Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Edward Bach

Edward Bach (pronounced "Batch") (September 24, 1886 – November 27, 1936) developed Bach flower remedies, a form of alternative medicine inspired by the classical homeopathic traditions.

Biography

Bach grew up in Birmingham, studied medicine at the University College Hospital, London and obtained a Diploma of Public Health (DPH) at Cambridge.

Before turning to alternative therapies, he was a House Surgeon and a casualty medical officer at University College Hospital; he was in charge of 400 beds during World War I; he worked at the National Temperance Hospital and had a successful practice at Harley Street.

Bach nosodes

Later he worked at the London Homeopathic Hospital and he developed seven bacterial nosodes known as the seven Bach nosodes, which have received only limited recognition and their use has been mostly confined to British homeopathy practitioners.

These Bowel Nosodes were introduced by Bach and the British homeopaths, John Paterson (1890-1954) and Charles Edwin Wheeler (1868-1946) in the 1920s. Their use is based on the variable bowel bacterial flora associated with persons of different homeopathic constitutional types.

Bach flowers

In 1930, at the age of forty three, he decided to search for a new healing technique. He spent the spring and summer discovering and preparing new flower remedies - which include no part of the plant but simply the pattern of energy of the flower - and in the winter he treated patients free of charge.

He advertised his remedies in two daily newspapers, but the General Medical Council disapproved of his advertising. In 1934, he moved to Mount Vernon in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire.

In his treatise Heal Thyself he writes:

"Disease will never be cured or eradicated by present materialistic methods, for the simple reason that disease in its origin is not material . . . Disease is in essence the result of conflict between the Soul and Mind and will never be eradicated except by spiritual and mental effort."

Bach Centre

The Dr Edward Bach Centre, Mount Vernon, located in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire, UK, commonly known as the Bach Centre, or simply Mount Vernon, was the home and working place of Bach during the latter years of his life. Here he performed research into the 38 flower remedies that still bear his name.

The trustees and helpers at the Bach Centre continue to make and provide the mother tinctures for the Bach flower remedies, according to the specific instructions left by Dr. Bach.

The Bach Centre offers help to the public in the form of education, publications and referrals to practitioners. It is open to visitors and aims to maintain the original purity and simplicity of Dr. Bach's work. Their mission statement is Our work is steadfastly to adhere to the simplicity and purity of this method of healing.

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