Mark O'Sullivan, 2nd Year Single Remedy Project: Aurum Metallicum

Irish School of Homeopathy Friday 30 June 2006

www.homeopath.ie

Single Remedy Project: Aurum Metallicum

Alchemical symbol for gold and the sun

“Of what significance the light of day, if it is not the reflection of an inward dawn?—to
what purpose is the veil of night withdrawn, if the morning reveals nothing to the soul?
It is merely garish and glaring.”

Henry David Thoreau

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Mark O'Sullivan, 2nd Year Single Remedy Project: Aurum Metallicum
Irish School of Homeopathy Friday 30 June 2006
www.homeopath.ie

Introduction

Aurum Metallicum derives its name from the latin for “shining dawn”, while the phonetically similar
“Aor” is Hebrew for “light”. The glorious colour of the light as the sun rises after the dark of night as
if in a solid, metallic form. The early morning is often associated with freshness, purity and so gold,
as a “noble metal” remains pure and aloof from other earthly matter, often found in a pure state in
the natural environment. Gold, unchanging and uncorrupted by its surroundings has long been
held as a symbol for noble superiority, royalty and spiritual enlightenment.

The alchemists' search was the transformation of

lead into gold, later taken by Jung to mean the
refinement of the self into wholeness. In myth, this
journey ends with the pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow or in the discovery of the holy grail after the
quest. Conversely to this, gold can also be seen as a
symbol of evil in the form of avarice best exemplified
in the idolatry of the golden calf by the Israelites in
the bible. The soviets also held up the gold pocket
watch as a symbol of the putative evils of capitalism.
The ambivalence of the symbolism implying that
when used well, it brings happiness but when not, can lead to corruption or calamity. Gold is as
difficult to use well as it is to obtain.

Gold is extremely conductive and ductile, with one gram of gold capable of being beaten into one
metre squared, facilitating its use as leaf or thread in the arts and crafts. It is soft, heavy and full of
colour by nature. When blended in alloys with copper, it gains a reddish hue - with iron, blue - with
silver, white and with silver and bismuth, black. A colloidal solution of gold is royal purple in hue as
is the alloy of aluminium and gold. Colloidal gold, or Aurum Potabile first made by Paracelsus, has
been used since Roman times to stain glass in vivid colours. Gold absorbs the blue spectrum of
light. From the perspective of the colours ascribed to the seven chakras of the energetic body, one
would expect a remedy made from a metal containing so much potential for colour to be deep and
varied in its action on the vital force and this is indeed the case with gold.

It is estimated that all the gold in world would form a cube just 20m in size (half of which would
come from South Africa). The scarcity of Gold has made it an ideal medium of wealth whether in
the coinage of antiquity or later in paper money representative of gold reserves in the “gold
standard” system. Although modern currency runs by the “fiat” system, unyoked from gold, the

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Mark O'Sullivan, 2nd Year Single Remedy Project: Aurum Metallicum
Irish School of Homeopathy Friday 30 June 2006
www.homeopath.ie

roots of western fractional reserve banking lie in the mediaeval goldsmiths issuance of more
receipts for stored gold than they had reserves of the metal. These days, banks can still lend out
ten times the amount of money that they hold in reserve and in this manner contemporary money
is conjured out of nothing as interest-laden debt owed to a bank.

On gold's shining surface therefore, the reflection of many pivotal themes of humankind can be
seen. Spirituality, wealth, power, avarice and evil.

In western medicine, gold is involved in the

treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with many side
effects. Radioactive gold in involved in the
treatment of cancer. The effects of taking gold
are similar to that of mercury. Salts of gold initially
sharpen the mind, increase libido and a sense of
well being but when continued cause disorder of
the glands, urinary and digestive systems before
finally leading to a degeneration of bodily and
mental systems as a whole, not unlike syphilis. Priapism is one side effect of gold poisoning,
explaining the Ayurvedic use of gold (called “mineral light” in that system) as an aphrodisiac.

In Alchemy and Jungian psychology, there is the association of Gold and the sun, with Silver as its
bride, representing the moon. Indeed, gold is often found blended or alongside silver in nature. The
sun often represents the heart, being the ruler of Leo astrologically, which also rules the heart. In
the balance of masculine and feminine within the self, gold represents the masculine, yang, left-
brained logical rational principle balanced by the feminine, receptive, yin, intuitive silver. We also
see the sun associated with kingship, as is gold. The planets of our solar system were born of the
sun and all life on earth depends on its radiant life-energy. This puts the sun in a role of leadership,
nurturing and responsibility. We could intuit from this that a gold remedy might address the heart of
rational, logical, sun-kings and as we shall see, these are important themes in the picture of Aurum
as a remedy. Indeed the Aurum Potabile of Paracelsus was said to be above all, a tonic for the
heart.

