Geococcyx californianus
For more
details please see the complete Monograph. The complete proving is also Published in The Desert World: A Homeopath Exploration.
Choosing
the Remedy
The remedy
Roadrunner was chosen for a variety of reasons. A variety of birds have been
proven to date but no flightless birds. We thought that a flightless bird would
provide a new window into the nature of bird remedies.
In
addition, Roadrunner is one of the most well known birds in the world. It has
come to be a symbol of the American Southwest and has many characteristics that
make it unique and unusual. It has more personality than many other bird
species.
Lastly, our
research center has been interested in studying
desert remedies. Roadrunner has long been held as a symbol of the desert. We
feel that desert remedies have been much neglected in the homeopathic
literature and that there has been a bias towards East Coast remedies
historically.
Bird Themes
We noted
during the proving that there were many bird themes found during the proving. These
included a strong focus on taking care of the family, nesting impulses, freedom
issues, restlessness, sudden pains, communication and voice issues, freedom
issues and ravenous appetite (Shore). Conspicuously absent in the proving were
any issues related to flight. Actually, the opposite was seen. Several provers described the importance and relative safety of the
ground-either trying to get to the surface from below or to get down from a
height. The following dream illustrates this:
I am with a
friend or my brother; we are at this huge stadium and are on the very top row;
we are watching some kind of game down below; the building is made of concrete;
all of a sudden I have the feeling that I need to get down because the building
is going to collapse and we all are going to fall to the bottom; I almost get
sick thinking about it; I tell my friend that we need to get down; we go down
to the ground level; I feel much better on the ground; it turns out that there
was no danger but the fear was inside of me(15)
The
roadrunner is not comfortable and is quite awkward in trees. The ground is its
natural element.
Desert
Themes
Many
typical desert themes were noted in the proving analysis. These included water,
detachment and isolation vs connection, codependency, violence and aggression, wandering, problems
with communication and enormous size. Roadrunner is fairly strongly associated
with the desert, although it is found outside of desert regions. Roadrunner can
be compared to Cathartes aura (Turkey Vulture),
another desert bird. The two experiences from provers
listed below reflect this:
Dream-An
old male friend was at a huge gathering inside a large building; he made an
advance and I rebuffed him; during this scene the world was under attack by
rockets bearing round metal objects which obliterated anyone with the exception
of me, and the people I was with; prior to this time we were outside in a
desert location looking for snakes in the limited underbrush (9)
At a movie theater the manager searched us for concealed weapons and a
possible bomb; she was overly focused on the rules; really annoyed and bothered
by people losing sight of what is important; enjoyed a desert movie that we
went to; I was drawn to the journey of a man searching for his true self-coming
home to who he was(6)
We are in
the process of writing a book entitled Desert Medicine which will further
explore desert themes.
Central
Motion
The central
movement or motion of the proving involved walking and running. This was strongly
connected with the idea of speed. Roadrunner is one of the fastest of
terrestrial birds. One prover stated that she felt
like “time seems to be passing faster-I am running out of days to pack it all
in”(9). Another prover
stated that she could “go, go, go without any breaks”.
The movement and speed was not always forwards and
often was backwards or even upside down.
Related to
the theme of walking, images and sensations in the feet came up repeatedly
during the proving. The following dream relates to this:
Horrible
dream; someone set up a dance routine for a group that I was in; I just had to
follow along and fake it; I was very mad at him; then I was trying to get
changed into the costume and could not find everything; the shoes were weird
and extremely painful and made me whine; for the shoes I had to unhook the
bottom layer of skin from my feet; it was attached with two long cat’s claws
like an ‘X’ crossed over (13)
The
opposite was also seen throughout the proving and expressed as a feeling of peace
or tranquility. This was described by one prover as follows:
Feel inward
calm and peace; usually I am frantic, overly busy, running and wearing myself
out; I am content to be doing nothing productive; I feel calm, cool and
collected(9)
This
suggests that this may be an important remedy for the stress of modern times.
Core
Sensation
The core
sensation found in the proving was that of heaviness. This was often
experienced as a pressure like a suit of armor. Lightness
was also noted by a few provers. This theme of
heaviness/lightness may be a bird theme. The following proving symptoms illustrate
this:
The fatigue
felt like I was wearing a suit of armor; body felt
heavy; every part of my body felt heavy and weighted down (6)
Feeling of
heaviness; felt like cement was solidifying in my veins(8)
Sensation
of lightness in neck and shoulders(8)
Other
important sensations in the proving included burning (nine provers),
cramping (six provers) and prickly(four
provers).
