Introvert season is here.
A TOTEM Flower Essence snapshot for September.
At TOTEM, the most common question I get is: “What the f*ck is a flower essence?”
And it’s a good question. What are they, indeed?
What are Flower Essences?
Flower essences are ancient, witchy magic that transform us spiritually, emotionally, energetically, and even physically with passive, daily use. These tinctures operate in the magical adage of: “As within, so without”.
What does that mean? It means that flower essences are a mechanism to translate the magical microcosm of a sunlight-infused, vibrant flower into our human energy bodies. This, in turn, realigns, reintegrates, and restores us to a more perfect- and balanced- state.
Flower essences are a powerful personal development and human potential tool, working quietly in the background to strategically support us every day while we work, play and live.
How are Flower Essences made?
At TOTEM, I handmake our Flower Essences from organic seed through to the final bottled tincture, applying intentional shamanic energy work and ritual magic at every step of the Flower Essence-making process.
I make my Flower Essences in the old-world way: I grow flowers from organic seed in organic soil with organic fertilizer, collecting the flowers in a sustainable, non-invasive way. I then place the flowers in sterilized jars with grain alcohol, which draws the plant’s magic into the liquid concentrate.
I then strain the plant medicine concentrate and combine with 80% filtered water, placing the liquid into bottles for personal use.
Other manufacturers use other processes- such as soaking the flowers in water for a day and then adding brandy- but I prefer our approach. I think it maximizes and amplifies the “medicine” while maintaining cleanliness and hygiene via the high-powered alcohol.
And, as for garden pest control, we brought in the preying mantises. No joke. You can order their eggs right on Etsy. And they worked like a charm, eating bugs that would otherwise eat our plants, working shoulder-to-shoulder with our other, garden helpers: the lizards.
Why should I care about flower essences?
Trust me, I get it. We’re all busy and I have only so much space on my dance card for various woo fads and diets and workout routines and meditation apps around a busy work schedule and the seemingly constantly increasing demands of daily life.
But that’s exactly what I love about flower essences. These little heal-y things support our goals- spiritual or otherwise- all day, in the background, without our constant attention or effort. It’s an incredibly sustainable tool to incorporate easily into everyday life, and I’ve found that I can stick with it much more consistently than with other processes.
Like crystals, I used to think that flower essences were utter bullshit. 100% placebo effect. Magical-thinking. Unrealistic panacea.
But then a friend gifted me the Bach Rescue Remedy, a blend of flower essences designed to help relieve stress and anxiety. Within a week or so of taking this tincture, I started to see a green, luminescent glow coming from trees and plants. To test it out, I stopped taking Rescue Remedy, and noticed the glow go away about a week into not taking the tincture anymore. Needless to say, I was intrigued. Fast forward ten years, and now I’m making flower essences. Crazy, right?
So, long story short: flower essences because have a real, measurable impact at minimal cost, with minimal effort, and requires almost no investment of time. This means that busy, overworked and overscheduled people can get a daily benefit that builds in an accumulative fashion without investing in a retreat, expensive psychotherapy, or set aside hours of the day to meditate.
And don’t get me wrong: all of that “other stuff”- the cleanses and retreats and meditation techniques- are good. Sometimes, they’re even great. But I’ve found that it’s just not sustainable on a daily or weekly or monthly basis. And, if you can’t maintain an element of your practice between big pushes, you’ll lose momentum and get off track.
I needed dirt
So, how did this whole TOTEM Flower Essence adventure begin? In short: Covid lockdowns in Chicago. I had lived in downtown Chicago my entire life, and my favorite thing about that city- and the primary reason I would aggressively evangelize it to people- was the freedom of it. Freedom of movement. Freedom of lifestyle. Freedom to do whatever I wanted at literally any moment of the day or night. Walk to the Art Institute to look at Francis Bacon’s painting “Figure with meat”? Sure. Takes 30 minutes. Want to jog on the lakefront path? Done. Want to eat at the bar of a michelin star’d restaurant? It’s one block away.
I loved that, for decades, no one told anyone how to live. You’d see crazy shit all the time and just shrug while saying, “That’s the city for you.”
