Birds, Homeopathic Remedies from the Avian Realm

Review

This book review is reprinted from Volume 96, Number 4 October 2007 Edition, with permission from Homeopathy.

Reviewed by Julie Geraghty
Bristol Homeopathic Hospital, Bristol, UK

This is the book serious homeopaths around the world were waiting for, a reference book dedicated to the Bird Remedies, one of the fastest growing group of 'new remedies' introduced to homeopathy over the last decade. There is no other comprehensive book like it, although information has been published about new provings and cases of individual bird remedies. I remember buying 'Birds' hot off the press in late 2004 in Canada, and reading it avidly through the night on the return flight. Since then I have referred to it many times, and it has helped my prescribing in several cases.

The book starts with an introduction to Bird Characteristics and features of the Avian Realm in general, and is then organised into three main sections, Key Features, Provings and Cases. Each one of the 15 bird remedies is discussed individually in each section, which I find to be one of the drawbacks of the book. One is always having to flick through to another section to link up the information when studying a particular bird. The different remedies are sequentially marked on each page edge with name and picture to facilitate the search, but it is rather cumbersome nonetheless.

Jonathan Shore and his co-authors have synthesised information from many sources, covering themes from classical provings done by others of better known bird remedies like Peregrine Falcon (Misha Norland) and Whooper Swan (Jeremy Sherr), to lesser known remedies like Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and Brown Pelican (Pelican us occidentalis), introduced by Jonathan Shore. The provings of Heron, Pelican, Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) and Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao) were done in what Shore terms 'modified classical' manner, as a trituration proving. This entailed 7-10 participants sitting around a table, in turn grinding the substance to be proven (the bird feather) as directed in the Organon. The substance was triturated up to C3 potency, during and after which each prover related their experience. It was then potentised up to C30 by Hahnemann Laboratories in California, and given to each participant to take or not, as they wished, before a meeting two weeks later, where each prover gave an account of their experience.

Other provings like those of Andean Condor (Vultur gryphus), Ring Dove (Columba palumbus) and Saker Falcon (Falco cherug), were done by Elisabeth Schultz in Germany, where the remedy was triturated up to C4 potency. This seems to enhance the precision of information perceived by the participants during the trituration, and there is also quicker resolution of the proving state. The proving of Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) by Todd Rowe was done under supervision in the more classical way using C30 potency. The themes of Greg Bedayn's proving of Raven's blood (Corvus corax) are described in detail, although the methodology is not specified.

The Key Features section of the book again takes each remedy in turn, describing Core Idea, Key Aspects, Prominent Rubrics, Natural History and finally Mythology and Symbolism for each bird. Some remedies like Great Blue Heron, Great Horned Owl and Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are considered in detail in this section, including many rubrics pertaining to physical symptoms, which is very helpful when using the book to find the similimum for a particular patient. However, detail is much more sparse on Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti). Some of the key aspects given are rather non-specific, like 'Sensitivity/Hypersensitivity' for Turkey Vulture, 'Vision' for Great Horned Owl, 'Breathing Constriction' for Whooper Swan, features which seemed to be common to the bird remedies anyway. As this is the first definitive book on homeopathic bird remedy pictures, I am sure that the differentiating features between the various remedies will be clarified with time. My experience is that Jonathan Shore's work has helped hugely towards understanding when a bird remedy is indicated, but finding the exact similimum is not always as easy.

The final section on Cases includes clinical case studies from many different prescribers all over the world, including Shore. It is interesting to see the information described earlier in the book really coming to life as these 'bird people' express themselves ... their spirituality and need for freedom, hatred of feeling caged; often a history of abuse, victimisation and domination by others; dreams of birds, flying, finding feathers; love of air sports, climbing high mountains, etc. Physically there are often problems with neck pain, stiffness and tension, often extending to shoulder or arm. Unfortunately, a minority of the cases have a very short follow up period of only one or two months.

Overall, I think this is a very helpful book about an increasingly important group of remedies that are very much part of our time. Interestingly, we discover that the very first bird remedies ever prescribed were by Divya Chhabra (Indian Eagle) Jonathan Shore (Bald Eagle) and Misha Norland (Peregrine Falcon) in the 1990s. In all three cases, the patients gave such clear descriptions of their state that it was clear that this was not matched by any known remedy, because what they described was bird energy. So the bird feathers and/or blood had to be procured, the doctrine of signatures would settle for nothing less.

Since its publication, many more bird remedies have now been prepared by various pharmacies, often without a proving having been done. We need more reference books like this to fill in the detail as our collective clinical experience with bird patients expands, and I hope that more bird provings will be done by Jonathan Shore and other practitioners.

