TALK - 7 MATERIA MEDICA - 1

Hello! And welcome back.

Fine let’s begin. So far I have spoken to you about the concepts about the overall
idea of the sensation method and we have talked about the repertory. We have
talked about the use of repertory & today I would like to talk to you about
Materia Medica.

Today we will learn how to study remedies, using the two different approaches
together. On the one hand the symptom approach and on the other hand the
sensation or the system approach. First we will go through the outline of how to
study a remedy, and for this we will take three remedies, one from each kingdom,
and study them as examples.

How to study a remedy

Source
The first thing that we study about the remedy is the source.
We first need some basic understanding about the origin or the source of the
remedy, which kingdom it’s coming from, which part of that kingdom etc.

Materia Medica – the PQRS symptoms with L, S, M

Secondly, we need to study the Materia Medica of that remedy.
Which means we need to study the Peculiar, queer, rare and strange symptoms of
that remedy along with its Location, sensation and modality.

We also need to study the characteristics. We need to study the general & the
mental symptoms of that remedy and the unique symptoms of that remedy. Once
we study this kind of Materia Medica then we need to study the remedy from the
kingdom point of view.

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Kingdom
We need to study its place in the kingdoms and then you will be able to see how
the characteristic symptoms of that remedy can be understood by locating it in
the map of the kingdoms.

Miasm
The next thing we need to study about the remedy is it’s miasm. What is the pace
of that remedy, what is the depth of that remedy. What is the acuteness or the
chronicity of that remedy. This is something that we need to understand.

Complementary and similar remedies

We also need to study complementary and similar remedies. Which are the
remedies around that remedy in terms of its symptoms, it’s kingdom, it’s sub
kingdom , it’s pathology.

Repertorial rubrics
Then we can study the reportorial rubrics of that remedy. We can study this
either from a repertory or from a repertory extraction. So there are books that
give you all the rubrics of a remedy in alphabetical order. This is a very useful way
of studying a remedy.

Cases from practice

Finally we should study the cases from practice because these are the cases that
gives the remedy a life.

Together all these things which means the source, the Materia medica, the
rubrics, the miasm, the kingdom & cases from practice together gives us a very
well- grounded picture of the remedy. It is useful often to start with but very
authentic book because that gives us in a nutshell what the remedy is all about.
And one book that I like to recommend & I too choose for myself is Phatak’s
Materia Medica.

Now let us begin the study of one remedy which is Silicea / silica.

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 SILICEA

Source
Firstly, the source …

Silicea, or Silica, is Silicon dioxide, or sand. It is a compound of Oxygen as well as

Silicon. This is very useful to remember that it has also oxygen in it.

Materia medica:
Then let us study some characteristic symptoms from Phatak’s Materia Medica.
The Materia Medica says:

 It produces defective nutrition especially in children. There is malnutrition and

arrested development.
Now just reading this symptom is so interesting because when you later on when
you will study the kingdoms & when we study that Silica comes in Row 3 of the
periodic table, we will see that Row 3 is especially concerned with nutrition, with
nourishment and especially with children & especially arrested development, at
that stage in child’s life when he is dependent on the other for his nutrition or
development.

Then, Phatak’s Materia Medica says,

 Suppurative processes which are stubborn, fistulas, and abscesses.

Now when we look at this symptom, it gives us a little bit idea of its chronicity of
Silica. That Silica is not only for acute situations but it is especially for chronic
situations, something that are stubborn, something that are fixed, something that
last for a long time. Things that are not fatal, things that are not going to finish
you but you are going to live with it .

For example a fistula is something that you live with, they are stuck to you & later
on we will get an idea that belong to the sycotic miasm; whose pace is chronic,
stubborn & fixed.

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Then Phatak’s Materia Medica says, Silica is
 Keenly sensitive to cold and having a hatred for drafts of air.
This is a very interesting symptom because this is one of the main modalities of
Silica which is aggravation from draft.

For example if you take the rubric

Asthma aggravation from draft
You will find probably only Silica, which is a very strange symptom because
asthmatics are usually liking draft or fanning.

 Pains are violent and sticking but localized in ears, throat etc.
So what is interesting about Silica as you can read from the book is that it affects
very very local parts, that means there is a fistula that is very localized. There is a
splinter like pain but it is very localized. So Silica is well known for very, very
localized single affections. And this is useful to remember. Later on, when we
study about the mind we will see that Silica is one of the main remedies for
Monomania that means concerned about very very particular things.

Then you see Phatak says,

 There is a tendency to the development of cicatrices and keloids.
Here you see the tendency to overgrowth. The tendency to tumor formation
which is also a quality of the Sycotic miasm, just like Thuja.
 In modalities Phatak lists aggravation from cold and draft, and better from
warmth and magnetism.
Very interesting! We have already seen aggravation from cold and draft &
therefore the opposite is better by warmth. Silica is one of the few remedies that
is much better from covering and much better from a hot bath.

Now, what is magnetism? We will later on… we will understand magnetism

means hypnotism. And Silica is better from hypnotism. What does hypnotism
really mean? Hypnotism means that somebody suggests you what is to be done
and what is not to be done. Then means he takes over your decision making or
your choice. And this is very, very interesting also because the 3rd row; along with

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being concerned with nourishment and nutrition is also concerned with the
development of individual choice & decision making. So we see that in Silica there
is a kind of balance, a kind of imbalance, a kind of double sidedness. On one side
silica is yielding.

Phatak says in the mind,

 Mind: the person is yielding and yet also could be obstinate.
So Silica lies exactly in the mid-point of the 3rd row where he is not sure whether
he is able to decide and therefore he has to listen to somebody else’s decision or
whether he is already able to make the decision and therefore he can be firm
about his own choice. So he lies at that very delicate, balanced stage.

So Phatak talks about

 Headstrong children.
Children who says no this is the way I will do it and not any other way. Where
they are fixed they are stubborn.

There are fixed ideas says Phatak. There is loss of self-confidence and complaints
from anticipation.

So on one side, the child is stubborn. I have to do it this way and no other way,
I will be like this and no other way, my idea is fixed about it. On the other hand,
he can also be tremendously lacking in confidence and can yield to the will of
other people. And at that stage comes in him an anxiety or a nervousness about
himself. Am I what I portray to be or others are going to find out I am not that.
And here comes is tremendous anticipation. And this ailments from anticipation is
also a strongly Sycotic miasm symptom.

The main symptoms of Sycotic miasm are avoidance, anticipation and acceptance.
So what is the anticipation about in Silica. The anticipation is about his own
image, it is about his own confidence, it is about what he portrays as an
individual. And any situation where this image could be hurt, where this image
could be belied, where this image could be shown to be not what it is, he gets
very anxious and it is especially true when he faces people, when he presents a
project, when he writes an exam or especially when he is on a stage.

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So what am I saying all this for? I am saying all this in order to show you that
when we read the Materia Medica, when we read the characteristic symptoms,
when we read the pathology, when we read the location, when we read the
modalities of a remedy, you are also at the same time understanding it in the
context of the kingdom, in the context of the sub kingdom, in the context of its
place in the natural order of things and here is the beauty.

And this is the way, if we understand Materia Medica like this then what will
happen is we will start understanding the patients like this. That we will start
understanding the patients not only in terms of their symptoms but also in terms
of their sensation. And we will see that their symptoms and their sensations are
actually speaking the same language. And that is the integration that I really want
to talk to you about because that’s what gives me the confidence in practice. It is
not one or the other, it is both talking the same thing and that is the way we have
to study the Materia Medica, that is the way we have to study our patients.

 This raw data from the Materia Medica , this concised Materia Medica, at first
in Phatak’s seems so disjointed, just an accumulation of seemingly
unconnected symptoms. But when you understand them more in context, it
forms a beautiful harmony. Now one of the things I like to study about
remedies is also from clinical experience, that there are many confirmatory
symptoms of Silicea.

