Hippocampus kuda, a proving of Sea Horse
by Susan Sonz with Robert Stewart and Sonam Kushner
edited by Barbara Aria 

Beneath the ocean, deep and wide,
One lonely, drifting sea horse cried,
"In all the cold and salty sea
I'm all alone-there's only me."

Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers

Summary of Hippocampus kuda

The sea horse is called Hippocampus, a Greek word meaning "horse monster." It belongs to the family Syngnathidea, which also includes the pipe fish and the sea dragon (Phycodurus eques). Although for years its exact classification was in doubt, it is definitely a fish---meaning, a vertebrate. This is an evolutionary leap from the phylum mollusca, which includes Sepia officinalis, Calcarea carbonica, and Murex Purpera. There are over 32 species of the sea horse. Hippocampus kuda is found along the eastern coast of India and in the waters surrounding all of Indonesia up into the Sea of Japan. It is a favorite of aquarium owners and exotic-fish enthusiasts.

At first sight, the sea horse seems ill adapted to its underwater environment. Lacking the torpedo shape of most fish, it floats vertically in the water, being propelled almost imperceptibly by two pectoral fins on either side of its head and one small dorsal fin. The sea horse’s vertical posture is an exception within the animal kingdom. The head is at a right angle to the body, and the major organs (the gills, heart and liver) lie just behind the head. The rather long, toothless, tubular snout gives it its characteristic horse appearance. Unlike the typical fish, the sea horse is covered with a bony armor rather than scales. While lacking powerful fins, it is endowed with a long prehensile tail which, monkey-like, it wraps around just about anything. This makes for a rather passive, secretive existence; the sea horse hides from predators within the sea grasses and coral, and waits for its prey--usually rotifers and brine shrimp--which it sucks up with a clicking noise.

The sea horse is an amusing amalgam of incommensurable parts—a horse’s head, dragon’s scales, the free-roving eyes and changeable colors of a chameleon, tail of a monkey, a kangaroo’s pouch, the armor of an insect, and the wings of a hummingbird—yet the fact remains that it is simply a fish

Sea horses are not social creatures, as they do not swim in vast schools like many of the fish of the sea. The male sea horse leads a solitary existence. He lays claim to a small patch of sea-bed grass, attaching himself with his tail, and stays there, day in and day out. However, unlike other sea creatures, sea horses do form attachments with their mates. The only social interlude in an otherwise solitary day is when the male's partner arrives for her morning visit, which happens like clockwork. She hooks her tail around an adjacent blade of grass and gently sways by his side. They seem to be the most devoted of partners. When a male and a female meet sexually, they engage in a ballet-like dance of courtship that can last for hours. Then a very strange thing happens: the female inserts her eggs into an enclosed pouch on the male’s abdomen, and the male, usually anchored to one spot for the entire duration, fertilizes and incubates the brood. During this period, the female takes care of the pregnant male, visiting him daily during what appears to be intimate moments as the pair tenderly nuzzle each other. The sea horse, like the octopus and cuttlefish, has the ability to change color and texture in order to camouflage its whereabouts, but during courtship and while the male is carrying, the mates always “brighten” when they meet. After sometimes as long as six weeks, the male goes into what is clearly labor. Hundreds of baby sea horses are thrust out into the water, but very few survive to adulthood. 

A pregnant male is indeed an oddity--as if an absolute law of nature had been reversed, as if a great taboo had been transgressed. Nevertheless, this peculiarity of the sea horse has contributed to many myths and legends, and myths and legends eventually inspire deeds. The Chinese in particular have valued the sea horse medicinally for thousands of years as a cure for almost everything, from asthma and heart disease to that seeming bane of male existence, impotence. One reason sea horse is used as an aphrodisiac is that the Chinese believe these creatures form pairs for life, and therefore feel sexually fulfilled. Apparently, they use as many as 20 million sea horses a year. Seahorse trade is legal and unregulated, and if this practice continues at this rate, we could push this amazing creature into extinction. To this end, conservation projects that have been set up in recent years, establish sanctuaries and fish farms in order to ensure the continued existence of these mysterious and fragile creatures of the sea.

THE PROVING 

"The best opportunity for exercising our sense of observation and to perfect it, is by proving medicines ourselves."Samuel Hahnemann

Homeopathic provings are a great deal of work. Even before the months, and often years of work that are required to gather, extract and compile the information, there is the very daunting task of convincing between 10 and 20 people to take an unknown substance in the name of research, and then to find an equal number of homeopaths who have the time and inclination to supervise them. It’s a wonder that any of us conduct provings at all. But a proving is in fact a wondrous thing--it is a wonderful confirmation of the basic principles of homeopathy. At the extraction meetings, it’s thrilling to see the similarities among the individual reactions of the provers, and it’s even more exciting to see these similarities clearly confirmed in their notebooks, all the while realizing that, one day, this new remedy is going to cure people. This is why many of us in our profession continue to take on the work of conducting provings, and why many brave volunteers continue to take these unknown substances while busy homeopaths take the time to supervise them. In doing so, everyone involved contributes to the well-being of mankind. Hahnemann would be pleased.

Our proving first began in the summer of 2001, when we decided to conduct a bi-coastal proving. Many possible substances were considered, but in the early winter of 2002, Sonam Kushner suggested sea horse, partly because a NOVA special on sea horses had reminded her of her own fascination with sea horses as a child in India. As master provers, we were all interested in sea horse as a remedy for many reasons: sea horses intrigue people worldwide with their strangeness and beauty (which seems to give the remedy a universal quality); sea horses are used medicinally by the Chinese (which makes this a good choice from a Hahnemanian point of view); and most significant, the sea horse is a very unusual species in that the male fertilizes the eggs in his own pouch, gestates and then gives birth to live sea horses. What could be more fascinating than that!

