I was in her control, I had to defeat her physically: a case of Aranea diadema

Woman aged 27

Presenting complaint: Severe fatigue

Jonathan Hardy (JH): Please describe your complaint

Patient (P): “I have no strength. I feel I can’t stand up. I have to lie down. I feel my legs are not supporting me. It feels like the floor is not stable, like on a boat (gesture – head bobbing forward).

“There is pressure in my head when I stand up, like my head is exploding. Very quick, fast – pressure releases. Getting up takes the most energy.

“I have heavy periods, I’ve always had problems.

“I have digestive problems. It’s worse in the evening. I feel nausea after lunch, nausea in the evening after dinner. The food moves up and down. When I lie down, I feel better. Every time I sit up, I burp. For a week, I can’t do anything.”

JH: Please describe your nature.

P: “I’m ambitious. I want to be the best I can be. I like getting the satisfaction.

“My mother was quite critical. I can be impatient - I want lots of things. Because I don’t know if I’ll get them, I want them as soon as possible. My instinct is, I want it now!

“Theatre is my biggest passion. I’m very passionate in a movie star way. I give my heart.

“Stability is important to me.”

Analysis

Because the patient spoke about theatre, art and creativity, and is an architect, I chose a remedy in the Silver series. Stannum was given because of the Stage 14 themes of weakness and feeling drained. She did quite well for seven months with several repeats, but then relapsed.

Case taking resumes after 7 months

P: “I have an irrational phobia: any kind of spiders – even plastic spiders. My sister tormented me with them to get me under her control. My sister disrespected me. I was in her control. I was a little nothing to her.

“My only reaction was to get really violent, I was always trying to react violently. For me, it was time to attack. I had to try to defeat her physically. She was imposing herself over me.”

JH: Describe what that was like for you.

P: “As if I was kicked over, smashed. You’re a little nothing. Like a train running over you. I didn’t have any power. It’s quite terrifying. She knew how to control me and get me to do what she wanted. I was on edge. I could never relax. She was really mean.”

JH: How did it feel?

P: “This horrible thing would come closer, like in horror movies. The worst thing is when people can’t get away, they get caught.”

JH: How did you feel when you were most frightened?

P: “Me being unable to scream. I could never get my voice out – I was completely frozen.”

JH: How did you react?

P: “I would see red and lose control, become violent. She was physically much bigger than me. She was like a mountain. I wanted to kill her. She would always be in control.”

JH: How did it feel when you were under her control?

P: “I felt uncontrollable anger inside. I was her puppet, her slave. I knew I couldn’t win. She was big. It stopped when I was big enough to show that I didn’t care.

“It’s the same desire to become something and prove myself. I wasn’t acknowledged. Not having achieved the things I’m fighting for made me feel worthless. It’s a waste of energy if I’m not achieving my goals. I need my things to be achieved 100%. It’s total victory when I achieve the things I’m fighting for.”

Case Analysis

Animal kingdom themes
She was imposing herself over me.
I wanted to kill her.
Violence
Fighting

Spider themes
“I’m ambitious. I want to be the best I can be.” Ambition is a strong spider theme.
“It’s total victory when I achieve the things I’m fighting for. I can be impatient - I want lots of things. Because I don’t know if I’ll get them, I want them as soon as possible. Impatience to get what they want is a spider characteristic.
“My sister tormented me to get me under her control. She was always in control. Domination, tormenting, under someone’s control, are spider characteristics.
“I was in her control. I didn’t have any power. She knew how to control me and get me to do what she wanted. Being manipulated is a spider theme. The other person has total power over them.
“My only reaction was to get really violent. I had to try to defeat her physically.
“It stopped when I was big enough to show that I didn’t care.”
Spider idea is that there is a big difference in power, spider remedies can feel they need to be bigger to overcome their oppressor.
“For me it was time to attack. I wanted to kill her.” Reacting violently is a spider characteristic.
“As if I was kicked over, smashed.” Kicked and smashed are spider sensations.
“She was really mean.” ‘Mean’ – Sadism is a spider remedy theme.
“I was on edge. I could never relax.” Spider remedies feel wary, vulnerable, nervy, on edge.
“This horrible thing would come closer, like in horror movies, the worst thing is when people can’t get away, they get caught.” She is in the sensation of being caught, trapped, stuck in the web, paraylsed.

Which spider?
“She was physically much bigger than me.” Size difference is a spider remedy theme. Feeling of enlargement is specific in Aranea diadema.
Lassitude
Modalities: all the symptoms are better for lying down; eg. digestion, exhaustion.
“I was a little nothing to her.” Some spider remedies feel small and have low self esteem. Massimo Mangliavori says Aranea diadema has the lowest self esteem of all the spiders.

Aranea diadema
Individual remedies accentuate themes of the group. It is characteristic of spider remedies to be concerned with a difference of size and power.Aranea diadema is a web weaving spider, smaller than Aranea ixobola.
The issue of size difference in spider remedies may be due to the difference between male and female spiders.

Rubrics from Aranea diadema
• Generalities, lassitude
• Generalities, lie down, inclination to
• Genitalia female, menses, painful, dysmenorrhea
• Mind, menses, during, agg.Aranea diadema has a specific delusion: enlargement of parts. Feeling as if parts were enlarged and heavier.
Aranea diadema was chosen because it has the modality – Better from lying down – more than any other spider remedy and the issue of size is more accentuated in this remedy than in any other spider.
Periodicity is another spider remedy characteristic. Her fatigue recurs periodically: she has episodes lasting for a week every few months. This periodicity is typical of Spider remedies in general but especially of Aranea diadema, which is in the Malaria miasm.

Prescription: Aranea diadema 200C, one dose

Follow up: the patient immediately improved. After several repeats of this remedy over 12 months, she was completely well. She no longer has any menstrual problems. Her severe fatigue has gone, and she says she is feeling happy and relaxed.

Photo: Araneus diadematus; Jürgen Weiland