Flower essences
Flower essences 101 –
how they help heal our animals
by Sharon Callahan

Lily, a little dachshund from Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, had already been through two courses of antibiotics for a urinary tract infection when she was adopted by Estelle Gartenlaub. “I took her home to give her some extra TLC, yet the infection persisted,” says Estelle. “Sharon Callahan suggested trying a combination of flower essences.” Estelle asked Best Friends veterinarian Dr. Allen whether he thought this approach would harm or help. “‘It certainly can’t do any harm,’ he told me, ‘and you never know what Mother Nature has up her sleeve.’”

He was right. After a week, Lily had totally recovered and has never had a recurrence. When Estelle asked Dr. Allen how flower essences work, he told her, “It’s actually the same principle as how most drugs were originally made. With drugs, you start off with the plant itself and then extract the specific chemical that seems to provide the cure or relief. In the case of flower essences, the principle is that you’re extracting an energy, an intangible essence.”

Over 30 years ago, a two-year-old elephant named Barbara was captured and taken from her home in the wilds of Southeast Asia. Shipped to America, she spent over a decade traveling in circuses. At 14, she was retired to a breeding facility where she became depressed and emaciated. In 1996, Barbara’s plight came to the attention of Carol Buckley, who relocated her to The Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tennessee. Barbara was started on a series of flower essences as part of her healing program. After the first series, selected to help her release deep grief and hopelessness, Carol reported that Barbara was “effervescent” and “had a twinkle in her eye almost all the time.” After the second round of essences, Barbara became openly receptive to another resident elephant named Jenny, and developed a friendship with one of the sanctuary dogs. She also began to relax and let Carol touch her all over.

As far as anyone knew, Barbara had never “spoken” as healthy elephants do. It was thought her larynx had been damaged during her capture. But one day, she began to purr and rumble, and later surprised everyone by trumpeting! It seemed she had been silenced all those years by grief. Carol said that Barbara’s progress was “phenomenal.” She became a perfect example of how, with the power of love and the power of flowers, we can rise above the most tragic circumstances.

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Published in the August/September 2005 issue of Animal Wellness