One classified black, male, sea horse, from the Indian Ocean, was sent to Michael Quinn at Hahnemann Pharmacy to be potentized. As an ongoing promoter of homeopathic provings, Michael generously made 20 vials of 30c potency for us. We followed the instructions laid out in Jeremy Sherr’s The Dynamics and Methodology of Homoeopathic Provings and printed separate pages of instructions for provers and supervisors, to be handed out at our first meeting on May 18, 2002 in New York, June 1 inCalifornia. We assigned one supervisor for every prover, and the partners were asked to communicate daily. The remedy was distributed on May 28; prior to this, we conducted initial intake interviews, and the provers made a week of journal entries, to help us establish previous states. Most provers in New York took the remedy on June 1 (day 00).* Each prover was asked to call their supervisor after each dose of the remedy--and they were told not to take even a second dose if they felt any symptoms at all. Most provers took only one or two doses, although three provers took all of the 6 possible doses (one of them was an insensitive, who reported only one symptom throughout the entire proving). As usual, the master provers were concerned that there would be either no significant symptoms or too many symptoms, meaning that some people would get quite sick. The truth is that with most provings, the results lie somewhere in between. We had two females in NY who did experience terrible headaches, nausea and depression, but these uncomfortable feelings dissipated after about a month. On the other hand, we had two males who experienced some sort of emotional healing, or least felt that they had discovered a new way of seeing themselves in the world.

When hearing information of this sort, it is important to remember that, as Hahnemann said, regardless of the symptoms that are produced during a proving, everyone involved is in a higher state of health or awareness after the experience. Not only have we helped to expand our materia medica, but both provers and supervisors end up in a healthier state as a result. The kind of introspection that provers indulge in during a proving is a mind-expanding treat. That is why prospective provers, rather than feel as if they are about to become guinea pigs, can consider themselves more like Alice in Wonderland, and be confident that whether or not they suffer with temporary symptoms, the experience will enlighten them. A proving is a journey--an honorable journey for all involved. It should be embarked on with care and caution, but without fear. We hope to encourage many more Hahnemanian provings.

Rubrics


GENERALITIES:

air, open, amel.
open desires
crowded places, agg.
faintness, general, crowded room, in
food and drinks
fish desires
fruit desires, juicy
juicy things, desires
melons, desires
heat, lack of vital
heaviness
heaviness, external
lassitude, general
lie down, inclination to
lifted up sensation
lightness, sensation of
pain, cramping
darting
electric-like
shooting
sudden manifestations
wavelike sensations
water, desires to be near water, rivers, seashore etc.
wavelike sensations
weakness, enervation, exhaustion, prostration, infirmity,?
daytime
morning
forenoon
sudden
air, amel, open
eating, agg after
sleep, amel.

MIND:
ailments from,?
crowd, society, in
grief, sorrow, care
love, disappointed, unhappy
air, amel. From walking or being in open, mental symptoms
alternating states
aversion, persons to, all
blissful feeling
colors, charmed by
company, aversion
aversion, yet to being alone
solitude, fond of
over-sensitivity to*
delusions, imaginations, (main rubric)
delusions, imaginations, (subrubrics):
beautiful, wonderful, things look
breathe, she cannot *
breathe, under water, he can*
colors, are muted*
dark, of
division, between himself and others
floating in air
hearing, sounds, distant, are
hearing, sounds, muffled are*
hearing, sounds, muted, are*
heavy, is
light, incorporeal, immaterial, he is
lost
love, unlovable, is*
paralyzed
seasick, that he is
separated, world, from the, that he is
time, passes too slowly
time, passes too quickly
trapped, he is
visions
water, he is under
world, cold, dark, stony*
Despair
Detached
elated
elation alternating w/ sadness
ennui
euphoria
euphoria alternating w/ sadness
euphoria, lightness, feeling of*
excitement, general, intoxicated as if
fear,?
general, crowd, in a
general, public places of
freedom, remarkable, for what he had to do
forgetful
grief, general
general, loved ones, long lost*?
hide, desire to
independent, general
indifference
irritability
isolation, sensation of*
joy
joy, alt w/ sadness
lightness, feeling of.
loneliness*
love, unlovable*
mental symptoms alternating with,
other mental?
physical
memory, loss of
mistakes, makes
in names
writing
moods, alternating
relaxed feeling, letting go
sadness, depression
alt w/ exalted states
w/ desire for:
air, in open, amel
company amel.
gloomy
intolerable
w/ lassitude
w/ sleepiness
suicidal disposition*
senses, acute
senses, dullness of, blunted
sensitive, oversensitive, general
general, subrubrics:
colors, to
light, to
music, to
noises, to
odors, to
people, to
public place, in*
sensual impressions, to
spoken to aversion to being,
alone, wants to be let
spaced out feeling
spirituality, feelings of*
strength, sensation of increased
stupefaction, intoxication, as if
talk, talking, talks, indisposed to, desire to be silent, taciturn
time, passes too slowly, appearing longer
time, passes too quickly, appearing shorter
tranquility, general
general, alt w/ irritability*
weeping, tearful mood, general

DREAMS:
aquariums*
amusement parks*?
animals:
birds
cats
ducks (new rubric)*
ducks, mothers and babies*
dogs
fish
fish, people who are fish*
animals, dogs buttons, eyes instead of*
beach
beautiful
buildings
body parts, toes falling off*
breathe, she can breathe under water
child, children
child, children, about, babies
colored, exaggerated colors & proportions
colored, black and white*
colored, white
colored, neon colors*
clothes, changing clothes in public*
clothes, dresses, brightly colored*
danger, escaping from
dead people, of relatives,?
dead people, of mothers
dead pets, beloved*
destination, not reaching hers
disturbing*
excrement
gardens
green grass*
guns
fantastic
helpless feeling
hiding from danger
hospitals
ice and snow
jewelry,
jewelry, rings*
journeys,?
journeys, with difficulty
killing
locking, and unlocking
magic
moons, multiple* ?
moon orange*
music
mystical*
ocean
other worldly*
old people being young
paradise has a view of
paralyzing
paranormal phenomenon*
paranormal phenomenon, children #13
peaceful
plants?
plants growing in water*
police
powerful
robbers
royalty
snow
soldiers
spiritual*
stone floors*
submarine, stone, made of*
suffocation
treasure*
threats
transformation, people of*
tunnels
uniforms*
youth, time of
water
water, swimming in
visionary
vivid

