2007 November

Lachesis: write & deliver a sermon ...

by Yvonne Lassauw
".......To write a sermon and to deliver a sermon......"


This case history is a translated article from the dutch-belgian journal for classical homeopathy Simillima.
This journal was issued from 1992-1994 and was edited and published by Kees Dam and Yvonne Lassauw.


That was the answer of a 37 year old man on the question: “what is your biggest passion”.
He comes in for a consultation at the beginning of January ‘90. He used to work as a teacher, but he has been home on sick leave for the last six months. He is tired, very tired. He feels empty and irritable and has no patience whatsoever with his three children.


He feels depressed, especially in the morning and drinks large amounts of coffee to try and counteract it. His wife says he looks ill and I notice black rings under his greyish-brown eyes. His dark, lacklustre hair falls down in thin strands around his wan looking face. But his handshake is warm and firm and he makes a lot of eye contact when he begins his story, calling me by my first name straight away. He is open and talks about himself with ease, he thinks deeply about any questions and tries his best to explain everything as fully as he can. When I asked him in which position he likes to sleep he answered:” I sleep on my stomach with my right leg drawn up like this...” and before I knew it he was lying on the floor demonstrating exactly how he slept.
I feel relaxed in his presence, he is a spontaneous type of person. We talk at length about his work, his family, his interests etc. There were no problems within the family, he talked about them with great warmth. His general manner of talking is very open, he uses quite a lot of gestures to emphasise some points.
He tells me: ”Although I was working as a teacher I really feel that being a preacher is my true vocation. I did do this sort of work for a while, but I couldn’t make ends meet. Apart from this it was also rather taxing, I had to preach on 45 Sundays a year. But I still miss it and I keep wondering if I shouldn’t go back to my old profession. I always try to live up to a very high standard, and the sermons that I write have to have this same high standard. I feel that by doing this I can spur people on to achieve a lot of things. I encourage them because I have a lot of strength! It has always been my ideal to be a preacher. I used to be a radical, fighting at the barricades, working for Amnesty International, that sort of thing. I like helping people, I feel great sympathy for others.” (Here I interrupt him for a moment to ask him how this feels exactly. He answers clearly that he sympathises with others but he doesn’t suffer with them.) He continues: ”The most important thing in my opinion is self development. I always try to look at myself, consciously and as objectively as possible. There is something that bothers me at the moment and that is the feeling I have always had of “missing the boat”. (Here he starts to expand on this by naming all the further education and all the expectations and norms of others that he could never live up to). I recently read about a man who had been making out that he was a doctor, although he wasn’t at all. His fraud has now been exposed. “But I can really imagine why he did it!” he adds vehemently. “Because there are so many doctors who get recognition and trust from other people purely by the fact that they are doctors! But somebody who happens not to be a doctor, but who has the same capacities, has to start from scratch to try and prove himself. So you start at a disadvantage compared to the person who has been put on a pedestal solely on the grounds of his title. It has been the same with me, I have always had to fight much harder to get recognition than my colleagues who had more letters after their name. And the times when I did achieve something special, people were often surprised because they hadn’t expected it of me. I am not at all keen on status and titles anyway. My parents are very materialistic. They try their hardest to “keep up with the Jones’s” and they just can’t make it. (There is a certain note of disdain in his voice when he says this). I myself am more spiritually minded (from his tone of voice it is obvious that he considers this to be superior to his parents attitude to life). They are still trying to keep a hold over me, but I just ignore it, I don’t want to express my aggression towards them. I really don’t want to have much to do with them anymore.”


He carries on for a while about materialism and status on one side versus his own spiritual attitude on the other side. In the meantime he has become visibly emotional whilst speaking on this subject. He looks rather sad and angry and he admits that he harbours some resentment towards his parents.
But he doesn’t consider himself to be a truly resentful person, although he can easily get very angry. I ask him to give me an example and he tells me that recently the atmosphere at school was rather bad: one woman in particular kept passing him without ever saying hello, until one day he spontaneously shouted out: ”Bitch!!” It rather shocked him but at the same time he felt very relieved.


