Archetypal Dimensions of Materia Medica Cathartes Aura III Homeopathy

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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.

After Cathartes 1M she says she feels “fabulous- no depression” and had the following dream:
“I’m on a highway overpass on a bike- there’s a concrete median. I’m the only one on the road. I look over and there is a body, half on the curb, half on the sidewalk. He’s dead. Police are all around investigating. I have a feeling of horror. Then I’m riding back and I think, I hope they’ve taken the body away. I’m going up a steep incline and started to go backwards.”
I always ask what the client thought and felt about a dream. She says the dream disturbed her for a few days. She thinks that the body was that of her dad who died when she was nine years old because it was in a uniform like her father wore.
When someone dreams of a person dying, after taking a remedy, it often indicates that they are exorcising some no longer needed aspect that has been dwelling in their psyche. In this woman’s case she seems to have let go of the trauma surrounding her father’s death.
After a few more months, she began to have regular periods. She told me that she used to binge on food for emotional comfort but now eats moderately. Over the last year, she has lost fifteen pounds. She continues to be emotionally and physically well and looks forward to further transformation.
Conclusion
Cathartes aura can, when indicated, help the individual retrieve their inner world, or soul, as it has not disappeared completely, but has been swallowed by the darkness, by the Great Mother. It is this archetype that is both the powerful unconscious aspect of life and the source of creativity. She who gives birth is also she who devours and buries. Retrieving what has been devoured by the Great Mother archetype is a kind of rebirth and renewal symbolized by the phoenix rising from the ashes. This is a theme that has been part of the symbolism and mythology of vulture since ancient days. The proving of Cathartes aura, and its clinical application show it to be an effective remedy aligned with this mythological background.
The archetype of the Great Mother appears in many forms and is a major influence on all of us in one way or another. Only when an archetype appears as a central issue in a case, is it a consideration for the homeopath. How and to what extent each of the individuals in the three above cases will ultimately resolve their archetypal dilemma is a very unique and personal experience. The path that each travels and the destination he or she reaches has much to do with the strength and inner purpose of his or her life. But in the meantime, a well indicated homeopathic remedy should give health and vitality to speed the journey
Notes
¹ Todd Rowe, Rowe’s Turkey Vulture Proving (Reference Works, 4.2.1.1 Kent Homeopathic Associates, San Rafael, CA 94901).
² C G Jung, Symbols of Transformation, vol 5 of Collected Works or Carl Jung (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), 225
³ Erich Neumann, The Great Mother, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983), 146
⁴ Allison Douglas-Tourner, “Zombies, Exorcism, and Walking Back into the Body, A Case of Turkey Vulture,” Homeopathic Links Vol 22 Spring 2009: 26-30.
⁵ Cynthia A. Shephard, “Bird and Bird-like – Susceptible to or Being the Unseen Force, Part One- Cathartes aura, A Man Feeling Raped,” Homeopathic Links Vol 22 Spring 2009: 31-37.