Crab Apple
Feeling unclean or ashamed of yourself, and fixating on small imperfections
What it feels like
There is something about yourself you cannot stand, and it is usually physical. A patch of skin, your teeth, a smell you are convinced other people notice. It takes up a wildly disproportionate amount of your attention, and you know that, which does not help. It can also be a more general feeling of being unclean, wanting to shower after a bad day or a difficult conversation. Small details take over. You will notice one mark on a clean kitchen and be unable to leave it, and the bigger picture, including the fact that you are largely fine, barely registers.
Signs you might need it
- You dislike something about your appearance out of all proportion
- You feel unclean and want to wash after difficult days
- One small flaw takes over your view of the whole
- You are fastidious about tidiness or germs
- You feel ashamed of your body or of something you did
- You fixate on details others would not notice
What it helps with
The sense of proportion returns. The detail stops filling the whole frame, and you get some ordinary acceptance of yourself back, which is what people usually say they miss most.
Not to be confused with
Pine, which is guilt about something you did rather than a sense of being unclean, and Rock Water, which is strictness about standards rather than shame. Crab Apple is specifically about feeling tainted.
This is the remedy of cleansing. For those who feel as if they had something not quite clean about themselves. Often it is something of apparently little importance. In others there may be more serious disease which is almost disregarded compared to the one thing on which they concentrate.
The plant
The wild crab apple, a small hedgerow tree with pale pink and white blossom and hard sour fruit. Those fruits are inedible raw and yet they make the clearest jelly of any apple, which is a neat fit for a remedy about cleansing.
How to take it
The usual way is two drops from the stock bottle into a small glass of water, sipped through the day. If you are mixing several remedies, put two drops of each into a 30ml bottle of spring water and take four drops from that, four times a day.
There is no need to time it around meals, and you can take it as often as you like. Most people give it two weeks before deciding whether it is doing anything. The full guide to taking them covers mixing bottles, timing and the alcohol question.
Often mixed up with Crab Apple
Often taken alongside
Common questions
These are about Crab Apple. The questions about the remedies in general, alcohol, children, timing, live in the FAQ.
Why is Crab Apple called the cleansing remedy?
Bach described it that way himself, because it describes a feeling of being unclean rather than any physical state. Some people also add it to a bath during a period when they feel that way, which is traditional use rather than anything proven.
Is Crab Apple good for skin problems?
It is often chosen when someone feels ashamed or distressed about their skin. Crab Apple is for the feeling rather than the skin itself, so it sits happily alongside whatever you are already using.
Can it help with body image?
It is the closest match in the system for disliking something about your appearance out of all proportion. People describe getting their sense of scale back, so the one detail stops filling the whole frame. Be kind to yourself while you take it, and lean on someone you trust if it is weighing heavily.
Not sure Crab Apple is the one?
Choosing works by recognizing yourself in a description, so if this one only half fits, it is worth seeing what else comes up. The quiz narrows all 38 in about a minute, and the despondency and despair group holds the nearest neighbors.
Where to buy Crab Apple
Bach remedies are widely stocked. If you are buying online, check the bottle says Crab Apple and comes in the standard 20ml stock size.
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