Actinide: the hidden camera and the broken mirror

Uranium atom

In the following paper I describe the Uranium series as a group of remedies and explain the possible aetiology for the need for these remedies. This is a process that is not yet complete and we will need the help of many homoeopaths to complete the picture.

The actinides belong to the 7th series of the periodic table. In his book "Homöopathie und die Elemente", Jan Scholten uses the term "Uranium Series" to describe these elements.

The themes of the series according to Jan Scholten are:

Hydrogen series: Being, foetus, space
Carbon series: I, child, body
Silicon series: Friend, family, teenager
Iron series: Worker, adult, village
Silver series: Inventor, artist, middle age, city
Gold series: Leader, mature age, country / world

Keywords for the Uranium series:

• Altruism
• Communication, listening
• Wisdom, (self-)reflection
• Observation, perception
• Overview, transparency
• Sensitivity, sympathy, compassion
• Trust
• Universal truths
• Age, grandparents
• Archetype: the witness, the joker, the court jester, the clown, the prophet.
  

Frederic de Klerk
& Nelson Mandela (left to right)

Altruism:

We recognise this quality in people such as Mother Teresa: even at an advanced age she cared for those whom the rest of the world ignored in their need. Nelson Mandela is the man who gave everything to change the system in South Africa. Although he was imprisoned for many years and suffered greatly, he remained true to his noble message for the world and devoted all his energy to altruism: one can only live well by giving.

Communication:

They can communicate very well both verbally and non-verbally. This aspect can also be seen in children. Their speech often seems inappropriate for their age; in this respect they are far ahead of their years. Whatever they say, they express it very precisely. For example, a five-year-old girl, after being sent to her room, became angry and said: "Alright, I'm going to my room now and I'll never come out again, neither to eat nor to drink."

In her book "Portraits homöopathischer Arzneimittel" Catherine Coulter describes the language of people who need Lachesis and gives as an example a child who expresses itself very sharply and critically. The communication of the Lachesis child may resemble that of the child described above, but unlike Lachesis there is no competitive behaviour among the actinides.

Wisdom, intuition:

They are intelligent, but not in the sense of "clever"; they possess a wisdom that shows insight. The associated sense is intuition. They are clear-sighted and sometimes simply sense what is happening. They know when their intuition is coloured by emotions and they know the truth.

Observation, perception:

They see through people and their actions. They feel at home in many different cultures and are rarely surprised by what happens. They can imagine any life situation, even the most incredible. Their life goal is to try to be at peace with others. Over the course of life we play different roles: victim, actor, accuser, judge, defender. We are condemned to this, it is our fate and in the end we must repent. Actinide people know this and observe everything, but do not judge others.

Overview, transparency:

They see through things as if everything were transparent. They instantly understand what is going on. They do not filter their perceptions. Looking at things in this way is like photographing with a hidden camera. Old people and small children observe the world around them in this way. The similarity between older people and children is shown in that they do not react to the world, they only observe it; they are not distracted by feelings, they are objective and simply observe. Their mode of observation is unadulterated and matter-of-fact.

Age:

Age as a life phase belongs to this series. In older people it can happen that they withdraw inwardly, even though they are physically present. They do not intervene.

Physical complaints:

Cancer, bone marrow disorders, leukaemia. Congenital malformations, genetic abnormalities.

The hidden camera: Lanthanides and Actinides

Previously the lanthanides were unknown in homoeopathy. They were in fact first discovered as homoeopathic remedies by Jan Scholten. In Boericke there is only a single remedy from the group of lanthanides: Cerium oxalicum.

In his book "Geheime Lanthanide" Jan Scholten explains the main theme of the lanthanides: autonomy. Other themes are: search for meaning, going deep, (self-)reflection. To these themes I would like to add the ability for analytical thinking.

People who need actinides do not need to analyse. Everything they observe is transparent to them, they simply know it. Insight and overview arise more or less simultaneously. For this reason I compare this type of observation to a hidden camera: it is objective and incorruptible.
We learn this quality of observation in our profession as therapists. Hahnemann regarded incorruptible observation as indispensable for the profession of a homoeopath. We do need this gift in our work - in everyday life it can, however, become the source of great problems. The factual observation of the way people interact can lead to inner conflicts because it creates a sense of responsibility. Again and again the question arises: "What am I to do with the insight, the understanding and the knowledge? If I see through all the tricks and games in human behaviour - how should I react?" The only way to deal with this trait is to develop compassion.

The broken mirror:

In children the actinide pattern becomes particularly clear. Usually there is a causative moment in their life. I call this moment: "breaking the mirror".

Soon after birth the baby seeks eye contact with one of the parents and gives signs of recognition. From this first eye contact onwards a kind of 'mimicry' behaviour develops in the baby; the parents and the baby mirror each other. Initially the child identifies itself via this mirroring. By the age of nine months the child is able to distinguish faces and show preferences; this is the time of stranger anxiety. The child develops the ability to remember its favourite face and gives it a name: "mummy".

