Creature Comforters UK ~ the English Flower Essence Company ~ make a range of natural products for people and animals. For over 35 years we have supplied our Blends, Remedies and Essences to holistic therapists, veterinary surgeons, animal rescue centres, doctor's surgeries and to people and their pets throughout the world.

The staff of Creature Comforters have a wealth of expertise in the field of alternative therapies and, specifically, Flower Essences as practitioners, producers, tutors and authors. We have been making Flower Essences for over three decades to the precise natural and traditional instructions of Dr Bach (the man who discovered the Remedies in the 1930s).

Creature Comforters is proud to be the first company to develop and manufacture the Original Flower Essence Blends for Animals®.

Creature Comforters is based here in the English seaside town of Cromer on the North Norfolk coast. This is the same town that Dr Bach resided whilst discovering and developing the 'Bach Flower Remedies' in the 1930s, and we feel privileged to continue this important work from its original roots -

from the birthplace of Bach's Remedies.

 

Creature Comforters UK
about us...

Creature Comforters
and 'Sun Essences for Animals'

Our Company 'Creature Comforters' was formerly called 'Sun Essences for Animals' (aligned to the English Flower Essence Company 'Sun Essences').

Sun Essences and Sun Essences for Animals was founded by two like-minded women; Jane Stevenson and Vivien Williamson who laid the initial foundations for the company over three decades ago. They brought to the partnership their individual skills and experience...

Vivien (manager of Sun Essences) has many years experience as a flower essence producer. She is a respected authority on Dr Bach (the man who discovered the flower remedies), and is a flower essence tutor and an author of several 'flower essence related' publications including the well received and popular hard-back: 'Bach Remedies and other Flower Essences' (see left).

Jane (manager of Creature Comforters UK) is a qualified Flower Essence Practitioner and has an extensive knowledge of complementary therapies. She studied Zoology and has almost three decades of experience in using Flower Essences to address negative behaviour traits and challenging emotional problems in animals. Jane is also a qualified Reiki healer and Counselor and has provided thousands of individual Flower Essence Consultations for people and their pets for the past 35 years.

Book

With a keen interest in animal behaviour and many years experience as Flower Essence Practitioner, Jane formed the company *'Creature Comforters UK' which is dedicated to providing advice, support, information and natural products to help address the emotional and behavioural problems experienced by animals and their owners.



*Our company 'Creature Comforters UK' was initially called: 'Sun Essences for Animals'


Our company logos past and present

Creature Comforters logo

Sun Essences for Animals logo (obsolete)

(Obsolete)
Sun Essences logo

 

BAFEP


Creature Comforters UK
is a member of BAFEP - The British Association of Flower Essence Producers. The association maintains standards in production, labeling and advertising. (www.bafep.com)
BioforceA Vogel Bioforce
Creature Comforters UK and Sun Essences exclusively supply the leading natural health company Bioforce UK with our concentrated stock 'Mother' Flower Essences. These are used to make their entire range of Flower Essence Blends.
One of the foremost and oldest of such companies, Bioforce's wide range of trusted herbal products have been available in natural health stores throughout the UK for many decades. A. Vogel has been a pioneer in Natural Health since 1923.
BFVEA
Creature Comforters UK is a member of the BFVEA - The British Flower and Vibrational Essences Association (www.bfvea.com). Jane Stevenson, manager of Creature Comforters, is an Advanced Practitioner registered with BFVEA.
FSB Creature Comforters UK is a member of the FSB - Federation of Small Businesses.

 

 

At 'Creature Comforters UK' we maintain very high standards and adhere resolutely to Dr Bach's specific instructions when making and bottling our remedies and essences.

The remedy making process

Firstly, through meticulous searching throughout the British countryside (and further afield), we choose the most natural, organic and unspoilt location for making each remedy.

Early in the morning, on a beautifully clear, sunny day, the flowers are carefully selected for their quality, vigour and splendour and are then infused in spring water using the traditional 'Solar' method (where applicable).

During the next few hours the elements of nature combine to release the flowers' unique, positive energy (to learn more about this process please read the 'Water Memory' article - scroll-right).

