Flower essence therapy has two great founding traditions in the British Isles: the Bach system, developed by Dr Edward Bach in England during the 1930s, and the Findhorn Flower Essences, developed at the Findhorn Foundation community on the Moray coast of Scotland from the 1970s onwards. Both share the same basic operating principle — that flowers carry particular vibrational or energetic qualities that can be transferred to water through a careful process, and that this water, taken in small doses, can support emotional and psychological wellbeing. But beyond this shared foundation, the two systems differ in significant ways — in their history, their philosophical context, their approach to production, the range of plants they work with, and the sensibility they bring to working with the human condition.
Understanding these differences helps you make a more informed choice about which tradition might resonate more deeply with your own experience — and which essences Pat Coffey at The Honey Pot would suggest exploring first.
Dr Edward Bach (1886–1936) was a British physician — trained in orthodox medicine, qualified as a bacteriologist and homoeopath, practicing in Harley Street — who became increasingly convinced, through both his clinical observations and his inner experiences, that the root of all disease lay in disharmony between the soul and the personality, and that negative emotional states were the primary cause of physical ill-health.
Bach left his successful London practice in 1930, moved to the Welsh countryside and later to the village of Sotwell in Oxfordshire, and spent the last six years of his life developing a system of thirty-eight flower essences that he believed could address every significant negative emotional state that the human soul encounters. He worked with great urgency and intensity — he died in 1936 at the age of fifty, having completed his system to his own satisfaction just before his death.
The Bach system has several distinctive characteristics:
The Bach remedies have been in commercial production since Bach's time and are today made by Bach Original Flower Remedies (owned by Nelsons homeopathic pharmacy in the UK), using water from the St Mary's spring in Oxfordshire and plants from the same English landscapes Bach worked with. The brand is now part of A.Nelson & Co and distributed worldwide.
The Findhorn Foundation was established in 1962 by Peter Caddy, his wife Eileen Caddy and their colleague Dorothy Maclean on the Moray Firth coast of northern Scotland — initially as a caravan park garden where the three founders, guided by what they experienced as inner spiritual prompting, grew astonishingly large and healthy vegetables in poor sandy soil. The community that grew around this initial garden experiment became internationally known as a pioneer of sustainable living, spiritual development and human potential, attracting thousands of visitors and residents over the following decades.
The Findhorn Flower Essences emerged from this broader context of spiritual attunement to the natural world. The community's co-founder Dorothy Maclean had developed practices of inner communication with what she described as the "devas" or spiritual essences of plants — a practice that deeply influenced the community's relationship with the plant world and eventually with the making of essences from the rich Highland and Moray landscape surrounding them.
The Findhorn essence philosophy differs from Bach's in several important ways:
One of the most practically significant differences between the two systems is in production method. The Bach system uses both the sun (solarising) method and the boiling method; Findhorn uses solarising only.
The solarising method involves floating fresh blossoms in clean spring water in full sunlight for three to four hours, allowing the sunlight to transfer the flower's vibrational imprint to the water. The blossoms are then removed by filtering, and the mother tincture is preserved in brandy.
The boiling method (used by Bach for early-spring flowering plants including Wild Cherry, Beech, Hornbeam and others) involves placing branches with blossoms in spring water in an enamel saucepan and bringing to the boil, then simmering for thirty minutes. The resulting liquid is cooled, filtered and preserved. Critics of this method argue that heat denatures the delicate vibrational signature of the flowers; proponents argue that Bach's intuition about when each method was appropriate was sound and that both methods produce equally effective essences.
Findhorn's consistent use of the solarising method reflects a preference for minimal intervention — the gentlest possible transfer of the flower's quality to the water, using only sunlight and the flower's own nature.
Many practitioners and users work with both systems and see them as complementary rather than competing. The Bach system's well-developed, simple, accessible framework makes it an excellent entry point — particularly for those new to flower essences who want a well-documented, widely available system with clear practical guidance. The thirty-eight Bach remedies cover a vast amount of human emotional experience and are made with consistency and care.
The Findhorn essences may appeal particularly to:
Bach Original Flower Remedies are available in many pharmacies, health food stores and online — typically at around €10–12 for a 20ml stock bottle. The Findhorn Flower Essences are priced at €15.95 for a 15ml stock bottle — reflecting both the smaller batch sizes and the small, family-run character of the Findhorn production team. Neither is expensive when you consider that a single stock bottle at standard dosage will last four to six weeks.
Pat Coffey at The Honey Pot stocks the Findhorn range. For customers interested in Bach remedies, Pat can advise on those as well and help you navigate the choice between the two systems based on your specific situation.
The full Findhorn Flower Essences range is available at The Honey Pot, 14 Abbey Street, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. €15.95 per 15ml stock bottle. In-store and online at thehoneypotonline.ie with nationwide delivery.
Findhorn Flower Essences at The Honey Pot, Clonmel — Pat can help you choose
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