The Soul of Remedies

SANKARAN Rajan
Introduciton
For a long time I hesitated to write a book on remedies because I am well aware of the dangers
inherent in such an undertaking. In the first place, there is a strong possibility that the reader,
especially if he is a beginner in the field, might become fixed on these remedy pictures and forget
that every remedy has a wider range and greater scope than any one individual can see or describe.
Not realising that these pictures represent only one version, only one view of the remedy, he might
wrongly imagine that he had seen the whole. I also realise that an idea imperfectly communicated
which might easily be corrected in a "Live" teaching situation, is far less easily rectified when it has
been committed to print. Finally there is a danger that the reader's Materia Medica may be
narrowed down to the limited number of remedies described here; it may create a tendency to try
to fit all patients into one of these pictures; thus young practitioners might fail to make the
unprejudiced search through the Repertory or the more complete Materia Medica which the best
prescribing requires.
However, in the last two or three years, my books "The Spirit of Homoeopathy" and "The Substance
of Homoeopathy" have achieved some popularity. These books, written to introduce students of
Homoeopathy to my line of thinking are not, and were never intended to be, texts of Materia
Medica. Nevertheless some readers found the ideas on various remedies presented in these books
useful in practice, though somewhat inconvenient in form, since using the index to check a particular
remedy often obliges one to look in several different places. A number of readers have attempted to
reorganise this material so as to allow for easier reference, and it seems that some of these attempts
have almost made it to publication. However, as I read through a few of them I found many gross
errors which would have conveyed quite erroneous ideas, incorrectly purporting to be my own.
It was at this point that I decided that I might as well write a book in my own style to convey my
own experience. The material presented here has been observed and confirmed in my own practice;
it is material I am sure of. I have not included remedies of which I have little experience or
knowledge. I have attempted to convey the innermost feeling or the basic delusion of the remedy
while connecting the situation, source, miasm and kingdom. The rubrics and physical symptoms
cited are ones which I have observed repeatedly and often used to confirm the remedy prescribed.
These ideas have helped me in my clinical practice and I wish to share them with the profession.
As mentioned above, most of this material can be found in my previous books: this presentation,
however, should be easier to use.
There is a common misconception to the effect that I stress mental and emotional symptoms to the
exclusion of physical symptoms. This is, I repeat, a misconception. If I often seem to speak
exclusively of the mental/emotional state, it is because understanding this requires some degree of
insight into the patient as well as into the remedy and it is more difficult than noting physical
symptoms. Nonetheless, in practice I give a lot of importance to the physical symptoms, to the
meaning of the pathology, and to the modalities which have to be matched with those of the
remedy. Giving a remedy solely on a vague idea of the mental picture is a prescription for failure.
Such an approach is risky and certainly not one that I follow nor recommend.
The ideas presented in this book are not superficial: they are not mere hints. I have tried to bring
out the innermost feelings of the remedy and it is not easy to discover these in patients other than
by artistic case-taking which delves deeply into such things as the patients delusions, dreams,
hobbies, etc. What appears on the surface may be quite different from what is actually inside. For
example, I had a case in which the expression was one of stage fright, but I observed that, in that
situation, the patient's reaction, tremendous panic and fear, was as if he was about to be killed.
My idea of understanding a remedy is to grasp the connection that ties together its myriad
symptoms: the basic delusion, its source (kingdom), the miasm to which it belongs, its symptoms - all
must be understood as aspects of a single whole if we are to even begin to truly understand a
remedy. It is my attempt to trace out these connections that distinguishes this work from other
Materia Medicas. I believe, for example, that the "connecting link" in Sepia is the feeling that she is
forced to do something against her intention. In the section on Sepia I try to show how this "link"
connects every aspect of the remedy. This has been confirmed by me in practice time and again - I
do not believe it is mere theory... and yet the reader must remember that this is Rajan's experience
and not necessarily the final word.
Similarly, the understanding of miasms presented here, for example, the theme of sycosis as being
"fixed" is not traditional. It is merely my own understanding and someone else's view might well be
different. A complete discussion of my understanding of miasms is presented in "The Substance of
Homoeopathy" and is not reported here. In many cases I have described the "situation" of the
remedy under discussion. Let me note here that the situation of the remedy is not necessarily the
actual situation of the patient; it is rather the situation in which he (unconsciously) perceives himself
to be. Thus, when I say the Magnesium is an orphan, it means that the patient feels like an orphan
though he may, indeed, still have living parents. People set up situations according to their
perception of reality. Magnesium muriaticum, for example, feels that his friends will betray him and
so avoids people. This only reinforces his feeling of being friendless.
I wish to reiterate once again that a good Homoeopathic practitioner does not try to fit the patient
to a particular remedy, but seeks first to clearly understand the patient and then to find the
appropriate remedy through repertorization, the study of likely remedies in various Materia Medicas
and review of the experiences of other homoeopaths with those remedies. Rather than trying to see
what part of a considered remedy does fit the case, he must see what does not fit and must remain
skeptical. The prescriber who would grow in skill must be able to recognise what does not fit and
resist the tendency to "force" a fit. In this way he will be led to consider another remedy which
might look similar but is not. This is what I try to do and if you do the same you may be able to
develop pictures of lesser known remedies.
This book is meant for those who have read "The Spirit of Homoeopathy" and "The Substance of
Homoeopathy" because it is those earlier works that most fully express my understanding of the
Organon and Materia Medica. Without an understanding of my ideas on such things as case-taking,
classification of remedies according to kingdom, miasms, etc., this book will not be of much benefit.
This work may be used as an adjunct to the previous works but not as a substitute for them. The
reader who attempts to use this book without understanding the fundamental concepts may easily
find himself lost without a compass.
Finally let me repeat that the reader must bear in mind that this book is based on the experience of
one homoeopath amongst the multitude and should be taken as "notes along the way", not as the
final word. Used in this way it may be of value.
acknowledgement
I wish to acknowledge with gratitude the work done by Dr. Digish Doshi and

Dr. Rashmi Jaising. They are mainly responsible for painstakingly collecting the material from the
earlier two books and putting it into its present form, after discussion with me regarding my ideas on
the remedy.
I am grateful to Mr. Michael Zelnick who has gone through the text and put in finishing touches and
Mr. T.D. Anthony has been patient with us during the typing.

Note

Rubrics
Usually from Synthetic Repertory.
Occasionally from Complete Repertory.
Where marked from Kent's Repertory

Phatak
Refers to Phatak's Concise Repertory.
There are also symptoms from Phatak's Materia Medica.
The rubrics and symptoms mentioned at the end of the remedy are those I see as the main rubrics
of the remedy and which I use for confirming the remedy.

