Understandig Classical Homeopathy

Heidi Grollmann & Urs Maurer

Understanding

Classical

Homeopathy

The Foundations
of Classical Homeopathy

Understanding Classical Homeopathy

Heidi Grollmann & Urs Maurer

Groma Verlag

eBook-edition 2018

based on the 4st edition of the printed version

ISBN 978-3-907188-01-9

Copyright 2018

© Groma Verlag, Oberdorfstrasse 2, CH-6340 Baar, Switzerland

E-mail: info@gromaverlag.ch

Homepage: www.gromaverlag.ch

All rights reserved, including all translations into foreign languages. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Layout and design of the eBook edition: Peter Vint.

Publisher: 907188 - ISBN 978-3-907188-01-9

Foreword

1^st – 3^rd Edition

We noticed, in our daily work with our patients, that was a great need for an easily understandable introduction to Classical Homeopathy.

We were particularly requested to explain the basis of Classical Homeopathy, since it is so often confused with other alternative health practices. It is, in fact, an independent science with its own laws. Furthermore, a well-informed patient can better understand the course of his or her treatment, in its context, contributing to a speedier recovery.

These methods of treatment require a different understanding of health and disease. The patient must be prepared to confront his illness and the healing process.

With this book, and a variety of seminars, we wish to add to the amount of information available and to bring Classical Homeopathy to a wider audience.

4^th edition

The large demand -- over 10,000 copies sold in the German-speaking European area -- and the many positive comments from colleagues and patients has given us great pleasure. This shows that Classical Homeopathy is well established and widespread.

Now we have the fourth corrected edition already. We have reviewed and expanded the entire content. The following innovations enhance this addition: we have supplemented the various chapters with case histories taken from everyday practice. The chapter on the Miasms has been, after many requests from various quarters, greatly expanded. The chapter on Constitutional Treatment is new, as is the chapter on Frequently Asked Questions in the practice.

At this point, we wish to thank all those who, with their various comments, helped to add to this new edition. Also our thanks to Brigitte Kurath and Kathrin Büchi-Möller for their invaluable support.

Heidi Grollmann

Urs Maurer

Translator’s Foreword

This book will always remind me of the beautiful Greek island of Alonissos. I first came to know of the book during an International Open Teaching Seminar on Homeopathy, taught by George Vithoulkas, on Alonissos. It is such a beautifully produced and simple text, and I just knew that the English-speaking world would want to have the benefit of its easy and attractive introduction to Classical Homeopathy.

Patients and future patients of homeopathy will find in this book a clear and easily understandable introduction to the basics of the most powerful system of medicine in the world.

This book will appeal to all homeopaths who have been looking for a simple text that communicates to their patients the essence of what we, as homoeopaths, do and why we ask such an awful lot of strange questions. I expect it to be on sale in most homeopathic practices that wish their patients to be as informed as possible about the nature of their treatment.

The authors of this book, Heidi Grollmann and Urs Maurer, are two of the nicest people and most passionate homeopaths that I have ever had the privilege of meeting. They run a busy practice, a thriving School for Classical Homeopathy, seminars for professional and lay-person alike, write very appealing books on homeopathy, and still find time to run marathons and holes into the Zurich pavements.

All the wisdom and creativity is theirs, all the faults mine.

Hans G. Schrauder BSc LCH FHMA MGCP

Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843) – Founder of Homeopathy

Christian Friederich Samuel Hahnemann the founder and discoverer of homeopathy was born in Meissen on the 12th of April 1755, the son of a porcelain painter. Financial circumstances were anything but rosy at that time. Because of his exceptional talent, he nonetheless found a patron that enabled him to go to High School. In order to study medicine in Leipzig, he was obliged to pay his way by giving foreign-language tuition and performing translation work. He was one of the most respected translators of his time. By the age of 24 he commanded seven languages both written and spoken. In 1779 he sat his doctorate examinations in Erlangen.

Shortly after commencing practice he became disillusioned about medicine. Excessive bloodletting, brutal vomiting and laxative cures often ended fatally. Powerful medication made from Lead, Mercury or Arsenic poisoned the patients. Hahnemann protested loudly against these damaging and ineffective methods that were then normal. Soon, his colleagues were accusing him of heresy. Hahnemann gave up his practice in disappointment. He supported himself by translating medical works.

During the translation of a pharmacopoeia by Dr Cullen (1790), he was troubled by the explanation for the action of China bark on malaria, namely that it was due to its astringent effects on the stomach. This assertion struck him as unlikely. He decided on a self-experiment and took the China bark himself. He resolved to test its effects on the healthy organism, and repeatedly took this herbal remedy until his body reacted with a fever, shivering and other symptoms of malaria.

From this, Hahnemann concluded that malaria was cured by China bark, not because of its astringent action on the stomach, but by the fact that this medicine produces the symptoms of malaria in the healthy.

For six years, following this immense discovery, Hahnemann carried out experiments on himself and family members, using various substances. Increasingly, Hahnemann turned again to the practice of medicine. He did not shy from questioning generally accepted truths and sought his own explanations. Thus, he represented a serious threat to established medicine.

Hahnemann coined the expression ‘homeopathy.’ This came from the Greek "homoios" (similar) and "pathos" (suffering). He recommended the use of only single remedies, which, in addition, he prescribed in small doses. Because of this, dispensing chemists became his greatest enemies, since they feared for their businesses. Despite continual persecution, homeopathy continued to develop.

His major work "The Organon of the Art of Healing" appeared in 1810. The basic laws and principles of homeopathy, which remain valid to the present time, are recorded therein . The multiple volume work "The Chronic Diseases" appeared between 1828-1830.

In 1835, the widowed Hahnemann married a young Frenchwoman. He moved with his new wife to Paris. This last episode in Hahnemann's life was very important for the expansion of homeopathy. For eight years, Hahnemann ran an extensive practice in Paris. He led it successfully until just a few weeks before his death. Hahnemann died at the age of 88, on the 2nd of July 1843. He lies buried in "Père Lachaise," the cemetery for the distinguished in Paris. His grave can still be visited.

The Law of Similars – Similia similibus curentur

The basis of homeopathy is the "law of similars". "Similimum similibus curentur". "Similars are to be healed with similars", i.e., an illness can only be healed with that homeopathic remedy, which produced similar symptoms in a healthy person.

What should be understood by that? You have a cold, complain of tears in your eyes, itching or burning eyes, tickling in the nose, attacks of sneezing and have developed a watery, acrid, sore producing nasal secretion. Only the homeopathic remedy that is capable of producing these symptoms in someone healthy can help you.

This symptom picture occurs when you are cutting onions. Within a short while the above-mentioned symptoms of burning eyes, acrid nasal secretions etc., appear. Should you now develop the same or similar symptoms as with the previously mentioned cold, the remedy Allium cepa, made from the common onion, would cure this cold.

To clarify the Law of Similars, a second example: you certainly recognise the condition of excess consumption of coffee. Depending on individual sensitivity, many people develop complaints such as nervousness, shaking, palpitations, sleeplessness etc. The homeopathic remedy Coffea (coffee) would often be prescribed for the above-mentioned symptoms.

One can already begin to find mention that like can heal like in the ancient writings of the Greek doctor Hippocrates (460 to 377 BC). Paracelsus (1493 to 1541) hinted at this principle in his works.

However, Hahnemann was the first to pursue this knowledge with thoroughness and persistence and develop it into a well-founded method of healing.

Disease and Cure – A question of the Vital Force

Before we occupy ourselves with the cure, we must settle exactly what disease actually is.

Why does one catch the flu while the other remains healthy, although both came in contact with the same flu patient?

Why does one person react to the enjoyment of food with massive skin eruptions while the other can eat it unscathed?

Why can a good pupil quite calmly sit an exam while the other, equally good, pupil fails the exam from anxiety?

Why are some people susceptible to something and others not?

Homeopathy intensely addressed these questions and concluded that a superior energy called the Vital Force or Dynamis steers all the functions of life.

The task of the Vital Force is to maintain harmony and order in the organism. Every component of the organism, every organ and every cell is influenced and guarded by the Vital Force. The Vital Force protects us from illness and confers immunity against factors inducing disease.

