Selecting remedies

Dr Bach wanted his system to be easy to use. Anyone can select and take remedies without professional advice. You don't need special techniques or mystical abilities. Here's what to do. Physical problems

Suppose you are suffering from asthma. There is no Bach remedy for asthma, since this is a physical complaint. So the first step is to forget about the physical problem. Instead of concentrating on the asthma, think about how you feel emotionally, and about the sort of person you are.

Similarly, when it comes to selecting Bach remeides you should ignore any physical symptoms. They are not relevant to which Bach remedies you need.

The remedies work on a emotional level. If you need help with a physical problem you should consult a qualified medical advisor in addition to taking Bach remedies. Your current feelings

Start by thinking about the way you feel at the moment. Perhaps your son is about to start school and quite without cause you are frightened that he will be bullied? - Red Chestnut is the remedy for the fear that

something bad will happen to loved ones. Perhaps you have been working too hard and are exhausted? - this would indicate the need for Olive.

Consult the list of remedies - there are only 38 - and see which ones best match your current feelings.

If you do have a physical problem, consider how it makes you feel emotionally. Do you feel frustrated, annoyed, resentful, discouraged, resigned about the condition? Are you always thinking it about it? Does it make you feel anxious?

As before, look through the list of remedies and find those that best match how you feel. Your personality

You could also think about your basic personality - the sort of person you are underneath everything else.

Perhaps you are someone who tends to be quiet, shy and timid, and doesn't like meeting new new people? - This might indicate that you are a Mimulus type.

On the other hand, maybe you recognise yourself as a Vervain person, full of enthusiasm and energy, and committed to justice for others? Or you might be something of a loner, liking quiet pursuits and your own company, reserved and upright? - That would be a Water Violet personality.

Don't worry if you can't find a personality remedy right away, though. The important thing is to select remedies for your current emotions. Narrowing the choice

You can select up to six or seven different remedies in this way. Don't worry if you make a wrong selection, because if a remedy is not needed it won't do anything - it certainly won't make things worse.

Experience has shown, however, that too many remedies taken at one time tends to lessen the effect. This means that there is no point mixing all 38 to zap everything at once!

If you find you have more than seven or eight remedies in your mix, you are probably including some that are not needed. Leave out any that relate to feelings that are in the past, and any that aren't really needed because another remedy is more accurate.

For example, if you have several fear remedies in your mix - such as Mimulus, Aspen, Rock Rose - it may be better to concentrate on the remedy that most accurately represents the quality of your anxiety.

Getting help

There is a full list of remedies on this web site; links lead to individual pages on each remedy. We also have a guide to dosage.

If you need some help to get started, or if you get stuck and would like an outside opinion, you can always consult a Bach Foundation Registered Practitioner. BFRPs act as teachers and advisors, and will give you the confidence to select remedies for yourself, and for your family and friends.

Guide to the remedies

Each of the 38 remedies discovered by Dr Bach is directed at a particular characteristic or emotional state. To select the remedies you need, think about the sort of person you are and the way you are feeling.

For more information on each remedy in this list click the relevant link. It might help to read some case studies first to see how they work.

Agrimony - mental torture behind a cheerful face

Aspen - fear of unknown things

Beech - intolerance

Centaury - the inability to say 'no'

Cerato - lack of trust in one's own decisions

Cherry Plum - fear of the mind giving way

Chestnut Bud - failure to learn from mistakes

Chicory - selfish, possessive love

Clematis - dreaming of the future without working in the present

Crab Apple - the cleansing remedy, also for self-hatred

Elm - overwhelmed by responsibility

Gentian - discouragement after a setback

Gorse - hopelessness and despair

Heather - self-centredness and self-concern

Holly - hatred, envy and jealousy

Honeysuckle - living in the past

Hornbeam - tiredness at the thought of doing something

Impatiens - impatience

Larch - lack of confidence

Mimulus - fear of known things

Mustard - deep gloom for no reason

Oak - the plodder who keeps going past the point of exhaustion

Olive - exhaustion following mental or physical effort

Pine - guilt

Red Chestnut - over-concern for the welfare of loved ones

Rock Rose - terror and fright

Rock Water - self-denial, rigidity and self-repression

Scleranthus - inability to choose between alternatives

Star of Bethlehem - shock

Sweet Chestnut - Extreme mental anguish, when everything has been tried and there is no light left

Vervain - over-enthusiasm

Vine - dominance and inflexibility

Walnut - protection from change and unwanted influences

Water Violet - pride and aloofness

White Chestnut - unwanted thoughts and mental arguments

Wild Oat - uncertainty over one's direction in life

Wild Rose - drifting, resignation, apathy

Willow - self-pity and resentment

The original system also includes an emergency combination remedy. Other pre-mixed combinations are offered by many remedy producers, but they tend to be ineffective because they are not chosen individually.

To get help selecting remedies contact a local Bach Foundation Registered Practitioner.

Case studies

This is a selection of short case reports sent in by practitioners, showing the remedies at work. Names and personal details have been changed. Ten-year-old girl

The other day I had a text book case concerning a ten year old girl. Her mother came into the health shop where I work and practise, fed up with the doctors response to her daughters constant tummy ache and did we have an alternative.

I asked if her daughter was quite sensitive and she started saying how nervous she gets with the slightest thing and how her schoolwork

suffers because she has no confidence, and that she often has headaches as well. She also said she was quite moody, very up and down.

I asked if she was indecisive and her mother raised her eyes upwards and told me that she has spent the last few weeks making her mind up about whether to go on a school trip or not. It was driving her mad.

After a brief introduction to the Bach flower remedies she decided to buy the 'rescue' emergency combination. I was itching to put together a mixture for her but she was very sceptical. However, I knew she needed others so in the end she left with a mixture of the emergency combination, Larch, Mimulus, Aspen, Scleranthus and Gentian.

Two days later, her mum came back with a bunch of flowers for me, saying how her daughter had changed overnight. After two doses that evening she had slept well and the next day had come down saying that she didnt have any tummy ache and that she had made a decision about the school trip! And her teacher had come out at the end of the day and asked her mother what had happened as she had been really good at her schoolwork that day... Ten-year-old boy

This is a case I like to mention when giving talks on the remedies, since it illustrates the physical effects of being out of balance so clearly. It is the case of a ten year old boy who could not get out of his

home without having a bad bout of diarrhoea. This condition had started a little after his father had an almost fatal car accident and had to spend a couple of months in hospital.

I gave him Star of Bethlehem for the shock, and Aspen for his general state of apprehension and dread. Chicory was his type remedy, shown by the fact that he wanted his father all to himself, and was always seeking attention and bossing his brother around. I also gave him Larch to help him regain his confidence.

Within a very short time he started to feel better and was soon living a normal life again. New mum

I was introducing the remedies to a mum-to-be who was becoming very temperamental during the last stage of her pregnancy. She lived in a remote area and, at her request, I flew up to meet her.

This was Ps first baby. It seemed that she was very irritable with everyone around her and found herself shouting and becoming difficult to be with. Nobody could do anything to satisfy her and she was in a hurry for the baby to arrive so that she could get on with her life.

I felt that Impatiens was the only remedy needed.

It happened that two days later the weather forecast was pretty grim and it seemed that heavy snow was on its way. The hospital decided that P should book in at once, otherwise it might have meant that a helicopter would have to be used when her labour started, in order to get her to the hospital.

Once she was in the hospital the staff there decided to induce the birth. But each time the day came for the procedure to start another mum-to-be arrived at the cottage hospital, in full labour, who obviously had to be seen to first. Day after day went by and in the end it was a full ten days before the staff could get around to inducing her baby.

How did this impatient, irritable mother cope with the delay?

Her family, the nursing staff, and P herself, were absolutely amazed at her patience and good humour. She laughed each time another mum was brought in, and she was pushed once more to the back of the queue. They praised her, and she became a talking point amongst the staff. She told them her secret - Impatiens!

Needless to say, P is now a Bach flower' mum and has the full set of remedies at home. Her Christmas present last year from her father-inlaw was a beautifully crafted box for her remedies.

Find out more about giving remedies to the pregnant family... Recovering

An old friend called for help. Her 30 year old daughter, a new mother and recovering heroin addict, was enrolled in a methadone program in a rural area. It included going to the local pharmacy every day for her methadone.

A new pharmacist took over dispensing to her, did not measure correctly and overdosed her. She left the pharmacy feeling very sick and was taken at once to the local hospital.

We are experiencing major cutbacks in funding for medical services in our area so there is not the time, compassion and technical skill that there used to be. The idea is to treat as quickly as possible and discharge patients, especially those with unsavoury difficulties like drug addiction. Even though she was the victim of her recovery program they fed her charcoal and sent her home.

