London based Registered member Suse Moebius explores embracing the inner crone during the menopause years.
‘How old are you?’, asked the doctor. ‘61’, I said. She looked at me closely, then said, ‘Really?! You look good! Are you on HRT?’
The answer is of course, No – but my homeopath Angie banished the hot flushes almost as soon as they arose, ten years ago. And along with them, I believe, a wide range of ‘side effects’ of the so-called climacteric. Homeopath Melissa Assilem called this stage ‘ripening through the menopause’. Working homeopathically with the symptoms of a natural development that every woman goes through can usher in a healthy maturing into the next stage of life.
Embrace the Inner Crone? I sure did: went from short sharp brunette bob to long grey locks flying free in the breeze, with exhilaration. Grieved the Maiden, and especially the Mother state, but embraced the new era: Maturation, inner growth – a transition made so much easier by homeopathic treatment.
In turn, I work with other women to help them through this profound passage. One said with longing: ‘oh what I would not give for just one more period’. Another: ‘I have suddenly become invisible…’ So much life lived behind these short statements. Working with patients to acknowledge potential feelings of loss and devastation can help transform the experience into a uniquely enriching female journey. Menopause is about more than the ‘shrivelling ovaries’ one woman decried.
The homeopathic consultation can offer space to explore universal feminine themes that arise at this time: who are we? What happens to our sensuality, our sexual selves, our very identity? Can we embrace ourselves as vibrantly mature women, without the pretence at juicy youthfulness offered up by HRT? What does the looming of Old Age have to offer? Our remedies can play a pivotal role in helping face these transitions.
The menopause takes a rare starring role in cinema, in the framing action of 1990s comedy-drama Fried Green Tomatoes. The advice in that movie was for peri-menopausal Evelyn (Kathy Bates) to ‘just take some hormones’. If only she’d had homeopathy instead!
Although the movie might have been less funny then: weepily wrapping her naked self in cling film in hopes of enticing her indifferent husband’s attention? Pulsatilla might have helped. Taking to spontaneous home improvements with a massive sledge hammer? “Better for exertion”, clearly: Sepia springs to mind. Those young women who’d cruelly taunted her? Lachesis might have cost the world that famous insurance claim for ramming their nippy VW convertible in the car park – yes, accidentally, 6 times! Evelyn evolves from oppressed housewife to discover her inner super-hero “Towanda – Righter of Wrongs, Queen Beyond Compare!”. Possibly Agaricus or Belladonna might have helped her faster to harmonise the wild superwoman within with life’s demands, sailing onwards in wellness and strength?
Women’s lives tend not to be comedy material, especially at the vulnerable and often challenging time of life we call meno-‘pause’: navigating changing identity, changing social attitudes and changing bodies.
Dozens of remedies feature characteristic menopause patterns along with symptoms belonging to other states – take Pulsatilla, far better known for soothing childhood ailments. These remedies and our patients’ stories show us so clearly in practice how well homeopathy is suited to every natural life stage. The right remedy will ease pathology, discomforts and sufferings which may accompany the hormonal and real-world challenges of the third age transition. It can help usher in surprising new growth. Here’s to Crone Power!
By Suse Moebius RSHom
Material published in this section of the website does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Society of Homeopaths.
