Felidae; powerful and independent

Classification of Felidae

Sub-family Pantherinae (Big cats)

• Tiger – Panthera tigris/ Sanguis tigris (Panth-t-s)
• Lion – Panthera leo/Lac leoninum (Lac-l)
• Jaguar – Panthera onca (Panth-o)
• Leopard – Panthera pardus (Panth-p)
• Snow Leopard – Panthera unica (Panth-u)

Sub-family Acinonychinae (Cheetahs)

• Cheetah – Acinonyx jubatus (Acin-j)

Sub-family Felinae (Small cats)

• Puma – Puma concolor/ Lac puma (Puma)
• Lynx- Canadian Lynx – Lynx canadensis (Lynx-c) - Bobcat – Lynx rufus (Lynx-r)
• Ocelot – Leopardus pardalis (leopa-p)
• Cat – Lac felinum/ Felis sylvestris domestica (Lac-f)

General information

Felidae are predatory mammals; they consist of big cats, cheetahs and small cats. Most Felidae are solitary, except lions and cheetahs. They are known for their agility along with their exceptional abilities for stalking and sprinting. They have keen eyesight and they mainly rely on vision for hunting. Wild cats have a powerful, masculine type of body, which is highly able to grasp and tear. Cats attack the neck of a prey with their sharp canines. These qualities place Felidae at the top of the food chain.

Basic  characteristics

1. Power, strength, capability, authority, success
Felidae usually hunt alone and are physically powerful enough to do so, in contrast to Canidae, which are small and therefore hunt in packs. In patients, we see issues related to 'power'. There is a need to be powerful, strong, to control others, etc.

The feeling of power is accompanied by a feeling of strength and capability. As patients, they can be formidable, intimidating people. They can be overpowering, overbearing, dominating with a loud voice; they can take over the consultation. There is a desire as well as an aversion to dominate others, and an aversion to being told what to do. They have a good opinion of themselves and speak and act with authority.

Each quality has positive as well as negative sides: on the positive side, they can resist any kind of stress, tensions and unusual situations, so they are successful. They can take sides (take responsibility or give protection) for the weakest and be acceptable to everyone, so they rule from their heart, not by hook and crook. The shadow side of this is arrogance, pride and a sense of superiority; they perceive that others are smaller and they treat them like slaves. They feel that they are born to rule.

We can perceive this quality of power during a consultation. The big cat person enters with an elegant gait. They have an arrogant posture and they speak directly, with command in their speech. Their speech is full of confidence and self-assurance. They are not afraid to express anything, they do not mince their words. 

In children, one can find behavioral problems, rudeness and fighting with adults; they get enraged with adults and refuse their advice. They can bully and dominate other children. They are provoked easily and ready to fight and abuse people without foreseeing the consequences.

Examples of rubrics

• Advises others when not required - Panth-t-s
• Anger, from contradiction / From criticism - Panth-t-s
• Contemptuous / Haughty / Arrogant/ Assertive – Lac-f, Lac-l, Panth-t-s
• Delusions: He is strong / He is a great person / He is king - Lac-l
• Dictatorial, talking with air of command – Lac-l
• Dreams: mistakes, correcting others - Panth-t-s
• Dreams; of being bigger and superior/ Of hurt pride/ Of being arrogant – Lac-l
• Intolerance of domination – Lac-l
• Obstinate, headstrong: intolerant of anyone else’s opinion - Lac-f
• Power, love of – Lac-l

2. Strong sense of independence but forsaken
Cats do not have a 'pack' behavior like dogs, who are dependent on the pack for their food and safety. Cats are self-sufficient; they hunt on their own and do not share their food with others. This is reflected in humans as a 'strong sense of independence', 'self reliance' and 'selfish behavior'.  

This sense of independence is sometimes expressed as a love of freedom; the person might have a history of early responsibility or have left home early as a teenager. This love of freedom might be expressed as an interest of tracking alone in the forests or traveling the world alone. The other side of the coin is a feeling of being abandoned and forsaken. The experience of being deserted or betrayed by one’s family and friends, pushed out of the group, is particularly strong in wild cats. Even though most of the cats are solitary in terms of hunting, they take good care of their young ones. The issue of needing the family for warmth, love and protection comes up very strongly in cases.

Examples of rubrics

• Anger at interference - Lac-l
• Freedom, desire for - Lac-f
• Home, desire to leave – Lac-f
• Independence, desire for –Lac-f
• Island, desire to live on – Lac-f
• Dreams: friends: alone, being left, by/ Forsaken by her father / Driven out, being / Alone on earth, he is – Lac-l
• Dreams: forsaken / Father: goes away for a long time / Abandoned by family / Abandoned by friends / Betrayed by friends - Panth-t-s
• Forsaken feeling - Lac-l, Panth-t-s
• Sentimental: orphans seeing - Panth-t-s

3. High sense of responsibility, care and protection
There are similarities between the wild cat state and remedies from the Gold series. The feeling of responsibility in wild cats, however, is particularly related to caring for and protecting others rather than managing and organizing as in Gold series remedies. Leading and ruling is present but, when we inquire deeper, we find that it is related to care and protection, especially for those who are weaker and more dependent.

