By Marion Leigh, Founder, Findhorn Flower Essences

Recently I was doing some personal research on Silverweed (Potentilla anserina) flower essence.  I spent about a week on this project, taking the essence, tuning in and writing down what happened to me.

I experienced the negatives of Silverweed profoundly. In particular I notice I became overly absorbed in details. This manifested as getting consumed in the minutiae of what I was writing, so perfectionistic was I about my choice of words that I would check dictionaries, study the etymology, then the myriad thesauruses available on-line for possible alternatives, sometimes musing over a word for days.  Now, I know I’m a bit of a stickler for perfection, but this was getting ridiculous. Everyone around me noticed I was obsessing – FFE staff encouraging me to ‘move on’ and stop taking Silverweed, as I was clearly doing a ‘proving’ of the essence.

Silverweed flower essence helps to let go and detach from fixations of the lower self. By breaking through to deeper understanding and awareness and the realisation that virtue is based on the golden mean between the extremes. Being ethically minded, we choose to live lightly in our bodies and on the Earth and with calm composure master our behaviour, so that we do not become overly consumed by our passions and thereby dissipate our energies. We go back to basics through deep contact with our true inner driving forces, the forces of nature and life and trust all our needs will be met when we walk the middle way that creates a strong foundation for right living.

Other flower Essences to consider for such tendencies are:

Birch flower essence can be used as an aid to looking at situations through different perspectives, to being open and receptive to new ideas and new ways of understanding. By releasing worry, and expectations of how things should be, or how we want them to be, we can expand our awareness and the perceived capacity to find creative routes to desired goals. Creativity is a process involving the discovery of new ideas or concepts, stimulated by the imagination and insight. Knowledge helps us to see and understand things as they are, but imagination allows us to see things as they could be. With this essence we learn to transcend our self-created limitations, continue to grow and learn, and to “think outside the box” as we harness positive emotions that broaden our awareness and encourage novel, varied and exploratory thoughts and actions.

Broom flower essence is an aid to mental clarity whereby the enhanced power of intuitive perception and abstract thinking becomes more flexible and adaptable.

Cherry is indicated when we get stuck in negative habits or patterns from the past and are stubborn and unwilling to change our viewpoint or attitude.

Lady’s Mantle brings awareness of our unconscious responses, In this case repetitive thoughts and dissociation from the reasoning faculties.

Laurel is helpful in getting organised, to be able to focus on a goal without scattering or dissipating one’s energies.

Spotted Orchid is for over-idealism and perfectionism when we may become overly critical in our attention to detail. Also indicated when preoccupied in repetitive thought patterns.

If you have knowledge or experience of using Findhorn essences for perfectionistic types of issues, we would dearly love to hear from you.  Yes, we would really appreciate it if you would share your experiences. Do tell. Please write to us soon. Don’t forget!  (Quick – pass me the Silverweed!)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Marion Leigh Marion Leigh is a long-time resident of Findhorn and founder of Findhorn Flower Essences. She developed the essences using flowers indigenous to the region, a continuation of the principles and practice of co-creation with nature; that tradition of attuning to the over-lighting nature intelligences or devas, for which the Findhorn Community became renowned around the world. Marion is a registered homeopath and teacher of Esoteric Healing within the International Network of Esoteric Healing (INEH). Findhorn Flower Essences is situated in the heart of Findhorn and in the heart of the Foundation’s Cullerne Gardens. Many of the flowers used in preparing the essences are growing here.