Courageous

• Synonyms

  • Brave, valiant, heroic, macho, unafraid, persevering, spunky, enterprising, adventurous, plucky, bold, taking the plunge

• Antonyms

  • Cowardice, abject fear, fainthearted, craven, timid, pusillanimous, timorous, no backbone, want of grit, getting the jitters

Situation / characterization

The courageous person typically acts swiftly to take up a challenge, mastering any fear they might have for it. They can be a dare-devil type, addicted to the thrills and spills of risk-taking ventures or may simply display high levels of boldness in their decision-making. Synthesis Adonis allows the Homeopath to see at a glance which remedies and families bring out this quality, restoring it into harmony where it may have become distorted as a fixed modus operandi for a patient. The choleric temperament and stage 8 of the mineral table are in bold here, both being archetypes which express a pushiness and enterprising attitude to life. Another interesting family here is the Compositae (Asteraceae), whose remedies act as vulneraries for injuries that come from experiencing the world as a battering and bruising place. The cancer and tubercular miasms are also both found here; the patients who need these nosodes can both express a fighting, do-or-die attitude. Opium is one of the most archetypal remedies found here, and indeed it earned its laurels in conventional medicine on the battlefield numbing the pains of courageous and valiant soldiers flying into battle. 

Opposite expression

The coward is one who shirks challenges out of fear, timidity or lack of backbone. Want of grit is another expression we know which has been applied to Silica.