Putting the Meaning Back in "Green"

I’m on the verge of heartbreak when it’s clear that companies like WalMart have discovered a way to make themselves look virtuous and green for Earth Day. Driving home from the GO Station this morning (Ontario’s own version of Lip Service on the issue of the Stewardship of Nature), I managed to catch almost the entire radio spot (they’re running one on TV, too), featuring WalMart’s “healthy” snack options. There aren’t many of them, just your usual Sun Chip corn/wheat chips, flavoured with an MSG chemical manufacturers can legally call “cheese” because of the political and economic clout companies like WalMart command, selling for “the famous WalMart low price”. The big selling point of the commercial is its message: for every package of such “healthy” foods you buy, WalMart will donate a portion of the proceeds to purchase “green points”, which then go to support and promote the use of “alternative” (and yet unspecified) forms of energy. No word yet on exactly what “green points” we’re talking about–Kyoto Accord green points? The kind of Green “credits” discussed in Brazil’s last biodiversity conference, way back in the last century? What? It’s mystifying in that familiar sloganeering way: you know the phrase would have a little disclaimer star right above it if it appeared in a print ad. In a TV or radio spot, however, it sounds right only until you ask, “what do they mean by that?”

And that’s all WalMart has to do to be absolved of its myriad transgressions against life, people, food, labour, and the planet: feature a pretty, smiling hippie girl on television holding a bag of junk food, telling the world what a good corporate citizen it’s become. That, and perhaps hire Renzo Piano to design them an Optic Green head office somewhere in the South, full of light, and air, with a token nod to solar energy in a glistening panel installation on site. Something more like a sculpture than an actual working fuel source. Just to, you know, say that they did it. So they have a place where they can consult with other “green” experts, who’ve found a way to cross that line between activism and corporate resistance.

In a way the rash of suddenly green corporate citizens is part of a timely lapse in “holidays” — and I have heard an advertising executive interview that Easter and St. Patrick’s day came so close together this year, which left a kind of gap that Earth Day filled perfectly–just in time for “green” marketing, exceedingly lucrative and new. It’s not really that new, however, and definitely not new where food is concerned. What’s interesting is its coincidental presence in a world where so much is happening around food and its distribution right now, so much is affecting its price and accessibility. So much is happening around the kind of food that’s being produced, what’s being wasted, what’s being hijacked for use in non-food product, and what’s being misrepresented to us as “real” and “healthy”.

WalMart’s just another big box store in Canada, most recently a big box food store to rival the 5 other massive big box food corporations currently running the show here–Loblaws, Sobey’s, A&P/Dominion, to name a few. Ever since Loblaws came into the “green” food business, however, nothing in the typical supermarket has actually lived up to the European standard of “organic” food; and the resulting legal definition of “organic” in Canada has become as believable as the legal definition of a “trans fat”. Plenty of the food being sold in these major chains are billed as organic, despite the fact that the only difference between these foods and the store’s regular brand items seem to be packaging. In these grocery stores, “organic” foods contain as much genetically modified grain and soy, as many refined and “enriched” foods, as many soy-derived glutamates and hydrolyzed proteins, and as many artificial colorants, hydrogenated rancid fats, and perfumes as their non-organic counterparts. It’s all about labelling now, as opposed to content–labelling and definition: WalMart is perfectly suited to walk in to a market that’s already been hoodwinked to buy less-than-what’s-stated foods made by other large corporations, usually from food sources far, far away from home. China, mostly; or in countries recently forced to allow grain materials formulated by companies such as Monsanto and Cargil to be grown in large quantities, despite their farmers’ and consumers’ resistance (places like Brazil).

That sounds like the antithesis of “green”, doesn’t it? No matter: sell the consumer a plastic weave bag for a dollar extra, and you can make him or her believe even more strongly in their virtue as protectors of this planet for the coming seven generations. It all looks good and real, just like Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth–but everyone remembers the end of that brilliantly produced film, with its well articulated but terrifying argument: the one suggestion made to “make the effort” to stop Global Warming came in the form of asking people to buy fluorescent light bulbs, instead of incandescent ones.

So the problem of sustainability, which is perfectly attainable, just gets worse. WalMart is moving in very quickly, even where the company faces a great deal of resistance from citizens who are targeted as its market (WalMart inevitably just overrides public concern, decision making power, and law to open up anyway, putting competitors out of business easily). It’s well known for its questionable business practices, its legal transgressions in terms of pay and working conditions and labour practices. It’s known, in Canada, for union busting (since so many WalMart stores have been unionized by their workers–WalMart simply appeals to the local or provincial governments and the unions are dismissed outright and dissolved in those stores, or WalMart just closes up shop until such time as it can reopen as a non-union store). There’s no doubt WalMart needs to account for a great deal of what it does to generate profit, and people need to rethink shopping at WalMart all together: it’s unfortunate a bunch of Earth Day ads demonstrating a commitment that’s as small as possible is the best the corporation is willing to do.

It’s dispiriting, I know. So is the fact that the last canning factory east of the Rocky Mountains, CanGro, is closing, here in St. Davids Ontario. The countless farmers who continue to grow fruit like peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, apples, pears, and berries of all kinds will no longer be able to sell their produce to companies who would put the stuff on the market. We’re talking about arable land in Ontario that’s been used to grow fruit for the last 400 years: no longer marketable because the large food distribution corporations like Loblaws and WalMart prefer to buy food products and produce from China or South America or Chile or California instead. It’s a lot of good Niagara land producing a harvest that is simply ignored here, no longer valued; and, it’s another massive aspect of the Ontario economy (it’s largest sector, actually) that is just shutting down. A lot of people will be forced to pull out fruit trees for a subsidy, and replace them with…what? Corn for ethanol? Or, worse, corn for…the refined processed food industry? More grapes for more agribusiness wineries, fruit which costs tens of thousands of dollars per acre to plant and won’t yield for at least 5 years? And if there is no subsidy, or the subsidy for these changes aren’t enough? What then? More newly constructed Niagara bedroom communities?

The more I learn about this, the more I realize something really sinister seems to be at work here in Niagara. In the CanGro case in particular, the 100 plus staff members were ready and willing to negotiate purchasing the plant themselves, and creating a fruit farmers’ cooperative: but the local Member of Provincial Parliament, Tim Hudak, was once again ineffective at bringing the parties involved together (he also let Cadbury Schweppes close last year–another very important canning/fruit processing plant Niagara farmers depended on, another large employer in the Niagara region). The first and only grape farmers’ cooperative in Canada, 20Bees, was also allowed to fall into receivership despite the fact that so many farmers and wineries in the area need a co-op and the ensured supply of the best quality fruit in order to sustain the Niagara wine industry–but again, no “bail out” could be arranged. Seems very clear that ever since Hudak’s been around, Niagara’s industries have been shutting down quickly and without obstacle, no matter what attempts people have made to save them, and themselves, in the process. Like dominoes, we’ve lost a huge chunk of Ontario’s (and Canada’s, let’s not be simple about this) agricultural industry–this was the biggest industry in the province not 20 years ago. Following that, we’re watching the auto industry close, massive layoff after massive layoff, while Hudak and his party’s federal counterpart, Harper, throw billions of dollars to GM, Chrysler, and Ford just to watch them keep the money and fire everyone anyway, because it’s always given with no strings attached. The Auto industry was the province’s second largest industry–in particular, the second largest industry in Niagara after food–so Niagara is really in trouble. With so much money and effort invested already in an industry as vital as food, I can’t help but wonder why it is we let such astounding opportunities for real “green” business to flourish go, while people we elect continue to prop up businesses which simply aren’t “green” in any way, and simply aren’t interested in giving anything back to the communities which provide them with tax free business operation, a market, and lots of underpaid labour so their profits can soar.

We aren’t manufacturing anything much in Canada anymore as the largest employers started to leave Canada in droves way back when Free Trade was forced on us. That was Niagara’s first blow: produce grown here would no longer make it into Canadian food stores as Loblaws et al contracted to do business with American agribusinesses first. The wine industry grew as a response to that death: people were paid about $4000 per acre to pull out their trees and replace them with vineyards. Now that that industry’s been taken over by multinationals trying to look like small boutique wineries (while putting all the small wineries out of business as quickly as possible), those vineyards are also being pulled up (the 20Bees Co-op represented at least 20 individual vineyard owners, independent farmers–now all out of business as well as out of their vineyards, as some lost everything when that co-op failed). What we have now is more Escarpment land that can serve no purpose for the production of food. We could turn this into a real opportunity to put food from this area on the map, so to speak, as one of the world’s best high quality food sources, particularly to consumers who want to buy from local producers, and want to buy food raised sustainably: but the sad reality is that developers end up buying the land from exhausted farmers. When the Niagara on the Lake farmers who’ve been farming peaches and pears bulldoze their trees this week (that’s Niagara farmer Bill Duffin’s doomed peach orchard being pushed over in the photo above, one healthy tree at a time), they won’t be given enough subsidy to plant anything new–and even if they were, what could they plant that they could actually sell? Agriculturally, the land is worth nothing–unless alternative means of farming can be explored, and implemented–and lets face it, these could just as easily be subsidized as any “replanting” project, and they’d continue to keep producers here, and people working. As a site for a new subdivision development, because of that other bastion of Lip Service in Niagara known as “The Greenbelt Law”, a lot of farmers will be selling their land to builders in exchange for anything they can get to move somewhere where they can actually make a living doing something. Or, the other option: sell the land to developers who put in “Power Centres”: strip malls featuring big box stores in predictable combinations. Invariably, WalMart and Loblaws’ defense strategy to WalMart, the Loblaw’s SuperCentre, come in with these Power Centres to take over where the farmers used to be.

So, finally, even small business owners like farmers are being lost by the thousands in Niagara, all so that big box stores can stomp on in. The foundation of the Canadian economy is still individually owned, small businesses–entrepreneurs, even on a small scale, have always been the most resilient, the biggest form of financial stability and employment possible to the country’s economy. What does it say about us if that’s dying here, so rapidly? It says we have a strange idea about exactly what “Green” entails, for one thing. My secret wish is to see some backbone and fury here: I’d love it if every farmer could take every penny of those subsidies to plant whatever nonsense they’ll be told to plant–genetically modified soy, or Round-Up Ready corn (whatever version of that seed they’re in now), or even the deadly genetically modified rapeseed they use to make Canola oil–and leave their peach trees exactly where they stand. They could use the money to buy the CanGro operation outright and run it themselves anyway, just like the co-op they wanted to create. Grow the fruit sustainably, without deadly chemicals and crazy biotech seeds or caustic fertilizers and market it directly to Canadian consumers who want to buy local, fresh, native, “organic” produce, as that market is growing. Happy Earth Day, yeah.

I have to look for any kind of hope I can find, any sign that people have the means to figure out a way of taking back some of this lost access, the loss of control over something as basic and as fundamentally required as real, nourishing food. And it does exist.

There are still farmers out there who are actually growing produce organically–careful about using heirloom seeds, careful about saving and storing those seeds particularly for foods that have become so heavily modified by the biotech industries. Some people are doing this on a small scale, others are stepping out of that small model and setting up community supported agricultural schemes where local people subscribe to the harvest in advance. All of these farmers have carved out their own markets–educated consumers who will buy from farmers’ market stalls in city centres, or restaurateurs and chefs who insist on sourcing the best and freshest foods available in what is becoming quite a culinary hot spot. Many of these farmers are proudly “uncertified” organic, since “certified organic” has come to be an empty marketing strategy in these parts–and all encourage you to get to know what they do with integrity. The vegetables pictured here come from
Linda Crago’s Tree and Twig Gardens Heirloom Vegetable Farm, a local organic producer whose work in the area has made her something of a leader among foodies and people in the know. This is a CSA she started in my area about 5 years ago that’s grown so large she’s supplying restaurants all over Ontario, as well as customers who can now order as needed every week instead of “buying in” every season. The produce is not about shipping possibilities or storage ease or even marketability: it’s all about taste, fragrance, variety, the sensuous reality of food we all miss when we consume processed foods or junk foods we’re told are “healthy-er” than plain old Doritos or potato chips. We’re always jumping off from that point of comparison because we’re led to do so: we assume nothing like the assortment of texture and hue and flavour exists for us to choose from, and that our frame of reference begins and ends at what we can buy in a big crinkly package, in a supermarket. But that diversity does exist. The minute I look at those purple and green tomatoes I think of panzanella salads, or simple tomato sandwiches, or even rich homemade sauces or soups that burst with their sweet, intense flavour, and how each variety I choose to work with will create something far less predictable in its quality than the hothouse varieties we can get anywhere. Heirloom plant varieties always surprise with their appearance, texture, and flavour, and they can’t be had in local supermarkets doomed by contractual obligations to buy from large agribusiness producers thousands of miles away. They mature in the garden, their flavours develop from sunlight and not from food additives which coax our bodies to respond so that the lack of real flavour in our food doesn’t seem so apparent.

In my area alone there is a massive potential for a grass-roots-up food regeneration movement: many farm owners are growing older and large farms are too pricey to operate; fruit farmers can opt to find a new market for their produce by targeting consumers directly, or creating “value added” small scale industry to go along with selling the produce directly. If fruit farms are now becoming useless, and so many once-active acres become fallow land, there’s a perfect opportunity for new farmers who wish to court and nurture a more informed consumer base for real organic produce. Since so many fruit farmers will no doubt be asked to rip out their orchards for a subsidy to plant grapes or corn, why couldn’t they be subsidized to farm organically anyway–or even to designate their land for organic farming use, so that agricultural schools could set them up to create community initiatives? The fact is there are thousands of the really “green” agricultural scientists who are emerging from graduate schools already well trained and well versed in the many ways we could produce foods more sustainably in this country–we could actually employ them here, instead of watch them move away to places like Norway or Italy or Sweden, where people see real value in what they know and corporations have far less power over the way food is produced. If we want to think about killing a few birds with one stone, we can even think in terms of economic problem solving–supplying a learning environment/food source/nutritious lunch program for kids in schools, as Alice Waters does in the US with the Edible Schoolyard (or as Jamie Oliver and his friends tried to do in the UK–but we can plan against the outcome he got there); or, we can supplement already overrun food bank programs all over North America with community garden schemes, community canning efforts (especially for those forgotten fruit farmers whose orchard’s produce won’t be canned any other way), and opportunities to help those “in need” produce their own food, even if they haven’t got the land to do so. The possibilities for community and cooperation with each other seem to explode whenever gardening comes up, don’t they?

There’s a real need for foods that are rich in nutrient content, whether those foods be grains or fruit or meats and dairy–and there’s a growing awareness that real foods, in particular the traditional foods, are vital to creating and maintaining human health. What we think of as cultural food traditions are actually stores of nutritional knowledge gleaned over long periods of time by trial and error, and long term observation. Many of the foods we’ve now been led to believe are “deadly” or “unhealthy” simply are not so, nor have they ever been–and ironically, many of the foods we’re now told to believe are healthy (particularly the ones sold to diabetics or those who suffer from cardiac diseases of all kinds) are simply marketing opportunities for various processed food producers. Even mainstream media have begun to expose some of these marketing scams–a recent CBC Marketplace feature focused on the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation’s mandate to sell “Health Check” labels to producers of foods like Becel margarine (100% pure, rancid, hexane-laced hydrogenated soy oil, which we know exacerbates heart disease as well as diabetes). Many Canadians have become outraged to learn that these “labels” are still allowed by the Canada Food guide nutritionists, despite scientific research which warns against ingesting these foods. On the plus side, however, many of the newly outraged Canadians who used to believe the marketing (and in the Canada Food Guide, which has been exposed as yet another big corporate marketing tool) have become even more determined to learn how to make better food choices. And that’s a start, if not a focal point, in creating a demand for real food.

Real food will certainly continue to be a focal point for alternative medical practitioners who specialize in treating and reversing chronic disease, and in averting the long term effects of chronic disease on populations in general. After all, we know that chronic diseases don’t just affect us individually, they have an impact on a generational level, and on a community level as well. Human health in the developed world has actually become significantly compromised over the last 2 generations, despite what modern medicine would like us to believe. People now become chronically ill sooner in their lives, chronic disease is much more commonplace among the population, and overall quality of life declines much sooner for people in our generation and the one preceding ours. What I’m seeing in the latest generation doesn’t bode well for the future, either: we’re at a stage now where prosperous societies produce children with chronic illness that begins very early: from autism and other neurological disorders, to severe allergies to food which start in infancy (or before that), to severe allergies to the environment in general (”environmental” allergies are so prevalent now that various foods and all perfumes are now banned in places like schools as a policy, throughout North America). How did we get so sickly we can’t even live in the world, which is no more polluted now than it’s ever been?

I’m also seeing a universal weakness in an extremely important area, and that is skeletal development. Children with poor dentition are so commonplace now, where once (I’d say even thirty years ago, just over a generation ago) this was very rare. What we’re also seeing quite frequently now is the shocking occurrence of heart disease in even the more physically “fit” athletes, at very early ages. Heart attacks that kill at 13, for example; heart attacks that take place right on the basketball court, or at the track meet. In children who are supposedly supremely physically fit, at ages closer to childhood than adulthood. At some point, we have to begin to acknowledge how much of these deteriorations have taken place not as a result of genetics but of the supposed “better living through chemistry” diet we’ve all subsisted on for decades now--with all the spiritual and cultural repercussions of that "choice". And we have to begin to seek out the real “green” alternatives our ancestors depended on for full, sustained health. In our own era, right now, that means the work that small scale local producers are trying to get done in the communities around them, with community support and cooperation.

