2009 October

Carbon, the feeling of

by David Quinn
Carbon, and the feeling of forsaken, deserted and ‘discarded’.




In his book ‘Homoeopathy and the Elements’ Jan Scholten has perceived and outlined a complete structure with which we can understand the whole mineral kingdom. This work is of such significance that it should be examined carefully and critically so we can determine the value and accuracy of what is being said. I personally have learnt a huge amount from it.

In this article I wish to take a close look at ‘Stage 14’ of the periodic table, and in doing this I put forth the argument that in my view Dr Scholten should reconsider having taken both Carbon and Silica from this stage and placing them into the middle of the periodic table at stage 10, as he has done.
In my view both Carbon and Silica belong above Germanium, Stannum and Plumbum, and share with these three elements the same essential features.


Recently, while reading through the remedy Germanium in Rajan Sankaran’s books on the mineral kingdom I began to realise that there was much similarity in the symptoms and the description of Germanium with the Carbon remedies and Natrum-carbonicum in particular.

These symptoms being especially,
“Sense of failure, suppressed anger, estrangement, dyslexia and fatigue are only some of the indications that make this remedy uniquely suitable to our times.”
“Difficult to focus my mind on what I’m doing, trying to gather my thoughts and trying to think of everything to put in my brief case. See a bollard coming towards me, would have to focus my mind hard to remember what I have to do to avoid it. When teaching my class, it was difficult to focus on the logical steps.” (Excepts from Jeremy Sherr’s proving of Germanium)
Confidence, want of
Delusion alone, castaway, alone in the world
Delusion does everything wrong; he cannot succeed, that he has failed
Pursued
Delusion life is meaningless
Forsaken (Complete Repertory)
Delusion refugee children in Kosovo
Delusion isolated
Dreams Third Reich
Delusion vulnerable
Fatigue, powerless, apathetic
Occasional outburst and desire to escape (Excerpts from cases in Reference Works)


At this point I went to Homoeopathy and the Elements and read through the outline of the main characteristics of Stage 14, the column which contains within it Germanium, Stannum and Plumbum, and while doing this keeping in mind what we think of as the important characteristics of the Carbon remedies. Here is what Jan Scholten says:
Stage 14 Germanium Stannum Plumbum
Eliminated Discarded
They feel as if they are being discarded, they are being put out of action, placed on a side track. They are no more than onlookers at this stage, still there ‘for the show’, but their real role has come to an end. They are being eliminated under the guise of a ‘gradual phasing out process’.
Diverting
While they are being put on a side track by other people, they in turn are also very good at diverting important matters to another side track. They are masters in changing the subject and passing the buck when things get a bit too close. In a positive sense this can be seen as the ability to keep the pressure off, to even things out so they don’t get out of control. This is the ‘dropshot’ technique: they catch a ball and play it back in such a way that all the speed has been taken out of it, it drops down dead, all the energy has been absorbed. This is the talent of the people in stage 14. The weakness of the wrists of Plumbum is very symbolic.
Irresponsible
They are inclined to hand their responsibility over to other people or to the apparatus. They hide behind norms and rules and don’t like to be reminded of their responsibilities. All power has been taken from them, so how can they be responsible.
Empty Weak Drained
Everything is coming to an end now. They have lost control and can’t do much more. This makes them weak and feeble, makes them feel empty, as if all life has drained away.
Indifferent
Their attitude can appear very indifferent. They are not interested, they are bored, can even seem blasé...
Formal Distant
They become very formal and distant. The outer form becomes more important than what is inside. They will attach great importance to etiquette, protocol, ceremonies and standard procedures, even when they have no function anymore. They are conventional people conforming to the rules...
Covering up
Then they start to cover up all their actions. Nobody is allowed to see what they are doing in case they are being made responsible.
Mask
Eventually we only see the outside, a facade, a mask. This mask makes them stiff, reserved, stoic. All you see is an empty shell: the inside has gone. They feel like a puppet, they no longer have the power to manage their task, but they pretend that nothing is wrong. They carry on as if everything is fine, but it is only an act...

Dis
There are several words with the prefix ‘dis’ that portray the mood of this stage: distracted, discarded, distanced, displaced, dismembered, discredited, disinterested.
(Jan Scholten - Homoeopathy and the Elements)



To me this is an accurate description of not just the three states of Germanium, Stannum and Plumbum but also of the process we see in all the people in Carbon states, and Silica too. And what I see as especially important is the feeling as being ‘discarded’ as described by Jan Scholten.
The way the periodic table is set up in chemistry Carbon and Silica are placed over Germanium and are thus part of this column of remedies which is called Stage 14. However Jan has shifted both Carbon and Silica to the middle of the table directly above Nicollum, Palladium and Platinum of stage 10.
He writes, “Differential diagnosis: stage 10, Carbon and Silica: This stage (stage 14) is often compared with Carbon and Silica with regard to its chemical properties. We can see why, as they both have a certain desire for stability, they like to keep the situation as it is. The ions of this group can also have a charge of 4, Like Carbon and Silica. But this stage is essentially different. Carbon and Silica really are at the top, whilst Stage 14 only appears to be at the top. In reality they are very close to their downfall.” (Homoeopathy and the Elements)

I now think that the shifting of Carbon and Silica from their natural position should be re-considered by Jan Scholten, as I believe that Carbon and Silica belong above Germanium and share with Germanium Stannum and Plumbum all the characteristics he describes.




I will now go through all the prominent Carbon remedies and Silica to see how they are described throughout the Materia Medica with regard to this feeling of being ‘discarded’.


Up until this point my understanding of this column of remedies was of a tremendous irresolution, an ‘unsureness of what to do’. However, I now see that this is just one characteristic. Before the remedies are discussed individually I will have a look at the rubrics which contain the feelings of being ‘deserted’ and ‘forsaken’. While these are not the same as ‘discarded’ it is interesting how the Carbon remedies and Silica show up. Here are some of these symptoms,
DELUSION deserted, forsaken baryta carbonica, carbo animalis, carbo vegetalis, germanium, magnesium carbonicum, natrum carbonicum (63 remedies)
DELUSION town, he is in a deserted carbo animalis (only remedy)
DREAMS cities deserted helodrilus caliginosus
DREAMS places, deserted mangifera
ANXIETY forsaken her, as if a friend had forsaken her RHUS TOX (only remedy)
BITING nails forsaken feeling, with calcarea carbonica (only remedy)
FEAR forsaken, of being argentum nitricum, arsenicum, aurum sulphuratum, bufo, candida, carcinosinum, causticum, crotalus cascavella, kali carbonicum, lac defloratum, lac felinum, larrea, lithium carbonica, lyssinum, magnesia carbonicum, mangifera, musca, natrum carbonicum, phosphorus, phytolacca, platinum, pulsatilla, saccharum alba, stramonium, tuberculinum-koch (Complete rubric) (Here we see 4 carbon salts included in this symptom)
FORSAKEN feeling baryta carbonica, calcarea carbonica, carbo animalis, carbo vegetalis, Germanium, kali carbonicum, Magnesia carbonicum, Natrum carbonicum, plumbum, silica (196 remedies) (Complete Repertory)

There is no mention of Graphites in any of these rubrics.


Carbo-vegatabilis
AVARICE generosity towards strangers, avarice as regards his family carbo veg
CONFUSION OF MIND compelled to arouse himself carbo-veg
IRRESOLUTION marry, to carbo veg, silica (12 remedies)
The state of Carbo-veg is known for being low-spirited, near death with no restlessness no motivation, the person seems to be not getting enough air. They are going cold, going blue. The natural tendency of vital reaction is severely compromised.
Earnest Farrington writes of this state “Carbo-veg is the better remedy when the debility arises from organic causes, and we have a picture of collapse with Hippocratic face and coldness of the body, particularly of the knees.” (Clinical Materia Medica)
James Kent writes “You know he is sick because the bright, sparkling look has gone out of his eyes. If he could only get somewhere by himself and lie down – provided it was not dark – he would be comfortable. He wants to be let alone; he is tired; his days work wears him out...He dreams of fire, burglars, fearful and horrible things” (Lectures on Materia Medica)
Rajan Sankaran says that ‘robbers’ is very important for Germanium, and Jan Scholten says of stage 14 ‘as if all life had drained away’.


Carbo animalis
Here are some of the mind symptoms of Carbo animalis including the first seven, from the proving by Samuel Hahnemann.
Extremely melancholy mood, with a sensation of being deserted.
He feels, in the morning, as if he was deserted, and full of homesickness.
Homesickness.
Great disposition to sadness.
Pusillanimous and sad; everything seems to her so lonely and sad, that she would like to weep.
Inclination to solitude, sad and introverted, she always only wishes to be alone, and she shuns every conversation.
The objects on the street seem to him changed, e.g., farther apart and brighter than usual, as in an empty abandoned city. (The Chronic Diseases)
In his book Psyche and Substance, Edward Whitmont writes a short chapter on the state of Carbo animalis, and we begin to see this picture of the ‘discarded’ person come into view. He writes “The Materia Medica describes a state of isolation, rejection of people, withdrawal and withering. These people become slaves to their own rigid views and routine; they respond with anxiety to the threat of any disturbance of their accustomed way of thinking or living...The personality type may be described as introverted, indrawn, thin, dark, sometimes heavy set, rigid, retiring, antisocial with an aversion to people, desiring to be alone. The Carbo animalis patients are poor mixers, though they may enjoy the company of one or two individuals to whom they are accustomed...There is aversion to conversation, taciturnity, shyness, a feeling of isolation, often heard in the words, “When I was young...”: a mournful reflective state of discouragement and gloominess, obstinate irascibility, ill humour, a feeling of being abandoned, thoughts of death and hopelessness.”
We know how the ‘carbonate’ trait in people takes the tendency of a retiring, quiet, yet straight-forward, honest and reliable kind of person. Here, however Edward Whitmont shows the decline into being ‘anti-social’ ‘rigid’ ‘taciturn’ etc.
Carbo animalis is said to contain some phosphorus and Carbo veg a small amount of potassium, and we see very Phosphorus like glandular and stomach affections in Carbo animalis and the Kali back problems in Carbo vegetabilis.
Jan Scholten says that the ‘abandoned’ feeling of Carbo-animalis is more to do with the ‘animalis’ than the carbon, in which the central theme is one of displacement. He writes,
“DD Carbo animalis: again a similar duality of rigidity and instability, with the emphasis on the theme of displacement (animals). This is expressed in an aggravation on displacement, moving house etc. They are like a lonely cowboy who finds himself in a ghost town." (Homoeopathy and the Elements)


Graphites
Graphites is a remedy which besides being just being carbon also contains some Ferrum metallicum. Two keynote symptoms of Graphites are,
LAUGHING reprimands, at
LAUGHING reproach, at (Dr Chawla, Materia Medica of Human Mind)
These important symptoms of Graphites show the fighting oppositional spirit of Ferrrum metallicum.
Earnest Farrington writes “She has forebodings of some imaginary accident or mishap which is about to take place; and this makes her anxious and restless; impelling her to move about from place to place; she cannot be kept quiet…” (Clinical Materia Medica)
This is the insecurity of row 4, with the restlessness of Ferrum as well. In Graphites it is very much an ‘anxious apprehensiveness’.
Earnest Farrington continues,
“In the case of chlorosis, the Graphites patient has these symptoms; there is a tendency to rush of blood to the head with flushing of the face, exactly like that which belongs to Ferrum”.
We see the lack of vital reaction (of the Carbon states), described by George Vithoulkas: “Graphites shows lack of sensitivity to any stimulus – body, emotional and intellect...Eventually, the mind becomes empty...In Graphites it is an emptiness of thinking itself. It is an absence of thoughts. They feel that nothing is happening inside...Because of the dullness of mind, there is also irresolution. Graphites patients cannot make even the simplest decisions.” (Essence of Materia Medica)
We see here that the irresolution, something which is present throughout all the carbon states, is coming directly from the draining away of any vital reaction. And for some hint of the forsaken discarded feeling of Stage 14, Didier Grandgeorge calls his chapter on Graphites, ‘I could have been a diamond’, and presents us with the Graphites case,
“A high-level sports professional asks my help for recurrent sinusitis and fissuring eczema of the extremities, which has resisted a variety of treatments attempted. Consulting my repertory, I find Graphites.
‘What is Graphites?’ he asks me.
Instead of answering him with the chemical formula, I respond in kind, giving him the central idea of the remedy as expressed in the subtitle above...He sinks down into the chair. “Doctor, I am going to tell you something I have yet to confess to any doctor I’ve consulted so far. A few years ago, I was taking heroin, and ruined my championship career. That is why I am now nothing more than an obscure trainer.”
In fact, he is an educator and, as such, selects and trains the young people who may later become champions...and, like the graphite in the lead of the pencil, it is up to him to draw the straight line that leads to those heights…
(The Spirit of Homoeopathic Medicines)
In her Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines Catherine Coulter writes “A typical Graphites picture is the woman around menopause who, with the onset of hormonal changes, puts on weight, develops cysts in the breast or a uterine fibroid, or experiences hot flashes or other forms of unstable circulation. In the mental sphere she has, for whatever reasons, never explored her own strengths and, hence, she is restless, discouraged, discontented, and apprehensive about the future (“feeling of impending misfortune”: Hahnemann). She has hitherto found meaning and challenge in her family life – also a legitimate outlet for her emotions in caring for the needs of others. Then, when grown children leave home (and these days, more likely than not, the husband follows suit thereafter), she is suddenly thrown back on herself and forced to confront total emptiness...One such patient, whose grown children had abandoned the home several years ago, was suffering from “empty nest syndrome,” as well as from numbness of the arms and tingling fingers, worse at night...”


Natrum carbonicum
An important symptom of Natrum carbonicum is,
MISANTHROPHY baryta carbonicum, CALCAREA CARBONICUM, germanium, kali carbonicum, natrum carbonicum, STANNUM (60 remedies) (Complete Repertory)
Perhaps this is a misanthropy of the deserted discarded person.
Earnest Farrington writes about the state of Natrum carbonicum “You will find such a patient decidedly averse to society, even to his own family...Natrum carb also weakens the nervous system in another direction. We find it exhibiting great debility, which is marked with every exertion on the part of the patient. His walk becomes unsteady; any little obstruction on the pavement causes him to fall. His ankles turn in when he attempts to walk. I have a patient, apparently in good health, who has had five falls within one year, and, for these accidents, I can find no reason…” (Clinical Materia Medica)
See how this is like the weak wrists of Plumbum metallicum and the “dropshot” of stage 14 that Jan Scholten describes.
Of the forsaken discarded feeling, Rajan Sankaran writes of Natrum carbonicum: “The Natrum carbonicum woman needs just one relationship and is very dependent on this one relationship, without which she feels tremendous fear, sadness, and sense of isolation...Natrum carbonicum is very sensitive, especially to separation from the beloved and to the breaking of relationships. When the beloved is not there or he has gone away the patients show great sadness, reacting to sad music, especially that from the piano. They desire to make contact but have been unsuccessful in forming relationships and blame themselves for it (Delusion, he cannot succeed, does everything wrong”). They become estranged from their family and friends and bear their grief silently, feeling forsaken.
The Natrum carbonicum woman feels like an outcast and is always at the receiving end of abuse (offended easily)...Natrum carbonicum people can have a severe inferiority complex, especially in the sphere of forming relationships – they may feel unworthy of love or of any relationship. I have found in Natrum carbonicum a history of disturbed relationship with one of the parents, especially being forsaken or neglected by the father or mother. A woman may give the history of having been neglected by the father in childhood...It is interesting to note that Natrum carbonicum does not have any fear or delusions of animals. She is only afraid of people. Natrum carbonicum is afraid of the human quality of forming a group and casting people out... They are sympathetic and help others; sensitive especially to the suffering of people who are lonely and forsaken by society, for example with beggars.”
(The Soul of Remedies)

I have a very good friend who is herself in a Natrum carbonicum state. She is quiet and polite and yet every now and again has a strong aversion to certain persons. In one example of this she once she remarked of another person who was only talking about themselves and not interested in anyone else around them, how they are only ‘so into themselves’. She was feeling discarded by another person’s self-centeredness.
However it must be said that self-centeredness doesn’t do anybody any good, and is a very prominent process involved in the suppression of feelings. Once you suppress feelings you begin to enter an ever worsening process of experiencing everything in terms of that suppressed feeling. In this things are either aggravating you or ameliorating and you begin to lose the capacity to experience anything outside of yourself for simply what it is. Even though your desire is to create a world which is the opposite of the feeling which you are suppressing the feeling remains ever present and you are very sensitive to it and are easily triggered into it.
This friend, after one dose of Natrum carbonicum 200c had an aggravation for about an hour and she said that whatever she had been given is exactly how she feels, and then after that she then experienced a feeling of pure peace like she had never experienced before which lasted for about half an hour.


Magnesium carbonicum
Note a keynote symptom of Magnesium carbonicum,
FORSAKEN FEELING feels not being beloved by his parents, wife, friends
The image of the abandoned, discarded feeling continues in James Kent’s description of Magnesium carbonicum,
“I have observed, especially among illegitimate infants, those that have been conceived by clandestine coition, that they have a tendency to sinking in the back of the head. The occipital bone will sink in, and the parietal bones jut out over it, and there will be a depression. That is not an uncommon thing in children that go into marasmus. They are very likely to have a potter's clay stool. It does not run, and it is not hard. The white, hard stool is quite another symptom, and the soft semi-fluid white stool leads to another class of remedies, but this pasty stool, looking as if it could be moulded into any kind of shape, is a Magnesia carb. stool. I once had in charge an orphanage, where we had sixty to one hundred babies on hand all the time. The puzzle of my life was to find remedies for the cases that were going into marasmus. A large number of them were clandestine babies. It was a sort of Sheltering Arms for these little ones. The whole year elapsed, and we were losing babies every week from this gradual decline, until I saw the image of these babies in Magnesia carb., and after that many of them were cured.” (Lectures on Materia Medica)
And in The Soul of Remedies Rajan Sankaran writes,
“The magnesium feeling is that the person doesn’t get the care, protection and nourishment that he needs. It is the state of an infant dependent on the mother for nourishment, care, security and support, but who has been abandoned by his parents. It is the feeling of an orphan...In most Magnesium carbonicum patients there is a total repression – they feel that they should not make any demands on anyone, should not ask anyone for help. In this way, they may seem to be independent...Another feature of the dreams of Magnesium is that in many of these, there is a feeling of being alone, of having to face a problem alone. Another theme is that of being left behind. Quite a few Magnesium patients that I have treated had the dream of being left behind, alone on the railway platform while the train departed with all their relatives in it. Among the pleasant dreams that Magnesium patients get are those of being with people, of going on a picnic with relatives, of meeting friends and relatives, and of being with relatives who are actually dead.”
In The Spirit of Homoeopathic Medicines Didier Grangeorge writes “J. T. Kent discovered that this is the remedy for children who are abandoned by their parents, and then have to make an effort to adapt to life in an institution or adoptive family.”
Notice, ‘have to make an effort’


Kali carbonicum
Rajan Sankaran writes of Kali carbonicum “The main symptom of Kali carbonicum is the fear of being alone and the desire for company...Her dependence on the group or family is so great that her entire life revolves around her family – the health of family members, the integrity of her family, the amount of support she gets from her family, etc...“Dreams of dead relatives” in Kali carbonicum shows her extreme concern for her family. One of the big aggravating factors for Kali carbonicum would be the sickness of any member of the family, especially the supporting one. She feels forsaken when she doesn’t get the support she needs...In the clinic, the Kali carbonicum person can be a very faithful patient, following up quite regularly and sticking to the same doctor for a long time. But the trouble begins when she starts considering the physician as a family member. Then she will become truly dependent on the physician, she will never leave him; but each time she comes she will quarrel and insist she is not better.
Kali carbonicum patients speak loudly and are impatient with the progress. They can be quite nagging with the physician as if he is not paying enough attention to them or supporting them. They will tempt the doctor by their general sourness and extreme dependence to shirk responsibility towards them – which is similar to the origin of their state, a neglecting and irresponsible spouse.”
(The Soul of Remedies)

The Kali carbonicum state is often described to be one where the person is very conservative, with extreme attachment to set rules and set customs of society. If we consider the Kali insecurity and dependence combined with a sensitivity towards being forsaken and discarded (carbon) then we can understand this exaggerated conscientiousness.


Calcarea carbonica
Calcarea carbonica has the symptom,
BITING NAILS with feeling forsaken calcarea carbonica (only remedy)
Here is a proving symptoms of Calc carb as recorded by Samuel Hahnemann,
Unconsciousness and delirium about her abode, as if her room were a hall in the garden (The Chronic Diseases)
Here we see the feeling of being discarded from their normal place of security.
Didier Grandgeorge writes this of Calc-carb “Before birth, the infant was safe and sound inside the maternal “egg”. Throughout their lives, our Calcarea carbonica subjects will try to rebuild a protective shell, from the cradle cap and umbilical hernia of the infant to the search for stable employment in adulthood”. (The Spirit of Homoeopathic Medicines)
Maybe this is something like being discarded (carbon) from the security (calcarea and row 4) of the mother’s womb. Calcarea carbonica is known to be very indicated in very early childhood.
Here is some of Ananda Zaren’s description of Calcarea carbonicum,
“Calcarea carbonina children would rarely risk rejection by an angered or volatile parent...Calcarea carbonica individuals often suffer from a specific type of Isolation. These people are often well-liked, get along with co-workers, and have many acquaintances. Few, however, are able to make close connections with other people and completely “Let their hair down,” relax, and be fully themselves. Belonging and being valued are dreams for the Calcarea carbonica adult, who never felt true acceptance as a child. One patient who worked as a theatrical producer in Hollywood confessed that she had become extremely involved in her work as a way of proving her self-worth to fill the emptiness and unhappiness she felt in her life. As she explained, “I’ve been chasing approval and acceptance all of my life. As a child, I felt left out or on the sidelines. I was the last one picked to participate in any activity. I sense that I need to be successful or uniquely different in order to be noticed, desired, or invited to ‘join the club’, so to speak. I feel as though I have never been asked to join. Perhaps the criteria for membership are such that I don’t actually qualify. For instance, maybe my personal appearance is not acceptable, or my way of being is not normal. I feel that I would have to behave differently to be asked to join. The problem is that I really don’t want to behave differently.” [Notice here the need to prove her ‘self-worth’ something which Jan Scholten describes as being a central issue of the remedies of Row 2 of the Periodic Table.]
And see how like Jan Scholten’s description of Stage 14 this next part is by Ananda Zaren,
“Calcarea carbonica individuals of this type will avoid accountability in their dealings with other people by using Procrastination. Calcarea carbonica is one of only two remedies in the rubric MIND, Indifference to important things, K55. Many of these people will avoid commitment by using fatigue as an excuse. They either put off unpleasant duties or fail to communicate clearly, thus shifting the responsibility to the shoulders of others.”
And finally,
“Calcarea carbonica individuals need to feel acceptance from family members and friends. This is especially true of those adolescents who place a great deal of importance on friendship. Rejection by a friend is deeply wounding for Calcarea carbonica teenagers, because of their desperate need to belong and be part of the group. They attempt to fit in, and they seek acceptance by acting in a way that seems to Conform to the group image. They try to find their identity in the reflection of their peers, and they are afraid to be themselves and risk rejection by the group...” (Materia Medica Volume II - Core Elements of the Materia Medica of the Mind)


Baryta carbonica
Here are some symptoms of Baryta carbonica,
Sad and anxious; all manner of gloomy ideas as to his future fate rise in his mind, and he believes himself totally forsaken; in the evening.
Anxious and fearful; a little noise on the street seems to him at once like a fire alarm, and he is frightened by it, so that it darts through all his limbs.
The greatest irresolution; he proposes to himself a brief journey, and as soon as he is to make his preparation, he is sorry for it, and prefers to stay at home. (The Chronic Diseases)
The second symptom here shows the sensation of being in danger and the starting from this, something we see throughout all the remedies of the carbon row.
“Goes off alone and weeps as if she has no friends” (Sankaran - The Soul of Remedies)


Silica
Silica is the element directly below carbon and belongs to row 3 of the periodic table. With the row of Silica the issue is to do with problems related to a child’s relationship with very primary and significant others, especially the mother and the father. This row is concerned with care, relationship and connection of early childhood. If Silica belongs to stage 14 then the feeling will be of having been forsaken and discarded within an important primary relationship, in which the person is left feeling disconnected from others and forsaken.
Here is a quote by Carlyon quoted by Frans Vermeulen, which describes the Silica person very well: “The conflict can be between inner life and outer life, again underlining the fact that the Silica type lacks the ability to enter fully into life; they are too refined and may themselves be too special. This individual is too much in the head, not in touch with instinct and feeling, not rooted. Indecision is a big problem; the patient may say that she feels her mind doing one thing and her body doing another. A conflict between different walks of life and different interests could also be present. An example here would be a split between art and science, the scientific thinking temperament battling with the artistic feeling or intuitive temperament. The split often occurs in the field of relationship with others. The person can be pulled between their own wants and needs on the one hand and the demands and expectations of relatives, friends and society in general on the other. This of course leads to indecision and not knowing their own mind. I have often seen, when listening to the patient’s story, that as a child the patient was caught in the middle between two conflicting parents. This was not necessarily overt conflict or warfare, but could have been an underlying tension, unresolved conflict, or temperamental differences, which the Silica patient, being so sensitive to the psychic atmosphere, would pick up on and experience as an internal split...They become stuck in the middle of opposing tendencies in their environment...The person feels that he is not in his body and cannot cope with being in the world. To be in the world is to take on form and to take a stand. Ultimately the Silica patient is afraid of and withdraws from the commitment of life, preferring somehow to remain free of the restrictions of physical manifestations...Isolation is a word constantly used by Silica patients. They feel isolated and separated from other people and the world in general. They also say that they feel cut off from themselves.” (quoted in Prisma)
The situation here is of a child dependent on their parents for love and affection and the parents are spending all their energy on each other, fighting with each other, and the child is being discarded in this.
Interestingly, George Vithoulkas also captures this in his description of Calcarea carbonica where he writes “I cannot exactly explain this predilection in Calc. carb. children. It seems to arise out of the observation of the world around them. They see suffering and injustices; perhaps there is some conflict between the parents... (Essence of the Materia Medica)

The Silica state is also often described to be someone brought up in a family with certain values of how things are to be. The focus is on the ‘image’ of the family, the name of the family and acting in a certain fixed way which gives a certain impression to the community. The child doesn’t decide anything for themselves. They are told how to act, how to be, what schools to go to, how a proper person should behave. The child feels discarded in the sense that all their feelings and opinions are being discarded.
It is this kind of background Rajan Sankaran describes in his understanding of the Silica state. He writes “in Silicea it is his image that must be protected at all costs...the Silicea person’s survival would depend upon fulfilling a particular image...Silicea people constantly feel the eyes of others on themselves and are very conscious of the impression they are creating...Silicea comes from a situation where fulfilling a specific image is a necessary condition for acceptance, for example a child is told that he will be accepted and loved if he achieves in a specific way...So, a Silicea woman is actually trying to fulfil an image made for her by somebody else. In that sense she yields to that image, but she also becomes fixed to it and so in her effort to maintain it, she is obstinate. This combination of yielding and obstinacy is found in Silicea in a peculiar way. On one hand there is the desire to be magnetized, i.e. she wants to be completely under the suggestion of somebody else. On the other hand, she is so fixed in her opinions that if contradicted she can become violent: “Contradiction, intolerance of, has to restrain from violence”. Silicea does not openly revolt but sticks to her opinion. Samuel Butler used to say: “Convinced against her will, but of the same opinion still”. She will say “yes” finally so as not to make an issue, but the feeling inside is still “no, this is all wrong”. She is not one to revolt but she knows that if she yields completely and gives up her goals and image, then the one she is dependent on will start disliking her. This is a peculiar contradiction...Silicea people can be late to develop relationships and marry...Thus the essential features of the “coped-up” state of Silicea are fixed ideas, obstinacy, fixed image and rigidity. In the uncompensated state the main symptoms are yielding, irresolution, desire to be magnetized, nervous, timid, self-conscious.” (The Soul of Remedies)

Another situation of the Silica feeling could be a man and woman who have children because this is the right thing for their image to have a family.
Silica also has many characteristics in common with the carbon states. It has the weakness or lack of vital reaction. They are generally straightforward sensible and a bit quiet. There is also the irresolution and indifference.

Here are some quotes of various Homoeopaths about the state of Silica.
“I once knew a very refined Silica woman who had adopted a drug addict as a friend. She went to great lengths to help him, and was always available for him when he was in need of her, and would not abandon him as his health and sanity deteriorated. The relationship was very much one of carer and cared-for, and involved no sexual or romantic association. This Silica lady’s dignity and self-possession contrasted starkly with her friend’s roughness, yet she was not troubled by the latter…” (Philip Bailey, Homoeopathic Psychology)
Catherine Coulter shows with this example how skilled the Silica child is at dealing with the situation where their feelings and opinions are being discarded. “An instance of this effective persistence is the child who dislikes is boarding-school intensely, yet cannot persuade his parents to bring him home or send him somewhere else. He begins, deliberately or unconsciously, to apply various methods of passive persuasion: not answering his parent’s letters and refusing to telephone. Or, if they call him, he talks only about how depressed he is. While the discontented Sulphur or Nux vomica will start to misbehave (both being troublemakers who “make waves”), Silica develops elusive complaints or a malingering attitude, thus forcing his parents to consider his wishes.”
Also, she writes “Another, who suffered non-specific “stubborn” headaches that yielded to no remedies was finally recognised as needing Silica by her reluctance to form new friendships due to remorseful recollections of misunderstandings with former friends brought on by her own behaviour. She readily fell into the self-accusatory mode: “Why did I act like that!” “I shouldn’t have made that remark!” and so on. She was also obsessive about these failed attachments, digging repeatedly into this terrain to discover the reasons and circumstances of their rupture with the tenacity of a Schliemann looking for the lost city of Troy.”
“He may so lack ambition or energy as to permit others to take credit for his own achievements, or he will refuse to defend his position and would rather be considered wrong than take trouble to prove himself correct. He may even lack the energy for enthusiasm, and a large portion of his life will be devoted to avoiding offense or friction.”
(Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines)
We see here how badly affected the wanting of normal social consideration can be for the Silica person. Their sensitivity is such that it all seems too hard because they only end up being discarded anyhow, as not too many people pay much attention to anyone else. And notice how much this quote sounds like Jan Scholten’s description of Stannum, the remedy of stage 14,


Stannum
"…Weakness through talking
They may feel so powerless that they will go along with whatever is being said. They don’t dare to express their own opinion anymore, always babbling along with other people. This makes them feel exhausted because it is not their own self expression and therefore doesn’t energise them. Nobody listens to them so they have to shout to be heard."
(Homoeopathy and the Elements)
And see how much like Natrum carbonicum these paragraphs are,
“Silica’s “sanguine” (H. C. Allen) disposition results in part from imperturbability and a low-key self-sufficiency (mental equanimity being perhaps the most precise expression). The happy and healthy child exhibits a perky and independent demeanour and does not require the constant attention of others...The endearing and gentle side of the Silica disposition reflects his fair, even-tempered, and considerate approach to people. Seldom overly conscious of status, he judges others as individuals, and for their true qualities, not for their position in the world. He is not necessarily kind, but is truthful and honest. He may lack the warmth of Phosphorus and the sympathy of Pulsatilla, since the type extends compassion rather than sympathy and, rather than becoming emotionally involved in the problems of others, tries rationally to help work them out.” (Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines)
It is interesting that it has been observed that the person of a Silica constitutional state can tend into acute illnesses of the remedy Pulsatilla, and the feeling of Silica is of having been discarded by a very close other and Pulsatilla is the mortification of feeling all alone.
All of what has been written about Silica is summed up by Ananda Zaren: “The characteristics that form the complex picture of Silica are forged in childhood. The elements of the etiology of this remedy include fright, abuse, neglect, and abandonment. In normal development, the child slowly separates psychologically from the mother and evolves its own sense of individuality. In Silica individuals the separation occurs prematurely, resulting in trauma. Typically, you will be able to detect a flawed family system in which the Silica child felt hurt and isolated...The Silica individual is sensitive to impressions from the emotional environment. Because of this vulnerability, many situations are perceived as abandonment by the Silica organism. The Silica emotional pathology can be triggered by being the product of an unwanted pregnancy, parental preference for a child of the opposite sex, or transient separation from the parents in the hours or days after birth. The etiology of the Silica state can also result from incarceration in concentration camps, after intellectual overwork, with loss of sleep, or as a sequel to vaccination. The remedy is often required in people who have eating disorders, such as anorexia and bulimia...A premier quality of the Silica wall is Denial. This can be manifested as denial of the problem or denial of the feelings associated with the problem. Silica patients have many buried issues that reach up to control their lives. Denial and repression of emotionality results in either the feeling of stiffness, which can be expressed as emotional reserve or properness, or a physical stiffness that can be observed as rigidity of posture.” (Materia Medica Vol I - Core Elements of the Materia Medica of the Mind)
See mentioned here the idea of the concentration camp, something which is mentioned with Germanium. The idea is one of being abandoned, ‘discarded’.


Ananda Zaren and I hold, I believe, the same convictions of what Homoeopathy is all about.


Carbon
Carbon is part of row 2 of the periodic table and Rajan Sankaran considers this row to be like the experience of a baby in the womb and the process of being born. He describes the Carbon stage of this: “Here below I wish to share my concept of Carbon in general which applies to all Carbon forms and compounds. This concept takes into account the position of Carbon in the periodic table, namely in the middle of row 2 which is about fetal life and the birth process. Carbon is the moment of decision of the fetus to be an independent existence and with that the inherent doubts and fears about its capability to be so. It does occupy a very important and central position in man’s development. The ability to have an independent existence has its main quality the ability to react to circumstances on one’s own, independently. This vital reaction or its absence is the central theme of Carbon remedies. I have expanded on this theme below and given a few examples to show the differences in the expression of this basic theme among some carbon remedies.
Carbon is exactly in the middle of row 2 (stage of separation) which has an alternating state, where on one side they feel, ‘Can I be on my own or do I need to be still here?’ And on the other side they feel, ‘I have to let go, can I let go? For the first time I have to sense, I have to react and I am on my own. Am I capable of being on my own?’
Carbon represents that stage of development where for the first time one gets a sense of being an entity separate from the mother. They are still in the womb but now they are no more a part of it, now the time has come where they need to be on their own and react independently.
Carbon is the stage where the head of the baby descends further and engages itself. The baby is preparing to leave the womb and needs the ability to react independently.
Now there is no going back, so the question arises how will he react to the outside world? The main idea here is vital reaction (the presence or absence of it). So far the womb has been their world and their support system and now they are going into a completely new world alone. Carbon is thus the first substance to feel that he is a separate entity. Now is the time where he has to adapt to the new. He has to now react for himself. The main carbon symptom, lack of vital reaction, shows the opposite polarity of such a quality.
So it is about sensing and reacting, which is the vital reaction of a person. Where the feeling is, ‘Is the outside going to dull me into no reaction or am I going to react?’
(Structure Volume 1)

We can see with this description how Rajan Sankaran agrees with Jan Scholten in placing Carbon in the middle of the periodic table and into stage 10. This stage (stage 10) is considered to be the point where the person feels they have the full capacity to do something. That there is no longer anything missing or lacking which they need and therefore they are now ‘ready’, so to speak. This corresponds with what Dr Sankaran is saying about the baby being ‘ready’ to be born, and to start an independent physical existence of their own. However, I don’t think this context is correct. I think that Carbon belongs in stage 14 and is the feeling of being discarded (from somewhere).

Dr Sankaran goes on to say “One important feeling in Carbon is ‘to be on my own’.
For example Calcarea carbonica asks, ‘Can I protect myself on my own?’
Baryta carb feels ‘Can I take responsibility on my own?’”

Then soon after Dr Sankaran says something very interesting,
“Carbon has an alternating state of high energy alternating with inactivity, stagnancy and hibernation, and then slowly gets some stimulus and then it develops an initiative, which is enough for him to feel that now, ‘I can’t be stationary; I have to move out.’ (Structure)
This is like being pushed out (of the womb) and the best thing to do is to simply accept it. Maybe it is the feeling of being discarded from the womb.

Dr Sankaran continues: “The main theme of all carbonates is that there is no reaction in a situation in which they are. It is interesting how in carbonates like Calcarea carbonica and Magnesium carbonica the carbon seems to depend on its partner to provide its specific context. Calcarea carb is somebody who would like to be protected as if by a shield or by a person who offers him security. They show a kind of dullness and lack of reactivity and independence in the context of a Calcarea situation. So the feeling in Calcarea carbonica is, ‘I feel insecure and I am not capable of protecting myself and therefore I simply will remain at home and I will not come out.’ They feel, ‘I want somebody around me’, which is typical of carbon but because they are not capable of protection, it is Calcarea.” (Structure)
Here the person feels discarded and abandoned and hence they remain at home all alone (carbon), and yet they desperately want others around them, for this feeling to be taken away.
Through observing many people in the carbon states and by reading the Materia Medica I thought that the stage 14 and carbon feeling was of an irresolution, an unsureness of what to do. And Rajan Sankaran goes further and shows how Carbon is about vital reaction, and that we see in the carbon states a lacking of vital reaction and then suddenly an exaggerated hyper vital reaction. I think that both of these are coming out of a feeling of being ‘discarded’.

In Germanium there is the symptom
Life is meaningless (Structure)

When one feels discarded life loses its meaning. What is one to do with this? How can you rouse yourself up in the face of this? Hence what emerges is the ‘lack of vital reaction’. We see the progression. The feeling of being abandoned and discarded, which naturally leads to a tremendous weakening of the life force, and the dullness inherent with this becomes a sense of tremendous irresolution (Life is meaningless).
Now I will just briefly show some of what is written of the elements Germanium, Stannum and Plumbum to see more this feeling of being abandoned and deserted, and also how much is like the Carbon states and Silica.


Germanium
Germanium belongs to stage 14 and row 4. Thus the proposed feeling is of being ‘insecure and abandoned’. Here are some excerpts of the case of Germanium taken from Rajan Sankaran’s book Structure – Experiences with the Mineral Kingdom.
“Doctor: Which type of situations or failures make you feel worse?
Patient: Exams or that in March for example, my student’s friend with whom I was sharing the apartment, decided to leave, and I had counted on their friendship, and they decided to go and live together, as if they didn’t reciprocate friendship. I felt hurt, sad and began to dwell in all type of problems as I become pessimist; there are loads of negative feelings and thoughts coming inside me.
Doctor: Like which?
Patient: Like Forsaken, with nobody in the world, and every time I fail in anything, I remain accumulating these feelings as if I am worthless and can’t see my good side. Then I begin to feel beaten down, sad, useless, unmotivated and I can’t enjoy anything in life or do anything. Today I came to consultation, but I hadn’t left my room all day. I have been worse, before I could bounce back, now I am not able to, I feel I have no energy to react...

[Notice here the same process we see in the carbon, the draining away of energy and the will to do anything which is directly related to the feeling of being abandoned.]


Stannum
This is from Didier Grandgeorge’s Spirit of Homoeopathic medicines: “Tin, in homoeopathic doses is a good remedy for people who are exhausted, who seem to be completely subdued. They suffer from long lasting bronchial or pulmonary discharge, or from paralytic afflictions of the nerves. Discouraged, sad, and anxious, they are not interested in company.
Aware of their feeble state, they try to plan for the future, accumulating money in the savings bank, keeping everything in order…”

[Notice how much this sounds like the way the Silica person ‘conserves their energy’.]
“These patients vomit from the odour of food, and have a special characteristic of not being able to wear earrings, which cause their skin to become infected (Lachesis, Medorrinhum). At night, they perspire excessively and are exhausted.”
And George Vithoulkas about Stannum: “The exhaustion of Stannum is almost without parallel. The weakness is so great that they have a feeling of heat under the skin. They even say that their eyes are ‘burning from weakness’...Because of the tremendous exhaustion, Stannum patients do not want to see people. It is not that they do not like people; indeed, Stannum people are very sweet, undemanding individuals who get along with people – somewhat like Silica…” (The Essence of the Materia media).
Stannum also has catarrhal phthsis and epilepsy, like Silica.


Plumbum
The element Plumbum belongs to stage 14 and row 6 of the periodic table.
Jan Scholten says of this state: “The theme of isolation is very strong in Plumbum. They may feel all alone in the world. This is heightened by their formal attitude which doesn’t allow them to make contact easily” (Homoeopathy and the Elements)
There is also “Delirium from hearing music” (S R Phatak)
“On the emotional level as well, there is a kind of paralysis which can best be described by the word APATHY. This is very similar to the stilled, apathetic state seen in old arteriosclerotic patients. There is no vitality, no movement of emotions inside...They seem to sense that their powers are waning...Plumbum patients experience trembling with the weakness of their muscles. It may be difficult for them to hold a glass steady...Plumbum also has offensive foot sweat like Silica” (G Vithoulkas)
A word which is often used to describe a lot of symptoms throughout all these states of stage 14 is ‘retraction’, and this is especially a keynote feature of the state of Plumbum. We also see symptoms of ‘retraction’ with Silica and Stannum.
Earnest Farrington says of the Plumbum patient “In constipation you may use Plumbum when the retraction of the abdomen already mentioned is present, and when there is marked spasm or contraction of the sphincter ani. There is urging to stool, and the patient complains of a sensation as though a string were drawing the anus up into the rectum” (Clinical Materia Medica)



As all the remedies of stage 14 feel deserted abandoned and discarded, as we move to the right into the other columns the feeling becomes increasingly a more severe feeling, as Jan Scholten describes. So the feeling of the Phosphorus column is more severe than being discarded. I think the feeling of stage 15, of the Phosphorus stage is like you are now being sacrificed for the needs of others. It is like the feeling of having been sacrificed, like you have been robbed of your right to be a person in your own right and now you are seen as existing only for the needs of others. We see this in the way the Phosphorus person suddenly says, “I am not going to be their slave, all they think I am is their slave.” This is the feeling, it is past discarded, abandoned. It is like, ‘I am sacrificed and everything I am and have is just going to be taken from me, it is going to be robbed’. With Arsenicum this feeling is combined with great anxiety and insecurity (Row 4). In the state of Arsenicum album the person can come to have a tremendous anxiety about their health. This is an anxiety and insecurity that they have ‘sacrificed’ their health, that they have been careless and the cost has become their health. This then leads the Arsenicum person into an obsession about what is ‘healthy’. Also the Arsenicum person can be very concerned about the welfare of the planet and the environment. They are sensitive to the Earth being sacrificed for the sake of other interests.
The flip side of this feeling of being sacrificed is that these states can also sacrifice themselves. When the Phosphorus person likes someone they can readily sacrifice their own feelings for the sake of the other person. They give everything of themselves and can totally immerse themselves in the world and feelings of the other person. The pure ‘opposite’ state of Phosphorus is, ‘I am ablaze sacrificing myself’. The person, just like the substance itself is ‘ablaze’ for all to see. This is the opposite of the feeling being suppressed. The characteristics of the substance itself are always the opposite of the internal feeling of that substance.
As we move to the right of the Phosphorus stage we come to Sulphur. The feeling of this stage is even more severe than being sacrificed for the needs of others. Here the feeling is like being ‘almost finished’, it is like everything is burning up, being destroyed, almost destroyed. The feeling is, ‘Lets live in the present while we can as everything is almost over’. It is like being treated like you are ‘almost nothing’. When the person is disregarded their response is like, ‘I am not finished yet, just watch what I can still be’. The Sulphur person is close to the edge. The Muriaticum feeling (stage 17) is one step further. They have fallen over the edge and they are drowning in the sea. Sulphur is close to the edge, near the breaking point. This is why the Sulphur child is always testing for the breaking point. For instance, if the mother of the Sulphur child needs the child to help her with something the child will delay helping and doing what is asked, and this will continue until the mother finally says she has completely had enough and the child can get lost. For the lazy Sulphur child, this is tremendously hurtful and at the same time confirms their internal feeling. They feel that they are right, that it only took so much for everything to be ‘finished’. I think a lot of Sulphur behaviour is this kind of tempting of those around them. The Sulphur person acts accidently on purpose in a frustrating manner to test others around them and when others act accordingly then they feel they are somehow right, that their internal feeling is correct.

As we move to the right we come to the Halogens. The feeling of the halogens is like, “it is over, it is all finished, I have been totally forgotten about.” The halogen feeling is like that of having been betrayed. They have the feeling of being repeatedly let down and disappointed. At this stage the person experiences themselves as having fallen over the edge, and they are drowning in the sea.
For instance, the feeling of Natrum muriaticum is of being alone and having been betrayed and forgotten about by the person in which you seek love care and connection.


