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Bach Flower Remedies
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Horse chestnut trees provide the buds for chestnut bud. They are well known parkland trees recognizable in winter by the sticky buds and horse-shoe leaf scars. With age the grey-brown bark breaks into rough squares which pull away from the trunk. The opening buds reveal folded emerald green leaves that are coated in creamy down; they are carried on a single, fast growing stem. Leaf buds are in pairs along the twigs while the terminal bud also contains the flower. Chestnut bud is not made from the red chestnut, a related variety, that has smaller buds that are smooth and barely sticky, sharply pointed with dull greeny-purple margins.
Buds open according to the season, generally early in April.
Chestnut Bud is prepared by the boiling method. The whole twig is picked (about 15cm) when the shoot has grown out from the bud but before the leaves have opened. It is a stage of development that needs to be watched for. First the buds swell, then the sticky scales fall back, then the shoot grows out. The resins are part of the remedy; they make a mess of the saucepan which will need to be scoured with a cleaner.
Inability to learn from past mistakes.
This remedy is for those who take a long time to learn from experience. They repeat the same error and stumble into the same pitfalls again and again, often without acknowledging the fact that they have done it all before. They might make errors of judgement such as moving house because living near a railway line is too noisy, only to move into another house just as close to another railway line. They may keep failing an exam on the same point, or become ill from repeatedly eating food they know disagrees with them. On a deeper level, they may not progress in life because they are unable to recognize, and thus correct, a fundamental fault in their own personality. Whatever the problem, it is the repetition of mistakes that Chestnut Bud addresses, enabling the individual to learn from experience and so move on in life.
Animals, too, may have difficulty learning and so may repeat the same unsuccessful behavior patterns or may fail to grasp a new skill. An animal that is reprimanded for unsociable behavior such as chewing the cushions, yet continues to chew cushions no matter how many times he is told not to, may be a candidate for Chestnut Bud. Similarly, an animal who is rewarded for using the litter tray and yet nine times out of ten fails to use it despite the rewards when he does, may also benefit from this remedy. Another example may be when a horse continues to knock down the same fence in the arena, even though it is well within its capabilities. Or the cat who teases another cat and is viciously attacked in return, but continues the same behavior, despite similar and repeated retaliation, all the time apparently unaware of the relationship between his action and the other cat's response.
Chestnut Bud may need to be combined with other remedies in some instances, but it is the key remedy whenever repetition prevents progress.
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