Bach flower remedies are dilutions of flower material developed by Edward Bach, an English bacteriologist, pathologist and homeopath, in the 1930s. Bach believed that dew found on flower petals retain healing properties of that plant. The remedies are intended primarily for emotional and spiritual conditions, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, insomnia and stress.
The remedies contain a very small amount of flower material in a 50:50 solution of brandy and water. Because the remedies are extremely diluted they do not have a characteristic scent or taste of the plant. It is claimed that the remedies contain "energetic" or "vibrational" nature of the flower and that this can be transmitted to the user. Bach flower remedies are considered vibrational medicines, and rely on a concept of water memory. They are often labeled as homeopathic because they are extremely diluted in water, but are not true homeopathy as they do not follow other homeopathic precepts such as the law of similars or the belief that curative powers are enhanced by shaking and repeated diluting ("succussion").
Systematic reviews of clinical trials of Bach flower remedies found no efficacy beyond a placebo.
Read more about Bach Flower Remedies: Use, Philosophy, Effectiveness, Production
Famous quotes containing the words bach, flower and/or remedies:
“We know that a man can read Goethe or Rilke in the evening, that he can play Bach and Schubert, and go to his day’s work at Auschwitz in the morning.”
—George Steiner (b. 1929)
“Who comes into this country, and has come
Where golden crocus and narcissus bloom,
Where the Great Mother, mourning for her daughter
And beauty-drunken by the water
Glittering among grey-leaved olive-trees,
Has plucked a flower and sung her loss....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“We can endure neither our vices nor the remedies for them.”
—Titus Livius (Livy)