This article is an extract from our book

Oil and Water

Kermes Oak
Quercus coccifera
There are folk amongst us who have understanding of their life’s mission. They possess great energy and enthusiasm for their work and insight into their purpose. Others, with less certainty in this area, frequently admire or consider them lucky to have found what they really want to do. However, there are times when the soul’s real desires have to be put on hold whilst more pressing concerns are faced. Life’s journey is rarely a straight line, often we have to retrace our path or step sideways before we are once more able to move in our chosen direction.

For the Kermes Oak folk , who are ambitious to achieve, these twists and turns can so easily be viewed as distractions and frustrations from the ultimate goal. If they persist for a sustained period of time, doubt and the undermining of faith can occur. When the world appears to conspire against fulfilment, discouragement and disheartenment can so easily set in. That which gave so much clarity of purpose can end up filling the mind with confusion and uncertainty. The soul is then in danger of losing touch with a core value or issue. Faith and confidence can be so badly damaged that even when time and opportunity does arise to continue the personal quest, energy and enthusiasm are lacking. Excuses will be made not to act. The ill health that arises out of this condition is not through tireless work but the spirit’s sense of defeat and feeling of being neglected.

Suggested uses for Kermes Oak:

• to encourage patience and a greater awareness of the long-term perspective
• to strengthen resolve in a chosen direction, particularly when the going gets tough and the demands of everyday living are painfully intrusive
• to ease the doubts and uncertainties that can surround and isolate the knowing contained within the soul
• for those who have fallen by the wayside, lost faith and belief in their mission through the pressures and responsibilities of everydayliving.

As the genus reveals, Kermes Oak is a true oak yet is classified as a shrub, ratherthan a tree, since it only grows to a height of six feet or so. Its vibrational quality is not dissimilar to the famous Oak flower remedy that Bach originally made. However, the qualitis within Kermes Oak are lighter, less permanent and fixed, than those of the great oaks we find in the forests and woods.