Ambra grisea:Ambergris, a waxy substance that is lighter than water and floats.
-VERMEULEN Frans,
Ambr
Praise is like ambergris; a little whiff of it, by snatches, is very agreeable;
but when a man holds a whole lump of it to his nose, it is a stink and strikes you down.
[Pope, Swift's Works]
A whale is harpooned only when it spouts.
[Henry Hillman]
Signs
Ambergris.
AMBERGRIS Ambergris, a waxy substance that is lighter than water and floats, is formed in the lower intestine of the sperm whale [Physeter macrocephalus]. It consists of 80% ambrein, a cholesterol derivative which may be either an indigestible component of the squid or a secretion of the whale's gut in response to the constant irritation caused by the sharp beaks of the squid. It is used chiefly as a spice in the East, and in the West it was used to fix the scent of fine perfumes [now replaced by synthetic fixatives]. It is thought to form as a collection of faeces around squid beaks and indigestible parts of other prey of the sperm whale. Whether it is physiologic or pathologic has not been determined. Fresh ambergris is soft and black and has a disagreeable odour. When exposed to sun, air, and sea water, it hardens, fades, and develops a pleasant odour. Compared to musk, civet and castoreum [three other animal extracts used in perfumery], ambergris has the longest duration of evaporation, the fragrance lasting for months. It was often used to perfume gloves, because it had the advantage of retaining its scent after repeated washings. Despite its unlikely origins, it was employed, heavily diluted, to give sexiness to a perfume. The smell of crude [fresh] ambergris was trenchantly described by the German chemist Wilhelm Homberg: "... a vessel in which I had made a long digestion of human faeces had acquired a very strong and perfect smell of ambergris, inasmuch that anyone would have thought that a great quantity of essence of ambergris had been made in it ... the perfume was so strong that the vessel was obliged to be moved out of the laboratory."1
HISTORY "Before 1,000 AD the Chinese referred to ambergris as lung sien hiang, 'dragon's spittle perfume', because it was thought that it originated from the drooling of dragons sleeping on rocks at the edge of the sea. In the Orient it is still known by this name and is used as an aphrodisiac and as a spice for food and wine. The Japanese have also known ambergris from ancient times and called it kunsurano fuu, 'whale droppings'. It was used to fix floral fragrances in perfumes. Ambergris was known to the Arabs as 'anbar' and was originally called amber in the West. It was used by the Arabs as a medicine for the heart and brain. The Arabs believed that raw ambergris emanated from springs near the sea. In the Thousand and One Nights, Sinbad is shipwrecked on a desert island and discovers a spring of stinking crude ambergris which flows like wax into the sea where it is swallowed by giant fishes and vomited up again as fragrant lumps to be cast up on the shore. The Greeks also believed that ambergris came from springs in or near the sea. They believed that it enhances the effects of alcohol when smelled before drinking wine or when it is added to wine. Many a bacchanal profited from a pinch of ambergris, no doubt. To the earliest Western chroniclers, ambergris was variously thought to come from the same bituminous sea founts as amber, from the sperm of fishes or whales, from the droppings of strange sea birds [probably because of confusion over the included beaks of squids] or from the large hives of bees living near the sea. Marco Polo was the first Western chronicler who correctly attributed ambergris to sperm whales which he saw hunted on the island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean but which he also thought vomited it up after having eaten it in the depths of the sea."2
FAECES The relation to faeces is intriguing: ambergris stems from faeces, it smells like faeces [when fresh] and it makes scents last longer. "It should be worthwhile asking patients who use strong perfumes exactly why they do so. Some of them may have delusions about their body odours and need Ambra grisea."3 "As for the potential actions of the aromatic substances of ambergris, as well as of musk, castoreum, and mephitis, on man, these extend mainly to the instinctive, impulsive, and emotional functions which are so closely bound up with the sense of smell."4 Less known about perfumes is that they often contain a very slight odour of excrements, to create subconsciously the feeling of safety of infancy. This reminds of the properties of indole. Obtained from coal tar or faeces, crude indole emits an intense faecal odour. In highly diluted solutions, however, the odour is pleasant, hence indole has been used in perfumery.
FEATURES Hahnemann gives a clear description of the substance: "It consists of small, rough, opaque masses, of spongy consistence, and can easily be broken up into rough, uneven pieces, externally of a brownish-grey colour, internally permeated by yellowish, reddish, and blackish fibres intermingled with whitish, very odorous points, somewhat greasy to the touch, and of faint but very refreshing fragrance. ... By the warmth of the fingers it becomes soft as wax, by the heat of boiling water it melts into oil, at the same time exhales a strong, very agreeable fragrance, and on heated metal burns quite away. On applying a light to it it quickly takes fire, and burns with a bright flame. Alcohol dissolves it very sparingly, but sulphuric ether dissolves it almost completely, and on adding alcohol a white wax-like substance is thrown down. Its feeble odour is much increased by this solution, as also by triturating it with other substances."5
SPERM WHALE The great sperm whale, also called cachalot, is a blunt-snouted whale of the family Physeteridae, belonging to the cetacean suborder Odontoceti, which includes the dolphin, sperm whale, narwhal, beluga, porpoise, and killer whale. Its Latin name Physeter macrocephalus derives from physeter, 'blower', makros, 'long' or 'great', and kephale, 'head'. Males attain a maximum length of about 19 m, weighing 45-70 tonnes. Females are much smaller [11-12 m] and weigh 15-20 tonnes. Newborns weigh a tonne at birth. The sperm whale has a robust body. Its dark grey or brownish grey corrugated skin gives it a shrivelled prune-like appearance. The distinctive huge squarish head occupies at least one-third of its body and projects up to 1.5 m beyond the lower jaw. The teeth, which are very few, often erupt only at sexual maturity and then, in males, only in the lower jaw. However, the teeth are not used for chewing, since the sperm whale eats its food whole.
