Wednesday 8 August 2012

Homeopathy celebrities on the couch: Sid Vicious, vitriolic

sex pistols sid vicious john simon richie - ©s. fitzstephens-1978->2006©
Sid Vicious , by s76fitz , Flickr.com



This is the story of a sweet, goofy and shy boy, named John Simon Ritchie.

Before you think that I’ve got my posts mixed up, let me reassure you: yes, I’m writing about Sid Vicious - member of the Sex Pistols, and one of the most infamous punk rockers of all times!
Born in South London, in 1957 to military parents, his mother with RAF and his father a guardsman at Buckingham Palace, who also played trombone in London Jazz clubs.
By the time Ritchie was 2 years old, his father had abandoned the family, and his mother was struggling for financial support, often having to move to find temporary work. At some point, in an attempt to solve her housing problem, she claimed to be a heroin addict so that they would get priority for social housing. Living amongst heroin addicts, she soon became one too.

It was in 1973 London punk scene that Ritchie and John Lyndon ( best known as Johnny Rotten) first met, and Ritchie changed his name to Sid Vicious, after Lyndon’s hamster called Sid.

And just like Lyndon’s hamster otherwise known for his tame and docile character, all the sudden turning vicious and biting Ritchie’s finger; so this otherwise shy boy, a fan of David Bowie, and interesting clothes, turned into: Sid Vicious!
The pair squatted together and sang Alice Cooper to the tune of Sid Vicious tambourine, this proved to be a mix success as people paid just to get them to stop.
Sid Vicious liked Vivienne Westwood clothes, and was often seen at her shop: SEX, where some claim he probably did more shoplifting than buying.
A fan of the Sex Pistols, he was always at their gigs, and when their bass player Glen Matlock left, he was a natural replacement.
For some he was a dedicated musician who could learn quickly, and would never give up, for others someone who couldn’t play to save his life.

In one thing all who’ve seen him on stage seem to agree: Sid Vicious was, and still is to this day, the charisma, and the attitude of Punk Rock.

A drug user, of mostly amphetamine sulphate, and speed, he would go on stage, with his bare chest and arms slashed, words such as: “Give me a Fix” carved in his flesh, purple nail polish, and a chain and padlock, to which he’d lost the key, around his neck.
He often abused his audience, verbally and physically, but they loved him for that…moving in the room to whatever side of the stage Sid happened to be, just to be closer to him.
Sid Vicious, did not become an heroin addict until he met his girlfriend Nancy Spungen, an American Sex Pistols groupie, who had been a heroin addict since 14 years old.

Soon Sid, Nancy and heroin became an inseparable trio.

After a turbulent few months with the band’s manager trying to get him to kick the habit, and even attempting to have Nancy kidnapped and sent back to America, Sid left the band and started a solo career with Nancy Spungen as his manager.
Within less than a year they were both death. Nancy found murdered in the room they shared at the infamous Chelsea Hotel in New York, Sid unable to recall what happened, but hounded by the thought that he might had been the one plunging his knife into his lover’s stomach.
Soon after he hooked up with another girl, Michele Robinson, and continued his descent into a path of no return, drug taking, drinking and getting involved in fights at his own gigs, he was eventually arrested and charged with Nancy’s death.

Whilst in jail, he was deprived of heroin, ridden with remorse for a crime he didn’t know if he’d committed or not, and grieving for Nancy, he was repeatedly assaulted and raped.

Fifty five days later he was released on bail. His new girlfriend and his mum organized a small party to welcome him home. At this party he overdosed on heroin but refused to go to hospital afraid of being taken back to jail. Seemly recovered, he went to bed never to wake up again. On his jacket’s pocket a suicide note telling his mother that he and Nancy had a suicide pact, and that he wished to be buried next to her.
He didn’t get his last wish, as his mum only find the note after he had been cremated, but his ashes were scattered over Nancy’s grave at the Jewish cemetery where she is buried.
A tale of two lovers who loved each other to the bitter end, but destroyed each other in the process.

Sid Vicious remedy is Sulphuric Acid:

Highly corrosive and extremely dangerous, it was popular in 19th and early 20th Century medicine, in diluted form: known as Elixir of Vitriol, and used to treat lead poisoning, and some stomach complaints.
As a homeopathic potency this remedy has been used to treat patients whose personality alternates between complete dejection and sardonic disposition. The patient feels that everything must be done in a hurry, eventually leading to a state of total apathy.
This remedy has been used in advanced alcoholic states.
People who can benefit from this remedy give great importance to their love life, and they tend to form relationships where it’s all or nothing. Although they can be very loving and caring to their partners they can also be cynical and sarcastic, especially if they feel they are not being loved back with the same intensity.
They are fiery people, who can descend into fractious icy cold states where everything becomes disappointing and pointless. They lack consistency in what they do as they cannot keep up their intensity without suffering from burnt out.
Physically they can suffer from an internal tremor sensation all over their body, without an external cause. A sensation as if a lump in throat. Many blurred vision symptoms and hearing distortions.
Little is known about Sid Vicious physical condition, apart from a stay in hospital due to jaundice: a liver condition that causes yellowing of the skin.
At a psychological level it is however easier to understand how well the characteristics of this remedy fit his controversial, short, and tormented, but inspired existence.


By the Undercover Homeopath