The autumn equinox is for me a time to look inward after having lived strongly in the blooming impressions of the summer. Now we can summon the power of iron. The iron that supports us in the encounter with what is difficult in ourselves and in the world around us, the iron that gives strength.
The oak tree can be seen as an expression of this metal. It stands majestically there, meeting us in all its power. One way to gather strength can be to hold your hand against the oak and feel the tree.
To take advantage of the qualities of oak, we can also make our own flower drops from oak leaves and acorns, inspired by Dr. Bach's Flower Remedies. These were developed in the 1920s and 30s by the physician and homeopath Dr. Bach and are designed to support us in our emotional lives. To make drops from coarser plant material such as leaves, he developed a method that you can follow to make oak tree drops.
Picture of the large oak tree on Biskops Arnö
DO THIS:
Fill 3/4 of a saucepan with the plant material and cover with water. Boil for 30 minutes. If there is a lot of sludge left, let it sink to the bottom. Strain everything. If there is more sludge left, you may need to strain several times. Mix 3/4 alcohol or apple cider vinegar with 1/4 water, preferably spring water, in a small bottle and into this, with a pipette, take about four drops of the oak decoction. From this bottle you can then make many bottles of oak drops, the finished product. Mix 1/4 alcohol with 3/4 water in a new small bottle and take about four drops from the previous bottle (the one with the larger amount of alcohol/vinegar).
Now the drops are ready!
You can take a few oak drops when you feel the time is right. Otherwise, it is nice to create a routine around taking the drops three times a day. You can also take drops in, for example, a foot bath or in your tea. I personally like to enhance the power of the drops by focusing on the intention of using them.
At Örtfabriken you will find Dr. Bach's Emergency Drops , his most famous drops, made from flowers from the mountain regions of southern Italy.
Text and image by Sara Bonadea George 