So, yes, it does look bleak when it looks like all the Big Food Boys are muscling their way in to take over what it is we’d really like to see happen with our food, what it is we’d really like to (need to) buy and use: but the fact is that things can definitely be made to change in our favour. Organizations conducting privately funded, independent research on nutrition aren’t the standard yet, not by a long shot– but they do exist. The largest one and the most comprehensive in its scope is the Weston A. Price Foundation, which creates a wealth of information on nutritional science based not only on traditional cultural food knowledge but also on pure scientific inquiry, funded by nothing except individual participant donations (in other words, they aren’t working for Big Pharma, or government food marketing boards, or biotech firms and chemical farming companies in any way). This foundation also does advocacy work–with its foremost scientists often speaking out to demand access to real foods such as raw milk and dairy. As a resource for people who need access to these foods to treat health concerns such as autism and environmental sensitivities, WAP has brought many people together. From there, people seem to be naturally creative when they work cooperatively. They can work together to lower the cost of access to various foods or supplements or even medical care, just because they create solutions to their existing common problems. It’s quite a revolutionary thing, community. Right now, in the Niagara region, it’s our only hope if agriculture as its been done in this area of the country is to continue.

Even if all we have the strength or energy or inclination to do is plant our own garden, no matter what size it is, that’s a significant contribution to ourselves as well as to the world’s ecological health–quite an impressive point for “green” living against the efforts of big box retailers intent on making themselves look good despite their long and ongoing records for exploitation and abuse. As small as that seems, it would have a great deal more impact than switching out your incandescents for some twisty neon bulbs you’d probably only be able to find at WalMart.

Food and History and Now

When I think of the foods my mother used to make, it occurs to me that almost no one takes that amount of time to prepare anything anymore. It was a long time before I realized that foods most people think of as “Italian” were foods my mother rarely made–hers was a cuisine that involved a great deal of preparation that started outside of the kitchen, a discriminating taste for the very best ingredients, no matter how rare. I took a lot of this for granted when I was a child, it often made me impatient when she would scour the city’s live markets, or forests in parkgrounds, looking for exactly the right herb, or mushroom, or animal or vegetable for a dish my mother had decided she would make. I wondered how it was my mother seemed fixated on these ingredients, when everyone else’s mothers around me seemed far less concerned, and never seemed to make the same foods as she did, even if they too were Italian women from Italy. To me she seemed like a witch: particularly in an age where everyone’s children were fixated on “astronaut” foods, stuff that was packed up and created in labs and sent off to the moon with the spacemen. She’d buy us the peanut butter in tubes and the Tang so we’d leave her alone when she gathered malva blossoms on the neighbour’s lawn to make tea only she would end up drinking. But she’d shake her head at us. Rightly so.

My mother’s village was quite small. There were a limited number of families there, and she grew up on a property in the hills outside of Teramo, a place settled by what I’m told were seven families, formerly named after their seven homes–Le Sette Case. Seven is a big number in Abbruzzi, I’ve learned: there are entire feasts prepared on the first of May based entirely on that number’s prominence in the mythos of these people. Up to 30 courses can be served on that day’s celebration meal, and every course’s primary ingredients are also arranged in terms of sevens. So I don’t know how much of my mother’s retelling is the truth, or a simple example of local mythology, passed down even to her from its ancient source. What I remember of her land is that it’s surrounded by mountains, green fields, rows of corn leading up into the sky and vineyards throughout the lands closest to the house. It was a large stone farmhouse, like nothing I’ve seen here. An elevated main floor built above what used to be the stables and barns, presumably for heat. What I remember of the place was its massive elements: a tall staircase leading up to the main great doors; polished stone floors throughout the first floor, and marble on what we’d call a veranda here, exposed to the elements (and therefore very surprising); a focolare, that thing we might call its hearth, so large it could be entered standing, surrounded by stone. It was oven, fireplace, central heat, the preferred seat, the focus of the household (and the origin of the very word itself). It was never left to go out; it was never left alone.

My mother had her own house on the property too: a little stucco farm house with a couple of rooms and some land. She’d bought it from her uncle when he decided to stay in the States. It was her intention to go back to that house at some point, it was never her intention to marry my father and live in a city like Toronto. From her family home’s entrance, you could see the Gran Sasso and the Miale mountains, the lights of the city below us, and the family’s own contributions to the little town they built: a small church, a school house, a very large retail store (what they called the “Sale e Tabacchi”, “salt and tobacco”; a place where they sold food, wine, supplies of all kinds, dry goods, milled grain and other produce they’d grown, and animal feed), and their relatives’ houses. Remote and seemingly isolated, as cold as hell at night and as hot as hell during the day.

She had a knowledge about plants that made her seem almost magical–the doctor, lovely as he was, was never called on at our house unless my mother couldn’t get the plant she needed to get us out of our illness. We were careful not to tell the doctor anything about my mother’s doings, but on the occasions she offered her information, he listened very carefully in a way you never see MDs do now, they seem so intimately defensive, even around chamomile tea. She was uncompromising about what she gave for our pains and we often seemed powerless to do anything about it unless our strength returned. By then we’d be feeling better and we’d let her off the hook, anyway: no big thing. It wasn’t until I ran into the character of the friar in Romeo and Juliet that I recognized what she’d actually been doing in nurturing and gathering the odd herb, the strange root, the full bloom at the precise hour. It wasn’t until I’d invested the time in the lure of this kind of medicine myself that I “got” my mother’s fixation, and understood why she was like no one else I knew. For the longest time I didn’t even realize where my own interest came from, even though it seemed limited to an interest in scent and its sources. But even there, it was my mother’s fixation before it was mine. One of my earliest memories with her is a streetcar trip to the Simpson’s department store for an engraved gold atomizer of Miss Balmain; another is her “finishing touch” of Le Galion’s Sortilège whenever she got “dressed”. I still remember her favourite perfumes and their presence in our home, I now know my own choices lead directly back to those mixtures, though the specific bottles and labels will never be sold here again. I wear their “offspring”; the same themes, reinterpreted.

I remember the day when I learned the meaning of her name: Palmarosa. Not its literal meaning, that was always obvious. It has a significance and a significative form that is unique to my mother, unique to us. I’ve always thought of it as a strange name, it still is, I’ve only met one or two other women with it and all of them seem to be related to me. It’s always been very pretty, in my opinion, but for some strange reason I missed (again!) it’s connection with the plant world. It is a grass, a palm, after all: one used in the creation of perfume because of its proximity to the scent of rose oil. It grows in South America, Argentina and Peru. My grandfather travelled there as a young man and very possibly came across the plant while he was there, as it doesn’t grow in Italy where he lived as a child, and returned to live as an adult. I’d never seen the plant mentioned before, and my interest with plants and medicine was there, but untapped. I’d found a bottle of the oil in Michigan, at a vendor’s stall in a market, and asked if a sample vial was available…then asked where it came from, what it was used for, how it was gathered, what it looked like…as if the curiosity flooded from me all of sudden. South America resonated with me and I remembered my grandfather; images of my mother in the garden, in the forests, in the markets all flashed back to me. I lost my grandparents early, one of them even before I was born: all I remembered about her father was his extreme height, his very gentle voice, and his brilliant blue eyes, his elegant face. I could imagine him sailing across the ocean, and wandering through the jungles as a young man. It was part of the story of him I’d been told–the part that was so much less my mother’s experience of him than her own myth about him, something less terrifying about him than the man he actually was to her, and to the rest of her siblings. Suddenly it was as if all those experiences linked us together, across time and space and even life and death. I remember the hair at the back of my neck standing, the gooseflesh. So out of nowhere, out of the ordinary, out of the extraordinary.

