TALK : 22 PLANT KINGDOM - 1

Hello and welcome back!

Today we are going to talk about the Plant kingdom.

A scientific discipline needs to follow a way of approaching, categorizing and

differentiating the remedies. The task would be much easier if homoeopaths were
to follow a system rather than a random search throughout the Materia Medica –
a jungle where it is easy to get lost without maps or signposts.

My search for such a map and a system took me in two directions.

Firstly, the classification of states (patients’ states, as well as remedy states) into
miasms, based on the pace, rapidity, and especially upon the level of desperation;
the Psoric miasm is the least and the Syphilitic miasm is the most desperate.

With further study on miasms I understood that apart from these three major
miasms there were other different states in a range between them, some of
which I have identified as Acute, Typhoid, Malaria, Ringworm, Cancer, Tubercular
and Leprosy. Each of these miasms has its own distinct character. All this
understanding helped me to fine tune the classification of disease states into
miasms.

The second direction, where I was seeking a map and a system, led me to the
classification of states into kingdoms, especially the Mineral, the Plant and the
Animal kingdoms. After keenly observing several hundred patients in a very busy
practice, I was able to identify differences in their states, in their behavior, in their
reactions and in other ways, which corresponded to the three major kingdoms in
the natural world. These differences arise from a most fundamental difference
between the kingdoms.

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Plant classification and understanding
The Plant kingdom, as we had seen earlier, has, as its core experience, “Sensitivity
and Reactivity”. Mineral kingdom people see their “Structure” as complete or
incomplete, Animal people see their problem as one of “Survival and
Competition”. In the Plant Kingdom, there is no issue of completeness or
incompleteness, but there is an issue of being sensitive and adaptable to a
specific type of stimulus, which varies from family to family in Plants. This
sensitivity is expressed as a specific sensation and reaction. The type of sensation
varies according to the family. So a Plant remedy or person functions along one
axis of experience. Almost every one of his experiences in life can be brought
down to that one sensation and it’s opposite.

In order to understand the different family sensations I looked at the Botanical

system of classification. I started to study the remedies in a particular family with
a purpose to find the common features

between each of them. Initially there was a lot of difficulty. For e.g. The family
Ranunculaceae which includes remedies such as Aconitum napellus, Pulsatilla
pratensis and Staphysagria. On the first look the intense fear of death that marks
the Aconitum napellus state seems to have nothing to do with the mildness or the
weeping nature of Pulsatilla pratensis or with the indignation of Staphysagria.

The Issue of sensitivity of plants

But then I understood that the main issue with plant kingdom is sensitivity. Plants
themselves are known to be sensitive. They are affected by physical and chemical
changes in the environment. Sound, light, chemical substances and various other
stimuli can have an effect on the growth or the life of plants.

In the plant state we find nervous sensitivity. It seems as if the nervous systems of
these individuals are receptive to and affected by certain stimuli. The sensitivity
differs with every plant family.

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So the question came up as to where I could find the sensitivity best expressed in
the symptomatology. The answer is in the sensations, in the type of pain, in the
sensation of the pain, etc.

So I searched the Repertory using a software program (viz. the Mac Repertory and
the Reference Works) and to my utter joy I found that remedies from a particular
family shared at least one common sensation or type of pain. For example, you
know very well that the remedies of the Composite family share the sensation of
“injury or hurt.” For e.g. Arnica montana expresses the sensation directly as a
‘bruised pain’; yet Chamomilla expresses the same as a reaction by causing injury
or pain to others.

I saw that the sensation could be expressed in four different ways:

The “sensation” itself

The “passive reaction”

An “active reaction” “Compensation”.

This common sensation expresses itself in all remedies of the family, in different
ways.

On closer examination I realized that all remedies of a given family have all these
types of expression, though one type is better known in each specific remedy.

The recognition of a common sensation in the mental or emotional sphere helped

to get to the central issue and core symptoms of the plant remedies. The question
still remained unanswered that why different remedies in a family have such a
wide range of difference in their symptomatology.

Then i found.. this could be explained due to the difference in the miasms, which
means that the sensation is common in a family but each remedy experiences
that sensation with a different degree of depth and degree of desperation, and
this accounts for the difference in the symptoms.

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I started studying each remedy in a given family first to ascertaining whether the
common sensation of the family holds, and secondly to determine what miasm
the remedy lies in.

Plan and Method for a Study of Plant families

I will now give an overview of the plan and method that I adopted to study the
families.

- The first step was to know the remedies that belong to the particular family
under study.

- The second step was to identify the well proven and clinically applied
remedies of this family.

Identification of the Sensation of a Family

- Then, I chose between two to five seemingly unrelated remedies of this group
and put them through a Repertory search program. I used the MacRepertory
created by my friend David Warkentin for this purpose, but I believe any good
software with that function could serve the same purpose.

(As I speak today, we have lost our dear friend David Warkentin a few weeks ago)

- I used the program to search the whole Repertory and list those rubrics that
had any two, or in some cases any three or four remedies in this group, limiting
the list to only those rubrics that contain less than fifty remedies. This would
include rubrics from every chapter of the Repertory, including Mind, Generalities,
and the different regions.

- Once this list was obtained, I commanded the program to arrange this rubric
list according to the number of remedies in the rubric, starting with the rubric
that has the least number of remedies. Going down this list, I would look for a
sensation or a feeling that would be a possible common factor in the remedies of
that family. I would look for sensations, especially those I had not heard of in
other families and those which (with my knowledge of some of the remedies of

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that family) I could correlate and connect with these remedies. This would
occasionally help me to zoom in on the characteristic sensation of the family.
Such a sensation may also be found sometimes way down the list

- Once I had come to a possible common sensation of that family, the next step
was to test it out in each individual member of the family, starting with the better
known ones.

- I primarily used, Phatak’s Materia Medica or the book of Repertory extractions,

which are part of the Materia Medica program, TheReference Works.

- I tried to be as objective as possible in this study. One of the yardsticks I used

was to see if the most characteristic symptoms of the remedy being studied had
that sensation directly or indirectly as a part of them. The second confirmation I
sought was to see if the Mind picture of these remedies of the given family had a
reflection of the general sensation which I had hypothesized. If I did not find
enough proof, I had to go back to the list to make a different search by including
other remedies of that family.

- Once I was convinced about the main sensation of the family, I again studied
each remedy of that family to perceive the different forms and descriptions of
that sensation both physically and emotionally. This study made the whole picture
clearer and sharper.

- The sensation can occur in a given remedy in a direct form, as a passive

reaction, an active reaction or as compensation. Each remedy was studied in
detail to identify these different states which helped complete the picture of the
common family sensation.

