Didelphis Virginiana: a proving of Virginia Opossum
by The New York School of Homeopathy, Susan Sonz, CCH, Director
Conducted and written by Susan Sonz, CCH, and Mary-Lynn Culbert,
with help from Patricia Monahan

THE PROVING

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

On June 30^th, 2008, fifteen brave provers were introduced to their supervisors at the NEW YORK SCHOOL OF HOMEOPATHY’S Hahnemannian proving of Didelphis Virginiana, the Virginia Opossum.  It was decided that Day Zero, the day for taking the first dose of the remedy, would be September 2nd.  Each prover met with his/her supervisor beforehand for an initial case taking and was instructed to speak with their supervisor on September 2nd before and after taking each dose of 30c.  Provers were instructed to take no more than three doses a day for two days, however, if there was any reaction at all tothe remedy, the provers were told not to repeat further doses.

Four provers needed only one dose in order to experience strong, recordable symptoms.  Two provers took a second dose, two provers needed a third dose, and two provers took four doses.  Five provers (four of them male) took all six doses with no effect.  As usual, the master provers were concerned that there would either be no significant symptoms or too many symptoms, meaning that some provers would get quite sick.  The fact is that with most provings, the truth lies somewhere in between.  Three provers had very uncomfortable, strong symptoms, while four provers actually felt improvement in their overall states.  Two of the Master Provers and four supervisors experienced strong emotional and signature symptoms.

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 provers and supervisors helped to expand our materia medica, but everyone involved ends up in a healthier state as a result.  The kind of introspection that provers are required to engage in during a proving is mind-expanding.  Prospective provers, rather than feel as if they are about to become guinea pigs, should consider themselves more like Alice in Wonderland and feel confident that whether or not they suffer from temporary symptoms, the proving 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 Hahnemannian provings.

SIGNATURE SYMPTOMS / REPORTS

In a proving, signature symptoms are fascinating.  They seem especially significant now considering Rajan Sankaran’s work with the Sensation System of homeopathy.  The signature symptoms of homeopathic remedies are reported by provers in an uncompensated manner, and they serve as confirmatory evidence that our understanding of the remedy begins with the substance itself.  These signature symptoms, which reflect the nature of the substance, deepen our understanding of similitude.  These are some of the more significant substance/source related reports, with notations reproduced from the Natural History section.

Dream - While I'm in the shower this morning, I remember something about a dream in which I was talking about the importance of washing one's feet!  Prover #3, Day 01

Note: Opossum prefer low,damp woodlands near permanent bodies of water such as lakes, ponds, streams or rivers.  They are known to be strong swimmers…As they roam their territory, they tend to follow water courses…Opossum wash their faces with their front paws like a cat does.  They also use their hind “thumb” as a handy grooming aid.

Dreamed about a bunch of houseflies on a white background, then I woke up in a sweat and felt very hot.Dreamed of a bunch of houseflies buzzing around in the corner of my kitchen.  I felt hot again and woke up.  Prover #10, Day 01

7:30 am - I put my son on the bus for school and noticed that my dogwood tree was buzzing loudly.  I took a closer look and the tree’s leaves were covered by houseflies!  Never saw anything like it before – there were at least 100 flies on the tree!  Prover #10, Day 02

9:30 am - I went to put something into my car and there are a bunch of flies in the car – maybe 5 flies.  Prover #10, Day 02 

7:00 pm - I was in Manhattan having dinner with a bunch of people and we order a bottle of wine.  When the wine glasses are brought out, mine had a dead fly in it.  The waiter took it away and brought me a clean glass.  Prover #10, Day 06

I’m experiencing intermittent wafting of the odor of a dead animal.  It’s a very distinct odor of either a dead animal or the smelly juice that drips from a garbage truck.  Prover #10, Day 02

Note: Opossum seem to prefer decomposing fruit or meat to fresh food.Carrion with maggots is a year-round treat and more opossum are trapped by using decomposed bait than fresh.  Road kill makes up a favorite part of their diet.

