Bailey Flower Essences are very dilute extracts made from plants, usually the flowers. Their high dilution means that they are totally non-toxic and can safely be given to small children. The initial inspiration for the Bailey essences was the work of Dr Bach, but they are not produced in quite the same way. They are usually made by floating the flowers in a bowl of spring water in full sunlight for several hours (Sun method). This "Mother Tincture" is then diluted in an alcohol preservative to make the bottled essences. Dr Bach's boiling method has been replaced with alcohol extraction, which gives a more rounded quality to the essences. In this case, the essences are floated in alcohol for 15 minutes (apart from Pine Cones which are left for several hours). For one essence, Cymbidium Orchid, we use moonlight in a similar way to the sun method. Another essence, Giant Bellflower is made by preparing the flower by the sun method, and the seed head separately by floating it in vodka in the sun for the same length of time as the sun essence. These two Mother Tinctures are then mixed together to make the Mother Tincture for the Giant Bellflower essence. Originally the Bach methods of dilution were used. However, after some checks by dowsing, it was discovered that greater potency could be obtained by a different procedure. Instead of diluting straight from the original "mother tincture" to the stock bottles, a two-stage dilution was evolved. This has proved to be beneficial in giving greater potency to the finished stock essences. It appears that some potency is lost if too great a dilution is achieved in a single stage. The reasons for this are not clear, but it may be related to the way that water "inherits" the information from the original herbal extract. The two-stage dilution corresponds approximately to a 100:1 dilution for each stage. That is an approximate 10,000:1 dilution from mother tincture to stock bottle. The first dilution from mother tincture we term our "daughter" tincture. The second stage of dilution is the finished stock bottle. All the essences are hand-made by our family using pure spring water and vodka as the base. We use vodka rather than brandy, as we feel that vodka is a more pure alcohol. We feel very strongly that the quality of all flower essences are greatly influenced by the care taken at all stages of their preparation. In the production of the essences it is our aim to honour the inherent healing potential of the flowers to the greatest possible degree. All the essences are standardised by dowsing methods during preparation so that all batches of stock essences have the same potency. In the A - Z list of Essences, those made by alcohol extraction are marked with an (A), the Moon method is marked with an (M) after the botanical name. The rest are prepared by the Sun method. Not all the essences are made from flowers. A few are produced from the fruit or the leaves of a plant. These are indicated on the A - Z list of Essences by the initial (F) for fruit or (L) for leaf after the botanical name of the plant. (P) indicates that the whole plant is used, e.g. Moss. The alcoholic extract of Bracken is an exception. This essence is prepared from the bracken fronds immediately after they have been used in the preparation of Aqueous Bracken extract by the Sun method. IMPORTANT NOTICE These essences are not medicines as the word is normally understood. They are not intended to cure or alleviate any medical condition. Their mode of operation is to help to rebalance the mind-body-spirit unity of the person taking them. However, physical health and symptoms are related to the internal harmony within the being, so improvements in clinical conditions may well be experienced. They are catalysts for change, not medicines that impose their effects on the body. Because of this, their action will vary widely from person to person depending on the individual circumstances.
			Bailey Flower Essences 7 Nelson Road, Ilkley, West Yorkshire LS29 8HN, United Kingdom +44 (0)1943 432012   +44 (0)1943 432011   office@baileyessences.com Copyright © Bailey Flower Essences (2003 - 2008). All rights reserved.