10 minute read
Anthroposophical Views
from The Gentle Issue
Gentle tummy love
Dora Wagner
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Anne Dufourmantelle
Stones gather at the waterline. Waves chafe them against each other. I hear it clearly. With each wave, myriads of stones rub together, groaning. I imagine standing here in millennia to come, witnessing water breaking rocks to sand. Steadily. Slowly. Gently. And I wonder if I, too, were meek, how would I know? And how could I allow my gentleness to become a source of my inner strength? Could I combine my words with a flower's tender scent? Could I, like the delicate, glittering drops on morning leaves, help to awaken life? As the soil nourishes the root, could the salt of the earth strengthen me?
In Ancient Roman cultures, meekness was a virtue— ‘mansuetudo’ in Latin, literally ‘tameness’. It was closely related to kindness— ‘clementia’ —to the qualities of being calm, humble, kind, tolerant, soft, and yet brave. Meekness contrasts with ‘malignitas’, ‘hardness of the heart’, when violence reigns, when injuries are caused, when everything is about fighting, brutality and selfishness. So, we could be meek, if we did not get swept up in impatience and anger, if we were tender and careful, if we avoided harshness in our affections. Gentleness in behaviour is thus linked to caution in dealing with others, and a kind of circumspection that seeks not to harm other beings. But meekness is not only a way of behaviour, it’s more a state of mind; a balanced, patient, gracious and benevolent awareness. The classical symbol of this virtue is the sheep, which gives wool and milk without resistance— the traditional sacrificial animal since at least the Old Testament.
We all know that our stomachs can quickly be brought out of balance by our souls. The human stomach has incredible abilities: it can ‘hold stones’, turn sour with anger, ferment poison and bile, but it can also conjure those ‘butterflies’ that transmit happiness and excitement. From an early age we learn the wisdom of our stomachs: Bad news must be ‘digested’, it ‘hits us in the gut’, or ‘lies heavy on’ it. Events can make us feel sick, can spoil our appetite, or even make us want to throw up. These expressions tell us about the interplay between our psyches and our bodies, which in Greek is called ‘soma’. This is psychosomatics.
There's a strong connection between the brain and the gut. Stress and intense emotions can trigger neurologic signals to the stomach, changing the motion of the intestines as well as the level of acid production. Often, calming the mind and the gut can be helpful in relieving tummy aches and allowing the bowel to function normally again. On the other hand, belly trouble can also bring down one’s mood and overall well-being. Isn’t it, therefore, important to listen more attentively to our gut feelings, to be merciful and charitable with our belly’s aches and pains? Lying in bed with a hot water bottle in your lap or drinking Chamomile tea might be kinder than carelessly combatting your ailments with medicines to get back on your feet as quickly as possible. There are many drugs intended to help us ‘fight against’ any kind of stomach pain, most bearing the prefix ‘anti’: antiemetics, antidiuretics, antiphlogistics, antidiabetics, antibiotics, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, antidiarrhoeal agents, antiparasitics, antifungals, antidiposants, and so many more. They often do more harm than good. By contrast, our herbal and floral heritage can gently give us exactly what we need to relieve an upset tummy or a troubled mind. We attribute corresponding properties to medicinal plants: soothing, emollient, calming, relaxing, softening, or smoothing. Many of today’s common anthroposophical remedies for emerged from Rudolf Steiner's imaginative-intuitive knowledge, but all bear the suffix ‘doron’, meaning ‘a gift for’ (Steiner, 1994). Among the twenty-four ‘dorons’, is the gastro-intestinal ‘gift for the stomach’, Digestodoron. It is indicated for ‘disturbances of the digestive rhythm from heartburn to constipation’ and consists of extracts of three species each of Ferns and Willow leaves.
Ferns are characterised by strong vitality are among the oldest of plants, originating in the Palaeozoic era, almost 200 million years before flowering plants emerged. During evolution, the plants phylogenetically completed the step from aquatic to terrestrial life. In water, plants live in near weightlessness, exposed to the effects of the watery element and the strongly attenuated light. On land, Ferns came under the influence of gravity, air, and stronger light. Exposed to this light, Ferns formed root, shoot and leaf, creating a left- and right-symmetrical leaf shape around a central axis. This ability to structure in opposite directions is seen as fundamental to its healing powers. Ferns also contain various active substances, some of which are not found in any other herb. Their reproduction used to be considered a great mystery, as no flowers nor seeds or seedlings were found, so Ferns were a must in every witch's kitchen.
The remedy comprises extracts from leaves of the Common Spotted Fern (Common Polypody, Polypodium vulgare), Hart’s Tongue (Asplenium scolopendrium) and Dryopteris filix-mas, the Male Fern (Sommer & Soldner, 1990). The Common Spotted Fern is widespread in Central Europe, found in the shade of walls, and in Oak or Birch forests. Its resins relieve cramps and contain substances that inhibit inflammation. The bitter substances found in the roots stimulate digestion, as they stimulate the production of bile. Thus, in herbal medicine, Common Polypody was recommended for liver and gallbladder diseases. So, Common Polypody, and Male Fern— metabolically related in their active substances —have long been used in traditional treatments of digestive disorders. Madaus (1938), for example, gives a prescription for ‘chronic constipation with liver disturbances’ containing twenty parts ‘Rhizoma Polypodii’ concentrate. Hart’s Tongue (Asplenium scolopendrium) is often found on damp stones, near city walls, and in old buildings, as well as on mossy trees and near dead wood. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) notes Asplenium scolopendrium as a medicinal plant and, indeed, the tannins found in the rhizome and the fronds have an astringent effect, thus aiding wound healing as well as gastrointestinal problems. Dioscorides (40-90AD) is said to have prescribed this Fern for diarrhoea.
