Chelidonium Anhang
[Frans Vermeulen]
Pure logic is the ruin of the spirit.
[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]
All members of the Papaveraceae have stems and leaves that contain a
well-developed system of secretory canals which produce yellow, milky or watery
latex.
The large and often showy flowers are bisexual and possess two free
sepals, which fall off before the flowers open. The four petals are rolled or
crumpled when in bud.
The flowers are short-lived, dropping very quickly when picked. The
seeds of various species yield drying oils or oils important in the manufacture
of soaps.
Many species are cultivated as garden ornamental plants. Chelidonium is
native to temperate and subarctic Eurasia; it is naturalized in eastern North
America.
The whole plant abounds in a bright, orange-coloured juice. The juice
leaves a persistent stain on hands or clothes, and has a nauseous taste and a
disagreeable smell.
The plant self-seeds readily and may become a pest. In addition, its
distribution is enhanced by ants who carry the small, black seeds off to enjoy
the fleshy white appendages inside the seeds –
a delicacy for them - and then discard them. Consequently Celandine can
be found in the most unusual places - in the hollows or forked branches of
trees or in the cracks of a stone wall or high
on a ruined tower. Celandine belongs to the group of weeds which follow
human steps and cultivation, frequently spreading out wherever man 'walks' or,
rather where man has walked. It holds
its post long after humans have abandoned a place and hence it occurs
frequently near dumps, along roadsides, and around the walls of castles and old
fortresses or the ruins of them. This habit
of following human settlements and then staying when the site is
abandoned, is reflected by the way in which gypsies reportedly make use of the
plant. They put Celandine in their shoes and keep
it there when they walk, claiming that it keeps the feet fresh. Brought
by immigrants to North America, it "so far is not found at any great
distance from dwellings", as Millspaugh stated in 1892,
but now it is widely naturalized in the north-eastern United States,
especially about cities and towns, and even "has travelled across the
Mississippi and will no doubt continue its westward
migration into states with cool or cold winters."
The flowering time of Chelidonium coincides with the arrival and
departure of the swallow. Its name thus derives from Gr. Chelidon = swallow.
Dioscorides and Pliny [1st century AD] heighten this story
claiming that swallows give Celandine juice to their young to improve or
restore their eyesight.
Following Dioscorides' idea, Gerard: 'the juice of the herbe is good to
sharpen the sight, for it cleanseth and consumeth away slimie things that
cleave about the ball of the eye and hinder the sight.' Old Dutch names as
'Ogenklaar' [literally: Eyebright] and 'Schelkruid' [literally: Scale-wort, in
the sense of 'scales falling from one's eyes'] refer to this old belief. The
English name Celandine is a corruption of the Greek word. The story of
Celandine and the swallows is often found in religious imagery as a healing
symbol for 'spiritual blindness.' Since antiquity, Celandine and the swallows
have shared historical significance. The swallow was called the 'bird of light'
and much later considered a symbol of Christ and the Resurrection. A 2nd
version has it that the name of the plant comes from L. coeli, heaven, and
donum, a gift, in allusion to the alchemists' regard for its golden juice as an
essential element in their experiments to make gold. Alchemists picked the
plant when its solar energy was especially effective: "At the noon hour,
when the Sun is in Leo and the Moon is in Aries, we gather the Heaven's
Gift." The specific name majus, meaning 'larger', distinguishes it from
a plant called 'Lesser Celandine', which is Ranunculus ficaria,
belonging to the Ranunculaceae family.
Chelidonine, berberine, and coptisine - isoquinoline alkaloids in the
juice; chelerythrine and sanguinarine - isoquinoline alkaloids in the roots;
protopine [occurs in many other Papaveraceae and Fumariaceae (Fumaria
officinalis and Papaver somniferum)]; sparteine [has cardiovascular and
oxytocic effects; occurs also in lupin and broom]; flavonoids. The alkaloid content
is highest in autumn.
60-120 ml of the juice is lethal for dogs. Except for causing polyuria,
ingestion of up to 500 grams of the herb leaves horses and cattle unaffected.
Larger doses evoke, in cattle, salivation, thirst, polyuria, convulsions, confusion,
and loss of coordination. Pigs react with confusion, staggering, twitchings,
tachycardia, and tachypnoea; goats begin to stagger and get diarrhoea. In
humans such effects as polyuria, confusion, arrhythmia, gastroenteritis,
cramps, bradycardia, and hypotony have been reported. The dried plant loses its
toxicity.
Alterative, diuretic, purgative, antispasmodic. English names as 'Wart
flower', 'Wart wort', and 'Killwart' refer to the use of the acrid juice to
remove warts. The juice was also used to cure ringworm and corns, but its
coming in contact with other parts of the skin should be avoided. "The
infusion is a cordial and greatly promotes perspiration. The addition of a few
aniseeds in making a decoction of the herb in wine has been held to increase
its efficacy in removing obstructions of the liver and gall. ... In the
treatment of the worst forms of scurvy it has been given with benefit. ... In
milk, it is employed as an eye-lotion, to remove the white, opaque spots on the
cornea. Mixed with sulphur, it was formerly used to cure the itch. An ointment
made of the roots and lard boiled together, also
of the leaves and flowers, has been used with advantage for piles.
Celandine is a very popular medicine in Russia, where it is said to have proved
effective in cases of cancer. It is still used in Suffolk as a fomentation for
toothache." According to a popular belief in Nordic countries one could
predict the fate of a sick person by placing the plant on his or her head. If
[s]he would begin to sing, particularly when in a loud voice, then death was
inevitable.
"We find Celandine in many old folk customs as a symbol of a
peaceful, well-balanced life. Aggressive people, it was said, became calmer,
their hatred and quarrelling lessened, when they wore amulets of Celandine
root. It is interesting that choleric, 'gall-type' individuals tend toward
emotional imbalances, venting consternation at an instant's notice, angered by
anything and by anybody. [In German we say 'their gall overflows'.] Such people
were urged to wear the amulets and allow the plant to bring the Sun into their
hearts, freeing their spirit of melancholy and sadness. It was thought that
Celandine directly brought the Sun into the liver and gall-bladder, both
affecting the organs and calming the nervous system."5 As a magical herb,
Celandine is said to aid in escaping unwarranted imprisonment and entrapments
of every kind. Worn to court it will win the favour of the judge or jury, or
will serve as a protective herb. Chelidonium is a plant of the sun. It is the
birthday flower for 9 October and signifies, in the language of flowers,
withered hope.
PROVINGS •• Hahnemann - 9 provers, 1824; method: unknown.
•• Teste - 4 provers [1 male, 3 females]; method: globule of 6x in
morning for two or three days, afterwards more or less frequently.
•• Austrian proving - 23 provers, 1844; extract, doses of 2 grains to 4
drams a day; tincture in doses of 5-200 drops a day.
•• Buchman - 17 provers [incl. Buchman himself, his wife, their 7-year
old son, and their baby of 9 months old], 1861-62; daily doses of 5-200 drops
of tincture; also 6x dil.
Mrs. Buchman supplied the well-known Chelidonium symptom "fear that
she has ruined her health [proving]." The reason was, perhaps: "Mood
very irritable, daily outbreaks of anger without cause; feels as though she
could beat the children, and trembles from rage because she has no reason for
doing it." She doubted her sanity: "It seems as though she could not
think, and would lose her reason."
Affinity
LIVER. RIGHT SIDE [portal system; abdomen; lung - lower lobe; ovary;
malar bone; hip and leg; foot]. Mucous membranes. Bowels [right]. Occiput.
Kidneys. Knees.
* RIGHT SIDE. Left side.
Modalities:
<: 4 h. or 16 h./motion/cough/touch/change of weather/North-East
winds/heat/hot applications/warm room/lying on the right side/early in the
morning;
>: Hot food/EATING/dinner/hot drinks (milk)/pressure/hot bath/bending
backward;
Main symptoms
The Great Light.
• "In the mental sphere, we note a tendency toward depression. The
person becomes depressed about the present and the future. Since ancient times
the liver has been symbolically associated with vision. It is the seat of
another sort of intelligence, another sort of wisdom about the decisions to be
made. Chelidonium refuses to see clearly, refuses to see the truth, the light;
refuses, ultimately, to turn its gaze upward. It is interesting to note that
the plant bears the nickname of 'grande éclaire' in France, a name roughly
equivalent to 'great light.' Energetic realists, practical and
anti-intellectual,
Vithoulkas: make an effort to avoid speculation or abstraction, and
never try to understand the situation they face, since they see this as a waste
of time. In short, they remain in the material world and only with great
difficulty can they rise to a more elevated perspective, to an outlook of a
spiritual nature.
Annick de Souzenelle: for Chelidonium the passage through the porta
hepatis, the gateway to the liver, is difficult. This remedy seems to have a
problem with passage through other portals as well: we find it among those with
great metaphysical anxiety. In the same vein, we note the presence of baldness
in the occipital region, which bears a certain resemblance to the tonsure
required by some religious orders. This remedy, then, is found in individuals
who 'worry themselves sick' or 'get all worked up'. They feels responsible for
other people's deaths, and the least noise makes them feel they have been
caught in the act. There are things they have refused to see, paths they have
refused to take, which is the source of their guilty conscience."
[Grandgeorge]
Restlessness; aversion to talk and to mental exertion.
• "Very often there is a good deal of restlessness, and the
patients will complain of a strange and very distressing abdominal sensation,
which is so acute that it makes them feel they will go crazy. They dislike any
mental effort, and they dislike having to talk - I have noticed this very
strikingly in quite a number of Chelidonium cases."
• "About 10, as she was standing in the dining room, busy with jam
pots, she suddenly felt uneasiness in all limbs, compelling her to make
movements. She strove to stand still, but was obliged to step out, and to move
arms; she could not describe the sensation she experienced; she had to walk up
and down for a few minutes, and then was able to stand still again. If she were
to make a comparison, she might be like one who suffered such restlessness from
ennui as not to know what to do. She has not, with this, experienced any
disquiet or anguish of mind. Afterwards, it was agreeable to her to be able to
sit down. She had a similar attack on the 5 h., whilst sewing, when she was
quite well, but said nothing about it because she thought she could not
describe the sensation with sufficient accuracy. She had to get up quickly and
walk about, whereupon she soon got rid of the restlessness in limbs."
[Hughes]
Definite sense of what is right and wrong; strong-minded.
Never wastes time with analyzing emotions. Not overtaken by their
emotions.
Wants to be sure about health [interesting delusion: Delusion he has
ruined his health].
Dreams related to death. [Observed by 6 provers!]
• "In night awakened by his wife, who was disturbed by his
loud-toned, rapid, whistling respiration; had just dreamt that he had escaped
in a deadhouse from naked corpse, who sprang from the bench and seized him with
his hands by the neck to throttle him."
• "In night dreams of corpses."
• "Uneasy sleep, with dreams of death and a funeral and
wedding."
• "Distressing dream that I was going to be shot."
• "Dreams of funerals and corpses. Dreams of cemeteries and
funerals."
• "Dreamt that my husband and I were burying two men alive."
[Hughes]
The latter dream is erroneously included in Allen's Encyclopedia as well
as in the repertories as "Dreams of being buried alive."
Restlessness and anxiety of conscience, as if she had committed a great
crime and could find rest nowhere.
• [After taking 90 drops of tincture at 9.30 h.] "at noon,
restlessness and agony of conscience, as if she had committed a great crime and
must run away, and yet could find no rest; trembling all over body; glowing
heat all over head; both cheeks with well-defined patch of dark red;
thirst." [Hughes]
Compare the delusion of Opium of being a criminal to be executed.
Tends to be warm blooded, and sensitive to heat.
• "This is worth remembering because their local gastric digestive
symptoms < by anything cold and relieved by heat, although the patients
themselves are aggravated by heat."
RIGHT-SIDED complaints. Left-sided complaints.
CHEESE [aversion or desire].
Tobacco smoking.
The Swedish physician Liedbeck undertook in 1849 a proving on himself
with the pure juice of the plant 'just before it started to flower'.
• "... but for some weeks [he] was so much affected by smoking
tobacco, that he had to give it up. Although in the habit of smoking a couple
of cigars or pipes daily, it now brought on violent cardialgia at night, with
burning pain and acidity from cardia up into throat. He had formerly suffered
from similar cardialgia when he used to chew tobacco. He believed this
sensitiveness to the action of tobacco after the Chelidonium was due to the
irritated state of the mucous membranes of stomach and bowels caused by the
diarrhoea." [Hughes]
> pain in forehead, pain in stomach, cramping pain in stomach, pain
in right hypochondrium, pain liver].
• "During the proving he was obliged to make a heartier breakfast,
to avoid the sensation of exhaustion and craving hunger, which otherwise came
on." [Hughes]
• "'Aching, gnawing pain in the stomach, with a sense of
constriction, < pressure, but > eating, or during the early hours of
digestion', is, I believe, a very marked characteristic of Chelidonium
dyspepsia." [Hale]
> NOON/(after) EATING/hot drinks (milk) [> pain in stomach,
bellyache, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting].
• "Desire for very hot drinks; unless almost boiling the stomach
will not retain them." [Allen]
• "Great thirst for milk and afterwards feeling good in the whole
body, however much of it he took he would feel no discomfort, when otherwise it
caused a lot of flatus for him." [Hahnemann]
• "In all cases of dyspepsia, where the appearance of the tongue
answers to that indicating Chelidonium - moderately dry or moist, of a good
natural colour, but slightly coated white, and sometimes streaky, the shape of
it being narrow and pointed - I generally find that when such persons are in
health milk gives rise to flatulence. ... Another patient ... had noticed that
when well she could not take milk, but was able to do so when ill, provided it
was warm. She obtained rapid relief from Chelidonium." [Hale]
Compare Lyc. 4 h. or 16 h.; time of aggravation of Chel. mostly a bit
earlier: 2 or 3 h. or 2 or 15 h.]. < Motion/change of position/lying on
ABDOMEN.
• "From pain in region of kidneys she could not lie on her back,
and was also obliged to change sides often, finding most relief from lying on
abdomen." [Hughes]
Pains shoot backward or in all directions.
YELLOW discolorations [skin, eyes, stool, tongue, face, urine, nose].
• "In consequence of the doses taken the previous days, I am in
such an excitable state of mind that I feel myself obliged to stop for some
days. The symptoms are so varied that some cannot be recorded. My complexion is
a greyish yellow, so that my unhealthy appearance strikes everyone; my hands
also have become yellow." [Hughes]
NAUSEA and PERSPIRATION during [or from] pain.
Periodic supra-orbital neuralgia or migraine [right or left side]. And
excessive lachrymation.
< Warmth and motion. > Vomiting bile; eating.
Heavy feeling in occiput. And Sensation as if head were drawn back.
• "On lying down, she cannot raise her head, but has to lift it
with her hands; occiput painful on feeling it, “As if it were broken loose from
the rest of the cranium”;
“As if head on being raised fell forwards”, whilst occiput lay still,
held fast by nape."
• "At night on awaking often confusion, and heaviness in occiput;
if she wishes to sit upright, occiput seems to be fastened to pillow."
[Hughes]
Can't keep eyes open [from pressure on them, from tiredness or from
benumbed feeling] or wants to keep the eyes closed, because it affords relief.
Headache and pain in eyes > closing eyes.
21 proving symptoms in the region of eyes were left-sided, and only 9
right-sided.
CHOKING feeling in throat/oesophagus. [Observed by 8 provers!]
LIVER PAINS GOING BACKWARD, or FIXED AT ANGLE of RIGHT SCAPULA.
• "The discomfort of which these patients complain is pretty
distinctive. They feel as if they had something tight round the upper part of
the abdomen, almost like a band or a string. That is a pretty constant
sensation. It varies a little and sometimes goes on to a feeling of general
abdominal fulness, particularly in the upper part of the abdomen and more
marked on the right side. With that general feeling of distension, you will get
the complaint of acute, shooting pains which stab through from the front and
usually go through to the back in the region of the right scapula. These sudden
shooting pains are quite frequently accompanied by a colicky sensation and are
not infrequently followed by an attack of pretty profuse vomiting, the vomit
consisting of anything from glairy mucus to bile-stained material. If there is
much in the right half of the abdomen, you will usually find it is aggravated
by the patient's turning over on to the left side: it causes an increase of
this feeling of distension and drag in the upper part of the abdomen. In the
more acute colicky attacks, the pains are relieved by external warmth,
aggravated by any abdominal pressure or by motion, and are made rather better
by drawing the legs up and relieving the tension of the abdominal
muscles."
COLD FINGERTIPS.
“As if shoes are too tight”. [Observed by 3 provers!]
• "She cannot keep her shoes on, because they seem to be too tight,
though they are very wide."
• "Intolerable pain in heels as if these parts had been wounded by
too narrow and too short shoes."
• "Painful pressure, just below r. ankle, and same kind of pain in
r. heel, rendering walking painful [it feels as if part had been bruised by
tight and hard shoes, but no relief is given by taking off shoes]."
[Hughes]
Repertory:
Mind: Anger, causeless. Anxiety, for others/>
exercise. Confusion, at night on waking. Aversion to conversation. Delusions, he
has ruined his health, he will become insane. Fear, of her condition being
observed. Laziness, after eating. Morose, about trifles. Unconsciousness, >
rubbing soles of feet. Feels unfortunate.
Vertigo: On closing eyes.
Head: Constriction, forehead, “As from a band”,
> closing eyes. Sensation of contraction, skin of forehead, above left eye.
Sensation as if hair were standing on end, occiput. Pain, > during
eating/after eating, < motion of eyes, > vomiting.
Eye: Desire to close the eyes. Heat, > closing
eyes. Lachrymation, from looking at the fire, during headache, from bright
light, from looking steadily. Opening lids difficult, at night. Pain, pressing
inward, upper part of eyeballs; as if torn out, left eye.