Through the use of its memory the child can now recognise more than one face at the same time: mummy and daddy. This is the recognition of the triangle: father, mother and child. Until then the child experienced itself as a unit with the mother, and in this unit communication was non-verbal. When the child becomes aware of the triangular constellation, it begins to speak.

As soon as it becomes aware of the triangle, the child recognises its own individuality. At the age of three the child can name itself with the word "I". At the same age the baby teeth are complete, the fontanelle is closed, the child is able to hop (on the spot), it can say "I" and "I want" and "I don't want".

In the first years the child learns by imitation alone. In this mirror it recognises itself. However, if a dramatic event occurs in these early years and the parents are overwhelmed by the situation, the mirror can break. From that moment on the child no longer imitates the parents. Now an Opium or Aconite 'layer' (or another remedy) can arise and cover the previous openness.

Aetiology of the actinides:

When the appropriate remedy is an actinide, something different happens at the moment of the dramatic event. Let us consider the moment of the first eye contact between mother and child, the moment of recognition.

We can recognise someone whom we knew in an earlier life. When we are reborn as human beings, it is possible that the mother recognises the newborn child and vice versa. Sometimes an old soul reincarnates. In the moment of a dramatic event, when the situation escalates and the parents are no longer able to cope, the reincarnated personality part of the child takes over. The personality part that learns by imitating others - the baby instinct - disappears. From then on the identity of the "wise old man" awakens in the child. This "wise old man" helps the parents to return to normality; however the child may remain fixed in this state.

This becomes visible in the social behaviour and in the child's language. New words are used by him/her immediately in the correct context. For example a mother said to her 2-year-old daughter: "Don't show off like that!" and the little girl answered: "No, I'm not an actress!"

The disadvantage for a child in this state is that its childlikeness is lost - and it can also be awkward for the mother to have a "wise old man" on her lap! The prescription of a suitable actinide can help the child to return to child-appropriate behaviour.

In the case histories of adults who needed actinides I have encountered this childhood trauma and the problem of growing up in such a state. As infants or toddlers they lost contact with their inner child. They never practised arguing or standing up for themselves, because the "wise old man" in them does not allow such childish behaviour. In adults the correct application of an actinide awakens the inner child to new life. From then on an increasing resilience develops, similar to that in early childhood.

Case example

A 37-year-old woman presents with lichen sclerosus(1). It began with a white spot on her clitoris after taking antibiotics for endometritis(2), which she had contracted through the insertion of an intrauterine device (coil). The spot was itchy and peeled and eventually spread over the labia. She uses a cortisone ointment prescribed by the dermatologist, but this does not help properly.

She has given birth to three children. The first child died one day after birth, the birth having occurred at 28 weeks; she still feels a connection to this child. She does a lot for others: she helps a mother to care for her disabled child, who is blind and suffers from infantile cerebral palsy, a role that requires great sensitivity from the carer. She likes to work. The feeling of being useful means a lot to her and she feels guilty when she has nothing to do. Many people ask her for help and almost always she listens to them and cares for them. Being there for others is more important to her than pottering around at home. She is serious and thoughtful. Although she has a positive attitude, she often doubts her statements and broods repeatedly over the questions posed to her and the answers she gave.

Analysis:

Under the rubric "Skin, scar white" we find three remedies: Potassium bichromate, Radium bromatum and Syphilinum. I chose an actinide because she is very sensitive in her communication. Stage 2 (Radium) is reflected in her caution about her statements and her subsequent doubts. Bromatum fits her feelings of guilt when she has nothing to do. I gave Radium bromatum 12K(3) with partial success; the complaints subsided, but some itching remained.
As the next remedy I gave Radium iodatum, a refinement of the previous prescription following a dream in which she wished to express her feelings by singing and painting. She dreamt the name of the remedy for her itching, but could not remember it after waking. Artistic creation belongs to the Silver series, and "forgetting" is a word that fits Iodum. She received Radium jodatum 30K.

Over the next three weeks she responded well. She did not need the cortisone ointment as often, but at the end of the holidays she experienced a stressful situation and had to organise a babysitter in order to go back to work; therefore she needed the remedy again. I gave her Radium jodatum 1M, which worked well; she did not need the ointment for some time. Later she received Radium jodatum 10M and the improvement persisted. Over time she improved steadily and needed less ointment. Her spiritual development progressed, her relationship with her husband improved and they were able to bear the loss of their child together.

Follow-up after 5 years:

"Over time I have realised that the symptoms of lichen sclerosus are related to unconscious feelings of guilt that had not been processed for a long time; perhaps for months. Sometimes I am symptom-free and then the symptoms suddenly reappear. Now I try to discover and analyse my feelings of guilt; that helps me to let go and when I let go my complaints also disappear."

(1) Lichen sclerosus (LS): chronic inflammatory, non-contagious skin disease, probably autoimmune.
(2) Endometritis: inflammation of the uterine lining
(3) Korsakoff