Repertory › Remedies in the repertory

Ruta graveolens (Ruta)

Ruta graveolens (Ruta) appears in 570 rubrics in the repertory. Seventeen of them are single-remedy rubrics, listing only this remedy, and 34 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The emphases lie in fear and anxiety, delusions, restlessness, memory, and mistakes, as well as dullness. The picture is that of a mentally fatigued, anxiously brooding person who is not satisfied with himself, doubts his future and his health, and at the same time remains restless.

Anxiety with Bodily Connection

Anxiety is the most finely differentiated main rubric. It is often tied to bodily sensations: single-remedy rubrics name anxiety with stitching pain in the chest, with stitching pain in the spine when sitting, and with overheating; fear appears suddenly with overheating. Added to this are anxiety from straining the eyes, anxiety with despair, and anxiety from doubt about success. In time the anxiety concentrates on late evening and night, with several small rubrics around 11 p.m. Striking is the close tie to the hour before midnight, which is rare in this precision.

Fear of Disease, Age, and Loss

The fear is directed at disease, age, and loss. Recorded are fear of his own age, of losses, and, as a small rubric, of a brain tumor. Thoughts of an incurable disease belong here. A single-remedy rubric describes a peculiar stupefaction with regard to his own illness, another a dissatisfaction with oneself that concerns everything the person does: "Dissatisfied – with oneself – everything he does, in regard to". The thoughts turn to the future, she sinks into them, and talking about the future is likewise recorded. The feeling of being always deceived and lied to completes the mistrustful basic attitude.

Restlessness

Restlessness appears in several forms. Two single-remedy rubrics trace it to pressure in the liver, small rubrics link it with heart complaints and with despair. Mental activity alternates with weakness, and so does the desire for activity. This yields a rhythm of drive and collapse. At the same time the rubrics on laziness when sitting and on mental exhaustion after conversation show that strength quickly flags.

Memory, Mistakes, and Dullness

The main rubrics on memory (22) and mistakes (21) are among the largest of the remedy. Dullness numbers 14 rubrics, and several of them are specific: it appears with chill, with regard to what one has heard, and when reading with regard to what one hears or reads. The mind evidently does not properly take in what is heard and read. Stupefaction increases in the sun. Added to this are confusion of mind after abortion and, as a single-remedy rubric, delirium after abortion.

Fright, Touch, and Sympathy

The sensitivity shows in the physical and in the mental. Single-remedy rubric: starting from sleep at the slightest touch. Small rubrics name easy fright from touch, oversensitiveness to noise in the morning, and screaming with a single scream on waking. Mentally, terrible and sad stories affect the person strongly, especially the misfortune of other people. The delusion of falling to one side, when walking to the right, is assigned to this remedy alone.

Sadness, Weariness of Life, and Death

The sadness has a trait toward loneliness: a single-remedy rubric names sadness from the feeling of isolation, another sadness with hiccough. Weariness of life appears in the afternoon and from pain; the wish to die in the afternoon is a single-remedy rubric, in the evening a small rubric. Above all the single-remedy rubric "Weakness, languor and intense hopelessness, feeling of" rounds out the picture: it is the state of a person whose strength and hope fail together. A small rubric links discouragement with praying.

Summary

In the repertory, Ruta shows an anxiety that increases at night and with bodily discomfort, and a fear directed at disease, age, loss, and the future. The mind tires early, takes in what is heard and read poorly, and makes many mistakes; the restlessness persists while strength fails. Dissatisfaction with oneself, the feeling of being deceived, and the retreat into loneliness and hopelessness make the remedy the picture of a state that mistrusts itself and the future.

A reference work for professionals; it does not replace diagnosis or treatment.