Valeriana officinalis appears in 12 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.
“Valerian. (Valerianaceae.) Excessive nervous excitability; hysterical nervous temperament (Ign., Puls.); persons in whom the intellectual faculties predominate; changeable disposition. Red parts become white (Fer.). Feels light as if floating in the air (Asar., Lac c., - as if legs were floating Sticta)…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Valerian officinalis, Linn. Natural order , Valerianaceæ. Common names , Valerian; (G.), Baldrian. Preparation , Tincture of the root. Authorities. ( 1 to 16 , from Stapf's Beitrage).”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Valerian (VALERIANA) Hysteria, over-sensitiveness, nervous affections, when apparently well-chosen remedies fail. Hysterical spasms and affections generally. Hysterical flatulency . Changeable disposition. Feels light, as if floating in air. Over-sensitiveness ( Staph ). Hallucinations at night. Irritable . Tremulous…”
- Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“NERVES: Spinal. Genito-urinary. Mind. Muscles, etc.: Calf. Heels. Tendo Achilles. REST. STANDING. Excitement. Evening. Changing position. Walking about. Rubbing. Suddenly changeable disposition and symptoms. Alternations and want of reaction. Pains move outward; are here and there or come and go. Illusions; of smell…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“officinalis. N. O. Valerianaceæ. Tincture of the fresh root. Asthma, spasmodic; nervous / Bed-sores / Change of life / Clairvoyance / Coxalgia / Headache / Heart, palpitation of / Heels, pain in / Hypochondriasis / Hysteria / Levitation / Neuralgia / Sciatica / Sleeplessness / Toothache V. officinalis is usually found…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Valerian. Valerianaceæ. A native of Europe, where it grows in damp woods and meadows, or on dry, elevated ground. The root is collected in Spring or Autumn. The alcoholic tincture is prepared from the powdered dry root. Introduced by Franz. Provings by Hahnemann, Franz, Gross, Stapf, etc., Stapf's Beiträge ; Jörg…”
- Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“This remedy cures many nervous and hysterical phenomena in excitable women and children, and the complaints of the hypochondriac. Great nervous excitability, exaltation, hysterical contractures, trembling, palpitation, sense of levitation, paroxysmal respiration, stitching pains, tension in the limbs, jerking…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Rheumatic tearing in the libs, worse during rest after motion, better during motion. Twitching, suddenly appearing pains, relieved by change of position. Violent tearing up and down in the muscles of the extremities. Oversensitiveness and overexcitability very favorably influenced (in this respect very similar to…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Hypochondriacal restlessness. Very changeable disposition; hypochondriacal anxiety, or trembling excitability. Fear, especially in the evening in the dark. Hysteria, with nervous over-excitability of the nerves, and very changeable disposition and ideas. Headaches appearing suddenly or only in jerks. Pressing in the…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: valerian. Acts very beneficially in soothing nervous irritability in the neurotic. Rheumatic tearing in the limbs, worse during rest after motion, better during motion (Rhus-T.). Violent tearing up and down in the muscles of the extremities. Nervousness, especially at the climaxis, or at the time of…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Valerian. General nervous irritation, cannot keep still, tearing pains and cramps in different places. Feels as if floating in the air (Sticta pulm. as if legs were floating in the air). Over-sensitiveness of all the senses. Sensation as of a thread hanging down throat. With this remedy I once cured a severe case of…”
