What are Wild Earth Animal Essences? Wild Earth Animal Essences are natural, energetic remedies which nurture with the wisdom and power of wild animals. Animal essences, like flower essences and gem elixirs, are "vibrational remedies." Each of the animal essences contains the vibrational imprint and energy of the animal but does not contain any animal parts.
How are they made? No animals are captured or harmed in the development of the animal essences. The essences are made during a ceremonial process of attunement in the wild. This ceremonial process takes place in the wilderness of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, USA and includes the invocation of the spirit of the animal, along with meditation and prayerful attunement with the animal involved.
What is in the essences? Along with the animal’s energy, each essence contains distilled water and brandy, which acts as a vibrational preservative. Without the brandy, the vibration would quickly dissipate. (If you are alcohol sensitive, put drops in a cup of boiling water and the alcohol will quickly evaporate).
How much and how often do I take the essences? There are many ways to take the essences, and you can experiment and do what feels right to you. We recommend taking 5-7 drops, three to four times per day, but not with food. The essence may be taken directly under your tongue or in a small glass of water. You can also put the drops in a water bottle that you sip from throughout the day. In addition, the essences are just as effective if you add them to a warm bath. It is best to take an essence for 2-3 weeks before determining whether it has been beneficial. The effectiveness of the remedy is heightened by quietly reflecting upon the animal and its qualities. It is fine to take a number of animal essences at the same time if one wishes. Up to three is fine, and more may be warranted in special cases. For those first using the animal essences, it may be most interesting to begin with one essence so that you can clearly examine its effectiveness. It is fine to use animal essences in conjunction with other vibrational remedies, such as flower essences, although it is recommended that a space of 15 minutes be allowed between their consumption. If this is not possible at a given time, it is alright to take several essences together; this will do no harm, though the benefits of each remedy will be greatest if a short period of time is allowed between their use.
How The Animal Essences Are Made The animal essences are made in a ceremonial process in a wilderness area of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. This has long been a place of power for me. So when the call came for me to begin, I knew immediately that this was where I would do the fundamental work of making the essences. My deep connections with wild animals, with the Earth, and with Native Americans have all served to inspire the development of the very personal ceremony that I use to create the animal essences. Stan Grof, one of the pioneers of the transpersonal psychology movement over the past 40 years, says something very wise that seems fitting to share: "In a yet unexplained way each human being contains the information about the entire universe or all of existence, has potential experiential access to all its parts, and in a sense is the whole cosmic network, as much as he or she is just an infinitesimal part of it, a separate and insignificant biological entity." -- Dr. Stan Grof, "Modern Consciousness Research and Human Survival," in REVISION, Vol 8 no 1, summer-fall 1985. It is this innate ability that each of us has, to connect with all aspects of creation, that allows me to do the work I do, in combination with my own personal experiences of the animals and the work I have done on my own personal healing journey. The prime ingredient involved in developing these remedies is the power of Intent. This is the creative building block of creation, and setting a clear intention to connect with a specific animal in the making of an essence is the fundamental first step. The ceremony itself is quite simple; an observer looking at the forest clearing where I work would not see a great deal going on. That's because the process of attuning to the spirit of the animal involved happens in a very quiet, meditative, and internal way. I first collect a small bowl of water from the stream nearby and place it at the center of the clearing. I then step beyond the edge of the clearing, and I begin the ceremony by walking in a large circle -- approximately 100 meters in diameter -- around the clearing. I meditate as I walk in a series of ever smaller circles, until after about 15 minutes I find myself at the center of the clearing beside the bowl of water. Throughout the meditation, I connect and pray to the animal I am invoking, telling it that I am here to serve in this way if it wishes to share its gifts with humankind. By the time I reach the center of the circle I have touched a place inside me where the animal and I are one. At this time the I experience the energy of the animal finding its newest abode in the bowl of water at the center of the circle. When I feel that all is complete, I proceed to walk out in reverse from the way I came in, this time through a series of ever larger circles until I return to the edge of the largest circle where I began. As I walk these circles in reverse on the way out, I slowly feel my everyday state of consciousness and mind returning to me, and I am deeply grateful to have shared in the beauty of this experience.
Ways To Work With The Animal Essences Animal essences may be used in the same fashion as flower essences, gem elixers, and other vibrational remedies. Animal essences can be taken together and in combination with other vibrational remedies. For best results, take 4-6 drops of an essence, three to four times per day, for two to three weeks before making an evaluation as to its effectiveness. Many people enjoy using the animal essences in a warm bath, by putting 4-6> >> drops in the bathwater and swirling the water vigorously in the tub. There are a number of different methods one can use to choose which animal essences to take. Each of these methods has its benefits; it may be beneficial to experiment with the different options and use the methods that work best for you. 1) After examining your current situation, choose animal essences that seem to offer great potential for supporting you at this time. You can benefit from reading the descriptions and recommendations for each essence, and examining the case studies for each. This is the most common way that people use the animal essences, by taking the time to learn about the different animal essences and their gifts. 2) Choose animals that you are intuitively drawn to. You may find yourself drawn to certain animals with which you have a certain emotional or spiritual connection. This intuitive sense may well be guiding you to seek support from animals that have specific gifts that you cherish or need. 3) Choose animals that you specifically do not like or that you are repulsed by. It is often the case that these animals hold a very special power and may indicate areas that need integration within the psyche and personality. Working with these essences can help one to face fears or other aspects of one's personality that need integration. 4) Choose animals whose qualities support certain activities or ceremonial moments. This is an exciting application of the animal essences. Try Swan for lovemaking, wolf for drum circles and other connecting social events, Dove for weddings, funerals, and meditation. The list is endless and you can use your own intuition to help determine what might be best for the group and ceremonial situations with which you are involved. Trusting your own intuitive guidance is the greatest and most useful tool when selecting animal essences based on any of the above methods. Animals are multi-dimensional creatures, and as such, the applications of the animal essences are vast and can differ from person to person. Your intuitive guidance can thus serve as an indispensable tool in your own process of developing your relationship with the animal essences. Allow yourself to experiment, find what works for you, and then allow your intuitive guidance to take you to the next step of exploration. Above all, enjoy the adventure! At times one may find that an essence makes one feel the opposite of what one expected to feel. Usually when one has feelings of sadness, anger or depression after taking an essence it is because the essence is serving as a catalyst to bringing to the surface unresolved emotional material that needs to be faced, worked through, and integrated. One woman took Hummingbird essence expecting it to make her feel light and happy. Instead, she found herself feeling very sad and depressed. The Hummingbird essence was acting in such a way as to bring to the surface those feelings which she had been silently and unconsciously carrying with her about her unresolved breakup with her husband. She needed to face and heal these issues before she could fully enter into the joy and lightness that Hummingbird represented to her. She continued to take the Hummingbird essence and found herself supported as she worked through her grief and anger; as she completed this emotional work, she moved into a place of happiness and joy. When heavier feelings come up after taking an essence, it is of course up to the individual to decide if it is the right time to face the issues involved or not. If so, then continuing to take the essence can of great benefit in facing and healing these unresolved issues.
Short And Long Term Effects Animal essences can work in many ways, in both the short term and the long term. A small percentage of people can feel the effects immediately or soon after taking an essence, though for the vast majority of people the effects are more subtle and develop over time. For most people, it is best to take an essence over a period of 2-3 weeks before looking back and evaluating whether or not the essence has been effective and beneficial.