SPERMACETI The head contains a cavity called the spermaceti organ [hence the name sperm whale] which is a mass of web-like tubes filled with two to four tonnes of a pale yellow liquid. This liquid was the main reason sperm whales were hunted as the liquid, when cooled, could be made into candles. Formerly the crude oil was employed for lighting, lubrication, and the manufacture of varnish, leather, linoleum, rough cloth [esp. jute], and bottled gas for railway and similar uses. Upon being treated with sulphur, it provides lubricants that are resistant to extreme pressures. Refined sperm oil, after removal of spermaceti, is used for lubricating high-speed machinery and precision instruments and for textile lubrication. It is believed that the fluid-filled spermaceti organ in the head of the whale acts either as a cushion to protect the whale's vital organs from the water pressures of the ocean depths, or as part of the animal's sonar. 6
SPECIAL SENSES Like all members of the suborder Odontoceti, sperm whales have no sense of smell. Hearing, on the other hand, is exceptionally well developed. A variety of sounds are used to communicate socially, while high-pitched clicks are produced for echolocation. Staccato bursts of clicks bounce off objects and echo back to the whale where they are received through nerve receptors in the jaw.
DIGESTION Since sperm whales don't chew their food, they are equipped with a specialized multichambered stomach [for prolonged digestion] and extremely long intestines [leaving nothing behind]. They feed mainly at night. [Ambra grisea patients have digestive symptoms worse at night.] Their usual food is squids and cuttlefish less than three feet in length and the amount a whale consumes can be enormous. Thirty thousand beaks have been found in a sperm whale stomach indicating they had eaten 15,000 squid as squid have upper and lower mandibles. Sperm whales are notorious sufferers from colic and when they are basking on the surface quietly it is easy to hear great rumblings in their guts punctuated by monumental belches which can be heard at great distances over the sea.
DIVING Being mammals, they must come to the water's surface to breathe through blowholes. Their single blowhole is located left and forward on the head. The breathing sequence involves from 10-11 minutes on the surface with 60-70 breaths during that time. This respiratory rate is much faster than that of baleen whales. On this amount of air sperm whales can remain in a dive for 60 minutes and reach depths of 1,100 m or more. The longer and deeper the dive, the higher the spout from the blowhole, coming out diagonally forwards at 45o with an explosive force. It is believed that large males make these extreme dives to battle and consume giant squid, which can reach lengths of 18 m. Proof of such battles are the scars found on sperm whales bodies. The sperm whale rarely shows much of its body above the water, although it reportedly can jump clear of the water. Recent research shows that sperm whales spend hours and hours underwater spiralling about one another, never losing tactile contact.
LIFESTYLE Sperm whales are cosmopolitan in deep waters of all seas except close to ice edges. They seasonally migrate from breeding grounds near the Equator towards the higher latitudes. Males and females travel separately in their own distinct pods for most of the year. Females undergo less extensive migration than males, usually staying in the temperate zones. Males travel far beyond and may be seen in polar regions. "Sperm whales generally live in social groups or schools although old solitary males are not uncommon. The harem or nursery school consists of 20-30 mature females and nursing and older calves with a master bull who dominates the herd and drives away rival males. Bachelor herds are smaller."7 They frequently assist congeners that are in trouble. They will stand by or support wounded or sick animals. Females assist each other in giving birth, and mothers shield their young. "Sperm whale photo-identification data, spanning 12 years of study around the Galapagos Islands, were examined to investigate the size, variability and stability of social units. Adult females and immature whales of both sexes have two types of associates: 'constant companions' which are members of an individual's 'stable' social unit and 'casual acquaintances', which are temporarily associating members of different units. We analyzed long-term association patterns, and calculated that individuals have a mean of 11.3 constant companions. Estimated social unit size ranged from 3 to 24 individuals. Evidence of splitting and merging of units, and of transfers of individuals between units is presented. The estimated overall frequency of these unit membership changes is 6.3% per individual per year. These forms of unit dynamics are rare in species with male dispersal and matrilineally related social groups, and cannot easily be explained in this species. There is considerable variation in unit size [perhaps caused by demographic processes], suggesting that the benefits of remaining in a social unit usually outweigh ecological benefits for optimal unit size. However, the occurrence of merging and transfers suggests that the ecological or social cost/benefit of leaving one's matrilineal unit may sometimes outweigh the cost/benefit of staying."8
SYMBOLISM As in the Old Testament symbol of Jonah, the belly of the whale is both a place of death and rebirth. In Christianity the whale depicts the Devil; being swallowed by the whale is entry through the gates of hell [its jaw] into the darkness of death [its belly]; emerging from the whale, after the traditional period of the three days of the dark of the moon, is the emerging from the obscurity of initiation into new life, resurrection. In Islamic tradition, the whale is seen as a bearer of the cosmos, a symbol of the Earth's foundations. Other creatures, such as the elephant, tortoise and crocodile, may also play this role. "Islamic tradition relates that once the Earth had been created, it floated on the waters. God sent down an angel who took the Earth on his shoulders. God then created a green rock to give him a firm footing and rested the latter upon the horns and back of a bull with forty thousand heads and hooves which stood upon a huge whale. As Tha'labi said: 'God created Nun, the great whale.' Given that the Earth rests on the angel, the angel on the rock, the rock on the bull, the bull on the whale, the whale on the waters, the waters on air and air on darkness, and that the whole structure depends upon the whale's movements, the Devil, Iblis, is supposed to have tempted the whale to rid itself of its burden and earthquakes are caused by the whale's wriggling. The whale was, however, brought under control. 'God promptly sent a little creature down to the whale. It went into one of its nostrils and reached its brain. The great whale groaned and besought God who let the little creature out. However, it remained facing the whale and threatening to go in once again every time the whale was tempted to move about."9 Magical attributes of the whale include "the sea, music, long life, family, friends, trust. Developing psychic and telepathic abilities. Using sound and music to balance and heal."10
PROVINGS •• [1] Hahnemann - 2 provers, 1827; method: unknown.
