Hura - Center of Leprosy Miasm
By: Dr. Roger Morrison
Botanical Name: Hura crepitans
Common Name: Sandbox tree, Monkey’s Dinnerbell
Botanical Family: Euphorbiaceae
Homeopathic Superclass: Asteriidae (Dr. Rajan Sankaran)
Miasm: Leprosy (RS and before)
A Bit of History
The remedy Hura was born into homeopathy through Leprosy (1). Though proved on only 4 provers, a very clear picture emerged in Mure’s proving in 1842. Yet I could find almost no evidence of this remedy being used historically – for example, only one cured symptom is found in Lilienthal. The earliest modern case I found was a brilliant cure from Dr. Linda Johnson (2). Following this was a sudden blossoming of cases, culminating in nearly an entire issue of Simillimum devoted to this remedy (3). From this journal, the rich symptomatology of the remedy was laid open.
Almost as Thuja is to Sycosis, Hura is perhaps the foremost plant remedy of the Leprosy Miasm. In fact, many of the earlier modern cases (when analyzed retrospectively) were prescribed almost exclusively on symptoms which could lead to any Leprosy Miasm remedy. Yet these prescriptions (obviously) often worked and led to a modern bonanza of cured Hura cases that have allowed a full picture of this unhappy individual – a patient who is often an object of scorn (real or perceived) and rejection, resulting in profound depression and even suicidal states. To be certain that a Leprosy Miasm case needs Hura requires intimate details and proper emphasis -- for in each Leprous remedy the triggers, sensitivities, fears, compensations, etc. – are subtly different.
Depression
It was uncanny how many of these cases began with the words, “Severe depression”. Depression was spontaneously emphasized in all but 3 of the 23 full modern cases (one of these 3 which did not report depression was a 2-year old). This is by far a higher percentage of depression than even in Aurum Metallicum – the highest of all remedies so far reviewed. The depression was mixed with loneliness, isolation, apathy and loss of interest in anything – several patients were reduced to sitting and staring at the wall or television. Furthermore there was intense self-reproach and even self-hatred and self-harming behavior (especially biting his hands or fingers). As we will see below, the patient believes people hate or despise him for a variety of failings – and his own inner voice is one of the loudest ones talking against him. Added to this is a type of desperate sensitivity – he simply can’t stand the pain of these feelings and perceptions. This all fuels loathing of life: “I wouldn’t kill myself but if I got cancer, who cares?” asked one patient. Though in some cases we do in fact find true suicidal feelings and attempts (7 cases). Such intense suffering!
Unwanted, Despised, Outcast
What sits behind the patient’s severe depression is a 3-part stream of perceptions or beliefs (or delusions) about life and his place in it. First the patient comes to believe that people, including his loved ones, simply do not want him. Perhaps due to some mistake or just as often through no fault of his own, friends and family begin to lose affection for him. The Hura patient feels an exquisite sensitivity to this apparent indifference (which telegraphs just how intensely he feels the need for support and connection). His inner radar tells him that every cross look or mood from those around him means he is not valued, accepted, liked. This is both alarming and disheartening because he is already trying so hard! What more can he do to show his worth?
For example, 5 of the patients were unwanted children – often illegitimate, sometimes through rape, bounced off to grandparents or relatives or put up for adoption. They grew up feeling utterly unwanted. Or for another example, in 10 cases the patient became alienated from friends, family, lovers – sometimes for no reason at all – malicious gossip, misunderstandings, faults of siblings, etc. Additionally many feared losing their loved ones – more than any other fear. For example, one patient said, “Does my family still love me? Even my Mom – I feel scared that she will turn on me if we ever argue.” This crystalizes the rubric, “Delusion he has lost the affection of his friends”.
In many cases this is not merely a perception but a reality – for example in one case the patient’s father learned that he was not the biological father of the patient and lost all affection for her though she had done nothing wrong. Or in four other cases malicious gossip was believed by the patient’s friends causing hurt, anger and self-doubt. In two cases, patients with ultra-religious families made painful revelations (one was homosexual and another had been raped) and these revelations caused the families to reject and revile the patient. Hura patients recounted a disproportionate amount of bad luck – how could so many things go wrong? From this we find the rubric, “Delusion he is unfortunate.” But in many cases there was little reality behind the feeling – the family was concerned and supportive but could not reassure the patient in the way he needed – he simply couldn’t hear it.
Here the patient may build up a story of rejection to which he reacts by withdrawing – a vicious circle no one understands. Whether real or imaginary the results are the same – the patient begins to doubt himself and his worth. Since people don’t want him (or so it appears) the patient begins to feel there must be something wrong with him. For example, in 8 cases the patient believed that he was rejected for being fat or ugly (often due to a skin condition, which is the exact circumstance of a leper). Or for another example, in several cases the patient began to believe people didn’t love him because he was a “bad person” though in no instance was the patient able to explain what that meant. In fact these individuals spend tremendous energy trying to be nice, helpful, “good” in all ways.
