Archetypal Dimensions of Materia Medica Cathartes Aura Homeopathy

Clique em Longevid!

Jane Tara Cicchetti

Homeopath Jane Cicchetti discusses symbolism in provings, the collective unconscious and archetypes. She explores the archetype of the remedy Cathartes aura, providing three illustrative cases.

Portions of this article are excerpts from a book on Archetypal Materia Medica currently being written by the author. Copyright 2010 Jane Tara Cicchetti All rights reserved.
Understanding what a substance can cause and cure is a very important aspect of homeopathy. This is discerned primarily through provings and clinical experience, but there are many other ways to understand the curative powers of remedies. We can learn much about what they can cure by studying the substance itself, its chemical makeup, attributes, and how it has been used in ancient and modern medicine. From my point of view, the more familiar we are with a substance the greater chance we have of benefiting more people. I would like to share some of the ways that I utilize my understanding of Jungian psychology to explore our materia medica.
This paper will cover the following: the relationship between some principles of Jungian psychology and the symptoms displayed by the homeopathic patient, a discussion of the remedy Cathartes aura, Turkey vulture, from an archetypal perspective, and finally, some short excerpts from three cases that were successfully treated with this remedy.
Symbolism in Provings
Homeopathic provings provide us with physical, general, and mental symptoms but also contain symbolic material that point to the deeper levels of the psyche. A great deal of this symbolism comes from dream images of the provers, but can also be contained within repeated or strange, rare, and peculiar ideas or themes. When these symbols are linked to the ancient symbolic themes associated with the substance, they can show us what effect the remedy can have on the deepest levels of the human psyche. These symbols are not ultimately significant for their meaning but because they point to a greater, unknown reality. Working with archetypal symbols allows for the possibility of healing that goes beyond what is expected or conceived of from a more limited perspective.
In my experience, when physical and mental symptoms have been deeply suppressed, as so often occurs in modern practice, it is necessary to use information from the symbolic realm, i.e., from dreams and unusual themes. Researching the symbolism, from provings and the substance itself, reveals the role that a particular remedy plays within the human psyche of an individual and more generally within the collective unconscious.
The Collective Unconscious
The idea of the collective unconscious and how it affects humanity was one of Carl Jung’s great discoveries. He observed that patients had dreams and fantasies of mythological themes and ancient symbols of which they had no conscious knowledge. Furthermore, he saw that his understanding of and respect for these motifs and images played a crucial role in the healing process of these patients.
From this observation, Jung deduced that there was a level of the psyche that was beyond the individual, but had a profound effect on the behavior and health of the patient. His clinical research, (Jung based all of his ideas upon his work with patients) revealed that the symbolism of the collective unconscious was stimulated by what he called archetypes.
Definition of Archetypes
The archetype is a subject that has become surrounded with much fantasy and confusion. For the concept be truly useful for the homeopath, it is important to define what Jung meant when he used this term.
Jung likened the archetype to the invisible presence of the crystal lattice in a saturated solution that has the potential to form a crystal. Likewise, the archetype is invisible potential, and once crystallized into an inner image, displays a process that is occurring within the human psyche. The purpose of the formation of this inner image is to have a strong or compelling effect on consciousness – i.e., it is attempting to get one’s attention.
While there are unlimited numbers of archetypes, there are some that show up repeatedly in clinical practice, including the archetype of the shadow, the male/female polarity of anima/ animus, and the archetype of the father, the mother, and the child. Each archetype represents a core pattern within the collective unconscious. It is an unconscious force that has a profound effect on the personality, moods, and inclination of the individual. It can also affect the body, and plays an important role in stimulating interests, intentions and the specific direction of the mind.
Polarity of the Archetypes
One of the goals of Jungian analysis is the reconciliation of opposites – the conscious retrieval of parts of the psyche that have been relegated to the unconscious. Jung felt that it was important for as many people as possible to achieve this goal. This is because the suppressed material of each individual builds up within the collective unconscious, a phenomenon Jung called the collective shadow, and can eventually erupt in violent outbursts. Conversely, when each person takes responsibility for his or her shadow material by making it conscious, that clears a small part of negative energy from the collective unconscious. It is possible for a motivated client to achieve the reconciliation of opposites through homeopathic treatment, especially if the homeopath has some knowledge of the structure of the psyche and knows how to work with dreams. Whenever a remedy stimulates a deep level of healing, it is likely that some reconciliation occurs even if the homeopath is not consciously engaged in that process.
All that exists in the physical world as well as the world of the psyche is two sided – positive/negative, light/ dark, masculine/ feminine. Thus archetypes have a negative as well as a positive side. While the ego must not attempt to imbue itself with the full force of an archetype, a situation that can cause inflation, it is often necessary to integrate aspects of archetypal energy into individual consciousness. Otherwise, the archetype continues to have a powerful effect on the health and well-being of the person who is possessed by this energy. It is more common for the negative aspect of the archetype to be buried in the collective shadow, so much of the work requires conscious acceptance of the shadowy, negative pole of the archetype. This is part of the process of the reconciliation of opposites; bringing together what was unconscious with what is conscious.; accepting what was once unacceptable in order to create wholeness.
