CAUSTICUM – LYCOPODIUM – PULSATILLA EXPRESSING TACITURN

TACITURN – Reticent, reserved, uncommunicative, withdrawn, aloof

These three remedies all share the same bold type symptom of a taciturn side to their personalities,
and I shall try to show how this trait is expressed in each remedy.

CAUSTICUM

Bailey’s book Personality Profiles of The Major Constitutional Remedies, gives Causticum a keynote
of ‘The Idealist’, which he says is almost entirely missing from the old Materia Medicas, yet idealism
is it’s most central theme. Causticum is also a difficult personality type to master due to it’s
apparently contradictory aspects, the introverted and the extroverted, so how does the idealist
become taciturn?
The answer seems to lie mostly with the introverted Causticum, (although the extroverted also have
elements of being taciturn, especially when their dreams and ambitions fail) who is often taciturn
because they are much more prone to anxiety. As Bailey points out, the extroverted Caust is so
dedicated to their truth, they are more likely to bore people with their talk of social injustice, and
how they are going to change the world, but the introverted Caust is analytical and instead show
their passion through writing. They are more socially withdrawn and shy, and likely to suffer from
obsessive behaviours. The more introverted the Causticum is, the more taciturn he will be.

The description ‘gradual paralysis following a phase of excessive hypersensitivity or over-reactivity’

occurs on 3 levels, emotional, mental and physical. The mental and emotional picture here goes back
to the introverted Caust suffering obsessive-compulsive disorders which can happen after prolonged
stress. They often start obsessively checking door locks, cleaning the home or hand washing, which is
not something they would necessarily like everyone to know, so talking about these afflictions would
be most unwelcome.
Causticum is only one of 5 remedies listed in black type in Kent’s Repertory under the rubric ‘Grief’,
and like Nat Mur, a Causticum patient can suffer agonising grief for many years, because their warm
and empathetic nature mean they love very deeply and passionately so the loss can be unbearable.
Grief makes one taciturn, and can be a major factor in this appearing as a Causticum symptom.
Nerves are heavily featured in this remedy, which brings in a lot of physical symptoms such as
twitchings, cramps, progressive loss of muscular strength and atrophy of ligaments causing
shortening of the muscles. I would use these physical symptoms to link the remedy Causticum to the
patient who also showed mental nervous symptoms such as anxiety and fear; the Materia Medica of
The Human Mind by Dr Agrawal has very large listings under both of these headings.

The ageing Causticum is very likely to appear taciturn.

Bailey says:
Old age finds a lot of Causticums becoming more anxious and more withdrawn. The idealism of their
youth is fading, and with it goes their self-confidence and their mental clarity.

I would add here that I feel the rubric ‘taciturn’ in connection with Causticum, holds quite a weight
when adding it to other symptoms, and it greatly assists in matching the patient to Causticum as
their remedy.

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 LYCOPODIUM

Lycopodium is one of the anti-psoric remedies, meaning it works on the under functioning parts of
the body, this can be both mental and physical.
Lycopodiums suffer severely from lack of confidence and anxiety. Mind rubrics show weakness of
memory, confused thoughts, and difficulty concentrating during conversation. All these will bring
about a taciturn state, making the patient appear reserved, withdrawn and aloof.
These patients will always be trying to compensate for their perceived weaknesses, by being
dictatorial and even tyrannical, especially at home. Haughty bravado is descriptive of their
demeanour, and to loved ones this can appear as if they are cold and unfeeling. They do not want to
ever feel small or insignificant, as enduring humiliation is a major source of anxiety. Performance
anxiety before exams or public appearances, will make the Lycopodium tight lipped and
uncommunicative, it all comes back to fear of failure.

As a homeopath, we must observe what we see in the patient in front of us. The subtle signs that
can tip the balance towards one remedy or another. The Lycopodium hides behind the cool, calm,
even scornful exterior of a man of few words, when underneath he is actually a quivering wreck, if
only he would show it! However, to use ‘taciturn’ on its own as a rubric for deciding on Lyc as a
remedy, does not give us much to work with in our repertories. Lyc is listed alongside 29 other bold
type rubrics under the heading ‘taciturn’, and only features again in the sub-rubric ‘Fever, during’.
The one I thought for certain I would see Lyc listed in, was ‘Taciturn-humiliation, after’, but I was
wrong.
Getting out my Thesaurus and looking for similarly descriptive words did not bring me any joy either.