As soon as the Vital Force is weakened or out of balance, e.g., through strain, stress, mental problems etc., a person becomes ill. The organism is no longer protected from the causes of disease, e.g., bacteria, viruses, fungi, pollen, stress etc. Only a disturbed Vital Force causes disease.

Changes to tissue or organs, e.g., inflammation, ulcers, deformed joints, cysts etc., are not themselves the disease, rather the results of the disease process. They are simply indicating that something is not right inside the person. The patient isn't ill because he has a tumour; rather the tumour is there because the patient is ill.

Indeed, viruses and bacteria are never the true cause of disease. It is the weakened Vital Force that encourages the growth of foreign organisms such as bacteria, viruses and fungi. That means, first comes the disturbance of the Vital Force, and then the agent spreads.

When the symptoms of an illness are removed, either surgically, e.g., the removal of haemorrhoids, or through medicinal action, e.g., the treatment of eczema by the use of strong acting ointments, that doesn't mean by a long shot that the illness is conquered.

The origins of the illness are to be looked for in the weakened Vital Force. Through an operation or medication one has solely dealt with the end result of the disease process. The disturbance of the Vital Force is not removed with these treatments. The illness can spread itself further and cause new damage to other parts of the organism.

True cure is, as a consequence, only possible through harmonising the Vital Force.

Homeopathic remedies influence the Vital Force, stimulate the self-healing forces of the sick person, return him to equilibrium and thus strengthen the Vital Force. The person is supported in healing himself.

Individuality – Everyone is different

A very important rule in Classical Homeopathy is the view that every person is unique. The individual observation of the patient is the most important fundamental task of the homeopath. It is always the single, unmistakable person that is being treated. He becomes ill in his own particular way and produces his own symptoms. Thus, the appropriate remedy for him must be found that no other can replace. Hence, it is less important for the homeopath what disease or diagnosis the patient has rather how the particular illness manifests itself in the patient.

Let us take as an illustration, the widespread complaint "headache".

One patient had a point of pain over the root of the nose.

A second complains of pulsating pains in the forehead.

Another has dull pains at the back of the head.

The circumstances under which the complaint is made better or worse play an important role.

One patient with headache feels better with warmth.

Another better with cold compresses and when he presses his fingers on the painful spot.

With the third, the complaint is relieved by lying down in the dark and worsened by glaring light.

The cause of an illness must also be thoroughly studied.

One patient was caught in a thunderstorm while out walking. He thus caught a cold and as a result developed a sinusitis with a strong headache.

Another was in the sun too long and now suffers from the consequences of sunstroke.

Psychological triggers are to be taken into account. Worries, grief, financial loss, jealousy, stress etc., all can cause illness.

Homeopathy views people as a unity of body, mind and spirit. It is not possible to separate these. Because of this, the character and mood of the patient plays a very important role. The one is introverted, has everything under control, suppresses his emotions, appears unapproachable, and blocked. Another is moody, aggressive, and impulsive with no signs of reserve or love of fellow human beings. He is best avoided.

Previous health disturbances, illnesses in the family and other details also give valuable pointers to finding the remedy (see chapters The Miasmatic Disposition & Case-Taking in the Practice).

The Classical Homeopath, with the assistance of these individuals’ symptoms, searches for a remedy that is attuned to the patient. The appropriate medicine for each patient will be sought anew drawing on knowledge and a capacity to empathise.

The homeopath does not prescribe a remedy that has the name of the disease (e.g., headache) written on it, rather seeks a remedy that meets the total state of the patient. So 10 patients, all suffering the same condition (e.g., headaches) each according to their individual symptoms, could receive 10 different medicines.

Homeopathy – Allopathy
Quite different fundamental concepts

Homeopathy and allopathy (orthodox medicine) have a quite different understanding of health and disease as their basis. In the previous chapter, we explained these thoughts from a homeopathic viewpoint. As already mentioned, in homeopathy, sickness is equated to a disturbance in the Vital Force, health with a return to harmony of the Vital Force.

