Great Lakes proving of TV emanation

Introduction:

The remedy was made in Toronto, Canada in December 2009 by exposing milk sugar placed in a porcelain bowl two feet in front of a 1985 Sony Trinitron Television that was left on for 48 hours. 

The proving was conducted in Boston on November 6, 2010. There were four provers – one male, three female. There were three observer/supervisors. The full Great Lakes Protocol was followed.

Trituration Dynamics:

The provers sat like four lumps on the couch, moving very little, looking bored and blank. They only rose to tend the fire or to eat, obsessively rearranging the fire logs. The fireplace captured a lot of their focus and attention. They were largely uncommunicative and had to be prodded to share their experience. To the observers the scene appeared to be Mom and Dad and their two kids watching television in their living room. All four sat staring, quietly, not engaging in conversation. When conversation occurred, it was limited and somewhat superficial. One prover was very captivated by her iPhone throughout the trituration.

Television’s impact on culture, connection and perception:

Television is a huge cultural force with wide-ranging impact. It has exerted a transformative influence on people and society. In the sixty years since television has become commonplace across the globe, this technology has revolutionized the way people see themselves and the world around them. People for the first time can have experiences far outside their normal possibilities, e.g. they could see what it was like to walk on the moon. TV also created great connection among people. Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase “The Global Village” which he felt described how television would result in “our planet’s collective neural wiring creating a single 24-7 … meta-community.”

Television has fundamentally altered human perception. What we see, what we understand and the way we feel our perceptions have been transformed. It has affected our beliefs, our behaviours and even our brain chemistry. Some medical studies suggest that when a person watches television, actual brain chemistry is affected and a hypnotic state is induced. Some researchers have attributed various autism spectrum disorders (ADHD, Asperger’s) to the exposure to television. In particular Autism Spectrum features such as obsessive or repetitive routines and behavior patterns, preference for solitary activities, difficulties in social interaction and delayed or impaired language skills have been linked to childhood television-watching.

The Proving Themes:

Affected by a Force

In television, stories are told through images and the images are transmitted by a force which can either make powerful connections or alienate. One of the provers experienced this sense throughout the entire proving: “Whatever they were going to do [to me], they were going to do forcibly…”

Altered Perception

It enables us to see that which is far away, in other time periods and places. It can take us there and immerse us into lives and situations that we would otherwise never experience; things beyond our reach, transporting us through all of our senses.

Altered perception can also include the alteration of our needs and desires. Sociologists have discussed how television has amplified individual’s desire for things and experiences typically not available to them.

Desire to open eyes wide

Television is about vision and perception. The cathode ray tube in a television has a similarity to the shape of the human eye. One prover stated several times “I feel like I have to open my eyes very wide - not only physically wide open but open up their perception as well.”

Common Experiences /Camaraderie/Group Effort

Some provers and supervisors talked about group effort and camaraderie (or lack thereof) throughout the proving. Whole communities, neighbours and friends played a big part in the provers’ dreams. There was the polarity between concern for the group “feeling a connection to the trituration circle and participants, as if we were a tribe sitting in circle around a fire” and one prover having her own very individual, non-interactive experience: “I feel like I cannot physically talk. But I am taking good notes for you all.”

Being Entertained, Fame, Special

Sociologists and media critics have argued about the impact of viewing things, places and time periods that people would never experience in their lives. The experiential impact that television provides has resulted in many viewers having a difficult time distinguishing between their own lives and those they experience through TV. One prover said” I want to go down in history.” She wanted her name to be recorded. Another had a dream: “… circus-like and on the beach; there are gymnastics, like a totem pole of naked young women standing with their feet on the shoulders of the one below.”

Expand, Contract

The mass acceptance of television coincided with the period of the United States' post-World War II economic and political dominance. The “transmitters” of TV information are relatively few in number relative to the numbers affected by TV’s impact. One prover stated “I feel inward, whereas before I felt expansive.” This was seen in dreams and in the inward withdrawal several provers experienced.

Bored, Restless/Active, Calm

Provers wanted to engage but could not and were frustrated “I feel like this remedy will be good for someone who is like a lump on a log or someone who is restless, wanting to move and can’t.” Another prover felt that “There is always something to do. I have to do the laundry and then at 8 pm I should sit and watch TV but I don’t; there is always something to do.”

Uneventful/Nothing is Happening/Routine

All of the provers experienced a period where they felt nothing was happening. They expressed frustration with that feeling. “Not much of anything to report. Went to work, feel OK.”

Sensitivity, Irritation

The symptoms here reflected the heightened senses that provers experienced during the proving (like the desire to open up the eyes wide). They were worse with movement, noise and light.

