It was the 1930s and the English doctor Edward Bach thought that it was possible to capture the essence of flowers to restore the balance in body and mind. Thus were born the 38 Bach flower remedies, nowadays well known and appreciated all over the world. We will start this review with the most famous Bach flower, used in several remedies, Star of Bethlehem. We’ll try to understand what it is, how to use it and what science says about the topic.
Star of Bethlehem, what is
Star of Bethlehem is a Bach flower remedy obtained from Ornithogalum umbellatum, also called the golden star of Bethlehem, a bulb belonging to the Liliaceae family. The particular name derives from the fact that the flower is characterized by 6 petals that recall the star of Davide.
Star of Bethlehem against traumas
Star of Bethlehem is a flower that helps in case of unresolved traumas, that may be of minor entity or more important, recent or belonging to the past. For example, this floral remedy may be used in case of shock caused by bad news, but also dismissal, a loss, a mourning or a separation but also mistreatment and harassment, in order to get cooler head and ability to react. Or it may result useful to recover faster from physical traumas such as a fall, sprains or accidents by counteracting the possible effects caused by such traumas and putting the body in the best conditions to heal. Indeed, whatever the nature of the trauma is, if this hasn’t been overcome we may experience an emotional block or somatizations. Star of Bethlehem may be helpful to melt this block that prevents us from going on with our life. The remedy is also helpful to counteract anxiety and fear that you may feel if you should speak in front of a public.
Star of Bethlehem, does it really work? And the position of science
Science has been focusing its attention on Bach flowers in order to understand the mechanism of action. Although all the results agree that the effect of the Star of Bethlehem is concrete and effective, the explanations don’t. Indeed, some studies claim (Thaler et al, BMC Complement Altern Med, May 2009 - Walach et al, J Anxiety Disorder, Jul 2001) that the reason of the effectiveness of this Bach flower is due to the placebo effect, namely the belief that the remedy works makes it in fact effective. In other studies (Yang et al, BMC Complement Altern Med, Jun 2012) instead it was observed that the flower remedy, if compared with the effect of a true placebo obtained with brandy diluted in water, was able to significantly reduce the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, able to accelerate the heart rate, and to increase the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, able to act with a calming effect. In this way the experiment showed that the relaxing properties of the remedy cannot be simply explained with the placebo effect.
Star of Bethlehem, how to take it
In a glass pour a little water and 4 drops of remedy, drink within an hour. Alternatively, you can directly pour 4 drops under the tongue, keep the drops for about a minute, then you can swallow. The treatment with Star of Bethlehem often takes long, also months. Star of Bethlehem is also one of the flowers that are included in the Rescue Remedy, the most important emergency aid in phototherapy that can be taken to the need when we are blocked for anxiety, a shock or panic.
Star of Bethlehem, also for pets!
For cats and dogs that experienced a trauma, stress or mistreatments, Star of Bethlehem may result really useful. You can add two drops of Bach flower to the water bowl or directly on the paw. When the pet will lick it, he/she will also take the remedy.
