During the Italian Renaissance, artists were particularly interested in botany. They used plants as symbols in their paintings and often scattered plants throughout their canvas to reveal historical significance. For instance, Leonardo Da Vinci painted the infant Jesus holding a flower from the Genus Crucifer to foreshadow his future crucifixion. I didn't come up with this stuff myself! Julian Barnard reveals this information in his book, Bach Flower Remedies: Form & Function. Barnard also writes that when Da Vinci sketched Star of Bethlehem he didn't draw it as it actually looks. Instead, he drew the leaves as wild swirling lines. This was unusual because Da Vinci usually painted very accurate depictions. Barnard suggests Da Vinci might have been revealing the inner character of the plant through his sketch; a combination of static perfectly symmetrical flowers with swirling life force movement. Hmm...
Star of Bethlehem brings balance and calm to people that are caught up in a whirlwind tornado of life trauma and drama. The essence of the plant at the core is a delicate, pure white flower that opens only on warm clear sunny days. This part of the plant is compared to the inner soul or your inner knowing. Surrounding this pure, white, six-petaled, geometrically perfect flower, is a swirling mass of green leaves with white stripes. The leaves often disappear by the time the flower appears.
So the Star of Bethlehem plant seems to speak to that disconnect we sometimes feel between our inner selves, our souls, our peaceful perfect core, and all the swirling mass of materialism, activity, angst and distraction that can be "life in general".
In my opinion, society as a whole consciousness is waking up more to that inner being. People are reconnecting with soul purpose, with what they really believe, feel, and consider important in life. Society is starting to see the facade of organizations and structures that surround us in a swirling mass of activity, drama and sometimes, trauma. We see how our lives are often caught up in the race to achieve, gather, and surround ourselves with things that really don't touch how we feel.
That kind of inner connection and knowledge can be very inspiring. It can also be a bit painful if you have this sense of a "greater self", a "grand plan", and inner knowledge that isn't quite a fit for your day to day activity. Life is changing, priorities are shifting, and we are feeling the fire of change. Past patterns and structures are breaking down or changing and we're establishing a new order to life experiences. But that kind of change can be quite a shock to the system. Sometimes that shock of change is experienced as grief and distress.
Star of Bethlehem is one of the few essences that is prepared by the boiling method. That seems particularly shocking for such a delegate fragile, pure flower. Other essences like Holly, Elm or Red Chestnut seem more natural for this process. They seem hardy, tough, even prickly, so it makes sense that boiling would be needed to draw their powers out. But the boiling method speaks to real transformation powers and that's what Star of Bethlehem is about. This is an essence that breaks the patterns and reforms. It is not for a gentle condition. It is about a real change in state, a new way of being, a new order to your being.
We need to get reconnected with our inner, pure core. It's from within that we find power and peace in perfect balance. And when we find that inner strength, the swirling nature of day to day events and the drama tornadoes will just wither away and no longer be prominent. We won't hide behind or inside that mass of green leaves. We will stand in pure geometrically perfect alignment with our soul.
Dr. Bach said Star of Bethlehem was "the comforter and soother of pains and sorrows". I don't think there can be any greater pain or sorrow than a disconnection between your true self, your inner core and your outer manifestation. When you realize there is a difference between who you know you can be and the role you are playing, the pain is great and sometimes shocking. Some people never realize that difference and therefore never get the chance to transform and become the best they can be. But if you're in the process of great transformation, a few drops of Star of Bethlehem may provide huge comfort as you find the balance.
Here's to the power of transformation and the peace found within.
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