Myrica ceriferaA 47-year-old woman, she is slender, she has a teen-age posture, looks tired and disappointed, resigned with a layer of resentment, with an inward look in her eyes; she often has a somber and dark appearance. She has captivating, dark, and powerful eyes, somewhat grim but gentle in her demeanor. Her skin looks dry and has a pale color. She has had troubled skin for ten years. It seems as if it is still the pimples from puberty, it’s irritating her. As a child, she already had eczema and boils—which are very rare now—on a finger at the base of her hand. The pimples are now on the face, the shoulders, and around the sternum.
The skin reacts to the menstrual cycle; before it is worse. The skin reacts to stress. What is her stress: sick staff, worries about the children. Her assistant was ill; it has been a busy time. She has had many stressful years. She divorced five years ago; she started studying medicine when she already had children. It was a difficult marriage, and she put an end to it. That was a relief. She grew up with the idea that a woman must be at home, for the children. She wanted to study medicine as early as age five, after hearing the story as a child of a pediatrician who was setting something up in the developing world.
Her father had suffered a burnout at a young age; she tells in tears that this is why she went to help her mother. She pursued her studies for lawyer at her father's insistence, for it was family tradition. Her children's medical problems introduced her to the hospital, where many things went wrong, she says bitterly. Then she made the decision: I am going to study, I am going to ‘make a difference,’ at work, but also with the children at home. As a doctor, I do that by listening very carefully. Her practice is very personal, small, warm, gentle, and involved. Many patients can reflect; it is possible to have a conversation, which is very nice. A conversation is an opening for a new perspective, a development:: that is making a difference. Telling about the past: she looks high, far away, her hands are folded, her fingers fidget.
Her father suffered a burnout during her youth; he was hot-tempered and suppressed his feelings, and that is how he raised her, too: decisions are made rationally, not based on feelings. Before his burnout, he was warm, loving, and involved, though away a tremendous amount. Her mother was more of a manager; to her, very cold; she has no warm memories of her. The children received a lot of corporal punishment, with a carpet beater on the buttocks, and were sent to their rooms. She often has restless legs. As a child, she had boils on her buttocks; she was emaciated. As a child, she had sleep problems and nightmares.
Dreams as a child: fire, the house was on fire; she couldn't move then, not knowing what to do. Waking up powerless. She was raised religiously; she draws a lot of inspiration from that. She always respected her parents, believing they are right.
AnalysisSeries 4: doing something, study, meaning something to the world, I will fix it in the world. Boils on the buttocks has to do with the colon.
Iron series: she started to ‘work’, no more playing of fantasizing when her father collapsed.
Phase 4: knowing for sure., everything is fixed, taking responsibility.
Phase 6: being rejected, corporal punishment, partner theme. Father absent,
Phase 6, warm contact
Phase 4.
3-644.46.00 Faith, values, tradition.
Fagales. Skin complaints. Father theme, family tradition.
Stage 15: the loss of her father, the boils, insisting. Myrica cerifera, synonymous of Morella.
Prescription Morella cerifera C30.
Follow up After four weeks: her face is looser, more relaxed, her appearance is more well-groomed. In response, she caught the flu; she was tired. For a week, she slept a lot and did very little. Her skin immediately calmed down. The process that the inflammation was about has set in motion: within the family, you were never allowed to talk, not allowed to ask about anything, you always had to hide; she is now rebelling against that. ‘I have always let myself be controlled by my parents; that has really sunk in.’ She says, full of emotion and in tears. She dreamed a lot during the first week: that she had to pull all the children out of a hole in the ground; she needed help, one child was under the ground and threatened to suffocate, we pulled, and many more children were visible then. In the dream, she was angry. Terrified. Pulling them out was a kind of birth. She experiences more peace now. She has more authority over the children; there is more harmony in the family. My partner sees it too; she has literally stood taller, and she feels more like a strong tree. The ‘determining’ that Mother always did was a boundary violation. Within the family: being rejected for who you are, and others deciding for you. She finds it disgusting. Towards the children at home: I sometimes get a lot of resistance from the children; the arguments never stop. Things are better now; I don’t want to come up with a punishment, but they do have to do their bit, help out a little. She always had the feeling ‘I can’t keep up, I’m not being heard’. Previously, she would just do everything herself. She no longer has that feeling of ‘I just can’t do it’. The following year, she feels increasingly stronger. Her skin remains good.