Disease is in essence the result of conflict between Soul and Mind, and will never be eradicated except by spiritual and mental effort. (Bach, p. 6)

... (humans have) a Soul which is his real self; a Divine, Mighty Being, a Son of the Creator of all things, of which the body, although the earthly temple of that Soul, is but the minutest reflection: that our Soul, our Divinity Who resides in and around us, lays down for us our lives as He wishes them to be ordered and, so far as will allow, ever guides, protects and encourages us, watchful and beneficent to lead us always for our utmost advantage: that He, our Higher Self, being a spark of the Almighty, is thereby invincible and immortal. ...

The Soul knows what environment and what circumstances will best enable us to do this, and hence He places us in that branch of life most suited for that object. ... Our Souls, which are really we, are immortal, and the bodies of which we are conscious are temporary, merely as horses we ride to go a journey, or instruments we use to do a piece of work. ... so long as our Souls and personalities are in harmony, all is joy and peace, happiness and health. It is when our personalities are led astray from the path laid down by the Soul, either by our worldly desires or by the persuasion of others, that a conflict arises. This conflict is the root cause of disease and unhappiness. (Bach, p 9,10)

There are two great errors, first, to fail to honour and obey the dictates of our Soul, and second, to act against Unity. (Bach, p 12)

Many of us in our childhood and early life are much nearer to our Soul than we are in later years, .... The reason for this is that the materialism and circumstances of our age, and the personalities with whom we associate, lead us away from the voice of our Higher Self and bind us firmly to the commonplace with its lack of ideals, ...
(Bach, p 24, 25)

We must earnestly learn to develop individuality according to the dictates of our own Soul, .... ... Especially must we be on guard ... to be certain that the desire to help comes from the dictates of the Inner Self and not a false sense of duty ....
(Bach, p 25)

Let everyone remember that his Soul has laid down for him a particular work, and that unless he does this work, though perhaps not consciously, he will inevitably raise a conflict between his Soul and personality which of necessity reacts in the form of physical disorders.

True, it may be the calling of any one individual to devote his life to one other alone, but before doing so let him be absolutely certain that this is the command of his Soul, and that it is not the suggestion of some other dominant personality over-persuading him, or false ideas of duty misdirecting him. Let him also remember that we come down into this world to win battles, to gain strength against those who would control us, and to advance to that stage when we pass through life doing our duty quietly and calmly, undeterred and uninfluenced by any living being, calmly guided always by the voice of our Higher Self. (Bach, p. 30, 31)

... our Souls only give us tasks as we are capable of accomplishing, and that with our own courage and faith in the Divinity within us victory must come to all who continue to strive. (Bach, p. 32)

... we are all expected to do our best, and we know that this is possible for all of us if we will but listen to the dictates of our own Soul.
(Bach, p. 35)

... the necessity of seeking within ourselves those defects we possess which cause us to work against Unity and out of harmony with the dictates of the Soul, and of eliminating these faults by developing the opposing virtues. ... the perfect method of learning this is by calm thought and meditation, .... To struggle against a fault increases its power, keeps our attention riveted on its presence, and brings us a battle indeed, and the most success we can then expect is conquest by suppression, which is far from satisfactory, as the enemy is still with us and may in a weak moment show itself afresh. (Bach, p. 41, 42)

We can, however, by communion with our Higher Self, keep that harmony which enables us to overcome all worldly opposition and make our journey along the straight path to fulfil our destiny, undeterred by the influences which would lead us astray.
(Bach, p. 53)

Though subtle indeed may be the means used to prevent us from fulfilling our Destiny, the pretense of love and affection, or a false sense of duty, methods to enslave us and keep us prisoners to the wishes and desires of others, yet must all such be ruthlessly put aside. The voice of our own Soul, and that alone, must be heeded as regards our duty if we are not to be hampered by those around us. Individuality must be developed to the utmost, and we must learn to walk through life relying on none but our own Soul for guidance and help, to take our freedom with both hands and plunge into the world to gain every particle of knowledge and experience which may be possible. (Bach, p. 54)

(Christ) acts for us as Mediator between our personality and our Soul. His mission on earth was to teach us, by example, how to obtain harmony and communion with our Higher Self, with Our Father which is in Heaven, and thereby to obtain perfection in accordance with the Will of the Great Creator of all. (Bach, p. 56)

The action (of the Bach Flower Remedies) is to raise our vibrations and open up our channels for the reception of the Spiritual Self; to flood our natures with the particular virtue we need, and wash out from us the fault that is causing the harm.
(Scheffer, p. 13)

Painful childhood experiences, faulty upbringing, negative environmental factors (energy blocks) etc. make it appear to the individual that the messages from the Higher Self are not acceptable. He attempts to silence these impulses within him, responding with an avoidance reaction such as fear, uncertainty, lack of courage, withdrawal or indecision. The energetic impulse from the Higher Self becomes blocked at that moment. The potential cannot be brought to realization. ... The inner conflict is daily using up additional psychic energy, energy that does not come from the inexhaustible source of the Higher Self but has to be taken from the resources available to the Personality, as it were, thus depriving other areas where specific actions need to be taken. (Scheffer, p. 21)

[ Mentions of the Higher Self in the remainder of Scheffer are largely found in the description of the "Principle" provided for each of the 38 Remedies. Usually, the problem requiring the Remedy originates in the "Personality" of the subject rejecting, ignoring, attempting to force, or, in some other manner, defeating the benefits of its Higher Self.]

