Genus epidemicus
Anhang 2
Homeopathy medicines are widely used for prevention of Dengue fever. Used
as per the concept of Genus Epidemicus, given in
aphorism 102 of Organon of Medicine.
What is Genus Epidemicus?
GENUS EPIDEMICUS is that homeopathy remedy which is found to be a
suitable remedy for many cases of that particular epidemic and also act as a
preventive remedy
for that particular epidemic for majority of people who have not been
infected yet.
Dr. Hahnemann gave this concept of genus epidemicus
in his book Organon of Medicine in paragraph 102.
Aphorism 102
In the course of writing down the symptoms of several cases of this kind
the sketch of the disease picture becomes ever more and more complete, not more
spun out and wortreich, but more significant (more
characteristic), and including more of the peculiarities of this collective
disease.
On the one hand, the general symptoms (e.g., loss of appetite,
sleeplessness, etc.) become precisely defined as to their peculiarities; and on
the other, the more marked and special symptoms which are peculiar to but few
diseases and of rarer occurrence, at least in the same combination, become
prominent and constitute what is characteristic
of this malady.
All those affected with the disease prevailing at a given time have
certainly contracted it from one and the same source and hence are suffering
from the same disease;
but the whole extent of such an epidemic disease and the totality of its
symptoms (the knowledge whereof, which is essential for enabling us to choose
the most suitable homeopathic remedy for this array of symptoms, is obtained by
a complete survey of the morbid picture) cannot be learned from one single
patient, but is only to be
perfectly deduced (abstracted) and ascertained from the sufferings of
several patients of different constitutions.
Footnote.1 The physician who has already, in the first cases, been able
to choose a remedy approximating to the homoeopathic specific, will, from the
subsequence cases,
be enabled either to verify the suitableness of the medicine chosen, or
to discover a more appropriate, the most appropriate homeopathic remedy.
Here in aphorism102, Dr Hahnemann wants to explain that the physician should
carefully observe and note the chief complaints of several cases (both sexes,
of different
age group, and of different constitutions) of that particular epidemic.
Here the physician will find 2 types of symptoms
General symptoms like malaise,
skin rashes, body ache, etc. These symptoms are found in almost all cases of
that particular epidemic.
Particular symptoms rare,
uncommon and peculiar symptoms with concomitants.
Now the general symptoms of that particular epidemic becomes the characteristic
of that disease. For e.g. Body pain is noticed in dengue. You can make that
general
symptom becomes more better by noting it more precisely for e.g. body
pain during day time in 1st case, body pain during day only on jar in 2nd case.
So this is how your general symptom become more characteristic.
The physician should need to carefully pay attention on particular
symptoms also, so that he can reach to more suitable remedy and get towards
more suitable GENUS EPIDEMICUS of that particular epidemic.
Merits of Genus Epidemicus in clinic
It saves time of the physician
in finding remedy of that particular epidemic.
Act as a preventive medicine
(prophylactic medicine) for particular epidemic for those who have not been
suffered by that particular epidemic.
Can be used for majority of
the patients.
[Harry van der Zee]
Genus epidemicus – A or the remedy for a
disease
H. himself already laid down the foundation for successful treatment of
epidemic diseases. The rule is very simple:
• Take a good number of cases and put their symptoms together
• Include all disease specific symptoms
• Exclude all patient specific symptoms
• Select one or more remedies based on the disease totality
In the American Homeopath (1998 – ‘As If One Patient’) Greg Bedayn describes how H. discovered how to treat epidemic
diseases:
• ‘In 1799 H. first applied the genus epidemicus;
the single homeopathic remedy to treat a similarly affected population, during
a scarlet fever epidemic he treated
in Königslutter, Germany.
The story of how he accidentally discovered the genus epi is interesting: There was a large family that had
members with scarlet fever.
H. noticed that one of the children who had been taking Belladonna for
another reason did not have symptoms of scarlet fever. He discovered that by
giving the other members of the family Bell., as a prophylactic, they did not
get scarlet fever. Hahnemann concluded that a remedy that rapidly cures at the
onset of an illness would
be the best preventative.
This serendipitous discovery led Hahnemann into developing the principle
of genus epidemicus where if one takes the
symptom-totality from each person in a epidemic population and then puts those
features together into one case, as if one person, and gives the indicated simillimum to the entire affected population - that it will
cure.’
This approach, as H. found out, worked well. Bedayn
continues:
• ‘The curative results of the genus epidemicus
were so positive during the epidemics in the ensuing decades that they not only
cured the majority of those affected
where nothing else had worked, but they also drew international acclaim
towards homeopathy, the new, the rational, medicine. There is something
intrinsically powerful
about the success of homeopathy in curing large populations that is
undeniably attractive to anyone gifted with the power of observation, and it
was through these early
cures with epidemics that Hahnemann was able to quickly and widely
spread the word: Homeopathy. It was from his discovery of the genus epi that Hahnemann later developed his theory of miasms; the taints that color and
shape all family trees, as representing the basis of chronic disease.’
Hahnemann later writes about the genus epidemicus
principle in his ‘Organon’ §101:
• ‘It is possible that a physician meeting with the first case of a
certain epidemic should fail to perceive at once its perfect image, because
every collective disease of this
kind will not manifest the totality of its symptoms and character until
several cases have been carefully observed. But after having observed one or
two cases of this kind
a physician may approach the true condition of the epidemic that he is
enabled to construe a true characteristic image of the same and to discover the
true homeopatic remedy.’
H. broadens this general principle in §102, when he says the complete
knowledge is only to be obtained in a perfect manner by observations of the
affections of several patients of different bodily constitutions.
Using this as-if-one-person approach homeopaths impressed the medical
establishment with their results. Here are a few quotes to illustrate this:
• Epidemics in general: “In epidemics the mortality per 100 patients is
1/2 to 1/8 in homeopathic hospitals compared to allopathic hospitals.” (Dr.
Thomas L. Bradford's
‘The Logic of Figures ...’ (1900) ‘Homeopathy had become very popular in
North America during its early years due to its amazing successes obtained by
the "old guard" during the epidemics – epidemics of diphtheria,
scarlet fever, cholera, malaria, yellow fever - especially yellow fever; the
death rate for that was 55% when allopathic treatment was used, but less than
5% in cases with homeopathic treatment; and it was the same for cholera. It is
here with the "old guard" that homeopathy obtained its golden
letters.’ (‘From its Roots Upwards’, Interview with André
Saine, N.D., D.H.A.N.P., Vienna January 1994.)
“Ever since H. homeopathy has time and again been able to successfully treat epidemics/pandemics with a small number of remedies.” (Stahl, Hadulla, Richter, AHZ 2006)
• Cholera in Europe: “In den Ja
1830 und 1831 wurden in Russland in den von Cholera ergriffenen Gouvernements Saratoff, Tambtoff und Twer 1270 Patienten homöopatisch
behandelt: 1162 davon genasen, 108 starben... d Verhältnis dem Ergebnisse der homöopatische Behandlung der Cholera in Ungarn, Maehren und Wien fast ganz gleich ist.” (Gebhardt 1929) (Of
1270 Russian cholera patients treated with homeopathy only 108 died which is ±
8%)
“When in the year 1854 cholera came to Palermo 1513 soldiers fell ill
... Of these 902 were treated with allopathy of which
386 died, a bit more than 42%; 611 were treated with homeopathy, of which only
25, so almost 4%, died.” “In the abovementioned years cholera also visited the
Caribbean, and on the ‘pearl’ of these islands, Barbados, 2113 people fell ill.
Of the 346 treated with allopathy 154 died, but of
the 1767 treated with homeopathy only 370.” (Gebhardt
1929)
• Cholera in USA: 3% of the cholera patients under homeopathic treatment
died (Cincinnati 1849). Mortality rate of cholera patients under allopathic
treatment was 40-70%.
• Spanish influenza: Homeopathic treatment of the Spanish influenza
during the pandemic of 1914-1918 was effective (Isaac Golden, Vaccination &
Homeoprophylaxis?
(A Review of Risks and Alternatives).
“Homeopathy has been used with great degree of success in influenza and
other epidemics for 200 years … In 1918 flu pandemic homeopaths reported around
1% mortality in their cases, while conventional doctors were losing 30% of
their patients.” (www.life.us/flu)
NB! The Spanish influenza virus we know now was an avian virus. 40
million people died in just 18 months.
“Dr. T.A. McCann from Dayton, Ohio reported that 24,000 cases of flu
treated allopathically had a mortality rate of 28.2% while 26,000 cases of flu
treated homeopathically had a mortality rate of
1.05%. This last figure was supported by Dean W.A. Pearson of Philadelphia
(Hahnemann College) who collected 26,795 cases of flu treated with homeopathy
with the above result.
Dr. Herbert A Roberts from Derby, CT, said that 30 physicians in
Connecticut responded to his request for data. They reported 6,602 cases with
55 deaths, which is less
than 1%.” (The Journal of the American Institute for Homeopathy, May
1921)
“The most severe epidemic of all time was the Great Influenza Pandemic
of 1918. 20% of the entire world population was infected and 20-40 million
people died.
The epidemic was so devastating that the average lifespan in the United
States was decreased by ten years. During this epidemic homeopathic medicines
were used widely both for treatment and as prophylaxis. The average mortality
under standard treatment ran from 2.5-10%, while 1% or fewer patients died
under homeopathic treatment.” (Homeoprophylaxis Fact
or Fiction - Todd Hoover MD)
• Yellow Fever in USA: The success of the homeopathic treatment of
yellow fever was so great that the report of the U.S. Government's Board of
Experts mentioned several homeopathic remedies, despite the aversion to
homeopathy of some of its members. (Haris Coulter,
‘Divided legacy’). (Treated in allopathic hospitals the mortality was around
55% and homeopathy decimated that percentage!).
These are clearly impressive figures, certainly if we compare them with
the results of contemporary studies. If homeopathy could come up with similar
significant results in our time and age general acceptance might follow a lot
easier.
Building On The Past:
Infectious diseases and miasm.
In his Organon at §78 Hahnemann declares that
true natural chronic diseases are those that arise from a chronic miasm. In his analysis H. defines three miasm:
Psora, Sycosis and
Syphilis, of which
in modern terms Psora could be seen as the
mother of all chronic diseases. According to Hahnemann uncured miasm cannot be eradicated by the life force (§79) and
only homeopathy can do this. A too bold a statement I believe for the like
cures like principle is broader than homeopathy but a general law underlying
all creation. More miasm have been recognise since
Hahnemann. Not all homeopaths are accepting them that easily, but I have no
doubt that somewhere in the future it will be broadly accepted and recognise
that many influences besides infectious diseases, let be only
the three Hahnemann pointed out, determine the state of health and can
cause a miasmatic disturbance. It is very clear to me
that our understanding of miasm needs to be updated
to be able to bring homeopathic treatment of collective issues to a higher
level.
Miasma’s and Process:
My own understanding of the miasm underwent a
revolutionary change based on an accidental observation that I made. Knowing
the work of Stanislav Grof
(psychiatrist) on the birth experience I noticed a marked analogy between
Hahnemann’s miasm and the stages of birth (See the
books ‘Miasm in Labour’ and ‘Homeopathy for Birth
Trauma’). I’m not going to repeat
all of what I’ve written on the subject here but will summarise some
conclusions relevant to this article:
• The birth process shows us life in a nutshell. All phases of human
development and of the individuation process are represented. Analysis of an
individual birth shows amazing similarity to the state observed later in life,
so the birth experience already displays the central theme of an individual.
Birth is not causing that state but expressing it, since in cases where there
is information from pregnancy, conception or beyond the same patterns can be
observed.
• All the miasm we have come to recognise -psora, sycosis, syphilis,
tubercular, cancer, leprous etc- can be clearly retraced as belonging
specifically to a certain phase in the birth process, and the main remedies
representing them can be understood using the symbolical language of that
aspect of the birth experience. Since birth is a process it became clear that miasm are related to development, and each of them to a
specific phase or theme in development, both on an individual as also a
collective level.
• Miasm have a role and serve a purpose. In
homeopathy we have only highlighted the pathological side of them, the results
of something going wrong during development.
• Disease induces change within an individual, and miasmatic
diseases that we could also call collective diseases, induce change within
society, the group, tribe, nation or mankind as a whole.
• Diseases and miasm induce the development of
qualities within an individual and within humanity. Miasm
are subconscious Archetypes. Only if the normal process of development and
growth is blocked diseases can come forward to bring this to awareness and to
induce the change needed.
• Diseases and miasm are both the problem as
well as the key to growth. Actually diseases and miasm
are the teachers of mankind, and in infectious diseases microorganisms carry
the message.
• 95% of our DNA stems from viruses and bacteria. This means that these
germs bring pieces of information to us and that integrating these pieces is
what drives evolution. This also makes very clear why killing the bug, allopathy, can never support the role and purpose of the
disease, and forces the organism to own the same lesson following a different
route, one that can be expected to involve more suffering. This is the deeper
meaning of suppression.
Logics of Miasm:
• Symptoms are a sign of the Dynamis restoring
balance (Hahnemann)
• A disease is a combination of symptoms
• A disease is a sign of the Dynamis restoring
balance in an individual by bringing it to a higher level of functioning. That
balance is restored does not mean that the individual is brought back to
a previous state, but rather moved on to a new one that includes the
qualities induced by the disease.
• An epidemic disease is a sign of the collective Dynamis
restoring balance and inducing growth and awareness in a group
• Miasm can be expressed in humanity through a
variety of afflictions
• Miasm are a sign of the Dynamis
restoring balance and inducing growth in the collective
• Epidemic outbreaks are acute collective manifestations of this process
involving a large group, whereas miasmatic diseases
are more of a chronic expression of the same energy afflicting those
individuals that apparently work on the same issues in their individual
development.
• Epidemics that are endemic for long periods of time, like malaria and
TB, are concerned with major shifts in humanity that take many generations.
When in 2005 Peter Chappell was in Rwanda to treat AIDS he soon found
out that on top of AIDS people were especially still suffering from the
genocide that took place ten years before. He recognised this to be a
collective trauma that should be dealt with using the genus epidemicus
approach. He prepared a resonance that he called PC War/Genocide Trauma and
gave that first to his patients that responded remarkably well. This feeling as
if it had happened yesterday, the flashbacks, nightmares and all other ways in
which this traumatic miasm was being expressed in
them,
all of this subsided rapidly. (PC Resonances are not the subject of this
article and could be replaced with other remedies based on an analysis of
genocide or any other disease or trauma totality.
See www.peterchappell.com and ‘The Second Simillimum’
for more information on PC Resonances).
So I decided not to individualise this case but, to start treating the
genocide trauma using the above mentioned PC Resonance: PC304x 5 drops daily.
The response was wonderful! Five weeks later: “I am very much surprised. There
is a change I had never expected to be possible. I feel a completely different
person. A dramatic change.
For a short period I continued crying but since then it has not come
back. It is a completely new period. I feel optimism, trust, love for life. It
is miraculous. This weeping
has travelled with me all of my life. The last couple of years it was
constantly there. Before that in episodes.
I dream again, quite lucid, remember them better. My sleep is much
deeper and I waken up less. On waking up in the morning I am okay.
No more panic or fear of being abandoned. I can continue with my life
like this. I’m no longer afraid to move on, to be forsaken. A great trust has
come. It is okay what happens or is about to happen. There is more peace
inside. I can enjoy the simple things of life again. Before this all joy was
lacking.
Before I started taking this remedy I had the feeling being wiped out,
taking no space. I just as well might not be there. Now I take a space and that
has meaning.”
Two months later there was no further improvement and we discontinued
the drops. She says now: “A complete layer has been dealt with, this layer of
collective grief.
The insecurities I have now have to do with every day practicalities.
Like building my house. Then I feel a lack of stability and go back to the time
our family was broken up. Like a sea without borders. I love the sea because it
gives space, quiet and openness.
In the morning I have a bit troubles starting the day, a little sadness.
In the evenings I am feeling great. What I didn’t tell you before is that I
have a strong fear of spiders. Since the last couple of months my menses has
returned.”
So she’s free now from the collective trauma and the complaints she
still has now she relates to her own history, for which now a personal simillimum is indicated.
Regarding her personal trauma the broken relationship with her mother is
essential. She was disconnected from her mother, causing feelings of
forsakenness and insecurity. This definitely happened at the age of nine when
her mother could no longer cope it, but also before that time her mother was
depressed and not the source of warmth and comfort she needed. Later in her
life we see a tendency toward bulimia with a desire for sweet dairy products,
including ice cream and chocolate.
In short, she received one dose of Lac humanum
MK and eleven weeks later she reports:
“I’m beautifully out of the dependency in my recent relationship (a
friend she got after her divorce). I’m on my own feet now. There have been no
dips any more and my base has become firmer. All the symptoms that have
improved on the first remedy never returned. Since this last remedy my asthma
is a lot better, my stomach problems are gone and I no longer have abdominal
pains.
I dream about my recent relationship. I dreamed of getting a clear view
by literally putting on other glasses to be able to see further away.”
Three months later: “I’m totally fine and suggest to cancel the
appointment. I’ll contact you in case anything new will come up.”
Of course we do not know what would have happened had I started with Lac
humanum, but I honestly doubt whether she would have
responded as she had done now.
By fully clearing up the collective trauma just one dose of her simillimum was enough to clear up all the remaining
symptoms and to my knowledge a repetition of either remedy has not been
indicated until today.
Trauma and Miasm
Let us look at an example of collective trauma in our time:
Kashmir (Washington Post September 2008)
“The number of patients seeking mental health services surged at the
state psychiatric hospital, from 1,700 when the unrest began to more than
100,000…
The patients have insomnia, learning disabilities, anxiety disorders and
what Kashmiri therapists call the ‘midnight-knock syndrome’, a fear stemming
from the many pre-dawn raids by Indian security forces aimed at rooting out
suspected insurgents…
Mental health groups estimate that 60,000 Kashmiris
committed suicide last year, a record number, said Mushtaq
Margoob, head of the Government Psychiatric Diseases
Hospital in Srinagar…
More than 15% of Kashmiris are afflicted with
post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a recent study by Margoob … In January, the army recruited 400 psychiatrists
after more than 100 soldiers, including officers, killed themselves …
"etc.
The symptom in all these people described above may differ, but it is very
clear to me that an as-if-one-person approach would be very effective in a fast
majority of the cases. And this is only Kashmir. I’m writing this part of the
article on my way to Burundi and East Congo, another area full of heavily
traumatised people. Just watch the news for some time and you can see that many
millions of people are suffering from collective trauma. It’s the collective
that is ill, out of balance, and it’s the collective that needs to be treated.
If we don’t see that and act accordingly we will never be able to heal these
collective derangements. For in the time we need to treat one single
traumatised patient using individualised treatment ten new ones get
traumatised. It is also a lot more practical to start with a genus epidemicus remedy -genus traumaticus
if you like- and to later individualise those cases where the collective
approach is not enough. Following such a strategy we would be able to help many
more patients and perhaps even be able to induce a real change in the
collective.
It seems as if unresolved trauma lies at the basis of many chronic
conditions. If we look at the language of Vital Sensation these are all
expressions of trauma. These are sensations fitting a traumatic experience to a
life form.
Some ideas on the role of trauma:
• An Individual Trauma can express itself in an Individual Disease. This
is something we know from experience. For instance an unresolved grief can be
expressed in recurrent throat infections, or as a result of sexual abuse a
woman can have recurrent bladder infections.
• Trauma is hereditary. See the case above. See also the work of Hellinger. If we go a few generations back there are lots
of traumas that can be at the root of symptoms we come across in our patients.
These include wars, periods of starvation and crashing stock markets, stillborn
babies, rape, incest etc.
• A Collective Disease can follow a Collective Trauma. A good example is
cholera following the horror of war. Interesting to see that for instance
Cuprum is a remedy fitting both war (the typical Cuprum state is that of a
soldier) and cholera. Of course there are also circumstances on the physical
level like lack of clean drinking water etc but that doesn’t mean that trauma
at the energetic level is not an essential part of the expression of the
disease. By looking solely at material manifestations and circumstances school
medicine denies energetic disturbances in many conditions. Let’s not make that
same mistake. Besides that we know from research that traumatic events cause
malfunctioning of the immune system, so circumstances and susceptibility come
together to create disease.
• The language of the Vital Sensation is the language of Trauma. If we
read all the different ways a vital sensation is expressed this becomes very
obvious. Whether it is being pressed together, falling to pieces, torn apart,
exploded, scattered etc. These are all very physical expression of ways in
which the integrity of an organism can be threatened.
• There seems to be a chain reaction:
o Trauma - Miasm
o Miasm
- Infection
o Infection - Genetic damage
(genetic trauma)
o Genetic damage - Chronic
Disease
• Collective trauma
Epidemic; a collective trauma can be both cause and effect of an
epidemic; if for instance due to Avian Flu millions of people die that causes a
trauma to many more million survivors. And staying with that example the fear
and panic that comes up if such an epidemic is broad-casted is the first
symptom of the epidemic, the first way in which the collective shows signs and symptoms
before
or without the virus itself ever reaching the individual.
• Trauma seems to be Primary. So in the chain of diseases and traumatic
events -a limited two-dimensional way of cause and effect- it seems with that
the wheel starts turning.
• Separation, the delusion that we are separated instead of one, the
mythological departure from paradise, is the Basic Trauma.
Follow the river to its source:
If we look at the role homeopathy can play in the world it makes sense
to analyse what would be the most effective way of using our resources – the
knowledge on how to heal using the law of similars
that is present in a considerable but limited number of homeopaths.
• Treating individuals and their miasmatic
diseases alone is clearly not enough.
• Besides treating miasmatic effects we can
and should treat the causes.
• These causes start as trauma or infectious and epidemic diseases -
often based on trauma.
• The roots of miasm lie in collective themes
as the infectious and epidemic diseases causing them, or the bacteria and
viruses instrumental in them, have nothing to do with the individual.
• To be able to effectively address miasm at
an earlier phase, we need to understand and treat the totality of these
collective diseases.
• The totality on which we base our prescriptions to treat collective
derangements of the vital force (trauma and epidemic diseases) should include
the symptoms & the role and purpose of the disease.
• Chronic diseases that prevail in a certain culture or era have strong
collective roots. The more prevalent they are the less important an individual
approach becomes, and the more important it is to treat the collective issues.
E.g. obesity and diabetes mellitus in our time and age.
• Ideally we always do both if one approach doesn’t fully cure – treat
the individual and the collective picture.
• Practical is to start as early as possible with the collective before
it branches off in a variety of individual expressions.
Homeopathy for the World:
So I feel that homeopathy needs to develop a practical approach to make
its best asset top priority. Treating the collective is what we do best and is
what has a larger curative and prophylactic impact on humanity. Treating the
collective is like using a wider filter that will take out the big chunks
effectively. The smaller chunks that it lets through can be filtered out using
the more refined filter of individual treatment. By overemphasising the
individual expression of collective issues our filters are clogged by a lot of
collective debris and the effects of individual treatment is therefore often
limited.
• The higher purpose of homeopathy
on a global level is to know what needs to be cured in the world, a continent,
country, society etc.
• For this we need to be able to read the signs and symptoms of our
time.
• An epidemic is an expression of a need for collective change.
• Treating today’s trauma is preventing tomorrow’s epidemics.
• Treating today’s epidemics is preventing tomorrow’s chronic diseases.
• Healing today’s collective diseases is preventing tomorrow’s
individual diseases.
Impossible?
This sounds very ambitious, and it is. It may take decades to make this
vision a reality. Impossible? Here are some quotes from the past that history
falsified:
• “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” (Lord Kelvin,
president of the Royal Society, 1895)
• “Unworthy of the attention of practical and scientific men.” (British
Parliamentary Committee report on Edison’s electric light bulb)
• “X-rays will prove to be a hoax.” (Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal
Society, 1883)
To use a more contemporary quote: “Yes we can.” With the emphasis on we.
In theory this is what homeopathy can; to make it a reality it needs dedication
and doing by us, homeopaths. At the end of the article I will give some short
cases showing what is already a reality using this approach in Africa.
Homeopathy Should Take Its Responsibility in Epidemics!
The easiest and most practical way of starting to address collective
derangements of the vital force is by treating epidemics. There are lots of
reasons why this is a more than good idea and why luckily several homeopaths
are practicing this, especially in developing countries:
• Because it creates no side-effects
• Because it is safe for pregnant women, babies and elderly people
• Because it is not expensive
• Because production, storage and distribution is simple
• Because it does not induce therapy resistance
• Because it does not create more dangerous viruses and bacteria
• Because it has been effective in many epidemics in the past is
effective in today’s epidemics
Strategies that need to be developed:
• For treating collective trauma
• For treating epidemics
• For treating chronic diseases in the case the individual Simillimum alone is not sufficient
• For inducing Wellness and Spiritual Growth – this is another step we
can make to enhance peace and health. Without it being the main reason for
performing them doing provings is an expression of
this possibility. Hahnemann himself already said that doing a proving is
beneficial for the prover. It awakens people. By
doing provings on a larger scale, meaning including
many individuals world-wide, and by selecting substances that address the needs
of our time, collective wellness and spiritual growth can be stimulated.
Genus morbicus:
We need to broaden the genus epidemicus
principle to include other collective conditions that can be approached using
the ‘as-if-one-person’ principle, either with or without complementary
individual treatment. The following terms we could use:
• Genus epidemicus
o Based on the totality of the
symptoms of an epidemic disease
• Genus traumaticus
o Based on the totality of the
symptoms of collective or endemic trauma
• Genus endemicus
o Based on the totality of the
symptoms of an endemic disease
• Genus chronicus
o Based on the totality of the
symptoms of a chronic disease
Super Simillimum:
The ideal simillimum for a patient would
include all typical symptoms:
• Those that individualise the patient, including the vital sensation,
and
• Those that individualise the disease.
In some rare indications we see this in patients, like in a Mercurius case of colitis ulcerosa,
where the characteristics of the patients as also of the disease all fall
within the totality of the remedy.
Chronic diseases: prescribe for …
The reality of homeopathic practice is that a super simillimum
is only rarely found. In all other cases the homeopath has several options to
prescribe on:
1. The patient
2. The causal factor (infection/trauma)
3. The consequence (miasm)
4. The expression (chronic disease)
5. Any combination or sequence of 1-4
A simple and workable motto in where to start if indeed several
totalities are discovered in a patient is: start with what is staring you in
the face! In advanced cases of chronic diseases as also in epidemic diseases
and serious trauma starting with that is to be advised for several reasons:
1. The individual simillimum is often hard to
discover as the energy of the condition is overruling it.
2. The individual simillimum has only very
limited or even no effect because of the same reason.
3. It works in practice and is the reason why also clinical homeopaths
have their success cases.
Vorwort/Suchen. Zeichen/Abkürzungen. Impressum.