1. The first and most important step in flower essence making is to find the perfect, vital, blooming flowers. Ideally you are in a place in nature or in your back yard away from cars, people, or other energetic distractions.

2. Use a clear, clean glass bowl or goblet. I have a few bowls that I only use for flower essence making.

3. To energetically clean you goblet, rinse it with cold water or smudge it with sage.

4. Fill the bowl with the purest water available.

5. Find the flowers you are going to harvest for the essence.
Make an offering and ask permission to pick them. An offering can be a song, a prayer, some tobacco, some candy (flower fairies love candy!), or whatever feels connected to your heart.

6. Pick several blossoms without touching them and drop them into the bowl of water. I like to use two small stones or sticks to grab and cut the flower blossom. (It helps to have two people for this step; one to pick and one to hold the bowl.)

Desert Lily Flower Essence

7. Some say to completely cover the surface of the water with the flowers. I say this depends on the flower. Be mindful if the plant is rare, endangered, if it only has a few blossoms, or there are only a few plants in the stand. Sometimes all you need is one blossom. Sometimes it is better to not pick at all, but to simply lean the flower down into the water while still keeping it on the plant.

8. Keep the flower water in as close to full sun as possible for at least three hours.

9. After three hours, check the flowers to see if they look wilted and “cooked.” This means that their vital essence has been transferred into the water and it is ready to be finished.

10. Strain out the flowers (and any insects that may have jumped into the water) and pour the water into an amber glass jar covering with an equal amount of brandy. This flower water and brandy mixture is called the mother essence.

11. Label your flower essence immediately. Include the name of the flower, location of harvest and date. I also like to include relevant astrological information, like “Sun in Leo” or “Summer Solstice.” Also note the potency of the essence: a mother essence, stock or dosage bottle.

12. Variations: You can make flower essences by the light of the full moon.

There are many ways to prepare and preserve herbs for daily use. One way is to make an extraction in alcohol, or a tincture. Alcohol extracts and concentrates many of the plant constituents and is also a great preservative.

The folk method for making tinctures is simple. Just buy some of your favorite hard alcohol (about 80 proof) like vodka, brandy or tequilla. Put your herbs in a glass mason jar and leave some room on the top. Cover the herbs with enough alcohol so that there is about 1 inch above the herb.