Dr. Bach and the flower remedies
Behind the 38 flower remedies is a doctor who left a successful career in London to look for a simpler, more natural way to support emotional balance. Dr. Edward Bach (1886–1936) believed that well-being starts with how we feel, and he devoted the last years of his life to a system that anyone can use.
From medicine and research
Edward Bach was born on 24 September 1886 in Moseley, near Birmingham. He studied medicine in Birmingham and at University College Hospital in London, and qualified in 1912. He worked as a surgeon and as a bacteriologist, researching vaccines, while running a practice on the well-known Harley Street.
In 1917 he fell seriously ill and was given just three months to live. He kept working with passion and recovered, which he put down to the sense of purpose that kept him going. In 1919 he took up a post at the London Homeopathic Hospital, where he developed seven homeopathic preparations known as the “Bach nosodes”.
The search in nature
The more he observed the people in his care, the more convinced he became that their emotional state affected their overall well-being. In 1928 he found the first three flower remedies: Impatiens, Mimulus and Clematis. In 1930 he closed his London practice and devoted himself to searching for plants in the countryside of Wales and England, spending the winters in Cromer, on the Norfolk coast.
He presented the first twelve remedies under the title “The Twelve Healers”. In 1934 he settled at Mount Vernon, a small house in the village of Sotwell in Oxfordshire, where he found the last 19 remedies in the surrounding fields and lanes. This completed the system of 38.
To prepare them he used two simple methods: the sun method, in which the flowers float in clear water in the sunshine for three hours, and the boiling method, for woodier plants and for those that bloom when the sun is weak.
His philosophy
Dr. Bach’s core idea was simple: attention should go to the person, not only to what is happening around them. Two people in the same difficult situation may feel completely different: one worries, another loses patience, a third withdraws. That is why the remedies are chosen according to each person’s emotions and personality.
He divided the 38 remedies into seven groups of emotional states:
Fear
Uncertainty
Insufficient interest in present circumstances
Loneliness
Over-sensitivity to influences and ideas
Despondency or despair
Over-care for the welfare of others
He wanted his system to be so simple that anyone could use it. At Mount Vernon he even destroyed many of his earlier notes, so that they would not confuse those who came after him.
His legacy
Dr. Bach died on 27 November 1936, a year after completing his search. His colleagues, Nora Weeks and Victor Bullen, continued his work at Mount Vernon, which still operates today as the Bach Centre. Almost a century later, the 38 flower remedies are used all over the world as gentle, natural, complementary support for emotional balance, for people of all ages and for animals too.
Bach flower remedies at iasma
At iasma we work with the 38 flower remedies as Dr. Bach described them. In each session, in person or online, we look together at the emotional state, yours or your pet’s, and create a personal blend of flower remedies.
See our sessions or contact us to book an appointment.
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