As it is soon to be Halloween (all soul's even) I thought we could have some fun. Apologies to those who do not celebrate this occasion.
Halloween is a gaelic celebration of the end of summer, the end of the lighter side of the year as we enter into the darker side - a time of harvest to keep nourished through sparse times. It is seen as a fragile time of division when good and bad spirits can pass through as well, hence the 'all soul's even' - but still a time to ward off those evil spirits with the dressing up in costumes and masks and carrying out certain festivities, many of which involve vampires, wolves, witches, skeletons, magic, black cats - you get the picture, it is a fusion of horror and hope fuelled by a fear of famine and getting through the dark side once more. The idea is to ward off fear with more fear. Similia.
These rituals, although now quite trivialised, are ancient and, depending on your culture, have been instilled within us and hence the real fears and phobias that can emerge in regard to wolves, vampires, witches, black cats and the like.
I am particularly interested in Wiccaphobia - the fear of witches and the group of remedies where this appears, that being the Solanum group (there are other rx where this occurs).
There are many remedies within the Solanum (Solanaceae) group –
Atropinum
Belladonna
Capsicum
Datura
Dulcamara
Fabiana
Franciscea
Hyoscyamus
Lycopersicum
Mandragora
Stramonium
Tabacum
Withania
but I would like to offer an insight into 3 remedies that have this connection to witches, either through fear or dreams.
Solanum tuberosum
Solanum tuberosum aegrotans
Mandragora
The remedies in the Solanum group are all remedies of terror in some form or another. Nearly all of them contain some deliriant alkaloid that causes this. Common to the whole group are symptoms that have a violence and suddenness to them and pains/sensations are characteristically spasmodic, jerking, shooting, choking. There is a lot of rage and blackness and fear of sudden death. Opposite to this, understandably, is stupor, fainting and unconsciousness that represents an escape from the turbulence. To complete the triad of active, passive and compensatory states there exists a cheerful and vivacious energy that allows them to be courageous in the face of adversity - a kind of adrenal excess.
The chain reaction begins with an initial disturbance of being poisoned which is akin to being disillusioned, bitter and resentful. This ‘poison’ sets up the turbulence –
Destruction (solanum tub aeg – the rotten potato)
Loquacity (solanum tub aeg)
Censorial and critical (solanum tub aeg)
Euphoria alternating with depression (mandragora)
Fearful – a huge collection of extreme fears and delusions including the fear and dreams of witches.
These delusions and fears are the innermost focal point of the group.
It would be very easy to get into a realm of psychobabble speculation about why anyone would be fearful of witches, it will always depend on the individual case. I will also leave it to yourself to research the history of Wicca, Witchcraft and its festivities, if you so wish. Suffice it to say that a probable cause of the fear of witches is linked with that of 'being accused' - a deep and dark negativity about being blamed for some wrong doing (whether true or not, is neither here nor there). This developed state comes with significant fear, believing they will die suddenly; they have frightful dreams or dream of death with violent weeping and of course the dreams about witches.
So, caught up in the turmoil with no respite terminates into an inability to express themselves appropriately –
Loquacity (solanum tub aeg)
Depressive psychosis (mandragora)
Stammering (solanum tub)
Constantly spitting (solanum tub)
Hurried breathing (solanum tub)
Unable to concentrate (mandragora)
Escape comes in the form of –
Lost consciousness (solanum tub and solanium)
Sleep (mandragora, solanum tub aeg, solanum)
Prolapse (solanum tub aeg)
Developing pathology includes -
Tumours (solanum tub, mandragora)
Convulsions (solanum tub, mandragora)
Amaurosis (solanum tub)
Prolapse (solanum tub aeg)
Swellings (solanum tub aeg)
Congestive headaches/migraines (mandragora)
Gall bladder disease (mandragora)
Pancreatitis and digestive ulcers (mandragora, solanum tub aeg)
Nearly all have violent gastric ailments - fear of being poisoned? They are all poisonous.
The legend of the Mandrake is from it being named the 'insane root'. There is an age old story of the root sending out a 'scream' when it is pulled from the earth. As with other rx in this group there is intense hyper-excitability of the senses and this includes the sexual energies as well - again common to this group. There is a host of history to be studied along these lines for Mandragora. Impotence and infertility come through the provings.
Of all the group remedies Mandragora has the strongest link to witchcraft. I know that many don't have much faith in wiki but these references here are very interesting:-
Mandragora I particularly liked the link to an X- File episode :-)
Solanum tub is possibly more of an acute remedy. It has violent colic. It plummets into coma, or near coma, showing signs of Trismus, spitting (has to be linked to hydrophobia and rabies - has dreams of dogs!) and paralysis.
Solanum tub aeg is a most discontented remedy. Extremely censorious, anxious, loquacious, fearful and restless. The focus is often that of always being ill, no peace anywhere.
All these remedies have a sense of 'being rotten' about them, all have bad odours. This brings us back to the 'fear of being accused' or 'having done wrong' and the core is that of feeling rotten, full of decay and not worthy of anything, feelings of shame.
All these remedies are sleepy, almost overpoweringly so and dreams feature a lot. It is as if being sleepy is a peaceful state for these remedies but the dreams bring their own terror.
Solanum tub dreams of dogs and other animals; being mutilated; of witches; of cannibals. Solanum tub aeg dreams of pools of blood; fires; revolution; corpses; dreams of an amorous nature; bodily transformations; acting; witches; magic; eating human flesh; dead bodies; drowning; being disconnected; swimming; fires; being cut to pieces - and more, if this isn't enough. Mandragora dreams of coffins; bones; dead bodies; mutilation; fires; waterfalls, and many more as well as a vast array of delusional states along the same lines.
As I said these are remedies of terror they are not happy, they are lonely, stand accused, borderline psychotic and in need of help.
