Lamiaceae
By Maarten van der Meer
Note 2025
Since the presentation of Wonderful Plants and the development of Qjure, the insight in Plant family's and the knowledge of these plants as remedy is augmented and spread, new information is and will be added. The plants here named as Lamiaceae are now split in Laminoidae and Nepetoidae. As we are used to in the Plant analysis, most of the characteristics of this family, the Lamiaceae, can be extrapolated to the Lamiales, and in abstraction to the Lamiidae. Study of this article will help to understand how the concept words out of the combination of Gold series and Silver series, the interpretation of Phase 5, and the search for information for an analysis. It will give you insight in the evolution of analysis, based on the concepts of Series and Stages, based on facts, interpretations of facts, visual and nonverbal information that characterize sensitivity, dysfunction, functioning and health-level and how to connect that in Plant remedies.
Lamiaceae, version 2009 Plant families,
Based on a number of successful Lamiaceae prescriptions, an attempt has been made to describe similarities in the person, provoking circumstances, causa, reaction patterns, and experience of the complaints. On the one hand, to give substance to the ‘themes’ as published by Scholten, to make the themes recognizable, and on the other hand, to supplement them. The prescriptions used in the case studies are partly based on the themes and stages identified by Scholten, Plants 5, 2003, and partly on comparisons with subsequent successful case studies. Recognizing previously gained impressions in individuals appears to be a good guideline in case studies where the same medicine is indicated. It is not always possible to capture the ‘picture’ with the symptoms, using the objective and subjective descriptions and characteristics of the complaints. The circumstances, the reactions of the vegetative nervous system and the central nervous system, and the individual interpretation of these, which is ‘colored’ by and based on previous experiences and interpretations by the person concerned, appear to be related to the disturbance. In many cases, perhaps much more often than we might suspect, there is even a correlation with the required medicine. The homeopath can learn to pay attention to this, to recognize and name it. Themes that play a role in the origin or existence of the disturbance and the complaints can be used to find a suitable medicine. This is similar to the “classical” way of working, in which the ranking and ordering of complaints and symptoms, the form of manifestation, and the objective and subjective description are used. What is remarkable in the case studies used here is the experience that the subjective description is often decisive for the choice of medicine. This indicates that ‘colored’ descriptions can play an important role in characterizing and naming the disturbance. The experience and description of an event, illness, or experience depend on the sensory and psychological state of the person in question. The same applies to all previously acquired experiences, the frame of reference against which each person places their story. This condition, both in terms of predisposition and influenced by individual development, determines how and whether stimuli, an event, or a feeling are processed. This can lead to a reaction, integration, or a disturbance, a disorder, which disrupts homeostasis, causes symptoms, or a complaint.
Starting points for the case studies
The keywords that Jan Scholten mentions for the Labiaceae, based on case studies and existing materia medica:
– Recognition; lack of recognition, often from childhood. They seek it in the outside world, among friends and family.
– Ambition, to gain appreciation and recognition.
– Holding tension, ‘hoarding’ deeper feelings.
– Contact, connection; they lack this both with people and with their feelings or needs.
– Spasms.
– Sedative and antiseptic properties.
– Need for communication, a vulnerable nervous system, and bleeding. Limited self-esteem, which is locked inside and prevents real contact.
The above has been the starting point for my own case studies, which have been used to better understand the themes, make them recognizable, and gain new experience. These insights and experiences can be used in descriptions and wording to provide better recognition of a Labiaceae indication.
Addition based on own case studies:
– opportunism
– being (wanting to be) carried
– clear goals
– need for concrete actions (active or passive, objective or subjective) that confirm friendship or appreciation
– fantasy; creating a goal, depending on/in response to disappointment
This only disappears when they can concrete it. The fantasy fills a vacuum; being detached creates loneliness, which is an oppressive situation or has an alarming effect.
– feeling isolated, not connecting, friendships, belonging
– restlessness, unsteadiness, tics or spasms, in movement, looking, and thinking, explosive
– resentment, feeling wronged
– focused on the outside world, sensitive to it
– reflex arcs
– intense bond with mother or care theme
– superficiality, unable to reach depth (is also not a ‘goal’)
Detailed description of characteristic impressions gained from successful Labiaceae case studies, useful to recognize other Labiaceae indications. The description is a picture, a compilation of the appearance and the presence of the persons and the theme of the Labiaceae family.
