Repertory › Remedies in the repertory

Silicea terra (Sil.)

Silicea terra (Sil.) appears in 1,763 rubrics. Of these, 50 are single-remedy rubrics in which only this remedy is listed, and 141 are small rubrics with at most two other remedies. The emphasis is on the children rubrics, fear and anxiety, the delusions, dullness and confusion of mind, and weeping and irritability. The overall picture is that of a person who wants to be conscientious and decent but lacks the strength to carry through, who shrinks from confrontation, publicity, and approach, and whose demand for exactness can intensify to the point of obsession.

Children

With 278 rubrics, the children rubrics form the largest group, and with 19 specific entries also the first thematic emphasis. The picture is remarkably uniform: approach is unbearable, any coming near provokes screams, and the child weeps heartbreakingly when carried or held. It screams when spoken to, and a single-remedy rubric records that it answers the mother in a whisper and not the physician. Obstinate with weeping, even when spoken to kindly; the single-remedy rubric records that children weep when one speaks kindly to them. Beside these stand signs of delayed development: late learning to walk with weakness of the legs and back, arrest of development after vaccination, and the rubric of a well-developed skull on a feeble, sickly body. On the mental side stand daydreaming with absent-minded chewing, nervous crawling about, and the timidity in which the child holds a hand to collar or neck. Strange is the wish to do everything oneself, and with it the rubric that the child thrives through systematic instruction.

Fear and anxiety

Fear (97 rubrics) and anxiety (81) revolve around a few recurring objects. The single-remedy rubrics name fear of tasks, with anxiety about tasks of the same wording. Conspicuous is the fear of needles and pointed objects, here in the form that the person seeks pointed objects although afraid of them. The small rubrics add anxiety about confrontation, about chaos, about noises in the ear, about robbers on waking, about pursuing enemies, and about meeting one's friends. Added are anxiety about one's own health, especially in climacteric, and fear that the joints are weak. In time, the anxiety is ordered around midnight and 3 a.m.; the single-remedy rubrics record that it is ameliorated until midnight and afterward when the person gets up. In children appears fear of contagious, epidemic diseases. In these rubrics the anxiety is not diffuse but bound to demands, conflict, disorder, and injury.

Needles and delusions

The delusions (76 rubrics) contain the most striking single-remedy rubrics. The needles recur here several times: the person sees needles, has persistent thoughts of needles, and searches for pins. Beside these stand splittings of the body image: the left half would not belong to the person, the body is divided in two parts, something pulls to the right when walking, the person would walk backward when walking forward. Added are the feeling of being in two places at once, that the head is teeming with living things, and that images and phantoms are seen everywhere, also frightful ones when trying to fall asleep. At night and in half-sleep gestures, muttering, and moaning increase, and somnambulism occurs at full and new moon. The delusions thus concern less grandeur or persecution than the order of one's own body.

Exactness, order, and demand

The rubrics on conscientiousness form a small, dense group. Listed are accurate, meticulous, decent, pedantic about trifles, fastidious about trifles, love of detail, and the demand to do everything perfectly. The single-remedy rubric "Tidy – everything is" stands against the chaos that is feared. Remorse about trifles, reproaching oneself about trifles, and the worry of being overanxious also belong here. The exactness seems not to be fed by strength, for the rubrics "Anger – trifles, over – weakness, from excessive" and squandering from lack of sense of order fit. The person demands much, becomes weak in the process, and reacts irritably to trifles. The recognition of others is used as a yardstick, for the rubric "Recognition – others, dependent on" belongs to this picture.

Weakness, exertion, and yielding

Dullness (28), confusion of mind (25), and forgetfulness show the consequence of the strain. Listed are helplessness from mental exertion, weakness of will and lack of staying power, weak resolution, and mental exhaustion from scientific work. Reading and writing aggravate, and children cannot learn to write. Examinations aggravate forgetfulness, and confusion increases in conversation. The activity of the mind alternates with exhaustion. The rubric "Intelligent – weakness of muscles, with" names the disproportion between mind and body, which also occurred in the children. Fitting this is the yielding side: the person submits to everything, does not argue, and does not let go of her conviction, as the single-remedy rubric says, in which, despite firm convictions, there is no arguing. Yielding and holding fast stand abruptly side by side.

Publicity, timidity, and withdrawal

The rubrics on appearing in public yield a distinct, sharply drawn piece. Listed are anxiety and panic about public speaking and timidity when appearing, each with the addition that the person is capable of it. Self-confidence alternates with timidity, the person blushes easily, dislikes speaking loudly, and is fluent in speech when she does speak. A single-remedy rubric records that others do not dare to address the person; another, that she does not want to be pressed. The timidity also occurs when alone. Added are the desire for retirement, indifference, and dullness from conversation. The person evidently shuns encounter, yet remains capable when it matters.

Irritability, sexuality, and colors

Beside the withdrawal stand impatience, irritability in the afternoon at 5 p.m., concealed aggression, and violence when irritated. Weeping occurs when spoken to kindly and at night on waking. On the side of sexuality stand voluptuousness in bed in the morning, voluptuousness after dreams, platonic love, and suppressed desire. Hysteria also follows pollutions. A small marginal theme is colors: aversion to bright colors, a desire for dark brown, poor memory for colors, and the wish to dress ridiculously. Tied to time is suicidal disposition during the menses.

Summary

Silicea terra shows in the repertory a person who demands much and endures little. Conscientiousness, love of detail, and fear of chaos and of tasks lead to a mental exhaustion in which memory, will, and resolution fail. To approach, address, and publicity she reacts with withdrawal, screaming, weeping, or timidity, yet remains capable when it matters. The children rubrics, the needles as fear and obsessive thought, and the split delusions about the body give the remedy its unmistakable profile.

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