MILK REMEDIES – used in Homeopathy

Milk is laden with many essential vitamins and minerals, breast milk is the nourishment which infants are dependent on for a healthy start in life. This is undoubtedly truer within the animal kingdom. The milk of the female of the species is essential to the survival of her offspring, and ultimately to the survival of the species as a whole. Within the animal kingdom, survival is also dependent on the ability of the species to defend themselves from other predators, and from mans’ need or greed, (as with dairy herds in the UK), or plain fear. On reading up of the milk remedies it is interesting to see how various themes which emerged through the provings of the milk remedies may be associated with the animals present situation, the strength and fears of the species, and also their behaviour within their own particular societies.

Lac Lupinum, the milk of the wolf, was extracted from a female wolf living in a large forested enclosure in British Columbia. Wolves are very family orientated, living together in packs ranging in size between three and twenty-four members. The pack is led by a dominant pair, known as the alpha male and female, who are usually mated for life and who take responsibility for the rest of the pack. The wolf, an intelligent and proud animal, has not enjoyed kindness from mankind, and across the centuries has been hunted, (predominantly through fear and superstition), almost to extinction.

From the proving of this remedy a strong element emerged of wanting to protect children, or of feeling an unreasonable amount of concern towards children, both in the dreams and everyday life situations. This feeling extends to wanting to help others who are less fortunate. Lac lupinum may also be highly critical, wanting to blame others and there is also an element of confusion to this remedy, with the provers finding themselves repeatedly losing their keys, wallets and purses. It is also very interesting to note that through either dreams or in reality, the provers were aware of dangerous liquids and holes in the legs of their stockings. The wolf is often shot at, or else poisoned with strychnine-treated bait. There is the sensation of dying, of feeling that one does not have the strength to go on. The wolf has been battling for a long time against the odds, to avoid complete extinction, (wolfs’ no longer roam the UK) and this comes through in lac lupinum.

Lac Loxodonta Farican, the milk of the African elephant is, like the wolf, an animal that has had its very existence threatened through being maimed or killed by the poachers to obtain the ivory tusks of these beautiful animals. One of the themes that came through in the proving of this milk was of murder and violence, terrible dreams. The feeling is, ‘I do not want to fight, but I have to or I will die’. There is also a sensation of timelessness with this remedy, a spaced out feeling, a strange sensation of mental fuzziness. Time can feel like it is passing too slowly or it is distorted in some way. Like Lac Lupinum, Lac Loxodonta Farican forgets things, or has trouble finding things due to the dullness on the mental level and difficulty in thinking. On reading this I was surprised, as the elephant is an animal that we associate with a good memory, ‘elephants never forget’. Elephants also after one or more of their group have been killed are able to stand on the same spot a year later and ‘morn’ for the dead elephant/s.

Yet one of the better known of the milks, Lac Caninum, dogs milk, also has this great forgetfulness. Lac Caninum will make shopping purchases and walk away without them and make mistakes when speaking or writing, using the wrong words and missing letters out, (TV character portrayed as Alf Garnett’s wife). There is a pronounced mental state with great over-sensitivity on all levels. Lac Caninum can fly into a rage with cursing and swearing from the slightest provocation. Whatever the symptom experienced by the Lac Caninum patient, there is changing sides. The sore throat will be felt first on one side, then the other. Rheumatism in the ankles will be painful on alternating sides; the headache and the ovarian pain will change sides. The Lac Caninum patient has a great lack of confidence; their body feels ugly and they imagine that they are being insulted, compounding the feelings of worthlessness. Vermeulen, comments that it is common for the lac caninum to have had a difficult childhood and that these difficulties can give rise to a great lack of self confidence. There are several rubrics in the delusion section of Synthesis 7.1 repertory that relate to this lack of confidence. Sankaran, says that the delusion often epitomises the central disturbance of the individual. Lac caninum persons are very passionate, very lascivious. They can be quite aggressive and defensive. Lac Caninum feels like they are going insane yet they are very aware of it and fearful of it. Sankaran contends that the remedy (similar to the domesticated dog) has been totally controlled and civilised so that it has to suppress its basic animal nature and can only express its controlled, civilised side. The main fear in most of these patients is of snakes, they may have delusions involving snakes or dreams of snakes. This remedy may also be of great uses when a mother has lost her child during the stage when she was still breast feeding and it has become necessary to dry up the milk.