Then came the Identification of the Miasm of each remedy in a Family.

When it came to determining the miasm of each remedy, I realized that this task
is difficult enough with the well proven remedies and even more difficult with the
smaller, less proven ones. So I had to devise certain criteria. Here is how I worked
it out.

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In each remedy I would note:

1. Whether the remedy is known to cure the actual disease or infection of that
miasm.

For example, does that remedy have ringworm or tuberculosis in its

symptomatology? This would be one point favouring its inclusion in that miasm.
This does not mean that if the remedy has known effectiveness in that particular
infection, it automatically belongs to that miasm. For instance, Lachesis and
Arsenicum album are known remedies for typhoid fever, but they do not belong
to the Typhoid miasm. This is true especially for polychrests that are often known
to be of value in nearly all infections.

2. Whether the main pathology known to be cured by that remedy belongs

mainly to a miasmatic group. For example, if the remedy is very well known for
curing warts or benign tumours, it scores a point for the Sycotic miasm.

3. What is the pattern within the given remedy? Is it an acute pattern, an

intermittent pattern like in China you have the intermittent pattern, the
destructive pattern, or what kind of pattern can you see in the symptomatology
of that remedy

4. Where is the focus in the mental state? Is the focus in acute fears, like
Stramonium or is it in hiding or covering? Also I studied all the available dreams
and delusions. I checked to see if the remedy had the characteristics of one
particular miasm over the others. For example, if a remedy had very strong
feelings of dirtiness, disgust and contempt, and the feelings of being let down or
abandoned by one’s nearest relations and friends, then I would be inclined to
consider the Leprosy miasm. Examples are: Hura brasiliensis or Curare wurare
these belong to the Leprosy miasm and if you read the symptomatology you see
exactly the strong feelings which I mentioned. The precise understanding of
miasms helped a lot in the process. This understanding has undergone much
refinement since my previous works.

5. A study of the most characteristic symptoms of the remedy gave a good

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pointer. The most characteristic symptom(s) of the remedy must be a
combination of the sensation and the miasm. Once the sensation is known, the
miasm can be inferred.

Simple! Rhus tox we know. Example: the simple symptom is Ailments from strain
and sprain or Ailments from over reaching. The person over reaches and he gets
caught or stiff. When you see this characteristic symptom of Rhus tox, you can see
that it’s a combination of the stiffness of the Anacardiaceae family and the pace
that something happens suddenly and that lasts for sometime and that gets
better. This is the Typhoid miasm.

So the most characteristic symptom of Rhus tox is a combination of this typhoid

miasm and the Anacardiaceae family sensation. This is how I understood what
miasm is that particular remedy.

I came to the conclusion that each remedy lies at the cross point or intersection of
the miasm and the family sensation. A table or a grid of plant families and miasms
emerged by developing the ideas on various families, by studying the remedies
under each family, by classifying each remedy into a miasm, and this grid is not
unlike the Periodic Table of Elements.

Kingdom differentiation

The decision upon the kingdom in a given case should not be done at the level of
1, 2, 3, 4 which means it should be level of name, fact, feeling or delusion. During
the case taking and after, many people think that patient is sensitive so it must be
a plant or there is a comparison so it is an animal, and he is organized , so it
means it’s a mineral remedy. This really isn’t the recipe, it’s very superficial.

So to just infer the kingdom at the most superficial level of how the patient looks
or walks or talks is , it usually results in failure.

The decision upon the kingdom should not be done by thinking, it has to come on
its own, it will come when we go to the level 5, 6 , 7 into the depth of the case.

and

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What do we mean by the ‘depth of the case’?

When we come to that point which is the central point of the case; which brings
together all the salient features of the patient – the chief complaint, the dreams,
all observable qualities of the patient, all various sensations and modality, and
also symptoms from past or childhood etc., then we have reached the depth of
the case.

The case taking process must make sure to confirm, to test, to repeatedly test, a
given sensation from various angles. Very often what seems to be an issue of
structure, when examined deeper turns out to be an issue of sensitivity and vice-
versa.

The only way to be sure is to cross check and to see that the issue repeats in every
expression of the patient.

For example: I don’t know whether we have spoken of the case before. It’s of a
patient who gave a history of wanting to kill his father. He felt that his father had
beaten him and treated him badly throughout his childhood. Superficially it did
seem like an issue of victim-aggressor he did to me, so I am going to do it for him
and one would think of an animal remedy. But when I asked him for his
experience in that situation when his father was beating him, he described it as
one of terror and fright and wanting to escape from the situation. This issue of
terror and fright and wanting to escape was common in all expressions including
his dreams and his life situation. There was no issue with him with regard to
comparison, competition, hierarchy, attractiveness, sexuality or survival.

So in fact he needed a remedy from the Solanaceae family, rather than an animal
kingdom. Incidentally the desire to kill, the rage, is also part of the active reaction
of the Solanaceae Family and can be seen in remedies such as Belladonna and
Hyoscyamus. Therefore, if somebody wants to hurt or feels hurt, it doesn’t follow
that he belongs to the animal kingdom. One has to keep the focus on the
experience of the patient in a given situation and carefully observe the whole
experience, to understand whether it is one of comparison or of sensitivity or of
structure.

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Thus what seems to be animal or mineral, when you investigate deeper and focus
on the experience of the patient, could turn out to be a Plant remedy.

That experience is the one that will stand the test of cross check of all areas of the
patient’s experience, be it dreams, be it childhood etc.

Understanding the common sensation in a given Plant family

We want to find ways to be sure which family it is. Therefore I have devised the
system of active / passive reaction; which becomes useful especially when two
families are similar and there is a doubt.

What is important is the entire sensation of plant, not the first word or the
second word. Many people think of Anacardiaceae, it means ‘stiffness’,
Loganiaceae means ‘shock’ but this is very incomplete and partial. It doesn’t
actually convey anything; and therefore it is very important not to go merely with
the words. The words are but an expression of the experience. You have to go
with the experience.

In order to perceive to know, to taste, to feel, to experience the experience, one

would have to read the details of each family, read the provings, the Materia
medica, read the exact words of the cured cases and you could read that from the
books Insight Into Plants volume 1, 2, 3 that precisely describe the proving
symptoms, the patient’s expressions and exactly in what way is this experience
conveyed. If one can feel, through their expressions, the actual experience of the
prover and the patient, then that family becomes alive for you, it becomes a part
of your experience.

Then you will realize that the vital sensation of the family cannot be condensed
into a word, or even a set of words, but it is actually a whole conglomeration of
the words, constellation of words, a whole group of words and even this is not
fully adequate, since words are translations of the human experience, and hence
are at best close approximations.

