Today, I’m going to have a little fun and see how we can address “Ted’s” stab wound. (For this exercise, I will be focusing only on highly indicated remedies for this type of wound, though, in real life, I would look at all possible remedies. It’s important to note that there is also crossover between these remedies and symptoms. For instance, “anger” is a 4 for Staphysagria and a 2 for Ledum and Apis - therefore the rubric only shows up in my list under Staphysagria.)

Homeopathically, there are a few big remedies to consider. Note: these would be the same remedies which would be useful in the moment, at the time of the stab wound. I have the added benefit of a little insight into Ted after reading this book and will supply relevant quotes when available. (If a symptom shows up in multiple remedies, I will only put the quote in the first instance, unless there are multiple quotes which fit the bill.) Other symptoms I will include simply from the general sense of the character from the book. It’s a little like taking a homeopathic case! Of course, there is so much more to this than I am writing here. People, even fictional characters, are highly nuanced. I have over-simplified this entire process tremendously… but I had fun doing it!

​We’re not entirely certain when this stabbing occurred, except we know he was an adult. Did Ted’s history play a part in the ramifications? Probably. All the background of a person will then lead to how a person reacts when such a trauma occurs… miasms, genetics, epi-genetics, environment, experience… it’s all in there in each of us.

Looking up “stab” in Dr. Murphy’s Meta Repertory (found in Similia software**), five remedies show up as highly indicated (but I only included 4 of them): Apis, Calendula, Hypericum and Ledum. Those familiar with homeopathic remedies might be saying, “But what about Staphysagria?” Good question. keep reading to find out what I learned about this.

For this exercise, I focused primarily on the big 3 or 4 point symptoms in MIND and GENERAL and a quick scan through other highly indicated rubrics from things I remembered from the book.

In alphabetical order:

APIS
From Murphy’s Materia Medica, causations (among others): Grief. Fright. Rage.
​
MIND:

• absent minded (while there is one reference to Ted “absentmindently” doing something, we don’t know if this fits well, in general)
• alone, mental, ailments from, (see abandoned, neglected)
  • He’s thought so many times as an adult that it’s a lie that people are scared of being alone, because what we fear is being abandoned. You can choose to be alone, but no one chooses to be left. (p. 177)
• anxiety, general
  • He tosses it in the trash can, glances at the mirror, an anxious and overwhelmed man with skin as soft as room temperature cheese glances back. (p. 177)
• jealousy, feelings
  • Ted felt deeply ashamed that he was jealous of that. (p. 79)
• touch, general - agg
  • The entrance to the train fills with a slow line of frustrated passengers, the man and the teenager stand on the platform and wait till last, anxious that they might touch or be touched by some stranger in the throng. (p. 184)

PHYSICAL:

• bladder, pain; urging to urinate, frequent
  • He feels a sudden urge to pee far more often now than he was prepared for, his body has started to wake him at night, he presumes it’s getting its revenge because it’s annoyed he’s keeping it alive. (p. 127)
• walking, limping, spontaneous (we don’t know if his limp is consistent or spontaneous, but it’s the only of our remedies in this rubric.)

CALENDULA
is another good remedy for wounds, but unfortunately, it has not been proven very well (in the traditional sense) but let’s see what we can find. Because of the dearth of level 3/4 rubrics, I opened this MIND search up to levels 1 & 2, as well. (Colin Griffith does have more information on Calendula in his “New Materia Medica Vol. 3,” but that’s a whole other topic which I will (happily!) get to one day soon.)
From Murphy’s causations: Cuts. Punctures. Stabs. Surgery. Wounds.
​
MIND:

• abuse, ailments from (all the characters suffered varying levels of abuse)
• anxiety, general
• depression, sadness - wounds, after
• fears, general, phobias - happen, something bad will (there’s a lot of crossover between anxiety and fears but Ted has helped us out with this one…)
  • People say that anxiety is fear for no reason, but Ted’s brain is very helpful when it comes to providing suggestions. (p. 278)
• fears, phobias, knives of
  • He still has nightmares about both knives. (p. 130)
• startled, starting - fright, from or fear, after
  • Bastard, Ted whispered with his fists clenched, furious with himself for being so easily startled. (p. 311)
• wounds, mental ailments from

GENERAL:
Interestingly, those who may benefit from Calendula may be ameliorated by walking.

