Courtesy of the Bach Centre

“Vague unknown fears, for which there can be given no explanation, no reason. Yet the patient may be terrified of something terrible going to happen, he knows not what. These vague unexplainable fears may haunt by night or day. Sufferers are often afraid to tell their trouble to others.”

Dr Edward Bach, The Twelve Healers & Other Remedies, 1936

Indications

We have all experienced the Aspen fear at some time in our lives. It is that awful dread of something terrible about to happen, often accompanied by the familiar feeling of butterflies in the tummy. It is a sense of uneasiness, of living on the edge of disaster – a panic that has no identity. It is a feeling of fear without any apparent cause for the fear.

Those in the Aspen state have nothing with which to identify their fears. Because they are unexplainable, they are all the more terrifying. If a reason can be given to something, it can faced and dealt with, or at the very least ring-fenced and contained, but if there is nothing tangible to associate the fear with, it is difficult to control it. The mind remains open to the fear – it is difficult to guard against something when it is not known where it is coming from.

Victor Bullen, in one of his many illustrative stories, gave a message which perhaps sums up the lesson which is faced by anyone in a state of fear, but particularly in a state of Aspen fear: “Fear knocked on the door, faith answered, and there was no-one there.” Faith, then, is the positive aim of Aspen.

Comparisons

Rock Rose and Aspen are both associated with nightmares, but there is a clear difference. People in a Rock Rose state can account for their fear – the dream can be remembered and the focus of their fear is tangible. Children in particular are often troubled with nightmares. If the dream is remembered or if it acts as a trigger for some other conscious thought which causes the child to be terrified (such as feeling terrified that the house will burn down or that one of their parents will leave), then Rock Rose is the appropriate remedy.

But children who wake up in the night, trembling, frightened, screaming, desperate for comfort yet do not know why they feel so afraid, are in an Aspen state.

The Mimulus fear is different again. This is an everyday fear – and its everyday causes include the fear of pain, of poverty, of being burgled, of having an accident, of getting lost, of mice, of water, and so on. Always it is a known fear.

However, whilst the Aspen fear and that of Mimulus or Rock Rose may seem to be diametrically opposed, this does not mean that these remedies cannot be taken together. There can be an element of both types of fear present in certain circumstances. A person may experience a definite fear of one thing in particular, but at the same time feel that there is an irrational, unexplained aspect to it.

For example, a child might be afraid of the dark (known fear = Mimulus), yet cannot explain what it is about the dark that frightens him (unknown fear = Aspen). Fear of heights is another such fear. We may have a definite and tangible fear of falling and of injury (Mimulus) which is perfectly reasonable and understandable for anyone venturing up an open staircase or walking along high cliffs. But we may experience a similar fear when safely enclosed in a secure, albeit tall, building. We may not be able to give any reason or explanation for his fear – it is literally “without cause” – and at this point it begins to become an Aspen state.

(But bear in mind that someone suffering with fear in these circumstances may have been involved in a terrifying incident, such as an earthquake or explosion, which had resulted in terror of such places. In this case the definite and very real nature of the terror would indicate Rock Rose for the current terror; or we might look to Star of Bethlehem to deal with the after-effects of that initial shock.)

Aspen fears are sometimes described as an irrational fears. This may lead to confusion with the lack of self-control of Cherry Plum – and of course both are fear states. Cherry Plum, though, is for those who are literally afraid of being irrational, and this is altogether different from suffering an irrational fear of something we can’t name.

People in a Cherry Plum state may be afraid of losing control, or feel compelled to do something that would injure themselves or someone else. Experiencing sudden thoughts such as these makes us fear for our sanity. We may also fear for our sanity if we cannot explain why we live in fear. So, whilst Aspen fears are quite different to Cherry Plum fears, we can see how one state of mind may shade into another. Once again, there is no reason why Aspen and Cherry Plum cannot be combined if both states are present.