CD-Rom review
by David Lewis
Plum Creative, a small media publisher with a history of producing CD-Roms on specialist medical topics, has branched out into the field of complementary medicine under their Herbal Planet label.
The first publication in this series, which will cover all the major therapies, is a CD-Rom on the life and work of Dr Edward Bach and the Bach remedies.
As his nearest qualified practitioner, Norman Clark of Plum Creative asked me to comment on his work. I have tried to be as impartial as possible – and have not received any payment for this review!
Produced with the full support of the Dr Edward Bach Centre and Nelsons, the CD-Rom is a work of art that incorporates video clips, high-quality graphics and original background music.
The information contained will be nothing new to practitioners or experienced users, though it provides an extremely valuable and complete source of reference.
For those new to the remedies, however, it provides a wonderful introduction. It is not prescriptive, but intuitive, and should encourage a little more self-discovery than a purely prescriptive approach would.
Each remedy is described from the positive and negative aspects and guidance is given on how to identify the correct tree or plant and on the two methods used to make the remedies. There are further sections on the life and philosophy of Dr Bach plus a valuable ‘Resource’ section detailing courses available all over the world, books and tapes, where to obtain the remedies, and so on.
Installation instructions and a small instruction booklet are provided, and there is a comprehensive toolbar to help you find your way around. It is definitely advisable to spend some time with the on-screen help facility during initial sessions.
I would recommend the CD-Rom to anybody with an interest in the remedies. To get the same information from books would cost more than the CD-Rom and you would miss out on the fun of just browsing through the fascinating and beautifully presented information that comes so easily to hand with this sort of media.
Welcome to…
Since the last (November) issue was prepared, 23 new practitioners have joined the register:
- in Australia, Rosemary Barry;
- in Brazil, Valencia De Souza, Margarete Barasnevicius Vides, Fatima Rezende de Andrade, Mafalda Elisabeth Brand, Anna Elizabeth Branquinho de Almeida, Mirna Klüppel and Mara Martins Paroni;
- in Germany, Brunhild Janjatovic;
- in Italy, Giampaolo Gasparri;
- in the Netherlands, Marjo Horn-van der Enden and Brigitte Sütmuller
- in Spain, Maria Carmen Gallego Lavado, Jesus Casado Castro and Josep Lluis Gutierrez Canovas
- in the UK, Catherine Carter, Sarah Maitland-Titterton, Maureen Tatton, Sharon Dobbs and Julie Turpie;
- and in the USA, Rae Ramsey, Barbara Hewitt and Alicia Recore.
There are now 536 practitioners on the register.
Your letters
In August last year I took a holiday in Geneva where I used to live and work for the UN some 15 years ago. Friends in the UN agencies arranged for me to give a talk/workshop on the remedies to about a dozen people. All of them were English-speaking and some of them had been experimenting with the remedies.
I took over with me lots of Bach publicity and had a wonderful evening telling them all about the remedies. During the course of my holiday I prepared many treatment bottles for friends and former colleagues.
A lawyer in the World Intellectual Property Organisation assured me that the treatment bottle I made her had saved her from a certain mental breakdown as she faced what seemed like an impossible deadline on a high profile legal document. She was so impressed with the remedies that she bought a whole set and is planning to get aback to the UK to take a weekend course.
Angela Davies
(Editor’s note: Angela is the first ever BFTP graduate, and is running her own approved level one courses at UK colleges in the Kent area.)
We want you to use this bulletin to keep in touch with each other. If anything wonderful, funny, interesting or just plain typical has happened to you in your work with the remedies, or if there are any questions that have been nagging away at you, or if you simply want to say hello, please write to us at the Bach Centre, marking your letter clearly as being ‘FOR PUBLICATION’.
We can’t promise to print every letter in the bulletin, but even if we don’t use your contribution we always love to hear from you.
Wizards and practitioners
Wizards delight in mystery and power, and enjoy the mystique of handing over unnamed elixirs that only they understand. They may say they are doing things for the best; but there is a lack of self-awareness at the heart of what they do. Wizards are amateurs.
Registered practitioners are professionals, and being professional means more than just knowing what to do: it means knowing why we do the things we do. Why do we select remedies in ways that everyone can understand? Why do we tell clients what remedies have been selected?
The professional answer is: because education is the basis of working with a self-help therapy.
Plants need your help!
We all know about giving the crisis formula to wilting plants, but have any of you gone further and given Vervain to your houseplants or Mimulus to your apple trees?
I’m putting together a small book on using the remedies in the garden, and on treating plants in general. If anyone has any examples of this kind of use and would like them to appear in the book then please send them to me at the Centre. All help gratefully received and will of course be acknowledged.
Thanks! – Stefan Ball
Boxes
Many of you will know that the Bach Centre stocks hand-made wooden boxes designed to hold all of the remedies. There are currently two boxes available, both made in Ash with brass fittings.
The smaller travelling box is available ‘off the shelf’ from the Bach Centre. It comes with a choice of handles – flat leather (as illustrated) or brass. The larger, roll-top box is made to order by Bob Appleyard – call Kathy at the Centre for details of how to contact him.
We thought that those of you who can’t get to Mount Vernon might like to see the boxes – so here they are!
Credit cards
It has always been difficult for practitioners outside the UK to order books and so on from the Centre due to the fact that we did not take credit cards. We are delighted to announce therefore that we are now able to accept credit cards as payment for books, videos and other items.
This archive material has been edited to remove some out-of-date advice and information.