•• [2] Austrian [re]proving [Krassning] - 20 provers, 1985; method: 30x, one dose daily for 4 weeks; the proving showed essentially the same symptom picture.
[1] Trueman, The Romantic Story of Scent. [2] Ralph, Ambergris: A Pathfinder and Annotated Bibliography; website. [3] Thompson, Ambra grisea. [4] Leeser, BHJ, Oct. 1960. [5] Hahnemann, MM Pura. [6] Encyclopaedia Britannica. [7] Thompson, ibid. [8] Christal, Canadian Jrnl of Zoology 76: 1431-1440. [9] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, Dictionary of Symbols. [10] Conway, Animal Magick.
Affinity
NERVES [pneumogastric; solar plexus; spinal]. Mind. Female organs. One side.
* Left side. Right side.
Modalities
Worse: Slight causes [presence of others; music; embarrassment; agitation; worry; thinking of it]. Old age. Warmth. Milk. In the morning. After eating; warm drinks; warm room; warm milk. After walking. Exertion. Conversation. Lying down. Reading or talking aloud.
Better: Cold drinks. Cold food. Rising from bed. Lying on painful part. Slow motion in open air.
Main symptoms
M EASILY EMBARRASSED.
• "It is the situation where you are sitting on the toilet, someone opens the door and there is a crowd of people there laughing at you. Imagine how embarrassed you would feel. ... People who need Ambra mention privacy and embarrassment when talking about their bowels." [Thompson]
• "Many people are embarrassed about talking on the phone and will only answer it if there is no one else at home; do ask about this habit, they may need Ambra grisea." [Thompson]
Embarrassment about 'private' things: stool, urination, vomiting, body odours, blowing nose, sex, etc.
Business embarrassment.
And Vertigo, congestion to head, brain-fag and sleeplessness.
• "Anxious dreams, as if he were abused and too weak to defend himself." [Allen]
M TIMIDITY; blushing easily and very shy; < presence of strangers. M Aversion to SMILING FACES [suspicion, delusion being laughed at]. • "They have a disgust at the laughter of others; esp. if people are telling jokes about sex or other bodily functions which would embarrass them!" [Thompson] Aversion to being looked at. M AVERSION TO and AGGRAVATED by PRESENCE OF STRANGERS; esp. DURING STOOL or URINATION; wants to go exclusively to own toilet. • "You may also use Ambra during the lying-in period, especially when constipation is severe. It is suited to those nervous women who are thin and scrawny-looking, who have ineffectual urging to stool accompanied by great anxiety and restlessness, and inability to pass stool while the nurse or any one else is in the room." [Farrington] • "They are particularly afraid of people when they need to have a bowel motion. This can also apply to urination. It is not in the rubric 'Constipation when away from home' or 'Constipation from travelling' but is certainly one of the remedies to think of. This is because being away from home nearly everyone is a stranger, esp. if in another country." [Thompson] M < CONVERSATION. Talking < all complaints. Anxiety when speaking. Vanishing of thoughts. • "Conversation causes fatigue, heaviness in the head, sleeplessness, oppression of the chest, sweat, anxiety, tremor and quivering; general nervousness and irritability." [Hayes] • "Talking irritates her; she is attacked with trembling through the whole body, especially in the lower extremities, and has to be alone for some time in order to rest herself." [Hahnemann] M Family. • "Ambra grisea has a special relationship with the family. They are very attached to their family to the exclusion of outsiders. Their attention is focused inside their clan, not on the world at large. This is the reason that the death of a family member is such a devastating event for Ambra grisea. They do not like strangers, which means anyone not in their immediate family. Now we can understand why they are so timid, shy and reserved. They do not want interaction outside their family circle."1 [Compare; "the benefits of remaining in a social unit usually outweighs ecological benefits for optimal unit size." See above.] M Anxiety and worries about almost everything; but do not want to talk about it and want to be left alone. • "He himself may have thought these symptoms unimportant, or - and this is characteristic of the Ambra patient - have withheld them from his own and from outside attention because of their secret affective meaning. ... The aversion to showing his emotional over-excitability is downright characteristic of the Ambra patient." [Leeser] Hastiness and nervous excitement when talking. • "Asks many questions, never waits for an answer. Especially is it indicated in those persons who manifest a momentary, fleeting inquisitiveness, jumping from one subject to another." [Kent] • "Unless there are some nervous symptoms present in the case, you can hardly expect it to do good service. ... This remedy is particularly indicated in thin, spare men, who have a decidedly nervous temperament, in whom nervousness predominates at the expense of nutrition. ... It is a very quick-acting remedy. We may, therefore, give it in nervous diseases when there is defective reaction." [Farrington] M Fear of becoming crazy. From pressure in forehead and vertex. Or: "As soon as he goes into company there is flushing, trembling, nervous