Hafnium metallicum Proving
Dynamis Copenhagen 2009
I chose Hafnium, element number 72, for the Dynamis School proving in Copenhagen because of its name: Hafnium is the Latin for Copenhagen, the home town of Niels Bohr, and the place in which he discovered this element. I knew very little about element 72, other than that the number 72 has abundant significance in mathematics, astronomy, numerology, Kabbalah and religion (see Substance Report). But I was also interested in exploring the 6th period and particularly its left side, a territory less familiar to homoeopaths. The mental aspects of the proving are very rich, or, perhaps I should say, rich and poor. The proving depicts extremes of social position and the tension between them. On one hand, a vain higher class and royalty with a focus on appearance, elegance and materialistic values, and, on the other hand, poverty, despair and low self-esteem. One proving analogy of this dichotomy is of a king in his palace contrasted with a king in exile. Perhaps the status conflict reflects the age old tension between Scandinavian mountain people and the flatlanders, issues which showed up in the proving. This theme is also reminiscent of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Red Shoes’, a rags to riches and back story, in which a poor, orphaned, shoeless girl is adopted by an upper class lady and, after getting ideas above her status (about royalty and fancy shoes), the girl is punished by God and cursed by the devil for being vain and obsessed with red shoes. She has to dance in the red shoes till she dies, but, when she asks the executioner to cut off her head, he cuts off her feet instead. Only by denouncing riches and confining herself to a Christian life in poverty and hard work is she redeemed. Andersen wrote the story ‘The Red Shoes’ in 1845, the year he moved to Copenhagen. Remarkably, red shoes (and pink crocs!) feature highly in this proving, as do plush red sofas. It is always the unexpected that makes a proving unique.
Dynamis Copenhagen 2009
I chose Hafnium, element number 72, for the Dynamis School proving in Copenhagen because of its name: Hafnium is the Latin for Copenhagen, the home town of Niels Bohr, and the place in which he discovered this element. I knew very little about element 72, other than that the number 72 has abundant significance in mathematics, astronomy, numerology, Kabbalah and religion (see Substance Report). But I was also interested in exploring the 6th period and particularly its left side, a territory less familiar to homoeopaths. The mental aspects of the proving are very rich, or, perhaps I should say, rich and poor. The proving depicts extremes of social position and the tension between them. On one hand, a vain higher class and royalty with a focus on appearance, elegance and materialistic values, and, on the other hand, poverty, despair and low self-esteem. One proving analogy of this dichotomy is of a king in his palace contrasted with a king in exile. Perhaps the status conflict reflects the age old tension between Scandinavian mountain people and the flatlanders, issues which showed up in the proving. This theme is also reminiscent of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Red Shoes’, a rags to riches and back story, in which a poor, orphaned, shoeless girl is adopted by an upper class lady and, after getting ideas above her status (about royalty and fancy shoes), the girl is punished by God and cursed by the devil for being vain and obsessed with red shoes. She has to dance in the red shoes till she dies, but, when she asks the executioner to cut off her head, he cuts off her feet instead. Only by denouncing riches and confining herself to a Christian life in poverty and hard work is she redeemed. Andersen wrote the story ‘The Red Shoes’ in 1845, the year he moved to Copenhagen. Remarkably, red shoes (and pink crocs!) feature highly in this proving, as do plush red sofas. It is always the unexpected that makes a proving unique.
Dynamis Copenhagen 2009
I chose Hafnium, element number 72, for the Dynamis School proving in Copenhagen because of its name: Hafnium is the Latin for Copenhagen, the home town of Niels Bohr, and the place in which he discovered this element. I knew very little about element 72, other than that the number 72 has abundant significance in mathematics, astronomy, numerology, Kabbalah and religion (see Substance Report). But I was also interested in exploring the 6th period and particularly its left side, a territory less familiar to homoeopaths. The mental aspects of the proving are very rich, or, perhaps I should say, rich and poor. The proving depicts extremes of social position and the tension between them. On one hand, a vain higher class and royalty with a focus on appearance, elegance and materialistic values, and, on the other hand, poverty, despair and low self-esteem. One proving analogy of this dichotomy is of a king in his palace contrasted with a king in exile. Perhaps the status conflict reflects the age old tension between Scandinavian mountain people and the flatlanders, issues which showed up in the proving. This theme is also reminiscent of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Red Shoes’, a rags to riches and back story, in which a poor, orphaned, shoeless girl is adopted by an upper class lady and, after getting ideas above her status (about royalty and fancy shoes), the girl is punished by God and cursed by the devil for being vain and obsessed with red shoes. She has to dance in the red shoes till she dies, but, when she asks the executioner to cut off her head, he cuts off her feet instead. Only by denouncing riches and confining herself to a Christian life in poverty and hard work is she redeemed. Andersen wrote the story ‘The Red Shoes’ in 1845, the year he moved to Copenhagen. Remarkably, red shoes (and pink crocs!) feature highly in this proving, as do plush red sofas. It is always the unexpected that makes a proving unique.
The one successful case I have had so far is that of a young man who was obsessed with royalty, aristocracy and social status, while suffering from very low self-esteem. He had previously done reasonably well on Germanium, but Hafnium really transformed him. As social position is a major issue in Hafnium, I believe it to be complementary to Veratrum, another remedy in which status is a central theme. The deaf-mute aspects are also shared between these two remedies. The Kabbalah states that Jacob’s Ladder has 72 rungs, 72 levels between heaven and hell. Interestingly I have understood Jacob’s Ladder to be a feature in Veratrum and confirmed this in several cases. Other aspects of the Hafnium duality include a weak sense of identity, laziness, failure and being a victim, as opposed to high activity, industriousness and self-assurance, and a power struggle between the sexes. This is an extensive and multifaceted proving, so dive in and explore, and may element 72 serve us well.
Jeremy Sherr 2017
