what is the "essence" of this remedy?? The main mentals.

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Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to animals. For they are without sin and you in your greatness defile the earth by your appearance on it and leave traces of you foulness after you. Dostoyevsky

Oh, boy, Barb, where does one start? For actual proving information, Dr. Doug Foubister is the only one who's actually completed any kind of proving on this remedy. So, its a good place to start for the basics.

Then, there are some fantastic articles on this remedy that you can find right on the internet. Specifically, www.lyghtforce.com's link to Homeopathy Online Journal--I'm thinking of a carcinosin materia medica article that you can find in a 1997 (I think...look through the links for the issue with this article), and of course Amy Lansky's article on the remedy called "Max: A carcinosin cure", describing her son's treatment with carcinosin for autism. Tinus Smits' website also has an interesting MM article on the remedy; and the New England School of Homeopathy's Journal published an entire issue on this remedy, with clinical documentations and writings from several different homeopaths, including Paul Herscu. Philip Bailey's also published a booklet on the mental/emotionals of the remedy.

Here's a little gem that's helpful for studying during exams:

from Materia Poetica, by Sylvia Seroussi Chatroux:

Carcinosin

When I heard there was a party
And you would be the host
I thanked my lucky stars
This I would be the guest
I knew it would be perfect
Each thing in its right place
Almost with hysteria,
You'd have that party face
There would certainly be music
We would dance across the floor
And if there was a thunderstorm
You'd like it even more
You would be so lovely
In all your nice attire
Your very many beauty marks
Add sparkle to the fire
The blueness of your eyes
Would lend a special grace
Everything about you
Of cours, with utmost taste
Your food would be delicious
And fitting for a king
Salty, fatty treats
And also spicy things.
I know you like things perfect
In your house beside the sea
Overflowing with good taste
Thanks for inviting me!
And when that night we make a toast
I wish for you, my gracious host
An inner peace you seem to lack
But this I'll do with utmost tact
And every day a good night's sleep
Where you won't have to earn your keep
And you can rest fully assured
Your right to live is well secured.


So: perfectionism; love of beauty, harmony, peacefulness; love of music, dance, rhythm; a sense of needing to take great risks (often they are the wild mountain climbers, skydivers, extreme camping types) great love and concern for nature/environment; **long history of domination, repression, by others.

physicals: cafe au lait skin colour (but that's relative); nevi, birth marks; blue sclerotics; long eyelashes, as well as the line of hair in small of back, and up towards shoulders at birth; desires chocolate, garlic, soup (characteristic to this remedy--often will follow garlic with chocolate in a meal: Tinus Smits remarks on the copper content in soup and its relevance to tumors, which thrive on copper and sugar)
Insomnia. This last thing is chronic in carcinosin patients.

How's that for a beginning?
Divina

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...and deliverance has many faces<br />but grace<br />is an aquaintance of mine

I don't use carc as often as other people seem to, but when I have used it, they have always come from backgrounds of strict parental control. Every aspect of their lives were planned for them. I remember a case of epilepsy I cured in a man whose mother had pushed him very hard to play the piano. He was forced to practice long hours getting it exactly right. She never let him rest until he had it perfect.

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David Kempson.<br />Dip.Homoeopathic Medicine.<br />Lecturer Australian College of Natural Therapies (Brisbane Campus)<br />Member AHA, AROH, HMA<br />Member Australian Homoeopathic Association. Member#0442.

