TALK : 42 ANIMAL KINGDOM - 6

Transcription

1 TALK : 42 ANIMAL KINGDOM - 6 Birds Hello and welcome. Today we will continue our talk on the Animals and we will speak about Birds. The class of Aves in the Animal Kingdom. Let s take a case as an example: Case Example 1 (Haliaeetus leucocephalus: Bald Eagle) (L: Lecturer- Dr. Rajan) This female patient aged about 35 years came to me in 2004 with migraine. She said: P: The headache started about six years earlier. L: And she used to get weekly attacks. She would get heavy sleep during the headaches. The frequency of headaches had reduced and now it happens once a month and she said: P: The headaches start as if a shot is given in my head. And she says I want to tie my head very tightly and I get very sleepy with the headache and I feel much more drained. L: So what was interesting in her case was the sensation that she showed as if there was a shot and this was with a lot of energy. There is a shot in the head and then I get headache and then after that I feel very sleepy. So I said to her: D: Describe the shot a little bit more. P: It is something is piercing me, like an insect biting me. D: Describe this little bit more. P: It s as if something is poking me. Something is hammering me. And then the pain starts increasing. My face becomes red. (HG of finger coming quickly to her head). It is just like lightning something is going inside, some sharp thing like wire. It s just drilling inside me and it goes inside and I see darkness in front of my Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 1

2 eyes and then I feel giddy. I get very angry before getting this shot. I cannot control my anger. And then all of a sudden I get this shot (hg). L: Now what is interesting here is how this case begins. This case begins with a sensation shot. But when you ask her about the experience of the shot, it doesn t stay at shot. It becomes a whole description, a description of something coming suddenly, something drilling inside and then a lot of sleepiness and weakness and before the shot an anger. So what happens is that you don t only see one sensation but an entire process. Something happens first, the anger happens, the shot happens, the drilling happens, the weakness happens and therefore this is a case where you should be very careful before you say that this is the specific sensation of the case because there is no one specific sensation. There is a whole process. So I say: D: Show me this action again. P: It.. Somewhere.. From somewhere something comes, from somewhere something comes and it just goes into my head and it bangs. It is very quick then the head becomes very heavy. The Shot is quite hot. It s straight, straight, like a needle. It is coming from some area around me, not from the house, but it s from the sky or something like that. A needle like thing comes it goes into my head and remains there. This poison pain remains there. L: Now we are seeing more and more descriptions of the process. That this shot, this sharp thing comes from the sky, comes from the around, comes from somewhere and it is hot. What is very important here is to not again make a conclusion, not to use your own imagination and think what could this be. What is this shot? Who is getting this shot? Why? Which Kingdom could it be? What miasm could it be? That exactly what we should not do. We should not use our imagination. We should not use our interpretation or classification at this stage because it s very premature. We have to go with the patient into the entire description of the process. She says: P: It s like something is coming from outer space or out of the house I feel it has travelled a big distance and hit me and it is a force that has come into my head. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 2

3 D: Describe this that it comes from the sky. P: The sky is dark, no moon and then I get this shot. Then I feel I am very much alone. I feel I am absolutely alone and then all of a sudden these bang in my head. I have to accept it. I feel as there if no ground, nothing in between... I feel very steady, but nothing is there around me. Nothing affects me. Only that shot I try to accept that shot and calm down. Then I say: D: Alone, very alone, nothing around you what is this describe this. P: I feel very free and very happy when I m alone. I like to listen to the music. D: Describe this experience of nothing around me, that there is no ground. P: Something is attracting me, drawing me, pulling me, but I m not leaving myself, my position and therefore these thing comes to me and bangs my head I just allow it to come and hit me. D: Describe this something is pulling me. P: It s not a physical force that s pulling me, but something in my mind my body is getting lighter and something is pulling on my head I feel I am out of my body. I feel I am becoming lighter... I am coming up (hg). Head is heavy, but body is light. I m just taken away from my body. I m not there in my body; my body is very light. I am coming upwards and lifting myself. And it lasts only for three seconds. It slowly starts from my toes and the whole feeling slowly it reaches my head...my head is heavy something is crawling inside like when a snake leaves its skin...coming slowly, getting pulled. Like if you remove the skin of something. L: Here more and more expressions, more and more sensations are used. We have to catch all these sensation words: Sudden Shot Sky Nothing around Alone Being pulled Lighter Going upwards Heavy Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 3

