(Information provided for educational purposes only; please see disclaimer at the bottom of the page. Consult a health care provider if symptoms persist for more than 5 days.)
Commentary:
- Hyoscyamus (henbane) should be one of the main anthroposophic (and even classical homeopathic) remedies.
- Rudolf Steiner describes it extensively. Overall this picture emerges:
In the intestine the situation can arise where the food digestion is too sluggish, sometimes seen by constipation. Hyoscyamus causes a wave like activity that goes counter to the activity of the intestine. This “contrariness” causes the intestine to work harder and the absorption into the lymphatics is stimulated. This improved intestinal activity causes the mental functions of the brain to work better in turn and the person given hyoscyamus is thus more awake, more clear.
Belladonna works more directly on the brain, hyoscyamus more on the intestine!
- Here are some of the most fundamental observations of R. Steiner about hyoscyamus:
- The weakened astral body needs to be brought to a greater consistency;
- In the case of a music teacher with fatigue and “reduced nutritional status”: through hyoscyamus the astral body is induced to work more on the physical body;
- Hyoscyamus helps the astral body when it does not enter properly into the reproductive organs (in the case of a woman with irregular menses)
- There are other means of stimulating the astral body…but if one wants to make sure that the astral body properly enters the growth forces and acts also on the neuro-muscular junctions without causing cramps hyoscyamus has to be given.
- Hyoscyamus leads the astral body and Ego into the solar plexus- warms it
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Cases where R. Steiner uses hyoscyamus:
- Hypersensitivity
- Menorrhagia
- Seizures
- Chronic heart complaints
- Depressed mood in connection with stagnated mucous discharge
- Palpitations
- States of excitation
- Against lethargy followed by anxiety and restlessness
- When a weak astral body is caused by an overly stern father
Indications
(From the anthroposophic and homeopathic literature and from clinical experience):
Physical complaints:
- Trembling
- Hiccups
- Spasmodic cough when lying down
- Muscle spasms
Emotional complaints:
- Remedy for the solar plexus:
- Tendency to lie, bizarre ideas, hysteric personality, likes talking about sex, paranoid, speaks quickly and changes logical paths often, jealous, prone to rage, exhibitionist,
- Child ignores order to stop disruptive behavior
- The actor who loves being on stage in front of a live public then nervous burn out
- Pronounced remedy for worse by jealousy
- Improper behavior
- Confused mental state of the elderly
- Children who need to climb into their parents’ bed at night