Elaps is the coral snake. It has features common to the “snake” group of remedies, like loquacity, jealousy, egotism, deceit, venomous disposition, etc. I have usually identified Elaps by its very strong physical cravings/concomitants, for example the desire for bananas (my observation), oranges, salads, sweetened buttermilk (in India, a yoghurt drink called “Lassi”), ice, sweet, sour, milk. Its other symptoms which I have repeatedly confirmed is the burning pain in oesophagus and stomach, commonly described by the patient as “acidity” which is ameliorated by cold drinks – the cold drink can be felt descending from oesophagus down to the stomach, where it feels quite cold. Also the pain is ameliorated by lying on abdomen. This cold sensation descending down the oesophagus and settling in the stomach is unique to Elaps.
One of the dreams repeatedly seen in Elaps is the dream of falling, sometimes described as falling into an abyss or a pit. My prescriptions were initially based on these physical symptoms, but from clinical experience I have derived some idea of the mental state of Elaps, which is as follows:
I find that the patients have a fear of falling down, losing their position, their image in society. They like to maintain a very good image and value the good opinion of others. One has to differentiate this remedy from Palladium or sometimes from Platinum. Their talk is quite animated and egoistic. They are loquacious and have a tendency to put others down, but not in an egoistic way. They often come from respected families and are multi-talented in the areas of leadership, appearance, cooking, etc.
In one patient I observed a tremendous fear about the well-being of her husband and daughter, especially if they were a bit late returning home. The fear of high places is very strong. In this particular case the fears came up mainly when the daughter had gone for rock climbing and the husband was travelling by air.
To conclude, the most important features of Elaps are the fear of crashing down from a high place and the anxiety to uphold her image, the fear that her image should stand and not crash down.
Rubrics:
o Stomach, coldness, ice-like, after cold drinks.
o Chest, coldness, internal, as if ice water were rising and descending
through a cylindrical tube.
o Stomach, pain, lying on abdomen ameliorates.
o Company, desire for, happen, as if something horrible might.
o Fear, happen, something will.
o Dreams of falling into a pit.
Kent:
o Aversion, bananas.
o Desires ice.
o Desires oranges.
Phatak:
o Drinks, cold, as if.
If you would like to learn more about Dr. Sankaran’s work, courses and lectures please visit: http://www.onlinehmp.com
To read about the philosophical approach to developing these remedy pictures, see Dr. Sankaran’s introduction to Soul of Remedies: https://hpathy.com/homeopathy-papers/soul-of-remedies/
