Dr. Bach's new approach to healing built upon his homeopathic background but differed from it as well. He felt that Hahnemann had come only part of the way on the path, and that homeopathy "has yet further to go." He looked to Paracelsus and Hahnemann as the forerunners of the true method of healing, but not as the final solution. They "knew that if our spiritual and mental aspects were in harmony, illness could not exist," and "taught us not to pay too much attention to the details of disease, but to treat the personality, the inner man." Hahnemann correctly set out to secure "remedies which would treat our minds." He "brought a light to humanity in the darkness of materialism, when man had come to consider disease as a purely materialistic problem to be relieved and cured by materialistic means alone." Indeed, "As Hahnemann laid down, all healing which is not from within, is harmful, and apparent cure of the body obtained through materialistic methods, obtained only through the action of others, without self-help, may certainly bring physical relief, but harm to our Higher Natures, for the lesson has remained unlearnt, and the fault has not been eradicated." (1)

Footnotes (1) Edward Bach, Ye Suffer from Yourselves (1930); Julian Barnard, ed., Collected Writings of Edward Bach (Hereford, Bach Educational Programme, 1978), p. 111, 112, 122. (2) Ibid, p. 112, 117, 113. (3) Ibid, p. 112. (4) Ibid 117, 121. (5) Ibid, pp. 123, 113. (6) Bach, the Rediscovery of Psora, Barnard, ed., Collected Writings, p. 194.

But Hahnemann had also been in error, according to Bach. His teaching that "like treats like" was incorrect. It was wrong to apply a poison to eradicate a disease. Wrong could never drive out wrong, only good could triumph over evil. ["True healing can be obtained, not by wrong repelling wrong, but by right replacing wrong: good replacing evil: light replacing darkness."] True cure is offered by the flower essences, which cure, "not by attacking disease, but by flooding our bodies with the beautiful vibrations of our Higher Nature, in the presence of which disease melts like snow in the sunshine." Therefore, "We no longer fight disease with disease, no longer oppose illness with the products of illness: no longer attempt to drive out maladies with such substances that can cause them: but on the contrary, to bring down the opposing virtue which will eliminate the fault." (2)

Bach acknowledged the doctrine of "like cures like" in a different way. Disease "is the natural consequence of disharmony between our bodies and our Souls: it is 'like curing like' because it is the very disease itself which hinders and prevents our carrying our wrong actions too far, and at the same time, is a lesson to teach us to correct our ways, and harmonize our lives with the dictates of our Soul." (3)

This is not an entirely fair criticism of Hahnemann. The founder of homeopathy never stated that the disease was a "wrong," but also held that it was the natural attempt of the organism to correct a problem. He did not suggest that the homeopathic remedies opposed disease, but that they stimulated the self-healing ability of the organism to throw off the disease.

However, Dr. Bach's work does point out a problem in the Hahnemannian concept of healing by similarity. Hahnemann's theory explains the medicinal potency of poisons, but it does not explain why so many non-toxic herbal remedies have medicinal powers. The homeopathic materia medica is full of herbal medicines that have little or no toxicity. Such remedies seem to have curative abilities far in excess of their slight toxicity.

Dr. Bach's explanation for the healing virtue of medicinal herbs was that they "have been Divinely enriched with healing powers" and are "beneficent" and "blessed." A virtue has been placed in each of them which reflects a heavenly virtue. "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." (4)

Bach did not deny that certain homeopathic medicines were also in the class of Divinely blessed medicines. "We now know that certain remedies in the homeopathic pharmacopeia have the power to elevate our vibrations, thus bringing more union between our mortal and Spiritual self." He advocated the purification of the materia medica, so that the poisons were removed and the "Divinely enriched" plants increased in number. "The pharmacopeia of the near future should contain only those remedies which have the power to bring down good, eliminating all those whose only quality is to resist evil." (5)

Dr. Bach considered remedies made from the virtuous herbs to have a "positive" polarity, while those fashioned from poisons were "negative." He wrote, "The remedies of the meadow and of Nature, when potentised, are of positive polarity, whereas those which have been associated with disease are of the reverse type." (6) [Exactly what this meant to Dr. Bach is unclear. I wrote the Bach Center for further information on this point. All they could tell me was that it was not a proscription against the use of homeopathic remedies. Dr. Bach may have been able to sense an actual difference between the two types of remedies.]

NOTE: This article was excerpted from the new edition of Vitalism: The History of Herbalism, Homeopathy and Flower Essences by Matthew Wood.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Matthew Wood is a seasoned herbalist, homeopath, and essence practitioner who has written several books and teaches seminars around the United States. His first book, Seven Herbs, was an in-depth summary of seven flower remedies he had made, which the The Flower Essence Society offers as a kit by the same name.

Matt owns Sunnydale Herb Farm in Minnetrista, MN, and is available for telephone consultation. To arrange an appointment or for more information about his seminars, contact him by e-mail.

ART CREDITS: The Willow art on this page is from the small but fine collection at Digital Crafts.

The World Wide Essence Society does not mean to imply any recommendation of nor give certification to any individuals or companies above. This article is provided purely for informational purposes. We ask consumers to make their own determination as to quality of the services and products offered above. This article is not meant to be advice, and the information is not meant to replace medical or psychological treatment.

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