Excluded
In the case studies used, the appreciation of the social group, friends, or family was an important theme. Not feeling at home in the social group, the experience of “not belonging,” being excluded, not being seen as an individual, being the odd one out; these are all causal factors for a Labiaceae indication. It is more than likely that this is the result of a sensitivity to having and maintaining interpersonal contact and communication: sensitivity to its loss is high, and the need for it is high. Good quality and quantity are important aspects of contact and communication for everyone, but in the case of a Labiaceae indication, it is more of a necessity than a luxury. This is visible in their actions: they are open in their contact, they reveal a lot about themselves, sometimes more than intended and more than is good for them, because it is not always understood by everyone (which they assume, incidentally; not being understood contributes to resentment or a feeling of distance). They are openhearted, yet at the same time, they have an open-mindedness that seems naive, but is probably based on blind trust. “As the host himself is, he trusts his guests” (you measure other people’s close by your own yard). Giving themselves fully, expressing themselves emotionally without restraint, wearing their hearts on their sleeves, an optimism that stems from a limited focus, limited in time and place. They do a lot with their eyes: maintaining contact, outwardly focused, searching a lot, the problem is receiving. The eyes focus attention not so much on a person, but more on what is happening between people. In addition, they tend to sit with their consciousness in perception, forgetting themselves. They see a lot, with relatively (too) little reflection on what is happening around them, or what the meaning is, often because there is no time for it. So much to see, so much to experience; the constant flow of information, which they absorb and interpret, allowing it to flow inward, or which creates a constant stream of feelings and the search for someone who recognizes and acknowledges them. Through which they feel recognized as a person, or in their existence. The feelings and the search that they express with their eyes can be both the cause and the result of unrest. Unrest that, through biological reflexes, will eventually overload the vegetative nervous system, causing mental and physical disturbances.
Sparkle
The ‘sparkle’ that is often seen has to do with hope, expectation, like a child standing at the window looking out for a visit and attaching a mythical meaning to it. Waiting expectantly for your friends, your entrance into the world, the person or thing that makes you ‘someone’. Once contact is made, everything is fine. Experiencing contact as a state of being, a state of consciousness, which gives them the happy feeling they strive for, which they know. In a healthy state, when the unrest has disappeared thanks to a suitable Labiaceae prescription, or before the disturbance occurred, an intense and harmonious enjoyment can often be observed. The sensitivity and focus on the exchange with the outside world must have an equal opportunity to the inner world. This seems to be a recurring observation in humans. In the above example, this can be seen in the internal focus on one's feelings and the emotions experienced in the moment. The ‘sparkle’ can also be compensation, a futile search for satisfying attention or contact. As if they are reaching out impatiently from a cage, casting lines in many directions: flashes of a search for contact, trying to connect. A good comparison is the image of someone who is fascinated, eagerly looking out, beautifully portrayed by the lyrics and music of ‘The Circus Band’ by C. Ives.
Connecting
Seeking confirmation of ‘belonging’, of being part of something, as a child might experience with their family or social group. The magical experience of unity. If this experience is disrupted, the happy state of being, the feeling of a safe world, disappears. Biologically, this is a stress factor to which the body will react, depending on the nature or specific stress load. Both the feeling of being shut out and the restlessness or resentment, which are so often present that they can be seen as characteristic, remain strikingly present on the surface. Not shutting oneself off, not going inward with the experience, but a constant striving for contact, even in situations where this is impossible, in a way that is disproportionate to the situation.
This results in a lot of compensatory behavior, taking action, seeking appreciation, and seeking an outside world that. This leads to a lot of compensatory behavior, actions, seeking appreciation, and searching for an outside world that matches their expectations (their own perceived or created worldview).
They have clear goals or desires in mind for themselves, what they want to achieve, and think they can achieve. This can be quite unrealistic; there is sometimes an element of fantasy or personal interpretation that influences their sense of reality. This is probably to avoid disappointment, to drown out disillusionment. Especially when there is pain or emotional baggage attached to it. Holding on to an unattainable goal creates tension that builds up and continues to build until it becomes too high, and just as static electricity causes sparks, this tension causes spasms; discharges from an overstimulated nervous system. The fantasy mentioned fills a vacuum; in the case of a Labiaceae indication, there is no other interpretation when
the appreciation disappears. This fantasy or pipe dream can have a very decisive influence on their lives, expectations, choices in work, career, and social contacts. They do not find appreciation in others, nor themselves, and they cannot avoid the pain this causes, as they are far too ‘present’ for that. Present in the here and now, present in feeling reality, biologically speaking a strong focus on the proprioceptors, and a strong focus on the emotions that reflect this, the effect of the hippocampus on the vegetative nervous system.