She was still very sick and felt like she was losing her mind. Her mother at this point called me and we put her on the crisis formula and Crab Apple. In a short period of time she started coming down and feeling better, and was fine by morning. Both mother and daughter were very grateful for the remedies. A legal case

In August last year I took a holiday in Geneva where I used to live and work for the UN. Friends in the UN agencies arranged for me to give a talk/workshop on the remedies to about a dozen people. All of them were English-speaking and some of them had been experimenting with the remedies.

I took over with me lots of Bach information and had a wonderful evening telling them all about the remedies. During the course of my holiday I prepared many treatment bottles for friends and former colleagues.

A lawyer in the World Intellectual Property Organisation assured me that the treatment bottle I made her had saved her from a certain mental breakdown as she faced what seemed like an impossible deadline on a high profile legal document. She was so impressed with the remedies that she bought a whole set and is planning to get back to the UK to take a weekend course. Indecision

A girl friend of mine was visiting me for a coffee and was in the process of deciding whether to visit her homeland in Africa. She was completely indecisive. She has two children; organising to leave the family for three weeks seemed difficult, but she really wanted to go. She knew of the remedies, but had never taken any.

During our conversation my youngest daughter got hold of a stock bottle. She let it fall, and it broke. I cleared it up, mourning the precious loss, and making a mental note which remedy had just been killed. The smell of the alcohol filled the room, along with the essence itself.

Twenty minutes later, after she had left, the phone rang. It was my friend: Im at the travel agents, Ive just booked my flight!

What was the stuff that my daughter broke? Youve guessed - it really was Scleranthus. Wendy

Wendy had undergone a masectomy. For the first two weeks her recovery went well, but then all of a sudden she seemed to lose her appetite and her resistance to pain. She also felt lethargic and weak she couldnt even keep her eyes open to read a book.

When Wendy next visited her doctor the nurse who was changing the bandages noticed her blacking out. She told Wendy not to give in and said that there were some drops that could help her. She recommended the crisis formula. Soon after taking them Wendy felt a little better.

She continued to take the remedy on and off for the next 48 hours, whenever things seemed to be getting worse, and every time only a few sips were needed to calm her and help her come back to herself. Tom

Tom worked in a stuffy office with very little ventilation. As a result the windows were often left open, even in winter. Tom sat with his back to the window and seemed to have little resistance to the draft. He was forever suffering from vague head colds, with tiredness, heavy eyes and catarrh, but the doctor told him there was nothing wrong with him.

He was given Olive for the tiredness and lack of energy and Crab Apple because he felt contaminated and full of sickness. Soon the vague symptoms faded, and he reported that instead of collapsing in an armchair at the end of every day he was able to keep going for longer and get more things done. Two children

There are two incidents that I would like to describe.

The first was a small girl aged three who came with her mother to the consultation. She was peacefully playing with some blocks I gave her while her mother explained to me what was going on in the family.

All at once the mother told me she was intending to divorce the childs father. Suddenly the little girl turned towards me and started throwing up.

I took the crisi formula stock bottle and made her smell it and then put a few drops into her mouth. She immediately recovered and her mother took her to the bathroom to wash her. When they returned the little girl was shivering and frightened so I put more drops on her temples while I talked to her gently. Three minutes later she was sitting on my lap, drawing as if nothing had happened.

The second case was a friend of mind whose two-year-old daughter is always on the go. Despite her age she will not stop talking to us and trying to persuade us to do what she wanted. (If it werent for the fact that she was only two she would make a perfect politician.)

We were having a cup of tea at home while she ran and jumped around us. She couldnt stop moving about and gesturing with her arms. Suddenly, in a matter of seconds, the little girl stood up on a chair and fell down, hitting her eyebrow on the edge of the wooden table. When her mother picked her up her face was all red with blood.

I ran to the stock bottles, took Star of Bethlehem, and after her mother cleaned the small wound (which continued to bleed copiously) I put a drop of the Star on it. In seconds the flow of blood slowed. I put on

another drop - her mother couldnt believe her eyes because immediately after the second drop the bleeding stopped.

She looked at me in surprise and asked: Are you a witch? What could I answer? I said nothing, and just thought: Thank you, Dr Bach.

Some days later my friend told me that her little girl was telling everybody that I had some little drops that cure you when you hit your head against something, and it doesnt hurt any more. Sold!

