Aves Anhang 3
Transformation
Between the Realms
There are
two types of symptom in any case. Most symptoms make up what can be seen as the
background of the case. These are stable and distinctive and they will lead the
prescriber to a group of remedies.
Background
are: the Miasms, the Botanical and Zoological Families, the Periodic Table, the
Realms and the Kingdoms.
It is
sometimes possible to find the indicated remedy by cross referencing the
various background features of the case.
This
approach has great appeal as it appears to be ordered and systematic and does
not require a detailed knowledge of the remedies. In fact a completely unknown
remedy can be prescribed
purely on
its relationship to other known remedies.
However,
this approach is not as easy to work with as it seems as the slightest
misunderstanding in classifying the case will invariably lead to the wrong
remedy.
The
background in the case will usually lead to a group of remedies and it is
differentiating within the group and finding the specific group member
indicated in the case that is the most difficult part of remedy selection.
Although
other backgrounds do differentiate somewhat, there is usually a correspondence
between different backgrounds. Many remedies that are of the Sea Realm are also
Phlegmatic in nature and so knowing that a
case is
both of the Sea and Phlegmatic is not very helpful.
The
foreground is the place in a case where there is dynamic energy and movement.
It is the place where the patient becomes animated and where the symptoms are
changing and contradictory.
This is the
place that restricts, that prevents the patient from moving on and growing but
it is also the place through which they will move and grow. This is perhaps the
most distinctive feature of the foreground of the case;
it is as
positive as it is negative and it is as healing as it is destructive. It is
also unusual, individualistic and characteristic. No one else expresses it in
quite the same way and for no one else would it quite make
sense in
the way it does for the patient. It is also something that appears in different
aspects of the case but with the same distinct character.
The
foreground is what Hahnemann refers to as the totality of the characteristic
symptoms.
Finding the
foreground in a case gives you a deep insight into the patient and without
understanding this aspect of their life it is very difficult to understand the
case and to discover what it is that is to be cured.
Finding the
foreground features in a case requires attention to the patient’s way of
expressing him or herself and of describing his or her symptoms. The key
indicators are animation and contradiction and wherever either of
these appear
in a case they need to be pursued because here will be found the information
that allows an accurate differentiation between the group of background
remedies. Animation is important because it indicates that
the things under
discussion are dynamic and alive for the patient. Contradiction is important
because the path to illness and the path to healing are the same, just as the
symptoms of the disease and of its cure are the same.
The same
process that is involved in finding the foreground features of a case is
involved in finding the foreground features of a remedy. Again, animation and
contradiction are the key indicators of foreground symptoms.
This is why
it is important to study remedies from the provings as all too often these are
lost in secondary materia medica.
In some
classes of remedy there is at least one point of dynamism and change that is
the same for all the group but which the individual remedies each handle in
slightly different ways.
Each remedy
has different issues that dominate the same dynamic process. One of the
clearest points of this dynamis is when there is movement from one Realm to
another.
Birds,
Trees and Insects all involve movement from the Earth to the Sky.
Feathers
were clearly used to aid flight. It is unlikely that Archeopteryx could take
off from the ground and it probably used its claws to climb a tree and then
flew from the tree. Most of the other specializations found in birds followed
at a later date. The reptilian tail was lost, the clavicles fused to form the
furcula (wishbone),
the sternum
developed a keel or carina to anchor the large flight muscles, the toothed jaw
was replaced by a beak, a gizzard developed to grind food and the bones
developed hollow air spaces.
The ability
to fly comes at a great cost, mostly in having to keep the weight low while at
the same time having available large reserves of energy. In evolutionary terms
flight must be actively selected for or it is very quickly
lost. In
island situations, especially where there are no resident mammals, some birds
tend to lose their ability to fly and many of the necessary adaptations very
quickly. This can be seen in the Cormorants of the Galapagos
Islands, the
birds found in Madagascar and particularly the bird life of New Zealand.
