Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines (Volume 3)- Expanding Views of the Materia Medica

To remainvital and meaningful the homoeopathic materia medica, like any aspect of ourcultural heritage, must be repeatedly scrutinized, analyzed, and interpreted byeach generation in the light of its new knowledge and understanding. ThesePsychophysical Portraits are a modest attempt to discharge this task. Yet,while offering an expanded view of the homoeopathic patient, in health as wellas sickness, in normalcy as well as pathology, and in the finer shadings of thepsyche, they adhere strictly to the classic Hahnemannian tradition. Thehomoeopathic remedies serve as archetypes: that is, each embodies a wide rangeof symptoms and personality traits of which the individual patient is but apartial copy. These archetypal pat-terns, originally established using accountsof poisonings as well as symptoms developed in the homoeopathic provings, havebeen enriched and enhanced over the decades by physicians' experience withcured cases. The resulting information may at times be contradictory andinconsistent.In taking ona symbolic dimension, the remedy's key traits serve as guideposts to itsmultitudinous lesser symptoms; they are the books from which the practitionermay suspend his own observations. For this reason the polychrests inevitablygrow and expand at the expense of the minor remedies. However inequitable thismay seem, Myristica sebifera, Ranunculus bulbosus, Kali iodatum, Cocculus, andBellis perennis, although powerfully effective in their own spheres of action,cannot evoke the emotional impact or carry the symbolic weight of thepolychrests. The "minor remedies" will have to be proved morethoroughly before a final judgment can be reached. A living portrait must bethree-dimensional. The first dimension is the listing of symptoms from thepoisonings and provings; the second, which gives the picture some depth,consists of data from clinical cases; while the third represents the remedy'semotional impact. The constitutional portrait is an interplay of all these features,the interweaving and analysis of symptoms and characteristics, with images andassociations from literature, history, politics, and other cultural areas allenriching the final product. Only thus can Hahnemann's "totality"take on its full meaning. But the fullest and most cohesive three-dimensionalportrait of a homoeopathic remedy can do no more than suggest the subject'sdepth and scope. The reality of a remedy is inexhaustible—an open forum towhich every practitioner brings the richness and the knowledge.The aim ofthe book is to guide, suggest, and inspire.Searching Tags: Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines (Volume 3) authored by CatherineCoulter, Catherine R. Coulter books, List of books by author Catherine R. Coulter, Books by Catherine R. Coulter, Catherine Coulter Books, CatherineCoulter Book & Series List, Books authored by Catherine Coulter