On a recent air trip I was packed like a sardine into a large airliner that barely gave one space to breathe. And then, to top things off, a baby in the seat behind me was screaming non-stop, stretching the patience of the already overworked stewardess in my section, and I'm sure irritating the nerves of most of us sitting nearby.

Suddenly I got an idea. I called the stewardess over to me and asked her if she had heard of the emergency 'rescue' formula. No, she had not. That made things a little more difficult, but I briefly told her about it, and asked her to see if the mother of the baby would agree to put some on the pulse points of the baby's wrists. What did she have to lose? She agreed.

I explained as simply as I could about the remedy to the baby's mother. There was a little hesitancy, but the screams of the baby quickly made her change her mind, and she too agreed it was worth a try. I put a few drops onto the fingers of the baby's mother, and she gently rubbed it on to the baby's little wrists.

Within a few minutes the baby stopped crying and soon was fast asleep. I looked back and we exchanged smiles of relief.

The stewardess was 63 years old and had been on the airlines for 40 years. Jokingly, she called this the Dinosaur Flight. We chatted a while, and she said that in the last few years a strange phenomenon was occurring. She called it "Airline Rage". She said people were more irritable, impatient, surly and angry, with an "in your face" attitude the likes of which she had never experienced before. Babies cried more and longer, and the things the stewardesses had to cope with were beyond the call of duty.

I talked to her at length about Dr. Bach's flower essences, and suggested she keep a bottle of the emergency mix with her at all times. Looking down upon the sleeping baby she said, "Sold!" Alison and Michael

Alison

Alison and Michael were having counselling to help them through some problems between them.

Alison was a quiet person who knew her own mind. She found it difficult to handle his indecision and apparent lack of direction. She was also becoming quite insecure and threatened by people on the edge of her space - children playing outside the house were getting to her. And getting up in the morning to go to a job she didn't enjoy any more was becoming a real burden.

Alison described herself as totally self-reliant and said she had always been a loner. Yet she had always worked in fashion retail - a field requiring constant interaction with other people. She had been given her own shop, and was very good at her job. Her colleagues thought that she was very energetic and a real live wire.

The conversation revealed quite a conflict between the two people inside her - the quiet, self-reliant Alison who needed her own space and became unhappy if she couldnt get it, and the lively, bouncy Alison who kept everyone else going with her energy - a conflict between Water Violet on the one hand and Agrimony on the other.

We thought it probable that on leaving the safety of childhood Alison had felt, however unconsciously, that she needed to protect her inner nature from the outside world and had used the coping strategy of hiding herself completely behind the live wire exterior.

From the beginning she took Water Violet and Agrimony. We also used other remedies to address her feelings about her husband and their situation.

After two months' taking the remedies Alison was waking refreshed. She felt she had put herself back together without the hardness, and that the shell had gone. Things had also changed for her husband and this, combined with her own progress, meant that she felt much more relaxed, less emotional; she felt 'at peace'.

Michael

Michael was finding the counselling sessions very enlightening. He discovered he needed other people's permission to do and be what he wanted. He also understood how much of a worrier he was, how afraid of getting it wrong - in fact, his worry had led him to irritable bowel syndrome, depression and a number of other stress-related conditions.

A gentle person, Michael worked in finance with colleagues made hyperactive by the pressure of work. He was good at his job, but at great cost to his quiet nature. He had always been interested in the complementary therapy field, especially reflexology.

He and his wife dreamt of living in the country where they had a little house, but Michael could not bring himself to a decision on whether to break away from his regular job.

For about six weeks he took Larch to boost his confidence, White Chestnut to relieve the worry, Scleranthus for the indecision as well as the problems he was having with balance and co-ordination, and Mimulus for his fears about doing what he wanted to do.

Then they went to their cottage on holiday. On his return he said the holiday hadn't recharged him. He felt so unwell that he had taken time off work - something unusual for him. He had lost his appetite completely and felt tearful. 'I've been here before,' he said.

We identified a lack of trust in life, a continual fear of things going wrong. We talked about how his sensitive nature found it hard to cope with the cut and thrust of his work environment, how in fact his whole system was crying out to live differently. We also discussed possible ways forward that would be more fulfilling for him.

In his treatment bottle this time he had Chestnut Bud to help him move forward, Centaury and Walnut to strengthen and protect his resolve, Pine to ward off any guilt feelings about doing things his way, Larch to give him the confidence to go for it and White Chestnut to stop him worrying.