HYPERICUM
From Murphy’s materia medica: “It is called for in nervous depression following wounds, effects of shock and fright… Pain in old scars.” From Murphy’s causations (among others): ill effects of fright… punctures, lacerations… wounds, stab wounds
​
Note: Hypericum has only one 3/4 level rubric under the MIND section in Murphy, so I added lower level rubrics for this one, too.

MIND:

• sensitive, mental, oversensitive, emotional - pain, to (the only level 4 rubric for Hyper Mind)
• anxiety, general
• fears, general, phobias
  • Because the question presupposes that I stopped being scared. (p. 131)
• fright - ailments from
• frightened easily
  • His brain is so stupid, it can no longer tell the difference between threat and reality, he’s just frightened of everything all the time. (p. 263)
• moaning, groaning, pain, from
  • Do you always moan this much? Is that why someone stabbed you? (p. 130)
• startled, starting
• wounds, mental ailments from

Not a lot of the General or Physical rubrics for Hypericum appear to fit Ted well.

LEDUM
From Murphy’s materia medica: “Ledum is for punctured wounds, produced by sharp-pointed instruments or bites, particularly if the wounded parts are cold, this is the remedy… Causations: ill effects punctured wounds, recent or chronic injuries.”
​
MIND:

• fears, general, phobias - men, of
  • Throughout his life, Ted has been frightened of men. (p. 253)
• serious, disposition
  • We are NOT the same age. We might have lived the same number of years, but we sure as hell aren’t the same age. You’ve been eighty years old since we were twelve. (p. 363)

There are other, lesser MIND rubrics which “fit” Ted but I will include only this one:

• wearisome, burdened feeling
  • He feels like yelling at the box of ashes that he isn’t ready for this responsibility… I can’t even look after shoes, and you’ve left me with a person, he thinks angrily. (p 105)

GENERAL:

• walking, general - agg (this could be the other parts of Ted limping, not just his leg wound)

STAPHYSAGRIA
Has a reputation for “clean” wounds, not jagged, just as a knife would create. Dr. N.M. Choudury, senior professor of Materia Medica at Bengal Allen Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital in Kolkota, says: “We use it both internally and externally for injuries caused by sharp cutting instruments such as knife, glass, etc.” Why it’s not this clear in the repertories, I have no idea. I asked Viva (homeopathic) AI*** why Staphysagria doesn’t show up in the “stab wounds” rubric and it says, “Staphysagria is more commonly associated with emotional trauma and conditions resulting from surgical procedures rather than purely physical injuries like stab wounds. While Staphysagria can be useful for wounds, it is particularly indicated when there is a history of emotional trauma (which Ted has in spades) or when the injury is associated with feelings of anger, resentment, or violation.)

To find appropriate rubrics for Staphysagria and knife wounds, one needs to search a little differently for that:

• Clinical - cuts (or “wounds,” they’ll both get you to the same remedies — Apis and Ledum are both listed here but not so prominently)
• Clinical - cuts, general - incised (Apis is not in this one, but the others are)
• Clinical - cuts, general, sharp, instruments, from glass, etc (Calendula and Hyper are included)

From Murphy’s materia medica: “Surgery. Lacerated tissues.” Causations: “Ill effects of anger and insults, anger suppressed or reserved. Humiliation.”

