Evolution of the senses: Cnidarian remedies

We carry, in evolved and adapted forms, the sensory structures of ancient sea creatures within us. The bones of our middle ears evolved from the gill arches of reptiles, the origins of our sensory organs, nervous system, brain and immune system originated in forms of sea life.

The traditional five senses normally applied to human beings know no boundaries in sea life; more than five senses operate in the oceans, electric and magnetic senses being two of them. Early animals, such as jellyfish, provide clues to the story of the senses. Smell and taste are chemically infused; touch and smell melt fluidly into taste; movement, balance are linked to sound and touch.

Homeopaths work with the connection between language and sensation. We work with the script of the case: the exact words of the patient describing how they feel as reflected in the words of homeopathic proving experiments. Each remedy speaks in emotional and physical symptoms, but by paying attention to the language of the senses, the homeopath can approach the essence of a case with greater clarity.    

Jellyfish, Coral and Sea Anemone Remedies (Cnidarian Remedies)

- Corallium rubrum (Red Coral) Anthozoa.

- Anthopleura xanthogrammica (Giant Green Sea Anemone) Anthozoa.

- Stichodactyla haddoni  (Haddon’s Sea Anemone) Anthozoa.

- Physalia pelagica (Portuguese Man of War) Hydrozoa.

- Medusa or Aurelia aurita (Moon Jellyfish) Scyphozoa.

- Chironex fleckeri (Box Jellyfish) Cubozoa.

Common Sensations of Cnidarian Remedies

Burning, stinging. Pins and needles, electric currents, tingling, throbbing, pulsing.

- Feels like jelly, weakness, collapse of structure, numbness, empty.

- Itching, crawling.

- Dislocation, dismemberment, disorientation, disabled.

- Beaten.

- Swelling, enlargement, elongation.

- Squeezed, pinched, compressed, constriction, pulled, drawn backwards, pressed downwards.

These can naturally include real pains and also delusions as to the nature of the body.

Characteristic Sensations of Cnidarians

- Heat and Burning; external burning and internal coldness  

- Electrical shocks, pulsating pains, pins and needles, numbness

- Stitching/stabbing

- Dislocation (Corallium rubrum)

- Lack of substance, dissolving, collapsing, weakness with trembling, like jelly

- Floating or flying sensations or dreams

A Sense of dislocation

In the homeopathic remedies made from jellyfish, coral and sea anemones, there is a sensation of dislocation. The body may feel dismembered, dislocated, spineless. The group has an affinity with neurological disease and conditions involving weakness, such as post viral fatigue syndrome and ME; with the endocrine system (pineal, pituitary and adrenal glands), after long or short-term stress, with illnesses and symptoms that relate to feeling ‘burnt out’.

The initial phase is hypersensitive, hyperactive, speedy, living on adrenaline, and a tendency, like the mythical Medusa, to ‘lose their head’. In the next stage, the patient may describe feeling ungrounded, floating, not quite in their body, disorientated. In the later stages they are heavy, exhausted and numb, and emotionally cut off. There is a sense of unreality and inability to make contact with the environment.

Yet, there is also a sense of inner vision and the ability to see beyond reality. These are remedies of extremes: fast and slow, heavy and light, joyous or apathetic, ultrasensitive or numb with burning symptoms. Cnidarian remedies burn brightly, then burn themselves out.

- Emotionally impulsive: they “lose their head”. Ultra sensitive, overwhelmed by emotions, uncontrollable reactions.

- Burnt out, with nervous exhaustion and neuromuscular complaints.

- Strong desires and aversions. Highs and lows. Intense, burning sexual desire. Violent passion.

- High sensitivity to pain, intolerant generally.

- Stinging others: critical, contemptuous. Dictatorial, abusive, angry. Lack of empathy.

- Violence: beaten, broken, forced-apart sensations. Aggressive. Desire to fight or hit.

- Delusion of being outside the body, ungrounded, double.

- Weakening of boundaries and inhibitions; as if drunk.

- Altered perception of time and distance.

- Inner vision and clairvoyance; prophetic dreams.

- Feeling detached, as if watching oneself from outside, or above; dreams of espionage.

- Light: Fluorescent colours, green. Photosensitive. Sensation of incorporeal light.

- Darkness: dark mood, black cloud, shadow.  

- Right-brain: impulsive, timeless, creative, lateral thinking, visual, intuitive, sees the whole picture before the details, able to encompass many things at once.

- Left-brain action is less capable: difficulty with calculating, writing, logic; confusion.

- Over-reacting, oversensitive, quick.

or Numb, distant, detached, slow.

- Desire for music, dancing, laughter, joyful

or Unable to enjoy. Aversion to the sight of others’ enjoyment. Laughter is irritating.

- Sensitive to rudeness or can be rude, abusive, intolerant.

- Lack of adaptability or Go with the flow.

- Connected, enlightenment, lightness, floating, filled with light, tranquillity, bliss

or Separation, cut off, darkness, heaviness, depression.

Physical Affinities: Cardiovascular. Immune. ME, post viral fatigue. Endocrine system (pineal, pituitary and adrenal glands). Neuromuscular. Arthritis. Urethritis. Skin urticaria, oedema, eczema, ulcers, herpes. Gastrointestinal: diarrhoea, poisoning. Dehydration, sunstroke, photosensitivity. Cough, whooping cough, sinusitis and tonsillitis.

This abridged extract from Sea Remedies, Evolution of the Senses, by Jo Evans, published by Emryss explores the sensory symptoms of remedies from the Cnidarian phylum: coral, sea anemones and jellyfish. The book is available from the Narayana bookstore http://www.narayana-verlag.com/Sea-Remedies/Jo-Evans/b7346. Sea Remedies, Evolution of the Senses includes detailed materia medica of 24 remedies from a number of phyla and chapters exploring the evolution of the senses.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons
Olindias formosa; KENPEI
Pillar coral; public domain