Birds have more to offer us than beauty, song and inspiration; they can offer help for illness as well. Remarkably, homeopathic remedies made from a simple feather can have great healing powers. This case study demonstrates some of the interesting aspects of bird remedies.
The case of the caged heart
A 48-year old female consulted me regarding angina due to vasospasms for
the past two years on November 14, 2008. The symptom picture was one of
classic angina, but there was no blockage of the arteries. The patient was
rather annoyed by the angina.
“I have no time for it. I resent having to pay attention to my body. I’ve got things
to do. I’m still mad at the doctors who diagnosed it.”
How did her heart feel about this?
“I think my heart wants a break. It wants a rest between beats. I was taking on
all the responsibility of the world, doing far too much.” She was feeling out
of breath telling her story. “But I feel I’m not big enough for the job. I feel I don’t
have the skills. What I really want to do is to be silly and play!”

“The amazing thing is that I do so much. I do the teaching, bookkeeping, the
bodywork, I push myself to do more and more. I feel I have to earn my keep to
feel secure.”

Secure?

“I’ve never felt secure. I’m always looking at the conflict around me. I
grew up with four older sisters. All five of us girls were born in five years. My
earliest memories are of all the arguing between themselves. I felt responsible
for it. There was conflict and it was my job to fix it.”

And if she did not do that?

“They’d tear each other apart!”

She would hide a lot as a child to get away from the conflict. She has had
concerns about security and money for most of her life.

At the same time she has always had a strong desire for escape and
freedom.

“I had horses all of my life, since age 4. It was the whole freedom thing,
galloping off with a horse. It was my escape and expression.”

I gave a homeopathic remedy called stramonium, often used in cases of illness
after experiencing much fright and conflict, which improved her condition by
about 50% where it stalled. I gave natrum-mur at this time, which did nothing at
all.

Finally on June 3, 09 she gave me the real keys to her case.

“The feeling of the heart being squeezed is very much like a block, a barrier. I’m
always pushing it. It feels like a cage. Right when I want to expand, take a deep
breath – it fastens around me. It says “No getting big for you! Don’t get too
big for your boots and no, you can’t go and have fun.”

What is it like to be big?

“To be free-flowing, easier. I can lift more with the same effort. Breathing is
easy. I’m happy and cheerful and content. I’m worry-free and things smell good.”

“I grew up on a farm but had allergies, so I would not dare to take a deep
breath. It would compress me and make me feel smaller. I like to breathe big,
rich, feel fulfilled, happy. The restriction comes from outside, making me
smaller, keeping me where I’m supposed to be.”

Tell me more about restriction?

“I have a picture of a cage around the ribs in my mind. There is a big cage
around my chest and a smaller one around my heart. It is like expanded
metal, dull grey in colour.”

“It seems pretty rigid and solid and permanent. It is cold. It does not care. It is
there to keep the body safe and me in line.”

What would happen if it did not do that?

“I’d be unrestrained. I would be ridiculous, silly, extravagant and irresponsible.
Everything would fall apart, all order would cease, I’d be late for school and the
clothes would not be washed.”

By now I was thinking that she might require a remedy made from a bird. So I
asked her how she felt about birds.

“I would never own one. The idea of the cage is horrible. I love watching and
feeding them. They have a really neat perspective on things, quite
elevated and special. Birds can see things from all angles, on the ground,
from the air, from trees, close up and far away. They are flexible and motile.

“They have a very simple existence, very life and death, but very
straightforward.”

“And virtually no responsibility.”

“They build their wing and heart muscles as a side effect of having a
great time!”

It was amazing. Those were her exact words, “building their heart muscles as a
side effect of having a great time”, exactly what she would love to do, but could
not as a result of feeling the excessive and impossible responsibility of
resolving all conflict. She described her heart as being in a cage and was
longing for freedom. In birds she could see the ability to see from all angles,
which, interestingly, is important in conflict resolution, for being free and for
having fun, which is how she wanted to feel herself. She experienced her whole
being as small and confined when she wanted to be big and play.

I decided to give a homeopathic remedy made from bald eagle,
haliaetus leukocephalus, 200 CH.

Email feedback June 14, 09:

“After I saw you I had the most incredible flying dream. I was with
someone and we were very high in the sky. He was showing me around and I
was really surprised at how smooth and beautiful and frictionless everything
was at this height. The patterns of the fields and rivers and forests were
breathtakingly perfect. I also commented on there being no wind while we were
flying, it was so easy and comfortable and effortless… He said “that’s the way it
always is – it’s set up that way.”

“On Saturday we went for a hike up that hill we often climb and we know exactly
where we have to rest on the steep parts for my angina. I did not have to stop. I
had a small amount of tightness, but not enough to make me stop. Last time we
went I had to stop for ten minutes half way up!”

“We’ve been for a couple of walks since and I’d say there is a definite
improvement. So the eagle remedy is clearly a winner.”

This patient had done very well on a homeopathic prescription of bald eagle.
The angina is 90% improved and her whole outlook has changed. She no
longer feels as if she is responsible for everything and has a lot more fun and
freedom in her life.

How is this possible? I don’t know the answer. One theory is that the
essence of a substance, whether that is from the plant, animal or
mineral realm, is somehow liberated by the homeopathic process of
serial dilution and agitation. What is this essence? Hahnemann, the founder
of homeopathy, described it as a spirit-like force which is able to interact with
the spirit-like force of the human being, the life force. The Chinese call it chi,
the Indians call it prana. Modern quantum physics is supporting the idea that all
matter is energy at its most basic level. We are all connected with the natural
world and with each other in innumerable ways. Every society on the planet
acknowledges this deep connection and accepts that certain individuals
resonate more strongly with some animals or forces of nature. Some of us may
be closely connected to birds in more ways than first expected. A bird remedy
may heal you.

People who require homeopathic remedies made from birds share some
common features. They frequently have a great love for nature and animals, a
desire for travel, a restless, inquiring mind, a compassionate nature with many
of them working in the helping professions, and a strong interest in spirituality
and personal growth. Physically, they may have problems with their shoulders
and hips as well as spine, their eyes, ears and teeth.

Some of the patients I’ve seen who were helped by bird remedies even dreamt
that they were birds. One of my patients told me that she often dreamt of flying
and even of being a bird. She told me that she also knew what kind of bird she
was in her dreams – a blue heron. She benefited from the homeopathic remedy
made from blue heron.

In the end if we listen carefully to ourselves and to each other, the healing
remedy may be revealed. It is our basic human nature which brings about
illness as well as healing.

Dr. Anke Zimmermann, ND

PS: If you are interested in learning more about homeopathic remedies made
from birds pleas see the book: “Birds – Homeopathic Remedies from the Avian
Realm” by Jonathan Shore, MD, Judy Schriebman and Anneke Hogeland.