Examples of rubrics

• Dreams: of guiding seniors in their work / Helping / Of caring for a young child - Panth-t-s
• Dreams: of responsibility / of caretaking – Lac-l
• Responsibility: strong, too: group together, wants to keep – Lac-l

4. Territorial
Cats are very territorial and fight fiercely if others try to intrude their territory. This is reflected in humans as a dislike of intrusion into one's space. We often see issues related to: my domain, my area, my region, my sphere, etc.
The same theme is also expressed in different ways, for example somebody “stealing, taking, grabbing my things or my possessions”. Big cats steal food from smaller cats; when cheetahs hunt with their exceptional speed, bigger cats like the tiger or leopard will move in and take away their food. Hyenas also take way the food from tigers, lions or any other big cat.

5. Fastidiousness
Felidae are clean animals: this is seen in patients as fastidiousness and liking for cleanliness (very marked in Lac felinum). Fastidiousness is not only limited to cleanliness, we can also see this in their accuracy, keenness, and perfection of work and speech.

Expression words: Power, Overpower, Capability, Strength, Superior, Emperor, Independence, Extreme anger, Rage, Roar, Loud sound, Commanding, Intolerance of deceit and cruelty and Injustice, Ferocious, Domain, Territorial, Responsibility, Leader, Expressive, Out spoken, Grace/ Graceful, Elegance, Fastidious, Zero-fault perfection, Cleanliness

Predatory characteristics

1. Stealth
Most of the cats are heavy bodied and therefore stealth is one of their chief means of attack, except the cheetah, which dwells in open places and is empowered with a slender body that is adapted for running fast. Cats stealthily creep up on the victim, then there is a final rush or sprint to launch the attack. In patients, we see expressions like: "suddenly attacked from nowhere", "a surprise attack", "suddenly from out of the blue".

In wild cats, the idea of ambush is to catch the weaker one, and then follows a match of strength. ‘Hiding” can also be seen in snakes, where it is a form of defense, whereas in cats, hiding and stealthily approaching form part of their attack strategy. This issue is expressed in cases as follows:

- Fear of being suddenly attacked, especially being choked or attacked on neck or throat
- Fear of suffocation
- Fear of being pursued or chased by an enemy

2. Accuracy
The cat’s need for accuracy is reflected in patients as “always being right on target”, “being great achievers”. When this quality is associated along with power, stealth etc., one can strongly consider a felid.

3. Acute vision; alert, watchful, vigilance
Felidae are known to have very acute vision, which may be reflected in patients as having very keen eyesight. Their keen senses are not only directed at the outside world, in the form of vision, but also to their inner structure: they have an acute awareness of their inner self and their body structure. They are, for example, highly aware of how their muscles stiffen, how they become strong and powerful when they are angry or excited. This is expressed in cases as: “On the alert, watchful, vigilance, ready to act, on their toes, very cautious, sharp, focused, heedful”.

4. Speed
Felids are endowed with a great capacity to sprint in order to pursue their prey. In patients, we see this as a passion for “speed and pace”.  

5. Grab, tear, claws, sharp teeth
Felidae have sharp claws which they use to grab and tear the flesh of their prey. In patients, we often hear expressions such as: 'Tear apart, rip, grab it, etc”.

Expression words: Stealth, Lurking, Waiting to have best chance, Chase, Leap, Speed, Surprise attack, Attacked from nowhere, Ambush, Sprint, Jump, Catch, Pounce, Grab, Tearing apart, Breaking/Cutting apart, Accuracy, Acute vision, Acute senses, Sense beyond capacity, Precocious.

Differential diagnosis
We also see predatory issues, such as power and strength, in other predatory animals like snakes, big reptiles, and raptor birds but a basic difference in mammals is that they like to show off their skills and capacities. In birds, we do not see much showing off; here we will of course also find bird themes. Reptiles do not show the same sense of responsibility for their young or for the group; they are mostly concerned with their own survival. Predatory mammals take care of others, taking the role of a responsible father or mother.  

Lac leoninum  

The lion is known as the 'king of beasts”.  They are royal, majestic, and known for their mighty roar. Being smaller and lighter than males, lionesses are more agile and faster and do the pride's hunting, while the stronger males patrol the territory and protect the pride. Males try to maintain their dominance over the pride because "males without a pride are males who do not live long. " When a new male takes over a pride and ousts the previous master(s), the conqueror often kills any remaining cubs. Lions hunt in a group, which makes them very successful. Teamwork also enables them to defend their prey more easily against other large predators.