Appreciation
It is certainly not the case that there is always an actual lack of appreciation from the environment; it is mostly the ‘experience of too little appreciation’. This may be based on a (great) need for appreciation, the developmental phase, a ‘misunderstanding’ of attention, the loss of an excess of attention, or confusion between the factors of attention, dependence, and self-realization with appreciation. To recognize a Labiaceae indication is facilitated by the fact that they are open people; it is easy to read what is going on inside them and how they react. In addition, they are usually very friendly people, they have very direct and open eye contact, and they pay close attention to the conversation. They show a lot of emotions and can visibly enjoy themselves and be satisfied, and share this with you (the satisfaction described for Rosaceae differs clearly from this; with Rosaceae, satisfaction comes from within, it is a conclusion, while with Labiaceae it is more on the outside, it is an event). In short, they are pleasant conversation partners, especially because they communicate and do not overwhelm you with information and the things that are on their minds. Add to this their liveliness, which has a natural beauty due to their spontaneity and direct response to feelings without the interference of thoughts. The spontaneity and openness that this can radiate, even unintentionally, are appropriate for a young child. Endearingly expressive. Because feelings are immediately expressed in our bodies, these people are an open book. This can lead to criticism from educators and social problems, because the etiquette to be used usually cannot conceal their primary reactions. In competitive situations, their openness and ‘transparency’ (for they are usually easy to read) always reveal their hand, which can lead to dissatisfaction. Developing their own opinions, disliking something, deviating from the habits of the group or family morals, trying to rise above them; it all happens openly. This naturally elicits a lot of reaction from bystanders, creating a shared experience, which makes open contact valuable to them and encourages them to continue this attitude towards life. Becoming accustomed to this communication, and the pleasure they derive from it can provoke a one-sided development: a dependency. Reflection can also cause resistance: criticism, disapproval, a lack of understanding, which can result in feeling unappreciated. The outward focus, the search for confirmation, can be the cause or consequence of the aforementioned ‘lack of contact with one's feelings’. As long as one's feelings are, as it were, overwhelmed by external impressions to which the body reacts, there is little room to integrate ‘own feelings’, processed impressions, and learning processes into the consciousness of the moment. Mythical consciousness There is often a clear mixture of opportunism, a desire to be supported, clear goals that are set, a need for concrete actions, and a desire to take action, preferably as part of a group or within a group. They are restless, fidgety, often with a noticeable nervous tic: an easily recognizable and very useful diagnostic indicator. Not loners by nature, they are unhappy and irritated or tense when they do not feel at home in a group, when they are not accepted into the group. The group in which they want to feel at home must emphatically confirm their existence. Friendship, a social or societal meaning, having a place or a function is the driving force here, but it remains the means and not the end. Not knowing or feeling connected causes loneliness, an alarming reaction in which adrenaline rushes through the body. Initially, this can provide vitality, but later it usually leads to exhaustion. The “I” in the sense of “the Hero” as described by Joseph Campbell occupies a prominent place within one's inner world. There is little reflection or mirroring, there is too much ‘outgoing’ energy, a focus on the outside world, on changes or signals to which one could respond. In proportion, there are therefore fewer adaptive characteristics, fewer receptive and understanding qualities. In contrast to a Lanthanide indication, there is no ‘helicopter view’, they remain themselves the center of the world, playing the leading role in their scenario. They look around, everything is beautiful and everything is new. An awareness of beautiful and interesting things, innovations, and, if they are well balanced, also of the emotions and expressions of others. They are amazed, with eager interest, but do not ‘grasp’ the situation. Walking through the world, looking at how beautiful everything is, jubilant. Like fairy tales begin, without the burden of magical or archetypal baggage. Complaints arise when the fairy tale takes a turn, as Stephen Sondheim portrays in his musical “Into the Woods. The days following “and they lived happily ever after.” They are so strongly anchored in experiencing the moment that there is too little reflection, too little contemplation to be able to reflect. No rest, no resignation, always action and always on the move, always walking around. They don't count to 10, they immediately draw a conclusion based on their feelings. The mind knows and becomes confused. The atmosphere of a balloon, of the old merry-go-round, and circus music. The adrenal system puts them on edge, the peripheral nerve cells express this in twitching, agility, very direct non-verbal expressions, the central nervous system expresses this in being uninhibited, strong emotions, or strong compensatory behavior. Because they are on edge, whether forced or not, attentive and present in their bodies, feeling, they are capable of quick reactions, can quickly go along with atmospheres, even with their own emotions running away with them. A drifting along.
This attitude causes restlessness and agitation, which is related to ‘going with the flow’ and the focus on and specialization in feeling action, and change. Not a focus on static signals, such as muscle tension, peace of mind, or existing situations and accumulated experience. The physical cause of this may be that the body reacts so directly that the static phase is skipped. Reflex arcs are innervated too one-sided, too little suppressed. Or, physiologically speaking, too rapid synaptic adaptation. It may also be that the one-sided focus prevents feedback on the building tension.
