Flower Essence Formulas for the Threshold of Dying: Compassionate Care Giver and Peace-Full Passage by Patricia Kaminski
I find that patients who have severe pain refractory to high doses of narcotics are often dealing with underlying emotional and/or spiritual issues that are manifesting as intense physical pain. Receiving the essences seems to bring those issues to the surface so that they can be dealt with more effectively and completely. This allows me, as a physician, to get to the source of the discomfort, rather than simply over-medicating my patients in a futile attempt to make their pain go away. — Dr. Kelly Warshel, Windber Hospice, Windber, PA
I am inspired to express my sincere gratitude to each of you for all the many ways you nourished my relationship with Windber Hospice and Hospice of The Twin Cities from day one, making these formulas possible. It has been a tremendous honor and blessing to have been part of that creative process, and I am forever grateful to you. — Jane Ellen, Talent, OR
Flower Essence Formulas for the Threshold of Dying Compassionate Care Giver and Peace-Full Passage Overview During many decades of the Flower Essence Society’s therapeutic outreach and research with our worldwide network of practitioners, we have been especially mindful of the enormous benefit of flower essences in helping at the threshold of departure from earthly life. This healing is not only highly beneficial for the one who is dying, but also for the circle of loved ones and professional caregivers who are challenged to deal with their own overwhelm and grief during this liminal time. We particularly wish to recognize Jane Ellen of Blossom, Embody Your Essence (http://www.janeellenblossom.com/about_contact. html) for her pioneering research, networking and devotion to the use of flower essences for the dying process. Jane collaborated with many other practitioners, especially Dr. Kelly Warshel of Windber Hospice (https://www.windbercare.org/physicians/kelly-warshel-md/). Their invaluable research and clinical observations led to the development of two foundational flower formulas: Compassionate Care Giver and Peace-Full Passage. These formulas have circulated around the world with further feedback. Based upon this ongoing research, each formula has been further revised to address the fullest possible spectrum of core issues presented during the threshold process. The following pages provide a brief survey of each formula.
Compassionate Care Giver
Compassionate Care Giver Healing Through the Heart’s Chalice Primary Qualities and Indications for Caregivers and Family of the Dying * Facilitates awareness of compassionate presence as one helps provide practical care and emotional support during the death journey * Helps to maintain a steady flow of energetic forces despite the heart stress and physical demands of care giving for one who is dying * Encourages the balanced shifting of awareness to the one in need, while maintaining a healthy physical and psychic center * Opens the heart to another’s suffering, while at the same time cultivating the necessary strength and solidity of one’s own heart forces * Assists in developing witness consciousness as a balance to the heroic consciousness of being able to fix and save another; leads to realization and acceptance of death as a sacred life passage
The Compassionate Care Giver formula contains a synergistic blend of the following flower essences and essential oils:
Angelica – Acknowledgment of and receptivity for higher realms beyond physical reality; facilitating the understanding of death as a spiritual opening
Bleeding Heart – Ability to let go of the physical reality of a loved one, allowing the heart bonds of love and devotion to find a new anchor; ability of the heart to stay present to the dying process despite personal anguish and attachment
Borage – Assists with states of grief and despondency regarding the impending death of a loved one; helps lift and balance depressed states of sorrow and anguish so that one can be positively present to give care and to serve
Calendula – The ability to hold a receptive space of compassionate listening and receiving; provides balance for the heroic tendency of needing to fix and save
Holly – Core activation of the heart; compassionate presence for the suffering of another; counteracts compression of heart forces due to stress, anxiety or fear; ability to know when and how to help another
Impatiens – Allowing the unfolding and flow of another’s final life journey; patient attendance to the practical and spiritual needs of another in the dying process
I very much like the Compassionate Care Giver and Peace-Full Passage Formulas. I used the Peace-Full Passage for my mother when she was dying, and for myself Compassionate Care Giver. It also then helped me to deal with grief. — M.T., Aptos, CA
Love-Lies-Bleeding – The serenity of surrender, acceptance of the reality of dying including the pain and suffering of another; allowing the heart to feel grief and letting go, despite anguish and attachment