Themes

Very high self-esteem, proud, arrogant
The main delusions of Lac leoninum are: delusions he is strong, he is a great person, he is king. We easily notice their high self-esteem when they talk. They desire to show off how great and powerful they are. They have a high sense of dignity and a highly developed ego; this means that they often come into conflict with authorities, due to their constant desire for respect. Even the smallest remark can be taken as an accusation and a wound to one’s honour, finally resulting in extreme anger, rage and a violent impulse to smash and destroy everything.

“To be on top you need to be dictatorial”
Lions live in a group (pride), where they have a dominant male and three or four females and cubs. Although it is the females who do the hunting, the males are the first to eat. The order of eating is determined by a strong hierarchy. We see this pattern in Lac leoninum ‘dictators’. Lac leoninum people prefer to sit back and dominate, while Tiger people will go into the field and scan the situation with the minutest detail, checking to see that everything is under control. In Tiger cases, we observe that they do not like to sit-back and order the others, even though they are in a very good position. Both big cats are in charge, both have power and strength, but in comparison to the tiger, the lion is the lazy emperor.  

Royalty, nobility
Lac leoninum people are very noble individuals, like Aurum or Haliaeetus (eagle). They can take a lot, until at a certain point it becomes too much; then they can become aggressive, suddenly finishing someone off with one swipe of the claws. This extreme violence is indicative of the syphilitic miasm. Lions do not kill anytime and anybody just for the sake of killing, like the leopard does. They choose to use their power when they wish to; this is the nobility of a Lac leoni personality. We see nobility in their caring nature: they dominate and dictate but also take care and take responsibility towards submissive persons.

Loyalty
They believe in long lasting relationships, so they are loyal to their partner. In some women cases, we find that they get fed up with doing the male’s work, having the double burden of their own task as well as the male’s task, yet they do not leave their partner.

Other symptoms

• Extreme thirst, desire large quantities to drink
• Desire large quantity of food
• Like to eat alone
• Sexual desire increased
• Sensation of heat; Warmth agg; Undressing amel; Needs to be fanned
• Seashore amel or desire

Provings: Nancy Herrick, Rajan Sankaran, Clarissa Peter

Panthera tigris

Tigers are highly muscular and a single blow can kill a full grown wolf. Panthers are the highest jumping of mammals, it makes a lightning fast jump of up to ten meters long and more than three meters high. They have extremely sensitive paws; if their paws are injured they can die due to not being able to run and hunt. Tigers are solitary and territorial.

Themes

Top of the food chain; power, strength
Tigers are the largest cats, even bigger than lions. They have excellent muscular body and enormous physical power so they can kill even the biggest prey by just one pounce. This quality is similar to all big cats but tigers and lions are really in charge; they have no need to struggle to retain their position. They are very successful, similarly to column ten and eleventh of the periodic table. Lac leoninum belongs to the 10^th column, with similar delusions as in Palladium and Platina: ‘He is king.’; ‘He is superior to others.’ He has power and strength, so people must give him respect. He also has a huge ego, so the smallest remark or contradiction is intolerable. While Panthera tigris also has a huge ego, strength and power, and the need to be on top, his need to control everything is similar to the 11^th column, like Aurum and Argentum nitricum. As seen earlier, Lac leoninum feels he needs to be treated as the emperor, staying on his throne, while Panthera tigris feels he needs to be out controlling things.  

To be on top you need to have control over everything
Unlike lions, tigers are solitary big cats, so they have to do everything by themselves rather relying on anyone else. Although they have a big personality, they do everything on their own. They check the smallest detail and do not leave anything uncompleted. Superficially, this quality looks like suspiciousness or mistrustfulness but, in reality, this is perfection. They must not take the chance of making a mistake, they need to be aware of the smallest thing and be constantly alert, ready for any kind of situation at any moment. Panthera tigris people are active, agile and dynamic. Lac leoninum people, on the other hand, are good at delegating, which makes them look lazy.  

Ambush, surprise attack
Tigers remain concealed and attacks by springing up suddenly, surprising the prey. They do not roar or make any sound when they charge, so death approaches silently. Although ambush attack is common in all cats, it is more pronounced in tigers and leopards. In patients, we hear expressions such as “suddenly attacked from nowhere"; "a surprise attack"; “suddenly from out of the blue", etc.

Other symptoms:

• Tigers are considered as the highest jumping mammals.
• Must make huge leaps because they are unable to run as fast as other cats
• Does not like to be seen and just waits stealthy till the victim comes very close.
• Very sensitive to injuries of paws and feet; injuries can result in death.  (DD Lac puma)
• Loves swimming and loves water

Provings: Yogesh Vasandi, Rajesh Barve, Divya Chhabra

Panthera onca

Jaguar means "a beast that kills its prey with one bound." It usually kills a prey with one bite. It has powerful jaws and the strongest bite of all Felidae; it can even pierce turtle shells. An individual jaguar can drag a 360 kg bull in its jaws and pulverize the heaviest bones. Its killing method is unique amongst cats: it pierces directly through the temporal bones of the skull between the ears of prey with its canine teeth, piercing the brain. The jaguar attacks from cover, usually from the target's blind spot, with a quick pounce.