 

This book review is reprinted from Volume 17, Winter 2004 edition of Homeopathic Links with permission from Homeopathic Links.

Reviewed by Janice Owen, USA
A phenomenal modern contribution to homeopathy, 'Birds: Homeopathic Reme- dies from the Avian Realm', introduces the reader to sixteen homeopathic remedies from the bird kingdom: Brown Pelican, Scarlet Macaw, Ring Dove/Woodpigeon, Red- Tailed Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Raven, Peregrine Falcon, Saker Falcon, Turkey Vulture, Andean Condor, Humboldt Penguin, Swan, and Wandering Albatross. This well researched, well-indexed book about homeopathic remedies made from bird substances, such as feathers, integrates scientific facts; bird characteristics, scientific nomenclature, physiognomy and physiology, with homeopathic themes and essences.

Dr. Shore includes a detailed description of the trituration/proving process utilised. The resulting proving information is not just lists of symptoms but is much more process oriented. He includes transcribed interviews with provers, in a group setting. This renders the proving material well-formatted and readable! The proving sections are accompanied. by prominent rubrics, and related remedies to compare.
Another strong component of this text are the cases. These act as background information and colourfully enliven the remedy pictures. These allow or a better understanding of the remedies and assist the reader in taking a giant step forward, toward shedding light on the nature of this family of remedies. This book is an excellent resource and instructional tool. In the clinic setting, its use is heightened by detailed 'prescribing tips'. 'Birds: Homeopathic Remedies from the Avian Realm', sets the bar higher for future homeopathic texts.
Further readability ensues with nice inclusions of supportive or illustrative information including; 3 poem, Falcon Freedom by a ten-yr-old boy after receiving Falco-p; excerpts from books, fictional and scientific, related to birds; mythology; symbolism; and natural history.
This user-friendly tool is a valuable, innovative resource. Its sky blue front and back covers enclose flap pages decorated by nice Audubon-style drawings of included birds with individual birds on related section page borders for easier location. Innovative formatting is best explained by the introductory note which is marked by a feather icon: 'it is our hope that this format will permit the reader in the first instance to easily recognise when a patient needs a bird remedy, and in the second instance, to do a thorough differential analysis to find the specific bird.'
'Birds: Homeopathic Remedies from the Avian Realm' reflects the depth and breath of the bird kingdom and its beauty. I came away with the feeling that by tapping into the healing resources bird remedies offer, I am able to more fully understand my humanness.

 

This book review is reprinted from Volume 95 Number 2 Summer 2005 edition of American Journal of Homeopathic Medicine with permission of the American Institute of Homeopathy

Reviewed by William Shevin, MD

Several new homeopathic medicines, originating from the family of the birds, are described in this valuable addition to the homeopathic bookshelf.

Two crucial factors necessary to ensure the sur­vival and development of homeopathy are the accuracy of prescribing and the subsequent proper management of cases. To prescribe accurately, ho­meopaths need to better know how to apply those medicines which have been known for a long time, but we must also expand the range of available medicines. Those of my patients, who are now do­ing far better with remedies from the bird kingdom than they ever did with any previous prescription, can attest that expanding materia medica into this particular realm has been of tremendous benefit.

Roger Morrison, M.D., in his forward, proposes that the main purpose of this work is to make this class at remedies accessible for curative prescribing. The authors have succeeded in these tasks.

In the section named "Bird Characteristics;' the authors list symptoms which came out in many of the individual provings and which, therefore, form a "general picture" of the family. These include the following:

Conceptual organization - the bird family is differ­entiated from minerals (as a class) in that details (which people needing the mineral remedies tend to emphasize) are less important than is the sequence of events.

Impartial detachment - observation without involvement.

Intuition or natural knowing - related to the previous .characteristic and leading to ease,a naturalness of action, and confidence.

Sensation as if drugged/Disorientation in time and space - this characteristic is obviously not specific to the bird remedies.

Spiritual Awareness - involving a connection between air, breath, and spirit.

Empathy - the authors note two things in this re­gard. Birds as a group have characteristics (be­ing relaxed on an interpersonal level, connected through feeling to each other,family oriented, etc.), which, coupled with impartial attitude and spiritu­al awareness, leads to involvement in the healing professions. Secondly, that "a high percentage" of patients receiving bird remedies come from the helping professions or vocations involved in the "public good". My own experience does not agree. I suspect that this impression may be an artifact of the phenomenon that many homeopathic pa­tients already come from such vocational or pro­fessional groups. The authors' observation here, I think, runs the risk of helping practitioners to make a pre-judgment which could lead to prejudice in case taking.

