When I start explaining homeopathy to a newbie I always make a point that we don't just use plants as remedies. So many people get homeopathy and herbs confused. And I go on to list the types of substances we use in homeopathy. Which inevitably leads to snake venoms. At which point there are raised eyebrows or even gasps of astonishment.
So how did we come to use snake venoms in homeopathy? The answer is that it was a natural evolution from Dr Samuel Hahnemann's principle of 'Like Cures Like'. So although he started with plant substances like Quinine, this led naturally to poisonous plants like Belladonna and Aconite.
But it was a later homeopath, Constantine Herring who took the principle to another level when he obtained some venom from the Bushmaster snake (or Lachesis) and proved it (proving is the way homeopaths find out what a remedy can cure). And so Lachesis has become a staple of the homeopathic Materia Medica ever since.
Future homeopaths proved other snakes and so our Materia Medica has a good number of snakes that we can choose from. And they are some of our most important remedies.
In popular culture snakes have a bad reputation. They have come to represent deceptiveness and evil. In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve are tempted to consume forbidden fruit when the snake offers it to them. Medusa is a part of the Greek mythology and the story goes that she was once a very pretty lady. She caught the eye of a god though and that made another female god very upset. She turned Medusa into a very ugly looking person and placed a curse on her. This resulted in any person who looked at her to turn to stone. In her hair were snakes and the bottom half of her body was that of a large snake. It's interesting that jealousy is a cornerstone aspect of snake remedies in homeopathy practice.
The mental aspects of patients that leads to a snake prescription include a heightened sense of good and evil, all consuming jealousy, disposition to control in a relationship, suppressed anger seeking release, feelings of betrayal and abandonment. The snake remedies are often needed during times of transition such as puberty or menopause, but are useful at all times intones life.
Here are a few snakes we use in homeopathy with keynote indications:
LACHESIS MUTA - the most used snake in homeopathy. Jealousy, menopausal hot flushes, loquacity, menstrual PMS.
BUNGARUS FASCIATUS (Banded Krait) - Suppressed anger after abuse. feels guilty and shameful after angry outbursts.
BOA CONSTRICTOR - Irresistible need to exert control in a. relationship. Jealousy. Suppressed anger. Comfort eating.
TOXICOPHIS PUGNAX (Cottonmouth) - Argumentative. Very sensitive to offence before period. Needs more intimacy. Feels manipulated by family members.
NAJA TRIPUDIANS - Cobra - Brooding, feels abused, heart valve issues
So you can see that each snake has its own personality which translates into subtly different uses in homeopathy. Some snakes are very aggressive (Black Mamba) but others are quite shy (Bungarus). I have only mentioned a few of the many snakes we use in homeopathy. In homeopathy we have come to admire and value our snakes because they can lead to some outstanding cures.
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