Cuprum.
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1994 May / Jun Vol III No 3.
Twentyman L R.
Materia Medica.
` Cupr.
The miracles of grace and charm and sheer beauty are the manifestations of Aphrodite; they inspire, excite, enchant, fill with desire. It is the charm which attracts and then yields rather than the wild pursuit itself in which Eros comes to expression. Mostly, her impact on men is kindly and brings good luck, but on women she can bring disasters, as the stories of Medusa and Phaedra told. It is dangerous to reject her influences for she can indeed extract terrible punishments for being scorned. Her true worship, openness and gratitude for beauty, brings blessing; the scorn of beauty as in the case of modern civilization, brings the curse of violence and crime as punishment.
How do these imaginative responses of the psyche to the Aphrodite Venus archetype relate to the metal copper and to the corresponding organ in the human organization, the kidney? For the ancients these were the expression of one and the same reality and it is our heuristic endeavour to enquire what value is to be found today in such a view point.
Copper is a warm reddish golden metal. In nature it combines with all acids and assumes wonderful greens and blues as well as yellows and reds. In fact no metal appears in such wonderfully coloured ores as does copper. Copper pyrite shines golden yellow, azurite is blue, olivenite and malachite green and bornite delights the eye with all the colours of the rainbow. These wonderful colours proclaim that heavenly beauty is brought to earth, truly a deed of Aphrodite. The metal is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, second only to silver and when melted it greedily sucks in gasses like hydrogen, carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide, only to expel them again in splattering explosions as it hardens, a phenomenon reminding us of the behaviour of silver and oxygen.
Being an essential trace element, traces of copper are essential for healthy growth of higher plants. But unicellular plants, low type mushrooms, algae are killed by minute traces of copper. These are plants which do not flower.
A very small amount of copper is necessary for haemoglobin synthesis but additional supply of the metal is harmful. In a similar way, small amounts of iron are of course required for the synthesis of chlorophyll, a pigment which contains magnesium instead of iron. There is therefore a close functional relationship between iron and copper in physiology; both can form pigments mediating respiratory function. Through breathing, oxygen is taken and carbonic acid is eliminated; the process reverses in plants. Therefore we see, the importance of copper in the transformation from vegetable to animal life the animating, ensouling transformation.
Aphrodite-Venus and Aris-Mars were always falling in love, and so every nice girl likes a soldier. Aris was related to iron and the iron age replaced the bronze age as did haemoglobin haemocyanin. Can we discern any significance from the evolutionary psychological standpoint in this movement from copper to iron in the blood stream, a movement approximately parallel to the movement from invertebrate to vertebrate? Does it not represent a further stage in the ensouling process when iron strength of will, the courage to fight or wage war, is added to the more feminine soul qualities of yearning, love, charm and beauty? And Aphrodites husband was Hephaistos, the lame artist craftsman, who, according to some accounts, was a dwarf, but of supreme ability to forge the very weapons used by the votaries of his wifes lover. Hephaistos is the shadow of Arcs.
How are we now to relate the functions we are beginning to discern in the archtype Aphrodite-Venus, to the functions of the kidney? This is an organ whose function is usually confined to the elaboration and excretion of urine, together with its role in maintaining the balance in the electrolytes acid-base balance and so on in blood. What does it have to do with ensouling organism?
Firstly, we may mention the descent of the kidneys from the pronephros to mesonephros to metanephros and the ascent to the uterus. Does this find its mythological expression in the story of the origin of Aphrodite from Ouranos, the heavens descending to earth which blossomed at her coming. But with this descent of the kidneys must be associated with the lungs and, as Koenig has shown, these two, lungs and kidneys, come to mirror each other. This too may find expression in the old story of Hermaphroditos.
Secondly, the kidney is related intimately to the nitrogen metabolism and to the excretion of urea and uric acid, end products of that metabolism. We get a hint of the role of nitrogen in the contrast between carbohydrates, the characteristic stuff of plants and protein of animals, brings about also the incorporation of the nitrogen, its interiorisation. When proteins do appear in plants, it is often obvious that this is the same element, sometimes called the astral, which has touched the plant. For instance, in the Leguminosae with their rich protein bearing seeds we can also see their butterfly like flowers. Nevertheless we can perceive that these vegetable proteins are distinct from the animal.
Thirdly, the kidney plays a miraculous role in maintaining the balance of body fluids. It senses the fluids, it tastes the constituents and responds by reabsorbing from the tubules fluid and constituents exactly in the amount to maintain the fluid, electrolyte, acid-base balances. One can follow Koenigs suggestion that the glomerulus, like an eye, sees into the fluids, the tubule like a tongue tastes them.
Fourthly, kidney irradiates the organism lifting it up from mere vegetative life to blossoming, sensing, motion. Some aspect of this irradiation acts through the renin and other products released by the kidney into the blood stream. But even more important may be the two suprarenal glands which sit on top of the kidneys to catch the radiation and transform it into adrenal hormones. We can also grasp the active agents in the action of these hormones as immaterial radiations which only require the hormone substance as slippers with which to gain entrance to the different organic realms. We can indeed say that these active principles and astral forces which do not themselves belong to the space of Euclid but with the help of the hormone substances as catalyst can work into the physical spatial organism. These kidney radiations can be regarded as the backthrust into the organism corresponding to the effort expanded in separating and excreting the urine from out of the living whole of the body fluids.
We can, in another way, approach the nature of these phenomena through the contrast between a patient with Addisons disease and one with Cushings syndrome. Addisons disease may arise through the destruction of suprarenal glands. In the absence of the hormones, the kidney radiation cannot find a foothold with which to work with into the organism. What do we see? A patient reduced to an almost vegetative state. Too fatigued to move or stand erect, pale and pigmented, a dangerously low blood pressure and a reduced level of sodium in blood as compared to potassium. Potassium belongs to the world of plants, while sodium belongs to the animal organism. As against this picture we have the patient with Cushing syndrome which may come about through overactivity of the suprarenal glands due to a tumor. This patient will be red, florid, overactive, a bit obese and with a high blood pressure, restless and excited, full of inner anxiety.
We must also add an important role in the nutritional process and the upbuilding of protein, brought about by synergistic action of four principal organs viz the heart, kidney, liver and lung. The nutritional stream has to be enlivened by the liver, aroused, ensouled by the kidney, raised to a fit ground for the ego-individuality by the heart and related to the earth through the lungs. Of the essential chemical elements in protein we can then relate oxygen to the liver, nitrogen to the kidney, hydrogen to the heart and carbon to the lungs.
In this way, very briefly sketched, we can see the ways in which the kidney organ plays an ensouling function arousing the organism from the vegetative sleep to animal dream. When the kidney system is overactive, there is great restlessness and anxiety, which may go so far as visual hallucinations and schizoid states. When it is inactive, apathy, sleep and inertia come about. The polarity in the action of coffee and barbiturates which are both closely related in their molecular structure to urea, confirms these indications, coffee arouses, awakens; barbiturates sedate and put to sleep.
We must now approach the drug picture of copper and enquire into its therapeutic use.
Its theme can be characterized as cramps or spasms or convulsions understood as gestures cramps appear mostly in the limbs or even in the peripheral arteries, may also occur in the uterus as dysmenorrhoea or severe cramping colic. In the severe colicky pains of cholera, copper is a most valuable remedy. In the stomach the pain may be associated with gastric ulceration. Copper can be valuable in angina pectoris, cramping pain in the heart, and in asthma where the cramp is in the airways. It has been found to be one of the most important remedies for the spasm of coughing in whooping cough and in laryngismus. Then there are various convulsions, jerking chorea and in the mental and behavioral field, impulsive actions, piercing shrieks, delirium or melancholic sullen withdrawal. These extreme mental disturbances are also recorded, mania with biting, beating, tearing, foolish imaginations and mimicry, full of insane spiteful tricks, illusions of imagination, does not recognize his own family. There is a further symptom recorded tongue darts in and out rapidly like a snake.
Of the other features noted one stands out as significant. Deeper disturbances develop when a rash or fever are suppressed or fail to develop or when emotions are suppressed.
All in all it is a picture of some violence and suddenness, ranging through cramps, including tetany, severe colicky pains and violent diarrhoea, asthma and whooping cough, to spasmodic coughs which may culminate in unconsciousness. The mental spectrum ranges from temper tantrums to full blown insanity whilst, also at the polar extreme, appearing as apathy, perhaps boredom, rather than real depression. Restless excitability stands against lethargy and lassitude.
We record here in the briefest statement the symptoms attributable to Cuprum in homoeopathic provings and in clinical experience. Can we relate this picture to the image of charm and beauty that we found in the stories of Aphrodite. In these we meet the charm of early womanhood arousing sweet desire and inducing springtime loveliness, gentleness, harmony and calm of seasons and the elements. Surely this grace-bestowing being what comes to mind when we think of the sanguine temperament. The temperaments belong properly not exactly to the realm of psychology. They impress themselves both into the soul world of behaviour and into the more structural world of physical body and even skeleton. The sanguine temperament is essentially the airy temperament. It represents therefore within the fluid living realm of the physiology, sometimes called the etheric, the impress of the soul which finds its home in the airy element. It can therefore colour as a painter the living realm and bring all the colors of the rainbow to play in the personalities. The beauty and charm which a sanguine woman spreads around her is the working of Aphrodite and finds its organic basis in the kidney system. When slighted. Aphrodite becomes a demon of destruction driving to madness and disaster. She exposes this extremity of her nature, charm turned to revenge and jealousy. Is this the meaning of the peculiar symptom, the tongue flickering in and out likes a snakes? This strange symptom is found again in the drug picture of Lachesis, a snake venom. It has been found clinically by Treichler amongst others that copper and its salts are important remedies in the treatment of schizoid and even fully schizophrenic conditions.
The restless, excitable conditions arising out of overactive kidney radiations can also pass into the hyperthyroid processes of Graves disease. In these conditions also copper, as Cuprite 3X has been found to be of great use.
In recent years, attention has been repeatedly drawn to the phenomena of hyperventilation. Some patients are very prone under stress to over breathe and washing out too much carbon dioxide from blood upsetting the acid base balance and chemistry of the blood. We have indicated the close relationship between the lung and the kidney systems which Koenig has depicted in more detail showing the importance of the kidney and bladder for dynamic respiration. The over-breathing of these patients would from this viewpoint seem to have its origin in the kidney system and such patients can usually be found to be of sanguine temperament. A causative treatment should be then aimed at this system, in addition to symptomatic re-training of the breathing. The symptoms recorded as provoked by hyperventilation cover almost the whole field of psychomotor and psychoneurotic phenomena.
Returning to the homoeopathic experience, we find that Cuprum is associated by Paterson with a group of remedies around the bowel nosode, Proteus, of which he gives a keynote "brain-storms". The other remedies included in this group besides Cuprum are Natrum-mur and the other chlorides, Ignatia, Secale (Claviceps purpurea, from which ergot derivatives are obtained), Apis, Borax, Conium and to these Belladonna and Chamomilla should probably be added on clinical grounds. The linkage of these remedies with kidney is established by Natrum-mur (sodium chloride). Not only is the kidney concerned with the maintenance of proper concentration of salt in the blood but the sodium ion is intimately involved in the level of blood pressure. Further the homoeopathic indications or the use of Natrum-mur as a remedy include periods of severe strain, stress and grief. In this way the connection with the suprarenal glands and the stress adaptation syndrome of Selye is also established. Apis, the venom of the bee, is related to the kidney and produces diuresis. Actually all the insect remedies used in homoeopathy have a relation to the kidney. The ergot derivatives have a spectrum of application or action is very similar to that of Cuprum itself. It ranges from spasm of peripheral arteries, through contraction and cramps of the uterus and smooth muscles of the alimentary canal to those peculiar cramp-like phenomena in the circulation associated with migraine, to the full schizophrenia-like trip of LSD.
Paterson saw the main action of this group of remedies in which he found the organism Proteus appearing in the bowel as a marker or indicator to be a sudden disturbance in the brain and central nervous system. This is an interesting observation and raises one more question. How is the central nervous system dynamically related to the kidney system? This question leads us again to consider that system of forces which are sometimes called astral. It is this system of forces which give rise to the animal form by repeated gestures of invagination or interiorization. Hence arises the central nervous system a main organ of these astral forces which from and through it act formatively, sculpturally on the organism. Their action from the nervous pole is primarily paralyzing and catabolic. It is these same forces which are switched by the kidneys into constructive anabolic forces playing their part in the upbuilding of proteins. In these two modes of action we see the play of polarity which always characterizes these forces and which we experience also in their expression in the feelings. The emotional like plays between sympathy and antipathy; love and hate, pleasure and pain all of which originate out of these astral forces in their development.
One further feature of the kidney corroborates these connection with the nervous system. It is the lack of regenerative capacity and the very high oxygen consumption they both share. These astral forces are opposed to the regenerative, merely living forces and only their high oxygen consumption keeps these organs alive. They are quickly damaged beyond repair by quite short periods of oxygen lack.
So, we see that the brain and central nervous system, with which voluntary muscles are connected even if not in the way still commonly believed stand opposed to the kidneys and the involuntary muscles and the inner movement. The role of the central nervous system is rather to paralyze and sculpt purposeful movements from out of the vast ocean of potential movements. From the kidney system in its full sense arise the inner impulse and stimulus to movement happily in gracious charming gesture, unhappily in restless excitement and violent irrationality.
We can see that the confusion which arose biologically long ago when the kidney system fell downwards and assumed excretory functions and became connected with the genital system, still persists to trouble us. It is more difficult on anatomical grounds for men than women to distinguish the excretory from the reproductive function, the profane from the sacred. Today the sacred is profaned and the Aphrodite is dragged through the mire and mud. She takes her revenge, drives us into restlessness, nervousness and cravings for sensations and drugs even into mad destructive violence. Art and beauty alone can help us restore her to her true function as the bestower of grace, charm and the freshness, loveliness of a new springtime, perhaps to flower now in a new spiritual culture of individual men and woman and children.