To make it practical we use a constellation of similar words. Yet again, however,

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when you ask the patent he will say very similar words, so it is not fool proof.

So we need to see different aspects which help to cross-check and make the
understanding of the experience more accurate. Therefore we devised a system
of not just the group of sensation words, but also the Active reaction, the Passive
reaction and the Compensation.

Primary and secondary reaction

Hahnemann defined two types of reaction as primary and secondary reaction. Let
us see primary action and secondary reaction.

A primary action is more passive. It is the effect of a particular influence on you.

A secondary reaction is a reaction to it, it’s an active reaction. So if Solanaceae has

fright and terror as its main sensation, then stupor and sluggishness will be a
passive reaction and rage and desire to run and escape will be an active reaction.

Similarly Anacardiaceae has stiffness and tightness as the sensation. The passive
reaction is to be immobilized and paralyzed and the active reaction is restlessness
and the constant desire to move.

To be sure that the patient needs a remedy from a particular family, ideally there
should not only be the constellation of the words which express the sensation of
the family, but one should also be able to see the active and passive reaction of
that family.

Compensation

The last feature of the family is compensation. Compensation represents a kind of

long term adjustment that the patient makes in order to live with that sensation.

For example, in the Anacardiaceae family, the compensation for the sensation of
stiffness would be to keep continuously on the move. The Anacardiaceae patient
who thus compensates might even say that he does not experience stiffness,
since he is constantly on the move.

In many long standing cases, patients will show a compensation feature of a given

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family. These four sub –divisions: the Sensation, Passive reaction, Active reaction,
and Compensation together define, confirm and differentiate one family from the
other.

But I emphasize again that it is very important not to restrict one’s knowledge to
just the families in Schema , but to read the books and experience the
experience of the prover and the patient, so that each family becomes a live
experience for you, rather than merely a set of words.

Today we will be speaking about some plant families. We will talk a little bit about
- Anacardiaceae, and Euphorbiaceae. They have certain similarities in Sensation,
you can describe it as tightness, constriction, contraction, tied etc. These types of
sensations also exist in other families such as Cruciferae or Cactaceae or
Primulaceae.

Let’s start with the Family Anacardiaceae.

Family Anacardiaceae

When we study the remedies of the Anacardiaceae family – namely Anacardium,

Rhus toxicodendron, Mangifera indica, Rhus venenata, Rhus radicans, Comocladia
dentata and Rhus glabra, we find many related symptoms among them:

In Anacardium we find the following symptoms:

Stiff neck; aggravated from beginning to move, stiffness of small of the back
[Lilienthal]

Cramp like pains in muscles [Lilienthal]

Neck: Aching, nape of; band like sensation of, extending to the ears [Allen’s
Repertory]

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In Rhus toxicodendron:

Gen: Band, as of a [Boenninghausen]

Pain in limbs during rest, which feel stiff and lame during first moving, but get
better during exercise; restlessness [Raue]

In Comocladia dentata you see:

A drawing in the outer side of the left foot…as if the foot would cramp [Allen]

In general, most of the remedies, you find the following symptoms in common:

Calf; muscles; tension; muscles were too short, as if [Allen’s Repertory]

Constriction: internal, sensation of: band, sensation of a [Complete]

Generalities: hoop or band around the parts [Roberts]

Legs: stiffness, bandaged, as if [Knerr]

Generalities: sensation; plug, like a [Knerr]

So a plug is something that fills a hole tightly. A band is something that surrounds
and fixes tightly, obstructing movement. There is a sense of constriction,
internally and externally.

So we see the sensations of the family:

Constriction

Tightness

Band

Plug

Cramp

The core sensation is of being Caught or stiff, not allowed to move.

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The feeling is that you are stuck and you want to move constantly.

There is significant amelioration from movement.

The main sensation of the Anacardiaceae family is of being ‘caught, stiff, tight,
held and unable to move’. The best example is of Rhus toxicodendron where the
patient picks up a heavy weight and suddenly he is caught like a sprain and he is
caught, held and stuck in a state, better by warmth and by movement.

If you have this picture in your mind, Anacardiaceae family is easy to understand.

We take the first case example:

Case Example 1

The clinic

7th April 1993

A man aged twenty-four years

Profession: Businessman, dealing with diamonds

Married

Chief complaints:

1. Pain in back, particularly in the sacral region, in the coccygeal region,

symphysis pubis. This has increased in the past two months. There is a constant
pain, stiffness. He cannot turn in bed, cannot “feel free.” The pain changes in
intensity and position. It is worse on exertion, while lying in bed, better by hot
water bath, by continuous movement and occasionally by massage.

2. He has pain and stiffness in the chest. An anxiety about a possible heart
disease,.

3. He has Vitiligo - Whitish depigmented patch on legs.

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Notes from the case book and interview:

The History he gave was:

“Four years ago, before the New Year we had gone to a party. The very next
morning, my whole right side was totally painful from the toe to shoulder. This
pain continued for three months without a diagnosis. Finally the orthopaedician
suggested doing a Rheumatoid arthritis test and H.L.A. B 27 which turned out to
be positive. The treatment helped but there is no total relief.

The pain comes suddenly any time during the day or night. The back becomes
very stiff and by taking medicine or by a hot water bath it subsides slowly. The
type of pain or the duration of the pain is not at all fixed. Sometimes when I sleep
and get up in the morning the whole back gets stiff. The pain often gets worse
with a draft of air. My movements are restricted and I need to stretch on order to
feel better.”

Disease history: Dermatitis, typhoid and hepatitis. And had an episode of severe
joint pain at the age of 21.

Physical generals:

Desires – bread, butter, coffee, milk, spicy food2, onions2, cold food, and spicy
Indian fast food

Aversion – sweet, sour, extra salt

Personality/Nature

By nature he is a “cool” person and doesn’t get tense up so easily or excited. He

wanted to go in for quick money so he entered the diamond business. He wants
to live a luxurious life.

He says:

“I get tense and worried when there are business ups and downs and when
thinking of my illness. Sometimes due to financial constraints I think of the future

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but then again I tell myself it is all a part of life. In school and college I had very
few friends since I have a reserved nature. Whenever I was mischievous, my
mother would say, “I shall die.” This would affect me and I would cry, thinking if
mother dies, “Who will look after me, then?”

His wife’s says:

“He is a very cool, sensitive person, likes sleeping and enjoys food. He is very
attached to others. At home he is very sympathetic, very sentimental, but doesn’t
show it. He can never be harsh or rude. He has never been outspoken. Even when
he is in pain he doesn’t tell.”

