Holly:
The Essence of Love

The nonphysical entity, Seth (channeled by the late Jane Roberts) once remarked that the injunction to love others as we love ourselves wasn't the best advice, given that most people don't truly love themselves. He added, however, that it is true that we can only love others to the degree that we love ourselves.

These observations give us an opportunity to understand the particular energy blockage addressed by the Bach Flower Essence Holly.

The negative Holly condition manifests in a number of emotions and behaviors: envy, jealousy, hatred. People in this condition may suspect that they're being deceived, and frequently feel hurt or injured by others. Sometimes they experience a general feeling of discontent and unhappiness without knowing why.

The root of their difficulties, though, isn't how other people treat them, but how they treat themselves, how little they love themselves. There is, I believe, nothing greater than the power of love, and each of us is its source. When we're cut off from this source, when we don't love ourselves unconditionally, when we judge ourselves as less than perfect and feel that we have flaws which which make us undeserving of love it is easy to find evidence in the external world that how others love us is equally imperfect.

The person in the Holly condition who finds people who love him/her has become so disconnected from his/her own source of love that the love of others can't be trusted. Lovers are deceitful, bosses favor other employees, and the good things of life happen to other people.

The response of finding oneself so vulnerable is similar to that of a trapped animal. Holly snarls, hisses, and behaves in an aggressively hostile manner in order to hide this vulnerability.

Though some people surely need Holly more than others, there are few of us who cannot benefit from its healing energies. Dr. Bach said: "Holly protects us from everything that is not Universal Love. Holly opens the heart and unites us with Divine Love."

Many people bring the holly plant indoors during the Christmas season to symbolize Christ's rebirth. We need not be Christian to honor the Holly flower as a means for resurrecting in each of us the spirit of love and divine communion which is our birthright.

Return to Bach Flower Remedies Descriptions Page

Return to Main Flower Essence Menu Page