| In light of what you just
said, it might be good to move on to the actual case you kindly
submitted to us this month ("There
Was Nothing I Could Do!"). Perhaps our readers should go
to this case now and read it so as to better appreciate the discussion
that follows.
Here was the first thing that surprised me
about the case. When the patient said, "It's
like two rats fighting each other in my abdomen,"
I just KNEW you were going to prescribe Rat's Blood, but you seemed
unimpressed by that remark. What made you so sure that this possible
reference to "source", or the Core of the case, was irrelevant?
Let me respond to this in a way that will not only answer your question
for this patient in particular but also to many other cases where
we get images in general. What you are asking is when there is a
particular image a patient gives in a case, why can't that be the
source? Right?
When I get any image in a case, I doubt myself before labeling
that Image as a source in order to decrease the chances of going
wrong later - the possibilities in such cases are either:
1] the Image is the Source
or
2] the Image is not the Source
Now, how to know which it is?
In answer, I try to determine:
a] what is the central issue coming up in the case?
b] what kingdom is the central issue pointing to?
c] while describing the Image, what level was the patient at-[emotion
level /delusion level /sensation level]?
d] in what context was the Image being used? Meaning, what is
the patient trying to convey through the Image?
e] how much weight /energy does the Image hold, did it come up
quite Intensely and / or repetitively with any body/hand gestures[expression
of energy pattern in a patient] or it was just a passing remark?
These are the points that help confirm the Image as Source.
For, instance, this patient of mine did speak of Rat [an Image]
-but, her central issue was her sensitivity towards Injury;
plus, her central issue in the rest of the case did not call for
the issues of Animal kingdom in general and Rat in particular.
When the girl was describing the entire episode of stomach pain
with Jaundice, her entire focus was the type of pain (as if beaten,
punched, hit), which was described quite animately [gesture of her
hands] and though she gave an image of two rats fighting, she never
put any weight on that image. Also, no where else in the case, could
we find any issues suggestive of rat. If Rat would have been her
remedy, it definitely would have shown up in at least a few other
uncompensated ares of her life. Hence, the Animal kingdom as well
as Rat never entered my mind.
We need to understand this very clearly that when we are in the
process of exploring the patient and his / her disturbed state,
there is a possibility that the patient gives various images to
describe what he/she wants to convey at different levels of experiences.
At delusion level also he can give you many images and also at the
sensation level.
Quite often in such cases we make the mistake of taking this image
as a source.
It is also quite possible in many cases [specifically requiring
an animal remedy] that the patient while describing his feeling
takes us straight to one image and describes extensively about that
image, since we know he belongs to the animal kingdom and on top
of it he himself is talking about one particular animal, we do make
a mistake to take that as a source. [See, there is a possibility
that he still needs that animal only, but it has to lead to the
central core of the case which we get every where in the case.]
The above mentioned points [a to e] helps to differentiate in such
cases.
Paradoxically, the remark, "There was
nothing I could do!" (referring to her teacher's severe punishments)
seemed VERY important to you.
It became important because this is how she coped-up everywhere
-be it with her teacher / her friends /her mother /siblings / her
physical problems [For instance, with her fever, she opted to be
silent and continue with her work rather then speaking up, etc.].
This was the repeated pattern that came up as her coping along with
her central feeling of being sensitive to Injury.
In truth, isn't it a fact that there is rarely
ANYTHING a 14 year-old girl can do when adults/teachers decide to
become abusive?
I have my doubt. I have many distinct cases where a child [age 14
or younger] perceives, feels and reacts quite distinctly to punishments
[I will restrain myself from using the word "Abuse" because
patient never felt that way- it will be my interpretation]. For
instance, one of the boys, again of the same age, if punished would
become suicidal. Another girl patient of mine felt frustrated and
"stuck" in a similar situation at school and developed
recurrent malarial fevers.
What we need to understand is that each individual has their own
pattern of feeling, perception, sensation, reaction and ways of
coping in a situation depending upon their central disturbance.
This particular fact demands our attention because this is where
lies the most fundamental law of Individualization.
Our role here is to examine in such scenario of punishment [factual
situation described by the patient]
what is the patient's perception and experience of this factual
situation?
what is the reaction to this perception?
how does the patient cope with this?
and finally
does this pattern of perception + experience + reactions + coping-up
repeat itself in the different uncompensated areas of the case?
This not only helps us to individualize the patient from the other
children facing similar factual situations but also helps us understand
the core of the patient and thus the simillimum for the same.
What troubles me is, the rubrics The Complete
Repertory has Senecio in, don't match the characteristic symptoms
in the case. Of course, I understand that this is a rare remedy
and not a lot is known about it.