I knew where the wild thyme grew, where bolete mushrooms could be found (not the false ones, though, that grow under spruce trees–leave those ones there), when to pick dandelion leaves for salad (and where) and why basil has to be grown near tomatoes. Carnation petals have a thin end–pull them out of the cluster and that part of the carnation tastes sweet and peppery. Lilac flowers taste of honey; violets and pansies as well. Nettles and black malva and chamomile are everywhere around us–though the leaves of sunny chrome yellow coltsfoot blooms, everywhere around us too, contain enough cyanide to kill. Tiny artichokes small enough to fit into your fist are a staple in my mother’s cuisine, as are crêpes, made by the hundreds and combined or wrapped or filled in thousands of dishes; chestnuts as well, for the flour, paste, and roasted nutmeat they yield; peppers with an intensity to rival the hottest Indian cuisine. Before I was five she’d made me notice the difference between the saffron that came from Spain, and the saffron that came from Aquila, not that far away from where my mother was born. It was slight, but it was there in colour and fragrance, in the intensity of the finished flavour. She had a fixation for Bertolini essences, glass bottles with little metal covered stoppers, sold in tiny boxes bearing the turn-of-the-century typography and the depiction of an aquiline-nosed crone, gazing at a bottle (featuring a depiction of herself, gazing at a bottle...). She made liquers with these: Millefiori, Vermouth, Rhum, Caffe Sport, Triple Sec, Amaretto, Banane, and the essence that defied description, Alkermes. As deep blue-red as garnets and beets, it stained everything magenta and tasted of red currants, rose, pomegranates, heat, and spun sugar. Actually, nothing really tastes like it; nothing has its perfume. It’s unmistakable, and it went in every one of our birthday cakes, soaked through the Pan di Spagna until every golden inch was as pink as rubellite tourmaline. Colour, texture, aroma, and the ability to chemically alter your state: my mother’s birthday cakes took longer than a day to make, a labour of several steps, an assembly of various flavourings and extracts and techniques. Clouds of egg whites, their “reds” (my mother’s word for yolks) beaten to the ribbon stage; a baking powder drenched with the essence of vanilla; lemons juiced, peeled, zested. Then, as filling, a thick, cooked cream, flavoured with the tart lemon peel, its quantity halved, and that half flavoured again with cocoa as black as coffee. There was nothing juvenile about these sweets–each thin slice we were allowed on our special day was its own allure of layered sensations, until finally it wasn’t just the alcohol content that made our heads spin. It was as if she wanted us to use every part of our ability to sense as we grew older, not just the dessert but everything else; like her intention for us was that we be perceptive enough to know where we came from, know who made us. Know what was involved in the effort. And since there was a lot of effort involved, she seemed determined that we begin to figure this out early.

It didn’t register quite so easily, of course. What we loved about her traditions, our traditions, we often gave up in the name of being like the other children around us. It made it easier for us to be the “translators” we were, the facilitators between her and the outside, foreign world–because we had to fit into both in order for us all to thrive. My mother was frustrated with us, but patient. We would recognize it one day, we would be made to understand her point, she’d worked hard enough, she knew.

Decades later, in a remote trattoria in Reggio Emilia, I was offered a dessert that instantly brought me back to my third birthday, the first time I realized what she’d made especially for me, the memory of the flavour of the brilliant liqueur flooding back so quickly I could barely name it. I knew it right away as my mother’s birthday cake. When I asked the waiter for the name of what I was given, he answered, “Zuppa Inglese“–what translates literally into “English soup”–an Italian metaphor that teases the English for their supposed and lingering affection for cakes in general (Victorians and their “tea time”), and their savvy predilection for making use of dry cake in trifles. The Alkermes, the waiter told me, was really the most English thing about the dessert, since it could only be obtained, for the longest time, from the English herbalists who’d retained all the secrets of its creation.

Isis - From Liver Cancer to Life

Years ago, my gruff, "tough guy" uncle had a beloved pet named Isis. Isis was then a 12 year old Egyptian Mau cat, who had borne 2 litters of 2 kittens each. My uncle was so attached to these little animals that he had difficulty giving them away to the homes to which they were promised...which essentially ended his interest in breeding his pet. She was fixed after the second litter was placed and she enjoyed a life filled with many of the pleasures allotted to the felines who live among us--plenty of cat toys, the best home-made foods for her diet, warm fire places to lie near and sleeping beds placed close to the special humans in her life, plus a great big yard and garden, populated by songbirds and mice to keep her busy when things got boring indoors. My uncle doted on this pet, and except for a few "emergency" visits she made to the vet for which she was given treatments my uncle called "totally unnecessary" (and a limp she acquired from "jumping up after a bird) she was a sprightly, affectionate and fun loving cat who ate just a little too much now and again.

I often visited and stayed with my uncle during the year in which I was planning my wedding, travelling back and forth from the city where he lived. I had many opportunities to visit Isis during my stays. On one visit in particular, I found my uncle very upset and anxious because Isis wasn't responding to his calls for her, she wouldn't eat when she was fed, and he'd found hiding in spaces she had never been before. I knew from my own experience with cats that this is the kind of behaviour they exhibit when they are in the process of dying. I told my uncle that she could be very ill, so I promised him I would take a look at Isis to see if I could find what was wrong, and take her to the vet immediately.

Other than appearing to be completely unresponsive to touch, or food, or any other stimuli, she crouched and stared out, occasionally meowing in pain when she was picked up or moved. She did not strike out or bite, but her breath did have a "metallic", coppery scent. and she did seem to find touch on the left side of her body to be a little painful (she would flinch and meow when it was touched). I found no bites or cuts or other marks on her, but I did notice that her colouring seemed "a bit off", especially in her eyes and in her ears. If stroked her head, she would close her eyes; it was small comfort, and the only sign of response other than pain that she'd give me. My cousin, who is trained as a Shiatsu masseuse, affirmed that Isis' favourite thing whenever she had pain was a massage. The cat enjoyed them so much, she would often approach my cousin for a "massage" even if nothing was wrong with her. It was part of their interaction with each other.

When we got to the vet's office, and I gave the vet my uncle's name and address, he exclaimed, "I know this cat...I've seen her before!" He showed me the cat's computer record, which had 3 different entries marking previous visits during which the cat was given steroid shots for asthma. Isis had a history of difficult breathing, and on three previous occasions she was rushed into the vet's office for this shot. The vet had actually argued with my uncle in the past, as my uncle had insisted the shot be given, while the vet insisted that the cat's asthma required more intensified treatment measures. The Doctor's impatience with my uncle was clear, he had a hard time understanding my uncle's urgency about his cat, and he warned my uncle that his insistence on these shots would lead to the cat's premature death. With a good deal of anger in his words, the vet to Isis away to an examining room to see what was wrong "this time" and promised to tell me what he found.

When he returned with Isis, his diagnosis was cancer of the liver. He told me it was cruel to allow Isis to continue to suffer, as she was in a great deal of pain and needed to be put down. I asked him to explain why he believed this, and he demonstrated to me how he came to his conclusion. First, the cat was suffering from jaundice--the usual gold colour of her eyes looked "off" to me because what would normally be the white sclera had turned yellow. Her gums, paws, and insides of her ears, normally a pink colour, had also turned yellow. Isis lay still and unresponsive as he pressed and prodded at her sides, until she began to whine to be let go. He told me his diagnosis was based on just the physical exam--but he could be more thorough and take some tests if I wanted him to take the time to do this for her. I agreed this was a good idea, as it would give me the opportunity to tell my uncle about the diagnosis.

I asked him to tell me a bit more about her history of asthma, and he said all he could say was that she was rushed in in the past, and he had to deal with my uncle's insistence on the steroid shots, as well as my uncle's displeasure at their cost. I could tell I was dealing with a Vet who was didn't like my uncle and couldn't understand that my uncle's urgency was born out of real concern and fear for her wellbeing. I worried if his insistence that the cat be destroyed now wasn't partly related to his sustained anger. Before I left the cat for her tests, I told the vet I was a student of homeopathy, and I wanted to administer a remedy to the cat, just in case it might have some effect. His response was to tell me to "dose away, do whatever I wanted to do"...but warned me to consider the amount of pain the cat was in, and remember that she could not, at this point, be helped. "Your opinion," I thought to myself, and I left the cat with him to consult my books to find a remedy. I felt like I was up against some pretty big odds if she really did have an advanced liver cancer, but I didn't think it was such a good idea to give up on her chances without trying something.

That diagnosis was quite intimidating, I have to admit. I had no idea how I would organise the information I had about Isis, or where to start looking in the repertory for her trouble. Nothing seemed to stand out as "characteristic"...and since the "cancer" had already progressed far enough to bring about her instinctual dying behaviour, I didn't feel I could find anything characteristic about her case. I decided I didn't know, for certain, that she did have cancer at all: and to just go on what I knew with certainty about her case. The certainties:

1)asthma in the past;

2)steroid treatment, which would have compromised the liver

3)jaundice--indicating liver dysfunction and blood problems

4)a limp on her left hind leg, which my uncle believes came from a climbing/jumping injury that must have injured the bone, but which may have been some referred pain from internal organ damage.

5)a love of massage, or being physically stroked or touched. It was the one stimulus which brought a minor, "individual" response, which was characteristic to some degree. This is the characteristic that our repertories refer to as the "desire to be magnetized".

