Why birds? I have been working as a naturopathic physician with a specialization in homeopathy since 1991. Between 1991 and 2005 I was in private
practice in Newmarket, Ontario. In 2005 I moved to Victoria, BC. I noticed that the patients in Victoria were different in a number of ways from the ones in Ontario. In general I had more patients who were interested in nature, the fine arts, the healing arts, spirituality, all no doubt a reflection of the greater interest in those areas in BC and the West Coast.
Aound that time I also had numerous conversations with a colleague, Dr. Margret Holland, about homeopathy and the patients on Vancouver Island. I also read Jonathan Shore?s book Bird: Homeopathic Remedies from the Avian Realm and subsequently started to recognize patients needing bird remedies.
Over the past two years I have prescribed various bird remedies successfully for a number of patients, using Jonathan Shore?s book and other materials as a reference. Animal remedies in general are probably proportionately underrepresented in the materia medica. In the 1990s it was noticed by a number of well-known homeopaths, including Sankaran, Herrick, Sherr, Shore and many others, who subsequently conducted provings of various animals. Jonathan Shore identified several characteristics which he felt were common for bird remedies. I would agree with him from my observations. They are as follows:
Organization of the mind is around concepts and ideas; A sense of impartial detachment, of being an observer; A strong sense of intuition or natural or immediate knowing; A sensation as if drugged and/or disoriented in both time and space, in fact a differential with drug remedies indicated; Spiritual awareness or a strong sense of spirituality; A strong sense of empathy or compassion. Jonathan Shore wrote, and this is my experience too, that
these remedies may often be needed in health care workers, social workers and related helping professionals
In short, these remedies might be indicated for sensitive, intuitive, artistic and spiritual people, whose numbers are growing these days. I think this makes birds a most interesting remedy group to study, especially for NDs, as we obviously see large numbers of these types of patients.