Minutus

I love this remedy and it is appropriate that we should be learning about it
at this time of year as the festive holidays are here for some of us, which
means lots of over indulgence in food, drink, etc. Iris is on a par with Nux
Vomica for this = it is a great liver and pancreas remedy, lots of burning
nausea and vomiting, masses of ropy saliva, diarrhoea which burns like fire,
sick headaches with the diarrhoea, colic like pains in the abdomen, blurred
vision, migraines from over studying Homeopathy!! ). The burnings go
throughout the digestive system and are intense. They are <<< periodically
(we never learned from the last festive season!) and also <<< 2-3 am. It is
related to Arsenicum, Mercury and Phosphorous.

But Shannon asked about the mental symptom picture of this Iris.

Iris versicolor is the 'wild' iris, the fleur de lis. Wild they can be. They
love parties and being wild, joking and laughing. They have a robust and
almost aristocratic personality. In fact they are quite the party buffoon,
always laughing at their own actions in a strange isolated sort of manner.
Iris is a very ornamental flower and you can expect this 'showing off' in
their dress sense as well as their actions.

But this actually hides quite a different picture underneath. Keeping in
mind the other remedies Iris is related to you will discover a lot of fear,
anxiety and sadness with this remedy.

The fears are centred around their illness and dying. They think they are
dying and have a great fear of growing old, but they won't tell you about
their concerns - it comes out in other ways. Being a liver remedy they are
often really irritable and bossy, especially when they have the headaches or
stomach problems (the hangover?). When alone, when they no longer have to be
the ornament of society, their anxieties take hold. Anxiety drives them to
be restless and nervous, they mutter a great deal to themselves, their
thoughts wandering as much as their bodies. They cannot concentrate on one
thing at a time, easily discouraged by this dullness of mind. A great
sadness prevails.

The connection with death is interesting. The roots of iris provided a huge
industry for perfumeries and many were employed as root diggers - there are
dreams of digging, especially graves and a lot to do with corpses. But more
importantly the Greek goddess Iris lead the souls of dead women and laid
Irises on their graves.

Iris has also been used as a thyroid stimulant and this might explain the
apparent mood swings from irritable to party socialite, to the dull,
sluggish, fearful state.

You have to look 'underneath' with Iris - there is a certain amount of
deceit, a hiding of their true feelings. The Orris root (which was used in
the perfume) made social interaction possible - everything was made to be
sweet smelling but underneath, yuk, quite the opposite. Not only is the
smell hidden (sweat smells like vinegar) but so is their pain. Like a lot of
plants Iris contains alkaloids which contribute greatly to 'killing' pain.

Hope this is interesting.

Best wishes, Joy