Homeopathy Reveals The Key to the Whole Self: Part 2
A Little Touch Leaves Ripples All Over
The Holistic Pattern from the Five Element Perspective
The next time we meet, Andrea’s symptoms have all improved significantly and we talk about what lies ahead. Homeopathy helps to resolve stumbling blocks and liberates a child’s potential. True healing lies in enabling her to meet her challenges, not as if she were Staphysagria, but as Andrea.
If I can help her to identify and to step into her own strengths, to be aware of how she responds to stress and what she can do to meet them in the moment, she will grow that much stronger.
The Five Elements and homeopathy converge beautifully, as we shall see.
Knowing Andrea’s individual holistic pattern from a homeopathic perspective (Staphysagria), I had an inkling that Andrea’s Superpower is Water, with a helping of Gold. A Water child is insightful and imaginative! I invite her to explore each season, their different flavors, their meanings and to imagine how these forces of nature might express themselves within us.
“Spring,” she begins, “is when everything bursts into life. Trees start to leaf out. There’s so much pollen. I get hay fever and my eyes itch and tear. Sometimes I can’t even go outdoors for days.” She imagines that the kids who embody the energy of Spring/Wood must be “bursting with energy. They can’t sit still. They’re loud and they’re always busy. That’s my mom!”
“In the Summer,” she continues, “we are on vacation. There’s less pressure. We’re more relaxed, and have more fun in the summer. Children who have Summer/Fire power must be lots of fun to be with.”
She did not have much impression of late summer or the harvest season, except that she enjoys apple picking.
“Fall,” she picks up again, “is when the leaves change color. It feels different when you’re a child, and when you grow older. Before, I just thought it was so pretty. Now, I feel sad when fall comes. The leaves are pretty, but they are also dying. I can’t think of one without the other. I know that very soon, there will be no more leaves.”
I tell her that without the leaves, we see the structure of the trees more clearly. “Yes, it’s not hidden by the leaves.” I also tell her that it’s the best time to plant trees and bulbs so that they can rest and send down their roots without having to grow leaves over the winter.
“Planning!” she concludes, very excited. “These people are the real leaders, very charismatic. They have everything together. They’re not disorganized. When they have everything together, they can tell other people what’s what.”
“Winter” is “quiet and peaceful. You want to curl up and read a book.” She is reminded of Water. “Water flows all over. With water, a little touch leaves ripples all over. Just like homeopathy! And there’s also snow. Every snowflake is different.”
Water’s Right Hand Helper: Gold
Andrea resonates most deeply with the Gold and Water phases. It is very revealing that she sees the Gold Hero as the true leader, while she has such deep insight into the energy of Water. We often admire those who have qualities that we would like to embody.
In Andrea’s case, Gold is her helper, her Knight in Shining Armour. When she feels stressed, she feels the need to control herself. It is how she compensates for her sensitivity and her dreaminess. Too much Gold can freeze a Water child, when she adheres to unrelenting standards and passes inflexible judgments.
The super-refined, super dignified child can also have difficulty controlling her bladder. In Andrea’s case, the imbalance of Gold and Water manifests as headaches, overwhelming fatigue and/or apathy and stage fright - a form of freezing.
The homeopathic remedy Staphysagria enables her to feel more at home in her skin. It relaxes the impulse to set the bar too high, while judging herself too harshly. At the same time, she is able to incorporate the just-right amount of Gold power in her life spontaneously, with a schedule to balance work and relaxation/fantasy.
Water’s Left Hand Helper: Wood
For a Water child, Wood is another helper. Spring is the most challenging season for Andrea, when hay fever keeps her indoors. She needs a Wood outlet for the energy that she bottles up. I suggest that her parents find an after-school sport that she enjoys. A form of yoga that integrates breath (Gold) and movement (Wood) would also hit the spot.
Family Dynamics
Andrea’s parents are strong Wood (mother) and Gold (father) personalities. For a Water/Staphysagria child, these helpers are like the stakes that keep the delphinium flower standing up straight. Their well-intentioned support can sometimes overwhelm. Parenting is a delicate dance, weaving between too-much and too-little support. Each child calls for a different rhythm! As a thirteen year old embarks on another cycle of life, inspired by the existential question “Who am I?” parents are invited, yet again, to reconfigure their family dynamics.
Eventually, Andrea will grow even more with the (challenging) support of Earth Power - the gift of harmonizing with others through conversation, through eating, cooking and working together. Ultimately, when Andrea can bring her own serious, gentle nature to harmonize with Fire personalities and situations, she will become a true Water hero. The endeavor to become fully human(e) is a work in progress.
Read Part 1 of this article here.
This article was written for Tournesol Kids. Learn more here.