The Encyclopedia of Crystals, Herbs, and New Age Elements: An A to Z Guide to New Age Elements and How to Use Them - Adams Media 2016

Gentian
The Power of Flowers: Flower Essences

ORIGINS

Gentiana is a large genus of flowering plants with about 400 species. Native to temperate regions of Asia, Europe, and the Americas, these plants are known for their blue, trumpet-shaped flowers. Gentian is one of Bach’s original flower remedies.

HISTORY/LORE

Gentian most likely gets its name from Gentius, an Illyrian king who ruled during the second century B.C.E. and who may have been the first to discover the plant’s medicinal properties. According to legend, in the eleventh century, the Hungarian king Ladislaus prayed for divine help with a disease that was afflicting his subjects. He then shot an arrow into the air, and when he found it, it was embedded in a gentian root, which proved to be the remedy needed to cure the disease.

USES

Bach categorized gentian under “for those who suffer uncertainty” and recommended the flower essence for “those who are easily discouraged. They may be progressing well in illness or in the affairs of their daily life, but any small delay or hindrance to progress causes doubt and soon disheartens them.” It lifts that downhearted feeling we get when things go wrong and speeds up the process of bouncing back from setbacks.