Homeopathy Celebrities on the couch: Gary Mulgrew, lone wolf

Gary Mulgrew by David Silver, Flickr.com

He was one of the “Natwest three”: three British bankers who were charged with fraud linked to Enron's downfall, and extradited to US for trial.

At the time there was a great uproar against what was called an ambivalent law that allowed British citizens to be deported to the US without any further explanation under the terrorism act.

In this country what they did, although it breached their contract with Natwest, was classed as "theft of opportunity", but in the US they faced a much more serious charge of elaborated fraud against Eron.

Mulgrew’s background:

He was born in Glasgow in 1962. The youngest of three boys, still a baby when they were all taken into care, when their mother and she couldn’t cope after their father left .

At four he and his brothers were moved to an orphanage, two years later their mum was finally able to take them back.

By then Gary’s psyche had been permanently damaged by a sense of guilty and self- blame from being abandoned, a desperate need for other people’s approval and a pathological fear of the dark.

His father eventually made contact with him when he was 11yrs and from then on they started to forge a relationship.

He has recently been release from jail and has just published a book: Gang of One


His book focuses on the time he spent at a notorious prison in the USA: Big Spring Federal Correction Institution.

It’s his account of the process that led up to his conviction and the time spent  in the notorious violent and lawless jail in the US, which he describes as a social experiment: a Big Brother House full of psychos, where a cell is like a warehouse with 80 inmates living in there.

He's donating most of the proceedings from the book’s sales to charity, and his main motivation for writing is the hope that it will help him to make contact with his missing daughter.

He has two children; Callum was 8yrs and Cara Katrina 5yrs at the time
Gary's process started. Gary and their mother had divorced two years earlier and while Callum chose to live with him, Cara shared her time between both parents. He believes that she is now living in Tunisia with her mum who re-married a Tunisian, but he has not heard from them since.

Coping with the absence of his daughter Cara Katrina:

He wants his book to be a record for her, while she's gone, to prove to her "that I was always trying, that she was always loved and it wasn't her fault.” He blamed himself from being abandoned by his father as a child and he is concerned that his daughter might feel the same way.

Some of his quotes:
He admits of being plagued by self-doubt and a need for other people’s approval throughout his life:

He describes it as "a powerful sense of self-doubt and a terrible need to be liked, even when he found himself at the very top of the money tree."

Recalling his orphanage report years later brings him a mixture of sadness for the child he once was and of anger towards the way he was treated:

"It was heartbreaking. It was terrible. I had once given somebody something, a cross or something, to 'be my best friend'. They describe me as a 'needy child'. I'm kind of pissed off about that, because why wouldn't you be.... Of course I was needy.

On the love for his children he says:

"Your love for your children doesn't diminish, it just doesn't. And it's very, very difficult to, um… it's difficult to see… to function normally, right?

On how he copes with his daughter’s absence:

I have to feel every day that I've done just a little bit. It just helps me."

He shows a determination to not let go of his children, to cope only through doing something every day towards them.

His fears:

Fear of the dark from being locked in a garage as a punishment at his orphanage.

He makes lists of his fears and tries to work through them using word association and grading them between bad and catastrophic. He admits having made many decisions in his life and even in his banking career by using this method.

On the days running up to conviction he worked through his apprehension about the impending prison sentence by making the following list: "PRISON" "rape", then "buggery". "Shagged". "Buggery" again. Then "violence", "darkness", "murder", "extortion", "blackmail", "bitch", "knives", "death", "gangs", "gang rape".

He admits never having been very brave.

He feels easily cornered and has always been afraid of violence, trying to avoid direct conflict with anyone, even in his short career as a bouncer he always tried to be nice.

In prison he refused to be associated with any of the gangs: they were notoriously violent towards anyone who didn’t belong. He managed to remain neutral and even when witnessing some of his fellow inmates being assaulted he didn’t intervene in order not to attract the same sort of violence towards himself.

If his people-pleasing tendencies were part of what made him so successful,  they were also his downfall.

On his career progression from bank cashier to running the high profile Greenwich Natwest investment division, he says that he was good at it, and fast-tracked by supportive bosses. He admits that he was proud of belonging to the Bankers' fold.

"I got paid a phenomenal amount of money. And I'll tell you something, I never asked for it. I was amazed when I got it, and what it meant for me was… Me! Me. Look at me. I've made it in this business, I can't bloody believe it. I think I had moments of extreme arrogance."

