©2000 By Joyce Mason

Flower essences and dreamwork are a match made in heaven--with the Sandman as matchmaker. These tools in tandem can more than double your ability to process emotional material--better yet, to do it offline while you sleep. There are two broad categories of essences to consider: (1) Those known to catalyze or impact dreams in and of themselves, and (2) Any essence or combination that impacts the quality and/or quantity of your dream life.

Yes, any essence or combination of them has the potential to influence your dreams. Dreams are the litmus test--the pH of our lives--and when changes occur, even the subtle kind flower essences often catalyze a drop at a time--those changes are often reflected first in our subconscious night movies. Our dreams record them like a VCR left on all night. This first article in a series of two will focus on how people's dreams are affected when they take essences.

Dreams are a psychological necessity, and you dream whether you remember it or not. Lab experiments prove that people deprived of their dreams for extended periods of time begin to show signs of mental distress--even psychosis--if it goes on long enough.

Take that to the other extreme: cultivate your dreams for their maximum inner growth work potential, and you've got really got it together! You'll realize your dreams of another kind.

Dreams are become one of the first places to look for evidence of the effects of the flower essences you are taking. You'll find their work woven tightly into your night dramas. For those whose dream life is active, a new remedy sometimes sets off a round of problem-solving dreams, often quite vivid in nature and carried into the waking state. Here are a couple of examples which a colleague shared with me from her psychotherapy and essence practice:

EXAMPLE ONE: A highly professional new age consultant had allowed a very provocative and manipulative client to get to her, and after trying in various ways to set boundaries, had finally lost her temper with the woman. She felt terrible later, but was also still angry. A few days later, she realized that the next evening, the woman would be at the same meeting she was going to attend, and it would be quite uncomfortable to see her again. She made herself a remedy mixture containing remedies for indignation (e.g., Vervain and Willow by Bach) and for forgiveness (Salal by Pacific Essences and Mountain Wormwood by Alaskan Flower Essence Project.)

She took the mix several times that day and worked intensely on forgiving the woman and also forgiving herself for the unprofessional behavior and was pleased to make considerable progress in letting go of the incident. Her sleep that night was quite disturbed. A variety of people, living and dead, marched through her dream. She had been estranged from all of them. In essence, they were saying, "We hear you're having a special on forgiveness. Can we get in on that?" And, lo and behold, as she continued to take the mixture, she did indeed find herself forgiving.

EXAMPLE TWO: A client was undergoing healing work around the issue of self-esteem and had worked her way through many remedies related to this issue, but improvement was quite slow. Her healer then suggested a dosage bottle of FES essence Hyssop as a single remedy, thought to have to do with relieving guilt over a major transgression.

At the next session, the client reported that she had been having bad dreams about someone she had all but forgotten, someone to whom she had inadvertently but thoughtlessly done very serious harm. The session focused on the past incident, which the client had never told anyone about because she had been so ashamed. Telling it helped her to be free of the burden of guilt. As she continued to take Hyssop, she came to forgive herself for the harm done, and her self-worth improved.

Not only do flower essences start working in our dreams, but I have found that dreams can also hint at which essences to take. This can be very subtle and may take close familiarity with your personal dream symbols. Also, dream symbols and waking life may blend together seamlessly to co-present the clue about the remedy.

For example, as an astrologer, my dreams often overflow with starry symbolism. In early June, I wrote a dream in my journal. I was in England--to my horror, driving on the wrong side of the road! Fortunately, there was not a lot of traffic, and I made a wrong turn. Instead of turning right and ending up on a main drag, I went straight and cruised to a stop where the pavement ended at an oceanside beach.

Only that morning before the dream, I had come across an astrology chart a colleague had done for me, relocated to London. (Relocation charts are a technique showing how you will fare in a particular locale.) In the thoughts I always jot down after recording my dreams, I remarked that I knew Saturn was on my relocated Ascendant for London.

In the area of the world where Saturn falls on your Ascendant, you can expect health challenges, seriousness, hard work, and a myriad of other unwanted outcomes unless you consciously choose Saturn's upside--wisdom, practicality, and getting grounded. So by referring to London, the dream was subtly drawing my attention to a Saturn on the Ascendant undercurrent in my present day existence. I referred to my birth chart and, no surprise, in its current position in the heavens Saturn was crossing my natal Ascendant. This dreamy reminder to avoid overwork and to be practical and grounded in my choices was much needed for me.

Later that day when I dowsed for essences, I laughed out loud when I got Desert Alchemy's Saturn Cycles, one of their many astrologically-based essences. Although I was very frightened within the dream, the happy ending even spelled out a resolution in astrological symbols. The pavement (ruled by Saturn) ended at the sea (a soothing liquid).

Whether they are a report card on your progress with the remedies or a reference for appropriate selection, you can hardly go wrong if you follow your dreams!

EDITOR'S NOTES: In a subsequent issue, Dream Catchers, Part Two of Joyce's series on dreams, will focus on specific remedies to help you enhance your own dreamwork. For information on Inner Growth Work, Joyce's practice including dreamwork, essences, astrology and other methods, see her Frequent Contributor Page, which also contains links to Joyce's other articles in Vibration.

ART CREDITS: This surreal background is part of a collection at West of the Moon. The spider web tile is from Absolute Graphics at About.com. The animated spider is from Clip Art Connection. Big Ben is from Cool Archive. The Saturn drawing is from a clip art collection on astronomy at Maroon.

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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