Cannabis Indica East Indian Cannabis sativa Hashish. Bhang. Ganja. Marijuana. Indian Hemp N.O. Cannabinaceae. Cannabis indica and Cannabis sativa It is hardly possible to differentiate between Cannabis indica and Cannabis sativa. There are several reasons for this: the two plants not only belong to the same species (Cannabis sativa and Cannabis Indica are botanically identical; the difference in their properties is due solely to the differences in the soil and climate in which they are grown), but the provings also brought about very similar symptoms (and it is not clear in all the proving reports which plant was taken as the raw substance). Still more important is the fact that clinical experience has given evidence for the possibility to substitute one remedy for each other and to effect a cure. This was tested as early as 1870 when Berridge deliberately prescribed Cannabis sativa in a case that, from its symptoms, seemed to call for Cannabis indica, and could report a complete success in curing the condition (Journal of Homeopathic Clinics, 4, 26). In this way, many Cannabis sativa symptoms have been confirmed as yielding to Cannabis indica, too. I have, for read more [...]

Camphora Officinalis   Camphor. C10H16O. A gum obtained from Laurus camphora. N.O. Lauraceae. Solution in rectified spirit.   The essential features Camphora is so powerful that it antidotes most of our remedies. It should not be kept in the home where you are stocking homeopathic remedies or during homeopathic treatment. This disruptive quality is not accidental as Camphora so deeply affects the vital processes of the body. It prevents the blood from reaching the periphery: the head, the extremities, or the penis. It will cause collapse (due to the shortage of blood to the brain), Raynaud phenomenon (ischemia of hands and feet due to blood being prevented from reaching the periphery, by spasms of the vessels), or impotence (due to the blood supply being interrupted), in the form that coitus proceeds normally for a while but the erection is suddenly lost. The results of provings and clinical experiences with Camphora can be summed up in these three symptoms: extreme cold, collapse, and convulsions (especially tonic convulsions). It is by this very quality that Camphora will act so promptly in the well-known conditions of fainting or collapse. The read more [...]

Calendula Officinalis   The essential features Calendula is to lacerated wounds what Arnica is to bruises. Both are considered specifics for injuries (as are Ledum, Bellis perennis and some other remedies). When the skin or an organ is not torn and the external trauma only produces an extravasation of blood, then Arn. will be indicated. However, when there is laceration of the skin or of an organ and inflammation sets in, then the correct choice is Calendula; yet this is not always the case, as the injuries have to have additional Calendula characteristics if we want our remedies to be effective. An important characteristic of Calendula is that, once there is an injury, inflammation or ulceration, the pain experienced may be very violent, often out of all proportion to the extent of the injury. Also the effect on the general condition of the patient is quite distressing: general weakness which, again, may be much more debilitating than could be expected given the severity of the wound or the ulcer. Exhaustion may also come from profuse loss of blood from the injured part, or from inflammation with exhausting suppuration and threatening sepsis; but weakness and pain read more [...]

Calcarea Sulphurica   Calcium Sulphate, CaSO4. Gypsum. Plaster of Paris. Trituration.   The essential features   The general idea that runs through this remedy is of an organism which tends to produce tumours and abscesses that not only do not heal easily, but that suppurate profusely and for long periods of time. The characteristic trait of the remedy is not its tendency to the formation of abscesses themselves, rather the fact that an abscess opened is very slow to heal and has a continuous discharge of yellow pus. In cases of inflammation, this organism quickly reaches a state of suppuration, which tends to continue. The presence of pus with a vent is common. I have found this remedy effective in cases of malignant acne in young people and also in hidradenitis suppurativa with cicatrices forming during the healing process. I must however point out here that some severe cases of this type of chronic condition will need more than one remedy to complete the cure. In cases of acne both cheeks present a crusty, ugly, uneven surface of dried pus mixed with blood and serum. The suppuration is so profuse that the patient cannot clear it up fast enough, read more [...]

Calcarea Carbonica Impure Calcium Carbonate. CaCO3. Includes symptoms of Calcarea acetica and Calcarea ostrearum, for which Hahnemann also made provings. Koch's provings were made from carbonate of lime precipitated from a solution of chalk in hydrochloric acid. Trituration of the middle layer of oyster shells.   The essential features The remedy picture of this great polychrest needs to be introduced with a few preliminary remarks. Calcarea carbonica is a remedy which covers all stages of life, from infancy to old age, and all stages of pathology: on the physical level from the common cold to malignant tumours, and on the emotional/mental levels from simple anxiety to manic depression and schizophrenia. One intriguing observation I have noted in the course of my clinical experience is that a disproportionately high percentage of babies, perhaps 40%, require Calcarea carbonica in the beginning of their lives, while this remedy is indicated much less frequently in adults. Why then, may we ask, do we not see more Calcarea adults? The explanation is not obvious, nor easy to perceive, and is a function of the developmental process, from baby to adult. In babies read more [...]

