Every few years there is an abundant bloom of the Green Gentian in the western mountains. 2019 was such a year and I traveled to the Sierra Nevada Mountains to pay homage to this power plant.

This Gentian is related to Dr. Bach’s smaller Gentian (Gentiana amarella) of the lowlands, which he used as a flower essence for those facing personal setbacks. It is instructive to note that the Gentians are used traditionally as digestive bitters, giving us the “intestinal fortitude” we need to handle what we take in from the environment.

The Green Cross Gentian flower essence gives us strength and faith to meet the challenges of our time. It is made from the native wildflower Frasera speciosa, known as Green Gentian or Monument Plant. The four-petaled greenish-white flowers form a equal-armed cross, hence the name of the flower essence.

Later that year, I was participating in an online flower essence group discussing the qualities of the Green Cross Gentian, with the intention of sending its healing energy into the world. Participants from both the US and Brazil shared how the Green Cross Gentian essence helps us to face not only what affects us personally, but what threatens the Earth herself. For example, in São Paulo, Brazil they had experienced a darkened sky from the intense Amazonian forest fires, a kind of night in the middle of the day. This had brought an uprising of awareness and concern for the extent of environmental devastation.

We worked inwardly with the image of the Green Gentian plants, which start as lowly rosettes of leaves, and then as a group, shoot up to 6 feet (2 meters) of height with abundant blossoms facing out to the world. Can we as a collective of aware people rise up out of our lethargy and overwhelm to create a healing response to the destructive forces at work today? This is the message of the Green Cross Gentian.

We find that the Green Cross Gentian essence is especially helpful for those of us already committed to creating a better world, but who can feel deep discouragement at the daunting tasks before us. For example, a consumer rights lawyer, who attended our professional flower essence class, uses Green Cross Gentian as part of her “Justice Warrior formula” she shares with other like-minded lawyers. Flower essence practitioners aiding Syrian refugees in Greece used this essence to strengthen their resolve in the face of incredible suffering and resistance.

One flower essence practitioner in Canada uses Green Cross Gentian when there are otherwise inexplicable physical symptoms, such as a headaches, backaches or muscle stiffness, which she finds are actually responses to taking on the burden of world events. She also uses it for Earth healing, where the Earth has absorbed the consequences of human destructive forces.

Green Cross Gentian essence is part of the FES Post-Trauma Stabilizer formula, used to aid victims of natural and man-made disasters.  It is also one of several green flowers in the Grounding Green formula to bring us in greater alignment with the healing forces of the earth, and to develop our own forces of healing and compassion for the Earth herself. Green Cross Gentian essence is part of the Range of Light set of flower essences.

Enjoy this video of the Green Cross Gentian, filmed in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.