4 These are the words. This is what we have to catch and these words are non human specific words. These sensation words they form a pattern. Not a pattern of a specific sensation or opposite like a Plant, not a pattern of Structure or loss of Structure like a Mineral. But a whole process which gives us the clue to words and Animal remedy. And at that point she mentions an Animal which is a snake. But we have to understand that that snake what she mentions is at a delusion level. The only significance of that snake is something that crawls out of its skin, that s all. All the other sensation words that she has used doesn t have to do with a snake. So I tell her: D: Tell about being alone with no one around. P: Something is coming towards me and trying to pull me, but I m not leaving my position. I feel absolutely alone. I cannot resist that, I cannot fight that force. It s quite sharp, it s not very long and like a wire. And then it just goes inside and twists my head. It is like a snake zig zag. D: What happens? P: The area becomes hot and my eyes become very heavy. I can t see properly. I have to accept this. D: What dreams do you get? P: I get dreams, I see snakes and I see the elephant headed God, Lord Ganesha and I m always scared of water, of drowning in the water. I dream I m not walking; I m traveling at the speed of wind and fast. I see snakes on the ground. I m not rotating, I m traveling. I m not on the ground. I actually feel that I m flying. D: Describe flying. P: It s very fast, flying very fast. My body is quite light and I m trying to reach somewhere. D: Describe that flying action a little bit more. P: I m not flying vertical; I m flying horizontal. The flying is fast and it is cold. I m very light and I m alone. And I really enjoy that dream. And the flying because then No one is pulling; no one is forcing me to go anywhere. No one is telling me to come out. I am alone. These are deserted places. Colorful, trees, water, and Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 4

5 there is I m struggling, I am getting drowned. I am getting killed, because I don t know how to swim. P: I am trying to find a solution to the problem; to tackle the problem, to come out of that problem. And step by step, I want to tackle my problem. But now I cannot control it. I get angry. And when I get really angry I just bent the spoon. And I speak very loudly. D: What is the feeling in the anger? P: The flow of blood is more. My whole body gets fumed, my face turns red. And then I just bend the spoon. I absolutely break it. D: Describe this hand movement. P: That is the force of my anger. I want to crush something. I want to bend something; I want to make it into a ball. My strength increases during that period. I want that thing to be broken. But I don t get angry very quickly. I m very liberal, very free. D: What you do mean by Free? P: I want freedom. It means no domination of anyone else. I don t want anyone to tell me, You re a woman and you shouldn t go out, you shouldn t do this or do that. When I m going by a public transport like a bus and someone offers me a seat I don t take it. People should be courageous and have a fighting spirit. I don t feel that women should be given protection. I like hygiene and I don t like domination. I like free hand in whatever I am doing D: Describe the word freedom, what does it mean for you? P: Independence...no nagging, no pressure. D: What is pressure? P: Pressure means something is holding me. It is heavy. My body becomes stiff again. I feel Closed and tied. D: Just describe this closed and tied. P: It s just holding you, stopping you and controlling you, dominating you. And you feel helpless because there is no choice, no freedom. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 5

6 D: What is freedom? P: Freedom is like traveling to new places. Because then there is no noise, no responsibilities. I m married, have daughters and have all these responsibilities. But I want to retire; I want to stay alone and to travel a lot. D: And what is the experience there inside? P: You feel light, you feel absolutely relaxed. To be not tied up, in my own creative restrictions, to leave everything behind and to go forward. D: What is this action to go forward? P: Going forward, my body is getting lifted. It s like freedom. It is like going up. I m not carrying my body. It s lighter. I m moving with a force, it s like a plane, (then she shows this action fast zoom motion). It s like a plane, it s so energetic. So fast, so forceful. Like a Zoom, like a plane. D: Describe this zoom, like a plane a little bit more. P: It is very fast. It has got a lot of force. It is moving, it is going very fast. It s like this, some force is going out of my body and it just goes very fast. D: Describe this. P: I m not walking; I m flying. D: What is flying? P: Flying means above the ground... light. Lot of force in my traveling. It s like a shot, like a jet. It s like a bird or a butterfly. (She shows action like this gesture of wings). It s not like flapping of the wings, it s like a jet. Its like a shot, it s like a plane very very swift. Analysis of the case: So this was the case which is so interesting. Where it started? It started with a headache and a shot and when you ask her to describe the shot she says, I am up there in a position which is completely alone and away from everybody. And the only thing that can get me is the shot. And also the shot is coming from the sky. And it s coming with a lot of speed and it hits. It s an impact and then she talks about anger which has got the action like this to crush, to smash, to hold tight, to break with the power in the hands and the fist. She talks about the action of Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 6

7 zoom like a plane not flapping wings like a normal bird. Then she talks of freedom and she talks of restrictions and held in by responsibilities. And she wishes for that day when she can get rid of these responsibilities and travel forward and zoom and fly and travel and go different places. She says the attack comes with force as if it has travelled a long distance. She has multiple sensations hammering, poking, needle, heat, bang, crush. She also talks of vision that means she is above the ground and she can see the things on the ground whether it is the snake or whatever it is so clearly and then the entire headache and everything is described as one doing to the other. Something is hammering me. Someone is hammering me, someone is drawing me, someone is holding me, somebody is dominating me, somebody is controlling me. And then she talks of the sensation of lightness, going upwards, flying, freedom, traveling and being alone with great speed. Then she does, she talks not of the flapping but the gliding, the soaring, the flying at a high and watching with accuracy. The Animals on the ground and the theme to crush with a grip, with the strength and power is very prominent in the case. So this was a case where I gave her the remedy Eagle which is the Haliaeetus leucocephalus (the Bald headed Eagle) leuco is white, cephalus is head white headed Eagle. And one of the things known about the eagle is the griping power which is the strongest in the Animal Kingdom, in the Eagles. It s very very strong. I once remember I was in a bird park and there was an eagle there and it held on the wooden plank and the instructor, the man looking after it asked me to just take one of its talons and just make it use but with all my strength. I couldn t even catch one of it is talons where it was holding on so tight. So I gave her the Haliaeetus leucocephalus and she did very well in one year s time. I can see that her headaches were 70% better, much more stable in her anger. The hitting and the crushing and all those have reduced significantly. L: The feeling of heaviness, tied feeling, tight feeling, not free feelings have come down a lot and she is much more calm. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 7