Remedies
Aconitum napellus
Aconitum napellus is a plant. The remedy prepared from it belongs to the acute miasm and is, in
fact, the most acute of all our remedies.
The main feeling of Aconitum is of a sudden, intense threat from outside that comes suddenly and
goes suddenly. For that moment the person, who is otherwise calm becomes intensely restless,
panicky and nervous. This feeling of a sudden threat is seen in the fear of walking across a busy
street, fear of accidents, of suffocation, in presentiment of death and in the delusion that he is about
to die. Mentally this is expressed as a fear of death, anxiety and restlessness etc., while in the
physical sphere, we find a racing pulse, palpitation and flushing of face alternating with paleness,
etc.
Aconitum is excitable. The patient can flare up suddenly, can get frightened very easily. Pain can
drive him beside himself and again this excitement will be manifested suddenly and violently, with
great restlessness - an acute panic reaction.
Great nervous excitability is the most important component of Aconitum. We must look for an
excitable person and not a calm one, if we are to prescribe Aconitum - one who cannot take
anything easy; everything excites him. Here it comes close to Nux vomica, Chamomilla, Staphisagria,
Coffea and Graphites. But Aconitum is also very very restless. There is anxious restlessness. Pierre
Schmidt feels it is the most important remedy for anxious restlessness. Nux vomica, Staphisagria,
Coffea or Ignatia are not so restless. Aconitum just can't sit still. He tosses about. This is similar to
Arsenicum and Rhus toxicodendron, it is only much more intense, vigorous, sudden and acute. It is a
sudden burst of excitement, fear or anxiety with great restlessness. He doesn't know where to go or
what to do, his mind is ruled over by tremendous anxiety and fear. Then this whole state disappears
as suddenly as it had come without leaving a trace.
Aconitum avoids crowds, crossing the street, indeed any other situation that would cause
excitement of mind. The proving reads: "Fear to go where there is any excitement". Sudden, intense
fear from trivial causes is characteristic. It is not the insecure feeling of Calcarea or the terror of
Stramonium nor the anxiety about health of Arsenicum, Nitric acid or Kali arsenicosum. It is an
intense, sudden, panic state - something severe - the end, death! The rubric "Predicts the time of
death" is a combination of "Clairvoyance" with "Intense fear of death". But as I said earlier, this is
not the permanent state of Aconitum. Soon the excited state passes off and the normal state re-
emerges.
But even in his normal state, Aconitum is hurried. As the proving reads: "He does everything in a
hurry, runs about the house". His speech is hasty, jerky and excited: "Great impatience", "Wants
things at once", "On attempting to think of one thing, another thought intrudes, this is soon
supplanted by another one and so on".
Excitability can also make him cheerful, laughing, singing, dancing. But here too, the slightest trifle
can change his cheerfulness to anxiety: "Alternate attacks of opposite states of humour"; "Fitful
moods". It is this cheerfulness of Aconitum that differentiates it from Argentum nitricum and
Arsenicum. These phases of excitable cheerfulness are not seen in the later remedies.
He can at times become very irritable, violent, intolerant of contradiction, shrieking, censorious but
will cool down soon. It is this sudden excitability that brings on such a state. There can also be
episodes of intense sadness which pass off soon, accompanied by the anguish, restless, moaning and
groaning of Aconitum.
There are also sleep symptoms: somnambulism and talking in sleep. Dreams are anxious and
clairvoyant. Sleep is anxious, restless, with constant tossing and turning, and starting in sleep.
Aconitum is complementary to Sulphur.
Physical concomitants are
- Face expression, anxious, frightened.
- Thirsty, burning.
- Heat, palms.
- Discolouration red cheeks.
- Perspiration, uncovered parts, on.
- Desires: beer, bitter drinks, acids.
- Sleeps on back with hands under the head or sleeps in a sitting posture with head inclined forward,
can't lie on sides.
- Palpitation with great anxiety.
- Face, red-hot.
- Respiration oppressed.
- Limbs feel weak.
- Moaning, groaning, howling, loud whining or weeping;
- Easily startled by noise.
- Heat and discolouration, red, of face, in anxiety and excitement.
Rubrics
- Beside oneself, being.
- Beside oneself, anxiety from.
- Death, dying, feels as if.
- Excitement, nervous.
- Loquacity.
- Mood, changeable.
 - Speech, hasty.
Phatak
Besides himself, frantic, madness from pain.- -
Alumina
Alumina is the oxide of the metal Aluminium. In the Periodic Table, Aluminium belongs to group III-
A and is associated with Boron (from which the remedy Borax is made). Alumina is one of the
greatest anti-syphilitic remedies along with Syphilinum, Aurum and Mercurius. In Syphilinum, there
is a total absence of hope which is one of the most essential things to the life of a human being.
Phatak mentions: "Hopeless despair of recovery" - total hopelessness. Therefore Syphilinum is a
remedy of death and destruction, he can be suicidal or homicidal. In Mercurius, the person's
independence, another thing essential for life, has been taken away, and so he becomes
revolutionary, defiant, homicidal or suicidal. Then you have a need for acceptance in society, some
religious feelings; you take this away from man and you have Aurum - suicide again. In Alumina, the
person's identity or individuality has been taken away, and there is confusion.
The Alumina person's identity has been so much suppressed that he doesn't know who he is
anymore. He is so confused because someone has tried to shape him into something that he is not.
It is one of the most important remedies for confusion of identity in our Materia Medica. The
situation of Alumina may arise as for example from a conflict between parent and child, where the
child is not being given an identity. Whatever the child does, they say: "No, not this!" His
individuality and identity have been broken down. Whatever the child says is not right - "You are no
one, you know nothing!" Then comes despair: "I don't know what to do. I don't know what I am,
who I am. I don't even know what I want, what I want to be. I am so small, so timid and completely
dependent on the parent."
Alumina is listed under the rubrics: "Irresolution, timidity and fear", "Delusion, head belongs to
another". The patient doesn't even know to whom his head belongs. He feels as if somebody else
thinks for him, and he can't think for himself. He feels as if someone else heard or said something
when it was he who heard or said it. His real identity is being suppressed, is being pushed in, so that
he has to mould himself according to what other people want. Sometimes the parental control is so
strong that the child loses his identity and becomes impulsive, for example he may grab someone's
hand, or has impulsive acts of violence. In failed cases of Alumina, there is a tremendous sense of
desperation to the extent of suicidal tendencies: "Morbid impulses to shoot himself", "Impulse to
cut herself even though she abhors the idea". This shows the impulsiveness, the destructiveness,
irresolution, timidity and fear.
Control is a big theme in Alumina. A lot of his problems have to do with control - control of the
body, of the limbs, impulses, a fear of losing control. As the mental will has been undermined
(symptom: "Weak will"), so also the will is taken away from the muscles too, and he can't move
properly, he has no balance. At the same time, Alumina likes to be in control of situations. Being a
mineral, there is also an element of organization, of fastidiousness. A man who has lost his identity
has to be fastidious, has to do everything perfectly according to someone else, otherwise he feels
completely humiliated and finished.
He feels he needs to be hard and rigid in order to keep up his identity, thus in the coped-up state
the Alumina-patient can be quite hard and rigid.
Hence the rubrics:
- Timidity alternating with assurance.
- Obstinate, resists the wishes of others.
 - Defiant.
One case of Alumina that I remember well is that of a patient who spoke of himself as if speaking of
an object, or as if he were reading a weather report. He sounded detached hardly ever using the
personal pronouns "I" and "My". For example he said: "The itching sensation was almost wild. It
became a permanent feature on the face. There was a lot of sticky fluid on scratching... It appeared
and the face became bright red. It is worse from sunlight." He also argued a lot, almost endlessly, as
if to establish his own identity by arguing. When someone needs to argue endlessly, it is only to
create and maintain the identity he does not feel he possesses.
Alumina might be a good remedy for left-handed children who have been forced to write with their
right hand. They are forced to lose their identity and become confused as to whether they are left-
handed or right-handed. When you force a child to be something other than what he naturally is,
you encourage the Alumina situation.
Rubrics
- Confusion, identity, as to his.
- Delusion, head belongs to another.
- Delusion, identity, errors of personal.
- Contradictory to speech, intentions are.
- Impulse, morbid.
- Suicidal disposition, seeing blood or a knife, she has horrid thoughts of killing herself, though she
abhors the idea.
- Fastidious.
- Ailments, scorn, being scorned.
- Contemptuous.
- Obstinate, resists wishes of others.
Kent
- Choking, oesophagus, swallowing.
Phatak
- Fear, impulse, of his own.
- Soles soft, furry.
- Talks, through him, other person, as if.
Ambra grisea
Ambra grisea is an animal remedy. It belongs to the sycotic miasm.
Like other animal remedies it has the quality of divided will. It has two wills and has a kind of
contempt for self. It also has traits such as animation, loquacity, sexuality, playfulness, love of
animals, etc.
It is a sycotic remedy; an Ambra grisea woman feels that something is wrong with her that needs to
be covered up. There is an intensely dirty feeling about herself. The expression "I feel like shit" aptly
describes the main feeling of Ambra. The feeling is that something in her is intensely disgusting and
that this part should never be exposed or she will be completely forsaken. Ambra feels a
tremendous sense of embarrassment. Other remedies like Silicea, Carbo vegetabilis, Plumbum,
Gelsemium, etc., also have something of this feeling, but Ambra feels it intensely and is acutely
conscious of the slightest thing she does. This embarrassment is more when it comes to personal
habits like passing stool and urine.
The symptom of Ambra: "Cannot pass stool in presence of others" describes this feeling exactly as if
to say that "this disgusting part in me should never be revealed to others or they will consider me
disgusting". This symptom means that the patient cannot even have somebody in the next room
when he is passing stool. It means that the sounds that he makes in the toilet embarrass him so
much that he cannot bear the thought of somebody standing even in the next room. He would like
to clear the whole house before he passes stool, to see that there is nobody around. This is the
nature and degree of embarrassment in Ambra. Indeed, he cannot even bear the thought of going to
somebody else's house, afraid he may get an urge for stool. When he gets the urge for stool, he gets
anxious: "Anxiety with ineffectual urging for stool". This is a form of anticipatory anxiety in Ambra
grisea.
This feeling of embarrassment creates tremendous shyness in company and in the presence of
strangers. Because of its symptoms "Bashful" and "Strangers, in presence of " it comes quite close to
Baryta carbonica. But Ambra has this very acute feeling of embarrassment which Baryta carbonica
doesn't have; Baryta carbonica has a tremendous irresolution which represents the feeling of lack of
capability, which is not seen in Ambra.
Young girls with this Ambra feeling, in their embarrassment can talk in a flitting, flighty manner.
They can also become mischievous and play pranks that are very much in keeping with this theme of
shame and shamelessness. Embarrassment about one's own body is one of the main themes. Also
there is a feeling of embarrassment after doing something she considers disgusting or shameful.
Among other symptoms of Ambra I have noted: "Fear of night" and fear "As if diabolical faces crowd
upon her to swallow her". I have also noted in Ambra a love for whales.
Rubrics
- Anxiety, company, when in.
- Anxiety stool before, ineffectual desire for, from.
- Company, aversion to, presence of other people agg. symptoms, desire for solitude.
- Company, aversion to, presence of people intolerable to her during stool.
- Delusion, faces sees, diabolical around, upon him.
- Delusion, faces sees, hideous.
- Fear, strangers of.
- Timidity, bashful.
- Timidity, company in.
Phatak
- Modern society girls.
- Strangers, presence of, aggravates.
- Embarrassement aggravates.
Anacardium orientale
Anacardium Orientale is a plant. The remedy belongs to the cancer miasm.
The situation of Anacardium is that of a kind of child abuse. Overstrict parents impose all their
desires on the child and do not allow him to think or do anything on his own. He cannot take his own
decisions, to the extent that he is not allowed even to decide what clothes he should wear. If he
starts taking his own decisions or does not live up to the expectations placed upon him, he will be
punished cruelly. So he tries to live up to these expectations by being obedient and angelic in his
behaviour, and by being excellent in his work. But he begins to develop a lack of self-confidence, and
becomes nervous. He is irresolute, because the outcome of his decisiveness is usually a severe
punishment. If the domination persists and he is compelled to put up with it, he starts reacting with
cruelty, malice, want of moral feeling, and antisocial behaviour. Here he may also develop a
tremendous overconfidence with contempt for others. But Anacardium can be very hard and cruel,
and at the same time have a lack of self-confidence.
There are thus two sides to Anacardium. On the one hand he is good, angelic, obedient from fear of
punishment. He is very orderly, fastidious, cannot rest till things are in proper place. The other part
of him is hard, malicious, violent, devilish, disgusted with himself. He becomes immoral, develops
suicidal or homicidal tendencies, is abusive, stubborn and avoids the company of people. These two
sides of Anacardium are constantly in opposition to each other: should he be an angel or a devil.
Anacardium could be the wife of a selfish tyrant who rules with an iron fist, and does not allow her
to take any decisions. She becomes irresolute, lacks in self-confidence, is confused - always has two
wills. She becomes dull and very absent-minded (Anacardium has a marked absent-mindedness).
She may be childish, idiotic and timid out of lack of self-confidence and fear. The fear can paralyse
her thinking as can be seen when appearing for an examination.
Whereas Anacardium is known for its hard-heartedness, cruelty, want of moral feeling, a
compensated Anacardium cannot be cruel even when the situation demands. He will, perhaps, be
unable to kill even an irritating mosquito.
Thus, Anacardium has the feeling of an angel sitting on one shoulder, and a devil on the other.
Kent
- Will, contradiction of, two wills, feels, as if he had.
- Delusion, that he is separated from the world.
- Unfeeling, hard-hearted.
- Delusion, of being double.
- Delusion, is under super-human control.
- Delusion, sees devils.
- Cruelty, inhumanity.
- Cursing.
- Hatred.
- Moral feeling, want of.
- Kill, desire to.
- Kisses his companions hands.
- Confidence, want of self.
- Timidity, bashful.
- Rage, leading to violent deeds.
Phatak
- Antagonism with self.
Anhalonium lewinii
Anhalonium is a "drug" remedy. It is prepared from Peyotl the cactus from which mescaline is
extracted. It belongs to the cancer miasm.
The experience of mescaline is often one of merging with one's surroundings or the feeling of being
one with the whole of existence, seeing oneself without any boundaries. This is close to the highest
spiritual experience as described in Hindu or Buddhist philosophy as oneness or non-duality of Spirit.
This experience implies immortality - what dies is the body; as the Self is continuous with the whole
of existence, it cannot be mortal.
The need for such an experience arises from the feeling of having no roots, of having no identity, of
feeling totally isolated and separated from other human beings, so that one sees one's ego as being
separate and being totally mortal. This can create immense fear of losing one's very existence which
is much more than the mere fear of death.
 The easiest way to experience this loss of existence is for a person to ask himself the question:
"Who am I, if I remove my name?" Just imagine that you don't have a name and you are not allowed
to invent a name for yourself and ask: "Who am I?" There is a tremendous blankness, a void, an
emptiness which is very scary. A void which the patient tries to bridge by connecting himself to not
only his name, but also to some group or society, his family, etc., so that he extends himself beyond
body and his larger group identity does not die so easily.
Anhalonium comes from a situation where people experience a total solitude and feel they could
lose their identity. In such a situation the only solution is being in the Anhalonium state, where they
can identify themselves with not only a group or family but with the whole of existence.
I believe that many a well-known spiritual leader/teacher could have had a background of isolation
and an absence of roots, which could be a powerful impetus to seek one' spiritual identity.
Anhalonium belongs to the cancer miasm, where the person has to stretch much beyond himself or
he will lose his existence. He starts living inside a bubble, isolated from the rest of the world but
inside it, he creates his own universe.
Anhalonium people speak in terms of universe, space, etc. They have the most fantastic experiences
which are often spiritual, and have no fear of losing their ego, identity or losing a dear person.
Often, I have found that they had tried out drugs and had good experiences with mescaline. They
often try their best to belong to groups but usually feel quite alone. They also react well to music
and can go into trance from rhythms.
Rubrics
- Confusion, identity, as to his, depersonalization, loss of self-knowledge and self-control;
disassociation from or self-identification with environment, personal disruption.
- Decomposition, space, of.
- Delusion, immortality, of.
- Delusion, standing by oneself.
- Environmental orientation increased.
- Forsaken, isolation, sensation of.
- Merging of self with one's environment.
- Reality, flight from.
Antimonium crudum
Antimony is a metal which lies in the periodic table, between Arsenic and Bismuth. The remedies of
the group Phosphorus, Arsenicum, Antimonium and Bismuthum shut out or exclude others and
isolate themselves.
Phosphorus feels that he is not getting enough attention and feels secure only when amongst a lot
of friends, receiving a lot of attention and love. Arsenicum views the world as threatening and feels
isolated and insecure; he feels secure in the company of only a few. Antimonium feels that he has
been disappointed and needs to isolate himself; he feels secure in the company of still fewer people.
Bismuth feels very alone and will be secure in the company of only one person, i.e. the mother.
Antimonium crudum is the sulphide of antimony. In it, we see the Antimonium feeling of being let
down and disappointed by others, and therefore the need to narrow one's circle, to isolate oneself.
Also present are the Sulphur symptoms of theorizing and fantasizing. These combine to make
Antimonium crudum a person who has narrowed himself down, and who starts fantasizing.
The patient finds the world around him so disappointing that he simply shuts it out, and conjures up
an illusionary, ideal world that he starts living in. He longs for that which he misses or has been
disappointed by: he becomes nostalgic and longs for the past, for his native land, for the ideal
woman - the woman of his dreams. He becomes poetic and sentimental. Poetry often expresses his
inner wishes. He is lost in this idealization. It differs from Cannabis indica or other drug remedies,
because he does not create a fantasy, but only longs for and creates his ideal and becomes very
sentimental. Whereas Cannabis indica fantasizes, Antimonium crudum idealizes. Antimonium
crudum's idea is a perfection of the real, perhaps practically impossible, but fundamentally reality
based. The fantasies of the "drug group" of remedies, on the other hand, are fundamentally not of
this world to begin with. For example he may be disappointed in love and then projects all his
idealizations onto another woman, she becomes his dream girl. He does not want to face the reality
of things because reality is so disappointing that he could become suicidal. He becomes dull, does
not want to be touched or approached, does not want to be looked at or spoken to, does not like
any attention. He is fond of solitude, and especially likes to be by himself in the moonlight.
The physical symptoms are the desire to overeat, and the aggravation from the same. It also has
ailments from vaccination.
Rubrics
- Ailments from love, disappointed.
- Sentimental in the moonlight.
- Verses makes.
- Fancies, exaltation, of.
- Looked at, cannot bear to be.
- Anger when touched.
- Suicidal disposition.
- Dreams, native country.
- Dreams, seeing again an old schoolmate.
- Desires, woman, ideal.
Phatak's materia medica
So busy with oneself, one forgets to urinate or defecate, eats only when asked... Nervous, hysterical
women and girls who are overcome by mellow light from stained glass windows.
Argentum metallicum
Argentum (Silver) belongs to the second line of metals in the Periodic Table, where it lies between
copper and gold. Like other metal remedies, Argentum metallicum sees his survival in performance
and defence.
The metals of the second line are concerned with show. Silver is a showy metal, a shiny metal, a
showpiece of human society. A good orator is called silver-tongued. Funnily enough Argentum
metallicum has the symptom: "Tongue has a silver coating". It is said "Silence is golden, speech is
silver". Silver is not the noble one but always the showy one.
There is a strong intellectual component in Argentum metallicum. Kent says it singles out mainly the
intellectual faculty, it scarcely affects the emotion.
The Argentum metallicum situation is one where the person has to perform intellectually and
express himself through speech, singing, writing, etc., and also has to defend himself by intellect,
speech and words. In Argentum metallicum one of the most important symptoms is aggravation
from using voice, aggravation from speaking, singing, mental exertion.
He can argue and fight very strongly and hard, not only for himself but also for others. He has the
ability to convince others and win over the opposition with intellect; hence, the Argentum
metallicum person would make a very good lawyer or salesman.
He sees himself as a weak person internally who will be attacked and finished unless he defends
himself strongly, often intellectually.
The situational Materia Medica of Argentum metallicum is that he has been forced by his parents to
perform, to be a performer, to demonstrate his intellect, his skill, his talents, his brain power. The
parent expects the child to show the world how talented he is and the child feels this as the
condition for acceptance by his parents. Given this kind of expectation, the person tries his best -
talks, sings, preaches. But at a point, he cannot do it any longer and collapses: the voice is lost,
power is gone, he can't live up to the expectation any longer. So he alternates (like Aurum alternates
between "I am highly moral" and "I am highly immoral and have sinned away the day of grace")
between "I am a high performer" and "I am not good enough, I can't perform anymore, I am
useless". Either his intellect is highly developed or he can't remember, is confused, has loss of
mental power. Everything in Argentum metallicum is about mental power. The child is expected to
have high mental power and to demonstrate it, show it, express it. Constant need to show by using
his mental power, and by speech.
When he feels forced to perform, there is both anger and fright; it shares this with Argentum
nitricum which has anxiety before performance. In anger there is rage and when provoked he can
react with striking; it has the symptoms cough from anger or jerking from anger. He can go out of
control, he loses his balance and control. Slowly, over time, the mind and body give up the struggle
and go into deep-seated degeneration. He develops vocal cord nodules, and can hardly sing or
speak. His cartilages and condyles become thick and so he cannot move freely; the limbs feel
powerless, become tired and weak, emaciated, he loses his mental power and becomes almost
insane. The organs that he requires for performance and show are the ones chiefly affected. Writer's
cramps is also an expression of an ailing Argentum metallicum. In this failed state, he has no control
over his mind, voice or movement, and even does unaccountable things.
Argentum metallicum make good public speakers, clergymen, preachers - persons who lecture using
logic and intellect, rather than what they really felt or experienced. Musicians, singers, writers,
novelists are also required to do the same, use their intellect and show off their talent of expression
or expertise. They argue well, because they rationally and logically analyze things, and also present
their arguments articulately. Being good speakers, they are often quoted. One might consider as
examples Winston Churchill and Norman Vincent Peale.
There are two opposite sides in Argentum metallicum. On the one hand you have great inclination
to talk, his mind is very clear and he argues with facility, is inclined to laughter and loquacity, and on
the other hand you have the opposite: "In society is indisposed to talk". Also you have the symptom:
"Paralytic weakness", or "Much inclined to move, feels as if she had more power".
He can experience himself as very small and sometimes feels pursued by something huge. Here it
can be compared to Argentum nitricum.
Argentum metallicum bears a close resemblance to Medorrhinum, Palladium and Lachesis.
With Medorrhinum it shares the feeling of inner weakness, which he is trying to cover up with
egotism. Both have anticipatory anxiety as in stage fright.
Both Palladium and Argentum metallicum have showiness and longing for the good opinion of
others.
It shares with Lachesis its emphasis on speech and communication and its egotism. The difference
between the two is that Argentum metallicum is concentrated exclusively in the field of intellect
whereas Lachesis is a jack of all trades.
As an observation, I have seen that Argentum metallicum either has great love for gold or total
contempt for it, sometimes referring to it disparagingly as the "Yellow Metal".
 Physical symptoms
- Electric shocks.
- Convulsions.
- Cramps.
It also has thickening of the cartilages and symptoms that are deep and penetrating. The closely
related remedies are Alumina, Mercurius, Selenium and other metals. All these remedies have in
common deep, penetrating processes with sudden acute exacerbations, violent impulses and
manifestations.
Rubrics
- Loquacity.
- Loquacity: changing quickly from one subject to the other.
- Talk, indisposed to, desire to be silent, taciturn.
- Exertion, from mental, aggravates.
- Prostration of mind.
- Ideas, abundant, clearness of mind.
- Work, mental, impossible.
Kent
- Hawk, disposition to.
Argentum nitricum
It is a mineral remedy belonging to sycotic, tubercular and cancer miasms. It is a compound silver
(Ag), of Argentum whose main theme is performance and Nitrate whose main theme is the feeling of
sudden danger. The two come together in Argentum nitricum, whose main theme as "Performance
in sudden danger or crisis".
There is a feeling as if the person will be accepted only if he can perform at the time of crisis. There
is a feeling of being neglected and despised if he does not perform at the time of crisis. I call them
"Crisis Managers". They are troubleshooters of the highest degree and see their role as that, feeling
very much neglected or isolated, and feeling failure if they can't perform in a crisis.
The situational Materia Medica of Argentum nitricum is a situation in which he himself has to
struggle and nobody is going to help him; he is trying but not succeeding.
This situation arose from being trapped alone in some circumstance, and trying desperately to find a
way out, in which case Argentum nitricum would be a psoric remedy. But by examining a little
deeper we find the basis of all these fears. He has a tremendous sense of fault within, which he is
trying to cover up and hence has several sycotic traits such as compulsion about time, about
planning things, about doing things in a particular way and such as obsessions with fixed ideas that
he cannot pass a certain place. So we see fixed ideas and fixed actions.
It is important for him to keep control in a critical situation and find his way out of the problem. This
is shown in rubric "Fear of losing self-control", which I consider one of the leading rubrics of this
remedy. In whichever situation self-control is needed, he becomes highly nervous, as he lacks it; for
example at the time of performance during crisis as is seen in the rubrics:
- Fear of high places.
- Fear of narrow places.
- Fear when anticipating an engagement.
- Hurry, time, to arrive at appointed.
- Anticipation.
- Fear of failure.
 - Diarrhoea from anxiety.
- Fear of falling, etc.
Whichever situation in life reminds Argentum nitricum of a trap aggravates Argentum nitricum
persons and they can act impulsively to get out of this trap. The expression they like to use often is:
"There is no way out" or "I don't see the way out". Such situations could be:
- Crowds.
- Closed spaces.
- Bridges.
- Tunnels.
- High places: e.g. buildings on fire.
- Aeroplanes.
- Any place where the exit is blocked.
Another situation is the stage. The patients are anxious to go on stage but when persuaded, they
feel isolated and trapped. They feel as if they are alone and the exit is blocked.
The compensation is to see the way out all the time and to never enter a situation where the exit is
not seen, for example going on journey only after booking the return ticket, sitting next to the door
in a cinema theatre. They are especially particular about planning and confirm their appointments
once or more before arriving, and usually arrive much before their appointed time. When they come
in they sit as if ready to start running. They are quite hurried and impatient.
Argentum nitricum has also a lot to do with suspense. They either crave for suspense or they can't
stand suspense and sometimes both. They like challenging jobs in order to overcome the fear.
When they feel trapped they almost do suicidal, impulsive things. In physical terms it is like
throwing yourself out of the window, but in psychological terms it means they will impulsively get
out of the situation in which they feel trapped. For example in their business if they feel anxious or
tense, they can impulsively and suddenly drop the whole thing and leave even though they may lose
a lot. So you have the rubric: "Indifferent to business affairs".
Argentum nitricum can be compared with Gelsemium. They are complementary remedies. If, for the
Argentum nitricum person, the situation reaches the level where he can do nothing about it, he goes
into Gelsemium state. In Argentum nitricum there is restlessness, activity, hurry, impulsive acts.
Gelsemium is slow, sluggish, dull, paralytic and doesn't want to be disturbed.
Both Argentum nitricum and Aconitum have sudden anxiety attacks. The difference is that in
Argentum nitricum they appear in fixed situations for instance, while passing a certain point, in
closed places, high places, before an engagement or a journey, etc. In short Argentum nitricum has
more of a phobic kind of neurosis whereas in Aconitum there is anxiety neurosis with nonspecific yet
intense anxiety states.
Lycopodium is likely to be the psoric counterpart of Argentum nitricum, being involved in a struggle
which is concerned with self-control, high places and success. This correspondence is seen in the
following rubrics in the case of Argentum nitricum: "Undertakes nothing lest he fails", and its
counterpart in Lycopodium is: "Fear of not being able to reach his destination" and "Fear of
undertaking anything".
In clinical practice I have seen that Argentum nitricum can create, at the physical level, a feeling of
intense oppression and claustrophobia.
Rubrics
- Ailments from anticipation.
- Delusion, corners of houses project so that he fears he will run against them while walking in the
street.
- Delusion, deserted, forsaken.
- Delusion, despised he is.
- Delusion, place he cannot pass, certain.
- Excitement, anticipating events, when.
- Fear, crossing a bridge or place, of.
- Anticipation, stage fright.
- Fear, diarrhoea, from.
- Fear, failure, of.
- Fear, falling, of.
- Fear, late, of being.
- Fear, narrow places, in.
- Fear, ordeals of.
- Fear, self-control, of losing.
- Fear, undertaking anything.
- High places, aggravate.
- Hurry, time, hurry to arrive, for appointed.
- Hurry, walking, while.
- Time passes too slowly, appears longer.
- Undertakes nothing, lest he fail.
- Anxiety, time is set, if a.
Phatak
- Suspense aggravates.
Arsenicum album
The mineral Arsenic lies between Phosphorus and Bismuth in the Periodic Table. I found that in this
group, which also includes Antimony, there is a feeling of insecurity, of loneliness, of being isolated,
and of not belonging. Phosphorus tries to make up for this feeling by excessive friendliness and
sympathy. In Arsenicum, it manifests as fear and insecurity.
The Arsenicum patient sees the world as threatening, chaotic. He feels that he is old, weak and
defenseless, and that there are thieves all around him, ready to take advantage of his weakness. He
needs people and is dependent on them because of his weakness, yet feels that they cannot be
trusted, that they are interested only in his money. However he cannot do without them, and hence
is very careful that he should not offend them, lest they leave him and go away. He is mistrustful and
suspicious, cautious and anxious in all matters: money, relationships, even health.
The Arsenicum person has a hypochondriacal anxiety; he fears that he will lose his health unless he
exercises regularly and will avoid many things which he feels are harmful. He will not eat out in
restaurants, etc., and will impose many restrictions on himself in diet and other matters. His life is
full of anxiety. He is extremely fearful that he will lose what he has, unless he is extremely cautious.
This makes him both restless and conscientious. The restlessness drives him from place to place, he
cannot rest till things are in place; anything that seems out of place troubles him. The patient will
show you his hands and ask you to look at both of them. "Doctor, he will ask, do you see that the
veins on my left hand are more prominent than those on the right hand? Why is this so?" The
conscientiousness and carefulness is manifest as an almost compulsive need for order, making
Arsenicum extremely fastidious and hence a remedy of the cancer miasm. I have also seen that the
Arsenicum concern for health and security can extend to others, so that these patients can be caring
for the health and security of others as well. I have found that they write very precisely in very small
writing, fitting in much as possible in a very small space.
Rubrics
- Delusion, sees thieves at night.
- Delusion, that the house and space under the bed are full of thieves.
- Delusion, about criminals.
- Delusion, others conspire to murder him.
- Delusion, is about to receive injury.
- Delusion, that she is being watched.
- Company, desire for, alone, while, aggravates.
- Fear, alone of being, lest he die.
- Delusion, friend has been offended.
- Company, aversion to whom he imagines he has offended.
- Carefulness.
- Desires more than she needs.
- Fastidious.
- Rest cannot when things are not in proper place.
- Anxiety for others.
- Anguish driving from place to place.
Kent
- Corrugated nails.
- Taste bitter for water.
- Desires fat.
- Thirst: small quantities for, often.
- Cracks: feet soles.
Phatak
- Agony, cannot rest in any place.
- Craves condiments.
- Dust aggravates.
- Walk, impulse to.
Aurum metallicum
Aurum is a syphilitic remedy. It is one of the heavy metals of the 6th period. In Aurum the feeling is
that the person must perform tasks which are impossible or much beyond his capacity. He demands
of himself industry and responsibility, conscientiousness and duty of the highest degree,
uncompromising principles or goals that are beyond the possible.
He almost destroys himself in trying to achieve these goals, because if he does not achieve them, he
gets the feeling of failure, guilt and despair of salvation. It is as if his very survival depended on his
ability to take on these huge responsibilities. He is afraid of losing the confidence of others and of
himself. He has a feeling that he may fall down from this high position. This can make him suicidal.
When Aurum gets suicidal thoughts, he does not have to fight with himself as Natrum sulphuricum
does. Aurum will make a decision and act. He asks himself: "Do I jump or not?"; if the answer is: "I
jump", he just jumps.
Aurum people are highly moralistic, principled and orthodox. However, sometimes it can work the
other way round, i.e. finding the task too high; Aurum becomes then irresponsible and immoral.
Aurum therefore, has the polarity between high morality and extreme guilt and suicidal tendencies.
He alternates between "I am highly moral" and "I am highly immoral and have sinned away the day
of grace".
They are usually relieved tremendously by music. One of my early observations was that Aurum
patients like to hear Bhajans. Bhajans are Indian religious songs, which are sung with exact meter
and with a lot of devotion. The three components:
- Religiousness.
- Music ameliorates.
- Exactness.
are found in combination only in Aurum, and Aurum persons are almost the only people I have
found to be markedly ameliorated from hearing Bhajans.
I was told by a musician that Tansen had composed Raga Darbari at the request of the Emperor
Akbar, who wanted a raga to alleviate the feeling of tremendous responsibility he faced and the
despair it brought about in him at the end of the day. The raga has tremendous depth, a feeling of
great responsibility and hopelessness, which comes very close to Aurum.
The situational Materia Medica of Aurum is a situation in which his survival is dependent on his
fulfilling his duty. Aurum is the eldest child of the family and his father is no more. Society will blame
him if he does not take charge of his siblings. He raises the family. He is the duty-bound son, his
views are very moral and conscientious. Aurum is concerned about how he appears to himself; he
always checks whether he has done things right since his survival depends on this, and not on how
he appears to other people as is the case with Silicea. Aurum is also very adamant about principles.
His value systems are very strict and he imposes the same values on others; this is described by the
rubric: "Dictatorial". He is intolerant of contradiction.
The first thing you will notice in an Aurum patient is that he is neat in appearance, conservatively
dressed in an old fashion, sometimes with a religious mark on his forehead. He is punctual in his
appointments. His case form is very neatly and completely filled in. He brings all his medical reports
filed in sequence. On going through these records we find that he has been checking up on his
health very regularly. He has taken the medicines scrupulously, not missing out a single dose. He
describes his ailments correctly, date-wise and talks confidently, not too much and not too little. In
his work he is very meticulous, careful about even the smallest of things; he is a perfectionist, will
work late, check the last file, count the last penny. He is duty conscious and will never rest until he
has completed the day's work. He is very much trusted and valued by his employer and colleagues,
since he is extremely hard-working, highly responsible and honest. He does not seek money, power
or fame. He is happy to have done his duty. He values appreciation, but that is not the aim of his
work.
He has a strong sense of right or wrong, and the wrong doings of others provoke his anger. He is
thus critical and sets very high standards for himself, as well as others. He will be very punctual and
will expect you to be punctual too. If you delay him in your waiting room, he may burst in and
demand that you keep the time. He can be quarrelsome and reproachful.
Aurum patients have a fixed idea about what their duties are, this generally depends on what they
have been taught by their parents. An Aurum person may have been taught that, after he has
fulfilled his responsibilities towards his family, he should turn to religion or social service; so having
educated and married his children, he devotes his time to religion or helping others. He does this
more from a sense of duty than from sympathy or anxiety for others.
Aurum can develop a very strong attachment to another person, often one much younger than
himself. I have seen such a parent-child relationship develop with a person of the opposite sex, or it
could be with his own child. The attachment is so strong that he must see the other person
everyday, hear that person's voice, etc. The affection goes hand in hand with expecting the other
person to obey and to act according to his wishes. Such relationships probably represent the Aurum
need to be a parent to someone. It is when the other person rebels, in other words, refuses to be
parented anymore, that Aurum becomes heart-broken. He experiences mortification, anger with
indignation, tremendous depression, sadness, forsaken feeling, disappointment and he feels that life
is not worth living any more. He can become suicidal at this stage. He totally withdraws and
becomes highly irritable.
He often talks and answers in questions. He is easily disappointed with others just as with himself.
Physically Aurum persons tend to develop serious chronic problems such as hypertension, heart
disease, destructive pathologies and cancer.
I have observed that many Aurum patients have a knobby nose tip and have fear of high places.
Phatak
- Delusion, reproach, has neglected his duty and deserves.
- Anxiety, conscience of, as if guilty of a crime.
- Reproaches himself.
- Delusion, affection of friends, has lost.
- Confidence, want of self, others have none, which makes her unhappy, and thinks.
- Anxiety, salvation about.
- Delusion, succeed, he cannot, does everything wrong.
- Industrious.
- Loathing life.
- Suicidal disposition, throwing himself from a height.
- Religious affections.
- Music ameliorates.
- Questions, speaks continuously, in.
- Conscientious, trifles about.
Clarke
- Increased scruples of conscience.
Kent
- Knobby tip of the nose.
Baryta arsenicosa
Baryta arsenicosa is a mineral remedy of the syphilitic miasm. The feeling of Baryta is that of
complete dependence due to personal incapacity. The feeling of Arsenicum is of being isolated and
hence insecure. The Arsenicum person sees the world as threatening and chaotic. He feels lonely yet
feels threatened by people, so he cannot trust people though he needs them. The main feeling of
Baryta arsenicosa is: "I cannot trust the person on whom I am totally dependent".
In the compensated state Baryta arsenicosa can be very conscientious, independent and
responsible. The patient is fastidious, methodical, highly organized, efficient and industrious. He is
very caring for others, very friendly and will not offend anyone. He is very careful about his own
health and also the health of others.
In an uncompensated state the Baryta arsenicosa person can be shy, bashful and nervous,
extremely anxious about the smallest thing, especially with respect to health. He can get panicky,
frightened and restless. He does not trust anyone including the physician and often changes doctors:
irresolute, very dependent, yet mistrustful.
 Physical symptoms
- Chilly patient.
- Early senility: very deep seated, chronic, progressive disorders. Diabetes, ulcers, hypertension, etc.,
coming on at an early age.
- Sudden acute manifestations may be found.
Baryta carbonica
Barium is a mineral belonging to the group IIA of the Periodic Table. The main feeling of remedies
from this group is one of dependence, and Baryta carbonica is the most dependent of them all.
Baryta carbonica is totally dependent on others, almost like a cripple or an imbecile. "Delusion that
he walks on his knees" and "Delusion that a beloved friend is sick and dying" show the crippled,
dependent feeling of Baryta carbonica and his fear of losing this support.
There is a feeling of total incapacity to take on responsibilities or do one's own work. Baryta
carbonica has anticipatory anxiety because of this feeling of incapacity. The patients are totally
irresolute and depend completely on someone else to take decisions for them. This can work both
ways. I have seen also that Baryta carbonica people can be very independent, even supportive of
other people. They can be very responsible especially about family affairs: "Anxious about domestic
affairs", "Cares about domestic affairs", "Anxiety about friends at home", "Anxiety for others". They
can be extremely hard-working (industrious), very organized, conscientious, and they take pains to
make sure of everything (carefulness). They consequently occupy quite responsible, dependable
positions in their work and society. They are very methodical and reliable but lack imagination, art
and creativity. Occasionally however, even such coped up Baryta can have bouts of irresolution and
self-doubt. There is "Fear of strangers" which extends to the fear of facing any new situation and
anything that is out of the routine, especially the kind of situation that forces them to make choices
or take decisions. They can be resistant to any changes in their lives, for example they would try and
avoid any changes in job or residence. They don't like being noticed or brought into prominence, and
would hesitate to wear anything that stands out, for example a shiny shoe. They are the last people
to accept new fashions and are quite conservative in their way of dressing, living, etc. They avoid
giving their views or opinions easily for fear of being criticized.
I have seen that Baryta carbonica patients like to confirm every single detail during a consultation,
e.g. where and how to take the medicine, what are the food or other restrictions, etc., to the last
detail, often provoking irritation and laughter from others.
They are so dependent, it is childish. Phatak writes: "Children are late coming into usefulness, to
take on their responsibilities and do their work". The Baryta carbonica patient is very much afraid
that he will lose (or something will happen to) those on whom he is dependent - seen in the delusion
that "A beloved friend is sick and dying".
I have mentioned in "The Spirit of Homoeopathy" a case of a 35 year old married woman who
developed arthritic problems after the death of her neighbour, on whom she was dependent, and
who was the only one in the neighbourhood who shared her mother-tongue. Due to this she lost the
"crutch" which the neighbour provided, and since she could not actualize her delusion, that "Her legs
are cut off" she developed a crippling arthritis which made her lean on others for support.
This great dependency on others, especially socially and financially, brings it close to Calcarea
silicata. Calcarea silicata feels financially and socially dependent. The Baryta carbonica person feels
both mentally (especially intellectually) and physically dependent like a disabled person.
Often the Baryta carbonica patients will give a history of being extremely shy in childhood and being
unable to mix with others or make friends easily. They feel laughed at and criticized. There are many
fears which are often childish ("Fear in children"). A small thing can make them extremely anxious:
"Anxiety, trifles about", "Delusion, she thinks every noise is a cry of fire and she trembles", "Starts
easily from noise and from fright".
In many Baryta carbonica persons I have seen a kind of simplicity, naivety. They are rather
credulous.
Rubrics
- Cares, domestic affairs, about.
- Childish.
- Strangers, presence of, aggravates.
- Delusion, as if beloved friend is sick and dying.
- Delusion, walks on his knees.
- Delusion, legs are cut off.
- Delusion, laughed at, mocked, being.
- Anxiety, others, about.
- Anxiety, trifles, about.
- Goes off alone and weeps as if she has no friends.
Physical symptoms
- Chilly patient.
- Premature old age: hairfall, baldness, loss of memory, hypertension, atherosclerosis at a young
age.
- Desires: sweets.
- History of recurrent attacks of tonsillitis.
- May be emaciated.
Phatak
- Hearing hard in old people.
Baryta phosphorica
Baryta phosphorica is a mineral remedy. The main feeling of Barium is that of a person who is totally
dependent on others, almost like a cripple or an imbecile. In Phosphorus the feeling is of being
unloved and uncared for, to which the patient reacts by being affectionate, friendly and sympathetic
in the hope that this love and care will be reciprocated. So the main feeling of Baryta phophorica
would be: "I am unloved and uncared for, or I am treated indifferently by the person I am totally
dependent on (because of my incapacity to stand on my own feet)".
So we may see a person who is independent, friendly and sympathetic; or one who becomes very
much dependent and anxious, more anxious than Baryta carbonica.
Baryta sulphurica
Baryta sulphurica is a mineral remedy. The main feeling of Baryta sulphurica is: "I am
scorned/insulted by the person I am so totally dependent on (since I am handicapped)".
The compensated Baryta sulphurica person is self-dependent and makes a lot of effort to be
respected. It is a combination of dependability and dignity. The patients are industrious, dependable
and dignified people. A man with these qualities will reach a high position.
The problem starts when Baryta sulphurica comes into a new environment with new people around
him. There is a tremendous fear of being alone or going out alone. He cannot mix easily. He feels
that people will laugh at him, and since he is easily offended or insulted he cannot form deep
friendships. He feels that others avoid him, he feels neglected and weeps and broods about it. His
memory is weak. There is also aversion to work, loss of will and weeping. The dreams are anxious
and frightful.
Physical symptoms
- Cannot bear hunger.
- Craving: salt, sour, pickles.
Rubrics
- Anxiety.
- Cowardice.
- Fear, conversation of.
- Fear, people of, anthropophobia.
- Timidity, bashful.
- Will, loss of.
Belladonna
Belladonna is a plant remedy of the acute miasm. The main feeling of a Belladonna person is of a
sudden threat from outside from which he has to escape in order to survive.
The suddenness is one of the main characteristics of Belladonna. Everything comes in paroxysms
with suddenness, and goes with equal suddenness. But while it lasts, there seems to be a very
intense and life threatening situation; the person is beside himself and wants to escape. Also, there
is a certain degree of violence in his sensations and actions.
Belladonna can be quite cheerful. In fact, he can be dancing, laughing, singing and can have a
generally light-hearted feeling and exuberance. But when the attack comes, he becomes crazy with
fear and anxiety, with excitement, with throbbing of the carotids, palpitation of the heart and a
feeling of imminent threat or danger.
One of the Belladonna patients that I had disappeared from treatment suddenly and after months
suddenly called me up from some part of the world and then disappeared for months again. For
Belladonna Dr. M.L. Sehgal points to the rubric: "Unconsciousness interrupted by screaming". His
interpretation is that the Belladonna patient remains unconscious of his problems and they come up
suddenly to his consciousness and make him very excited.
The delusions, dreams and fears of Belladonna have to do with sudden threat, for example:
- Delusion, bulls, of.
- Fear, imaginary things, of.
- Fear, animals, of.
- Fear, impending death, of.
- Delusion, gallows with fear of, vision of.
And he reacts with violence, impulse to set things on fire, attempts to escape and run away.
There is a need to escape, to run away. There is a feeling that he will be pursued, killed. Therefore
he runs, escapes, rages.
The difference between Belladonna and Stramonium is that in Belladonna, the specific situation is
like that of one who is about to be taken to the gallows, while in Stramonium it is like that of a
person lost in a jungle. Stramonium looks for somebody to cling on to, seeking light and company,
whereas the main action in Belladonna is reacting violently to save himself, e.g. desire to escape;
rage.
Physical symptoms
Among the main physical symptoms of Belladonna are:
- Sudden paroxysmal pains that come suddenly and go suddenly.
- Extremely sensitive to light, noise and jarring.
 - Desire for lemonade, lemon juice.
- Pains are throbbing.
Rubrics
- Ailments from fright.
- Beside oneself, being.
- Delusion, animals of, frightful.
- Delusion, bulls, of.
- Delusion, dogs sees.
- Delusion, murdered, he will be.
- Delusion, pursued by enemies.
- Escape, attempts to.
- Exuberance.
- Fear, gallows, of the.
- Fire, wants to set things on.
- Unconsciousness interrupted by shrieking.
- Deeds of violence, rage leading to.
- Fear alternating with rage.
Kent
- Involuntary urination during sleep; difficult to awaken from.
Phatak
- Admonition aggravates.
- Direction of symptoms: increase and decrease suddenly.
Bryonia alba
Bryonia is a plant remedy. It belongs to the typhoid miasm, which lies between the acute and the
psoric. In my experience, the main feeling of Bryonia is the feeling of a loss, which has to be made up
very fast. One of the commonest ways of making up a loss is by business. Here you invest what you
have, take risks and try to increase your wealth. The concentration is totally on business, so much so
that the Bryonia person talks and dreams of business, and in delirium will mention what money has
to be put where and what business transaction has to be completed.
The Bryonia person is very industrious, busy and determined, and works at a feverish pace. He
becomes dry, insensitive to the emotions and feelings of others. He talks little and doesn't like to be
disturbed. He reads things concerned with his business, converses with business people, and his
attitude in the clinic will also be rather business-like.
As a result, one could mistake Bryonia for Calcarea fluorica, but the theme of Calcarea fluorica is to
preserve what one already has, and therefore Calcarea fluorica does not take any risks. Bryonia
however does take risks. Again, the complaints of Bryonia are more acute and will impede
movement, whereas Calcarea fluorica will develop a slow, chronic illness which can make one
dependent.
One may also compare Bryonia with Veratrum album, but Veratrum is concerned more with the loss
of position than with the loss of money. So egotism, extravagance and show become the theme in
Veratrum, but are not so much seen in Bryonia.
Rubrics
- Fear of poverty.
- Talks of business.
- Busy.
 - Delirium, busy.
- Delusions, fancies, is doing business.
- Industrious.
- Disturbed, averse to being.
- Talk indisposed to, desires to be silent, taciturn.
- Dreams: business.
- Dreams: being busy.
- Dreams: exertion: mental and physical.
- Dreams: exhausting.
- Avarice.
Kent
- Desires warm milk.
- Desires soups.
Phatak
- Loquacity, of business.
Bufo rana
Bufo is a remedy of the animal kingdom. It is prepared from the toad.
Bufo has symptoms of Baryta carbonica and Hyoscyamus put together. Like Baryta carbonica it has a
childish and naive behaviour, is foolish and underdeveloped mentally. Like Hyoscyamus, it has
shamelessness, high sexuality, loquacity and malice. Like other remedies of the animal kingdom it
has an animated nature, a fear of animals and a certain mischievousness. It resembles some of the
remedies of the spider group, as it is sensitive to music, deceitful and destructive, and also has
attractive behaviour. All these elements combine to give Bufo a unique character.
When you consider the childishness, the lack of maturity and control, and the high sexuality, you
have the idea that the adult control over his instincts is absent. Therefore whenever he has any urge,
whether it be an urge to eat or a sexual impulse, he has to gratify it at once. He cannot postpone
pleasure. If he has a sexual impulse, it has to be fulfilled, and so he goes off alone and masturbates.
Hence we have the classic symptom: "Desires solitude for masturbation".
In my experience, one of the main things you can note about a Bufo person is the combination of
good physical development and a childish mind. Added to these is the shamelessness and the
sexuality. These persons can become very violently angry sometimes, and at other times you will see
foolish giggling. There can be quite a bit of egotism in their talk, but this will appear foolish.
Among the physical symptoms I have seen a strong desire for sweets and a crack in the centre of the
tongue. There is also a tendency towards obesity and there are convulsions which are connected
with the sexual sphere.
It is a near syphilitic remedy, with a lot of destructive pathology which includes paralysis and
carbuncles.
Phatak mentions, aptly that the patient is "low minded". He also says: "It arouses the lowest
passions" and "It is a remedy for depravities".
Like Baryta carbonica and some other syphilitic remedies, it also has early senility. In the Materia
Medica we find that Baryta muriatica has some similarity to Bufo with high sexuality and
childishness.
Rubrics
- Childish behaviour.
- Company aversion to, desires solitude to practice masturbation.
 - Deceitful.
- Destructiveness.
- Fear, animals, of.
- Idiocy.
- Imbecility.
- Laughing.
- Malicious.
- Rage, fury.
- Strike, desire to.
Kent
- Tongue cracked in the centre.
- Desires sweets.
Phatak
- Childish, but body grows.
Calcarea arsenicosa
Calcarea arsenicosa is a mineral remedy of the cancer miasm. In Arsenicum there is a feeling: "I
need people but I cannot trust them - they may rob me". The patient cannot trust anyone. In
Calcium there is a need for security and support. So we see in Calcarea arsenicosa a person who
feels insecure as well as mistrustful. In Calcarea arsenicosa the need for people is almost a
dependence, and this along with the mistrust, makes him highly anxious and insecure. He feels: "I
may be cheated, let down (mistrustful -Arsenicum) by the people on whom I depend for protection
(Calcium)".
Calcarea arsenicosa is full of anxiety, extremely insecure. I had a case of a menopausal woman who
came with the complaint of severe palpitation, which came on from the least anxiety, fright or bad
news. She had a son and a daughter. The son went abroad and she got the feeling that he might
never come back. All her complaints were worse when he left, especially after her husband fell ill.
She felt that her future source of support (in case her husband died) had become untrustworthy.
This created extreme anxiety in her, and she would call her son over the phone every week. I gave
her Calcarea arsenicosa on these features of mistrust and insecurity. Also Phatak's Materia Medica
gives: "Complaints of fat women around the climacteric, when the least emotion causes palpitation".
Later, they may become extremely sad (Kent's Lesser Writings).
In the compensated state, Calcarea arsenicosa may be very careful and cautious. He is very
independent.
Physical symptoms
- Chilly patient.
- Palpitation from least emotion.
- Breathlessness on ascending.
- Desires soup.
Rubrics
- Ailments from excitement, emotional.
- Anxiety, future, about.
- Anxiety, health, about.
Phatak
- Heart, palpitations, emotions, slight, aggravates.
Calcarea bromata
 Calcarea bromata is a mineral remedy. It is formed from the elements Calcium (group IIA) and
Bromine which is of the Halogen group. The main feeling of the patient Calcarea bromata is he be
pounced upon or punished by the very person on whom he depends for his security. He should not
do anything that is incorrect. If ever his fault is detected, he is in the danger of losing his security,
protection. This feeling shows Calcarea bromata to be a sycotic remedy.
Calcarea bromata persons are constantly seeking a position of security, are inclined towards
financial security. They do not however want to be secure at the cost of honesty. I have found these
people to be very correct, moralistic and honest, trying always to please everyone. At the same time,
they can feel blamed, falsely accused, pounced upon for no fault of their own. This can result in
violent explosions or outbursts of temper on their part, to the extent of striking, or even cutting.
They have dreams of being attacked, of being late for an examination, of being found in an
embarrassing position in public, of being naked.
I have found Calcarea bromata to be indicated frequently in India, where children remain
dependent on parents for very long, sometimes even until they are in their thirties. They are very
much afraid of going against the moral values taught by their parents for fear of losing their security.
Suggested rubrics
(Clinically seen by me, not found in Repertory).
- Ailments from, embarrassment.
- Ailments from, anger.
- Ailments from, falsely accused, being.
- Delusion, attacked, of being.
- Delusion, crime, he has committed.
- Anger, violent.
- Anger, paroxysmal.
- Dreams: embarrassment.
Calcarea carbonica
Calcarea carbonica is a mineral remedy belonging to the psoric miasm. It also has some sycotic
traits. The main feeling of Calcarea is the need for stability and security. Calcium offers protection
not only to humans in the form of bone but also in earlier forms of life in the form of shell,
exoskeleton, etc. The central theme of the Carbonates is of a vital reaction.
Thus the main theme of Calcarea carbonica is a need for protection. But in order to get this
protection the person does not need to make any effort - all he has to do is show a vital reaction.
There is a feeling of being too weak to face the cruelty and roughness of the world. So we have the
rubrics: "Delusion, that he is weak" and "Delusion, that he is small", as the main delusions.
So Calcarea carbonica tries to build a protective wall of defence around himself which will ensure
that he is safe, secure and covered like a developing embryo within an egg.
He seeks the protection he needs by expressing a lot of fears. He surrounds himself by a lot of
people who protect him. The Calcarea carbonica persons are people who don't go out much, don't
want any adventure in life. Rather they choose for themselves friends and partners who are
protective and on whom they can depend. This protection may be in the form of money, and the
dependence causes the "Fear of poverty". There is a desire to be magnetized, that is to allow one's
will to be taken over by another person: "Doctor, tell me what to do, I will do exactly as you say." A
Calcarea carbonica patient relies completely on another person. I have seen this especially in
children and young people who are usually accompanied by their parents for the consultation and,
never answer a question directly but whisper the answer to their parents. Even a coped up Calcarea
is usually accompanied by some relative. I have seen them use the expression: "I am happy when
everybody is around me". This represents the need to have people around them for protection and
security.
The situational Materia Medica of the uncompensated Calcarea carbonica is that of a woman
completely protected first by her parents during childhood and now by her husband. The need to
cope up does not arise. I have seen girls, cozy in the protective environment of their parents' homes,
hesitate and fear to get married, unable to trust that they will find the same security elsewhere.
They remain unmarried as long as is possible, till they suddenly realize that their parents are getting
old too, and will not be always there to protect them. The same can be seen in young men much
dependent on their parents, who remain bachelors till late and then try to find a mother substitute
for a wife. In the coped-up state, Calcarea carbonica is a home-builder. Home represents the
protective shell he needs around him. He has to cope when he has to face responsibilities and there
is no protection.
Calcarea carbonica children can be very obstinate and can even get aggressive, but this behaviour is
confined only to within their home and is directed especially to their parents. Outside, they are quite
timid and fearful, well-behaved, sensitive to rudeness and admonition.
When, despite showing a vital reaction, a Calcarea carbonica person cannot manage to get the
protection he needs, he develops intense fears and "Talks of nothing but murder, fire and rats". This
rubric represents his fear of human (murder), animal (rat) and natural (fire) elements. I have seen
that besides the dreams of animals, snakes, etc., Calcarea carbonica also has dreams as if watching a
murder. Calcareas also get anxious from watching or hearing about cruelty. On watching scenes of
fighting or of horror on TV, the Calcarea carbonica child either leaves the room or closes his eyes.
There is also intense fear of pain and suffering, fear of the physician, especially dentists, fear of
injections and of surgery which is even seen in adults.
When all attempts to seek protection fail, they become indifferent: "Sits and breaks pins the whole
day", "Indifferent about recovery".
When the life situation of a Calcarea carbonica person changes and he looses the security of his
home, he feels as if left alone in the wilderness, thus going into a Stramonium state which is that of
an unprotected person out in the dark night, wanting to come home (in contrast to Calcarea
carbonica who is the one inside the house and not wanting to get out).
If the Calcarea carbonica woman coming from the world of security happens to marry a violent
drunkard, she can develop a Rhus toxicodendron state very easily. She can become tense, nervous
and can feel the threat of being killed inside her own house. Rhus toxicodendron is complementary
to Calcarea carbonica.
When a Calcarea carbonica person comes to the doctor from an unprotected environment at home,
she may weep and ask for his protection, seek support and reassurance - so you have: "Narrating her
symptoms aggravates". This might seem like Pulsatilla, especially if we were to only notice the
weeping and the seeking of consolation, while ignoring the nervousness and edginess at home.
A Calcarea carbonica woman may even look like Hyoscyamus or Thuja or Lycopodium, as explained
in "The Substance of Homoeopathy", depending on the way she has to cope with her situation.
Bryonia and Calcarea carbonica are similar remedies. Both have the aversion to movement and the
need for security and stability, and the "Fear of poverty". They are incompatible remedies.
Physical symptoms
- Physically Calcarea carbonica is usually obese but can be thin.
- Profuse perspiration.
 - Desire: eggs, ice-cream, sweets, chocolates, meat and chicken, indigestible things like, sand, slate,
pencil.
- The pathology of Calcarea carbonica generally includes affections of the bones and joints.
- White spots on nails.
- The main modalities I have noticed are:
agg. Ascending (breathlessness, weakness).
agg. Pressure of clothes (cannot tolerate tight clothes).
agg. Exertion of any kind.
- Dryness and chapped skin in winter, especially of feet.
Rubrics
- Anticipation, dentist, physician, before going to.
- Anxiety, cruelties, after hearing.
- Delusion, confusion, others will observe her.
- Delusion, murdered, sees someone.
- Delusion, smaller, of being.
- Fear, dogs, of.
- Fear, ghosts, of.
- Horrible things, sad stories affect her profoundly.
- Magnetized, desire to be.
- Obstinate children, inclined to grow fat.
- Talks, murder, fire, rats, of nothing but.
Kent
- Vertigo when ascending an eminence.
- Vertigo from high places.
- Face: greasy.
- Hair, growth of, child's face.
- Desires eggs.
- Metrorrhagia from fright.
- Pain, mammae, menses, before.
- Skin: cracks in winter.
Phatak
- Ascending aggravates.
- Calculi.
- Clothes, pressure of, aggravates.
- Hanging limbs aggravates.
- Mammae before menses.
- Religious ideas, in children.
- Squatting aggravates.
Calcarea fluorica
Calcarea fluorica is a remedy of the mineral kingdom. The compound Calcium fluoride is made from
the elements Calcium (Group II A), and Fluorine (Halogen). In my understanding, Calcarea represents
the need for stability and security, while Fluor represents the fear of being let down and deserted.
Fluoride is contained in tooth enamel, the hardest substance in the human body. The function of
enamel is to provide maximum security to the teeth by its hard, resistant quality.
The main feeling of Calcarea fluorica is that the person's source of security or support is unstable
and unreliable. Hence there is a need to be totally protected and secure by being hard and resistant.
He feels as if there is a gradual erosion of his security; this is noted even in the pathology of Calcarea
fluorica, e.g. carious teeth.
"Fear of poverty" is the main rubric of Calcarea fluorica. The Calcarea fluorica person is very
insecure about his financial situation. He feels that he can go into a loss, that his business can fail,
that something can happen whereby he can lose all his money. Money provides him security, and he
makes up for all his fears by saving up as much money as is possible, taking the least amount of risks,
and taking lots of insurance.
This feeling that his source of security is unstable and cannot be relied upon can be seen even in the
sphere of relationships. Calcarea fluorica feels that his relationships are not stable, and fears that the
relationship on which he is dependent (Calcarea) will be broken (Fluor); consequently he feels the
need to be independent.
I have observed Calcarea fluorica persons to be quite independent, strong individuals, and while
they have many friends and contacts with a lot of people (thus securing themselves against
calamities), they depend on themselves. They make themselves self-reliant by industriousness, and
secure a strong base for themselves financially. But they always fear that this security that they have
built up for themselves is getting eroded, and that a calamity will leave them bankrupt.
They are hard-working, quite resolute, firm and strong people. They seem very tough - can
withstand a lot. For example one of my patients who is doing well on Calcarea fluorica has an
ulcerating carcinoma of the breast, but she has not told her family and friends about it, and bears
the pain without showing it.
They are quite organized, and as is shown in "The Substance of Homoeopathy", their notes are very
systematic, the matter being arranged point-wise, complete with exact numerical descriptions. Also,
they would have utilized minimum paper space, and any extra paper would have been cut away.
They take good care of their property and possessions, and also maintain their health and job well.
Calcarea fluorica tend to develop problems where they slowly loose the use of some part of their
body, as for example cataract, osteoarthritis. They are constantly calculating what they will do if they
were to lose the use of this part altogether. They are regular in taking their treatment, and even
when they don't have any problem they continue treatment as a "safety measure". They say: "It is
okay that so much is gone, but now give us the treatment so that we don't lose any further."
The most important dream of Calcarea fluorica is that of the death of his relatives. This dream
reflects the tremendous fear that the person whom he depends on may leave him. However if the
relative (in the dream) is a person from whom he gets love and care and not money or protection,
the remedy is likely to be a Magnesium salt. Calcarea fluorica also has the dream of efforts, e.g.
missing the train, etc.
When all efforts to secure himself financially or in a relationship fail, Calcarea fluorica becomes
totally irresolute, feeling most vulnerable, and helpless; he can go into a mental depression and
become insolvent - a given up state.
I did a proving of Calcarea fluorica in my seminar in Amsterdam and it brought about a very strong
response. The very theme of Amsterdam with its open sexuality and easy contact, superficial
relationships and heavy accent on money, banking and insurance, as well as a certain avarice the
Dutch are well known for, made Amsterdam a tempting place to prove Calcarea fluorica.
Physical symptoms
Among the physical concomitants of Calcarea fluorica, I have found:
- Arcus senilis.
 - Early baldness.
- Cracks on feet.
- Transparent skin (through which veins can be seen).
- Varices below the skin.
- Cracks in the middle of the tongue which are horizontal.
- Early decay of teeth.
- Hard nails.
- They desire pungent and highly seasoned food.
- Hot patient, but pains amel. heat and constant motion (Rhus toxicodendron).
They develop slow, chronic, progressive pathology: indurations, exostoses, conditions like cervical
spondylosis, osteoarthritis, calcaneal spur, hypertension, ischaemic heart disease, cataract, varicose
veins, hemorrhoids, bone tumors; some types of carcinomas are also seen in Calcarea fluorica.
Rubrics
- Anxiety, future, about.
- Anxiety, money matters, about.
- Avarice.
- Delusion, poor, he is.
- Delusion, want, he will come to.
- Fear, misfortune, of.
- Fear, poverty, of.
- Fear, work, daily, of.
Calcarea iodata
Calcarea iodata is a mineral remedy. It belongs to the tubercular miasm. The main feeling in
Calcarea iodata is that he may be terribly disappointed, betrayed, hurt or even starved (Iodum) by
the person on whom he is dependent (Calcarea). There is the dependence and need for security of
Calcarea (group IIA), but at the same time there is the need to be very hard and strong, prepared for
this betrayal (Iodum - halogen group).
Calcarea iodata persons are a very pleasant company, always very cheerful, making people laugh
and feel happy in their presence, always smiling and being agreeable, gay and mirthful. At the same
time they can be quite diplomatic. They rarely contradict or go against anyone. They are very tactful,
and have no clashes. I had a case of a doctor who had affairs with eighty women at the same period
of his life. Each woman knew about the others but he was so nice and diplomatic that there was
never any problem. He did well on Calcarea iodata.
Calcarea iodata has a marked tubercular element and these people show changeability, desire for
change and activity, and love of travel, as is seen with other remedies of this miasm.
Calcarea iodata persons can be very aggressive, yet they are full of fears. They get angry very rapidly
and are very impulsive, though this aspect may not be seen often.
Physical symptoms
- Very hot patient.
- Usually emaciated but can be very obese. I have found that when prescribed correctly, obese
Calcarea iodata patients lose weight.
- Enlarged, hard glands.
- Thyroid affections, palpitation, increased appetite.
- Sudden violent pains.
Rubrics
 - Cheerful, gay, mirthful.
Calcarea phosphorica
Calcarea phosphorica is a tubercular remedy and belongs to the mineral kingdom. The main feeling
of Calcarea phosphorica is: "I am not loved at the place of security (home), so I should seek love
elsewhere (outside of home), and come home for security". This is seen in the rubric:
- Home, desires to go and when there to go out.
Calcarea persons need to have people around, they want to be protected as they feel insecure. The
feeling of Phosphorus is: "I must prepare to be alone, to be able to live on a distant island". Thus
Calcarea phosphorica has the need for security, but ability to live alone if the need arises.
The ability to make new connections also comes from the Phosphorus element of Calcarea
phosphorica. Calcarea phosphorica people are friendly and make friends easily. They love to travel.
Calcarea phosphorica persons tend to make a new home wherever they go. The friend's home
becomes their home. They care even for strangers in such a way that they soon become part of that
family. This may seem like Phosphorus but the difference is that Phosphorus persons do not make a
home wherever they go - this additional element is found in Calcarea phosphorica because of the
Calcarea element, with its need for stability and security.
Calcarea phosphorica is a chief mineral component of bone which not only provides security and
stability to the body but also facilitates its mobility. The Calcarea phosphorica people are active
physically as well as mentally, and are very sensitive. They are often found to be sportsmen. This is
probably due to the fact that sports involve friendliness activity and mobility.
The Calcarea phosphorica persons are often of an athletic build - tall, muscular, of rigid fibres. They
tend to be lean, have white spots on nails, and sweaty palms.
There is craving for meat, fish, spices, potato and potato chips.
Rubrics
- Anxiety in children when lifted from the cradle.
- House, desires to go, and when there to go out.
- Travel, desire to.
- Violent, when hearing another reproached.
- Jealousy.
Kent
- Taste, bitter for water.
- Desires smoked meat.
- Desires fat, ham.
Phatak
- Craves condiments.
- Growth, affected, disorders of.
- Mammae, nodes in, walnut-like, in males.
Calcarea silicata
Calcarea silicata is a salt and represents a combination of feelings of both Calcarea and Silicea. Like
Calcarea the person feels insecure, with the need for protection and like Silicea he feels the need to
maintain a particular standard. Hence the feeling of Calcarea silicata is: "I need to keep up to a
particular standard to get the security and protection I need".
In my experience, the situation of Calcarea silicata is that of teenagers belonging to the middle class
of indian society, especially boys who feel that a lot of expectations rests on them. They feel the
need to come up to a certain standard to get the approval of their parents (whose security they
seek).
The Calcarea silicata patient has a fear of poverty and so he has to be careful about spending
money. Being poor puts him at a disadvantage. Therefore he becomes yielding. He cannot stand up
or assert himself, he would rather escape. He is not as obstinate as Silicea.
The need to maintain a certain standard gives Calcarea silicata its sensitivity to reprimands. Here it
compares with Staphisagria in this that both drugs have a high sensitivity. This sensitivity to
reprimands keeps him from confrontation and getting fired and hence maintain the standard that
his superior sets for him. He also becomes timid, bashful, yielding, irresolute, hesitant, since this will
help him. Also, he has a lot of anticipatory anxiety before exams, interviews, meeting people or
before beginning a new job. This is a situation where support is available (unlike Psorinum, who has
fear of poverty but no support, so he becomes despairing). So he turns to people for support, trusts
people, gets psychotherapy ( "Desires to be magnetized": Calcarea, Silicea).
In addition to all this Calcarea silicata is very anxious about health. Teenage boys spend hours
waiting at the clinic worrying about cough, cold or fear of heart disease. Its advantage is that it gives
them an excuse for non-achievement and dependence. This is where Calcarea silicata differs from
Silicea and Staphisagria. When he comes to the doctor the patient has the fear of a serious disease,
but subconsciously he uses this fear to do nothing. If he is told he has no problem he can get
irritated ("Consolation aggravates"). He wants support but doesn't want to be told he has no
problem. This sounds contradictory.
It is this great dependency financially and socially in Calcarea silicata that compares it with Baryta
carbonica. When the person who supports him dies, Calcarea silicata is devastated and may go into a
shocked state - automatic conduct. He may either sit still and do nothing or, as a survival
mechanism, he may imagine that this person is not dead and may talk to him. For example when the
husband expires, the wife who was emotionally and financially dependent on him imagines that he is
in the next room.
Baryta carbonica and Calcarea silicata both come from a disabled state. Calcarea silicata is disabled
in a sense that he is not able to achieve what his parents want him to. The really disabled man like
Baryta carbonica does not need an excuse for not achieving but Calcarea silicata consciously looks
for such an excuse and this very fact shows that he knows he has to achieve. Calcarea silicata
consciously feels the need to achieve which Baryta carbonica does not feel. What is expected of him
is usually money. Since he finds these goals too high for him to achieve, he has to remain financially
dependent and hence he becomes mild and yielding. The reason why most Calcarea silicata people
are non-achievers is that they come from demanding yet supportive families.
In Staphisagria, Silicea and Lycopodium the survival depends on achieving, whereas Calcarea silicata
has given up trying to achieve and his survival depends on finding excuses not to achieve. Still, they
are not really failures. They do achieve but much less than what was expected from them.
This feature of struggling for a while and then giving up is characteristic of the ringworm miasm, to
which the remedy belongs.
Calcarea silicata has dreams of anxiety, insecurity. He can have pleasant dreams of being with his
family or talking to dead relatives.
Physical symptoms
Physically they are lean, chilly patients.
- Sweaty palms and soles, especially cold, sweaty finger tips.
- Blue line on gums.
- Suppurative problems like sinusitis, bronchitis with offensive discharge.
 Rubrics
- Fear, disease, incurable, of, being.
- Fear, poverty, of.
- Fear, imaginary things, of.
- Fear, work, dread of.
- Delusion, voices, hears and answers.
- Delusion, talking, dead people, with.
- Cowardice.
- Delusion, starve, family will.
- Consolation, kind words aggravate.
- Doubtful, recovery, of.
- Irresolution.
- Sensitive, reprimands, to.
- Timidity, bashful.
- Yielding disposition.
- Unconsciousness, conduct automatic.
Calcarea sulphurica
Calcium sulphate is commonly known as gypsum and is most familiar to us as plaster of Paris, from
which are made the plaster casts used to immobilize a fractured limb, to help healing by providing
stability. In addition to a need for stability of Calcarea, Sulphur introduces an element of ego and
appreciation to the salt. Hence the main feeling of Calcarea sulphurica is that he is not appreciated
at the place of security, for example by his parents. Thus the Calcarea sulphurica person is constantly
trying to do things that will gain him appreciation. There is a constant feeling of not being
appreciated or valued, of being put down and suppressed at the place of security.
Although the patient feels pushed down, suppressed, he cannot react with the anger or indifference
of Sulphur, for he depends on these people for security. The most he can do is to complain and
quarrel: "Lamenting that he is not appreciated", "Quarrelsome". On the other hand, the Calcarea
sulphurica person can try to do everything in a manner that makes others appreciate and value him,
his work, manners, appearance, etc. In my understanding, it is one of the main remedies of the
ringworm miasm, and is often indicated in the condition.
The situation is that of a man who is not appreciated, who feels that somebody else is more
appreciated; he is jealous and so laments. It shows a situation of dependence: he does not break
away and go, but is dependent and afraid of going away. So we have: "Timidity", "Fear at night",
"Fear of dark".
He is perhaps the second or third child in the family who has not yet learned to struggle on his own,
he cannot be independent but his parents praise other children more than him. So he laments
passionately so that they realize how he feels. If someone tells him that what he says or feels is not
true, he develops hatred towards that person: "Hatred for persons who do not agree with him".
Thus he can be obstinate, quarrelsome and also malicious.
Calcarea sulphurica could be the third daughter in a family where the second daughter, being much
more beautiful, gets more attention, better clothes and jewellery, and is the one to get married first.
She, the third daughter, can't break away and so she tries to tell everybody that she is not being
treated fairly, but nobody listens to her. They say she is just imagining things, and she develops a
hatred for them. When they don't listen to her, she feels sad, mentally depressed, and at times does
nothing but sits quietly and meditates. There is a discontented feeling, irritability and despair.
 In my experience, a history of sibling rivalry is almost invariably obtained in the Calcarea sulphurica
person.
Physical symptoms
- Tendency to boils and suppuration with yellowish pus.
- Desire for fruits and tea.
- Hot patient; desire for cold bathing; children who like to play in water or who will not come out of
a swimming pool.
- Cracks in the feet in cold weather.
- Tendency to fungal infections like tinea and other skin troubles like eczema.
Rubrics
- Fear, dark.
- Hatred persons, agree with him, who do not.
- Jealousy.
- Lamenting, appreciated, because he is not.
- Obstinate.
- Sits, meditates, and.
Kent
- Desires fruits.
- Skin: cracks in winter.
Phatak
- Aversion to persons who do not agree with him.
Cannabis indica
Cannabis is a sycotic remedy . It is a remedy of the plant kingdom and belongs to the addictive
group of "drug" remedies.
As in other sycotic remedies, we see a cover up for a feeling of inadequacy. Like other plant
remedies Cannabis has oversensitivity. It also has a sense of isolation and other symptoms common
to the group of "drug" remedies.
The perceived weakness is actually an inadequacy in facing the threats, dangers and risks of the
outside world. The Cannabis person feels unequipped to face them directly and hence observes the
world from within the safe confines of a "glass cage".
Cannabis indica is the one who is locked inside the house. This is not an ordinary house but a palace.
Thus although he is very well provided materially, he is lonely. There is a total lack of any kind of
stimulus within the confines of this house, but he fears to step out of it, since he feels it is risky to do
so. So he stays within this house, fearful of the dangers outside, and he makes up for the lack of
stimulus by building fantasies and viewing things in a far more exaggerated form that they appear in
reality - his sense of perception becomes exaggerated.
Colours appear brighter, sounds sweeter, distances are exaggerated and life becomes extremely
peaceful and beautiful. One of my patients had a dream that he is alone in a huge, palace-like house,
and is looking out of a window. Outside there is a beautiful garden and a very beautiful lady wearing
a blue coloured dress is walking. The thing that impressed him the most in the entire dream was the
blue colour of her dress: "It was the most fascinating shade of blue", he said. He did very well on
Cannabis indica. From this dream we can understand that stimulation is sought by looking out of the
window, the source being present outside of his house (because he is afraid to step outside). Also, all
impressions and perceptions are very much increased.
But behind these pleasant fantasies lie fears. Cannabis indica has never gone out of his glass house
into the outside world. Hence when he goes out, it is terrifying for him since the outside world is too
harsh for him, especially with his heightened sensitivity and perception. There is fear of threatening
danger.
The inside bores him while the outside terrifies him, therefore he takes Cannabis inside the house to
keep himself stimulated.
Cannabis is a social drug, i.e. it is taken in groups. Its intake removes any sense of isolation that a
person may feel. It is the drug of the Hippies - they are well off materially,

but isolated, forsaken and bored. They form groups and seek stimulus from music, flowers, bright
colours (they usually dress up in very bright colours), nature, etc.
Gautam Buddha's is a Cannabis indica story. He was a prince who was never allowed to step out of
his palace. Once, overcome by boredom inside the palace, he went out for a chariot ride in his
kingdom and saw first a sick man, then an old man, and finally a dead man. He found this outside
world too cruel and harsh. He perceived what he had seen with a lot more sensitivity then a normal
person, and could not take it.
California, where I conducted the proving of Cannabis indica, is the place where Cannabis is a quite
popular drug. California is a home of Hollywood, of several television programmes and soap operas
like Santa Barbara. In fact the very theme of television and cinema is the theme of overstimulation
without risk. Inside the safe confines of ones home without any kind of risk one can get stimulated
by watching television. And everything - both the beauty as well as the dangers - is exaggerated in
films and in television programmes. Interestingly, television too is an addictive habit and I believe
that somewhere the themes of Cannabis indica and television are similar.
Dreams of embarrassment and dreams of unsuccessful efforts are seen in Cannabis sativa but not in
Cannabis indica, which shows that success and failure are of more importance to a Cannabis sativa
than to Cannabis indica.
The intake of Cannabis is not considered a criminal offence which is not the case with Opium intake.
Rubrics
- Delusion, deserted, forsaken.
- Delusion, is leading a vegetable existence.
- Delusion, injury, is about to receive.
- Delusion, beautiful visions.
- Fear, dark.
- Laughing, immoderate.
- Laughing, constant.
- Theorizing.
Cantharis vesicatoria
Cantharis (prepared from the spanish fly) is a remedy of the animal kingdom. It belongs to the Insect
class.
I have had a patient who did extremely well on Cantharis. She had consulted me for recurrent
urinary tract infection, with burning, scalding, cutting pain during micturition. The urine would be
passed in drops and each drop would be excruciatingly painful, so much so that she would cross her
legs and cry out for help, asking her mother to do something. She said the pain was so bad that she
wanted to tear her abdomen, to remove the offending part. She was very animated in her
conversation and was also very competitive. If someone offended her, she would feel like breaking
his head. But she was very sympathetic towards animals and even liked to nurse sick street dogs. She
had fears in the darkness. If she had to be alone in the dark, she would feel that a witch would come
from behind her, and grab her neck with very cold hands; she could almost feel those hands on her
neck.
The rubrics that led me to Cantharis, apart from the physical symptoms were:
- Delusion, choked by icy-cold hands.
- Anxiety, night.
- Delirium, crying, help, for.
- Rage, fury.
- Violent, vehement.
At first impression, it seems to belong to the acute miasm, and seems to be related to Lyssinum.
Other rubrics
- Busy fruitlessly.
- Cheerful, gay, happy, alternating with sadness.
- Contradict, disposition to.
- Delirium, maniacal.
- Delusion, injured, is being.
- Destructiveness.
- Wildness.
- Striking at imaginary objects around him.
- Excitement, convulsive.
- Fear, mirrors in the room.
- Fear, water, of.
- Insanity, madness, strength increased.
- Nymphomania.
- Contemptuous.
Phatak's materia medica
Cantharis attacks the urinary and sexual organs... Setting violent inflammation and causing frenzied
delirium... Inflammations are violently acute or rapidly destructive... Pains are cutting, smarting or
burning - biting or as if raw, causing mental excitement... Convulsions with dysuria or hydrophobic
symptoms.
Carcinosinum
Carcinosinum is prepared from cancerous breast tissue. It represents the very centre of the cancer
miasm (which falls between the miasms sycosis and syphilis). The main feeling amongst remedies
and persons of the cancer miasm is that one's survival depends upon performing tasks which one
feels incapable of performing. There is a need to be something that is almost beyond one's capacity.
The patients stretch themselves to the utmost in the hope of success, because to them failure means
death and destruction. This miasm therefore has the sycotic fixity as well as the destructive
dimension of syphilis.
Carcinosinum people often have a history of taking on too much at a young age, having too many
expectations placed on them, too strict parental control. They try to live up to these expectations
and make a tremendous effort to perform exceedingly well. They set for themselves high standards
or goals that are near impossible to achieve and drive themselves to try and accomplish them. In
that sense, they reach out for perfection, and almost finish themselves in doing so. The cancer
miasm has this theme of superhuman effort in order to survive. The need for control over oneself
and over one's surroundings is tremendous, as is the need to keep order in the midst of chaos. The
disease cancer itself represents a breakdown of all control mechanisms within the body, with chaotic
behaviour of the cells. The feeling of a cancer miasm person is like that of a physician who is trying
to bring order and control over the disease cancer. He knows that it is a very difficult job with very
little chance of success. Yet, he has to try with some hope of success. The cancer patient runs from
pillar to post seeking relief, and when all fails, gives up with the absolute despair, characteristic of
the syphilitic miasm. It is a continuous and prolonged struggle which seems to have no end.
The need for perfection makes Carcinosinum people sensitive to reprimands, and fastidious in every
sphere of life to the point of being faultless. But unlike mineral remedies, which merely want order
in everything that they do, Carcinosinum patients often show an interest towards artistic things like
music, dancing and painting. They are sensitive to and enjoy beautiful scenery, seashore,
thunderstorms and lightning. They show the sensitivity of a plant as well in that, like Pulsatilla and
Ignatia, they are sensitive to reprimands and are offended easily. They can also be sympathetic, very
warm and humane, like Phosphorus, but they are all the time striving for perfection - to be the
perfect partner, the perfect one for the job, the perfect parent, etc., so they are often ideal for
others. Out of this need to be perfect arises an anticipatory anxiety. If they organize a party, it is not
enough that the party should get going, rather that everything should be perfect. Neatness and
cleanliness simply are not good enough for them, they must be perfect; the furniture should blend
with the surroundings, everything should match, etc. They are well dressed people with good taste.
Carcinosinum children are well-mannered and well-behaved. They can become neurotic about
perfection, and sometimes this can be so extreme that they become suicidal. There is also a
tendency to suppression, like in Ignatia. They accept their disappointments and also their
domination with a kind of resignation, and tend to accumulate all the grief within, without
expressing their sensitivity. They have a tremendous anxiety about health, and a great fear of
disease, especially cancer.
Carcinosinum patients show a variety of cravings, for example for eggs, fat, milk, but they especially
crave for chocolate. They often lie on the abdomen during sleep, have a bluish tinge on their sclera,
and also many moles on the skin. They are ameliorated at seashore, and by thunderstorm and
lightning. A history of infectious diseases, e.g. tuberculosis, mumps, measles, chickenpox, malaria,
typhoid, may be present and a history of cancer in the patient or in his immediate family could be an
additional confirmation.
Rubrics
- Sensitive to reprimands.
- Offended easily, takes everything in bad part.
- Fastidious.
- Ailments from anticipation.
- Dancing.
- Sympathy, compassion.
- Suicidal.
- Consolation, kind words aggravate.
Causticum
Causticum belongs to the Kali family. It is a sycotic remedy. The main feeling in Causticum is that the
person is the one who has to take care of the group or family. He is facing the threat from outside
and in order to face this threat, he requires that the whole group should fight together. Being the
strongest member of the group, one who is most capable of putting up a fight, he regards a threat to
any one member of that group as a threat to himself. If he doesn't forestall the threat, it will affect
the whole group and he will be weakened.
The situation of Causticum is of a family where the husband is dead and the wife has to single-
handedly take care of her children. Here she is the strongest member of her group - her family. So
she is very much concerned when there is any problem with any member of the family, for example
when a child falls sick or is late in coming home. The two most important feelings of Causticum are:
"Anxious for others" and "Fear that something will happen". Interestingly Causticum is one of the
few remedies listed under "Fear of dogs".
It can also be the situation of a man who is the only educated member in a group of illiterate
workers whom the management is pressurizing unfairly. The whole group has to fight back and if any
one worker is threatened, this man takes his side, fights for him, because if he doesn't and
something happens to the worker, the group as a whole is threatened next. He, being the strongest
member of that group, has to take care of the rest of the group, and he becomes very much
concerned if anyone is in trouble. His strength lies in the strength of the group and he is the one who
looks after it.
Like Causticum, Nitric acid too is very sympathetic and both come from a similar situation. The only
difference is that Nitric acid is actually fighting a very hard battle with