And then, suddenly, nothing was accessible. The hoops were taken off of basketball courts. The lakefront path was closed to walkers and joggers. The restaurants and museums and public spaces and conservatories I had loved visiting were beyond my reach. So what does one do to avoid the dread of just sitting at home, staring at the television screen, and falling into a state of despair?
I planted a garden. I know- it’s a cliché at this point. I mean, Covid produced a whole cadre of “plant moms” and sourdough bread bakers and knitters and needle-pointers. Sorry for being basic😉 But I really wanted to connect with the earth and, in particular, the soil. I felt like I literally needed dirt, and it proved to be more than a feeling.
One day, I asked my husband to take me to a West Town garden shop and I picked up a seemingly random (read: intuitive) assortment of plants, planters and soil. It started on my balcony in the West Loop and grew to my roof deck space at my meditation center in Oak Park.
And then, because I can’t just enjoy anything in and of itself, I decided I wanted to make flower essences. My husband, who has a much greater capacity for research and a patience for the process of actually learning about how to do stuff, walked me through the ratios, the various procedures, and we got started.
The beta test
Even at that smaller, initial beta test scale, the experience of “farming” flowers to make essences was incredibly educational. It generated a net positive impact on my mental and energetic wellbeing, and I was refining psychic abilities throughout the process. I would observe the plants and flowers, noting which flowered first, which attracted the most pollinators, and which needed more or less water or sunshine on any given day. As a working psychic, I would also relax and assess the energy bodies of the plants, ascertaining something akin to a plant’s aura and personality.
Plants that were supposed to thrive did not, and those that were considered tricky or challenging exploded. The gap between the “shoulds” and reality grew, and I learned to keep notes of my personal experiences with the plants in lieu or relying on the interwebs for guidance. This is one practice that, like shamanism, is all about the experience. There is really no book or link or resource that will give you all the answers. Nature, it seems, has her own prerogative. And that ebb and flow of the natural order is the core theme of Virgo, new moons, and the season of fall.
“I think I did accidental witchcraft”
I shared the initial run of the TOTEM Flower Essences with friends and clients in the fall of 2021, asking them for honest feedback. And the conversation immediately picked up momentum. Many months later, long after I had shared the essences with clients, I realized that I could also take and test them. I know, I know…I’m always the last to know.
So I started with Newly Minted, made of mint flowers and designed to amplify abundance and manifestation energy, particularly for business owners and solopreneurs. Worth noting: this is not an essence that will help anyone win the lottery, receive an inheritance, or otherwise shake off debt. Rather, it’s more about getting busy with work, gaining clients, being in demand, and generating income when you already have a skill or mechanism (i.e. business) in place to capture this revenue.
In Chicago, the mint plants were the first to flower. They were covered in pollinators, who notably flew right over roses and other flowers to get to the good mint stuff. In other words: the mint was busy, it was active, and with bees being a TOTEM Animal for abundance and manifestation, it all made sense.
And boy, did it work. I should have expected some impact, but I had no idea what was coming. Within 48 hours of starting to put a few drops in my daily water bottle, several corporate real estate companies reached out seeking my freelance writing support for various projects. It was BIZARRE. This freelance pipeline had all but dried up for the duration of Covid, and by all accounts the only variable that had shifted was my recent ingestion of a witchy potion. For a mere two days.
I went from stagnation to overwhelm- a real life experience of “when it rains, it pours”. I remember calling my husband after I connected the dots, saying, “I think I did accidental witchcraft!”, genuinely surprised at how literally and measurably the Newly Minted Flower Essence worked. It was bonkers.
I now intentionally manage my intake of Newly Minted, as I only have so much capacity to generate the work that comes with regular, daily use. And I’ve realized that, just like the plants and pollinators working together in the garden, the flower essences I’ve created work within the confines of the natural order: nothing is free, there is a cost and/or a tradeoff for everything, and this particular essence generates abundance…if I’m willing to do the work.
Flower Essences for Virgo Season
Growing the trees, plants and flowers for my TOTEM Flower Essences from seed has given me a unique line of sight into their energy and attributes. Like children and pets, the plants all have a unique personality complete with different needs, preferences, and energies. I’ve detailed below a few snapshots of some of our TOTEM Flower Essences that are optimal for Virgo season and the month of September:
Orange Glow, made of nasturtium
The nasturtium was the first plant to explode from seed in our garden here in Texas at the beginning of 2022, taking over large swaths of the front and back yards early in the Spring. Their gorgeous red, yellow and orange flowers popped up in volume every single day, despite me having just harvested the previous day’s blooms. At an energetic level, it became glaringly obvious that the nasturtium plant has very high levels of chi: defined as the primary life force that animates us and keeps us healthy.
So what does nasturtium do? Well, in herbalism nasturtium is relied upon for its antimicrobial properties: it can be used on wounds to help fight infection. The seeds can be ground to a paste and painted onto fungal infections. The plant emits anti-insect vapors that keep pest species away from our garden. Nasturtium is also often on the menu in fancy restaurants, with a delicious peppery flavor.
As for our TOTEM Orange Glow Flower Essence, the primary benefits include:
Reconnection with the earth grid: About a week into taking this flower essence, I started to access a euphoric- and grounding- connection to the energies of the earth. This manifested in the vibe of my afternoon dog walks, bringing me back to the ephemeral experience of wandering the neighborhood as a young child. I could even see the energy aura of certain geographic areas, connecting to the living energy of the earth itself.
Reconnection with our physical bodies: I tend to be in my head a lot, and psychic work can exaggerate this trait. Orange Glow assists me in reconnecting to my physical body and regaining a sense of being alive and being present in the moment. This return to the self is a crucial first step in any self-care program, supporting us as we slow down and embrace the new- and less manic- rhythms of fall.
Being vs. doing: It’s hard for me to feel that I have value when I’m not doing something. With regular use of Orange Glow, I found myself suddenly capable of walking away from work and just sitting for 30 peaceful minutes in my garden. Without working on a to do list or watering a plant or weeding or returning a phone call. Literally heaven on earth.
Thyme is on my Side, made of thyme
As we head into Virgo season and into the fall, the natural rhythm of life slows down. It’s almost hibernation time for us mammals, and this means we should be focusing on nourishment and time- not just on accumulating money or getting work done. Time is a form of abundance, one that I refer to as “time having-ness”, and it’s crucial to our wellbeing, state of mind, and overall quality of life.
In the garden, thyme grows relatively slowly. But it also appears to be sturdy, steady and committed. The tiny flowers are beautiful and smell amazing, and it has a serious but kind energy that I intuitively connect with when I go outside.
Like most herbs, thyme is really, really good for you. From an herbal perspective, thyme contains a variety of minerals and vitamins that promote good health: vitamin C for immune support, potassium for healthy cells, and manganese for bone development and blood clotting.
As for its energetic uses via our TOTEM Flower Essence: remember when I referenced the mania that came with ingesting too much Newly Minted when I didn’t quite have capacity? After that phase, I shifted to Thyme is on my Side, setting the intention to slow down, get present, and attend to my health, my home and my family again.
Thyme is on my Side provides a few focused benefits:
Time empowerment: When I take Thyme is on my Side regularly, I feel like I’m in the driver’s seat of my day: how I spend my time, on what tasks, and what pace I take with my efforts. I don’t feel as though I’m at the mercy of stakeholders, clients or deadlines, a surefire way to plummet into acute time scarcity.
Recalibration of priorities: Generally speaking, we can make more money. But we cannot make more time (unless we know someone with a time machine). Thyme is on my Side ensures that we stay in touch with our broader life goals and priorities- not just focused on the to do list in front of us. Time is so f*cking magical: you can do almost anything with it: go to the movies, read a book, or spend time with loved ones.
Quiet contemplation and spiritual connection: If you think you can reach your spiritual goals while being overscheduled and overstimulated, think again. As a working psychic, I literally have to schedule unstructured time into my day, both ahead of and after client and coaching sessions. It is in the space between tasks that we commune with spirit, and it often requires intense relaxation and dead air to get to the woo woo.
