Cherry Plum
Botanical: Prunus cerasifera
Family: Rosaceae
Homeopathic remedy: Not used, although several trees of Prunus genus are used−Prunus Spinosa (Prun.), Prunus Cerasus (Prun−c.), Prunus Padus (Prun-p.), Prunus Virginiana (Prun−v.)
Description: Cherry plum is a small tree producing a large quantity of small, white, single flowers in early spring. The fruits are small, edible and are produces only by the single-flowered species of Prunus. Double−flowered trees do not produce any fruits at all. The Purple−leaved plum (Prunus Cerasifera) has new foliage which unfolds as ruby-red, then turns reddish−purple, and finally matures to greenish-bronze by the end of the summer. The small, white to light pink, springtime flowers, which usually appear before the leaves unfold, are followed by a heavy crop of edible, purple fruits.
Medicinal uses: Not commonly used for medicinal purposes.
Keywords: Fear of losing self-control, Impulse of hurting someone of himself, Loss of self-control with screaming and irrational rage, Fear of going mad.
Dr Bach's description: Fear of the mind being over-strained, of reason giving way, of doing fearful and dreaded things, not wished and known wrong, yet there comes the thought and impulse to do them.
Essence: The Cherry plum is one of fear remedies. The fear is however very specific. The Cherry plum person fears of losing self-control. He fears, that he will lose self-control and that he will cause harm to the people around him or to himself.
The basis for this kind of fear is an irrational impulse of hurting other people or himself. This does not mean that these people consciously wish to harm others, but it means, that the person is sometimes driven by a strong, even irresistible impulse, which he fears. The fact, that the person fears that he may do something terrible to others means, that he is aware of the fact, that he has something dark within himself, something he fears, but he tries to control it and tries to suppress these impulses.
Cherry plum is not only specific for the fear of losing the self-control, but also for the state when the loss of self-control has actually taken place. Best image to describe this kind of behavior is an image of a small, frightened child screaming, driven by dread and irrational rage.