an enemy. It is not merely fighting unfairness like Causticum, but a long and unforgiving battle
against a person who has harmed him. For this battle he requires the support from

all his friends. So Nitric acid is very sympathetic to all his supporters. He is sympathetic conditionally.
As long as you are his friend, he is sympathetic. Once you offend him he will kill you.
The third remedy listed as sympathetic is Phosphorus and it is the only remedy listed in three marks.
There is a kind of selfishness behind the sympathy that both Causticum and Nitric acid feel. They
stand to gain by their sympathy whereas Phosphorus is genuinely sympathetic. In being sympathetic
Causticum is anxious for others, whereas Phosphorus feels the anxiety of others. If the child goes out
and is a little late returning home, Causticum will be worried even though the child is enjoying
himself. It is not so with Phosphorus. Phosphorus feels the anxiety of the other person, i.e. when
the other person is anxious Phosphorus feels it.
Causticum is always anxious for others, always on tenterhooks, always checking where they have
gone, when they will return, etc. If they are late, Causticum has to keep pacing up and down.
Both Phosphorus and Causticum are very similar remedies. Both are chilly, both desire cold drinks
and are averse to sweets. Also, both may have paralysis of the right side of face. Hence they are
inimical remedies.
Rubrics
- Anxiety, future, about.
- Anxiety, others, for.
- Anxiety, fear, with.
- Cares, worries, full of, others, about.
- Cares, worries, full of, relatives, about.
- Fear, dark, of.
- Fear, dogs, of.
- Fear, ghosts, of.
- Fear, happen, something will.
- Fear, misfortune, of.
- Weeping, easily.
 - Weeping, sympathy with others, from.
China officinalis
China is a remedy of the plant kingdom, and in my understanding it is the main remedy of the
malarial miasm. The malarial miasm lies between the acute and sycotic miasms. Malaria is
characterized by intermittent fevers - sudden acute attacks of fever with chills, followed by periods
of relative dormancy. There is therefore an acute phase, which is characterized by a feeling of threat,
followed by longer periods of fixed states of being that are of a sycotic nature, i.e. there is a fixed
sensation of deficiency with the need to cover up.
The feeling in China is: "I am weak and so people attack, trouble and torture me", a feeling of being
persecuted. The patient feels he is weak, not good enough, that he is persecuted and hindered at his
work by other people, that he is obstructed from achieving his ambition. So he fantasizes and in
these fantasies he makes himself worthy and achieves his ambitions, and in this way uses fantasies
to cover up the inherent feeling of not being good enough. This is the sycotic, fixed phase. The acute
phase in China is characterized by acute fears and anxiety; notable among them is a fear of dogs. It is
also often indicated in acute attacks of fever, loose motions, and asthma. The latter can be so bad
that the patient may lose his consciousness as he gets breathless. This acute phase is usually in
response to an external exciting factor.
The feeling of being tortured or persecuted can also be reflected in his words. For example he might
say: "This headache troubles me so much, it does not allow me to work." The patient feels
frustrated, angry and hindered all the time, and develops a contemptuous attitude towards
everyone. He does not have the courage to break away. He becomes indifferent and hopeless. He
wants to commit suicide but lacks courage. He is frustrated, being unable to achieve his ambition; so
he starts planning, fantasizing, theorizing. Unlike Cannabis indica, who slips into his fantasy world
automatically, China is ambitious and plans step by step. He achieves his ambition by building castles
in the air. He feels what he possesses is not good enough and that he would have possessed better
things if he had not been obstructed and hindered. Therefore he fantasizes and imagines that he
possesses finer and more expensive things than he actually does. He never really puts his plans into
action. It is mere armchair planning. He is ambitious but indolent because he feels unfortunate and
obstructed. For example he will say: "There are sound tracks in movies, why can't there be smell
tracks?" So he starts planning to put smell tracks in the films. In his fantasy world, he does the things
he would have done had he not been hindered, but he knows that planning and theorizing are
hopeless.
China is within all of us. We all have plans and goals, but somehow people and things come in our
way and hinder us. We are frustrated but know that nothing can be done. We fantasize about what
would have happened had we not been hindered; we feel unfortunate. China is probably the remedy
for China itself: the students have been so frustrated by the government, they can do little but
fantasize what they would have done had they not been so unfortunate.
Like other plant remedies, it has the sensation of being offended and hurt, and at this point it
resembles Staphisagria. But while Staphisagria feels insulted and angry, China feels hindered in his
ambition and starts fantasizing.
I have found China to be a good remedy in asthma when the symptoms agree. I have also found it
useful in attacks of rheumatoid arthritis which are followed by a fixed stiffness in the joints. In
allopathy, quinine is used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
The physical symptoms are all followed by tremendous weakness. It has ailments from loss of vital
fluids, a tremendous weakness following discharges.
 Physical symptoms
- Desire for sweets.
- Periodicity.
- H/o intermittent fevers.
- Perspiration staining yellow.
- Bitter taste in the mouth.
- Flatulence and a bloated, distended abdomen.
Rubrics
- Delusion, hindered at work, is.
- Delusion, persecuted, he is.
- Delusion, pursued by enemies, thought he was.
- Delusion, tormented, he is.
- Delusion, unfortunate, he is.
- Fancies, exaltation, of.
- Plans, making many.
- Indolence, aversion to work.
- Indifference, apathy, etc., alternating with vexation.
- Contemptuous, everything, of.
- Unworthy, objects seem.
- Offended easily.
- Suicidal disposition, but lacks courage.
Kent
- Face: greasy.
- Food tastes bitter.
- Appetite, increased during fever.
- Desires refreshing things.
- Desires fruits.
- Desires sweets.
- Aggravation from eggs (China-a).
- Gallstone colic.
- Respiration asthmatic, 3:00 a.m.
Chocolate
The profession is indebted to Jeremy Sherr for the proving of Chocolate.
Chocolate is a remedy of the "drug" group and of the sycotic miasm. The main feeling in Chocolate
is the want of warmth and affection. There is a need for contact in the Chocolate person.
It is the feeling of a child who was separated from her mother too early, while the need to suck at
her mother's breast was still very strong. As a result the person feels forsaken, isolated and
estranged from her family. Being separated from her mother makes her feel as if she is separated
from her world.
The situational Materia Medica of Chocolate is one where the mother is a working woman. She
breast-feeds the child for the initial few months and then weans her away for her convenience.
After giving her warmth and affection initially, she shows the child her thorny side by turning her
back towards her like a hedgehog; as a result, the child feels completely forsaken. She is anxious
about the future and has a fear of being injured. She feels like a gypsy who has to search for food
every time she is hungry. The child continues to crave for the love and the contact of her mother
that she misses so badly.
There are a lot of fears, especially about animals - dreams of animals. Again, like other "drug"
remedies it can have pleasant fantasies and feelings.
Rubrics
- Delusion, she is a hedgehog.
- Desire to forage for food.
- Delusion, small.
- Delusion, separated, world, from.
- Dream: lost at home.
- Dream: estranged, family, from.
- Forsaken, sensation of isolation.
- Fear, injured of being.
- Craves chocolate (Argentum nitricum, Calcarea carbonica, Carcinosinum, Lyssinum, Phosphorus,
Sepia).
Cicuta virosa
Cicuta is a remedy of the plant kingdom. The theme of Cicuta is that the patient has been hurt so
deeply and horribly in the past by another human being, especially a man, that she regresses into a
childlike state, and shuts out the rest of the world. She becomes extremely fearful, hateful,
suspicious and contemptuous of men. She gets violent and convulsive when excited or approached,
and is especially affected by horrible things and sad stories. This tremendous sensitivity and
reactivity of Cicuta, as also its shutting out the world, remind one of Opium, to which it is closely
related.
A Swiss colleague, Dr. Hansjorg Hee, narrated a case to me while he was in India. It was the case of a
child of 8-9 years, who had developed eczema of the face. One peculiarity of the eczema was that in
spite of it being a wet eczema, with oozing and crust formation, there was no itching. Also, she had
become withdrawn and taciturn. The problem had started a few years earlier when her father told
her the story of girl, an angel, who had been buried alive in a coffin, and on awakening found all
sorts of creatures creeping around her. This story shocked the child so much that her whole attitude
and mood changed. I suggested that she be given Cicuta, based on the following:
- Horrible things, sad stories affect her profoundly.
- Sadness from sad stories.
- Talk, indisposed to, desire to be silent, taciturn.
- Man, shuns the foolishness, of.
- Sensitive to sad stories.
- Company, aversion to, avoid the sight of people.
- Quiet disposition.
- Dullness, sluggishness.
Combined with these, the rubric "Eruptions without itching" from Phatak's Repertory gives Cicuta.
I heard from Dr. Hee that the patient did very well on Cicuta, both mentally and physically.
Other rubrics
- Delusion, thinks he is again a child.
- Answers when spoken to, yet knows no one.
- Contemptuous.
- Dancing grotesque.
- Delusion, everything is strange.
 - Misanthropy.
- Recognize, does not, his relatives.
- Unconsciousness, periodical.
Cina maritima
Cina is a remedy of the plant kingdom and that belongs to the psoric miasm. It is closely allied to
Chamomilla. The main feeling of both these remedies is that they are not getting enough attention
from their parents. Chamomilla reacts to this by loud shrieking and demanding, not quietened unless
carried, whereas Cina reacts with irritability and temper-tantrums such as throwing things,
capriciousness and pushing away her parents ("Touched, aversion to being", "Caressed, aversion to
being", "Indifference to caresses", "Striking in children", etc.), as if to say: "Where were you when I
needed you?" The need for attention in Cina is therefore seen as a refusal and rejection of the same,
and as capriciousness which involves also demanding many things without knowing what.
It is a kind of pest-like behaviour, with frequent complaining and demanding of attention, a kind of
behaviour that makes you want to avoid or push away the child, rather than giving him immediate
attention. I have often wondered if there is a connection between the pest-like behaviour of the
child and the tendency to worms. In any case the worms themselves produce some constant
irritation, causing the child to bore his fingers into the orifices and to become very uneasy.
The symptom of Cina: "Children refuse hair cutting" is one I have verified. Having a haircut has to do
with touch, caress, nearness and trust, which the Cina child is averse to. Caresses are of no use - and
this is the main symptom of Cina.
Cina often lies on the abdomen or takes a knee elbow position during sleep. It should be included
under the rubric: "Lying on hands and knees ameliorates" in Phatak's Repertory.
Rubrics
- Capriciousness.
- Caressed, aversion to being.
- Discontented, displeased, dissatisfied, everything, with.
- Fear, approaching, of others; children cannot bear to have anyone come near them.
- Carried, desire to be.
- Indifference, caresses, to.
Kent
- Appetite, increased during fever.
Phatak
- Aversion to approach.
- Caresses, proof, against.
- Stiffens out.
Coca
Coca belongs to the group of "drug" remedies. Its miasmatic range is between sycosis and cancer.
There are two main feelings essential to Coca. The first is the feeling that it is too risky to get out of
one's place of security, because of the threat which is there outside. The second feeling is that one is
expected to perform and to reach great heights, far beyond the ordinary. There is a need to do great
deeds. So the person remains isolated in his castle, thinking and trying to reach the heights which
others expect from him.
Like Cannabis, Coca too is a loner in a palace, but he is also one who is expected to perform. He is an
isolated genius. It is very difficult for him to make communication or establish connections with
other people. But his intellect works overtime, all the time stimulated, excited, reaching great
heights. Great intellectuals like Freud were known to be cocaine addicts (even the literary character
Sherlock Holmes is known to have used cocaine). Cocaine is always consumed when alone, in
isolation (unlike Cannabis).
The need to perform and reach great heights, the need to do extraordinary things make of Coca a
good remedy for mountain climbers. Fear of heights and fear of falling are naturally accompanying
symptoms. Also Coca could be included in the performance group of remedies like Gelsemium,
Argentum, Aurum, etc. Coca has stage fright and bashfulness.
Like Cannabis indica and other "drug" remedies, it has beautiful visions and the feeling to be spaced
out, carried in space, the isolated feeling, etc. But Coca is the only drug remedy that "Desires
grandeur". It also has delusions of being a great person.
Rubrics
- Delusion, hears unpleasant voice about himself.
- Delusion, criticized, of, being (cocaine).
- Delusion, beautiful.
- Delusion, visions has, beautiful.
- Forsaken feeling, sensation of isolation.
- Timidity, bashful.
- Industrious, mania for work.
- Washing her hands always.
- Fear, falling, of.
- Delusion, greatness of his body parts.
Phatak's materia medica
"Ill at ease in society", "Sense of impending death", "Personal appearance neglected".
Cocculus indicus
Cocculus is a plant remedy belonging to the sycotic miasm. It is similar to Pulsatilla and Ignatia.
The situation of Cocculus is that of an unmarried or childless woman. In such a situation, she takes
on the role of caring and looking after people, suppressing her own feelings and desires. Cocculus
persons are very sensitive to the sufferings of others. Sympathetic, alert and anxious for the feelings
and health of others, they can stay awake for nights, anxiously nursing the sick. "Anxiety for the
health of others" and "Loss of sleep aggravates" are two leading indications for this remedy. The loss
of sleep produces an oversensitivity of the nerves - they become "raw" and "on the edge":
"Oversensitivity to noise, to riding in a carriage, to odours, to looking at moving objects", "Giddiness,
dullness, a sense of imbalance". As a result, the patients want to lie down with their eyes closed.
They are oversensitive to rudeness and feel hurt easily: "Sadness, as if from an insult". Their
situation is such that they don't feel so connected to and are liable to be insulted by the family, and
they cannot express their own feelings: "Sadness", "Sits with eyes closed, absorbed in sad thoughts",
"Recognizes everything but cannot move". They absorb impressions, insults, etc., but cannot do
anything about it.
Cocculus may have to be differentiated from Causticum. Causticum is much harder, almost
dictatorial and is mainly concerned about the unity and togetherness of the family or the group. It is
not a problem with sensitivity.
Rubrics
- Sadness, as if from insult.
- Anxiety, about health.
- Anxiety, for others.
 - Anxiety, from loss of sleep.
- Dwells on past, disagreeable occurrences.
- Recognizes everything but cannot move.
- Sensitive to all external impressions.
- Sensitive to rudeness.
- Sits as if wrapped in deep, sad thoughts and notices nothing.
- Grief, ailments from.
- Talk, indisposed to, desires to be silent, taciturn.
Phatak
- Car sickness.
- Fear for health of others.
- Romantic.
Coffea cruda
Coffea is one of the group of "drug" remedies. It belongs to the sycotic miasm.
In Coffea there is a need to be industrious, productive and creative, and to do things for the benefit
of others, in order not to feel isolated. The Coffea person feels that he will be accepted by others
only if he is benevolent, doing good things for other people. So he will sit awake at night, working
and creating.
It is as if he finds himself away from home, in an unfamiliar place, feeling forsaken and totally
isolated. His future is uncertain. He becomes industrious, creative, making plans. All this mental and
physical activity, characteristic of Coffea, is not for his success or failure, but out of this need to do
something good for others, so that he is accepted by the group.
He is very conscientious and if anything goes wrong, he feels very remorseful. Aircraft crew and
surgeons take a lot of coffee because they need to be alert in order to avoid any mistake and the
consequent remorse. Also persons who need to be creative - e.g. artists, writers, film-makers, etc. -
have a high intake of coffee.
The Coffea person works for the benefit of others and hardly expects any kindness to be shown to
him. He hardly experiences any joy, and then if there is some sudden joy such as unexpected
kindness, he cannot take it - he weeps from joy ("Ailments from joy").
The difference between Coca and Coffea is that the former has to do something great in order to be
a part of the group and avoid isolation.
Rubrics
- Ailments from joy, excessive.
- Ailments from pleasant surprises.
- Forsaken feeling.
- Delusion, beautiful landscape, of.
- Benevolence.
- Delusion, home, away from, is.
- Charmed with description of beauties of nature.
- Fear, pain, of.
- Remorse.
- Plans, making many.
- Mental activity, increased excessively.
- Mental activity, with sleeplessness.
- Activity, creative.
 - Anxiety, future, about.
- Quick to act (Lachesis).
- Weeping, joy, from.
- Sleepless, thoughts and activity of mind, from; the same idea is always repeated.
Crocus sativus
Crocus sativus is a remedy that belongs to the sycotic miasm. It is prepared from saffron. Although it
is a plant remedy, it does have some features that are common to the remedies of the animal
kingdom, for example attractiveness and aggressiveness. It also has many features that are common
to the group of "drug" remedies. For example like Cannabis indica, it has cheerfulness, liveliness,
hilarity, illusions of fancy, fancies of hearing music, etc.
In Crocus the attractiveness and aggressiveness alternate with each other. At times, the patients can
be extremely attractive. This is manifest in behaviour such as very affectionate kissing, embracing,
loving and caring. They are also very talkative, they sing and dance, and they are often the life of a
party. This can resemble Lachesis or Hyoscyamus or even Tarentula. But in Crocus this suddenly
changes into an aggressiveness: they can become very angry, violent, with biting and shrieking... but
this rage is followed by quick repentance. It is as though the Crocus person feels the need to keep
the attention of the other person (especially of the opposite sex) by his attractive behaviour, but at
the same time shouldn't allow himself to be dominated by this person. He can be very impulsive.
In my experience, Crocus is indicated more for females. There is a feeling of dependence on the
man, a feeling of being unfit for business, and a need to be attractive for the man. The situation of
Crocus might therefore be that of a woman who is being neglected by her very dominating husband.
There is a threat of his going away because he is no longer attracted by her. In this situation, her
attractive behaviour would serve to keep him drawn towards her, while the aggressive behaviour
and rage prevent him from being too dominating. And so the combination of the need to attract and
the rage, which alternate with each other.
Another feature of Crocus is the singing. She cannot resist the impulse to sing, even if she hears a
single note sung at a distance.
Among the strong physical concomitants are the stringy discharges, especially the stringy blood of
the menses and the epistaxis.
Rubrics
- Affectionate.
- Dancing.
- Jumping.
- Kisses everyone.
- Loquacity.
- Singing involuntarily.
- Whistling.
- Cheerful, gay, happy.
- Fancies, vivid.
- Delusion, fancies he hears music.
- Mirth, hilarity, liveliness, etc..
- Laughing involuntarily.
- Laughing loudly.
- Biting.
- Rage, fury.
 - Quarrelsome alternating with singing.
- Rage alternating with affectionate disposition.
- Singing alternating with anger.
- Anger alternating with quick repentance.
- Delusion that he is unfit for business.
Kent
- Abdomen: sensation of something alive in.
Cuprum metallicum
Cuprum is placed in the first line of metals in the Periodic Table along with Zincum, Ferrum,
Niccolum, and Manganum. It is a psoric remedy. As with the other metals, Cuprum also has the
theme of attack, defence and performance.
The main feeling of Cuprum is that of being attacked. He feels he has to be prepared for a sudden
attack and has to attack back. This feeling comes in paroxysms (in contrast to Zincum which feels
attacked continuously). This is the theme of war, and Cuprum has a lot to do with war and armies.
Cuprum has delusions of being an officer, a great person, a person of rank, a general.
This feeling of being attacked and the need to defend is also reflected in his hobbies, which often
include the martial arts such as judo, karate, etc. Funnily enough, Cuprum has the symptom: "Fists
are clenched during convulsion".
In children, this feeling is seen in the form of a fear of being approached; the child cannot bear
anyone coming near her and reacts immediately by striking, shrieking, biting, spitting, rage, kicking,
attacking with fists, etc. One occasionally sees such children in the clinic.
In Cuprum, we have the theme of performance as well. Cuprum has: "Delusion, he is selling green
vegetables", "Delusion, he is repairing old chairs". These are very ordinary occupations and Cuprum
needs to be much more than that, he needs to be a general.
In Cuprum all the symptoms, including the perceived threat of attack, are not continuous but
intermittent, occurring suddenly and spasmodically, in attacks sometimes periodical and sometimes
due to an exciting cause. The cough comes in attacks, anger comes in attacks. This is the main
difference between Cuprum and Zincum: the latter feels attacked continuously.
Another theme of Cuprum is that they imitate others, sometimes making fun of others. There is also
a certain degree of egotism seen in Cuprum. They can be good entertainers as well.
Physical symptoms
In the physical sphere we see in Cuprum:
- Cough, comes in long violent paroxysms (asthma). It is a paroxysmal cough, in long, uninterrupted
paroxysms with: agg. 3:00 a.m. , agg. moon phases, agg. emotional excitement on the previous day,
etc.
Rubrics
- Ailment from excitement, emotional.
- Anxiety, paroxysms, in.
- Bite, desire to.
- Delusion, arrested, is about to be.
- Delusion, chairs, he is repairing, old.
- Delusion, commander, being a.
- Delusion, general, he is a.
- Delusion, great person, he is a.
- Delusion, officer, he is an.
 - Delusion, rank, he is a person of.
- Delusion, pursued, police, by.
- Delusion, green vegetables, he is selling.
- Dictatorial, command, talking with air of.
- Fear, approaching him, of others, children cannot bear to have anyone come near them.
- Fear, strangers, of.
- Imitation, mimicry.
- Rage, biting with.
- Rage, shrieking with.
- Rage, violent.
- Spit, faces of people, in.
Cyclamen europaeum
Cyclamen is a remedy of the plant kingdom.
The situation of Cyclamen is that of a woman who feels that she has done something wrong, or that
she hasn't done her duty and something bad has occurred as a result. She feels solely responsible for
what has happened and feels like a criminal. She cannot reveal the crime to anyone, keeps
everything within herself and tries to rectify things as much as possible. She avoids all social contact,
does not talk to anyone and feels totally alone.
The following case may help give a clear picture of Cyclamen.
The patient was a woman aged 45 years. She had a successful career as an Assistant Manager in a
big company in Bombay, where she had been working for the past fifteen years. Her complaint was a
very bad eczema on both her legs, oozing and painful, for two or three months. She was completely
disabled, could not go anywhere and had to stay home. On asking her for a possible reason for the
eczema, she replied that it could be psychological. She said that there was some family problem. She
was reluctant to reveal any more details. So I asked her about her dreams. She said: "I get recurrent
dreams of stools, of passing stool, or stool just lying around." While saying this, she never looked
straight at me. She was looking from side to side, her eyes were moving quite rapidly. Then I said:
"Tell me about the dream of stool". And she said: "Okay, doctor, I will tell you the problem. I have a
son who is mentally retarded and who gets convulsions. Everytime he gets convulsions, I get the
dream of stools. During pregnancy I had the dream that there were lots of stools and the head of a
child was coming out from them. Somebody, God knows who, was trying to push the head back. At
that time I knew the child was not going to be okay." When she was saying this, her eyes were
moving quickly. She added in almost a whisper: "I feel I could have avoided it. I could have done
something."
During her fifteen years in the office, she had never mentioned her son to anyone. She avoided all
social contacts, never went to parties or out on holidays, even though she was entitled to holidays.
She was very efficient at her work. She felt solely responsible for looking after the child, even though
her husband was helpful.
As I understood the case, she felt guilty about the child. She felt she knew he would not be normal
and could have done something during the pregnancy. She felt solely responsible for his condition.
The feeling behind the dream was that the child is suffering because it is immersed in her own
faeces. She felt like a criminal, hence the movement of the eyeballs like a criminal. She felt
completely alone because it was her fault. In symbolic language, the child was drowning in her own
shit, his suffering was due to her own dirtiness. She could not reveal her crime to anyone and had to
keep quiet and atone alone for her crime.
 Phatak's Materia Medica sums it up in three words:
- Terror of conscience.
The rubrics of the case were:
- Grief, undemonstrative.
- Anxiety of conscience, as if guilty of a crime.
- Anxiety about future.
- Company, aversion to.
- Delusion, she has done wrong.
- Delusion, she is a criminal.
- Delusion, she has neglected her duty.
- Talk, indisposed to, desires to be silent, taciturn.
- Going out, aversion to.
Other rubrics
- Delusion, deserted.
- Reproaches himself.
- Reserved.
Kent
- Desires lemonade.
Drosera rotundifolia
Drosera is a tubercular remedy. I am not sure if it should be classified as belonging to the plant or
animal kingdom, because Drosera has not only the sensitivity and reactivity common to remedies of
the plant kingdom, but also the persecuted feeling, violence and aggression of animal remedies.
Drosera is a carnivorous plant - a plant behaving almost like an animal. I think it is difficult to obtain
this plant without an insect trapped inside it, and this may be a part of the remedy prepared.
The main feeling of Drosera is that of being persecuted, deceived, trapped, choked and killed. The
reaction is to be aggressive, violent, trying to get out, which is often not possible. The expression of
Drosera is that even a small irritation can get the patients into a tremendous outburst of rage and
the inner feeling is of being harassed, cheated, deceived.
They are suspicious. Phatak's Materia Medica mentions: "Fears being alone and is suspicious of
friends. Imagines being deceived by spiteful, envious people". In Phatak's Repertory Drosera is
mentioned under "Delusion, being deceived" along with Ruta.
Hahnemann's Materia Medica Pura shows the following symptoms under Drosera:
- All day long, uneasiness of disposition and anxiety, full of mistrust, as if he had to do with none but
false people.
- Silent and reserved, with anxiety, he always feared he was about to learn something disagreeable.
- Anxiety as if his enemies would not leave him quiet, envied and persecuted him.
- He is sad and dejected about the ills of life, which people cause one another and himself,
respecting which he is anxious and concerned; at the same time, want of appetite.
Thus the theme of Drosera is that of being stabbed in the back, of being deceived by one's own
friends and yet at the same time there is a great dependence on them.
There is a feeling of weakness, due to which he is dependent, but at the same time, he feels his
weakness is being taken advantage of. This is a typical tubercular feeling. Drosera feels harassed by
others and let down by his own friends.
Drosera reacts to this "oppression" violently. In rage he becomes loud, shrieking and violent.
Drosera also has a suicidal inclination.
 The Drosera cough too is described as "harassing" by Phatak and is accompanied by irritation,
violent paroxysms.
Rubrics
- Anger, trifles, at.
- Anger, violent.
- Company, desire for.
- Delusion, persecuted, he is.
- Delusion, vexations and offences, of.
- Fear, alone, of being.
- Suicidal disposition.
- Suspicious, mistrustful.
- Violent, vehement.
- Rage, fury.
Kent
- Cough, attacks follow one another quickly.
Phatak
- Dust aggravates.
- Imaginations, being deceived.
Elaps corallinus
Elaps is the coral snake. It has features common to the "snake" group of remedies, like loquacity,
jealousy, egotism, deceit, venomous disposition, etc.
I have usually identified Elaps by its very strong physical cravings/concomitants, for example the
desire for bananas (my observation), oranges, salads, sweetened butter milk (in India, a yoghurt
drink called "Lassi"), ice, sweet, sour, milk. Its other symptoms which I have repeatedly confirmed is
the burning pain in oesophagus and stomach, commonly described by the patient as "acidity" which
is ameliorated by cold drinks - the cold drink can be felt descending from oesophagus down to the
stomach, where it feels quite cold. Also the pain is ameliorated by lying on abdomen. This cold
sensation descending down the oesophagus and settling in the stomach is unique to Elaps.
One of the dreams repeatedly seen in Elaps is the dream of falling, sometimes described as falling
into an abyss or a pit.
My prescriptions were initially based on these physical symptoms, but from clinical experience I
have derived some idea of the mental state of Elaps, which is as follows:
I find that the patients have a fear of falling down, losing their position, their image in society. They
like to maintain a very good image and value the good opinion of others. One has to differentiate
this remedy from Palladium or sometimes from Platinum.
Their talk is quite animated and egoistic. They are loquacious and have a tendency to put others
down, but not in an egoistic way. They often come from respected families and are multi-talented in
the areas of leadership, appearance, cooking, etc.
In one patient I observed a tremendous fear about the well-being of her husband and daughter,
especially if they were a bit late returning home. The fear of high places is very strong. In this
particular case the fears came up mainly when the daughter had gone for rock climbing and the
husband was travelling by air.
To conclude, the most important features of Elaps are the fear of crashing down from a high place
and the anxiety to uphold her image, the fear that her image should stand and not crash down.
Rubrics
 - Stomach, coldness, ice-like, after cold drinks.
- Chest, coldness, internal, as if ice water were rising and descending through a cylindrical tube.
- Stomach, pain, lying on abdomen ameliorates.
- Company, desire for, happen, as if something horrible might.
- Fear, happen, something will.
- Dreams of falling into a pit.
Kent
- Aversion, bananas.
- Desires ice.
- Desires oranges.
Phatak
- Drinks, cold, as if.
Ferrum metallicum
Ferrum (Iron) lies in the 4th period of the Periodic Table along with the metals Manganese, Cobalt,
Nickel, Copper and Zinc. This line of metals is concerned with performance, and also with defence.
I have conducted a proving of Ferrum metallicum with the help of some students, resident doctors
and colleagues. Twelve of us took a single dose in the 30th potency and noted our symptoms. One
male and two female provers had dreams with a common theme, that the parent of the prover is
introducing him to someone and is compelling him to marry this person, despite very strong
objections from the prover. When I mentioned this to one of my colleagues, he said that in two of
the three Ferrum cases he had cured, he had found the same problem - the patients were being
compelled to marry someone they didn't want to marry and they had been opposed to this. Then I
understood the meaning of the prover's dreams. They had the following elements:
- Being compelled to do something against one's wishes.
- Fighting against it.
- Guilt of not obeying the parents.
On studying the symptoms of Ferrum, I realized that one set of symptoms ("Obstinate". "Contradict,
disposition to", etc.) suggested going against the parents. The other symptom was "Anxiety,
conscience of, as if guilty of a crime". Ferrum also has: "Ailments from anger" and "Ailments from
scorn". So one can visualize a situation where the parents are forcing the child into something he
does not want to do. In India, one of the things that parents force their children against their wishes
into is marriage. The parents say: "You know nothing; you do everything wrong. Let us decide what is
right for you." And the child says: "I know what is right for me - who are you to tell me." So he
becomes strong-willed, determined, intolerant of any contradiction, fights his own battle. At the
same time he feels guilty within himself. Phatak's Materia Medica gives the symptom: "Always in the
right". He becomes rigid and stiff in his attitude. He sees his parents as intruding into his territory
and puts up a strong defence to prevent this. This defence itself becomes a performance. Iron is
used in gates, fences, helmets, battle tanks, shields of armour. All these objects are used to protect,
to prevent things from the outside from intruding into one's territory. Ferrum patients have to
protect and defend both themselves and their families. And so they perform by defending. It is as
though they are always at war, fighting to defend themselves and their families.
Niccolum is similar to Ferrum with only Cobaltum coming in between both of them. Both defend
themselves and perform to defend their families. This theme of defence and protecting oneself is
also strong in Cuprum and Zincum (which follows Niccolum in the Periodic Table).
They have dreams of battles, of fights, of wars, also of falling into the water, of seeing dead friends
and relatives, of seeing the old school again. Ferrum patients are sensitive and excitable and are
allergic to many substances. The main craving is for tomatoes.
Rubrics
- Ailments from anger, vexation.
- Ailments from scorn, being scorned.
- Anxiety of conscience, as if guilty of crime.
- Company, aversion to, friends or intimate.
- Contradict, disposition to.
- Contradiction, intolerant of.
- Delusion, war, being at.
- Dictatorial.
- Haughty.
- Obstinate.
- Quarrelsome.
- Strength increased, mental.
- Fear, crossing a bridge or place, of.
- Fear, crowd, in a.
- Fear, misfortune, of.
- Fear, evil, of.
- Irritability, from noise such as even from crackling of newspapers, drives him to despair.
- Occupation ameliorates.
- Dreams, of battles.
- Dreams, of fights.
- Dreams, of war.
Fluoricum acidum
Fluoricum acidum is a remedy of the syphilitic miasm. Fluorine, along with other Halogens, belongs
to Group VIIIA of the Periodic Table. The Halogens have the feeling of betrayal and hurt, and in the
failed state react in a repulsive manner, by rejecting, throwing off. In the coped state however, they
avoid breaking relationships.
Fluorine is the lightest, most active and reactive of the Halogens. It forms and breaks relationships
very quickly. This can be seen in the symptomatology of Fluoricum acidum. Fluoricum acidum is
flirtatious and has many acquaintances, but no deep relationships. The term "Buoyancy" has been
used to describe Fluoricum acidum. Its pathological processes however are very deep and near
syphilitic.
The theme of Fluor is that of an incompatible relationship and the need to break off. The theme of
Acids is of a lot of effort and activity followed by weakness and exhaustion. In Fluoricum acidum we
see a tremendous effort in the direction of breaking off the relationship. The situation of Fluoricum
acidum is one where an incompatible marriage is causing the patient a great suffering. He needs to
break away from this marriage. Hence he becomes irresponsible and immoral. Like in other Halogens
there is tremendous activity: "Increased ability to exercise his muscles without fatigue, regardless of
most excessive heat of summer or cold of winter", "Impulse to walk fast, necessity to always be on
the move" (Phatak's Materia Medica). The Fluoricum acidum person can perform a lot of feats
without rest, and all he needs is a short afternoon nap to gain back his energy. The specific direction
of this increased energy in the person is indicated by the increased sexual desire. He stands in the
street and ogles at women. Fluoricum acidum persons talk very openly about their sexuality. Even in
old age, there is increased sexual desire and excessive enjoyment. The patient becomes
irresponsible and indifferent towards his own family, but is pleasant and animated with strangers
and will seem careless, cheerful and exuberant on the outside. All these features represent efforts
that could help him break away from the incompatible marriage or relationship.
In the coped-up state however, the effort and the struggle are in the direction of not letting the
relationship break. This is seen in the Fluoricum acidum dream: "Sudden death of his son, and also of
the son of one of his friends; thinks that in both cases, he has been the one to blame, reproaches
himself very much" (Allen's Encyclopedia). This dream shows a sense of responsibility and guilt, and
also of caring for their loved ones - the opposite pole of Fluoricum acidum.
Physical symptoms
- Very hot patients - sensation of heat escaping from the pores of the skin.
- Desires cold bathing.
- Craves highly pungent food.
- Cracks in the tongue in all directions.
- Deep-seated, destructive disease conditions, e.g. ulcers.
- Early senility with hair fall.
- Ridged nails.
Rubrics
- Delusion, marriage, must dissolve.
- Delusion, betrothal must be broken.
- Delusion, children out of the house, he must drive.
- Aversion, members of family, to.
- Indifference, loved ones, to, strangers, but animated, to.
- Indifference, relations, to.
- Indifference, business affairs, to.
- Indifference, important things, to.
- Lascivious, lustful.
- Anxiety, walking rapidly which makes him walk faster.
- Buoyancy.
- Deceitful.
- Libertinism.
Kent
- Head: hair falling in spots.
- Tongue: cracked in all directions.
- Desires highly seasoned food .
Phatak
- Cold and heat both aggravate.
- Responsibility, inability to realize.
- Short sleep ameliorates.
Phatak's materia medica
Inability to realize responsibility... Aversion to his own family, to those loved best. becomes
interested and converses pleasantly with strangers.
Gelsemium sempervirens
Gelsemium is a sycotic remedy. It belongs to the plant kingdom.
Gelsemium has "Ailments from anticipation", "Ailments from bad news". The Gelsemium persons
get apprehensive in the face of ordeals and develop a lack of self-confidence in such situations. The
patients tend to lose their control and balance. So the main feeling in Gelsemium is: "I have to keep
my control when going through ordeals. I have to be able to withstand very difficult, trying
situations, I have to be able to withstand shock and bad news without losing my control". So they
keep courage when facing ordeals, and are not shaken up even by frightening situations. This
courageous Gelsemium is exactly the opposite of the picture we read in the books, of the coward
who is unable to face any unexpected event. Any exciting or bad news, shock or anticipation can
make the person lose his balance and control. He may develop giddiness and a fear of falling. He
may lose control over his bowels. He develops a kind of paralytic or cataleptic immobile state. He is
shocked and is therefore unable to move. In some patients, I have seen that they give the impression
of control on the outside in the face of ordeals, but inside there is a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety, and
they panic. They do not like to reveal their inner cowardice.
Gelsemium may sometimes seem to appear like Stramonium, with clinging and a desire for support
always. But Stramonium is far more acute. Also in Stramonium, the threat is perceived from outside
of him, whereas in Gelsemium, it is the lack of confidence which is the main problem.
I remember one case of Gelsemium particularly well. The patient, a woman, was a dancer who had
developed eczema on her feet. This woman gave me a history that she had been in a very bad
accident and had some of her bones broken. In spite of this, she managed to give a dance
performance though she had to put up with a lot of pain. She also related that on one occasion her
house had been broken into by five men armed with choppers. In this situation too, she managed to
keep her cool and salvage a lot of her valuables. With Gelsemium, her eczema flared up so that she
was unable to move out of bed. This situation caused everyone, including me, to panic, but she went
through it, maintaining her control and balance, and improved subsequently.
Rubrics
- Ailments from anticipation, foreboding, presentiment.
- Ailments from bad news.
- Ailments from excitement, emotional.
- Ailments from shock, mental.
- Excitement, hearing horrible things, after.
- Confidence, want of self.
- Cowardice.
- Timidity, appearing in public.
- Fear, cease to beat, unless constantly on the move, heart will.
- Fear, self-control, of losing.
- Stupefaction.
- Dullness, sluggishness, think long, unable to.
- Fear, falling, of.
- Clinging to persons or furniture, etc.
- Clinging, child grasps the nurse when carried.
Kent
- Diarrhoea, excitement, from.
Phatak
- Catalepsy.
- Fear, ordeals, of.
Graphites
 Graphites is a remedy of the mineral kingdom. It is prepared from black lead, an amorphous Carbon.
There are two very striking features of Graphites which blend together. The first is an excitement
from the smallest possible cause and the second is an amelioration from weeping.
The Graphites woman is excitable, and trifles can create turmoil in her. She becomes restless and
anxious, irritable and despairing, very sentimental. She gets worked up about the smallest of things
and this accounts for her fastidiousness. She simply cannot stay calm. It is as if she has to be excited
in order to survive. One situation that would demand such an easy excitability would be that of a
woman whose family takes things easy. The house is a mess, nothing works, everyone's work is
undone or half-done, and her husband and children could not care less. They relax and enjoy
themselves. And so the woman is disappointed, and has to be excitable and restless.
Graphites patients are timid and lack of self-confidence. They are cowardly, irresolute and are
always doubting themselves. This creates in them an anxiety. They are dull and cannot concentrate.
They become restless when they have to concentrate, to think, to apply their minds to work. These
people will sit hours at a conference, drawing and scribbling, unable to concentrate. If asked about
the conference, they may be able to repeat the events verbatim, but there will be no precis, because
the later involves thinking, comprehending and understanding. They cannot plan, are absent-minded
and easily confused. Graphites is one of the chief remedies for "Ailments from anticipation". They
are always uneasy and fretful with the feeling of some impending misfortune. And any small trouble
or problem can drive them to despair.
This excitability from trifles is markedly ameliorated from weeping. Weeping is an expression and
the Graphites patient is much better from expressing her emotions. This disposition to weep seems
like Pulsatilla, but the whole mood of the two remedies is very different. Graphites will be excited,
anxious, apprehensive, sad, despairing and despondent; but the moment she expresses her
emotions, she becomes calm and relaxed. She can hardly keep anything to herself: her doubts, fears,
loves and hates; they have to be expressed or conveyed. It is like a tuning fork that vibrates from a
slight jerk and rests only when this vibration is transmitted to something else.
The excitability from trifles which is markedly better from an expression of the emotions makes of
Graphites a unique personality. An example of Graphites might be one of a housewife who has
received a letter about someone's ill health or who has had an altercation with the shopkeeper,
while her husband was away. She becomes worked up, frets, is excited and restless. She cannot sit
and do her work, but anxiously awaits her husband's return. And almost as soon as he opens the
door, she pours out the whole story to him. She describes everything that happened, excitedly and
with a lot of details, and calms down only when she is finished. Graphites patients in the clinic also
seem excited, and describe their complaints with attention to the minutest detail. For example the
patient will say to you: "Doctor, when I got up in the night, I found that there was a burning in my
chest, burning like a fire, and then when I drank cold water, I felt better, so much better."
Rubrics
- Despair over trifles.
- Restlessness while sitting at work.
- Anxiety about future.
- Concentration, difficult.
- Conscientious about trifles.
- Death, presentiment of.
- Dullness, sluggishness from mental exertion.
- Excitement, excitable.
 - Weeping ameliorates symptoms.
- Weeping causeless.
- Despondency, she must weep (Allen's Hand Book).
Kent's
- Skin, cracks in winter.
Phatak
- Fidgety.
Helleborus niger
Helleborus is a plant remedy of the typhoid miasm. It is very closely related to "drug" remedies like
Opium but is more acute in its manifestations.
Curiously, it is a plant remedy with a completely opposite manifestation than the usual plant
characteristic of sensitivity. In fact Helleborus is the most insensitive of all the remedies in our
Materia Medica.
The main feeling of the Helleborus person is that the outside is so painful, unpleasant, horrifying
and shocking that he completely shuts himself from the outside world. He remains completely
absorbed. He does not see, even if his eyesight is clear. He can't hear though his ears are intact. He is
completely indifferent to both pleasure and pain. He takes a lot of time before answering a question.
But in my experience such manifestations represent an extreme stage which may be seen in
conditions like encephalitis.
In normal circumstances, Helleborus persons live with a tremendous dullness; nothing interests
them anymore. They cannot register things in a normal conversation; when they read, it does not
register.
One of the "Ailments from" of Helleborus is "head injury". Here it compares with Arnica.
Helleborus has many other peculiar mental symptoms and delusions and needs to be studied and
understood better.
Rubrics
- Answers, reflects long.
- Answers, repeats the question.
- Answers, slowly.
- Automatism.
- Indifference, desire, has no, no action of the will.
- Indifference, everything, to.
- Indifference, external impressions, to.
- Will, muscles refuse to obey the will when attention is turned away.
Hepar sulphur
Hepar sulphuris calcareum (the sulphurette of lime, CaS) is a syphilitic remedy. It was first prepared
by Hahnemann who used the white interior of the oyster shell; he heated it to high temperature
along with pure flowers of Sulphur. Hepar sulphuris is different from Calcarea sulphurica probably
due to its mode of preparation; it has elements of both Calcarea and Sulphur, but has an added
element of violence and cruelty.
Like Calcarea, the Hepar sulphuris person has a tremendous fear of being alone and is very
concerned about the health of relatives. But he feels that people upon whom he depends for
support push him down, treat him badly, humiliate him. He becomes very violent, so much so that
he wants to set things on fire, wants to kill. He is very hurried, especially in speech, quarrelsome and
very dissatisfied - nothing pleases him. There is in him a great touchiness.
 Thus Hepar sulphuris represents the violent extreme of Calcarea sulphurica. Phatak gives:
- Ferocious, wants to kill those who offend him, wants to set things on fire.
Hepar sulphuris has a feeling of being terribly offended. It is the feeling that precedes a violent
revolution, the feeling of being terribly insulted/offended by the person who is supposed to look
after you (e.g. the king). In such a revolution, things are set on fire and people are slaughtered:
arson and murder.
I have seen that in anger, they can get violent, suicidal, homicidal with firearms or a sharp weapon.
Even trifles make them extremely violent. For example I had a patient who found a stain on a shirt
that had just come back from the laundry, in a rage he set the shirt on fire. On another occasion, out
of anger, he poured kerosene all over his house to set it on fire. He improved remarkably with Hepar
sulphuris.
Like Sulphur, Hepar sulphuris is also concerned very much with appearance. He feels unappreciated
like Calcarea sulphurica. But the feelings are much more intense, as seen by comparing the symptom
"Sits and meditates" of Calcarea sulphurica to that of Hepar sulphuris "Dementia with complete
stupidity, sits silent and speechless in a corner", "Sad mood for hours, must cry vehemently".
Whereas Calcarea is fearful, Hepar sulphuris has "violent fright" as is seen in the symptoms:
- Frightful visions of fire and dead persons.
- Violent fright on slumbering.
The irritability of Sulphur is present but again in a violent form:
- Violent, passionate, fretfulness.
- Wrathful irritability even to the most extreme violence, threatening to end in murder and arson.
Physical concomitants
- Desires: fats, sour, spices.
- Tendency to suppuration, boils, extremely tender.
- Eruptions ameliorated by heat.
- Very offensive odour of discharges.
- Very, very sensitive; oversensitive to noise, pain and draught of air.
- Pains are splinter-like.
- Hasty speech.
- Violent from pain.
- Extremely chilly.
Rubrics
- Abrupt.
- Cruelty, inhumanity.
- Delusion, fire, visions of.
- Fear, alone, of being.
- Fire, wants to set things on.
- Kill, desire, to.
- Kill, knife, with a.
- Kill offence, sudden impulse to kill for a slight.
- Sensitive, pain, to.
- Suicidal, fire, to set oneself on.
- Violent, deeds of violence, rage leading to.
Kent
- Desires fat.
 - Desires highly seasoned food.
Phatak
- Besides oneself.
- Craves condiments.
- Touchy.
Hippomanes
Hippomanes is an animal remedy. It is made out of a placental secretion or allantois membrane
which is found in the mouth of a newly born foal or calf. It is syco-syphilitic.
The following is the case of one patient who did very well on this remedy.
The patient was a 65 year old man who had among other problems, glaucoma. Ever since, he had
become suicidal and could not "concentrate on anything but suicide". His hobbies included reading
"sex books", and he had a history of having indulged a lot in sex in the past; he was quite shameless
in the way he spoke about this.
As a child he would find any excuse to pick up a fight and would fight physically with many of his
schoolmates. He used the word "fight" many times during the consultation. He had also fought for
the employees where he was working. When he was fourteen years old, an elder member of his
family saw him fighting with his schoolmate and punished him by beating him black and blue. The
patient said that from that day he altogether stopped getting into physical fights.
His wife was quarrelsome and he could not oppose her nor fight back though he wanted to. This
made him very sad and withdrawn and he sat for hours doing nothing.
The rubrics of the case are:
- Suicidal disposition.
- Fight, wants to.
- Fancies, lascivious.
- Sexual desire increased.
All these rubrics are covered by Hippomanes. It also has the single symptom:
- Sadness, despondency: sits in the corner and does not want to have anything to do with the world.
What I understood from this case is that Hippomanes has two qualities common to remedies of the
animal kingdom: sexuality and aggressiveness. but if this aggressiveness is not expressed, or it is very
strongly suppressed, it creates an intense suicidal depression. The same is the case with sexuality.
Even though it is an animal remedy, the animal side can't be expressed. This is perhaps the fate of
fully domesticated animals like the horse and the cow.
The patient improved vastly on Hippomanes.
Rubrics
Other important rubrics are:
- Company, aversion to; presence of other people aggravates symptoms; desire for solitude.
- Sits still, wrapped in deep, sad thoughts and notices nothing, as if.
Hura brasiliensis
Hura has features that place it exactly between the tubercular and the syphilitic miasms. This is the
leprosy miasm. The main feeling in the leprosy miasm is similar to the tubercular miasm, only much
worse. The feeling is that even with intense, rapid, hectic activity to come out of this destructive
process (leprosy), there is very little hope.
In terms of pathology there are three distinct types of leprosy. There is the tuberculoid type which,
though progressive, has a better prognosis than others - there is hope. At the other end, there is the
lepromatous leprosy which is rapidly progressive and destructive, resembling syphilis. The
intermediate type lies between these two. Leprosy, like tuberculosis, is rampant in India. There is a
feeling of tremendous oppression (lepers are often treated worse than animals and are the objects
of loathing) and an intense hopelessness with a desire for change.
I choose to study Hura with the purpose to understand its state, because I had never used this
remedy before. On going through the symptoms, I found that they concentrated around a feeling of
being forsaken, with the specific delusion that the Hura person is about to lose his friends and that
his friends have lost affection for him. He feels like a castaway, unwanted; he feels alone in the
world, despised and hated. There is a feeling of being unfortunate, unlucky that something has
happened to him, because of which he has lost his friends and everyone has started hating him.
There is the rubric: "Despair of recovery" which means that it is difficult for him to recover from this
position; the chances of getting back to the original position are slim and so there is sadness and
mental depression. He becomes quite frustrated and can get destructive, even to the extent of self-
destruction. He becomes angry with himself, dislikes himself, reproaches himself, feels unfortunate.
This feeling of Hura gave me a strong impression of leprosy. A leper is a man who, through a stroke
of bad luck, comes into a position (having contracted the disease) where all his friends have deserted
him. They hate him, despise him, have lost affection for him, and how much ever he may try, he
cannot compensate and he cannot get back to where he was before - once a leper, always a leper.
The situation of Hura is that of a leper. Hura feels like a leper. He feels castaway and despised
without any chance of recovering from this situation. Having got this idea, you can imagine my joy
when I went through Clarke's Dictionary and found that in the proving of Hura the best symptoms
were brought out in people with a past history of leprosy, and that it was a known remedy for
leprosy.
Ever since I wrote this description of Hura in my book "The Spirit of Homoeopathy", I have had cases
that confirm this feeling of Hura. They feel unfortunate, castaway, hated, despised, without any
hope of recovery. They try to hide their skin spot or acne or skin infection and keep on looking in the
mirror everyday to see whether it is growing or not. They do this secretly as they don't want others
too see or notice it. They feel unfortunate: "Why did I get this?" They feel others will find out about
it and despise them.
The dreams of Hura reflect this same theme - of feeling like a leper, of being castaway, with a
longing to be a part of normal society, to be among his friends, and the feeling of hopelessness of
coming out of this destructive process that is leprosy.
Dreams
- Body, parts of, heads, cut off.
- Dead bodies.
- Mutilation.
- Cutting heads of.
- Murder.
- Oxen - putrid.
- Walking among ruins.
- Water-drowning.
- Death.
- Funerals.
- Graves - putting tapers on tombs.
- Prisoner - release of prisoners.
Rubrics
 - Delusion, thinks she is about to lose a friend.
- Delusion, lost affection of friends.
- Delusion, she is alone in the world.
- Delusion, his friends have lost all confidence in him.
- Delusion, sees dead persons.
- Delusion, deserted, forsaken.
- Delusion, unfortunate, he is.
- Delusion, despised, he is.
- Delusion, fancies herself lost.
- Delusion, thinks is repudiated by relatives.
- Despair of recovery.
- Despair, religious, of salvation.
- Biting hands.
- Biting himself.
Destructiveness.-
Hyoscyamus niger
Hyoscyamus is a plant remedy. It belongs to the acute miasm and is allied to Belladonna and
Stramonium and also to Veratrum and Lyssinum.
The main feeling of Hyoscyamus is that of being suddenly let down, disappointed, betrayed and
deserted by the person on whom one is completely dependent. This situation causes in the patient
acute fear and panic. It also causes a variety of reactions which are, on the one hand, attractive, e.g.
loquacity, jesting, sexuality, etc., and on the other hand threatening, e.g. violence, striking and
desire to kill.
There is a tremendous fear of being alone and of facing the danger of the outside world all by
oneself. The acuteness of the feeling creates a kind of insanity, which is foolish. The patient tries to
attract attention by foolish behaviour, behaviour so ridiculous that it can provoke laughter. Like
other remedies of the acute miasm the Hyoscyamus person is very excitable, and the symptoms
appear and disappear suddenly.
The situation of Hyoscyamus is that of a man deeply in love with his wife who is having an
extramarital affair. He is afraid that she will leave him and that he will be left all alone. He also feels
threatened by her; she might try to poison him or do him some harm in order to try to get away. But
as he loves her, he has to keep the relationship going. He tries to attract her attention by joking,
talking and sexual behaviour. At the same time, he has to be suspicious and cautious, because he
feels threatened by her. He is also extremely jealous of the other man. So he can also become angry
and violent. All the time, he feels that he is being wronged, that he is being persecuted. This may
appear like Lyssinum, but in the latter, the feeling of persecution and the resultant violent reaction
are episodic. In Hyoscyamus the feeling is very acute and the instantaneous reaction is that of
suspicion, a foolish excitability, open sexuality and violence. It may also appear like Lachesis. But
Lachesis is sycotic and is very clever and calculative, whereas Hyoscyamus is acute and his reaction is
ridiculous; he tries to attract attention by foolish behaviour and antics and can also get threatening,
with violence and striking.
One of the main features of Hyoscyamus could be a feeling of being sexually unattractive. The
reaction to this is an open, shameless sexuality. He exhibits his lewd sexual desire in an overt, foolish
way through a lot of loud talk, exposing the genitals, etc. It is complementary to Staphisagria which
is the picture of suppressed sexuality and aggressiveness, whereas in Hyoscyamus the same is
openly expressed. No wonder then that Hyoscyamus has the delusion of seeing peacocks, which are
the most colourful and attractive of birds. It also has the delusion of hens tied up in chains, which I
understand to be the feeling of facing an acute threat.
I have observed Hyoscyamus patients to be loud, excited and animated, so that it may often be
mistaken for an animal remedy. They are quite suspicious and mistrustful, and therefore foolishly
keep asking the physician the same questions repeatedly; this can elicit laughter and make them
appear ridiculous. Their talk may be naive and childish, at the same time it is often shameless and
they may reveal secrets or intimate details about themselves or others. Again they can be angry,
complaining and threatening. What we can see in certain cases of insanity, which may need
Hyoscyamus, is this inner threat of violence, a kind of suspiciousness which says: "If you do anything
to me, I will harm you". I have seen it indicated in young persons especially girls who, due to
conservative and strict upbringing, are unable to express their sexuality or be sexually attractive.
They feel forsaken and neglected and suddenly go into insanity where they become openly
shameless, talkative and excited. The insanity could also take the form of suspicious or persecutory
ideas, especially that men are interested in them and are making sexual advances to them. I have
also seen it indicated in old men who lose their control and became foolishly loquacious and
shameless sexually.
In some cases of Hyoscyamus, although the feeling of threat may not seem to be as acute as in
others, their perception of this feeling and subsequent reaction would give them away. For example,
I had a patient who was scared of speaking on stage or dancing in public, even though he was good
at dancing. At first, it seemed that it could be a remedy with stage fright, but on further questioning
he said that he had to be dragged by four persons onto