Dream - My mother’s freezer was really dirty with old food and spilled chocolate ice cream, so I cleaned it. Unusual.  Prover #10, Day 01

9:30 am -12:30 pm.  It was my first day volunteering to do work at an organic co-op that I recently joined.  My job was to sort through the fruit, removing the molded, rancid pieces for the compost pile.  Being a newbie at the co-op, they also gave me a really dirty refrigerator to clean.  Remember my dream about the dirty refrigerator?   Prover #10, Day 15

Note: They have earned the nickname of “nature’s sanitation engineers” because they keep urban environments free of unwanted pests and dead animals.

It’s toward the end of the proving and I’m realizing that I’ve been eating a lot more fruit than usual. I usually eat raw vegetables, but since taking the remedy, I’ve been buying extra amounts of fruit and eating it daily: pineapple, papaya, bananas, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, apples.  Prover #10, Day 11

Note:Opossum are omnivorous and eat anything that’s available. They eat grains, fruits and nuts in the fall. They are especially fond of persimmons and can often be found perched in a persimmon tree enjoying their favorite fruit.

Dream: There was a raccoon under my son's sheets. He was asleep. The raccoon slithered out and it had the face of a possum!  Prover # 14, Day 22

Note: This dream was reported to the supervisor prior to the extraction meeting, before the prover knew the source of the remedy.It’s significant in that raccoons and opossum not only share the same habitat, but have been known to share dens during the cold of winter.

Master Prover, Susan Sonz, was at a friend’s home in Sag Harbor on Day 1 of the proving.  That night, a large female opossum came to the back door and stayed for over an hour.  Susan’s friend had never seen an opossum before, although she has lived in that area for the past ten years.

MAJOR THEMES

Several strong themes emerged at the extraction meeting on September 28, 2008.  Prover #1, who was the first to report, began by describing a panic attack that had occurred the day before at a child’s birthday party.  Her description reminded the master provers of the coma-like state (“playing possum”) of a terrified opossum.

There were many reports of hypersensitivity to smells and sounds with conflicting reports of detached feelings.

Many provers complained of symptoms that involved mind confusion, memory problems, and spaciness. Water was discussed; there were dreams of water and floods, sensations of clogged ears, and actual plumbing problems.

And, to be expected, symptoms around the themes of children and protection were discussed. In fact, two women who had stopped nursing months before, started lactating again spontaneously.
 

Here are the major themes and words of the provers:

1. OUT OF CONTROL vs. CALM (the opossum is often described as placid).

The first five comments were reported byProver #1 at the extraction meeting:

I walk into some over-stimulating situation (auditory or visual or whatever) and the first thing that happens is I notice I don’t know where to look - can’tkeep my eyes fixed in any one place for any particular time.

I feel a heat rush - particularly on my forehead and face; like a hot flush; face feels like it’s burning, my hands feel numb, I have a tight squeezing sensation around my ribcage; can’t get a breath; I feel like my heart is racing andpounding; feel giddy and ridiculous.

Depending on the situation, maybe embarrassed - feel like I’m not handling myself well; feel like I’m babbling and, I’m not particularly shy so I don’t normally feel embarrassed by acting like a jackass - felt dumb; laughing; making a fool ofmyself; like I can’t handle things.

At a playground with my kids - they were doing construction and there were a billion kids around.  I couldn’t keep track of my kids; couldn’t see them.  I gotta get out of here - just can’t do it.  Went home and the whole way home I was just giggling to myself - felt a rush.  There arecircumstances where I really just can’t function.

I couldn’t write - had a really hard time and I’m someone who writes a lot.  I generally spend a couple of hours a day writing.  It’s what I do.  I hadn’t been able to - couldn’t answer my mom’s email.  Prover #1, Extraction Meeting

[6min. after Rx] I feel like the remedy is “hitting” me now.  I feel shaky and a little out of control.  It feels difficult to write.  Prover#1, Day 00

[2min. later]  I feel myself sitting really still.  Eyes looking around calmly, emotionlessly.  Feel very still.  Legs feel still with no desire to move.  Not sleepy or lethargic, just still.  Prover #1, Day00

My husband and son tell me that I seemed happier and more easy going the past two days.  My son says I seemed like I was taking "happy pills" on Friday. [Day 00] I realize I was not bothered by little things that usually annoy me, like messiness in my house (e.g., piles of newspapers everywhere).  This morning I'm more irritable about messiness again. Prover #3, Day 02