Confirmatory symptoms: There are many confirmatory symptoms of Silicea;

For example:
- Ribbed and corrugated nails.

If you looked at the repertory, Extremities, corrugated nails you will find Silica is
the top remedy.

What is corrugated? Corrugated means the nail is like an asbestos sheet. You
know it is going up and down in ridges.

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Another symptom in the nail of Silica is that they develop
- White spots on nails.
Now very few remedies have this and you can use this as confirmation.

Very often Silica people have

- Cold sweat on the palm and the soles.
Especially when they are nervous.

Often perspiration is offensive especially of the feet.

True to their Sycotic miasm feature, they often develop
- Warts on the external throat
What is the external throat? The front of the neck , this we call the external
throat. And the back of the neck is called the cervical region. So in Homoeopathy
we do not have the neck, we either have external throat or we have the cervical
region. And Silica has warts in both these areas.
- Aggravation from draft of air
As I told you asthma worse from draft of air, the only remedy is Silicea.
Now we can see another thing in Silicea & that is Monomania.

Monomania in terms of body and mind:

- As I observed earlier Silicea is mostly has single pathology, e.g. a Silicea patient
will come to you with only fistula or with only keloid, or with only a wart.
- It is almost like it’s pathology is restricted to a single part or organ, and it’s
chronic and it can be there for years and years. One of the symptom for
example is sinusitis. He can come to you for a chronic pain of sinus, a chronic
inflammation of sinusitis, that’s going on for years.
- This is a kind of concentration on one spot.
- In the mind we could call it monomania. Where one thinks of only one thing
constantly to the exclusion or avoidance of everything else.

Dreams: One dream I observed in some Silicea patients is a dream of being

pursued by wild animals.
This it shares with Sulphur in the same row. Why exactly this dream, I have no
clue.

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Kingdom
Now if we study Silicea from the kingdom point of view, we see that it lies in the
Third Row, and it lies in the middle of the 3rd row. And therefore, it shares with
other remedies of the 3rd row all the issues of that row. What are the issues of
that row? You have the issues of :

 Identity, care and nourishment.

It is a stage of the development in a child where he feels separate from the
parent. He doesn’t feel the need to be in the womb any more now. But he is
dependent on the parent for his identity, for his choice, for care and nourishment
from outside. And this is the stage where the ego is developing. We have already
seen the issues of nourishment in Silica, malnutrition. So you can find in many
Silica patients issues with nutrition. They are emaciated often inspite they are
eating well.

 You see a tremendous lack of self-confidence, trust in their ownselves.

Their ego is not yet fully developed. So the question is “How do I look to other
people?” What are people saying about me? Because their opinion of themselves
is coming from other people. and this leads to self-consciousness and often
embarrassment.

In the 3rd row also there is an issue with

 Growth and development.
So you find that in Silicea, a dwarfishness. A lack of development and it is one of
the main remedies for it.
 Implicit trust.

So you find in Silicea also like in other remedies of the 3rd row the lack of trust in
other people. Like we saw the desire for magnetism, to implicit trust in somebody
else. A kind of naivety is also there. They are not very complicated. And also in the
3rd row are the issues of the need for familiarity and comfort and the fear of the
unknown. The feeling I need direction or the feeling I am lost. Also in the 3 rd row
is the issue of developing the abilty to take decisions. And to develop a sense of

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 8

right and wrong. So in Silicea which comes after Natrum, Magnesium and Alumina
this sense of ego is more developed, more firm. In fact, it has now become quite
rigid. I often compare this to glass. Glass, Alumina is clay, Silica is glass. Alumina
still has the ability to be moulded before it hardens. But glass is already hard,
tough, hard and brittle. It can only take that one shape. So it has taken its shape
and that’s how it’s going to be for the rest of his life. This is the feeling with Silica.

 Feeling forsaken.
 Being comfortable with familiarity, and fearing the unknown.
 Feeling lost, needing direction.
 Fear of natural phenomena
 Wanting to be different.
 Developing the ability to take decisions, developing a sense of right and wrong.
 Doing things for oneself, developing the ability to express oneself.
 Homesickness.
 Awkwardness.

So being in the middle of the Third Row, the issue of image, confidence and
appearance, Silicea has the following features:

 Silicea is extremely image conscious, and is always worried about whether he

will live up to the expectations of others or of himself or of what he wants to
be or what he should be. When he steps onto the stage, he is always worried if
this image will hold or it will not hold.

Dressing and mannerism: Often I have seen in the clinic, Silica patient can come
in very conservatively or formally dressed. Often he is reserved and speaks
hesitantly and it will be often difficult to get a prolonged history from him or to
enter into any of the conversational mode. I often find that the case form
questionnaires are very well filled out like the projects that they do. Common
clinical confirmation of Silica is, I ask them suppose you do a project or do submit
some paper or something and if there is one little mistake over there, will you just
scratch it out and then put something on it or will you have to redo it the entire
page. Often Silica will have to say we have to redo the entire page. So then the

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 9

questionnaires are well filled out, good hand writing, precise like their answers.
And often they have rehearsed what they have to tell you. So what comes out is
whatever is rehearsed and then there is a stop. There is no conversation here.

Issue of identity and choice. You have the issue of identity and choice. So you
have anticipatory anxiety and the lack of self- confidence and then the peculiar
combination of yielding and stubborn. ‘Yielding’ means I have no choice and
‘stubborn’ means I have my own choice and I am very firm about it. So sometimes
it can happen that from the outside they may appear yielding but inside they are
quite stubborn. They say in English, “convinced against his will, but of the same
option still”.

Homesickness: Another issue of the 3rd row which is also prominent in Silica is
Homesickness. Silicea is the only remedy as far as I know has “dreams of youth
times” which means the dreams of the times when he was in his youth when he
was in his childhood. Of his old friends, of his old home, of familiarity and of
comfort because out of his comfort zone he feels always apprehensive, anxious,
lack of self-confidence and nervous.

Miasm
As far as miasm is concerned, we find there is a constant anticipation. The word
constant is very important with the, that is one of the main themes with Sycotic
miasm. Most of the pathologies like suppurations, fistulas. Keloids, warts,
overgrowths are fixed and they are indicative of the sycotic miasm. Similarly
hypersensitive allergic reactions. Silicea is well-known for the allergic response to
dust for example in the form of silicosis. Now if you study the rubric “Vaccination,
ailments from”, you have Silica very very prominently, also Thuja.

The way I understand this rubric is that vaccination is basically the introduction of
a foreign protein into the system and people who have ailments from vaccination
are people who are hypersensitive and hyper- reactive to a foreign protein. The
same idea is the idea of allergies. So people who have allergies and hyper immune
system responses to different situations for example dust or smoke or whatever
or hyper immune system diseases like eczema etc. asthma. I consider in these
people the rubric “Ailments from vaccination”. Even though they do not give …

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they may not give us a history of vaccination or reacting badly to it. I assume that
these remedies are the remedies for hyper immune system response and they are
usually sycotic. Silica is one of the remedies for asthma and eczema and other
allergic diseases.
Well we need to compare Silica with other remedies.

Comparison with other remedies

First of all we need to compare with the remedies of the same row. For example
we compare between Natrum. Magnesium, Aluminium, Silica, Phosphorus and
Sulphur. And we need to know each of these remedies represents different stage
in the development of identity, of independence, of choice, and of ego.

Alumina is still confused about its identity. It’s like clay it doesn’t know what he is
going to become. So he is questioning him, do I do what I want to do or do I have
to do what other tells me to do. And there is a conflict in his being, it is a terrible
conflict. Its syphilitic, it could be destroy it.

Silica is the next stage where he says this is me that’s it. I am going to become a
doctor, an engineer or whatever. I am going to be like this I am going to be
whatever ..it’s fixed. This is me and I am not going to change it. The question now
is am I good enough to be that what I want or people going to find out I am not
good enough. That’s the fear. But what I want to be is for sure.

And the next is Phosphorus who says I want to be different from what you want
me to be.

So Silica may say I want to be this, what you want me to be. May be you know
I want to be to your expectations. But it’s my choice that I have decided to be
what you want me to be.

But Phosphorus is the next. Just I will be purposely different than what you want
me to be. So it’s the further stage of ego development.

And of course, Sulphur takes the cake because it says I am better than everyone.
I know; you don’t. I know better.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 11

So you have to compare Silica with these other remedies of the 3rd row.
Then you have to compare Silica with the compounds of Silica like, Calc silicata,
like Alumina silicata and here you will see that for eg: Calcarea silicate will have
issues of Calcarea like security, of money, of the job. He feels insecure that he
doesn’t have money I need the job. And then comes the Silica part of the picture
which says am I good enough to be in this job. And then there is anxiety that am
I or am I not good enough. If I am not good enough I will lose the job, I will lose
the money. Then how will I support myself. So Calcarea silicate very beautifully
combines the qualities of Calcarea and Silica. Which means I have to be like this in
order to have my security. And am I good enough.

Alumina Silicata a little bit more complicated. And about that I have to talk to you
with a case and that we will do in the future talk. Because we can bring out
beautifully the quality of Alumina Silicata. And is one of the most beautiful
remedies and when indicated it really works fantastically. I would like to show you
some cases of it later on.
But one remedy that often comes in comparision with Silica is Argentum nitricum.

Difference between Silicea and Argentum nitricum:

Because both have stage-fright, both are nervous and both are mineral remedies.
So you will see mineral qualities in both and you will see stage fright in both.

What is the difference between the two?

The difference is that Argentum comes from the 5th row of the periodic table.
Which is creativity.

- Silicea is not a creative person; he just wants to perform according to

expectations. He is not original, he is like a child who has to narrate poetry in a
competition. He just has to narrate it, he doesn’t have to create it. He has to
narrate it the way it has to be narrated. The way it has been taught to him. The
only question is will he be able to do it.

- Whereas Argentum from the 5th row is a creative person. He is like a speaker,
singer, an orator, a creator and he has to make the presentation or original

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 12

 composition or improvisation and he is very anxious to maintain his position as
a creator, as a presenter, as a composer. And this is a very difficult job.

- It involves the reaching out beyond himself. Excelling himself. Each time he has
to do better. Imagine a life of a classical singer. Imagine the life of a scientist.
Imagine the life of an actor, he is going to be judged by the standard he has
set. Not that somebody has set for him. And each time he has to reach beyond
himself, to excel in order to maintain his reputation, his position. But
Argentum is just beyond the 10th stage, the 10th column. The 10th column is
success and after that you have to maintain that success. It’s just above Aurum
metallicum. So this need to excel himself, to have total control on what he is
doing, brings Argentum nitricum to the cancer miasm. Whereas Silica is Sycotic
miasm. Silica is 3rd row concerned with his image, Argentum is 5th row
concerned with his originality and creativity. And this is a huge difference
between the two remedies.

- What else we have to compare Silica with?

- We have to compare Silica with other sycotic remedies.
- Comparison with other sycotic remedies
- Silicea is very close to Thuja and to Pulsatilla. Pulsatilla is also yielding
disposition and sycotic. However, you cannot differentiate it merely from
these symptoms. You will know the difference when you will go to the inner
core of the experience in the case. In that inner core of experience of this case,
Thuja will express fragility of the Conifer family and Pulsatilla will express the
excessive sensitivity of the Ranunculaceae family. Whereas in Silicea the issue
will be of identity and the fixation of identity.
- Let me explain a little bit more.

The question for Pulsatilla is not the question of choice, she doesn’t have the
problem to decide what he wants what he doesn’t want. It is not the issue at all.
He knows what he wants. He is clear what he wants and what he doesn’t want.
The question for Pulsatilla is that he will not express this desire because he
believes that if he or she expresses this choice, this desire, somebody might get
angry on him. Somebody might be rude to him or her and she wants to create the
situation for herself that she avoids rudeness.

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That she avoids confrontation, that she avoids criticism, that she avoids insult,
that she avoids any harshness or hurt. And therefore in order to avoid this
harshness or hurt or insult or reprimand or criticism therefore she is always mild,
yielding, pleasing other people. So that nobody will speak harshly to her and she
will cry very easily. So you don’t have to speak to her harshly. So the entire action
of Pulsatilla is the avoidance of hurt, the avoidance of harshness, rudeness which
is exactly the sycotic miasm in the Ranunculaceae family. Whereas the yielding
disposition of Silica is actually a symbol of not knowing what he should be or what
he wants. He is not that clear but not formed with his choice. His ego is not yet
clearly formed and what he avoids is embarrassment and what he avoids is
people having a bad opinion of him. What he avoids is people finding out that he
is not good enough.

So these are completely different even enough they seem similar in some
symptoms. What is interesting of course between Pulsatilla and Silica is they are
supposed to be complements of each other, following each other well. Silica they
say is the chronic of Pulsatilla or follows well. That’s very interesting; they are very
close.

Clinical observations
Now the other thing we need to know from Silica is the experience from clinical
cases.

What are the clinical observations with Silica?

One thing that I found about them is they are extremely conscientious about
trifles. Conscientious means very particular. They don’t want to make the slightest
mistake or the slightest error. I told you they would change the entire page if
there is slightest imperfection.

Some important rubrics:

What are some important rubrics of Silica?
One rubric that is interesting is:

- ‘Delusion: body divided, left half does not belong to her’. The way I
understood is that Silicea seems to have two sides to her. One that she shows
and one that is hidden. To keep something about you hidden is a feature of the

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 14

 sycotic miasm and the one that you show to people is the theme of the
“Appearance” of the Third Row.

- Another rubric of Silica

‘Fear; of undertaking a new enterprise’

- Other rubric is ‘Remorse about trifles.’ He feels he makes the slightest

mistakes and he feels so upset about it. How could I do that, how could I make
that mistake.

The famous rubrics of Silicea are of course

- ‘Timidity, appearing in public’ or ‘Fear, appearing in public, of’

- ‘Delusion, that everything will fail.’
- ‘Fear, failure, of.’
- ‘Fear, falling off.’
- ‘Egotism.’
- ‘Fear of examinations.’
- One clinical rubric also, ‘Head, baldness of young people.’ Which it shares
with the remedy Baryta carbonicum. So I find sometimes that Silica people at
the age of 20-25-30 are already bald.
Some important points about Silicea
- One clinical situation where I find Silica is always coming from is the situation
where they feel they have to fulfill a specific image as a necessary condition of
they being accepted.

For example, a child is told that he will be accepted and loved if he achieves in a
specific way. he comes first in class or he becomes a doctor etc etc and that
makes them very nervous. And this is more what is perceived than that what is
actual.

So what they are doing is actually fulfilling an image made for them by somebody
else. And to maintain this image she yields, she yields to that image but that
image itself becomes fixed and obstinate. So here it is two things together. She is
yielding to somebody’s image but that image is obstinate or fixed.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 15

My imagination of Silicea:

When I imagine Silica, just out of my own imagination, I imagine is somebody like
a queen or the prince, who is not powerful, just is a titular head. Just the head for
namesake. So there is no power but there is a monarchy here. So he has to keep
up the family image. He doesn’t have to do anything creative or original or think
and take any responsibility. But his job is simply is to live to a particular image and
everybody expects him to live to that particular image. And anything that spoils
that image is not good for him. People are always observing him, that’s how he
feels.

Dr William Gutman from America he writes very beautifully about Silica. He says ,

- ‘Silicea is derived from the earth’s crust which consists of sand or grit and the
patient shows lack of grit.

- The earth’s crust gets easily heated by the sun and easily chilled. And so is the
Silicea patient; easily sensitive to cold and heat and is worse from cold and
heat.

- The earth’s crust was originally soft, consisting of lava, and then it became
harder and harder. So in the patient the soft parts become hard, and the hard
part becomes soft. Like formation of abscesses in the bones, caries of teeth
etc.’

Correlation of facts (symptoms) with kingdom and miasm understandings

So in this way, when you study Silica from the source, from the Materia medica,
from the rubrics, from the kingdom, from the miasm, from the clinical cases, from
the comparision of similar remedies then you get a very very grounded picture of
that remedy. And this is the way you need to study a remedy, and this is the way
you also we need to study the patients. Now we will pass on to another remedy
also a very common one from the Plant kingdom.

We will study Pulsatilla.

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 PULSATILLA
Information about the source from William Gutman:

 Pulsatilla first of all the source. We know that it’s from the Ranunculeceae
family. And now if we study the information on the source about Pulsatilla we
find some very interesting information.
 This is also from William Gutman. William Gutman studied remedies from the
source and he has compared the information from the source with the
symptomatology of the remedy in a very beautiful, often poetic way.
 He wrote Pulsatilla is often found in groups, as if seeking company, never
rarely or as a single specimen.
 The plant grows on dry, sandy soil, having small need for water. Which kind of
brings to the fore the thirstlessness of Pulsatilla which we know as one of its
characteristics.
 It appears early, thriving in the cool air of first spring, but has still to be
protected against chill by fine soft hair, covering stems and leaves.
 The flower, softly bents, hanging downwards, yields to the slightest breath of
air, moving about, constantly changing its position, as the wind changes its
direction.
 The same characteristic "changefulness" exists in the colors, all colors are
represented, from near white to yellow, lilac, blue, red, violet and purple to a
nearly black color.
 So some hints about Pulsatilla, about its changeability, about its yielding
disposition, about its thirstlessness are all found in the plant itself.
Pulsatilla from Materia Medica
 Constitutional makeup:
- Usually helps females of mild, gentle and yielding disposition as given in
Phatak.
- People who cry readily.
- It is generally thirst less.
- Generally chilly but aggravated in a closed room and better in the open air.
- Discharges are yellowish green.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 17

Interestingly, the greenish yellowish discharges are generally Sycotic miasm. As
we see in Silica, as we see in Natrum sulphuricum.

 Mental makeup:
Pulsatilla we know is
- Mild, timid.
- Emotional and tearful.
- Easily offended.
- Likes to be fussed over or caressed.
- It is also very irritable and touchy.
- Feels slighted ( slighted means insulted ) or fears slight.
- Feels herself alone in the world.
- Fixed ideas that certain foods are not good for the human race.
These fixed ideas are also very typical of Sycotic miasm. We see that in Silica,
we see that in Thuja, we see that in Pulsatilla.
- “Delusion; forsaken, deserted”. ‘Fear, forsaken, of being.’
- “Delusion, neglected she is”. ‘Fear, neglected, of being.’
- He always anticipates that people will neglect him or forsake him.
- “Dreams, frightened by a black dog”.

 Important generals: some important general symptoms

- Desires what disagrees. So often a Pulsatilla will say I can’t take sour food,
I can’t take ice cream, I can’t take spicy food, I can’t take oily food. And when
you ask him what things do you like he says exactly the same thing. I like ice
cream, I like sour food, I like spicy food, I like oily food. So the desires are
exactly the opposite. It is very interesting that he has to avoid what he likes.
- Thirstless.
 Important female particulars:
- Menses onset delayed.
- Menses is usually late and scanty, with unwashable stains (indelible).
Now all these symptoms so far are seemingly unconnected. We see mind
symptoms, bodily symptoms, there are general symptoms, there are particular
symptoms, hormonal symptoms.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 18

A study of Pulsatilla through the kingdom approach:
Now we need to study Pulsatilla through the kingdom approach.
First of all, we see that Pulsatilla is a member of the plant remedy of

Family Ranunculaceae.
 The main themes of Family Ranunculaceae:
- Extremely sensitivity to being hurt - insulted, slighted, offended, mortified,
reprimanded. It is as if the nerves are ‘exposed’, ‘raw’ and ‘touchy’.
- There is a mixture of emotions; there is grief along with anger and guilt, one
on top of another. Try to understand the Ranunculaceae family The main
characteristic of the Ranunculaceae family is that the person does not feel
one thing at a time. If he feel angry, he is also feeling guilty and also feeling
sad; all at the same time, which happen with one another. So if somebody
hurt him, he feels sad, he feels angry, and he also feels guilty for having done
something to be brought on that kind of an offence. So there is fear, hurt and
irritability. This is one of the main qualities in Ranunculaceae, you must see
that in the patient. So when pulsatilla person is angry he has to feel sadness
and guilty and anger, all at the same time. That is it’s characteristic.
- Timidity.
- There is also a tendency to suppress or hold back.

So similarly in Pulsatilla you see all emotions. There are many fears, such as fear
of being alone, and fear to be in the dark. There is irritability and anger. And there
is weeping and sadness. All the emotions mixed together makes Pulsatilla
extremely touchy and sensitive.

What is the miasm of Pulsatilla:

Pulsatilla has a tendency to fixed ideas.
It has got ‘Fears of slights’: fear to be insulted. Apprehended, anticipating.
Somebody will hurt him, somebody will insult him and doing everything in his
power to avoid him constantly. This apprehension and this anticipation & this
avoidance make it a pre-eminently a Sycotic miasm remedy.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 19

Most of the pathology of pulsatilla as we know it is of non- destructive nature.
The yellowish – greenish discharges, the problem in her menses, so many
problems are there in Pulsatilla. But usually like Silica they are not of destructive
nature.

Pulsatilla adopts a type of behavior which is mild and yielding. Whatever you say
she will listen and if you are little bit harsh she can cry at the drop of a hat. So
these are not the kind of people you will want to offend, you will be very careful
and cautious about this, and they will also try to see that they give you no reason
to offend them.

Now we need to Correlate of characteristic symptoms with the Kingdom and

Miasm understandings:
So here we see that Pulsatilla is an emotional, tearful person, craves for fuss and
consolation, weeps easily, is irritable, touchy, fears slight & has fixed ideas.

These are all in keeping with the understanding of Pulsatilla as a member of

Family Ranunculaceae family, in the sycotic miasm.

What are the Confirmatory symptoms of Pulsatilla:

When I have a feeling that this patient is Pulsatilla from all that we had said
before.. from the symptom, from the rubrics, from the characteristics, from the
sensations, from the miasm. Then I can ask some symptoms which are
confirmatory.

Trembling from anger, changes in body from anger.

One of them is what happens to the person when he is angry. I asked the patient
tell me when you are angry what happens to you. Often Pulsatilla patient will
have trembling from anger and changes in the body from anger. This is not
recorded in the repertories but it is something that I have confirmed and it is also
an important feature of the Ranunculaceae family.

In rare cases you will see that Pulsatilla wants to throw or strike in anger, but they
will never ever do it. However, there is intense anger that comes. Pulsatilla is a

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 20

very angry remedy, but this anger is often never seen. It is always completely
hidden and avoided. In fact, if you ask them whether they will get angry?, they
will say never ever. But if you ask them, “Do you not get angry or feel angry?”
They will say, “We feel intensely angry, but don’t show it.” Then you ask them,
“What do you feel at the height of anger?” Then they will talk to you about the
trembling and other bodily symptoms.

Another confirmatory symptom of Pulsatilla is:

Sensitivity and weeping

“Weeping from joy”
‘Weeping when narrating her complaints’.
“Weeping at joy and sorrow” ( RUBRIC : weeping, joyful or sad things,at)
‘Weeping when narrating her complaints’. means while narrating her complaint
she automatically starts crying. This is the symptom that pulsatilla shares with
other remedies like Medorrhinum, Sepia and Kali carb, which are from completely
different kingdoms. But it is for sure that the easy weeping tendency is found in
every single case of Pulsatilla

Element of dependence:
Another symptom of pulsatilla is
There is a strong element of dependence in Pulsatilla with a fear of being alone ,
the fear to be left alone, fear to be neglected and forsaken and the dependence
on other person which makes the Pulsatilla person yielding, mild and having to
pander or please other people. This feeling of dependence is an emotional
dependence. Unlike a dependence for security or a dependence for choice as you
find in the Mineral remedies. It’s a need for sympathy, it’s a need for fuss, it’s a
need for consolation which makes the Pulsatilla person feel much better.

Thirstlessness.
Another characteristic is thirstlessness.
There are some interesting things about Pulsatilla in thirstlessness. If you ask the
patient “tell me are you thirsty?”, he may say yes. Then you would have to
counter question and ask the question, “what are you thirsty for?” Some Pulsatilla
people will say we are thirsty only for cold drinks. And when you ask what about

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 21

normal water, he will say he is averse to normal water. So it’s not thirst but
actually there is a desire for cold drinks which is a strong symptom of Pulsatilla.

Another thing about thirst is when you ask the patient thirst? He says yes I am
very thirsty. So describe how much water do you take, I take 8-9 glasses per day
or half a litre, one litre per day. Then you ask why do you take this water? Often
the Pulsatilla person would say because it is good for me, I am told to take water.
I made it a habit. So he takes water out of his fixed belief, a fixed idea that so
much water is necessary to take. If we say if left to yourself how much water
would you take ..he may tell, well no, I personally never get the urge to take
water. So the thirstlessness of Pulsatilla is also often hidden and one has to cross
question to get it.

Craving for open air. Pulsatilla is better by movement, and especially by moving
about in the open air. Almost all of the symptoms are better in the open air. If this
symptom is not present you must doubt whether the patient really needs
Pulsatilla. So one of the strongest confirmations of Pulsatilla is I would like open
air and I cannot stand closed places.

Sometimes I ask the patient, “do you like I windows open or shut or does it make
a difference to you.” Sometimes a Pulsatilla patient can say I like the window
shut. And if you ask him why, he would say “because I can’t take the noise”. So
they are sensitive to noise that comes through the window but you will see they
will find some way in which they can get fresh air.

Sleep: One of the symptoms that Hahnemann mentions as a confirmation of

Pulsatilla is that they take a long time to fall asleep. He mentions this in the
introduction as one of the most characteristic symptoms of Pulsatilla. It is very
interesting to ask the patient ….how long do you take to fall asleep. And Pulsatilla
takes a long time.

Another characteristic in Pulsatilla sleep is the position during sleep. They

sometimes sleep on the stomach, they sometimes sleep on the side, sometimes
on the back, but very often the hands either lie above the head or below the
head. Or they can sleep on one side with the hand below the head. Sometimes

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 22

the limbs are drawn up during sleep. Often they will complain that they feel
numbness on the side they lain on. These are often very very confirmatory
symptoms of Pulsatilla. I often confirm them in most cases.

A few more significant aspects of Pulsatilla:

Now let me talk to you about a few more significant parts of Pulsatilla.

Conscientiousness:
Pulsatilla is very conscientious. So you have the rubric:

‘Restlessness; as if he has not done his duty’.

You find here that it is almost like Aurum Metallicum.
But the difference is that Pulsatilla does not have the sense of responsibility for
other people like Aurum has. The sensitivity to duty in Pulsatilla is an expression
of ‘If I don’t do my duty, I will get shouted at and that I can’t bear that, so I better
do what I have to do.’

So the rubric actually is:

‘Servile, obsequious or submissive’.
They are also very sensitive to moral impressions, like what is right and what is
wrong - morally and what is morally correct & what is morally incorrect. This is
very similar to Staphysagria and they are also sensitive to whether other people
follow morally correct behavior.

Persistent thoughts:
Another symptom of Pulsatilla is Persistent thoughts.
When they try to sleep, many thoughts come and crowd in their mind, not
allowing them to sleep. We have already seen in confirmation of Pulsatilla. They
take a long time to sleep. One of the reason is the persistence of thoughts. If they
listen to some music, in the day time then that music plays over and over again in
their heads, preventing sleep.
So we have the rubric:
“Thoughts, persistent, music about at night”.
I have seen this symptom in patients, it is not common, it is rare. But it does exist.
Now we need to compare Pulsatilla with other remedies.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 23

Comparison with other remedies
First of all other remedies in the Ranunculaceae family.
The most important being Staphysagria.

Staphysagria: Staphysagria in Phatak is mentioned as “morbidly sensitive”.

Pulsatilla is described as “very touchy and irritable”. It is also extremely sensitive.
The difference of course is in the miasm. In Staphysagria the anger is so strong
that he finds it difficult to control. This intense anger is suppressed and a lot of
energy is used in controlling it. But in Pulsatilla the effort is not to control the
anger but to avoid the anger, to avoid the rudeness, so he becomes mild and
yielding. So the picture of Pulsatilla in the clinic is often very different from
Staphysagria. The Staphysagria comes across as a very touchy, egoistical person
who you have to be very careful not to hurt because he can flare up in intense
anger sometimes. But Pulsatilla you will see as a yielding, mild person to avoid
situations that causes anger in other people.

One of the complementary remedies of Pulsatilla, we have already spoken about

Silica. The other one is Kali Sulphuricum. Most Materia Medica’s will mention
Pulsatilla and Kali Sulph as very close or complementary to each other. This is very
very interesting in terms of the kingdoms.

Kali sulphuricum: Because Kali sulph. has the feeling: “I am dependent, I need
people I can’t be alone (kali) and Sulph is the feeling that I am not considered
worthy, I am humiliated, I am insulted. So Kali sulph has the feeling “I am
humiliated, insulted by the people on whom I am dependent.” It is also a sycotic
remedy and has thick greenish yellow discharges. Like Pulsatilla, Kali Sulph is also
better in open air and worse in a cold place. Therefore they are pretty close. We
have also seen that Pulsatilla can show dependence and fear to be alone and the
feeling to be insulted and humiliated. The only thing that will help to
differentiate between the two remedies is the kingdom.

Pulsatilla - plant remedy often a very sensitive person and also artistic. It is
inclined towards sensitive things like art, flowers and music, and is very touchy,
very sensitive emotionally, easily weeping. If you say the slightest thing, it will

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 24

hurt and weep. And thirst-less. This touchiness and this extreme emotional
sensitivity, this easy weeping, this tendency to sensitiveness, like art, flowers and
music and the thirstlessness is often not found in Kali sulph. This is the main
difference.
Kali sulph is not so weepy and excitable. It is more stable emotionally.

In conclusion about Pulsatilla:

So to conclude about Pulsatilla you see all the features of the miasm the sycotic
miasm, the family Ranunculaceae family and the facts of the remedy, all the
symptoms we see and read mentally and physically. You see all of them are
interacting together in a beautiful way. This is the set of symptoms that are
repeatedly observed and confirmed in Pulsatilla cases. So the symptom that I
mentioned as confirmatory you will find in most cases of Pulsatilla.

And when you know a remedy through the different ways, first through the
source, then through the symptoms, then through the rubrics, then through the
characteristics, then through the kingdom, the family, then through the miasm,
then through the comparison, then through the clinical cases. And then when you
see all of them speaking a similar language then you can be sure, then you can
be absolutely sure both in Materia Medica and in practice with the patients. This
is the kind of integration of information that I want to talk to you about through
these talks. Because isolated information, just about the sensation or just about
the rubric, is half information, is just one side of the story. It is not complete, it is
risky. But when integrated, when seen as a whole, when the patient speaks - you
hear the miasm, you hear the kingdom, you hear the rubrics, you hear the
Materia Medica, the source all at the same time and speaking the same language.
Then you can be sure. That works.

We will take the last remedy for today, an animal remedy; also common, Lachesis.
I purposely choose remedies that all of you know. Common remedies. Because
you have the information from the Materia Medica. You have the information
from the rubrics. I am sure you have had clinical cases. And I know you know
things about Lachesis or Pulsatilla or Silica from the kingdoms. But maybe this talk
will help you to see all this information together. And to show how not only to
study a Remedy but how to study a patient.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 25

 LACHESIS

Some information about the source

Lachesis is commonly called the Bushmaster, or Surucucu snake. It’s zoological
name is Lachesis muta. And you know that it was famously proved first by none
less than Constantine Hering. Hering wrote that like other snake poisons, the
poison of the Bushmaster decomposes the blood and affects the heart and
circulation.

Lachesis in Materia Medica

What are the characteristics in Lachesis that we know from the Materia Medica?
This is the first thing we should know, our Materia Medica, the characteristics and
the keynotes are really beautiful. They are absolutely reliable. They have been
used for two centuries. And if you can get these characteristics from the patients,
you can prescribe with absolute confidence in the remedies that are well proved
and when to these characteristics we add, the systems, the sensation, the
kingdoms, the miasms, it really completes it.

Of course, the question here comes, what about the remedies that are not
proved. The question comes what about the patients who give characteristic
symptoms, but we don’t know much about the family or the kingdom of that
remedy which is indicated through those characteristics. That is the reason we
need to have the whole range of Repertoire from the systems to the symptoms.
But in a majority of cases, this information comes together and then your practice
is really solidly placed.

We know Lachesis…
 It is left sided.
 It is good for Hemorrhages.
 It has Flushes of heat.
 It has Constriction around the throat.
 That it is useful for Malignant or septic states.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 26

 That it has been used in Plague, in diphtheria, in cancer, in gangrene, in
carbuncles.
 So, look at the pathology, the seriousness, the destruction. The destructive
nature of the pathology, malignant and septic states, cancer and gangrene,
carbuncles. Giving us a clear indication of its miasm. That Lachesis is
destructive, it decomposes the blood, it produces destruction. So like many
other poisonous snakes, Lachesis comes in the Syphilitic miasm. This helps us
to understand it much better.

The Important modalities of Lachesis are:

- Aggravation after sleep.
- Better by air.
- Worse from sun.
- Intolerance of clothing especially around the neck, where they feel a pressure
as if choked or strangulated.

Mind and Behaviour:

It is written :
- She perceives herself as being pursued, hated and despised.
See how the miasm reflects in the mind. There is no hope here, you are
pursued, despised, there is no hope. Its hopeless, despair.
- There are persistent erotic ideas.
Giving you a strong animal theme here..
- Great loquacity, insane jealousy and suspicion, intense competitiveness.
- Feel herself Full of poison
- Crawls on the floor.
Isn’t it an interesting, how the provings reflects the source itself, the poison
and the crawling.
- Clairvoyant; predicts the future correctly.
This clairvoyant is very interesting. Clairvoyant means extra sensory
perception, to know what you cannot know normally through your senses. And
later on we will see that snakes have the extra organ because they can’t hear,
they have no hearing. So they have heat sensors. They have Jacobson’s organs.
They have sensors on their tongue. They have many
extra sensory perceptive organs. Much more than the other animals. And

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 27

 especially in the snakes, the group to which Lachesis belongs Pit Vipers, the
Crotalidae have especially even more clairvoyant organs.
- Hateful.
These are some of the symptoms. So having studied the characteristics of
Lachesis physical, mental, particular…. some of them, you can’t study the
entire thing, it’s too big. But just these key notes.

The miasm of Lachesis

Then we study the miasm of the Lachesis. As I told you the most poisonous snakes
come under the leprous or the syphilitic miasm. And this you can see from their
pathologies like the gangrene and carbuncle.

And you see mind perceptions:

 “They are pursuing me.”
 “Delusion, there are conspiracies against him”
 “Anger, kill desire to”
 “Delusion, murder, someone that he has to”.

These are rubrics of Lachesis.

“Hatred”
now we come to The Kingdom understanding of Lachesis
first of all we see the Animal kingdom: there is jealousy, suspicion and intense
competitiveness, the sexuality.
Then you come to the snakes, the reptiles.
I will again rely a little bit on William Gutman and his observations :
He says,
- All the organs of the snake are found on the left side.
- The snake moves from left to right.
A General understanding of Reptiles
Reptiles are ectothermic, or cold-blooded. And they need to bask in the sun to
obtain heat.

There is always a dichotomous conflict in the Reptiles between staying warm or

staying safe. The cold-bloodedness of the reptile makes it mandatory to bask, to

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 28

come out in the sun. To come out of the safe hideaways but here they are
vulnerable to predation. To obtain the heat, that is vital to every function of their
survival—locomotion, to finding food, to mating, to escaping —the reptiles must
risk their safety. Reptiles come out into the open to bask, but when the
circumstances become unsuitable, they hide in their retreats or hibernate (in the
winter).

One of the main features of the reptiles is :

Need to conserve energy – and the activity they show is in sudden bursts
Just imagine an alligator or a crocodile, often conserving it’s energy. Just waiting
waiting waiting waiting and exactly at that time when it has to strike, it will show
intense activity; in sudden burst. This is a feature of almost all reptiles.

Another quality of Reptile,

Sudden changes; surprise attack from a hidden position
Reptiles tend to ambush from a hidden position, or they suddenly change their
form, their behaviour, their shape, or their color. You know Chamelion, you know
a snake, you know a crocodile. How do they behave? They can suddenly attack
from a hidden position and they can change their colour, form or shape very
quickly.

So the sudden change and surprise attack , are very important parts of any
reptilian behaviour. Many times, the victim is often caught off guard, even
without any time to react. After the burst of action, the reptile usually runs and
hides (escape/avoidance behavior), because it is at a disadvantage and incapable
of a face-to-face fight and hence they remains mostly hidden or camouflaged.

Deceptiveness, camouflage
When you study Lachesis, eg. deceitful is one of the characteristics, liar is one of
the characteristics of Lachesis. It so beautifully represents this hiding, this
deceitfulness. This double sidedness.

Reptiles are usually very deceptive, they like to remain hidden or go unnoticed.
They don’t like to reveal their true selves. Therefore, they need to camouflage.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 29

 Intense aggression and violence when cornered
But when cornered or when they want to attack there can be an intense
aggression. They will strike and bite. And this anger and violence are very
important— and this is expressed in patients as killing, death, murder,
complete destruction.

 Indifferent parents, independent nature

Another quality in reptiles is they are extremely indifferent parents and usually
with independent nature. Reptiles can be very aggressive and get into fights
over territories and mating rights. They are usually indifferent parents with a
few exceptions. That means they just give the …. When the baby is born, it’s
just left. They don’t give much care or love, like mammals. In patients this lack
of maternal love and affection often shows up as an independence from a very
young age, and also as an indifference to one’s children.

So if we summarise the reptile expressions in humans, we see:

- Remain hidden, camouflaged, they go unnoticed
- Feeling at a disadvantage
- Employ many devious tactics (to remain hidden)
- Suddenly spring into action— suddenly change in behavior or ambush
- And can be extremely violent.

At present we are working on a book on Reptiles, and especially with a colleague

of mine, Dr. Meghna who is doing fantastic research on Reptiles. It’s not only
important to know important things about Reptiles what everybody knows, but
we should know about very particular things. Which only comes from proper
study and research. And when you see these qualities in the patient, it’s really
fantastic.

