The Invitation of Carcinosinum

Carcinosinum is a remedy that provokes deep curiosity and compassion for the human experience and the way we go about our lives.

When I think of Carc, I think of self-suppression, cancer miasm, and honestly, today’s world: where productivity, perfectionism, and material success are the gold standard.

In todays deep dive of Carcinosinum, I’m going to explore the origins of the remedy’s disease picture, the signs and symptoms of it’s indication and the overview of the cancer miasm since this is a miasmatic remedy.

Please keep in mind that it’s very easy to see yourself in remedies, especially this one as it’s such a reflection of today’s culture. Its patterns are embedded in our bones.

While you may be someone who could benefit from a dose of it, I don’t suggest embarking on that journey unless you’re under the care of a homeopath. This is one of those remedies that can really create a big ripples if not dosed properly and having support to navigate that response is critical.

My intention with this post is to provoke reflection and empowerment - if you find yourself resonating with it, let this post be the reminder of how much power you have to make changes long before you take a remedy or chase yet another external authority to save you.

A little ways down, I will include some journal prompts. If the remedy resonates, I encourage you to grab your journey and set a timer to spend some time with the prompts!

And so, onto the remedy picture!

The Carcinosinum picture starts at the beginning. From labour induction to fever reduction to vaccination to emotional suppression to the erasure of individuality from society - what is naturally expressed in humanity is suppressed and controlled.

The simplest example of this is the suppression of fever. A natural, effective, healing symptom. When responded to with antipyretics, we tell the body that its natural defences are not correct and prevent the process of cure from happening. The body, ever so wise, will often try again. And again and again.

If this mechanism is repeatedly suppressed, the body loses it’s ability to mount a fever (or perhaps it’s wise enough to stop wasting energy trying).

While this pattern of suppression exists physically first in most cases, it also transcends emotionally, physically, and spiritually - the child isn’t allowed to say no to foods they don’t like, they are forced to do things they may not be up to doing, they must control their expression as to not upset those around them. They are expected to act and be in accordance to the expectations of others rather than the authentic expression of their own self.

Ultimately, they lose sight of their own boundaries.

Very often the Carcinosinum patient has a history of overbearing parents/caregivers/authority figures. This can show up in many ways:

• religious fundamentalism creating rigid rules around self-expression

• too much responsibility at a young age, not being able to be a kid

• high expectations/standards, never feeling like they can live up to what’s expected of them

• lack of emotional support or trauma

• highly anxious parents instilling a lack of trust in their ability to defend themselves

This can be present in even the most supportive homes. We exist in a culture of suppression and while many of the Carcinosinum patterns come on from external influence, they are easily reinforced through our own coping mechanisms and desire to maintain belonging - people pleasing, poor boundaries, silencing ourselves to fit in.

Over time, as our natural self-expression is squandered, we become more and more disconnected from our inner knowing. We’ve been taught not to trust ourselves, that our natural boundaries are misguided, we can’t protect ourselves and therefore we must rely on external authorities to lead the way for how to behave and who to be.

A feeling of weakness takes over and in turn we compensate through:

• Control: following rules and maintaining a tight grip on life ensures that things go the way they should, a way to manage the felt sense of chaos inside that we can’t handle.

  • Of note: you can handle it. This is a side effect of suppression, your natural ability to handle life has been shut down and now everything feels unmanageable without intense organization, control, and regulation.

• Outsourcing: rely on external authorities to protect us, often seeking to be managed or taken care of. Often relying on supplements, medications, remedies, modalities to keep the body controlled.

• Perfectionism: already feeling like not enough, striving for perfection protects us from criticism, which protects us from abandonment. Often this perfectionism is focused on maintaining the perfect image - in private this may be let go.

This is the cancer miasm.

Does that mean we’re all destined for cancer if we resonate with this picture? No, there are many ailments that fall under the expression of the cancer miasm: diabetes, mononucleosis, auto-immune issues, allergies, infertility…so don’t worry…plenty of options for dis-ease expression! (I joke)

But we do see cancer rates skyrocketing and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

The way we look at cancer is also a symptom of the cancer miasm (and Carcinosinum) itself, you’ll see a lot of parallels between carcinosinum and the language around allopathic cancer “care”.

Fight, kill, battle, destroy. To double down on the suppression that got us here in the first place and believe that the body, in its attempt to save itself, is confused or wrong, is the greatest disservice we can do in healing.

Allopathy says, “You are not capable of healing yourself, so we will do it for you.”

Why should we be prejudiced against cells because they are undifferentiated, ‘primitive’ and overly creative? … Cancer cells behave ‘just like human beings who had suffered great neglect and had learned to fend for themselves in a reckless way.’ They lack consideration and a sense of proportion; they push in all directions to increase their space, only motivated by a quest for bigger, more, and faster; and akin to self-centred humans, they live essentially in unrelated isolation, a life with no real substance. Steiner, The Essence of Carcinosinum - quoted in Vermeulen’s Prisma

Homeopathy teaches us that when every natural expression of dis-ease is suppressed, symptom expression is driven deeper. The suppressed rash on the arm later expresses on the neck later expressed through sinus allergies later expresses through asthma…the pipes are clogged so they back up and find another way.

Deeper expressions of symptoms are considered a worsening of dis-ease but they are not a product of you being sicker at random. Deeper, more chronic dis-ease is the product of every other healing option being denied - either by you or your ancestors.