Miasm
It is
difficult to comment on the miasm for a remedy based
on a single proving. However, some general tendencies can be noted. The themes
of suddenness and abruptness were strong throughout the proving. Pain
sensations were often sudden and darting. This was coupled with panic attacks
when driving. These characteristics may make it a remedy that lies in the acute
miasm. Many of the provers
experienced startling awake from their dreams with a feeling of sudden anxiety.
The following dream illustrates this:
Swimming
deep inside the
Other
characteristics such as the restlessness and hectic energy may indicate the
tubercular miasm, like most other bird remedies.
General Characteristics
Provers
mostly had an increase in warmth. This is somewhat unusual for a desert remedy.
The most characteristic time aggravation was on waking. In addition symptoms
were predominantly right sided.
What was
most strange, rare and peculiar about the proving symptoms was the intense
craving for swimming in cold water. This was noted in several of the provers. For example, one described it as follows:
Strong
desire to swim, be cool and wet; many cold showers; swimming in cold lakes
where no one else would swim (9)
One prover noted that it felt like she was a fish. We see no
reason why this would be a roadrunner symptom. Generally water issues were a
strong theme in the proving, which is typical of desert remedies.
Another
strong symptom was the craving for chocolate in seven of the eighteen provers. Two provers also
developed a new aversion to chocolate.
Dryness was
another central characteristic. This was seen in the lips, face, mouth, cough,
nose, throat, stool and extremities. A peculiar sensation of tension in the
skin was noted in several of the provers.
Physical
Characteristics
One of the
strongest areas effected by the remedy was the jaw. This
comes as not surprise as the beak of the bird takes considerable abuse and is
often damaged. One prover had a cured symptom of jaw pain(11). Another described the jaw pain as follows:
Extreme jaw
and teeth pain; worse in evening; like someone has hold of your jaw and is
squeezing it as hard as they can; very sharp pain(13)
Nasal
obstruction and sneezing were prominent symptoms seen in five provers respectively.
Ravenous
appetite and thirst were noted in many provers. One prover described it as follows:
Strong
appetite and thirst; no matter how much I eat, I want more; felt like I was
starving and hadn’t eaten in weeks; stomach feels empty; felt dehydrated like I
needed to drink a lot; I had to have something by me bed to drink(2)
This was
coupled with an increased metabolism in a few provers.
There was no overall pattern of weight gain or weight loss however. Nausea was
seen in five of the provers. Very strong, crampy abdominal pain was seen in two provers.
One described it as follows:
Severe pain
in the abdomen at 3AM – 4AM; excruciating; pain so severe that I can hardly
stand it; cramping and digging quality; around the umbilicus; woke me up;
stopped after 45 minutes(12)
Menstrual
symptoms were prominent. This may be slightly artifactual
in that the majority of our provers were women. Cramping
in the uterus during the menses was noted by several provers.
Late or scanty menses was also seen.
The
prominent feature in the eyes was that of irritation. This is interesting in
that it is also an important emotional characteristic found in the proving as
well. Lachrymation, tired sensation and blurred
vision were also seen in several provers.
Throat
symptoms were not prominent but relatively common. Mostly this consisted of
throat pain or scratchiness which was worse in the morning.
Extremity pain were mostly pressing and focused in the hips and toes. This
was described as follows:
Pulled
right hip; lifted a case of water in my trunk; pain is worse driving; deep
pain; constant ache like someone is pushing in there against the glute (uses twisting motions of the hands); I have to grin
and bear it and cannot move out of the push(23)
Burning was
also seen in a few provers. Stiffness was cured in
one prover who described it as follows:
Stiffness
in my legs and wrists when sitting for an extended period of time has
disappeared; prior to the proving I would actually stand up after sitting and
my left leg would be so stiff I could hardly move until I stood for a few
seconds and then moving would begin with a limp until the stiffness went away;
feel more flexible in joints(9)
Sleep was effected in many of the provers. Eight
provers experienced restless sleep. The sleep was
often prolonged and disturbed. Waking with fright from dreams was noted in
three provers.
