So, You Think You Know Phosphorus? - Homeopathic Remedy, Homeopathy Medicine

Mati what is it about Phosphorus, the substance--the "signature", you might say--that translates into "isolation" in its spirit form?

Mati: Jan Scholten could answer this question a lot better than I can, but, the one thing I do know about Phosphorus is that it is a very volatile substance. If you expose it to oxygen it bursts into flames and burns itself out. The remedy Phosphorus also reflects this property. She is volatile emotionally and she tends to put out so much energy that she burns herself out and gets sick as a result. In other words, she can be very emotionally intense. Her emotional intensity and volatility makes her unpredictable, and when someone becomes unpredictable, the people in their lives tend to keep a safe distance; therefore, she gets a sense of isolation, and a feeling that nobody truly loves her.

A good explanation. I must confess I had a lot of trouble envisioning the bubbly, fun-loving Phosphorus as potentially "evil".

Elaine, Phosphorus doesn't want to think of herself as evil. But, as an example, I had one Phosphorus client who wouldn't honor anything I told her to do! If I told her to take one dose of a remedy, she took 5; if I told her to wait a week before her next dose, she would wait until the next morning and then take 3 doses more. In addition, she was using the most horrible allopathic medicines as if they were candy, which made it absolutely impossible to manage her case. I finally told her I couldn't work with her anymore, which turned out to be what every healer she had ever dealt with in the past told her as well! She instantly turned so angry and ugly that within 5 minutes she had me in tears!

Mati, why wouldn't she honor your dosing schedule?

I think it has something to do with her core feeling. She feels unloved in the family, and there is also the delusion of being stranded on a distant island. She feels very isolated. This is why she is a master at making friends, to compensate for the pain and loneliness she feels inside. Another way to get rid of the pain and loneliness is to use allopathic drugs. There are lots of drugs that can put you to sleep, numb your inner pain and calm your fears. (Remember, phosphorus is afraid of all kinds of things, especially in the dark or when they are alone). So, if friends aren't available, but drugs are, she can easily get addicted. (I'm feeling better, give me more!) This is how she compensates for the unresolved feelings she came in with.

Homeopathic remedies don't always work like allopathic ones. They don't always make you feel better right away. Sometimes you get aggravations which even make you feel worse! So, naturally, she is more attracted to her allopathic medicines, even if she knows the effect is only temporary. She just can't imagine that a few more pills would hurt anything, even if she does want to try homeopathy, too. The temptation is simply too great! But, unfortunately, it makes it almost impossible to manage the case when she mixes so many different medications at the same time. How can you tell if the homeopathic remedy is working, or if she is only feeling better because she took some other medicine?

Exactly!

And then, if you decide you can't work with her when she mixes all these different medicines, she will feel so totally abandoned and unloved that she becomes furious. She simply can't handle any kind of rejection because it always triggers her core feelings of being unloved.

So, the reason why Phos tends to use too many allopathic medicines has to do with two things, a desire to suppress her inner pain and also a desire to get attention (overdosing always creates a lot of attention). Or, if sickness creates the attention she wants, what is the point of getting well? I saw one Phosphorus woman who had developed terminal cancer. She called on all her friends to come and help her, and she finally got so much attention from everyone that she would rather die than give up the attention she was getting - so that is what she did. This is because attention equals love to Phosphorus, and therefore, they are addicted to attention and will basically do whatever it takes to get it.

This same Phosphorus woman (not the cancer patient) also had a Pulsatilla friend who was there for her anytime she needed anything. Once she had someone's allegiance like that, she would call her day and night--anytime she needed company, a ride somewhere, or whenever she needed someone to pick up her groceries or take care of her pets. A truly high maintenance relationship if ever there was one!

This is starting to sound very much like a certain family member of mine! This family member used to call me so often with an "emergency", I started to feel like I was under attack every time the phone rang!

Yes, "emergencies"-- eventually, it became such a drain on Pulsatilla that she finally told her she needed a break from all the "emergencies" Phosphorus had. She was tired of being awakened at 8 o'clock on a Sunday morning and being asked to go look for some pet that had run away, or whatever. So Pulsatilla told her she just needed some time for herself and her family, that was all. Phosphorus became furious! So furious, in fact, that she wasn't just nasty to Pulsatilla on the phone, she hit her with her fist one day in the post office, pretending she was just giving her a friendly "How are you doing?" bump, but Pulsatilla said it was harder and more aggressive than just a friendly bump. Then she started leaving Pulsatilla ugly, scary messages on her answering machine, leaving curses and wishing Pulsatilla and her family ill. For weeks this went on until Pulsatilla felt so disturbed that she was afraid to leave her house, and she ended up having to change her phone to an unlisted number!

Yikes, what a story! Plus, it's starting to sound like half the people I've ever known were Phosphorus!

There was also another Phosphorus client of mine who got upset with me for some stupid thing that happened and turned me in to the Colorado Board of Mental Health for doing "psychotherapy".

What? Oh my God! I think I've got a few stories of my own! In fact, I've been on a crusade to find out, "Who are these people -- these "Remedy People"-- who are 'turning people into the authorities'?" I guess now I know!

She knew they didn't have any jurisdiction over homeopaths, so she had to make me into a psychotherapist instead!

Good grief!

She lied and told them she came to see me for psychotherapy, and she said I had diagnosed her and made a treatment plan for her. I also heard that she got a local chiropractor, who used to be a friend of mine, to back up her complaints. And, of course, she told everyone in town that I was useless so nobody would come and see me. It took the Colorado Board a year of hassles and investigations to sort it out, and nothing ever came of it! This woman also told me that she went to court and sued some poor guy for money she felt that he owed her. She won the case, but after the case was over, the judge took her aside and asked her, off the record, if she would accept payment in installments from the guy, since he obviously didn't have much money. Because the judge asked her off the record, she thought his behavior was despicable and instantly filed a complaint against the judge!!!

Egads!

So, if you think Phosphorus is sweet and friendly, you must not have stepped on any of their toes yet, because they can turn on a dime. From now on, if anyone seems even remotely like a Phosphorus to me, I won't even say hello until they've signed my release form!

I found this whole Phosphorus "shadow-side" chilling! As I said, I have a family member who responded very well to Phosphorus in acutes, and is very tall and blonde-ish, very beautiful, charming, regal, lots of friends, etc. who would do just as you describe: She would call and take up hours of my time obsessing over boyfriend issues, and they were always, supposedly, cheating on her. "Why is this happening, why is that happening, what do you think it means?" I would come away feeling drained. I started dreading hearing the phone ring.

Once she needed me to take care of her pets so she could go on vacation. I said no, I couldn't do it. (I had "been there/done that" with two other friends--probably Phosphoruses-- and they did not come back for their pets when they said they were going to, months would go by without a word!) She swore she was only going to be gone for two weeks.

Just call me Charlie Brown....

Three Months Later...

...she came back for her pets, who caused a major flea infestation in my house requiring two calls to the exterminator!

But what she was mainly known for was the obsessing over boyfriends who were presumably cheating, so she would go through their suitcases, their mail, engagement calendars, etc. looking for "evidence" and if she found "something", a major crisis would ensue with everyone running around in a frenzy, worried that she would overdose on sleeping pills or alcohol. There was an unspoken "understanding" that, "If you're not nice to me, I'll take my whole bottle of sleeping pills!"

Oh, and the "reporting-people-to-the-authorities" phenomenon? When one of our relatives was in the hospital, she reported me to the hospital staff for giving homeopathic remedies--I was actually barred from the hospital! Luckily the family physician was a holistic MD and she called the hospital saying the remedies were HER prescription, so the crisis ended.

I had a Phosphorus girlfriend--my best friend, actually--and even as a child, she had been hospitalized with Purpura Hemorrhagica, a disease for which Phosphorus is the best known remedy; she, also, was a tall, thin, blonde; she reported me to Children's Protective Services for not vaccinating my child--except that that was only one in a laundry list of things that she made up (!) about me! Maybe she was jealous that I had a baby and she didn't? Who knows! Mati, what is behind this "reporting people" phenomenon in Phosphorus, what's it all about?

It is very simple. All she wants is love. If you show her, in any way, that you don't love her, or that she is not the center of attention because of you, she'll do what she can to take you "out of the picture" (like the Evil Queen in "Snow White").