His father referring to his success in the City once sent him a letter saying: "Congratulations. Looks like you've finally beaten me." Later he elaborated: “You've always been driven by me. You've always wanted to beat me.”

He admits being "dazzled" by Fastow, the man who led him to the Enron infamous deal :

"He's the CFO of America's hotshot company, he's 36 years of age, an Ivy League guy. He has all those nice things in life: nice teeth, nice hair, shakes your hand properly. So when he offered me the investment, if he'd asked me to invest in a pizza parlour with him, I would have done it."

After they’d done the deal, Gary had second thoughts but he didn’t act on those:

"Of course, I was fascinated about how he had made so much money on the Swap Sub deal. And, of course, I never asked him. I thought about asking him, but instead I decided to act like I did that every Tuesday, that I was cool. And when I look at that now I just… I think I was a horse's arse. Those are the kind of bits where I think I must have been polluted by it. All I did was thank him. 'Thanks very much, that was great. Maybe we'll do some more in the future.' I just stood there like a big diddy. And that's dreadful, I think."

He has a tendency for blaming himself, both for his mistakes and for events out of his control:

He and his two colleagues took the plea bargain rather than fighting the case: losing would mean at least 20 years in prison instead of the 37 months sentence they got.

When asked if he was guilty he says: “In law, it's a fact that I'm guilty. I am guilty. Definitely, I have to be. I went to jail."

He blamed himself for his father’s abandonment as a child and he blames himself now for having abandoned his own children while serving his prison term.

When he had his son he couldn’t speak to his father for a while as the sense of abandonment he experienced as a baby became in more evident. Later he explained to his father: 'I didn't speak to you because I had a son, and I couldn't believe that you had f**** off and not been there. I can't understand that. I would never leave my kids.”

Now he blames himself: "I left them to go to prison. And everything that has gone wrong since."

He is a loner, brought out of his clan, his family from an early age.

He's never been able to integrate since.

He’s been through life always looking for approval looking for brethren to belong too.

For a while It seemed that he’d found it amongst the bankers, but still his continuous need for approval and for making friends, combined with arrogance and the pride of thinking that he could beat the system and make a quick buck got him in trouble.

In jail he couldn’t associate himself with a gang either, unable to find common ground with any of them.

In society he still finds himself as a pariah, he says: 'People get much more bent out of shape about me being an ex-banker than they do about me being a convicted fraudster. He jokes:  ' Convicted fraudster was the first step of my rehabilitation."

Gary’s Homeopathy prescription is Lac Lupinum:

Lac Lupinum is one of the homeopathic milk remedies, it's Wolf's milk.

All the milks are important for addressing childhood abandonment, lack of self-confidence, feelings of being unloved, and phobias that stem from childhood trauma.

Lac Lupinum has a particular concern about children, about caring for them and protecting them.

The wolves live in close knit community. Every group has a well-defined hierarchy, with the alpha female running the pack: every member knows exactly their place, and their function.

Contrarily to traditional tales, wolves tend to avoid direct confrontation and seldom attack a human unless they have no choice.

They only take sick or old animals which are an easy prey.

They never abandon a member of their pack when sick, old or wounded, it is normally the doomed animal that choses to isolate itself if they feel they are going to die.

Lac Lupinum patients have a deep need for integration: they feel outsiders in their own family, they crave approval and recognition, and they have to compete for status. They are very concious of being shuned by their community and have a deep fear of falling from grace: for them acceptance is a question of survival: if a wolf is forced to leave the pack it may not survive, as they hunt in group.

Wolves are responsive to the Full Moon: they need light, and they are particularly active during this period.  They are also fascinated by fire: another source of light.

Gary’s real clan is his family

It's been blown apart by his own acts, he admits, but he is determined to make emends and not to give up until they can be reunited again – he knows what's like to grow up without a father…


By the Undercover Homeopath

Further reading on Milks in homeopathy:
http://urbanhealing.hubpages.com/hub/Milk-in-homeopathy-a-spiritual-perspective

Homeopathy celebrities on the couch: Kweku Adoboli, UBS brittle rough trader

Kweku Adoboli by El mostrador mercados, Flickr.com

The not so rogue trader, a soft, sensitive man. 

And a man of many ladies at least that’s what his neighbour says…
according to the same neighbour, whose favourite book was that written by a Wall Street man who claimed to

“party like a rock star and live like a king”

A man who kept himself to himself ( the nosey neighbour again!) who worked in finance and was trusted with the responsibility of dealing with huge amounts of money.

