Healing Roses

~ as we highlighted in our Valentine’s Day blog, roses can help and heal in lots of ways. As well as culinary uses, there are numerous applications for medical, emotional, and behavioural problems for you and your animals. Here we look at flower and other essences, herbal medicine, aromatherapy and homeopathy.

Flower and other essences

Essences: general information

Essences are made by infusing the item’s particular vibrational qualities into water and then stabilising it. There are several different types of essences which have been developed from different habitats or geographical areas.  Some of the rose-based ones are discussed here.

Alaskan Essences

Carol Fieldhouse

There are three different types of Alaskan Essences – Flower Essences, Gem Essences and Environmental Essences. Plants have a very short growing season in Alaska which gives them a lot of vitality. Healthlines, based in the UK, has the full range of Alaskan and other sorts of essence. Here is the main website for Alaskan Essences.

​Note – specifically for animals, there is a superb combination essence available in spray or drop form called Animal Care developed by someone who worked in rescue centres.

Alaskan flower essence: Prickly Rose

Affirmations that relate to the qualities of this essence are:​
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“I celebrate life with courage and openness.”

“I live each day with joy, optimism and trust.”

This essence is useful if you or your animal are feeling:

• A bit disinterested in life;
• Apathetic;
• Hopeless;
• Lacking trust and faith in oneself and in others;
• Retreating into self when faced with painful situations in life;
• Unable to keep one’s heart open when involved in a conflict; or
• Not feeling safe or secure enough to remain open to others.

​Prickly Wild Rose’s healing qualities
Interestingly, the physical characteristics of Prickly Wild Rose offer us a visually descriptive representation of its vibrational healing qualities. The flowers exist in a state of openness and vulnerability – their petals are easily loosened from the base of the sepals. They beckon to us with their beauty, invoking in us a sense of interest and wonder.
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​The thorny branches give protection to these delicate flowers so that they may evolve into the fruiting stage of the nourishing rose hip.
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The Prickly Wild Rose Essence supports the recipient to feel safe and to be more open and courageous even when circumstances look dangerous. It brings a sense of calm that allows the individual to blossom.
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The essence is particularly helpful for those who have become disinterested in life after what they perceived were past failures and lost opportunities. These feelings can surface more often as we get older. In humans it is useful for a mid-life crisis, when we sense that we haven’t been able to do what we wanted to do in our lives and wonder if we ever will.
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Animals have similar feelings, especially at difficult times of transition and as they get older. They can benefit from the boost of love that this remedy gives.
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In summary, Prickly Wild Rose can help the recipient let go of past difficulties, look at challenges and accomplishments honestly, and look forward to the future with joy, optimism, and excitement.

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Alaskan Gem Essence: Rose Quartz

Rose Quartz is a pink crystal associated with the heart and love. Note that having the physical crystal in your home can bring similar qualities to you as the essence does.

​The essence is useful if:

• There is pain held in the heart from traumatic events in one’s past;
• The heart is closed because of not being nurtured when young;
• There is difficulty initiating and maintaining affectionate contact with others; or
• There may even be a lack of compassion for others.

​Rose Quartz’s healing qualities ​
​Rose Quartz develops the heart chakra. It helps anchor love into the physical body through the heart centre. It also nurtures us by opening, strengthening and stabilising the heart forces. The individual is consequently able to maintain intimacy with him or herself, others, and the planet.

In effect, the essence allows us to let more love into our lives. As we allow this flow of loving energy to increase, we become less defensive and more open to others. 

For an animal who has lost trust in life, and the humans in it, this remedy could gently start to build trust and allow it to build relationships again. It would be particularly useful for rescue animals. 

Rose Quartz strengthens the inner architecture of the heart chakra so that both the generation and reception of love can increase exponentially. It gives a feeling of being surrounded with a constant vibration of love and protection. This encourages relaxation and a trust that all will be well.

Bach Flower Remedies

Wild Rose

Carol Fieldhouse

This is a key essence for resignation and a lack of interest in life. When life feels pointless and you’re just trudging apathetically from day to day, Wild Rose helps to rekindle the spirit of joy and adventure in life.

​It can be used for deep sadness, resignation, apathy, surrender, failure to make an effort, fatalism, drifting downhill, dullness, lack of interest, no spark or vitality, a sense of monotony, expressionless drone to voice, weariness, a dull companion.

Wild Rose Essence might need to be part of a long-term therapy as the soul conditions inherent in this state are often firmly ingrained from birth, or even before. 

These people/animals are boring company – they are uninterested and uninteresting. Their deep depression creates an apathy that casts a pall over every gathering.

In a milder lingering Wild Rose state, these people/animals may engage in frantic activity to compensate for their lack of true interest.

Although usually a chronic state of being, the negative Wild Rose state can sometimes occur as a temporary condition. This might happen after a miscarriage or during a phase of intense work on one’s personality.