In order to
fly birds must economize on anything that might increase their weight. In order
to power flight a great deal of energy is needed and it must be energy that is
immediately available; this in turn requires a FAST fast
metabolism.
The contradictory requirements of these needs govern much of bird physiology
and behaviour. In spite of the need for food and energy the digestion of
grasses and leaves requires carrying a large caecum filled with
bacteria
and this is usually found only in flightless ratites such as the ostrich,
though birds like geese and ducks do graze and eat grass like plants. They also
eat a variety of invertebrates and high energy grain.
Flying
birds tend to eat a combination of nutritious insects and animals and the high
energy parts of plants, especially the seeds and fruits. Those, such as
Hummingbirds, that need energy in its purest form live mainly by drinking
The birds
are an amazing group of animals. They represent the evolutionary summit of the
enormous reptilian branch of the tree of life that includes, or included, all
the reptiles and the dinosaurs. The mammalian branch that
culminates
in the great apes is minute in comparison. The birds have adapted not only to
using the Realm of the Sky but they have made it their home and they are
completely comfortable in a place that was not originally theirs.
The
distinguishing feature of the birds is the ability to fly. That is not to say
that all birds fly, a large number have become flightless, but in all such
cases it has been an evolutionary choice to move from being able to fly to
flightlessness.
The many features that are characteristic of the birds as a whole have been
developed in order to make flight more efficient. The fossil record of the
development of birds is fairly patchy, though
recent
discoveries in China have been filling in many details. We do have a number of
fossils of a dinosaur that, if not the actual ancestor of the birds, was very
close to it. Archeopteryx was discovered in 1861 in quarries in
Germany
that produced extremely fine-grained limestone. The form of the feathers has
been preserved and their detailed structure is also visible. Archeopteryx not
only had feathers, but had feathers that had been specialized for flight. They
were asymmetrical and had barbules that held
them
together. Whether feathers, which are modified reptile scales, had originally
been selected for the insulation they provide or for flight is unknown but by
the time of Archeopteryx they
Vertigo and
nausea can accompany such feelings. However, the pathological state, and so the
one that is of most importance in prescribing, is a feeling of heaviness and an
inability to take to the skies. Heaviness and constriction
are
therefore the most important sensations and they are found in dreams and
delusions but more importantly in the physical symptoms and they can be
expressed in any part of the body from the head through the lungs to the lower
limbs.
Freedom is,
by its nature, indefinable. Any definition or description of what freedom is,
or what freedom does, is a limitation of that freedom. True freedom has no
boundaries and no conditions placed upon it. It is defined by a negative: the
complete absence of limitation.
The most
important symptom in people who need Bird remedies is the feeling that
something prevents them from attaining true freedom. What it is that thwarts or
prevents their freedom is the key to differentiating between the birds.
Understanding
this is important not only in understanding the remedies but in knowing how to
ascertain the patient’s feelings and needs. If a patient talks about freedom we
are likely to want to know more about what freedom means to
them but
this is likely to be a fruitless line of questioning that will create more
confusion than clarity. Likewise if a patient says they feel trapped and need
to escape this would seem to be a promising line of enquiry.
However,
the thing that the patient needs to escape from is not necessarily of
importance. It can throw some light on what is thwarting them but more often
than not it is little more than a manifestation of the need for freedom.
The line of
questioning that will be most helpful is one that concerns the means to achieve
freedom and the things that thwart or stymie the reaching of freedom. In
reality these will be the same thing. It is when it becomes clear that the
path to
freedom and the thing that prevents the attainment of freedom are similar that
you know you have found the important
Birds in General
The feature
that distinguishes the birds as a group is their ability to fly. Some birds
have relinquished this ability and, although when they do lose the ability they
do so very quickly in evolutionary terms, they only give up flight when
they no
longer have a need for it. Usually flight is lost because the price paid is no
longer worth paying when the advantages are reduced.
This is
most often when there is very little predation. In some cases the bird has
developed other strategies and abilities that make the ability to fly
unnecessary. Penguins and Ostriches are examples but perhaps the most
interesting is
one where
the process is on going.
