Thuja orientalis
‡ Folgendes hat anthroposofische Einschlüße ‡
Frei
nach: Roger Leitch
N.America,
north of
The form is
graceful, regular and conical, rarely exceeding 30 feet in height. It does not
possess needles as do other conifers but develops flat feathered leaves with
green scales. The end twigs have renounced their woody character and have taken
on a leafy form. These flat leaf-like forms are orientated horizontally in
comparison to Thuja orientalis whose leaves are aligned vertically, m most
other conifers, the warmth qualities are seen in the etheric oils and gums. In
the Thuja these qualities are intensified by the presence of camphor-like
etheric oils (yellow green and volatile). Apart from these oils, the plant
contains bitter substances such as tannic acid and wax resin, Thujin (an
inflammable lemon yellow substance) as well as sugars and considerable
gelatinous material. These features demonstrate an abundant vitality in
comparison to the more sclerotic materializing tendency of most other conifers.
The name Thuja
indicates its use for incense in temple sacrifices. (Thuo in Greek means
sacrifice). This would have referred probably to a related Cedar species. Legend
has it that the wood of the Tree of Life was used for the Cross of Golgotha. Various
writers refer also to Cypresses or Cedars - all relatives of Thuja. Such
legends indicate these trees as having spiritual significance. Thus it is
interesting to note its use in incense and its traditional use in graveyards. There
the Tree of Life accompanies those who have gone through the gate of death.
Traditional
Uses: An ointment prepared from the leaves was used in earlier times by the
North American Indians. Later it was used in European herbalism as an
astringent and diuretic. A decoction has been used in intermittent
fevers/rheuma/heart failure/coughs/scurvy and as an emmen-agogue. An injection
of the tincture has been said to cure intermittent warts.
Toxic doses
may produce abortion through severe gastrointestinal irritation and uterine
contractions. Flatulence and gastric distension are also caused as well as
spasms and convulsions.
Its
traditional use in homeopathy is for non-specific urethritis. This was first
discovered by Samuel Hahnemann after a theological student presented with a
thick, purulent discharge, burning urine and swelling of the male parts. Hahnemann
diagnosed venereal urethritis which was, of course, vigorously denied by the
patient. Not wishing to give offense, Hahnemann advised him to rest for 3 days,
after which time he completely recovered. The student later remembered that
shortly before the onset of symptoms he had chewed several leaves from the
aromatic Thuja tree. Symptoms helped by Thuja: fatigue/exhaustion/heavy
limbs/unwillingness to move.
We can
recognize these later symptoms anthroposophically as an inability of the astral
body to connect with the lower organism. So Thuja was also indicated by R.S.
for conditions where the digestive system was too weak to break down and
dissolve ingested food. In the 20th lecture of his first medical course, R.S.
describes how foods are broken down and dissolved, freed
from their
intrinsic properties and reduced to a mineral or "salt" state. When
this process is weak, the insufficiently dissolved food stuffs cannot be
absorbed and therefore cannot pass over the boundary of the bowel wall into the
activities building up lymph and blood. They try to adapt and "seek an
outlet in the opposite direction". One wonders whether this could be a
cause for
diarrhea
and inflammatory bowel disease.
Here Thuja
can be a remedy. Through its active life-force it activates the dissolving
process in the stomach under the control of the astral body. This in turn aids
physical digestion as well as helping to overcome the foreign etheric forces in
the food. This overcoming of foreign forces can also be seen in the use of
Thuja for uncontrolled proliferative growths such as warts, condyllomas,
papillomas or polyps.
R.S.
mentions in Fundamentals of Therapy how undigested foreign life forces in the
food may pass over into the body, stimulating protein secretion in the urine. Here
the body can be seen as trying to rid the body of foreign activity. This taking
in of foreign forces is also seen in the after effects of alcohol. Here the
process is opposite to the condition for which R.S. advised Thuja, and here
Nux-v. was indicated. From this viewpoint Thuja and Nux-v. are polar remedies.
This
sluggish digestion process regulated by Thuja and its opposite process, the
too-active uptake of metabolic products, are both regulated by the use of the
metal Silver as a remedy.
Vergleich:
Vergleich: Agrimonia + Thuja + Aurum muriaticum + Hyoscyamos.
Vergleich Spinnen und Thuja.
Siehe: Tracheobiontha + Baumgruppe
Vorwort/Suchen Zeichen/Abkürzungen Impressum