Bach's Mimulus

There are Mimulus flowers everywhere . . . well at least on my most recent walk through the desert. My walk took me through a canyon with a small spring fed stream. Mimulus love clear, fresh, flowing water and as far as my eye could see Mimulus lined the banks of this tender stream. It was  a winding sea of yellow through the slate grey and brown landscape of the desert wash.

Dr. Bach and Mimulus

Mimulus was the 3rd flower remedy Dr. Bach made, early on he noticed the significant healing potential of this flower. It truly is a lovely flower to behold and healing potential just radiates from the yellow flowers. 

Mimulus in the Wild

I have come across this plant many times in the wild and I was surprised to find it here in this desert climate. But, it did have the one requirement that this plant craves and needs to thrive; a constant supply of pure, clear, clean, fresh running water. There was an abundance of that available and from this the plant has colonized the entire stream bed.

Mimulus For Addressing Fears

Mimulus is a type remedy, meaning it is good for the personality type that re-coils in shyness and acts with hesitation to the small challenges of life. It is for the known fears as opposed to Aspen for fears of an unknown origin. Fear has the power to impact, influences and subjugates human emotion and behavior. Yet its place in life is greatly exaggerated and over played.

Fear is a Low Vibration

Fear vibrates at a low frequency and when it is present in our minds and hearts it just drags us down in a spiral of contraction and negativity. Most of all FEAR inhibits us and often stops us from moving forward and taking constructive action. This forces us to contract and has no place in the advancement of life. It may serve as a protective force in certain circumstances but FEAR has become all to prevalent in our day to day life and what ever protectiveness it offered at a certain point becomes counterproductive.

The Trick of FEAR
F- False
E- Evidence
A- Appearing
R- Real

The trick of fear is that it actually does not exist outside of us, it is an internal experience created in concert with the mind, imagination and emotions. Unfortunately fear cancels the love of life that is present and available if we choose to allow it. The way that mimulus exhibits its vulnerability, is that it is willing to take risks. The river where it grows is subject to FLASH FLOODS! This lovely scene before me could turn for the worse at any moment. But it must take the risk to thrive that is the profound beauty of it. It is risking being washed away for its place in the sun.

Bach's Discovery

Bach discovered that Mimulus is the perfect remedy to address the fearful concerns of daily life, the fear of worldly things such as illness, poverty, of the dark, of being alone, of accidents and so on. These are fears of a known origin which in one sense is good because they then become easier to treat and heal from. By letting go of fear we can gain more trust in the goodness of life and life can flow elegantly and nourish us, they it does for Mimulus. Always straddling the edge between safe ground and constant flow this flower can teach us about trusting the river of life. With risk taking, straddling the edge, we grow and can overcome our fears.

Flower Essences and Astrology

This piece is from the work of Stephanie Gailing. I encourage you to visit her site Planetary Apothecary for in depth accurate astrological information, be sure to sign up for her newsletter as well.

Mars the planet of action is set to go retrograde on the 23rd of January and scarlet monkeyflower can help address some of the issues that result from this. Mars will be retrograde until the 13th of April, if any time during this period you are challenged by deep unexpressed powerful emotions, consider how scarlet monkeyflower can help. Read what Stephanie has to say to learn more.

Scarlet Monkeyflower flower essence: If we have challenges expressing our anger (often the case when Mars is retrograde), we sometimes think that by just ignoring or repressing it, the feelings will go away. Yet, that’s not usually the case; rather, they just churn within until, at some moment, they either seep out or we reach a full-fledged emotional explosion. If you want help accepting and embracing feelings of anger, as well as compassionate assistance to courageously communicate how you feel, Scarlet Monkeyflower flower essence may be of great value.

To read the full post please visit Planetary Apothecary.

Mimulus aka Monkey Flower

Mimulus aka Monkey Flower Essences

Mimulus also known as Monkey Flower is family of plants common in the Western United States. During spring and summer months it can be found growing near rivers and streams as well as deserts and mountain enviroments. It is a large family that covers much ground in terms of habitat range and its flowers offer a variety of color. Monkey flowers can be yellow, red, pink, purple, orange, beige, brick as well as a combination of these colors. It is such a color diverse family that offers a wide range of benefits for treating a variety of fear related issues.

The species of Mimulus that Bach prepared an essence of prefers clear moving water. This species grows upright with leaves growing from the stem and flowers at the end of the stem. The flowers are striking bright yellow with many red spots on the throat of the flower which guide bees to the nectar inside. Over the years FES has been making essences from other varieties of Monkey flower most notably pink monkey flower, scarlet monkey flower, purple monkey flower and sticky monkey flower.

Mimulus was one of the first three remedies that Dr. Bach prepared. It is used for fear, timidity and shyness. Bach noted that the mimulus type are sensitive to their environment. They prefer quite, avoid challenges and shy away from life as they are often plagued by many small worries. This type of withdraw from challenges and giving into fears and worry stymies the growth of the soul on many levels. When using mimulus the soul and personality develop courage by facing fears and moving beyond them helping us to build the internal resources for overcoming challenges we may face in the future.

The following is a group of Monkey flowers prepared by FES out of Nevada City California.
Pink Monkey flower: This essence is for fears related to emotions and closeness. Pink Monkey flower helps one to achieve a state of emotional honesty; it is useful when feelings of guilt, unworthiness and shame lead one to hide themselves from others. It encourages emotional honesty and emotional risk taking helping one to remain emotionally open.

Purple Monkey flower: This essence treats fears related to spiritual experiences; it helps to build trust in ones spiritual experience. It helps one to learn to trust spiritual guidance and fosters clarity during spiritual or psychic experiences.

Scarlet Monkey flower: This essence is for those who repress deep strong emotions for fear that the power of these emotions will over take them and they will be consumed by the ’shadow’. Scarlet Monkey flower helps one come to grips with their shadow side, helping to integrate the trans-formative power of deep feelings.

Sticky Monkey flower: This essence treats fears around sexuality and intimacy. Sticky Monkey flower helps with repressed sexual feelings as well as bringing warmth to the experience of human sexuality. This essence helps one to integrate warmth in relationships and sexual expression.

Coming across Monkey flowers in the wild is such a fun feeling because they are so distinct in their coloration and there is such a variety of them. On June 6th 2008, I came upon a variety of yellow mimulus with a large red spot on the front lip of the yellow flower. On March 9th 2009 I came upon Bigelow Monkey flower a striking pink, purple, yellow variety that grows in the desert regions of Southern California.

I have prepared an essence of each of these varieties and look forward to doing more research with them over the coming years. So far they show promise with 1.) coming into healthy contact with anger and expressing it and 2.) treating fear of rejection. As I discover more about these two essences I will be sharing them with you on this blog. If you are interested in trying them as research essences please e-mail me and I will be happy to send them to you.