Thuja Occidentalis

by Ute Seebauer, DSHom Med

Remedy Source

Thuja occidentalis, common names “Yellow Cedar”, “Eastern arborvitae” or “Tree of live”, belongs to the natural order of cupressaceae. This family also includes cypresses, junipers and many cedars and it refers to trees or shrubs with evergreen scale-like leaves and seeds in woolly cones or with fleshy scales.  The family of cupressaceae belongs to the natural order of coniferae. Sometimes, Thuja occidentalis is wrongly referred to as “Northern White Cedar” but this name really describes the Cupressus thujoides, a different tree and as a matter of fact, Thuja does not belong to the cedar trees at all. For the preparation of the homeopathic remedy, the tincture of the green twigs is used.

Where Thujas grow, they form dense almost impenetrable forests. Thuja is indigenous to the North Eastern American continent and is found anywhere from Canada to the Carolinas. It is a common tree of cold, wet swamps and the wet, rocky banks of streams. It is usually found on neutral to alkaline limestone soils where other larger and faster-growing trees cannot compete successfully. The tree has been cultivated for ornamental gardening and the twigs and small leaflets of this tree furnish the drug of commerce.

Thuja, the evergreen, tallest of the coniferae rarely reaches a height of only 20 m and a trunk diameter of 0.4 m, however, some Thujas reach record sizes of 15 meters and a trunk diameter of 150 cm. This tree has a very high life expectance: Some Thujas are reported to be 300 years of age and older. Some hundreds of these ancient trees can be found on the Niagara escarpment, the edge of a thick series of dolomite layers of Silurian age. The oldest living Thuja Occidentalis (1318 yrs) has germinated in 688 AD and is located in Bruce Peninsula National Park, Georgian Bay. (Source Kelly & Larson 1997, University of Guelph)

The trunk of the tree is crooked, rapidly diminishing in size upward, throwing out recurved branches from base to summit. The branches are flat and broad and the leaves of two kinds on different branchlets, one awl-shaped and the other short and obtuse, which gives the tree a somewhat loose and straggling appearance. The leaves are ca 0.5 cm long and evergreen, but in cold weather, they turn brown, becoming green again in the spring. They are persistent, overlap in four rows and have a small, flattened gland, containing thin, fragrant turpentine.

The very small scented and terminal flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant) and appear from April to May, developing into 1.5 cm long, bell-shaped, nodding, first ovoid and then spreading cones with 1-seeded blunt scales, arranged in three rows. The seeds are broadly winged and ripen from September to October.

The wood is very light, fine-grained, and soft, but exceedingly durable. It has a fine texture, and the lowest density of any commercial domestic wood. The heartwood is resistant to decay and subterranean termites, which makes it a popular building material for products in contact with water and soil such as rustic fencing, cabin logs, boats and saunas. The bark is red-brown to grey, furrowed and old bark is shed each year in long, ragged strips.

The wood and the foliage of Thujas have a strongly aromatic spicy ‘cedary or pencil-like’ odour; the crushed leaves have a scent of apples.

The leaves and twigs of Thuja contain a citron yellow or yellow-green volatile oil (Oleum Thujae, Oil of Arbor Vitae), of a bitter taste and a strong camphor-like odour, which is composed of pinene, fenchone, thujone, and carvone. It is obtained by distilling and acts as an anthelmintic. 

The essential oil is poisoning, if taken in large doses and may produce convulsions in humans and animals or paralysis in cold-blooded animals. In "A Modern Herbal" (1931), the case of a fifteen year old girl is mentioned, who took 16 drops of the oil, which caused unconsciousness followed by spasms and convulsions, with subsequent stomach irritation. Furthermore causes the oil great flatulence and stomach distension.

Fenchone and thujone act stimulating on the heart muscle. When consumed during pregnancy, Thuja’s oil can cause abortion by reflex action of the uterus from severe gastrointestinal irritation.

The decoction of Thuja twigs can be used in intermittent fevers, rheumatism, dropsy, and cough; the tincture causes venereal warts to disappear, when injected directly into the wart.

In the 16th century, Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, was taught by Native Americans how to use the foliage, which is rich in vitamin C, for the treatment of scurvy. This is how Thuja became known as the ‘Tree of Life’ or in Latin: ‘Arborvitae’.

The botanical name, Thuja, is a Latinized form of the Greek word ‘thuo’, which means ‘to fumigate’ or ‘to sacrifice’. Theophrastus (371-286 BC), one of the most important and influential botanists of the Antiquity, pupil of Aristotle and author of De historia plantarum (A History of Plants) and De causis plantarum (About the Reasons of Vegetable Growth), named the resinous, fragrant wooded trees that were used to being burnt during sacrifices, ‘thuia’. Most likely, the Greeks used junipers during these rituals though. The word “occidentalis” (of the West) refers to the Western hemisphere.

Thujas are valuable as high hedge trees and they also take easily any other shape to which they may be clipped. They are so malleable, that they practically can become anything, which is the reason that they are widely planted as an ornamental tree.

Thuja once was native to Europe but then was doomed to extinction by being unable to escape the advancing ice sheets of the ice age. However, it survived on the American continent and was originally cultivated there.

Though Thujas with their regular, graceful conical forms have been used in medicine for no longer than two centuries, they have been since ancient times, and still are, along with other cedars and conifers, very sacred in many cultures. One reason for this surely is that they can live to be hundreds of years old. As a protected tree in many cultures, to harm a Conifer is to invoke misfortune.