Emotional
and Mental Characteristics
Irritability
was one of the strongest emotional characteristics during the proving. Violence
was seen in the dreams of six of the provers as well
as dreams of wanting to escape. One prover described
their anger as follows:
Annoyed and
angry; angry at the smallest thing; thoughts of ramming into a person’s car who
cut me off while driving(2)
This is
also seen in the following dream:
I was an
assassin; a bearded political figure was broadcasting from television; I
carried a rifle intending to shoot him through the television, though I
realized it would not work; I cocked the rifle and saw three gun shells in the
chamber and added a fourth; someone alerted security and I ran up and down
stairs to get away(11)
Several provers described being more abrupt,
curt, sullen and defiant. One prover had a cure of chronic violent
dreams from the proving.
Another
interesting characteristic was that of jesting or joking. This was seen in four
provers. One prover
described it:
Making more
jokes; increased sense of humor; off color humor; what can I do to
make people learn but still be funny(16)
The bird
has been described as comical and as having a sense of humor.
Clairvoyance
was found in two provers. This was particularly
strong in one who found that this clairvoyance persisted after the proving.
Clairvoyance
– knew that there would be an accident; knew that a car would be pulled over
for speeding; predicting cards while playing cribbage; knew when something was
wrong with my family; knew that I had won a quilt at a show as a prize
The theme
of feeling empowered and direct was found throughout the proving.
Cured-symptom:
I am less codependent overall; I no longer feel like
a martyr; I was always doing for others and not considering myself in the past;
always watching what I did so as not to upset anyone else and wanting to be
liked(6)
Much more
direct in communicating with others; more engaged and more present; not very
sensitive emotionally; less passive aggressive indirect communication; more
objective and less subjective; feel more present; feel more empowered (11)
Many of the
provers described this as feeling invulnerable. It is
interesting that in the roadrunner cartoon, one of the primary characteristics
is that they are invulnerable to the attacks of the coyote (see natural history
section). Roadrunner is a predator at the top of the food chain. One prover also had the interesting cured symptom of her fear
of aging, which also relates to this issue.
Fear of
aging; no longer focused or concerned about the aging process; this is a big
change for me; usually I am hypochondriacal about my
body with noticing every ache and pain; this has stopped; I feel more agile and
my body feels younger; my entire focus was feeling vulnerable from aging
before; almost a complete turn around (9)
Theme of
Pregnancy/Weddings
The issues
of pregnancy and weddings were noted. One prover
described nausea as if she were pregnant(11). Dreams
of being pregnant were strong and recurrent. The animal does have a strong
nurturing and protective tendency towards its young. Much of its energy is
taking up with caring for its young.
Theme of
Communication
Communication
issues are a typical bird theme. This particularly manifested during the
proving as having problems with leaving letters out of words and using the
wrong words for things. This also is a theme found in other desert remedies. One
prover described it as follows:
Left
letters out of words when writing – especially the last letter; memory poor;
had to recheck to see if certain tasks were done; used wrong word for things;
forgetful and forget names of people(11)
The themes
of empowerment and communication were combined in one prover
as follows:
Much more
direct in communicating with others; more engaged and more present; not very
sensitive emotionally; less passive aggressive indirect communication; more
objective and less subjective; feel more present; feel more empowered(11)
Hoarseness
was seen in two provers. The roadrunner is a bird
that has a very large repertoire of sounds-more than most birds.
Theme of
Dirty/Clean
We did not
feel that this was strong enough to merit a separate theme. However one prover exhibited very strong borderline delusional symptoms
in this area. She describes it as follows:
I feel
extremely dirty, even after I clean; my hair especially feels dirty even after
I washed it; have to wash my hair every day and still not clean; feel dirty
when I am cleaning; like I have been sweating and playing outside all day(9)
In part,
this may relate to the water theme, typical of most desert remedies.
Theme of
Amorous/Flirtatious
There was
an interesting quality of flirtatiousness during the proving. Provers would flirt even in front of their husbands. There
also were sexual dreams. The following dream illustrates this:
Helping a
friend catch her husband with another woman; I found out that my husband was
seeing another woman; joking mood and cheerful; my husband and I were joking
together and were a great team(4)
Preparation
of the Remedy
A video was
made of the preparation of this remedy (see Appendix B). The theory is that people
who prepare the remedy also briefly participate in the energy of the remedy. Although
we did not include this information in the selection of proving themes and
rubrics, it was interesting to note that several of the themes were reflected
in the making of the remedy. These included speed, communication,
flirtatiousness, jesting and joking, caretaking of others, heat and difficulty
with concentration.
Appendix G6: Salsola
tragus Summary
Appendix G7: Geochelone
sulcata Summary
Appendix G8: Schistocerca
americana Summary