In the next deeper step, the patient feels not just unwanted but actually hated or despised. “It’s as if I have a mark on my face that people can see and the mark means I am a bad person and they hate and reject me,” said one patient. “My children and my brothers hate me!” declared another man. “I didn’t fit-in at work, I could see the hatred in their eyes.” In one amazing story, a patient’s skin disorder was apparently ugly enough that people would literally stop her on the street to castigate and spit on her. One of the patients was shocked when her father of 20 years found that she was the child of another man (through an affair of the mother) and coldly rejected her saying, “I don’t care if I never see you again.” Thus the feeling shifts subtly from being unwanted to being despised. This feeling of being despised is stronger in Hura than any other remedy of our Materia Medica.
Finally, and most painfully, the next stage of this progression is to be tossed away – to be made an “outcast”. In fact, 9 patients spontaneously used this very word, “outcast” to describe their lives deepest pain. For example, one young woman shared her apartment with her close cousin’s girlfriend – when they quarreled, the cousin took his girlfriend’s side. “He was like a brother to me – it split up our family and he turned his back on me.” Another patient (who had a brother with Down’s syndrome) brought his school friends home to play with him where they encountered his dear but retarded sibling. “After that, they didn’t want to play with me anymore.” Yet another said, “People don’t like me – they aren’t really my friends… [I have] no friends. My friends have abandoned me.” Or again, “I feel my brothers look at me and want to disown me, they think I am nothing…They don’t want to be seen with me!”
Alone
One of the hallmarks of the Leprosy miasm is isolation and this is a strong theme in Hura as well. In fact 11 of the cases (about half) mentioned isolation as a central life problem. In 4 cases the patients mentioned a desire to withdraw from others out of self-protection. “I want to cut off from everybody.” Yet even these same 4 cases complained of loneliness. “I’m all alone in the world,” was the most common phrase – these exact words used in 6 cases. There can also be the sense of losing security by being cut-off. “I’m alone in the dark and no one is with me.” said another patient. “I’m forsaken by everyone,” added another. The underlying feeling of the patient is that by circumstances beyond his control he has been made unlovable and unwanted. Like a leper, his friends and family reject him and he is coldly left with no support – to stave or survive as best he can.
Self Image and Self-disgust
Needless to say, Hura (like all Leprous remedies) has a very poor self-image. As mentioned, 10 of the patients were ashamed of their appearance using words like, “ugly” (8) and “disgusting” (2) and “dirty” or “filthy” (5) to describe themselves. One patient felt she was repulsive because of being skinny and 2 because they were over-weight. Several more pointed to “ugly” skin lesions. Several more felt there was something intrinsically wrong with their personality, “I have a personality defect” said one. “I’m a freak” said another. “I’m a terrible person” said one lady. One patient put it, “God made a mistake with me.” Another said, “If I was talking to God, I would say, ‘Don’t make a creature like me.’” One young patient, after hitting his younger brother in a rage, heartbreakingly screamed to the sky, “Somebody help me! I hate myself! I’m bad, bad, bad and I don’t give a damn!” In all these instances, the patient’s very existence or being (and, importantly, not his actions or deeds as Dr. Collins points out) is felt as shameful.
Anger
Significant anger was found in 8 cases, though only 3 had been physically aggressive and 3 more had a need to break things in anger. Also there were 3 more cases who had to throw things upon feeling anger (Staph). “I get very angry and I feel like slapping…. I feel like a mad dog!” one haughty young man revealed. However, the majority kept the anger bottled up inside even when justified. For example, one lady told about her murderous feelings toward her (abandoning) mother – an anger which had never been expressed openly to any person: “I hate my mother. I wouldn’t mind sitting for years in a prison cell for killing her – I would smile the whole time!” From fear of further rejection, in most cases the patient did not openly express anger at all. He seethes but says nothing. At times the patient feels so angry he has to literally bite his tongue to keep from speaking. He longs to release the violent feelings (“release” is an important Sensation word in Hura). Such intense aggression cannot sit inside without consequences and in Hura a number of patients projected the aggression outward, dreaming of and fearing violence, attack and murder.
Self Harm
Shame and self-loathing combined with inner anger resulting in self-harming behavior -- there were 4 cases of self-harm: hitting, pulling his hair, and especially biting his hands and fingers. In fact one patient had evidence of severely biting her fingers in utero! One patient said, “If my friends knew [about this part of me] they would never speak to me again.” Another form of self-harming takes place in the patient’s own mind. He uses the words of others to harm himself by re-playing the hurtful words over and over in his mind. And many others mentioned speaking to themselves with words that would be unforgivable if spoken to another.
