September’s changing light creates a golden glow in the garden. Already the leaves are turning into shades of yellow, orange and red creating a natural colour palette that inspires us every time it comes around. Our annual flowers may be coming to the end of their days, but September brings her berries, coloured foliage, nuts and seeds, and reveals the bare architecture of branches and hedgerow plants which have interesting shapes and spikey, often delicate textures to explore and create unusual floral designs with.
September is the month leading us into the Equinox and the turn of the year towards Autumn. In Traditional Chinese Medicine the Autumn season relates to letting go. It is linked with the Lungs and Large Intestine, our organs of release and renew. Nature does exactly this every September, beginning to let go of her leaves while still producing her bountiful harvest of fruits, seeds, berries and more before the long rest of Winter returns.
On the Equinox, I spent a quiet day with our flowers, intuitively gathering elements to create a special ceremonial arrangement. The dogs and I had a medicine walk around the garden, taking time to really observe and feel the changes taking place in nature. We do this each seasonal turn of the year, this time reflecting on what has happened since the summer solstice, to remember and celebrate what we have achieved. It is all too easy in today’s world to plough on regardless, thinking not much has changed or happened. Taking time out to do this each quarter has taught me to work much closer with nature and her seasons (especially since we moved here, 15 years ago now), and be guided to ‘do as nature does’ – in Autumn, it is letting go of what is not needed anymore and harvesting all the good stuff. It has become a crucial part of our business year which helps to refocus, change, plan and create. Change is something we resist as humans, preferring to stay within our comfort zone. Yet change is a constant in nature. If nature resisted change as powerfully as humans do, we would be in all kinds of trouble. But she moves gracefully forwards, leaving behind the old, returning to seed potential to rest and review, before gathering energy to rise and bloom again as the year turns consistently and constantly through cycles of change.
International Essence Awareness Week ran in mid September. Organised by the British Flower and Vibrational Essence Association www.bfvea.com with nationwide articles, events and activities intended to let more people know about the power and potential of flower and vibrational essences. We joined in through our social media channels, and ran our own Flower Medicine Ways workshop to share our own take on flower essences and the spirit medicine of live flowers.
Flower essences are ancient in origin and are used by millions around the world every day for healing and well-
Flowers speak a language your soul understands. I believe our connection with the wisdom of nature is the most important ‘medicine’ we can explore in today’s disconnected and chaotic world. In a world searching for peace – and inner peace – flowers and nature show us the way.
English Garden Flower Essences to help you feel joy, freedom and the delight of being alive in these challenging times.
Bertha Bear’s Magic Mixes special blends of our essences to help children navigate their way in the world.
Spa Transformations embracing the sacred geometry of life to release deeply ingrained and limiting ancestral patterns.
Star Seed Potentials encapsulating the ancient wisdom of trees to nourish, activate and express our seed potential.
Click on the pictures below to see Shelley’s flower essences she has been producing in our garden since 2003, creating unique ranges including:
And other specialist and combination essences such as Chaos to Calm, The Essence of Golf, TravelSafe and Lighter Life.