I have found it interesting researching the milk remedies, due to the fact, that in several of them there is an issue of some kind with milk. This may be expressed as a desire, an aggravation or an aversion. Lac Caninum has a craving for milk, yet when they have a headache even the thought of milk will make them sick. Lac Defloratum, skimmed cows milk, has a great aversion to milk, when drinking milk will give them a sick headache. Lac Felinum, cats milk, has a craving or aversion to milk and Lac Humanum may have a desire for, an aversion to or an aggravation from milk.

Lac Defloratum gives us a very clear picture of the patient who is made sick from milk. Kent says, ‘ much can be learned by mediating upon the milk constitution; some may think there is a difference of importance between milk skimmed and new milk, but for all practical purposes the skimmed milk is sufficient and cures the oversensitiveness to milk, if used in high potency’. The Lac Defloratum patient is very chilly and extremely sensitive to draughts. There is nothing that will warm this person up and, not surprisingly; there is great weakness. Lac Defloratum has no energy and experiences fatigue from even the slightest motion. This state may be attributed to the low nutritional status of the person; they are unable to adequately assimilate their food, and when wick will completely lose their appetite. Mentally, Lac Defloratum is very despondent and will want to know what is the quickest and quietest way to commit suicide. They have no fear of death but are sure they are going to die. Physically and mentally there is extreme weakness. As with many of the other milk remedies the mind of this person has grown weak, ‘listlessness and disinclination for either bodily or mental exertion, loss of memory. There is great sadness with this remedy, and the Lac Defloratum patient does not want to see or speak to anybody. It is as if they cannot bear the suffering any longer and wish to die.

Another prominent theme, which is found amongst the milks, is that of falling. Lac Felinum has a fear of falling down the stairs, but without an accompanying feeling of vertigo. I find this interesting when one considers the agility of the cat and it’s ability to land on all fours no matter what position it was in when it fell. Lac Caninum may have falling as causation and Lac Caprinum, goats’ milk, also has a fear of falling. The goat is very sure-footed creature, ‘wild goats live in dry, rocky region with little water, unlike the ibex, another member of the Capra species, they are not marked mountain dwellers. They can, however, climb to great heights’.

The remedy Lac Caprinum lives in fear of being taken by surprise and has a strong fear of being pointed at, with a finger or a sharp object. The Lac Caprinum’s response to fear is to avoid it. Like it’s source, the goat, this person will try and find a high social position where they have control, a ‘ no-one can get me while I am up here’ kind of attitude. This is by no means the answer to their problems. They become so dependent on this high position that a fear of falling is an almost inevitable consequence. As Vermeulen comments, ‘ this falling and degrading must be prevented. One of the means to prevent it is to be just ahead of it by hiding, camouflaging, deluding, deceiving, telling lies, so that you cannot be caught in the very act’. A state of indifference may ensue, serving as a mechanism not to have to face reaching the high position, which would ultimately lead to a fall. This remedy may also experience strong sexual urges, but is very fearful of these, almost uncontrollable, feelings. This leads to suppression and prudish behaviour, ‘This fear is not founded on sympathy with your victim, or moral scruples, but only on the possible consequences of being caught in the act and thereby losing your position’. Consistent with the social climbing, Lac Caprinum has dreams involving staircases so we can see that, as in Lac Lupinum, themes often come through in the subconscious, through the portals of the dream world, which are strongly indicative of the required remedy.

This fear of sharp or pointed objects that we find in Lac Caprinum is also a very strong symptom in the remedy Lac Felinum, cats milk. ‘Mental illusion that corners of furniture, or any pointed object near her were about to run into her eyes; the symptom is purely mental, the objects do not appear to her sight to be too close’. The cat has an instinct to be wild and even though it has been raised as a domestic pet, will often bring chewed up birds and other creatures into the family home, ‘ a desire to be pampered as opposed to desire to be independent’. This remedy may also be indicated in cases where there has been incest or a rape. During the proving there emerged, ‘dreams of sexual intercourse; many dreams of being pursued for rape, even by relatives.

When looking at the milks as a group it becomes evident that, although they are all quite different, there are several themes that consistently appear in the individual remedies. There is often an aspect relating to milk as a substance; it will have some kind of affect on the organism. There is also the weakness on the physical level. A fear of falling may also be present. The milk remedies as Kent comments, ‘All the milks should be potentised, they are our most excellent remedies, they are animal products and foods of early family life and therefore correspond to the beginning of our innermost physical nature’.

David Doré
First published Complementary Therapies (Spring Edition) 2002