What is Aranea diadema?

Aranea diadema is a homeopathic remedy. It is made from the European garden spider, whose Latin name is Araneus diadematus. People also call that spider the papal cross spider, because of the cross-shaped mark on its back.

It is a single remedy, not a blend. Homeopaths have given it to people who feel chilled to the bone, and whose aches flare in cold, damp weather.

The remedy is made by soaking the whole spider and then diluting it over and over. Each step includes hard shaking. At the common 30C strength, none of the starting spider is left — only water, alcohol, or sugar pills.

Trials do not show a difference between homeopathic remedies and a placebo (a dummy pill). Long use in a tradition is a record of what people did, not proof that it works. This page reports both of those things, separately.

How does Aranea diadema work?

Short answer: no one has shown a way it could work.

Homeopathy rests on two ideas. The first is "like cures like" — a substance that causes symptoms in a well person is used, in tiny amounts, for a sick person with similar symptoms. The second is that diluting and shaking makes a remedy act more strongly.

Neither idea fits what we know about chemistry or the body. At 30C there is nothing left in the pill to act on you.

Some people do feel better after taking it. That fits what we expect from a placebo (a dummy pill), from care and attention, and from illnesses that ease on their own with time.

What forms does Aranea diadema come in?

Most people buy it as small white pills.

These pellets are made of lactose (milk sugar) or sucrose (cane sugar). The liquid remedy is sprayed on and dried.

Liquid drops are also sold. They are usually water mixed with alcohol.

Strengths are printed as 6C, 30C, 200C, 6X or 30X. A higher number means more dilution steps were used. Aranea diadema is most often sold at 6C or 30C.

Where it comes from:

Aranea diadema has been used in homeopathy since the 1800s.

German homeopaths wrote it up in the mid-1800s, among them Eduard von Grauvogl. He linked it to people who felt worse in cold, damp places, such as cellars and river valleys.

Later authors copied his notes into the materia medica (the reference books that list homeopathic remedies). It has never been a leading remedy. Its use stays inside homeopathy alone.

What does Aranea diadema help with?

• Feeling cold deep in the bones: This is the classic picture homeopaths link to the remedy. The person feels cold from the inside out, and a warm room does not fix it. No trial has tested Aranea diadema for this.
• Aches that flare in cold, damp weather: Old homeopathic texts describe pain that is worse before rain or in a damp house. This is a pattern from case notes, not from testing. If your joints hurt most days, ask a doctor about the cause.
• Nerve pain in the face (neuralgia): Tradition suggests it for face pain that comes and goes at set times. There is no controlled study of the remedy for nerve pain. Face pain that keeps coming back needs a real diagnosis.
• Aching in the long bones of the arms and legs: Homeopathic texts describe a deep, boring ache in the shin and forearm bones. No human study supports this use. New, steady bone pain should always be checked by a doctor.
• Numbness and tingling in the hands: The old remedy picture includes hands that feel dead or swollen on waking. This has never been tested in a trial. Numbness that spreads or comes on suddenly is an emergency sign, not a home-remedy sign.
• Symptoms that return at the same hour each day: Homeopaths treat this clock-like pattern as a strong pointer to Aranea diadema. It comes from 19th-century case reports. No modern research supports it.
• Toothache that wakes you at night: Tradition mentions tooth pain that starts after you lie down. A tooth that hurts at night usually means decay or infection. See a dentist — a diluted remedy will not treat either.
• Chills and fever that come in cycles: In the 1800s this remedy was used for malaria-type fevers that returned on a schedule. That use is historical only. Cycling fever, especially after travel, needs urgent medical testing.

Which foods are rich in Aranea diadema?

You cannot get this from your diet, and there is no food that boosts or blocks it.

What are the side effects of Aranea diadema?

• Usually nothing at all, because there is nothing active left at 30C
• A small amount of sugar from the pills
• A small amount of alcohol from the liquid drops
• Stomach upset or a rash: rare, and usually a reaction to the carrier, not the remedy
• A short flare of symptoms, which homeopaths call an aggravation; this has not been shown to be caused by the remedy
• Delay in getting treatment that does work: the most serious risk on this list

Good to know:

Direct harm from this remedy is very unlikely at normal strengths.

That is simply because there is no measurable substance in it. The real danger is what you might not do — see a doctor, take a needed medicine, or get a test — while you wait for pills to help.

How much Aranea diadema should you take?

• Recommended daily: There is no proven dose, because no trial has found an effect to dose for. In practice, homeopaths suggest 3 to 5 pills of 6C or 30C, taken by mouth and allowed to melt under the tongue. This is often repeated one to three times a day for a short spell. Follow the label on the pack you bought. Do not take a mother tincture (the first, undiluted extract) without guidance from a trained practitioner.
• Best time of day: There is no proven best time. Homeopaths usually suggest taking it away from meals, drinks and toothpaste, often on waking and at bedtime.
• With or without food: Usually taken without food. The common advice is to avoid eating, drinking or brushing your teeth for about 15 minutes either side of a dose.
• Time to effect: No reliable time can be given, because no trial has shown an effect beyond a placebo (a dummy pill). If you feel better, expect it to happen in the same rough timescale as the illness easing on its own.
• How long to take it: Keep any trial short — about one to two weeks. If nothing has changed in that time, stop and rethink. Do not keep taking it month after month while a problem goes untreated.