Looking up jaundice in the repertory gave me a moderately sized rubric (Skin, discolouration, yellow, jaundice, icterus;)...and further along, a rubric for jaundice as a concommitant symptom, showing only one remedy: phosphorus. Since the jaundice was very likely accompanied by cancer (or at least some illness which was bringing about the end of Isis' life), I could consider this small rubric.

Phosphorus is also listed under the rubrics Respiration, asthmatic (quite a large rubric) as well as Respiration, difficult. I asked my uncle when Isis's breathing difficulties would come up, and he recalled that they always started when he and my aunt would come home from work--usually when they were preparing or eating dinner, or shortly afterward. That would be in the early evening--before 9pm or so, a time modality which also fit in well with the remedy. For the phosphorus patient, all symptoms become worse at night.

There was little to go on for a mental emotional state, though I did know that much of the instinctual dying behaviour of cats is precipitated by fear and self-protection: their fear of predators, more specifically, their fear of being attacked while vulnerable motivates their desire to hide, to make themselves small in stature, to stop eating and drinking (so they leave no feces or urine traces by which other animals can detect them) and stop responding to stimuli around them. Its an incredibly fearful state and not characteristic of most cats at all when they're well. I decided on the phosphorus as the first remedy to try, and I took some support from the fact that it's a remedy often used in euthanasia, particularly when this fearful and anxious mental state is present. I felt that if I couldn't help Isis get better, death by phosphorus would be far less jarring than death by injection at the hands of the vet, and the remedy would alleviate some of her fearfulness. So I went back to the vet's and had him bring Isis out. In front of him, I gave Isis a dose of Phosphorus 30c, (it was the one vial of phosphorus available anywhere in my uncle's neighbourhood, so I took what I could get in terms of potencies) and hoped for the best while the vet shrugged as I slipped the pillules into her mouth.

The vet assured me that he would continue his tests and meet with me later on that evening to discuss her cancer: then we would put her down. I decided I would just bring her home, if that was all right with him; I told him I knew she may not get better and that I would be returning to him to put her down, if the remedy I gave didn't work, and if euthanasia was required. The vet warned me again that she was in great pain and my uncle would just be cruel to keep her alive, but I knew my uncle would be devastated to learn of his intentions to just put her down then and there. I told my uncle the diagnosis, told him I'd given her some medicine of my own, and got ready to drive home. I asked my uncle to give me a call the next day if he saw any changes, better or worse, in her case. There was no reason to be cocky about the expected results, but I was concerned that my uncle would be so infuriated with the vet's suggested treatment the two of them might end up in another battle of words...so I decided to give Isis and my uncle some time. I'd bring up the awful option only if there was no other alternative left.

Isis got better.

The next day, I heard that Isis' appetite returned, and the clarity was restored to her eyes and skin. After two days, Isis used the litter box again and had begun to want to go outside to run around. She was observant and alert while outdoors, preferring to walk around and sit in the shade or follow my uncle around as he tended his garden...and it was in watching her moving that he noticed her long-standing "limp" had disappeared. She did, however, have a funny new habit of licking the paving stones on the patio--something we all thought strange. "Pica!", I thought, since it was the first time I was actually seeing that symptom in a patient. Isis needed the nutrients she was getting from the clay and sand she was eating! Immediately thought about looking up all the Pica remedies, thought about redosing with the phosphorus, but the behaviour didn't last very long and then, once again, her picture changed.

About a week later, my uncle and aunt called to tell me that Isis was like a totally different cat--energetic, bouncy, affectionate again. But, they noted, she was developing a strange swelling under her lower jaw--did I know anything about what that was? They described her symptoms over the next few days as "strange and bizarre", as Isis developed what looked like a huge blister under her chin, which discharged a watery, whitish fluid tinged slightly with blood. They were concerned, so I told my uncle I would look for another remedy, but when I asked him about Isis's pain from her symptoms, he said she wasn't experiencing any--she just had this unsightly bulge under there, some of the hairs were falling off on the skin covering the bulge, it was really ugly but she was not bothered by it and ate and played with much more vigour than she had in a long time. Both he and my aunt felt compelled to follow her around with a washcloth, though, and you can imagine neither were thrilled with that part of her recovery.

I considered "waiting it out"--that hardest thing to do in homeopathy, especially when the symptoms are so disturbing (and yet very much the kind of symptoms that would indicate some movement towards cure). I would call my uncle to talk about the cat, but I couldn't come out to see him that week and there was no way to get any remedy to him where he was, so it wasn't like I had any option except to wait. I never did give another remedy or redose. Whatever it was that was happening came and went over the course of a week. As long as they kept her chin clean, and left her to her own devices, Isis was "putting up with" the new symptom well. It completely resolved in a few days' time, and she was as good as she always was.

Early this past summer, at the age of 17, Isis passed away of old age. She lived for 5 years after her "terminal" cancer was diagnosed, and never suffered another asthma attack or limp as a result of her adventures again; nor was she ever seen licking the patio stones again, or suffering from the skin ailment which developed after the phosphorus was given. I never even needed to give her another dose of the phos 30c, or of any other remedy--and now, looking back on the case, Isis became the best instructor for me, on that vital, tortuous lesson--waiting--especially since it would have been so easy for me to panic over what were essentially signs of increased health, awful as they were.

Isis makes me consider one other thing: I was a complete novice in the use of homeopathic medicine, just barely beginning that last year of my in-class studies as a homeopath, and yet the remedy was fairly easy to select given the limited symptoms I had to go on. The pathology in the case had progressed enough that death was imminent, and yet once the remedy was given, Isis was easily back on her way towards fully regained health. I'm still not 100% sold on the cancer diagnosis, but if I were, I would wonder why we all seem to think of this disease as something insurmountable. Isis was like a lot of our patients who seek us out for treatment: she was suffering in part from the (side) effects of repeatedly used prescription drugs, but the fact that no one had attempted to treat her with chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery worked to her benefit. These treatments might temporarily save her life but would also remove vital tissue from her body. Of course, once the body's own structure and self-healing mechanisms become altered, or hindered, or suppressed by standard cancer treatments, obstacles to complete cure are created, and these make treating cancer in human patients very difficult to do, homeopathically. I wonder just how much we could do for our patients, as homeopaths, if we could just see them before they've tried every other option in conventional medicine first.

originally published in Hpathy Ezine, January 2004

Winter First Aid Homeopathic Care for Hypothermia and Frostbite

Stocking the First-Aid Kit with Remedies for Winter Exposure

Winter weather can vary dramatically, day by day. It is not uncommon for one day to be warm and unseasonably sunny, so that everyone goes out with the lightest clothing; only to be followed by an extreme swing of temperature to the coldest, below-zero depths. Where I live, this kind of fluctuation can take place within the span of a few hours: its only natural that many people are caught off guard.

Sudden temperature changes in such extremes can create the conditions for all the enjoyable outdoor activities that so many people love: skiing, snowboarding, skating, or simply taking walks in the freshly fallen snow. But these quickly changing conditions can also create opportunities for injury and misery, which can be easily addressed or avoided with good planning. If avoidance can’t be managed, first aid care is the next best thing.

Some of the most common and dangerous winter complaints are frostbite and hypothermia: while everyone knows that dressing warmly is a priority in cold temperatures, there are instances where we don’t often dress as we should, particularly if the weather is prone to sudden changes. Outdoor winter activities such as skiing, snowboarding, tobogganing, and skating involve a lot of exertion, enough movement to keep the body feeling deceptively warm despite the freezing temperatures around us. Kids and outdoor enthusiasts will always over do it: I have a few memories from my childhood where I simply refused to come inside, and spent much more time skating or tobogganing with my friends even though I knew I was starting to feel cold and tired. Those days always ended the same way: with painful, cramping hands and feet that hurt for what seemed like hours, frostbitten from too much exposure.

Children aren’t the only ones who suffer from the risks of frostbite and hypothermia—those whose livelihoods depend on working outdoors, such as construction workers or farmers, also run the risk. Smokers, babies, and the elderly are most vulnerable, as their circulation will be less than ideal as a result of the habit or age, or simply because they may lack the ability to keep moving. The best precautions always involve dressing appropriately, in a number of layers of clothing that can be removed and replaced depending on how warm or cold one feels. Choose appropriate fabrics which insulate the body and wick moisture away from the skin so that the body does not become chilled—wool layers, for example, will insulate the body even if the fibres become wet. If you can’t move for any reason, or if you fall into icy cold waters while skating, ice fishing, or ski-dooing, then the risks of hypothermia and severe frostbite increase dramatically; so it is only reasonable to prepare for any contingency while outdoors. Rule out layering fabrics that simply can't provide you with some level of insulation even though they're completely wet (jeans, for example, are never a good choice of clothing in cold weather activities involving water or snow).

