Aspen - You feel anxious but can't say why....

Aspen is another of the remedies i find easy to remember - i don't know why perhaps its because i can relate to the feeling that Aspen people get.  I often feel the churning in my stomach and have this feeling that something is going to happen but i don't know what.  I have always put it down to my half trained intuition - i know something is coming but i am not able to pin point what it is or what it is to do with.  As time is going on with my spiritual work on myself i occasionally can work out what the feeling relates to - usually work but sometimes family and friends so i know then i can take Mimulus rather than Aspen.  The bit i am loving about learning the Bach Flower Remedies as there are so many that are so similar but you really need to look deeper to find out exactly what emotion someone is feeling to make sure you get the correct remedy.  Of course if you give the wrong remedy it doesn't matter as the remedies will do no harm but the wrong remedy can't help with that emotion so of course its important to get it right.

For Aspen to work it really needs to be a fear of something you really don't know what it is - it can't be a fear that something at work is going to go wrong as this would be more Mimulus - or a fear that something was going to happen to your home - again this would be Mimulus or a fear about a family member - this would be Red Chestnut.

It is a bit of a strange one as most people will have a fear of something at some point in their lives and although they may say they cannot pinpoint what it is they will have a rough idea of what it is to do with - work, family, home etc etc.

Does that make sense?

What the Twelve Healers by Dr Bach says about Aspen is as follows:

Vague unknown fears, for which there can be given no explanation, no reason. Yet the patient may be terrified of something terrible going to happen, he knows not what.  These vague unexplainable fears may haunt by night or day.  Sufferers often are afraid to tell their trouble to other.

The 38 Flower Remedies book says:

Aspen is indicated for people who are seized by sudden fears or worries for no specific reason, and who may therefore be generally nervy and anxious.  A typical need for Aspen is for waking in fear from a bad dream, even if the dream itself is forgotten.  Aspen is helpful for young children experiecing nightmares and night terrors.


Aspen fears can occur during day or night; an inexplicable anxiety or sense of foreboding may strike when alone, or suddenly in the company of friends and may be accompanied by trembling.

The positive potential of Aspen is a state of inner peace, security and fearlessness.  Apprehension is replaced by a desire for adventure and new experiences, disregarding difficulties and dangers.

Aspen sounds like a wonder remedy really - inner peace, fearlessness, desire for adventure, disregarding difficulties etc - i am swigging as i type!!

Dr Bach wrote about Aspen 'Once we have come to that realisation, we are beyond pain and suffering, beyond care or worry or fear, beyond everything except the joy of life, the joy of death, and the joy of our immortality....we can walk that path through any danger, through any difficulty, unafraid.'

Statements like these from Dr Bach make me so excited about the journey i am taking - i have been drawn to the Remedies for a reason and i am so excited about the adventure that is about to unfold (think the aspen i just swigged is working!).



I have just discovered that Aspen isn't a flower or a herb, its a tree!  I did know that not all of the remedies came from flowers but how amazing to learn that this one comes from a tree.  The picture above shows the Aspen tree flowers (Catkins) even if they don't look like what we would except a flower to look like.

Here is some info on www.thegoddesstree.com

As the wind passes through the aspen leaves, they whisper a message of peace: listen within yourself and find comfort in the still, small voice of calm; in the music of the spheres; in the resounding "om" of existence; in the voice of Goddess - whatever you chose to call the spirit moving through the silence within us. You can interpret this in whichever way is most personal to you. The aspen teaches the lesson of fearlessness, and gives us the strength to face fear that comes with the unknown. To quote Dr. Bach, aspen helps us to understand that "the power of love stands behind and overcomes all things." Once we know this to be true, "we are beyond pain, suffering, care, worry, and fear, and we become participants of true joy."

How nice....

and here is some other info from the goddess tree website

Medicinal properties: 

The Doctrine of Signatures (an old system of healing) claimed that illnesses could be cured with plants having the same symptoms as the ailing body. Since the Aspen showed perpetual quaking of its leaves, it was designated to heal ague (shaking palsy.) The bark of Aspen contains analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties. Native American women would drink a tea made from the leaves to ease menstrual cramps. This tea also aided in alleviating diarrhea and urinary disorders. A poultice made from the root was used for cuts and bruises.

Magickal properties: 

Used in anti-theft spells, it was also planted in gardens and fields to protect the property from thieves.

Place an aspen leaf under your tongue if you wish to become eloquent.

Burn incense made of Aspen at Samhain to protect you from unwanted spirits and to help you release old fears as you move forward into the next new year.

Early folk healers in England would tell a palsy patient to pin a lock of her hair to an Aspen tree and repeat:

Aspen tree, Aspen tree

I prithee shiver and shake

Instead of me.

They were to walk home in silence from there (or they risk breaking the spell, and the cure would fail)

I can't find any details of Aspen (Populus Tremula) in my herb books - there are 35 kinds of Populus so this may be why they are not listed specifically but when i put Populus Tremula into Wikipedia it doesn't give any details of healing properties just details of the tree.  And when i type aspen and healing into Google all i get is references to Dr Bach so the above info on medicinal properties is some of the few details i have found which is interesting.

So that is Aspen - it wonderful remedy that i will carry with me for those moments where my stomach starts to churn and i start wonder what is about to happen.....

suz

xxx