The Roadrunner can fly but it doesn’t often and
doesn’t seem to enjoy it. The Roadrunner finds its freedom in its ability to run
and to move very fast. It is not therefore the ability to fly that is of
greatest importance in the Bird remedies; rather it is the freedom that flight
has given them.
Flight
offers many different forms of freedom to the birds. The most important is the
freedom to escape from predators. There is also a freedom to go and be wherever
they want. This in turn offers freedoms around what and when they
eat and
where they live. There is also an indefinable quality of childish excitement
and exuberance that arises from the freedom of flight and this factor, the
least tangible, is perhaps the most important feature of the freedom of Birds.
Birds are
creatures of the air. They grow naturally from chicks to fledged animals that
take to flight by right. Unlike the Insects they do not have to work and change
to become able to fly. Unlike Bats they are not exceptions to the normal
pattern of their kind. They do not have to be extraordinary in order to fly, it
is their natural condition.
There are
many symptoms in the Bird remedies that are associated with a sense of flying
and floating. Dreams and delusions of such sensations are common.
Repertorizing
Very few of
the Bird remedies have been absorbed into the repertories at this time. Some of
the materia medica programmes will generally show indications for a general
Bird remedy, rather for any specific Bird.
There is
one Bird remedy that is well represented in the repertory and will often appear
in repertorization. This is Falco peregrinus. That it is strongly represented
is a matter of chance, it was an early Bird proving and it was a
reasonably
large one that produced a strong clear picture. At the time there was no
indication that much of this is the general Bird picture and much less of it is
specific to the Falcon.
This mere
coincidence is not, however, the whole story in that there is something about
Falco that makes it a type for the Birds in the same way that Tarentula is the
type for the Spiders and Lachesis for the Snakes. Most of the Bird remedies
have a particular issue that both
facilitates or thwarts their freedom.
In Falco
there does not seem to be any particular issue; rather it is about freedom and
restriction in its purest form.
Any
repertorization that brings up Falco strongly (lesser Haliaeetus leucocephalus
= another strong early proving) should be seen as a possible indication for a
Bird remedy and not necessarily one just for Falco.
Galloanserae
The
Galloanserae are the more primitive birds with the modern palate. They are
therefore more advanced than the Ostriches and Kiwis, which have the ancient
palate, but they are more primitive than the majority of birds,
the
Neoaves. There are two orders of Galloanserae: the Anseriformes, waterfowl, and
the Galliformes, fowl.
The feature
that seems most apparent in these animals is a susceptibility to domestication.
The Ducks, Geese and Hens of the barnyard, the Peacocks and Swans that decorate
the lawns and ponds of stately homes and the
Ducks,
Partridges, Grouse and Pheasants that are bred to be shot by the wealthy all
come from these two orders.
Other birds
such as Parrots and Canaries might be kept in cages but they are never
domesticated in the way a Hen is.
Some of
these birds do not seem to have quite the same degree of intelligence and the
sense of freedom and joy in life that are characteristic of the Birds but much
of this has been bred out of them rather than not being part of
their
natural character.
In Wild
Swans, for example, the features that we associate with Birds are apparent in a
majestic and beautiful form.
Almost all
of these birds are flocking birds at some time in their lifecycle. Some, like
Swans, pair off and some, like the Rooster with his harem of hens, form
polygynous relationships but in all of them the relationship with a
wider group
is very important.
Anseriformes
The
Anseriformes are the waterfowl, the Geese, Ducks and Swans. They are all water
birds but some of them are fairly at home on the land. They tend to be more
substantial than many birds and include the largest extant birds
that can
fly. In the Ducks and the Geese there is a tendency to the martial, and a
concern with the contrary principals of aggression and discipline.
All the
Anseriformes seem to have an issue with believing that they are ugly. They have
a particular connection to their legs and can feel sensitive about the way in
which they walk, often that it is in a peculiar manner.