Hypothermia is the condition of having an abnormally low body temperature. It can come on very slowly, making it difficult to notice that its happening. When the body becomes extraordinarily cold, all the systems begin to slow down - eventually to the point where death can result. Sometimes, hypothermia can actually save lives, especially where the body shuts down heart and brain function in order to limit the oxygen the body needs so that it can stay alive; in some of these cases, children have been successfully revived because of the limitations the hypothermia placed on their bodies.

Frostbite, or "chilblains", as our old books refer to it, happens when a part of the body actually freezes. Mild frostbite doesn't leave lasting damage, but severe frostbite can cause permanent damage and may even lead to amputation.

Symptoms of Hypothermia: What to Look For

When the body is cold, it tries to generate heat by shivering - it's trying to warm itself. When hypothermia sets in, the shivering stops, as the body is now trying to conserve all the energy it can. This is one of the first warning signs of hypothermia. Other signs to look out for: disorientation and clumsiness, which take place as body temperature drops; and an irregular heartbeat which takes place when breathing slows down. Frostbite and hypothermia can set in in minutes, if the temperature is extremely cold.

Mild frostbite or "frostnip" makes the skin look pale or waxy, but the colour returns once the skin is warm again. Severe frostbite begins with white or waxy looking skin, but as the damage progresses the colour becomes bluish, or grey. The cold feeling is replaced with numbness, and blisters often form on the surface of the extremity. when things progress to this degree, even more tissue damage can be caused. Trauma injuries can result: a frozen finger can easily break in a fall; a frozen foot can suffer broken bones if walked on. Blisters can burst if they are placed under the pressure of a step, or inadvertently made to rub against the inside of a boot.

Frostbitten skin will burn if it is not warmed up properly, so this is a good time to remember the Law of Similars: warm the frostbitten skin with cold water or snow until circulation is restored to the area—do not try to use hot water for this purpose as permanent tissue damage will result. Keep in mind that as the body part warms up, the affected area may swell, itch, burn, or cramp painfully (this is what I remember to be my experience with this ailment). In cases of extreme frostbite, the skin will turn black: there is a risk that gangrene may set in, and amputation may be necessary.

Materia Medica

Agaricus Muscarius is the first remedy that comes to mind for chilblains, as it produces the stinging and itchy sensations in the toes and feet that are characteristic of frostbite. If no other remedy is specifically indicated, use Agaricus.

Agaricus features the swelling, burning, redness, cramping, and skin eruptions that itch and burn. Some patients experience lasting redness after frostbite and symptoms which look like the puffy, raised skin in rosacea; some experience swollen veins with the cold skin. It is good to keep in mind that the more serious effects of hypothermia are addressed by Agaricus, namely the irregular, tumultuous palpitation of the heart, which can take place when hypothermia has progressed. In general, look for these markers: these patients’ symptoms are all worse for open, cold air; worse after eating, worse after coitus, and worse before a thunderstorm. Slow movement brings about amelioration.

If the patient’s complaints worsen with exposure to heat, or more specifically from being in a warm room, think of Pulsatilla, which always suffers from stuffy heated interiors; think of Pulsatills especially if the affected part feels hot and itchy long after being thawed with cold water. If the thawed skin produces dark, red, itchy inflammations that are worse for cold and damp, think of Rhus Toxicodendron. Some other good remedies for the itching and coldness in skin or in fingers and feet include Abrotanum, Tamus, and Plantago. Abrotanum’s modalities are better for movement, worse for cold air and for suppression of any secretions. Tamus can be applied in a topical cream to soothe the itching; as can Calendula, if the surface blisters break and the skin needs to be sterilized and encouraged to heal.

Nux Vomica is a good remedy to consider if there is superficial inflammation with bright red swelling and burning itch. We can recognize the need for this remedy when the skin begins to crack and bleed as it warms, as well as if we see the typical Nux Vomica emotional state: extreme irritation, anger, and a kind of denial/denouncement of the situation. Where there is bleeding, cracked skin or inflamed, swollen, painful red heels bathed in unpleasant-smelling moisture, we should think about Petroleum as a good remedy. The physical symptoms appear to be similar to Nux Vomica’s, but the mental state in Petroleum will be far more concerned with the approach of death and the need to settle affairs than it will be with anger and irritable frustration.

The patient who needs Arsenicum Album has suffered a more severe frostbite, where the tendency in the frozen skin leans towards gangrene. Blackish vesicles may be present on the affected parts. Don’t forget to look for the characteristic fussy anxiety and restlessness of this patient, to confirm the choice for Arsenicum as the remedy.

Consider Sulphur as a treatment if the chilblain has a tendency to suppurate, and if its burning itchiness only gets worse once the part warms up as it thaws (particularly once the body warms up again in bed). In cases where the swelling and itching is violent, think about Zinc—and look for the characteristic fidgety feet.

Hypothermia

Hypothermia sets in when the core body temperature falls below 35°C (95'F); if the body has been cooled to less than 25°C (77°F) recovery is unlikely. As body temperature dips, the person becomes dreamy, unresponsive, and reluctant to move; the hands, feet, and abdomen feel icy cold to the touch. There may also be cramping, numbness, or paralysis, causing falls and accidents if the person tries to walk or move.

First, check breathing and pulse, and if necessary give artificial respiration. If you are certain that there is no heartbeat, use cardiac resuscitation. Once the person is revived, warming them becomes the next priority.

The best way to look after someone who is hypothermic is to bring the person into the warm, and give them sips of hot, sweet, non-alcoholic drinks. Warm the person up gently, so as to avoid overstraining the heart. Place warm-to-cool (not hot) water bottles, well wrapped, against the person's body, not against the extremities. Resist the urge to “restore” circulation by massaging the limbs, or encouraging the person to do “warm-up” exercises. Cover the body well with blankets. Though it sounds like it may be a good idea, submerging your patient in a bath should not be done.

A hypothermic baby will be unusually limp and drowsy and refuse to feed, even though the baby’s face, hands, and feet may appear to be normal. The most effective way of warming a baby is to hold him or her against your skin in a warm bed. In the elderly, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish hypothermia from a stroke or heart attack, particularly if the hypothermia results not from a winter accident or outdoor exposure, but from something as every-day as not being able to heat the home properly for lack of funds, or for difficulty in repairing faulty heating equipment. These situations are an unfortunate reality for many elderly people, especially if they are used to living alone.

Materia Medica

If the remedy Antimonium Tartaricum is indicated, the patient will experience a sensation of coldness running through the blood vessels. The face will be cold to the touch, and appear blue and pale, covered with cold sweat. The chin and lower jaw will be shivering; and in general the patient will experience chills, trembling, and muscular pains all over the body. Drowsiness, debility and sweat are big symptoms for this remedy. You will also hear lots of rattling mucus in the chest, as if it were filled and congested…but very little mucus is expectorated.

Arsenicum Album features faintness, icy coldness, and great exhaustion made worse after the slightest exertion. Pale coldness is everywhere: the face, which has a death-like colour with a bluish nose and open mouth; coldness felt in the stomach, coldness felt in the chest. Anxiety and agony are the facial expressions which indicate this remedy.

Camphora is indicated when the whole body feels icy cold, the blood pressure is very low, and the pulse is small and weak. These patients experience a sudden sinking of strength. The coldness in this remedy will pervade through to the tongue, and breath—yet the patient will not allow himself to be covered. There is also great numbness, tingling, coldness and cramping, especially in the calves. Everything will feel cold to the touch.

Secale Cornutum is another remedy which refuses to be covered: even though the body feels cold to the touch, the patient feels the sensation of heat and refuses to bear the added warmth of blankets. In this remedy, the extremities will feel icy and cold, and appear blue, shriveled, bent backwards or splayed apart, and numb.

If the patient is icy cold and blue but the head is hot and the breathing is laboured, quickened, and cold, think of “the corpse reviver”, Carbo Vegetabilis. These patients will have such difficulty breathing that they need to be fanned; the pulse is almost imperceptible as the blood stagnates in the capillaries.

If tremendous cramping is the major complaint, and convulsions or spasmodic affections which begin in the fingers and toes present themselves, consider the use of . Look for the characteristic blueness in the face, lips and nails.

The Veratrum Album patient will present with a stuporous, blank, dazed and seemingly indifferent appearance—what they used to describe as “a stupid manner, noticing nothing”. The collapse state in this remedy is extreme, along with the coldness and blueness felt and presented by the patient. The face will be pale, with a sweaty forehead; the pulse will be feeble, but rapid. There is a sensation of a lump of ice, on the vertex--pay attention to the patient's complaints about feeling cold to determine if this is what he or she feels; all of the skin is blue and inelastic, clammy feeling to the touch.

The Question of Potency

Well selected remedies work best if the potency of the remedy matches the case as well as the actual medicine itself. For first aid treatment, I find that carrying a kit with a number of remedies in the same potency can simplify things, and I try to select potencies in the lower rather than higher dilutions because they will give me an opportunity to repeat the dose more easily if they work successfully. A 30c potency in these remedies will allow you to start with treatment using a moderate potency, which can be repeated as indicated by your patient's responses; it can also be a good potency to use dissolved in water, for "plussing" the dose--extending the one dose by simply putting a pellet in a container of water (glass is prefered, and use about 8 ounces or so), which will allow you to give doses in sips. Then, your patient can sip the medicated water as needed without fear of using too much of the remedy. The best thing about the 30c potency remedies is that they can be easily located in health food stores or homeopathic pharmacies without too much travel or trouble; it's usually the most commonly carried potency on the shelves, which makes stocking and restocking the necessary remedies easy. Without too much effort, your kit will always be ready when you need it.

How Universal is the Law of Similars?

Years ago I chanced on what I’ve always thought to be one of the most literal applications of the Law of Similars, in one of the most unlikely places: on a prime time television science show, featuring the ongoing work of the inquisitive and brilliantly creative neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran. In 2001, when the Nova episode in question aired, Dr. Ramachandran was the director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego, and adjunct professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. The focus of his work was in solving a variety of what he termed to be the “mysteries” of the brain - but the part of the show which grabbed and kept my attention was his work with patients suffering from Phantom Limb pain. In Ramachandran’s experience, some people who suffered from amputations would often experience these pains only temporarily; others were not so fortunate. It was this second type of patient which led Ramachandran to “discover” and implement what homeopaths would know as an example of “Like curing Like” in his research.

Ramachandran saw the problem’s solution lay in developing a “treatment” for pain “in a body part that is no longer there”. In his work, he came across patients like James Peacock, who had tried everything, including painkillers and hypnotism (what, no homeopathy?), to eliminate the excruciating phantom limb pain he suffered following a motorcycle accident which resulted in the paralysis and subsequent amputation of his right arm. Ramachandran’s solution: a device he created called the Mirror Box.

To summarize Peacock’s experience (you can look up Ramachandran’s own notes and cases at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mind/notebook.html#; or the transcript of the Nova episode here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2812mind.html), James Peacock described the position of the amputated arm and the pain he felt to Ramachandran, who then designed a box and mirror device which allowed Peacock to mimic the exact position of his lost arm with his remaining one in front of a mirror.

Peacock clenched and bent his left arm into the “position” his no-longer-present right arm had been paralyzed in, before it was amputated—and then he “unclenched” and untwisted his functioning arm in front of the mirror, creating a visual image of what his twisted, painful right arm would look like if it were easing itself out of its distress. The result: the excruciating pain Peacock had been suffering for years in his phantom limb disappeared.

Ramachandran’s explanation: “It’s just as though you have visually resurrected the phantom limb. And of course the patient knows it's an illusion, but it's very, very compelling”. So compelling, that as the patient watches the reflection of his remaining limb doing what the ghost limb would do to stop its pain, the pain actually subsides. Ramachandran’s understanding is that the mirror image creates a visual stimulus for the brain which finally ends the creation of pain in the missing limb, as though it were the proper physical response to restore homeostasis and reverse what looks like a “positive feedback” pain creation process. This isn’t far from Hahnemann’s idea about the Law of Similars at all: in fact, the only difference seems to be that the curative, energetic response to the “medicine” happens regardless of the form in which “the medicine” is delivered. It seems that the law’s universal applicability in healing is indisputable.

There is always room for disagreement and further exploration, even though most of our September Poll’s respondents came to the same conclusion. Out of a total of 113 votes, 87.6% (99 votes) voted “yes” to the question of the natural law’s universality. 8 voters (7.1%) simply did not believe in the law’s universality, and 6 voters (5.3%) simply didn’t know. Those who left comments to the poll wished to express their belief in the Law of Similars through experience and practice in Homeopathy. Some wrote about applying the Law of Similars not just in Homeopathy but in other healing modalities as well as in everyday situations, such as Sigi’s response:

I voted for yes, but still, I didn't have Simillimum only in the homeopathic sense of the meaning in mind. When I was young I was told, if you have a hang over, just have one beer next morning. Once I tried it - and it worked pretty well. Thinking about Simillimum always makes me remember Vithoulkas’ principle of resonance. Resonance in waves, according to my limited knowledge, is best achieved by another wave with exactly the same wavelength. To avoid the amplitude to rise too high, the frequency of the added wave should be slightly higher or less (to reduce aggravation) - similar. Bioresonance, colour therapy, Bach flowers, Aromatherapy, Hildegaard medicine (cosmos, spiritual aspect), acupuncture, autohaemotherapy, esogetic medicine, kinesiology, magnetotherapy, bioenergetic therapy, all work with minute stimuli. If these therapies do produce a resonance effect (which could explain their effectiveness in treatment), well, then the Law of Similars is quite universal.

The “no” responders were simply “unconvinced” of its universality (and by extension, homeopathy), or completely dismissive of Hahnemann and homeopathy all together.

Others, like Dr. Manish Bhatia, respond that the Law of Similars may very well be universal (if “universal” as a term is qualified in a scientific context) or it may be conditional, effective only if other homeopathic principles are applied as well:

If you call a law “universal”, if it holds in every condition, then probably Similia does not apply universally. But we have to look at “biological” laws differently from the laws of physics and chemistry. In “biological” systems “chaos” predominates and the variables that affect biological systems are far too many to fall into fixed equations. So we can not call the Law of Similia a “universal” law the way we use this term for the laws of physics and chemistry.

But there is another side to this question. The law of Similia is a law which defines “cure”. A substance that produces a certain set of symptoms in a healthy human being has the potential to remove those symptoms from a sick person. We know cure often means much more than merely the removal of symptoms. We know that we have to approach different cases in many different ways and it is not always as simple or as algorithmic as taking the symptoms, finding the remedy and affecting a cure. If the full depth of this law is understood, it will hold in large majority of cases but if applied superficially, it will often fail. The Law of Similia can not always hold on its own without proper understanding and application of other homeopathic principles, like the homeopathic concepts of health, disease and cure, the laws of minimum, simplex, dynamization etc.

There are other aspects too. Not every case is “curable” and when we try to palliate, we often do not take the complete chronic picture into account for fear of undue aggravation in chronic incurable cases. There are other modalities too which are used to “treat” and which can offer cures too. Ayurveda, TCM, Meditation, Psychotherapy, Yoga, Reiki might just be some of them. Not all of them work the same way. It shows that there might be more 'laws' that govern our body’s capacity to heal itself.

Even if Simila is not a universal law, it gives results in large percentage of cases. It has the potential to cure in the most systematic manner possible. But I personally think that we still have a lot to learn about this principle. We have to be open and receptive if we have to enhance our understanding of the Simila further.

Dr. Suhas Patil reminds us in his poll message that Hahnemann himself found the Law to apply universally, though he did specify that there were a limited number of instances where Palliative or antagonistic (allopathic or antipathic) treatments were justified, and why. In a footnote to Aphorism 67 in the Organon, Hahnemann writes that situations that create a danger to life or imminent death often leave no time for homeopathy - and the Law of Similars - to act:

Examples include cases of asphyxiation, apparent death by lightning, suffocation, freezing, drowning, etc. Only in such cases is it permissible and expedient…for the time being…to rouse the irritability and sensibility (the physical life) again by means of a palliative, for example by gentle electric shock, clysters of strong coffee, excitative olfactory means (eg. Smelling salts), gradual warmings, etc. Once the physical life is again roused, the play of the life organs goes on its previous healthy course, because no disease is to be done away with here, but rather only an obstruction or suppression of the life force which, in itself, is healthy.

It is important to note, however, that Hahnemann makes a distinction between disease and what he calls obstructions or suppressions of the life force. Real cure, in Hahnemann’s learned opinion, could only come from the application of the Law of Similars—with or without the use of potentized medicines.

With these observation in mind, and with documentation of cases just like the ones Dr. Ramachandran has amassed in his work in conventional medical science, as an example outside of homeopathy, opportunities for us to continue to explore the boundaries of this law within the context of healing only increase. Let’s look forward to the work.