Other complaints and symptoms, apart from the above mentioned depression and tiredness: Eczema which started after feeling dissatisfied at school. Location: inside of legs, arms and on his right hand. He calls it “cauliflowers” and I must say the shape is rather like cauliflowers. He says that his legs feel as hard as rocks and they often feel as if bruised, sometimes this is visible from the outside and sometimes it isn’t. He also has pains in his face, stitching pains on the left side. Also numbness in his left elbow extending to his little finger. A weak back with lots of tension. Chronic complaints from worms. His chest feels tight and in the morning he has a feeling of pressure when he coughs up much green, tough, thick mucous accompanied by thick crusts, which he has had for years. He is rather cold and can tolerate heat very well, also no problems in the sun. He also adds spontaneously that “he loves walking around naked.”
His appetite is good, but he eats far too many sweets. He loves sweets, chocolates and chips with Gado-Gado sauce (”nice and spicy!”). Much thirst, mainly for cold drinks, but also loves coffee, mainly to get some energy. He also added that he finds it strange that he bites his nails a lot, also the rims around his nails and the insides of his cheeks when he is feeling bad. He obviously bites quite hard, because they are often very raw.


So far our first consultation.
I didn’t know what I was going to give him yet, so I suggested that I would work it out further in the next few days. I was wondering what the underlying problem was and what the typical and peculiar aspects were in this case.


Analysis
Physically there was nothing really very typical, but on the emotional level there were some very distinct signs.
He was open, direct, communicative without talking too much or being tiring. He is very involved in his job, demands high standards of himself and is really a clergy-man at heart. He is plainly “touched” when on the subject of class differences. His reaction is rather fierce, he even justifies a certain amount of “cheating” (the man who pretended to be a doctor). He feels that he has been treated unjustly and he plainly states that he doesn’t want to have anything to do with titles etc. He calls himself “spiritual” rather than “materialistic”. He certainly is more orientated towards spiritual matters, in the way that he isn’t very interested in money and he isn’t greedy, but all the same he isn’t totally indifferent to the materialistic attitude of his parents. It touches him in a very peculiar way. He doesn’t feel sorry for them for instance. He didn’t say: poor people, I would love them to have some spiritual values in their lives. Nor does he feel very responsible to bring some spiritual elements in to their lives, either by keeping up the contact or by trying to convince them that there is more to life than that.
What he did say was: ”They are materialistic and I am much more spiritual”, and the tone of voice with which he said this, was one of disdain, rather putting the other person down. The fact that he made a difference between materialism and spirituality is not significant in itself, after all, the difference does exist. But the emotional WAY in which he says it doesn’t tell us anything about spirituality or materialism. Instead it tells us something very specific about himself. Even more so considering the fact that he is a vicar and might be expected to be able to compensate his inner feelings. You might expect that he would be able, at least verbally, to go along with other peoples feelings and to excuse them or “forgive” them for their behaviour. You would certainly not expect so much disdain in voice and feeling.
But although I sensed all this, I still couldn’t quite put my finger on it, I didn’t truly understand what was going on, so I phoned him. I asked him if there was anything made him feel better at the times when he was tired or depressed. His immediate and straight answer was: “To write a sermon and to hold a sermon! Then I feel truly ......”begeistert” (Inspired). I am using a German word, but I feel it suits me so well. I like convincing other people. Whether I am good at that? Yes I am extremely good at formulating things, giving guidelines, throwing in a question, going along with the reactions of the audience... I find it very easy to talk in public”.
We also talked a bit about sexuality; his sexual energy is very strong. He used to have some inner conflicts about this in the past, because he had such strong physical, sexual desires, which he couldn’t combine with his spiritual attitudes.
I suddenly thought I would ask him to read a short section of one of his sermons to me and he starts straight away, telling me a part of a sermon, without any prior preparation and off by heart. I am listening to his well chosen words, the way he allows the tension to rise, his pauses after an impressive remark, no hesitation or faltering at any time. Sometimes he lowers his voice and talks about a very simple subject in a very intriguing way, I catch myself almost wanting to crawl into the telephone receiver in order to listen more closely to this fascinating sermon. It is about the humility displayed by Jesus and about our aim to get to this level of consciousness by being silent.
This five minute ”sermon", plus the impression I had gained earlier on during the first consultation were enough to make the picture (and the remedy) clear to me.


