Ignatia Amara or St Ignatius’ Bean
Is Ignatia in your remedy kit?
This remedy is made from the seed of the St Ignatius'bean
Ignatia is a remedy commonly used for helping with grief and overwhelming emotion.
It is invaluable for emotional shock, whatever the cause. The causes could include disappointed love, bereavement, suppressed emotions and the after- effects of reprimands, punishment, and humiliation.
So think of a child who has been shouted at by a teacher, or a teenager who has been dumped by their best friend, or being ignored by your sports team because you did not play well, or your beloved pet has died..... Ignatia can support and heal the trauma.
The keynotes are:
Changeability of mood, hysteria, oversensitivity, feeling of a lump in throat that cannot be swallowed, contradictory mood, laughing over serious matters and a strange symptom: an emptiness in the pit of the stomach not relieved by eating.
A characteristic of this remedy is the erratic nature of symptoms: changeable, moody, irrational, weepiness alternating with laughter. That is the nature of Ignatia, and that is what you need to look out for in a person needing this remedy.
Grief is a very natural emotion, so one must be careful to not suppress it inappropriately. Ignatia can be used when someone is overcome with grief or the opposite as in a state of denial. There is a tendency to keep emotions in which can overwhelm a person who then does not know how to let them out. Ignatia can help with that transition.