Myrrh, the precious gift for healing suffering.

Four cases

Myrrh - ©Iris Kämmle/PIXELIO

The differences

The basic feeling of people who need Olibanum is bright and cheerful. They bring light and insist “that everything should be bright and happy”. According to Jan Scholten Olibanum belongs to stage 10 and myrrh to stage 13.

Myrrh people tend to withdraw. They are more in contact with darkness, with their shadow, but they try to avoid this by doing good, because the shadow is associated for them with strong fears: fear of being judged, unspoken betrayal, especially betrayal within the group (including the family) they trust. Their motto is: “Everything must be alright.” It is the Judas theme. Judas as traitor or as enlightened one? Especially within a group they find it difficult to stand up for themselves and tend to withdraw.

“It must not be dark.” For myrrh the darkness is palpable, tangible. The myrrh theme is often connected with violence: war, suicide, accident, drowning. Bitter tears of unresolved grief. Repressed anger is even more evident in myrrh than in frankincense.

It is the theme of biblical guilt, the attempt to do “good” as in the Bible, on an almost holy level. Myrrh fits people who genuinely and honestly try to live in the spirit of the Bible. They are not people concerned with religious form or belonging to a particular church. They usually come from a family where one parent or even both were very strict and they internalised that strictness and adopted it for themselves.

Frankincense and myrrh are perhaps the two great remedies for the above-mentioned biblical/religious themes: holiness, guilt and death.

I have prescribed myrrh often in the last two or three years. Its healing effect is convincing. Myrrh is the remedy I trust most alongside frankincense. I am more familiar with frankincense now than I was in 2008 (see Interhomeopathy 2008).

Keywords of the Burseraceae: holiness, purity, feelings of guilt, responsibility, death, separation, sensitivity to atmosphere, betrayal, darkness, burnout, clairvoyance.

Mrs A., who has been under my care since February 2000, comes to the consultation. The first thing she mentions is that her body has been completely out of balance since the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999. Her menstruation has shifted since then. She has intense dreams of violence and premenstrual mood swings; she then becomes irritable and sad. She fears developing cancer or heart problems and dying. She is in a training programme that is going well and receives many job offers which she cannot accept: “I am not good enough.” When she was five years old she almost drowned. She had very strict parents. In her youth a young family helped her who were killed before her eyes at the farewell. She feels guilty and abandoned: “I always blame myself and fear hurting others. I am afraid of making mistakes. I was never good enough for my parents.” As a child she was clairvoyant. She fears small spaces.

Physically: headaches starting from the neck, sinusitis, frequent colds, 'head flu'. Cracks on the fingers.
Cravings: bread, spices, fruit, savoury food.
Aversions: sweets, coffee.

In the past she was successfully prescribed Calcium muriaticum, Thuja and Camphora. After taking myrrh she said spontaneously that the re-interpretation of the Judas story had deeply moved her; everything became clear to her through Judas’s darkness. After reading the text in detail she asked: “Was Judas a traitor or a saint?” She cried a lot. Her feelings of panic gradually subsided. A confrontation with her mother cleared the air between them. She feels that she is gradually regaining physical balance. She began working and has been well since then.

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Mrs B. suffers from burnout and the feeling of being emotionally completely out of balance. She often cries because she has panic attacks. “I am so sad, I don't recognise myself anymore. I force myself to do a lot, I have enormous willpower. I am very tense, I set high demands on myself and try to make others happy.” She has been taking antidepressants for years. She was a cheerful child and had dyslexia. She has a very dominant mother. Her grandmother died when she was eight. She had to do a lot for her mother, but always felt she did not do it well enough. Her father had no interest in her. “No matter how hard I tried, I could never meet my parents’ expectations.” She expresses her opinion loudly when she perceives injustices. She is an excellent teacher and feels that she can be herself with the children.

Physical examination: throat infections as a child, muscle cramps especially in the neck, better from movement. Recurrent bladder infections.
Cravings: almost everything, especially fruit.

