Title: Centaury for Virgo, Rock Rose for Pisces

Sub-Title: More than 400 Flower Essences for your Zodiac Path – The Complete Home Reference

Author: Debbie Sellwood

Publisher: Polair Publishing (www.polairpublishing.co.uk)

ISBN: 978-1-905398-13-3

Genre: Self-Help / Health / Mind/ Body/ Spirit

Presentation: Soft cover

I received this book for review nearly 6 months ago and it was not getting read due to various reasons. When I took it up recently, I found it interesting because of its connection to astrology and health. Having a little knowledge of astrology and numerology and having a fairly good knowledge of Bach Flower Remedies / Essences, I read the book with interest.

I found Debbie’s approach to astrology quite good and she has brought out the characteristics of people born under different sun signs quite well. In practice, one’s character and mental / physical health are governed by many more factors including moon’s position in the natal horoscope, the effect of various aspects and transits etc. So, while the classification of the flower essences into the 12 zodiacal signs is OK, a personal horoscope should be cast and read to get a more accurate picture. That may also give a good indication of the right healing system to be used at a given time.

I am familiar with Bach Flower Essences and found Debbie’s recommendations quite in tune with Bach’s own teachings. Dr. Edward Bach did not suggest combining his flower remedies or selecting them based on astrology, numerology, palmistry or any other occult sciences. He stressed on helping the patient select his or her own remedy or combination and emphasized the simplicity of his system so that if needed, the patient could select the remedy.

He also declared that his system of treatment based on the 38 flower essences and Rescue Remedy is self sufficient and covers all mental states. But many others mystics developed their own plant, flower, gem, crystal and animal essences. A similar trend is seen in Reiki where hundreds of variations of Reiki have been developed. It is like art where simple line drawings have given way to complex combinations of colors.

By including a large variety of nearly 400 essences (the words remedy and essence are used interchangeably), the author has no doubt opened a good resource to those adventurous enough and willing to explore new vistas. However, self-treatment (which was the aim of Dr. Bach) becomes very difficult for a lay person in such a scenario. Even a practitioner would find it difficult to select the most appropriate Essence from that variety and one problem would be that the client would end up with a cupboard full of essences!

The index of emotions given at the end of the book should hopefully guide the patient and the practitioner better!

If you are comfortable with the extra variety (the book covers more than 400 essences), this book would definitely be a good addition to your personal library.

The reviewer is a holistic / spiritual healer with exposure to astrology, numerology, homeopathy, tissue remedies, Bach Flowers, Reiki etc.