Moonbeam coreopsis: a trituration proving of Coreopsis verticillata

Natural History:

The plant was procured from a private home garden in Buffalo NY.

Class:               Magnoliopsida
Subclass:          Asterids
Order:              Asterales
Family:             Asteraceae
Genus:             Coreopsis
Species:           Coreopsis verticillata

Thread-leaf coreopsis (also commonly called whorled coreopsis) is a rhizomatous perennial which typically grows in dense, bushy clumps to 1-3' tall. 'Moonbeam' is somewhat more compact (to 2' tall) and features pale yellow, daisy-like flowers (1-2" diameter) with un-toothed rays and darker yellow center disks. Flowers appear singly in loose clusters (cymes) in a lengthy late spring to late summer bloom period which sometimes extends to first frost. Shearing plants in mid-summer (early August) when bloom usually tapers down will encourage a fall re-bloom. Palmately 3-parted leaves with thread-like segments end a fine-textured and airy appearance to the plant. Plants in the genus Coreopsis are sometimes commonly called tickseed in reference to the resemblance of the seeds to ticks.

Commentary: At the beginning of the trituration the provers experienced a sense of joy and giddiness; a childlike quality with a feeling of generosity and the joy of giving to others. As the proving continued, the provers started to feel disconnected and alone. There was a sense of not being nurtured as a child, unloved and unseen and an attempt to mask these feelings with cheerfulness. In order to gain the love and acceptance that they so desperately wanted they chose to be of service to others, generous and joyful. But ultimately, when the feelings of invisibility, being misunderstood and unloved persisted, irritability, intolerance and anger ensued.  In their anger they felt unappreciated, judged and alone once again. The provers played very different roles in the proving. One took a path of anger and resentment, another a path of escaping from a relationship where there was anger and intolerance and another completely disconnected, each of them ending up alone.

According to Jan Scholten's plant system:

666.44.05
Coreopsis verticillata
Series: Lanthanide series of Lanthanide series
Clades: Angiospermae; Asteranae; Campanulidae; Asterales; Asteraceae; Heliantheae; Coreopsis
Phase: 4; Sub-phase 4
Stage: 5

Below is an exerpt of the proving. For the complete proving go to www.greatlakesprovings.com. This remedy is available at www.remedia.at.

Mental/Emotional Themes

Compensating with Joy/Generosity/Helpfulness

1:C1 A desire in me to serve. To do things for others. Be generous. All those sunny little flowers doing something for others.

3:C1 I have a real sense of playfulness. To play and have fun. Like a child. A playground.

1:C2 It is a very hollow thing to serve, can be a very genuine gift and it can be for pleasing and trying to be a part of.  

1:C2 (Smiling) I was laughing at the theme again of “if she could really see me”, that is the whole point. If you are seen you are vulnerable and if you are not seen you are longing to be seen. Because no one cares that you need something or want something... just suck it up; that is life.

1:C3 ... I am being sunny and cheerful and serving because if I do not do that someone is going to get hurt. Set myself aside; I have to take care of the people around me in that ridged way. 

1:C3 This place I am that you see is a fork in the path, that is my purpose – to be on my own and distracting my pain with cheerfulness and happiness and service. To protect against, that hurt. I feel extremely powerful and a painful blast of rage. 

Sad/Hiding/Misunderstood/Protection

3:C1 I am connected with this hiding feeling. I feel more protective of what is hiding and deep within the plant. It is not wanting to be known; what is in there.

1:C1 The feeling I am having now is sadness about being misunderstood. Shame, because I default to the sunny superficial presentation. So I have no right to be sad about being misunderstood. But it is a protection.

3:C2 What is being protected is the me. I have to appear to be more than I am so that what I am will not be discovered to be not enough. 

2:C2 I feel there is a lot of strength here. This is so delicate, but the parts are so different from the way it presents as a whole. Something hidden, but not is a bad way. It feels protective. It is not hiding more than it is a safe haven.

2:C3 We are all protecting ourselves. Separate.

Unloved/Unseen/Un-Nurtured

1:C2 I get hurt. And I can’t ask for it, I can’t ask to be seen.

1:C2 someone who did not get any nurturing. When they needed basic nurturing. Children who are not seen by their parents. False sunniness. That is the way the world wanted to see them and so they got really good at showing that.

2:C2 that nurturing that it didn’t get. For me normally I have a strong sense of service and so normally for me there is a large part that wants to make the world a better place and this is a completely different feeling. Serving people and I do not have that sense in this room. I am feeling inward and the impulse is to circle into myself and not to reach out...

1:C3 Love. No one ever loved me. Suck it up and do what you got to.

1:C3 I am still missing love. Invite love. Be lovable.

Pissed off/Anger/Intolerance

1:C2 I am pissed off that people do not get it. I am more than annoyed. I am pissed off because it should be obvious. So instead of ob-fuscating, it is ob-vious and I am pissed off that people do not see it.  

3:C2 I feel like... how can they see it when you are so busy being pissed off all the time? No one wants to deal with that level of pissed off. I do not feel pissed off. I am like; how can they see what you want them to see when you are so angry all the time and working all the time? I feel like I am relating to the part that wants to be seen and I cannot be seen because people are diverted by the anger and business. They cannot work their way through it all to get to the central place. 

3:C2 That is what increases the pissed off. Every blossom is serving. Serving all of them and the plant gets bigger and bigger and so does the pissed off. The sunny disposition cannot be held any more. It is harder and harder not to be pulled into that feeling of anger. Hold my center. Calm compassionate understanding of limitation.

3:C2 I feel like there is a choice to either be pissed off or deep grief and I am losing its centered-ness and I cannot stop it and it was a fabulous place. I have a choice to be pissed off about it or grieve the loss of it. The grief is heavy.  

3:C3 See that is what happens when you take the path of being pissed off you become so disconnected from what you need...

Physicals

Ears

1:C1 I was really feeling my carotid glands. I was feeling the ear canal and it moved to the carotid and there was an awareness of the ear. The physical sensations are in my head.

1:C1 The mastoid process is... it feels full and congested and pressing on it feels good. Like I am squishing the springiness. There is something big about the ears with this remedy.

Mouth

2:C1 Mouth is dry and gummy.

2:C1 My tongue feels sharp like I will cut myself. There is an edge.

1:C2 Parched is an excellent word. That is the state. I am so accustomed to having no appetite; I have no taste. You cannot feel parched unless you can feel thirst.

Fever

2:C1 I feel flushed too. Like this surface of my hands are cold, but heat is coming from my chest.

2:C1 I still have that thing a little bit that my skin feels cold, but I am warm with heat rising from inside.

3:C1 I am almost feeling a chill. Like a shiver.

References:

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coreopsis_verticillata

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=cove5

Photo: Wikimedia commons
Coreopsis verticillata; Rob Hille