AURUM METALLICUM -The personality of aurum

-GEORGE VITHOULKAS
Aurum foliatum, Aurum purum
English: Gold leaf, Pure gold
French: Or en feuilles, Or pur
German: Gold, Blatgold
The essential features
Gold imprints upon the human organism the idea of self-destruction, of annihilation, of death. When introduced into the living organism, it tends to deprive the person of the will to live. It is the principle remedy to develop the state of loathing for life, desire to die, and tendency to commit suicide. As several other remedies correspond to suicidal depression, we must here concentrate upon a description of the particuar type of person, the character of the individual who requires Aurum.

The central theme of Aurum is extreme depression and loathing of life which progress to suicidal thoughts and, finally, self-destruction. These elements are clearly described in earlier literature. An extreme depression does not develop overnight, and not without earlier stages. For homeopathic practitioners the very best strategy is to prevent the final stage of the Aurum depression, to prevent the possibility of suicide. To facilitate this recognition we must identify the various characteristics that coincide with the earlier Aurum states such that the patient's desire to live and capacity to enjoy life can be reinstated.
The pathological Aurum condition usually arises in people who possess a serious and introverted character. They are generally closed people, responsible and quite refined. At the early stages of pathology one can sense that they avoid superficial contact and tend to remain rather aloof or self-contained. Generally they are very disciplined and highly ambitious. They seem to have the fundamental conviction that they are destined for a superior and esteemed position in life.
Aurum, we must not forget, is the metal gold. Using an analogy, gold, if it were personified, would feel that it held the highest position possible. It is as if these individuals think that a high position in life is their birthright. This characteristic illustrates the egotistical quality of Aurum, and it is this egotistical element that will cause difficulties for these people later in life. They want to be, and feel they are, more capable than others; they have that conviction. Because they feel that they have a high intrinsic value, like gold, they set very high standards for themselves and work hard to achieve those standards. In fact, their high opinion of themselves is often justified, for Aurum individuals tend to be serious-minded, mentally clear, responsible and intelligent. But through this seriousness, ambition, diligent self-application and industriousness they seem to lose the sense of lightness about life, cheerfulness. They will often say or convey the impression that throughout their life there has been a pervading sense of seriousness with a touch of sadness. It is as if a constant background of sad music had been playing in accompaniment to the events of their life. As the pathology develops, they will eventually go in to a state of self-reproach, self-criticism and, finally, a feeling that they are worthless and incapable of accomplishing anything.