I also wish it was a well proved remedy to cover all the characteristic
symptoms :)
One thing we need to understand is that--
we may not get all the symptoms described under one particular
remedy in a case [for example a patient needing Medorrhinum will
not have all the symptoms mentioned under Medorrhinum in the Repertory--Good
news for you, Elaine!]
Woo-hoo!
plus--
we may not have all the symptoms of the case mentioned under a
remedy in the repertory which still is the simillimum.
It has been our experience that a remedy holds the essence of the
family it belongs to [for example Senecio holds characteristics
of Compositae family, which is sensitivity to Blunt Injury, Insults,
Burns, etc] . There are chances that the rubric depicting those
characteristics may be absent in that particular remedy [due to
various reasons like being not well-proved, etc.] but if even 2
or more remedies [well proved] of that particular family intensely
cover those symptoms- that is sufficient. [For the further description
of the same, I suggest you refer to the "Compositae" chapter
in the book, "An Insight Into Plants volume I".]
If the core of the patient [Feeling + Perception + Experience +
Reactions to all + Coping-up] matches with that of a remedy, it
is more than sufficient.
Having said this, it does not mean that repertorisation is not needed-
it is a must but we can do it with much wider horizons.
Urvi, let me see if I understand what you
just said as it's a little confusing. You seem to be saying that
whatever goes for Arnica (compositae) goes for Senecio, because
they're in the same family? I apologize for over-simplifying.
I definitely didn't mean to imply that what goes for Arnica also
goes for Senecio.
What I meant was that the remedies that fall under a particular
Plant Family hold a particular essence which is true for all of
them.
For example, the Plant family Compositae's essence is true for Arnica,
Senecio, Cina, Chamomilla, Bellis perennis, and so on.
Similarly, Anacardiaceae's essence [Caught, Stiff, Tight, Stuck,
etc.] is true for Anacardium, Rhus tox, Rhus venenata, etc, that
fall under this family.
This essence for plant families [so far, its done for 28 plant families]
is derived after careful research and study over the remedies [you
will find these derivations with explanation at length in three
volumes of An Insight into Plants].
While studying a particular plant family in order to derive its
essence, those drugs which were not proved well, had very few symptoms
to contribute to the derivation of essence for that family. But
it was understood that even if well proved remedies or at least
two of them from that plant family had characteristic symptoms that
helped to indicate the essence of that family- we had the job done.
Hence the statement-"when 2 or more than 2 other drugs [well
proved] of that particular family intensely covers that symptom-
that is sufficient."
Further, what helps differentiate amongst remedies falling under
one particular plant family is the depth and pace with which the
essence of the family is perceived / experienced and hence coped-up
[Miasm].
For instance, Arnica experiences the sensitivity towards blunt
Injury with panic, like a shock, with acuteness - this depth of
perceiving a sensation is that of an Acute miasm- Hence Arnica falls
at the cross point of Compositae sensation and Acute miasm- which
helps differentiate it from the rest, whereas Senecio experiences
the same sensitivity towards blunt injuries as a fixed weakness
within, difficult to repair, nothing can be done against this sensitivity
but it's still not fatal -so, accept it -live with it. Hence, the
experience of my patient-"There was nothing I could do!"
-so Senecio falls at the cross point of Compositae and sycotic miasm.
Similarly, Bellis per. lies at the cross point of Compositae and
cancer, Cina at Compositae and malaria, and so on and so forth.
This essence we can also call common group symptoms reflecting
the core, which is true for all those falling under that particular
group. We have common group symptoms / essence for kingdoms as well;
for instance, the essence of Plant Kingdom is sensitivity
and reactivity towards a particular phenomenon/sensation experienced
deep with in.
The common group symptoms / essence of Animal Kingdom is
Issue of Survival, victim and aggressor, competition, one v/s other,
predator v/s prey, stronger v/s weaker, etc.
The common group symptoms / essence of Mineral Kingdom is
Issue of Structure-either lack of /need of maintaining / fear of
destruction / process of destruction of a structure, and so on and
so forth with each kingdom.
Likewise, we have been successful in finding the essence of various
groups forming the taxonomical tree [order,class, families] falling
under a kingdom [plant/animal] as well as minerals.
Finding such essence proves to be of great help to--
- arrive at a shorter group of remedies in a relatively faster
pace and
- differentiate amongst groups of remedies that come close to
each other,
To give you an example, in my patient- her Core was Sensitivity
towards Blunt Injuries, fall, punch, hit, beaten, burnt, etc where
she could not do anything, hence opted to accept it.
So, the sensitivity towards one particular sensation/experience
spoke of Plant kingdom [hence ruling all the remedies out from other
kingdoms].
