Bach Flower Database

Botany: Salix vitellina
Preparation: Boiling Method
Represents: Responsibility

People who benefit from willow are the people who are victims of everyone and everything except themselves. Everything is always "someone else's fault" and every bad thing that happens to them simply reinforces the idea that the world is out to get them.

People in a negative willow state are unpleasant to be around for another reason: They tend to infect others with their negativity. They are the "sticks in the mud" and the "web blankets". No matter what the situation, a negative willow personality will blanket itself with a protective layer of negativity and resistance.

Negative willows also tend to nurse grudges and can carry them for decades. They tend to act very passively and rarely seek closure or resolution. Often, the target of this grudge has no idea the negative willow person is even angry.

Deep down, the negative willow personality is deeply but silently judgmental of others and will begrudge them even well-deserved successes. The negative willow personality is one full of self-pity, bitterness and helplessness.

Imagine a mother helping her adult son pack for his new job hundreds of miles away. The son, fresh out of college, has been offered his dream job and is excited about this new opportunity. The mother, though, cannot see her son's success because she's focused on the growing fear of abandonment. And instead of taking pride in her son's accomplishments she is silently fuming. Now, this mother could say, "You know, Son, I was thinking that if I moved too, we wouldn't be so far apart," but she won't. She won't even think about how inexpensive it would be to fly out to see her son once in a while.

This woman is in a negative state. During what could be a beautiful testament to her raising such an independent, strong young man, this mother feels only the abandonment. In her mind, she is a victim of her's success.

The Positive Willow State

People in a positive willow state are pro-active. They take responsibility for their actions and and understand that only they control their own fate. They look for opportunities to affect their environment positively and constructively. They are pleasant to be around because they recognize blessings and the rewards of hard work.