Portuguese man-of-war

(Physalia physalis)

The Portuguese man-of-war is a very strange formation. We are not dealing with a single animal, but with an entire colony of organisms. It consists of several animals of the same species that have joined together and act as and seem to be a single animal. Imagine: a blue animal, partially transparent, filled with air, which is sailing on the sea. In this colony, its members are usually closely related and the tasks necessary to survive are frequently distributed. The Portuguese man-of-war belongs to the hydrozoans and it resembles a jellyfish. An animal forms a gas-filled bladder which sits above the water and somewhat resembles an old warship at full sail. The bladder is dragged on the surface of the water by the current and it is approximately 15 to 25 cm. The blue polyps are clustered there. The tentacles can reach up to 20 meters long.

The Portuguese man-of-war belongs to the Hydrozoa which is a subgroup of cnidarians containing approximately 3,300 species around the world. The stinging, venom-filled nematocysts in the tentacles of the Portuguese man-of-war can paralyze small fish and they can be mortal for human beings. The hydrozoas catch their prey with their tentacles, as carnivores, they are fed with some fish and other small creatures. Some of the tentacles have polyps to catch and hold the prey, others are used for the digestion process others for procreation, which may be sexual or asexual. The Portuguese man-of-war can be found in almost every tropical and subtropical seas of the world. They have no independent means of propulsion and either drift on the currents or catch the wind with their pneumatophores. Their reputation as dangerous is well founded.

When these blue animals appear on the surface of the water, the danger is always extreme. Divers and swimmers can be tangled with their tentacles. Their stings can generate third- degree burns, which, depending on the concentration and the amount of venom, can be deadly to human beings. From the energy point of view, the presence of the animal always brings deep cleaning, mainly of harmful energies. Once we wanted to go to the sea with a group, but the couple that was going to accompany us had had a tremendous fight some time before. As soon as they arrived, we could feel the charged atmosphere of hatred which reigned between them. While in the sea we could not spot whales or dolphins because of the energy emanating from the boat, but we ran into a large group of beautiful Portuguese Man-of-War and that had a clarifying effect. The

Portuguese man-of-war in Mythology: The name man-of-war comes from an 18th-century armed sailing ship and the cnidarian's supposed resemblance to the Portuguese version at full sail. In Greek mythology, Medusa was a female sea monster that turned all who looked her directly into the eyes into stone. She was beheaded by Perseus.

Dreams: It represents dangerous situations and the need for a thorough cleaning deep in our vital environment.

Body level: The essence acts on the elimination of toxins from our body. It boosts the lymph and the detoxification processes, acts on the gallbladder and bladder, promotes the expulsion of toxins through urine. (See also the practical part of Dr. Spitzer).

Emotional: The essence helps in completely poisoned emotional situations, when there´s only hatred during people´s interaction. It provides a strong clarification and cleaning of energies. The negative energy fades and it creates a new clean atmosphere. As soon as we work with the essence, the atmosphere of rooms full of negative energy is instantly cleaned.

Spiritual: People learn to control and understand their emotions. We learn that what bothers us in the other person is always the mirror of our own being or our own behavior. We are reminded that we are all one and so we can interact freely.