VERTIGO:
General
Floating, as if

HEAD:
Constriction, band or hoop
energy, sensation as if trapped inside*
fullness
fullness, as by cotton*
fullness, as by water*
Hair, cutting, desires, short, or bald.*
heaviness
lightness
open, as if
water, in as of
waving sensation
waving sensation, water, as if from

HEAD PAIN:
general
general sub rubrics:?
on waking
alternating with, abdominal complaints
right
morning, agg.
forenoon
noon, agg.
afternoon, agg.
evening, agg.
night, agg.
midnight, after, agg.
increasing, gradually
decreasing, gradually
air, open, amel.
extending to,?
ears.
forehead, eyes, above.
sides
alternating sides
left
one-sided.
right.
daytime
forenoon
afternoon
evening, agg.
night, agg.
air, open, amel.
waking, on
walking, open air, amel
extending to
ear, to
eye, to
forehead, to
boring
dull
intermittent
lancinating
pressing
pulsating

VISION:
accommodation, slow
blurred

EAR:
itching
noises, general
noises, general:
crackling
popping
ringing
roaring
stopped sensation
stopped sensation as by cotton
water, sensation, of?
water, sensation of, rushing into ears

HEARING:
acute
acute, noises to
acute, voices and talking, her own, seems very loud
impaired
impaired alt w/ hearing acute
impaired, cotton in ear, as if from
impaired, human voices for
muffled*
muffled, while her own voice seems very loud*

NOSE:
obstruction
obstruction alt w/ discharge

SMELL:
acute
sensitive to odor of:
chlor
faint*
strange odors
strong
tobacco
unpleasant odors

MOUTH:
dryness, as if cotton in the mouth

TASTE:
acute
acute, aftertaste of food eaten
bad
putrid, foul
metallic
salty
strong, all food tastes too

TEETH:
sensitive, tender

THROAT:
choking, constricting, mucous, from*
lump, plug, sensation of
mucous, general
pain, rawness

STOMACH:
fullness, eating, agg. after
fullness, after, ever so little
nausea:
morning
forenoon
afternoon
evening
night
nausea, air, open, amel.
nausea, coffee, agg., after
nausea, eating, agg, after
nausea, odors, from
nausea, seasick, as if
nausea, waves, in
noises, rumbling
pain, general
general, pit of stomach
morning
forenoon
noon?
afternoon
evening
night
general, air, open, amel.
general, eating, after
general, nausea, during
general, pit of
pain, cramping, griping, constricting

ABDOMEN:
distention, general, eating, after
flatulence
noises,?
noises, gurgling,
noises,rumbling
pain, general
general, eating, after
cramping
lancinating
stitching

RECTUM:
involuntary stool
urging desire, general, sudden,?

STOOL:
falling out

BLADDER:
urging to urinate, morbid desire, general
urging, general, daytime
urging, general, night
urging to urinate, morbid desire, general, with stool
urging to urinate, morbid desire, frequent
urging to urinate, morbid desire, general, sudden

MALE:
sexual desire, diminished
sexual desire, diminished, erections, without
sexual desire, increased

CHEST:
pain, general
general, inspiration, agg.
general, spots
general, mammae
pain, burning, sternum, below
pain burning, sternum, below, drinks, amel, cold

BACK:
heaviness, weight, cervical region
pain. general
pain, general, inspiration, agg
pain, general, dorsal region,
pain general dorsal region, inspiration, on
pain, aching
pain, aching, inspiration, deep, agg
pain, aching, dorsal region, scapulae, between
pain, stiching, shooting
stiffness
stiffness, cervical region

EXTREMITIES:
heaviness, tired limbs,
upper limbs?
upper limbs, hands,
lower limbs, legs
itching, lower limbs, toes, between
numbness, insensibility,?
numbness, upper limbs,?
hands
waking on
restlessness,?
restlessness lower limbs,?
restlessness, lower limbs, legs
trembling, general,
upper limbs, hands
lower limbs, legs

EXTREMITIES PAIN:
aching
cramping,
cramping, lower limbs, thighs
cramping, lower limbs, legs

SLEEP:
bad
deep
disturbed
heavy
interrupted
need of sleep, great
restless?
restless, midnight after
sleepiness?
sleepiness, daytime
unrefreshing
waking,?
midnight after, 4am, 6.30 am
headache, with
early, too
frequent
frequent, midnight after

SKIN:
eruptions, itching.
pimples
rash

MAJOR THEMES

The results of the sea horse proving were very interesting; there were many intense symptoms, along with many strong signature feelings or sensations. At the extraction meetings in New York and California,  after the results were described by the provers, and the substance was revealed, almost all the provers said that they would take part in another proving. During both meetings many common symptoms or themes were discussed that were later confirmed by the provers’ notebooks. We were very fortunate, because there were some strong provers whose symptoms served as a template for the entire proving. Prover #1 was such a prover, and her descriptions of feelings of isolation were mirrored by many of the other provers. This strong theme seemed to be part of a larger picture that included an aggravation in and aversion to company, a desire for solitude, sadness, gloom, and a feeling of being disconnected from the world. It’s difficult to know if the feeling of being isolated causes the sadness and other feelings, and/or if an over-sensitivity in public drives one to isolation, but isolation does seem to be the prominent emotional symptom of the proving. In fact, in the wild, the male seahorse leads a solitary existence, perhaps giving rise to this strong theme of isolation, coupled with a need or desire for solitude, and therefore, an aversion to company.

Prover #1 describes a muffled, underwater feeling immediately after taking the first dose of the remedy (which may be a signature symptom), but she clearly associates this sensation with the feeling of being isolated, sad and dissociated.

“Feels like a blanket has covered the day. Muffled sensation, sound, light--everything far away. I felt cut off, inward, trapped, disassociated. I felt like I was under water. It was distressing, I was inward focused. The disassociated feeling reminds me of my late teens--It would paralyse me.  One hour later, I went  outside and everything went away. The headache, the muffled feeling subsided quickly.” #1, day 00.

What that “underwater” feeling represents is a “cut-offness.” A friend kept asking me yesterday if I was OK. I guess I was acting disconnected. #1, day 03.

Repeat of the “underwater blanket” sensation like on Day 00. The sound in my ears gets muffled. It’s like the feeling in your ears and head when you go under water, muffled and isolating. The sounds from the outside are muffled, and the sound in your head is amplified. It’s a feeling that lasted for five minutes. #1, day 09.

Other provers said:

It’s a feeling of isolation--I want to talk to somebody. I feel like a big wall has come down in front of me, I have to be outside. #17, day 00.

Still don’t want to see people. Don’t  want to make phone calls.
#17, day01.

Someone is talking to me and I feel like I am not here. Am absent even though I can understand and follow what she is saying.#17, day 02.

I feel un-grounded, like I am going to float away or lose my mind. I still don’t want to see people. I hide from them. #17, day 02.

Worried that I am losing my mind, but not scared. #17, day 03.

Read in a book, The Power of Now--“the inability to feel this connectedness gives rise to the illusion of separation, from yourself and from the world around you. You then perceive yourself, consciously or unconsciously, as an isolated fragment.” I have read these words before but they held so much meaning for me today, “isolated fragment.” I don’t feel like re-reading my notes, but it seems like I have been bouncing back and forth between feeling really high and really low, but the underlying theme is the search for connectedness.  #13, day 08.

There was an interesting aspect to this sense of isolation; the provers who had no previous experience with this feeling had a negative reaction, connecting this sensation to sadness and depression. However, three of the provers who experienced a kind of curative reaction to this remedy (provers #2, #8, #18), seemed to have plenty of experience with isolation beforehand, yet it was more of a self imposed isolation as a result of a kind of over-sensitivity when socializing with people.

According to the supervisor of prover #8, she was feeling overwhelmed and irritable before she embarked on the proving, and during the intake interview, she reported a “feeling of isolation--no friends or colleagues for interaction.” Yet, on the first day after the remedy, her supervisor reported, “She’s giggling a lot. Is in great spirits.” The prover said:

I’m feeling energized and in a good mood. #8, day 01.

Not tired at all, could have worked all night. #8, day 01.

Woke up at 7a.m., felt awake immediately and not tired. I feel like I’m under the influence of a stimulant. #8, day 02.

And then, by day 19, she may have been slipping back into her original state. Perhaps this prover should have tried the remedy again, since she experienced so much improvement, but that is a responsibility that master provers cannot assume.

I feel a bit down and discouraged today. I don’t seem to be able to accomplish anything, which makes me even more depressed.
#8, day 19.

Prover #2 had plenty of experience with isolation before the proving. He had arranged his life around his desire for solitude. He’d lived alone for most of his life and had chosen to conduct his business out of his home, where he felt most comfortable and creative. Isolation was not a problem for him—he even yearned for someone to love; and although he liked a limited amount of socializing, he easily found himself overwhelmed by contact with other people. After the remedy, he experienced a profound change, suggestive of a curative response. He experienced almost no unpleasant symptoms during the proving. Eight months later, under advisement, he has repeated the remedy twice at the same 30c potency, when needed, and his feeling of well-being continues.

These are some of the comments that he made in his notebook soon after taking the remedy:

Feeling as if intoxicated- almost as if I’d had two cocktails. #2, 00.

Last night, after taking the rx, I had a sense of mild euphoria. #2, 01.

I have a sensation of well being. #2 (during proving, and to date).

He decided to shave his head bald on day three and wrote later that day,
“I’m liking the bald head--I feel sort of free!” #2, day 03.

Generally, I feel that the rx is helping me, as if it were prescribed for me. The “haircut” and my dreams make me realize issues of independence. All my life, I’ve wanted to win the approval of others, and I’m quite good at it. The rx is giving me the freedom to go to that place where I don’t really care what others think of me. “Independence” is a word that has come to the fore--and in my mind’s eye, I see myself as bald and re-invented. I have been, for a number of months, going through a mourning for the fact that I’m not good looking, that I’m fat, that I have no training for anything except publicity, etc. Now I am entertaining the fantasy of embarking on something new--singing? comedy? entrepreneurship of some kind?
#2, day 5.

Recognition of his transformation was expressed after a profound dream on day seven:

(note: the entire dream is recorded below, marked #2, day 07)

I was being given a new vision by God…I came away with the feeling that God has given me a new way of seeing the world. #2, day 7.

Interestingly, this prover continued to enjoy his solitude after the proving, but he was now better able to balance his desire to be alone with a new feeling of relaxation and comfort in company. Prover #2 may be helping us to distinguish the feelings of isolation in Hippocampus, and therfore, to understand the remedy. What cannot be ignored is that he experienced a great amelioration of his pre-existing emotional symptoms, and therefore, we should look at his previous state to better understand the remedy.

This prover had described as part of his previous state an over-sensitivity in company. There was a limit to how long he could bear to be in the company of others, instead of an unhappiness when alone. This prover never described his solitude in negative terms— in fact he felt creatively stimulated when he was alone. This contrasts with the way that isolation feels to most patients—gray and bleak, lonely and depressing. For some people, like prover #2, solitude is not necessarily a negative experience.

We came to the conclusion that although Hippocampus does feel isolated, perhaps this is a desired isolation, not unlike the natural solitude of the sea horse itself. (It is possible that being alone is conducive to the spiritual insights and mystical realizations that are mentioned in this proving.) This may indeed be the distinguishing feature of this remedy: a kind of pro-active aloneness, a positive, colorful relationship with solitude. Of course, further clinical information is necessary to confirm this and all other preliminary ideas on Hippocampus.

Another possible theme of this remedy is the extremes of alternating states that some of the provers describe. Many provers would swing from sadness, depression, and a sensation of being alone (along with a desire to be alone), to a kind of mild euphoria, a calmness, and a desire to be with people. Some provers felt only one sensation or the other, but numerous provers experienced these alternating moods. This led us to believe that Hippocampus may be a useful remedy for mood swings or maybe even bi-polar disorder, though this also remains to be seen clinically. For many provers, this swing from depression and aloneness to the opposite state of happiness and a desire for company was often triggered simply by going out into the open air, which ameliorated many.