Conifer is a herb of consecration and a visionary herb and was used as incense by ancient civilizations. E.g. in one Hindu practice in which an oracle is invoked, the seer breathes in the smoke of burning Thuja until she is overtaken with prophecy. Because of their fragrance, in powdered form, the plant is often added to incense and for the Wicca cult, it gives an excellent incense to use in the consecration of a Magical Wand.

In Nordic religion, Thuja blends were used to invoke Odin; and Conifers are also associated with Summer solstice and are still used when celebrating Midsummer.

Native Indians in Canada were the first to identify Thuja as a remedy in the 16th century and used it to treat weakness from scurvy, fevers, coughs, headaches, swollen hands and rheumatic problems. Due to its resistance to decay, Thuja also provided valuable building material for their canoes.

Thuja oil contains thujone which is toxic and constitutes a neurotoxin which can lead to spasms, convulsions, diarrhea and gastro-enteritis. It can be used to induce menstruation and also stimulates the heart and causes convulsions in high doses. According to the ‘Center for Wood Anatomy Research’ in Wisconsin, Thuja may cause allergic bronchial asthma, dermatitis and rhinitis

The plant has an established antiviral activity and is most commonly used in modern herbalism to treat fungal infections, warts and polyps. Thuja also acts anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, astringent and diuretic. Therefore it is used in folk medicine to treat conditions of the respiratory (bronchitis, angina, laryngitis etc) and urinary tract (enuresis, cystitis), uterus complaints (amenorrhea, cervical polyps, thrush, uterine cancer, and vaginitis), rheumatism, arthritis, gout and neuralgias. It is said that, externally applied, Thuja will lessen the size of a naevus or mother's mark.

The themes of symptom picture of Thuja are marked by swamp, death, darkness and horror and gloomy, bizarre sexuality, hatred and ugliness. Just remember that Thujas from times immemorial are found on cemeteries! The ‘Isle of the dead’, a painting by Arnold Böcklin captures this dull ambience very well. 

Thuja patients often dream of ruinous buildings in the fog, which represent the wrecked parts of their personality, buried in the fog of their subconscious.

These persons may dream of open graves, glass-coffins, funerals, dead relatives, monsters in the swamp, ghosts or intruders in their home. All these dreams are metaphors for the dead bodies in Thuja’s closet that need to be buried and given back to mother earth and its transforming powers.

In Thuja, suppressed emotions usually root in childhood and hence, a taint inheres in the Thuja child early. However, these psychological components don’t become, at least not right away, obvious. They resemble the dark side of the moon, the one that is invisible for the observer. They only come up to the surface of the personality in dreams, possibly in nightmares. The dreamer then, provided he is able to put up with his own dark aspects of personality, gets insight in what he so painstaking tries to sweep under the carpet. A kind of sanctimoniousness is kept up by the patient to camouflage his vices and if he is aware of them at all, Thuja will wallow in vice only in secrecy. Like the Thuja tree, that can be clipped to any shape as long the main stem is left out, the Thuja patient as well can take on any shape that looks good on him, to cover up his dark side. All this lead to the mystical and secretive reputation, Thuja has as a person.

Nearly all Thujas have a twisted stem, which is due to them being extremely sensitive towards external influences. Similar twisted is the psyche of the Thuja-character. Naturally, he loves dim light, occupies his mind with black magic, Voodoo etc. In amusement parks he likes the ride in the tunnel of horror and he seems to deal with the internal monsters of his subconscious by confronting himself with external and more harmless versions of the evil.

The dark spots in Thuja’s soul manifest on his skin: There he gets numerous moles and excrescences such as dry or horny warts, cauliflower like or soft, spongy growths. Looking at the fruit of Thuja (and Sabina) one can see the signature of a fleshy, dark wart and the resinous callosities of stem and leaves might indicate that the plant was the ‘specific for sycosis and warts’ (Teste).

Thuja has a tendency to neoplasms and inside of Thuja’s body, there might be uncontrolled growth such as polyps, tumors and cysts as well. It was Hahnemann, who proved Thuja and discovered its antidotal action in the treatment of sycosis, the miasm that originates from constitutional gonorrhea.

Thuja has great anti-vaccinal powers and can cure vaccinosis (the results of vaccination), which is a sycotic condition. (See: Burnett – ‘Vaccinosis and its Cure by Thuja’). Indeed, Thuja is called the king of sycosis, for it has the maximum symptoms and characteristics of the sycotic miasm and is the remedy most often indicated in cases of suppressed gonorrhea or bad effects vaccinations.

Mentals

Emotional Causation

Though Thuja is not necessarily brought on by events that affect the mental plane, there are some causes that can lead to a Thuja state:

- Sexual abuse (1)

- Sexual excesses (1)

- Domination in children (1)

- Anticipation (1)

- Quarrelling (1)

- Emotional excitement in children; those are then ill at certain moments (1)

Especially the first three causes suggest an imbalance of the innermost of the Thuja soul. As mentioned before, Thuja is hiding dark aspects or shall I say he feels forced to hide certain aspects of his life or character (such as abuse or neglect) and with Thuja, this might consequential end in disease.

Stained

Thuja is a friend of the beauty. He identifies himself completely with what he perceives and becomes one with it. When Thuja experiences something, he takes it completely up into his soul. E.g. a sexual abused Thuja child will feel dirty after the abuse. The idea is as follows: The soul, up until then thought to be clean and beautiful, has been abused and since there was nobody to help and the abuser certainly doesn’t feel bad for what he did, there has to be something wrong with Thuja. The abuse wouldn’t have happened, if Thuja didn’t deserve it. So he is bad then. The beauty of his soul is damaged. There is the taint of being punished in form of abuse (or maybe domination, neglect etc), just like in the olden days, when thieves in Europe had a strand of hair cut off as a punishment or in the Eastern world, a thief still sometimes is cut off the right hand.

Even when Thuja feels that he was done wrong (e.g. domination by the parents)  and does not deserve what he experiences, he will have difficulty expressing himself, as due to his nature trying to make everything look fine, he will feel that having ‘bad’ parents, ruins the perfect image, he wants the world to have of him.

Thuja feels branded, ugly and undeserving. He does not necessarily develop a low self esteem but he begins hating himself for what he is. He feels ugly and rejected and the rejection confirms his worst fears of being ugly inside. So as a friend of beauty, he rejects himself. He will start talking bad about himself and he might even feel disgusted by his own self. Later then, he hates life for what it is and because he cannot succeed in what he feels to be most important: being perfect.

·         Mind – Confidence – want of (1)

·         Mind – Reproaching, himself (2)

·         Mind – Discontented (2)

·         Mind – Disgust – body • own body, of one’s (2)

·         Mind – Loathing – life (3)

With advancing age, this self image of imperfection becomes engraved so deep into the soul, that Thuja perfectly identifies himself as being bad, impossibly be loved or appreciated and he looses touch with reality:

·         Mind – Delusions – appreciated, she is not (2)

·         Mind – Delusions – body • body looks ugly  (2)

·         Mind – Delusions – criminal, he is a (1)

·         Mind – Delusions – friend • affection of, has lost the (2) or • friendless, he is (2)

Thuja, when healthy loves life and its beauty and because he himself feels ugly, he desperately tries to hide his imperfection. His external appearance might become extremely important to him. During a patient interview he will be closed up, to hide everything that’s bad, but still be very polite to leave the best impression possible.

·         Mind – Pleasing – desire to please others (1)

·         Mind – Mildness (2)

·         Mind – Fastidious (1)

Secretiveness

Being afraid that somebody could discover the true ugliness of Thuja, he holds back any information about him that could lead somebody on the trail of secrets Thuja has about himself. E.g. questions that aim too close to what Thuja hides will be left unanswered or the patient begins to answer but leaves the sentence unfinished. Or he might reflect long before answering, to make sure he does not accidentally slip a secret and then, when he speaks, his words might get all muddled up, when he realizes that he is going to reveal something, he would rather not reveal.

·         Mind – Secretive (2)

·         Mind – Reserved (1)

·         Mind – Taciturn (2)

·         Mind – Answering – questioned, does not answer when (1)

·         Mind – Answering - slowly (2)

·         Mind – Reflecting (1)

·         Mind – Speech – finish sentence, cannot (1)

·         Mind – Mistakes –speaking in (2)

Thuja will do anything to maintain his image as perfect as possible and this makes him a masquerader, a trickster and liar to a certain degree. However, Thujas untruthfulness is not of a kind as we see it e.g. in Opium, where the individual is lying plain simply to get his way but more of a self defensive kind and Thuja will only lie when he has to – which becomes more often the older he gets, due to the growing network of great and little secrets and lies, he is tangled up in. Interesting how the tree, Thuja occidentalis, likes to root in the cool swamp and how the individual in need of Thuja cooly builds his foundation in life in a swamp of lies or factoids.

·         Mind – Deceitful, sly (1)

·         Mind – Liar (1)

·         Mind – Dishonest (1)

·         Mind – Manipulative (1)

·         Mind – Untruthful (1)

Sexual guilt

When Thuja’s heart gets hurt in love matters, it closes off completely and he will not open up again or if so, only after a long time. Thuja feels the pain in his heart as a stain and something ugly and does not make his tainted heart available anymore. However, Thuja is passionate “Mind – Passionate (2)” and as a passionate individual he has a high sexual drive and might very well enter a new relationship without getting his heart too much involved. Or he might engage in excessive sexual activity. “Male Genitalia – Sexual desire – increased (2)” and “Female Genitalia – Sexual desire – increased (1)” This will then develop a sense of guilt in him and he most likely will keep his sexual life one of his greatest secrets.

·        Mind - Ailments from sexual excesses (1)

·         Mind – Anxiety - conscience (2)

Impressions & Expressions

In general, Thuja is impressionable and by all means is interested in other people’s opinions or view on certain subjects. For the most part, this is because Thuja is convinced of being bad and therefore he tries to copy everything possible of people, he considered himself good or connected with success.

·        Mind – Impressionable (2)

But when it comes to himself, he made his mind up. He knows he is bad and he knows that he wants to be perfect and loved by everybody and he clearly sees only one way, to achieve this: By displaying himself as somebody, he is not. Thuja can take on almost any shape (like the tree), he believes is necessary to succeed; this could be the funny entertainer at a party, the competent businessman or the provocative vamp or loving mother. It is very hard to convince a Thuja personality of a new point of view, especially when it concerns Thuja itself.

·        Mind – Obstinate, headstrong (2)

Irritability

Thuja is not aggressive from nature but for defence reasons, he might become quite angry and Thuja is also very irritable. This is not surprising, considering the combination of feeling extremely ugly within, the network of secrets and the desperate try to hold up a beautiful image of himself. Even trifles can upset Thuja. It is usually not the trifle itself, but more the danger of revelation of Thuja’s true self, that upsets him. An incidence even so small could be connected to some big secret Thuja keeps and might lead to the revelation of other secrets, like a threat unravelling.

·        Mind - Irritability (3)

·        Mind – Trifles seem important (1)

·        Mind – Fear – trifles, of (1)

Especially, in the face of danger, when revelation of his ugliness is threatening, he can become quite angry and on contradiction, Thuja feels like he was saying something wrong and feels censored, rejected or stupid, which also means that there is another stain on his image.

·        Mind – Anger (2)

·         Mind – Anger – contradiction; from (2)

However, Thuja is not defensive in the general meaning of the word. An obvious defence would equal the admittance of failure and Thuja wants to be perfect.

Depression

Thuja’s self image is usually formed in childhood and stays with him for life. His self-contempt and self-rejection are great, though perfectly hidden behind a mask of perfection. Sooner or later this conflict will naturally lead to disease and one of the typical Thuja diseases, depression, is very common in Thuja personalities.

·         Mind – Contemptuous, self of (1)

·         Mind – Indifference (2)

·         Mind – Despair (1)

·         Mind – Sadness (3)

However the most marked trait of Thuja’s depression is the self contempt and in some cases, this self-hate may even lead to suicidal thoughts.

·         Mind – Loathing life (3)

·         Mind – Suicidal thoughts (1)

Fears & Anxiety

Thuja always expects the worst and his fears revolve around the ugliness in within and the desperation, trying to appear perfect. Naturally, he fears rejection and failure as they confirm his ugliness.

·         Mind – Fear – misfortune, of (1)

·         Mind – Fear – apoplexy /  impending disease (1)

·         Mind – Fear – insanity, of (2)

·         Mind – Fear - failure of • examination, in (1)

·         Mind – Fear – ordeals, of (1)

·         Mind – Fear – neglected of, being (1)

·         Mind – Fear – opinion, others, of

Because Thuja has been hurt, he becomes probably suspicious of other people. Being fairly realistic, as long the subject isn’t his own personality, his distrust is limited however. Still there is the unrealistic fear of rejection and this fear might manifest in a massive fear of people in general.

·         Mind – Suspicious (1)

·         Mind – Fear – approaching of • others, of (2)

·         Mind – Fear – doctors (1)    (he might find something bad about Thuja)

·         Mind – Fear – strangers,  of (2)

·         Mind – Fear – struck • approaching him; of being struck by those  (1)

Or even more abstract:

·         Mind – Fear – touched, of being (1)    (letting somebody get too close)

·         Mind – Fear – evil, of (1)                     (here the evil stands for real people)

·         Mind – Fear – high places of  (1)        (fears of downfall, manifests in fear of heights)

Thuja also has a desire, or even a need for control. Only when he can control everything, he can ensure that nobody discovers his ugliness. Naturally he fears loosing this control.

·         Mind – Fear – self control, of loosing  (1)

Or even more abstract:

·         Mind – Fear – wind, of (1)                   (The wind symbolizing the uncontrolled and
                                                             unpredictable)

·         Mind – Fear – music, from (1)             (doesn’t want to be carried away by a melody)

Some Thujas also heave a fear after eating (1). This does not seem to make much sense, unless one knows, that these very Thujas have an eating disorder, namely bulimia (1) and eating will cause them to feel bad about themselves and being afraid of gaining weight which would destroy their external beauty or perfection. 

Confusion

Of course, the significant difference between Thuja’s internal ugliness and the beauty he displays causes confusion. His mind might become clouded and his thinking impaired accompanied by a weakness of memory, but this can even go as far as stupefaction, especially when he can’t face surfacing emotions, he suppressed for so long.

·         Mind – Confusion (2)

·         Mind – Stupefaction (2)

·         Mind – Memory – weakness of memory (2)

Fixed ideas

Thuja has a great many fixed ideas, about himself which root in the belief of being ugly and undeserving of happiness and love.

Due to the disconnection of his internal and external being, a variety of separation-sensations can occur.

·         Mind – Delusions – body • pieces, coming in pieces; body is in danger of (1)  (Thuja is the only remedy in this rubric)

·         Mind – Delusions – divided, two parts, into (1) // - double being (1)

·         Mind – Delusions – head • belongs to another (1)

·         Mind – Delusions – separated • body and mind are separated (1)

·         Mind – Delusions - separated • soul, body is separated from (1)

·         Mind – Delusions - separated • world, from the, he is (1)

Of course, these sensations are very close to reality, as Thuja divides himself into two parts. The subconscious plain simple tries to manifest, what the patient images so strong.

Another sensation Thuja tends to have is that of dissolving. This usually concerns the body, the external existence of Thuja and hence the part, he tries to make appear perfect but fears, he cannot. With dissolving of his body, representative of his external being, he solves a great deal of problems. Again it is the subconscious, which is trying to be helpful.

·         Mind – Delusions – body • brittle is (2)

·         Mind – Delusions – body • continuity of body would be dissolved  (1)   (The only remedy in this
                                                                                                                     rubric)

·         Mind – Delusions – body • delicate is (2)  // • thin is (2)               (The only remedy in this rubrics)

·         Mind – Delusions – body • immaterial is (1) // lighter than air is (1)

·         Mind – Delusions – diminished • thin is, he is too  (1)                (The only remedy in this rubric) 

·          Mind – Delusions – existence • longer, she cannot exist any (1)  ( only remedy in this rubric)     

·         Mind – Delusions – die • about to die, one was (2)

Sometimes Thuja has the sensation of being made from glass or wood and of being fragile, which, too is due to his own separation of body and soul.

·         Mind – Delusions – glass, she is made of  (1)

·         Mind – Delusions – glass • wood, glass, etc.; being made of (2)

Thuja fears and feels that he looses the control. He has to conduct in two orchestras – the lies and the deception outside and the true self inside. He is not grounded, he fears to fall and he is torn apart between here and there.

·         Mind – Delusions – falling – he is • height, from a (2)

·         Mind – Delusions – ground • touch the ground, she would hardly (1)

·         Mind – Delusions – wings • carried on wings when walking (1) (only remedy in this rubric)

·         Mind – Delusions – move • he moves to and fro / sitting and lying, when (1) (only remedy
                                                                                                                        in this rubric)

·         Mind – Delusions – seat • moving ; seat is / to and fro (1)         (only remedy in this rubric)

·         Mind – Delusions – turn • she had been turned / circle in a (1)

Interesting is the delusional appearance of building stones (2) – Thuja has been building so much and so long to create a perfect image of himself, that he starts seeing building blocks.

As mentioned before, Thuja is quite confused as towards his identity and might believe to be anything from an unworthy person to a criminal.  

·         Mind – Delusions – identity • errors of personal identity (1)

·         Mind – Delusions – outcast or criminal, is  (1) // worthless, is (1) // wrong, has done (1)

Or he might become so confused that he starts believing that some strange forces act in him

·         Mind – Delusions – superhuman • control, is under superhuman (2)

·         Mind – Delusions – intoxicated • he is (1)  // poisoned, has been (1)

T

he inner conflict is so great, that it resembles a war “Delusion – being at war (1)” and the weight of his sorrow crushes him “Delusion, heavy is”.

People and the fear of them present another big subject of Thuja’s delusions. He might just sense the presence of people but the more bizarre personality might have delusions about beings from the spirit world.

·         Mind – Delusions – people • behind him // beside him // present, someone is (1)

·         Mind – Delusions – strangers • room; seem to be in the (2) // • sees (2)

·         Mind – Delusions – touched, he is (2)

·         Mind – Delusions – images, phantoms, sees (2) // specters • closing eyes on (2)

Thuja is intuitive rather than analytical and his fears seem arise from the stomach (1).  He can feel emotions there, just like many people feel something ‘in their guts’

• Mind – Delusions - animals • abdomen, are in (1)
• Mind – Del. - voices • hearing abdomen; voices are in his (1)    (only remedy in this rubric)

Overall it can be said that by the time he is an adult, the Thuja patient perfectly has accepted to be ‘bad’ but does not want the world to know about it. He tries to hide, who he really is and by doing so, he increases the gap between truth and illusion more and more. The more escapist he becomes, the greater become confusion and self loathing and the endless hide and seek finally breaks him. 

Modalities

The Symptoms of Thuja are

Motions, Positions & Touch

All symptoms of Thuja are < rest and > motion with the exception of joint problems which are aggravated or induced by motion. E.g. bending the head back ameliorates headache and walking might relieve toothache, face pain and ear ache.

In general, the painful part is > touch and all complaints are < after lying down, no matter which position the patient takes on and if on any, then he lies most comfortable on the painful side. Pressure frequently relieves headache.

Temperatures & Weather conditions

Thuja has a general aggravation from cold and is > warmth. Warm wind, warm air or wrapping the head is appreciated and relieves the symptoms. However, he is < warmth of the bed. This might be partly due to the circumstance that Thuja does not feel comfortable in bed in the first place and partly due to that he is < overheating. The tendency to overheat exists in Thuja and his condition might be aggravated by sun rays.

Cold in general aggravates. Thuja is < cold, cold damp, and cold water. The only exception is Thuja’s rheumatism, which is > cold.

Thuja being a friend of beauty and comfort not surprisingly does not like bad weather. He is < damp cold, storm & thunderstorm and weather change especially to the cold. In other words, he likes the mildness and moderateness, he always tries to display to the external world.

Thuja is generally > open air, especially what concerns his headaches, but < draught.

Daytimes

Thuja’s complaints are < periodically and especially < around 3 am (Clarke calls these very early morning hours the ‘sycotic time’) or sometimes even < 3 pm.

The symptoms reappear or worsen periodically yearly, every fall, every night, early morning, with increasing moon or during menses.

Food & stimulants

Thuja tends to obesity and has a huge appetite. His desire for appreciation and acknowledgement is almost insatiable and by eating and consuming, he compensates for the empty, unloved feelings inside his soul and his abdomen, which often represents his emotions (his guts, his intuition, the emotional part). However, food can never replace love and food does not ameliorate Thuja’s symptoms either.

He is < onions and < fat food, both things that are hard to digest, and require a lot of gastric juices and he is also < stimulants, which are hard on the metabolism as well. Thuja however needs food that nourishes his damaged soul as well as his body in an easy and effective way. Alcohol, coffee, tea and tobacco can all aggravate Thuja’s general condition or local symptoms.

