Cinis popo

Forty-five miles (70 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City – and the old Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán – stand the two great sacred mountains of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. In Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, Popocatépetl means ‘Smoking Mountain’ and is commonly referred to as “El Popo” or “Don Goyo”. It is Mexico’s most famous active volcano, being the second highest peak in the Mexican territory (17,833 feet / 5452 meters). Popocatépetl is linked to the Iztaccíhuatl (meaning “sleeping woman”) mountain to the north by the high saddle known as the Paso de Cortés, and lies in the eastern half of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt. It looms over the Mexico and Puebla valleys, potentially threatening over 20 million people. It  reactivated in 1993 after 70 years in a dormant state.

Some toxicological effects were reported immediately after its eruption on 30th of June, 1997, when the biggest explosion was registered followed by a light precipitation of ashes. Observation of the symptoms in healthy people from falling ashes from the volcano include throat and respiratory tract irritation, cough, phlegm and nasal obstruction. It affects the skin and eyes, producing irritation. Mental symptoms included depression, nightmares and anxiety.

The effect that Popo ashes have on people with chronic respiratory complaints include exacerbation of symptoms, respiratory difficulties and bronchospasms. Homoeopaths from the region have observed that the remedy Sulphur seems to be indicated constitutionally in patients with high sensitiveness to the ashes.

Since 1993, an increase has been observed in rhinitis and rhinitis associated with bronchial asthma among the inhabitants of the city of Puebla. To the Aztecs, Popocatépetl is revered as one of the most important of their sacred mountains. Its rich volcanic soil combined with a congenial climate and plentiful water made its lower slopes one of the most fertile and heavily populated areas of Pre-Columbian Mexico.

The theme of killing and death surrounds the history and legends of this mountain. Cortés (the Spanish conqueror) used a substance from the Aztec’s sacred mountain to make gunpowder for killing people for the greater glory of the Spanish empire. At the same time the Aztecs performed their own bloodthirsty human sacrifices as a worship to the mountain. It is worth mentioning here that the knives the aztecs used for sacrifices were made of Obsidian.

The ashes of Popocatépetl contain glass in different proportions, silicon dioxide, sulphur, copper, magnesium, zinc and plumbum.

Cinis popo was made from the ashes of the Popocatépetl volcano, in Mexico. The proving was conducted in 1995 by Dr Luis Germán González y González and medical homoeopaths from the College of Homoeopaths of Puebla. The pathogenesis of Cinis popo was published in 2000 along with 39 other remedies in a compilation called Mexican Materia Medica by Dr Fernando François Flores.

The mental symptoms of the proving include (translation from Spanish):

• Anger, irritability

• Ailments from anger

• Anxiety about health, hypochondriac

• Anxiety of conscience, remorse

• Anxiety with restlessness, in need for movement and physical activity. > waking in fresh air

• Anxiety < closed spaces

• Confusion of mind

• Ennui, dullness of mind, apathy

• Fear of death, pessimism

• Forsaken feeling

• Impatient, gets violently angry

• Irresolution

• Laziness, loathing of work

• Restlessness > continual movement

• Sadness

• Undertakes, lacks will power to undertake anything

•Want of self-confidence

•Weeping. > fresh air

Two of the provers experienced conflicts with their partners during the proving, resentment leading to separation. To me, the mental symptoms of this remedy are very related to the legend (see panel). The geographic area around the volcano has been populated from ancient times. It is full of history, all related to the volcano. The volcano has had a big influence on the population and this is shown in the proving of its ashes.

Pic: Xavier López Medellín & Felix Hinz www.motecuhzoma.de

A romantic legend that dates from pre-conquest times relates that Popocatépetl, a great warrior, was in love with the fair maiden Iztaccíhuatl, daughter of a tribal king. The legend comes from an oral tradition, therefore there are many versions of the same story.

The lovers went to the king who told them he would allow the marriage only if Popocatépetl was victorious in battle with a rival tribe. Popocatépetl went off to battle, was indeed victorious, but was kept away longer than expected. A rival suitor to the hand of Iztaccíhuatl spread the rumor that Popocatépetl had died in battle. When Iztaccíhuatl heard the news, she could not stop crying. She refused to go out and did not eat any more. A few days later, she became ill and she died of sadness.

When the king was preparing his daughter’s funeral, Popocatépetl and his warriors arrived victorious from war. The king was taken aback when he saw Popocatépetl, and he told him that other warriors had announced his death. Then, he told him that Iztaccíhuatl had died. Popocatépetl was very sad. He took Iztaccíhuatl’s body and laid her atop a mountain range that assumed the shape of a sleeping lady – the form that is evident in the western view of the Iztaccíhuatl today. Popocatépetl climbed the adjacent peak where, standing sentinel with a smoking torch, he eternally watches over his lost lover. Popocatépetl became the volcano Popocatépetl, raining fire on Earth in blind rage at the loss of his beloved. He sometimes throws out smoke, showing that he is still watching over Iztaccíhuatl, who sleeps by his side.