8 Proving of Bald Headed Eagle leucocephalus Jeremy Sherr Jeremy Sherr has done a proving of the Bald headed Eagle and some of the symptoms that he mentions are: The feeling to be Calm inside, a very sharp focus, the high ability to hold attention. Feeling to be not affected by usual stress. Feeling on a high Feeling of being one with universe. Sensations came on suddenly and were sharp and were of short duration. Jonathan Shore who has done a lot of work on Birds which in fact he has published a book on the subject, talks about the Eagle as: Something that is TRAPPED IN THIS WORLD The eagle flies higher and he is alone. He moves between two worlds, symbolically the conscious and unconscious. He feels trapped in the world and is more solitary. And these were some symptoms that we found in the patient. One of the dreams of the proving or the experience of the proving was the prover says: Had a peculiar experience during the day. While playing with one of my dogs, I started to wonder what it would be like to crush her. There was something very sensual about the idea of crushing flesh and bones of a soft creature that would not be able to fight me off. A very interesting idea that the prover doesn t know what remedy is being proved. But the idea wanting a sensual experience of crushing something came in the proving. In this patient, or in patients that need Eagle, one of the idea is to: Hence Possible Patient Expressions specific to Eagle: To rise high above, to go higher from bondage, obligations, from stress, from tension, from responsibility, also from hatred, violence, miseries of life, A feeling of not wanting to be attached. Wanting to be detached from things. To be wanting to observe things from distance. To The witness of good and bad. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 8

9 Also most eagles are Solitary birds and in patients you can see there is a sense of being alone, or even a liking to be alone. And in this patient this was quite marked. The Eagle belongs to the Bird Order Accipitriformes which includes Hawks, eagles, buzzards, harriers, kites and Old World vultures In Homoeopathy we have: Family Accipitridae - Aquila chrysaetos (Golden eagle) - Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Bald eagle) - Buteos jamaicensis (Red-tailed hawk) Family Cathartidae: - Cathartes aura (Turkey vulture) - Vulture gryphus (Andean condor) We will discuss some cases of vulture further in this talk, as we return to this group. But first let us understand what are the general characteristics of Birds. General Features of Birds The first thing about the Birds of course as we know is the Class Aves, presence of wings and feathers. By evolution the birds are related to dinosaurs and ancient reptiles. We will look at some which we can find relevant to the talk. The birds are of course known to be flying animals. What are the Adaptations needed for flight: - Reduction of weight. - Compact body which is streamlined in shape. - Horny beak instead of heavy jaws and teeth. - Lighter feathers instead of scales. - Strong and elastic skeleton with hollow bones. - Reduction of the skull size. - Also the Presence of feathers and a pair wings. Feathers: are specialized structures made of keratin. The feathers serve the following functions: Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 9

10 They Cover and protect the body. They also prevent water loss. They provide thermal insulation. They help in flight by providing a smooth, flat surface for pushing against the air during flight. As far as the flight is concerned we have: Flight: The different types of flight in birds include: Short - distance flight. Soaring flight. A High - speed flight. A Flapping flight. A Gliding flight. A Hovering motionless flight. Silent flight. In the flight, especially taking off and landing, requires a huge amount of energy even what we need more for running. Now some of the lesser known features about birds, I will just mention some of the research that we did which are: One is: Metabolism: In keeping with their enormous energy needs, the birds have an extremely fast metabolism. They have an ability to digest food at a remarkable speed. Vision: The other thing is their vision. You have to fly one has to have good vision. The birds that have eyes at the sides of their heads have a wide field of vision. Some birds have their eyes in front of their heads have binocular vision enabling them to perceive the depth of field e.g. owls. They have this in the front. The Birds possess tetra chromatic vision, which means they can perceive green, red, blue as well as ultraviolet light. They have dense receptor cells in the retina which enables them to have a better vision in dim light as compared to humans. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 10

