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LILIALES
Deborah Collins
¦ Crocus sativus
SPECTRUM OF HOMEOPATHY
73
AUTHOR ¦ Deborah Collins
SUMMARY:
A woman suffering from bipolar disorder
since her teens expresses the desire to reduce or stop
her medication since the prolonged use of Lithium
carbonate is affecting her kidneys. Her desire to be
‘everyone’s best friend,’ which masks her severe sense
of loneliness and alienation, leads to the remedy Cro-
cus sativa, bringing about a radical transformation
and allowing her to discontinue her medication.
The following includes an analysis based on tradi-
tional repertorisation, knowledge of the themes of
the plant families according to Rajan Sankaran, and
the plant theory code according to Jan Scholten. The
subphase and stage of the plant code show a ho-
meopathic relationship between Crocus and Lithium.
KEYWORDS:
Asparagales, bipolar disorder,
Crocus
sativus
, depression, excessive sensations, Iridaceae,
Liliales, Lithium, plant theory, phases, Silicium series
CASE: 48-year-old woman, bipolar disorder
Casetaking:
Ms R. Is colourfully dressed and very expressive,
with a large quick smile and somewhat anxious eyes. She talks
animatedly and frequently leans over the desk to touch my hand.
She suffered serious depression in her late teens and was finally
diagnosed as bipolar, or more specifically ‘cyclo-rapid,’ with a very
quick alternation of moods, for which she has been given a whole
cocktail of medication over the course of the years.
PATIENT’S COMMENTS
Boundless:
“They have tried everything on me! But I want to
get off the Lithium. It is ruining my kidneys. I’m anxious all the
time, and I cannot drive because of that.
“I used to sleep very little, only an hour and a half per night.
I was hyper-vigilant. I heard everything you could imagine. Lith-
ium helped me to sleep, but now I can hardly feel my body. I am
very sensitive to all things: to smells, to textures, to warmth, to
colours, as though everything comes into me. I can feel what
others feel, I have no boundaries. When I look at a flower, I be-
come that flower. When I look at a bird, I feel like I am flying.
It gives me a feeling of connection.
“I need nature, animals – I love the feel of rain and sunshine.
In the mountains I become the mountain: I fly with the crows.
I talk with the crow and feel its pain and anxiety. I am a natu-
ral shaman, but I can’t do anything constructive with it. It just
comes into me and takes over. In a city I feel what people feel.
It makes me feel less alone.”
Existence, everything or nothing:
“For me, everything is in
the superlative, I love it. Everything is great, or it is nothing at
all. I have no limits, it is all too much. I give and give, but it is
not received. It is apparently too much for others, they back off
and then I am alone again. I want to give, to participate, to be
included. With animals it is easy, they communicate with me. It
is osmosis. I have a strong drive to communicate so that I don’t
feel so alone, so separate. When I feel separate it is as though
I don’t exist. If my partner does not touch me for some reason,
it is as though I don’t exist. I only exist in relationship. I have a
very strong sexual energy, but that is often too much for the
other. I need to love, I need to give. For me, love is an obsession.
Without it I don’t exist, I feel all the sadness of the world. I want
to live in a utopia, a perfect world where everyone loves each
other. I want to hug the whole world, make everyone happy.
I want to help everyone. I give all I have; all or nothing, there is
no middle ground. I am always in love, flaming love. I cannot
live without someone else, I could never be happy. When I am
on my own, a voice says: ‘You will never manage.’ I start things
that go well, but I need support. I cannot be on my own.”
Relationship; included or excluded:
“Being alone is alright,
but only if I choose it – and I hardly ever choose it… But to be
excluded from the world, that is living death, the greatest horror.
To not be in relationship, that is unimaginable. I helped a friend
when she was sick, giving her all my love and my help, but when
she was well she just dropped me. My world fell apart.
“I used to work in social services, giving, helping all the time,
seeing far more people per day than anyone else on the team, but
it gave me such a charge of energy. Now I am too tired to work.”
Vulnerable:
“My pain comes from my mother – I feel like I was
never really wanted. She liked her work, but not her kids. She
had a bad relationship with my father. They fought all the time.
My brother sexually abused me, put things in my vagina. It is
because of that that I had vaginal discharge for many years.
My mother never protected me. I had a toxic relationship with
her, so I have not seen her for years now.
“In my teens it was really hard. I only had one good friend,
and if something was not going well there, I felt cut off from
myself. I felt a lot but could not communicate what I felt. I felt
lonely all the time.”
ANALYSIS
Liliales:
Her great sensitivity and changeability of mood point to
the plant kingdom. Though Lithium is traditionally used in the
treatment of bipolar disorder, the plants have an even greater
tendency to swings of mood than the minerals. Here we see
all the themes of the Lily family: high sexuality, strong desire
for relationship, fear of being excluded, and great sensitivity to
smells, textures sounds and impressions.