excitement and the thoughts vanish. With these symptoms the patient imagines that he is going out of his mind, and finally he settles down into a state of melancholy, sadness and despair, and does not want to live." [Kent] M < Music. [sadness; congestion to head; headache; earache; redness of face; asthma; cough; palpitation of heart; backache; trembling]. • "Congestion to head from music; very painful tearing on top of the head and as if in the whole upper half of the brain, and pale face and coldness of the hands." [Still] G Persons who are prematurely old; suffering from mental weakness. G Nervous exhaustion, yet overimpressionable. Slight things < breathing, heart, start the menses, etc. G Symptoms suddenly CHANGE position; as if asleep, NUMB feeling [in spots], twitching, itching, trembling, ebullitions, etc. Anxiety drives one from place to place. G ONE-SIDED complaints; complaints and numbness. G Great weakness and lassitude. G Easily heated. Easy perspiration, esp. on abdomen. G Sleeplessness after business embarrassment. • "He feels sleepy but as soon as his head touches the pillow he wakes up." • "At night the mind dwells on unpleasant things and sleep comes not or if it does is disturbed by anxious dreams." c Sleep prevented by coldness or twitching. • "On waking in the morning the patient finds the tongue, mouth and lips not functioning. The arms 'go to sleep' easily, particularly when resting on them. When carrying anything, danger of dropping it because of the tingling and numbness." [Clifton] G Seashore. • "I have had Ambra patients from families who lived by the sea and have even been involved in the fishing industry. ... An important point is in an animal remedy proving like Ambra grisea provers did not develop a connection with whales, the sea and water. This is because the provings only reveal uncompensated symptoms which have to match with the uncompensated state in a patient. Other expressions such as animal rights supporters involved in Save the Whale campaigns are usually compensated symptoms in the patient. However if we find one or two symptoms of Ambra in a case and they have a fear of water, a passion for swimming, an interest in diving, a desire to live by or on the sea then Ambra can be prescribed with success." [Thompson] G < MORNING. WEAKNESS IN MORNING IN BED. G < Warm room; warm drinks. > Cold air; cold food; cold drinks.
G < Room FULL of PEOPLE. TREMBLING < company; from conversation. G < Evening; lying in bed. < Waking. G > Slow motion in open air [= distraction and invigorating the circulation].
G GREY discharges.
[grey mucus in throat in morning; grey expectoration; ulcers with grey discharge]
G Vertigo of old people.
< Morning; after sleep; after eating. < Walking in open air. And Feeling of weight on vertex; feeling of weight or weakness in stomach. And Sensation of weakness or coldness in head. [1] Johnston, I can't take any more [two Ambra grisea cases], HL 3/96 and 4/96. Rubrics Mind Absentminded when spoken to [1]. Repeats the question first before answering [1]. Anxiety in a crowd [3]. Aversion to company, to the presence of strangers during stool [3/1]; aversion to smiling faces [2/1]. Confusion on attempting to concentrate the mind [1]. Lack of reaction to danger [1]. Delusions, diabolical faces crowding upon him [2]; of too much light in room on falling asleep [1/1]. Fear of others approaching him [2]. Indifference to everything [1]. Irritability from conversation [2]. Loquacity, asks one question after another without waiting for an answer [1/1]; during sleep [1]. Quarrelsome without waiting for responses [2]. Restlessness from conversation [2/1]. Sensitive to music [2]. Inclination to sit and weep [2]. Vertigo Must lie down [2]; and weakness in stomach [1/1]. Head Congestion from music [2/1]. Sensation of heaviness from talking [2]. Numbness in morning, extending to body [1/1]. Pressing pain in vertex after sleep [1/1]. Cold perspiration on forehead in warm room [1/1]. Eye Sensation as if eyes were too deep in sockets, in morning on waking [1/1]. Face Numbness of lips in morning on waking [1/1]. Mouth Sour taste after milk [1; Phos.; Sulph.]. Throat Sensation of a lump after eating [1/1]. Stomach Sensation of emptiness after eructations [1]. Eructations during and after coughing [3]; and asthma [1/1]. Rectum Constipation from sedentary habits [2]. Urging absent in company [3/1]. Female Copious menses < exertion [3]. Metrorrhagia < lying on back [1; Cham.]; after slight exertion [3]. Burning pain in uterus while urinating [2]. Respiration Asthmatic, > eating [1; Graph.]; after emotions [1]; < music [1/1]. Cough Exciting eructations [2]. Milk < [1]. Music < [3]. On talking loud [2]. Back Oppression between scapulae during asthma [1/1]. Limbs Blue swelling [from varices] of left leg during menses [1/1]. Trembling from conversation [2/1]. Weakness of fingers [from numbness] at night [1/1]. Sleep Position, sleeps on back with hands flat under occiput [1; Nux-v.]; sleeps with elbows and knees bent [1]. Sleepiness when retiring, but wide awake as soon as head touches pillow [3/1]. Dreams Of being abused, and too weak to defend himself [1/1]. Perspiration From conversation [2/1]. Generals Orgasm of blood from nervousness [1]. Trembling, externally, > when alone [1/1].
