Sulphur, Sulphur Remedy, Sul.

Sulphur Remedy Type:
Personality: A General at Work
by Luc De Schepper, MD, PhD, DI Hom., CHom., Lic.Ac
from his book, "The People's Repertory". Reprinted by permission.

Note: Sulphur is predominantly a male remedy, although this does not exclude the existence of female Sulphurs. But mostly the reader will recognize a male figure in this portrait. To know more about the homeopathic personality types, pleases see my book What About Men or Catherine Coulter's Portrait of Homeopathic Medicines, once of the sources for these portraits (another being my observation of thousand of patients in my practice.)

As a child, the Sulphur person already stands out. You can see right away that he will be a leader rather than a follower. Even as young as two years old, the child shows his independence by wanting to run away from his mother. There are the toddlers whose mothers have to put them on a little leash when they go out. The Sulphur child is curious and explorative. As he grows up, other children tend to look up at him, as he commands attention through his strong personality. Other children like him because he has charisma and is fair in organization games, where even the underdog is allowed participate.

The Sulphur's disdain for external appearances shows up at a young age. His hair flies all over the place, his shirt hangs out of his pants and he falls over his untied shows. You never have guess what he has eaten the previous night - the spaghetti spots testify to his ability to eat too much, too fast. He especially craves stimulating food like Chinese food, fried and fatty foods, and his all-time favorite, pizza. He is usually very intelligent, but that does not always work in his favor. He can be bored stiff when the teacher has to repeat himself for the slower children in his class. Often he "checks out" and starts daydreaming.

The Sulphur child is interested in factual things: he reads biographies, books about wars or the Guinness Book of Records, and is not at all interested in novels. This tendency persists throughout a Sulphur's life. Not uncommonly, a Sulphur boy will correct his teacher, to the amazement of the adult who cannot understand how this "lazy" boy knows these facts.

Puberty comes as a shock to many teenagers but especially to the Sulphur adolescent. He is very prone to skin conditions like disfiguring acne. Whereas before he did not care much about how he looked, now he sees his problem skin as an obstacle to his growing popularity among the girls. He will only agree to see a homeopath to get rid of these "zits"; he is not interested in improving anything else about himself.

As a teenager he still makes a mess of his room, and cleaning it up consists of sweeping his "stuff" into a cupboard. Waking up in the morning and getting ready to go to that boring school is as much of an ordeal as having all his teeth pulled out. He is grumpy, "not hungry" and prefers not to talk to anyone before ten a.m. But he always needs some money for snacking on the "nutritious" food from the school canteen. His popularity at school soars as he gets older, and he is often elected class president by his admiring fans.

Even at a young age the Sulphur recognizes the value of things. Pity the child who dares to enter into an exchange of collectibles with him. The Sulphur always comes out on top, although the other party never suspects this, the way he talks up the deal.

Of course, as a dynamo of energy he is a hot-blooded person. The Sulphur boy defines a sweater as something his mother pushes on him because she is cold. At night he usually throws off the blankets or at the very least, he sticks his feet out from under the covers. He considers taking showers a waste of water, and standing or sitting still is pure torture. Everything has to be fast, stimulating and exciting: music, computer games, movies, books, sports, etc.

The adult Sulphur will not change much. He Just covers it up more to reap the full benefit of his behavior. He is still the man of action, the achiever and fierce competitor who can move mountains. He has just one great weakness: he can be pretty insensitive to his spouse because he is still very factual. This does not leave much room for sentiments. For example, he might keep an album with pictures of women he dated before. he married his present wife, not realizing that this could appear insensitive.

If feelings come in the way of his plans, the Sulphur's motto is: "On we go!". He does not look back, holds no grudges, and easily moves on professionally and in his relationships. But he won't tolerate laziness either and will only respect people who work at least as hard as he does. When you first meet him, you might think that he is a jerk, intolerant of others when they do not reach their potential by his standards. He says that he has no sympathy for his "freeloading employees". Of course there is no place for tears or showing emotions. "That's for sissies" he says; a man should never cry, at least not in front of other people.

Mr. Sulphur usually has a physical appearance resembling a nervous race horse. He is lean and mean, although he can easily change to the opposite picture when he is burned out. At that point his cynicism takes over and he becomes the well known philosopher: politics stink, newspapers he, people are stupid, etc. It looks as though the only intelligent person is a Sulphur person, at least according to him; everyone else is a degree lower.

Sulphurs love being the center of the conversation, and they usually are, with their knowledge of facts. A Sulphur doesn't hesitate to jump, unsolicited, into his neighbor's conversation to give his view on the affair. He will not easily back off either. He can become quite quarrelsome and erupt like a volcano. Just remember one thing: these Sulphur outbursts are like real volcanic eruptions, rare and short-lived.

Mr. Sulphur loves a deal and would not hesitate to drive an extra five miles because the gasoline is two cents cheaper. And shopping at Marshall's or other discount stores is a must! He can be manic-depressive in the winter because the boredom of the winter plagues him. He thrives out-of-doors in the spring and summer. He never misses a day of work, which reflects his great energy and resilience. He appreciates a quick mind, wit and humor, something he is not devoid of himself.

And for a Sulphur, taking care of the family financially is his greatest achievement and concern. He is the one who should have been born a cave man so he could have "whacked the saber-toothed tiger on the head and brought him home for his wife to cook." He has a phenomenal memory, usually photographic, which contrasts so much with the fact that he can't remember names, even of good friends. A Sulphur would reason that he never wants to become that personal, because it is a form of weakness.

A Sulphur's mind is always "preoccupied with higher things," so he is indifferent to what or when he eats. Don't ever expect him to pick up after himself. His desk is invariably covered with innumerable rings from cups and glasses. Dirty dishes pile up, as well as stacks of old newspapers, empty bottles, grocery bags, etc. representing his collector's mentality and his strange view of his possessions: if it's his, it's beautiful. So don't throw away an old pair of shoes or a ragged T-shirt, as these are his most prized possessions. He has almost no fears, except a fear of heights, where he feels that he is being drawn to the ground below if he risks looking downward.

A Sulphur is rarely depressed or discouraged. His outspokenness can cause many to dislike him. His utter conviction that he is right and everyone else wrong can easily make him enemies. The fact that he is frequently right does not ease matters. His ambition is fame, whatever it means and whatever it is worth. He is very tolerant about a person's sexual preference and will never pass judgment. As for himself, all the evidence shows that he is aggressively heterosexual.

All in all, a well-balanced Sulphur is witty, intelligent, hard-working, non-judgmental, a defender of the underdog and the general of the troops, not afraid to make decisions and change plans on the spur of the moment. If you have a Sulphur at home, you are in for the ride of your life, full of excitement and unexpected events. Enjoy!