I think my mood is still a little calmer than usual for me.  Annoying little things like waiting in line or waiting for the very slow elevator in my office building aren't bothering me quite so much.  I'm letting the annoyance kind of float away - or maybe it's me who's floating through my life a little bit more than usual.  My mood is cheerier and I like being this way.  Prover #3,Day 03

I continue to be quite easy going, letting things just float away from me - I like this!  Very positive and complimentary toward my husband - which I'm sure he likes!  Prover #3, Day 04

I'm more irritable today!  The calm of the last week seems to be fading, which is unfortunate because I liked being less irritable.  Twice today I dropped things, which is unusual for me (especially twice in one day - a pile of magazines off my desk and a basket of cotton balls in the bathroom that went everywhere) and I got annoyed and exclaimed loudly. Prover #3, Day 07

In the few days right before I took the remedy I was feeling anxious about participating in the proving, after all.  I was worried about the possibility of experiencing some bizarre symptoms that might interfere with my ability to function or work.  But as soon as I took the remedy the anxiety disappeared and didn't return.  In fact, if anything, I have experienced an unusual sense of calmness, not just about the proving, but in general!  I have been so calm and positive, so much less irritable about little things, so much less fluctuating in my emotional state than usual, that not only have I been aware of this, but others around me have commented on it.  This has been the most pleasant surprise of the proving for me!  Prover #3, Journal Summary 

Mentally I just felt stable all through this proving.  I felt more positive.  If I could choose if it was good or bad I would say good.  A good feeling.  Positive all the way through. Prover #6, Extraction Meeting

I have not been getting angry when people (actually friends) tease me.  I otherwise would get irritated and defensive.  But instead I was calm.  I didn’t even feel like retaliating.  It did not bother me in the slightest bit.  All I did was giggle. Prover #8, Day 01

I feel at ease with myself, calm.  I feel I am now in sync with everybody.  Even when I asked my cousin if she sees a change in me, she said, “You look calm.”  Normally I am hyper-active, always in a hurry.  It’s not that I am sitting in one place, I do things, I work but I am taking things easy.  Prover #8, Day 06

2. HYPER-SENSITIVITY vs. DETACHED

I normally have a good sense of smell but smells have been especially strong to me.  Cleaning fluids, food, landfill, smoke on someone, spaghetti or redsauce.Prover #2, Day 01

Someone walked by who had just showered and the smell was overwhelmingly like cleaningfluid (ammonia).  She said the soap in the shower smelled like that.  I felt it in my head.  Prover #2, Day 02

My sense of smell is wonky. I seem to be noticing sweet smells more than I used to.  I smelt a woman’s merlot from across a room before I realized that that’s the sweet smell I kept trying to ask my friend about in the restaurant.  I’m also more sensitive to other people’s body odor.  Prover #4, Day 02

Still noticing other people’s perfume.  It’s like they leave a trail in their wake...very odd.  At first I thought the first few people were just wearing too much perfume but I realized that not everyone I smell could be wearing that much perfume.  Prover #4,Day 02

I went to my girlfriend’s house and she’d cleaned her house a few hours prior and I could smell soap all over her and the house for the rest of the night.  She thought I was being crazy and laughed because I kept sniffing her.  Prover #4, Day 08

I went to a liquor store with a friend and there was some sweet smell in the air that kept distracting me.  He noticed it but it wasn’t distracting to him.  Prover #4, Day 09

Took remedy.  Left house 10:25 am and during my drive, I realized I was in a daze, that I focused on a lot of things around me, like trees and houses, like I’ve never seen them before.  Spent rest of the day in a daze – hyper-sensitive eyes and ears.  Sound was much louder than usual and really annoying.  A headache is forming because of the sensitive eyes.  Prover #7, Day 00

Woke up in the same daze.  But also, in addition to hyper-sensitive eyes and ears, I was really goofy today.  I was a silly bitch and still am. [male prover].  Although I seem to have expended my energy.  My middle back is sensitive to touch around my spine.  My lower back is starting to get a little sore.  Prover#7, Day 01

I wasn’t hot anymore - it was just a hot day.  I was less irritable but still as indifferent as ever.  The extreme sensitivity is wearing off.  I’m still dazed.  It’s like my brain and body are strangers to each other.  Prover#7, Day 05

Kinda crazy - the first day within a half hour my eyes and my ears went sharp.  I’m driving to school and I’m looking at trees, focusing on trees.  I kept on looking at weird things - like H.D. T.V. in my eyes.  The bad part was my ears would just annoy me - people talking - I just wanted to shut them off and walk away.  Overhead speakers were like white noise - destroyed my concentration and I had to walk away.  Telephone conversations were annoying - everything was annoying to me.  I was like a rabid dog - very irritable.  I felt detached - like my soul was up here.  Prover #7, Extraction Meeting

12:00 pm - The dog’s smell is repulsing me.  I don’t want to touch the dog.  Usually I let the dog climb all over me.  1:00 pm:  My daughter took out nail polish and the smell was very strong.  I asked her to put it away and she did.  But later when I opened the same closet for something else, the nail polish box fell out and crashed to the floor, glass breaking open and smelly nail polish splattered all over my legs and feet and the floor.  Prover #10, Day 01

6:00 pm - Smelled dog shit around me, intermittently.  I thought it was in the house because we have a dog, but I couldn’t find anything and no one else smelled it.  I went to the supermarket and I smelled it there too.  Prover #10, Day 01

8:00 pm - I still smelled dog shit so I thought it might be me.  I asked my husband and my daughter to smell my clothes and my body and they did but didn’t smell anything.  I continued to smell it.  I checked my shoes and my clothes and they were o.k.  One minute I smell it then without moving it’s gone and then I smell it again.  I decided to take a nap and the smell went away.  Prover #10, Day 01

Horrible depression- detached with no way of getting backto myself.  Prover #10, ExtractingMeeting

I did have a couple of smell overload moments again today.  Two women with crazy hairdos in front of us at the Mets game - overwhelming smell of hairspray and perfume.  Also two women on the bus to the U.S. Open earlier in the day – older women, lots of perfume.  Yuck.  Prover #13, Day 05
 

3. MIND CONFUSION

Long talk with Supervisor.  Will try to write more - my writing, any writing.  Can’t bring myself to address packages, to email even.  Feels like it’s too hard, too much effort.  In retrospect, even my writing here is awful.  Misspelling, miswriting letters.  Cannot get a thought going.  I feel sluggish, stupid.  It feels like waking up in the middle of the night and I have not had enough sleep.  Prover #1, Day07

Skipping letters and words and writing wrong words and terrible handwriting.  This used to happen before when I was struggling with my A.D.D.  The writing in the journal is very familiar to my previous A.D.D. stuff.  I am really scattered and do not feel like I have a grasp on things at all.  My mind moves faster than my hand can write and it is very frustrating for me.  Yesterday I realized that this was familiar like all of my old A.D.D. stuff.  I was able to write more now that I am more conscious of what is going on and managing my issues behaviorally like before when I started to manage my A.D.D.  I then was able to send longer emails to friends and I had been avoiding that before.  Prover #1, Day 08

Also,my A.D.D. symptoms continue to worsen - not the actual concentration, (in class I knit as a way to burn off those extra distractions and that still works for me, and I was able to pay attention in class) but the feelings of being a little lost, a little like I'm looking off in all directions at once, and a little speedy.  I seem to not be able to stop myself from running off at the mouth, either (the "filter" is related to this in my mind).  Prover #1,Day 12

My memory is going away, I can’t concentrate on more than one thing at a time, normally I can deal with everything, but my body and brain are not letting me do more than one thing at a time, then I feel either frustration or just letting go and feeling to myself that I’ll just work on one thing and let go of the other thing for now.  Prover #2, Day09

3:45pm - More sxs are coming on - is it the rx?  Earlier I thought I'm not feeling that much, but now I am - I keep starting to do things and walking out of the room without doing them, like opening a drawer to get something and not getting it - or going into the bathroom to brush my teeth and leaving without brushing them - and then realizing and going back to do them.  Prover #3, Day 00I

I space out and forget about a meeting at work today, extremely unusual sx forme.  I am reminded of the meeting when the person with whom I am supposed to meet calls me to ask if we could postpone the meeting, which is fine with me since I don't even remember scheduling it.  She says we scheduled it, but since I don't remember, I'm not sure if we actually did or she just thinks we did.  Prover #3, Day 05

I feel spacey this afternoon, like my head is in a fog.  It's not that I'm unable to concentrate, but I feel this spaciness kind of swirling around my head.  This is unusual for me as I'm usually quite grounded.  Now I feel a little bit like I'm floating through my day.  It's making me feel very sleepy again.  Prover #3,Day 06

My sense of direction got vaguer than it usually is (and it's terrible to begin with) and I was spaced out a lot.  I felt like I was tripped out on drugs sometimes because I couldn't focus on anything and the room or whatever it was I happened to be looking at would seem like it was slowly changing its' dimensions.  Prover #4, Journal Summary

Dream - Fell asleep on the couch (this isnormal for me as I usually take a quick nap twice a day at around 3 pm and 8 pm daily).It was as if there was an earthquake or a wave under the sidewalk that I wasstanding on.Unusual.  Prover #10, Day 00

Dream - I got on an elevator and instead of going up to the floorthat I needed, it kept flipping upside down and wouldn’t go to the floor that I needed.It wasn’t flipping quickly, itwas a slow, gradual alteration of the floor.I felt like my sense of reality was flipping.Unusual.  Prover #10, Day 01
 

4. CHILDREN / PROTECTION / LACTATION/ FERTILITY

Note: Prover #1 began lactating againafter having weaned her son some time ago.  Prover #6 did too.  Prover #6’s daughter had recently begun to cling to her back and hang from her neck. The little girl was doing this during the extraction meeting. Prover #1 had gone back to using a “snuggly” baby carrier to carry her 18 month old son - she failed to ever mention this until the extraction meeting, but had reportedback trouble, most likely as a result of the snuggly.

Prover #1: ‘I can’t do this anymore (use the stroller ). I’m getting out the baby carrier that I used when he was a baby and leaving the stroller at home.’ So I started carrying him in a baby carrier which is right here [she indicates her chest], like in a little pouch, to pick her [daughter] up at school every day and the rest of the time I’m using a stroller. Then I thought, ‘The stroller is a pain! I’m just going to carry him.’ So, for the past month, I haven’t even touched the stroller. I’ve just been carrying him – either on my back or here [indicates her chest]. Then about two days ago I pulled out the stroller and I thought, ‘Why have I been carrying him when I have this stroller?’ And I went right back to thestroller just like that. Prover #1,Extraction Meeting

I am passing out while my kids are jumping on top of me.  I have not been this exhausted since I was five weeks pregnant.  I cannot keep my eyes open - eyes feel very heavy and tired.  Prover #1, Day 07

My son smells very sweaty to me. I bathe him and I know he should smell like his mild shampoo (a delicate calendula smell) but he still smells like sweat, even right out of the bath.  I'm not sure what that's about, but it's a bit bothersome.  Prover #1, Day 12

Dream - I'm in a class and I tell something about Leonardo Da Vinci having taughtabout breast feeding!  As I say this in the dream I think it's odd, but I know I read it somewhere - the teacher asks where and I remember it was in the alumni magazine he had given us, so I show him.  Prover #3, Day 01

Dream - My daughter and I are arriving at a reunion of our Mother/Daughter ReadingGroup, lots of confusion about where everyone is and where to put the food we're each bringing (note that food really was a big part of our reading group).  I look down at the platter I'm carrying and realize it is tuna salad and I'm surprised because I don't like tuna fish that much.  Prover #3, Day 06

Dream- I'm sitting on the toilet and realize I'm bleeding, like a period, and I'm horrified because I stopped getting my period several years ago, so I know this can't be a good thing.  Prover #3, Day 06 

Dream- I hear noise in my hallway and open the door to find my former neighbors, a little boy Henry and his mom Laura, on the floor on their stomachs outside my door.  They're giggling and having fun.  When Laura notices me she says it's Henry's birthday and they're pretending to swim for fun.  Henry tells me he's three.  Prover #3,Day 07

Dream- I dreamt about a crazy woman who had tons of children confined to a largeyard in her house.  The house was gated and she refused to let anyone leave when we (I was the only adult) asked.  The children were afraid of her and plotted to escape...can't remember if they did.  The crazy woman had a crush on me.  Prover #4, Day 03

Dream- Swimming hole with 2 kids – cute girl (don’t know them) and otheradults.  Pretty day.  We are all swimming.  Cleaning products – odd.  A woman spraying pink cleaning stuff along shoreline.  Told her to stop (strong smell, bad for water).  Told her o.k. to spray about 15 feet away on a small paved area.  Odd combo of outdoors and cleaning stuff (mops, sprays, etc.).  Prover #13, Day 04

Dream- Running around trying to find a lost child (not mine).  Vague memory of her being blond and young.  Prover #13, Day 04 

On days 17 – 24 I had dreams about kids; not mykids ‘cause I don’t have any but other people’s kids – very unusual for me, notsomething I normally dream about. Dreams about my boyfriend’s kids, a random dream that I had a kid attached to me and a dream about my nieces and the thing that was significant about that one was that I was babysitting two of them; I was holding one and one fell down two flights of stairs but I wasn’t panicked. When she fell I said, ‘Don’t worry, I have Arnica in my black bag.’ When I went to get it, the tube was wet.  Prover #14, Extraction Meeting

5. WATER (and sx FULLNESS OF EARS)

Took another dose, 1:00 pm.  My head feels full again.  Yelled at the driver.  My voice sounded like an echo or as if it was coming far away, almost under water.  Prover #2, Day 00

1:00 pm - My head feels full, especially on the left side.  Prover #2, Day 06

Within a few minutes of taking the rx my ears (both sides) feel stopped up, clogged, like someone's fingers are in my ears; a little bit of a tickle, like I'm underwater or on an airplane.  It goes away, but comes back an hour later at 9 am.  Prover #3, Day 00

10:00 am - My ears feel clogged again, with that "I'm under water" feeling, and my jaw is tight.  The under water feeling makes me wonder if this rx is a sea rx, especially because this clogged ears feeling has been so persistent throughout the proving.  Prover #3, Day 00

12 noon - My ears feel more clogged and I feel pressure both from inside my ears to the outside and from the outside to inside.It's like the pressure is pushing out and in at the same time.Both ears equally again.I try yawning and my ears pop a little bit.But my ears are really annoying me now.It reminds me of the feeling one gets on an airplane sometimes.But the funny thing is that when I flew for almost nine hours a week ago, I didn't have clogged ears!And I don't usually have a problem with my ears when I fly.  Prover #3, Day 03

Dream - At Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, standing around water with a group of people, about to participate in some kind of "new age" ritual.  Good feeling.  Another water dream, which is interesting since it is not in a place that is necessarily associated with water.  Prover #3, Day 09

Dream - Visiting people I knew when my daughter was in grade school; their daughter was my daughter's friend. The toilet overflows and I have to find the plunger to take care of it.Weird, but another dream about water!Prover #3, day 12

I had brief recurrences of the clogged ears that I experienced during the proving as being quite annoying (but not painful).They seemed to recur with some periodicity for awhile, like weekly, or every two weeks, and just when I thought it wouldn't happen again, it did. I can't remember now for how long, but it seemed like it was months, though it got less frequent. I guess it just finally stopped happening so I stopped thinking about it. Prover #3, Email to Master Prover, March 14, 2010

The other big theme for me has been WATER. I got thirsty immediately after taking the remedy. I had clogged ears, with pressure, that made me feel as though I was under water. I felt like I was being pushed down, like being pushed under water. I had dreams about water. I even had dreams about toilets! I had a dream about my neighbors pretending to swim, even when there was no water. even when I wasn't specifically talking about water. symptom I had was that my eyes were very dry. Related to water during the proving has been "fish," especially as a food. I had a dream about tuna fish. I craved sushi one day, though I had very few food cravings during the proving.  In fact, food, which is usually significant to me (enjoying cooking and eating), seemed to be fairly insignificant during the proving. Prover #3, Journal Summary

Dream - I dreamt that I was in a house and my friend was smoking a cigarette (she doesn't smoke).  There was also a toilet with feces in it that wouldn't flush.  The toilet was weirdly shaped, kind of like those sinks that are 2 sinks in one.  I was disgusted by it.  Prover #4, Day 05

Two master provers revealed water dreams at the extraction meeting:

Dream – I’m in my childhood home during a flood.  I’m looking down from my bedroom window and see my neighbor’s house underwater.  Everyone presumes the much-hated neighbors are drowned.  I feel a bit guilty for having done nothing to save them.  In spite of being surrounded by the flood waters, I feel no sense of danger; just a calm, matter-of-fact attitude.  The scene changes: the water has receded and there are the neighbors very much alive and sitting on their front porch.  Everyone is surprised.  They look like Burl Ives and family - very folksy and down-homey, a real hillbilly family.  Master Prover #1, Day 14

Dream – My husband and I are in charge of taking care of a large, old house.  We set about cleaning and tidying.  There are no proper cleaning supplies so we are using odd tools and improvising.  In the middle of the main, interior living room we find a huge, in-ground swimming pool.  It’s very, very deep but has no water in it; very dirty but not gross – just needs a good clean.  I start scrubbing using this odd kind of squeegee thing on a long wooden handle.  I ask my husband over and over again for a mop and he says he doesn’t have one, even though he’s using one.  I begin to scrub the sides of the pool.  Suds start to appear and I’m pleasantly surprised by this as I didn’t have any soap.  Then I become worried that the water will now be polluted by the soap.  Suddenly there is water filling up the pool from a jet high up on one side.  The soap suds vanish, I feel happy and satisfied that the pool is going to be fine.  Master Prover #2, Day 13

6. BLOOD / MUTILATION / BODY PARTS

Dream - I was a child and I was trying to explain that another child (maybe my own daughter) had been attacked by a big, hairy human beast.  Eventually I called him Bigfoot to try to explain.  I was frantically trying to tell people she was down in a pit under rocks and that Bigfoot had torn her limb from limb.  Somehow it wasn’t about her being dead.  I get the impression she wasn’t killed???  But it was about the fact that she was mauled, torn apart, especially that her arms were torn off.  As I followed this tall man into the woods explaining, I realized this was the place where she was attacked and that the man I was talking to was the attacker and he was leading me in to attack me too. The man was so much taller that I could not see his face.  Once we are at the ravine I can see his face and I realized he was the beast.  I thought he was human when I was talking to him, but then I realized he was the beast.  Prover #1, Day 01

Dream - I was in the hotel bar…I leave and go to my room and there is a midget in the elevator and he tells me that management called to escort me to my room.  He starts kissing me and I put my hand in the elevator door and it hurts.  I start screaming and crying because my fingers are being ripped off and it hurts - my fingers are being torn off.  Prover #1, Day 12.

Dream - I'm sitting on the toilet and realize I'm bleeding, like a period, and I'm horrified because I stopped getting my period several years ago, so I know this can't be a good thing.  Prover #3, Day 06

Dream - My daughter chopped my son’s head off and killed him.  I imagined the blood and the body and I became upset.  In the dream I told my husband, and he checked Kyle and said that he was fine.  Prover #10, Day 01

Dream - Two people slaughtering a deer on their kitchen table (man and woman).  I am observing ½ of deer missing.  Sudden movement of deer – deer still alive?  How best to kill it humanely?  “Can’t possibly be alive”, I think.  Not very gory or bloody – looks like meat in the grocery store except for the perception of the animal being alive.  Ugh.  Prover #13, Day 13
 

A Summary of Major Physical Symptoms

Head symptoms as well as a hyperacuity of the senses seemed to predominate in the physical symptoms.  In particular, provers complained of a feeling of fullness in the head, ears and frontal sinuses.  Several said it was as if they were submerged under water.  In one prover (3) the sensation of fullness in her ears persisted strongly, at first, and then intermittently for several weeks after the proving was felt to be over and done with.

Over half the provers (8) complained of a dull, constant headache that seemed to settle in their foreheads.  For a number of provers this symptom came on after only one or two doses of the remedy and persisted throughout the course of the entire proving.  Three provers also experienced redness and flushing of the face.

The sensation of fullness wasn’t limited to the head.   Three female provers experienced in feeling of fullness in their breasts and two of them actually began lactating again.  Two other female provers experienced pain in or near their breasts.  This is of particular interest given that our subject animal was a lactating female.  Also, the chest/mammae symptoms may reflect the special significance of nursing in the lifecycle of marsupials: born into the world in an almost embryonic state, only those babies that can find and latch onto a nipple can complete their development and survive.

