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1.
THE EVOLUTION OF HOMOEOPATHY
Homoeopathy is a
system of medicine based on the principle like cures like. While mention of
this principle is found in the writings of Hippocrates (400BC) and even earlier
in those of the ancient Indian poet Kalidas (approx. 10th Century
BC). Homoeopathy is a system of medicine founded by the celebrated physician
Dr. Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) of Germany. It is based on the principle that
"like cures like". In practice, this means that a medicine capable of
producing certain effects when taken by a healthy human being is capable of
curing any illness that displays similar effects.
Hahnemann became interested in the curative
powers of the medicines, and in one of the text books of his time he read that
cinchona bark (from which quinine is extracted) cured malarial type fevers as
it is bitter. He thought that the best way to determine the action of cinchona
was to see what effect it had on the body. Thus he took some of the substance
himself, and much to his surprise he developed fever, chills and other symptoms
resembling those of malaria. This result made him see that the reason why
cinchona is effective in cases of malarial type fever is perhaps because it is
capable of producing a condition very similar to malaria. He repeated this
experiment and performed several others with other medicinal substances on
himself and on volunteers from amongst his family, friends and students, and
each time obtained the same result.
On this was based the homoeopathic principle like
cures like which means that a substance that can cause a certain effect in
a healthy person can cure a disease with similar symptoms. For example a person
who has been poisoned with lead (chronic poisoning) will experience symptoms
such as severe colicky pain with spasm of the abdominal muscles, constipation
and paralysis and fatigue; on the other hand a person suffering from these
symptoms especially where there has been no history of lead poisoning can be
relieved with the homoeopathic remedy Plumbum metallicum (lead in homoeopathic
ultra minute doses).
The homoeopathic principle can be used to heal
or alleviate conditions even where no medicines are employed; for example an
experienced cook when burned will hold his hand close enough to the fire to
experience an increase in the burning pain rather than immerse it in cold
water, as in this way his pains are relived faster after a temporary increase
in the discomfort and also there is better healing.
Like Cures Like
For example, if a healthy person takes a dose of Arsenic, he will develop
vomiting, diarrhoea of rice-water stools, a rapid pulse and prostration. His
skin will become cold and his expression anxious. In smaller doses or when
taken for a longer time, he will develop a running nose, heavy head, cough and
bronchial catarrh. Even later there will be specific disturbances of skin and
nerves. He will have burning all over which is relieved by warmth, frequent
thirst for sips of water, fear of death, restlessness and a worsening of
symptoms at noon and midnight.
According to the Homoeopathic law that ‘like cures like’, countless patients displaying such symptoms have been cured by Arsenic, irrespective of the name of the disease (cholera, colds, eczema, asthma etc.). This principle has also been mentioned by that ancient Indian poet Kavi-Kalidasa: "Shruyate hi pura loke, vishasya visham aushadham". Translated this reads: "It has been said of old time in the world that poison is the remedy for poison." Hippocrate postulated this principle in the words, "Simillia Similibus Curentur" (likes are cured by likes).
According to the Homoeopathic law that ‘like cures like’, countless patients displaying such symptoms have been cured by Arsenic, irrespective of the name of the disease (cholera, colds, eczema, asthma etc.). This principle has also been mentioned by that ancient Indian poet Kavi-Kalidasa: "Shruyate hi pura loke, vishasya visham aushadham". Translated this reads: "It has been said of old time in the world that poison is the remedy for poison." Hippocrate postulated this principle in the words, "Simillia Similibus Curentur" (likes are cured by likes).
Homeopathy
as science
Homeopathy as a
science is almost as old as modern
physics. During the early years, between 1800 and – 1870, homeopathy
progressed enormously. From 1900 until 1970, it was sailing in more tranquil
waters before entering another stormy phase of development
What
is disease?
In treating
patients one wonders more and more what disease really is. Where is it coming
from? A first answer is that disease is disease, not being at ease. The healthy
inner tranquility is disturbed and unrest is replaced.
Why should unrest
arise? Where does it come from? Conventional l medicine mostly sees disease as
coming from outside, from bacteria, viruses traumas and the like, so those
causes are treated, but does it really give relieve? In chronic diseases it
turns out that most symptoms are "treated", or better said
"counteracted". The disease isn't really cured and the patient has to
take medicine for the rest of his life, meaning that it's only palliated.
In homeopathy it
becomes clear that disease comes from inside. In this respect homeopathy is
akin to Buddhism. There the cause of disease is seen as coming from desires and
the disappointments and fears arising from them. The idea that things have to
be a certain way results in sadness, anger and frustration when things are not
the way as expected. The solution is to free people from delusions, visions of
how things should be. In Buddhism this is done with meditation. In homeopathy
with remedies. In this sense it can be said that homeopathy is a scientific
form of Buddhism. It helps people to free themselves from their delusion and
desire.
Mind
versus matter
In normal medicine
man (and all other living beings) are seen as machines. When a heart does not
function well it is then replaced with a new one, just like one replaces a
battery in a car when it is not functioning well anymore. The mind and emotions
are seen as just a side effect of the brain and hormones. It goes as far to say
that the mind doesn't really exist, or that computers will develop conscience
when they become complicated enough.
The problem is
that it leads to contradictions. The first is that humans perceive their
emotions and thoughts as something real, not as just a side effect of their
brain. The second problem is that emotions influence the body often more than
the other way around. The mind seems to be primary. This is obvious in all
kinds of designs. The design of a car is primary to its existence.
Information
Homeopathic
medicines are often disqualified as "there nothing in them", and in a
way that's true, there is nothing, no-thing, in them. There are no chemical
substances in them. Here we meet again the discrepancy between conventional
medicine and homeopathy.
Conventional
medicine thinks and limits itself to matter, the physical body. Homeopathy
includes in its vision the mind, with all its aspects. In medicines it is the
same. It is not the matter that matters, but the information. In the process of
potentizing, the homeopathic way of producing medicines, the substance is left
out and the information of the substance is kept.
Homeopathic
medicines can be compared with music CDs: the music can nowhere be found
chemically. All music CDs are chemically alike, whatever the music on them. In
chemical analysis only the carrier is analyzed and for every kind of music it
is the same. The information though is the most important factor and that has
to be analyzed in a different way. In the case of music CD's, one can analyze the
information with a CD player. In the case of homeopathic medicines the
information can be "read" by living beings. How? We do not know.
Medicines
Typical for
homeopathy is that everything, every substance and living being on earth, is a
medicine, a healing substance. This is the consequence of the first law of
homeopathy the law of similars, which says that the toxic capacity of a
substance is similar to its healing capacity. One can presume that all
substances are toxic; at least I haven't encountered one that is not. Even
sugar, salt and water are highly toxic and deadly when taken in enough amounts.
So, every substance must also have healing qualities. The only problem is to
discover which they are. It is obvious that information can have deep and lasting
effects on human beings; homeopathic remedies can do the same as they are
information.
In general it
states that living beings try to expel problems to the utmost and to the
farthest. They prefer to have to disease located at the farthest part like a toe
above that at the head. They prefer to have the disease to be in the outer
tissues like the skin above to inner tissues like the brain.
Psychologically
one can see this process in the tendency of people to blame others, the
circumstance and the like. They prefer to see the problem located elsewhere
instead of inside themselves. In psychology this process is called projection.
This explains the preference of most people of conventional medicine, where the
"cause" is said to be outside, above homeopathy, where the cause is
seen to be inside.
The
practice of Homoeopathy is based on certain fundamental principles. Firstly,
the remedies that are used are tested on human volunteers (provers) to elicit
the symptoms they can produce. The symptoms of each remedy experienced by the
provers are recorded in exact detail and they form the Homoeopathic materia
medica. The symptoms of the patient are matched with the symptoms of the
various remedies in the materia medica to find out the single remedy whose
symptoms are most similar to those of the patient (like cures like).
Hahnemann’s
experiments of testing medicinal effects on healthy volunteers came to be known
as provings. From the provings were compiled records in which the symptoms
obtained were arranged systematically and these constituted the Homoeopathic
Materia Medica. During the nearly one hundred provings that he conducted in his
lifetime, and the vast number of patients he treated using the system, the
founder of Homoeopathy noted the following:
1. Medicines
produced changes not only in some particular region in the body but affected
the whole of the body and also the mind. Holism is one of the basic tenets of
Homoeopathy, so that disease is defined as affecting the whole and not just a
part of the body. The homoeopathic physician notes down the state of the
patient’s mind in addition to listing his physical symptoms and attempts to
match the patient to a homoeopathic remedy with a similar set of symptoms.
2. In treating
patients Hahnemann realized that if he administered the medicinal substance as
it was, even in small doses, there followed an aggravation that was at times
quite intense, and also some poisonous substances could not be administered as
medicines. He therefore started diluting the medicines, and in doing so he
realized that a step by step, serial dilution of the remedial substance when
accompanied by a process of succussion or vigorous shaking increased the
efficacy of the remedy while reducing its harmful and undesired effects. In
fact the more diluted and succussed the remedy is the more potent it’s curative
action. This process therefore came to be known as potentization. Potentized
homoeopathic remedies are ultra dilutions of the original substance and beyond
certain potency none of the original medicinal substance can be detected in the
remedy and it is assumed that only the energy of the original substance remains
in these homoeopathic doses.
3. Hahnemann
postulated that these ultra dilutions since there were now beyond the material
realm, also touched through their action something immaterial, viz. the inner
energy or spirit which imparts life to the body, and keeps all it’s parts
working harmoniously. This energy he called the Vital Force. The aim of
homoeopathic treatment is therefore to stimulate the restore the disordered
Vital Force to return the body to it’ s original healthy state.
Potentisation
Hahnemann’s scientific experiments led him to the process of potentisation. A step by step dilution and jerking of the drug makes it extremely powerful and at the same time renders it harmless. This is in direct contrast to the toxic drugs of modern medicine, and their "side effects".
Hahnemann’s scientific experiments led him to the process of potentisation. A step by step dilution and jerking of the drug makes it extremely powerful and at the same time renders it harmless. This is in direct contrast to the toxic drugs of modern medicine, and their "side effects".
Potencies employed
by the homoeopath are from mother tincture to the 1,00,000th
potencies. The 6th potency will have roughly a dilution of one drop
of the original drug substance diluted in a lake full of water. Each potency is
100 times more dilute than the previous one. Imagine the 1,00,000th
dilution! No one has been able to satisfactorily explain how medicines
can act when diluted to such fantastic limits. Yet, potencies are found to act
very powerfully. It seems that in the process of potentisation, stored up
energy of the drug is liberated.
The Healer Within
The practice of
Homoeopathy convinces the physician to regard the body as more than a sum of
its parts. Unlike a machine, it develops, carries on its function and repairs
itself independently. in this sense, everyone carries within him his own
doctor. Ancient physicians were familiar with this natural power of the
organism to control disease and they invented for it a beautiful expression.
"Vis Medicatrix Nature" (Healing power of nature). This healing power
is a function of the life force itself. Hahnemann called it the vital force.
Disease is a disturbance
of this force. Of ten people who get
wet in the rain, only one gets pneumonia. Most bacteria can affect us only when
our own healing power of resistance is low. By
removing the bacteria (by antibiotics, etc.) we are doing nothing to correct
this lack of resistance. Homoeopathic medicine aims to correct the
disturbed vital force and thus enhances the power of the body to heal itself.
It does not aim at removing the symptoms of the parts affected, but treats the
cause and restores health. According to
Homoeopathy, symptoms are a reflection of the disturbed vital force.
Sickness is like a
Sitar whose correct tuning has been disturbed. Naturally, all the notes from
such a Sitar will be far from melodious. There is no use trying to correct the
individual notes. It is the disturbance in tuning itself which has to be
corrected.
Treating
man as a whole
Another fundamental principle of Homoeopathy
is that it treats the patient as a whole and as an individual. There is no
medicine for any particular disease, but there is a medicine for the patient
suffering from the disease, but there is a medicine for the patient suffering
from the disease. "The individual, not the disease, is the entity"
said the celebrated Sir William Osler.
It is
being increasingly acknowledged these days that the mind and body are inter
linked. We now see the rapid rise of the holistic concept of disease with an
emphasis on its psychosomatic aspect. Hahnemann recognized all this long ago,
and stressed that bodily and mental symptoms are to be taken together to form
the portrait of disease. The Homoeopathic Materia Medica is rich in mental
symptoms and we especially use these in selecting the remedy. Children under
Homoeopathic treatment grow in to more healthy adults, they find relief from
the scourge of bad inheritance as well.
Most
important task is to understand the individuality of each patient fully and
correctly, so that he may select the right remedy.
The
medicines of Homoeopathy
The process
of potentisation brings out the latent medicinal energy in those substances. By
virtue of this process anything from sand (Silica) to moon light (Luna) can be
used as medicine in Homoeopathy. The medicines are derived from following
sources:
Plant Kingdom
Examples: Aconite
Napellus (Monkshood), Belladonna Atropa (Deadly Nightshade), Bryonia Alba
(White Bryony)
Mineral Kingdom
Examples: Sulphur,
Calcarea Carb (Calcium Carbonate), Nitric-Acid, Natrum-Muriaticum (Common Salt)
Healthy Tissue,
Imponderables & Secretions (Sarcodes)
Examples: Thyroid, X-ray, Pituitary
A protocol for
provings
The protocol most
satisfactory is midway between the seminar dream provings of Jürgen Becker and
the classical Hahnemannian provings. The method is as follows:
A) Form a group of provers. This can be any
number between 5 to 25.
B) Have an initial meeting of this group and
talk in general about the purpose of provings and what the provers have to
observe and write down. Then let each prover talk about his intention in doing
the proving. In this way the leader comes to know some extent the personality
of each prover.
C) Then distribute the proving dose to the
provers - it is possible that some of the group may decide not to take the
dose. These persons should also observe and write their symptoms during the period
of the proving. We found that those who do not take the dose often get some
effects of the proving.
D) During the proving each prover maintains a
diary where he notes:
1. All physical symptoms with exact
modalities.
2. All emotional symptoms with exact feelings.
3. All dreams with exact feelings.
4. All phenomena and incidents that happened
around him during the period of the proving.
5. Observations of others around him about
changes in his state during the provings.
The observations have to be made and written
in all details. Even the persons whom the prover met or was impressed by, the
kind of movies or books that attracted him, his dress style, his talking and
working styles and all such phenomenon are to be noted, even if the prover thinks
it is a part of him or his own nature. Later when we compare the experiences of
the different provers, we often note an astonishing similarity.
E) At the end of the first week the provers
come in individually and report their experiences and symptoms to the leader.
This should preferably be video recorded since exact expressions etc. can be
noted. The provers are asked not to discuss their symptoms amongst themselves.
F) At the end of the second week, all the
provers met in a group again and discuss their experiences. At this stage the
experience of one prover may stimulate the memory of an other prover and this
can then create a very strong effect in the room. Then the whole feeling and
state is brought up, and is more clearly defined. Then, this is discussed
further with various other phenomena and the whole problem and conflict within
the remedy is now exposed.
Now the name of the remedy proven is revealed
and further discussion ensues with reference to what is already known about the
natural substance or the remedy. The remedy is now understood in a very deep
sense. The puzzle of the remedy is solved. All this is video recorded as well.
Now there is a general relief in the room and
the tension of the previous 2 weeks decreases.
G) The provers meet once again the next week
to see if any more phenomena occurred or if the proving effect is over, and
also to share any further thoughts about the proving.
Some experiences
1. It is best if the provers do not know the
name of the remedy.
2. It is good if the leader too does not know
the name of the remedy.
3. The prover is generally told to take a
single dose at bed time (of 3O C usually) and not to repeat it for at least 4
days and to repeat only if there are -
i) either no symptoms at all or
ii) the symptoms have ceased. For our purpose,
even a single dream or an out of ordinary experience is considered a symptoms.
4. We found that usually all provers get
symptoms. Coming together in a group certainly is much more powerful than
individual provings.
5. The provers are instructed to get in touch
with the leader if they have any problem at any time; if necessary, a very
troublesome symptom could be treated.
6. The second meeting of the whole group does
not need always to be at the end of the second week. It should happen when the
leader is convinced that the proving has reached deep enough to reveal the
deepest feelings of the remedy till then there are to be individual meetings
with the provers.
7. The first (initial) meeting of the group is
essential to get the group feeling and this contributes greatly to the proving.
The second (group) meeting is essential to bring up the proving to the
consciousness and thus remove it, so that the provers are not left with any
effects.
8. When the individual provers relate their
experiences there will be many vast differences between the provers'
experiences. These will be like pieces of jigsaw puzzle. We have to realise
that.
all these phenomena relate to the proving and
all stem from one source. It is the task of the leader to put all the pieces of
the puzzle together so that they make a picture and we understand the meaning
of the picture. This he can do if he is open and also listens deeply to the
various provers. Often, in the second group meeting the solution will come from
one of the provers himself.
9. Initially, I thought that it is better if
the leader does not take the proving dose - but often I found that the leader
develops the state anyway - and it may be more helpful if he does take the dose
and willingly experiences the phenomena.
10. On the second meeting the information of
all the individual meetings can be revealed to the group except confidentiality
ones. If any prover requests it, those symptoms should not be discussed in the
group but may be published later in a way that doesn't reveal the provers
identity.
11. In my experience even if one is under
treatment, he can prove a remedy because usually the proving gets over in ten
weeks. A proving is like watching a movie. You experience it, feel it for some
time and then the effect wears off. This is especially true for group provings.
12. Provers must be asked to inform their
friends, relatives and those they are in contact with, that they are doing a
proving, and request them to observe the changes.
13. Giving placebos to some provers may not
serve the purpose as, according to my experience (group consciousness) most
persons in the group get symptoms irrespective of whether they take it or not.
14. It is preferable to separately mention the
symptoms of those who did not take the drug.
15. It is observed that in a group proving,
compliance is better for 2 to 4 weeks and after that interest wears off.
16. When reporting the proving, the leader
should make raw data available without interpretations or making a drug
picture. Analysis should be given separately after the provers notes; the
phenomena are presented in a pure (raw) form, without interpretation.
Methodology of provings- - George Vithoulkas
The credibility of the provings (homeopathic
pathogenetic trials) of homeopathic remedies, the corner stone of homeopathy,
is today being demolished by ‘‘new ideas’’ concerning the ways provings could
be conducted. Certain teachers claim that there is no need for the remedies to
be ‘‘proved’’ on humans, but instead the symptoms can simply be imagined, for
instance: ‘It is on the mind level that group analysis can offer the greatest
benefits. Once the central themes of the component elements are known it will
be possible to deduce the theme of the combination remedy’1 and ‘The method of group
analysis makes it possible to think about homoeopathy on a new level, an
abstract, or even metaphysical, level. This enables us more or less to predict
the picture of a totally unknown remedy.
One can easily foresee where such absurd ‘‘new
ideas’’ will lead: hundreds of ‘‘imaginative’’ homeopaths will ‘‘imagine’’
hundreds of different ‘‘provings’’ for the same remedy! There is nothing wrong
in the efforts of some to attract attention through the invention of new
remedies. It is however not fair, for the sake of those who rely on provings,
that such authors ignore the rules according to which a correct proving is
conducted, in accordance with the Principles and Practice applied by Hahnemann.
The methods that many experimenters have followed
in order to ‘‘provide’’ provings for new remedies prove that they did not
follow the directions of Hahnemann ‘.a new and revolutionary method of
provings, that involved making an entire group of persons take a dose of the
remedy, a few days before or even during a seminar, and then discussing the
effects of the dose during the seminar.
They were usually very productive in terms of
symptomatology, especially in the emotional sphere in the dreams, which gave an
idea of the inner processes of the substance. I was impressed by the effect
that the dose had on the collective group consciousness, and how, when taken
collectively, the effect of the dose seemed to multiply and become much more
prominent than when given on an individual basis. A proving can be conducted
with a study group or at a seminar by having each student take a single dose a
few days before or during the class, then comparing experiences. These provings
often concentrate on dreams and mental symptoms in an endeavour to uncover the
deeper meaning of the remedy. This method has been practiced extensively by
Ju¨rgen Becker in Germany and adopted by other contemporary teachers. The idea
is to discover the main unconscious theme of the remedy during the seminar
proving. This is further enhanced by discussing the experience with the group
to air and formulate the central ideas.
The advantage of this method is that it may be a
short cut to an inner essence of the remedy. At the School of Homeopathy, where
we meet once a month, we have achieved results in group provings since 1991
using a variety of stimuli: by using material substance; by holding it; by
looking at it; and by meditating upon it. We have achieved results with
potencies from 30C to 200C. We have invoked group provings by one member
holding the concept/image of a thing in their mind (the sender) while the group
has sat in a period of silence and self-observation (the receivers).
It is common experience amongst provers that
certain individuals (who later reveal cardinal symptoms because of their
affinity to the substance under test) develop symptoms which subsequently are
confirmed as belonging to the proving before anyone else had ‘taken’ the
substance.’
‘For me the
meditation proving is often the most convenient and helpful. It gives results
fast and with little effort. The disadvantages are that the picture will not be
complete and can be incorrect in parts. But that can also be the case with
other provings. In my experience, meditation provings often are quite reliable
and give the essence of the remedy, more so than dream provings.’ The enthusiasm to ‘‘bring
out’’ symptoms has led to claims that even one dose of a high potency can
produce hundreds of symptoms in a small group of people. ‘The proving of
Coca-Cola was conducted during my San Francisco seminar in May, 1994. The
participants of the seminar were given one dose of the drug in the 30C potency.
They were instructed to note their symptoms over the next 2 days, whether they
took the dose or not. ’7‘Out of 305 mental symptoms in hydrogen, 61 were produced by the
6th potency (2 provers), 17 by the 9th potency (1 prover), 27 by the 12th
potency (3 provers), 3 by the 15th potency (2 provers), 140 by the 30th potency
(3 provers) and 56 by the 200th potency (4 provers).’ ‘‘The remedy is made up
into a 30C potency.
All provers start at approximately the same time
and day by taking one dose.’’ Most of these ‘‘experimenters’’ probably had not read and
appreciated that Hahnemann used only material doses in the provings on which
his Materia Medica Pura is based. Paragraph 32 of the Organon states that all
‘‘substances can produce symptoms as long as they are taken in large enough
quantities.’’ In the sixth and final edition of the Organon paragraph 130, he
states that only those sensitive to a substance can have symptoms from a high
potency and this only if they take the remedy every day for several days. In order to establish
symptoms are reliable and are due to the remedy the experiment has to be repeated
several times. In daily practice we often prescribe the wrong remedy yet
‘‘proving’’ symptoms are seldom seen. This fact alone shows the scarcity of
such ‘‘sensitive persons’’ that could prove remedies in high potency.
Some have even claimed that there is no need for
a real remedy. You can write the name of the remedy and the potency in a piece
of paper, put a glass of water over it and the potentised remedy is prepared!
‘I had been having my patients write the remedy and potency on a piece of paper
for years and it works like a charm. Because we are working with energy and
spirit, our INTENT of what we set out to do is critical to it behaving as we
expect it to behave, i.e., if you write Lachesis 30C on the paper and the
person with the hot flashes stops having them, then the homeopath must be
focused and concentrated in her/ his gathering of this energy.’
Keep that in your mind, underscore it half a dozen times with
red ink, paint it on the wall, put an index finger to it. One of the most
important things is to keep out of the mind, in an examination of the case,
some other case that has appeared to be similar. If this is not done the mind
will be prejudiced in spite of your best endeavors. I have to fight that with
every fresh case I come to. I have to labour to keep myself from thinking about
things I have cured like that before, because it would prejudice my mind. The
purpose of all this is that you will go away and examine the patient with an
unprejudiced mind, that you will consider only the case before you, that you
will have nothing in mind that will distract your attention, that you may not
think of things that preceded it and find out from among them a remedy while
examining the patient If you are biased in your judgment and examine the patient
towards a certain remedy, in many instances this will prove to be fatal.
Have no remedy in mind until you have everything that you can
get on paper. Have it all written down carefully
Without records, you are at sea without compass or rudder.
With a record, Hahnemann says, "He can then study it in all its parts, and
draw from it the characteristic marks, "that is, you have the nature of
the disease continuously in mind. When the image of the disease has passed from
mind its very nature is gone. Here a point comes in you must know about. After
your first prescription has been made, you may have an aggravation. It is well
to know the date of this, and about how long it lasted, and to keep watch of
it. If no change has occurred the same image may continue to appear before the
mind, but if changes have occurred and are continuously appearing in the
symptoms you will readily see that no medicine can be administered. The
symptoms that come and go could not guide anybody as to what to do. Now a
commotion has taken place, you cannot prescribe while this commotion is going
on, the symptoms are changing place, they are coming and going, for perhaps one
to three weeks after that prescription.
You have to watch and wait. The homoeopathic physician, as
much as the clergyman, ought to keep himself in a state of purity, a state of
humility, a state of innocence. So sure as he does not do that he will fall by
the wayside. There is nothing that destroys a man so fast in the scientific
world as conceit. We see in old-fashioned science men who are puffed up and
corpulent with conceit. The scientific men who are in the greatest degree of
simplicity are the most wise and the most worthy, and you need not tell me that
those who are innocent and simple have not had a tremendous struggle in order
to keep self under control and to reach this state of simplicity.
Extensive knowledge
makes a man simple, makes him gentle. Extensive knowledge makes a man realize
how little he knows, and what a small concern he is. A little knowledge makes a
fool of man, and makes him think he knows it all, and the more he forgets of
what he has known the bigger man he feels he is. The smaller he feels he is the
more he knows, you may rest assured.
In order to do this,
he must study and keep himself in a state of gravity and in a state of
innocence. In the scientific world we have all those horrible jealousies and
feelings of hatred to those who know more than we do. A man who cannot control
that and keep that down is not fit to enter the science of Homoeopathy. He must
be innocent of these things ; he must put that aside and be willing to learn of
all sources, providing the truth flows from these sources.
The best way to study a remedy is to make a proving of it.
Suppose we were about to do that ; suppose this class were entering upon a
proving. The provers do not know what they are taking, and they are requested
not to make known to each other their symptoms. Generally if a remedy takes a
marked hold of a prover all the chronic symptoms will subside, but when a
proving only takes a partial hold it may only create a few symptoms. These few
symptoms, when added to the symptoms that the other provers have felt, will go
to make up the chronic effect of the remedy, which may be said to be the effect
of the remedy upon the human race.
Now as to the method, After the master prover deals out these
vials, each prover takes a single dose of the medicine and waits to see if the
single dose takes effect. If he is sensitive to that medicine a single dose
will produce symptoms, and then those symptoms must not be interfered with ;
they should be allowed to go their own way. In the proving of an acute remedy
like Aconite ; the instructor, who knows something about the effect of the
medicine, may be able to say to the class : "If you are going to get
effects from this remedy you will get those effects in the next three to four
days."
It will not be necessary to wait longer than that for
Aconite, Nux Vomica, or Ignatia, but longer for Sulphur or some of the
antipsorics. If we were attempting to prove a remedy like Silicate of Alumina,
the master-prover would advise the class not to interfere with the medicine for
at least thirty days, because its prodrome may be thirty days. It is highly
important to wait until the possible prodrome of a given remedy is surely
passed. If it is a short-acting remedy, the action will come speedily.” -
J.T.Kent
“A proving properly
conducted will improve the health of anybody ; it will help to turn things into
order. It was Hahnemann's advice to young men to make provings. ” -
J.T.Kent
1:- First level- Mind symptoms 2:- Second level-
Sensation i.e Generals 3:- Third level- Physical changes
We know according to law of physics,” Likes repel each
other”, like-wise when the drug energy enters the system towards the centre as
there is the natural tendency of human system it repels the external invasion
or influence which comes in the form of drug energy with the same force which
causes friction between drug force and the force generated by the human system
which was felt as symptoms.
Organon § 118 reads : "Each medicine produces particular effects in the body of man, and no other
medicinal substance can create any that are precisely similar."
Susceptibility underlies all contagion and all cure. So that
cause and cure, the cause of sickness and the cure of sickness, knock at the
same door. They flow in the same way because of the immaterial or simple
substance. All disease is in primitive substance, or first substance ; all cure
of disease must also be in simple substance. In olden times we used to think
that all substances capable of extinguishing the vital force, or which overcome
the vital force, were poisons ; that in itself is a crude idea of a poison. Any
substance capable of impressing itself upon the economy of man sufficiently to
cause death, or to create a disorder in the economy, may be called a poison.
That definition will apply to both dynamic and crude poisons. Poison presents
two problems : an external problem and an internal problem. Par. 145: "We
ought certainly to be acquainted with the pure action of a vast number of
medicines upon the healthy body, to be able to find homoeopathic remedies
against each of the innumerable forms of disease that besiege mankind ; that is
to say, to find out artificial morbific powers that resemble them."
The external deals with the question of quantity, the
internal with the question of quality. A dynamis cannot be considered from the
standpoint of weights and measures, but from quality. The homoeopath recognizes
a wide range in susceptibility, including things that the allopath is not
acquainted with.
As we hasten along with this subject, we find in Par. 122,
Hahnemann says : "In circumstances
of this nature on which depend the certitude of the medical art, and the
welfare of future generations, it is necessary to employ only medicines that
are well-known." Purity is important, medicines as they are proved should
be kept unmodified and preserved and possessed of their full energy”.
Fear is an overwhelming cause of sickness; those who fall
prey to fear are likely to become sick, but those who, face disease with no
fear are likely to remain well; they do sometimes fall sick, it is true, but I
believe it is because they begin to have fear in the work. The other and
greater prophylactic is the homoeopathic remedy.
But Par. 149 is something that must be accepted, that is, it
must be known, and then accepted because it is true.
It is a general statement of the results of the homoeopathic
remedy in the cure of disease. The rejection of this paragraph must effect a
separation amongst those who do not believe, and those who do believe.
"When a proper application of the homoeopathic remedy has been made, the
acute disease which is to be cured, however malignant and painful it may be,
subsides in a few hours, if recent, and in a few days, if it is somewhat
older," etc. From this I am placed under the plain necessity of
acknowledging that if under my treatment such diseases do not subside, I have
not found the right remedy. That will force the honest homoeopathic physician
to seek the proper remedy. Let not the blame be placed upon the failure of the
system and of law and order, but let it be placed upon the one who practices
it.