‘Reticent’ and ‘Reserved mood’ are not listed.

‘Laconic’ and ‘aloof’ did not have Lyc in the suggested remedies.
‘Withdrawn’ is only listed under ‘withdraws from reality’ and does not give Lyc.
‘Anti-social’ does contain Lyc, but again it was amongst too many other remedies to be helpful.

Because of the small number of mentions Lycopodium receives under taciturn and similar, I would
perhaps be inclined to probe further with the patient, to establish why they appeared taciturn, this
could tell us a lot more about them. The Materia Medica of the Human Mind by Dr Agrawal lists
many possible reasons under ‘Anxiety’, ‘Confusion of mind’, ‘Fear’, ‘Sadness-mental depression’.
‘Suspicious’ and ‘mistrustful’ are also listed in the Lotus Materia Medica under ‘Mind’, which are
reasons for appearing taciturn, and which could be used to better advantage by the homeopath.
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PULSATILLA

Pulsatilla is all about changeability, vulnerability, and craving constant reassurance. Looking through
the Pulsatilla rubrics in Dr Agrawal’s book Materia Medica of the Human Mind, one can find 4 and a
half pages of symptoms that could all explain why this patient appears taciturn.
Many anxieties are listed, and at all times of the day and night too. Weeping shows a long list of
causes, even stating cause-less as setting them off! The same goes for fears. Any person prone to
these afflictions will have many thoughts churning around in their head, it is no wonder they don’t
feel like saying much. Puls patients are characterised by the changeability of their physical
symptoms. Pains will go as quickly as they arrived, or move from place to place. One symptom pops
up, as another symptom dies down, and this constant shifting can be seen in their moods as well,
because Pulsatillas always need to feel loved. They are so sensitive, but they worry that they will
appear needy and burdensome, so they will mask their insecurities; and by keeping these feelings
hidden, they could easily seem uncommunicative. ‘Says they are fine when they are not’ is definitely
a Pulsatilla trait.

Sadness and mental depression torment Pulsatillas, they grieve silently and inwardly. They have a
tendency to sit quite still, rapt in deep thoughts.
Dr Agrawal puts absent-minded under common symptoms, referring again to the reason being
absorbed in thought. The rubric ‘Answers, aversion to’ with the sub-rubric, ‘monosyllabic’, also
‘Conversation, agg’ would explain a taciturn Pulsatilla.

As I previously mentioned, the rubric ‘Taciturn-mood’ has 30 bold type remedies, interestingly, the
only sub-rubrics mentioning Puls are ‘Depression, in’ and ‘Fever, during’.
Pulsatilla is listed in the Repertory under the rubric ‘Irritability-taciturn’, which indicates an
internalising of the patient’s irritability. Lotus Materia Medica mentions irritability under the Mind
section:
Very irritable, touchy, feels slighted or fears slight. Sensitive to reprimand. Easily offended. Answers
yes or no by nodding head.
The homeopath who has a patient in front of them nodding or shaking their head in answer to their
questions, should be mindful that this could translate into being taciturn.

In summary, I can see how these three remedies can all be listed under the taciturn rubric, and what
stands out for me is that all of them share symptoms associated with anxiety, fear and grief.
(Although Lycopodium is not so big on grief ailments, but it is mentioned) This homework made me
realise that labelling a symptom as rubric, does not necessarily mean that’s the end of it. That one
symptom can be interpreted in many different ways, and the skill lies in being able to see how it fits
into the remedy picture.

Bibliography
Agrawal, D. M. (1992). Materia Medica Of The Human Mind.

Bailey, P. M. (1995). Homeopathic Psychology - Personality Profiles Of The Major Constitutional

Remedies.

Murphy, R. (2010). Lotus Materia Medica - 3rd Revised Edition.

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