Themes

Extremely sensitive to have his place and position taken away
Jaguars prefer to be solitary and territorial, but within their territory, usually one male and two to four females share the same space. Within this, each female has her own territory. Thus, there are hardly any tussles between males and females but, on the other hand, they hardly get together. They live with a partner who does not have any relationship with them; this kind of life style produces the following expressions:  “Invading my space”; “Sensitive to be pushed out of his rightful position, place and take his money or space.”; “They want to harm me and to drive me out of my rightful place.”; “Delusion; others will steal my possessions, my place and money.”

This constant feeling of losing one’s space or position matches the remedies of 12^th or 13^th column of periodic table, such as Mercury and Thalium: there is a necessity to constantly make an effort to hold your position.

The key feeling of the proving was: “They watch me, they persecute and follow me to drive me out of my place and may harm me and/or my possessions.” This causes a feeling of unease and suspicion, and it is manifested by hurry and aggression.

Constant vigilance, constantly on alert
Territorial issues produce this reaction pattern: if you have feeling that someone is going to take away your position then you must be alert and vigilant at all time. You need constant assurance that your belongings are with you all the time; they might be taken away from you anytime so you have to hold on to them.

Sensitive to deceit and stealing; suspicious
Constant threat to your space, position and belonging makes you sensitive to deceit, cheating, and stealing. The expressions are: “Deceiving and stealing away his position.”; “Fear of being cheated”; “Suspicious, delusion deceived”.

Paranoia, great haste, and fond of speed
To protect your space you need to make ‘constant efforts’. Paranoia, haste, and fondness for speed are part of the same pattern and are expressed as: “Sensation that there are numerous things to be done in a short time.”; “Eats extremely fast, leading to choking.”; “Sensation of internal anxieties with constant trembling of limbs”.

Breaking the skull, piercing, blow
Jaguars’ unique killing method and extremely strong bite can be expressed as follows in patients:  “Desire to strike someone in the face.”; “Breaking skull open in two”; “Split the skull in two” ;“Pierce, pulverize, crack open, crush”; “One lethal blow and you are finished.”

Provings: Olga Fatoula, Heike Dahl and group

Panthera pardus

The spots on their body provide them with an ideal camouflage. Black panthers are totally black, so they are hidden during the evening and night. Leopards are the shrewdest, most secretive and difficult to capture of all the large carnivores. These Felidae are agile and excellent climbers amongst the large cats; they are able to kill prey even larger than themselves. When leopards stalk a prey, they do not want to be seen and move quietly through the grass or bush until they are close enough to launch an attack. They are basically solitary and avoid others. Leopards, jaguars, tigers, and lions are the great cats; they all roar. Leopards are much more adaptable and versatile. Their survival mechanism is the ability to climb trees within the shared territory with larger predators. Leopards can be more aggressive than lions and tigers, and are more dangerous than tigers. Leopards are more unpredictable and can attack even when not hungry.

Themes

Fight, issues with those more powerful  
Leopards share a territory with larger predators like tigers, lions and jaguars. They survive in the same region by being in the trees.  Leopards can be more aggressive than lions and tigers. Lions and tigers are so huge that their very aura and size says: “Don’t mess with me.” They do not always need to be aggressive. Leopards have to make their space and need to have more aggression, which is expressed as: “Extreme effort or endurance”; “Be more capable and intellectual”; “Be more productive and useful, so you can survive in the same domain as other bigger personalities.”; “Need to prove yourself”.

Adaptable, versatile  
In the process of proving yourself and keeping your space among bigger personalities, you need to be more adaptive. You need to survive in difficult situations and need the capacity to bear difficulties and endure. You need to be an all-rounder. Panthera pardus personality is not in the topmost position, like Panthera tigris or Lac leoninum, but they know very well how to make their own space between bigger personalities. Their capacity to be adaptive and versatile means that they are often more successful than the bigger cats and this is enough to hold their position. 

Stealth and camouflage
Although ambush and attack is commonly seen in all cats, it is pronounced in leopards and tigers. This aspect is very similar to tigers, hence the difficult to differentiate between the two, except for the degree of stealth, which is more pronounced in leopards. In patients, we hear expressions such as: “Suddenly attacked from nowhere”; “A surprise attack”; “Suddenly from out of the blue”; “One down from the top”.

Love to be in my space, do not like disturbance
Leopards have to find their own space because of the larger cats around. They go up a tree and sit for hours with their tail hanging down. This marks their territory and says: “Don’t disturb me.” They love their own little space and hide in their own cozy spot. They have a constant fear of their space being invaded, like jaguars, but here the issue is that the invaders are bigger and more powerful than them. Expressions are: “Stay out of my Territory.”; “Don’t invade my domain.”; “Just want to sit, without being disturbed.”; “Feels invaded, claustrophobic or choking.”

