aurum metallicum - picture of a homeopathic remedy

Mark O'Sullivan, 2nd YearIrish School of Homeopathywww.homeopath.ie

Single Remedy Project: Aurum MetallicumFriday 30 June 2006

Single Remedy Project: Aurum Metallicum

“Of what significance the light of day, if it is not the reflection of an inward dawn?—to

what purpose is the veil of night withdrawn, if the morning reveals nothing to the soul?

It is merely garish and glaring.”

Henry David Thoreau

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Alchemical symbol for gold and the sun

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Introduction

Aurum Metallicum derives its name from the latin for “shining dawn”, while the phonetically similar

“Aor” is Hebrew for “light”. The glorious colour of the light as the sun rises after the dark of night as

if in a solid, metallic form. The early morning is often associated with freshness, purity and so gold,

as a “noble metal” remains pure and aloof from other earthly matter, often found in a pure state in

the natural environment. Gold, unchanging and uncorrupted by its surroundings has long been

held as a symbol for noble superiority, royalty and spiritual enlightenment.

The alchemists' search was the transformation of

lead into gold, later taken by Jung to mean the

refinement of the self into wholeness. In myth, this

journey ends with the pot of gold at the end of the

rainbow or in the discovery of the holy grail after the

quest. Conversely to this, gold can also be seen as a

symbol of evil in the form of avarice best exemplified

in the idolatry of the golden calf by the Israelites in

the bible. The soviets also held up the gold pocket

watch as a symbol of the putative evils of capitalism.

The ambivalence of the symbolism implying that

when used well, it brings happiness but when not, can lead to corruption or calamity. Gold is as

difficult to use well as it is to obtain.

Gold is extremely conductive and ductile, with one gram of gold capable of being beaten into one

metre squared, facilitating its use as leaf or thread in the arts and crafts. It is soft, heavy and full of

colour by nature. When blended in alloys with copper, it gains a reddish hue - with iron, blue - with

silver, white and with silver and bismuth, black. A colloidal solution of gold is royal purple in hue as

is the alloy of aluminium and gold. Colloidal gold, or Aurum Potabile first made by Paracelsus, has

been used since Roman times to stain glass in vivid colours. Gold absorbs the blue spectrum of

light. From the perspective of the colours ascribed to the seven chakras of the energetic body, one

would expect a remedy made from a metal containing so much potential for colour to be deep and

varied in its action on the vital force and this is indeed the case with gold.

It is estimated that all the gold in world would form a cube just 20m in size (half of which would

come from South Africa). The scarcity of Gold has made it an ideal medium of wealth whether in

the coinage of antiquity or later in paper money representative of gold reserves in the “gold

standard” system. Although modern currency runs by the “fiat” system, unyoked from gold, the

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roots of western fractional reserve banking lie in the mediaeval goldsmiths issuance of more

receipts for stored gold than they had reserves of the metal. These days, banks can still lend out

ten times the amount of money that they hold in reserve and in this manner contemporary money

is conjured out of nothing as interest-laden debt owed to a bank.

On gold's shining surface therefore, the reflection of many pivotal themes of humankind can be

seen. Spirituality, wealth, power, avarice and evil.

In western medicine, gold is involved in the

treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with many side

effects. Radioactive gold in involved in the

treatment of cancer. The effects of taking gold

are similar to that of mercury. Salts of gold initially

sharpen the mind, increase libido and a sense of

well being but when continued cause disorder of

the glands, urinary and digestive systems before

finally leading to a degeneration of bodily and

mental systems as a whole, not unlike syphilis. Priapism is one side effect of gold poisoning,

explaining the Ayurvedic use of gold (called “mineral light” in that system) as an aphrodisiac.

In Alchemy and Jungian psychology, there is the association of Gold and the sun, with Silver as its

bride, representing the moon. Indeed, gold is often found blended or alongside silver in nature. The

sun often represents the heart, being the ruler of Leo astrologically, which also rules the heart. In

the balance of masculine and feminine within the self, gold represents the masculine, yang, left-

brained logical rational principle balanced by the feminine, receptive, yin, intuitive silver. We also

see the sun associated with kingship, as is gold. The planets of our solar system were born of the

sun and all life on earth depends on its radiant life-energy. This puts the sun in a role of leadership,

nurturing and responsibility. We could intuit from this that a gold remedy might address the heart of

rational, logical, sun-kings and as we shall see, these are important themes in the picture of Aurum

as a remedy. Indeed the Aurum Potabile of Paracelsus was said to be above all, a tonic for the

heart.