Happy Halloween!
Joy
Halloween is a gaelic celebration of the end of summer, the end of the lighter side of the year as we enter into the darker side - a time of harvest to keep nourished through sparse times. It is seen as a fragile time of division when good and bad spirits can pass through as well, hence the 'all soul's even' - but still a time to ward off those evil spirits with the dressing up in costumes and masks and carrying out certain festivities, many of which involve vampires, wolves, witches, skeletons, magic, black cats - you get the picture, it is a fusion of horror and hope fuelled by a fear of famine and getting through the dark side once more. The idea is to ward off fear with more fear. Similia.
These rituals, although now quite trivialised, are ancient and, depending on your culture, have been instilled within us and hence the real fears and phobias that can emerge in regard to wolves, vampires, witches, black cats and the like.
I am particularly interested in Wiccaphobia - the fear of witches and the group of remedies where this appears, that being the Solanum group (there are other rx where this occurs).
There are many remedies within the Solanum (Solanaceae) group –
Atropinum
Belladonna
Capsicum
Datura
Dulcamara
Fabiana
Franciscea
Hyoscyamus
Lycopersicum
Mandragora
Stramonium
Tabacum
Withania
but I would like to offer an insight into 3 remedies that have this connection to witches, either through fear or dreams.
Solanum tuberosum
Solanum tuberosum aegrotans
Mandragora
The remedies in the Solanum group are all remedies of terror in some form or another. Nearly all of them contain some deliriant alkaloid that causes this. Common to the whole group are symptoms that have a violence and suddenness to them and pains/sensations are characteristically spasmodic, jerking, shooting, choking. There is a lot of rage and blackness and fear of sudden death. Opposite to this, understandably, is stupor, fainting and unconsciousness that represents an escape from the turbulence. To complete the triad of active, passive and compensatory states there exists a cheerful and vivacious energy that allows them to be courageous in the face of adversity - a kind of adrenal excess.
The chain reaction begins with an initial disturbance of being poisoned which is akin to being disillusioned, bitter and resentful. This ‘poison’ sets up the turbulence –
Destruction (solanum tub aeg – the rotten potato)
Loquacity (solanum tub aeg)
Censorial and critical (solanum tub aeg)
Euphoria alternating with depression (mandragora)
Fearful – a huge collection of extreme fears and delusions including the fear and dreams of witches.
These delusions and fears are the innermost focal point of the group.
It would be very easy to get into a realm of psychobabble speculation about why anyone would be fearful of witches, it will always depend on the individual case. I will also leave it to yourself to research the history of Wicca, Witchcraft and its festivities, if you so wish. Suffice it to say that a probable cause of the fear of witches is linked with that of 'being accused' - a deep and dark negativity about being blamed for some wrong doing (whether true or not, is neither here nor there). This developed state comes with significant fear, believing they will die suddenly; they have frightful dreams or dream of death with violent weeping and of course the dreams about witches.
So, caught up in the turmoil with no respite terminates into an inability to express themselves appropriately –
Loquacity (solanum tub aeg)
Depressive psychosis (mandragora)
Stammering (solanum tub)
Constantly spitting (solanum tub)
Hurried breathing (solanum tub)
Unable to concentrate (mandragora)
Escape comes in the form of –
Lost consciousness (solanum tub and solanium)
Sleep (mandragora, solanum tub aeg, solanum)
Prolapse (solanum tub aeg)
Developing pathology includes -
Tumours (solanum tub, mandragora)
Convulsions (solanum tub, mandragora)
Amaurosis (solanum tub)
Prolapse (solanum tub aeg)
Swellings (solanum tub aeg)
Congestive headaches/migraines (mandragora)
Gall bladder disease (mandragora)
Pancreatitis and digestive ulcers (mandragora, solanum tub aeg)
Nearly all have violent gastric ailments - fear of being poisoned? They are all poisonous.
The legend of the Mandrake is from it being named the 'insane root'. There is an age old story of the root sending out a 'scream' when it is pulled from the earth. As with other rx in this group there is intense hyper-excitability of the senses and this includes the sexual energies as well - again common to this group. There is a host of history to be studied along these lines for Mandragora. Impotence and infertility come through the provings.
Of all the group remedies Mandragora has the strongest link to witchcraft. I know that many don't have much faith in wiki but these references here are very interesting:-
Mandragora
I particularly liked the link to an X- File episode :-)
Solanum tub is possibly more of an acute remedy. It has violent colic. It plummets into coma, or near coma, showing signs of Trismus, spitting (has to be linked to hydrophobia and rabies - has dreams of dogs!) and paralysis.
Solanum tub aeg is a most discontented remedy. Extremely censorious, anxious, loquacious, fearful and restless. The focus is often that of always being ill, no peace anywhere.
All these remedies have a sense of 'being rotten' about them, all have bad odours. This brings us back to the 'fear of being accused' or 'having done wrong' and the core is that of feeling rotten, full of decay and not worthy of anything, feelings of shame.
All these remedies are sleepy, almost overpoweringly so and dreams feature a lot. It is as if being sleepy is a peaceful state for these remedies but the dreams bring their own terror.
Solanum tub dreams of dogs and other animals; being mutilated; of witches; of cannibals. Solanum tub aeg dreams of pools of blood; fires; revolution; corpses; dreams of an amorous nature; bodily transformations; acting; witches; magic; eating human flesh; dead bodies; drowning; being disconnected; swimming; fires; being cut to pieces - and more, if this isn't enough. Mandragora dreams of coffins; bones; dead bodies; mutilation; fires; waterfalls, and many more as well as a vast array of delusional states along the same lines.
As I said these are remedies of terror they are not happy, they are lonely, stand accused, borderline psychotic and in need of help.
Happy Halloween!
Joy