Customer Reviews

The Alchemy of the Desert : a Comprehensive Guide Desert Flower Essences for Professional & Self-Help Use

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I was first introduced to the flower essences of this book when I attended a meeting where the author was presenting her work. Not only did I walk away with a bag full of essences to start my own personal practice, but more importantly, with a sense of peace and gentle harmony with desert nature that Cynthia Athina Kemp Scherer not only teaches, but lives.

Her book starts off with a brief, but potent, history of her own background and how she began making desert essences in the first place. The bulk of the book focuses on all the individual essences, including composite formulas as well as ones she is currently researching (seems essence producers research them for YEARS, before pulling them out of that category!) At the beginning of each essence, she lists the "Harmonizing Qualities" and "Patterns of Imbalance" she's found to be associated with that particular flower. At the end of each entry, she lists several statements under the heading, "Indicated When:" For example, under "Desert Holly", it is indicated when: "I am afraid I will appear to be unloving. I feel obligated to love a certain person. I want to love more fully and freely. I feel blockages in my heart and am trying to work at removing them." She also lists if it is a component of a composite formula as well.

One section I found particularly helpful was the Cross Reference. Here she lists various "states of harmony and disharmony" then corresponds each to the flower essence(s) that would be most helpful for either enhancing or dissipating that quality.

Needless to say, my copy is already looking quite dog-eared and worn (after only 2 weeks!) But I wouldn't have it any other way. If you feel drawn to flower essences and especially to the incredible survival power and wonderfully adaptive nature of the not-so-dead desert arena, this book is a MUST-HAVE. Highly recommended.

Flower essences have always been fascinating to me. So when I found a book that talked about essences from the desert I lived in, I had to get it. It's got a lot of cool info!