Disoriented

Directional problems and a feeling of disorientation also reflect the heightened senses (like sensitivity and wanting to open up eyes wide) that the provers experienced.

Numbers, Number 8

There were several instances involving specific numbers mentioned by the provers, particularly in dreams.

Physicals and Generals:

Generals

Fatigue/energized

Hunger/No appetite

Better Fresh Air

Physicals

Head

Pressure better, feeling pressure (occiput), feel pulsating energy, need a release from pressure, energy in head wanting to go out, too much energy in head.

Head Pain

Slight headache, headache worse light, want to close eyes and rest/retreat. Headache worse motion. Pain left-hand side, across forehead. Migraine. Headache around third eye, better fresh air.

Eyes

Want to open them wide, as though my eyebrows want to keep going up. Pulsation in eyes. Eyes feel relaxed. Watery eyes, heavy, sleepy eyes.

Vision

My peripheral focus is not the same. Eyesight heightened. Vision shimmery.

Ear

Itchy

Nose

Running nose, watery coryza, tip itches, nose itches. Tingling nasal sensations better fresh air.

Smell

Heightened sense of smell as though the smell was in my nose.

Face

Achy jaw, quivering facial muscles, need to rest my facial muscles.

Mouth

Itchiness on roof of mouth and throat. Lips tingly and metallic taste in mouth. Lips feel cold, yawning helps me release.

Speech

Feel like I can’t speak right now, feel I physically can’t talk.

Teeth

Noticed no plaque where there is usually something to scrape off.

External Throat

Discomfort around my trachea on the right side.

Stomach

Nausea

Stool

Constipation, larger than normal stool

Urination

Waking to urinate

Respiration

Need for a lot of deep breaths. Feels like breathing is incredibly shallow. Breathing is getting deeper, like in meditation. Breathing slow and deep. Deep breaths help to release.

Chest

Feeling something not totally physical.

Back

Neck hurts, out of alignment. Strained right shoulder. Itchiness around neck and head. Upper thoracic to neck loosened up, released tension.

Back, Pain

Pain lower back

Pain neck

Extremities

Bruises on thigh, swollen left inguinal crease, sensitive to touch.

Sleep

Slept well, fabulous sleep, uninterrupted. Woke up feeling horrible, didn’t sleep well. Sleepy.

Skin

Itchy all over head and leg. Arm pits, knees and neck, face itchy, moving around.

Conclusion:

The most striking aspect of this remedy is its wide-ranging alteration of perception. In the proving we saw perception shift from small to a very, very large field. This was seen in almost all of the proving themes—from the desire to be famous and special to being part of a bigger group, the changing ability to communicate, more basic issues with vision and wanting to keep their eyes wide open, the distortion of direction and heightened senses.

Extreme experiences ran throughout this remedy, outside the normal parameters of the provers’ lives. This was especially seen in the provers’ dreams. One prover described a sense of something coming over her and preventing her from expressing herself. Another prover’s dream found himself in the midst of a dangerous situation watching super-human feats.

The ‘overwhelming force’ aspect of TV was also felt strongly during the collation and write-up of this proving. I found it extremely difficult to complete the process. There was a sense of the topic expanding - like an imponderable force. Information just kept growing and growing with no end in sight, as if it was too difficult to corral the information into a focused structure. This reminded us of the expansion and contraction aspect of the proving and of the shape of the cathode ray tube or the human eye.

The idea of collective or group experience that came through in the proving was also seen during the trituration processes: while the provers ‘sat as lumps, largely uncommunicative’, there were expressions for the need to communicate as a group. They repeatedly mentioned the idea of a common experience and a sense of responsibility to the group.

We could see this remedy being used for symptoms with extreme lack of emotional attachment, difficulty to express oneself or connect emotionally, a flatness or difficulty in communication and speech, obsessiveness with superficial or specific things, aspects of an Asperger’s-like response. The person needing TV emanation might be inwardly focused, dull and bored, but with tremendous hope and desire to connect with others and have meaning. As one of the provers said during the trituration: “I feel like this remedy will be good for someone who is a lump on a log or someone who is restless, wanting to move and can’t.”

Thanks to the provers and to Pat Maher and Sally Williams for their great support. Thanks also to Lou Klein, who first proposed proving this substance and saw its potential impact. The entire proving can be read at www.greatlakesprovings.com. The remedy is available at www.helios.co.uk.

Carol Jones practices homeopathy in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons
Sony Trinitron TV; Daniel Christensen
TV and child; Aaron Escobar