MIND:

• abandoned, feelings, forsaken
• abuse, ailments from (all the characters suffered varying levels of abuse)
• anger
  • Angry at himself, angry at the artist, and most of all angry at death for having such good taste. Always taking the best first. (p. 105)
• anger, grief, with silent
  • The most frightening thing about his dad dying that summer when he was fourteen wasn’t the grief he had felt, but the anger. (p. 247)
    • indignation, with
    • anger with himself
• anxiety, exaggerated
  • Everyone should be afraid of flying! (p. 69)
• cares, full of
  • Ted? He had made it his responsibility that none of the people he loved would die. That’s a terrible burden for a person. Your shoulders creak, your skeleton shrinks, in the end you can hardly walk. (p. 85)
• domination, by others, ailments from - children in, history, of, a long
  • When he was young, his big brother, six years older, used to beat him up like it was a game. (p. 253)
• fears, phobias, general (this is not a high level rubric, but…)
  • How many phobias do you actually have, Ted? I have just enough! he snaps.” (p. 179)
• fears, hurt of being, emotionally
• grief, sorrow, general ailments from
  • The only thing we can take for granted is that everyone we have ever met and everyone we have ever known and everyone we have ever loved will die. So how great must our imaginations be for us to even summon up the enthusiasm to get out of bed each morning? (p. 39)
• grief, sorrow, general - silent
• love, disappointed, ailments from
  • If you have loved anyone as much as Ted loves the artist, so much that you’re prepared to be mistaken for someone else just to see your friend’s face light up for a couple of seconds, then you know what he feels. (p. 48)
• memories, recalls disagreeable
• mourning, feelings
• suppression, emotions, of, agg
• wearisome, burdened feeling
  • He feels like yelling at the box of ashes that he isn’t ready for this responsibility… I can’t even look after shoes, and you’ve left me with a person, he thinks angrily. (p 105)

GENERAL:

• trembling
  • He’s holding his suitcase in one trembling hand, the ashes of his best friend in the other. (p. 87)

PHYSICAL:

• bladder, urging to urinate - frequent

Are there crossovers in lesser indicated rubrics between the remedies? Absolutely. Did I miss some rubrics? I most certainly did, but given I did this retroactively (yay e-books!) I had a fun time exorcising that line from this book that keeps running through my head… and, I’m pretty sure I know which remedy I would choose for Ted.



Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath

#wellnessawaits


* It looks like the Lotus Health Institute† may be moving some of their goodies around — I see a podcast and putting his lectures up for online listening.

** Similia has been kind enough to open up the full use of their software for me to play around with in exchange for any feedback I may have for them. Other than that, I have no affiliation with this company, either.

*** Staphysagria info from Viva ai† cites the following: “These sources collectively contribute to the understanding of how remedies are classified and used in homeopathy, including the rationale behind the presence or absence of specific remedies in particular rubrics.” The sources cited are: Hahnemann’s Organon of Medicine; Materia Medica Pura; Andrew Lockie’s The Complete Homeopathy Handbook; Boericke’s Homeopathic Materia Medica; Clinical experience; Homeopathic repertories such as Synthesis or Kent’s Repertory “categorize remedies based on symptoms and modalities, providing insight into why certain remedies appear in specific rubrics while others do not.”
​
† I have no affiliation with this or any other company.

I’m traveling this week and I had the great pleasure of experiencing an exciting storm taking place on a river (not the river pictured below). Watching all the boats racing to cover with thunder all around and then the lightning strikes were close — Boom! Boom! Boom! I thought for sure something had been struck very close and expected to smell smoke and hear the fire engines but fortunately, nothing like that happened.

Red Cross tells us that “lightning can ‘flash’ over a person’s body or it can travel through blood vessels and nerves to reach the ground. The electrical energy can cause burn injuries and cardiac arrest. The force of throwing the person can lead to traumatic injuries as well.”

I had long been under the impression that if someone has been struck by lightning that one should not touch them lest they, too, would be affected by the electricity, but apparently that is not the case. Red Cross tells us that it is safe to give first aid immediately. This article goes on to say that showering, cell phones and cordless phones are safe to use but not if they are connected to a charger via an outlet and that “it’s best to not use a corded phone during a lightning storm.”

