Daenerys Targaryen and Vine Flower Essence

By Nicole Daunic

Spring 2024 Flower Essence Formula Design Class

Vine
Botanical Name: Vitisvinifera

Positive Qualities: Selfless service, recognition of the individuality of others; inner authority derived from connection to higher spiritual identity

Patterns of Imbalance: Domineering, tyrannical, forcing one’s will on others; need to subjugate others in order to gain ego strength

Daenerys Targaryen is a character in HBO’s drama Game of Thrones based on a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin entitled A Song of Ice and Fire. The series depicts a dynastic war between families for control of Westeros amid supernatural threats encroaching from the north of the kingdom. Daenerys of House Targaryen, daughter of Aerys II, or the “Mad King”, is born into exile. Her story takes place in the wake of a generational legacy of violence and domination. Throughout her youth she lived under the oppressive hand of her abusive brother who sold her as a teenager to a Dothraki warlord. Daenerys believes she is the true heir to the Iron Throne and throughout the series we watch her rise to power from a powerless girl forced into submission to a formidable leader who claims her bloodline after the birth of three dragons, consolidates power among the seven kingdoms and disrupts the slave trade.

According to the FES Repertory, Vine types are strong willed and highly capable of leadership; however, when these traits are not aligned with the Higher Self, they can breed selfishness instead of selflessness. The soul lesson of Vine is that true leadership is not exercised through force or obedience from others, but from an inner obedience and devotion to a higher spiritual authority. “From a king who rules to a shepherd who serves in order to truly be able to do good for others.”

Daenerys faces the challenge of reconciling her family’s notorious legacy with her own desires for retribution and justice for the oppressed. She is on a quest to break the cycle of violence and conquest that has plagued her family and the realm for generations, insisting “I won’t stop the wheel, I will break it.” She dreams of creating a better world; however, the means by which she achieves her goals of liberation are often through the same means of tyrannical force, dominance and violence of her predecessors. Indeed, she often resorts to ruling by force instead of inspiring hope and change. For example, she orders the newly liberated Unsullied to kill all slaveholders; she ordered 163 of the masters in Meereen to be nailed to crosses as the children had been; she burned the Dothraki Kahls alive; and instead of liberating King’s Landing she burned Westeros to the ground killing thousands of innocents.

If we observe the behavior of vine in the wild, we will immediately notice the way it reaches out and grips whatever is nearby, coiling its tendrils around stems and leaves, growing over other plants in order to reach the light. Similar to this perennial trailing climber which lacks a central trunk, the vine person may use or dominate others to get what they want in life. Julian Barnard notes that they “come to a position of dominance by a will to expand rather than through a natural stature” (The Essence Within, 178). The imperialistic relationship of vine to the flora around it is reflective of Daenerys’s imperialistic goals and tyrannical impulses.

Barnard observes that it is in childhood that we might glean insight into how the vine state develops.”In their childhood they have found every impulse to self-expression ripped out or limited by their family. Each time they put out a new shoot it was cut or tied or trained into a particular form [...]. The Vine types begin to learn that the only way to gain control is to follow that example and become in turn bullying, dominating, forceful adults. It is a learned approach to life” (The Essence Within, 176).

Forced into submission and inheriting a familial legacy of dominance has heavily influenced Daenerys’s world view and caused her to believe that the only way to reclaim her own power is through the domination of others.

However, Daenerys also at times demonstrates great capacity to set aside her tyrannical impulses and guide like a shepherd. For example, after liberating the freed Yunkish, she tells them “You do not owe me your freedom. I cannot give it to you. It belongs to you and you alone.” This is an example of Daenerys’s positive vine qualities and her ability to act as a loving leader who inspires liberation through compassion and empowerment. The Vine remedy softens the heart and as Barnard notes and “has the potential to break the powerful legacy of dominance and control so often handed down from generation to generation” (The Essence Within, 178). Vine remedy would support Daenerys in honing her ability to channel her leadership abilities through devotion to the greater good instead of self-serving goals and achievements.

Works Cited:
Barnard, Julian, Bach Flower Remedies: The Essence Within. Winter Press. 2010

Kaminski, Patricia and Richard Katz. Flower Essence Repertory: A Comprehensive Guide to the Flower Essences researched by Dr. Edward Bach and by the Flower Essence Society. Earth Spirit Inc., 2019.