Failure
In the success stage, the patient makes enormous effort to combat the feelings of low self-esteem. He works incredibly hard to be successful and show his worth. And, predictably he lives in terror of mistakes. “I’m afraid of doing things wrong – I have to do everything perfectly”. Many cases admitted they were fastidious or perfectionistic. One child was so afraid to make mistakes he absolutely refused to take his exams or fell sick before exams so he could not take them. During this desperate struggle to prove himself worthy, the patient may actually be aggressive, irritable, pushy. He fears to fail (5 cases) and fears to make mistakes (5 cases) and fears to try anything new without support and guidance (6 cases). (4) The feeling is that he cannot afford to make a single error where people would see – as if he is holding on by his fingertips to his place in life and his self-esteem and maybe to his very identity as well.
Pleasers
Once the self-image has been damaged, the patient becomes shy and timid (8 cases). He cannot bear to be looked at (5 cases) or to make eye contact (3 cases). Instead he becomes modest, a people pleaser. “I can’t assert myself, I don’t want to be a problem.” said one woman. “I behave as society expects. I go out of my way to be nice.” said another. “I have to be perfect in work.” said a struggling woman, and several said they required a lot of approval and support. One adopted patient was constantly aware of her obligation to the adoptive parents – saw their costs and the time they lost on her behalf. She therefore never dared to ask for anything or even raise her voice. Another patient who feared to be given up by her mother felt she must never make her presence known, never ask for anything and, in short, to be invisible. This is a tense patient, constantly afraid of consequences.
Weakness of Ego, Loss of Identity (5)
These efforts by the patient to minimize his needs and – well, himself altogether – leads to a loss of identity. We can see the boundary weakness of Hura from statements like this: “I feel depressed and disheartened from other people’s moods… I can’t do anything on my own. I have no self-motivation.” The patient is unable to separate himself from a mood which does not originate nor even have relevance to him. One patient was so careful to avoid putting himself forward (risking displeasure of his family) that, “I couldn’t develop my personality. I had to be quiet – almost invisible – nobody…. I almost feel like I don’t have an identity.” A second patient (an illegitimate child) “was made to feel she must be grateful for everything, as though it was her fault her mother [had no husband to care for her]…her will had been squashed as a child.” Another patient (mentioned above who had been blamed for a rift with her cousin’s girlfriend) began to develop persistent doubts about herself – she began to conclude she must be a bad person. “I’ve lost the sense of who I am!” she said. Another patient said he tried so hard to shape his behavior that, “I’m trying to be someone I’m not.” To summarize, the patient’s guilt leads him to sacrifice his authentic self and needs to the extent that he hardly knows himself.
Adalian also mentions a second form of identity weakness – she described several cases in which the Hura patient had lost femininity. This was confirmed in 2 further cases by other authors. Though a more limited problem, it shows how weak the patient’s hold on her authentic self becomes. For example, in one of these cases, the patient in teenage years had experienced rejection and attack from a parent as she developed and blossomed as a young woman, causing her to suppress her attractive dressing and her feminine behavior. A second source of this de-feminization was sexual abuse and rape where the patient decided her natural femininity was a liability. “I have lost touch with my feminine side,” said one such woman. The message these young women received was to hide any further signs of a growing womanhood – and metaphorically this may explain the dreams of amputations and decapitation found in Hura. (6)
The final result is that these patients often are cramped in their development and with weak ego strength. Very few had developed happy careers or families. But further the distance from their natural selves and identity is responsible for a dissociative pattern in some cases. One woman said, “Something was given to me that I didn’t want and can’t give back… This parasitical creature – ugly – is me now [confusion of identity]. It pollutes most of the minutes of my existence.” She also characterized this energy as violent – like a stalker or monster.
The confusion of identity was very profound in the patient whose shame over his mongoloid brother (especially his brother’s facial distortion) became transferred to himself. “I’m afraid sometimes that some of the things that are happening to my brother will happen to me. I have dreams where I’m looking at my brother, looking at his face and all of [its] distortions and my friends are rejecting him and then I realize that it’s me I’m looking at, not my brother.” He had taken on the most pejorative aspects of his brother as his own.