When I observed him, I saw

- his legs are very restless, thus moving them constantly

- Ridged nails

A rubric-based analysis of physical particulars and generals, and mentals was

done, and this is often what we tend to do. We take the symptoms as they come.
The particulars, the generals, the mentals, put them in the Repertory and I found
Silicea. I gave it to him, it didn’t help him. Then he got– Medorrhinum, Strontium
carbonicum and Cuprum metallicum, but there was no significant improvement.
Then he got high blood pressure and started taking anti-hypertensive medication.

In April of 2003

He came in with an acute severe exacerbation of pain and stiffness. He had been
resting for more than two months and he said, “It is critical. The situation is now
critical. I need to get out of this within 48 hrs

D: What is happening?

P: My lower back is paining. It is stiff and the rib cage pain is developing again. I
feel that by tomorrow everything will get 100% stiff. During pain my breath stops,
it gets stuck there, I am not able to move forward. I need to make an effort to
breathe. (His hands and legs were moving constantly and restlessly).

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D: Describe the pain,

P: It’s stuck, caught, it doesn’t get released, there is a spasm and you need effort
for it. Presently it is stuck there and will not get released. Right now I can bear it
but when it’s acute I cannot, all the movement stops. The shoulders get stiff, I am
not able to lift anything, there is a spasm, it gets jammed, stiff (Hg).

D: What means ‘Stiffness’?

P: Stiffness means no mobility, you are stuck. You will not be able to move ahead.
You need mobility, the shoulders are not free. When there is extreme pain I get
stuck, then slowly I have to make efforts both physically and mentally. At that
time all other mobility stops. It’s like a cycle in which one part is stuck and the
other is free.

D: What do you do when you have the pain?

P: I can bear any amount of the pain but it is the time factor and the mobility of
the body which is hindering me. I have to be mobile. At least it should be
bearable, I should be able to get out of the house. I have prepared myself for the
disease that it will stay lifelong. Initially I used to think I have to get going.

D: Tell me about your nature.

P: I get irritated and angry. It’s not my normal nature to get angry, even if
somebody starts arguing I ignore it, I leave it, I just let it go. I am less
communicative. Even when I am alone with my wife I cannot talk. On the phone
also I hardly talk for a minute or two. In office I have to co-ordinate with 250
people, so there is no problem. It’s not that I am at the top so whatever I say is
right. I am open for discussion, I am free enough. I will make an effort to convince.
The discussion should be open and free.

D: What is the opposite of open and free?

P: It’s being stubborn, imposing, not ready for discussion. For example it is very
difficult to convince my wife about things like clothes. It’s all pre-decided, so just
let it be like that.

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At the office I am very communicative, tackling everything, business etc. I am
constantly on the move but when I am at home I need to relax. (Restless legs
constantly, non-stop)

D: How were you as a child?

P: I was very sensitive, have seen many ups and downs in my family. I was
attached to my mother, I would never leave her. Now I am possessive about my
daughter. I cannot imagine to be without her. She is now 11 years old and very
soon she will leave after marriage.

L: He was thinking of her marriage and she was just 11 years old.

D: When you say you ‘can’t imagine being without her’ what would you feel?

P: I feel loneliness, I feel there is no warmth. I am so much attached to her. If she

has fever I also have fever.

D: Tell more about loneliness and no warmth.

P: It’s very difficult to tell. Now she is the most active, life moves. I feel activity in
the house. When she is not around I feel dull, no work to do. When she had fever
I was there the whole night awake, with her on my lap. I just could not sleep. With
my daughter I tend to weep.

The similar affection I have for my grandmother. I was also close to my mother.
My uncle would tease me as ‘Mama’s boy’. I just cannot imagine myself to be
without them.

D: What do you like in movies?

P: I like to see light movies, comedies and action. It feels relaxing, you should be
able to enjoy. It should be fast moving.

D: What are your fears?

P: I fear cockroaches. I have a phobia of them. By chance if it comes on body my

reaction is very spontaneous…it’s dirty, dirty appearance!

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D: In food and drinks what do you like the most?

P: Mangoes are my favourite, I can have them all the year around. I just love it.

D: How did your problem start?

P: I first got rashes in my body particularly around the ears, forearm, the dorsum
of hand and the palms, there was lot of itching, followed by small red eruption
and peeling of the skin. I had my first attack of joint pains after we had been to a
31st December party. The next day my whole right leg was stiff, my leg got stuck,
there was severe pain at one particular angle I was shrieking with pain.

He further says:

“I want things to be fast, like rabbit, like a rabbit and a tortoise. There are two
different personalities - slow and fast. There is a constant need for me to move, it
is very difficult for me to concentrate during meditation, to be at one place, there
is restlessness. Even at home I can’t sit at one place for half-an-hour.

Earlier it was difficult to move even my hand. I may try doing Yoga, after which
my stiffness and I feel that my movements are easy, a little light. I feel relaxed,
but for a short while. But I still continue trying a lot of things – household
remedies, naturopathy. I try lots of stuff. How I got caught on Homoeopathy I
don’t know.”

So that’s essentially the case.

Analysis of the case

What we see in this case is that he describes his main sensation as follows:

Stiffness, being caught, and being stuck and there is a lot of restlessness. The
main feeling is being stuck, caught, not being released, with a constant desire to
move.

When describing his nature he says he is very sentimental and attached to his
mother and daughter and feels lonely when they are not around him. However,
these are all at the emotional level. When he talks further, he talks about the

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activity and movement when his daughter is at home and that makes him happy.

He instantly reacts to a situation in his office. His attempt is always trying to

convince others, to make them understand. He wants to be free and open for the
discussion and the opposite of that is stubbornness and being imposing. He is
constantly on the move; where we see the restlessness all over, be in office,
home, or in the interview.

So the rubrics are:

Stuck, caught, immobile

And on the other side:

Desire for mobility and activity, to be free, restlessness

These are the core sensations of Family Anacardiaceae.

He wants to be mobile, free, and to this end he is always hopeful and trying
different things in life to get better. He has tried Homoeopathy, Ayurveda, he has
tried being hopeful and always trying and making an effort to come out of the
situation. This trying puts him into the Ringworm miasm.

I gave him,

Rx: Rhus veneneta 1M

Which is Anacardiaceae family, in the Ringworm miasm.

Follow –up

There were many ups and down in case, it was not a smooth process. It’s a very
difficult situation, the Rheumatoid factor and the HLA –B27 were positive showing
that he had a strong auto –immune disorder like Anklylosing spondylitis. But over
the period of time the intensity and frequency of the attacks have reduced and
the remedy is able to help him even in acute exacerbations.

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 19

Now he is able to walk and move without painkillers and analgesics. Slowly we
also reduced the anti-hypertensive drugs and later stopped it. His stiffness is
much better and his health is better than before.