Hi Barb,
I found this a difficult remedy to get clear information on. Micklem's booklet is useful for references.
This is Sankaran's view of the "soul" of the remedy
REMEDY NAME:CARCINOSINUM
&lt;Description&gt;
Carcinosinum is prepared from cancerous breast tissue.
It represents the very centre of the cancer miasm (which falls between the
miasms sycosis and syphilis).
The main feeling amongst remedies and persons of the cancer miasm is that
one's survival depends upon performing tasks which one feels incapable of
performing. There is a need to be something that is almost beyond one's
capacity. The patients stretch themselves to the utmost in the hope of
success, because to them failure means death and destruction. This miasm
therefore has the sycotic fixity as well as the destructive dimension of
syphilis.
Carcinosinum people often have a history of taking on too much at a young
age, having too many expectations placed on them, too strict parental
controI. They try to live up to these expectations and make a tremendous
effort to perform exceedingly welI. They set for themselves high standards or
goals that are near impossible to achieve and drive themselves to try and
accomplish them. In that sense, they reach out for perfection, and almost
finish themselves in doing so.
The cancer miasm has this theme of superhuman effort in order to survive. The
need for control over oneself and over one's surroundings is tremendous, as
is the need to keep order in the midst of chaos. The disease cancer itself
represents a breakdown of all control mechanisms within the body, with
chaotic behaviour of the cells. The feeling of a cancer miasm person is like
that of a physician who is trying to bring order and control over the disease
cancer.
He knows that it is a very difficult job with very little chance of success.
Yet, he has to try with some hope of success. The cancer patient runs from
pillar to post seeking relief, and when all fails, gives up with the absolute
despair, characteristic of the syphilitic miasm. It is a continuous and
prolonged struggle which seems to have no end.
The need for perfection makes Carcinosinum people sensitive to reprimands,
and fastidious in every sphere of life to the point of being faultless. But
unlike mineral remedies, which merely want order in everything that they do,
Carcinosinum patients often show an interest towards artistic things like
music, dancing and painting. They are sensitive to and enjoy beautiful
scenery, seashore, thunderstorms and lightning. They show the sensitivity of
a plant as well in that, Iike Pulsatilla and lgnatia, they are sensitive to
reprimands and are offended easily.
They can also be sympathetic, very warm and humane, Iike Phosphorus, but they
are all the time striving for perfection - to be the perfect partner, the
perfect one for the job, the perfect parent, etc., so they are often ideal
for others. Out of this need to be perfect arises an anticipatory anxiety. If
they organize a party, it is not enough that the party should get going,
rather that everything should be perfect. Neatness and cleanliness simply are
not good enough for them, they must be perfect; the furniture should blend
with the surroundings, everything should match, etc.
They are well dressed people with good taste. Carcinosinum children are
welI-mannered and welI-behaved. They can become neurotic about perfection,
and sometimes this can be so extreme that they become suicidaI. There is also
a tendency to suppression, Iike in lgnatia. They accept their disappointments
and also their domination with a kind of resignation, and tend to accumulate
all the grief within, without expressing their sensitivity. They have a
tremendous anxiety about health, and a great fear of disease, especially
cancer.
Carcinosinum patients show a variety of cravings, for example for eggs, fat,
milk, but they especially crave for chocolate. They often lie on the abdomen
during sleep, have a bluish tinge on their sclera, and also many moles on the
skin. They are ameliorated at seashore, and by thunderstorm and lightning. A
history of infectious diseases, e.g. tuberculosis, mumps, measles,
chickenpox, malaria, typhoid, may be present and a history of cancer in the
patient or in his immediate family could be an additional confirmation.
&lt;Rubrics&gt;
Sensitive to reprimands.
Offended easily, takes everything in bad part.
Fastidious.
Ailments from anticipation.
0Dancing.
Sympathy, compassion.
SuicidaI.
Consolation, kind words aggravate.
Dave

Just a little from Vithoulkas:The main characteristics of the remedy are the following:
*Easily offended, cannot stand any kind of reprimand;
*seeks order and control, becomes fastidious;
*sympathetic, compassionate, feels acutely the pain of others;
*horrible things affect them profoundly;
*lack of self-confidence, wants to please everybody, guilty feelings for something they have not done;
*lack of reaction, e.g. , absence of fever etc.;
*precocity.
*We shall now try to find the inner thread of this remedy picture along the lines of some of these characteristics.
*Vulnerability and oversensitivity
*Carcinosin people are generally very easily hurt. They are very vulnerable emotionally but try to conceal it. There are, however, different kinds of manifestations and reactions with this remedy.

Also look at Paul Herscue's Cycle of Carc. which is on http://www.dse.nl/smits/english/ I think!!

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RSHom - Registered Homeopath

Thanks to Ricky, I got to read Tinus Smits' materia medica on carc. and feel I really understand it now. I clicked on the web site shown above, and when the site comes up (you have to wait) type in Carcinosin in the blank space provided and click on "find".

Snoopy

Carc. is a remedy I seem to prescribe a lot of!! I have so many different references to it from everywhere saved on my computer but I reckon the URL I gave above has the best stuff. I even have Bailey's book on Carc. which in my opinion is so so. It really just confirmed to me the reasons why I give it. I have found Carc. particularly useful in panic attacks where other indications fit well. I have also had it cause bad agg. and have taken to prescribing in an ascending dose 30, 200, 1M in 24 hours as a way of alleviating this.
It did a remarkable cure in a case of Molluscum in a 10 year old who had had it for 9 months with one split dose of 30 followed by a 200 a month later. The molluscum popped and went away. However this was given as a constitutional prescription.

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RSHom - Registered Homeopath

Thanks everyone! How important is a family history of cancer - does it have any weight at all in the remedy selection for this?

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Man, do not pride yourself on your superiority to animals. For they are without sin and you in your greatness defile the earth by your appearance on it and leave traces of you foulness after you. Dostoyevsky

No not always. It is a carcinosin state that is important. Sometimes you find heart disease and diabetes in the family history. The patient may have a history of whooping cough and never Been Well Since Glandular Fever (Mono). I would normally expect the patient to have lots of moles and it is surprising how many people actually have the cafe au lait marks although this is not necessary. A symptom that I often find is the inability to say "No" when asked to help someone out. Another essence that is often quoted is one of "diffussion". It is also a remedy to think of if after the consultation you feel drained. The patient has taken your energy.

[ 28 May 2001: Message edited by: Ricky ]

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RSHom - Registered Homeopath

Hi Barb,
I forgot about Don Webley's MM on Carcinosin until I read Divina's post, here's the link if it helps.
Dave http://www.lyghtforce.com/Homeopathy...e1/matmed.html