Aurum Metallicum – Remedy Picture

The Aurum type typically presents as a successful, ambitious, responsible, industrious individual

with a need to lead and shine. They rise into situations where people people become dependant

on them and feel they must maintain their power and effectiveness due to the responsibility they

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bear for their “flock”. They strive into high achievement, away from a shadow which tells them they

are not living up to the requirements of their role.

Internally, they are very hard on themselves with delusions of actually being failures in spite of their

successes. Their extremely high expectations of themselves inevitably lead to regarding

themselves as failures for not having attained

those lofty goals. Their super-egos, in a

Freudian sense, are deeply internalised, like

those of Carcinocin and Nat. Mur. They are

very critical and reproachful of themselves.

This leads to depression that can be so

profound as to be suicidal. The attendant

suppressed anger can express itself as

intolerance of contradiction and even

violence. Being a syphilitic remedy, the self-

destruction of suicide or substance abuse

may bring about their demise.

Under the weight of such self-reproach they experience feelings of being forsaken, of guilt,

loneliness and isolation in their personal relationships. They take criticism to heart as it reflects the

criticisms they have of themselves. Their sense of duty and devotion allow their compassionate

hearts to lead them into doing good for the world. They are “benign dictators” who are “lonely at

the top”. The dominance of their left-brained logical and critical faculties create heavy walls of duty,

haughtiness and seriousness around their hearts and may be unable to express humour or

affection. They will experience relief from this weight by enjoying classical music or by praying.

Even thoughts of suicide may bring relief to the Aurum who, from grief, loss of position, isolation or

depression, no longer experiences joy in life. They may throw themselves off a high building, or

dream/fear of doing so, reflecting the anxiety that they will fall from the heights they have invariably

scaled. They are worse for ascending stairs.

Aurum has great affinities with the heart, liver and bones as well as the central nervous system. It

is a prominent remedy for the treatment of heart conditions and the deep bone pains of rheumatoid

arthritis. Infertility can result from their self-reproach staunching the flow of generative energies. Its

symptoms are mostly right sided, reflecting the left-brain dominance of the character.

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Story of King Midas

While the approach of Logos, rational, linear logical analysis, can bring us an intellectual

understanding of a remedy it is by employing an approach of Mythos narrative and symbol-laden

stories which can be meaningful on many levels, that a fuller and more persistent understanding of

a remedy can be gleaned. To this end, we can take the well known story of King Midas to unpack

the main properties of the remedy as this story in particular holds most of the principal qualities of

the remedy picture.

The suitability of this story grows in appropriateness when considering its historical background.

Midas was an ancient king of Phrygia a nation once located in what is now northern Turkey and

said, by Herodotus, to have been the oldest of all nations. In the myth, Midas was said to have

washed his golden gift away in the source of the river Pactolus, in

the neighbouring ancient state of Lydia. The sands of the Pactolus

were actually rich in gold and it was with this that the Lydians

invented coinage in about 660BC. This, plus the fact that the

historical Midas is said to have committed suicide (by drinking the

blood of a bull) after his kingdom was invaded by the Cimmerians

in 696BC yields the Aurum themes of wealth and suicide due to

loss of position even before we examine the story of mythical

Midas.

Midas

BACCHUS, on a certain occasion, found his old schoolmaster

and foster-father, Silenus, missing. The old man had been

drinking, and in that state wandered away, and was found by

some peasants, who carried him to their king, Midas.

Midas recognized him, and treated him hospitably, entertaining

him for ten days and nights with an unceasing round of jollity.

On the eleventh day he brought Silenus back, and restored

him in safety to his pupil. Whereupon Bacchus offered Midas

his choice of a reward, whatever he might wish. He asked that

whatever he might touch should be changed into gold.

Bacchus consented, though sorry that he had not made a

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better choice.

Midas went his way, rejoicing in his new-acquired power, which he hastened to put to the test.

