Centenary of Urania! – 1924 – 2024 – Officine Urania – artigianato in rame e metalloterapia

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During the Course of Therapeutic Pedagogy of June-July 1924 in Dornach, Rudolf Steiner discussed the case of two very young albino patients. Steiner described in the subjects “… we see pushing upwards, in the organization of the head, what should live in the abdomen in connection with the forces of growth. We find that for this reason iron will be lacking in growth and that sulfur, which is engaged in the fight against iron, will be present in excess (…) It will be a question of actually introducing these girls into a strong irradiation of iron starting from the metabolic system and the limbs. Such an irradiation of iron is obtained only by reducing the pyrite to powder and then having it deposit on a surface that is not very permeable to such irradiation, for example on a glass surface, which however in this case cannot be used. You should try to use white paper soaked in grease or better still a very thin parchment-type paper that can adapt to the surface of the body (…) You should spread fir resin or something similar on the paper and then let the pyrite powder settle on it. In this way you will make the iron radiate inwards. This preparation should be applied along the legs and on the shoulder blades…”() () R. Steiner “Course of curative pedagogy” – Anthroposophic ed. 2023 – Conference of July 9, 1924 – Translation by Francesca Lingua Subsequently, Dr. Ita Wegman set to work to prepare the compress. This small event has since been remembered as the birth certificate of “Urania – Vereinigung für Metalltherapie” a partnership of doctors and technicians who have been studying and working on the anthroposophic therapy of metals in the specific application “from the outside”, polar and complementary to the more general treatment through ingestion and injection. “Urania” has gradually developed and refined specific modalities for each of the major metals, deepening their therapeutic potential and developing supports suitable for the different districts of the organism. In this way, the analgesic, antifungal and antiviral properties of copper and silver have been enhanced, as well as all the most powerful and subtle virtues of the seven major metals. The intimate relationships between metals, planets and organs as taught by tradition and developed in the anthroposophic expansion of medicine have been explored and verified on a clinical level in a constant dialogue and comparison between the theoretical and technical development of the laboratories and the experience of doctors “in the field” in a continuous dialogue and feedback. The materials chosen as most suitable as a support for metal preparations are natural leather and raw silk. The basic technique consists of spreading a suspension of each metal reduced to a very fine, impalpable powder on the leather or raw silk support. The operation is repeated with seven layers superimposed on each other. The crushing and superimposition of the tiny lamellae multiplies the effective radiating/reflecting surface of the metal well beyond the few square centimeters of the support and considerably intensifies its action. The leather thus treated, for example, is cut into the shape of insoles with which the copper can act by intensely stimulating peripheral microcirculation and the same goes for silk, which is softer and more flexible, mounted on an adhesive support, which is cut into various shapes for application to the skin in any area of the body. And so from the simple “Copper Band”, the very first of the products made, the “Elastic Belt with Copper Band” evolved to adapt to the lumbar area, the kidneys, the abdomen. Then we arrived at the “Anti-pain Patches” for each part of the body, the specific “Anti-cervical Patches”, the “Bed, armchair and pillow covers” that promote rest by exploiting the relaxing and antistatic power of copper and other metals. And also the accessories for massage and self-massage such as the Spheres – made with the wood of trees connected to the planets, one for all the birch, the tree of Venus – useful for keeping the joints loose but also for the “pointed” local and “deep” massage and the Brushes with bronze bristles for the superficial-extended dry massage. All these articles are made with all seven metals, with Tin-Jupiter supporting liver therapies and exchange processes between the liquid and solid elements, Gold-Sun for the solar-cardiac sphere, Iron-Mars supporting the action of the lung, “lunar” Silver governing the reproductive system and so on all the possible applications in all those therapeutic interventions in which metals act as “qualities” and astral forces, by means of irradiation. The deepening of the methodology, initially under the supervision of Steiner himself, led to the priority choice of metals in elementary form, pulverized to the size of a few microns for Copper – Gold – Silver – Tin and Iron while for Mercury and Lead triturations in homeopathic dosage and/or in colloidal form are used. The selection of resins for suspension has also evolved and the mixtures currently in use are based on vegetal (chickpeas) and animal (cochineal, Kerria lacca, etc.) lakes. All “Urania” items are made one by one, strictly by hand, in the awareness of the value of man’s work “for” man.

“Urania – Vereinigung für Metalltherapie” has also been present in Italy since 1991 under the name of “Officine Urania” on the initiative of Maurizio Peruzzi who combined specific scientific-naturalistic knowledge with his decades of artisan experience. At his side, since 2008, Emanuela Lozza has participated in all aspects of development, presentation of the products and the demanding economic and organizational management. In recent years, research and practice of materials have also led to the creation of an entire range of jewelry and clothing accessories, in the awareness of the intimate relationship that links health and beauty, therapeutic virtues and aesthetic “joy” of metals. And so rings, bracelets and necklaces flourish, but also anklets and belts and more, to allow “tactile” and constant, continuous contact with these very precious materials.

Urania and scientific research

A fundamental contribution to the knowledge of the action of metals and astral influences came from Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, Lili Kolisko and the group of young researchers who followed Rudolf Steiner and who were among the creators of the Scientific Section of the Goetheanum. From that group also came the development of specific laboratory methodologies for the study and verification of the action of planetary forces on the dynamics and biology of the planet. The so-called “Image Methodologies” that involve the experimenter both on the rational-intellectual level and in aesthetic-moral participation. These methods were then adopted in many laboratories and by numerous researchers throughout Europe, in the United States and, currently, also in the Far East, in South America, in Australia. Among the many, the personality of Dr. Alla Selawry stands out, who gave a highly significant contribution to the growth of “metallo-therapy” and who personally collected the legacy of Eherenfried Pfeiffer by developing to the maximum degree, in the second half of the 20th century, the potential of Sensitive Crystallization both with regard to the study of the vitality/genuity of organic and food substances and the diagnostic possibilities in the field of human health. Currently the methods of Sensitive Crystallization (Pfeiffer), Capillary Dynamolosis (Kolisko) and Pfeiffer Horizontal Chromatography are carried out by the “Association for Sensitive Crystallization” in the same laboratories of Officine Urania, which is also its main financial support. The Association, in addition to its research program on the morphology of organisms and minerals, offers a quality evaluation service on the vitality of food to operators in agriculture and a specific “diagnostic orientation” tool to doctors and health therapist.