Other symptoms

• Angry and aggressive
• Tubercular miasm – Space is invaded and feeling claustrophobic and choked
• Self-awareness for personal appearance— hair must be good looking, clothes must be good. Need for elegance, desire beautiful scents. Increase attention to the face.
• Desire to wear black dresses, close-fitting trousers; cloths must be skin tight and stick to the body.

Provings: Olga Fatula

Panthera unica

The snow leopard is a large cat, native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as endangered. Despite the common name given to the snow leopard, the tiger is considered its sister species, with the leopard being a more distant relative. Snow leopards show several adaptations for living in a cold, mountainous environment. Their bodies are stocky, their fur is thick, and their ears are small and rounded, all of which help to minimize heat loss. Their paws are wide, which distributes their weight better for walking on snow, and have fur on their undersides to increase their grip on steep and unstable surfaces; it also helps to minimize heat loss. Snow leopards' tails are long and flexible, helping them to maintain their balance. Their tails are also very thick due to storage of fat and are very thickly covered with fur, which allows them to be like a blanket to protect the face when asleep.

The snow leopard is solitary. An individual snow leopard lives within a well-defined home range, but does not defend its territory aggressively. Snow leopards are most active at dawn and dusk. They are known for being extremely secretive and well camouflaged. Unusual among cats, snow leopards also eat a significant amount of vegetation, including grass and twigs. Snow leopards will also hunt in pairs successfully, especially mating pairs. They prefer to ambush prey from above, using broken terrain to conceal their approach. They will actively pursue prey down steep mountainsides, using the momentum of their initial leap to chase animals. They kill with a bite to the neck and may drag the prey to a safe location before feeding. The snow leopard cannot roar.

Themes

Try to be on the top, on the height, and watch how everything is under control
This is the common theme to Tiger: the need to be in the topmost position, observe from above and try to control everything.
Expressions from the proving:“I climb the highest mountain and watch everything”; “She looked down from the mountains”; “I control all the above;, “Need to climb a little higher, as if from a height”; “I like that I'm on top;, “I feel pride and dignity - I am above all”; “I wanted to keep an eye on each and every one.”

Alert and watchful, suspicious; ready for a surprise
Alert, watchful, and ambush or surprise attack is common to the hunting pattern of many cats, including the snow leopard.
Expressions from the proving: “Be on the alert. It's not that I do not believe anyone, we must be alert.”; “I noticed the inner alertness.”; “Alertness is enhanced by large open areas of space.”; “Alertness is exacerbated when there is something fast moving chaotically.”; “Suspicion arose when I passed the playground.”; “To get close to him undetected and resolve.”; “So I was stunned by surprise.”

Stealth, camouflage
Stealth and camouflage are also common themes of Tiger and Leopard.
Expressions from the proving: “I want to stand still and do not move until everything is over”; “I want to hide the body, shrink, hide, strain and live only on the surface of the eye”; “I try to be not seen anymore”; “For me, it is important to be invisible”.

Obedience, loyalty, reliability; duty bound
Snow leopards share many common themes with Tigers and Leopards, but this is a very individual theme of the Snow leopard. A high sense of responsibility is common to big cats, but with Panthera unica, they stick to their duty religiously.
Expressions from the proving: “Within the sense of obedience, loyalty, reliability, incredible tenderness”; “I want to highlight a sense of loyalty and obedience”; “I am an observer. I live in a perfectly orderly world and watch, watch him. Someone put me here caretaker, and I do my duty! And I like to fulfill it”; “Like I'm a very responsible soldier and left his station or lowered alertness while on patrol.”

Harmony versus chaos
When we explore the term “love of harmony”  for Snow leopard, we find that love of harmony is part of “need of control”, so probably the miasm is cancer miasm, as for the Tiger.
Expressions from the proving:  “It can carry a deadly threat to me and to the world that will destroy the harmony”; “I live in a perfectly orderly world and watch”; “There are different rhythms, and I can tune in to them”; “Violating the harmony annoys me and I'd love to fix them”; “Alertness is exacerbated when there is something fast moving chaotically”.

Open space, mountain, ice
We can find issues relating to open spaces, mountains and ice in another mountain cat as well, the Puma.
Expressions from the Snow leopard proving: “Alertness is enhanced by large open areas of space”; “High snow-capped mountains. It is very cold in the mountains”.

Other symptoms

• Physically active, physical exertion ameliorates
• Outer appearance is important, especially concerning nails and hair
• Likes warm, fluffy physical touch

Proving: Olga Fatula

Acinonyx jubatus

Cheetahs are primarily adapted for running and taking the prey by jumping rather than ambush. They are the fastest animals on earth and are known for their speed and agility. They are poor climbers so they hunt by speed rather than by stealth. They are known as the "sprinters" of the cat family and are the only animals that can attain speeds as great as 100km (60 mph).