Phosphorus is friendly, and Phosphorus does have a lot of friends, but this is just half of the picture, and we always need to look at the whole picture. One of the delusions that Phosphorus has is that she is unloved by her family (that is why she has to find friends instead - I think what happens is that her family tends to tell her the truth, and because she doesn’t like what she hears, she won't speak to them again).

Well, I can certainly relate to that! This particular family member isn't speaking to any of us!

She has basically become an expert at finding friends, as a way to compensate for lack of family connections. She is friendly, bubbly, happy, sympathetic and generous, and she puts out an enormous amount of energy towards others.

The problem is, she also has the delusion that she is stranded on an island - in other words, she has a hard time connecting with people on a deeper level. She just wants to have fun and doesn't like it when things get too heavy or serious. So, even though she is surrounded by friends, she still feels isolated, lonely and unloved inside. This makes her feel insecure, so she needs a lot of re-assurance from her friends, all the time. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?" - her friends are her mirrors. This is why she creates high maintenance relationships. Her friends have to keep proving to her, every day, that she is loved! (So, if you refuse to talk to her on the phone, even just once, you are not proving that you love her, and she will get even with you!)

She gives a lot to her friends in the form of energy, so she expects just as much to come back to her, constantly. In other words, Phosphorus gives love to get love back, and if she doesn't get what she expects, she turns evil.

Mati, when you say she puts out an awful lot of energy towards others--to receive love-- can she become a Welcome Mat? I'm guessing there are certain "friends" for whom she's a "welcome mat", and others, like the Pulsatilla you mentioned, for whom she's very demanding.

Look at the words you just used - "a welcome mat"! A welcome mat is only useful when you walk in the door and wipe your feet on it. Once you are inside, that is another story... (I think you picked a very insightful and descriptive word!)
She becomes a welcome mat for everyone at first, and then it changes as the friendship develops. The more comfortable she feels with someone, the more she will eventually take the person for granted and become demanding. So, this is basically a process that happens over time.

Oh, I see! Let me see if I've got this straight. She needs friends so she will be very nice and solicitous in the beginning. As time goes on, she's less and less concerned about the friend's feelings and needs.

Exactly!

Do friends of Phosphorus often say, "I felt betrayed, I felt like I was stabbed in the back...I was completely taken aback, I was in shock!" etc.?

Of course they do! It is a big surprise when someone you thought was a friend all of a sudden turns on you and stabs you in the back or turns you into the authorities without warning. (Boy, even as I am writing this, I can think of more and more people I know who must be Phosphorus!)

Here's what I saw my family member do: totally allowing herself to be used by boyfriends and the boyfriend's family, like the mother or aunt, etc., being way over-solicitous towards them, accepting thankless treatment from them, etc.; while at the same time, taking advantage of members of her own family, causing them to pay her way, pick up after her, etc.; so, not surprisingly, you can imagine that the family ultimately "snaps" and tells her, "You brought this all on yourself!" (whatever the lastest "crisis" may be).

That is exactly what I have been trying to describe! And here we can also compare Phosphorus and Arsenicum. Arsenicum will bend over backwards to please anyone they need, especially if that person gives them money or security in some way. Phosphorus does the same thing to get love and affection, but once she feels safe with someone, she stops putting out the effort, and not only that, she wants to get back the energy that she put out in the first place. That is why she becomes demanding. So the energy she originally put out, wasn't really a gift, it was only a loan, and eventually she wants it back, with interest. And if you don't pay up, she'll get furious, and if that doesn't work, she can easily take you to court or turn you in to the authorities.

The biggest problem is this: When the love one gives is not unconditional, the other will feel the underlying expectation and resist giving love back. So, in Phosphorus' story, she never gets the love she desires, simply because she expects too much! (Not because she has a horrible mate! And not because her mate is abusive or cheats on her, perhaps he is just looking for a way to escape from her demands!) Besides, the lesson she is here to learn is how to find her inner source of love and to stop expecting it to come from others, but if you tell her that, I can't guarantee the outcome!

So, yes, the normal picture of Phosphorus still applies, happy, cheerful, bubbly, affectionate, but the other side of the coin, "the dark side," is also part of the Phosphorus picture. (And, remember, all the remedies have dark sides, not just Phosphorus and Arsenicum.)

So, you may wonder, what is the point of describing the dark side of Phosphorus? It wasn't until I described the dark side to you that you immediately recognized people you knew as Phosphorus.