Unwanted Pregnancy, Stillbirths, False or Shameful Paternity, Secrets
I know I’m throwing a lot of painful issues into one bucket here (coming from 10 cases which are quite related). Several authors contributed cases which were diagnosed by the theme of: Unwanted children. Lost in a labyrinth of confused or hidden paternity, these children were marginalized and blamed for sins they did not understand. Issues about birth, guilty pregnancy, failure, belonging, being unwanted -- intertwined and ruined the health and happiness of these patients. In 5 cases, grief over the loss of a child predominated. In 3 brief cases, Dr. Grandgeorge has emphasized how grief for a lost child can trigger a Hura state (he showed 3 such cases and referred to another). He states that the Hura patient “loves with an elastic love. The more you try to get away the more it holds you.” (7) I might add, the love also holds back the bereaved parent – it goes both ways. Guilt over giving away her child or about the death of a child makes the grieving process all but impossible. By the alchemy of the remedy such grieving is transformed into the typical sense of worthlessness and depression.
Additionally 2 cases of infant deaths were found (1 stillbirth and one case of SIDS in a 6 week-old). In one patient this led to severe feelings (projections) of being abandoned by friends and family. She said “It’s like they don’t want to have anything to do with me because my baby died.” She reasoned that people believed that “if they looked at me, the same thing will happen to them or if they get too near to me something bad will happen. I feel like the town outcast.” In the second, the mother was soon pregnant again. But she developed such intense “horror” of a repeated stillbirth that she didn’t want the new baby (she does not say she considered abortion but…). The child was born but rapidly developed a Hura state with marked terror (see below under Minor Themes). Finally, a patient with life-long depression was told that her mother was threatened by her birth father – he would kill her (the mother) and the baby (the patient) if the mother did not abort the patient. The mother fled, but the child developed life-long depression and notably was born with her fingers chewed up (a Hura symptom – biting the fingers) clearly done in utero. The depression was cured with Hura.
Next we have 5 cases of unwanted or illegitimate pregnancies. One case was a young girl who became pregnant and gave her child up for adoption. Only after some 13 years serious health issues flared. While under treatment she recalled some facts about her pregnancy – she had been quite ashamed, hid the pregnancy and never spoke about it, and delivered before she had talked to her parents about her condition. At this point she began to feel she had done something very wrong and depraved and that no one would ever love her again. She was given Hura which helped her process the trauma and restored her health. Finally we have 4 cases (3 from Deborah Collins) where the story began with young women (the patients’ mothers) who became unhappily pregnant at young ages and some under harsh circumstances – in 3 cases the women refused to name the father (in two due to shame of being raped). In the 4th case, the mother was married but impregnated by another man through an affair. In all 4 cases, the child was made very aware of being unwanted. The children (meaning the patients) developed almost identical feelings of being alive only by sufferance – they had to be grateful for every crumb. The patients tried in every way to minimize themselves (see above section, Weak Ego and Loss of Identity). They felt invisible or wanted to be so. Two were actively suicidal.
Minor Themes
Floating and Disassociation – In 4 cases, a significant hint to the prescription was a floating or hovering sensation – hovering above the world looking down at his life. In all of these 4 cases, this was a manifestation of a type of disassociation – not vertigo. For example, “I feel like I’m floating around, that I’m not on earth… fogged out. Staring at the walls, floating around in my head – just hopeless and lonely.” Another said, “I’m holding on for dear life to a rope or I might float away if I let go and never come back. I feel like a speck floating around in a windstorm … no possibility of change, no hope.” One case diagnosed with recurring TIA (though it seems apparent that the problem was disassociation) said, “I’m here but not here—I can see everything but it’s not real.”
Sensitivity – In 5 cases an extreme sensitivity pushed the patient in ways which did not serve him – toward more separation. For example the mother of the SIDS child said she was isolating herself from her husband, “I don’t let him in because something may happen to him and the pain would be too much.” Similarly one patient said, “Little things tear me apart.” He is often restless and startles from noise or the least cause and weeps from even well-meant criticisms. He especially reacts to harsh words, over-interpreting them as a permanent rejection. Nothing shows the plant kingdom more reliably than states of “not being able to stand” things or tolerate a particular feeling. In some cases, a Hura patient is surprised to find that he cannot bear his own child’s natural demands. From his mind-set (as a person lacking any sense of entitlement), a normal child appears unthinkably selfish and this places great strain on the bond.
Amputation – In 3 cases, the patients dreamed of seeing cut up bodies or decapitation. This dream was found in the original proving by Mure as well as a modern proving reported by Dr. Grandgeorge. “Because of this dirty feeling, you want to cut off your hands and legs. You are not beautiful.” said one patient. Conjecture: Amputation may reflect upon the fact that the patient feels it necessary to cut off his natural personality and authentic needs in order to adapt to his fragile situation.