Themes

Speed, hectic pace
Cheetah is the fastest animal and is termed a sprinter. In patients, we see this aspect as an intense liking or fascination for speed. Speed is thus the centre of focus of this remedy during case taking. If a patient elaborates all the qualities of Felidae and speed, then we can think of two remedies, Cheetah or Jaguar. In Jaguar, however, there is much higher self-esteem and suspicion that his possessions are going to be taken away from him. In Cheetah we cannot see suspicion, though the person may feel that credit was taken by the boss instead of him. Hectic pace, so the miasm is tubercular.

High performer but stronger ones profit from him
Cheetah people are high performers but do not have the capacity to hold onto their position. As they are not in charge of what they are doing, the credit by bigger bosses. Leopards are also high performers but they know how to turn the situation to their benefit even though he is working along with bigger ones. In Cheetah cases, the person is working under a larger personality, while in Leopard cases he is working alongside the big guys. In Cheetah, there is not an issue of his space being invaded, so there is no feeling of suffocation or choking but, instead: “Whatever I do is credited to the bigger guys.”

Friendlier and less aggressive 
The Cheetah personality is weaker than other cats, so a strong ego is not such an issue. Still, they are wild cats and predators; their predatory qualities are present but milder than the other big cats. In comparison to other big cats, Cheetah people are friendly and sociable; they do not feel “as if he is a high ranking person”, needing to maintain distance from “ordinary people”. In nature, cheetahs do not have strong territorial issues. Sometimes, they can hunt along with other cheetahs or in pairs. They can tolerate others very easily in comparison to other big cats, so they have fewer issues of ‘freedom’ and ‘independence’.

No proving is available, symptoms are from cured cases.

Lac puma (puma concolor, cougar, mountain lion)

Puma are the biggest of the smaller cats of the Felidae. Though they are relatively small, pumas are known for their remarkable strength and stamina. They are shy animals, leading a solitary life. Pumas live in mountainous regions. They are capable to both stalk-and-ambush, and chase  but mostly they like to attack from above and jump on the back of the prey. They will stalk through brush and trees, across ledges, or other covered spots, before making a powerful leap onto the back of prey and inflicting a lethal neck bite. Their large hind legs allow for great leaping and short-sprint ability. The main danger in jumping from a height is breaking their limbs; like tigers, this is how they get injured.  They have excellent sight and hearing, and are good swimmers, like tigers.

Themes

Strong need of connection and reconnection versus isolation
In the proving, the issue of connection and reconnection with an old friend, or group, emerged. Expressions from the proving: “Strong theme of wanting to be connected to people”; “I have not felt as anxious about being in a large group of people”; “I feel isolated where I sit, separate from him and the group”; “Wishing to re-connect with people who have been out of my life for a while”; “I had a feeling of reconnecting with somebody from my past”; “I have definitely had aversion to company, but when I was with a group I’m actually ok with it.” There is possibly a conflict between being isolated or connected.

Bipolar or polarity and confusion
Confusion around polarities is a big theme in the Lac puma proving: ‘I need company or need to be alone’; ‘Am I powerful and strong or I’m weak?’ This turmoil produces confusion of identity and contradiction of will which is enough to produce bi-polar disorder. The mind is cloudy and confused, and at other times very focused and sharp.
Some example of rubrics: “Will, contradiction of”; “Irresolution, indecision”; “Confusion of mind; identity, as to his”; “Confusion of mind; identity, as to his; duality, sensation of”; “Absent-mindedness; dreamy”; “Dream, as if in a”; “Dreams; confused”.

Cougars even confuse the scientist because they are the fourth largest cats, so they are smaller than tigers, lions and jaguars but bigger than leopards. It produces confusion: are they really big cats or small cats? It has been finally placed in the small cat family (Felinae) because their muscles are not so highly developed and powerful, and they lack the ability to roar.

Parent- child conflict  
In Lac puma, the issue of parent-child conflict is prominent. In most of these species, the cubs are looked after and protected for up to two years. However, any new male taking over the territory will kill the cubs and mate with the mother to protect his lineage. Also, beyond a certain age, if the father feels threatened by a male cub, it and can kill it, so the male cub must leave and find his own territory. Therefore issues of guilt, abandonment and betrayal are strong themes in Lac Puma.

Climbing, leaping, jumping
These are specific predatory qualities of Cougars. They have exceptional climbing skills, which  can help reduce the conflict with other larger Felidae. They have the capacity to make powerful leaps onto the back of prey, catching it by the neck and suffocating it. The attack is thus a surprise ambush.   

