And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

The Twelve Days of Christmas song—it seems you either love it or you hate it.

Now that the Twelve Days of Christmas are upon us (from Christmas to Epiphany), it seems timely to ask:  Have you noticed how many birds are gifted in that song?

• Seven Swans a swimming
• Six Geese a laying
• Four colly Birds
• Three French Hens
• Two Turtle Doves
• And a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

Half the days’ gifts are birds.

What Does This Have To Do With Homeopathy?

There are homeopathic remedies made from many of these birds—usually their feathers or shells.  Sometimes the blood.  There is even a remedy from seabird excrement.

Maybe you need a bird remedy.  If some of the following symptoms fit you, you may want to consider getting a homeopathic consultation to find which feathered creature fits you.

Freedom and Independence:  The desire and urge to travel are a strong part of people who need bird remedies.

Intuition and Spirituality:  Their thoughts originate from a deeper level of wisdom.  They have a sense of inner clarity.

Perfectionism:  The urge to do everything right rather than true conscientiousness.

Relationships:  People who need bird remedies are connected through their feelings.  They are by nature family-oriented, caring, and helpful.  They have a protective instinct.  If the birds live in a flock, they tend to care more about the group or society, whereas birds that tend to be loners are more concerned about individual relationships.

Physical Symptoms:  Oversensitive to noises, inner restlessness, aimless agitation and irritability, eating too much or not enough (the expression “eating like a bird” comes to mind).  They have sharp, stabbing pains.

They have headaches, pressure on the cheekbones or jaws, and many teeth symptoms.  Eyes are dry and can have blurred and fuzzy visions and fear of becoming blind.  Their nose may be blocked, sneezing, hay fever, dryness like the eyes.

People who need bird remedies often find a sensation of their throat being blocked, especially in remedies from birds that eat their food whole.  A lump sensation is also common, as if something was stuck in the throat.  Think about birds that have long narrow necks.

In women, their periods are especially painful.

In the chest, they have a difficulty inhaling deeply enough.

In the back, they have tension and stiffness in the neck, upper back or dorsal area.

The limbs have numbness, tingling, weakness, especially in lower limbs.  They tend to be clumsy, exhibited by dropping things, stumbling, knocking into furniture.

Remedies Made From The Six Birds of the Twelve Days of Christmas:

Seven Swans a Swimming:  There are at least two remedies made from swan.  The most well known is Cygnus Cygnus, a whooper swan.  This remedy is well known for experiencing deep grief over the loss of a loved one.  It could be death or it could be a break up.   If you have seen the movie The Notebook, think about the main character

Six Geese a Laying:  The most well known of the goose remedies is Branta Canadensis, or the Canada Goose.  This remedy was proven by the Northwestern Academy of Homeopathy, in Minnesota.  This remedy notable for its hypervigilance, need for neatness and order, and self-righteous intolerance of contradiction, incompetence and injustice.  They are mentally scattered, their physical symptoms are ameliorated by being outdoors, and they are very sensitive to noise.  Physically, some of their symptoms include headaches, canker sores, and a number of skin symptoms usually accompanied by itching.

Four Colly Birds:  Although I grew up thinking it was “Calling Birds”, the correct word is “Colly” birds. According to every source on the internet, this is another word for Blackbirds.  There is a remedy made from European blackbird feathers.  It is called Turdus merula.  Unfortunately I cannot find out anything about the remedy.  There are, however, remedies from Crows and Ravens.

Three French Hens:  This is a bird called Poulet de Bresse.  It is carefully raised in a small area of France and is well known for its blue feet.  It dates back to the days of King Henry IV.  When raised for eating properly, it is considered a gastronomic wonder.  Gallus Domesticus is the common chicken, which has had a proving.  People who need chicken remedies are deceived, trapped, conned and now live their lives, meaninglessly, for the financial benefit of others.  Chickens are strong cancer remedies, as are other domesticated bird remedies. Routine traps and deadens those that need chicken remedies.  They love to gossip—this should not surprise us, as there are many analogies about hens clucking.