Relationship - the authors differentiate those birds that live in flocks (such as Macaw and Pelican) from those that live in a more nuclear family set­ting (such as Falcon and Hawk). The provings from the two groups bring out, correspondingly, themes of connection/separation and role in community (in the former) and desire for alone­ness, understanding from individual family members,and fear of or sense of abandonment (in the latter). Considering my own patients who have responded well to Macaw, Falcon, and Hawk, I concur in this differentiation.

Freedom and Travel - again, the sense of freedom is a strong feature of my own cases, and the individual's concept of freedom is expressed or manifested differently in the individual bird. I have found these aspects the most useful pointers to the bird family.

Perfectionism - the authors note an "urge to get it right" rather than a true fastidiousness.

Physiognomy and Physiology of birds - This is an interesting section that notes that birds (as com­pared to humans) have light bone structures (an adaptation for flight), high metabolic rates, and different ways of handling fluid balance. These differences are seen to give rise to some of the generalities brought out in the provings (symp­toms related to vibration, restlessness, irritability, disturbance of appetite, thirst, etc.)

Particular symptoms common to the group are then described. One interesting part in this section is the observation that provings of the water birds bring out the sensation of a lump in the throat (which the authors note in conjunction with the long gullets and large size of the food bolus in these birds), while the birds with smaller gullets have more local inflammatory symptoms (sore­ness in the throat, for example).

Following the general picture is a discussion of the "Key Features" of the individual birds. The authors note that features of mind and spirit most easily dif­ferentiate the individual birds, and the discussions have those features as their main (but not sole) em­phasis. This section includes core ideas, key aspects, prominent rubrics, natural history, mythology and symbolism, differential diagnosis, clinical condi­tions to consider, and a notation about the proving. The page numbers of the provings themselves and the clinical cases (presented in the subsequent sec­tions) are given for easy reference.

The individual birds in the book are: Brown Peli­can, Scarlet Macaw, Ring Dove (Woodpigeon), Red­tailed Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Raven, Peregrine Falcon, Saker Falcon, Turkey Vulture, Andean Condor, Humboldt Penguin, Whooping Swan, Mute Swan, and Wandering Albatross.

Following the descriptions of the individual birds is a slightly larger section with data from the provings. This is introduced with an interesting discussion of the various proving methodologies used, and the re­sults of two experiments regarding proving method­ologies done by Jonathan Shore in 1996 and 2003, which this reviewer found to be fascinating.

I especially noted the authors' assertion that it is the duty of the proving master, rather than someone not connected to the proving, to delineate the central themes of the remedy. They state "the distant observer, who has not had the privilege of directly experiencing the energy of a substance, often can­not bring order to the mass of symptoms by mental analysis alone, and thus is left to the chance recog­nition of some peculiar symptom or other which has stuck in memory in bringing the remedy into practice. This opinion is in accord with the authors' concept of the meaning of provings and their willing­ness to accord validity to the concordance of symp­tomatology and the nature of substance, mythology, folklore, etc. This is a controversial stance, and argu­ments can be made for both sides. This reviewer is partial to the present authors' views in this regard. In any methodology of homeopathy that involves the communication of one individual's experience to another, largely through symbolic language, it seems valid to accord the same subjective structure to the proving process itself, as well as the development of the "picture" of the remedy. It is, after all, humans who have developed the traditional uses, folklore, and mythology that have made discoveries about the technical features of substances, their use in sci­ence, engineering, medicine, etc. All of this is filtered through human consciousness at every level.

The authors conducted several, but not all of the included provings. Among the differing method­ologies mentioned are "Hahnemannian (Classical);' "Modern Classical" (as described, for example, by Jeremy Sherr), "Modified Classical" (as conducted, for example, by Nancy Herrick),"Seminar provings;' "Meditation provings;' and "Trituration provings:' This last method is related to the experiences of a group of individuals who share in the actual tritu­ration of the remedy (according to the procedures laid out by Hahnemann). This methodology is one that the authors have been very involved with. For some in the homeopathic community, I suspect that the information in the book will be suspect owing to a lack of acceptance for the specified proving methodologies.

The information for the provings of each indi­vidual remedy in the book varies in nature and length. Of necessity, they are summaries. Some are very short and in some cases the reader is directed to another source (in computer databases, other books, the internet, etc.). In some instances, notably the authors' own provings, much more detailed in­formation is given.