With the benefits of the guidance of the Higher Self being so fundamental and positive, one may ask WHY humans have such extreme difficulty in their apparent acceptance and follow through of this guidance.

• One's "Personality", as used by Scheffer, is often confused with one's personal goals, attitudes, and conscious intentions. This is only partly correct. Also included are all of your habits, fears, needs, desires, compulsions, obsessions, predispositions, reactions, and assumptions which have been constructed by your Reptilian structure in your Unconscious. Those which are destructive and spiritually negative have often been constructed in this "secret" area of the brain in response to traumatic experiences.

Remember, it is easy to change one's intentions; it takes practice and new skills to change old patterns. Expect your Ego and Unconscious to be roadblocks to your progress. You can be most effective in removing these roadblocks by acknowledging the benefits which each part of your personality can provide the Higher Self with. First, be patient and consistent in your determination to focus on and follow the guidance of the Higher Self. Until now, you have given all of the decision-making power to your Ego and your Unconscious. They will always be the easiest to contact for guidance UNTIL you practice often and develop your skill to contact your Higher Self.

Secondly, tell your Unconscious that you appreciate its past attempt to administer your body mechanics and keep you out of trouble. Continue by telling it that some of the reactive patterns that it automatically built for you are no longer relevant, it can let those go, please. You will now be consciously taking over your self-training and you will better prepare yourself for the future. It will not have to look after so many emergencies. What you really need now is its help in facilitating your development of these new skills, strategies and response patterns.

You are now building a TEAM.
As long as we isolate and split our Life System into parts according to functionality we encourage each part to lobby for power for its specialty. Together, as a whole person, you can become a winner in this test of life. Emphasize this now to your Ego. Yes, you know it is always looking out for how you can biologically succeed in the short term --- but by itself, that strategy just has not been constructive in reaching a balanced and fruitful life. It will have lots to occupy it in helping carry out the guidance of the Higher Self. It may not like it, but it cannot deny the superiority of the Higher Self in understanding the "bigger" picture and determining which longer-term activities and involvements will bring even greater achievements.

Tell your Ego (self/personal values identity) like it is.
It is going to have to sustain some sacrifices but later, its reward will be greater ecstasy than it can presently perceive. The stakes are high. If you don't find a way to work together, it, and the Unconscious will die. And you don't want that to happen.

Not every member in the identity team likes or wants change, but at least they will now give it a try. You are not rejecting or abusing any part. By doing, they will experience the benefits.

• One's "Personality", within the conceptual basis used by professional astrologers, indicates the volitional, behavioral, and attitudinal patterns which a person is born with. That is, they are the individual's strengths and weaknesses, or predispositions, relative to communication patterns, interests, style of interaction, continuing concerns, and, areas of skill-building ease and difficulty. To the extent that your "original" personality features encourage or discourage spiritual development, so also will be the ease or difficulty you may experience in contacting, hearing, and following the advice of the Higher Self.

Be Prepared.
Find out what these factors are for yourself. Accept them as your areas of strength and weakness. Show respect in acknowledging them, building self-discipline to manage your strengths, and, building new skills and awareness to improve your effectiveness over weaknesses. Know that strengths have a way of distorting the ego with pride --- which shuts out the Higher Self. Know also, that weaknesses distort the ego with despair, frustration, anger, fear, jealousy, and worry --- all of which make openness and self-assertion to the guidance of the Higher Self distant.

• There is no organized mass culture of humans on the Earth which encourages the development of spiritual skills, awareness, and decision-making. In fact, all of the institutions within such cultures actively work to diminish these qualities in favour of political control within authority-based structures. This means that you would have had an easier time of contacting and receiving and following the guidance of your Higher Self when you were younger had you been sufficiently mentally developed at the time.

• The more experiences, schooling, and modeling of behavior you have been exposed to, the more you have been conditioned to adopt, accept, and expect control of your choices by others. Now, with the release of your energy blocks, the cage door is going to be open. Will you have the courage to venture forth and assert your freedom and independence ... responsibly? Almost every social entity is likely to oppose your new lifestyle: friends, relatives, associates, teachers, officials, parents, children, spouse. Why?

Knowing "why" helps you to be prepared and being prepared reduces the potential for shock and provides you with the confidence you must have if you are truly going to put the advice of your Higher Self ahead of any human-centered authority. You see, cultures, that is, political structures, are afraid that if you exert your independence of action and thought ... as if you were really free ... they would have anarchy (lose their power). And, it is true that when people assert their independence based upon either the dominance of their Unconscious or their Ego, social confusion, strife, abuse, and violence are the often outcomes. These are irresponsible acts of insanity, rage, accident, disease, or repetitive failure (Unconscious), or, irresponsible acts of illegality, disrespect, selfishness, intolerance, or aggression (Ego). This is not where you are heading. Do you know where you are heading?

The Higher Self of any individual follows very direct guidelines.
As a Spiritual identity it can only advise from within a spiritual understanding. That means that it will never counsel you to do something which demonstrates disrespect for any human, including yourself. It will advise you to take actions and make decisions which are based on the virtues of gentleness, firmness, courage, constancy, wisdom, joyfulness, and purposefulness. Where possible and positive, it will encourage you to be self-sufficient, independent, responsive, hopeful, loving, reverent, empathic, and self-assertive. ANY society in which each of its members responded in these ways would result in a founding of a near heaven-on-Earth. Thus, it is the lack of awareness of what such guidance could mean to them which holds them in fear and uncertainty.