Calendula Officinalis (Calendula)
ক্যালেন্ডুলা অফিসিনালিস (calen)
No patient portrait here: an open, lacerated wound that Kent dresses with dilute Marigold, kept odorless, with little pus.
- Source
- Flowering herb of the marigold, Calendula officinalis
- Kingdom
- Plant
- Thermal
- Kent gives no thermal state; he calls the proving nearly worthless and speaks only of its local use on open wounds
- Main spheres
- Open surface wounds, Cuts with laceration, Severe lacerations, Suppuration and granulation
- Kent's lecture
- 234 words, about 1 min
Meet the Calendula Officinalis Patient
Kent's lecture on Calendula is short: an honest admission followed by a practical lesson. The proving, he says, is so nearly worthless that it cannot guide the internal use of the remedy, and he has got only a few things out of it. So there is no mental portrait, no thermal state and no cravings to learn. What remains is the wound. In injuries Calendula cannot be ignored: cuts with laceration, surface and open injuries, severe lacerations. Used dilute and locally, it keeps the wound odorless, reduces the amount of pus, favors granulation in the very best manner and takes away the local pain and suffering. Kent says nothing makes these external injuries heal so beautifully as the Marigold.
He expects the objection that this is not homoeopathic, and answers with a proverb: such critics strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. The condition, he explains, exists not because of a state within the economy but because of something without. Yet he draws a firm line. When constitutional symptoms are present, all medicated dressing is suspended. The whole attention then goes to the constitutional symptoms, and locally nothing but cleanliness is used. The reason is the heart of the lesson: do not suppress the symptoms that must guide you to the remedy.
What Kent Wants You to Remember
A nearly worthless proving
Kent cannot use the proving as a guide to giving Calendula internally. He has got only a few things out of it.
The proving of Calendula is so nearly worthless that we cannot expect at present to use it as a guide to the internal administration of the remedy.
KentCuts with laceration, open injuries
Its field is the injury that breaks the surface: torn cuts and open wounds. Here Kent says it cannot be ignored.
In injuries Calendula cannot be ignored, in cuts with laceration, surface or open injuries.
KentOdorless wound, less pus, good granulation
Applied dilute and locally, it keeps the wound from smelling, lessens the pus and favors granulation. In this way it assists the surgeon.
Dilute Calendula used locally will keep the wound odorless, will reduce the amount of pus, and favor granulation in the very best possible manner
KentAll the dressing an open wound needs
Kent considers no other dressing necessary for open wounds and severe lacerations. Nothing heals such external injuries so beautifully as the Marigold.
Calendula is all the dressing you will need for open wounds and severe lacerations.
KentRelieves the local pain
Besides helping the wound heal, the dressing removes the local pain and suffering of the injured part.
It takes away the local pain and suffering.
KentA cause from without
The injury does not come from a state within the economy but from something outside. This is Kent's answer to those who call the local use unhomoeopathic.
You may easily see we are not now dealing with a condition that exists because of a state within the economy, but because of something that is without.
KentConstitutional symptoms: stop medicated dressings
When constitutional symptoms appear, all medicated dressing is suspended and the whole attention turns to them. Locally, only cleanliness is used.
If there are constitutional symptoms suspend all medicated dressing entirely and pay your whole attention to the constitutional symptoms.
KentNever suppress guiding symptoms
The local dressing must not hide the symptoms that lead to the remedy. This is the principle behind Kent's limit on local treatment.
Do not suppress symptoms that you will need to guide you to a remedy.
Kent
The Picture on One Screen
Mind
- No mental symptoms in Kent's lecture
- Proving too poor for a portrait
- Only a few things obtained
Generals
- Surface and open injuries
- Cuts with laceration
- Severe lacerations
- Wound kept odorless
- Less pus, good granulation
- Local pain and suffering relieved
Worse
- No modalities given by Kent
- Medicated dressing hides constitutional symptoms
- Suppressing symptoms that guide prescribing
Better
- Dilute Calendula used locally
- Cleanliness alone when constitutional symptoms
- Attention to constitutional symptoms
Desires and aversions
- No cravings given by Kent
- No aversions given
- Thirst not mentioned
Where it acts
- Open surface wounds
- Cuts with laceration
- Severe lacerations
- Suppuration and granulation
Do Not Confuse It With
Arnica
Kent names no other remedy in this short lecture, so he draws no comparison with Arnica here. The lecture itself sets Calendula apart by the kind of injury: open, lacerated surface wounds dressed locally.
Hypericum
Kent makes no comparison with Hypericum in this lecture. What he does give is the limit of Calendula: once constitutional symptoms appear, the dressing is stopped and the remedy is chosen from those symptoms.
Ledum
Ledum is not mentioned in Kent's Calendula lecture. The only test the lecture offers is whether the trouble comes from something without, an open wound, or from a state within the economy.
Test Yourself
Answer in your head first, then tap to check. Come back tomorrow and try again: spaced recall is how keynotes stay.
1What does Kent say about the proving of Calendula?
It is so nearly worthless that it cannot guide the internal administration of the remedy. He has got only a few things out of it.
2Which kinds of injury does Kent say Calendula cannot be ignored in?
Cuts with laceration, surface or open injuries, and severe lacerations.
3Name the effects of dilute Calendula used locally on a wound.
It keeps the wound odorless, reduces the amount of pus and favors granulation. It also takes away the local pain and suffering.
4How does Kent answer those who say this local use is not homoeopathic?
He says they strain at a gnat and swallow a camel. The condition comes from something without, not from a state within the economy.
5What must be done locally when constitutional symptoms are present?
All medicated dressing is suspended entirely and only cleanliness is used locally. The whole attention goes to the constitutional symptoms.
6What principle lies behind Kent's limit on the Calendula dressing?
Do not suppress the symptoms that you will need to guide you to a remedy.
Calendula Officinalis by J. T. Kent
Complete and unabridged, with a faithful Bangla translation. Switch on parallel reading to see both languages paragraph by paragraph.
Local Use in Wounds
The proving of Calendula is so nearly worthless that we cannot expect at present to use it as a guide to the internal administration of the remedy. There are only a few things that I have ever been able to get out of it. In injuries Calendula cannot be ignored, in cuts with laceration, surface or open injuries. Dilute Calendula used locally will keep the wound odorless, will reduce the amount of pus, and favor granulation in the very best possible manner, and thus it assists the surgeon in healing up surface wounds.
ক্যালেন্ডুলার প্রুভিং প্রায় এতটাই মূল্যহীন যে, ঔষধটি ভেতরে প্রয়োগ করার ক্ষেত্রে একে পথনির্দেশক হিসেবে ব্যবহার করার আশা আমরা বর্তমানে করতে পারি না। এ থেকে আমি এ পর্যন্ত মাত্র অল্প কয়েকটি জিনিসই বের করতে পেরেছি। আঘাতের ক্ষেত্রে ক্যালেন্ডুলাকে উপেক্ষা করা যায় না: ছিঁড়ে যাওয়া কাটা ক্ষতে, উপরিতলের আঘাতে বা খোলা আঘাতে। লঘু করা (ডাইলিউট) ক্যালেন্ডুলা স্থানীয়ভাবে প্রয়োগ করলে ক্ষত দুর্গন্ধমুক্ত থাকবে, পুঁজের পরিমাণ কমবে এবং সর্বোত্তম উপায়ে গ্র্যানুলেশন (নতুন মাংস গজানো) সহায়তা পাবে। এভাবে উপরিতলের ক্ষত সারাতে এটি সার্জনকে সাহায্য করে।
Calendula is all the dressing you will need for open wounds and severe lacerations. It takes away the local pain and suffering. You may easily see we are not now dealing with a condition that exists because of a state within the economy, but because of something that is without. There is nothing that will cause these external injuries to heal so beautifully as the Marigold. Some will say it is not homeopathic, but these are the individuals who "strain at a gnat and swallow a camel". If there are constitutional symptoms suspend all medicated dressing entirely and pay your whole attention to the constitutional symptoms. Sometimes there are no constitutional symptoms to prescribe on, but when they are present resort locally to cleanliness and nothing else. Do not suppress symptoms that you will need to guide you to a remedy.
খোলা ক্ষত ও গুরুতর ছেঁড়া-কাটা ক্ষতে ড্রেসিং হিসেবে আপনার কেবল ক্যালেন্ডুলাই দরকার। এটি স্থানীয় ব্যথা ও যন্ত্রণা দূর করে। আপনি সহজেই দেখতে পাচ্ছেন, এখানে আমরা এখন এমন কোনো অবস্থা নিয়ে কাজ করছি না যা দেহতন্ত্রের ভেতরের কোনো অবস্থার কারণে সৃষ্টি হয়েছে। এই অবস্থার কারণ বাইরের কোনো কিছু। এসব বাহ্যিক আঘাত গাঁদা ফুল (ম্যারিগোল্ড) যত সুন্দরভাবে সারায়, তেমন আর কিছুই সারায় না। কেউ কেউ বলবেন এটি হোমিওপ্যাথিক নয়। কিন্তু তাঁরাই সেই লোক যাঁরা “মশা ছেঁকে ফেলে অথচ উট গিলে ফেলে।” যদি ধাতুগত লক্ষণ থাকে, তবে ঔষধযুক্ত সব ড্রেসিং সম্পূর্ণ বন্ধ রাখুন এবং আপনার পুরো মনোযোগ ধাতুগত লক্ষণের দিকে দিন। কখনো কখনো প্রেসক্রাইব করার মতো কোনো ধাতুগত লক্ষণ থাকে না। কিন্তু যখন সেগুলো উপস্থিত থাকে, তখন স্থানীয়ভাবে কেবল পরিচ্ছন্নতার আশ্রয় নিন, আর কিছু নয়। যে লক্ষণগুলো আপনাকে ঔষধের দিকে পথ দেখাবে, সেগুলোকে চাপা দেবেন না।
Original text: James Tyler Kent, Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1905), public domain. Section headings, light punctuation fixes, study notes and the Bangla translation: IZ Homeo.
For study by homeopathic physicians and students. This is not advice to take any medicine: in classical homeopathy a remedy is chosen only after a full case. For treatment, book an online consultation. Book Online Consultation