Other symptoms

• Cancer miasm (DD- Tiger)
• Injury to legs or feet is fatal (DD- Tiger)
• Similar to tiger
• Diarrhea riding from agg
• Stool odour, sweetish
• Vertigo; Floating and Swaying to and fro; agg by motion

Proving: Nancy Herrick

Leopardus pardalis

Ocelots, also known as dwarf leopards, are wild cats distributed extensively within South America. Ocelots are similar in appearance to domestic cats, but their fur resembles that of a clouded leopard or jaguar. Ocelots are mostly nocturnal and territorial. They will fight fiercely, sometimes to the death, in territorial disputes. Like most felines, they usually meet only to mate. Ocelots hunt mostly small animals. They are good climbers but they hunt mostly on the ground. If necessary they can swim well. Ocelots usually have several resting places in their territory, and they rarely use the same place on two consecutive days. Compared with other small cats, ocelot kittens grow quite slowly.

Themes

Highly conscious about their own space
Ocelots are strongly territorial, highly aware of protecting their own space. They will fight fiercely, sometimes to the death, in territorial disputes. They fear that their space/ position is taken away from them, so they strongly hold onto their space and become aggressive if anybody try to take away it from them. Leopards also have the fear of losing their space but there, the competition is between someone stronger that themselves. In Ocelots, the threat is from someone of the same size. Ocelots are not threatened by bigger cats, since their food habits are different from the other cats; competition comes only from other ocelots.

Beautiful, attractive
Their beautiful, unique and distinctive fur gives ocelots a very special appearance. In patients, we see this as the desire to be attractive. We might see someone who wants to be a body-builder, or likes to wear beautiful, attractive clothing and jewelry. They have feeling of being very special and they want special treatment; they are arrogant regarding their appearance. Leopards also have this sense of being special and the need to be to be attractive, so they also attach much importance of their appearance. Leopards are a bigger sized cat, so they have more confidence, power and strength, while ocelots are smaller, so they do not have the issue of displaying power and strength, they are not as competitive. Their issue is mainly around a display of attractiveness in order to gain attention or special treatment.  

Strong sense of smelling
In the proving, there are many expressions regarding ‘strong smell’. Smaller wild cats have a special affinity for olfaction. They also have good night vision, since they are night hunters.

Other symptoms

• Pulsating headache or pain in waves
• Allergic problems like breathlessness, asthma, skin rashes and itching
• Very flexible body (Ocelot is adapted for climbing)
• Physical restlessness, needs to do everything fast

Proving: the actual prover is not known but some trituration proving notes were collected from www.ruthsagerer.de

Lac felinum (Felis sylvestris domestica)

Cats have always been connected with dignity, royalty, grace, and power. Like all felines, domestic cats have great leaping ability, acrobatic skills and sudden, short bursts of speed. Their walk is very precise; each hind foot falls almost exactly over the footprint of the forefoot of that side. Eyesight, taste, and touch are the most highly developed senses of cats. Their night vision is excellent but their daylight vision is relatively poor. They can turn each ear independently towards the direction of sound. Cats are fastidious about their cleanliness. They have a unique ability to survive falls from high places and land safely.

Themes

Strong sense of independence
Cats like to be solitary. They are self-sufficient; they hunt on their own and will not share their food with others. This self-sufficiency can be viewed in humans as a 'strong sense of independence'.

Cats often dislike being stroked when they do not choose it themselves; they prefer to be pampered when they wish. This is unlike dogs, who are happy whenever they are petted and merrily come wagging their tails to their owners at all times. This aspect is commonly seen in children. Parents of Lac felinum children often say that these children come to them on their own accord, only when they want to be cuddled, and may resent being fondled otherwise.

Owing to their independent nature, cats cannot be bullied and will leave their owner if treated badly. They do not stand abuse and may revolt in such situations. Similarly, Lac felinum individuals cannot tolerate intimidation and will not submit to maltreatment or inhumane treatment for long; they may strongly voice their displeasure about this. This is in contrast to Lac caninum people, who are known to submissively bear abuses and harassments because of their dependence.

Shameful, cheapening oneself
A conflict between dependency and independency in cats is very pronounced: being cats, they need to be independent but, in the process of domestication, they need to give up their dignity and become dependent on human beings; this conflict is the main focus of the remedy.

Wild cate became the domestic cats of today in order to get food. They will not completely relinquish their dignity and love of independence, hence the conflict. In patients, this theme is expressed as: “Dirty feeling about oneself”; “Feeling of not being respected”; “Of being treated contemptuously”; “Feeling of shame”.

Cleanliness and fastidious
All cats are lovers of cleanliness, but in Lac felinum this is more pronounced.

Other symptoms

• Fear of VIOLENCE – They are afraid they will do something violent
• Avoidance of emotional involvement, stable relationships.
• Fear of sharp pointed objects
• Illusion that corners of furniture, or any pointed object near her, were about to run into the eyes
• Photophobia

Provings: Swan, Divya Chhabra

Case

This is a case of a thirteen-year-old boy with contact dermatitis.

