Paeonia officinalis picture/ Materia Medica

Paeonia is the only genus of the family of the Paeonaceae. There are about 150 species of Paeonia. In homeopathy we use Paeonia officinalis, also called Paeonia europea.
Most are herbaceous perennial plants 0.5–1.5 meters tall, but some are woody shrubs up to 1.5–3 meters tall. They have compound, deeply lobed leaves, and large, often fragrant flowers, ranging from red to white or yellow, in late spring and early summer. In the past the peonies were often classified in the family Ranunculaceae, alongside Hellebores and Anemones. Recent taxonomy has shown the Paeonaceae to belong to the order of the Saxifragales.
Paeonia is a traditional floral symbol of China.
Since 1957 the peony is also the State flower of Indiana.


Paeonia is very well known for vein problems. The veins are congested and varicose. A prominent location is the anus with hemorrhoids, that are painful, inflamed, congested and bleeding.
The inflammation can go together with fissures and ulcers. The ulcers can be in the form of bed sores and ulcers in the legs.


Mind:
The mental picture of Paeonia was not very well known. The first ideas came from the 15 year old girl presented in the article by Jan Scholten. Other cases confirmed the picture as presented below.

The main issue is the home and family. Paeonia needs a stable home and has an aversion to changes. Especially sudden and unexpected changes seem to affect them profoundly. They can not stand being sent away from home, for instance to an intern school. They get complaints from being left by their family. They can feel it as if they are being cut from their roots. That is probably why they strongly have cutting and stabbing pains, as from knives.

The Paeonia plant is also known for having problems when being replanted somewhere else: it will take a few years before it will blossom again.

They are anxious they may loose their family. In nightmares this can come back as the death of family members. In general they can be anxious people, having a fear of strangers and new things. They prefer to keep things unchanged. It is a kind of nostalgia. When they loose their home or something similar they can become very depressed.


Generals:
Temperature: shivering. Cold limbs with (burning) heat in face, back and chest.
Time: worse 5 pm.
Food: appetite lost. Thirst.
Worse touch, worse pressure, worse motion, worse stool.
Sleep: restless, unrefreshed, sleepiness all afternoon. Terrifying dreams, nightmares.


Complaints:
Epilepsy, cramps.
Vertigo, better drinking water, when moving, in a warm room, with constant reeling and staggering.
Headaches: congested, pulsating. Arteritis temporalis.
Eyes: burning, itching, red, watery, dry, smarting, not easy to open. Inflammation of left eye.
Face: red, congested, puffy, burning heat.
Nose: obstructed, evening and morning.
Tongue red.
Breast, ulcerations.
Chest: Sticking pain, cutting in left side when sitting bent over. Heat in chest. Sharp pain in ribs above hepatic region in morning.
Heart: pain, dull shooting from front to back through heart, anxiety.
Stomach ulcers better drinking water. Nausea, vomiting.
Abdomen: pain, colic, rumbling.
Sternum: pain. Ulcers.
Rectum: itching, burning, stitching, cutting, stabbing, S knives, S sitting on a broken bottle; worse slightest touch, worse stool. Haemmorrhoids, bleeding from stool.
Toes: cutting pain, S knife.
LIVER- Tonic.
Female:
Female: genitals swollen and painful. Cleansing the womb after child-birth.
Anal: fissure, fistula, abscess, hemorrhoids, ulcer.
Veins: Varicose, inflamed, congested, red, painful. Periarteritis nodosa.
Limbs: pain, cramp in wrist and fingers, knees and toes. Coccyx, ulcer.
Skin: bed sores, ulcers on legs, small ulcers on perineum near anus that constantly oozes very offensive moisture. Sensation of splinter.