Once the water is fully charged it is preserved using a quality brandy. This pure, invigorated and potent flower remedy is now ready for bottling.



Creature Comforters' photo album

Please do look at our photo album which contains lots of lovely photos of our Remedy-Making year

Selecting flowers
Infusion
Mother essences
Bottling-up in the workshop
The 10ml bottle
1. Identifying plant species. 2. Preparing for 'infusion' of flowers using the Solar method.
3. Bottles of pure Mother tincture. 4. Bottling-up by hand in the workshop (we use no machinery). 5. The finished product.
Bach Flower Remedies

We make...
Genuine Bach Flower Remedies

Made to the traditional instructions of Dr Edward Bach...

.........Animals Blends

We make...
The Original Blends for Animals

Six Blends used to help address the key emotional and behavioural problems experienced by animals - naturally...

Peoples Blends

We make...
Blends for People

Four Blends used as a gentle solution to the pressures of everyday life - naturally...

Creature Comforters Flower Essences

We make...
Flower Essences

A range of special Essences developed by us, many unique to Creature Comforters...

Fragranced sprays Divination cards Gift Bags

We make...
Fragranced Sprays, Divination cards, Gift bags

We, at Creature Comforters, passionately believe that Flower Remedies should be made in the traditional way...

Therefore, during the entire manufacturing process: flower collection, 'infusion' and bottling, all our products are hand-prepared with care, attention and sensitivity. We are also distinct in that we blend all our essences to a traditional stock concentration, direct from the 'Mother' tincture - precisely as stipulated by Dr Bach (the man who discovered the Flower Remedies in the 1930s). This method is reported to give each remedy an extra potency.

We remain resolutely faithful to Dr Edward Bach's original instructions - using the natural, time-honoured and preferable 'Solar' method of infusion where applicable. We are one of the few remaining Flower Essence companies who still use this traditional, natural and (in our opinion) superior method of manufacture.

Creature Comforters is a relatively small, family run, Flower Essence company, unlike more familiar / ubiquitous Bach Remedy manufacturers, and as a company our main focus is Flower Essences and, perhaps because of these two things, we are able to devote the time and effort needed to make each Remedy in the traditional way ~ by hand, using the 'Solar' method, and to the correct concentration. We take no short cuts in the making of our remedies!

Learn more about this process in the following item > > > >

To learn more about Dr Bach and his Bach Flower Remedies please visit our Dr Edward Bach / Articles page

Creature Comforters logo
Dr Edward Bach
Dr Edward Bach
(1886-1936)
The man who discovered Flower Remedies - here in Cromer
Remedy making

Creature Comforters' photo album

 

 

For more please scroll right >

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Jane Stevenson
founding manager of 'Creature Comforters UK'

Written by A. Digby

Jane Stevenson has over 35 years experience as a flower essence practitioner. She is qualified in Zoology, BFVEA accredited and a member of BAFEP.

Jane grew up in idyllic Cornwall, England where she would take her collie dog for invigorating walks along the rugged coast, surrounded by the untamed sea and wild weather ~ Mother Nature in all her powerful magnificence.

Jane's mother was a district nurse and midwife with sole responsibility for Cornish residents within a 20 mile radius of her cottage. She also had a keen interest in herbal remedies and alternative medicine which fired Jane's passion for natural remedies and caring for others from an early age.

Jane Stevenson

Jane's family (the Slades') provided the inspiration for acclaimed author Daphne Du Maurier's first novel 'The Loving Spirit'. This novel was inspired by Jane's great grandfather and his local ship building company in Polruan opposite Fowey harbor (pronounced Foy). And Jane was named after her great grandfather's ship that is the star of Du Maurier's book - The Jane Slade (re-named the 'Janet Coombes' in Du Maurier's novel).

While studying Zoology Jane gained an insight into animal behaviour and physiology. This, combined with her childhood of observing her mother as a nurse and using natural remedies, was the ideal foundation for a lifetimes work using alternative therapies to help animals and their owners.