It may be useful during periods of intensive training for an animal. During these times, Wild Rose will help the person or animal return to their normal energy levels and enthusiasm.

Treatment gradually leads to a new interest in life and the joyful expectation of better things to come. The patient gains a new flexibility and inner freedom and is once again able to let the riches of life flow through him or her – they “come back to life.” 

Lotus Holistic Flower Essences

Lotus Holistic Flower Essences have been developed by holistic therapist Julie Bowman. They include: 

​Pink Dog Rose Essence

This balances and heals the heart chakra. It brings in the energy of generosity, kindness and patience. It’s about loving the self and others.

​It expands the heart chakra, helping you to breathe deeper with life.

The Helping Hands Combination

This was successfully used in the Grenfell Tower therapy clinics. It includes White Rambling Rose which will sooth when emotions are running amok and you are left feeling raw.

More information can be found here. The Lotus website is here. ​

Herbal Remedies

Michaela Ritter

Rose contains chemicals which make it slightly astringent (i.e. it pulls tissue together) and very mildly sedative. The high amount of essential oils contained in the petals as well as in some varieties in the leaf, make rose highly anti-microbial (good at fighting bacteria, viruses and fungi).

Looking at the traditional use of rose, you will find it was used for heartache, heart burn, mouth ulcers, stomach upsets, gall and liver infections and other related problems, gastro-intestinal upsets and infections, for wound application, to strengthen the heart, after ‘fainting’, to reduce high blood pressure and to lift low blood pressure (it’s adaptogenic so it can do both depending on what the body needs), for eye infections and even headaches.

​The Common Dog Rose, Rosa canina, is part of the rose family. The rosehips have a wide use in herbalism.  With their high vitamin C content, as well as other minerals, they are fantastic as a supplement for humans as well as animals.

This article highlights a wide variety of uses for all parts of the rose – leaves, petals and hips.

Aromatherapy

Michaela Ritter

Rose essential oils

such as Rose Otto and Rose Damask, have a very important place in aromatherapy as they reduce adrenaline through both the olfactory and limbic systems. They have a host of healing benefits for the body and mind.

Rose essential oil relieves stress, fights anxiety and induces relaxation.

During rose aromatherapy, the essential oils move deep into the skin and permeate the air in the lungs. This not only rejuvenates the skin, but also comforts the mind.

It slowly relaxes the muscles, relieves spasms and reduces inflammation.

Rose has long been associated with spirituality.  It exhibits the highest vibration of any essential oil, giving it a special affinity with the heart and the emotional spheres of mind, body, and spirit. Rose has no parallel in treating grief, hysteria, or depression.

Rose essential oil is often selected by animals who have problems with excitability – often combined with vetiver (which is super grounding).

See this article for more information.

Michaela is a fully qualified and registered Dipl Master Herbalist and Naturopath and founder of SamoVila Specialised Herbal Therapy. She has been working with and studying herbs and essential oils since 1992 and has acquired a very broad knowledge about botanicals for a truly holistic use in supporting health and well being – be it physically, mentally or spiritually. Michaela is further certified in Equine Health (from vet Nicola Kerbyson) and Advanced Equine Nutrition (from nutritionist Dr. Jo-Anne Murray) and currently studies Tierheilpraktiker (Animal Naturopathic Practitioner) with a view to qualify in 2022. She specialises in horses and other herbivores (cattle, sheep, goats, etc) but also works with other species, including dogs, cats, rats and other small pets. She incorporates the principles of Zoopharmacognosy (the ability of animals to choose their own remedies) combined with her in-depth knowledge about herbs into her consultations.

Carol Fieldhouse BSc. (Hons), MARH, RHOM

Carol originally had a long career in Information Technology and a Science Degree. She changed to be a holistic practitioner in 2005 and now practices homeopathy, e-Lybra9 bio-energetics, and Peruvian Shamanic energy medicine. Essences and a number of other skills are in her toolbox too.

Primarily, Carol focuses on her human clients. For animals, she does provide energetic balancing using the e-Lybra9 and also animal communication and occasional shamanic services. Current Zoopharmacognosy training will hopefully lead to that being added to the portfolio.

Disclaimer – Where blogs have been created by a guest author, CAM4Animals has reproduced this in good faith but cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies of information in it or any use you make of this information. 

This blog may also contain an element of consumer opinion. Whilst CAM4animals welcomes positive recommendations for holistic healthcare products, we don’t necessarily endorse the product or the author’s opinion. We acknowledge that each animal is an individual and may react differently to the highlighted product/s. There may also be other products available that produce similarly positive results.

The veterinary Surgeon’s Act 1966 restricts the treatment of animals (usually other than your own*) by anyone other than a qualified vet. Always consult a veterinary surgeon if you are concerned about your animal’s health. *For full details visit the RCVS website