Next day Alison came for her appointment saying 'I have a new husband'. Michael had already handed in his notice and had booked a place on a reflexology course. He was full of life, could see his path ahead clearly, was decisive and very positively moving along it. They are now planning to take the leap and move permanently to the country. Starting school

My son started full-time school last autumn. When we went to view the school in the summer he was the only child who would not leave his parents to go into the classroom for a half hour story. He was extremely nervous and clung to my husband as if he was about to be abandoned.

I spent the rest of the summer working out what I would do in September when he refused to go in to class on his first day. I made up a treatment bottle for what I thought he might need and started him on the drops about two weeks before the first day of term. It contained Mimulus, Larch and Walnut. (Normally the last things he needs are Mimulus and Larch!)

The first day arrived. After a quick kiss goodbye he ran straight into the classroom on his own. Every morning he races in ahead of all the other kids, and has apparently been looking after those that are still upset. I helped out in the classroom last week and have now put him on Vine!

Asterix

My Weimaraner dog Guy died. He had a serious heart condition and we were told over two years ago that he had three months to live, so we were very grateful that we had him for so long. He was 13 years and 5 months, which is a good age for a Weimaraner.

This has left us with Asterix the English springer spaniel. He is now 12 years and 8 months, although mentally he is probably only about eight months old.

Asterix has always lived with other dogs, as we originally had two Weimaraners and Asterix. After Guy died Asterix wasnt too bad at first, but after about five or six days he started to really mope. He wouldnt eat properly, wouldnt come out of his bed and more disturbing he didnt want to go out for a walk. This was not like Asterix.

I decided to try the Bach remedies with him, as I have used them in the past with all my dogs. The remedy I made was as follows: Vine - for his personality Walnut - for the change in his life Mimulus - for known fear, and the now timid Asterix Gentian - for known depression

Crab Apple - I used this as he was bothered by an irritation on one of his back legs, which was where a grass seed had to be removed in the past

The remedy was added to his water bowl, and some titbits that we used to entice him to eat. The change was almost immediate. I continued for about a week after this with the remedy, and we now have our old Asterix back.

How do the remedies actually work?

Dr Bach used a metaphor to describe how the remedies work. He said, they are able, like beautiful music, or any gloriously uplifting thing which gives us inspiration, to raise our very natures, and bring us nearer to our Souls: and by that very act, to bring us peace, and relieve our sufferings. Just as a beautiful sunset or a photograph can move us so that we feel more at peace, so taking a remedy uplifts us in a gentle way and helps us be the best we are.

There are many theories about the mechanism the remedies use to achieve this. Most believe the active ingredient in the remedies is a kind of energy or vibration that is transferred from the living flower to the water during the process of making the mother tinctures. Some believe the energy forms a pattern in the water; others talk of quantum mechanics and spiritual vibrations. Attempts to capture this energy

have produced beautiful Kirlian photographs showing distinct patterns and colours for different remedies - but little hard research has been done. Any firm conclusions are just speculation.

The real proof that these flower energies exist, however, is the effect they have on people. Taking Mimulus when we are afraid is just a more specific form of the emotional reaction we feel when we listen to Beethoven or gaze up at the stars. Dr Bach's work was fine in the '30's - but don't modern times call for modern remedies?

It's true that times have changed and that we have new things to be afraid of and new freedoms and responsibilities. People in Dr Bach's day did not have to fear AIDS and nuclear warfare, or worry about global warming and genetic engineering.

Does this mean that we need new remedies? We don't think it does, because the remedies don't treat the triggers for our emotions but the emotions themselves. Fear is the same now as it has always been; and so are love, understanding and kindness. Our modern emotions are no more complex than those described by Shakespeare, Dante and the authors of the Bible.

Many of the best things about new age spirituality are rediscoveries of old beliefs and practices that bring us more in touch with our roots and remind us of our relationship to the world and to nature. The remedies

can be seen in that context: not as something outmoded but as something eternally renewed and timeless.

The 38 remeides put us in touch with our higher, spiritual self - and in this way give us the freedom to develop at our own pace, whatever that pace may be, in perfect freedom from our ego's greed for immediate enlightenment. Why doesn't the Bach Centre support dowsing and kinesiology as ways of selecting remedies?

Dr Bach made his system simple and easy to understand. He wanted people from all walks of life to use by as a way of healing themselves.

