Bougainvillea - Bougainvillea spectabilis

Bougainvillea essence has many childlike attributes. It is suitable for ‚real‘ as for ‚inner‘ children. It supports the child of the present as the child we were in the past, the child who wants to be comforted and cradled, protected and promoted, who enjoys exuberant and unrestrained laugh, free from all blockages and „have tos“ we adults often refer to, when in reality the fear holds us back. We will usually find a number of rational reasons for our behaviour in order to hide our fears and inhibitions.

The inner child however recognizes the magic and wonder in the simple everyday life. It does not have to seek adventures in foreign lands, since the adventures are always right in front of us in the here and now, when clouds turn into faces and the campfire telling stories. Magical thinking is the term adult use for it and I am not sure if this is meant jealous or deprecatory.

On the other hand children often appear helpless and vulnerable and need protection and security. In the magical years they use to think mom is leaving for ever, when she just went to the bathroom. That is  the other side of the coin of living in the here and now: there is no tomorrow and no returning of the parents. Bougainvillea brings both into balance: magic and realism, excitement and reason. Risk and caution.