Tarentula Hispanica

Spanish Spider

by William Boericke — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica & Repertory

Remarkable nervous phenomena; hysteria with chlorosis; chorea , dysmenorrhœa, spinal irritability. Bladder tenesmus. Constriction sensations. Formication; Extreme restlessness ; must keep in constant motion even though walking aggravates. Hysterical epilepsy. Intense sexual excitement.

Mind

Sudden alteration of mood. Foxy. Destructive impulses; moral relaxation . Must constantly busy herself or walk. Sensitive to music . Averse to company, but wants some one present. Ungrateful, discontented. Guided by whims.

Head

Intense pain, as if thousands of needles were pricking into brain. Vertigo . Wants hair brushed or head rubbed.

Male

Sexual excitement; lasciviousness reaching almost to insanity; seminal emissions.

Heart

Palpitation; præcordial anguish, sensation as if heart twisted and turned around.

Female

Vulva dry and hot, with much itching. Profuse menstruation, with frequent erotic spasms. Pruritus vulvæ ; nymphomania . Dysmenorrhœa, with very sensitive ovaries.

Extremities

Weakness of legs; choreic movements. Numbness of legs. Multiple sclerosis, with trembling. Twitching and jerking . Yawning with uneasiness of legs, must move them constantly. Extraordinary contractions and movements.

Modalities

Worse , motion, contract, noise. Better , in open air, music , bright colors, rubbing affected parts. Worse , seeming others in trouble.

Relationship

Compare: Agar; Ars; Cupr; Mag phos .

Antidotes: Lach .

Dose

Sixth to thirtieth potency.

Tarentula Hispanica across the other classic books

Tarentula Hispanica appears in 10 of the 13 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.

Allen HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.
“Tarantula; Cuban and Spanish. (Araneideae) Adapted to highly nervous organisms, especially choleric affections where whole body, or right arm and left leg are affected (left arm and right leg, Agar.). Constant movement of the legs, arms, trunk, with inability to do anything; twitching and jerking of muscles…”
Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Lycosa Tarentula. Animal kingdom. Class , Myriopoda. Order , Araneideæ. Common name , Tarantula. Preparation , Tincture of the living spiders. Authorities. ( 1 to 8 , from Georgius Baglivi, Dissertatio de Anat. Morsu et Effectibus Tarantulæ, Romæ, 1695, Antwerp, 1715, cap. 6).”
Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“BLOWS, shocks, thrusts, crash, explosions, etc. (Comp. Shattered): CHILLED, cold becoming, while hot, by ices, uncovering a part, as head, hand-hands, etc. in cold water, etc.., Agg. HARDNESS MOTION, slow, gentle, etc.., Amel. NERVES, nervous patients, etc. RESPIRATION RESTLESSNESS ROLLING, turning over, etc., as if…”
Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“NERVES. HEART. Spine. RESPIRATION. Generative sphere. Right side. TOUCH. Cold. Noise. Damp. Periodically: Same hour. Yearly. After menses. Evening. Relaxation: Rubbing. Sweating. Smoking. Open air. Music. Riding horseback. In the sun. VIOLENCE; sudden. Restless, fidgety, hurried; in incessant motion, but walking <…”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Lycosa tarentula. Tarantula. N. O. Araneideæ. Tincture of the living spiders. Angina pectoris / Callosities / Chorea / Coccygodynia / Cornea, opacity of / Cystitis / Depression of spirits / Diphtheria / Dysmenorrhœa / Epistaxis / Erotomania / Fibroma / Headache / Hiccough / Hysteria / Intermittents / Kleptomania /…”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Spanish Tarantula. Araneideæ. The male and female Tarentulæ used in the provings were collected by Dr. Mariano de la Paz Grælls, at the royal residence of Pardo, Spain, in the month of July, during which time the poison is stronger ; dilutions used 3, 6, 12 and 200 ; the medicine was prepared from the live spider, all…”
Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Tarentula Hispanica This terrible poison should never be used except in attenuations. Mind and nervous : The nervous manifestations of this remedy are almost indescribable and too numerous to mention. Anxiety and restlessness are words that prevail through all the conditions in it. It is much like Ars. The anxiety is…”
Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common names: lycosa tarantula: spanish spider: a large, hairy and venomous, tropical spider, of south america). This spider poison has, like other spider poisons, very positive nervous symptoms (N.). It acts upon the uterus and ovaries, and upon the female sexual organs generally (N.). Especially indicated in choreic…”
Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“This spider poison has like other spider poisons very positive nervous symptoms. It acts upon the uterus and ovaries, and upon the female sexual organs generally. “In cases of hyperesthesia or congestion of these organs, which set up a general hysterical condition, states simulating spinal neurasthenia, sensitive and…”

Tarentula Hispanica in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Tarentula Hispanica in 1,652 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EXTREMITIES (239), MIND (220), HEAD (174), STOMACH (95), ABDOMEN (87).

BLADDER - TENESMUS - menses,during
EXTREMITIES - RESTLESSNESS - music amel.
MIND - HURRY - everybody must hurry
MIND - HYSTERIA - music amel.
RECTUM - CONSTIPATION - stool remains long in the rectum with no urging - with awful anxiety
RESPIRATION - DIFFICULT - heart,during pain in - complaints and urinary troubles - and ovarian troubles
STOMACH - DESIRES - sand
STOMACH - VOMITING - bed,after going to
EXTREMITIES - RESTLESSNESS - Lower Limbs - motion amel.
MIND - SENSITIVE, - noise,to - music amel.:
EXTREMITIES - RESTLESSNESS - Lower Limbs - night - bed,in
MIND - ANGER,irascibility - touched,when
MIND - THREATENING
MIND - RESTLESSNESS,nervousness - anxious,etc. - compelling rapid walking
EXTREMITIES - RESTLESSNESS - Lower Limbs - evening - bed,in
MIND - DESTRUCTIVENESS - of clothes
MIND - INSANITY,madness - strength increased
EXTREMITIES - RESTLESSNESS - Leg - night - bed,in
EXTREMITIES - MOTION - irregular
EXTREMITIES - RESTLESSNESS - Lower Limbs - evening

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