Aurum Metallicum – Remedy Picture

The Aurum type typically presents as a successful, ambitious, responsible, industrious individual
with a need to lead and shine. They rise into situations where people people become dependant
on them and feel they must maintain their power and effectiveness due to the responsibility they

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Mark O'Sullivan, 2nd Year Single Remedy Project: Aurum Metallicum
Irish School of Homeopathy Friday 30 June 2006
www.homeopath.ie

bear for their “flock”. They strive into high achievement, away from a shadow which tells them they
are not living up to the requirements of their role.

Internally, they are very hard on themselves with delusions of actually being failures in spite of their
successes. Their extremely high expectations of themselves inevitably lead to regarding
themselves as failures for not having attained
those lofty goals. Their super-egos, in a
Freudian sense, are deeply internalised, like
those of Carcinocin and Nat. Mur. They are
very critical and reproachful of themselves.
This leads to depression that can be so
profound as to be suicidal. The attendant
suppressed anger can express itself as
intolerance of contradiction and even
violence. Being a syphilitic remedy, the self-
destruction of suicide or substance abuse
may bring about their demise.

Under the weight of such self-reproach they experience feelings of being forsaken, of guilt,
loneliness and isolation in their personal relationships. They take criticism to heart as it reflects the
criticisms they have of themselves. Their sense of duty and devotion allow their compassionate
hearts to lead them into doing good for the world. They are “benign dictators” who are “lonely at
the top”. The dominance of their left-brained logical and critical faculties create heavy walls of duty,
haughtiness and seriousness around their hearts and may be unable to express humour or
affection. They will experience relief from this weight by enjoying classical music or by praying.
Even thoughts of suicide may bring relief to the Aurum who, from grief, loss of position, isolation or
depression, no longer experiences joy in life. They may throw themselves off a high building, or
dream/fear of doing so, reflecting the anxiety that they will fall from the heights they have invariably
scaled. They are worse for ascending stairs.

Aurum has great affinities with the heart, liver and bones as well as the central nervous system. It
is a prominent remedy for the treatment of heart conditions and the deep bone pains of rheumatoid
arthritis. Infertility can result from their self-reproach staunching the flow of generative energies. Its
symptoms are mostly right sided, reflecting the left-brain dominance of the character.

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Mark O'Sullivan, 2nd Year Single Remedy Project: Aurum Metallicum
Irish School of Homeopathy Friday 30 June 2006
www.homeopath.ie

Story of King Midas

While the approach of Logos, rational, linear logical analysis, can bring us an intellectual
understanding of a remedy it is by employing an approach of Mythos narrative and symbol-laden
stories which can be meaningful on many levels, that a fuller and more persistent understanding of
a remedy can be gleaned. To this end, we can take the well known story of King Midas to unpack
the main properties of the remedy as this story in particular holds most of the principal qualities of
the remedy picture.

The suitability of this story grows in appropriateness when considering its historical background.
Midas was an ancient king of Phrygia a nation once located in what is now northern Turkey and
said, by Herodotus, to have been the oldest of all nations. In the myth, Midas was said to have
washed his golden gift away in the source of the river Pactolus, in
the neighbouring ancient state of Lydia. The sands of the Pactolus
were actually rich in gold and it was with this that the Lydians
invented coinage in about 660BC. This, plus the fact that the
historical Midas is said to have committed suicide (by drinking the
blood of a bull) after his kingdom was invaded by the Cimmerians
in 696BC yields the Aurum themes of wealth and suicide due to
loss of position even before we examine the story of mythical
Midas.

Midas

BACCHUS, on a certain occasion, found his old schoolmaster

and foster-father, Silenus, missing. The old man had been
drinking, and in that state wandered away, and was found by
some peasants, who carried him to their king, Midas.

Midas recognized him, and treated him hospitably, entertaining

him for ten days and nights with an unceasing round of jollity.
On the eleventh day he brought Silenus back, and restored
him in safety to his pupil. Whereupon Bacchus offered Midas
his choice of a reward, whatever he might wish. He asked that
whatever he might touch should be changed into gold.
Bacchus consented, though sorry that he had not made a

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Mark O'Sullivan, 2nd Year Single Remedy Project: Aurum Metallicum
Irish School of Homeopathy Friday 30 June 2006
www.homeopath.ie

better choice.