Two Turtle Doves:  (Doves mate for life, so there would only be two doves given in this gift).  Pigeons and doves belong to the same family.  The best known dove remedy is Columba palumbus, not a turtle dove.  The person who needs this dove remedy is a peace maker, trying to resolve difficulties between individuals.  They have great sadness and they repress these feelings of grief and anger.  They are always acting in service to another.  They are good at consoling others and they have the ability to love their enemies, thus the symbol of a dove for peace.

If any of these remedies or birds in general sound like you or someone you know, give a call and get healthy!

Kathryn
www.lotushomeopathy.com
651-748-1556

Lyme Disease: A 21st Century Disease

“In the fullness of time, the mainstream handling of chronic Lyme will be viewed as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of medicine because elements of academic medicine, elements of the government and virtually the entire insurance industry have colluded to deny a disease.

This has resulted in needless suffering of many individuals who deteriorate and sometimes die for lack of timely application of treatments or denial of treatment beyond some arbitrary duration.”

Kenneth Liegner, MD
Address on Lyme disease at the International Organization of Medicine conference, 2011

Lyme Disease is the diagnosis of the 21st Century.  Or perhaps I should say, Lyme Disease is the Missed Diagnosis of the 21st Century.

Deer Tic

Hardly a week goes by where I don’t hear of a person who was recently diagnosed with chronic Lyme’s Disease, either in my practice or in a social setting.  This isn’t too big a surprise.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are 14 states in which 95% of the Lyme Disease cases are diagnosed.  Minnesota is one of those states.

As you can see from the above quote, Western Medicine has little to offer for Lyme disease.  In fact, they tend to deny that it exists.  There is one tool in the toolkit for Western Medicine, and it is Antibiotics.

What are the symptoms that indicate you may have an undiagnosed case of Lyme disease? The CDC acknowledges about 30,000 cases per year.  This is up from 20,000 in 2004.  In reality there are probably 1,000,000 per year.  Why the discrepancy?

There are many things that have been found to be Lyme that have been misdiagnosed as something else.  They include:

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Epstein Barr Virus, MS, RA, ALS, IBS, Crohn’s Disease, migraines, neuralgias, neuropathy, Tourettes syndrome, Meniere’s disease, vertigo, Parkinsons, dementia, early onset Alzheimers, arrhythmia, anxiety, depression, bi-polar, OCD, restless leg syndrome, stillbirth, autism, vague symptoms coupled with ‘wandering’ joint pains.

For example, Dr. Alan MacDonald, a Lyme disease researcher at South Hampton Hospital, found that 70% of Alzheimer’s patients has Lyme spirochetes in their brains!  He also found some babies that died of SIDS also had spirochetes in their brains.

Dr. Sam Schorr, a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome specialist, tested 250 cases of CFS for Borrellia, the microbe responsible for Lyme disease, and all 250 cases tested positive.

Here are some symptoms generally agreed upon by natural health practitioners of things to watch for that may indicate Lyme disease:

Physical Symptoms of Lyme Disease:

• Auto-Immune issues of all sorts
• Persistent swollen glands
• Sore Throat
• Fevers
• Chills
• Sore soles of the feet
• Joint Pain
• Swelling in all the joints
• Numbness in arms and legs
• Unexplained back pain
• Muscle Pain
• Bell’s Palsy
• Tremors
• Headaches
• Light and sound sensitivity
• Blurry Vision
• Floaters
• Buzzing in ears
• Vertigo
• Motion Sickness
• Flu-like symptoms that don’t go away
• TMJ
• Unexplained weight gain or loss
• Fatigue
• Hair loss
• Menstrual irregularities
• Irritable Bladder
• Loss of libido
• Erectile Dysfunction
• Heart murmur
• A Fib
• Chronic Cough
• Skin rashes
• Shingles
• Conjunctivitis
• Seizures

WHEW!

Mental/Emotional Symptoms of Lyme Disease

• Brain Fog
• Difficult concentration
• Twitching of the face
• Searching for words
• Forgetfulness
• Poor Short Term Memory
• Learning disabilities
• ADD
• Disorientation
• Getting Lost
• Mood Swings
• Irritability
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Panic Attacks
• Psychosis
• Paranoia
• BiPolar

A 21st Century disease needs 21st Century protocols to help those who suffer.  Homeopathy is a shining star when it comes to helping people with Lyme disease.  I recently took classes to learn how to get to the bottom of Lyme disease.  Watch my next blog post for more information.