What is the difference between Reptiles and snakes? How do we see this in the
patient.

Some of the qualities that snakes have and other reptiles don’t have is :
 the tongue movement. The going in and out of the tongue.

So the snake has to put the tongue out in order to feel what’s going on and
withdraws the tongue in and out. In Lachesis, this is the symptom given in the
repertory, “Motions of the tongue, in and out, like a snake.”

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 30

Often in patients who need snake remedies you will find as they talk they (take
tongue in and out) after few sentences.. Quickly put their tongue out and in.

 Another quality of the snake is of course, the serpentine motion. Often seen in
hand gestures. They sometimes compare it to a river, they say it is like a flow.
Sometimes they say when I want to go from point A to point B, I he says I went
like this (gesture). Very unconsciously, casually.

 Another symptom of the snake which is characteristic is it’s sensitivity around

the throat. It’s sensitivity to be choked, suffocated or strangulated. That you
see in Lachesis.

 Another quality of the snake is the poison. Most reptile don’t have poison
except the snake. Some lizards, yes.

 Another is constriction. The snake can kill by constricting. So the constriction is

a quality of the snakes. Crocodiles and lizards don’t constrict. Snakes do.

 Another quality of the snake is that they live without limbs. So of course one is
the crawling, but very often snake patients talk about being limbless in one
form or the other. One patient said when I get angry I want to chop off the
other person’s hands and legs.

For example to be without hands and legs, another person said I feel
handicapped. I said what is handicapped; he said it is to be without hands and
legs. So this image to be without limbs often comes in snake cases.

So these are some of the qualities of snake.

 And of course the clairvoyance & the heightened extra sensory perception is
quite characteristic of the snake. And especially of a class of snakes, the
Crotilidae.

Snakes are a sub-group of the class of Reptiles, which also includes other
families.

So where does Lachesis lie in Reptiles:

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 31

Classification of Lachesis muta

First of all, its place in the class of reptiles:

Class: Sauropsida (Reptilia)
Order: Squamata (which includes lizards and snakes)
Suborder: Ophidia (Snakes)
Family: Viperidae (Adders, vipers: pit and pitless vipers)
The Viperinae & Crotalidae

Family:
Viperidae

Subfamily: Subfamily:
Crotalinae Viperinae
(pit vipers) (true or pitless vipers)

Correlation of source features with symptoms and provings of Lachesis

Now we will try to correlate the features and the symptoms of provings of
Lachesis and add to it our clinical confirmations and picture.

Common reptilian and snake features and correlation with symptoms and
rubrics of Lachesis:

Feeling to be defenceless and at a disadvantage

The reptilian feature of feeling defenseless and at a disadvantage is particularly
enhanced in snake cases. They have an inherent feeling that they are at a
disadvantage, weak, powerless, inferior, and in competition with somebody who
has more power and who is superior. “I am powerless and the other person is
more powerful.” This is the timeless story of the less privileged versus the more
privileged.

I mean when you look at terrorism in the world. What is the underlying principle
here. I don’t condole terrorism, in fact I am quite vociferously against it. But
I think the idea of terrorism is often the idea of somebody who’s weak and at a
disadvantage trying to get at somebody who is strong and more powerful. And

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 32

the only way he can do it is try like a snake. Remain hidden, remain camouflaged
and have a surprised, sudden, lethal attack.

Competition and Jealousy

This is why competition and jealousy are prominent snake features. Because they
are always comparing. I am weak the other person is strong, he’s getting
advantage and I am not, he’s hurting me and I am getting hurt, and what can I do
now?

The rubric:
- Jealousy: men, between , is very interesting in Lachesis.
Because in reptiles there often an immense competition and jealousy between
males over mating rights and to win over a female; male-to-male fights are also
seen over rights on a territory (which in humans can be seen in work places,
corporates, politics, family issues, etc).

What is interesting of course is jealousy between women.

- The rubric, “jealousy in women” is given in Apis. Apis is the queen bee and
then the Apis idea, the colony, the bee colony it is the queen who competes
against the women. And in snakes it is the male. So it is very interesting how
this survival quality in nature is reflected in our Materia Medica and always
fascinated by this comparision.

Attention-seeking behaviour
The most well-known symptom of Lachesis:
- Loquacity, changing quickly from one subject to another.
- Loquacity, jesting, with.

Can be understood as a general expression of animals as an attention seeking

behavior. But in Lachesis especially is a quality of competition. He becomes the
centre of attention or attraction by his loquacity. And his entertaining way of
speaking.

Fear of being injured; feeling of vulnerability, suspicion

The feeling of being powerless and weak, in comparison to other creatures,
makes the snakes feel prone and vulnerable to attack.

This snake quality is reflected in Lachesis by the rubrics:

- Suspiciousness, mistrustfulness.
- Delusions, imaginations; injury; injured, is being.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 33

There is a strong fear of being injured, to be attacked, to be in danger in any form.

Being hidden, concealed, camouflaged, being guarded

They will never reveal their true side. They are always hidden, concealed, or
camouflaged. This fear of being attacked springs from their very basic feeling of
defencelessness (due to their being limbless). But despite being limbless snakes
have an innate nature of being able to move anywhere—in the ground, in the
water, in the trees, under the ground etc.

In practice this is often seen in snake cases that they never reveal their true side.
You will be talking to them for 1 hour you don’t know what they are talking about.
They give you a picture of a very successful person in a corporate world, or a
medical world or anywhere & talking very sober things. And exactly at the time
when you don’t expect, suddenly you can see a vicious side to them and that
comes as a complete shock. This is very interesting in case taking.

Deceit, plotting, planning and scheming

Duality and deceit are important aspects of snake’s strategy to hide themselves.
When they attack, it’s always sudden. it gives you no time to think. It is a strategy,
it is a cleverly planned attack. It never happens spontaneously. Snakes are not
impulsive; unlike the spider remedies. They plot, they plan, they scheme. And you
have this in the rubrics

- Deceitful, sly.
- Feigning: sick.
- Delusions, conspiracies against him, in Lachesis.

The word conspiracy is a very interesting word for Lachesis and for the snake.

Sensitivity to extreme heat and cold.

Snakes cannot tolerate extreme of heat or cold. Because they don’t have thermo-
regulation. You can see this in Lachesis in the rubric:
- Agg.: heat, and cold.

Often people believe that Lachesis is a hot patient and cannot tolerate heat but
he likes cold. This is not true. Lachesis cannot stand extremes of heat and cold.
And this is what I observe in practice and that also confirms the whole idea of the
snake.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 34

Anger, aggression and violence
Reptilian violence is manifested in Lachesis in the following symptoms :
- Violence, deeds of, rage leading to.
- Violence, from touch, from.
- Rage, fury: touch, renewed by.
- Anger, violent.
- Kill, desire to: poison, impulse to.

Lachesis is known to get extremely aggressive from the slightest provocation in

nature.

Excessive sensitivity to touch

Reptiles are extremely sensitive to their surroundings, very alert and very agile—
You can see the following in lachesis :
- Sensitive, oversensitive: touch, to.
- SENSITIVE, OVERSENSITIVE: WALKING OF PEOPLE IN ROOM, TO.
- Sensitive to anything around the neck

Sensitivity around the area of the throat

The neck area of snakes is of greatest biological importance. This must be free;
otherwise the snake cannot swallow, cannot digest; it cannot defend itself,
because its defense is to bite, and if you choke the neck it cannot bite. It becomes
helpless. So

- Throat: CHOKING, CLOTHING AGG. (any pressure around the throat

aggravates)

Any pressure around the throat aggravates, touch around the throat aggravates,
are very strong symptoms of Lachesis. So what am I trying to show here? That
really when you read the Materia Medica and the provings it is an exact reflection
of the source. I don’t see the difference. And studying Materia Medica this way
makes both the aspects become so clear and united.