Food
Aversion: [1]: Fat food.
Desire: [2]: Salt [2]. [1]: Fish [*]; seafood [*].
Worse: [2]: Hot food; milk; warm drinks; warm food; warm milk. [1]: Alcohol; coffee; wine.
Better: [2]: Cold drinks during heat. [1]: Cold drinks; cold food.
* Repertory additions [Thompson].
Ambr
 |
| Ambra grisea |
but when a man holds a whole lump of it to his nose, it is a stink and strikes you down.
[Pope, Swift's Works]
A whale is harpooned only when it spouts.
[Henry Hillman]
Signs
Ambergris.
AMBERGRIS Ambergris, a waxy substance that is lighter than water and floats, is formed in the lower intestine of the sperm whale [Physeter macrocephalus]. It consists of 80% ambrein, a cholesterol derivative which may be either an indigestible component of the squid or a secretion of the whale's gut in response to the constant irritation caused by the sharp beaks of the squid. It is used chiefly as a spice in the East, and in the West it was used to fix the scent of fine perfumes [now replaced by synthetic fixatives]. It is thought to form as a collection of faeces around squid beaks and indigestible parts of other prey of the sperm whale. Whether it is physiologic or pathologic has not been determined. Fresh ambergris is soft and black and has a disagreeable odour. When exposed to sun, air, and sea water, it hardens, fades, and develops a pleasant odour. Compared to musk, civet and castoreum [three other animal extracts used in perfumery], ambergris has the longest duration of evaporation, the fragrance lasting for months. It was often used to perfume gloves, because it had the advantage of retaining its scent after repeated washings. Despite its unlikely origins, it was employed, heavily diluted, to give sexiness to a perfume. The smell of crude [fresh] ambergris was trenchantly described by the German chemist Wilhelm Homberg: "... a vessel in which I had made a long digestion of human faeces had acquired a very strong and perfect smell of ambergris, inasmuch that anyone would have thought that a great quantity of essence of ambergris had been made in it ... the perfume was so strong that the vessel was obliged to be moved out of the laboratory."1
 |
| Ambergris |
FAECES The relation to faeces is intriguing: ambergris stems from faeces, it smells like faeces [when fresh] and it makes scents last longer. "It should be worthwhile asking patients who use strong perfumes exactly why they do so. Some of them may have delusions about their body odours and need Ambra grisea."3 "As for the potential actions of the aromatic substances of ambergris, as well as of musk, castoreum, and mephitis, on man, these extend mainly to the instinctive, impulsive, and emotional functions which are so closely bound up with the sense of smell."4 Less known about perfumes is that they often contain a very slight odour of excrements, to create subconsciously the feeling of safety of infancy. This reminds of the properties of indole. Obtained from coal tar or faeces, crude indole emits an intense faecal odour. In highly diluted solutions, however, the odour is pleasant, hence indole has been used in perfumery.
FEATURES Hahnemann gives a clear description of the substance: "It consists of small, rough, opaque masses, of spongy consistence, and can easily be broken up into rough, uneven pieces, externally of a brownish-grey colour, internally permeated by yellowish, reddish, and blackish fibres intermingled with whitish, very odorous points, somewhat greasy to the touch, and of faint but very refreshing fragrance. ... By the warmth of the fingers it becomes soft as wax, by the heat of boiling water it melts into oil, at the same time exhales a strong, very agreeable fragrance, and on heated metal burns quite away. On applying a light to it it quickly takes fire, and burns with a bright flame. Alcohol dissolves it very sparingly, but sulphuric ether dissolves it almost completely, and on adding alcohol a white wax-like substance is thrown down. Its feeble odour is much increased by this solution, as also by triturating it with other substances."5
SPERM WHALE The great sperm whale, also called cachalot, is a blunt-snouted whale of the family Physeteridae, belonging to the cetacean suborder Odontoceti, which includes the dolphin, sperm whale, narwhal, beluga, porpoise, and killer whale. Its Latin name Physeter macrocephalus derives from physeter, 'blower', makros, 'long' or 'great', and kephale, 'head'. Males attain a maximum length of about 19 m, weighing 45-70 tonnes. Females are much smaller [11-12 m] and weigh 15-20 tonnes. Newborns weigh a tonne at birth. The sperm whale has a robust body. Its dark grey or brownish grey corrugated skin gives it a shrivelled prune-like appearance. The distinctive huge squarish head occupies at least one-third of its body and projects up to 1.5 m beyond the lower jaw. The teeth, which are very few, often erupt only at sexual maturity and then, in males, only in the lower jaw. However, the teeth are not used for chewing, since the sperm whale eats its food whole.
