December 2015

In the mirror, I look like an eagle: a case of Falco peregrinus

by Monika Polakovi?ová

Appearance: beautiful woman with long straight black hair, thin, feminine, with big eyes and a penetrating look. Slightly large nose. Well-groomed and made-up. She radiates calmness and composure.       

Health problem: her troubles with digestion, high cholesterol and Helicobacter pylori began in puberty. She feels pressure in her epigastrium. Eight years ago, warts appeared on her foot soles, mostly on her heels. When the warts were cut out, she got bronchitis. Last year, the amalgam fillings of her teeth were changed and then a skin eruption appeared on her face. She used to have a large number of non-painful eruptions on her cheekbones, which looked like urticaria.

As a twelve-year-old, she was diagnosed with a reduced function of the thyroid gland. She stopped taking thyroid medication when she was twenty-three, though she still feels that there is something going on in that area. It may by psychological; she has a friend who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. When she was twelve, her grandmother, whom she was very close to, died.

Her menses started at fifteen and have been irregular but painless; the blood is thick, dark red with clots. She has been taking contraceptive medication for the past eleven years.

She has the sensation of crackling in her left ear when listening to loud music.   

Behavior: she is calm and rational but feels internal uneasiness. She is very open and honest, optimistic, friendly, and cheerful. She tells people what she thinks about them. To some people, she might appear arrogant because she acts self-assured. She is extroverted, but she keeps her deepest feelings hidden. She is an outgoing person; she likes people, company, fun, dancing, and she loves water. She used to swim professionally. She constantly feels that she is missing something due to lack of time. She is a hairsplitter, a perfectionist.

When her son was born, it was hell for her because she likes having her own time. That is why she says she is egocentric. It was hard for her. She felt she did not exist, there was only this little one. She could not enjoy caring for the baby; she found it difficult that she was not the one organizing her time, it was done by the baby.

There are two female roles fighting inside her, one is the mother and the other one is the woman who wants to realize her dreams and enjoy life. Most of all she misses travelling; she is like a wanderer who loves to travel to exotic destinations.

Sometimes, she is afraid of her husband raising his voice or attacking her, although it never happened. Still, she has this strange feeling.

For the last six months, she has the feeling that no one can understand her, least of all her husband. They have different interests. She cannot communicate with him openly since she thinks he will attack her. She feels the pressure from her surroundings with regard to caring for her family. She feels that her husband does not appreciate her, even though she stayed home with their child while he managed to achieve career growth in his work. She is interested in birth hypnosis – she prepares mothers for giving birth. She is also interested in homeopathy. She has a lot to do, but still wants to help more. People appreciate her help and advice but at home her willingness to help is not appreciated at all: “Do as you wish,” says her husband. 

Her mother only breast-fed her for three months, while she has been breast-feeding her child for a year. She could continue for even longer but her husband made her stop so they could have another child. Deep inside, something was telling her to continue breast feeding. She felt sorry for stopping.

In the first year after the birth, she was very dissatisfied with her life. She was having problems with her cervical spine and a stiff nape.

In her work, she is an individualist. She likes people but prefers to be alone. She likes to think and analyze things. In love, she is impulsive. When she falls in love, she does not think.

She does not argue or get annoyed, as she thinks it wouldn’t help her; it would be waste of her energy. She prefers to communicate about the problem. Her most serious communication problem is with her husband and her mother-in-law.

She is divided between two prospects. On the one hand, she would like to have a second baby and on the other hand, she wants to help other women. She feels torn, without a clear direction.
She compares herself to a dolphin, which can swim free and unrestrained. Her husband tells her she has dolphin skin. She spontaneously makes another comparison: “When I look in the mirror while I’m combing my hair, I look like an eagle. It, too, has a large, slightly curved beak.”

She likes flowers, most of all white ones, but dislikes taking care of them. She is an animal-lover and is fascinated by fish. She would like to have an aquarium.