Witching Hour, made of chamomile
There was a period in my early 20’s when I worked at Deloitte. Though it’s a company with a reputation for overworking and abusing employees, I didn’t get caught up in that vibe. I guess you could say I was an early “Quiet Quitter”, leaving the office at the end of my workday, not looking at work while at home, and enjoying long walks with my now-deceased dog, Henry VIII.
During this time, I developed an incredible weekday routine in September and October: I would come home, get the dog to go for a walk on the Lakefront path in Lincoln Park, then return to the house and make a cup of chamomile tea. I would sit with the tea and read a book- I think during that time I read Middlesex and the Amazing Adventures of Kavelier and Clay- and then finish my evening with a nice, hot bath.
I know- it sounds like the evening routine at a nursing home. But I LOVED it. And, ever since, I have associated chamomile with this “Witching Hour” phenomenon: creating a space within time that belongs just to us, that we can stretch at will, and that brings a tremendous sense of peace and serenity. An energetic vestibule between work and life. An in-between zone.
In fact, witches see the Witching Hour as the dimension accessible right at the stroke of midnight: a kind of portal to another place in which time doesn’t exist. The Witching Hour is also called the 13th hour, a magical, otherwise nonexistent hour that can be conjured by practitioners.
Chamomile originates from Egypt, and you know what that means. Yep- those ancient Egyptians used chamomile in their ritual magic, too.
Witching Hour TOTEM Flower Essences provides key benefits:
Sense of serenity: Witching Hour supports a consistent level of peace and tranquility, made readily available after meetings, after your workday, or at the end of a long work week. We lose so much time and energy to thinking about work or other, open items; what would happen if we could leave all of that where it belongs? The answer: serenity.
Adrenal support: We’re all basically in adrenal fatigue, with crazy high cortisol levels and out-of-whack hormones. Witching Hour lubricates the day’s transitions, enabling us to come down from high stress situations or tasks so that we can enjoy our downtime.
Seance setup: Believe it or not, chamomile is a spiritual conductor connected to the energy of the dead. Drinking a cup of chamomile tea- or taking some Witching Hour- is a great, subtle way to tune your energy body into the vibrations of the spirits on the other side.
How can I get TOTEM Flower Essences?
Well, it’s pretty simple.
New clients: Just shoot me an email: rachel@totemreadings.com. If you’re a new client, I’ll ask that we schedule a short Zoom session to discuss and ensure you don’t have any allergies to the plants and flowers we use in our formulations. This short consultation includes two full-sized TOTEM Flower Essences and free shipping. Email me to schedule your consultation.
Existing clients: If you’re already a client and user of the TOTEM Flower Essences, just shoot me an email at: rachel@totemreadings.com and we can figure out the right mix of witchy potions at $50 each (shipping is still free).
I’m also starting to sell TOTEM Flower Essences at a few very high-quality healing centers around the country:
Sabai Studio: Owned and operated by Summer Sanders, Sabai Studio is an integrative wellness practice located in the West Loop of Chicago. Summer offers physical therapy, reiki, infrared sauna, Feng Shui, meditation coaching, and detox massage. Her space is tranquil and she has some incredible- and witchy- workshops planned for this fall. Stop by Sabai, say “hi” to Summer, and check out our TOTEM Flower Essences in person.
Isle of Wellness: located in New Jersey, Isle of Wellness- owned and operated by Dr. Melissa Musser, provides physical therapy, therapeutic manual/massage therapy, chiropractic care, Pilates-based mat and equipment classes, and Reiki energy healing. If you’re in the area and want to check out a legit healing center- and our little tinctures- give Melissa a holler!
We’re planning to get the TOTEM Flower Essences in a few other locations this fall, too, and will keep you posted on their new, in-person spots!
If you want to sell our TOTEM Flower Essences or make a bulk order for an event or retreat, just shoot me an email and we can set up a quick time to chat!
What about Flower Essences for October?
I’m on it, and will be digging into this in our next free Substack article! October is my favorite month of the year, Halloween is my favorite holiday (and wedding anniversary), and mediumship and ancestor work are my favorite shamanic activities. And I’m all over the best flower essences for all of the above!