iThe History of Essences iWhat do we mean by Energy?  iThe Subtle Bodies iThe Subtle Bodies - Which Essences?     iDoctrine of Signatures iThe Seven Major Chakras iThe Dr Edward Bach Process iFlower Essences & the 21st Century     doctrine of signatures The Doctrine of Signatures is the simple idea that the form or function of something in nature gives us a vital clue as to its application in healing. For example, if we look at the roots of a plant, we might draw several cautious conclusions about the possible actions of root essences.   Since we observe that roots go down into the earth, we might infer that root essences would be very good for grounding a person and linking them more strongly with the earth. Looking at roots, we observe that they go far below the surface. We might then infer that root essences would go far below the surface in getting to the root of a problem or issue.   By contrast, because the bark of a tree protects the tree against the elements and extremes of temperature, we might expect that Tree Bark Essences would have a protective effect for a hypersensitive person.   Although the Doctrine of Signatures is often much maligned in the modern world of science, it retains its importance and validity in the world of essences. In fact, in conceiving new essences, we go out into nature expecting nature to speak to us, subtly, through intuition, through meditation and reflection, and through the Doctrine of Signatures.   Of course, we do not treat the doctrine of signatures as being anything more than a suggestion or hint. There then begins the long process of many years of testing of the new essences to find out whether the action of the essences accords with our original ideas.