the dance floor and his reaction was one of tremendous panic and fear, as if he was going to be
killed!
Another case of Hyoscyamus I remember well was the case of a woman who said she could not face
anyone if she was dressed informally. Even to go to the ground floor of the building she lived in, she
would have to dress up formally. If she didn't, she would feel as if she were revealing a secret about
herself, which if other persons came to know, she would feel betrayed. She could not reveal herself
to anyone who would not reveal himself to her. She had dreams of the holocaust, and a feeling of
remaining underground, of being betrayed, even by her own people. She did not know whom to
trust and whom not to. The fear and panic came up acutely in the dream.
Yet another case that I would like to relate is the case of a woman who said that she was very
dependent on her husband, and lived with the constant fear that he might betray her. On being
asked about the happiest moment of her life she answered that it would be to reveal to her husband
while they were in the middle of a party, that she had nothing on underneath her dress and to see
the look on his face! After Hyoscyamus she informed me that her entire attitude had changed. She
had become less dependent on her husband and could feel free from the fear that he would leave
her. She did not have to spend too much energy worrying about her partner.
Rubrics
- Complaining of supposed injury.
- Delusion, fancies has suffered wrong.
- Delusion, as if he would be sold.
- Delusion, is being injured by surroundings.
- Delusion, that he is persecuted.
 - Delusion, pursued, enemies, by.
- Delusion, that she is being watched.
- Delusion, wife faithless.
- Fear of being betrayed.
- Foolish behaviour.
- Reveals secrets.
- Lascivious, lustful.
- Lewdness.
- Shamelessness, exposes the person.
- Nymphomania.
- Singing obscene songs.
- Dancing.
- Laughing loudly.
- Jesting: ridiculous or foolish.
- Suspicious.
- Jealousy.
- Inciting others.
- Destructiveness.
- Escape, attempts to.
- Fight, wants to.
- Violent, vehement, etc.; rage leading to violent deeds.
- Kill, desires to.
- Slander, disposition to.
- Wildness.
- Delirium, wedding prepares for.
Kalium arsenicosum
Kali arsenicosum is a remedy of the mineral kingdom and of the cancer miasm. The main feeling of
Kali arsenicosum is that the people whose support the patient seeks cannot be trusted - they could
even rob him. Like all Kali remedies, he seeks the support of the family or the group. Without them
he is weak and dependent. Yet he has doubts as to whether this same family or group is trustworthy.
He needs his family, and its harmony and integrity become his chief concern. So he becomes caring
for the family and supports them and takes good care of them. He seems confident and
independent. This is the coped up stage. But the Kali arsenicosum person can be anxious too, so
anxious that he can become almost crazy with anxiety. He is very edgy, and the slightest noise will
shake him up. He talks, even looks excited, crazy. He needs the support of his family and yet he
cannot trust them. He feels as if his family or group is out to cheat him, to rob him. He becomes
extremely suspicious. His extreme anxiety makes him highly organized, fastidious, careful and
cautious. He is extremely anxious about his health too. So anxious that he cannot trust even his
physician. He avoids people as far as possible. He feels lonely and isolated because he cannot trust
anyone. If his family members differ in opinion or views, he is upset and feels he can't trust them. He
feels: "I have done so much for them, how can they do this to me?" But at the same time, he feels
weak and needs their support, he feels he cannot be alone. So he becomes quarrelsome with his
family. In the failed state, he becomes desperate to the point of suicide. Kali arsenicosum may have
dreams of being pursued.
For a case of Kali arsenicosum the reader can refer to my book "The Substance of Homoeopathy".
 Physical symptoms
- Very chilly, cannot have his legs and feet uncovered.
- Aggravation: 1:00 - 3:00 a.m.
- Develops chronic inveterate skin conditions like psoriasis.
- Ulcers and malignant conditions.
- A sudden noise throws the whole body into a tremor.
- Itching agg. warmth (though the patient is chilly).
Rubrics
- Fear, alone, of being.
- Fear, people, of.
- Fear, death, of.
- Frightened, trifles, at.
- Kill, sudden impulse to.
- Insanity, behaves like a crazy person.
- Suspicious.
- Violent, friends, to his (single symptom).
- Anxiety, health, about his.
- Starting, startled, noise, from.
- Suicidal disposition.
Kent
- Respiration difficult, 2:00-3:00 a.m.
Kalium carbonicum
Kali carbonicum is a remedy from the mineral kingdom, belonging to the sycotic miasm. The main
theme of Kali carbonicum is the vital fear and reactivity (Carbo) that is seen when a person lacks the
support of a family or group (Kali).
The main symptom of Kali carbonicum is the fear of being alone and the desire for company. In the
Kali carbonicum woman there is tremendous anxiety and fear when she is alone. She seeks to belong
to a group/family so that she is never alone. This anxiety is seen everywhere. For example:
- Frightened at trifles.
- Fear of being alone.
- Startled easily, from noise, from touch.
- Dreams of ghosts, of danger, of robbers, of falling from a height, of frightful figures.
There is a strong desire for support which is seen in:
- Carried, desires to be.
- Rocking ameliorates.
- Shrieking for aid.
Her dependence on the group or family is so great that her entire life revolves around her family -
the health of family members, the integrity of her family, the amount of support she gets from her
family, etc.
She becomes anxious if her child falls sick or doesn't do well in exams and she can become irritable
and impatient with him. Similarly when she feels that her husband is not supporting her enough, she
becomes irritable, quarrelsome and nagging which is expressed as "Shrieking at trifles".
"Dreams of dead relatives" in Kali carbonicum shows her extreme concern for her family. One of the
big aggravating factors for Kali carbonicum would be the sickness of any member of her family,
especially the supporting one. She feels forsaken when she doesn't get the support she needs. This
can make her very irritable, angry, quarrelsome, shrieking at trifles - "Dream of quarreling with dead
relatives, of dead persons, as if they were alive and quarreled with her" (Allen's Encyclopedia).
- Company, desires for, yet treats them outrageously.
This symptom combines three main components of Kali carbonicum. The first is the desire for
company: she wants company and is dependent on it; she is aggravated when alone, must have
support and always likes to be with people who support her. The second component is that she
treats them outrageously, which means she always shows dissatisfaction with people on whom she
is dependent. The third aspect is quarrelsomeness: when she is discontented she cannot keep quiet,
she has to quarrel.
Hence we find in Phatak's Materia Medica:
- Quarrels with his family and
- Quarrels with his bread and butter.
In the clinic, the Kali carbonicum person can be a very faithful patient, following up quite regularly
and sticking to the same doctor for a long time. But the trouble begins when she starts considering
the physician as a family member. Then she will become truly dependent on the physician, she will
never leave him; but each time she comes she will quarrel and insist that she is not better.
Kali carbonicum patients speak loudly and are impatient with the progress. They can be quite
nagging with the physician as if he is not paying enough attention to them or supporting them. They
will tempt the doctor by their general sourness and extreme dependence to shirk responsibility
towards them - which is similar to the origin of their state, a neglecting and irresponsible spouse.
Often a Kali carbonicum person will bring another member of his family to the clinic for treatment.
Peculiar to Kali carbonicum is quarrelsomeness only with family and husband, and not so much with
outsiders (except unfortunately with the physician).
After quarrelling, she can get quite tearful: "Weeping, when telling of her sickness", and also can
display a more pitiable state of begging, and entreating. When her efforts to get the support she
needs fail, she becomes "Indifferent when in society", "Averse to husband, to members of the
family", shows "Disgust", "Hatred" and becomes "Sulky", "Repulsive".
The sycotic aspect of Kali carbonicum is seen in the feeling: "I am too weak to support myself and
need the company of family." Here it compares with Medorrhinum in sycosis and there are many
rubrics where the two are found together.
Physical symptoms
The physical symptoms accompanying the Kali carbonicum personality that I have confirmed are:
- Weakness in back, amel. lying flat on back.
- Profuse perspiration all over the body, especially on the upper lip.
- Desires sweets.
- Intolerance to cold.
- Breathlessness that makes her sit bent forwards.
- Aggravation at 3:00 a.m.
Rubrics
- Anxiety, alone, when.
- Company, desires for, alone, aggravated, while.
- Company, desires for, treats them outrageously, yet.
- Discontented, everything, with.
- Impatience, children, about his.
- Shrieking, aid, for.
 - Shrieking, trifles, at.
- Starting, easily.
- Starting, fright from and as from.
- Weeping, telling of her sickness, when.
Kent
- Vertigo from hunger.
- Perspiration upper lip.
- Perspiration, external throat.
- Respiration difficult, 3:00 a.m.
- Mammae before menses.
Phatak
- Never well since pneumonia.
- Fingers, working with, using aggravates.
- Quarrelsome with himself and his family.
- Soles painful.
Kalium iodatum
Kali iodatum is a syphilitic remedy of the mineral kingdom. The main feeling of Kali iodatum is that
he may be betrayed, starved, stabbed in the back (Iodum) by those people whose support he seeks,
his group or family (Kali).
Kali iodatum patients are normally very cheerful, talkative and witty. They are communicative in
such a way that they really entertain people with their jokes, etc. No social occasion is complete
without them. They can be jesting, laugh easily and make others laugh.
They are very supportive, reliable and do a lot for their family. They are strong, independent people
who take the entire burden of the family on their shoulders (they do it not so much in the fatherly
way of Aurum, but in the sense of doing things and taking care of others). They are devotedly
attached to their family and children. They are active, hard working and very helpful to others. They
are also are quite tough and Kali iodatum women are not very complaining.
But in an extreme situation, Kali iodatum persons can get very irritable, angry, abrupt, harsh,
abusive, violent. The irritability is directed mainly towards their children. They can be quite cruel to
their family:
- Irritable towards children, unfeeling to family.
- Sadness.
- Aversion, devotedly attached children become burdensome.
- Quarrelsome, malicious, violent.
They can be haughty. They are also quite fearful, fear of death, of misfortune, etc. These fears are
also seen in the dreams of danger, of being murdered, of murder, of falling.
Their fear and anxiety is ameliorated by walking in open air and this makes of the Kali iodatum
patient a great walker. The walk is brisk and vigorous. This modality is similar to that of Iodum.
In a completely failed state Kali iodatum can have despair, disgust with everything, and insanity.
I have seen Kali iodatum being indicated in stout women who have a diversity of complaints
("Symptoms diverse, many", Phatak). They have symptoms in many organ systems, usually of a
chronic, progressive nature, e.g. diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, hyperthyroidism, etc. They have
diseases of a destructive nature like hypertension, arthritis, alopecia, total leukoderma.
They are hot patients, like walking in open air and are mentally ameliorated by it.
Often they have bilaterally symmetrical complaints - a feature that is found in Syphilinum, Arnica,
Lac defloratum, and Thyroidinum.
Rubrics
- Abusive, children and family, to (Phatak's Repertory).
- Anxiety, walking, air ameliorates, in open.
- Disgust, everything, with.
- Fear, death, of.
- Fear, misfortune, of.
- Frightened easily, trifles, at.
- Haughty.
- Abrupt, harsh.
- Anger, violent.
- Indifference, children, to, her.
- Irritability, children, towards.
- Loquacity, jesting, with.
- Quarrelsome.
- Sadness, aversion, devotedly attached children become burdensome.
- Unfeeling, family, with his.
Kalium phosphoricum
Kali phosphoricum belongs to the mineral kingdom. It is a tubercular remedy.
The central feeling of Kali phosphoricum is: "I am not loved by the very family (or group) on whom I
depend for support". It is like the situation of a woman who has to take care of her children single-
handedly, while her husband, on whom she depends for support, is always travelling. He is never
there for her. She feels unloved and neglected. She feels that she is not getting the support she
needs from her family. If this situation persists and she has difficulties in coping, she can become
nervous and sensitive, affected by trifles, she can be always edgy, and gets startled by the slightest
of sounds. She is tremendously anxious for the children and apprehensive about their health and
about the future. On the other hand she may become irritable towards her husband and children.
She is angry with them because they don't support her; she could become indifferent towards them
and manage to be quite independent.
Her mind is full of thought and activity, and she develops insomnia (Kali phosphoricum is one of the
main remedies for insomnia). Ultimately, she becomes tired and worn out. Her senses become dull
and she cannot use her mind anymore. Hence Kali phosphoricum is found under the rubric:
- Work seems to drive him crazy, owing to the impotency of his mind.
When coped up, Kali phosphorus persons are friendly, especially to outsiders, cheerful, expressive,
sympathetic and caring for others. They can be independent and still very supportive of their family
and cooperative.
Kali phosphoricum patients can have very frightening dreams. One patient narrated a dream where
a tiger was knocking at the door of her house, while she was alone with her children, and her
husband was away. She had to protect her children all by herself. This dream shows the extreme
anxiety of Kali, and a very important Phosphorus feature, caring for others.
Another Kali phosphorus situation would be that of a businessman who finds that he has been let
down by his partners suddenly, and he is left to face things all by himself. He doesn't have the
support he so desperately needs. He tries his best to manage the business by himself, but soon gets
worn out.
Physical symptoms
 - Weakness, fagged out, paralytic weakness.
- Oversensitive physical states.
- Chilly patients.
- Careworn look on the face.
- Hungry soon after eating.
- Craves sweets.
Rubrics
- Ailments from cares, worries.
- Sleeplessness, cares, from, daily.
- Starting, touched when.
- Starting, fright from, and as from.
- Starting, noise, from, touched, when.
- Fear, alone, of being.
- Restless during mental labour.
- Aversion to husband.
- Clinging, held wants to be.
- Businessman, worn out.
- Prostration of mind.
- Anxiety, fear, with.
- Anxiety, health, about.
- Anxiety, future, about.
- Delusions, images frightful.
- Excitement, excitable, mental work, from.
- Exertion from mental aggravates.
- Fear, happen, something will.
- Imbecility.
- Memory, weakness of.
- Quarrelsome.
- Senses, dullness of.
- Work seems to drive him crazy owing to the impotency of his mind.
Kalium sulphuricum
Kali sulphuricum is a mineral remedy, a salt. Its range is between the ringworm miasm and the
sycotic miasm.
The main feeling of the Kali sulphuricum person is of being disgraced and insulted by the family or
group whose support he seeks. Therefore he constantly makes efforts to win their esteem and
respect. He wants that his value in their eyes should rise. He is industrious and helpful, caring
towards and supportive of the group. He seems independent of the opinion of others. At the same
time, he has anger towards the family or group, because he feels insulted by them.
As this feeling gets more intense, he becomes discouraged and develops tremendous want of
confidence. He becomes insecure and irresolute. He is fearful and startles easily. Also he becomes
very sensitive and is easily offended. Finally, he can become averse to business, indolent and
indifferent.
Physical symptoms
- Very hot patients. agg. Warmth, amel. Open air, even walking in open air ameliorates . This is very
much like Pulsatilla, which is complementary. Also another remedy that comes close to Kali
sulphuricum is Kali iodatum.
- Yellow discharges, expectoration, etc..
- Eczema with thick, yellowish discharge, especially when there is much itching,

agg. night.
- Marked craving for sweets.
Rubrics
- Business, averse to.
- Confidence, want of self.
- Discouraged.
- Exertion, from mental aggravates.
- Frightened easily.
- Irresolution.
- Sensitive, oversensitive, noise, to.
- Starting, sleep, during.
- Timidity.
- Work, mental, aversion to.
Lac caninum
Lac caninum is a sycotic remedy. It is prepared from the milk of the dog (bitch). This remedy has in it
the nature of the dog, an animal that has been totally controlled and civilized so that it has to
suppress its basic animal nature and can only express its controlled, civilized side. It is dependent on
its master for food and so it is out to please him. Its survival depends upon keeping its master happy
by its performance, its affection, etc. It has to perform or it won't be wanted anymore and its master
will kick it out. This need to please is the animal side of Lac caninum, but the dog knows that no
matter how much it tries to please, it will never be equal to the human. It feels inferior, knows that it
is at the bottom of the hierarchy. The animal side is also malicious (if you pull a dog's tail, it will bite
you). Lac caninum persons are very passionate, very lascivious. They can be quite aggressive and
defensive.
The main theme in Lac caninum is dominance (the bigger dominating the smaller) and who is going
to be on top. Lac caninum persons can be irritable and ferocious, but if someone is more irritable
and ferocious, they give up, they submit. Then arises the conflict within themselves: "Do I want to be
what I am ?" They develop a feeling of low self-worth: "I am not good enough. I feel dirty and
horrible", and become contemptuous of themselves. This dirty feeling is also common to animal
remedies, and it is similar to the feeling of Ambra grisea (prepared from the sperm whale). But while
Lac caninum simply feels: "I am not good enough, I am despised and looked down upon", Ambra
grisea feels "like shit". Lac caninum patients suffer by comparison with others. They try hard to
please, to be liked, cared for and accepted because they feel left out and rejected. They can develop
malice and hatred because they hold somebody else responsible for their condition. These feelings
can sometimes be accompanied by a history of sexual abuse.
The Lac caninum situation is that of a dark-skinned girl child in an Indian home. Her sisters are fairer
than her. She tries hard to get fair-skinned, but knows she will never be fair- skinned. She is
constantly being compared to her "better looking" sisters, and she soon begins to hate herself.
People bring clothes only for her sisters. Nobody listens to her; she is just not clever enough -
everything she says is stupid and foolish. She feels she is uncared for and neglected because her
body looks bad. She starts feeling dirty, and washes herself frequently. People disturb her almost as
if they were snakes and vermin ("Delusion snakes in and around her"). She starts lacking in
confidence, becomes totally irresolute and believes that all that she says is a lie. She loathes life and
goes into tremendous depression, and nothing can be done to make her feel better. She feels
worthless and is disgusted with herself, thinks she matters little, feels unimportant, like an
untouchable. She is sure she has an incurable disease and she will die. She wants to commit suicide
and put an end to her suffering. She blames others for her condition and can get angry with them for
treating her the way they do - she can develop hatred, and become revengeful. She feels she has
been given a raw deal, and she becomes mean ("Writing meanness to her friends").
Jurgen Becker tells me that a common expression amongst African-American blacks is "Mofo"
(mother fucking son of a bitch) - surely a Lac caninum expression. The feeling of a black person in the
U.S. even today must be: "I am unlucky, I have been born with a black skin. I will try to perform, but
I know that ultimately I will still be black". This is also a Lac caninum situation.
Rubrics
- Contemptuous, self, of.
- Delusion, despised, is.
- Delusion, dirty, he is.
- Delusion, diminished, short, he is.
- Delusion, looked down upon, she is.
- Delusion, thinks all she said is a lie.
- Delusion, snakes in and around her.
- Malicious.
- Moral feeling, want of.
- Rage, fury.
- Rudeness.
- Writing meanness to her friends.
- Anxiety, success, from doubt, about, of.
Phatak's materia medica
- Thinks himself of little consequence.
- One's own body seems disgusting.
- Imagines he wears someone else's nose.
- Every symptom seems a settled disease, which is incurable.
Kent
- Desires highly seasoned food.
- Pain, mammae, menses, before.
Phatak
- Craves condiments.
- Dirty, he is.
- Fear of falling downstairs.
- Lactation, milk absent.
- Mammae before menses.
- Self loathing.
- Taste salty, only salty food tastes natural.
- Thinking himself too little.
Lac vaccinum defloratum
Lac defloratum is prepared from the skimmed milk of the cow, and the remedy does indeed seem to
represent its innermost state. I conducted a proving of Lac defloratum and the following were the
themes that emerged:
- The need to belong to the community.
- The fear of being rejected by the community.
- The feeling of being forsaken.
- The feeling of being separated from the mother.
- The need to be attractive.
- The tremendous sense of injustice.
- The need to bear a lot of suffering.
- Cares for and by the mother.
- Fears and dreams of being pursued, of being beaten.
In my practical experience with cases of Lac defloratum, I found that the person is rather mild,
gentle, yet quite animated, and tries to be attractive. There is loquacity and their talk can be
animated, expressive, vivid. There is a feeling that they have to do a lot for the community, to work
hard physically for others in order to be accepted by the community. Also, they feel they have to
bear silently with a lot of suffering and beating, abuse, extra marital relationships of the husband,
and continue to do their work in order to be accepted. There is a theme of losing their dear ones,
especially the mother, and a theme of adopted children who have been separated from their mother
earlier on, and feel forsaken. Inter community marriages can also be a theme of Lac defloratum
where the person dares to go against the community. Here, we have the double feeling, first the fear
of being forsaken by the community, and second one's own desire and will.
There is also the feeling of dirtiness in Lac defloratum (which is common to the animal remedies).
There is a fear of closed spaces, for example the fear to be shut in the toilet. There are also suicidal
thoughts. The dreams of Lac defloratum are (clinically observed):
- Dreams of animals.
- Dreams of snakes.
- Dreams of being pursued.
- Dreams of being separated from friends.
- Dreams of being beaten.
Physical symptoms
Physically, we often find a strong desire or intolerance of milk; affections of the breast including
poor lactation, pain in the breast before menses, obesity.
Rubrics
- Delusion, all her friends are dead and she must got to a convent.
- Forsaken feeling.
- Irresolution.
- Suicidal disposition.
Lachesis mutus
Lachesis is a snake remedy prepared from the venom of the South American bush master, and in its
miasmatic range, the remedy falls between sycosis and syphilis. It has the qualities of
competitiveness, aggressiveness, attractiveness and sexuality common to the animal remedies, as
well as the clairvoyance, deceit and venomous quality common to the snake remedies.
The specific problem of Lachesis seems to be the problem of jealousy, or how to get the better of
(be one-up on) a rival, especially in the situation of male-female relationships or in the sphere of
sexual relationships. It is the situation of someone who has to compete against a person with better
qualities, as for example a menopausal woman whose husband has a young girlfriend. She has the
feeling of weakness within herself as she compares herself to her younger and more attractive rival.
She feels that there are conspiracies against her and this makes her suspicious of people around her.
Her survival depends on her being one-up on her rival, and she does this with clever, manipulative
talk. With her loquacity, she is able to attract and retain the attention of the listener; she can be
witty, sarcastic, loud, animated, vividly expressive, excited. She observes the listener, judging all the
time his interest level, and at the correct moment unnoticed by the latter, she injects the venom
that works in him after he has left her presence. Her talk can be clairvoyant, prophetic. She may tell
of going into a trance or being under superhuman control, or she may relate spiritual experiences or
religious theories, all this with enough doses of sexual suggestibility.
She becomes so engrossed with the competition, so for the time being, she has to shut off from
work ("Business, aversion to"). When her very best efforts to compete fail she may turn religious,
spiritual, and may feel that death is near and that she should concentrate on spiritual things; she
then starts meditating. Hence the rubric: "Avoids company to indulge in her fancy."
Lachesis persons can be interested in the beauty of nature, in amusement, and their speech can be
magnetic. Advertising has a lot to do with Lachesis, concerned as it is with jealousy and one-
upmanship: it amuses, entertains and catches attention, pushing its own product up while cleverly
pushing other products down, and quickly injects you with temptations for the product being
advertised. A lot of the entertainment industry also has to do with the Lachesis theme and I have
observed that Lachesis people often get into the advertising or entertainment industries.
The main theme of Lachesis is show. The ideal situation that would best bring out this feeling for a
Lachesis patient would be a beauty contest. She would try to beat the competition through any
means.
Rubrics
- Jealousy, loquacity, with.
- Loquacity, changing quickly from one subject to another.
- Loquacity, jesting, with.
- Mocking: sarcasm.
- Mocking: ridicule, passion to.
- Jesting: fun of somebody, making.
- Amusement, desire for.
Physical symptoms
- As is well-known, Lachesis patients are invariably hot, and may have hot flushes followed by
sweating.
- They can't tolerate tight clothes (around the neck). As is common to snakes, there is always a fear
to be strangled or choked.
- Aggravation from sun.
- Worse after sleep.
Additional rubrics
- Business, aversion to.
- Avoids company to indulge in her fancy.
- Religious affections.
- Doubtful, soul's welfare.
Kent
- Tongue: protruded rapidly darting in and out, like a snake's.
 Lilium tigrinum
Lilium tigrinum (the Tiger Lily) is a remedy of the plant kingdom and of the sycotic miasm. I
understand the remedy to have two parts: a plant part and an animal part. While the plant part of
the remedy has to do with chastity, purity and religiousness, the animal part has to do with sexuality,
with passion. A main theme of Lilium tigrinum is religious fervour alternating with an increased
sexual desire. (Funnily enough, its name also seems to have two components: the plant (lily), and the
animal (tiger)!)
These two sides of the Lilium tigrinum are at tremendous odds with each other. The patients are
very religious persons and consider their high sexual desire as being something sinful. They therefore
try and repress the same by keeping busy all the time, keeping themselves occupied always. To keep
themselves as busy as is possible, they take up several tasks at a time and are hurried in their work.
A characteristic symptom of Lilium tigrinum is:
- Restless: must keep busy in order to repress sexual desire.
Sexual desire may also be extended to mean sensual satisfaction of any kind.
The situation of Lilium tigrinum is one of tremendous religious orthodoxy, as may be the case in a
religious monastery. Here any pleasure or amusement, any sensual satisfaction or enjoyment and
definitely any sexual idea will be considered sinful. There is a heavy and constant repression of
sexuality and of sensuality in any form. But sometimes, this repressed sexual and sensual side takes
over and overpowers the orthodox, religious side, leaving the person completely in the grasp of that
part of him which he has always considered sinful and tried to repress. The patient develops a
tremendous anxiety about salvation, a tremendous religious despair. He believes that it will be sinful
to enjoy anything that is sensual, and that if he does, there will be no salvation for him. He becomes
fearful that something bad will happen because of what he did wrong. Lilium tigrinum persons can
also have the instinctive fear that something terrible will happen; they can almost prophesy that
they will be afflicted by some terrible disease or that some mishap will occur.
So, whenever the sexual, sensual side takes over, they try to repress it by keeping themselves very
busy with a lot of work. They are unable to integrate these two sides of their personality.
Physical symptoms
Physically, they are aggravated from warmth, and are better in the cool, open fresh air.
Rubrics
- Despair, religious, alternating with sexual excitement.
- Concentration difficult, crazy feeling on the top of the head, wild feeling in head, with confusion of
ideas.
- Fear, moral obliquity alternating with sexual excitement.
- Amusement, averse to.
- Doubtful of soul's welfare.
- Fear, happen, something will.
- Fear, disease of, impending.
- Hurry, in occupation, desires to do several things at once.
- Mental symptoms alternating with physical.
- Occupation ameliorates.
- Religious affections alternating with sexual excitement.
Phatak
- Self-torture.
- Activity fruitless.
 - Aversion to amusement.
Lycopodium clavatum
Lycopodium is sometimes called "vegetable Sulphur". It is a plant remedy and belongs to the the
psoric miasm.
I have been told that several thousands of years ago, Lycopodium clavatum was actually a huge
tree, and that over the the years it reduced to a small fern - the club moss. The main feeling in
Lycopodium is that if the person remains small, his survival will be difficult, he will be humiliated, he
will be nowhere. The main theme of Lycopodium therefore, becomes ambition, a desire to grow
bigger, a lot of effort which is concentrated fully on becoming bigger, being more powerful, reaching
a higher position - the top rung of the ladder.
Lycopodium is a part of the the Calcarea - Lycopodium - Sulphur cycle. Calcarea represents the
human need for stability and security, which translates into having a house, family, source of
income, good health and protection. Stability also entails lack of movement, adventure and growth.
The other need of the human is represented by Sulphur, and that is the need for a name, for an ego,
an image; the need to be somebody important, to matter, to be recognized, to be counted in; the
need to be proud of oneself, to think highly of oneself, to have a good self-image.
In order to reach from the position of Calcarea to that of Sulphur one has to concentrate on
growing, on making an effort to achieve one's ambitions, on movement - undertaking new things
rather than sticking to the old and the stable, on goal-oriented activity. Lycopodium represents
precisely this phase in human life, and becomes a person's remedy when he/she gets stuck in this
phase and cannot think of anything else.
The original situation from which a Lycopodium state may have arisen is probably that of a person
who feels he has no power. He is therefore aggravated with anything that concerns loss of power,
while anything to do with acquiring power will make him feel better.
Lycopodium is very ambitious and can employ any means to achieve success. He can dictate,
dominate, and will take the help of anyone he can. But Lycopodium people have one big fear, and
that is the fear of undertaking new challenges, facing new situations, meeting new people. All these
situations have to be encountered if he is to achieve success, and in the face of these situations
Lycopodium lacks confidence; he feels incapable. He develops an anticipatory anxiety from this lack
of confidence. This may appear like Silicea, but the difference is that in Silicea, it is not whether he is
actually capable of doing the task that bothers him, rather it is that his image should be protected at
all costs. So Silicea is afraid to go on stage, and Lycopodium is afraid to speak. In the adult
Lycopodium person however, this cowardice may be hidden by an outward show of bravado. This
becomes necessary to protect his ego. He may take recourse to tall talk, and boasting with bravado,
and this may eventually produce in him a fear of being discovered.
An offshoot of this egotism is his censorious attitude towards others. Lycopodium is not unhappy
with others, he nonetheless criticizes them in order to establish his own superiority. At the same
time, his conscientiousness does not allow him to be overcritical although he will justify his criticism
on the grounds that it is his duty to do so in the interest of the person being criticized. Lycopodium
can thus be subtle in his criticism of others.
The timidity and cowardice of Lycopodium is best seen in children requiring the remedy. They have
a fear of facing new situations, meeting new people, and will try and avoid the same. As a result of
this timidity, and also because of the physical weakness, in Lycopodium children we find an aversion
to play. The Lycopodium adult however, being too egoistic to admit his lack of self-confidence and
fear in facing new situations and meeting new persons, will try and compensate the same by
surrounding himself with people whom he can dictate, and therefore need not fear. He creates
around him a world in which he is all powerful, and others accept his authority and can be
dominated by him. For example, he will select a woman who is mild and can be easily dictated over -
a Pulsatilla woman, perhaps. The same will be true in his work, play and social situation. His
dictatorial attitude is however confined to within the safety of his domain, and when he steps
outside he is still timid. And so he seldom does venture out of his domain, rather he seeks only to
expand it further, and bring more and more people under his power. Hence the rubric: "Love of
Power".
Lycopodium thus represents a constant struggle between cowardice and egotism, between lack of
confidence and haughtiness, between timidity and a dictatorial attitude. The person is scared of
those in authority, but to those for whom he can represent it, he is rude and contemptuous.
Lycopodium has a tremendous fear of being alone, amidst unfamiliar people. He seeks out known
persons, wants someone with him "even if in the next room". He can't do without people, he needs
them. This may make him appear sentimental, affectionate and sympathetic like Phosphorus, but
the contrast is that while Lycopodium depends on and dictates people, he does not like others to
depend on him. He does not like responsibilities and avoids them as far as possible. Even in his love
affairs (a part of lasciviousness of Lycopodium) he does not want to commit. So when an affair
reaches a peak, he backs out. Lycopodium persons very often are late to marry. But once he does
commit himself, he accepts full responsibility due to his strong sense of duty.
In my observation, Lycopodium is a grateful person. If someone has done something for him, he is
bound to remember and return the favour when the opportunity comes. He is also much affected by
gratitude as well as the ungratefulness of others. Under the irritable exterior he is a sensitive person
and can weep while watching sentimental scenes, of both of joy and sorrow.
Lycopodium can be hurried. The patients do things fast but not necessarily in an orderly manner.
This hurried nature could be explained on the basis of the lack of self-confidence. Because they are
anxious to complete the job, they are hurried in their work. In the clinic during the interview,
especially during follow-ups, they are very impatient and want to get away quickly. This along with
weakness of memory accounts for a lot of mistakes especially in speech and writing. Weakness of
memory is especially for proper names, but also extends to dates, events and other things they have
to do.
The situation of Lycopodium is that of a man who feels that he is not loved as he is, but only if he
achieves something in his life. So he must achieve in order to be loved. He must reach a goal that is
not easy, one that is very difficult. When Shivaji's mother told him to conquer the fort, he did not
have any army and the fort belonged to the Emperor. It was an uphill task. He had to collect an army
around him to achieve what his mother wanted him to. Lycopodium is the child of a parent who
demands achievement, the wife of a husband who demands achievement. So he has the anticipatory
anxiety, the lack of confidence and the "Fear of being unable to reach his destination" on one hand,
and love of power, ambition, egotism and domineering attitude on the other. When looking for a
wife, he may feel that a woman would not love him unless he is an achiever. He would want her to
like him not for what he is but for his achievements, and so he constantly emphasizes to her that he
is achieving, that he is an achiever.
The other remedies Lycopodium has to be compared with are Aurum, Staphisagria, Nux vomica,
Chelidonium, Phosphoricum acidum, Platinum, Medorrhinum, China, Argentum nitricum, Bryonia,
Lachesis.
Being a remedy of the plant kingdom, Lycopodium is very sensitive, sentimental. He is also
imaginative and intellectual, and can easily make abstractions and theorize. He can generalize and
make up a theory by looking at many facts.
Lycopodium is the most syphilitic remedy of the Calcarea, Lycopodium and Sulphur cycle, all three
being essentially psoric remedies.
Physical concomitants
The physical concomitants of Lycopodium that I have observed are:
- Dilated nostrils.
- Flatulence.
- Cracks on the heel.
- They show signs of premature senility, like greying of hair, baldness, enlarged prostate, etc.
- There is desire for warm food and drinks, and for sweets.
- Hurriedness in eating and drinking.
- Ill effects of overeating.
Rubrics
- Confidence, want of self.
- Egotism.
- Sentimental.
- Cowardice.
- Fear, people, of.
- Contemptuous, hard for subordinates and agreeable, pleasant to superiors or people he has to
fear.
- Dictatorial, command, talking with air of.
- Dictatorial, power, love, of.
- Fear, alone, of being.
- Fear, undertaking anything.
- Hurry, eating, while.
- Timidity, appearing in public, but capable to.
- Weeping, thanked, when.
- Weeps ungratefulness at.
Kent
- Cough, bending head backwards.
- Dry cough in emaciated boys.
- Dilated nostrils.
- Appetite: eating increases hunger.
- Desires warm food.
- Axilla: boils recurrent.
- Extremities: cracks in the heel.
Phatak
- Strangers, presence of, aggravates.
Lyssinum
Lyssinum belongs to the acute miasm. It cannot be strictly classified as a remedy of the animal
kingdom since it represents only one aspect of the dog, the tremendous aggressiveness that has
gone out of control.
The saliva of the rabid dog creates a state of pain. It is the state of a controlled animal gone crazy:
the dog that obeyed the master but was treated so badly that it lost all its control, and jumped on
and tore at its own master.
The main feeling of Lyssinum is of having suffered wrong, being tormented, especially by one whom
he has served, has been faithful to and is dependent on, thus creating an intense feeling of anger
and rage, in which the person can bite, strike and even violently mutilate. Often this rage is followed
by a repentance as profound as the rage was violent. Or it may be an impotent anger which can lead
to an impulse to stab himself.
Lyssinum is required in a situation where a person has to lash out against somebody because, if he
keeps quiet, he will be further tormented. But this rage has to be followed by quick repentance,
because if it persists too long, it is not good for him as he is, after all, dependent.
The heightened sensitivity of Lyssinum (as for example to light and noise) is a characteristic feature
of its alertness. Lyssinum will respond to any situation in this manner. For example if the roof is
leaking, he may tolerate it for some time, but then get so angry that he will take a hammer and
break the plaster. A few minutes later when his anger subsides, he will get cement and will fix it up
again.
Also frequently seen is an element of praying, of faithfulness which alternates with the violence and
destructiveness.
One of my patients who did well on Lyssinum was a boy aged 10, who presented with a very severe,
chronic skin problem. He had boils on the extremities which were very painful, and were
accompanied by severe itching. Describing the pain and itching, his mother said that it would get so
bad that the patient would shriek: "Kill me! I can't take it. I don't want to live. Give me a knife, I want
to stab my arms!" As a child the boy had been very devoted to and dependent on a particular
goddess. He would compose songs in her praise.
But with the itching, he became angry with the goddess. He said: "I have done so much for her and
this is what she is doing to me!" In his anger he tore up the picture of the goddess. His mother had
the history of a severe toothache during pregnancy. Her first child being still-born, during this, her
second pregnancy, she had the feeling something terrible would happen. She would pray all the time
to the same goddess the boy had been devoted to. Her baby was overdue and this made her
extremely fearful; she would stand in front of the picture of the goddess with clenched hands, and
would cry out: "Why are you doing this to me ?" She had a fear of dogs, and a desire for chocolate.
The feeling in both, the mother and the child was identical: a feeling of being troubled by someone
on whom one is dependent, of being tormented by the person he is serving, the reaction in both
cases was one of anger and rage.
Thus the Lyssinum situation is one of being tormented by someone or something on which one is
dependent - a torment that is not merely an insult but actually causes physical and mental pain. It
brings about rage, an insane rage, wildness, fury, biting and growling like a mad dog, attacking and
then withdrawing.
Lyssinum is similar to Crocus in that they both have rage, followed by quick repentance, but the
attractiveness, which is a very important feature of Crocus, is absent in Lyssinum.
China also feels tormented like Lyssinum. But in China the torment is less intense and long-standing,
a long-standing feeling of being persecuted and hindered at work - something that has been going
on for a long time... The reaction is less violent, never an uncontrolled frenzy. In fact, China is
indolent and cannot do anything but daydream. In Lyssinum, on the other hand, the torment is very
intense, very acute, severe, with rage and frenzy, violence, which is followed by quick repentance.
Drosera also has in common with Lyssinum, the feeling of persecution but there is also the feeling of
being deceived, cheated and trapped, in case of the latter.
 Lyssinum is one of the group of acute insanity remedies along with Belladonna, Hyoscyamus,
Stramonium and Veratrum.
Stramonium has wild behaviour, insanity, the dog-like behaviour and dog-like attacking rage. But
the delusion that he has suffered wrong is not present in Stramonium; there is instead the feeling of
being threatened by something outside and he runs and seeks light and people. Stramonium can
escape from its situation of threat, but Lyssinum has no escape. Therefore Stramonium is prominent
in "Escape, desire to", which in Lyssinum is absent. Stramonium also has fear of strangers, hence he
seeks and clings to the familiar. But Lyssinum is tormented by the familiar person hence there is no
question of clinging in Lyssinum.
Hyoscyamus also has the feeling of being wronged and injured, as does Lyssinum, but he does not
have the tormented feeling of the latter. Also absent in Hyoscyamus is the anger followed by quick
repentance, an important feature of Lyssinum. Also Lyssinum does not have the important
Hyoscyamus features of jealousy, suspiciousness, fear of being poisoned, and attractive behaviour.
Often, the complementary remedy of Lyssinum is Lac caninum.
Physical concomitants
- Intolerance of water in any form.
- Profuse salivation.
- amel. Bending backwards.
- Craving for chocolate.
- Aversion to vegetables.
- Toothache during pregnancy.
All its physical complaints come and go in acute paroxysms which make him literally mad.
Rubrics
- Anger, alternating with quick repentance.
- Attack others, desire to.
- Aversion, water, to.
- Barking, growling like a dog.
- Bite, desire to.
- Cruelty.
- Cut, mutilate, slit others, desire to.
- Delusion, abused, being.
- Delusion, attack and insults, defend themselves against imaginary.
- Delusion, dog, he is, growls and barks.
- Delusion, hell, suffers the torments of, without being able to explain.
- Delusion, tormented, he is.
- Delusion, wrong, suffered, has.
- Fear, dogs, of.
- Impulse, stab his flesh with the knife he holds, to.
- Injury, frenzy causing him to injure himself.
- Kill, desire to, injure with a knife, impulse to.
- Praying.
- Sensitive, oversensitive, music, to.
Kent
- Toothache of pregnancy.
- Sneezing from dust.
 Desires chocolate.
Magnesium carbonicum
Magnesium carbonicum is a sycotic remedy. This salt represents the essence of the Magnesium
group of remedies. The Magnesium feeling is that the person doesn't get the care, protection and
nourishment that he needs. It is the state of an infant dependent on the mother for nourishment,
care, security and support, but who has been abandoned by his parents. It is the feeling of an
orphan. Kent's famous example of treating orphaned children without any results, until he
discovered Magnesium carbonicum should be read from his "Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia
Medica".
This feeling like that of an infant, i.e. dependent for care, nourishment, security and support, is very
deep in Magnesium carbonicum. In the adult, this feeling seems so out of place that it is not
expressed at all at a conscious level; it is repressed so that the patient is unaware of what he actually
feels. These repressed emotions can be manifest in the form of a tremendous causeless anxiety,
especially anxiety or fear that something will happen to the people the patient is close to. This
anxiety usually involves the person on whom he is dependent for care and nourishment, and can be
so great as to cause sleeplessness. It could be acute enough to be compared with the anxieties of
remedies like Rhus toxicodendron, Stramonium, Argentum nitricum, etc. But such an anxiety or fear
is found only in some cases of Magnesium carbonicum. In most Magnesium carbonicum patients
there is a total repression - they feel that they should not make any demands on anyone, should not
ask anyone for help. In this way, they may seem to be independent. They seem not to need any care
from others, and in fact can be quite caring. But they are generally only superficially friendly, and
don't make emotional contact.
I have seen such patients to have low emotional experience and to be placid. They speak in a plain,
impersonal manner - sometimes almost like a newsreader. Another aspect of Magnesium
carbonicum patients is that they can become very reserved, indisposed to talk, and develop a very
repulsive mood when they avoid people. They usually deny any sort of anxiety or tension but they
may have many physical symptoms, or pathology that comes up for no obvious reason. For example,
they may have psychosomatic conditions like ulcerative colitis or lichen planus, though there seems
to be no major tension in the patient's life.
Their repressed emotions can also be expressed in the form of dreams and these usually give the
strongest confirmation of Magnesium. Magnesium patients have plenty of dreams. Often these
dreams are symbolic, i.e. the real meaning of the dream is not clear. There may be dreams of
houses, weddings, fruits, etc. Some of the dreams that recur in Magnesium patients are those of
falling, of water, of dead relatives and of the death of relatives.
Some Magnesium patients, I have noticed, may have dreams of dangerous situations, without any
feeling of danger in the dream. For example, they may dream that they are standing near a flood of
water but they feel nothing - they are just watching it.
Another feature of the dreams of Magnesium is that in many of these, there is a feeling of being
alone, of having to face a problem alone. Another theme is that of being left behind. Quite a few
Magnesium patients that I have treated had the dream of being left behind, alone on the railway
platform while the train departed with all their relatives in it. Among the pleasant dreams that
Magnesium patients get are those of being with people, of going on a picnic with relatives, of
meeting friends and relatives, and of being with relatives who are actually dead.
An interesting difference between Magnesium carbonicum and Magnesium muriaticum is that while
Magnesium muriaticum has dreams of being lost in a forest, i.e. outside the house, Magnesium
carbonicum has dreams of being lost in his own house. This means that whereas the Magnesium
muriaticum person can find a home outside of his house if he makes the effort, the Magnesium
carbonicum situation is such that despite being in his own house he is homeless, and no effort is
going to help. This contributes to the placid feeling one gets with a Magnesium carbonicum patient.
Conversely some Magnesium patients will say that they do not dream at all. This is also a strong
indication of Magnesium. A total absence of dreams indicates that there is a strong barrier between
the concious and the subconscious parts of the mind - a very severe repression. Patients who do not
have any dreams usually have the most severe pathology. In such patients you may see two other
indications, the first is a sleeplessness without any apparent cause, the second is an exhausted,
unrefreshed feeling on waking in the morning, as if the mind had been active all night. This latter
phenomenon, may also be seen in patients who do remember their dreams. They will say to you: "I
dream so much that I am completely exhausted in the morning." This is an almost clear confirmation
of Magnesium.
Physical symptoms
- Chilly patients, though their feet may get warm, they have to be uncovered.
- Desires: fruits, meat and vegetables; also, aversion to vegetables.
- Unrefreshing sleep, more tired on waking than on going to sleep.
- Perspiration sour smelling, leaves indelible yellow stains on clothes.
- Menses: black as pitch, indelible stains.
- Children have a tendency to develop boils recurrently and in rapid succession (Phatak's Repertory,
p. 54).
Rubrics
- Fear, happen, something will.
- Besides oneself, being, anxiety from.
- Sleeplessness: causeless.
- Forsaken: beloved by his parents, wife, friends, feels is not being.
- Dream : Bathing in boiling water, child is.
- Dream: Graves, being thrown into.
- Dream: Lost, home, at.
- Dream: Embarrassment.
Kent
- Desires meat.
- Desires fruits.
- Desires bread and butter.
Phatak
- Sleep, unrefreshing, awakes tired.
- Children disposition to boils.
- Constipation, mental shock, nervous strain, from.
Magnesium muriaticum
Magnesium muriaticum is a sycotic remedy of the mineral kingdom. It is the salt of Magnesium
(group-II A) and Chloride (group VII A - Halogen), and combines the Magnesium theme of infantile
dependence and forsakenness with the muriaticum theme of betrayal of trust and faith.
The main feeling of Magnesium muriaticum therefore is that his trust and faith in the people he
depends so much upon will be betrayed, and he will be disappointed. Magnesium muriaticum
patients depend a lot on their friends. Friends are people one can trust, and who care for you - "a
friend in need is a friend indeed". But the Magnesium muriaticum person feels that he will be let
down and disappointed by his friends. He has the delusion of being friendless.
The coped up Magnesium muriaticum patient seems self-dependent (busy with himself), and
friendly; he can go out of his way to care for others. He will do a lot for others, but he always has the
feeling that no matter what he does for others, he will still have no friends. Although friendly, he is
very reserved. He will keep a distance from people and will not reveal his emotions even to those
closest to him, not even to his spouse. But as a friend he can be caring, trustworthy and dependable.
The feeling that he is friendless, that there is no one whom he can trust can make him morose,
unfriendly, unsocial and repulsive. This stage is seen usually after all his efforts to gain friends have
failed. He can become nostalgic about the time when he did have someone to care for him. He
becomes taciturn, inexpressive, and answers curtly, in monosyllables. He can be irritable and angry,
but will not express his irritability and anger because of his feeling of dependence. Here it resembles
Natrum muriaticum in that both feel disappointed, betrayed, and as a result feel irritable and angry,
but none of these emotions are expressed in either remedies.
I have observed Magnesium muriaticum patients to like the company of small children and animals,
they perhaps feel that these are the only creatures that will genuinely respond to their love and will
not let them down, disappoint or betray them. They often take up professions that involve caring for
and looking after small children.
As is the case with other Magnesium salts, they either have plenty of dreams or then no dreams at
all. The dreams of Magnesium muriaticum are of:
- Going astray.
- Robbers.
- Dead, of the.
- Falling into water.
- Fire.
- Lost in a forest.
- Water.
- Unsuccessful efforts, shrieking of.
They also have dreams of doing something really big for others, as for example their whole family is
in danger and they are rescuing them. They also have dreams that their relatives and friends will go
away, e.g. on a train, leaving them behind.
Physical concomitants
- Hot patients; desire for open air.
- Blackish staining menses.
- Acne before menses.
- Oily face.
- Desires vegetables: I have observed that they especially crave cauliflower or brocolli.
- Desires: sweets.
Rubrics
- Delusion, that he is friendless.
- Forsaken feeling.
- Company, aversion to.
- Conversation aggravates.
- Indolence, aversion to work.
- Introspection.
 - Talk, indisposed to, desire to be silent, taciturn.
- Unfriendly humour.
- Delusions, sees dead persons.
- Delusions, visions of fire.
- Delusions, that he is on a journey.
Kent
- Desires vegetables.
Magnesium sulphuricum
Magnesium sulphuricum is a salt that combines Magnesium and Sulphur. Magnesium has the
feeling of infantile dependence, or of being an orphaned child. Sulphur has the theme of effort,
appearance and ego.
The Magnesium sulphuricum woman has the feeling that in order to get the support that she needs,
she has to make a big effort, do many things, appear proper, etc. She tries her best to be accepted
by others by doing things for them, making a name for herself, trying to appear good. She feels the
need for appreciation by those on whom she depends for love, care and nourishment.
One of the unique symptoms of Magnesium sulphuricum is the dream of unsuccessful efforts to
dress for a party. A party is a place where one meets others on a social basis, and in such situations
the Magnesium sulphuricum person faces the question of his acceptability and feels that he has to
look his best, or he will be rejected, forsaken. This forsaken feeling is terrible for Magnesium
sulphuricum because he feels that his entire existence depends on being accepted. It is the situation
of a girl whose elder sister is severely sick or handicapped. Right from her childhood, this girl does
not feel the love and care of her parents (all of it being directed towards her handicapped sibling).
She feels that in order to be loved by them, she has to do a lot for them. She tries her level best,
sometimes successfully, sometimes failing, before she finally gives up.
Magnesium sulphuricum belongs to the ringworm miasm along with Calcarea sulphurica. I have
seen these people to be quite organized and well-dressed. They give a lot of importance to their
appearance, even to small spots and blemishes on their skin. They fear that if they do not look good
enough, they will be rejected. The anxiety they feel is very much out of proportion to their problem,
and they are unable to recognize it. They are anxious about their health, and will rush to the doctor
even for trivial ailments, and insist on X-rays and other investigations; otherwise they appear
independent, efficient, conscientious and calm.
Among the general symptoms: they are hot patients and have a desire for salads and fruits.
Like other Magnesium salts, their repressed emotions are manifest in various dreams.
One of the unique dreams of Magnesium sulphuricum is that her neighbour's house is on fire and
she is trying unsuccessfully to save them. Here we see that she has to make a lot of effort for her
neighbour.
Rubrics
- Content, himself, with.
- Tranquility.
- Anxiety, conscience of, as if guilty of a crime.
- Dream: Unsuccessful efforts.
- Dream: Unsuccessful efforts, theatre, to go to.
- Dream: Drowning.
- Dream: Falling into water.
- Dream: Water.
 - Dream: Balls, Banquets; Dancing, Feasting, Weddings.
- Dream: Journeys, difficulty with.
- Dream: Fire.
- Dream: Dead relatives.
- Dream: Death of relatives.
- Desires salads (Synthetic Repertory, Vol. II).
Manganum-act. + -c. (old abbr.)
Manganese lies in the first line of metals of the Periodic Table along with Ferrum, Cobalt, Nickel,
Copper and Zinc. Like these other metals in the same line, its main theme is that of attack and
defence - the feeling of being attacked, and the need to defend oneself. The patient feels dominated
or suppressed and wants to retaliate, but is powerless to do so. Consequently, he has to suppress his
anger and violence, and he puts up a wall, becomes embittered, hateful, revengeful. His pent up
feeling give rise to a rancour, to extreme bitterness and to the deepest sadness, that finds relief only
in the saddest music. He feels so sad that only music with the same depth of grief can touch or
relieve him. On the other hand, he can become strongly defensive, start attacking and dominating
others, like Ferrum. It is a sycotic remedy.
The Manganum situation is that of a shy child of dominating parents. The child has a lack of
confidence as a result of this domination, and becomes anxious, nervous, tense, jittery and
frightened. He develops a feeling of bitterness towards his parents and is discontent with himself
and with his situation. He becomes sad, reserved, taciturn, brooding. Towards his parents he feels
hatred, wants to take revenge, but he cannot. This situation is not an extreme one, as in Aurum or
Mercurius but a situation that is tolerable and so you do not find here the themes of suicide or
revolution, but rather a suppression - he becomes reserved and all his feelings are pent up. He feels
offended, feels harassed and has to defend himself. He has to be strong enough to put up with
things. So we find that the main theme of Manganum is suppression.
One case of Manganum I remember well was of a 23 year old architect who had developed
ankylosing spondylitis and arthritis, and was therefore unable to move. I have described this case in
detail in my last book "The Substance of Homoeopathy". In brief the patient felt that his mother was
troubling him, dominating him, "imposing" on him. He could not do the things he wanted to do. He
could not speak out what he felt. He felt hatred for his mother - "She is not my mother!" He felt
revengeful towards her. His mother was extremely dominating and in the past had been dominated
by her in-laws. She kept brooding and complaining about the past. After Manganum not only was
there a remarkable improvement in his joint pains, but there was also a change in the feeling of
hatred that he had for his mother. He said: "For the first time I am feeling that she is my mother." He
had come to terms with the feeling of being dominated and unable to express himself, and was now
able to express himself. He looked, and was, happier and didn't regard his mother as his enemy any
longer. While this patient represents the shy, reserved, quiet, morose side of Manganum, his mother
also with a history of being dominated and unable to express her anger, represents the strongly
defensive and dominating side.
Rubrics
- Discontented, displeased, dissatisfied with himself.
- Hatred of persons who had offended.
- Malicious.
- Reserved.
- Talk, indisposed to, desire to be silent, taciturn.
 - Sadness, ameliorated from sad music.
- Music, aversion to, joyous but immediately affected by the saddest.
- Frown, disposed to.
- Morose.
- Sulky.
- Conversation aggravates.
- Embittered.
- Mildness.
- Irresolute.
- Timidity, bashful.
Medorrhinum
Medorrhinum is a nosode. It represents the heart of the sycotic miasm. The main feeling of the
sycotic miasm is: "I am OK as long as my weakness is covered up. I know my weakness is not fatal to
me, it is not the end. But if it is exposed, I will be criticized, I will lose a lot, people will take
advantage of me and my position will come down. Therefore, I must do all I can to see that this
weakness is not exposed. I may have to be overactive in the opposite direction as a result."
The fear of being exposed in Medorrhinum is seen in its fears and anxieties. The person is
clairvoyant and fears misfortune, always anticipating that something will happen. He has a
presentiment of it, an internal feeling, an inexplicable sensation inside. He prophesizes disagreeable
events. He tends to be absorbed in his own thoughts and becomes absent-minded. Therefore we
find under Medorrhinum the symptom: "Loses the thread of conversation". Also in this state of
intellect, this dreamy state, he finds that the things that he is familiar with look unfamiliar.
Sometimes because of the overactivity of his mind, his thoughts run into each other so fast that each
minute seems like an hour and time passes too slowly.
The feeling of incapacity in Medorrhinum is represented by anxiety of conscience as if he were
guilty of a crime, by fear as if someone was behind him, and a constant inner anxiety and
restlessness. The latter is manifest in the physical sphere by signs such as restlessness of feet and
constant biting of nails, while the guilt feeling is evident in his need to constantly wash his hands.
On the other hand, in order to cover up his inner weakness, the Medorrhinum patient can take the
opposite stance, in that he can become quite egoistic, critical, rude, selfish, insensitive, extravagant
and can act as if nothing really scares, bothers or affects him. He may speak abruptly and gives very
little away. Internally, he may be fearful of the dark, of ghosts, anxious when a time is set, and may
be very hurried and impatient. Medorrhinum persons also have a very fixed way of doing things.
I often see the situation of Medorrhinum as that of a young prince whose father, the King, is about
to die. The prince is weak and not yet ready to face the responsibilities that lie ahead. He is
surrounded by uncles and ministers ready to take advantage of his weakness and usurp the throne.
In order to survive, the young prince has to put a very bold, egoistic, rude and aggressive front, and
not let his inner powerlessness be exposed. This situation would also help us understand the
unwillingness of Medorrhinum to take up responsibilities and his non-committal stance; he feels that
if he commits and is then unable to fulfil that commitment, his weakness will be exposed.
Rubrics
- Ailments from anticipation.
- Sensitive, reprimands, to.
- Fear, misfortune, of.
- Anxiety, time is set, if a.
 - Hurry.
- Time, passes too slowly, appears longer.
- Washing always her hands.
- Egotism, self-esteem.
- Anxiety of conscience, as if guilty of a crime.
- Delusion, that someone is behind him.
- Fear, dark, of.
- Fear, death, of.
Phatak's materia medica
Weak memory... Forgets names, word, her errands... Loss of thread of conversation. Cannot speak
without weeping; tells it over and over again... Sad, dismal outlook amel. weeping... Sensitive,
nervous, impulsive, abrupt, rude, mean, cruel... Non commital.
Physical symptoms
- Desires ice-cream, sweet and sour, sweet and salt, salt-sweet-sour combination.
- Desires, potatoes.
- Sleep, position abdomen, on, or knee-elbow position.
- Greasy face.
- Yellowish staining sweat.
- Menses: stains difficult to wash off.
- Small, sore aphthae in the mouth, bunched together.
- Soreness feet and soles, especially in the morning (on waking), soreness of soles.
- Perspiration: foot, winter, worse during.
- Very sore mouth, ulcers on tongue and in buccal cavity, like blisters.
Kent
- Face: greasy.
- Desires ice.
- Perspiration foot, in winter.
- Restlessness, feet.
Phatak
- Hair tousled.
- Clairvoyance.
- Ears, lobules: ulcers of the ring hole.
- Forgets, sentence, cannot finish.
- Hair, all over the body.
- Ideas, many, but uncertain in execution.
- Restlessness hands, clutching tightly ameliorates.
- Lying on hands and knees ameliorates.
- Sea air ameliorates.
Soles painful.
Mercurius solubilis
The metal Mercury is liquid at room temperature. In the Periodic Table it lies in the 6th period, the
last line of metals, all of which are heavy metals. Mercurius is closely related to Platinum and Aurum.
It is one of the most syphilitic remedies known.
The main feeling in Mercurius is that of being dominated, suppressed or contradicted by an
extremely dictatorial authority. The only solution in such a situation is to either get away from or
revolt against this domination. The Mercurius person feels viciously attacked from all sides. He has
the delusion that he is surrounded by enemies, that everyone around is his enemy and he has to
fight his way out. This is a desperate situation which necessitates a desperate reaction. And so with
Mercurius as with other syphilitic remedies, the accent is on destruction, either of himself or of
others. While on the one hand he feels dominated and defies authority, on the other he can become
quite dictatorial himself. I refer to Misha Norland's article on Saddam Hussein and Mercury: "... I
have to obstinately fight, even to the bitter end, even if everything in my country is destroyed." One
of the main themes of Mercurius is violence - suicidal or homicidal. He has the impulse to kill anyone
who contradicts him. He is defiant towards authority to the extent of killing or being killed.
Mercurius is a remedy of extremes. This violence and anger is very sudden and impulsive. In his
violent rage he can kill quite easily, and the very next moment he may be himself again, as though
nothing had happened; in fact he may be quite jovial. Like a Staphisagria person, he has trembling
when angry or enraged. On the physical plane, the violence and destruction are seen in the form of
ulcers, with a very foul odour, and a tendency to decay.
Mercurius and many of its salts have a hurry, an impatience, a speed. For example these persons
will often stammer because they are hasty in speech - the words simply tumble upon one another! I
have found a lot of restlessness among Mercurius children. I have also found them to be precocious
and defiant. While they can be precocious on the one hand, they can be dull and stupid on the other.
A case of Mercurius that I remember well was that of a 15 year old boy who was brought by his
father because he was dull and not interested in his studies, or for that matter in learning anything.
His father said that in infancy and early childhood, the boy had been well above average. The
problem seemed to have started when the child guidance counsellor had forced him to start writing
with his right hand, whereas the boy was naturally left-handed. After that he lost interest in things
very quickly: he was not interested in studies, current affairs, sports or games, although I observed
him to be sharp and intelligent. He was obstinate. He also had an intense fear of examinations.
Before the exam, he would be confident, but during the exam, he would just go blank and write
nothing. He had failed twice in school as a result, and said he did not think of the consequences. He
was obsessed with cars and garages, and had dreams of the same. He also had a recurrent dream
that a man who seems to resemble his father is standing on a crowded railway platform, and there
seems to be a hand stabbing him in the back. He had another dream of falling down the stairs in a
college. If someone argued with him, he got angry very fast. He did not get along with his mother.
She would force him to do things and he would throw things at her. She would ask him not to eat
meat on Fridays; he would buy meat with his pocket money and go and tell her about it so that she
would start shouting at him. He liked to watch action movies, thrillers and martial arts films. I
understood that this was an intelligent boy who became dull and stupid, and defiant when he was
forced to change from his left hand to his right. He did not like to be forced to do things. This was his
sensitive point. He was quite strong, had no fear. If he failed in school, it did not matter to him. He
would defy even to the point of destroying his own future, his life. This was the attitude outside. He
had the dream of a hand stabbing someone, probably his father, in the back, indicating the feeling of
being attacked and the desire to attack back in return. The potential in this boy was to stab and to
be stabbed. He watched action movies, martial arts films - the violent streak was there in him. This is
the syphilitic miasm, destruction. The most sensitive point about him related to contradiction. He
was contradicted, told to do the opposite of what he might have wanted to do. This gave rise to the
dream of stabbing almost every night. Deep in his subconscious was the impulse to kill the person
who contradicted him. Six to eight weeks after Mercurius 10M he reported having had the same
dream only once. His anger against his parents had reduced. His father said that he was less sluggish
and more interested in his studies. Another month later, he reported that he dreamed that someone
was threatening to attack him. I understood this to be a good sign; the basic feeling was being
connected to him and was coming up into his awareness. His father said he was more lively, more
interested in things and was doing well in exams. His obsession with motor cars had reduced. Two
years later he continues to do very well in all respects.
Physical symptoms
Among the various physical symptoms are:
- Perspiration which stains fast, leaving either yellow stains or a saltish deposit which stiffens the
linen.
- Profuse salivation during sleep.
- Ulcers and enlarged glands; destructive lesions in all parts of the body with suppuration.
- Craves : bread and butter.
Rubrics
- Delusion, enemy, everyone is an.
- Delusion, surrounded by enemies.
- Delusion, murdered, he will be.
- Kill, desire to, contradicts her, the person that.
- Contradict, disposition to.
- Dictatorial.
- Egotism.
- Misanthropy.
- Suicidal disposition, seeing cutting instruments, on.
- Injure himself, fears to be left alone, lest he should.
- Kill, impulse to, herself, for a slight offence.
- Delusion, mutilated bodies, sees.
- Irritability alternating with cheerfulness.
- Speech, hasty.
- Speech, unintelligible.
- Senses, dullness, of.
- Memory, weakness of, for what he has read.
- Anger, trembling with.
Phatak
- Cold and heat both aggravate.
- Semen, bloody.
- Symptoms diverse, many.
Naja tripudians
Naja (prepared from the venom of the Indian cobra) has qualities common to other snake remedies
- loquacity, wandering, attractive talk, malice, venom, jealousy, the feeling of two wills, etc. Its
unique feature however is its feeling of duty consciousness. In my observation, Naja people have a
certain quality of nobility about them, of morality, of responsibility. Often this feeling is in conflict
with the feeling of having suffered wrong and neglect, with intense feelings of malice and impulse to
neglect or harm the offending person. This emotional state is reflected in the following dream that
one of the provers had. The prover, a woman, dreamt that she was staying as a paying guest in the
house of an old woman. Once, around midnight, the latter asked the prover to vacate her room
immediately, without giving her any reason or explanation. In fact she started to pick up the prover's
belongings and throw them down the stairs, almost pushing her out in the middle of the night. In
doing so, she tumbled down the flight of stairs and broke her leg. She was shouting for help. The
prover was then in a conflict between her duty and responsibility as a doctor which prompted her to
go to the aid of her landlady, and her impulse to neglect her and make her suffer for the wrong that
she had done to her. She woke up from this dream, feeling this "split" in her mind.
The cobra in India is both revered and respected as a God, as well as feared and killed as a
poisonous snake. I have found that Naja people often threaten to strike, but don't do it unless
provoked to the extreme. This is rather like the behaviour of a cobra who raises its hood when
approached, but doesn't do anything if only passed by without being disturbed.
Another feature that I have seen in Naja people is a brooding and suicidal state, a feeling as if
everything had been done wrong and could not be rectified. This could happen in many situations,
where there is a split between the feeling of duty and the feeling of having suffered wrong. An
example of such a situation could be that of a daughter-in-law and a tyrannical mother-in-law, or
even of a woman whose husband is having an extra marital affair. In both situations the feeling is
often one of being neglected and wronged, with much anger and malice, but at the same time she
may feel dutiful and responsible, and there is a constant conflict about this. This can eventually lead
her into a depressive state with suicidal thoughts and impulses.
Among the symptoms found repeatedly in the provers and patients are:
- Dreams of snakes, especially of black snakes, with raised hoods (unaccompanied by fear).
- In life, an intense fear of or fascination with snakes. They often refer to snakes as if talking of
humans.
- Dreams, of being pursued.
- Dreams, of flying in order to escape.
- Symptoms are often left-sided.
- The patients are often chilly and cannot tolerate cold air or draught.
- The feeling of suffocation from tight clothes is similar to Lachesis and to other snake remedies.
- The physical appearance of the face can often be like a cobra hood. The glasses that are worn may
sometimes resemble the spectacle mark of the cobra.
- In one or two patients, I have noted a tendency to play with fire.
- Also one may find an intense spiritual orientation in Naja patients.
- Clairvoyance.
- Often Naja patients have affections of the heart valves.
Rubrics
- Delusion, troubles, broods over imaginary.
- Sadness, wrong way, as if having done everything, in a.
- Sadness, suicidal disposition, with.
- Suicidal disposition, axe, with an.
- Delusion, injured, is being, head.
- Delusion, injured, is being, surroundings, by his.
- Delusion, neglected, he is.
- Delusion, superhuman control, is under.
- Will: two wills, feels as if he had.
- Will, loss of.
- Wrong, everything seems.
 - Delusion, has suffered wrong.
Phatak
Complaints brood over imaginary.
Natrium carbonicum
Natrum carbonicum is a salt belonging to the psoric miasm. In the Natrum element, we see a
marked desire to form and maintain a relationship, especially on a one to one level. The Natrum
carbonicum woman needs just one relationship and is very dependent on this one relationship,
without which she feels tremendous fear, sadness and a sense of isolation. This is brought out best
in the delusion of Natrum carbonicum: "Delusion, division between himself and others". It is this
tremendous need for and dependence on the relationship, that makes them very vulnerable to hurt.
Natrum therefore develops a fear of people and tries to avoid contact. While on one hand she tries
to avoid company, she also dreads being alone: "Company, averse to, yet dreads being alone". The
theme of the Carbonates is that of fear of death with a need for a vital reaction in order to survive,
as suggested by the rubric: "Starting from fright".
Thus the main theme of Natrum carbonicum is of a vital reaction needed by a person who is alone,
i.e. without a relationship on a one to one level with another human being. His forsaken lonely
feeling gives rise to the two basic feelings of Natrum carbonicum, which are ennui (boredom) and
apprehension (anxiety). The ennui produces a melancholic, sad, despondent mood and the anxiety is
with regard to the future.
Natrum carbonicum is very sensitive, especially to separation from the beloved and to the breaking
of relationships. When the beloved is not there or has gone away, the patients show great sadness,
reacting to sad music, especially that from the piano. They desire to make contact but have been
unsuccessful in forming relationships and blame themselves for it ("Delusion, he cannot succeed,
does everything wrong"). They become estranged from their family and friends and bear their grief
silently, feeling forsaken.
The Natrum carbonicum woman feels like an outcast and is always at the receiving end of abuse
(offended easily). She feels that society has ganged up in order to pursue her, making her feel she is
abnormal and not a part of the group. Natrum carbonicum people can have a severe inferiority
complex, especially in the sphere of forming relationships - they may feel unworthy of love or of any
relationship. I have found in Natrum carbonicum a history of disturbed relationship with one of the
parents, especially being forsaken or neglected by father or mother. A woman may give the history
of having being neglected by her father in childhood. She then develops a fear of people and a
sensitivity to certain people. She reacts to this kind of behaviour with quarrelsomeness, anxiety and
courage. She becomes suspicious, violent, indignant, heedless, imagining herself to be sick and
seeing no hope in her "no win" situation (therefore inconsolable). She becomes sad and weeps, and
in extreme cases can become indifferent and suicidal.
In this "no win" situation there is anxiety about future. She is confused and this confusion gets
worse by dwelling on the problem. There is dullness, prostration of mind, indifference,
discouragement and despair. At such times she will avoid the sight of even her intimate friends.
However she may turn to a sympathizer for support, in the form of being magnetized (suggestions).
As she feels more and more isolated, alone, she becomes avaricious, developing a fear of robbers.
All this naturally keeps her in a discontented, uncomfortable and sad state.
There is also the vital fear seen in:
- Starting at the slightest noise.
- Fear of all mankind.
 - Fear of thunderstorms.
- Fear, constant, of everything.
It is interesting to note that Natrum carbonicum does not have any fear or delusions of animals. She
is only afraid of people. Natrum carbonicum is afraid of the human quality of forming a group and
casting people out, if they don't fit into the expected norms of the group.
Natrum carbonicum people are normally quite independent and self-sufficient, living their lives
alone, though having good contact with others. They are sociable and can be loquacious and
vivacious. I have found them to be organized, sincere, honest, straightforward, non-manipulative
people, with strong principles. They can be resolute, persevering, self-possessed and courageous
(Allen's Encylopaedia). They are very responsive to music, sensitive and refined. They are
sympathetic and help others; sensitive especially to the suffering of people who are lonely and
forsaken by society, for example with beggars. They can fight for others. On the other hand they can
be quite quarrelsome, pugnacious.
The dreams of Natrum carbonicum include dreams of danger, of robbers, of murder, of corpse, of
water and flood, while the pleasant dreams are of marrying two women, of parties and
entertainment. The pleasant dreams show that the patient is setting up relationships and having
good contact with society, whereas the anxious dreams show fear of death and fear associated with
being lonely.
Physical symptoms
- Chilly, but heat of sun aggravates.
- Feeling of tremendous coldness - icy coldness especially of hands and fingers.
- Heaviness of eyelids.
- Temporal headaches.
Rubrics
- Aversion to husband.
- Aversion to members of family.
- Cheerful, gay, happy.
- Company, aversion to, yet dreads to be alone content.
- Delusion, division between himself and others.
- Delusion, wedding, of.
- Estranged from family.
- Estranged from friends.
- Fear of misfortune.
- Fear of thunderstorm.
- Forsaken feeling.
- Indifference when in society.
- Joy, ailments from, excessive.
- Misanthropy.
- Sadness, aversion to company, desire for solitude.
- Sympathetic.
- Tranquility.
Raga Yaman produces the feeling of Natrum carbonicum. During a proving at my seminar in Bombay
the main themes that came up after playing the Raga were of solitude, being alone in the world,
division between oneself and others, being in a world of one's own, a solitude without fears, a lofty
feeling as if looking at a city below, a feeling of gaiety and mirth, contentment and tranquility,
anxiety for others, sympathy. Also on the other hand, sadness like that which is felt on departure of
near and dear ones (wedding ceremony), the beloved is going away and his wife is telling him not to
go away, pacifying loved ones, as if waiting for someone, being neglected by friends, of seeing
something black, fearful darkness. A desire to be at mother's breast.
Natrium muriaticum
Natrum muriaticum is a sycotic remedy. It is a mineral - a salt - and it has the elements Natrum with
belongs to group IA and Chlorine (Halogen group).
The main feeling of Natrum muriaticum is that she will be let down or betrayed or disappointed by
the person her trust depends on, or by the one she loves. The relationship she seeks is not one of
dependence like Calcarea or Magnesium but of friendship or romance, a relation on a one to one
basis.
The betrayal that she feels is the betrayal of her trust or faith. She has a fear of being emotionally
hurt or disappointed and hence is reserved, unapproachable. At the same time, there is a
tremendous insecurity with a fear of being alone and a fear of robbers (Natrum carbonicum).
She believes that there is something wrong with her - either she is not good enough, not good
looking enough ("Delusion, she looks wretched when looking in mirror") or that she has not done
enough, and this is why the other person will disappear or leave her. This makes her do her best to
be nurturing and caring, makes her go out of her way for others. But when hurt, she withdraws
completely; there is great sadness ("Silent grief", "Weeping when alone") with aversion to
consolation. There is a bitterness, tremendous anger, irritability, hatred and malice. She dwells on
past disagreeable occurrences, is unable to forget them ("Revengeful"). An idea clings, prevents
sleep and inspires revenge. She becomes averse to company, shut off from people ("Averse to the
opposite sex, to her husband"). This again alternates with a desire for company or relationship. Thus
we find contradictory symptoms in Natrum muriaticum people. In order to avoid the disappointment
they enter into a relationship where, from the very beginning, there is no expectation of total
commitment (like falling in love with a married man/servant) - silent, one-sided love. The Natrum
muriaticum woman has fallen in love with someone and it is this one person she will love and hate.
All that matters is how he treats her. Her entire mood depends on this. Having been hurt she blames
herself as much as she blames the other person and her feelings often alternate between these two.
She cares so much for this one relationship, that at times she finds it frightening and may even
behave as if it means nothing to her. She doesn't want to be hurt.
As with other remedies of the mineral kingdom, Natrum muriaticum patients are very organized.
They are independent and dependable. They care a lot about structures like the house,
relationships, date and timings. I have observed that many of them like music, especially the sad,
sentimental type. They are also fond of novels and other literature based on relationships.
I have found that these patients usually relate a history of big problems or quarrels with their
parents. There is almost always a history of disappointment in love. Tremendous grief after the
death of someone dear.
There is a certain reservedness about them which makes them want to express themselves through
art, but there is an organization to their art - it is structured, there is no free flow. They put up a wall
of unapproachability but are externally cheerful. It is difficult to get them to express their real
feelings but when they "break" a little, they can get sentimental and there may be a flood of grief.
Sepia comes close to Natrum muriaticum. Both have the theme of disappointment, both have the
theme of the body being disfigured. But the main contradiction of Natrum muriaticum is not
between relationship and occupation as seen in Sepia, but between making and breaking the
relationship. Therefore there is no contradiction of will in Natrum muriaticum - the whole theme is
of the relationship and not like Sepia, two separate themes of occupation and relationship. Thus
Sepia, the animal, is larger of which Natrum muriaticum, the mineral, is a part. Natrum muriaticum is
a two-sided salt, like a coin.
Since it has the theme of investing everything in one person or one relationship, Natrum muriaticum
likes to dwell on grief and nourishes grief. If this grief is "new" or fresh in mind (even though several
years may have passed) the patient will need Ignatia; when it is "old" has become a scar, provoked
only when touched or prodded (even though it might be just a few days after the incident) Natrum
muriaticum will have to be given. Ignatia is the "acute" of Natrum muriaticum.
In terms of Indian classical music Raga Bhairavi carries there a theme of separation or quarrel with
the loved one, especially in a man-woman relationship, hence this Raga is closest to Natrum
muriaticum with its "disappointment in love" and the bitter-sweet memories associated with it.
Physical concomitants
- Hot patient.
- agg. Heat of the sun.
- Emaciation about the neck.
- Crack in the middle of lower lip, especially in cold weather.
- Desires salt.
- Increased thirst.
- Salty sediment in perspiration.
- Headache from exposure to sun.
- Mapped tongue.
- Much trouble around the menstrual period.
Rubrics
- Ailments from disappointment, old.
- Ailments from grief.
- Ailments from love disappointed.
- Anger, consoled, when.
- Anger, talk, indisposed to.
- Anxiety, alternating with indifference.
- Company, aversion to, presence of other people aggravates the symptom, desire for solitude.
- Delusion, thieves, sees, house, in.
- Delusion, wretched, she looks (when looking in a mirror).
- Dwells on past disagreeable occurrence, recalls disagreeable memories.
- Grief, cry, cannot.
- Grief, silent.
- Hatred, persons who had offended him, of.
- Love, married man, with.
- Sensitive, music, to.
- Shameless in bed.
Kent
- Desires bitter.
Natrium sulphuricum
It is a mineral remedy and it belongs to the sycotic miasm. Its main feeling is: "I am scorned,
disgraced, insulted or not appreciated by the person with whom I have (or seek) a relationship and I
must make a great effort to gain appreciation or to be valued by the other person."
This is seen clearly in the following dreams (Allen's Encyclopedia):
- Vexatious dream that a young gentleman of her acquaintance slighted her.
- Dream that he was very much hurt and provoked because he had been insulted.
- Dream that insults had excited him so much that he began to fight.
In order to be appreciated and recognized by others in a relationship, Natrum sulphuricum persons
can be industrious, caring, responsible, helpful and can be confided in. They like to be independent,
and have a marked sense of pride. But since they make a lot of effort to maintain the relationship,
they can be dominated or suppressed, taken advantage of, or scorned. Though they resent this
internally, they are so dependent on the relationship that they allow themselves to be made use of
and treated badly, all the while feeling not too good about themselves, unworthy. This can make
them quite irritable and angry. But this irritability does not last long and is followed by guilt and
remorse, which alternates with a feeling of indignation and hurt pride.
When the relationship is not successful, they go into a stage of deep sadness and become
melancholic, which is usually unexpressed and internal. In this stage they have suicidal thoughts
("Sadness, with suicidal disposition"). They have no wish to live. "Fear of being left alone, lest he
should injure himself": this symptom shows that the Natrum sulphuricum person is scared of such an
impulse, is very weak-willed and fears he may not be able to control himself. He has to use all his
power in order to control that impulse. This gives us the features of anxiety, timidity, irresolution
and want of self-confidence seen in Natrum sulphuricum. Also there is fear of suicidal impulses.
Natrum sulphuricum patients feel that nothing ever works: "Succeeds never". They can be
quarrelsome (Dreams of fighting). There are strong feelings of responsibility and guilt, and it is these
features that make of this remedy a leading sycotic remedy.
Physical symptoms
- Hot patient.
- Wet weather agg..
- Asthma in early morning.
- Desire for ice-cold water.
- Sudden diarrhoea in the morning.
- Itching when undressing, especially of the toes as soon as he removes his socks in the evening
("Itching of toes, evening, when undressing").
Rubrics
- Fear, suicide, of.
- Injure himself, fear to be left alone, lest he should.
- Injure, shooting himself from satiety, must use self-control to prevent.
- Spoken to, averse to being.
- Estranged from her family.
- Estranged from his wife.
- Sensitive, oversensitive to music.
- Succeeds never.
Kent
- Diarrhoea, morning, after rising and moving about.
Niccolum-met. + -c. (old abbr.)
Niccolum belongs to the first line of metals in the Periodic Table, along with manganese, iron,
cobalt, copper and zinc. The remedies in this line (or period) have a lot to do with attack and
defense, and also with performance, but to a much lesser degree than do the heavy metals. Also
common to all of them is the feeling of having committed a crime and the theme of policemen.
Niccolum lies in the same group with Platinum and Palladium, and shares with these two the
qualities of egotism and superiority. When the two factors of attack and defense are combined with
superiority, there emerges the feeling that he is superior to others and must come to their rescue
and defense. I have seen in the proving and in Niccolum patients, the strong need to fight for others
and to protect others from wrong, from antisocial elements, to fight like the policeman or defender
of the community. The sense of duty and ego are both exhibited in Niccolum. They are disposed to
contradict, but are themselves intolerant of contradiction. They are anti-authority, self-confident
people and have a certain hardness about them.
During the proving of Niccolum, there emerged a recurring theme of policemen, specially the need
for all of us to become like policemen and protect the interests of the weaker sections of society. A
dream that I remember having had myself during the proving of Niccolum is of riding in a taxi-cab
and realizing that the driver has manipulated the fare-meter in such a way that it is going too fast.
When I point it out to him, he corrects it, but I think that this man might do the same to the next
passenger, and hence my duty is to take him to the police. I stop at the police station and ask the
officer to apprehend this taxi driver. The policeman accompanies me in plain clothes and gives me a
rope, asking me to overpower and tie up the hands of the taxi driver, and hand him over. I know it
entails risk, and some violence, but I feel I have to do it. This dream for me symbolizes the feeling of
Niccolum that each of us has to develop this quality of being vigilant and of fighting against thieves
and wrongdoers. In sum, Niccolum feels he has to acquire the qualities of a policeman.
Physical symptoms
Among the physical symptoms which I have verified are:
- Head, heaviness in the morning after waking, better by rising.
- Sharp, neuralgic, shooting pains which radiate from one spot, and are brought on by touch.
Rubrics
- Contradiction, intolerant of.
- Contradict, disposition to.
- Malicious.
- Quarrelsome.
- Loquacity.
Dreams
- Parts of the body - teeth falling out.
- Falling from a height.
- Fights.
- Quarrels.
Nitricum acidum
Nitricum acidum is a remedy of the cancer miasm.
The theme of the Nitrates is the feeling of sudden death and danger. This is seen in Argentum
nitricum which has the theme of performance (Argentum) in a critical situation (Nitricum).
The theme of Nitricum acidum is a constant feeling of threat. This threat is perceived in several
spheres: health, work, relationships, and so on. Like other acids there is also the theme of a lot of
effort, a lot of activity, followed by exhaustion. In Nitricum acidum this effort is directed at fighting
off the constant threat or danger that they perceive. The effort takes the form of a hard, obstinate
struggle carried on with an unforgiving, violent, malicious attitude and an internalized cold anger. It
is a desperate, almost superhuman struggle for survival. They are tremendously suspicious,
mistrustful, see danger everywhere and are ever ready to strike back. For example Nitricum acidum
has a tremendous anxiety about health. They feel that anything could go wrong with their health at
any time. Therefore they are on guard against any possible disease. They see danger from disease
not only to themselves but to others as well. This can be seen from the symptoms: "Sympathetic,
cares for others", "Ailments from night watching". There is a great fear of death. The theme of
danger is also seen in the delusions: "Delusions about criminals", "Delusion, figures, sees".
The situation of Nitricum acidum is that of a person who is fighting a long, hard court-battle, or who
is involved in a long standing feud with someone who has harmed him. He survives by being hateful,
malicious, hard and unforgiving towards the enemy. It is a desperate struggle. He cannot afford to
make any mistake, and for survival strives for perfection; it is therefore a remedy of the cancer
miasm. He is hard and unforgiving towards his enemy but is sympathetic towards his supporters,
because he requires their support for his battle. He cares a lot for his supporters and friends, and can
do anything for them. If he is your friend, he can be your best friend, but if he is your enemy he will
be your worst enemy - a combination of both cruelty and sympathy.
I have observed Nitricum acidum persons to be very reserved and usually even the marked
symptoms like "Anxiety about health", "Malice", and their unforgiving nature ("Hatred", "Unmoved
by apologies", etc.) have often to be elicited by direct questioning. In some of these patients I have
seen a very strong look in the eyes, a look which seemed almost cruel and unfeeling.
Physical symptoms
- Chilly patients.
- Crave butter, fat, fried things, spicy food.
- Deep crack in the centre of the tongue.
- Fissure in ano.
- Tendency to renal calculi.
- Cracks in the skin.
- Warts on external throat, nape of neck or eyelids.
- Worse when half asleep.
Rubrics
- Delusion, lawsuit, being engaged in a.
- Delusion, criminals, about.
- Delusion, die, he was about to.
- Delusion, figures, sees.
- Delusion, sick, being.
- Hatred of persons who have offended, unmoved by apologies.
- Anger, violent.
- Anxiety, health, about.
- Dwells on past disagreeable occurrences.
- Malicious.
- Misanthropy.
- Suspicious.
- Sympathy, compassion.
- Anxiety, from night watching.
- Anger, trembling with.
Kent
 - Warts on the face.
- Tongue, cracked in all directions.
- Ulcers, mouth, painful.
- Ulcers, mouth, on the edges of the tongue.
- Pain, rectum, after stool.
- Urine, sediment, oxalate of lime.
Phatak
- Half asleep when, aggravates.
Nux vomica
Nux vomica is a remedy of the plant kingdom, and of the psoric miasm. It is a well-known remedy,
its main expressions being hard, zealous, ambitious, impatient. Nux vomica is a person who gets his
thing done by hook or by crook, and who is quite hopeful about getting it done.
He is a hard task master. He is an irritable, passionate person, and very fastidious. If anything
bothers him, he must get it out of the way. For example when he is constipated, he strains and
strains till the stool is out, otherwise he gets no relief; he is ameliorated after passing stool.
Naturally, he is not a very patient person. He can be jealous. He is malicious and, when angry,
expresses himself without much inhibition; in a way, he is like a person who has drunk alcohol.
"Insanity of drunkards" is the rubric that explains the Nux vomica state quite well. Nux vomica craves
for alcohol and for all forms of stimulants, and may also be addicted to laxatives. Nux vomica also
has anger when obliged to answer.
Once a colleague of mine pointed out a couple of rubrics of Nux vomica: "Delusion, bed, evening,
someone gets into and no room in it" and "Delusion, bed, someone had sold it". The impatience,
which Nux vomica shows in getting what he wants, can be as if he is trying to get his bed back, the
place of his security and repose. He seeks this security and repose; he wants it and he wants it fast.
Unless he is a go-getter, he will be finished in this world of competition; his bed is going to get
occupied by someone else. This is how Nux vomica sees the world.
Nux vomica is complementary to Lycopodium and Sulphur.
In some aspects Lycopodium resembles Nux vomica with the irritability, impatience and a dictatorial
nature. These two remedies may come close but the main difference is that Nux vomica is not
cowardly inside; he is more rash and audacious, more forceful and expressive, more impulsive and
explosive. From a young age we can see this difference. Lycopodium has a shy, introverted
childhood, while Nux vomica in childhood is daring and mischievous.
In adulthood, when given a job, Nux vomica will do it by "hook or crook", breaking through all
obstacles in his way, like a road-roller. He can often get violent. Lycopodium is indeed not so ardent
and daring. He weighs each step and does not rush into things. If the obstacle is big, he hesitates and
may even withdraw.
Nux vomica may sometimes follow Sulphur and vice-versa. They are opposite states: Nux vomica is
so clean and Sulphur so dirty; Nux vomica is so chilly, Sulphur so hot; Nux vomica is ardent,
vehement and Sulphur is lazy and careless. Hence they are complementary.
Lachesis, Apis, Hyoscyamus and Nux vomica are among the most jealous remedies of our Materia
Medica. Apis is busy and restless, Lachesis is sarcastic, Hyoscyamus shameless and foolish, whereas
Nux vomica is quarrelsome along with being jealous.
Chamomilla and Nux vomica are very similar and are inimical remedies. Both are so sensitive,
violent and intolerant of pain that one can easily mistake the two remedies.
Nux vomica is the acute of Sepia, being also concerned with occupation and business, with
tremendous irritability and like Sepia being chilly, constipated, etc. Sepia has two separate themes of
relationship and occupation and there is a conflict between these two. In a very acute situation of
business failure, a Sepia person may need Nux vomica.
Nux vomica is complementary to Ignatia which in turn is the acute of Natrum muriaticum, which is
complementary to Sepia.
Nux vomica - Ignatia
Sepia - Natrum muriaticum
Physical concomitants
- Perspiration, upper lip.
- Desires fats, spices which agg. him. Desires meat.
- Digestive disturbance from slightest irregularity.
- Sleeplessness - from 3:00 - 5:00 a.m.
Rubrics
- Abusive, drunkenness, during.
- Ailments from business failure.
- Ardent.
- Businessman, worn out.
- Delusion, bed, evening, someone get into and no room in it.
- Delusion, bed, someone has sold it.
- Envy.
- Insanity, drunkenness, in.
- Jealousy.
- Malicious, spiteful, vindictive.
- Fear of poverty.
- Quiet, desires repose and tranquility.
Phatak
- Besides oneself.
- Irritable when questioned.
- Quiet ameliorates.
- Reproaches others.
- Short sleep ameliorates.
- Zealous.
Palladium metallicum
Palladium is a metal. In the Periodic Table it is placed in the second line of metals, and it is next to
Argentum. The remedies in this line are concerned with show. Also, it is placed above Platina. It is a
sycotic remedy.
The main feeling in Palladium is that if she does not earn the good opinion of others, she will be
neglected and forsaken. These persons lay a great emphasis on what other persons think of them,
and so they always try to get good opinion of others. If they do not succeed in this, they feel insulted
("Delusion, appreciated, he is not"), and neglected. "Delusion, neglected, he is" is a very strong
feature of Palladium and it reminds one of the Argentum nitricum feeling: "Delusion, despised, he is"
or "Forsaken feeling, sensation of isolation". Palladium persons feel that if they do not do well
enough, they will be neglected, they will not be wanted, and so this deserted, forsaken feeling
becomes strong. They therefore always need to do something in order to win the appreciation of
other people. On seeing a Palladium patient one is inclined to think: "What a nice person she is, how
good she looks, how nicely she talks, how well she manages, how well she works..."
In the case of Palladium her feeling of well-being is subject to having the good opinion of others,
unlike Silicea who wants for others to have a specific, fixed, definite opinion of himself.
Palladium people sit with an air of tremendous authority, yet there is a niceness even in this. They
are strong-willed, yet appear friendly ("Obstinate, tries to appear amiable"). They can be quite
egoistic, although they do not show it so directly.
Rubrics
- Flattery, desires.
- Longing for good opinion of others.
- Delusion, she is not appreciated.
- Delusion, forsaken.
- Haughty, wounded, wishes to be flattered.
- Delusion, insulted, he is.
- Delusion, neglected, he is.
- Delusion, tall, walking, had grown, while.
- Obstinate, amiable, tries to appear.
- Offended, easily.
Paris quadrifolia
Paris quadrifolia is a plant that has an isolated bud with four leaves. It is called "one berry". One
could correlate the appearance of the isolated bud on the top with the isolated feeling in Paris - feels
solitary.
Paris is the situation of an only child in the family. Everybody else is an adult and they are all very
busy and involved in their own work. They talk strange things which he cannot understand. Thus, he
feels isolated. He gets all his basic necessities like food, toys, etc., but does not get any attention -
not so much in the sense of love and care but in the sense of importance and entertainment; he has
no playmate. Nobody really talks with him for long or plays with him. He is always attended to,
pampered and spoiled but has to spend a lot of time alone. As a result, he often talks to himself.
This lonely child seeks to attract attention by his silly behaviour. When all the adults are sitting and
talking amongst themselves, he goes and speaks in a foolish, funny, ludicrous and egoistic way, quite
like a clown, so that everybody laughs at him. Everybody knows he is joking. For example he will say:
"I put my hand in the lions mouth and then held his tail and turned him upside down." He is
attention seeking in a quite childish and foolish way, but is quite happy with his own talk.
An adult in the Paris state feels inferior, so he talks in a way that will be egoistic but foolish in order
to attract attention. He can also be contemptuous, censorious, haughty.
Rubrics
- Ailments from scorn, being scorned.
- Cheerful and foolish.
- Childish behaviour.
- Delusion, places strange and solitary, at night, finding himself in.
- Egotism, speaking about themselves in company, always.
- Foolish behaviour.
- Frivolous.
- Gossiping.
- Haughty.
- Loquacity, cheerful, exuberant.
 - Loquacity, foolish.
- Loquacity, self-satisfied.
- Loquacity, vivacious.
- Speech, foolish.
- Speech, wandering.
- Talking, pleasure in his own.
The rubrics seem very similar to those of Hyoscyamus, but while Paris is not suspicious, Hyoscyamus
does not have this "left-out" feeling.
Phosphoricum acidum
Phosphoricum acidum belongs to the sycotic miasm. The main theme of an acid is struggle followed
by collapse: exertion and exhaustion. The theme of struggle and collapse is clearly expressed in
certain symptoms common to all the acids: hurry, industry, the feeling that their efforts are
unsuccessful, fear of failure, and also fatigue, indolence and indifference. The main feeling of
Phosphorus is of being unloved and uncared for, to which he reacts by being affectionate, friendly
and sympathetic in the hope that his love and care will be reciprocated.
Thus the main feeling of Phosphoricum acidum is: "I must constantly care for others in order to be
loved or accepted." We see in Phosphoricum acidum a lot of effort in this direction. There is
increased activity and hurry along with his caring for others. But when he has put in too much effort
and does not achieve what he had wanted to, he begins to get quarrelsome, later becoming dull,
sluggish, indifferent, or quiet and brooding. The factors that result in such a state are (Ailments
from) grief, care, disappointment, death of a child, i.e. despite all his love and caring, when he is
disappointed by those he cared for he becomes tired and apathetic. Phatak describes in his Materia
Medica: "Apathetic from unequal struggling with adverse circumstances, mental and physical." The
words "unequal struggle" reflects the feeling of most acids; it is characteristic to this group of
remedies.
In Phosphoricum acidum, the mental state is one of sleepiness, brooding, aversion to business,
indifference, hopelessness and despair. Correspondingly in the body there is weakness, lack of
energy and disposition to lie down.
The situation of Phosphoricum acidum is that of a man who has made an effort to climb a mountain
and has become so tired that he doubts his capacity to climb further. He is a person who tries, but
the mountain seems a tough task for him. He feels like taking rest by lying down. He is totally
exhausted. He has no energy left so he sits, sad and brooding about this unattainable goal.
Ignatia is complementary to Phosphoricum acidum. When a young oversensitive woman finds that
time and again her hopes have been belied, she may finally get into a state where there is no use
trying. She needs to become insensitive and apathetic, because at this point her sensitivity is of no
use - even her hysteria is of no use - this insensitive state (indifference) is the state of Phosphoricum
acidum.
Rubrics
- Brooding, condition, over one's.
- Brooding, disappointment, over.
- Brooding, disease, over his.
- Business, averse to.
- Cares, worries, full of.
- Indifference, everything, to.
- Quiet disposition.
 - Speech, monosyllabic.
Kent
- Desires juicy things.
Phatak
- Unequal struggling.
- Growth in limbs, too fast.
- Homesick.
- Irritable when questioned.
- Short sleep ameliorates.
Phosphorus
Phosphorus lies in Group V of the Periodic Table, next to Silica and Sulphur, and is closely allied to
these two remedies. It is a tubercular remedy.
The main feeling of Phosphorus is of being unloved and uncared for, to which the patient reacts by
being affectionate, friendly and sympathetic in the hope that this love and care will be reciprocated
("Affectionate, returns affection"). He must be sensitive to the feelings of others to win their
affection. The effort of Phosphorus therefore is in the direction of caring for others, being
sympathetic to them.
Phosphorus has wide ranging sensitivity and reactivity. He is sensitive to all emotions - anger, fear
and grief, and has the unique symptom: "Hot flushes from excitement". He feels alone and hence
very vulnerable to environmental and emotional factors. Hence, we have:
- Fear, of the thunderstorm;
- Delusion, choked by forms, being;
- Ailments from grief;
- Ailments from disappointed love.
Phosphorus is a vital constituent of all living beings. The Phosphorus patient can be very animated,
often resembling patients of an animal remedy. The sensitivity and reactivity in humans is
manifested by the sympathetic attitude: sensitivity to the suffering of others, and the desire to give
and receive love. It is this sensitivity and reactivity that allows man to make contact, establish
relationships and to find his place in the world.
My experience with Phosphorus people is that they are very sensitive to those around them. They
tend to attract attention towards themselves, either by their appearance (if you examine the typical
Phosphorus constitution you find that he is lean, fair with long curved eyelashes and a graceful walk,
a physically attractive person), manner of speaking, or the warmth they show. It is difficult to ignore
a Phosphorus person. Yet behind this sensitivity is lurking the feeling that they are not getting
enough attention, care and love. This creates an insecurity in Phosphorus which makes the person
seek more company, more friends, etc. He tries to get the love he misses. He can do this by caring a
lot for others, being helpful to others and going out of his way for them. Phosphorus can make
friends very easily.
The situational Materia Medica of Phosphorus is of a child who does not get attention and love from
the people in his house and therefore makes a lot of friends outside in order to fulfill this need.
Though he may have a lot of friends, yet Phosphorus is often unable to make close intimate friends
and most of his relationships are at quite a superficial level.
They are very emotional, very loving, affectionate, sympathetic, caring. At the same time they can
be very easily excited, very anxious, fearful, clairvoyant and restless. In the intellectual sphere, we
find the increased activity expressed as: "Ideas abundant, clearness of mind", "Memory, active",
"Industrious", "Senses acute". On the other hand we may find indifference, apathy, deficiency of
ideas, weakness of memory, indolence and dullness of senses. This represents the collapsed or failed
side of the remedy.
Phosphorus has "Delusion, island, is on a distant". Such a feeling creates a strong desire for
company. This may be followed by a tiredness or weakness. There is an intense need to get out of
his home - the place of his isolation - where he doesn't find any love or care.
One can recognize the tubercular miasm in Phosphorus; high energy with emaciation and weakness.
And Phosphorus is also an important remedy for tuberculosis.
Clairvoyance in Phosphorus is generally expressed as a feeling of tremendous intimacy. They may
say: "I knew as soon as I walked into the room, there was vibration between us, though we had
never met each other before." There is a desire to be magnetized and the magnetic waves can
travel. Another way in which the clairvoyance of Phosphorus is expressed is in the anxiety the
patient feels for the other person. One of my colleagues for whom I prescribed Phosphorus had the
feeling, three times, that his father was having a heart attack and each time within one hour of
getting this feeling he received a phone call telling him that his father indeed had had a heart attack.
This kind of feeling for another person is very typical of Phosphorus.
Causticum and Nitricum acidum are also sympathetic remedies. But there is a kind of selfishness
behind the sympathy of these two. They stand to gain by their sympathy whereas Phosphorus is
genuinely sympathetic.
Causticum is sympathetic in the sense that he is anxious for others, but Phosphorus feels the anxiety
of others. In Causticum if her child goes out and gets a little late, even though the child is enjoying
itself, the mother feels worried. Phosphorus is not so. Phosphorus feels anxiety of others: when the
other person is anxious, Phosphorus feels it.
Nitricum acidum is sympathetic conditionally. As long as you are his friend, he will be sympathetic
towards you. But the moment you offend him, he will want to kill you. So his is not a genuine
sympathy.
Rubrics
- Affectionate, returns affection.
- Amativeness.
- Children, watchful, who are on the lookout for every gesture.
- Clairvoyance.
- Delusion, choked by forms, being.
- Delusion, island, is on a distant.
- Estranged from her family.
- Fear, thunderstorm, of.
- Indifference, loved ones, to.
Kent
- Appetite, increased during fever.
- Desires ice-cream.
Phatak
- Growth, too fast.
Picricum acidum
Picricum acidum is a remedy of the mineral kingdom. The main theme of an acid is struggle followed
by collapse; exertion and exhaustion. The struggle is constant. It is an effort that, the person feels,
has to be made in a particular direction. At some point in this constant struggle, the patient is so
exhausted that a small setback like the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, leads to a state
of collapse.
In Picricum acidum we see a tremendous effort in the direction of intellectual achievement. The
main delusions in Picricum acidum are: "Delusion, arms reach the cloud when going to sleep",
"Delusion, tongue seems to reach the clouds when going to sleep" and in the original proving we
have "Forehead seems to extend towards the clouds". What do these delusions represent?
The forehead is for thinking, the hand is for writing and the tongue is for speaking. These are the
three organs of intellectual activity and they feel stretched to the limit, extended right up to the
clouds.
Thus the main feeling in Picricum acidum is: "I feel that my intellectual capacity and organs used to
express it are stretched far beyond their limits. So I now need to rest and bring them back to health."
The situation of Picricum acidum is one where a man has extended his intellect beyond his limit, has
used these organs beyond their limit so that they are stretched beyond the clouds and now he needs
to shut up, cut off and take rest. To help him do this, he gets increased sexual thoughts; the opposite
to the intellectual activity.
Thus in the failed state of Picricum acidum we see dullness, sluggishness, inability to think long,
mental work becomes impossible. Such a state is reached usually in a person who had made a
tremendous mental effort and is now exhausted - brain-fatigue. This may be seen, for example, in
students preparing for highly competitive exams.
Other rubrics
- Concentration difficult, studying, reading, etc., while.
- Dullness, think long, unable to.
- Lascivious.
- Prostration of mind, writing, after.
- Work, aversion to, mental.
- Fear, examination, of (Phatak's Repertory).
Platinum metallicum
Platinum is a heavy metal, placed in the last line (period) of metals in the Periodic Table between
Iridium and Aurum, and below Palladium. It belongs to the syphilitic miasm.
The Platinum feeling is of being humiliated, of being crushed down utterly, as if by some huge
power. The Platinum woman has the feeling of being very small, of having to grow really large in
order to survive. She believes that this growth depends upon her performance and she pushes
herself to reach great heights. The expectation felt by Platinum is to be something special - a level of
performance much above normal: "Ailments from deceived ambition", "Delusion, that she is noble".
Aurum is the "King", with his high sense of duty and responsibility. Platinum is the "Queen" - she
must carry herself regally, show herself superior. Everything about her is rare, valuable, spiritual,
intellectual. Now she feels big inside. At the same time, being so special and rare, she feels left out in
a world of ordinary people - she cannot mix or mingle with them. She cannot form relationships with
other people just as the noble metal platinum cannot easily form a compound. So there is a feeling
of loneliness, of isolation - a feeling of being the "Queen", yet of being alone.
There is also the side of Platinum that puts down and holds in contempt everything that is ordinary.
She feels she is intellectual and is contemptuous about the instinctive part of man which includes
greed, anger, jealousy, sexuality. She is unable to integrate the intellectual with the instinctive: she is
noble and therefore above the instinctive. But since both are definitely present, the instinctive side
emerges as sexuality, which is an important part of Platinum: "Mental symptoms alternate with
sexual symptoms". Often performance in Platinum is to be expressed through sexuality. The patients
can use this aspect to have things their way. Platinum is the "Queen", the power behind the throne.
Her power depends on flaunting her superiority over others. Platinum has the fear that something
will happen to her husband and he will never return - or that he will neglect her. Much of the
performance and superiority in Platinum has to do with attractiveness to the male.
She feels that unless she proves her nobility and greatness, people will not come to her and she will
be alone. At the same time, she feels superior and feels there is no place for her in the world. She is
rare. She does not belong to her family. She can become contemptuous and casts off people even
though she may not want to - extremes of behaviour: extreme haughtiness, contempt and
superiority or, on the other hand, extreme inferiority. When theses persons take up something they
always take it to the extreme. They are very ambitious and have to prove themselves superior,
greater than others. If they see no hope of reaching the top or of achieving their ambitions, they can
become suicidal. The contempt can be directed against herself.
The situation of Platinum is one of a woman who is not being given due respect - she is scorned,
criticized, attacked. Her survival depends on saying: "I don't care what they think of me. They are
born low and I am born high." Hell has no fury like a woman scorned! From this scorn and
persecution comes the feeling of pride and nobility. Once she puts herself in the nobleman's class,
she is isolating herself and has to prove herself extraordinary in order to survive. She is above the
ordinary feelings and reactions of the people around her. She becomes contemptuous, haughty,
ambitious. Sometimes, if these persons are not being given the chance to be big or super-special,
they can go into fancies or imaginations of being very big or powerful, of rescuing the planet or
destroying it, etc.
Amongst some of my observations of Platinum is that they may have sexual perversions, including
sadomasochism. Some patients have shown a tendency to gluttony. Platinum has a rubric:
"Contemptuous, greedy eating, with".
Platinum has several neuralgic pains that increase and decrease gradually. The pains cause the
patient to really shriek out for aid and demand immediate attention.
Rubrics
- Scorn, ailments, from.
- Delusion, that she is disgraced.
- Contemptuous of everything.
- Casting off people against her will.
- Delusion, does not belong to her own family.
- Delusion, she is alone in the world.
- Delusion, that all person are devils.
- Delusion, everything seems horrible.
- Delusion, everything in the room is diminished, while she is tall and elevated.
- Fear that husband would never return, that something would happen to him.
- Delusion, humility and lowness of others while he is great.
- Egotism.
- Haughty.
- Kill, desire to, something urges to, her husband, of whom she is very fond.
- Lascivious, lustful.
- Libertinism.
- Religious affections alternating with sexual excitement.
 - Suicidal disposition, but lacks courage.
- Contemptuous, in paroxysms, against her will.
- Love, own sex, with, homosexuality.
Kent
- Genitalia, female, masturbation, disposition to.
Phatak
- Admonition aggravates.
- Constipation while travelling.
- Direction: Pain increases gradually and decreases gradually.
- Shrieking for help.
Plumbum metallicum
Plumbum is a heavy metal - one of the heaviest in the Periodic Table. The remedy Plumbum is
syphilitic. Like other "metal remedies", it has the theme of attack and defence, but in such an
extreme degree that the person feels that everybody is conspiring against him. He feels that he is
surrounded by murderers - that everyone is conspiring to murder him. This creates in him an intense
state of anxiety, and he gets extremely fearful dreams.
Plumbum has the feeling that he is no ordinary person - he is a king or a ruler of the highest order.
Hence, what he fears is assassination rather than simply murder.
Plumbum has:
- Delusion, castles and palaces, sees, and
- Delusion, pursued, soldiers, by.
It may be the situation of a person who has absolute power, like Mrs. Indira Gandhi, a former
Primer Minister of India, who was ultimately assassinated.
The Plumbum person feels attacked and has to defend himself against the same. In Plumbum you
have the symptoms: "Striking", "Violent". There is also the theme of performance: they are great
performers, leaders, kings. Plumbum has:
- Timidity appearing in public, and
- Ailments from anticipation.
On the physical plane pathology is manifest as paralysis, slowly occurring sclerotic conditions,
degeneration of the nerves, colic. There is destruction with loss of power in the limbs.
Physical concomitants
- Desires fried things.
- Constipation.
- Hard pressure ameliorates.
- Blue line on gums called "lead line".
- Stretches, especially in abdominal complaints.
Plumbum is related to Thallium and Platinum.
Rubrics
- Ailments from anticipation.
- Delusion, castles and palaces, sees.
- Delusion, conspiracies against him, there are.
- Delusion, devils, all persons are.
- Delusion, murder him, others conspire to.
- Delusion, murderer, everyone around him is a.
- Delusion, poisoned, he is about to be.
 - Delusion, pursued, soldiers, by.
- Escape, attempts to.
- Fear, murdered, of being.
- Timidity, appearing in public, about.
- Fear, assassins, of (Phatak's Repertory).
Pulsatilla pratensis
Pulsatilla is a plant. The remedy belongs to the sycotic miasm. The main feeling in Pulsatilla is that of
softness. It is like the windflower which must bend to every gust of wind in order to survive.
Translated into the human situation, it is the feeling: "I will survive if I am soft and gentle, not hard
and rigid."
It is as if there is an inner weakness in the Pulsatilla woman which is not able to face the hardness of
the world. Consequently, she tries to cover it up by finding soft, caressing, gentle people from whom
she can get the tenderness she so badly misses and needs. In a sense there is a kind of childishness,
girlishness in Pulsatilla; she remains stuck at puberty and is afraid of even facing men, of facing
sexuality.
In order to get the affection she needs, she herself can be very affectionate and caring. She can
weep easily, is sympathetic. If she is not able to get what she seeks, she feels extremely forsaken, as
if alone in the world.
Pulsatilla can be servile, mild and submissive. What is less easy to see is the selfish motive behind it.
Behind this affection is greed, jealousy and the desire to get all the attention for oneself.
The patients are always ameliorated by weeping and from consolation even though sometimes they
can also have silent grief. There is a tendency to get easily frightened and to suffer ailments from
fright.
In my observation, most Pulsatilla persons seem effeminate. They are very dependent and seem to
invite a warm caress or a hug and words of sympathy. Their moods change easily. They can take
religiousness to the point of fanaticism. Pulsatilla can develop strong fixed ideas regarding religion
(Thuja) or about food.
In the physical sphere, Pulsatilla has pains and aches which are wandering and shifting in nature,
reflecting the feeling in the mind on the body, and never rigid and fixed like the complaints of Silicea.
Therefore Pulsatilla and Silicea are opposite to each other in expression, although the internal
feeling in both is "yielding". Silicea is so obstinate, rigid in his views and Pulsatilla so mild and
irresolute. Silicea is averse to consolation, Pulsatilla craves it. Silicea is so egoistic and Pulsatilla so
humble. Silicea is hard and Pulsatilla is soft. Silicea is chilly, cannot tolerate a draft of air and
Pulsatilla is hot and cannot live without fresh air. Pulsatilla grows on a sandy soil and is often
indicated as an acute of Silicea.
In Indian classical music, Raga Dhira Shankarabharanam, corresponding to the Raga Alhaiya Bilawal,
seems to correspond to Pulsatilla. It brings out feelings of warmth and of losing the warmth. In the
Indian proving of this Raga, the feelings of warmth and love came up strongly, while amongst the
western audiences, the feeling of sadness and loneliness came up more prominently.
Physical symptoms
The main physical confirmatory symptoms of Pulsatilla are as follows:
- Desires open air.
- Suffocation in warmth, closed room.
- Thirstlessness.
- Menses, stains, indelible.
 - Several menstrual problems.
- Position in sleep is with hands over or under the head.
- They take long before falling to sleep.
- They crave what disagrees with them.
These are symptoms I have seen often.
Rubrics
- Carried, caressed, and, desires to be.
- Delusion, alone, she is always.
- Delusion, world, she is alone in the.
- Delusion, neglected his duty, he has.
- Despair, religious despair of salvation.
- Fear, men, dread, fear of.
- Forsaken feeling.
- Grief, silent submissiveness with.
- Selfishness.
- Servile, obsequious, submissive.
- Yielding disposition.
- Weeping, consolation ameliorates.
- Ailments from jealousy.
- Childishness.
Kent
- Thirst: small quantities, for, often.
Rheum palmatum
Rheum palmatum is prepared from Rhubarb, a plant. The Rheum palmatum state in the Materia
Medica falls between Magnesium carbonicum and Chamomilla, and alternates between the feeling
of Magnesium carbonicum, which is that of being an orphan who demands nothing and can do with
very little food or sleep, and that of Chamomilla, extremely demanding, irritable and violent, seeking
immediate attention.
I have seen Rheum palmatum to be useful for children whose parents leave the child and go to
work. While they are away, the child is like an orphan. He is non-demanding and has symptoms like:
- Indifference to everything.
- Aversion to playing in children.
- Weeping in children.
But when the parents are back, he must immediately get what he asks for. Here the symptoms are:
- Asks for things vehemently, shrieks and shrieks till he gets it.
- Shrieking in children.
- Rudeness of naughty children, etc.
Physical concomitants
The main physical concomitants are:
- Requires very little food and sleep.
- Sweats on mouth, nose, scalp and upper lip.
- Perspiration sour and stains yellow.
Rubrics
- Asks for nothing.
- Aversion, everything, to.
 - Capriciousness.
- Desires impatiently many things, dislikes its favourite playthings, child.
- Impetuous.
- Play, aversion to play in children.
Rhus toxicodendron
Rhus toxicodendron is a plant remedy. It falls in the subacute or typhoid miasm and is known for
such pathology.
Rhus toxicodendron has a constant anxiety, "as if something is going to happen". The patient has
many fears: fear of evil, fear of being hurt, of being murdered. He is extremely superstitious. This
constant anxiety makes him restless and doesn't allow him to rest in any position. There is a feeling
of helplessness, of being forsaken by all his friends, a feeling that something bad is going to happen.
And this anxiety is more inside the house and is ameliorated by walking in open air.
From this I understood that Rhus toxicodendron faces some kind of danger of attack from members
of his own family and feels helpless and forsaken by others. Since this threat is from inside the
house, he always has to be on guard. If this threat were from outside, he could turn to someone for
support, but it is not so. Hence in Rhus toxicodendron there is no clinging, no desire for company. He
can't turn to anyone for help and has to keep quiet. As night approaches the anxiety grows.
Somebody from within the house may harm him, creating fear of murder even after midnight, when
he cannot shout, cannot tell anyone else, and there is no support.
One can imagine the situation of a woman who has young children and is alone in the house with
her violent, drunkard husband who is quite capable of killing her. She has to be on her guard. She is
vigilant, nervous, tense, sad, etc. She is brooding, crying and unable to express her fears. She is
dependent upon her husband and worried about her children. All this can make her resort to prayers
and she may become superstitious. She may also be afraid that her husband will die and this makes
her even more anxious.
In my observation Rhus toxicodendron is a very friendly, timid, mild and very nervous person. He is
very superstitious and this may be expressed by his saying that sour food gives him joint pains and
eating yoghurt/curd causes neck stiffness. Here you see superstition and fear of being poisoned.
Rhus toxicodendron boys cannot sit in one place. They are always moving around, fidgeting, always
moving one or another part of the body. This is not the desire to pace back and forth like Arsenicum,
nor is it like the restlessness of Aconitum which is sudden, more intense, vigorous and acute, with
intense fear or anxiety. In Rhus toxicodendron it is a constant physical restlessness. Rhus
toxicodendron children find it difficult to hold their urine; they often have involuntary urination or
nocturnal enuresis.
Being a poison ivy, Rhus toxicodendron has intense urticaria and allergic reactions on the skin which
in general are ameliorated from heat and hot applications. When skin symptoms are very prominent,
Rhus ven may be more suitable.
Rhus toxicodendron is complementary to Calcarea carbonica and vice versa. Just as Calcarea facing
a threat from outside can go into a Stramonium state, a Calcarea person facing a threat from her
own family can go into a Rhus toxicodendron state. Calcarea persons also may need Rhus
toxicodendron after lifting something heavy or straining and later go back into the Calcarea
carbonica state.
The restlessness of Rhus toxicodendron reminds one of Medorrhinum and Zincum. All three
remedies are superstitious, feeling an inexplicable anxiety manifested by restless feet. Zincum has
"Fear, as if he had committed a crime" but he does not know what. Medorrhinum has "Fear of
misfortune, as if something will happen" and is clairvoyant. Rhus toxicodendron has nervous
apprehension, a dread, but does not know exactly why.
Physical concomitants
- Rhus toxicodendron craves sweets and cold milk. I have noticed also a craving for ice cream.
Other physical characteristic concomitants:
- Chilly patient.
- agg. Damp weather.
- agg. Overlifting anything.
- amel. Very hot bath.
- Another confirmation for Rhus toxicodendron is anxiety, agg. sitting relaxed or bent, amel. sitting
erect.
The patient feels more comfortable sitting stiff and erect rather than loose and bent.
Rubrics
- Anguish, driving from place to place.
- Anxiety, midnight, after.
- Anxiety, air, in open, ameliorates.
- Anxiety, bed, in.
- Anxiety, alone, when.
- Anxiety, house, in.
- Anxiety, sitting bent.
- Delusion, home, away from, he is.
- Delusion, murdered, he will be.
- Delusion, poisoned, he is about to be.
- Delusion, roaming in the fields.
- Delusion, watched, she is being.
- Dwells on past disagreeable occurrences, midnight, after.
- Fear, night.
- Fear, death, of.
- Fear, killing, of.
- Fear, murdered, of being.
- Fear, poisoned, of being.
- Fear, superstitious.
- Forsaken, air ameliorated, in open.
- Forsaken, friends, by his, sensation as if.
- Praying.
- Restlessness, night, midnight, after.
- Restlessness, anxious.
- Restless, bed, driving out of.
- Restlessness, move, must constantly.
- Weeping, causeless, without knowing why.
Kent
- Vertigo in old persons.
- Desires milk.
- Involuntary urination in boys.
- Restlessness feet.
 Phatak
- Change of position, ameliorates.
- Chilled while hot.
- Fear, poison.
Tinea unknown species
Ringworm is a nosode, the centre point of the ringworm miasm. This miasm lies between psora and
sycosis. It is characterized by an element of struggle as well as a resigned acceptance. The nosode
was prepared from scraping of the eruptions of tinea taken from an infected patient.
Histopathological examination of the scrapings confirmed it to be tinea.
I conducted a proving of this nosode. From the result of the provings, as well as from the patients
that I have treated with Ringworm, I have understood the main feeling of this nosode to be that the
task at hand is just beyond where the person can be sure of success. The main action of the prover
or the patient is therefore trying to do something, trying to accomplish a task. He starts with a kind
of lack of confidence, becomes hopeful, tries to accomplish the task and struggles at it. At some
point however he decides that it is not going to work, that he will not be able to accomplish the task
by this method, that it is beyond his reach. So he gives it up, and accepts that he has to live with it.
As a result he doesn't do anything for quite sometime. After a while however another possibility
seems to open up for him and he becomes hopeful once again. He starts trying and struggling all
over again, only to give it up after realizing that it is beyond him. So there is an alternation between
struggling and trying, and then giving up, between hopefulness and resignation. I have found that, in
the dreams of most of the provers as well as in the lives of most of the patients, one can see an
alternation of this struggle with periods of inertia, whether it is trying to reach college on time,
trying to give up smoking, trying to get rid of his illness or trying to build a relationship. A typical
example would be the struggle of an obese person trying to lose weight; there are periods of
jogging, walking, dieting (struggling), followed by periods of indolence, calories, chocolates
(acceptance). The dream of one of the provers is worth noting. He dreamt that he was inside a tent
and was trying to come out. But outside the tent were thousands of crows that pecked at him each
time he got out. So he had to get back in again. He would try repeatedly to come out but each time
he would have to give up and go back inside. This dream clearly brings out the alternation between
the struggle and the resignation. Other provers had dreams with similar themes. For the details of
the proving of Ringworm, I refer the reader to my book, "The Substance of Homoeopathy".
I have seen that these patients generally lack confidence. There can be egoistic talk like in Sulphur
or, on the other hand, a cover up like in Medorrhinum. There can be anxiety, attacks as well. But the
pathology and symptoms all come and go in phases. There is often a history of fungal infection,
either in the groins, or in between the toes, with periods of terrible, intolerable itching, alternating
with periods of no itching whatsoever. The symptoms never really become acute or destructive, and
the person feels that he will have to live with the problem, although it would be better to try and get
rid of it. He struggles periodically but when he fails, he just accepts it.
The remedies that come closest are Calcarea sulphurica, Magnesium sulphuricum and Calcarea
silicata.
Selenium metallicum
Selenium is a mineral remedy and is found in group VI A of the Periodic Table, between Sulphur and
Tellurium. The physical symptoms of Selenium are rather prominent. Premature senility is the main
symptom. It has premature falling of hair, sexual weakness, weak memory; the person looks much
older than his age. The other strong physical symptom of Selenium is its perspiration, which is
profuse and leaves a salty sediment that stiffens the linen, a very characteristic feature that is found
in three other remedies: Mercurius, Natrum muriaticum and Thuja. The perspiration around the
genitals is also profuse, stains the linen yellow and has a bad odour.
The main mental symptom of Selenium is anthropophobia or fear of facing people. I have found
Selenium to have features similar to Baryta carbonica and Staphisagria. It has shyness, timidity,
premature senility and poor memory like Baryta carbonica, and it has indignation, insulted feeling,
embarrassment, the feeling of injustice, of anger which is suppressed and can come out in violent
outbursts - like Staphisagria. Also like Staphisagria are its lascivious fancies and impotence.
One characteristic symptom of Selenium is that the patient remembers forgotten things when half
asleep.
I have observed that Selenium patients have premature balding, like Baryta carbonica and Silicea.
Rubrics
- Aversion to certain persons.
- Company, aversion to, of intimate friends.
- Fear, of a crowd.
- Fear, of people.
- Dullness, sluggishness.
- Imbecility.
- Memory, weakness of, for business.
- Memory, weakness of, for mental labour.
- Concentration difficult.
- Confusion of mind after emissions.
- Forgetful, sleep, he remembers all he had forgotten, during.
- Lasciviousness, lustful.
Phatak's materia medica
- Patient becomes easily debilitated by heat or hot weather; a little mental or physical exertion
makes him sleepy.
- Lascivious but impotent. Increased desire, but decreased ability.
- Sweat: profuse, yellow, leaves a salty deposit; stiffens the linen or makes the hair stiff and wiry,
agg. genitals.
Kent
- Semen, dribbling.
Phatak
- Fear, society, of.
- Forgotten things come to mind during sleep.
Sepia officinalis
Sepia is an animal remedy made from the ink of the cuttlefish. It belongs to the syco-syphilitic
miasm.
The main feeling of the Sepia woman is that she is forced to undertake things opposed to her
intentions, to do what she doesn't want to do. It is a chronic situation in which she has been
dominated and not allowed to have her way.
There is a feeling of dependence in Sepia. She feels that her body is disfigured and unattractive,
especially to the opposite sex. In order to keep him happy, so that she is accepted by him, she has to
do what he wishes, not what she wishes. She feels forced to accept situations against her will,
because of her feeling of not being good enough. This makes her miserable and she feels
unfortunate.
There is one side of her that says: "Do what you want to do, be independent, occupy yourself." And
indeed Sepia likes to occupy herself mentally and physically, she likes brisk movements, dancing, etc.
But if she is too independent she will lose her support and will not be able to keep her husband and
children happy. The dependence may be emotional and/or financial (fear of poverty). So often she is
forced to do things she does not want to do. This is the uncompensated, failed side.
A successful Sepia is one who is independent right from the beginning. But in various life situations
she will be dominated or forced to do things that she does not want to. So there is divorce or
separation, or the patients remain spinsters. Many of them also join the Women's Lib.
But in most cases, she tries to keep her husband and children happy while at the same time
pursuing her career. This can become very strenuous. She becomes miserable and worn out since
she is busy all the time. This situation leads slowly to despair and indifference, to sadness from
which she tries to find some relief by being constantly occupied. She withdraws into herself and
becomes averse to her husband and children. I have seen that Sepia women in this stage do not
even like to take medicine.
Sepia has also the theme of rape (dreams of rape). She is tired, doesn't want to have sex, but to
keep her husband happy, she does it against her will, thus feeling forced to do it against her will.
Sepia comes close to Lachesis, with its envy and dreams of snakes, but in Lachesis the emphasis is
more on keeping herself attractive. It is as if there is competition and she has to win. If she does so,
all is well. In Sepia, there is despair, there is no hope in the relationship.
Sepia comes close to Tarentula too, since the theme of Tarentula is unrequited love and the need to
be attractive. The dancing, attractive hysteria and sarcasm are common to both and a young Sepia
can often seem like Tarentula. Tarentula can also be very industrious. But here again, the emphasis
is much more on attractive behaviour, and the contradiction of will as found in Sepia is not present.
Also deceitfulness, mischievousness and speed are much stronger in Tarentula.
Sepia comes closest to Natrum muriaticum. Both have the theme of disappointment in love, the
theme of the body being disfigured. But the dependence of Natrum muriaticum is much greater. The
main problem of Natrum muriaticum is not between relationship and occupation as in Sepia, it is
between the making and breaking of relationships. There is no contradiction of will in Natrum
muriaticum. The whole theme is one of relationship and not two separate themes of occupation and
relationship. Sepia is the larger sphere, of which Natrum muriaticum is a part. Also Natrum
muriaticum has "Cheerful after coition" which is the opposite of Sepia. Coition creates hope in
Natrum muriaticum, it creates confusion in Sepia.
The acute of Sepia is Nux vomica. Nux vomica is concerned with occupation and business, with
tremendous irritability and has many symptoms similar to Sepia, e.g. chilly, constipated, etc. In an
acute situation of business failure, the Sepia person can need Nux vomica.
Rubrics
- Undertakes things opposed to his intentions.
- Anger, from contradiction.
- Indifference, loved ones, to.
- Cares, full of, about domestic affairs.
- Delusion, that he is unfortunate.
- Exertion, from mental, aggravates.
- Fear, of poverty.
- Hysteria.
 - Indifference to everything.
- Occupation ameliorates.
- Industrious.
- Irritability, consolation aggravates.
- Weeping when telling of her sickness.
- Will, contradiction of.
Kent
- Cataract in women.
- Eye, falling of lids during headache.
- Nose, yellow saddle across.
- Skin, cracks in winter.
Phatak
- Busy, when, ameliorates.
- Sadness over one's health.
- Lying on hands and knees ameliorates.
- Sadness, domestic affairs, over.
- Desire for bitter drinks (Synthetic Repertory, Vol. II).
Silicea terra
Silicea is a sycotic remedy. It is a mineral, belongs to Group-IV of the Periodic Table, and lies below
Carbon.
The mineral qualities of organization, order and even fastidiousness are prominent in Silicea. It also
has much to do with cover up, i.e. it sees its survival as dependent on covering up its inner
weakness. This makes of it a sycotic remedy.
Silica is flint, crystal, and is one of the main components of glass: this shows its quality of
maintaining a specific shape and being inflexible. It can break but not bend. It stands hard and keeps
its shape at any cost.
Silicea people stand defiant, obstinate, and try to retain the fixed image they have created for
themselves. The most important feature of a Silicea person is his concern: "What do others think
about me". It is not important that people should think of him as a good or a nice person (in
Palladium there is longing for the good opinion of others), but that he is thought of in a particular
way, in a fixed manner. It is a fixed, definite opinion that he longs for, rather than a good opinion.
For example he does not care much whether or not others say: "This man is a very helpful,
sympathetic person", but if he thinks himself to be a great scientist, then he would want that others
must also think him to be one.
Whenever there is a possibility of this fixed image being lost, e.g. while appearing on stage or
meeting new people, during an interview or at the time of exams, Silicea develops tremendous
anxiety and apprehension with a severe fear of failure. Silicea may appear like Lycopodium because
Lycopodium also has lack of confidence. But in Lycopodium, it is whether he is capable of doing the
action that bothers him, while in Silicea it is his image that must be protected at all costs. Whereas a
Lycopodium person's survival depends upon reaching a particular goal, the Silicea person's survival
would depend upon fulfilling a particular image. So Silicea is afraid of appearing on stage, whereas
Lycopodium is afraid to speak. Silicea people constantly feel the eyes of others on themselves and
are very conscious of the impression they are creating. This can make them very fidgety during the
interview, and often make the physician adopt the stance of an examiner at a consultation. They
give very ready-made answers, even rehearse a lot of replies which are to the point and very formal.
They have difficulty in being informal.
Silicea comes from a situation where fulfilling a specific image is a necessary condition for
acceptance, for example a child is told that he will be accepted and loved if he achieves in a specific
way. This could be his doing exceedingly well in sports, becoming a good cricketer. So it becomes
very important for this child that other people think of him as a good cricketer, even better than he
is. This creates the tension and the timidity in the presence of others.
So, a Silicea woman is actually trying to fulfil an image made for her by somebody else. In that sense
she yields to that image, but she also becomes fixed to it and so in her effort to maintain it, she is
obstinate. This combination of yielding and obstinacy is found in Silicea in a peculiar way. On one
hand there is the desire to be magnetized, i.e. she wants to be completely under the suggestion of
somebody else. On the other hand, she is so fixed in her opinions that if contradicted she can
become violent: "Contradiction, intolerance of, has to restrain from violence". Silicea does not
openly revolt but sticks to her opinion. Samuel Butler used to say: "Convinced against her will, but of
the same opinion still". She will say "yes" finally so as not to make an issue, but the feeling inside is
still "no, this is all wrong". Silicea is dependent. She is not one to revolt but she knows that if she
yields completely and gives up her goals and image, then the one she is dependent on will start
disliking her. This is a peculiar contradiction.
One could also imagine the Silicea situation to be that of an uneducated woman whose husband
wanted an educated wife. If she doesn't become literate, her husband will start disliking her. So she
becomes a student of literature, starts studying very hard and tries to become perfect and builds up
her image that way. She has:
- Ailments from anticipation.
- Anxiety, examination, before.
- Fear, of failure.
- Delusion, fail, she will.
She becomes nervous when people come home to visit because her ignorance may be exposed. She
yields to her man. At the same time, if the man says: "Forget about literature, let's go out", she will
become stubborn because if she gives up he will lose respect for her. The man wants her to be
yielding and at the same time he wants her to have individuality. So he is pushing both messages at
her and she responds in this way. She can't yield too much, but at the same time she can't be too
stubborn. This is her situation. Her survival depends on constantly proving to others that she is very
good in a specific way: monomania.
Another situation of Silicea could be that of the eldest son of a family, the crown prince, the one
who has to uphold the family name. The focus of everyone's attention is on him. He has to talk, sit,
etc., in a particular way in public. If he goes to a discotheque no one will care for him anymore or
respect him. Silicea may be confused with Aurum. But whereas Aurum is duty-bound, Silicea is
image-bound.
It is obvious that childhood, the time when these images are not yet established, is the time Silicea
enjoys the most. In fact, the most important dreams of Silicea are "Dreams of youth".
Silicea often seems to lack emotion. He is unable to communicate warmth and affection unless this
too is a part of his image. I have seen Silicea people who are social workers, working in slums, but
then this too is part of their image.
Silicea persons do not require company and do not react well to consolation. So they don't display
much gratitude or affection, and therefore can be quite difficult to get along with. Eventually they
become unable to accept affection just as they are unable to give it. They can only accept
acknowledgement and praise that they are excellent in their field. But if you say: "I like you as you
are", they will run away from you. They can't accept themselves the way they are.
Silicea people can be late to develop relationships and marry. They may occupy themselves with
books, trying to add more and more degrees to their name. The work they do is precise and
organized but often lacks imagination.
Thus the essential features of the "coped-up" state of Silicea are fixed ideas, obstinacy, fixed image
and rigidity. In the uncompensated state the main symptoms are yielding, irresolute, desire to be
magnetized, nervous, timid, self-conscious.
Calcarea silicata's obstinacy and desire to be magnetized sometimes makes it look similar to Silicea,
but the obstinacy of Calcarea silicata is not as strong as that of Silicea. Silicea has rigidity along with
conscientiousness, which is not found in Calcarea silicata. Calcarea silicata gives an excuse for the
non-achievement and dependence whereas Silicea is a person who will try to reach high ideals.
Both Silicea and Ignatia are "Conscientious about trifles". Both these remedies have to live
according to a certain image and both have monomania, they think of particular things to the
exclusion of everything else. The difference is that the image which Silicea has to live up to has to do
with ego ("Timidity, appearing in public" and "Fear, of examinations"), whereas the image which
Ignatia has to live up to is to be affectionate and sympathetic.
Pulsatilla and Silicea are two completely opposite states; they complement each other.
Physical concomitants
The pathology in Silicea also often exhibits the qualities of fixity and obstinacy - chronic suppurative
processes, keloids, fistulas, etc. They tend to develop problems in single parts like glands, sinus,
headache, keloid, and often Silicea has only one problem. It is as if all their effort is concentrated in
filling up that one weak spot in themselves.
- Cold moist palms and soles, tendency to feel cold and relief from heat or hot bath are often
accompanying symptoms.
- Dreams of being pursued by wild animals are often seen in Silicea cases.
- Corrugated nails.
- Perspiration stains yellow.
- Silicea is often indicated and useful in asthma. The characteristic symptom is breathlessness agg.
draft of air.

Rubrics
- Timidity, appearing, in.
- Monomania.
- Egotism.
- Delusion, fail, everything, will.
- Fear, appearing in public, of.
- Fear, examination, before.
- Fear, failure, of.
- Fear, falling, of.
- Obstinate.
- Mind, disposition, fearlessness, daring (Boericke's Repertory).
Phatak's materia medica
- Fixed ideas - thinks only of pins, fears them, searches them and counts them...
- Obstinate, stubborn, head-strong children... Fidgety.
 Kent
- Head: Baldness in young people.
- Appetite vanishing on any attempt to eat.
- Respiration asthmatic, air, draught of, aggravates.
Phatak
- Coccyx injury.
- Nails, white spotted.
- Fidgety.
Staphisagria
This is a syco-syphilitic remedy that falls in the cancer miasm. I have found that Staphisagria patients
have a tendency to develop cancer.
They are morbidly sensitive. The effect of this sensitivity is very deep and long lasting. They set for
themselves a task which is nearly impossible. That task is to maintain their dignity despite being
beaten down, insulted and humiliated. The main feeling of Staphisagria is one of dignity and honour,
like a person of noble birth. He feels that he should live up to his sense of dignity and honour (which
is often far more than needed in a man in his position). He should not do anything that is
undignified, even though others may do so. He should never lower himself to the other man's level
(and retaliate by acting as he does). He must never lose his control, since it would be very much
below his honour and dignity to do so. If somebody insults him, he has to keep control as befits his
noble birth. He cannot lose his temper and become abusive or violent. Were he to do so, he would
feel very upset and feel that he had done himself an indignity and this, to him, would be worse than
the effect of the insult itself. Hence the sentence in Phatak's Materia Medica: "Great indignation
about things done by others or by himself, grieves about the consequences". This for me is a very
significant sentence. He worries about the effect of such a lack of control on his reputation. The
sentence in Phatak's Materia Medica is: "Very sensitive to what others say about him". The feeling
seems to be that his survival depends upon maintaining a very high reputation and self-control, of
being a very superior, calm and dignified person who wins the respect of all by his noble actions... a
person who is much above the ordinary.
Staphisagria shares with Aurum a "Fear of heights, of falling". He should bear all the humiliations
but must not respond or he will lose his dignity.
At a point the Staphisagria person can find it too much to keep the control. He starts to lose it and
the first signs are found as the suppressed anger begins to surface:
- Trembling in anger.
- Voice lost during anger.
- Face red in anger.
- Weakness after anger.
- Hemiplegia after anger.
- Anger, throws things away.
- Strike, desire to.
These are the first signs of losing control. Later, when the situation has become desperate and he
feels the demand on him is too much, he may throw to the wind all his reputation and honour, and
become the opposite, i.e. a person of ill-repute, who is looked down upon and treated with utmost
disrespect. Here we have the rubric: "Libertinism". On the physical level, there may be loss of control
over muscles. He can get: "Convulsions from being unjustly accused" (Synthetic Repertory, Vol. II).
Staphisagria imposes on himself a very strict code of honour and is very indignant with himself if he
doesn't uphold it. So he has to suppress a lot of his urges, especially in the sexual sphere. He is very
timid and cowardly, and has feelings of guilt. He cannot express his increased sexual desire directly
for fear of being hurt and out of a sense of shame, and because of his self-respect Staphisagria is not
one who can ogle at women. He therefore suppresses his desire and we get the characteristics:
"Dwells on sexual matters". There is also a prominent tendency to masturbation. To control the
anger and the passion - to swallow the ego and hurt - becomes a survival mechanism. This is the
situation that can present the maximum problems, for example in the area of sexuality a person
intensely concerned with his honour and reputation will be too embarrassed to express his sexuality
openly and this aspect will be suppressed, expressed only in his fantasy ("Ailments from
embarrassment" and "Sexual-minded"). But even these fantasies can produce intense guilt and fear
in a Staphysagria person, guilt that he is indulging in such fantasies and fear that it may be
discovered by others. The whole edifice of honour and reputation that he has built up and guarded
will collapse. This leads to an intense state of anxiety, a neurotic anxiety with the feeling that
somebody is behind him, and so he constantly keeps looking back. The need to keep perfect control,
to live far beyond his capacity makes of Staphisagria a syco-syphilitic remedy. The sycotic aspect is
manifested in the reserved, almost secretive nature and the constant apprehension that others
might find his weakness, which is the losing of self-control. This need for control is sometimes seen
in the struggle to give up smoking.
The main characteristic of Staphisagria is extreme sensitivity and reactivity, both emotionally and
physically. If you touch the Staphisagria patient at his sensitive point, which is his honour, reputation
and self-respect, there will be an immediate intense reaction though it is often suppressed. Kent
writes: "A man insulted by someone beneath his station could not react outwardly, went home sick,
weak and trembling." Physically too, Staphisagria is indicated in extremely sensitive conditions like a
painful surgical scar or a sensitive tooth. In Phatak's Repertory it is the only remedy listed in the
rubric: "Sensitive, morbidly". Also there is hardening, to cover up the sensitivity as is shown by a
tendency to styes and tumours. This sensitivity could only be found in a plant and not in a metal, salt
or animal. In its nature it has the softness of a plant rather than hardness of a mineral or the
competitiveness of an animal.
In my experience, I have seen that with Staphisagria there can be two extremes, one which has such
suppressed emotions where the person will tell that: "I last got angry seventeen years ago", and the
one who cannot control - as Phatak says: "Violent outbursts of passion", "Always angry". The
Staphisagria patients we see in practice lie somewhere between these extremes, and the common
theme which links them all are matters of honour and respect, and the internal feeling that they
have is of a very high reputation to live up to.
Staphisagria can have many fears: fear of being insulted, of being mortified, fear of being killed; he
can be afraid even of his own shadow.
I have observed that Staphisagria is very apologetic during the consultation, as if to ward off any
rudeness of the physician and to avoid being reprimanded by him. He has anticipation because of
sensitivity to hurt. The patients apologize for everything - if they missed their turn in the
consultation; or if they have not taken the medicine for a few days and are not feeling better, they
usually blame themselves for it. I recall a patient who when entering the consultation room paused
and asked if she should leave her slippers at the door. We see here someone who is careful and
cautious in finding out what is the norm of the clinic before she does anything, because she does not
want a reprimand from me and doesn't want to be admonished. Behind this sensitivity to being
reprimanded and being admonished, one can perceive the expression of a delusion, which is that as
long as she is following the rules of the person in authority, she is okay. Her perception of reality is
that she is always under somebody whom she has to obey and whom she has to follow.
It is as if Staphisagria has made a contract with the rest of the world regarding just behaviour. The
problem is, he has signed it, but the world has not.
The situational Materia Medica of Staphisagria is that of a man who comes from an honourable
background, but at present is poor or dependent, or under someone who humiliates him. He cannot
openly revolt or show his anger since he feels he would be belittling himself in doing so. It is a
situation of being unjustly treated by a person on whom he is dependent, so there is:
- The need for justice.
- Egotism.
- Insulted feeling.
- Mortification.
- Suppressed anger.
- Occasional violent outbursts of anger.
But it is not like the rage of Lyssinum with its biting and kicking. It is not a situation of being
tormented like Lyssinum but just being treated unfairly, mortified, insulted. It is not something
active, not taking a stick and poking the ribs. Telling you to get out creates the Staphisagria feeling,
whereas taking a stick poking your ribs three times a day creates that of Lyssinum.
Here I recall the situation of Mahatma Gandhi. He was born in a country ruled by the British, who
had a contempt for those with dark skin. However Gandhi showed such nobility and
uncompromising dignity that he won the respect not only of his countrymen, being called Mahatma
or Great Soul, but also of the very people who oppressed and insulted him. He did this by showing
self-control, control on violence and by his rigid persistence with truth and morality.
Harilal, the eldest son of Gandhiji, in my view was in a completely given up state of Staphisagria. He
was already born with the Staphisagria state inherited from his father. To add to it he had to live up
to a reputation of being the son of Gandhi. He coped well at first, joined the freedom struggle in
South Africa and like his father was imprisoned several times. But soon, with the increasing demands
on him, both from society and from his father, super-added to an already Staphisagria state, he gave
up completely and took to all kinds of bad habits, bringing much dishonour to his family.
I have observed that Staphisagria does not have the attitude of Platinum. He is not outwardly
egoistic nor does he put on airs like a king or queen. I have found these persons to be soft, quiet,
reserved, often humble-looking, but have strongly felt in their presence the need to treat them with
honour and respect. Their sensitivity to being spoken to rudely or to being treated disrespectfully is
palpable. This very contrast between their appearance and their sense of honour is the "indication"
that I have used time and again to spot the Staphisagria patients, sometimes in the very first minute
of an interview.
Besides Staphisagria, the other cancer miasm remedies belonging to the plant kingdom that I know
of are Ignatia and Anacardium.
Carcinosinum is complementary to Staphisagria but the Carcinosinum situation is caused by being
heavily controlled by the person on whom one depends, whereas that of Staphisagria is caused by
being insulted by him.
The other remedy complimentary to Staphisagria is Sulphur. The Staphisagria state is the one in
which the person feels humiliated and insulted. Naturally this state will arise more easily in one who
originally had pride and egotism than in one who did not. We know that Staphisagria is often
followed by Sulphur. In other words a Sulphur state of egotism predisposes to a Staphisagria state of
humiliation.
Rubrics
- Ailments from indignation.
- Ailments from anger, suppressed.
- Ailments from embarrassment.
- Ailments from honour, wounded.
- Ailments from rudeness of others.
- Ailments from scorn.
- Ailments from sexual excess.
- Anger, throws things away.
- Anger, trembling with.
- Anger, violent.
- Egotism.
- Fear, high places, of.
- Fear, self-control, of losing.
- Lascivious.
- Libertinism.
- Offended easily
- Sensitive, moral impressions, to.
- Sensitive, reprimands, to.
- Convulsions, accused, from being unjustly (Synthetic Repertory, Vol. II).
- Tobacco, remedies to produce disgust for (Synthetic Repertory, Vol. II).
Kent
- Voice, lost, from anger.
- Respiration, difficult, anger, from.
- Trembling, from anger.
- Face, red from anger.
Phatak
- Craves condiments.
- Fear, of financial loss.
- Fear, shadow, of his own.
- Hemiplegia after anger.
- Imagination, of insult.
- Sensitive, to what others say about her.
- Sensitive, morbidly.
- Sleep afternoon agg..
Stramonium
Stramonium is a plant remedy, it belongs to the acute miasm. It is a remedy that tends to be
overprescribed because it deals with one of the most basic fears of man, the feeling of being left
alone in the wilderness.
The Stramonium patient feels helpless, like a child left alone, and there is an impression of danger.
He feels abandoned, forsaken, left in a terrifying place - alone in the wilderness. Facing the sudden
realization of this terrifying situation, his brain refuses to work: he cannot recognize who is around
him, he just clings to whoever or whatever is there ("Child awakens terrified, knows no one,
screams, clings to those near"; "Clinging to persons, furniture"). He doesn't seem to know anyone
around him or recognize anything around him in this situation of terror ("Familiar things seem
strange"). He feels alone, lost and tries to escape from this situation. He is without support and is
crying for help, begging, entreating, praying in his panic. All he wants is to be in a safe and secure
place.
Stramonium has "Fear, of darkness" and "Desire, for light". Darkness represents uncertainty,
hopelessness, and any such situation is very scary for the Stramonium patient. In the darkness, there
is a possibility of danger and Stramonium has a "Longing for sunshine, light and society".
Stramonium has delusions of dogs attacking him, biting his chest: a terrifying situation. To the
Stramonium patient all events, situations and even people seem like dogs ("Delusion, dogs, sees"),
like an attack. There is a feeling of being injured ("Delusion, injury, is about to receive"), as if things
around him are harmful and injurious. The patient will tell the physician: "Doctor, I took your
medicine last week, and since then my stomach got badly upset, I cannot tell you how much!"
He gets most frightened when things are dark, gloomy and sombre. When there is no danger,
darkness or gloominess, the Stramonium person may be talking, laughing, singing, full of life, dancing
("Black and sombre, aversion to everything that is", "Weeping all night, laughing all day"). He talks a
lot about himself, boasts that he is bold, not afraid of anything ("Delusion, tall, he is", "Delusion,
distinguished, he is", "Delusion, divine, he is"). But with the night come terror and clinging. At the
same time, when there is light, there is a fear of being exposed, of being vulnerable to attack, and
then there is a desire for darkness. But when the patients are uncertain about something they want
light - fear of the unknown. Stramonium has the rubric: "Destructiveness of clothes, naked, wants to
be". Nothing should be hidden under clothes, nothing should be in the dark. Also there is "Delusion,
naked, he is": unprotected, he feels without the protective covering of clothes, vulnerable to attack.
In his terror and fright, he reacts wildly: "Wildness", "Destructiveness", "Violence", "Striking". His
whole situation including his ailments frighten him so much that he doesn't want it to ever surface
again. He wants to finish it off, to eradicate, destroy, exterminate it ("Delusion, that he is the devil",
"Delusion, devils, sees", "Kill, desire to"). His problems trouble and scare him and he wants to finish
them. His actions are always total.
Another rubric is "Religious affections, Bible wants to read all the day". He needs a book of authority
in which he trusts and to which he constantly clings in order to avoid the uncertainty and darkness
which he feels around him. He feels like a child without support and has anxiety about salvation. He
will say: "Doctor, wherever you go, please don't stay away for more than a week, otherwise I will be
lost. If something happens, where can I go?" Anxiety about salvation as if they have lost your
support, the person on whom they are dependent will leave and they will be left alone in the
wilderness, forsaken. Another rubric is "Delusion, wife is faithless". There is a fear that the person
with whom he shares a trustful relationship (the basis of his security) will leave and go away, leaving
him alone, helpless, in the dark. This trustful relationship need not be only with the spouse, it could
be with the doctor, with his guru, etc.
Among the concomitants of Stramonium, I have found a desire for or an aversion to the colour
black.
Rubrics
- Delusion, is alone in the wilderness.
- Clings, child awakens terrified, knows no one, clings to those near.
- Delusion, animals jump out of the ground.
- Delusion, of black objects and people.
- Delusions, dogs attack him, of biting his chest.
 - Delusion, that she is always alone.
- Delusion, frightful animals.
- Delusion, sees devils.
- Delusion, is being injured.
- Delusion, sees scepters, ghosts, spirits, on closing eyes.
- Delusion, familiar things seem strange.
- Escape, attempts to.
- Kill, desire to.
- Fear, in the dark.
- Fear, of being injured.
- Longing for sunshine, light and society.
- Weeping, weeps all night and laughs all day.
- Company, desire for, alone, while, aggravates.
- Begging, entreating.
- Praying nights.
- Religious affections, Bible wants to read all the day.
- Helplessness, feeling of.
- Black and sombre, aversion to everything that is.
- Delusion, naked, he is.
Kent
- Speech: stammering, exerts himself a long time before he can utter a word.
Phatak
- Religious insanity.
- Shrieking for help (my observation).
- Strangers, presence of, aggravates.
Strontium carbonicum
Strontium belongs to group IIA of the Periodic Table along with Magnesium, Calcium and Barium. It
lies between Calcium and Barium. The theme of group IIA is the theme of dependence.
Magnesium represents the dependence of an infant, that is, total dependence for nutrition,
security, etc. Calcarea represents the dependence of a child, i.e. he can walk and move, but still he
needs the protective cover of the house, and he is not willing to take up the challenges that the
environment outside his house has to offer.
Strontium represents the age of adolescence. This is the age when one ventures out into the new,
with the full knowledge that if one is faced with a problem, one could always come back. What
Strontium looks for is guidance, that is, an experienced person's help to chart out the unknown,
someone to rely on if there is a problem. The relationship with this guide is the most important thing
in his life, and there can be problems if such a person is missing or guides in excess. New tasks like
learning to drive a car or starting a profession, are anxious moments for Strontium carbonicum and
he needs the encouragement and support of an experienced person.
In comparison, Baryta carbonica is for the next age, that is adulthood, where one has to take up the
complete responsibility without anyone behind. In such a situation, the Baryta carbonica person
experiences a sense of incapacity and of complete dependence.
Rubrics
Suggested rubrics for Strontium carbonicum:
- Fear strangers.
 - Delusion, things seem strange.
- Fear, understanding new things.
- Fear, dark.
- Delusion, a hand behind him.
- Company, desire for.
- Dreams, snakes.
- Desires, cheese, pizzas.
- Started easily.
- Desires sunlight, which ameliorates.
- Single symptom.
- Guidance, need for.
The rubrics are derived from the proving that I had conducted.
I have also observed among the patients and provers of Strontium carbonicum a strong desire for
cheese.
Phatak
- Ankles weak.
- Ankles puffy swelling.
Sulphur
Sulphur is a mineral remedy. It is "the King of anti-psoric remedies".
The main feeling of Sulphur is that of being scorned, suppressed, put down, criticized. The person is
made to feel humiliated, his pride is hurt. Embarrassment is one of the main feelings in Sulphur.
There is therefore a constant effort, a struggle to come up again... to be someone, to know
something, to earn respect. He feels that he is expected to be good in his appearance, his
relationships and in his business, and these include his knowledge, talent and capabilities. Failing
this, he will have to face scorn and bear embarrassment. The struggle is for ego and honour. Ego is
one of the biggest themes in Sulphur and effort one of the main actions. The effort and the feeling
are both psoric, in a sense that there is a kind of hopefulness in Sulphur patients. The task is not too
high, and they are often quite optimistic.
There exists in Sulphur patients the desire for business, the desire to make money and to be
financially sound. There is the feeling of being poor, and consequently an effort to make money so
as to overcome the situation of poverty. In the failed state however there is indolence, a lack of
effort, hence the symptom: "Delusion, old rags are as fine as silk". This is contentment; there is no
more action to try and get out of the situation. These symptoms of Sulphur which reflect the
indolence are very well known.
Sulphur persons may be very concerned about how they appear to other people. They have the
feeling that if they are not perfect in their appearance, they will be scorned. Concerned that they
should not appear dirty, they make a lot of effort to appear clean. On the other hand, they may
neglect their appearance, they may be indifferent to how they look, they don't give a damn and
appear dirty. This indifference to personal appearance is seen less commonly.
They have the need to know things, to be inquisitive. They feel insulted when they do not know
something and try to make up for what they do not know by theorizing. They need to feel good
about themselves because they have the feeling of being unimportant and of being disgraced. Very
sensitive to criticism, scorn and insult. They live each in their own world, where they can feel good
about themselves by imagining that they possess great knowledge, a lot of wealth and look good to
others. They imagine that they are appreciated by those around them, for what they are and what
they possess. It is a struggle for ego satisfaction; and this being one of the commonest traits of
human beings, Sulphur tends to be over-prescribed or under-prescribed.
The patients feel that they are expected to be good in their relationships with people, and so they
are caring and do a lot for others.
One observation I have made about Sulphur children is that they like to touch everything, as if only
what they touch is real. Among the dreams of Sulphur, I have frequently noted the one of being
pursued by wild animals. I have also found that some Sulphur patients are attracted by monkeys.
Physical symptoms
Among the well-known physical symptoms of Sulphur are:
- Intolerance of hunger which is especially marked in the forenoon.
- Desire for sweets and fats.
- Heat in the feet, hands and vertex.
- Offensive odour of discharges.
- An almost mandatory history of skin eruptions which itch voluptuously.
- Intolerance of heat and closed rooms.
Rubrics
- Anxiety for others.
- Hopeful.
- Delusion, body, black, is.
- Delusion, thin, is getting.
- Delusion, disgraced, she is.
- Delusion, want, he will come to.
- Ailments, scorn, being scorned.
- Ailments, embarrassment.
- Fear, poverty, of.
- Business, talks, of.
- Delusion, old rags are as fine as silk.
- Foolish behaviour, happiness and pride.
- Indifference, personal appearance, to.
- Delusion, great person, is a.
- Delusion, wealth, of.
- Touch, does not know if objects are real until she has touched them.
Kent
- Vertigo from high places.
- Cataract in the left eye.
- Desires meat.
- Desires fat.
- Desires highly seasoned food.
- Desires raw food.
- Skin, cracks, winter, in.
Sulphuricum acidum
Sulphuricum acidum has features common to the Acids and to Sulphur. An acid represents much
effort followed by exhaustion; Sulphur represents the need for effort to be recognized, to appear
good, to earn a position of respect.
The most important thing that can be seen about Sulphuricum acidum is its tremendous hurry. It is
one of the most hasty remedies in our Materia Medica. Sulphuricum acidum is hurried while eating,
in movements, he cannot do things fast enough, he is hurried in walking, in writing and in
occupation. But when we look behind this hurry, we find that there is a constant anxiety to finish
one's work as fast as possible. The hurry is much more in occupation than in other things. The
anxiety, for example, is more in the morning and is ameliorated in the evening, when the work is
over. It is an anxiety about completing his work and getting the things done.
He is also "Serious", "Industrious" and "Restless". On the other hand (failed side), we have "Weary",
"Speech, monosyllabic", "Prostration of mind" and "Discouraged".
Rubrics
- Anxiety, morning.
- Anxiety, evening ameliorates.
- Confidence, want of self.
- Dullness.
- Fear, daytime only.
- Fear, morning until evening.
- Hurry, haste.
- Hurry, eating, while.
- Hurry, mental work, in.
- Hurry, movements, in.
- Hurry, fast enough, cannot do things.
- Hurry, occupation, in.
- Hurry, walking, while.
- Hurry, work, in.
- Hurry, writing, in.
- Impatience, trifles, about.
Tarentula hispanica
Tarentula (the Spanish spider) is in a way representative of the spider kingdom in general, being the
best proved of the spider remedies. It belongs to the tubercular miasm.
As with the other spider remedies, Tarentula is industrious, busy, has high energy, and a love for
music, dancing and colours. There is also the fear of being assaulted, injured, and of getting trapped.
But characteristic of Tarentula is the feeling of unreciprocated love or affection. The person has the
feeling that he is not attractive enough and therefore does not get the attention he craves for. So in
Tarentula you have many features that have to do with attractiveness. These include the wearing of
bright-coloured clothes, singing and dancing, as in a discotheque. Also mischievousness, cunning,
hysterical behaviour, lasciviousness, shamelessness, exposing himself and even threatening - all with
the intention to attract attention.
The situation of Tarentula is that of a person who wants to be noticed but is not, such as could
happen when a person tries unsuccessfully to attract the attention of another especially from the
opposite sex. This is not a situation of disappointed love, but one of unrequited love. Phatak gives in
his Materia Medica as the causation of Tarentula: "Ill effects of unrequited love".
Another prominent feature of Tarentula is haste - hurry and impulsiveness. All this gives Tarentula a
tubercular dimension and brings it close to Tuberculinum. Indeed it is difficult to differentiate
Tarentula from Tuberculinum in a child in whom disobedience, restless behaviour and increased
energy are prominent features.
The restless hands of Tarentula are often put to creative use, as in painting, which involves colour as
well.
Not so well known about Tarentula are its intense anxiety states and the fear of being trapped -
attacks of suffocation, must have fresh air.
The desire for music is a strong confirmation for Tarentula indeed it is mandatory to have it in a very
high degree. This love for music can also extend to: "Whistling when passing urine", "Restlessness of
extremities ameliorated by music" and "Stares at one place when listening to music" or "Irresistible
urge to dancing". The kind of music that Tarentula likes is hard, fast and rythmic.
Sepia comes close to Tarentula, since the theme of Tarentula is unrequited love and the need to be
attractive. The dancing, attractive hysteria and sarcasm are common to both, and a young Sepia can
often seem like Tarentula. Tarentula can also be very industrious, but here again the emphasis is
more on the attractive behaviour while the contradiction of will found in Sepia is not present. The
deceitfulness, mischievousness and speed are more prominent in Tarentula in comparison with
Sepia.
Rubrics
- Colours, charmed by blue, green, red.
- Crafty.
- Dancing, wild.
- Deceitful.
- Delusion, assaulted, is going to be.
- Destructiveness, cunning.
- Hurry, movements, in.
- Industrious.
- Insanity, love, from disappointed.
- Insanity, threatens destruction and death.
- Music ameliorates.
Kent
- Desires ashes.
- Restlessness hands.
Phatak
- Activity, fruitless.
- Constipation, purgatives, no relief from.
- Hands restless.
- Walking, impulse to.
Theridion curassavicum
Theridion is a remedy of the spider group. It is closely allied to Tarentula, and it too belongs to the
tubercular miasm.
It shares with other remedies of the spider group a highly sensitive nervous system and prominent
features such as hyperactivity, sexuality, colours, music, dancing and high energy. Also present are
fears - of being trapped, caught and of being killed.
The remedy also manifests hurried and hectic activity, and this fits into my understanding of the
tubercular miasm. In fact Tarentula and Theridion often compare with Tuberculinum children
because of this intense restlessness. This idea is confirmed by the fact that Phatak in his Materia
Medica mentions Theridion as having a tubercular diathesis. Theridion persons are always very busy,
fruitlessly busy.
Very prominent in the Theridion woman seems to be the need to find a mate, because she feels that
if she doesn't have a mate, she will have to face the danger of the outside world, which is too
threatening. So there is a need to be attractive and a lot of hectic activity to find, attract and keep
her mate. Music, dancing and colours are a part of this attractiveness, whereas fear and impulsive
violence are a part of the threat.
Besides the need for a partner, a peculiar feature of Theridion is that she seems to completely
"dissolve" her identity into that of her partner - thinking and seeing as her partner does, living
completely through the eyes and mind of this other person. Hence, in the event of her partner
leaving her, she feels a tremendous emptiness, and it takes time for her to know her real self again.
Theridion has the delusion that her head belongs to another.
In some cases, I have found Theridion persons to have a fear of people, especially when they are
alone. When approached by people they feel threatened and want to strike or kill, and they have to
control themselves so that they do not. These features I have seen also in Tarentula and they seem
to be common to this group of remedies.
I have seen in Theridion an intense aggravation from noise, startles from noise, nausea from noise.
There is a strong craving for bananas and oranges.
The physical symptom of Theridion that I have verified in practice has to do with its cough: "Cough,
violent, jerking of the head forward and the knees upwards" and "Cough, jerking the body together".
Rubrics
- Busy, fruitlessly.
- Confusion of mind, identity, duality, sense of, head separated from mind, as if.
- Delusion, double, of being.
- Delusion, head belongs to another.
- Delusion, separated from body, is head.
- Fear, noise, from.
- Loquacity, busy.
- Loquacity, excited.
- Restlessness, busy.
- Sensitive, oversensitive, noise, to, slightest.
- Sensitive, oversensitive, shrill sounds, to.
- Sensitive, oversensitive, striking of clocks, ringing of bells, to.
- Singing.
- Starting, noise, from.
- Nausea, noise, from.
Thuja occidentalis
Thuja is a strongly sycotic remedy. One of its main indications is the feeling of fragility, of being frail
- a feeling of weakness within oneself. In my understanding, this is the sycotic feeling of having
something wrong with oneself, of being weak; it is also found in Medorrhinum.
I have often found this feeling of fragility in Thuja expressed in the physical sphere, where the
patient feels that any article of food or drink is surely bound to cause him problems, and that his
system cannot take things such as drugs, allergens, emotional stress or even a draught of air. He
tries to avoid all these factors and attempts to keep himself covered from exposure to the same.
These avoidances only reinforces the fear, and this vicious cycle goes on, making of Thuja one of the
main remedies for neurosis, with several obsessive-compulsive traits, fixed ideas and behaviour
patterns. I have found that patients in their follow-up often say that even a single dose (of the
placebo) aggravated them so much that they had to stop it completely. On the other hand, some
patients insist that unless they take the dose, all their complaints return, and they want to keep
taking the doses ever so often.
In the emotional sphere, this feeling of fragility is manifest in the fear of losing face in society. The
person believes that he has a certain image in society of being a religious, morally upright, clean,
honest person, free from human failings such as dishonesty, sexual temptations (especially) when
forbidden, etc. Thus he presents an elevated picture of himself and is afraid that any little slip on his
part might reveal the real him or the bad part of him which he has tried so hard to cover up. In this
"bad part" lies his dishonesty, sexual desires (which may even be for close relatives), his immoral or
irreligious feelings. If this is discovered, he is going to fall down from his imagined elevated position
and will be finished. Thus his survival depends on a complete cover up, and there is a tremendous
anxiety of being exposed. Translated into expressions the Thuja person is secretive and talks to the
physician as if sharing a secret; he is conscious of the presence of other persons, especially strangers.
In rubrics, you have the feeling of floating in the air ("Delusion, body lighter than air") and dreams of
falling from high places which represent his fear of falling from his elevated position.
Thus Thuja seems to come from a situation of religious order in society or from any situation that
demands rigidity in thinking, very fixed ideas. Theocracies, like those in the Middle East, would
require this remedy. Also many of the strict religious leaders, with rigid ideas about sin, often have
many skeletons in their cupboards, and many times require Thuja. In fact "Religious fanaticism" is
one of the rubrics.
In the physical sphere, you have stiffness, which is a manifestation of the fixity; the eruptions which
occur on the covered parts (as if they don't want to be seen); jerks from sleep as if falling from high
places. I have also observed that many Thuja patients have corrugated nails, hair on the middle
phalynx of fingers and on other unusual parts (for example the pinna of the ears), strong smelling
sweat (especially about the genitals), fleshy pedunculated warts, moles. They sweat from the axillae,
and the sweat may leave yellowish stains or a saltish sediment and it may be oily. They are chilly and
like a hot bath.
Thuja women can be very afraid of pregnancy, and often have the sensation of being pregnant, with
associated feelings of guilt. These women can also be jealous, and may have fixed ideas that the
husband is faithless. I have also observed that many Thuja people often exhibit a preference for the
colour green.
Rubrics
- Delusion, body is delicate.
- Delusion, body is thin.
- Delusion, body is brittle.
- Delusion, that she is made of glass.
- Insanity, will not be touched.
- Fear, of others approaching him.
- Fear, physician will not see him, he seems to terrify her.
- Fear, of strangers.
- Fanaticism.
- Delusion, body is lighter than air.
- Dreams, falling, height, from.
- Monomania.
Kent
- Vertigo, walking, sensation of gliding in air, as if feet did not touch the ground, while.
 - Back: injuries of spine.
- Face: greasy.
- Warts, on the face.
- Warts, on the external throat/cervical region.
- Corrugated nails.
- Pain, rectum, while sitting.
- Urethra: urine remained in, after urinating, as if some.
- Perspiration, genitalia, sweetish odour.
- Axilla: perspiration, frosty deposits (Künzli).
- Axilla: boils.
- Back pain, standing erect almost impossible after sitting.
- Skin, warts, pedunculated.
Phatak
- Aversion, to approach.
- Brittle, broken feeling.
- Fanaticism.
- Hair all over the body.
- Strangers, presence of, aggravates.
Tuberculinum bovinum kent
Tuberculinum is a nosode that represents the heart of the tubercular miasm. The main feeling in
this miasm is that of being shut in, cramped and suffocated and in order to get out from such a
situation, one has to use all one's energy and work at an intense and rapid pace. Therefore the
tubercular miasm seems to demand a need for rapid change as a condition of survival. The
sensation of suffocation, especially when stuck in a particular place, and the need for hectic, intense
activity are the two aspects of the tubercular miasm.
The feeling of being stuck, suffocated and oppressed is not an acute feeling in Tuberculinum, it as a
chronic feeling. It is as though some weight or pressure will increasingly oppress the patient and the
spot he is stuck in will grow narrower and narrower and he will be suffocated unless he were to
move out. Tuberculinum resents anything which is narrow, rigid and suffocating, for example
orthodoxy, or being stuck to a particular limited occupation, because then the feeling of pressure
grows on him. This feeling is seen in the physical complaints, for example sensation of suffocation
and oppression of lungs from having to breathe within a restricted lung space.
The only way that Tuberculinum sees out of this situation is through hectic, intense activity.
Therefore, if he finds orthodoxy oppressive, he will break free from the bonds of society and
undertake exploits which are rash, bold, daring and at times destructive. He cannot stick to the
straight and narrow, he will not be confined by monotony. He needs to take risks and does so quite
fearlessly. So Tuberculinum can progress to destructiveness, both physically (as evidenced by
cavitations in the lungs), or emotionally "burning out", at the end of which he feels totally drained
out of energy and drive.
Thus the tubercular miasm seems to fall between sycotic and syphilitic miasms. The sycotic aspect is
seen in the fibrosis - the person has to live for the rest of his life with a fixed, restricted lung space,
and very often has tendencies to recurrent colds and respiratory affections. On the other hand
tuberculosis is also known to have violent, progressive, destructive features which are almost totally
hopeless without medical intervention, e.g. TB meningitis, miliary TB, etc.
A proving of Bacillinum was conducted in October 1993 at my seminar in Spiekeroog. The provers
received Bacillinum 200C. Many provers had dreams of intense and quick activity and used the word
"hectic" to describe their dreams. Also some provers had dreams having to do with trains going up
and down mountains, which situations were described as being "dangerous, risky and fast". Still
other dreams, that brought out the theme of risk and danger, included descending into down an
abyss on a rope with a feeling "So what if it is deep", of being in a narrow restaurant with a feeling
that this was dangerous for her, of being bitten on the neck by a big dog. Further, dreams of being
oppressed by a neighbour in one prover, dreams of concentration camps in a couple of others and
symptoms like nausea and oppression, asthma-like symptoms, and a relief in open air, brought out
the theme of oppression. Other themes that came up were: a need to help others, especially those
in danger, and hopefulness.
The situation of a poor or middle class person in an economically backward country, is similar to
that of Tuberculinum. If he remains stuck or stagnant in that country, financial burden and inflation
will oppress him. What he needs is rapid and hectic activity to get him out of such a situation. It is
hardly surprising, therefore, to find tuberculosis in vast number of Indians.
Even, as homoeopaths, we could get the feeling that if we are stuck with a limited knowledge of
Homoeopathy, the ever increasing number and variety of diseases and problems in the world is
going to crush us. What we need is rapid, quick activity to expand our knowledge and Materia
Medica, beyond their limited confines. Many new provings, and new approaches to provings and
case analysis are needed. This could also be a Tuberculinum feeling.
It is little wonder that one of the chief modalities of Tuberculinum is amelioration in fresh open air,
especially with the wind blowing against the face, as when you drive a motorcycle. The elements of
risk, speed and adventure are all part of the Tuberculinum picture.
Rubrics
- Change, desire for.
- Dreams, of being a prude.
- Travel, desire to.
- Escape, attempts to.
- Destructiveness.
- Break things, desire to.
Phatak's materia medica
- Symptoms are constantly changing... When Tuberculinum fails, Syphilinum often follows
favourably.
- Worse: Close room, exertion, change of weather, pressure of a waist band.
- Better: Open air, cool wind.
- Dissatisfied, always wants a change, wants to travel; does not want to remain in one place long,
wants to do something different or even find a new doctor, weary of life.
- Hopeless.
- Changing moods.
- Reckless.
- Desires cold milk and sweets. Aversion meat.
- Patient takes cold easily on slightest exposure, which ends in diarrhoea.
- Sense of suffocation even with plenty of fresh air, longs for cold air.
- Sweat, easy, cold, clammy. Clothes feel damp.
Kent
- Teeth grinding in sleep.
 - Desires meat.
Phatak
- Boldness.
- Desire to pull her own hair.
- Hopeful.
- Symptoms diverse, many.
Veratrum album
Veratrum album is a remedy of the acute miasm. Veratrum has the feeling that he has lost his social
position which he must regain quickly by any means or he will be finished. He tries to find means for
sudden gains, e.g. gambling, lying, fraudulent business, etc. Show of wealth and importance are
prominent features seen in Veratrum and using these he tries to make up this "lost social position".
Social position is a very important factor in human life, for it ensures security, marital prospects and
protection from attacks. A threat to social position therefore is a threat to all these factors. We see
in Belladonna the fear of being attacked, in Stramonium the threat of being alone in the wilderness,
and in Hyoscyamus the threat of being deserted by his partner. That is why it is said that Veratrum
has all these three remedies in it. In addition, it has a lot to do with ego.
As a proving, when I took a dose of Veratrum, I dreamt:
"I was an employee of an old man who was going to retire very soon. Fearing that the retirement
would be a blow to his social position, he wanted to arrange a huge extravaganza to prove that his
was still important. So he booked a huge football stadium for his birthday party and filled it up with
his guests. We, the employees were to march in the stadium with the stilts on our shoes to
exaggerate our heights and at the same time play music. Our boss, the old man, would follow us in
the stadium."
This dream typifies the Veratrum feeling. This man behaves as if he is reacting to a loss of social
position. He is like a king who has suddenly become a pauper. If he is to "survive" he has to tell lies
and make a show of wealth. He has to squander money and speak highly of himself. He needs to
create about him an aura of grandeur.
In cases that require the remedy, we see that if not the patient himself, somebody in his earlier
generations has lost his social position, creating the Veratrum state. This state has been
subsequently transmitted as a root into this patient. Often such a history can be traced.
Veratrum can be religious but even there, there is usually a very large element of show in it: there is
much ostentation in his religiousness. Similarly in his speech, extravagance and his ability to lie
without any hesitation, you can see that a Veratrum person needs to re-establish his position in
society. I believe it can be a remedy for certain showy evangelists.
In my experience I have seen that Veratrum people can use any means in order to make quick buck
or show their importance, e.g. lying, name dropping, issuing false cheques, doing fraudulent
business, large-scale cheating, tremendous show of wealth, etc. Religious, political or business
leaders who make a big show may be in the Veratrum state. If caught, they try to cheat their way out
by lies and deceit which include feigning illness, even cancer.
On the other hand Veratrum persons are a joy to be with: talking, singing, jesting, cheerful. They can
have also pleasant fantasies, e.g. being in communication with God.
Rubrics
- Despair, position of, social.
- Religious.
- Delusion, God communication with, he is in.
 - Delusion, dumb, he is.
- Busy.
- Restless.
- Industrious.
- Cheerful.
- Loquacity.
- Liar.
- Deceitful.
- Courageous.
- Squanders money.
- Extravagance.
- Praying.
- Shameless.
Kent
- Desires ice.
Viola odorata
Viola odorata is a plant remedy. Like other plant remedies, it is extremely sensitive. The unique
feature of Viola odorata is that this emotional nature, this sensitivity is entirely suppressed. It is as if
the person is not permitted to feel or express any emotions and hence leads a life which is
completely based on intellectual decisions.
There seems to be a complete separation between the emotion and the intellect in this remedy. The
intellect dominates over the emotion, not allowing the latter to surface. The person leads most of
his life saying and doing the correct things, taking decisions based on logic and intellect. But
sometimes, there is an upsurge of emotions and, at that time, the behaviour of the person is taken
over by this emotional response.
I have found this remedy to be useful in persons who have had an extremely controlled childhood as
in Carcinosinum. Two of my patients of Viola odorata are from Switzerland. Switzerland is known for
its control and especially control on emotional expression.
Even though it is mentioned that Viola odorata has an aversion to music, especially violin, I have
seen quite the contrary: that they can be good violin players. The violin is one instrument which has
to be played with precision and logic; at the same time it can express emotion very profoundly.
Rubrics
- Activity, emotional.
- Activity, mental.
- Emotions, predominated by intellect.
- Sensitive, violin, to.
- Speech, voice, in a low soft.
Zincum metallicum
Zinc (Zn) belongs to the first line of metals in the Periodic Table. The remedy has the theme of
attack and defence, with an accompanying feeling of having committed a crime. I have found that
Zincum patients have a tremendous, constant anxiety as if they would be arrested, as if they were
pursued by someone.
Zinc is next to Cuprum (Cu) in the Periodic Table, and the two remedies are very similar. The
difference is that in Zincum the fear of being attacked is constant, and therefore there is a constant
excitement of the nervous system. There is a state of ready alertness which is manifest by the
constant twitching, jerking or by the constant restlessness of the legs. The patient feels all the while
that somebody is after him and this causes the constant restlessness. He is always fidgety, and in
severe cases I found that these people may actually have a criminal look on their faces and a feeling
as if someone may come from behind them anytime - this keeps them alert, stiff and tense all the
time.
In Cuprum on the other hand, the perceived threat of attack is not continuous; it is intermittent,
sometimes periodical and sometimes due to the exciting cause. But in Zincum every stimulus excites
the nervous system.
The other feature is the tremendous repression of eruptions which straightaway affects the nervous
system, causing tremendous excitability and restlessness, for example non-eruption of exanthemata
leads to convulsions and affections of the nervous system. A measles infection would directly affect
the nervous system instead of skin or lungs, thus causing severe complications like convulsions or
SSPE.
Repressed emotions can cause somnambulism and suppressed anger cause trembling and
weakness.
After a period of excitability of the brain and tremendous restlessness, the Zincum patient can go to
the other extreme, which is tremendous dullness, fagged out feeling such that he cannot even
understand a question - he repeats questions before answering them. He is muddled and suffers a
brain fatigue; later he passes on into a state of a total collapse and coma.
The Zincum person can be egoistic but generally comes down in the face of superior attack. Like
Cuprum, you have the desire to become a high-ranked person like an officer or a policeman.
I have heard of a remarkable case of Viral Hepatitis B where the patient, himself a doctor, went into
delirium that was so violent that he had to be held down by many people despite being given several
tranquilizers. Dr. B.N. Chakravorti cured this patient with Zincum which he prescribed on the
symptom:
- Delirium, violent, restrained and calmed with great difficulty, is.
Physical concomitants
- Hunger aggravates.
- Aggravation at 11:00 a.m.
- Aggravated falling to sleep, especially twitching and jerking of limbs.
- Naturally Zincum is ameliorated by the appearance of eruptions and discharges.
Rubrics
- Answers, repeats the question first.
- Anxiety, conscience, of, as if guilty of a crime.
- Delirium, violent, restrained and calmed with great difficulty, is.
- Delusion, accused, she is.
- Delusion, arrested, is about to be.
- Delusion, crime committed, he had.
- Delusion, devils, after her, devil is.
- Delusion, murdered, he will be.
- Delusion, pursued by enemies.
- Delusion, pursued, police, by.
- Insanity, suppressed eruptions, after.
- Prostration of mind, mental exhaustion, brain fag.
- Restlessness, anxious.
- Somnambulism, suppressed emotions, after.
- Unconsciousness, coma, stupor, exanthemata slow to appear, when.
Kent
- Twitching around corners of mouth.
- Jerks in the body on going to sleep.
- Aggravation from hunger.
- Trembling from hunger.
- Appetite increased, 11:00 a.m.
- Restlessness, hands.
Phatak
- Restless legs.
- Epilepsy, petit mal.

Appendix

Miasms
In a large number of chronic diseases, Hahnemann found that the disease continued to progress in
spite of the administration of the carefully selected homoeopathic remedy. Hahnemann was
occupied with finding the solution to this problem, and at length, he discovered that chronic
diseases nearly always had a pattern that could be related to Psora, Sycosis and Syphilis - the chronic
miasms. He postulated that the chronic diseases resulted from badly suppressed scabies (itch),
gonorrhoea and syphilis respectively. He then indicated the drugs likely to be most useful in treating
such cases - the anti-miasmatics. This new understanding enabled Hahnemann to succeed where he
had failed in the past.
Having studied the theory of miasms, and understanding it in the light of my own concept of disease
as a delusion, my practice of Homoeopathy has become much simpler, and my prescribing more
certain. As I understand it, disease is a false perception of reality... a delusion. It seems as if this
false perception has its root in either an actual situation from the patient's own life, or in a situation
of a parent or ancestor. As long as the situation did exist, the patient's reaction was justified.
However the impact of the earlier situation is such that even when faced with another situation, the
patient's reaction is as though he even were still in the previous situation. This is his delusion.
Relating this idea to the theory of miasms, it became clear that the classification of diseases must be
a classification of delusions. And as drugs are nothing but artificial diseases, the classification is both
a disease-state and a drug-state classification.
The symptoms of the disease (or drug) represent the survival mechanism called for in the original
situation. But the person feels that in order to survive, he must always respond as if in the original
situation. The original situation or the patient's (false) perception of reality differs according to the
miasm of the patient. Therefore to recognize the miasm, one has to determine how reality is
perceived by the patient. The original situation of each remedy would demand an acute, psoric,
sycotic or syphilitic reaction predominantly.
This miasmatic classification of disease, based on the concept of disease as a delusion, is not
restricted to the mental state alone. We know that the mind and the body work harmoniously as a
unit, and the disturbance is uniformly expressed in both spheres. The state of the mind and body are
always related, the delusion belongs to the person as a whole and is reflected at both levels. The
mental state, the physical state and the characteristic features of the pathology together represent
the totality. And before searching for a remedy in a particular case, one must settle upon the miasm.
The miasm of the remedy and the miasm of the disease have to be matched.
In order to find out if there was a particular theme to each miasm, I studied some drugs generally
accepted as belonging to that miasm, attempting to find a common theme amongst them, if there
was one. I used Hahnemann's classification of diseases and drugs.
Acute : Aconitum, Belladonna, Stramonium
Chronic : Psora : Sulphur, Psorinum
Sycosis : Thuja, Medorrhinum
Syphilis : Mercurius, Syphilinum
In studying the miasms with the help of different remedies, I came to understand that the nosode
represents the centre-point of the miasm. The nosode is the product of tissue that is fully under the
influence of the infectious disease. It represents these defeated tissue qualities of the infection and
infectious process. For example a study of Psorinum will show the very character of Psora, likewise
with Medorrhinum and Syphilinum. The problem of the nosode is non-specific and of an
undifferentiated character, whereas with other remedies belonging to the same miasm it becomes
differentiated and specific.
My conclusions about the themes of the various miasms which follow, are a result of a detailed
study of the various remedies in relation to the miasms, as well as my own clinical understanding of
drugs and patients. Further, I have added other miasms that would lie between the already known
miasms listed above. One of these is the tubercular miasm, on which there is abundant literature
available. The other additions are my own, having been discovered and verified by me in my
practice.

The acute miasm

In the drugs of the acute miasm, there is the feeling that: "There is a strong threat from the outside
world". The reaction to this threat is strong, instinctive and reflex.
For example Stramonium has "Delusion, alone in the wilderness". The reaction is seen in the
following symptoms: "Desire for light and company" and "Children wake up screaming, recognize no
one, and cling to those nearby".
The central features of the acute disease itself correspond to the feeling of threat and the strong,
almost immediate reaction. The acute disease has a sudden onset, rapid progress and a swift
termination; it ends either with death or recovery. It will be noticed that Aconitum and Belladonna
which are the best examples of the acute miasm are given in Volume II of the Synthetic Repertory
under "Sudden Manifestations". And indeed we do find in these drugs a sudden, rapid pulse, flushed
face, etc.
The features of the acute personality are that the patient perceives the situation to be one of acute
threat and therefore reacts instinctively, sharply and intensely. The situation is overwhelming and
there is a state of alarm; the feelings about one's own self are not in the forefront here. Further, the
acute personality, has compensated and uncompensated phases, and although these are present in
the other miasms as well, they are especially marked in the acute. In general, acute personalities are
excited, easily excitable and hyperactive - they react as though to a threat. But when in a chronic
situation, these features are heavily compensated for, and they become uncompensated only under
stressful conditions. This may seem to appear like mood swings, but when examined closely, they
are actually manifestations of the compensated phase going into the uncompensated phase. The
dreams, too, are full of excitement and represent acute, threatening situations. Many of these
persons could go into a contra-phobic behaviour, which means they do exactly the opposite in their
life to what they fear. For example a Stramonium personality may have many pet dogs, whereas
Stramonium is normally known to have a fear of dogs. They can also have manic reactions, like
excessively loud laughter and abnormal bursts of courage and cheerfulness. There may also be
sudden, impulsive violence as in the syphilitic personality, but without the counterpart of chronic,
deep seated pessimism. In general, they function at a very high voltage.
Physical manifestations of the acute miasm are in the form of sudden and violent reactions,
exacerbations and threatening conditions that cause panic in the mind of the patient and those
around him. The state of the mind and body being related, the delusion is expressed at both levels
the mental and the physical. This can be seen in the example of Aconitum. Aconitum has the feeling
that something sudden will happen leading to his death. Mentally this is seen as fear of death,
anxiety and restlessness, etc. In the physical sphere, we find racing pulse, palpitation, flushing of
face alternating with paleness, etc. The acute miasm usually does not cause chronic structural
pathology. It can however aggravate structural pathology, especially when the tendency (genetic
predisposition) to such a pathology is quite strong in the patient.
The acute miasm will be found more in babies and children, because this is the time when
threatening situations from the outside are more often found. The reaction of the acute miasm is an
innocent, instinctive, childlike reaction. Therefore even when the acute miasm is found in adults,
there is a certain childishness in the response. Such a response would help one recognize this miasm.

The psoric miasm

The situation of the psoric miasm is a difficult one, where the patient has to struggle in order to
succeed. The delusion in Psora has two components:
- Stress from outside, and
- Anxiety from doubt about his own ability/capability to deal with the stress. He is hopeful, and
failure does not mean the end of the world.
Let us take for example Sulphur, the "King of Anti-Psoric Remedies". One finds the following rubrics:
- Delusion, is getting thin.
- Delusion, disgraced.
- Fear, of poverty.
The reaction is seen in the following :
- Talks of business.
- Imagines himself a great man; though ignorant, despises literary men and education.
We find here a struggle with ego and money. The feeling is that the person is losing something, and
he must struggle in order to get it back.
These conclusions are corroborated by the central features of scabies itself. In scabies, there is a lot
of itching, a constant struggle, with extreme discomfort, but it is not life-threatening, not hopeless.
The psoric personality is usually active and expressive. The patient generally has highs and lows. The
struggle is like a tug-of-war with the outside world - when the balance is on his side, he feels high,
but when the balance is on the other side, he feels low. It is an active struggle, and it becomes more
apparent during times of stress. At the same time, there is a lack of confidence in facing the
situation, a feeling that he won't be able to do it. This causes a constant anxiety, which becomes
apparent when he is actually faced with the situation (active psora). It is also present when he is not
faced with the situation; it is then a kind of anticipatory anxiety, and it is not so distressing (latent
psora). This causes a kind of internal restlessness, insecurity, dissatisfaction, sensitivity and anxiety
about the future. However, there is always hope, now matter how bad the situation.
 The psoric person is usually expressive during case-taking. He is keen of mind, observant and
describes his symptoms well. He has many and varied dreams which reflect his anxiety about not
being able to cope with a situation, and the struggle to cope.
Since the delusion belongs to the whole, the symptoms of the mind and body are common, and in
its physical aspect the psoric miasm will show the same highs and lows we see in the mind. It will
demonstrate a hypersensitivity to physical factors and will manifest the same struggle and activity.
There is a reaction to one's surroundings, a response to environmental stimuli. For example light,
noise, odours, etc., affect the psoric person and cause in him functional disturbances, e.g. headache,
nausea, discomfort, etc. These functional disturbances can be seen at various levels, in the various
systems, and they will be accompanied by a plethora of modalities. Accompanying this will also be
seen a plethora of generalities, and psora has the maximum number of cravings and aversions.
Pathological changes, whenever present, are usually reversible, although this is not invariable.
The psoric miasm is usually predominant in the years where one has to stand on one's own feet and
face the world - the years of youth and adolescence, which is usually the period of struggle.

The subacute/typhoid miasm

I concluded that a miasm between the acute and the psoric miasms had to be typhoid. Typhoid has
a prolonged prodrome with a feeling of malaise, days before the temperature rises significantly. The
fever is continuous, rises higher each day, and can become life threatening. Typhoid has both the
acute features as well as the slowness. It is an intense struggle in which there is an acute threat from
outside - the response is not just instinctive, but also has the component of struggle. The feeling is
that of a critical situation which, if handled properly for a critical period, will end in total recovery.
One of the main drugs of the typhoid miasm is Bryonia. Bryonia has "Fear of Poverty" and a struggle
for wealth. It has "Delirium, talks of business", which gives an indication as to how critical and acute
the situation is, and how intensely the patient is struggling against it. Bryonia ia also listed under
"Fear of starving".

The sycotic miasm

The feeling of sycotic remedies is: "I am incapable of handling this situation. Something is wrong
with me". It is a the feeling of a fixed, irremediable weakness within oneself. With this admission,
there is an attempt to cope with it by covering it up, and hiding it from others by egotism, secrecy
and compulsive acts. The feeling probably arises after having struggled without success for
sometime. Thus we say that psora is the mother of sycosis.
To understand the feeling of sycosis, let us take the example of Thuja. Thuja has:
- Delusion, he is made of glass.
- Delusion, he is thin.
- Delusion, his body is fragile.
He therefore develops fixed ideas, will not be touched or approached, becomes secretive, fanatical,
etc.
Gonorrhoea itself shows a chronic, steady, fixed defence in the form of gleet. There is no likelihood
of complete recovery, but the situation is not a desperate one. It is in fact a fixed state.
The sycotic personality is very secretive. The patient is always trying to hide his weakness and is
constantly tense. These constant efforts to cover up his weakness make even everyday life stressful.
He never hopes to get rid of this weakness; all he wants to do is somehow to cover it up.
Consequently he is more closed during the interview. The sycotic person has fixed habits and traits,
and acts in particular ways; even his dreams are specific. The sycotic individual is less active and
more reserved than the psoric.
Sycotic personalities and drugs have this feeling of inadequacy, and the consequent efforts to cover
up the same on the physical sphere as well. The mind and body, both overact, to cover up this
imagined weakness. Since, unlike psora, one is trying to cope with the body's own weakness rather
than with any stress from outside, sycosis is not usually affected by external factors. The aggravating
factors will be more specific and there will not be the plethora of modalities nor the accompanying
generalities as is seen in psora. The reaction is in fact concentrated at specific sites and organ
systems, tending to cause chronic, slow troubles usually with a tendency to overreaction in that
particular sphere. The reaction will be the same no matter what the stimulus, or even when there is
no stimulus. Thus we see overgrowths, hyper-immune responses, fixed and steady disease states like
asthma, and structural pathology. The disease usually has an insidious onset and its course is steady.
The accompanying modalities and generalities like cravings and aversions are very specific and
therefore limited in number. There is a tendency for the discharges to leave indelible stains.
The nosode Medorrhinum represents the centre-point of the sycotic miasm. The feeling of
incapacity and the fear of being exposed is represented in Medorrhinum by his fears and anxieties.
He is always anticipating that something bad will happen. He has an anxiety of conscience, as if guilty
of a crime. He has a fear that someone was behind him. On the physical plane, this inner anxiety and
restlessness is manifest by signs such as restlessness of the feet, constant nail-biting and the need to
wash his hands repeatedly. But in order to cover up this feeling of incapacity, Medorrhinum may
appear egoistic, rude, critical, extravagant and can act as if nothing really bothers or affects him. He
is unwilling to take up responsibilities, because he feels that he is unable to fulfill them, his weakness
will be exposed.
The sycotic miasm will be seen predominantly around middle age when the person, having
struggled a long time, sees many defects within himself, and tries to cover them up. This is the time
when ideas become rigid, freedom restricted, and the person is content to cope rather than to
struggle.

Between acute and sycotic miasm - the malarial miasm

A miasm between the acute and sycotic should have an acute feeling of threat that comes up
intermittently in phases between which there is a chronic, underlying fixed feeling of being deficient.
The idea that came to me immediately was the malarial miasm. Malaria is a very common infection;
it has periods of relative dormancy, intermitted with sudden, acute attacks of fever with chills
followed again by a quiet phase.
The main remedy of the malarial miasm is China. The main feeling of this miasm and of China is one
of persecution. China has two components - the acute threat, with its fear of dogs, etc., on the one
hand, and on the other, it has fixed ideas and the chronic, tormented, hindered, persecuted feelings,
which give rise to theorizing and planning without any hope of executing these plans. This remedy
has severe spasmodic colics and periods of quiescence. Phatak describes the pains as atrocious. It is
as though atrocities are being committed on him - akin to persecution.

The ringworm miasm

I had some difficulty in finding a miasm in between psora and sycosis. It would have to have both,
the characteristics of psora i.e. the struggle with anxiety about success, as well as sycosis i.e. the
fixity resulting from a feeling of inadequacy within oneself. I was searching for an infection which
comes up suddenly with an intense struggle which is not life threatening, but at other times is quiet
and fixed. After much thinking and reading, I got the idea that this infection was none other than
Ringworm. The latter is characterized by periods when it is just another skin lesion and at times
when it itches terribly like scabies, compelling scratching. Thus, there are both, the resigned
acceptance as well as the element of struggle.
In order to confirm this idea, I conducted a proving of Ringworm. For the details of the proving, I
refer the reader to my book "The Substance of Homoeopathy". The theme of the miasm was
reflected in the dreams of the provers. Most of the dreams had the feeling of trying to do
something. On the one hand there were periods of trying with a feeling of hope. At other times
there was resignation and acceptance of the situation, only to be followed by another trial. Thus,
there was an alternation between struggling and giving up in the dreams of most provers.
The situation of the ringworm miasm seems to be one that is on the borderline of the patient's
capacity, and while not threatening, it is good for him to succeed. So he tries periodically but each
time he fails, he gives up and accepts it. This reminds me of the struggle of obese people trying to
lose weight. There are periods of struggling, jogging, walking, dieting, followed by periods of
acceptance and calories. The main remedies for the miasm are Calcarea sulphurica and Calcarea
silicata.
Calcarea sulphurica has periods when the person sits and meditates over imaginary misfortune
(nothing can be done), and at times when he is "Quarrelsome", "Hasty", "Hurried", etc., he feels he
is not appreciated and so tries to win appreciation. When he fails, he just sits and broods over his
misfortune. Calcarea silicata has "Anxiety about health" and "Utterly ambitionless" on one hand,
while on the other it has "Hurried", "Impatient" and "Anticipatory anxiety". The patient feels
incapable of performing and gives poor health as an excuse for not being able to perform, but at
other times he somehow tries to live up to the expectations.

The syphilitic miasm

The delusion of syphilitic remedies is that they are faced with a situation that is beyond salvage,
leading to complete hopelessness and despair. The response to this feeling is a drastic do-or-die
attempt to change either oneself or the environment, a violent process - a last ditch attempt.
For example Mercurius, one of the most syphilitic remedies in the book, has the delusion that he is
surrounded by enemies. He is therefore, very suspicious and has suicidal and homicidal impulses
against anyone who contradicts him.
Syphilitic personalities have a strongly pessimistic view of life. They believe that it is not possible to
modify what has already gone wrong; it has to be radically changed or destroyed. With this internal
feeling, they react impulsively and violently to any situation - be it insult, criticism or domination.
There is a chronic, deep-seated pessimism with occasional sudden violence directed at himself or
others - a mercurial temper.
The syphilitic person also has very rigid ideas, not only about himself (as in the sycotic personality)
but also about the situation. He is usually aggravated by contradiction, is dictatorial, and not
amenable to change, unlike the psoric personality who is impressionable. The syphilitic response
occurs when one is faced with a superhuman task - one where no man can succeed.
Syphilis itself is a chronic desperate struggle. It is an infection where the body destroys itself in an
attempt to survive by producing ulceration, caries, gangrene, etc. It is a violent effort in a hopeless
situation. The syphilitic process is a slow and degenerative process which has been taking place over
a long time. The syphilic feeling therefore is: "The situation is desperate and hopeless and I can't
cope". There must be change. The mind and the body move towards destruction.
The age of syphilis is that of senescence. There is no hope now, the struggle is over. Even coping
with the self is not possible, and the only way out is death and destruction.

Miasms in between sycosis and syphilis

The tubercular miasm

There is in homoeopathic literature, abundant material on the tubercular miasm as well (apart from
the classical trio of psora, sycosis and syphilis).
The main feeling in the tubercular miasm is a sense of oppression. It is a feeling that one's weakness
is being exploited. The reaction is violent, almost tending towards syphilis.
The tubercular miasm can be understood through Drosera. The theme of Drosera is one of being
stabbed in the back, of being deceived by one's own friends: "Imagines being deceived by spiteful,
envious people" (Phatak's Materia Medica). At the same time there is a great deal of dependence of
the patient on his friends. He feels his weakness is being taken advantage of. He feels harassed and
let down by his own friends, and reacts to this oppression violently. The cough also is described as
"harassing" by Phatak and the slightest irritation causes violent bouts of cough excited by a tickling
sensation in the throat. Drosera also has suicidal inclinations.
Tuberculosis is one of the most widespread infections known to mankind accounting for much
morbidity and mortality. In its pathology we see destruction of tissues and lasting disability in the
form of restricted lung space due to fibrosis. There is a great need to take a deep breath:
"Oppression of the chest", "Suffocation". We have the sycotic aspect wherein the person lives for
the rest of his life with a fixed weakness, and very often has tendencies to recurrent colds and other
respiratory affections. On the other hand, tuberculosis is known to have violent progressive features
which are almost totally hopeless without medical intervention: for example TB meningitis, miliary
TB, etc.

The leprous miasm

The leprous miasm has features to indicate that it is almost exactly between the tubercular and
syphilitic miasms.
The main feeling in the leprous miasm is one of intense oppression and an intense hopelessness,
with an intense desire for change.
In its pathology, leprosy is of three distinct types. Tuberculoid leprosy though progressive, has a
better prognosis than the other types - there is hope. Lepromatous leprosy on the other hand, is
rapidly progressive and destructive, resembling syphilis. The intermediate type lies between these
two.
According to me the drug which best represents the leprous miasm is Secale cornutum In his
Repertory, under the rubric "Skin, eruptions, leprosy", Kent gives Secale and Sulphur in bold types.
The symptoms we find in the leprosy patient are loathing for self, ashamed, abandoned (forsaken),
hatred and despised. Lepers are treated worse than animals and are often the objects of loathing. It
is an almost hopeless situation.
In Secale we find "Violent, fight, wants to", "Forsakes his relatives" and "Becomes shameless". It is
known for its destructive pathologies, especially gangrene which would be one of the prominent
pathologies of the leprous miasm. This miasm requires much deeper investigation and I haven't
been able to understand it fully as yet.
The cancer miasm
The cancer miasm lies between the sycotic and the syphilitic. It develops when the sycotic (with the
feeling of a fixed weakness) is subjected to extreme stress, wherein he is expected to perform
exceedingly well. There is a feeling of weakness within, yet there is the need to perform very well
and live up to expectations. The main feeling of this miasm is therefore that he is expected to
perform exceedingly well, which he feels incapable of doing. So, the demand has been put upon him,
and although he would like to cover up his imagined weakness and feeling of incapacity, he has to
put in everything he has and much more in a really intense effort to survive. It is a superhuman
effort, he stretches himself beyond the limits of his capacity. It is a continuous and prolonged
struggle which seems to have no end. His survival depends upon it, for failure would mean death
and destruction.
In the pathology of cancer we see the sycotic element of building up as in new growths, with fixity
and at the same time breakdown and destruction, as in syphilis. The main remedies of the cancer
miasm are Carcinosinum and Nitricum acidum.
The clinical picture of Carcinosinum is of a person who is a model of perfection - one with whom it
would be difficult to find fault. We often have a history of high expectations on the part of the
parents and a high level of performance on the part of the subject to live up to them. On the one
hand we have the rubrics: "Timidity", "Dwarfishness" and "Ailments from anticipation", and on the
other "Fastidiousness", "Obstinate", "Suicidal" and "Dreams of murder". These symptoms show the
sycotic and syphilitic dimensions, as well as the need to perform. The patient is constantly striving to
be perfect and in doing so stretches himself beyond the limits of his capacity. There is no rest or
freedom from tension.

Application of the theory of miasms

In understanding the cases

The miasm has to be settled upon before searching for the remedy; the drug must match the pace
and nature of the disease. One has to ask the question: "What is the element in the case?"
Is it:
- threatening (acute miasm),
- a struggle (psora),
- a fixed, irremediable weakness within the self (sycosis), or
- a destruction (syphilis).

In understanding and differentiating remedy states

For example Hyoscyamus (acute) versus Lachesis (syco-syphilitic).
The state of Hyoscyamus is that of a man whose delusion is that his wife is trying to poison him;
someone is trying to hurt and injure him, someone persecutes him. So he loses control of himself
and starts behaving foolishly and ridiculously. He is always excited and presents an instinctive,
instantaneous reaction.
Lachesis is the situation of a menopausal woman whose husband has a young girlfriend. She has a
feeling of weakness within herself. She is competing with someone better and her survival depends
on winning. She develops egotism, always talks about herself, becomes sarcastic (putting others
down) and deceitful (putting herself up).
In understanding and using the repertory
Many rubrics contain remedies of all different miasms, and therefore each rubric has to be
examined thoroughly as to where it originates and what it represents, what is its pace, quality and
underlying element. For example let us take the rubric "Kill, impulse to". Behind, this rubric had the
delusion that someone is pursuing the patient. The acute miasm personality would react in an
instinctive way. The psoric state will struggle. The sycotic will try and hide. The syphilitic remedies
will collapse or hit back.

In the selection of the remedy

The most characteristic symptoms in a case will give an indication of the predominant and other
miasms present. It is all important to match the miasm present in the case in the selection of a
similimum.

A chart of the miasms

MIASM ACUTE PSORIC SYCOTIC SYPHILITIC
Remedies Aconitum Sulphur Thuja Mercurius
Belladonna Calcarea Medorrhinum Aurum
Hyoscyamus Lycopodium Syphilinum
Stramonium Psorinum
Keyword REACTION STRUGGLE BUILDING BREAKING
(instinctive) (masking)
Central Threat is Inadequate capacity Weakness in self Situation is delusion too strong. to face
stress. which he has beyond repair:
Problems only to cover up, so change
in face of stress. to mask, or
When no stress to keep secret. destroy.
present:
latent Psora.
Reaction Instinctive With stress: active, Fixed ideas leading Destruction
to stress reaction, with Without stress: to compulsions and of self
no sense of fault latent psora, compulsive actions or
in oneself. In stress: out of a feeling stressor.
Fault is over-reaction, of inner weakness.
entirely on hypersensitive +
the side hyper-reactive.
of stressor. No stress:
fear of stress.
Form of REFLEX - HYPER - COVER UP DESTRUCTION
reaction ACTION REACTION

Map of miasms
TUBERCULAR
(Calcarea phosphorica)
Bacillinum
Change
LEPROSY
(Secale cor.)
ACUTE TYPHOID PSORA RINGWORM SYCOSIS SYPHILIS
(Aconitum) (Bryonia) (Sulphur) (Calcarea sulphurica) (Thuja) (Mercurius)
Psorinum Ringworm Medorrhinum Syphilinum
Panic Struggle Trying Fixity Destruction
CANCER
MALARIA (Nitricum acidum)
(China) Carcinosinum
Perfection
Key:
Name in Bold indicates a main miasm.
Name in ITALICS (Capital) indicates an in-between miasm.
Name in brackets indicates a typical remedy of that miasm.
Name in ordinary type indicates the nosode.
Name in Italics indicates the action of the miasm.

The natural classification of drugs

Homoeopathic remedies are classified according to their source into:
- Mineral Kingdom
- Plant Kingdom
- Animal Kingdom
- Nosodes
- Sarcodes
- Imponderabilia

The mineral kingdom

The central themes common to remedies of the mineral kingdom are structure and organization,
and the problems of mineral remedies/personalities arise from a break in this structure and
organization, breaking of relationships or failure in performance. As personalities they are very
systematic and tend to be highly organized.
The mineral remedies can be further classified into various groups:

Metals
Among the mineral remedies, the metals have to do with performance and defense. The first line of
metals in the Periodic Table is concerned with defense more than with performance. This line
consists of Manganese, Iron, Cobalt, Nickel, Copper and Zinc. The second line has more to do with
performance than with defense, and includes Rhodium, Palladium, Silver, Cadmium and Indium. The
elements belonging to the third line have the strongest defense/performance issues. This line
consists of the heaviest metals and includes Osmium, Iridium, Platinum, Gold, Mercury and Thallium.
Thus the degree of defense/performance concern increases from the first to the third line.

Cations
The main theme of the cations is the need for a relationship, but this theme gets a characteristic
turn in each group.
PLANT ANIMAL MINERAL
KEY WORD Sensitivity Competition Structure
MANNER OF Sensitive Attractive or dull: Structured
DRESSING Flowery different Pattern
Irregular patterns Animals in dress Checks
(snake rings etc.) Plain
Symmetry
PROFESSION Artists, Advertising, Accounts,
Nurses Competitions Computers,
Management,
House builders,
Engineers,
(Performers)
PRESENTATION Haywire With feeling Organized
OF COMPLAINTS Rounded Animated Structured
Wandering Attention seeking Percentages
Descriptive Warm Systematic
Adjusting Alert eyes Exactness
Symptoms described Eye contact Written points
randomly and Numbers
not completely
(often even intermingled
with other people's
complaints)
NATURE OF Sensitivity Problems in Problems in structure
COMPLAINT Many modalities attractiveness and Chronic
Influenced easily competitiveness
Quick reaction
PACE Generally rapid onset Generally moderate paced Generally slow onset
EXCITING FACTOR and variations Rejection and progress
(CAUSATION) Emotional or Physical Neglect Break of structure
Hurt/Shock/Strain Looked down on Break of relationship
Failure in defense Failure in performance
Failure in competition
Aggression/attack
Failure in love
FOLLOW-UPS Begins suddenly I am feeling better I came to you last on
These don't affect me I can relate better. My blood pressure
that much Also, take care is 140/90,
of my skin spots I am 25% better
and hair fall My work is good
Have been taking treatment
regularly for six months.
How long will it take?
It was 10% better for the
first six days
PLANT ANIMAL MINERAL
WORDS USED I am affected by My feeling My relationship
I am sensitive to By humans beings My home/family
This hurts me I jump at them My bank balance
This touches me I will beat them My health
I can't bear She is better than me My performance
I am immediately I am not good enough My work
affected by, I don't accept myself My joints
Mood swings I feel split up My skin/
Human beings are so cruel My nerves
SPEECH All sorts of things Whatever gets attention To the point and finish
that affect them Excited/animated/vivid Uniform
Varied
HANDWRITING Rounded Attractive Structured
SIGNATURE Disorganized Attention seeking Angled
Aggressive Straight
NATURE / Softness Affectionate/caring/playful Systematic
DISPOSITION Sensitive Amorous Strong
Emotional Aggressive/mischievous Calculative
Adjusting Alert/quick to react
Influenced easily Animated/restless
Adaptable Deceitful/curious
Irritable Malicious/jealous
Expressive/communicative
FEARS Hurt/Pain Loss in attractiveness Break of structure
Competition Failing in performance
Aggression/attack Of losing something
Rejection
Isolation
DREAMS AND Nature Animals Structured
INTERESTS Greenery Snakes Things
Plants Pursuit Financial
Artistic Attacked Relations
Music Amorous House
Varied Flying Work/effort
Depends on Performance/fight
day's occurences Repetitive
CRAVINGS/ Varied Meat, fish Salt, Earth
AVERSIONS Milk
MODE Changeable Many faceted One mode or two (maximum)
Adaptable Changeable Fixed, unvarying
Unsteady Abrupt changes Similar in all situations
Unsteady Steady
MIASMATIC Acute - Sycotic Acute - Syco-syphilitic Acute - Syphilitic
RANGE
 The theme of cations of Group IA is forming of relationships. The cations are Sodium and Potassium.
For the cations of Group IIA, i.e. Magnesium, Calcium, Strontium, Barium, the theme is a need for
support.
Group-III elements Boron and Aluminium have in common a feeling of confusion and a sensation as
if there was a cobweb on the face.

Anions
The main theme among the anions is the effort to keep or maintain a relationship.
In Group V (Phosphorus, Arsenic, Antimony, Bismuth) the theme is a feeling of being unloved and
alone. The symptoms common to elements of this group are: "Fear of being alone", "Desire for
company", "Clinging".
Among the elements of Group VI, i.e. Sulphur and Selenium, we see the common symptoms
"Aversion to company" and "Incapacity to work". The theme here is one of making an enormous
effort which is expected from them.
Group VII contains the halogens Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine. They have a central feeling of
being let down and being betrayed.
Group IV contains the non-metallic elements Carbon and Silica. The feature common to both is that
they are non reactive.

Salts
A salt represents the union of two qualities which balance each other and together are appropriate
in certain life situations. Of the two components of a salt, the cations need to form a relationship
while the anions sometimes seem to repel a relationship. For example the quality of Natrum is a
strong desire to form a relationship, so much so that any rejection would cause tremendous hurt
and disappointment. This need of Natrum has to be balanced by a quality of expecting
disappointment and rejection, and unwillingness to form relationships. This is provided by the
muriaticum element (Chlorine). Thus, Natrum muriaticum is understandably a very basic salt, for it
represents man's need to form relationships, and at the same time the ability to withstand rejection.

Acids
The main theme of the acid group is a struggle followed by collapse. The acid of a particular element
represents a constant effort/struggle in the situation of that element. For example the main feeling
of Phosphorus is that he is unloved and he reacts to this feeling by being affectionate, friendly and
sympathetic in the hope that his love and care will be reciprocated. The effort of Phosphorus is
therefore in the direction of caring for others, being sympathetic towards them, etc. When this
effort becomes constant, i.e. when he feels the need to make a constant effort in caring for others,
the state is that of Phosphoricum acidum.

The animal kingdom

Common to the animal remedies is a "conflict" which has its basis in a split within the self. There are
two different sides to such personalities: the animal side and the human side. The animal side is
concerned with competition (which is the key to survival in the animal world). There is a need to
attract attention, and these personalities are attractive in their behaviour and appearance. They can
also be deceitful, malicious and aggressive - and all these qualities can be attributed to their animal
side. Their human side on the other hand seems to have contempt for the animal within. The way
they feel about themselves is often reflected in their expressions which may be: "...by human
beings", "Human beings are so cruel", "I feel split up", "I jump at them", "I am not good enough",
etc. While the main problems for animal remedies arise from this conflict, they are usually affected
by disappointments in love and performance, from being looked down upon, from being attacked.
Among the animal remedies, different groups and classes, e.g. snakes, insects, mammals, etc., will
each represent its own characteristic features.

The plant kingdom

The basic quality of a plant is sensitivity. It is a living organism rooted to the soil, unable to move. To
survive, it needs to be sensitive to changes in the external environment and also capable of adapting
to these changes, for it cannot move away. These features are also descriptive of those needing a
plant remedy. They are of a sensitive nature, affected by many things and adjusting/adapting to
these. In their choice of dress too is reflected this sensitivity. They prefer flowerly, irregular patterns,
something that appeals to their aesthetic taste. Their writing too is in "irregular patterns", usually
rounded and disorganized. The same is true of their manner of speaking. They present their
complaints in a disorganized fashion, often talking in between about other people's complaints, and
describing their own incompletely, in no particular order. They begin their follow-ups rather
abruptly. With their acute sensitivity, they feel most things intensely and are very descriptive. The
complaints are of rapid onset and changing nature, with many modalities; they are usually related to
this sensitivity. The causative factor is often emotional or physical, strain or hurt. The expressions
they use are: "I am affected by / sensitive to...", "This hurts me", "I can't bear", "This touches me".
These expressions show them to be sensitive, soft, emotional people. Their feelings are most
important to them, and the fear of being hurt also. They are easily affected and can have abrupt
mood changes. Even their dreams are influenced by the day's occurence. The dreams are varied:
dreams of plants, of greenery, of nature, of music, of art. The miasmatic range of plant remedies is
from the acute to the sycotic miasm. Exceptions are Drosera (tubercular) and Anacardium (syco-
syphilitic).

Nosodes
The theme of nosodes is desperation, and this desperation is expressed in every sphere of the life of
a person who requires one of these remedies. His way of looking at things and reacting to them is
always desperate.
Nosodes are prepared from diseased tissue. This tissue is completely under the spell of the
infection, overwhelmed by the infection, so that the very basic qualities of the infection or the
infectious process are manifest in the nosode. In the case of scabies, the tissue will have the qualities
of the scabetic infection - the main symptom of scabies is an intense itching - it is a constant struggle
with extreme discomfort. The nosode is prepared from the defeated scabetic tissue - Psorinum
manifests this struggle. The indication for the nosode lies in the process rather than in any particular
sphere or area of life. For example where there is an intense struggle with any problem, be it money,
acceptability, religion or love, the indicated remedy is Psorinum. The problem here is of an
undifferentiated character. But if the problem is specific to any particular sphere, for example if the
struggle has to do with ego and money, the indicated remedy is Sulphur, one of the best known anti-
psorics. The nosode thus represents the centre-point of the miasm.
For a more detailed explanation of this concept, I refer the reader to my book "The Substance of
Homoeopathy".
Sarcodes
I have not had much experience with these.

Imponderabilia
My work on music as a healing agent has been discussed, in detail in "The Substance of
Homoeopathy".