The essence of Carcinosinum teaches us that the body will strive to achieve balance in any way it can until the very end. The real problem appears when those symptoms disappear, when the body has lost sufficient vitality to communicate.

(Countering the long held belief of cancer “appearing out of nowhere” with “no warning”: the body is always talking, we just aren’t listening.)

Carcinosinum teaches us about the importance of expression. We did not arrive here by accident, we are not victims of randomness, there is purpose to the expression of disease - always has and always will be.

Man betrays his soul because it is less painful or less frightening to do so than to establish and manifest his own convictions at the risk of offending those whose love or protection he depends on. A cancer patient needs to see that in order to heal himself it is not his physical survival he needs to focus on, but rather the true substance of his life, his soul, his inner harmony which constitutes his potential health. He needs to become sensitive to his own individual needs and priorities and pleasures, he needs to begin to respect them, to give expression to those needs, even in the face of the collective judgement that by doing so he is being bad.-Steiner, The Essence of Carcinosinum - quoted in Vermeulen’s Prism

The Carcinosinum Invitation

All symptoms are invitations for healing, Cancer is no different. In getting to know Carcinosinum, I believe those with a strong cancer miasm have an opportunity to find healing through two avenues:

• Self-connection

• Self-expression

When we know who we are, we can express who we are. When we can express who we are, we can define our natural boundaries, ask for what we need, and live an authentic life.

We don’t have to control or be controlled, there’s no need to be perfect, we are oriented to our inner compass, we have self-confidence and we trust our body.

When we trust our body and vital force, we give it space to express what it needs to express and stop suppressing the very symptoms that are here to heal us.

Some prompts for reflection:

• Whose needs am I putting above my own?

• When I’m doing something that feels aligned to my souls expression I feel…

• What or who am I committing my energy to in an effort to prove my self worth to others? What am I doing just for show?

• Who taught me that I had to be perfect? What would happen if I wasn’t?

The Carcinosinum Picture

Carcinosinum is a miasmatic remedy, so while there are specific symptoms affiliated with it, I usually spot it through the broader picture, patterns, family history, and causative factors. Carc also isn’t a super well proven remedy, so a lot of the information we have on it comes from cured cases and medical reports.

Mental Symptoms:

• Sensitive, romantic, sympathetic

• Creative, drawn to nature, dancing, animals

• Likes thunderstorms, the seaside (east coast), travel

• Fastidious, desire to be perfect, dutiful

• Self-critical, practical

• Controlling, self-control especially

• Sensitive to contradiction, reprimands

• Passive and yielding OR disobedient and destructive

• Very weak inside but you wouldn’t know it due to a touch exterior, manufactured image and ability to control everything

• Father wounds (never received his praise, being put down by him)

• Always asking “who am I?”, on a quest of self discovery, self love, weak sense of self.

• Lots of people pleasing tendencies, maybe complain of being taken advantage of, codependency, want to feel needed.

• Burns out taking care of and pleasing others, no self care

• Confusion around emotions, very suppressed, not sure how to express.

• Very focused on spirituality, energetics, intuition

Physical Symptoms:

• Never well since mononucleosis

• Moles or spots on skin

• Craving for fat, butter, chocolate

• Sensation: constriction

• Feverless, “never sick”

• Insomnia, chronic fatigue

Ailments from:

• Controlling, overbearing parents

• High expectations being placed upon them

• Anxious, overprotective parents

• Vaccinations, suppression of dis-ease

• Creativity being suppressed

• Inappropriate levels of responsibility at a young age

Cancer Miasm

Miasms represent an energetic-genetic tendency towards a specific way of responding to stressors. I prefer framing it this way because it aligns more with how I perceive the body to function along side the vital force. Psora miasm responds in excess, Sycosis in hiding, Syphillis in destruction, Tuberculinum through aggressive attempts, Cancer by controlling the chaos.

Characteristics of the Cancer Miasm:

• Artistic and attractive, fixated on appearance

• Controlling or controlled

• Contained or chaotic

• Suppression of emotions, anger in particular

• Physical symptoms:

  • Insomnia, skin growths, tumours, mononucleosis, recurrent acutes/fever or none at all

• Family history of cancer, diabetes, or tuberculosis

We are all made up of many miasms depending on our ancestry, often with one or two being the loudest. I don’t believe miasms are inherently a bad thing, I think they’re just flavours of expression like red hair or green eyes. We don’t “get rid” of them but rather find better balance in our expression of them. We are always going to have a tendency towards dis-ease as we ebb and flow through life because that’s what it is to be human: symptoms are how we harmonize.

With that in mind, much of our suffering or stuckness can come from miasmatic influence and using remedies like Carcinosinum intentionally and where applicable can bring much healing in chronic cases.

Carc is one of those remedies that has the potential to clear barriers to healing and bring us closer to our true essence.

In my personal and professional experience, I’ve seen it help people find their voice, define their boundaries, finally leave soul sucking commitments for more aligned ones, reconnect with their needs, let go of perfectionism and self-criticism, repair their relationship with parents…the list goes on.

Honour its potential by learning from it long before you take it.

Carcinosinum’s medicine begins in the perspective you carry about your body’s ability to heal and your souls ability to express.

When you embody that wisdom, you’ll be one of the ones bringing us back to our collective humanity, reminding the world of our inherent, human, wholeness.