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MB: It
is believed that Hahnemann was a Freemason and his association with
this secret organization was responsible for the vitalistic concepts
of Homeopathy. To what extent is this true?
DL: First and foremost, Hahnemann’s teachings on the vital
force are influenced by Hippocrates and his teachings on Physis,
the healing power of nature. Hippocrates also taught that similars
cured similars and medicines should be given alone in a minimal
amount. He, above all others, was the source of Hahnemann’s inspiration.
Hahnemann was also influenced by the Hippocratic medical school
at Montpellier, France. This includes the teachings of Dr. Stahl
on the Anima Mundi and the Vital Principle and Dr. Barthez on synergy
and the Force Vitale. These are not occult concepts, but rather,
the faithful observations of personages such Pythagoras and Hippocrates
whose teachings are the foundation of Western music, mathematics,
physics, philosophy and medicine. This vitalist tradition is more
than 2,500 years old.
This does not mean that Hahnemann was not influenced by the free
thinking of the Deist philosophers of the Age of Reason and his
affiliation with the Masons. In fact, the teachings in aphorism
9 about the indwelling, rational spirit freely using the living,
healthy instrument for the higher purposes of existence comes from
Masonic writings. Hahnemann clearly stated that the study of philosophy
was essential, especially to the practice of the healing arts. He
was truly a man of the Enlightenment who spoke a great number of
languages and could read original Greek, Latin and Arabic texts.
He was also familiar with the teaching of Confucius and the oriental
philosophers. There is no need to be ashamed of all this knowledge
and wisdom. It makes me proud that our Founder was such a well rounded,
educated human being.
MB: Some people also believe
that the 6th edition of Organon was either written or
heavily influenced by Melanie. Some even see some possible contribution
of Boenninghausen’s son. Is there any merit in these doubts? Is
there any evidence to support such beliefs?
DL: We know from letters that Hahnemann had finished at least
most of his manuscript of the 6th Organon by 1842,
although it appears that he added a few passages in 1843. If one
studies the 4th and 5th editions of the Organon
and the prefaces of the various editions of the Chronic Diseases
one clearly sees the development of the system that finds its final
form in Hahnemann’s last work. This is a step by step process that
began in 1810 and progressed though the 1820s, 1830s to the early
1840s. The teachings of the 6th Organon did not
appear in a vacuum as if they came out of nowhere. They are the
natural progression of all that came before.
These teachings are mirrored in the Paris casebooks (1835-1843),
where one finds the elements of pharmacy and practice that appear
in the 6th edition. This includes the LM potency, medicinal
solution, olfaction, single doses, split-doses, and repeating the
remedy to speed the cure when necessary, etc. We also have the eye
witness account of Reverend Everest who observed Hahnemann’s development
of the LM potency. Dr. Croserio, a close colleague of Hahnemann,
wrote about how the Founder used his remedies in his final years.
Boenninghausen also wrote about the 6th Organon
and shared two LM cases Hahnemann sent to him in 1843. The information
in these letters and articles, the prescriptions of the French casebooks
from the 1840s, and passages from the 6th Organon
all match very well.
The original manuscript of the 6th Organon
is in the library at Stanford Medical School in California, USA
and has been shown to be authentic. There is no trace of Melanie’s
or Karl von Boenninghausen’s handwriting in this document. Most
of the work is in Samuel’s handwriting, although a few passages
seem to have been dictated to a secretary. Richard Haehl also added
a few notes that may have been reconstructions of damaged parts.
I think individuals would be much better served by a deeper study
of Hahnemann’s writings and applying them in the clinic, than imagining
that Hahnemann’s final work is a forgery.
MB: There
have been many debates about the accuracy of the English translations
of the Organon. Do you feel that the translations have had an effect
on the proper understanding of Hahnemann’s words? If yes, to what
extent?
DL: Well, this is a very valid area to discuss but in a
positive, educational manner. Of course, there are flaws in the
English translations but not every German-speaking person agrees
on what the Organon says either! It is written in a classical
aphoristic style in long complex sentences in old fashioned German
and uses some out-of-date medical terms. In fact, it is the last
of the great medical classics in the tradition of Pythagoras and
Hippocrates.
To understand the Organon one needs a background in the
teachings of the Greek naturalists as well as medical history and
the medical philosophy of Hahnemann’s times. The Organon
cannot be comprehended only intellectually by persons that do not
practice classical Homoeopathy. This is because to understand Hahnemann’s
work takes years of clinical experience in the methods under discussion.
For these reasons, no one, German or English-speaking, can speak
for Hahnemann. All we can do is our best and work together.
Every homoeopath should look for a deeper understanding of important
German words like Gestalten, Stimmung, Verstimmung, Geist, Gemuet,
Lebenskraft, etc. We should all try to understand the meaning of
the key phrases in their original context. For example, Boericke
translated the German word “Gesammtheit” as the totality when Hahnemann
spoke of the totality of the symptoms but he did not differentiate
when Hahnemann actually used the word “Inbegriff” instead.
The term Inbegriff means essence, inner idea, or the nature
of a phenomenon. The root of the word, Inbegriff is the verb “begreifen”,
which means to touch, to handle, to comprise, to comprehend, to
understand in the sense of coming in contact with something. This
means that we not only need to collect the totality of the symptoms,
we also need to grasp their essential nature so we understand their
meaning. This idea is completely lost in the English translations.
So we all, German and English speaking persons, need to study the
philosophy and terminology of our classical works more fully. Hahnemann
worked with a host of languages including those of the Ancients.
He did not rely on second hand information when it came to important
words and their meanings. Perhaps we should do likewise.
MB: Since
the time of Kent, the trend to give more importance to the mental
symptoms has come in vogue. Is there any historic evidence on why
Kent gave so much emphasis on the mental symptoms?
DL: In his comments on taking a case Kent discussed using
the mental state as the primary elimination rubrics because he felt
that these rubrics were cardinal confirmatory symptoms. Nevertheless,
when one studies Kent’s cases, letters to his colleagues, and commentaries
on the materia medica, one finds that he did not prescribe predominantly
on the basis of mental symptoms. For example, in Kent’s Lectures
on Materia Medica, he shared his observations of important mental
threads of the remedies, but he gave more time to their physical
generals and characteristic particular symptoms. To imagine that
Kent prescribed mostly on mental symptoms is a grand misnomer.
In a personal letter to Margaret
Tyler in 1912 Kent explained exactly how he took his cases in the
clinic. He wrote that first one should discover 3, 4, 5 or 6 symptoms
that are strange, rare and peculiar because “these are the highest
generals”. Then he states that it is important to make sure that
there are “no generals in the case that oppose or contradict” these
rubrics. Kent recommends “if the keynotes look like Pulsatilla,
see to it that she is NOT chilly, likes windows open, wants cool
air, to walk in open air, and is better from motion, thirstless,
tearful, and gentle”. In the Use of the Repertory Kent wrote
that there are “strange and rare symptoms, even in parts of the
body, which experienced physicians learn are so guiding that they
must be ranked in the higher and first classes [of symptoms].”
Kent opines that the keynote symptoms of our remedies are often
the most “characteristic symptoms” but if the keynotes are taken
as final and the generals do not conform, such a method leads to
failure. In this letter Kent called the strange, rare and characteristic
symptoms the “highest generals” and said nothing about the mental
symptoms per se. This is because the hierarchy of mental symptoms
is relative while the striking, exceptional, unusual and odd (characteristics)
symptoms of aphorism 153 of the Organon are absolute. Out
of the 109 cured cases Kent included in his Lesser Writings,
only 35 cases include mental symptoms and the other 74 cases are
built around redline characteristics and physical general symptoms.
This means Kent only recorded the mental symptoms in 33% of his
cured cases.
A rare, peculiar sensation
or unusual complaint of the body has a higher value than the common
mental symptom. The mental symptoms are only preeminent when they
are truly striking, uncommon, unusual and oddly characteristic.
Too many times remedies are given by stereotypical mental essences
in which the patient is pigeon holed into preconceived concepts
rather than matched to a uniquely constructed set of rubrics that
mirror the individual perfectly. After all, no two human beings
are exactly the same although some may be similar.
Since the time of Boenninghausen’s
Therapeutic Pocket Book the repertory was no longer just
a literal index of the symptoms found in the materia medica. It
is an open systems tool in which unique rubric segments can be combined
in an innumerable number of permutations that make up complete characteristic
symptoms that reflect the patient’s unique mind-body state.
In this way, it is possible to construct a portrait of the disease
in a manner that may have never been seen before and may never be
seen again yet the remedy has the potential to produce such a picture.
This artistic method can be applied to symptoms of the intellect,
emotional disposition, delusions, dreams, sensations as if, desires,
aversions and modalities in general as well as the uniquely constructed
characteristic symptoms found in the regions of the body. Such a
technique can only be carried out by those with a true understanding
of the repertory and materia medica, for they see characteristic
patterns where others see only chaos.
MB: Is
there any reference in Hahnemann’s writings in this relation? How
much importance did Hahnemann give to the mental symptoms?
DL: The first homoeopath to give
great emphasis to the mental symptoms was Samuel Hahnemann! He wrote
in aphorism 211 of the Organon that the “patient’s emotional
state often tips the scales in the selection of the homoeopathic
remedy”. He paid special attention to mental and emotional states
during the provings, and when collecting symptoms brought out on
patients under treatment. He integrated this material into homoeopathic
materia medica, which includes more psychological data than any
other system in medicine.
In 1875 and 1881 Hering published
his Analytical Repertory of the Symptoms of the Mind. In
this work, Constantine wrote “Every real follower of Hahnemann ought
to know what he said in his Organon, from the 1st to
the 5th, about the importance of the mind symptoms”.
Then Hering quotes aphorisms 88, 206, 211, 212 and 213. Hering’s
repertory is a unique study of the mental concomitants to physical
symptoms and vice versa. The importance of the mental symptoms has
been an integral part of Homoeopathy from the beginning.
Nevertheless, there are those who have taken the mental symptoms
to the extreme and fallen into the mind-only school. They tend to
ignore the physical generals and characteristic particular symptoms
and have little understanding of how to use locations, sensations,
and modifications to construct characteristic symptoms. They do
not seem to recognize that the feelings and sensations found in
the mind are also reflected by the feelings and sensations found
in the body, in unusual ways that represent symptoms of the highest
class.
It is important to learn how to use the unique “sensations as
if” found in the regions of the body and read the instinctive language
of the physical organism. Some imagine a rigid hierarchy that separates
the mind and body rather than perceive a synergetic mind-body complex
that acts as an integral unity. The instinctive body language of
the physical organism is a mirror image of the archetypal powers
of the psyche. To the careful observer these are two sides of the
same coin.
MB: Another
trend that has come up more recently, is not just to take the mental
symptoms of the person, but also the innate characteristics like
optimism, pessimism, etc., into account. Hahnemann said that in
a sick individual, we should notice nothing but the deviation in
the state of health. How appropriate is it to take into account
the characteristics that define the person in health, for deciding
the remedy?
DL: The first homoeopath to use
the qualities of the natural temperament as part of the overall
study of the totality of the symptoms was Samuel Hahnemann. The
Founder wrote about this in the Materia Medica Pura when
discussing Pulsatilla on page 345. First he noted that the successful
employment of remedies take place when both the physical symptoms
and the “mental and emotional alterations peculiar to the drug encounter
similar states in the disease to be cured, or at least in the temperament
of the subject of treatment”
Then he goes on to say that Pulsatilla will be most effective
when it matches the physical symptoms, and at the same time, “the
patient has a timid lachrymose disposition, with a tendency
to inward grief and silent peevishness, or at all events a mild
and yielding disposition, especially when the patient in his normal
state of health was good tempered and mild (or even frivolous and
good humouredly waggish). It is therefore especially adapted for
slow phlegmatic temperaments, on the other hand it is but little
suitable for persons who from their resolutions with rapidity, and
are quick in their movements, even those they may appear to be good
tempered”.
In the above portrait Hahnemann
compared the natural disposition of the patient when feeling well
(mild and yielding disposition, good tempered and mild, frivolous
and good humouredly waggish) with the emotional symptoms during
a time of distress (timid lachrymose disposition, inward
grief and silent peevishness). Then he stated that this remedy was
“especially adapted for slow phlegmatic temperaments”, and not suited
to those who make up their mind rapidly, are quick in their movements,
etc. This is the origin of the rubric “Well adapted to” in which
the first generation recorded innate Hippocratic temperaments, natural
dispositions and physical constitutions as guides in the selection
of homoeopathic remedies.
Understanding the natural disposition,
innate temperament, and physical constitution are teachings of Hippocrates
that were integrated into Homoeopathy by Samuel Hahnemann. This
study includes the four classical temperaments, the choleric, phlegmatic,
sanguine and nervous melancholic, as well as diathetic constitutions
like the scrofulous, bilious, tubercular, etc. This method compares
a patient’s natural temperament in a time of health and happiness
with emotional states during a time of illness and upset.
In aphorism 5 of the Organon
Hahnemann wrote that it was very important to understand the fundamental
cause of chronic disease and its relationship to the chronic miasms.
The Founder states that in this study of the condition of the bodily
physique, the character of the intellect and emotional disposition,
the occupation, lifestyle and habits, social and personal relationships,
age and sexual functions should be taken into account.
Hahnemann called these concomitants
the *attendant circumstances* as they offer insight into the diathetic
constitution, the character of the intellect and emotional temperament,
predispositions, susceptibility, inherited and acquired miasms as
well as the situational and environmental factors that affect the
patient. On this foundation, Hahnemann introduces the totality of
the objective signs, co-incidental befallments and subjective symptoms
that make up the gestalt of the disease in aphorism 6. Then in aphorism
7, 18 and 24 Hahnemann reminds homoeopaths that a complete case
history is based on causes, miasms, symptoms and the attendant circumstances.
These areas of study are part of the original homoeopathic paradigm
and very helpful when used in the manner originally intended by
Hahnemann.
Boenninghausen wrote in "Brief Directions for forming
a Complete Image of the Disease", that the practitioner
“should give a general image of the patient by stating his age,
the sex, the constitution, mode of living, occupation, and especially
the disposition when the persons was well. In many cases it is also
of importance to know other peculiarities, such as, e.g., the complexion,
the color of the hair, leanness or corpulence, whether slender or
thickset, etc.” In "A Contribution to the Judgment Concerning
the Characteristic Value of Symptoms", the Baron wrote
that the condition of the constitution and temperament should be
assessed for differences during times of health and illness.
Hering expanded on this area
of study in his Guiding Symptoms in a section called Stages
of Life and Constitutions. For example, Constantine wrote that Calcarea
was well adapted to Leucophlegmatic temperaments with light complexions,
blue eyes, blonde hair and fair skin; Fat persons; Nervous temperaments
with delicate constitutions; Plethoric women; Fat flabby children,
with red faces, who sweat and catch cold easily; For drunkards,
etc. One also finds other references to rubrics associated with
constitution, temperament, sex, age, lifestyle, habits, etc., in
the works of first generation of homoeopaths like Hahnemann, Hering,
Boenninghausen and Jahr as well as H.C. Allen, J. H. Allen, H. Roberts,
E. Whitmont, etc.
Although most modern commentaries lack a deeper understanding
of classical constitution and temperament, the inclusion of the
innate disposition in the study of homoeopathic remedies is an old
method. Some modern writers, however, depend too much on their patient’s
character traits and too little on the unique mental symptoms found
in individual remedies. This can lead to stereotypical pictures
where only one of several potential manifestations of a remedy is
recognized. Therefore, it is best not to fixate too much on preconceived
constitutional portraits at the cost of assessing the unique nature
of the totality of the symptoms in each individual patient. When
constitution and temperament, predisposition, occupation, talents,
habits, relationships, sexuality, and miasms are studied in the
proper manner it assists in finding homoeopathic remedies.
MB: You
said earlier that Hahnemann is the Alpha of Homeopathy. What will
be the Omega? Where are we headed?
DL: Constantine Hering felt that
Homoeopathy will be the Medicine of the Future. I believe this is
true. It may take 50 to 100 years before the establishment understands
the true nature of an energy medicine that depends on the reaction
of the vital force. At this time, orthodox medicine is still in
the chemical age where doctors think only in terms of molecular
structures. Homoeopathy transcends the chemical paradigm and works
in ways that are more akin to the four forces of physics. Hahnemann
pointed to this in the footnote to aphorism 11 when he spoke of
the dynamic power of remedies as being similar to universal energies
like electromagnetism and gravity.
Therefore, it will be physics not chemistry that provides the
answers when humanity evolves beyond the carbon age and into a pure
electrical age in which our world will be powered by renewable sources.
This transformation has already begun, but it will take time to
complete the process. A similar transformation will take place in
the realm of medicine. No longer will remedial powers be thought
to reside only in chemical structures. At some time in the future,
energy medicine will become main stream and the powers of the minimal
dose of the potentized remedy will be truly understood. This will
lead to an Omega that is beyond our wildest dreams.
MB: David,
I know you have been busy writing your 6 volume, 3000+ page compendium
for a long time. I would like to know the story behind this special
work of yours. How did it start and develop?
DL: My research started out of necessity. I became dissatisfied
with the Homoeopathy I was practicing for my first 8 years, although
it was not without its success. The door to change opened when I
first started reading the Organon seriously and discovered
that I did not really know what I was doing! Another problem was
that the first version of the Organon I read was the 6th
edition, which included the LM potency, medicinal solutions, and
split-doses, which no one knew anything about.
Then I found a version of the Organon that compared the
5th and 6th editions and had some passages
from 4th edition. I immediately came to realize that
the way I was practicing Homoeopathy was more similar to the dry
dose wait and watch method of the 4th Organon,
than the methodology contained in the 5th and 6th
editions. I was amazed that the methods Hahnemann introduced in
his last 10 years were virtually unknown. This led to my first work
on the subject, Hahnemann’s Advanced Methods, which I placed
on my website many years ago.
At that time, I began to study
as many eyewitness accounts as I could find in books, articles and
letters. Then I decided that it was very important for me to get
a firsthand look at Hahnemann’s casebooks so I could see how Hahnemann
actually gave his remedies in the clinic. With this goal in mind
I purchased the microfiches of the Paris casebooks (1835-1843) from
the Robert Bosch Institute, Stuttgart, Germany. They have been extremely
supportive and given me the rights to publish this information including
digital images of the prescriptions, etc.
Fortunately, my wife Jill reads French so we worked on translating
the cases into English. During this project we received great assistance
from our French and German colleagues. They helped us with the translations
and offered insights into the meanings of words and technical terms.
We also collected a good amount of information from Hahnemann’s
German casebooks for comparison. On the basis of Hahnemann’s writings,
casebooks, eyewitness accounts and personal letters, we were able
to reconstruct Hahnemann’s life and works in a manner never done
before. Then we applied these methods in a clinical environment.
After
this we expanded our research to include the works of Boenninghausen,
Hering and Jahr as they assisted Hahnemann in developing the original
Homoeopathic paradigm. In my studies I came to learn that Hahnemann
practiced a wide variety of methods that included acute remedies,
chronic remedies, acute intercurrents, chronic intercurrents, acute
genus remedies, chronic anti-miasmic remedies, as well as prophylactic
medicines. He also used a good amount of placebo to control his
patients during periods of waiting and watching.
Hahnemann’s clinical practice included a single remedy
over a longer period of time, the alternation of two single remedies,
the rotation of three anti-miasmic remedies, tandem remedies where
one remedy was placed in front of another remedy in a row, and a
sequence of medicines spread out over time. For the last 10 years
of his practice he delivered all these remedies in medicinal solution
or by olfaction, in single doses or series of doses depending on
the time and circumstances. This material expands the application
of homoeopathic remedies far beyond what many consider “classical
Homoeopathy”.
For these reasons and more, we decided that it
would be best to write the Homoeopathic Compendium, Volumes
I through VI. It is our hope these textbooks will provide students
and practitioners with a large amount of information not readily
available. At the same time, we wanted to counter the misinformation
about Hahnemann’s life and works spread by those who do not understand
the principles on which these methods are founded. There is no reason
to review this part of the discussion as we have already spoken
about it in great detail. The book will be out this year, hopefully
within the next few months.
MB: Can
you give us a sneak peek into the volumes? What can our readers
expect from the 6 volumes of this compendium, which I believe will
be historic in many ways?
DL: Volume 1, Philosophy and Practice, is a comprehensive
review of Hahnemann's life and works presented in such a manner
that the information becomes useful in the clinical environment.
It draws extensively on Hahnemann's German and Paris casebooks and
provides more detailed, documented material on this subject than
is found in any other work. It has chapters on medical history and
Hahnemann’s practice at the time of the 1st, 2nd,
3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th
Organon, as well as key points of his philosophy and clinical
methods. It also includes chapters on subjects like the cardinal
principles, Hahnemann’s biomedical view, the laws of natural healing,
the direction of cure, the treatment of acute and chronic diseases
and homoeoprophylaxis. Volume 1 paves the way for the material presented
in Volume II.
Volume II, Repertory &
Case Management, presents an in depth review of the repertory
and case taking methods of Hahnemann, Boenninghausen, Hering, Jahr,
Kent and Boger. This review points out the specialty of each of
these methods and concludes with a grand synthesis of all these
ideas brought up to date. The volume progresses to study a number
of case management strategies tailored to fit a wide variety of
clinical situations. It also discusses some modern innovations
and their place in the overall homeopathic paradigm. It has chapters
that explain the similarity and differences between the C and LM
potency and offers insights into when one potency system or the
other may be most useful. There are detailed discussions of sensitivity,
dose, potency and repetition and a study of remedy reactions. It
follows the process of cure from the first appointment to the completion
of the cure. Volumes I and II are companion works that offer a complete
commentary on the methodologies of the 4th, 5th and 6th Organon.
Volume III, Psora and Antipsoric Treatment, is the
most extensive text ever written on the nature of the chronic miasms
in general and the treatment of psora in particular. It presents
expanded lists of the primary, latent and secondary symptoms of
Psora and offers details on the treatment of the itch disease found
nowhere else. It presents an inclusive study of the cardinal anti-psorics
Sulphur, Lycopodium, Calcarea and Psorinum and gives a new, dependable
rubric of anti-psoric remedies. It contains sections on the anatomy
and physiology of the miasms and their interdependent origin and
shows how and why their symptoms arise as they do.
Volume IV, The Chronic Miasms and Cancer, presents
a review of the primary, latent, and secondary/tertiary symptoms
of sycosis, pseudopsora TB, syphilis, vaccinosis and new miasms
under the titles of hepatitis, lymphosis and HIV/AIDS. It also includes
a study of the cancer diathesis and offers symptoms of all its stages
with remedies. It covers the treatment of cancer from the constitutional
viewpoint as well as organ, tissue and system remedies. Volumes
III and IV acts as a commentary to Hahnemann’s Chronic Diseases
and introduce a great amount of new material.
Volume V, Constitution, Temperament and Maps of Consciousness,
is an extensive study of constitution, temperament and psychology.
The first part (Constitution and Temperament) is a comprehensive
review of diathetic constitutions, classical temperaments, predispositions
and disease states. It includes an examination of the anatomy, physiology,
physiognomy and the symptoms of the four classical temperaments
and their twelve mixtures.
This volume includes a unique
description of the geometrical design known as the Mappa Mundi (Map
of the World) and shows how the teachings of the Pythagorean-Hippocratic
lineage are contained within its symbols. This helps the practitioner
understand how the 5 homoeomeries (earth, water, fire, air and ether)
manifest in the outer and the inner world of the patient. It also
includes a well-documented look at the four temperaments in the
homoeopathic materia medica and offers new repertory rubrics for
various constitutions and temperaments.
The second part (Maps of Consciousness) starts
with the history of psychology from the ancients to the pre-Freudian
studies of the early homoeopaths. It follows with a study of the
works of Freud, Jung and Whitmont, who integrated Jungian psychology
into Homoeopathy. There are sections on the four major mood disorders,
the five forms of neurosis, the twelve personality disorders, and
specific states like paranoid disorders, schizophrenia, multiple
personality disorder, psychosexual disorders, Autism Spectrum Disorders
(ASD), Attention Deficient Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD), etc.
It is a complete manual of psychological disorders and mental illness
with detailed symptoms from the homoeopathic point of view with
new repertory rubrics.
The section on Jungian psychology looks at the development
of human history from the view of mythologems. It offers a comprehensive
study of the persona, shadow, anima-animus, collective unconscious
and the Self, the five layers of the psyche. It also presents Jung’s
psychological types, the four male and female archetypes and discusses
the Oedipal and Electra complex, the Dionysus complex, the Aphrodite
complex, etc.
This volume contains precise information on how to approach
the patient and transform the homoeopathic case taking into an interactive
discussion with the Unconscious of the patient. It teaches one to
observe the patient in such a manner that one can use the spontaneous
unconscious reactions of the patient as a guide to uncover their
essential delusions, emotional complexes, mythologems and archetypes.
It also reviews the subject of sensations as if and offers guidance
on how to collect these symptoms, which are expression of the complete
mind-body complex.
This interactive case taking
method can be used like a lie detector to break through the emotionally
repressed material that hides the patient's core issues from the
homoeopath. It utilizes the eye modes, facial expressions, breathing
changes, voice alterations, instinctive body language, gestures
and word association to understand how the Unconscious of the patient
is responding during the interview. This method uses the 7 essential
questions to guide the practitioner through the physical, vital
and mental levels to the realm of pure consciousness so they may
communicate in the deepest manner.
The study of interactive methods also includes the
Electronic Reactions of Abrams (ERA) and teaches how to use Automatic
Reflex Testing (ART). This technique turns the standard physical
exam used to assess the patient’s health into an interactive meeting
with the vital force. This dynamic system utilizes pupil dilation
and changes in vascular pulses, heart sounds, respiratory response,
percussion, palpation, galvanic skin response and postural alignment
to test remedies before they are given. This biofeedback allows
one to discover which of the tested remedies and potencies is the
most indicated and identify counter indicated medicines.
Volume VI, Maps of Consciousness, the Materia Medica,
presents the most important remedies based on the information, symptoms
and rubrics in Volume V. This materia medica gives details on the
nature of the remedy and its family and has sections on Images and
Archetypes; Constitution and Temperament; Suitability to the 12
personality disorders; causations; miasms; mood disorders; neuroses;
psychosis; paranoid states; suicidal tendencies; deranged childhood
actualizations and disorders like Autism, ADHD, and multiple personality
disorder. This is followed by a presentation of the most important
mental rubrics in the form of a picture along with the most characteristic
symptoms and their possible causes.
Specific mental disorders are discussed under separate headings
like depression; mania; hysterical neurosis; hypochondria; anxiety;
fear, paranoia, phobias; delusions and dreams. Then the physical
concomitants are presented with their general symptoms, keynotes
and redline characteristics. This section includes the remedy’s
grand sensations that express the complete mind-body complex and
the sensations as if found in the regions. This is followed by the
modalities. Volume V and VI are complementary works that help put
into practice the information found in the preceding four volumes.
It has taken me 35 years of research and 10 years of writing
to produce around 3500 pages of ground breaking material. My goal
is to offer a set of textbooks on Homoeopathy that will provide
a solid foundation for new students and old practitioners alike.
I have done my best to uncover the lost gems from the past and bring
them up to date for practice in our times. I also have presented
a good amount of contemporary research that I hope will be useful
in a practical manner. At this time, the torch of Homoeopathy is
being passed to a new generation. It is this passing of knowledge
that will make Homoeopathy the Medicine of the Future. I am pleased
if our work can contribute to this process in a meaningful manner.
May everyone be healthy and happy!
MB: David, It looks really
exciting! I would like to order the first copy of your book!! Where
do I send the cheque? I am really looking forward to reading it.
It has been an absolute pleasure to hold
this discussion with you. I hope every homeopath will read this
interview and feel enriched. You have been very generous in giving
us so much of your time while being so busy with the work on your
compendium. I would like to thank you for sharing your knowledge
and wisdom with us and wish you all success for your upcoming compendium.
Thank you!
---------------------------------
Special thanks to Jill, David Little's wife, for
for her help in editing the interview!
Homoeopathic Online Education (H.O.E).
Visit David Little's website:
http://www.simillimum.com
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