He could scarce believe his eyes when he found a twig of an oak, which he plucked from the

branch, become gold in his hand. He took up a stone; it changed to gold. He touched a sod; it

did the same. He took an apple from the tree; you would have thought he had robbed the

garden of the Hesperides. His joy knew no bounds, and as soon as he got home, he ordered

the servants to set a splendid repast on the table. Then he found to his dismay that whether he

touched bread, it hardened in his hand; or put a morsel to his lips, it defied his teeth. He took a

glass of wine, but it flowed down his throat like melted gold

In consternation at the unprecedented affliction, he strove to divest himself of his power; he

hated the gift he had lately coveted. But all in vain; starvation seemed to await him. He raised

his arms, all shining with gold, in prayer to Bacchus, begging to be delivered from his glittering

destruction. Bacchus, merciful deity, heard and consented. “Go,” said he, “to the River Pactolus,

trace the stream to its fountain-head, there plunge your head and body in, and wash away your

fault and its punishment.” He did so, and scarce had he touched the waters before the gold-

creating power passed into them, and the river-sands became changed into gold, as they

remain to this day.

Midas is a king, responsible and respectful to his drunken but divine guest and through his good

acts gains a boon from the gods. Here we have the Aurum position of being elevated,

conscientious, dutiful and benign in his power.

Yet being Aurum, he gives away his insecurity, borne

of the imperative to maintain power, by his wish – the

ability to generate limitless wealth. He insists on his

wish, even against a deities advice (intolerance to

contradiction). He must have his way. What a relief to

an Aurum would be the prospect of “arrival” at a

place of assured power, free from the insecurity that

he is not doing well enough when weighed against

how well he thinks he should be doing.

For Aurum, the reassurance of maintaining worldly

successes is required to maintain his self-worth. It is only by seeing his own standards of success

constantly reflected back to him in his life that he can rest easy in the knowledge that he

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accomplishing his mission. The trouble with this is that he begins to view his whole life through this

lens, giving no validity to his own inner life, and seeing everything in terms of worldly success or

failure, neglecting to nourish his feelings. Such an approach will soon drain the world of warmth,

joy and pleasure (heaviness).

This is beautifully metaphorised in the story firstly by Midas' foolish wish and then his dismay when

warmth and joy disappears from everything he touches only to be replaced by cold, lifeless, heavy

metal. He cannot nourish himself any longer as his whole world view is coloured by this unforgiving

standard of success (delusion, reproach, has neglected his duty and deserves). Small wonder then

that he becomes frightened and despairing, realising the bind into which his own nature has

delivered him, compounding his feelings of failure and despair. In contemporary versions of this

story, Midas embraces his daughter, also turning her into gold. The Aurum's relentless

externalisation of self-worth has also hardened the relationships most close to him (delusion,

affection of friends, has lost.), leaving him grieving, isolated and heartbroken.

He turns to weeping and praying to the gods for forgiveness and redemption (Anxiety of

conscience, Religious affectations). It all gets too much for Midas (< emotion) and he wants the

responsibility of his gift to be taken away from him. (Forsaken feeling, doubts about the soul's

welfare). The gods order him to undergo a spiritual rebirth by bathing at the source of a river (>

cold bathing) and he is redeemed. For Midas, he has rediscovered his fecund life energies, the

spiritual treasure in his own heart and freed himself from the harsh imperative of constant self-

validation through worldly success.

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References

Bulfinch, Thomas. Age of Fable: Vols. I & II: Stories of Gods and Heroes. 1913.

Chetwynd, Tom, “Dictionary of Symbols”, The Aquarian Press, London, 1982

Scholten, Jan. “Homeopathy and the Elements”, Stichting Alonnissos, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2004.

Sankaran, Rajan. “The Soul of Remedies”. Homeopathic Medical Publishers, Mumbai, India, 1997,

Vithoulkas, George., The Essence of Materia Medica, B. Jain Publishers, New Delhi, 2001

Vermeulen, Franz. Prisma, An arcana of Materia Medica Illuminated, Emryss, Haarlem, 2004

Wallace, John. Remedy Notes 1, SRP Press 1999

Wikipedia:Gold:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoldMidas:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MidasPrygia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrygia

Lydia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia

Realmagick.com on Goldhttp://realmagick.com/articles/69/1169.html

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrygia


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia

aurum metallicum - picture of a homeopathic remedy

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