11 Food habits: To support the high levels of activity and rapid metabolism in birds, a rich diet is a pre- requisite. So birds have to eat often. Let s talk about their: Social structure: Birds can live solitarily, or in pairs, or in small family groups, or in large groups. Flocking ensures safety and foraging benefits. Communal roosting provides warmth to birds that huddle together. Bossing of dominant birds over the subordinate ones for food resources. So they have a hierarchy too. So dominant birds and the sub-ordinate birds. One important thing about Birds is: Courtship and mating: Breeding begins with courtship displays. Generally males are more attractive than females. You know this very well with the peacock and the peahen. The Peacock is infinitely more colourful and more beautiful. Similarly in the case of simple hen and cock, you see the cock has much on colours. Monogamy is the most common. This ensures biparental care in raising the brood. Parental care: is very strongly seen in birds. Chicks leave their nests soon before, or soon after they are able to fly. Defining and defending territory: Most of the birds become highly territorial during the breeding season and defend their nest, chicks and feeding areas very actively. Another thing we know about the birds is the calls that we hear all the time. Vocal signals: Birds are very vocal creatures. Vocal signals include calls and songs and they range from a simple call to very complex songs. What is the use of these vocal signals / calls: Identifying individuals. To look for their chicks in a large crowd. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 11

12 Now this I found very fascinating that can you imagine a very large flock of birds and the parent bird is coming here and giving out a call and she keeps responding and amongst that huge gang of so many birds that are making calls at the same time. The parents and the child are able to identify each other s calls exactly. It s so fascinating. You must have heard one is calling and the other is responding. So this: Helps in pair-bonding or even Ascertaining how good a mate is. Calls can also be used to proclaim one s territory. Or to warn other birds in the group of predators. Another quality of birds is: Resting / roosting: Because of high metabolic rates of birds, they need adequate spells of rest to rejuvenate themselves. Most perching and some ground birds roost in trees. They lock their Tendons so that they can enable them to have a tight grip on the perch. Sleep: Sleep in birds is an alert state of rest with some quick eye opening period and they remain vigilant. There is a bird named swift which is the fastest bird, small one and can sleep in flight (roosting flight). Another strong feature of a bird is: Migration: Now you know when the patient talks to us, the Haliaeetus leucocephalus (the Eagle patient) we spoke about first. She spoke about her love for traveling and how she likes to go to long distance and this is a very strong feature of birds which we can call as Migration. Migration is the periodic flight of flocks of birds from one region to another region in their quest for feeding or breeding or to warmer place. So you can have Partial migration: Traveling over short distances e.g. land birds. - Altitudinal migration: Moving to higher altitudes for breeding. And in Navigation they can migrate either -(Diurnal): with help of sun or at night through (Nocturnal): Stellar compass using photoreceptors. You know this migration is such a fascinating quality of bird life. They can migrate huge distances and go back huge distances to their original place and that s just absolutely fascinating. How long the flight can be? How they know exactly the distance and how they reach almost exactly the same tree after travelling so many thousand miles. These are just wonders of nature. But this thing of migrating is translated in human language as traveling long distances. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 12

13 Attack and Defense in Birds Bird Defenses: The first line of Escape is Flight. Some birds of course like the ostriches, emus they would run rather than fly. Another defense is the Warning calls that they make to communicate the presence of a potential predator to the other birds. Flocking also ensures safety. But in flocking also what happens is some birds starting bullying the weaker birds and this is something the birds have to accept and this is also as you will see later common for the other Animals. That if you accept the group, the herd, the flock, you also have to accept hierarchy. You get safety but you also get domination. In their attack strategy, it has its own disadvantages like intense bullying of socially subordinate birds by more dominant ones. Bird Attack: Many birds hunt for insects by launching a sudden attack from the branch. Birds of prey are the fastest and they can swoop down at their prey at a great speed. So this is what the patient told us in the Eagle case that the attack comes suddenly and from nowhere and from long distance and then hits you suddenly is not only in the case of the Eagle is a method of being attacked by the only predator known to the Eagle which is the man and it s shot with a bullet which is actually one of the things by which the eagle gets killed by the bullet or the arrow or something sharp coming from nowhere and hitting her. She not only spoke about the way the Eagle gets killed but also the way the eagle can kill which is a sudden sharp attack, out of the blue, out of the sky. That s the way it can also attack. So we are talking about swooping, great speed, sudden and flight. Okay from the proving of Bird remedies. There are some proving are there and we look out for some common symptoms. One of them is: Headache and in the headache: Sensation of fullness, pressure and heaviness. In the Face and jaws: we found commonly - Pressure and sharp pains in zygomatic bones reminiscent of sinusitis. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 13

14 - In the Eyes and Ears: we found Sharp stabbing pains, and also in the eyes enhanced visual acuity. - In the Throat: we found problems in especially the aquatic birds like pelican, swan and heron: - Choking Lump or a plug; stuck, constriction in the throat. I believe these Birds can also choke sometimes on their food. In the abdomen and the female organs: Stabbing and cutting sharp pains. Also in the Chest: and sometimes feeling of Constriction or tightness with a desire to breathe deeply Generalities A Strong desire for open air Sense of lightness and the opposite a sense of heaviness - Mind Jonathan Shore mentions that the provers of bird s remedies also mention something to do with drugs. I mean they had an experience of drug like effect like: Cannabis or LSD. So obviously with this freedom, with this lightness, out of body experiences, one gets a sense of something like a drug remedy. He also mentions some prominent themes seen in some birds: One of them he says: Grief: Living grief. Grief is as strong as it was years ago this is from a Swan proving He also mentions above some provings in other birds. Shame: in the Dove In the Falcon Pride and self-will: In the Hawk strong sense responsibility towards family A general idea in birds: Freedom. Remoteness. Perfectionism urge to get it right. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 14