Caladium Seguinum Caladium seguinum. Arum seguinum. Dumb Cane. (South America.) N.O. Araceae. Compare: Bov.; Nux-m.; Asaf.; Ign.; Bapt.   The essential features Caladium has come down to us as a remedy mainly for disorders of the sexual sphere and, more specifically, for impotence and the problems that arise from it. This is described very graphically by Kent who states: 'It is indicated in old debauches who are unable to perform the marital act. He has the most tantalising craving for the opposite sex with no ability to perform coitus. Lascivious ideas. Such men stand on the street corner and feast upon the forms of passing girls and their semen dribbles away; a state also found in Picricum acidum and Selenium.' My experience is that if you wait for a case to present itself whereby the patient tells you that his semen dribbles while looking at a woman, you will, rarely, if ever, have occasion to prescribe this remedy. Kent's description is solely of the advanced stage of the remedy, the idea of Caladium at this stage being one of sexual deterioration. He does not describe earlier stages or the development of the pathology. It would be a mistake, however, to read more [...]

  Cadmium Sulphuratum Cadmium sulphide, CdS Trituration     The essential features   The physical picture This remedy is indicated mostly in cases that present symptoms of severe gastritis or gastro-enteritis. Primarily, it is the mucus membranes of the stomach that are irritated and they react with forceful vomiting. The vomit may be brownish and even black in colour, and may look like coffee grounds. This is because there is a slow oozing of blood from the mucosae of the stomach and the blood stays there for some time before it is ejected. The intensity of the nausea, which is felt all over (in the chest, abdomen, mouth, etc.) and which is similar to Ipecacuanha or Tabacum, and the kind of vomiting (persistent, forceful and often black) suggest a severe ulceration with slow bleeding or, in chronic cases, a malignancy. The cases that need Cadmium sulphuratum give the impression that something really serious is going on, not only because of the intensity of the pains but primarily because of the type and effect of the vomiting. The patient is prostrated from the exertion of vomiting, wants to lie down quietly and does not want any read more [...]

Cactus Grandiflorus Cereus grandiflorus. Night-blooming Cereus. (Mexico and the West Indies.) N.O. Cactaceae. Tincture of youngest and tenderest stems and flowers collected in summer.   The essential features Cactus grandiflorus is a remedy that has a special relationship to heart conditions, whether functional or severely pathological, and in particular to cardiac infarction and angina pectoris. The reason for this is that Cactus possesses in its pathogenesis the main characteristics of cardiac pathology. I have seen beneficial effects from the use of Cactus in cases of pulmonary oedema, myocardial infarction, and pericarditis, though additional remedies were necessary to complete the cure. Although Cactus can cure the case on its own, this is rare. It, of course, only acts curatively, if the symptoms agree, and especially if they include the keynote 'constrictive sensation about heart,' discussed below. Indiscriminately prescribing Cactus 'for heart disease' without individualisation will usually lead to unsatisfactory results. Some examples from my experience, are: A woman in the initial stages of pulmonary oedema, with fever exhaustion, arrhythmia and dyspnoea, read more [...]

  Bryonia Alba Vitis nigra; Bryonia nigram; Chironiam vitam; Bryonia dioica; Bryonia vera; Vitis alba. English: White bryony; Black-berried white bryony; White hops. French: Bryone; Bryone blanche; Coulevre. German: Weisse Zaunrube; Stichwurz Polish: Pryestepbiaty. Dutch: Welde wyngaar; Witte Bryon Portuguese: Norca branca. Italian: Brionia, Vita bianca. Spanish: Neuza alba Swedish: Hundrosva. Natural order: Cucurbitaceae - Monoecia, Monodelphia. Family: Jussieu [vegetable substance] Dioecia gynandria, L. Tincture of root procured before flowering.   The essential features The pathology which every remedy represents and cures in the human organism can be conceived of as an "idea" rather than as a heap of meaningless symptoms. The important remedies of our materia medica have been proven extensively and their symptomatology is sufficiently comprehensive for the contemplative student to extract therefrom the prevailing "idea". In Bryonia we have a patient who is emotionally, bodily and mentally dried up. He wants to be left alone, undisturbed, while at the same time constantly needing great quantities of water to balance his dryness. read more [...]