He comes from a strong religious background. He was Quaker educated, and his class mates recall how he would make motivational speeches about family values and about how his dad inspired him to be the best, yet kind and considerate towards others.

When stress kicked in, and the risk to be caught gambling other people's money as a UBS trader, his psyche threatening to crumble under the permanent stress, he confessed to his neighbour (that neighbour again!) that he needed a "miracle"...

In the end there was no miracle, and he decided to "jump rather then be pushed" confessing to his superiors what he had done.

His father, a former United Official has come in to offer support - he has pleaded with the Media to give his son a chance to be heard, he has claimed his son to be an honest man! 

Yet his son hasn't not spoken in court, has not offered a justification for what he's done, has not even entered a plea: guilty or Innocent.

Kweku's Homeopathic Remedy is Aurum Carb:

This remedy is all about gaining trust and respect. A lack of self-esteem and a constant fear of disappointing those in a position of authority causes the person who needs Aurum Carb to seek to prove to themselves further and further by assuming tasks where they are trusted to look after others within their family or clan.

Although they are ambitious and seek a status and responsibility, they are too weak be at the top of hierarchy, instead they need their self-worth to be validated by a father figure in their life.

This remedy is a salt, a combination of two elements: Gold and Carbon:

In the case of Kweku Adoboli, the "Gold" aspect of the remedy represents the social status and responsibility in the financial world as well as his religious background, and the need to keep dark secrets - those that would cause a fall from status if revealed.

Aurum has a suicidal tendency:

"Jumping rather than pushed" is very much part of the Aurum profile with its need to remain in control until the very end, even if this means having to take a dramatic action: it is the typical remedy deep depression with suicidal thoughts of jumping from high places.

The "Carbon" aspect of the remedy represents his sensitivity and vulnerability, as well as the strong paternal values. The individuals requiring Carbonicum remedies have a deep need for paternal guidance and approval. They define themselves by their father's status, and they try hard not to tarnish their family name - for them it is a question of acceptance too - being shunned by their family is the worth thing that could happen to them.

His week long trial has began today. He is quoted saying, while chocking back the tears:

"It isn't about a bank. It was about what I thought was my family, considering how much I neglected my real friends and family.

"Every single bit of effort I put into that organisation was for the benefit of the bank, the people around me and the book I worked on.

"If I was not so proud to work for UBS, I would never put so much effort trying to convince them that we could achieve something at this bank."

"To find yourself in Wandsworth Prison for nine months because all you did was work so hard for this bank..."

His father said in his defence:

"He wanted to make sure we could build something we could all be proud of," Mr Adoboli said.

By the Undercover Homeopath

Latest news on the trial
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20103852

Occupy: a movement that cannot be suppressed, the homeopathic view

Hi guys I’m back!  Sorry that you had to put up with my cousin Ben for the last two weeks, but all things considered I think he did rather well. The main thing is that he’s now safely back home, with his Irish harp - no more blogging for him - at least not on my site!

After spending two weeks touring around the French countryside, doing what I do best: mingling with fellow homeopaths and nature lovers, sampling good food and wine - all in moderation, I get back to England to find that our streets have been taken over by the people’s power! 

Being a homeopath I am sympathetic to the movement! In homeopathy we believe in expression not suppression! 

Just like disease cannot be suppressed and needs to be allowed to run its course in order to be healed, social problems cannot resolved by suppression.

If we want to heal social problems we have to be able to let people express them. Oppression only works temporarily taking the problems deeper underground until the next eruption! 

A totalitarian political system approach preventing people from demonstrating and protesting is the equivalent to conventional medicine approach to disease: you can temporarily suppress the problem only to see it bursting up stronger in another organ – and an added disease! In politics this erupting reaction to suppression is called “Revolt” in conventional medicine is called “sorry there nothing else I can do for you“.

In politics we need to build infrastructures to allow for a strong and healthy social fabric, in health we need to boost a patient’s immune system to allow them to fight disease! The more toxic we become, both psychologically and physically the less able we are to think for ourselves or to heal ourselves!

Analyzing the Occupy Wall Street protest and the way it has now spread to the rest of the world, I can sense its energy.  It corresponds to the energy of Helium and Hydrogen - together they form the first group of the periodic table. The first group of the periodic table pertains to the beginning of life - for the universe it is Big Bang, for us humans is the embryonic stage, it is a seed, an egg, an idea. 

It is an energy that simply exists without doing anything yet.  It relates the wholeness, and the first creative impulse. It carries a great desire for unity.  It is cosmic energy - the universe is made mostly of Hydrogen and Helium. Our Sun is composed of 99% of these two gases too. 

The Occupy protesters have claimed to be the 99%! 

In their quest for unity, they claim a majority of 99% against the 1% of greedy corporations. And just like the Sun rises into a new dawn marking the beginning of a new day so does the Occupy movement is rising into the beginning of a new order! 

What this new order will bring us only time will tell but it sure is uniting people with its call for the need to re-access social values - highlighting the social failure of an economic and political system based on greed that doesn’t take into account it’s people’s needs.  It’s calling for a new system where governments are no longer manipulated by the financial interests of a few large corporations. 

The  power of the Occupy movement lays in the fact that it doesn’t have a clear direction nor strategy: It’s able to mobilize us all into being free to take action against the current economic and political system - let’s just hope that it doesn’t get hijacked by opportunistic lesser causes.    

The OCCUPY Movement has quickly spilled from Wall Street and is alive and well in many cities around the world!  It is a peaceful protest - let’s hope it is allowed to remain peaceful and not forced to react to authoritarian forces attempting to suppress it… do not underestimate the power of this seemingly passive protest: it has the potential to become quite volatile and explosive if repressed - let’s not forget  how flammable and explosive Hydrogen is  - remember the Hydrogen bomb?

OWS is making ripples of change, one drop at the time.

And I dare say that if the Bible was written today God would say: “Go forth and #Occupy!”  It’s just that the traditional “Go forth and multiply” has created a population of seven billion and rising, and consuming the way we do, we are putting an enormous strain on nature’s resources. 

#Occupy could bring a much needed solution!

     

  

 

Homeopathy Celebrities on the couch - Giles Fraser, the salt of the earth

This week the Undercover Homeopath analyses Giles Fraser's psychological profile according to homeopathy principles, and prescribes a homeopathic remedy.


Giles Fraser, a man of the Church, is my choice as the Celebrity in need of attention this week, so he is my couch!

The cannon chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral has just resigned. 

Now, there are resignations and resignations. 

Often when we hear the word resignation we are compelled into thinking of someone corned into a tight spot when their improper behaviour has finally been found out, or someone with a large ego who is offended because they feel they have not been given the respect and recognition they deserve.

This is clearly not the case with Rev Giles Fraser.  He has resigned because he couldn’t conciliate his ideal of what the Church should be and what it really is in a particular incident of Occupy London movement.  As he puts it:  “(…) I feel that the church cannot answer a peaceful protest with violence”.  And then he becomes deeply moved, tears in his eyes when he mentions how he loved his work at St Paul’s.  He also mentions how he feels “terrified” about being out of work because he has a family to support, he has children… he also says that there is no question about his leaving the Church of England.

He comes across as a man of integrity

He puts his moral values before his own interests.  He cuts a figure of consistency as we have not often seen, either in the church or in politics.  And even when he talks about his concerns for his future, it is really the welfare of his dependants he is concerned about. 

Giles Fraser is a great example of a Natrum Muriaticum homeopathic constitution.  

This is a very well know homeopathic remedy in homeopathic circles. Some homeopaths even claim that the British as a population are of Nat Mur constitution. 

Although each individual will then have their own constitutional remedy type too depending on many factors, there is a general trend of stoicism when faced with personal difficulties, a refusal to indulge in self-pity, a desire to carry on their duties to society and to their families.  They can sometimes be perceived as cold due to their  “stiff upper lip” – they won’t cry when faced with extreme emotional hardship and yet can be moved to tears while watching a sad movie – they supress their own emotions but they allow themselves to be moved by other’s plight! 

Nat Mur is the remedy of the carers, the volunteers and the charity donors.  They are selfless, and they tend to support those weaker than themselves.  They are the people we refer to as “the salt of the Earth”, the “pillars of the community”.  And Giles Fraser has just joined the ranks!  As he says he didn’t set out to be a hero or a revolutionary.  He didn’t invite the protesters to camp at St Paul’s.  In fact he even asked them to move their tents back a little, to clear space for church goers and tourists to enter the Cathedral.  But he also asked the police to stand back and to not use violence in the church’s name for removing the protesters.  When asked if the protesters would be allowed to attend the service he said that everyone was welcome – isn’t that what the church is supposed to be about?

I’m not a religious person myself, but I can see that Giles Fraser with his spontaneous gesture of tolerance, inclusion and high values of social justice might have done more for the church’s public relations than any PR campaign could have done.  That’s what I call “Christ Consciousness” – something I definitely believe in!

Undercover Homeopath