SPERMACETI The head contains a cavity called the spermaceti organ [hence the name sperm whale] which is a mass of web-like tubes filled with two to four tonnes of a pale yellow liquid. This liquid was the main reason sperm whales were hunted as the liquid, when cooled, could be made into candles. Formerly the crude oil was employed for lighting, lubrication, and the manufacture of varnish, leather, linoleum, rough cloth [esp. jute], and bottled gas for railway and similar uses. Upon being treated with sulphur, it provides lubricants that are resistant to extreme pressures. Refined sperm oil, after removal of spermaceti, is used for lubricating high-speed machinery and precision instruments and for textile lubrication. It is believed that the fluid-filled spermaceti organ in the head of the whale acts either as a cushion to protect the whale's vital organs from the water pressures of the ocean depths, or as part of the animal's sonar. 6
SPECIAL SENSES Like all members of the suborder Odontoceti, sperm whales have no sense of smell. Hearing, on the other hand, is exceptionally well developed. A variety of sounds are used to communicate socially, while high-pitched clicks are produced for echolocation. Staccato bursts of clicks bounce off objects and echo back to the whale where they are received through nerve receptors in the jaw.
DIGESTION Since sperm whales don't chew their food, they are equipped with a specialized multichambered stomach [for prolonged digestion] and extremely long intestines [leaving nothing behind]. They feed mainly at night. [Ambra grisea patients have digestive symptoms worse at night.] Their usual food is squids and cuttlefish less than three feet in length and the amount a whale consumes can be enormous. Thirty thousand beaks have been found in a sperm whale stomach indicating they had eaten 15,000 squid as squid have upper and lower mandibles. Sperm whales are notorious sufferers from colic and when they are basking on the surface quietly it is easy to hear great rumblings in their guts punctuated by monumental belches which can be heard at great distances over the sea.
DIVING Being mammals, they must come to the water's surface to breathe through blowholes. Their single blowhole is located left and forward on the head. The breathing sequence involves from 10-11 minutes on the surface with 60-70 breaths during that time. This respiratory rate is much faster than that of baleen whales. On this amount of air sperm whales can remain in a dive for 60 minutes and reach depths of 1,100 m or more. The longer and deeper the dive, the higher the spout from the blowhole, coming out diagonally forwards at 45o with an explosive force. It is believed that large males make these extreme dives to battle and consume giant squid, which can reach lengths of 18 m. Proof of such battles are the scars found on sperm whales bodies. The sperm whale rarely shows much of its body above the water, although it reportedly can jump clear of the water. Recent research shows that sperm whales spend hours and hours underwater spiralling about one another, never losing tactile contact.
LIFESTYLE Sperm whales are cosmopolitan in deep waters of all seas except close to ice edges. They seasonally migrate from breeding grounds near the Equator towards the higher latitudes. Males and females travel separately in their own distinct pods for most of the year. Females undergo less extensive migration than males, usually staying in the temperate zones. Males travel far beyond and may be seen in polar regions. "Sperm whales generally live in social groups or schools although old solitary males are not uncommon. The harem or nursery school consists of 20-30 mature females and nursing and older calves with a master bull who dominates the herd and drives away rival males. Bachelor herds are smaller."7 They frequently assist congeners that are in trouble. They will stand by or support wounded or sick animals. Females assist each other in giving birth, and mothers shield their young. "Sperm whale photo-identification data, spanning 12 years of study around the Galapagos Islands, were examined to investigate the size, variability and stability of social units. Adult females and immature whales of both sexes have two types of associates: 'constant companions' which are members of an individual's 'stable' social unit and 'casual acquaintances', which are temporarily associating members of different units. We analyzed long-term association patterns, and calculated that individuals have a mean of 11.3 constant companions. Estimated social unit size ranged from 3 to 24 individuals. Evidence of splitting and merging of units, and of transfers of individuals between units is presented. The estimated overall frequency of these unit membership changes is 6.3% per individual per year. These forms of unit dynamics are rare in species with male dispersal and matrilineally related social groups, and cannot easily be explained in this species. There is considerable variation in unit size [perhaps caused by demographic processes], suggesting that the benefits of remaining in a social unit usually outweigh ecological benefits for optimal unit size. However, the occurrence of merging and transfers suggests that the ecological or social cost/benefit of leaving one's matrilineal unit may sometimes outweigh the cost/benefit of staying."8
SYMBOLISM As in the Old Testament symbol of Jonah, the belly of the whale is both a place of death and rebirth. In Christianity the whale depicts the Devil; being swallowed by the whale is entry through the gates of hell [its jaw] into the darkness of death [its belly]; emerging from the whale, after the traditional period of the three days of the dark of the moon, is the emerging from the obscurity of initiation into new life, resurrection. In Islamic tradition, the whale is seen as a bearer of the cosmos, a symbol of the Earth's foundations. Other creatures, such as the elephant, tortoise and crocodile, may also play this role. "Islamic tradition relates that once the Earth had been created, it floated on the waters. God sent down an angel who took the Earth on his shoulders. God then created a green rock to give him a firm footing and rested the latter upon the horns and back of a bull with forty thousand heads and hooves which stood upon a huge whale. As Tha'labi said: 'God created Nun, the great whale.' Given that the Earth rests on the angel, the angel on the rock, the rock on the bull, the bull on the whale, the whale on the waters, the waters on air and air on darkness, and that the whole structure depends upon the whale's movements, the Devil, Iblis, is supposed to have tempted the whale to rid itself of its burden and earthquakes are caused by the whale's wriggling. The whale was, however, brought under control. 'God promptly sent a little creature down to the whale. It went into one of its nostrils and reached its brain. The great whale groaned and besought God who let the little creature out. However, it remained facing the whale and threatening to go in once again every time the whale was tempted to move about."9 Magical attributes of the whale include "the sea, music, long life, family, friends, trust. Developing psychic and telepathic abilities. Using sound and music to balance and heal."10
PROVINGS •• [1] Hahnemann - 2 provers, 1827; method: unknown.