When a practitioner uses the basic consultation technique for selecting remedies - which amounts to listening to what the client has to say - this is something that everyone can understand. Once the client sees that the remedies are chosen on the basis of how he feels and the sort of person he is, then he can go on treating himself in the future.

When dowsing, kinesiology or any other mechanical or purely intuitive selection method is used this introduces a barrier. Most people do not know how to dowse or muscle-test, so they feel obliged to go back to the practitioner every time they want to select a remedy.

Also, if the dowsing etc. works it will go straight to the heart of the problem before the client is necessarily ready to go that far. This means that self-knowledge, which is one of the aims of treatment with the remedies, is never attained properly.

We believe treatment should go at the client's speed, not the practitioner's, and this is why all practitioners registered with the Bach Centre have signed a Code of Practice which commits them to select remedies using the classic interview technique that Dr Bach preferred. Why doesn't the Bach Centre approve the use of other flower essence systems?

Dr Bach wanted his work to be kept simple so that everyone could use it. Before he died he warned that attempts would be made to change his work and make it more complicated, and his assistants promised always to uphold the simplicity and purity of his methods.

We believe the 38 remedies are enough when used in combination to treat every conceivable range of human emotions. This is why the current team at the Centre continue to work only with the 38 remedies in the original system.

This isn't a criticism of other flower remedy systems; everything useful will find its place. But we believe the simplicity of the original system is something worth preserving.

What promises do Bach Foundation Registered Practitioners make regarding how they work?

The full answer to this lies in reading the full Code of Practice, but a short summary of the main points is that BFRPs promise to: Work with the remedies using Dr Bach's own methods Present the 38 remedies as a separate system - i.e. not confuse it with other approaches to health, including other flower essence systems Teach their clients how to use the remedies for themselves Talk about and use the remedies in a simple, straightforward way

All of these promises reflect Dr Bach's ideals of self-help and simplicity. I've read things Dr Bach wrote about helpers and healers and possible links between remedies and astrology - why doesn't the Bach Centre talk about these things or republish these writings of Dr Bach?

Dr Bach considered many theories and ideas during his career, and wrote notes, articles and letters on them. But at every stage of his work he was keen to leave behind anything that was no longer relevant.

For example, he discontinued the use of succussion in preparing remedies, investigated and discounted links between remedy types

and astrology, gave up diagnosis by physical symptom, and abandoned as unnecessary the idea of different remedies working on 'higher' and 'lower' planes.

He could be quite emphatic about such excess baggage! When he decided in 1930 to leave London and devote himself to flower remedies, he made a bonfire of all his outdated pamphlets and papers. Later, at Mount Vernon, when the system was finished, he built a further bonfire in the garden here to destroy what he referred to as 'scaffolding'.

In the same vein, he issued strict instructions to his publishers to destroy old editions of The Twelve Healers each time that a new edition was ready for the press. He didn't want old editions republished because they contained remedy descriptions and concepts that he no longer used in his work. He felt that these discarded descriptions and ideas would be seized on by people who might look to complicate the system for their own reasons.

The Bach Centre's role in all this was set out in a letter Dr Bach sent to Victor Bullen shortly before his death. 'Our work is steadfastly to adhere to the simplicity and purity of this method of healing,' he wrote.

We try to remain true to our founder's wishes. Books like The Original Writings of Edward Bach, published with our blessing, are presented

as historical documents with the context explained - and old remedy descriptions edited out, as Dr Bach wanted.

Despite our efforts older versions of the The Twelve Healers were in fact republished in the 1980s and are now widely available. As Dr Bach predicted these out-of-date concepts are occasionally referred to by writers and Bach therapists, and not always in a proper historical context. All we can do is point to the system as Dr Bach left it and remind people that the finished system is more perfect - and far simpler - than its earlier incarnations. How can 38 remedies cover all known states of mind?

A useful analogy is with the world of colour. There are only three basic colours (red, blue yellow), yet every visible colour can be produced when they are combined.

In the same way there are 38 basic states of mind. Combining them gives hundreds of millions of variations. Has the efficacy of the remedies been proven scientifically?

When Dr Bach entrusted his work to Nora and Victor, and in so doing set up the Bach Centre, he instructed them to keep their lives simple and their work with the remedies simple as well. We don't see it as our role to 'prove' that the remedies work, then - instead we simply demonstrate how to use them and let people prove the effect on themselves.

Having said that, people have done studies on the remedies over the years, although all of them are of limited value due to their small scale and, sometimes, significant methodological inconsistencies.

