Face to Face with Misha Norland
NATIONAL JOURNAL HOMOEOPATHY 1993 Mar / Apr VOL II No 2.
Dr Rajesh Shah.
RS: How much importance do you give to the physical
pathology in your prescribing?
MN: Every homoeopath understands that the most useful
symptom are those which are the most peculiar, striking and idiosyncratic. It matters not
whether the symptom expresses through the mind or body. Often idiosyncrasy is more
precisely expressed through the medium of the mind; in the mind symptoms the highest level
of individuality is to be found in delusions, fears and dreams. To my way of thinking,
there should be no question of an arbitrary dominance of one level over another and
therefore it follows, that it is more or less useless to be guided by a nonspecific
symptom such as weeping or cancer.
We learn from proving of substances, that the first symptom to appear, represents disturbances of sensation, and the second represents functions. It is only in the case of poisoning, where the substance has been ingested over protracted periods, that structural and tissue changes become apparent. These indications give us a picture of the general thrust of the drug. But they lack specificity. For example, Phosphorus and Lachesis are both noted for haemorrhagic diathesis, but without their characteristic differentiations we would not know which to choose.
Drug Proving
RS: You are involved in the project on Drug-proving.
Could you please tell something of interest from your experience ?
MN: In England the one who has done the most excellent
work on drug provings is Jeremy Sherr, and therefore I would think that you should ask him
to comment on this. However, from my lesser experience I have noted that the main loss of
information arises from inadequate supervision of the individual provers. I have found
that even the most sincerely motivated provers, become poor witnesses of their own
symptoms during the proving. This is because the remedy affects them in their most
interior being first; in other words, it alters their mode of perception such, that they
become biased observers of their changed sensations. Once they are in the active process
of exteriorizing their altered state, of producing functional disturbances, then their
recording of the events becomes clearer. Another way of expressing this is to say that
while under the primary effect, the prover is a poorer witness if himself, than after the
secondary effect is established. In practice, therefore, daily contact with the prover is
best.
The issue of primary and secondary action, is worthy of further note in respect of repetition of the dose, for it is only while the organism is in a passive, that is receptive state, that the dose should be repeated. Once the vital force has established a counter action further doses should be with held for fear of antidoting the proving. In practice, this means that once an action is established, no further doses are permitted. Further, the best provers, that is those who are most susceptible to the substance, do not require pushing with many doses. It is interesting to note that it is not uncommon for one or two provers (and Jeremy confirms this) to be used in proving the remedy.Obviously this result does not furnish evidence of the substance beyond its relationship with formerly prescribed curative medicines. Regarding the use of placebo, in provings it has been noted by various conductors of proving, that the group effect of simultaneously conducted experiments, is such , that the few to whom placebo was given, also produced some symptoms of the actual substance; which indicates that it is indeed the subtle, or as Kent puts it, the simple substance which is active. Further more, the implications of the phenomenon of the drug influenced placebo reaction, lead one to appreciate something of the power involved in group activities-the subtle dominance of the level below personal consciousness,which , as in an epidemic, takes hold of and influences all but the most unsusceptible. This is analogous to group hysteria and may well be similar to, if not the same, as the mechanism whereby information (of a non rational type) is carried from person to person and group to group. It also supplies an example of the non-microbial and non-viral transmission of the miasms.
Nosodes : Just Another Remedy
RS: Do you use the Nosodes as intercurrent remedies
besides using them as regular remedies?
MN: I have heard of this practice and also that it
furnishes good results in the treatment of Chronic diseases. However ninety eight percent
of my practice is of Chronic diseases and in twenty years, I have never found it necessary
to adopt this technique. Often nosodes are indicated and naturally I use them, single
remedy, single dose.
RS: Could you please narrate your most interesting case
of the recent past ?
Case - "I am the dominant female"
MN: Just before my seminar, I visited Elephanta caves and
observed the depiction of Shiv in half male, half female form. I was reminded of a patient
whom I saw some ten years ago, who since puberty had only one breast. Her presenting
complaint was infertility. She lived with several other families. She described herself as
the dominant female. This phrase struck me as peculiar because it is born of the language
of animal psychology. For instance, in a group of primates, we speak of dominant male or
dominant female. In adopting this phrase my patient was assuming kinship with animals.
Upon taking her history, I learned about the psychological abuse which she suffered at the
hands of her parents when she was a child. She had come to believe that she was a despised
and worthless person. This feeling successfully compensated at psychological level, by the
affirmation that she is the dominant female, but not physically, for she had only one
breast and could not conceive. The feeling of worthlessness, of being despised, represents
the central disturbance in this case.
Naturally, I prescribed Lac-can, single dose, but I cannot now recall the potency. She now has two children, fortunately not twins. This case illustrates one of the many delights which, we as homoeopaths are party to; not only do we get to heal the sick bit also we are afforded the grace of understanding. From as little information as "I can not conceive, I am the dominant female" we can deduce the remedy : Lac-can. Or by asking how should a barren woman feel, who says in the language of animal psychology, "I am the dominant female".
RS: What kind of difficulties do you face in Homoeopathic
prescribing ?
MN: The greatest difficulty that I face in my practice,
arises from my own lack of knowledge on one hand and from my fullness of Ego on the other.
I would wish to have more of the first and less of the second.
RS: Misha, what is your message to the students of
Homoeopathy?
Live By Aphorism No. 1
MN: We do not embark upon any action without desire.
Therefore my first message would concern motivation, and I would ask any prospective
student to consider well the paragraph 1d of the organon, for if she or he has this
mission, then the motivation to search and to continue searching will be there. This
search should be to find the most effective method and remedy whereby to restore the sick
to health. I would therefore expect the student to study well the Organon, the materia
medica and the human beings and to turn these teachings into daily practice. This
naturally leads to the second message, or may we say requirement, which concerns stamina!
We all need to cultivate this quality by becoming healthier ourselves, so that our
vitality should rule with unbounded sway allowing us creativity enough to continue to
cultivate our desire to heal the sick. I would suggest that the student (and we all )
should allow ourselves the freedom to be what we are.
And this leads me to my final message, which is, to have faith, by which I mean complete confidence, in the process which we experience as life. Now let us work these messages backwards, for if the student or practitioner has faith, then this may be transmitted to the sick person, If the student or practitioner has stamina, then this will be transmitted to the sick person, and desire must always be there, else action itself would cease.
(Acknowledgment : We thank Dr Usha Shah for transcribing the interview).