Midas went his way, rejoicing in his new-acquired power, which he hastened to put to the test.
He could scarce believe his eyes when he found a twig of an oak, which he plucked from the
branch, become gold in his hand. He took up a stone; it changed to gold. He touched a sod; it
did the same. He took an apple from the tree; you would have thought he had robbed the
garden of the Hesperides. His joy knew no bounds, and as soon as he got home, he ordered
the servants to set a splendid repast on the table. Then he found to his dismay that whether he
touched bread, it hardened in his hand; or put a morsel to his lips, it defied his teeth. He took a
glass of wine, but it flowed down his throat like melted gold

In consternation at the unprecedented affliction, he strove to divest himself of his power; he

hated the gift he had lately coveted. But all in vain; starvation seemed to await him. He raised
his arms, all shining with gold, in prayer to Bacchus, begging to be delivered from his glittering
destruction. Bacchus, merciful deity, heard and consented. “Go,” said he, “to the River Pactolus,
trace the stream to its fountain-head, there plunge your head and body in, and wash away your
fault and its punishment.” He did so, and scarce had he touched the waters before the gold-
creating power passed into them, and the river-sands became changed into gold, as they
remain to this day.

Midas is a king, responsible and respectful to his drunken but divine guest and through his good
acts gains a boon from the gods. Here we have the Aurum position of being elevated,
conscientious, dutiful and benign in his power.

Yet being Aurum, he gives away his insecurity, borne

of the imperative to maintain power, by his wish – the
ability to generate limitless wealth. He insists on his
wish, even against a deities advice (intolerance to
contradiction). He must have his way. What a relief to
an Aurum would be the prospect of “arrival” at a
place of assured power, free from the insecurity that
he is not doing well enough when weighed against
how well he thinks he should be doing.

For Aurum, the reassurance of maintaining worldly

successes is required to maintain his self-worth. It is only by seeing his own standards of success
constantly reflected back to him in his life that he can rest easy in the knowledge that he

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Mark O'Sullivan, 2nd Year Single Remedy Project: Aurum Metallicum
Irish School of Homeopathy Friday 30 June 2006
www.homeopath.ie

accomplishing his mission. The trouble with this is that he begins to view his whole life through this
lens, giving no validity to his own inner life, and seeing everything in terms of worldly success or
failure, neglecting to nourish his feelings. Such an approach will soon drain the world of warmth,
joy and pleasure (heaviness).

This is beautifully metaphorised in the story firstly by Midas' foolish wish and then his dismay when
warmth and joy disappears from everything he touches only to be replaced by cold, lifeless, heavy
metal. He cannot nourish himself any longer as his whole world view is coloured by this unforgiving
standard of success (delusion, reproach, has neglected his duty and deserves). Small wonder then
that he becomes frightened and despairing, realising the bind into which his own nature has
delivered him, compounding his feelings of failure and despair. In contemporary versions of this
story, Midas embraces his daughter, also turning her into gold. The Aurum's relentless
externalisation of self-worth has also hardened the relationships most close to him (delusion,
affection of friends, has lost.), leaving him grieving, isolated and heartbroken.

He turns to weeping and praying to the gods for forgiveness and redemption (Anxiety of
conscience, Religious affectations). It all gets too much for Midas (< emotion) and he wants the
responsibility of his gift to be taken away from him. (Forsaken feeling, doubts about the soul's
welfare). The gods order him to undergo a spiritual rebirth by bathing at the source of a river (>
cold bathing) and he is redeemed. For Midas, he has rediscovered his fecund life energies, the
spiritual treasure in his own heart and freed himself from the harsh imperative of constant self-
validation through worldly success.

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Mark O'Sullivan, 2nd Year Single Remedy Project: Aurum Metallicum
Irish School of Homeopathy Friday 30 June 2006
www.homeopath.ie

References

Bulfinch, Thomas. Age of Fable: Vols. I & II: Stories of Gods and Heroes. 1913.
Chetwynd, Tom, “Dictionary of Symbols”, The Aquarian Press, London, 1982
Scholten, Jan. “Homeopathy and the Elements”, Stichting Alonnissos, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2004.
Sankaran, Rajan. “The Soul of Remedies”. Homeopathic Medical Publishers, Mumbai, India, 1997,
Vithoulkas, George., The Essence of Materia Medica, B. Jain Publishers, New Delhi, 2001
Vermeulen, Franz. Prisma, An arcana of Materia Medica Illuminated, Emryss, Haarlem, 2004
Wallace, John. Remedy Notes 1, SRP Press 1999

Wikipedia:
Gold:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold
Midas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midas
Prygia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrygia
Lydia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia
Realmagick.com on Gold
http://realmagick.com/articles/69/1169.html

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