Idea, reactions.
They are full of plans. Friendships can start and end quickly. In the case studies used, this had to do with like poles repelling each other, a false view of reality, becoming absorbed in the idea, and the importance of a supposed friendship. Opinions are formed very directly and impulsively and are suddenly present. They decide more than average based on their feelings. They usually hold on to friendships for a long time or too long, because of their high regard for them or their dependence on them. They are sensitive to people with strong personalities and seek them out, but without submitting to them. Someone or something, striving for independence and equality in appearance or behavior, or building up tension toward these people. They have no idols, at most a desire for a position. They often have a vision, an image of the world, which is embedded in fantasy or ideology. Adults often have lingering complaints arising from lingering situations; they continue to react to situations or feelings, and their sensitivity to stimuli remains unchanged. No adaptation, but constant explosive reactions, tics, reacting to situations, and feelings. The needle sticks in the record.
Perceiving with the body, the body as a sense organ, the body as consciousness. Human aspects, as observed and valued by the philosopher Wittgenstein. If this becomes disruptive, it can be a basis for a Labiaceae indication.
We have the combination of characteristics: opportunism, wanting to be carried, clear goals, need for concrete actions (active or passive, objective or subjective) that confirm friendship or appreciation, fantasy; setting a goal, depending on disappointment. This only disappears when they can concrete. The fantasy fills a vacuum; the feeling of being ‘detached’ or not part of the group creates loneliness, which is an oppressive situation or has an alarming effect. The themes of ‘appreciation’ and ‘explosiveness’ also occur in the story which is appropriate for a Labiaceae indication. However, the emphasis is more on appreciation from within and rejection from outside. Labiaceae have a more ‘alert and receptive’ attitude and way of speaking, a warmth and sometimes even a sweetness, as well as an openness to the outside world with which they dare or want to show themselves as vulnerable. Not alertness focused on danger, but on attention, support, and connection. Compared to similar emotions and stresses, there is less heaviness in the story and the person, in the atmosphere that someone carries around them. More pastel and watercolor, soft insistence and almost clingy in order to hold attention, to intensify contact. A kind of helplessness, a mild form of shock, a sobering impression, if the contact does not go well for them. The reaction to this is characteristic of the stage.
Characteristic circumstances or stress factors in the case studies used, similarities that occur as a given, as a theme:
Mother bond
An intense bond with the mother, care or concern, active or passive (as giver or receiver). An (overly) concerned mother, rightly or as a result of fear or compensation, develops a great or excessive amount of attention and focus on the child. Conversely, this can also be striking, caring for the mother. Caring or being cared for, usually both. If this is a family theme, it can be a predisposition, arising from projection or compensation, and be the cause for a Labiaceae indication. The concern is separate from the bond that exists; emotionally, the bond is often uncomprehending or poorly communicative (this could be a reason for the strong focus, the unfulfilled desire). Typical is the charge it has or can take on. There may also be a focus on care in general, working in healthcare with the motivation stated as: ‘for the contact, the empathy’, possibly the reason for the choice is the recognition, the pattern.
'Belonging',
This can manifest itself in different ways: within the group of friends, the social group with which someone wants to conform, and/or feels dependent on. Usually, the cause and problem lie outside the family, although tension can also arise within the home with significant behavioral problems. In a number of cases, the source of tension was the children feeling equal to the adults as a social group and not seeing this realized. The same thing occurs with equality among peers, possibly in all situations where ‘belonging’ is at stake. The same applies to adults, of course.
Resentment
Irritation and resentment are characteristic and easily observable. Underlying this is unspoken emotion or anger. Brooding. Visible frustration. Feeling wronged. Want to measure up to the image they have of others, or to the image they have of themselves, whether or not to compensate for low self-esteem. A clash between two parallel worlds of experience: their fantasy and reality. The self-created image is not adjusted; they do not learn from confrontations with reality. The donkey keeps bumping into the same stone every time, because that is the direction they had planned: to be in control, to shine, to be the apple of someone's eye, to remain so or to become so.
Attention
Wants to hear that you are doing well. ‘Being in the picture’. As a theme; needing it, seeking it, not so much as feedback, but more as the status quo. In that sense, there is often a static experience. Being cheerful and making it second nature; Then there is attention, acceptance, and then you are seen. Not offending anyone, not stepping on anyone's toes. Having this possibility already requires attentiveness, receptivity, focus, and a reflection on approval. Knowing how you come across, and being able to use this to continue behavior, or as frustration, if it does not meet the expected attention. Being unproblematic or intrusively present, and everything in between, falls within the scope of dealing with the theme of attention.