There is a
feeling that the feet have become flat and there is often a desire to run.
There is a desire
to have fun, to dance, sing and tell jokes. This is cruder and more childlike
than it is in many of the other Birds.
Anas
platyrhynchos: = Mallard
The Mallard
is one of the best known of the Ducks. It is often seen in an ornamental
setting but it is also bred for shooting and found in a domesticated situation.
It is thought to be the ancestor of most other species of domestic
Duck. It
pairs in the breeding season when the Drake’s iridescent plumage becomes much
brighter. Males who do not find a partner can join together to chase, pester
and gang rape any unpaired females. The male stays with the
female only
till the eggs are laid when he leaves her to look after them. The chicks are
precocial and can swim and feed themselves as soon as they hatch, though they
stay near the mother for protection.
Outside the
breeding season they form large sords (flocks). The Mallard lives in wetlands
and ponds where it dabbles for weeds and small fish and animals. It will eat small
frogs and will also graze and eat insects and slugs.
A remedy of
the whole egg, without the shell, of the Indian subspecies was conducted by Dr
Chetna Shukla in Mumbai. The first thing noticed about the proving was that it
was fast. The symptoms appeared quickly after taking the
remedy and
the proving was over quickly, barely extending into the 3rd week.
Symptoms
also had a quality of speed coming and going quickly and changing
rapidly. There was also a desire or a need to move fast and do things quickly.
Both in reality and in dreams walking felt wrong and there was a
compulsion
to run. Generally there was an amelioration from activity.
Cygnus
There are
three different remedies from the genus Cygnus: C. cygnus, C. bewickii, C.
olor. Though they have some similarities they have quite different pictures and
can be closer to other Geese or Ducks than to other Swans.
Whether
this is a feature of the remedies or the result of inadequate provings is hard
to tell at this time.
The Swan is
a byword for beauty and particularly for elegance. It is also known for its
aggression and for its sexual energy. The Myth of Leda has Jupiter taking the
form of a Swan to seduce Leda. One of the issues of this union
is Helen,
the most beautiful of mortal women.
Cygnus cygnus: = Whooper Swan
The Whooper
Swan is a large migratory Swan. It breeds in Iceland and Finland and winters in
Germany, Denmark, the UK and Ireland. It is one of the largest of the flying
birds, the closely related N. American Trumpeter Swan
is a little
larger. Like many other Anseriformes it generally mates for life. Its diet
consists of small fish, invertebrates and various water weeds. It is protective
of the young and adolescents in their first year – unpaired juveniles
often stay
with their parents to help with the next brood. They tend to spend much of the
time on the water as their legs cannot support their body weight for long.
The remedy
was proved by Jeremy Sherr at the Dynamis School. The proving is an extensive
one. It almost feels as if there is too much information in the proving and it
is quite hard to winnow.
Some of the
symptoms that you might expect from the signature include a fascination with
the colour white or with white and black. There are many symptoms in the region
of the neck with spasms, stiffness and pain,
sensations
of constriction or restriction and sensations of a lump in the throat.
Generally the throat is sore or raw and the voice hoarse or lost.
There is
the heaviness and the desire to fly. There is a love of water, a desire to go
swimming and the use of water metaphors and imagery. As in Branta there is a
sensation of having feathers, particularly on the face.
The Swan
has a very long syrinx not only because of its long neck but it is also looped
into the abdomen. It can be very loud when vocalising, particularly when
threatened, though it does also hiss loudly.
When dying
the air is slowly released from the body as it collapses, making a long sound
which is mistaken for a song. This dying expression is called the swansong and
represents the final work of an artist. The Swan has
therefore
been associated with the poignant beauty of death, nowhere more so than in the
ballet dance of the Dying Swan by Anna Pavlova. Death is very important in the
Whooper Swan. There are thoughts about death and also
about
birth. A concern with the completion of things and also for the beginnings of
new things. The grief they feel is very strong. It is usually for a certain
person such as the father.
Pavo cristatus: = Peacock
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum