around to face the light we meet the positive soul force of that lesson: courage, peace, tolerance, or understanding.

We can see that the action of the flower remedies is to turn us around, to turn us from the isolation of a path leading into darkness, to one which leads towards the light.”

Extract from Form and Function, Julian Barnard pp 137-138. (Available in our shop, through Skylark Books internationally or online in the Julian Barnard Library)

Uncover more on the Twelve Healers in the Bach Flower Learning Programme. https://www.bachflowerlearning.com/learning-programme/

21/01/2026

Julian Barnard has always loved to write. He has absorbed so much of Dr Bach’s wisdom and then looked at it afresh from every angle.

Inevitably this has led to numerous books over the years. We refer to them often here bringing quotes into context or offering moments of reflection.

Julian takes Dr Bach’s ethos very seriously. He has always wanted ideas and information to travel freely to those who need it.

The reality is that posting physical books overseas to our international customer base is not so easy. Local postal delivery is challenging to say the least.

And so, a novel idea surfaced – what if all his books were made available free to read?

Well, that’s what we have done.

We are delighted to announce the opening of the Julian Barnard Library. This includes PDF versions of almost all Julian’s books like Form and Function, The Collected Writings of Edward Bach, The Essence Within and more.

Not only can you read them online for free, they are all in downloadable PDF format.

Of course, should you wish to buy a physical book we would be delighted to help you out either via our website or through Skylark Books which posts internationally.

The team at Healing Herbs hopes you enjoy these resources.

https://www.healingherbs.co.uk/learn/julian-barnard-library/

14/01/2026

Bach’s first essences were prepared as homeopathic nosodes, as an extension of his study in homeopathy. But he quickly came to realise that he was working with a different concept. He turned to an alternative approach which was deceptively simple.

This was the sun method.

He explains the process in Some Fundamental Considerations of Disease and Cure (included in Collected Writings of Edward Bach).

“A glass vessel, as thin as possible, was filled with clean water, preferably from a spring. Into this were placed sufficient blooms of the plant to cover the surface completely. A cloudless day was chosen, and the blooms picked after they had about two hours’ sunshine upon them. The vessel was then placed in the sun and its position changed from time to time so that the sunlight passed directly down the or***ce as well as bathing the whole.

Let it be noticed in this that the four elements are involved: the earth to nurture the plant: the air from which it feeds: the sun or fire to enable it to impart its power: and water to collect and to be enriched with its beneficent magnetic healing.”

Having spent decades making, researching and exploring Bach’s concepts, Julian Barnard spent many years exploring the role of the elements in the essences. Eventually his considerations spilled over into a book - Bach Flower Essences & The Elements of Plant Life.

This book was never intended to provide generic answers but to pose questions that would define the reader’s relationship to the plants and the essences. Julian’s intention with the book was always to put the wisdom and understanding of Bach into the hands of those who are ready to explore it.

The book is available via our website in the UK or through Skylark Books for international customers.

In Bach Flower Essences & the Elements of Plant Life Julian Barnard weaves together ideas, thoughts and questions that have emerged over more than forty years working with the plants that bring us Bach Flower Essences. He travels beyond the simple art of observation of the structure to explore more....

07/01/2026

We have created a complex world to live in with many strands that influence our day to day lives. Is it possible to rebuild more simply?

Our societies have been created slowly over time with each decision and choice determining the next one. Our present is deeply rooted in our collective past.

This is something that the native American Iroquois embedded into their governance through the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee with the Seventh Generation Principle. This principle states that any decision should consider the impact on 7 generations forward into the future.

The notion that the future is created in the past is one that we are wrestling with now. The state of the environment and our relationship with nature are at the heart of this re-assessment.

And whilst we tangle with the issues at a collective level, we are also unravelling our own personal journeys from past to present.

There is one Bach flower essence that really speaks to our collective condition in this moment and that is Pine.

Pine represents the connection to the past, the guilt associated with it and, the often, suppressed spirit that has been controlled by the decisions and choices that have been made. It offers the opportunity to straighten out tangled emotions and the opportunity to release the guilt of past choices and conditions. It offers the chance to rebuild with freedom of choice.

https://www.bachflowerlearning.com/the-language-of-plants/pine/

31/12/2025

The beginning of a new year is a time when many of us will be choosing to leave behind parts of ourselves and discover the new.

Leaving the past behind is very much the domain of Honeysuckle.

Nora quoted Dr Bach as saying of Honeysuckle:
This is the remedy to remove from the mind the regrets and sorrows of the past, to counteract all influences, all wishes and desires of the past and to bring us back to the present….

Significantly, Lonicera caprifolium, which is Bach’s Honeysuckle, begins to break into leaf in December-January. As the days begin to lengthen, it is one of the first plants to respond to the new and to release the old.

As we stride forward into the new year, the spirit of Honeysuckle is a welcome companion.

https://www.bachflowerlearning.com/the-language-of-plants/honeysuckle/

24/12/2025

17/12/2025

With Christmas just around the corner, you may be getting excited or you may be feeling a little overwhelmed.

Five Flower essence is a great go to when you feel a little overwhelmed and can help to restore a little calm or encourage patience when it is being tested.

We make Five Flower as essence, granules, spray, cream and soap so it can be part of your day in simple ways. Because we all need a little extra help when, sometimes, things get on top of us.

Five Flower is Dr Bach’s original rescue combination. You can discover the history of it in this short video.

Dr Bach’s ‘rescue’ essence combination

10/12/2025

Behind the scenes, the Healing Herbs team has been working on an exciting development online.

For years, we have operated multiple websites to host our educational materials, learning programme and our essences, books and supplies. We were very much aware that this didn’t present the easiest user experience and we wanted to make it simpler.

We are pleased to announce that the first phase of work to bring all these sites together is complete. You can now browse essences and books or watch our videos all from one website. For our international customers, it is now easier to find your local distributor too.

We hope this makes it easier to explore the world of Bach flower essences.

We would love to hear your feedback, so please do leave a comment below.
https://www.healingherbs.co.uk/

03/12/2025

Error, fault and failing are words that appear frequently in Bach’s writing.

Whilst he considered the purpose of life to rise above such limitations, there is no doubt that the words are laden with negative connotations.

Mistakes and failings can become considerable burdens, our past weighing heavily on our present.

At Healing Herbs we choose to use positive terms recognising that life is a journey of learning. For every perceived negative, we can find a positive; Bach flowers teach this with every observation we make.

If we can choose to become the observers of our reactions and actions, then we have the opportunity to choose a different response. By reframing a mistake into a learning opportunity, the burden is lifted and we are empowered to walk a different path.

Julian Barnard talks about the original Bach Education Programme