Have you found yourself in the new pandemic now sometimes longing for the past? Those carefree pre-Corona days when we mixed with others as often as we wanted, devoid of caution? I catch myself in this mode now and again and it reminds me of the Bach flower remedy Honeysuckle. People who need Honeysuckle live in the past - when things seemed better. In a true Honeysuckle state, people can become melancholy with remorse, longing for the past that no longer is. This hinders being present in one’s life now.

But couldn’t we all do with a bit of escapism, a bit of wonder and MAGIC in the pandemic now that we are still having to navigate? Another Bach flower remedy that I think of when we find it difficult to live in the present is Clematis. In this state, we are either living in an imagined future or withdrawing into a world of our own, therefore also finding it difficult to relate to present circumstances and people in the now.

There is a special upside to the Clematis state: living in one‘s own world can also mean that someone is highly creative. In this context, I think of my colleague Inga Berkensträter who has created a series of wonderful Happy Fellows, each figure a delightful representation of the various states of the Bach flower remedies. They are available as postcards. Cicely Mary Barker is well known for her delightful paintings of flower fairies: magical elves incorporating the spirit of flowers and trees. On the right, the clematis flower fairy.

In my new and upcoming webinar about recognising the flowers and plants used to make our 'magical' remedies I will be including pictures of Barker‘s flower fairies. They have enchanted me since I was 7 years old when my dad gave me her book Flower Fairies of the Wayside (which I still have, a bit tattered, but much loved). Further details here if you are interested in joining an international group of flower remedy fans online on 19th & 26th September.

Something else to share: a few weeks ago I became a grandmother. Everything went well and mum and baby are doing fine. The baby is, of course, the most beautiful in the whole wide world, but then - isn‘t every newborn that? New life is a never-ending wonder: a tiny new baby is simply… magic.