Vision and hearing was heightened for three of the provers, but a heightening of the sense of smell (for odors both real and imaginary) seemed to predominate with five provers reporting strong and persistent symptoms in this area.  Out of these five provers, three also complained about obstructed sinuses, and two of fullness in the head, yet they, too, experienced a heightened sense of smell.  Strong, strange and offensive odors (real and imaginary) seemed to dominate.

In the eyes there was a sensation of dryness but also increased lachrymation.  One prover experienced both, simultaneously.

Appetite seemed to be generally diminished but thirst increased.  Of the five provers who complained of increased thirst, four of them also said they felt averse to drinking in spite of being thirsty.

Back pain was a strong symptom for many of the provers, with seven complaining of lower and/or cervical pain.  Extremity pain in the joints, especially in the lower extremities (the knees in particular) was another big complaint.  This is interesting given the fact that the rendered fat of the opossum has traditionally been used to make salves for the treatment of arthritis.  Pain seemed to come on suddenly and disappear just as suddenly. 

Several provers complained of wandering pains with different joints being affected.

Skin eruptions and itching were common complaints.  Eruptions tended to be small and in very specific locations (eyelid, point of the elbow, one finger, etc.).  As with the pain symptoms, the skin eruptions seemed to appear suddenly and resolve suddenly and affect different areas of the body over the course of the proving.

Many of the provers complained of general lassitude, waking during sleep and waking unrefreshed in the morning.  In spite of this feeling, two of these same provers also experienced an increased desire for exercise and physical exertion.

Provers seemed to be generally hot and experienced flushes of heat and, in some cases, profuse perspiration that came on suddenly, often at night.  The sweat, itself, was described as being oil and sticky (viscid) in nature.  While it was quite hot over the period of the proving, the three provers who experienced this particular symptom described it as having nothing to do with their activity level or their environment and insisted this was unusual for them.
 

Curative Results

I was calm in situations where I normally would not be calm to the point where my family kept saying to me, ‘This isn’t like you!’ And my son, who’s an adult, said to me, ‘Did you take happy pills or something?’He knows about homeopathy and he couldn’t believe that this was one dose. And, actually, this calmness has remained with me, not quite as much, but I have been really calm, for me, during this whole time and that’s been great – I love that. Prover #3, Extraction Meeting

In the few days right before I took the remedy I was feeling anxious about participating in the proving, after all. I was worried about the possibility of experiencing some bizarre symptoms that might interfere with my ability to function or work.  In fact, if anything, I have experienced an unusual sense of calmness, not just about the proving, but in general! I have been so calm and positive, so much less irritable about little things, so much less fluctuating in my emotional state than usual, that not only have I been aware of this, but others around me have commented on it. This has been the most pleasant surprise of the proving for me! Prover #3, Journal Summary

I have Lyme disease and I've had an annoying and weird clicking in my head for about two years.  I'm assuming it's from inflammation in my cranium due to the Lyme.  The clicking only happens when I run, but it's constant when I run.  It doesn't hurt but it's quite frightening.  About a month after the remedy, I noticed that the clicking was gone and it hasn't returned.  Prover #10, email Nov. 20, 2008

I had knee pain, also Lyme related, and the severity is decreased dramatically.  It's still there, but I'm not limping from inflammation any more.  I have really bad back pain and that, unfortunately, hasn't changed. Prover #10, Email Nov. 20, 2008

I had a little brown growth, like a darkish, growing skin tag on my face under my right eye, which I have had for at least a year.  It fell off a few weeks/month after the remedy. Prover #10, Email Nov. 20, 2008.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Michael Quinn, Sonya Sakaske, and the staff at the Hahnemann Laboratory and Pharmacy for making the remedy, very generously, free of charge.  We would also like to thank Jeffrey Gatz from Bioreclamation Inc., for his patience and persistence in procuring our source animal.

This proving would not have been possible without the assistance of the staff and students at the
NEW YORK SCHOOL OF HOMEOPATHY. And, of course, we owe unending gratitude to all of the provers and supervisors who generously donated their time and their observations to help us understand the “life” of an opossum. We salute provers and supervisors everywhere for furthering our knowledge of our materia medica.

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