In orthodox medicine, on the other hand, the symptoms are seen as the disease itself. When, for example, a growth is operated on, the patient is subsequently regarded as healthy. Should new complaints occur in other organs after the operation, this will be viewed as a new illness and nobody will give any thought to a possible connection to the first operation.

A skin eruption that disappears after the application of an anointment is regarded as cured. In allopathy, an illness must be measurable, visible, detectable with the aid of the laboratory, microscope, X-ray, ultrasound, CT scanner etc. As soon as values are normal and signs of sickness have disappeared, the patient is viewed as cured. The true condition of the patient is of lesser importance, since it cannot be measured or be made objectively visible.

In homeopathy, however, these visible signs of disease are all only the result of an internal disturbance and illness. The real illness is deeper, namely in the disturbance of the Vital Force, and is thus invisible.

In allopathic thinking, bacteria, and viruses, fungi, and other microbes are the cause of illness and must be radically killed off with antibiotics and fungicides.

Homeopaths, on the other hand, have the view that foreign germs can only lodge themselves and cause damage in a weakened organism. The defences of the organism must be strengthened, and then people would be, to a great extent, spared disease. Homeopathy does not kill bacteria or fungi, rather strengthens the person such that he is no longer susceptible.

Homeopathy is not against life preserving operations or against accident and emergency medicine, which can give valuable service, especially with injuries and assisting in labour and childbirth. A broken bone cannot be healed homeopathically, it must be set and put in plaster. But one can accelerate the healing process with homeopathy.

Also, within health care there are purely mechanical problems, especially in chronic illness, e.g., growths that, when widespread, can affect or even prevent the functioning of organs. Hence we cannot possibly do without surgery, especially where mechanical blockages make an operation necessary.

Surgery, however, doesn't cure disease; rather it removes the result of an illness, which could possibly have been prevented if one had commenced homeopathic treatment in time.

In recent decades, various operations have repeatedly, like a fashion statement, crossed the country. For years all children had their tonsils removed, whether they had persistent sore throats or not. Only a few decades ago in Switzerland, certain professions were required to have their tonsils removed (for safety reasons!) before taking up their post. In this way one wanted to prevent a civil servant from getting a sore throat and possibly infecting other colleagues.

Not only tonsils but also other organs were and still are removed unnecessarily, for example, the womb. In the Federal Republic of Germany today, every third woman over the age of 40 no longer has a womb. With postmenopausal women the figure rises to 53 percent, and in Switzerland, according to the Zurich Cancer Register of 1994, one third of all 50 to 70 year-old women are affected.

In allopathy, each patient with a particular complaint receives a similar medication, for example, with pain - a painkiller, with rheumatism - a rheumatism medicine, with hayfever - an antihistamine, with skin eruptions - cortisone etc.

In homeopathy, a remedy will be prescribed according to the individual symptoms of the patient (see chapter Individuality).

Homeopathy views people as a single entity, an inseparable whole of body, mind, and spirit. It is always the entirety that is treated, not just the separate pieces.

In allopathy, there is ever more specialisation. A heart case is referred to a cardiologist, with gastrointestinal disturbances an internal medicine specialist leaps into action etc. Research progresses even further and thus ever more specialist fiefdoms develop. But with this search for the singular there is the danger that the person in his entirety is forgotten.

The goal of homeopathic treatment is not to directly remove or suppress a symptom, rather to strengthen and harmonise the Vital Force. The organism is thus placed in a position where it can conquer the disease itself.

In allopathy, one wants to remove the symptoms as quickly as possible, then the patient passes for cured.

In homeopathy, one gives the organism time to become healthy.

As you will clearly see, the basic tenants of both these therapies are totally different. Because of this, homeopathy is often attacked and disputed, since its laws cannot be understood or researched from the point of view of orthodox medicine.

Homeopathic Medicines – Potentising

Sources

Homeopathic medicines are made from the following substances:

Plants, e.g., Club Moss (Lycopodium), and Deadly Nightshade (Belladonna), Wind-flower (Pulsatilla).

Animals, e.g., Bees (Apis), Ants (Formica rufa), snake poisons e.g., Bushmaster Snake (Lachesis).