Holes and pits – One patient said: “I think [my girlfriend is going to dump me soon. I don’t know why, I just feel it. That makes me feel in the pits, deep in a hole.” Another: “I feel worthless, not acceptable, it leaves me pretty deep in a hole.” Another: “I feel like an empty pit, like I’m alone with all of this, alone with the death [of my child}, alone with the future.” Another: “I have dreams where I’m thrown in a pit with sand thrown on top [of me].” Finally, a patient (an illegitimate child) had a brief visit with her mother who had moved some distance away. “Someone asked my mother who was this little visitor. My mother answered [that I was her niece]. I felt like vanishing into a hole in the ground. I felt smaller than a mouse.” The hole or a pit is a low place – showing his low self-esteem but also his mood state. But also the pit is confined – part of the Euphobiaceae theme.
Fear and Terror – Conjecture warning: The Euphorbiaceae family is part of Dr. Sankaran’s Asteriidae subclass which also includes the Solanaceae. Thus violence, terror and sudden trauma is part of its heritage. Such terror states were found in 3 cases as a primary complaint but also there were many dreams of violence, murder, death. Part of the timidity of Hura is fired by fears of attack and violence, as well as the fear of being alone. A 2 year-old child was described: “He would shake his head in rapid, jerky motion, with eyes wide open and glaring, mouth open, nostrils flared in abject terror.” Another example: “I used to fear the dark…fear of someone trying to get in. I used to fear someone would jump out from behind me and get me in the dark. I have a history of sleepwalking, screaming and yelling in my dreams.” And again, “Fear of being violated – that something will hurt me or intends on doing something awful to me – kill me or rape me or eat me up. I don’t feel safe.” One more statement, “I felt like somebody was going to kill me. … I am going to die.” In most instances these fears came up as an aside but in 3 cases terror was the main pathology.
Contagion – Often illogically the patient feels that others view him as contagious. The young man with the Down’s syndrome brother said: “Everyone looks at you and moves away. Sometimes I get really pissed at [their] reactions. It’s like they will get germs or something.” Again, recall the mother of the SIDS child who stated that she felt others believed if they merely looked at her they would have a SIDS child.
Relatedly, many times the patient had an irrational – almost superstitious – feeling that they were causing others to suffer unintentionally. “My parents will have to suffer to find me a husband. All people suffer because of me.” said one woman. Another “My sister in law has developed a lump in her breast and I’m sure it’s cancer and that it is my fault [for burdening her]. Another: “If I’m around terrible things will happen.” And: “I have a fear that I cause unhappiness. If I see an unhappy face, I’m sure I caused it.”
Looked at, Stared at – In 5 cases, the patients could not tolerate being looked at. In some it was from pure shyness. “She is a very shy woman who, when looked at, always looks down.” And “What if I forget [my part] in front of everybody? Everybody is staring at you and it’s very embarrassing.” In others there was a feeling that people were seeing some horrible flaw. “Everyone looks at you and moves away.” Or “I feel so ugly about myself. I sometimes think everyone is looking at me and sees how ugly I am.” And finally there was a sense of threat. “The child would scream if someone, he didn’t know well, looked at him.” In a related theme 5 patients could not make eye contact at all. Being observed is not comfortable for these compromised souls.
Bullies - The patient may be the subject of school bullies – unable to stand up for himself or call for assistance. In 3 cases the Hura child was ostracized and ridiculed by his entire class – scapegoated. This phenomena runs through many Leprosy Miasm cases and I have not spotted it outside of this miasm.
Animal Themes – It is true that all leprous remedies can be confused with remedies needing animal remedies. Hura has a strong tendency for feeling personally attacked and a need to oppose his antagonist. One patient said, “People smell blood. I was weak so they went for the easy target. I was a sheep around hyenas.” Also the strong inner division felt by Hura patients can be indicative of animal remedies (similar to Anac). But the extreme sensitivities and the themes of Euphorbiaceae should win you over.
Physicals
No consistent reaction to temperature or weather appeared. Several were oppressed by heat and some were aggravated by sudden cold weather or cold, damp. Insomnia was very prominent and night terrors came in 3 cases who woke up shrieking on a regular basis. One other sleep symptom is worth noting – the desire to sleep on the right side.
Physically, the patient often suffers with headache, skin disorders and also rheumatism, constipation and hypertension. One strong finding was a sense of oppression or weight in the chest – as if something was sitting on the chest. At times this oppression was very painful and in most cases gave a sense of suffocation. It is a purely functional disorder – work up revealed no pathology though one patient had been diagnosed (incorrectly) with asthma. The remedy was first used in the treatment of lepers and this is reflected by the large number of extremely uncomfortable and unsightly skin lesions with marked itch and often a tight or covering sensation – “hidebound”.
Sensation Language
Tight. Tense. Stretched. Pulled. Hidebound.
