6.5 Neodymium carbonicum case
Width 4, Depth 5, Cure 7, Duration 6
A man of 50 years of age has digestive problems. His stomach feels heavy after meals and he feels tired. Elimination is not very good, probably because he eats too fast and doesn't chew well.
His father always created an atmosphere of the army. He was a big man with a big voice, blasting out when anyone was slow. He used to say “If you don't push yourself, you don’t achieve, and if you achieve without effort it’s worth nothing”. His father was an outdoor person, walking and camping. He expected his children to do the same, to be able to do anything. He grew up without shoes and shorts, living on a farm. The atmosphere was one of competition, with his father and with his 3 brothers instead of being helpful.
As a child he was anxious, with nightmares of being pursued by monsters. He had a fear of monsters and crocodiles under his bed. At the age of 10 he was sent to boarding school. The school felt like an army camp, tough, not nice at all. It was rough and tough as in noisy rugby games. You were teased and persecuted when you did not belong to the group, as at Eton. He felt isolated. Mathematics seemed hopeless at one time, though later he felt confident that he could make a contribution, that he had more talent in some other areas.
Later he went into the army. It was not much different from jail, people trying to kill each other. But then he was already quite tough. He became a senior officer. Then he worked for a bank for a while. He studied philosophy and psychology, but the professors were not really interested in the truth. So he started to travel, tried tough Tibetan and Za-Zen methods. For many years he has been doing Transcendental Meditation.
He has a need for deep, refined conversation. He always wants to talk about the deeper subjects and about meaningful things. He wants to find out the truth of life, the Self, God. He forces himself to let go of his narrower boundaries, searching for the bigger picture. He has to do it, but it’s overexerting him. He is burning all his bridges behind him, he can’t go back. But he’s never sure and pretty chaotic. He wants to open up new vistas, new horizons. He wanted that already as a child, craved for it and felt deeply frustrated that he could not achieve this.
He lives in a very healthy way and uses Ayurveda. He has an aversion to doctors and has seldom seen one.
He always had an anxiety about money, of not having enough.
He has to be perfect. He wants to be liked by others.
His wife calls him impervious. He feels neutral, distant and untouchable. He talks carefully.
Dream: he’s in a hospital in Greece, the walls are muddy, there’s no equipment or treatment.
This winter he had very severe hay fever, with sneezing, sensitive eyes and running nose. His prostate is enlarged and he has slow urination.
He has joint pains, due to too lax ligaments, from overstretching with yoga.
He’s shortsighted and needs glasses, but he hates them.
Weather: <- cold, <- heat.
Desire: grains, beans, potatoes, salad, sweet fruit, olive oil.
vegetarian.
Aversion: acid food.
Food: < cheese, it produces mucus.
Analysis
He’s a researcher of the inner world, doing Zen and transcendental meditation. These are all indications for Lanthanides.
The theme is being tough, meaning he has to prove himself. This indicates Stage 6. This is confirmed by his saying of “I'm burning all my bridges behind me, I can’t go back”.
His search is connected to his desire to find out the truth of life, the Self, God. These are Carbon themes. This is confirmed by the strong father theme. Together this becomes Neodymium carbonicum.
We can see the remedy in:
- A tough (Stage 6) father (Carbonicum).
- His father (Carbon) pushes him to prove (Stage 6) himself.
- If you achieve without effort (Stage 6) it’s worth (Carbon) nothing.
Confirmations
Lanthanides: -> deep conversation, -> new vistas, -> new horizons, -> bigger picture, <- narrow boundaries, <- doctors, prostrate enlarged, shortsighted.
Stage 6: has to do it, overdoing, forcing himself.
Follow up
After Neodymium carbonicum MK he starts feeling better. He’s less anxious and is doing things for fun. In the past it was always duty.
His memory is better. He has dreams where he is doing all kind of things in a pleasant way, instead of with anxiety and threats as in the past. He’s lively, focused on what he's doing.
After a year and some repetitions his complaints are almost gone: the joint pains, the backache, the abdominal problems, the allergic symptoms.
Then he comes into a state of low self-confidence. He feels shaky inside his abdomen and chest when people speak to him and he is intimidated easily. It’s something he had buried and is now coming to the surface. It’s the intimidation he used to experience from his father, at school and in the army. At school he was teased and he started to do the same thing. It was the only way to survive. It was “the thrill of the hunt, the power over others”. He had to do it to preserve his status in the pecking order.
His wife said he became less impervious, revealing some insecurity to her for the first time. He could admit his lack of self-confidence and show his weak side. The “untouchable guy” was just his image.
Lanthanum carbonicum MK cured this part. After the remedy he went through a healing crisis. His insecurity reduced and he felt more stable and peaceful.
Comment
I have the impression that both remedies were needed. But the Neodymium carbonicum is the bigger picture. It cured most of the complaints too. Lanthanum carbonicum is connected to the situations of intimidation.