Nelsons have produced a useful overview of research carried out up to May 2006, which contains information on a number of studies. Since then a US double-blind study into the emergency formula has also been published. About Dr Bach I have been taught that Edward Bach pronounced his name 'Batch'? What is the correct pronunciation of his last name, and how does the Centre pronounce his name and the name of the remedies? What did Dr Bach die of, and why did he die so young? Why doesn't the Bach Centre talk more about Edward Bach's personal life, his marriages and family? Did Dr Bach meet Rudolph Steiner, who predicted that flowers would become a great tool of healing? Doesn't the Bach Centre make Dr Bach out to be some kind of god, as if he were the object of a cult? I have been taught that Edward Bach pronounced his name 'Batch'? What is the correct pronunciation of his last name, and how does the Centre pronounce his name and the name of the remedies?

There are three possible pronunciations. Most people probably pronounce the name 'Bark', the same as J S Bach the famous composer.

However, the Bach family originally pronounced their name 'Baytch' (to rhyme with the letter 'h'). When Dr Bach was a medical student his fellow-students mispronounced his name as 'Batch', and the mistake stuck. He was known as 'Batch' throughout his medical career, and we still say 'Batch' at the Centre to this day. What did Dr Bach die of, and why did he die so young?

Dr Bach had cancer when he died, but in fact died of exhaustion rather than because of the disease itself.

Because he was only 50 when he died people have sometimes asked why he wasn't able to cure himself. What this question ignores is that in 1917 when the cancer was first diagnosed he was given just 3 months to live. From then until his death in 1936 he was curing himself, every day, for nineteen years - all the time it took for him to complete his work. Why doesn't the Bach Centre talk more about Edward Bach's personal life, his marriages and family?

There are two reasons:

We don't know a great deal, because Dr Bach didn't leave many personal papers and Nora Weeks never talked about Dr Bach's personal life precisely because it was personal His personal life had nothing to do with the remedy system, and that has always been our main concern

For the record, though, Dr Bach was married twice. His first wife died. He had a daughter by his second wife, but the marriage failed some time before he left London in 1930. Did Dr Bach meet Rudolph Steiner, who predicted that flowers would become a great tool of healing?

There are parallels between Bach's beliefs and those of Steiner. But as far as we know they never met. Doesn't the Bach Centre make Dr Bach out to be some kind of god, as if he were the object of a cult?

Absolutely not! Dr Bach was no more (and no less) divine than the rest of us. He was human, with human faults (a workaholic, a failed marriage, short tempered sometimes) and human qualities (courage, persistence, selflessness).

He was a great teacher and found a precious gift that he shared with others, but that doesn't make him more than human. We tend to think that 'just human' is more than enough!

Miscellaneous I read somewhere that the remedies are approved by the World Health Organisation. Is this true? Who owns the Bach Centre? I read that Nelsons had bought the Bach Centre. Is this true? What is the Bach Foundation? Are there any Bach Centre authorised correspondence courses on the remedies? Are Bach Foundation Registered Practitioners told which brand of remedy to use? Why do remedies have a use-by date now? Should they be discarded after this date? What are the sun and boiling methods? What is the difference between the 1936 edition of The Twelve Healers and more recent Bach Centre-authorised editions? How do you get to the Bach Centre? I read somewhere that the remedies are approved by the World Health Organisation. Is this true?

This idea seems to come from a WHO report that mentioned the Bach remedies, along with other forms of complementary medicine, as examples of the kind of complementary techniques that were being used around the world.

It seems that somebody misread this passing renfernece as being an official statement of approval. This mistaken belief ended up being put in a book. From there, other authors have quoted the same statement to the point where the idea is quite wide spread, particularly in Spanish-speaking countries.

As far as we know there is no truth in this statement. The World Health Organisation doesn't approve or licence any treatments, so the question should not even arise. Who owns the Bach Centre?

The house and garden at Mount Vernon are owned by the Dr Edward Bach Healing Trust, a registered charity formed in 1989 to help the elderly, the poor and the sick.

The Trust in turn is landlord to two companies, Bach Centre Mount Vernon Ltd. and Bach Visitor and Education Centre Ltd. These companies run the Centre's day-to-day activities, including the Bach Foundation International Register of Practitioners.

Both companies are owned by the Ramsell family. John Ramsell, who passed on in 2008, was brought into partnership by Nora Weeks and Victor Bullen in the 1970s. His daughter Judy is currently head of the Centre. Nobody else has any control over or ownership of the Bach Centre's activities. I read that Nelsons had bought the Bach Centre. Is this true?