A prisoner. Imprisoned. Put in an isolation room. Shut up in an institution.
A slave. A statue.
Not allowed (to do things). Interfered with. Stopped. Held back.
Caged. Locked in and can’t get out.
Cornered. Pushed into a corner.
The walls close in on me.
Tied down. Tied up. Holding me by the collar.
Restricted. Caught. Gripped. Blocked.
In a pit. A hole. Thrown in a hole. In a pit of despair.
Freedom. Break free. Break through.
Must have the windows open.
Run. Escape.
Release. Violent release. Let it out!
Presentations
Timid and shy, self-effacing, horrible self-image and many stories of how people reject and even despise him – and maybe they were right.
Someone trying desperately to hold on to self-worth, over-working to be recognized, anxious about making the slightest error.
People pleaser.
Given up on his life, he can never succeed, withdrawn and hopeless.
Arrogant, angry, contemptuous of others (and himself).
Terror and panic cases.
Mental
Feels unwanted, even despised by others.
Alone and isolated; Forsaken; Lonely and left out.
Feels unfortunate; pities himself.
Outcast – like a beggar on the street, like a leper.
Guilt and feelings of shame.
Self-hatred and self-loathing.
Shyness and timidity. Averts his eyes; unable to make eye contact.
Worse: Can’t talk to girls.
Horrible self-image. Says horrible things to himself.
Tries hard to be perfect, to be above reproach.
People pleasers.
Conscientious about trifles. Perfectionist; dreads to show imperfection.
Desires to hide the ugly truth about himself or the ugly parts of his body.
Anger. Even more commonly suppressed anger -- yet longs to release it.
Anger and destructive feelings of behavior. Breaks things. Throws things.
Worse: During headache (2 cases). Menses.
Better: After eating.
Hatred. Desire to kill.
Cursing – can’t stop himself.
Bites his nails to the quick. Bites his fingers, hands or wrists. Compulsive licking of lips.
Self-harm – hits himself, pulls his hair.
Stammering (It is so difficult to express himself!).
Loss of identity; jettisons his needs and himself in search of acceptability.
Disassociation. Floating. Hovering above the world and outside his body. Things feel less real or unreal. Mind dull and foggy. Amnesic for trauma.
Dull and foggy for days after migraine.
Severe depression (in all but 3 cases).
Loathes life but will not kill himself.
Suicidal (7 cases).
Weeps, sometimes so loudly it bothers him.
Worse: While singing.
Marked sensitivity.
Worse: Sensitive to noise. To the pain of life. Can’t look at his ugly skin condition. Cannot utter the word, “TB”.
Sensitive to any criticism.
Hopeless. Despair recovery.
Fascinations
Consolation (though some were averse to consolation).
Red patent leather shoes (Collins, 3 cases).
Dance.
Animals.
Reptiles.
Religious (though also loss of religious faith was seen).
Ailments
From being looked at; feels stared at.
Slander, being gossiped about.
Being bullied.
Adoption (in 3 cases the patient was never told who the father was).
Making mistakes. Mistakes of paternity.
Violence – even hearing of violence.
Death of loved ones.
Alcoholic husbands. Family conflicts.
When alone.
Delusions
He is unfortunate (though none actually used these words –it comes out in context).
He feels different. He has lost the affection or is even repudiated by his friends or relatives. Alone in the world. He is ugly. He cannot find a place for himself in the world. He causes others to suffer. Everything feels like my fault (even if I know it’s not).
People are staring at him.
Invisible.
Death – presentiment of death, that he won’t survive. He sees his dead parents or hears their voices (in 2 cases they are helping him).
He is contagious and people want to avoid him.
He had done wrong or is guilty of a crime. Inferior. Disgraced. A burden on others. Cheap. Loose woman or a seducer.
Dreams
Losing the affection of loved ones; they don’t want me around.
Dead, cut up bodies and dead people wrapped in bandages – ugly faces, decapitated, surrounded by skeletons.
Being shunned.
Violent dreams and wakes screaming. Being murdered. Death of loved ones.
Water. Drowning.
Being naked on the road like a beggar.
He is a prisoner. He is inside a small place.
Destruction – of buildings, etc. A shipwreck. Rejected by his friends.
Pursued especially by animals. Raped.
Dead bodies. Amputated body parts or cut up bodies. Mutilation.
Being naked and destitute on the streets. Falling. Being mocked. Alone in a desert.
Spiders and big insects biting him.
Person dressed in white, white beard is helping me.
Caught in a fire. Rape.
Fears
To lose the affections of friends. To make any mistake – or even to try (new) things where he may fail. New situations. Something bad will happen.
To be unloved.
