I remember when I first heard my teacher George Vithoulkas, say, sadness runs through the remedy of Aurum metalicum. I was struck by his compassion. We all were. George is a master homeopath but also something of a guru. Not because he is brilliant and coveted by medical doctors and homeopaths the world over, but because he embodies something higher, something more refined; a life dedication to his path, a spiritual yet irreligious disposition, a light heartedness, an emotional sensitivity and an integrity of being. But there was something more to it.
As a homeopath, sometimes a particular remedy strikes a chord and even though this is one I rarely prescribe, I feel I know it well and from the inside - it runs through my family. When I was a child, following the failure of the family business, my uncle killed himself. I never understood why, until I studied this remedy. I came to recognize these same patterns in other men in our community, some of whom attempted and some of whom succeeded in ending their lives following serious business or financial failure. For an Aurum man, the sense of despair can simply be overwhelming and he feels he has no option but to end his suffering, and the suffering (he believes) he is causing to those around him.
Aurum metalicum is a remedy made from gold. Like the pure metal, it is refined and sensitive, strong and dependable, but it is also soft, and herein lies it's weakness. Bringing to mind the tragic figure of King Midas and the Golden Touch, the person needing Aurum feels he is destined for greatness but he soon discovers that his wish to turn everything to gold, is ultimately a self destructive curse.
Claudian states in his In Rufinum: So Midas, king of Lydia, swelled at first with pride when he found he could transform everything he touched to gold; but when he beheld his food grow rigid and his drink harden into golden ice then he understood that this gift was a bane and in his loathing for gold, cursed his prayer.
Those needing Aurum tend to be emotionally closed and very responsible. They feel they must honor their obligation to succeed in business and provide well for their families - and they are often successful. But should they fail, they become hopeless and despondant thinking only of suicide. The shame is too much for them, the loss of dignity and self respect drives them to jump off a cliff or drive their car off the road. It is a spontaneous decision but one contemplated silently for weeks or months leading up the the tragic event. And of course it shakes their families and communities to the core. But for them, they feel it is all that can do to escape their enormous pain.
Usually emotions are suppressed but suddenly the emotional body dominates this otherwise stable and dependable, business minded man who was so rational before. But they simply cannot face their failure emotionally. Often at this point they become turn to religion and prayer.
In the Greek myth, following a discrepancy of musical taste, Apollo causes Midas to grow donkey ears. Midas's barber, sworn to secrecy, cannot keep the secret so he digs a hole in the ground and whispers the story into it. A bed of reeds springs from the hole and starts to share the truth to all. The idea being that the king cannot hide (bury) the shame of his failure and the emotional weakness and vulnerability that come with it. He must face his subservience (donkey ears) to his emotional body, which is Aurum's shadow.
In a later version of the story, after the king turns his beloved daughter to gold, Dionysus instructs the regretful king to bathe in the Pactolus river and all that he then dips into the water will be reversed back to its previous state - a homeopathic principle of 'like cures like'. (First he needs to emmers himself in the river releasing the gold he has embodied and then that gold filled water, will reverse the spell). Interestingly water represents the emotional body, and so in order for Midas to reverse his obsession with his obligation to be prosperous and successful, he must enter into his emotional world. His daughter represents his vulnerability.
Aurum is a very interesting constitutional remedy, a royal remedy, not to be given or taken lightly.
The person needing Aurum, has a self destructive tendency, with rheumatic and heart affections. Pains are worse at night, and music ameliorates.
Rebecca Bermeister is a certified Classical Homeopath available for online consultations or treatments from her home clinic in Pardes Chanah, Israel.
She can be reached via her webpage www.rebhomeopath.com
email - rebhomeopath@gmail.com
Whatsapp - +972(0)547793606
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