Secretions

Thuja has a lot of ugliness inside him, or so he believes. He refuses to face any darkness and can’t show his dark side either. As Philip Bailey puts it: “He does not dispel any darkness, but he discharges some of it.” (By dressing in black or watching violent movies etc). When Thuja is able to secret any waste, he feels better and hence he is > from free secretions.

Etiology

As mentioned above, Thuja cases can develop from emotions that make the individual worthless, dirty or ugly, such as

·         Sexual abuse (1)             

·         Sexual excesses (1)

·         Domination in children (1)

·         Quarrelling (1)

·         Emotional excitement in children; those are then ill at certain moments (1)

·         Anticipation (1)       (Thuja always expects the worst)

‘Other causes for Thuja states can be summarized to one generic term: taking something up in the physical system that leaves a blemish.

·         Vaccination (4)

·         Tea, coffee, beer (2)

·         Sweets, onions (1)

·         Fat foods (2)

·         Tobacco (2)

·         Syphilis & Gonorrhoea and it’s maltreatment (2)

·         Sulphur, Mercury (abuse) (1)

·         Excessive sun (sunstroke)  (1)

Locality

Hyoscyamus acts to a great extent on the Mind, which is illustrated by the great disunion between what Thuja is and what Thuja wants to be. The patient cannot accept himself the way he is but can’t change either, thus creating his own disharmony.

Another action of Thuja is that on the nervous system where it produces and cures neuralgias and paralysis anywhere, but especially on the left side.

The left body side is connected to and controlled by the right side of the brain, which stands for intuition, emotion and feminism. Thuja is prone to think more intuitive rather than analytical (though analytical thinking is rated ‘1’ in the repertory) so his ‘center of gravity’ is on the left body side – where he produces most symptoms and where Thuja acts on predominantly.

Thuja also acts well on the skin and the mucous membranes. There are many new growth and ulcerations anywhere inside the body and on its surface. Speaking pictorial, there is a lot of ugliness hidden in Thuja that needs to come out and if it doesn’t, it keeps on growing inside.

Thuja is an important medicine for treatment of conditions of the urinary system and the genitalia, especially in women. Thuja women tend to develop all sorts of gynaecological conditions, including infections, endometriosis and menorrhoea.

The action of Thuja on the genito-urinary system is marked so strong, because Thuja likes to use sex to compensate psychological problems and at the same time feels guilty for doing so, hence he hides his sexual life or his promiscuity. Thuja already is filled with what he considers ugliness and the suppression of sexuality he feels guilty for, worsen his condition.

Like the Thuja tree, which often has a twisted stem, the patient itself tends to be twisted, psychological as well as physical. Thuja has the capability to cure disorders of the, muscular - skeletal system, namely rheumatism and spinal curvatures.

Very typical for Thuja are varicose veins under the tongue. There might be burning and redness on the tip of Thuja’s tongue, which is frequently covered with sore points, ulcers, small white vesicles or blisters, condylomata, jellylike tumours etc.

The teeth tend to decay at the roots while the crown remains sound, crumble and turn dirty yellow; the gums are painful swollen and inflamed, with dark red streaks on them.

Acute disease in Chronic Remedies

In acute disease, Thuja can be of great value in

·         Headache & Migraine

·         Granular inflammation of eyes

·         Upper respiratory tract infections with greenish, purulent secretions

·         Pertussis (whooping cough)

·         Toothache

·         Gastrointestinal conditions (gastritis, dyspepsia, cholera etc) after fat food with flatus

·         Diarrhoea

·         Constipation

·         Bladder affections

·         Sciatica

·         Pain in left ovary

·         Gonorrhoea

·         Syphilis

·         Painful urination due to inflammation

·         Hemorrhage

·         Vaccination

In emergencies Thuja is most often used for

·         Epilepsy, Convulsions

·         Catalepsy

·         Asthma

·         Angina pectoris

·         Abortion

·         Vaccinosis

·         Sunstroke

Bodily Functions and Discharges

Female sexual organs

The female sexual organs in Thuja are affected in several ways: there are sycotic growths such as lesions, polyps, condylomata, ulcerations, cancer etc. There seems to be an over-physiological activity, leading to pain, prolapse, erosions and inflammation, especially of the left side and in particular the left ovary.

The Menses in Thuja appears too early, as soon as every two weeks and usually lasts too short, though too long is reported as well: between 7 and 14 days. It is accompanied by terrible distressing pain especially in the left ovary and the iliac region.

The flow consists of dark blood and is scanty or profuse only for the first three days and then turns into a slightly colored secretion. Other cases are reported of very profuse, bright red blood flow.

Leucorrhea occurs often in Thuja patients and might last from one period to the next. It is of yellowish green color and causes smarting and excoriation especially of the vagina, however, sometimes the leucorrhoea is of mild character.

Pregnancy

Thuja is prone to abortion at the end of, or during the third month of pregnancy. Later, the patient feels the child moving so violent and painful, that she even awakens from sleep. Sooner or later, there is pain from walking and the pregnancy becomes unsupportable so that Thuja must lie down. Premature labour occurs sometimes and finally, at the time of childbirth, the labour is weak or ceasing.

Male sexual organs

Thuja is a sycotic remedy and one of the causes for a Thuja condition is gonorrhoea or checked gonorrhoea. The male sexual organs are therefore prone to sycotic excrescences of any kind, which may smell like old cheese or herring brine. Often the patient suffers from gonorrhoea or pains and complaints caused by its suppression, i.e. the treatment with school medicine or home remedies.

The maltreatment of gonorrhoea might have caused prostatic affections, swellings, inflammations and erosions especially of prepuce, glans penis and urethra. Discharge can occur and is usually watery and of yellowish-green color. Sometimes the gonorrhoea is renewed by coition, in other cases it is followed by impotency.

The male Thuja patient’s genital system is either excited or depressed. His scrotum is relaxed and there is sexual weakness and lethargy or he suffers from frequent nightly, painful erections and / or emissions and not seldom do these wake him up. The external genitalia are moist. This is true especially of the scrotum, where honey-like, sweetish smelling sweat, which stains the linen yellow, accumulates; and the glans penis, which secretes thin mucous. There might be discharge of watery prostatic fluid and the semen usually smells offensive.

Digestion

In Thuja, craving and want of appetite alternate, but commonly great thirst for cold drinks is always present, especially at night. The patient does not agree with onions and fat foods and has a dislike for fresh meat and potatoes. Food never seems sufficiently salty enough for him.

The abdomen tends to become very large, especially after eating, with audible rumbling and flatulence.  There is tension, constriction and painful pressure and the upper part of the abdomen might be drawn in. One curious sensation is that of a living animal in the abdomen.

During a meal, Thuja might have eructations and after a meal, food may rise, leaving a bitter or putrid taste in his mouth, particularly after fat foods, which may cause nausea and vomiting of mucus or greasy substances.

More often than from constipation, does Thuja suffer from diarrhoea. The diarrhoea is usually painless and of bright-yellow color; watery and “streaming out with much gas, as if cork were pulled out of a full jug” (Hering).

When constipation occurs, the stools are large, hard, offensive and possibly coated with blood.

Urinary system

In Thuja, there is great burning and smarting during, and for some time after micturition and the patient feels urged very frequently and hasty.  His emissions are usually profuse.

Or the bladder might feel paralyzed, so that he lacks the power to expel urine, but on coughing, or sometimes at night, he passes urine involuntary. Some drops might be passed after urination. This applies especially to old, flabby constitutions (Allen).

Typical characteristics of Thuja are the split stream and that the urethra is closed by a lump of mucus (in males).

The emission of urine is profuse; the urine itself watery or slightly yellowish, like white wine. It foams and the foam remains for a long time.

Respiratory system

Thuja is prone to asthma, whooping cough or convulsive, asthmatic attacks, which frequently are brought on by vaccinations. These sufferings are worse at night and accompanied by short and quick respiration and redness of the face. The sputum is greenish and tastes like old cheese.

Excretions (skin, bowels, urinary tract)

In general, the Thuja discharges and excretions are of sycotic character: greenish-yellowish, offensive and purulent.

- Nose

·         Dryness of nose

·         Offensive, greenish and fetid discharge mixed with blood and pus

·         Frequent blowing of blood from the nose

- Mouth

·         Increased or bitter saliva

·         Bitter or sweet taste

- Throat and air passages

·         Throat dry and raw

·         Hawking up of red colored mucus

·         Green sputum, tastes like old cheese

·         Tough mucous which is difficult to cough up

- Stomach

·         Eructations while eating

·         Risings of food after a meal

·         Bitter or putrid eructations

·         Vomiting of mucus or of greasy substances

- Urine

·         Paralysis of bladder

·         Involuntary secretion of urine at night or when coughing

·         Urination frequent and hasty

·         Large quantities of light-yellow urine

·         Scanty and very dark colored urine

·         Foamy urine (foam remains long after micturition)

·         Bloody urine

·         Sugar in urine

·         Cloudy sediment

·         Sediment of brown mucus

- Sexual Organs

·         ♂ Nocturnal emissions

·         ♂ Offensive semen

·         ♂ Discharge of prostatic fluid – yellowish green and watery

·         ♀ Long lasting, profuse yellowish-green leucorrhoea

·         ♀ Menses too early and too short (or 7-14 days long)

·         ♀ Menses followed by leucorrhoea

·         ♀ Menses dark & scanty

·         ♀ Menses profuse & bright red

- Stool

·         Constipation; large hard stools, offensive and sometimes covered with blood

·         Bright yellow, (sometimes white, grey or brown) painless diarrhoea

- Skin

·         All kind of sycotic excrescences, smelling like old cheese or like the brine of fish

·         Wart like, dry excrescences

·         Warts & condylomata

·         Variola

·         Vesicles filled with clear lymph

·         Neavi, moles, birthmarks, mottled spots etc

·         Pox, small pox & pustules

·         Herpes Zoster

·         Ulcers & cancers

·         Corns, crippled nails and nail fungi

·         Psoriasis

- Perspiration

·         sweetish smelling sweat on ♂ genitals staining linen yellow

·         Offensive perspiration of feet, especially on toes

·         Profuse night sweat, staining the linen yellow

·         Sweat of uncovered parts

Sleep & Dreams

The place where Thuja is disturbed least when thinking about his terrible future, is his bed. Combined with his general aggravation of symptoms from bed-heat, this gives a perfect foundation for an uneasy sleep and he might even awake at 3 am with possibly anxious and desperate thoughts concerning his heath.

He is sleepless and on closing eyes he has visions or apparitions. The heat of the bed makes him restless or he feels to cold to fall asleep.

Though he has an urgent inclination to sleep, his depression keeps him awake and finally, his sleep is uneasy and unrefreshing. He has anxious dreams (especially when he is sleeping on his left side) of dying and dead people, of danger, accidents or of falling from a height.

Characteristic Sensations

Many times, Thuja states are brought on by vaccination and vaccinosis likes to manifest itself in form of neuralgias. In Thuja we find a great deal of these complaints, such as neuralgia, paralysis, Chorea or simply trembling, jerking or easy benumbing of limbs. These complaints preferably affect the left side and Clarke reminds, that in his times, a vaccine would usually be injected into the left arm. However, the symptoms in general manifest themselves chiefly on the left side.

Common Thuja sensations are those of crawling or moving of animals, or of anything else alive in within the body. Particularly in the abdomen, but also under the skin, in the head etc

Thuja might suffer from rheumatic or arthritic pains, especially of gonorrhoeal nature and one characteristic sensation for Thuja’s rheumatism is that the flesh feels as if beaten off the bones. There is stiffness and heaviness over whole body and general physical weakness.

The pains are of shooting, darting or stitching character, changing to burning. Typical also are stabbing pains, e.g. as if a nail were pressing into vertex; and pulsative pains, as from ulceration. Indeed does Thuja frequently suffer from inflammatory swellings with redness of the affected part.

Thuja’s veins tend to swell which is often visible under the tongue and on his hands and legs.

Thuja is prone to morbid skin disorders, warts and neoplasms. Hering describes it as “A surplus of producing life.” And “nearly unlimited proliferation of pathological vegetations, … organize hastily…., but appear quietly, so that beginning of diseased state is scarcely known.”

Furthermore is Thuja prone to indigestion and constipation or diarrhoea.

Appearance

Thuja most often is of dark complexion, or may have sallow skin or fair skin with dark hair, which is usually straight. There are many freckles, moles or warts. The face commonly reflects Thujas sensitiveness and is more refined and with delicate features.

Philip Bailey (Homeopathic Psychology) describes Thujas face as angular shaped and the patient being of light (especially the women) or average frame

Willibald Gawlik (Constitutional Remedies in Homeopathy) noticed a marked fold between the eye brows of Thuja personalities.

Thujas may have lax muscles and tend to be very fleshy. Clarke found Thuja to be suited to “Hydrogenoid” constitutions. These individuals, that “have an increased capacity to contain water; hence rain, cold, damp weather, beds, and food that increase the number of molecules of water in the system < the symptoms" (Hering)

 Physical Symptoms

Alternating Symptoms

·         Frequent itching in the glans and prepuce, alternating with stitches in the anus

·         Craving alternates with want of appetite

·         Alternately boring, sticking, griping, lightning-like piercing headache

·         Frequent itching in the glans and prepuce, alternating with stitches in the anus

·         nails become wavy, dry, and crumble, alternating from time to time with a healthy growth until the latter becomes permanent (Hering)

Concomitant Symptoms

·         Heaviness of the head, with ill-humour and disinclination to talk

·         Drawing pain in forehead, with colic and emission of flatus

·         Inflammation or weakness of eye with biting and pressure as from sand

·         Obscuration of the sight with dilatation of the pupils

·         Mistiness of sight, with dullness of head

·         Cough with profuse yellow, sweetish expectoration of mucus

·         Asthma with red face

·         Asthma with a gonorrhoeal discharge

·         Diarrhoea with excessive exhaustion

·         Anus fissured, with warts, tubercles or condylomata

·         Urging to stool and urination at same time

·         Pain in the region of the bladder with painful drawing up of the testes

·         Frequent painful jerking in the penis with a sensation of a viscid liquid exuding from the urethra

·         Varices of the pudenda, with warm feeling in the genitals

·         Uterine polypus with menorrhagia followed by leucorrhoea

·         Hernia after labour with sore and swollen feet

·         General weariness, with slight headache in the forehead

·         Sciatica with atrophy of leg and coldness of same

·         Sleeplessness, at night, with great uneasiness and coldness of the body

·         Shaking chill, with much yawning (in fever)

·         Heat, with thirst and activity of mind (in fever)

·         Rheumatic fever with much flatus

·         Complaints accompanied by constant thirst for cold drinks

·         Chlorosis, with oedematous swelling

Peculiar Symptoms

·         As if body were very thin & delicate, frail & easily broken or made of glass or wood

·         As if a cold stream of air were blowing through eyes

·         Sensation of something alive in the abdomen

·         As of a single drop running along urethra

·         As if testicles moved

 Relations

Thuja is antidoted by Chamomilla, Cocculus, Camphora, Mercurius, Pulsatilla, Sulphur and Colchicum.

It antidotes:  Mercurius, Sulphur, Iodum and Nux Vomica.

It follows well Medorrhinum, Mercurius and Nitricum Acidum and is followed well by Mercurius and Sulphur (these follow best) Calcium carbonicum, Ignatia, Lycopodium, Kalium carbonicum, Pulsatilla, Silicea and Vaccinum.

Furthermore acts Thuja complementary to Medorrhinum, Sabina and Silicea and is compatible with Nitricum Acidum and Sabina.