•• [2] Austrian [re]proving [Krassning] - 20 provers, 1985; method: 30x, one dose daily for 4 weeks; the proving showed essentially the same symptom picture.
[1] Trueman, The Romantic Story of Scent. [2] Ralph, Ambergris: A Pathfinder and Annotated Bibliography; website. [3] Thompson, Ambra grisea. [4] Leeser, BHJ, Oct. 1960. [5] Hahnemann, MM Pura. [6] Encyclopaedia Britannica. [7] Thompson, ibid. [8] Christal, Canadian Jrnl of Zoology 76: 1431-1440. [9] Chevalier and Gheerbrant, Dictionary of Symbols. [10] Conway, Animal Magick.
Affinity
NERVES [pneumogastric; solar plexus; spinal]. Mind. Female organs. One side.
* Left side. Right side.
Modalities
Worse: Slight causes [presence of others; music; embarrassment; agitation; worry; thinking of it]. Old age. Warmth. Milk. In the morning. After eating; warm drinks; warm room; warm milk. After walking. Exertion. Conversation. Lying down. Reading or talking aloud.
Better: Cold drinks. Cold food. Rising from bed. Lying on painful part. Slow motion in open air.
Main symptoms
M EASILY EMBARRASSED.
• "It is the situation where you are sitting on the toilet, someone opens the door and there is a crowd of people there laughing at you. Imagine how embarrassed you would feel. ... People who need Ambra mention privacy and embarrassment when talking about their bowels." [Thompson]
• "Many people are embarrassed about talking on the phone and will only answer it if there is no one else at home; do ask about this habit, they may need Ambra grisea." [Thompson]
Embarrassment about 'private' things: stool, urination, vomiting, body odours, blowing nose, sex, etc.
Business embarrassment.
And Vertigo, congestion to head, brain-fag and sleeplessness.
• "Anxious dreams, as if he were abused and too weak to defend himself." [Allen]
M TIMIDITY; blushing easily and very shy; < presence of strangers. M Aversion to SMILING FACES [suspicion, delusion being laughed at]. • "They have a disgust at the laughter of others; esp. if people are telling jokes about sex or other bodily functions which would embarrass them!" [Thompson] Aversion to being looked at. M AVERSION TO and AGGRAVATED by PRESENCE OF STRANGERS; esp. DURING STOOL or URINATION; wants to go exclusively to own toilet. • "You may also use Ambra during the lying-in period, especially when constipation is severe. It is suited to those nervous women who are thin and scrawny-looking, who have ineffectual urging to stool accompanied by great anxiety and restlessness, and inability to pass stool while the nurse or any one else is in the room." [Farrington] • "They are particularly afraid of people when they need to have a bowel motion. This can also apply to urination. It is not in the rubric 'Constipation when away from home' or 'Constipation from travelling' but is certainly one of the remedies to think of. This is because being away from home nearly everyone is a stranger, esp. if in another country." [Thompson] M < CONVERSATION. Talking < all complaints. Anxiety when speaking. Vanishing of thoughts. • "Conversation causes fatigue, heaviness in the head, sleeplessness, oppression of the chest, sweat, anxiety, tremor and quivering; general nervousness and irritability." [Hayes] • "Talking irritates her; she is attacked with trembling through the whole body, especially in the lower extremities, and has to be alone for some time in order to rest herself." [Hahnemann] M Family. • "Ambra grisea has a special relationship with the family. They are very attached to their family to the exclusion of outsiders. Their attention is focused inside their clan, not on the world at large. This is the reason that the death of a family member is such a devastating event for Ambra grisea. They do not like strangers, which means anyone not in their immediate family. Now we can understand why they are so timid, shy and reserved. They do not want interaction outside their family circle."1 [Compare; "the benefits of remaining in a social unit usually outweighs ecological benefits for optimal unit size." See above.] M Anxiety and worries about almost everything; but do not want to talk about it and want to be left alone. • "He himself may have thought these symptoms unimportant, or - and this is characteristic of the Ambra patient - have withheld them from his own and from outside attention because of their secret affective meaning. ... The aversion to showing his emotional over-excitability is downright characteristic of the Ambra patient." [Leeser] Hastiness and nervous excitement when talking. • "Asks many questions, never waits for an answer. Especially is it indicated in those persons who manifest a momentary, fleeting inquisitiveness, jumping from one subject to another." [Kent] • "Unless there are some nervous symptoms present in the case, you can hardly expect it to do good service. ... This remedy is particularly indicated in thin, spare men, who have a decidedly nervous temperament, in whom nervousness predominates at the expense of nutrition. ... It is a very quick-acting remedy. We may, therefore, give it in nervous diseases when there is defective reaction." [Farrington] M Fear of becoming crazy. From pressure in forehead and vertex. Or: "As soon as he goes into company there is flushing, trembling, nervous excitement and the thoughts vanish. With these symptoms the patient imagines that he is going out of his mind, and finally he settles down into a state of melancholy, sadness and