Rajan Sankaran states the feeling of Chlorine (Muriaticum) to be “I am the opposite of you”. (Structure)
And you do get that feeling with Natrum muriaticum people. A very good friend of mine who is Natrum muriatcum said to me once that whenever he thinks that someone is demanding something of him, that he will always do exactly the opposite of what the person is wanting. And while I could understand what he was saying it was interesting to hear this because whenever we went somewhere and did something it was always me who had to choose where we went and what we did.
Catherine Coulter also, says exactly the same thing: “Of course, other constitutional types possess eccentricities, Natrum muriaticum and Lachesis coming first to mind, but they are different from Calcarea. Natrum muriaticum, for example, is aware of behaving strangely. He knows the norm but is incapable of observing it, seemingly compelled by some contrary force to act differently. Afterwards he suffers mortification of the memory of his own “strange, rare, and peculiar” behaviour; however occasionally he is proud of being different and cultivates it.” (Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines)

What is the behaviour of someone who experiences themselves to be in the midst of everything being in ruins and where they are being betrayed. It is going to be the opposite of what is expected of them, of what people are telling them to do.
We can see here that the change from the Sulphur stage (stage 16) to the Muriaticum Halogen stage (stage 17) represents a significant step from being ‘almost finished’ to the halogen feeling where it is all over. Likewise the progression from stage 13 to stage 14 also represents a significant kind of change in severity. Stage 14, the stage of Carbon, Silica, Germanium, Stannum, and Plumbum is where the person comes to feel discarded, abandoned and deserted. Thus we could very well expect that the remedies of stage 13 to be on the edge of this feeling. We could expect the person to be almost anticipating and desperately wanting to be not deserted.

Here is what Rajan Sankaran writes of stage 13,
“The structure is under severe attack”
“The Loss is imminent. It is not a question of whether it will happen but when it is going to happen”
“Superhuman efforts are needed to maintain it.”
“Delaying the disaster, not whether but when?”
“Holding on. But how long can you hold on.”
Keywords -...Vigilance, Monitoring, Prevention, Imminent...Holding on... (Structure - Volume I)
This is just as we would expect. Here is how Dr Sankaran describes stage 14,
“The structure has failed”
“The loss has happened”
“It could not be prevented” (Structure, Volume I)



A Proving of Carbo-vegetabilis.
Because of these ideas about the Carbon remedies and their relevance to Stage 14 of the Periodic table, I decided to prove Carbo-vegatabilis in 30C. I took a dose, (which means for me going outside, unscrewing the cap and taking a little smell of the cap as to get a faint smell of sugar), at 11pm on the 30th of July. Because I was very tired, I soon fell asleep. However in the middle of the night I woke up with a vague feeling of discomfort and fear. Also I could feel the remedy, which was strong for a 30C potency. Then, a character from a television programme I had been watching that night came into my mind. She was standing, it seemed, a long distance away from me. I was half asleep at this stage and I zoomed in on her like you do using a digital camera. When I did this I could see that she seemed alone and isolated. She was totally by herself and was just looking around just kind of wondering what to do.
In the TV programme itself her character had just had a miscarriage and she hadn’t told her husband anything about it when she was going through it. When he eventually found out about it he ended up sleeping with another woman.
One physical symptom I experienced from the dose of Carbo-veg was the next day I had a very slight twinging sensation in the palm of my right hand, near the base of the thumb.


Carbon (and Silica) is the first stage of the emergence of being an outcast (Discarded and abandoned). Thus there is not anything else at work that we find in the later stages. The person is sort of a bit quiet and dignified. They kind of don’t know quite what to do. They find it harder than other people to grasp the way things are, they are not good at playing social interaction the way other people are. There is a ‘rescue me’ quality to the person which is like wanting to be brought back into the fold. They want to be rescued from their isolation, and this can be like a romantic yearning. However early on at least there is no edge to this. The person is well behaved, straight forward, quiet and a little reserved. There is an innocence to it like a lost child. They only want to be rescued and brought back.

However, as we move to stage 15 of the Nitrates, Phosphorus and Arsenicum etc. the feeling is one of being discarded abandoned and now also sacrificed (for the needs of others). It is a further stage of the feeling of being discarded and is more severe. It has this added dimension, and edge to it. As we get to the Halogens they also have the feeling of being discarded but now we are a long way from the ‘innocence’ so to speak of stage 14. Here the feeling is of also having been betrayed, totally forgotten. Here it is all finished.

In Stage 14 with the Carbon remedies and Silica there is a naivety to their abandonment. They are irresolute, they don’t quite know what to do, how to behave. This is the form of the ‘division from others’. But they don’t feel sacrificed like Phosphorus, they don’t feel almost finished off like Sulphur does, and they don’t feel betrayed and finished off like the Halogens.
However this is not to say that the Carbon states don’t have any negative qualities. They can become very rigid (sure about certain things) and irritable. Yet this is exactly described by Jan Scholten in his description of stage14.

The quality of carbon and Silica is of a slightly quiet, straightforward reserved person who can become a little bit ‘logical’ in how they think and yet has an innocence and naivety. This is all coming from an undifferentiated feeling of having been discarded and abandoned by others. Because of this there is a severely compromised vital force, etc. Carbon and Silica are in nature and disposition exactly like how Jan Scholten describes stage 14. They are at this stage of the appearance of a very significant fall.


David Quinn
davidquinn@paradise.net.nz

Categories: Theory
Keywords: carbon, forsaken, deserted, discarded, outcast, carbo vegetabilis, Jan Scholten, Rajan Sankaran, Jeremy Sherr, Earnest Farrington, James Kent, Samuel Hahnemann, Edward Whitmont, Earnest Farrington, George Vithoulkas, Didier Grandgeorge, Catherine Coulter, Ananda Zaren, Carlyon, Frans Vermeulen, Philip Bailey, H.C. Allen, S.R. Phatak
Remedies:

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Ken Byrne Hom.
Posts: 11
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Nat Carb
Reply #5 on : Tue November 19, 2013, 05:18:57
Thank you very much. What an unexpected gem addition for my Materia Medica. Well done! Good analysis and well described.

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Understanding Remedies
Reply #4 on : Thu June 14, 2012, 07:44:52
Thanks david, Good understanding of Materia Medica.

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thanks
Reply #3 on : Thu November 17, 2011, 08:06:12
Hi Sylvia and Dr. Subhash

Thanks for your encouraging comments.

kind regards
david

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Re:
Reply #2 on : Wed September 14, 2011, 23:27:07
Amazing how you bring to life the remedies. As a student, it's very much appreciated. Keep it coming, please!

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Re:
Reply #1 on : Tue July 26, 2011, 17:23:57
very nice articles with good explanation