The nature of experience/vital sensation [Blunt Injuries, fall,
punch, hit, beaten, burnt,etc] spoke of one particular Plant Family
compositae [so that ruled out all the other remedies that didn't
fall under compositae].
Accepting this sensitivity and failing to do anything against this
sensitivity spoke of Sycotic miasm.
Hence she received Senecio [Plant + Compositae + sycotic].
What about etiology? I see so many possible
etiologies in the case--the mosquitos, fright (the whole "camp"
was apparently something the nazis had dreamed up!)...
This will again be OUR interpretation- "Nazis"--quite
an intense situation [no doubt about that] but it would have made
meaning in this case only if it came in patient's perception of
her situation, not otherwise.
The food and water were bad; there was a
lot of vomiting--food poisoning? Bad water? What do you do with
this etiological information, do you use any of it?
I have already answered this; also, I will be alert and await a
few more cases where the essence /core of the case again cried for
Senecio to look for presence of such etiology- if they are coming
up strongly, well, we will have a few clinically verified symptoms
to add in the poorly proved drug Senecio.
You know it also opens up the scope of further proving of many
such rare as well as proved drugs. In fact it is the demand of today
- the way the advancement is happening in the field of Homoeopathy.
We need to understand the pure language of that substance which
missed in the proving conducted maybe ten years back.
With this outlook, Dinesh and I have started conducting provings
since last year. Last year, we did one proving in Japan [Dinesh
goes to Japan for his ongoing seminar series since past 3 years]
and at present we are proving one more universal energy simultaneously
at three centers [India, Denmark and Australia]. You will be surprised
to know that many of the provers revealed the the exact language
as well as the complete pattern of those substances administered
to them.
Probably, after some time, [with the help of such provings] you
will find repertories full of such symptoms depicting the essence
and pattern of substances which we are lacking.
I wish we could have had more information
about the girl's cough (what did it sound like? Dry or rattling?
Like seals barking? Painful? Does she hold her chest? Does she bend
forward, etc?) and the asthma attacks (was there an aggravation
time? Was there an amelioration modality? A concomitant?)
Exactly. But what if we do not have it? [as what happened in this
case - in this case it was inquired, but there were no further descriptions].
Oh! OK, I wasn't aware of that.
I felt at a disadvantage because it appeared
to have been essential to know that the remark, "There was
nothing I could do", was a statement that reavealed the miasm.
Did you think it was at all peculiar that
she worked with a high fever and vomiting constantly and didn't
tell anyone? I find that absolutely bizarre! What does that mean?
Maybe this is more indicative of the miasm.
Absolutely. A patient with a miasm like sycotic / cancer /malaria
may all present this way. Then what helps differentiate is the way
it has been perceived and narrated in the context of its depth,
pace, intensity and the context of their talk.
Her "not telling anybody with such a high fever", as well
as the coping-up of the rest of the case, did not touch the depth,
pace and intensity of the cancer miasm - where the perception is
"need of self-control". In the perception of the Cancer
miasm, the situation is quite intense, demanding a super human effort
to withstand it-an overwhelming task which they try to accomplish
without losing their self-control, whereas with this patient, it
was like- "I cannot speak up, let me just accept it."
This was the depth with which she narrated, hence the Sycotic miasm.
She didn't try to help herself? She didn't
say, "You have to send me home! I'm sick! I'm calling my mother!"
Or was it possibly, "I don't want to be noticed. I don't want
to call attention to myself, I don't want people looking at me,
I don't want to be in the spotlight. I don't want people fussing
over me." Maybe you can explain why this is sycotic. I think
of Medorrhinum (funny that people keep bringing up Medorrhinum!),
right at the center of the sycotic miasm, these children are very
demonstrative. They can be cruel, harsh, insulting, wild, aggressive,
fighting, hitting (I was never like this!).... You get the impression
that if they needed to go home they'd let you know. When I hear
of a sick child working with a high fever, sick as a dog, and not
complaining, I think of Staphysagria, which is the cancer miasm.
Did you think of Staphysagria in this case at all?
No. the reason is the same as why I did not think of Rat for the
case.
The Core of Staphysagria which belongs to the plant family Ranunculaceae
is quite different than that of Senecio which belongs to Compositae.
In this patient, "working with high fever" was perceived
as fear of punishment which further led to her sensitivity towards
Blunt Trauma [Composiate family] and she opted to accept the situation
as she felt she can not do any thing about it [Sycotic miasm].
If she would have perceived the situation of "High fever and
not reacting" as that of Staphysagria sensitivity [Ranunculaceae
+ cancer] that might have led to the thought of Staphysagria.
I'm having trouble understanding what you
just said in terms of why you didn't consider Staphysagria (child
doesn't want to be a burden to others and is afraid of reprisals,
so, doesn't complain despite being very sick). I'm not clear on
why we wouldn't consider Staphysagria. She must have been very humiliated
too, with all the hitting, etc.
This is exactly the point I am putting weight on again and again-
there are many such possibilities with all the hitting; humiliation
is one such possibility, another is Injury, another is somebody
trying to cause harm deliberately, etc.-it will differ depending
upon different patients.
For this patient, humiliation was not what she perceived / felt,
so, it was out. So staphysagria was out.
What she felt and perceived with the incidence of hitting was her
sensitivity towards that again leading to the sensitivity towards
Blunt Injury that we get in the rest of the case. [Compositae family]
.
Your question also raises one more question as in one particular
image makes a physician think of Rat for that person, another episode
makes the physician think of Staphysagria, how to avoid having such
confusions in the case and be more assured of the simillimum?
The answer to this is, if we
- focus upon what the patient is focusing on in the case,
- focus on what it is that he keeps in center of the case [what
the patient feels is important and the most bothersome to him]
and not what we feel is important for the case [so as to avoid
interpretations and prejudice]
- try to understand those issues with respect to their exact
pattern of feeling, perception, sensation, experience along with
associated reactions and coping-up [the vital disturbance ]
- explore more than two or more uncompensated areas of that patient's
life in order to confirm the explored vital disturbance
- get any Images [example rat] - understand it with respect to
the above mentioned points [a to e]
- find out the source [similimum] which has the exact core /
energy pattern as described by the patient
the chances of confusion at least in understanding the core of
the patient will be minimal.
I also see that information for solving the
acute asthma case was taken from an old acute (the fever) and the
constitution as well, and I wonder if you're suggesting that this
is what we should do when a person presents with an acute? It's
not something I would tend to do; when I look back at all the flus
I've had in my life--one was Arsenicum, one was Belladonna, one
was Pyrogen--I wonder what the value would have been if I began
by taking the case of the last flu I had when trying to solve the
present one. Yes, it all seems to have worked out for the best in
your asthma case...
I Understand your dilemma Elaine. But if I try answering this, it
will prove to be theoretical.
Also, not this one case, all of my cases are done on this principle
and so far the results are as positive as the present case of Asthma.
I'm wondering how to extrapolate this information
and put it to use for myself in the future.
Try and Try till you cry :)
Wait, I'm writing that down....
Jokes apart, this works on the fundamental conviction upon the
principle I just mentioned that not all the acutes are the cry of
different state in a patient- that there are possibilities that
its an opportunity to understand the otherwise subdued state which
is crying aloud in the form of an acute. If this is the vision,
I am sure an answer will soon happen to your question.
How often do you get cases where the remedy
is Senecio (or a similar rare remedy)?
The possibility of getting any drug is equal. With the idea
of looking at the drug in the broader horizon, reaching to the very
core of the substance [so much so that we actually can gather the
source language of the substance and not just the characteristic
physical generals / mental generals of that particular substance]
the possibility of prescribing even a rare drug has increased because
apart from the materia medica and repertory as a source of reference,
now we see a wider reference - possibilities [ sources giving information
about natural habitat, natural quality, properties, etc of a source
or a Substance ].
This is a very interesting quote I collected from somewhere-
"As he practiced, he learned new things and developed new
ideas about case understanding and Receiving.
Each new case showed him how much there was still to learn and the
more he learned, the more he began to appreciate how infinite knowledge
truly is."
I think this is the most fascinating and vibrant reality of Homoeopathic
science where every patient who sits next to you is different and
as unique as ever; a package that comes with vibrant scope to come
across more and more unique experiences of life with each case.
This stirs the chord of my Heart. My poetic Heart again is excited-
A few words to describe the Essence of the Vital Energy Disturbance
approach -
"If the CORE [of the disturbed vital energy of patient]
Matched the CORE [of a remedy it calls for]
Leave the rest of your hassles, out of the DOOR."
Don't stop now, tell me more!
"With the approach of Homoeopathy combined with Yoga- as
Unique as a Human Being
Monotony and Boredom vanishes from the life of a Physician's Being
Life blooms and the Living brightens
A "Dis" [Disease] becomes an Ease Being"
I like the way you rhymed Being with Being!
Elaine, am I answering well?
Say "Namaste", Urvi.
Namaste!
__________________________________________________
Dr. Urvi Chauhan
SWASTHYA HOMOEOPATHIC CLINIC
106, Dinar Build., 1st Floor,
Station Road, Santacruz(W), Mumbai 400 054.
Tel : 91-22-26046245
91-22-28927642
Email : drchauhan@vsnl.net
, swasthyaclinic@vsnl.net
Web site : www.homeohome.com
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