Cornish coast
A cove in Cornwall near where Jane grew up

In the mid 70s, after studying in London, Jane moved to Norfolk, England to start a family. This is where she began using the Bach Flower Remedies to help friends, family and locals. Jane was renowned for providing a shoulder to cry on, a cup of tea and some soothing words for anyone who was in need. Her kitchen was always bustling with friends, neighbours and everyone's children - the door was always open and she was christened 'Aunty Jane' to everyone who knew her!

Making her own flower essences was a natural progression and so in the early 1980s, (after meeting Vivien Williamson who was also knowledgeable on Dr Bach and his remedies), she decided to make her own collection with the help of Vivien. After thoroughly researching Bach's traditional methods and his original locations and plant species, she and Vivien spent several years making The Complete Set of Bach Flower Remedies in the fields and meadows of Britain and, for Bach's 'Olive' and 'Vine' Remedies, they traveled to Crete and Spain. During this time they also discovered several new flower essences, many of which have proven to be particularly suited to addressing emotional problems in animals, such as 'Bluebell'. Together they built the English flower essence companies Sun Essences and Sun Essences for Animals.

They also created a separate complete set of Bach Remedy 'Mothers' using the Kosher method. This range provided the Jewish market in the USA with authentic, Kosher Bach Flower Remedies. Their company Sun Essences was also one of the first (if not the first) to produce and manufacture 'flower essence combinations', i.e. a number of essences blended together to make a composite bottle of essences especially formulated to address specific emotional conditions (e.g. for confidence, for sleep, for clarity etc). These were called 'Solar Blends'. Jane was also passionate about the importance of 'colour' within the Blends and so introduced a system where there was a balanced 'rainbow of colour' within each bottle, represented by the full spectrum of flower colours.

Making remedies

In the mid 1980s Jane arranged a meeting with an old friend of Dr Bach's called Archie Wright who just so happened to live in the village next to Jane's. He was an elderly Norfolk man who was, by then, in his 80's, and had known Bach when they both lived in Cromer in the 1930s. Jane found the meeting a fascinating experience. Being able to talk with someone who knew Dr Bach so intimately was, she said, very enlightening and almost magical! (Please click here to read Jane's fascinating interview with Archie.)

By now Jane had become a highly respected flower essence Practitioner and dowser, regularly supplying clients from all over the world with remedies to help with transient emotional problems. However, she soon realised that there were just as many animals who needed help, as there were people. Her love of flowers, affinity with animals, Zoology qualification and extensive knowledge of complementary therapies provided a solid foundation for the formation of the company 'Sun Essences for Animals'.

She latterly expanded the company to also provide her Bach Flower Remedies, which she'd been making for the previous 20 years, and essence blends for people (as well as animals). Therefore, in 2007 this required a change of company name, so that people didn't get confused, thinking we only helped animals. And so we went from being known as 'Sun Essences for Animals' to our current name - 'Creature Comforters UK'.

Jane is now dedicated to helping animals: working closely with vets, trainers, animal sanctuaries and the RSPCA (The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). She also provides consultations, remedies, blends and complementary therapy advice for people (and animal owners!). She began working with the Bach Flower Remedies over 35 years ago, and has found using this pure and natural remedial method to be extremely effective and rewarding.

Creature Comforters UK is based in the English seaside town of Cromer, Norfolk, where Dr Bach (the man who discovered Flower Remedies in the 1930s) lived and worked, and Jane feels privileged to continue this important work so close to its original roots.

Dr Bach felt that every household would benefit from his remedies, and Jane’s wish is that all animals also have the opportunity to benefit from flower essence therapy.

She says: "It never ceases to amaze me how these delicate little flowers have the power to stimulate our inbuilt healing mechanisms. I feel enormously privileged to have helped so many people and animals using this gentle, yet powerful tool."

Jane has 2 daughters, 6 grandchildren and (currently) 1 dog!

 

 

Water Memory
How we capture the Energy Signature of the Flowers
Remedy making
Remedy making

 

Although Homeopathic Medicine is different to Flower Remedy Therapy, they both use the stored energy signature or, what’s commonly known as; ‘vibration’ of a specified plant to unlock the healing potential of that living material. With Flower Remedies this is done by means of a phenomenon called ‘Water Memory’. The rationale for proponents of this phenomenon is that water is capable of retaining a memory of the vibration of particles or flowers that have been placed into it for a specified period of time and by a specified means.

