Crocus Sativus appears in 11 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.
“Saffron (Iridaccae) Frequent and extreme changes in sensations ; sudden , from the greatest hilarity to the deepest despondency (Ign., Nux m.). Excessively happy, affectionate, wants to kiss everybody; next moment in a rage . Haemorrhage from any part, blood black, viscid, clotted, forming into long black strings…”
- Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“Crocus sativus, L. Natural order , Iridaceæ. Common names , Saffron, Safran. Preparation , Trituration of the dried stigmas. Authorities. Emotional. Childish foolishness; silly dementia, 5. Suddenly there arises before her fancy a concert which she attended a long time since, as vividly as if she were listen”
- Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Saffron (CROCUS SATIA) Is a remedy often useful in hæmorrhages that are black and stringy. Tingling in various parts. Chorea and hysterical affections. Frequent and extreme changes in sensations and mental conditions. Anger with violence followed by repentance, Laughing mania. Drowsiness and lassitude ; better by…”
- Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“AIR Open, Amel.:- IN ROOM, agg., air hunger, etc. ALIVE, SENSATIONS (COMP. FORMICATION) ALTERNATING EFFECTS, sides, states, etc.(Comp. Periodicity, Wandering, Waves). BLOWS, shocks, thrusts, crash, explosions, etc. (Comp. Shattered): HEMORRHAGE, bloody discharges LOOSE, as if (Comp. Rolling, Swashing.) LUMPY EFFECTS…”
- Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“sativus. Saffron. N. O. Iridaceæ. Tincture of dried stigmas. Cooper makes a tincture of the fresh young shoots. Abortion, threatened / After-pains / Anger / Asthenopia / Blepharospasm / Brain, congestion of / Chorea / Dysmenia / Fainting / Gastric affections / Hæmoptysis / Hæmorrhages / Headache / Heart, affections of…”
- Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Saffron. Iridaceæ. Employed by the ancients both as a medicine and a condiment. The provings are principally by Stapf and Gross, and associate provers. See Encyclopædia, vol. 3, p. 578 . CLINICAL AUTHORITIES. Cerebral disturbance , Schmid, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 1, p. 20 ; Headache during climacteric period , H., Rück…”
- Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Very changeable temperament. Sensation of hopping and jumping, as from something alive in the abdomen and in in the chest. Bleeding from various organs of the body, the blood is black and tough. Tingling in various parts of the body. St. Vitus' dance. These attacks are of a a recurrent nature, are evening attacks and…”
- Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Gaiety; uncommon mirth and cheerfulness; witty; joking loquacious. Sings involuntarily, and then laughs. Immoderate, improper laughter; changeable disposition. Vertigo when raising the head, with heat of the whole body. Great forgetfulness; loses his ideas when he undertakes to write them down. Giddiness, as if…”
- Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: saffron. Sore burning in the eyes after reading; also dimness; must wink frequently and wipe the eyes, as though a film were before the eyes (N.). Feeling in the eyes as though she had wept violently, as though water were constantly coming into the eyes (N.). VERY CHANGEABLE TEMPERAMENT (Ign., Mosch…”
- Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Spasmodic contractions and twitchings of single sets of muscles. Hæmorrhages from different parts; blood black, viscid, clotted, forming into long black strings, from the bleeding orifice. Changeable disposition; laughs, sings, jumps, wants to kiss everybody, or again cries, gets mad, abuses everybody, etc. Sensation…”
