Carcinosin and Anthroposophy Working from Vermeulens Prisma and Victor Botts, Anthroposophical Medicine, lets think first

about what cancer is and what it does in the body. Bott has a good discussion in his book. He begins his discussion by first defining what normal growth isworking from the point of view that cancer is abnormal growth. First of all, Bott tells us that normal growth is a process of multiplication controlled by sculpting forces. He further tells us that these sculpting forces arise from the ego (will) and the astral body (soul). Bott states that normal growth ceases because the forces of reproduction and equally of form production are metamorphosed and made use of on another level. He gives the example of a higher incidence of breast cancer in mothers who have never nursed a child. We see great stored up potential energy for change that is untapped. To remain healthy (i.e. not develop abnormal growth) Bott says that the energy stored there, at the lower (etherical) pole of that individuals existence must be changed into a higher form of expression such as kindness or wisdom, for example. Anthroposophical medicine founder, Rudolf Steiner says that untransformed energy will stay stored in that specific organ in the form of an islet of organization---a potential waiting to be. This potential to be is normally shaped by the will and the choices we make in our life to act upon. If the energy in the organ is not transformed by the will into meaningful growth, a strong stress1 (MIND; AILMENTS FROM: bad news; domination by others, a long history of; fear, fright; fright, long lasting; grief; grief, cry, cannot; grief, prolonged and unresolved, reproaches; responsibility, early, too; rudeness of others; shock, mental)could cause disequilibrium between the forces of multiplication and form production to the advantage of the former causing abnormal growth to begin in the organ at this islet of organization (a cancerous lesion) and continue indefinitely. Vermuelen states of cancer, The occasional cellbecomes immortal and will, together with its descendants, multiply indefinitely.2
1 Hamer. The New Medicine--website. Hamers (tested) theory on cancer formation is very simple: there are 1) organs in the body (lung, liver, bladder, etc), there are 2) specific zones in the brain relating to these organs, and there are 3) emotional causes. Each specific zone in the brain controls a definite organ; each emotional cause (stress) affects a definite zone in the brain which can lead to disease or cancer. If we know one of the items we will know the rest, e.g. if we know the emotional cause, we will know the zone in the brain and the organ that will be affected, if we know the zone in the brain, we will know the emotional cause and the organ. And finally, if we know the affected organ, we will know the emotional cause and the zone in the brain. The disease or cancer goes away through recognizing the stress and transforming or changing the stress pattern. You can get this "inactivation" in many ways: homeopathy, psychotherapy, meditation, reiki, etc. 2 Vermeulen..

After listening to the cassette of Mishas lecture on Carcinosin, I was left with the strong impression that the Carcinosin picture emerges after repeated instances of thwarted self expression---energy that should soar outward with the soul and spirit, but is not allowed to, so the energy is pushed inward, CONSTRICTED back into the physical realm into explosive non-differentiated growth. Just look at all the major body systems involved in the constriction: (MIND, FEAR; narrow place, in , claustrophobia;HEAD, CONSTRICTION; STOMACH, CONSTRICTION; CHEST, LUNGS, OPRESSION, inspiration, on; RECTUM, CONSTRICTION, closure; RECTUM, CONSTRICTION, closure, stooping, on amel). Mishas idea fits in with Rudolfs Steiners theory as elucidated by Bott. The Carcinosin person has chosen to not utilize her own creative energy, or to exert her will on the mental/emotional level, and then the unused energy had to find an outlet of expression. That store of unexpressed energy unshaped by the will then lead to a proliferation of undifferentiated growth--an unleashing of the great store of unutilized potential. Carcinosin comes to have a lack of focus on who she is and what she stands for (MIND; DREAMS, LOOKING FOR SOMEONE AND FAILING TO FIND HIM ~herself!). She soon totally forgets everything (MIND; FORGETFUL; MIND, MEMORY, WEAKNESS, LOSS OF), and in so doing, becomes nobodylike a robot capable of only obeying the commands of other humans (MIND, INDEPENDENT, CANNOT BE), yet not possessing a will or focus of her own. At this point, she now has no personal boundaries that are defined; just like a cancerous growth she has a lack of definition of her self. She will find out the hard way that finding ones self (or freeing ones soul) is not achieved through subservience to another persons whims or wants (MIND, FLATTERED, DESIRES TO BE). Any action undertaken must be out of a true desire to do it, neither out of guilt nor fear. In this way, our understanding of this remedy makes perfect sense. So then, according to Bott, the fear of expressing who she is plays a key role in this manifestation of a growth that has no self expression, as it were---unshaped energies of the soul. She has suffered a stress so great as to cause her to lose her focus, her hopes and dreams, and to fear taking the chance to be who she is making her OVERSENSITIVE, open, and vulnerable to the suggestions of others as to who or how they should be. If one doesnt know who she is and has no dreams as to how she could be, then how can she set boundaries, thereby making a clear shape, or distinction of what is her and what is not? Its because of her fears that she allows this introversion to occur and yet, it IS what she fears (MIND, FEAR, introversion, of). Ultimately, we can say that her fear is her master and to it, she becomes a slaveto the point of her death. In Carcinosin there are 34 rubrics under Fear. Thats a LOT of fear. She has sold her soul for a miserable price and her unconscious mind is well aware of this (MIND, DELUSIONS, MARTYRDOM,