In Germany, besides ‘Hirschzungenfarn’ (Hart’s Tongue) and ‘Engelsüß’ (Angel’s Sweet), ‘Wurmfarn’ (Worm Fern) was a popular folk medicinal plant, serving— as the name suggests —as a highly effective remedy against parasites in the gastrointestinal tract. Unfortunately, the chemical in this Fern is not only effective against worms, but also causes nausea, liver, and nerve disorders in the human host. So, self-treatment requires extreme caution, and it is best to use only remedies from the pharmacy.
Our doron also contains extracts of Salix alba (White Willow), Salix viminalis (Basket Willow), and Salix purpurea (Purple Willow) which, like all Willow varieties, are dioecious. Beyond the wood of the Willow, which has always been used for weaving because of its elasticity and toughness, the bark is also important. It contains tannins, but also salicin— a compound of salicyl alcohol and glucose. Split into both components in the human intestine, salicylic acid is then formed in the liver. Synthetic salicylic acid was made possible as early as the middle of the 19th Century, finally being combined with acetic acid to form acetylsalicylic acid by the pharmacist Felix Hofmann in 1897. To this day, the resulting Aspirin is the best-selling pharmaceutical substance in the world (Rinsema, 2012). Now, natural Willow bark extracts are experiencing a revival as highly effective, easily tolerated alternatives, with fewer side-effects. Their anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic and antioxidant properties have been confirmed in numerous studies, which also demonstrate that the polyphenols contained in the total extract contribute decisively to their efficacy (Kreusgen, 2007). Willow bark extracts have been known since ancient times as painrelieving and anti-inflammatory natural remedies, but a clay tablet dating from approximately 700 BC seems to show that the Assyrians and Babylonians also used Willow leaves (Lagoni, 1999).
Willows embody the power of mediation between different realms. Trees are normally divided into a crown and a trunk, but Willows deny this contrast. Their branches contain a vitality that is elsewhere only found in roots. Cuttings take root very quickly and grow easily. Willows favour the barren banks of streams and rivers— the boundary between the solid which makes the outer form possible, and the flowing water that fills this form with life. In the remedy, this dynamic is harnessed to mediate the transitory processes and to support the transformation of nutrients from the outer world to the inner world of the organism.
To prepare the remedy, the leaves of each Fern and Willow species, freshly harvested early in the morning and coarsely cut, are macerated separately in alcohol-water solutions. By using a pharmaceutical process known as ‘Digestio’, it is believed the healing properties of the botanicals are made accessible to the human organism. First, the Fern leaves are mixed with the ethanol liquid in a hermetically sealed glass vessel then, after an initial temperature pulse of 50 °C, the mixture is kept at a constant 37 °C— the temperature of the human body —for several days. As only half of the glass vessel is immersed in a bain-marie, while the upper part is exposed to the cooler room temperature, a constantly changing rhythm develops between evaporation, condensation, and reflux. This is intended to transform the plant substances and adapt them to the rhythmic digestive processes of the human body. After filtration, the cooled Fern extract is mixed with a tincture made from the Willow leaves. In this unique combination, the components of the plant families— different in so many respects — optimally complement each other to provide a synergetic, beneficial effect on all kinds of digestive disorders. Thus, the remedy strives to be an herbal image of healthy human digestive activity, in which the polarities of breakdown and build-up, laxative and constipating effects, inhibiting and accelerating tendencies are brought into balance (Fintelmann, 2007). It is thought that harmonising the metabolic processes will encourage and stimulate the individual’s own internal processes, bringing a purification of their vital powers, making renewed clarity of perception and sensation possible.
Perhaps we can each only continuously ponder how to effect a habitus of gentleness, how to connect the polarities of the outer world and the inner world, how to transform the unfamiliar into the present and the own. In my opinion, we can only soften our inner being if we cultivate confident, caring, and loving relationships with ourselves and other beings. Without patience, forbearance and gentleness, life seems impossible. So, let us keep hope alive for a transformed and potential world.
Images
Collages by Dora Wagner from own images, Piqsels, and Wikipedia Commons
References
Dufourmantelle, A. (2013) Puissance de la douceur, Collection Payot: Paris. Tr. Dora Wagner
Fintelmann, V. (2007) ‘Intuitive MedizinAnthroposophische Medizin in Der Praxis’, (5) Aufl., Hippokrates: Stuttgart
Keusgen, M. et al (2007) ‘Weidenrindenextrakt - Vielstoffgemisch gegen Entzündungen und Schmerzen’, in Pharmazeutische Zeitung Ausgabe 08/2007
Lagoni, N. (1999) ‘Die Weidenrinde als pharmazeutischer Rohstoff - gestern und heute’, in Portal für Naturheilkunde 12 (99)
Madaus, G. (1938) Lehrbuch der Biologischen Heilmittel. Bd. 1. Thieme Verlag: Leipzig
Rinsema, T. (2012) One Hundred Years of Aspirin, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge
Sommer, M. & Soldner, G. (1990) ‘Farne in Natur und Mensch’, in Der Merkurstab 43(5):289-296
Steiner, R. (1994) Anthroposophische Menschenerkenntnis und Medizin. GA 319. 3. Aufl. Dornach