Pink Yarrow – Addresses dysfunctional merging; sympathetic bonds that go beyond appropriate boundaries; ability to feel compassion and to serve another in the dying process from a solid core of strength within one’s Self
Rock Fringe – Depletion and burnout due to the intense needs of one who is dying; learning how to direct and consolidate one’s heart forces to allow replenishment despite overwhelming demands
Walnut – Strength to move forward and release dysfunctional bonds or familiar habits; acceptance of another’s transition during the dying process
Yellow Star Tulip – The ability to move fluidly and gracefully into the soul space of another; empathic attunement by developing an imaginal inner space for the reality of the other; compassionate presence through moving beyond the narrow bounds of one’s own identity and reality Essential oils provide a sensory foundation that anchors the qualities of the flower essences. The Compassionate Care Giver formula includes Angelica and Helichrysum to lift the consciousness and allow a higher light-filled awareness; Rose Attar to open the portals of love and compassion in the heart and Lavender to soothe frayed nerves during times of stress and anguish. Healers are often overwhelmed with client crises. The Compassionate Care Giver brings instant relief. This formula imparts a necessary boundary from the despair and extreme suffering of the one who needs help. It facilitates the return to neutrality, along with clarity of thought and appropriate emotional boundaries. This fresh point of perspective allows for inner renewal and continued trust for the healing process, no matter how intense. — Anna-Maria Pierce, practitioner/educator Nevada City, CA
Peace-Full Passage
Peace-Full Passage Embracing Body-Soul Transcendence Primary Qualities and Indications for Those Facing the Threshold of Death * Soul centering and inner peace during a time of dissolution and departure * Moving beyond the primordial fear of death by learning to identify a transcendent spiritual reality within the soul * Accepting the broken-heartedness and grief of the dying process by learning to embrace new levels of heart connection and awareness * Balancing seemingly opposite qualities of strength and surrender; finding the courage to endure challenges to the physical body while learning how to let go
The Peace-Full Passage formula includes a synergistic blend of the following flower essences and essential oils: Alpine Aster – Supports body-free consciousness; freeing the spiritual body from the physical body by addressing the primordial fear of death; helps one to realize that spiritual identity transcends the physical body
Angelica – Encourages opening to the reality of trans-physical realms, especially the presence of one’s higher Guardian or Guiding Angel; relieves the existential loneliness and isolation experienced during the dying process Angel’s Trumpet & Pink Angel’s Trumpet– Supports spiritual passage; helps the soul to transition into the reality of being born into the spiritual world, even while dying in the physical body; the Pink Angel’s Trumpet especially helps the heart to unite with the loving embrace of higher worlds
Aspen – Helps to ease the fear of the unknown and unseen; especially addresses cultural superstitions or religious dogmas that may create apprehension in the mind of one who is dying
Bird’s Eye Gilia – The soul consciousness of being seen and understood by the spiritual world, especially during times of loneliness, stress or uncertainty; a balm for one plagued with doubt or the feeling of unworthiness; when the reality of spiritual communion feels remote or unavailable Bleeding Heart – Soothing feelings of brokenheartedness; helping to transform states of grief and anguish when current bonds of affection and connection are being severed; ability of the heart to move beyond its current form of relationship and find new forms of expression; ability to say I Love You while also saying I Leave You California Wild Rose – Helping the heart to anchor courage; claiming the fierce fire of the heart even as the physical reality of the Self is disrupted; death as an initiation of the Heart into transcendent love
A friend’s mother had been in hospice, struggled through pain, and had not spoken in years. We put the Compassionate Care Giver and Peace-Full Passage formulas on her feet and within minutes, her breathing changed and her whole body visibly relaxed. To everyone’s amazement, she slowly turned her head and quietly said ‘thank you.’ These were the first words she’d spoken in years. I felt the formulas not only brought her ease but helped her during the transition before passing. — Jane Hobing, RN, South Bend, Indiana
Let it not be a death but completeness. Let love melt into memory and pain into songs… I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way. Rabindranath Tagore