She was given frankincense as the first remedy, to which she responded well. (At that time I did not yet know myrrh.) She worked through her depressions, was less tense and was able to reduce her medication. She still needed some antidepressants to maintain her inner balance. After taking myrrh she feels much better. She has become calmer and stronger; she now dares to say what she thinks. The anger towards her family has almost disappeared. She can be at home without feeling compelled to do things. She is very well.

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Mrs C. is a friendly woman who works as a team leader in a daycare centre. She comes from a wealthy family in the Middle East. She is physically exhausted, tense and irritated by everything. She therefore had to stop working six months ago. Her complaints began with a high fever and muscle pain, and recently she had the flu again. She sustained many traumas in the war and had to flee her country. When she was eight years old her brother died of cancer. Her father died during the war when she was 13. She used to be cheerful and open, but now she feels she has lost herself. She cannot relate to her children in the way she would like and is very sad about it. She does not want to see anyone at all. She suffers from dizziness and palpitations. She describes herself as flexible, pleasant to be with and never angry. Until recently she feared confrontations. She is always ready to help others and likes to give: “Always the other first!” (she says spontaneously). She is a perfectionist. She often dreams of her dead brother and also of her mother, who died a few years ago and whom she misses terribly.
Her greatest fear is losing her children and her husband. She has a strong fear of drowning and a fear of heights.  

Physical examination: pneumonia at age 6, bronchitis, asthma, recurrent colds, house-dust mite allergy, sinusitis, frequent headaches, easily bruises, digestive problems (pain, cramps and constipation), uterine polyps, pain in the wrists, calf cramps, muscle pain in the upper arms.
Cravings: vegetables + +; sweets (premenstrually). Coffee worsens +.

After myrrh she soon feels stronger and freer. Speaking is now easier for her, she is less emotional and generally calmer. She has started working again because she feels so much better physically. She relates to her children differently. She can now accept the past and what happened. It has become clearer to her what she wants and what she does not. She feels less alone, places fewer demands on herself and has more self-respect. In meetings she no longer fears making inappropriate remarks.

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Mr D, aged 80, comes because of insomnia. He says he'd rather be ill than have this problem. His brother suffers from the same complaints, even worse than he does. As soon as he lies down he becomes restless and feels hot, so he has to uncover himself. He gets out of bed because he needs more space around him. When it is very dark he panics — a consequence of the war. For two years, between the ages of 15 and 17, he and his brother had to sleep in a hole in the hay, in complete darkness, with a hay bale in front of the entrance, for fear of reprisals by the Germans after a sabotage.

His sleep disorders began several years ago. He could not sleep in a small room or in absolute darkness. He has little energy and takes sedatives. He is always busy; sometimes he is too hurried and tries to do everything at once. He is shy and sensitive. According to his wife he is always “good” and helpful. He is empathetic, sometimes even too much so. He often scolds himself, mainly because he is so anxious. He lost a son in an accident; the son fell into the water and drowned. He has difficulties in group situations. He grew up on a farm and his parents often kept him away from school because he had to help on the farm. As a result his school performance lagged and he believed himself to be stupid. When he tells me this I feel his sadness.

Physical examination: twice pneumonia, bladder polyps, pacemaker due to cardiac arrhythmia, mouth ulcers, easily bruises, warm, slightly sweaty.
Cravings: he likes most foods, fruit + + +, fish, prefers salty to sweet.
After myrrh his sleep improves, his energy rises and he seems much cheerier. Three months later he is no longer so obsessed with the war. According to his wife he has become much calmer. They sleep together again and he is motivated for new undertakings.

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Literature:
- Harry van der Zee: Homeopathy in War and Collective Trauma, Homeopathy Congress 2008
- Olibanum, Interhomeopathy March 2009
 
[1] Watt, Martin, Sellar, Wanda: Frankincense and Myrrh. Use in History and the Present, 1996, ISBN 90-6229-053-1

Photo: The Three Wise Men. Detail from “Madonna and Child, surrounded by angels”, mosaic of an Italian-Byzantine workshop, Ravenna ca. 526 AD, so-called “Master of San Apollinare”.
 
Category: Cases
Keywords: suffering, guilt, death, violence, betrayal, holiness, doing good, separation, Olibanum, myrrh

Remedies: Myrrha, Olibanum