Self-sacrifice3). We are told in my religious tradition that you will receive that which you intended. So, whatever youre working for subconsciously, youll achieve that end in the physical world. I believe that this point is vividly illustrated in the processes of Carcinosin. So in Carcinosin we see thwarted creative energies and the unleashing of the unredirected etherical (physical forces) in the body. The elements of constriction and the involuntary tics and twitching are quite significant in representing what's going on at the level of the ego. In fact, outwardly, we can see that the Carcinosin person is so sensitive to her own impressions of anothers opinion (10 symptoms listed under mind section having to do with sensitive) that she will let another person shape her and mould her every move (MIND, DELUSIONS, ARMS DO NOT BELONG TO HER; MIND, DELUSIONS, superhuman; control, under, is;) and thoughts due to her fears, even emotions, until the point in the end (MIND; AILMENTS FROM: domination by others, a long history of) that who she has become in physical reality is no more than a mass of undifferentiated cells, awaiting instruction for shape and form--the gross physical representation of her longstanding mental and emotional state. Misha says theres a a perfect polarity, a perfective pathological escape for the body in cancer. Outwardly, one might see that she doesnt know what she wants because shes so afraid that what she wants isnt what her chosen someone wants. Even when given the choice, she doesnt know how to express herself (MIND, CONFUSION; MIND, CONFUSION, TRIFLES ABOUT, MIND, ANXIOUSLY CAUTIOUS; GENERALITIES, CHANGE, SYMPTOMS, CONSTANT CHANGE OF; GENERALITIES, SYMPTOMS ARE CONSTANTLY CHANGING; GENERALITIES, CONTRADICTORY AND ALTERNATING STATES, MIND, UNTIDY, except what he is performing). In cancer patients we see: grief, deep hurt, resentment, hopelessness4 also, selfpity, and helplessness. In Carcinosin, all of these emotions are related to this lack of freedom of self-expression. Theres a song by a singer called Enya with the [Link] hope in a heart thats free. Funny, it seems to sum up the antithesis to a Carcinosin patient where one sees hopelessness in a heart thats restrained, or bound under the tyranny of a person or ideology. In Carcinosin, there is a great loss of energy, and this is understandable, for it takes much energy and effort to maintain being what youre not. Bott has a wonderful write up on the symptoms to look for in a person whos just developing
3 Vermuelen.. 4 ibid.