Vision: Dim, during anxiety, when reading. Sparks,
during headache.
Nose: “As if cold air were streaming through to
throat on inspiration”. Odours, of faeces , fetid.
Face: Discolouration, “As if sunburnt”.
Teeth: Sensation of heat in teeth. Pain, toothache,
< talking.
Throat: “As of dust in pit of throat”.
Stomach: Pain, > warm milk.
Vomiting, > drinking hot water.
Rectum: Diarrhoea, > hot milk/wine;
Kidneys: Pain, > lying on abdomen, < lying on back/pressure.
Chest: Palpitation, < motion of arms.
Back: Sensation of constriction in muscles of nape,
“As if head were drawn back”.
Cracking in cervical region, when moving head.
Limbs: Heat, of one foot, coldness of the other.
Heaviness, of arms, “As if weight were hung on them”; of left hand, on
lifting it; in legs,
Sensation of paralysis, of left hand, “As if she could not bend it”. “As
if l. Hand swollen”
“As if shoes were too tight”.
Sleep: Waking by toothache.
Heat: Burning heat spreading from the hands over
the whole body.
Skin: Itching, without eruption.
Food and Drinks:
Aversion to: Cheese/spinach/coffee/cold food/cold water/cooked
food/fish/lentils/boiled meat;
Desires: Cheese/milk/strange things (during pregnancy)/warm drinks
(milk)/warm food/beer/coffee/cold drinks/hot
food/lime/pickles/pungent/sour/vinegar/wine;
<: Milk/beer/brandy/cold drinks (water)/cold food/soup/tobacco;
>: Hot water/warm drinks (milk)/coffee/cold water/hot food;
‡ Chelidonium/Curcuma
comp. w
Enthält: Chelidonium, Rhizoma cum
Radicibus; Curcuma xanthorrhiza, Rhizoma; Cucurbita maxima, Pulpa.
Galleabflussstörung
funktionell o. organisch.
Auch
bei Mukoviszidose.
Bei
primär sklerosierender Cholangitis (PSC).
Dosierung:
1–3 x tgl. 1 Tbl. v.d.E.,
bei
empfindlicher Verdauung n.d.E.
Therapiedauer:
Ca. 3 Mo. Bei chronischer Erkrankung über Jahre mit Pausen.
Bemerkungen:
Speziell bei Alkoholunverträglichkeit empfehlenswert.
‡ Chelidonium/Curcuma
comp. w
Migräne
bei gestörter Galletätigkeit (heller Stuhlfarbe während Anfall).
Dosierung:
1–3 x tgl. 1 Tbl. v.d.E.,
bei
empfindlicher Verdauung n.d.E.
Therapiedauer:
Ca. 3 Mo.; bei chroni
scher
Erkrankung ggf. über Jahre mit
Pausen.
Weitere
Empfehlungen: Anwendung gemeinsam empfohlen mit 2 x/Wo.
1
Amp. ‡
Aggressionshemmung
im Rahmen von Autoimmunerkrankungen
Zur
Anregung der Willenstätigkeit.
Dosierung:
3 x tgl. 1 Tbl.
Therapiedauer:
Ca. 3 Mo. ‡
‡ Chelidonium
Ferro cultum w
Leitgedanke:
Verbindet die Ich-Organisation stärker mit der Galletätigkeit.
Funktionelle Hyperbilirubinämie
Mit körperlicher Schwäche, Mattigkeit +/o. Ikterus.
Wirkung: Nach 2–3 Wo. In Langzeitanwendung.
‡ Primär
sklerosierende Cholangitis (PSC), primär biliäre Zirrhose (PBC)
Zur Anregung der Gallensekretion und Anregung der Ich-Tätigkeit
im Bereich des Leber-Gallesystems.
Therapiedauer: Langzeittherapie.
Ikterus prolongatus des Neugeborenen
Mit Trinkschwäche.
Mit stark vermehrtem Schlafbedürfnis.
Dosierung: 2–3 Tr. Rh D3 vor dem Stillen.
Begleitbehandlung bei Epilepsietherapie
Bei Kindern mit Valproat- oder Carbamazepin-bedingten
Leber-Gallestörungen, die sich z.B. in aggressiven Verhaltungsstörungen und
Leistungsabfall äußern.
Dosierung: 2–3 x tgl. 5–10 Tr. Rh D3 Dil.
Weitere Empfehlungen: Anwendung gemeinsam mit 2–3 x tgl. 10 Tr.
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum