Belladonna – Wild Child Full of Grace

Belladonna Flower and Berry

Belladonna – Wild Child Full of Grace

Many people know the beautiful Jim Morrison song, Wild Child, Full of Grace. This is a lovely description of a child in a Belladonna state. People familiar with homeopathy will know of the picture of Belladonna in the acute state. This would be the child with a very high fever, dilated pupils, hallucinations, whose illnesses come on very suddenly and with great force. These sudden acute intense febrile illnesses occur in healthy children or people with very strong vital forces,

High fever and Belladonna are so linked together in the minds of homeopaths, that I believe we dismiss Belladonna in situations where there are no high fevers, but the child is wild, intense and, uncontrollable, and possibly experiencing inflammation in the body.

Last fall my four-year-old granddaughter was in a Belladonna state, and that inspired me to write this article. This remedy helped her recover from that state and come back into her constitutional remedy, which is Phosphorous. Here were my observations of her personality at that time.

As beautiful as can be.
As smart as can be.
As energetic as can be.
As affectionate as can be.
As charming as can be.
As entertaining as can be.
As creative and artistic as can be.
As wild as can be.
As free-spirited as can be.
As willful as can be.
As naughty and mischievous as can be.
As difficult to control as can be.
As emotionally intense as can be.
As sugar hungry as can be.
As uninhibited and shameless as can be.
As tantrumy as can be.

As you can see there is a mix here of wonderful qualities, combined with qualities that make it a big challenge to parent such a child. For example  when my granddaughter was in the Belladonna state, I took her for a walk to the playground, which was at one corner of their property, but she took off and ran into the forest with the intention of visiting the neighbor’s house a distance away. I begged her to return, but she kept on going and I couldn’t keep up with her, because I did not have the right shoes on. This is wild country, there are bobcats, and bears around, so I was frightened for her. I ran back to the house to get my son-in-law who retrieved her. This shows the naughtiness, the desire to run away, and the uncontrollability of the Belladonna child – just wild. It also explains to me the reason for stories, such as “Little Red Riding Hood.” This is to strike fear into the hearts of wild children, who fear nothing, and to try to keep them under control and safe.

When my granddaughter was in the Belladonna state, she had limitless energy. At night before sleep she liked to get naked and run back and forth from bed to bed, jump around, laughing joyfully – like a Bacchanalian. She needed to do this for maybe an hour to burn off that extra energy and tire herself out. She would not stop until she got her sister to start crying, ignited her exhausted mother’s anger, and was threatened to be put on the stairs. Night-time was torture time for her parents. Sleep did not happen till maybe 10:30 or 11 p.m. for this little one . There was no down time for mom. Instead she fell asleep with her children totally worn out. Her favorite game was hide and seek, and she was not afraid to hide so well that she had her parents in a state of panic looking for her and wondering if she had run away.

Every child will have different physical problems, but my little granddaughter had two health issues: the first was chronic diarrhea, and the second symptom was that her breath smelled like stool or feces in the morning. There are 29 remedies listed for this symptom in my material medica software, which is a word search program. I read through all 29, and there was only one remedy that matched this symptom and that was Belladonna. On the one hand, you can say, “Oh what a terrible symptom to have.” On the other hand, you can say, “What a wonderful symptom to have,” because it guided me, the grandma homeopath to Belladonna as a remedy for my granddaughter. These strange rare and peculiar symptoms are pure gold, as they help guide the homeopath to the remedy needed. My granddaughter had a stool test done at that time, which confirmed that there was inflammation in the intestinal tract.

Belladonna 200C from Boiron

Developing an Understanding of Belladonna

What I have found to be a good way to understand a remedy is to study the Generals, The Characteristics, and the Mind section in Roger Van Zandvoort’s Complete Materia Medica. I like to look here instead of in our oft used concise materia medicas, because it is comprehensive. The field of action of this remedy is a thousand times broader than anyone could have imagined or was taught. Let’s put this remedy to good use for humanity, save lives and reduce suffering.

Thank you Samuel Hahnemann, and all those who have expanded our knowledge of homeopathy over the centuries. Not even getting past the letter B in the Generals, think of how many millions of lives can be saved each year with Belladonna prepared homeopathically. Due to the fact that this article is getting too long, I am just going to give information from the Generals section, and here I am not giving all the symptoms. Roger Van Zandvoort sells a materia medica/repertory program called http://completedynamics.com/. I invite you to continue deepening your knowledge of homeopathy by studying this reference and others.

Belladonna Generals (I am only selecting some of the symptoms listed).

Abscesses, suppurations – these can be in the bones, the glands, etc..
Abuse of, poisoning – with quinine; coal, gas or carbon monoxide, iodine, lead, mercury,
mushrooms or narcotics (wow – what valuable information this is. You will not see this
written about in other materia medicas).
Airplane flying agg
Alive sensation, internally
Analgesia (the inability to feel pain)
Anemia, impaired production of red blood cells: iron deficiency, from chlorosis.
Aneurysm (an excessive localized enlargement of an artery caused by a weakening of the artery wall).
Apoplexy (unconsciousness or incapacity resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke.)
after hemorrhage
Ball sensation, internally.
Bathing, washing aggravate.
Bending, turning: agg,; sideways.
Bending, turning amel,; part affected.
Blood vessels, complaints of.
Bones, complaints of
Bright’s disease
Bubbling sensation
Burns
Cancerous affections
Caries, necrosis: bones
Catalepsy (a medical condition characterized by a trance or seizure with a loss of sensation and consciousness accompanied by rigidity of the body.
Chewing agg.
Chicken pox
Children, complaints in
Chorea (a neurological disorder characterized by jerky involuntary movements affecting especially the shoulders, hips, and face).
dancing excessive
motions: backward, with
Clutching sensation
Constriction sensation
Contractions, strictures, stenosis
Contradictory and alternating states
Convulsions, spasms (there is a very long list of symptoms with convulsions.)
one sided; paralysis of the other
loss of blood
bright light from
children in, infants, newborns,
whooping cough, from
with falling
cold after, heat after,
hemorrhage, after
mind: anger after, fear after; laughter after, excitement, emotions, delusions,
on waking,
touched when
vertigo with
uterine origin,
aopleptic origin
worms from
dentition during
clonic, alternating with tonic
apoplectic,
before epileptic paroxysm or aura (also aura absent)
before epileptic paroxysm, aura; hearing, auditory complaints
before apoplectic paroxysm aura: vision; visual disturbance
during epileptic paroxysm; mouth; froth, foam from
after epileptic paroxysm, stomach: nausea
spasm sudden
tetanic rigidity
trismus, with (spasm of the jaw muscles, causing the mouth to remain tightly closed).
wounds in the soles, finger or palm
Coordination affected, disturbed.
Cramps: joints, muscles
Crossing of limbs agg.
Cutting hair, ailments after
Cyanosis
Darkness amel.
Debauchery: agg, during, after
Dentition, ailments from
Diabetes
Discoloration
blackness of external parts, gangrene
redness: parts, affected
bright red, mucous membranes,
redness: fiery, streaks
Distension of blood vessels
Dryness of usually moist internal parts
Emaciation
children in.
Energy, lots of.
Faintness,
parturition; during
fever: during
fright after
pregnancy, during
Falling sensation
ground: to: unconsciousness, with
Falling, sensation of: out, organs, internal
Fasting, while: amel
Female diseases
Fever: agg:
after:scarlet
Fistulae
Flowing sensation: water, of
Food and drinks (there are many desires, aversion, aggravations and ameliorations listed. The two in bold are: the desire for lemonade and lemons.
Forcing, urging, sensations of
Formication, crawling
Frostbite, being frozen, ailments from
Fungous grows
Gait reeling, staggering, tottering and wavering
Glands in general, complaints of
Glistening, shinng of mucous membranes
Hair: combing agg.
Hair: cutting agg.
Hang down, letting limbs: agg. also amel.
Hemorrhage: tendency or actual
Hernia
strangulated
Hypertension
Hyperthyroidism
Immobility of affected parts
Induration
glands
Inflammation (all manner of)
Influenza: general
Injuries, blows, falls and bruises
general, tendons, concussion, dislocation, sprains
Inspiration agg.
Intoxication
Jar, stepping: agg (I took Belladonna 30C while I was in labor for my older son, based on the symptom aggravation from the jar of the bed. This was unbelievably beneficial. He was born within 45 minutes of administration of the remedy).
Jerking:
convulsions after; on falling asleep; joints, muscles, spasmodic
Knotted sensation internally
Looking: agg,: glistening or bright objects, at.
Measles: ailments after
Moon: agg.
new, waxing, full
Motion (many symptoms related to motion)
Mountain sickness, being in mountains agg.
Mucous secretions (all manner)
Numbness (many different areas)
Nursing the infant, sucklling: agg.
Nurslings, ailments in.
Obesity
Children, in.
Orgasm of blood
Pain (all manner and descriptions, every part of the body affected, also extending in various directions)
appearing suddenly, and disappearing suddenly, or gradually
Abortion in
amputation, after, phantom pain
Gnawing: bones
Paralysis: general
left; right; one-sided; apoplexy, after; in children
internal: organs; nerves; painful, painless; poliomyelitis; wandering
Plethora: plethoric constitution
Plug, wedge or nail sensation
Polypi
Psora
Puberty ailments: during
Pulsation
Pulse (many symptoms relating to)
Quivering: external
Rachitis, rickets
Reaction: violent
Remedies: oversensitive to, violent reactions to
high potencies
Restlessness
Retraction of soft parts
Riding on cars or wagons: agg.: during
Riding ships, ailments from
Rising agg. or amel.
Rolling sensation
Rubbing, massaging: amel
Scarlatina, after
Shaking: head: agg
Shining objects, ailments from
Shocks: agg
Shocks: sensations: electric, like
sleep; going to
flying into pieces
Shuddering, nervous: asleep, when falling
Smoke, smoke inhalation agg.
Softening bones
Spots, symptoms or sensations occur in
Stagnated, as if blood
Stiffness, rigidity
convulsions during
Sitting, standing and stretching (many symptoms relating to these)
Sudden manifestations
Sun agg
ailments from sunburn
sunstroke
Swashing sensation internally
Swelling (many symptoms relating to swelling)
hot: glands
inflammatory
inflammatory: glands
painful glands
red
Syphilis
Talking: agg
Tension (many symptoms relating to this)
tightness: bones
Tetanus
Tingling, prickling: external
Tobacco agg (many symptoms relating to tobacco)
Touch agg.
slight
Touch: sensation of being touched
Touching anything: agg.
Trembling (many symptoms relating to trembling).
Tuberculosis
lupus vulgaris
Tumors, benign: bloodvessles, angioma, fungus nematodes, hemangioma, arteries, artheroma, steatoma
Turning (many symptoms relating to turning)
Twitching (many symptoms relating to twitching)
Ulcers: glands, cancerous.
Uncovering: agg,: head, of
Uremia
Uric acid diathesis, lithemia
Urination: agg,; before, during, after
Vaccination, after
Varicose veins, listened, engorged, plethoric: pregnancy, during
Vertigo agg.
Vibrating sensation, humming, buzzing, whizzing
Violent effects
Vomiting: agg.
Waking: agg.
Walking (many symptoms relating to walking)
Water: running water agg., seeing or hearing
Water: sensations: dashing against inner parts, sensation of.
Wavelike sensations
Weakness (many symptoms relating to weakness)
Weaning ,ill effects of.
Weariness (many symptoms relating to weariness)
Weather (many symptoms relating to the weather).
Wet, getting: agg.: head
Worms: ailments from
Wounds
bites: dogs of
rabid
poisonous animals
snakes
gangrenous
painful
suppurating
swollen

The above is just a selection of symptoms in the Generals section of Roger Van Zandvoort ’s Complete Repertory. Thanks to Belladonna 200C, my granddaughter’s inflammatory symptoms on the physical and emotional plane improved, and she is now in excellent balance on her constitutional remedy Phosphorous 200C.

Sadly many people are closed to Homeopathy, primarily because they have not been raised with it, and they do not have the openness of mind to explore the unfamiliar. My prayer is that homeopathy becomes familiar to more and more people so that the good that homeopathy can do will be accessible to a larger portion of the population.

Wishing you health and happiness,

Deborah Olenev CCH RSHom (NA)