No.

A judgement issued at the end of the 1990s, after a legal action brought by Healing Herbs Ltd. against Nelsons Ltd., included the erroneous claim that Bach Centre Mount Vernon Ltd. had been sold to Nelsons in 1993. This is not true.

Certainly, a company of a similar name was sold to Nelsons in 1993, as part of the sale of the Centre's remedy production business. But Bach Centre Mount Vernon Ltd. was not sold, and like the rest of the Bach Centre continues to be run as part of an independent organisation. See also the question, Who owns the Bach Centre? What is the Bach Foundation?

The Bach Centre set up the Bach Foundation (or The Dr Edward Bach Foundation Ltd, to give its full name) in the early 1990s. Its purpose was to run education and practitioner registration for the Bach Centre.

In 2007 we decided to run education and registration alongside other Bach Centre services such as the helplines, the shop, the visitor centre and so on.

We still use the 'Bach Foundation' name and logo in connection with our education and registration programmes, but the Bach Foundation

International Register and course approval are now run direct by the Bach Centre. Are there any Bach Centre authorised correspondence courses on the remedies?

Level 1 is available as a distance learning course. Levels 2 and 3 are not available in this format. Are Bach Foundation Registered Practitioners told which brand of remedy to use?

No. The Code of Practice doesn't mention brands and BFRPs are entirely free to choose which they use, or can indeed make their own remedies if they want. Why do the remedies have a use-by date now? Should they be discarded after this date?

By law the stock bottles have to carry a use-by date. The five year period relates to the shelf life of brandy stored in a rubber-topped bottle.

The remedies themselves will keep their properties indefinitely (although the brandy may begin to taste a little strange after the five year period). What are the sun and boiling methods?

The sun method involves floating flowerheads in a clear glass bowl filled with natural spring water. This is left in bright sunlight for three hours, then the flowerheads are removed and the energised water is mixed half and half with brandy.

The boiling method involves putting flowering twigs into a pan of spring water and boiling them for half an hour. The pan is then left to cool, the plant matter removed, and again the water is mixed half and half with brandy.

In both cases the resulting mix is known as mother tincture. This is diluted at the rate of two drops per 30mls of brandy to make the stock bottles sold in the shops. What is the difference between the 1936 edition of The Twelve Healers and more recent Bach Centre-authorised editions?

Ever since Dr Bach wrote it, The Twelve Healers and Other Remedies has always been the most important book on the remedies. At the Bach Centre we have always seen it as a working text - not a historical document, but a manual that everyone can use. Every practitioner has a copy - and even now, we go back to the remedy descriptions in The Twelve Healers all the time. Every time we do, we get new insight into the system.

As a working text, The Twelve Healers has been added to and edited over the years to try to meet new needs as they arise. This is exactly what Dr Bach did during his lifetime - indeed, the first changes after 1936 were dictated by Dr Bach shortly before his death. Comparing the 1936 facsimile edition and the 2009 Bach Centre ebook edition, for example, the main differences are: The 2010 version contains the longer introduction dictated by Dr Bach at the end of October, 1936 - after the 1936 edition had been published. A line of the Rock Rose description referring to it as 'the rescue remedy' has gone, to avoid confusing it with the well-known brand of the emergency mix. The list of chemists supplying remedies has gone. The number of shops supplying remedies has increased beyond the possibility of listing them in a book this size. (Prices have also inevitably increased.) The dosage instructions have been rewritten. They now mention how to choose remedies and their use with animals and plants, explain how to use the crisis mix and cream, and give a clearer account of the minimum daily dose. The 1936 instructions on how to make remedies have been removed. Dr Bach aimed this part of the book at people who were making remedies for personal use. To simplify the description he left out one of the dilution stages he followed when preparing remedies for pharmacies - and in practice most people struggled to identify the plants they needed to use from the Latin names alone. To provide practical and consistent help to remedy-makers, Nora Weeks and Victor Bullen instead wrote the book Illustrations and Preparations, which includes full descriptions and photos of the correct plants.

Some of the Latin names of the plants have changed. They are the same plants! - but later editions reflect changes in the International Rules of Botanical Nomenclature.

The 1936 edition remains, though, the final edition personally prepared for the press by Dr Bach, so we are pleased to republish it in a facsimile ebook edition.