Kathryn
651-748-1556
www.lotushomeopathy.com

Who is the Authority on “Cures?” Part 1

When I have had a similar conversation with at least three people on the same topic, it is time to write a blog about it.

The most recent?  The belief that because Western medicine, or naturopathic medicine says something cannot be “cured”, then no other modality can cure it either.

I believe this stems from the belief that if it (fill in the blank with the disease with which you or your loved one is afflicted) could be “cured” then surely, western medicine or naturopathic medicine would know about it and would, therefore, be using that cure.  I remember reading an interview with the late Patrick Swayze when he was dying of pancreatic cancer–which is almost always a death sentence.  That was his viewpoint.  If there was a way to deal with it, the doctors would be doing that.  Sadly, that viewpoint didn’t work so well for him.  I am not suggesting anything that could have helped him here–I’m just thinking that if I had a disease that was basically a death sentence, I wouldn’t be stopping with just western medicine.  The more tools in the toolbox, the better.

Before I continue, I need to mention that use of the word “cure” is actually forbidden by anyone but a western medicine practitioner, so I will use the word “Heal” or phrase “Recover from”.  And frankly, they don’t have any “cures” so imagine my puzzlement that they can use it and we can’t.  Oh Well.  Recovery is really a much better description and a much more spiritual concept.

Even though I can’t use the word “cure”, I was curious about the definition, so I made my way to Dictionary.com.  There are lots of definitions, some of which involve meat, but the one ones I like are:  “a means of healing or restoring to health; remedy” and “A method or course of remedial treatment, as for disease” and “successful remedial treatment; restoration to health”.  And of course, “remedial” means “to remedy something.”  So it definitely applies to homeopathy, especially since we use remedies, but since I can’t use the actual word, we’ll just rely on the definition and my substitutions indicated above.

Let’s start with the big ones:  ALS, Type 1 Diabetes (also known as Juvenile Diabetes), autoimmune disorders, etc.  Floating the idea that there is no way to recover from any of these illnesses does a disservice to those who suffer from them.  Western Medicine can only at best manage them and at worst, suppress the immune system to prevent the symptoms from reappearing.  Maybe there are other options…but they don’t happen to be part of the elusive standard of care.  With many of these diseases, the sooner you go on the suppressive drugs, the harder it is for the natural methods to work.

What about other diseases, that aren’t so new and have a longer track record with natural medicine, homeopathy in particular.  Graves Disease is a good example.  Western medicine has a drug which can put the disease into remission.  If it doesn’t work, the solution is drinking the radioactive iodine to kill the thyroid and then be on synthetic thyroid the rest of your life.  Let’s examine homeopathy and Grave’s disease.  But first, a bit of back ground information.

In order to determine what a new remedy heals, the new potentized substance is given to 20 – 30 healthy individuals.  This is called a proving.  The participants (provers) each take a dose of the remedy and then start journaling their symptoms.  After a few weeks, the provers get together to discuss their symptoms and a pattern starts to develop.  Over time, the new remedy gets added to the homeopathic Materia Medica (which is a list of symptoms belonging to each remedy) and also to the Repertory.  The Repertory is a very large book which lists symptoms and under each symptom are the remedies that are known to be produced in a healthy person when the proving was conducted.  However, both of these references also include Clinical information.  A proving won’t produce Grave’s Disease or Cancer or anything really serious like that.  But based on other symptoms, it was found through practical use on a number of clients, to help recover from some pathologies.

The Homeopathic Repertory has a symptom for Grave’s Disease.  It has 88 remedies in it.  Since provings do not produce pathological symptoms like that, it means that these references all come from clinical experience.  Scrolling through the sources of the remedies, there are some long standing, highly respected homeopaths who have reported recovery from Grave’s Disease. Some of the references go back to the late 1800’s and early 1900.  So is there a “cure” for it?  Not according to Western Medicine, but according to the people who know homeopathy there is a way to recover.

More Tomorrow.

Kathryn

651-748-1556

www.lotushomeopathy.com