Therefore the ‘source material’ could, for example, be a Verbena officinalis flower that, using Dr Bach’s traditional method, is first submerged into fresh spring water and is then left in the sunlight for a few hours to ‘infuse’. Once the water has collected the memory of Verbena officinalis its’ unique ‘energy signature’ will be stored forever within that spring water. The next step is for the infused spring water to be preserved (usually using brandy) and thus it becomes a Flower Remedy that is used for the unique emotional or behavioural problems that Verbena officinalis is understood to address; in this case – fanaticism or intensity.

 

Remedy making

The notion of water having the capacity to retain a ‘memory’ has proven to be a controversial one amongst many members of the scientific community (and often an inconceivable one to the layman!). However, recent studies by some eminent scientists have shown that, although still not fully understood, there is some validity to this ‘concept’. When studying the water that it has been placed into: each flower (for instance) imparts a unique ‘fingerprint of energy’ into the water – these subtle, yet distinct changes can be observed through a powerful microscope, and, when frozen, can be seen as thousands of beautiful and identical geometric crystals (similar to magnified snow flakes); all totally unique to that particular plant. And therefore, as one would expect, microscopic photographs have also shown that the molecular structure of water changes when infused with particular particles, however, much more significant is the fact that these changes can still be observed after the water has been diluted so extensively (by thousands of percent of the original concentration) that logic and science would predict that there would be no trace whatsoever of the added particle.

In such studies the water behaves in a way that is not fully understood and is apparently in contradiction to the laws of known science. However, despite any conclusive scientific explanation, many, many people who have used the Remedies over the past 75 years have reported positive effects from taking them. Some may say that this could simply be the ‘placebo effect’ (in other words: a sense of benefit felt by the patient that arises solely from the knowledge that treatment has been given), however, many practitioners and pet owners have also reported some amazing results when the Remedies are given to animals, so there can be no question of the placebo effect being at work in those cases. Therefore, we don’t really know how they work but we know that they do!

 

To learn more about this subject and to read the arguments please click here for the WATER MEMORY articles.

Remedy making
Remedy making
Remedy making
Bach's Cromer
Where it all began


By J Stevenson with contributions from A Digby

Bach's Cromer
4 Brunswick Terrace, Cromer.
The dwelling to the right of the cream coloured house was Dr Bach’s residence in the 1930s

By a steep, cobbled slipway that leads to the beach, sits a row of tall Victorian terraces inhabited by artists, holidaymakers and fishermen. Nestled amid the row is an unremarkable dwelling with a dark green, iron door. There seems nothing extraordinary about this house except that, unknown to most, it was once, during the 1930s, the residence of a very special man. A man who has influenced thousands worldwide; someone who has inspired hundreds of books, written in many different languages, and myriad websites, articles, leaflets, brochures and journals. An inspirational, some say visionary, doctor, homeopath and surgeon who - through great personal sacrifice and dedication - pioneered a new, alternative system of treatment that went-on to be revered around the world by those seeking a different, natural way to heal emotional problems.
His name was and is Edward Bach and, whilst living here in the Norfolk coastal town of Cromer, he began his ‘journey of research’ into what became known as The Bach Flower Remedies.

Having used, made and prescribed Flower Remedies, for the larger part of my life, I feel extremely privileged to live just a 15-minute walk from Dr Bach’s former residence and in the town he inhabited when discovering many of his Remedies. A quaint, traditional seaside town; to the casual observer there’s nothing particularly remarkable about Cromer. It has the obligatory pier, a modest promenade and a few (formerly) grand hotels. In wintertime it’s quiet, sleepy and windswept (or gale-swept), in the summer it’s all ice cream, windbreaks and holidaying families, probably just as it was in the 1930s when Bach lived here.

But there are some fine places to be found in and around this town, on the wild, sandy cliffs and grassy green hills. Places that Dr Bach himself walked whilst looking for plants and flowers to add to his growing range of remedies. I’d like to take you to one of those places, a special one, just over the way from my home.