Chrysanthemum – Ability to shift awareness from the temporal personality to the enduring presence of the Higher Self; fear of death and mortality because one believes that the finality of one’s temporal body and identity is the end of the Self
Forget-Me-Not – Builds the spacious expansion of the heart so that it can move beyond its current boundaries of space and time; awareness that “death ends a life but not a relationship” (Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom); stimulates the energetic field of the heart to expand beyond the reality of the third dimension through the numinous force of love Love-Lies-Bleeding – Ability to accept pain, suffering and dissolution as part of the dying process; Letting Go and Letting God; surrender as a spiritual process of giving one’s Self over to a further destiny
We used Peace-Full Passage and Five-Flower Formula with a patient who was dealing with lung cancer and anxiety. We used the formulas topically on the wrists. The patient was more relaxed, more accepting of the circumstances, calm, had less agitation, and experienced a peaceful death transition. — Cassandra Hostetter, RN, hospice nurse
Penstemon – Courage to accept and endure the bodily challenges of the dying process; ability to fully use the physical forces of the body at each stage of the dying process despite hardship; counteracts the tendency to self-pity or the feeling of helplessness
Splendid Mariposa Lily – Shifting the awareness of death to the awaiting reality of Spiritual Birth; supports awareness of the Divine Mother; feeling of being surrounded by a mantle of maternal warmth and love; addresses feelings of abandonment and fear that may light up if birth and early childhood were traumatic
Walnut – Builds new forces for transition; breaks attachment to past realities so that one is free to move forward to new possibilities and opportunities in the Soul’s Life; metamorphic strength of the soul to move to a new transphysical identity
Essential oils: The following essential oils bring additional depth and structure for the vibrational qualities of the flower essences in the Peace-Full Passage Formula: Angelica helps to build a bridge to Higher Self Awareness, Rose Attar assists the heart in creating new forces of love and strength, Chamomile, Lavender and Sandalwood provide soothing and centering attributes to quell and calm the intensity of the transition process.
I gaze into the Darkness In it arises Light Living Light Who is this Light in the Darkness ? It is I myself in my reality This reality of the I Enters not into earthly life I am but a picture of it But I shall find it again When with good will for the Spirit I shall have passed through the Gate of Death. Rudolf Steiner
How to use the Spray Formulas FES flower essence spray formulas are blends of flower essences made from organically grown or ethically wild-harvested flowers, preserved in a base of organic grape alcohol, with a touch of food-grade organic essential oils. Formulated for Direct Use — These formulas are conveniently packaged with spray tops, ready for direct application. The standard application is one or two sprays in the mouth, four times daily inbetween meals or before eating. For emergency or intense episodes, take more frequently until the condition has stabilized. When to Use — The two most important times for application are the transitions upon awakening, and just before sleeping. Many find it helpful to keep a bottle of the formula on the night stand for this purpose, along with another bottle that is carried in the purse or briefcase, or kept at the place of work. Topical Application — The spray-top formulas allow topical applications to be effortless and sanitary. One of the most effective applications is on the pulse point inside the wrist. Spray and then lightly rub in the mixture; then apply gentle pressure for a minute or so while breathing deeply. Topical Application with Cream — These formulas are compatible with Self-Heal Creme, or you can use any other carrier cream that is suitable. Apply one or two sprays per ounce of cream and then stir in each direction. General Misting – The formulas can also be very effective when lightly misted around the whole body, the head and surrounding body space. Be sure to close eyes and remove glasses before doing so. This method is a special favorite for many children.
For more information on these and other products, please visit www.fesflowers.com. Text by Patricia Kaminski, © FES. Permission required for re-use.
Spray on pulse point and lightly rub in the mixture; then apply gentle pressure for a minute or so while breathing deeply
Be sure to close eyes and remove glasses before misting around the face and head
Dear death is a doorway From night into light, From weight to the height, From search into sight ~ A heart-guarded archway From earth to new birth. Arvia MacKaye Ege
Flower Essence Services PO Box 1769 Nevada City, CA 95959 USA tel: 800-548-0075 +1-530-265-0258 info@fesflowers.com www.fesflowers.com Cover art by Lee Lawson © 2020 “The River” www.LeeLawson.com All rights reserved. Used by permission.