Category: George Vithoulkas

Carcinosinum   Cancerinum A nosode from Carcinoma   Historical background The first to mention and use Carcinosin, the cancer nosode, was James Tyler Kent. He called it ‘Carcinoma’, and this is how he prepared the remedy: ‘The preparation of Carcinoma which I have used, for years, was taken from a mammary cancer. The patient had continual seeping of clear, colourless, watery discharge from the open cancer. A small quantity of this fluid was saved and potentised, and has served satisfactorily, in many cases of advanced carcinoma.’ He used it as a palliative in cancer cases: ‘Carcinoma relieves the sharp, burning …

Carbo Vegetabilis Vegetable Charcoal C (impure).  Trituration.   The essential features If there is a one word that characterizes the pathology of this remedy, the word is emptiness. It is a feeling as if life has gone and left an empty space, a shell without life, an empty sack. Such are the feelings of the typical Carbo vegetabilis patient: totally devoid of energy and he will feel this way in both acute and chronic conditions. If we want to generalise grossly about such pathology we can say that it is the result of imperfect oxygenation of the blood and sluggish …

Carbo Animalis Animal Charcoal. Made from charred ox-hide. C (impure). Contains Calc. phos. Trituration.   The essential features The Carbo animalis patient is a burnt-out individual lacking self-confidence, without stamina, and with a lot of fears, anxieties and delusions. He has almost all of the characteristics of someone who has lost the ability to fend for himself, and so is burning himself out fast and furiously. Anybody can ask him for whatever they want and take it from him; Carbo animalis has no power to resist, to say, “No, I am very tired now; I cannot do that.” He no …

Capsicum Annuum Cayenne Pepper (South America and West Indies) O. Solanaceae Tincture of the dried pods.   The essential features The constitutional Capsicum individual is usually obese, flabby with a red face (especially a red nose) and has varicose vein conditions. On close examination, it becomes clear that this red appearance of the face is due to a fine interlacing of dilated capillaries such as may be seen in drunkards. The end of the nose is red, as are the eyes and cheeks. This remedy appears more frequently in males than females. The Capsicum individual is plump and round and …

Cantharis Vesicatoria Cantharis vesicator, Lytta vesicatory. Blister-beetle, ‘Spanish fly’. N.O. Insecta, Coleoptera. Tincture or trituration of live insects.   The essential features As is well known from our materia medica, remedies generally prefer a specific system, organ or area of the body and express their action there, although their action is by no means restricted to this location. Cantharis’ preference is definitely the urogenital system, and it usually involves in its action both the urinary and the sexual spheres simultaneously. In Cantharis cases, when we have an inflammation of the urinary system, especially of the urethra and bladder, we see, …

Camphora Officinalis   Camphor. C10H16O. A gum obtained from Laurus camphora. N.O. Lauraceae. Solution in rectified spirit.   The essential features Camphora is so powerful that it antidotes most of our remedies. It should not be kept in the home where you are stocking homeopathic remedies or during homeopathic treatment. This disruptive quality is not accidental as Camphora so deeply affects the vital processes of the body. It prevents the blood from reaching the periphery: the head, the extremities, or the penis. It will cause collapse (due to the shortage of blood to the brain), Raynaud phenomenon (ischemia of hands …

Calendula Officinalis   The essential features Calendula is to lacerated wounds what Arnica is to bruises. Both are considered specifics for injuries (as are Ledum, Bellis perennis and some other remedies). When the skin or an organ is not torn and the external trauma only produces an extravasation of blood, then Arn. will be indicated. However, when there is laceration of the skin or of an organ and inflammation sets in, then the correct choice is Calendula; yet this is not always the case, as the injuries have to have additional Calendula characteristics if we want our remedies to be …

Calcarea Sulphurica   Calcium Sulphate, CaSO4. Gypsum. Plaster of Paris. Trituration.   The essential features   The general idea that runs through this remedy is of an organism which tends to produce tumours and abscesses that not only do not heal easily, but that suppurate profusely and for long periods of time. The characteristic trait of the remedy is not its tendency to the formation of abscesses themselves, rather the fact that an abscess opened is very slow to heal and has a continuous discharge of yellow pus. In cases of inflammation, this organism quickly reaches a state of suppuration, …

Calcarea Carbonica Impure Calcium Carbonate. CaCO3. Includes symptoms of Calcarea acetica and Calcarea ostrearum, for which Hahnemann also made provings. Koch’s provings were made from carbonate of lime precipitated from a solution of chalk in hydrochloric acid. Trituration of the middle layer of oyster shells.   The essential features The remedy picture of this great polychrest needs to be introduced with a few preliminary remarks. Calcarea carbonica is a remedy which covers all stages of life, from infancy to old age, and all stages of pathology: on the physical level from the common cold to malignant tumours, and on the …