The delightfully named ‘Happy Valley’ (see the scene at the start of this page) is an area of mown park and wild scrubland, watched-over by an elegant lighthouse and bordered by the open sea to one side and woodland to the other. A favourite place for dog-walkers, it’s where I take my dog, Simba, early each morning. If you climb the steep ridge, out of the valley, you’ll be met by a wonderful view overlooking a wide expanse of sea. Sometimes the sea is bluey green – tropical looking, other times it’s dark, rough and angry. But it is here, during the late summer, that the cliffs are blanketed in a profusion of Clematis, as far as you can see. There’s a nicely positioned bench nearby and a perilous long, windy path, cut out of the cliffs, leading to the beach. So, although this is a public place, this little patch still feels secret and special – the flowers positively inviting you to make a remedy from them.

It is well documented that Bach made his very first Remedies in and around Cromer and that his Clematis was made from the flowers on these banks, but could this be the precise spot? Perhaps, back in the 1930s, this is where the first ever Clematis Flower Remedy was made? Perhaps those very plants I use to make my Clematis are the descendents of those that Bach himself used? It’s impossible to know, but it’s nice to wonder or even daydream; as those requiring Clematis are prone!


Clematis flower

The Birth of Rescue Remedy
Being that Bach's home was situated at a good vantage point overlooking the sea and lifeboat station, he, like his neighbours, would often have seen the boat going out to rescue those in peril. The story goes that one stormy day, during the winter of 1933, the lifeboat went out to rescue a man who, for over five hours, had been clinging to the mast of a wreckage. When the boat returned the man was delirious; foaming at the mouth; almost frozen – his life despaired of. With that, Edward rushed to his kitchen and hastily mixed a concoction of his newly discovered remedies which he dabbed on the “helpless” man as he was being carried up the slipway. Before the man had been stripped of his clothing and wrapped in warm blankets he was sitting up, in his right mind, and asking for a cigarette. It is said that that seemingly impromptu concoction was the birth of the now famous Rescue Remedy.  Seventy five years later that little bottle of magic – Rescue Remedy™ (yes, now with trade-mark symbol) – is advertised in glossy magazines; is on sale around the country in Boots the chemist; is espoused by celebrities who exclaim: “I can’t be without my Rescue Remedy”; and is even used as the answer to general-knowledge questions on TV quiz shows! Quite remarkable when you think how it came into being. (For our product - made the same way and with the same ingredients as Dr Bach's Rescue Remedy mentioned above - please click here for the Comforter Essence).

This otherwise fairly ordinary town of Cromer is a place that inspires me like it inspired Edward. A place where many of the first discoveries were made, and the sequence of unplanned events happened, that helped enable Edward Bach to create something very special – a gift to the world.

© Copyright 2010 J Stevenson and A Digby

Bach's views

Bach’s Cromer.  Clockwise from left: 1. The Red Lion, where Bach would drink ale; 2. Brunswick Terrace; 3. The view from Bach’s house; 4. Cromer pier; 5. Number 4 - Bach’s home

 

Cromer today
Cromer today

 

 

Our Remedies are made the way Dr Bach intended. And from the birthplace of the Bach Flower Remedies

Genuine Bach Flower Remedies - from the birthplace of Bach's Remedies < Creature Comforters UK > The Original Blends for Animals < Creature Comforters UK > Blends for People < Creature Comforters UK > Unique Flower Essences < Creature Comforters UK > Fragranced Sprays < Creature Comforters UK > Bach Flower Divination Cards < Creature Comforters UK > Gift Bags and much more from Creature Comforters UK > Genuine Bach Flower Remedies - from the birthplace of Bach's Remedies < Creature Comforters UK > The Original Blends for Animals < Creature Comforters UK > Blends for People < Creature Comforters UK > Unique Flower Essences < Creature Comforters UK > Fragranced Sprays < Creature Comforters UK > Bach Flower Divination Cards < Creature Comforters UK > Gift Bags and much more from Creature Comforters UK > Genuine Bach Flower Remedies - from the birthplace of Bach's Remedies < Creature Comforters UK > < BACK TO START

Dr Bach lived just the other side of this hill. This park is called Happy Valley - a five minute walk from our home - and these Gorse bushes may well be the actual descendents from which Dr Bach made the very first Gorse Flower Remedy.