Philosophers and writers in history have always extolled the virtues of solitude dating right back to Seneca, de Montaigne, and Rousseau through to Rilke. More recently, Michael Harris in his book entitled ‘Solitude: in Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded
World’ dedicated it to this very subject (1). However, I have come to conclude that, as a result of the restrictions which have been imposed on populations since the outbreak of the pandemic, solitude is only of benefit to the individual when it has been selected by them and not as a result of the constraints being imposed on society as a whole, such as exist today.
Beyond anything else, this pandemic has illustrated the need for close connection to others and the freedom to select it at will. I have discovered that even people who are regarded as introverts and would perceive themselves in that light, are struggling with the constraints of lockdown and/or quarantine which impose a threat to their autonomy in this context.
On September 17th, 2020, I wrote a blog entitled ‘Stemming the Tide in the Upsurge of Addiction’ where I quote John Donne’s ‘No Man is an Island’. (2) However, since that time, it has become apparent to me that the persistence of enforced isolation has taken an even deeper toll than back then. This is where I start to consider remedies from the Periodic Table. Being derived from minerals, they act deeply into the organism - especially at a time when maintaining causes have become so deeply entrenched and mistrust between people is increasing as a result.
Cuprum Metallicum (derived from copper) features in the combined rubrics:-
‘Company, averse to’ + ‘Company, averse to, avoids the sight of people’.
At the same time, this remedy does not appear in the rubric:-
‘Fight, disposed to’ but features in ‘Delusion, arrested about to be’ - along with Plumbum Metallicum, another remedy derived from an element in the Periodic Table. However, Cuprum Metallicum is the only remedy in the rubric: ‘Delusion, general, he is, a’. This represents a euphemism for the bellicose nature of the Cuprum Metallicum patient.
Other significant emotional and mental rubrics characterising the spasmodic nature of Cuprum Metallicum reflecting the current degree of constraint which is being experienced include:-
‘Agony, anguish’,
‘Anger, ailments, from’.
‘Anger, ailments from, fright with’,
‘Anxiety, fear, with’,
‘Anxiety, mental, exertion, from’,
‘Delusions, arrested, is, about to be’,
‘Quarrelsome’,
‘Rage, fury’,
‘Rage, biting, with’,
‘Rage, malicious’,
‘Rage, mischievous’,
‘Rage, screaming, with’,
‘Rage, striking, with’,
‘Rage, violent’,
‘Rage, pulls, hair of bystanders’,
‘Remorse, feelings, regret’.
Dreams are a good indication of the emotional state of the individual during the pandemic and often point to their level of neurosis at the time. Some rubrics of Cuprum Metallicum featuring here include:-
‘Dreams, anxious’,
‘Dreams, arrested, about to be’,
‘Dreams, waking the patient’.
It is no coincidence that Cuprum Metallicum is so strongly indicated in physical diseases of a spasmodic and convulsive nature, for example as indicated in asthma, which has parallels to some indications of Covid-19.
When surveying the Periodic Table of Remedies (3), it can be discovered that row 4 (the Ferrum series) is to do, not only with a strong sense of duty, but also a need to maintain control. Cuprum Metallicum is at number 14 at the stage of breakdown in that series - those on the left all holding it together and those on the right dissolving into disorder. This remedy just about keeps the status quo here. Patients needing remedies from this series not only like to maintain control, but also resist any constraints placed on them. In fact, the remedy - Cuprum Metallicum - suffers from this type of suppression more than any other remedy in the materia medica. This can manifest on all layers of the person in their presenting pathology. Rubrics from the materia medica which reflect this theme include: ‘Fear, control, losing’ + ‘Ailments, from, emotions, suppressed’.
Alongside the course of the pandemic, there has been a parallel intensity playing out astrologically, reflecting essential areas of our lives and the world which have become increasingly unstable. The result is an increasingly chaotic field which, as we can see, is becoming more and more difficult to see how things may develop. We find ourselves in a labile situation in which an event that at first glance seems insignificant can have a major impact. However, shortly before the end of this extraordinary year, the quality of time, according to astrologers, is predicted to change significantly, with December 21st seen as the beginning of a new era.
When contemplating copper as a mineral, I have been reflecting upon the island of Cyprus. As a country which has resisted invasions over the centuries, it makes sense that its name reflects this particular mineral when considering the nature of Cuprum Metallicum as a remedy in its high degree of resistance to outside forces. It would take an elemental remedy and one from the Periodic Table to challenge and - at the same time - release the status quo’s markedly compromising effect on the psyche at this extraneous time in our human history.
References:
1) Harris, Michael, 3rd March, 2018, ‘Solitude: in Pursuit of a Singular Life in a Crowded
World’, Random House Books.
2) Scholten, Jan, 1993, ‘Homeopathy and Minerals’, Stichtung, Alonissos.
3) Blog:- Adalian, Elizabeth, ‘Stemming the Tide in the Upsurge of Addiction’,
September 17th, 2020.
4) ‘The Current Quality of Time’, Astrodienst Newsletter December, 2020, www.astro.com.