cancer.5 On p. 171, he talks about the symptom of fatigue and its peculiarness in not being related to having had done intense physical or mental work. Its a more a lack of animation or initiative. Can you imagine, how you would feel, if what you want to do-- what you feel is right, etc.-- is always put down and youre not allowed to act on it? After a while, wouldnt you feel like saying, Whats the use? This is precisely the term Louise Hays mentions in relation to the mental aspects of cancer. So many times you have tried to express yourself, but you always feel that someone or something always gets in your way, stopping you. You may have a lot of energy at first in the struggle, but after a period of time youd just give up because you know what will happen if you even try. When a person feels hopelessness, whats the use of continuing onward with anythingoutwardly. I believe that this is the phase when the energies are beginning to c constrict inward. As the outward physical fatigue increases, the inward growth begins to pick up speed and proliferate. We know from the study of physics that energy is never really truly lost in a system, it is only transferred. Here we have the perfect example. In the fatigue, the energy doesnt go away; its direction is only changed from the normal outward movement, to the abnormal, anti-life, suppressive motion inwardly. What could be more lethal or deadly to a living organism than the suppression of the very basic energies of the outward, expansive expression of self?? Once an organism changes its flow of energy and suppresses and constricts its selfwhat option is left to it other than self-annihilation and death?? Misha said that cancer is a very vegetative disease. Through Botts work we can see that it is not a disease shaped by the workings of the will and the higher forces, it is a disease of the imbalance between the lower forces and higher forces in the favour of the lower forces due to the lack of will. Fear leads to situations in her life that begin sapping the higher energy out of her until the end, when there is no energy life. She literally goes until she has no will left to carry on. Misha tells us that a Carcinosin patient may develop an illness to be a good girl--accepting repression and thwarting her expression into the pathological escape (MIND, YIELDING DISPOSITION). I feel that his statement describes this very change of direction of energy flow that I just described. The girl has accepted the delusion, the tyranny of anothers impression of WHO she SHOULD be, or HOW she should be. Once she has fully taken on this delusion, the spiralling path downward may be quite fast. This phenomena, this taking on the delusion of those around her explains why we almost always hear friends of the cancer patient say, She was always such a nice, helpful girl. How could this happen to her? All
5 Bott, Victor (1984). Anthroposophical Medicine. Thorsons Publishers, Inc. New York.

theyre seeing is the outward illusion that she is projecting. She is fulfilling the role thrust upon her by others---and so why wouldnt the others view her as being wonderful? Shes just as they want and expect her to be. ---BUT! This is the very reason for her illness, for her pathology. If only they knew. The question remainswas she openly forced or coerced into such a state? Is the Carcinosion patient a victim of outward aggression on the part of another? I say, no. To support this idea, I will turn to the extreme SENSITIVENESS of the Carcinosin person. She is so sensitive to all impressions that surround her. She wants to be liked, she wants others to have a good opinion of her (MIND, Flattered, desires to be) and she would then readily take on others even unexpressed notions of what they want her to be. She is so MORBIDLY SENSITIVE so she works especially hard to cover up all possible impressions that others could have of her perceived imperfections. As the ego is being constricted out of existence, TICS, TWITCHES and GRIMACES are unconsciously expressing her fear and feeling of being watched by others6 despite her not acknowledging this at the surface of her being. In conclusion, within the symptomatic expression of Carcinosin, one can see the opposing forces at work: the inward flow of imposed constriction (suppression) of self and the attempts to avoid that suppression and attempts at self-expression or expansion seen in a number of opposing rubrics. In a normal person, the self will seek to expand and achieve the goal of immortality, in Carcinosin, the person allows her fear to govern her actions so the thwarted energies turn downward and immortality is expressed in unceasing, undifferentiated cellular reproduction. One cell, the essence of only her most basic animal nature, representing the unformed energetic potential of who she never was is all that can achieve this immortality.

ow! I challenge Sankarans idea of Carcinosin being another miasm. I would instead, in light of my studies, say that every miasm and every remedy picture can get to the point of requiring Carcinosin. Just look at the Ailments from sectionthe largest I have seen with 17 entries. This state doesnt only stem from one type of stress, but many, perhaps representing the end stage of many different remedy pictures (as Robin Murphy mentions in his lecture on the Miasmshe tells us that Psora is the beginning state of disease)--Carcinosin is the end state, the state of ultimate delusion and hopelessness, from which there is no return, except through hope and the struggle to express what is true within oneself.
6 Hay, Louise (1998) Heal Your Body A-Z: The Mental Causes for Physical Illness and the Way to Overcome Them. Hay House, Inc. Carlsbad, CA.