She loves water, sun, and loves to have mountains or hills around her. Sport is an important part of her life – swimming, dancing, Zumba, studying about healthy diet, and travelling. The only thing that is unfulfilled is her desire to go somewhere abroad.

Generalities: she likes to wear scarves and shawls since it makes her feel better when her neck is covered. She enjoys warm weather, summer, sun, hot baths, and she likes to lie in the sun. On the other hand, she dislikes a humid climate.

Her temperature is constant at 37 degree Celsius.

Her favorite food: tenderloin on cream, beef, fried cheese, smoked salmon, sweets, chocolate, meat, fruit desserts. She does not eat any other fish at all.

Aversion: liver and tripe

Aggravation: after drinking milk, she has the sensation of a stone in the stomach 

Analysis

Animal themes

She is direct, lively, perfectionist. She wants to self-realize. Duality, inner contradiction

Affinities: dolphin and eagle

Fear of her husband attacking her.

She likes flowers, but does not want to care for them – this might go against the Plant kingdom.

Lanthanide themes

Homeopathy, birth hypnosis – mind work, travelling, managing own time. She wants to be in control of her life. Ambitious, wants to achieve something, self-fulfill in order to not feel inferior (Silver series). Stiff neck (Silver series, Birds).

Possibilities

Sea remedy: dolphin comparison, theme of mother, fascination with fish, does not eat fish

Carcinosinum: well groomed, desire for travelling, perfectionist, warts

Snakes: wisdom, attack, neck

Lac remedies: theme of mother, aggravation after milk

Birds: Lanthanide-like, second comparison, neck

Repertorization

The following rubrics were put into Radar Opus: late menses. Fear of being attacked by the partner. Fear of being attacked. Desire for amusement. Fastidious, perfectionist. Desire for company. Food: chocolate. Aggravation after milk. Hypothyroidism.

If the analysis is focused on “small remedies”, three remedies come to the fore: Carcinosinum, Lac humanum, Falco peregrinus.

Her feeling: “I’m afraid of being attacked by my husband” was the strangest.

Rubric: MIND – FEAR – attacked; fear of being – partner; by

In this rubric, there is only one remedy: Falco Peregrinus.

I looked at the rubric: fear of being attacked. There were ten remedies, almost all of them of animal origin.

I looked at my notes regarding Falco peregrinus from seminars by Louis Klein and Markus Kuntosch and provings by Misha Norland and Peter Fraser.

                                                                                           

Falco peregrinus, falco-p.

The theme of Bird remedies is adaptation. Peregrine means wanderer, stranger. She has feelings of helplessness, unable to return the attack. They do not like being looked at. In captivity, they have little cap on their heads so they would not be disturbed – this increases their dependence on the owner. They can be very sensitive to light. They are perfectionists, as if being pushed by something. They want to keep their own personality no matter what, even if the pressure from outside is very strong. There is also the theme of prostitution, self-disdain, servile behavior with suppressed anger deep inside, the feeling that they are entrapped and being controlled by someone.

It is reminiscent of Lanthanide-like remedies which are trying to achieve independence. Falco, however, differs from others by being unable to become independent due to restricting circumstances. Falco needs to move and do sports. He provokes others and makes them want to control him. They have a predisposition to allergies, asthma, and problems with breathing. These are very typical problems of patients in need of a remedy from the Bird kingdom. Often they have problems with the throat, streptococcus infections for example, and with the eyes. They might have a proclivity to psoriasis. Sometimes, they might give the impression of having Asperger’s syndrome. They internalize their problems. Furthermore, Falco might experience anger outbursts after the first indication of humiliation. They might have dictatorial manners and be very stubborn. Usually, they take the role of the neutral observer, which is typical for all birds, but most of all for eagle and vulture. There is an indication of hyperactivity alternating with idleness. They want to protect themselves from outside threats, which is why they make use of amulets. With regard to eating, they might have periods of ravenous hunger. Their build is firm and strong, sometimes even obese. Appearance is very important to them, they like buying nice clothing. Either they love birds or have an aversion to them. (Louis Klein, Bratislava 25. 5. 2012)