The National Weather Service has a 34-page downloadable guide” Dr. Lightning’s Guide to Lightning and Thunder: Victims which is full of interesting factoids, like:

• about 30 people a year are killed by lightning in the US
  • cardiac arrest is the immediate cause of death for those who die
• most people survive a lightning strike (good to know!) though some are left with permanent disabilities
  • effects on the heart and nervous system are the biggest concerns, along with burns
• this guide, too, says it’s safe to administer first aid

The mental effects of a lightning strike range from forgetfulness and irritability to personality changes and depression. Physically, there may be headaches, body pain, fatigue and difficulty sleeping.

What to do if someone has been struck by lightning?
For a start… Call 911 and start CPR, if necessary. Check for spinal injuries and burns. Check the eyes and ears. Keep the person calm. See here for more details.

How to protect yourself?
This same site says if the time between seeing a flash of lightning and hearing the thunder is less than 30 seconds, take shelter. It also says that if your hairs are standing on end or you see blue halos around objects or hear crackling in the air — a strike is imminent! (Yikes! Is there time to get to shelter?!)

If you can’t get to shelter (Jones 2022):

• Move away from bodies of water or beaches.
• It’s better to get wet than stand under a single tree or other tall objects.
• Stay away from metal objects.
• Cars with the windows closed are safe because if it is struck, the electricity will go through the metal in the car and into the ground, not through it.
• If stuck in the open, find a ditch and make yourself into a ball shape — make yourself as small as possible.
• If you’re up high, move lower.
• If you’re with others, spread apart.

Guess what? Some homeopathy may be useful here, too.
I remember learning from a Robin Murphy lecture years ago that Phosphorus is the remedy to turn to if someone has been struck by lightning*. It is one of only 8 remedies in the rubric: Lightning strike, ailments from.

Phosphorus is a fearful remedy in general, and it is also specifically for the fear of lightning. Another rubric is loss of vision after a lightning strike. (I will say this rubric is not clear as to whether this is being struck by lightning or watching a lightning strike.🤔 Looking further, some rubrics state: blindness after lightning stroke. Venice.ai* says that “strike” and “stroke” are often used interchangeably but says it can be that the “strike” refers to the event or action of lightning hitting a particular object or location and a “stroke” describes the actual discharge of electricity itself.)

Another remedy to consider is Nux vomica. If it appears the person has died but actually is still alive (phew!) as well as asphyxia (oxygen deprivation) after lightning.

Vertigo from lightning: Crotalus horridus. It doesn’t mention being struck by lightning, so I’m going to go with watching the lightning caused the vertigo. Note: Crot-h is one of the 8 listed remedies for ailments from lightning strikes.

An injury is an injury, so don’t forget Arnica to help with any shock as well as pains.

Seek (good!) shelter if lightning is near by and don’t forget to take a little kit of remedies with you on your adventures!


Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath

#wellnessawaits

​*As I recall, Dr. Murphy also talked about covering the lightning strike victim in dirt to help discharge the electricity. I can’t be certain because it was years ago and it was an audio lecture. I do know that he scoured all the old books and that’s where a lot of his information originated. I asked Venice.ai** this question and it said that “while covering a victim with earth is not a common practice, the underlying principle of grounding is sound. However, it’s important to prioritize standard first aid procedures and seek medical attention as quickly as possible.” I share this for whatever it’s worth.

**I have no affiliation with this company. I have just started using it because it has given me more accurate information than others I have tried (so far) and it says it keeps your stuff private.

Reference list

American Red Cross, 2024. Red Cross Training & Certification, and Store [online]. Red Cross.

Jensenius, J., n.d. National Weather Service NOAA Dr. Lightning’s Guide To Lightning and Thunder [online].

Jones, C., 2022. First Aid for Lightning Strike [online]. Firstaidtrainingcooperative.co.uk.
​
Venice.ai, 2025. Venice | Private and Uncensored AI [online]. Venice AI. 

Where has the summer gone? I spoke with someone yesterday who told me their son started kindergarten that morning. I really don’t know how it happens, but once again, school is here! I thought summer vacation seemed short as a kid, but I think it seems even shorter as an adult.

I no longer have school-aged youngsters but there is no escaping all the “back to school” stuff everywhere right now.

To read some previous articles about some homeopathic remedies which may help with all the emotions that come along with heading back to the classroom, check these out:

• Back to School in 2021
• Bach to School
• The Big Goodbye

Today, though, I’m going to take a little different angle.

School is school for most kids — but not all kids. “Among children 8 years in 2022, ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) prevalence was 32.2 per 1,000 children (one in 31)” (Shaw 2025). Almost 1 in 6 US children have a developmental disability (Zablotsky et al. 2019). That translates to an awful lot of kids who may need a little extra help in school.

Angelica Lemke, ND has written a really amazing book and this little review is not going to do the book justice. Healing Complex Children with Homeopathy: ASD, PANDAS/PANS, LYME, ADHD, and more is a packed (400+ pages), but straightforward and clear book written by “a homeopath and naturopath who specializes in the complex cases of children through an empathic, heart-centered approach. She has empowered many of the parents she works with to ‘find the healer within’, using homeopathy to support their family and the health of their communities.” “Invit[ing] parents to be active participants in the healing of their children” (Lemke 2021*).

Before you cast this book aside because the children in your life are not “complex” and don’t suffer from any of the above listed conditions, just know that this book is pretty much a good overview of homeopathic remedies and how to use them in general. I have read a gazillion books on homeopathy and this one provided me with more than a few “aha” nuggets.

Here is a link for the table of contents and introduction so you can get an overview of what’s in it. “I wrote this book to empower parents, homeopaths, and healers to use their intuition, along with homeopathic remedies, to heal the growing number of today’s children who suffer from a wide range of complex conditions.” The keyword here for how Angelica works is “intuition.” She teaches parents how to tune into their intuition and their “inner knowing” to connect their child with an appropriate homeopathic remedy.

Healing Complex Children begins with chapters on the history and practice of homeopathy and then dives right into miasms (see also: Miasms, a very brief introduction). Unlike most homeopathic books written for the general public, she doesn’t just touch on the explanation of miasms, she shows us how to see them in our children and includes information on some nosodes and what physical and mental symptoms to look for which may indicate the use of these remedies. Her conclusion to this chapter is a nice list of the miasms with key remedies for each.

Chapter 4: Animal Remedies: what they are made from, why they would be prescribed and how to recognize the symptoms which may lead to an animal remedy. This chapter looks at lacs (milks), spiders, insects, birds, mollusks, fish, reptiles and amphibians. Within each sub-section is a list of “notable features” which can be found in complex children. Before describing those remedies, though, Lemke provides us with a short and sweet differential list of how these remedies may show up on the physical plane, followed by a few questions which may help find an animal remedy. Each sub-section has a generalized overview of the remedy family, followed by a succinct paragraph or two with a basic introduction to each remedy — as is the case for all her remedy write-ups, they are just enough to whet the appetite and send one digging further into the materia medica.

Chapter 5: Plant Remedies: includes another nice little list of a few physicals/organs and some commonly associated remedies. She writes, “While there are thousands of plant remedies that could be included here, this chapter focuses on those that I have found to be most useful in complex children. In particular, plant remedies can be critical to help address pain sensations in the body. When a child is in pain and their life revolves around it, this is the main symptom that should be addressed and plants become prime candidates.”

At this point, she has a sidebar/box with a little information about Gemmos and Bach flowers. I love Gemmos and Bach flowers and am always happy to see that info being shared!!