Heights. Dark. Water. Snakes. Violence.
Closed places, prison.
New situations and travel. Safety and security. Failure. To end up alone.
Mother will abandon him.
To go crazy. To harm himself. Always imagines the worst will happen.
Premature death. Death of a loved one.
Claustrophobia. Stalkers. Murders. Monsters. Spiders. Ghosts. Cows.
General
Slightly more cases were warm and felt suffocated by heat.
Aggravated by heat and sun.
Loves the sun.
Chilly and worse from drafts, cold, damp weather or just before a freeze.
Profuse perspiration face, axilla, upper lip, feet.
Hypoglycemia. Diabetes.
Hypothyroidism. Low blood sugar attacks which are better from eating.
Hypertension. Swings in blood pressure.
Obesity (also emaciation).
Numbness.
Quivering or trembling.
Worse: Fright. Anger.
Frequent colds, especially from drafts.
Food
In hypoglycemics must eat every 3 hours.
Desires: Sweets. Cheese (especially creamy ones). Spicy. Pizza. Bread. Fruit juice.
Averse: Oysters and clams. Slimy food. Fish.
Appearance
Generally mild and timid appearing with drab clothing. The eyes may appear to bulge and the face and jaw appear tense.
Vertigo
Motion sickness.
Worse: Driving.
Dizzy on rising from a seat.
Head
Tight, drawing sensation in skin across forehead or scalp – sometimes due to eruptions. Feels a band pulled tight about head.
Dandruff.
Crawling sensation in scalp.
Headaches. Either side or at root of nose. Goes side to side.
Worse: Before menses. 3 AM. Touch. After wine.
Better: Walking and exertion. Hot shower.
Sensation: Knife-like. Pulsating or hammering.
Concomitant: Marked irritability.
Maddening headache – wants to pull his hair or bang his head against the wall.
Shakes or jerks head. Rolls side to side.
Eyes
Redness of lids.
Squeezing pains in eyes – like a claw squeezing.
Swelling about the eyes.
Ears
Recurring otitis media.
Catarrh of ear with hearing loss – even deafness.
Nose
Epistaxis.
Recurring coryza or sinusitis.
Nose obstructed alternating with fluent coryza.
Face
Marked perspiration on face, especially forehead.
Severe eczema on face and especially the forehead, often starting with vesicles and later developing thick scabs or yellow rusts.
Severe acne.
Wart on upper lip.
Impetigo on face and threatening the eyes.
Tight skin on face.
Mouth
Gingivitis and pustule (yellow) on gum, especially lower right side.
Taste of blood in the mouth.
Worse: During coition.
Tight jaw.
Dental abscess with pressing pain.
Palatine neuralgia. Rare: The worse the pain the more he laughed.
Licking lips compulsively.
Throat
Lump sensation causing hemming.
Hoarseness during coryza.
Gastrointestinal
Peptic ulcers or hyperacidity.
Tight, painful stomach.
Painful cramping of lower abdomen with gas and bloating and churning.
Worse: 3 PM.
Pain in ileocecal or inguinal region.
Constipation. “Tied up.”
Worse: Stress. From suppressing the urge.
Gallstones.
Urogenital
Enuresis.
Dysmenorrhea.
Spotting between periods.
Left ovarian cyst.
Endometriosis.
Cancer of the bladder.
Chest
Dry cough causing burning beneath sternum.
Worse: Tickling in larynx.
Oppression of chest and sensation of weight or as if something was sitting on his chest -- together with chest pains at times, tension, hard to get a breath and suffocation – all work up negative (6 cases though never as chief complaint).
Sticking pain in chest.
Benign tumor of breast.
Tuberculosis.
Heart
Racing or pounding heart. Fears the heart may stop beating.
Pericardial effusion.
Back
Tight neck.
Low back pain.
Worse: Bending forward. Lifting weight. Stooping.
Better: Walking leaning backward.
Sciatica extending to right leg.
Worse: After car accident. From heavy lifting.
Itchy skin on back extending to arms.
Extremities
Rheumatism, sometimes deformative arthritis.
Rheumatism, muscle and joint pain with stiffness and desire to stretch.
Worse: Exertion. Cold.
Location: Thumbs. Knees. Hips. Shoulders.
Knee pain changing location and side, especially inner knee.
Tendinitis of wrist from computer work.
Cracking knee or ascending or descending stairs.
Cramps of fingers.
Stiffness of hand.
Arthritic nodules in hands and fingers – disabling pain and stiffness.
Cramps of calves.
Worse: Sitting or lying on back. Worse pressure.
Legs tired or weak. Heavy.
Worse: Lifting.
Location: Buttocks. Thighs.