Rubrics of Rhus venenata

- Back - stiffness - cervical region

- Back - pain - dorsal region - scapulae - between - rheumatic

- Mind - restlessness

- Skin - eruptions - vesicular - red

- Skin - eruptions - vesicular - inflamed

These are some noteworthy symptoms of Rhus venenata

When you see from Clarke’s Dictionary of Materia medica, you find:

Upper Limbs

Back very stiff

Sharp pain under left scapula, extending through to ribs.

Rheumatic pains between scapulae.

Generalities

Great restlessness.

Bruised feeling in all the limbs.

soreness as if all muscles stiff, esp. back of right leg.

Stiffness and soreness.

From Allen’s Encyclopedia Superior extremities

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 20

The wrists and fingers are very stiff. All the muscles seemed so stiff, those of the
posterior part of the right leg being most affected, so much so that after
remaining crooked for a little while, it was painful to straighten them. This
stiffness and soreness still remained to a major degree, [a12].

These are some symptoms from Allen’s Encyclopedia under Rhus venenata.

From Hale’s Materia Medica , you read:

Stiff neck, or "crick in the neck," and rheumatic pains between the shoulders.

Wrists and fingers are stiff, constant aching distress.

So through all these Materia medica references you see how strongly the
sensation of the Anacardiaceae family comes through in this remedy and it helped
him tremendously.

We take,

Case Example 2

Date: 23rd April 2007

A woman aged 48 years consulted me in the hospital in the outpatient

department in the hospital where I work; with the chief complaint.

Chief complaints:

Pain in the knees for the past year, in the right more than the left. The pain is
worse on squatting, on rising from sitting, while walking and while descending.

An x-ray of both the knees showed osteo-arthritic changes, mainly osteophytes

arising from the articulating surfaces of both knee joints, as well as an intra-
articular loose body in the posterior of the right knee.

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 21

The patient described her complaints as follows:

P: “It catches me there in the knees. There is pain in both the legs. Sometimes I
feel as if I have no legs. They cannot take my body weight. They get totally numb.
On waking after sleeping I have to lift both legs and feel them very heavy, as if
they have no life. They feel very stiff as if they have been kept in the refrigerator. I
cannot sit on a chair for long because within fifteen minutes I become stiff. I have
to get up and walk about for some time.

There is a lot of stiffness of the calf muscles, and it feels better if I press them
hard. There is constant pain in the right thigh. It is better by standing. In fact, if I
have no complaints at all if I stand for some time. I can stand continuously for up
to half-an-hour. I cannot sit cross-legged comfortably and I am much better when
occupied with some work.

There sometimes comes a sudden shock-like pain in the knee joint for about two
minutes. At that time I have to be still. Then gradually I start to move the leg. The
pain goes away gradually. Somebody should press the leg hard; there should be a
load on it, then only I will get relief.

I am busy the whole day with too much work in the house. I feel tired very often
and want to sleep. A short sleep of 10-15 minutes refreshes me. I don’t go out
anywhere, in the evenings I tutor children at home. If I do not work, my whole
body becomes stiff.

The Doctor asks:

D: Can you tell us something about your nature?

P: I am very talkative. I do not keep anything to myself and will speak it all out. If
anyone is dishonest with me I get angry and will shout and scream in anger.

I am not really happy. My husband does not talk to me, just goes into another
room and starts working or goes to sleep. I let it go and don’t bother about it. He
takes no interest in anything. It is now a habit of his to behave like this. My life is

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 22

passing by like this. I make myself busy in my work and let go of this matter.

I don’t feel there is anyone to support me. All the responsibilities of the house are
on me. I am practically the head of the family, and there is no support. If
something happens to me, what will happen to my family? Life should go a bit
faster. It’s like I have totally no emotions internally; no feelings.

Earlier I used to travel about with my friend, but now she has shifted house. Since
my mother passed away, there seems to be no reason to get out of the house.
With the work in the house, I feel the sense of having to do it compulsorily. I just
feel nothing. I have become habituated to the whole thing.

L: When I examined her, I saw there were warts on the neck and in the right axilla
and these were increasing in size.

Physical Generals:

Appearance: Black spots on the face, arm and on abdomen.

Thermal state: chilly. She cannot tolerate cold.

Desires: Spicy food, mango flavoured sweets and sweets in general.

Thirst: frequent, for two glasses at a time; she desires chilled water and she puts
ice in the water

The doctor who took the case observed:

The patient was constantly rubbing her right thigh. Mid-way during the interview
she got up, she walked about for some time and then sat back down again.

Analysis of the Case

In this case what catches the attention most significantly is the sensation in the
chief complaint, which is clear and which is repeatedly emphasized by the patient.
She says the pain “catches” her in the knees. The legs feel stiff as if they have
been frozen. There is aggravation on rising from sitting and on first movement,
with amelioration from the physical exertion of working. There is the desire to

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 23

keep oneself busy and occupied and amelioration from it. The thighs she says feel
constantly stiff. There is no acute exacerbation as such. The disease is constant
and restrictive, rather than intermittent, critical or destructive.

She is not happy with her life situation. Her husband does not
communicate with her and she has to shoulder all the responsibilities of the home
herself. She finds herself working all day and feeling tired. The way she responds
to this is by “not bothering” and having no feelings. Essentially she is not allowing
herself to have any feelings about it. She has resigned herself to the situation and
accepted her husband’s nature as something that cannot be changed. This is
Sycotic miasm and the presence of warts only confirms it.

Warts show a pattern that is stuck. A wart is a disease manifestation that is not
critical, acute or intermittent by nature. It is non-destructive, it is chronic. To my
thinking, at present, a wart seems to be a kind of cover-up, a reactive hypertrophy
around a weak spot. Mentally too, in the Sycotic miasm, a compensatory
hypertrophy covers up a perceived deficiency.

Stiffness with amelioration from movement indicates Family Anacardiaceae. I

have often found Mangifera indica very useful in arthritis – especially in cervical
spondylosis. It often presents with the classic symptoms of stiffness, a sense of
‘stuckness’ and it is better by movement. It is one of the very few remedies
mentioned in Kent’s rubric ‘Cervical spondylosis’. Further in this case, as
confirmation of the case, there is the desire for mango which confirms Mangifera
indica.

Rx: Mangifera indica 200

A single dose brought about significant improvement in the symptoms. Over the
following eight months, the remedy was repeated twice, when its repetition was
indicated, and it gave good continuing amelioration that she stopped coming for
follow ups. We telephoned her two years later and she said that she had no knee
pain anymore and was very satisfied with the medicine.