After this telephone conversation it all fell into place: both his mental attitude and the fact that he felt so much better whenever he could hold a sermon.(1)
Talking ameliorates, convincing people ameliorates. Captivating an audience is what he likes. Not only being good with words, but also keeping people fascinated. Softening his voice, playing for effect... having the audience totally spell-bound ... As he himself also feels spellbound! He told me how he felt when he is holding his sermons: “begeistert” (literally: ”under the influence of a spirit”). This is more than merely being enthousiastic, it is like being ecstatic.
I looked up the word “begeistert“ in a dictionary, it says: enthousiastic, delighted, animated, elated. One can also “begeister” an audience, all the people will be under the spell of the person standing in front of them. He had managed to fascinate me too, I had been totally absorbed when I listened to his sermon. (2)
Why does he have to be “inspired” and why does he have to inspire other people?
It has to do with a certain amount of self-conceit, as well as a feeling that he has to be very good. (3)
On the other hand he had said that he always felt that he wasn’t appreciated for what he was, compared to other people who got recognition purely on the basis of their title. This bothers him and he has to show the world that this comparison is unjust, that he does have many capabilities. He would even go so far as to condone cheating in order to prove this point. (by presenting yourself as a doctor for instance). (4)
But in reality he is jealous of the recognition that others get ‘just like that’, and which he doesn’t get. (5)
All he wants is to get that recognition for himself. And he will try and get this, not only by working very hard and doing his very best, but at the same time by trying to put the other person down, by talking about him with contempt, by saying negative things about him. (6)


During the consultation I had initially been thinking of Phosphorus, because of his openness, his liveliness and his need for contact. Lachesis had also crossed my mind, but I didn’t think he was loquacious enough to be Lachesis! Surely Lachesis should be talking a lot more, particularly if talking is part of your profession. But the amount he talked and the way in which he did it was just right, neither too little, nor too much, not too soft and not too loud. After our telephone conversation however I realised that, although he doesn’t talk a great deal, he does feel ameliorated by talking and he does it well, he can use it to fascinate and convince other people, he uses his voice with great effect.


Rubrics:
(1) Loquacity, speeches makes / Discharges amel.
(2) Ecstasy / Magnetised, desires to be / Magnetised, easy to / Delusion, charmed and can’t break the spell
(3) Egotism
(4) Deceitful / Liar
(5) Jealousy
(6) Contemptuous / Slander, disposition to


The remedy is Lachesis and he took a dose of C30 on 30-1-1990.
Figure: 207-LACHESIS1


Follow up:
He contacted me after one month and told me: “I feel more quiet inside. I have more energy, I can get up earlier in the morning so I usually take an extra 15 minutes just for myself, which suits me fine. I am still busy with my work but in the meantime I have also applied to a few vacancies to work as a vicar again.”
When I inquired about his physical complaints it appeared that they had got much better. The pain in his face is only there when he presses it very hard. He doesn’t bite his cheeks or his nails anymore. He doesn’t feel the need to eat sweets. The hardness in his legs is still there, but the bruised feeling has gone, as have the bruises which had been visible before. He says that he still has some dark rings under his eyes, but it is definitely getting less on the right side. The eczema did get worse for a while, but after that it got much better, although it has started to play up again recently.
I decide not to give him anything for the moment and to arrange another consultation in a month time.


Follow up: He returns on 27-3-’90
and he says that he doesn’t feel the cold so much anymore. He also doesn’t have the suffocative feeling in his chest in the morning, nor does he suffer from cough or green mucous. His energy is still very good and his mood has improved considerably. He has finally decided that he will definitely go back to being a vicar and although this will entail moving house sometime in the future, he doesn’t mind these changes, he is ready for it. He feels he has made the right choice. In the mean time he has temporarily resumed his job at school, which has made the eczema worse. He also had less energy during the first two weeks at work. To overcome this he decided to add a few pleasurable pastimes to his working routine, like working in a biological garden now and then. All in all he feels energetic and full of life, he undertakes new things and can enjoy his children again.


I remind him about our first consultation when he talked about materialism, status, titles etc. and I ask him if there is anything he would like to add to that at this moment. He answers that he has been able to stand back and not get so involved in these matters anymore. I asked him if he remembered his strong feelings when he spoke about it that first time? Yes, he did remember very well, he explains in great detail how he felt then and how he sees things quite differently now. I asked him if he had ever felt jealous in the past about titles etc.? Yes, he admits laughing frankly, looking rather relieved. He had also become much more aware of this feeling and he was able to let it go more easily.