Paronychia about fingernails. Swelling, painful, oozing pus.
Worse: In nail-biters.
Nails thickened, curved and separated from nailbed.
Itchy vesicles on hands.
Psoriasis on hands and legs.
Eczema on ankles.
Warts on fingers, hands, feet.
Cold feet in bed but after wearing socks feet become hot and must uncover.
Cold hands and feet.
Crawling sensation in legs wakes her at night.
Perspiration of feet.
Eruptions elbows, wrists, dorsum of hand.
Hangnails.
Skin discolored and darkened.
Vitiligo.
Skin
Tight feeling in skin; Hidebound. Lacks elasticity.
Eczema, very itchy but without time or modalities.
Vesicular eruptions.
Psoriasis with intense itching (normally psoriasis is not so itchy).
Warts.
Sleep
Insomnia from stirred up thoughts and emotions.
Jerking on falling asleep.
Waking at 3 AM or 4 AM.
Position: Right side (I’m stretching this bold because only 4 cases had this symptom but no other patient mentioned any other position.
Sleepless.
Worse: Pains or paresthesia. Over-heating. Grief.
Sleepwalking.
Wakes up screaming from dreams.
Clinical
Acne. Angina. Arthritis. Cancer. Constipation. Depression. Eczema. Endometriosis. Epistaxis. Fungus of skin or nails. Headache and migraine. Hypertension. Impetigo. Leprosy. Neuralgia. Paronychia. Pericarditis. Psoriasis. Rheumatoid arthritis (one case sero negative RA). Sciatica. Scleroderma. TIA. Tuberculosis. Vitiligo.
Comparisons
Anac. Aur. Cur. Thuj.
Evidence Reviewed
22 full modern cases. 13 modern case reports. Lectures and articles by Adalian (The Homeopath 1997), Deborah Collins (LINKS 1998 winter issue), Laurie Dack (HANP Conference 1993), Jonathan Shore (AIH journal Sept 1991), Dr. Sankaran.
1 Mure proved this remedy because of an herbal cure of Leprosy and 2 of the original provers were lepers. This remedy has been associated with leprosy since its first usage and may have triggered the very awareness of this miasm in Dr. Sankaran and others.
2 AIH Journal 1989.
3 Simillimum 1995, summer issue. (Thank you Durr Elmore for this gift).
4 In one case of Dr. Sankaran’s, the patient first presented with a strong fear to try anything new (a characteristic of the remedy Strontium which he was given without benefit). In examining all of the Hura cases together I found that this was not an aberration but a strong characteristic of the remedy: New situations lead to mistakes and thus further damage to his fragile sense of self-worth.
5 Through the study of this remedy I was motivated to review other Leprosy Miasm remedies and now feel strongly that the loss of identity is in fact a characteristic of the Leprosy Miasm which has gone undetected (well at least by me). It was seen in many of the other remedies but never stated in such an obvious way as to attract notice – or the flagrant distress of the patients overwhelmed the appearance.
6 While in these instances, there is an emphasis on loss of femininity, in Hura and other remedies of the Leprosy Miasm we see similar loss of individuality more broadly. On review of many Leprosy Miasm remedies, adolescence and preadolescence was a fraught stage of development. As the parents see the developing personality and character of the child emerge, it draws rage – either because the child is too much (or not sufficiently) similar to the parent. The parent almost needs to wipe out the child’s personality to maintain important beliefs about himself.
7 His use of the word, “elastic” exactly complements Dr. Sankaran’s description of the Euphorbiaceae family.
Dr Roger Morrison biography:
Dr. Morrison attended medical school in his home state of Tennessee, graduating from the University of Tennessee in 1978. In his early career he worked as an emergency room physician. In 1978 while still in medical training, Dr. Morrison attended his first seminar on homeopathy in Athens, Greece. Struck by the amazing results he observed in Athens, Dr. Morrison determined to return to study at the Athenian Center for Homeopathic Medicine. He spent four years learning to speak Greek then returned to Athens and completed a two-year fellowship in Homeopathic medicine, eventually earning the prestigious diploma of the Athenian Center in 1984.
Upon completion of his fellowship in Greece, Dr. Morrison moved to California to assist in establishing the Hahnemann Medical Clinic and the Hahnemann College of Homeopathy. He has been one of the foremost educators and leaders of homeopathy ever since, lecturing extensively in the USA and abroad. Having published over 20 articles in most of the leading homeopathic journals in the world, Dr. Morrison began the task of writing textbooks for homeopathic practitioners. His first book, Desktop Guide was completed in 1993 followed by Desktop Companion in 1999. His most recent work, Carbon: Hydrocarbon and Organic Chemicals in Homeopathy was completed in 2006.