Sweet Chestnut-a Remedy for our Darkest Hours–Guest Blogger Connie Barrett

(c)2004 By Connie Barrett

A  Note from Donna:  From time to time, Skywriter will feature guest bloggers with articles on healing tools to help us through these tough times.  Connie Barret is an excellent and seasoned healer, a frequent contributor to Vibration, the flower essence ezine linked here under useful sites. This is reprinted with her permission from one of her Vibration articles.   If you’re not familiar with the essences, download the introductory chapter from my essence book  at flower essence information-ch1 and read the instructions for how to use them.  Here’s what Connie says:

Sweet Chestnut is one of the Bach Flower Remedies, available at many health food stores and New Age bookstores. It helps us when we are in extreme anguish, feeling that we’ve has reached the limits of our endurance. It teaches use to believe that change is possible, to trust ourselves and the benevolence of the universe. The Sweet Chestnut State of Mind

In the Sweet Chestnut condition there is often a sense of tumult and chaos; it is as if the interior emotional landscape is the scene of a hurricane or tornado. The individual feels despair and anguish, and the sense that the circumstances of life have become intolerable. Another element of this despair is a feeling of total isolation. There’s no sense, however distant, that help is on the way, and all sense of guidance is absent. People feel a sense of hopelessness. The ability to take comfort from memories of the past or in hopes for the future disappears; there is only the impossible present.

This condition, which is usually temporary, often represents the surfacing of awareness. A woman who has endured beatings by her husband for months or years may one day wake up and realize the horror of her situation. Someone who has denied the expression of a creative gift or stayed too long at a stifling job they hated may also have a sudden awakening.  Sometimes the destructive relationship is with oneself. One may have harmful mental or physical habits, negative and damaging thought patterns, which are creating anguish.

Ultimately, though, the cause of this level of hopelessness is a complete sense of loss of guidance. Usually, the severance has been developing for years. On the surface, the person who experiences this kind of despair might be one who always said, “I don’t believe in God, I don’t believe in faith, I don’t believe in the soul. There’s only me, and I have to get through life as best I can.”  Such a person may get along as long as nothing traumatic happens, but if disaster strikes, throwing him back on his own resources, he discovers how limited they are. Since he has designed his belief system to eliminate the possibility of inner guidance, he literally has nowhere to turn.

 For this reason, such deep despair is often a turning point. Sweet Chestnut can be the state that comes to people just prior to the initiation of a period of spiritual development. The anguish of this state often leads one to ask, “Why is this happening?” “What is the meaning of my life?” Many searching questions may be asked, many illusions stripped away.

 The Sweet Chestnut state can be less painful if one focuses on the potential for transformation. We might think of the person who’s experiencing it as being similar to the butterfly just about to burst out of its cocoon. All is dark inside; there is no place to turn. When the protective illusion of beliefs about oneself and one’s life are torn asunder, the individual can discover the spaciousness of a new life.

                                                                                                                              The Dawn

In my experience, Sweet Chestnut can also be used effectively on a preventive basis. When you feel the tumult of change beginning to swirl around you, when you begin to feel as if you can’t go on with your present life, when you are experiencing the longing for a new one, these are all excellent times to take this flower remedy.

 This is particularly true when you are aware of your fears and resistance, when you are conscious that a part of you is resisting transformation with all its might. Then Sweet Chestnut helps to lead you gently out of the darkness and into the dawn of a new self.

WANT PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF THAT THE ESSENCES WORK?  See http://www.floweressencemagazine.com/blog/?p=979   by Deborah Bier, PhD These photos of an experiment conducted by Deborah and her students were lost for several years. They show clearly the positive effect an essence mixture has on germinating and growing plants. These photos have never been published anywhere before!

Note: for more information about flower essences and how to use them, visit Connie’s collection of articles at http://www.rainbowcrystal.com/bach/bach.html

ABOUT CONNIE BARRET:  Long one of Vibration Magazine’s most valued contributors, Connie Barrett does flower essence counseling for people and pets, including by email. Her website is at http://www.eftconsultations.com. She also teaches by email a course on the chakras, on prosperity, and on love, including the use of crystals and essences for realizing your dreams. She writes and publishes two free monthly email newsletters. Email her at rainbow@rainbowcrystal.com.