Now let’s summarize the experience of Anacardiaceae:

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 24

Sensation

Stiff

Tight

Caught, stuck

Cramps

Pressing

Passive Reaction

Paralyzed

Immobile

Active Reaction

Motion ameliorates

Desires to move constantly

Sitting aggravates

Being indoors aggravates

Pain is worse on beginning to move

And

There is constant Restlessness

Compensation

Always on the move

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 25

The Keywords of this Family:

Caught, catch, grasp, grab, hold, wedged, get trapped in, clasped, in a vise, seize,
ensnare, stuck, blocked, lodged, clutch, clung, etc.

Stiff, stiffness, rigid, tight, tightness, tension, taut, jammed, confining, ironclad,
firm, inflexible, unyielding, compacted, stretching, etc.

The other word for this family is: Cramp

Many, many remedies of this family have Cramp or cramped, pressure,

constricted, immobile, unmoving, paralyze, motionless, at a halt, at a standstill,
inactive, etc.

So this gives you some idea of the family Anacardiaceae. Before I go to the family
Euphorbiaceae, I would like to make a comment.

What did we see in the last two cases?

The first thing that we saw in both the cases was the most prominent expression
of the patient was sensation. The sensation of stiffness, tightness, cannot move
and restlessness, must be on the move, must be occupied. Both the patients did
give some mental symptoms. They did talk about their nature, they did talk about
their emotions and that’s a place usually where we get stuck because we think
the prominent should always be with the mind symptoms or to the state of the
patient or the nature of the patient.

I don’t think it’s true anymore. Ultimately it is true if you reach into the depth of
that mental state and see what is really peculiar about it, what is strange. In the
first case was the restlessness, it was the constant desire to move which was at
the bottom, is what at … the underlying everything but that was not prominent
and that’s where we make mistake.

We make mistakes by giving prominence to certain mind and other attributes

which are not really prominent and definitely they are not at sensation level and

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 26

what we can learn is that if the most prominent expression of the patient is a
sensation and it’s opposite, then it is important to consider the plant families and
also look into the depth of the mind state. If whether at it’s very core, you are
able to see the same sensation that you could see at a more physical level and
that is what we saw in both the cases. At a superficial level, if you look at the
mind, you will lose it but having seen the prominence of the expression of the
sensation and confirming it so often in various physical manifestations and also
being able to observe the most prominent feature of the patient which is the
restlessness or the restless limbs or what the intern Doctor observed that for long
patient could not sit that she had to get up, take a walk and sit down and then
resume the interview.

So you get such prominent expressions at sensation level. It’s a good hint towards
a Plant family and you can bank upon this experience far more than the emotional
stories or situations the patient gives.

I hope you are getting the hint that I am passing to you. If you want to
understand this further, then you have to have these cases transcripted and you
can read them in the transcript and read especially the mind part of it. And if you
read the mind part of it, imagine how you could get mislead into so many other
remedies as I did in the first case. I got Silicea, Strontium and Medorrhinum
completely based on mind and emotions and delusion and that’s what didn’t
work. With regard to :

Family Euphorbiaceae

The well-known remedies in this family are Acalypha indica, Euphorbium, Croton
tiglium, Mancinella, Hura brasilenses , Stillingia and others.

When we study rubrics that have some of these remedies, we find the following
symptoms:

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 27

Abdomen: Constriction, as of a band, or a hoop [Boenninghausen]

Extremities: Constriction of the thigh and legs; as if a string were tied around
them [Allen]

Head: Constriction; like a band or a hoop

A feeling as if the brain is bound up

In Acalypha indica we find like Croton Tig :

Abdomen: Spluttering diarrhea with forcible expulsion of flatus

In Euphorbium you find:

Abdomen: Constriction as of a band or hoop [Boenninghausen]

Abdomen: feels as if drawn in [Boenninghausen]

In Croton tiglium we find:

Skin: Sensation, hidebound, as if [Hering]

(As if the skin had become tight)

And the famous symptom of croton tig is:

Chest: Pain: Drawing, mammae, nipples: String, as with a [Kent]

Or

eyes backwards or umbilicus backwards, like you have just taken a string and
pulling it backwards.

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 28

So the main sensation of this family is:

Constriction (band, hoop)

Tightness

Bound feeling

Drawn in like a string or a rope or a hoop or a band

Tied, gripped, like a string being tied all around the body, like being in a strait
jacket.

The word ‘strait’ means ‘tight’ or ‘narrow’. A straitjacket used to restrain

physically violent persons, and it has overlong sleeves. The arms are crossed
around the chest and the ends of the sleeves are tied around the back, so that the
arms are kept very closely tied to the chest and movement is extremely limited
here.

And the opposite of being bound and tight is to be untied, unbound, release, free,
escape, loose, cut loose.

Case Example - 3

The clinic

On the 11th of June 1992, this patient was first brought to the clinic by her
mother. She was a young child of the age of seven years, and she was suffering
from bed wetting: nocturnal enuresis. She was under treatment for this and
subsequent complaints on and off for several years. I would treat her, she would
improve with remedies and she would disappear and come few months or later
for some other problem.

What I observed is:

She was very, very shy. She would not make an eye contact with me.

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 29

1999

(The patient is now about 14 years old)

Chief complaints: Dysmennorrhoea (painful periods), back pain and ear pain.

( Naturally I asked her how is her state of mind)

She says:

She has issues with her friends and parents. She had failed an exam and since
then she was not allowed to talk or be with her friends. She feels frustrated and
angry. She wants to play hockey, she wants to go out with her friends, but she is
frequently reminded by her mother of her studies and of her responsibilities.

One of her friends is not “mixing”. She says, “She is jealous of me and my friends
and keeps telling others that I am boasting, that I am filthy and that I am of a
loose character. She has no sense of dress, she is very frustrated, and she is very
cheap. She is always interfering in my life. I don’t like her character. My other
friend is very nice, supporting and helpful. She encourages me in each and every
situation. We had to take part in a debate, I was scared. What if I forget in front of
everybody? Everybody is staring at you and it’s very embarrassing. I shall put my
team down. I can’t lose. I have to be the best. I want people to tell me that I am
good, people should appreciate me. In-spite of making so much effort if it doesn’t
happen then it’s disgusting and discouraging. People don’t appreciate you - it’s a
dirty feeling. I feel like cursing those people.

My mother always interferes and stops me from doing things. I don’t feel like
looking at her (she weeps). I feel tied up and I can’t let myself be. I feel as if locked
in a cage for a year. I can’t do anything of my own free will; I have been restricted,
like a slave. All my friends are enjoying and I have to be restricted, to be not
allowed.