Complaints
Sensitive to noise. Sensitive nervous system, centrally: quick irritation, overexertion, restlessness, emotionally unstable, and peripherally: stubborn musculature, often in the face, extremities, muscle tics.
Being adaptable, being able to be a chameleon. Being unproblematic.
Dreams about teeth, falling out, and dissolving.
To describe the atmosphere and learn to recognize what a plant family is, I often
use art forms. The following examples fit the experience with people who responded well to a Labiaceae prescription. Music: circus music, French chansons, Darius Milhaud, Steve Reich. Visual arts: sculptures, batik art, and paintings by Susanne Wenger, born in 1915 in Graz, studied in Vienna, and later lived in Nigeria from the 1950s onward. She is described as someone with a strong individual experience. Much of her work and life is referred to as ‘based on a previously acquired wonderful experience, a dream image’, or her interpretation, her vision of mythological representations. Interested in trances and rituals from various cultures, focused on ‘feeling at one with’, experiencing a beautiful and fantastic experience. This focus or fascination with unity could be a drive stemming from a search, a ‘I want to belong there’. Perhaps her living in Africa, where group consciousness plays a much stronger role than in European culture, has played a part in the similarity I see between her work and the feelings, expression, and focus of people with a Labiaceae indication. Painting: I also see many similarities and parallels in Kandinsky's paintings made between 1908 and 1920. What he depicts during this period is a dynamic way of waiting, a ‘search’ for form and decisiveness, with a charged, highly expressive use of color and emotion. Other descriptions of his work include 'power, contrast, crammed (charge), and blown away (explosion). This is the period that began when he lived in Munich and let go of the undercurrent of the Impressionist style. He sought contact and exchange of ideas with many other artists, started writing (most of it unpublished, unappreciated), and was looking for more expression, possibly more appreciated and more personal expression, to bring out his style. In 1920, he returned to Russia, his style changed significantly, he was offered a professorship, and with it recognition, and was accepted into his ‘own’ culture. If he felt at home again and recognized and appreciated, his expression from the period before that time, fitting the feelings of the Labiaceae theme, no longer fits.
Appendix
Characteristics of Labiaceae based on the case studies used.
– Belonging (the group, being accepted or excluded. Appreciation, disapproval, and counting. (dd forsaken, magnesium, secale,)
– Open contact, heart on the tongue, uninhibited, frank, easy to see through (dd Fabaceae)
– expressing oneself uninhibitedly, the need to do so. Restraining oneself creates tension. (dd ammoniums)
– eyes, maintaining eye contact (dd Lanthanides – these are more focused, concrete, look from the inside out, have more space to receive)
– ‘contact’ as a state of being
– intense contact and emotions (dd Phosphoricums and Rosaceae)
– alert to incoming information, not so much consciously receiving, often a too superficial way of making contact and processing.
– having one's own (created) image, instead of the experience, the receiving (dd Rubiaceae)
– too much outside oneself (dd cannabis, Funghi, pyrus americanus)
– experiencing a lack of appreciation (dd Sulphuricums)
– Care, worries, concern as a dominant factor, mother bond (dd Muriaticums)
– Irritation, resentment – expression, dynamics, charge. (dd Euphorbiums, Malpighiales)
Categories that can be extrapolated to the entire Labiacea family, as a theme:
forsaken feeling (Lamium album)
dreams relatives, children (Ocimum sanctus)
irritability
sleeplessness
excitement, (ailment from) excitable after hearing horrible things (Teucrium marum)
magnetized, desire to be
jerking, muscles (Teucrium marum)
twitching (Hedeoma puligum)
cheerful (Origanm, teucrium)
Headings that do not mention Labiaceae, but would be useful for the entire family:
ailments friendship, deceived
delusion affection, loss of friends
desires flattery
Note 2025
Since the presentation of Wonderful Plants and the development of Qjure, the insight in Plant family's and the knowledge of these plants as remedy is augmented and spread, new information is and will be added. The plants here named as Labiaceae are now split in Laminoidae and Nepetoidae. As we are used to in the Plantanalysis, most of the characteristics of this family, the Labiaceae, can be extrapolated to the Lamiales, and in abstraction to the Lamiidae. Study of this article will help to understand how the concept words out of the combination of Goldseries and Silverseries, the interpretation of Phase 5, and the search for information for an analysis. It will give you insight in the evolution of analysis, based on the concepts of Series and Stages, based on facts, interpretations of facts, visual and nonverbal information that characterize sensitivity, dysfunction, functioning and health-level and how to connect that in Plant remedies.