Conclusion

The purpose of this project is to get a deeper understanding of the remedies related to volcanic activity. The lava remedies in particular have related symptoms and common symptoms. Arizona lava and Etna lava are new remedies, their Materia Medica so far is based on information gathered from the provings. Clinical information is building up and there are a few cases published on the internet. Technically, I don’t think we can talk yet about the “Lava family”, although the themes and essences are coming very clearly through the provings.

Sulphur and Fluoric acid were included in the project for their connection to volcanic activity. The symptoms of the lava remedies are very close to those of Sulphur. Sulphur as a remedy has been around for a long time, as Hahnemann proved it. To me, Sulphur is the old cone, the remedy we all know. Reading different authors and listening to our lecturers, it seems that Sulphur is getting less and less prescribed nowadays. The “pure” Sulphur patient doesn’t seem to walk into ones’ practice anymore. Is that the old volcano getting quiet or extinct? I see it more like a moving away from Psora. The new craters and fumaroles are erupting; they are the lava remedies which are coming in under the syphilitic umbrella.

In an e-mail conversation with Bruce Barwell from New Zealand, he pointed out that Fluoric acid is an interesting and underused remedy. I’ve decided to included it here after reading his article on it. “It seems likely that the presence of a fluorine compound in lava or volcanic ash can create a dramatic discharge of fluid from provers and patients when given in potency”. What struck me about this remedy is the energy that it has: increase of energy, buoyancy of mind, fears nothing, love of liberty, freedom. This is the energy of the volcanic eruption and free flowing lava. All its symptoms are extreme: one of the hottest remedies, profuse discharges, offensive odour, strong sexual desire, loves spicy food… of course it is an acid.

I see this project as a work in progress. There is much more to it. I would like to get in touch with more homoeopaths working in volcanic areas and further investigate the socio-psychological aspect of people living under a volcano.

Carolina Pollak 2007

Carolina Pollak – This article was Carolina Pollack’s 3^rd year project at the Irish School of Homoeopathy. Carolina is originally from Chile and has made Ireland her home since 1996. In 2008 she graduated from the Irish School of Homoeopathy, becoming a registered member of the Irish Society of Homeopaths. Her background is in Fine Arts, specializing in painting. Carolina runs a full time homoeopathic practice in Tullamore, Co Offaly, Ireland. Her work is driven by the life-changing results she continuously witnesses in her patients, of all ages, through the use of homoeopathy.

carola@irishhomeopaths.com

This article first appeared  on Scribd http://www.scribd.com/

References

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Runyon Co., 1901

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Flores, Fernando François: Materia Medica Mexicana. Mexico, 2000.

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Materia Medica. Edited by Donald Macfarlan. Philadelphia: Boericke & Tafel. 1915.

WEB REFERENCES

Arizona lava:

•National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior. http://www.nps.gov/sucr/

•The Homoeopathic Proving of LAVA. Basaltic Lava from Flagstaff, Arizona. Misha Norland & The School of

Homoeopathy, Devon, England.

http://www.hominf.org/proving.htm

Etna lava

•Etna lava. Proving symptomtology and clinical results. Pietro Gulia, Giusi Pitari, Gustavo Dominici.

http://www.omeopatia-roma.it/pdf/Etnalava_en.pdf.

•Proving of Etna lava. Dr Gaetano Arena. http://www.thespiritofhomoeopathy.com/

insight/article05f.htm

Hecla lava

•Hecla lava. Information, thoughts and meditations. Chris Wilkinson, 1999-2002.

http://www.btinternet.com/~wellmother/heklalava.htm

•Interhomeopathy. Hekla lava by Laila Alberts. January 2006. www.interhomeopathy.org

Cinis popo

•The Patogenetic Research in Mexico. Dr. Fernando Darío François-Flores.

www.homeopatia.com.mx

•Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias Rev Inst Nal Enf Resp Méx 2004; Vol. 17(3):232-238 n.3 México sep. 2004. Notas informativas sobre cenizas volcánicas y contaminación ambiental. Octavio Narváez Porras www.scielo.unam.mx

•Popocatépetl: The Smoking Mountain by Lindsay Elms 2001

http://members.shaw.ca/beyondnootka/

• www.en.wikipedia.org

Fluoric acid

•New Zealand MAF Biosecurity Authority, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. “Impact of a Volcanic Eruption

on Agriculture and Forestry in New Zealand” (2001). http://www.geocities.com/missionstmichael/

Volcano.html

Volcanoes

•Department of Mineral Sciences, part of the National Museum of Natural History.

http://www.volcano.si.edu/

•Universidad de la Frontera, Temuco, Chile. http://www.ima.ufro.cl/siamb/p04021.html

•www.villarrica.cl

•http://es.wikipedia.org

•http://meli.mapuches.org

• Volcanes de Chile y sus erupciones. angelfire.com

IMAGES

Cover: Under the volcano. Oil on cavas.

Carolina Pollak 1995.

Photos: All pictures are credited.