An important point for homeopathy is this: I always thought this family member was Phosphorus! But when I started observing the jealousy and going through people's calendars and suitcases and secretly following them, etc., I said to myself, "What is this, Lachesis?" I think the shadow side often looks like another remedy and you can easily give the wrong prescription!

If you meet another Phosphorus tomorrow, is there going to be any doubt about what remedy she needs? You should be able to easily recognize this picture now, both the light side and the dark.

The core delusions of a remedy only show you WHY people do what they do, but the patterns that result from the core delusions create a picture that is much easier to spot in case-taking than to go digging for the underlying core delusion right away. So, don't worry about what the underlying delusions are - just look for the behavior patterns, and they will show you the way.

Then, there was my holistic MD--the physician I mentioned previously-- who may well have been a (yes, red-headed) Phosphorus--who is no longer practicing holistic medicine and has gone back to anesthesiology because she reported a lay homeopath in the area to the authorities for practicing medicine without a license and received the wrath of one of our famous homeopaths for having done so; so, she closed down her practice with no explanation to anyone--again, her patients felt shocked, betrayed-- and went back to being an anesthesiologist.

Elaine, think about it: What's the main remedy for Ailments from Anesthesia?

Oh my God, Phosphorus!

What did the Evil Queen of "Snow White" do?

She put Snow White to sleep!

What does your "family member" keep threatening to do?

Overdose, put herself to sleep! I'm stunned! When I think of her obsession with sleeping pills and tranquilizers...!

When someone threatens to OD on pills, she has real leverage. "If you are not here for me, right now, I'll kill myself, and it will be all your fault, because you don't love me!"
If you refuse to play your part and simply say to someone like that, "Why use pills? Hanging is so much faster. Shall I bring you a rope?" Then you will really see what is under the "poor me" facade!
Remember, Phophorus is the Evil Queen. She has to stay in power, no matter what. If an affectionate, bubbly and cheerful personality work, all the better. But if you don't cooperate with her, you will be punished, for sure! "Off with her head!" cried the queen.

Yes, that is what the queen says! Here's another interesting coincidence, Mati: The above-mentioned holistic doctor was presumed to be a Lachesis by the homeopath she worked with; so, I just wonder how many presumed Lachesis patients are, in reality, Phosphorus? I note that you say in your book:

Phosphorus perceives reality as if she were someone of high rank, someone important, distinguished, rich (nobility comes to mind). She can be proud, critical or dictatorial in her views if she feels that she isn't being appreciated or supported enough in the right way.

And Phosphorus simply loves sleeping pills, Elaine. They have so many uses - the main one is that they can make people really nice to you (if you overdose on them, that is). What is the easiest way to get sympathy from others? Create a crisis - that gives you the excuse you need; so, they become experts at creating one crisis after the other.

If she had been a Lachesis as you thought, she would more likely have battled until the other person was "finished." She would have attacked rather than rolling over, playing dead, or disappearing! Different strategies for different remedies!

That's a very informative distinction between the two remedies. Lachesis would not want to die, Lachesis would want the other person to die!

Exactly. Animal remedies will fight for their survival.

Mati, I can't tell you how invaluable your book has been to me in terms of clarifying the remedy images, and I'd just like to add, it makes a great holiday gift!

Then you might be interested to know that I've completely re-edited my book! It used to be two volumes? I've now condensed the material into one volume and cut the price in half! I have also given it a new cover, new size and new sub-title. Click here to see it: http://www.biggervisionbooks.com/BeyondBookDescription.htm.

You can order it from:
http://www.biggervisionbooks.com/ReleasedBooks.htm
http://www.lulu.com/content/1310420
http://www.homeopathic.com

I also want to offer the homeopathic schools a free copy of my book for review. To request a copy, please email me at: matifuller@hotmail.com

I love the new format, and I would just like to remind our readers that if they haven't already read "You Try Living With Arsenicum!", they will surely find it a great companion to this article: http://www.hpathy.com/materiamedica/fuller-arsenicum.asp.

Come back soon!

Thank you, Elaine.

___________________________________________________

Mati H. Fuller, DIHom (Pract)

matifuller@hotmail.com

http://www.homeopathyonline.biz

Elaine Lewis, DHom, CHom