Cases of each of the remedies are then presented (excluding Saker Falcon, Great Horned Owl, and Great Blue Heron), with comment by the prescribers, and in some cases the authors. The authors make explicit their desire to see more cured cases of these (and other) bird remedies in order that the "images" of the individual bird remedies can be clarified, expanded, and properly focused.

Twenty-seven cases and an additional case of Tu­berculinum aviare (suggested by Alize Timmerman as a "nosode for the bird family") are given. Some of the cases are prescribed for by the authors them­selves, while many are not. The case taking meth­odologies vary, as do the quality of the analyses that explicate the choices of remedy made. The authors append comments to some of the cases. As can be expected, the cases vary in quality and case taking technique, and as with the provings, some readers may not consider the presented data sufficient to warrant the prescription. Some of the follow-ups fo­cus exclusively on mental symptomatology (which is the reported focus of the patient complaints in these instances.)

An appendix follows, which consists of a compilation of the rubrics listed in the book. It is not consid­ered to be exhaustive, however, either in the rubrics themselves or the remedies included in each rubric (of which there is only one for each of the rubrics.) Because of these limitations, I'm not sure how valu­able this section will be as a reference.

An index forms the last section. I highly recommend this book for those who want to avail themselves of the bird remedies in patient care. Indeed, after reading the book for this review, I prescribed one of the bird remedies I'd never previ­ously used.

About the Reviewer: William Shevin, MD, DHt has prac­ticed classical homeopathy since 1981 in Northeastern Connecticut. He is a past-President of the NCH and cur­rently serves on the board of directors of both the Homeo­pathic Pharmacopoeia Convention of the United States and the Homeopathic Community Council. He is a well-known lecturer on homeopathic topics.

 

This book review is reprinted from No. 23, Spring 2005 edition of The Homoeopath with permission from Nick Churchill of The Society of Homoeopaths.

Reviewed by Francis Treuherz

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it Duck Soup? It is not even chicken soup. No, in this instance it is a 500-page book in a larger than usual, almost square, octavo format. The information is also considerable, and this book's impact will be enormous, but perhaps slow to travel. I have found this a difficult book to review as it is so rich, and I have not yet been able to prescribe a bird remedy. But the ideas and concepts and material will be extremely valuable to the world of homeopathy as they gradually come into use.
The end papers have 16 little icons of birds with their English name and the Latin repertorial abbreviation as a code to the book. There is an overview of the concepts and themes of the avian kingdom. Proving information and cases from various practitioners fill out the pictures of each bird. Birds covered are: Pelican, Macaw, Dove, Hawk, Owl, Heron, Eagle, Raven, Peregrine and Sacher Falcons, Vulture, Condor, Penguin, Mute and Whooper Swans, and Albatross. Other birds will be covered in a future volume.
I found that I could not keep the icons in my mind as a guide to which bird was which. Also after the general sections there are three sections devoted to Key Features, Provings and Cases. Instead of each bird in its entirety, each one is separately described in each section so one cannot read each bird without losing the thread and turning pages. There are 15 key features, 16 provings, and only 14 cases, one of which, Tuberculinum Aviare, does not feature in the first two sections (I hope the numerical discrepancy is not too important). And since the tubercular nosode is listed, it is strange that the Oscillococcinum, or the nosode made from the liver and heart of the Barbary duck, is omitted, as it received a classical proving by Roy in France in 1925.
This is nonetheless a carefully constructed book, hugely expanding our materia medica, and with the cases, bringing in clinical evidence of the practical utility of these remedies.
Shore and his co-authors fully acknowledge the contributions of colleagues such as Jeremy and Camilla Sherr, who have generously allowed the use of their material. There are full details of provings and there is something really new to most people: it has been adopted as part of many new provings, such as by Schadde, but I am not convinced of its legitimacy: namely the effect of the trituration process as a proving on the individual and on the group. Hering noted this in the strange feelings he experienced when triturating the saliva of a rabid dog in 1833. Here in California, those triturating bird remedies for Shore began to experience what have been called proving symptoms, it is not clear to me whether they were individual symptoms, or part of a group dynamic of those making the remedies. I have heard Jonathan Shore teach; it was a total cultural experience. He lectured to an international audience in Berlin on the significance of Radium to society, to atomic physics, and of course to homeopathy. It was magnificent. Then some years later I heard him on birds for the first time at the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital. I can hear his voice in the prose of this book. Reading it is more than a total homeopathic experience; he will teach us to fly, he will teach us perfectionism, freedom, travel, movement; his empathy shines out.