My mother never allows me to do things, so how would I know what I am able to

do? She likes to be disciplined. She doesn’t like to wear the same dress a second

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 30

time in front of the same people. She feels that people would think I am poor. I
always like to show that I am from a well-educated family; it gives a good
impression, good character. If you dress in a filthy manner, no one will talk to you.
People will pass comments about you. I will feel neglected, I will feel left alone.

I want to become an IAS officer (Indian Administrative Service – it is a cadre of

high-ranked government administrative posts. Like a very high position in the
Government). If you become an IAS officer, there is no struggle, people will obey
you, you have the power. You can do things without people interfering.

Here notes from a retake:

23rd April 2002

P: My weight is increasing a lot. In spite of exercising it is not reducing. I have a lot

of dandruff. There are hypopigmented patches on my neck and legs (starts
crying). I am losing contact with my family. I tend to avoid them. I prefer going out
with my friends.

I am really disturbed about my physical appearance, about my height and my

weight. I want to be tall and thin. I get a complex when I am compared with
others. They can wear good clothes but I can’t.

It really hurts – you have to suffer, and you cannot enjoy life like others. If I go for
a party, I don’t dance because I feel it will look funny. People call me ‘Road block’,
or they call me ‘Bull dozer’ because of my weight. It really hurts. People take
advantage of you when you are good. It really depresses me. Thoughts come to
my mind like, “Have I committed a crime? What wrong have I done being fat?”
Guys prefer thin females to me. They select women on the bases of looks and
beauty, I feel jealous.

I get angry at everything and everybody. Because of this I prefer staying at home.

D: How does this patch and dandruff affect you? What do you feel about it?

P: It adds to my ugliness. I try to hide it, and try not to show it. It looks very ugly,
not attractive. The fear is always there that if others come to know about it I

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 31

won’t be able to associate with them, because of this dirty feeling. You feel to cut
off hands and legs, you are not beautiful. It affects my social life. I can’t deal with
people, as I will get exposed in front of them…I get very emotionally depressed,
want to kill myself. I just keep away from everybody. I say don't associate with
anyone, remain totally away from everyone. I isolate myself. I feel lonely and left
out of my group and friends.

By nature I am very emotional. I get hurt very easily. I am a mixing kind of

person, but my parents don’t like any of my friends, they don’t allow me to
associate with them so I have to hide from them.

D: What dreams do you get?

P: In childhood, I used to get dreams of murderers, killers.

Some other dreams I get are:

- Being the best speaker, people come to listen to me.

- Being a child detective and solving crimes, saving children from drug abuse.

- Being the best in everything.

D: What is the feeling there?

P: The whole word adores you, everyone is associated with you, and you would
be with everyone, as you get to become great and the best. The opposite of this is
a forsaken, lonely and isolated feeling.

On asked about a significant childhood experience, she describes an incidence

where she felt ‘left out’.

P: I was in the ninth standard. I was not allowed to participate in a group drama,
they did not select me. I felt very sad and left out. Even with relatives on any
occasion or festival, I feel left out and when they don’t allow me to associate with
them.

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 32

D: What are your fears?

P: I fear losing friends; I won’t be able to associate with them. You feel very
lonely.

D: What are your interests and hobbies?

P: I like talking on the phone, chatting, reading, playing squash, hockey, swimming
and shopping. I like English movies, I love war movies. There is so much anger,
enmity, wicked thoughts, very destructive thoughts…You should have power to
do what you want…power to rule the world like Hitler…killing, murders… You can
finish anyone you hate, finish them off totally. They have hurt you, so kill the
people you don’t like. Kill the ones who tease you, who do cheap business on the
road in front of public.

D: How do you react to animals?

P: I love animals, love cats, turtles and fish. But I get startled by stray dogs or
diseased ones. They look very ugly. I like cats a lot because they are very cunning.
They have nine lives, so they are dangerous and smart. Like they say, “Don’t mess
with me, I am dangerous. I will bite you, kill you, scratch you.” I love their looks
and the eyes are very beautiful…I love reptiles3. They are scaly, creepy and the
whole structure…it’s nice. I adore them. They are cunning…it is a nice
quality…ready to kill always…dangerous…people are scared of them. They have
the power to kill, that I want to have…I want to destroy people whom I don’t
like…I would like to see the day when I can kill all the people like my cousin who
hated me.

She was asked to say more about the issues she had mentioned before.

P: I like war movies, the destruction, the enmity, bloodshed…there is a thrill in

watching it - the determination to destroy. So much anger3 - just destroy them.
Kill everyone by shooting2, beating them up, kicking them, throwing stones on
their faces…I feel happy. Even if that person survives, he won’t be able to socialize
again, he will not be able to show his face to anyone.

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 33

D: How does it feel to be like that?

P: Hurt, lonely, very sad, no one likes you or no one cares about you. You are
ignored. You are in one little corner, and there is no one else with you, no one
comes to you. It’s like a little cage, being trapped inside of a cage. You can’t go
out, you can’t talk. There is no growth of your knowledge. You want to break
through, but you can’t, there is a struggle. You cannot get out of it, you are
restricted.

D: Describe ‘cage’ and ‘trapped’.

P: You can’t get out, you are restricted by your parents…they won’t allow me to
do what I want to do.

D: What is the feeling of being restricted?

P: To cut out….and a lot of anger. The image that comes to my mind is of four
walls with one person inside - total restriction. It is very frustrating…you can’t
break the wall. It is huge, big and tall wall. I feel a lot of anger.

D: What is the physical experience?

P: Clothes are tight, I want to break through , I try to squeeze.

Analysis of the case:

The main issue which is bothering her is that she is gaining weight, and despite of
all her efforts she is not able to reduce it. She compares herself, in her looks, with
other girls. She talks about boys preferring thin girls. “If you look good you can
enjoy, you can party you can go out.” But because of her weight problem people
tease her, call her ‘Bull dozer’, ‘road blocker’ and it really hurts her deeply, so that
she gets depressed. She feels so ugly, so dirty and unattractive that she doesn’t
want to show herself. She wants to hide from people, isolate herself and kill
herself. She feels so lonely and left out from social life, forsaken and totally alone.

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 34

Finally, she describes the experience of not being able to associate with others.
She says, “You are in one little corner and no one is with you, no one comes to
you, you are trapped, there is total restriction, you cannot do anything, you can’t
get out,” and she describes the physical sensation is of being squeezed, tightness.
She wants to break free.

This gives us the main sensation of being tied, bound, restricted and then there is
a desire to break free, out of the bond, break free or at least to make it loose, not
so tight, so bound. This is the Family Euphorbiaceae.

When the restriction, the binding, is so severe that it isolates you from others,
you are all alone, away from world, as if you are been cast away and as a reaction
you want to cut off in anger and kill someone, this intense sense of isolation, the
reaction , this desperation, they indicate the leprous miasm.

