Thanks so much for your comments. I haven't had time to go further into the
case than last night, other than to skim through a couple of the lacs, with
Lac-d looking maybe a bit interesting.
I laughed out loud when I read your comment about the case reminding you of
a vampire, because I'd had that exact thought! If she'd said that she could
only function by the light of the moon, I'd be looking for "Vampire" as a
remedy!
)The sense of homelessness resonated so beautifully with a dissertation I
read somewhere about Mercurius and feeling homeless even in one's own body,
along with a sense of guilt.. But the physical resonance of the case wasn't
especially mercurial.
Writing up the case made me realize how central the sexual abuse and rapes
had been. She had also talked about being locked out of her fathers house
at age 13-14, having to wander the streets all night, and feeling as though
everyone who looked at her considered her a prostitute because of her
clothes having gotten dirty and being on the street. This episode followed
apparently, several different episodes of abuse by different men who knew
her parents and whose activities were more or less condoned by the parents
(horrible situation!). This is what led me to research lacs in more depth,
the unspoken but nevertheless present etiological aspect of extreme
self-loathing and feeling dirty. In any case, there is an animal feeling
about the case.
Her appearance is unusual. She limps quite noticeably, from the arthritis
and also from earlier knee and ankle injuries -- imbalanced sides are an
issue (also leading to a thought of either snakes or lacs). She's short and
a bit rotund, has round flushed cheeks, totally fly-away hair, and clothes
that are incredibly bright that she's made herself out of little pieces of
cloth and felt that she's also made herself. She literally looks as if
she's not from anywhere one could name. She's not dirty or slovenly -- just
oddly put together. Then when one finds out that her favorite activity is
hiking in the wilderness for days on end, with a backpack, sleeping on the
ground in the open, that too is incongruent with everything about her
appearance.
I have a feeling that behind her having no passport is at least the delusion
if not the reality of committing a crime (she certainly has no discernible
criminal leanings and makes her living honestly. She was very explicit about
always paying her way and never taking anything for nothing -- although
sometimes the payment may be in art work she's created. She paid in cash,
of course having no bank account or credit cards.) .
Anyway, yes it's an absorbing and intriguing case. And I thank you very
much for the rubrics you suggested. I had looked at "homesickness," but I
think "delusions away from home," which I hadn't thought of, us better.
Rosemary