Next are questions to help find a plant remedy, followed by each plant family with a short overview and then the paragraph or two of each remedy.

Chapter 6: Mineral and Periodic Table Remedies: "Mineral remedies assist with issues of structure, function, and deficiency in the body… For children who are building up their bodies, their sense of self, and their ability to process information, mineral remedies are key to helping them develop in a solid, stable way.”

Lemke touches on Jan Scholten’s Element Theory and proceeds essentially through the periodic table in her listing of remedies. Within the many sub-sections are tables listing the various remedies within certain elements, e.g. carbon-based remedies; the multiple Natrum remedies, Magnesia remedies, Kali remedies, etc.

We are just over halfway through this book and the huge number of remedies already covered is impressive!

Chapters 7 & 8: Nosodes & Sarcodes. As mentioned above, not many homeopathy books aimed at the general population (as opposed to being written for homeopaths) include much information on Nosodes and Sarcodes. Lemke lists core sensations, physical symptoms, and gastrointestinal symptoms which may lead to the use of a nosode, followed by how to use them. In my estimation, this chapter on nosodes alone is worth the price of admission. There is so much amazingly useful information here! There is also a really nice, long section on Lyme disease and concurrent co-infections.

The Sarcodes section is divided into matridonal remedies and hormones, glands and neurotransmitters — again with a paragraph on each remedy. Sarcodes are another area where there is a dearth of useful information and Healing Complex Children helps to shed some light on these important remedies… what they are, how to use them, why to use them. She explains that, “the purpose of the treatment with a sarcode is to heal the tissue so it can go back to its normal job, not to replace the energy of the tissue, such as with thyroid medication.”

Chapter 9: Tautopathy. Another topic for which good information is hard to find. This book is chock-a-block full of useful stuff!

Chapter 10, the final chapter in the book, is “Remedies by Categories of Complex Kids.” Sub-sections include, among others: Children with Acute Rage and Panic; Highly Anxious Children; Sad, Serious Children; Angelic Children; Hyperactive Children and ends with Common Remedies for Parents, noting: “It is of utmost importance for parents to heal themselves along with their children.”

There are plenty of “woo woo” ideas in this book, which I have heard some homeopaths object to, e.g. if they “flit” from one thing to the next, they may need a Butterfly remedy. Let’s be honest here — all homeopathy is a little “woo woo.” If you have a complex child for which nothing has been able to help, maybe finding a remedy based on the fact the child “flits” is exactly what that child needs!

Going beyond her book, back in 2015, based on Angelica Lemke’s practice of focusing on special needs children, she began the School of Intuitive Homeopathy: “Integrating an intuitive approach with a traditional homeopathy foundation, creating a new paradigm for the future of medicine.” Courses include:

• Introduction to Homeopath Basics, $150 (taught by Judith Toscano, ND & Angelica Lemke)
• Live lecture series: Animals fall 2025; Plants beginning February 2026; Minerals Fall 2026
• Certification Programs — a 2 year program (there is early bird pricing if you enroll before August 15, 2025! — go for it!!)
• Intuition Upgrade for Professional Homeopaths

If you are a parent of a complex child and would like further guidance, consider booking an appointment at the Homeopathy Hive, of which Lemke is a co-founder.

Healing Complex Children with Homeopathy is available in the usual places, but it’s also available on her own website. And, I’m really excited about this… I just learned this book is now available on Kindle. I have a well-loved, well-thumbed, dog-eared, underlined copy and I have been hoping for an electronic version because this is a book that I return to over and over again and now I can search it electronically. Yay!!

If you are interested in learning homeopathy, don’t discard this book because “children” is in the title. Know that this book is an incredibly helpful overview of this amazingly powerful modality called homeopathy; touching on all the important topics and introducing us to many remedy families as well as a large range of individual remedies.

Happy reading!



Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath


#wellnessawaits


* All further quotes in this article are coming from Angelica Lemke’s Healing Complex Children with Homeopathy.