Ian’s April 2024 Newsletter

One of the highlights for all the participants at my Level 1 Sydney workshop on the weekend was our bush walk. The flower that was most abundant and which everyone loved was Crowea, which was in peak bloom. For just about all the forty countries to whom we export the Bush Essences, Crowea is the most popular single Essence.  She Oak, Waratah, Fringed Violet and a little surprisingly, Boronia, are also regularly among the most popular Essences. Though rarely do any of these top Crowea. Crowea has some very powerful healing qualities and is in more combinations (twelve) than any other single Essence.

I can still remember the first time I tuned in and meditated with Crowea at Terrey Hills. It was a stunning setting at a large sandstone outcrop in a very gentle, late-afternoon light. Crowea loves growing next to sandstone rocks or outcrops.  However, after half an hour with the Crowea, I had received absolutely no message or input from the plant or more relevantly, the deva of the Crowea. I was just about to leave when a flood of information came through about its healing qualities.  Surprisingly, patience wasn’t one of those qualities! Mind you, some Black-eyed Susan was growing nearby. 

One of the key words to describe this Essence‘s healing qualities is ‘balancing’. So many people reach for Crowea or a combination containing it such as Emergency, Calm and Clear etc. when they are feeling out of balance or out of sorts. The first time I took Crowea was at a Level 1 workshop that I was running at Mt Cootha botanic gardens in 1989. The staff who ran the conference centre and had the only key helped my team and I set up on the Friday night. They emphasised that under no circumstances were we to lock the door after finishing our set-up, given they couldn’t leave me their one and only key and that they wouldn't be there on the weekend. They assured me the door would be unlocked when I arrived the following morning. I did as they requested but was devastated the next morning to find that the door was locked!

After wandering around the building numerous times unsuccessfully trying to find an open window or window to prise open, I was left in a very frustrated and anxious mood. As a last resort, I clambered up onto the top of the roof of the building and to my great relief, found a skylight. However, I couldn’t prise it open and in a very typical Black-eyed Susan fashion, I gave it a good kick out of frustration and annoyance. To my surprise, the lid loosened and after another ten minutes, I was finally able to open it! However, to get into the building there was a six foot drop from the skylight into a bathroom sink, which wasn’t an appealing option. I had visions of, at the very least, breaking my leg attempting that jump. Knowing that in a few minutes fifty people would be arriving and that there was no other workshop venue possibility. I risked it and jumped down. Fortunately, I didn’t break any bones, though it did take me a few moments to compose myself. I then made my way to the front door to unlock it and at that moment the first participants arrived. I was not in a great state to start teaching! Fortunately, I had some Crowea and took a dose. I was astonished at how quickly it brought me back to a state of balance as if nothing had happened. 

Ian demonstrating Crowea with Kinesiology at last weekend's Level 1 workshop.

As well as addressing worry, Crowea also has a balancing effect on the meridians.  Meridians are energy pathways in which acupuncturists place their needles to heal a person.  One of the modalities that I use all the time when seeing patients as well as teaching is kinesiology. The first kinesiology system that I studied and became a teacher and instructor in was Touch For Health. This was developed by a brilliant American Chiropractor, John Thie, who wanted to bring kinesiology to the wider community. Previously it was solely in the domain of Chiropractors. In the late eighties and early nineties, I regularly attended and presented at the annual Touch for Health international conference, where there were hundreds of delegates from all around the world attending. One year I demonstrated how Crowea could correct all the fourteen meridians in the Touch For Health 1, 2 and 3 muscle balance. I divided the audience into three groups and within each group, each person worked with a partner doing the muscle balance on each other and noting any weaknesses. Each was given a dose of Crowea before retesting. There was amazement at how Crowea balanced the previously weak meridians in each group. In fact, it was through these San Diego conferences that I developed my initial distributors in many of the countries we now export to.

On the workshop last weekend, we were also able to find many bushes of Peach-flowered Tea-tree, though it was right at the end of the flowering season. Maybe once the Peach-flowered Tea-tree Deva realised Easter with all the associated chocolate consumption had passed, it decided it could take a well-earned rest! When in bud and initially in bloom, the Peach-flowered Tea-tree flowers are deep pink, but over time they fade to white. This changeability is a key aspect of its Doctrine of Signatures. It is for this reason that it has been added to the Woman Essence being of great benefit just before bleeding and at menopause. This Essence is also very beneficial for hypochondriacs – if you give a Peach-flowered Tea-tree constitutional type a medical dictionary for Christmas, then by New Year’s Day they are likely to believe they have at least half the illnesses known to mankind and revelling in this! They are also very likely to be overly concerned about ageing.

Another very common reason this Essence is prescribed is for people who get enthusiastic and then, for no apparent reason, lose that enthusiasm and don't follow through on their goals and projects. For the Peach-flowered Tea-tree person, once the challenge goes from what they are working on they quickly become bored and lose interest. This Essence will help develop stability, consistency, drive and commitment.

The essence I make towards the end of the season is Autumn Leaves. This is one of three companion essences, which are not made from flowers but prepared in exactly the same way. The actual leaves were collected from a sacred area, in autumn, at the exact moment of their release from the tree. The essence was made only from these leaves and it allows one to hear, see and feel communication from the other side and be open to that guidance and communication. Hence why it is a component of the transition essence which can be used to assist people when they are dying. It also emphasises the sense of letting go and moving on, in a very profound way.

Sunshine Wattle, another of the autumn flowers is for people who've had a difficult time in the past or present and who can't imagine things improving. Life for them can be seen as being grim and full of struggle. They stoically battle on even though when they look at life they usually see bleakness, hard times and disappointment continuing into the future. Sunshine Wattle helps these people to see the beauty, joy and excitement in the present and to anticipate the future with hope and optimism. The gold pollen at the end of the stamens, radiates when the sun strikes these gorgeous, perfectly circular, flower balls. The early white settlers who experienced incredible hardships were intuitive enough to build their huts from the timber of the Sunshine Wattle.

Bush Fuchsia was also in great profusion on our workshop bushwalk. You can find this in flower throughout the year, but I have noticed over the last few autumns that it is particularly spectacular during this season. This is another Essence that is a component of so many of our Combination Remedies – eight in fact. I covered this Essence in the workshop this weekend and I always need to rein myself in otherwise we could spend a whole session talking about its many healing qualities. I was very glad all the participants were able to see it in all its glory. For me it’s the key Essence in our Focus Combination. Bush Fuchsia gives clarity and focus when working, reading, studying or speaking. For the latter it gives people courage and clarity. It also balances one’s intuitive and cognitive processes.