D: Tell  me about your problems…

P: I don’t have any problem?!! Yes, I have this (contact dermatitis). It’s just like a small skin rash, nothing so serious (when I see the rash, it is as big as our palm!!).

D: Yes, tell more?

P:  I’m all right. I have fights (Hand Gesture) with my younger brother but still we enjoy our company (HG: of pouncing).

D: Yes

P: I have small fights everyday at school too (sits facing the back of the chair and expand his hands over the handles of the chair).
I can’t bear injustice. This is the main cause of my fights. Nobody has the capacity to fight against me. I am solo in the school.  It’s not an issue that somebody is fighting me but I can’t bear injustice to any smaller guy. That’s why I take the weaker person’s side and fight with the opponent instead of that weak guy.
I have capacity. I can fight with someone twice as strong as me. When I get angry in a situation like this, it doesn’t occur to me that the person is bigger than me. Yesterday, I slapped a rickshaw driver because he was taking more than the usual money from a person who was new to the city.
I can’t tolerate it if somebody tries to overpower me. We had a new student in my class at school and he tried to become the boss. He is more powerful than me because his father is a policeman. One day, he wanted to show me his power. He ordered me to open my lunch box during lunch time so I went towards him slowly and, suddenly, I opened my lunch box and smashed it over his face even though it had very spicy vegetables in it, and then I emptied my entire water bottle in his pants. I didn’t give him a second to react. Just one attack and it was finished (HG).
I can speak straightforwardly to a teacher if he tries to insult me in front of the class. I accept my faults but I don’t want to compromise my dignity. I say to my teacher: “Keep within your limits. I respect you as teacher but you have to accept that we students are also human beings and have our honor and dignity. If you respect students, then students respect you. If anybody tries to cross the limit, then they should be prepared for the consequences.”
At school, teachers know that I never fight without reason, that’s why they made me monitor in my class instead of punishing me. I’m the only person who has the capacity to keep discipline in the entire class. Suppose there is lot of noise in the class and students are not listening to the teacher, then I stand up and make a big sound like ‘si..le..nce’ and everybody becomes quiet. Then, I feel lot of energy in me.

D: Yes, tell me what you feel at that time?

P: I feel as if I have lot of power. I can feel every muscle of my body at that time. I feel like I have capacity to rule the whole class. I’m like a king at that time.

D: King?

P: Yes, like the movie ‘Sarkar’. He was a very old man but if he made one sound everybody sat down. He is the real ruler. His voice is enough to bring order.  His single word is like a command for everybody.

D: How does he make a sound?

P: He collects all his energy together. His muscles contract and collect all the strength and then, he make a big but very deep sound, like lions use to roar in the jungle.

D: Lion?

P: Yes, lion. I often feel that I might have been a lion in my past life (laughs). I don’t know if it’s real or just because I like lions that I think this way.  

D: What you like about lions?

P: The lion is the ruler of the jungle. He is powerful and nobody has the capacity to go against him. He fights for the weaker guys. He can’t tolerate injustice. When he is ready to fight, he doesn’t think of the consequences. He never harasses weaker persons. He never tries to attack anybody without reason. He never attacks if he is not hungry.

D: How does he attack?

P: He is so strong and powerful that his one pounce (HG) is enough to kill smaller animals like deer or calf. The lion is very strong but he is very big, so he is not able to chase animals like cheetahs do. So, he tries to go as close as possible to the victim and then attacks them, and with one attack the opponent is on the ground.

Analysis

Kingdom: here, we see a clear picture of “me versus the others” in his fighting pattern. “Anybody who tries to oppose me or any weak person, I will attack and finish with one pounce.” This is the Animal kingdom pattern of talk.

Subkingdom: direct and face-to-face fighting is unique for mammalian fighting strategy. They do not attack from a hidden place, like reptiles do. The mammal’s opponent is similar or weaker in strength, while reptiles attack one who is strong and powerful, so their attack strategy is hidden. In this case, the Mammal theme is clear.

Remedy

-  Confidence of the patient is very high. He sits backwards on the chair and expands his hands as if sitting like a big commander.

-  “Nobody has the capacity to fight against me.”

-  “I’m solo in the school.”

-  “I can fight with someone twice as strong as me.”

-  “I can’t tolerate it if anybody tries to overpower me.”

-  “I don’t give him second chance to react. One attack and it’s done.”

-  “I stand up and make big sound like ‘si..le..nce’ and everybody becomes quiet.”

-  “I feel like I have the capacity to rule the whole class.”

-  “I’m like a king at that time.”

Prescription: Lac leoninum

Follow up
His dermatitis disappeared in the course of six months. Now, there are no complaints from his school about fights and his parents say he rarely fights with his younger brother. I noticed that he has become calmer and he agrees that since taking the remedy, he has less anger.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons
Running cheetah; Yathin sk
Approching leopard; Eric Kilby
Ocelot; Ana Cotta