The day started good, but then started to feel same aversion to contact with people, though not depressed. “I would have crawled into my little hole, but an old friend came and we went out. #1, day 05.

Feels disconnected again. This napping is unusual. Usually only nap when really down. It’s funny, this up and down thing. #1, day 06.

Either driven to be very isolated, or need to be out with a lot of people. It’s the two extremes. #1, day 09.

Feels as if in an equilibrium. My mood is very even. I feel very relaxed, almost indolent. I don’t feel like doing much, enjoying it, no guilt. Not feeling flustered by anything at all. #5, day 04.

Mild euphoria. A feeling of all’s right with the world....long may it last!
#5, day 07.

Feeling depressed. “I don’t want to be bothered where people are concerned. It’s a chore to talk to people. I just want to be on my own. #5, day 15.

Irritability, “pissy” feelings, alternating with underlying calm. 
#9, day 02.

I feel the rx has turned me upside down. I am no longer calm. I have been angry and depressed. The last two days I have been hiding in my cave, avoiding everyone. I feel exposed. #10, day 35.

I don’t feel like re-reading my notes, but it seems like I have been bouncing back and forth between feeling really high and really low.
#13, day 08.

Prover #8 wrote her general impressions at the end of her proving journal, expressing this sensation of alternating symptoms:

There were a lot of alternating and opposite symptoms. Left side, then right, energy and then tiredness, sleeplessness and insomnia. My heartburn seems to have resolved 99%. I had many headaches (old symptom) but they were less and less painful and there was a shift from my usual left side to the right.  #8, day 28.

Prover #18, a male, also experienced many of the previously discussed feelings and mood swings, although once his mood swung up, he seemed to stay there and began to experience a new theme--a newfound feeling of independence. In fact, as a recent immigrant, he had been completely dependent on his girlfriend (a 4th year student at the NY Luminos School of Homeopathy, who supervised him because of the language barrier). His swing from dependence to independence was so strong, that five months after the proving, he left his girlfriend to live alone, even though her feelings about the relationship had not changed. He describes some of his transition this way:

I am feeling lost, out of it, depressed. #18, days 00, 02.

I feel excited, I want to do a lot, my thoughts are racing. #18, day 03.

I’m very impatient and very excited about life. #18, day 04.

I feel very different, strong, excited. I want to do a lot of stuff. I feel very sensitive and passionate. I have high self-esteem. #18, day 09.

I feel very rebellious, independent, I want to be alone, I want to be free. #18, day 12.

I feel very excited and strong. I don’t want to hear your opinions. (to the girlfriend). #18, day 16.

I don’t want to be with you anymore, I want to be free. #18, day 22.

I feel very different from normal. I feel strong, free and excited. (He wants to make love many times a day, yet he wants to be alone. In the beginning of the proving, he was unable to maintain an erection, which was very unusual for him and quite scary. By the middle and end of the proving, he felt more potent than ever before, desiring sex many times a day, which was also unusual for him.) #18, day 19.

We believe that prover #18 experienced a cure from this remedy, transitioning from a very dependent person to feeling strong, free and independent. Needless to say, this transition was very difficult for the supervisor/girlfriend/student who required some sympathetic counseling and homeopathic treatment from her teacher/master prover, Susan Sonz. Happily, the student has not only recovered from this loss, she also has gained a great deal of insight about herself and her previous role in that and other relationships. Both prover and supervisor have gained new awareness of themselves and of the power of homeopathy, and agree that they are both better for it, in spite of the new challenges in their lives. Recently (seven months later), prover #18, now missing his girlfriend, returned for some homeopathic assistance. He had this to say, and was given another dose of Hippocampus as a result.

(note: English is not his native language)
The experiment (proving) was very good for me. It was like a shake up but then when things came through again— they presented in a different way. My capacity was increased, happiness came to me in the right way— it was like a basic happiness. I was more secure about me. I received new tools for my life. Now, I want to find a love forever, and become a father. #18, 7 months later.

Prover #2 also had some interesting things to say about independence:

“Independence” is a word that has come to the fore… #2, day 5.

I’m still thinking about the “new way of seeing” dream. I meditated on it--do I have it [the new way of seeing]? … No … Yes! … 100%? … No … What do I do to get it completely? …  Wait--till around July 4… (I realized this is Independence Day!) #2, day 9.

Many of the themes that we saw in the sea horse proving are common to all sea remedies. Difficulties in communicating with others is a fundamental issue in this group of remedies. In this group, we see isolation, aversion to company, desire for solitude, mood swings, issues of independence, grief, sadness, and depression. For instance, Natrum muriaticum is the primary remedy for dwelling on past griefs; sea horse provers found themselves remembering and grieving for long deceased relatives. Calcarea carbonica has issues of dependence and independence, and some sea horse provers became excited with newfound feelings of freedom. One prover said, "Normally, I would have been mortified, instead I felt courageous, bold and liberated"(prover 8). Another sea remedy, Spongia tosta, shares with these remedies a desire for emotional support and security. In addition, Spongia has as a symptom the same sensation of suffocation that was expressed in the dreams of the sea horse provers. And, while most of the sea remedies are aggravated, or oversensitive in company, Sepia is especially ameliorated when alone, like many of the Hippocampus provers.

DREAMS The dreams reported during this proving reflected both the aforementioned themes and the signature of the substance. There were many reports of transformative dreams, that is, people being transformed from one state to another--hair changing color, women changing dresses, old people being young, and even a “little blond child” turning into a “glowing black-skinned boy with a 3-foot-wide afro.” Many of the dreams went from a dark scene to a brightly colored, altered reality, described by one prover as “like in the movie Truman.”

The most pronounced theme in the dreams seemed to be of unusual colors and brightness: Most of the dreams were described vividly in color--there was green grass, blue sky or colorful flowers, bright dresses, and red, bright blonde, or platinum-colored hair; a white sink, white snow, and a huge creamy white dessert were mentioned; the “color” neon came up repeatedly. Interestingly, not only do sea horses exist in many colors, but they also use camouflage for protection.  This may have given rise to the predominance of bright and varied colors in the dreams of the provers, as well as the dreams of transformation.

There seemed to be a commonly held belief among some of the provers that their dreams had offered them some sort of spiritual gift, and there were dreams of music, magic, mystical moments, jewels and treasure as well. There was floating, many dreams of water, swimming, the beach, and fish. For some unexplained reason, at least 8 provers dreamed of dogs, some of them repeatedly.  Many dreamed of dead relatives and loved ones (including one dream of a long dead, beloved dog).

All provers reported vivid dreams, even those provers who normally find dream recall difficult and unusual. The most helpful way to demonstrate the dream themes (as well as the strong signature aspect of this proving) is to list segments of some of these dreams:

Dream: Staying in a house with my friend, who is staying in a room upstairs. Suddenly there is a swimming pool and people are swimming, I want to be swimming too, but for some reason I am not. Then I am in the pool. A “cartoonish” brawny man is there with big, bulging eyes, and a mouth open like a fish’s, and a fine chain joining his inner cheek to the roof of his mouth (palate). Vocalizing a particular drum pattern for a certain type of music, but a piece of the pattern is missing. I know what the missing piece is and I provide it. My friend is swimming away to the other side of the pool, followed by a child, a girl, who is swimming behind her, just like a fish. Like ducks following the mother. Near me, and the “fishy” man, a woman and her daughter are doing a perfect demonstration of the Charleston in the bottom of the pool, under the water. #1, day 15.

Dream: Green, quiet, peaceful open space. Of old man becoming young. #2, day 00

Dream: I was sleeping outside with my cat Charlie where a rugged-looking man in a kilt was noticing me. He came over to the side of the bed to say he recognized me from when he used to look in my window. This made me feel uncomfortable--as if he knew me. I was then in the backyard of an exclusive Scottish club, where all the men were dressed in green tartan kilts. I was sitting around at a table outside with the black (African-American) help who were complaining about their treatment-- no respect, no regular hours. One of the help worked at a graveyard (and had the logo of a mortuary on his shirt) and was complaining about his hours which made no sense considering his job.  There was anger by the Scottish members that the help got to sit at such a nice table in the garden. There was pressure on me to move indoors and select a regular table- something I was resisting. I went inside where a couple of Scotsmen got really close to me and urged me to pick a table where I’d sit all the time. I said “I’d rather move about freely,” which met with disapproval. #2, day 03.

Dream: Being given a new vision by God. I was in a dark place, like a theatre. I was facing a large gray wall, like a curtain on a stage. On the upper right hand corner was a window cut out. Somehow I floated up and sat on the edge. We were sitting on the edge of a window into this new world--colors, lights, movement, objects were startling, gorgeous, kind of like an animated film. When I went into it, it was almost as if I were on a ferris wheel, or some kind of carnival ride, and I was with a girl. It was someone I knew as a child who was now an adult. A mechanical device came over with verbal instructions to look into it, like it was going to record or download all of our thoughts. I made a repeated “crossing” motion with my hands and arms, and said “Deny, deny”, to protect us. I took away with me the feeling of a new way of seeing. So many of my previous dreams had been about trying to get somewhere. This dream was a little alarming, it had a malevolent side to it, but I had the presence of mind to use techniques to protect us. I came away with the feeling that God has given me a new way of seeing the world. #2, day 07.

Dream: Dream: I was in an office and a dog had peed all over the carpet.  Someone attempted to clean it. leaving big, wet soapy circles on the rug. An actor showed up looking for his art sampler. It was up to me to find them for him. As he loooked thru them, I could see the work-- swirling, masses of oils, photographed and printed on glossy paper, and then cut out. The colors were oddly muted, and I asked if this was intentional and he said yes. My long deceased dog Pete made an appearance. Lying on his back, balanced on the upper ridge of the couch. I found this quite amusing. Pete in this position was approached by a coterie of other dogs and cats. #2, 012.

Dream: Of my dead mother in a labyrinth -like building, grim and dark. Worried if she would accept and welcome me, and remember who I was. I wanted her to know who I was as a person. I see my mother as a two-year-old, but with an eighty-year-old face. She was giggling and giddy. I was very distressed at her behavior. I was deeply saddened that we were unable to make contact. I had the feeling as if my heart was breaking. #5, day 01.

Dream: Indoors at night in a ballroom setting. Important people conducting shady business. I and a friend are eating dessert out of a very large glass bowl that we are sharing. It’s white and creamy, and then I realize that I love the little purple Matchbox cars that I am eating. #10, day 00.

Dream: Very strange beach setting. Sky is strange. Perpetual sunset, very different colors. Feel almost as though I am on another planet. Like the Truman Story. There’s a house-like structure with lots of windows built right into the ocean. I look in and see a large fish, dolphin-like, but the head and body are all one shape. She is partly buried in the sand. I pet her and talk to her and look for signs of life. Then the water and sand shift and she falls apart like a shell. I take her top off, and inside are snake-like babies. They seem happy to be birthed and swim away and out all around me. They are neon orange. One of the windows is aquarium-like, and all the fish I can see are lighted with neon strips along various portions of their body. All colors--it’s beautiful. I move along and find a wall of wet sand taller than I am, about twelve feet tall. I climb up and get over the edge to find a wonderful ocean. I look out and see a bridge of sand extending to a small tiny island. There are two cars driving back from the island.

I wait as the cars go by single file, and then I go out further. I lay down in the middle of the sand island and soak up the sun. After a while I feel something along my sides at my waist, coming from below me. It’s subtle at first and almost feels comforting. Then it changes and I start to become alarmed. I feel the edge of something coming up through the sand. It’s a swordfish with long round sharp serrated edges. Now it’s at least six inches long and I am panicking and telepathically calling for help. I’m terrorized and paralyzed with fear. That I cannot move and that there will be more of these coming. Suddenly a presence arrives that I can sense but cannot see and gently pulls me to the awareness that I can get up. I just had to let go of the fear. #10, day 00.

Dream: Of reaching and pulling up from deep water an old treasure. Artifacts and decorated pieces. Whole unbroken china dishes. Only one bigger bowl is damaged. I was very excited. Then I was putting on my left ring finger which was part of the treasure. It was very old, and made from a dark, shiny material like hematite. Suddenly, I heard music coming from the wall in front of me, such a beautiful sound--beyond description, not from this world. Every time I pulled the ring off my finger, the music stopped, and would start immediately when I put the ring back on. This happened three or four times. The wall in front of me didn’t have any devices on it, but there was some specific design on the wall. Mostly in a dark, metallic color. People around me had been witnessing the ring phenomenon and wanted to try the ring on, but it didn’t work for them. At one point my ring started to disintegrate into three pieces, and I tried to hold it together. I was in a lively green outfit. I put an apron on, and the dress and the apron didn’t match. The main feeling of this dream was the awesome feeling of the gift of the music--“angelic.” I felt I had received an incredible spiritual gift. #12, day 02.

Dream: Of amusement park with band on the stage. Lots of string instruments, mandolin, fiddle, cello. The music was melodic and “other-worldly,” and I was moved by it. I was cradling a blonde toddler while watching the band. The little baby I was holding became a disruptive little boy with a demon quality. My ex-husband came over to him and said in a booming voice three things which I cannot remember. I wish I could remember those three things because they were important. Then another little blonde child, a beautiful calm child, turned to my husband and said--“Are you ---  --- ---?” Then someone in the bandstand said “Cheeky little bastard isn’t he?” Another said--“He really is a bastard, you know.” He said his name was Neil. “Do you have a Mom and a Pop?” and he slapped my face. It was a gentle reprimand. “You know I don’t.” He turned into a glowing black-skinned boy with a three-foot-wide afro. His eyes were lit like neon. “No, I really didn’t know,” I said. “I would not have been so cruel to ask you if I had known.” #13, day 04.

Dreams: Of mystical elements. Children with neon eyes and psychic abilities. Being able to pluck a bird out of the sky. Flying cats and a benevolent woman. Other worldly images.  Of bright colors, particularly reds and blues. #13 (her list of recurring dream themes).

In a homeopathic proving, dreams are probably the best vehicle from which we can extract unadulterated, uncompensated information. Since most of us find our vivid dreams fascinating, we usually report them without fear of judgement. This makes dreams particularly useful clinically, as well, even though in homeopathy, we tend not to interpret them psychologically.

SIGNATURES The signature aspect of substances/remedies is usually reported in the same uncompensated way that dreams are. Signature is such an interesting issue, as well as a controversial one in homeopathy. Putting all arguments aside, in a proving, signature symptoms or feelings initially seem to serve as confirmatory evidence that signature cannot be denied, while they also seem to deepen our understanding of similitude in some immaterial way. We found the signature information that developed in the sea horse proving to be very intriguing, even though we understand that this type of information is not used by all homeopaths. But in the spirit of intrigue, we will list some of the more interesting comments by the provers:

The sound in my ears gets muffled. It’s like the feeling in your ears and head when you go under water, muffled and isolating. #1, day 09.

I felt like I was under water. #1 (This comment was made off and on throughout the proving.)

I realize I have been craving high-protein food--fish. Also craving the ocean and salt air. #1, day 08.

I think it’s goldfish, a fish in a bowl. I realize that it’s my relationship to my window. When it’s cool outside and I shut the window, I hate it. The glass is separating me from … I can’t define it. I keep thinking of a feeling I had at the film festival about a movie called,  Help, I’m a Fish!, about kids who have a potion to turn themselves into fish. During that film, I felt uncomfortable with my breathing. Since the remedy, I’m more aware of how shallow my breathing has been. It’s almost like--how do you breathe, what is the mechanism?” And then the window washer showed up, washed my windows, and asked me out on a date! (note: this rx was made from a captured sea horse recently living in a glass tank!) #1, day 15.

When I was told the remedy, I felt of course, not surprised, explains why I have been desperately wanting to go and visit the seahorse at the project nearby. Really wanted to see it before I went away. #1, day 21.

Liquification in ears, a wave sensation like bubbling. Fullness, feeling like underwater in r. ear. #9, day 05.

Bought a raffle ticket to swim with dolphins in Hawaii. I’m guessing it must be an ocean rx, a sea creature. I’m wearing blue and green today. #10, day 02.

With my attraction to fruit and flowers and the color red, I am beginning to feel like my dragonfly prediction was wrong and this remedy is hummingbird. #13, day 06.

As I turned my head, I noticed I did not have peripheral vision, seeing only what was in front of my face. Again a turning of my head in an abrupt manner, which felt as if I was taking quick “snapshot” pictures of what was in front of me. (Very much like the actual head movements of a sea horse.) #14, day 00.

Sensation as if water in ears. #17, day 00.

Feelings of synchronicity always seem to come up during provings, although there’s not much one can do with this idea except find it interesting. This proving had its share of synchronicity. For example,  Sonam’s friends in Florida who said that in twenty years of fishing they had never encountered a seahorse. The weekend after the proving started, they found their first seahorse ever in their net. Five months after the proving ended, during our first long extraction work day, an email happened to arrive from a prover about a sea horse web site. While this idea of synchronicity was mentioned by various provers, prover #1 shared some of her feelings on this topic, six months after the proving had ended:

I finished the proving, went for my extraction interview and was shown a tape of seahorses swimming in the ocean. I wasn’t surprised that this was the remedy I had been proving; I felt extraordinarily happy and experienced an odd sense of affinity with those seahorses. Looking back, I believe the pleasure I felt came from seeing them swimming free. During the proving, I had been plagued by a sense of isolation, as if I were trapped behind glass, looking at the world but completely separate from it.

A couple of days after the end of the proving, I flew to London. At the airport was an enormous tank of sea creatures. It was shocking. I arrived at my mother’s house to find that she had made a ceramic seahorse and hung it on her wall. The bathroom had been entirely papered in a seahorse print. My daughter arrived a few days later to meet us. I started telling her about the proving, and of my sense during this period of being underwater, in a tank, isolated from the world outside the glass, and she interrupted me: Seahorse, she said. Back at work in New York, I received a fax from the aquarium--a fact sheet on seahorses. Soon after, a page of seahorse links arrived via e-mail.

Coincidence? Synchronicity? I’m a confused skeptic.

PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS No proving could be considered complete without physical symptoms, and our provers reported many strong symptoms. The most intense symptom seemed to be a recurring, one sided, headache that recurred alone, or alternated with strong waves of nausea. These waves of nausea reminded one prover of motion sickness, and another of morning sickness. Some provers woke with a headache, and the nausea for most provers was worse after eating, and sometimes related to a pain in the pit of the stomach. There was also some heartburn, and this symptom was accentuated by the realization that prover #8 had a 99% cure of her longstanding heartburn. The stomach symptoms of this proving are oddly interesting because the sea horse actually has no stomach. Another interesting gastro-intestinal symptom that emerged was an urgent need to pass stool followed by an involuntary loss of stool (provers #8, #17).

A heavy, full head sensation alternated with a light-headedness, a sort of vertigo, again with a wave-like occurrence. Sounds were muffled and the ears felt clogged, as if they were filled with water, or as if the head was under water. There were various noises in the ears; a roaring, a wumping, a ringing, and a vibration. Sounds outside the head were muted or muffled, while sounds inside the head were intensified. One strong prover felt light and colors were muted at the same time as sound, which led her to specifically feel as though she was underwater.

There was a good amount of back pain along with heaviness in the back and neck area, and a heavy, aching, tired, feeling in the extremities. Interestingly, this may end up being an important remedy for back pain since 3 provers had major improvements with their back pain during the proving.

Sleep became light and very restless, with lots of waking at night. There was difficulty going to sleep (on the first sleep, and also after waking in the middle of the night). Many woke earlier than usual in the morning, and some reported feeling unrefreshed in the morning. Because of these sleep disturbances, and the fatigue that is mentioned below, there was lots of daytime sleepiness with a strong desire/need to nap during the day, with short sleeps ameliorating. These sleep issues appear to be significant, as some of the provers had never before experienced insomnia of any kind.

In generalities, the most intense symptom was a strong desire to go outside, and a marked amelioration from open air. Strong feelings of discomfort improved almost instantly when provers went outdoors. During the proving, many became oversensitive to noise, odors, and tastes, with a particular overreaction to salt in food. There was a great deal of fatigue, especially in the daytime, thus the need for napping. The general heavy sensation that was experienced by many, also added to the feelings of fatigue and weakness. As far as food cravings go, the most striking was the desire for fruit, particularly melons.

FINAL THOUGHTS  When a proving ends (though does it ever really end?), the master provers hope to make some sense of the remedy so that it can be used clinically in an effective way. We pondered many issues, while remembering our expectations. We had expected there to be more sexual symptoms, since sea horse is the only known animal where the male gestates and gives birth to the young, even secreting prolactin, the hormone that stimulates milk production in human females. Yet few such symptoms developed (apart from prover #18); perhaps sexual issues will become more clear after some clinical use of this remedy.. In addition, we had anticipated some differences between the provers from New York and those from California, and yet there was surprisingly little to report, besides the Californians being a little more explicit about the type of melon they were craving. Maybe it was fortunate that the proving began in the summer, so there was little difference in the climates. Perhaps it doesn’t matter, after all, where in the world provings take place. But we did notice interesting results concerning the outcome from non-homeopath provers. While preparing for this proving, we had the usual difficulty securing provers, and in this case, we were especially eager to get as many male provers as possible. This led us to go out of the typical circle of students and homeopaths, and try to draw from the general public. As a result, provers #1 and #2, were not students of homeopathy but longtime friends of Susan’s, and prover #18 was a student’s boyfriend, yet all three of them bravely agreed to embark on this unknown journey. It’s difficult to imagine this proving without their participation, as their symptoms were unusually strong and clear, and fortunately for us, free of homeopathic ideas and phrases. We would like to suggest that our homeopathic proving community might benefit from our experience and try to include more provers from the general public.

Finally, we are hoping that the new remedy Hippocampus will be helpful for many patients, including those who describe this feeling of isolation with a desire for solitude.  At this point in time, this symptom of feeling isolated, which is often mentioned by patients in homeopathic interviews, is not well represented in the repertory (which only offers cross references to other rubrics). This sensation is the strongest emotional theme of this remedy, and the most commonly used word in the proving, while it is also a major theme in our culture. For this reason, we encourage the writers of the repertories to seriously consider listing pertinent remedies under the rubric isolation, so we may better help our patients. Repertories, though useful tools, must continually update their material, which would include adding new rubrics, as well as adding new remedies to the alredy existing rubrics. We have added an asterisk* to certain proposed rubrics listed below, in order to suggest that these new rubrics be added to the repertories. We would also like to request that any clinical information resulting from the use of Hippocampus be shared with us, so that we may gain a fuller understanding and picture of this remedy.

*note: in the article, following a symptom, we classify that symptom by writing the number of the prover, followed by the day it was experienced, ie., #1, 018, means prover #1 on day 18. The first day of taking the remedy is called day 00.
RS means recurring symptom, OS means old symptom, NS means new symptom

Acknowledgements

A proving is impossible to conduct without the brave provers and industrious supervisors, to whom we offer our respect and gratitude. We are very grateful to Michael Quinn of Hahnemann Pharmacy, a longtime supporter of homeopathic provings, for making and potentizing the Hippocampus remedy. Special thanks to Elizabeth McGuy for cleverly editing the NOVA special for our extraction meeting, to John Falencki  for generously providing the space for the group meetings, to Michael Shepley for filming both group meetings in New York, and to Barbara Aria for sharing her experiences as well as helping us edit this article. We thank all of you who were involved in this proving for your contribution to homeopathy.

Susan Sonz, CCH, is the director and principal instructor of the New York Luminos School of Homeopathy. She lives and works in New York City, where she co-conducted the proving of Musca domestica, the housefly.

Robert Stewart, RSHom(NA), CCH,  has a bi-coastal, bi-hemispheric, bi-continental  practice in California, New York and Ecuador.

Sonam Kushner CCH,  has been studying and practicing homeopathy since 1993. She holds a diploma from Lou Klein's Homeopathic Master Clinician Course, and has trained with Sheila Ryan in clinical supervision for students from The School of Homeopathy, New York.