The making of Ancient Forest Flower Essences is our way of exploring, remembering, and sharing the deep understanding that each of us is a part of nature. Our work with essences is a celebration of how humans are interwoven within the beautiful outpouring of life that is our planet.
In spite of the many paths that humans have taken, we are truly all of one tribe. No matter how civilized we have become, people continue to live within the indescribable interrelationships of nature.
Flower Essences are a wonderful way of consciously participating in the fine and subtle workings of the natural world. The trees, flowers, grasses, earth, and animals are our family. They can profoundly help us to find harmony and balance within the lively, creative, chaotic and suffering world we inhabit—a world created by our great power of thought and imagination.
Making Essences with Trees
We are inspired to make flower essences with trees because of our love for the ancient forests. As we travel, explore, & walk within nature, we are constantly drawn to enter into the magical realm of light and shadow that is the forest.
In our culture, forests are often depicted as places of darkness, where dark spirits lurk, harboring evil purposes. Or alternatively, they are viewed as tree farms, of value only for the wood and fiber which can be extracted.
In our journeys, we have come to know the trees as ancient beings of deep silence and profound wisdom, as the forest emanates a quality of being that draws us down and into the heart of presence, into the grounded aliveness of our true nature.
The Essence Makers
Ancient Forest Flower Essences is a partnership between Sophia Katy Savich and Richard Witteman.
Sophia’s deep love of nature combines with over 20 years experience in using and making flower essences. She works with essences from all over the world, and has a large library of essence books. She is an experienced flower essence practitioner, and is available for private consultations.
Richard brings to essence making his lifelong love of meditative inquiry, of allowing the deep silence which is always present to wake us up to what is here, to what we really are. The ancient trees sing this song of silence and intimacy, as they celebrate the magnificent dance of life.
Essences seem to have a profound relationship with the essence makers, with their presence and relationship with the plants and environments with which they work.
In the native healing traditions, it is said that herbs harvested from nature will only be effective if the herb collector has the right relationship with the plant.
It is crucial for the healer to ask permission of the plant for the taking, and for the harvester to honor and see the beautiful nature of this growing miracle of life. In this kind of relationship, the healer can ask the plant to impart its life energy and healing powers into the leaves, stems, or flowers being taken. This can only take place if there is understanding, love, and respect in the heart of the harvester.
This spirit inspires us in our work with essences. We desire to enter deeply into the beauty and integrity of the trees, plants, and environments with which we make the essences. Our overriding vision is that the unseen depths and profound subtlety of each environment is alive and present within each magical preparation.
In making essences, we use variations of the original methods discovered by Dr. Bach, and never harm the plants or environments in any way.
We never cease to be amazed at how all of this works. It is inspiring and humbling to hear of the life changes that occur in people who take essences. Thought and imagination cannot grasp what is going on here. Essences are a gift of nature.
