Pre-fossilisation or the Germanium Stage

Writing this article on human fossilisation has made me review homoeopathic case histories which have responded well to a Fossil remedy.
In numerous cases, I came to realise that a number of patients had often already had previous homoeopathic prescriptions prior to taking the fossil remedy itself.
The remedy which was the most encountered was Germanium.
This made me realise another aspect of Germanium not often mentioned in homoeopathic literature.
Jan Scholten gives an excellent description of Germanium in "Homoeopathy and the Elements" where he describes the essence of the remedy as having a "civil servant" type of constitution.

Germanium is a grey whitish metal, not a very striking or clearly visible colour.

In reviewing the cases which needed Germanium as a first prescription, amongst the characteristics/problems I noted, was that the patient:

• Had been made 'invisible' throughout his life
• Very often was 'non descriptive'
• Was often cast aside by his family or work colleagues
• Had been eliminated
• Was put at distance
• Had few responsibilities or they were of small importance
• Was in a situation where It was important he did not shine too much
• Was similar to a princess who will never be a queen
• Had to be transparent
• Had found that people were not sensitive to his own needs
• Got re-shaped at the whim of a dominant figure
• Was subdued
• Had been 'rubbed out'
• Had 'disappeared' as a 'real' person
• Had not had a chance to blossom or express himself
• Up to the time of the consultation, a dominant figure - who needed to manage and to dictate - had controlled his life.
  This dominant character had not respected his emotional patrimonies and territory
• Had been in an environment where his own needs had vanished and very often he did not know his real needs
• Very often was kept in the dark: like a fossil [Echynochorys, Ophiopinna ], like a mushroom [Agaricus]

Martine Mercy RSHom