Jungian Definition of a Complex
Jung’s definition of a complex is an emotionally charged group of ideas or emotions that accumulate around an archetype. The complex interferes with the individual’s conscious activity and has, so to speak, a mind of its own. It can be caused by shock, trauma, or any other experience that sets up a conflict within the individual psyche.
While the idea of the complex is not unique to Jungian psychology, what is unique is the idea that the core of the complex is connected to the collective unconscious through an archetype. This is a very important point for the homeopath to note, as the simillimum is more often similar to this archetypal core than it is to the peripheral symptoms.
Hopefully, this definition of the archetype and its complex will help the homeopath understand that most of the information that is gathered in case taking is the display of an archetypal influence. Just as the anamnesis of one person may reveal a very clear remedy picture and others are murky and confused, the archetypes are sometimes clearly seen and other times are extremely undifferentiated. Archetypes do not exist individually but are always cross contaminated by one another. The less conscious the individual, the more contamination exists.
Because unconscious archetypal forces play such a primary role in the development of symptoms and the conscious state of an individual, it can be useful to study materia medica from that perspective. It is then possible to match, not only the physical, general, and mental symptoms in the case, but the archetypal influences as well.
In some cases, there are not many symptoms on the conscious level but the archetypal influence is quite strong. Certain remedies seem to lend themselves more to this type of prescribing and one of these remedies is Cathartes aura, turkey vulture.
Cathartes aura
In his proving of Cathartes aura, Todd Rowe considers the theme of “Catharsis” to be central to the remedy. “Twelve of the eighteen provers described catharsis followed by feelings of calmness and peace. A number of individuals pursued meditation or yoga, which they either had never done or not done for years” ¹ Catharsis also appeared as feeling like an exorcism had taken place, physical cleansing as in the draining of boils, pus coming out of the body, dreams of evacuation, and a vision of a phoenix arising from the ashes indicating rebirth.
Another theme is that of “Guardian/ Care Taking”. The provers experienced dreams of being taken care of or caring for children or animals. While there are many other themes in the proving, I would like to address these and one final theme, that of “Invisibility”. Provers felt as if they did not exist or like they were transparent.
The Turkey Vulture is a new world raptor and differs from the ancient birds of legend. The mythology of Vulture in general, as well as the Turkey Vulture specifically, will be useful in investigating the relationship between the themes of the proving and the archetypal symbolism associated with the bird.
Guardian/Caretaking and the Great Mother
The vulture or griffin as it is sometimes called, has been known since ancient times. The early Egyptians associated it with the Great or Primordial Mother. First seen in Egypt as Nekhbet, the vulture headed goddess who was the guardian of the upper region of the Nile. She is one of the oldest of the Egyptian goddesses and ruled over death and rebirth. Nekhbet later became known as the goddess Mut, but still retained her connection to the earlier vulture goddess and is shown wearing a vulture headdress. Still later, she becomes Isis, who continues with the symbolism of the vulture and is seen wearing her wings. The Egyptian hieroglyphs for “a” and “o” are a pictograph of a vulture and the name for mother is this hieroglyph.
Indigenous to North America, the Turkey Vulture follows the dichotomy of the Great Mother who is the giver of life, the beneficent caretaker in her positive form, and in her negative form is the Terrible Mother associated with death, destruction and rebirth. She is one of the most beautiful of birds when seen soaring overhead following thermals high in the sky and one of the most hideous when seen on the ground. When earthbound, her bare red head and neck is often immersed in a carcass that she is in the process of devouring.
She lives off carrion and is therefore associated with death and decay, but unlike many other life forms, she never kills. As a scavenger she provides a cleanup service for the planet. She is the ultimate recycler. This leads us to the theme of catharsis, which is about the purging of physical waste from the body as well as exorcism of negative emotional and psychic forces.
Catharsis and Re-birth
The concept of cleansing and exorcism is repeated in the mythology of the Pueblo Southwest Native Americans who believed the Turkey Vulture to be a symbol of purification and used its feathers during ceremonies to remove evil influences from the environment.
Jung has written about the vulture in reference to the subject of rebirth. According to him, it refers to being born of the spirit rather than through the womb of an earthly mother. He goes on to say that the vulture was thought by the early Egyptians to be always female and fertilized by the wind. The idea of being impregnated by the wind or pneumena points to an unearthly or spiritual birth rather than a physical birth.
The vulture, in these cases is, according to Jung, a symbol of rebirth rather than actual birth requiring a mother and a father, and therefore symbolizes the second mother- the mother that is involved in rebirth, due to psychological or spiritual factors.² In the ancient symbolism of the vulture as well as in the homeopathic proving, we see the theme of being born anew after a catharsis or exorcism, the “phoenix rising from the ashes” experienced by one of the Cathartes provers.