despair, and does not want to live." [Kent] M < Music. [sadness; congestion to head; headache; earache; redness of face; asthma; cough; palpitation of heart; backache; trembling]. • "Congestion to head from music; very painful tearing on top of the head and as if in the whole upper half of the brain, and pale face and coldness of the hands." [Still] G Persons who are prematurely old; suffering from mental weakness. G Nervous exhaustion, yet overimpressionable. Slight things < breathing, heart, start the menses, etc. G Symptoms suddenly CHANGE position; as if asleep, NUMB feeling [in spots], twitching, itching, trembling, ebullitions, etc. Anxiety drives one from place to place. G ONE-SIDED complaints; complaints and numbness. G Great weakness and lassitude. G Easily heated. Easy perspiration, esp. on abdomen. G Sleeplessness after business embarrassment. • "He feels sleepy but as soon as his head touches the pillow he wakes up." • "At night the mind dwells on unpleasant things and sleep comes not or if it does is disturbed by anxious dreams." c Sleep prevented by coldness or twitching. • "On waking in the morning the patient finds the tongue, mouth and lips not functioning. The arms 'go to sleep' easily, particularly when resting on them. When carrying anything, danger of dropping it because of the tingling and numbness." [Clifton] G Seashore. • "I have had Ambra patients from families who lived by the sea and have even been involved in the fishing industry. ... An important point is in an animal remedy proving like Ambra grisea provers did not develop a connection with whales, the sea and water. This is because the provings only reveal uncompensated symptoms which have to match with the uncompensated state in a patient. Other expressions such as animal rights supporters involved in Save the Whale campaigns are usually compensated symptoms in the patient. However if we find one or two symptoms of Ambra in a case and they have a fear of water, a passion for swimming, an interest in diving, a desire to live by or on the sea then Ambra can be prescribed with success." [Thompson] G < MORNING. WEAKNESS IN MORNING IN BED. G < Warm room; warm drinks. > Cold air; cold food; cold drinks.
G < Room FULL of PEOPLE. TREMBLING < company; from conversation. G < Evening; lying in bed. < Waking. G > Slow motion in open air [= distraction and invigorating the circulation].
G GREY discharges.
[grey mucus in throat in morning; grey expectoration; ulcers with grey discharge]
G Vertigo of old people.
< Morning; after sleep; after eating. < Walking in open air. And Feeling of weight on vertex; feeling of weight or weakness in stomach. And Sensation of weakness or coldness in head. [1] Johnston, I can't take any more [two Ambra grisea cases], HL 3/96 and 4/96. Rubrics Mind Absentminded when spoken to [1]. Repeats the question first before answering [1]. Anxiety in a crowd [3]. Aversion to company, to the presence of strangers during stool [3/1]; aversion to smiling faces [2/1]. Confusion on attempting to concentrate the mind [1]. Lack of reaction to danger [1]. Delusions, diabolical faces crowding upon him [2]; of too much light in room on falling asleep [1/1]. Fear of others approaching him [2]. Indifference to everything [1]. Irritability from conversation [2]. Loquacity, asks one question after another without waiting for an answer [1/1]; during sleep [1]. Quarrelsome without waiting for responses [2]. Restlessness from conversation [2/1]. Sensitive to music [2]. Inclination to sit and weep [2]. Vertigo Must lie down [2]; and weakness in stomach [1/1]. Head Congestion from music [2/1]. Sensation of heaviness from talking [2]. Numbness in morning, extending to body [1/1]. Pressing pain in vertex after sleep [1/1]. Cold perspiration on forehead in warm room [1/1]. Eye Sensation as if eyes were too deep in sockets, in morning on waking [1/1]. Face Numbness of lips in morning on waking [1/1]. Mouth Sour taste after milk [1; Phos.; Sulph.]. Throat Sensation of a lump after eating [1/1]. Stomach Sensation of emptiness after eructations [1]. Eructations during and after coughing [3]; and asthma [1/1]. Rectum Constipation from sedentary habits [2]. Urging absent in company [3/1]. Female Copious menses < exertion [3]. Metrorrhagia < lying on back [1; Cham.]; after slight exertion [3]. Burning pain in uterus while urinating [2]. Respiration Asthmatic, > eating [1; Graph.]; after emotions [1]; < music [1/1]. Cough Exciting eructations [2]. Milk < [1]. Music < [3]. On talking loud [2]. Back Oppression between scapulae during asthma [1/1]. Limbs Blue swelling [from varices] of left leg during menses [1/1]. Trembling from conversation [2/1]. Weakness of fingers [from numbness] at night [1/1]. Sleep Position, sleeps on back with hands flat under occiput [1; Nux-v.]; sleeps with elbows and knees bent [1]. Sleepiness when retiring, but wide awake as soon as head touches pillow [3/1]. Dreams Of being abused, and too weak to defend himself [1/1]. Perspiration From conversation [2/1]. Generals Orgasm of blood from nervousness [1]. Trembling, externally, > when alone [1/1].
Food
Aversion: [1]: Fat food.
Desire: [2]: Salt [2]. [1]: Fish [*]; seafood [*].
Worse: [2]: Hot food; milk; warm drinks; warm food; warm milk. [1]: Alcohol; coffee; wine.
Better: [2]: Cold drinks during heat. [1]: Cold drinks; cold food.
* Repertory additions [Thompson].
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