Actinides: the hidden camera and the broken mirror

In the following work I shall describe the Uranium series as a group and explain the possible etiology of the need for the remedy. This is a work in progress and we will need the help of many homeopaths to complete this picture.

The Actinides belong to the 7th series of the periodic system. In his book 'Homeopathy and the Elements', Jan Scholten uses the term “Uranium Series” to describe them.

The themes of the series, according to Jan Scholten are:

-Hydrogenium series: being, foetus, space

-Carbon series: ego, child, body

-Silicium series: friend, family, teenager

-Iron series: worker, adult, village

-Silver series: inventor, performer, middle age, city

-Gold series: leader, ripe age, country/world

Keywords for the Uranium series: 

Altruism

Communication, listening

Wisdom, (self) reflection

Observe, perceive

Overview, transparency

Sensitivity, sympathy, compassion

Trust

Universal truths

Old age, grandparent

Archetype: the testifier, the witness, the joker, the jester, the clown, the prophet.

Altruism:

This can be recognised in individuals like Mother Theresa: at a very old age she still cared for people who are widely ignored by the world in their need for help. Nelson Mandela, too, is a man who gave all his energy to change the system in South Africa. Although he was in prison for many years and suffered a great deal, he held onto his beautiful message for the world and puts all his energy into altruism: the only possible way to live well is by giving.

Communication:

They are very good at both verbal and non-verbal communication. This aspect is also seen in children; the language they use is not appropriate for their age. Whatever they say, they say it very precisely. For instance, a child of five, on being sent to her room became angry, saying: “Well, then, I’ll go to my bedroom and I will never return, neither to eat nor to drink!!" In her book “Psychological portraits”, Catherine Coulter describes the language of people who need the remedy Lachesis and gives the example of a child with such harsh language. The communication of the child needing Lachesis might resemble that of the child described above but contrary to Lachesis, there is no competitive element at all with the Actinides.

Wisdom, intuition:

They are wise but not in the sense of being clever; they have a wisdom which shows insight. The appropriate sense is intuition. They are clairvoyant and sometimes they simply know. They recognise when intuition is colored by emotion and they know the truth.

Observation, perception:

They see through people and their actions. They are adapted to several cultures and they will seldom be surprised by what happens. They can imagine every life-event, even the most inconceivable. The aim of living is to try to be at peace with others. In the cycle of life, each quality has different stages: victim, actor, indicter, judge, defender, we are condemned and finally we regret. People who need an Actinide know these stages and do not have any judgment in their observations.

Overview, transparency:

They observe as if everything is transparent. They understand what is going on the moment they see it. They do not filter. This way of looking at things is like using a hidden camera. Elderly people and little children observe the world around them in this way. The similarity between elderly people and children is that they do not react to the world but just observe; they have no emotion about it, they are objective and just watch. Observation here is pure and objective.

Old age:

The old age belongs to this series. In old age it is appropriate to be withdrawn while being present. They do not intervene.

Physical complaints:

Cancer, bone marrow disorders, leukemia. Congenital malformations, genetic deviations.

The hidden camera:

The Lanthanides were previously unknown and it is Jan Scholten who literally discovered them as homeopathic remedies. In Boericke there is only one lanthanide: Cerium Oxalicum.

In his book ‘Secret Lanthanides’ Jan Scholten explains the main theme of the Lanthanides, which is autonomy. Other themes are: searching, going deep, (self)reflection. To these themes, I would like to add analysis and thinking.

People who need Actinides do not use analysis, whatever they observe is transparent, they simply know. Insight and overview are there at the same moment. For that reason, I compare this way of observing to the use of a hidden camera: observation is pure and objective.

We learn this quality of observation in our profession as therapists. Hahnemann recommended this objective observation in the practice of homeopathy. While this quality is essential in our profession, it can become a source a problems in daily life. This objective observation of the way people deal with each other can be painfully difficult because of the sense of liability it creates. Again and again the questions arise: “What shall I do with the insight, the overview and the knowing? If all the tricks and game-playing in human behaviour are transparent to me, how should I react?” The only way to live with this quality is to develop compassion.

The broken mirror:

Children are most illustrative in showing the picture of Actinides. There is usually an etiologic moment in their life. I call this moment: ‘breaking the mirror’.

Soon after birth the baby has eye-contact with one of the parents, usually with some kind of recognition. From that first eye-contact the baby functions by ‘mimicry’; the parent and the baby reflect each other. Initially, the child identifies itself in this mirroring face. At the age of 9 months, the child is able to distinguish faces and indicate his/her preference, this is the period of timidity. The child develops the ability to remember his/her favorite face and gives it a name: “mummy”.

Thanks to memory, the child becomes aware of more than one face at a time:mummy and daddy. This is the awareness of the triangle: father, mother, and child. Until that time, the child was one unit with the mother and in this unity, communication was non-verbal. When the child becomes aware of the triangle, he begins to talk.