They flutter with their wings very quickly in the heights, and when they see their prey, they take a deep plunge toward it with great velocity, either from behind or from above. Instead of killing their prey with their claws, they use this immense speed, with which they shatter the prey. Peregrine falcon can fly up to 300 kilometers per hour. These patients usually have a lot of adrenaline. They feel like the victim, at every moment someone might attack them from behind and they have only a split second to escape. Inside, they feel lot of tension. It is a combination of feeling frozen, a death-like state, and full of adrenaline. They are always ready to escape. They love skiing straight down the hill as fast as they can. They like adrenaline and speed. Birds have problems in the cervical area, a stiff neck. (Markus Kuntosch, Bratislava 13. 9. 2014)

Strong willed, strong personality, sense of self-worth, dominant, authoritarian, humiliation. Need for self-realization in the world. Strong sense of freedom, to resist the oppression. To exercise his/her own will in the world is more important than the connection to family, which, although strong, is secondary. In case of the mouse bird, it is other way around.

Horus, the Egyptian falcon god, protected children and at the same time was the symbol of the Pharaoh. For Falco, the most important thing is the self-realization of his/her own will; caring for children is secondary. In spite of being angered by restrictions, humiliation, and being underestimated, Falco can give up his freedom in exchange for the favorable opinion of others. He desires recognition by others.

Differential diagnosis

Anacardium: low self-esteem, inner anger, feeling trapped, under pressure, anger outbursts

Buteo-jamaicensis: feeling of imprisonment, family, desire for understanding

Nux vomica: feels he has the right for a higher standing in the society, but has to fight for it, feels that this position should be his, cannot tolerate authorities, fastidious about his belongings.

Aurum and its salts: same strong feeling of responsibility, does not tolerate failure, suicidal tendencies because of failure. In Falco, it is caused by feeling of being imprisoned, without any way out.

Sepia: overworked, exhausted, irritated, aversion to society, torpor. Falco wants to flee, move, be free.

Cuprum and its salts: tense, being controlled, eager

Prescription: Falco peregrinus 1M, once daily for two days, repeated after two weeks and repeated two weeks later.

Follow ups

After one month: shortly after taking the remedy, the patient feels emotionally unwell, as if she wanted to flee somewhere; she desires freedom and wants a divorce. She does not need to be alone but wants the feeling of freedom.

After 2 weeks: she mentally stabilized and understood what is important. Physically, not much changed, though she has more energy. Digestion is still a problem: her stomach aches but the heartburn disappeared. Desire for sweets is increased when she is tired. Others noticed she lost weight. She wants to get rid of the warts. Her thyroid gland is not giving her any problems; she was worried that something might be wrong there.
She finally decided what to do about things she was mulling over before. The relationship with her husband improved.

Prescription: repeat the remedy once in a month.

After two months: after taking the last dose of the remedy, an allergy appeared, which she usually has once a year in spring. Her eyes burned, she had mucous in her throat and hay fever. It was manageable as it was mild. She had lot to do. At home, everything is in order, she feels very well “in her family nest”. Mentally, the remedy helped her very much. She has less bleeding from her gums; now only from one tooth which was not well-repaired.

Prescription: continue with the remedy once per month.

After four months: she feels fantastic. At home, everything is fine. She started to travel once again with her husband and child. They have a very good relationship. She knows what to do and how to do it. She does not feel division and tension.The warts have stopped appearing and the mycosis on her thumb decreased in size. The stabbing sensation in her stomach did not return.
Presently, she is pregnant; she feels very well and is looking forward to maternity. The mycosis on her thumb slightly worsened, but I will address that after the birth. She does not feel any pressure from her husband. On the contrary, their relationship improved very much. She feels free, unhindered, and fulfilled.

Photo: Shutterstock
Peregrine falcon; Holly Kuchera

 

 

Categories: Cases
Keywords: digestive problems, Helicobacter pylori, hypothyroidism, mothering versus freedom, fear of attack by partner, peregrine falcon
Remedies: Falco peregrinus

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