Darting tongue
Snakes have forked tongue that rapidly dart in and out of their mouth, picking
scent particles and depositing them into the nerve centers, This gives them clues
of where the prey is. This is also seen in Lachesis as:
- Tongue: protruded rapidly darting in and out, like a snake (Kent’s).

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 35

Now you come to the sub group of the snakes which is the Viperadae. And the
main quality of Viperadae is opposite of Elapidae. The Viperadae and the
Elapidae. The Elapidae are snakes like Naja, Black mamba etc. and the Viperadae
have snakes like Lachesis, Crotalus horridus, Vipera, etc.

Then the quality of Viperadae and the Crotalidae are

The sudden attack from a hidden position without warning. In the Cobra, the
Black mamba, the Elaps corallinus they give some warning but here there is no
warning.

Haemotoxic venom
Secondly, these snakes have heamotoxic venom. The poison causes coagulation
of blood cells that’s why haemorrhages are more prominent in Lachesis and
Crotalus rather than Naja or Elaps where it is more neurotoxic which affects the
heart and the nerves.

Constantly anticipating danger and threat

The Crotalinae snakes are highly sophisticated killers, due to their pit organs—
especially heat sensing organs. These pit organs have the specific ability to detect
the slightest thermal variation in their surroundings. This feature is translated in
humans as a constant fear of being attacked, of danger. They always anticipate
danger or threat that will come to them from nowhere, unexpectedly, and
without any warning.

Clairvoyance
There is a constant fear of being pursued. Hence, they become extremely agile
and alert, in all circumstances. They also become clairvoyant, the ability to predict
any harm or danger. And it is this quality to predict gives Lachesis symptoms to be
clairvoyant, predict the future correctly.

Rubrics of Lachesis that correlate with Crotalinae / Viperidae features

You have the rubrics...

Constantly anticipating danger and threat

- Fear: behind him, that someone is.
- Delusions, imaginations: people: behind him, someone is.
- Death: presentiment of.
- Death: thoughts of.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 36

- FEAR: SLEEP: GO TO, TO: LEST: DIE, HE WOULD.
- Delusions, imaginations: die: about to: he is.
- Delusions, imaginations: superhuman: control, is under.
- Delusions, imaginations: poisoned: about to be, that he is.
- Delusions, imaginations: poisoned: has been, he.
- Clairvoyance.
- Delusions, imaginations: conspiracies against: him, there are.

Haemotoxic venom
Because the venom is toxic, therefore we see symptoms like: cyanosis, gangrene,
hemorrhage, tissue destruction,and bleeding .
Small wounds bleed much.’ – Phatak’s Materia Medica

Thermal aggravation
Most reptiles like to bask in the sun, but Viperidae snakes like Lachesis muta are
more tolerant of cold weather than other reptiles. Lachesis, therefore, is less
chilly than other reptiles. In homoeopathy Lachesis is well-known for a marked
aggravation from heat or from sun. However, we also see that Lachesis has
aggravation from cold. So I would suggest do not rule out Lachesis just on a
thermal modality.

Now I want to talk about the Specific features of Lachesis (the Bushmaster)
itself, which is different from the other Crotalidae snakes.

One of the features is:

Isolation, solitude
When we study Lachesis in nature, its behavior and survival mode, we see that
this snake lives only in undisturbed forests, quite remote and isolated. Despite
their size and potent venom, deaths are rare, because this is usually a placid
species (common to Viperidae) that shuns confrontation with human beings.

We can see this in the rubrics:

COMPANY: AVERSION TO, AGG.: SOLITUDE, FOND OF
This is a strong symptom of lachesis.

Suspicion of conspiracy, injury

We have already seen the rubrics like :
- DELUSIONS, IMAGINATIONS: INJURY: RECEIVE, WILL: FRIENDS, FROM HIS.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 37

So they are very suspicious, and cannot trust anyone at all and they feel that
everyone, even their closed ones are conspiring against him.

Lays eggs and guards them until they hatch.

Unlike the common reptilian feeling, Lachesis show parental care and this can be
seen in cases.

Effects of the Bushmaster venom: Strange and beautiful imaginations

One of the survivors of a Bushmaster bite initially felt a strange euphoria: “The
room seemed to have grown enormously large, and myself shrinking away. I saw
beautiful purple colors.”

In Lachesis this is beautifully reflected in the rubric:

- Delusions, beautiful, wonderful.
- Delusions, beautiful, wonderful: landscape.

Some other small pneumonics or memory aids :

Some of them are:
Aggravation during sleep.
In some parts of India when a person is bitten by a snake large quantities of cold
water are poured on his head and he is made up to walk up and down constantly
and is not allowed to sleep because it is told that if he falls asleep he will die. This
probably has some scientific basis. And we see that the Lachesis patients are
almost invariably worse during and after sleep.

Application of tight pressure. When the snake bites a person the first thing we do
is to apply a tight pressure that is proximal to the bite and then we apply ice or let
the patient bleed and let the poision out.. So the relief from tight pressure, the
better from the application of ice and the better from bleeding are 3
characteristic symptoms of lachesis that we can remember by this small
anecdote.

My imagination of Lachesis
Jealousy and Competition
If we study Lachesis from my book the Soul of Remedies we see as follows:
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
relationship or sexual relationship. It is the situation of someone who has to

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 38

compete against a person who has better qualities, as for example a menopausal
woman whose husband has a young girlfriend. She compares herself to her
younger and more attractive rival. She feels that there are conspiracies against
her and this makes her suspicious of everyone 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. She has becomes so engrossed
with the competition, she has to shut off from work ("Business, aversion to").

When her very best efforts to compete fail she may turn religious, spiritual,
"Avoids company to indulge in her fancy."

The main theme of Lachesis is show. Advertisement would be a very good theme
of Lachesis, where he pushes him up and the other in the other way in a very
clever way.

So, we see that the desire for ‘show’ arises from a feeling of competition, one-up-
manship, jealousy and a desire to put others down. But at the same time, they
feel forsaken feeling, and friendless. Lachesis as we see the following rubrics:
- JEALOUSY: FOOLISH AS IT IS IRRESISTIBLE, AS.
- JEALOUSY: INSANE.
- Jealousy: kill, driving to.
- Jealousy: quarrels, reproaches, scolds.

Sarcasm
Jealousy that causes ...
- Mocking: sarcasm.
- Mocking: ridicule, passion to - is typical of Lachesis.

Conclusion:

Thus we can see that we studied three remedies – one each from the plant,
mineral and animal kingdoms. I wanted to show how a remedy can be studied
from all angles – from the provings, from the rubrics, from materia medica, from
the source, from the clinical symptoms, and clinical cases, from the source,

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 39

kingdom, and a knowledge of miasms and how to integrate all of them together.
And to see that all of them speak of the same essential core, the same vital
sensation, the same inner experience from different angles.

When we study the remedy at a factual level as well as at a conceptual level. Both
these levels inform and enhance each other. Without one of these sides, our
understanding is incomplete and shaky.

When you study the remedies from different perspectives, and understanding
then it becomes well rounded and well grounded. What is important is to know
that this is exactly the same way in which we have to study our cases, our
patients. When a patient talks something, it is also a rubric, it is also a miasm, it is
also a sensation, it is also a kingdom. And we have to see all this together. And
then you really understand the case completely, beautifully and surely.

And please do write in your questions, your queries, your comments, your
feedback. Do visit our archived talks, do visit our talk transcripts, and summaries.
Do visit our article section, very interesting articles are there from myself and
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These talks are also archived and you can view and able to learn more. I want to
do the best I can to enhance your learning experience and to share with you what
I know about Homoeopathy. I hope it is useful to you and I sent you my warmest
good wishes.

So good bye, auro va, sayonara, bye bye ..

Thank you everyone.

Talk 7 Materia Medica – I 40