Thanks to the awareness of the triangle, the child recognises his own individuality. At the age of three, the child uses the word ‘I’ for himself. At the same age, the milk teeth are complete, the fontanel is closed, the child is able to jump (on the ground) and says “I”; “I want and I don’t want.”

In the course of the first years, the child learns everything by imitation. In that mirror he recognises himself. When, however, there is a dramatic event in those early years and the parents cannot handle the situation, the mirror can be broken. From that moment on the child no longer imitates the parents. At that moment, an Opium, Aconitum or other remedy-layer can come or cover up the previous openness.

Etiology of the Actinides:

If the remedy that is needed is an Actinide, something else will have happened at the moment of the dramatic event. Let us look at the moment of the first eye-contact between mother and child; the moment of recognition.

We are able to recognise someone we have known in a former life. If we, as human beings, reincarnate, it is possible that the mother recognises the newborn child and vice versa. Sometimes, the reincarnation is one of an old soul. At the moment of a dramatic event, if the parents are not able to handle the situation, the reincarnated part of the child takes the lead in the child’s life. The personality that learns ‘’how to do’’ by imitating others, the baby-instinct, will disappear. From that moment on the identity of that wise old person awakens in the child. That wise old person will help the parents to return to normal but it is possible that this state perdures in the child.

This is visible in the social behaviour and in the language the child uses. New words heard by him/her are immediately used in the correct context. For instance; a mother said to her 2 year old daughter: “you shouldn’t show off” and the little girl answered: "No, actress, no!”. The disadvantage for a child in this state is that his/her childlike expression disappears; for the mother it can be awkward to have this wise old guy on her lap! After the correct use of an Actinide remedy, these children can regain their child-appropriate behaviour.

In the history of adults who need an Actinide, I have seen this childhood trauma and the disadvantage of growing up in such a state. As infant or toddler, they lost contact with their own inner child. They have no experience of quarrelling or standing up for themselves for the ‘wise old person’ inside them did not allow that kind of childish behaviour. For adults, the correct application of an Actinide ‘brings the child back to life’. From that moment on, a growing resistance is developed, similar to the one of early childhood.

Case

A 37 year old woman comes with a complaint of lichen sclerosis. It started with a white spot on her clitoris after a course of antibiotics for endometritis due to an IUD. The spot was itching and desquamating, and eventually spread over the labia. She uses an ointment from the dermatologist containing steroids but this does not provide enough relief.

She has given birth to three children, the first of whom died one day after his birth at 28 weeks; she still has contact with this child. She cares a lot for others: she is helping a mother to take care of her handicapped child, who is blind and has cerebral palsy, a role which requires great sensitivity on the carer's part. She enjoys working, feeling useful, and she feels guilty when she is doing nothing. Many people ask for her help and she usually listens to them; for her, listening and being present is more important than doing the little things at home. She is thoughtful and reflective. Although she is positive, she has doubts about what she has said, mulling over and over about the questions and the answers given.

Analysis:
In the rubric “Skin, cicatrix white”, we find three remedies: Kalium bichromicum, Radium bromatum and Syphilinum. I chose an actinide because she is very sensitive in her communication. Stage 2 (Radium) is reflected in her cautiousness in expressing things and her doubts afterwards. Bromatum has to do with her feelings of guilt around doing nothing. I gave Radium bromatum 12K, which had a partial effec; the complaint decreased but there was still some itch.

The next remedy is Radium Iodatum, a fine-tuning of the previous remedy following a dream that she had about wanting to express her feelings by singing again and starting to paint. She dreamt of the name of the remedy for her itch but forgot it. Artistic endeavours belong to the silver series, and ‘forgetting’ is a word that fits Iodum. She received Radium iodatum 30K. During the next three weeks, there was a good reaction; she did not require the ointment as frequently but at the end of the holidays, she found herself in a stressful situation, having to arrange a babysitter in order to go back to work, and she needed the remedy again. Radium iodatum 1M was given, which worked well; she did not need any ointment for some time. Later, she received Radium iodatum 10M and the improvement continued. In the course of time, she did very well, needing less ointment. Her spiritual development grew, as did her relationship with her husband, and there was clarity around the child they lost.

Follow-up after 5 years: “In the course of time, I have come to realise that the symptoms of lichen sclerosis are related to feelings of guilt that remained unconscious for a long time. For months at a time. I am free of symptoms and then suddenly they show up again. Now, I try to discover my guilty feelings and analyse them, it helps me to let go and when I do, my complaints disappear too.”

Photos: Wikimedia Commons
Uranium 235 atom; Stefan-Xp
Frederik de Klerk and Nelson Mandela shake hands at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos in January 1992;Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org)
The Preparation and Crystallographic Properties of Certain Lanthanide and Actinide Tribromides and Tribromide Hexahydrates; Materialscientist