15 Observation: one observation that he makes and I can also confirm quite strongly is a claw sign. A claw like movement of the hands and fingers, as if grasping for something, especially when the patient is using the expression of I want it. I would like it. And then they make a sign of the Claw. But, even at other times this can be made like our patient made during anger she said I feel like doing like this So Jonathan shores observe this hand gesture of claw to be an almost confirmatory sign for bird remedies. At this point I would like to add a small comment: there is a definite tendency for us, all of us to attribute certain concepts to certain specific animals or minerals or whatever or certain remedies. For example the concept of shame as associated with Dove, of pride and selfwilled as associated with Falcon and of grief which is associated with Swan, responsibility as associated with Hawk. I would suggest that these concepts we use with caution. Because this are more human expressions of the Bird qualities or the specific survival issue in the Birds. Later on we will see the Hawk is one of the most responsible of the Birds and gives the maximum parental care to its young ones and therefore it is not at all wrong to say that responsibility is the concept related to a Hawk. We will also see the Falcon later on as strongly to do with self-willed. How? We will see later that it has to fight itself its own will. If it can make its will strong enough the Falcon will be free. But because of some weak willed it keeps coming back to the falconer to the lure. It goes to a certain distance and if it can cross that barrier with self-will its free because it s not tied what brings it back it is the loss of that will and it comes back And I have seen Falcon patients to talk about this loss of will and therefore of addictive qualities, addictive tendencies. Later on we may speak about a case of Falcon whose main complaint was sex addiction. He couldn t escape the lure of Sexual pleasure. For example: so there is certain logic in attributing certain concepts to certain remedies. But at the same time I still would advice caution in doing that and to study remedies more at a source level, at a sensation level rather than at a concept level. Because why, why? Because it can happen that what the patient calls as responsibility, may be at a sensation level is something else all-together. So we have to be very careful when we say what is responsibility, he may say something completely different. He may say it s like being put inside something and squeezed or whatever and it may lead you somewhere else. So if we can Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 15

16 locate our similarity at a sensation level, at a non human specific level, then we are far more sure and of course we can use this conceptual level experience as a confirmation rather than as the sole indicator. That s my only suggestion. Now what are the possible expressions - human expressions of Birds. Since we have studied so much about the survival quality of Birds, we can study what can be its human expressions: One is-appetite: So you can have: Ravenous appetite. Ravenous comes from the word Raven which is a Bird Ravenous appetite. Second it: Easily satiated. So you can have disturbances of appetite even like: Anorexia or bulimia. The high metabolic rate of birds in the humans will be translated as Hyperactivity with Lots of energy / loss of energy. High energy or low energy. The needing for periods of rest because of very high levels of activity. The Group feeling of birds of Flocking will be found in humans being as Safety within a group or Security within a group And in this group also you will find the Domination, the Submission, the subordination to somebody higher to be a superior person. You may have in the human being the territoriality. The fight for one s position. One s territory and also the idea to be constantly alert. Strong Parental care is seen in birds and therefore in patients too Now here is the interesting thing. In Reptiles, we saw that Parental care was minimal. In Birds, parental care is very high. But what is the difference between the Parental care of the Mineral? So you can have parental care in minerals too. You can have the Responsibility in row 6 or you can have the care in Row 3 or in Row 4. The protection in Row 4, the care in Row 3. The responsibility in Row 6. What s the difference between that and the Birds? The difference is that in the Mineral kingdom this sense of responsibility will be constant whereas in Birds, this sense of Responsibility will be till the young one reaches the age of independence. When he is able to fly then the Responsibility of Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 16

17 the Parents is over then he is free. So the parent is responsible in the Birds. But also seeks the moment when he can discharge his responsibility. When his baby is able to fly and he is now free to be himself, to fly himself. So he is not pulled and called to the ground and to the nest again and again. This is very interesting whereas in Minerals this sense of responsibility never really gets over. There is no time limit. It s not a process. In Birds, it s a process. In Minerals, it s a permanent feature that s the difference. The Parental care is highest seen in predator birds like Hawk even in the eagles. Of course the most important expression of the birds in human beings is: Flying This flying can be described by the patient in various terms. They can talk about it as a: - Sense of lightness - They can talk about it as a sense of weightlessness - As a Soaring - As a Desire to go to high places. - As a sense of freedom, where there is no boundary, no restriction, no limitation - They can talk of Freed, free-spirited. - Even a Drug like state - They can talk about mountains, about rising, about love for nature - About open,about being expressive - About being Out of this world, out of being spaced out About not being on the ground, about not being here various expressions can be used by these patients and sometimes many of them together. The question here will come: What is the opposite? And the opposite is to be: trapped, to be caged, to be restricted, to be constricted, to be held in, to be not allowed to move. Like caged bird. That s the opposite and that s what they don t like. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 17