At the end of the consultation he tells me that he always found the transition time from winter to spring very difficult, but he now feels that he has more “energy reserves” to face this.


I give him Lachesis 10M to take home and arrange that he will call me as soon as he feels that things are going down.
Follow up: He phones me on 8-4-’90, all the complaints are coming back slightly, although he still feels better than when he first came. I decide to let him take the 10M because he had reacted so well to the C30 and it was so clear from the second consultation that Lachesis was the right remedy for him. Because of his busy schedule we arrange that he will call me in one month time.


Follow up: He calls on 15-5-’90 and all his physical complaints have more or less gone. His energy is good and his mood is “happy”. So we wait and he will call if he needs to.


I hadn’t heard from him since, but I was curious how things were going so I called him (on 9-9-’91) at his new address, where he was now living and working as a vicar. He tells me he is still feeling fine and as happy as could be with his new job.
But he does look back positively on his five years as a teacher, it was a time of learning, he needed that to become more mature. What he remembers most about the time after he received Lachesis is the tremendous increase in his self confidence, preparing him for his new job as a vicar. His physical complaints never came back.


It has struck me in several Lachesis cases that they are often extremely effective in the use of their voice, their choice of words, the tone, the timing, it all has a certain beguiling quality. Above all, they talk a lot about themselves, how good and how clever they are (egotism). And Lachesis doesn’t only use words to show you how good he or she is, they also want to let you know by their acts, the way they dress, the way they furnish their house etc. They usually can’t help but tell you how hard they work and how busy they are.....


But.. Lachesis is clever, very clever. Lachesis doesn’t openly show off, he isn’t ostentatiously proud like some other remedies. Lachesis is much more subtle about it. If a Lachesis woman feels jealous because her husband likes the woman from next door a bit too much, she won’t say: “Our neighbour is just an ordinary, common old woman, I am much more special and interesting.” No, she will think: “What? My husband a bit too interested in my neighbour? I don’t like it. I’ll put an end to that, he won’t even think of looking at her again.” And she (Lachesis) will suddenly appear in a dazzling dress or she’ll wear an exotic smelling perfume so that dear husband will forget all about the next door neighbour.
Only when all these tactics are to no avail will Lachesis resort to other means.
Our above mentioned patient wasn’t averse to a certain amount of trickery either. He could imagine quite well how a person had come to pretend to be a doctor.
Even though he himself never did anything like that, it was not unthinkable that he might do, I was quite sure of that.


Rajan Sankaran has given us a very concise description of the Lachesis state of mind in The Spirit of Homoeopathy. For instance: ”A Lachesis lady suffers by comparison.” This is the basic feeling which drives Lachesis into competition. He has to put himself in the limelight, he has to have contempt for others, because after all: they are his rivals.


For those people who are interested in homoeopathy and colours (H.V. Müller), there is one more interesting detail. According to Müller Lachesis always chooses turquoise as his favourite colour. This patient chose dark red as his favourite and the colour he disliked most was ....... turquoise.


Note from Kees Dam: I have written H.V. Müller about this to ask his opinion and experience. We see that the same remedies can have a desire and aversion for certain foods so it seems logical that colour preference and aversion can also be shared by the same remedy, like in this case. I did not get any answer till about three years later in which H.V. Müller excuses for the late answer, but he needed time to check it in his practice. He could not confirm our experience.


Figure: 207-LACHESIS


Yvonne Lassauw
ylassauw@yahoo.com

Categories: Remedies
Keywords: lachesis, self confidence, beguiling quality, H.V. Müller
Remedies:

Tell-a-Friend

Write a comment

  • Required fields are marked with *.


Posts: 6
Comment
Comment
Reply #1 on : Wed January 02, 2008, 01:36:18
excellent case.I also had a case,in i999, of a lady 58 yrs having a bald patch at crown of her scalp.Her husband was three yrs. younger to her.Lady used to dress up with gaudy clothes every time she came to clinic for her medicine.Among other traits collected,during case taking, from her behaviour and specially in a bid to look attractive to the husband younger than her,she was given a single dose of Lachesis-200 and with in two months of giving the remedy she had a growth of jet black hair in the bald patch.I am applying Jan Scholtan and Sankran approach since 1995 and have numerous cured cases on using the techniques.Have attended seminars of both these stalwarts.Thanks.