There is far more information about substances than just materia medica which can be useful. Pay attention to what you know about a family. Snakes are caught by grasping them around the neck. The venom of Crot-h and Crot-c is very similar; might that mean the remedies are quite similar? Snakes are a symbol of good vs evil and of consciousness; does this correspond to anything we see in the proving? Most homeopathic substances were used in ancient times; what were they used for? Etc.

This type of information can be invaluable to put proving information into a context. Of course it is easy to over fantasize and create "air castles". One needs to stay well grounded in materia medica so as not to distort the beautiful images of the provings.