Hippocampus kuda, a proving of sea horse
written by Susan Sonz, CCH
with Robert Stewart, CCH,  and Sonam Kushner, CCH
edited by Barbara Aria 

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 Hippo campus 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. Contact Susan at  faculty@nyhomeopathy.com.

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

Contact Robert at stewartrobt@aol.com.

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.

Contact Sonam at (646)486-1937.

NEXT: Rubrics

telephone: (New York City) 212-925-4623
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