18 Now a very important question here. There are two questions here. The first is when a patient talks of freedom many patients will talk of freedom because freedom is a very common human theme: Desire for freedom And when you ask them to Describe freedom. Many of the patients may give you an image of Bird or even of flying, of space and what is very important is to differentiate whether this flying and this freedom is a delusion, is at a Delusion level or is it at a sensation level. And therefore bird could be a remedy. Is it just an image of a Bird and the flight that they think of as freedom or is it an actual experience. If it is an actual experience then you will get the entire constellation of words that represents a Bird that means one versus the other, survival domination, territoriality, parental care, freedom, rise versus heaviness, tightness constriction, trapped, caged and also anger, crushing or whatever. Whereas if it s just a delusion, it will move away very quickly and you will not get this entire constellation of sensory experience and non human specific language that you get in a Bird. That is the first and the most important thing. The Bird patient will actually give you the experience of all this, of breaking out, of flying, of soaring, of moving, of speed, of whatever as we saw in the Eagle case. The 2nd question that comes here is this kind of closed open, light heavy, freedom is also a very strong feature of our Hamamelidae especially Cannabis indica. There you have closed shutting, confined, compressed, dragged, heavy and opposite, open expanding, flying, floating, light and free. So how do we differentiate this from a Bird remedy and the answer is simple. The answer is that in Hamamelidae this will be the only sensation: the closed and the heavy; the light and open. That s it. Light open and free and floating. So this pulling down and closed and rising up and free. That s it. Whatever you ask will come back to this. Whereas in a Bird remedy this will only be their movement and then will come their survival which is migration, which is mating, which is anger, which is a victim aggressor, which is a hierarchy, which is territoriality, which is violence, which is claw sign etc. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 18

19 So if you just look at one aspect, there will be confusion. But if you see that there is an entire process involved then you go away, this light and heavy is only one part of it. Also the flying of Hamamelidae will be the experience again of open and of light whereas the flying of the Bird will indicate you the speed will indicate you the reason for flying. Look how this patient said, I am flying and I can see the snake right below with so much accuracy. So the flying is associated also with other things. I think that case that we discussed is a good example how it s very difficult to it s not, it s not difficult, it s not difficult to distinguish between these two energies of Hammelidae and of Birds. Because she begins straight away with something else a sudden shot where is this hamamelidae. So one has to be open to this. That It s not one thing but an entire process that is involved. The other thing of course for Birds in Human beings is: - High sexuality - Also Homosexuality - Also Rape, rape force, forcible. - So there s lot in Bird. Also there is a lot of quality of victimization, of intense violence feeling towards the aggressor, the feeling of being forcibly taken away and tortured in captivity. - Captivity - Force - Torture These are some of the words that can come in Bird patients. And rape is an interesting example because the word Rape and the word Raptor comes from the same root which you will see later. The important key words of Birds are the: - Conflict between Responsibility and freedom Responsibility keeps me on the earth and freedom wants me to go higher, the earth and the sky, to be bound and to be free, to fly, to be free, to take off, to rise, to float, to soar, to travel, to migrate and the opposite to be shackled, to be Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 19

20 bounded, to be chained, to be caged, to be trapped, to be lured and to be confined. Also you have to hunt, to chase, to cut, to tear, sharp things, to puncture, the claws, the sudden attack, to catch the prey by surprise, out of the blue, to trap, to suffocate, to break free, to tear, to rip. And In Raptors, you see they are more solitary with high flying capabilities, keen vision and focus, speed, to fast, swoop, to spiral and to have a free fall. So this is the general picture about the Birds, about their survival, about their human expressions. And now we see that there s definitely more to Birds than just flying. We saw so many aspects about Birds. Now once we understand and once we perceive that the patient needs a Bird remedy, then we have two choices because we want to know which exact Bird the patient needs. The first choice is: We can go over the list of Birds. We can look at themes for example- is this person having the problem with Responsibility. So it might be Hawk. Is he having a problem with self-will, so it might be Falcon and so forth. Or sometimes we wait for the patient to tell us the name of a bird. I hope He mentions the peacock, or the Dove or the Eagle or the Falcon or the Vulture or whatever. So either through the patient revealing the source may be or he mentions some themes that we know may be, we try to find the exact bird. But I think that there has to be a more systematic way and that systematic way is to know what are the groups in the birds? What are the orders? What are the families? And what are the qualities of the specific orders of families in the birds? Just as we studied them with the Reptiles or with the Molluscs and later we will study them with the spiders and we will study with the Mammals, we need to be more systematic. At this moment, I don t have so much knowledge about birds and not so much practical experience to be able to tell you things as precisely as we could do in the Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 20

