Page 9 - Winter 2011

Cepaea Hortensis (Garden Snail) – Proving and cases by Stefan Kohlrausch, Germany
Mollusca: The garden snail “Cepaea Hortensis” belongs to the family of Helicidae species: Cepaea, equal to the edible snail “Helix Pomatia” and the naked snail “Arion Vulgaris”, all tree are land-lung-snails. Characteristics: completely smooth compact body without clear formed skeleton structures, missing clear body-parts like head, body, legs etc. The skin on the back produces the so-called coat, which can excrete calcium and build up spines or the snail-shell.
Pharmacology: Glandular enzymes agglutinate bacteria and are used in therapy of asthma and whooping cough.
Zoology: Asymmetric, torsion of intestines, can completely retreat the whole body into their shell.
Homeopathic relatives: Helix Pomatia, Arion Vulgaris, Sepia (ink squid), Octopus Maculate.
Living conditions: They prefer not very humid bushes. At the begin- ning winter they dig up to 30 cm deep burrows into the soil and retreat, close up their shell with more layers of calcium – like a lid. The warmth of spring calls them back to life. They replenish the substance – and water loss before the mating season in May or June starts. The snails, which are hermaphrodites, stand up in pairs sole to sole and penetrate a so-called “love-arrow” as an aphrotisiacum into the body of the partner. The eggs are rich in yolk and covered with a shell of calcium and are laid in a whole in the soil. After 3 weeks hatch very small and shiny babies with a transparent shell. Bugs, insects, ants or frogs eat the majority. Nutrients: Leaves.
Association: Slow movements, slipping, weightless, slimy, high sensi- tivity to touch even wind or noise.
The homeopathic remedy was completely unknown until in September 1998 I had the following patient:
Case I Franzi, a 5-year-old Girl with chronic Otitis and whooping cough Case Taking 9/1998 Summary:
Acute illness: whooping cough, cough dry and rough, vomiting white and slimy.
Chronic: recurrent otitis, recurrent infections, whooping cough, recur- rent cystitis, neuro-dermatitis, and incomplete urination.
Exterior: very thin, fragile, shiny skin, soft whitish hairs, soft & silent voice Behaviour: during case taking – hides behind her mother, nuzzles up to
her mother, nearly creeps into her, closes her eyes, after about 1 hour she opened up and started talking to me, before she refused and asked her mother to talk, very friendly but shy.
Condition: lively, permanently wants to dance and to move, big demand for skin contact.
Fears: spiders (dreams of spiders), robbers (dreams of robbers), fear of being poisoned – permanently washes her hands and questions every- thing that it is surely not poisoned, (authors explanation: snails are poi- soned by touching the snail pellets), aversion to violence, big love and demand for animals, could never kill an animal, not even an insect. Suspicious: was occupied with thoughts of death, mystic imagination: she was an angel, who chose her parents, changing moods, cries extremely loudly when someone annoys her, strong sense for aesthetics, home is very important, aversion to travel.
Aversion: slugs, collects snail-shells.
Birth: caesarean section, long anaesthesia, hypoglycaemic at birth Midwife: said after birth: “She looks as if she wants to slip back in again.”
Substance: weak connective tissue, hypotonic, asymmetric: right side accented, problems with the balance, falls to the left side. Sleeplessness: when she is occupied with thoughts, especially after her cat or one of her rabbits fell ill or had died, after she stepped on a snail by accident.
Case analysis brought out the idea that the remedy is a so far homeo- pathically unknown animal. As the girl gathered snail-shells and her translucent smooth skin as well as her very shy, hiding and mild character fitted very well to this animal.
Remedy: Iaskedhertogivemeoneofhersnailshells(whichundesired contained the capsuled living snail). The remedy was made by me according to Hahnemann’s Organon 6. The whole animal was potentised up to C30. A single dose of the new-born homeopathic remedy was given to the girl.
Follow-up: The continuation of the case was extraordinarily successful and she never needed any other remedy for 8 years after.
She became the healthiest family member and her constantly catch- ing every cold disappeared rapidly alongside the chronic bronchitis. There were also no signs of allergy any longer. Her personality changed, first
Continued on page 87