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:
“Music is the effort we make to explain to ourselves how our brains work. We listen to Bach transfixed because this is listening to a human mind.”
—Lewis Thomas (b. 1913)
“The light passes
from ridge to ridge,
from flower to flower.”
—Hilda Doolittle (18861961)
“Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie,
Which we ascribe to heaven. The fated sky
Gives us free scope, only doth backward pull
Our slow designs when we ourselves are dull.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)