Metals, e.g., Copper (Cuprum metallicum), Gold (Aurum metallicum), Iron (Ferrum metallicum)

Minerals, e.g., Carbonate of lime/Chalk (Calcium carbonicum), Flint (Silicea), Phosphate of magnesia (Magnesium phosphoricum)

Products of disease, so-called Nosodes.

Acids, e.g., Nitric acid (Nitricum acidum), Phosphoric acid (Phosphoricum acidum)

and others.

Preparation

Homeopathic drugs are prepared by a special process. Soluble materials are diluted and shaken (succussed) in stages, insoluble substances such as Gold, Iron, Quartz, etc., are dissolved step-by-step and ground up in milk sugar (Lactose).

This dilution in stages is called Potentising (energising). The healing power of many substances is only released, and poisonous substances lose their toxicity, by potentisation. Thus it is, for example, that un-potentised Petroleum is completely useless as a remedy. However, potentised, it realises its curative action and becomes a valuable medicine, e.g., for travel sickness, skin problems, or headaches, as long as it is prescribed according to individual requirements.

Potency

There are various potencies. Most useful are the so-called C-potencies (Centesimal potencies). These are prepared as follows:

One part starting substance is dissolved in 99 parts alcohol/water mixture and shaken. This gives the potency 1C. From this 1C, again one part is dissolved in 99 parts alcohol/water mixture and shaken; giving us a 2C, etc.

If the dissolving is done in steps of 10, namely one part of starting material is dissolved in nine parts of alcohol/water mixture and shaken, then one speaks of X-potencies or D-potencies (decimal potencies). These are used largely in Germany.

Potentising Schedule

The precise preparation processes for each remedy are described in the homeopathic pharmacopoeia. Apart from the C- and X-potencies, Q or LM potencies have established themselves. These consist of dilution steps of 1:50,000.

Effectiveness

Potentised medicines from 12C or 23X no longer have a single molecule left. It is merely the information of the remedy that is transferred to the alcohol/water mixture or milk sugar. This information is not [currently] detectable in the laboratory. Chemically, only the carrier substance can be analysed. Thus, science asserts that homeopathic remedies above 23D cannot have any effect since they no longer contain a single molecule of starting material.

For a better understanding of the effectiveness of homeopathic remedies, here are two examples:

You are holding our book in your hand and are reading these lines at this moment. We have put our thoughts to paper. This paper, upon which we have written the information, is the information carrier. If this book were to be chemically analysed, one would have examined merely the information carrier and broken it into its constituent parts. But in this analysis the most important thing would be lost, namely the information that was on the paper. That cannot be identified by any method.

Or take a video or music cassette and weigh it. Now record on the cassette and weigh it anew. You will establish that the weight of the recorded cassette is the same as the unrecorded, although information has been saved on it.

Naturally, this is only an attempt at an explanation, and like every hypothesis is not 100 percent applicable. In many areas there are phenomena that cannot be scientifically explained. This does not mean that they do not exist.

Homeopathic remedies are non-material, dynamised remedies. As we have already suggested, disease is a dynamic disturbance of the organism. These can only be brought back into balance with dynamic remedies. Homeopathic medicine impinges on the weakened Vital Force, releasing the healing process.

That the homeopathic remedy is effective is undeniable. Indeed, some time ago a study by Scottish researchers at Glasgow University was published in the scientific medical journal "The Lancet", clearly proving this on the basis of patient studies. Even opponents of homeopathy could not refute this study.

The Proving

Testing drugs the safe way - no animals involved!

The so-called ‘proving’ is an important tenant of homeopathy. It is very demanding and conducted according to special rules. The proving serves to establish the exact effect of a homeopathic substance, i.e., it is tested as to which symptoms a medication can produce and thus heal.

In a remedy proving, a group of healthy people of both sexes take the substance to be tested in accordance with the regulations. Naturally, these people do not know which substance is involved. Every subsequent change in how they feel is written down and protocolled.

All differences in bodily or mental state are important. Sensations have to be accurately recorded. For example:

Indifference to his family

Dreams of amusing things