21 other classes. But let s go over it briefly because this is the map of the future of our learning. And this is where we need to put out energy because otherwise again things start getting a little bit random and out of order. Bird Groups Kingdom: Animalia. Phylum: Chordata. Subphylum: Vertebrata. Class: Aves. The Class Aves of birds is currently divided up into 27 orders, 142 families, 2,057 genera and 9,703 species of birds. In this talk we can only have a Bird s eye view of some of these orders. What is interesting of course is the number of Birds that we have available in our Materia Medica and in our Pharmacies today. When I started practice in 1981 and even uptil 1990, up to 20 years ago, I don t even think we had a single Bird in our entire pharmacy. And then they started coming and then they are coming quite a bit. So we have now quite a few birds and more and more are being introduced into our Materia medica. The most popular among the Bird classes, we have: BIRDS OF PREY Raptors Raptors are carnivorous birds that feed on mammals, on amphibians, on reptiles, on rodents and on other small birds. As I told you the word raptor comes from the Latin word 'rapere' which means to take by force. This also is the same root for the word Rape. Among these Raptors, we have: Raptor Family: - Accipitridae: Hawks, eagles, kites, buzzards - The Falconidae: Falcons, Caracaras - The Strigidae: Many owls - The Cathartidae: Turkey vulture, Andean condor, The King vulture (New world vultures) Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 21

22 The most Characteristic things about these raptors are that they are: Most Raptors are solitary birds. So the patient expresses the idea to be alone or wanting to be alone and very high Exceptional flight capabilities they can hunt, they can chase, they can soar very high They have also a Keen vision and focus They have hooked beaks which are sharp, cutting, tearing, and splitting. They have curved talons that can crush and puncture, claws that penetrate the prey s body. Their attack is sudden and they catch the prey by surprise - Sudden, unexpected, attack, out of the blue exactly like what our patient described a sudden shot, out of the blue, out of nothing, out of nowhere, out of the sky. The Speed is an important feature of their attack it s fast, swoop, zoop etc. The patient describes it as a very zoom like a jet. It is a very Strong feet Strong grip And they can Soar effortlessly So the action of this bird is not the flapping but the soaring. Raptors except eagles do not build nests. And some key features that should help us to identify the patient as a Raptor are: - Violence - Sharp - Cutting - Tearing - Splitting - Crushing - Puncture - The Claws - Solitary - Speed - Sudden - Soaring - Keen vision - Power - Chase - And Hunt Among the Raptors, we have the Falcon which has the issue of speed because Falcon is the fastest among the Raptors and also can achieve almost the highest speed amongst Birds. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 22

23 Also, the theme of being controlled and limited in a boundary. So the Falcon is used in falconry and what the Falconer does is to train the Bird in such a way with its whistle and with the lure, with the piece of meat that draws it back. So he is able to let the Bird go free but it s only able to go in that periphery and when he tries to break that barrier, the Falconer calls it back and it is drawn back by the lure. It is lured back. So this is a theme which I have seen in Falcon cases. I have some Falcon cases that are doing really beautifully well and this is the theme of it. Falcon incidentally was proved by a good friend of mine, Misha Norland from England. Then you have eagle with the keen vision. The patient you remember our patient said she is going above the ground and she can clearly see the snakes on the ground. Unbelievable, how they talk in terms of the source and rising higher and rising above everything else. The Hawks - are extremely agile, maneuverable. And with an Extreme sense of responsibility to the young ones. And the hawk is known to take care of its young ones more than other birds. And the Vulture as we all know is More of a scavenger, and depending on remains, and the feeding on the dead. Let s talk of one of these birds: Buteo jamaicensis which is the (Red-tailed hawk): Some of the Characteristics of the Red-tailed Hawk: Speed Stamina Determination It s an agile flier and can pursue its prey through thick forests. Its Flight which is soaring and can attain a speed of 150 miles or more when it dives. It is known to take more care of its young as compared to the other birds. The young ones stay in the nest for about 6 weeks and they are looked after by both the parents and later they fly and hunt for themselves. A hawk is loyal to its partner and they remain together for lifetime. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 23

24 So the divorce rates in hawks is pretty low. It s a courageous bird, which can even take on poisonous snakes. And once it spots its prey, it hovers in the same place with beating of wings for a very short time. This is known as 'kiting'. And then it swoops down and snatches. It is also known to seize a prey in the midair and it even can take food from other species, which is known as 'pirating'. Hawks are also used in falconry like Falcons are used. Case Example: (Buteo jamaicensis) It s a girl of about 20 years who is studying engineering and I think her main problem is: Chief complaint: 1. Menses: Irregular periods and heavy periods. And she had been taking Hormonal tablets. 2. Her Body weight has increased 3. She has got hirsutism. Excessive hair growth on her body 4. She has got pricking pain during passing of her stools. So she talks about her periods and she says; P: Because of this problem of periods I am getting depressed and going into a passive state. She says I am not able to engage in any sort of physical activity. I don t feel like meeting people. I don t know where to go, how to find a solution and I feel totally gripped by this problem (Hg). This depression started suddenly (hg). I feel completely gripped (Hg), as if it is holding me back (Hg). It is just gripping me (Hg, closed fist). She says I like to follow the rules rather than breaking them, I like to go for a disciplined way rather than to go against it or create my own way. If somebody says, Go left, I will go left and I will not go right to explore or discover. I feel a boundary is defined (Hg), and I would not like to cross it. I want to stay within this limit (Hg) that has been made for me. I don t even try to go out of it. I don t feel bounded Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 24

25 D: What is bounded? P: Bounded means restricting you, you have no freedom. You are not free (Hg). P: Sometimes I feel I am trying to swim and searching for a way and then the floor is pulling me in (hg), I am not able to come out, I feel stuck it is very deep, it is very dark. L: One of the incidents that had a big impact on her was the death of her father, sudden death of her father. And she felt as if one protective force that wass holding me back is missing. I am no longer in a protective zone. Something will come and attack me. Something is having control on me, something dominates me something has authority on me and I had to follow this and I have to be controlled. Analysis of the Case: So in this case you found the characteristic expressions: - The Gripped - The Bound - Restricted - Suffocation - Desire for freedom - Being attacked - To be pulled down - To Stay within the boundaries - To be controlled and to be dominated She received the: Remedy: Hawk (Buteo Jamaicensis) 1M And with this she did very well. Case Example (Buteo jamaicensis: Red-tailed Hawk) The other case that I remember and this is a case I have very good memory is of a woman in her late sixties who came to me with a serious depression and headaches and she came in quite a bad shape. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 25

26 D: What s happening to you? P: She says well I live with my husband. My children have all gone. They are settled abroad. They don t want to come back. But my husband has now become my child. He is an absolute workaholic. I used to go and help people in the hospitals. I used to do social service. P: And now he says, Don t do that. Come and work with me. Join my company and this is not my work. I don t want to do this. This is causing a big turmoil within me. I tell him, We have enough money. You don t have to work. Why can t we just go for a walk and see the sunrise and the sunset? Why can t you spend time with your grandchildren. Why do you have to go from home to work and work to home, that s it. He tells me, No I don t want to do that. I want to do more work. He started to develop more factories. He is now 70 years old. He doesn t give up and I am mothering him all the time and carrying my cross. D: Carrying your cross, what do you mean? P: Like looking after him like a mother.this is taking a toll on me. At at the night he will ask me to tell him about the bank statements. All my meditation, my music, my yoga, my morning walk, my evening walk, my hospital visits, everything has gone down. How much can I crucify myself? I keep listening to him, I keep guiding him. But inside me I feel empty. I feel like a zero. I struggle, I fight with myself. D: What is your feeling, I asked her. What is your experience in this situation? P: And then she says I feel trapped I can t get out of this. I feel suffocated. I am not a free bird. D: What s a free bird? P: Free bird means I want to fly and see the sky, I want to be one with nature I want to see the horizon. And now my wings are cut. I can t fly. I am at the mercy of others. I want to take off, to new horizons and give my mind an absolutely an infinite space. I want to expand. Sometimes when I walk on the beach, Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 26

27 L: What s interesting here that I walk on the beach too. And I meet her sometimes even now a days, she stays very close and she really loves to walk on the beach and sea. D: What s your experience to walk on the beach? P: I look at the beach and say, God has given us this body, in this body there is this small eye, in this small eye there is pupil with a little lens and from this pupil and little lens you can see the whole horizon, you can see the whole sky. You can see the entire spectrum. And now I feel trapped, closed (HG) shut in a box. Like how children they take a matchbox and they put a worm inside. I feel like that and I want to break my head and I want to get out. Analysis of the case: So the main theme for her was a whole process where she had looked after her kids. The kids had flown away from the nest and now she is stuck with her husband. She feels responsible towards him like he is her child. And that keeps her grounded. And she cannot fly, she cannot soar, she cannot see the horizon. And she talked so many words about Bird Bondage Trapped Can t get out Suffocated Free Fly Freedom Wings are cut At the mercy of horizon Expansion Small eye, small pupil Closed Shut Caged etc. Also of solitude, of wanting to be alone. And she also talked about the sensitivity to violence, to murder, to killing someone, to torture, to blood. Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 27

28 And she used the claw sign, that something is caught over there and she had a dream that she is flying over water and the water is crystal blue and green water. In Human issues, she talks about mothering, of responsibility, of caring for the sick where she goes to the hospital and does things for them. And she got the remedy -Buteo Jamaica Interestingly, I saw in the Rubric, one dream was of the colour blue. And She got remedy Buteo jamaicensis. Interestingly I saw in the Rubrics: - Dreams, color, blue Another dream is the fear: - Dreams, Fear, doing something I should not have been doing. - Dreams, Freedom, complete Materia Medica Reference: So in the proving of Jan Scholten of Hawk, he talks about: - Conflict between Freedom and obligation. - Of a Very strong sense of responsibility to the family. - It s even more than duty, it s a feeling they are obliged to care and support. And also the eyesight of a hawk is eight times more powerful than a human being and its interesting how she speaks of a small eye and it can see with such clarity. Both males and females assist in the construction of the nest. And Nest sites may be used from year to year. There is strong evidence that hawks mate for life. If the old nest is wind damaged, layers of new nesting material are added each year. Socially, red-tailed hawks are solitary animals. They are monogamous when it comes to mating, and then they form permanent pair bonds. Now we can talk of the other order the Falcons and we have the Homoeopathic remedy. Order Falconiformes Falcons Homoeopathic remedy: Falcon peregrines (Peregrine falcon). Talk 42 Animal Kingdom 6 : Birds 28