We see that she likes war movies - the destruction, the enmity, bloodshed, the
determination to destroy. And though she spoke about animals and reptiles, the
main thing she likes about them is the way they kill and destroy. She did not go
further in describing the process, neither do we see any issue of me v/s you or a
survival strategy, indicating the qualities of animal.

But we see her sensitivity to the behavior of others, which causes her to feel hurt
and get depressed. And the experience of it is a particular sensation which is
common to mind and body, and it also has an opposite. These indicate the Plant
kingdom.

The remedy required is from the Euphorbiaceae family, with the leprous miasm.
And it is Hura brasiliensis.

We see a whole host of rubrics of Hura that show us all her experiences of her
emotions, her delusions.

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 35

Rubrics:

- Delusion, lost affection of friends.

- Delusion, she is alone in the world.

- Delusion, deserted, forsaken.

- Delusions, despised, is

- Delusion, thinks is repudiated by her relatives.

- Destructiveness.

- Forsaken feeling isolation, sensation of

These are some of the rubrics of Hura that apply to the case and show clearly the
miasm.

References

If you read Allen’s encyclopedia:

Mind:

- Flow of sad thoughts; she fancies she is about to lose a dear friend (forty-fifth
day), 3.

- Depression; wants to do nothing; nothing pleases her (first day), 3.

- feels she is left alone in the world and is lost (nineteenth day), 4.

Sleep and dreams:

- Dream about mutilated bodies, corpses with their arms cut off (eighteenth
day), 4.

- Restless night; dreams about crimes, dead bodies, and children lying with their
heads half cut off, while others were being decapitated (twenty-first day), 1.

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 36

Female sexual:

- Pain in the uterus as if a sharp instrument were thrust into it (twenty-third

day), 3.

I wrote in the book ‘Soul of remedies’ in Hura,

Soul of remedies – Rajan Sankaran:

“I found that they concentrated around a feeling of being forsaken, with the
specific delusion in the Hura person is about to lose his friends and that his
friends have lost affection for him. He feels like a castaway, unwanted; he feels
alone in the world, despised and hated. There is a feeling of being unfortunate,
unlucky that something has happened to him, because of which he has lost his
friends and everyone has started hating him.

There is the rubric:

"Despair of recovery"

which means that it is difficult for him to recover from this position; the chances
of getting back to the original position are slim and so there is sadness and mental
depression. He becomes quite frustrated and can get destructive. He becomes
angry with himself, dislikes himself, reproaches himself, and feels unfortunate like

… A leper is a man who, through a stroke of bad luck, comes into a position where
all his friends have deserted him. They hate him, despise him, have lost affection
for him, and how much ever he may try, he cannot compensate and cannot get
back to where he was before - once a leper, always a leper.

Hura feels like a leper. He feels castaway and despised without any chance of
recovering from this situation.”

Rx: Hura brasiliensis 200

But in the Soul of remedies when I wrote these words, I could see that Hura
clearly lies in the Leprosy miasm. That it in fact has the picture of Leprosy but

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 37

what was missing at that time was the Kingdom idea that Hura belongs to the
Plant Kingdom. In fact this very sensitive and the main expression of this
sensitivity is the feeling to be in a very tight position from where he wants to
break free.

So Hura is a combination. It’s at a cross point between the Leprosy miasm and the
Euphorbiaceae family and one of the rubrics that I liked about it very much is the

‘Dream of release of the prisoners’

which is what exactly indicates what he actually feels like in a very tight position,
like being in a prison and he hopes for a day when this door will open. It will
become loose and he can break free and be released. I gave her Hura brasiliensis
200.

Follow up :

Many changes. She lost almost 4-5 kgs of weight. Her hyperthyroid situation
improved. Her TSH levels decreased from 11 to 5.7 units. And over the years, she
still follows up. The last she came on

14th October 2010

She has improved significantly in the pathology and physical complaints. Her acne
has decreased. Her tight sensation is very much less in intensity.

And now she is very much requires very infrequent repetition of dosage
whenever she has a problem.

To summarise the experience of Euphorbiaceae:

Sensation:

Tied and untied

Bound and unbound

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 38

Passive Reaction:

I am tied and I cannot do anything

Active Reaction:

To break free

Compensation:

To feel free, to feel unbound, to feel not tied

The main Keywords of the Euphorbiaceae family:

Tied, bound, bind, get entangled, strait jacket, captive, capture, catch, clasp,
clutch, restrain, strangle, tangled, trapped, grab, hold, suffocate, prisoner, taut,
throttle.

These are the different words the patient can express and experience.

Also in the keywords:

Liberty, freedom, release, break away, break free, boundless, liberate, untied,
unbound, unchained, limitless, escape, disentangle, unwound etc.

What’s the difference between these two families Anacardiaceae and

Euphorbiaceae that we just studied?

Differentiation between Anacardiaceae and Euphorbiaceae:

In Anacardiaceae family, the sensation is caught, held and stuck in one place, so
that you cannot move. The feeling is of stiffness, tightness, inflexibility,
immobility. There is an inability to move and then there is a great desire to move,
as if the movement produces a great amount of flexibility and reduction of the
stiffness.

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 39

The main feeling in Euphorbiaceae is of being ‘bound and unbound’.. To bind is to
tie from all sides, to fasten, to wrap, to encircle, like with a band or a ribbon,
bandage, to restrict. The typical example is like being a prisoner, bound from all
sides and restricted. And that’s where one wants to just loosen this, unwrap,
unbound break out and just get free and then you are fine

So that’s the difference between the two families.

What I want to emphasize again is that do go through the articles and the write
up of these cases and especially study their mind section and when you study the
mind section of these cases, the patient’s nature, the patient’s reaction, the
patient’s dream. Do not read the rest. Just read that much initially and just see
where you could have got mislead. May be to another family of plant or may be
to another Kingdom even and to see that despite of all the mind story, you are
not going to go and catch the Plant remedy. You are going to catch it in the
experience, not in the story and the experience that will be common to the mind
and body, will be the sensation of that Plant family.

So do go through the case, do go through the mind and see where it could have
been mislead and then you will understand the beauty of prescribing a Plant
family remedy and how you will see that the main expression is the sensation, the
sensitivity and then all the Active, Passive reaction and then how you are able to
appreciate this not superficially in the mind but at deep level. Superficially in the
mind you can go off anywhere. So with these words, I come to the end of today’s
talk and I wish you very well and Good bye, till we meet again.

Do keep writing in your suggestions, your comments, your questions and we will
be happy to be guided by these for our future talks.

So Good Bye for now!

Talk 22 Plant Kingdom - 1 40