Page 4 - Autumn 16

The Traffic Light Revolution by Chris Aukland, UK
What, I hear you ask, is the Traffic Light Revolution and what has it got to do with homeopathy?
Amber. The clearer we can be about a patient straying away form the Green, the quicker we can recognise this and choose
We are all familiar with those some subtle intervention that gently
The Demons Within
The Anacardium dog
I felt my mother’s fear; I smelt her smell that all was not well. Her milk my only cheer, her presence my shell.
My eyes, once opened, saw the truth, the brutal reality of life. Nowhere was safe
From the hands uncouth, blows like a knife.
My every move controlled, suppressed by force and pain. Time and again
alone in the cold. That’s when I felt the strain.
I want to be so good
now I’m set free;
a caring home, a loving family. I know I should
but there’s another me.
My scars of fear and hate, they run so deep;
I dream them in my sleep. Cruel voices don’t abate, till I follow like a sheep.
They say: “Growl!! Defend!! Bark!! Attack!! Bite!!
Do not forget
the cruelty that has been done”. And yet
truly I’m too scared to fight.
I yearn to belong, to be a loved pet.
And so goes on my war; from sweet and loyal,
my mind a battle royal,
as greater force enters through my door,
my fragile beauty ravaged by this festering boil.
Mark Carpenter
2
situations, where every thing has gone pear shaped, the red warning lights are flashing, the red flags are waving and the animal has become seriously ill. It is at times like these that the client is very happy that there is a veterinary profession to turn to. It might be broken bones that need some clever orthopaedic procedure, or perhaps a cat with renal failure that could benefit from intensive fluid therapy or maybe the dog that has eaten a foreign body that has now got stuck. When the animal has ventured into the Red Zone then there is much that can be done.
The thing is, nobody really wants their animals to stay there. They would much prefer they were back in the Green Zone. Here life is good, the husbandry is handled, the diet is optimum, lifestyle is lovely, all is in harmony and balance. Yes, the Green Zone is a much better place to be.
Here is the clever bit. When things go wrong, they never really leap from Green to Red. It always goes from Green to Amber to Red. Similarly when they get better it never goes straight from Red to Green. It goes from Red to Amber to Green.
This in-between Amber zone is really important. It represents all those subtle shifts away from the Green before we get to the Red. It also represents all those subtle things that can be done to steer things back away from the Red and into the Green.
There are two crucial aspects to managing the Amber. The first is to clearly understand the boundary between Amber and Red. To plant a few Red Flags and say if events progress beyond this point, then of course some Red treatment would be indicated. This creates a sense of safety, when we are helping the patient. The second is to come to understand the boundary between the Green and the
nudges them back to the Green. The longer we leave them drifting away form the Green and deeper into the Amber, the greater the risk of ending up in the Red.
The same applies for the return journey. Just because the Red treatment is complete, it does not mean the patient is safely back in the Green. There is still plenty of work that can be done in the Amber to help the journey back to the Green go as smoothly as possible.
It is important to recognise that there are overlaps. It will always be necessary to keep the Green aspects running as best as possible. Patients need basic maintenance of optimum husbandry whatever level they may have reached. So Green skills are always needed. The same approach applies to the Amber. If patients are in the Amber then Amber skills can be very useful. When they are in the Red, then Red skills are important, but they will still benefit from added support form the Amber and the Green.
What does this mean in practice? By definition, the better we get at Green and Amber, the less time a patient will spent in the Red. Which has to be good. It also means we can let go of any either/or type concerns. Put the Red types of treatments, where they rightfully belong, in the Red zone. Honour other practitioners for their Red zone skills. Then, also to recognise that we, as homeopaths, along with other holistic practitioners, have the opportunity to get very good at the Amber and the Green.
The better we do this, the better we can also support patients, who have stumbled into the Red. Most excitingly, the better we do this, the less chance they will need to go to the Red in the first place.
That’s the Traffic Light Revolution. Spread the word.