(originally published in Hpathy.com E-zine May 2006,

at www.hpathy.com/papersnew/siciliana-similia-universal.asp)

Homeopathy: Placebo or Poison, according to whim

Whenever I really want to get frustrated at the state of the world regarding homeopathy, I make myself confront the issue of our remedies, their “safety”, and the Powers That Be. The notion of completely painless, danger-free healing is a seductive one, so attractive to all concerned that the idea sells the medicine in homeopathy better than any fully-fleshed documentation of “cure” ever did. In North America, our remedies and treatment are available to the public largely because of the promulgated belief that Homeopathic medicines are “side-effect free”, “safe” for all to use, and benign in every sense of the word, especially when compared to allopathic medicines or other alternatives such as inappropriately and irresponsibly promoted nutritional supplements and herbs. But the fact is we all know the “safe” part is conditional: as long as the remedy is homeopathic to the case and the patient, and as long as the analysis behind its selection and use is objective, thorough, and the result of the capable application of Hahnemann’s method, treatment is more likely to be “safe”. The arguments about nosodes and sarcodes being “different” from or more dangerous than other homeopathic remedies are moot, and yet they arise every so often and threaten to change public policy wherever we practice. Why does such a non-issue continue to surface?

January’s poll results on the question of limiting access to the “poison” and “disease” remedies provide an interesting overview on where our community stands. The results, in summary:

Do you think homeopathic medicines like Nosodes, Sarcodes and those derived from poisonous sources should be strictly regulated, banned, or supplied on special license?

Out of 318 votes, the vast majority of responses favoured the “no” response to the question of limiting access to nosodes and “poisonous” source remedies (227 votes or 71.4%), and only 6.3% of our participants were undecided. The “yes” responses made up only 22.3% of the total number of responses.

Quite a number of the “no” responses demonstrated an awareness of the political reasons for such restrictions in access to remedies. Like many others who posted responses, H. Balasubramanian wrote:

“On one hand these people suggest that homeopathic medicine does not work and on the other hand they assume that homeopathic medicines may work dangerously. Isn't it ironical! If it continues this way, these guys will soon put a ban on all mineral remedies too.

Why don't these people realize that in crude form and in excess nearly everything can have toxic effects. Nearly every allopathic medicine has known adverse effects, yet they do not put a ban on them…”

There is a definite irony behind such a “ban” as so many of the vested interests in conventional medicine have been given the authority to dismiss Homeopathy as little more than “placebo”, or worse, quackery based on the ludicrous idea of sequential dilution and succussion (“there’s nothing in that stuff but milk sugar!”). Once we start talking about remedies made from cancerous tissue, gonorrheal discharges, or venom from the glands of snakes, though, no amount of dilution seems to calm the rancour and unrest. Dr. Balasubramanian is correct in stating that all things have the potential to be poisonous, depending on how they are used: the argument that minerals such as zinc or calcium are toxic can easily (and truthfully) be made, and these would easily become the “next” restricted remedies to follow behind the nosode wedge. The difference between medicine and poison is dose, after all; the Greek-derived word “pharmacology” means “the study of poisons”. Most of the “no” respondents, like Tanya Marquette, stated clearly that in the mindset of the conventional medical authorities, “homeopathic remedies are…nothing but…placebo, except when they are dangerous drugs”. Something must be off if the only poisons restricted on the market are the infinitesimally diluted ones Homeopathy uses to help make so many well.

Tanya Marquette continues on in her response to name some of the international forces and vested interests behind the push to limit access to homeopathic remedies (republished here in her own punctuation):

...unfortunately, all these battles we face are political/economic at base. a review of history makes this point all too clear. financial backing and lobbying is what is necessary in the current system of functioning. science is bought. the codex legislation surely demonstrates this. without the power of money, what is left is what is always left--people, the power of vocal numbers. every practitioner should have some written information on a hand out in their office. perhaps a petition, a list of phone numbers to call to express their opinion...

I think she very correctly points out the need for all of us as practitioners to be aware of so many of the forces influencing our practice and our relationships with our patients and each other. We all stand the risk of imposed limitations if we don’t make ourselves aware of international corporate interests being given priority over everyone’s rights to sound, accessible medical treatments outside of the conventional medical model, and we do have to respond to the need to be vocal in our opposition, and to educate our patients to advocate on their own behalf as well. As Dr. Leela D’ Souza points out in her response, the impetus to create these restrictions stems from a “lack of understanding (about) how homeopathy works”. Certainly better education of the public as well as the Powers That Be could help keep such restrictive and destructive limitations at bay. Lets consider the perspective of Amy H. in her response, below:

I think people should be responsible for their own health and their own choices. I want my options open if I am sick. I don't want to be forced to see a practitioner. That is just extra money that I don't need to spend and extra time talking that I may not need. I would like to choose to see a practitioner when I want to and takes(sic) homeopathy, herbs and/or supplements at other times.

It’s clear that the need for widespread, comprehensive public awareness and education about homeopathy is huge. Lately, I’ve encountered a number of people who share Amy H’s opinion and I have to say it’s one that really scares me, simply because it is bred on the idea that alternative medicines—like herbs and nutritional therapies with supplements-- can be practiced by anyone, without training of any kind. It’s sad that people feel they are “forced” to see a practitioner because the money and time “don’t need to be spent”. I don’t believe people would feel comfortable with the idea of performing life-altering surgery on themselves or their family members without any training, yet they feel they ought to be able to use herbs or potentized remedies or supplements without training—and to me, herbs, supplements, and potentized remedies are just as powerful as surgery, and just as demanding of skill and case management. Medical treatment of any kind always involves much more than just “the medicine”. If I were to become sick with a chronic disease of any kind, I would want to know that the process of becoming well again would be overseen by a qualified, objective and analytical practitioner: without that partner in place, all I could do to myself is bring about harm. I can’t forget the old saying, “The doctor who treats himself has a Fool for a patient”. Ideally, I would like to see people have all the access they need to purchase remedies and supplements and herbs when they need treatment, but I would also like them to be well aware of the fact that the use of such medicines requires a great deal of education and training too. In the best possible scenario, Amy could buy Carcinosin whenever she wanted to, as long as she knew enough to find a Homeopath qualified enough to prescribe the remedy to her, and then manage her case as it unfolds to make sure she actually becomes well from the treatment. As unlikely as it seems, Amy H’s “no” argument is at the very root of the majority of the “yes” respondents’ replies, exemplified in this post by Jamie Taylor, below:

Yes, medicine should be regulated as should Homeopaths. We desperately need a National/International register with agreed standards. These standards would then allow free access to medicines needed homeopathically. We do not want anyone experimenting with medicinal agents. Medicinal agents, whether nosodes, sarcodes etc should only be applied when there is certainty of curative action or for proving purposes. Who should regulate? This is difficult, because if Homeopaths regulate themselves they could always be seen as prejudiced and who in politics truly understands the world of Homeopathy and the standards that should be set?

Well, as for the questions of who should regulate and the problem of “prejudice”, conventional medical doctors self-regulate all over the world, in politically powerful organizations which all exhibit extreme prejudice in terms of self-determination and the protection of their own rights as medical doctors. Dr. Bhatia reiterates this sentiment in his post below:

I think the work of creating guidelines for the manufacture and sale of homeopathic medicines should be left to homeopathic organizations. And no medicine should be banned till it is proven to be a health hazard. There should always be an international inquiry before any restrictive action is taken. And the restrictions should not be more than making the medicine available on prescription or a warning label (for very low potencies) - just the way they do with conventional medicine.

One of the things which make me hopeful for the future is all the evidence that the creation of these kinds of national and international Homeopathic Organizations is inevitable, given the freedom and connection homeopaths all over the world now enjoy with technology. I no longer just see the “threat” of globalized corporate interests, I also see the immense possibilities brought to us by things like the internet, and the enrichment we can make out of our shared experiences as practitioners and continuous learners of Homeopathy. The potential for us in terms of research, data collection and sharing, education, and accessibility has never been greater for us as Homeopaths, and our numbers can only continue to grow as we become more unified in what we do as practitioners. Perhaps we can begin to see some of the changes we’d like to bring about take place, and much of the misinformation that’s “out there” in the world be replaced by better education, and better drug marketing practices of our remedies and methods. Bans on certain remedies serve no purpose for homeopaths or their patients: if public safety were really the concern, we’d see information dissemination become a priority before any ban on substances became legislation anywhere. Personally, I think some current labeling on the packaging of homeopathic remedies is far more dangerous than any nosode or poison can ever be, under any circumstances. Imagine how much pain and suffering could be avoided if we could pressure some of the best known Homeopathic labs in the world to stop printing “one-size-fits-all” dosing instructions on the sides of their tubes, or restrict them from selling polypharmacy concoctions as over-the-counter “Homeopathy”. Such small things would make a tremendous difference in real public “safety”, and go a long way towards making the public that much more aware about, and open to, what we do.

(originally published in Hpathy.com e-zine February 2006
http://hpathy.com/papersnew/siciliana-remedy-ban.asp